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2 ro!, ral
15-
| ‘L-
THE
B R IT IS H S E N AT E;
OR,
A SECOND SERIES
OF
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS
OF THE
LORDS AND COMIMO N S.
IBY THE AUTHOR OF
“THE GREAT METROPOLIS,” “THE BENCH AND
THIE BAR,” &c.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I. - jºi.
—ºe & ©tte-
3) ºf label p 5 fa:
E. L. CAREY & A. HART.
1838.

E. G. Do R S EY, PR IN T E R ,
LIBRARY STREET,
ſh
22°
4?
º
A'
\\{37.5% - 40
PR EFA CE.
IN presenting the public with a Second
Series of “Random Recollections of the
Lords and Commons,” the author begs to
state, that he has done everything in his
power to insure the greatest possible accu-
racy in his statements. The difficulty of
avoiding errors in a work embracing so many
statements and facts, and which is entirely
original, can be known only to those who
have been employed on similar productions.
The author deems it unnecessary to repeat
what he stated in his preface to “The Bench
and the Bar,” namely, that he has been most
anxious to guard against anything like ill-
natured remark, and that his earnest desire
has been to write in the spirit of perfect
impartiality.
The author has only further to express his
iv. PREF.A.C.E.
grateful sense of the very extraordinary suc-
cess of the former Series of the work—a
success which he believes to be altogether
unexampled in modern times.
London, May 7, 1838.
CONTENTS
O F T H E FIRST W O L U M E.
BOOK I.—THE HOUSE OF LORDS.
CHAPTER. I.
OPENING OF THE VICTORIA PARLIAMENT.
Meeting of Parliament—Taking the oaths—Introduction of a
new Peer into the House—Observations on taking the oaths
—Appearance of the House on the occasion of her Majesty
entering it—Conduct of the members of the House of Commons
on being summoned into the royal presence—Her Majesty's
speech—Her personal appearance—Moving the address in
answer to the Queen's speech—The Duke of Sussex, Page 9
CHAPTER II.
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS.
Reappearance of Lord Brougham in the House—Lord Holland
Regular attendance of the Duke of Wellington—Decorum of
their Lordships' proceedings as compared with those of the
House of Commons—The Clerks of the House, and the Peti-
tions presented—ſmmense size of a Petition—The proceedings
in the Lords less lively than those in the Commons—Remarks
on Lord Melbourne, e 26
CHAPTER III.
SCENES IN THE HOUSE.
Scene between Lords Melbourne and Lyndhurst—Scene between
Lords Melbourne and Brougham—Scene between the Bishops
of Exeter and London, o g & & 46
CHAPTER IV.
CONSERVATIVE PEERS.
The Duke of Rutland—The Marquis of Bute—The Marquis of
Camden—The Marquis of Westmeath—The Earl of Shaftes-
bury—The Earl of Stanhope, g * & 58
CHAPTER. W.
CONSERVATIVE PEERs.—(continued.)
The Earl of Falmouth—The Earl of Devon—The Earl of Glen-
gall—Lord Beresſord—Lord Strangford—Lord Rolle—Lord
Redesdale—Lord Alvanley, . * & & 7(;
vi CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI.
LIBERAL PEERS.
The Marquis of Sligo–The Marquis of Northampton—The
Earl of Rosebery—The Earl of Gosford, g . 90
CHAPTER VII.
LIBERAL PEERs.—(continued.)
The Earl of Minto—The Earl of Shrewsbury—The Earl of
Lichfield–Lord Lynedoch—Lord Portman, tº 101
BOOK II.--THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.
CHAPTER I.
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS.
Swearing in the members—Mr. O'Connell taking the oaths—
Unpopular speakers—Predilections of particular members for
particular subjects—Sleeping in the House—Difference in the
appearance of the House at different times—Diversity in the
manner of members when addressing the House—The differ-
ence in their dress—Anecdote of an Irish member and his
hat, º e * 110
CHAPTER II.
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS.–(CONTINUED.)
The changes which come over the spirit of Members—Instances
given—Reluctance of ſormer Members and of Peers to appear
in the House—Contrast between the conduct of certain Mem-
bers when in the House, with their professions on the hustings
—Personal disputes between two or more honourable gentle-
men—New Members in the Victoria Parliament, 131
CHAPTER III.
SCENES IN THE HOUSE.
Sir Edward Knatchbull’s scene—Mr. Blewitt’s scene—Mr. Da-
niel Whittle Harvey's scene—Sir Henry Hardinge's scene—
Mr. Bradshaw's scene—Lord Maidstone's scene—Smaller
scenes, g * sº e & 157
CHAPTER IV.
LATE CONSERVATIVE MEMBERS.
Sir George Clerk—Mr. Hughes Hughes—Mr. Hardy—Sir John
Elley, * & & e & * º is & . 195
BOOK I.
THE HOUSE OF LORD S.
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS.
sº-namºmºmºs
CHAPTER I.
openING OF THE VICTORIA PARLIAMENT.
Meeting of Parliament—Taking the oaths—Introduction
of a new Peer into the House—Observations on taking
the oaths—Appearance of the House on the occasion of
her Majesty entering it—Conduct of the members of the
House of Commons on being summoned into the royal
presence—Her Majesty's speech—Her personal appear-
ance—Moving the address in answer to the Queen's
speech—The Duke of Sussea.
I Do not know that I could more fitly commence a
Second Series of my “Random Recollections of the
Lords and Commons,” than by some descriptive and
general observations respecting the opening of the Vic-
toria Parliament. Everything of importance connected
with that parliament will occupy a prominent place in
the page of history. As one, therefore, who had pecu-
liar opportunities of seeing to advantage everything
connected with the meeting of the first legislature of
our virgin Queen, I am sure I shall be doing an ac-
ceptable service to the public by devoting a certain por-
tion of my pages to it.
Vol. 1.-2
10 Opening of the
The day appointed for that meeting, was Wednes-
day, November the 15th, 1837. In the House of Lords
the proceedings were confined to the usual formality of
reading her Majesty’s writ, the Commons being as-
sembled at their Lordships’ bar,<-authorizing the as-
sembling of the new parliament. Thursday, Friday,
Saturday, and the early part of Monday, were occupied
with swearing in the Peers. The oaths taken on these
occasions are two: the oath of allegiance, and that which
disclaims all faith in the Roman Catholic religion. No
member can take his seat, or vote on any question, until
he has taken the first oath. The Second, as a matter of
course, is only taken by Protestants. For the Roman
Catholic Peers, and the Roman Catholic Commons, a
different oath is provided: they are made to swear that
they will do nothing in their capacity of members of the
legislature to deprive the Church of England of any part
of its property, nor seek to injure it in any way. It was
curious to witness the exposition lately given in the
Lords, of the peculiar notions of particular individuals
on the subject of the Roman Catholic religion. Lord
Melbourne, Earl Mulgrave, and others of the more
liberal Whigs, seemed, judging from the manner in
which they uttered the words of the oath, to look upon
it as of no very grave moment; while Lords Kenyon,
Roden, Winchilsea, and others of the ultra Tory party,
repeated the words with a seriousness of countenance,
and an emphasis of manner, which showed that they
felt all that they uttered. The oath in question dis-
claims all belief in the doctrine of transubstantiation,
or in the propriety of praying to the Virgin Mary or
Victoria Parliament. 11
other saints. The praying to saints in the sacrifice of
the mass, the parties taking the oath declare to be idola-
trous. All acknowledgment of the authority of the
Pope is also disclaimed. The Lord Chancellor sat as
motionless and mute on the woolsack, while the two
clerks were administering the oaths to the Peers, as if
he had been a statue. I have often pitied the noble and
learned Lord before, while doomed to hear the prosy
speeches of certain Peers who shall be nameless; be-
cause, while other noble Lords can escape the visita-
tion by quitting the House, he must remain in his place
to hear every word they utter; and what is more, must,
for the sake of courtesy, appear to listen with respectful
attention to everything they say. Great, however, as
has been my compassion for the Lord Chancellor on
the occasions to which I refer, it never was half so
great as when witnessing him on the woolsack during
the four days he was compelled to sit there while the
oaths were being administered to the Peers. His lord-
ship’s face is grave at any time: on the occasions to
which I allude, it was peculiarly so. And no wonder;
for what could be more tiresome than to have his ears
dinned by hearing the same everlasting oaths so often
repeated? Nonsensical speeches, if they have no other
recommendation, have at least this one—that there is
variety in them. Here all was an unbroken monotony;
and what is more, a monotony of a very unpleasant
kind. To be sure, a Peer, either on his entrance, or
after he had taken the oaths and his seat, now and then
advanced to the woolsack, and shook hands with the
noble and learned lord; but this was scarcely worthy
12 Opening of the
of the name of variety. The most interesting little
episode which occurred, while I was present, in the
four days’ sederunt of his lordship, took place when the
new Bishop of Hereford was being admitted to the
House as a spiritual Peer. One of the leading officers
of the House whose duty it is to see that none but
Peers be permitted to pass the bar, having observed the
right reverend prelate standing outside the bar, with
some other bishops behind him, while the Bishop of
Durham who had undertaken to introduce him, was
motioning him to follow,-sprang to the bar from the
centre of the house where he chanced to be standing at
the time, and inquired audibly of the right reverend
prelate whether he had brought his writ with him?
“I have,” answered the right reverend prelate: and
as he spoke, he produced the important piece of paper.
“Then you may walk in,” said the officer, opening
the little iron door, and admitting his reverence.
The latter, preceded by the portly Bishop of Dur-
ham, and followed by another ecclesiastical dignitary,
then advanced to the table of the house, where the
clerks were in readiness to swear in the new member.
One clerk stood on the ministerial side of the table, and
the other on the Tory side. Whether this was indica-
tive of the respective political views of the parties, or
was the result of pure accident, or was agreeably to
some usual arrangements, are points which I cannot
decide; nor is the matter of much importance either
way. I allude to the circumstance of the two clerks
being thus, as regarded their local position, pitted
against each other, for the purpose of mentioning that
Victoria Parliament. 13
the clerk on the ministerial side handed over to the
one on the Tory side a small slip of paper carefully
folded up. The latter opened the piece of paper, and
began reading thus:—“To our trusty and well-beloved
James, Earl of .” Here he suddenly paused, and
looked confounded. The fact flashed on him that he
had been reading the wrong writ, and tossing it over to
the clerk on the opposite side from whom he had re-
ceived it, indicated by his looks that he thought his
colleague had committed a very stupid blunder. The
error, however, was forthwith rectified by the proper
piece of paper being handed over to him whose duty on
the occasion it was to read aloud the authority on which
the new bishop was about to be recognised as a mem-
ber. Instead of “the Earl of,” the words “right reve-
rend father in God” greeted the ears of every one pre-
sent. The reverend prelate then proceeded to take the
oaths, which having done, he laid down the paper and
the New Testament on the table, and looked about him
with a strangeness of manner which denoted that he
was in a place which was new to him. A few seconds
passed before the Bishop of Durham, who acted on the
occasion as his “guide, philosopher, and friend,” gave
any indication of an inclination to move from the spot
on which he stood. During this time the new spiritual
Peer looked as if he had been saying in his own mind,
“Well, I wonder what comes next!” The thing that
came next was, that the Bishop of Durham, instead of
going the nearest way to the bench of bishops, in order
that the new-made spiritual legislator might comply
with the form of “taking his seat,” took the most cir-
2%
14 Opening of the
cuitous way to the ecclesiastical locality which he pos-
sibly could,—the Bishop of Hereford and the other
unknown bishop following his reverence with a most
exemplary docility. The form of taking the seat having
been gone through, the Bishop of Durham introduced
the Bishop of Hereford to the Lord Chancellor, sitting,
as before-mentioned, as if “the sole inhabitant of some
desert isle,” on the woolsack. His Lordship seized the
extended hand of the newly-admitted spiritual Peer
with so much energy,+arising doubtless from the cor-
diality with which he congratulated him on being added
to the members of the House,_that he almost pulled
him down on his own knee. After about half a minute’s
conversation with the noble and learned Lord, the Bi-
shop of Hereford left the House in the company of his
right reverend friends. --
The opening of a new parliament by the sovereign in
person, is at any time a most interesting circumstance,
and never fails to attracta large concourse of persons, not
only to the vicinity of the parliament-house, but to every
part of the line of procession. The interest of such an
occurrence was on this occasion greatly heightened by
the circumstance of this being, not only the first parlia-
ment of the sovereign, but of that sovereign being an
amiable female of the tender age of eighteen. Loyalty
and gallantry, therefore, both combined to draw out the
population of London, on the occasion of Victoria’s
opening her first parliament in person. And as has
| hitherto been the case, on all the occasions in which
| our young Queen has appeared in public, the weather
t on the day in question was propitious in the highest
f Victoria Parliament. 15
degree. Under all these circumstances, it is not to be
"wondered at if the assemblage of persons who greeted
Victoria with their plaudits on her way to and from her
parliament, was far greater—as I am convinced it was
—than were ever congregated together under similar
circumstances. I have witnessed the opening of seve-
ral parliaments by the sovereign in person; but the con-
course of people on such occasions was nothing to what
it was on the present. From Buckingham Palace to
the Horse Guards, there were two unbroken lines of
persons as closely wedged together, ten or twelve deep,
as it was possible for them to be; while from Charing
Cross down to Abingdon Street,_a distance I should
suppose of about half-a-mile, the broad pavement on
either side exhibited one dense mass of human beings.
It is hardly necessary to say that the windows and tops
of the houses, and every spot which could command a
glimpse of the procession, were most thickly tenanted.
In the fronts of most of the houses in Parliament Street,
scaffoldings were erected, many of which were let out,
while others were confined to the accommodation of
'friends. Palace Yard, again, exhibited one dense mass
of cabs, coaches, carts, wagons, and vehicles of every
kind, which were also let out for the occasion; and many
a Jehu made a much more profitable couple of hours’
work by letting out his vehicle in this way, than he
would have done by driving about in the streets from
morning to, night with ordinary “fare.” To compute
with any thing like confidence of being near the mark,
the number of persons who, on the 20th of November,
were assembled together to get a glance of their young
16 opening of the
sovereign, is what no man would undertake to do.
Forming a rough conjecture on the subject, I should
5
say it could not have been much under two hundred
thousand. -
So early as twelve o’clock, the interior of the House
of Lords was quite full; and so great was the anxiety
to obtain a view of the Queen while opening parliament,
that even the gallery of the House of Lords was filled
with the female branches of aristocratic families by half-
past twelve; all, as in the body of the House, in full
dress. Lady Mary Montagu gives a graphic descrip-
tion of the siege which a troop of duchesses, countesses,
and other titled ladies, laid to the door of the gallery of
the Hogse of Lords, when, in her time, some interest-
ing debate was expected; and how when they found
after a ten hours’ assault, that the gallery was not to be
taken by storm, they succeeded in effecting an entrance
by stratagem. The ladies in the present case were not
under the necessity of attempting an entrance into the
gallery by sheer physical force; for they had in most
cases procured a Lord Chamberlain's ºrder of admis-
sion; but several of them effected an entrance by the
persuasive eloquence of their pretty and fascinating
faces, accompanied by a few honied words, which the
officers could not resist; and which no man possessed
of an atom of susceptibility, to say nothing of gallantry,
could, had he been in the officers’ places, have withstood.
But this was not all: not only did a number of ladies
who had no order of admission from the Lord Cham-
berlain, meet with this wonderful facility of entrance;
but some of them carried the joke still further, and ac-
Victoria Parliament. 17.
tually took forcible possession of the front seat in the
gallery, which is always specially and exclusively ap-
propriated to the gentlemen of the press. This seat is
capable, on an emergency, of containing, including a
back form, about thirty persons, and yet, in this case,
only three reporters were fortunate enough to obtain
admission; and even they, but for the accidental cir-
cumstance of having taken possession of their places
the moment the door was thrown open, would also have
been among the excluded. And what does the reader
suppose would have been the consequence? Why, none
other than this: that not one word of the important pro-
ceedings in the House of Lords, on the opening of the
parliament by the Queen,--beyond a copy of the speech
which is always sent from the government offices to the
newspapers, could have appeared in the next day’s
papers. Let the public imagine what an “untoward
affair” this would have been, and be thankful that three
gentlemen of the press were fortunate enough to secure
their places in the gallery. The alacrity which the
ladies displayed in possessing themselves of the seats
set apart for the reporters, was truly astonishing. Phi-
losophers tell us that nature abhors a vacuum, and that
whenever one is created, she rushes in to fill it up. I
am not myself philosopher enough to know with what
expedition nature fills up such vacuums; but this I
know, that she could not be much more prompt in her
movements, than were the ladies in filling up the vacant
seats intended for the gentlemen of the press, on this
occasion. The three reporters already referred to,
when they saw the rush of the ladies to take possession
18 Opening of the
of the unoccupied seats, felt in the first instance inex-
pressible surprise; but on recovering themselves, the
predominant feeling in their minds was one of gratitude
to their stars, that they had been fortunate enough to
possess themselves of their places. There they sat for
two long hours, amidst a large assemblage of the fairest
of the fair, literally hid from the sight of those who were
lucky enough to get a peep into the house from the door,
by a forest of waving plumes of feathers of the richest
kind. By one o’clock the House had an appearance
which, I am convinced may be said with truth, it has
seldom if ever presented before. The whole of the
benches on the floor and the two side galleries, were
occupied by the female portion of the families of the
peers, all attired in their costliest and most magnificent
dresses. I will not attempt to describe the effect pro-
duced on the mind of the spectator by the dazzling
splendour of the jewellery they wore. Altogether, the
spectacle was perhaps one of the most interesting of the
kind ever witnessed in this or any other country. I
have been in the House of Lords at the opening and
proroguing of several previous parliaments by the sove-
reign in person; but on no former occasion was there
any comparison with the scene in question, either as
regarded the number of ladies present, or the imposing
and brilliant aspect the place presented.
I could have wished that the opponents of Mr. Grant-
ley Berkeley’s motion for the admission of ladies into
the gallery of the House of Commons, had been all pre-
sent on this occasion: that is to say, provided there had
been accommodation for them. There can be little
Victoria Parliament. 19
doubt that, as respects a considerable number of these
ungallant “honourable gentlemen,” the real cause,
though they have not the courage to own it, of their op-
position to the admission of ladies in the gallery is, that
they labour under the impression that ladies could not
refrain from speaking to one another, and would thus
betray a want of proper respect for the House and its
proceedings. As to the amount of respect which is due
to the House and its proceedings, I beg to be excused
from expressing an opinion; but this I feel bound to
say, in justice to the sex, that the supposition that
women could not, under any circumstances, refrain
from speaking, is altogether groundless. It was proved
to have been so on the occasion in question; and this
under circumstances of a very trying nature; for all the
ladies had to sit about two hours before the arrival of
the Queen, and while there were no proceedings in the
House; and yet every thing was as quiet as the most
devoted admirer of the “silent system” could have
wished. I do not mean to say that the ladies remained
all this time as mute as if they had been so many sta-
tues; but this I will say, without the fear of contradic-
tion, that when one exchanged a word with another, it
was done in a perfect whisper, so as to be audible, with
few exceptions, to no one but her to whom it was ad-
dressed. If, then, an unbroken silence was observed
by the ladies present during the two tedious hours they
were in the House without any thing in the shape of
proceedings to occupy their attention, what a groundless
and ungallant imputation for the members of the House
of Commons to say—and I myself have heard members
20 Opening of the
say it in private—that if ladies were admitted into their
gallery, they could not refrain from speaking!
A little before two o’clock, a discharge of artillery
announced that her Majesty was on her way to parlia-
ment. The first round startled many a “lady fair,” as
might be seen by the sudden and somewhat ungraceful
nodding of so many plumes of feathers; but the mo-
mentary surprise over, every countenance beamed with
joy at the thought that a sovereign of their own sex
would in a very little time be seated on the splendid
throne before them. A short time passed away, and
the striking-up of a band of music on the outside, an-
nounced the near approach of her Majesty. A few
moments more elapsed, and the thrilling tones of the
trumpet intimated that Queen Victoria, though as yet
unseen, was proceeding along the passage to her robing-
r00m, and would be in the midst of them presently.
That was a moment of intense interest, and it was visi-
bly depicted in every countenance. Every eye mo-
mentarily expected to gaze on the youthful Queen,
attired in her robes of state. In a few seconds more,
Victoria entered the House. The Peeresses and all
present simultaneously rose, while every breast throb-
bed with exultation at the sight of their sovereign. It
was a sight to be seen, not to be described. The most
lively imagination would fall far short of the reality:
how fruitless, then, were any effort to attempt to con-
vey an idea of it by mere description. There stood, in
the presence of their young and interesting sovereign,
all emulating each other in doing homage to her in their
hearts as well as outwardly,–the Peers and Peeresses
Victoria Parliament. 21
of the land. It was a touching sight: it was a sublime
spectacle: it was one which will never be forgotten by
those whose happiness it was to witness it.
Her Majesty having taken her seat on the throne,
desired the Peers to be seated. The intimation was
known to be equally meant for the ladies. The Com-
mons were then summoned into the royal presence.
The summons was forthwith followed by a scene which
strongly contrasted with that to which I have been
alluding. There is a proverb, which is current in cer-
tain districts of the country, that some people are to be
heard when they are not to be seen. The adage re-
ceived a remarkable illustration in the case of the re-
presentatives of the people, on this occasion. No sooner
had the door been opened, in obedience to the mandate
of the Queen, which leads into the passage through
which they had to pass on their way to the bar of the
House of Lords, than you heard a patting of feet, as if
it had been of the hoofs of some two or three score of
quadrupeds. This, however, was only one of the
classes of sounds which broke on the ears of all in the
House of Lords, and even of those who were standing
in the passages leading to it. There were loud excla-
mations of “Ah! ah!” and a stentorian utterance of
other sounds, which denoted that the parties from whom
they proceeded had been suddenly subjected to some
painful visitation. All eyes—not even excepting the
eyes of her Majesty—were instantly turned towards
the door of the passage whence the sounds proceeded.
Out rushed, towards the bar of the House of Lords, a
torrent of members of the Lower House, just as if the
VOL. I.-3
22 Opening of the
place which they had quitted had been on fire, and they
had been escaping for their lives. The cause of the
strange, if not alarming sounds which had been heard
a moment or two before, was now sufficiently intelligi-
ble to all. They arose from what Mr. O'Connell would
call the mighty struggle among the members, as to who
should reach the House of Lords first, and by that
means get the nearest to the bar, and thereby obtain
the best place for seeing and hearing. In this mortal
competition for a good place, the honourable gentlemen
exhibited as little regard for each other’s persons, as if
they had been the principal performers in some exhibi-
tion of physical energy in Donnybrook Fair. They
squeezed each other, jammed each other, trod on each
other’s gouty toes, and “punished” each other, as the
professors of the pugilistic art phrase it, in every variety
of form, without the slightest compunctious visiting.
Hence the exclamations—in some cases absolute roars
—to which I have alluded. The most serious sufferer,
so far as I have been able to learn, was one of the ho-
nourable members for Sheffield, who had his shoulder
dislocated in the violent competition to be first at the
bar. Even after the M. P.’s were fairly in the presence
of their sovereign, there was a great deal of jostling and
jamming of each other, which extorted sundry exclama-
tions indicative of pain, though such exclamations were
less loud than those before alluded to. The Irish mem-
bers played the most prominent part in this unseemly
exhibition; and next to them, the English ultra Radicals.
The Tories cut but a sorry figure in the jostling match.
The Liberals were, as the common saying is, “too many
Victoria Parliament. 23
for them.” I thought with, myself at the time, what
must the foreign ambassadors and their ladies who were
present think of English manners, should they unhap-
pily form their notions on the subject from the conduct
on this occasion of the legislators in the Lower House?
It was a rather awkward exhibition for a body of men
arrogating to themselves the character of being “the
first assembly of gentlemen in Europe.”
Her Majesty having taken the oath against Popery,
which she did in a slow, serious, and audible manner,
proceeded to read the royal speech; and a specimen of
more tasteful and effective elocution it has never been
my fortune to hear. Her voice is clear, and her enun-
ciation distinct in no ordinary degree. Her utterance
is timed with admirable judgment to the ear: it is the
happy medium between too slow and too rapid. No-
thing could be more accurate than her pronunciation;
while the musical intonations of her voice imparted a
peculiar charm to the other attributes of her elocution.
The most perfect stillness reigned through the place
while her Majesty was reading her speech. Not a
breath was to be heard: had a person, unblessed with
the power of vision, been suddenly taken within hear-
ing of her Majesty, while she was reading her speech,
he might have remained some time under the impression
that there was no one present but herself. Her self.
possession was the theme of universal admiration. No-
thing could have been more complete. The most prac-
tised speaker in either House of Parliament never rose
to deliver his sentiments with more entire composure.
Nor must I omit to mention, that the manner of her
24 Opening of the
Majesty was natural and easy in the highest degree:
the utter absence of art or affectation must have struck
every one present. -
The speech being ended, Victoria descended from
the throne, and with slow and graceful steps retired
from the House to her robing-room, a few yards distant;
nodding, as she did on her entrance, to most of the
Peeresses whom she passed.
In person her Majesty is considerably below the
average height. Her figure is good; rather inclined, as
far as one could judge from seeing her in her robes of
state, to the slender form. Every one who has seen
her must have been struck with her singularly fine bust.
Her complexion is clear, and has all the indications of
excellent health about it. Her features are Small, and
partake a good deal of the Grecian cast. Her face,
without being strikingly handsome, is remarkably plea-
sant, and is indicative of a mild and amiable disposi-
tion. She has an intelligent expression of countenance;
and on all the occasions—three in number—on which
I have seen her, has looked quite cheerful and happy.
In connexion with the opening of the Victoria Par-
liament, it is worthy of mention that the address to the
Queen was moved by the Duke of Sussex. It was a
highly interesting sight to witness his Royal Highness
on this occasion. Not only did the circumstance of his
being a veteran in the cause of reform, and its zealous
and steady friend in the worst of times, necessarily give
rise to a variety of reflections of the most hallowed kind,
in the minds of all present favourable to the cause of
human improvement; but there was something so ex-
Victoria Parliament. 25
ceedingly venerable in his personal appearance, as could
not fail to impart an unusual interest to everything
which proceeded from his lips. There stood his tall
and exceedingly stout person, immediately adjoining
the throne, not bowed down or decrepit by the load of
years which pressed upon him, yet evidently feeble in
a physical sense through the combined effects of ad-
vanced age and recent illness. His countenance wore
a remarkably cheerful expression; it glowed with be-
nevolence; and so far was a correct index to his dispo-
sition. The tones of his voice and the occasional energy
of his manner, clearly showed that it was not merely
from courtesy towards Ministers that he had undertaken
the task of moving the address; but that it was to him
a labour of love. He spoke with much distinctness,
and with great seeming ease in so far as regarded the
intellectual part of the exercise. He was distinctly
heard in all parts of the House. His speech occupied
from twenty to thirty minutes in the delivery, and was
listened to with the deepest attention by all present—
strangers as well as Peers. Considered as a mental
effort, it would have been regarded as worthy of all
praise had it, proceeded from any noble lord in the
prime of life, and was of an order of excellence which
but few of their lordships could have equalled. Con-
sidered as the speech of one in his sixty-fourth year,
and who has of late been a severe physical sufferer, it
must have been looked on as a greatintellectual achieve-
meht.
26 Miscellaneous Observations.
CHAPTER II.
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS.
Reappearance of Lord Brougham in the House–Lord
Holland—Regular attendance of the Duke of Welling-
ton–Decorum of their Lordships' proceedings as com-
pared with those of the House of Commons—The Clerks
of the House, and the Petitions presented—lmmense size
of a Petition—The proceedings in the Lords less lively
than those in the Commons—Remarks on Lord Mel-
bourne. *...,
IN a miscellaneous chapter on the House of Lords,
let me first of all congratulate the country on the reap-
pearance of Lord Brougham among that body. What-
ever may be the political views of individuals, all, I am
sure, will rejoice to see him once more restored to the
seat which he was wont. to occupy in his capacity of
legislator. The nation must have felt and regretted his
absence from the House of Lords in the session of 1836,
when reading the reports of the debates of that period;
but those only who were accustomed to be nightly in
the House, could form any idea of the dulness of the
proceedings, in consequence of his Lordship’s absence.
It was, indeed, a sad change to those who had heard
night after night for years before, the tones of his varied
voice, and had witnessed the endless entertaining epi-
sodes and lively sallies to which his hot and hasty tem-
perament was ever and anon giving rise, to be doomed
Miscellaneous Observations. 27
to witness a whole session pass away, without his ever
crossing the threshold of the place. Not much better was
the session of 1837; for though then present physically,
he may be said to have been mentally absent, having
taken no part in the proceedings. During these two
sessions the genius of dulness held undisturbed sway
in the upper branch of the legislature; and the coun-
tenances of their Lordships were in the strictest keep-
ing with the dulness of their proceedings. Perhaps a
more demure-looking assemblage of human beings,
taking their numbers into account, was never before to
be seen. How altered the case this session! Not only
has Lord Brougham been in his place night after night,
since its commencement, with scarcely a single inter-
mission, but very few nights have passed without his
making a speech. And such speeches too! such speeches,
I mean in regard to the talent the noble Lord displays,
and the animation and energy of his manner. Henry’s
“himself again.” Lord Brougham is at this moment
all that he ever was. In some of his efforts, indeed, I
should say that he has this session surpassed himself.
No one, I am sure, who had the good fortune to hear
his first speech on the Canadian question, will ever
forget it. It occupied three hours in the delivery, and
was perhaps one of the most masterly and brilliant
efforts ever made within the walls of either House of
Parliament. The ridicule he heaped on the devoted
heads of Ministers, was, in a moral sense, absolutely
annihilating. The sarcasms he levelled at Lord Gle-
nelg, when criticising the noble Lord’s despatches to
the Governor of Canada, were literally withering. I use
28 Miscellaneous Observations.
no exaggeration when I say, that the friends of Minis-
ters, and especially of Lord Glenelg, must have com-
miserated them from the bottom of their hearts—must
have felt for them precisely in the same way as if the
punishment which Lord Brougham was inflicting on
them had been of a bodily or physical nature. The
affair altogether strongly reminded me of a cross-tem-
pered remorseless pedagogue, unsparingly applying the
birch—regardless alike of their piteous looks and whining
cries—to the persons of some half dozen of his urchins,
who had had the misfortune either to merit punishment,
or to incur his displeasure when in one of his more sav-
age moods. Whatadded to the effect of Lord Brougham’s
castigation of Ministers in this case was, that every one
present saw clearly that Ministers themselves felt it in
all its rigorous severity. If anything could have given
additional effect to the heaviness of every successive
blow, it would have been the appearance and manner of
his Lordship. It did not seem to require an effort. His
heart was evidently in the work: there were no indica-
tions of a reluctant application of the rod; as in the
case of a father who does violence to his parental feel-
ings when he chastises his child, and is only induced to
do so from a conviction of its necessity, with a view to
the correction of errors. With Lord Brougham the
thing was manifestly a labour of love. You saw in the
leer of his eye, in the general expression of his features,
in the exulting tones of his voice, that to behold Minis-
ters writhing around him, was to him a positive luxury,
and one of the highest order. The friends of Ministers,
as before observed, must have felt for them the more
Miscellaneous Observations. 29
deeply, because every one knew that they could not
retaliate on their noble tormentor. The effects of his
ponderous blows were clearly of too stunning a nature
to admit of any hope of that. And the event proved
that such was the right view of the case.
Lord Melbourne rose to reply when Lord Brougham
sat down; but signal was the failure of the noble Pre-
mier’s attempt. I have often seen him in the course of
his speech, when a little excited by what had fallen
from some opponent, hesitate and stammer and become
confused; but in this case he had great difficulty in
making a beginning at-all. He seemed, for some time
after he rose, as if he had been suffering under a degree
of excitement which painfully and to a serious extent
affected his organs of respiration. He breathed so ra-
pidly, and laboured under so heavy a load of temporary
excitement, that a full quarter of a minute elapsed be-
fore he could utter a distinct sentence. Nearly that
time elapsed, indeed, before he could deliver himself
of two connected words. And even when, as he pro-
ceeded, he recovered in some degree his self-possession
or usual calmness, he did not make an effort to reply
formally to Lord Brougham’s tremendous attack, but
contented himself with a short speech of the most gene-
ral kind. The Marquis of Lansdowne was also fain to
deal exclusively in generalities. Last of all came Lord
Glenelg. Not less was his prudence than that of his
two noble colleagues, as regarded a direct effort at reply
to his merciless assailant; but it must be confessed that
he was more happy than either of them, inasmuch as he
met the ridicule of Lord Brougham with the same
30 Miscellaneous Observations.
weapon, and with some success. It is right, however,
to mention that Lord Brougham had by this time quitted
the house. How keenly Lord Glenelg smarted under
the scorpion tongue of Lord Brougham, may be inferred
from the circumstance of his having used an expression,
which I believe he was never known to use before in
either House of Parliament, and which, being a reli-
gious man, he would not, I am sure, use at any time or
in any place, except when under the influence of
strongly excited feelings. The expression to which I
refer was—“For God’s sake let the noble and learned
Lord spare us his pain and his pity.” Lord Glenelg
must be aware that this expression approaches, if indeed
it do not constitute, a transgression of the commandment
which forbids the taking the name of the Deity in vain;
and I am sure, he must afterwards have regretted that
he made use of it. . Then there were Lord Brougham’s
various speeches on the slavery question. They were
perfectly astounding displays of intellect and eloquence.
He seemed as if he had been literally inspired: no
speeches which I have ever heard, either in the House
of Lords or elsewhere, could admit of a moment’s com-
parison with them.
Lord Brougham now dresses rather smartly. Until
the commencement of the present session, he was sel-
dom to be seen since his return from his Scottish tour
in 1834, without his tartan trousers and waistcoat. He
* This referred to the circumstance of Lord Brougham's hav-
ing in the course of his speech said that he felt pain and pity at
the situation of Ministers, in relation to their conduct on the Ca-
nada question.
Miscellaneous Observations. 31
is said to have bought as much cloth when in Inverness
as would make a dozen pairs of the first, and a dozen
of the last. Now he has put them aside, at least for a
time, and appears in cloth of a more usual kind. At
present he is partial to having his waistcoats made in
such a way as to button close up to his chin. On his
breast is displayed a very handsome gold chain. This
chain, however, does not as is usual in such cases
answer the purposes of a watch-guard; for it has no
connexion with his watch. His watch-pocket is in the
old-fashioned part of his wardrobe, not in his waistcoat;
and its locality is indicated by a ribbon about three
inches in length, which suspends a trio of the mostmas-
sive watch-seals which ever regaled the eyes of those
who are partial to such articles of jewellery. His lord-
ship has a most decided antipathy to showing the collar
of his shirt; and not less great is his aversion to fash-
ionable stocks, or anything which would give him what
is called a stiff-neck. His neckerchief is of black silk,
and is always put on loosely and carelessly.
Great as is the dread with which the Tory Peers re-
gard Lord Brougham, I am convinced they would rather
run the risk of an occasional onslaught from him, than
see him again out of the house. Before his absence in
the session of 1836, I believe they felt differently. He
had so assailed them in the previous sessions, since his
transplantation from the Commons to their house, that
I believe their unanimous wish was that he were again
out of it; but having encountered the dulness of 1836
in consequence of his absence, I am persuaded they are
now rejoiced at his presence, even though the price of
52 Scenes in the House.
reading of the report of what passed between them, con-
veys no adequate idea of the scene itself. To form any
conception of the gusto with which they mutually pre-
ferred their charges, one must have been present on the
occasion. The collision occurred in the couse of some
remarks which Lord Brougham was addressing to the
House, on the subject of the Duchess of Kent's Annuity
Bill; and the circumstances which gave rise to it af-
forded a forcible illustration of the well-known adage
—“A little spark often kindleth a great flame.” The
noble Lord, speaking of the Duchess of Kent, made use
of the expression, “Queen-mother;” on which Lord
Melbourne, who was sitting next to Lord Brougham,
resting his arm on the back of the bench, and again rest-
ing his head on his hand, observed with some abrupt-
ness—“no, no; not ‘Queen-mother,’ but the mother of
the Queen.” Lord Brougham, who is at all times ex-
ceedingly impatient of contradiction or correction, im-
mediately exclaimed, in his hot and hasty manner, and
with considerable vehemence of tone—“Oh! I know
the distinction between the two phrases as well as my
noble friend does; but he is a much more expert cour-
tier than I am ſ” - - •
The peculiarly sarcastic manner in which the latter
sentence was delivered, accompanied as it was by the
expressive glance which Lord Brougham directed to-
wards Lord Melbourne, caused a general laugh among
the Tory Peers. It was not only evident that they en-
joyed with special zest, the pointed allusion to the fre-
quency with which Lord Melbourne at that time dined
with the Queen, but that they expected something more
Scenes in the House. 53
of the same kind from the noble Lord, now that he had
pointed in that particular direction. Nor were they
disappointed. . . . . *
“I am,” continued he, “rude and uncultivated in
speech. The tongue of my noble friend has been re-
cently so well hung and attuned to courtly airs, that I
could not attempt to enter into competition with him
on such subjects as these.” *
A most hearty and universal burst of laughter from
the opposition benches greeted the latter observation,
while the countenances of the Tory Peers showed the
infinite gratification with which they witnessed the new
mode of warfare adopted by Lord Brougham in the
case of her Majesty’s ministers.
His Lordship resumed—“The notions of my noble
friend are more strictly poised and governed on these
points than mine are.” -
Another peal of laughter from the Tory peers follow-
ed, which was made the more striking from the contrast
which the countenances and mood of mind of the Mar-
quis of Lansdowne, Lord Glenelg, and the other noble
lords on the ministerial benches, exhibited. Lord
Brougham himself, instead of being infected with the
smiling propensities of the Tory peers, only looked the
more grave, and spoke with a ludicrous solemnity of
tone which gave additional pungency to his galling ob-
servations. .
Lord Melbourne rose the moment Lord Brougham
sat down, evidently stung by the bitter sneers and irony
of the latter. “My Lords” he said, after some obser-
vations of a general nature—“my lords, I took the
34 Miscellaneous Observations.
Lord, however, has done no such thing. He still oc-
cupies his usual seat, which is separated from that of
Lord Melbourne only by a passage of about three feet
in width. It was an amusing scene to witness both the
noble lords so close to each other, on the might on which
they had the celebrated conflict together, as to which
was the greatest proficient in glosing, fawning, and
playing the spaniel at court. If I am not much mis-
taken, the Premier would, to use an Irish expression,
give a trifle to see Lord Brougham remove his locality
to some other part of the house. -
In my first series of “Random Recollections of the
Lords,” I alluded to the painful illness under which
Lord Holland had laboured for some years previously,
and expressed an apprehension, that, owing to his then
growing infirmities and advanced age, he would not
often again address their Lordships. That apprehen-
sion, I am happy to say, has not been realized. Lord
Holland has within the last two years made a number
of very able and effective speeches. Some of them
were worthy of his best days; and what is no less won-
derful is, that notwithstanding the physical ailments to
which I have alluded, and his being now in his sixty-
fifth year, he has delivered speeches within the last two
sessions, with a boldness of tone, a vehemence of ges-
ture, and a general earnestness and animation of man-
ner, unsurpassed by any other noble speaker in the
House. When I noticed Lord Holland in my former
work, it was not without the greatest difficulty that he
could stand at all, even with the aid of his crutches;
now he can stand without them. It is rarely that rheu-
Miscellaneous Observations. 35
matisms, when they have once attacked a person of
Lord Holland’s age, ever afterwards quit their victim.
This they have done in a great measure in his case. It
is doubtful, however, whether he will enjoy any length-
ened exemption from a renewal of the attack in its more
violent form. Every one who knows his lordship, must
anxiously wish he may; but unhappily the wishes of
friends are of no avail in such matters. It is a positive
luxury to witness the perpetual glow of good-humour
and benevolence which irradiates Lord Holland’s coun-
tenance. A more pleasing face than his lordship’s is
not to be seen within the walls of the Upper House.
I have referred to Lord Brougham’s remarkably re-
gular attendance in the house during the present ses-
sion. Next to him in this respect, I would mention the
name of the Duke of Wellington. In my first series
of “Random Recollections of the House of Lords,” I
stated that the Duke of Cumberland, now the King of
Hanover, was the most regular in his attendance in the
house of any noble lord; and had he been still in this
country, in the capacity simply of a Peer of the realm,
I have no doubt that he would have continued to retain
the distinction. His mantle has fallen, as regards re-
gularity of attendance, on the Duke of Wellington. He
is almost invariably to be seen among the first who make
their appearance on the opening of the doors, and he is
usually among the last to quit the house. He is usually
wrapped up, close to the mouth, in a narrow brown
cloak which does not reach the length of his knees. He
is a man of whom the Tory party may well be proud.
H; is in every respect a credit to that party. Most
36 Miscellaneous Observations.
assiduously and heartily does he labour in their service;
not, indeed, with the view of promoting party purposes;
but because he deems Toryism to be heaven-born, and
consequently most conducive to the interests of the em-
pire. I have no idea that any other consideration than
that of a persuasion that he is acting for the welfare of
the country would ever operate on his mind. Mistaken
as I regard him to be in many points of essential im-
portance, I cannot resist the conviction that he is actu-
ated by the purest motives. I cannot conceive that any
thing but genuine, even if misguided patriotism, could
induce such active exertions in a man who has attained
the advanced age of seventy; who has so distinguished
a reputation; and who is, moreover, so advantageously
circumstanced in reference to pecuniary matters, as the
Duke. It is no less gratifying than surprising to see a
man who has reached such an age, and undergone so
much anxiety of mind, and great physical fatigue, look-
ing so well and in such excellent spirits. Nothing but
an extraordinary energy of mind, and a constitution of
the most robust kind, could have enabled the Duke to
survive the circumstances in which he has been placed,
and the hardships he has undergone. There he sits,
night after night, with his arms usually folded on his
breast, and his right leg thrown over the left, listening
most attentively to every thing which is passing in the
house, and looking as fresh and vigorous as if he were
still in the prime of life. His gray hair, approaching
to whiteness, is the principal if not the only index to
the accumulation of years which has gathered on his
head, which his personal aspect affords. If one might
Miscellaneous Observations. 37
judge from present appearances—though in such mat-
ters we all know how deceptive appearances often are
—the conclusion would be, that the Duke is destined
to live for many years to come. *
Regarding the regularity or irregularity of attendance
on the part of other Peers on either side of the house, I
do not know that I need make any remarks in addition
to those made in my First Series of “Random Recol-
lections” of the Upper House. Their Lordships have
sat more frequently during the present session than they
have done since the session in which the Reform Bill
was before them; but I think that, with very few excep-
tions, there have been a less number of members pre-
sent than in any former session since the period alluded
to. It is no uncommon thing to see the business of the
evening transacted by some fifteen or twenty Peers;
often, indeed, there are not present more than twelve
or fourteen. To the credit of those who do attend, let
me mention, that they do not meet for mere amuse-
ment, but evidently with a desire to transact business.
An amusing instance of this was furnished towards the
end of January. An intimation having one evening
been conveyed by Ministers in the House of Commons,
to Lord Melbourne, that the bill for suspending the
constitution in Canada was on the eve of being read a
third time and passed in the Lower House, and that it
would be desirable if it could be brought up to the
Lords and be read by them a first time that night, Lord
Melbourne took care to let the intelligence transpire
as soon as he received it; and the Tories being as anx-
ious for the passing of the measure as Ministers them-
4%
38 Miscellaneous Observations.
selves, it was agreed they should remain for some time,
though they had got through their business, to admit of
its introduction and first reading. It was expected at
the time that the gentleman, whose name I forget, who
was speaking on it when the message was sent to Lord
Melbourne, would conclude the short discussion to
which the motion for its third reading had given rise,
and that there was every probability their Lordships
would not have to wait more than half an hour at the
furthest. In about fifteen minutes afterwards another
message was sent up from the Commons, to the effect
that the gentleman who had been speaking was down,
but that Mr. Borthwick was up! The intelligence
spread through the house instantaneously, and equally
instantaneously did their Lordships start to their feet,
without any thing like understood concert among them,
each ejaculating to himself, and many of them making
the remark to each other,- ‘Oh, if he has begun a speech
there’s no saying when he will end.”—“I move that
this House do adjourn,” said the Lord Chancellor, and
in a few seconds not a Peer was to be seen. The fact
is, that Mr. Peter Borthwick had the reputation, if so it
may be called, of being one of the most long-winded
and prolix speakers in the Commons; never sitting down
so long as any one would hear him. Their Lord-
ships consequently took the hint with an edifying alac-
rity. It is worthy of mention, that Mr. Borthwick, on
this particular occasion, not only instantly adjourned
the Lords, but almost emptied the House of Commons
of its members. He did not, as usual, sit down until
he was literally put down by the few members that re-
mained.
Miscellaneous Observations. 39
In my former work on the House of Lords, I had
occasion to speak of the singular decorum, as compared
with the other House, with which their Lordships con-
duct all their proceedings. I have often wished that
those who are prejudiced against hereditary legislators,
were present two or three evenings to witness their
conduct during the debates. They might after all—
whether justly or not is not for me to say, as I do not
wish to appear in these pages in the character of a poli-
tician,—they might after all cling to the conviction that
hereditary legislators are not the wisest legislators; but
of this I am certain, that they would be forward to ad-
mit that, in point of manners there is no comparison
between them and the assemblage in the other House.
It must have been a member of the House of Commons
who characterized that body as an “assembly of the first
gentlemen in Europe.” So far from being the first in
Europe in regard to gentlemanly conduct, there is an
assembly within a few yards of them, who in this re-
spect throw them completely into the shade. The most
unpopular man among them is always treated with the
greatest respect; at least in outward appearance. No
Peer was ever known to give a forced cough, or to offer
any sort of interruption, with the view of putting down
an unpopular speaker, or marking his disapprobation of
an obnoxious sentiment. Even the late Lord King,
when assailing with the utmost freedom of remark the
bench of Bishops, who are everything short of being
absolutely sacred in the eyes of noble Lords—even he
was always heard with the utmost courtesy. On the
late occasion of Mr. Roebuck’s addressing their Lord-
40 Miscellaneous Observations.
ships in favour of the claims of the Canadians, a striking
instance of the respectful way in which the Peers con-
duct themselves, was afforded. Though Mr. Roebuck’s
previous exhibition of a similar kind in the Commons,
was so much marked by the bitterness of his manner and
the violence of his matter, as to be calculated to create
a prejudice against him, and though many parts of the
speech he made to them must have grated in their ears,
yet they not only heard him throughout his three hours’
address with the most respectful attention, but they
even quitted their usual seats, and crowded together
close to the bar, to be as near as possible to him. How
different was it in the comparatively democratic Com-
mons! Not a “people’s representatives,” so far as I
saw, moved an inch towards the bar for the purpose of
being nearer the Canadian advocate. f
To a stranger, it is not the least interesting part of the
proceedings in the Upper House, to witness the facility
and matter-of-course sort of way, in which the clerks
of the house dispose of the petitions, when they are nu-
merous, which are presented by the Peers. One of
these clerks reads the heading of every petition after it
has been presented, and then tosses it over the table
to his colleague in office, in the most careless possible
manner; while the latter takes it up in a crumpled state
in his hand, and stows it away in a bag which is attached
to the table for the reception of petitions. This bag,
when such general interest attaches to any particular
subject as to call forth petitions from all parts of the
kingdom, is sometimes so full, and the pieces of parch-
ment are packed so closely together, that you would
Miscellaneous Observations. 41
fancy the bag would literally burst. One cannot help
contrasting the “rude” way in which the innocent peti-
tions are thus treated by the clerks, with the great care
which has been expended on their penmanship by the
parties who wrote them. On some occasions, I may
state, the petitions have been so bulky as to be equally
beyond the power of a Peer to present them in the usual
form, and the capacity of the bag in question to receive
them. There were several cases of this kind in the
course of the discussions on the Reform Bill; but the
most recent instance, and probably the most remarkable
one that ever occurred, was that of the petition pre-
sented last session, in favour of the Irish Church, by
the Protestants of Ireland. The petition, it may be re-
membered, was agreed to at a great meeting held in the
leading Protestant county in that country, and had
affixed to it, if I recollect rightly, the immense number
of 160,000 signatures. I shall never forget the pre-
sentation of that petition. The Peer whose duty it was
to lay it before their Lordships, could not, of course,
unless he had been a second Sampson, hold it in his
hand. I need hardly, therefore, say that he was obliged
on the occasion, to dispense with the phrase almost uni-
versally used on the presentation of petitions, namely,
“the petition which I hold in my hand.” So far from
holding it in his hand, he could not have supported it
for an instant on his shoulders: it would have broken
his back. I doubt if any two of the most able-bodied
Peers in the house could have raised it to the table. I
am pretty Sure they could not without the assistance of
Some mechanical power. It lay on the floor, and no-
42 Miscellaneous Observations.
thing could be more ludicrous than to see the noble
Lord who presented it calling attention to it, while
lying there. It was in the circular form, and every
fold was so closely pressed together as to give it the
appearance of a solid mass of vellum. Some idea of
the weight—I mean the avoirdupois and not the moral
weight—of this Protestant document, may be formed,
when I mention that the diameter, as nearly as I could
judge from a glance of the eye a few yards distant from
it, was about three feet, while the breadth was nearly
two feet. It was rolled into the house, and out of the
house, in exactly the same way as a coachmaker rolls
the detached wheel of a carriage from one part of his
premises to another.
The House of Lords, as compared with the House of
Commons, has a dull aspect at any time. Nothing can
exceed the dulness of its proceedings at particular
periods. You would fancy, on the occasions to which
I allude, that it was one of the laws of the house that
their Lordships should look as grave as practicable, and
that they should speak with the least possible amount
of animation or gesture, consistently with their not
being mistaken for so many automata. If such be the
dulness which generally characterizes their Lordships’
proceedings, let the reader fancy what it must be on
those occasions, when there is an entire pause for some
little time in these proceedings. Such occasions do
occur several times in the course of the session. They
chiefly arise from their waiting, when they chance to
have no other business before them, to receive the con-
currence of the Commons to any amendments which
Miscellaneous Observations. 43
their Lordships have made on any particular measure
sent up to them, and when they expect that concurrence
as a matter of course. The longest pause of this kind
which I ever recollect to have witnessed, occurred on
the 19th of February last. The Lords had made some
important amendments on the Joint Stock Co-partners
Banking Bill, and not doubting that those amendments
would be concurred in at once, and the passing of the
measure being most urgent, their Lordships sent down
their Masters in Chancery with the bill, as amended, to
the Commons, and resolved to wait until it should be
returned to them with the sanction of the Lower House;
so that it might be at once in a state to receive the royal
assent. It happened, however, that a discussion was
going on in the latter place at the time, and it being
expected to terminate every minute, their Lordships’
servants thought it would be more respectſul to the re-
presentatives of the people to wait until it was over,
than to interrupt the proceedings. Upwards of an hour,
however, elapsed before the discussion in the Commons
finished, and during all that time their Lordships sat
without a single syllable being uttered. Silence reign-
ed in undisputed sovereignty in the place, except when
a noble lord’s feet were heard treading on the floor as
he quitted the house. When the measure was sent
down to the Commons, there were about fourteen or
fifteen noble lords present, but before it was returned,
all of them with the exception of four, one after another,
had stolen out of the house. The four that endured the
martyrdom of remaining were the Lord Chancellor, as
a matter of course; some Tory peer whose name I could
44 Miscellaneous Observations.
not ascertain; and Lord Melbourne and the Marquis of
Lansdowne. The scene was altogether one which ad-
mits not of description. On the woolsack sat the Lord
Chancellor; on his left reclined a solitary peer, the un-
disturbed possessor of the Tory benches, or, in other
words, constituting in his own individual person the
Opposition, for the time being, to her Majesty’s govern-
ment; while, on the right of the Lord Chancellor, and
directly opposite the solitary Conservative peer, sat the
Premier and the President of the Council. It has never
been my lot to witness so characteristic an illustration
of the silent system. It would have rejoiced the heart
of Sir Peter Laurie, and the other advocates of that
system, to have been present. Each peer was as much
left to indulge in his own reflections, as if he had been
in the middle of the “wide waste” referred to by the
poet Thomson, or the “lone inhabitant” of the desert
isle mentioned by Cowper. The Lord Chancellor fixed
his eye on the floor; Lord Melbourne rested his head in
his hand, which last, again, reposed on the back part of
his seat; while the Marquis of Lansdowne, turning his
back to his noble colleague, lowered his chin very
snugly into his breast. As for the Tory peer, I can
say nothing of him, farther than that he was there; his
back being to the gallery. I may, however, mention
that I am strongly impressed with the notion, that he
very wisely took advantage of so favourable an oppor-
tunity for indulging in a comfortable nap.
In a chapter of Miscellaneous Observations on the
Upper House, I may perhaps without impropriety, sub-
join a few remarks respecting Lord Melbourne, in ad-
Miscellaneous Observations. 45
dition to those I made in my sketch of that nobleman
in the First Series of the work. Since the appearance
of that work two years have elapsed, and the noble
Premier has, by consequence, added two years more to
his age; but unlike most other men, who become more
and more sedate in appearance the older they grow—
the more he advances in years the greater seems to
be his flow of spirits, and the lighter do the cares of
office appear to sit on his shoulders. I have had an op-
portunity of observing the demeanour of various Prime
Ministers; but I never saw one who seemed to be so
little affected with the responsibilities of that high office,
as the noble viscount who now presides over the coun-
cils of her Majesty. I have always observed, too, or
fancied I observed, that the longer others were in office,
the more sensibly did they appear to feel the onerous
nature of their situation. Far it be from me to say that
this is not the case with Lord Melbourne; but if it be,
Lavater must have been the greatestimpostor or empiric
—call him whichever you please—which modern times
have produced. Lord Melbourne looks twenty per
cent. more cheerful and vivacious than he did in the
session of 1835. He has, as already remarked, an
abundant flow of spirits; and has altogether the appear-
ance of one whose mind is at perfect ease. Even dur-
ing the debates on the Canadian bill, which, consider-
ing all the circumstances of the case, was one of the
most important measures which has been before the
legislature for some years past, the noble viscount look-
ed among the happiest men in the house. His speeches,
too, only served to establish my hypothesis. They
vol. I—5
46 Miscellaneous Observations.
were full of observations of a humorous kind, and
nothing seemed to afford him greater pleasure than
when his witticisms, especially those directed against
Lord Brougham, told with effect. And if further evi-
dence were wanting to put my theory beyond all doubt,
that evidence would be found in his lordship’s dress
and manner. He is generally much more smartly at-
tired than he used to be, and is seldom to be seen with-
out his cane, which he sports with a grace which would
do no discredit to any of the West-end sprigs of fashion.
CHAPTER III.
SCENIES IN THE HOUSE.
Scene between Lords Melbourne and Lyndhurst—Scene be-
tween Lords Melbourne and Brougham—Scene between
the Bishops of Eaceter and London.
IN my First Series, I contrasted at some length the
difference between the Upper and Lower Houses, with
regard to the decorum which characterize their respect-
ive proceedings. It is not necessary I should repeat
any of those observations here. A scene, properly so
called, in the House of Lords, is an event which very
rarely occurs; and when it does happen, it is in almost
every instance an affair between two or three of their
Lordships; and not one to which any considerable num-
ber of them are parties. I shall endeavour to sketch
three of the best scenes which have lately taken place
on the floor of the Upper House. Decidedly the best
scene of the present session occurred on the evening of
Scenes in the House. 47
the 26th of February. It had its origin in the circum-
stance of Lord Lyndhurst having brought the subject of
certain alleged abuses, in the administration of matters
in the Milbank Penitentiary, before their Lordships,
without having first apprised her Majesty’s ministers of
his intention of doing so. When Lord Lyndhurst, who
spoke in the calmest and most honeyed tone, as he
usually does, sat down.
Lord Melbourne rose, and after two or three common-
place observations, with much warmth and great empha-
sis, characterized the statement of Lord Lyndhurst as
“calm and artful.”
Lord Lyndhurst, with an expression of countenance
something between a sneer and a smile, and in the
blandest possible manner, said, he hoped his statement
was “calm,” but he could assure their Lordships it was
not “artful.” Nothing could exceed the irony which
was contained in Lord Lyndhurst’s looks and tones.
It was evident that Lord Melbourne severely smarted
under it; but the unkindest and keenest cut was yet to
come. “That the noble viscount and the other mem-
bers of the government should be ignorant,” said Lord
Lyndhurst, “of the facts contained in the statement I
have made, only proves that they are as ignorant of
their domestic duties as they are incapable of managing
the colonial government and foreign relations of the
country.”
It was not to be expected that a man of Lord Mel-
bourne’s hot and hasty temperament could sit silent
under these biting words. The noble lord, however,
was prevented from instant retaliation on Lord Lynd-
48 Scenes in the House.
hurst, by the circumstance of Lord Brougham having
started to his feet the moment Lord Lyndhurst resumed
his seat. When Lord Brougham sat down, Lord Mel-
bourne immediately rose, evidently labouring under the
greatest excitement, and renewed his complaint of the
want of courtesy on the part of Lord Lyndhurst, in not
giving ministers previous notice of his intention to bring
the matter before their Lordships. At every succeeding
sentence he delivered, he grew more and more warm,
till at length he seemed, as by his own after-admission
was the fact, to have worked himself up into such a pitch
of irritation as to be altogether unconscious of what he
was saying. “I wish,” he exclaimed, drawing himself
back, and then plunging forward towards the table,
which he struck with immense force with his clenched
fist, “I wish that the noble Duke (the Duke of Welling-
ton) had been here!” Again hastily going a few paces
backwards towards his seat, he as hastily advanced to
the table, and repeating the “heavy blow” on it, at the
same time looking Lord Lyndhurst in the face, he said,
with a vehemence of tone which made the house resound
again, and almost choked his utterance—“The noble
duke would have sooner cut off his right hand than have
taken such a course as that taken by the noble and
learned lord.” Now the most death-like stillness reign-
ed in the house. Not a whisper was exchanged between
any two noble lords: every eye was fixed on the Pre-
mier, and every ear was opened to hear what yet re-
mained. Lord Lyndhurst had hithertoo looked at his
opponent with unaltered features. Lord Melbourne a
third time drew himself away some feet from the table,
Scenes in the House. 49
and again advanced with, iſ possible, an increased pre-
cipitation and excitement, striking the table as before,
and exclaiming, with a loudness of tone and a warmth
of manner, which he was perhaps never known on any
previous occasion to exhibit,-‘‘The noble duke is a
gentleman—the noble duke is a man of honour.” Lord
Lyndhurst's countenance was now observed to change
colour, and to assume a scowling aspect, denoting the
construction which he put upon the two sentences of
the noble Premier. The peers on both sides of the
house exchanged looks, and the noble lords on the Tory
side were seen to whisper something to each other. The
language of those looks was plain; the import of the
whisperings was evident. Every one present felt that
Lord Melbourne had, by implication, applied epithets
to Lord Lyndhurst, which the latter noble lord could
not suffer to pass unnoticed. And yet, so completely
did the manner of Lord Melbourne, coupled with the
unusual language he employed, take the house by sur-
prise, that not one single cry of “Order” was heard to
proceed from any one present. Lord Melbourne then
proceeded to make some observations of a more general
nature, but still labouring under a degree of excitement
which repeatedly impeded his utterance, and made him
appear as if subject to some physical defect in the organs
of speech. What he said, however, was but little
attended to; for it was clear that all present had their
minds fixed on the inevitable certainty of a hostile
meeting next day between the two noble lords, unless
the Premier should retract the offensive expressions.
Lord Melbourne having resumed his seat, Lord
5*
J
50 Scenes in the House.
Lyndhurst rose, and in a firm tone, but yet with the
greatest coolness, said, “The noble viscount says he
wishes the noble duke had been here, because the noble
duke is a gentleman and a man of honour. That ob-
servation, which is true of the noble duke, was applied
by the noble viscount in such a manner as to bear a
different construction as applied to others. I wish to
know in what sense the noble viscount applies those
observations. I beg an explanation.”
It is impossible to imagine the stillness which now
prevailed in the house. Every countenance in it looked
as grave as if the individual doom of every noble Lord
had depended on the next sentence which Lord Mel-
bourne should utter.
Lord Melbourne, in a subdued tone, said, “When
I said that the noble duke was a gentleman and a man
of honour, I did not say that anybody else was not a
gentleman and a man of honour.”
Lord Lyndhurst.—“The words are capable of a par-
ticular construction. Again I ask the noble viscount
what he meant by them?”
Lord Melbourne not having risen on the moment to
answer the question, Lord Lyndhurst quitted his seat,
and was in the act of hastily quitting the house, when
Lord Brougham rose, and entreated him to remain.
Lord Lyndhurst complied with the request of Lord
Brougham, and again sat down. It is impossible to
give any idea of the scene which the house exhibited all
this time; and yet no one, with the exception of Lord
Brougham, ventured to interfere between the two noble
Lords. Lord Brougham then spoke for some minutes,
Scenes in the House. 51
identifying himself with Lord Lyndhurst, and plainly
intimating to Lord Melbourne that he, Lord Brougham,
was equally guilty, if guilt it was to be called, in inten-
tion; for that if he had not been anticipated by Lord
Lyndhurst, he would assuredly have brought the sub-
ject before their Lordships that same evening.
Lord Brougham having concluded, Lord Lyndhurst
again rose, and with a firmness of manner which told
that he would take no further denial, said—“I must
insist on knowing from the noble viscount whether he
meant to convey any imputation on my character—
whether he meant to say that I was not a man of ho-
nour.”
Lord Melbourne then said—“I do not recollect what
I said: I do not know what were the words I used in
the excitement of the moment. But I distinctly state,
that if I said anything in reference to the noble and
learned Lord—anything to the effect that he had acted
unlike a man of honour, or in any way unbecoming a
gentleman, I most fully retract those words.”
Lord Lyndhurst—“I am perfectly satisfied.”
And here, to use the newspaper phraseology on such
occasions, the matter dropped.
Of the individual collisions which sometimes take
place among their Lordships, the memorable squabble
on the 12th of December, between Lords Melbourne
and Brougham, carries off the palm from any which
have occurred for some time past. The accusations
and recriminations which the two noble Lords inter-
changed with each other, were specimens of as pure
personality as ever occurred in that house. The mere
52 Scenes in the House.
reading of the report of what passed between them, con-
veys no adequate idea of the scene itself. To form any
conception of the gusto with which they mutually pre-
ferred their charges, one must have been present on the
occasion. The collision occurred in the couse of some
remarks which Lord Brougham was addressing to the
House, on the subject of the Duchess of Kent’s Annuity
Bill; and the circumstances which gave rise to it af-
forded a forcible illustration of the well-known adage
—“A little spark often kindleth a great flame.” The
noble Lord, speaking of the Duchess of Kent, made use
of the expression, “Queen-mother;” on which Lord
Melbourne, who was sitting next to Lord Brougham,
resting his arm on the back of the bench, and again rest-
ing his head on his hand, observed with some abrupt-
ness—“no, no; not “Queen-mother,’ but the mother of
the Queen.” Lord Brougham, who is at all times ex-
ceedingly impatient of contradiction or correction, im-
mediately exclaimed, in his hot and hasty manner, and
with considerable vehemence of tone—“Oh! I know
the distinction between the two phrases as well as my
noble friend does; but he is a much more expert cour-
tier than I am ſ”
The peculiarly sarcastic manner in which the latter
sentence was delivered, accompanied as it was by the
expressive glance which Lord Brougham directed to-
wards Lord Melbourne, caused a general laugh among
the Tory Peers. It was not only evident that they en-
joyed with special zest the pointed allusion to the fre-
quency with which Lord Mclbourne at that time dined
with the Queen, but that they expected something more
Scenes in the House. 53
of the same kind from the noble Lord, now that he had
pointed in that particular direction. Nor were they
disappointed. . . . . -
“I am,” continued he, “rude and uncultivated in
speech. The tongue of my noble friend has been re-
cently so well hung and attuned to courtly airs, that I
could not attempt to enter into competition with him
on such subjects as these.”
A most hearty and universal burst of laughter from
the opposition benches greeted the latter observation,
while the countenances of the Tory Peers showed the
infinite gratification with which they witnessed the new
mode of warfare adopted by Lord Brougham in the
case of her Majesty’s ministers.
His Lordship resumed—“The notions of my noble
friend are more strictly poised and governed on these
points than mine are.” -
Another peal of laughter from the Tory peers follow-
ed, which was made the more striking from the contrast
which the countenances and mood of mind of the Mar-
quis of Lansdowne, Lord Glenelg, and the other noble
lords on the ministerial benches, exhibited. Lord
Brougham himself, instead of being infected with the
smiling propensities of the Tory peers, only looked the
more grave, and spoke with a ludicrous solemnity of
tone which gave additional pungency to his galling ob-
servations. ,
Lord Melbourne rose the moment Lord Brougham
sat down, evidently stung by the bitter sneers and irony
of the latter. “My Lords” he said, after some obser-
vations of a general nature—“my lords, I took the
54 Scenes in the House.
liberty to suggest that there was a difference, not an
immaterial one in the present case, between the expres-
sions ‘Queen mother,” and the ‘mother of the Queen.”
The noble and learned lord said that was a distinction
only to be made in courts—a distinction only recognis-
ed where there is glosing and flattery—where tongues
are better hung, as the noble and learned lord expressed
it. (Laughter from the Tory benches.) I do not know
what the noble and learned lord means when he says
that my tongue is better hung: I cannot speak of the
hanging of the tongue; and as to glosing and flattering,
I must be allowed to say 22
Here the noble Lord became exceedingly energetic
in his manner; and spoke under the influence of such
strong excitement as to cause him repeatedly to falter
in his utterance.
“I must,” he continued, “be allowed to say that I
know no man in this country who can more glose and
flatter, and bend the knee, than the noble and learned
lord himself—not one; and therefore when he says he
cannot compete with me in those arts, I beg leave to
say, I feel myself totally unable to compete with him,
when he finds an opportunity, or an occasion offers for
exercising them.”
The countenances of the noble lords on the ministe-
rial benches suddenly became lighted up with a smile
of rejoicing, at the spirited way in which Lord Mel-
bourne retaliated on Lord Brougham; while it was easy
to see that the Tory peers were cheered with the con-
viction, that the latter noble lord was not the man to be
beaten at the game which had been playing; but that
Scenes in the House. 55
he would treat them to a rejoinder which would afford
them some rare sport. These convictions were soon
confirmed.
“I positively and solemnly deny,” said Lord Brough-
am, “and I call on the noble viscount to produce his
proofs, that I ever in my life did, and more than that,
that I ever in my nature was capable of doing, that
which the noble viscount has chosen to-night, unpro-
voked, to fling out as a charge against me.”
Lord Melbourne—“No, no; not “unprovoked.’”
Lord Brougham—“Yes, unprovoked; I say utterly
unprovoked. I spoke in as good-humoured a tone, with
as perfectly inoffensive a meaning, as it was possible
for mari to speak or for man to feel, when the noble
viscount observed, with a contemptuous sort of air, that
I should not say “Queen mother,” but ‘mother of the
Queen;’ as much as to intimate, ‘Oh! you know nothing
of these things; you don’t speak the language of courts.”
I said, far be it from me to enter into competition with
the noble viscount, whose tongue is now attuned and
hung to courtly airs.”
There was a sarcasm in the tone and manner of Lord
Brougham when he uttered the latter sentence, which
gave the words a withering effect of which no idea can
be entertained by any one who was not present in the
house on the occasion.
Lord Brougham continued—“The noble viscount
answers that, by saying he cannot enter into competi-
tion with me in the hanging of the tongue. It was not
the hanging of the tongue I spoke of it was the attun-
ing of the tongue—the new tune, with recent varia-
tions.”
56 Scenes in the House.
Here the noble Lord was interrupted by another burst
of laughter from the Tory Peers.
“The new tune,” he resumed, “with recent varia-
tions, to which the noble viscount’s tolerably well-hung
tongue had now attained.”
Dursts of laughter again proceeded from the Tory
benches; and no wonder, for the peculiarly comic tone
and manner, to say nothing of the words, would, I am
convinced, have extorted a laugh from even the half-
stern, half-demure quondam Duke of Cumberland him-
self, had he been present.
Lord Brougham having thus retorted on Lord Mel-
bourne, proceeded as follows to repel the imputation.—
“That the noble viscount should take such an opportu-
mity to level a charge at me, which he knows to be—
which he must feel and know, when he comes calmly
to reflect on it—is utterly and absolutely, and I may
add, notoriously inapplicable to me—produced, I must
own, in my mind, not of late unaccustomed to feelings
of astonishment, some little degree of surprise. I re-
peat what I have already said;—first, that the imputa-
tion or insinuation that I ever, in the discharge of my
duty, stooped to gloss, or to bow before or to flatter any
human being, much more any inmate of a court, is
utterly, absolutely, and I will say, notoriously without
foundation. The next part of the insinuation is, if pos-
sible, equally groundless—that if I had an opportunity
of having recourse to these arts, peradventure I should
excel in them. I want no such opportunity. If I did,
I have the opportunity. I disdain it. No access which
I have had has ever—to the injury of others—to the
Scenes in the House. 57
betrayal of duty—to my own shame—been so abused,
not even for one instant; and opportunity to abuse it I
have, if I were base enough so to avail myself of it.”
Nothing could exceed the earnest and impassioned
manner in which the noble lord delivered this last pass-
age. It was a mingled burst of bad temper and indig-
nant eloquence, and was listened to in breathless silence
by the House. -
A personal squabble between any two of the bench
of bishops, worthy of the name of “a scene,” is a cir-
cumstance which very rarely occurs in the house. It is
a pity, for the sake of the Church as well as for them-
selves, that it ever should occur at all. The most ani-
mated quarrel I have ever witnessed between two right
reverend prelates, took place on the 22nd of February,
on the occasion of the Archbishop of Canterbury pro-
nouncing a high eulogium on the late Bishop of Sodor
and Man. His Grace having resumed his seat, the
Bishop of Exter rose and said, with much emphasis, that
he lamented the constitution of the ecclesiastical com-
mission, whose acts he must deplore, as fatal to the
security and dignity of the Church.
The Bishop of London, who is one of the ecclesiasti-
cal commissioners, said, with great warmth and much
tartness of manner, that the commissioners had no right
to complain of the reverend prelate’s remarks on the
constitution of the ecclesiastical commission; but they
certainly had to complain of the gross misrepresentations
which had been made on the subject.
The Bishop of Exeter again started up, and with con-
siderable vehemence of manner, as well as in a tone of
vol. I.-6
58 The Duke of Rutland. p
indignant defiance of the Bishop of London, said—“I
repel not the insinuations, but the charge which has been
made by the right reverend prelate; for I have been
guilty of no misrepresentation. In my opinion the
Church never received such a blow as this ecclesiasti-
cal commission would prove.”
The Bishop of London made some other observation
which was not distinctly heard, when the Bishop of
Exeter again started to his feet, and met it by some
other remark, which, from the warmth and hastiness of
his manner, I could not catch. The scene was of short
duration, but it was a very extraordinary one for two
spiritual lords to enact. No one would have before be-
lieved that either of the two prelates could have lost his
temper to such an extent. I thought at the time, that
had the late Lord King, whose dislike to bishops was
as proverbial as it was inveterate, been alive and pre-
sent, the scene would have been to him a luxury of the
first magnitude.
CHAPTER IV.
CONSERVATIVE PEERS.
The Duke of Rutland—the Marquis of Bule—The Marquis
of Camden—The Marquis of Westmeall- The Earl of
Shaſtesbury—The Earl of Slamhope.
