THE LIBRARY 
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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
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 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS 
 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS
 
 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS 
 
 or THE 
 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS, 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE YEAR 18.30 TO THE CLOSE OF 1835, 
 
 INCLUDING 
 
 PERSONAL SKETCHES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LEADING MEMBERS OF ALL PARTIES. 
 
 ONE OF NO PARTY. 
 
 FOURTH EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 SMITH, ELDER, & Co. CORNHILL. 
 
 1836.
 
 /: 
 
 
 M^i^ 
 
 uCiA*' 
 
 Printed by J. L. Cox aiid Sons, 75, Great Queen Street, 
 Lincoln's-Inn Fields.
 
 J /v 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 >- 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 Preface . . 
 
 
 . 
 
 f4^ 
 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 
 
 The House 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 xi 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Forms, Rules, Regulations, &c. op the 
 
 House . . . . . . . . . . 20 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Miscellaneous Observations . . . . 55 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 JSCENBS IN THE HoUSE . . . . . . 68 

 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOK 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The late and present Speakers .. .. 80 
 
 Sir Charles Manners Sutton — Mr. James Aber- 
 cromby. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Tory Party — Late Members . . . . 87 
 
 Sir Charles Wetherell— Mr. Croker— Mr. T. 
 Michael Sadler. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Tory Party — Present Members . . . . 1 05 
 
 Sir Robert Peel — Mr. Goulburn — Sir Edward 
 KnatchbuU — Sir Henry Hardinge — Sir Robert 
 Tnglis — Lord Sandon — Mr. Praed — Mr. C. W. 
 W. Wynu — Lord Mahon — Colonel Sibthorpe — 
 Marquis of Chandos — Mr. F. Shaw — Sir Richard 
 Vyvyan. 
 
 CHAPTER Vin. 
 
 The Neutral Party .. .. .. 152 
 
 Lord Stanley — Sir James Graham — Mr. F. G. 
 Young — Mr. Robinson — Mr. Walter.
 
 CONTENT'S. Vi' 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Thk Liberal Party — Late IMesibers . . 167 
 
 Mr. Henry Hunt — Mr. Thomas Macaulay — 
 Lord Althorp — Mr. Charles Grant — Mr. Robert 
 Grant — Mr. Jeffrey — Colonel Torrens — Mr. Cob- 
 bett. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Members who have Seats in the Cabinet. . 194 
 
 Lord John Russell — Mr. Spring Rice — Sir John 
 Cam Hobhouse — Lord Morpeth — Lord Howick — 
 Mr. Poulett Thomson — Lord Palmerston. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Members of the Government who have 
 
 not Seats in the Cabinet . . . . 220 
 
 The Attoraey-General — The Solicitor- General 
 — The Lord Advocate — Mr. Robert Cutlar Fer- 
 gusson — Sir George Grey — Sir Andrew Leith Hay 
 — Sir Henry Parnell — Mr. Charles Wood.
 
 Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Metropolitan Members . . . . 236 
 
 Mr. Alderman Wood — Mr. Grotc — Mr. Craw- 
 ford — Mr. Pattison — Sir Francis Burdett — Colo- 
 nel Evans — Sir Samuel Whalley — Mr. Henry Lyt- 
 ton Bulvver — Mr. Thomas Duncombe — Mr. Tho- 
 mas Wakley — Dr. Lushington — Mr. Clay — Mr. 
 Daniel Whittle Harvey — Mr. Sheriff Humphrey — 
 Mr. Tennyson D'Eyncourt — Mr. Hawes. 
 
 CHAPTER Xtll. 
 
 The Country Liberal Party . . . . 264 
 
 Mr. Hume — Mr. Gisborne — Mr. Warburton — 
 Mr. Charles BuUer — Mr.Ewart — INIr. Ellice— Mr. 
 Thomas Attwood — Mr. Roebuck — Mr. Ward — 
 Lord Dudley Stuart — Mr. Pease — Sir Edward 
 Codrington — Mr. Wallace — Mr. Serjeant Wilde. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 The Irish Liberal Members . . . . 301 
 
 Mr.O'Connell— Mr. Shiel— Mr. Feargus O'Con- 
 nor — Mr. Henry Grattan — Mr. Ruthven.
 
 CONTENTS. IX 
 
 PACK 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Literary Members .. .. .. .. 831 
 
 Mr. Edward Lytton Bulwer — Lord Francis 
 Egerton — Dr. Bowring — Mr. Buckingham. 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 Religious Members . . . . . . . . 339 
 
 Sir Andrew Agnew — Mr. Buxton — Mr. Andrew 
 Johnstone— Mr. Wilks — Mr. Baines — Mr. Finch 
 — Colonel Perceval — Major Cumming Bruce — 
 Mr. Poulter — Mr. Sinclair. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIL 
 
 New Members .. .. .. .. .. 357 
 
 Sir William Follett— Mr. Serjeant Talfourd— 
 Mr. Borthwick — Colonel Thompson. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIT. 
 Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . 367
 
 PREFACE 
 
 The Author, during a very regular attendance 
 in the House of Commons for several years past, 
 has been in the habit of taking notes of what was 
 most interesting in the proceedings, as well as of 
 the personal and oratorical peculiarities of the lead- 
 ing members. 
 
 Tlie notes, thus taken from time to time, have 
 accumulated to a size sufficient to form the volume 
 now presented to the public, to a large majority 
 of whom much of its contents, it is presumed, will 
 Ije novel and interesting. 
 
 In his descriptions of the Members it has been 
 his eai-nest desire to be guided by the strictest 
 impartiality ; and he trusts that he has so far 
 succeeded in his object as to betray no politictd 
 bias in any of his sketches.
 
 Xll PREFACE. 
 
 As has elsewhere in the volume been remarked, 
 the Author has selected for his subjects those 
 members whose names are most frequently before 
 the public. Hence it necessarily follows, that 
 no mention is made of many members of great 
 weight and value as Legislators, and of even 
 higher talents than several who are noticed, but 
 who do not take a prominent part in the pro- 
 ceedings of the House.
 
 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS, 
 
 &c. &c. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE HOUSE, 
 
 1 SHALL not soon forget the disappointment which 
 I experienced on the first sight of the interior of 
 the House of Commons,* I had indeed been told 
 that it but ill accorded with the dignity of what has 
 been termed the first assembly of gentlemen in the 
 world, or with the importance of the subjects on 
 which they were convened to legislate. But I was 
 not at all prepared for such a place as I then be- 
 
 * This was of course the old House of Commons. The 
 new House is much larger, better lighted, and in every res- 
 pect much more comfortable than the old one; but what is 
 said regarding the arrangement of seats, the places of 
 members, and other matters of form, applies equally to the 
 old and new houses
 
 2 THE HOUSE. 
 
 held. It was dark, gloomy, and badly ventilated, 
 and so small that not more than four hundred out 
 of the six hundred and fifty-eight members could 
 be accommodated in it with any measure of com- 
 fort. When an important debate occurred, but 
 especially when that debate was preceded by a call 
 of the House, the members were really to be pitied ; 
 they were literally crammed together, and the heat 
 of the house rendered it in some degree a second 
 edition of the Black Hole of Calcutta. On either 
 side there was a gallery, every corner of which was 
 occupied by legislators ; and many, not being able 
 to get even standing room, were obliged to lounge 
 in the refreshment apartments adjoining St. Ste- 
 phens, until the division, — when they rushed to the 
 voting room in as much haste as if the place they 
 had quitted had been on fire. 
 
 The ceiling, the sides, and ends of the house 
 were lined witli wainscot. The floor was covered 
 over with a mat, and the seats of the members con- 
 sisted of plain benches well cushioned, and covered 
 with leather. From the floor backwai-ds to the 
 walls, each seat was from twelve to fourteen inches 
 higher than the one fronting it. The front row of 
 benches on either side was within three feet of the 
 table. The row on the right of the Speaker was 
 invariably occupied by the members of the Govern-
 
 THE HOUSE. 3 
 
 ment and their most influential supporters, and 
 that on the left by the leading individuals in the 
 Opposition. The table of the house was within 
 five or six feet from the chair : in length it measured 
 six feet, and in breadth four. At the end next the 
 chair sat the clerks of the House ; and when the 
 members were in committee, on which occasion the 
 Speaker vacated the chair, the Chairman of Com- 
 mittees invariably sat at the corner on the right 
 hand of the clerks. The Speaker's chair was raised 
 twelve or fourteen inches above the floor of the 
 house, and measured nine feet in height. In foi-m 
 it somewhat resembled our modern easy chairs, but 
 had solid sides, and was covered over at the top. 
 It stood a few feet from the farthest end of the 
 house, which was only fifteen or twenty yards from 
 the Thames. The Speaker always entered by a 
 door exclusively appropriated to himself at the end 
 of the house next the river, while all the members 
 entered by a door at the other end, in a strait line 
 with the chair. Immediately above the place where 
 the members entered was the strangers' gallery, and 
 underneath it were several rows of seats for friends 
 of the members. To these seats there was no mode 
 of admission except that of being taken in by one 
 of the members. To the strangers' gallery, a note 
 or order from a member, or the payment of half-a- 
 B 2
 
 * THE HOUSE. 
 
 crown to the door-keeper, would at once procure ad- 
 mission. At the farthest end of the passage, after 
 you had entered the house, were several rows of 
 benches which extended on either side from the 
 walls to the i^assage. The other seats extended 
 along the house, and hence these were called the 
 cross benches. They were always occupied by 
 members who professed to belong to no part}- — to 
 be neither the friends nor opponents of Govern- 
 ment, but who stood on perfectly neutral ground, 
 judging of measures only by their abstract merits 
 or defects. It was from one of these benches that 
 Lord Stanley (then Mr. Stanley) made his cele- 
 brated " thimble-rig"" speech, after he. Sir James 
 Graham, the Duke of Richmond, and Lord Rippon 
 had seceded from the administration of Earl Grey. 
 
 I have already mentioned, that the members of 
 Government and their leading friends occupy the 
 first row of benches on the right hand side of the 
 Speaker''s chair, and that the most influential of the 
 Opposition occupy the first row on the left : the 
 other supporters of each party range themselves oh 
 the benches behind their respective leaders ; conse- 
 quently when there is a change of Government, the 
 quondam Ministry and their supporters move over 
 in a body from the right to the left side of the 
 house, to make way for the new Administration
 
 THE HOUSE. 5 
 
 and their friends. There are, however, a few mem- 
 bers belonging to the extreme Radical party who 
 never change their seats, whatever Ministry may be 
 in power, because no men sufficiently liberal for 
 them have ever yet been in office. Among these are 
 Hume, Cobbett,* Roebuck, and several others.-|- 
 Their seats are therefore always on the Opposition 
 benches, and when the Whigs have been in power, 
 the circumstance has often led to strange associa- 
 tions. When Sir Charles Wetherell and the late 
 Henry Hunt, men whose politics were wide as the 
 poles asunder, were both in Parliament, it was no 
 uncommon thing to see them sitting in close juxta- 
 position with each other, often, too, engaged in most 
 earnest conversation together, as if the utmost cor- 
 diality and the most perfect unanimity of political 
 feeling existed between them. In the Reformed 
 Parliament might be seen Sir Robert Peel and Mr. 
 Cobbett sitting cheek-by-jowl, while close by them 
 were to be found Sir Robert Inglis, the great advo- 
 cate of the Church of England and ecclesiastical 
 establishments in general, and Mr. Gillon, the sworn 
 foe of both, apparently as friendly together as if 
 of one heart and one soul in such matters. 
 
 • Since this was written, Mr. Cobbett has died. 
 t Towards the end of last session several of the Radical 
 ai€mbers went over to the other side of the house.
 
 O THE HOUSE. 
 
 There are some members who not only never 
 change from one side of the house to the other, 
 whatever alteration may take place in the ]Ministry, 
 but who never change their identical seats ; they 
 invariably occupy the same twelve or fourteen 
 inches of space. INIr. Hume is one of the most 
 noted members in this respect ; his seat in the old 
 house was close to one of the posts which supported 
 the side gallery on the left of the Speaker's chair ; 
 there he was constantly to be found. There is not, 
 nor has there been since he was first returned to 
 parliament, a single member whose attendance on 
 his legislative duties has been so regular and close 
 as that of Mr. Hume ; the moment the doors were 
 opened there was he, and never until the adjourn- 
 ment was his seat to be seen vacant. There were 
 many other members who made a point of " looking 
 in to see what's doing" almost every evening ; but 
 they soon left the house again. Not so Mr. Hume; 
 he was there at all times and during every debate, 
 however dry and uninteresting. He was looked on 
 by " honourable gentlemen" as a sort of animated 
 fixture. His contiguity to the post and the regula- 
 rity of his attendance made a Tory baronet, who 
 was in the house during the close borough regime 
 waggishly remark, " There is Joseph always at 
 his post.'''' Wliether Sir Charles Wetherell, or Sir
 
 THE HOUSE. 7 
 
 William Gumming, a Scotch baronet, is entitled 
 to the credit of the witty observation, I have 
 not been able to ascertain, as both were members 
 of the last Unreformed Parliament and both were 
 equally lavish of their waggeries. It has often 
 been a matter of surprise how Mr. Hume's con- 
 stitution could stand such close attendance in 
 the house, especially when the unhealthy atmos- 
 phere* he had to breathe, and the quantity of 
 speaking he \vent through, were taken into account ; 
 and yet, excepting on one or two occasions, he was 
 never heard to complain of illness. Can it be that 
 there are any peculiarly salubrious qualities in 
 pears .'' for, by his own admission, he always filled 
 his pockets with this species of fruit when it was to 
 be had, and ate the pears in the house, making 
 them answer as a substitute for dinner. Colonel 
 Leith Hay, before he was a member of Government, 
 as well as since, jVIr. Warburton, jNIr. Humphrey, 
 Mr. Roebuck, Mr. Ruthven, Mr. Pease, the Quaker 
 member, and many others, including men of all 
 parties, whose names it is unnecessary to give, were 
 also very regular in their attendance,-|- though I 
 
 • The last House of Commons was an extremely unheal- 
 thy place. 
 
 t I speak here in the past tense, because my observations 
 chiefly refer to the late House of Commons, both in respect
 
 8 THE HOUSE. 
 
 am not aware that they patronized the consump- 
 tion of pears in the house. 
 
 IVIembers who wish to sit in any particular part 
 of tlie house on a given evening must go down at 
 the time of prayers, and label the particular place 
 with their name. If they neglect to do this, they 
 cannot claim any particular seat as a right — 
 though it may be conceded to them by the courtesy 
 of other members, if it be the place they usually 
 filled. The seats occupied by members of the 
 Government are, however, understood to be excep- 
 tions to this rule. Ministers, and those holding 
 important Government offices, are not put to the 
 trouble of placarding their names on the backs of 
 their seats, as no other member, however crowded 
 the house, would think of occupying their places. 
 When an important debate is expected, almost all 
 the seats, with the exception of those occupied by 
 the members of the Government, are thus labelled 
 tlie moment that prayers are over. At the time of 
 the second reading of the Reform Bill, every mem- 
 ber was naturally anxious to secure a seat in a good 
 part of the house, and in order to make assurance 
 doubly sure that none of his " honourable friends'" 
 
 to the place and the members. The same observations, as 
 to those members here named who are in the present Par- 
 liament, still apply with equal truth.
 
 THE HOUSE. y 
 
 should pre-engage the one which he had, in his own 
 mind, fixed on, Mr. R. Fergusson went down one 
 <lay during the adjourned debate at seven in the 
 morning, that being the hour at which the servants 
 cleaned the house. To his great surprise he found 
 the discussion still proceeding which he had left 
 the previous night at a little before twelve, under 
 the impression the debate would be again ad- 
 journed. The feeling of the House had become 
 general in favour of a division, and several of the 
 Tories being determined, as the Reformers said, to 
 embrace that as the last opportunity of singing the 
 requiem of the Constitution, had protracted the 
 discussion so long that Mr. Fergusson was just in 
 time to vote, and thus got credit from his con- 
 stituents and the country for having been in the 
 house all night, in the plenitude of his devotion to 
 the cause of Reform. 
 
 Of the strangers' gallery I have as yet said no- 
 thing. It was immediately above the door by which 
 the members entered the house. It consisted of 
 five seats, and could accommodate comfortably one 
 hundred and twenty persons; but during important 
 debates I have seen one hundred and fifty wedged 
 into it. On such occasions, it was no uncommon 
 thing to see Peers submitting to be jostled and 
 jammed, and treated with as little ceremony by the 
 b3
 
 10 THE HOUSE. 
 
 " strangers," as the veriest plebeian in the gallery. 
 They could have procured a comfortable seat in 
 the house itself; not of course among the members, 
 but on some of the benches under the gallery which 
 are set apart for the friends of honourable gentle- 
 men; but they rather preferred encountering all 
 the inconveniences of a seat in the gallery, where 
 they could witness the proceedings incognito. 
 
 Strangers, as already mentioned, are admitted 
 to the gallery either by an order from a member, 
 or on paying half-a-crown to the door-keeper. No 
 member is allowed to write more than one order 
 for one day, and the day of the week and that of 
 the month, the same as in franking a letter, must 
 be written on it, otherwise the dOor-keeper may 
 refuse to admit the bearer. Perhaps, on an average, 
 one-half of those who go to the gallery pay half-a- 
 crown each, and the other half are admitted by the 
 orders of members. Taking one evening with an- 
 other, it is probable the number of persons present 
 in the gallery every day of the session is about one 
 hundred. There is consequently a considerable 
 sum to divide among the officers of the house con- 
 nected with the gallery. They are six in number. 
 They have, besides, certain fees on all bills which 
 are brought into the House, and also receive gra- 
 tuities from the members. Mr. Wright is th6
 
 THE HOUSE. 11 
 
 principal door-keeper, and has consequently some 
 perquisites peculiar to himself. He is a venerable 
 looking man, upwards of seventy years of age. He 
 has held his present situation more than thirty 
 years, and is said to have made by it a very hand- 
 some fortune. 
 
 The back seat of the strangers' gallery was 
 exclusively appropriated to reporters. They paid 
 nothing on entering, but the proprietors of the 
 respective papers for which they were engaged paid 
 three guineas for each every session ; and as the 
 reporters are from sixty to seventy in number, 
 this alone is no inconsiderable source of revenue 
 to the door-keepers. On the left hand side of the 
 gallery, and immediately above the lobby, was 
 a small room for the benefit of the reporters, 
 in which they might put their hats, cloaks, great 
 coats, &c. when going on duty, and where they 
 might remain until their " turn," to use their own 
 technical term, came. No ladies were admitted to 
 the strangers' gallery, nor could any member take 
 a female friend to one of the seats under it. The 
 only possible way by which ladies could either see 
 or hear what was going on, was by mounting 
 above the ceiling of the house, and looking down 
 through a large hole which was made immediately 
 above the principal chandelier, for the purpose
 
 12 THE HOUSE. 
 
 of ventilation. Not more than fourteen could, at 
 once, see or hear what was going on from this 
 place, and even then but imperfectly. Besides, the 
 smoke of the candles, and the heated atmosphere 
 they inhaled, combined vnt\i the awkwardness of 
 the position they were obliged to assume, made the 
 situation so very unpleasant that few remained 
 long in it. Those only who were anxious to hear 
 their husbands, or brothers, or lovers, make some 
 expected oration, had the fortitude to endure the 
 semi-martyrdom of remaining many minutes in such 
 a place. 
 
 On the left side of the lobby, or entrance to the 
 house, was the voting room, the place where the 
 votes were registered. Immediately above the vot- 
 ing room was the smoking room, to which members 
 retired from the house who were in the habit of 
 smoking cigars. Here also the members repaired to 
 write letters, — the necessary stationery, and every 
 other convenience, being always kept in abundant 
 supply for the purpose. Directly opposite, and 
 only six or seven feet distant from the smoking 
 room, was a letter bag for the reception of the letters 
 of members. It may be said to have been a branch 
 general post-office, as every person about the house 
 including the reporters, and even strangers in the 
 gallery, were permitted to put letters and news-
 
 THE HOUSE. 13 
 
 papers into it. It was always kept open till seven 
 o'clock. Those of the reporters who had letters to 
 write for country newspapers, found it extremely 
 convenient, as they Avere by that means enabled to 
 give the proceedings in the House up to within a 
 minute or two of seven o'clock. But for it they 
 must always have left the gallery by about twenty 
 minutes after six, as the general post-ofRce — none 
 of the branch ones were then open later than five 
 o'clock — was nearly two miles and a-half distant.* 
 
 Near the door of the smoking-room, but a few 
 feet higher, was the door of the library. The 
 library was chiefly frequented by those members 
 who were in the habit of speaking. To them it was 
 very convenient, as it contained the leading works 
 in history, politics, and general literature. Those 
 not in the way of enlightening the House and the 
 country by their eloquence, always preferred the 
 smoking-room, or the refreshment apartments, to 
 the legislative and literary tomes in the library. 
 
 There were so many passages and rooms in the 
 old House of Commons, that it was with great dif- 
 ficulty strangers could find their way to the gallery. 
 Sometimes they made very awkward mistakes. It 
 
 * It is unnecessary to repeat, that as regards all matters 
 of convenience of this kind, the same remarks equally apply 
 to the present house.
 
 14 THE HOUSE. 
 
 was no uncommon thing for them to go in through 
 the lobby and advance to the door by which the 
 members entered, with the most perfect noncha- 
 lance ; not taking the trouble to enquire whether 
 they were right, because it never for a moment oc- 
 curred to them that they were wrong. Judge of a 
 stranger"'s surprise, when the first intimation made 
 to him that he was treading on forbidden ground, 
 was the being seized by the neck by one of the offi- 
 cers of the House, who on such occasion are as un- 
 ceremonious, both in their words and actions, as if 
 they were so many great moguls, and the hapless 
 stranger the most degraded of slaves.* It was a 
 wonder if the confusion consequent on the first 
 blunder was not the parent of a second ; and if, 
 when told that the gallery was up-stairs, he did not, 
 on the principle, in such a case, of taking the first 
 open door, " drop in" among the M. P.'s in the 
 smoking room. Recollecting the treatment he had 
 received from the officers in the lobby, he would, 
 on discovering his mistake, resign himself to the 
 expected calamity of being bundled down stairs, 
 head or heels foremost, as the case might be, — run- 
 
 * Let me not, however, be misunderstood here. In con- 
 sequence of the number of strangers always lounging in the 
 lobby, the officers are often obliged to be very unceremo- 
 nious.
 
 THE HOUSE. 15 
 
 ning the imminent risk, of course, of having his neck 
 broken in the descent. He would, however, soon 
 find his fears happily dispelled, by being told, in 
 the most civil and good-natured manner possible, 
 by one of the officers — for those in that department 
 were remarkable for their urbanity to strangers — 
 that he had gone to the wrong place, and by being 
 directed up seven or eight stairs to the passage 
 leading to the gallery. If he was surprized at the 
 roughness of his treatment in the lobby, he is now 
 no less so at the attention shewn him, and the rea- 
 diness with which a merciful consideration is, in his 
 case, extended to the very heinous sin of ignorance 
 of the gallery's locale. 
 
 Some amusing mistakes from ignorance of the 
 rules of the House occasionally occur. In the 
 session of 1833, a Scotch Highlander, newly ar- 
 rived from his native hills, got, by some strange 
 oversight of the officers, into the side gallery, appro- 
 priated for members, on the right of the Speaker's 
 chair. He knew no more of the rules or localities 
 of the House than he did of the politics of Timbuc- 
 too. Never suspecting that he was transgressing 
 any law, human or divine, in entering the side gal- 
 lery, or when there, taking the best place he could 
 find, he at once advanced to one of the front benches, 
 and there seated himself with the utmost imagi-
 
 16 THE HOUSE. 
 
 liable coolness, — just as if about to " rest himself" 
 on the brow of some of the heath-clad mountains 
 of Caledonia. There were a few straggling mem- 
 bers in the side gallery at the time, and perceiving 
 at once from his Highland costume — he was dressed 
 in tartan — that he did not belong to the fraternity 
 of St. Stephen's legislators, they richly enjoyed the 
 amusing blunder whicii Donald had committed. He, 
 meanwhile, after gazing with boundless astonishment 
 on the huge proportions of the Speaker's wig, and 
 witnessing the bustle that was going on on the floor 
 of the house, turned his eyes towards the strangers' 
 gallery, and seemed quite amazed that so many 
 persons should quietly submit to be so closely 
 squeezed together — to the imminent hazard of their 
 ribs — that they looked one solid mountain of morta- 
 lity, while there were so many cushioned and com- 
 fortable unoccupied seats in the place where he had 
 located himself. At this moment one of the members 
 on an adjoining seat, seeing poor Donald had trans- 
 gressed from ignorance, whispered to him to make 
 himself scarce in a moment, or that otherwise he 
 would be taken into custody. A word to the wise 
 is enough : the mountaineer took the hint of the 
 friendly M. P., and darted out of the house as well 
 as the gallery in a twinkling. I am credibly 
 assured that he ran at his full speed, not casting
 
 THE HOUSE. 17 
 
 one " longing lingering look behind," till he 
 reached Somerset House in the Strand, a distance 
 of full one mile and a half. 
 
 On another occasion, during the session of 1834, 
 a lady, the sister of one of the members, entered 
 the side gallery by mistake, instead of going to the 
 only place above the ceiling whence "the sex'' were 
 permitted to have a "peep," for it was nothing more, 
 at the House. She immediately, to speak in parlia- 
 mentary phraseology, "caught the eye of the 
 Speaker/' then Sir Charles Manners Sutton, whose 
 visual organs were always allowed to be as acute in 
 this respect as they were said by the Liberals to be 
 in first recognizing a talented Tory, when a Tory 
 and Reformer rose at the same time to address the 
 House. The Speaker seemed quite delighted with 
 the novelty of a politician in petticoats ; he never 
 withdrew his eye from the fair intruder an instant 
 during the short time she remained in the house. 
 She was infinitely more attractive than the eloquence 
 of the orator who, for the time being, chanced to be 
 addressing "the House." Until the lady vanished, 
 Mr. Speaker was as inattentive to the arguments of 
 the honourable member " on his legs,*" as was the 
 wig on his head or the chair on which he sat. Had 
 the intruder been of the masculine gender, he would, 
 if observed, have been pounced on by the officer in
 
 18 THE HOUSE. 
 
 a moment, but gallantry forbade taking a lady into 
 custody; and therefore, as in the event of its 
 being known that he had seen the transgressor in 
 petticoats, and had failed to do his duty, he would 
 have subjected himself to something more than 
 reproof, he, unlike the Speaker, contrived to appear 
 as if the lady had not caught his eye. After she 
 had been in the prohibited place for nearly a 
 minute, it occurred to her that she was in the 
 wrong locality, and accordingly she made her exit 
 forthwith. 
 
 But the most amusing mistake of this nature 
 which occurred in my time, was in the case of a 
 young gentleman from the north of Scotland. It 
 happened in Aprill833. A member having taken 
 him into the house, pointed him to a seat under the 
 gallery, of which he immediately took possession ; 
 but he had not been above half an hour in it when 
 he began to feel the inconvenience of which the re- 
 porters so often complain, namel}^ that of certain 
 members being " totally inaudible,"" and as the 
 orator who then addressed the house happened to 
 speak from the third bench on the left of the 
 Speaker's chair, the young Scotsman very naturally 
 concluded that the best way to remedy the evil 
 of not hearing at all, or hearing but very imper- 
 fectly, would be to place himself as nearly as pos-
 
 THE HOUSE. 19 
 
 sible in the vicinity of the orator ; and as he had 
 always taken it £or granted that if introduced into 
 the house by a member, he might take any of the 
 back seats if not occupied by the legislators them- 
 selves, he very deliberately walked himself to the 
 bench immediately behind that whence the honour 
 able member poured forth his eloquence. The 
 house chanced to be pretty full at the time, and 
 there he remained undiscovered upwards of two 
 hours, when it adjourned, and he went out amidst 
 the crowd of honourable and right honourable gen- 
 tlemen. Mr. Hume, who sat only about two yards 
 distant, cast sundry very suspicious looks towards 
 him, as if apprehending that he was some spy from 
 the Tory camp on the opposite side. Had the 
 House come to a division on the debate during part 
 of which the young Scotchman was present, he 
 would have made the discovery, to his cost, that 
 there is all the difference in the world in the house 
 itself, whatever there may be elsewhere, between a 
 private individual and he whose name is graced by 
 the appendage of an M. P. 

 
 20 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FORMS, RULESj REGULATIONS, &C. OF THE HOUSE. 
 
 At the time appointed for the meeting of a new 
 Parliament, the King, attended by his officers and 
 guards, goes in state to meet the members of both 
 Houses. On his arrival and departure from the 
 Lords (the only House he ever visits), he is greeted 
 by royal salutes of twenty-one guns each, as well — 
 especially if a popular monarch — as by the plaudits 
 of a vast concourse of his subjects, who invariably, 
 on such occasions, congregate in the immediate 
 vicinity of both houses. The first place his Ma- 
 jesty enters is an apartment exclusively devoted to 
 himself, called the Prince's Chamber. Here he 
 puts on his crown and robes, and then proceeds, 
 conducted by the Lord Chamberlain, to the House 
 of Lords, when, having taken his seat on the 
 throne, and received the obeisance of the Lords 
 spiritual and temporal, who all stand in their 
 respective places clothed in their robes of state and 
 office, he desires the Gentleman Usher of the Black 
 Rod to order the Commons into his presence. On
 
 FORMS, RULES, REGULATIONS, &C. 21 
 
 proceeding to the Lower House, that officer finds the 
 members waiting his arrival, in order that they may 
 promptly obey the commands of their Sovereign, 
 He advances to the bar, making three low bows to 
 the members, and then addressing them, says — 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Commons, the King 
 commands this honourable house to attend him 
 immediately in the House of Peers.'" Retiring back- 
 wards and again bowing three times, he withdraws. 
 The Commons forthwith proceed in a body to the 
 bar of the House of Lords, where they make their 
 obeisance both to the Kino; and the Peers. The 
 Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper then commands 
 them, in the King's name, to choose a Speaker for 
 their house from among themselves, who shall be 
 their chairman and the regulator of their proceed- 
 ings during their sittings, and also the mouth- 
 piece or channel of communication between them 
 and the other branches of the Legislature, during 
 the existence of that parliament. The Commons, 
 after again making their obeisance to their Sove- 
 reign and the Peers, retire from the bar of the 
 Upper House, and return to their own House, 
 where, in obedience to the commands of the King, 
 and agreeably to the Constitution, they immediately 
 proceed to the choice of a Speaker. It is necessary, 
 however, before choosing a Speaker, that the mem-
 
 22 FORMS, RULES, REGULATIONS, &C. 
 
 bers present take the necessary oaths, which arc 
 administered by the Lord Steward of his Majesty's 
 Household. The mace, which, during the proceed- 
 ings in the House, except when it is in committee, 
 always lies on the table, must at the commence- 
 ment of every new parliament, and on the death or 
 resignation of the old Speaker, be put under the 
 table. This being done, any honourable member 
 rises and proposes that some other honourable 
 member, whom he names, take the chair. This 
 motion being seconded, if there be no opposition, 
 the honourable member so named is declared to be 
 duly elected, and is led by the mover and seconder 
 of the motion from his seat to the bar of the house, 
 whence they conduct him, bowing three times as 
 they advance, to the chair. After they have 
 seated him, he rises up and returns thanks for the 
 honour they have conferred on him ; expressing at 
 the same time a sense of his unfitness for the situ- 
 ation in which they have placed him, and requesting 
 that the House would choose some person more qua- 
 lified to preside over its proceedings. His request 
 being of course refused, he submits to the pleasure 
 of the House, and, on receiving directions regarding 
 the usual requests to be made on behalf of the 
 House when he waits on the King, he adjourns it 
 to a day appointed for that purpose.
 
 OF THE HOUSE. 23 
 
 When the choice of a Speaker is to be contested, 
 and another honourable member has been proposed 
 and seconded for the office, the choice is to be de- 
 termined by what is called a question, namely, 
 taking the votes of all present on the subject. The 
 clerk of the House is the person who on such occa- 
 sions is addressed by the members who speak in 
 support of the respective candidates, and when the 
 debate is concluded, it is his duty to put the ques- 
 tion and count the votes for each. This is done, as 
 in divisions in committees of the whole House, by 
 changing sides. When the contest is expected to 
 be a close one, — as at the meeting of the present 
 parliament when Sir Charles Manners Sutton and 
 Mr. Abercromby were the opposing candidates, — 
 the clerk of the House has a duty of some impor- 
 tance to discharge. Each candidate, as a matter of 
 etiquette, votes for his opponent. Those who were 
 not aware of this conventional arrangement, were 
 surprised when they saw at the last election of 
 Speaker, the name of Sir Charles Manners Sutton 
 as voting for Mr. Abercromby, and that of Mr. 
 Abercromby for Sir Charles. The House then 
 adjourns for a few days, to give time to all the 
 members to take the necessary oaths a second time. 
 If they fail to do this they incur a penalty of £500, 
 and are besides disqualified for voting on the answer
 
 24 FORMS, RULES, REGULATIONS, kc 
 
 to his Majesty's speech, or on any other question. 
 It is not, however, necessary that the oaths be ad- 
 ministered to the members separately. I have seen 
 as many as eighteen or twenty members advance to 
 the table and take the oaths at once. 
 
 The day appointed for the Speaker's appearance 
 before the King on behalf of the Commons having 
 arrived, the Usher of the Black Rod is again com- 
 manded by his Majesty, through the Lord Cham- 
 berlain, to summon the members of the Lower 
 House into the presence of the King at the bar of 
 the House of Peers. That officer enters the House 
 of Commons in the same manner, and with the 
 same ceremonies as before, only that he now ad- 
 dresses himself to the Speaker. The Commons, on 
 hearing the King's pleasure announced, immedi- 
 ately proceed to the bar of the Upper House, headed 
 by their Speaker, when they make their obeisance 
 to his ]\Iajesty and the Peers as before. The 
 Speaker then addresses himself in the following 
 speech to the King : 
 
 " Most gracious Sovereign : 
 
 " The knights, citizens, and burgesses of your 
 House of Commons, in obedience to your royal com- 
 mand, have proceeded to the choice of a Speaker. 
 They have among them many worthy persons emi- 
 nently qualified for so great a trust ; yet, with too
 
 OF THE HOUSE. 25 
 
 favourable an eye, have cast it upon me, who 
 am really conscious to myself of many infirmities, 
 rendering me much unfit for so great an employ- 
 ment. And although my endeavours of excus- 
 ing myself before them have not been success- 
 ful, yet they have been so indulgent as to permit 
 me to continue my endeavours therein before 
 your Majesty's most piercing and discerning judg- 
 ment. 
 
 " The veneration due to Majesty which lodgeth 
 in every loyal breast, makes it not an easy matter 
 to speak before your Majesty at any time, or in any 
 capacity. But to speak before your Majesty in 
 your exaltation, thus gloriously supported and 
 attended, and that as Speaker of your House of 
 Commons, requires greater abilities than I can pre- 
 tend to own. 
 
 " I am not also without fear that the public 
 affairs, wherein your Majesty and your kingdom in 
 this juncture of time are so highly concerned, may 
 receive detriment through my weakness. 
 
 " I therefore, with a plain humble heart, pros- 
 trate at your royal feet, beseech that you will com- 
 mand them to review what they have done, and to 
 proceed to another election." 
 
 To this address the Lord Chancellor by direc- 
 tion of his Majesty, returns the following answer, 
 c
 
 26 FORMS, RULES, REGULATIONS, &C. 
 
 mentioning at the beginning the name or title of 
 the Speaker. 
 
 " The King hath very attentively heard your 
 discreet and handsome discourse, whereby you 
 endeavour to excuse and disable yourself for the 
 place of Speaker : in answer whereof, his Majesty 
 hath commanded me to say to you, that he doth in 
 no sort admit of the same ; for his Majesty hath 
 had long experience of your abilities, good affec- 
 tion, integrity, and resolution, in several employ- 
 ments of great trust and weight. He knows you 
 have been long a Parliament man, and therefore 
 every way fitted and qualified for the employment. 
 Besides, he cannot disapprove the election of this 
 House of Commons, especially when they have ex- 
 pressed so much duty in choosing one so worthy 
 and acceptable to him. And therefore the King 
 doth allow of the election, and admits you for 
 Speaker."" 
 
 On receiving this answer, the Speaker further 
 addresses the King as follows : — 
 " Great Sir, 
 
 " Since it is your gracious pleasure not to accept 
 of my humble excuse, but by your royal approba- 
 tion to fix me under this great, though honourable 
 weight, and to think me fit to be invested with a 
 trust of so high a nature as this is ; I take it, in
 
 OF THE HOUSE, 27 
 
 the first place, to be incumbent upon me, that I 
 render your Majesty all possible thanks ; which I 
 now humbly do, with a heart full of all duty, and 
 offered with a deeper sense of gratitude than I can 
 find words to express. 
 
 " Next, from your royal determination in this 
 affair, whereby you have imprinted a new character 
 upon me, I take courage against my own diffidence, 
 and cheerfully bend myself, with such strength and 
 abilities as God shall give, to the service so gra- 
 ciously assigned me ; no way doubting that your 
 Majesty will please to pardon my frailties, to 
 accept of my faithful endeavours, and always to 
 look favourably upon the work of your own 
 hands. 
 
 " And now. Sir, my first entrance upon this ser- 
 vice obliges me to make a few necessary, but hum- 
 ble petitions, on the behalf of your most loyal and 
 dutiful House of Commons. 
 
 " 1. That for our better attendance on the 
 public service, we and our servants may be free in 
 our persons and estates from arrests and other dis- 
 turbances. 
 
 " 2, That, in our debates, liberty and freedom 
 of speech be allowed to us. 
 
 " 3. That, as occasions shall require, your Ma- 
 jesty, upon our humble suit, and at such times as 
 c 2
 
 28 FORMS, RULESj REGULATIONS, &:C. 
 
 your Majesty shall judge seasonable, will vouchsafe 
 us access to your royal person. 
 
 " 4. That all our proceedings may receive a 
 favourable construction. 
 
 " That God, who hath brought you back to the 
 throne of your fathers, and with you all our com- 
 forts, grant you a long and prosperous reign, and 
 send you victory over all your enemies ; and every 
 good man's heart will say. Amen." 
 
 To this second address to his Majesty, the Lord 
 Chancellor, by his Majesty's further directions, 
 makes the following answer : — " Mr. Speaker, The 
 King's Majesty hath heard and well weighed your 
 short and eloquent oration, and, in the first place, 
 much approves that you have introduced a shorter 
 way of speaking on this occasion. His Majesty 
 doth well accept of all those dutiful and affectionate 
 expressions in which you have delivered your sub- 
 mission to his royal pleasure, and looks upon it as 
 a good omen to his affairs, and as an evidence that 
 the House of Commons have still the same at heart 
 that have chosen such a mouth ; the conjuncture of 
 time and the King and kingdom's affairs require 
 such a House of Commons, such a Speaker ; for, 
 with reverence to the Holy Scripture, upon this 
 occasion, the King may say ' He that is not with me 
 is against me,' for he that doth not now put his
 
 OF THE HOUSE. 29 
 
 hand and heart to support the King in the common 
 cause of this kingdom, can hardly ever hope for 
 such another opportunity, or find a time to make 
 satisfaction for the omission of this. 
 
 " Next, I am commanded by his Majesty to 
 answer your four petitions ; whereof the first being 
 the freedom of you and your servants, your persons 
 and estates, without arrests or other disturbance, 
 the King has graciously pleased to grant it as full 
 as to any of your predecessors ; the second for liberty 
 and freedom of speech ; the third for access to his 
 royal person ; and the fourth that your proceedings 
 may receive a favourable construction, are all freely 
 granted by his Majesty.'" 
 
 The above form or ceremony observed in the 
 choosing and approving of a Speaker, was first used 
 on the occasion of Sir Job Charlton's election to 
 the chair of the House of Commons in the time 
 of Charles the Second, since which period it has 
 been invariably adopted. 
 
 The Speaker is elected, as already observed, not 
 at the commencement of each session, but at the 
 meeting of every new parliament. The title Speaker 
 is given him because he alone has the right to speak 
 to or address the King- in the name and on behalf 
 of the House. In the chair, he sits chiefly in the 
 capacity of a moderator of the assembly, never
 
 30 FORMS, RULES; REGULATIOXS, &C. 
 
 taking any part in the proceedings, or expressing 
 any opinion on the subject-matter of discussion ; 
 all he docs is to call on the different members, when 
 the proper time arrives, to present the petitions or 
 make the motions of which they have given notice, 
 and to correct any member, who either from igno- 
 rance of the rules and usages of the House, or in 
 the heat of debate is out of order. In calling on 
 members to present petitions, addresses, &c., or 
 make the motions of which they had previously 
 given notice, the Speaker invariably takes their 
 names in the order of time in which they had given 
 their respective notices. His powers are very great. 
 When he interposes his authority, no member must 
 for a moment question it ; if any member were to do 
 so, he can order him at once into the custody of the 
 Serjeant-at-Arms. Hence it is that when he inter- 
 feres, honourable members, in the midst of their 
 angriest and most violent altercations, at once 
 express their readiness to bow to the decision and 
 submit to the pleasure of the Chair. During his 
 absence no business can be transacted, nor any 
 other question proposed than that of adjournment. 
 When the House resolves itself into a Committee, 
 he vacates the Chair, and takes his seat as a private 
 member, when he has a right to speak to any ques- 
 tion before the Committee, if he be so inclined, 
 which, however, he very rarely is.
 
 OF THE HOUSE. 31 
 
 The office of Speaker of the House of Commons 
 is one of the most arduous kind; the amount of 
 labour he has to perform is almost incredible. Not 
 only must he be always present during the sittings 
 of the House, but he must at all hours of the day, 
 and on all occasions during the session, be accessi- 
 ble to every member who chooses to wait on him. 
 He must sign all the records of the votes and pro- 
 ceedings of the House, and of course carefully read 
 them over lest there should be any thing wrong in 
 them before affixing his signature ; he must be 
 always ready to instruct members as to matters of 
 form, in short, nearly all the business part of the 
 House is transacted by him and his clerks. Not 
 even Saturday, when no business, except on very 
 urgent occasions, is done in the house, was formerly 
 a day of recreation to him; for every Saturday 
 during the session, before the meeting of the present 
 Parliament, he was obliged to hold what are called 
 Parliamentary Levees, and give splendid dinners to 
 the members, to which they were invited, in certain 
 numbers at a time, in rotation. His Saturdays 
 are still in one way or other occupied with the" 
 duties of his office. It is doubtful even, with the 
 labours of the week before him, whether the " Sab- 
 bath shines a day of rest to him," though of course 
 he is protected on that hallowed day from the per-
 
 9,9 
 
 FORMS, RULES, REGULATIONS, &C. 
 
 sonal intrusion of honourable members. His salary 
 was formerly ,£^5,000 a year, but in 1833 it was 
 reduced to i?4,000; in addition to his salary, how- 
 ever, he receives fees to the amount of i?2,000 or 
 .£'3,000, besides i?l,000 of equipment money, and 
 2,000 ounces of platei which are given him imme- 
 diately on his election ; he is also allowed two 
 hogsheads of claret wine, and <^100 for stationery 
 every year : add to all this the circumstance of his 
 having a handsome residence provided for hnn close 
 to the House of Commons at the public expense, 
 and the situation is worth at least <i?8,000 per an- 
 num. In point of rank the Speaker is next to the 
 Peers of Great Britain, and he has the same pre- 
 cedence at the King's council table. He never votes 
 on any question except the numbers be equal, when 
 his casting vote decides the majority. 
 
 After the fonn of the Speaker asking and re- 
 ceiving those privileges on behalf of the members 
 of the House of Commons, already referred to, 
 has been gone through, the King makes his speech 
 to both Houses, What the usual character of such 
 speeches is, every one already knows. The speech 
 being delivered, the King withdraws, and returns 
 home, and the Commons retire to their own house, 
 where, as in the Lords, an address in answer to 
 his Majesty's most gracious sprech, warmly ap«
 
 OF THE HOUSE. Sii 
 
 proving of it, thanking him for it, and echoing its 
 every sentiment, is moved and seconded by some of 
 the most zealous supporters of the existing Govern- 
 ment. An amendment to the address is generally 
 proposed by some member of the Opposition, but 
 is almost invariably lost by a large majority ; 
 many of the most strenuous opponents of the 
 existing Administration deeming it not only a want 
 of courtesy to Ministers to oppose the Address, but 
 a manifest mark of disrespect to the King. At the 
 meeting of the present Parliament, however, the 
 Opposition conceived that, in the extraordinary cir- 
 cumstances in which the country and parties were 
 placed, they were bound to sacrifice all considera- 
 tions of a merely conventional kind, and endeavour 
 to overthrow the Government of Sir Robert Peel 
 the very first moment they could come in collision 
 with it. Hence an amendment to the address to the 
 King was proposed, and carried by a majority of 
 seven, in one of the fullest Houses ever known, the 
 number present being 611. I never knew a ques- 
 tion which, during the discussion, excited greater 
 interest than this, partly owing to the impression 
 generally felt by both parties, that it would be de- 
 cisive of the fate of the Government, and partly to 
 the great uncertainty which existed as to the vote 
 to which the House would come. 
 c3
 
 34 FORMS, RULES, REGULATIOXF, &C. 
 
 During the first two sessions of the Reformed 
 Parliament, the House met at twelve o'clock for 
 the purpose of presenting petitions and transacting 
 business of minor importance. These sittings 
 usually lasted till three, when the House again 
 adjourned till five, at which time the most impor- 
 tant business commenced. The morning sittings 
 ■wei'e generally but thinly attended, the number of 
 members present scarcely ever exceeding fifty or 
 sixty. It was soon found that the plan of having 
 tAvo sittings in one day would not answer, as it 
 often happened that at the morning sitting, not a 
 single member of Government was present to answer 
 any question which honourable members might have 
 to put to them. The arrangement was therefore 
 abandoned, and the old practice resumed, on the 
 meetingof the present Parliament. The usual hour 
 for the Speaker''s now taking the chair is half-past 
 three. An hour and a-half is generally spent in the 
 presentation of petitions, and the debates on motions 
 begin a little after five. 
 
 Immediately on the Speaker taking the chair, the 
 chaplain reads prayers, after which the Speaker 
 counts the House, when, if there be not forty mem- 
 bers present, he declares it to stand adjourned till 
 the following day, unless this happen on a Friday, 
 when it stands adjourned till Monday. The Speaker
 
 OF THE HOUSE. 35 
 
 always wears, during the sittings of the House, a 
 large wig and gown, and so also do the clerks, but 
 no member is allowed to appear in any other than 
 his usual clothes, except on tAvo occasions. One of 
 these is the first day of a new Parliament, when the 
 four members for the City of London wear scarlet 
 gowns, and when they have the privilege of sitting 
 together on the right of the chair. The other ex- 
 ception is in the case of the mover and seconder of 
 the Address, in answer to the speech of his Majesty. 
 These gentlemen must appear, on that occasion, in 
 full court dress. 
 
 The members who chance to be in the House 
 before the entrance of the Speaker generally remain 
 covered, but the moment he appears they take off' 
 their hats as a mark of respect to him. They may, 
 however, and generally do, immediately after re- 
 place them on their heads. The members who 
 afterwards enter the house, severally take off their 
 hats and make a bow to the chair as they pass the 
 bar. They do the same on leaving the House; and 
 even in moving from one part of the floor to another, 
 though it were only one or two yards, they always 
 take off^ their hats in testimony of respect for the 
 Speaker. 
 
 On ordinary motions no member is allowed to 
 speak more than once, except it be in the way of
 
 36 FORMS, RULES, REGULATIONS, &C. 
 
 explanation ; but the member who made the motion 
 has, as in the case of counsel in the courts of law, 
 the privilege of reply. It sometimes happens, 
 liowever, that a member who has forgotten what 
 he conceives some important point in his speech, 
 or when something new occurs to him, rises a 
 second time under the pretext of explanation, but 
 he is, in such cases, generally put down with loud 
 cries of " Spoke, spoke ;'"' — meaning that he has 
 spoken already. In Committees of the whole 
 House, however, members are allowed to speak as 
 often as they choose, the only limit set to their 
 loquacity being that of the temper or impatience of 
 the House. When the House is impatient for a 
 division, or the member wishing to address it is 
 unpopular, the most deafening uproar is purposely 
 raised to cause him to desist by drowning his voice. 
 I shall, in another part of the work, give some spe- 
 cimens of such interruptions. 
 
