Ho someuer desyreth to be
a good Oratour or to dys-
pute and commune of any
maner thynge / hym beho-
ueth to haue foure thinges.
¶ The fyrst is called In-
uencion / for he must fyrst of all imagin or
Inuent in his mynde what he shall say.
¶ The seconde is named Iugement. For
he must haue wyt to deserne & iuge whe-
ther tho thynges that he hath founde in
his mynde be conuenient to the purpose
or nat. For oftētymes yf a man lacke this
property / he may aswell tell that that is
against hym as with hym / as experience
doth dayly shew. ¶ The thyrde is Dispo-
sicion / wherby he may know how to order
and set euery thynge in his due place / leest
thoughe his inuencion and iugement be
neuer so good / he may happen to be coun-
ted (as the comon prouerbe sayth) to put
the carte afore the horse. ¶ The fourth
& last is suche thynges as he hath inuen-
ted: and by Iugement knowen apte to his
purpose whan they are set in theyr order
so to speke them that it may be pleasaunt
and delectable to the audience / so that it
may be sayd of hym that hystories make
mencion that an olde woman sayd ones
by Demosthenes / & syns hath ben a comō
prouerbe amonge the Grekes [ουτοσ] εϛι
which is as moche to say as (This is he)
And this last p[ro]perty is called among ler-
ned men [( Eloquence]. ¶ Of these foure the
moost difficile or harde is to inuent what
thou must say / wherfore of this parte the
Rethoriciens whiche be maisters of this
Arte: haue writen very moche & diligētly.
¶ Inuencion is comprehended in certayn
places / as the Rhetoriciens call them / out
of whom he that knoweth ye faculty may
fetche easely suche thynges as be mete for
the mater that he shall speke of / which ma[-]
ter the Oratours calleth the Theme / and
in our vulgare tongue it is called impro-
perly the Anthethem. ¶ The theme pur-
posed: we must after the rules of Rheto-
rique go to our places that shall anō shew
vnto vs what shall be to our purpose.
¶ Example.
IN olde tyme there was greate enuy
betwene two noble men of Rome / of
whō the one was called Milo / & the other
Clodius / which malice grew so ferre that
Clodius layd wayte for Milo on a season
whan he sholde ryde out of the Citie / and
in his iourney set vpon hym / and there as
it chaunced: Clodius was slayne / where
vpon this Clodius frendes accused Milo
to the Cenate of murder. Tully whiche in
tho days was a great Aduocate in Rome
sholde plede Miloes cause. Now it was
open that Milo had slayne Clodius / but
whether he had slayn hym laufully or nat
was the doubte. So than the Theme of
Tullies oraciō or plee for Milo was this /
that he had slayne Clodius laufully / and
therfore he ought nat to be punisshed / for
the confirmacion wherof (as dothe appere
in Tullies oracion) he dyd brynge out of
places of Rhetoryque argumentes to p[ro]ue
his sayd Theme or purpose. And likewyse
must we do whan we haue any mater to
speke or comun of. As if I sholde make an
oracion to the laude & prayse of the Kyn-
ges highnes: I must for the Inuencyon
of suche thynges as be for my purpose go
to places of Rhetorique / where I shall
easely finde (after I know the rules) that
that I desyre. ¶ Here is to be noted that
there is no Theme but it is conteyned vn[-]
der one of the foure causes / or for the more
playnnes foure kyndes of Oracions.
¶ The fyrste is called Logycall / whyche
kinde we call properly disputaciō. ¶ The
seconde is called Demonstratiue. ¶ The
thyrde Deliberatiue. ¶ The fourth Iudi-
ciall / and these thre last be properly called
spices or kyndes of oracions / whose natu-
res shall be declared seperately hereafter
with the crafte that is required in euery of
them. All themes that perteine to Logike
either they be simple or compounde. As yf
a man desyre to know of me what Iustice
is. This onely thīg Iustice is my theme.
Or if disputacion be had in company vpon
religion / and I wolde declare the very na-
ture of religion / my theme shulde be this
simple or one thynge religion. But yf it be
doubted whether Iustyce be a vertue or
nat / and I wolde proue the parte affyrma[-]
tyue / my theme were now compoūde / that
is to say / Iustice is a vertue / for it is made
of two thynges knyt and vnied togither /
Iustice and vertue. ¶ Here must be noted
that Logike is a playn & a sure way to in-
struct a mā of the trouth of euery thynge /
& that in it the natures / causes / partes / &
effectes of thynges are by certayne rules
discussed & serched out / so that nothing can
be p[er]fectly & p[ro]perly knowē but by rules of
Logike / which is nothing but an obserua[-]
cyon / or a dylygent markynge of nature.
whereby in euery thynge mannes reason
dothe consyder what is fyrste / what last /
what proper / what improper.
¶ The places or instrumentes of a simple
theme are.