THE Duke of RUTLAND is one of those who, though
they never speak on general or party questions, very
rarely allow particular subjects to be introduced with-
out saying something on them. A more decided or con-
The Duke of Rutland. 59
sistent Conservative than his Grace is not to be found,
and yet no consideration will induce him to make a
political speech. His notion is, and in that he is quite
right, that such topics, when brought under the consi-
deration of their Lordships, are sure to find an abun-
dance of speakers, and that consequently any observa-
tions of his may be well spared. But let any matter
bearing directly on the interests of agriculture be
brought forward, and if in the house at the time, the
chances are in the proportion of twenty to one that he
will speak on it. On all agricultural topics the noble
duke is very intelligent. With the leading questions
affecting the landed interest or the farmers he is tho-
roughly conversant, and can at all times make his in-
formation available. As a mere speaker, apart from
his matter, he does not rank high. His manner is
against him. He wants fluency of utterance: he hesi-
tates a good deal, and his language consequently ap-
pears worse when addressing their lordships than it
really is. On some occasions you could not help im-
pugning the evidence either of your ears or your eyes,
when you compare his speeches as spoken with his
speeches as read. His addresses, in other words, are
much better in print than they are in the delivery.
Let me not be here misunderstood. In many cases,
the improved speech in the newspapers owes much of
its improvement to the touching and re-touching of the
reporter’s pen. This is not what I mean in the case of
the Duke of Rutland. I am supposing that his ad-
dresses to their Lordships are taken down exactly as
they are spoken, when I say that they appear much
60 The Marquis of Bute.
better in the reading than they did in the delivery.
His voice, though not strong, is sufficiently so to make
him audible. It has nothing peculiar in its tones. His
action is so gentle as to be hardly deserving of the name.
He always speaks from the table, and puts himself, the
moment he rises, into what may be termed a leaning-
forward position. He is not a regular attendant in the
house on ordinary occasions; but is rarely absent unless
he has some urgent cause for his absence when an im-
portant debate is expected. In private life his Grace
is regarded with the highest respect. He is one of the
most hospitable of the English aristocracy, while, as a
landlord, a better hearted or more considerate man
never Pived.
The noble duke is a tall man, sparely made. He
has an angular nose, and his visage altogether has a
good deal of sharpness about it. His complexion is not
without colour, but cannot be said to be florid. His
hair has something of an auburn hue. He is in his
sixty-first year.
The Marquis of BUTE is a name which is quite fami-
liar to the public ear and eye, and yet it is seldom to
be seen in the reports of the proceedings of the house.
I am not aware, indeed, that the noble marquis has
taken part in any debate for many years past. When-
ever his name appears at all in connexion with the pro-
ceedings of the house, it is simply as having presented
some petition to their Lordships. On such occasions he
pretty often takes occasion to support, as it is called,
the prayer of the petition; and this he usually does with
The Marquis of Bute. 61
considerable effect. His observations, however, in such
cases seldom assume the shape of argument; they are
chiefly of a statistical nature. He tells their Lordships
the number of persons whose signatures are attached
to the petition; assures them that the parties are re-
spectable; and refers to the feeling on the subject of the
petition in the town or district whence it emanates. In
his statements, the noble marquis is very clear, and
they are usually of a nature more calculated to weigh
with their Lordships than a set speech of a purely argu-
mentative character. His mind does not seem formed
for abstract reasonings. Facts appear to him to be
things which ought to exercise the greatest influence on
men’s minds. They assuredly operate more on his own
than either eloquence or logic, or both combined. His
manner is quiet and unpretending. He does not speak
in loud tones, but makes himself sufficiently audible.
His utterance is the happy medium between slow and
fast. Of gesture he has hardly any; nor would action
or animation be in place in the mere presentation of an
ordinary petition.
In person the noble marquis is short and thickly set.
His complexion is florid, and his hair light. His fea-
tures have nothing remarkable in them. His face is
round; and the expression of his countenance is placid
and agreeable. He is in his forty-fifth year. Though
he takes no prominent part publicly in politics, he is
known to be a zealous Conservative, and to look with
very serious apprehensions to the ultimate consequences
of a prolonged ascendancy of liberal principles.
6%
62 The Marquis of Camden.
The Marquis of CAMDEN is a nobleman regarding
whose politics a mistaken notion prevails to a very con-
siderable extent. The circumstance of his returning
every year into the Treasury the splendid salary to
which he is entitled as Teller of the Exchequer, has led
many persons to imagine that he is a self-denying Libe-
ral,—just as if it were incompatible with the very na-
ture of a Tory to do a generous action on public grounds.
When I mention that a stauncher Tory is not to be
found than the noble marquis, the fact will teach the
Liberals that real practical “liberality” is not allºon
their side, but that there are at least some of their op-
ponents who can furnish an unequivocal proof that they
possess that attribute. From first to last, the amount
of public money which the noble marquis has thus re-
turned, of his own free will and consent, into the na-
tional treasury, is nearly 300,000l. This circumstance
has brought his name with a much greater prominency
before the public, than anything he has said or done in
the House of Lords. Indeed he there very rarely speaks.
Beyond accompanying the presentation of a petition with
a few observations, I do not remember having heard
him utter a word, for some years past, on general topics.
There is one subject, however, on which he is under a
sort of conventional necessity of saying something,
when that subject is brought under the consideration of
the House. I allude to the subject of the Universities
of England. The noble marquis, being Chancellor of
the University of Oxford, feels bound, in virtue of his
office, to defend that University from the attacks which
Lord Radnor, or any other noble Lord on his side of
The Marquis of Camden. 63
the House, may think proper to make upon it. Even
on such occasions, however, the noble marquis always
says as little as possible. He has a decided dislike to
speeches of any length in others, and shows by his con-
duct that he is equally averse to them in his own case.
Here the Marquis of Camden’s practice is in consis.
tency with his theory. In this respect he is unlike
many of his brother Peers; for some of them whom I
could name, who are the loudest in their condemnation
of long speeches on the part of other noble Lords, are
in the habit of delivering prolix addresses themselves.
The noble marquis always speaks to the point. If there
is neither depth nor originality in his matter, his speeches
have the redeeming characteristic of never containing a
sentence which is irrelevant to the question before the
House. He has no ambition to say anything fine: he
never aims at effect of any kind. He takes a plain
business-like view of any topic on which he speaks, and
expresses himself in a plain unpretending manner. I
know of nothing that would induce him to make any
sort of flourish. So far from panting after cheers, as
many of our legislators in both houses of parliament do,
I am convinced a manifestation of applause would grate
on his ear, and render him quite uncomfortable.
His Lordship has at different times filled various
offices in the government. He was on several occa-
sions, President of the Council. His first appointment
to this office was in 1782, and his last in 1807. In
1795 he was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, but did
not long retain the situation.
The manner of the noble marquis is as unassuming
64 The Marquis of Westmeath.
as his matter is unpretending. He has very little ges-
ture; he stands almost motionless before their Lord-
ships. His voice is rather strong: he speaks slowly,
and with much distinctness. He is always audible,
without being what is called a loud speaker.
In person the Marquis of Camden is about the average
height, with a slight tendency to robustness. In his
features there is nothing reimarkable. His face has
something of a sallow hue. The expression of his coun-
tenance is that of a plain, honest-minded man. His
appearance altogether has much of the country gentle-
man in it. He is exceedingly partial to riding on horse-
back, and, unlike the class of society in which he is ac-
customed to move, usually prefers the Strand and other
streets in the heart of London to the Park, or any of
the other resorts of equestrian or “wheeled” fashion-
ables. When riding out on horseback, the noble mar-
quis has no other attendant but a boy in undress livery.
His Lordship is now an old man, being in his sixty-
eighth year.
The Marquis of WESTMEATH does not often take part
in the proceedings of the House, and still less frequently
speaks at any length; but no one who ever heard him
utter a few sentences could be at a loss to distinguish
him afterwards from the other Peers. Not only has he
a strong Irish brogue when he speaks—stronger per-
haps than that of any other noble Lord in the House—
but his voice has a curious, indescribable squeaking tone
about it, the strange effect of which is considerably ag-
gravated by the hasty manner of his speaking. He
wº-
The Marquis of Westmeath. 65
usually speaks under a greater or less degree of excite-
ment, however few the observations he makes, and
whatever the subject. His words generally flow from
him with such rapidity, that very few of them have any
justice done to them in the way of pronunciation. For
this reason it is sometimes difficult to catch every word
which the noble marquis utters. But in addition to the
defect of his voice, and the imperfection of his elocution,
he has acquired a ludicrous habit of thrusting up his
right hand perpendicularly above his head, and then,
with his fist closed, excepting the first finger which is
stretched out in a horizontal position, so as to give his
hand precisely the appearance of a figure on a sign-post,
he flourishes his arm in the air. This favourite pecu-
liarity of the noble marquis’s gesture has often reminded
me of the way in which Mr. Vandenhoff and some others
of our more popular tragedians are in the habit of flour-
ishing their right arm perpendicularly above their heads,
when enacting the celebrated scene in Shakspeare’s
“Coriolanus,” in which the leading character in the piece
exclaims in tones of self-gratulation and triumph—
“Like an eagle in a dove-cot
I fluttered the Volscians in Corioli:
Alone I did it!”
*
The longest speech, if I am not mistaken, which the
noble marquis has made in the House of Lords for the
last five or six years, was the one in which, in July last
year, he arraigned the conduct of government in refer-
ence to their administration of the affairs of Ireland.
That speech occupied, as nearly as I can remember,
from twenty to thirty minutes in the delivery, and, if
66 The Marquis of Westmeath.
it was exceedingly violent, it certainly displayed re-
spectable talent. The most singular circumstance con-
nected with it was that of the noble marquis resuming
his seat without making any motion. A thing so un-
usual called up Lord Brougham, who is always ready
to admonish noble lords of any departure of which they
may be guilty, unintentionally or otherwise, from the
usages of the House. The noble and learned lord hav-
ing complained that the noble marquis, after so violent
and criminatory a speech against ministers, should not
have concluded with some motion,
The noble Marquis rose and said—“The noble and
learned lord having called me up again—”
“Oh, Heaven forbid!” exclaimed Lord Brougham,
in his own peculiarly sarcastic manner, amidst roars of
laughter from both sides of the house.
The noble marquis cannot be said to be a man of
superior talents; but he is by no means deficient in
acuteness, and possesses a very respectable amount of
political information, especially on topics connected
with Ireland. He is a most zealous Tory, always iden-
tifying himself with the measures adopted by the most
ultra section of the Conservative peers. He is pretty
regular in his attendange on his parliamentary duties,
and very rarely misses being present when Irish affairs
are expected to come before the House. For some
years past he has usually sat in the centre of the house,
on the first row of benches. This, as I have before ob-
served, is the place in which the Duke of Wellington
sits. I mention the fact, because of the opportunity it
affords me of stating, that the breach which sometime
The Earl of Shaftesbury. 67
existed between the noble marquis and the noble duke,
in consequence of some misunderstanding in the family
of the former, and which he made the subject of a
lengthened pamphlet, is now healed.
The personal appearance of the noble marquis is
striking. He is tall and slender, and has a thin face
and a dark complexion. His age is fifty-three.
The Earl of SIIAFTESBURY has been for many years
chairman of committees in the Lords. For the noble
earl’s services in that capacity he receives a very hand-
some salary. As a speaker he is quite unknown in the
house. To hear him make a speech, if even of a couple
of minutes’ duration, would be quite an era in their
Lordships’ proceedings. I am not aware that he has
delivered half-a-dozen sentences on any question before
the house for a number of years past. I am at a loss to
understand why the noble earl preserves this unbroken
silence on the questions that come before their Lord-
ships. There are many peers on both sides of the house,
whose very countenances tell you that they are no
speakers—that, in fact, nature never intended them for
oratorical distinction. In the Earl of Shaftesbury’s case
you come to no such previous conclusion. My impres-
sion is, that let a person who is a perfect stranger to all
their Lordships be put into the house, and asked to
point out which of them, judging from their respective
appearances, he would suppose to be most in the habit
of addressing their Lordships, and the chances are in
favour of his fixing on the noble earl in one of his first
half-dozen guesses, if not in the very first guess. There
68 The Earl of Shaftesbury.
is not a more lively or bustling peer in the house, or
one whom you would suppose more ready at all times
to address their Lordships. Yet the fact is as I have
stated, as to the silence he preserves; and it goes far to
confirm me in the hypothesis, that there is no depen-
dence on appearances.
Some of the noble earl’s ancestors occupy a distin-
guished place in the page of history. To the Earl of
Shaftesbury of a former period, namely, the third quar-
ter of the seventeenth century, we are indebted for the
Habeas Corpus Act, which some people call the second
charter of our liberties. That great and liberal mea-
sure originated with the then Earl of Shaftesbury, and
it was chiefly through his exertions that it was carried
through parliament. In 1662, the noble earl was made
Lord High Chancellor of England; an office of great
importance and responsibility at any time, but espe-
cially so at that eventful period. It was the same noble
earl who first brought in a bill for making the judges
independent of the crown. The present Earl of Shaftes-
bury is understood to be proud of his ancestors; and
when he can number among them such a man as he to
whom I have alluded, there is no room for wonder at
‘the circumstance.
As chairman of the committees, the noble earl must
of course open his mouth; but then he has only to re-
peat certain standard phrases, which he inherited from
his predecessors in the same office, and which, I pre-
Sume, have been in use from time immemorial, as they
will most probably be handed down to posterity. Those
phrases relate to the passing of the clauses of a bill, and
The Earl of Shaftesbury. 69
to the House “resuming,” as it is technically called,
&c. In the use of the phrases to which I refer, the
noble earl is highly accomplished, if I may use the
term. His manner, when presiding in committees of
the whole House, is pleasant and lively. He has an
intimate acquaintance with the forms of the House on
such occasions, and performs his duty with great expe-
dition, and yet without ever falling into any serious
error. When the clauses of a bill are rapidly passing,
it is amusing to see the celerity with which he with-
draws his spectacles from his eyes, and replaces them
again. He appears to have a decided objection, as if
from principle, to looking their Lordships in the face
through the intervention of his glasses. The moment
he finishes reading any clause of a bill, up go the spec-
tacles, which are of the old-fashioned kind, to the crown
of his head, in order that he may look their Lordships
in the face while he puts it to them “that this clause
stand part of the bill.” No sooner is this said, than
down go the spectacles again to their proper place, that
he may be enabled to read the next clause. The same
process is constantly repeated while the noble earl is
discharging the duties of his office.
The Earl of Shaftesbury, as may be inferred from
what I have already stated, is free and easy in his man-
ner. He has nothing of the aristocratin his appearance.
He dresses with great plainness, and invariably wears
black clothes and a white neckerchief. He is short in
in stature, and rather fully made. He has an oval face,
in which there are sundry incipient wrinkles; a circum-
stance not to be wondered at when it is remembered
VOL. I.-7 w {
70 The Earl of Stanhope.
that sixty-eight years have passed over his head. His
face partakes in a slight degree of a sallow hue. Of
hair, his head does not boast of a rich harvest: what
there is, is of an iron-gray colour. His nose is mode-
rately prominent, and his eyes, which are of a grayish
appearance, are also rather large. His forehead is
straight. In the expression of his countenance there is
nothing remarkable. It is pleasant, and by no means
without intelligence. What the noble earl’s pretensions
may be in point of talent, is a matter on which I am
not competent to express an opinion, never having heard
him address their Lordships, nor seen any written pro-
duction from his pen. He is much esteemed by men
of all parties. Indeed his singularly plain and unas-
suming manners could not fail to insure the kindly
feeling of all with whom he has occasion to come in
contact. “ -
The Earl of STANHoPE is the nephew of the celebrated
William Pitt, and is, as might be expected, proud of
the relationship. He sits on the Tory benches, and is
decidedly Conservative in his political views; but he
very rarely mixes himself up in any way with mere
party questions. The subjects to which he chiefly ap-
plies his mind, and on which he speaks in his place in
the House of Lords, are questions which bear more
directly on the happiness of his countrymen, and espe-
cially the poorer classes of them. I say nothing of the
general soundness of his notions respecting the mea-
sures which ought to be adopted with a view to the
amelioration of the lower orders of the community; but
this I will say, that I do not believe there is in the
The Earl of Stanhope. 71
house a single peer who feels more strongly for the
poor, or who is more sincerely anxious to better their
circumstances. He is a man of great kindliness of
disposition, and is always ready to put himself to any
amount of trouble to promote what he conceives the
best measures for lightening the load of human misery.
He is pre-eminently entitled to the appellation of “the
poor man’s friend.” I need hardly repeat, that I here
speak of the noble earl’s intentions, without meaning
to say that his projects are at all times best calculated
to accomplish his benevolent purposes. Some of his
views are of a character which will be best understood
when I apply the term crotchets to them. He is one of
the most zealous opponents of the New Poor Law mea-
sure. It is not often that, in a work of this nature, I
express my own opinions on any controverted subject
when referring to the opinions of others; but believing,
as I do, the great interests of humanity to be involved
in the New Poor Law Bill, I could not reconcile it to
my own convictions of duty, were I not to take this
opportunity of expressing my cordial concurrence in
the opposition which the noble earl offers to that mea-
sure. I regard it as a measure which is equally at vari-
ance with the revelations of the gospel, and the kindlier
dictates of our common nature. Christianity says, and
the marriage ceremony of the church, grounded as it is
on the religion of the New Testament, says, that nothing
but death shall separate man and wife: the New Poor
Law Act speaks a very different language. It says that
man and wife, however devotedly attached to each other,
shall be parted; and it does accordingly part them. I
72 The Earl of Stanhope.
wonder whether the framers and abettors of this most
monstrous clause of the measure ever thought of the
solemn injunction—“Whom God hath joined together,
let no man put asunder.”
But as the discussion of such topics is inconsistent
with the plan of this work, I must content myself with
simply recording my opinion, that the New Poor Law
Bill is a positive disgrace to a christian and civilized
country. The Earl of Stanhope is, as before stated,
one of the most strenuous opponents of that bill; there
are other noble lords in the Upper House who share his
sentiments on the subject; but he stands almost alone
in his fearless and repeated denunciations of it.
The noble earl is a man of very considerable scien-
tific acquirements. In this respect he is a worthy suc-
cessor of his father; for the name of the latter is inti-
mately associated with the science of the country. The
noble earl’s taste for scientific pursuits is sufficiently
indicated by his frequent attendance at scientific meet-
ings, his earnest efforts to promote science in every
practicable way, and in the extent of his intercourse
with scientific men.
In the year 1832, the Earl of Stanhope quitted the
House of Lords altogether, in consequence of the refu-
sal of Earl Gray’s government to adopt his suggestion
for the appointment of a commission to visit the West
Indies, with the view of ascertaining the real state of
slavery there, before legislating for the emancipation of
the negroes. He talked, when announcing his inten-
tion of quitting the House, as if he meant never to re-
turn to an assembly which, in his opinion, disregarded
The Earl of Stanhope. 73
the first principles of enlightened legislation. He only, -
however, absented himself from it for three years.
The noble earl is a man of great firmness and deci-
sion of character. The moment he sees the path of duty
to be plain, that moment he resolves at all hazards to
walk in it. Expediency is a thing to which he is prac-
tically an utter stranger. He has moral courage enough
to enable him to brave every possible consequence
which may result from the course he determines upon
pursuing. It matters not to him though he stand alone in
his advocacy of any particular measure; nor is he to be
diverted from his purpose by the sneers or ridicule, any
more than by the open opposition, of those who are
hostile to his views. In the House of Lords he has
given repeated proofs of this, under circumstances of a
very peculiar nature. He has, too, on various occasions
presided at public meetings, when not one of the order
to which he belongs would, on any account, even though
approving of the objects of the meeting, have consented
to take the chair. It is only to be regretted that his
zeal in this respect, in what he conceives to be the
cause of justice and humanity, should not always be
requited as it ought. About eighteen months since, if
private report speak truth, some of his neighbours on
the platform at a public meeting in the Crown and
Anchor Tavern, at which he presided on the subject of
the New Poor Law, stole his gold snuff-box. But for
the criminality of the thing itself, one could almost smile
at the ingenious way in which it was done. He had
laid down the box on the table before him while ad-
dressing the meeting; and the swell mob, who had
7x
74 The Earl of Stanhope.
elbowed their way to the platform, conceiving it to be
the field which promised the most productive harvest,
having seen, as they themselves express it, an “excel-
lent chance,”—set up a tremendous clapping of hands,
knocking on the table, stamping on the floor, and so
forth, by way of applauding a particular sentence. The
hint thus given to a crowded platform, as well as the
meeting generally, was not lost on those on whom it
was chiefly intended to operate. The example of the
swell mob was promptly followed by all present. Their
call was at once responded to. Perfect thunders of
applause greeted the ears of the noble speaker. There
was not a hand within reach of the table that did not
lustily thump it. The gold box shared in the approba-
tion bestowed on its noble proprietor’s speech: in the
excess of its joy it responded to the forcible application
of fists to the table, by repeated leaps, until it at last
danced over and fell on the floor. This was the object
aimed at. The box was promptly picked up, but by
whom is still a mystery to the noble earl. He has
never seen it since, and doubtless thinks the “tremen-
dous applause” he received on the occasion was but a
poor compensation for the loss of so valuable an article.
As a speaker the noble earl does not rank high. He
does not want resources, but his manner is not in his
favour. He is unable to pronounce the letter r without
a curious burring sound; and his pronunciation alto-
gether is indistinct, just as if he had some impediment
in his mouth to his giving a full enunciation of the word.
His voice, too, has a curious sound, which I do not well
know how to describe. It reminds me sometimes of the
The Earl of Stanhope. 75
guttural way in which many of the Germans speak.
His utterance is variable: it is sometimes too rapid, but
is usually rather slow. He now and then hesitates—
never for want of ideas or words, but in consequence of
his using the wrong one when two or three present
themselves to his mind at the same time. His matter
is generally good, but never profound or sparkling. He
speaks with much ease. His action is monotonous. It
almost exclusively consists of a pretty liberal use of his
right arm, with his hand clenched, and an occasional
movement of his body from 'one part of the floor to the
other. He dresses in an antiquated manner. Some
idea of his costume may be formed, when I mention
that it resembles that of a Quaker in shape, though dif-
ferent in colour. The noble earl always dresses in
black, and wears a dark brown wig, which is a piece of
workmanship so creditable to the skill of the perruquier,
that most people mistake it for an abundant crop of
natural hair. He is a handsome man, and is about the
usual size both in height and breadth. He has a clear
healthy-looking complexion, and possesses regular fea-
tures, with the exception of a rather large mouth, which
has a still larger appearance when he speaks, in conse-
quence of the extent to which he opens it in the enun-
ciation of certain sentences. His forehead is straight
and broad, and his eyebrows are prominent, though not
unpleasantly so. He has dark clear eyes, at once in-
dicative of benevolence and intelligence. He looks
younger than he is; though in his fifty-seventh year,
you would take him to be under fifty.
76 The Earl of Falmouth.
CHAPTER. W.
CONSERVATIVE PEIERS.
(continuED.)
The Earl of Falmouth—The Earl of Devon—The Earl
of Glengall—Lord Beresford–Lord Strangford–Lord
Rolle–Lord Redesdale–Lord Alvanley.
THE Earl of FALMoUTII is a nobleman of considerable
influence among the Conservative party, especially
among that section of them known by the name of
Ultra-Tories. He does not speak with any frequency,
neither do his speeches, when he does address their
Lordships, extend to any great length. I am surprised
that he speaks so seldom; for, in addition to his ardent
attachment to his Tory principles, he acquits himself
very creditably when he addresses their Lordships.
You are not struck with anything he says, as indicating
superior talents; he is never eloquent or profound; but
there is a smoothness in his language, and an ease—
some would say a gracefulness—in his delivery, which
always prepossesses his hearers in his favour, in so far
as relates to the attributes of good speaking. The
general observation of those who hear him for the first
time, is to the effect that they are surprised that one
who speaks in so creditable a manner is not better
known in the house as a speaker. His voice is pleasant,
and his elocution good. His delivery is fluent, and its
efficiency is seldom impaired by a stammer or a mo-
The Earl of Falmouth. 77
mentary hesitation as to the phraseology in which he
ought to clothe his ideas. His manner is cool and dis-
passionate; it is so, on many occasions, to a fault;—a
little more animation and energy in his mode of speak-
ing would ensure greater attention, and produce a deeper
impression on their Lordships. The noble earl’s cool-
ness when speaking is the more remarkable, when it is
recollected that a man more thoroughly or devotedly
attached to his principles, or more intensely anxious for
their ascendancy in the councils of his sovereign, and
their triumph in the country, does not exist.
He possesses moral courage in no ordinary degree.
He never shrinks from the assertion of his opinions,
however unpopular they may be. He was a zealous op-
ponent of the New Poor Law Bill, and was one of the
small band—eleven in number, if I remember rightly—
who divided the house against the most obnoxious clauses
of that measure. -
His gesticulation, as will be inferred from the ob-
servations I have already made, is hardly worthy of the
name. He seldom moves his face or body from the
time he rises until he resumes his seat; and gentle, in-
deed, is the motion he imparts to his arms. His ap-
pearance is dignified; some people say it indicates a
certain degree of haughtiness. The noble earl is ex-
ceedingly partial to surtouts of a green colour, and to
light waistcoats. He is a handsome looking nobleman.
His features are small and regular. His complexion is
pale, and his hair, which is abundant and has a bristly
appearance, seems as if beginning to exchange a Sandy
colour for a greyish hue. He has a high well-formed
78 The Earl of Devon.
forehead. The expression of his countenance has a de-
gree of thoughtfulness about it, mingled with reserve.
He is about the middle size, and proportionably formed.
He is in the meridian of life, being in his fiftieth year.
Formerly the noble earl used to sit on the first row of
benches on the left of the Lord Chancellor; but during
the present session he has nightly patronised, by his
occupation of it, one of the two cross woolsacks, always
sitting with his face to the table. That was the Mar-
quis of Londonderry’s favourite spot; and when the
noble marquis returns to the performance of his sena-
torial duties, I have no doubt that the Earl of Falmouth
will give up, however reluctantly, his present seat to
the proprietor of Holdernesse-house, out of respect to
a sort of proscriptive right which the latter may be said
to have acquired to it through long possession.
The Earl of DEvoN has been long in the House of
Lords, though not in the capacity of a peer. It is only
two or three years since he succeeded to the peerage.
His lordship was previously plain Mr. Courtenay, and
acted for a number of years in the capacity of chief clerk
to their Lordships. I am not sure if there be any other
instance on record of a servant of the House of Lords
succeeding to a peerage, and afterwards sitting, voting,
and acting among the very men whom he formerly was
obliged to look up to as superiors. In his capacity of
clerk to their Lordships, the noble earl was highly and
universally esteemed. The best proof of this was to be
found in the fact, that when he succeeded to the peer-
age in 1835, as next of kin to the late Earl of Devon,
who died in Paris that year without issue, he received,
The Earl of Devon. 79
on the motion of Lord Melbourne, seconded by the
Duke of Wellington, the unanimous thanks of their
Lordships “for the very able and talented manner in
which he had discharged the duties of his office for fif-
teen years.” As yet the noble earl has not spoken
often; not, I believe, above six or seven times, and then
only briefly, and on questions of minor interest. He
speaks with some deliberation: occasionally he appears
as if he were at a loss for a word, but on the whole gets
on with considerable seeming ease. I have seen nothing
in any effort he has yet made, which would justify the
opinion that he is destined to attain any distinction as
a speaker. His matter has nothing in it above medioc-
rity, while his manner wants animation. His voice is
sufficiently distinct; but it either has not flexibility, or
he does not turn its capabilities to account. His lord-
ship, however, promises to be a useful man in the busi-
ness matters of the house; the situation of principal
clerk, which he so long filled, having necessarily afford-
ed him an intimate acquaintance with all the forms and
matters of a business character.
The noble earl slightly exceeds the usual height, and
is proportionably formed. He is of a sallow complex-
ion, of regular features, and of an open, intelligent ex-
pression of countenance. He is about his fifty-fifth
year. He does not take an active part in politics, but
is understood to be warmly attached to his Conservative
principles, and to hold that there can be no good govern-
ment where that government is not based on those
principles.
The Earl of GLENGALL used to be pretty regular in
80 The Earl of Glengall.
his attendance on his parliamentary duties, and took
part with some frequency in the proceedings. Of late
years his presence in the house has been comparatively
rare; while, as regards speaking, I do not recollect any
address worthy of the name of a speech, which he has
made to their Lordships for a session or two past. This
is the more to be wondered at, as converts to a new
class of opinions are usually very zealous, for sometime
after the change, in the support of those principles
which they have adopted. I take it for granted that
most of my readers are aware that within the last few
years the noble earl has abjured the Liberal sentiments
in which he was educated, and with which he at first
identified himself, and thrown himself into the arms of
the Conservatives. He seldom, at any time, spoke at any
length, but his speeches were usually characterized by
considerable talent, and by no small literary taste. He
speaks with much ease, and in a clear and distinct tone
of voice. His manner is not assuming: it is rather sub-
dued and unpretending. The noble earl’s personal ap-
pearance is somewhat at variance with his manner when
addressing their Lordships. He is foppish in his dress,
and his beautiful black hair is formed into so many
curls—some of which overlap his brow—as to give his
head a good deal of the appearance of that of a woman.
His complexion is dark, and his face thin; it has some-
thing of a Jewish conformation. He is tall, and of a
slender make. He is understood to be exceedingly
fond of theatricals; but it is not so generally known
that he has written some pieces for representation on
the stage. What their number is, I do not know;
Lord Beresford. 81
neither am I acquainted with any of their names ex-
cept one: and that is one with the name of which every-
body is familiar, and which all the play-going public
have seen acted with more or less frequency. I allude
to “The Irish Tutor,” one of the most popular farces
of the present day, and which, when well acted, never
fails to convulse the audience with laughter. Lord
Glengall is in his forty-fourth year.
Lord BERESFORD is better known as a military officer,
and as a decided Conservative in his politics, than as a
speaker in the House of Lords. The noble viscount's
abilities as a general may be inferred from the fact,
that he was entrusted with the command of the British
army in Spain during the Duke of Wellington’s un-
avoidable absence from that country. A few years ago
Lord Beresford was noted for the regularity of his at-
tendance in his place in parliament; but wrthin the last
two or three years I have not often seen him in the
house. He never spoke with any frequency, and never
long at a time; of late he can hardly be said to have
spoken at all. He has a strong loud voice, and his
enunciation is deliberate and distinct. His matter is
always good; so much so, that his own party generally
regret there is not more of it. There is all the straight-
forwardness of the soldier about it. If his periods want
rounding, his ideas have generally the quality of good
sense in their favour. The noble viscount is tall and
of a robust figure. He has a full face, with a dark
complexion, and rather darkish hair. He has quite a
soldier-like appearance. His age is about sixty-five.
Wiscount STRANGFORD is one of those noble lords who
vol. I.-8
82 Viscount Strangford.
never speak on questions of a party nature, or of na-
tional importance; but who invariably address their
Lordships when particular subjects, to which they have
specially directed their attention, are brought under
consideration. The noble viscount’s vote is always
ready, either by word of mouth or through the medium
of some Tory peer into whose pocket he commits his
proxy, to support the party with whom he is identified;
but he would no more think of making a regular speech
on any question involving the fate of a government, than
he would of addressing a regular sermon to their Lord-
ships. Were he, however, to see that some noble lord
had given notice of a motion for a particular evening,
on the subject of the silk or glove trade, or any of those
other commercial questions in which he takes a special
interest, he would hurry to London, though four or five
hundred miles distant at the time, in order that he
might be present at the debate, and have an opportunity
of taking part in the discussion. And it is but justice
to the noble viscount to say that on such subjects he
is exceedingly well informed. I question if there be
a noble lord in the house equally conversant with them.
He is a great opponent of the free trade system, and
has on repeated occasions distinguished himself as the
friend and advocate of the Coventry weavers.
The noble viscount is also well versed in matters
appertaining to the foreign policy of the country, and
seldom suffers a discussion on such topics to take place
in the house without expressing his views at some
length. The situation he filled for some years as Bri-
tish ambassador at Constantinople, naturally led him to
Viscount Strangford. 83
turn his attention in some considerable degree to the
foreign policy of the country whose sovereign he re-
presented. On such topics he always makes a very in-
telligent speech, though, as a matter of course, his
speeches are invariably more or less deeply tinged with
his peculiar political opinions.
The noble viscount speaks with considerable ease
and fluency; but he has no pretensions to the character
of an eloquent speaker. He has abundant self-posses-
sion—some people would call it a feeling of confidence
amounting to conceit. He is a never at a loss for words:
sometimes his words are more abundant than his ideas.
Of the latter, however, he seldom displays any poverty,
though they are never of a striking or commanding
order. It is in the common-sense character of his mat-
ter that the principal merit of his addresses consists.
His manner has nothing peculiar in it; his delivery is
rather deliberate. He has a fine clear voice, and a dis-
tinct articulation. His gesture is moderate enough.
He is rather a cold speaker. I never yet saw him ani-
mated or energetic, and he is the same throughout; the
same in the middle and at the close as he is at the be-
ginning.
Lord Strangford is said to possess considerable lite-
rary taste. I am not aware of any prose production of
his, with the exception of a pamphletin which he vehe-
mently attacked the government of Mr. Canning in
1827, and Mr. Canning himself personally. He is the
author of several pieces of poetry, which are said to be
very respectable productions, though not much known
beyond the circle of his private friends. He is the
avowed translator of several of Camoens’ poems.
84 Lord Rolle.
In his personal appearance there is nothing striking.
His height is about five feet nine, and his breadth is
proportionable. He has a sharp nose, which is usually
surmounted by a pair of handsome spectacles. His
complexion is dark, and his hair of a brownish colour.
His face is of an oval form, and has a rather intelligent
though reserved expression. In his dress he is very
fastidious. He is one of the greatest dandies in the
house. His age is fifty-two. #
Lord Rolli, owes much of the prominency which he
enjoys as a public man to a very unusual but very ex-
cellent trait in his character. I refer to the great, in-
deed I may say unprecedented liberality of his sub-
scriptions for the promotion of any object which he
deems commendable. It is pleasant to see a nobleman
of great wealth thus disposed to part with a portion of
it in furthering what he conceives to be the great inte-
rests of mankind. He is a most zealous, and I doubt
not, a most conscientious churchman; and his name has
on some occasions stood on list of subscriptions for
church purposes, for the princely sum of 2,000l.; on
repeated occasions the sum of 1,000l. has been append-
ed to his name for religious purposes connected with the
establishment. Until the present session, the noble lord
was remarkable for the punctuality of his attendance
ſºn his parliamentary duties; what the cause is of his
irregular attendance this session, I have not the means
of knowing. He very rarely, at any time, took part in
the debates; but he was distinguished for the number
of the petitions which he was in the habit of presenting,
and which he usually prefaced with a few observations.
Lord Redesdale. 85
He has a strong, steady voice, considering his advanced
age; for he is in his eighty-second year. He is a tall
man, with a little stoop. Though not robust now, I
think it probable he must have been so to some extent
when in the vigour of manhood. The many years
which have passed over his head, have not only tinged
his hair with a grayish colour, but have formed various
deep wrinkles in his face.
Lord REDESDALE, son of the late distinguished noble
and learned lord of that name, does not often address
their Lordships; but when he does, he is always listen-
ed to with much attention by both sides of the house.
He is one of the few noblemen who is never heard with-
out one’s feeling a regret that he does not speak oftener.
Were he desirous of obtaining celebrity as a speaker,
he would only have to address their Lordships ten or
twelve times in a session, and from three-quarters of an
hour to an hour at a time, to have his wishes gratified.
I do not say that he would, by any amount of industry,
or by any effort he could make, ever attain to the dis-
tinction of an orator, in the sense in which the term is
usually understood; but he certainly would earn for
himself the reputation of being a highly respectable
speaker. He has no pretensions to talents of a lofty
kind, far less to genius; but he certainly does possess
abilities considerably above mediocrity. His talents
are of the useful, not of the shining class. There are
few noblemen in the house who possess a greater fund
of good sense, or of that practical knowledge which is
often much more useful to society than even genius
itself. It is his lordship’s great good sense, united as
8%
86 Lord Redesdale.
it is to a very unassuming manner, and an undoubted
honesty of purpose, that always insures the deepest
attention on the part of the noble lords to whatever he
says. He is happy in stripping a question of all irrele-
vant matter, and viewing it in connexion with its prac-
tical bearings. His perceptions are acute; and he has
a great aptitude for placing a point before the minds of
others in exactly the same view in which it appears to
his own. He applies himself as closely to the real me-
rits of a measure, as if it were impossible for him to
wander from them. Almost every sentence either em-
bodies an argument, removes a misconception, or states
a fact. This accounts for the circumstance of his never
speaking at any length on the few occasions in which
he addresses their Lordships. I do not recollect ever
having heard him speak longer than twelve or fifteen
minutes at a time; very rarely so long.
Lord Redesdale’s manner is unpretending, but agree-
able. He has a fine, clear, distinct voice, which, when
he becomes animated, has something Sonorous in its
tones. His utterance is well timed; if it err on either
side, it is on that of rapidity. In the use of gesticula-
tion, he is moderate: he looks straight across to the
ministerial benches, and has all the appearange, both in
his countenance and his manner, of one who is conscious
of the truth and justice of what he is saying. He
slightly moves his right arm in ordinary circumstances;
in his more energetic moments he presses the left also
into his service.
His lordship is chiefly useful in matters of business,
and in them he seems to take particular delight. The
Lord Redesdale. 87.
Earl of Devon lately mentioned, in the hearing of a
gentleman who repeated the observation to me, that in
a few years Lord Redesdale will, in all probability, be
unequalled as a business-man in the House of Lords.
No man is better qualified to speak to a matter of this
kind than the Earl of Devon here, owing to the circum-
stance, as before stated, of his having been so many
years clerk to the House of Lords.
Lord Redesdale is very plain in his personal appear-
ance. His face is round, and his complexion florid.
He has always an ample harvest of hair, of a red colour,
and a pair of whiskers of more than the average dimen-
sions. He is no patron of the West-end hairdressers;
at least there is no appearance of anything of the kind
to the eye of the spectator. He is short, and rather
thickly set. He might increase his apparent altitude,
were he to use boots or shoes of the usual thickness in
the soles and heels; but to anything of that kind he has
an unconquerable aversion. At all seasons, and under
all circumstances, you see his lordship’s feet inserted
in low thin shoes. Indeed you would fancy, as you
see him standing or walking on the floor of the house,
that he wears dancing-pumps; just as if, instead of
legislating for the empire, he were about to trip the light
fantastic toe in Almack's. His snow-white stockings
would only serve to strengthen the impression: so would
his white neckerchief. The only part of his apparel
which would militate against the hypothesis, would be
his coat and trousers. These two articles in his
costume are, as a tailor would say, of a very plain cut.
He is partial to having good measure: he likes abundant
88 Jord Redesdale.
room in his clothes. You never see him without a buff
waistcoat. The coat and trousers are always blue; the
former being moderately studded with yellow buttons.
Such is Lord Redesdale’s unvarying dress. To any
other colour than blue he has an antipathy, which
nothing but the loss of a near relative can overcome.
As for dandyism, again, he would rather submit to
almost anything, than consent to appear in fashionable
apparel. That is a thing which would put his phi-
losophy to fault: it would be to him a species of
martyrdom itself. Nor can any consideration prevail
on him to wear a great-coat or cloak. During the most
intensely cold days of January last, he was to be seen
in the neighbourhood of Whitehall and other places,
without any other protection against the remarkable
severity of the weather than I have described; and he
appeared as comfortable as if the season had been that
of summer. *
The noble lord is exceedingly attentive to his par-
liamentary duties. I know of few peers who are more
so. He is generally to be seen near the table, on one
of the cross woolsacks. As he is only in his thirty-
third year, he promises to be a man of considerable im-
portance in the house. His politics are moderately
Toryish.
Lord ALVANLEY, son of the late Lord Chief Justice
Alvanley, of the Court of Common Pleas, occasionally
makes a short speech in the house; but he is one of
those whose names are rendered more familiar to the
public by something which has occurred out of doors,
than by anything they have said or done within the
Lord ºfflvanley. 89
walls of the house. Lord Alvanley brought himself
into very prominent notice, two or three years ago, by
a squabble which he and Mr. O’Connell had together,
and which terminated in a duel between the noble lord
and Mr. Morgan O’Connell, each of the parties having,
contrary to the usages observed on such occasions, fired
three shots. The affair had its origin in the circum-
stance of Lord Alvanley having taunted Lord Mel-
bourne with having purchased, for a valuable considera-
tion, the votes of Mr. O’Connell and his party. And
this charge, both against Lord Melbourne and Mr.
O'Connell, was followed by an attempt on the part of
Lord Alvanley to get the member for Dublin expelled
from Brookes’ club. This drew forth, from Mr. O’Con-
nell, in the House of Commons, the following pointed
passage:—“There was a creature, half-idiot, half-ma-
niac, it would seem, elsewhere, that did not hesitate to
use language there which he knew he would not be
allowed to use in other places. The bloated buffoon,
too, who had talked of them as he did, might learn
the distinction between independent men, and those
whose votes were not worth purchasing, even if they
were in the market.” This was doubtless unjustifiably
strong language, and such as no man, according to the
existing code of honour, could permit to pass unno-
ticed. Lord Alvanley accordingly challenged Mr.
O'Connell, but the latter, having registered a vow in
heaven against duelling, refused to accept it. His son
Morgan, however, at once came forward, and putting
himself in his father’s place, fought a duel, as above
stated, with the noble lord.
90 The Marquis of Sligo.
Lord Alvanley has the reputation of being a great
wit. He is understood to be a man of respectable lite-
rary taste, and acquits himself very creditably in mak-
ing a short speech. His manner is quiet and subdued.
He usually sits, when in the house, on the left hand of
the Lord Chancellor, close to the woolsack. He is
however, celebrated for the regularity of his attendance
in the house. Formerly he was considered a sort of
neutral or independent man in politics; but latterly he
has identified himself closely with the Conservative
party. He is said to be indolent. He is in his forty-
ninth year.
CHAPTER WI.
LIBERAL PEIGRS.
The Marquis of Sligo–The Marquis of Northampton—
The Earl of Roseberry—The Earl of Gosford.
THE Marquis of SLIGo is better known as the late
Governor of Jamaica than as a member of the House of
Lords. In the latter place he has never done anything
to distinguish himself. There he rarely speaks at all,
and never at any length. I have no recollection of hav-
ing seen him occupy the attention of his fellow peers
for more than three or four minutes at one time. He is
diffident of his own powers as a speaker; and he has not,
nor ever had, the notion that nature intended him to
shine in the senate. It were well if some other noble
lords, who could be named, entertained an equally mo-
The Marquis of Sligo. 91
dest opinion of their own capabilities for public speak-
ing. It would spare themselves the unpleasantness of
having to labour hard before they can utter two consecu-
tive sentences in tolerable taste. It would save them
many a “hem” and forced cough, which—so, at least,
one would suppose—must be the reverse of agreeable
to their own feelings; to say nothing of the infliction
which such speakers must prove to the house. The
noble marquis carries his diffidence to excess. I do
not say that he possesses any of the leading attributes
of an effective public speaker; but if he had more confi-
dence in himself, he might, on ordinary occasions, and
on ordinary subjects, acquit himself in a very credita-
ble manner in addressing their Lordships. As it is, he
speaks with some difficulty; his matter has nothing at-
tractive in it beyond its common sense. His style has
nothing approaching to elegance: it is as homely as the
greatest lovers of that quality could wish. And his
manner is in keeping with it. It is plain and unassum-
ing to a fault. The noble marquis, however, is a highly
intelligent man. He is especially conversant with those
subjects to which circumstances have rendered it neces-
sary that he should particularly apply his mind. He
also possesses a sound judgment. And last, though
assuredly not least, he is an upright and conscientious
man, in all the public as well as private relations of life.
Integrity is a quality which is peculiarly deserving the
respect of mankind, when embodied in the conduct of
men who are placed in situations where temptations to
a different course are numerous and powerful. The
fact that the Marquis of Sligo should have come home
92 The Marquis of Sligo.
from the West Indies one of the most zealous vindica-
tors of the rights of the slave, considering the induce-
ments which must have been presented to him to feel
and act differently, is of itself a conclusive fact in fa-
vour of his conscientiousness as a public man. If any-
thing could have afforded me a gratification equal
to that with which I heard the almost superhuman
speech of Lord Brougham, in February last, on behalf
of the negroes—a speech which for brilliancy, elo-
quence, and power, has perhaps never been exceeded
in either house of parliament; if anything could have
equalled the gratification with which I listened to that
splendid speech, it would have been the cordial cheers
with which the noble marquis greeted the more import-
ant parts of it. Those cheers, considering the place
and the circumstances in which they were given, must
have been melody in the ears of every humane man
who heard them. To my mind they were proof, taking
all things into account, not only of a kindly nature,
but of the strictest honesty of character.
In March last the noble marquis published a pam-
phlet on the subject of Negro Slavery in the West
Indies, which is pervaded throughout by a spirit of the
most enlightened humanity. The pamphlet is entitled
“Jamaica under the Apprenticeship System.” It is a
production” of great interest, whether the source whence
* The following tribute to the missionaries of Jamaica, a body
of men who have been most grossly calumniated, is equally cre.
ditable to the noble Marquis's head and heart. It will be ob.
served that he speaks in the third person: **
“They (the planters) looked upon the dissenting missionaries
The Marquis of Sligo. 93
it proceeds, or the subject, or the manner in which the
subject is treated, be considered.
The noble marquis is one of the most corpulent men
also as the formenters of rebellion, and promoters of discontent
and disobedience on the part of the negroes; an opinion often
maintained in England by persons connected with the colony.
Lord Sligo, after a very short period, expressed his conviction
of their great value; acknowledged the obligations which were
due to them for their exertions to promote the spiritual instruc-
tion of the blacks; and stated that, in his opinion, almost all the
religious feeling which existed among the slaves was derived
from their efforts. That such is the truth cannot be denied; and
it is equally true that their unpopularity arose from their having
confronted all dangers, and nearly encountered martyrdom, by
their noble attempts to protect the slave from severities which,
though then permissible by law, could never be considered justi-
fiable in the sight of God. They were too loyal subjects, and too
good Christians, to be guilty of what they were so generally re-
proached with; namely, trying to make the negroes discontented
with their lot, or, as the usual phrase runs there, ‘disturbing the
minds of the negroes,’ or exciting them to revolutionary pro-
jects. The disturbance of the mind of the negroes consisted in
their boldly opposing every danger, to protect them from the
abuses of the law as it then stood; and inducing them to bear
patiently the grievances of which they complained, by pointing
oup, to them the certainty of approaching relief through the me-
dium of the British Parliament. These men were truly objects
to be cherished; and the support they received from Lord Sligo
was one cause of his unpopularity in the colony, and of the
resolute opposition which his measures encountered.”
The noble marquis concludes his pamphlet with the following
vivid picture of society in Jamaica:
“In truth, there is no justice in the general local institutions
of Jamaica; because there is no public opinion to which an ap-
peal can be made. Slavery has divided society into two classes;
to one it has given power, but to the other it has not extended
º
ºr
94 The Marquis of Sligo.
in the house: perhaps he is exceeded in this particular
by none of the peers, except the Duke of Sussex and the
Duke of Buckingham. I am not sure indeed whether,
protection. One of these classes is above public opinion, and the
other is below it; neither are, therefore, under its influence; and
it is much to be feared, that owing to the want of sympathy be-
tween them, to the want of dependence and mutual confidence,
to the poorer class being able to provide for the necessaries of
life without any application to the higher, there never will be in
Jamaica, or any other slave colony, a community of feeling on
which public opinion can operate beneficially. There now
exists, indeed, something so termed, but it does not deserve the
name; it makes the timid man afraid to act rightly, and confirms
the designing intriguer in his schemes. It is to be hoped that
this complete separation may melt away, and that some kind of
approximation of the two classes may arise. The prospects
otherwise may be awful. Great indeed is the blindness which
does not see this, great indeed is the fatuity which does not pro-
vide against it. What must be the feeling of the negro towards
those who show such an utter want of confidence in him, that
all the public acts are of a stringent nature? that they may de-
prive him of the only trade which he is able with his limited
means to engage in—namely, with the next island, St. Domingo,
lest he should there learn too much of the common right of all
people in a representative state—namely, a share in the repre-
sentation. If that scheme has not succeeded, it is not to the
white inhabitants of Jamaica that the negroes owe its failure,
but to the British government. Can the negro endure to have
himself cursed and called ‘a — black rascal' on all occasions?
Can he like to have all sense of morality and decency outraged
in the persons of his wife and daughters? Let the inhabitants
of Jamaica look to these things in time, and remedy the evil
before it is too late. Let them recollect that unless they regain
the confidence of those from whom alone free labour can be ob-
tained, the year 1840 will be the unprofitable commencement of
a series of still more unprofitable years; that if the negroes do
The Marquis of Sligo. 95
in proportion to their height, he is not in point of breadth
equal to them. I should take the noble marquis to be
about five feet eight inches in height. His head has a
not labour freely in 1840, it will be difficult, with their small ne-
cessities, to induce them to do so at any future period. Let them
support, and not on every occasion vilify, their religious teach-
ers, to whom they already Ówe more of the good conduct of the
negroes than they are willing to acknowledge. Let them not
endeavour to diminish the natural and legitimate influence of
those excellent men, the missionaries, whose assistance they
may perhaps one day themselves require. Let them not imagine,
because the skin of the negroes is darker than their own, that
they have not the feelings of men. Let them not suppose that
when these despised blacks are free, and when they gain the ad-
ditional knowledge which the change in their social condition
will inevitably impart, they will calmly submit as they have
hitherto done. It would be much better for the Jamaica proprie-
tor to give liberally now, whilst he has it in his power to give,
than wait for a reaction which, if once it takes place, will be ter-
rible in its consequences. He would not hesitate, if he was
aware of the effect of a little kindness on the mind of the poor
condemned black. Little does he know how deep every act of
considerate regard and kindly feeling sinks into his heart, or how
it carries with it gratitude and devotion. *
“Let him not say, ‘I thank God that I am not a publican and
sinner as this man is,” but let him pour wine and oil into his
wounds, and make him his friend.” -
On the 22nd of March last, when the subject of Negro Slavery
was under the consideration of their Lordships, the noble mar-
quis declared himselfin favour of the immediate abolition of the
apprenticeship system, and followed up the declaration by re-
marking that he was not one who did not practice what he preach-
ed, but that he would, on the first of August, unconditionally
emancipate all the negroes on his estates in Jamaica. The ob-
servation produced, as it was well calculated to do, a deep im-
pression on their lordships, and on all who heard it.
96 The Marquis of Northampton.
very massive appearance, and has a large quantity of
dark hair, considering that he is now in his fiftieth year.
He has a round flat face, a broad nose, and large mark-
ed eye-lashes. His forehead is broad and straight, and
his dark eyes are rather deeply set in their sockets.
His complexion is very dark, and has what is called a .
weather-beaten appearance. He makes a point of at-
tending in the house on all important occasions, and is
often, indeed, to be seen in his place when nothing of
particular interest is expected.
The Marquis of NorthAMPTON, though sufficiently
decided in his Whiggish principles, does not mix him-
self up with parties to any very great extent, either
within the walls of the house or out of doors. He is
much more partial to the peaceful pursuit of literary
and scientific objects, than to the storms and tempests
of party conflicts. There are some men to whose very
existence political or some other species of strong ex-
citement is necessary: deprive them of that, and they
would pine away and die of what the French call ennui,
but which we call languor. The noble marquis, on the
other hand, would hardly think life worth the possess-
ing, were it only to be purchased by plunging one-self
into the troubled sea of political contention. - It will
not, after this, excite surprise when I say, that the
noble marquis is by no means frequent in his attend-
ance in the house. But even were he less fond of lite-
rary and scientific pursuits than he is, I could easily
account for his absence from parliament from another
cause. His country residence, Ashley Castle, in North-
amptonshire, is allowed by all who have seen it to be
The Marquis of Northampton. 97.
one of the most beautiful, and in every respect most
delightful places in the United Kingdon. Its attrac-
tions would be sufficient of themselves to confine one
in a great measure to home, who, like his lordship, has
no relish for the turmoils of party politics. He is a re-
spectable speaker. I have not heard him address their
Lordships at sufficient length to be able to form an
opinion as to how he acquits himself in the house; but
I remember hearing him a few years ago speak at some
length, when presiding at a public meeting in the
Thatched Tavern, assembled for the purpose of taking
into consideration the propriety of erecting a statue to
the memory of the late Sir John Malcolm. On that oc-
casion he acquitted himself in a very creditable man-
ner. He spoke with considerable ease, though, if my
memory does not mislead me, with some deliberation.
His articulation is distinct, but his voice wants power
and variety. He speaks with considerable animation,
but is rather sparing of his gesture. You see at once
that he is a literary man, and yet there is no appear-
ance of a wish to parade his literary acquirements.
The noble marquis has contributed various pieces,
both in poetry and in prose, to the periodical literature
of the day. Most of those pieces, I believe, have ap-
peared in the Annuals. Some months ago the noble
marquis avowedly edited a book, for the benefit of the
widow of a deceased author of some celebrity. The
work to which I refer, appeared under the title, I think,
of “The Widow’s Offering.” I am not aware of any
detached work of any extent which has proceeded from
his pen.
9%
98 The Earl of Rosebery.
The noble marquis is no devoted worshipper of the
Graces. His toilette never costs him a thought. He
dresses with a plainness approaching to a primitive sim-
plicity. He is about the middle height, rather perhaps
below it; and of proportionable thickness. His com-
plexion is dark, and his hair black. His features are
somewhat large, especially about the eyes and eye-
brows. The expression of his countenance is placid
and intellectual. His age is forty-eight years; though,
judging from appearance only, you would set it down
at five or six years more. .
The Earl of RosBBERy has an aversion, which no-
thing but some powerful consideration can overcome,
to take any active part in great national questions;
while, on the other hand, he would never forgive him-
self if he allowed any Scottish subject of interest or
moment to be brought before their Lordships without
expressing his opinions respecting it. He acquits him-
self, in his addresses to the house, in a very respectable
manner. He speaks with great emphasis, as if every
sentence he uttered were the result of deep conviction.
The earnestness of his manner always insures him an
attentive hearing, and adds much to the effect of what
he says. His speeches usually indicate an acquaintance
with their subject. His elocution would be considered
good, were it not that its effect is impaired by his very
peculiar voice—so peculiar that I know not how to de-
scribe it. All I can say respecting it is, that a person
who has once heard will never forget it. He would re-
cognize it again without seeing the speaker or knowing
that it was lordship, in any place or at any distance of
The Earl of Gosford. 99
time. The English ear perceives at once that he is a
Scotchman; and yet his Scotch accent cannot be said
to be of a broad kind. A native of his own country
would not very readily recognize the northern accent
in the elocution of his lordship. He always speaks with
sufficient loudness to be audible in all parts of the house.
He seldom falters, and still more rarely hesitates for
want of suitable phraseology. His language is in good
taste, without being polished. His addresses never ex-
tend to any length, but they are comprehensive. There
is generally as much matter-of-fact or argument in them
as a more wordy speaker would swell out to double the
extent. -
His action requires but little notice. He is a quiet
speaker: his body stands nearly as still as if he were
transfixed. He now and then moves both hands at
once, just as if he were waving them to some friend he
recognized at a distance. -
The noble earl is slightly below the middle height,
with a moderate inclination to corpulency. His com-
plexion partakes more of sallowness than of any other
quality I could name. His hair has something of a
grayish colour. In the features of his face there is no-
thing peculiar. He looks a good-natured man, and I
believe is so in reality. He is in his fifty-fifth year. It
is a curious circumstance that the word “Rose” occurs
in the family name, as well as in his title, the family
name being Primrose. -
The Earl of Gosford is a nobleman whose name has
of late been brought before the public with a prominency
unequalled, perhaps, by that of any other peer in the
100 The Earl of Gosford.
realm. I refer, of course, to its connexion with Canada
and Canadian affairs. At the time I write his lordship
is daily expected home from Canada, having been re-
called by the Melbourne cabinet from the government
of that colony. When he re-appears in his place in the
House of Lords, some lengthened statements will natu-
rally be expected from him, in reference to his share of
the responsibility of the recent insurrection in Canada.
Before quitting the house and the country he very sel-
dom addressed their Lordships, and when he did, his
wish seemed to be to express his sentiments in the few-
est possible words, and in the shortest space of time
which was practicable. The little that he said, how-
ever, had always the merit of being pertinent to the
purpose he had in view. His object could never be mis-
taken, and his matter was always of such a nature as
seemed well calculated to promote that object. He is
a slow speaker, but not unpleasantly so. His voice is
clear, and his enunciation very distinct. He is a tran-
quil, unassuming speaker, never raising his voice to a
high pitch, nor having recourse to anything deserving
the name of gesture. Before he went to Canada, he
was one of the most regular attendants in the house.
He was punctual as the clock struck five; the Lord
Chancellor, indeed, would not have been often wrong,
though he had made the noble earl’s entrance into the
house the signal for taking the woolsack.
In figure Lord Gosford is short and thickset. His
complexion is dark, and so is his hair. The chief cha-
racteristic of his face is a certain hardness of features,
which almost gives it a sternness of expression. He is
in his sixty-second year.
The Earl of Minto. 101
CHAPTER VII.
LIBERAL PEERS.
(CONTINUED.)
The Earl of Minto–The Earl of Shrewsbury—The Earl
of Lichfield–Lord Lymedoch—Lord Portman.
THE Earl of MINTo was not much heard of as a pub-
lic character until he accepted office under the present
administration. He succeeded Lord Auckland, as First
Lord of the Admiralty, upwards of two years since,
when the latter noble lord was appointed Governor
General of India. The Earl of Minto did not, how-
ever, then enter the public service for the first time; he
had been for some years, at a former period, ambassador
at the Court of Berlin. His father, the late Earl of
Minto was well known through the situations he held
in connexion with India. In 1806, he was President
of the Board of Control, and was afterwards appointed
to the situation of Governor-general of Bengal. As a
speaker, the present noble earl has few or no preten-
sions. Both his matter and his manner are against him.
His matter never rises above mediocrity; sometimes it
does not quite reach that point; while it is made to ap-
pear worse than it really is by his unfavourable manner.
His voice is husky, and his elocution is not in good
taste. There is an unusual broadness in his pronuncia-
tion for one in his rank of life, even though a native of
Scotland; and, instead of being lessened, the defects
102 The Earl of Minto.
under which he labours in this respect are greatly ag-
gravated by the slowness of his utterance. He occa-
sionally hesitates, but not to any extent, as if at a loss
for the proper phraseology. He is, however, notwith-
standing this absence of oratorical qualifications, always
listened to with much attention by their Lordships. I
ascribe this partly to the respect in which he is person-
ally held, and partly to a straightforwardness and earn-
estness of manner which cannot fail to strike any one
who hears him. Though there is nothing like eloquence
in his speeches, he is always clear, and his facts, in
which he largely deals, are usually important, and bear
on the subject before the house. He has a decided dis-
like to speaking. It is a positive punishment to him to
be obliged to address the House. If he were a Roman
Catholic, the priest, aware of his aversion to speak,
would impose on him the necessity of making a speech
by way of penance. No one ever heard the noble earl
volunteer a speech. No one ever heard him make a
speech when he could help it. It is only when the du-
ties of his office compel him to say something, that a
sentence is known to come from his lips in the house.
He is a nobleman, notwithstanding, who is not only well
acquainted with the duties of his office, but who pos-
sesses a very respectable amount of general information.
In the Earl of Minto’s personal appearance there is
nothing striking. He is of a spare make, and a little
above the general height. His complexion is unusually
dark, and his countenance has somewhat of a Jewish
expression. His hair is black and abundant. He
scarcely looks so old as he is: his age is fifty-six.
The Earl of Shrewsbury. 103
The Earl of SHREwsBURY very seldom takes part in
the debates in the house, but he is, on the whole, pretty
regular in his attendance. A speech of five minutes
duration in the course of a session is the utmost extent
to which he troubles their Lordships. The only occa-
sion on which I have heard him speak during the present
session was on the 1st of March, on the evening on
which the Bishop of Exeter presented a petition com-
plaining of the alleged perjury of the Roman Catholic
members of the House of Commons. Being himself a
Roman Catholic, he very naturally felt sore at the
charges of an utter violation of the first principles of
morality, which were preferred against the Roman Ca-
tholic members of the Lower House by the bench of
Bishops, thinking, no doubt, that as he had, on ques-
tions affecting the church, voted in the same way, the
charge was, by implication, also brought against him.
He appears to be an exceedingly diffident man. Nothing,
at any rate, could be more unassuming than his manner
when addressing their Lordships. He is not sufficiently
audible in the gallery, and if the least noise prevailed
among their Lordships, he could not be heard in the
body of the house. He speaks in a timid, plaintive tone,
and yet I believe he does not want moral courage. It
is difficult to say whether his voice be good or other-
wise, in consequence of his never giving it full scope.
Judging as well as his inanimate manner would permit,
it does not want either clearness or strength. Of ges-
ture the noble earl is exceedingly sparing, if, indeed,
he can be said to have any. He just moves his right
arm as much as suffices to convince the spectator that
104 The Earl of Shrewsbury.
it is capable of motion. In every other respect he
stands pretty nearly as steadily as if he were trying
how motionless a man may be in an erect position.
When speaking, there is a slight tendency in his person
to lean forward.
Of the noble earl’s matter I need not say much. He
has no ambition to be considered a speaker: hence his
matter is as plain and unpretending as his manner.
There is no appearance of a wish to round a period—
no indication that he aims at effect. He never speaks
at all except when he conceives that a sort of moral
necessity is imposed on him to make some observations;
and then, unlike many other peers I could name, in-
stead of labouring to make his speech as long as possi-
ble, his object is to say what passes in his mind in the
shortest possible space of time. This observation will
at once lead the reader to the inference, that Hamlet
could not have characterized his speeches as “words,
words, words.” There is no verbiagé in them. If his
ideas are common-place, he gives you one idea, such as
it is, in every sentence; and what more, I should like to
know, could any man in reason ask?
The noble earl has nothing remarkable in his personal
appearance. He is much about the usual height, and
correspondingly formed. His face is of the oval form,
and has more of the expression of repose than of any
other quality in it. It is deficient in energy and deci-
sion. His complexion has more colour in it than the
countenances of most of his co-legislators in the Upper
House. His features have nothing peculiar in them;
they are not small, neither can they be considered
The Earl of Lichfield. 105
large. His hair is of a brown colour, and usually over-
laps his forehead. He has a favourite position, as well
as a favourite seat, in the house. His seat is on the
back bench, immediately behind Lord Brougham; and
the position to which he seems most partial is that of
sitting with his arms folded on his breast. If he be
listening with special attention to the peer who is ad-
dressing their Lordships, and if that peer be on the
opposition side of the house, you will at once be inform-
ed of the fact by his taking an occasional peep at him,
by the assistance of his eye-glass. He was admitted
into the House of Lords on the passing of the Roman
Catholic Relief Bill, and is now in the fifty-first year of
his age. *. • , -
The Earl of LICHFIELD very rarely opened his mouth
in the house previous to the year 1835; but his appoint-
ment to the office of Postmaster-general, soon after the
re-accession of Lord Melbourne to power, has since
then repeatedly imposed upon him the necessity of ad-
dressing their Lordships. The noble earl has an un-
qualified aversion to public speaking: nothing is a
greater punishment to him than to be obliged to make
a speech, which of course he occasionally is, when any
attacks are made in the house on the administration of
the post-office affairs. Nothing is more unpleasant to
him than the sound of his own voice in the House of
Lords. He would rather submit to the infliction of a
two hours’ speech from the worst speaker that ever
opened his mouth, than make a speech of his own of ten
minutes’ duration. I am strongly inclined to the no-
tion, that were Mr. Wallace, the member for Greenock,
VOL. I.-10 -
106 The Earl of Lichfield.
to be made a peer, and continued in the House of Lords
the same vigorous attacks on the post-office system
which have characterized that gentleman’s legislative
career in the other house, the Earl of Lichfield would
unhesitatingly resign his office, rather than have the un-
pleasant duty imposed upon him, night after night, of
defending himself, and the establishment of which he
is the head, from the charges preferred by the member
for Greenock. . .
When the noble earl is under the necessity of speak-
ing, he labours with all his might and main to make the
shortest possible work of it. I need hardly say, after
this, that his speeches are always short. I have no re-
collection of having heard him address their Lordships
for a longer period than twelve or fifteen minutes. His
matter almost invariably consists of statements and
figures. Arguments or reasoning he rarely attempts.
He submits to their Lordships certain facts, usually
leaving those facts to speak for themselves. His mat-
ter is always clear. He expresses himself with suffi-
cient precision, in plain, unpretending language. His
utterance is moderately rapid; occasionally he hesitates
a little, and now and then has to correct his phraseology.
His manner is quiet and unassuming; and he seldom
raises his voice beyond the subdued tone in which he
commences his speech.
The personal appearance of the noble earl has no-
thing peculiar about it. He is tall, and rather slenderly
made. His complexion is dark, and his hair, of which
he has always an ample stock, is black. His whiskers
are “prodigiously” large. The form of his face is long
Lord Lynedoch. 107
rather than otherwise. His features are not character-
ized by any particular expression. He is yet but a
young man, being only in his forty-third year.
Lord LYNEDOCH is a nobleman who, though he has
not taken any active part in the proceedings of the
house for some years past, is nevertheless, on various
accounts, deserving of a notice. First of all, he is the
father of the peerage. He is in his eighty-eighth year.
That his lordship should have lived to this advanced
age is the more surprising, when it is recollected what
fatigues and hardships he underwent, as an officer in the
army, when Sir Thomas Graham. A braver or more
distinguished soldier has seldom appeared on the field
of battle. His military achievements were of so dis-
tinguished a nature for many years prior to the peace of
1815, and are so well known to all acquainted with the
history of the late war, as to render any particular re-
ference to them unnecessary. It was in return for his
great services as an officer in the army that he was
raised to the dignity of a peer of the realm, in addition
to a regular vote of thanks from both houses of parlia-
ment. It is worthy of observation, that notwithstanding
Lord Lynedoch’s very great age, he was remarkable
until last session for the regularity of his attendance in
the house. Night after night he was in his place by
five o’clock, with as great a punctuality as if his life or
fortune had depended on his presence at that hour. It
was an interesting sight to see his lordship coming into
the house. There was something singularly venerable
in his appearance, apart from the events and circum-
stances with which his name was associated: with those
108 Lord Portman.
associations, it can hardly be necessary to Say, that his
aspect was rendered doubly venerable. His once tall
robust frame had settled down into something of a stoop-
ing posture; while his hair was white as the unsunned
snow. His face was furrowed with wrinkles, and
wanted the blood and colour of less advanced age. His
countenance wore an expression of deep thought, blend-
ed with calm dignity. When in the prime of life, his
figure must have been remarkably commanding and his
face very handsome. He rarely spoke for many years
past, and even when he did, but seldom at any length.
He spoke in a slow and subdued tone, and used very
little gesture. I have not seen him in his place in the
house in the course of the present session.
Lord PortMAN has not long been a member of the
Upper House. He was raised to the peerage only a
few years since. For some time previously, he repre-
sented an English county in the House of Commons,
where he spoke as Mr. Portman with much greater fre-
quency than he has done since his elevation to the
Upper House. Indeed, he can hardly be said to have
made a speech in the latter place at all, until the open-
ing of the Victoria Parliament, when he was selected
by ministers to second the motion of the Duke of Sussex
for an address to her Majesty, thanking her for her gra-
cious speech. On any occasion on which he had before
spoken in the house, he chiefly confined himself to a
few desultory observations; in most cases, on the pre-
sentation of petitions. His speech, therefore, on the
occasion of seconding the motion for an address to the
throne, may, in one sense, be said to have been his
Jord Portman. 109
debut as a speaker in the Upper House; and as might,
in the circumstances, have been expected, all eyes were
upon him to see how he would acquit himself. He
spoke for more than half an hour, and acquitted himself
in a highly respectable manner. The matter of his
speech without being brilliant, displayed considerable
talent. It was occasionally argumentative, sometimes
declamatory, always clear. His style was unassuming
and plain: he never seemed to aim at being rhetorical.
His manner was pleasant rather than impressive. One
of his favourite attitudes was to rest both hands on the
table for a short time, and then suddenly withdraw them,
to enable him to resume a perpendicular position. He
usually kept his eye fixed on the two or three noble lords
immediately opposite him. He spoke with some fluency,
and without any seeming difficulty. His voice is of the
treble kind. He did not speak in loud tones, but was
sufficiently audible in all parts of the house. He had
nothing worthy of the name of gesticulation, beyond
his resting himself by means of his two hands on the
table, in the way I have described, and a slight occa-
sional movement of the head. He is dark looking, and
has black hair. His features are regular, and his coun-
tenance wears an intelligent aspect. He is rather tall,
and of a stout frame. He is understood to be somewhat
reserved in his habits, and is said to have a good deal
of the quality which the French call hauteur. The
noble lord is in the thirty-eighth year of his age.
10%
110
BOOK II.
THE HOUSE OF COMMONs.
CHAPTER I.
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS.
Swearing in the members—Mr. O’Connell taking the oaths
—Unpopular speakers—Predilections of particular mem.
bers for particular subjects—Sleeping in the House—Dif-
ference in the appearance of the House at different times
—Diversity in the manner of members when addressing
the House—The difference in their dress—Anecdote of an
Irish member and his hat. -
In the case of the House of Commons, as in that of
the House of Lords, many amusing circumstances oc-
curred while the members were being sworn in at the
opening of the Victoria Parliament. It was not only
amusing but sometimes laughable to see those gentle-
men returned for the first time, when about to take the
oaths. The members, including old and new, advanced
to the table, on several occasions, in companies of from
a dozen to a dozen-and-a-half; and anything more
. awkward than the movements of the newly-fledged le-
gislators it were impossible to imagine. But decidedly
the best scene of all was exhibited on Friday, when
Miscellaneous Observations. 111
upwards of one hundred members were sworn in at
conce. Some of the new M.P.'s stared at the huge pro-
portions of the Speaker’s wig, as if they had been afraid
of the article; but what chiefly embarrassed them was,
to ascertain the position which they ought respectively
to occupy at the table. They dashed against each other,
displaced each other, and trod on each other’s toes,
just as if engaged in a regular jostling match. An
Irishman would have thought the thing an imitation of
a row. At one time, two or three were seen snatching
at the same copy of the New Testament; and imme-
diately after, the same two or three legislators were
seen holding the book at once with an air of great gravi-
ty. The limited supply of the sacred volume—limited,
I mean, as compared with the number of gentlemen
being sworn in at one time—rendered this necessary.
The various moods of mind in which the oaths were evi-
dently taken, afforded in the Lower House, as in the
Lords, matter for curious reflection. Those of liberal
politics, and of latitudinarian notions respecting denomi-
national differences in religion, clearly regarded, like
the Whig peers, those portions of the oath which relate
to the Roman Catholic faith as of no deep moment; for
they hummed over the words in that careless and impa-
tient manner in which a school-boy repeats an ungrate-
ful task. They often looked, on the sly, off the printed
slip whence they read; just as boys of a trifling dispo-
sition do at school, when they fancy the eye of the peda-
gogue is not on them. The Tories, on the other hand,
and all who entertained a conscientious horror of the
Roman Catholic religion, were remarkably serious and
&
112 Miscellaneous Observations.
emphatic when repeating the portions of the oath which
apply to it. I think it would have been no difficult mat-
ter, without any particular pretensions to a practical
knowledge of the system of Lavater, to have distin-
guished between the more devout of the Tories and the
more latitudinarian of the Liberals, from a simple
glance at their several countenances while reading the
denunciations against certain points in the Roman Ca-
tholic faith. The grave visages of the former exhibited
a marked contrast to the careless physiognomies of the
latter. -- -
The circumstance of so many persons audibly re-
peating the same words at once, had a singular effect
on the auricular organs. Only fancy that you hear
upwards of one hundred individuals, all repeating in
loud tones the same words after the clerk of the House
of Commons,—words, too, which many of them had
never pronounced before, and you will easily conceive
what must have been the variety of voices, and the de-
viation from the proper time in the delivery, which must
have been exhibited on the occasion. Anything more
inharmonious it has happily been but seldom my lot to
listen to. It need notaught of the prophetic spirit, after
hearing the voices and elocution of many of the honour-
able gentlemen, to predict that they were not destined
to achieve any remarkable oratorical triumphs on the g
floor of the House of Commons. -
While the large assemblage of members of whom I
have been speaking, were undergoing the initiatory pro-
cess of taking the oaths, a rather awkward circumstance
occurred. I refer to the fact, that at the same time
.# , ,
Miscellaneous Observations. 113
another of the clerks was engaged in administering a
different oath to six or seven Roman Catholic members
standing at the same table; so that the latter were
obliged to submit, without even a word of murmur, far
less of remonstrance, to hear themselves denounced by
the Protestant members as idolaters, for whom a certain
doom, which I shall not here mention, is in sure reserve.