 One regulation of the House not generally known 
 is, that any member making a motion cannot with- 
 draw it without the consent of the gentleman who 
 seconds it. Considerable inconvenience has some- 
 times arisen from this. To go no farther back than 
 the middle of the last session, we have, in the case 
 of Sir Samuel Whalley's motion on the Assessed 
 Taxes, a striking instance. The motion having been
 
 OF THE HOUSE. 37 
 
 seconded by a Tory, that party pressed it to a 
 division, though Sir Samuel expressed his most 
 anxious wish to withdraw it. They saw that at 
 that moment the Reformers who were opposed to 
 the Window Tax, could not vote for its repeal 
 without embarrassing Government, and therefore 
 thought the opportunity an excellent one for plac- 
 ing the Reform members, especially the represen- 
 tatives of large towns, in a false position with their 
 constituents. In this they succeeded in several 
 instances to their heart's content. Colonel Evans 
 perilled his seat for Westminster by voting on that 
 occasion with the Government in opposition to the 
 wishes of his constituents, and several other mem- 
 bers have also prejudiced their personal interests 
 by their votes on the same question. 
 
 No bill can be brought into the house without a 
 formal request of leave for that purpose having 
 been made and agreed to. In the case of public 
 bills, this leave is asked and obtained by means of 
 a motion to that effect ; on such occasions a short 
 discussion usually takes place on the objects of the 
 bill, before such leave is granted. The debate on 
 the principle of the bill is almost invariably deferred 
 till the second reading. It is a very unusual thing 
 to refuse an honourable member leave to bring in 
 any bill, however unpopular its principle may be 
 
 /la^^p^i
 
 38 FORMS, RULES, REGULATIONS, 8eC. 
 
 with the House. It is conceived to be no more than 
 common courtesy to the person asking leave to 
 bring in the bill, to accord that leave to him, and 
 also permission to read it a first time. If the mea- 
 sure be disliked, it is thrown out on the second 
 reading. A striking instance, however, of the want 
 of this usual courtesy occurred towards the end of 
 last June, when Mr. Fox Maule, though a member 
 of the Government, was refused leave to bring in a 
 bill " for the better protection of tenants' crops in 
 Scotland from the ravages committed on them by 
 several kinds of game."" 
 
 Before obtaining leave to bring in a bill the ob- 
 ject of which is to obtain relief of a private nature, 
 it is necessary to present a petition embodying the 
 facts on which the proposed measure is founded. If 
 these facts be not disputed, leave to bring in the 
 bill is granted as a matter of course; but if the facts 
 be questioned, the petition is referred to a Select 
 Committee, who inquire into the conflicting state- 
 ments, and report their opinion to the House. Leave 
 is granted or refused according to the opinion ex- 
 pressed by the Committee. 
 
 When a bill is ready to be brought in, leave 
 having been previously obtained for that purpose, 
 the member who asked such permission stands at 
 the bar of the liouse, and on his name being called
 
 OF Tin: HOUSE. 09 
 
 by the Speaker, says, "Bill, Sir." The Speaker 
 then says, " Please to bring it up ;" on which the 
 member advances to the table of the house, and then 
 handing it over to one of the Clerks, the title is read 
 by him a first time as a matter of form, and the bill 
 is ordered to stand for a second reading on any day 
 which the member bringing it up may appoint for the 
 purpose. When a bill has been read a second time, 
 the question which the Speaker puts from the chair 
 is, whether it shall be committed ; that is, whether 
 it shall be referred to the consideration of a Com- 
 mittee of the whole House, or to a Select Committee. 
 If the bill be one of great and general importancej 
 the usual practice is to refer it to a Committee of the 
 whole House ; if only of local or limited interest, it 
 is referred to a Select Committee, any member nam- 
 ing, at his pleasure, the persons who shall compose 
 that committee. The names of the Select Commit- 
 tee being read by the Clerk, the Committee are 
 ordered to meet in the Speaker''s chamber to take 
 the m.atter into consideration ; and when they have 
 made up their minds, to report their decision to 
 the House. The Committee accordingly meet, and 
 after having chosen their chairman, either proceed 
 clause by clause with the bill, or adjourn to some 
 other time. When they have gone through the bill.
 
 40 FORMS, KULES, REGULATIONS, &C. 
 
 the Chairman, as the representative of the Commit- 
 tee, makes his report at the side bar of the house, 
 reading all the alterations which have been made in 
 the bill. If new clauses have been added by the 
 Committee, they are marked alphabetically, and, as 
 in the case of the alterations, are read by the Chair- 
 man. They are then handed to the Clerk, who reads 
 all the amendments and new clauses. The Speaker 
 then puts the question, whether the amendments 
 and additional clauses shall be read a second time. 
 If this be agreed to, he reads them himself, or if not 
 all agreed to, as many of them as have been ap- 
 proved of He next puts the question, whether the 
 bill so amended shall be engrossed — which means, 
 fairly written out on parchment — and read a third 
 time on some other day. If the third reading be 
 agreed to, a day is appointed for the purpose, and 
 when read a third time, the Speaker puts the ques- 
 tion " that the bill do pass." If this also be agreed 
 to, the words, " Soit Bailie aux Seig^ieurs^'' are 
 written on it by the Clerk ; after which it is sent 
 up to the Lords for their expected concurrence. If 
 any new clauses be proposed and agreed to after a 
 bill has been engrossed, they must be also written 
 on parchment, like the bill, and are called riders. 
 In Committees of the whole House, the same
 
 OF THE HOUSE. 41 
 
 discussions often take place on bills as on impor- 
 tant motions. 
 
 When a message is announced from the Lords 
 to the Commons, the persons charged with which 
 are usually some of the Masters in Chancery, the 
 messengers must wait until the business before the 
 House is finished before they deliver it, unless it 
 happen that the Commons are engaged in a length- 
 ened debate, when from considerations of courtesy 
 the Speaker intimates that the House is ready to 
 receive the message. The member who happens to 
 be addressing the Hovise at the time, immediately 
 sits down till the message is delivered and the 
 bearers of it have retired, after which he resumes 
 his speech, and the proceedings go on as usual. In 
 advancing to the chair, the messengers, accompa- 
 nied by the Serjeant-at-Arms carrying the mace on 
 his shoulder, make three profound reverences to 
 the Speaker, when, after delivering the message, 
 they withdraw backwards, making three low bows 
 as when they approached the chair. 
 
 The mace always lies on the table while the 
 Speaker is in the chair, with the exception of those 
 occasions, few and far between, on which it is sent 
 to Westminster Hall, the Court of Requests, or 
 the several Committee-rooms to summon the mem- 
 bers to attend the House ; or when the House has
 
 42 FORMS, RULES, REGULATIONS, &:c. 
 
 resolved itself into a Committee of the whole 
 House, on which occasions it is laid under the 
 table. 
 
 I have already mentioned, that before proceeding 
 to business, the Speaker must count and see that 
 ■ there are forty members present. It is not neces- 
 sary, however, that this number should continue in 
 the House in order to enable it to proceed, unless, 
 indeed, any member, anxious to get rid of the 
 motion before it, should move that it be counted. 
 This the Speaker must do at the suggestion of any 
 member, when, if it be found that there are not forty 
 members present, the House is declared to stand 
 adjourned till the following day. When Govern- 
 ment are apprehensive of being embarrassed by any 
 question which is to be brought forward, and which 
 does not press for an immediate settlement, they 
 hint to their leading friends, who communicate it 
 to the other members, their wash that their sup- 
 porters should be absent, in order that the House 
 may be counted out, and by that means get rid of 
 the question for the session. Lest, however, their 
 opponents should muster so strongly as to continue 
 a House during the discussion, and come to a deci- 
 sion adverse to the known views of Government, 
 it is ahvays arranged that a certain number of the 
 supporters of Ministers shall lounge about the
 
 OF THE HOUSE. 43 
 
 House, carefully watching the progress of the ques- 
 tion, and shaping their tactics accordingly. If they 
 see that on a division Government would be in a 
 minority, they immediately despatch messengers to 
 all parts of the town for their friends, who hurry 
 down to the House with an almost John Gilpin 
 speed. In the mean time, some of those present 
 prevent the House coming to a division before the 
 arrival of the absentees, by speaking against time. 
 A striking instance of this occurred in the begin- 
 ning of last June, when Mr. Robinson, the member 
 for Worcester, brought forward his motion respect- 
 ing a Property-tax. Ministers and their friends 
 had confidently expected that on that occasion the 
 House would be counted out ; and Mr. Ruthven 
 and Mr. Brotherton, both celebrated for moving 
 that the House be counted out or adjourned, were 
 present for the purpose. It §p happened, however, 
 that though at three or four different times in the 
 early part of the evening, there were only four or 
 five more than the requisite number, they could 
 not get their object accomplished. The only mem- 
 ber of Government who chanced to be present dur- 
 ing Mr. Robinson's speech, which lasted nearly two 
 hours, was Mr. Spring Rice. About nine o'clock, 
 however, when there was no longer any hope of 
 counting out the House, and when it was uncertain
 
 44 FORMS, RULES, REGULATIONS, &C. 
 
 how soon the question might be pressed to a divi- 
 sion, messengers were despatched to Brookes's, to 
 the Westminster Club, at 24, George-street, and 
 the other ]ilaces of resort of the Liberal members ; 
 so that in the short space of half an hour the num- 
 ber of members in the house swelled from forty- 
 eight or fifty, to about two hundred. 
 
 In a Committee of the whole House eight mem- 
 bers are sufficient for the transaction of business. 
 On such occasions, the members address themselves 
 to the Chairman by name. When the Speaker is 
 in the chair, he is always addressed by the term 
 " Sir," and the members are supposed to direct 
 their observations as exclusively to him as if he 
 were tlie only individual present. Select Commit- 
 tees, and Committees of Privileges sit in rooms 
 up-stairs. 
 
 In choosing a Conjjuittee to try the question of 
 disputed elections, the selection is by ballot. There 
 must be one hundred members present before the 
 ballot can be proceeded with. Thirty-three are 
 balloted for, and then each of the opposing parties 
 are allowed to strike off eleven from the number, 
 the remaining eleven forming the Committee, The 
 members are sworn in the same way as a jur}' in a 
 court of law, before proceeding to try the question. 
 It is singular what a disproportion there sometimes
 
 OF THE HOUSE. 45 
 
 appears in the number of Liberal and Tory members 
 whose names are drawn. In tlie Committee chosen in 
 June last to try the validity of Mr. CDwyers' second 
 election for Drogheda, it so happened that the whole 
 thirty-three were decided Tories ; but three or four 
 of them not being present when their names were 
 mentioned, others were chosen in their places who 
 chanced to be Liberals. These, however, were of 
 course struck off by the agent of the Tory peti- 
 tioner against Mr. O'Dwyer's return, and conse- 
 quently the latter gentleman had a purely Tory 
 Committee, with Mr. Goulburn for chairman, to 
 decide on his right to his seat. He was unseated. 
 
 I have mentioned in the previous chapter, that 
 when a division takes place while the House is in a 
 Committee of the whole House, the practice is to 
 change sides, the " Ayes'" taking the right and the 
 "Noes'" the left of the Speak er''s chair. Two mem- 
 bers called Tellers are then appointed to count 
 the numbers on each side of the question. Some 
 ludicrous mistakes occasionally occur from members 
 not taking the proper side in time, in which case 
 their votes are numbered among the adverse party. 
 In the session of 1834, Colonel Evans happened to 
 be fast asleep in one of the side galleries during a 
 division in Committee on a most important question, 
 the nature of which, however, I now forget, when
 
 46 FORMS, RULES, REGULATIONS, &C. 
 
 he was counted as voting with the Tories ; nor were 
 his slumbers disturbed, notwithstanding the noise 
 and bustle consequent on the opposing parties 
 changing sides, until the loud laughter and ironi- 
 cal cheers of the Tories wrested the gallant Colo- 
 nel from the pleasant embraces of Morpheus, He 
 looked the incarnation of foolishness on discovering 
 the predicament and the company into which he 
 had brought himself by a short, and as he, doubtless, 
 under other circumstances, would have thought, a 
 harmless nap. 
 
 When the House divides on any question without 
 having been in Committee, the members go out of 
 the house, as mentioned in the first chapter, to the 
 lobby ; strangers having been previously ordered 
 to withdraw from the latter place. If the question 
 on which the House is about to divide be whether 
 any bill, petition, &c. is to be brought in, the 
 " Ayes," or approvers of the motion, go out ; but if 
 the division is to be on any matter which the House 
 w^as before possessed of, the " Noes," or opponents 
 of the motion, go out. The Speaker appoints four 
 Tellers, two of whom are for, and two against the 
 motion, to take the respective numbers on every 
 division. The Tellers first count those who remain 
 in the house, and then placing themselves in the 
 passage between the bar and the door, count those
 
 * OF THE HOUSE. 47 
 
 who were without as they re-enter. The two Tellers 
 who have the majority, then take the right hand, 
 and the other two the left, when they advance 
 abreast towards the Speaker, making three bows 
 or inclinations of the head as a testimony of their 
 respect for him. When they reach the table they 
 deliver the numbers written on a small piece of 
 paper, saying : " The Ayes that went out are so 
 many, the Noes who remained are so many," or 
 otherwise as the case may happen. The numbers 
 are repeated by the Speaker, who also declares the 
 majority, and whether for or against the motion. 
 
 When the House divides, the gallery is cleared 
 of strangers, the Speaker looking up to the gallery, 
 and saying at the full stretch of his voice, " Stran- 
 gers must withdraw."'"' The officers repeat the 
 Speak er^s orders, and in about half a minute the 
 place is empty. The object of excluding strangers 
 when a division takes place, is to prevent members 
 being influenced when giving their votes, by their 
 presence. The arrangement or regulation, however, 
 is a very unnecessary one, as on every important 
 question the names of the members who voted, and 
 the way in which they voted, are given in the news- 
 papers of the following day. 
 
 Though strangers are admitted into the gallery 
 during the debates, it is only by sufferance. There
 
 48 FORMS, RULES, REGULATION'S, &C. 
 
 is a standing order of the House against the pre- 
 sence of any other than the members ; and a mem- 
 ber has only to say to the Speaker, " I think I 
 see strangers in the gallery," which is the phraseo- 
 logy employed in such a case, to have it cleared 
 at once, the Speaker being bound to order strangers 
 to withdraw that moment. When, in the session of 
 1833, Mr. O'Connell had his memorable quarrel 
 with the reporters, and they refused to report his 
 speeches, he determined on preventing the publica- 
 tion of any other member's speeches, or any of the 
 proceedings, by enforcing the regulations of the 
 House for the exclusion of the public. He first look- 
 ed up to the gallery, and then addressing the Speaker 
 in the terms above quoted, the latter immediately 
 ordered strangers to withdraw. The members then 
 proceeded to deliberate and debate with closed doors; 
 but the absence of strangers and reporters had a 
 most paralysing effect on their eloquence. There was 
 no animation in their manner — scarcely any attempt 
 at that wit and sarcasm at each other's expense so 
 often made on other occasions. Their speeches 
 were dull in the highest degree, and for the first 
 time within my recollection they kept their word 
 when, on commencing their orations, they promised 
 not to trespass at any length on the patience of the 
 House. Their speeches had certainly the merit of
 
 OF THE HOUSE 49 
 
 being short : I cannot say they were sweet. The 
 secret of all this was, they knew their eloquence 
 would not grace the newspapers of the following 
 morning. The empty gallery gave the House a 
 most melancholy appearance inside, and outside it 
 was no better. A stray person was here and there 
 to be seen in the stairs or passages leading to the 
 house, which only served to make the general dul- 
 ness of the place more striking. The lobby, which 
 used to be so crowded, and to be the scene of so 
 much bustle and animation, was altogether deserted. 
 The door-keeper's office was a sinecure ; there were 
 no intruders to keep out of the house. He was a 
 solitaire ; but for the circumstance of a member at 
 unusually long intervals making his exit and his 
 entrance, he must have fancied himself a second 
 Alexander Selkirk, the sole inhabitant of some 
 desolate place. 
 
 The law which excludes strangers from the gal- 
 lery, necessarily implies the illegality of publishing 
 the proceedings of the House. But not only is 
 such publication prohibited by implication, there 
 is an express order of the House to that effect. The 
 reports therefore of the speeches of members, and of 
 the proceedings of the House, are only by suffer- 
 ance, like the admission of strangers to the gallery ; 
 and every journal in the kingdom which gives any 
 
 D
 
 50 FORMS, RULES, REGULATIONS, ScC. 
 
 such report is liable to be prosecuted, and punished, 
 for a violation of the rules and a contempt of the 
 authority of the House. The order, however, has 
 been a dead letter in this respect, ever since news- 
 papers began the practice of reporting the proceed- 
 ings of Parliament. 
 
 It is one of the rules of the House, that no mo- 
 tion on any important question be brought forward 
 without the member who is to submit it, having 
 given due notice of such intention. The more 
 important the question to which the motion refers, 
 it is usual to give the longer notice. When the 
 day arrives, the name of the member who gave 
 notice of the motion is called by the Speaker, in 
 the order of time in which it appears on the order- 
 book, and if he do not answer when thus called 
 on, the motion is of necessity indefinitely post- 
 poned. But a member may postpone his motion 
 to any future day he pleases, by giving notice 
 to the House to that effect. I have often known 
 a motion to be postponed six or seven different 
 times in the course of one session, owing to the 
 altered circumstances of parties between the time of 
 giving the notice and the day fixed for bringing it 
 forward, and the necessity, at the same time, of not 
 altogether in appearance dropping the subject lest 
 the honourable member should thereby compromise
 
 or THE HOUSE. 51 
 
 his interests with his constituents. The notice of 
 a motion for a revision of the Pension List, given 
 by Mr. Harvey on the meeting of the present Par- 
 liament, and postponed time after time, till at last 
 the session ended without its being brought forward 
 at all, is a case in point. Mr. Harvey gave notice 
 of the motion when the Tories were in power, and 
 when they were displaced by his own party, he 
 was naturally anxious not to embarrass the latter 
 by bringing it forward. 
 
 If a member make a motion and lose it, on any 
 given subject, the same motion cannot be again 
 made during the session, either by the member 
 himself or by any other in the house ; but the spirit 
 of this regulation is sometimes evaded by honour- 
 able members bringing forward a motion substan- 
 tially the same but differently framed. This, 
 however, is not often done, as it is generally con- 
 sidered a proof of a factious opposition to the 
 existing Government, if not of want of respect to 
 the House itself. 
 
 It is a fact not generally known, that any person 
 chosen as member by any constituency, though not 
 only without his own consent, but contrary to his 
 most positively expressed wishes, is bound by the 
 laws of the House, which in such cases are the law 
 of the land, to serve in Parliament, unless he is 
 D 2
 
 52 FORMS, RULES, REGULATIONS, ScC 
 
 able to satisfy the House that he is disqualified for 
 the duties of such a situation. If the House do 
 not concur in the grounds on which he pleads for 
 exemption from the office of legislator, and he 
 notwithstanding be not present when his name is 
 called over, he is at once ordered into the custody 
 of the Sergeant-at-Arms, which subjects him to 
 an expense of eight or ten guineas per day. 
 From such custody the party is usually released 
 on the motion of some friend, on making the neces- 
 sary concessions, and paying the usual fees. On 
 Wednesday, March the 17th 1831, Lord F. L. 
 Gower, and Messrs. Maberly and S. L. Stephens, 
 were ordered into custody for not answering to 
 their names when called. Lord F. L. Gower, being 
 a knight of the shire, had to pay i?10, 10s. before 
 he was discharged, and the others being only 
 burgesses, paid £8. Ss. each. 
 
 A member, when duly elected, is not only com- 
 pelled to serve in Parliament, but he cannot at any 
 future period either resign his seat or be expelled 
 from the house except by some legal disqualification. 
 In order, therefore, to meet the views of those mem- 
 bers who may wish to resign their seats, it has been 
 the practice, ever since the year 1750, for such 
 members to accept the office of Steward of the 
 Chiltern Hundreds, which being an appointment
 
 OF THE HOUSE. 53 
 
 under the Crown, their seats are of necessity vacated. 
 The office, however, is a merely nominal one. The 
 stewards who accept it desire neither honour nor 
 emolument from it, the only salary attached to the 
 appointment being twenty shillings a-year. The 
 Chiltern Hundreds are districts in Buckingham- 
 shire, belonging to the Crown. The appointment 
 to the office of Steward of these Hundr-eds is vested 
 in the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who, as a 
 matter of course, grants it to every member who 
 applies for it 
 
 Any member may at any time, and in the midst 
 of any discussion, move the adjournment of the 
 House. It is true that the mere moving of the 
 adjournment does not compel the House to adjourn ; 
 but if the member so moving it persevere in his 
 motion, he is sure to succeed. He can force the 
 House to divide on the question whether it shall 
 adjourn or not, and the moment the division is over 
 he can again, if carried against him, move it and 
 compel a division as often as he pleases, thus com- 
 pletely putting an end to the transaction of any 
 business. The celebrated Mr. Sheridan, on one 
 occasion, moved the adjournment of the House 
 nineteen successive times, and had nineteen divi- 
 sions on the subject, the one following the other as 
 fast as they could be taken. The House, seeing
 
 54 FORMS, RULES, REGULATIONS, &C. 
 
 it was only wasting time to resist the adjournment 
 any longer, at last reluctantly yielded. Mr. She- 
 ridan's object was to prevent the House coming to 
 some important resolution, the precise nature of 
 which I do not at this moment recollect, respecting 
 the war at that time going on with France, until the 
 country should be apprized of it. He succeeded 
 in his object.
 
 55 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 When a motion on any important question is 
 fixed for a particular night, and it is understood 
 that the member bringing it forward is anxious to 
 proceed with it, honourable members who had other 
 notices of less important motions on the order 
 book, generally give way in his favour. On such 
 occasions the house, though usually not contain- 
 ing a hundred members, and often not half that 
 number, when the Speaker takes the chair, soon 
 gets filled, and generally continues crowded till the 
 debate is finished, even though it should be ad- 
 journed for three or four successive nights. The 
 time at which the house is usually thinnest is from 
 eight to ten o'clock, when many members prefer- 
 ring the more solid qualities of a good dinner to 
 " the feast of reason and the flow of soul,"'"' vacate 
 their seats in Westminster that they may fill one at 
 a well-furnished table in their own houses, or in 
 that of some friend. Hence it very rarely happens 
 that any of the best speakers address the House
 
 56 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 before ten o''clock, — not wishing, of course, to waste 
 their eloquence on comparatively empty benches. 
 A succession of fourth or fifth-rate orators will 
 almost invariably be found " on their legs" from 
 the meeting of the House until that hour. They 
 know that after ten o'clock there is not the remotest 
 chance of their getting an opportunity of deliver- 
 ing their sentiments; and hence, when one has 
 finished his speech, they often rise in shoals of six 
 or seven at once, each hoping he will be the fortu- 
 nate person in catching the Speaker's eye. The 
 other members in such a case shout the names of 
 the honourable gentlemen who have risen and 
 whom they are severally anxious to see " in pos- 
 session of the House ;"" but the word of the Speaker 
 settles the question as to which of the candidates 
 for senatorial fame is to proceed. He mentions 
 aloud the name of the orator who first caught his 
 eye, and the others immediately resume their seats, 
 while he commences his speech. 
 
 The usual practice of the Speaker during any 
 important debate is to " fix his eye" on a member 
 from each side of the house, or on the opposite 
 sides of the question, alternately ; so that from the 
 beginning of any discussion till the end, however 
 many nights it may last, every successive speaker 
 either answers, or is supposed to rise to answer, the
 
 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 57 
 
 speaker who immediately preceded him. Of course, 
 in such cases, he may also answer those honourable 
 gentlemen on the adverse side who may have spoken 
 at any previous stage of the debate, and who he 
 thinks has not been fully or triumphantly answered 
 by those of his own party who preceded him. When 
 the Speaker observes signs of impatience for a divi- 
 sion to be general in the house, he makes it his in- 
 variable practice to single out from those members 
 who simultaneously rise when the last speaker has 
 sat down, the leading men on each side of the ques- 
 tion. This brings the debate to a close, because the 
 House would inevitably clamour down any person 
 who would have the temerity to attempt to address 
 it after the most influential members on both sides 
 of the question had spoken. Were not this plan 
 adopted, and were the Speaker to go on calling on 
 the " little men," as they are termed, to proceed in 
 their harangues, as they successively arise, discus- 
 sions would often extend to as many weeks as they 
 do days. Had the Speaker allowed every *' minor 
 member" who on the debate, last session, on the 
 Irish Church Appropriation Bill endeavoured to 
 " catch his eye," instead of lasting only four days 
 it would have been protracted for at least as many 
 weeks. 
 
 After ten o'clock, the members who have been to 
 D 3
 
 58 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIOXS. 
 
 dinner are to be seen trooping into the house, and 
 by eleven they are generally all returned, as after 
 that hour it is uncertain, when there has been a 
 protracted discussion, how soon a division may take 
 place. However much improved otherwise by a 
 good dinner and its accompaniments, it is hardly 
 necessary to say that honourable members, on their 
 return to the house, are not always in a better con- 
 dition for the discharge of their legislative duties. 
 However, there is little difficulty in uttering either 
 of the monosyllables " Aye'^ or "No,"" and as their 
 minds are, in almost every instance, made up before- 
 hand as to which of the two words they Avill pro- 
 nounce when it is their turn to vote, they contrive 
 to acquit themselves tolerably well. 
 
 The practice of so many members leaving the 
 house to go to dinner between seven and eight 
 o'clock and generally not returning before ten, en- 
 dangered the existence, on one occasion, of the Mel- 
 bourne Ministry, soon after its re-accession to office. 
 The measure before the House was one of great 
 importance, and about nine o'clock there were only 
 about two hundred and fifty members present, the 
 great majority of whom were Tories. The latter 
 saw the preponderance of their numbers, and ac- 
 cordingly shouted out " Divide, divide !" They 
 also endeavoured, though without effect, to put
 
 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 59 
 
 down by clamour those members from the Ministe- 
 rial side of the House who rose to prolong the dis- 
 cussion until their friends should return. The de- 
 bate was kept up till half-past twelve, when the 
 division took place. The number of members then 
 present was upwards of six hundred, and the majo- 
 rity in favour of Ministers exceeded thirty. 
 
 The house has a very different appearance at 
 different times. When there is no interesting ques- 
 tion before it, its empty seats give it a cheerless 
 aspect : and the extent to which this operates both 
 on speakers and listeners is incredible. It is next 
 to impossible, in such a case, to make a lively 
 or eloquent speech, or even suppose it were both 
 lively and eloquent, it always fails to produce an 
 impression. Though the voting away of the public 
 money, when the miscellaneous estimates are under 
 consideration, is unquestionably one of the most 
 important and responsible duties which devolve on 
 a British legislator, it so happens that when this 
 is being done, there is invariably a less number of 
 members present than on any other occasion. The 
 gi'eatest number I have known in the house when 
 the public money was in the act of being voted 
 away, scarcely ever exceeded eighty or ninety, while 
 from fifty to sixty is the usual number. On such 
 occasions, especially after twelve o'clock, you see
 
 60 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 notliing but languor in the faces and manner of 
 those honourable members who continue to sit in 
 an upright position; while a considerable portion 
 of them are either leaning with their heads on the 
 benches, or stretched out at full length with their 
 eyes, like those of Shakspeare's shipboy, "- sealed 
 up'' by sleep, "Nature's soft nurse." The strangers 
 in the gallery who chance to be there for the first 
 time, are always amazed beyond measure at seeing 
 any portion of their representatives thus enjoying 
 their repose while matters of the deepest importance 
 are being transacted in the house. They are sur- 
 prised to see those who were so bustling and ani- 
 mated on the hustings, and so prodigal of pledges 
 to oppose every improper grant of the public 
 money, not only dull and drowsy in the house, but 
 '• sleeping it out," while millions are voted away for 
 all sorts of objects, good, bad, and indifferent. 
 Strangers do not, of course, return home with any 
 very exalted opinion either of the integrity or dig- 
 nity of the legislators themselves, or of the qualities 
 necessary to constitute a so-called representative of 
 the people.* But when, as already stated, a ques- 
 tion of commanding interest is to be discussed, the 
 
 * It is a fact which a sense of impartiality compels me to 
 state, that the most flaming patriots are generally those who 
 most frequently neglect their duty on these occasions.
 
 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 61 
 
 house is full soon after the Speaker takes the chair, 
 and continues so, except from eight to ten o'clock, 
 till it either divides or adjourns. There are no 
 sleepers or slumberers then. In the old house 
 there was not sitting room, far less room to recline 
 in a horizontal position ; in the present house, in- 
 cluding the galleries, there are seats enough, but 
 not more. When the house is full it has a very 
 cheerful appearance, and greatly adds to the in- 
 trinsic interest of the proceedings. On such occa- 
 sions, you will sometimes see fifty or sixty members 
 standing at the bar at the same time. I have often 
 seen it so blocked up that it was with the greatest 
 difficulty a member could make his way either in 
 or out. When this is the case, or when there is a 
 great noise from hon. members speaking and laugh- 
 ing together, the Speaker and other members in 
 different parts of the house, call out " Order at 
 the bar r—" Bar ! bar! bar!'' 
 
 There is nothing which more forcibly strikes a 
 stranger Avho is in the house for the first time, 
 than the noise and levity which almost invariably 
 prevail in the house, except when some popular or 
 talented member is addressing it. At tliese times, 
 the Speaker's voice is drowned amidst the talking 
 and laughing which are going on in all parts of 
 the house. I have known members speak for half
 
 t»8 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 an hour at the time, without one single sentiment 
 they uttered being known to one out of ten in the 
 house. The house on such occasions is a scene of 
 perfect confusion, and the noise is sometimes so 
 great as to be heard distinctly in the street outside, 
 a distance of forty or fifty yards, and this, too, 
 though the doors are all shut. 
 
 I recollect, when I first entered the house, being- 
 struck with the great number of bald-headed mem- 
 bers. The number is greater in this Parliament 
 than in any previous one within my remembrance. 
 I have sometimes, from curiosity, counted the 
 number of bald heads in the house at once, and 
 have found them to be nearly a third of all present. 
 Taking the whole six hundred and fifty-eight, I 
 should think that perhaps a fourth part are more or 
 less bald-headed. 
 
 The di'ess of hon. members varies with the season. 
 In the spring months, the prevailing colour is black 
 from head to foot ; but in the summer season the 
 great majority wear light-coloured inexpressibles 
 and waistcoats. The last two sessions were remark- 
 able for the number of white hats in the house. 
 Considerably more than a majority of the members, 
 I am sure, wore white hats last session. 
 
 The number of red heads in the house is also 
 remarkable. I should think they are hardly less
 
 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 63 
 
 numerous than the bald heads. When I come to 
 advert to individual members of distinction, it can- 
 not fail to strike the reader how many of them are 
 red-headed. 
 
 I have spoken of the noise and confusion that 
 often prevail in the house when a fourth or fifth rate 
 speaker is addressing it. When a popular member 
 belonging to either party is on his legs, he, again, is 
 sure, especially if speaking on a party question, to be 
 applauded to the echo by those who hold the same 
 principles as himself. For example. Sir Robert 
 Peel may at all times rely on the vociferous ap- 
 plause of the Tories ; Lord John Russell on that 
 of the Whigs ; and Mr. O'Connell on that of the 
 Radical or Movement party. In applauding their 
 respective favourites, hon. members give full play 
 to their lungs. Their cheers are sometimes deaf- 
 ening in the house, and are often distinctly heard 
 at a great distance from it. In the new houses, 
 which are near each other, the cheers given in the 
 Commons often disturb the more grave delibera- 
 tions of the Lords. But it is on an important 
 division that the Stentorian capabilities of the Com- 
 mons are heard to most advantage. I have often 
 heard the triumphant party give such rounds of 
 applause on the Speaker's announcing the numbers, 
 as literally made the ears of honourable members
 
 64) MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 ring again. When Sir Robert Peel was last ses- 
 sion defeated on the Church Appropriation ques- 
 tion, such was the exultation of the Liberal party, 
 that some of them, not content with hurraing at the 
 top of their voice, actually took off their hats and 
 whirled tliem in the air. 
 
 Of other kinds of sounds which are often to be 
 heard in the house, I shall have occasion to say 
 something in the following chapter. 
 
 There are several naval members in the house, 
 who, though they have as large an allowance of 
 good judgment — in some instances more — as those 
 members who have spent all their days in polished 
 society, — yet have lost much of their earlier lite- 
 rary acquirements. There is more than one of 
 these — and there are several members who have 
 chiefly spent their time in rural retirement in the 
 same predicament — who have forgotten the first 
 rudiments of their orthography. I could mention se- 
 veral amusing instances of such blunders committed 
 by M.P.'s; but let one suffice. A worthy Welch 
 baronet, distinguished for his maritime exploits, 
 was lately asked by one of his constituents who 
 chanced to be in town at the time, for an order of 
 admission into the house. With his characteristic 
 disposition to oblige, Sir immediately com- 
 plied with the request, and wrote an order in the
 
 MISCELLAXEOUS OBSERVATIOKS. 6'5 
 
 usual terms, and addressed it thus — " To the Door 
 Ceeper of the House of Commons.'" The person 
 for whom it was intended, discovered the error in 
 the spelling after he had gone ten or twelve yards 
 from the worthy baronet, and turning back and 
 
 running up to him said, " Oh, Sir there is 
 
 a mistake in the word " keeper ;" you have spelt it 
 with a c instead of a ky " A mistake !" responded 
 the baronet, taking the order into his hand, " Not 
 a bit of a mistake is there in it, both ways are right 
 — quite right, my friend ;" at the same time return- 
 ing the order uncorrected to his constituent. 
 
 Time after time have I been struck with the 
 extraordinary instances of a retentive memory, 
 afforded by the ease and accuracy with which 
 members repeat long speeches which they had pre- 
 viously learned by heart ; but the most striking 
 instance of this kind I ever witnessed — and I 
 question if there be a parallel to it in the history of 
 Parliamentary debates — was in the case of Mr. 
 R. Tennant, the member for Belfast. This gen- 
 tleman, on the occasion of Mr. O'ConnelFs motion 
 for a repeal of the Union in 1834, actually repeated 
 a speech against the measure, without the least 
 hesitation in a single instance, or the slightest mis- 
 take, — which occupied him three hours and a-half
 
 66 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 in the delivery ; and — which renders the effort still 
 more surprising — it was a speech which was full of 
 minute calculations and figures. He mentioned the 
 circumstance to some of his friends at the time, 
 and was so confident of the trust-worthiness of his 
 memory, that he sent the manuscript of his speech 
 to the newspapers before he delivered it. 
 
 Those unacquainted with the secrets of the 
 prison-house, Avould naturally infer that those 
 members of opposite politics whom they see night 
 after night so heartily abusing each other, were not 
 on friendly terms together. There are some cases 
 in which the conclusion would be just : in the great 
 majority it would not. Before and after the disso- 
 lution of Sir Robert PeeFs Government, the Right 
 Honourable Baronet and Lord John Russell were 
 often seen in most friendly conversation together. 
 Some weeks after the meeting of the present Par- 
 liament, Mr. Hughes Hughes, the member for 
 Oxford, made a most violent attack on ]\Ir. O'Con- 
 nell, pointedly referring, among other things, to 
 his ordering death's-heads and cross-bones to be 
 painted over the doors of those electors who would 
 not vote for his nominee in the county of Cork. 
 Mr. O'Connell repelled the attack with equal vio- 
 lence, and retorted, as he did to Mr. Shaw, the
 
 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 67 
 
 member for the University of Dublin, on another 
 occasion, that Mr. Hughes's head was a calfVhead. 
 Some nights afterwards both gentlemen were seen 
 walking arm-in-arm up Parliament-street, on their 
 way home from the house.
 
 68 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 SCENES IN THE HOUSE. 
 
 There are two kinds of scenes which occasion- 
 ally take place in the house. The one chiefly con- 
 sists in the personal altercations and mutual crimi- 
 nations which now and then occur between two 
 particular members, who are almost invariably of 
 opposite politics. The other description of scenes 
 is of a more general nature, the performers being 
 a large proportion of the members present. These 
 latter scenes generally have their origin in the 
 indisposition of the House to hear any further 
 speeches on a particular question, except from some 
 of the leading members. As a fair specimen of the 
 first kind of scenes I give the following, because it 
 is short, and also because it is of late occurrence. 
 It took place in July last, when the House was in 
 a Committee of Ways and Means. The immediate 
 circumstance which gave rise to it, if I remember 
 rightly, was a proposed grant of a certain sum to 
 assist in defraying the expenses of the education of
 
 SCENES IN THE HOUSE. 69 
 
 Roman Catholics in Maynooth College. Mr. Shaw, 
 the member for the University of Dublin, con- 
 tended, in opposing the grant, that the Established 
 Church, and it alone, ought to be supported by 
 the State. When he had concluded his speech, 
 
 Mr. O'Connell rose and said, " The honourable 
 member (Mr. Shaw) has expressed his opinions in 
 a manner which can do no good service to his cause. 
 There was a determination about him amounting 
 almost to a spiritual ferocity. He seems to think 
 that the Protestant religion consists of pounds, shil- 
 lings, and pence."" 
 
 Mr. Shaw (with great vehemence). — " I deny 
 that I said that the Protestant religion consists of 
 pounds, shillings, and pence. But the Church 
 establishment of any country must be supported 
 by money, and that Church which the State en- 
 dowed with money became the Established Church. 
 In such a situation stands the Church which the 
 honourable and learned member for Dublin has 
 sworn not to subvert, and which he now attempts 
 to subvert." 
 
 Loud cries of " Order! order!" now proceeded 
 from the Ministerial side of the House. The Irish 
 members shouted the words with one voice. 
 
 Mr. CConnell (with the greatest warmth and 
 violence of gesture). — " I call the honourable Re-
 
 70 SCENES IN THE HOUSE. 
 
 corder to order. He has made use of a false asser- 
 tion." 
 
 Here Mr. O'ConnelFs voice was drowned amidst 
 the deafening cries of " Order!" which proceeded 
 from all parts of the Opposition side of the house. 
 A number of honourable members rose at once, and 
 accompanied the words with a corresponding vio- 
 lence of gesture. It is impossible to describe the 
 confusion of the scene. 
 
 Mr. 0''Connell resumed. — " The honourable 
 member has accused me of having sworn one thing 
 and done another. It is quite out of order for a 
 member to utter falsehoods." 
 
 Here the Opposition, almost in a body, shouted 
 " Order ! order !" at the full stretch of their voice, 
 mingled with cries of '•' Chair, chair!" It was some 
 time before any measure of order was restored. 
 When the uproar had somewhat abated, 
 
 Mr. Finn said, "I pronounce the expression which 
 has been uttered by the learned member for the 
 Dublin University to be an atrocious calumny." 
 The latter terms were pronounced with an empha- 
 sis, and were accompanied with a vehemence of 
 gesture, that defy description. 
 
 The confusion and uproar which now ensued 
 owing to the cries of " Chair, chair !" and " Order, 
 order !" which burst from the Opposition side of the
 
 SCENES IN THE HOUSE. 71 
 
 liouse, Avith the rising of many of the members from 
 their seats, exceeded any thing which can be ima- 
 gined. In vain did Mr. Bernal endeavour, as Chair- 
 man of the Committee, to restore order. His voice 
 was lost amidst the deafening noise which prevailed. 
 Some degree of quiet being at length restored, 
 
 Mr. Shaw rose, and with great warmth said, "The 
 honourable member for Dublin knows that when 
 he used the word falsehood " 
 
 Here Mr. Shaw's voice Avas again drowned 
 amidst renewed uproar and confusion, caused by 
 the rising of seven or eight of the Irish members 
 at once, each of them at the same time speaking in 
 the loudest and most indignant tones. It would 
 have been impossible to hear a single word either of 
 them said, owing to so many persons speaking and 
 shouting at the same instant; but that difficulty 
 was greatly increased by the shouts of " Chair, 
 Chair !"''' which burst from the Opposition side of 
 the house. 
 
 When the uproar had again partially subsided 
 ]\Ir. Bernal said, in a most vehement and impas- 
 sioned manner, " If I cannot restore and preserve 
 order, I must dissolve the Committee at once. It 
 is impossible for me to maintain order, when seven 
 or eight honourable members all get up and speak 
 at once."
 
 72 SCENES IN THE HOUSE. 
 
 The determined manner and sharp rebuke of 
 Mr. Bernal had, to a very great extent, the desired 
 effect ; when 
 
 Mr. Shaw, still labouring under great excite- 
 ment, and speaking with much warmth of manner, 
 said : " The honourable member (Mr. O'Connell) 
 has charged me with being actuated by a spiritual 
 ferocity; but my ferocity is not of that description 
 which takes for its symbol a death's-head and 
 cross-bones." (Tremendous cheers from the Oppo- 
 sition, with uproar from the Irish members on the 
 Ministerial side of the house.) 
 
 Mr. O'Connell (addressing himself to Mr. Shaw 
 personally, and not to the Chairman) — " Your's is 
 a calfs head and jaw-bones.*" (Deafening cheers 
 from the Ministerial side of the house, mingled w^ith 
 cries of " Order, Order !"" " Chair, Chair I" from 
 the Opposition.) 
 
 Mr. Bernal again interposed his authority as 
 Chairman, when having once more restored order, 
 the business of the Committee proceeded without 
 any further material interruption. 
 
 I come now to what are called general scenes. 
 One of the richest of this kind which I have ever 
 seen, occurred on the 17th of July last. The ques- 
 tion before the house, was that the Municipal 
 Corporations Bill be re-committed. Several of the
 
 SCENES IN THE HOUSE. 73 
 
 leadiiiff members having delivei'cd their sentiments 
 on the subject, Mr. Hughes Hughes, the member 
 for Oxford, rose to address the House. This gen- 
 tleman, for what reason I am at a loss to guess, 
 generally meets with a very unfavourable reception : 
 on this occasion it exceeded any thing I ever before 
 witnessed. The moment he pronounced the word 
 " Sir,"" addressing himself of course to the Speaker, 
 he was assailed with the most tremendous uproar 
 and confusion. Such a variety of sounds, and so 
 discordant, hardly ever before greeted mortal ear. 
 Mr. Hughes's voice was at once drowned amidst 
 the babel of sounds. Lord Brougham (then Mr. 
 Brougham) once compared the House to a mena- 
 gerie ; the application of the term would certainly 
 have been most appropriate in this case. Had a 
 blind person been that night conducted into the 
 house, and not told what the place was, he would 
 assuredly have supposed that he was in some zoo- 
 logical establishment. The Morning Post of the 
 following day thus described the scene : — " The 
 most confused sounds, mysteriously blended, issued 
 from all corners of the house. One honourable 
 member near the bar repeatedly called out " Read'"' 
 (to the member endeavouring to address the House) 
 in an exceedingly bass and hoarse sound of voice. 
 At repeated intervals a sort of drone-like humming, 
 
 E
 
 74 SCENES IN THE HOUSE. 
 
 having almost the sound of a distant hand-organ 
 or bag-pi pes, issued from the back benches; — cough- 
 ing, sneezing, and ingeniously extended yawning, 
 blended with the other sounds, and produced a 
 tout-ensemhle which we have never heard excelled 
 in the house. A single voice from the ministerial 
 benches imitated very accurately the yelp of a 
 kennelled hound/' The most graphic description 
 A\ould fall short of the scene itself. At the farthest 
 corner of the house, on the ministerial side, there was 
 a constant movement of the persons as well as the 
 tongues of honourable members. At one time you 
 would have thought, from the rapidity with which 
 they rose up and sat down again in their seats, that 
 they had been trying some gymnastic experiments. 
 The best performers, in another sense, w-ere also 
 chiefly in that part of the house. One honourable 
 member imitated the crowing of a cock so admi- 
 rably, that you could not have distinguished it from 
 the performance of a real chanticleer. Not far from 
 the same spot issued sounds marvellously resembling 
 the bleating of a sheep, — blended occasionally with 
 an admirable imitation of the braying of an ass 
 by an honourable member a few yards distant. 
 Then there were coughing, yawning, and other 
 vocal performances in infinite variety, and in 
 most discordant chorus. There were yelpings
 
 SCENES IN THE HOUSE. TD 
 
 worthy of any canine animal, and excellent imita- 
 tions of the sounds of sundry instruments not 
 mentioned by the Morning Post. The deafening 
 uproar was completed by the cries of " Chair, 
 cliair !" " Order, order !" groans, laughter, &c. 
 which proceeded from all parts of the house. A 
 more undeliberative assembly was never seen, than 
 that which constituted the House of Commons 
 at this moment. One fact will give as good an 
 idea of the scene as the most lengthened descrip- 
 tion. Mr. Poulter, the member for Shaftesbury, 
 succeeded Mr. Hughes, who had been obliged to 
 sit down ; and though the former, whose voice is 
 one of the best in the house, exerted himself for at 
 least ten minutes to make himself audible, there 
 was not, as far as I was able to ascertain, one mem- 
 ber who could make out a complete sentence of 
 what he said. Very few heard even a single word. 
 Mr. Hardy made the attempt after Mr. Poulter, 
 but with no better success. He at once saw it 
 would be hopeless; and accordingly sat down. 
 Other members who wished to deliver their senti- 
 ments, shrunk from even an effort to procure a hear- 
 ing. The House had determined on a division ; 
 and a division on the question before it accordingly 
 took place immediately, which had the effect of 
 I'estoring order. 
 
 e2
 
 76 SCENES IN THE HOUSE. 
 
 As I was not present when the following scene 
 occurred, I quote it from tlie Morning Chronicle 
 of the day after it occurred, which was in June 
 1834. The question before the House was the ad- 
 mission of Dissenters to the Universities : — 
 
 " Mr. G. W. Wood rose to reply. (The laugh- 
 ing, jeering, shouting, and coughing, were such as 
 we never before witnessed.) The hon. gentleman 
 said, it had been declared that the Bill, in its 
 present stage, was essentially different from what 
 it was when he had the honour to introduce it 
 to the house. (At this moment two hon. members 
 ' o'er all the ills of life victorious,' suddenly entered 
 from the smoking-room into the opposition gallery, 
 and stretching themselves at full-length on the 
 seats, secure from the observation of the Speaker, 
 commenced a row of the most discreditable cha- 
 racter.) This he denied (' I say, can't you crow ?' 
 Laughter and uproar) — the provisions had not been 
 altered ('Hear him, how he reads!) — the enact- 
 ments were in every respect unaltered (Loud cheer- 
 ing, followed by bursts of laughter). The question 
 was (' Read it — read it !' and great uproar) — the 
 question was ('Just so, read it') — the question was 
 (great cheering and laughter) — whether the uni- 
 versities should be opened to all, or be for ever under 
 the control of mere monopolists. (' Where's the
 
 SCENES IN THE HOUSE. 77 
 
 man what crows ?' Laughter, and cries of ' Order [^ 
 from the Speaker.) Public opinion — (' Order !' 
 and great uproar, during which the Speaker, evi- 
 dently excited, was loudly calling for order.) The 
 scene here was indescribable.'"' 
 
 The preceding quotation will give some idea of 
 the scenes occasionally to be witnessed in the House 
 of Commons. The general scenes have usually 
 their origin in the impatience of honourable mem- 
 bers to get away from the house for the night, but 
 who dare not venture to leave before the division, 
 lest the non-appearance of their names in the lists 
 of the majority and minority the following morning, 
 should lead to some unpleasant questions from their 
 respective constituents, if not to a requisition to 
 resign their seats. 
 
