at more than Plato's? It is their eloquence only that has
preserved and transmitted them down to us through so many centuries; for
the philosophy of them is wretched, and the reasoning part miserable. But
eloquence will always please, and has always pleased. Study it therefore;
make it the object of your thoughts and attention. Use yourself to relate
elegantly; that is a good step toward speaking well in parliament. Take
some political subject, turn it in your thoughts, consider what may be
said both for and against it, then put those arguments into writing, in
the most correct and elegant English you can. For instance, a standing
army, a place bill, etc.; as to the former, consider, on one side, the
dangers arising to a free country from a great standing military force;
on the other side, consider the necessity of a force to repel force with.
Examine whether a standing army, though in itself an evil, may not, from
circumstances, become a necessary evil, and preventive of greater
dangers. As to the latter, consider, how far places may bias and warp the
conduct of men, from the service of their country, into an unwarrantable
complaisance to the court; and, on the other hand, consider whether they
can be supposed to have that effect upon the conduct of people of probity
and property, who are more solidly interested in the permanent good of
their country, than they can be in an uncertain and precarious
employment. Seek for, and answer in your own mind, all the arguments that
can be urged on either side, and write them down in an elegant style.
This will prepare you for debating, and give you an habitual eloquence;
for I would not give a farthing for a mere holiday eloquence, displayed
once or twice in a session, in a set declamation, but I want an
every-day, ready, and habitual eloquence, to adorn extempore and debating
speeches; to make business not only clear but agreeable, and to please
even those whom you cannot inform, and who do not desire to be informed.
All this you may acquire, and make habitual to you, with as little
trouble as it cost you to dance a minuet as well as you do. You now dance
it mechanically and well without thinking of it.

I am surprised that you found but one letter for me at Manheim, for you
ought to have found four or five; there are as many lying for you at your
banker's at Berlin, which I wish you had, because I always endeavored to
put something into them, which, I hope, may be of use to you.