sarily, conveys to the mind some important truths of the science to which it refers.

The Definitions to which it is necessary, in the first instance, to call the attention of the student, are those only that mark the boundaries of signification assignable to three essential terms of discrimination, in the modifications of the faculty of discourse,—Eloquence Oratory and Elocution:-terms which Etymological refinement might, perhaps, reduce to one radical meaning, but which the necessities of science have converted into definite representatives of distinct, though relative, ideas.

ELOQUENCE may be defined-The Art of expressing our thoughts and feelings, with precision, force and elegance; and of heightening the impressions of Reason, by the colourings of imagination.

It is applicable, therefore, to the whole faculty of verbal discourse; whether oral, or written: It addresses itself, by the pen, to the eye; as well as, by the living Organs, to the ear. Thus we speak (with admitted accuracy) of an eloquent Book, as freely as of an eloquent Oration; of the eloquent BUFFON (alluding to his celebrated work upon Natural History;) and of the eloquent writings, as well as the eloquent speeches of

EDMUND BURKE. The Apostrophe to the Queen of France, is as genuine a piece of eloquence, as if it had been spoken in the House of Commons.

ORATORY, on the contrary, is precise and limited, in its application: and, in this respect, even popular usage is pretty generally correct. It may be defined -Oral Eloquence; or the Art of communicating, by the immediate action of the vocal and expressive Organs, to popular, or to select assemblies, the dictates of our Reason, or our Will; and the workings of our Passions, our Feelings and our Imaginations.

Oratory, therefore, includes the idea of Eloquence: for no man can be an Orator who hath not affluence of thought and language. But Eloquence does not necessarily include the idea of Oratory: since a man may be rich in all the stores of Language and of thought, without possessing the advantages of a graceful and impressive delivery. It is, therefore, the name of a more complex idea; and includes, besides the general notion of Eloquence, the practical part of Elocution: which, as it constitutes the immediate and essential object of these Lectures, must be spoken of more at large.

ELOCUTION may be regarded, either as a Science, or as an Act. In the former signification it may be de

fined-The System of Elementary Facts and Principles, by which the Phenomena of Human Utterance are explained, and the Rules for the just delivery of Eloquence are taught; In the latter-That happy coincidence of vocal, enunciative and gesticulative expression, by which Oratorical excitement is superadded to the Eloquence of Thought and Language.

In other words-Elocution is the Art, or the Act, of so delivering our own thoughts and sentiments, or the thoughts and sentiments of others, as not only to convey to those around us (with precision, force and harmony) the full purport and meaning of the words and sentences in which those thoughts are cloathed; but, also, to excite and impress upon their minds-the feelings, the imaginations and the passions, by which those thoughts are dictated; or with which they should naturally be accompanied.

Elocution, therefore, (in its more ample and liberal signification) is not confined to the mere exercise of the Organs of Speech. It embraces the whole Theory and Practice of the exterior demonstration of the inward workings of the mind.

In short-Eloquence is the Soul, or animating principle of Discourse; and is dependent on Intellectual Energy, and Intellectual Attainments. Elocution is the embodying Form, or representative power; and

is the result of certain exterior accomplishments, and of the cultivation of the expressive Organs. Oratory is the complicated and vital existence, resulting from the perfect harmony and cooperation of the two.

This vital existence, however, in its full perfection, is one of the choicest rarities of Nature. The high and splendid accomplishments of Oratory (even in the most favoured Ages, and the most favoured Countries) have been attained by few; and many are the Ages, many are the Countries, in which those accomplishments have never once appeared. Generations have succeeded to Generations, and Centuries have rolled after Centuries-during which, the intellectual desert has not exhibited one solitary specimen of the stately growth and flourishing expansion of Oratorical Genius.

The rarity of this occurrence is, undoubtedly, in part, to be accounted for, from the difficulty of the attainment. The Palm of Oratorical perfection is only to be grasped-it is, in reality, only to be desired-by aspiring souls and intellects of unusual energy. It requires a persevering toil-which few will be disposed to encounter ;—a decisive intrepidity of character, and an untameableness of mental ambition, which very-very few can be expected to possess. It re

quires, also, conspicuous opportunities for the cultivation and display of its essential attributes: Opportunities to which few can have the fortune to be born; and which fewer still, will have the hardihood efficiently to improve.

But, even the very few, to whom these energies, and these opportunities are dispensed, are, at least, impeded in their pursuit, if not frustrated of their hopes, by the want of sufficient guides in the path of their emulation. In those parts of Oratory, indeed, which relate to the arrangements of thought, and the energies of expressive language, there is no absolute deficiency of existing models; and, certainly, no paucity whatever, of pedantic Rules and Treatises. Cicero and Demosthenes still continue to speak to the Eye, in all the eloquence of graphic words; and Quintillian and Blair (like two conspicuous luminaries, in the ancient and modern hemispheres of Oratorical Criticism) illuminate the tracks of written language, and may help to inform us-how Orations should be composed: (In this part of Oratory, the present-and even the preceding generation, have, accordingly, something to boast:) But for the theory and practice of those impressive exterior demonstrations, with which the delivery of such Orations should be accompanied!-to