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ELOQUENCE, OR

L e c t. perfection of the art, of the end at which itXXV. aims , and of the progrefs which it has madeamong mankind.

Of Eloquence, in particular, it is the moreneceffary to afcertain the proper notion, becaufethere is not any thing concerning which falfenotions have been more prevalent. Hence, ithas been fo often , and is ftill at this day, indifrepute with many. When you fpeak to aplain man of Eloquence, or in praife of it, lieis apt to hear you with very little attention.He conceives Eloquence to £gnify a certain trickof Speech; tffe art of varnilhing weak argumentsplaufibly; or of fpeaking fo as to pleafe an!tickle the ear. “ Give me good fenfe ,” fays he,<c and keep your Eloquence for boys ” He is iathe right , if Eloquence were what he conceivesit to be. It would be then a very contemptibleart indeed , below the fludy of any wife or goodman. But nothing can be more remote fromtruth. To be truly eloquent, is to fpeak to thepurpofe. For the beft definition which, I think,can be given of Eloquence , is , the Art ofSpeaking in fnch a manner as to attain the endfor which we fpeak. W henever a man fpeaksor writes, he is fuppofed , as a rational being,to have fome end in view; either to inform, orto amufe, or to perfuadey or, in fome way orother , to ad; upon his fellow-creatures. He whofpeaks, or writes, in fuch a manner as to adaptall his words moft effedually to that end, is themod eloquent man. Whatever then the fubjeft