This might have been avoided by administering the oath
to the Catholics at an after period. -
Mr. O'Connell came into the house by himself. His
ever-smiling and ample countenance, redolent of health
and of a cheerful disposition, delighted all his friends
present, as his athletic person was recognised passing
the bar, and Swaggering up towards the table. It is a
positive luxury, in an assemblage where there are so
many dandies and sprigs of fashion, to witness the
plain farmer-like appearance and unsophisticated man-
ners of Mr. O’Connell. Advancing to the corner of
the table, on the ministerial side of the house, next the
Speaker's chair, the honourable member intimated to
one of the clerks that he was ready to take the oaths.
The clerk, having placed the oath of allegiance in his
hand, forthwith commenced reading it. Mr. O’Connell
not being able to read without the aid of an eye-glass,
and not having taken out of his pocket that necessary
auxiliary to his vision in time to enable him to start
with the clerk, was obliged to repeat the words for some
time after the clerk, without knowing whether the latter
was reading correctly or not. All this while, the hon-
ourable gentleman was making a most active search for
his glass, first in one pocket, then in another; when
114 Miscellaneous Observations.
eventually alighting on it, he promptly raised it to his
eyes, and carefully read the remainder of the oath, as
he also did the one administered only to Roman Catho-
lics, from the printed copy before him. It was amusing
to observe the slow and cautious way in which he re-
peated the words after the clerk, before he was in a
condition to read the oath, contrasted with the rapidity
of his utterance when reading it himself off the printed
copy. In fact, he had hardly commenced reading the
document, when it must have struck all present that,
instead of following the clerk, he was rather in advance
of him. It looked indeed, as if there had been a regular
match between the two, as to who should read the oath
most rapidly; while it was beyond all question that Mr.
O’Connell was the winner.
While this exhibition of rapid reading rivalry was
going, on, Mr. O’Connell, instead of taking the docu-
ment in his hands, as the members usually do when
going through the ceremony of being sworn in, laid it on
the table, and applying his glass to his eyes with his
left hand, thrust the fingers of his right one between his
black neckerchief and his neck, at intervals of a few
seconds, until he had got to the end of the oaths. Mr.
O’Connell read the whole of the oaths in a distinct and
audible, though rapid, manner; but was repeatedly ob-
served to lay peculiar emphasis on particular expres-
sions. He laid remarkable stress on that part of the
oath of allegiance which refers to the Queen in particu-
lar. If any one had doubted the honourable member’s
loyalty before, which no one, so far as I am aware,
ever did,—they could no longer resist the conviction
Miscellaneous Observations. 115
that he was not only a loyal subject, but that he was
one of the most loyal subjects in her Majesty’s domi-
nions. -
Having got through the ceremony of swearing in, Mr.
O’Connell took up the Roman Catholic oath, and then
contemptuously tossed it down again on the table, as if
he had either had some private quarrel with it, or deemed
it an altogether unnecessary affair. This done, he
glanced some half dozen of his own peculiar smiles at
some of the honourable members beside him, and then
went over to the Speaker, with whom he cordially shook
hands, and held a brief confabulation: after which he
took his seat for a few seconds, and then waddled out
of the house again. - - - - ... "
I mentioned in my First Series of this work, that
some honourable members have acquired a great repu-
tation—if so it must be called—for the moving effect
which they produce on their co-legislators. I do not
mean moving as regards the feelings or passions, but
as regards the locomotive parts of one’s body. Mr.
Peter Borthwick” and Mr. Serjeant Lefroy are entitled
to the first place in the first rank of this class of mem-
bers. There are others again, who somehow or other
contrive to detain honourable gentlemen in their seats,
but who as surely send a large portion of them sound
asleep by the time they have been a quarter of an hour
on their legs, as if some powerful soporific draught had
been administered to them. This may appear a hyper-
bolical expression; but if I could only get those who
* Mr. Borthwick, as stated in a previous sheet, has been un-
Seated since this was written.
116 Miscellaneous Observations.
may be sceptical on the subject transferred to the
gallery of the House of Commons when such senators
are speaking, they would be constrained to acknow-
ledge that there is no exaggeration in the matter. In
this case I will not mention names, as that might ap-
pear invidious; but I may state, that there are seven or
eight gentlemen, on either side of the house, who are
proverbial for the lethargic effects which their speeches
produce. - - -
It is curious to observe with what interest particular
members listen to the speeches of other honourable gen-
tlemen, to which the members generally pay no atten-
tion, when the subject chances to be a favourite one
with those particular members. If, for example, there
be any thing highly imaginative in the speech of an ho-
nourable gentlemen, Mr. Edward Lytton Bulwer is
Sure, if in the house, to be all attention, however listless
all other members may be around him. The philosophy,
again, which would either send most other members out
of the house, or set them a-talking with their next neigh-
bours, would rivet Mr. Grote to his seat, and secure
from him the most attentive hearing. Just mention the
word “economy,” and you are sure of a most willing
auditor on the part of Mr. Hume, however inattentive
other M. P.’s may be; but give your speech an arith-
metical complexion, and that moment Mr. Hume pricks
up his ears, even should he have been dozing before,
as if you were pointing out to him some way in which,
without any trouble to himself, his fortune might be
doubled. -
One very amusing instance of this occurred in Feb-
Miscellaneous Observations. 117
ruary last, on the night of the second reading of the
Poor Law Bill for Ireland. On that occasion Mr.
Lucas, the member for Monaghan, a very sensible and
exceedingly intelligent man, but a very heavy speaker,
had, by a prolix address, sent honourable gentlemen into
a state of slumber by the dozen. Mr. Hume himself,
though usually among the least sleepy members in the
house, was among those who, on this occasion, resigned
themselves, seemingly without a struggle, into the arms
of Morpheus. Mr. Lucas at length came to what I
would call an arithmetical part of his speech, beginning
with—“As 6s. 8d. is to 20s., so is,” &c. I do not finish
the sentence, because it had too much of a rule of three
complexion for me to remember it. However, it was
just the thing for Mr. Hume; and the very moment the
figures were mentioned, that moment the honourable
gentleman awoke from his doze, and looked as atten-
tive as if he had given Mr. Lucas a most willing and
entire loan of his ears from the commencement. I may
here add, that the speech of the honourable member
for Monaghan continued for some time to be purely
arithmetical. It brought to my recollection my school-
boy days—the happiest days, alas! of most men—as
vividly as if I had at that instant been in bodily fear of
the birch of the pedagogue. Mr. Lucas actually put
some of his arguments in the very form in which the
Dominie used to put perplexing questions in the rule-
of-three: “If,” said the honourable gentleman, “so-and-
So give so-and-so, what will so-and-so give?” I con-
gratulated myself that I was not, as of old, obliged to
answer, or, as we were accustomed to say, “work” the
VOL. I.-11
118 Miscellaneous Observations.
question.” I was sometimes puzzled a quarter of a
century ago with such exercises: I know to a cer-
tainty I should have been so on this occasion. It is per-
haps worthy of observation, that so little do reporters,
as well as honourable members, relish speeches which
partake of a Cocker character, that on this occasion se-
veral of the former—I do not mean those on duty—fell
into a sound slumber. And who could blame them, in
such circumstances, for following the example so gene-
rally set them by honourable members? I have no
doubt that the lethargic tendency was so general on the
occasion, that not even strangers in the gallery escaped
the infection. Other parts of the honourable gentle-
man’s speech—which, by the way, was an able one—
were, it is but justice to say, listened to with becoming
attention. - -
The observations I have made respecting the soporific
influence which the speech in question had on so many
persons,—members, reporters, and strangers, remind
me that I ought to say something of a more general
nature, on the subject of the sleepy scenes which are
often to be witnessed in the house. There are not only
certain subjects which invariably, when introduced,
send a greater or less number of honourable gentlemen
asleep; but there are about a dozen M. P.’s who, be the
subject what it may, are sure to be sent asleep, as
soundly as if they were never to wake again, by the
time the members before alluded to have been half an
hour on their legs. I will not, I repeat, mention the
names of those gentlemen who, in the capacity of ora-
tors, have acquired this unpleasant sort of celebrity;
Miscellaneous Observations. 119
but I may here state, that they have the merit of send-
ing certain M. P.'s asleep in the house, when the sopo.
rific prescriptions of physicians have completely failed
at home. When the orators to whom I refer have risen
to speak, many honourable gentlemen who have no
desire to be found sleeping at their post of legislative
duty, prefer going out of the house until the sleep-pro-
ducing speaker has put a period to his eloquence.
Perhaps I should not be far from the truth if I were
to say, that there are others who are gratified when they
see the members to whom I allude get up to speak;
because they are partial to a sound nap, and conse-
quently would prefer the sleepy speech to one of the
most brilliant addresses of Sir Robert Peel or Mr.
O’Connell. -
I shall not say how many members I have seen asleep
at once, when a particular speaker, at a late hour of
the night, was inflicting a long harangue on the house;
nor shall I even hint at the number I have seen in the
intermediate state between sleeping and waking—a
state more generally characterized by the phrase of
“half-asleep half-awake;” but this I may say, that the
number on some occasions has been sufficiently great
to bring to my remembrance a well known song, begin-
ning with “We’re a noddin’—a’ noddin’.”
The aspect of the proceedings in the house is very
different at different times of the same sitting. From
four to five o’clock there is an uninterrupted series of
entrances and exits on the part of honourable members.
As they come in, you see a considerable portion of them
with large rolls of parchment in their hands or under
120 Miscellaneous Observations.
their arms. These are petitions to the house. On the
night of a subject of paramount interest being to be
brought forward for discussion, the number of petitions
is unusually large: you see rolls of parchment in scores
of hands, or spread out on the knees of honourable
members, in order that those honourable members may
be able to read the headings of the petitions the moment
the time for presenting them arrives. The rustling of
parchment between four and five is loud and constant;
it is now the more so from the rapidity with which the
presentation of one petition Suceeeds another, in con-
sequence of a late regulation of the house preventing
any member from saying anything in support of the
prayer of a petition. Until five o’clock, the house is,
in other respects, a scene of perfect confusion. Mem-
bers are to be seen promenading the floor in dozens,
and talking in all parts of the house to one another, just
as if they were so many merchants on the Royal Ex-
change, or some other place of business. After five
o'clock the more important business of the day begins,
and then the house has a more orderly appearance.
When a speaker of influence is on his legs, nothing can
be more decorous than the conduct of honourable mem-
bers. The most perfect quiet reigns in the place. You
would fancy honourable members were all ears, and
that they were incapable of anything but listening with
the closest attention. *
The influential and accomplished orator resumes his
seat, and is succeeded by Mr. Fielden, Mr. Serjeant
Lefroy, or some other gentleman of the same oratorical
calibre. And what follows? There is such a rush of
Miscellaneous Observations. 121
members towards the door, that you would fancy they
had been simultaneously seized with an apprehension
that the house was on the eve of falling about their ears.
“Oh, the house is up!” is a general exclamation on such
occasions among strangers in the gallery, who know no
better. In a few minutes the place has an altogether
different appearance. The benches which were crowd-
ed while the preceding speaker was addressing the
house, are now all but entirely deserted. You see an
isolated member here and there, who remains because
there is no other place to which it suits his convenience
to go at the time. You cannot help pitying the unfor-
tunate Speaker, who is doomed to continue in his seat,
and is obliged, for politeness sake, to listen, with an
appearance of the greatest attention, to the prolix and
prosy harangue of the gentleman who plays the orator.
The Speaker is perhaps the only member present who
is paying, or seeming to pay, the slightest attention to
the speech which is in the course of delivery. The fre-
quent yawning, the sleepy aspect, and the general list-
less appearance of the few besides himself that remain,
sufficiently prove that the orator might just as well ad-
dress his eloquence to the benches on which the mem-
bers sit. t
By-and-by, when some popular speaker is expected
to address the house, the place begins to fill again.
Very possibly, before a division takes place on the ques-
tion before the house, some unpopular member may
start to his feet, and succeed in catching the eye of the
Speaker. It is ten to one, in such a case, if there be
not what is called a scene. If you never saw an imita-
1.1%
122 Miscellaneous Observations.
tion of a bear-garden exhibition, you may prepare for
witnessing it now. Very probably the reader has been
in Wombwell’s or some other menagerie. If so, I will
answer for it that he will hear sounds in St. Stephen’s
that he never heard, either when present at those zoolo-
gical exhibitions or anywhere else. Everything has an
end: so have scenes in the house of Commons.
The unpopular speaker is succeeded by some favour-
ite one who is expected to finish the debate; in which
case the most perfect order is restored; and you are
only at a loss to comprehend how a body of men that
can demean themselves with so much propriety now,
and can so well sustain the deliberative character,
should have conducted themselves so differently but ten
or twelve minutes before. The debate is finished, and
the Speaker, to the utter amazement of the spectators
in the gallery, vociferates as loudly as his lungs will
permit, “Strangers must withdraw—strangers must
withdraw.” The poor good-natured “strangers,” some
of them fancying one thing and some another, as the
cause of their being ordered out, are fain to make their
exit with all practicable expedition, lest possibly they
should fall into the clutches of some of the officers of
the house, for disobedience to the authority of the
Speaker. The members also quit the house and repair
to the voting room; so that, within a few minutes of the
conclusion of the speech of the member who last spoke,
the place is as utterly deserted as if there never had
been a human being in it.
The members divide in the voting room, and return
to the house to announce the numbers. This done,
Miscellaneous Observations. 123
there is another rush of members to the door, on their
way to their homes, or to the clubs, or to such other
places as may best suit their respective pursuits.
Thirty or forty perhaps remain to go through what are
called the orders of the day, which seldom occupy more
than fifteen or twenty minutes; when the words, “That
this house do now adjourn!”—words so grateful to his
own ears, as well as to the ears of the reporters, are put
by the Speaker; and no one hinting anything to the
contrary, the House does adjourn.
The sketch I have just given of the various aspects
which the House of Commons assumes in the course of
one evening, principally applies to nights in which one
important subject is chiefly under discussion. On other
occasions there is less of variety, and less of striking
interest.
It is sometimes amusing to observe the odd tempo-
rary associations which take place, through accidental
circumstances, between honourable members in the
house. To some of these, of a political kind, I referred
in my First Series of “Random Recollections” of the
Lower House. Not less amusing is it to see the con-
trast which is sometimes presented, in the personal ap-
pearance of a particular pair of members who sit next
to each other. The one is a very Falstaff in his bodily
proportions; the other is a walking skeleton, a modern
bare-bones. An American would compare him to a
tongs. The most striking contrast of the kind which I
ever witnessed in the house, was when Mr. Pattison,
the late governor of the Bank of England, and Mr. Roe-
buck, chanced to sit together. Mr. Pattison is one of
124 Miscellaneous Observations.
the most corpulent men one will meet with in the course
of a moderate lifetime; Mr. Roebuck is so slender and
so short, as to resemble an overgrown boy just entered
into his teens.
Those in the habit of attending the house can gene-
rally tell beforehand whether particular members mean
to speak on particular nights. This is in some instances
known by their quitting their usual places, and singling
out some prominent one, in order that they may appear,
as they suppose, to greater advantage. Others, again,
when they mean to speak, adjust their hair with special
taste, or dress with more than their wonted Smartness.
Among the latter class of honourable gentlemen was
Mr. Peter Borthwick. He was one of the most sprucely
attired members in the house, on ordinary occasions;
but he always made his dandyism complete by sporting
a pair of white gloves on his hands, no matter what may
have been the temperature of the house, when he medi-
tated a set speech.
Every one who has been in the house must have been
struck with the great change which takes place in the
manner of different members, the very moment they
commence their addresses. Some honourable gentle-
men rise with an air of mock majesty, and begin their
speeches in slow and measured tones; others “take to
their feet,” and commence with an air of great careless-
ness; while a third class of members literally start from
their seats, and bawl out “Mr. Speaker!” as if the thing
were with them a matter of life and death. The most
distinguished among the latter class is Mr. G. F. Young,
Miscellaneous Observations. 125
the member for Teignmouth.” He always rises with
as much precipitation as if the house were on fire, and
the first word he utters has all the effect of an explo-
sion. I recollect hearing some one compare his man-
ner in rising to the bursting of a bottle of soda-water.
In the external appearance, or, as a tailor would call
it, the “decoration” of the persons of honourable mem-
bers, there is a very marked variety. While many of
the M. P.’s are so foppishly dressed that even Beau
Brummell himself would have looked on their attire
with envious eye, there are others who run to the other
extreme, and always appear in the most homely appa-
rel. A day labourer in his holiday clothes would look
comparatively smart if placed beside them. Taken as
a body, though there are many striking exceptions, the
Irish Liberal members pay least attention to the cut,
quality and condition of their clothes. It would be invi-
dious to say that the want of means is in any case the
cause, and that it is their poverty and not their will that
consents. With some—and Mr. Shiel is an instance in
point—it is a decided dislike to any thing which could
be construed into dandyism, that causes what may be
called carelessness as to the appearance of their apparel.
In the course of last session, the dress of some of the
Irish Liberal members led to one of the most amusing
incidents which have occurred for some time in connex-
ion with parliamentary matters. I shall narrate it as
briefly as I can. A letter dated from the Irish office,
and having the name of Lord Morpeth appended to it,
* Since this was written, Mr. Young has been unseated, on
the petition against his return, of his opponent at the last election.
126 Miscellaneous Observations.
was received by an Irish member, who has long been
noted for having his head encircled by a “shocking bad
hat.” The letter set out by acknowledging, with great
gratitude, both on the part of Lord Morpeth himself
and his colleagues in office, the distinguished honour
and undoubted advantage which Lord Melbourne’s ad-
ministration had derived from the cordial and uniform
support which it had received from the Irish members.
At the same time it was impossible to shut their eyes,
or rather their ears, to the fact, that in regard to dress,
the Irish members as a body were not always all that
could be wished; a circumstance of which the Conserva-
tives, who were very particular and very tasteful in the
article of apparel, took special care to turn to the worst
possible account against the Liberal party. The letter
proceeded to observe, that while it was to his Majesty’s
ministers, and to the writer individually as an humble
member of the Cabinet, a most gratifying fact that the
Liberal party were fully equal to the Conservatives in
point of moral character, intellectual acquirements, and
parliamentary ability, it was not to be denied that it
was extremely desirable that they should, if possible,
present at the same time as respectable a personal ap-
pearance. Under these circumstances, it was hoped
that the gentleman to whom the letter was addressed
would not take it amiss if it was hinted by the Irish
Secretary (Lord Morpeth) that he should pay a little
more attention to his personal appearance, and, above
all, to discard the “shocking bad hat” which he had
worn for some time, and grace his head by one of a
more becoming character.
Miscellaneous Observations. 127
The honourable member for , having read the
letter with attention, took up his chapeau, which chanced
to be at the time lying on the table beside him; he turn-
ed it over and over, and carefully inspected it in all its
parts. There was no denying that it was the worse for
the wear. There were sundry bruises in the crown;
the brim was cracked in various parts; the pile was
worn bare in several places; and its aspect altogether
was that of an article which had, through the tear and
wear it had undergone, assumed a whity-brown com-
plexion. The honourable gentleman’s first impulse
was to dash it on the floor, and to trample it into a shape
which it never assumed in the hands of its manufac-
turer. In plain terms, his determination in the heat of
the moment was, to make it serve the purpose of a tem-
porary mat for his feet, and thus preclude the possibility
of its ever again disgracing either his head, or the head
of anybody else. But the thought flashed on his mind,
just in time to save the devoted hat from instant de-
struction, that it was the only article of the kind he had
in his possession, and that it would be necessary to
wear it until he should reach the hatter’s shop where
he intended to procure a substitute. To a fashionable
hatter accordingly Mr.
forthwith went, fancy-
ing all the way, now that his attention had been
specially called to it by a letter from the Irish office,
that every person he met was staring with surprise at
the faded appearance of his chapeau. The hatter’s he
eventually reached, and soon fitted himself with one of
the most elegant and fashionable articles which the
emporium could produce.
128 Miscellaneous Observations.
Scarcely had the new hat been adjusted on his head,
and the honourable gentleman had looked in the glass
and been satisfied that he looked sufficiently smart,
than he started for the Irish Office.
“Is Lord Morpeth within?” was his inquiry of one of
the servants, as he presented himself at the door.
“He is, Sir.”
“And disengaged?”
“I believe he is, Sir; but I’ll see presently.”
The servant rushed into Lord Morpeth’s presence,
and returned, informing Mr. that his lordship
was quite at leisure.
“Ah! how do you do?” the honourable gentleman ex-
claimed, as he entered, at the same time presenting
his hand to the Irish Secretary.
“How are you?” responded his lordship, receiving
with much cordiality the extended hand of his parlia-
mentary supporter. “Pray take a seat, Mr. .”
A few common-place observations were exchanged
between the parties, during which the honourable
member kept alternately twirling about his hat, and
smoothing down the pile with the cuff of his coat. His
lordship still taking no notice of the new chapeau, Mr.
lost all patience, and broke out into a regular
Irish question—“Pray, Lord Morpeth, what do you
think of my hat?”
His lordship was a good deal confounded by the ma-
ture of the question, but, wishing to be polite, replied,
casting a momentary glance at the article, that he
thought it was a very good hat.
“Why, I have just paid eight-and-twenty shillings
for it,” observed the Irish member.
Miscellaneous Observations. 129
“Oh, indeed—that was the price—was it?” remark-
ed his lordship carelessly. -
“And I have bought it from one of the most fashion-
able hat-makers at the West-end,” added the honour-
able gentleman. . . . . . -
The noble lord looked still more surprised at his
Liberal supporter, but managed to murmur out an “Oh,
you did, did you?” without anything marked in his tone.
“What do you think of its shape?” inquired Mr.
, almost thrusting the hat into his lordship's face,
that he might the more closely inspect it.
“Oh, I think it's very good,” was the answer, de-
livered in a way which showed that the Irish Secretary’s
astonishment was still on the increase.
“How do you like the brim?” inquired the honourable
member for , again holding up the hat to the
gaze of his lordship.
“Oh, I think the hat is unexceptionable in every re-
spect,” answered the latter, looking the honourable
gentleman in the face with an expression of infinite
amazement, instead of again inspecting the hat.
“I’m so glad you like it,” observed Mr. with
much emphasis, and in a tone of marked gratification.
Lord Morpeth's silence was understood by the ho-
nourable gentleman to signify his concurrence in the
proposition. .
“And you don’t think the brim too broad?” said the
Irish member, after a momentary pause. . .
Lord Morpeth by this time had become so utterly
confounded, that he uttered not a word in reply to the
latter observation.
VoI. I.-12
130 Miscellaneous Observations.
“I was duly honoured with your note, and you see
how prompt I have been in complying with your re-
quest.”
“Really,” answered the noble lord, raising his eyes
from a document which was laying before him, and
gazing on the Irish M. P. with an expression of coun-
tenance equally indicative of surprise and indignation
—“really Mr. , I don’t understand all this.
Pray, may I beg an explanation. I have sent you no
note, nor made any request.”
“Well, come now, but I do hold that to be decidedly
good,” remarked the honourable gentleman, affecting a
little jocularity. . . :
“Really Mr. - ,” said the noble lord, in yet
more decided tones, “this does require an explanation.
25 -
Do you mean to — -
His lordship was prevented finishing his observation
by the honourable gentleman taking out of his pocket a
letter, which he thrust into the noble lord's hands, ob-
serving—“See, look at that.”
Lord Morpeth looked at the epistle, and slightly
coloured. After a momentary pause, he observed—
“Mr. , this, I assure you, is not my writing.”
“Oh, come, come, Lord Morpeth,” said the other
smiling, thinking his lordship was in joke.
“I assure you, upon my honour, it is not,” repeated
his lordship, with great emphasis. -
“Not your hand writing!” said the honourable gen-
tleman in faltering accents, and looking singularly fool-
ish, as the idea flashed across his mind that some wag
had hoaxed him. g
Miscellaneous Observations. 131
“It is not,” reiterated Lord Morpeth; “some of your
friends have been enjoying their joke at your expense.”
“Why, I don’t altogether like such jokes,” stammer-
ed the other, quite crest-fallen and leaving the Irish
office immediately, vowing retribution on the party,
should he ever discover him, whose waggery had placed
him in such ridiculous circumstances.
Who the wag was, has not been yet discovered, and
there is every probability that he will be as careful to
preserve his secret as if he were a second Junius.
f
CHAPTER II.
MISCELLANEOUS OPSERVATIONS.
(continued.)
The changes which come over the spirit of Members—In-
stances given—Reluctance of former Members and of
Peers to appear in the House—Contrast between the con-
duct of certain Members when in the House, with their
professions on the hºustings—Personal disputes between
two or more honourable gentlemen—New members in the
Victoria, Parliament.
ANY one who has, like myself, been in the nightly
practice of attending the House of Commons for some
years past, must be greatly struck with the changes
which, in the course of two or three sessions, come over
the legislative spirit of some honourable members.
There are some who a few years since were remarkable
for the regularity of their attendance in the house, who
are now very rarely to be seen within its walls. It
132 Miscellaneous Observations.
were an invidious task to name individuals to whom
this observation applies: that would be done with a
better grace in those daily or weekly journals which
identify themselves with party politics: in this work,
as elsewhere observed, my desire is to steer clear of
anything indicative of political partialities or prejudices,
There are others, again, who, a few sessions ago, were
never to be seen except on great party discussions, in
their places in the House of Commons, who are now
remarkable for the regularity of their attendance. Fore-
most among these stands Sir Francis Burdett. I am
sure I am within bounds when I say, that, for the three
sessions preceding the present, the ex-member for
Westminster was not half-a-dozen times in the house
each session; whereas he is now to be seen in his place
almost every night. Whatever ground of complaint
the Westminster electors may have had for the last
few years the honourable baronet represented them, on
the score of his attendance on his parliamentary duties,
the constituency of North Wiltshire have none. And
not only does Sir Francis, night after night, take his
seat in the house, but he is by no means a niggard of
his speeches. He has repeatedly spoken at some length
in the course of the present session, though for several
years past the sound of his voice was not, in a single
instance, heard within its walls. And here let me ob-
serve, that the honourable baronet seems to have re-
newed his physical youth, as well as to have recovered
a portion of his former political zeal, though it now
takes a different direction. Sir Francis has now all
the appearance, as regards the flow of his spirits and
Miscellaneous Observations. 133
the agility of his movements, of one in his thirtieth year;
though he has seen more than twice that number of
summer’s suns. He walks with a firm and quick step,
and is as erect in person as any of the posts in the
house. He dresses, too, with all his wonted taste.
The eccentric Lady Stanhope, now living among the
Turks, and conforming to their opinions, customs, and
habits, said, about a quarter of a century ago, that she
considered Sir Francis Burdett, in the matter of his
dress, to be the beau ideal of an English gentleman.
She would express the same opinion, were she to see
him now. In the morning he is arrayed in a hand-
some blue coat, with white waistcoat, light unmention-
ables, and top boots; all so excellent a fit, that no one,
fastidious in matters of the toilet, could be any time in
his company without wishing to know who are his
“decorators.” In the evening he usually appears in a
black suit and low shoes; and, as he promenades the
floor of the house, he looks as spruce and sprightly as a
Regent-street dandy.
I have been often struck with the fact, that so very
few of those who have once been members of the house,
but have been defeated in their efforts to be returned a
second or third time, are to be seen in the seats under
the gallery, in the character of spectators. The reason
probably is, that they do not like to appear in a place as
strangers, where they were formerly “at home.” Mr.
Horace Twiss and Mr. Roebuck are the only two excep-
tions which have come under my observation in the
course of the present session.
The night on which I saw Mr. Roebuck there, was
12*
134 Miscellaneous Observations.
that on which Mr. Grote presented his petition to be
heard at the bar on behalf of the Canadians; and he
appeared under very singular circumstances. The pre-
vious discussions had been so exceedingly destitute of
interest, as to produce a “moving” effect on all the gen-
tlemen, Mr. Roebuck excepted, who in an earlier part
of the evening had been present; a circumstance, I may
remark, which I never knew to occur before. There
sat the ex-member for Bath, as if he had been a second
Alexander Selkirk in some solitary isle, with his little
person wrapped up as closely in his cloak as if, instead
of breathing the warm atmosphere of the House of
Commons, he had been exposed to the rigours of a Ca-
nadian winter.
The peers have also a dislike to appear in the House
of Commons. There they are on precisely the same
level as the poorest ten-pound voter in the country, who
has been fortunate enough to get his representative to
procure him an admission. There must be something
peculiarly interesting in the proceedings of the Com-
mons, in order to overcome a peer’s reluctance to be
placed on even a temporary equality with the promis-
cuous assemblage below the gallery. The greatest at-
tendance of peers I ever saw in the House of Commons,
was on the night which had been fixed by Sir Robert
Peel for making an important amendment on the Ca-
nada Bill, relative to the powers of Lord Durham as
governor of that colony. What induced this unusual
attendance of peers, was the general impression that
Lord John Russell would find himself between the horns
of a dilemma on the occasion. It was fully believed,
Miscellaneous Observations. 135
and there was every ground for the conviction, that
Lord John must, in the name of government, either
adopt the amendment of Sir Robert, though he had de-
clared on the previous evening that he would not adopt
it, or submit to be left in a minority. The ministry, in
other words, were understood to be in a state of greater
difficulty and peril than they had ever been before, and
therefore the peers mustered strong on the occasion.
There were at least eight or ten Tory peers on two seats
on the left-hand side of the passage. Among these were
the Earl of Aberdeen, Lord Wharncliffe, Lord Ellen-
borough, and, if I remember rightly, Lord Ashburton.
How many there may have been altogether, is more than
I can say. Most marked and manifest was the gratifi-
cation of the noble lords I have just mentioned, when
Sir Robert Peel was applying the lash with such un-
sparing rigour and effect to the political person of Lord
John Russell.
It is amusing to contrast the conduct of a very large
proportion of the members of the House of Commons,
after they have been returned to parliament, with their
professions and protestations on the hustings, or in the
preliminary matter of canvassing the electors, cap in
hand. When prosecuting their canvass, or when ha-
ranguing the electors from the hustings, they are so
earnest and incessant in their promises of giving the
strictest attention to their parliamentary duties,” and
of opposing this particular measure, and supporting the
other, that the poor simple people who have not learned
to distinguish between political promises and perform-
ance, are often deluded into the belief that their repre-
136 Miscellaneous Observations.
*
sentatives will be so assiduous and conscientious in the
discharge of their parliamentary duties, that there is
reason to fear they will fall martyrs to their ardent
devotion to the cause of their country and constituents.
The observation of several years having taught me to
view matters differently, I have, at some recent elec-
tions, been at a loss to know whether I ought most to
admire the cool effrontery of the candidates making
these loud professons of the wonders they are to do in
the house, or to pity the unsuspecting electors, who, in
the simplicity of their souls, give them credit for such
self-denying and devoted patriotism. How many scores
of instances could I point out, in which there has been
this unbounded prodigality of promise, while there has
been scarcely any performance at all! I know numerous
honourable gentlemen, on both sides of the house, whose
professed patriotism, previous to their election, was so
great, that people who knew no better must have ima-
gined it was with them a consuming passion; yet these
very men, except on some important party questions,
are rarely to be seen in the house. Let the fewness of
the number present—even when the subject before the
house is one of the utmost moment to the country and
mankind, but does not happen to be a party one,—as
that number is indicated by any division which chances
to take place, answer this question
There are others, again, who were all promise and
protestation in their canvass and on the hustings, who
are tolerably regular in their attendance in the house,
in so far as concerns their personal presence, but who,
for all practical purposes, might just as well be any-
where else. They not only never open their mouths to
Miscellaneous Observations. 137
suggest anything in the shape of an improvement of
any measure which is under consideration, but they are
as listless and inattentive to everything that is going
forward, as if they were so many statues. Persons of
this class are sometimes to be seen as fast asleep in their
seats, as if they had not been in bed for the previous
half-dozen nights. Others are as busy talking to their
next neighbours, as if the great duty of the members
were to assemble in the House of Commons for the pur-
pose of spending a few hours in the veriest and most
puerile gossip. A goodly number of the same class
spend a very considerable portion of their legislative
existence in the side galleries of the house, stretched
out on the seats at full length, and enjoying their slum-
bers as soundly as if they were reposing on a bed of
down. I have sometimes felt uneasy lest some of the
more bustling members should, in their transit from one
part of the gallery to the other, be so inconsiderate or
so unpolite, as unnecessarily to disturb their lethargic
fellow legislators. You would positively fancy that
some of these sleepy M. P’s. never enjoy the luxury
of a bed at home. Last session there was an Irish
member who was seen, night after night, to take his nap
in the gallery, as regularly and seemingly with as much
comfort to himself, as if he had been reposing on his bed.
Lord Glenelg is much twitted about his somnolent
propensities. I must do his lordship the justice to say,
that however much he may resign himself to the em-
braces of Morpheus at home, I have never seen him
even nodding, far less sound asleep, in his place in par-
liament. If his lordship be as lethargic, as is generally
138 Miscellaneous Observations.
reported, at home, then all I shall say is, that there is
no lack of Lord Glenelgs in the House of Commons.
And yet these sleepy legislators were not only all bustle
and activity in their canvass, but on the hustings were
loud in their protestations of the most vigilant patriot-
ism and the most devoted attention to their parliament-
ary duties of every kind, and under all circumstances,
—should they “have the honour of being the object of
the electors’ choice.” • w
Cobbett, who never lost an opportunity of saying
something at the expense of those clergymen who make
a profession of religion only for the purpose of promot-
ing their secular views, used to say, that he wondered
how two such clergymen could pass each other in the
street without laughing. Cobbett meant that it must
have been difficult to pass each other without laughing
at the credulity of the people in being deceived by
them. I have often wondered, when I have seen two
honourable members who had been sleeping close to
each other, awake from their slumbers about the same
time, how they could look one another in the face
without a hearty laugh at the delusion under which
their constituents laboured, when they returned them
under the conviction that they were to be most indefati-
gable and exemplary in the discharge of their parlia-
mentary duties. |
Many are the kinds of farce which are performed
every session, in the Commons’ House of Parliament;
but I know of no such exhibition more calculated to
excite a feeling of disrespect—not to use a stronger
term—for the representative body, than the personal
Miscellaneous Observations. 139
squabbles of a hostile character which so repeatedly oc-
cur between two members. One makes a severe re-
mark on some political opponent; the latter repels the
insinuation, or resents the alleged affront, by some still
stronger and more pointed personal observatiºn Cries
of “Order, order!” “Chair, chair!” follow rom all
parts of the side of the house opposite to that whence
the strong language proceeded. The party at whom it
was levelled starts up with great warmth, and applies
to his antagonist in the quarrel, one or more epithets of
so very offensive a nature, that the other must either
take notice of the circumstance by a hint that a hostile
message will be sent to the party making use of the
epithets, or submit to the imputation of being regarded
as a coward by the M. P.'s of both sides of the house.
The former course, that, namely, of assuming a hostile
aspect, is invariably resorted to, except in the very few
cases in which honourable members have publicly de-
clared that in no circumstances will they fight a duel.
It is resorted to the more readily, inasmuch as both
parties are perfectly sure that no powder-and-shot affair
will take place,—the Speaker in such cases uniformly
interposing the shield of his official power to prevent
any catastrophe. The hostile defiance, or the hostile
threat, is however received with deafening appeals to
the “Chair,” and cries of “Order, order!” which are
enough to frighten persons, unaccustomed to such
scenes, out of their wits. Other honourable members
get up, sometimes in half-dozens at once, and address
poor Mr. Speaker, with great vehemence of manner, in-
sisting that not only have the parties made use of im-
140 Miscellaneous Observations.
proper language to each other, but that they have con-
ducted themselves in a most unparliamentary manner,
and with great disrespect to the House.
These appeals to the Speaker usually terminate with
the expression of a hope that the parties will individu-
ally withdraw their offensive language. Mr. Speaker,
like a man of sense, and knowing with an absolute cer-
tainty that the whole affair will end in smoke—though
not in the smoke of a pistol—takes it all quite coolly.
He does not suffer his equanimity to be disturbed, either
by the hostile words or the threatening manner of the
parties. -
In the mean time, some other member—or it may be
three or four at a time—gets up and insists that one of
the parties was the aggressor, and that consequently he
ought to be made to retract the improper terms first.
Before the honourable gentleman who makes this obser-
vation has completed his sentence, another leaps to his
feet, and vociferates an entirely different view of the
matter. It was the other party who was the aggressor,
and therefore he ought to retract and apologise to the
House first.
While all this is going on, some five or six of the
honourable gentlemen nearest to each of the bellige-
rents are beseeching them, by every possible considera-
tion, to rise and assure the Speaker and the House that
no more notice will be taken of the matter. The par-
ties refuse, with a dogged obstinacy, to do anything of
the kind. They look very consequential, or mighty
big, as Mr. O’Connell would say; they feel they are the
observed of all observers, and that even the great busi-
Miscellaneous Observations. 141
ness of the nation has for a time given way to the interest
which is taken in their personal squabbles. They con-
sequently look on the matter as an era in their history:
they think of the space which they will next day fill in
the public eye, as they do at that time in the eye of the
House; and therefore very naturally endeavour to keep
up the scene as long as they can. They not only per-
tinaciously refuse to listen to the solicitations of those
around them to let the matter drop, but you would
fancy, from the cavalier manner they have assumed,
that nothing on earth will satisfy them, but either send-
ing a bullet through their adversary, or receiving that
particular favour at his hands. -
The uproar and confusion continue all this while to
increase in the house. Members rise in dozens, and
each takes his own view of the matter. Anything more
discordant than the sounds which now assail one’s ears,
it were impossible to imagine. The confusion of tongues
which prevailed at Babel, could have been nothing to
the confusion, which in such cases, obtains in the House
of Commons—a place which is supposed to be pre-emi-
nently remarkable for the deliberative and orderly cha-
racter of its proceedings.
Eventually the noise partially dies away. Fewer
members speak at once; and the cries of “Chair, chair!”
“Order, order!” are neither so numerous nor of so sten-
torian a character. Then something is heard to drop
from honourable gentlemen, about the disrespect offer-
ed to the House by the militant parties. One of them
starts up that moment to his feet to disclaim all inten-
tion of having, either by what he has said or done,
VoI. I.-13
142 Miscellaneous Observations.
meant the slightest disrespect to the House, and to as-
sure the Speaker that he is most willing to bow with
submission to whatever view he takes of the matter.
The other follows the example, and also throws himself
unreservedly into the hands of the Speaker, who de-
sires both to withdraw the offensive expressions. Both
make a further show of valour, by again disclaiming any
disrespect to the House, and apologising for having
said or done anything which could have been so con-
strued. They have scarcely uttered the words, when
up leaps some honourable member to his feet, and pro-
tests against the House receiving the disclaimer, on the
ground of its not containing a pledge that no further
steps will be taken in reference to the personal part of
the matter. Both parties are again requested to give
that pledge, but they are deaf to all entreaties. They
are much too valorous for that. At length the Speaker
interposes. He talks about having to perform a painful
duty, and gives certain pretty broad hints about a per-
sonage known by the name of the Serjeant-at-Arms,
whose services will become necessary, should the mili-
tants not at once cease hostilities, and promise that
nothing further will be done in the business. They both,
with much seeming reluctance, give the required pro-
mise; their anxiety to keep up their assumed valour to
the last requiring that the pledge should not be volun-
tarily given. The matter thus ends, after, very possi-
bly, having occupied the attention of the House, to the
interruption of most important business, for an hour or
an hour and a half. . . .
A greater farce, I repeat, than that which is exhibited
Miscellaneous Observations. 143
on the occasion of personal squabbles in the house, was
never enacted, either there or in any other place. One
is at a loss to know whether most to smile at the swag-
ger, the airs, and the obstinacy of the parties, or the
intense anxiety which is displayed by so many honour-
able members, to prevent, as is assumed for the mo-
ment, any fatal results from the quarrel.
Everybody who reflects for a moment on the subject,
knows that the Speaker will eventually interfere, and
exact a pledge from each of the parties not to take any
further notice of the matter; and it is, as before remark-
ed, the knowledge of this that causes the belligerents
to assume so valorous an attitude. But for this know-
ledge of the interposition of the Speaker, they would
soon show that, like Falstaff, they considered discretion
to be the better part of valour. A duel resulting from
these squabbles on the floor of the House of Commons,
is a matter of very rare occurrence. I have generally
observed, too, that those who parade their pretended
valour in this way, are men who are the reverse of
notorious for their fire-eating propensities. If they
were in earnest in their affected wish to fight a duel
with each other, why do they not quit the house when
the offensive observations are made, and before the
quarrel has reached a crisis which imposes on the
Speaker the necessity—he being obliged to assume that
he apprehends a breach of the peace—of interfering.
The valour of such gentlemen will, in the great majori-
ty of cases, be found to be such as characterised the fat
knight whose name I have already mentioned.
The number of new members in the Victoria Parlia-
144 Miscellaneous Observations.
ment is unusually great, it is no less than one hundred
and fifty-eight, being nearly a fourth part of the whole.
The appearance of so many strange faces in the house
had a curious effect on the old members, during the first
few days of the session. It awakened in the minds of those
of them accustomed to meditation, a train of interesting
reflections. They thought of the varied circumstances
by which their absence from the new house was to be
accounted for. Some were excluded by ruined fortunes;
some, because they had quitted the country; some, be-
cause of their apostasy from the principles they had
formerly professed, and on the faith of which they had
been returned; others, from the fickleness of popular
favour; and a fifth class, because they are now in their
graves.
The contemplative mind had only to follow out this
train of reflection, by recollecting particular individuals
who belonged to each of these five classes. On some
occasions, old members seemed as if in a strange place;
for on particular nights the new members, impelled, by
the novelty of the situation in which they were placed,
to be marvellousy punctual in their attendance, whether
the business to be transacted was important or not, far
outnumbered the old stagers. The side galleries were,
for the first three weeks of the session, nightly crowded
by the newly-imported M.P.'s. And here I may re-
mark, that new members have a particular partiality to
the side galleries. By taking up their position in them,
they are enabled to look down on the more experienced
M.P.'s, and, by carefully observing their movements,
become acquainted with the forms and proceedings of
- the house.
Miscellaneous Observations. 145
The awkwardness of new members, for the first few
weeks of the session, can only be conceived by those
who have witnessed it. Not only are they, with the
exceptions furnished in the case of some two or three
self-confident or adventurous spirits, afraid to utter even
one brief sentence on any subject which is under dis-
cussion, but they do not even know how to deport them-
selves as regards their moving from one place to an-
other. The knowledge necessary for this, however,
they soon acquire, by lounging about in the side gal-
leries. Hence, in addition to the motive to frequent
these galleries, afforded by their anxiety to learn the
forms and proceedings of the house as regards speaking,
they have a desire to avoid laughter at their own ex-
pense, because of any awkward physical movement.
I do not recollect ever to have seen so many young
members in the House of Commons as there are at pre-
sent. Some of them have all the appearance of mere
youths, who, one would suppose, ought to be still under
the strict guardianship of their tutors. How they C8. In 62
to be chosen as the representatives of constituencies,
does, indeed, seem passing strange. The idea of such
youths having, to a certain extent, the destinies of a
great country committed to their care, is something
more than odd. There may be men of mature judgment
among them; but their appearance is not calculated to
inspire confidence in the wisdom of their deliberations.
Among the new members returned to the Victoria
Parliament, there are a great many whose manner, both
in the house and out of the house, is the most undelibe-
rative-like that the human mind could fancy. In the
1.3%
146 Miscellaneous Observations.
house, you see them either talking to or laughing with
each other—very often both together; or if not, they
are to be seen standing in dozens about the bar, com-
pletely blocking up the passage, so as to deny other
honourable gentlemen all egress and ingress. To sit in
silence, and to listen with attention to what is going on,
is a habit which in most cases they have yet to ac-
quire. Then, again, to see them leaving the house,
smoking their cigars, and making a loud noise as they
proceed up Parliament Street, you would suppose them
to be so many sparks bent on what, in homely language,
is called a spree. I could not help contrasting in my
own mind the levity of demeanour exhibited by several
of the young members on their way up Parliament
Street, on one of the mights of the debate on the Spot-
tiswoode combination, with the staid manner in which
Mr. Hume, Mr. Warburton, Mr. Wallace, and others
of the older members, proceeded homewards. But this
is a delicate topic, and therefore I will say no more
on it.
It is amusing to contrast the appearance and manner
of new members immediately on their introduction into
the house, with their appearance and manner after they
have been a short time in it. At first they look as
strange as if they had been suddenly transplanted to
another sphere. They generally, as already observed,
lounge about the side galleries; and when obliged to be
in the body of the house, they seem as timid as if they
were treading on forbidden ground. The awkwardness
of deportment in all their movements is exceedingly
amusing to the older members. What above all things
Miscellaneous Observations. 147
astonishes the new members, is the loud cheering with
which popular speakers are greeted. They are amazed
to hear “the first assembly of gentlemen in Europe”
signifying their approbation of particular sentiments by
lustily exclaiming, “Hear, hear, hear!” In a few
weeks, however, they usually acquire sufficient confi-
dence, and feel sufficiently at home, to vie in this re-
spect with the most practised hands in the house.
I was particularly struck, at the commencement of
the present session, with the marked surprise with
which, during the few first night’s discussions, they
heard the loud plaudits which followed particular pass-
ages in the speeches of the more popular speakers. But
before one little fortnight had passed away, they them-
selves were so largely infected with the mania for voci-
ferously applauding the crack speakers, as to far sur-
pass their senior brethren of St. Stephen’s. The custom
of honourable gentlemen is to content themselves with
showing their approbation of a speech by shouts of
“Hear, hear, hear!” But the new M. P.'s, in many
instances, improved upon their practice, and literally
greeted particular passages of favourite speakers with
“hurrahs,” at the full stretch of their voice. Several
of the old members were much amused by the vigour
with which one of these new-made legislators cheered
particular passages in Lord Stanley’s speech, on the
second night of the discussion on the Irish Election Pe-
tition Fund. He stationed himself in the side gallery,
on the left hand of the reporters, nearly opposite the
Speaker’s chair. Wishing to enjoy his ease and the
eloquence of the noble lord at the same time, the new
148 Miscellaneous Observations.
M. P., who was a little man, with a brown toat, and a
dark country-looking face, stretched himself on one of
the benches in a horizontal position. One who knew
no better would, in the first instance, have fancied that
he was enjoying a sound map. Nothing of the kind; as
his lusty cheering of the more effective passages in his
lordship’s speech conclusively proved. Whenever
about to express his approbation, he raised up his head
so as to attain a slanting posture; and then making the
most wry mouth I ever witnessed, shouted out, as if
hailing some friend a quarter of a mile distant, “Hur-
rah! hurrah! hurrah!—ah—ah—ah!” The word was
drawled out the third time to as great a length as his
breath would permit. The lusty applauder of Lord
Stanley’s eloquence then lay down again, as if about to
address himself to sleep, and again started up and voci-
ferated in the same way whenever any other passage
struck his fancy, until the noble lord resumed his seat.
Mr. Law, the Recorder for London, and Mr. Pember-
ton, the celebrated Chancery barrister, were among the
honourable members whom I observed nearest to this
newly chosen M. P., and heartily and repeatedly did
they laugh at his singular conduct.
In connexion with the number of new members who
are returned to every new parliament, it is worthy of
observation, that the Speaker is often for some time at
a loss to know their names, when they chance to rise
for the purpose of addressing the House. This is not
to be wondered at. It is only surprising how soon he
makes himself sufficiently acquainted with six hun-
dred and fifty-eight men, so as at once to know and
Miscellaneous Observations. 149
audibly announce the name of whatever member rises
to speak. Xerxes is said to have had so excellent a
memory that he knew every soldier in his army by
name, though that army consisted of a hundred thou-
sand men. I am not aware that any Speaker of the
House of Commons, of the past or present times, could
boast of so great a memory as this; but, without a me-
mory of more than the average retentiveness, the duties
of the speakership could never be efficiently performed.
There has been no parliament for a great many years,
in which there were so few eccentric members as there
are in the present. Mr. Richard Martin, Mr. John
Fuller, or Jack Fuller, as he himself preferred being
called; Colonel Wilson, formerly M. P. for York; Sir
Charles Wetherell, and Mr. Kearsley, are all gone.
The three former have been dead for some years; the
Liberal illiberality of the “ten-pounders” has shut the
door of the House of Commons against the two latter.
The three gentlemen first named were at one time mem-
bers of parliament, and rich were the exhibitions which,
night after night, were to be witnessed in the House of
St. Stephen’s, either in their persons, or which were
got up through their instrumentality. They were a
trio of most singular men, but were all, I believe, de-
cidedly honest and well intentioned. The older mem-
bers of the house still repeat, with great zest, a variety
of anecdotes illustrative of the eccentricities of the tri-
umvirate. In my first series of this work I gave an
amusing anecdote respecting Mr. Martin. A still
better remains to be told. My only regret is, that no
words can convey any idea of the thing itself. He had
150 Miscellaneous Observations.
been speaking of the bad feeling, frequently ending in
duels, which was often engendered in the minds of
honourable members in consequence of a misconcep-
tion, not merely of what was meant, but often of what
was said, by other honourable gentlemen. “And, Mr.
Spaker,” said Mr. Martin, with that rich Irish brogue
which he retained till the last in as great perfection as
if he had never heard an Englishman open his mouth;
“And, Mr. Spaker, with your permission, I will give
yourself and the House a case in point. That case,
Mr. Spaker, occurred to meself. You know, Sir, and
the House knows, that I was opposed at the last elec-
tion for Galway by Dennis O'Sweeny. Now, Mr.
Spaker. I said something on the hustings about Dennis,
and by my faith Dennis said something about me.—
[Loud laughter.] Well, Mr. Spaker, I bate Dennis—
as the fact of my having the honour of addressing you,
Sir, and honourable gintlemin around me, proves—at
the poll, and was, sure enough, declared duly elected
for Galway. Well, Sir, after the election was over,
we met in a hotel, and Dennis comes up to me, and
says, says he, “Dick Martin, [roars of laughter, you
was after saying something in your spaach on the hustins
about me, which was inconsistent with the character of
a gintlemin.”
“‘Faith, and it’s yourself, Dennis, my boy, is quite
mistaken in that same.”
“‘I’m no such thing,” said he.
“‘Indeed, Dennis, you are though; you was never
more mistaken in all your blessed life,” said I.
“‘Don’t you think to humbug me out of my belief,
Miscellaneous Observations. 151
by any of your nonsense, Dick?' [Renewed laughter,
in which the Speaker could not refrain from joining.]
“ Then what was it I did say?” said I.
“‘You know that as well as I do,” said he.
“ By I don’t,’” said Mr. Martin, in his own
unspeakably ludicrous manner.
“Order, order, Mr. Martin,” shouted the Speaker,
as the other thundered out an oath, amidst roars of
laughter from all parts of the house.
“I beg your pardon, Mr. Spaker, and the pardon of
this honourable House, if I said anything improper.
“‘By you do, though, Dick!” said Dennis.
“Order, order, Mr. Martin; order, order!” again
sung out the Speaker, his voice being almost drowned
amidst the peals of laughter which resounded through-
out the house.
“Mr. Spaker!” said Mr. Martin, with great simpli-
city, mingled with a wonderful shrewdness of manner,
“Mr. Spaker, it was not meself that gave that oath, it
was Dennis O'Sweeny!”
Again was the house convulsed with laughter, and to
such an extent were the risible faculties of the Speaker
affected, that he was obliged to cover his mouth with
the folds of his gown, while the sides of his ample wig
literally danced about his neck and shoulders, in the
agitation of his head caused by his excessive laughter.
Mr. Martin resumed—“ “Upon my honour as a gin-
tlemin, I don’t know what you mane,” said I. ...”
“‘Well, then,” says he, “didn’t you say I was
I need not tell you, Mr. Spaker, what I said he was,”
observed Mr. Martin, suddenly checking himself. Here
again the House was convulsed with laughter.
*
49
152 Miscellaneous Observations.
“ Dick!’ says he, you must retract.”
“ “I’ll be if I do,” says I, Mr. Spaker.”
Another burst of laughter pealed through the house,
and to such an extent was the Speaker infected with
the universal risibility, that he was actually unable to
call Mr. Martin to order. The folds of his gown were
again in requisition, with the view, if possible, of sup-
pressing, by their application to his mouth, what is
called a loud laugh. No man was ever more ready, at
all times and in all circumstances, to uphold the dignity
of the house by enforcing a uniform decorousness in the
proceedings, than Mr. Manners Sutton, now Lord
Canterbury; but the drollery of Mr. Martin’s manner,
in conjunction with the oddity of his matter, would
have been too much for the gravest and most dignified
of men. The thing was altogether irresistible.
Mr. Martin, as soon as order was in some measure
restored, resumed—“‘And you won’t retract, Dick,”
says Dennis.
“‘No, by—’”
“Order, order, Mr. Martin,” cried the Speaker,
before Mr. Martin had uttered what the right honour-
able gentleman conceived to be another oath, and which
he therefore wished to strangle in the birth.
“I beg your pardon, Mr. Spaker,” observed Mr. Mar-
tin, “but your honour was mistaken this time, and have
put yourself to unnecessary throuble; for I was not
going to swear any more. I was only going to say,
‘No, by the powers I won't! I’d rather you’d make a
riddle of my body first.’”
Roars of laughter, which lasted for a consideralſe
Miscellaneous Observations. 153
time, again resounded through the house. When they
had subsided, Mr. Martin continued his story.
“‘'Then,” said he, “I expect the satisfaction which is
due to a gintlemin;’ and with that, Mr. Spaker, he was
in the very act of laving the room. “Dennis,” says I.
“What?’ says he.
“‘Don’t let us misunderstand each other,’ says I.
“It’s quite plain,’ says he.
“‘Maybe it’s not so plain as you think, Dennis,”
said I. --
“Do you or do you not retract, and no more blarney?’
says he. -
“‘No, I don’t,” says I, but if you’ll call on me to-
morrow morning at breakfast-time, we’ll both explain,
and then I’ll either break an egg or crack a flint with
you—whichever you plase, Dennis.’ [Loud laughter.]
“‘Well, I will, Dick,” said he.
“And faith, sure enough, Mr. Spaker, Dennis
O'Sweeny did kape his word, and he explained and I
explained, and we both explained, and he left my room
quite satisfied, and bowing to me as politely as the
Masters in Chancery* do to you, Mr. Spaker, when
they retire from your honour’s table.”
And so saying, Mr. Martin resumed his seat, amidst
deafening roars of laughter, which lasted for two or
three minutes.
* The allusion to the Masters in Chancery was exceedſgy
felicitous; for when they have delivered any message from the
Lords to the Commons, they retire ſrom the table walking back-
wards, and making a low bow to the Speaker at every third or
fourth step they take.
vol. 1.-14
154 Miscellaneous Observations.
*
The late Colonel Wilson was another singularly
eccentric member. No consideration on earth could
have induced him to utter a syllable before dinner; but
on his return to the house, after having done ample
justice to the good things of Mr. Bellamy, he was for
speaking every night, no matter on what subject. And
it was with no slight difficulty that his friends could
dissuade him from addressing the House. On some
occasions he not only proved deaf to all their en-
treaties, but could not even be prevailed on to desist
from the attempt, though they pulled him with all their
might by the tails of his coat, with a view to getting
him to resume his seat. He always sat close to one of
the iron posts of the old house, and entwining his arms
round that post, as if most affectionately embracing it,
he bade defiance to all the efforts of his friends to pull
him backwards to his seat. In this extraordinary posi-
tion, and amidst roars of laughter from all parts of the
house, the gallant colonel proceeded to make his speech,
which was always the most singular specimen of elo-
quence ever given, either there or elsewhere. No mat-
ter what the subject before the House, his speech was
always substantially the same. It consisted of vehe-
ment protestations that he should defend to the last, and
with his life if necessary, the constitution in Church
and State. When honourable members endeavoured to
laugh him down, or to put him down by getting up a
scène of uproar, he had one invariable answer, which
was, that he stood there “to tell the tale of his consti-
tuents,” and that no man should divert him from his
purpose. Whenever he was at a loss for words, he had
Miscellaneous Observations. 155
one doggrel couplet—whether of his own composition
or not I am unable to say—which came with unfailing
regularity to his aid, and which he repeated each suc-
cessive time with as much earnestness as if he had never
given it before. It was this— -
“While I can handle stick or stone,
I will defend both Church and Throne.”
The gallant gentleman was always most energetic in
his manner, and when his friends around him, seeing the
hopelessness of any attempt to cause him to resume his
seat before his own time had come, desisted from pull-
ing him by the tails of his coat, he would withdraw his
right arm from the post, and clinging to it with his left,
would gesticulate with the emancipated arm with a ve-
hemence rarely equalled in the house. On one occa-
sion, he actually, when in one of his more violent moods,
brought his right arm into such forcible collision with
the shoulder of an honourable member who was sitting
beside him, as to knock him off the seat altogether, and
horizontally down on the floor.
Mr. Fuller, well known as the rich banker in the city,
was no less eccentric than Colonel Wilson, though his
oddities took a different turn. He had a deep-rooted
dislike to speaking; he abhorred long speeches, no mat-
ter by whom they were spoken, and however able and
brilliant. His notion seemed to be, that the business
of a legislator was simply to vote on the measures sub-
mitted to the House. As for himself, no consideration
could induce him, unless in very peculiar circumstances,
to open his mouth at all until the question came to the
156 Miscellaneous Observations.
vote; and then he was one of the most prompt and ener-
getic with his “Ay” or “No,” as the case might be.
Among the last times he ever expressed an opinion in
the house, he made one of the shortest and at the same
time drollest speeches ever spoken within the walls of
parliament. That was more than twenty years ago. I
do not remember the precise year, but it was at a time
when great distress prevailed in the country; and the
subject of debate in the house that evening was the na-
tional distress. Speaker followed speaker, and every
one's picture of the general sufferings seemed to be
darker than the other’s. After this had gone on for
several hours, “Jack,” as he was always familiarly call-
ed, started to his feet when the previous speaker sat
down, and in vociferous tones, and with the most vehe-
ment gesture, said, “Mr. Speaker, this is beyond endur-
ance; I can stand it no longer. We have heard of
nothing for the last four or five hours but everlasting
representations of the distresses of the people, and of
their dissatisfaction with their condition. Sir, I say,
let those, – their eyes—who don’t like the country
leave it.” And so saying, he sat down amidst peals of
laughter, without uttering another word.
sº
Scenes in the House. 157
s
º
º
CHAPTER III.
SCENIES IN THE House. º -
Sir Edward Knatchbull's scene”—Mr. Blewitt's scene—
Mr. Daniel Whitile Harvey's scene—Sir Henry Har-
dinge's scene—Mr. Bradshaw's scene—Lord Maidstone's
scene–Smaller scenes. . .
The Victoria Parliament has already been productive
of several of those uproarious scenes which are of such
frequent occurrence in the House of Commons; and
many more, I have no doubt, are in store for those who
are partial to seeing the “first assembly of gentlemen in
Europe” making themselves ridiculous. A variety of
scenes took place on the night on which the conduct of
the “Spottiswoode gang,” as it has been called, was first
brought under the consideration of the House. The
House sat that evening till a quarter past ten; and from
five o’clock till that hour, there was nothing but a con-
tinued succession of scenes. The usual discussions, in-
deed, constituted the exception, and the scenes the rule,
on that memorable night. Sir Edward Knatchbull had
the honour of commencing, quite unintentionally there
can be no doubt, the uproar and disorder which so
+ In calling the scenes referred to in the following pages, by
the names of various honourable members, I merely mean it to
be understood, that the scenes had their origin on some motion
or observations made by the member alluded to.
1.4%
158 Scenes in the House.
largely characterized the after proceedings. He called
Mr. O’Brien to order in a few moments after the latter
honourable gentleman had risen to animadvert on the
“Spottiswoode conspiracy.” Sir Edward Sugden soon
after followed the example of Sir Edward Knatchbull,
and lustily called out “Order!” Both baronets inter-
rupted Mr. O’Brien, on the ground that he was irregu-
lar in making observations when presenting a petition.
Several other members soon mixed themselves up with
the question of “order,” and a regular scene followed.
Four or five rose repeatedly at once, amidst deafen-
ing cries of “Order!” “Chair! chair!” and so forth.
Among those who seemed most eager to rush into an
altercation on the point of order, where Mr. O’Connell,
Mr. Wakley, Mr. Lambton, and last, though not least,
Mr. Henry Grattan. The latter honourable gentleman
is most liberal of his gestures on all occasions on which
he speaks: but when exhibiting in a “scene,” he is par-
ticularly so. The interposition of the Speaker restored
order for a time, but only for a time. Sir Francis Bur-
dett made a speech which called up Mr. O’Connell; but
the latter honourable gentleman had no sooner present-
ed himself, than he was assailed by a perfect tempest of
clamour from the Tory benches.
In the midst of all the noise and commotion which
prevailed among the Opposition, and amidst all the din
of voices at the bar and the moving of feet on the floor
of the house, loud cries of “Spoke! spoke!”—mean-
ing that Mr. O’Connell had no right to rise a second
time, were distinctly heard. The honourable gentle-
man stood with his arms folded across his breast, in an
Scenes in the House. 159 |
attitude of perfect calmness, and looked at the Tories
opposite as if he had been bidding them defiance. At
ast, seeing the uproar continue, he threatened to move
the adjournment of the House if the interruption was
persevered in. He was then allowed to proceed for a
few seconds, but was again assailed by cries of “Spoke!
spoke!” “Order! order!”
Mr. Hume now rose with the view of seeing what he
could do for the purpose of allaying the storm of uproar
which was raging in the house; but poor good-natured
Mr. Hume was himself received with increased shouts
of disapprobation from the Tory benches; and what
aggravated the thing was, that a universal yell of
“Chair! chair!” was set up before he had uttered a
single word. Good-tempered as the member for Kil-
kenny proverbially is, this was really more than human
nature could endure, and he exclaimed with considera-
ble sharpness and energy, looking “the enemy” fairly
in the face, “Why ‘chair,” when I have not—” The
remainder of the sentence was lost amidst a most vo-
ciferous renewal of the general cry of “Order! order!”
Amidst some half dozen who now rose to speak from
the Tory side of the house,_some of them exhibiting
an alarming superabundance of gesticulation,-Sir Ro-
bert Inglis was heard to say that he called Mr. Hume
to order, because the Speaker wished to make some
observations. “But,” shouted Mr. Hume, again start-
ing to his legs before Sir Robert had time to resume his
seat; “but how am I out of order?” Loud laughter,
accompanied by additional uproarious demonstrations,
followed the observation.
160 Scenes in the House.
Eventually the Speaker’s voice prevailed over that of
the performers in the scene; and the scene itself was
soon afterwards put an end to. In about twenty mi-
nutes, however, it was succeeded by another, though of
a different kind. It was one to be seen, not to be de-
scribed. g
Sir Francis Burdett having been keenly attacked by
Mr. Maurice O’Connell, and having been asked by Mr.
Handley whether, after subscribing to the Spottiswoode
fund, he would not feel it binding on him, as a man of
honour, to abstain from voting on all matters connected
with Irish elections,—all eyes were turned to him; but,
instead of repelling the attack of Mr. Maurice O'Con-
nell, or answering the question of Mr. Handley, he rose
from his seat, and, without uttering a word, made a low
bow to the Speaker, and with a steady pace, but a most
ludicrous carriage, walked out of the house, as if he had
been performing what soldiers call the dead march.
The cheers of the Tories were deafening, while the
laughter of the Reformers was so immoderate as to
threaten serious injury to their sides.
Soon afterwards came the “last scene of all,”—the
last, I mean, to which I shall advert—in “the strange
eventful” proceedings of this memorable evening.
Mr. Blewitt, the new member for Monmouth, having
concluded a speech of an hour’s duration, by moving a
string of resolutions nearly as long as the speech itself,
condemnatory of the Irish Election Petition Fund,
seemed perfectly at aloss as to whether or not he should
press them to a division. The honourable gentleman,
who is a little bustling man, leaped about from one part
Scenes in the House. 161
of the house to another, asking the opinion of different
members as to what he should do; and then, when he
had got a most abundant supply of advice, all to the
effect that he should withdraw his resolutions, he seem-
ed to be as they say in Scotland, “in a peck of troubles”
as to whether he should take it or not. It is impossible
to describe the scene of confusion which the house pre-
sented at this time. The bar was so crowded with
honourable gentlemen laughing and talking, and other-
wise amusing themselves, that there was no getting out
or in; while the floor of the house was promenaded by
other honourable members, just as if they had been on
the pavement in Regent-street.
Mr. Blewitt at last said something about withdrawing
four resolutions, and pressing the fifth; but the noise
and confusion were so great, that nobody but himself
and the Speaker seemed to know anything of the mat-
ter. Eventually, amidst the same scene of disorder,
Mr. Blewitt withdrew the remaining resolution; but
nobody being aware of the circumstance, Mr. Peter
Borthwick, Sir Edward Knatchbull, Mr. Goulburn,
Colonel Sibthorp, Sir Edward Sugden, and a number
of others, all rose at the same time, some to speak on the
resolutions, and others to ask whether or not they were
still before the House. The scene which ensued defies
description. Mr. Blewitt and some of his friends rose,
in threes and fours at a time, to assure the House that
all the resolutions were withdrawn; while the Tory
members not only started up in dozens to deny the
fact, but were prepared, with great vehemence of ges-
ture, to argue the point. Their friends, on either hand
162 Scenes in the House.
and at their backs, came forward with an edifying
promptitude and unanimity to support their hypothesis,
as to the non-withdrawal of the resolutions, by loud
cries of “They are not withdrawn,” “No, no,” &c.
Groans, yells, and other zoological sounds proceeded
from several parts of the ministerial side, by way of
answer to the exclamations and affirmations of the
Tories.
In the midst of this uproarious exhibition, the Speaker
several times assured the House that the resolutions
had all been formally withdrawn, and that there was
no business before the House; but for some time they
persisted in maintaining that he was mistaken. At last
he satisfied the Tories, or at least seemed to do so, that
the resolutions were withdrawn, and order was once
more restored. But so keenly did the right honourable
gentleman feel the disrespect offered to him in the im-
plied doubt of his word, that he next evening intimated,
that if such conduct were repeated, he would resign his
office as Speaker. #
A scene, somewhat different from either of the above,
happened in the second week of the session. The occa-
sion was that of the Chancellor of the Exchequer
bringing the question of the Civil List under the con-
sideration of the House. It will be remembered, that
Mr. Daniel Whittle Harvey gave previous notice of his
intention to propose an amendment to the motion of the
right honourable gentleman. As is usual on such occa-
sions, as a matter of courtesy, Mr. Harvey, before
commencing his speech, handed to Mr. Spring Rice the
amendment he meant to propose; but instead of giving
f
Scenes in the House. 163
the right honourable gentleman a copy of the amend-
ment in question, Mr. Harvey handed him the original
itself, and this, too, without providing himself with a
copy. - t;
There can be no doubt Mr. Harvey’s intention was
to have asked his amendment back from Mr. Spring
Rice before beginning his own speech; but having for-
gotten to do this, and also forgetting for the moment that
the Chancellor of the Exchequer had his amendment in
his possession, Mr. Harvey concluded an able and lu-
minous speech by observing, with his usual volubility,
that he now begged “leave to propose the following
amendment.” Mr. Harvey immediately leaned down
to “pick up” his “following amendment” from among
a quantity of papers which were lying on his seat; but
no “following amendment” was to be found.
It was then that the fact flashed across his mind, that
he had handed it to the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
and that the latter gentleman had not had the politeness
to return it. “My amendment,” exclaimed Mr. Har-
vey, with some tartness of manner, “is in the custody
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Be pleased to
hand it me over.” As the honourable gentleman uttered
the last sentence, he looked anxiously towards Mr.
Spring Rice, who was five or six yards from him, at the
same time stretching out his hand to receive the docu-
ment, when it should be returned to him, through the
means of some of the intervening honourable gentle-
men. Mr. Spring Rice looked amazed and confounded
when the honourable member for Southwark so point-
edly apostrophized him, as being the custodier of his
164 Scenes in the House.
amendment. To be sure, he said nothing in the first
instance; but it was very easy to see that he was in-
wardly ejaculating, “Me, your amendment!” The
fact was, that he also had become oblivious of the cir-
cumstance of the document being in his possession.
However, in a few moments the conviction was
brought home to his mind, that he was a defaulter in
this respect; and forthwith he commenced a most vigor-
ous search for the amendment: Mr. Harvey all the
while standing in his place, with his eyes as steadily
fixed on the Chancellor of the Exchequer as if he had
been about to play the cannibal with him. Mr. Spring
Rice searched his pockets: the missing amendment was
not there. He eagerly and hastily turned over a mi-
niature mountain of documents, erected by his side, on
the seat on which he sat: still there was no appearance
of the lost amendment. He then rose up, and advanc-
ing to the table, rummaged for some time among a heap
of papers there: the search was still in vain. He re-
sumed his seat, and inquired of Lord Morpeth, who was
sitting beside him, whether he knew anything of the
mysterious disappearance of Mr. Harvey’s amendment.
Lord Morpeth significantly shook his head, being just
as ignorant on the matter as the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer himself. •
Lord Morpeth, however, kindly consented to assist
in the search for the missing amendment; and great was
the activity he displayed in turning and re-turning over,
after Mr. Spring Rice, the various documents that lay
on the seat and on the table.
Long before this time, Mr. Harvey, tired of holding
Scenes in the House. 165
out his hand to receive that which was not likely to be
forthcoming in “a hurry,” had drawn it in, and, as if
determined to take the thing as coolly as possible,
folded his arms on his breast, and stood in that attitude
with all the seeming resignation of a philosopher who
patiently submits to a calamity which it is not in his
power to avert. In the mean time, however, though
thus motionless in one sense, he was not so in another.
His tongue was occasionally set agoing.
He remarked on one occasion, with that bitter sar-
casm of manner which is peculiar to himself, that this
was the first document of his which had ever been taken
so much care of by a cabinet minister. Roars of laugh-
ter, to the manifest mortification of Mr. Spring Rice,
followed from both sides of the house. On another oc-
casion, he observed that he was quite delighted to see
that his amendment was so safe in the keeping of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer as that no one could have
any chance of abstracting it. All this time Mr. Spring
Rice and Lord Morpeth were most exemplary, as re-
garded the eagerness with which they prosecuted their
search for the lost document. It is worthy of remark,
that no one joined with them; but all, even the Liberal
members, seemed to enjoy the sport. -
To the Conservatives, the affair was a rare piece of
amusement. I observed some of them laughing heartily
who were never seen to laugh within the walls of the
house before, and in whose existence, even out of doors,
a hearty laugh might be said to be quite an era. Mr.
Spring Rice, after “turning about and wheeling about,”
in search of the amendment, with an agility worthy of
vol. I.-15
166 Scenes in the House.
his namesake of Jim Crow notoriety, at length bethought
himself of unlocking a small tin box, in which he keeps
the more valuable of his papers; when, to his infinite
joy, after rummaging for a few seconds among its con-
tents, he discovered the missing amendment. He
pounced upon it just as a Bow-street officer would on
some offender, for whom he had been on a vexatious
search, when alighting on him; and dragging the inno-
cent amendment out of its place of concealment, held it
up in his hand to the gaze of the House, exclaiming, as
loud as his lungs would permit, and with an air of tri-
umph, “Here it is! here it is!”
