―3―Mr. OGILVIE's LECTURES.
When the writer of this article attended the first
lecture delivered by Mr. Ogilvie, he was struck
with the elegance of language and eloquence of
manner which distinguished the speaker; while at
the same time, the vein of pure morality which
pervaded the whole discourse, rendered it no less
salutary than pleasing. But, on Friday evening,
when the subject of Gaming occupied the attention
of the Lecturer, he was peculiarly interesting and
impressive; his description of its fascinating power,
and his representation of its direful consequences,
were taken from the life; and the arguments which
he employed against it were such as sophistry could
not elude;—they were such as bespoke the man of
sensibility, the son of genius and the friend of vir-
tue.
What pity that every lover of play had not been
present—what pity that the young and inexperi-
enced, the credulous and incautious, could not have
listened to arguments so cogent, to counsels so salu-
tary; delivered too in such a captivating manner;
But to do justice to the union of genius and elo-
quence requires the possession of this rare combina-
tion. To the friends of virtue here is a rich repast.
Here, the man of genius may hail a kindred spirit;
here the votary of polite and elegant literature, the
orator and the poet, may enjoy “the least of reason
and the flow of soul”