Wendell Phillips begins his speech by clarifying if he were to describe or speak of the best he’d use nothing but the best from whoever holds that individual closer in their hearts. This helps his next statement, where he declares that he intends to defend a man who he believes deserves a description from someone who is on his side. He explains “…Britons, Frenchmen, Spaniards, - men who despised him as a negro and a slave, and hated him because he had beaten them in many a battle. All the materials for his biography are from the lips of his enemies….” Challenging the Spaniard, French, and English, Phillips uses repetition to exaggerate his point in the second paragraph. He assertively suggests “[Toussaint] forged a thunderbolt… At the proudest
