The art of rhetoric, with A discourse of the laws of England by Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury.

About this Item

Title
The art of rhetoric, with A discourse of the laws of England by Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury.
Author
Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679.
Publication
London :: Printed for William Crooke ...,
1681.
Rights/Permissions

To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.

Subject terms
Rhetoric -- Early works to 1800.
Oratory -- Early works to 1800.
Law -- Great Britain -- History.
Link to this Item
http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A43971.0001.001
Cite this Item
"The art of rhetoric, with A discourse of the laws of England by Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury." In the digital collection Early English Books Online. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A43971.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 29, 2025.

Pages

CHAP. XIV.

Places of Crimination, and Purgation.

1. ONe is from the removal of ill Opini∣on in the Hearer, imprinted in him by the Adversary, or otherwise.

2. Another from this, That the thing done is not hurtful, or not to him, or not so much, or not unjust, or not great, or not di∣shonourable.

3. A Third from the Recompence, as, I did him harm, but withal I did him honour.

4. A Fourth from the Excuse; as, It was Errour, Mischance, or Constraint.

5. A Fifth from the Intention; as, One thing was done, another meant.

Page 124

6. A Sixth from the Comprehension of the Accuser; as, What I have done, the Accuser has done the same; or his Father, Kinsman, or Friend.

7. From the Comprehension of those that are in Reputation; as, What I did, such, and such have done the same, who nevertheless are good Men.

8. From Comparison with such as have been falsly accused, or wrongfully suspected, and nevertheless found upright.

9. From Recrimination; as, The Accuser is a man of ill life, and therefore not to be be∣lieved.

10. From that the Judgment belongs to a∣nother Place, or Time; as, I have already an∣swered, or am to answer else-where to this Mat∣ter.

11. From Crimination of the Crimination; as, It serves only to evert Indgment.

12. A Twelfth, which is common both to Crimination and Purgation, and is taken from some sign; as Teucer is not to be belie∣ved, because his Mother was Priam's Sister. On the other side, Teucer is to be believed, because his Father was Priam's Enemy.

13. A Thirteenth, proper to Crimination only, from praise and dispraise mixt; as, To praise small things, and blame great ones; or to praise in many words, and blame with effectual ones; or to praise many things

Page 125

that are good, and then add one evil, but a great one.

14. A Fourteenth, comming both to Cri∣mination and Purgation, is taken from the interpretation of the fact: for he that pur∣geth himself interpreteth the fact always in the best sense; and he that Criminates, al∣ways in the worst; as when Vlysses said, Diomedes chose him for his Companion, as the most able of the Grecians, to aid him in his exploit: but his Adversary said, He chose him for his cowardize, as the most unlikely to share with him in the Honour.

Do you have questions about this content? Need to report a problem? Please contact us.