 I shall allude to only one more scene of this 
 kind. It occurred towards the close of last Ses- 
 sion. An honourable member, whose name I sup- 
 press, rose, amidst the most tremendous uproar, to 
 address the House. He spoke, and was received, as 
 nearly as the confusion enabled me to judge, as 
 follows : — " I rise, Sir, (Ironical cheers, mingled 
 with all sorts of zoological sounds), I rise. Sir, for 
 the purpose of stating that I have — (' Oh ! oh !' 
 ' Bah !' and sounds resembling the bleating of a 
 sheep, mingled with loud laughter.) Hon. gentlemen
 
 78 SCENES IN THE HOUSE. 
 
 may endeavour to put me down by their unmannerly 
 interruptions, but I have a duty to perform to my 
 
 con (Ironical cheers, loud coughing, sneezing, 
 
 and yawning extended to an incredible length, fol- 
 lowed by bursts of laughter). I say, Sir, I have 
 
 constituents who on this occasion expect that I 
 
 (Cries of ' Should sit down," and shouts'of laughter). 
 They expect. Sir, that on a question of such impor- 
 tance ('0-o-a-a u-"* and loud laughter, followed by 
 cries of ' Order ! order !' from the Speaker.) I tell 
 honourable gentlemen who choose to conduct them- 
 selves in such a way, that I am not to be put down by 
 
 (Groans, coughs, sneezings, hems, and various 
 
 animal sounds, some of which closely imitated the 
 yelping of a dog, and the squeaking of a pig, inter- 
 spersed with peals of laughter). I appeal ('Cock- 
 
 e-leeri-o-co !' The imitation, in this case, of the 
 crowing of a cock was so remarkably good, that 
 not even the most staid and orderly members in 
 the house could preserve their gravity. The laugh- 
 ter which followed drowned the Speaker's cries of 
 ' Order ! order V) I say. Sir, this is most unbe- 
 coming conduct on the part of an assembly calling 
 itself de (' Bow-wow-wow,' and bursts of laugh- 
 ter.) Sir, may I ask, have honourable gentlemen 
 
 Avho can (' Mew-mew', and renewed laughter). 
 
 Sir, I claim the protection of the Chair. (The
 
 SCENES IN THE HOUSE. 79 
 
 Speaker here again rose and called out ' Order ! 
 order !' in a loud and angry tone, on which the 
 uproar in some measure subsided.) If honourable 
 gentlemen will only allow me to make one obser- 
 vation, I will not trespass further on their atten- 
 tion, but sit down at once. (This was followed 
 by the most tremendous cheering in earnest.) I 
 only beg to say, Sir, that I think this is a most 
 dangerous and unconstitutional measure, and will 
 therefore vote against it." The honourable gen- 
 tleman then resumed his seat amidst deafening 
 applause.
 
 80 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE LATE AND PRESENT SPEAKERS-^SIR CHARLES 
 MANNERS SUTTON AND MR. JAMES ABERCROMBY. 
 
 In presenting the reader with sketches of the 
 leading members of all parties in the House, it will 
 be expected that I begin with the late and present 
 Speakers. The office of Speaker is one of such 
 great importance, and is regarded with so much 
 respect by the members, however differing from him 
 in politics, — as to entitle Sir Charles IManners Sut- 
 ton and Mr. Abercromby to a priority of notice. 
 
 Sir Chaules Manners Sutton filled the 
 office of Speaker for eighteen years, having been 
 chosen in 1817 in the room of the Right Honour- 
 able Charles Abbott, who then resigned from 
 ill health. Sir Charles presided during five suc- 
 cessive Parliaments. He was a great favourite 
 with men of all parties in the House ; indeed he 
 could not have been otherwise, for a man of 
 more conciliating, bland, and gentlemanly man- 
 ners never crossed the threshold of St. Stephen's. 
 He was at all times accessible, and to every mem-
 
 SIR CHARLES MANNERS SUTTON. ^1 
 
 ber; the most inveterate and most unpopular 
 Radical, though he himself was one of the most 
 decided Tories in the House, was treated by him 
 in the house, at his public dinners, and in the 
 private interviews he was obliged frequently to 
 have with men of all parties, — with the same 
 courtesy and apparent respect as the most influ- 
 ential of his own party. He never suffered his 
 political prejudices, strong as they were, to inter- 
 fere with the amenities of gentlemanly intercourse. 
 The perfect gentleman was visible in every thing 
 he said and did ; nay, it was visible in his very 
 person, whether you saw him walking the streets, 
 or filling the chair in the House of Commons. 
 There was a mildness and good-nature in his fea- 
 tures, which could not fail to strike a stranger the 
 moment he saw him, and which was certain of 
 prepossessing every one in his favour. With these 
 softer and more amiable features, there were blended 
 a dignity and energy of character, which invariably 
 insured the respect of the members. No man 
 knew better how to unite firmness and decision 
 with the greatest urbanity of manner, in reproving 
 a member w^ho had violated the rules of the House, 
 or the usages which one gentleman ought to ob- 
 serve towards another. 
 
 He possessed great presence of mind. I have 
 eS
 
 82 SIR CHARLES MANNERS SUTTON. 
 
 seen him time after time conduct himself, in scenes 
 of the greatest confusion, and in cases of great dif- 
 ficulty, with as much coolness, self possession, and 
 judgment, as if he had been quietly deliberating 
 on some point appertaining to the orders and usages 
 of the House, in his own study. I do not recollect to 
 have seen him so much disconcerted as on one occa- 
 sion, when having, on a division, said he thought 
 the " Ayes'" had it, — Mr. Halcomb, the late member 
 for Dover, got up and said with some tartness, 
 though no one but himself had voted against the 
 measure, "/ say, sir, the ^ Noes'' have it." Sir 
 Charles Manners Sutton did look confounded 
 for a moment, and one loud shout of " Oh, oh !" 
 burst simultaneously from all parts of the house. 
 Sir Charles, on recovering himself, ordered a divi- 
 sion ; as the Speaker must always do if but one 
 member demands it, when there appeared — how 
 many " Noes" does the reader think .'' Just one, and 
 that one was the property of Mr. Halcomb himself. 
 The late Duke of Somerset, towards the close of 
 the last century, divided the House of Lords on 
 the question of this country going to war with 
 France, when there only appearing himself in op- 
 position to the motion, he caused a medal to be 
 struck to the memory of " The Glorious Minority 
 of One." Whether Mr. Halcomb took a similar
 
 Sm CHARLES MANNERS SUTTON. 83 
 
 method of perpetuating the remembrance of his 
 " Glorious Minority," I have not the means of 
 knowing. 
 
 Sir Charles Manners Sutton was intimately con- 
 versant with the usages, laws, and forms of the 
 House. This was apparent soon after his appoint- 
 ment to the office ; for immediately on getting into 
 the chair he applied himself with the greatest assi- 
 duity and attention to the subject, until he made 
 himself quite master of it. In no case of difficulty 
 that ever occurred while 1 was present, did I ever 
 see him at the least loss as to how it should be dealt 
 with. 
 
 His voice was, without exception, the most 
 sonorous, powerful, and melodious I ever heard. 
 Its compass was surprising, when he called out, as 
 he had too often occasion to do, " Order, order !" 
 The sounds, even when he manifestly gave no play 
 to his lungs, but spoke with as little effiart as if he 
 had been speaking in a whisper, fell on your ear, — 
 it mattered not in Avhat part of the house you were at 
 the time, — with a loudness and depth of intonation 
 which at once startled and delighted you. If very 
 great noise and confusion prevailed in the house at 
 the time, and he consequently uttered the words 
 " Order, order !"" with some energy, you would 
 have supposed you heard the voice of a Boanerges.
 
 84 SIK CHARLES MANNERS SUTTON. 
 
 Sir Charles jManners Sutton generally received 
 credit for great impartiality. The Liberals, how- 
 ever, maintain that although he was very impartial 
 in allowing an equal number of speakers to address 
 the House on each side of a question, he very often, 
 when several speakers on the Liberal side rose at 
 once to reply to a Tory speech of ability, " fixed his 
 eye" on the least talented ; and that on the other 
 hand, he as frequently, when several Tories rose at 
 once to reply to a speech of talent from a Liberal 
 member, selected the ablest of the number. 
 
 Sir Charles hardly ever availed himself of his 
 privilege of speaking in committee. The only in- 
 stance in which he did so, that I can remember at 
 this moment, was one morning in the session of 
 1834, at four o*'clock, when some question affecting 
 the privileges of the University of Cambridge, of 
 which he was at the time the representative, was 
 under discussion. His speech lasted about ten or 
 fifteen minutes. It did not indicate a vigorous or 
 comprehensive mind, but it was, in the delivery, as 
 fine a specimen of correct elocution as one could 
 wish to hear. His style was fluent but verbose. 
 He excelled in making high-sounding sentences, 
 as his speech on the election of Mr. Abercromby 
 proved. 
 
 The late Speaker is tall and robust in person
 
 MR. JAMES ABEIICROMBY. 85 
 
 His hair is black, and his complexion very dark. 
 But for a strong squint in one of his eyes, his 
 countenance would be remarkable for its handsome- 
 ness ; as it is, it is pleasant. His features are small, 
 and regular. His age is fifty-five. He appears to 
 be in excellent health. 
 
 Of Mr. James ABERCROMBY,the present Speaker, 
 my notice will necessarily be short, as his occupa- 
 tion of the Chair has yet been but of little more 
 than six months' duration His voice is pleasant and 
 clear, but not strong. His manner is dignified and 
 solemn, mingled with urbanity. His articulation 
 is slow and distinct. Like his predecessor, he is 
 perfectly cool and calm in the midst of the scenes 
 of uproar which occur in the house. He is of a 
 kindly disposition. Indeed, his extreme good na- 
 ture has sometimes rendered him indulgent to a 
 fault, to members who have transgressed the bounds 
 of parliamentary order and courtesy. He possesses 
 considerable talents, and had much influence in the 
 House, especially with his own party, before his 
 election to the Chair. He is a man of great straight- 
 forwardness in his conduct as a public as well as a 
 private man. His integrity has never been ques- 
 tioned : it is above suspicion. His acqviaintance 
 with the forms and usages of the House is already 
 intimate. He is much respected by those members
 
 86 MR. JAMES ABERCROMBY. 
 
 who differ from, as well as by those who agree with 
 him in his political opinions. 
 
 He is in his sixty-second year. His countenance 
 is pale, and has a pensive expression. His hair is 
 partly grey, with remains of its original dark- 
 brown colour. He Avas in delicate health when he 
 took possession of the Chair. It cannot have been 
 improved by the last session, which was perhaps the 
 longest since the revolution of 1688, whilst his 
 duties, owing to the alteration in the hours of 
 sitting, were more than commonly onerous. On 
 one occasion, towards the close of the session, he 
 sat upwards of twelve successive hours without 
 quitting the Chair for a moment.
 
 87 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE TORY PARTY.— LATE MEMBERS. 
 
 SIR CHARLES WETHERELL MR. CROKER — MR. T. 
 
 MICHAEL SADLER. 
 
 Though the Liberal party within the walls of Par- 
 liament had been gradually gaining in numbers for 
 the previous twenty years, it was in the beginning of 
 1829 so inconsiderable, that had the Tories, as they 
 all now admit, only played their cards with ordinary 
 skill, the measure of Reform which passed in 1832, 
 might have been deferred for a quarter of a cen- 
 tury. It is true, that, throughout the country, 
 the demand for Reform had become general ; but 
 so moderate were the people in their expectations, 
 and so few were the friends of extensive Reform in 
 the House of Commons, that a very limited amend- 
 ment of the representation would have met the 
 views of the nation. Had the elective franchise 
 been only transferred from East Retford and Pen- 
 ryn, boroughs which had been convicted of bribery 
 and corruption, to Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, 
 or other large unrepresented places, and a few
 
 88 THE TORY PAIITY. 
 
 of the Other most populous towns been enfranchised, 
 the people would have been satisfied ; and the 
 Government conceding even that small modicum of 
 Reform, would have become so popular, that they 
 might have had a long tenure of office. But the 
 Duke of Wellington in an evil hour for himself and 
 his party, pronounced the then existing representa- 
 tion of the country to be " the most perfect that 
 human ingenuity could devise,"" and proclaimed 
 his determination to resist the slightest alteration 
 in that system. At the moment the noble Duiie 
 made this notable and ill-judged declaration, two- 
 thirds, at least, of the members of the House of 
 Commons, were decided Tories, or, at all events, 
 had, before that time, identified themselves with 
 that party ; but so powerful was the sensation pro- 
 duced among the people by this announcement, 
 and so loud was the demand for Parliamentary Re- 
 form, that a great many members of the House of 
 Commons, seeing they could not stem the torrent 
 of public opinion, deemed it prudent to yield to it. 
 A general election followed soon after, and such 
 had in the meantime become the power of public 
 opinion, that even under the then existing system 
 of the close burghs of England, and the close coun- 
 ties, as well as burghs, of Scotland, — there was 
 only a majority of one in the House of Commons
 
 LATE MEMBERS. 80 
 
 against the Reform Bill first proposed, — and which 
 was, in many respects, more sweeping than the one 
 which eventually passed. Thus, then, the num- 
 ber of the Tories was reduced to 329 in the House 
 of Commons before the passing of the Reform 
 Bill. In the first parliament after that measure 
 had become the law of the land, their numbers 
 were reduced to about 192. Since then, however, 
 there has been a reaction in their favour. Their 
 number now is estimated at 270; but they have 
 often apparently mustered about 300, owing to 
 their ranks having been, on several late occasions, 
 reinforced by moderate reformers. 
 
 The most distinguished individuals of the Tory 
 party who were members of the House immediately 
 previous to the passing of the Reform Bill, have, for 
 the most part, still seats in it ; Sir Charles Wether- 
 ell, Mr. Croker, the late Mr. T. Michael Sadler, and 
 two or three others, are the exceptions. 
 
 Never was the exclusion of a member more gene- 
 rally regretted than was that of Sir Charles Wk- 
 THERELL. He was a high Tory, and never was there 
 a man who so uncompromisingly and zealously 
 asserted his opinions. There were formerly many 
 Tories, as there are now Liberals, who adopted a 
 particular creed, simply because it paid best, and 
 not from any very marked preference to one class
 
 90 SIR CHARLES WETHERELL. 
 
 of principles over another. Not so with Sir Charles. 
 He believes most potently in the superior excellence 
 of Toryism ; he loves it for its own sake ; it has no 
 additional charms to him when associated with the 
 loaves and fishes of power, nor does it lose any of 
 its attractions when in Opposition. He is one of the 
 most disinterested men, of any party, of the present 
 day. His attachment to his principles was sorely 
 tried in 1829; but he came through the ordeal in 
 the most triumphant manner. It was well known 
 that the Duke of Wellington on that occasion offered 
 him one of the highest judicial situations in the 
 country, on the condition of his supporting the Go- 
 vernment in the measure of Catholic Emancipa- 
 tion ; but he held fast his integrity, notwithstand- 
 ing the strength of the temptation. In politics any 
 more than in morals, he could not recognise the 
 principle of expediency. His maxim, then, as on 
 all other occasions, was that honesty is the best 
 policy. He is ready, any day, should the necessity 
 arise, of which happily there is little chance, to suffer 
 any species of martyrdom which the opposite party 
 may think best, for his political principles. 
 
 But it was not because of the straightforward 
 conduct and unimpeachable consistency of Sir 
 Charles Wetherell, that his exclusion from Parlia- 
 ment was so generally regretted by the House. It
 
 SIR CHARLES WETHERELL. 91 
 
 was his peculiar manners and his rich humour 
 that made him so great a favourite. He was 
 generally very severe as well as witty on his 
 opponents, but it was clearly at the principles of 
 the men, and not at the men themselves, that he 
 levelled his happy sarcasms. This is an important 
 distinction : and the more so, because in a great 
 many cases honourable members, under the pretext 
 of attacking the principles and arguments of their 
 opponents, do in reality indulge their personal 
 animosities by attacking the men. Few members 
 have had fewer personal enemies than Sir Charles. 
 I hardly knew one that cherished any rooted aver- 
 sion to him. 
 
 He never opened his mouth, but the House 
 was sure to be convulsed with laughter. When 
 he rose all eyes were invariably turned towards 
 him : honourable members expected a profusion 
 of jokes, and they were never disappointed. Sir 
 Charles's personal appearance strikingly contrasted 
 with his matter. Lavater would have pronounced 
 him one of the dullest and most morose of human 
 beings : a person meeting him in the streets, 
 would at once infer, if any faith is to be put in 
 physiognomy, that he was some Friar just escaped 
 from a twenty or thirty years' seclusion in a 
 convent. He usually looks sulky: his appear-
 
 92 SIR CHARLES WETHERELL. 
 
 ance is to a stranger's mind the heaii ideal of a 
 cynical philosopher. When lashing the Liberals, 
 and denouncing what he terms revolutionai'y doc- 
 trines, his countenance darkens with an expression 
 of supreme scorn. His face is deeply furrowed 
 with wrinkles, though apparently not more than 
 from fifty-five to sixty years of age. In person he 
 is tall and athletic. His complexion is dark, and 
 his features are large. Nothing can daunt him or 
 put him out of countenance. He is impervious 
 alike to the coarsest and most refined sarcasms 
 which may be levelled at him, — and few men within 
 the walls of Parliament have been the butts of so 
 much ridicule ; certainly none on account of their 
 personal appearance. He was a target for every 
 Liberal to shoot at. His clothes are always thread- 
 bare. I never yet saw a suit on him for which 
 a Jew old-clothes-man would give ten shillings. 
 How or where he gets his wardrobe nobody knows, 
 but every one has remarked that a new suit or 
 even a new hat, coat, waistcoat, or trowsers singly, 
 was never yet seen to grace his person. I cannot 
 think he has a tailor, or if he have, it is impos- 
 sible Snip can ever take his measure. His clothes 
 always look as if made by accident ; they never fit 
 him. They literally hang loosely about him. As 
 for braces, he has an unconquerable aversion to
 
 SIB CHARLES WETHERELL. 93 
 
 them. Whether like the elder Hannibal towards 
 the Romans, he has sworn eternal hostility to what 
 he calls " suspenders," is not known ; but no one 
 can doubt he would as soon that his neck were 
 encircled in a halter, as that his breeches should 
 be adjusted by means of braces. 
 
 Though the cause of so much laughter in others, 
 I scarcely ever yet knew a smile play on Sir 
 Charles's own countenance. I doubt much if he 
 himself sees the wit and humour with which his 
 speeches sparkle ; certainly there is not the least 
 appearance of an effort to be witty or humorous. 
 
 He is capable of undergoing great fatigue. His 
 physical as well as mental exertions during the 
 time the Reform Bill was in Committee, were 
 extraordinary. Night after night — and this, too, 
 after being busily and laboriously engaged all day 
 in the discharge of his professional duties — did he 
 oppose every successive clause of that measure. 
 It was in a great degree owing to his pertinacious 
 opposition and " much speaking," that the debate 
 immediately before the memorable division at seven 
 o'clock in the morning, was prolonged to that 
 unseasonable and unprecedentedly late hour. That 
 division was only one of several which had taken 
 place in the course of the previous night. Sir 
 Charles, on leaving the house at a quarter past
 
 94 SIR CHARLES WETHERELL. 
 
 seven, finding that it rained heavily, raised his eyes 
 towards the clouds, as a wild duck, to use the 
 phraseology of an Irish peasant, would do in a thun- 
 der storm, and exclaimed, " By G — if I had known 
 this we should have had a few more divisions." 
 
 Sir Charles is an excellent lawyer,^but an indif- 
 ferent politician. His mind is incapable of grappling 
 with any great national question. He has no com- 
 prehensive views ; improvement in the institutions 
 of the country is, with him, synonymous with revo- 
 lution. Established usages are every thing in his 
 eye. To question the wisdom of our ancestors is 
 in his estimation treason, both against the Consti- 
 tution and society, and could not be visited with 
 too heavy a punishment. Hence all his speeches in 
 Parliament consisted of denunciations of Liberal- 
 ism, and eulogiums of " things as they are !" Had 
 Sir Charles been in the house during the late dis- 
 cussions on the Church of Ireland, he would have 
 made some rich exhibitions. After shedding an 
 ocean of tears over the assumed destruction of the 
 Irish Hierarchy, and seen in that destruction the 
 extinction of Christianity all over the world, — he 
 would have branded the Liberals with the epithets 
 of " Atheists !" " Infidels !" &c., and then sent 
 one and all of them, en masse, to a locality which 
 shall be nameless, amidst jokes and witticisms.
 
 MR. CROKER. 95 
 
 which, notwithstanding the seriousness of the 
 charges, and the awfulness of the threatened doom, 
 would have made the house ring with laughter ; 
 for he cannot open his mouth without giving utter- 
 ance to something humourous. It is a ruling passion 
 with him, which will, there can be no question, be 
 strong in death. 
 
 The Reform Bill, which shut the doors of Par- 
 liament against Sir Charles Wetherell, was also the 
 means of bringing to an abrupt termination the 
 legislative career of Mr. Croker. In his exclusion 
 from the house, the Tory party lost the Parlia- 
 mentary services of one of their most zealous and 
 efficient friends. Nature, according to the repre- 
 sentations of his opponents, intended him for a 
 Tory, and education forwarded the purposes of 
 Nature. He lived as strictly within the limits of the 
 world of Toryism, as if it had constituted the only 
 creed in the universe of mind. He not only hated 
 the abstraction of Liberalism, but to have associ- 
 ated, even in the private relations of life, with men 
 holding liberal principles, would have been in his 
 view so enormous an offence against propriety, that 
 he could never have forgiven himself had he com- 
 mitted it. Not only was it impossible, from the 
 very constitution of his mind, that he could ever 
 make a friend of any person entertaining liberal
 
 96 MR. CROKER, 
 
 opinions, but when unavoidable circumstances 
 brought him into personal contact with Reformers, 
 he seemed like a fish out of its element, or like a 
 person breathing a tainted atmosphere. Whatever 
 therefore he knew of Liberalism, was rather from 
 the reports of others than from his own experience 
 or knowledge. 
 
 It is no fiction to state that Mr. Croker viewed 
 the passing of the Reform Bill with very much the 
 same feelings as if it had been a personal calamity 
 of the first magnitude. His mind was filled with 
 horror during the day at the bare contemplation of 
 that measure becoming the law of the land, and it 
 disturbed his slumbers at night. Many a sleep- 
 less night did he pass when to use Sir Charles 
 WethereU's expression, " the close boroughs were, 
 day after day, put up to be knocked down." His 
 exertions to avert the catastrophe were almost 
 superhuman. Few constitutions could have stood 
 the amount of physical labour he went through 
 while the several clauses of schedules A and B were 
 being discussed. For some weeks he spoke every 
 consecutive evening against particular clauses of the 
 Reform Bill, upwards, on an average, of three hours. 
 Some nights he made as many as twentv speeches; 
 not under the impression that his eloquence would 
 operate conviction on the minds of Reformers, or
 
 MR. CROKKR. 97 
 
 avert tlie impending destruction of the close bo- 
 roughs, but merely for the purpose of gaining 
 time. He had great faith in the chapter of acci- 
 dents doing something for liis party, and clung to 
 the very last moment, till the Reform Bill received 
 the Royal Assent — with a tenacity peculiar to 
 himself, to the fond hope that something or other? 
 he knew not what, would occur " to save the Con- 
 stitution and the country." 
 
 In person, Mr. Croker is tall and well-made. 
 He is bald-headed, and has been so for ten or twelve 
 years. He is fifty-seven years of age, nearly the 
 one-half of which time he was in Parliament. He 
 is a very fluent speaker ; but his elocution is some- 
 what impaired by the circumstance of his not being 
 able to pronounce t^ie letter r. He is never at a 
 loss for words ; and when in Parliament was chiefly 
 remarkable for the readiness and ingenuity with 
 which he could reply to any opponent. He seldom 
 comparatively made set speeches. He generally 
 reserved himself until some political opponent of 
 mark had addressed the House ; he then rose 
 and replied, usually with much effect. His forte 
 chiefly lay in detecting and exposing the weak 
 points of an adversary ; and when these did not 
 actually exist ready-made to his hand, he invaria- 
 
 F
 
 98 MR. CROKER. 
 
 bly contrived to make them for himself. He was 
 one of the most unfair reasoners in the house ; he 
 never hesitated to misrepresent the arguments of 
 his opponents, and though often interrupted in his 
 speeches by honourable members rising up and 
 complaining, frequently with great v\;armth of tem- 
 per, of being totally misrepresented, no sooner had 
 they resumed their seats, than he proceeded, demo- 
 lishing, without mercy, as if no complaint of mis- 
 representation had been made, the positions whicli 
 he had himself created and put into their mouths. 
 A more dexterous special pleader than ^Ir. Croker 
 never sat within the walls of Parliament. His 
 manner was distinguished by an earnestness and 
 animation which invariably commanded the atten- 
 tion of the House. His gesture was violent, often 
 theatrically so. He made infinitely varied evolu- 
 tions with his person. He could not remain many 
 seconds in the same position. He was always 
 wheeling his body round and round, and by that 
 means managed to address by turns, not only 
 every part of the house, but almost every member 
 in it. His manner when speaking, was the most 
 mercurial I ever saw. An Irishman in the gal- 
 lery characteristically observed one evening, that 
 he was like a hen on a hot girdle. He was an
 
 MIJ. CHOKER. 99 
 
 excellent actor ; had lie gone to the stage when he 
 first took to politics, he could not fail to have 
 earned for himself a distinguished reputation on 
 the histrionic boards. 
 
 Mr. Croker felt particularly jealous of Mr. Jef- 
 frey, the Lord Advocate of Scotland, on that 
 learned lord''s admission into Parliament. Hence 
 he laboured with his utmost might to damage the 
 Parliamentary reputation, — which, by the way, was 
 never so great as was generally expected it would 
 be,— of the Scotch Advocate. He invariably re- 
 plied to his speeches when the rules of the House 
 would allow him, thus affording an illustration of 
 the old saying — two of a trade can never agree. 
 For years they had been rival Reviewers; now 
 they were rival orators and legislators. The Scotch 
 Advocate spoke Edinburgh Reviezvs^ and the Secre- 
 tary to the Board of Admiralty replied to him in 
 Quarterly Reviews. 
 
 Mr. Croker is quite an aristocrat in his notions. 
 The most memorable thing he ever uttered in Par- 
 liament was an exclamation, on hearing some hon- 
 ourable member mention the name of Bedford- 
 square, " Bedford-square ! I know nothing of the 
 geography of Bedford-square : I did not know there 
 was such a place in the world !'' This affected ig- 
 norance of every thing but the aristocratic squares 
 F 2
 
 100 MR. T. M. SADLER. 
 
 of the West-end, drew down on him the deserved 
 ridicule of the House.* 
 
 Mr. T. M. Sadlek, the late member for Newark, 
 was another able friend of the Tories, of whose 
 services in Parliament they were deprived by the 
 Reform Bill. He was the nominee of the Duke 
 of Newcastle, and it was in reference to the influ- 
 ence of that nobleman over his tenants in Newark, 
 in support of Mr. Sadler's opponent, Mr. Sergeant 
 Wilde, the opposing Reform candidate, — that his 
 Grace openly asserted his right to do what he liked 
 with his own. Mr. Sadler was only in the House 
 of Commons during the two short Parliaments 
 immediately preceding the passing of the Reform 
 Bill. He was quite unknown to fame when he 
 entered the house : even the little local reputation 
 he possessed, was made rather in the capacity of 
 a banker in Leeds than as an orator or politician. 
 His maiden speech therefore, which was one of 
 great eloquence and ability, and which occupied 
 nearly three hours in the delivery, came like a peal 
 of thunder on the ears of the House. Indeed, had 
 he descended from the clouds, instead of emerging 
 from the comparative obscurity of his banking- 
 
 * I have been credibly informed that in consequence of 
 this observation of Mr. Croker, the houses in Bedford 
 Square fell fifty per cent, in rental.
 
 MR. T. M. SADLER. 101 
 
 house in Leeds, his party could not have idolized 
 him more. The proudest of the aristocracy courted 
 his company, and took every occasion of paying- 
 homage to him. The Duke of Newcastle derived 
 much credit for penetration in discovering the light 
 which Mr. Sadler has so long hid under a bushel. 
 It was, however, soon found out, that though a man 
 of great talent, and one who could be of much ser- 
 vice to his party, he was vastly overrated. The 
 speech, a splendid one undoubtedly, with which 
 he had electrified the House, they supposed to have 
 been extemporaneous, and that he had only any 
 evening, and on any interesting occasion, to " get 
 on his legs" and deliver another equally excellent. 
 Here was their error. The speech v/hich they had 
 supposed to be spoken with very little, if any, 
 premeditation, had been the result of weeks of 
 most intense study, and every word, like the school- 
 boy's task, had been most carefully committed to 
 memory. Night after night, and week after week, 
 did the Tories look to the Opposition bench 
 which he occupied, in the hope of his pouring out 
 another such torrent of eloquence ; but they looked 
 in vain. He was silent as the grave. When, some 
 two or three months afterwards, he was compelled 
 to say something in consequence of some pointed 
 allusions both to himself and his patron, the Duke
 
 102 MR. T. M. SADLER. 
 
 of Newcastle, the charm was in a great measure 
 dissolved. He stuttered, and stammered, and floun- 
 dered at almost every second sentence, in such a 
 way as to be absolutely painful to the House. The 
 fact was, that he was not an extempore speaker ; 
 he could not deliver two consecutive sentences, Avith 
 any propriety or effect, on the spur of the moment. 
 He was a man who might make five or six good 
 speeches in the course of a Session, which would be 
 allowing about a month for the preparation of each ; 
 but that was the utmost extent of his capabilities. 
 Even on the hustings, where all the " silent mem- 
 bers" are proverbially loquacious, he completely 
 broke down. He could not reply to the attacks of a 
 rival candidate. Nay, in his own committee-room, 
 if he was, by an unexpected question or other inter- 
 ruption, diverted from his train of thouglit, the cir- 
 cumstance so disconcerted him as to make it difficult 
 for him to add a single word more on the subject. 
 
 Mr. Sadler was fifty-six years of age when he died. 
 He was of middle size. His head was quite grey. 
 In his countenance there was such a seriousness and 
 solemnity, that a stranger might have mistaken him 
 for a clergyman. His features were strongly marked, 
 and his elocution was in harmony with his staid 
 and pensive appearance. His voice was full and 
 distinct, but it had a species of twang about it very
 
 MR. T. M. SADLER. 103 
 
 much resembling that which is so often heard in 
 the pulpit. This, however, rather aided than im- 
 paired the effect of his celebrated maiden speech in 
 St. Stephen's, inasmuch as its chief characteristics 
 consisted of gloomy forebodings of the effects 
 which, he alleged, would flow from the passing of 
 the Reform Bill. 
 
 There was not one of their party whose exclusion 
 from the House, by the passing of that measure, 
 was more generally regretted by the Tories than 
 was Mr. Sadler"'s, and the greatest efforts were 
 made to get him returned for Leeds. In the first 
 election for that town, after the Reform Bill 
 became the law of the land, there was little proba 
 bility of a successful appeal to its constituency, 
 both on account of the great popularity of his 
 opponent, Mr. Macaulay, and the intense enthu- 
 siasm which then existed in favour of reform mea- 
 sures ; but when a vacancy occurred in the repre- 
 sentation of the place, by Mr. Macaulay's acce|)- 
 tance of an appointment in India, there was almost 
 a moral certainty of his return, had not Mr. Foster, 
 late proprietor and editor of the Leeds Patriot, 
 suddenly started up, — because of some alleged pri- 
 vate wrongs he had sviffered at the hands of Mr. 
 Sadler, — and made a detailed and pointed expose of 
 various circumstance in Mr. Sadler's history before
 
 104 MR. T. M. SADLER. 
 
 unknown. The statements made were of a nature to 
 create at once an overwhelming prejudice against 
 liini in the public mind. Many, even of his own 
 party, withdrew their support from him, because, 
 while they conceived the charges wcfe of a charac- 
 ter which imperiously demanded an immediate and 
 complete disproval, he, acting on the advice of his 
 committee, declined taking any notice of them. He 
 lost his election by a majority of six to one, and 
 was so mortified at the circumstance, that he formed 
 a resolution, as was well understood by his friends, 
 and, indeed, almost publicly stated by himself, to 
 retire for ever into private life. 
 
 Mr. Sadler was one of the most benevolent men 
 of the present day. His exertions, both in and out 
 of Parliament, in favour of the factory children, 
 Avere great and unwearied, and will endear his 
 name to millions yet unborn. For a long time he 
 laboured under great bodily indisposition, brought 
 on, there can be no doubt, by the amovmt of his 
 labours in the cause of suffering humanity.
 
 105 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 TORY PARTY,— PRESENT MEMBERS. 
 
 SIR ROBERT PEEL MR. GOULBURN— SIR EDWARD 
 
 KNATCHBULL — SIR HENRY HARDINGE — SIR RO- 
 BERT INGLIS — LORD SANDON — MR. PRAED — 
 MR. C. W. W. WYNN — LORD MAHON — COLONEL 
 SIBTHORPE — MARQUIS OF CHANDOS — MR. F. 
 SHAW SIR RICHARD VYVYAN. 
 
 Sir Robert Peel is now, as he has been since 
 the death of Mr. Canning, the leader of the Tory 
 party in the House of Commons. He is a remark- 
 ably good-looking man, rather above the usual size, 
 and finely proportioned. He is of a clear com- 
 plexion, full round face, and red-haired. His 
 usual dress is a blue surtout, a light waistcoat, and 
 dark trowsers. He generally displays a watch- 
 chain on his breast, with a bunch of gold seals of 
 unusually large dimensions. He can scarcely be 
 called a dandy, and yet he sacrifices a good deal to 
 the graces. I hardly know a public man who dresses 
 in better taste. He is in the prime of life, being 
 forty-seven years of age. His whole appearance 
 indicates health. His constitution is excellent, and 
 f3
 
 106 
 
 SIR ROBERT PEEL. 
 
 his temperate habits have seconded the kindly pur- 
 poses of Nature. He is capable of undergoing 
 great physical fatigue. I have known him remain 
 in the house for three or four successive nights 
 till one and two o'clock, not only watching with the 
 most intense anxiety the progress of important 
 debates, but taking an active part in the pro- 
 ceedings, and yet be in his office, transacting busi- 
 ness of the greatest moment, by ten o'clock on 
 the following morning. Sir Robert is possessed 
 of business habits of the first order. He can de- 
 scend, when there is a necessity for it, to the 
 minutest circumstances in a great question, and 
 master them all as fully as if he had never had a 
 thought beyond the pale of such matters. He was 
 never yet know n to bungle any measure from igno- 
 rance of business details. 
 
 Sir Robert Peel is perhaps the best and most 
 effective speaker in the House. He is always fluent, 
 even in his most extemporaneous addresses. His 
 language is uniformly correct, and generally elo- 
 quent. He is never at a loss for words. These he 
 has almost invariably at his command in abundance, 
 even when he is deficient in every thing having the 
 semblance of argument. He is remarkably dex- 
 terous in debate. I have often admired the won- 
 derful expertness with which he has extricated
 
 SIR ROBERT PEEL. 107 
 
 himself from the awkward positions into which his 
 opponents have thrust him. His self-possession, 
 which scarcely ever forsakes him, is of vast impor- 
 tance to him; and, in conjunction with his singu- 
 larly good tact, enables him to make the most of a 
 bad cause. The only occasion on which I ever knew 
 him break fairly down, was when, last session, at- 
 tempting to vindicate the appointment of the Mar- 
 quis of Londonderry as Ambassador to the Court 
 of St. Petersburgh. That was as signal a failure 
 as was ever witnessed in the house. At one time 
 he stuttered and stammered as if he had had an 
 impediment in his speech ; at another he made a 
 dead pause, not being able for some time to utter a 
 single word. He seemed to feel that he had un- 
 dertaken a bad cause. The memorable declaration 
 of the noble Marquis, tliat the Poles were a set of 
 rebels, and that they ought to be compelled at any 
 price to submit to the government of Nicholas, was 
 pressed on the attention of the House by Mr. Shiel, 
 Mr. C. Fergusson, and others, in strains of such in- 
 dignant eloquence as to give rise to a burning en- 
 thusiasm among honourable members of all political 
 opinions in favour of the Poles, such as I never be- 
 fore witnessed, and which must have destroyed the 
 nerves of the strongest-minded man that ever ex- 
 isted, if he had had, like Sir Robert, to perform
 
 108 SIR ROBERT PEEL, 
 
 the ungracious task of vindicating the character of 
 the man whose unfeeling and ungenerous expres- 
 sions had caused this resistless burst of noble feel- 
 ing in favour of the Poles. 
 
 There never was a more complete master of the 
 plausibilities than Sir Robert Peel. He is appa- 
 rently all candour and sincerity. He invariably 
 appeals to his honour for the truth of what he says. 
 He not only urges the best arguments which can 
 be advanced in favour of the cause which he has 
 espoused, but there is such an appearance of honesty 
 and fair-dealing about him, that it is with great 
 difficulty those who are most opposed to his politics 
 can guard against being led away by his winning- 
 manner. He is a most consummate special pleader: 
 had he been destined for the bar, he would long 
 since have been one of its most distinguished orna- 
 ments. 
 
 In his manner Sir Robert is highly dignified, and 
 his delivery is generally graceful. He usually 
 commences his most important speeches with his 
 left hand resting on his side. His utterance on 
 such occasions is slow and solemn in the outset ; 
 but when he advances to the heart of his subject he 
 becomes animated and speaks with some rapidity, 
 but always with much distinctness. His enunciation 
 is clear; and few speakers possess a greater power
 
 SIR ROBERT PEEL. 109 
 
 over their voice. He can modulate its soft and 
 musical tones at pleasure. He is sometimes humour- 
 ous, on which occasions his manner has an irre- 
 sistibly comic effect. His jokes, when he does 
 indulge in them, are almost invariably good, 
 though often too refined to tell with effect on any 
 other than an intellectual audience. It is, how- 
 ever, but comparatively seldom that he makes any 
 effort at wit. llis forte manifestly lies in the serious 
 mode of address. He excels all men I ever knew 
 in deep tragedy : in that he is quite at home. No 
 man in the House can appeal with a tittle of the 
 effect with which he can, to the fears of his audi- 
 ence ; and he is too good a tactician not to know, 
 that a great deal more may be accomplished by 
 addressing in this strain an audience who have rank 
 and property to lose, than by cold argumentative 
 orations. Hence the staple of his principal speeches 
 consists of a forcible and skilful exhibition of the 
 alleged frightful consequences which will inevitably 
 flow from the adoption of a course of policy dif- 
 ferent from that which he recommends. On such 
 occasions his appearance and manner are as solemn 
 as if he were commissioned to stand up and pro- 
 claim that the world had come to an end. And 
 he usually produces a corresponding effect. The 
 deepest stillness pervades the House while he is
 
 110 SIR ROBERT PEEL. 
 
 speaking. Even in the gallery, where there is 
 generally a great deal of noise from the exits and 
 the entrances of strangers, the falling of a pin 
 might be heard. All eyes are fixed on Sir Robert. 
 Honourable members, of all parties, are, for the 
 time, spell-bound. Their reason is taken prisoner. 
 The feelings obtain a temporary triumph over the 
 understanding. The solemnity of the speaker is 
 communicated to the hearers. No smile is seen to 
 play on the countenances of even the most lively 
 and strenuous of his opponents. All are as grave 
 as if some question of the deepest importance to 
 them individually were about to be decided. Sir 
 Robert is a speaker whom one would never tire of 
 hearing. I have often heard him speak for two or 
 three hours at a time, but never knew an instance 
 of an honourable member quitting the House be- 
 cause he felt Sir Robert's oration to be tedious. 
 On the contrary, the regret always is, that he does 
 not continue longer. Sir John Hobhouse was, I 
 am sure, only expressing the feeling entertained 
 by every member in the House, when he said, 
 immediately before the resignation of Sir Robert 
 in April last, that if any thing could reconcile him 
 to the continuance in office of the right honourable 
 Baronet, it would be the pleasure of hearing him 
 speak.
 
 SIR ROBERT PEEL. Ill 
 
 Sir Robert's manners, both in and out of Parlia- 
 ment, are most conciliatory. He treats every per- 
 son with whom he comes into contact with the ut- 
 most respect. He has a wonderful command of 
 temper. I never yet knew him, even in the heat of 
 debate, use a single irritating word to any opponent. 
 And the same courtesy and respect with whicli he 
 treats others, are, as it is right they should be, re- 
 ciprocated by them. Sir Robert has not only no 
 personal enemies, but is held in the highest esteem 
 by the most virulent of his opponents. It is the 
 abstraction — the particular classof opinions of which 
 he is the most distinguished champion, and not him- 
 self, as an individual, against which the Liberal 
 party direct their uncompromising hostility. 
 
 One feature in the oratory of Sir Robert, which 
 every one who ever heard him must have observed, 
 is the practice he has, when speaking on any great 
 question, of striking the box which lies on the table, 
 at regular intervals, with his right hand. On an 
 average, he gives it two strokes in a minute ; and 
 as these are given with great force, and the box is 
 remarkable for its acoustic properties, the sound is 
 distinctly heard in every part of the House, arid 
 considerably aids the effect which his speech would 
 otherwise produce. Sir Robert has another feature 
 in a great measure peculiar to himself when address-
 
 112 SIR ROBERT PEEL. 
 
 ing the House on topics of engrossing interest ; for 
 when speaking on matters of comparatively trifling 
 moment, he makes no effort to produce an effect. I 
 allude to his practice of turning his face round to 
 his own party, and his back on the Speaker, when 
 he is urging any argument which appears to him 
 particularly forcible, and which he thinks likely to 
 be received by them with peculiar applause. And 
 in most cases he is wonderfully happy in his guesses. 
 In such instances he looks his party significantly in 
 the face, and pauses for the expected cheer, which 
 is scarcely ever refused him, and which, in the great 
 majority of cases, is given with a strength of lungs 
 and an evident cordiality which could not fail to 
 satisfy the most ambitious of oratorical distinction. 
 No man is moi'e gratified with applause tlian Sir 
 Robert; no one feels more mortified when it is 
 withheld, or not given with that liberality which he 
 thinks the speech deserved. 
 
 When hard pressed by an opponent, the right 
 honourable Baronet usually sits with his left knee 
 over the right, his left hand thrust into the breast 
 of his waistcoat, and his hat down over his brow. 
 In this position he sits staring his assailant in the 
 face, rather, however, with a serious good-natured 
 look, than with one expressive of anger. 
 
 The member for Tamworth, thouah a man of
 
 SIR ROBERT PEEL, 113 
 
 great talent, and consummate tact in adapting him- 
 self to the temper and prejudices of the House, 
 has not the slightest pretensions to genius. No one 
 ever knew him utter a great philosophical truth or 
 sublime conception. He never startles or delights 
 his audience by anything of striking originality ; 
 there is not a single passage in any of his speeches, 
 which the auditor would wish to preserve in his 
 memory as something of surpassing grandeur. He 
 never descends below mediocrity ; he is generally 
 far above it — often on the precincts of genius ; but 
 never crosses the line which separates it from mere 
 talent or ability. 
 
 I have spoken of the first-rate business habits of 
 the right honourable Baronet, and of the surprising 
 ease with which he can master the minutest details 
 of any business question to which he applies his 
 mind. He is not, however, by any means a man 
 of extensive information ; on the contrary, he is 
 ignorant on some questions to an extent discredit- 
 able in a public man. The reader will have some 
 difficulty in believing the statement, that when a 
 number of gentlemen waited on him, when Chan- 
 cellor of the Exchequer, on the subject of the 
 Repeal of the Window Tax, he expressed his 
 opinion that no landlord of a house, however large 
 and however many mndows it contained, was liable
 
 114 SIR ROBERT PEEL. 
 
 to be charged for the Window Tax, if the house 
 were so let out as that no one lodger occupied 
 apartments containing more than eight windows. 
 But though ignorant at that particular time with 
 regard to a very important fact connected with his 
 office, he would have taken care, before submitting 
 any statements on the subject to Parliament, to 
 have made himself acquainted with all its details, 
 and thus prevented any bungling in his financial 
 measures. 
 
 Sir Robert Peel, though always disclaiming any 
 anxiety for office, is most ambitious of that honour. 
 He is quite uncomfortable in Opposition : he is only 
 in his element when in place. In his speech in 
 April last, on the Irish Church question, imme- 
 diately before the division which sealed the fate of 
 his Ministry, he declared he was quite indifferent 
 about office, and was more than usually jocular. 
 This indifference, however, was affected, not real : 
 and his jokes were only jokes in words, not in 
 spirit ; for I chanced to see him on his way home 
 after the division, and a more perfect picture of dis- 
 appointed ambition I never saw in my life. Lavater 
 was right in this instance, though he should be 
 wrong in every other : the emotions of Sir Robert's 
 mind were visibly expressed in his countenance. 
 
 There is not a man in the house more sensitive
 
 SIR ROBEUT PF:EI>. 115 
 
 on the subject of honour than Sir Robert. You 
 may apply to him epithets which are synonimous 
 with fool, blockhead, &c. if you please, and he 
 utters not a word of complaint : you may brand 
 him with the name of bigot, either in politics or 
 religion, or both, if you are so inclined, and he 
 murmurs not a word of resentment ; but charge 
 him with any thing, either in his private or public 
 capacity, inconsistent with the character of a man 
 of honour, and that moment he demands an expla- 
 nation, which if not satisfactory, and accompanied 
 by a full retractation, will be followed up, before he 
 qviits the house, by a challenge to a hostile meeting 
 on the ensuing morning. 
 
 Sir Robert Peel never speaks on any great ques- 
 tion until immediately before the close of the debate, 
 however often that debate may be adjourned. His 
 object is two-fold — first, that he may hear all that 
 may be urged on the opposite side ; and, secondly, 
 that he may have the benefit of the " last word." 
 No man can be more conscious than he is of the ad- 
 vantage to the cause he espouses of a skilful reply, 
 immediately before the division, to the principal 
 arguments of the leading speakers on the adverse 
 side ; and certainly no man that ever sat within the 
 walls of Parliament could display more consum- 
 mate tact than he does in turning that advantage
 
 116 SIE ROBERT PEEL. 
 
 to account. Never was debater more acute in de- 
 tecting the weak points of an adversary, nor more 
 happy in exposing and placing them in the most 
 prominent point of view. And all this he seems to 
 do with the greatest ease ; without any appearance 
 of effort. What he does on the spur of the moment 
 is as well and effectively done as if it had been the 
 result of months of premeditation. In his replies to 
 speeches which were delivered buta few hours before, 
 there is a propriety of arrangement — a lucidness of 
 manner — a vigour and closeness of reasoning — a 
 purity and eloquence of style — a felicity in the de- 
 livery — and a fulness and completeness in the argu- 
 ment, which could not have been surpassed had the 
 speech cost him weeks of the most careful prepara- 
 tion. 
 
 Sir Robert is the idol of the Tory party. With 
 the Conservatives in the House of Commons every 
 thing he says is oracular. He can do with them 
 and make of them what he pleases. They are the 
 mere creatures of his will — are as much under his 
 control, and as ready to be formed and fashioned 
 in any way he chooses, as is the clay in the hands 
 of the potter. Never had the leader of a party a 
 more complete ascendancy over that party than has 
 this Tory Coryphaeus over the Conservatives in the 
 House of Commons.
 
 SIR ROBERT PEEL. 117 
 
 Sir Robert's political character is not yet tho- 
 roughly understood, even by his most intimate 
 friends. It is difficult to discriminate in him between 
 what is real and what is assumed — between the 
 opinions he entertains and the line of conduct he 
 pursues from principle, and those opinions with 
 which he identifies himself, and that course of action 
 he follows, from considerations of expediency. 
 
