ABSTRACT
After Master Brunetto Latini finished the second part of his book, in which he shows very well what a man must do and what his moral character must be, and how he must live honestly and govern himself and his household and his belongings according to the sciences of ethics and economics, which he mentioned where he described the branches of philosophy, and after he described what it is that destroys the law and lays waste to the city, he thought that his work would be incomplete if he did not speak of the third science, which is politics, which teaches man how to govern the city. For the city is nothing other than one people gathered together to live under one law and one governor. 2. Cicero says that the most important science relative to governing the city is rhetoric, that is to say, the science of speaking, for if there were no speech, there would be no city, nor would there be any establishment of justice or of human company, and although speech is given to all men, Cato says wisdom is given to few. For this reason, I say that speakers are of four types, for some are endowed with great sense and eloquence, and this is the cream of the crop; others are devoid of both eloquence and sense, and this is a great misfortune; others are devoid of sense, but they speak too well, and this is a very great peril; others are full of sense, but they remain silent because of the poverty of their speech, and so they need help. Because of this diversity, wise men were always uncertain of this science, whether it comes through nature or through art. 3. To tell the truth, before the tower of Babel was built, all men had one language naturally, which was Hebrew; but after a diversity of languages had arisen among men, three were more sacred than the others: Hebrew, Greek and Latin. We see that through nature those who live in the Orient speak in their throats, as the Hebrews do; those who are in the middle of the earth speak with their palates, as the Greeks do; and those who live in the western parts speak with their teeth, as the Italians do. 4. Even though this science does not deal with just speaking, but with speaking well, nevertheless Plato says that it exists through nature, not through art, because we find many who speak well naturally, without any instruction. Aristotle says that it is an art, but an evil one, because through speaking more harm than good had come to people. 5. Cicero is in full agreement that speaking exists through nature; but in good speaking, three things are necessary: nature and usage and art; usage and art are highly instructional, and instruction is nothing other than wisdom, 6. and wisdom consists in understanding things as they are; for this reason it is called the mediator of things, for it provides them all ahead of time, and then gives them a certain purpose and measure. When wisdom is then added to speech, who would say that anything but good would be produced? 7. Cicero says that in the beginning men lived in isolated caves in the woods like animals, without a proper house and without the knowledge of God, paying no heed to marriage, and no one knew either father or son. There was a wise man who spoke and counselled the others and showed them the greatness of man and the dignity of reason and wisdom so effectively that he brought them out of the wild and taught them to live in one place and to maintain reason and justice, and thus with his eloquence and good sense this man was like a second God, who established the world through the order of human companionship. 8. History tells us that Amphion, who built the city of Athens, made stones and wood appear by the sweetness of his song, that is, through his good words he brought men out of the wild rocks where they were living and led them to live in common in that city. 9. Furthermore, Cicero is in close agreement with what Aristotle says of speaking, that it is an evil art; but this refers to speaking without wisdom, for when a man has a good tongue outside and has no counsel inside his speaking is terribly dangerous to the city and to his friends. 10. Now it has been proven that the science of rhetoric is not acquired by nature or by usage at all, but by instruction or by art, wherefore I say that each person should study his intelligence in order to know it. 11. For Cicero says: man, who in many respects is inferior and weaker than the other animals, surpasses them in this one thing, which is that he can speak. Therefore it seems manifestly clear that it is a very noble thing to surpass men in the same way that men surpass the beasts. 12. It is not in vain that the proverb says that nature is more important than nurture; for as we shall find in the first and second parts of this book, the soul of all men is good naturally, but its nature is changed by the evil in the body in which it remains enclosed, just as wine grows bad because of the bad quality of the container. When the body is good, it strengthens the soul and supports its goodness; then art and usage are of value to it, for art teaches it the commandments which are appropriate to it, and usage makes it ready and open and prepared for the work. 13. For this reason, the master wants to remind his friend of the rules and instruction of the art of rhetoric, which will be of great help to him with the ability he has through his good nature. But first of all he will tell what rhetoric is and what other science it comes under, and then its function and its goals and its nature and its parts; for the person who knows this well understands better the perfection of this art.
