an essay may be single too; but it is not often single so very strictly. It cannot so often be summed up in a single sentence. The difference comes from this, that the object of a speech is usually to have something done; the object of an essay is usually to have something understood. The latter object is not so compellingly single. The Mars’ Hill speech deals with some of the same matters as this essay on idolatry. The former turns them all toward one point of action for one audience; the latter
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