“I’m happy to see that the right honourable gentle-
man prizes it so highly,” said Mr. Harvey, in the sar-
castic way to which I have alluded, “as to place it
among his most valuable papers, and to lock it up in his
box.” Peals of laughter followed, and during their
continuance the amendment was handed over, through
the assistance of two or three intermediate members,
to the honourable gentleman whose property it was;
who, as soon as it had reached him, read it amidst re-
newed peals of laughter. The bursts of laughter which
were thus resounding through the house, were much
increased by the circumstance of Colonel Sibthorp, who
sat directly opposite to Mr. Spring Rice, rising with all
his imperturbable gravity, and with his huge mustachios
looking unusually large, to second the amendment. It
certainly was a novelty in the proceedings of the
House of Commons to witness the most ultra Tory,
perhaps, in the house, rising to second an amendment
on a vital question, moved by one of the greatest
Radicals.
Scenes in the House. 167.
The shouts of laughter which followed the circum-
stance, had their origin in the impression that the gal-
lant mustachioed Colonel had seconded the amendment
in a mistake; but when it was understood that there
was no mistake in the matter, and that the gallant gen-
tleman was perfectly aware of what he was about, the
Liberal members looked unutterable things at one an-
other. It was at last understood that the Tories were,
from factious motives, about to join the extreme section
of the Reformers on that particular occasion, not doubt-
ing that in the event of a division ministers would be in
a minority, and consequently be compelled to resign
office. The circumstance, however, of the Chancellor
of the Exchequer giving Mr. Harvey certain specific
pledges in reference to the treatment of the Pension
List, induced the latter gentleman to withdraw his
amendment, which of course prevented any division
taking place. -
Perhaps the most memorable night for “Scenes in
the House,” in the history of Parliament for the last
quarter of a century, was the night of the 23d of Feb-
ruary last. For about an hour and a half on that even-
ing, the house presented a continued scene of the most
exciting kind, or rather three distinct scenes interwoven
into one. Sir Henry Hardinge began the affair, with-
out of course intending or anticipating anything of the
kind, by asking Lord Palmerston when the remnant of
the British legion in Spain might be expected home?
The honourable and gallant officer added—“I have re-
ceived intelligence that these unfortunate men are now
kept at St. Sebastian, in a state of great destitution,
misery, and starvation.”
168 Scenes in the House.
This statement was received by tremendous cheers
from the Opposition. -
Sir Henry Hardinge resumed—“I am informed that
two hundred of them are on board the Colombia, to pre-
serve them from starvation; that many of them are
without trousers, scarcely any of them having shoes;
and I have been informed, on good authority, that a
sergeant had been found dead in consequence of the
inclemeney of the weather and the want of clothing.”
Here again the house, which was crowded in every
part, resounded with the tumultuous applause of the
Tories. ..
Lord Palmerston, in answer to the question of Sir
Henry Hardinge, said, that a frigate had been sent out
to bring home those of the British legion who wished to
return, and that a supply of clothing had been sent
them.
All eyes were now turned towards Sir G. de Lacy
Evans, and the most intense anxiety was manifested on
both sides of the house, to hear what he would say in
reply to the indirect attack of Sir Henry Hardinge on
him. - -
After some preparatory observations, the late com-
mander of the legion said, with great warmth—“I
know as well as the right honourable gentleman the state
of these men; nay —” ...
Here Sir G. de Lacy Evans was interrupted by a
loud roar of laughter from the Tory benches.
He continued—“Nay, I will venture to say, a good
deal better than the right honourable gentleman. [Re-
newed peals of laughter, mingled with ironical cheers
Scènes in the House. 1.69
from the Opposition side of the house.] I derive my
knowledge from quite as good a source as the right hon-
ourable gentlemen; [Loud cheers from the Ministerial
benches; and I assert that there is no such thing as
misery existing among those men. I have reason to be-
lieve that they have not been in a worse condition than
the troops were under my own command.”
It is impossible to describe the effect which the de-
livery of the last sentence produced on the Tory side
of the house. Peals of laughter proceeded from every
Conservative throat, while some honourable gentlemen,
in the attempt to perpetrate an ironical cheer, actually
failed, and, from the excess of their devotion to Momus,
ended in giving utterance to sounds of so peculiar a
kind as to admit of no description.
Sir George de Lacy Evans resumed—“I should like
to know whether the conclusion of the sentence will be
greeted in the same way by honourable gentlemen op-
posite, when I say, that those troops were not in so bad
a condition as the British army was at different periods
of the Peninsular war.”
This being at onee perceived to be a thrust at Sir
Henry Hardinge, the sentence was received with deaf-
ening applause from the Ministerial benches, while the
countenances of the Opposition all of a sudden assumed
the most grave aspect. Sir George de Lacy Evans
made one or two other observations, but the House was
now wrought into such a state of excitement as to ren-
der him inaudible in the gallery.
Sir Henry Hardinge, who sat directly opposite the
gallant officer, appeared, however, to have heard him,
15%
170 Scenes in the House.
for he instantly started to his feet, and said with great
energy—“I have to observe I shall never, during the
exercise of my parliamentary duty, think it necessary
to regulate my conduct by the opinions of the gallant
officer opposite. [Tremendous applause from the To-
ries.] I again assert that the treatment of those men
has been of the most infamous description.”
Renewed plaudits from the Opposition, with cries of
“Order, order!” “Chair, chair!” from the Ministerial
members, followed the latter observation.
In the midst of the uproar, Sir G. de Lacy Evans
again arose, when the cries of “Chair, chair!” were re-
newed with tenfold violence. The gallant officer per-
severed in his attempts to address the House, but the
uproar which prevailed completely drowned his voice.
At last the Speaker rose, and appealed to Sir George
de Lacy Evans and the House, whether, as there was
no regular question before the House, the matter ought
not now to cease. -
Sir G. de Lacy Evans again rose to address the House,
amidst tremendous cheers from the Ministerial benches,
and amidst the most stentorian cries of “Chair, chair!”
from the Tories. Sir A. Dalrymple rose nearly at the
same moment, and made some remarks, but they were
completely lost amidsts the uproar which prevailed.
This state of things continuing for some time, and there
being no immediate prospect of order being restored,
Lord John Russell rose and implored his honourable
and gallant friend (Sir George de Iacy Evans) to sacri-
fice, for the sake of the House, his own personal feel-
ings, by foregoing any further expression of them.
Scenes in the House. 171
The gallant officer gave a seemingly reluctant assent,
and the matter dropped.
The noise and excitement, however, which prevailed
in the House, had not subsided above half a minute,
when Mr. Bradshaw threw it again into a similar if not
a worse state, by the honourable gentleman observing
—“Having seen the appointment of Colonel de Lacy
Evans to be Knight Commander of the Bath gazetted,
I beg to ask the noble Secretary for the foreign depart-
ment, (Lord Palmerston,) whether that appointment
has passed through the regular course in the War Office,
on the recommendation of the Commander-in-Chief?”
It is impossible to convey any idea of the vehement
cheering from the Conservative side of the house, which
followed the latter sentence.
Mr. Bradshaw resumed—“I have always understood,
that in all cases whatever her Majesty 22
Here the honourable gentleman was interrupted by
loud cries of “Order, order!” from the Ministerial side
of the house. In the midst of the uproar and confusion
which prevailed, the Speaker rose, and begged that the
honourable gentleman would put his question.
Mr. Bradshaw—“Then I beg to ask, has the ap-
pointment passed through the regular channel—that is,
through the Horse Guards?” [Deafening cheers from
the Opposition.]
Lord Palmerston—“The answer which I have to
make to the honourable gentleman is, that the appoint-
ment of Sir George de Lacy Evans to be Knight Com-
mander of the Bath, was made in the usual manner by
her Majesty’s government.”
172 Scenes in the House.
A volley of Ministerial cheers followed the answer,
which had the effect of darkening the countenances of
the Opposition. … -
Lord Palmerston added—“With regard to the ap-
pointment itself, I will merely say, that I humbly ven-
ture to think that it was earned and well bestowed.”
[Wehement cheering from the Ministerial side of the
house.]
Mr. Bradshaw—“It is with satisfaction that 22
The honourable gentleman was interrupted by a
storm of uproar, caused by cries of “Order, order!”
“Chair, chair!” and other manifestations of excitement
which proceeded from the Ministerial benches. In the
midst of this new scene of tumult, and confusion, Lord
John Russell rose, and, as soon as he could procure a
hearing, said, “The honourable gentleman has asked a
question which has been answered, and with that, I
submit, he must be satisfied. "[Loud cheers from the
Treasury benches.]
Sir A. Dalrymple then said—“I wish to ask the
noble lord a question with reference to the answer
which has just been given to my honourable friend. I
wish to ask 2 3 -
The honourable baronet was interrupted by vocife-
rous cries of “Order, order!” from the Ministerial
benches, which cries were in their turn completely
drowned by the tremendous cheering from the Opposi-
tion, given with the view of encouraging him to proceed.
Nothing could exceed the noise and excitement which
again prevailed in the house.
Sir A. Dalrymple, who remained on his legs, and
Scenes in the House. 173
displayed the greatest self-possession, while the house
presented this extraordinary scene, resumed the mo-
ment he could make himself heard. “I wish,” he
said, “to ask whether Sir George de Lacy Evans has
been appointed Knight Commander of the Bath, as one
of the ten foreign officers who, according to the rules of
the institution, were eligible to that honour?
Cries of “Oh, oh!” from the Ministerial benches,
mingled with loud cheers from the Opposition, followed
the question.
Lord Palmerston—“No, he has not.”
Sir George de Lacy Evans then rose, amidst loud
cheers from the Ministerial part of the house, while he
was assailed with deafening cries of “Spoke, spoke,”
from the Opposition, and said—“As I have had the ho-
nour of a communication from the noble lord at the head
of the army, the nature of which is rather incompatible
with the questions which have been put by the honour-
able member (Mr. Bradshaw,) I think, as this is some-
what of a personal subject, Loud cheers from the Mi-
nisterial side of the house, [I may be permitted to ask
that honourable member whether he has received au-
thority from that noble lord to put those questions.”
[Renewed cheers.]
From the tone and manner of the gallant officer, the
universal impression in the house was, that it would
depend entirely on the answer he received whether or
not the matter would end in an affair of honour. Hence
the deepest anxiety was felt to hear Mr. Bradshaw's
answer. That answer was—“I have no authority from
Lord Hill to put the questions I have done; but I have
174 Scenes in the House.
received communications from many officers of the
army, who feel it to be to them an unjust appointment.”
A volley of applause followed from the Opposition.
On its echoes dying away the matter dropped, and order
was once more restored.
But that order was again of but transient duration.
In about two minutes afterwards the most extraordinary
scene of all was exhibited. Lord Maidstone rose and
said—“Seeing the honourable and learned gentleman
(Mr. O’Connell) in his place, I wish to ask him whether
some sentiments which I perceive reported as having
been delivered by him at a dinner at the Crown and
Anchor on Wednesday, are substantially correct?”
(The noble lord here read an extract from Mr. O’Con-
nell’s reported speech, charging the Tories with gross
perjury when sitting on election committees.) “I ask
the honourable and learned gentleman to give me a
plain answer to the question I have put to him, as I
cannot proceed any further until I have his answer.”
The plaudits from the Opposition which followed the
noble lord’s question literally made the house ring
again, while the faces of the Ministerial members looked
as grave as if their own doom had been involved in the
answer which Mr. O’Connell would make. When the
noisy manifestations of joy made by the Tories at the
circumstance of the question being put, had subsided,
the greatest anxiety prevailed also on their side of the
house, to hear the answer. The sudden transition from
deafening noise to the most death-like stillness, as Mr.
O’Connell rose, must have had a singular effect on the
strangers in the gallery, which was densely crowded in
Scenes in the House. 175
every part. Every one expected that Mr. O'Connell
would either impugn the accuracy of the newspaper re-
port of his speech, or that he would endeavour to ex-
plain away the offensive matter. Not so. He rose, and
with the most perfect self-possession, and in a firm and
steady voice, said—“I am exceedingly obliged to the
noble lord for giving this publicity to the sentiments
which I entertain on the subject of committees of a par-
ticular description in this house. [Hear, hear, from
the Ministerial benches.] Sir, I did say every word of
that.”
It is impossible to convey an idea of the emphasis and
energy of manner with which the honourable gentleman
delivered this last sentence. The scene which followed
baffles description. It is difficult to say whether the
cheers of the Liberals, or the groans and exclamations
of “Oh, oh,” of the Tories, preponderated. The mani-
festation in so striking a manner of such opposite states
of feeling had a very singular effect.
Mr. O’Connell resumed with, if possible, still greater
energy and emphasis. “Yes, Sir, every word of that;
and I do repeat that I believe it to be perfectly true.”
Here the violent contention of sounds again burst,
and with redoubled fury, on the ears of all present.
The Liberals cheered themselves out of breath, while
the lungs of the Conservatives must have been pained,
if not damaged, by the vehemence of their shouts of
“Oh, oh,” “No, no.” Nor was the excitement of
either side of the house confined to the lungs of ho-
nourable gentlemen. The Liberal members in their
anxiety to applaud in the most rapturous manner the
176 Scenes in the House.
adherence of Mr. O’Connell to what he said, moved
their bodies backwards and forwards, clapping in some
instances their hands energetically, and in others
striking their open hands on their knees; while the dis-
approbation of the Conservatives was also expressed
by violent bodily gestures.
Mr. O’Connell, as soon as the excitement which pre-
vailed would permit him, said—“Is there a man who
will put his hand on his heart, and say upon his honour
that he does not believe this to be true?”
This was the signal for a renewal of the uproarious
applause on the part of the Liberal members, and for
equally vociferous demonstrations of dissent and dis-
approbation on the part of the Conservatives. The
cries of “No, no,” from the Tories, and the shouts of
“Yes,” yes,” from the Reformers, were in reality deaf-
ening.
Mr. O’Connell—“If there be such a man he would
be laughed to scorn. [Cries of ‘Oh, oh,” and vehement
cheers.] It is a hideous abuse. The last time I ad-
dressed the House upon the subject, I read—”
Here Mr. O’Connell’s voice was drowned amidst the
cries of “Order, order!” which proceeded from the Op-
position. In the midst of the uproar, the Speaker rose,
and said that as the honourable and learned gentleman
had answered the question of the noble lord, he must
now appeal to the noble lord to know what motion he
meant to submit on the subject.
This appeal on the part of the Speaker produced an
extraordinary effect among the Conservatives. It threw
them at once into the utmost confusion. Not dreaming
Scenes in the House. 177
for a moment that Mr. O’Connell would not only admit,
but reiterate in the house, the offensive expressions for
which he was arraigned before the House, they were
taken quite by surprise. They looked each other in the
face with a most rueful expression of countenance,
while whispers as to what ought to be done were pass-
ing as rapidly from one to another as it was possible to
put them into words. Poor Lord Maidstone was most
of all to be pitied. He was surrounded by eight or ten
of his party, some suggesting one course for his
adoption, some another. What made his case more
embarrassing and painful to him, was the circumstance
of his not only being a new member, and a young man
only twenty-three years of age, but this having been the
first occasion on which he had opened his mouth in the
house. I think I never saw a more remarkable imper-
sonation of good-nature and confusion than he exhibited
on the occasion. His confusion was “worse confounded”
by the roars of laughter, and other symptoms of ex-
ultation, at the embarrassment of himself and his party,
which proceeded from the Ministerial benches. He
looked imploringly for advice towards Sir Robert Peel,
who sat some two or three yards from him; but Sir Ro-
bert, so far as I could perceive, did not proffer him any
counsel. At length, on the suggestion of some honour-
able members, among whom, I believe, was Sir Edward
Sugden, Lord Maidstone rose and said—“Sir, in conse-
quence of the honourable and learned gentleman having
admitted the truth of the charges preferred against him,
I give notice of a motion for Monday next to bring his
conduct before the House; for I do think that such an
vol. 1–16
178 Scenes in the House.
aspersion passed generally on the members of this house
ought not to have been made without proof.”
The cheers from the Tory benches which followed
this intimation exceeded, both in their loudness and the
length of time they continued, any cheering I ever re-
member to have heard in the house, except on the occa-
sion of some important party triumph on a division,
when the closeness of the contest had rendered it im-
possible to say which side of the house would be victo-
rious. And while the Tories were thus giving unre-
strained vent to their feelings of joy at the pleasant an-
ticipation of Mr. O’Connell’s conduct being formally
denounced by the House, the Liberals, who had flatter-
ed themselves with the hope that the Conservatives
wanted the requisite courage to take any decided step
in the matter, looked as demure and downcast as if
each of them had been suddenly visited with some se-
rious personal calamity.
“Time about,” says the proverb, “is fair play.” The
events of the evening furnished a remarkable proof of
the regular alternations of triumph and defeat, joy and
sorrow, which both parties experienced in the contest.
Now the Tories were triumphant, and yielded them-
selves up without restraint, to their unbounded joy;
while the Liberals looked as grave and disappointed as
if their political existence had been to close in a few
hours. In a moment or two afterwards the victory and
the exultation of the Reformers were complete and un-
limited, while the countenances of the Tories all at
once became darkened. The transition from the most
uproarious joy in the case of both parties, to the lowest
Scenes in the House. 179
depths of sorrow and despair, and vice versa, was so
sudden, that had I not witnessed it, I could not have
believed it possible. But decidedly the most remarka-
ble instance of this sudden transition from one state of
mind to its opposite state, occurred immediately after
Lord Maidstone had given notice of his motion for
bringing the conduct of Mr. O’Connell before the House.
The exultation of the Conservatives, as I have already
observed, on hearing this announcement, was unlimited,
while the Liberals were as confounded and looked as
crest-fallen, as if the death-knell of their party had
been ringing in their ears. At the very moment that
the joyous vociferations of the Tories were resounding
through the house, Lord John Russell rose, and with an
unusual loudness of voice and emphasis of manner,
said, “Then, Sir, I beg to give notice that if this com-
plaint be entertained by the House on Monday next, I
meantobring forward for the consideration of the House,
the charge of the Bishop of Exeter respecting an al-
legation of perjury against certain members of this
House.”* .
The effect of this announcement on both parties,
though of course in opposite ways, was quite electrical.
It is impossible by any description to convey an idea of
it. It would have been a fine subject for the philoso-
pher; it would have afforded him a most remarkable
*It was afterwards found, though that did not occur to any one
at the time, that Lord John Russell's motion could not be main-
tained by the House, the Roman Catholic gentlemen whom the
Bishop of Exeter had charged with perjury, having been so
spoken of as the members of a previous parliament.
180 Scenes in the House.
illustration of the rapidity with which, not one human
mind only, but a great many human minds, could un-
dergo a transition from one emotion to its very opposite.
Lord John’s announcement as effectually, and in an in-
stant, hushed into silence the two hundred and fifty
Conservative vociferous throats, as if each of their
mouths had, by some supernatural agency, been instan-
taneously closed; while the Liberals, who but one
moment before looked as if, in the excess of their dis-
appointment and despair, they could never again have
mustered spirit enough to utter an audible sound,-now
made the walls of the house resound with their unani-
mous and hearty vociferations. I use no exaggeration
when I say, that the plaudits of the Liberals were not
only positively deafening to one’s ears, but that they
lasted so long as to prevent the House for some time
from proceeding with the next business before it.
The scene which the House exhibited on Monday
evening, after Lord Maidstone’s motion had been car-
ried by a majority of nine, declaring that Mr. O’Con-
nell’s imputations on honourable members were false
and scandalous, and that he had been guilty of a breach
of the privileges of the House, was in some respects
more extraordinary than that I have endeavoured to
describe. It lasted nearly two hours, without one mo-
ment's intermission. It was unintentionally begun by
Mr. Hume getting up, after the numbers had been de-
clared, and denying the right of the House to interfere
in reference to speeches delivered out of doors by ho-
nourable members.
The sentiment was received with loud cheers from
Scenes in the House. 181.
the Ministerial benches, and with deafening cries of
“Oh, oh!” from the Opposition, in the midst of which
Mr. Hume stood as calm, and seemingly as much at his
ease, as if nothing had been the matter. Mr. Hume
having eventually resumed his seat, the Speaker put the
second resolution moved, namely, “That Mr. O’Con-
nell, having avowed the expressions in question, had
been guilty of a breach of the privileges of the House.”
This was the signal for a renewal of the confusion and
uproar.
Mr. Callaghan, the member for Cork, leaped that in-
stant to his legs, and said—“However much I may dis-
approve in private of the use of language which ears
polite cannot listen to without angry feelings, and feel-
ings of reproach, I entirely concur in all the opinions
and expressions avowed by the honourable member for
Dublin.” -
The vociferous cheers, the loud cries of “Chair,
chair!” “Oh, oh!” &c., which followed, coupled with
the confusion which prevailed in the house, baffle any
attempt at description. In the midst of the uproar the
Speaker rose, and asked Mr. Callaghan whether he
meant to invite the aggression of the House? A volley
of Opposition cheers accompanied the question.
When the vociferations of the Conservatives had
died away, Mr. Callaghan rose, and with the most en-
tire coolness replied—“I quite bearin mind the caution
of the Chair; but I think it due to the House and my-
self to rise in my place, and say that I am not to be
intimidated by a party vote. [Loud cheering from the
Ministerial benches, responded to by equally loud plau-
16#
182 Scenes in the House.
f
dits from the Conservatives...] I am not to be deterred
from expressing my opinion, that if this vote be carried,
there will be no end to the tyranny of the majorities of
this House, [Renewed cheering.] I again declare that
my sentiments are the same as those of the honourable
member.” -
This was followed by the most deafening cheers from
the Ministerial benches, and loud cries of “Order, or-
der!” “Chair, chair!” from the Opposition, accompanied
by such violent gesticulation on the part of honourable
members in all parts of the house, as to give to the place
altogether the appearance of a bear-garden.
When order was in some measure restored, the
Speaker again interfered, and said with considerable
energy, that the honourable gentleman was acting very
disrespectfully towards the House in re-asserting the
sentiments he did, after the vote which had just been
come to in the case of the honourable member for Dub-
lin. -
On this, Mr. Callaghan again rose and said—“I really
feel strongly on this subject. [Loud laughter, caused
by the peculiar way in which the honourable member
delivered the observation.] I do declare, and I dare
to avow it, that I do adopt to the utmost ” [Peals
of laughter mingled with vociferous cheering, drowned
the voice of the honourable gentleman so entirely, that
not one syllable of the remainder of the sentence was
heard.] -
The confusion and excitement became, if possible,
still greater as Mr. Roche, Mr. Gillon, and Mr. Somers,
severally rose one after the other, and declared that
Scenes in the House. 183
(A
they also adopted and would adhere to the sentiments
delivered by Mr. O’Connell at the Crown and Anchor
meeting.
In the midst of the uproar Mr. Brotherton rose to
move the adjournment of the House; on which Lord
John Russell got up to state the course he meant to pur-
sue, when he was interrupted by the Speaker, who said
he was not in order. Lord John corrected himself, and
expressed his strong disapproval of the course which
the House had adopted in the case of Mr. O’Connell.
Mr. Henry Grattan then started up, and with the
most violent gesticulation, dared the House to send
Mr. O'Connell to Newgate. [Tremendous cheering
from the Ministerial side of the house followed, and was
responded to by ironical cheers from the Opposition.]
When the moise had in some degree subsided, the
Speaker rose and called Mr. Grattan to order. The
latter gentleman then spoke in a subdued yet firm tone.
In a few minutes afterwards the resolution was carried.
Then came the third resolution for Mr. O’Connell
being reprimanded by the Speaker; when the house again
presented a scene of uproar such as has very rarely been
exhibited at any public meeting, however disorderly.
Lord John Russell’s opposition to the resolution was
the circumstance which gave rise to it. “After,” said
Lord John, “what has passed to-night, and considering
the course which he (Mr. O’Connell) is likely to pursue
with regard to what they had just heard, I think that
merely voting to reprimand him in his place is the most
shabby, [Loud cheers, the most faint-hearted, the most
pusillanimous course that ever could be adopted.”
184 Scenes in the House.
$
The tremendous cheers from the Ministerial benches
which followed this, prevented the noble lord from pro-
ceeding for some time. -
When honourable gentlemen had exhausted them-
selves, Lord John resumed—"The honourable member
is too formidable a person to be so dealt with. The
effect of this resolution will be to call down to-morrow
some hundred members of this House, ay, some of them
with a copy of your resolution in their hands, to reite-
rate in their places the very expressions which you now
state to be false and scandalous. [Vehement cheering
from the Ministerial side of the house, which strangely
contrasted with the perfect silence which reigned on the
other side..] For my part, I must say, I cannot see
where all this is to end. I must say that I think the
noble lord (Maidstone) has led his followers into the
most ridiculous position—[Loud cheers]—the most
pitiable situation that ever men awoke and found them-
selves in—[Renewed bursts of applause]—a position
in which their only excuse for not going further is to be
found in the extreme folly—a folly incapable of being
92
repaired—of having once begun
The noble lord’s voice was here drowned amidst the
vociferous cries of “Chair, chair!” Divide, divide!”
“Adjourn, adjourn!” with which he was assailed by the
Opposition, intermingled as those cries were by the sten-
torian applause of his own party. The uproar acquired
so alarming an appearance—alarming, I mean for the
character of the House—that Lord John felt it ad-
visable to sit down abruptly, and leave his speech unfin-
ished. And here I may observe, that this was the first
Scenes in the House. 185
instance I ever knew of Lord John being put down in
the middle of a speech. It certainly was a very re-
markable circumstance, considering that he is the leader
of the House of Commons.
Mr. C. W. Wynn then rose, but the scene of uproar
and confusion which prevailed in the house prevented
his uttering a word, notwithstanding the strenuous exer-
tions of the Speaker to restore order, and procure a
hearing for him. At length, amid many interruptions,
the right honourable gentleman shortly addressed the
House; but, like Lord John Russell, he was eventually
obliged to resume his seat without finishing his speech.
Mr. Morgan J ohn O'Connell then rose to espouse the
cause of his father; but for some time his efforts to pro-
cure a hearing were ineffectual. By perseverance, how-
ever, he managed, notwithstanding all the interruptions
from the Opposition, to make himself occasionally un-
derstood.
Mr. Jenkins followed, when the uproar was renewed
and became worse than before. The scene now ex-
ceeded anything which it is possible to imagine. All
was motion in the house. Not only were the ears of
strangers assailed with all manner of sounds, but they
saw nothing but motion and confusion before them. The
members on both sides seemed as if incapable of sitting
in their seats. There was nothing but uprisings and
down-sittings among those on the benches, while the
floor of the house and the bar had all the appearance of
a crowded public walk, in which the pedestrians not
only seemed to be in a great hurry, but very unceremo-
niously jostled each other about.
186 Scenes in the House.
Mr. Barron next attempted to speak. If you heard
the first part of any of his sentences, it was a thousand
to one if you heard the conclusion. He, however,
utterly regardless of the cries with which he was assail-
ed, persevered for some time in the effort to make his
sentiments known to the House. The storm of uproar
and excitement raged with unabated fury, for at least
three or four minutes after Mr. Barron resumed his seat.
When honourable members had in some measure ex-
hausted themselves, Mr. Hume rose and moved, that
“Mr. Callaghan, Mr. Roche, Mr. Somers, and Mr.
Gillon, having in their places avowed their adoption of
the expressions of Mr. O’Connell, are guilty of a breach
of the privileges of the House.”
This led to a renewal of the uproar. The scene of
excitement, confusion, and noise which the house had
presented for upwards of an hour and a half, now reached
its height. It was impossible, by any conceivable means,
to have made the confusion which now prevailed “worse
confounded.” The force of scene-making could no
further go. Hitherto honourable gentlemen contented
themselves with rising in scores and speaking in dozens,
seven or eight always resuming their seats again; but
at this particular part of the evening’s exhibition, it
seemed as if the whole of the Conservative side of the
house, consisting at the time of about two hundred and
fifty members, had not only risen, but spoken at once;
that is to say, if to vociferate “Chair, chair, chair,” until
they had exhausted themselves, could be dignified with
the name of speaking. Nor was the uproar on the Min-
isterial benches one whit less, only that the mode of
Scenes in the House. 187
manifesting it was of a different kind. The Liberals
were as liberal of their cheers when Mr. Hume made
his motion, as the Conservatives were of their cries of
“Chair, chair, chair!” But mere cheering did not
satisfy the gentlemen on the Ministerial side of the
house. Many of them, after converting their rounds
of applause into a sort of braying, accompanied the
wonderful achievements of their lungs by stamping
with their feet on the floor, knocking the backs of the
benches, and most energetically clapping their hands.
The Speaker at last endeavoured to obtain a hearing;
but as soon might he have expected, by calling “Order,
order!” to a tempest caused by elemental strife, to have
converted that tempest into a calm, as that he should be
able to restore order in the then state of the House, be-
fore honourable gentlemen had in some degree spent
themselves. Finding all his efforts were wholly un-
heeded, and that it was useless to renew them for a time,
the right honourable gentlemen wisely resumed his seat.
After the lapse of several minutes, Mr. Wynn con-
trived to make himself audible in some detached sen-
tences. Mr. Callaghan, thinking that possibly he might
be equally fortunate, again leaped to his feet on Mr.
Wynn’s sitting down, and repeated, amidst deafening
uproar, his former avowal of adopting, in their fullest
extent, the obnoxious expressions of Mr. O’Connell.
While the honourable gentleman’s voice was drowned
amidst the vociferations of the other side, some of the
Ministerial members were actually encouraging him to
proceed, by patting him on the back, and urging him
to go on by word of mouth. It was a curious sight to
188 Scenes in the House.
see Mr. Callaghan, who rejoices in a portly body, snow-
white hair, and a round, ruddy, farmer-looking counte-
nance, standing with as much seeming unconcern amidst
the scene which surrounded him, as if there had not
been a person in the house but himself, and an un-
broken silence had prevailed in the place. Mr. Hume
and Mr. Henry Grattan contributed to prolong the
scene by attempting to speak. At last Mr. Brotherton,
seeing the Speaker’s authority had completely failed,
and not knowing any other means by which the storm
of uproar which continued to rage could be hushed,
moved the adjournment of the House. The honourable
member’s motion was lost by a large majority.
Mr. Charles Buller then attempted to address the
House; but finding himself assailed in the same way as
the honourable members who preceded him, he very
wisely resolved to be revenged on those who interrupt-
ed him and drowned his voice, by moving the adjourn-
ment of the debate.
Sir Robert Peel opposed this, but seeing, as he him-
self expressed it, that the Liberals were determined to
proceed with a series of motions similar to that of Mr.
Hume, for the purpose of embarrassing and annoying
the Conservatives, he did not persist in his opposition,
and the scene—such a one, I verily believe, as has not,
for length and violence combined, been exhibited in the
House of Commons for at least half a century past—was
put an end to by the adjournment of the debate.
The third night was not so productive of scenes; but
still there was something of the kind to astonish the
strangers in the gallery. Immediately after the divi-
Scenes in the House. 189
sion on Mr. Hume's amendment, the House presented
a spectacle which must have made the simple-minded
natives of the provinces, unacquainted with such mat-
ters, feel amazed beyond measure, Mr. Henry Grat-
tan, distinguished, even among the Irish members, for
his warmth of temperament, rose to move another
amendment. w
His address on the occasion lasted from fiſteen to
twenty minutes, during which time the bar was so
crowded with “deliberative” gentlemen, that he who
forced his way in or out had reason to plume himself on
his indomitable spirit, and his powers of overcoming
physical obstacles. The floor of the house, again, had
all the appearance of a public promenade. The scene
altogether was one of which no idea can be formed from
mere description.
Mr. Grattan concluded, and a host of other honour-
able gentlemen started simultaneously to their feet, with
the view of addressing the House. Mr. Hume was the
fortunate man in catching the eye of the Speaker, and
he made a few observations, amidst cries of “Oh, oh!”
and other undeliberative-like sounds from the Tory
benches. In the midst of the interruptions offered to
him, and the unusual confusion which prevailed in the
house, the honourable member for Kilkenny paused for
a moment, and then sat down.
In a few seconds afterwards he again rose; but just
at the same instant, up started Mr. Charles Buller—
who, singularly enough, chanced to sit next to Mr.
Hume at the time—for the purpose of getting rid of a
speech, which it was clear, at the time, proved a mental
vol. I.-17
190 Scenes in the House.
burden to him too heavy to be borne. Both gentlemen
proceeded to speak at the same time, most of the Tories
calling out “Mr. Buller,” while several of the Liberals
indicated a preference to Mr. Hume. The latter, turn-
ing about his face from the Speaker to Mr. Buller, said,
audibly enough to be heard by the greater part of the
House, “You have no right to speak, unless you rise to
call me to order.” -
“I rise,” said Mr. Buller, again endeavouring to
speak—“I rise for the purpose of 22
“Sit down,” interrupted Mr. Hume, with his charac-
teristic good nature. ,
“Just allow me,” said Mr. Buller, soothingly, “to
make one single observation. As I am one of those
53
Mr. Buller was about to say something more, but
interrupted himself by a temporary fit of laughter with
which he was suddenly seized, most probably at the
ludicrous figure which he and Mr. Hume were cutting
at the time, in their anxiety to address the house. Mr.
Charles Buller, I should here remark, is not only full
of good-nature, but has a very quick perception of the
ludicrous. i
“I am in possession of the House, and unless you
mean to call me to order, I shall 25
Mr. Hume was in the act of completing his sentence,
when Mr. Buller interrupted him by putting his hand
with considerable force on Mr. Hume’s shoulder, as if
about to cause him to sit down by an exercise of physical
energy. Mr. Hume returned the compliment by stretch-
ing out his hand towards Mr. Buller in a similar way;
Scenes in the House. 191
but I am not sure whether the latter did not gracefully
put it aside. For a few seconds it appeared to me that
each had hold of the other’s arm, with the view of get-
ting him to resume his seat. At last Mr. Buller, whose
constant and liberal smiling while the scene lasted,
showed how highly he enjoyed the fun, gave way in
favour of Mr. Hume, who proceeded to address the
House.
The affair was altogether a rich one, to those whose
position in the house enabled them to see distinctly the
countenances of the two members, when contesting
their right to a priority of hearing.
The consideration which induced Mr. Hume to per-
severe was evident from the first: he conceived that it
was his right, in consequence of being in possession of
the House; and so it doubtless was. The motive for
Mr. Buller’s anxiety to speak was not so apparent in
the first instance; but when Mr. Hume had concluded,
and it came to his turn, the secret oozed out. He
stated, in the course of his short address, that he had
been very seriously inconvenienced on the previous
night by the loss of his dinner, through the “foolish dis-
cussion” which had arisen on the question of privilege,
and added that he felt no disposition to suffer a similar
living martyrdom through a similar “foolish discussion”
that evening. These were not the precise words of
Mr. Buller, but they convey the sentiment he express-
ed. People may laugh as much as they please at the
idea of a legislator encumbering himself with thoughts
about his dinner, while an important question is under
consideration; but such is the fact. And how could it
192 Scenes in the House.
be otherwise? The legislator is just as liable to the
inroads and annoyances of hunger as his fellow-mortals
in the more lowly walks of life.
One great object of Mr. Buller’s speech was to bring
the matter before the House to a close, and let the mem-
bers go home to dinner. He was successful; the House
soon after divided, and the members, feeling themselves
released from their obligations to the respective parties
to which they belonged, a majority of them rushed out
with all practicable expedition. In less than five
minutes, the place which was crowded with honourable
gentlemen could only boast of a mere handful of legis-
lators. - -
The affair, or “the farce,” as it was generally called
at the time, was brought to a close on the following
night, by the Speaker reprimanding Mr. O’Connell, in
his place in the house. - -
“Mr. O'Connell!” shouted the Speaker.
“Here, Sir!” answered the honourable and learned
member for Dublin, starting to his feet.
The Speaker proceeded to administer, in the name
of the House, a severe reprimand to Mr. O’Connell,
with all imaginable gravity, for the intemperate and im-
proper language he had made use of at the Crown and
Anchor dinner.
Mr. O’Connell took the thing remarkably easy. He
never seemed more in his element in his life. When
the Speaker sat down, he repeated every word of the
obnoxious matter, and in a few minutes afterwards
quitted the house. -
He was met by a friend of mine in the lobby as he
Scenes in the House. 193
was going out, who accosted him with—“So, they have
been reprimanding you!”
“Yes,” replied Mr. O'Connell, with his own pecu-
liarly characteristic smile, “and I have been reprimand-
ing them.”
Such are some of the leading scenes which have been
exhibited in the House of Commons since the opening
of the present session. . Such scenes are not of unfre-
quent occurrence. They are to be witnessed much
too often, in so far as the character of the House is con- *
cerned. No stranger ever quitted the gallery of that
house, after seeing such manifestations of the bear-gar-
dening propensities of honourable members, without
feeling a very considerable diminution of his respect
for the “deliberative assembly” and their proceedings.
If the house itself could be detached from the members,
and possessed the attribute of consciousness and the
faculty of speech, it would rebuke such of its members
as act in the way I have described, in terms similar to
those employed by the frogs in the pond when pelted
by the thoughtless and unfeeling boys:– “This may be
sport to you, but it is death to me.” It is, in fact, de-
structive of the character of the House.
There are scenes on a smaller scale to be witnessed
in the House of Commons, of which I have said nothing.
They are of almost nightly occurrence. The number
of members who figure in these scenes are fewer, and
they seldom last many minutes. Yet some of them are
of a very rich description. Occasionally a decidedly
laughable thing is said by the Speaker, or by some of
his auditors, if the latter be not in such a case an
17*.
194 Scenes in the House.
abuse of language. In February last, on the night on
which Mr. Jervis moved, in opposition to Lord John
Russell, that the shilling fee for the registration of
voters should be done away with, a scene was suddenly
got up, by a number of Ministerial members rising at
once, to implore Mr. Jervis to withdraw his amend-
ment, while the Tories were remarkably clamorous for
the honourable gentleman to divide on it. Among the
supporters of Ministers who rose, and with great vehe-
mence of manner sought to dissuade Mr. Jervis from
pressing the matter to a division, was Mr. Briscoe,
member for Westbury.
Immediately on the honourable gentleman’s having
finished his first sentence, some trusty Conservative on
the other side sung out, in a regular hunting tone,—
“Tallyho! Epsom P' The peculiarly ludicrous way in
which this was spoken, created loud laughter among all
who heard it; though, from the confusion and noise
which prevailed in the House at the time, it was not
generally heard. Had it reached the ears of Mr. Bris-
coe himself, he could not, I am sure, have refrained
from joining in the laugh. What gave it so much effect
was the fact of Mr. Briscoe being the proprietor of the
Epsom racing grounds.
Another very laughable incident occurred in one of
the recent Smaller scenes. An Irish member, whose
name I will not mention, having risen, he was assailed
by loud cries of “Spoke! spoke!” meaning, that having
spoken once already, he had no right to do it a second
time. He had evidently a second speech struggling in
his breast for an introduction into the world, when see-
Sir George Clerk. 195
ing, after remaining for some time on his legs, that there
was not the slightest chance of being suffered to deliver
a sentence of it, he observed with imperturbable gravity,
and in a rich Tipperary brogue—“If honourable gintle-
min suppose that I was going to spake again, they are
quite mistaken. I merely rose for the purpose of say-
ing that I had nothing more to say on the subject.”
The House was convulsed with laughter, for a few
seconds afterwards, at the exceedingly ready wit of the
Hibernian M. P.
CHAPTER IV.
LATE CONSERVATIVE MIEMIBERS.
Sir George Clerk—Mr. Hughes Hughes—Mr. Hardy—Sir
John Elley.
SIR GEORGE CLERK, late member for the county of
Edinburgh, chiefly confined his speeches to questions
immediately affecting Scotland. On these he scarcely
ever let slip an opportunity of addressing the House.
On all Scotch matters, indeed, he may be said to have
been the leader of the Tory benches. He is a good-
looking man, considering that he has reached his fiftieth
year. He has a fresh complexion, and has all the ap-
pearance of good health. His figure is above the usual
height, and is rather stout. His hair is of a dark grey
colour; but he is bald to a considerable extent. In ad-
dressing the House he hesitated a good deal; not, how-
ever, in the unpleasant way in which many honourable
196 Mr. Hughes Hughes.
members do. His voice is clear, and his articulation
distinct. He spoke with some rapidity in the House,
but there was no variety either in the tones of his voice
or in his gesture. He was a quiet speaker; his manner
would not lead any one to infer that he was anxious to
be considered an orator. His action, if so it must be
called, almost exclusively consisted of an alternate
gentle waving of his right hand, and in seizing and
letting go again one of the buttons of his waistcoat. He
is a man of fair talent. His speeches always contained
good sense, but never anything brilliant. His style is
plain, but correct. He is a man of a sound judgment,
rather than of a masculine mind. He is incapable of
grappling with first principles. It was on matters of
little interest that he appeared to most advantage. He
was most at home when discussing the details of a mea-
sure. He was much respected by all parties, and was
always listened to with attention. In return for what
other members call “the indulgence of the House” thus
extended to him, he made short speeches. Nothing but
a question which appeared to him to be of paramount
importance, would induce the right honourable baronet
to speak longer than ten or fifteen minutes at a time.
Five minutes often sufficed for his purpose. He is a
decided Tory in his politics. His manners are amiable
and gentlemanly. He long enjoyed a seat in the house,
and until the late election it was supposed he might
consider his tenure of the county of Edinburgh secure
for many years to come. The excellence of his private
character contributed to swell the list of his supporters.
Mr. HUGHES HUGHES, late member for Oxford, al-
Mr. Hughes Hughes. 197
ways sat in the same locality in the house as Mr. Scar-
lett and Mr. Arthur Trevor. I mention this circum-
stance now, because I shall afterwards have occasion to
refer to it. That locality, it may be right to state, is
on the left hand of the Speaker, and immediately be-
hind the seats occupied by Sir Robert Peel, Lord Stan-
ley, and Sir James Graham. Had I carried into effect
my original purpose of devoting a separate chapter to
the “Unpopular Members,” the name of Mr. Hughes
would not have been omitted in the list. He was one
of the most unpopular members in the house. Possibly
it was because of a feeling of sympathy with each other,
on account of finding themselves in this kind of ad-
versity, that the two just named were severally at-
tracted to the same topographical department of the
house. This, however, is only an hypothesis of my own.
The reader is at liberty to reject it, if he do not deem
it a sound one. The fact, at all events, is as I have
stated.
Mr. Hughes Hughes’s rising to address the House
was usually the signal for an uproar. The approved
means of endeavouring to put down an unpopular speaker
—the means, namely, of hisses, yells, and all sorts of
menagerical sounds—were immediately resorted to. He
generally, however, stood the fire exceedingly well. He
seldom gave way to clamour when he did rise; but the
unfavourable reception he was in the habit of meeting
with, for the last two or three years, had the effect of
deterring him from addressing the House with the same
frequency as before.
Mr. Hughes Hughes is in pretty much the same pre-
198 Mr. Hughes Hughes.
dicament, as to his past and present politics, as several
other honourable members. He was a Reformer: at
any rate, he professed and acted on Liberal principles
for some time after the passing of the Reform Bill. I
have no theory to advance as to the causes which have
led him to enroll himself among the tories. The date
of his political transformation was a short time before
the meeting of the parliament of 1835. He wrote a letter
to a Tory morning paper, in which he threatened his
opposition to the Liberal party, and indicated a dispo-
sition to support the Peel administration. Before that
time he had a respectable status in the House; after-
wards he had none whatever.
He was not an orator. His manner was heavy and
monotonous. The tones of his voice, and the action with
which he tried to give effect to his speeches, were desti-
tute of variety. His articulation was distinct, and his
utterance was timed with some judgment to the ear;
but their effect was marred by the sameness of voice
and gesticulation to which I have just referred. His
action was not only always the same, but it was tame
in no ordinary degree. It consisted simply of a little
motion with his arms, and a slight movement of his
head.
Neither did the matter of Mr. Hughes Hughes re-
deem his manner. It was always dull: you might as
well have looked for the lily of the valley amidst the
everlasting snows of the cloud-capt summit of Mont
Blanc, as for a brilliant or profound thought, or an elo-
quent passage, in the speeches of the late honourable
member for Oxford. His style was feeble and unpolish-
Mr. Hardy. 199
ed, and was consequently in keeping with his sentiments.
He managed, however, to get through his speeches,
which had always the merit of being brief, with tolerable
ease. Sometimes, indeed, you would have been in-
clined to call him a fluent speaker; though, if you
bestowed a single thought on his ideas and diction, you
must at once have seen that his addresses were poor
indeed.
He is apparently about his fortieth year. His per-
sonal appearance, like his speeches, is heavy. He is
about the middle height, and rather fully made. His
features are large: his eyes are particularly so. His
face inclines to rotundity. His complexion is sallow,
and he generally rejoices in an ample crop of dark-
brown hair. -
Mr. HARDy, late member for Bradford, was compa-
ratively little known in the house when I wrote my
First Series of “Random Recollections.” Since then he
brought himself prominently into notice. The part he
took in the affair between Mr. O’Connell and Mr. Ra-
phael was of great service to him in his efforts to emerge
from obscurity. The very circumstance of entering on
the order-book, notice of a motion for the purpose of
taking Mr. O’Connell to task for the part he played in
that memorable drama, contributed greatly of itself, to
attract the eyes of all his brother legislators to the then
member for Bradford. To attack the “Agitator,” as
Mr. Hardy was in the habit of calling him, in what was
then considered his most vulnerable part, was at once
set down as arguing the possession of no ordinary moral
courage. As might naturally be inferred under these
200 Mr. Hardy.
circumstances, the motion of Mr. Hardy, and the
speech with which it should be prefaced, were looked
forward to with unusual anxiety. Some of his friends
had serious misgivings as to the way in which he would
acquit himself; but the event proved that their fears
were groundless.
“The day, the great, the important day,” big with
the oratorical fate of Mr. Hardy, having arrived, and
his name being called by the Speaker, he rose, and
after a few general observations, in the usual shape of
humbly soliciting the indulgence of the House—pro-
fessing his overwhelming sense of his inability to do
justice to the subject—being induced to undertake the
task by a sense of duty—disclaiming personal motives
—and so forth; after a few such common-place remarks,
the honourable member leaped at once into the heart of
his subject. He abused O’Connell right and left. He
inveighed against him in terms of bitterness, and in a
tone of boldness, which few members had ventured to
display in speaking of the honourable and learned
member for Dublin. His speech occupied nearly three
hours in the delivery: it certainly displayed consider-
able talent. His invective was often happy, as well as
bold; his observations were sometimes acute, and his wit
was in many instances pointed; and what, perhaps, was
still more serviceable to him, he was most vociferously
cheered by the Conservatives from the beginning to the
end of his speech. But what was most important of all,
he was replied to by O’Connell at considerable length.
All these lucky circumstances conspired to make a
parliamentary reputation to the honourable gentleman,
Mr. Hardy. , 201
in what an Irishman would call “less than no time.”
In the short space of three hours, Mr. Hardy was raised
from the size of an oratorical dwarf to the dimensions
of a giant. Then came the “Standard” of the follow-
ing day, representing, in the usual spirit of exaggeration
which characterizes that able and honest journal, the
speech of the honourable member, as the most masterly
oratorical effort ever made within the walls of parlia-
ment. This did for the honourable member, among the
Conservatives of the country, what the circumstances I
have mentioned had done for him in the house. For
some time Mr. Hardy possessed an enviable station as
a member of the legislature. He did not, however, long
retain his elevated position. He did nothing afterwards
to keep up the reputation which this isolated effort had
gained for him; and latterly his station in the house was
very little better than it originally was. -
Mr. Hardy is a man of very respectable talent.
Brought up to the bar, he can, like most of the gentle-
men of the long robe, speak with much ease and fluency.
His voice is not in his favour as a speaker: it has some-
thing of a bass muffled sound: and he does not, except
when excited, which he very seldom is, speak in suffi-
ciently audible tones. His enunciation is rather rapid,
but not unpleasantly so. His gesture is usually mode-
rate: the only instances in which I have seen it verge
on vehemence, were on two or three occasions last year,
when vindicating himself from the charge of having been
guilty of bribing the electors of Pontefract, by paying
them head-money. On that occasion his action was so
energetic as to border on the ridiculous.
VOL. I.-18
202 Mr. Hardy.
Mr. Hardy, until within the last few years, always
identified himself with the Liberal party. What has
produced the change in his opinions, I have not the
means of knowing; but there was not latterly a more
thorough-going Conservative on the Opposition side of
the house. He invariably sat behind Sir Robert Peel,
and was one of the greatest of the right honourable
baronet’s numerous admirers.
Mr. Hardy has usually a grave appearance; he is by
no means prodigal of his smiles; nor was he so commu-
nicative to those around him as most of the Conserva-
tive gentlemen on the Tory side of the house are to each
other. It was no uncommon thing to see him sitting
with his arms folded across his breast, quite in the Na-
poleon style, for a couple of hours at a time, without ex-
changing a word with any one, or without relaxing for
a moment the rigidity of his features. I am satisfied
there were few members in the house who could claim
the merit of being more attentive to what was going on.
He might with a special propriety have been called the
deliberative member. I have often had occasion to wit-
ness his imperturbable gravity in the course of the last
two sessions; for before that time he occasionally looked
cheerful. I have seen him, while the whole House was
convulsed with laughter, sit as unmoved as if he were
a statue, and look as serious as any poor fellow ever did
when sentence was passing on him at the Old Bailey.
If he ever did condescend to laugh, the funny thing
which excited his risibility, must needs have come from
some member on his own side of the house. As regarded
the humour of Mr. O’Connell—usually the most laugh-
ter-provoking speaker in the house—Mr. Hardy would
Mr. Hardy. 203
not have been guilty of laughing at any thing the “Agi-
tator” said, were he to have received worlds in return.
It seemed to be one of his fixed principlés—to be an es-
sential part of his political creed—to be thoroughly con-
servative of his smiles when a Liberal spoke, however
droll and happy the humour of that Liberal’s speech
might be. -
The most hearty laugh which the ex-member for Brad-
ford ever perpetrated while I was in the house, was on
the 8th of February last year; and surely, if ever it was
excusable in him, or in any honourable member, to de-
viate from the gravity so very becoming the legislative
character, the occurrences of that evening afforded that
excuse. Sir Robert Peel, on that occasion, appeared
for the first time in the capacity of a comic actor. Sir
Robert had always, as I have mentioned in the First
Series of my “Random Recollections,” been allowed,
on all hands, to excel every other member in sustained
deep tragedy; but no one ever before gave him credit
for comic powers of a superior order. Now and then
he had, on previous occasions, contrived so far to ap-
proach the comic, as to excite a slight smile on the
countenances of a few honourable members, remarkable
for their predisposition to risibility; but that was the
full extent of the right honourable baronet’s achieve-
ments in that way. On the night, however, to which I
refer, he appeared, to the astonishment and admiration
of the House, in the character of a first-rate comic ac-
tor. And, never, I must say, have I; on the stage or
off it, seen a piece of more consummate comic acting
than that of the right honourable baronet, in some parts
204 Mr. Hardy.
of his speech that night. The account given of the fol-
lowing passage in it in the papers of next day, conveyed
no idea of the thing itself. He had been reprobating
the circumstance of Lord Mulgrave having some time.
before liberated all the criminal prisoners, in the towns
which that nobleman had visited as Lord Lieutenant
of Ireland. And having exhausted his censure of
the act, in the gravest terms he could employ, he
thought to punish the government still more, by turning
it into ridicule. He said he had given the only instance
of a similar act with which he was acquainted in real
life, and he had given it in plain prose. He would now
give another instance of a poetical character, taken from
the realms of fiction. “This,” exclaimed Sir Robert
Peel, to use his own words,--"this is the only instance
I know of, in which mercy was extended to persons
confined for offences against the law, on the visit of a
chief governor. Oh, yes!” he continued, as if correct-
ing himself, “Oh, yes! there is another instance that
occurs to my mind; but it is of a poetical nature, and
is taken from the regions of fiction. It is recorded in
a farce 25 l
Here the right honourable baronet turned his back to
the House and the Speaker, and looked his friends, in-
cluding Mr. Hardy, in the face, with one of the drollest
expressions of countenance I ever witnessed. The roars
of laughter which followed prevented him for some time
from completing the sentence.
“It is,” he resumed, “recorded in a farce—a farce, I
believe, known by the name of Tom Thumb.”
Here, again, Sir Robert not only wheeled about, and
Mr. Hardy. 205
looked his friends in a singularly odd way in the face,
but pronounced the words in so remarkably comic a
manner that the whole House was thrown into a violent
fit of laughter, which lasted for some time.
“If I recollect rightly,” continued Sir Robert—“and
the noble lord, who is quite a classical authority in such
matters, will correct me if I am wrong, for I merely
quote from memory—if I recollect rightly, the King
and Lord Grizzle appear on the stage.”
Here the irresistibly comic pronunciation and gestures
of Sir Robert again threw the House into a roar of laugh-
ter, which lasted for some time. Partial gravity being
restored, he proceeded.
“The King says—‘Rebellion is dead—let us now go
to breakfast.’”
Again did the house resound with peals of laughter,
which promised for a time never to have an end. Even
Lord John Russell—the least guilty of laughter of any
man I know on the Ministerial side of the house—even
he joined in the universal shout, and shook his little
sides to a degree which seemed at one time to threaten
serious consequences. But the best of all is yet to come.
“To celebrate the illustrious and auspicious event;”
the event—namely of the death of rebellion—“to cele-
brate,” continued the right honourable baronet, “this
illustrious and auspicious event, the King further says
—‘Open the prisons—turn the captives loose—and let
our treasurer advance a guinea to pay their several
debts.” ”
It were as impossible to convey any accurate notion
of the inimitable manner in which the right honourable
18%
206 Mr. Hardy.
baronet here suited the action to the words, as it would
be to describe the scene which followed. The comic
tones of Sir Robert’s voice, the positions in which he
placed himself, and the expression of countenance he
assumed, are still ringing in my ears, and are before my
eyes, as distinctly as if the scene had only occurred
five minutes before writing this account of it.
Had Farren, or Liston, or the late John Reeve, been
in the gallery at the time, they would severally have
blessed their stars that Sir Robert was destined to per-
form on the political stage, instead of on the boards of
any of our theatrical establishments; for the conviction
would have been forced on them, that in such a case he
must have thrown them all completely into the shade.
The peals of laughter which followed were as sudden
and simultaneous as if they had been the result of some
electrical experiments on the members.
Mr. O’Connell never, even in his most forcible
moods, produced so much “agitation” in any assem-
blage he ever addressed. The whole house seemed
instinct with motion. The members appear to have
lost all command over their risible faculties. Many of
the most corpulent of them were inconvenienced from
a want of room; more room being now necessary, owing
to the motion of their bodics. Even the great “Agitator”
himself was not exempt from the universal “agitation.”
It was with difficulty he could support himself. But it
was on the Tory side of the house that the effects of
Sir Robert Peel's consummate acting were most visible.
There, there was a perfect tempest of agitation. Had a
stranger chanced to enter the gallery at the time, there
Mr. Hardy. 207
would have been no resisting the conclusion that the
Tories were all labouring under the influence of some
unaccountable agency. For some time they literally
“roared out” their laughter, and dozens of them, whose
voices were never before heard in that house, showed
that if they were not orators, it was from no want of
lungs. As for their bodies, again, they moved back-
wards and forwards with edifying celerity, their heads
vibrating as regularly between their knees and the
backs of their seats, as if they had all been moved by
wires. Every body in the house laughed:
“Those laughed now who never laughed before,
And those who always laughed, now laughed the more.”
Nor is this all. I am confident that had the celebrated
weeping philosopher of antiquity himself been present,
he could not have refrained from joining in the univer-
sal laugh. He would, for the moment, have dried up
his tears, and given full play to his risible faculties. In
truth, no human being could have heard and seen Sir
Robert Peel, without flying off at a tangent into a vio-
lent fit of laughter. It was fortunate for the Speaker
that it is no part of his duty to call the house to order
when it has been thrown into a state of merriment; for
he could not have performed that duty. Even his gra-
vity was upset; while the poor officers of the house,
whose duty it is to see that there be no laughter, nor
any other noise, among strangers, instead of being able
to keep order, were unable to preserve it amongst them-
selves. They joined in the general laugh; they com-
mitted the very offence for the prevention of which, on
the part of others, they are appointed and paid. Indeed,
208 Mr. Hardy.
f
it looked precisely as if everybody had been striving
to gain some prize which had been promised to the
party who should prove himself the best laugher.
Mr. Hardy played his part in the singular scene.
And with a view of accounting for so unusual an oc-
currence in his history, I have ventured on this slight
digression. The circumstances under which he laughed
were off so peculiar a kind, that supposing the house
generally had abstained from laughter on the occasion,
he could not have preserved his gravity. At any rate,
if he had not laughed in reality, he must, for the sake
of common politeness, have affected to do homage to
Momus; for Sir Robert Peel repeatedly fixed his eye
on Mr. Hardy during the performance of his part, and
looked as if he had been acting for his special gratifi-
cation. But, in addition to this, Mr. Hardy happened
to sit between Mr. Serjeant Jackson and Mr. Serjeant
Lefroy; and as they moved backwards and forwards
in their seats with as much regularity, and seemingly
in as cordial sympathy with each other, as if they had
been a sort of political Siamese twins, the honourable
member for Bradford was, by their pressure, subjected
to a species of necessity of moving backwards and for-
wards with them. As, consequently, it would have
looked exceedingly awkward to have seen the honour-
able gentleman propelled backwards and forwards, in
the way to which I have referred, without laughing,
while everybody was laughing around him, it was to
be expected that he would have done his best to force a
laugh, had the thing not sprung up spontaneously in
his own throat, under the singular circumstances of that
evening.
Mr. Hardy. 209
Mr. Hardy, though very reserved when in the house,
and remarkable for his gravity in all public places, is a
very sociable gentleman, and pleasant companion in
private life. He is a man of excellent moral character. I
believe his greatest enemies must admit that in the affair
of the payment of head-money, which Mr. O’Connell
brought before the house under the name of bribery,
his vindication of his conduct was, in all the circum-
stances of the case, of a satisfactory nature. What he
did, he did openly; and he only did what was quite
common among reſormed candidates of unquestioned
integrity at the time. The payment of head-money
was, indeed, a part of the system which then—the mat-
ter occurred several years ago—obtained in electioneer-
ing matters.
Mr. Hardy is, I understand, a religious man. He
takes a lively interest in all matters pertaining to the
well-being of the Protestant establishment. He has
always voted for a Sabbath Protection Bill.
In his personal appearance there is nothing marked.
He is rather below the average height, but somewhat
robustly framed. His hair is white, and his complexion
slightly florid. His face is round, and has an intelli-
gent expression. He is approaching his fifty-fifth year.
SIR John ELLEY, the late member for Windsor, did
not often trouble either himself or the House with his
speeches; but whenever he did “drop a word or two,”
to use his own expression, he was always listened to
with attention. There was something, indeed, so indi-
cative of good-nature in his appearance, that no other
feeling than one of kindliness could be shown towards
210 Sir John Elley.
him by the House. Both his matter and manner were
generally humorous. His speeches had always the
merit of originality. He never attempted argument;
nor did he try his hand at declamation. The utmost
extent of his ambition, as a parliamentary orator, seem-
ed to be to excite a laugh in his audience. In this he
was usually successful. His observations had gene-
rally something humorous in them; and their effect was
greatly heightened by his odd manner of delivering
them. He spoke in a slow cautious manner, and in a
curious lisping tone of voice, caused in a great measure
by the loss of some of his teeth. There was a perpetual
smile on his countenance when on his legs; and when-
ever he came to the end of any sentence which he deem-
ed adapted to produce a laugh, he buried his head in his
breast, and waited patiently in that position, until the
features of honourable members had resumed their
wonted gravity. There was something unspeakably
odd in the way in which Sir John managed his neck
and head when addressing the House. His shirt collar
was always so high as to press against his ears; conse-
Quently very little of his neck was seen, in ordinary
circumstances. The moment, however, he rose to
speak, he stretched his neck to such an extent, that
one could not help inferring that it possessed some-
thing of the elastic properties of India rubber. The
sudden transition from this crane-like appearance of
Sir John’s neck to the insertion of his head in his breast,
as if he had no neck at all, had, as I have just said, a
very ludicrous effect; and this oddness of his manner,
coupled with the humorous character of his matter,
Sir John Elley. 211
afforded much amusement to the House; which seemed
to be in Sir John’s estimation the great business of a
legislator.
He was a most exemplary Tory in so far as his votes
were concerned; but he showed no traces of party viru-
lence in his speeches. They were full of good-nature.
He made no personal allusions to any one. He seem-
ed to be on good terms with everybody, and everybody
in return seemed to feel kindly towards him.
Sir John Elley is a man considerably advanced in
years. He is upwards of sixty. The active military
service he performed in the Peninsula, and various other
parts of the world, has contributed to make him look
older than he really is. He has somewhat of an infirm
appearance. He is tall, and rather slenderly made.
His face inclines to the angular form. His nose is
sharp, and of large proportions. His complexion is
sallow, and his hair of an iron-grey colour. He has
moderately-sized whiskers and large eyebrows.
Sir John was manifestly uncomfortable in the house.
It was a mistake in his destiny to send him there. He
usually leaned on his staff with both hands. At times
he was to be seen resting the back of his head against
the wall; for he almost invariably sat on the backmost
bench. In such cases he usually took a nap to him-
self, especially if the proceedings, which was then no
uncommon occurrence, had a soporific tendency. I
was amused, one evening in February last year, to see
the sudden start which Sir John gave, on the utterance
of a “tremendous cheer,” with which one portion of
the speech of the Irish Attorney-General was greeted.
212 Sir John Elley.
Possibly he may at the time have been in that half-
waking, half-sleeping state, during which one’s imagi-
nation is so active, and he may have fancied the loud
shout of applause which broke on his ear from the Min-
isterial benches, was the cannon’s roar of the enemy.
There is another honourable gentleman whose name
I have never been able to learn, who, when the house
was full, always sat within arm’s length of Sir John..
They were in the habit of exchanging pinches of snuff
together; but I never observed them enter into conver-
sation with each other. They were as silent as if they
had been dumb. While seeing Sir John sitting on the
back bench by himself, he has often reminded me of
certain personages in Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” who
“far apart sat on a hill retired.” There was, however,
this difference between Milton’s personages and Sir
John, that whereas they were lost in “reasonings high”
about certain metaphysical points in polemical theology,
Sir John threw metaphysics, as Macbeth advised his
doctor to do physic, “to the dogs,” and either lost him-
self in sleep, or in his musings about the Junior United
Service Club.
The only time he ever seemed to enjoy himself, was
when military matters were under discussion. He
was in the third heaven when Mr. Maclean, or Lord'
Mahon, or anybody else, brought the affairs of Spain
before the House. At all other times he was so much
out of his element, that he appeared as dull as if he had,
like Alexander Selkirk, been the sole inhabitant of
some desert isle. Legislation had no pleasure for him;
and he proved this by the frequency of his absence
Sir John Elley. 213
from the house. His great source of enjoyment is in
talking over the adventures of his military career, in
the Junior United Service Club. But for that club,
life would have but little attraction to Sir John. It is
an institution near and dear to his heart. He talks
about it wherever he chances to be. He thought about
it, and longed to be in it, when performing his parlia-
mentary duties; and it was then, as it still is, the sub-
ject of his frequent visions by night. He is excellent
company there: his society is much courted by the
members; as, indeed, from the blandness of his man-
ners, it could not fail to be.
Sir John, though not in the habit of attacking others,
was fond of being attacked himself. His anxiety in
this respect has often reminded me of the Irish at Don-
nybrook Fair. Many go there for the purpose of getting
a broken head. If they come away without being
soundly thrashed, they are quite disappointed. You
can see from their very countenances, that they have
suffered a negative calamity of no ordinary magnitude.
You sometimes hear them accosting any athletic coun-
tryman they meet, with “Will you bate me?” I
myself have repeatedly heard Irishmen in London
expressing a wish that some one would have “a purty
fight” with them. It was the same, on some occasions,
with Sir John Elley in the House of Commons. You
could not do him a greater favour than to attack him in
good set terms. I have actually seen him literally im-
plore honourable members to attack him. One day in
the beginning of March last year, Mr. Hume, in bring-
ing the subject of the late brevet before the House,
vol. I.-19
214 Sir John Elley.
made an attack on various officers in the army. Sir
John listened with most exemplary attention to every
word the then member for Middlesex said, and when
he sat down, there was an evident expression of disap-
pointment impressed on Sir John’s countenance. I was
quite at a loss to account for this, as almost every one
else seemed quite delighted to see Mr. Hume resume
his seat. But the secret was soon out. Sir John rose,
and after remarking that the honourable member had
attacked several other officers, he said, in most emphatic
terms “Why did not the honourable member attack
me?” However, he soon got, or rather took an oppor-
tunity of revenging himself on Mr. Hume for the
neglect of the latter. Sir John had been eulogising
some friend of his as a most loyal subject, when the fol.
lowing smart affair took place:–
Mr. Hume—“Who is not a loyal subject?”
Sir John Elley—“Joseph Hume is not.” [Loud
laughter, and cries of “Order, order!”]
Mr. Hume—“I tell the gallant gentleman that he has
given utterance to an untruth. There is not a more
loyal subject than I am in the empire.” [Hear, hear:
and cries of “Order!”]
Sir John Elley—“I beg to refer to the honourable
gentleman’s conduct in the Canadian affair.”
Mr. Hume again rose, amidst great uproar, when the
Speaker called on Sir John to withdraw his charge of
disloyalty against the honourable member for Middle-
sex, which having been done, order was restored in the
house.
I have no notion that Sir John will again solicit the
Sir John Elley. 215
suffrages of the electors of Windsor, or of any other
constituency. If he do, it must only be from the con-
viction that every Tory ought, while he has life, to
oppose to the utmost of his power the progress of the
“revolutionary mania.” All his private predilections
would lead him to divide the remainder of his days be-
tween his own home and the Junior United Service Club.
END OF WOLUME I.
THE
B R IT IS H S E N AT E;
OR,
A SE COND SERIES
OF
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS
LORDS AND COMMONS.
BY THE AUTHOR OF
*THE GREAT METROPOLIS,” “THE BENCH AND
THE BAR,” &c. 2
IN TWO VOLUMES. ºrº.…T
VOL. II.
—ree eve—
395 flat el p 5 fa:
E. L. CAREY & A. HART.
1838.
E. G. Do R S EY, P R IN TER,
LIBRARY STREET.
CONTENTS
O F T H E S E C O N D W O L U M E.
BOOK II.--THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.
(continued.)
CHAPTER. W.
LATE consERVATIVE MEMBERs.—(continuBD.)
Mr. John Richards—Mr. Kearsley—Mr. Horace Twiss, Page 5
CHAPTER VI.
LATE LIBERAL MEMBERS.
Sir Love Parry Jones Parry—Mr. Rigby Wason—Mr. Thomas
Wentworth Beaumont, º e e e & º 32
CHAPTER VII.
CONSERVATIVE ENGLISH MEMBERS.
Mr. Plumbtre—Sir Thomas Freemantle—Sir Edward Sugden
—Mr. Gladstone—Mr. Gaskell, º e e . 43
*
CHAPTER VIII.
CONSERVATIVE ENGLISH MEMBERS.–(continued.)
Mr. Scarlett—Mr. Arthur Trevor—Mr. Gally Knight—Lord
Ashley—Mr. Maclean—Sir Frederick Pollock, 59
º
CHAPTER IX.
LIBERAL ENGLISH MEMBERS,
Mr. Bernal—Mr. Aglionby—Mr. Jervis—Mr. Handley—Mr.
Howard—Mr. Sandford—Mr. Brotherton, t . T6
iy CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
LIBERAL ENGLISH MEMBERS.—(CONTINUED.)
Mr. Shaw Lefevre—Mr. E. S. Cayley–Mr. Grantley Berkeley
—Mr. C. Williers—Mr. Williams—Mr. Charles Hindley—
Sir William Molesworth—Mr. Leader—Mr. Charles Lush-
ington—Mr. James, . º & ſe * e e 109
CHAPTER XI.
CONSERVATIVE SCOTCH AND IRISH MEMBERS.
Mr. Pringle—Mr. Serjeant Jackson—Mr. Serjeant Lefroy—Mr.
Emerson Tenment—Colonel Verner, © © © 140
CHAPTER, XII.
SCOTCH AND IRISH LIBERAL MEMBERS.
Mr. Gillon—Mr. Williers Stuart—Mr. Bannerman—Mr. Wyse
—Mr. Barron—Mr. James Grattan—Mr. Smith O'Brien—
Mr. Lynch—Mr. Serjeant Woulſe, . * e e 158
CHAPTER XIII.
GOVERNMENT MEMBERS.
Mr. Fox Maule—Mr. Francis T. Baring—Mr. Vernon Smith—
Mr. Robert Steuart, . g * g g g in 189
CHAPTER XIV.
NEW MEMBERS.
Lord Leveson—Mr. Gibson Craig–Mr. D'Israeli–Mr. Colqu-
houn, * tº © tº * ſº º © e 201
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS.
*mºmºmºsºmºmº
B O O K II.
THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.
(CONTINUED.)
CHAPTER. W.
LATE CONSERVATIVE MEMBERS.
(continueD.)
Mr. John Richards—Mr. Kearsley.
Mr. JoHN RICHARDs, late member for Knaresborough,
usually sat within two or three yards of Mr. Hardy.
Like the latter gentleman, the time was when Mr.
Richards identified himself with Liberal principles.
That time has been gone by for some years: there was
not, latterly, a more thorough-going Conservative on
the Opposition benches. Mr. Richards invariably at-
tracted the attention of strangers the moment he rose;
but he was somehow or other disliked by the House.
If I had carried into execution my original intention of
having a chapter under the head of “Unpopular Mem-
bers,” Mr. Richards would have been sure of a place
in it. The instant he got on his legs, and before he had
time to open his mouth, he was sure to be assailed with
laughter, groans, and all sorts of zoological sounds. He
VoI. II.-1
6 Mr. John Richards.
!
bore all, however, with the fortitude of a philosopher;
I should rather say, indeed, with the patience and re-
signation of a martyr. I never saw a man look more
collected or better-natured, under circumstances so
much calculated to make him lose both his senses and
his temper. There Mr. Richards stood, as if nothing
at all were the matter, rubbing the dust, it might be,
off his spectacles, or otherwise amusing himself with
those useful auxiliaries to one’s vision. If one might
have inferred from his countenance and manner what
was passing in his mind, it would certainly have been
that he was saying with himself, “Take your time, gen-
tlemen, I’m in no particular hurry. I’ll wait patiently
until you have duly exercised your lungs, and made
asses of yourselves.” To his credit be it spoken, I
have never yet known Mr. Richards to be put down by
the hootings and hissings of “honourable gentlemen
opposite.” He knew that in the nature of things they
must of necessity soon spend themselves, and he waited
with an almost edifying patience until that consumma-
tion had taken place.
It can hardly be necessary to say, that the Conserva-
tives never took any part in the effort to put down Mr.
Richards. But he had, nevertheless, a serious ground
of complaint against them; for they never—not even by
accident or mistake—greeted his ears with a cheer.
Say what he would, or say it how he would, his auricu-
lar organs were never regaled with even the faintest
murmur of applause. I cannot understand how this
happened; for though Mr. Richards was as innocent as
the bench on which he sat of ever giving utterance to
anything witty or brilliant, he did in many cases talk
Mr. John Richards. 7.
very respectable sense; which is a great deal more than
can be said of scores of those Liberals who so furiously
assailed him when he got up to speak. Mr. Richards
certainly served a most ungrateful party. A few cheers
were surely-cheap enough; they would only have cost
the Conservatives a very moderate exercise of their
lungs; for I am quite certain Mr. Richards was the last
man in the world that would have wished them to “hur-
rah!” or “hear, hear!” themselves hoarse.
