The Gift of the Gab
The great Tyneside engineer and ex-miner George Stephenson found himself bettered in argument by geologist William Buckland on his own pet subject, coal. But, Sir William Follett, the eminent barrister, had Stephenson explain his arguments to him, and then demolished Buckland, leading Stephenson to exclaim that ‘the gift of the gab’ was the most potent force in the world.
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