THE ELOQUENCE OF DEMOSTHENES. 379 
is said to have a weak will, he has no very prominent desires that 
keep others in subordination, and his motives and his will are made 
up of every passing influence. It is the great work of education, 
the greatest work, we may say, to form desires that are of the most 
use to us, and by strengthening them to impart to them a predomi- 
nant influence over the rest. This is to be done by placing their 
object and purpose before the mind in very strong contrast with the 
insignificant and frivolous desires that render us amenable to every 
transient impulse. What a field for cultivation is here! I have 
applied the word cultivation throughout this lecture to the treat- 
ment required for the development of the faculties of each division 
of the mind separately considered, and the word education to the 
result attained in the effect on the mind asa whole. I also draw 
a distinction between the exercise of a faculty and its cultivation. 
Cultivation implies exercise; but exercise by no means implies 
cultivation. A faculty may be exercised for no ulterior purpose ; 
but it is cultivated for the sake of an ulterior purpose. It appears 
to me that the principles on which education should be based are 
such, that none of the varied treasures of the mind should be lost 
for want of care and cultivation. 
THE ELOQUENCE OF DEMOSTHENES. 
ABSTRACT OF REV. J. M. CHARLTON’S PAPER. 
(Read March 4th, 1875.) 
THE principal positions maintained by the Lecturer were the 
following : 
Demosthenes, considering the universal homage paid to him in 
ancient and modern times, may be regarded as holding among 
orators a position similar to that accorded to Homer and Dante 
among poets, or Aristotle and Plato among philosophers, and is, in 
his own department, equally worthy of attentive study. 
A short sketch was then given of the life and times of Demos- 
thenes, and the particular circumstances in which he was called to 
maintain the independence of his country against the aggressions 
of Philip of Macedon. 
