Chapter XXIV: Section XXII

[a] The words _sententia_ and _sensus_ were technical terms with the critics of antiquity. Quintilian gives the distinct meaning of each, with his usual precision. According to the established usage, the word _sensus_ signified our ideas or conceptions, as they rise in the mind: by _sententia_ was intended, a proposition, in the close of a period, so expressed, as to dart a sudden brilliancy, for that reason called _lumen orationis_. He says, these artificial ornaments, which the ancients used but sparingly, were the constant practice of the modern orators. _Consuetudo jam tenuit, ut mente concepta_, SENSUS _vocaremus; lumina autem, præcipuèque in clausulis posita_, SENTENTIAS. _Quæ minus crebra apud antiquos, nostris temporibus modo carent._ Lib. viii. cap. 5. These luminous sentences, Quintilian says, may be called the eyes of an oration; but eyes are not to be placed in every part, lest the other members should lose their function. _Ego vero hæc lumina orationis velut oculos quosdam esse eloquentiæ credo: sed neque oculos esse toto corpore velim, ne cætera membra suum officium perdant._ Lib. viii, cap. 5. As Cowley says,

Jewels at nose and lips but ill appear;
Rather than all things, wit let none be there.

[b] In order to form a good style, the sentence should always be closed with variety, strength, and harmony. The ancient rhetoricians held this to be so essentially requisite, that Quintilian has given it a full discussion. That, he says, which offends the ear, will not easily gain admission to the mind. Words should be fitted to their places, so that they may aptly coalesce with one another. In building, the most ill shapen stones may be conveniently fixed; and in like manner, a good style must have proper words in proper places, all arranged in order, and closing the sentence with grace and harmony. _Nihil intrare potest in affectum, quod in aure, velut quodam vestibulo, statim offendit. Non enim ad pedes verba dimensa sunt; ideoque ex loco transferuntur in locum, ut jungantur quo congruunt maximè; sicut in structurâ saxorum rudium etiam ipsa enormitas invenit cui applicari, et in quo possit insistere. Felicissimus tamen sermo est, cui et rectus ordo, et apta junctura, et cum his numerus opportunè cadens contingit._ Quintil. lib. ix. cap. 4.