of disingenuousness, too, was so uncompromising,
and his judgments were so considerate and free
from the delusions of partisanship, that he was al-
ways sure of a sympathetic and confiding audience.
What he might have achieved as an orator is now
largely a matter of conjecture. He left the bar
before his talents as a public speaker had been
tested; he never took a seat in any deliberative
body; and the occasions upon which he appeared
before the public were usually of a more or less
academic character, where one would have hardly
looked for the higher flights of eloquence from
even the most accomplished orator. In any judg-
ment of Bryant, the fact must never be lost sight
of that it was his first and chief ambition from
childhood to be a poet; to the Spirit of Poesy he
was always so loyal that he would not allow him-
self to flirt, even, with any other kind of fame. He
seemed to take no pride in being one of the best
prose writers of his day, nor of being one of the
most successful public speakers. It is easy to see
by what he did, both as a journalist and platform
speaker, that he might have excelled himself in
both characters if he had desired to. But he pre-
ferred that posterity should know him as a poet,
and was content that all his other work should be
just good enough not to impair his poetical repute.¹

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