The rhetorician and the dialectician distinguished

"The business of the rhetorician is to plant and establish some given point of persuasion, whether as to a general resolution or a particular fact, in the bosoms of certain auditors before him: hence he gives prominence and emphasis to some views of the question, suppressing or discrediting others, and especially keeping out of sight … Continue reading The rhetorician and the dialectician distinguished →

The Rev. Sydney Smith on English boarding schools

From the article "Public Schools", Edinburgh Review 1810. "At a public school (for such is the system established by immemorial custom), every boy is alternately tyrant and slave. The power which the elder part of these communities exercises over the younger, is exceedingly great—very difficult to be controlled—and accompanied, not unfrequently, with cruelty and caprice. … Continue reading The Rev. Sydney Smith on English boarding schools →

James Mill on two easy paths to literary fame

"He who desires to obtain a considerable portion of immediate applause, has two well-known, and well-trodden paths, before him. "The first is, to be a zealot for some particular and powerful party; to panegyrize its leaders; attack its opponents; place its principles and practices in the fairest possible light; and labour to bring odium upon … Continue reading James Mill on two easy paths to literary fame →

A Victorian View of Anonymity in the Press

From An Essay on the Influence of Authority in Matters of Opinion (1849) by Sir George Cornewall Lewis. “in looking on the newspaper as one of the principal guides of public opinion, and as an authoritative source of practical convictions to a large part of the community, the most prominent characteristic which strikes the observer … Continue reading A Victorian View of Anonymity in the Press →