The inde

with our northern or southern ridings; we had no fees to pay for armorial bearings, and no fears of forfeitures for trespass on another's rights, or assumption of what was not our own. pendent corps, as those who have certain privileges, have been called with us, took great pains to appear, not only "completely armed and equipt, as the law directs," but also to support a most splendid uniform, and other imposing appendages. A superb banner was therefore indispensably necessary;-to effect this, they employed painters of taste, whenever they could be found, to design and paint them. Among the first painters in this branch was Johnson, whose talents we have spoken of in a preceding part of this lecture; but after a few years he was surpassed by Penniman. He has brought this style of painting to very great perfection. His designs are often classical and ingenious, and frequently have an appropriate bearing upon the name of the corps, or on some circumstance of its history. The fashion has been prevalent for young ladies to present these standards to military companies, with patriotick addresses, and eloquent prayers for the prosperity and success of the brave defenders of the country; and if but few opportunities have been found for the youthful soldier to fulfil his promise to the fair—that he never would prove a recreant—not one particle of the admiration bestowed on the beauty and elegance of the standard was lost on the artist who painted it; he became freshly inspired by the smile of beauty, and the publick admiration.

Engraving is a sister art to painting, and follows her in every age. This art has grown up among us with astonishing rapidity. Thirty years since, there were not more than half a dozen engravers in the United States, and these of a secondary order, as their works in our periodicals of that age will show; but since Bradford published the Encyclopedia, the art has been cultivated with zeal in the United States; and there are now to be found a very considerable number of engravers, whose works are admirable, and are held in high estimation. A taste for fine engravings is extending far and wide in our country, and patronage makes artists.

Sculpture is now attracting the attention of some of our young men of talents, who have produced some fine specimens of the art. They will find encouragement, for there are every day exhibited new proofs of the partiality of the opulent in this country for this branch of the fine arts.

LECTURE XII.

But, then, it must be remembered, that these men were bred and educated in the principles of a free government. 'Twas hence they derived that high and manly spirit, which made them the admiration of after ages. HARRIS'S HERMES.

'Tis LIBERTY, that is formed to nurse the sentiments of great geniuses : to inspire them with hope, to push forward the propensity of contest, one with another, and the generous emulation of being the first in rank.

LONGINUS.

A good orator should pierce the ear, allure the eye, and invade the mind of his hearer.

Words are not all, nor matter is not all, nor gestures; yet together they are. 'Tis most moving in an orator, when the soul seems to speak as well as the tongue.

Surely, nothing decks an orator more, than a judgement, able to conceive and utter.

The scriptures are penned in a tongue of deep expression; wherein almost every word hath a metaphorical sense, which does illustrate by some allusion.

Nor is it such a fault as some make it, now and then to let a philosopher or a poet come in and wait, and give a trencher to this banquet of eloquence. St. Paul is a precedent for it.

I never knew a good tongue, that wanted ears to hear it.

I will honour sacred eloquence in her plain trim; but I wish to meet her in her graceful jewels, not that they give addition to her goodness, but that she is more persuasive in working on the soul she meets with.

OWEN PELTHAM, on Pulpit Oratory.

EVER since the Almighty gave to man the faculty of speech, he has been proud of using the prerogative well. In every age, to speak well has been thought to be one of the highest human accomplishments, as well as necessary instrument, in gaining and sustaining power and authority. It has led to the direction of the affairs of nations, and to the establishment of creeds in philosophy and religion. The great lawgiver of Israel felt and avowed the want of eloquence in undertaking his divine legation.

"And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant : but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

"And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?

"Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

"And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.

"And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee, he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

"And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth : and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.

"And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God."

The first efforts of poetick inspiration were those that gave immortality to eloquence. The different kinds of speakers are described by Homer with a precision and beauty that has never been surpassed; like the productions of the Grecian chisel, they remain as models to this day. All religions have been promulgated and supported by eloquence; even ours, which descended from heaven, was preached with tongues of fire, the miraculous gift of its author. Error has been propagated by eloquence; Mahomet was the most eloquent man of his race, and composed his Koran in the choicest verses of a lovely literature.

A passion for eloquence is not confined to civilized man. The sons of the forest are as fond of it as the best cultivated minds in polished life. Indian history is full of the passion for eloquence. The speech of Logan is only a common specimen of their capacity for high attainments in the noble art.

