There is another view in which we may contemplate them, which may be called rhetorical; and that is, not only when the sentence has a simple and definite meaning, but when this meaning is cast into a peculiar form, and therefore called a figure and it is to this latter meaning, that is, to the figurative sense of words, that language owes its peculiar force and beauty. These figures may be divided into two kinds; namely, into such as are common to every species of composition, and into such as belong more particularly to oratory. The former of these, such as Metaphors, Allegories, &c. have no reference to delivery, and may be considered as perfect, whether they are spoken or not: the latter, such as Irony, Aposiopesis, Climax, &c. suppose a pronunciation suitable to each, and without which they have not half their beauty: the first of these figures we may, for the sake of distinction, call rhetorical, and the last oratorical. But, as many of the figures of each of these kinds are nearly allied to both, it may not be improper to give a summary account of both, that each of them may be better understood. I shall not enter into a minute discussion of the difference between a trope and a figure, but shall content myself with following the accurate and philosophical Du Marsais on this subject, who considers the former as a species of the latter, and defines a figure to be a manner of speaking distinguished by a particular modification, which reduces it to a certain class; and which renders it more lively, more noble, and more agreeable, than a manner of speaking which expresses the same thought without this particular modification of it. This he illustrates by a passage from Bruyère, where he says, "There are certain subjects, in "which mediocrity is intolerable; poetry, music, "painting, and public speaking. 'Here,' says Du Marsais, there is no figure, that is to say, the whole phrase merely expresses the thought of Bruyère, without any turn which particularly 'characterises it;' but when he adds, "What punishment is it to hear a frigid composition pompously delivered, or poor verses pro"nounced with emphasis!" This,' says our author, is the same thought, but there is added to it the expression of surprise and admiration; and this expression makes it a figure.' Or, in other words, a trope or figure is where a word or sentence is to be understood in a sense different from its most common and ordinary usage; and it is this peculiar sense or form of the thought which constitutes the figure of the expression. This cannot be better illustrated than by the use of the word taste. When we say a person has a fine taste for wines, the word is used in its most common and ordinary sense; but when we say he has a fine taste for painting, poetry, or music, we use the word figuratively: in the latter use of the word, therefore, there is a figure, and in the former none. Having thus given a general idea of the nature of rhetorical figures, I shall proceed to give a particular account of them; and first of the Metaphor. Métaphor. A METAPHOR is an expression, where a word or phrase departs from its more common and ordinary sense to another, which it resembles in some respects, and differs from in others: or, in fewer words, it may be defined to be a simile, or comparison, without the sign of comparison. Thus, when we say Demosthenes was the bulwark of Athens, the word bulwark is a metaphor; because, as a bulwark guards a place from its enemies, so Demosthenes, by his eloquence, guarded the Athenian state. But if we say Demosthenes was as a bulwark to Athens, then it becomes a simile or comparison; so that a metaphor is a stricter or closer comparison, and a comparison a looser and less compact metaphor. 66 Metaphors," says an ingenious and judicious author*, " abound in all writings: from scripture they might be produced in vast variety. Thus our blessed Lord is called a vine, "a lamb, a lion, &c. Thus men, according to "their different dispositions, are styled wolves, 66 sheep, dogs, serpents, &c. And indeed meta"phors not only abound in the sacred writings, "but they overspread all language; and the "more carefully we examine authors, not only 66 poets but philosophers, the more shall we dis"cover their free and large use of metaphors, "taken from the arts and sciences, the cus"toms of mankind, and the unlimited fields of "nature." Allegory. An allegory is a continuation of several metaphors, so connected in sense as to form a kind. of parable or fable. It differs from a single metaphor, says the above-mentioned author, in the same manner as a cluster on the vine does from Gibbons's Rhetoric, p. 24. a single grape. This we may illustrate by a very happy example of his own, where, speak ing of the metaphor, he says, "Of all the "flowers that embellish the regions of elo quence, there is none that rises to such an "eminence, that bears so rich and beautiful a blossom, that diffuses such a copious and exquisite fragrance, or that so amply rewards "the care and culture of the poet or the "orator*." Quintilian observes, that the most beautiful species of composition is that where there is a mixture of the comparison, the allegory, and the trope; an instance of which he gives us in the following passage from Cicero: “What estuary, what part of the sea, can you imagine so, "much vexed with the tossing and agitations of the waves? "How violent the perturbations and fury of our popular as"semblies, for the election of magistrates! The space of only one day or night often throws all things into confusion, and "sometimes only a small breath of rumour shall quite change "the opinion of the whole people." Quintil. lib. vii, cap. 6. 66 Métonymy. A Metonymy is a figure, where one name is put for another, for which it may be allowed to stand, on account of some relation or coherence between them. Thus, a humane prince is called a Titus, a cruel one a Nero, and a great conqueror an Alexander. Cicero, speaking of the study of eloquence, says, To omit Greece, which always claimed the pre-eminence for eloquence; and Athens, the inventress of all sciences, where the art of speaking was invented and perfected; in this city of ours, no studies have prevailed more than that of eloquence. * Gibbons's Rhetoric, p. 27, Where the words Greece and Athens stand to denote the inhabitants of those places; and it is this usage of the city or country for the inhabitants that forms the metonymy: Synecdoche. A Synecdoche puts the whole for a part, or a part for the whole, as, Thy growing virtues justify'd my cares, And promised comfort to my silver hairs. Pope's Homer. Achilles' wide-destroying wrath, that pour'd Ten thousand woes on Greece, O Goddess, sing! Homer's Iliad, b. i. v. 1. Gibbons's Rhet. p. 74. Where we may observe, that putting a certain number for an uncertain one, that is, ten thousand woes for the great number of woes brought on Greece by the wrath of Achilles, forms a species .of the figure Synecdoche. Hypérbole. An Hyperbole is a figure that goes beyond the bounds of strict truth, and represents things as greater or smaller, better or worse, than they really are. Milton's strong pinion now not heav'n can bound, Now serpent-like in prose he sweeps the ground. Pope, Virgil, describing the swiftness of Camilla, says: Camilla Outstripp'd the winds in speed upon the plain, Dryden, Æn. vii. |