said to have belonged to his father; and those who know the survivors of another generation will feel this delightful quality is not yet extinct in the race.

Perhaps nothing can more strongly prove the deep impression made by this part of Mr. Fox's character than the words of Mr. Burke, who, in January, one thousand seven hundred and ninetyseven, six years after all intercourse between them had ceased, speaking to a person honoured with some degree of Mr. Fox's friendship, said, "To be sure he is a man made to be loved!" And these emphatical words were uttered with a fervour of manner which left no doubt of their heart-felt sincerity.

These few hasty and honest sentiments are sketched in a temper too sober and serious for intentional exaggeration, and with too pious an affection for the memory of Mr. Fox to profane it with any intermixture with the factious brawls and wrangles of the day. His political conduct belongs to history. The measures which he supported or opposed may divide the opinion of posterity, as they have divided those of the present age. But he will most certainly command the unanimous reverence of future generations by his pure sentiments toward the commonwealth, by his zeal for the civil and religious rights of all men, by his liberal principles favourable to mild government, to the unfettered exercise of the human faculties, and the progressive civilization of mankind; by his ardent love for a country of which the well being and greatness were, indeed, inseparable from his own glory;

and by his profound reverence for that free constitution which he was universally admitted to understand better than any other man of his age, both in an exactly legal and in a comprehensively philosophical sense.

SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH.

4

My third illustrious character possesses a mind great and lofty, and at the same time full of candour and simplicity; who alone claims the singular merit of excelling in every species of eloquence.

But on this subject there are a variety of sentiments, both amongst the vulgar and amongst men who have obtained some small tincture of learning; I shall discuss it somewhat more at large, and with all the perspicuity I am able.

I have seen many orators discomposed and distracted from their extreme solicitude in the choice of words *. But the mind of Mr. Fox is so continually exercised in the contemplation of various subjects, that the expressions most appropriate to each seem to present themselves spontaneously. He well knows that there is no word without its own peculiar force and propriety; so that many which, abstractedly considered, may seem mean and vulgar, acquire from his application of them consequence and beauty. If the occasion demand it, he can at pleasure adopt ornament, or energy, with every variety of modulation. He has the faculty of expressing the most difficult things with a certain ease and

*Quint. lib. xii. cap. 10.

perspicuity, which does not appear the result of previous meditation. Whilst he speaks, he communicates universal animation. Every one who hears him participates his spirit; and is impressed, not as by the mere image and representation of things, but as if interested by the view of present and new created objects; the qualities therefore of ardour and of energy no one can deny him. Some there are, however, who, from a disposition hard to be satisfied, declare that he is entirely destitute of those happier powers of oratory which skilfully select and display the more florid beauties of eloquence; but these inferior, though pleasing ornaments, he avoids from judgment, not from their difficulty of attainment. Those sentiments which are introduced with propriety, and expressed with a force which captivates attention and impresses conviction, have, upon recollection or perusal, an appropriate beauty, not perhaps gaudy or meretricious, but what Cicero admires as genuine and permanent.

Mr. Fox possesses one admirable distinction; he is never known to violate the purity of the English idiom. Many who, in their attempts to shine, introduce foreign expressions—and disdaining the unaffected language of simplicity, acquire a strange and offensive dialect—are overpowered by his raillery, conveyed in the chaste terms of his own language. He well knows that the oratory which is obscure, can never be admired he knows also, that those expressions which convey most information, have always most dignity, and frequently most beauty. He is sensible, withal, that the thunder of his elo

quence can never be successfully employed, unless under the direction of a certain regulated force; for which reason he sometimes uses such full continuity of expression, as seems in a manner to disdain the preciseness of connection, but in reality defies the torture of the severest criticism. Sometimes he separates his speech into minuter sentences, which have nevertheless a certain order and rhythm. In these instances he may be thought negligent, but they excite no prejudice against him; they mark a man more solicitous to satisfy the judgment than captivate the ear. Yet he is particularly careful not to maim or weaken his sentences: he never violently inserts pompous but unmeaning words to fill up, as it were, some cavity. He never fatigues or oppresses the attention by vain and idle ornaments; a subterfuge which the judgment rejects with all possible disdain. He is consequently neither diffuse nor confused, neither impotent nor disjointed.

When he is about to conclude, he varies his powers with uncommon dexterity; and is either open or reserved, as circumstance requires.

So much has Mr. Fox been benefited by thought and by experience, that his knowledge appears to extend to every place; and he not only perceives in a moment what is worthy his pursuit, but he discerns where it is to be obtained: to which we should add, that he is perfectly familiar with all the forms of law, the subtleties of logic, and the application of both. Whenever any subject involving them is to be discussed, we have to admire his genius and sagacity; he can either explain or discuss them copiously, or dis

pute minutely and perspicuously concerning them. What is separate and disjointed, he can connect and contract; what is abstract and obscure, he can scientifically unfold: not with imperfect, unconvincing hesitation; nor by the aid of pompous and ostentatious language; but in a manner prompt, clear, satisfactory; and in terms adapted to every judgment, and intelligible to the meanest capacity.

If he does not forcibly impress his audience at the commencement of his speeches, his strong and varied power, as he proceeds, progressively rouses and fixes attention. His introductory skirmishes, if we may so term them, are so contrived-not for insulting parade in imitation of the Samnites, who did not use in battle the spears which they brandished before-but so as to be of the greatest advantage to his purpose, when he appears more particularly anxious after victory. When strenuously pressed, he retreats, not as if he had thrown away, or even dropped his shield; but he seems wholly collected in himself, and merely to be making use of a feint, whilst selecting a better situation. When his object is to refute his opponents, he accumulates all his power. Sometimes he applies the more compressed weapons of logic, and with their extreme acuteness harasses those who are most versed and most obstinate in contest. Sometimes he expands himself, and lets loose all the reins to that species of eloquence, which is more diffusive, more magnificent, and more splendid. But all the superior greatness of his genius is then apparent, when unresisted he takes possession of what seemed capable of a