VI. THE MIDDLE STYLE, OR TEMPERATA DICTIO

The Temperate Style is the style best adapted to conciliate and delight, and abounds more in the figures of speech and of thought than the Plain Style, and is yet not so vehement and powerful in its nature as the Grand Style. Its object is to stir the aesthetic emotions by a felicitous arrangement of words, figures of speech and of thought, thus putting the hearer in a kindly feeling towards the speaker, so that he may be more easily moved, if it be the object of the speaker to arouse to action. Cicero defines it in the Orator, section 96, in the following manner: Est enim quoddam etiam insigne et florens orationis pictum et expolitum genus, in quo omnes verborum, omnes sententiarum illigantur lepores.

Augustine, D. D. C. IV, 12. 27, as regards this style says: Si vero (orator) intellectus est, quocumque modo dixerit, dixit. Quod si etiam delectare vult eum cui dicit, aut flectere, non quocumque modo dixerit, faciet: sed interest quomodo dicat, ut faciat. Sicut est autem, ut teneatur ad audiendum, delectandus auditor; ita flectendus, ut moveatur ad agendum. The hearer, then, must be pleased before his attention can be secured, and for this purpose there is need of both sweetness and elegance of speech. An examination of the following passages from Cicero will reveal the fact that Augustine drew, for this conception also, upon Cicero.

1. Orator, 6. 21: Est autem quidam interiectus inter hos medius et quasi temperatus nec acumine posteriorum nec fulmine utens superiorum, vicinus amborum, in neutro excellens, utriusque particeps, vel utriusque, si verum quaerimus, potius expers. Isque uno tenore, ut aiunt, fluit in dicendo nihil adferens praeter facilitatem et aequabilitatem, aut addit aliquos ut in corona toros omnemque orationem ornamentis modicis verborum sententiarumque distinguit.

2. Orator, 26.91: Hoc in genere nervorum vel minimum, suavitatis autem est vel plurimum. Est enim plenius quam hoc enucleatum, quam autem illud ornatum copiosumque summissius.

3. Orator, 27.95: In idem genus orationis-verborum cadunt lumina omnia, multa etiam sententiarum; latae eruditaeque disputationes ab eodem explicabuntur et loci communes sine contentione dicentur.

VII. THE GRAND STYLE, OR GRANDIS DICTIO

The object of the Grand Style is to move men, either to do, or to refrain from doing something. The teachings of the ecclesiastical orator are in vain and the pleasures of his eloquence of no permanent value if the hearer be not led to carry out in practice the things which he has been taught, and for which both the teaching and the art of pleasing were brought into play. The eloquent divine must not only teach that he be understood and speak to give delight, but he must also move those who hear. If truth of itself cannot do this, if it fail when reinforced by the arts that delight the aesthetic nature, then nothing remains but to subdue the obdurate heart with the conquering power of eloquence. All the ornaments of speech and thought, provided they do not weaken the force of eloquence, can be utilized. It is assumed that the hearer is instructed, that he has been conciliated to the speaker, and therefore the Grandis Dictio leaps beyond the barriers imposed by didactics, refuses to be limited by the confines of merely intellectual and aesthetic delight, and is content with nothing short of the entire region of the human soul, where all its faculties can be touched, -love, hate, joy, sorrow, hope, fear, in short, where the soul in all its fulness can be assaulted, and where the will must be taken captive.

In D. D. C. IV, 13. 29, Augustine thus expresses himself: Propter eos autem quibus fastidientibus non placet veritas, si alio quaecumque modo, nisi eo modo dicatur, ut placeat et sermo dicentis, datus est in eloquentia non parvus etiam delectationi locus. Quae tamen addita non sufficit duris, quos nec intellexisse, nec docentis clocutione delectatos esse profuerit. Quid enim haec duo conferunt homini, qui et confitetur verum, et collaudat eloquium, nec inclinat assensum, propter quem solum, cum aliquid suadetur, rebus quae dicuntur invigilat dicentis intentio? Si enim talia docentur quae credere vel nosse sufficiat, nihil est aliud eis consentire, nisi confiteri vera esse. Cum vero id docetur quod agendum est et ideo docetur ut agatur, frustra persuadetur verum esse quod dicitur, frustra placet modus ipse quo dicitur, si non ita discitur ut agatur. Oportet igitur eloquentem ecclesiasticum, quando suadet aliquid quod agendum est, non solum docere ut instruat, et delectare

ut teneat, verum etiam flectere ut vincat. Ipse quippe iam remanet ad consensionem flectendus eloquentiae granditate, in quo id non egit usque ad ejus confessionem demonstrata veritas, adjuncta etiam suavitate dictionis.

With this conception Cicero is in perfect harmony. In De Orat. II, 82. 337, he says: Et quamquam una fere vis est eloquentiae, tamen quia summa dignitas est populi, gravissima causa rei publicae, maximi motus multitudinis, genus quoque dicendi grandius quoddamn et illustrius esse adhibendum videtur; maximaque pars orationis admovenda est ad animorum motus nonnumquam aut cohortatione aut commemoratione aliqua aut in spem aut in metum aut ad cupiditatem aut ad gloriam concitandos, saepe etiam a temeritate, iracundia, spe, iniuria, invidia, crudelitate revocandos.

