Page:In the dozy hours, and other papers.djvu/249

This page has been validated.
THE PASSING OF THE ESSAY.
235

fiction may be submerged, but at present it is well above water. The essay may die, but just now it possesses a lively and encouraging vitality. Whether we regard it as a means of culture or as a field for the "best business talent," we are fain to remark, in the words of Sancho Panza, "This youth, considering his weak state, hath left in him an amazing power of speech."