The Art of Rhetoric, Book 2 · Part 2
¶Of disposicion and apte orderyng of thynges.
I HaueHave trauailed hetherto in teachyng the right way to fynde meete matter for eueryevery cause, vsyng suche Arte as my slender witte coulde beste yelde. And now, nexte and immediatly after inuention, I thinke meete to speake of framyng and placyng an Oration in order, that the matter beeyng aptely sartelde, and couched together: might better please the hearers, and with more ease be learned of all men. And the rather I am earnest in this behaulfe, because I knowe that al thynges stande by order, and without order nothyng can be. For by an order wee are borne, by an order wee lyue, and by an order wee make our end. By an order one ruleth as head, and other obey as mē bers. By an orderOrder of what sorte it is. Realmes stande, and lawes take force. Yea by an order the whole worke of nature and the perfite state of al the elementes hauehave their appointed course. By an order we deuise, we learne, and frame our dooynges to good purpose. By an order the Carpenter hath his Squyre, his Rule, and his Plumme…. The Tailour his mette Yarde, & his measure: The Mason his Former, and his Plaine, and eueryevery one accordyng to his callyng frameth thynges thereafter. For though matter be had, and that in greate plentie: yet al is to no purpose, if an order be not vsed. As for example: What auaileth Stoone, if Masons doe not worke it? What good dothe clothe, if Tailours take no measure, or do not cutte it out? Though Tymber be had for makyng a Shippe, and al other thynges necessarie, yet the shippe shal neuer be perfite, till worke men begynne to set to their handes, and ioyne it together. In what a comenly order hath God made man, whose shape is not thought perfite, if any parte be altered? yea al folke would take hym for a monster, whose feete should occupie the place of his handes. An army neuer getteth victorie, that is not in araie, and sette in good order of battail. So an Oration hath litle force with it, and dothe smally profite, whiche is vtterde without all order. And needes must he wander, that knowes not howe to goe, neither can he otherwyse chouse, but stumble: that gropyn… in the darke, can not tel where he is: Yea he must nedes both leaue muche vnspoken, repeate often, thynges spokē before, not knowing what, nor wher to speake best: that geues hym selfe rather to take the chaunce of fortune, than to folowe the right way of aduised counsell. What shoulde a man do with a weapon that knoweth not howe to vse it? What though one hauehave mountaines of golde, what auaileth hym to hauehave suche heapes, if he cannot tel how to bestow them? It is not enough to hauehave learnyng, but it is al to vse learnyng. Therefore because this parte of bestowyng matter, and placyng it in good order, is so necessarie: I will showe what the learned hauehave saied in this behaulfe so muche as I shall thynke nedeful.
Disposic…on what it is.
DIsposicion (as Tullie doth define it) is a certaine bestowyng of thynges, and an apte declaryng, what is meete for eueryevery parte, as tyme and place do beste require.
¶Diuidyng of Disposicion.
THere are two kyndes of disposyng, and placyng of matter. The one is when we folowe the appointed rule of Rethorique, the whiche nature doth almost teache vsus: The other is wholy fasshioned by the discretion of hym that makes the Oration.
RethoriqueRhetorique what it …ea…heth, for orderyng of thynges. doeth teache vsus, and nature also leadeth vsus thereunto, first to speake somwhat before we open our matter, after that to tell the cause of our entent, settyng forthe the matter plainly that al may vnderstand it, then to proue our owne cause by good reason, and to confute all suche thinges as are contrarie to our purpose: last of al, to gather the whole in a somme, concludyng the matter briefely, and so to make an ende. Nowe to place those reasons, whiche shoulde both serue to confirme and to confute, and to tel in what parte of the Oration it were best to vse this reason, and that reason, that the rather wee might proue, teache, and perswade: a right wyse man had nede to take this matter in hande. For euen as the tyme, the place, the iudge, and the matter it selfe shal geue cause: so must a wyse body take his aduantage. Sometymes it shalbe expedient to vse no preface at al, or els when the matter is wel knowne, it will be good to leaue the matter vntolde, and streight to seeke the confirmacion, vsyng some stronge reason for the same purpose. Yea sometymes it may do good to neglecte the naturall order, and begynne firste to proue the cause, and afterwarde to tell it better, than it was tolde before.