 At bottom he is a decided Tory. He went on 
 pretty comfortably under the dynasty of Eldon, 
 Sid mouth, Castlereagh, &c., for they were kindred 
 spirits. With them he had a fellow-feeling. But 
 the extinction of that dynasty, and the progress of 
 liberal principles, often induced him to make cer- 
 tain concessions to the spirit of the age. Hence he 
 began to make a show of liberality, though his 
 principles were unchanged. It was the principle of 
 expediency which constrained him to consent to 
 Catholic Emancipation. He did not concur in 
 that measure from any sense of the justice of the 
 claims of the Catholics : on the contrary, he ad- 
 mitted his opposition to their emancipation was 
 overcome by considerations of irresistible expe- 
 diency alone. Had he seen the possibility of 
 preserving the tranquillity of Ireland, and yet 
 refusing the demands of the Catholics for the 
 removal of their civil disabilities, he would have
 
 118 SIR ROBERT PEEL. 
 
 opposed that removal till the last moment of his 
 existence. The same principle has been his guid- 
 ing star from that time down to the present hour. 
 Had he contemplated the possibility of the Reform 
 Bill passing, he would, in appearance, have thrown 
 his Tory prejudices to the dogs, and concurred in 
 the measure ; but he clung till the very last to the 
 hope that the House of Lords or the King, would 
 strangle the " monster."" On his accession to office 
 at the close of last year, he publicly stated that he 
 would not repeal the Reform Bill. Why.^ Because, 
 in his heart, he loved or approved of that measure f 
 No : but because he saw the attempt would be 
 madness — that it would not only have thrown the 
 country into confusion, but doubtless also himself 
 from office. Again, in the case of the Dissenters, 
 so long as he thought it could safely be done, he 
 resisted their claims, as he previously opposed 
 those of the Catholics ; but when he saw that the 
 further resistance of those claims w^as incompatible 
 with the progress of public opinion, he yielded to 
 circumstances, and brought in a bill for redressing 
 the grievances of that class of his Majesty's sub- 
 jects. It is the same with regard to Municipal 
 Corporations. These were dear to him as the 
 apple of his eve ; but he saw that no INIinistry 
 could hold together for any length of time wiiich
 
 SIR ROBERT PEEL. 119 
 
 resisted tlieir reform. Hence, as his conduct on 
 the bringing in of Lord John Russell's Bill clearly 
 proved, he was prepared, had not his ministry pre- 
 viously closed its career, to have granted a liberal 
 measure of Corporation Reform. 
 
 Sir Robert Peel is a remarkably suspicious man ; 
 he reposes but little confidence, in public matters, 
 even in his most intimate political friends. He is 
 pre-eminently a man of his own counsels. He will 
 take advice from no one. His princely fortune enables 
 him to act with perfect independence, and no man 
 can be more conscious of the ascendency which that 
 fortune, conjoined to his great talents, has given him 
 over his party. He is well aware that the very ex- 
 istence of that party is bound up in him, and he 
 is, moreover, sensible that they are equally con- 
 scious of the fact. Hence he knows that he may 
 with impunity conceal from them what particular 
 course he intends to pursue on any given question, 
 and that, however much they may disapprove of that 
 course, they will soon be compelled, by the necessity 
 of the case, to feign, if they do not feel, a disposi- 
 tion to acquiesce in it. His conduct on the bringing 
 in of Lord John RusselFs Bill for the Reform of 
 Municipal Coi-porations, afforded one out of many 
 instances of the ignorance in which he keeps his 
 political friends as to the course he intends to pur-
 
 120 SIR ROBERT PEEI,. 
 
 sue with respect to particular measures. They all 
 went down to the house that night under the de- 
 cided impression that Sir Robert meant to proclaim 
 his most uncompromising opposition not only to the 
 bill itself, but to the very principle of the measure. 
 Never shall I forget the surprise and-horror which 
 their countenances expressed when he rose, and after 
 two or three introductory remarks, avowed not only 
 his approbation of the principle of the bill, but of 
 the great majority of its details. Had the Tories 
 read in the words of their chief the immediate and 
 utter extinction of their party, they could not have 
 looked more confounded than they did on that 
 occasion. They knew, however, that if with him 
 resistance to Corporation Reform would at best be 
 but a doubtful experiment, it would have been a 
 piece of pure madness to attempt it without hira. 
 Hence they were one and all speechless : not a 
 whisper of disapprobation of the measui'e was to be 
 heard on the Tory benches. 
 
 During the short period that Sir Robert Peel 
 was Prime Minister, there w^as no one among the 
 Opposition he so much dreaded as Sir John Cam 
 Hobhouse. Sir John knew his sore points, and took 
 care to profit by his knowledge. Without making 
 such allusions to Sir Robert as the latter could 
 fairly consider as meant to be personally offensive,
 
 SIR ROBERT PEEL. 121 
 
 he heaped his taunts and sarcasms on the devoted 
 head of the First Minister of the Crown so unspar- 
 ingly, and with such effect, that Sir Robert hterally 
 writhed under them. On several occasions, during 
 Sir John's attack on him, in reference to the 
 appointment of the Marquis of Londonderry as 
 our Ambassador at the Court of St. Petersburgh, 
 I observed, — and every one who had an opportunity 
 of seeing him must also have observed, — that his 
 countenance became pale as death, and the cheers 
 with which the most pointed passages of Sir John's 
 s])eech were received, must have been as mortifying 
 to him as the speech itself. When Sir John told him 
 that he was the victim of the Stanley party, who 
 amused themselves with him as they pleased, and 
 could by a single breath, extinguish his Govern- 
 ment ; — when he observed that the Opposition were, 
 in point of fact, the Executive, inasmuch as they 
 had a majority on all important questions ; — when 
 he reproached Sir Robert with a want of spirit, in 
 retaining office after being defeated on all ques- 
 tions of importance ; — and when he contrasted the 
 professions of liberal principles which the right 
 honourable Baronet had then made, with his stre- 
 nuous opposition to them during the whole of 
 his previous public life, — the deafening plaudits 
 which followed, as well as the observations them-
 
 122 MR. GOULBrKX. 
 
 selves, must have been gall and wormwood to Sir 
 Robert's soul. 
 
 iVIr. GouLBURN, member for the Cambridge Uni- 
 versity, holds a distinguished place among the Tory 
 party. In person he is rather above the middle 
 size. His head has, of late years, leaned a little 
 to the left side. His countenance has a thoughtful 
 aspect. His featiu-es are strongly marked. Inci- 
 pient wrinkles, in several parts of his face, begin 
 to show themselves. His complexion is fair, and 
 his hair of a light brown colour. On the crown of 
 his head there is a partial baldness. His appear- 
 ance is much in his favour, and his manner of deli- 
 verv is easy and graceful. He has a fine musical 
 voice, and times his utterance with much judgment 
 to the ear. Before, however, proceeding many 
 sentences, the favourable impression created by 
 his personal appearance and correct elocution 
 must, in a great measiu-e, be neutralized in the 
 mind of a person of opposite opinions, by his 
 extreme High Church and State notions. There 
 are few more zealous or decided Tories in the 
 House; and perhaps there are few men of any 
 party who would make greater sacrifices for his 
 principles. He would rather suffer a dozen mar- 
 tyrdoms than compromise the least iota of his 
 creed. The sincerity of his opinions has never, so
 
 MR. GOULBURN. 123 
 
 far as I am aware, been questioned. What he 
 has chiefly distinguished himself for, is zealously 
 defending the Established Church, and giving the 
 most determined opposition to any concessions to 
 Roman Catholics or Dissenters. It is admitted by 
 his own most intimate friends, that he carries his 
 hostility to the latter to a very unusual extent. 
 On one occasion he publicly stated, that if Dissen- 
 ters were admitted to the University of Cambridge, 
 he would not allow his son to remain in that insti- 
 tution ; nor would he, in any other place, or under 
 any other circumstances, allow that son to associate 
 with Dissenters. He stands erect on the seven- 
 leagued stilts of his High Church creed, and looks 
 down with ineffable scorn on those of a different 
 persuasion. He is most thoroughly persuaded in 
 his own mind, — and it is but justice to him to add 
 that he is not peculiar in his opinion, — that any 
 civil concessions to the Dissenters would be incom- 
 patible with the existence of the Established Church. 
 Hence, most probably, his very decided dislike of 
 that body. The Whigs and Radicals he considers as 
 being, for the most part, Jacobins and infidels, I'eso- 
 lutely bent on the destruction of the throne and the 
 altar ; and, as he is always open and honest in the 
 expression of his opinions, he has repeatedly given 
 utterance to words to this effect. He has great 
 G 2
 
 124 SIR EDWARD KXATCHBULL. 
 
 self-confidence in speaking, arising in a great mea- 
 sure, from a very exalted opinion of his talents. He 
 is never at a loss for words. His language is fault- 
 less, but he wants stamina. He is, as Hamlet says, 
 " words, words, words."" He never, even by chance, 
 stumbles on a single striking idea. _ His oratory 
 leaves no impression ; you forget every thing he 
 said the moment he resumes his seat. He chiefly 
 delights in reply, and seldom makes a set speech 
 on any subject. He does not appear to be a great 
 favourite Avith the more liberal members of his own 
 party. He is in his fifty-first year. 
 
 Sir Edward Kxatchbull has in many respects 
 a fellow-feeling with Mr. Goulburn as regards 
 religion and politics ; but Sir Edward is constitu- 
 tionally a better-tempered man ; has a very humble 
 estimate of his own powers, and is by no means 
 offensive or flippant in his manner. Sir Edward 
 is a venerable looking man, fifty-four years of age, 
 and with a head of hair white as snow. He has 
 small pleasant eyes, and one of the highest fore- 
 heads T ever saw. The principles of physiognomy 
 do not hold good in him. I never saw a better 
 natured or more mild and amiable expression of 
 countenance, and yet he cannot endure opinions and 
 principles which are opposed to his own. He is a 
 tolerable speaker : his utterance is easy, and on the
 
 SIR HENRY HARDINGE. 12o 
 
 nhole natural. He does not use much gesture, 
 though he occasionally becomes highly animated in 
 iiis voice, which is in some degree musical, and of 
 considerable compass. He does not speak often ; 
 when he does so, it is generally because of some 
 personal allusions to himself. He bears the severest 
 attacks with an edifying degree of calmness and 
 good-nature ; and yet when he rises to reply to them, 
 does so with much spirit and effect. To say that 
 he is brilliant, would be as remote from the truth 
 as to describe him as the brainless personage which 
 the Liberal journals generally represent him to be. 
 He is in truth a man of very respectable talents, 
 and would exercise some influence in the political 
 world but for the high Toryisni of his opinions, 
 and his want of prudence in promulgating them. 
 
 Sir Henry Hardinge is a man of considerable 
 importance in the estimation of the Tories. He 
 is a person of gentlemanly appearance, rather 
 above the middle stature, and well made. He is 
 about fifty years of age. His hair is of a light 
 brown colour, and his complexion fair. He lost 
 one of his hands when servino; under the Duke of 
 Wellington in the Peninsula. His forehead is pro- 
 minent and has an intellectual cast. He is doubtless 
 a man of highly respectable talents, but nothing 
 more. He is not, in the strict sense of the term, an
 
 126 SIR HEXRY HARDINGE. 
 
 tjrator, but often makes effective speeches, and is 
 always listened to by both sides of the House with 
 attention and respect. He i<nows well how to repel 
 an attack, and if he deem it personal, demands an 
 explanation and apology, or hints pretty plainly 
 that there is but one alternative. He is not pert 
 or flippant in his manner, nor does he indulge in 
 personalities ; but he is easily irritated by the ani- 
 madversions of others, and is apt to construe that 
 into a personal insult which did not exceed the 
 bounds of fair and temperate discvission. An in- 
 stance of this, which but for the interference of the 
 House and the Speaker, might have been attended 
 with fatal consequences, occurred immediately 
 before the dissolution of Sir Robert Peel's Ministry. 
 Mr. Barron, one of the Irish members, accused 
 Sir Robert"'s Administration of acting a most dis- 
 creditable part in affecting Reform principles, 
 though they had opposed them all their lives, for 
 the sake of being able to hold office. Though this 
 was the language of many, and though no individual 
 allusion was made to Sir Heniy, he immediately 
 rose and heaped the most contemptuous epithets on 
 Mr. Barron, Avhich the latter gentleman, as being 
 the person attacked, hurled back with the same con- 
 tempt on Sir Henry's head. A violent altercation 
 ensued ; and as each in effect challenged the other, a
 
 SIR ROBERT IXGLIS. 12? 
 
 hostile meeting must certainly have taken jjlace be- 
 tween the parties on the following morning, had not 
 the House and Speaker, as already intimated, inter- 
 fered, and demanded an apology from both parties. 
 Sir Robert Inglis is a man of some conse- 
 quence among the Tories. He is of middle size in 
 personal height, but very corpulent. His complexi;)n 
 is fair, with a tendency to ruddiness. His hair i*. 
 of a dark brown, but a considerable part of his 
 head is bald. His features are rather large, and 
 his face very full and round. He is remarkably 
 peaceable in his disposition, and would not for tlie 
 world make any observation respecting his oppo- 
 nents if he thought they would have any cause for 
 personal complaint : and lest any thing he says by 
 way of animadversion on those on the opposite side 
 of the house should be so construed, he is sure to 
 preface his remarks by disclaiming all personal 
 allusions, and very often by assuring the party to 
 be animadverted on, that he does question the pro- 
 priety of his conduct or his speech with great pain 
 to himself. A rather amusing instance of this, in 
 consequence of the remarks which it called forth, 
 occurred in June last, when he charged r\Ir. 
 O'Connell, Mr. Shiel, and all the other Roman 
 Catholic INIembers with perjury. He protested that 
 nothing could cause him greater uneasiness of mind
 
 128 SIR ROBERT INGLIS. 
 
 than to be called on to prefer such a charge ; and 
 those who know the right honourable Baronet must 
 give him credit for sincerity when he made such a 
 protestation. He is a religious man ; he belongs 
 to the Evangelical party in the Church ; and it was 
 from religious considerations that he thoug-ht he 
 was bound to admonish the Roman Catholic mem- 
 bers of the spiritual peril they incurred by voting 
 as they did on the Irish Church appropriation 
 clause, after they had solemnly sworn to do nothing 
 that could affect the interests or stability of that 
 Church. Mr. SheiPs reply was remarkable for its 
 ability and severity. Mr. O'Connell's was not osten- 
 sibly so severe, but to a sensitive, refined mind it 
 must have been more gallins; ; he characterised the 
 right honourable Baronet as " fat, sleek, and con- 
 tented," which is just Sir Robert's character to a 
 nicety, and exclaimed, in his own peculiar style, 
 amidst bursts of laughter loud and universal, 
 " Oh ! the misery of being taunted with perjury in 
 such a drawling hum-drum speech ! Why, the 
 whining manner in which the charge is made is 
 worse than the charge itself V Sir Robert does speak 
 in a drawling, whining sort of way. His enunciation 
 is distinct, and he talks with ease and fluency ; but 
 there is a peculiar tone in his pronunciation, which 
 were much better adapted to the pulpit than it is to
 
 SIR ROBERT INGLIS. 129 
 
 the senate. There is not a more upright or conscien- 
 tious man in the house. lie is accused of bigotry 
 and a want of charity to those beyond the jDale of 
 the Established Church; but he never utters a sen- 
 timent which he does not sincerely entertain. There 
 is, moreover, this redeeming quality in his alleged 
 bigotry — he cordially pities those whom his creed 
 obliges him to condemn. He is sorry to be compel- 
 led to doom you to what Byron calls " the zealot's 
 ready hell," — but he cannot help it. He abhors the 
 very idea of expediency, and would not on any 
 consideration yield to the spirit of the age, the 
 march of intellect, or whatever else it may be 
 termed, one single iota of his principles. His go- 
 verning maxim is, "Let justice and right be done, 
 though the heavens should fall." Sir Robert 
 scarcely ever speaks except on questions which bear 
 directly on the interests of the church. She is ever 
 uppermost in his mind, and he is at all times for- 
 ward to defend her to the best of his ability. He 
 is a man of respectable talent, but nothing more. 
 Both his matter and manner are always of the same 
 order of merit. As he never intentionally wounds 
 the feelings of any opponent, so he never resents 
 any attack that may be made on him. In fact, he 
 may be said to be impervious to attack. He bears, 
 with perfect equanimity, sarcasms and ridicule 
 G 3
 
 130 LORD SANDON. 
 
 which would make other honourable members, of 
 more keen susceptibilities of mind, agonize on their 
 seats. Sir Robert is now in his forty-ninth year. 
 It is his excellent and consistent character which 
 makes him of the importance he is to his ]^arty. 
 The best speech I ever heard him make was when, 
 in the Session of 1834, he resisted the proposed 
 admission of the Dissenters to the University of 
 Oxford. That speech was full of historical re- 
 search, well digested, and brought to bear with 
 effect on the question before the House. It was 
 listened to with attention by honourable members 
 generally, and was loudly applauded by his own 
 party. With the exception of Sir Robert Peel's, it 
 was undoubtedly the best speech delivered on the 
 occasion from the Tory side of the house. The Uni- 
 versity of Oxford could not, were it to go on a tour 
 of inquiry through the country for the purpose, find 
 a more fitting member than Sir Robert Inglis. 
 
 Lord Sandon, member for Liverpool, has lat- 
 terly been looked on by the Tories as a man of 
 some mark. For some time before the passing of 
 the Reform Bill, and during the time it was under 
 discussion in the Lower House, he was generally 
 supposed to be a nobleman of Liberal sentiments. 
 So far as supporting the Reform measure as a whole, 
 though opposing several of its most important
 
 LORD SAXDOX. 181 
 
 clauses, entitled him to be so considered, the pub- 
 lic, in this respect, did him no more than justice. 
 For some time, too, after the Reform Bill became 
 the law of the land, the frequency with which he 
 supported, both by his speeches and votes, the 
 measures of Lord Grey's INIinistry, entitled him to 
 at least the credit of being a moderate Reformer ; 
 but his opponents allege that his support of Liberal 
 measures did not flow from his attachment to Libe- 
 ral principles, but was rather the result of that 
 shrewd, calculating prudence, which led him to 
 swim with the torrent which he saw could not be 
 stemmed. He is, they say, quite an expediency- 
 man, and that no one knows better than he how to 
 make a virtue of necessity. In support of this opi- 
 nion, they point to his conduct on a recent occa- 
 sion. The Ministry of Lord Melbourne was ejected 
 from office, and that of Sir Robert Peel was formed 
 under circumstances which seemed to him to insure 
 the permanent restoration of the Tories to power : 
 and accordingly, no sooner had the new Parliament 
 met, than he proclaimed himself, both by words and 
 deeds, a Tory " of the right sort." He clung till 
 the very last moment, as fondly as did Sir Robert 
 Peel himself, to the hope of weathering the storm 
 by which the Tory party found themselves over- 
 taken. He soon saw, however, with infinite dis-
 
 132 LORD SAXDON. 
 
 appointment and mortification, that he had leaned 
 on a broken reed : he saw the " Conservative Ad- 
 ministration" — the name by which he delighted to 
 call Sir Robert Peel's Ministry — dashed to pieces. 
 Since that time, however, he has still identified 
 himself with his Conservative friends. 
 
 Lord Sandon is a plain-looking man, with a 
 rather serious cast of countenance. He is in his 
 thirty-seventh year. He is somewhat above the 
 middle size, and slenderly made. His face is 
 slightly pitted with the small-pox. His voice is 
 harsh and croakinff in its tones. He is a miserable 
 speaker: he is not only perfectly innocent of ever 
 having given birth to an eloquent sentence, but he 
 cannot even talk — notwithstanding his excessive 
 fondness for talking — with tolerable fluency. He 
 stammers at every second or third sentence ; cor- 
 rects his phraseology over and over again, and yet 
 often leaves the sentence, with its latest amendment, 
 as much in need of correction as at first. Nor is 
 his manner in any degree redeemed by his matter. 
 He never by chance rises above mediocrity, but is 
 generally found grovelling below it. He is one of 
 the many members who are under some obligations 
 to the " gentlemen of the press." It is a much 
 more agreeable task to read than to hear his Par- 
 liamentary orations.
 
 MR. PRAED. 133 
 
 Lord Sandon, notwithstanding his defects as a 
 public speaker, is a nobleman of some weight in the 
 house, especially, as already observed, with the 
 Tory party. He belongs to a most respectable 
 family. He is the eldest son of the Earl of Har- 
 rowby ; is the repi'esentative of a large, populous, 
 and influential place ; is very exemplary in all the 
 private relations of life: and these are circum- 
 stances and attributes which, when they centre in 
 one individual, never fail to command respect both 
 within and without the house. 
 
 Mr. Praed, the member for Yarmouth, is, 
 owing to accidental circumstances, deserving of a 
 few words in speaking of the Tory party. He is 
 a young man, being under thirty-five years of age. 
 His violent denunciations of the Reform Bill, and 
 his pertinacity in opposing it clause by clause when 
 in Committee, together with his great self-confidence 
 and a strong yet distinct and musical voice, — were 
 circumstances which conspired together to make the 
 Tories look on him as a youth of great promise. 
 Some of them indeed thought, that in him their 
 cause had found a host. These pleasing expecta- 
 tions, however, were soon doomed to be in a great 
 measure disappointed. The Reform Bill passed 
 and, like Othello, he found his occupation gone. 
 He has still a seat in Parliament, but his patron
 
 134 MR. C. W. W. WTNN. 
 
 and party think he sits a great deal too much ; — 
 indeed he rarely speaks. He is undoubtedly a man 
 of considerable talent ; but is not qualified to speak 
 on any abstruse or comprehensive question. His 
 mind was never made to grapple with first princi- 
 ples. His forie lies in nibbling at the details of a 
 measure. He is a good speaker, and has always an 
 abundance of high -sounding words at command. 
 In person he is tall and slender. His complexion 
 is dark, and his features large and marked. ^Vhen 
 he now speaks, he generally give the House a 
 second edition, with alterations and additions, of 
 some article Avhich appeared the same or previous 
 day in the Alorning Post^ to which journal he is 
 well known to be a stated contributor of " leaders." 
 Indeed, he is very generally supposed to be one of 
 the salaried editors. He, however, denies it ; and no 
 one has a right, in the absence of contrary proof, to 
 discredit his word. 
 
 Mr. C. W. AV. Wynn, the member for Montgo- 
 meryshire, ought not to be passed over in a notice 
 of the Tory party. In person he is of the middle 
 size, rather, if anything, inclined to corpulency. 
 He has a round face, is of dark complexion, and 
 slightly pitted with the small pox. His hair was 
 formerly dark, but is now beginning to turn grey. 
 He is in his sixtieth yeai*. His voice is more
 
 MR. C. W. \V, WVNN. 135 
 
 extraordinary than that of any honourable mem- 
 ber in the house. I shall never forget how singu- 
 larly it sounded in my ears the first time I hoard 
 the right honourable gentleman speak. It is im- 
 possible to describe it. You would sometimes 
 think that the sound proceeded from the back of 
 his head, instead of from his mouth. He often 
 falls into so screeching a tone as to impair the 
 articulation of the word altogether ; for he does 
 not pitch his voice at a very high key. He has, 
 besides, an indescribable sort of lisp by which he 
 mars the correct pronunciation of almost every 
 word. For example, if he were to commence his 
 speech as follows — " I rise, Sir, for the purpose 
 of asking the," &c. he would pronounce it thus : — 
 " I rithe, ther, for the purpotheof athking the," &c. 
 And yet, when once the ear is accustomed to his 
 curious delivery, it is by no means unpleasant. 
 He makes great professions of liberality ; but he is 
 at bottom a genuine Tory of the Ultra school. He 
 has some intellect, though not so much as he takes 
 credit for. He often takes the common-sense view 
 of questions not immediately bearing on party ob- 
 jects ; but at other times he is quite unintelligible. 
 I have known him speak for an hour at a time, and 
 would have defied any man to say which side of the 
 question he was advocating. His speech, in 1834,
 
 136 LOUD MAHON. 
 
 on the question of the propriety of admitting Dis- 
 senters to the Universities of Oxford and Cam- 
 bridge, was a case in point. On that occasion he 
 seemed as much lost in history, religion, and poli- 
 tics, as Milton's angels Avere in the " wandering 
 mazes'" of " fixed-fate, free-will, fore-knowledge 
 absolute."" Several members enquired of each other, 
 when he sat down, which side he was for. He is 
 never at a loss for words, but his matter is insuffer- 
 ably prosy. His sentences are correctly constructed, 
 without the least glimmering of eloquence ever 
 struggling through them. He speaks often, and is 
 seldom listened to with much attention. 
 
 Lord Mahon is a young nobleman from whom 
 the Tories expect great things. His Lordship is 
 certainly a man of some promise, though not half 
 so much as his party set him down for. He is 
 member for Hertford. He is very young, being 
 only in his thirty-third year. He is in person 
 rather below the middle size, and is of slender 
 make. He is of fair complexion, with something 
 of a feminine cast of countenance. His manner 
 when speaking is easy and unassuming. He makes 
 no effort to shine as an orator. He has neither 
 animation in his elocution, nor does he use any 
 gesture. He pitches his voice at a certain key — 
 neither too high nor too low ; and goes through
 
 COLONEL SIBTHORPE. 137 
 
 and finishes his speech in the same tone as he be- 
 gan. His manner is pleasant, and his voice grate- 
 ful to the ear. He excels in giving a statement of 
 facts, and turning them to the best account for his 
 own view of a question. The best speech I have 
 heard him make, was in the beginning of June this 
 year, when he moved for the production of papers 
 relative to the Order in Covmcil authorising the fit- 
 ting out in this country of an expedition to Spain. 
 Lord Mahon does not speak often, but when he 
 does he is always listened to with much respect and 
 attention. He is understood to be a personal fa- 
 vourite of the Duke of Wellington. 
 
 I now come to decidedly the most curious per- 
 sonage, all things considered, in the House — whe- 
 ther on the Toi-y, Neutral, Whig, or Radical side. 
 Honourable members will guess whom I mean. I 
 think I hear them with one accord pronouncing the 
 name of Colonel Sibthorpe, the member for Lin- 
 coln. There is not a greater Tory than the gallant 
 Colonel in the house: but the notoriety he pos- 
 sesses could never have been acquired by that cir- 
 cumstance alone ; for though there are none greater, 
 there are several as great. His eccentric manners 
 have done a great deal to bring him into notice. 
 He has all the singularity, all the horror of Liberal 
 principles, much of the attachment to Toryism,
 
 138 COLONEL SIBTHORrE. 
 
 and a great deal of the humour, of Sir Charles 
 Wetherell, though without a particle of his talent. 
 Even all this, however, would never have secured 
 to him his surpassing notoriety. It is his physiog- 
 nomy, embellished as it is by his whiskers and 
 moustachios, that has clearly made him what he is. 
 Denude him of these — apply a razor or a pair of 
 scissors to his face, commencing the operation at 
 one ear and ending with the other, — and the gal- 
 lant Colonel would be nothing — not even a per- 
 sonage at whose expense a joke might be inno- 
 cently enjoyed. He \vould in that case be like 
 Sampson shorn of his strength, when cropped by 
 the Philistines, 
 
 Colonel Sibthorpe's countenance is altogether 
 unique. It stands out in broad relief from the 
 countenances of all the other members. Two or 
 three other senators rejoice in tufts, and a few more 
 in whiskers of decent proportions; but compared 
 with the moustachios and whiskers of the gallant 
 Colonel, one feels indignant that they should be 
 dignified by the name. The lower section of his 
 face, drawing a straight line from ear to ear, im- 
 mediately under his nose, is one dense forest of hair. 
 Had Dominie Sampson been fated to witness the 
 whiskers and moustachios of the gallant Colonel, he 
 would have exclaimed " Prodio-ious !" for hours
 
 COLONEL SIBTIIOIU'E. 139 
 
 together. You hardly know wliether he has a 
 mouth or not — it is so completely buried amidst the 
 surrounding crop of hair — until he begins to speak. 
 He is extremely proud of his whiskers and mousta- 
 chios. He would do and suffer a great deal for his 
 party and principles ; but rather than submit to be 
 shaved, he would see Tories, Toryism, Constitu- 
 tion, and all, scattered to the four winds. As already 
 hinted, the gallant ColonePs countenance is not of 
 the most prepossessing kind, and yet, in defiance of 
 the maxim that " they who live in houses of glass 
 should take care not to throw stones," he has a sort 
 of penchant iov finding fault with the countenances 
 of others. Immediately after the dissolution of Sir 
 Robert Peel's Ministry, he let loose on the Minis- 
 terial side of the House in the following strain ; — 
 " These honourable gentlemen opposite (the new 
 Ministry) will require at least three months before 
 they are what is called comfortable in their offices 
 — (Cheers and laughter) — and before they could 
 enter and sit upon their new and, as he trusted they 
 would always be to them, thorny seats — (Renewed 
 cheers and laughter). When he saw those twenty- 
 three gentlemen now going to enter the lists like 
 racing horses, but not like horses of true mettle, 
 but like splintered, spavined, broken-winded racers 
 — (Great laughter), with not a single sound one
 
 140 COLONEL SIBTHORPE. 
 
 amongst them — (Renewed laughter) ; when he saw 
 such a state of things, and the country in such a 
 condition, he must protest against a motion in every 
 respect so unjustifiable. He was no party man — he 
 had never acted from party feeling ; but he must 
 say he did not like the countetiances of honourable 
 gentlemen opposite — (Loud laughter) — for he be- 
 lieved them to be the index of their minds — (Con- 
 tinued laughter). He would only say in conclusion, 
 that he earnestly hoped that God would grant the 
 country a speedy deliverance from such a band — 
 (Shouts of laughter)." 
 
 Mr. O'Connell, in reply, said, " He would not 
 quarrel with the observations of the gallant Colonel; 
 they were delivered with so much good humour, and 
 were like every thing that fell from him, couched 
 in the language of gentlemanly politeness — (Laugh- 
 ter). But on one point at least he must differ from 
 the gallant Colonel. They who sat on that (the 
 ^Ministerial side of the House) certainly had not 
 such remarkable countenances as that of the gallant 
 Colonel — (Peals of laughter). He would not abate 
 the gallant Colonel a single hair (Renewed laugh- 
 ter) in point of good humour on that or any other 
 occasion." 
 
 Considered as a speaker, it is no easy matter to 
 describe the gallant Colonel. Sometimes he deli-
 
 COLONEL SIBTIIORl'E. 141 
 
 vers himself in so low and indistinct a tone as to be 
 inaudible to all but those immediately around him ; 
 at others, he makes himself heard in the remotest 
 part of the house. Sometimes he is full of fun, 
 calling into full play the risible faculties of his 
 auditors; at others he has all the solemnity of a 
 Daniel come to judgment. When in the former 
 mood, he is remarkably well pleased with himself 
 and his jokes ; when in the latter, you would take 
 it for granted that he fancies tlie world is come to 
 an end. When in a funny humour his right arm is 
 put into great requisition ; he beats the air with it 
 in all directions, but chiefly above his head. In 
 his left hand there is always a roll of papers con- 
 fusedly put together, just as if he had caught them 
 floating in the water, when he was in the act of 
 drowning. In his more pathetic moments he looks 
 the very incarnation of seriousness, and puts him- 
 self into every conceivable variety of attitude. He 
 turns his face from one part of the house to ano- 
 ther, as if his body sat on a pivot, and were whirled 
 round, not by a mere act of mental volition, but by 
 some external application of force. A better speci- 
 men of the mock heroic you could not wish to see 
 than that afforded by the gallant Colonel when in 
 his graver moods. He is woefully deficient in judg- 
 ment ; if there be a right and a wrong side of any
 
 142 COLONEL SIBTTIORPE. 
 
 subject, he is sure to adopt the wrong one. Indeed 
 there are some honourable members who seek no 
 better proof of the right side of a question, than 
 to know that the gallant Colonel is on its opposite. 
 He has, as already hinted, little intellect. If he 
 does stumble by accident on a tolerable idea, it is 
 like an oasis in a desert of nonsense. His voice 
 has a sort of unearthly shrillness about it which 
 cannot be described by words. He scarcely ever 
 opens his mouth without exciting the laughter of 
 the House. Honourable members generally attempt 
 to put him down when they expect from him a 
 speech of any length, but seldom Avith effect. On 
 such occasions he stands quite cool and collected, 
 looking at the papers in his hand until the vocife- 
 rations of hon. gentlemen opposite, as he always 
 calls them, begin to die away from sheer exhaustion 
 on the part of the performers. In his serious moods 
 he is a bore to his oivn party, as well as an infliction 
 on the House generally. They would give any 
 price to purchase his silence, but it is not to be 
 purchased. He ivill speak. He never makes a very 
 long speech, because he cannot ; a quarter of an 
 hour is the utmost length of time I ever knew him 
 occupy the speaker's attention on any occasion ; 
 but then themischief is, he speaks on every subject, 
 and when the rules of the House allow it, — in other
 
 MARQUIS OF CIIAXDOS. 143 
 
 words when the House is in a Committee, — it is no 
 unusual thing for him to make fifteen or twenty 
 speeches in one night. 
 
 It is but justice to the gallant Colonel to add, 
 that he is good tempered. He seems to have no per- 
 sonal resentments — no vindictive feelings towards 
 any honourable member. His hostility is towards 
 the principle, not towards the person liolding it. 
 Hence he does not offend, by any personalities, those 
 on the opposite side of the house. I am sure the 
 feeling in the house generally would be one of 
 regret, Avere he to share the fate of his friend and 
 prototype. Sir Charles "Wetherell — that is, be ex- 
 cluded from it. 
 
 The Marquis of Chandos, member for Buck- 
 inghamshire, is a nobleman of very great influence 
 among the agricultural members in the House, as 
 well as am,ong the farmers throughout the country. 
 He is called, by way of eminence, the Farmer's 
 Friend. He is worthy of the title. The interests 
 of the agriculturalists are ever uppermost in his 
 mind. In many instances he has been known to 
 sacrifice his own private interests and justifiable 
 ambition, solely from a regard to the interests of 
 tlie farmers as a body. It is well known to ho- 
 nourable members of all parties, though not gene- 
 rally known in the country, that rather than ac-
 
 144 MARQUIS OF CHANDOS. 
 
 cept office when Sir Robert Peel's Administration 
 was formed, on the condition of throwing the 
 agricuhurahsts overboard by putting off the motion 
 Avhich he had engaged to bring forw ard for a repeal 
 of the IVIalt Tax, he preferred continuing a private 
 member. This was a sacrifice to principle which 
 few men of any party in the House would, under 
 the circumstances, have made ; for he could have 
 had no difficulty of finding a pretext, from the state 
 of parties, or something else, for postponing it from 
 time to time until the session had come to a close. 
 He, however, with his characteristic integrity and 
 straightforwardness of conduct, refused to accept 
 office on any terms of which his own conscience did 
 not approve, though it was w^ell known he would 
 otherwise have been delighted to have been asso- 
 ciated in office with a Conservative Ministry. He 
 is chiefly known in the house and the country by 
 his speeches in favour of the agricultural interest. 
 He is a West-India proprietor, and before the 
 emancipation of the slaves in our colonial posses- 
 sions, took a distinguished part in all proceedings 
 in the house bearing directly on the West-India 
 question. The colonists, indeed, committed their 
 interests in the House to him. He was their acknow- 
 leged representative, and displayed uncommon 
 zeal, blended with considerable talent, in their
 
 MAUaUIS OF CIIANDOS. 145 
 
 favour. But since that question has been set at 
 rest he has ahnost exclusively applied himself to 
 the consideration of the best means of relieving the 
 farmers from their burdens, and affording protec- 
 tion to the agricultural interest. He seldom speaks 
 on any other subject, but never misses an oppor- 
 tunity of speaking on that Avhen the question before 
 the house will admit of it. A more vigilant, zea- 
 lous, or faithful friend the farmers could not have. 
 He is, as I have already said, a nobleman of consi- 
 derable talent. He acquits himself, when address- 
 ing the House, in a very creditable manner. His 
 voice is not strong, but it is audible and pleasant. 
 He speaks with considerable fluency, and is always 
 clear and forcible in his reasoning. No one can 
 mistake his positions, or fail to perceive the argu- 
 ments by which he endeavours to establish them. 
 There is nothing ornamental or artificial in his 
 style or manner. In fact, he has no ambition to 
 shine as a mere stringer of rounded periods toge- 
 ther: he quite forgets himself — I cannot say as 
 much of many others, both of the Tory and Liberal 
 party — in the intensity of the interest he feels in 
 his subject. He does not usually speak long ; but 
 there is always a great deal of matter in what he 
 does say. 
 
 In person, the Marquis of Chandos is a little 
 
 H
 
 146 MR. r. SHAW. 
 
 above the usual stature. He is a handsome gentle- 
 manly-looking man. His features are small and 
 regular, and have a prepossessing appearance. His 
 complexion is dark, and his hair black. He has a 
 fine forehead, and an intelligent as well as agree- 
 able expression of countenance. He is in his forty- 
 first year, and is the only son of the Duke of 
 Buckingham. 
 
 Of the Irish Tory members — I mean those who 
 are distinguished for the share they take in the 
 discussion of measures bearing directly on the well- 
 being of Ireland, — Mr. F. Shaw, the Recorder of 
 Dublin, and member for the University of that city, 
 stands not only foremost, but in a great measure 
 alone. He is now in his thirty-sixth year. He has 
 hardly realized the expectations which, on his first 
 entrance on public life, his friends formed of the 
 glory of his future career ; still he has acquitted him- 
 self in a very creditable manner. He possesses more 
 than respectable talents, though by no means talents 
 of a high order. He invariably speaks on those 
 occasions in which the conduct of the Orange or 
 Protestant party is made the subject of debate in 
 the house. Of that party he is, indeed, the accre- 
 dited organ and advocate; nor could they have 
 a more zealous champion. He always identifies his 
 own opinions and interests with theirs. He is a
 
 MR. F. SIIAW. 147 
 
 voluble speaker — cold and monotonous on ordinary 
 topics, but violent, both in matter and manner, in 
 the highest degree, when the Clergy, the Church, 
 or the Orangemen are attacked. Then his energy 
 of manner verges on the ludicrous. One can hardly 
 refrain from laughter when they see a man work 
 himself into such a towering passion. Take his 
 word for it, and the very being, not of religion 
 only, but of the constitution of this country, and 
 the civilization of the world, is indissolubly bound 
 up with the Irish Church and the Irish Clergy 
 in -their present state. Usually he is listened to 
 with attention by the House ; with the few Irish 
 Tory members he is an oracle ; but judging from 
 the frequency and cordiality of Colonel Sibthorpe's 
 cheers, no one appreciates his oratory more highly 
 than the gallant member for Lincoln. His orations 
 are much more remarkable for their party zeal 
 than for their eloquence. The only speech I ever 
 heard him make, in which there was any thing like 
 eloquence or superior talent, was one in defence of 
 Baron Smith, in the session of 1834, a few evenings 
 after the House, by a majority of four, had cen- 
 sured the learned Baron for indulging in political 
 party tirades when charging a jury pi-evious to the 
 trial of persons indicted for criminal offences. His 
 speech was of an hour's duration. It commenced 
 
 TT 9
 
 148 MR F. SHAW. 
 
 at half past twelve, and finished at half past one. 
 The house was full at the time. The tide of feel- 
 ing, both within and without doors, had turned in 
 favour of the learned Baron, and Mr. Shaw had 
 consequently a willing audience. The lateness of 
 the hour added to the effect of his speech, for it 
 well accorded with the solemn emphatic strain in 
 which he dwelt on the virtues, the advanced agCr 
 and the long course of public service of the person 
 he defended. Mr. Shaw's elocution was on that 
 occasion, unusually distinct and correct, and there 
 were a depth and fulness of tone in his voice, which 
 I never before or since observed in any of his ora- 
 torical efforts. In the course of his speech he vio- 
 lently arraigned the character of Mr. O'Connell, 
 through whose instrumentality the house had been 
 induced to censure the conduct of Baron Smith ; 
 and I must say, that his castigation of the honour- 
 able member for Dublin, on that occasion, was 
 decidedly the most effective I ever saw him receive 
 in the House. The result of the discussion was, 
 that the house rescinded its own resolution respect- 
 ing the learned Baron. 
 
 Mr. Shaw is, in person, considerably above the 
 middle size. He is a handsome man, though there 
 is something of a feminine expression in his counte- 
 nance. He has a well-formed projecting forehead.
 
 SIR IIICIIARD VYVYAN. 149 
 
 His eyes, which are of a dark-blue colour, witii 
 large dark lashes, are full of fire and expression. 
 His complexion is dark, and his hair jet black 
 and bushy, like that of a negro. When he feels 
 strongly in the way of disapprobation of any thing 
 any honourable member is saying, he throws his 
 head backwards, and occasionally looks towards 
 the ceiling with an air of supreme disdain. 
 
 Sir Richard Vyvyan, the member for Bristol, 
 was a great man among the Tories before the pass- 
 ing of the Reform Bill. Previous to that time he 
 was hardly ever off his legs, when either the inte- 
 rests or the character of his party were involved ; 
 but since then he has hardly ever opened his 
 mouth. The only speech, worthy the name, he 
 made during the last session, was on the third 
 reading of the Municipal Corporation Bill, which 
 he most strenuously opposed. That speech revived 
 the drooping spirits of the Tories. Sir Robert 
 Peel's concession of the principle of the bill, coupled 
 with his doubtful conduct on various questions 
 for some time past, had well nigh caused them to 
 resign themselves to despair, both as regarded 
 their cause and their very existence as a party ; 
 and as matters had reached a crisis, they looked 
 around for a new leader who " would go the whole 
 hog." The speech of Sir Richard Vyvyan was of
 
 150 SIR RICHARD VYVVAX. 
 
 a character which, with his respectable debating 
 talents, could not fail to make them turn their 
 eyes towards him. He was for boldly and reso- 
 lutely contesting every inch with the enemy. The 
 smallest concession to them he denounced as treason 
 to the Constitution. Sir Robert Peel was always 
 anxious to see his way clearly ; Sir Richard was 
 prepared to rush blindly forward, utterly regard- 
 less of consequences. The ultra Tories therefore, 
 had, in the middle of July, come to the determi- 
 nation of enlisting themselves under the leadership 
 of Sir Richard, and renouncing all connexion with 
 Sir Robert, when, all of a sudden, a new light 
 broke in on the latter right hon. gentleman. He 
 began to " guess," as an American would say, that 
 the Lords would either so mangle the Municipal 
 Corporation Reform Bill, as to compel the Com- 
 mons to reject it, or that the Tithes Bill, tacked as 
 the Appropriation Bill was to it, would be rejected 
 altogether; and he saw, as the consequences, the 
 resignation of Lord Melbourne's Ministry, the 
 return of the Tories to power, and the dissolution 
 of Parliament. The card, therefore, which he had 
 now to play, was again to right himself with his 
 party, and, with this view, he once more affected a 
 boundless zeal for them and their cause. His mo- 
 tion for the division of the Tithes and Appro-
 
 SIR RICHARD VYVVAN. 151 
 
 priation Bills, and his speech on that occasion, of 
 nearly four hours' duration, had the intended effect. 
 Sir Richard was shelved, at least for a time, and 
 Sir Robert again became the acknowledged cham- 
 pion of the Tory host. 
 
 Sir Richard Vyvyan is a man of middle size. 
 He is slenderly and delicately made. His counte- 
 nance has something of a pensive cast about it, and 
 his complexion is rather sallow. He is only in his 
 thirty-fourth year. He is a good speaker. His 
 periods are rounded, and his voice and manner 
 pleasant. He speaks with much fluency, and, 
 occasionally, with considerable effect ; but I doubt 
 if he have the energy of character and versatility 
 of talent necessary to constitute an efficient leader 
 of his party.
 
 152 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 THE NEUTRAL PARTY. 
 
 LORD STANLEY — SIR JAMES GRAHAM — MR. F. G. 
 YOUNG MR. ROBINSON — MR. WALTER. 
 
 At the beginning of the last session the Neutral 
 Party, or the " Section,"" as Mr. 0''Connell face- 
 tiously termed it, in consequence of Lord Stanley 
 having one evening spoken of the place whence he 
 addressed the House, as a section of the House, — 
 was one of considerable importance both as to talent 
 and numbers. It was difficult to estimate its num- 
 bers with any degree of accuracy at the time, be- 
 cause some who belonged to it pretended to be the 
 supporters of the Whigs; and others identified 
 themselves with it only until they should see whe- 
 ther the Tory or Liberal interest would triumph 
 in the House. By some it was supposed that, dur- 
 ing the first four weeks of the session, the Neutral 
 ])arty numbered from thirty to forty adherents. Be 
 this as it may, the number soon began to dwindle
 
 LORD STANLEY. 153 
 
 down to a mere handful, and before the end of 
 July, though some hon. members still claimed the 
 credit of strict neutrality between Whigs and 'J'o- 
 ries, the party was virtually extinct. The great 
 body of them went openly over to the Tories, not 
 by their speeches and votes only, but even as re- 
 garded their seats in the house. At first, and for 
 three or four months, tlie majority of the Neutrals 
 sat at the farthest end of the Ministerial side of the 
 House — that part better known in the old house as 
 the cross or neutral benches ; but eventually they 
 went over to the Tory or Opposition side, and, with 
 one or two exceptions, took their seats amongst the 
 most ultra of the Tory members. Still, two or 
 three of them, on particular occasions, have since 
 then voted with Government, and in opposition to 
 their own party. 
 
 The leading members of the Neutral party are 
 Lord Stanley, Sir James Graham, Mr. F.G.Young, 
 Mr. Robinson, and Mr. Walter. 
 
 Lord Stanley, eldest son of the Earl of Derby, 
 is a young man. He is only in his thirty-fifth year. In 
 person he is rather above the middle size ; his com- 
 plexion is fair, and his hair red. There is something 
 peculiar in the conformation of his face. His eyes are 
 small and have a blintering appearance, but are full 
 of expression. I forget which of the ancient philoso- 
 h3
 
 "154 LORD STANLEY^ 
 
 phers it was who said that the eyes are the windows 
 of the soul : the remark holds pre-eminently true in 
 the case of Lord Stanley. His eyes indicate much of 
 that mental acuteness and hot and hasty tempera- 
 ment which are so characteristic of the man. When 
 rising to reply to some personal attack, I have 
 often seen them flashing with such visible indigna- 
 tion, and so indicative of the tumultuous passions 
 which agitated his bosom, that the dullest phy- 
 siognomist could not have mistaken the nature of 
 the speech about to be delivered. His face is 
 round but small, and full of primness. There is 
 nothing particularly intellectual in its general ex- 
 pression. He seems always out of temper, and his 
 countenance does not in this respect do him injus- 
 tice. The least thing excites and irritates him. I 
 do not recollect that he ever made a single speech 
 of any length, and on any subject of importance, 
 without betraying more or less of that ill-temper 
 by which he is characterized. He cannot separate 
 the person from his principles or arguments. In 
 attacking the latter, he invariably attacks the 
 former also. He possesses however, this redeeming 
 qualitv, that the moment he has resumed his seat 
 he ceases to entertain any unfriendly feeling towards 
 the person of whom he may have spoken so harshly. 
 He is not vindictive ; he does not cherish rooted
 
 LOKD STANLF.r. lo5 
 
 resentments, excepting iti cases of peculiar provo- 
 cation. On the contrary, when the excitement of 
 the moment is over, he is fully sensible of, and 
 deeply regrets his infirmity of temper. It is well 
 understood among, the members of the House of 
 Commons, that for weeks and months after his 
 celebrated speech on his secession from the Grey 
 Administration, when he accused the Government 
 of which he had been four years a member, of 
 thimble-rig, or legerdemain practices, — he most 
 deeply regretted the indiscretion, and the wretched 
 taste and still more reprehensible feeling which 
 the lanofuao;e he then made use of evinced ; and it 
 is equally well known, that, soon after, he wrote a 
 letter to Earl Grey, expressive of his hearty con- 
 cern that he should have given utterance to such 
 language, and begging the noble Earl to accept 
 his most sincere apology for it. As no man is 
 more severe or pointed in his allusions to others, 
 so no man smarts more sensibly, or is more im- 
 patient, under the castigation of an opponent. And 
 when thus agonizing under the sarcasms or ridicule 
 of an adversary, his usual practice is to sit with 
 his head almost buried between his knees, under 
 the pretext of reading some Parliamentary Papers. 
 At intervals, when touched on some peculiarly sen- 
 sitive part, he rises and interrupts the member who
 
 156 LORD STANLEY. 
 
 is speaking, even when strictly in order and using the 
 most temperate language. This habit has grown much 
 on him of late. Formerly it was confined to allusions 
 to himself or to his arguments ; now it is extended 
 to anything contrary to his opinions, even though he 
 has taken no part in the debate, if he chance to be 
 in an unusually irascible mood at the tfme of these 
 improper interruptions. He was often on this ac- 
 count called to order in the course of last session. 
 
