Embracing Hugh Blair. Rhetoric, Faith and Citizenship in 19th Century Mexico

This is a study of the key role of Hugh Blair, a Scottish Enlightened scholar and minister, in the understanding and teaching of rhetoric in a quarrelsome 19th-Century Mexico. His role as a master of multiple rhetorical forms, including legal prose, literary production and the sermon, emphasized effective communication to a broadening public audience in an age of expanding citizenship. First his Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, and then several selections of his sermons, were introduced in Spanish to the Mexican public. Somewhat surprisingly, his works were highly celebrated and widely recommended, by persons on the whole political spectrum, with virtually no discussion of Blair’s political concerns or religious faith. His approach was useful, it was made clear, in a more fluid society aimed at modernization, but simultaneously contained a top-down view of life in society which seriously restricted sensitivity to the voice of common people. This article discusses his general acclaim and those limitations within the context of local and Atlantic history, taking into account the critical views of some of the numerous authors who have studied Blair’s work and his enormous influence during the 19th century. In the perspectives offered, his impact can be judged more critically in terms of an undoubtedly changing Mexican political culture, but one simultaneously opening and closing admission to effective citizenship.