The greatest compliment I recollect to have seen the
House pay to Mr. Richards, was when he spoke on the
introduction of a bill, in the third week of the last ses-
sion, for poor laws for Ireland. An unaccountable dul-
ness seemed to have seized honourable gentlemen on
that occasion: there appeared to be no disposition on
the part of either side of the house to be noisy. Hence
the then honourable member for Knaresborough was
tolerated. He was so proud of the circumstance, that
he waxed unusually animated and energetic. He raised
his voice occasionally to such a pitch, that it more re-
sembled the squeaking of a child than the tones of a
man about the forty-fifth year of his age. From a con-
stitutional defect in his organs of speech, he cannot at
at any time pronounce the letter r like other persons;
but, on this occasion, the imperfect pronunciation of this
letter had a ludicrous effect. He raised his right hand
high above his head, and then let it fall energetically
by his side. In a moment afterwards both his arms
were extended, as if he had been attempting to make a
Turkish bow; then, again, he thrust them up as far as
they could go, in the direction of the ceiling of the
8 Mr. John Richards.
house. I never saw Mr. Richards so theatrical before.
I am convinced the circumstance was to be ascribed to
the gratifying fact of his being heard without molesta-
tion. I am also convinced, that had the House been
afterwards equally indulgent towards him, he would have
spoken every night, or at any rate as often as he would
have had the good fortune to catch the Speaker’s eye.
Usually Mr. Richards’ action is tame in the ex-
treme, while his elocution is feeble and monotonous.
He sometimes talks with passable fluency; at other
times he stammers and falters, and corrects and recor-
rects himself at every tenth or twelfth sentence. He
has nothing to boast of in the way of genius or originali-
ty. He is generally dull. If there be tolerable sense
in what he says, it is all the credit which can be given
him as a speaker. He is, however, a man of rather ex-
tensive information. I have on some occasions admired
the intimate knowledge which, on the impulse of the
moment, and under unexpected circumstances, I have
seen him manifest on historical matters.
Mr. Richards sometimes took a part in the scenes
which every now and then occur in the house. In such
cases I have seen him display a commendable measure
of moral courage. Although perfectly sure of being
made the laughing-stock of the House in return, by the
happy raillery of Mr. O’Connell, I have seen him make
bold attacks on the honourable and learned member for
Dublin. - t
One of the best scenes which have occurred for years
in the house, took place in June 1836, and owed much
of its richness to the prominent part which Mr. Rich-
- Mr. John Richards. 9
ards acted in it. I will attempt to convey some idea
of the extraordinary exhibition which occurred on that
occasion; but no description can at all come up to the
thing itself. Mr. O’Connell had been attacking Mr.
Walter, the then member for Berkshire, on the ground
of the alleged connexion of that honourable member with
“The Times” newspaper, when Mr. Kearsley got up,
and interrupted Mr. O’Connell in, as nearly as I could
gather, the following remarkable terms: -
“Sir—if his Majesty’s servants—for, Sir, they are,
Sir, ministers no longer, Sir—I say, Sir, if his Majes-
ty’s servants can submit—if, Sir, they are so humili-
ated as to submit—to the, Sir, bullying conduct of the
honourable and learned gentleman—I mean, Sir, the
member for Kilkenny—I, Sir, shall not submit to that
bullying conduct of the honourable and learned gentle-
man. I wish to know, Sir, is this proper conduct?”
And after a moment’s pause he added, in tones which
resembled a thunder-clap, “Sir, I will divide the House
on this conduct.”
It seemed for a time as if the peals of laughter which
followed this ebullition of Mr. Kearsley’s indignation at
Mr. O'Connell’s conduct, were never to have an end.
They did, however, eventually cease, on which Mr.
O’Connell again rose, and in his own peculiarly sarcas-
tic way, said—“I wish the honourable member for Berk-
shire joy of his new ally. They are two kindred spirits
—they are admirably suited to each other,” A shout
of laughter followed, which very much annoyed Mr.
Kearsley. He seemed impatient again to interpose.
Mr. O'Connell repeated his attack on Mr. Walter, when
10 Mr. John-Richards.
several members on the Opposition side of the house
shouted out, “Order, order!” “Chair, chair!”
Mr. O’Connell—“I repeat that I am disgusted—
justly disgusted by a tergiversation of conduct the most
astonishing, ay, the most disgraceful that ever occurred.
I am ready 25
Here the shouts of “Order, order!” “Chair, chair!”
&c. became absolutely deafening, and the Conservative
side of the house had the appearance of a body of men
all indignant and agitated at once. When order was
partially restored, then appeared Mr. Richards, five
feet nine inches high. He said—
“Really, Sir, the honourable and learned member for
Kilkenny cannot be permitted to browbeat and ruf-
fianise, if I may use the expression, the honourable mem-
ber for Berkshire, in the way he has been doing. I ap-
peal to Mr. Speaker, whether this extravagant conduct
is consistent with the dignity of the house.”
Mr. Kearsley, Colonel Sibthorpe, and various other
honourable gentlemen on the Opposition side of the
house, responded to Mr. Richards's appeal to the
Speaker, by shouts of “Hear, hear, hear!” The minis-
terial benches again shook with the effects of the laugh-
ter caused by the odd association of the serious with
the ludicrous, which the appearance and manner of Mr.
Richards presented.
Mr. O’Connell again took to his feet. “Sir, I rejoice
that 22
A volley of sounds in the shape of “Order, order!”
“Chair, chair!” from the Conservative benches drowned
the honourable and learned member’s voice.
Mr. John Richards. : 11
The Speaker interposed, and expressed a hope that
the proceedings within the walls of the house would be
conducted with order. -
Mr. O’Connell—“Certainly; and, therefore, I only
wish to congratulate the honourable member for Berk-
shire on his second defender. I am sure that nothing
could be more flattering to him than the first—except
the second.”
The inimitably sly humorous way in which Mr.
O’Connell delivered this, produced a deafening peal of
laughter from all parts of the house.
Mr. O’Connell resumed—“One, too—namely, the
honourable member for Knaresborough—one, too, who
is so especially remarkable for his own exceeding deli-
cacy and extreme polish, that he must necessarily
shrink from anything which savours of the kennel.”
The Ministerial benches were again convulsed with
laughter; while tremendous cries of “Order, order!”
“Chair, chair!” resounded from the Opposition side of
the house. The scene of confusion presented on the
occasion was altogether a most extraordinary one.
Mr. Richards, taking his spectacles off his nose, rose
and said, as soon as the uproar had in some degree sub-
sided—“I rise again to order. I speak in the presence
of the honourable and learned member for Kilkenny,
and I say that neither he nor any other member has a
right to bring into this house the manners of a black-
guard.”
Now the scene was changed. The most vociferous
cries of “Order, order!” “Chair, chair!” “Oh, oh!” &c.,
were raised simultaneously by honourable gentlemen
12 Mr. John Richards.
on the Ministerial benches, whilst deafening cheers pro-
ceeded from the Opposition side of the house.
Mr. O’Connell all this while sat with his arms a-
kimbo, and his hat cocked on one side. His countenance
told with what zest he enjoyed the scene.
The Speaker again interfered, and said that improper
terms had been employed on both sides, which must be
regretted. He implored honourable members not to
make personal allusions to one another. -
Mr. O’Connell—“Sir, if I have used any expression,
I am 22 -
Mr. Richards—“The word “kennel !?”
Mr. O'Connell—“I was talking of hopping over the
kennel. If I have used any expression inapplicable to
the dignity or decorum of the House, I am ready to
withdraw it.” %
The Speaker said that the honourable and learned
gentleman had undoubtedly used some improper terms
and would suggest that they should not be repeated.
Mr. O’Connell responded to the observations of the
observations of the Speaker, by exclaiming, “No, no.”
Mr. Richards also intimated his readiness to comply
with the wishes of the Speaker, and everything seemed
to promise a termination to the unseemly squabble,
when Dr. Baldwin got up and insisted, that before the
House could be satisfied, Mr. Richards must distinctly
withdraw the word “ruffianise,” as applied to Mr.
O’Connell. Mr. Richards intimated his willingness to
withdraw it on condition that Mr. O’Connell did the
same in regard to the word “kennel.”
Another scene now followed. In the midst of the
Mr. John Richards. 13
uproar Mr. Fitzsimon was heard, stoutly protesting
against the House being compromised by the hesitation
of Mr. Richards to withdraw the word “ruffianise.”
It was eventually put an end to by Mr. O’Connell get-
ting up and assuring honourable members that he had
considered the application of the epithet in question by
Mr. Richards as the greatest compliment which could
be bestowed on him. Mr. O’Connell’s laughing counte-
nance, coupled with the felicity of the observation, and
the tone in which it was delivered, threw everybody,
as far as I could see, into a fit of laughter, except Mr.
Kearsley and Mr. Richards. But though Mr. O'Connell
laughed at the paroxysm of anger into which he had
thrown, these two honourable gentlemen, and at the
abusive epithets they applied to him, Dr. Baldwin, still
determined on playing the part of a “kind friend,”
strenuously insisted that the member for Knaresborough
must unconditionally withdraw the offensive word, by
way of healing the wounded dignity of the house. Mr.
Richards, in answer to this, rose and said—“I feel my-
self at a loss to know what to do, because this is not
the first time that I have risen to say that if the honour-
able and learned gentleman did not apply the word
‘kennel’ to me, I did not apply the term ‘ruffianise’ to
him.
Mr. O’Connell observed, that Mr. Richards had got
into that species of language which was so familiar to
him, that he did not seem to be aware when he was
using it.
The scene of confusion and uproar became again as
great as ever. The Ministerial members appeared to be
14 Mr. John Richards.
such first-rate laughers, that anybody would have in-
sured them against successful competition in that de-
partment of their legislative duties; for since the passing
of the Reform Act, laughing seems to be no small part
of the avocations of our representatives. A foreigner,
to see the House in some of its merrier moods, would
certainly take it for granted that the members had been
chosen more for their laughing capabilities than for
their strictly deliberative qualities. It would not sur-
prise me if it became fashionable ere long, provided no
step be taken to sober down the members on both sides
of the House, but especially the Reform members; it
would not, if this be not speedily done, surprise me to
hear that it had become fashionable with candidates to
put it forward as one of their leading pretensions to the
suffrages of a constituency, that they are proficient dis-
ciples of Momus. But I am beginning to digress.
While the Liberal side of the House laughed so im-
moderately at the above-quoted observation of Mr.
O'Connell, it was enough to frighten one out of his pro-
priety to hear the vociferous cries of “Oh, oh!”
“Chair, chair!” “Order, order!” and various other
sounds, which proceeded from scores of throats on
the Conservative benches. When the uproar had
somewhat subsided, Mr. Scarlett rose, and lectured
Mr. O’Connell for his “unparliamentary” conduct.
Mr. O’Connell heard it all patiently, and, on Mr. Scar-
lett resuming his seat, started up to his feet, and cross-
ing his arms on his breast, and looking Mr. Scarlett
with a most contemptuous smile, in the face, exclaimed,
“Behold a third advocate! Another cause of congratu-
Mr. John Richards. 15
lation to the honourable member for Berkshire! I do .
do not think a fourth could be found in the house.”
Here the peals of laughter were renewed again, as
universally and with as much vehemence as before.
Never did the performance of any farce at a theatre pro-
duce half so much cordial laughter as was produced by
the farce which, for a quarter of an hour, had been in
the course of representation on the floor of the House
of Commons. When honourable gentlemen had again
literally laughed themselves out of breath, and some
degree of order was consequently restored, Mr. Goul-
burn rose and submitted to the Speaker whether such
an exhibition (alluding to the conduct of Mr. O’Connell)
ought to be tolerated in the house?
Before the Speaker, who looked quite confounded at
the scene which was passing before his eyes, had time
to return an answer, Mr. O’Connell again rose and put-
ting himself into the same comfortable attitude as be-
fore, and glancing his ironical smiles at Mr. Goulburn,
observed, “I thought that a fourth advocate of the ho-
nourable member for Berkshire could not be found; but
I forgot at the time that the right honourable gentleman
(Mr. Goulburn) was in the house.
The Ministerial benches again fell into a violent fit
of laughter; while cries of “Order, order!” “Chair,
chair!” were thundred from the Conservative side of
the house. *.
In the midst of this scene, and while Mr. O’Connell
was still on his legs enjoying the affair with a singular
zest, Mr. Jackson rose, and shouted at the top of his
tremendous voice, addressing himself to the Speaker,
16 Mr. John Richards.
“Sir, I rise to order. This is really the most extraor-
dinary » .
The honourable and learned serjeant was interrupted
by Mr. O’Connell, who, pointing to him with his finger,
exclaimed, in his own peculiarly sarcastic style, “What!
a fifth advocate! (Oh, oh, oh!) Are they 25
Here Mr. O’Connell’s voice was drowned amidst the
tremendous roars of laughter which again burst from the
Ministerial side of the house, and the loud cries of
“Order, order!” “Chair, chair!” which proceeded from
almost every member on the Opposition side. In what
way Mr. O’Connell meant to complete his sentence, it
is now impossible to tell. A not improbable theory on
the subject is, that the question he was in the act of
putting was, “Are they to stretch to the crack of
doom?” Be this as it may, order was eventually re-
stored, by the conjoint interference of the Speaker and
Lord John Russell.
Had any foreigner chanced to go into the gallery of
the house while the above scene was in the course of re-
presentation, he must, I am sure, have been firmly im-
pressed with the notion that he had been by mistake
conducted to some theatre for the performance of farces
of the broadest kind, instead of to the place in which
the “first assembly of gentlemen in Europe” meet for
deliberating on questions of the deepest importance to
nearly one hundred millions of men. I have been at
some pains in endeavouring to give as vivid a sketch of
this scene as it is possible to give on paper, while speak-
ing of the legislative character of Mr. Richards; be-
cause it was from his collision with Mr. O’Connell that
it had its origin.
Mr. Kearsley. 17
Mr. Richards’ personal appearance will in some mea-
sure be inferred from what I have before said. His
countenance has a dull, heavy expression, and is by no
means improved by his usually wearing glasses when
he addresses the House. He is rather stoutly made,
but is by no means corpulent. His features are large
and plain. His complexion is sallow, and his hair is
of a darkish hue. He is, as already intimated, about
his forty-fifth year.
Mr. KEARSLEy, late member for Wigan, next comes
under consideration in his ex-legislative character.
How shall I speak of this gentleman? I wish some one
would tell me; for I am quite at a loss on the subject
myself. He was the most singular representative that
has been in parliament for many years past, and I am
confident we “ne’er shall look upon his like again.”
The moment he presented himself, a whisper circulated
throughout the gallery, with the rapidity of lightning—
“What place is that gentleman member for?” He
rejoiced, as I have already stated, in the representation
of Wigan. Whether the people of Wigan rejoiced in
being represented by him, is a question which it is not
for me to answer. -
Mr. Kearsley’s personal appearance is so much out
of the beaten track, and is so expressive of his character,
that it might be said, whenever he stood up in his full
altitude, to constitute a speech in itself. I have seen
him occasionally stand for a short time without uttering
a word, and yet the eye of every honourable member has
been as intensely fixed on him as if he had been giving
utterance to the most fascinating strains of eloquence
VOL. II. —2
18 Mr. Kearsley.
that ever fell from mortal lips. And what may appear
still more surprising, honourable gentlemen were de-
lighted to see him rise, though they knew that even
when he did put himself into a perpendicular position,
he never delivered half-a-dozen sentences. He had
such a comfortable notion of his own senatorial qualifi-
cations, and this notion was so visibly imprinted on his
little round pug-looking face, that it was impossible to
look on him and not be pleased. No member was ever
y yet angry with Mr. Kearsley. When, in the session
of 1835, he called Mr. Hume “the greatest humbug of
the present day”—and everybody knows that this is
the age of humbug—Mr. Hume, however indignant he
might have been had another said it, gave Mr. Kears-
ley a look of such ineffable good-nature in return, that
a person might have been in danger of supposing that
he was assenting to the justice of the observation. And
even Mr. Roebuck, one of the most irritable of the then
members in the house, looked and talked the very es-
sence of good-nature when Mr. Kearsley, last session,
as will be seen more at length presently, denounced a
speech of his as “disgusting.” -
Never was man on better terms with himself than
was the ex-member for Wigan. A most expressive
look of self-complacency always irradiated his globu-
larly-formed, country-complexioned countenance; while
his small bright eyes were ever peering triumphantly
over his little cocked-up nose. Then there was his
ample harvest of black, bushy hair, with a pair of excel-
lent whiskers to match, not forgetting his well-de-
veloped cheeks. He is a little thick-set man, with an
Mr. Kearsley. 19
inclination to corpulency. Whether he stood on tip-
toe, to add to his five-feet-six-inches stature, when he
addressed the House, I have no means of knowing; but
I have always thought that he looked at least an inch
and a half higher when speaking, than at any other
time.
The oddity of Mr. Kearsley’s appearance added to
the effect which anything he said invariably produced
on the House. He never made a speech, and yet he
often spoke. This may appear paradoxical. It is,
nevertheless, strictly true. A speech, according to the
generally received acceptation of the term, has a begin-
ning, a middle, and an end. This could not be pre-
dicated of anything which ever fell from the lips of Mr.
Kearsley. His oratorical efforts had no middle; they
were all beginning and end; the end being invariably
the same as the beginning. In other words, Mr. Kears-
ley's addresses to the House always consisted of a
single idea, and seldom of more sentences than one,
though the reporters sometimes did such violence to
prosody as to divide such sentence into two or three
sentences. His ambition as a senator never Soared any
higher than to throw in, by way of episode to any dis-
cussion, some severe solitary observation on ministers,
or on some of their supporters. And yet I hold that
Mr. Kearsley is an orator. I wish to be understood as
quite serious in saying this. What is the universally
admitted proof of a great oratorical effort? Why, the
impression it produces on the audience. Tried by this
standard, Mr. Kearsley has claims to the character of
an orator, with which few members can compete; for I
20 Mr. Kearsley.
never yet knew him open his mouth without setting the
whole House in an uproar.
Mr. Kearsley, some how or other, always contrived
to speak at the same hour. That hour was nine o’clock,
that being the time he usually returned from dinner.
Indeed, he was seldom to be seen in his place before
that hour. Nor do I recollect, except when there was
to be a division on some important question, seeing him
in the house after eleven. - -
Mr. Kearsley seemed to be in his element, when play-
ing a prominent part in some of the more striking
scenes which occur in the house. Here he differed
from other honourable gentlemen I could name. I have
seen them do their best—though, generally speaking,
they are very clumsy, bungling hands at such matters
—I have seen them do their best to get up a scene,
and when they had so far succeeded, I have seen them
feign to sneak out of the affair. Not so with Mr. Kears-
ley. He stuck to it to the last; he figured away in the
scene until it was fairly over. Many and rich were the
scenes in which I have seen Mr. Kearsley play the most
prominent part, and of which, indeed, he may, strictly
speaking, be said to have been the author. I gave one
of these in my First Series of “Random Recollections
of the House of Commons.”
By far the richest scene in which the honourable gen-
tleman ever performed a part, or which I had then wit-
nessed in the house, occurred on the 20th of June,
1836, while the house was in committee on the Stamp
Duties and Excise. Mr. Bernal, as chairman of com-
mittees, was in the chair on the occasion. Mr. Roe-
Mr. Kearsley. 21
buck, in a long speech, had been showing that the ap-
prehension of increased obscenity or immorality in the
newspapers, in the event of the duty being entirely re-
pealed, was groundless; and in the course of his obser-
vations he was repeatedly assailed with cries of “Oh,
oh!” from the Tory benches. -
As soon as he had sat down, Mr. Kearsley rose, amidst
tremendous roars of laughter; for the moment he present-
ed himself, as before remarked, the house was invariably
thrown into a violent fit of laughter. “I can assure the
honourable and learned gentleman,” said he, “that I
was not one of those who cried “Oh, oh!” [Shouts of
laughter.] I merely rose when the honourable member
for Lincolnshire sat down, to congratulate him on the
quiet, easy, soapy” way in which he get through his
arguments. [Roars of laughter from all parts of the
house, which lasted for some time.] And now let me
ask the noble lord opposite, (Lord John Russell,) and
the right honourable gentleman, (Mr. Spring Rice,)
with what pleasure they have listened to the disgust-
ing speech of the honourable and learned member for
Bath.” -
It were difficult to say whether the laughter or the
shouts of “Order, order!” and other marks of disappro-
* Mr. Handley, the member for Lincolnshire, had spoken
immediately before Mr. Roebuck, and had strenuously con-
tended that instead of taking off the duty on the newspapers, it
ought to be taken off soap. It was this circumstance that gave
Mr. Kearsley's allusion to the “soapy” way in which Mr. Hand-
ley had spoken, such striking point as to convulse the house
with laughter.
2%
22 Mr. Kearsley.
bation, most prevailed, for about half a minute after
Mr. Kearsley had resumed his seat.
Some measure of order being at length restored, Mr.
Bernal said—“Surely the honourable member cannot
be aware of the expression he has just used: I trust he
will withdraw it.”
Mr. Kearsley—“I may have spoken in language
stronger than usual; but the cause is strong; and I say,
Sir, that a more disgusting speech I never heard.”
Another, scene of confusion and noise, surpassing
that which had just taken place, now ensued. The
shouts of “Oh, oh!” “Order, order!” &c., in a great
measure drowned the laughter which proceeded from
some parts of the house. What added to the uproar-
ious appearance of the house was the unusually great
number of members who chanced to be in it at the time.
The hour, too, was peculiarly fitted for a scene. It
was about ten o'clock, just as the great majority of ho-
nourable members had returned from a good dinner,
and the grateful liquids which follow it. Mr. Kearsley,
on making the last-quoted observations, quitted his seat,
which was near the middle of the house, and descend-
ing from his bench to the floor, walked across it in
something like a semicircular line; making at the same
time a low and most unusual bow to Mr. Bernal, accom-
panied by a most extraordinary waſture of his right hand,
which firmly grasped the forepart of a “shocking bad
hat.” Having next described the figure 8, by his pe-
destrian motions on the floor, the honourable member
endeavoured to force his way out of the house, but found
it impossible to break through the dense mass of M.P.'s
who choked up the passage. Having ineffectually made
Mr. Kearsley. 23
the attempt to effect his exit, first at one part of the bar
and then at another, a wag whispered to him—“Mr.
Kearsley, you had better take your seat again.”
Mr. Kearsley, looking the other for a moment signi-
ficantly in the face, said—“Sir, I think you’re right—
I will take my seat again.” And so saying, he forth-
with returned to the place whence he came.
The laughter which followed these extraordinary
movements of the honourable gentleman was such as
cannot be described. It burst from all parts of the
house in deafening peals. And certainly any scene
more provocative of laughter was never witnessed in
the House of Commons, and very rarely, I should think,
any where else.
A long time elapsed before any member in the house
could so far compose himself as to speak. Mr. Bernal
was the first. He said—“I am sorry to be obliged to
call on the honourable member again. If I am in error,
the committee will correct me when I say that the term
he has used is one which is not justified by any rule of
this House.” *
On this Mr. Kearsley started to his feet again, amidst
renewed shouts of laughter. “Sir” said he, addressing
himself to Mr. Bernal, “I am sorry to find fault with
the honourable and learned member for Bath, but on
a former occasion he charged me with uttering a false-
hood.” - -
Mr. Kearsley again abdicated his seat, and after mak-
ing some extraordinary movements on the floor, as if he
were at a loss to know whether he should go to some
other part of the house, or make a fresh attempt at forc-
ing his way through the dense plantation of honourable
24 Mr. Kearsley.
gentlemen who stood at the bar, he decided on the lat-
ter; but with no better success than before. His move-
ments, first to one place and then to another, presented
a striking resemblance to an animal in an iron cage,
always trying, but in vain, to get out of its confinement.
Mr. Kearsley again returned to his seat.
This of course led to a renewal of the laughter. Ho-
nourable members were never known to be so unani-
mous in this respect before. All party feeling was laid
aside for the moment; and cordial and universal roars
of laughter proceeded from all present.
As soon as the House had laughed itself out of breath,
Mr. Roebuck rose and begged that it would not, on his
(Mr. Roebuck's) account take any more notice of what
had fallen from the honourable member; adding, that he
considered it the result of an infirmity of the honourable
gentleman. -
Mr. Paul Methuen next rose, and insisted that Mr.
Bernal should compel Mr. Kearsley to give satisfaction
to the House, not only for the improper language he had
used, but for his extraordinary conduct in walking
across the floor of the house in the way he had done,
and making such singular bows to the Chair.
Before Mr. Bernal had time to utter a word, Mr.
Kearsley again jumped to his feet, and darting sundry
most indignant glances of his little eyes at Mr. Paul
Methuen, exclaimed in most emphatic tones—“Paul'
Paul! why persecutest thou me?”
A simultaneous roar of laughter, not unlike, one
would suppose, the noise caused by some secondary
Niagara, followed. And although the use of the words
constituted a profane application of the language of
Mr. Kearsley. 25
Scripture delivered on a most solemn occasion, yet so
singularly felicitous, in other respects, was the quota-
tion—Paul being Mr. Methuen's christian name, -and
so extraordinary were the tones of voice and the man-
ner altogether in which the words were uttered, that
even the religious members could not help joining in
the universal shout, as energetically as the others. I
speak without exaggeration when I say, that within the
memory of the oldest member of the House, shouts of
laughter so loud, universal, or lasting, were never before
heard in St. Stephen’s. The laughter, it was calculat-
ed, lasted full two minutes without intermission, and
then only ended when honourable gentlemen found
themselves physically unfit for the further exercise of
their risible faculties. It would have done the heart of
the laughing philosopher of antiquity good, to have seen
so many—about five hundred–of his disciples, all ex-
emplifying his precepts at once,—unless, indeed, he
had been mortified at seeing those disciples surpass him-
self in their laughing exploits.
Mr. Bernal, Mr. H. L. Bulwer, Mr. Hume, and the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, severally interposed,
when quietness had been restored, with a view of get-
ting Mr. Kearsley to retract the word disgusting, as
applied to Mr. Roebuck’s speech, and at the same time
to apologise to the House for the disrespect he had
shown it, both by the language he had used, and the
extraordinary conduct he had exhibited,
Mr. Kearsley, when the last of these gentlemen,
namely, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, had resumed
his seat, rose and said—“Finding that the expression I
have made use of is not agreeable to the taste of the
26 Mr. Kearsley.
House, I beg leave to withdraw it; but I presume, I may
say that I did hear the observations of the honourable
and learned member for Bath with disgust.”
This repetition of the very language complained of,
while the honourable member was professedly withdraw-
ing it, again threw the House into a state of perfect
uproar, the cries of “Oh, oh!” “Order, order!” far pre-
ponderating over the peals of laughter.
Mr. Bernal said—“I must inform the honourable
member that the repetition of the term is an aggrava-
tion of the offence.” - .
To this Mr. Kearsley replied—“As I cannot swim
in the same water as honourable gentlemen opposite,
they must take the thing as they will.” [Loud laugh-
ter and cries of “Order, order!” again burst from all
parts of the House.] ... "
Lord Ebrington and Lord John Russell at last inter-
fered, and insisted that Mr. Kearsley must apologise to
the House; when that gentleman, now somewhat soft-
ened down and subdued in his manner, said—“I am
sorry that the honourable member for Wiltshire (Mr.
Paul Methuen) should quarrel with my manner of
walking over the floor of the house. [Loud laughter.]
I beg libery to withdraw the word disgusting, as ap-
plied to the speech of the honourable member for Bath,
although I feel at liberty to entertain my own opinions
on the subject.”
Sir Andrew Leith Hay said that the honourable mem-
ber had said something about his conduct to the House
which was derogatory to its character, and excited the
disapprobation of every one who saw it; on which Mr.
Mr. Kearsley. 27
Kearsley disclaimed any intention of giving offence by
his manner of walking across the house. The extraor-
dinary scene here ended, and the usual business of the
house was resumed. -
Had the author of “John Gilpin” been alive and pre-
sent, he would have exclaimed, on the conclusion of
the scene, -
“Now let us sing, Long live the king,”
And Kearsley long live he,
And when he next gets up a scene,
May I be there to see.”
A hearty “Amen” would have been the response of
every one present to Cowper's prayer. -
Mr. HoRACE Twiss, late member for Bridport, was
once one of the best-known men among the Tories.
This was in the palmy days of that system, when Lords
Eldon, Castlereagh, and other ultras, presided over the
destinies of the country. It is true that Lord Liver-
pool was, at the period in question, at the head of the
government; but he, good easy man, though constitu-
tionally mild and always inclined to moderation in his
politics, was often influenced by the noblemen whose
names I have mentioned. Mr. Horace Twiss was
known to be the most zealous adherent of Lords Eldon
and Castlereagh, and was consequently very unpopular
with all but his own party. His name was indeed a
sort of by-word among the Reformers. Some people
say that, if again a member, he would like to be the
Tory whipper-in of the house. And an excellent one
he would make. In season and out of season would he
* William the Fourth was then alive.
28 Mr. Horace Twiss.
be found at his post. Many a hard race would he run
, through the clubs, after those of the party who prefer
their own pleasures at those places, to their legislative
duties, and many strange scenes would he witness,
when in quest of truant members whose votes were ex-
pected to be in immediate requisition. ^.
The celerity with which Mr. Twiss would go over
the width and breadth of the fashionable districts of the
metropolis, on pressing emergencies, would put the ex-
presses of “The Sun” newspaper to the blush,_that is
to say, if expresses are things which are susceptible of
a blush. But I doubt whether this, after all, is the
most arduous part of the task which a gentleman in
his supposed situation has to perform. My own im-
pression is, that the most unpleasant circumstances
which occur to him in his official career, are the squab-
bles, sometimes conflicts, he is often obliged to have
with honourable members, on their seeking to quit the
house. He has to watch them in the lobby, for the
purpose of keeping all in that are in; especially when
he suspects that some of them are inclined to “bolt,” as
Mr. Holmes used classically to express it. As soon as
such suspicious persons open the door of the house, he
must spring upon them like a tiger, and seizing them by
the breast of the coat, authoritatively tell them they
must not stir a foot till the impending division is over.
With Mr. Twiss, it would be of no use for them to say
that they were only going to some adjoining room, or
that they would be back in a couple of minutes. He
would listen to no excuse; he would hear no argument.
If the party were to be peremptory, it would be well if
Mr. Horace Twiss. . . 29
no mishap occurred: he would have reason to be thank-
ful if his shoulder were not dislocated, or if some other
physical disaster did not befall him, in the struggle to
escape. It is due to the bodily capabilities of Mr.
Horace Twiss, as well as to the zeal I know he would
evince in the discharge of his official duties, to say, that
he would often succeed, in spite of all the efforts of ho-
nourable gentlemen to the contrary, in forcing them
back to the house again. Whether his robust bodily
frame would be any recommendation of him to his party,
were there a vacancy in the office, is a point on which
I am not in a condition to give an opinion; but this I
know, that to be five feet ten inches in height, and to
be more than the average breadth, coupled with consi-
derable muscular energy, are qualifications which would
contribute to the efficient discharge of the duties of the
office. There would be some amusing scenes occasionally
between Mr. Twiss and certain Tory members, where
he again an M. P. and regularly installed in the voca-
tion which I have hypothetically assigned to him.
There is one incident in the parliamentary career of
Mr. Horace Twiss which is worthy of notice. In every
instance in which he has been elected, he has been pre-
viously personally unknown to his constituents, and it
is said, though I am not sufficiently conversant with
his legislative history to be able to vouch for the fact,-
that he has never, on any occasion, faced the same con-
stituent body twice.
Mr. Horace Twiss is no longer young. He is, I be-
lieve, on the wrong side of fifty; but one would not,
from his appearance, take him to be so far advanced in
VOL. II.-3
30 - Mr. Horace Twiss.
life. He has a dark, rough complexion, with strongly
marked features. Those who have seen him once, will
be in no danger of again confounding him with any
other individual, or any other individual with him.
He has large grey eyes, and a nose of corresponding
proportions. His hair is of a darkish grey. On the
right side of his head, a patch of it, measuring about
five inches in circumference, is almost entirely white,
and has a curious effect. He has a well-developed fore-
head. If his countenance has an expression of any pe-
culiar qualities, those qualities are intelligence and
moral firmness. And so far his physiognomy speaks
truth. He is a man of a very respectable share of in-
formation; and he always expresses his opinions in the
House, no matter how unpopular, in a bold and fearless
manner. His talents are above, rather than below, me-
diocrity. He speaks with much fluency, and his style
is usually correct. He is, however, prolix in his
speeches. I do not mean by this that he inflicted ora-
tions of two or three hours' length on the house. Far
from it; on the contrary, I do not suppose he spoke
more than twenty minutes at a time—seldom so long—
for some years past. But his ideas are rather dispro-
portionate to his words. His best speeches were always
those which were shortest. Some of these indicated, as
before observed, more than respectable talents.
Mr. Horace Twiss never hesitates or falters in his
speeches. His delivery is rapid and continuous. It
were as well if he now and then paid a little more atten-
tion to his stops, as they say at school. His voice has
something harsh about it, which occasionally makes it
Mr. Horace Twiss. 31.
difficult to catch his words. His manner is quite mo-
notonous. He never raises or lowers the tones of his
voice; and he expends the same amount of gesticulation
on all his speeches. That gesticulation is natural and
pleasant enough, only one tires of always seeing the
same movement of the head and hands.
Of late Mr. Horace Twiss did not speak often. He
has never been in his proper element since the occur-
rence of the mishap in the fortunes of his party, which
ejected them from office, and which he is afraid they are
never destined to fill again. Time only can decide this
question. - . -
Mr. Horace Twiss deserves every praise for his con-
sistency. It would, perhaps, be difficult to name a
man of any party who has for so long a period main-
tained an equal consistency of character as a politician.
He has never compromised his opinions; never Swerved
from the genuine Toryism which he first professed on
his introduction into public life. In this respect he very
much resembles the late Lord Eldon, of whom he was
a great admirer, and of whom he is about to become the
biographer. In his late unsuccessful canvass for the
representation of Nottingham, he displayed a candour
and an honesty in answering questions put to him, which
are very rarely to be witnessed on such occasions. I
am convinced that no considerations of place, or power,
or emolument, would induce him to sacrifice his prin-
ciples.
32 Sir Love Parry Jones Parry.
CHAPTER VI.
LATE LIBERAL MEMBERs.
Sir Love Parry Jones Parry–Mr. Rigby Wason—Mr.
Thomas Wentworth Beaumont.
SIR LovE PARRY Jones PARRy,” late member for Car-
narvon, is little known as a speaker in the house. It
will not be my fault if he be not well known as an esti-
mable person out of it. He is in every respect a most
excellent man, whether viewed in the relations of pri-
vate life, or in his late capacity as a member of the
legislature. I believe a better-hearted or more honest
man never crossed the threshold of St. Stephen's. By
all who know him, he is greatly respected. The only
question on which I have ever heard him speak in par-
liament—and it is, I believe, almost the only one on
which he ever did speak—is the propriety of passing an
act rendering it indispensable to the appointment of a
clergyman to any of the churches in the principality of
Wales, that that clergyman should so far understand
the Welsh language as to be able to preach in it. Even
on this subject Sir Love Parry never addressed the
house at any length; for long speeches are of all earthly
things those towards which he entertains the most de-
cided antipathy. I am much mistaken if even the ora-
* As the name is a singular one, it may be right I should men-
tion, that it was originally Sir Love Parry; but that having been
left some property by a relative of the name of Jones, he adopted
that addition, and then repeated, by way of wind-up, his good
old name of Parry.
Sir Love Parry Jones Parry. 33
tions of such men as Sir Robert Peel and Mr. O’Con-
nell had any charms for him, after either had been on
his legs more than fifteen minutes. As for the smaller
fry of speakers, he had no patience at all with them.
He would have submitted to almost any punishment,
rather than be doomed to undergo the infliction of half
an hour of their oratory. He has often been, as an
officer in his sovereign’s service, on the field of battle,
and heard the bullets whistling around him in all direc-
tions: I am sure he would infinitely rather again prefer
hearing the cannon's roar, or any roar, rather than the
long-winded harangues of such men as Mr. Scarlett,
Lord Sandon, Sir Charles Grey, and others of the same
oratorical celebrity. To escape, in some measure, the
visitation of speeches from the class of orators to whom
I refer, I have seen him on several occasions go up to
one of the side galleries, and there, in the absence
of something more interesting, while away the time by
reading an act of parliament. Dry enough reading, no
doubt; yet not half so dry as some of the speeches
which are occasionally inflicted on the house.
But though Sir Love Parry never, on any occasion,
addressed the house at any Hength, he acquitted himself
very respectably as a speaker. He has a fine, strong,
audible voice, and speaks with much ease. His lan-
guage possesses none of the embellishments of rhetoric;
but it is correct. I should call it a plain, good, busi-
ness-like style. If there be nothing indicative of genius,
or of talents of a high order in his matter, it always
bears on it the imprimatur of great good sense.
Some men employ words to conceal their sentiments;
3%
34 Sir Love Parry Jones Parry.
that is a sin which cannot be laid to the door of Sir Love ,
Parry Jones Parry.” He is always as clear as language
can render his thoughts. I should pity the intellect of
the person who could feel any difficulty in understand-
ing him. I should at once set such person down as one
of the unteachable, as well as the untaught. Sir Love
Parry is of necessity moderate in the use of gesture;
for having had one of his legs shot off—in the battle of
Waterloo, I think it was—he is obliged to lean on
crutches when addressing any assemblage of his fellow-
men. You can see by the earnestness of his manner that
his heart is in his speech. Need I say that he was lis-
tened to with attention by the house? * ,
I have said that he spoke but seldom: there was
scarcely a night, however, in which he did not present
one or more petitions on his favourite subject. That
subject, indeed, seemed to engross his entire thoughts
as a public man. I am convinced that, were it not that
he hopes to be made the means, in part at least, of se-
curing for his poor countrymen in Wales the blessing
of a preached gospel in their native language, the
only one which the far greater proportion of them un-
derstand,--I am convinced, that were it not that he
entertains this hope, he would long ago have relin-
quished his situation as member of Parliament, and
retired into private life and the bosom of his family.f
And did he once witness the accomplishment of the
.* I fancy I see my readers smiling each time the long and cu-
rious name meets their eye: I must confess to an occasional
smile at it myself. -
t He was defeated at the last election by a small majority; but
will soon, I hope, be again in Parliament.
Sir Love Parry Jones Parry. 35
object for which he so zealously labours—a consumma-
tion which I most sincerely trust he will live to see—
then, I am sure, he would feel himself the happiest man
alive, and would go down to the grave, rejoicing that he
had, in any measure, been made an instrument in the
hand of Divine Providence for achieving an object so
truly enlightened, great, and benevolent.
I am sure my readers will acquit me of the charge,
should any one bring it against me, of indulging in di-
gressions by expressing my own opinions on topics
which have been or are brought under the considera-
tion of Parliament. I am no less sure that I shall be
forgiven for a momentary digression in this case, while
I express my most cordial sympathy with the efforts
which Sir Love Parry has so perseveringly and stre-
nuously made, to prevent the obtrusion of any cler-
gyman of the church on his countrymen, who cannot
preach the gospel in the only language they can un-
derstand. -
Those who interpose obstacles, either directly or in-
directly, to the accomplishment of the philanthropic ob-
ject of the honourable baronet, incur amoral responsibili-
ty of the most fearful kind. To deny the people, in many
parts of Wales, a clergyman who can preach to them
in their vernacular tongue, is tantamount to denying
them a preached gospel altogether. There are thou-
sands and tens of thousands of poor Welshmen who
know nothing more of the English language, whether
spoken or read, than they do of the Chinese. To preach
to them, then, the gospel in the English language, is
not only to trifle with their immortal interests, but is
36 Sir Love Parry Jones Parry.
to treat them with a species of solemn mockery, even
if viewed only as members of civil society.
Perish that heartless policy, whether it come from
Whig or Tory, which, for the sake of aiming at the
spread of the English language, so as that it may be-
come universal in the principality of Wales, would deny
the poor Welshman the bread of life. Are those who
have hitherto sought to frustrate the benevolent views of
Sir Love Parry, aware of what is the practical fact
which their conduct proclaims? Why, it is nothing
more nor less than this, that the immortal interests of
myriads of Welshmen are not, in their estimation, to
be put in the balance with the spread of the English lan-
guage! In other words, they offer the poor Welshman
the English language as a substitute for the means of
grace and the hopes of heaven. |
But I must not pursue the subject farther. Sir Love
Parry Jones Parry is full to overflowing of good-nature.
His own happiness is bound up in that of every indivi-
dual with whom he chances to come in contact. I will
mention one simple anecdote, which of itself speaks
volumes, respecting his kindly disposition, and the
pleasure he takes in making other people happy. In
the course of last session, the gentleman to whom I am
indebted for the anecdote, being desirous of procuring a
frank, and seeing in the lobby of the house none of the
members whom he knew, ventured to ask the favour of
a frank from the honourable baronet, as he was going
along the passage out of the house. Sir Love Parry,
though the party soliciting the favour was a perfect
stranger to him, observed, in the kindest possible man-
Mr. Rigby Wason. 37
ner, that he was sorry all his own franks were gone for
that day's post, but added, that if the applicant would
let him have the letter, he would go back to the house,
and get some member of his acquaintance to frank it for
him. He actually did so, notwithstanding his being
obliged to walk on crutches, and brought the letter back
to the gentleman duly franked, looking all the while as
cheerful as if he had been the obliged, instead of the
obliging party. - - -
Sir Love Parry is in person rather below the average
height. He is stoutly made, without being strictly
speaking corpulent. He has a fine, good-natured ex-
pression of countenance. His features are regular; his
face is round; and his complexion partakes somewhat
of a florid hue. I should take his age to be bordering
on sixty. I must not forget to mention that in politics
he is but moderately liberal.
Mr. Rigby WASON, the late member for Ipswich,
was not in the habit of addressing the House at any
length; neither did he speak often; but he was well
known and much esteemed by both sides of the house.
His politics are decidedly liberal, but they stopped
short of Radicalism. They may, perhaps, be best de-
scribed by the phrase extreme Whiggism. He is tall
and well formed Without being robust, he has all the
appearance of possessing great muscular strength. His
countenance has something of a serious cast: he usually
looks as if he were lost in deep thought. His grave ex-
pression of countenance would have well become the pul-
pit. It was quite a rarity to see him smile. When I say
this, I mean, of course, to apply the observation to the
38 Mr. Rigby Wason.
honourable member when in the house. I have no
doubt he can, when there is occasion, prove as well as
other men, that his features are not immovable like those
of a statue. -
Mr. Wason’s face possesses considerable elongation;
and his features are strongly marked. His complexion
is very dark. His hair is of a deep brown, and is al-
ways abundant. His whiskers are so large, that, when
he was in the house, those of most other honourable
gentlemen who rejoice in these facial embellishments,
presented but a very poor appearance beside them.
As a speaker, Mr. Wason has no great pretensions.
His voice is not strong, but has something of a bass tone.
He was not very audible in ordinary circumstances;
sometimes he was not heard at all in the remoter parts
of the house. He speaks with some rapidity, and is
usually fluent enough in his utterance; but at times he
hesitates a little. His language is unpolished. No man
can be more innocent of anything in the shape of flowery
phraseology; but his style is correct. He is not wordy;
he expresses himself with great conciseness, and is
always clear, were he sufficiently audible, in his state-
ments and arguments. He is not a man of superior
intellect, but he has a sound judgment.
Mr. Wason was exemplary in his attention to his
parliamentary duties. He did not often involve himself
in personal altercations with other members, because
his own inoffensive language prevented any one who
might dissent from his views, from finding a pretext to
quarrel with him; but if any one chose to venture a per-
sonality at his expense, there was not a man in the
Mr. Rigby Wason. 39
house who would resent it with more spirit. A memo-
rable instance of this occurred in the session of 1836.
An honourable baronet, whose name I do not at this
moment recollect, on the Tory side of the house, hav-
ing made some observation in reference to Mr. Wason,
which the latter regarded as personal, he immediately
retorted in some remark which the honourable baronet
could not pass over without a manifest breach of all the
laws of honour, as those laws are understood among
persons arrogating to themselves the exclusive title of
gentlemen. The House and the Speaker, perceiving
that a duel must be the consequence, interfered to pre-
vent either legislator shooting the other. It was recom-
mended to Mr. Wason, that he should withdraw the
offensive expression he had used. But he would only
consent to do so on the condition of the Tory baronet’s
withdrawing, in the first instance, the terms he had em-
ployed. A difference of opinion arose, as to whether
the Tory baronet’s words could be so construed as to
be of a sufficiently personal nature to justify the use of
the observatons which Mr. Wason had made, and whe-
ther, therefore, the latter gentleman ought not to be the
first to retract, and to say he would take no further
steps in the matter. Mr. Wason would not for a mo-
ment listen to any proposal for his retracting before his
opponent. Most resolutely did he adhere to his deter-
mination not to give way before the other, in spité of
all the entreaties of his friends, and the threats of the
Speaker.” After about a two hours’ discussion on the
* In my chapter of “Miscellaneous Observations,” I have
stated, that in the great majority of cases, the parties to personal
\ .
40 Mr. T. Wentworth. Beaumont.
subject, in the course of which almost every member—
sometimes five or six of them at once—expressed his
opinion on the matter, the Tory baronet was obliged to
retract in the first instance, when his example was
promptly followed by Mr. Wason, with all the plainness
and simplicity of manner for which he is distinguished.
Mr. Wason was among the stock-still speakers. Hav-
ing put himself into a perpendicular position, he seemed
to think that he had nothing more to do with his body
until he resumed his seat. If you saw him make a slight
motion with his right hand, it was all the gesticulation
he would put himself to the trouble of using. His no-
tion appeared to be, that it is sufficient that the tongue
move; and that it is too much to expect the movement
of the body also. He is quite a quiet speaker—if there
be not an Irishism in the expression. He is in the prime
of life, being only between forty and forty-five.
Mr. THOMAs WENTwoRTH BEAUMonT, the late mem-
ber for Northumberland, is a gentleman of undoubted
integrity of character. His political opinions, when in
the house, were always formed without regard to party
considerations. In fact, he connected himself with no
party; he is as independent in mind and in political
action, as he is in fortune. What that fortune is, may
be inferred from the fact that he has a yearly income of
nearly 100,000l. I may mention, as a proof of Mr.
Beaumont’s honesty of purpose, that being unable,
squabbles ºr. in them because they know the Speaker will
take care that no hostile meeting shall be the result. In this in-
stance, I am convinced that each party was so strongly impress-
ed with the notion that he was unwarrantably insulted, that both
would have willingly abided the consequences.
Fº Mr. T. Wentworth Beaumont. 41
amidst the conflicting statements made on the subject
by interested parties, to make up his mind as to the in-
fluence which the state of religion in Ireland has on
the social and moral condition of the people, he, in the
autumn of 1836, made a tour himself, of several months’
duration through that country, in order that he might
have an opportunity of arriving at the truth. The re-
sult was, that on his return he became a decided advo-
cate for the establishment of the Roman Catholic reli-
gion in Ireland, at least to the extent of paying the
Roman Catholic priests out of the public money. He
moved an amendment to the address at the opening or
the session of 1837, embodying this sentiment; but, find-
ing there was no chance of its being supported to any
extent, far less carried, he withdrew it.
Mr. Beaumont is a respectable speaker. He usually
addressed the House when he did, speak, which, how-
ever, was not often, with considerable fluency. Occa-
sionally he used the wrong word, and had to re-correct
himself two or three times before he hit on the right one;
but he is, notwithstanding, a respectable speaker. He
is not wordy; there are always ideas in his speeches,
though not of a lofty or brilliant order. Let me not be
understood by this as intimating that Mr. Beaumont has
no original ideas. When in the house, he sometimes
advanced positions which were quite new. There is
occasionally a good deal of force in his style; indeed, it
is not always so correct as it is vigorous. His voice is
clear, and his articulation is good. He was audible in
all parts of the house, except when it was in a state of
voL. II.-4
42 Mr. T. Wentworth Beaumont.
uproar; no very unusual thing, it must be confessed.
His voice wants flexibility. His manner is pleasant;
there is nothing violent or extravagant about it. He
slowly moved his head from one direction to another,
and gently raised his right hand. He is a gentlemanly-
looking man. He is of the middle size, and of a hand-
some figure. His countenance has the glow of health
impressed upon it. His face is round, and his features
are regular. He has moderately-sized whiskers and
light brown hair. He is a middle-aged man, being
seemingly about his forty-fifth year. -.
Mr. Beaumont has signalised himself by his exertions
on behalf of Poland. That ill-fated country has not a
more ardent or more steady friend than she has in the
ex-member for Northumberland. He has been untiring
in his exertions for the recovery of her independence.
He has stood by her when almost all her other friends
had either forsaken or forgotten her. He was the prin-
cipal supporter of the association which existed for seve-
ral years, to aid Poland in her endeavours to regain her
rights and liberties. And when he saw her friends in
that association become lukewarm in her hallowed cau Se,
and consequently could not reasonably expect any be-
neficial results from it, he projected “The British and
Foreign Review,” to advocate her interests. That pe-
riodical has, ever since its commencement, been carried
on at the expense of Mr. Beaumont; and has undoubt-
edly been of much service in making known the real
situation of Poland, and in boldly and fearlessly de-
nouncing her oppressors. Mr. Beaumont has also con-
tributed largely out of his private purse to the necessities
Mr. Plumptre. 43
of numerous Polish refugees in this country. His name
is justly held in the highest admiration by every intel-
ligent Pole. t
CHAPTER VII.
consBRVATIVE ENGLISH MEMBERs.
Mr. Plumptre—Sir Thomas Freemantle—Sir Edward
Sugden—Mr. Gladstone—Mr. Gaskell.
IT may be right to premise, in order to prevent mis-
conception, that the priority of names in this and the
following chapters, is not regulated by the opinion
which the author entertains of the comparative talents
or political status of the parties, but is altogether the
result of incidental arrangements. i
Mr. PLUMPTRE, member for East Kent, is a decided
Tory; but his religious principles prevent his taking an
active part in mere political questions. He hardly
ever speaks, except when the question before the House
has a manifest bearing on the great interests of religion.
When such questions are before the House, he seldom
omits to speak. He is a man of great private worth;
one who really does embody, in all the relations of life,
the religious principles by which he professes to be
guided in his conduct. He is a man of decided piety,
without anything that approaches in the remotest degree
to fanaticism. He has for years past actively co-ope-
rated with those honourable members who have been
assiduously labouring for some legislative enactment
which should ensure a better observance of the Sab-
44 Mr. Plumptre.
bath. He does not, however, unless my memory mis-
leads me, go the full length of Sir Andrew Agnew's
views on the subject. Some of Sir Andrew’s views he
deems impracticable. He does not often quote scrip-
ture in the house; but when addressing public meetings
held for religious purposes, he quotes as largely from
the inspired records as any clergyman on the platform.
He is a decided churchman, but not bigotedly so. He
concedes the possession of both piety and learning to
the Dissenters; and does not admire an able evangelical
work the less, because it emanates from the pen of an
author whose conscientious scruples have induced him
to secede from the church. He is well acquainted with
the beautiful hymns of Dr. Watts. At a large public
meeting of churchmen, assembled in February 1837, in
the Freemasons’ Tavern, to petition parliament against
the aboliton of church rates, he concluded a very excel-
lent speech with the following quotation from Watts:—
“There is a land of pure delight,
Where saints immortal reign;
Infinite day excludes the night,
And pleasures banish pain.”
I give his quotation for the purpose of observing, that
as it was the fashion at this meeting to heap all manner
of abuse on the Dissenters, there were, perhaps, few
there who would have the generosity of mind to acknow-
ledge their acquaintance with, and virtually their ad-
miration of, the works of a body, whom most of the
other speakers seemed to make it the chief object of
their speeches to vilify.
Mr. Plumptre has a fine mellifluous voice. Were
the intonations of which it is evidently susceptible,
Mr. Plumptre. 45
managed with skill, and had Mr. Plumptre the requi-
site animation of manner, he would be an exceedingly
interesting speaker. His utterance, however, is so slow,
and his manner so tame, that nothing but the manifest
sincerity of his opinions, and the excellence of his cha-
racter, would secure for him an ordinary share of at-
tention. He scarcely ever smiles. In the house I do
not recollect having seen him smile at all, though he
doubtless has done so amid the convulsions of laughter
into which Mr. Kearsley and some other honourable
members, as elsewhere described, occasionally throw
the House. I recollect seeing him take a hearty laugh
at some humorous remarks made by the Rev. Mr.
Cumming,” at the meeting in the Freemasons’ Tavern
* Mr. Cumming is minister of the Scotch Church, Crown
Court, Little Russell Street, Covent Garden. His speech on this
occasion almost electrified his large and intelligent audience. It
certainly was one of the most effective addresses I have heard
delivered from a public platform for some time; but I should
have listened to it with much greater pleasure, had I not heard
him, on the #. Sabbath, express his conviction from his
own pulpit, that nothing was so unbecoming in a minister of the
gospel, and that nothing could be more calculated to impair his
usefulness, than to mix himself up with the politics of the day.
Fully concurring in this sentiment I heard it with the greatest
delight. Need I say, then, that it marred the pleasure with which
I should otherwise have heard Mr. Cumming's able and eloquent
speech, when I saw him so soon acting in opposition to his own
avowed convictions. His speech was throughout of a political
complexion. He praised the leading Tory journals by name, in
terms of warm eulogy, and sneered at those of a Liberal charac-
ter. He was also witty at the expense of the “hungry London
University,” as he called it, and heaped indiscriminate and un-
measured obloquy on Dissenters. How different his speech in
these respects from that of Mr. Plumptre, the gentleman who
preceded him! I am willing, however, to believe that Mr. Cum-
ming was carried away by the excitement of the moment, and
that there were some things of a political characterin his speech,
which, on mature reflection, he would not justify; for he is not
only a gentleman of great talent both on the platform and in the
pulpit, but of decided piety and of amiable manners.
4%
46 Sir Thomas Freemantle.
just referred to. But his usual appearance is that of
great seriousness, without anything cynical or austere.
He is a fine-looking man. His features are regular,
and the general expression of his countenance is pleas-
ing. His complexion is somewhat dark, and his hair
black. He is seemingly about forty-five.
Sir THOMAS FREEMANTLE, member for Buckingham,
is one of the most strenuous supporters of Tory prin-
ciples on the opposition side of the house. He is, how-
ever, too much a man of sense, and has too much of the
gentleman in him, to allow himself to be betrayed into
those paroxysms of passion which so often characterize
the oratorical exhibitions of ultras of both parties. He
is a very respectable speaker. He is always clear in
his matter. His style is simple and unaffected. It has
nothing of that meretricious ornament without which
some honourable members, who fancy themselves mo-
dern Demosthenes, would think their style was no style
at all. He speaks with considerable ease and fluency;
he is seldom at a loss for a word, and when he does
hesitate for a moment, he almost invariably chooses the
right one. His utterance is rapid, but his distinctness
renders it easy to follow him. His voice is not strong,
but it is sufficiently so to make it audible in all parts of
the house—that is to say, when tolerable order prevails.
His matter is generally good; sometimes he displays
considerable acuteness; but there is never any thing
profound or original in what he says. Perhaps as cor-
rect an idea may be conveyed of his mental calibre,
when I say that he is above mediocrity, as by any other
expression I could employ. He is a man of excellent
Sir Edward Sudgen. 47
business habits. He held a subordinate situation in the
short-lived administration of Sir Robert Peel. He filled
the office with much credit to himself. It is chiefly on
matters of a business character that he speaks, when he
does address the House. He does not speak often; nor
does he ever speak long at a time. A favourite subject
with him is the miscellaneous estimates. He is expert
at figures, and seems to have a partiality for them.
. In person he is under the usual height, but well
made. He is of a dark complexion, which appears
much darker from the circumstance of his immense
whiskers casting a shade over his face. They are not
only the largest which are owned by any honourable
member in the house, but I have seldom or never seen
them equalled out of doors. They are of a dark colour,
and are in excellent keeping with his ample crop of
black hair. His features are large, but their general
expression is pleasant. He is in the prime of life, be-
ing about his forty-fifth year.
SIR EDward SUGDEN, the member for Ripon, was
many years in parliament prior to the passing of the
Reform Bill; but since that measure became the law of
the land, he has not had a seat in the house until the
present session. He is a decided Tory; but I cannot
concur with those who think that his attachment to that
class of opinions degenerates into factiousness, in his
opposition to liberal principles. It is true that no man,
with perhaps the single exception of Mr. Croker, more
strenuously or perseveringly opposed the Reform Bill;
but then it ought to be remembered, that many of those
who resisted that measure, may have been as conscien-
48 Sir Edward Sugden.
tious and honest in their opposition to itas those who gave
it their support. It ought, too, to be recollected, that Sir
Edward Sugden declared in his place in parliament, im-
mediately after the second reading of the bill, that how-
ever much and zealously he had opposed the measure
before, he would, now that its principle had received
the sanction of the House of Commons, throw no fur-
ther obstacles in the way of its progress, but would
apply the best energies of his mind to improve its de-
tails to the greatest possible extent. I hold that any
man who makes a specific unequivocal declaration of
this kind, ought, in the absence of proof to the con-
trary, to receive credit for the sincerity with which he
makes it.
Sir Edward was understood to be ambitious. He is
known to have aspired at the Speakership of the House
of Commons, ever since Sir Charles Manners Sutton,
now Lord Canterbury, resigned the situation. His
party have encouraged him in his aspirations after this
distinguished and lucrative office; and should they
come into power, and a new election occur under their
tenure of office, there can be no question that his wishes
will be gratified. r
The honourable and learned gentleman is often
charged by his opponents with being of a snarlish and
snappish disposition. I believe there was some foun-
dation for the charge when practising in the courts of
law; but I have never seen anything in his conduct in
the House of Commons which was inconsistent with the
acknowledged rules of politeness.
As a parliamentary debater he never ranked high.
Sir Edward Sugden. 49
He seldom commanded the attention of the house, even
when a majority of that house were of his own politics.
Here and there, both on the ministerial and opposition
benches, you see an honourable gentleman lending him
his ears; but you see the far greater portion of mem-
bers, no matter what be their political opinions, either
engaged in conversation, or presenting all the appear-
ances of drowsiness. You see no inconsiderable num-
ber enjoying what Mr. Daniel Whittle Harvey would
call “a sound undisturbed nap.” This remark, it is
proper to state, is only intended to apply to the honour-
able and learned gentleman when addressing the house
on general topics. When he speaks on any question
involving legal considerations, he is usually listened to
with the greatest attention. There is not, indeed, a man
in the house whose opinions on questions of law are re-
garded with more deference. I may mention in proof
of this, that when, in the commencement of the present
session, the Duchess of Kent’s Annuity Bill was un-
der the consideration of honourable gentlemen, and
when doubts had been expressed whether the measure
had been in accordance with the requisite legal forms,
Mr. Spring Rice and Lord John Russell severally ex-
pressed a wish to hear Sir Edward Sugden's views on
the point; and the honourable and learned baronet hav-
ing given his opinion in opposition to their impressions
on the subject, they at once departed from the course
they had been pursuing, though the bill had nearly
reached its last stage, and encountered all the ridicule
consequent on a practical admission of having commit-
ted a serious blunder, by re-introducing the measure in
50 Sir Edward Sugden.
the very form which he recommended. The clearness
with which Sir Edward on this occasion expressed his
views on a subject involving so many legal intricacies
and difficulties, was the admiration of all present. His
speech occupied, if I remember rightly, nearly an hour
in the delivery; and he popularised the subject in so
singular a manner, that no man of the most ordinary
comprehension could have failed to follow him, with-
out an effort, from the beginning to the end of his ad-
dress.
Sir Edward Sugden’s matter is, in most cases, too
strictly argumentative, either to command general atten-
tion in the house, or to be popular out of doors. It
often partakes, too, of the qualities which usually dis-
tinguish pleadings in a court of law. His style is accu-
rate, though sometimes more diffuse than is necessary
for the expression of his views. He never attempts to
reach the higher flights of eloquence; he betrays no par-
tiality to tropes and figures. I never, to the best of my
recollection, heard him make use of anything partaking
of the metaphorical character. He has few or no pre-
tensions to the name of a statesman. His views are
neither profound nor enlarged. I never heard him give
utterance to anything which bore the impress of genius
on it. His forte lies in detecting defects, and suggest-
ing remedies in the details of a measure.
. He laboured hard, as I have remarked in another
work,” to point out errors and make improvements in
the details of the Reform Bill; but some of the sugges-
tions which he made, and to which he attached a spe-
+, “The Bench and the Bar.”
Sir Edward Sugden. 51
cial importance, having been disregarded by ministers,
he felt so mortified at the circumstance, that he never
again took any part in the protracted discussions which
occurred respecting the details of the measure in its
progress through the committee.
As a speaker Sir Edward Sugden is easy and fluent.
Ideas and words suggest themselves to his mind much
more readily and copiously than is always convenient
for himself, or agreeable to those he addresses. Some-
times, though not often, he hesitates slightly, through the
abundance of his resources as an extemporaneous speak-
er: he seems occasionally to be at a loss which of two
ideas he should make use of first; or which of two or
three modes of expression is the best.
Sir Edward Sugden can speak at any time and on any
subject. He is not to be taken by surprise; neither
does he ever, when on his legs, exhaust himself. You
cannot fail to perceive, by the time he has spoken two
or three minutes, that his difficulty does not consist in
finding ideas, or suitable words wherewith to express
them; but that it consists in deciding on which he should
use, and how he can give the greatest possible number
in the shortest possible time. No matter what the sub-
ject, and no matter what the time he has been on his
legs, he never has said the half he could have said when
he resumes his seat. And it is worthy of observation,
that he very rarely repeats himself. His speeches dis-
play great variety. Before the passing of the Reform
Bill he often spoke; but since his return to Parliament
under a liberal régime, he has seldom addressed the
House on important questions.
52 Sir Edward Sugden.
Sir Edward is not a graceful speaker. To the cha-
racter of an orator he has not the remotest pretensions.
His voice possesses little variety; and he has acquired
a sort of sameness in his tones, which has an unpleasant
effect. His voice is not powerful at best; but he seldom
attempts to raise it to so high a pitch as it is capable of
attaining. When he does so, it usually has a screech-
ing sort of sound. His enunciation is far from perfect.
He speaks much too rapidly to do justice to his elocu-
tion. He is one of the most rapid speakers in the
house. Few reporters can follow him; and the difficulty
they have, on this account, in taking down what he says,
is greatly aggravated from the argumentative, often the
professional, character of his matter. *
His action, like his voice, is deficient in variety. He
generally fixes his eyes on some particular member on
the opposite side of the house, and addresses himself,
in appearance, as exclusively to that honourable gen-
tleman, as if he were the only person present. Sir
Edward, however, is very fair and impartial in the dis-
tribution of his oratorical favours. Though some par-
ticular member monopolises those favours for a time, it
is only for a very short time. About a quarter of a
minute is generally the longest period he allows to any
one at once. That short space expired, he turns to some
other honourable gentleman, and gives him a correspond-
ing amount of his attention. Then he repeats the process,
taking each of them again in succession for another quar-
ter of a minute. If he speaks long at a time, the proba-
bility is, that he also addresses himself, in the same way,
to those of his own party in the vicinity of the place from
Sir Edward Sugden. 53
which he speaks; which place always is the first row of
the Tory benches, opposite the end of the table farthest
from the Speaker. He does not make much use of his
arms in addressing the House. I have never seen him
liberal of his gesticulation. He quietly moves his right
hand up and down, and now and then strikes the palm of
his left hand with his forefinger. In his more animated
moods, and when wishing to lay special stress on some
particular argument or point; he gives a rather smart
blow with his clenched first on some of the books on
the table.
Sir Edward Sugden scarcely reaches the middle
height. He is compactly made, and has all the appearance
of a vigorous constitution. He has nothing of that thought-
ful cast of expression in his countenance, which is so
common among those who, like him, have been engaged
during the greater part of their life in professional pur-
suits of the most arduous kind. He looks lively and
cheerful; a circumstance the more to be wondered at,
when it is remembered that in the course of the last
few years he has met with serious disappointments, and
had to sustain mortifications of no ordinary kind. To
these I need not particularly allude; they are too well
known to render any reference necessary.
Sir Edward has a good deal of colour in his face,
which as yet, though in or about his fifty-fifth year, is
unvisited by even an incipient wrinkle. He looks much
younger than he is. His hair is moderately dark, and
there is abundance of it. He has a fine clear sharp eye,
which is in happy keeping with the intellectual expres-
sion of his countenance. His nose partakes slightly of
VOL. II. —5 -
54. Mr. Gladstone.
the Roman cast. His face is of an angular form; and
has, on the whole, a pleasant, as well as an intellectual
aspect. f
MR. GLADSTONE, the member for Newark, is one of
the most rising young men on the Tory side of the house.
His party expect great things from him; and, certainly,
when it is remembered that his age is only thirty-five, the
success of the parliamentary efforts he has already made
justifies their expectations. He is well informed on
most of the subjects which usually occupy the attention
of the legislature; and he is happy in turning his informa-
tion to a good account. He is ready on all occasions
which he deems fitting ones, with a speech in favour of
the policy advocated by the party with whom he acts.
His extemporaneous resources are ample. Few men in
the house can improvisate better. It does not appear
to cost him an effort to speak. He is a man of very
considerable talent, but has nothing approaching to ge-
nius. His abilities are much more the result of an ex-
cellent education, and of mature study, than of any
prodigality on the part of Nature in the distribution of
her mental gifts. I have no idea that he will ever acquire
the reputation of a great statesman. His views are not
sufficiently profound or enlarged for that; his celebrity
in the House of Commons will chiefly depend on his
readiness and dexterity as a debater, in conjunction with
the excellence of his elocution, and the gracefulness of
his manner when speaking. His style is polished, but
has no appearance of the effect of previous preparation.
He displays considerable acuteness in replying to an
opponent: he is quick in his perception of anything vul-
Mr. Gladstone. 55
nerable in the speech to which he replies, and happy in
laying the weak point bare to the gaze of the House.
He now and then indulges in Sarcasm, which is, in most
cases, very felicitous. He is plausible even when most
in error. When it suits himself or his party, he can
apply himself with the strictest closeness to the real
point at issue; when to evade that point is deemed most
politic, no man can wander from it more widely.
The ablest speech he ever made in the house, and by
far the ablest on the same side of the question, was
when opposing, on the 30th March last, Sir George
Strickland’s motion for the abolition of the negro ap-
prenticeship system on the 1st of August next. Mr.
Gladstone, I should here observe, is himself an exten-
sive West India planter.
Mr. Gladstone’s appearance and manners are much
in his favour. He is a fine-looking man. He is about
the usual height, and of good figure. His countenance
is mild and pleasant, and has a highly intellectual ex-
pression. His eyes are clear and quick. His eyebrows
are dark and rather prominent. There is not a dandy
in the house but envies what Truefit would call his
“fine head of jet-black hair.” It is always carefully
parted from the crown downwards to his brow, where it
is tastefully shaded. His features are small and regu-
lar, and his complexion must be a very unworthy
witness, if he does not possess an abundant stock of
health.
Mr. Gladstone’s gesture is varied, but not violent.
When he rises, he generally puts both his hands behind
his back, and having there suffered them to embrace each
56 Mr. Gaskell.
other for a short time, he unclasps them, and allows them
to drop on either side. They are not permitted to remain
long in that locality, before you see them again closed
together and hanging down before him. Their reunion
is not suffered to last for any length of time. Again a
separation takes place, and now the right hand is seen
moving up and down before him. Having thus exercised
it a little, he thrusts it into the pocket of his coat, and
then orders the left hand to follow its example. Having
granted them a momentary repose there, they are again
put into gentle motion; and in a few seconds they are
seen reposing vis-à-vis on his breast. He moves his
face and body from one direction to another, not for-
getting to bestow a liberal share of his attention on his
own party. He is always listened to with much atten-
tion by the House, and appears to be highly respected
by men of all parties. He is a man of good business
habits: of this he furnished abundant proof when Under-
Secretary for the Colonies, during the short-lived
administration of Sir Robert Peel.
MR. GASKELL, the member for Wenlock, is one of
the few members who appear to me to have themselves
to blame for not occupying a more prominent position
than they do in the house. I do not say, for I do not
think, that he is a man of original or comprehensive
mind; but he possesses a readiness and clearness, ac-
companied with very considerable powers of elocution,
which, were he to speak oftener on subjects with which
he is conversant, could not fail to make him a man of
Some importance.
His voice, especially in the beginning of his speeches
Mr. Gaskell. 57.
has a very strong resemblance to that of Lord Stanley;
indeed, when he just rises, those who do not see him
sometimes suppose that it is Lord Stanley who has
risen to address the House.
Mr. Gaskell’s voice has all the distinctness of that of
the noble lord, with greater softness. Its intonations
are varied, and are usually in good taste. In his more
animated moods, his voice is very often highly musical.
His elocution, too, is good in other respects. When
hurried away by his excited feelings, his utterance is
too rapid; at all times he speaks, perhaps, with greater
rapidity than could be desired. His pleasant voice and
agreeable manner, however, often render his audience
insensible to the fact, and where it is perceived they are
usually reconciled to it. He is a voluble speaker; he
is never at a loss for words; he has always enough of
them and to spare. He rarely misplaces a word: all
is smooth, and in the best order. His style is occa-
sionally too diffuse. Were he to speak oftener, I rather
think he would not be quite so prodigal of his phrase-
ology. He would not, in that case, have the same time
to prepare and round his sentences.
Mr. Gaskell's manner is highly animated. He is fully
as prodigal of his gesticulation as he is of his words,
The rapid and constant movements of his head, from
its usual perpendicular position, down half way to his
knees, and back again, constitute one of the most
marked features of his action. The descent of his head
towards his knees is usually accompanied by so forcible
an application of the four fingers of his right hand to
5%
58 Mr. Gaskell.
the palm of his left hand, as to cause “a smack” which
is distinctly heard in all parts of the house.
Judging from his manner, one would suppose that
Mr. Gaskell declines, from principle, addressing a
single word to the ministerial side of the house. A
stranger might fancy that he carries his political preju-
dices to such a length, as to disdain bestowing either a
look or a word on the Liberal party. He is a thorough-
going Conservative, but has too much of the manners of
a gentleman ever to dream of such a thing. What
causes him to address himself, both in words and looks,
to his own party exclusively, is more than I can tell;
very likely it is a habit unconsciously contracted.
I have said that Mr. Gaskell is an animated speaker.
I might have added, that he speaks with a fervour which
bears on the very face of it abundant proof of the strength
and sincerity with which he is attached to his principles.
His zeal always appears to be of a consuming kind.
You would suppose, from the animation and earnestness
of his manner, that he had not a single thought or anx-
iety about anything else than the subject on which he
addresses the house. He seems to be equally at home
on all topics on which he speaks. A stranger is de-
lighted in the thought, after he has addressed the house,
that no accident occurred to prevent his speaking, sim-
ply on the ground, that if there had been no escape-
valve for what he uttered, his mind must have been a
perfect volcano.
Mr. Gaskell’s features are marked. He has a short
round face, with a certain contraction of its parts about
the eyebrows, nose, &c., with a moderately-developed
Mr. Scarlett. 59
forehead, dark eyelashes, and clear bright eyes. His
complexion is dark, and his hair is of a jet-black colour.
He is much about the average height. He is slenderly
made, dresses with taste, and has the appearance and
manners of a gentleman. He is but a young man, being
under his fortieth year.
CHAPER VIII.
CONSERVATIVE ENGLISH MEMBERS.
(CONTINUED.)
Mr. Scarlett—Mr. Arthur Trevor—Mr. Gally Knight—
Lord Ashley—Mr. Maclean—Sir Frederick Pollock.