 Lord Stanley is a most dexterous debater. He is 
 remarkably quick in detecting the weak points of 
 an adversary, and equally happy and effective in 
 exposing them. He is one of the most fluent 
 speakers in the house ; always correct, often elo- 
 quent in his language. His great defect as a de- 
 bater, is a frequent repetition of the same thing. 
 I have knoAvn liim in the course of eight or ten 
 minutes, repeat the same argument three or four 
 times. If he do not reach the highest flights of 
 genius; if there be nothing in his ideas which 
 startle you by their originality or brilliancy, or 
 Avhich, whether right or wrong, carries you away 
 captive wherever he chooses to lead you, so, on the 
 other hand, he never descends to common-places. 
 You are always pleased with him: you cannot but 
 admire his acuteness, and though not perhaps con- 
 vinced that he is on the right side of the question.
 
 LOUD STAMLEY. 157 
 
 yet you cannot satisfactorily and immediately an- 
 swer him. His forte lies in reply. He does not 
 appear to advantage in making a set and carefully 
 prepared speech ; in that case, he is deficient in 
 his usual animation and energy of manner. He 
 acquits himself best when he rises on the spur of 
 the moment, and under strong feelings of excite- 
 ment; for it singularly enough happens, that the 
 more he is excited, the acuter and happier does he 
 become in his replies. His voice is clear and sweet : 
 it has something of a tenor tone. His enunciation 
 is correct and pleasing, though unusually rapid. 
 He never hesitates, and very seldom recals a word 
 to replace it by a better. His ideas flow on him 
 much faster than he can give them utterance. He 
 does not use much gesticulation. He has generally 
 a roll of paper in his right hand, with which, at 
 short intervals, after raising it as high as his head, 
 he pats the palm of his left. 
 
 I never knew a man who fell in the estimation 
 of the House so rapidly as Lord Stanley has lately 
 done. When a member of Earl Grey's Ministry, 
 he commanded the respect and homage of all par- 
 ties. His influence and popularity, even with those 
 who differed from him in political opinion, were 
 very great. Though he spoke much more fre- 
 quently than any other member, with the single
 
 158 SIR JAMES GRAHAM. 
 
 exception, perhaps, of Lord Althorp and Mr. 
 Hume, the House never shewed the least indispo- 
 sition to hear him; on the contrary, all was anxiety 
 and attention whenever he rose. The same feeling 
 was entertained to him for some time after his seces- 
 sion from Lord Grey's Government, because he got 
 credit for being actuated by conscientiDus scruples 
 in taking that step. The first thing that damaged 
 him was the " thimble-rig'' speech, as it has since 
 been called, to which I have already alluded. Since 
 then he has been gradually losing his importance, 
 and is now comparatively nothing. How different 
 the Lord Stanley of 1835, from the Mr. Stanley 
 of 1833 •' " Oh ! how fallen !" 
 
 Sir James Graham is in much the same posi- 
 tion as Lord Stanley, He seceded from Earl 
 Grey's Government at the same time, and from the 
 same cause, and has adopted the same line of con- 
 duct ever since, as Lord Stanley. They not only 
 share in each other's sentiments on political ques- 
 tions, and have of late pursued the same line of 
 conduct, but they are bosom friends. They are 
 always to be seen together when in the house — ge- 
 nerally speak on the same questions — and, however 
 many nights the debate may chance to be ad- 
 journed, they also, in most cases, speak on the same 
 night. They are brothers in adversity ? and seem
 
 SIR JAMES GRAHAM. 159 
 
 resolved to stick close to each other in their re- 
 verses. Sir James Graham is one of the stoutest 
 men in the house. Washington Irving might liave 
 applied to him, with great propriety, the epithet of 
 " stout gentleman." I should think he must weigh 
 a full half stone more than any other member in the 
 house. He is well made ; has a fine full round face, 
 and appears in excellent health. His complexion is 
 ruddy, and his hair dark. His apostacy from his 
 former principles is more marked than even that of 
 Lord Stanley, inasmuch as he was much more liberal 
 — ^radical would be a better word — than that noble 
 Lord. Some of the speeches he delivered in August 
 1830, immediately after the French revolution, 
 were the most violent that ever escaped the lips of 
 an Englishman. Dr. Wade's Radicalism, compared 
 with them, was moderation itself. And even so late 
 as 1832, on the struggle immediately preceding the 
 passing of the Reform Bill, the Cumberland Ba- 
 ronet was so furious and extreme in his Liberalism 
 as to be the god of the idolatry of the Radicals. 
 All at once, however, he went over to the Tory 
 party, whom he now supports with as much ardour 
 as he formerly displayed on the other side. He 
 is a man of superior, though certainly not of first- 
 rate talent. He is generally clear in his reason- 
 ings, and can make out a plausible case. His
 
 160 SIR JAMES GRAHAM. 
 
 style is plain and perspicuous, with very little orna- 
 ment. His manner of delivery is rapid and easy. 
 His voice has something of a hard sound, and 
 yet is by no means unpleasant. It is equable in 
 its tones ; there is hardly ever the slightest varia- 
 tion in it, whatever be the subject. His enuncia- 
 tion is distinct, and his action unpretending. In- 
 deed he has very little gesticulation of any kind. 
 He is always on remarkably good terms with 
 himself, and hardly concealed from his friends that 
 he entertained the conviction, that his secession 
 from the Grey Ministry would be the sealing of 
 its doom. He probably fancied that his Atlasian 
 shoulders bore the heavy load, and that the moment 
 he withdrew from it, down it would come in a mass 
 of ruins. His present position is a most unpleasant 
 one to himself. He is mortified beyond measure at 
 his exclusion from office ; not that he would accept 
 a seat in the Cabinet of Lord Melbourne, with its 
 Church Property Appropriation principles : but it 
 is to him incomprehensible, and galling in the 
 highest degree, that the Melbourne Administration 
 should not, by the power of his eloquence, have 
 been long since scattered to the winds of heaven, 
 " leaving not a wreck behind,"" and a new one 
 formed under his and Lord Stanley's auspices. Sir 
 James is in his forty-third year.
 
 MR. F. G. YOUKG. 161 
 
 Mr. F. G. Young, the member for Tynemouth, 
 though not ostensibly identifying himself with the 
 Stanley party, co-operated with them during the 
 greater part of last Session. No man prides himself 
 more on his independence, nor does any member so 
 frequently boast of his being an " independent man." 
 It must be admitted there is much truth in the 
 boast ; for he is to be seen by turns voting on every 
 side of the House; sometimes with Lord Melbourne's 
 Government, on what are called party questions, 
 though perhaps oftener against them. In the first 
 part of last session, and until near its close, he 
 joined the " Section"'"' in supporting PeeVs Ministry 
 on the Church Property Appropriation question ; 
 but having had occasion to visit Ireland for two or 
 three weeks in June, and being convinced, from 
 what fell under his own observation when there, 
 that the existing distribution of Church Property 
 in Ireland was a fruitful source of her evils and 
 misery, he manfully retracted his former opinions, 
 and openly and cordially supported Lord Mel- 
 bourne"'s Government in their Irish Church and 
 Tithes Bills. 
 
 Mr. Young is a good-looking man. His face is 
 full of intelligence, and his speeches show that he is 
 well-informed. In person he is above the middle 
 size. He is about forty years of age ; his hair is
 
 102 MR. F. G. YOUVG. 
 
 dark, and his complexion fair. He speaks often ; 
 but his ablest displays are on subjects connected 
 with Free Trade and the Shipping Interests. He is 
 a decided advocate for commercial restrictions in our 
 intercourse with foreign countries. His statistical 
 details are given with remarkable clearness, even in 
 cases of a very complicated nature, and his reason- 
 ings are close, though sometimes his ideas are 
 overloaded \vith verbiage. He is one of the most 
 rapid speakers I ever heard, and yet his language 
 is correct, though not in the strict sense of the 
 term, eloquent. He speaks with much ease, and 
 notwithstanding the amazing rapidity of his utter- 
 ance, scarcely ever has to recall a word to replace 
 it by a better. No reporter can follow him ; he 
 speaks so very rapidly, as sometimes to pronounce 
 four or five words as if all one word. In the session 
 of 1834, I recollect hearing him, when addressing 
 the House on a motion he had brought forward rela- 
 tive to the shipping interests, pronounce the words 
 *' Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Russia," as if one 
 word, and certainly in as short a time as an ordi- 
 nary speaker would take to pronounce one of them. 
 His voice is clear and distinct. It has a tenor tone, 
 and is remarkable for its equability. He has no 
 command over it ; whatever be the subject, he 
 speaks in the same key. He is a pleasant speaker.
 
 MR. ROBINSON. 163 
 
 and is listened to with attention by the House. He 
 is a man of respectable talents, and is an expert 
 debater ; but he has no large or comprehensive 
 views of any great question ; nor does he ever give 
 utterance to any striking or original ideas. He 
 sits with the Tories on the Opposition side of the 
 House. 
 
 Mr. Robinson, the member for Worcester, is 
 chiefly known by his peculiar notions and speeches 
 on the question of a Property Tax. He makes 
 an annual motion for a Select Committee to in- 
 quire into the expediency and propriety of substi- 
 tuting a Property Tax in the place of our present 
 system of taxation. On this question he is quite 
 at home, and goes through intricate details con- 
 nected with it with great ease and facility. He also 
 takes part on subjects bearing on the question of 
 Free Trade ; but does not often speak on the more 
 general topics which come before the House. In 
 person he is about the middle size. His hair is 
 dark, and his complexion somewhat sallow. He 
 is of a full round face, having a tendency to cor- 
 pulency. He has been a long time in Parliament. 
 His age is about forty-five. He is not an attractive 
 speaker; his matter is heavy, and his manner wants 
 animation. He does not command much attention 
 n the House. When he brings forward the ques-
 
 164 MU. WALTER. 
 
 tion of a Property Tax, he has generally to address 
 himself to empty benches. His audience, if " fit," 
 are " few :"" they seldom exceed fifty or sixty. When 
 he brought forward his annual motion last session, 
 there were not more than forty or fifty members 
 present. His speeches on these occasions usually 
 occupy from two to three hours in the delivery. 
 He is one of the many orators in the House whose 
 ears are never regaled with the sweet music of a 
 cheer. Since the re-accession of Lord Melbourne 
 to power, Mr. Robinson has sat on the Opposition 
 side of the House, amidst his Tory friends. 
 
 Mr. Walter, member for Berkshire, is hardly 
 entitled to notice on account of his parliamentary 
 status ; but his lengthened connexion with the 
 Times newspaper, and the influence he was known 
 to exercise over the line of politics that journal 
 pursued, taken in conjunction with the circum- 
 stance of his having altered his line of conduct in 
 Parliament, at the same time as it changed his poli- 
 tics, — has brought his name somewhat prominently 
 before the public of late. He is considerably ad- 
 vanced in life, being now in his sixty-first year. 
 He is a man of venerable appearance, and is about 
 the middle size. Considering his age, he looks 
 well : his hair is white, and his complexion fair. 
 He speaks very seldom, and when he does so it is
 
 MR. WALTER. 165 
 
 only for a few minutes at a time. His voice has 
 something of a harsh and husky tone ; he makes no 
 attempt at fine speaking. His style is plain and 
 clear, and his manner unassuming. He scarcely 
 uses any gesture. His matter has generally the 
 merit of being impregnated with much good sense, 
 but there is nothing striking or original about it. 
 He is a man of excellent private character, and is 
 much respected by all who know him. In his ca- 
 pacity of a country magistrate, he has done infinite 
 good for the poor. He was the last of the Neutral 
 party who forsook the ministerial side of the house 
 after the accession of the present Government. It 
 was this circumstance that led Mr. O'Connell, on 
 the second reading of the Irish Church Bill, to make 
 his singularly happy quotation of part of a popular 
 song as applicable to Mr. Walter, which made so 
 much noise at the time. Mr. O'Connell, looking on 
 the Ministerial side for Mr. Walter, but not seeing 
 him there, was about to express his regret that he 
 was not in the house, when, on casting his eye on 
 the Opposition side, he observed him sitting in the 
 midst of his " Neutral" friends ; on which he ex- 
 claimed in his own inimitable style, " Oh, the 
 honourable member has also gone over ! While 
 sitting by himself on this (the Ministerial) side of
 
 166 MR. WALTER. 
 
 the house, he was 'like the last rose of Suva- 
 
 mer"* " — (Shouts of laughter). 
 
 " Like the last rose of summer left blooming' alone, 
 All its lovely companions being faded and gone." 
 
 It is impossible to convey any idea of the effect 
 which this produced. Mr, Walter's personal friends 
 could not refrain from joining in the loud peals of 
 laughter which burst from all parts of the house, 
 and even he himself enjoyed the harmless but 
 happy raillery. After that morning, for the cir- 
 cumstance occurred at three o'clock, he resumed his 
 seat, till the end of the Session, on the Ministerial 
 side : whether this was the effect of Mr. O'Con- 
 nell's felicitous allusion, or whether Mr Walter had 
 only that evening gone over to the Tory side of 
 the house by accident, I cannot say.
 
 167 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE LIBERAL PARTY.— LATE MEMBERS. 
 
 MR. HENRY HUNT — MR. THOMAS MACAULAY — LORD 
 ALTHORP — MR. CHARLES GRANT— MR. ROBERT 
 GRANT — MR. JEFFREY — COLONEL TORRENS — 
 MR. COBBETT. 
 
 I BEGIN with Mr. Hunt, because he was the 
 first of those I am about to name that ceased to be 
 a member of the House of Commons. His parlia- 
 mentary career was short : it only extended to two 
 sessions. It commenced at a time it might natu- 
 rally have been least expected, and closed when it 
 might rather have been expected to begin. He was 
 chosen by the electors of Preston before Parlia- 
 ment was reformed ; when reform was carried into 
 effect, he was not re-elected by them, nor chosen by 
 any other constituency. He was altogether a sin- 
 gular man. It is no easy matter to give a satis- 
 factory estimate of his character. He had some- 
 thing of the caprice of Mr, Cobbett, and a good 
 deal of his irritable temper ; but in intellect or 
 information he could not be for a moment com-
 
 168 MR. HUNT. 
 
 pared witli the member for Oldham. Mr. Hunt 
 was not a man of much mind. He was unfitted for 
 grappling with any great question. He never took 
 an original view of any subject ; and was altogether 
 incapable of close and ingenious reasoning. He 
 held certain pi'inciples of the most liberal kind, 
 and had at his fingers"' ends most of the principal 
 arguments which other persons had urged in their 
 favour. When these were exhausted, so were his 
 means of vindicating his principles. His style was 
 not good ; it was rough and disjointed. What he 
 excelled in was ready wit : he had few equals in 
 this respect. All parties in the house, not even ex" 
 cepting the most ultra-radicals themselves, laboured 
 hard to cough him down whenever he attempted to 
 speak. It was on these occasions that he generally 
 gave the most striking proofs of his wit. Nothing 
 could disconcert him : the greater the uproar his 
 rising to speak caused in the house, the more did 
 he enjoy it. That was to him a luxury of the most 
 exquisite kind. The fact was, he had been formed 
 for scenes of confusion, and had all his life long 
 been accustomed to them at the meetings of his 
 Radical disciples ; hence they came to him quite 
 naturally. In many of his repartees there was great 
 point. One honourable member, on one occasion 
 when Mr. Hunt was speaking, was unusually pei*-
 
 Mil. HUNT. 169 
 
 severing in his efforts to cough him down. Mr. 
 Hunt cured the honourable gentleman of his cough 
 by one short sentence, which, delivered as it was 
 with infinite dramatic effect, created universal 
 laughter, Mr. Hunt put his hand into his panta- 
 loons'' pocket, and after fumbling about for a few 
 seconds, said with the utmost imaginable coolness, 
 that he was extremely sorry to find that he had not 
 a few lozenges in his pocket for the benefit of the 
 honourable member, who seemed to be so distressed 
 with the cough, but he could assure him he would 
 provide some for him by next night. Never did 
 doctor prescribe more effectually : not only did Mr. 
 Hunt's tormentor from that moment get rid of his 
 cough, but it never returned, at least while Mr. 
 Hunt was speaking. 
 
 His manner was as bad as his diction. It had no 
 gracefulness in it. His gesture was awkward, and 
 his voice was harsh and croaking. The bad effect 
 produced by the latter was aggravated by a strongly 
 marked provincial accent. 
 
 In bodily stature he was tall and corpulent. His 
 person was clumsily formed ; at any rate it appeared 
 so ; but this may have been partly owing to a care- 
 lessness in his dress. His face, like his body, was 
 fat and large. He had a double chin. His com- 
 plexion was fair, with a fresh, healthy glow about it. 
 I
 
 170 MR. MACAULAY. 
 
 He had light hair, and, though sixty years of age, 
 at the time of which I am speaking, had not the 
 slightest baldness. He died in two or three years 
 after he ceased to be a member. He was regular 
 in his attendance on his legislative duties ; and I 
 have no doubt, that at his time of life, and with 
 his corpulency of frame, that circumstance hastened 
 his days. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Macaulay, late member for Leeds, 
 and now a Member of Council in India, could boast 
 of a brilliant, if not a very long parliamentary career. 
 He was one of those men who at once raised himself 
 to the first ranic in the Senate. His maiden speech 
 electrified the House, and called forth the highest 
 compliments to the speaker from men of all parties. 
 He was careful to preserve the laurels he had thus 
 so easily and suddenly won. He was a man of 
 shrewd mind, and knew that if he spoke often, 
 the probability was, he would not speak so well ; 
 and that consequently there could be no more likely 
 means of lowering him from the elevated station to 
 which he had raised himself, than frequently ad- 
 dressing the House. In this he was quite right, 
 for he had no talents for extempore speaking. I 
 have seen him attempt it — only, however, when 
 forced to it by the situation he held under Govern- 
 ment — on several occasions ; but in every such in-
 
 MR, MACAU LAY. 171 
 
 stance, he acquitted himself very indifferently. He 
 never made above three or four speeches in the 
 course of a Session — sometimes not so many, — and 
 these were always on questions involving some great 
 principle of politics or justice, and which com- 
 manded deep and universal attention at the time. 
 His speeches were always most carefully studied, 
 and committed to memory, exactly as he delivered 
 them, beforehand. He bestowed a world of labour 
 on their pi'eparation ; and, certainly, never was 
 labour bestowed to more purpose. In every sen- 
 tence you saw the man of genius — the profound 
 scholar— the deep thinker — the close and powerful 
 reasoner. You scarcely knew which most to admire 
 ■ — the beauty of his ideas, or of the language in 
 which they were clothed. His diction was faultless ; 
 his matter was strongly embued with the • spirit of 
 what, for want of a better expression, I would call 
 the poetry of philosophy. He was, in this respect, 
 the same man in the house as he was when penning 
 such articles for the Edinburgh Revieiv as his cele- 
 brated one on the genius and writings of JMilton. 
 He was an excellent speaker withal — not forcible or 
 vehement, carrying you away, as it were, by force; 
 but seducing you, taking you a willing captive, 
 if I may so speak, by his dulcet tones and engag- 
 ing manner, wherever he chose to go. Time after 
 i2
 
 172 LORD ALTHORP. 
 
 time has the House listened to him as if en- 
 tranced. 
 
 His personal appearance is prepossessing. In 
 stature he is about the middle size, and well formed. 
 His eyes are of a deep blue, and have a very intel- 
 ligent expression. His complexion is dark, and 
 his hair of a beautiful jet black. His face is rather 
 inclined to the oval form. His features are small 
 and regular. He is now in the thirty-eighth year 
 of his age. 
 
 Lord Althokp, now Earl Spencer, was the 
 leader of the House of Commons during the whole 
 period of the existence of Earl Grey's Ministry, 
 and also during the short duration of the first 
 Administration of Lord Melbourne. He was one 
 of the worst speakers in the House, and it was the 
 subject of general wonder, notwithstanding his 
 excellent private character, and the influence and 
 respectability of his family connexions, that he 
 should ever have been put forward as the leader of 
 the Ministerial party. It was a truly melancholy 
 spectacle to see him vindicating Government, when, 
 in the progress of the Irish Coercion Bill of 1833 
 through the House, that Government was assailed 
 by Messrs. O'Connell, Shiel, and other members 
 of the Radical party. He was a mere plaything 
 in their hands. He could not put three or four
 
 LORD ALTHORP. 173 
 
 sentences together Avithout stammering, and re- 
 calling his words over and over again, and even 
 when he had given his sentences the last touch, 
 there was as much room for improvement as ever. 
 He was not a man of very great mental capacity. 
 His information was not extensive; nor was he 
 capable of turning to good account the little stock 
 he possessed. He had a tolerably sound judgment, 
 which made him generally take the common-sense 
 view of a subject ; and I have sometimes been 
 struck with the cleverness of some of his replies 
 to an opponent ; but then the effect was sure to be 
 marred by the way in which he stammered out the 
 reply. He never gave birth to an original idea in 
 his life ; nor did he ever utter an eloquent expres- 
 sion. Still, with all his faults as a speaker, he 
 was much esteemed by men of all parties in the 
 House. He was so excessively good-natured, so 
 simple and inoffensive in his manner, that it was 
 impossible for any one, however much he might 
 differ from him in sentiment, not to respect him. 
 Nothing could make him lose his temper. In the 
 most violent altercations, and greatest scenes of 
 uproar and confusion that took place in the house, 
 there he stood, motionless as a statue, — his face 
 shadowing forth the most perfect placidnessof mind. 
 His articulation was slow, and he always spoke
 
 174 LORD ALTHORP. 
 
 in ao low a tone, that it was often impossible to 
 hear him at any distance. Never did the reporters 
 represent any member as being " very imperfectly 
 heard in the gallery," with greater truth than they 
 did him. No class of persons could have greater 
 reason to rejoice at his elevation to^the Peerage 
 than they had. It was often matter of surprise how 
 they were able to give reports of his speeches at all. 
 That they were able to do it so correctly, showed 
 their quickness of perception and their general in- 
 telligence. In personal appearance Lord Althorp 
 is short and corpulent. His frame is remarkably 
 compact, and must, one would think, be capable 
 of enduring great fatigue. He is pot-bellied, and 
 unusually round in the face. His complexion is 
 florid. He has all the indications of good health 
 about him. In the expression of his countenance 
 there is nothing remarkable ; it is soft and stu- 
 pid-like, rather than shrewd or intelligent. He 
 usually wears a black coat, cassimere breeches, 
 and a light cassimere waistcoat. The latter is 
 always double-breasted, and in the hottest weather, 
 when other members were within a few degrees of 
 suffocation, he was, when in the House of Commons, 
 invariably buttoned up close to his chin, just as if 
 he had been wintering in the neighbourhood of the 
 North Pole. His appearance altogether is exactly
 
 MK. CHARLES GRANT. 175 
 
 that of a farmer, and his manners are remarkable 
 for their unaffected simplicity. He looks younger 
 than he is, his age being fifty-three. 
 
 Mr. Charlks Grant, now Lord Glenelg, 
 was a person of considerable consequence in the 
 House, both because of his being a member of the 
 Cabinet, and because of his qualifications for 
 speaking. Few members could make a better 
 speech, when he prepared himself for the occasion. 
 His reasoning was always ingenious and close, and 
 ys diction elegant^-ofttimes poetical.* From be- 
 ginning to end it was a pure, copious, uninterrupted 
 flow of eloquence. There is something very sweet 
 in his voice, though it be weak. His speeches 
 were always listened to with the deepest attention, 
 and hardly ever without the highest gratification, 
 by the House. His utterance is rapid, but re- 
 markably fluent. His gesture is graceful, and his 
 
 * Mr. Charles Grant is a poet, though not generally known 
 as such. When at the University of Cambridge in 1806, he 
 published a poem on the " Restoration of Learning in the 
 East," which, considering that he was then a very young 
 man, held out the most confident promises of future emi- 
 nence as a poet. He did not, however, cultivate the poetic 
 vein as he ought to have done. Indeed, after quitting Cam- 
 bridge, he neglected it altogether, in so far as p<iblication 
 was concerned, though he is still understood to pay homage 
 to the Muses in his more leisure moments.
 
 176 MR. ROBEIIT GRANT. 
 
 manner altogether dif^nified and winning. His 
 personal stature is that of the usual size ; his form 
 is slender. He is careless in his dress ; his appai'el 
 is always of the best quality, but is hardly ever 
 tolerably made. He seems to be one of those who 
 like plenty of room in their clothes. _ His face is 
 angular ; his complexion is one of the fairest I 
 ever saw, and his hair is white as the purest 
 snow. His countenance has a very thoughtful ex- 
 pression. There are few men of a more studious 
 disposition, though he spoke so seldom in the 
 house. Though he does not go to bed before one 
 or two o'clock, he generally rises at six. He is in 
 his fifty-second year. 
 
 Mr. Robert Grant, formerly Judge Advocate, 
 and member for Finsbury (now Governor of Bom- 
 bay), is a brother of Mr. Charles Grant. He is 
 an excellent speaker, and a man of great talents ; 
 but very indolent. He would only speak when the 
 duties of his office compelled him to it. With the 
 single exception of his speeches when prefacing 
 his annual motion for the last few years for the 
 emancipation of the Jews, he made few speeches 
 latterly of any importance. His language, like his 
 brother"'s, was always chaste and eloquent, and his 
 manner graceful. He spoke with much fluency, 
 and when prepared for the occasion, had hardly
 
 MR. JEFFREY. 177 
 
 ever to recall a word. When, however, he was 
 under the necessity of speaking extempore, I have 
 often seen him have great difficulty in getting 
 through his speech in a tolerably creditable man- 
 ner. His voice is highly musical, and capable of 
 being modulated at pleasure. In person he is 
 about the same lieight as his brother, but of a 
 more robust constitution. His complexion is ruddy, 
 his face full, and his hair of a pure white. Like his 
 brother, he is a man of spotless private character, 
 and was much respected by men of all parties. He 
 is in his fiftieth year. 
 
 Mr. FiiAXCis Jeffrey,* then Lord Advocate 
 of Scotland, was first returned to Parliament in 
 1831 for the burgh of Mai ton ; afterwards he was 
 twice elected for the city of Edinburgh. I never 
 knew a parliamentary debiit which was regarded 
 with greater or more general interest, or respecting 
 the success of which more confident expectations 
 were entertained. He had, by means of the Edin- 
 burgh Review, which he had conducted from its 
 commencement, not only brought about a complete 
 revolution in periodical criticism, but had given 
 a tone to the literature of the nineteenth century. 
 He was called the Prince of Critics, and his criti- 
 cal supremacy was universally acknowledged. Some 
 * Now one of the Judges of the Court of Session, 
 
 i3
 
 178 MR. JEFFREY. 
 
 of his compositions — his articles on Taste, for ex- 
 ample, which were written in reply to the Rev. 
 Archibald Allison, were admitted by every compe- 
 tent judge to be the most beautiful specimens of 
 writing which had appearedin the English language. 
 The parliamentary debut, therefore, of a man who 
 had performed so distinguished a part T5n the lite- 
 rary stage, and who was still regarded as unrivalled 
 in periodical criticism, could not fail to excite very 
 deep and general interest ; but that interest was 
 greatly increased by the reputation he had acquired 
 as a lawyer and speaker. At the Scottish bar, and 
 at public meetings in Edinburgh, he knew no com- 
 petitor as a speaker. AVhen it was known that he 
 was to speak at a public meeting on any important 
 question, persons would flock from a circuit of 
 twenty miles to hear him. The Scottish press, 
 knowing Mr. Jeffrey's distinguished reputation 
 in his own country, as a public speaker, never 
 dreamed that he might fail in the House of Com- 
 mons, where the scene would not only be new to 
 him, but where he would have to compete with per- 
 sons possessing first-rate talents as public speakers, 
 which he had never had to do in his own country. 
 Hence the Scotch papers increased the interest 
 with which his maiden effort in St. Stephen's was 
 looked forward to, by paragraphs without number,
 
 MK. JEI FREY. 179 
 
 in which they confidently predicted that lie would 
 not only gratify, but electrify the House, by the 
 brilliancy of his eloquence. It was expected that he 
 would speak on some important question which stood 
 for discussion the second or third night, I do not 
 recollect which, after he took the oaths and his seat. 
 The House was consequently filled in every part, 
 and an unusual number of literary characters were 
 in and under the gallery. In so far as their expec- 
 tations relative to the mere circumstance of the 
 Lord Advocate's speaking on that particular night 
 were concerned, honourable members and strangers 
 were not disappointed ; as regarded the character 
 and effect of his oratory, they were grievously so. 
 He spoke for about an hour and twenty minutes ; 
 but the effort was a complete failure. His matter 
 was refined and philosophical in the highest degree. 
 It was nearly as unintelligible to the majority of 
 his auditory, as if he had spoken some most abstruse 
 article, intended for the Edinburgh Review, in 
 answer to Kant, or some of the other German 
 metaphysicians. Of course, it made no impression, 
 and produced no effect. Then, the amazing rapi- 
 dity of his delivery operated much against tlie 
 speech. I think I never heard a person, either in or 
 out of the House, speak so fast as he did on that 
 occasion. The most experienced short- hand rt-
 
 180 MR. JEFFREY. 
 
 porters were unable to follow him ; they mentioned 
 the circumstance in the papers of the following 
 morning, as a reason for not giving his speech at 
 greater length. Members usually speak at the 
 rate of two columns and a half of the Times news- 
 paper in an hour. Had a verbatim report of what 
 ]\Ir. Jeffrey spoke in an hour, been given in that 
 joui'nal, it would have filled four of its columns. 
 Yet notwithstanding the rapidity with which Mr. 
 Jeffrey spoke on this occasion, he never so much 
 as faltered once, nor recalled a word which he 
 uttered, to substitute one more suitable for it. His 
 laneuaffe indeed was fluent and elegant in the 
 extreme. His manner, too, was graceful, but it 
 wanted variety. His voice was clear and pleasant ; 
 but it had no flexibility in its intonations. He 
 continued and ended in much the same tones as 
 he began. The same monotony characterized his 
 gesticulation. He was cheered to some extent ; 
 but the applause was not so general, nor cordial, 
 nor frequent, as to indicate a successful debut. In 
 fact, he himself saw his maiden effort was a failure, 
 and that there was all the difference in the world 
 between the House of Commons, and the Waterloo 
 Hotel, or Law-courts of Edinburgh. He never 
 after volunteered a speech of any length. When 
 he spoke, it was only when forced to it by his
 
 COLONEL TORRENS. 181 
 
 office, and then always as briefly as possible. Lat- 
 terly, he excited no more interest in the house than 
 the least talented member. It was a great pity for 
 his oratorical fame that he ever entered the house 
 at all. 
 
 In person, Mr. Jeffrey is below the middle size, 
 and slenderly made. There is something of a 
 thoughtful expression in his countenance. His face 
 is small and compact, rather, if any thing, inclining 
 to the angular form. His eye-lashes are prominent. 
 His forehead is remarkably low, considering the 
 intellectual character of the man. His complexion 
 is dark, and his hair black. He quitted parliament 
 last year. His age is about fifty. 
 
 Colonel ToRRENs, late member for Bolton, was 
 many years in the House of Commons. The prin- 
 cipal cause of his rejection by his former consti- 
 tuents, at the last election, was his not " going 
 the whole hog," as the phrase now is among the 
 Radical party. He was one out of many candi- 
 dates who, at that election, fell between the ex- 
 treme parties; the Ultra-Radicals on the one hand, 
 and the Ultra-Tories on the other. It is a curious 
 anomaly, but it is a fact, that in various instances 
 at the last election, and at the one which preceded 
 it, Radicals voted for Tory candidates in pre- 
 ference to the Whig candidates, and Tories for
 
 182 COLONEL TORRENS. 
 
 Radical candidates, in preference to the Whig 
 candidates. And, if I do not much mistake the 
 signs of the times, there will be many much more 
 striking illustrations, in this respect, of extremes 
 meeting, in the course of a few years. As a party, 
 the Whigs, if not already extinct, are on a fair 
 way of being so. There will, ere long, be no mo- 
 derate or middle party ; the Senate and the country 
 will both be divided into two great parties — the 
 Conservative and the Movement. Colonel Torrens, 
 I believe, speaks feelingly on this subject. He is 
 convinced that it will no longer do to ground his 
 pretensions to the honour of representing any con- 
 stituency on the principles of the old Whig school. 
 He will argue from his own experience — generally 
 a most convincing species of logic to one's-self, 
 whatever it may be to others — that if a man would 
 entertain any rational jiope of being elected by any 
 body of electors, where no personal considerations 
 are allowed to weigh with those exercising the elec- 
 tive franchise, — he must be one thing or another ; 
 either a Tory, or a Liberal in the most liberal 
 acceptation of the term. 
 
 But the gallant Colonel's exclusion from Par- 
 liament, under the peculiar circumstances of the 
 case, has led me into a slight digression. He was 
 a man of some status in the House. He possesses
 
 COLONEL TORKENS. 183 
 
 considerable talents, and often made very effective 
 speeches. On all questions relating to the Cur- 
 rency, the Poor Laws, Emigration, and, indeed, 
 Political Economy in general, he is well-informed. 
 There were then, and there are now, but few Mem- 
 bers more intimately conversant with tliese topics. 
 He is a pretty good speaker, but would be a much 
 better, were it not that there is something hard and 
 unmusical about his voice. There is, too, a good 
 deal of affectation and pomposity in his manner, 
 which, of course, cannot be in his favour. He 
 does not hesitate or seem to be at a loss for words 
 wherewith to clothe his ideas, but his style is not 
 very highly polished. He was generally listened 
 to with attention in the House. He was a man of 
 some importance, both on account of his talents, 
 and his being the principal proprietor of the Globe 
 newspaper, whicii was, during the whole period 
 the Grey Ministry were in office, understood to 
 be the accredited organ of that Government. It 
 is generally understood, however, that the gallant 
 Colonel has since disposed of his interest in that 
 journal, and that he has now no further influence 
 over its politics than that which the mere private 
 respect entertained for his character by the con- 
 ductors, may secure to him. Since his comparative 
 retirement from public life, he has partly amused
 
 184' MR. COBBETT. 
 
 himself with his favourite study of political eco- 
 nomy. A few months since he published a large 
 octavo work in vindication of the New Australian 
 Company, of which he is one of the leading Di- 
 rectors, from an attack by a writer in the West- 
 minster Revieiv. 
 
 In person, the gallant Colonel is alSout the usual 
 size. He has a finely proportioned figure, and a 
 high and well-developed forehead. His whole phy- 
 siognomy has an intellectual expression. His com- 
 plexion is fair, and his hair something between a 
 gray and white. He is considerably advanced in 
 life, being near his sixtieth year. The precvu'sors 
 of coming old age are beginning to show themselves. 
 Independently of the colour of his hair, there are 
 slight furrows on his face. He sacrifices a good 
 deal to the Graces. His appearance is gentlemanly 
 and prepossessing. 
 
 I shall conclude my notice of the late members of 
 the Liberal party, with a sketch of one who for the 
 last forty years and upwards, has filled a larger 
 space in the public eye than any other person in the 
 lower or middle ranks of life. I allude to the late 
 Mr. CoBBKTT. I chanced to meet with him in 
 private a few days after the meeting of the Parlia- 
 ment of 1833, and consequently a few days after 
 he had made his legislative debut. Like those sol-
 
 MR. COBBETT. 185 
 
 diers who delight to fight all their battles o'er again, 
 Mr. Cobbett repeated to me, verbatim^ the leading 
 })arts of his maiden speech in the House ; and he 
 did it with a zest and raciness I have never seen 
 surpassed. He mentioned to me, that for the first 
 time in his life he did feel a certain degree of tre- 
 mor, when he first rose to address the House of 
 Commons ; but that it gradually wore off, and 
 that before the conclusion of his speech, he felt 
 almost as much self-possession as he ever did in 
 delivering a public address. He ascribed the cause 
 of his trepidation, partly to the circumstance of 
 his addressing an assembly altogether different 
 in their habits, education, manners, opinions, &c. 
 from any he had ever before addressed ; and partly 
 because he knew that not only the eyes of the 
 House were upon him, but the eyes of the Avhole 
 country ; for, he added, with that egotism which 
 so largely pervades all his writings, that the people 
 of the three kingdoms looked up to him as the only 
 man that could save the country. Hence it will be 
 seen that Mr. Cobbett's egotism was not, as some 
 people supposed, merely affected ; but that he be- 
 lieved he had all the merit he assumed, and also 
 that the nation had as high an opinion of him as he 
 himself entertained. 
 
 Mr. Cobbett was as happy at abusing an oppo-
 
 186 MR. COBBETT. 
 
 nent in private conversation as in his Political 
 Register. Indeed, judging from some specimens 
 he afforded me, I should say he excelled himself, 
 as a writer, in verbal vituperation. Of all the 
 specimens of abuse I ever met with, either written 
 or spoken, his abuse of Mr. Spring Bice, who had 
 one evening incurred his displeasure, by denying 
 in the House tlie truth of some statements he had 
 made, was beyond comparison the richest and most 
 hearty. This was in conversation with me a few 
 days after Mr. Spring Rice had subjected himself 
 to INIr. Cobbett's displeasure. 
 
 In the House of Commons, however, he was not 
 at all in this respect the same man. There, he 
 was, with very few slight exceptions, careful and 
 measured in his language, when replying to an 
 opponent. I attribute this in a great degree to 
 the circumstance of Lord (then Mr.) Stanley hav- 
 ing, soon after Cobbett's admission into Parliament, 
 treated him with very great severity, in conse- 
 quence of some coarse attack he had made on some 
 friend of Mr. Stanley's : for it is a singular fact, 
 that, though Cobbett's very being seemed to be 
 bound up in the practice of indulging in the gross- 
 est vituperation of others, there was no man wlio 
 had a greater dread of being abused in return, than 
 himself.
 
 Mil. COLBETT. 187 
 
 Mr. Cobbet^s manner of speaking strongly re- 
 sembled his mode of writing. His style was always 
 plain, but vigorous. It was all bone and muscle. 
 Every word was in its proper place; and there were 
 no disjointed sentences. I never knew him indulge 
 in a trope or a figure. You would have thought, 
 from the extreme felicity and colloquial character 
 of his language, that he was speaking to some pri- 
 vate friend, instead of addressing " the first assem- 
 bly of gentlemen in the world."" 
 
 His utterance was slow and distinct. Perhaps 
 there was no member in the House whose speeches 
 it was so easy to report. His manner was almost 
 invariably good-humoured and playful. No person 
 who had heard him speak, could ever, without the 
 most convincing proof, have believed that he was 
 the author of the virulent and coarse abuse with 
 which the pages of the Register abounded. His 
 action was moderate and gentle. His voice was 
 clear and pleasant, but was deficient in variety. 
 Occasionally it had a sort of twang about it. He 
 was not a noisy speaker. There was nothing of 
 that energy about him as a speaker which was the 
 leading characteristic, and one of the greatest merits 
 of his writing's. 
 
 One of Mr. Cobbett's sons, in giving an account 
 of his father's death, says he believes he would
 
 188 MR. COBBETT. 
 
 have broken his heart if the people of Oldham had 
 not elected him a second time. I can well credit 
 this ; for, from what he told myself, I have no 
 doubt, that high at all times as was his own esti- 
 mate of his merits and importance, it rose at 
 least fifty per cent, on his being firjit returned to 
 Parliament. He mentioned to me that he had, 
 since the publication, forty years ago, of his Letters 
 under the signature of " Peter Porcupine," been 
 the first man of the age ; but then, he added, it is 
 only now that the people have proved to me that 
 they are of the same opinion. So dignified were 
 his notions of being a member of Parliament, that 
 he thought he had, by his return for Oldham, been 
 elevated to a far higher sphere in society than he 
 had before moved in. There was doubtless some 
 justice in the opinion, though not half so much as 
 he thought. He had, a few weeks before his elec- 
 tion, returned from his tour through Scotland; and 
 I remember him asking me, after he had become an 
 M.P., whether I considered the pledge he had made 
 the people of Scotland, of revisiting them the follow- 
 ing year, to be, under the altered circumstances, 
 still binding. His notion was, that though " lec- 
 turing" was a very respectable occupation for him, 
 before he was returned to Parliament, it would be 
 a very undignified one after he had been raised to
 
 MR. COBBETT. 189 
 
 that distinction ; and on this conviction he acted, 
 for he did not redeem his pledge of paying a second 
 visit to the people of Scotland. 
 
 Mr. Cobbett was by no means attentive to his 
 Parliamentary duties. He was not, after the middle 
 of the first session, often in the house ; and when 
 he did attend, it was only for a very short time. 
 This, however, it is right to add, was not from any 
 defective views of his duty to his constituents and 
 the country ; but because he felt the close and 
 heated atmosphere of the house not only unpleasant, 
 but injurious to his health. It was most probably, 
 owing to his previous enjoyment of much exercise 
 in the' open air, the cause of his death ; for so 
 sudden a change, at his advanced age, in a man's 
 habits, could not but have been prejudicial in the 
 highest degree to his constitution, more especially 
 as he was of a corpulent frame. Mr. Hunt, I have 
 no doubt, as already mentioned, also fell a sacrifice 
 — for he also was advanced in life, and of a corpu- 
 lent person — to the unhealthy atmosphere of the 
 House of Commons. Cobbett seemed to have laid it 
 down as a rule, never to remain in the house longer 
 than ten o''clock : I do not remember his making 
 more than three or four exceptions to this rule. 
 The last one was on the night on which it was 
 known that there would be a division on the question
 
 190 MR, COBBETT. 
 
 of the Irish Church Appropriation Bill, brought in 
 by Lord John Russell. 
 
 Mr. Cobbett did not speak often, and never long 
 at a time. I do not recollect his ever having made 
 a speech which occupied more than twenty or 
 thirty minutes in the delivery, and very seldom 
 indeed so much as that. On the passing of the 
 Estimates in June last, he seemed to have been 
 seized with an extraordinary love of speaking : for 
 he made, on that evening, at least twenty speeches 
 in opposition to particular grants in those estimates. 
 The last sjieech he ever made, which was about 
 three weeks before his death, was in reply to Sir 
 Robert Peel, who opposed the motion of the Mar- 
 quis of Chandos for a repeal of the Malt Tax. He 
 was then so hoarse that not one word he said, though 
 he spoke from fifteen to twenty minutes, could be 
 heard half a dozen yards from the place at which 
 he spoke ; but he appeared in excellent spirits. 
 
 His reputation gained nothing by his admission 
 into Parliament. It was generally expected he 
 would have cut a figure in the house by means of his 
 eccentricities, his prejudices, and talents combined ; 
 but the event proved there never was a more 
 groundless expectation. He not only, as I have just 
 mentioned, spoke very seldom, but when he did, he 
 excited no interest whatever in the house. In one
 
 MR. COBBETT. 191 
 
 word, his parliamentary career was a complete 
 failure. 
 
 Mr. Cobbett, in personal stature, was tall and 
 athletic, I should think he could not have been 
 less than six feet, while his breadth was propor- 
 tionally great. He was, indeed, one of the stoutest 
 men in the house. I have said there was a ten- 
 dency to corpulency about him. His hair was of a 
 milk-white colour, and his complexion ruddy. His 
 features were not strongly marked. What struck 
 you most about his face was his small, sparkling, 
 laughing eyes. When disposed to be humorous 
 himself, you had only to look at his eyes and you 
 were sure to sympathize in his merriment. W^en 
 not speaking, the expression of his eyes and his 
 countenance was very different. He was one of the 
 most striking refutations of the principles of La- 
 vater I ever witnessed. Never were the looks of any 
 man more completely at variance with his cha- 
 racter. There was something so dull and heavy 
 about his whole appearance, that any one who did 
 not know him, would at once have set him down 
 for some country clodpole — to use a favourite ex- 
 pression of his own — who not only never read abook, 
 or had a single idea in his head, but who was a 
 mere mass of mortality, without a particle of sensi- 
 bility of any kind in his composition. He usually
 
 192 MR. COBBETT. 
 
 sat with one leg over the other, his head slightly 
 drooping, as if sleeping, on his breast, and his hat 
 down almost to his eyes. He sat on a particular 
 seat for weei<s in succession ; but then would all 
 of a sudden, and without any one knowing for what 
 cause, change it for one in some other part of the 
 house ; perhaps one on the other side. I remember 
 that on one of the evenings — the last I think — on 
 which the Appropriation question was discussed, 
 and the decision on which proved fatal to Sir Ro- 
 bert PeeFs Administration, he went over from the 
 Opposition side of the House to the IVIinisterial, 
 and sat down at the back of Sir Robert, and in the 
 very midst of the Tory party, where he remained 
 the gi-eater part of the night, to the very serious 
 annoyance of Sir Robert and his colleagues, who 
 could hardly exchange a word with each other lest 
 it should be overheard by Cobbett. There never 
 was a moi*e striking illustration of the old adage 
 about an enemy being in the camp. The circum- 
 stance afforded infinite amusement to tlie Liberal 
 party, and proved a corresponding infliction to the 
 Tories. Cobbett's usual dress was a light grey 
 coat, of a full make, a white waistcoat, and kersey- 
 mere breeches of a sandy colour. When he walked 
 about the house he generally had his hands inserted 
 in his breeches pockets. Considering his advanced
 
 MR. COBBETT. 19^ 
 
 age, seventy-three, he looked remarkably hale and 
 healthy, and walked with a slow but firm step. A 
 fortnight before his death, he thought himself — and 
 so did all who saw him — that he was destined to 
 live for many years to come.
 
 194 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 MEMBERS WHO HAVE SEAi:S IN THE 
 CABINET. 
 
 LORD JOHN RUSSELL — MR. SPRING RICE — SIR JOHN 
 CAM HOBHOUSE — LORD MORPETH — LORD HOWICK 
 MR. POULETT THOMSON — LORD PALMERSTON. 
 
 In speaking of the members of Lord Melbourne's 
 Ministry who have seats in the Cabinet, I shall 
 take them at random, and not according to any 
 supposed superiority of talent. Indeed, in regard 
 to talent, there are so many of them so nearly on 
 an equality, that it would be no easy matter to 
 determine which of them on that account is entitled 
 to a priority of notice. 
 
 Lord John Russell, from his station as leader 
 of the Ministerial side of the House, and his hay- 
 ing also been leader of the Opposition previous to 
 the downfall of Sir Robert PeePs Administration, 
 is clearly entitled to be first introduced to the atten- 
 tion of my readers. He is small in stature, consi- 
 derably below the middle size. He is slenderly 
 made, and has altogether the appearance of a person
 
 LORD JOHN RUSSELL. 195 
 
 of a weakly constitution; his features are large and 
 broadly marked, considering the size of his face. 
 His complexion is pale, and his countenance has a 
 pensive cast. He scarcely ever indulges in a smile. 
 His hair is of a brown colour. He usually wears 
 a brown coat, a light-coloured waistcoat, and ker- 
 seymere trowsers of a sandy complexion. He is in 
 his forty-fourth year. 
 
 Lord John is one of the worst speakers in the 
 house, and but for his excellent private character, 
 his family connexions, and his consequent influence 
 in the political world, would not be tolerated. There 
 are many far better speakers, who, notwithstanding 
 their innumerable efforts to catch the Speaker's eye 
 in the course of important debates, hardly ever 
 succeed ; or if they do, are generally put down by 
 the clamour of honourable members. His voice is 
 weak and his enunciation very imperfect. He speaks 
 in general in so low a tone as to be inaudible to 
 more than one- half of the House. His style is often 
 in bad taste, and he stammers and stutters at every 
 fourth or fifth sentence. He has an awkward cus- 
 tom of repeating, frequently three or four times, the 
 first two or three words of a sentence, accompanied 
 by a corresponding number of what Shakspeare 
 calls " hems,"" when at a loss for terms whereby to 
 express his ideas. For example, if the idea to 
 K 2
 
 196 LORD JOHX RUSSELL. 
 
 which he wanted to give expression were, tliat he 
 thought the motion of a certain honourable member 
 ill-timed, he would express himself in something 
 like this manner, in the instances I have supposed: 
 " I — I — I — hem — think the motion of the honour- 
 able member is — is ill-timed at the — at the — hem — 
 present moment."*' AVhen he is audible he is always 
 clear: there is no mistaking his meaning. Gene- 
 rally his speeches are feeble in matter as well as 
 manner; but on some great occasions I have known 
 him make very able speeches, more distinguished, 
 however, for the clear and forcible way in which he 
 put the arguments which woidd most naturally 
 suggest themselves to a reflecting mind, than for 
 any striking or comprehensive views of the subject. 
 His manner is usually cold and inanimate in the 
 extreme. Not only are the tones of his voice weak 
 and monotonous, and his utterance imperfect and 
 indistinct, but he stands as motionless as the table 
 beside which he speaks. On some of the great oc- 
 casions, however, to which I have referred, I have 
 often known him raise his voice to a pitch sufficiently 
 high to render himself audible in all parts of the 
 house. I have also in some such cases known him 
 make use of moderate gesture, and exhibit to the 
 House several of the leading attributes of an effec- 
 tive speaker. In other words, I have known him,
 
 LORD JOHN' UUSSELL. 197 
 
 apart from the importance which, from his family 
 relations and position in the House, attached to any 
 thing he said, — make effective speeches — speeches 
 which must have commanded attention from Avhat- 
 ever member and from whatever side of the House 
 they proceeded. 
 
