and because too far removed from the business and bosoms of men,-minùs aptæ rebus agendis.

The next question is,-How is the ascendency of Demosthenes to be accounted for?-We are aware of the fearful extent of this inquiry, and must confine ourselves within certain limits. The language, rich as it is, undoubtedly, and copious and powerful,-expressing the varieties of moods, and tenses, and cases by most artificial and elegant inflexions, without the aid of our useful, but untuneful monosyllables,—will, shall, would, could, should, &c.—with the delicacy of compound words, which frequently assign qualifications and degrees to expressions, which, with us, are general and indefinite (to fear, to love, &c. means. any quantity of the sensation, and is, of itself, indeterminate)—the peculiarity of the middle voice partaking of the active and passive nature;-this language, we doubt not, is an ingredient in the case, but we think overrated, and too much relied upon in considering this subject.

The true solution of this phenomenon is to be looked for, we believe, in the singular state and condition of Greece, and of Athens more particularly.-A Republic of independent nations, differing from each other in their particular habits and institutions, but united for purposes of general safety,-burning with the most anxious and jealous desire of surpassing each other;brought into frequent contact and collision upon set and solemn occasions of Religion-of Games-of Spectacles;-nursed and pampered into the most unbounded and bigotted nationality by the achievements of their ancestors,-a nationality kept alive by Poetry, by Oratory,-by Monuments and Inscriptions;-impressed with an unshaken belief (not very far removed from the truth), that whatever was great and good and virtuous and splendid, centered in, and was confined to their own territory:Such a people were continually goaded and stimulated to exertion by the most intense rivalry and impatient thirst for glory.The very narrowness of their limits, to which, in their firm persuasion, no accession of importance or of value would have been made, if the rest of the world had been added, by facilitating frequent intercourse, served only to condense the spirit.-The eager controversy for victory at their games,-the anxiety and interest in the spectators, and the infinite applause which was showered down upon the victors, serve to illustrate the course and tendency of our remarks, of which we purposely only give our readers a taste, without pursuing them in all their details.

Why do you not die, Diagoras,' said a spectator at the Olympic Games to the father of two victorious sons,- Why do you not die,-for you cannot become a God?'— Moriri

Diagora, neque enim in cœlum ascensurus es. In a nation composed of such materials, and in such a constant strife for eminence and superiority, the Athenians were, unquestionably, the foremost in the race of fame,-and that too of literary fame. We forbear to notice other particulars, which are only, incidentally, to our present purpose, and come at once to the study of Oratory. Not merely from what they have left us, which would justify an inference of their superiority in the art, but from the direct testimony of Demosthenes himself, given in the most unsuspicious and undesigning manner, it appears that such was the contemporary opinion respecting them.-When he spoke for the Crown, Greece came and listened to him. This ascendency we must, of course, attribute not merely to the peculiar aptitude of this most ingenious and lively people for making a proficiency, but to the vigour and earnestness of the pursuit. Eloquence was the road to honours and distinction; and the competitors for them outstripped each other in proportion to their acquirement and success. Now this we take to be the solution. Honos alit artes,' says Cicero most truly, omnesque incenduntur ad studia gloriâ;' and the quantity of exertion is sure to be in proportion to the ardency of the love of fame. And as in Greece, generally, and particularly at Athens, the intensity of this glorious passion was, for the reasons we have generally alluded to, greater we believe than it ever was in any other country, it would only be reasonable to expect, and accordingly we are informed, that there were greater exertions made in cultivating public speaking, than there can have been anywhere else, -and this accounts for excellence.-Our readers are aware, that Fielding has proved satisfactorily, in his dry and humorous manner, that an author will write something better, for knowing something of his subject; but we are persuaded that our readers will not require us to make out, by regular deduction, that a man who employs his whole life in one pursuit, is likely to excel another who applies only one-tenth part of the time

to it.

6

If our limits would allow us, we should abstain from entering into particulars of the midnight lamp and labours of Demosthenes. Cicero abounds in them, and Plutarch still more. We' will confine ourselves to one slight circumstance. He could not, it seems, pronounce the first letter of his own profession, ther in Rhetor; a letter, by the way, which sticks in the throats of no inconsiderable part of the inhabitants of this Empire. How few, we would ask, amongst us, even in the educated classes, who have once been fairly infected with this impediment, have the courage and resolution to conquer a defect,-un

pleasant in conversation, but, for any of the higher exertions of elocution, fatal? Yet Demosthenes, we are told, by some means or other (we wish we had an easier receipt than his, for the sake of some of our nearest English neighbours) contrived, by perseverance, to vanquish the difficulty, and to articulate the stubborn guttural most plainly. Exercitatione fecisse, ut plenissimè diceret!' Cicero's exertions were equal. His Life is before us in his works; and from them it appears, that he literally never said, or did, or thought of any thing else but in what manner to improve himself in oratory. The consequence has been, that if the world should last ten times as long as it has done already, we believe he never will be surpassed in mere composition.