MR. ScARLETT, member for Norwich, almost always
sits near to Mr. Arthur Trevor, the member for Dur-
ham. Indeed they are often to be seen in earnest con-
versation together, sometimes interchanging their opi-
nions “on the present state of the politics of Europe,”
and on other occasions discussing the probabilities of
the return of the Tories to power.
Mr. Scarlett is the son of Lord Abinger, and inherits
the present, not the former political principles of his
father. He is, in other words, a thorough-going Con-
servative. He does not often treat the house to speci-
mens of his eloquence. In this, to use a homely but
very expressive phrase, he serves it right. Honourable
members have no claims on his oratory; for when he
does address them, he is almost invariably received in
a manner the very opposite of encouraging. The mo-
60 Mr. Scarlett.
ment he assumes a perpendicular position, he is assailed
by a volley of groans, growls, and other sounds, which
I know not how to characterize in what is called par-
liamentary language. I shall say of them—on the prin-
ciple of least said soonest mended—I shall say of them,
that they are of a most unmusical character. They are
so to the ears of strangers: need I add, they must be
doubly so to the ears of Mr. Scarlett himself? He
manages, however, in the majority of cases, to preserve
his temper.
As to getting into a downright passion, that is a thing
of which Mr. Scarlett, so far as my observation extends,
has never been guilty. Judging from his appearance, I
should say that though not so cheerful, nor possessing
so laughing a countenance as his father, he is, like him,
full of good nature. He seems to be an easy-minded
gentleman, always on good terms with himself and with
everybody else. I do not recollect ever having heard
an ill-natured observation escape him, though I have
often seen him receive such provocation as would have
irritated the minds of most other men. His countenance
has something of a heavy appearance; whatever intelli-
gence is in it, he owes to a pair of good eyes. His head
is large. As yet, he has given no display of anything
like superior acquirements. However, as he is not an
old man, being only about his fortieth year, there is no
saying what he may yet do. Many a great genius,
whose name was previously unknown, has burst on the
world all at once, after having attained a much greater
age. His person is muscular, and he has all the appear-
ance of excellent health. His stoutness verges on cor-
Mr. Scarlett. 61
pulence. He is a handsome man. There is a ruddi-
ness in his complexion, of which I am convinced no
other member of the six hundred and fifty-eight can
boast. His hair is something between a dark and a
brown, and his whiskers are tolerably large, without
deserving the application of Dominie Sampson’s fa-
vourite adjective of “prodigious!” -
As a speaker, Mr. Scarlett possesses no reputation.
He usually addresses the house in so low a tone as to
be almost inaudible: very often he is wholly so. He
gets on, however, with passable ease and fluency. His
language is not fine: it is very plain: sometimes it is
not more correct than it should be. He never speaks
long at a time. It is quite an era in his existence to be
on his legs ten consecutive minutes, even including the
period which usually elapses before he is allowed to
speak. And this circumstance of not, to use parlia-
mentary phraseology, trespassing long on the attention
of the house, constitutes the crowning aggravation of
the conduct of those honourable gentlemen on the op-
posite side, who always endeavour to put him down.
Sometimes I have seen Mr. Scarlett, on such occasions,
resume his seat without having uttered a word; but then
it has often been a question with me whether he has not,
in some such cases, stood up without intending to speak,
in order that he might give his tormentors an opportu-
nity of making themselves ridiculous.
Mr. Scarlett is a member of the English bar, and
practises at the Old Bailey. He is not encumbered
with professional business; but I am disposed to think
that this is in a great measure his own fault. My im-
62 Mr. Arthur Trevor.
pression is, that he is constitutionally indolent—a dis-
position which a moderate family independency enables
him to indulge. - * r
Mr. ARTHUR TREvoR, member for Durham, is also a
decided Tory; and is, if possible, still more unpopular
among his brother legislators than Mr. Scarlett. What
scenes of uproar and confusion have I not witnessed, on
his tall thin person appearing perpendicularly when
some other member has resumed his seat! I could have
wished, on such occasions, that there had been written
above the door outside, “No admission for strangers.”
One minute in the house during such scenes would do
more to lower its dignity in the estimation of a stranger,
than all that has ever been written against it. Then
would be the time to make up one’s mind as to the pro-
priety of the members being called the “first assembly
of gentlemen in Europe.” Lord Brougham said, in the
session of 1835, that he had been in the habit of address-
ing a mob for the last four years. There was no mis-
taking the allusion. What would his lordship say, in
some of his hot and hasty moments, of the House of
Commons, were he still a member there, and were to
meet with the same interruptions as he often does in
the house to which he now belongs? As I have men-
tioned in my First Series of “Random Recollections of
the House of Commons,” Lord Brougham, then Mr.
Brougham, called it a menagerie in its unreformed state;
now it is ten times worse than ever it was in the days
of Tory domination. The scenes which are often ex-
hibited in it when Mr. Arthur Trevor and some other
unpopular members rise to speak, are such as would
Mr. Arthur Trevor. 63.
make any promiscuous assemblage of mechanics ashamed
of themselves, were they to be the performers. -
Mr. Trevor is evidently a man of good temper; other-
wise he would resent in warmer terms than he does,
the disrespectful manner in which he is usually received.
On several occasions, it is true, I have seen him appeal
for protection to the chair; but that has always been
when the house has exhibited the appearance of a per-
fect bear-garden. He deserves great praise for his
courage: I have never known him, in a single instance,
to be put down by the clamour of the Liberals. Rather
than give them so much of their own way as to resume
his seat, I have seen him persevere in addressing the
House for several minutes, without one syllable he ut-
tered being heard, even by the honourable members
sitting next to him, and when, in more distant parts of
the house, his voice was so completely drowned that
you could only infer that he was speaking at all, from
the motion of his lips.
Mr. Trevor is well acquainted with the subject of
political economy, and possesses a respectable amount
of information on most questions which come before the
house. As a speaker, he has no chance of ever ranking
high. His voice is weak, and his manner has too much
of languor about it ever to be popular. He is mono-
tonous, both in his elocution and his gesticulation. In-
deed he can hardly be said to have any of the latter;
for, with the exception of a gentle movement of his right
hand, and a slight occasional turn of his face from one
part of the ministerial benches to another, he stands as
steady, to use Colonel Sibthorp's expression, as a post.
64 Mr. Gally Knight.
His face, like his figure, is thin. His features have
something of a pensive expression. His complexion is
sallow, and his hair of a darkish hue. He does not look
so old as he is. Though about his forty-second year,
one would take him to be at least six or seven years
younger. -
Mr. GALLY KNIGHT, member for Nottinghamshire, is
a gentleman with whom I shall make short work. He
graces the Conservative benches; but were I to call him
a Conservative, I know he would not relish the desig-
nation. I shall therefore leave my readers to call him
what they please; only it is right, in order that they
may have some data on which to ground their opinion
as to the section of politicians among whom he ought
to be classed, that I should mention two or three very
plain matters of fact, +
Mr. Gally Knight, for many years, professed himself
to be a Reformer: he did more—he voted and acted
with the Reformers. A few years since, however, he
took it into his head to abandon his seat on the Reform
side of the house, if not his reform opinions. Since
then he has not only gone over to the Tory side of the
house, but he has, with one or two unimportant ex-
ceptions, proved himself a thick-and-thin supporter of
Tory principles. To be sure, he calls himself an inde-
pendent man. So, I have always observed, does every
one who has apostatised from his former opinions. The
very moment the change is openly avowed, they set up
for independent men. Lord Stanley, Sir James Gra-
ham, Sir Francis Burdett, Sir George Sinclair, and
others of lesser calibre, all claim to be independent
Mr. Gally Knight. 65
men. Question their independence, and that moment
they will fly into a passion, just as if you had offered
them a personal insult. And why should not Mr. Gally
Knight, as well as his betters, arrogate to himself the
virtue of independence? And, to do him justice, he
has given better proof of independence than either of
the gentlemen whose names I have mentioned; for, to
give only one instance, he did actually vote against the
Tories, and with Ministers, on the 12th of June last,
on the motion of Lord J ohn Russell for the appointment
of a committee to inquire into the administration of the .
revenues derived from bishops’ lands.
But to drop the subject of Mr. Gally Knight’s inder
pendence, and to come to a word or two touching his
pretensions as a speaker. These are humble enough,
without a doubt. He has got a tolerable voice, but the
evil of it is, he has got no ideas in the expression of
which to employ it. He speaks seldom: in that he is
wise. When he does, speak, he is generally very brief;
very wise again. He attempts none of the loftier flights
of oratory: a most commendable resolution; for he ne-
ver was destined to soar. He contents himself with
giving utterance, two or three times a session, to thirty
or forty sentences, not sentiments; and this done, he
resumes his seat, with a look of infinite self-compla-
cency, just as if he had thereby relieved his conscience
of a burden which was pressing on it. His orations,
like the sovereign’s speeches at the opening of parlia-
ment, are for the most part only remarkable for their
absence of anything and everything but words. He can-
not be charged with making much fuss about his
vol. II.-6
66 Mr. Gally Knight.
*%
speeches—at least in so far as gesticulation is concern-
ed. He usually puts his hands to his back, where he
joins them, and, standing as steadily as if he were
transfixed to the spot, talks away very good-naturedly
for four or five minutes. He seldom attacks those who
differ from him; he hardly ever quarrels with what
others mean to do; it is enough for him that he tells
the house what he means to do himself. That seems to
him a very important piece of information, and once
given, he sits down contented. .
Mr. Gally Knight is one of the most unpoetical men
in appearance I have ever seen, and yet he is the au-
thor of a small volume of miscellaneous poetical pieces,
which possesses considerable merit, and has been very
favourably received. From one of his poems I extract
the following passage, which is part of a beautiful por-
trait of a religious woman in affliction:
“Ye who approach the threshold, cast aside
The world, and all the littleness of pride;
Come not to pass an hour, and then away
Back to the giddy follies of the day;
With reverent step and heaven-directed eye,
Clad in the robes of meek humility,
As to a temple's hallowed courts repair,
And come the lesson as the scene to share.
Gaze on the ruin’d frame and pallid cheek,
Prophetic symptoms that too plainly speak!
Those limbs that fail her as she falters by;
Pains that from mature will extort a sigh;
See her from social intercourse removed,
Forbid to catch the friendly voice she loved;
Then mark the look omposed, the tranquil air,
Unfeigned contentment still enthroned there!
Mr. Gally Knight. 67
The cheerful beams that, never quench'd, adorn"
That cheek, and gladden those who thought to mourn;
Benignant Smiles for all around that shine,
Unbounded love and charity divine!
This is religion—not unreal dreams,
Enthusiast raptures, and Seraphic gleams;
But faith's calm triumph—reason's steady sway;
Not the brief lightning, but the perfect day.”
Mr. Galley Knight is also favourably known as a
writer of prose. He is the author of “Notes of a Tour
in Normandy,” and “The Normans in Sicily.” He is
an admirable Greek scholar, and is in every respect de-
serving the appellation of a literary man. He is one out
of many instances of literary men, of great talent and
high reputation, failing to make any impression in the
house. He is a gentleman of excellent private character,
and is much esteemed by his fellow legislators.
I have hardly made such short work with Mr. Gally
Knight as I promised in the outset I would do. A word
or two more will certainly suffice. If there be truth in
the system of Lavater, he is full of good-nature. He has
a remarkably cheerful countenance. I cannot answer
for it at those times when he may be sitting hearing
others; but this I will say, that I never yet saw him rise
to speak, without at the same time having the satisfac-
tion of looking on a countenance lighted up with a very
interesting smile. He is of the middle height, and ra-
ther stoutly made. His head is large, and his face is
of the oval form. His complexion is clear and healthy
for a man who is considerably on the wrong side of fifty.
He is very bald-headed: the little hair that still remains
is of a darkish colour.
68 Lord Ashley.
LoRD ASIILEy, son of the Earl of Shaftesbury, and
member for Dorsetshire, is a nobleman whom every per-
son of humane principles must hold in veneration. His
unwearied and zealous exertions on behalf of the factory
children in 1833 and 1834, will prove a more lasting
monument to his fame than any tablet of marble or brass
could possibly do. Those exertions had not their origin
in that anxiety for distinction which is the most power-
ful inducement to the public actions of, so many of our
legislators: they arose from a deep-seated feeling of com-
miseration for the poor young creatures themselves.
They arose from a high and holy humanity, and were
sustained by the same hallowed feeling, amidst the luke-
warmness of some, the cold half-suppressed sneers of
others, and the open ridicule of the flinty-hearted poli-
tical economists.
Lord Ashley is a young nobleman of great promise.
He is in or about his thirty-fifth year. His self-diffi-
dence has hitherto prevented him from taking that active
part in public life which his principles, his talents, and
his station in society, would equally justify him in tak-
ing. If I am not mistaken, however, the noble lord will,
ere long, come before his country and the world with a
far greater prominency than he has yet done.
His personal appearance is much in his favour. His
figure is tall and handsome. He has a fine, open, and
intellectual countenance. His features are marked.
His face is rather thin: his complexion is something be-
tween dark and pale; and his hair, which is usuall y long,
, is of a beautiful black. His dark eye is quick, and has
an intelligent expression. He has a well-formed, ample
Lord ºffshley. 59
forehead. His whole appearance is prepossessing, and
the feeling which it at first sight creates in his favour,
is increased by his manner when addressing the House.
His gesture is animated, but natural: it is the gesture
of a man who is sincere in the opinions he expresses, and
who is deeply anxious for their practical adoption by
others. There is nothing clap-trap or theatrical about
him. No man could evince more modesty in his man-
ner, unless, indeed, that modesty were to degenerate
into absolute weakness or inaction. His lordship has
not that morbid modesty, if not something worse, which
would lead him to compromise first principles. His
voice is soft, clear, and flexible. He is generally audi-
ble, but seldom speaks in loud tones: it is only when he
warms with his subject, that he raises his voice to a high
pitch. He never, however, does raise it so high as to
be unpleasant.
In some of the more animated parts of his addresses,
I have seen the noble lord exhibit proofs of effective
oratory. I have known him give utterance to highly
eloquent passages, and to deliver those passages with an
effect that would do credit to some of our most popular
speakers. I am sure that I shall be borne out in this
remark by all who heard the noble lord speak at a meet-
ing held in February last year, at the Freemasons’
Tavern, to resist the efforts the Dissenters were then
making for the abolition of church rates. He times his
utterance with judgment: he neither speaks too slowly,
nor with too much rapidity. He speaks with ease and
fluency. He seldom hesitates, or seems at a loss for
words. His style is accurate and polished, but has no
6#
70 Mr. Maclean.
appearance of elaboration. His matter is always good:
his ideas cannot be said to be either profound or origi-
nal: but they never fall below mediocrity. There is
always strong good sense in what he says. He is not
a wordy speaker: his speeches are full of ideas, though,
as I have just said, there is nothing very brilliant in
them. He is a religious man; and one, I believe, who
acts up to the principles he professes, in all the public
and private relations of life. He is evidently well versed
in scripture. I heard him quote passage after passage
—passages, too, not often quoted—at the meeting al-
ready referred to at the Freemasons’ Tavern, with an
ease and readiness which no clergyman could have sur-
passed. He is also well acquainted with theology, as
exhibited in the works of divines of various denomina-
tions. Dr. Jabez Bunting, the venerable representative
of modern Wesleyan methodism, was one of those who
attended the meeting in question; and he must have
been greatly surprised and gratified at the way in which
Lord. Ashley on that occasion spoke of the great good
which had been achieved by John Wesley, in “awaken-
ing a sleeping church,” and of the happy results which
had, in different parts of England, attended the exertions
of the Wesleyan Methodists of the present day.
Mr. MACLEAN, the member for Oxford, is one of the
most rising Tories in the house. He has only been a
few years in parliament, but during that time has kept
himself constantly before the public by his frequent
speeches. He is thin and tall, and seemingly under
forty years of age. His features are marked, and have
rather an intelligent aspect. His complexion has a
Mr. Maclean. 71
tendency to paleness; and his hair is moderately dark.
He has a strong clear voice; and speaks with consider-
able fluency. He seldom appears at a loss for words;
but sometimes half the number he employs would do
every justice to the idea of which he is seeking to de-
liver himself. There is a monotony in his elocution;
but it is by no means an unpleasant monotony. His
manner altogether is agreeable enough. On ordinary
occasions he makes a moderate use of gesture: his only
fault in this respect is, that he expends the same amount
of action on the most trifling, as he does on the most im-
portant questions. When I say this, however, let me
not be understood as meaning the importance which he
himself attaches to the particular subjects, but that in
which the public would be disposed to regard them.
When he fancies that he is expatiating on some topic of
commanding moment—and he has got an unfortunate
habit of thinking that subject important which appears
to every body else to be of the most trifling kind—he
assumes every variety of theatrical attitude. Few men
could, in such cases, be more liberal of their gesticula-
tion. He puts his body into positions which would up-
set the equilibrium of other persons. The rapidity
with which he can wheel himself about on such occa-
sions, deserves all commendation: it would make the
fortune of many a mountebank. One moment you see
him looking Lord John Russell in the face, as staid and
stiff in appearance as if he were in a nameless jacket;
the next he has his face to the Tory members immedi-
ately behind the place where he usually stands; which
place, on all occasions that he considers great, is on the
72 Mr. Maclean.
floor, pretty much in the centre of the house. I need
not add, therefore, that as this locality is nearly opposite
Lord John Russell’s situation, the honourable member
turns his back fairly enough on his lordship. And what
adds to the ludicrousness of these sudden evolutions, is
the circumstance, that when he thus turns his back on
the noble leader of the House of Commons, he usually
seizes the tails of his coat—generally a blue one—and
throws them away from him, just as if the poor innocent
appendages had done him some serious injury.
Mr. Maclean appears to be always in earnest in what
he says: everything which proceeds from his lips has
manifestly its origin in the depths of his heart. He is
a genuine Conservative: he is, I am satisfied, pre-emi-
nently so from conviction, apart from all considerations
of personal advantage. Not that I, by any means,
would be understood as saying, that he would have any
objection to a snug place under a Tory government.
Mr. Maclean I take to be too much a man of the world
for that. But I believe his Toryism is of that sincere
and disinterested kind, that he would speak for it and
vote for it, although he had no expectation of ever see-
ing it again in the ascendant during his life.
It is no bad evidence of the sincerity of his attach-
ment to Tory principles, that Colonel Sibthorp is an
ardent admirer of the honourable gentleman. I am far
from meaning to say that the gallant colonel is infallible,
any more than other men in such matters. On the con-
trary, I believe he has often erred by reposing a confi-
dence in the sincerity of certain persons professing
Conservatism, which the event has shown to have been
M. Maclean. 73
unfounded.' But I do mean to say that, in the great
majority of instances, his opinions in such cases are cor-
rect; and therefore it is right that the honourable mem-
ber for Oxford should have all the credit with his party
for the ardour and sineerity of his Conservatism, which
the fact of Colonel Sibthorp being quite satisfied on the
subject can give him. -
Mr. Maclean occasionally addresses the House on
various questions of domestic policy; but his great hobby
is on matters which particularly bear on our foreign re-
lations. The affairs of Spain have been to him a most
fruitful theme. Many an hour's eloquence has he spent
at different times on them. Of course he takes Don
Carlos’s side of the question; and I am inclined to think
that he is decidedly the ablest, as well as the most inde-
fatigable advocate whom that Prince has in the English
House of Commons. His speeches on the Spanish
question generally display an intimate acquaintance
with the subject in all its details; and I am much mis-
taken if his notices of motions relative to the part which
our government has taken in the affairs of the Peninsula,
do not cause Lord Palmerston such uneasiness, on their
being made, as to make him sometimes forget the claims
which the Graces usually have on his homage. I may
be wrong, but it has occurred to me on more occasions
than one, that the noble lord’s whiskers have not ap-
peared in so “nice” a condition as usual on those nights
appointed for bringing forward the Spanish question by
Mr. Maclean. The honourable gentleman on such oc-
casions is bold and fluent, without being coarse or vitu-
perative, in his attacks on the policy pursued by the
74 Sir Frederick Pollock.
government, in relation to matters in the Peninsula.
He displays considerable acuteness; and when he has
once got Lord Palmerston into a wrong position, he
lashes away at him without measure or mercy. In
bringing forward a motion, I believe he prepares his
speeches beforehand; but he possesses very respectable
powers of improvisation. Some of his replies are happy.
His enunciation in such cases is generally easy and
rapid; and his extemporaneous resources, apart from
mere words, are above mediocrity.
Mr. Maclean is very useful to his party, especially
in the article of speaking against time. Whenever they
wish to prolong a discussion, for any particular reason,
they have only to give Mr. Maclean the hint, and that
moment he gets on his legs for an hour or an hour and
a half, according as either period may appear most de-
sirable. * *
Sir FREDERICK PolloCR, member for Huntingdon-
shire, entered the house some years ago, under circum-
stances which excited a general expectation of a brilliant
parliamentary career. His whole life had been a con-
tinued scene of triumphs. He was distinguished at school
above his class-fellows. The same good fortune fol-
lowed him to the university. There he carried off
almost every prize for which he competed. Nor was
his success less great in the profession to which he ap-
plied himself. He rose rapidly from one degree of
distinction at the bar to another, till he reached the
highest. Under these circumstances his party expected
that he would, immediately on entering parliament,
produce a sensation in the house, and ever afterwards
Sir Frederick Pollock. 75
occupy a position in it, second only, perhaps, to that of
Sir Robert Peel himself. The event has proved how
grievously his friends had miscalculated on the subject.
, Sir Frederick’s parliamentary efforts have, without an
exception, been signal failures. He dwindled down at
once to the dimensions of a fifth or sixth rate speaker.
The few months during which he filled the office of
Attorney General to Sir Robert Peel's government,
brought him, of necessity, rather frequently before the
House; but Sir Robert’s administration received but
little actual assistance from his speeches. Since the
dissolution of that government, he has seldom address-
ed the House. When he does so, he always makes
short speeches. I have seldom seen him occupy the
attention of honourable members more than ten or fifteen
minutes at a time. He does not now excite much
'attention when he rises. Even the Conservatives them-
selves are not over-prompt in lending him their ears.
The tones of his voice, and occasionally his manner
also, remind me of the voice and manner of Lord
Brougham; with this difference, that the voice of the
latter is much more powerful, and is called into greater
play, and that his action is much more vehement. Like
Lord Brougham, Sir Frederick is in the habit of throw-
ing back his head, and withdrawing himself a few feet
from the table. At other times he shakes his head a
good deal, and applies his fist with all his force to the
table. In the beginning of his speeches his utterance is
slow and solemn. As he advances, he proceeds with
a little more rapidity. The tones of his voice are some-
what harsh; and they fall more disagreeably on the ear
from their want of variety.
76 Mr. Bernal.
Sir Frederick Pollock bears some resemblance to
Lord Brougham in his personal appearance, as well as
in the tones of his voice and gesture; but he is not so
tall as his lordship. His hair is of a dark-grey colour,
and he usually has an ample crop of it. His features
are marked; his eyes and nose are large, and there are
incipient wrinkles in his face. His complexion is some-
thing between dark and pale. The expression of his
countenance is that of deep thought, mingled with a
reserved manner; and so far the principles of physiog-
nomy hold good; for Sir Frederick is often lost in his
own contemplations on literary and legal topics, and
seldom holds conversation with any of his friends in the
house. He does not, indeed, seem to be comfortable in
St. Stephen’s; which circumstance may account for the
fact of his not being over regular in his attendance.
He looks much older than he is. He is not much
above his fiftieth year; but any one, judging only from
his appearance, would be apt to set him down as close
upon sixty.
CHAPTER X.
LIBERAL ENGLISH MEMBERS.
Mr. Bernal—Mr. Agliomby—Mr. Jervis—Mr. Handley—
Mr. Howard—Mr. Sandford—Mr. Brotherton.
MR. BERNAL, the member for Rochester, is better
known as chairman of committees, than as a speaker in
the house. He speaks very seldom, and never at any
length, on any question of commanding importance.
Mr. Bernal. *. 77
Possibly his motion is—and assuredly it would not be a
wrong one—that he has abundant exercise for his lungs
in the capacity of chairman of committees, without
volunteering speeches in ordinary circumstances. Mr.
Bernal, besides, has an inducement to act as chairman
if committees, which he has not to make speeches to
º House. For the discharge of his official duties he
receives the handsome sum of 1,200l. a year; while not
one farthing would he get for his speeches, even did he
possess the most eloquent tongue that ever spoke, and
he were to play the orator every night. He has a clear
audible voice, evidently possessed of considerable
power, though he does not call its capabilities into full
play. You hear him distinctly in all parts of the house,
even when he looks as if he fancied himself to be only
speaking to some private friend across the table. He
talks with considerable ease and facility. His style is
plain; occasionally it is terse and vigorous; it is always
clear. There is no mistaking what he says.
Mr. Bernal appears to best advantage as a speaker
at a public meeting. I recollect being present at a
dinner given to the members for Lambeth, at the Horns
Tavern, in the end of 1835; and Mr. Bernal made one
of the best of the many excellent speeches delivered on
that occasion. There he spoke in a tone of decision
and energy which I have not witnessed in any of his
speeches on the floor of the House of Commons. He
suited the action, too, to the word. His gesture was
energetic without being extravagant. In his manner
in the House of Commons there are no indications of
warmth; there he is sufficiently conservative of his ges-
VOL. II.-7 *
78 Mr. Bernal.
ture. None of his next neighbours, as Mr. Wakley
would say, are in danger of getting a broken head from
the unguarded use of his hands. Let me not, however,
be understood as insinuating that Mr. Bernal has no
gesture at all: he has some, but it is moderate: it usually
consists of a limited and gentle movement of his right
hand. - \
Mr. Bernal is a man of respectable talent. He never
utters anything feeble or silly; but neither does he, on
the other hand, ever soar many degrees, if he soar at
all, above mediocrity. Sometimes he displays acute-
ness in detecting the slips of an opponent. I have,
also, on repeated occasions, thought him happy in de-
veloping his own views of a question. He seldom
falters or hesitates, and when he does, never to an un-
pleasant extent. -
As chairman of committees, Mr. Bernal gives great
satisfaction to the House. He has not much of the
polished manners of the late Speaker, nor does he equal
in this respect the present; his manners are plain and
unassuming; but every one knows that he is a man of
genuine kindness of heart. Hence, he is esteemed by
men of all parties. Without parading the authority
with which his office of chairman has invested him—
which power is practically as great while the House is
in committee as that of the Speaker himself—he knows
well how to assert, when there is occasion, the dignity
of the situation he fills, and to vindicate the character
of the House. I have repeatedly had occasion to ad-
mire the firmness, blended with moderation, which he
shows in dealing with such troublesome customers as
several of the Irish Liberal members.
Mr. Bernal. 79
There is one curious circumstance I have repeatedly
observed in Mr. Bernal’s conduct in the house. Whe-
ther the thing be accidental or not, I cannot say; but I
have generally remarked, that, immediately before his
being called to the chair, he goes and seats himself at
the furthest corner of the Conservative side of the house,
as if wishing to have an opportunity of walking the
greatest distance the size of the house will allow, before
taking his seat as chairman. Some ill-natured people
might wish to insinuate that Mr. Bernal’s object in this
movement is to show off his person. I do not believe
anything of the kind, though Mr. Bernal has, undoubt-
edly, a commanding person. He is tall and stout. A
better formed figure, considering that he is a robust
man, is not often to be seen. He is evidently possess-
ed of great physical strength. Were he an Irish emi-
grant come over to this country to seek for employment,
he would be engaged at once, under the impression that,
he was an “able-bodied labourer.” His face is round,
and his features are intelligent and agreeable. His
complexion indicates an ample stock of health. He has
a fine forehead. His hair is of a dark-brown colour,
but a considerable part of his head is bald. He is of
Jewish extraction. His grandfather, if I am rightly in-
formed, was an Israelite in early life, but became a con-
vert to Christianity. Mr. Bernal is in the meridian of
life; I should think him not above fifty.
Mr. AGLIONBY, the member for Cockermouth, ad-
dresses the House with much greater frequency than
would be inferred from the reports of the proceedings
given in the newspapers. A few words will explain
80 Mr. Aglionby.
how this happens. He very seldom takes pārt in the
discussions which arise on the introduction or second
reading of any important measure. He confines him-
self to observations on matters of minor importance,
and chiefly when the House is in committee. In such
cases, it is but seldom that any report of what is said by
honourable members is given in the public journals. I
have seen Mr. Aglionby address the House, when in
committee, ten or twelve times in the course of an even-
ing, and his name has not, perhaps, appeared once in
the papers of the following day. I have repeatedly seen
other members much oftener address the House on par-
ticular occasions, and yet not one word of what fell
from them was to be found in the newspapers of next
morning; nor even the single fact stated that they had
spoken at all. --
Mr. Aglionby is a man of excellent business habits,
and often displays considerable acuteness in detecting
the defects or positive faults of a measure, in its pro-
gress through committee. He used to be commendably
regular in his attendance in the house, but I do not
think he has been quite so exemplary in this respect of
late. In the sessions of 1834 and 1835, he generally
was among the last to exchange the toils of legislation
for the luxury of sound repose on his bed. Many of
his honourable colleagues in the Commons were then,
night after night, sleeping soundly in their own houses,
or busily engaged in circulating the bottle—if, indeed,
they were not, in many instances, worse employed—
while he, with Mr. Hume, Mr. Pease, Mr. Brotherton,
Colonel Thompson, Mr. Wakley, and some eighteen or
Mr. Aglionby. 81
twenty others, were carefully siſting and improving
measures of great public importance, in their tº it
through committee. He really was, a most låbärious
and very useful member: he is so still to a great,
though I doubt if he be to the same, extent as before.
He and Mr. Humé, for several sessions, took the trouble
of preparing the list of the majority and minority, when-
ever a division on any interesting question took place
in the house; and so anxious has he always been on
such occasions to accommodate the press and the pub-
lic, that I have known him go himself repeatedly to the
office of one of the newspapers with the list, when the
House had been up before he had been able to get it
prepared. By going to the office of one of the morning
journals, in such cases, he was virtually going to the
offices of all; for he always gave particular instructions
to the party with whom he left the list of the divisions,
that slips of it, as soon as put in types, should be sent
round to the other journals.
Mr. Aglionby is a man of the highest integrity in his
public character, as well as of great private worth. His
notion is, that when once a member is sufficiently
known to his constituents, he ought not on any future
election to canvass them for their support. And the
notion is not with him theoretical only; he embodies it
in practice. On the occasion of the last election for
Cockermouth, he abstained from canvassing, conceiving
that the electors must by this time be sufficiently ac-
quainted with his principles.
Mr. Aglionby is a gentleman of respectable talent.
His speeches are more remarkable for their good sense,
7x
82. Mr. Aglionby.
with occasional acuteness, than for any higher degree of.
intellectual qualities. I never heard him give utterance
to any thing brilliant or profound; but I have repeat-
edly seen him discover blemishes in a measure, or blun-
ders committed in legislation on it, which had escaped
the observation of all others. Brought up to the legal
profession, though I believe he has never practised at
the bar to any extent, he has a great command of words
on all occasions. He does not, in general, speak long
at a time; but, from the manifest ease with which he
does deliver his sentiments, I am confident he could go
on without a moment’s intermission, or without any
great inconvenience to himself, for hours at a time; and
that, too, on any subject—even on the most trifling. I
know of few men who possess greater volubility. He
speaks with singular rapidity: I am not sure whether
he does not speak a greater quantity in a given time than
any member in the house. No reporter could, if he
wished, follow the honourable gentleman through his
speeches: that, however, for the reasons I have already
given, is never attempted. . His voice is not strong, but
it is clear. It is easier to hear than to follow him. He
never raises his voice. He continues in the same low
key throughout. -
I cannot say what is the precise age of Mr. Aglionby;
but no one would suppose he was more than forty-five.
He is a little, thick-set man, but cannot be called cor-
pulent. His face is round, and his complexion is some-
what florid. He is greyish-haired, and pretty well
whiskered. The expression of his countenance is pleas-
ing and intelligent.
Mr. Jervis. 83
MR. JERVIs, the member for Chester, used to speak
with some frequency; but of late he has been compa-
ratively silent. He is well informed on most of the
questions which come before the house; but I have
never observed in his speeches any indications of a
vigorous or comprehensive mind. He never speaks on
questions of commanding moment: he always reserves
himself for those of subordinate interest. Usually, in-
deed, he confines himself to questions which are only
of local importance. He appears to most advantage in
committees of the whole house: his suggestions for the
improvement of measures which are on their passage
through committee, are often judicious. The greatest
recommendation of his speeches is their good sense.
He is always intelligible: he is so even when the sub-
ject is complicated. He is a barrister by profession,
though I believe he does not practise to any great ex-
tent.
Like most lawyers, he is in the habit of using a pro-
fusion of words, and, like the majority of those speakers
by trade, he gets on with great ease and considerable
rapidity of utterance. His voice is weak; and hence,
between the low tones in which he speaks, and his
unusual volubility, it is sometimes difficult to follow
him. There is no variety in his voice. If you hear him
once, you can form as good an idea of him as a speaker,
as if you had heard him a hundred times. He is very
sparing of his gesture: frequently he uses none, unless
a very slight movement of the right hand, accompanied
by an occasional gentle movement of the head, should
be dignified by the name. His appearance is not much
84 Mr. Jervis.
in his favour as a speaker. He is about the middle
height, but slenderly made. His complexion is pale,
and there is something feminine in the expression of
his countenance. His face has more of the oblong than
of the angular form: his features are regular, without
anything strongly marked. His hair is of a dark brown,
and exhibits no traces of those curling locks with which
the hair of so many other honourable members abounds.
Mr. Jervis is but a young man: he is seemingly un-
der his fortieth year. He is a decided reformer. With-
out “going the whole hog” in Radicalism, he is some-
thing considerably more than the mere Whig. He is
well liked in the house. He always commands atten-
tion whenever he rises to speak; and the indulgence
thus extended to him, or, more properly speaking, the
respect which is invariably evinced towards him, he has
the good taste and the good judgment not to abuse, by
dooming the house to hear any lengthened harangue.
He never speaks long at a time; seldom above ten or
fifteen minutes. I am not sure that he has spoken for
more than twenty minutes at once during the last three
sessions. His manners are modest, though he has no
lack of self-possession. He has none of that petulancy
about him which is so marked a characteristic in the
parliamentary exhibitions of various other young mem-
bers of passable talent, who sometimes address the
house. r
Every one must, at a glance, see intelligence in Mr.
Jervis’s face; and if that face speak the truth, he must
be blessed with a tolerably good temper. His conduct
in the house is certainly in favour of this theory. I
Mr. Handley. 85
have never seen him involved in any personal alterca-
tion with any other honourable member; nor have I ever
witnessed him taking a part in those scenes of uproar
to which I have so often alluded. He deserves credit
for the regularity of his attendance on his parliamentary
duties. He is rarely absent when there is an important
question before the house; and he is often present when
the questions under consideration are not of general
interest. He is a useful rather than a shining member;
and, for my own part, I hold that that man, though of
common talents, who is punctual in his attendance in
the house, and takes part in the more laborious duties
which devolve on the members, has incomparably
greater claims to the suffrages of a constituency, than
he who makes what is called a brilliant display, in the
shape of an hour or two’s speech, on some great field-
night, and is hardly ever seen in his place on any other
occasion. The latter is a cheap way of purchasing
popularity, where nature has not been niggard in the
bestowal of brains. The man who really deserves well
of his country is he who assiduously discharges all the
duties of the legislative office, however humble, without
regard to the reputation he may or may not thereby
gain for himself.
Mr. HANDLEY, the member for Lincolnshire, confines
his speeches in a great measure to agricultural topics.
He may, in some sense, be said to be, on the reform
side of the house, what the Marquis of Chandos is on
the Tory benches; namely, the farmer’s friend. He is
at all times the advocate of the agricultural interest,
when he conceives his advocacy of that interest is ne-
86 Mr. Handley.
cessary. He is a tall, stout, good-looking man. He
has a jolly, countrified countenance, with a complexion
redolent of health. His face is full, and his features
are régular and pleasing. His hair is of a light brown,
and he sports a pair of whiskers of which any Spanish
Don might be proud.
I have often thought that I have detected Lord Pal-
merston, who is allowed to have a very excellent taste
in such matters, casting a sly glance towards Mr.
Handley’s whiskers, and evidently repining in his own
mind at their ample dimensions. I have generally ob-
served that the proprietors of what Dominie Sampson
would have called “prodigious” pairs of whiskers, look
on each other with a jealous eye. Of them it may be
said with peculiar truth, that they can “bear no rival
near the throne.” Mr. Handley’s facial appurtenances
are so striking and ornamental, that I am pretty posi-
tive Colonel Sibthorp would almost be inclined to ex-
change his luxuriant mustachios for them. Be this as
it may, I am confident that Mr. Handley neither covets
the whiskers of the noble lord, nor the mustachios of the
gallant colonel.
Mr. Handley is a respectable speaker, but nothing
more. His articulation is distinct, though his delivery
is somewhat rapid. His voice is clear, though not so
powerful as one would suppose from the vigorous and
robust appearance of his frame. Were he a good
speaker otherwise, his commanding figure would add
to the effect of his elocution. His style is plain: he
seems to have no ambition to be considered an orator.
He appears to aim more at utility than at brilliancy.
Mr. Philip John Howard. 87
There is nothing profound in his matter, but it has ge-
nerally the attribute of good sense to recommend it.
He often deals in statistical statements, in which he is
usually clear and correct. He does not make long
speeches. I do not recollect ever hearing him speak
for more than three quarters of an hour at a time; he
does not generally, even when addressing the house on
his favourite agricultural topics, speak so long. .
Were Mr. Handley to speak more frequently, he
would be sure to attain to a highly respectable status
in the house. It is not, however, likely, as he is about
his fiftieth year, that he will now be seized with any
fit of ambition to possess an oratorical reputation in the
House of Commons. As it is, he is always listened to
with attention. He has all the appearance of good-
mature. I never knew him engaged in any personal
squabble with other honourable members. I have ne-
ver heard him indulge in acrimonious observations
when speaking of an opponent; nor have I heard any
ill-natured remark made by any other members at his
expense.
Mr. PHILIP John How ARD, the member for Carlisle,
is one of the few English Roman Catholics in the house.
He is a young man. I should suppose, judging from
his appearance, that he is not above thirty years of age.
He is a gentleman of decidedly liberal principles, with-
out identifying himself with the extreme radical party
in the house. His manners are most inoffensive: he ap-
pears to be full of good-nature. I never yet knew him
to take any part in any of the never-ending squabbles
which take place in the house. His manners are so con-
18 Mr. Philip John Howard.
ciliatory as to disarm all hostility towards him. I have
no recollection of any honourable member ever making
use of a harsh expression in reference to him.
There is, on some occasions, something approaching
to softness in his demeanour; which circumstance, cou-
pled with his feminine appearance and manner of ex-
pressing himself, occasionally causes a good deal of
merriment when he rises to speak. .
In the middle of last session, he went down one even-
ing to the first row of benches on the ministerial side
of the house, for the purpose of making a few remarks,
with the view of vindicating the corporation of Carlisle
from an attack which Lord Stanley had made on that.
body a few nights previously. But, before doing so, he
rose and looked around him to see if any other honour-
able member was about to address the house. Observ-
ing no one on his legs to speak, though honourable gen-
tlemen were walking about by dozens, he commenced
in this way: “Mr. Speaker, as I see nothing, nor any-
body at this time before the house, may I be permitted
——”
The infinite good nature with which he began, cou-
pled with the circumstance of his looking around him,
as if wishing to re-assure himself that he was right,
caused a universal laugh, which drowned the remain-
der of the sentence. He was about to proceed amidst
a good deal of merriment and confusion, when the
Speaker, observing that two of the Masters of Chancery
had just entered the house with a message from the
Lords, shouted as loud as he could, “Mr. Serjeant-at-
Arms!” meaning that Mr. Serjeant-at-Arms should
usher in the messengers with the usual ceremony.
Mr. Philip John Howard. 89
Mr. Howard fancying, in the confusion of the mo-
ment, that the Speaker was calling on the Serjeant-at-
Arms to take him into custody for some unconscious
violation of the rules of the house, looked towards the
latter gentleman with unutterable surprise, mingled
with some alarm. A universal roar of laughter, in
which the Speaker joined, at once convinced Mr. How-
ard of his mistake; on which he heartily laughed at the
fears which had so suddenly and ungroundedly taken
possession of his mind. After the message from the
Lords had been delivered, he again endeavoured to ad-
dress the house, but had not proceeded far when it was
found that, there being no question before it, he was
out of order. He then resumed his seat; on which
Lord Stanley, who had a reply ready to the anticipated
speech, in justification of the attack he had made on
the Carlisle corporation, went over to the ministerial
side of the house, and seating himself beside Mr. How-
ard, and stretching his left arm along the top of the
back part of the bench against which the honourable
gentleman reclined, he looked up most poetically in
Mr. Howard’s face—just as if he had been a lady into
whose ear the noble lord was pouring a declaration of
his love—and in that position continued for at least ten
minutes, all the while endeavouring to justify his con-
duct in attacking the corporation of Carlisle. Mr.
Howard thus had the speech exclusively addressed to
himself which Lord Stanley had intended to deliver to
the house, consisting, at the time, of about three hun-
dred members.
Mr. Howard, in addition to a timid, lady-like way of
vol. II.-8 t
90 Mr. Philip John Howard.
speaking when addressing the House, has a sort of lisp
in his enunciation, which sometimes has a ludicrous
effect. In the discussion, in the course of last session,
on the proposed abolition of the penny stamp on news-,
papers, Sir Robert Peel, speaking of the cheapest of the
newspapers, called them by mistake penny papers. An
honourable member on the Ministerial side of the house,
Mr. Wakley I think it was, corrected the right honour-
able baronet, by observing that there were no penny
newspapers; on which Mr. Howard, taking off his hat,
and starting to his feet as if he had made some import-
ant discovery, observed, “There’s a Penny Magazine,”
—pronouncing the last word “Magathine.” The odd
way in which the sentence was lisped out, in conjunc-
tion with the circumstances under which the remark
was made, upset the gravity of the honourable members
as effectually as ever Liston did an audience in the
Olympic Theatre. So contagious did the laughter prove,
that I believe not even Mr. John Richards nor Mr.
Arthur Trevor escaped.
. . . When Mr. Howard rises to address the House, he
never tires his audience with long speeches. What he
says is usually brief, and generally to the purpose. He
is not a man of comprehensive mind; he is incapable of
grappling with first principles; but his matter is usually
entitled to the praise of being good sense, and in some
instances he displays considerable acuteness. He is not
wordy; his diction is plain. If his ideas are not of a
high order, he always gives his audience a fair allowance
of them, considering the length of his speeches.
It is pleasant, when Mr. Howard rises to speak, to
Mr. Philip John Howard. 91
see the “jolly-looking” and ever-smiling countenance
he presents to the house. He is cheerful even when
sitting; but he becomes doubly so the moment he rises.
It is almost impossible to look at him without being on
good terms with him; for you see at once that he is on
good terms with everybody around him.
There are many honourable gentlemen on the Tory
side of the house, who usually look very grave, or sulky,
or cynical, or a mixture of all three together, but on
whose faces you see an attempt to look pleasant, the
moment their eye encounters the ever-laughing coun-
tenance of Mr. Howard. Even Mr. Roebuck himself,
I believe, must plead guilty to having, on repeated occa-
sions, suffered an agreeable look to irradiate his phy-
siognomy, when he fixed his optics for some time on
the member for Carlisle.
His features, like his voice and manner, have a good
deal of the feminine character about them. His com-
plexion is clear, and has a heathful appearance. His
face is round, but has nothing of corpulency about it.
His hair is light. In stature he is rather below the
middle size. His person is well proportioned, and he
is altogether good-looking.
Mr. Howard does not speak often: and even when
he does, it is only, as just stated, for a very short time.
I have no recollection of ever having heard him make a
speech which occupied more than five minutes in the
delivery. The average duration of his speeches is from
a minute and a half to two minutes. He deserves all
praise for regular attendance on his parliamentary
duties, and for the consistency of his political conduct.
92 Mr. Sandford.
Mr. SANDFord, member for Somersetshire, does not
often trouble the House with his speeches. He has the
good sense to perceive that he is no orator. Hence he
sometimes prudently remains mute for a whole session
at a time. And when he does open his mouth, it is
usually when a sort of necessity is imposed on him by
circumstances which he cannot control—at least not
very conveniently to himself. His longest speech—the
longest, at any rate, which I recollect him to have made
—was that which he delivered at the opening of the last
session, when he proposed an address, in answer to his
late Majesty’s most gracious speech.
This was one of those compulsory speeches to which
I have just alluded, and, like everything done on com-
pulsion, it was no very successful effort. Falstaff was
right after all, when he refused to render a reason on
compulsion. If members were their own friends, they
would follow his example, at least in so far as speech-
making is concerned. It is a curious fact, that the
most obscure members—obscure, I mean, as speakers
in the house—members who scarcely ever utter a syl-
lable at any other time, are almost invariably chosen by
ministers to move and second the address in answer to
the Sovereign’s speech.
What the motive is which prompts this selection, is
one of those things which are not, as yet, dreamt of in
my philosophy. It was clear, in the case of Mr. Sand-
ford, that the task of moving the address was one which
he could never have thought of imposing on himself.
He manifestly rose under the impression that, in making
a speech, he was making a personal sacrifice of no or-
Mr. Sandford. 93
\ -
dinary magnitude to please his ministerial friends. He
entered on the thing with a reluctance so visible, that
no one could fail to perceive it. I am sure he would
have been infinitely better pleased, had Lord John
Russell, who, as the ministerial leader of the house,
must be supposed to have been the selector on the occa-
sion, desired him to go and perform an hour or two’s
hard manual labour. The punishment in the one case
would not have deserved the name, compared with the
punishment in the other. -
The honourable member toiled through his speech as
one who was suffering the pangs of a severe penance at
every sentence he uttered. His articulation was very
indistinct: it was much worse than usual. His voice
was so feeble,” that there was no hearing him in any
part of the house but that immediately opposite and on
either side of him. There was no variety in its tones:
he speaks in the same conversational manner from be-
ginning to end. As for action, he was as innocent of
anything of that kind, with two or three exceptions
which I shall mention presently, as the Speaker’s chair.
He displayed eight or ten folio sheets of paper, folded
precisely like a lawyer's brief, which he firmly grasped
at either end by either hand. The only other use he
made of his hands, from the commencement to the
close of his oration, was that of giving them a rapid
shake when he stammered or stuttered at any sentence.
It occurred to me at the time, as a curious fact, that a
# It is but right to mention that the honourable gentleman
complained of labouring under indisposition on this occasion,
which may have impaired, to some extent, the effective delivery
of his speech. -
8%
94 Mr. Sandford.
sudden movement of his hands in this way seemed to
produce the immediate accouchement of the refractory
words with which he travailed; and I wondered, in my
own mind, whether a similar process would have brought
up the “Amen” which stuck in Macbeth’s throat. Be
this as it may, the honourable gentleman managed to get
through his speech, which occupied, as well as I can
recollect, about twenty minutes in the delivery. He
had one consolation after the delivery of the first half
dozen sentences, namely, that if he did trip or give ut-
terance to anything stupid, nobody could have detected
it; for scarcely any one paid the slightest attention to
what he was saying. This, however, as I have shown
in my former series, is no uncommon thing: it is a tri-
bute of respect which is often, when the House is in an
uproarious mood, paid to members of considerable re-
putation as speakers.
The only persons I could not forgive for their inat-
tention in this case, were the ministers themselves.
They at least ought to have listened with a respectful
attention to the speech of the honourable gentleman.
They had imposed a very unpleasant task upon him;
and they had, further, put him to the expense and trou-
ble of appearing in a dress peculiar in the house on such
occasions. And yet, notwithstanding the fact of his
being obliged to appear in this dress, sporting a sword
by his side, and wrists ornamented by lace frills; and
notwithstanding the fact, moreover, that he was doing
their service at the expense of a species of temporary
martyrdom to himself.--nothwithstanding all this, they
were actually so deficient in common politeness, to say
Mr. Sandford. 95
nothing of gratitude, as to pay no attention whatever to
his speech.
Lord John Russell seemed quite fidgetty. He as-
sumed every conceivable position he could, so as to
retain a sitting posture. How his mind was exercised,
is a question I cannot answer. One thing must have
appeared sufficiently clear to every one who observed
the noble lord—that he must have been somewhat more
sedate in his appearance when he wrote his “Essay on
the British Constitution,” and his tragedy of “Don
Carlos.” . ". -
Lord Morpeth, again, was still worse. He occasion-
ally moved his outstretched legs, as if he had been
beating time to some tune he was whistling. Then he
would throw back his head as far as it could go with
safety to his neck, and look with as earnest a gaze to the
ceiling as an astronomer would do to the starry firma-
ment. The noble Secretary for Ireland has the reputa-
tion of manifesting great physical excitement, when he
hits on what he considers a good idea, either in poetry
or in politics. I do not by any means wish to be under-
stood as hinting, that on making any such hit he would
run about under the same circumstances as Archimedes
did, crying, “I have found it! I have found it!” when
that great philosopher, on leaping into the bath, made
his celebrated discovery. I do not, I repeat, mean any-
thing of the kind in the case of the noble lord; but I
do say, he is reported to display very great physical
activity when what he conceives a happy idea flits across
his mind; and I do most certainly also say, that during
the greater part of Mr. Sandford’s speech, he evinced
96 Mr. Sandford.
as much restlessness as if he had been making a constant
succession of “hits” for his verses to the “Keepsake,”
or any of the other Annuals to which he contributes; or
for some of his parliamentary orations.
As for Mr. Spring Rice, his conduct was still less
respectful to the honourable mover of the address, than
that of either of his titled colleagues. Will it be be-
lieved that he actually quitted his seat, though it was
immediately before the place from which the honourable
gentleman spoke, and went up to the gallery, where he
put himself into various ludicrous positions, and carried
on a great deal of nonsensical conversation with other
members, as listless and as loquaciously inclined as
himself? I know people will be apt to question this. It
is true, nevertheless. f *
But, bad as this was, worse yet remains behind. Mr.
Poulett Thomson either did not countenance the honour-
able mover of the address, by vouchsafing his presence
at all; or if he did, he lost no time in making himself
scarce. Of Sir John Cam Hobhouse the same may be
said. If this game be repeated by ministers, matters
will come to this pass, that either some of themselves
must move the address, or there will be no address at all.
Mr. Sanford, though an indifferent speaker, is a very
intelligent man. His speech on the occasion to which
I refer, was characterized by the quality of good sense.
He is a man of excellent private character, and has
always been consistent in his public conduct. His age
is seemingly about fifty. He is middle sized, has brown
hair, a fair complexion, and an angular face. The ex-
pression of his countenance is pleasant, and his appear-
ance altogether is that of a country gentleman.
Mr. Brotherton. 97.
Mr. BROTHERTON, the member for Salford, is not
much known as a speaker in the house. That he is not
better known in that capacity is his own fault. Were
there no other obstacles to his becoming what is called
a popular speaker, his modesty alone would prevent his
attaining to that reputation. He wants self-confidence:
had he only a sufficient reliance on his own resources,
and were to address the House with some frequency, he
certainly would rank among that class of speakers in
the Commons, who are allowed on all hands to be more
than respectable. He seldom makes more than two or
three speeches in the course of a session, and these are
usually short. The longest I ever recollect to have
heard him make, was in the session of last year. The
subject was the condition of the factory children. The
honourable member’s speech occupied, if I remember
rightly, from fifteen to twenty minutes in the delivery;
and seldom have I seen a member more respectfully
listened to, or cheered with greater manifest cordiality
than was Mr. Brotherton on that occasion. Nor could
it have been otherwise; for his speech must have com-
mended itself to every intelligent and well-regulated
mind, equally for the soundness of its arguments, and
for the spirit of humanity which it breathed from the
first sentence to the last.
Modest and unassuming as was the demeanour of
Mr. Brotherton, and little as he fancied himself a
political economist, the Poulett Thomsons and Dr.
Bowrings, and the other traders in “ten hours” doc-
trines, would have found it one of the most difficult
tasks they ever undertook, to have answered his speech,
98 Mr. Brotherton.
even on their own commercial views. As for the hu-
manity of the question, that is a point on which there
cannot be two opinions.
Mr. Brotherton, in short, made out one of the
strongest cases which it was possible to make out on be-
half of the poor factory children, whether, viewed in
regard to the interests of the manufacturers themselves,
or the interests and happiness of, the poor infant
slaves. I have not a doubt, from the attention with
which the speech was listened to, and the repeated and
hearty cheers with which it was greeted, that Mr. Bro-
therton in no small degree contributed to bring about
the fortunate circumstance of leaving the political,
economists in a miserable majority of two, which of
course had the effect of defeating the bill, and scatter-
ing the heartless notions of the “ten hours” advocates
to the winds. I say this with the more confidence, be-
cause, the factory question not being a party one, hon.
members were left to exercise their own unfettered
judgment, and to give full play to the kindlier feelings
of their nature. What doubtless added to the effect of
Mr. Brotherton’s speech on this occasion, was the fact
of his being himself an extensive manufacturer; so that
according to the Poulett Thomson notion, he was speak-
ing against his own private interests.
Everything I have ever heard proceed from Mr. Bro-
therton, has been characterized by sound sense. His
matter, too, is always well arranged, and his statements
and arguments are so clear that no one can mistake
them. His style is plain and accurate: it possesses the
eloquence of simplicity.
Mr. Brotherton. 99
As a speaker he is respectable. He uses little or no
gesticulation beyond a gentle movement of his right
hand. His voice is not strong; or rather his self-diffi-
dence prevents his raising it to the proper pitch. It is,
however, clear and pleasant. His articulation is dis-
tinct, and his utterance well timed. He never stut-
ters or hesitates in the course of his address, but
speaks with considerable fluency. .
Mr. Brotherton is a great favourite with both sides of
the house. It were, indeed, impossible that even party
rancour could entertain towards him an unfriendly
feeling. His very countenance is redolent of good na-
ture. There is a perpetual smile upon it. Some
people who pretend to understand these things better
than I do, would ascribe his full round face, and some-
what corpulent figure, to his kindly disposition. It is
certain that it is not to be ascribed to the roast beef
which is so great a favourite with John Bull; for Mr.
Brotherton has not, during a long series of years, suf-
fered the smallest morsel of animal food to cross the
portals of his mouth. Mr. Brotherton has adopted this
resolution from the conviction that it is equally re-
pugnant to the dictates of revealed religion and of
humanity to eat animal food.” When the honourable
The following arguments for entire abstinence from animal
food are prefixed to an excellent work on “Vegetable Cookery,”
by a lady who sustains a most intimate relationship to Mr. Bro-
therton. They entirely express his views on the subject, if, in-
deed, they do not proceed from his own pen: -
“The pernicious custom of eating animal food having become
so general in this country, the following observations are sub-
mitted to the consideration of the public, in the hope that some
impartial and well-disposed persons will be thereby induced to
relinquish the practice, from a conviction that the flesh of ani-
mals is not only unnecessary for the support of man, but that a
100 Mr. Brotherton.
gentleman attends any public dinner, he is considerably
inconvenienced by the surprise expressed by those who
are unacquainted with his peculiar views on this point,
vegetable diet is more favourable to health, humanity, and re-
(2,970??. -
*That animal food is wnmecessary to the sustenance of man will
appear evident, when it is considered that, in the first ages of the
world, mankind lived wholly on the vegetable productions of the
earth, and that, even at this day, millions of human beings in
Asia and Africa subsist in a similar manner. But we need not
go back to the primitive ages, nor travel to distant climes, in order
to prove that vegetable food is nutritive and salutary; we have
the evidence at hand: the most hardy Highlanders take compara-
tively little animal food; and the Irish labourer, who works hard
and possesses much strength, lives principally on a vegetable
diet. If additional testimony were needed, proofs sufficient to
establish the practicability and salutariness of the system are
afforded in the health and strength enjoyed by the persons be-
longing to the society of which the Editor of this work is a mem-
ber, upwards of one hundred of whom have entirely abstained
from animal food and intoxicating liquor from ten to twenty
years. *
“That a vegetable diet is more favourable to health there can
be little doubt. The nations that subsist on this kind of food are
strong, robust, and capable of enduring the greatest fatigue, and
it is generally admitted that the long lives of the primitive race
of men must, in a great degree, be attributed to the wholesome-
mess of the food on which mankind, then lived. On the other
hand, we have the testimony of several eminent characters, both
ancient and modern, that many of the diseases with which man-
kind are afflicted may be ascribed to the eating of animal food.
“Dr Lambe has clearly demonstrated that not a few of the
diseases with which the people of this country are afflicted may
be attributed to this baneful diet. An eminent physician of Paris,
in a work published some years ago, has also shown that nume-
i. diseases are caused or increased by the eating of animal
€SD. sº *
“It is generally allowed that the eating of swine's flesh is the
principle cause of the scurvy, and that a vegetable diet is abso-
lutely necessary to effect a complete cure. Dr. Buchan says that
‘consumptions, so common in England, are in part owing to the
great use of animal food.’ The gout is also said to be caused, in
Some degree, by the eating of flesh-meat, and instances are on
record of its being cured by a milk diet. -
“Mr. Abernethy, whose opinion on the subject will not be ques-
tioned, says, “If you put tº: food into the stomach, it be-
comes disordered, and the whole system is affected. Vegetable
matter ferments and becomes gaseous; while animal substances
are changed into a putrid, abominable, and acrid stimulus. Now
Mr. Brotherton. 101
at his not partaking of any of the solids set before him.
Mr. Hume, and the other Reform members and friends
with whom he occasionally dines, knowing his opinions
some people acquire preposterous noses, others blotches, on the
face and different parts of the body, others inflammation of the
eyes—all arising from the irritation of the stomach. “I am often
asked,” says Mr. Abernethy, ‘why I don’t practise what I preach.
I answer by reminding the inquirer of the parson and the sign-
post; both point the way, but neither follows its course.” Thus
we see that it is easier to acknowledge a true principle than to
live according to it. &
“As a further illustration of the permicious effects of animal
flesh on the human system, the following fact may be adduced.
‘The late Sir Edward Berry prevailed on a man to live on par-
tridges, without vegetables; but after eight days’ trial he was
obliged to desist, in consequence of strong symptoms then appear-
ing of an incipient putrefaction.’ This fact alone is sufficient to
prove that it is the use of the vegetables along with the animal
substance that enables mankind to sustain the bad effects of the
latter. -
“In addition to the above, let us not forget that animals, like
human beings, are subject to diseases, uncleanliness, and sur-
feits; that diseased meat is sometimes exposed for sale, and also
that it is not a very unfrequent practice for butchers, perhaps
with diseased lungs, to blow their meat, particularly veal, to
make it look fine.
“Animal food, therefore, must always be more or less danger-
ous. For it is impossible for us to take into our stomachs putre-
fying, corrupting, and diseased animal substances, without being
subjected to foul bodily diseases, weaknesses, corruptions, and
premature death. If, then, we would enjoy health ourselves,
and avoid laying the foundation of disease in our offspring, we
must cease to degrade and bestialise our bodies, by making them
the burial-places for the carcasses of innocent brute animals,
some healthy, some diseased, and all violently murdered.
“That food has an effect on the disposition is clearly evinced
by the different tempers of the carnivorous and herbivorous ani-
mals; the former are Savage, ferocious creatures, that prowl out
at night and seek to destroy all within their reach; the others
wander tranquilly on the plains in herds, enjoy themselves in
the day, and manifest their innocence by various playful sports
with each other. The temper of the carnivorous animal, how-
ever, is materially altered by the kind of food which is given to
it. A dog, for instance, which is fed on raw flesh, is much more
fierce and rapacious than one that ſeeds on milk or vegetable
substances. And the ferocity even of a lion has been greatly
abated, and he has been rendered tractable, by being fed on vege-
table food.
vol. II.-9
102 Mr. Brotherton.
on the matter, take care to provide him with some sort
of pudding or vegetable dish in the first course; which
dish he enjoys quite as much as they do their lamb,
“The same effect of aliment is discernible among the different
mations of men. ‘The Tartars,’ says Sir JoHN SINCLAIR, who
'live principally on animal food, possess a degree of ferocity of
mind and fierceness of character which forms the leading fea-
tures of all carnivorous animals. On the other hand, a vege-
table diet gives to the disposition, as it appears in the Brahmin
and Gentoo, a mildness of feeling directly the reverse of the
former.” – -
“There can be no doubt, therefore, that the practice of slaugh-
tering and devouring animals has a tendency to strengthen in us
a murderous disposition and brutal mature, rendering us insen-
sible to pity, and inducing us more easily to sanction the mur-
dering of our fellow men. On the contrary, vegetable food
clears the intellect, preserves innocency, increases compassion
and love. •
“We shall now proceed to show that a vegetable diet ought to
be preferred from a principle of humanity. It cannot be doubted
that there exists within us by nature a repugnance to the spilling
of blood; and we cannot even see an animal tortured, much less
killed, without feelings of compassion; this feeling of the heart,
implanted by the DEITY, should be considered as a guide to
human conduct.
“Had the Creator intended man to be an animal of prey,
would He have implanted in his breast an instinct so adverse to
his purpose? | Could He mean that the human race should eat
their food with compunction and regret; that every morsel should
be purchased with a pang, and every meal of man impoisoned
with remorse? Were we forced with our own hands to kill the
animals which we devour, who is there amongst us, whose dis-
position has not been vitiated, that would not throw down with
detestation the knife, and, rather than imbrue his hands in the
blood of the innocent lamb, consent for ever to forego the favour-
ite repast? . Then ought we to induce others to commit what we
cannot freely commit ourselves? Wild beasts of the field will
seldom kill, unless impelled by hunger or in self-defence: what
excuse then can we have for such a practice, while we have so
many delicious fruits and vegetables?
“If we attend to the anatomy of the human body, it seems as
iſ man was formed by nature to be a frugivorous animal; and
that he only becomes an animal of prey by acquired habit. The
form and disposition of the intestimes is very similar to that of
the ouran-Outang, or man of the woods, an animal which lives
on fruit and vegetables. It has also been remarked that all car-
mivorous animals have a smooth and uniform colom, and all her-
bivorous animals a cellulated one. Nor do we appear to be
Mr. Brotherton. 103
game, fowls, or the other solids set before them. How- .
ever much I may dissent from the views of Mr. Brother-
ton in this particular, I venerate his moral courage in
adapted by nature to the use of animal food from the conforma-
tion of the teeth. The carnivorous animals, such as lions, tigers,
wolfs, dogs, &c., have their teeth long, sharp, and uneven, with
intervals between them; but the herbivorous animals, such as
horses, cows, sheep, goats, &c., have their teeth short, broad,
blunt, adjoining one another, and distributed in even rows.
Now, as man has received from nature teeth which are unlike
those of the first class, and resemble those of the second, it seems
that nature intended him to follow, in the selection of his food, not
the carnivorous tribes, but those races of animals which are con-
tented with the simple productions of the earth.
“Some persons, however, will argue that man is a mixed ani-
mal, and designed to live upon both animal and vegetable Sub-
stances, because he does so live. This reminds us of a circum-
stance mentioned by Buffon, of a sheep being so trained to eat
mutton that it would no longer eat grass; but will any man con-
tend that sheep were designed to live on mutton, because their
nature might be so far perverted as in the case above mentioned?
If, then, men have degenerated from their original simplicity
and innocence, is it to be contended that custom is a sufficient
proof that their conduct is now right? Others say that animals
eat each other, and why may we not eat them? What! because
we see a wolf worry a lamb, are we to imitate the practice, and
inherit the disposition of the wolf? . Some modern sophists will
sarcastically ask, ‘Why is man furnished with the canine or dog-
teeth, except that nature meant him to be carnivorous? Is then
the propriety of an action to be determined purely by the physical
capacity of the agent? Is it right to do everything we have the
power to do? Because nature has furnished man with the capa-
city to devour human flesh, will any one pretend that he was made
to feed on his fellow men? The possessing of similar instruments,
powers, or capacities, ought not to be too much relied upon as
indications of nature, with respect to the mode of living. Hares
and rabbits have feet very similar, but how different are their
habits! A dog has claws, and he will make a hole in the ground
with them to get at a mouse; but he will not burrow in the ground
to escape from the cold: therefore it would be absurd to infer that
he was designed by nature to live like a rabbit. The ouran-outang
and man have similar teeth; the former lives entirely on fruits,
and the latter gives proofs that he can devour every kind of ani.
mal, from the oyster to the elephant. Another question asked by
the opposers of this humane System is, “If we should live entirely
on vegetable food,” what would become of the cattle? They would
grow so numerous, they would produce a famine, or eat us up if
we did not kill and eat them.' . These are rather suppositions
than arguments, mere ſancies, because unexperienced. But it
104 - Mr. Brotherton.
acting on convictions which run so counter to the gene-
rally received impressions and practices on the point.
Mr. Brotherton is not only a man of the highest order
of principle, but is exceedingly good-natured; as, in-
deed, every one must be convinced who has ever seen
his pleasant and benevolent-looking countenance. A
more harmless or inoffensive man was never returned
to the house. If all the members were as disposed as
Mr. Brotherton to live peaceably with each other, we
should be spared those uproarious scenes which, to the
discredit of the performers, the floor of the Lower
House so often exhibits. -
Mr. Brotherton has brought himself into notice, as a
member of the House of Commons, principally by his
efforts to put an end to legislation after half-past twelve
o'clock. A more praiseworthy object was never con-
templated. The only source of regret is, that Mr.
brotherton’s motions for carrying it into effect have
hitherto been defeated. Let him, however, persevere.
Triumph is sure eventually, and that at no distant pe-
riod, to crown his exertions. And when his object is
accomplished, he will have the satisfaction of reflecting
that he has rendered his country a service of no ordi-
nary magnitude. I can bear personal testimony to the
fact, that a great deal of that crude and mischievous
may be observed that there are abundance of animals in the
world which men do not kill for food, and yet we do not hear of
their injuring mankind, or becoming too numerous. Besides,
many classes of animals live but a short time, and many of them
perish unless attention is paid to them by men. Cattle are at pre-
sent an article of trade, and their numbers are industriously pro-
moted. If cows and sheep were kept solely for their milk and
fleece, and if they should become too numerous, mankind would
readily find means of reducing them, without having recourse to
the butcher's knife.” - -
Mr. Brotherton. . 105
legislation of which everybody complains, is to be traced
to the late hours to which the House used to be in the
habit of sitting.
After half-past twelve the great body of the members
quit the house, except when a division is expected on
some great political question, and proceed either to the
club-houses, the gambling-houses, or other places, leav-
ing the work of legislation to be performed by some
thirty or forty individuals, some of whom may be per-
sonally interested in the questions under consideration,
or to be brought before the House. If, therefore, there
is to be any jobbing, then is the time for it. But even
when there is no jobbing, nor any disposition to jobbing,
the business of the nation, must, as a matter of course,
be grossly mismanaged, from being left in the hands of
a few members, who, at such late hours, must necessa-
rily be fatigued and unfit for legislation. The best
proof of this is to be found in the fact, that after half-
past twelve, a very fair sprinkling of the remaining
members is generally to be seen stretched out on the
benches, in as horizontal and straight a position as if
some undertaker were in the act of taking their longi-
tude. But should a distinction be set up between oc-
cupying such a position at that hour of the night—
(morning would be the correct term)—and the fact of the
honourable gentlemen being asleep, let any one listen
a few moments, and ten to one but he will be convinced
that they are fast locked in the arms of Morpheus, by
the unmusical sounds, commonly called snores, with
which his ears will be greeted. But what matters it,
practically, whether these horizontal, straight-line gen-
9% 2 ”
106 Mr. Brotherton.
tlemen, are asleep or awake? They are taking no more
part in the business of the House than if they were a
hundred miles from the locality of Westminster. Only
fancy a member suddenly starting up from such a posi-
tion to make a speech, or to offer some observations on
, the subject under the consideration of the House! Be-
sides, it is at variance with the habits of all respectable
men, and with the usages of society, to do that business
after midnight, which may as well be done in the usual
hours. It is, consequently, an unseemly, thing on the
part of the legislature to extend its deliberations, or
rather its sittings—for there is very little deliberation
in the matter—beyond twelve o’clock, or half-past
twelve at furthest.
To put an end to this improper and discreditable
state of things, has been the great and praiseworthy
object of Mr. Brotherton for the last three years. And
though defeated, as already mentioned, in his efforts to
get the House to pass a resolution that its sittings should
on no occasion, except when engaged in debate, extend
beyond half-past twelve, there is another way in which
the thing may be accomplished. That way is by mov-
ing an adjournment of the House whenever the minute
hand of the clock points to half-past twelve. This, it
is true, would put the honourable member for Salford
to a good deal of trouble. That, however, I am sure
he would not grudge, for the accomplishment of so great
an object. Indeed, he has already given abundant proof
that the trouble would not cost him a moment’s thought;
for all last session he regularly, as the hour of half-past
twelve arrived, rose to move the adjournment of the
Mr. Brotherton. . 107
House. What Mr. Brotherton wants, to insure the
desired consummation of sending all the members home
to their beds, or, at all events, turning them out of the
House of Commons, at that hour, is energy or decision
of character. -
His radical error, in all the instances in which he
failed last session, was in listening at all to the en-
treaties of honourable members to desist from his pur-
pose. I allow that it was no easy matter to resist their
solicitations; for to say nothing of the “Oh! ohs!” which
proceeded from what Mr. O’Connell would call the
“leather lungs” of certain gentlemen, whenever he rose,
I have seen him entreated by the hands as well as by
the “most sweet voices” of three or four other honour-
able members all at once. I have seen one look him
most imploringly in the face, and heard him say in tones
and with a manner as coaxing as if the party had been
wooing his mistress—“O do not just yet, Mr. Brother-
ton: wait one other half hour until this matter be dis-
posed of.” I have seen a second seize him by the right
arm, while a third grasped him by the left, with a view
of causing him to resume his seat; and when his sense
of duty overcame all these efforts to seduce or force
him from its path, I have seen a fourth honourable gen-
tleman rush to the assistance of the others, and taking
hold of the tails of his coat, literally press him to his
seat. I have seen Mr. Brotherton, with a perseverance
beyond all praise in this righteous and most patriotic
cause, suddenly start again to his feet in less than five
minutes, and move a second time the adjournment of
the house, and I have again had the misfortune to see
108 . Mr. Brotherton.
physical force triumph over the best moral purposes.
Five or six times have I witnessed the repetition of this
in one night. On one occasion, I remember seeing an
honourable member actually clap his hand on Mr. Bro-
therton’s mouth, in order to prevent his moving the
dreaded adjournment. r
I mention these things, in order that the public may
be able to form some idea of the difficulties with which
the honourable member for Salford has to contend, and
the amount of resistance, physical as well as moral,
which he is doomed to encounter, in his endeavours to
, insure a regular adjournment of the house at a season-
able hour. Let him, however, as I before said, perse-
vere, and success is sure ere long to reward his efforts.
When honourable members see that he is not to be de-
terred from his purpose, but is determined to accom-
plish it under any circumstances, they will soon cease
to oppose him; and his object will be gained. -
Mr. Brotherton, though now a rich manufacturer,
was once a poor factory boy. And he has the greatness
of mind not to be ashamed of his humble origin. I shall
never forget the effect produced four years ago, on his
advocating the cause of the factory children, when he
emphatically said that he had been once a poor factory
boy himself.
Mr. Brotherton’s politics are decidedly liberal, but
not ultra-radical. He is a man of excellent moral
character. He is a dissenter; he belongs either to the
Independent or Baptist persuasion. He is about the
middle height, and, as formerly stated, rather stoutly
made. His complexion is dark, and his hair is of a jet
Mr. Shaw Lefevre. 109
black. His manners and appearance are plain. He
would be apt to be taken for a country gentleman. His
age is about fifty.
CHAPER X.
LIBERAL ENGLISH MEMBERs.
