quently been made to
quail before it; and even virtue itself has for a time been deprived of
its influence, when assailed by eloquence. Nay, even in more artificial
communities, where Nature has been constrained and moulded anew to suit
the tastes and caprices of selfish men, eloquence has still maintained
its reputation, and has generally guided the possessor to honour and to
power. Amongst the lower and unsophisticated classes of society its
influence is almost universal; and in most polished communities, it is
still acknowledged as a high attainment, and one of the best indications
that has yet been afforded of superior mental culture.

That this is not an erroneous estimate of the mental powers of a
finished debater, will be evident from a slight analysis of what he has
to achieve in the exercise of his art. He has, while his adversary is
speaking, to receive and retain upon his mind, the whole of his
argument,--separate its weak and strong points,--and call forth and
arrange those views and illustrations which are calculated to overthrow
and demolish it. This itself, even when performed in silence, is a
prodigious effort of mental strength; but when he commences to speak,
and to manage these, with other equally important operations of his own
mind at the same moment, the difficulty of succeeding is greatly
increased. When he begins to pour forth his refutation in an
uninterrupted flow of luminous eloquence;--meeting, combating, and
setting aside his opponent's statements and reasonings;--carefully
marking, as he goes along, the effect produced upon his hearers, and
adapting his arguments to the varying emotions and circumstances of the
audience;--withholding, transposing, or abridging the materials he had
previously prepared, or seizing new illustrations suggested by passing
incidents;--and all this not only without hesitation, and without
confusion, but with the most perfect composure and self-controul;--such
a man gives evidence of an energy, a grasp, a quickness of thought,
which, as an exhibition of godlike power in a creature, has scarcely a
parallel in the whole range of Nature's efforts. All kinds and degrees
of physical glory, in comparison with this, sink into insignificance.

It is but rare indeed that any country or age produces a Demosthenes, a
Pitt, a Thomson, or a Brougham; and such persons have hitherto been
considered as gifts of Nature, rather than the legitimate production of
educational exercise