Chapter II: Preface: Of 1866

One has no right to make a literary subject political--that is, to make it partisan; but to give a political motive which concerns all equally, for promoting a literary study, is allowable, and does not partake of the nature of party politics. One may, like Cobbett, look on literature with political eyes, without, like him, making it a vehicle of party attacks.

In this country, where the political genius of the people lies in self-government--where the public growth of the people and their internal liberty depend upon their capacity to manage their own affairs--the art of public speaking has political importance to every aide in politics.

To be able to take a subject well in hand, like a stage-coach driver does his horses--to hold the reins of your arguments firmly--to direct and drive well home the burden of your meaning, is a power which every man ought to study to attain, who rises to address a council, or stands up on a platform to convince a meeting.

A LOGIC OF FACTS.