(CONTINUED.)
Mr. Shaw Lefevre—Mr. E. S. Cayley–Mr. Grantley
Berkeley—Mr. C. Williers—Mr. Williams—Mr. Charles
Hindley—Sir William Molesworth—Mr. Leader—Mr.
Charles Lushington—Mr. James.
MR. SHAw LEFEVRE, the member for North Hamp-
shire, is, as the name imports, of French extraction. As
a speaker in the house, he is not much known; but the
respect in which he is held by all who know him, in
conjunction with his popularity among the members of
his own party, entitle him to a notice in a work of this
nature. He is a man of excellent private character, and
has always acted with the strictest consistency as a poli-
tician. He is a special favourite with his constituents;
even the Tories of North Hampshire hold him in such
high esteem, that it is understood many of them would
as much regret his retirement from the representation
of that division of the county, as the Liberals them-
selves. I chanced to be present in Winchester at his
re-election* last year, when I heard the highest enco-
* The last election for North Hampshire reminded me of one of
the elections in the town councils of Scotland under the close
110 Mr. Shaw Lefevre.
miums pronounced upon him by all parties. His con-
duct and demeanour are such as could not fail to com-
mand the esteem of all with whom he comes in contact.
He is a man of great urbanity of manner. He is also a
man of extensive information on most of the topics which
occupy the attention of the legislatu Te. .
I am surprised that, with his respectable talents, the
extent of his information, and the respectful attention
with which he is always listened to by the House, he
does not speak oftener. I am convinced that if he were
borough system. Mr. Shaw Lefevre himself, owing to a domestic
affliction, was not present; but the other candidate, Sir William
Heathcote, was one of the spectators of the ceremony. The two
candidates were duly proposed and seconded, and elected in the
regular matter-of-course style. There was the usual shower of
eulogies. Sir William Heathcote, the Tory candidate, heard
all that was said in his ſavour by both mover and seconder,
without a blush. The sheriff having declared him duly elected,
he was at once expected to make a speech by way of returning
thanks for the honour done him. “Now then for Sir William’s
speech!” shouted scores of voices: and many were the ears that
were opened to drink in his eloquence. “Ah!” said a lady of
antiquity who stood beside me, “you’ll get no speech from him.
He is not so fond of talking as that.” Just as the venerable lady
made the remark, a fight was commenced in the crowd. All
eyes were withdrawn from Sir William, and turned towards the
parties who appeared pugilistically disposed. , Hints were
dropped that the fight was a sham one, got up for the purpose of
affording the honourable baronet a pretext for dispensing with a
º; This was probably an invention of the Liberal party, in
the depth of their mortification that he should have been returned.
Be this as it may, Sir William did certainly avail himself with
great adroitness of the opportunity thus afforded him of escaping
from the labour of speech-making. He instantly snatched up his
hat, quitted the window whence he was expected to speak, and
walked himself out of the room, and away from the place of
meeting, without even one word in the shape of returning thanks.
“Ah!” said the old lady referred to, with much glee, “I knew
how it would be. Sir William was born with a silver spoon in
his mouth. He'll never take any trouble, if he can help it.” It
was edifying to see how soon the fighting ceased after the
honourable baronet disappeared; and it was no less so to find that
ºr of the pugilists had inflicted the slightest injury on the
Other,
Mr. E. S. Cayley. 111
to do so, he would soon attain a more than respectable
status as a speaker. His matter, if deficient in depth,
has usually the attribute of good sense to recommend it.
His speeches are always short. He seems to be in a
hurry to get through what he means to say; hence he
gives a great deal of matter in a small compass. His
style is smooth and easy, without exhibiting any appear-
ance of that polish which is the effect of study. His
delivery is rapid, but always fluent. He is scarcely
ever at a loss for the proper phraseology; nor does he,
except in rare cases, and then but slightly, falter in his
utterance. His enunciation is distinct, and he has a
clear and agreeable voice of considerable compass. He
is moderate in his action. When he rises, he usually
puts his hat under his left arm, and makes a gentle
movement with his right hand. He generally fixes his
eye as exclusively on some particular member, as if that
member were the only individual in the house.
In person Mr. Shaw Lefevre is about the middle
height, with a slight inclination to the athletic form. He
is a good-looking man, with a very intellectual expres-
sion of countenance. His complexion is clear, and
symptomatic of good health. He is on the right side of
fifty.
Mr. E. S. CAYLEy, the member for Yorkshire, (North
Riding,) is a man of some note among the farmers. His
opinions are respected by the landed gentlemen in the
house. He seldom lets slip an opportunity of express-
ing his sentiments on agricultural subjects, when those
subjects are under consideration. On currency topics,
too, he takes a deep interest. He is a zealous opponent
112 Mr. E. S. Cayley.
of an exclusive metallic currency, and strenuously ad-
vocates a recurrence to a small-note circulation. He
hardly ever speaks on any other subjects than agricul-
ture and the currency. Occasionally he addresses the
House at some length: the longest time, I think, he ever
occupied its attention was about the beginning of last
session, when he gave them a full hour, not by the
Shrewsbury clock, but by the clock of the house. He
is one of the prosy gentlemen with whom St. Stephen’s
abounds. His more lengthy orations are only tolerated,
not listened to. And even the toleration which many
members—Mr. Peter Borthwick and Mr. Arthur Tre-
vor, for example—would be delighted to receive, even
this toleration is only extended to him in consideration
of his only speaking at any length two or three times
a session. I am satisfied that with the exception of some
half-dozen landed gentlemen, whose ears are taken
captive whenever they hear the words “agricultural
interest” pronounced—I am satisfied that, with this ex-
ception, not one of the “deliberative” senators in the
house could repeat as much of what he has said when he
resumes his seat, as a seven or eight years’ urchin could
of a minister’s sermon, when asked by his parents to be
attentive.
Mr. Cayley’s manner is much against him. His ar-
ticulation is very imperfect, and he is seldom suffi-
ciently audible. He opens his mouth wide enough, and
yet the words come out of it as if some extraordinary
violence were offered to them in the process of their
birth. His utterance is, besides, much too rapid for his
articulation to be distinct. His voice, is either feeble,
Mr. E. S. Cayley. 113
or he gives very unfair play to his lungs. His voice
has no variety; anything more monotonous it were im-
possible to conceive. He has now become so habitu-
ated to the same everlasting low tone, that I do not
think he could, by any effort, succeed in varying it.
Were he himself to say to his friends, that he meant to
make a speech on some given night, in a different key
from that in which he is in the habit of addressing the
House, and that he meant, in the course of his oration,
to treat his honourable auditors with sundry modula-
lations of his voice, I am sure the betting would be
twenty to one against his succeeding. Not more un-
changeable, I am satisfied, is the Ethiopian’s skin, than
is Mr. Cayley’s voice. Nor is the heaviness which
attaches to him in this respect as a speaker, in any
measure redeemed by his gesture. It is quite as mo-
notonous as his voice. He always, when addressing the
house, does one of two things: he either places his arms
a-kimbo, and in that attitude hurries through his speech,
or he gives a gentle incessant motion to his right arm,
which is nearly as regular in its undulations as the
movements of a pendulum. - .
But though Mr. Cayley be no orator, he is a very in-
telligent man. There are few members, perhaps, who
are better informed on the currency and agricultural
questions; and the matter of his speeches, though In eVel"
brilliant, has always the quality of good sense to re-
commend it. His style is plain but correct, and he
seldom has occasion to hesitate for the proper word, or
to recall an unsuitable one, to replace it by a happier.
In his political opinions he is a liberal Whig.
vol. II.-10
114 Mr. Grantley Berkeley.
Mr. Cayley’s personal appearance is not command-
ing. His head is deficient in hair; it is partially bald.
To counterbalance, however, his deprivation of hair on
his head, he can boast of a couple of whiskers of very
ample proportions. They are of a brownish colour; so
is the limited harvest of hair on his head. His face is
thin, and his features are somewhat hard. He has a
pale complexion; the expression of his countenance is,
on the whole, agreeable and intelligent. In stature he
is about the middle height, and is somewhat slenderly
made. He is seemingly about forty-five years of age.
The Hon. GRANTLEY BERKELEY, the member for
West Gloucestershire, makes just one speech every
session, and that speech is always on the same subject.
The subject is the admission of ladies to the gallery of
the house, to hear the debates and witness the proceed-
ings. As a member of the legislature, this is the only
question with which Mr. Berkeley identifies himself.
He is a good enough reformer, and a very respectable
member of parliament otherwise, as far as his votes go;
but still no inducement in the world would make him
open his mouth in the house on any other subject.
“Every one,” says the proverb, “to his taste;” and
speaking with all sincerity, I can see no reason why
people should quarrel with Mr. Grantley Berkeley—as
I know they do quarrel with him—for indulging in his.
There are dozens of members who, like him, have but
one idea in their minds. Mr. Thomas Atwood, for ex-
ample, was never known to make a speech in parliament,
be the subject of debate what it might, without an effort
to hammer his notions respecting the currency into the
Mr. Grantley Berkeley. 115
heads of members. Mr. Wallace and the Post-office
are synonymous terms; and Mr. Tennison D'Eyncourt
and triennial parliaments are a species of Siamese twins;
that is to say, if we can with propriety apply the expres-
sion in a case where one of the subjects is physical, and
the other a mental abstraction. Now, I should like to
know what are Messrs. Attwood, Wallace, and Tenny-
son D'Eyncourt, that they should be allowed to have
their stated field-days every session, when bringing for-
ward their favourite subjects, while some people set up
a growl of dissatisfaction at Mr. Grantley Berkeley for
bringing forward his annual motion for the ad mission of
ladies into the gallery. The trio of gentlemen whose
names I have mentioned, usually occupy from two to
three hours of the time of the house every session, in
wading through their dull details, while Mr. Grantley
Berkeley’s speech is invariably restricted to ten mi-
nutes’ duration. Is not this superior brevity a great
recommendation in the honourable gentleman’s favour?
I am surprised at the shortness of his speeches on so
tempting a theme. I admire the philosophy of the man
who can expatiate in such a place as the House of Com-
mons on the claims of the ladies, and yet with unfailing
regularity limit the duration of his oration to the short
space of ten minutes. There are few men in the house,
who can speak at all, whose philosophy would prove so
effectual a match for their gallantry. I know some men
in the house, though I will not name them, who, if once
they were set a-going on such a subject, would, as an
Irishman would say, not stop at all.
I am surprised that in a house where such transcen-
116 Mr. C. Williers.
dent gallantry is professed as in the House of Commons,
Mr. Grantley Berkeley’s efforts to procure admission
for the ladies into the gallery should always be defeated.
And what may appear still more surprising is the fact,
that in most cases the greatest dandies—those who pro-
fess to pay such extreme attention to their dress from
their devotion to the fair sex—are the most strenuous
in their efforts to continue the exclusion of the ladies.
But, to use a familiar expression, “I see how it all is;”
these coxcomb legislators are so vain of having their
own persons admired, that they cannot bear the idea of
having such a phalanx of female beauty in the house as
would, of necessity, withdraw attention entirely from
themselves. Some of these dandy legislators not only
display a profusion of rings on their fingers, and sport
“splendid chains” on their breasts, and lace as tightly
almost as the ladies themselves; but you may nose them
at a distance of many yards, through means of the rich
perfumes with which they scent the surrounding atmos-
phere.
Mr. Grantley Berkeley acquits himself very credit-
ably as a speaker. I presume he previously prepares
his brief speeches; at any rate, he delivers them with
seeming ease. There is nothing peculiar in his voice or
manner. He is tall and athletic in his personal appear-
ance, and has very gentlemanly manners. He has a
round full face, with rather marked features. His
complexion is darkish. I should suppose his age to be
about forty-five.
Mr. C. WILLIERs, the member for Wolverhampton, is
one of those who are well known in the house, though they
Mr. C. Willier8. 117
seldom take part in the debates. When he does speak,
except it be on the Corn Laws, you may rest assured
that he will not inflict on you a long harangue. He
very justly thinks—and happy were it for Mr. Aber-
cromby, the House, and the country, if all other M.P.'s
were of the same opinion—that it is very unreasonable
for one man systematically to monopolise all the talk to
himself, for a whole hour or hour and a half. If Mr.
Williers were to occupy the time of the House for more
than half an hour at a time, on any other than the sub-
ject just named—he seldom speaks above ten or twelve
minutes—I am sure he would feel that he had committed
a sin of too great magnitude to admit of his extending
forgiveness to himself. He is an intelligent man, and
of more than respectable talents. If he have no pre-
tensions to a great or comprehensive mind, you never
hear him speak without deriving information from what
he says, and without having many solid arguments in
favour of the view which he takes of the question before
the House, impressed on your mind. He is always
clear, and rarely wanders from the point. He is not of
the discursive school. He does not aim at effect. To
make a display is a thing which does not appear ever
to have entered into his head. He does not speak in
order that he may be admired as a speaker, but because
he either can, or fancies he can, contribute in some de-
gree to place the question before the House in its proper
light. &
Mr. C. Williers is steadily rising in parliamentary
reputation. His information is varied and accurate,
and he turns it, in most cases, to good account. In the
10%
118 Mr. C. Williers.
course of the present session, he made a very able and
argumentive speech, in opposition to the Corn Laws,
which occupied two hours in the delivery, and which
was of itself sufficient to have given him some reputa-
tion in the house. What struck me particularly in his
speech, was the clearness with which he treated an in-
tricate subject, and the interest he contrived to impart
to topics which are generally considered of a dry and
unattractive nature. I have not often heard a speech
in which there was a greater body of figures and facts
blended with strong arguments. He was listened to with
a degree of attention by the house, which is seldom ac-
corded to honourable members when they speak for so
long a space of time on such topics. And so engrossed
was the honourable gentleman himself with his subject,
that it was with difficulty he could be persuaded, after
he had resumed his seat, that he had been on his legs
above half the time. A gentleman who saw him a few
minutes after he had concluded his address, lately men-
tioned to me, that on his observing to him that he had
made a two hours’ speech, he looked, in the first in-
stance, as if he had supposed the observation was meant
ironically, and that the party intended to convey the
idea, that either his matter or his manner, or both, had
been so dull, that those who heard him had really
thought he had been thrice the length of time on his
legs which he actually was. “You began at six,” said
the gentleman. “I did,” was the answer of Mr. Wil-
liers. “And it is only a few minutes since you con-
cluded:” There was no denying it, and Mr. Williers
accordingly assented. “Well, and it is fifteen minutes
Mr. C. Villiers. 119
past eight now,” continued the other, drawing out his
watch. The fact stared Mr. Williers in the face, and
he was surprised that he should have thought the time
so short.
Mr. Williers possesses considerable readiness as a
public speaker. He does not write his speeches, ex-
cept in peculiar circumstances. It consists with my
own knowledge that he did not write the speech to
which I have referred, though extending to so great a
length, and though so largely interspersed with figures
and facts. From this circumstance I infer that he must
at once have an excellent memory, and superior talents
for promptly marshalling his facts, arranging his figures,
and putting his arguments and ideas into proper order.
His style is perspicuous and expressive. There is no
appearance of effort about it. He dislikes a fustian and
tinsil diction, and would not on any consideration sport
a far-fetched, sickly sentimentality. He speaks with
much ease: addressing the house does not seem to be a
task to him. His utterance is rapid, but not so much
so as to affect the distinctness of his articulation. His
voice is clear and pleasant. I am convinced he has
never done it justice in the house. He is always audi-
ble, but there is a want of variety and volume in the
tones of his voice, simply because he does not take the
trouble to turn its capabilities to proper account. His
action is moderate: he slightly moves his head and
body backwards and forwards, and when he comes to
what he conceives a good point in his speech, applies
his right hand with considerable force to the back of
the seat before him. His manners and appearance al-
120 Mr. C. Williers.
together are unassuming. He has an open, cheerful ex-
pression of countenance. His eyes are clear and intel-
ligent. His features are small and regular, and his
complexion is rather darkish, but indicative of good
health. His hair is of a light-brown hue. In person he
is about the general height, and well formed. He is a
young man, being only about his fortieth year.
Mr. WILLIAMs, the member for Coventry, is one of
those who are well known both in the house and out of
doors, though they speak but seldom. He addresses
the House three or four times in the course of a session,
and thinks it would be an unwarrantable intrusion of
himself on its attention, were he to present himself
oftener. What his notion may be theoretically about
long speeches, I have not the means of knowing; but,
judging from his own practice, he has no predilection
for them. If brevity be with other people the soul of
wit, the same quality is, to all appearance, with him,
the soul of a good speech. I have no doubt he has come
to this conclusion from observing, as every one must
have done, who has been doomed like him to spend
night after night in the House of Commons, that short
speeches usually tell with the best effect. Ten minutes
I should take to be the maximum of the time which
Mr. Williams occupies in the delivery of his speeches.
He is not a man of superiors talents. He has no origi-
nality; nor does he show ingenuity in his illustrations,
or vigour in his mode of expressing himself. His chief
merit as a legislator consists in his intelligence, his good
sense, and his integrity. He is a man of considerable
information; he usually takes a sensible view of a sub-
Mr. Williams. 121
ject; and is allowed, on all hands, to be a consistent
and straightforward politician. He generally acts with
the extreme Radicals in parliament, though he rarely
or ever attends any of their meetings out of doors. He
is a great favourite with his constituents: indeed, the
manifest honesty of his purpose, his good nature, and
his unassuming manners, could not fail to commend
him to all who come into contact with him. Mr. Wil-
liams has no pretensions as a public speaker. His mat-
ter is heavy: he seldom seeks to enliven it with any-
thing of a light or sprightly kind. He deals, too, on
most occasions, rather liberally in facts and statements.
His style wants polish, and is often made to appear
worse than it is by his imperfect delivery. He occa-
sionally stutters, and has to recall his words to substi-
tute others more appropriate for them. His voice has
no flexibility; it is the same at all times and on all sub-
jects. It partakes of the bass quality. He has little
or no action; beyond a moderate movement of his right
arm, he can scarcely be said to use any gesture at all.
He is more animated, and seemingly more at home in
the common council, of which he has been long a mem-
ber, and in whose proceedings he takes an active part.
Mr. Williams, as already intimated, is a plain-look-
ing man. He dresses plainly, and has all the appear-
ance of one who glories in the absence of everything
fine or affected. He is above the general height, and
proportionably made. He is of a sallow complexion,
and has dark bristly hair, which looks as if it had a
natural tendency to form itself into imperfect curls.
His face is common-place. It partakes slightly of the
122 Mr. Charles Hindley.
round form. The honourable gentleman is apparently
between his forty-second and forty-sixth year.
Mr. C. HINDLEY, member for Ashton-Under-Lyne,
does not take a prominent part in the discussions of the
House; a circumstance at which I am much surprised;
for he is not only a man of varied and accurate informa-
tion on most of the questions which come under the
consideration of parliament, but he is a highly respect-
able speaker. Let me not be understood as here wish-
ing to convey the idea, that the honourable gentleman
has any pretensions to the name of an orator. When
I characterize him as a speaker, I mean that he speaks
with much ease, and in such a way as, in most cases,
to insure the attention of the most intelligent members
of the house. He always evinces a thorough acquaint-
ance with his subject, and often speaks with very great
effect. I have known him on several occasions make a
deep impression on the House. He is one of those who
warms and becomes more animated with his theme.
His happiest efforts have always been those in which
the question at issue involved to a great extent the
principles of justice and humanity. He is one of the
most humane men in the house. And be it said to his
everlasting honour, that when his own private interests
come in collision with the claims of humanity, he never
hesitates a moment in sacrificing the former to the latter.
A memorable instance of this was furnished by the
onourable gentleman when the subject of the fac-
tory children’s hours of labour was before the House.
Though himself an extensive cotton manufacturer in
Lancashire, and though one of those who have benefited
Mr. Charles Hindley. 123
to a very large amount annually by the protracted hours
of labour in the factories, he was one of the most zeal-
ous advocates for short hours, from considerations of
pure humanity to the youthful unfortunates themselves.
It was a positive luxury to hear Mr. Hindley, Mr. Bro-
therton, and various other honourable gentlemen, ad-
dressing the House, when the Factory Bill was under
consideration. How striking the contrast between the
spirit which their speeches breathed, and that which
pervaded the heartless harangues of Whig political eco-
nomists! :
Mr. Hindley is a most benevolent as well as humane
man, and his benevolence, like his humanity, is not con-
fined, as that of too many is, to mere speculation. It is
embodied in acts. I learn from private sources of in-
formation, and have great pleasure in recording the fact,
that he yearly expends a very large portion of his wealth
in the promotion of benevolent objects. His benevo-
lence—and that, after all, will be found the only genu-
ine benevolence—is based on the doctrines of evangeli-
cal religion. Mr. Hindley is, I believe, a congrega-
tional dissenter. *
Though not, as before stated, in the habit of taking
an active part in the debates in the house, the honour-
able gentleman is regular in his attendance on his legis-
lative duties, and is in every respect a member of great
practical utility. He is a good man of business, and is
one of the most efficient members on committees.
Usually, when he commences his speeches, he speaks
in so low and subdued a tone as to be scarcely audible
in the more distant parts of the house; but when, as
124 Sir William Molesworth.
already observed, he proceeds a little further, especially
if the question involve any great principle of humanity,
he becomes warmer and more energetic, and then he not
only speaks in sufficiently loud tones, but his voice is
pleasant, and is sometimes modulated with considerable
effect. His utterance is, if any thing, rather hurried.
He speaks with considerable fluency; rarely hesitating
for a suitable expression, or having to recall a wrong
word in order that a right one may be substituted. His
action is variable. Sometimes he has scarcely any; at
other times he liberally moves his arms, especially his
right arm, backwards and forwards, and looks from one
part of the opposite side of the house to the other. In
most cases, however, he chiefly addresses himself to the
Speaker. There is always great earnestness in his
manner: there is no resisting the conclusion that he
speaks from conviction, and only from conviction.
As a speaker his personal appearance is not in his
favour. He is of less than the average height, of a pale
complexion, rather thin face, and has a thoughtful ex-
pression of countenance. His features are strongly
marked: his eyes are deeply set, and he has a protruding
forehead. His hair is of a darkish hue, and usually
hangs carelessly about his brow. If his appearance may
be depended on, his age is about forty-five.
Sir WILLIAM MoLEsworth, the member for Leeds,
has acquired very great prominency, both within and
without the walls of parliament, of late. He is a young
man of some promise: he possesses very respectable
talents as a literary man, and acquits himself very
creditably as a public speaker, including in the phrase
Sir William Molesworth. 125
the matter of his speeches. It is true that he always
prepares his speeches beforehand, writing them out
most carefully, and then committing them verbatim to
memory; but ás he is so young, being only in his twenty-
eighth year, it is not improbable that as he increases in
confidence in his own powers, he may become a respect-
able extemporaneous speaker. His plan of writing out
his speeches is one which, in the case of any young man
just entering on an important public career, is worthy
of all commendation. I wish it were more generally
adopted by our senators in the House of Commons: we
should, in that case, be spared much of the crude undi-
gested matter, and everlasting repetitions, which those
in the way of attending that house are doomed to hear
night after might, and which are inflicted on the public
through the columns of the papers of the following morn-
ing. Writing one’s speeches insensibly causes the party
to arrange his ideas in their proper order: it prevents
that excess of mere words, which, with few exceptions,
characterizes extemporaneous effusions, and it guards
against repetitions. Sir William Molesworth’s speeches
usually indicate a deeply reflective mind. They prove
him to be possessed of the faculty of close and continu-
ous reasoning. His style is always clear: it does not
want vigour, but there is a harshness about it, which
impairs the effect his speeches—I speak of them as read
—would otherwise produce. It cannot but strike every
one capable of judging on the point, that he bestows
much more pains on his matter than his manner—on his
ideas than on his diction. This is certainly to be preferred
to the circumstance—a very common one, by the way,
vol. II. —11
126 Sir William Molesworth.
both with our legislative orators and with authors—of
sacrificing one’s matter to the manner, the sentiments
to the style; but I conceive it quite possible to give due
attention to both. I am afraid, however, that there is
little hope of Sir William Molesworth improving, in any
very marked degree, in his language. I fear he has de-
liberately formed his style on a bad model, and that he
thinks it is unexceptionable. I should like him to be dis-
abused of this notion, if he really does entertain it. If he
could only be prevailed on to endeavour to round his pe-
riods somewhat more, and to impart a greater smoothness
to his style, he would speak with much more effect. As a
writer, the gain to him would be still greater.
As a mere Speaker, apart from his matter, Sir Wil-
liam Molesworth does not rank high. His voice is feeble,
and has little or no power of intonation. He is just
audible when the house is in a tolerably tranquil state,
and that is all. When the house is in an uproarious
mood, even though only moderately so, he is not heard
at any distance from the place whence he speaks. His
enunciation is somewhat rapid, as is almost invariably
the case with those who speak from memory. The very
mistakes he makes show how carefully he has committed
his speech to his faculty of remembrance. His attitudes .
were, for some time after he entered parliament, highly
theatrical. Now he is more subdued in his action.
Sometimes, indeed, he runs to the other extreme of
using no gesticulation at all. I have seen him, on more
than one occasion, fold his arms in each other on his
breast, and in that attitude remain during the delivery
of a speech which occupied ten or fifteen minutes. On
Sir William Molesworth. 127
such occasions he has strongly reminded me of a school-
boy giving a recitation at an annual examination. Sir
William always, when he speaks, advances two or
three feet from the first bench towards the middle of
the floor, and with his back to the door, and his eye
intently fixed on the Speaker or the Speaker’s chair, I
am not sure which, remains in that position till he
has uttered his last word. His pronunciation is most
affected. It is quite of a dandified order. A better
specimen of “a fine young gentleman,” when address-
ing the House, you could not desire to meet with.
His personal appearance has nothing commanding
about it. He is of the middle height, and of a passably
good figure. His complexion is fair, and his hair is of
a colour approaching to redness. It is usually long
and flowing, and sometimes falls down over his eyes.
His features are irregular. He uses a glass for his right
eye so frequently, that I am sure he must sometimes
fancy he is looking through his glass when it is dangling
by means of a black ribbon on his breast; on no other
hypothesis can I account for his sometimes making such
queer faces, that a stranger would conclude he had a
very marked habitual squint.
Sir William is an excellent scholar. He has a good
knowledge of languages, and is, I believe, a superior
mathematician. He was expelled the University of
Cambridge under singular circumstances. His private
tutor, who was also a fellow-student, having quarrelled
with another student, determined on calling out the lat-
ter. Sir William was the bearer of the challenge, and of
128 Sir William Molesworth.
t.
course was to be his tutor’s second. The party chal-
lenged, having no notion of exposing his person to the
fire of his antagonist, gave information of the circum-
stance of his being challenged,—not to the magistrates,
but to the head master of the university. The latterim-
mediately decided on the expulsion both of the intended
principal and his second, which expulsion was duly car-
ried into effect. But what, it will be asked, became of
the party challenged? Why, he was expelled also; not,
certainly, in the same way as Sir William and his friend,
but by the other students. They literally persecuted
and hissed him out of the university, for what they
considered ignoble conduct,-not so much because he
refused to fight, as for his playing the part of an in-
former against two fellow-students.
Sir William Molesworth is a man of great energy of
character and decision of conduct. He'“goes the whole
hog” in Radicalism, and presents a bold front, both to
Whigs and Tories, in the House of Commons. Though
he stood alone in that house, I believe he would as fear-
lessly assert his principles as if he knew he had a ma-
jority of the house with him. I admire this trait in Sir
William’s character, without at all identifying myself
with his extreme opinions. I like to see a man boldly
and fearlessly avow his views, whatever they may be,
when they are the result of conviction after mature de-
liberation. It is his resolute and straight-forward course
of conduct which gives Sir William whatever weight he
has in the house.
Every one must have made the observation, that the
Ultra-Radical party last session possessed greater im-
Sir William Molesworth. - 129.
portancé in the house than on any former occasion; and
I have heard various conjectures as to the cause. The
most common one is, that, though few in number, these
extreme Radicals were then more united, and acted
more in concert, than they had ever done before. This
is the true hypothesis; but the cause of the closer union
and greater concert in the course they then pursued, is
not generally known. I cannot see any harm in letting
out the secret. The unity of purpose which last year
characterized the extreme Radicals, is to be ascribed to
the circumstance of Sir William Molesworth and Mr.
Leader having come to a resolution—and carried it into
practice too—of giving a series of parliamentary din-
ners to their party. This course of parliamentary din-
ners commenced the week before the cpening of the
session. They were given in the Clarendon Hotel.
Sunday” was the day fixed on for the purpose. Sir
William paid one week, and Mr. Leades the other. A
good dinner is proverbial for the good feeling it pro-
duces. To many of the Radicals a dinner in the best
style of the Clarendon Hotel must be an object of espe-
cial importance; and there is nothing uncharitable, any
more than unphilosophical, in the supposition, that the
fear of exclusion from these Sunday festivals was of
infinite use in keeping the party closely together. The
dinners were not renewed this session; a circumstance
which very satisfactorily accounts for the disunion
which now characterizes the extreme Radicals.
# It is much to be regretted that the practice of giving poli-
tical dinners on Sunday should exist. If is peculiarly unbecom-
ing on the part of Ministers thus to desecrate the Sabbath, as
they are ostensibly the special friends of the christian religion.
1.1%
130 Mr. Leader.
Sir William Molesworth, as is generally known, was
for some time the principal proprietor of the “London
and Westminster Review.” He occasionally wrote
articles for it. The opening paper in the January num-
ber for last year, which was regarded, and justly, as the
manifesto of his party with regard to the course they
would pursue in the then approaching session, was writ-
ten by him. I am aware it has been said that he was
the writer of only a very small part of it, and that it was
chiefly written by a literary gentleman of great talent
in London, who is a regular contributor to the “Re-
view.” This supposition is altogether groundless. Sir
William wrote the whole of the article himself, down in
Cornwall. Mr. Leader chanced to be on a visit to him
for two days while he was employed on it, and threw
out two or three suggestions as to the topics which he
thought should be touched on in the article; but surely
no one would say that this was assisting to write it. I
refer thus particularly to this article, because it made
a good deal of noise at the time, and some speculation
was indulged in as to the authorship.
Sir William can afford to pursue a more independent
course than most other Radicals. His ample fortune,
which is from 10,000l. to 12,000l. per annum, renders
him less liable to the temptations of place than the
great majority of legislators. --
Mr. LEADER, the member for Westminister, is a
Radical of the first water. He and Sir William Moles-
worth are a sort of political Siamese twins: they hold in
common the same extreme political opinions. Indeed,
on all such subjects, they seem to think, speak, and
Mr. Leader. 13 1.
act together with such entire harmony, that one could
almost fancy they had but one mind equally divided
between them. A more perfect community of senti-
ment, feeling, and purpose, has never, I am convinced,
existed under similar circumstances.
They appear to have entered into a sort of political
co-partnership; and in order that the interchange of
sentiment and feeling between them may be the less
liable to interruption, they live in the same house at
Pimlico. Mr. Roebuck, who has a fellow feeling with
them on most political questions, usually spends his
Sundays with them. The late insurrection in Canada
was a fertile topic for the deliberations of the triumvi-
rate. Many an anxious hour did they spend together in
discussions as to the best mode of procuring the redress
of Canadian grievances.
Mr. Leader rose rapidly into distinction last session,
but he has rather fallen back since. He is a man of
more than average talents. He distinguished himself
at the university in many branches of education. Those
who know him well assure me that he is an excellent
mathematician, and that he has considerable pretensions
as a linguist. Be this as it may, he is a man of consi-
derable talent, viewed as a legislator. He does not
speak very often in parliament; but no one ever heard
him address the House for two minutes at a time, with-
out perceiving that he is a man of superior intellectual
calibre. There is always stamen in what he says. He
is a good reasoner, and displays much ability in the
clear and forcible way in which he asserts the peculiar
views of the party with whom he identifies himself. His
132 Mr. Leader.
style is nervous: it is always correct; but would tell
with better effect, were it sometimes more polished.
The great fault of most speakers is, that they evidently
bestow too much pains in their efforts to round their
periods. I have sometimes thought that Mr. Leader
runs to the other extreme, and is too careless as to the
construction of his sentences.
As a speaker, Mr. Leader acquits himself very cre-
ditably. His voice is clear and pleasant. I am con-
vinced it is capable of every variety of intonation; but,
from some cause or other, he has not availed himself of
its capabilities in this way. There is something of
sameness in its tones. He is, however, always audible,
and is usually listened to with attention in the house.
When speaking in parliament, he takes, I believe, the
precaution of doing so from memory, having previously
committed his thoughts to writing. I am satisfied,
however, that he possesses in a very respectable degree
the faculty of improvisation, did he choose to exercise
it. I have heard him speak without the slightest pre-
meditation at public dinners, and seen him get through
his speech in a highly respectable manner, and seem-
ingly without an effort. He is a man of great decision
of character, and of great determination of purpose. ,
When once he has resolved on pursuing a certain line
of conduct, neither the most alluring appliances of se-
duction, nor ridicule, nor menace, nor abuse of any
kind, will divert him for one moment from the path he
has pointed out for himself. That he is a man of more
than common nerve, may be inferred from the fact, that
though all his relations are Tories, he has, in defiance
Mr. Charles Lushington. 133
of threats, and solicitations, and entreaties from innume-
rable quarters, openly embraced the very opposite class
of political principles. This is the more to be wondered
at, as he is only, if I be not misinformed, twenty-nine
years of age. He has taken an active part in the asser-
tion of the same set of opinions for several years past.
His appearance is quite boyish. You would fancy, on
first seeing him, provided you did not know him, that
he was some youth who had not yet finished his educa-
tional course of instruction. His personal appearance,
notwithstanding his being shortin stature, and of a slen-
der figure, is very prepossessing. There is something
exceedingly pleasant in his countenance; it is always
open and cheerful. His whole appearance and man-
ners are those of a perfect gentleman, without anything
of that dandyism in dress, or laboured politeness in
company, which are so common in persons in his sta-
tion of life, and which make them so ridiculous, if not
contemptible, in the eyes of men of judgment. His
complexion is clear, and his features are regular. His
face, like his stature, is small, but his forehead is ample.
The expression of his countenance is intellectnal; but
no one would suppose, from an inspection of his face,
that he possessed the decision of character I have men-
tioned: one would rather think that he was deficient in
energy of purpose. His hair is usually ample, and is of
a moderately dark colour.
Mr. CHARLEs LUSHINGTON, the member for Ashbur-
ton, and brother of Dr. Lushington, the member for the
Tower Hamlets, is rising into notice. He was pretty
well known before as a liberal and enlightened member;
134 Mr. Charles Lushington.
but he did not bring himself with the same prominency
before the house and the public, as he has done of late.
He has recently distinguished himself out of doors, as
well as in the house, by his zealous advocacy of the in-
terests of the Dissenters. His advocacy of their cause
is the more important, and the more creditable to him.
self, from the circumstance of his being a decided
churchman from principle: He is one of the few who
think that the church would gain more in usefulness, as
well as popularity, by trusting exclusively to her own
resources and to the support of her own members and
friends, than by compelling the Dissenters to do vio-
lence to their consciences by contributing to her main-
tenance. This is an opinion which is rapidly gaining
ground among the more enlightened and conscientious
churchmen. The same feeling of an anxious desire to
see the church strengthened, has induced Mr. Lushing-
ton to take an active part in the exertions which are
now making to eject the bishops from the House of
Lords. His conviction is, that they not only neglect
their spiritual duties, and impair their usefulness as in-
dividuals, by mixing themselves up with politics, but that
they thereby bring much odium on the church herself in
her collective capacity. Actuated by these convictions,
he brought forward a motion in the third week of last
session, for relieving the bishops from the toils of poli-
tical legislation: but the motion was lost by a large ma-
jority.
Mr. Lushington is a man of superior intelligence.
He possesses a sound judgment, as well as , extensive
information. He is cool and calculating in all he says
Mr. Charles Lushington. 135
and does. Reason, and not the passions, is the guide
of his conduct. In politics he is liberal, but cannot with
propriety be classed among the radical party. He is
one of the most consistent of our public men; and his
strict integrity as a politician, any more than his excel-
lence as a private man, has never, so far as I am aware,
been questioned. I believe there are few men who act
more thoroughly and uniformly from conscientious mo-
tives. As a speaker he cannot be ranked high: his
voice has something hard about it, and is not sufficient-
ly powerful for effective public speaking. He appears
to much greater advantage at a public meeting than in
the House of Commons. His utterance is timed with
judgment to the ear: it avoids the extremes of slowness
and rapidity; but it wants variety as well as a pleasant
tone. He occasionally hesitates, especially when speak-
ing extemporaneously. His speeches usually indicate
the possession of more than a respectable measure of in-
tellect on the part of the speaker. He is a good reasoner:
indeed, were there sometimes less argument, and more
declamation in his speeches, they would tell with much
greater effect on a popular assembly like the House of
Commons. His statements are always clear; and the
drift of his argument can never be mistaken. His style
is chaste, without any indications of its being labori-
ously polished. He deals not in the flowers of rhetoric;
nor has he, either in matter or manner, any of the clap-
traps so generally observable in the speeches of our
modern orators. His gesture is moderate and rational.
He seldom speaks long at a time; but his speeches usu-
ally contain much valuable matter. If they never dis-
136 Mr. Charles Lushington.
play originality, or any particular vigour of mind, there
is never anything feeble or silly in them.
Mr. Lushington is apparently upwards of fifty years
of age. His personal appearance is prepossessing; it is
that of the gentleman and man of intelligence. He is a
little above the middle height, and has a handsome
figure. His face has something of the oval conforma-
tion. His features are regular and pleasant in their
general expression. He has a clear intelligent eye and
a well-developed forehead. His complexion is sallow,
and his hair of a dark grey. -
Mr. Lushington does not speak with frequency; but
he is much respected by men of all shades of political
opinion, and always commands attention when he rises.
He invariably employs the most unexceptionable lan-
guage in speaking of an opponent. He never mixes
himself up with any of the squabbles which take place
in the house: even when attacked in acrimonious terms
by others, he maintains his temper. He repels the at-
tack with much firmness, but in the most temperate
language. I recollect seeing the honourable gentleman,
two or three years ago, give a striking proof of his
command of temper, at a meeting of the supporters of
the Mendicity Society. Some nobleman, whose name
has escaped my recollection, made some ill-natured
observations in consequence of some unpalatable opi-
nions—unpalatable, I mean, to the party—which Mr.
Lushington had previously expressed. The tone and
temper in which Mr. Lushington replied to the noble
lord’s attack must have administered to his assailant a
severe rebuke, apart from the words, if the mind of the
latter had an ordinary share of susceptibility.
Mr. James. 137
... Mr. JAMEs, the member for Cumberland, is a plain,
straightforward, honest-minded Reformer. Had Mr.
Beaumont, the ex-member for Northumberland; been
still in parliament, I should have mentioned Mr. James’s
name after his, because both honourable gentlemen pos-
sess certain qualities in common. Both act indepen-
dently of parties. They do not identify themselves
either with the Whigs or the Radicals, but vote with
either or neither, according to their own conscientious
opinions on the question before the House. They are
both men of sufficient moral courage to think and act
for themselves; and it so happens that they sometimes
arrive at conclusions, and adopt a course of action, in
which they stand nearly, if not wholly, alone. The cir-
cumstance of the amendment moved by Mr. Beaumont,
at the opening of last session, to the address to the king,
recognizing the justice and propriety of making the
Roman Catholic religion the established religion of Ire-
land—the circumstance of this amendment being second-
ed by Mr. James, is a case in point. Mr. Beaumont, as
I have stated before, withdrew his amendment; conse-
quently I cannot say with certainty what would have
been the result, had it been pressed to a division; but I
am convinced, that if it had been so, the two honourable
gentlemen would have found themselves alone.
Mr. James is not a good speaker. He has a curious
half-screeching sort of voice, with very little if any flexi-
bility in its tones. He does not, in ordinary circum-
stances, speak sufficiently loud to be heard in the more
distant parts of the house, unless, indeed, an unusual
degree of order should chance to reign in it. Mr. James
VOL. II.-12
138 Mr. James.
does not speak often; and when he does, I have never
seen honourable gentlemen seized with any special dis-
position to be attentive. He generally speaks slowly,
and with little animation, unless the subject be one on
which he feels very strongly. Then he is full of fire
and energy, though not the fire or energy of true oratory.
In his more forcible moods, he wheels his body from one
side to the other with very considerable celerity, casting
a look at the reporters in the gallery about once on an
average every minute. His right arm is, on such occa-
sions, put into active requisition. One day last session,
in the plenitude of his gesticulation, he gave an honour-
able member, whose name I forget, a violent blow on
the head, and that, too, with his clenched fist. It is
but justice, however, to Mr. James to say, that he very
felicitously begged the pardon of the honourable gen-
tlemen, by way of parenthesis, in the middle of his
speech. -
His style is plainness itself. He seems to have no
ambition to be considered an orator. He is sincere in
his opinions; and all he appears to be concerned about
is, that the House should know what those opinions are.
To be sure, he would prefer it, were the House practi-
cally to adopt them; but he is too much a man of sense,
and knows too much of the ways of the world, to enter-
tain any such expectation, constituted as the House now
is. He knows full well, that a man who, like himself,
stands aloof from all parties, recognizing no motives of
action but his abstract convictions of what is right, has
no chance of carrying his peculiar views into practical
effect. His matteris innocent enough of anything indi-
Mr. James. 139
cative of genius. It has nothing but its common sense
to recommend it.
The personal appearance of Mr. James, like his mat-
ter and his diction, is plain. He has nothing fashionable
or affected about him. He is a fine specimen of a coun-
try gentleman, fond of associating with the working
farmers, and looking after his own cattle and horses.
He is about the usual height, rather stoutly made. He
has an open, generous, or, to use a still more expressive
though homely term, jolly-looking face, though a slight
obliquity of vision is occasionally perceptible. No one
can doubt, on looking at Mr. James’s countenance, that
he is an honest-hearted, unsophisticated man. His com-
plexion is healthy, and his features are pleasant, though
not boasting of a particularly intellectual expression.
His face is full without being round. He has a well-
developed forehead. The little hair he has is dark, but
his head is for the most part bald. He has passed
the meridian of life. Judging from his appearance, I
should take him to be on the wrong side of fifty-five.
As, however, he is in the enjoyment of good health, and
possesses a robust frame, it is to be hoped he has still a
long and honourable public career before him.
140 Mr. Pringle.
CHAPTER, XI.
CONSERVATIVE SCOTCH AND IRISH MEMBERS.
Mr. Pringle—Mr. Serjeant Jackson—Mr. Serjeant Lefroy
—Mr. Emerson Tennent—Colonel Verner.
MR, PRINGLE, the member for Selkirkshire, is a man
of some consideration among the Scotch Conservatives,
though comparatively little known in the House. I
believe he has no ambition to be considered a parlia-
mentary orator. If the infrequency of his speeches may
be held as decisive of the point, then I may convert
the proposition I have put hypothetically into one of
positive affirmation, and say in so many terms that the
honourable gentleman has no desire to possess the repu-
tation of a speaker in the House. I am convinced that,
taking one session with another, he does not occupy
the attention of the House for two hours, putting all
his speeches together, in the course of the six months
which each session usually lasts.
I should suppose that the average number of his
speeches each session, including those he delivers in
committees of the whole House, is seven or eight. He
is a man of very respectable talents, and is usually
listened to with attention by honourable members. If
he has no pretensions to vigour or originality of mind,
he possesses a clear head, and displays a sound judg-
ment. He has the further merit of being always intel-
ligible: his perceptions are quick, and he evinces con-
siderable talent in placing them in so clear a light before
Mr. Pringle. 141
the House, that the dullest and least intellectual M. P.
in it cannot fail to understand what he is saying, and
to perceive the point to which he wishes to conduct the
House.
Mr. Pringle’s matter is always sensible; nor is he by
any means deficient in argumentative power. I do not
mean to say that he excels in this respect; I do not
mean to say that his argumentative powers are of such
an order that he can carry his audience along with him
as if he had taken their judgments captive at his plea-
sure; but they are of an order to place his view of the
subject in a very favourable light, provided he has truth
and justice on his side. He is a calm and quiet speaker.
There is no appearance of effort; no straining after
effect in what he says. He speaks from conviction;
you see this in every sentence he utters. He has sin-
gular faith in the moral excellencies of Conservative
principles; but his conservatism, it is right to state, is
associated with the religion of the New Testament.
He is satisfied he sees in the gospel the doctrine which
constitutes his political creed; and, therefore, it is not
to be wondered at if he be thoroughly persuaded in his
own mind that Toryism, if it had full scope, would
prove a most mighty moral engine for the promotion
and production of human happiness. He is a man of
excellent private character, and is very consistent, so
far as I am aware, as a politician.
I have said that he is a quiet speaker. His manner
is exceedingly unassuming. He speaks in general in
as subdued a tone and in as easy a manner as if he were
in a small room, surrounded by eighteen or twenty
12%
142 * Mr. Serjeant Jackson.
friends, to whom he was giving an exposition of his sen-
timents on some particular subject. His voice is either
weak, or he does not call his lungs into play. His ut-
terance is somewhat slow, and he occasionally falters a
little. When replying to the speech of any particular
member on the opposite side of the House, his practice
is to look him in the face, as if in the full consciousness
that he cannot fail to convince him that his positions are
untenable. One of his favourite attitudes is to join both
hands at his back, and then rock himself backwards and
forwards.
His personal stature is small. He is considerably
below the usual height, but well formed. He has a high
forehead, which is graced by a tuft of hair, now begin-
ning to assume a greyish complexion. His features are
small and regular, and the expression of his counte-
nance is tranquil and intelligent. His age I should
take to be from forty-two to forty-five. t
Mr. SERJEANT JACKSON, the member for Bandon, is a
man of some mark among the Irish Tories. His status
in the House as a speaker is respectable. Generally
his orations reach mediocrity; on some occasions they
rise above it. I should say that his influence in the
house is, as they say in Mark Lane, rather “looking up.”
This is unusual in one who has been so long a mem-
ber, and who is near his fiftieth year. His speech on
the administration of the Irish government, in the
second week of the last session, was, perhaps, the
ablest effort he ever made in the House of Commons.
It certainly added a cubit to his parliamentary stature,
in the estimation of his Tory friends. It added two
Mr. Serjeant Jackson. 143
cubits to his stature in his own view of the case; and I
believe it added about a fourth of a cubit in the estima-
tion of the honourable gentlemen on the Ministerial
benches. Mr. Jackson himself can correct me if I am
wrong when I say, that the cheers with which his Con-
servative friends greeted his oration, rang like sweet
music in his ears all the night. I dare say he would
have no objection to answer the question, should any-
body, as a matter of curiosity, put it to him—whether
his excessive joy at the reception his speech met with,
did not prevent his enjoying his usual slumbers when
he retired to bed.
To this fact I can speak with confidence, that next
day, about two o'clock in the afternoon, as nearly as I
can remember at this distance of time, he went to the
Carlton Club, to receive the congratulations of his
friends there; and the honourable and learned gentle-
man ran some risk, in the plenitude of their admiration
of his addresses, of having his shoulder shaken out. If
he had had the hundred hands of Briareus, he would,
on that occasion, have found friends enough to have
seized and squeezed them all. As it was, it seemed
to be quite a contest among the members of the Carlton
Club, as to who should be the earliest and most cordial
in the operation of shaking the Serjeant by the hand.
Some of them shook it with a vehemence I have never
seen equalled.
On some occasions you might have seen two or three,
in-their impatience to pay him their congratulations,
shaking him all at once. Their kindness, in the long-
run, must have proved exceedingly fatiguing to him.
144 Mr. Serjeant Jackson.
A stranger, to have seen so many Conservatives crowd-
ing round Mr. Jackson, and all shaking him so violently,
must have come to the conclusion that the story of the
apothecary and his patient—“when taken to be well
shaken”—was in the act of being again repeated in the
experience of the honourable and learned gentleman.
I chanced to see him coming out of the Carlton that
afternoon, seemingly as much fatigued as if he had been
but just recovering his breath. There was however,
a smile on his countenance, which told how highly he
was gratified with the congratulations which had been
heaped on him in such unsparing measure. I never
saw a man who seemed on better terms with himself.
The day was one of the roughest and most rainy which
is ever witnessed, even in the ungenial month of Feb-
ruary. It was one which might have made the most
cheerful man look dull and downcast. It did add
visibly to the longitude of the face of every body else
who was exposed to the wind and rain; but the counte-
nance of the learned Serjeant looked as serene and
smiling as if he had been walking in some of those fairy
scenes which are so abundant in the pages of the poet
and the novelist, but which exist nowhere else.
Mr. Serjeant Jackson rejoices in a tolerably com-
manding figure. He is tall and well formed. His coun-
tenance has nothing very intellectual about it, but it is
sufficiently pleasing. It is of an angular form: his nose
is sharp and prominent, and his forehead is also ample.
His complexion is fair; and his hair white as the snow,
—not, perhaps, in its unsunned state, but after it has
been on the ground for some time.
Mr. Serjeant Jackson. 145
As a speaker, viewed in a mere mechanical light, he
is rather above mediocrity. He talks with sufficient
fluency: I never yet heard him, so far as I recollect,
falter or appear at a loss either for ideas or words. He
is moderate in his use of action; but his admirable
lungs enable him safely to dispense with anything like
vehement gesticulation. His voice is exceedingly pow-
erful, and he can rely on it at all times and under all
circumstances. I have seen other honourable members
unable to render themselves audible, through hoarse-
ness, constitutional debility, exhaustion, or other cir-
cumstances. Poor Cobbett, the last time he ever at-
tempted to address the house, was unable, owing to a
sore throat, to make himself audible three or four yards
from where he stood. I never heard of Serjeant Jack-
son having a sore throat, or anything else that could
impair the efficiency of his voice. It would be an era
in the honourable and learned gentleman’s parliamen-
tary existence, to find that he addressed the house
without making himself heard in every part of it.
What is worthy of observation is, that the honourable
and learned gentleman’s voice seems to improve in its
capabilities the further he proceeds in his speeches.
Other members begin, in so far as their voice is con-
cerned, and continue for some time very auspiciously;
but it is clear to all, long before they finish a speech of
any length, that they are much fatigued. Everybody
sees that it costs them a great and painful effort to
make themselves heard until they have done. Many,
indeed, are obliged to call in the aid of oranges, and to
have recourse to other appliances to enable them to
146 Mr. Serjeant Jackson.
proceed; while some are often compelled to leave off
altogether, very abruptly. Not so with Mr. Serjeant
Jackson. His voice gets better and better the longer
he continues; and he seems in a far better condition
for addressing the house after he has been up an hour
or an hour and a half, than when he first rose. His
stentorian capabilities are unquestionably of the first
order. Hence Mr. O’Connell’s happy application of
the term “leather” to his lungs. *
Mr. Serjeant Jackson scarcely ever makes a speech
on any important Irish question which takes less than
an hour and a half in the delivery. He would not think
it worth his while to rise from his seat to deliver a short
address. Occasionally he retains possession of the chair,
as the parliamentary phrase is, from two to three hours.
And a moment before he resumes his seat on these oc-
casions, he looks so fresh, and his lungs seem to be in
such excellent order, that any one would warrant him,
did he choose to “trespass further on the indulgence of
the house,” for five or six hours to come.
The matter of Mr. Serjeant Jackson’s speeches is
very unequal. He is often prosy; full of words without
an idea. At other times his speeches are made of very
excellent “stuff.” There are happy ideas and forcible
arguments in them. He is bold and fearless, on certain
occasions, in his attacks on Mr. O'Connell and on the
Irish government; at others he is resolute and earnest in
his vindication of the course pursued by his own party.
He almost invariably, as before stated, addresses the
house on every question bearing immediately on the
affairs of Ireland; but he hardly ever opens his mouth
Mr. Serjeant Lefroy. 147
on any other. He is a religious man, and takes a warm
interest in all questions affecting the church of Ireland.
He is one of her most able champions. For nearly
twenty years, if I remember rightly, he was secretary
to the Kildare Street School Society.
Nobody, I believe, ever doubted the sincerity of his
religious opinions; as no one, not even his greatest ene-
mies, of whom, however, I believe he has but few, ever
threw out an insinuation against the exemplary nature
of his character in private life. He is good-natured;
at any rate, I have no recollection of ever having seen
him lose his temper in the House. He is usually cool
in his manner. He bears the attacks of Mr. O’Connell,
and of the other liberal Irish members, with admirable
equanimity; and replies to their speeches with great
decision of purpose, and yet without the use of vitupe-
rative language.
Mr. SERJEANT LEFRoy, member for the Dublin Uni-
versity, is not unlike Mr. Jackson in personal ap-
pearance. His hair is of a brown colour, but he has
but a scanty crop of it. His head is partially bald.
His complexion is fair, with an admixture of ruddiness.
His face is not quite so angular as that of Mr. Serjeant
Jackson; nor is he so tall in stature. In regard to po-
litics, he and the member for Bandon are as closely
united as I have described Sir W. Molesworth and Mr.
Leader to be.
I am at a loss to know in what terms to express my-
self respecting Mr. Serjeant Lefroy as a parliamentary
speaker. It is consoling to think that I am not obliged
to number him among the “unpopular” speakers; and
148 sº Mr. Serjeant Lefroy.
yet I cannot, however grateful would be the task to me,
call him a popular orator. There is this difference be-
tween him and the unpopular speakers to whom I refer,
that while they are assailed with groans, and hisses, and
yells of every kind, the moment they rise to address
the house, there is as general a rush to the door as if the
house were on fire, whenever he presents himself.
Strangers in the gallery, who know no better, generally
conclude that the House itself has risen, whenever Ser-
jeant Lefroy rises. I have seen the honourable and
learned gentleman thin the house with such incredible
expedition, that the benches, which but a few minutes
before were crowded, have become almost entirely de-
serted. The reading of the riot act does not more cer-
tainly or suddenly disperse a mob, than the honourable
member does the legislators of the Lower House, when
he assumes a perpendicular position. When he does in-
tend making a speech, he always selects such an hour
in the evening as is most convenient for the other ho-
nourable members taking their dinners. Whether he
does this purposely or not, I cannot say.
To Mr. Lefroy's everlasting credit be it spoken, he
never appears to feel in the least degree annoyed at the
disrespect shown him. He proceeds to plod through
his speech with as much patience, and seemingly with
as much gratification, when there are not above thirty
or forty members present, as if the house were full. No
drain of honourable members, however great when he
rises, discourages him in the smallest degree. I verily
believe he would go through his speech, which always
lasts from an hour to an hour and a half, were nobody
Mr. Serjeant Lefroy. 149
at all in the house to hear him. I can only account for
his perseverance in speaking under circumstances which
would dishearten any other man, on the supposition
that he entertains the singular theory; that he is called
on under certain circumstances to make a speech of a
certain length in the House of Commons; and that
though honourable members will not hear it, he has done
his duty in giving them an opportunity of doing so by
delivering it. Nothing, I am confident, but a convic-
tion that he is performing a duty which his conscience
imposes on him, could ever support him to the end of
his speech. *.
Were his orations reported, I could easily enough
imagine that the circumstance of seeing himself in print
next morning, would in some measure reconcile him to
the wasting his eloquence on empty benches; but this
is a gratification he never enjoys. The reporters never
dream of taking a single note of what falls from him.
They consider his rising quite a windfall: the time he
is up affords them a corresponding cessation from their
arduous labours. He is a great favourite with them;
they look on him, viewing the thing professionally, as
the most agreeable speaker in the house.
The honourable and learned gentleman is a very in-
different speaker. He has abundance of words at his
tongue’s end, but he drawls them out in so peculiar a
way, that it is unpleasant to hear him. Sometimes he
speaks in so low a tone as to be inaudible; at other
times he articulates so imperfectly, that it requires an
effort to understand what he says. Very few, however,
of his very few hearers, ever put themselves to the
VOL. II.-13
150 Mr. Serjeant Lefroy.
trouble of trying to understand him. He is one of the
coldest speakers I know: nothing can be more dry than
his manner, except it be his matter. His countenance
was never yet lit up by a gleam of animation. He spe-
cially guards against an undue exercise of his lungs;
and the speaker’s chair is scarcely more innocent than
he of anything in the shape of gesticulation.
Mr. Lefroy is entitled to all praise on the score of
good temper. There does not exist a more decided
Tory; but he never betrays anything of the virulence
of party feeling in the house. When he refers by name
to his political opponents, it is rather in the form of ob-
servations than in that of attack. I have no idea that
he has any personal dislikes: I am sure that no one
entertains any feeling of ill-will towards him. I scarcely
ever recollect to have heard the Liberal Irish members
make even an ill-natured allusion to him.
Though he excites no attention as a speaker, I be-
lieve he is respected by all who know him, as a con-
sistent public character, and as a man of much private
worth. Though not remarkable for the regularity of
his attendance in the house on ordinary occasions, he
is as sure to be present when any Irish question is under
discussion, as is the Speaker himself. He has great
faith in the ultimate triumph of Toryism. The Reform
Bill he has always regarded as a political pestilence;
but doubts not that eventual good will result from it.
He is not very positive as to the time when the reform
visitation shall completely cease; but he is quite satis-
fied, that though now beyond his fiftieth year, he will
live to see the happy day.
Mr. Emerson Tennent. 151
Mr. EMERSON TENNENT, member for Belfast is cele-
brated in the house for his extraordinary memory. As
I mentioned in my first series of “Random Recollec-
tions, he can commit to memory, with very little
exertion, a speech full of figures and of facts, which
will take three hours in the delivery; and he will even
deliver it without missing half a dozen words, or making
any alteration in it whatever. The honourable gentle-
man has also brought himself into notice by the length
of his speeches. He does not make more than three
speeches on an average in the course of a session; but if
any honourable gentlemen regret that he does not treat
them to his eloquence with greater frequency, he gives
them a sufficient quantity of it when he does begin. He
would not think it worth his while to open his mouth,
for less than an hour and a half’s monopoly of the at-
tention of the House. He speaks with much rapidity,
without pausing for a moment till he has got through
his task; that is to say, until he has repeated all that he
has committed to memory.
His parliamentary exhibitions also are not unlike
those made at school, when giving a recitation at an an-
nual examination. He uses little action, and that little
is restricted to the looking about among those of his
own friends who sit within a yard or two of the place
from which he speaks. When he gets into what he
conceives the more brilliant parts of his oration, he
superadds to the movement of his body a moderate mo-
tion of his right hand. On such occasions he waxes
very animated; but the want of variety in his voice pre-
vents his animation producing any sensible impression
on the House.
152 Mr. Emerson Tennent.
Lord Morpeth happily characterized the quality of
the honourable member’s voice, when, after the delivery
of a speech which occupied nearly three columns of
“The Times,” in February last year, the noble lord
said it had been spoken with an entire monotony of
voice. His voice is clear, and his enunciation, notwith-
standing the rapidity of his delivery, sufficiently dis-
tinct. He would be by no means an unpleasant speaker,
were he to reduce the dimensions of his orations to
about a sixth part of their usual size. The everlasting
monotony of his voice always palls on the ear before he
resumes his seat. -
Mr. Emerson Tennent is a great favourite with the
reporters; and he is deservedly so; for he kindly saves
them the trouble of reporting what, from the rapidity of
his utterance, and the number of facts and figures which
he usually presses into his service, they would find, if I
may invent a word, an unreportable speech. He sends
his speech, sometimes before he delivers it, to his fa-
vourite paper, whence slips are procured for such of the
other journals as may be disposed to open their columns
to the honourable gentleman’s oration in its full propor-
tions. Hence, while the Tories are rewarding the
honourable gentleman’s exertions and eloquence with
an occasional faint cheer, though secretly wishing, with
the occupants of the Ministerial benches, that his speech
or lungs would fail him,-the printers are venting their
indignation, in no very becoming language, at what they
call his “wretched” manuscript. -
Mr. Emerson Tennent is a man of talent. His
speeches usually display acuteness; but, like the orations
Mr. Emerson Tennent. 153
of Demosthenes, they smell of the midnight lamp. Every
sentence bears on it the impress of great elaboration.
I have no idea that he possesses in any great degree the
faculty of improvisation; at any rate, I never saw him
give any proofs of his being a man of extemporaneous
resources. How long it takes him to prepare a speech
which occupies an hour and a half in the delivery, I
cannot say; but that it must be an Herculean task, I am
fully conyinced. How clºe would he deliver a speech
on a given night and on a certain question, which was
intended for delivery a month or two before, and on a
totally different question?
Iord Morpeth detected this practice on the part of
the honourable gentlemen, at the commencement of last
session. The noble lord publicly expressed his con-
viction, that the speech which Mr. Emerson Tennent
delivered while the Irish Municipal Corporation Bill
was under discussion, was intended, though the honour-
able gentleman was then prevented from delivering it
owing to his not being fortunate enough to catch the
Speaker’s eye, for the discussion which had taken place
a fortnight previously, on the alleged abuse of patron-
age on the part of the Irish government. It is very
convenient for the honourable gentleman that he can
thus bottle up his speeches, or, as Burns would have
said, “nurse them to keep them warm,” until an oppor-
tunity is afforded of getting them comfortably delivered.
Mr. Emerson Tennent has, of late, been a Tory of
the first water. It was not always so; in other words,
he is one of the many political apostates who are to be
found in the House of Commons. Immediately before
13%
154 Mr. Emerson Tennent.
the passing of the Reform Bill, he was an ultra-Reformer.
He then presided at or took an active part in the pro-
ceedings of a meeting held in the north of Ireland to
petition for Reform, on which occasion he was a stre-
nuous advocate for triennial parliaments; and, if my
memory be not at fault, household suffrage, and the
vote by ballot. Some time after, however, he set up
like Lord Stanley, Sir James Graham, Mr. Walter,
and some others, for an “independent member,” which,
translated into plain English, means becoming a down-
right Tory. The honourable gentleman takes an active
part in all party conflicts in the north of Ireland.
Mr. Emerson Tennent is a man of some literary
pretensions. He has the reputation of being a very
respectable scholar. With modern Greece he is under-
stood to be particularly conversant, having resided in
that country some time: in what capacity I am not
exactly aware. He wrote a work of a rather interesting
character, on the subject of Greece; and a year or two
since he produced another volume, a very small one,
under the title of “Letters from the South.” The title
would mislead those unacquainted with the facts of the
case. The “South,” whence the honourable gentle-
man’s epistles were written, is not the south of Europe,
but the south of Ireland.
Mr. Emerson Tennent is apparently about forty years
of age. He is of the average height, and of a rather
good figure. His features are distinctly marked: they
have, on the whole, a pleasant expression. His face is
of an oblong form. His complexion has a healthy ap-
pearance. His hair is of a sandy colour, and seldom
Colonel Verner. - 155
exhibits any proof of having been lately in the hands of
the friseur.
CoLoREL VERNER, member for his native county of
Armagh, is one of several members that could be named,
who have been brought into notice by accidental cir-
cumstances. For several years past the gallant gentle-
man has been well known among the Protestant party
in Ireland, as one of the most zealous supporters of the
“Protestant institutions of the country,” and as a most
cordial “respondent” to the toast of the glorious and
immortal memory. He had also, before the present
session, acquired some distinction as a vindicator of
Orangeism in the House of Commons. The circum-
stance, however, which has brought him into greatest
notice, both in the house and the country, was that of
having, five or six months since, given at a dinner-party
the toast of “The Battle of the Diamond.” That toast,
given as it was under peculiar circumstances, was so
strongly disapproved of by government, that Lord Mul-
grave at once visited the gallant gentleman, by way of
punishment, with dismissal from the magistracy.
This fact, in conjunction with the Orange papers in
Ireland and the Tory papers here holding him up as a
martyr to his attachment to the constitution and the
Protestant religion, while the Liberal journals in both
countries denounced him as guilty of little short of trea-
son, brought him into a measure of prominency for some
weeks, which seldom falls to the lot of man. Then
came the arraignment of his conduct in the battle of the
Diamond affair, in the House of Commons, and the de-
fence which he made against the charges there preferred
156 Colonel Verner.
against him. On that occasion he spoke, if I remember
rightly, nearly two hours; but with that exception, and
one or two others, on questions bearing more or less
directly on the interests of Orangeism, I have never
heard him make a speech worthy of the name. In other
cases when I have seen him rise, he has always confined
himself to a very few desultory observations, which, I
am confident, he himself would never have dreamed of
dignifying with the name of a regular address. He is
not a man of great talent: there is little appearance of
his being a close thinker in anything he says. -
In the course of the two hours speech to which I have
referred, not a single sentence escaped him bearing upon
it the impress of originality. Nor is there anything in
his style to redeem the mediocrity of his ideas. It is
plain and sufficiently expressive; but it is wholly des-
titute of anything approaching to eloquence. Occasion-
ally it is incorrect; it is not only rugged, but sometimes
he uses the wrong words. I do not, however, ascribe
this to any deficiency of literary taste; but rather to
the circumstance of his labouring under a slight em-
barrassment when addressing the House. The gallant
gentleman has the merit of being always clear. How-
ever much you may differ from his positions, and how-
ever illogical and inconclusive you may deem his argu-
ments, you can never charge him with being so obscure
that you cannot perceive his drift.
As a speaker, in the usual acceptation of the term,
Colonel Verner has no pretensions. His voice is suf-
ficiently clear, and he always makes himself heard in
all parts of the house; but beyond that there is nothing
Colonel Verner. 157
to praise his manner. He stands in nearly the same po-
sition all the time he is addressing the House, and looks
as steadily at one or two of the members on the Minis-
terial benches, directly across, as if it were a crime of
the first magnitude to bestow a glance on any other part
of the house. He moderately moves his right arm, or
rather that part of it which is below his elbow. His
utterance is quick, and yet he does not often stutter;
and even when he does, it is only slightly. He is never
at a loss either for ideas or words.
To account for his readiness in these respects, is, in
his case, a very easy matter. The secret of the thing
consists in the fact of his never speaking but on one
subject, and that a subject which engrosses his mind to
the exclusion of almost everything else. Orangeism is
with him an all-absorbing topic; it may be said to be
part and parcel of his moral nature.
And here let me do the gallant colonel the justice to
say, that I look on him as a most honest Orangeman.
There are thousands of his party, as there are of all
parties, who identify themselves with a particular class
of opinions, merely for the sake of advancing their in-
dividual interests. I have no idea that this can be said
of Colonel Verner. I am persuaded that he deems the
safety of Protestant institutions in England to be inse-
parably mixed up with Orangeism, and that this circum-
stance, in conjunction with a sincere and disinterested’
attachment to the Protestant religion as by law esta-
blished, is the great cause of the extraordinary zeal
with which he espouses Orange principles, and identifies
himself with Orange practices. -
158 Mr. Gillon.
The gallant gentleman served in the army for several
years prior to the peace of 1815. He displayed distin-
guished bravery at the battle of Waterloo, on which
occasion he was wounded. ~,
In his personal appearance Colonel Verner is above
the usual height, and proportionably made. There is a
marked slope in the conformation of his face, from his
forehead downwards to his chin. The expression of
his countenance is kindly, and not destitue of intelli-
gence. He has prominent eyebrows and a clear ex-
pressive eye. His hair is of a sandy colour, and rather
stinted in quantity. His complexion is fair, and of a
healthy appearance. What his exact age is, I have not
been able to learn; but I am pretty sure I am not wrong
when I guess it as being somewhere about forty-five.
CHAPTER, XII.
SCOTC H AND IRISH LIBERAL MEMBERS.
Mr. Gillon—Mr. Villiers Stuari—Mr. Bannerman—Mr.
Wyse—Mr. Barron—Mr. James Grattan—Mr. Smith
O’Brien—Mr. Lynch—Mr. Serjeant Woulfe.
MR. GILLON, the member for the Linlithgow burghs,
is one of the best known of the Reform members in
Scotland. With his own countrymen, but especially
with his constituents, he is highly popular. To the
Reformers of England he is not so well known. His
popularity north of the Tweed is to be accounted for
from the fact of his principles being decidedly liberal,
coupled with his uncompromising adherence to, and
Mr. Gillon. 159
fearless assertion of them at all times and under all
circumstances. I believe there are few of our public
men, of any party, who have been more consistent in
their conduct as politicians than the member for Lin-
lithgow.
The question in which he feels the deepest interest,
and in which he has taken the most prominent part, is
that of religious establishments. A more strenuous op-
ponent of our established church does not exist. With
the voluntary party in his own country, he is conse-
quently a peculiar favourite. In the House of Com-
mons he seldom speaks, and never at any great length.
When he does present himself to the notice of the
Speaker, he generally commences his address in loud
and distinct tones, and with considerable animation of
manner; but his tones become lower as he proceeds,
and his manner altogether grows more languid. One of
his favourite gestures is to stretch out his hand hori-
zontally, and then to move it moderately up and down.
At other times he extends both hands before him, and
opens them as persons do when they are about to swim.
If he addresses the house on the subject of some bill
before it, he usually holds the printed copy of the bill
in his left hand, and, when in the more animated parts
of his speech, gives various smart knocks on it with the
palm of his right hand. When not animated, his most
frequent practice is to rest both hands on his breast.
He alternately looks at the Speaker and at the side gal-
lery opposite. You rarely see him look any honourable
member in the face when addressing the house. His
style is plain, but does not want force. Rhetoric is a
thing on which he never wasted a thought. If a meta-
160 'Mr. Gillon.
phor were to escape him, I have no doubt that he would
be sorry for it afterwards.
He sometimes speaks for five or six minutes at a
time with considerable fluency, and with much seeming
ease; but then it is a wonder if he does not utter three
or four sentences in the next two minutes, which re-
quire a slight correction as he proceeds. At times, one
would suppose that speaking was to him a painful exer-
cise; at others, you would conclude, from his looks and
manner, that it was quite a luxury. His voice has little
or no flexibility; nor is there anything like cadence in
its tones. It partakes slightly of the quality of huski-
ness, and to an English ear this huskiness is aggravated
by a strong Scottish accent.
Mr. Gillon, though one of the most liberal politicians
of the present day, is practically, whatever he may be
in theory, a great stickler for honorary prefixes to peo-
ple’s names. It is amusing to see the extent to which
he carries his views in this respect. When taking part,
one evening in the end of January last, on the then dis-
cussions on the Canadian question, he referred to the
resistance offered by the celebrated patriots Hampden
and Pym to the unjust taxation of their day, in illustra-
tion of a particular proposition he had laid down; and
in speaking of these men he called them Mr. Hampden
and Mr. Pym. Where he speaking of Shakspeare and
Milton, I have no doubt he would call them Mr. Shak-
speare and Mr. Milton. Whether he carries his par-
tiality to the honorary prefix of Mr. to such an extent
as to apply it to the ancients when speaking of them, is
a point I am unable to decide; but it is easy to imagine
Mr. Gillon. 161
how oddly it would sound in one’s ears to hear the
honourable gentleman talking of Mr. Plato, Mr. So-
crates, Mr. Demosthenes, Mr. Cicero, and so forth.
Mr. Gillon is a man of very respectable talents. He
does not, however, shine as a speaker. His matter as
well as his manner is too heavy for that. His speeches
are chiefly characterized by great good sense. They
have no pretensions to anything original or smart.
Neither, on the other hand, it is right to add, are they
ever feeble, or foreign to the subject before the House.
The honourable gentleman, indeed, never wanders from
the point at issue. He has also the merit of saying a
great deal in a short space of time.
Mr. Gillon is, in most cases, listened to with con-
siderable attention by all parties in the house; though,
as might be expected, the ears of the extreme Radicals
are most open to receive his words. He is fond of a
cheer, as most members are, and always expresses his
sense of any such manifestation of applause, by turning
himself for a few moments towards the quarter whence
it emanates. But though gratified by a cheer from any
honourable gentleman, I am convinced that he would
prefer one from Mr. Hume to a dozen cheers from as
many other members. I ground this conviction on the
fact of having always seen him—so at least it has ap-
peared to me—look particularly pleased whenever Mr.
Hume has greeted any part of his speech with one of
his distinct and emphatic “Hear, hears!”