 I never knew a man more cool and collected when 
 speaking. He exhibits no signs of feeling or of 
 warmth. You would almost think him, even in 
 many cases when his voice is raised to the highest 
 pitch of which it is capable, a sort of automaton. 
 On no occasion, even when most unwarrantably and 
 virulently attacked, have I ever known him betray 
 a loss of temper. This circumstance is the source 
 of great mortification to his opponents. I have 
 often seen Sir Robert Peel labour with all his might 
 to irritate the temper of Lord John ; but never with 
 effect. In fact, Sir Robert and his party seeing the 
 task to be hopeless, have all but ceased to be severe 
 at his expense. 
 
 Lord John is an admirable tactician. His 
 judgment is singularly good as to the best course 
 to be pursued in all cases of difficulty. I am satis- 
 fied he has, in this respect, no equal in the House. 
 I am persuaded there is not a man out of the six 
 hundred and fifty-seven, who would, had he been 
 in his situation of leader of the Opposition, before
 
 198 LORD JOHN RUSSELL. 
 
 the downfall of the Peel Administration, have 
 acted, in the trying circumstances in which he was 
 then placed, with equal judgment and discretion. 
 The difficulties of his position during the Peel 
 dynasty, did not chiefly arise from the number 
 and unanimity of the adverse party.. These were 
 formidable enough, certainly ; but they principally 
 arose from the imprudence of the most zealous and 
 honest of the Reformers themselves. Some of these 
 were, day after day, intent on bringing forward 
 special motions, to bring the question, as they 
 said, of which party was to triumph in the House, 
 to a decision at once. One expedient, with this 
 view, suggested by a very large number of the 
 Radical party, and coincided in by many others, 
 Avas, that of proposing a formal vote of want of 
 confidence in Sir Robert PeeFs Government. Lord 
 John opposed this, as a rash step, and one which 
 there was every reason to fear would be the means 
 of establishing the very Government it was intended 
 to overthrow ; inasmuch as many sincere Reformers 
 would have voted against such a motion, on the 
 ground that, as Sir Robert Peel demanded a fair 
 trial, it would be advisable to let him have it, — as 
 then, in the event of his failing to bring forward 
 liberal measures, the dissolution of his Government 
 would be hailed by all classes of Reformers in
 
 LORD JOIIM IIUSSELL. 199 
 
 the country, while the mouths of his own party 
 would be shut as to any charges against the 
 Liberal party of unfair conduct, or of Sir Robcrt"'s 
 Government being condemned unheard. Then came 
 the proposition of Mr, Hume, founded on a recom- 
 mendation of Sir John Campbell, in an election 
 speech at Edinburgh, to stop the supplies. Mr. 
 Hume gave formal notice of a motion to that eifect, 
 and he was encouraged to persevere in it by a con- 
 siderable portion of the Liberal press, and by a 
 very large proportion of the Liberal members of 
 the House of Commons. Lord John Russell saw 
 that the result would be the very reverse of what 
 Mr. Hume and others had anticipated — that in- 
 stead of a majority for such a motion, there would 
 be a considerable majority against it. He saw- 
 clearly that many Reformers would vote against it, 
 on the ground that they were anxious to avoid 
 every thing which could be construed into a fac- 
 tious opposition to Sir Robert's Government ; while 
 others would be equally adverse to it, from an 
 apprehension that, if carried, it would be attended 
 Avith serious consequences to the credit of the 
 country. Sir Robert himself saw the matter in 
 the same light ; and hence, to use his own words, 
 he " panted" for either motion being brought for- 
 ward, as the rejection of it could not fail to be the
 
 200 LORD JOHN KUSSELL. 
 
 salvation of his Government. Lord John, in both 
 these respects, evinced consummate judgment, and 
 also a decision of character which but very few 
 possess ; for, on the one hand, he was pressingly 
 importuned to bring forward some such motions 
 himself, by means of the most seductive flattery ; 
 and on the other, when he expressed his disappro- 
 bation of such a course, he was charged by many 
 less discerning Reform members with purposely 
 betraying the Liberal cause, and playing designedly 
 into the hands of the Tories. He wisely deter- 
 mined to wait the first opportunity whichi would 
 be afforded the Reformers of joining issue with the 
 Peel Government, by Sir Robert himself bringing 
 forward some motion involving some great prin- 
 c;iple. The Irish Tithes Bill of Sir Robert fur- 
 nished that opportunity. As it made no allu- 
 sion, either to the actual existence of any surplus 
 property in the Church of Ireland, or to its appro- 
 priation, Lord John determined on moving that 
 no Tithe Bill for Ireland would be satisfactory to 
 the House which did not recognise the principle of 
 appropriating to the general purposes of education 
 any surplus revenues in the Irish Church which 
 might be found to exist. This brought the matter 
 to a bearing at once. No Reformer could shrink 
 from asserting that principle. There was no room
 
 MR. SPRIKG IlICE. '^01 
 
 for the imputation of factious motiAes on the part 
 of the Liberal party. The opportunity of asserting 
 their principles was not ostensibly of their own 
 seeking, however anxiously they may have longed 
 for it. The necessity was, in a manner, imposed on 
 them by Sir Robert Peel himself, as it would have 
 been deemed by the country a cowardly abandon- 
 ment of their principles, to have suffered the Tithes 
 Bill to be read a second time, without coupling with 
 it the record of theu' sentiments on the question 
 of Appropriation, both subjects being so closely 
 associated together in the case of Ireland. The 
 event proved the soundness of the judgment and 
 tlie excellence of the tactics of Lord John. 
 
 ]Mr. Spring Rice, the Chancellor of the Ex- 
 chequer and Member for Cambridge, is, perhaps, 
 from the prominent part he takes in the debates 
 in the house, the next member of the Cabinet 
 entitled to notice. Like Lord John Russell, he 
 is of diminutive stature, though not nearly so 
 slenderly made. Though small in size, he has a 
 rather handsome person, of which, however, he is 
 immoderately proud. He is somewhat of a dandy. 
 He wears a profusion of rings on his fingers. I think 
 I have seen as many, on more than one occasion, as 
 seven or eight, though I will not now be positive 
 as to the exact number. He usually wears a green 
 k3
 
 202 MR. SPRING RICE. 
 
 surtoutj and a smart black stock. The collar of 
 his shirt is of unusual height. James Hogg, the 
 Ettrick Shepherd, mentions in his autobiography 
 that the first time he saw Mr. Gait, the left ear of 
 that celebrated writer was completely concealed 
 from view by the height or depth, call it which 
 you please, of his collar. Mr. Gait once alluded, 
 in conversation with me, to this statement of 
 Hogg, which he characterised as altogether 
 unfounded, but charitably ascribed it to some im- 
 perfection of memory, or other unintentional mis- 
 take, on the part of the Ettrick Shepherd. I only, 
 however, speak the words of truth, when I men- 
 tion, that Mr. Spring Ri(;e"'s shirt collar is so high 
 that I have often wondered his ears were not cut 
 by it. Without a high collar and a smart stiff" 
 stock he would be nothing in his own estimation. 
 He has altogether a prim appearance, both in his 
 manners and dress. 
 
 He is a native of Ireland, and is now forty- 
 five years of age. He has a long sharp face, of a 
 rather pleasant and intelligent expression. His 
 forehead is well developed, and his complexion is 
 clear and healthy. His manner is courteous and 
 conciliatory to all parties, whether friends or foes. 
 He seems to have few personal dislikes ; or if he 
 have, he has the policy to conceal them. He is
 
 MR. SPRING RICE. 203 
 
 never coarse or personally abusive in his replies to 
 an opponent ; and I do not think he has many, if 
 any, personal enemies in the House. He is a man 
 of considerable talents, but more showy than solid. 
 As a debater he has no pretensions to be ranked 
 in the first class, but he is far above mediocrity. 
 His enunciation is always clear, and his voice is 
 audible in every part of the house ; but there is 
 a studied pompousness about his manner, which 
 cannot fail to strike every one who hears him. He 
 aims much at an imitation of the manner of Sir 
 Robert Peel. His voice is not, in its compass, and 
 the power he has over it, unlike that of the mem- 
 ber for Tamworth, but it wants its sweetness and 
 melody of tone. In his most pathetic moods, Mr. 
 Spring Rice's voice has a strong nasal tone. He 
 uses a good deal of gesticulation, chiefly with his 
 right hand, and by turning about his face from one 
 part of the house to another. Like Sir Robert 
 Peel, however, he principally addresses his own 
 party, and in every instance when he says, or fan- 
 cies he has said, something clever, looks them wist- 
 fully and smilingly in the face for the expected 
 cheer. They understand the thing perfectly well 
 and are seldom cruel enouorh to refuse him the 
 " hear, hear, hear!" the laugh, or the " hurrah !" 
 He is fond of making long speeches, and therefore,
 
 204 SIR JOHX CAM HOBHOUSE. 
 
 as might be expected, frequently repeats himself. 
 When, in the Session of 1834, IVIr. O'Connell 
 brought forward his motion for the Repeal of the 
 Union, Mr. Spring Rice opposed the measure in 
 a speech which occupied five hours in the deli- 
 very. Had the oration been stript of its verbiage 
 and the tautology it contained, one-third of the 
 time would have sufficed for its delivery. In 
 bringing forward the budget, in August last, 
 though it contained fewer alterations in the taxa- 
 tion of the country than any budget I ever recol- 
 lect to have heard submitted to Parliament, he 
 occupied the House about two hours and a-half, 
 being double the usual time which previous 
 Chancellors of the Exchequer, excepting in pecu- 
 liar cases, were accustomed to take in makina; 
 their financial statements. Ten minutes would 
 have been ample time for the delivery of his ea/pose, 
 had the length of the speech been regulated by the 
 relevant matter it contained. 
 
 Sir JoHX Cam Hobhouse, member for Not- 
 tingham, and President of the Board of Control, 
 is another prominent member of the Cabinet. Ever 
 since his rejection by the Westminster electors, 
 until the beginning of last Session, Sir John took 
 very little part in the proceedings of Parlia- 
 ment. During that interval he hardly delivered a
 
 SIR JOHN CAM HOBHOUSE. 205 
 
 single speech of any importance or of any length. 
 The loss of the representation of Westminster, 
 where he fancied he was securely seated for life, 
 made a deep and lasting impression on his mind, 
 and, for a time, in a great measure paralyzed his 
 energies. The return, however, of the Tories to 
 power, and the peculiar circumstances under which 
 Lord Melbourne''s Ministry, of which he was a 
 member, were dismissed to make way for that of 
 Sir Robert Peel, aroused him from his compara- 
 tive lethargy. Few men were more instrumental in 
 overthrowing the Administration of the Tam worth 
 Baronet than Sir John Hobhouse. In speaking of 
 Sir Robert Peel, I have adverted to the effective- 
 ness of Sir John's attacks on that right hon. gen- 
 tleman and the Cabinet of which he was the head. 
 I have seldom seen happier efforts than some of 
 those which Sir John made during the temporary 
 existence of the Peel Government. He seized with 
 a sort of infallible and intuitive sagacity on the 
 weak points both in the Government and the 
 speeches of Sir Robert, and these lie assailed vvith 
 a skill, energy, and effect, which could not have 
 been surpassed. Almost every sentence he ut- 
 tered was a spoken dagger to the breast of the 
 unhappy Sir Robert. Both the latter individually, 
 and his Ministry collectively, seemed like mere
 
 206 STR JOHN CAM HOBHOUSE. 
 
 playthings in the hands of Sir John, which he 
 could use at his pleasure. I have referred, in a 
 former part of the work, to Sir John's speech on the 
 appointment of the Marquis of Londonderry as 
 ambassador to the Court of Russia. It was a per- 
 fect masterpiece of its kind. I never knew a speech 
 which told with better effect on the House ; and 
 what added to its merits was the fact that it was 
 altogether spontaneous, and scarcely seemed to 
 require an effort. Sir John's whole heart and soul 
 appeared to be thrown into his w^ords. As he felt 
 he spoke, and as he spoke Sir Robert and his 
 friends felt, aye, — and as formerly mentioned — re- 
 peatedly changed colour too. 
 
 Sir John's manner is very changeable. As a 
 speaker he appears to far greater advantage in 
 attack than in defence. He is then, especially on 
 important questions, full of fire and animation. 
 His voice, which has something of a bass tone in 
 it, is raised to an unusually high pitch, and his 
 action becomes correspondingly energetic. Some- 
 times he raises both arms above his head, and vio- 
 lently beats the air with them. At others, he puts 
 them both behind his back, when he joins his 
 hands together. When in this position he usually 
 recedes four or five feet from the table, and then 
 rapidly advancing towards it again, disengages his
 
 sin JOHN CAM HOBHOUSE. 207 
 
 hands, and knocks the box or the books on the 
 table, with some energy, with his right hand. At 
 other times he places his arms across each other on 
 his breast, and looks the opponent at whom he is 
 levelling his arguments and his ridicule full in tlie 
 face, with an air of half-suppressed scorn. 
 
 In defence, again, you would hardly think he 
 was the same man. He speaks in a subdued tone, 
 and sometimes lowers his voice so much as to be 
 inaudible in various parts of the house. He then 
 uses but little gesture, and that of a very gentle 
 kind. One favourite attitude, in most cases, is 
 leaning his right elbow on the table, and placing 
 his left arm on his side. You will at once perceive 
 that he then speaks from necessity, not from choice ; 
 in which case it is impossible he can speak so well. 
 In defending himself, towards the close of last Ses- 
 sion, when attacked by Mr. Praed for rescinding 
 the appointment of Lord Ileytesbury to India, 
 he spoke in a very confused manner, and did not 
 exhibit the least animation. He often stammered, 
 and sometimes recalled, not whole words only, but 
 whole sentences that were out of joint. Any one, 
 to have heard him on that occasion for the first 
 time, would have gone away with a very unfavour- 
 able impression both of his oratory and of his argu- 
 mentative powers. The speech, however, though
 
 208 SIR JOHX (AM HOBHOUSE. 
 
 thus SO much damaged in the delivery, was one of 
 very great ability, as it was universally admitted to 
 be by every one who read the report of it in the 
 newspapers of the following day. 
 
 In person, Sir John Hobhouse is rather below 
 the middle size, and is slightly inclined to cor- 
 pulency. He is now in his fifty-first year. His 
 hair is dark, and his complexion pale. His coun- 
 tenance is strongly marked, chiefly from the pro- 
 minence of his nose. It is both large and singular 
 in its conformation, partaking a good deal of the 
 quality called Roman, when that term is applied to 
 the nasal organ. There is something of a pensive 
 cast about Sir John's countenance, though no man 
 can be more humorous when he chooses to indulge 
 in jokes. He is a man of versatile, as well as 
 superior talents. I question if there is a man of 
 greater or more varied talents in the Cabinet : cer- 
 tainly there is not one of greater liberality of opinion. 
 As a politician he is, perhaps, one of the most up- 
 right and straightforward men in the house. He 
 bordered on Radicalism, and never shrunk from 
 an open avowal of his opinions, at a time when the 
 word Reformer was considered synonimous with 
 every thing that was low, unprincipled, and de- 
 graded. He now points, with proud exultation, to 
 the time when he and his friend and colleague in
 
 LORD MORPETH. 209 
 
 the representation of Westminster, Sir Francis Bur- 
 dett, stood almost single-handed in St. Stephen's 
 in the assertion of Liberal principles, — and when, to 
 use his own words, his politics were so unpopular 
 among the upper classes, that his personal friends 
 would have passed him in St. James"' s-street without 
 even deigning to give him a nod of recognition. The 
 circumstance of Sir John's resigning his seat for 
 Westminster, and at the same time an office worth 
 ■5^5,000 a-year, when he conceived it his duty to 
 vote contrary to the views of his constituency, is 
 known to every one, and affords a beautiful illus- 
 tration of the political integrity of his character. 
 
 Lord Morpeth, member for the West Riding of 
 Yorkshire, and Secretary for Ireland, is a young- 
 nobleman of considerable promise. He has only 
 been a few years in Parliament, but in that short 
 space has acquired some weight and distinction in 
 the House. He is a man of a cultivated mind> 
 especially in what is called light and elegant litera- 
 ture. He used to contribute to The Keepsake and 
 other annuals. His contributions were chiefly in 
 poetry, and were written with much good taste, 
 but furnished no evidence of a strong masculine 
 mind. The same may be said of his speeches in 
 Parliament. Nothing can be more classically cor- 
 rect than his style, particularly when his speeches
 
 210 LOUD MOUl'ETir. 
 
 have been previously studied, which they ahnost 
 invariably are ; but they do not afford any indica- 
 tion of genius, nor even of a vigorous or compre- 
 hensive mind. The greatest, fault, perhaps, that 
 attaches to his parliamentary efforts is, that there 
 is an air of pedantry about every thing he says. 
 It is probable, however, that a few years of the 
 wear and tear of office will rid him of this. He is 
 a pleasant speaker, and there is much to admire in 
 his elocution. He has a fine voice, always speaks 
 audibly, and yet not too loudly. His utterance 
 is timed with much good judgment to the ear; 
 but he is monotonous. He always speaks with the 
 same tone of voice, whatever be the subject. 1 
 never yet knew him make the least alteration in 
 his voice. The most trifling and most important 
 subjects, the most ludicrous and most solemn, are 
 spoken of by him in the same key and in the same 
 tones. He appears to have no command over his 
 voice — to be incapable of raising or lowering it as 
 the subject requires. He occasionally attempts to be 
 humorous ; but certainly with very limited success. 
 On one or two occasions I have seen him attempt a 
 pun at the expense of suffering humanity. When 
 Mr. Sharman Crawford, one of the most benevolent 
 men in the house, brought the subject of the extreme 
 distress then prevailing in the county of Mayo be-
 
 LOUD MORPETH. 211 
 
 fore the House, in July last, and asked Lord Mor- 
 peth, as Secretary for Ireland, whether Government 
 had taken any steps to relieve the distress, he replied 
 that he could assure the honourable member, that 
 the proceedings of Government had not been sta- 
 tionary on the subject. The pun was in extremely 
 bad taste, to say the least of it, at a time when, 
 as Mr. Crawford stated, hundreds of poor crea- 
 tures were daily dying from sheer want. And yet 
 it were doing Lord Morpeth very great injustice 
 were any one to infer from tliis that he is of an 
 unfeeling mind. He is, on the contrary, a man of a 
 kind and generous heart. Few men are more capa- 
 ble of sympathising with his fellow-creatures, when 
 in distress ; and there is no doubt that the remark 
 to which I have just referred, was made thought- 
 lessly, or from a notion that there was something 
 extremely clever in the pun. 
 
 Lord Morpeth is a nobleman of excellent private 
 character, and this circumstance, added to the 
 respectability of the family to ^vhom he belongs, 
 goes a great way to secure that attention and re- 
 spect which the House invariably accords to him 
 whenever he addresses it. He is a man of a mild 
 disposition, and is gentlemanly aud urbane in his 
 manners. He never indulges in personalities or 
 vituperation himself, and perhaps there is not a
 
 212 LORD MOnrETH. 
 
 member in the house who is less the subject of 
 personalities or abuse on the part of others. 
 
 I have said that Lord Morpeth is a man of a 
 cultivated rather than of a masculine mind ]My 
 opinion, however, is, that as he is only now in his 
 thirty-third year, his mind may ex}:>and and gain 
 in vigour while it loses in elegance. I think I can 
 see a visible improvement in this respect within 
 the last two years. His sj:)eech in July last, on the 
 introduction of the Church of Ireland and Tithes 
 Bill, though not by any means what so great and 
 momentous a subject would have admitted of, 
 certainly exhibited proofs of a close and compre- 
 hensive thinker. Even Sir Robert Peel compli- 
 mented the noble Lord for the ability he displayed 
 on that occasion. 
 
 In person, Lord Morpeth is about the middle 
 stature. He is handsomely made, and proud of 
 his person. He is always smartly dressed, though 
 not deserving the appellation of a fop. His hair is 
 of a brown complexion and his face pale. He has 
 a large mouth, and his under lip is prominent and 
 pendant. In speaking, he uses very little action, 
 but is nearly as tame and formal in his gesture as 
 he is monotonous in the tones of his voice. The 
 affectation so generally visible in his speeches, is to 
 be seen in his conduct even when taking no part in
 
 LORD HOWICK. 213 
 
 the proceedings. One practice which he has, and 
 which Lord Stanley also had when he sat in the 
 same seat, is tliat of extending his feet to the table 
 before the Speaker. There are several other little 
 airs of affectation about him which are more easily 
 and readily seen than they can be described. 
 
 I come now to speak of a young nobleman whom 
 I consider to be decidedly the most promising man 
 within the walls of the House. I allude to Lord 
 HowicK, Secretary at War, and member for 
 Northumberland. Lord Howick is the eldest son 
 of Earl Grey, and inherits much of the stern prin- 
 ciple, rigid integrity, and senatorial talents of his 
 father. On the question of Negro Emancipation, his 
 opinions were equally decided and liberal. They 
 were, indeed, mucli more liberal than were those 
 of his father''s Administration; and because, in 
 1832, he could not bring over Earl Grey's Minis- 
 try to the adoption of those decided measures for 
 the emancipation of the slaves, which he conceived 
 both the justice and the humanity of the case de- 
 manded, he, rather than compromise his principles, 
 resigned his office as Under Secretary for the Colo- 
 nies, and ceased to be a member of his father's 
 Government. At that time, Lord Howick was con- 
 sidered a man of more than respectable talents ; 
 but his intellectual resources were then only be-
 
 214 LORD HOWICK. 
 
 ginning to develop themselves. In his new situa- 
 tion as a member of Lord Melbourne's Adminis- 
 tration, he acquitted himself in the course of last 
 session, in a manner which excited the admiration 
 of every member in the House. I never knew so 
 marked an improvement in any man- in so short a 
 space of time. His speeches generally displayed a 
 sound judgment, great acuteness, a thorough know- 
 ledge of the subject, and a masculine mind. He 
 is withal an excellent debater. He is ready to 
 speak on any question at a moment's notice. He 
 is happy in reply. I have known him on various 
 occasions rise to answer some leading member of 
 the Opposition, the moment that member had re- 
 sumed his seat, and demolish most triumphantly 
 every argument which the other had advanced. 
 On sucli occasions I have seen him speak for an 
 hour and a-half or two hours, and yet never, during 
 all that time, hesitate or falter one moment, nor 
 appear in the least degree disconcerted. His style 
 is fluent : perhaps it is so to a fault. He might 
 sometimes express his ideas with more energy and 
 effect if he used fewer words. Every word, hoAv- 
 ever, is always in its proper place. You do not see 
 liow the most fastidious taste could improve the 
 construction of his sentences. 
 
 Without being personal or coarse, Lord Howick
 
 LORD HOWICK. 215 
 
 treats an opponent with great severity. I am not 
 sure that he is remarkable for the equability of his 
 temper. Be this as it may, he never allows any 
 slight irritation he may feel to get the better of his 
 judgment. He will never be an orator, in the proper 
 acceptation of the term. His voice has not suffi- 
 cient volume or variety in its tones for the higher 
 order of oratory. He is always audible in every 
 part of the house ; but there is a shrillness about 
 his voice, and a monotony in his tones, which will 
 always, to some extent, impair the effect of his best 
 speeches. He is one, in short, of that class of 
 .speakers who convince the judgment, but do not 
 influence the passions. In his action, when address- 
 ing the Flouse, there is nothing peculiar. His ges- 
 ticulation is not violent. He gently moves about 
 his body, as he looks first at one part of the House 
 and then at another. He uses his arms to a mode- 
 rate extent, and occasionally strikes the books or 
 box on the table with his right hand. 
 
 In person. Lord Howick is tall and slender. 
 He has a defect in his right leg, by which he is 
 slightly lame in his walk, and which gives him 
 somewhat of a crouching appearance when he is 
 addressing tlie House. He is not good-looking. 
 His countenance is pale, and his person altoge- 
 ther has an emaciated appearance. He possesses
 
 216 MR. POULETT THOMSON. 
 
 tolerable liealth, though any one who did not 
 know him, would infer from his looks that he was 
 labouring under serious indisposition. His hair 
 is of a bright brown colour. He is one of the many 
 instances in which tlie principles of Lavater are 
 found to be at fault. If his face has nothing abso- 
 lutely unintellectual about it, it is equally certain, 
 that no physiognomist would give him credit for 
 the strong and cultivated mind he possesses. liord 
 Howick is only in his thirty-third year ; and as he 
 has risen to so much distinction during the nine 
 years he has been in parliament, and is at this mo- 
 ment rising with accelerated rapidity, there is every 
 reason to believe that in a few years he will be one 
 of the most distinguished men in the House of 
 Commons. 
 
 Mr. PouLETT Thomson, member for Manches- 
 ter, and President of the Board of Trade, is chiefly 
 distinguished for his Free-Trade notions. He is in- 
 timately acquainted with commercial subjects, and 
 is tolerably informed on most political questions. 
 He is a man of very considerable talents ; but his 
 manner of delivery greatly mars the effect of his 
 speeches. He invariably speaks in a drawling, me- 
 lancholy sort of tone, as if labouring under great 
 dejection of spirits. There is a twang about his 
 voice, especially at the conclusion of his sentences,
 
 MR. POULETT THOMSON. 217 
 
 of which it were impossible to convey any idea by 
 mere description, but which has a saddening effect 
 on his hearers. His enunciation is, notwithstand- 
 ing, very distinct ; and though he does not speak 
 very loudly, he is generally audible in all parts of 
 the house. His personal appearance is of a pensive 
 serious cast. Nature, I think, must have intended 
 him for the pul|)it. He uses very little gesture 
 when speaking, and that little is as monotonous as 
 are the tones of his voice. He slightly moves his 
 right arm, and from the beginning to the close of 
 his speecli, turns his face, first to the members of 
 the Opposition on his left hand, and then to those 
 on his right. He appears to most advantage in a 
 set speech, though I have seen some of his replies 
 very happy. He is of a mild disposition. He 
 never indulges in coarse abuse or personal vitupe- 
 ration of an opponent. When he speaks he is 
 always listened to with attention. His utterance is 
 rapid, and he speaks seemingly with much ease. 
 His language is correct, but there is no appearance 
 of its being studiedly polished. 
 
 In person Mr. Poulett Thomson is considerably 
 above the middle size, and of a somewhat slender 
 make. His hair is dark — so is his complexion. He 
 rejoices in whiskers of goodly proportions. His nose 
 is large, and of a form approaching to the aquiline.
 
 218 LORD PALMERSTOX. 
 
 His features are strongly marked ; so much so that 
 any one who had seen him once would be sure to 
 recognise him again. He is about forty years of 
 age. He is always plain in his dress. 
 
 Of Lord Palmerston, Foreign Secretary, and 
 member for Tiverton, I have but tittle to say. 
 The situation he fills in the Cabinet gives him a 
 certain degree of prominence in the eyes of the 
 country, which he certainly does not possess in 
 Parliament. His talents are by no means of a high 
 order. Assuredly they would never Jby their own 
 native energy, have raised him to the distinguished 
 position in the councils of his sovereign in which a 
 variety of accidental circumstances have placed him. 
 He is an indifferent speaker. I have sometimes 
 seen him acquit himself, when addressing the 
 House, in a very creditable manner ; but he often 
 stutters and stammers to a very unpleasant extent, 
 and makes altogether an indifferent exhibition. His 
 voice is clear and strong, but has a degree of harsh- 
 ness about it which makes it grate on the ear. He 
 is very indolent. He is also very irregular in his 
 attendance on his Parliamentary duties, and when 
 in the House, is by no means active in defence 
 pither of his principles or his friends. Scarcely any 
 thing calls him up except a regular attack on him- 
 self, or on the way in which the depai'tment of the
 
 LORD PALMERSTON. 219 
 
 public service with whicli lie is entrusted, is admi- 
 nistered. 
 
 In person, Lord Palmerston is tall and hand- 
 some. His face is round, and of a darkish hue. 
 His hair is black and always exhibits proofs of the 
 skill and attention of the frisseur. His clothes 
 are in the extreme of fashion. He is very vain of 
 his personal appearance, and is generally supposed 
 to devote more of his time in sacrificing to the 
 Graces than is consistent with the duties of a person 
 who has so much to do with the destinies of Europe. 
 Hence it is that the Times newspaper has fastened 
 on him the soubriquet of Cupid. He is in his fifty- 
 second year. 
 
 l2
 
 220 
 
 CHAPTER XI. ^ 
 
 MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNMENT WHO HAVE 
 NOT SEATS IN THE CABINET. 
 
 THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL— THE SOLICITOR-GENE- 
 RAL THE LORD ADVOCATE MR. ROBERT CUT- 
 
 LAR FERGUSSON — SIR GEORGE GREY — SIR AN- 
 DREW LEITH HAY — SIR HENRY PARNELL — MR. 
 CHARLES WOOD. 
 
 Sir John Campbell, the Attorney-General, and 
 one of the members for the city of Edinburgh, has 
 risen very rapidly into notice within the last few 
 years. For a considerable time past his name was 
 well known among the members of the English bar, 
 but was but seldom before the public. He is a man 
 of great weight and influence in the house, and 
 is daily acquiring additional importance. He is 
 by no means a fine speaker. His voice is rough 
 and husky, and yet can hardly be said to be un- 
 pleasant. He uses little gesticulation, and yet there 
 are an energy and determination in his manner, 
 which tell with o-reat effect on the House. He is
 
 SIR JOHN CAMPBELL. 221 
 
 always listened to with attention. He has much 
 honesty, as well as energy of purpose. There is 
 nothing Jesuitical or equivocal about him. He fear- 
 lessly expresses the convictions of his mind. There 
 is no reserve about him. His style is vigorous 
 and plain ; it is correct, without being polished. 
 What he says is always to the point, and there is 
 no mistaking his meaning. He seldom makes 
 long speeches; they are almost invariably sliort, 
 but pithy. There is often more matter in a speech 
 of his which occupies a quarter of an hour in the 
 delivery, than in speeches of many other honour- 
 able members which take six times that space to 
 deliver them. 
 
 Sir John Campbell still retains much of the 
 Scottish accent, though he has been upwards of a 
 quarter of a century in England. Any one who 
 hears him speak five sentences, would perceive at 
 once that he is a Scotchman. He is about sixty 
 years of age. In person he is above the middle size. 
 He is of what is called a firm make. I should take 
 him to be a man of great physical strength. He 
 always dresses plainly, sometimes with an appear- 
 ance of carelessness. His whole aspect is what, in 
 his own country, would be called " uncouth." His 
 hair is of a light colour, and his countenance has 
 a slight tinge of ruddiness about it. His eyes have
 
 222 MR. ROLFE. 
 
 a watery, appearance. He is short-sighted, and uses 
 an eye-glass. 
 
 Though there is much energy, both of matter 
 and manner, in what Sir John Campbell says, he 
 never indulges in personalities, and he is seldom 
 made the subject of vituperation on'the part of 
 others. I never knew him excite the bile of the 
 Tories so much, or be so much abused by them, 
 as when, last session, in the course of some of the 
 discussions on the Municipal Corporation Reform 
 Bill, he represented the freemen of corporations as 
 the most debased and worthless class of men within 
 his Majesty's dominions. The Tories, on that 
 occasion, discharged the vials of their wrath on Sir 
 John's devoted head, without measure and without 
 mercy. In his attendance on his parliamentary 
 duties he is very exemplary. 
 
 Of Mr. RoLFE, the Solicitor-General, and mem- 
 ber for Penryn, little need be said. His name is 
 very little known to the public, and he speaks very 
 seldom in the house. He never speaks when he 
 can help it, and then as shortly as possible. His 
 talents are not above mediocrity ; as a speaker he 
 is below it. His voice is not very pleasant, and 
 his manner is generally awkward. There is good 
 sense in what he says ; but nothing approacliing 
 to originality or eloquence. In person, he is rather
 
 MK. J. A. MURRAY. 223 
 
 short and stout. He is light-haired, and of an 
 angular face. Accidental circumstances, and not 
 any merit he possesses, raised him to his present 
 situation. As a Chancery lawyer he is a man of 
 some distinction. His age is about forty. He has 
 been in Parliament since the passing of the Reform 
 Bill in 1832. 
 
 Mr. John Archibald Murray, the Lord Ad- 
 vocate of Scotland, and member for Leith, was, for 
 many years before he entered Parliament, one of 
 the most popular political men in Scotland. He 
 was one of a celebrated trio, whose names will go 
 down to posterity as men who made a bold and 
 resolute stand against Toryism in the northern 
 part of the empire when in its most triumphant 
 state, and when to profess liberal opinions was 
 not only the sure way to put an extinguisher 
 on all hopes of promotion at the Scotch bar, 
 of which he and the other two — Francis Jef- 
 frey and John Clark* — were members, but also to 
 exclude them, in a great measure, from respectable 
 society. These three were the chief agents, both 
 by their speeches and writings, in giving that 
 impulse to liberal opinions in Scotland, which in 
 
 * These two were afterwards, when Liberal principles 
 obtained the ascendancy in the councils of the King, raised 
 to the rank of Judges.
 
 SG-i MR. J. A. MURRAY. 
 
 the burghs so triumphantly bore down all the op- 
 position of the Tories at the last election. 
 
 The Lord Advocate is now considerably ad- 
 vanced in life. He is about fifty years of age. In 
 stature he is somewhat above the middle size. He 
 is stoutly and firmly made, but canjaot be called 
 corpulent. He appears to have an unusally strong 
 constitution considering his years. His hair is of 
 a light colour, and his complexion fair : he is of 
 a full round face. His countenance is indicative 
 of that straightforwardness, energy, and decision of 
 mind, which are the leading attributes of his 
 character. He is not a fine or eloquent speaker ; 
 but he is one whom you can at all times listen to 
 with pleasure. He always appears master of his 
 subject, and it does not seem to cost him an effort 
 to deliver his sentiments. He has no preten- 
 sions to originality or genius ; but is a man of 
 more than respectable talents. He always takes 
 the common-sense view of a subject, and never 
 fails to make himself clearly understood. His style 
 is plain, but vigorous, and he always speaks to the 
 }X)int. There are few speakers in the house who 
 give an equal quantity of well-reasoned matter in 
 the same space of time. He never makes long 
 speeches, nor does he address the house on other 
 than subjects immediately connected with his office.
 
 MR. R. C. FERGUSSON. iiiiJ.S 
 
 Mr. Robert Cutlar Fergusson, the Judge 
 Advocate, and member for Kircudbriglit, has lor 
 many years exercised considerable influence in tiie 
 House. He is not a man of first-rate talent, though 
 far above mediocrity. He is popular both in the 
 House and the country. His popularity, however, 
 owes more to his past history, and the side he gene- 
 rally espouses in politics, than to anything brilliant 
 about him. His adherence to liberal principles in 
 early life, both in this country and in India, during 
 times when those principles were any thing but 
 popular, is not, and ought not to be, forgotten by 
 the Reformers of the present day. The zeal and 
 energy he evinced in the cause of the Poles during 
 their struggle, a few years since, with the Northern 
 Autocrat, did much to render him popular in the 
 country. His attachment, however, to liberal prin- 
 ciples has diminished, as has been so often fovmd 
 in the case of others, with his accession to office. 
 During the last session I have repeatedly heard 
 him defending men and measures, in whose favour, 
 before he joined the Government, he would have 
 been ashamed to utter a syllable. 
 
 He is a respectable speaker, which is the most 
 
 that can be said about his oratorical powers. He 
 
 speaks with ease and with considerable fluenc}'. 
 
 His style is vigorous, and his matter alAvays to the 
 
 l3 .
 
 226 MR. K. C. FERGUSSON. 
 
 point. Take him unawares, and he does not ap- 
 pear to much advantage in reply ; but when he 
 knows beforehand the line of argument or attack 
 which an opponent is to take, he prepares liimself 
 for his task, and acquits himself in a very credi- 
 table manner. His voice has something of a me- 
 lancholy tone about it : it reminds me, in some 
 measure, of the sound emitted by a muffled drum. 
 His action is not violent, nor can it be said to be 
 graceful. His appearance altogether has a great 
 deal of sternness about it. His hair is white ; part 
 of his head is slightly bald. He wears large whis- 
 kers, which heighten the sullen aspect of his coun- 
 tenance. He is rather above the middle size, of a 
 tirm make, without being corpulent. His advanced 
 years and long residence in the East, have left 
 their traces in the shape of various slight wrinkles 
 in his face. He is nearly sixty years of age ; but 
 appears to be in excellent health, and of a strong 
 constitution. He used to speak a good deal in the 
 house ; but he has not spoken often since his 
 appointment to office. When he does speak, it is 
 principally on questions immediately connected 
 with his own office, or with Scottish affairs. In 
 matters connected with his own country — he is a 
 Scotchman — he takes a great deal of interest. 
 Those who recollect the animation and energy with
 
 SIR GEORGE GREY. 227 
 
 which, some years ago, he proclaimed the wrongs of 
 Poland, and the withering denunciations which he 
 hurled at the head of their oppressors, cannot but 
 regret that, since he joined the Government, his 
 voice has been mute on these points. He is a strik- 
 ing illustration of the great difference between a 
 member out of office and in office. 
 
 Sir George Grey, member for Devonport, and 
 Under Secretary for the Colonies, is a gentleman 
 of remarkably mild and engaging manners. His 
 office obliges him to speak pretty often in the 
 House ; but he never volunteers a speech, in other 
 words, never speaks when not officially called on to 
 do so. He speaks with great ease, and his manner, 
 without being attractive, is pleasant enough. There 
 is much good sense in what he says, and he confines 
 himself strictly to the point at issue. He makes 
 no effort at display : on the contrary, you see in 
 every word he utters, as well as in his simple and 
 unassuming manners, the inherent modesty of his 
 character. 
 
 Sir George is now in his thirty-sixth year. In 
 person he is rather above the middle size, and well 
 made. He is dark-haired, and of a clear healthy- 
 looking complexion. You can read good-nature 
 in his face. He is decidedly good-looking : his 
 features are regular, and conciliatory in an unusual
 
 228 SIR AXDREAV LEITII HAY. 
 
 degree, and his uniform conduct in the house only 
 serves to confirm the favourable impression which 
 he invariably makes on the mind of a stranger. 
 He is much esteemed by men of every grade of 
 political opinion in the house. 
 
 Sir Andrew Leith Hay, memberibr the Elgin 
 district of Burghs, and Clerk of the Ordnance, is 
 a man of considerable weight in the house, though 
 he speaks but very seldom. Like Sir George Grey, 
 lie only speaks when compelled to it by the situa- 
 tion he holds. This is to be regretted, for not only 
 is he listened to with much attention w^hen he does 
 address the House, but he acquits himself very 
 creditably as a public speaker. He is one of those 
 who professed liberal principles at a time when 
 they were most unpopular ; and he did so at great 
 personal sacrifice. He distinguished himself in the 
 Peninsular war, and but for his political principles 
 — Toryism being then in the ascendant — would 
 have doubtless obtained that promotion in the 
 army to which his distinguished bravery and great 
 merits as an officer entitled him. His father, the 
 venerable General Hay of Rannes, is now the pa- 
 triarch of liberal principles in Scotland. I question 
 if there be a Reformer in that part of the country, 
 who has either more consistently adhered to his 
 principles, or made greater sacrifices for them, than
 
 SIR ANDREW LEITH HAY. 229 
 
 the gallant General. He is upwards of ninety 
 years of age. 
 
 On the meeting of the Session of 1834, Sir An- 
 drew Leith Hay did one of the noblest things I 
 ever witnessed. On the second night of that session, 
 when the question was about to be solved, which 
 of the Irish members (as affirmed by INIr. Hill, 
 member for Hull) had played the traitor by admit- 
 ting, while he violently opposed the Coercion Bill, 
 that that measure was indispensably necessary for 
 the peace of Ireland, and that he only opposed it 
 to please his constituents, — on that occasion, when 
 Lord Althorp was badgered by Mr. Shiel to give 
 up his authority for the statement, and when Mr. 
 Shiel plainly intimated to his Lordship, that if he 
 did not give the name of his informant, he would 
 hold himself personally responsible. Sir Andrew 
 rose up, and in the most energetic yet dignified 
 manner said, addressing himself to Mr. Shiel, 
 that precisely the same statement as that made to 
 Lord Althorp had been communicated to him, and 
 that he would not, any more than the noble Lord, 
 give up his authority, but would hold himself per- 
 sonally responsible. I never yet knew any thing 
 produce a greater effect on the House. There was 
 not an honourable member in it but deeply felt 
 for Lord Althorp at the time ; and when they saw
 
 230 SIR IIEXRY PARXELI,. 
 
 him in a great measure relieved from the embar- 
 rassing situation in which his refusal to betray the 
 confidence reposed in him by a friend, had placed 
 him, by the generous and well-timed interposition 
 on the part of Sir Andrew, a murmur of sup- 
 pressed admiration of the conduct of- the latter 
 was heard in every part of the House, and was 
 with difficulty repressed even by the strangers in 
 the gallery. 
 
 Sir Andrew Leith Hay is about fifty years of 
 age. In person he is tall and well-proportioned. 
 His hair is dark, and his complexion approaches 
 to ruddiness. His features are a true index to his 
 character ; they indicate great energy of mind and 
 firmness of purpose. He is one of the most hand- 
 some and gentlemanly-looking men in the house ; 
 and his manners are in accordance with his appear- 
 ance. He is courteous and kind in all the relations 
 both of public and private life. He has acquired 
 some distinction as a literary man ; his Narrative 
 of the Peninsular War, published a few years ago, 
 in two vokmies, met with a favourable reception 
 from the public. 
 
 Sir Henry Parnell, member for Dundee, and 
 Paymaster of the Forces, is a gentleman whose name 
 has not been much before the public for the last 
 twelve or eighteen months ; but it was so promi-
 
 SIR HEXRY PARNELL. 231 
 
 nently so for many years before that time, and his 
 services in the cause of Reform have been so great, 
 that it were unpardonable to pass him over in 
 silence. It was in a great measure to the success 
 of his motion in 1830, on the propriety of inquiring 
 into the state of the Civil List, that the Wellington 
 Government of that period owed its dissolution. 
 Sir Henry had before been popular in consequence 
 of his decidedly liberal opinions, and his respect- 
 able talents ; but the result of that motion, and the 
 effects which followed, raised him to a distinction, 
 and gave him an importance both in the House 
 and the country, which he had not before acquired. 
 It paved the way for his appointment to an impor- 
 tant situation in the Government. 
 
 Sir Henry is a respectable but by no means a 
 superior speaker. He has a fine clear voice, but 
 he never varies the key in which he commences. 
 He is, however, always audible in all parts of the 
 house. His utterance is well-timed, and he ap- 
 pears to speak with great ease. He delivers his 
 speeches in much the same way as if he were re- 
 peating some piece of writing he had committed to 
 his memory in his school-boy years. His gesticula- 
 tion is a great deal too tame for his speeches to 
 produce any effect. He stands stock-still, except 
 when he occasionally raises and lets fall his right
 
 232 sin HENRY PARXELL. 
 
 hand. Even this he does in a very gentle manner. 
 What he excels in is giving a plain, luminous 
 statement of complex financial matters. In this 
 respect he has no superior ; I doubt if he has an 
 equal in the house. He fully understands all such 
 questions, and has got the very rare talent of mak- 
 ing his own views of a subject as clear to others, 
 as they are to his own mind. His work on Taxa- 
 tion and Finance, published four years ago, must 
 have convinced many thousands of this. It is by 
 far the clearest and most comprehensive ever written 
 on the subject. 
 
 Sir Henry, as I have already intimated, has 
 spoken very little of late. As far as I can recol- 
 lect, he did not open his mouth more than once in 
 the house all last Session ; and then only for a few 
 minutes: his reputation is suffering in conse- 
 quence. Politicians and senators, above all other 
 classes of men, ought to do something to keep up 
 their reputations ; if indolent — if they do not ap- 
 pear with some frequency before the public, they 
 are sure to be all but completely forgotten. They 
 are diiferently circumstanced from authors ; an 
 author may earn an imperishable reputation by one 
 work of merit, because that work, continuing to 
 be read for a long period of years, perpetuates, of 
 course, the name and reputation of the writer ; but
 
 MR. CHARLES WOOD. 233 
 
 it requires a series of good speeches and active 
 exertions to procure distinction as a politician or 
 senator; and as these speeches and exertions are 
 of necessity but of temporary interest, it requires a 
 perseverance in the same course of frequent speak- 
 ing and unremitting action, to maintain the reputa- 
 tion which has been so acquired. 
 
 Sir Henry is gentlemanly in his appearance ; so 
 is he also in reality. His manners are highly cour- 
 teous. In stature he is considerably above the 
 middle size, rather inclining to stoutness. His 
 complexion is fair; his features are regular, with 
 a mild expression about them ; and his hair is pure 
 white. He dresses with much neatness, but not in 
 the extreme of fashion. His age is sixty-one. 
 
 Mr. Charles Wood, member for Halifax, and 
 Secretary to the Board of Admiralty, took a very 
 active part in the beginning of last Session in 
 opposing the Government of Sir Robert Peel ; since 
 then he has spoken but little. He is a young 
 man, being only in his thirty-fifth year. He is 
 married to the thirteenth and youngest daughter 
 of Earl Grey, which circumstance, and his being 
 Secretary to the Board of Treasury from 1832 
 to 1834, gave him a good deal of importance 
 during that period, in the house. He is whip- 
 per-in to the Liberal party ; but he is not half so
 
 234 MR. CHAULES WOOD. 
 
 efficient in that office as Mr. Holmes was when he 
 performed the same office to the Tories. It is re- 
 lated of Mr. Holmes that when he saw any of his 
 party about to quit the house immediately before 
 some important division was expected to take place, 
 he used to seize them by the collar when going out 
 of the lobby, provided they were persons with 
 whom he was on familiar terms, and by mere phy- 
 sical force compel them to return to their parlia- 
 mentary duties. His experience had by this time 
 taught him, that the promises of honourable mem- 
 bers to return in five or ten minvites, or any other 
 short period they might mention, were not always 
 to be depended upon ; and therefore he very wisely 
 acted on the maxim — " a bird in hand is worth two 
 in the bush." Mr. Wood had hard work of it at 
 the commencement of last Session to keep the 
 Liberals to their posts. The small majority of ten 
 on the question of the Speakership, and the still 
 smaller one of seven on that of the amendment to 
 the address in answer to the King's Speech, were 
 an earnest to him that the office was to be no 
 sinecure. 
 
 Mr. Wood is a good speaker. He has a fine, 
 deep-toned musical voice ; but he sometimes mis- 
 manages its intonations. The effect, too, is gene- 
 rally in some degree impaired by a too rapid
 
 MR. CHARLES WOOD. 235 
 
 utterance. He speaks with great fluency ; he never 
 hesitates or is at a loss, either for ideas, or for 
 words wherewith to express them. His language 
 is elegant ; it is evidently highly laboured when he 
 makes a set speech. He is happy in reply. He is 
 unquestionably a man of considerable talents. Per- 
 haps a more accurate idea of his character will be 
 conveyed by saying he is clever. He wants depth 
 of thought and vigour of expression. His manner 
 is affected. The usual position in which he puts 
 himself when addressing the house is to fold his 
 arms on his breast, and stand up as erect as if some 
 one were going to measure his personal height. 
 He is about the usual height ; and well-made, 
 though somewhat slender. His face is angular, his 
 features are regular, and his complexion of a rather 
 darkish hue. The colour of his hair is a deep 
 brown. He is usually rather foppish in his dress. 
 
