Parliamentary Reform! ham. 117 tainments, and little inferior in wit, he never achieved successes so dazzling; yet he maintained Mr. Winda higher place among the debaters of his age. Though his pretensions to the higher qualities of a statesman were inconsiderable, and his want of temper and discretion too often impaired his unquestionable merits in debate, his numerous talents and virtues graced a long and distinguished public life. Erskine. Lord Erskine was not inferior, as an orator, to the greatest of his contemporaries: but the Lord senate was not the scene of his most remarkable triumphs. His speeches at the bar combined the highest characteristics of eloquence,-fire, -force, courage,-earnestness,-the closest argument,―imagery, noble sentiments, great truths finely conceived and applied,—a diction pure and simple,-action the most graceful and dignified. But none of these great qualities were used for display. They were all held, by the severity of his taste, and the mastery of his logic, in due subordination to the single design of persuading and convincing his audience. The natural graces of his person completed the orator. Lord Brougham has finely pourtrayed that noble figure, every look of whose countenance is expressive, every motion of whose form graceful; an eye that sparkles and pierces, and almost assures victory, while it "speaks audience ere the tongue." Had his triumphs been as signal in the senate, he would have been the first orator of his age. In that arena there were men greater than himself: but he was admitted to an eminent place amongst them. He fought for many years, side by side, with Mr. Fox; and his rare gifts were ever exerted in the cause of freedom. Other great To complete the glittering assemblage of orators who adorned the age of Chatham and of orators. Pitt, many remarkable figures yet stand in the foreground. We are struck with the happy wit and resources of Lord North,—the finished precision of Wedderburn,-the rude force of Lord Thurlow,the bold readiness of Dundas,-the refinement and dignity of Lord Mansfield, the constitutional wisdom of Lord Camden,-the logical subtlety of Dunning, the severe reason of Sir William Grant, -the impassioned gentleness of Wilberforce,-and the statesmanlike vigour of Lord Grenville. Mr. Grattan. The succession of orators has still been maintained. Some of Mr. Pitt's contemporaries continued to flourish many years after he had passed from the scene of his glory; and others were but commencing their career, when his own was drawing to its close. He lived to hear the eloquence of Mr. Grattan, which had long been the pride of his own country. It was rich in imagination, in vehemence, in metaphor, and pointed epigram. Though a stranger to the British Parliament, his genius and patriotism at once commanded a position, scarcely less distinguished than that which he had won in the Parliament of Ireland. Englishmen, familiar with the eloquence of their own countrymen, hailed his accession to their ranks, as one of the most auspicious results of the Union. Mr. Canning's brilliant talents, which had been Mr. matured under Mr. Pitt, shone forth in full splendour, after the death of that states Parliamentary Reform. 119 man. In wit and sarcasm, in elegant scholarship, in lively fancy, and in the graces of a finished composition, he was without a rival. His imagery,-if less original than that of Chatham, Burke, and Erskine,—was wrought up with consummate skill, and expressed in language of extraordinary beauty. For more than twenty years, he was the most successful and accomplished debater in the House of Commons, delighting his friends with his dazzling wit,--and confounding his opponents with inexhaustible repartee. Earl Grey had also risen to distinction in the days of Mr. Pitt: but the memorable Earl Grey. achievements of his riper age, associate him with a later generation. In dignity and high purpose,-in breadth of principle,-in earnest gravity of argument and exposition, he was the very model of a statesman. His oratory bespoke his inflexible virtues, and consistency. While his proud bearing would have pronounced him the leader of an aristocracy, and the mouthpiece of his order,-he devoted a long life to the service of the people. Lord Eldon exercised so important an influence upon political affairs, that he cannot be Lord Eldon. omitted from this group of orators, though his claims to oratory alone, would not have entitled him to a place amongst them. From the time when he had been Mr. Pitt's Solicitor-General, until he left the woolsack,-a period of nearly forty years,his high offices gave authority to his parliamentary efforts. For twenty years he led captive the judgment of the House of Lords: but assuredly neither by eloquence, nor argument in debate. Tears and appeals to his conscience were his most moving eloquence,--a dread of innovation his standing argument. Even upon legal questions, the legislature obtained little light from his discourses. The main service which posterity can derive from his speeches, is to note how recently prejudice and errors were maintained in high places, and how trivial the reasons urged in their defence. Lord Plunket, like his great countryman, Mr. Grattan, had gained a high reputation for Lord eloquence in the Parliament of Ireland, which he not only sustained, but advanced in the British House of Commons. He had risen to eminence at the bar of Ireland, where his style of speaking is said to have resembled that of Erskine. In debate,-if displaying less originality and genius than Mr. Grattan, and less brilliancy than Mı. Canning, he was as powerful in sustained argument, as felicitous in illustration, and as forcible and pointed in language, as any orator of his time. Sir Robert Peel was a striking counterpart of Mr. Pitt. At first his extraordinary abilities in debate had been outshone by the dazzling lustre of Mr. Canning, and subdued by the fiery vehemence of Mr. Brougham: but his great powers, always improving and expanding, could not fail to be acknowledged. His oratory, like that of Mr. Pitt, was the perfection of debate. He rarely aspired to eloquence: but in effective declamation,in close argument,-in rapid appreciation of the points to be assailed or defended,—in dexterity,— in tact,—and in official and Parliamentary know Sir Robert Parliamentary Reform 121 ledge, he excelled every debater of his time. Even when his talents were exercised in maintaining the political errors of his age and party, it is impossible not to admire the consummate skill with which he defended his untenable positions, against assailants who had truth on their side. Arguments which provoke a smile, when we read them in the words of Lord Eldon, surprise us with their force and semblance of truth, when urged by Sir Robert Peel. Wellington. The oratory of a man so great as the Duke of Wellington, was the least of all of his The Duke of claims to renown. First in war, in diplomacy, and in the councils of his sovereign,—his speeches in Parliament were but the natural expression of his experience, opinions, and purposes. His mind being clear,—his views practical and sagacious, -and his objects singularly direct, his speaking was plain, and to the point. Without fluency or art, and without skill in argument, he spoke out what his strong sense and judgment prompted. He addressed an audience, whom there was no need to convince. They hung upon his words, and waited upon his opinions; and followed as he led. The reasons of such a man could not fail to be weighty : but they were reasons which had determined his own course, and might justify it to others, rather than arguments to prove it right, or to combat opponents. The House of Commons was not the field for the best examples of Mr. O'Connell's oratory. Mr. He stood there at a disadvantage,—with a O'Connell. course to uphold which all but a small band of fol |