Mr. Gillon is about the middle height; rather inclin-
ed to an athletic form. He has a full face. His fea-
tures are not marked; they are regular and sufficiently
vol. II.-14
162 Mr. Williers Stuart.
pleasant. He has a well-developed forehead. His
complexion is slightly tinged with a darkish hue; and
his hair is moderately black. He is only in his thirty-
sixth year.
Mr. WILLIERs STUART, the member for the county of
Waterford, is comparatively seldom heard of in the
house. He contents himself with uttering some half
dozen sentences on some unimportant subject, three or
four times in the course of a session. He was chosen,
however, at the commencement of the last session, to
second the motion for an address to his late Majesty, in
answer to his Majesty’s most gracious speech; and in
adverting to the way in which the honourable gentleman
acquitted himself on that occasion, the reader will be
able to form a very accurate idea of his usual charac-
teristics as a public speaker.
Before he commenced his motion, he looked up most
significantly to the reporter’s gallery, as much as to say
to the reporters, “Now, gentlemen, I am about to speak;
I beg your special attention to what I am going to say,
and I hope, whatever may be the reception my oration
may meet with from the House, that you will do your
duty, and give a faithful report of my eloquence in your
papers of to-morrow morning.” No one certainly could
have witnessed the repeated and significant glances
which the honourable gentleman cast towards the re-
porter’s gallery, immediately before rising to deliver
himself of the speech with which he was labouring, with-
out coming to the conclusion that these were the feel-
ings and sentiments which were working in his mind.
Nor was he disappointed; the reporters, or as his coun-
Mr. Williers Stuart. 163
trymen call them, the reporthers, did do their duty, and
he next morning appeared to much greater advantage
in typography than he did that evening as an orator.
Mr. Williers Stuart is one of the stock-still gentle-
men. It is true, he showed by example that his head
possessed the power of motion; but as for his body, it
was as innocent of any thing of that kind, as the small
sword which hung by his left side, while gently sleep-
ing in its scabbard. -
Here it may be right to repeat what I believe I men-
tioned in my First Series of “Random Recollections of
the Commons,” namely, that the mover and seconder of
the address always sport an apparently good small
sword. It is one, however, it may be right to remark,
which is quite harmless; it has never been guilty of cut-
ting human flesh nor shedding human blood. The blade
of the honourable gentleman’s weapon may be keen
enough; but its merits in this respect have never been
put to the test. It may possess the capability of doing
a world of mischief, should the honourable proprietor
be reduced to the extremity of testing its capabilities
that way; but then it is quite possible it may be as inca-
pable of harm as if the blade were made of wood. Whe-
ther the sword worn by the honourable gentleman on
this occasion was made of steel or of wood, is a ques-
tion which, as they say in the north of Scotland, I do
not feel “obligated” to decide. It is with his speech,
and himself as a speaker, and not with his sword, that I
in strict propriety have to do. Well, then, the honour-
able gentleman is no Demosthenes; and yet there are
many worse speakers. He got on, upon the whole, in
164 Mr. Willier8 Stuart.
a tolerably creditable manner, though every body saw
before he had delivered himself of a dozen sentences,
that the oration had been the work of most careful pre-
vious preparation, and that it had been committed to
memory with an assiduousness of application which
would have made the reputation, for attention to his
tasks, of any third or fourth form schoolboy. Mr. Wil-
liers Stuart began his speech in a very pleasant chit-
chat sort of style. He was quite clear and audible in
his voice, without any undue exercise of his lungs. And
as he began, so he continued and ended. He was the
same in the tones of his voice when he uttered the last
sentence, as he was when he broke ground in the first
instance. He just hit the happy medium between mak-
ing himself heard, and neither inconveniencing his own
lungs, nor dunning the ears of his honourable auditory.
Mr. Williers Stuart seems so thoroughly a man of mono-
tony, that I believe, had he spoken till four or five
o'clock next morning, he would have been innocent of
the slightest variation in the tones of his voice.
With regard to his action, again, it was, as may be
inferred from what I have already said, in admirable
keeping with his voice. For anything which appeared
to the contrary, one might have concluded that his arms
lacked the power of motion. His right hand rested on
his breast all the while, as if he had been making pro-
testations of “love to woman;” while his left hand rest-
ed, in poetical repose, on the hilt of his small rapier.
The matter of the honourable gentleman’s speech was
not amiss. Many a worse address have I been doomed
to hear in the House of Commons. There was much
Mr. Willier8 Stuart. 165
good sense in it; and it was respectably reasoned. Oc-
casionally, however, the honourable orator suffered him-
self to wax too poetical. I am sure I need not tell him
—for he knows it just as well as I do, and that is well
enough—that the House of Commons, so long as there
are such men in it as Mr. Hume, Sir Matthew Wood, Sir
Robert Inglis, Mr. C. Watkins Wynn, &c., is not the
place where the beauties and delicacies of poetry have
any chance of being appreciated. What wonder, then,
that some of his choicest flights of fancy were unadmired
and unheeded by the unpoetical members of the Lower
House. Some of Shakspeare’s characters, I do not now
recollect which, blessed his stars that the gods had not
made him poetical. If this be a source of self-gratula-
tion, I know of no body of men under the canopy of
heaven who have greater reason for indulging in it than
that assemblage of personages whose names are graced
with the appendage of M.P. I am not in the habit of
anathematizing any man, or any class of my fellow men;
but if I were, I could have wished, on this occasion, to
have had some Sterne beside me to invent “a curse”
sufficiently bitter to imprecate on the heads of the Whig,
and Tory, and Radical assemblage before me, because
of the indifference with which they heard the most beau-
tiful of the honourable gentleman’s poetical images.
This comes, there can be no doubt, of the virulence of
party feeling.
So intent are our politicians on their sectional objects,
that they are as insensible to the imagery of prose as to
the beauties of poetry. The honourable gentleman, if
I am not mistaken, compared Ireland—I am quite sure
14%
166 Mr. Bannerman.
he compared something—to woman’s love; and yet so
stupid were his audience, that they appreciated not the
beauty of the simile. Their countenances looked as
stolid as before. He himself, however, seemed to be
powerfully struck with the extreme felicity of the
image; for I observed him press with peculiar force, as
he spoke, on the hilt of his little sword, just as if
afraid that, when talking on so exciting a theme as wo-
man’s love, that sword would do what Burke said every
sword ought to do, whenever the name of Marie Antoi-
nette of France was mentioned, namely, leap from its
scabbard. No such circumstance, however, occurred.
It seemed quite content to remain quietly where it was,
while he talked in poetic strains of woman’s love, and
one or two other kindred topics.
Mr. Williers Stuart has a very intelligent counte-
nance. I should think he is about forty years of age.
His complexion is fair, his eye quick, his forehead well
developed, and his features altogether regular. His
nose is prominent, but it does not much impair the
pleasant effect of the general expression of his counte-
nance. His hair is brown, and is usually “done up”
with some care, though I have no idea he employs a
friseur for the purpose. He is rather above the middle
size, and rejoices in a handsome though rather slender
figure.
Mr. BANNERMAN, the member for Aberdeen, is well
known, and much respected by members of all parties
in the house; but he very seldom speaks. When he
does address his fellow legislators, he is always brief.
The length of time he remains on his legs hardly ever
Mr. Bannerman. 167
exceeds five minutes: it seldom exceeds two or three.
The longest speech he ever made—I mean in parlia-
ment—was when he either moved or seconded, I do not
recollect which, an address to his late Majesty, in an-
swer to his speech on the opening of parliament, some
two or three years ago. -
Mr. Bannerman possesses none of those oratorical
qualities which could render him a superior speaker;
but he acquits himself in a very creditable manner when
addressing the house. He does not often stutter, or
pause for the proper word; but speaks with considera-
ble seeming ease. His voice is feeble—at any rate, he
does not betray any great strength of lungs, and re-
markably monotonous. If there were a possibility of
gauging the loudness of his tones, I think it would be
found there was no variation in this respect from the
time he rises till he resumes his seat: nor does he
evince any animation in his manner. It were hardly
possible for him to be more sparing of his gestures. He
belongs to the stock-still class of speakers. When I
say this, I refer to his speeches in parliament.
When addressing the electors and other inhabitants
of Aberdeen, Mr. Bannerman divests himself of that
lifelessness which he shows on the floor of the house of
Commons, and displays considerable animation. His
voice is then flexible in its tones, and he is pretty libe-
ral of his gesticulation. He is an intelligent man, and
the attribute of good sense characterizes all his speeches.
He is not eloquent, in the proper signification of the
word; but he is always clear, and his style is usually
correct. His excellent private character, and his con-
168 Mr. Wyse.
sistent conduct as a public man, render him popular
with his constituents. He has made great exertions for
the spread of liberal principles in Aberdeen and the
neighbouring counties. Four or five years ago he took
an active part in the establishment of a newspaper in
Aberdeen,” with the view of promoting a modified
Radicalism, and also, no doubt, of securing the continu-
ance of his seat in parliament for that enterprising and
rapidly prospering city. In person he is above the ave-
rage height, and well formed. His complexion is dark,
and so is his hair. His features are marked, but plea-
sant. His countenance has an intelligent expression.
I should suppose, judging from his appearance, that
he is between forty-five and fifty years of age.
Mr. WysE, the member for Waterford, is a gentle-
man of extensive information, and of great talents,
especially on matters of a practical kind. He does not,
however, take a prominent part in the proceedings of
the House. Except on his favourite subject of national
education, or the details of measures immediately bear-
ing on the interests of Ireland, he very rarely speaks.
When he does address the House, he always acquits
himselfin a manner which at once shows that he speaks
from conviction without reference to party purposes,
and that he is thoroughly conversant with his subject.
Indeed I question if there be half a dozen members in
the house who evince an equal amount of information
on any question in the discussion of which they take a
part. In the course of the passage through committee
of the Poor Law Bill for Ireland, he repeatedly spoke,
* The Aberdeen Herald.
Mr. Wyse. 169
and I was much struck with the new arguments and
facts he brought to bear on particular clauses of the
measure, after most of the other Irish members had
spoken on the subject.
Mr. Wyse is a strictly independent man. He votes
and acts with the Liberal party on most great questions;
but he always does so from principle, and not because
he is mixed up with that party. He is one of the most
consistent and straight-forward men in the house; and
these qualities, conjoined as they are with great moral
worth in all the private relations of life, naturally ac-
count for the estimation in which he is held both by
Tories and Whigs.
I am surprised that with his extensive mental re-
sources and his readiness and ease in speaking on the
spur of the moment, he does not address the House
with greater frequency. Some of his replies to other
speakers who have addressed the House before him,
have appeared to me exceedingly happy. Not less hap-
py, judging from the reports which I have seen in the
public journals, were his replies at public meetings
lately held in different towns in the provinces, to the
attacks which were made in some of those towns on his
system of national education. One of his speeches at
Manchester or Cheltenham—I forget which—six or
seven months ago, in refutation of some objections
made to his views on this subject, appeared to me sin-
gularly triumphant.
And here I must take the opportunity of saying, that
Mr. Wyse's exertions to promote the great question of
national education are above all praise. In connexion
170 Mr. Wyse.
with that most momentous question, his name will go
dowſ, to posterity; and generations yet unborn will re-
gard his memory with admiration and gratitude. He
has struck out for himself a truly enlightened and phi-
lanthropic path; he has chosen a course which is indeed
worthy the name of patriotism. Nor ought I to omit to
mention that he has persevered in that course amidst
discouragements—chiefly arising from the apathy in the
public mind, which he had in the first instance to en-
counter—which would have unnerved and overcome
men of less vigour of mind, or of less confidence in the
goodness and ultimate triumph of their cause. If I were
to express an opinion on the details of Mr. Wyse's
plan of national education, I should say, that the only
feature in it to which I would object, would be that
which excludes the Bible from the schools. My own
decided conviction is, that there can be no sound system
of morals where that system is not based on revealed
religion; and therefore, with a view to the welfare of
individuals and the happiness of society, I would—even
without reference to a future state—insist on the read-
ing of the Bible, as an essential part of any national
system of education. I would let the Jew confine him-
self to his Old Testament Scriptures; I would let the
Roman Catholic have his Douay Testament; the Soci-
nian his Improved Version: and then I would let the
other classes of Protestants have our common transla-
tion, which is almost universally adopted by the Protes-
tants of the United Kingdom. I would thus, I repeat,
let every class of religionists have their own approved
version of the Scriptures; but I would insist on it as an
Mr. Wyse. % 171
indispensable part of the plan, that revealed religion
should be recognized, and its fundamental principles
systematically inculcated in the schools.
Mr. Wyse is of the Roman Catholic persuasion ; but
he is a man of great liberality of opinion on religious as
well as other questions. He belongs to a Roman Catho-
lic family of high respectability and very great anti-
quity in the town which he represents, and which town,
from his great popularity among his constituents—aris-
ing not only from the excellence of his public character,
but from personal attachment to himself and his fami-
ly,–he is likely to continue to represent for a long se-
ries of years to come.
Mr. Wyse is a man of superior scholastic attainments.
A gentleman, himself a scholar and a man of high lite-
rary reputation, who was a class-fellow of Mr. Wyse's
in Trinity College, Dublin, assures me, that Mr. Wyse
was one of the most distinguished young men at that
university, and that he carried off, from a host of com-
petitors, some of the highest prizes. As an author he
is also well and favourably known. His “Historical
Sketch of the late Catholic Association,” in two vo-
lumes, published in 1829, soon after the dissolution of
that Association, is popular in Ireland. In 1836 he
published an elaborate work on his favourite subject of
“National Education,” which displays varied informa-
tion, deep thought, and, in most cases, sound philosophy.
As a mere speaker, the honourable gentleman does.
not rank high. His voice wants strength. In the re-
moter parts of the house, especially if any noise prevail
at the time, he is now and then but very imperfectly
172 Mr. Barron.
heard. He speaks with too great rapidity, and in some.
what of a monotonous tone. He rarely falters or hesi-
tates for a word; never for ideas. His action is unpre-
tending; or rather, he has so little of it that it hardly
merits the name. Were he more liberal of his gesture,
and at the same time raised his voice a little higher, he
could not fail, considering the quality of his matter and
the tastefulness of his style, to make some impression in
the house. -
Personally, Mr. Wyse is about the middle stature;
rather, perhaps, under the average height. His figure
is well and compactly formed. His face inclines to the
angular shape. His complexion is clear, and his hair,
which is usually bushy, is of a light-brown colour. In
his countenance there is an expression of thoughtful-
ness almost amounting to reserve. He is but a young
man, being only about his fortieth year.
MR. BARRON is the colleague of Mr. Wyse in the re-
presentation of Waterford. He addresses the House
with some frequency, but very rarely on questions of
great importance, and consequently his name does not
often appear in newspaper reports. He is a gentleman
of fair talent. His information is respectable, and his
manner of acquitting himself is, in ordinary circum-
stances, highly creditable. He speaks with ease, and
always has the merit of being clear. I have seen him
make some happy extemporaneous efforts. His speeches
are always short, and whether his arguments be good
or bad, no one can accuse him of wandering from the
subject. The leading characteristic of his speeches is
the common-sense view he takes of a subject; except
Mr. Barron. 173
when he speaks under the influence of excited feelings,
and then he utters some things which would not have
suggested themselves to his mind in his cooler mo-
ments. On some occasions I have seen him display
considerable acuteness. His language is plain, with-
out being so to a fault. Unlike most of his coun-
trymen, especially those of them who possess an ardent
temperament, he has a decided aversion to figures and
hyperbole. He would blush for himself if he found
from the newspapers of the following morning, that he
had so far forgot himself as to perpetrate any expression
of a rhetorical character. - .
The attributes of Mr. Barron’s oratory are so mani-
fest, that there is no mistaking them. His voice is clear,
with a tendency to a bass tone. His utterance is pleasant
and well timed: if he err either way, it is in being too
rapid. His Irish pronunciation is less marked than that
of most legislators from the other side of the Channel;
though you see at once that he is a genuine Irishman.
There is usually considerable earnestness in his manner;
but it is an earnestness rather of look and tone than of
physical action. He is sparing, on the whole, of his
gesture. He moves his face with some rapidity from
one direction to another, and he saws the air on a small
scale with his right hand. In these movements of the
person and hand of the honourable gentleman, there is
nothing ungraceful. .
Mr. Barron is understood to be of a straight-forward
nature. He is of a hot and hasty temperament, which
accounts for the frequency and prominency of the part
he takes in the scenes which occur in the house. I be-
vol. II. —15
174 Mr. Barron.
lieve that, with the single exception of Mr. O'Connell,
he appears as often in the scenes of the house as any
other honourable member that could be named. He
is one who will not brook anything like insult. If any-
thing improper be said about him, he starts to his feet
that moment, and virtually invites the party, as if it
were a special favour conferred on him, to send him a
challenge. And he is one of the very few members
who make use of language which is likely to be noticed
by the opposite party, in perfect good faith. He is
always ready to adhere to the positions he has laid down,
or the statements he has made, without the slightest
regard to personal consequences. 3.
One of the best scenes in which Mr. Barron has taken
a prominent part while I have been present, was in the
discussion which arose, in February last, on the motion
of Lord Maidstone for a vote of censure on Mr. O’Con-
nell, in consequence of the latter gentleman charging
the Tory members in the aggregate with perjury when
serving on election committees. Mr. John Morgan
O’Connell having, in reference to an observation made
by Mr. Jenkins on some remark that he (Mr. M. O’Con-
nell) had made, said, that he did not impugn the deci-
sion of the Ipswich election committee,_Mr. Barron
started up, and with great energy said—“Then I do.”
This was enough to produce additional uproar in an
already excited house. Deafening were the cheers with
which the Ministerial members greeted the bold and
fearless declaration, and no less vociferous were the
cries of “Question, question,” from the Opposition.
Mr. Barron continued, but not one sentence of what
Mr. Barron. 175
he meant to say, was he permitted to finish. “It is,”
(Loud
cries of ‘Question, question.” The whole question be-
he said, “a most extraordinary fact, that
fore the Ipswich Committee turned on the single point
as to whether parish constables had a right to
(Great uproar.) I wish the country to know that the
(Wehement cries of ‘Question, question,’ ‘Divide,
divide,”) I ask the honourable gentleman (Mr. Jenkins,
I presume was meant) whether the whole question did
not hinge on the single point as to - (Here the
honourable member’s voice was drowned amidst the
most deafening uproar, which lasted for some minutes.)
I will be heard, and — (Shouts of ‘No, no,” “Di-
vide, divide.”). If I am rightly informed, the committee
that sat (Loud cries of “Withdraw, withdraw,”
and tremendous uproar.) I have a great accusation to
make against this committee, and heard I will be
(Renewed uproar.) It may be an inconvenient ques-
tion—an awful question, and therefore they may think
to stifle my voice, but in that they shall not »
(Deafening cries of ‘Question, question,’ ‘Divide, di-
vide.”) The honourable gentleman continued for some
time in the same way, amidst similar uproar and confu-
sion, without being able to make himself heard, except
in broken sentences. .
The honourable gentleman is but a young man. His
age cannot much exceed forty. He dresses with much
taste—with a taste, indeed, which verges on dandyism.
His countenance wears a thoughtful if not reserved ex-
pression, and is not without intelligence. His features
are regular, and his appearance altogether is in his
176 Mr. James Grattan.
favour. His complexion is dark, and his hair black.
Of the latter, there is no lack of quantity, nor are there
any indications, even incipient ones, of coming bald-
ness. A tuft of the honourable gentleman’s hair is
usually seen to overlap his brow, especially when any
important subject is before the House, and he intends
to offer some observations on it. He is rather under
the middle size, but well formed. He is regular in his
attendance on his parliamentary duties in ordinary cir-
cumstances; but remarkably so when any Irish question
is before the House. You might as soon expect to miss
the bench itself on which the honourable gentleman sits,
as miss Mr. Barron on such occasions.
Mr. JAMES GRATTAN, member for Wicklow, is hardly
known in the house as a speaker; but the circumstance
of his being the son of the celebrated Henry Grattan, is
of itself sufficient to entitle him to a brief notice. He
does not address the House above once or twice in the
course of a session, and then only very briefly; and yet
there are many worse speakers in the habit of inflicting
their eloquence on honourable gentlemen. He has a
powerful voice, though he seldom raises it to that high
pitch of which it is susceptible. It has something of a
husky sound, which, when he lowers it, has the effect of
preventing his being distinctly heard. He talks with
great fluency; he never appears to be at a loss for words;
but his style is by no means polished. It is, however,
tolerably correct. His ideas are of an inferior order;
they never, even by accident, rise above common-place.
Occasionally he repeats himself, and at other times he
is not so very explicit as he might be. In his manner
Mr. James Grattan. 177
he has nothing of the vehemence of his brother, the pre-
Sent Henry Grattan. His action is moderate: he gen-
tly moves his head up and down, and sometimes turns
his face from one part of the house to the other. When
about to speak, he puts his hat under his left arm, and
in that position retains it during the time he is on his
legs. w
In personal appearance Mr. James Grattan has a good
deal of resemblance to his brother. He is a little above
the middle height; and, without being stoutly made, has
manifestly a strong constitution. His face has some-
thing of an angular form. His forehead is well deve-
loped, and the expression of his countenance altogether
is that of intelligence and decision of character. His
complexion has something of a florid hue. His hair is
of a dark brown, and he usually rejoices in such a luxu-
riant crop of it that a hair-cutter would be apt to charge
him double the usual price for a poll,—provided the
honourable gentleman were to make no contract before-
hand with the knight of the scissors and comb. He
looks much older than his brother Henry, though he is
only a few years more advanced in life.
Mr. James Grattan is pretty regular in his attendance
on his parliamentary duties: when an Irish question is
before the House, you may calculate as safely on his
presence as on that of the Speaker himself, or the clerks
at the table. He almost invariably acts and votes with
Mr. O’Connell. The only instance I recollect of his
differing from him, was on the occasion of the introduc-
tion of a measure for giving poor laws to Ireland. He
highly eulogized the conduct of government in that case,
15%
178 Mr. Smith O’Brien.
though Mr. O’Connell was avowedly opposed to any
poor laws for Ireland.
Mr. SMITH O’BRIEN, the member for the county of
Limerick, is a gentleman well known and much respect-
ed in the house, though he does not speak very often.
His plain unassuming manners are much in his favour.
He possesses highly respectable talents, but has no pre-
tensions to depth or originality. His speeches, which
are for the most part short, are chiefly characterized by
the good sense which pervades them. He is always
clear; there is no possibility of mistaking his meaning.
I have sometimes thought that by means of these quali-
ties his speeches would be more likely to convince those
whose minds were open to conviction, than the speeches
of men of greater oratorical celebrity. He possesses
respectable extemporaneous resources. I have repeat-
edly heard him make good speeches in reply.
He acquired for himself some distinction by his
speeches on the Spottiswoode conspiracy, at the com-
mencement of the session. In fact, he brought the sub-
ject before the House on one occasion, and acquitted
himself, both in his opening speech and in his reply, in
a very creditable manner. He is not a verbose speaker.
His style is sufficiently correct, but has no appearance
of being the result of labour. He speaks fluently
enough. He never seems embarrassed. He appears to
have quite as many ideas, and as great a capacity of ex-
pressing them, as are necessary for any useful purpose.
He seldom hesitates, but goes on sentence after sen-
tence, smoothly and seemingly without effort, to the end.
Mr. O’Brien is not prodigal of gesture. His action,
Mr. Lynch. 179
indeed, is rather tame than otherwise. His voice is
clear, and his enunciation good. Were he to modulate
the tones of his voice according to its manifest capa-
bilities, his elocution would be generally admired. As
it is, there is a sameness in it which impairs the effect
of his speeches.
The honourable gentleman’s mother was one of the
richest heiresses in Ireland. She was co-heiress to
William Smith, Esq., an attorney of extensive practice,
who left upwards of a quarter of a million of money.
Mr. O’Brien is a young man. Judging from his ap-
pearance, I should take him to be under forty. He is
about the middle height, and rather slenderly made.
His face is round, and his features, with the exception
of a prominent expression about the brow, are regular.
His complexion is clear, and his hair partakes of a dark-
ish hue. His countenance has a smiling, pleasant as-
pect, and is so far, I believe, a correct index of his
disposition.
Mr. Lynch, the member for Galway, very rarely
speaks except on Irish questions, and even then but
seldom on questions of paramount interest. He prefers
addressing the House on subjects of ordinary import-
ance to Ireland, and usually acquits himself in a
very respectable manner. There is little show in his
speeches; but they are always characterized by much
practical good sense. He is one of the few members
in the house, in the habit of getting on their legs, as
the phrase is, whose mind is so intensely occupied with
the subject as to exclude all consideration of self. He
never rises for the purpose of having it in his power
180 Mr. Lynch.
next day to tell his frieuds that he has made a speech;
but because he has something of importance to say,
which has escaped the observation of all who have pre-
ceded him on the same side of the question.
I have no idea that he is an admirer of the Bentha-
mite philosophy: indeed, I may say pretty positively,
that he disclaims all sympathy with that philosophy.
But he is, nevertheless, quite a utilitarian in the matter
of his parliamentary exhibitions. If he sees no useful
object to be gained by rising to address the House, he
sits on his seat as closely as if he were glued to it.
Eloquence however great, matter however brilliant, go
for nothing in his estimation, unless they are associated
with something which promises a practical benefit,
either to the country generally, or to some particular
portion of it. .
As might, therefore, be expected, Mr. Lynch has
nothing flashy or ornamental about him as a speaker. -
He rises for the purpose of laying before the House his
views of the subject; and his object is to have those
views made clear to all who hear him. That object
gained, he sits down with the most perfect self-satisfac-
tion. What may be thought of him as a speaker, is a
point on which he is never troubled. I believe he
would afterwards reproach himself with a species of
mental weakness, if he were to waste a thought about
what either the House or the public are likely to think
of his speeches, considered merely as oratorical efforts.
It will naturally be inferred from this, that not only
are his speeches “few and far between,” but that they
are never tedious.
Mr. Lynch. 181
He may have made, in the course of his parliamentary
career, speeches of longer duration in the delivery than
a quarter of an hour; but, if so, I have never happened
to be present on such occasions; neither has any such
instance been mentioned to me. Of this I am tolerably
certain, that if on any occasion he occupied the time of
the House for more than fifteen minutes in the delivery
of one speech, he would not only, before sitting down,
beg the pardon of the House for trespassing on its at-
tention, but he would do so with the most entire sin-
cerity; which, by the way, is a very different thing, as
matters go in the House of Commons, from doing it in
words. I am also certain that, in such a case, he would
have much greater difficulty in forgiving himself than
would the honourable members whose pardon he sup-
plicated. I wish all our legislators were, in this re-
spect, like Mr. Lynch. Such a consummation would
be a happy one for the nation. We should then have
as much business done in a couple of months as there
now is during the session.
Mr. Lynch, as may be presumed from what I have
stated, applies himself strictly to the question at issue.
. Though a lawyer, and in constant practice in the
Chancery Courts, he never, when on the floor of the
House of Commons, allows himself to wander into
irrelevant matter, which is so common a blemish or fault
in the parliamentary speeches of barristers. Neither
does he load his views or sentiments with a quantity of
unnecessary words. He has the rational notion that
the intention of words is to express ideas, and that the
fewer the words—assuming, of course, there is a suf-
182 Mr. Lynch.
ficient number to express his meaning—the more nu-
merous will be the ideas he will be able to unfold to
the House within a given time. t
His style is plain; it has nothing in the shape of
rhetorical embellishment. Imagery is a thing which
he holds in the lowest possible estimation. To speak
more correctly, he holds it, indeed, in no estimation at
all. Let me not, however, be understood as implying
that his style is defective in accuracy. No such thing:
it is a good, clear, expressive style, of which no one
need be ashamed. Of the quality of his ideas I need
say nothing, after what I have already stated. You are
never struck with them as being the emanations of a
comprehensive mind, or a fertile imagination; but you
are satisfied they are the results of careful meditation, .
and the conclusions of a sound judgment.
It will not, I am sure, be expected, after the obser-
vations I have already made, that I should represent
Mr. Lynch as an attractive speaker as to his manner.
His manner partakes a good deal of the plainness of
his matter. His ſat round face looks very pleasant
while he is addressing the House; and his action is
agreeable enough. In saying this, I have said almost
everything that is necessary to enable the reader to
form an idea of his manner. He would be all the better
if he had a little more animation. That would keep up
the attention of honourable gentlemen better; though it
is but due to him, and but a matter of justice to them,
to say, that he has no reason to complain of inattention.
His enunciation is easy, and his voice clear and audible.
He always speaks in one key. He either cannot or
will not vary the tones of his voice.
Mr. Serjeant Woulfe. 183
His personal appearance is sufficiently marked. He
is a little thick-set man, with a head bald on the crown,
but having a considerable quantity of long white hair
on either side. In his face there is no marked expres-
sion. It has neither the sharpness nor the longitude of
that of the lawyer. His appearance altogether is homely
and farmer-like. - -
He is devotedly wedded, in the article of apparel, to
a coat in which there is abundant room; and has a de-
cided antipathy to a stiff collar or fashionable stock.
He is singularly partial to a white neckerchief, tied
with a large double knot. An excessive politeness of
manner, or anything approaching Beau Brummelism in
dress, are things which he regards with positive dislike.
He is about his fiftieth year. His recent appointment
to the office of Master of Chancery has given the
greatest satisfaction to the profession.
Mr. SERJEANT Woul FE, the member for Cashel, was
returned to parliament, for the first time, in February
1837. He had not been many nights in the house when
circumstances compelled him to make his maiden speech.
The second reading of the Irish Municipal Reform Bill
coming then under the consideration of the House, he
could not, as the Attorney-General for Ireland, omit
making a speech on the occasion, without to a certain
extent compromising the government of which he had
but a few weeks before been made a member. In Ire-
land the honourable and learned gentleman had, for
many years previously, enjoyed the reputation of being
a man of superior talents. That impression was general
at the time of his entering the house. It is one which
184 Mr. Serjeant Woulfe.
is always very prejudicial to a new member; for, to
produce an effect on a first appearance, it is necessary
that the House should, to a certain extent, be taken by
surprise. Mr. Serjeant Woulfe’s parliamentary debât
did not come up to the general expectation, though it
could not, without doing injustice to the honourable
and learned member, be called altogether a failure.
Perhaps it could not be more correctly designated, than
by saying it was a respectable maiden speech. He
showed none of that trepidation or want of confidence
which is so common with practised out-of-door orators,
and with other legal gentlemen, on their first effort at
speech-making in parliament. He was seemingly as
much at his ease in the outset, as if he had been a
member of a quarter of a century’s standing. All was
attention for some time after he rose. It was clear from
the silence which prevailed, and the circumstance of
all eyes being fixed on the honourable and learned gen-
tleman, that the expectations of the House were wound
up to no ordinary pitch. For some time, say ten
minutes, after he had commenced, he acquitted himself
in a more than creditable manner; and the presumption
for that length of time was, that he would improve in
his eloquence, and in the animation of his manner, as
he got further into his subject. Instead of that, how-
ever, he became much heavier in his matter, and more
languid in his manner. He consequently lost, to a
corresponding extent, the attention of the House; and
many members rose and went out. In about a quarter
of an hour after this he rallied, and made what is called
a number of good points. He also became much more
Mr. Serjeant Woulfe. 185
lively in his manner, and repeatedly elicited loud
cheers. He continued to speak for a full hour more,
making at least an hour and a half altogether, during
which he addressed the House.
His speech was undoubtedly an able one: it was full
of excellent matter; but the argument was a good deal
too close and continuous for telling with effect, under
any circumstances, on the House,_especially when the
speech was not very well delivered. Mr. Serjeant
Woulfe is evidently an original, if not a very philoso-
phical speaker, and he can arrange his ideas with clear-
ness, and express them in appropriate phraseology; but
to make any impression on the House, it is necessary
that there be more or less of declamation, or what is
called “taking points,” delivered with animation and
energy. •
In my First Series of this work, I mentioned the re-
markable similarity there was in the voice of Mr.
Wakley, the member for Finsbury, and that of the late
Mr. Cobbett. An equally striking similarity exists be-
tween the voice of Mr. Shiel and Mr. Serjeant Woulfe.
Any person accustomed to hear Mr. Shiel would have
been as confident as he was of his own existence, that
it was that honourable and learned gentleman who was
addressing the House, had he been conducted blind-
folded into St. Stephen’s on the evening in question,
and heard Mr. Serjeant Woulfe in some of his more
energetic moods. This is the more surprising, as Mr.
Shiel’s is the most extraordinary voice, perhaps, in the
house. It has something in it which I cannot describe,
and which, I take it, nobody could. Mr. Serjeant
vol. II.-16 -
186 Mr. Serjeant Woulfe.
Woulfe’s utterance, too, bears an equally close resem-
blance to that of Mr. Shiel. It is as rapid at times as
if the words were instinct with life, and were struggling
with each other as to which of them should first make
the ascent of his throat. At Elgin, in Scotland, the
boys have a certain game, of which I do not now recol-
lect the particulars; but I remember quite well that it
ends in their all starting off on a race for a certain point,
while, in order to stimulate their efforts at swiftness,
one boy, who acts as a kind of master of the ceremonies,
sings out, “Deil tak’ the hindmost.” Though the per-
sonage in question were destined to take the last term
which Mr. Shiel utters, there could not be a greater
struggle among his words to make their escape out of
his mouth into the atmosphere of the house. It is the
same with Mr. Serjeant Woulfe. His elocution, when
I first heard it, reminded me of one of those scientific
rat-tat-tats at which an experienced footman is so ex-
pert. Parts of his speech were a sort of constant ex-
plosion. For a reporter to follow him was out of the
question. Hence, a very imperfect report of his speech
appeared on the following day. Had the speech been
well reported, it would have produced a much greater
effect on the country than it did on the House. The
honourable and learned gentleman attempted, after its
delivery, to report it himself from recollection, for one
of the morning papers. He proceeded so far, but was
obliged to give up the undertaking in despair.
The honourable and learned gentleman’s style is cor-
rect, without being polished. He does not appear to
care much about rounded periods. His diction, how-
Mr. Serjeant Woulfe. 187
ever, is always vigorous. So far it resembles that of
Mr. Shiel. I mention this, because I have referred to so
many other points of resemblance between the two men.
The former, however, has not the rhetoric or brilliancy
of the latter: nor can he ever hope to attain to anything
like the same status in the house. .
Mr. Serjeant Woulfe is not so prodigal of his gesticu-
lation as Mr. Shiel; but so far as it goes, it resembles
that of the honourable and learned member for Tippe-
rary. His figure has, naturally, somewhat of a decrepit
appearance; but it looks more so than it really is, by
the awkward position in which he stands when address-
ing the House. He always stoops and leans over the
table, except when in his more energetic moments. He
then raises his arms, and throws them about as if he
were determined to have nothing more to do with them.
Sometimes he leans down on the table altogether, and
keeps his eye as steadily fixed on Mr. Shaw, or some
other leading Irish member, as if he were making a
speech for that member’s special benefit.
Mr. Sergeant Woulfe is seemingly upwards of fifty.
His figure, as I have just hinted, is not prepossessing.
He does not appear to be a man of strong constitution.
His height is about, or perhaps rather above, the average.
He is rather slenderly formed. His nose is sharp, and
so is his face altogether. His complexion is sallow, and
his hair, which is abundant, is of a dark-brown colour.
It exhibits no traces of being ever brushed or combed.
The honourable and learned gentleman has something
of an absent-minded if not an eccentric appearance, and
his conduct sometimes goes to support the hypothesis
188 Mr. Serjeant Woulfe.
that there is a degree of eccentricity about him. Two
nights after the delivery of his maiden speech, he went
up, while Lord John Russell was addressing the House
in opposition to Mr. Walter's speech on the Poor Law
question, to one of the side galleries, and stretched
himself at full length on his back on one of the seats.
For some time I thought he had addressed himself, as
the poet says, to sleep; for he lay as tranquilly as if he
had formed a part of the cushioned bench on which he
reposed; nor would it have been matter of wonder if
he had, after, like Sancho Panza, invoking a thousand
blessings on the head of him who first invented sleep,
taken what Lord Brougham calls a moderate nap; for
it was impossible to conceive of anything having a more
soporific tendency than that particular speech of Lord
John's. Whether Mr. Serjeant Woulfe did or did not
actually commit himself on this occasion to the arms of
Morpheus, is a point which I cannot determine with
anything like absolute certainty; nor is it a matter of
much importance to the public. If he did sleep, it was
only for a very short time; for in less than ten minutes
he turned and tossed himself about, as if he had been,
as one of his own countrymen would say, “spitted” be-
fore a fire. At last he sought to dissipate the ennui
caused by Lord John Russell’s heavy oration, by amus-
ing himself with his ample crop of hair. Putting the
fingers of his left hand about one inch apart from each
other, he thrust them in among his luxuriant hair, just
as a barber does when about to apply the scissors to the
excrescences of a customer’s cranium; and then with
his right hand he seized the tufts which made their way
Mr. Foa, Maule. 189
up between his fingers, and pulled at them with as much
seeming violence as if he had been trying how much of
his hair he could uproot at once. Had it not been that
I knew the dulness of Lord John’s speech had imposed.
on him the necessity of resorting to some expedient or
other to kill time—though this, I must confess, ap-
peared to me a very extraordinary one,—I should have
leaped at once to the conclusion, knowing him to be a
Roman Catholic, that he was doing penance on himself.
Lord John, however, having soon afterwards resumed
his seat, Mr. Serjeant Woulfe rose and went to the area
of the house to discharge his parliamentary duties.
\
CHAPTER XIII.
government MEMBERS.
Mr. For Maule—Mr. Francis T. Baring—Mr. Vernon
Smith—Mr. Robert Stewart.
MR. Fox MAULE, member for the Elgin district of
burghs, and Under Secretary of State, was rejected by
a small majority at the last election for the county of
Perth, and government was not without apprehensions
that some considerable time might elapse before an op-
portunity would be again afforded him of returning to
the house,_his absence from which, considering the
situation he fills, being exceedingly inconvenient for
them. The appointment, however, of Sir Andrew Leith
Hay as governor of Bermuda, occasioned a vacancy in
the Elgin district of burghs, and Mr. Fox Maule, both
16% -
190 Mr. Poac Maule.
from his personal intimacy with Sir Andrew, and his
connexion with the government, having been the first
to learn that such vacancy was on the eve of occurring,
set off to the north of Scotland in the midst of the late
severe weather, and digging his way through the wreaths
of snow which at the time obstructed all intercouse be-
tween the one borough and the other, he was fairly in
the field as a candidate before Sir Andrew’s constituents
were aware that they had lost, or rather were about to
lose, their representative. Sir Andrew being very
popular with a considerable majority of the electors of
the Elgin burghs, the circumstance of Mr. Fox Maule
being known to be his personal friend, and being strongly
recommended by him, went far, of itself, to pave the
way for a successful canvass. The Tories were aware
of this, and therefore none of their party could be pre-
vailed on to stand in opposition to him. He walked
the course; and having, from the hustings and in print,
thanked the electors for the honour done him, he quitted
Morayshire, the day after his election, for London.
Mr. Fox Maule very rarely speaks on questions of a
general nature; not even on Scotch questions of com-
manding interest. He confines his addresses in a great
measure to questions which more immediately relate to
the department of government with which he is con-
nected. He takes a deep interest in those Scotch
matters which to others have little or no attractions.
I have heard him make a speech of considerable length,
and with much animation and energy, about the preser-
vation of game in Scotland. He is a very respectable
speaker. He has a good clear voice, rather of a tenor
Mr. For Maule. 191
kind, and capable, I am satisfied, of being modulated
with great effect, were he to put his capabilities to the
test. He speaks with fluency, and usually with SOIſle
rapidity. He is never at a loss either for ideas or words.
I am not sure that I ever knew him hesitate or stam-
mer; I seldom, indeed, have known him to be under
the necessity of correcting his phraseology. He is not
a wordy speaker: he rather speaks in a close, condens-
ed style. He is always clear, and usually proves him-
self to be a man of sound judgment and excellent busi-
ness notions. He is much respected in the house by
men of all parties: his good-nature, and his obliging,
unassuming manner, make him a general favourite. If he
has not made that appearance in the house which was
expected of him by his countrymen, when first return-
ed to parliament, I am convinced the cause rests either
in diffidence or indolence, or something else of an ad-
ventitious kind: it is not for want of talent,-of which
he possesses a considerable portion. He is the less ex-
cusable for not occupying a more prominent position in
the house, because there was not only a general pre-
possession in his favour when he made his debút, but
he can still, at any time, command the respectful at-
tention of honourable members, whenever he chooses
to present himself. Many a man of decided talent has
been lost for ever as a parliamentary speaker, for want
of the favourable opportunities which Mr. Fox Maule
has all along possessed, and possesses still, if he only
thought fit to avail himself of them. . .
Out of doors, at county meetings, or when address-
ing assemblages of the people at the time of an elec-
192 Mr. Foa: Maule.
tion, he acquits himself in a highly creditable manner.
Such a speech, one displaying so much readiness and
talent and in some parts humour, as he delivered at
Elgin on his election for that district of burghs, would,
be sure to “take” in the House of Commons, and give .
him a much higher reputation as a speaker than he at
present possesses. -
I have often been struck with the fondness which a .
newly elected member shows for his legislative duties
for some time after his return. It is ten to one if he be
not, until the novelty of the thing has worn off, as early
in the house as the Speaker himself, and among the last
to leave it. The temporary exclusion of Mr. Fox Maule
from parliament seemed to produce this feeling in his
mind. He took the oaths and his seat on a Thursday,
if my memory be not at fault, and on the following day
he was down by the time the Speaker took the chair,
and there he remained until the right honourable gen-
tleman left it. In other words, Mr. Fox Maule was the
last of the members to quit the house; and even then,
when the lights were about to be extinguished, he
seemed as loath to leave it as a lover is to part with his
mistress. Mr. Wallace, the member for Greenock, was,
on that occasion, also seized with a fit of fondness for
the house; from what cause I know not. He preceded
Mr. Fox Maule, when an exit became necessary, in the
passage to the door, with slow and reluctant step. The
latter gentleman, when he reached the bar, could not
help casting one longing, lingering look behind.
Mr. Fox Maule’s personal appearance, as well as his
manner, is pleasing. He has an open, good-natured
Mr. Francis T. Baring. 193
expression of countenance. His face is round, and his
features are regular. His complexion is slightly dark.
He has black hair, with prominent eyelashes, and a clear
quick eye. He is of the middle height, and of a firm
compact make. His father, Lord Panmure, is now an
old man, and he has consequently the prospect of a seat
in the upper house at no distant day. He is apparently
about his fortieth year. -
Mr. FRANCIs T. BARING, , member for Portsmouth,
and Secretary of the Treasury, is an excellent business
man, and a very respectable speaker, though he has no
great disposition to make oratorical displays. He acts
as much as possible on the principle that silence is best.
It is only when he has to call the attention of the house
to something which specially appertains to his depart-
ment of the public business, or when he or his depart-
ment is attacked, that he can be induced to make a
speech. And when such accidental necessity of ad-
dressing the house is imposed on him, his great object
is to make his statement, or repel the attack, with the
utmost practicable expedition. He seems, indeed, to
be quite uncomfortable on his legs. He resumes his
seat far more gracefully, and with immeasurably greater
pleasure, than he stands up to make his speech. His
notion is, that speaking is but a foolish affair at best;
the result, in most cases, of a passion for reputation, or
notoriety, or whatever people choose to call it. He
would be much better pleased if the Opposition never
opened their mouths: not because he thinks there is any
difficulty in demolishing their positions, or refuting their
arguments, but simply because, in that case, neither his
194 Mr. Francis T. Baring.
Ministerial friends nor himself would be put to the
trouble of replying to them. If honourable gentlemen
were generally of Mr. Baring's opinion, it would save
the house a world of words, and vastly facilitate the bu-
siness of the country. It will invariably be found true
of the proceedings of the House of Commons, that when
most is said least is done, and vice versá. However,
this is a point on which it were useless to expatiate.
There are many members whose chief if not only ambi-
tion is to play the orator; and were speaking at a dis-
count, they would have nothing whatever to do with
legislation. - -
Mr. Baring on rising to reply to an attack, starts up
with great suddenness to his feet, and plunges at once
to the very marrow of the matter. He never, in any
case, wastes a word in the shape of prefatory remark;
and what is no less worthy of observation, is, that his
very first sentence is usually delivered in as loud a
tone of voice as any part of his speech. He speaks in
so bold and fearless a manner, that every one who hears
him must feel surprised that he speaks so seldom. His
manner of speaking argues much more confidence than
his appearance. He has a distinct and impressive de-
livery. His voice is clear, and possesses very consi-
derable volume. His utterance is hurried; without
stuttering or stammering. He is occasionally pretty
liberal of his gesture, especially in the motions of his
right arm. His matter is good: it is chiefly remarkable
for its sound sense. At times he displays some acute-
ness in replying to an opponent. His style is correct,
but unadorned. The graces of rhetoric are matters
Mr. Vernon Smith. 195
which never cost him a thought. If a brilliant idea
occurred to his mind, I am sure he would not give it
expression. He would keep it a prisoner in the place
in which it was born. “Business” is his motto. With
all matters appertaining to his own office, he is inti-
mately conversant. He is, in that respect, a most useful
public man.
Mr. F. T. Baring's personal appearance is marked.
He has a manifest stoop in his gait, and his body ap-
pears to lean slightly on one side. His face is expres-,
sive of good-nature; but his features are irregular. His
eyes are large, and his forehead is straight and some-
what contracted. His hair is of a dark-brown colour,
and his complexion is sallow. In height he is a little
above the usual size, and rather firmly made. He is
much respected in the house, and is a great favourite
with his constituents. I was present at his last elec-
tion for Portsmouth, and had many proofs of this af-
forded me. In coming into the house, the honourable
gentleman is remarkable for the short steps he takes.
In walking the same distance on the floor as other
honourable members generally, I should say he takes
three steps for their two. In this respect he exhibits a
strong contrast to one of his colleagues in office. I al-
lude to Mr. Charles Wood, a gentleman who takes such
long strides when entering the house, his hat all the
while swinging in his hand, that you would fancy he
was trying with how few steps he could walk from one
side of the floor to the other. Mr. Baring is in or
about his forty-second year.
Mr. VERNoN SMITH, the member for Northampton,
196 Mr. Vernon Smith.
and Secretary of the Board of Control, is one of those
hon. gentlemen—and there is a considerable number of
them—who are much better known in the house than
in the country. His connexion with the government
necessarily brings him into frequent contact with mem-
bers of all parties, though chiefly with those of his own
party. His politics are liberal, but not sufficiently so
to warrant me in classing him among the Whig-Radi-
cals. He considers himself to be a Whig of the old
school, and would not, I am sure, like to be designated
in any other way. He is what may be called a smart
debater: he wants depth, but he is always ready, and
often displays considerable acuteness. I never saw
anything in his speeches which indicated a comprehen-
sive mind. He chiefly excels in the dexterity with
which he seizes on certain details of a question, and
turns them to his own and his party’s account.
His speeches have the merit of being always clear,
and he is entitled to the further praise of closely apply-
ing himself, on all occasions, to the real points at issue.
I know few members of the house to whose minds a
greater number of ideas so readily occur, in answer to
the speeches of an opponent. I have repeatedly seen
him at a loss as to which of the arguments that have
suggested themselves to his mind, in refutation of posi-
tions advanced on the opposite side, he ought to give the
preference to, when he finds that he cannot make use
of them all within a reasonable time. He is a pleasant
speaker; but there is nothing either in his matter or
manner calculated to make an impression. You hear
all he has to say, and you give him credit for being a
Mr. Vernon Smith. 197
clever man; but the moment he resumes his seat, you
not only forget all he has said, but very possibly,
also, the fact of his having spoken at all. He is by no
means ambitious of speech-making. He never aims at
effect. I never saw him attempt to give utterance to a
philosophical truth, nor to clothe his ideas in pompous
or rhetorical phraseology. He is what I would call a
business speaker. He sees no use in speeches, except
in so far as they have manifestly a practical tendency,
or pave the way for the transaction of business. His
matter, consequently, consists in a great measure of
statements and facts, and his speeches are always short.
I have no recollection of having seen him occupy the at-
tention of the House more than twenty minutes on any
occasion. Between eight and ten minutes is, with him,
a favourite period for remaining, as the parliamentary
phrase is, on his legs. His diction is plain: it is just
such as would-occur to the mind of an intelligent man.
He speaks with some rapidity, and now and then stut-
ters slightly when withdrawing one word to substitute
another which is more appropriate. His manner has
altogether the appearance of that of one who speaks
under the impression that the sooner he gets through his
addresses the better. He seems to be quite in a hurry
to come to a conclusion. His voice is clear, but wants
flexibility. He occasionally gets a little animated, and
then he is quite mercurial in his bodily movements. He
turns himself about from one part of the house to the
other, with a quickness of evolution which few mem-
bers could match. At one time you see both arms put
into active requisition; at others he suffers his left arm
VOL. II.-17
198 Mr. Vernon Smith.
to rest itself either on the table or by his side, while the
right one is busily employed. He has abundant confi-
dence in himself, but never suffers that confidence to
degenerate into anything like flippancy of manner. He
not only disapproves of personalities, but he never aims
at irony or sarcasm, in replying to an opponent. He
neither wishes to annoy his opponents, nor to be consi-
dered a fine speaker himself; all that he aims at, is to
vindicate the measures adopted by the department of
the government with which he is officially connected;
and it is only when such measures are either arraigned,
or when he has to bring them before the House, that he
speaks at all.
Mr. Vernon Smith’s personal appearance has nothing
striking about it. He is above the general height, and
of a good figure. His features are small, and the ex-
pression of his countenance is pleasant. His complex-
ion is fair, and indicative of health. His hair is of a
sandy colour. He dresses with taste, but is not foppish.
He has a decided partiality to a frock-coat, and is sel-
dom seen in any thing else. In age I should think he
does not much exceed forty.
Mr. Robert STEUART, member for the Haddington
district of burghs, and one of the Lords of the Treasury,
is a man much better known in the house than he is out
of doors. He has an excellent knowledge of those de-
partments of the public business to which his official
situation has rendered it necessary that he should par-
ticularly apply his mind; and when he has occasion to
speak on topics bearing immediately on such matters,
he acquits himself in a highly creditable manner. He
Mr. Robert Stewart. 199
possesses a clear mind and a sound judgment; nor is he
deficient in the attributes which are necessary to enable
him to express his views, and to vindicate his measures,
with effect. He is a plain, but easy and pleasant
speaker. He is always cool and collected; he seems as
self-possessed when addressing the House, as if he were
carrying on a “free and easy” conversation with some
friend in his own office, or in his own house. His de-
livery is somewhat rapid; but he rarely hesitates for a
word. He is quite an unassuming speaker. He never .
waxes warm, nor ventures on energetic action. He ap-
pears to have a horror of any thing artificial. He can
scarcely be said to use any gesticulation; while the tones
of his voice are as even as if he dare not, under Some
penalty of alarming magnitude, impart the least variety
to them. His articulation is always distinct, and he is
usually audible in all parts of the house, though by no
means a loud speaker. His Scotch accent is not nearly
so marked as that of several of the other honourable
members from the north of the Tweed: still an English
ear would at once detect the Scotchman in him.
Mr. Steuart seldom speaks, and still less frequently
at any length. I question if he ever spoke fifteen mi-
nutes at a time since his introduction to the house. I
should suppose the average duration of the time which
his speeches occupy in the delivery, is under five mi-
nutes. He has no pretensions to originality or vigour
of mind; nor does he ever attempt tograpple with great
questions. He never speaks except on questions of
minor interest, or on the details of an important mea-
sure. He is much respected by all parties, as his ex-
200 Mr. Robert Stewart.
cellent private character and consistent and independent
public conduct could not fail to make him. He was
one of the four honourable gentlemen holding office, who
had the manliness to vote against Ministers and in fa-
vour of the ballot, on Mr. Grote’s motion on that sub-
ject in February last.
In personal appearance, Mr. Steuart is above the
usual height, and well formed. His complexion is dark
and his hair black. He is partial to large whiskers, and
to what the friseurs call an abundant crop of hair. His
countenance has a cheerful, tranquil expression. His
face is something between the round and oval form.
He has a well developed forehead, with prominent eye-
brows. He is a young man, being only in his thirty-
’ second year.
201
CHAPTER XIV.
NEW MEMIBIBRS.
Lord Leveson—Mr. Gibson Craig–Mr. D'Israeli–Mr.
Colquhown.
LoRD LEVEson, son of the Earl of Granville, and
member for Morpeth, brought himself into notice at the
commencement of the session, by moving the address
in answer to the Queen’s speech. As this was the
noble lord’s maiden speech,” all eyes were naturally
fixed on him. What added to the interest of his mov-
ing the address, was the circumstance of his speech
being the first aſter the regular meeting, not only of a
new parliament, but of a new parliament under a new
sovereign, and that sovereign a female of only eighteen.
The proceedings on the election of Speaker are only
considered a sort of preliminary matter which has no
connexion with the actual business of the session.
The interest which the circumstances to which I have
alluded, gave to the speech of Lord Leveson, was
greatly heightened by his exceedingly youthful, not to
say boyish, appearance. The noble lord is very young
to be entrusted with the representation of an important
constituency; for he is only in his twenty-second year;
but young as he is, he even looks still younger. He
* The noble lord was elected for Morpeth towards the close
of the last session, but never made any regular speech in the
house before.
17%
202 Jord Leveson.
commenced with wonderful self-possession, under all
the circumstances of the case, and spoke for about fif-
teen minutes with much seeming ease. His utterance
was rapid rather than otherwise, and the words pro-
ceeded in regular order from his mouth. His voice
does not appear to be powerful, but it is clear and plea-
sant. His articulation was sufficiently distinct, and in
his pronunciation there was an absence of that dandified
“fine-young-gentleman” manner of speaking, which is
somewhat common among the sons of the aristocracy.
His action was quiet and unpretending; in fact, beyond
a slight movement of his right arm, and an occasional
gentle turning of his head from one side to the other,
there was nothing in his manner to deserve the name of
gesticulation. In the matter of his speech there was
little either to praise or blame. It was rather above
mediocrity; which is all that can be said about it. But,
in justice to the young nobleman, let me guard the
reader against prejudging him on the score of talent, in
consequence of my speaking of his maiden oration in
the house as not rising much higher than mediocrity.
Supposing he were a man of commanding abilities, he
could not, in the circumstances in which he was placed,
have made any striking display of his talents. The
movers and seconders of addresses in answer to royal
speeches are necessarily tied down to certain topics—
the topics, namely, embraced in the speech; and even
in speaking on those topics, the mover and seconder
are expected to be exceedingly guarded in what they
say. They have no latitude allowed them, either of
thought or of expression. It is for this, perhaps, more
Jord Leveson. 203
than for any other reason that could be named, that no
men of distinction as speakers are ever selected to move
or second the address in either house; for Ministers
would be apprehensive, were such men to be entrusted
with the moving or seconding of such address, that
they would, in some ill-starred moment, follow the im-
pulses of their genius, and overleap the prescribed limits.
Lord Leveson’s personal appearance is very prepos-
sessing. His manner is modest: there is no assumption
in it. He is under the middle height, and slenderly
formed. His features are small; his complexion is fair;
and his hair has something of a flaxen hue. He has a
bright eye, and a rather intelligent expression of counte-
nance. His face is exceedingly pleasing: it is not with-
out a feminine expression. I am anxious to see how so
young a legislator will acquit himself, when he takes
part in any important debate.
Mr. GIBSON CRAIG, the member for the county of
Edinburgh, seconded the address, as I have stated in
another work,” which had been moved by Lord Leve-
son. Mr. Craig having been long known as an advo-
cate of considerable distinction at the Scottish bar,
great things were expected of him: great things, I
mean, as to the manner of his speech. The delusion
was dispelled before he had uttered half a dozen of
sentences. He completely broke down in the very
outset, and never afterwards recovered himself. He
commenced thus:—“Mr. Speaker,-I rise, Sir, for the
purpose of Seconding the motion which has just been
made by the noble lord; and I ” Here he sud-
* Sketches in London.
204 Mr. Gibson Craig.
denly paused, and appeared to be labouring under
great trelnor. Not resuming his speech for some se-
conds, both sides of the house cheered him, with the
view of enabling him to recover his self-possession,
and of encouraging him to proceed. I am convinced
that these cheers only aggravated the evil they were
kindly meant to remedy; for though it is the custom,
at all public meetings in England, to endeavour to en-
courage a tremulous speaker in this way, I do not re-
collect ever having seen the expedient resorted to in
Scotland; and therefore it must have sounded strange
in the ears of Mr. Craig, -iſ indeed, he did not under-
stand it in a light the very opposite of what was in-
tended. I have seen it stated in several journals, that
after he had uttered the first sentence, he actually sat
down and did not rise again. This is not correct. He
remained on his legs at least five minutes; and during
all that time did continue saying something or other,
though that something was, to use one of his own fa-
vourite terms in the law courts of Edinburgh, often a.S
“irrelevant” to the subjects to which he should have
confined himself, as it was possible to be. Nor is this
all. Not only did Mr. Craig wander from the topics
introduced into the royal speech, but he wandered
from every other topic. His language, in other words,
had often no meaning at all. One of the most expe-
rienced and accurate short-hand writers in the gallery
mentioned to me a few days afterwards, that he could
not, by any exertion of his intellect and judgment, ex-
tract anything like meaning or coherency from his notes
of the learned gentleman’s speech.
Mr. Gibson Craig. 205
Mr. Craig, on finding himself break down in the
commencement, referred to the notes which he held in
his hand of what he meant to say; but they afforded
him no assistance worthy of the name. It is true, they
did help him to an idea or two, when there seemed to
be an utter absence of any in his mind; but the evil of
it was, that he could not clothe those ideas in the pro-
per phraseology, so as to make himself intelligible to
his audience. He stuttered and hesitated, corrected
and re-corrected his expressions, and then, after all,
left his sentences worse at the last than they were at
the first. His self-possession all but completely forsook
him; and his nervousness was so excessive, that in
many cases he could not pronounce the word even
when it suggested itself to his mind. Hence, during a
good part of his speech (if so it may be called) not a
word was heard by those a few yards distant from him,
though his lips continued to move. The most pleasant
part of the matter, to all who were present, was to see
him again resume his seat, which he did very abruptly.
Great surprise has been generally expressed, that a
lawyer so much accustomed to public speaking as Mr.
Craig has been for many years past, should thus have
completely broken down in the House of Commons.
To my mind, there is nothing surprising in the circum-
stance. The causes of his failure appear to me as plain
as can be. They were the peculiar circumstances in
which he was then placed. These were different from
any in which he had ever found himself before. It was
the first day of the meeting of parliament, and the first
time in which he had been on the floor of the House,
206 Mr. Gibson Craig.
except during the election of a Speaker, and while tak-
ing the oaths. Everything, therefore, was new to him.
He found himself, too, overwhelmed with that undefin-
able sort of awe which almost every man who ever ad-
dressed the House immediately on his introduction to
it, has afterwards confessed that he felt.
It will doubtless be urged, in opposition to this hy-
pothesis respecting the causes of Mr. Craig's breaking
down, that, on the same grounds, Lord Leveson ought
likewise to have failed, as he may be said to have been
also a new member. To this I answer, that there was
this difference between them,--a difference which will
at once be seen to be decisive in favour of my theory,
—that Lord Leveson, not being a practised speaker,
took the wise precaution of previously writing out and
committing his speech to memory; so that he had only
to repeat it, just as when giving one of his short recita-
tions at school a few years before; while Mr. Craig,
confiding in his extemporaneous powers of utterance,
had not prepared his speech, but trusted to his consult-
ing, if there should be a necessity, a few confused notes
which he had jotted down on paper.
It was a most ill-advised thing on the part of Minis-
ters to ask Mr. Craig to second the motion for the ad-
dress, knowing as they did that he had never been in
the house before. It was still more injudicious on his
part to undertake the task. I do not at this moment
recollect any previous instance of the kind; but I know
several instances in which the most distinguished men
have either broken down altogether, or comparatively
So, when they ventured to address the house on the
Mr. Gibson Craig. 207
first day of their introduction to parliament. I have
mentioned in my First Series of “Random Recollec-
tions of the House of Commons,” that Cobbett once
stated to me, that, bold and confident in his own re-
sources as he was, he felt a degree of tremor come over
him when he rose to address the house on the day of
his first entering it, which almost unnerved him for the
task; but that knowing every word he uttered would
be severely criticised, he took the precaution of pre-
paring his speech beforehand, and consequently ma-
naged to get through it in a passable manner.
The instances are innumerable in which men of first-
rate talent have broken down in the house, when making
their maiden speech, even after they have been some
time in it, and consequently might be expected to have
felt more at ease. The case of Addison, who rose up
and said, “I conceive,” three successive times, resum-
ing his seat each time, because he was unable to pro-
ceed, and who did not eventually succeed in uttering
another word, is known to everybody. Sheridan, also,
in his first effort, completely failed; so did Erskine,
and so likewise did the late David Ricardo. The truth
is, it will generally be found that parliamentary failures
most frequently occur in the case of great men. The
reason is obvious: they are usually the most diffident:
they want that assurance which is so common among
persons of mediocrity. Such personages as Mr. Peter
Borthwick never break down. Their stock of over-
weening conceit of their own abilities is, at all times
and under all circumstances, abundant; and they have
208 Mr. D'Israeli.
consequently an ample supply of mere words for all
occasions.
The nervousness of Mr. Craig, under the peculiar
circumstances in which he was placed, I should have
regarded as presumptive proof of his being a man of
superior intellect, had I known nothing of him pre-
viously. Cicero mentions, that not only did his knees
tremble, and his whole frame shake, when he first ven-
tured to address an assemblage of his countrymen; but
that he never, even after he had enjoyed for years the
reputation of being the first orator in Rome, rose to
speak on any important occasion, without feeling him-
self oppressed in the outset by an excessive nervous-
ness. Mr. Craig has the matter in him; and, as She-
ridan said of himself in similar circumstances, “out it
will yet come.” I am much mistaken indeed if Mr.
Craig does not, by the success of his future efforts,
more than atone for the failure of his first attempt.
Mr. Craig is about the middle size, rather robustly
made, and is in his forty-second year.
Mr. D'IsrAELI, the member for Maidstone, is perhaps
the best known among the new members who have
made their debúts. As stated in my “Sketches in
London,” his own private friends looked forward to his
introduction into the House of Commons as a circum-
stance which would be immediately followed by his
obtaining for himself an oratorical reputation equal to
that enjoyed by the most popular speakers in that as-
sembly. They thought he would produce an extraor-
dinary sensation, both in the house and in the country,
by the power and splendour of his eloquence. But the
Mr. D'Israeli. 209
result differed from the anticipation. It was known for
Some days previously, that he was to make his maiden
speech in the course of the discussion respecting the
Spottiswoode combination. He himself made no secret
of the fact among his party, that he was preparing for
an oration which he expected would produce a great
impression; and this circumstance, taken in conjunction
with the sanguine notions already referred to of his
friends, as to his capability of achieving great oratorical
triumphs, made the House all anxiety to hear him.
When he rose, which he did immediately after Mr.
O’Connell had concluded his speech, all eyes were
fixed on him, and all ears were open to listen to his
eloquence; but, before he had proceeded far, he fur-
nished a striking illustration of the hazard that attends
on highly-wrought expectations. After the first few
minutes he met with every possible manifestation of
opposition and ridicule from the Ministerial benches,
and was, on the other hand, cheered in the loudest and
most earnest manner by his Tory friends; and it is
particularly deserving of mention, that even Sir Robert
Peel, who very rarely cheers any honourable gentleman,
not even the most able and accomplished speakers of
his own party, greeted Mr. D'Israeli’s speech with a
prodigality of applause which must have been severely
trying to the worthy baronet's lungs. Mr. D'Israeli
spoke from the second row of benches immediately op-
posite the Speaker’s chair. Sir Robert, as usual, sat
on the first row of benches, a little to the left of Mr.
D'Israeli; and so exceedingly anxious was the right
honourable baronet to encourage the débutant to pro-
vol. II.-18
210 Mr. D'Israeli.
ceed, that he repeatedly turned round his head, and
looking the youthful orator in the face, cheered him in
most stentorian tones. All, however, would not do.
At one time, in consequence of the extraordinary
interruptions he met with, Mr. D'Israeli intimated his
willingness to resume his seat, if the House wished him
to do so. He proceeded, however, for a short time
longer, but was still assailed by groans and under-
growls in all their varieties; the uproar, indeed, often
became so great as completely to drown his voice.
At last, losing all temper, which until now he had
preserved in a wonderful manner, he paused in the
midst of a sentence, and looking the Liberals indig-
nantly in the face, raised his hands, and opening his
mouth as wide as its dimensions would permit, said, in
remarkably loud and almost terrific tones, “Though I
sit down now, the time will come when you will hear
me.” Mr. D'Israeli then sat down amidst the loudest
uproar, which lasted for some time.
The exhibition altogether was a most extraordinary
one. Mr. D'Israeli’s appearance and manner were
very singular. His dress also was peculiar: it had
much of a theatrical aspect. His black hair was long
and flowing, and he had a most ample crop of it. His
gesture was abundant: he often appeared as if trying
with what celerity he could move his body from one
-side to another, and throw his hands out and draw them
in again. At other times he flourished one hand before
his face, and then the other. His voice too, is of a very
unusual kind: it is powerful, and had every justice done
to it in the way of exercise; but there is something pe-
Mr. D'Israeli. 211
culiar in it whichI am at a loss to characterize. His
utterance, was rapid, and he never seemed at a loss for
words. On the whole, and notwithstanding the result
of his first attempt, I am convinced he is a man who
possesses many of the requisites of a good. debater.
That he is a man of great literary talent, few will dis-
pute.
I am convinced that, on this occasion, Mr. D'Israeli
was made to utter a great manythings which otherwise
would not have escaped his lips; for I observed that he
usually made some observations in reference to the in-
terruptions offered to him; and that it was when doing
so, or immediately afterwards, that he gave expression
to the most objectionable sentences. In the middle of
his speech, when respectfully soliciting the indulgence
of the house, especially as it was his first appearance,—
a plea which, one would have thought could not have
been ineffectually urged in an assembly “not only of the
first gentlemen in Europe,” but of men sitting there for
the specific purpose of doing justice,—Mr. D'Israeli
very emphatically said, that he himself would not, on
any account, be a party to treating any other honourable
gentleman in the way in which he himself was assailed.
I did think that this appeal to the sense of justice and
gentlemanly feeling on the Ministerial side of the
house, could not be made in vain. The event showed
that I was mistaken. It had scarcely escaped the ho-
nourable gentleman’s lips, before he was assailed as
furiously and as indecently as ever.
Let me, before concluding my notice of Mr. D'Is-
raeli’s parliamentary débüt, mention in justice to him,
212 Mr. Colquhoun.
that however inapt his speech may have been, yet that
the way in which he was assailed from the Ministerial
side of the house was most unbecoming, if not actually
indecent. There was an evident predisposition on the
part of many honourable gentlemen to put him down,
if at all possible, without reference to the merits of his
speech; and I have always observed, that when the
“Liberal” members have come to a resolution of this
kind, they never scruple as to the means they employ
to accomplish their purpose. The Tories cannot stand
a moment’s comparison with them in the matter of put-
ting down a member. Not only are they, generally
speaking, blessed with lungs of prodigious powers, but
on such occasions they always give them full play.
Their “Oh!’s” and groans, and yells, to say nothing of
their laughing, or rather roaring capabilities, far exceed
everything I have ever heard elsewhere, not even ex-
cepting the ultra Radical assemblages which meet at
White Conduit House, or at the Crown and Anchor
Tavern.
Mr. D'Israeli is of the middle height, rather slen-
derly made, and apparently about thirty-five years of
age.
Mr. Colquhoun, the Conservative member for Kil-
marnock, has only, as yet, spoken two or three times;
but, from the circumstances under which he has deliv-
ered his speeches, and the manner in which he acquitted
himself, I am quite convinced that he is destined to
distinguish himself in the house.
Comparisons, as every one knows, are said to be very
odious things. Whether they be so or not, I have so
Mr. Colquhoun. 213
great a dislike to them, that it is only in very peculiar
cases that I ever resort to them. I am not sure that it
can be called a “comparison,” when I say that I am
greatly mistaken indeed if Mr. Colquhoun does not, as
a parliamentary speaker, eventually earn for himself a
much greater reputation than any of the hundred and
fifty-eight new members of the house who have already
made their débâts. He is a man of very considerable
talent, and is well informed on general topics. I look
on the few efforts he has already made in the house as
highly successful.
His speech in February, on the night on which Lord
Maidstone brought before the House the conduct of Mr.
O’Connell, in charging the English and Scotch Tory
members with perjury, was one which would have done
credit to the most practised debater in that House. It
was clearly, in all its essential parts, an extemporaneous
effusion; for the honourable gentleman particularly ad-
verted to every point of importance in the speech of
Lord Howick, who preceded him on the other side of
the question. As a reply, it was exceedingly happy.
Not less entitled to praise, on the score of acute and
apposite observation, were those parts of his speech
which related to a more general view of the question
before the House. And not only was Mr. Colquhoun’s
matter excellent; but his diction was in exceedingly
good taste. It was easy and eloquent; there was no-
thing turgid or bombastic about it. It bore no evidence
of effort; but every word seemed to suggest itself in the
most natural manner to his mind.
Mr. Colquhoun has already proved that he possesses
214 Mr. Colquhoun.
one attribute as a speaker, in the absence of which all
the other qualities to which I have referred would not
insure his permanent success in that capacity. I allude
to his great self-possession. The demonstrations of a
disposition to put him down, on the part of honourable
gentlemen opposite, do not disconcert him in the slight-
est degree. In the course of his speech in support of
Lord Maidstone’s motion for a vote of censure on Mr.
O’Connell, he was frequently interrupted by the Libe-
ral party; but he stood as calm and self-possessed, until
their interruptions were over, as if nothing had been the
matter. In one or two instances he took advantage of
those interruptions, and turned them with considerable
adroitness into arguments in favour of his own view of
the case, and against that of the Ministerial side of the
house.
The honourable gentleman is, withal, an accomplish-
ed speaker, with regard to the manner of his speech.
He has an exceedingly pleasant voice. There is a
sweetness in it which is equalled in but few cases in the
house. His enunciation is distinct, and his utterance
is in the best taste. He is remarkably fluent: sentence
follows after sentence with a smoothness and regularity
which are not often surpassed by any of our public
speakers. His gesture is also in good taste. He stands
erect, and stretches out both hands, in some of the hap-
pier parts of his speech, in a very graceful manner. At
other times he moderately uses first his right hand and
then his left. His gesticulation otherwise has nothing
in it which calls for notice.
Mr. Colquhoun, I may here mention, is a decidedly
Mr. Colquhoun. 215
religious man. He identifies himself with the evange-
lical high-church party in Scotland, and possesses a
very intimate acquaintance with polemical as well as
practical theology. His religious creed is of the most
liberal kind, though his politics are Conservative. He
is said to be, with what truth I know not, a member of
three religious denominations, whose discipline and
forms of church government are as different as it were
possible to conceive; and also at once an Episcopalian,
a Presbyterian, and an independent; a circumstance
unknown to me in the annals of Christian sects. So
accommodating a conscience in religious matters, if the
honourable member does possessit, must be an extreme-
ly convenient thing. Had the Covenanters of Scotland
or the Puritans of England possessed an equal pliability
of mind, it would have saved thousands of them a world
of persecution, and many hundreds the pains of mar-
tyrdom.
The honourable gentleman is of the ordinary height,
and of a good figure. His appearance is much in his
favour. He has a pleasant intellectual expression of
countenance. His face is of the oval form. His com-
plexion is clear, and his hair is of a sandy colour. He
dresses with taste, but not in a foppish style. Judging
from his appearance, I should not think his age exceeds
thirty-five.
THE END.
Iliſiili
3 9015 O6358 1410

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