Scotchman.—“I stand corrected for quoting Greek. Now I will not go to Longinus for my tropes and figures; I have just met with a little book on the subject, which I put into my pocket to-day, intending to finish it on my journey, but I have been better employed.”
He drew from his pocket a book, called, “Deinology; or, the Union of Reason and Elegance.” “Look,” said he, “look at this long list of tropes and figures; amongst them we could find apologies for every species of Irish bulls; but in mercy, I will select, from ‘the twenty chief and most moving figures of speech,’ only the oxymoron, as it is a favourite with Irish orators. In the oxymoron contradictions meet: to reconcile these, Irish ingenuity delights. I will further spare four out of the seven figures of less note: emphasis, enallage, and the hysteron proteron you must have; because emphasis graces Irish diction, enallage unbinds it from strict grammatical fetters, and hysteron proteron allows it sometimes to put the cart before the horse. Of the eleven grammatical figures, Ireland delights chiefly in the antimeria, or changing one part of speech for another, and in the ellipsis or defect. Of the remaining long list of figures, the Irish are particularly disposed to the epizeuxis, as ‘indeed, indeed—at all, at all,’ and antanaclasis, or double meaning. The tautotes, or repetition of the same thing, is, I think, full as common amongst the English. The hyperbole and catachresis are so nearly related to a bull, that I shall dwell upon them with pleasure. You must listen to the definition of a catachresis:—‘A catachresis is the boldest of any trope. Necessity makes it borrow and employ an expression or term contrary to the thing it means to express.’”
“Upon my word this is something like a description of an Irish bull,” interrupted the Hibernian.
Scotchman.—“For instance, it has been said, Equitare in arundine longá, to ride on horseback on a stick. Reason condemns the contradiction, but necessity has allowed it, and use has made it intelligible. The same trope is employed in the following metaphorical expression:—the seeds of the Gospel have been watered by the blood of the martyrs.”
Englishman.—“That does seem an absurdity, I grant; but you know great orators trample on impossibilities.” [60]
Scotchman.—“And great poets get the letter of them. You recollect Shakspeare says,
‘Now bid me run,
And I will strive with things impossible,
Yea, get the better of them.’”
Englishman.—“And Corneille, in the Cid, I believe, makes his hero a compliment upon his having performed impossibilities—‘Vos mains seules ont le droit de vaincre un invincible.’” [61]
Scotchman.—“Ay, that would be a bull in an Irishman, but it is only an hyperbole in a Frenchman.”
Irishman.—“Indeed this line of Corneille’s out-hyperboles the hyperbole, considered in any but a prophetic light; as a prophecy, it exactly foretels the taking of Bonaparte’s invincible standard by the glorious forty-second regiment of the British: ‘Your hands alone have a right to vanquish the invincible.’ By-the-by, the phrase ont le droit cannot, I believe, be literally translated into English; but the Scotch and Irish, have a right, translates it exactly. But do not let me interrupt my country’s defence, gentlemen; I am heartily glad to find Irish blunderers may shelter themselves in such good company in the ancient sanctuary of the hyperbole. But I am afraid you must deny admittance to the poor mason, who said, ‘This house will stand as long as the world, and longer.’”