John Trapp on Proverbs 16:21

Verſ. 21. The wiſe in heart ſhall bee called prudent] Hee ſhall have the ſtile and eſteem of an intelligent, though not haply of an eloquent man. Of ſome it may bee ſaid, Solin. Praefat. as Solinus ſaith of his Poly-hiſtor to his friend Antius, Fermentum (ut ita dicam) cognitionis, ei magis ineſſe, quam bracteas eloquentiae deprehendas, you may finde more worth of wiſdome in them,De libris A[illegible: 2 letters]ici ſcriptum reliquit Cicero ces hoc ipſo fulſſe ornates quod ornamenta negligerent. than force of words. Bonaventure requireth to a perfect ſpeech, Congruity, Truth, and Ornament. This latter ſome wiſe men want; and it is their Ornament, that they neglect Ornament, as Tully writes of Atticus, and as Beza writes of Calvin, that hee was facundiae contemptor & verborum parcus, ſed minime ineptus ſcriptor, a plain, but profitable Author.

And the ſweetneſs of the lips increaſeth learning] That is, eloquence with prudence edifieth, and is of ſingular uſe, for the laying forth of a mans talent to the good of others. As one being asked whether light was pleaſant? replied, That is a blinde mans queſtion; [non-Latin text not transcribed]. ſo if any ask whether eloquence and a gracious utterance bee uſeful in the Church of God? It is an inſulſe and inficete queſtion. Zanchy ſpeaking of Calvin and Viret (who were Preachers together at Geneva when hee firſt came thither out of Italy) uſeth theſe words, Zanch. Miſcel. Ep. ded. Sicut in Calvino inſignem doctrinam, ſic in Vireto ſingularem eloquentiam, & in commovendis affectibus efficacitatem admirabar, i. e. As Calvin I admired for excellent learning, ſo did I Viret no leſs for his ſingular eloquence, and efficacy in drawing affections. Beza alſo was of the ſame minde, as appears by that Epigram of his, Gallica mirata eſt Calvinum Eccleſia nuper, Quo nemo docuit doctius: Et miratur adhuc fundentem mella Viretum, Quo nemo fatur dulcius.