THE RHETORIC OF CONVERSATION: WITH HINTS SPECIALLY TO CHRISTIANS On the Use of the Tongue. BY G. W. HERVEY. EDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION, BY THE REV. STEPHEN JENNER, M.A. AUTHOR OF "ESSAYS ON THE ERRORS OF THE DAY," &c. "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man."-JAMES. "Knowest thou when to speak and when to hold thy peace?" AUTHOR'S PREFACE. THIS work is the result of a purpose to write an original monograph on Conversation, which should keep clear of all irrelevant matter, and at the same time contain all the instruction as to the art and ethics of talking that the most ambitious aspirant after colloquial excellence could reasonably desire. After some laborious research, the writer came to the conclusion, that no complete work on this subject exclusively has ever been published in any country, not even in France, where Conversation is deservedly ranked among the arts. There are to be found, in several languages, short essays and chapters on this subject, some of which possess great merit, though many of them are vague and commonplace, some demoralizing, and all incomplete. Their incompleteness, however, should not keep any one from reading them, for though they are small, they all, except those that have an immoral tendency, help to cure the bad habits of talkers. The writer would apologise for them, and for parts of his own work, |