When Demosthenes and Cicero concur expressly upon any subject connected with eloquence, he must be a bold man who differs from them. Now the former, in his Oration for the Crown, in the only passage in which he speaks of his own talent, and the latter in his principal Treatise, declares, that the audience forms the speaker. With reference to Demosthenes, Cicero observes of the Athenians, that their judgment was always correct and genuine; so that an orator, who court⚫ed their approbation, never durst venture to use a single un" authorized or offensive expression.'-' Semper oratorum eloquentiæ moderatrix fuit auditorum prudentia. And again, of the Athenians, in the same passage Semper fuit prudens sincerumq. judicium, nihil ut possent nisi incorruptum audire et 'elegans. Eorum religioni cum serviret orator, nullum ver'bum insolens, nullum odiosum ponere audebat. Orat.

After this, we will not stop to discuss the qualities of the Athenian Mob, as contrasted with the British Senate, or incur the hazard of a Breach of Privilege, by any opinion we might express;-but this at least is certain, that in one most essential particular affecting the very business of a speaker, Demosthenes had a manifest advantage, in possessing an audience perfectly open to persuasion.-Whatever may be thought of the wisdom of such a government, it furnished materials most fit for eloquence to work upon. The people, themselves the Legislators, if convinced by what they heard, manifested their conviction by instant adoption.-The power of the orator was confessed,—the effect immediate,-his triumph complete.-Now, let us see how the case is in the British House of Commons, which, from the spirit of inquiry amongst our countrymen, their love of liberty, the parent and nurse of eloquence,their information, as well as from the freedom of debate, which has obtained there for more than a century-and, above all, from the weighty and

ly considers so honourable and so gratifying- mentes impellere quò velit, unde autem velit, deducere?'-May not the Division usually be predicted before the commencement of the debate?-Are not the opinions of honourable Members securely deposited in their heads, or in their pockets, or in some place of security into which Eloquence cannot penetrate ?—Is it not a fact, of obvious and indisputable notoriety, that the greatest speak.. ers on both sides of the question (and they cannot both be right) do frequently exhibit their powers without obtaining a single convert-without procuring a single vote?-And can the same animation, the same energy, and, in one word, the same eloquence be expected, where there is no possible chance of producing (that which is the primary object-the obvious use the legitimate end of all speaking)-conviction, and conviction manifested by the overt act of adopting or rejecting the measure which the orator recommends, or from which he dissuades ?If it be said that, as to the effect within doors, this may be true; The speaker may no doubt, in one sense, consider himself, by a sort of reflex operation, as convincing the distant inhabitants of Cumberland or Cornwall.-But so may a writer composing in his closet: And surely it cannot be said, (as assuredly it has never yet been supposed), that such an obscure and remote anticipation of we know not what success, can be compared to the spirit-stirring effect-the electrical excitement of a numerous, attentive, and, above all, a convertible audience.

In many respects, the Trial by Jury, as practised in this country, seems much better calculated to elicit and encourage this admirable talent. Their integrity-their impartiality— their openness, approaching to facility, to impression, are all strong excitements to exertion, and calculated to lead to success. The nature of the subjects, indeed, which come before them, so generally incapable of ornament, and devoid of interest, and the peculiar study of those who address them,—a study, which, though Burke says (we know not how truly) it does more to quicken and invigorate the understanding than all other sciences put together, is an enemy to good taste and composition, and often seems to thrive best without them,-these, undoubtedly, are serious objections. Yet we have seen, from the Speeches of Lord Erskine, both public and private, and since, from a defence of an alleged libel upon the subject of military punishments by Mr Brougham, what might be expected if sub

jects of general interest and discussion could be constantly submitted to a tribunal so impartial and assailable. Upon the merits of Lord Erskine's Speeches, we have delivered our deliberate opinion, and shall not proceed again over the same ground. In those of a particular description, in which feeling and passion are more immediately concerned, nothing can exceed the delicacy and tenderness with which he sometimes describes scenes of domestic endearment and felicity, or the lofty tone of indignation with which he lashes and scourges their invaders. On other occasions, he brings forward circumstances of an opposite description with equal effect and energy. In one particular case, where he represents his client the defendant, by every previous understanding between themselves,-by plighted faith,

by every virtuous and honourable attachment and implied engagement, as the husband of the plaintiff's wife, whatever forms or ceremonies might have been employed to give an ap pearance to the contrary, and then brings the plaintiff forward as the violator, and makes him the defendant,-the whole conception is in a strain of boldness, and executed with a degree of vigour, worthy of Demosthenes himself. But we have adverted again to these admirable Speeches, chiefly for the sake of an observation connected with our present subject, which arises very forcibly from a perusal of his last and highest effort, -the defence of Stockdale. We are persuaded, that if Lord Erskine's exertions had been confined to the two Houses of Par liament, he never would have produced any thing half so excellent as his Speeches generally ;-nor, if our Indian policy had been discussed before Lords or Commons, could he have produced that. Nobody required more, nor benefited more largely, from the accompanying sensations of his audience, which are, in truth, the support and food of an orator. * He felt his ground inch by inch. Never could he have been elevated to the pitch of that most extraordinary, most poetical and sublime passage, so entirely in the tone of Antiquity (we mean the introduction of the Savage in his Speech), by the cold, and, comparatively, unmeaning, Hear-hims' of an assembly which would not be convinced (so far as conviction is manifested by conduct) though one rose from the dead.' He loved to domineer over the wills and affections of men, not for mere purposes of empty admiration, but to gain them over to his side to gain his cause. This, when he was addressing the Jury, he

6

*Cicero remarks this, in the conduct of Demosthenes in his Ora tion for the Crown.