"fance, could never have made fuch an impression upon AGRIPPA, as this unexpected "and pathetic address +." : + SMITH'S Longinus, page 93. CHAPTER X. The PROLEPSIS Confidered. §1. The definition of the Prolepfis. § 2. Examples of it from JUVENAL and CICERO. § 3. In$ ftances from Scripture. § 4. The various advantages of this Figure. $ 1. PRolepfis * is a Figure by which a fpeaker fuggefts an objection against what he is advancing, and returns an answer to it or it is a Figure by which a speaker, more efpecially at the entrance upon his discourse, removes any fort of obstruction that he forefees may be likely to prevent the fuccefs of his caufe. § 2. We have an instance of this kind in the following lines of JUVENAL: And fhall we then no kind of wish allow? From gohaubarw, I anticipate, or prevent. Leave Leave it to wifer Heav'n to weigh your fate, "The method of anticipating objections,” fays QUINTILIAN, "is not without its advan<c tage; as when CICERO fays, that fome per"fons may wonder that he who had for fo "many years employed himfelf in the defence "of many, and had accufed none, fhould now "undertake the accufation against VERRES. Presently after the Orator fhews, that this "very conduct of his was virtually a defence, a "defence of the Roman allies. This Figure, "adds QUINTILIAN, is ftiled a Prolepfis †. บ I will give more largely what CICERO fays upon this occasion, as I am very certain that the pafsage is an illuftrious proof of the genius and address of the Orator; after I have only obferved, that CICERO's design in his oration was to fet aside CACILIUS, who had been Quaeftor in Sicily in the time of VERRES, from being the agent in the caufe against him, and to obtain from the judges the appointment of himself (CICERO) to this office. 66 If Nil ergo optabunt homines? Si confilium vis, + Non inutilis etiam eft ratio occupandi quæ videntur obftare; ut Cicero dicit fcire fe mirari quofdam, quod is qui per tot annos defenderit multos, læferit neminem ad accufandum verfem defcendere; deinde oftendit hanc ipfam fociorum defenfionem effe. Quod fchema weans dicitur. QUINT. lib. iv. cap. 1. § 6. 藤 «6 "If any of you, O my judges, or of the "other persons prefent, fhould be surprised that "I, who have for fo many years for conducted myself in caufes and public trials, as that "I have defended many, and injured none, "fhould now fuddenly alter my courfe, and "turn accufer, fuch a perfon, upon being made acquainted with the reafon and motive of my proceeding, will at once both approve what "I am now doing, and will infallibly determine "that there is no manager in this caufe to "be preferred before me. After I had been "Questor, O my judges, in Sicily, and had left "that province with a fragrant and lafting re"membrance of my office and of my name among the inhabitants, the confequence was, that as they considered their principal fecu"rity as lying in their many ancient patrons, fo ' they apprehended that fome protection of "their fortunes might be expected from my"felf. Accordingly these people being plun"dered and diftrefsed often applied publickly " and in a body to me, to undertake their de"fence in a cause in which their whole fortunes "were embarked. They alledged, that I had "often promised them, often declared to them, "that, if ever an opportunity offered in which "they fhould require my help, I should not be "wanting in my fervices to them: they repre " fented, that the time was now come in which "I might not only do them a kindness, but "protect their lives, and the welfare of the whole O 66 1 "whole province; that they had no Gods left. "them even in their cities, whom they might * implore in their diftrefs; that CAIUS VERRES "had robbed their moft holy fhrines of their "moft holy images; that they had fuffered, "during the three years of his Pretorship, "whatever miferies the excefs in wickedness, "the cruelty in punishments, the avarice in "rapine, and the pride of infolence could heap upon them; and that they now befought and implored that I would not reject their suit, "since, if I would but be their friend, there "would be no necessity for making any further application. I own, O my judges, that it "was a very heavy and bitter affliction to me, "when I found myself reduced to this dilemma, "that I muft either disappoint the hopes of "thofe persons who had entreated my aid and support, or that I, who had devoted myself "from my earlieft youth to the defence of "mankind, fhould be constrained by the neces"sity of the occasion, and a regard to my duty, "to ftep forth as an accufer. I pleaded that "they had an agent in QUINTUS CAECILIUS, "who might be the more proper perfon, as he "came after me in the Queftorfhip in Sicily. “But what I fuggested, in hope it might be an "expedient for extricating me from my diffi"culty, only the more embarassed me; for the + ર $ Sicilians would have much more readily have "excused me if they had never known him, or "if he had never been Queftor among them. "Influenced 1 "Influenced therefore, O my judges, not merely by the opportunity of serving my "friends, but from a fenfe of duty, honour, humanity, the examples of many worthy men, "ancient precedent, and the institutes of our ancestors, I now undertake this very weighty "and laborious fervice: in which however I "have this comfort, that what may wear the "face of an accufation, may more properly be " efteemed a "defence. I defend many men, "many cities, the whole province of Sicily: "and therefore though it fo falls out that I "muft accufe a single man, yet I consider my"felf in a manner as pursuing my first track of "life, and not at all departing from the protec❝tion and afsiftance of mankind *." ht "I will CS 201.. Si quis veftrum, judices, aut eorum qui adfunt, forte miratur, me, qui tot annos in caufis judiciifque publicis ita fim verfatus, ut defenderim multos, læferim neminem, fubito nunc mutata voluntate ad accufandum descendére; is, fi mei confilii caufam rationemque cognoverit, una & id quod facio probabit, & in hac caufa profectò neminem præponendum esse mihi actorem putabit. Cum quæftor in Sicilia fuiffem, judices, itaque ex ea provincia deceffiffem, ut Siculis omnibus jucundam, diuturnamque memoriam quæfturæ, nominifque mei relinquerem. Factum eft, uti cum fummum in veteribus patro nis multis, tum nonnullum etiam in me præfidium fuis fortunis conftitutum effe arbitrarentur: qui nunc populati, atque vexati, cuncti ad me publicè fæpe venerunt, ut fuarum fortunarum omnium caufam defenfionemque fufciperem. Me fæpe effe pollicitum, fæpe oftendiffe dicebant, fi quod tempus accidiffet, quo tempore aliquid à me requirerent, commodis eorum me non defuturem. Veniffe tempus aiebant, non jam Q ut |