GREAT MEN. 357 in this country before. He pierces hills, builds bridges over valleys, makes aqueducts across navigable rivers, and in short is likely to change the whole face of the country, and to introduce improvements the value of ° which cannot be calculated. When ata loss how to bring about any of his designs, he does not go to other people for assistance, but he consults the wonderful faculties of his own mind, and finds a way to overcome his difficulties. He looks lke a rustic, it is true, but he has a soul of the first order, such as 1s not granted to one out of millions of the human race. A. But are all men of extraordinary abilities, pro- perly great men ? Mr. C. The word has been variously usec, but I would call every one a great man who does great things by means of hie own powers. Great abilities are often employed about trifles, or indolently wasted without any considerable exertion at all. Tio make a great man, the object pursued should be large and import- ant, and vigour and perseverance should be employed in the pursuit. A, All the great men I remember to have read about were kings, or generals, or prime ministers, or in some high station or other. Mr. C. It is natural they should stand foremost in the list of great men, because the sphere in which they act is an extensive one, and what they do has a power- ful influence over numbers of mankind. Yet those who invent useful arts, or discover important truths which may promote the comfort and happiness of un- born generations in the most distant parts of the world, act a still more important part; and their claim to merit is generally more undoubted than that of the former, because what they do is more certainly their own. In order to estimaie the real share a man in a high station has had in the great events which have been attributed to him, strip him, in your imagination, of all the external advantages of rank and power, and see what a figure he would have made without them—or a 0 2