When the Winnebagoes had a deputation at the seat of government last year, the interview between them and the President of the United States was conducted with great ceremony. After sitting a while in the audience chamber, the most aged chief, then ninety years old, bald headed, with his manly arms and chest bare, arose and advanced to the president; in a few words he stated the object of his visit, and his happiness in finding the great father of his people so kind and good, but should speak but little, but leave the details and exemplifications of the mission they were sent on, to the orator of the tribe. The aged chief retired with great dignity; the signal given, the orator advanced; he was of fine size and noble proportions. He stood an almost naked

bust, and extending his arm, said, that he was not a chief by birth, but was made one by the fame of his talents, and by the power of his eloquence. He was a warrior who had never committed a crime, nor sunk to any meanness, or ever told a falsehood. His whole demeanour was full of grave dignity, and solemn serenity. After this interview, even the aged chief, who had kept sober before, joined in a most riotous, drunken frolick, while the speaker kept himself from the errors of his brethren, and retired from the scene, to preserve the honours of a Winnebago orator.

Eloquence was the great engine by which Tecumseh rose to power. He was one of three brothers at a birth. The Indians of his native tribe, as well as those of most other tribes, have a superstitious dread of such prolifick mothers. They consider more than one at a birth as an omen of famine, and the mother with her children are banished; but by a wise direction of providence, the evil is in some degree neutralized by the impression on the savage mind, that the tribe who receive the fugitives will prosper for their kindness. The three boys were brought up together, and were most affectionate to each other; being strangers, as it were, among those with whom they lived, made them unite most closely in all their plans. One of them fell in an attack at Nashville. Tecumseh tried his powers as an orator, and succeeded most admirably; his brother had not the natural gifts for one, or it was not politick to have two orators in one tribe, still he must do something for family aggrandizement; and with a most admirable reach of thought, Tecumseh made him a prophet, and was among the first who professed to believe in his inspirations; he preached them every where, seemed to be guided by them, and keeping the prophet as much veiled as possible, promulgated, himself, the wonders of coming time; only, however, as a mouth piece. It succeeded to a charm, indeed. It was Indian eloquence that gave Indian prophecy its influence; for it has degenerated to mummery since that eloquence has ceased. By eloquence this mighty savage collected his followers and made them steadfast friends, who were ready to pour out their blood at his command. By his eloquence he made those of different tribes, naturally jealous of each other, partizans, warriors, devotees, or whatever he pleased. There was a charm about this orator of the wilderness that Demosthenes and Cicero never had; he was as brave as eloquent, as mighty in deeds as in words. The bravery of the great orators of antiquity, has been questioned, and they laid no claim to a double portion of the Winnebagoe's veracity.

Eloquence is almost as various in its character as personal appearance; yet so many of its striking points are general, that we

can describe it by considering a few classes of orators. The first of these orders of eloquence, and the most charming of all of them, may be called social eloquence; that which is under the patronage of the household gods; the eloquence of the fireside, and the drawing-room; all that belongs to the charities and pleasant associations of life. The language of ordinary instruction; of joyous festivity; of gayety; of reproof, anger, and of love itself, belongs to this order. It is more practised than studied; and has more influence over the affairs of men than all the other kinds put together; but it is so unambitious in its forms, that we are not aware of its force, or elegance. There is no hour that it is not wanted, and every little domestic circumstance requires it. It sweetens the morning beverage, and spices the evening posset; it sparkles in every glass, and beams from every eye; and if it cannot turn water to wine, as in the miracle, it can give to wine, as it is poured into the cup, a Falernian ripeness, that a voyage round the world would not effect.

The next class is the lowest order of publick speaking; and is the most common, and, in most things of a publick nature, is indispensable. It consists in the capacity and skill of arranging one's thoughts in a fair manner; and of spreading them in good language before an audience. This grade of elocution is found in the courts of justice, the halls of legislation, and in all publick business places. It is as much as a great proportion of publick speakers aspire to, and perhaps as much as inost of them could attain in the ordinary pursuits of life.

The next grade is the former, with the additional power of exciting more than an ordinary interest in the subject under discussion, by happy arrangement, earnest delivery, with the power of now and then striking a chord of the heart with a master hand, or throwing a flash of unexpected light upon every listener, and adding to all this a striking ingenuity in evading difficulties, and seizing favourable opportunities of impressing important points. A knowledge of human nature is a necessary ingredient in this order of eloquence. Men are creatures of feeling, passion, prejudice, and caprice, as well as of reason and of judgement, and must be studied to be controlled or influenced by the publick speaker. Every portion of our country is blessed by the possession of such men, who hold a commanding station in society; and particularly if they have added to this grade of eloquence, moral virtue and high intellectual acquirements; and the very possession of this talent presupposes a highly respectable advancement in the various branches of knowledge. This class of speakers take the lead in all ordinary business in the courts of justice, and in deliberative bodies. In all our state legislatures some dozen or two of these men may