If the iudge, or the hearers shalbe weried with other …eportes before, it is beste to goe to the matter, and proue it out of hande with as briefe reasons, and as strong as can be gatherde possible. And in prouyng of our matters, we had nede euermore rather to waie our reasons, than to nō ber them, and thynke not that then we shall doe beste, when hauehave the most, but then looke to doe best, when we hauehave the strongest. And first of al the strongest should be vsed, and the other placed in the middest of the Oration, the whiche beeyng heaped together wil make a good mustar.Argumentes howe they should be digested. And yet this also would be learned, whereas we vsed the best reasons at the first, we shoulde also reserue some that were lyke good, for the later end: that the hearers might hauehave them freshe in their remembraunce, when they shoulde geue iudgement. The slender reasons that can do lesse good, and yet not all, (for some may better be omitted) woulde bee placed in the middest (as I saied) that bothe they might bee lesse marked, or beeyng heaped there together, they might doe more good, especially when bothe weightie reasons went before, and weightie reasons also, folowed after. Now a wyse man that hath good experience in these affaires, and is able to make hym selfe a Rhetorique for eueryevery matter, will not bee bounde to any precise rules, nor kepe any one order, but suche onelyonly as by reason he shall thynke best to vse, beeyng maister ouer Arte, rather then Arte shoulde be maister ouer hym, rather makyng Art by witte, than confoundyng witte by Arte. And vndoubtedly euen in so doyng, he shal do right wel, and contente the hearers accordyngly. For what mattereth whether we folowe our Booke, or no, if wee folowe witte, and appoint our selfe an order, suche as may declare the truthe more plainely? Yea some that be vnlearned and yet hauehave right good wittes: will deuise with theim selues without any Booke learnyng, what they wil saie, and how muche they wil say, appointyng their order, and partyng it into thre, or foure partes, or more, if neede be, suche as they shal thynke especial pointes, and most meete to bee touched. Whose doynges as I can wel like, & muche commende them for the same: so I would thynke them muche more able to do muche better: if thei either by learning folowed a Paterne, or els knewe the preceptes, whiche leade vsus to right order. Rules wer therfore geuen, and by muche obseruacion gathered together, that those whiche could not see Arte hid in another mannes doynges, should yet se the rules open, all in an order set together: & therby iudge the rather of their doynges, and by earnest imitacion, seke to resemble suche their inuencion.Thuse of arte. I cannot deny but that a right wise man vnlearned, shall doo more good by his naturall witte, then twentie of these common wittes, that want nature to help arte. And I know that rules wer made first by wise men, and not wise men made by rules. For these preceptes serue onelyonly to helpe our nede, suche as by nature hauehave not suche plentifull giftes And as for other, vntounto whom nature is more fauorable, thei are rather put the soner in remēbraunce, that suche lessons are, then so taught as though thei neuer knewe theim, or els neuer would vse them. And therfore a certain learned man, & of muche excellencie, beeyng asked what was suche a figure, and suche a trope in Rhetorique: I cannot tell (ꝙ he) but I am assured, if you loke in the boke of myne oraciōs, you shall not faile but finde theim. So that though he knewe not the name of suche and suche figures, yet the nature of thē was so familiar to his knowlege, that he had thuse of them, when soeuer he had nede. Nowe though this man could well thus doo, beyng of suche notable vnderstandyng, yet it were foly that all should folowe his waie, whiche want so good a wit. And I thinke euen he himself, should not hauehave lost by it neither, if he had seen that in aglasse, whiche he often vsed to do without knowlege. Man is forgetfull, and there is none so wise, but counsaill maie dooe hym good. Yea, he shall dooe muche better, that knoweth what arte other me… hauehave vsed, what inuencion thei hauehave folowed, what order thei hauehave kept, and how thei hauehave best doen in eueryevery part. If he like not theirs, he may vse his awne, and yet none dooeth so euill (I thynke) but some good maie be got by hym. The wise therfore wil not refuse to heare: and the ignoraunt for want, had nede to seke a will.
¶Thende of the .ii. b…ke.