tion, but a just picture of himself, a description of his peculiar temperament of mind which no one could deny the force and authenticity of, then we should find it difficult, if not impossible, among the greatest characters, either of ancient or of modern times, to find one in any degree comparable with him whom the free and unbought suffrages of his countrymen dignified with the title of the MAN OF THE PEOPLE.

The person, who at this period has been supposed to have held the second place in the friendship of the Prince of Wales, as a political man, was Mr. Burke (clarum et venerable nomen). Of the character of this great orator we are not to judge from the maxims of his later years, but from the principles he asserted up to the period when he was distinguished by the friendship of his royal highness.

Brought into public notice by the munificence of the Marquis of Rockingham, and attached to the whig party both by sentiment and gratitude, the splendour of his eloquence and his various literary attainments had raised him to a high rank both in the literary and political world. The conduct of Mr. Burke in his declining years cast a shade over his character, but we are disposed rather to view this luminary as he shone in the political hemisphere. at the meridian of his glory, than in his declension, when the clouds of evening and the lowering tempests of night, obscured and deformed his setting rays. Mr. Burke was on many accounts one of the most remarkable men of his times. He was what few of our modern statesmen have been, the architect of his own preferment, without ever having had any occasion to blush for the means which brought him forward F 2

to public notice. Born with a vast and comprehensive genius, which he cultivated with the most assiduous industry, he rose to eminence by his own talents, and the patronage that was conferred on him reflected as much honour on the discernment of his patron, as his own abilities reflected credit on himself. It is not easy to pronounce the eulogy of such a man. Not because we find it difficult to separate those parts of his public conduct which we disapprove from those which we admire, and indeed we may say, as proceeding from such a mind as Mr. Burke's, which we reverence, but because so many great qualities were united in Mr. Burke's composition, that it is next to impossible to give a rough sketch of combined effect of the whole.

Looking at him merely as a public man, and as one of the most distinguished leaders in the House of Com

mons, we can affirm of him without the least fear of contradiction, that the universality of his knowledge and erudition, the powers of his imagination, the rapidity of his eloquence, the perfection of his language, and the various objects to which these endowments were applied, all conspired to make him one of the most prominent and conspicuous characters of his time. It may, perhaps, be considered by some as a misfortune to the world, that the extraordinary genius of this man, whose private studies might have so greatly delighted and instructed it, should have been thrown into the tumult of public life, and absorbed in the vortex of politics. But let us look at the various and astonishing qualities of his oratorical powers, before we too rashly lament or condemn the destiny which conducted Mr. Burke to the triumphs of the senate-house.

Mr. Burke's argumentative powers were of the highest order, his sources of knowledge were universal and inexhaustible, his memory was comprehensive and faithful, while his mind teemed with the most luxuriant imagery, clothed in the most elegant language, and strengthened by the most applicable and brilliant expressions. It has been admitted even by those who have most rigidly examined his pretensions to fame, that the splendour of his eloquence has seldom been excelled by the most accomplished orators, or even poets, of any age or country. From the depths of science, from the labours of art, the long track of history, the flights of poety, "the passing moment," as well as that which is gone for ever, he collected, or, rather, commanded, the most apt, varied, and beautiful imagery, to support and decorate his elocution: and such was