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

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