On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. 309 



arts, fo long as men have prejudices to be at- 

 tacked ; fears to be allayed ; hopes to be excited, 

 or paffions to be moved ; and fo long, it may be 

 added, as they have underftandings to be in- 

 formed. For, perhaps, the moft extenfive field 

 for the difplay of real ability in fpeaking, is the 

 rich, the vaft, and hitherto uncultivated tra6t of 

 probable evidence. 



Within the fphere of demonftration indeed, 

 eloquence has but little to do, having only room 

 enough to exhibit two of her loweft qualities, 

 perfpicuity and order : but demonftration, though 

 abfolute fo far as her power extends, reigns over 

 a very narrow territory. I will not prefume td go 

 quite fo far as D'Alembert, and fay of elo- 

 quence, " Les prodiges qu'elle opere fouvent 

 " entre les mains d'un feul fur toute une na- 

 " tion, font peut etre le temoignage le plus 

 '* eclatant de la fuperiorite d'un homme fur un 

 " autre* ;" but ftill, that art which teaches us 

 how we are likely, in the moft effeftual manner, 

 to make ourfelves mafters of other men's minds 

 by fpeech, muft be permitted to rank very high 

 in the fcale of ufeful ftudies. 



It has in truth been common with thofe men 

 of fenfe, who have themfelves been deficient in " 

 expreflion, to fpeak with contempt of the elo- 

 quence of others, and to reprefent it as ufelefs 



* Difcours preliminaire a I'Encyclopedie. 



X 3 an 



