Rhetoric

GRAMMAR instructs us how to express our thoughts correctly.

RHETORIC teaches us to express them with force and elegance.

The former is generally confined to the correct application of words in constructing single sentences. The latter treats of the proper choice of words, of the happiest method of constructing sentences, of their most advantageous arrangement in forming a discourse, and of the various kinds and qualities of composition. The principles of rhetoric are principally based on those unfolded and illustrated in the science of grammar. Hence, an acquaintance with the latter, and, indeed, with the liberal arts, is a prerequisite to the study of rhetoric and belles-lettres.

It may be laid down as a maxim of eternal truth, that good sense is the foundation of all good writing. One who understands a subject well, will scarcely write ill upon it.

Rhetoric, or the art of persuasion, requires in a writer, the union of good sense, and a lively and chaste imagination. It is, then, her province to teach him to embellish his thoughts with elegant and appropriate language, vivid imagery, and an agreeable variety of expression. It ought to be his aim,

"To mark the point where sense and dulness meet."