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Hume, Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary, Part I, Essay XIII, OF ELOQUENCE: Library of Economics and Liberty |
 | | This seems to me a certain proof, that none of them have attained much beyond a mediocrity in their art, and that the species of eloquence, which they aspire to, gives no exercise to the sublimer faculties of the mind, but may be reached by ordinary talents and a slight application. |
| | Secondly, It may be pretended that the decline of eloquence is owing to the superior good sense of the moderns, who reject with disdain all those rhetorical tricks, employed to seduce the judges, and will admit of nothing but solid argument in any debate or deliberation. |
| | Now to judge by this rule, ancient eloquence, that is, the sublime and passionate, is of a much juster taste than the modern, or the argumentative and rational; and, if properly executed, will always have more command and authority over mankind. |
| www.econlib.org /library/LFBooks/Hume/hmMPL13.html (3054 words) |
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