 There are several other members who are con- 
 nected with the Government, but their names do 
 not come with sufficient frequency before the public 
 as speakers in the house, to entitle them to notice.
 
 236 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 METROPOLITAN MEMBERS. 
 
 MR. ALDERMAN WOOD — MR. G ROTE — MR. CRAWFORD 
 — MR. PATTISON — SIR FRANCIS BURDETT — COLO- 
 NEL EVANS — SIR SAMUEL WHALLEY — MR. HENRY 
 LYTTON BULWER — MR. THOMAS DUNCOMBE — MR. 
 THOMAS WAKLEY — DR. LUSHINGTON — MR. CLAY 
 
 — MR. DANIEL WHITTLE HARVEY MR. SHERIFF 
 
 HUMPHREY — MR. TENNYSON d'eYNCOURT MR. 
 
 HAWES. 
 
 Before the passing of the Reform Bill the me- 
 tropolitan members were only six in number ; four 
 of these were returned by the Liverymen of the city : 
 the other two by Westminster. They are now six- 
 teen in number ; four are still returned by the 
 City, and two by Westminster — the qualification 
 being a £10 rental — and the others are chosen by 
 the burghs in the vicinity. 
 
 Mr. Alderman Wood is not only the oldest of 
 the City members, but he is the oldest of the metro- 
 politan representatives. His age is nearly seventy. 
 He is a man of venerable appearance ; his counte- 
 nance is open and cheerful. His head is in a great
 
 ALDERMAN WOOD. 237 
 
 measure bald ; what hair there is on it is white as 
 snow. His features are small, and his complexion 
 is fair. There are a few wrinkles in his face, but 
 he looks well for a man of his years. In his earlier 
 years he used to speak often in Parliament ; and in 
 the defence and protection of Queen Caroline, he 
 evinced extraordinary zeal within as well as without 
 the walls of St. Stephen's ; but for some years past 
 he has spoken but very little. He is still, however, 
 as liberal in his principles as ever, and is as much 
 attached to them as at any period when his name 
 was so frequently before the public. 
 
 Mr. Alderman Wood is but an indifferent speaker. 
 His voice has a harsh, grating sound, the bad effect 
 of which is increased by its monotony. Its tones 
 are the same whenever he speaks, or on whatever 
 subjects he expresses his sentiments. Whether he 
 speaks in the House of Commons, on the hustings 
 in Guildhall, in the Common Council-room, or at 
 a Lord Mayor's dinner — whether the subject be 
 one in which the destinies of the world are involved, 
 or it be only the provisions of a bill he proposes to 
 bring in to permit police officers to take up dogs in 
 the hot weather, when supposed to be mad, — Mr. 
 Alderman Wood's voice is Mr. Alderman Wood's 
 voice — the same as it ever was; the same, I may 
 add, as it ever will be. His manner has something
 
 238 MR. GROTE. 
 
 of awkwardness about it ; and his language is 
 plain, sometimes not very correct. I doubt if he 
 ever stumbled on half a dozen eloqvient sentences 
 in the whole course of his lengthened public life. 
 He has no pretensions to talent : it is the liberality 
 of his principles and his consistent^ conduct, no 
 his abilities, that have recommended him to the City 
 of London, and induced it to choose him for one 
 .of its representatives. 
 
 Mr. Grote is another of the City members. His 
 principles are decidedly liberal : they are essentially 
 the same as those of Mr. Alderman ^Vood. He is 
 a man of very considerable talent, and occasionally 
 makes long and effective speeches in Parhament. 
 He is much respected by men of all parties, and is 
 always listened to with great attention in the 
 House. For some years past he has brought for- 
 ward a motion every Session for Vote by Ballot. 
 His speeches on these occasions occupy from two 
 to three hours in the delivery; and in every instance 
 have displayed a strong and masculine, as well as 
 highly cultivated mind. I have seldom heard more 
 strictly argumentative speeches delivered, on any 
 question, in the house. Every thing that can be 
 said in favour of the Ballot, will be found in Mr. 
 Grote's speeches on the subject, and found put in the 
 most forcible manner. From the growing numbers
 
 MR. CRAWFORD. 239 
 
 ill favour of the Ballot, there is not a doubt it will 
 be speedily carried. At this moment there is a 
 majority of members in the house in favour of it, 
 and the reason why it has not been carried before 
 now is, that other matters have always clashed 
 with it at the time the question has been brought 
 forward. 
 
 Mr. Grote is in person about the middle size. 
 His hair is a jet black, and his complexion dark'. 
 His countenance indicates thought and reserve, but 
 is by no means stern or unpleasant. His voice is 
 not strong, but his clear and distinct enunciation 
 makes him heard in every part of the house. He 
 does not aim at effect. He seeks to convince his 
 audience by reason and argument, rather than to 
 bring tliem over to his views by any of the clap- 
 trap oratorical expedients so often resorted to. He 
 is a pleasant and easy speaker. He is never at a 
 loss for words to express his ideas ; nor, which is a 
 greater matter still, is he ever at a loss for ideas. 
 The fact is, that he very seldom speaks — and then 
 he is very brief — without having prepared his 
 speeches before-hand. When he intends making a 
 long speech on any particular subject, he writes 
 it out at full length, and commits it to memory. 
 He is in his forty-first year. 
 
 Mr. William Crawford is another of the City
 
 240 MR. PATTISOX. 
 
 of London representatives. He is intimately con- 
 versant with commercial subjects, especially with 
 those connected with India, where he resided for 
 many years, and where he realized a handsome for- 
 tune. He is a tolerable speaker, but scarcely ever 
 opens his mouth in the house. He is a man of 
 respectable talents. His principles are Liberal, 
 without being Radical. He does not go quite so 
 far on many questions as his colleagues, Mr. 
 Alderman Wood and Mr. Grote. In person he 
 is tall, and of a full make, without being c«>pu- 
 lent. His hair is of a slightly dark colour. His 
 complexion is dark, and his countenance has an 
 intelligent expression. His forehead is large and 
 well developed, and his features are regvdar. He 
 is a pleasant-looking man ; his age is upwards of 
 fifty. 
 
 The other member for the City of London is 
 Mr. James Pattison, Governor of the Bank of 
 England. He is now in his fifty-ninth year, but 
 never was in Parliament till returned in March last 
 for the City. He has not yet spoken in Parliament, 
 nor is it likely he ever will ; for he is not only a 
 bad speaker, or rather no speaker at all, but he has 
 the good sense to know it. I heard him on one 
 occasion attempt to speak in public, but he made 
 sad work of it. There w^s not only no eloquence
 
 MR. PATTISON. 241 
 
 in what he said, but there was not even tolerable 
 grammar. Either no ideas occurred to his mind, or 
 if they did, he could not find words to express 
 them. If, however, his speech, if so it might be 
 called, was not " sweet,"" it had certainly the merit 
 of being " short."" 
 
 IVIr. Pattison, in his personal appearance, reminds 
 me of an English farmer of the old school. He is 
 tall and corpulent ; he is unquestionably, with the 
 exception of Sir R. Vaughan, the most "big- 
 bellied"" man in the house. If he is not distin- 
 guished for his weight, morally speaking, in Par- 
 liament, he is certainly a man of great weight, in the 
 physical sense of the term. He always dresses with 
 great plainness. He invariably wears knee inex- 
 pressibles of a sandy colour, with gaiters of the same 
 complexion, and indeed of the same cloth. There 
 is something remarkably "jolly" — I know not a 
 more significant word — in the expression of his 
 countenance. It is full of good-nature. He always 
 looks pleased himself, and wishes to see every body 
 in the same happy mood. His countenance is not a 
 fair index of his intellect. There is nothing intelli- 
 gent about it : but he is a man of very extensive 
 information, and of a sound judgment. In fact, his 
 holding the situation of Governor of the Bank of 
 England, is of itself a proof of this. 
 u
 
 242 SIR FRAXCIS BURDETT. 
 
 I now come to the members for Westminster, — 
 Sir Francis Burdett and Colonel Evans. 
 
 Sir Francis Burdett, has been one of the 
 representatives for Westminster since 1807. For 
 many years he stood almost alone the advocate of 
 Liberal principles, and submitted not only to be 
 excluded from aristocratic society, but to heavy 
 fines and imprisonment, rather than suppress his 
 opinions. There is not living at this moment a 
 man, either in or out of Parliament, who, all things 
 considered, has made such great and numerous 
 sacrifices for his political opinions, as Sir Francis 
 has done. For many years he was in one sense 
 an hourly martyr for his principles ; but a great 
 change has come over the spirit of his politics. 
 There is no more similarity between the Sir 
 Francis Burdett of 1835, and the Sir Francis 
 Burdett of 1815, than there is between light and 
 darkness. He still makes a profession of Liberal 
 principles, but it is only profession; the substance 
 or reality is wanting. He affected to feel no 
 confidence in the Government of Sir Robert Peel 
 and yet refused to take a single step towards its 
 overthrow. Nay, when his constituents asked him to 
 oppose it, he peremptorily refused, and plainly told 
 them that any such opposition would be factious. 
 In the single instance of the Irish Church Property
 
 SIR FEANCIS BURDETT. 243 
 
 Appropriation Question, last session, he voted with 
 the Liberal party; in all other cases, he either did 
 not vote at all, or else he voted in favour of Tory 
 principles. He was not, I am persuaded, more 
 than eight or ten times in his place in Parliament 
 during the whole of last session; and in no one in- 
 stance did he express an opinion on any of the great 
 questions which were brought under the considera- 
 tion of the House. The only time he ever opened 
 his mouth at all, was on the subject of some new 
 company which proposed supplying the metropolis 
 with water. He did, indeed, attempt to speak 
 when the question was before the House, whether 
 or not Mr. Pilgrim, one of the persons committed 
 to Newgate for bribery at the IpsAvich election, 
 ought to be liberated at that particular time ; but 
 some other member caught the Speaker's eye before 
 him, and he did not again rise with the intention of 
 speaking, so far as I saw or could learn. What 
 side he meant to take on that question, I have no 
 means of knowing ; nor is it of any importance, as 
 the Reformers were divided among themselves in 
 reference to it. If any proof, in addition to his 
 general conduct for two or three years past, were 
 wanting as to the character of his political princi- 
 ples, it Avould be found in the fact, that his favou- 
 rite newspaper, and indeed almost the only one he 
 m2
 
 U.4:4t SIR FRANCIS BURDETT. 
 
 reads with any attention is the Standard. Sir 
 Francis made an admission to this effect, in the 
 presence of several persons, a few months since. 
 
 Sir Francis is now in his sixty-fifth year. In 
 person lie is considerably above the middle size, and 
 is rather well made. His face is tliin, and of a 
 sharp angular form. His eyes are sunken. He has 
 little forehead, while his nose, which is somewhat of 
 an aquiline form, is unusually large and prominent. 
 His complexion is remarkably fair, with a mixture 
 of red, and his hair is of a pure white. 
 
 Sir Francis used to be considered a good speaker. 
 His language was always vigorous, and his matter 
 excellent. He never introduced any thing extra- 
 neous into his speeches for the purposes of orna- 
 ment. He always spoke to the point, and there was 
 no mistaking his meaning. In his earlier days 
 he evidently spoke from the fulness of his heart : 
 hence there were great energy and animation in his 
 manner. He often reached, without attempting it, 
 or being aware of it at the time, the higher, if 
 not the highest flights of eloquence. His action 
 sometimes bordered on extravagance but was gene- 
 rally graceful. His voice, which is clear and shrill, 
 made the walls of the house re-echo, when, in some 
 of his more impassioned moments — and he did on 
 such occasions speak as if inspired by the spirit of
 
 COLONEL EVANS. 245 
 
 freedom — he raised it in defence of the liberties of 
 his country. 
 
 What the eccentric Hon. Lady Stanhope said of 
 Sir Francis Burdett to one of her countrymen some 
 years since in her voluntary exile in the East, is 
 still true : — He dresses like a gentleman and has 
 the manners of a gentleman. His favourite dress, 
 though of course there must be a variation with 
 the season and with circumstances, — is a blue coat, 
 a light-coloured waistcoat, and light-coloured knee 
 breeches. Top-boots he ^Imost invariably wears. 
 He is very particular in the make of his clothes ; 
 not, indeed, in having them made according to the 
 existing fashion, but according to what he conceives 
 ought to be the fashion, or which was most proba- 
 bly the fashion some forty or fifty years ago. He 
 is fond of long waistcoats : they generally appear 
 three or four inches longer than his coat, when the 
 latter is buttoned, which it usually is. 
 
 Colonel Evans is Sir Francis Burdett's col- 
 league in the representation of Westminster. The 
 gallant Colonel is perhaps the most liberal in his 
 politics of all the metropolitan representatives, 
 with the single exception of Mr. Wakley, one of 
 the members for Finsbury. In fact, he belongs to 
 the Radical school. As a speaker he is respectable, 
 but nothing more. It is not, however, a long time
 
 24f6 COLONEL EVANS. 
 
 since he was not even that. When he first entered 
 Parliament for the borough of Rye, which is only 
 a few years since, he was no speaker at all. It was 
 with the greatest difficulty, and not without stam- 
 mering and hesitating at every second sentence, 
 that he could express his sentiments on any sub- 
 ject. His connexion with Westminster, however, 
 imposed on him a sort of unavoidable necessity of 
 taking part in almost all the Radical or Reform 
 meetings held in the Metropolis during the last few 
 years, and the result has been that he has greatly 
 improved by practice. He can now express his 
 sentiments on any subject with considerable ease 
 and fluency. He is not a man of more than ave- 
 rage talents, and has no pretensions to eloquence. 
 In the Session of 1834 he spoke pretty often : last 
 Session only a very few times. He never makes 
 long speeches. 
 
 Colonel Evans is an Irishman. He is about 
 fifty years of age ; but appears much older than he 
 is in Consequence of the great fatigues he under- 
 went, and the wounds he received, in the late war. 
 In person he is above the middle stature, but very 
 thin. He has the appearance of a person in ill 
 health, or of one whose frame has been worn-down 
 by active service : but he is much stronger than he 
 appears, and is in excellent spirits ; a fact which he
 
 SIR SAMUEL WHALLEY. 247 
 
 has sufficiently attested, by his having lately volun- 
 tarily encountered the fatigues and dangers of war 
 in the service of the Queen of Spain. His hair 
 is jet black ; and his complexion is so dark that he 
 is often mistaken for a Spaniard or Portuguese. 
 He possesses an uncommonly high sense of honour. 
 In short, he seems to have a penchant for duelling. 
 I have often seen him, as it appeared to me, go out 
 of his way, when personal altercations were going 
 on in the House of Commons, in order that he 
 might stand a chance of receiving a challenge. In 
 the army few men have more distinguished them- 
 selves by acts of personal bravery than Colonel 
 Evans. He dresses with extreme plainness, some- 
 times almost slovenly. His clothes are never well 
 made, and hardly ever look as if new. He almost 
 invariably wears a blue coat and dark trowsers, and 
 generally has " a shocking bad hat." 
 
 Of the members for Marylebone, Sir Samuel 
 Whalley is entitled to a priority of notice, both 
 on account of his being an older representative of 
 that burgh than his colleague, and of his name being 
 much more frequently before the public. He is a 
 young man, being in appearance not more than from 
 thirty-five to thirty-eight. In person he is below the 
 middle stature, but well-proportioned. His hair is 
 black, and his complexion dark. He has a handsome
 
 24-8 SIR SAMUEL WHALLEY. 
 
 face, full of intelligence, cheerfulness, and good- 
 nature, qualities which he invariably evinces in his 
 intercourse with his fellow-men. But his extreme 
 good-nature never leads him to compromise his prin- 
 ciples. He has great fixedness of purpose about him, 
 and is a man of the strictest politicaHntegrity. I 
 I do not know a man in the house who has adhered 
 more closely to his principles, and this, too, in 
 opposition to the strongest temptations to abandon 
 them. He is a remarkably fluent speaker. He 
 has a great command of words. I have heard him 
 express the same sentiment in an infinitely varied 
 phraseology. Indeed, his command of words often 
 has the effect of making him wordy. He could speak 
 for hours on any given subject without hesitating 
 for a moment, or being at a loss for a word : and 
 every sentence would be as tastefully constructed, 
 as if the speech had been the result of months of 
 the closest study. His mind is not of a very mas- 
 culine order. If he does not fall below mediocrity 
 in the matter of his speeches, he does not very often 
 rise far above it. He chiefly excels in quiet sar- 
 casm. His voice is clear and musical, and his 
 enunciation distinct. He is a man of most gentle- 
 manly and amiable manners. The electors of 
 Marylebone are most warmly attached to him, and 
 certainly few representatives are more worthy of
 
 MR. he>:ry lyttox bulwer. 249 
 
 the regards of their constituents. He is accessible 
 to them at all times, and is remarkable for his 
 candour and straightforwardness in all his inter- 
 course with them. He is most exemplary in the 
 discharge of his parliamentary duties. I know of 
 few members, although he is in a delicate state of 
 health, who are more regular in their attendance in 
 the house. 
 
 Mr. Henry Lytton Bulwer is Sir Samuel 
 Whalley"'s colleague. He is the brother of Mr. 
 Edward Lytton Bulwer, member for Lincoln, and 
 author of " Eugene Aram," &c. Mr. H. Bulwer 
 himself also makes some pretensions to literary ta- 
 lent. These are chiefly grounded on his late work 
 entitled " France — Social, Political, and Literary,'' 
 which is undoubtedly one of considerable merit. He 
 is ardently attached to his brother, and his brother 
 is equally so towards him. I have sometimes seen 
 this commendable feeling of fraternal regard get the 
 better of the good taste of the member for Mary- 
 lebone, by prompting him to pay compliments to 
 his brother's literary merits in public, which would 
 have come with a much better grace from a more 
 disinterested quarter. 
 
 Mr. H. L. Bulwer is a young man. He is only 
 about thirty-five years of age. In person he is 
 rather tall and handsome. His complexion is fair, 
 M 3
 
 250 MR. BUNCOMBE. 
 
 and his hair of a dark shade, without being, strictly 
 speaking, black. His features are regular, and the 
 expression of his countenance intelligent, and, on 
 the whole, pleasing. He has a good deal of conceit 
 about him. He is vain both of his person and 
 intellect. He is foppish in his dres% and has too 
 much of an aristocratic air in his manners. He is 
 a man of fair talents, but nothing more. He does 
 not speak often ; and even then, unless the speech 
 has been previously prepared, but for a very short 
 time. His voice is not powerful, but it is pleasant. 
 His utterance is rapid, and an affected pronunciation 
 sometimes makes it difficult to hear him distinctly. 
 He is not a man of any weight in the House ; what- 
 ever distinction he possesses, he owes in a great 
 measure, to his relationship to Mr. Edward Lytton 
 Bulwer. 
 
 I come now to the members for Finsbury — Mr. 
 T. Duncombe and Mr. Wakley. Mr. Duvco.mbe 
 has been many years in Parliament, having, pre- 
 vious to 1832, sat during several Parliaments, — 
 three, I think — for the burgh of Hertford. In 
 stature he is above the middle size. His person is 
 handsome, and it is set off to great advantage by 
 the tasteful manner in which he dresses. His hair 
 is quite black, and his complexion very dark. His 
 eyes ai'e small, but full of fire and intelligence. He
 
 MR. WAKLEY. 251 
 
 is a man of very respectable talents. His agreeable 
 manners make him a general favourite both within 
 and without the house. He does not speak often, 
 hardly ever, unless he has previously prepared him- 
 self for the occasion. When he does address the 
 house he acquits himself in a very creditable man- 
 ner. His voice is clear and pleasant in its tones, 
 and his manner is easy and unaffected. I know of 
 few members who have the happy tact in a greater 
 degree than Mr. Duncombe, of saying a great deal 
 in a few words. He is never tedious ; nor does he 
 ever wander from the subject. Instead of encum- 
 bering his arguments with a world of verbiage, as 
 is too often done, or inflicting on the house sen- 
 tences without number containing no argument at 
 all, he states his arguments in the fewest possible 
 terms, — almost every new sentence, indeed, con- 
 tains a new argument. He is singularly happy in 
 giving a clear, intelligible statement of facts in the 
 shortest possible space, and in the fewest possible 
 words. His style is correct, without being polished. 
 It is smooth and pleasant, never disfigured by a 
 straining after effect by means of metaphorical, 
 or any of the other meretricious expressions so 
 often mistaken, by persons of a false taste, for 
 eloquence. 
 
 Mr. Wakley, Mr. Duncombe's colleague, was
 
 252 MR. WAKLEY. 
 
 well known to the public before his admission into 
 the house. His frequent unsuccessful contests for 
 Finsbury, the prominent part he has taken for 
 years in the proceedings at the Radical meetings of 
 the metropolis, and his editorship of The Lancet, 
 which he still conducts, and of The Ballot news- 
 paper, which is now incorporated with The Exa- 
 miner , have made his name familiar to all. In his 
 political opinions he is of the Ultra-Radical school ; 
 but has not been nearly so violent in the expression 
 6i his sentiments, nor so obstinate and self-willed 
 in the course of conduct he has pursued in the 
 house, as was generally apprehended. In fact, he 
 has acted Avith a moderation, in consequence of 
 yielding to the advice of others, rather than pur- 
 suing the bent of his own inclinations and acting 
 according to the dictates of his own judgment, 
 which has displeased a great many of his consti- 
 tuents, and given rise in their minds to suspicions 
 that he is not the man they took him for. 
 
 Mr. Wakley is an excellent speaker, though he 
 does not appear to the same advantage in the house 
 as out of it. His voice possesses a fine musical 
 tone, which he can modulate at pleasvu'e. Some- 
 times he speaks a little too fast, but generally his 
 utterance is well-timed to the ear. He is always 
 audible in every part of the house. The only
 
 MR. WAKLEY. 253 
 
 speech of any length or importance he has yet made 
 in Parliament, was in July last for a remission of 
 the sentence passed on the Dorchester labourers. 
 And that was, in every point of view, a highly 
 creditable effort ; it was so considered by men of all 
 parties. He attempted to speak two or three times 
 when Sir Robert Peel was in office, on Lord John 
 Russell's motion respecting the Appropriation of 
 the surplus property of the Church of Ireland to 
 other than ecclesiastical purposes, but was not for- 
 tunate enough to catch the eye of the Speaker. He 
 is invariably fluent, often eloquent. His matter is 
 always good, though he is sometimes wordy. His 
 delivery is graceful. I never heard two voices so 
 like each other as his and the late Mr. Cobbett's, 
 only that he speaks, as already stated, with much 
 rapidity, while Cobbett was one of the slowest 
 speakers I have ever heard. Mr. Wakley has a 
 strong provincial accent, which sometimes has a 
 ludicrous effect. One would, from his mode of pro- 
 nouncing some words, take him to be a Scotchman. 
 For example, the word " half-pennies" he always 
 pronounces " ha'pnies." 
 
 Mr. Wakley has a good taste for the hvnnorous, 
 and makes some happy hits that way. As a mimic 
 he certainly stands unrivalled in the house, and has 
 few equals out of it. The only specimen he has yet
 
 254) MR. WAKLEY. 
 
 given in the house of his powers in tliis way was 
 indescribably happy, and called forth peals of 
 laughter from all parts of the house. He was 
 mimicking one of the electors of South Devon, who 
 voted against Lord John Russell, when he pro- 
 ceeded in this strain, as nearly as print can convey 
 an idea of his manner. 
 
 " He had been down in Devonshire during the 
 late election, and what was the cry of the farmers 
 who had been brought up to vote against the noble 
 Lord (Lord John Russell) — ' I'se have na Lard 
 Russel : I''se have na refaann ; I*'se have na Paape' 
 — (Great laughter). When he asked one of the 
 fanners whether he would not prefer to go up and 
 vote independently, instead of being thus brought 
 up in the train of the landlord, the man said ' Na, 
 I'se always rides to the poll a-horseback** — (Re- 
 newed laughter). When he asked another elector, 
 whether he would not like to go to poll by way of 
 the ballot, his answer Avas, ' T daant kna zur ; 
 I'se always goo by way of Daalish'' "" — (Peals of 
 laughter). 
 
 Mr. Wakley is about forty-five years of age. 
 In person, he is tall and handsome. His com- 
 plexion is fair, and his hair of a blonde colour. 
 His countenance is pleasant, except when speaking, 
 when it very often assumes a contemptuous sort
 
 DR. LUSHINGTON. 255 
 
 of expression, which is anything but agreeable. 
 I have, on several occasions, been amused by ob- 
 serving him and his colleague sitting each in an 
 empty seat by himself at the back of the Minis- 
 terial benches, and carrying on a conversation 
 together across the passage, as if severally jjer- 
 forming quarantine. The circumstance has some- 
 times reminded me of Hazlitt's story of two servant 
 maids gossipping about their sweethearts, or abus- 
 ing their mistresses, by putting their heads out of 
 the windows nearest to each other, of their respec- 
 tive houses. 
 
 The members for the Tower Hamlets are Dr. 
 LusHiNGTON and Mr. Clay. The name of the 
 former has been prominently before the public for 
 many years. He was a strenuous and able Re- 
 former in the worst and most perilous times. He 
 is a man of distinguished talents. If he has no 
 pretensions to genius, or if he seldom delights his 
 audience by any thing brilliant or original, he 
 never fails to put the most obvious arguments in 
 favour of the view he takes of a subject, in their 
 clearest light. His speeches are always ai'gumen- 
 tative and forcible. I know of few members who 
 deal less in general declamation. He still speaks 
 pretty often, but not by any means with the fre- 
 quency he did before and during the great struggle
 
 256 DR. LUSHIXGTON. 
 
 for the Reform Bill. His notion is, in the first 
 place, that the battle may be already said to be 
 won : and, in the second, that as there are now so 
 many able advocates for what yet remains to be 
 accomplished, on behalf of the great cause of civil 
 and religious liberty, it would be a species of un- 
 necessary obtrusion of himself on the House, were 
 he to address it as often as he did when the battle 
 was at its hottest, and the result — as to time at 
 least — a matter of doubt. 
 
 Dr. Lushington''s voice is clear and shrill. When 
 he intends to address the House at any length, he 
 pitches it in so high a key as to sound unpleasant 
 to the eai's of those immediately around him. He 
 usually makes " the welkin ring again." His 
 utterance is somewhat slow at the commencement, 
 but as he proceeds and warms with the subject, he 
 speaks with more rapichty, but never with too 
 much. He evidently feels strongly when address- 
 ing the House on questions which involve first 
 principles, and gives a full and fearless expres- 
 sion to his sentiments. His elocution is some- 
 what impaired by his inability to pronounce the 
 letter r. 
 
 In person, Dr. Lushington is somewhat above 
 the middle size. His complexion is dark, and his 
 hair something between a black and brown colour.
 
 MR. CLAY. 257 
 
 His features are distinctly marked. He has a pro- 
 jecting brow and a prominent nose. His mouth is 
 large, and in speaking he usually opens it so wide 
 as to show most of his teeth. His under-lip droops 
 considerably. His eyes are black, and when speak- 
 ing on any question in which he feels a special in- 
 terest, they emit the most fiery and piercing glances. 
 In his mode of dressing there is nothing peculiar. 
 He dresses plainly but not slovenly. His age is 
 about fifty-five. 
 
 Mr. Clay owes his seat and his popularity 
 chiefly to the liberality of his opinions. In several 
 instances, when there were divisions in the House' 
 he has gone much further towards pure radicalism 
 than Dr. Lushington was prepared, or thought it 
 advisable at the time to go. Hence he is, or was 
 some twelve or eighteen months since, a greater fa- 
 vourite with the electors of the Tower Hamlets than 
 Dr. Lushington. Though he does not speak often 
 — not on an average above three or four times a 
 session — he can acquit himself very creditably when 
 he has had time to prepare his speech and commit 
 it to memory before-hand. The Corn-Law question 
 is his favourite subject ; and he has made several 
 motions on the subject, which he always prefaces 
 with a very respectable speech and of considerable 
 length. His voice has little power or volume, but
 
 258 MR. DANIEL WHITTLE HARVEY. 
 
 it is clear and pleasant, and he speaks with ease 
 and fluency. He has not much action ; but what 
 he has is gi-aceful. He is a handsome man. There 
 are few more handsome men in the house. He is 
 tall and well-proportioned ; and the appearance of 
 his person is much improved by the^ tasteful man- 
 ner in which he dresses. He has a fine forehead ; 
 his features are regular, his complexion is fair, and 
 his hair partially dark. He is about forty-five 
 years of age. 
 
 I come next to the members for Southwark — 
 Messrs. Daniel Whittle Harvey, and Sherift* Hum- 
 phrey. There are few men in the house whose 
 names are more famihar to the pubhc than that of 
 Mr. Harvey. He is one of the little band still in 
 Parliament who ably and unflinchingly advocated 
 Reform when the cause was so unpopular, and 
 when success was all but hopeless. He is a man of 
 great talents. There are but few more gifted men 
 in Parliament. On whatever subject he speaks, he 
 is sure to say something clever. He is one of the 
 few speakers in the house whom one would never 
 tire of hearing. His ideas always strike you as 
 excellent, and his illustrations are usually of the 
 most felicitous kind. You are often surprised, as 
 well as pleased, by the brilliant things he says. 
 His language is elegant to a fault. I have heard
 
 MR. DANIEL WHITTLE HARVEY. 2o9 
 
 him deliver speeches of considerable length, through 
 the whole of which there ran a vein of the richest 
 poetical imagery. I never saw a better illustration 
 than is furnished by his speeches, of the practica- 
 bility of " speaking poetry in the garb of prose." 
 Even on the question of the Pension List — a most 
 unpoetical subject, one would think — I have heard 
 Mr. Harvey express himself, from the beginning to 
 the end, in the most poetical diction. At refined 
 sarcasm he has few equals, either in or out of the 
 house. No man can cut an opponent more deli- 
 cately, and at the same time so deeply. Some of 
 his efforts in this way have been the happiest that 
 ever met my notice, either in speeches I have heard 
 delivered, or in the course of my reading. 
 
 Mr. Harvey is also one of the best speakers in 
 the house. The delivery of many of his speeches 
 has often appeared to me a model of correct and 
 graceful elocution. He has a fine melodious voice, 
 over the tones and intonations of which he has a 
 perfect control. His utterance, too, is neither too 
 rapid nor too slow, — it is the happy medium. His 
 speeches, when well pi-epared, fall with all the soft- 
 ness and symphony of music on the ear. Even 
 when not prepared, he often speaks admirably. I 
 have frequently heai'd him get up and make a speech 
 from thirty to forty minutes'* duration on the spur
 
 260 MR. SHERIFF HUMPHREY. 
 
 of the moment, in which there was not a single 
 misplaced word, or the slightest unnecessary pause; 
 while the delivery seemed as perfect as the hu- 
 man voice could make it. But he is not always, 
 when unprepared, equally happy. On other occa- 
 sions I have repeatedly seen himfaulter and stutter, 
 and appear awkward altogether in the delivery. 
 Whoever, therefore, hears him in such cases, can 
 have no idea of what he is in his happier mo- 
 ments. 
 
 Mr. Harvey is considerabl}^ above the middle 
 size, and of proportional thickness. His shoulders 
 are unusually high. He is white-haired, and his 
 face is of a fair complexion. Advancing years are 
 beginning to tell upon it in the shape of a few slight 
 Avrinkles. He is in his fifty-first year. He dresses 
 plainly. He almost invariably wears a blue coat 
 ^vith a velvet collar. The other parts of his dress 
 vary with the season, but his predilections seem to 
 be in favour of a light colour. 
 
 Mr. Sheriff Humphrey (Mr. Harvey ''s colleague) 
 has not, so far as I am aware, ever attempted to speak 
 in the house. He is no speaker ; and he has the 
 good sense to know it : it were devoutly to be wished 
 that several other hon. members possessed the same 
 species of knowledge. He is remarkably plain and 
 unsophisticated in his manners, and yet is quite the
 
 MK. TENNYSON d'eYNCOURT. 2()1 
 
 y'entleman. I do not know a more consistent man : 
 certainly no hon. member adheres more faithfully to 
 his hustings pledges. He is a great favourite, and 
 deservedly so, with his constituents. In person he 
 is tall and stout, without being, strictly speaking, 
 corpulent. His complexion is ruddy, and his 
 countenance is full of cheerfulness and good-nature. 
 His hair is of a brown colour. In his dress he is 
 always plain, but neat. He is about forty-five 
 years of age. 
 
 The only other of the Metropolitan boroughs, the 
 representatives of which remain to be noticed, is that 
 of Lambeth. The members for this borough are 
 Mr. Tennyson D'Eyncourt and Mr. Hawes. Mr. 
 Tennyson CEyncourt first brought himself be- 
 fore the public as a zealous Reformer in the year 
 1827, by his exertions to get the elective franchise 
 transferred from the corrupt borough of East Ret- 
 foi'd to the large and populous town of Birmingham. 
 His exertions in the cause of Reform have, in one 
 shape or other, subjected him to a very serious ex- 
 penditure out of his private fortune. Few men are 
 more attached to their principles than Mr. Tenny- 
 son CEyncourt. They are, in one sense, a part of 
 his being. He is ready to make any sacrifice for 
 them. He goes to the extreme of Liberalism, with- 
 out being ultra Radical. The result of his ab-
 
 262 MR. TEXNYSOX d'eYXCOURT. 
 
 stract reasonings on the subject, as well as his own 
 observation of the evils of long Parliaments, have 
 led him to attach the very greatest importance to 
 frequent elections ; he has, therefore, brought for- 
 ward a motion every session, for some years past, in 
 favour of Triennial Parliaments. These motions he 
 always prefaces with a speech of considerable length, 
 and, generally, of ability. I am not sure that he 
 has struck out any new course of argument on the 
 subject : but those arguments which most naturally 
 suggest themselves to any reflective mind, he ar- 
 ranges with judgment, and puts in a clear and for- 
 cible light. He is a very excellent speaker. His 
 voice is not strong, but it is pleasant. He is always 
 audible except when there is a noise in the House, 
 a circumstance of by no means unfrequent occur, 
 rence. With the single exception, perhaps, of Mr- 
 Abercromby, the Speaker, there is not a member in 
 the House who possesses a more extensive acquaint- 
 ance with constitutional law, or with the forms of 
 the House. He is a barrister by profession, but his 
 handsome fortune renders it unnecessary for him to 
 practise at the bar. He has one of the best selected 
 and most valuable libraries of any private gentle- 
 man in the country. 
 
 ]Mr. Tennyson D'Eyncourt is in person about the 
 middle size, rather, if any thing, under it. His hair-
 
 MR. HAWES. 263 
 
 is black, and his complexion dark. He has a fine 
 forehead. His eyes ai*e small, but full of fire and 
 animation. He has large whiskers, and a small 
 tuft on his chin. He is about forty-five years of 
 age. 
 
 Mr. Hawes is by no means so popular among 
 the electors of Lambeth as Mr. Tennyson CEyn- 
 court, not being so decided and liberal in his prin- 
 ciples. He owes his seat in Parliament chiefly to 
 the influence he possesses in the borough by means 
 of his extensive business in it as a soap manufac- 
 turer. He speaks pretty often, but it is generally 
 on the details of some comparatively unimportant 
 question. I know of no great principle or measure 
 with which he has identified himself. There is no- 
 thing peculiar in his voice or in his manner of speak- 
 ing, except that he speaks fast. He is a little man, 
 round in the face, and of dark hmr and dark com- 
 plexion. He is in his forty-third year
 
 264 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE COUNTRY LTBERAL^PARTY. 
 
 MR. HUME — MR. GISBORNE — MR. WARBURTOX — 
 MR. CHARLES BULI-ER — MR. EWART — MR. ELLICE 
 
 MR. THOMAS ATTWOOD MR. ROEBUCK — MR. 
 
 WARD— LORD DUDLEY STUART— MR. PEASE SIR 
 
 EDWARD CODRINGTON — MR. WALLACE — MR. SER- 
 JEANT WILDE. 
 
 It is not intended, under this head, to give 
 sketches of all the Country Liberal members whose 
 names appear most frequently before the public. I 
 shall confine myself, in this chapter, to those mem- 
 bers of the Country Liberal party, who cannot, 
 with so much propriety, be classed under the heads 
 which are to follow. 
 
 At the head of the Country Liberal party stands 
 Mr. Hume. He is entitled to be first noticed, both 
 on account of his being the representative of the 
 most important county (Middlesex) in the country, 
 and also on account of his great influence with 
 Reformers in all parts of the land. He is, in 
 person, about the middle size, and of a stout and
 
 MR. HUME. 2G5 
 
 firm make. There is a tendency to corpulency 
 about him. He is a man of great physical strength, 
 and can endure an incredible amovmt of fatigue. 
 He thinks nothing, as I have elsewhere said, of 
 sitting for weeks and months in succession, in the 
 house, almost from the time of its meeting till the 
 adjournment, to say nothing of the number of 
 speeches he delivers, — of wdiich I shall have to 
 speak presently. The only occasion on which I 
 ever heard him particularly complain of exliaustion, 
 was at the close of the contest for Middlesex in the 
 beginning of the present year. He then confessed 
 he was fairly " done up;"" and added, that he 
 would not again encounter the same anxiety of 
 mind, and undergo the same amount of physical 
 exertion, as he did on those two days, for <£20,000. 
 And no one, acquainted with the circumstances, 
 need wonder at the observation ; for in the first 
 place, he was quite unprepared for such a struggle. 
 He never dreamed that his opponents had been 
 moving heaven and earth, for weeks previously, to 
 oust him, and that they had succeeded in gaining 
 over to their side a great many of those who had 
 formerly proved his staunchest friends. In the 
 second place, his committee had misunderstood 
 each other, as to some important steps which 
 should have been taken to insure his return, 
 
 N -
 
 MR, HUME, 
 
 — the consequence of which was that the first 
 day his opponent was several hundreds a- head 
 of him on the poll. This of course doubled his 
 anxiety all that night and next day as to the result 
 — an anxiety which very nearly approximated to 
 despair. In the third place, the season was the 
 middle of winter, and after being kept a great part 
 of eaeh night with his committees at different 
 places, he had to drive in breathless haste through 
 the day, from one polling station to another, where 
 he was, as soon after the close of each day's poll as 
 possible, obliged to address the electors at consi- 
 derable length and with all the strength of lungs he 
 possessed. When I say that for eight or ten days 
 before he had been almost constantly employed in 
 addressing large assemblages of the electors and 
 non-electors of INIiddlesex, it will at once be seen 
 that to speak so often and at so many different places 
 during the two days of the election, as he had occa- 
 sion to do, was no easy task. All circumstances 
 considered, the mental exertion and bodily fatigue 
 which ]\rr. Hume underwent at the last election for 
 Middlesex, were such as might have shaken the 
 nerves of the strongest minded man, and tried the 
 most Herculean constitution. It is no wonder, 
 therefore, if he should have shrunk back at the 
 bare contemplation of other two such days.
 
 MR. HUME. 267 
 
 I have said that in person Mr. Hume is of a stout 
 and firm make. He is short-necked, and his head 
 is one of the largest I have seen. His hair, which 
 is dark brown, mixed with grey, is always long 
 and bushy ; his face is fat and round, and his 
 complexion has that rough yet healthy-like aspect 
 which is so common amono; gentlemen farmers. He 
 is beginning to get slightly furrowed with wrinkles. 
 The impression which Mr. Hume's physiognomy in- 
 variably creates in the mind of a stranger, is that 
 of a man of strong nerves and great determination 
 of purpose. This is exactly his character. He is 
 quite impervious to ridicule or sarcasm. He cares 
 not M^hat quantity of abuse — however virulent in 
 quality — may be heaped on him. All the ridicule, 
 nay, all the calumny in the world, will not divert 
 him from his piu'pose, if satisfied in his own mind 
 it is a commendable one. And as it is impossible 
 for his enemies to force or frighten him out of any 
 course he intends to pursue, so, in the infinite 
 majority of cases, it is a most difficult matter for 
 his friends to persuade him from it. There is not 
 a man of purer motives or greater integrity in the 
 house ; but his self-willed disposition has occasion- 
 ally done mischief to the cause he has so much at 
 heart, and in more than one instance perilled its 
 success — at least for a time — altogether. While 
 N 2
 
 268 MR. HUME. 
 
 giving him the fullest credit for unbounded zeal in 
 the cause of the people, and for the purity of his in- 
 tentions, it must be clear to every reflecting person, 
 that had he persisted in bringing forward either of 
 the motions of which he gave notice soon after the 
 beginning of last session, for a vote of want of con- 
 fidence in the Peel Ministry, or for stopping the 
 supplies, — the effect would most certain] v have been 
 to defeat the objects of his own party. It was 
 with the greatest difficulty, and not without the 
 most lu'gent solicitation from the most influential 
 men of all classes of Reformers, that he was pre- 
 vailed on to relinquish his intention. I know of no 
 man who has more improved as a speaker than Mr. 
 Hume. He is a striking instance of what may be 
 accomplished in this way by mere dint of perse- 
 verance. When he first entered Parliament, which 
 was in 1818 or 1819 — I do not recollect which — he 
 was one of the worst speakers in the house. He 
 not only stammered at every fourth or fifth sentence, 
 but his language was in the worst possible taste. It 
 often outraged not only all the acknowledged prin- 
 ciples of English grammar, but his sentences were 
 often left unfinished. Now, however, without any 
 pretensions to being a first-rate speaker, Mr. Hume 
 acquits himself, when addressing the House, in a 
 highly creditable manner. He speaks with much
 
 MR. HUME. 269 
 
 ease, and always expresses his thoughts w-ith great 
 dearness and propriety ; often with considerable 
 vigour of language. His style is not polished or 
 flowery. Though celebrated all the world over for 
 his love of figures of arithmetic, I never yet knew 
 him use a figure of rhetoric in any of the innumer- 
 able speeches I have heard him make. On the other 
 hand, I may state, that I scarcely ever knew him 
 make a speech of any length, into Avhich he did not 
 introduce a greater or less number of arithmetical 
 figures. He takes a povmds, shillings, and pence 
 view of almost every subject. 
 
 Mr. Hume's voice is strong and clear : its tones 
 have occasionally something musical abovit them. 
 If, instead of allowing liimself to fall into a mono- 
 tonous Avay of speaking, he had carefully cultivated 
 the natural capabilities of his voice, so as to modu- 
 late it accorchng to the subject, I am satisfied he 
 would have been a much more effective speaker than 
 he is. 
 
 His gesticulation cannot be said to be graceful ; 
 neither is it awkward. When he intends making a 
 speech of some length, he carefully lays liis hat, 
 which is always full of papers, on the seat close to 
 the spot on wliich he was sitting, and exhibits, as 
 he rises, one or more Parliamentary papers, most 
 probably connected with the " estimates," rolled
 
 270 MR. HUME. 
 
 up and firmly grasped by his right hand. With 
 these papers, so closely rolled up as to have the 
 appearance of a solid piece of matter, he often, in 
 the course of his speech, strikes the palm of his 
 left hand with some force. If he is saying, or 
 imagines he is saying, something particularly good, 
 he stretches out his right arm to its full length, and 
 whirls the roll of paper with considerable energy 
 in the air. When he intends to be brief in his 
 addresses to the House, he does not trouble iiim- 
 self about the locality of his hat, and seldom takes 
 any papers in his hand, unless he intends to read 
 something to the House, when he uses an eye-glass. 
 His gesture on such occasions chiefly consists in 
 gently raising and lowering both his arms at the 
 same time, very much in the way a person work- 
 ing at a double-handed saw does. When he rises 
 again, to give an explanation of a personal nature, 
 Mr. Hume always puts his hat under his left arm, 
 that part of it into which his head goes fronting 
 honourable members on the other side of the house. 
 In such cases he uses no gesture at all ; he stands 
 stock still. H. B., the celebrated political carica- 
 turist, gave a most graphic sketch of him with his 
 hat under his left arm, as explaimng, when called 
 on for that purpose by Sir Robert Peel, in April 
 last, what he meant when he charged Sir Robert
 
 MR, HUME. 271 
 
 with acting dishonourably in the course he was 
 then pursuing. 
 
 In ahnost all Mr. Hume''s long speeches, he re- 
 peatedly intimates that he is about to conclude long 
 before he does so ; sometimes, perhaps, before he 
 has got half through his address. The only 
 symptom that can be depended on of his being 
 about to resume his seat, is that of his giving a 
 glance to his hat. He always concludes in two or 
 three sentences after he has done that. 
 
 I think I am within the mark when I say, that 
 Mr. Hume speaks more in the course of a Session 
 than any other three members put together. He 
 takes part in almost every discussion that arises in 
 the house ; and when the House is in Committee, 
 and he has the right of speaking as often as he 
 pleases, he addresses it with a frequency which would 
 appear incredible to those who have not witnessed it. 
 On one occasion, in May last, when the miscella- 
 neous estimates were under consideration, he spoke 
 no fewer than forty times in one night. 
 
 He is not a man of very superior talents ; but 
 every thing he says is characterised by strong good 
 sense. If he never gives utterance to any thing 
 brilliant, he never descends below mediocrity. He 
 is well informed on matters of general politics. 
 His memory is very tenacious.
 
 272 MR. HUME. 
 
 He is of an easy and agreeable temper. I ne^■er 
 yet knew him, notwithstanding the loads of the 
 coarsest personal abuse I have seen heaped on him, 
 lose his temper. He acts on the Scriptural rule of 
 not rendering evil for evil, or returning railing for 
 railing. It is principles and measures, not persons, 
 that he attacks. He has been of great service in 
 advancing the popular cause. His zeal and exer- 
 tions on behalf of that cause are almost as great 
 out of the house as in it. Nothing but the most 
 robust constitution could have stood the labours 
 and fatigues he has undergone in the cause of civil 
 and religious liberty. In his dress Mr. Hume is 
 always plain. He usually wears a blue coat. 
 During last Session he chiefly wore a tartan waist- 
 coat and hght-coloured cassimere trowsers. His 
 waistcoat is always double-breasted, and is usually 
 close buttoned up to his chin. He is in his fifty- 
 eighth year ; but, from his healthy appearance and 
 strong constitution, — the more surprising as he 
 resided for many years in India, — joined to his 
 temperate habits, there is every reason to believe 
 he may live for a long period to come. 
 
 As so many of the other country Liberal members 
 are so nearly on an equality, both as regards their 
 talents and their influence in the house, it would 
 be impossible for me, were I to attempt it, to
 
 MR. GISBORNE. 273 
 
 assign them their respective places in the scale of 
 importance. I shall, therefore, take them at ran- 
 dom, beginning with Mr. Gisborne, the member for 
 South Derbyshire. 
 
 Mr. Gisborne has been in Parliament since the 
 passing of the Reform Bill ; but brought himself 
 into more extensive notice last Session than during 
 the Avhole of the previous three. He took a most 
 active part in the efforts of the Liberal party to 
 overthrow the Peel Ministry, and contributed essen- 
 tially to the success of those efforts. Some of his 
 sjDeeches, in opposition to the Government of Sir 
 Robert, were among the best which were delivered 
 from the Liberal side of the house during the two 
 months'* existence of that Govermnent. Latterly 
 he took a conspicuous part both in the Committee 
 (of which he was Chairman) of Inquiry into the 
 alleged bribery and corruption at the Ipswich elec- 
 tion, and in the proceedings adopted by the House 
 for the punishment of the parties convicted. In 
 this, as in previous cases, he gave striking proof of 
 his possessing a sound judgment, united to great 
 energy and determination of purpose. His conduct 
 on the occasion was the subject of private eulogy 
 by every one — not even excepting the Tories — 
 acquainted with it. 
 