Again in Orator, 28. 97: Tertius est ille amplus copiosus, gravis ornatus, in quo profecto vis maxima est. Hic est enim, cuius ornatum dicendi et copiam admiratae gentes eloquentiam in civitatibus plurimum valere passae sunt, sed hanc eloquentiam, quae cursu magno sonituque ferretur, quam suspicerent omnes, quam admirarentur, quam se adsequi posse diffiderent. Huius eloquentiae est tractare animos, huius omni modo permovere. Haec modo perfringit, modo irrepit in sensus; inserit novas opiniones, evellit insitas.

VIII. COMBINATION OF THE THREE STYLES

The ecclesiastical orator ought not always to teach in the Plain Style, or give praise in the Temperate Style, or speak of great matters, continually, in the Grand Style. When the orator is treating his theme he must be guided by his judgment, and it often occurs that an important matter may be treated in all these styles at different times. There is no subject greater than God, and the orator can tax his abilities to the utmost in speaking either of Him or of His works; yet when something is to be learned about Him or the Holy Trinity, it is highly improper to use any style save the method of calm discussion, so that a subject which in itself is difficult of comprehension may be the more easily understood. In D. D. C. IV, 19. 38, Augustine says: Et tamen cum doctor iste debeat rerum dictor esse magnarum, non semper eas debet granditer dicere, sed submisse, cum aliquid docetur; temperate, cum aliquid vituperatur sive laudatur: cum vero aliquid agendum est, et ad eos loquimur, qui hoc agere debent, nec tamen volunt, tunc ea quae magna sunt, dicenda sunt granditer, et ad flectendos animos congruenter. Et aliquando de una eademque re magna, et submisse dicitur, si docetur; et temperate, si praedicatur; et granditer, si aversus inde animus ut convertatur impellitur, quid enim Deo ipso majus est? Nunquid ideo non discitur? Aut qui docet unitatem Trinitatis, debet nisi submissa disputatione agere, ut res ad dignoscendum difficilis, quantum datur, possit intelligi? Numquid hic ornamenta, et non documenta quaeruntur? numquid ut aliquid agat est flectendus auditor, et non potius ut discat instruendus? Porro cumlaudatur Deus sive de seipso, sive de operibus suis, quanta facies pulchrae ac splendidae dictionis oboritur ei qui potest quantum potest laudare, quem nemo convenienter laudat, nemo quomodocumque non laudat! At si non colatur, aut cum illo vel etiam prae illo colantur idola, sive daemonia sive quaecumque creatura; quantum hoc malum sit, atque ut ab hoc malo avertantur homines, debet utique granditer dici.

We are, therefore, not to suppose that it is improper to combine these various styles, but on the contrary, every variety should be introduced so far as may be consistent with good taste. When the orator keeps monotonously to any one style, he fails to hold the

hearer's attention, but passing from one style to the other, the discourse proceeds more gracefully and can thus be extended to a much greater length. If any one style must be used above the rest, let it be the Plain Style, for the mental emotion necessary to accompany the Grand Style cannot be maintained very long. The orator, therefore, must be on his guard, lest, when he shall have carried his hearers to a high pitch of emotion, he lose the effect he has already gained. On this point, Augustine, D. D. C. IV, 22. 51, thus says: Nec quisquam praeter disciplinam esse existimet ita miscere: imo quantum congrue fieri potest, omnibus generibus dictio varianda est. Nam quando prolixa est in uno genere, minus detinet auditorem. Cum vero fit in aliud ab alio transitus, etiamsi longius eat, decentius procedit oratio: quamvis habeant et singula genera varietates suas in sermone eloquentium, quibus non sinuntur in eorum qui audiunt, frigescere vel tepescere sensibus. Verum tamen facilius submissum solum, quam solum grande diutius tolerari potest. Commotio quippe animi quanto magis excitanda est, ut nobis assentiatur auditor, tanto minus in ea diu teneri potest, cum fuerit quantum satis est excitata. Et ideo cavendum est, ne dum volumus altius erigere quod erectum est, etiam inde decidat, quo fuerat excitatione perductum. Interpositis vero quae sunt dicenda submissius, bene reditur ad ea quae opus est granditer dici, ut dictionis impetus sicut maris aestus alternet. Ex quo fit ut grande dicendi genus, si diutius est dicendum, non debeat esse solum, sed aliorum generum interpositione varietur; ei tamen generi dictio tota tribuitur, cuius copia praevaluerit.

To determine what style should be alternated with what other, and the place where any particular style should be employed, is a matter of vital importance. For instance, the introduction to the majestic style should be temperate. Yet the orator can use his discretion, and, it may be, employ the subdued style, in order that the majestic may be the grander by comparison, and shine with more brilliancy, as it were, from a dark background. Whenever difficult questions arise, there must be an accuracy of distinction, and this must always be in the subdued style. This style must, therefore, be alternated with the other two styles whenever questions of this kind arise. There should be a judicious blending of the various styles as occasion may demand, in order to secure the best results.