Brutus, or On Eminent Orators Passage 327

[Erat excellens iudicio vulgi et facile primas tenebat adulescens . Etsi enim genus illud dicendi auctoritatis habebat parum, tamen aptum esse aetati videbatur.] Et certe, quod et ingeni quaedam forma elucebat et exercitatio perfecta verborum astricta comprehensione, summam hominum admirationem excitabat. Sed cum iam honores et illa senior auctoritas gravius quiddam requireret, remanebat idem nec decebat idem; quodque exercitationem studiumque dimiserat, quod in eo fuerat acerrimum, concinnitas illa crebritasque sententiarum pristina manebat, sed ea vestitu illo orationis quo consuerat ornata non erat. Hoc tibi ille, Brute, minus fortasse placuit quam placuisset, si ilium flagrantem studio et florentem facultate audire potuisses.

[He was outstanding in the judgment of the people and easily held first place as a young man. Although that style of speaking possessed little authority, it nevertheless seemed suited to his age.] And certainly, because a certain form of talent shone forth and his perfect training appeared in his tightly constructed phrasing, he aroused the greatest admiration among men. But when public honors and the authority of advancing age demanded something weightier, he remained the same, and the same no longer suited him. Because he had abandoned the practice and zeal that had once been extremely keen in him, his former symmetry and abundance of thoughts remained, but they were no longer adorned in the clothing of speech that he had customarily worn. For this reason, Brutus, he perhaps pleased you less than he would have pleased you had you been able to hear him burning with zeal and flourishing in ability.

[Il excellait au jugement du public et, dans sa jeunesse, tenait aisément le premier rang. Bien que ce genre d’éloquence eût peu d’autorité, il paraissait adapté à son âge.] Comme une certaine forme de talent brillait en lui et que son exercice était parfait dans la période étroitement construite, il suscitait assurément l’admiration suprême des hommes. Mais quand les honneurs et cette autorité de l’âge mûr exigèrent quelque chose de plus grave, il resta le même et cette identité ne lui convenait plus. Comme il avait abandonné l’exercice et l’étude, autrefois si ardents chez lui, l’ancienne harmonie et l’abondance de ses pensées demeuraient, mais elles n’étaient plus ornées de ce vêtement oratoire qui leur était habituel. Voilà peut-être, Brutus, pourquoi il t’a moins plu qu’il ne l’aurait fait si tu avais pu l’entendre brûlant d’application et dans la fleur de ses moyens.