it could modify his enthusiasm, we have only to compare the exuberant tone and freshness of his account of a "first acquaintance with poets," with the cool estimate he afterwards placed upon intellectual pleasures, in asserting that "we put that which flutters the brain idly, for a moment, in competition with nature, which exists everywhere and lasts always." The cause of his frequent disparagement of literary labours and success, however, is often to be found in the fact that circumstances made that a necessity to him which should only have been a recreation. Hazlitt reading a favourite author on a summer day in an inn, or spontaneously writing his earnest tributes to the beauty and eternal worth of genius, is one thing; and Hazlitt drawn by a pitiless journalist from a haunt of dissipation, and spurred by want and what is "set down in the bond" to write, is quite another. An obvious reason for a certain ultraism that pervades his articles, is a want of elasticity, or rather gaiety, in his nature. To be effective, he must be serious. Utterly destitute of humour, although keenly alive to genuine wit, he treated everything gravely, and hence was apt to exaggerate whatever view he espoused. We consider this fault atoned for, however, by the superior vigour which a thoughtful and earnest spirit always imparts to every discussion. When a voluntary critic, Hazlitt's relation to his subject was vital; his genius, though sometimes fitful, was never languid. "It is

a very good office," we are told, "one man does another when he tells him the manner of his being pleased." And this is an office which no English critic has discharged with the ability of Hazlitt. His introduction of readers to the authors, artists, and characters he loves, is not a piece of conventional formality nor is it done merely with intelligence and tact, but with an ardour that warms the thies, and a directness that compels recognition.

sympa

Che Orator.

EVERETT.

ORATORY may be called the efflorescence of the mind; and to its perfection it is requisite not only that the hoarded seeds of knowledge should germinate and expand into flowers, but that they should also put forth vigorous roots of thought as well as firm and graceful branches of argument, capable of sustaining the precious burden and lifting it into the light of common day. To this end a substantial groundwork of facts is essential; and their skilful selection and apposite use is no small part of an orator's gift. For this wise tact Everett's oratory is remarkable. An instance occurs in his address in behalf of a new attempt to complete the monument on Bunker Hill, when he makes the very delay of the work a cogent reason for recommencing it, by suggesting a coincidence between the seven years it remained stationary and the period of the revolutionary war; and in his speech at Lexington, Ky., he touches the instinct of union and nationality in the hearts of his audience, by reminding them that the

flourishing town where they are assembled, was named for the first battle-ground of the war of Independence, by a band of hunters who happened there first to hear of its occurrence. His orations abound in this happy introduction of significant and appropriate facts. Those who are disposed to question the need of the inventive faculty in oratory, should consider whether the talent of placing a subject in new and striking relations is not a great secret of the art; it is certainly one in which Burke excelled, and which Everett has used with rare felicity. But not only in the efficient application but in the patient research for facts does the latter show eminent ability. He is quite as remarkable for industry as for skill; and his method is as absolute as his taste. Indeed the combination of these usually dissevered qualities-the very completeness of the result, blinds a careless reader to the consummate art of such an orator as Everett. We can only realize it by analyzing the constructive process, which is as thorough and varied as that involved in the composition of a poem, history, or modern novel of the best class. There must be, in the first place, a basis of reality, either in the shape of historical evidence or moral truth; and this is to be stated with precision and emphasis; rendered picturesque by the scenic description or character-painting that belongs to it, linked to the passing moment by some general association or local sympathy; and from the theme thus unfolded the orator must eliminate a vivid sentiment,

so as to render it not only impressive to the understanding but affecting to the heart. To the realization of such an intellectual triumph, it is evident that--no ordinary means are adequate. It calls for knowledge, judgment, fancy, command of language, and a positive gift of expression it includes all the principles of high art the management of light and shade, grouping, perspective, fidelity to details, and a constant eye to general effect The mastery of these elements in the use of thought and language, is oratory. Bold and extraordinary displays of them, in an unfinished degree, are frequently made, in this country, where public speaking is so common; but the best of such efforts resemble those we are now considering, as the crude sketch does the finished picture. None of our orators have profited by such a thorough academical training, by such mature habits of scholarship, or by such loyal practice in affairs, as Everett. In respect to integrity of knowledge and action, there is a completeness in his character seldom realized by educated Americans, whose labours, even in the serene kingdom of letters, are usually marked by haste-for incompleteness is apt to stamp the character and culture as well as the cities of a young republic.

If we recall the instances we have personally experienced of great human eloquence, we shall find them of two kinds-one memorable for the perfection of art, and the other, on account of a natural magnetism or impressiveness, apparently the absolute