To which ever cause we are to attribute this hyperbolical tone, we hold it certain he could not have adopted it, if he had been _a little man_. But his imposing figure and dignified manner enable him to hazard sentiments or assertions that would be fatal to others. His controversial daring is _backed_ by his bodily prowess; and by bringing his intellectual pretensions boldly into a line with his physical accomplishments, he, indeed, presents a very formidable front to the sceptic or the scoffer. Take a cubit from his stature, and his whole manner resolves itself into an impertinence. But with that addition, he _overcrows_ the town, browbeats their prejudices, and bullies them out of their senses, and is not afraid of being contradicted by any one _less than himself_. It may be said, that individuals with great personal defects have made a considerable figure as public speakers; and Mr. Wilberforce, among others, may be held out as an instance. Nothing can be more insignificant as to mere outward appearance, and yet he is listened to in the House of Commons. But he does not wield it, he does not insult or bully it. He leads by following opinion, he trims, he shifts, he glides on the silvery sounds of his undulating, flexible, cautiously modulated voice, winding his way betwixt heaven and earth, now courting popularity, now calling servility to his aid, and with a large estate, the ‘saints,’ and the population of Yorkshire to swell his influence, never venturing on the forlorn hope, or doing any thing more than ‘hitting the house between wind and water.’ Yet he is probably a cleverer man than Mr. Irving.