 He is a man of great talents. His mind is vigo- 
 n3
 
 274 MR. GISBORNE. 
 
 rous and comprehensive, and there is much terse- 
 ness in his manner of expressing himself. There 
 is always stamina in what he says. He is not a 
 fine speaker. He is one of the many members in 
 the house who labour under a defect in their organs 
 of speech when attempting to pronounce the let- 
 ter r. His voice has something of a clear yet 
 strong tone about it. He cannot be said to speak 
 fluently ; and yet, with the excepiton of an occa- 
 sional stammer, makes his speeches without any 
 seeming effort. His speeches are usually short ; 
 but there is more matter in them than in those of 
 many other honourable members of four or five times 
 the length. Every thing he says tells directly on 
 the point at issue. He does not use much ges- 
 ticulation : he generally contents himself with rais- 
 ins: and lowering his rig-ht arm, with more or less 
 violence, according to the wai*mth of his feelings 
 at the time. 
 
 Mr. Gisborne is rather a tall man, and is other- 
 wise well proportioned ; a large part of his head is 
 bald ; the little hair he has on it is of a dark 
 brown. He has a fine well-formed forehead. In 
 the general expression of his countenance, you 
 would not be struck with any thing as particularly 
 indicative of a superior mind. His complexion is 
 fair, and his features are strongly marked. He
 
 MR. WARBURTON. 275 
 
 dresses with great plainness. He almost invariably 
 wears a blue coat, with dark or light waistcoat and 
 trowsers, according to the season of the year. His 
 trowsers are generally remarkable for their short- 
 ness; they remind one of schoolboy-days, being 
 two or three inches from the upper part of the 
 shoes, and showing the stockings to advantage. 
 
 Mr. Gisborne is much respected by men of all 
 parties, both for his talents and his upright and 
 consistent public conduct. He is always listened 
 to with the greatest attention by all parts of the 
 House. He is about fifty years of age. 
 
 Mr. Warburton, the member for Bridport, has 
 many points of resemblance to Mr. Gisborne. In 
 personal appearance they are very much alike, with 
 this difference, that Mr. Warburton is not so tall, 
 while he is considerably older. Mr. Warburton is 
 also partially bald-headed, and what hair remains 
 on his head is of a dark brown colour. His com- 
 plexion is likewise dark, and his features are 
 strongly marked. Like Mr. Gisborne, he also 
 dresses with great plainness, and is scarcely ever to 
 be seen in any other than a blue coat. He is not 
 an attractive speaker. His voice is naturally bad, 
 and his elocution is partially impaired by a slight 
 lisp. His manner is cold, though no man is more 
 sincere or decided in his opinions. He scarcely
 
 276 MR. BULLER. 
 
 uses any action. He is often inaudible. But 
 though his manner is bad, his matter, like that of 
 Mr. Gisborne's, is always good. It is true, he has 
 not the same masculine mind ; but he possesses an 
 excellent judgment, and is one of the most intelli- 
 gent men in the house ; what he says is always to 
 the purpose ; and the view he takes ef a subject is, 
 in most cases, so obviovisly the right one, that 
 what he says cannot fail to commend itself to the 
 reason of those who are blessed with that faculty. 
 In committees, he is, perhaps, one of the most use- 
 ful of the whole six hunch-ed and fifty-eight. He 
 is now considerably advanced in years, his age 
 being about sixty. 
 
 Mr. Charles Buller, the member for Liske- 
 ard, is a young man of considerable promise. He 
 is well informed on most of the subjects which 
 come before the House. He is distinguished for 
 acuteness rather than for any great grasp of mind. 
 Hia forte lies in reply. His answers to the speeches 
 of his opponents ai-e often pervaded by a vein of 
 good-natured but happy satire. He often turns 
 their own argvuiients against themselves with ex- 
 cellent effect. He is a fluent speaker, but his voice 
 is too weak and monotonous for his ever becoming 
 an impressive one. His utterance is so rapid, and 
 his matter is often so argumentative, that it is only
 
 MR. EWART. 277 
 
 by the closest attention you can appreciate the 
 merits of his speeches. He uses very little ges- 
 ture, and that little chiefly consists of his occa- 
 sionally striking the palm of his left hand with the 
 fore part of his right hand. He is understood to 
 he a frequent contribvitor of leading articles to the 
 Globe Newspaper : the Times has, on more than 
 one occasion, identified him with the editorship ; 
 but the Times has been misinformed on the 
 subject. 
 
 The conformation of Mr. Buller's face is of a 
 peculiar cast. He has a projecting forehead, and a 
 small, flat, cocked-up nose. His physiognomy very 
 much resembles that expression of countenance 
 which is characteristic of natives of the south of 
 Ireland, and which it is much easier to imagine 
 in one''s mind than to convey an idea of by descrip- 
 tion. He is good-tempered, and of mild and con- 
 ciliatory manners. There is a perpetual smile and 
 expression of cheerfulness in his face. His com- 
 plexion is fair, and his hair of a bright bro^vn 
 colour. He is a general favourite in the house. 
 His age is under forty. 
 
 Mr. EwART, the member for Liverjiool, is one 
 whose name very often appears in the reports of the 
 Parliamentary debates. He speaks occasionally 
 on subjects of general politics ; but he acquits him-
 
 278 MR. EWART. 
 
 self most creditably on commercial questions, with 
 most of whicli he seems to be intimately conversant. 
 He never makes long speeches ; the longest he ever 
 has made, have been those with which he has pre- 
 faced a motion, which he has made each Session for 
 the last three years, to equalize the duties on East 
 and AVest-India Sugar. He speaks with consider- 
 able ease, and with much rapidity. His language 
 is correct w^ithout being eloquent : he is not, and 
 never will be, an effective speaker. His voice is 
 pleasant but weak : he has not the slightest control 
 over it. He is one of the most monotonous speakers 
 in the house. His manner, too, is cold and spirit- 
 less. He never seems to feel what he says. The 
 only gesticulation he ever uses is a slight move- 
 ment of his right arm. He is nevertheless much 
 respected in the house, and is generally listened to, 
 by those to whom he is aucUble, with attention. He 
 is very decided in his political opinions, and is firm 
 and fearless in the expression of them. He is a man 
 of very respectable talents, and of unblemished pri- 
 vate as well as public character. He possesses a 
 humane mind, and has greatly distinguished him- 
 self by his unremitting efforts to modify the san- 
 guinary character of our Criminal Code. 
 
 Mr. Ewart is in stature about the middle size, 
 and of a slender make. His complexion is some-
 
 MR. ELLICE. 2T9 
 
 what sallow. His features are regular, and his 
 face, altogether, handsome. His hair is of a dark 
 brown, and he generally wears it long. He is a 
 young man, being only about thirty-five years of 
 age. 
 
 Mr. Ellice, the member for Coventry, is a man 
 Avho is always listened to with great attention in the 
 house, and who exercises some influence there, 
 though he does not speak often. Last Session he 
 made only one speech worthy of the name : this 
 was owing to ill health, which made it impossible 
 for him to attend to his Parliamentary duties. The 
 speech I refer to was made on Mr. Shiel's motion 
 respecting the appointment of the Marquis of Lon- 
 donderry to the office of British Ambassador at the 
 Court of Russia. Mr. Ellice then chiefly repelled 
 the attacks which had been made, in the course of 
 the discussion, on the first Government of Lord 
 Melbourne, of which he was a prominent member- 
 To these attacks Mr. Ellice replied with great 
 energy and effect. He is not a fine speaker, but 
 when addressing the house on any question involv- 
 ing important principles, he always speaks with 
 much animation and feeling, and, as already re- 
 marked, commands the deepest attention of the 
 house. His voice is strong and powerful, though 
 not without a deo-ree of huskiness which is not
 
 280 MK. ELLICE. 
 
 always pleasant to the ear: his command over it 
 seems to be complete ; he raises it and lowers it at 
 pleasure, and with excellent effect. His utterance is 
 usually rajiid, but is sometimes impeded by his ideas 
 crowding too fast on his mind. His action, when his 
 maimer is animated, is generally violent. His use of 
 his arms is extravagant on such occasions, and he 
 turns about his whole body from one part of the 
 house to another, in a manner not unlike the move- 
 ments of a weather-cock on a windy day. In stature 
 he is above the middle size, and very corpulent. His 
 face is round, his complexion sallow, and his hair 
 of a dark browm. His countenance has a good- 
 natured expression about it ; but is by no means 
 intellectual. He is, however, a man of superior 
 talents. His principles are Liberal in the extreme, 
 tliough not absolutely Radical. He was under- 
 stood to be the most Liberal member of Lord ^lel- 
 boume''s first Cabinet, and certainly he was one of 
 the most honest men in it, as well as the boldest 
 and most uncompromising in the assertion of his 
 opinions. The delicate state of his health, which 
 renders a residence in Italy desirable, is the cause 
 assigned by Lord iNIelbournc's friends for his not 
 having been included in the arrangements for the 
 reconstruction of that nobleman''s Cabinet. ]\Ir. 
 Ellice is a})parently about fifty years of age.
 
 MR. THOMAS ATTWOOD. 281 
 
 Mr. Thomas Attwood, the meni])er for Bir- 
 mingham, does not possess that weight or influence 
 in the House which his great popularity and influ- 
 ence among Reformers out of doors would have led 
 one to expect before his election. His politics are 
 the extreme of liberality ; but he is not a man of 
 extensive information or of a vigorous mind. With 
 the Currency Question, indeed, he is most inti- 
 mately acquainted ; but his knowledge of politics 
 generally is but limited. He is a man of one idea : 
 that idea is the necessity of a paper currency. This 
 he holds to be the only panacea for the evils of the 
 country — this the grand remedy for national dis- 
 tress. Hence, whatever be the subject of debate — 
 whether the Quadruple Treaty of Alliance — the 
 Emancipation of the Negroes in the West-Indies — 
 the Policy of Russia — Triennial Parliaments — the 
 Vote by Ballot — Poor Laws for Ireland, or any 
 tiling else — he is sure, if he take any part in the 
 discussion, to lug in a small note currency, and to 
 hanmier away at the idea throvigh at least three- 
 fourths of his sjieech, whether long or short. I 
 never yet knew him make a speech since his admis- 
 sion into Parliament, in which the staple matter Avas 
 not a paper cvuTency. 
 
 Mr. Attwood is a man of much private worth, 
 and his public character stands unblemished. There
 
 MR. THOMAS ATTWOOD. 
 
 is not a more honest politician in the House. He 
 knows not what it is to compromise or conceal his 
 opinions. The word expediency has no place in 
 his vocabulary. You see the mind of the man the 
 moment he opens his mouth; and you see him to be 
 as unsophisticated as if he had nev-er for one mo- 
 ment inhaled the atmosphere of a region — instead 
 of breathing it for three years — in which trimming, 
 and compromise, and apostacy, are often the order 
 of the day. 
 
 As a speaker, Mr. Attwood does not rank high. 
 He speaks with sufficient ease, and his language, 
 without being polished, is tolerably correct ; but 
 he has a broad, gruff, unearthly voice, aggravated 
 by a strong provincial pronunciation, which sounds 
 strangely in the ears of those who hear him. If 
 you heard Mr. Attwood speaking, and did not see 
 or know who he was, you would be sure to con- 
 clude that some uneducated farmer was addressing 
 you. The woixl Birmingham he always, in the 
 broadest possible accent, pronounces " Brumma- 
 gem ;" and this, too, though every time he does it, 
 he is greeted by the loud laughter of the House. 
 His gesture is not violent, neither can it be said to 
 be ungraceful. It principally consists of a gentle 
 movement, up and down, of his right arm, accom- 
 panied with a slight occasional movement of his
 
 MR. ROEBUCK. 283 
 
 eye and face from one part of the House to the 
 other. 
 
 Mr. Attwood is about forty-five years of age. 
 He is middle-sized, and proportionally stout. His 
 face has not an intellectual expression. Like his 
 pronunciation, it is " countrified."''' It is of an 
 angular conformation. His hair and his complexion 
 are both dark. 
 
 Mr. Roebuck''s politics are substantially the 
 same as those of Mr. Attwood ; but he is a very 
 different person, in many respects. A fracas with 
 an opponent, at the time he was elected member for 
 Bath, gave him the character of an ill-tempered 
 and easily-irritated man. His conduct in the 
 House, as well as out of it, has proved the charac- 
 ter he then got was a just one. You see the cynic 
 in his face. He is one of the most petulant and 
 discontented, and at the same time, conceited-look- 
 ing men in the House. He is full of airs. He is, 
 in his own eye, one of the most important men 
 within the walls of Parliament. He not only must 
 needs speak on every question of importance — that 
 is to say, if he is sufficiently fortunate to catch the 
 Speak er"'s eye — as if there were something oracular 
 in every thing he says ; but he has the presumption 
 often to attempt to get possession of the House, 
 immediately after some of the ablest members of
 
 284 MR. ROKRUCK. 
 
 the Opposition have spoken, with tlie view of 
 replying to them. He is a man of fair talents, 
 but nothing more. He speaks with considerable 
 fluency Avhen he makes a set speech, because, in 
 that case, he writes it out at full length, and com- 
 mits it to memory in the same way as a school-boy 
 does his task ; but when he attempts speaking on 
 the spur of the moment, he often stammers, and 
 has to correct and re-coiTect his ill-constructed 
 sentences. His voice is feeble, but clear and dis- 
 tinct in its tones. His favourite gesture is to raise 
 his right arm, spread out his fingers, and turn his 
 face and body from one part of the House to the 
 other ; but Avhen he flatters himself — which he 
 often does — that he is saying something unusually 
 clever and of commanding importance, he strikes 
 the books or box on the table Avith his right hand, 
 with great violence, — having, before commencing his 
 speech, removed, for that purpose, from his usual 
 seat to one close to the table. 
 
 Mr. Roebuck is diminutive in person. He is 
 much under the middle size, and is so slender 
 withal that he has quite a boyish appearance. His 
 <»untenance is of a pale and sickly complexion ; it 
 has very little flesh on it. His nose is rather promi- 
 nent, and his eyes are disproportionally large and 
 sunken. There is a scowl so visibly impressed on
 
 MR. WARD. S85 
 
 his l)row, that the merest novice in physiognomy- 
 must observe it. He is in his thirty-third year. 
 He is not a favourite in the house, and the limited 
 popularity he has acquired out of doors, seems to 
 be on the decline. He is not only the author of the 
 political pamphlets \\'hich are published weekly in 
 his name ; but has written A'arious articles for some 
 years past in the Westminster Review, Taifa 
 Magazine, and the London Review. Of the latter 
 work, indeed, he is one of the leading contributors, 
 his brother-in-law, Mr. Thomas Falconer, being 
 the editor. 
 
 Mr. Ward, the member for St. Albans, though 
 so little known a fcAv years ago that his name was 
 hardly ever mentioned out of doors, is now one of 
 the most popular men in the country. I mention, 
 as a striking instance of Mr. Ward's popularity out 
 of doors, that it was intended, — though I am not 
 sure he is up to this moment himself aware of it, — ' 
 to invite him to stand at the last election for the 
 burgh of Marylebone, in opposition to Sir Wil- 
 liam Home, and in the same interest as Sir Samuel 
 Whalley. A resolution to this effect was agreed 
 on by a large majority of the leading men in the 
 burgh, and there could not have been a doubt of 
 Mr. Ward's return — which his admirers engaged 
 should be effected free of exj)ense to him — but it
 
 286 MR. WARD. 
 
 was stated most confidently by individuals who 
 aiFected to speak advisedly, that he and his con- 
 stituents at St. Albans were so attached to each 
 other, that he would not on any consideration sever 
 the friendly connection. The electors of INIary- 
 lebone, therefore, were induced to -look out for 
 another person to represent them, when, owing to 
 a variety of accidental circumstances, the choice fell 
 on Mr. Henry Lytton Bulwer. 
 
 It was Mr. Ward"'s celebrated motion, with the 
 speech which preceded it, in 1834, affirming the 
 right of Parliament to appropriate the surplus 
 property of the Church of Ireland to other than 
 ecclesiastical purposes, — that first brought him into 
 notice. Before then, owing in some measure to 
 his long residence abroad, his political principles 
 were unknown to almost all members in the house. 
 The general impression, indeed, was that he was a 
 Tory. But that motion, and the bold and able 
 speech with which he prefaced it, at once earned 
 for him the reputation of being a man of liberal 
 opinions and of superior talents. Since then Mr. 
 Ward has often spoken on important questions, 
 and every speech he has made has confirmed the 
 accuracy of the impression formed regarding him 
 from the speech and motion to which I have re- 
 ferred.
 
 LOUD DUDLEY STUART. 287 
 
 He is not a fine speaker. There is too much 
 tameness in his manner ; and his voice is quite mo- 
 notonous. It has also a certain degree of huski- 
 ness about it. He speaks with much rapidity, and 
 seemingly with great ease. His style is terse and 
 vigorous, and his matter is in most cases highly 
 argumentative. He is much respected in the house 
 by men of all parties. 
 
 Mr, Ward is about forty years of age. He is 
 rather tall and athletic. His complexion is florid. 
 His face is full and round. His nose inclines to 
 flatness. His hair is of a light brown. He sports 
 unusually large whiskers. His countenance has a 
 pleasing good-natured expression, but has nothing 
 particularly intellectual about it. He is the son of 
 Mr. Ward, the celebrated author of Tremaine, and 
 other popular novels, and is often confounded with 
 him. 
 
 Lord Dudley Stuart, member for Arundel, is 
 a nobleman whose name does not appear very often 
 in the reports of the debates in the House ; but he 
 has strong claims on every friend of freedom and 
 humanity were it only for the exertions he made in 
 favour of the Poles, both within and without the 
 house, at the time of their late great struggle with 
 the northern despot. Events have proved that he 
 felt much more strongly in the cause of Poland than
 
 288 LOUD DUDLEY STUART. 
 
 did Mr. Cutlar Fergusson, though the latter ma- 
 naged to make a much greater parade of his exer- 
 tions in tliat coiuitry's behalf. Lord Dudley 
 Stuart''s sympathy with the Poles was fervent, pure, 
 and lasting. It had its origin in the best prin- 
 ciples of our common nature, and was fed and per- 
 petuated by that which called it into existence. 
 His was the feeling of a Christian, and a lover of 
 his race. His exertions, first to avert their re-sub- 
 jugation by Nicholas, and afterwards to administer 
 pecuniary relief to such of them as escaped to this 
 country, were most strenuous and unremitting ; 
 and I could speak, — but I know his modesty of dis- 
 position would make him prefer my silence on the 
 subject, — I could speak as to the extent of his own 
 pecuniary liberality. But it is not the Poles alone 
 who have fovmd in him a warm friend and a zea- 
 lous advocate in the time of need. Whenever the 
 great principles of humanity are brought into 
 collision, in the house or out of the house, with 
 those of an opposite character, he is always to be 
 found at his post. All the exertions which have of 
 late been made to put a stop to those frightful in- 
 stances of cruelty to the brute creation, which ai'e 
 so connnon in the metropolis, have been most cor- 
 dially and efficiently seconded by Lord Dudley 
 Stuart.
 
 MR. PEASE. 289 
 
 As a speaker he has little or no pretensions. He 
 feels great difficulty in finding words wherewith to 
 express his thoughts. This chiefly arises from his 
 extreme modesty. His voice is weak, and not very 
 clear. He is in his thirty-second year. He is tall 
 and slender in person. His hair is of a dark brown 
 colour, and his complexion something between dark 
 and sallow. His countenance has a mild and pen- 
 sive expression. In his features there is nothing 
 }3eculiar. 
 
 Mr. Pease, the Quaker Member for Durham, 
 is one of the most useful, though not one of the 
 most shining, members in the house. In his at- 
 tendance on his legislative dvities he is the most 
 punctual and close of any man I ever saw. He 
 even boats Mr. Hume himself. From the begin- 
 ning of the business till the adjournment, no mat- 
 ter how late the hour, there he is, not indeed in 
 one particular seat, but in some part or other of 
 the house, all attention to what is going on. It is 
 clear he acts from principle. As to a party object, 
 he knows not what it is. A more conscientious or 
 upright man never sat in the house. His amaz- 
 ingly close attention to his duties in parliament has 
 told visibly on his constitution. He is much thin- 
 ner, and much more sallow in his complexion, than 
 when he entered the house. 
 o
 
 290 MR. PEASE. 
 
 Mr. Pease speaks pretty often, but it is chiefly 
 in Committees, or on questions which do not call 
 up the leading members. His mode of address is, 
 of course, different from that of other members. He 
 never uses the word " Sir,"" in addressing the Speaker, 
 which all other members do at almost every fourth 
 or fifth sentence ; nor does he call any member, ac- 
 cording to the invariable practice of all other mem- 
 bers when addressing the house, " the honourable 
 member,*" but simply says " the member" for such a 
 place. In short, agreeably to the principles of the 
 society to which he belongs, he applies no honorary 
 titles to any one. 
 
 He speaks Avith great rapidity, and is never at a 
 loss for words or ideas. His style is correct but 
 plain. In his manner there is no action whatever. 
 He stands stock still. His voice is weak, which 
 with his great rapidity of utterance, often renders 
 him inaudible. 
 
 He is about forty-five years of age. His stature is 
 of the middle size. His face is of an angular form, 
 and is expressive of the mildness and intelligence 
 for which he is distinguished. His complexion, 
 as I have already intimated, is somewhat sallow, 
 and his hair is of a dark grey colour. He is not a 
 man of brilliant parts; but his judgment is remark- 
 ably sound, and he always takes the common-sense
 
 SIR EDWARD CODRINGTON. 291 
 
 view of a subject. He is not only a man of great 
 intelligence, but is always correct in the statements 
 he brings to bear on any question. Taken all in all, 
 he is, as I observed in the outset, one of the most 
 useful members in the house. If he is a fair spe- 
 cimen of the society to which he belongs, the 
 country would have no reason for regret were the 
 entire six hundred and fifty-eight members selected 
 from the Society of Friends. 
 
 Sir Edward Codrington, member for Devon- 
 port, is better known for his exploits as a naval 
 officer than for any thing he has yet done or is 
 likely to do as a statesman. His splendid achieve- 
 ment at Navarino will be remembered, when the fact 
 of his having been a senator has been long forgot- 
 ten. His name, however, comes pretty frequently 
 before the public in the latter capacity. He speaks 
 a good deal, though never much at a time. When 
 naval matters are brought before the House, he is 
 sure to speak. On the subject of impressment in 
 the navy, and on that of the abolition of flogging 
 in the army, he has always taken a lively interest. 
 He is not a Radical in the fullest acceptation of the 
 term ; but he goes much farther than the Whigs 
 of the old school. He is an advocate for Free 
 Trade, for a Repeal of the Corn Laws, the Abo- 
 lition of the Assessed Taxes, for the Vote by Ballot, 
 o 2
 
 292 SIR EDWARD CODRINGTON. 
 
 and for Shortening the Duration of Parliaments. 
 Notwithstanding, however, the liberality of his 
 sentiments, he is not very popular, even among the 
 Liberals. What the reason of this is, I do not 
 exactly know. He is not a fine speaker : there is 
 nothing attractive in his manner, and nothing indi- 
 cative of superior talent in his matter ; his ideas 
 are usually common-place, though generally marked 
 by good sense, and his language has something of 
 the roughness of the sailor about it ; his voice is 
 clear, but not strong. His articulation is sufficiently 
 distinct, but there is something of a provincial ac- 
 cent about it. There is no variety in the tones of 
 his voice ; it is monotonous at all times and on all 
 subjects. He speaks with seeming ease and some- 
 what rapidly. His speeches produce but little im- 
 pression in the house : indeed they are not listened 
 to with any very great attention. 
 
 His personal appearance is rather venerable. He 
 is seemingly about sixty years of age. His face is 
 angular ; his complexion has something of ruddi- 
 ness about it ; his hair is white, but the process of 
 becoming bald has begun, and may be expected to 
 advance with some rapidity in a person of his age, 
 and long and active maritime service. He is tall, 
 and of a somewhat handsome figure. He usually 
 wears a blue coat.
 
 MR. WALLACE. 293 
 
 Mr. Wallace, the member for Greenock, is 
 one of the few decidedly Radical representatives 
 returned by Scotland. His great characteristics 
 are, honesty of purpose and plainness of manners- 
 I believe his integrity has never been questioned. 
 The Tories are always forward to admit, however 
 much they may conceive him in error, that he is 
 himself on all occasions thoroughly convinced he is 
 in the right. There is a kind of primitive siinpli- 
 city in his manners. He has much of that home- 
 liness about him which is often to be met with in 
 his own country. Nothing would prevail on him, 
 though he could do it successfully — which, however, 
 he could not — to affect the airs of a fashionable 
 man. He loves what he calls the simplicity and 
 artlessness of nature; and is just such a person as 
 would remain the same in his manners — let the 
 etiquette and fashions of society change as often as 
 they pleased — though he were to reach the good 
 old age of Methuselah. Mr. Wallace dresses well, 
 though plainly. You see his manners the moment 
 you see his person. In height he is about the 
 middle size. Without being, strictly speaking, 
 corpulent, he is stoutly and compactly made. His 
 head is in a great measure bald ; what hair there if? 
 on it is white as unsunned snow. His forehead is 
 rather low and slanting. His complexion is fair.
 
 294 mh. avallace. 
 
 and has the freshness of health about it. Wrinkles 
 begin to shew themselves in his face, which inclines 
 to the rotund form. He has small, dark blue, 
 laughing eyes, strongly expressive of a contented 
 and good-natured disposition. His nose is unusually 
 flat. Whenever he speaks you would think he was 
 smiling. He is, practically, one of the greatest 
 utilitarians — according, of course, to his own notions 
 of utility — in the House, and is, like Mr. Hume, 
 a remarkable instance of what a man of very humble 
 talents may accomplish by mere dint of perse- 
 verance. The two great subjects to which he has 
 almost exclusively bent his attention since he has 
 been in the house, are a Reform in the Law 
 Courts of Scotland, and a Reform in the Post- 
 office. The former object has been already accom- 
 plished to a certain extent: the latter is on the eve 
 of being fully gained. I remember some years 
 since, when he first brought the alleged abuses in 
 the Post-office system imder the consideration of 
 the House, and sought to get the whole system 
 re-modelled, that he was regarded by all parties, 
 not even excepting the most sanguine Radicals in 
 the house, as having engaged in one of the most 
 hopeless enterprizes ever undertaken by a human 
 being;. Neither Whigs nor Tories would even hear 
 his detail of the alleged abuses, or " lend their
 
 MR. WALLACE. 295 
 
 ears"" while he submitted his proposed plan of 
 Reform. The brino-ing forward of his motion on 
 the subject, and his speaking two or three hours 
 on it, were hailed by the great majority of members 
 as constituting a sort of episode in the usual busi- 
 ness of the House, during which honourable mem- 
 bers might either, as best suited themselves, quit 
 the house altogether, or remain and talk over 
 with each other any topics they pleased. Mr. 
 Wallace, however, never seemed in the least dis- 
 heartened by this, but plodded through his statis- 
 tics and calculations with as much apparent self- 
 satisfaction as if the House had been all attention. 
 Every year since he began he has had a grand 
 post-office field-day, and the result has been, that 
 there is now every prospect of the post-office depart- 
 ment speedily undergoing that extensive reform 
 for which Mr. Wallace has laboured so long and so 
 assiduously. When he had finished the speech with 
 which he prefaced, in the beginning of last August, 
 his last motion on the svibject — a speech which 
 occupied three hours in the delivery — both Wliigs 
 and Tories admitted the necessity of reform in the 
 post-office to a very considerable extent. Lord 
 Lowther, Mr. Vernon Smith, and other members — 
 not even excepting jVIr. Spring Rice — whose situa- 
 tions more immediately connected them with the
 
 296 MR. WALLACE. 
 
 post-office, all in substance conceded the point 
 which Mr. Wallace contended for. 
 
 Mr. Wallace is not, as already hinted, a man of 
 much intellect. He has no comprehensive views on 
 great questions. No one knows this better than 
 himself — I wish I could say as much of many other 
 honourable members — and he consequently never 
 seeks to address the House on topics involving first 
 principles. These he very wisely leaves to those 
 of more enlarged views and greater experience in 
 such matters. He acts on the modern principle in 
 political economy, — though making no pretensions 
 to the chai'acter of a political economist, — of a divi- 
 sion of labour. He has taken up the two questions 
 which I have mentioned ; to them he confines him- 
 self, and from them nothing will divert his atten- 
 tion, according to his own statement, until he has 
 succeeded in accomplishing the reforms which he 
 maintains to be so imperatively called for. He is 
 a very indifferent speaker. He is always audible, 
 but there is something hard and shrill about his 
 voice which grates on the ear : it has no flexibility : 
 it is the same key and the same tones from begin- 
 ning to end. His enunciation is rapid ; occa- 
 sionally, but not often, he stammers slightly. His 
 language has no pretensions to eloquence : it is 
 plain and unpolished. I could never discover a
 
 MR. SERJEANT WILDE. 297 
 
 single elegant expression or rounded period in any 
 of his speeches. He uses hardly any gesture when 
 speaking : never any thing more than a slight oc- 
 casional movement of the right arm. He is about 
 sixty years of age. 
 
 Mr. Serjeant Wilde, member for Newark, does 
 not speak very often. He reserves himself for 
 great occasions, and then generally acquits himself 
 in a highly creditable manner. He is an excellent 
 speaker. His voice is strong, clear, and sonorous, 
 though he does not always modulate it with the 
 best taste or judgment. His manner, too, is, on the 
 whole, good. It has considerable energy about it. 
 Sometimes he assumes a stooping posture, Avhich is 
 by no means graceful ; but usually he stands erect, 
 and slightly moves liis face from the right to the 
 left of those members in the immediate vicinity of 
 the Speaker's chair. I should mention, that when 
 he speaks he always does so from the floor of the 
 house, to which he advances three or four feet 
 from the front row of benches. The side of the 
 house depends, of course, on whether his party be 
 in office or in the Opposition at the time. His 
 back is turned on the door, and his face directly 
 towards the Speaker, except when, as just remarked, 
 he occasionally glances his eye on those members 
 on the right or the left of the Chair. He makes 
 o3
 
 ^98 Mil. SERJEANT WILDE. 
 
 considerable use of his right arm when speaking-. 
 With it he beats the air with some energy ; but 
 when he waxes particularly warm, he raises both 
 arms above his head, and lets them descend again 
 with great rapidity. On such occasions his hands 
 are usually firmly clenched together. He is generally 
 listened to with much attention by alf parties. His 
 speeches have much less of declamation in them 
 than is generally to be found in the speeches of 
 those members who are in the way of displaying 
 considerable energy of manner. They are usually 
 pervaded, from beginning to end, — with the exce]> 
 tion of the exordium and peroration, — by a vein of 
 close and powerful argument, I have said he does 
 not speak often. I do not suppose he has made 
 above ten or twelve speeches of any length or im- 
 portance dvu'ing the three Sessions he has been in the 
 house. Last Session, if I remember rightly, he only 
 made one speech of any importance ; and that one, 
 which was certainly very able and highly argumen- 
 tative, and must otherwise have produced a great 
 impression, fell, as it were, still-born from his lips, 
 because of the vmseasonable time he chose for its 
 delivery. It was on the question of Municipal 
 Corporation Reform, but instead of being delivered, 
 as it ought to have been, when that question was in 
 Committee,— for it will be recollected that, owing to
 
 MR, SERJEANT WILDE. 299 
 
 the Tories offering no opposition to the principle of 
 the measure, no discussion or division took place 
 on the second reading, — instead, I say, of the 
 learned gentleman delivering his speech when the 
 bill was in Committee, he did not deliver it until 
 about a week before the close of the Session, when 
 the measure was sent back by the Lords to adopt 
 the amendments which they had made on it. The 
 subject had by that time, at least in so far as mere 
 discussion went, lost all its interest, and therefore 
 the House paid little or no attention to the learned 
 Serjeant''s speech. He saw this, and, in consequence, 
 cut it comparatively short ; for though he spoke for 
 an hour and a quarter, it was clear, from the nature 
 of the ground he took, that the speech had been 
 intended for a two-and-a-half or three hours one. 
 In fact the universal impression in the house was, 
 that the speech had been cut and dry, and, as the 
 booksellers say, "ready for delivery,"" when the 
 Municipal Corporation Bill was in Committee ; but 
 some unforseen circumstance had prevented that 
 delivery taking place. Probably that circumstance 
 was the claims which the great mining cause of 
 " Small versus Attwood" had at the time on his 
 attention, he having had, as was generally under- 
 stood, a retaining fee in the case of eight thousand 
 guineas.
 
 300 MR. SERJEANT WILDE. 
 
 Mr. Sergeant Wilde is one of those who have 
 raised themselves from comparatively humble and 
 obscure circumstances, into wealth and eminence, 
 by their OAvn talents and energy of character. He 
 Avas originally an attorney ""s clerk, but has now one 
 of the most lucrative businesses at the English bar. 
 In person he is somewhat about the iniddle size, and 
 stoutly and compactly formed. His complexion is 
 fair, and his hair of a light brown. His eyes are 
 large and are full of fire and intellis;ence. His fore- 
 head is prominent. He is rather good-looking, and 
 of gentlemanly appearance and manners. His age 
 is fifty-four.
 
 301 
 
 CHAPTER XTV. 
 
 THE IRISH LIBERAL MEMBERS. 
 
 MR. 0''C0NKELL MR. SHIEL MR. FEARGUS o''cOX- 
 
 NOR MR. HENRY GRATTAN MR. RUTHVEN. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell is not only the most distin- 
 guished of the Irish members, but he is in some 
 measure the Irish member. His influence in Ire- 
 land, and in the house, on all Irish subjects, is 
 much greater than is generally supposed, although 
 admitted on all hands to be of very great extent. 
 A very large portion of it is indirect, and is in a 
 great measure unknown even to himself; for as he 
 is known to lead and direct public opinion in that 
 country, measures have been brought forward, both 
 by the Government here and in Ireland, without 
 his knowledge, merely because the Ministry, or 
 Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, knowing that he will 
 approve of them, are convinced they will be hailed 
 with satisfaction in that country. 
 
 Mr. O'Conneirs influence is increasing every day, 
 both in Parliament and in the country. When he 
 first appeared in the House of Commons, it was
 
 302 MR. O'CONNELL. 
 
 comparatively limited indeed in that House, and 
 even in Ireland it was chiefly confined to the lower 
 classes. The fact is, that he was then, and for 
 two or three years afterwards, miserably deficient 
 in jiulgnient. He then thoughtlessly and reck- 
 lessly, opposed himself, by his strenuous advocacy 
 of the Repeal of the Union, not only^to the preju- 
 dices of the House, but to those of the most respec- 
 table and intelligent, even of the Liberal party in 
 Ireland. In the expression of his opinions, which 
 were always extreme, on other great political ques- 
 tions, he Avas also imprudent. Those opinions he 
 at all times boldly asserted, and regulated his sup- 
 port or opposition to certain measures by them, 
 without the least regard to circumstances. Hence 
 his objects were not only defeated, but his influence, 
 instead of increasing, only diminished the oftener 
 he spoke in the house. So late as the middle of 
 the session of 1834, when he brought forward his 
 motion for the Repeal of the Union, his influence 
 was at a very low — if not its lowest — ebb ; and the 
 opinion of many of his greatest friends was, that 
 he had then, in some measure, sunk to rise no 
 more. 
 
 Circumstances, however, favourable to Mr. 
 O'Conneirs recovery of his influence, occurred in
 
 MR. O'CONNELL. 303 
 
 November 1834, and he had the judgment to avail 
 himself of them. The abrupt dismissal of the 
 Melbourne Ministry, and the formation of a Go- 
 vernment on Conservative principles, in November 
 last year, inspired a large proportion of the nation 
 with a hatred of Toryism and an attachment to 
 Liberal principles, incomparably greater than they 
 had ever felt before. Mr. O'Connell sympathised 
 with the opinions and feelings of the Movement 
 party on that occasion, and at once proclaimed 
 himself the friend of the Government which had 
 been so suddenly ejected, and the relentless oppo- 
 nent of that which had succeeded it. He buried 
 in the dust all his past differences with the Mel- 
 bourne Ministry, individually and collectively, and 
 laid aside all his own peculiar opinions, in or- 
 der that he might more effectually grapple Avith 
 what he regarded as the common foe. For the first 
 time Jiis great talents then began to have full scope ; 
 aiid from that moment to the present, he has acted 
 with the most consummate judgment and tact — in 
 so far as the interested views of his party are 
 concerned — and with a corresponding effect. The 
 result has been to confer on himself an importance, 
 and invest himself with a power, for good or evil, 
 incomparably greater than the importance which 
 attaches to, or the power that is possessed by any
 
 304 MR. O'COXXELL. 
 
 other individual of the present day. In fact, the 
 Duke of Wellington was, after all, quite right, when 
 he said that no man has possessed so much power 
 in this country since the revolution of 1688. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell is a man of the highest order of 
 genius. There is not a member in the house who, 
 in this respect, can for a moment be put in com- 
 parison with him. You see the greatness of his 
 genius in almost every sentence he utters. Tliere 
 are others — Sir Robert Peel, for example — who 
 have much more tact and greater dexterity in de- 
 bate ; but in point of genius none approach to 
 him. It ever and anon bursts forth with a bril- 
 liancy and effect which are quite overwhelming. 
 You have not well recovered from the ovei-power- 
 ing surprise and admiration caused by one of his 
 brilliant effusions, when another flashes upon you 
 and produces the same effect. You have no time, 
 nor are you in a condition to weigh the force of his 
 arguments ; you are taken captive wherever the 
 speaker chooses to lead you, from beginning to 
 end. If there be untenable propositions and incon- 
 clusive reasonings in his speech, you can only detect 
 them when he has resumed his seat, and his voice 
 no longer greets your ear. What greatly adds to 
 the effect of the effusions of Mr. O'Connell's genius 
 is, that you see at once they are perfectly sponta-
 
 MR. O'CONNELL. Jj05 
 
 neous, the result of the feeling of the moment, and 
 not of careful thought in a previous preparation 
 of his speech. I have known him, times with- 
 out number, both in the house and elsewhere, 
 make some most brilliant and most effective allu- 
 sions to circumstances which had only occvu'red 
 either while speaking, or immediately before he 
 commenced his address. The reference to the 
 *' last rose of summer," in the case of INIr. Wal- 
 ter, as noticed in the short sketch I have given of 
 that gentleman, was one among innumerable other 
 instances of a similar kind. 
 
 One of the most extraordinary attributes in Mr. 
 O'Conneirs oratory is the ease and facility with 
 which he can make a transition from one topic to 
 another. " From grave to gay, from lively to se- 
 vere," never costs him effort. He seems, indeed, 
 to be himself insensible of the transition. I have 
 seen him begin his speech by alluding to topics 
 of an affecting nature, in such a manner as to excite 
 the deepest sympathy towards the sufferers in the 
 mind of the most unfeeling person present. I have 
 seen, in other words — I speak with regard to par- 
 ticular instances — the tear literally glistening in 
 the eyes of men altogether unused to the melting 
 mood, and in a moment afterwards, by a transition 
 from the grave to the humorous, I have seen the
 
 306 MR. O'COXXELL. 
 
 whole audience coiiAulsed with laughter. On the 
 other hand, I have often heard him commence his 
 speech in a strain of the most exquisite humour, 
 and by a sudden transition to deep pathos, produce 
 the stillness of death in a place in which, but one 
 moment before, the air was rent with shouts of 
 laughter. His mastery over the passions is tlie 
 most perfect I ever witnessed. He can touch, — 
 and touch -svith inimitable effect, — every chord in 
 the human breast. The passions of his audience are 
 merely playthings in his hand. If he cannot " call 
 spirits from the vasty deep," he can do as he pleases 
 with the spirits of those on the confines of the 
 earth. Nor is j\Ir. O'Connell's complete power over 
 the passions confined either to a refined or to an 
 unintellectual audience. It is equally great in 
 both cases. His oratory tells with the same effect 
 whether he addresses the "first assembly of gen- 
 tlemen in the world," or the ragged and ignorant 
 rabble of Dublin. 
 
 A very striking instance of the powerful impres- 
 sion he is capable of producing, occurred at a dinner 
 given at Hackney, in July last, to celebrate the 
 successful registration of the Liberal electors in the 
 Tower Hamlets. There were about two hundred 
 and fifty persons present, including several mem- 
 bers of Parliament. On that occasion he dwelt
 
 MR. OYONNELL. 307 
 
 with so much eloquence and pathos on the fact of 
 a poor innocent girl in Ireland being killed by the 
 soldiery while enforcing the collection of tithes, — 
 of which circumstance intelligence had only been 
 received that morning, — that there was hardly a 
 dry eye in the meeting, and almost every person 
 present, immechately on the conclusion of his 
 speech, rose from his seat, and rushing up to him, 
 shook him most cordially by the hand, altliough 
 the great majority were strangers to him. Modern 
 times cannot furnish a parallel to this splendid 
 proof of the effect produced by oratory. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell does not excel as a reasoner. His 
 speeches are seldom augmentative, and when they 
 are intended to be so, they are by no means happy. 
 His great forte, when he seeks to discomfit an op- 
 ponent, is to laugh or banter him out of his posi- 
 tions. And here again he stands alone : no man 
 in the house at all approaches him in the effective- 
 ness of his wit and ridicule ; and yet there is no 
 man, unless provoked to it, who indulges in fewer 
 personalities, 
 
 Mr. 0"*Conneirs style is not polished or elegant ; 
 but it is terse and vigorous. He is fond of short, 
 pithy sentences. His style reminds me, in some 
 measure, of that of Tacitus. His ideas flow too 
 rapidly on him to allow him to elaborate his die-
 
 308 MR. O'COXXELL. 
 
 tion. As Mr. Shiel once observed, is one of his 
 series of " Sketches of the Irish Bar," which 
 appeared ten or eleven years ago, in the New 
 Monthly Magazine, "Mr. O'Connell, with the 
 improvidence of his country, flings a brood of 
 robust thoughts into the world, witjiout a rag to 
 cover them." 
 
 With most men it requires an effort of no ordi- 
 nary kind to hit on a few tolerable ideas. In IVIr. 
 O'ConnelFs mind, they grow up naturally, and with 
 a luxuriance which, if there be propriety in the 
 expression, is inconvenient to him. I have known his 
 mind to be so overcharged with ideas, as to render 
 him miserable until he got an opportunity of rid- 
 ring himself of a portion of them, by "flinging 
 them abroad on the world," in prodigal profusion. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell is not a graceful speaker, either 
 as respects the management of his voice or his ges- 
 ture. He has a broad Irish accent, which, though 
 by no means unpleasant, falls somewhat strangely 
 on an English ear. His voice is rich, clear, strong, 
 and often musical. It is capable of being mo- 
 dulated with the best effect ; but the art of 
 modulation is one which Mr. O'Connell seems 
 never to have studied. The intonations of his 
 voice are never regulated by any artificial rule : 
 they are regulated, unconsciously to himself, by
 
 MR. OVONNELL. 309 
 
 his feelings alone. If, therefore, the subject on 
 which he is speaking be not one involving impor- 
 tant principles, or one which appeals to his feelings, 
 there is a degree of coldness about his manner, and 
 a monotony about the tones of his voice, which are 
 sure to make a person who never heard him before, 
 go away with an unfavourable impression of his 
 talents, and wondering how he could ever have 
 attained to so much popularity. Sir Robert Peel, 
 Lord Stanley, and several other members appear 
 excellent speakers, whenever, and on whatever sub- 
 ject, they open their mouths ; with Mr. O'Connell 
 it is otherwise. Even his hajipiest efforts, though, 
 as I have already stated, most effective, are not 
 graceful specimens of oratory. In fact, the very 
 circumstance I have mentioned, of his ideas flow- 
 ing so rapidly on him, must, of necessity, mar the 
 gracefulness of his speaking. He sometimes — not 
 often — stammers slightly, simply from two or more 
 ideas struggling at the same moment in his mind for 
 priority of birth. I have often known him, in this 
 conflict of ideas, break off abruptly in the middle 
 of a sentence, which he would never afterwards 
 finish, owing to some brilliant thought suggesting 
 itself at the moment. A person of less impetuous 
 and more artificial mind, would first finish the sen-
 
 310 MR. O'CONNELL. 
 
 teiice, and then give expression to tlie new idea 
 which had occurred to him. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell's gesture is also very deficient in 
 gracefulness. He puts himself into an endless va- 
 riety of attitudes, every one of which is awkward. 
 At one time you see him with his head and body 
 stooping, and his right arm partially extended ; at 
 another, and perhaps the next moment, you see 
 him with his head thrown back, and his arms placed 
 a-kimbo on his breast. Then, again, you see him 
 stretching out his neck, and making wry faces, as 
 if about to undergo the process of decapitation. If 
 you withdraw your eyes a fe^v seconds from him, 
 you see him, when you again look at him, with 
 both his arms raised above his head, and his fists as 
 firmly clenched as if about to engage in a regular 
 Donnybrook row. Then again you see him apply 
 both his hands to his wig — he wears a wig — with 
 as much violence as if about to tear it in pieces, 
 but instead of this it turns out that he has only 
 carefully adjusted it. But the most singular thing 
 I ever heard of his doing in the course of the deli- 
 very of any of his speeches, M^as that of untying 
 and taking off his cravat, when in one of the best 
 parts of his speech, in 1834, on tlie Repeal of the 
 Union, and when he had worked himself up to the
 
 MR. O'COXNELL. 311 
 
 utmost enthusiasm of manner. I was not in the house 
 at the time, but was credibly assured this was a fact. 
 The great characteristics of Mr. O'ConnelFs 
 manner, are its boldness, its fervour, and its utter 
 disrea-ard of all artificial forms. You see, as Mr. 
 Shiel observes, the impetuous Irish blood revelling 
 in his veins. Agitation or excitement is necessary 
 to his very being — as mvich so as the air he breathes. 
 He is in his element when in the midst of the poli- 
 tical storm and tempest and whirlwind. I once 
 heard him say, that independently of the great object 
 for which he is struggling, he exults in the struggle 
 itself. A state of quietness and tranquillity would 
 be insupportable to him. If his country had no 
 wrongs to be redressed, if no materials for agitation 
 existed, he would hardly deem life desirable. Like 
 Alexander the Great, who sat down and wept when 
 he had conquered all that was then known of the 
 world, because there was no other field for the gra- 
 tification of his military propensities, — Mr. CCon- 
 nell, though he would rejoice on account of his 
 countrymen, would feel unutterably wretched on his 
 o\vn, were a political millenium to take place in 
 Ireland. 
 
 He is always in excellent spirits. You never see 
 him cast down or dejected. In the most adverse 
 circumstances, his faith in the eventual triumph of
 
 812 MR. O^'OXXELL. 
 
 the great cause of justice and humanity, is un- 
 Ixjunded. It never wavers for a moment. He 
 always has his eye fixed on the svniny side of the 
 picture. Hence he is ever cheerful. You see a 
 perpetual smile on his countenance, whether he be 
 addressing the House or reclining in-his seat, whe- 
 ther in the family circle or haranguing the populace 
 at the Corn Exchange. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell is said to be a man of great gene- 
 rosity and kindness of heart in private life. A 
 striking instance of his generosity was afforded in 
 the case of D'Esterre, whom he killed in a duel. 
 Not only did he feel such strong " compunctious 
 visitings," because he had shed the blood of a fel- 
 low-being — though he was the challenged, not the 
 challenging party — as caused him to " register a 
 vow in heaven" never under any circvuiistances to 
 fight another duel ; but he felt that he had done an 
 irreparable injury to the widow of his deceased 
 antagonist, and therefore offered to settle an an- 
 nuity of £150 upon her for life. The Corpora- 
 tion of Dublin, however, prevailed upon her not 
 to accept Mr. O'Conneli's generous offer, by en- 
 gaging to settle an adequate allowance on her out 
 of their own funds. This was the least they could 
 do, as it was for the purpose of vindicating the 
 Corporation from the epithet " beggarly," which
 
 MR. O'CONNELL. 313 
 
 Mr. 0''Connell had applied to it, that her husband 
 had called him out, and received the wovind which 
 ended in his death. I mention this because the 
 circumstances connected with that duel are not 
 generally knoAvii. 
 
 Mr. O'ConnelFs person is tall and athletic. His 
 frame is one of the most muscular in the house, 
 especially about the shoulders. If any of his ene- 
 mies were to attempt to put their threats of per- 
 sonal chastisement into execution once, they would 
 not, I am sure, attempt it a second time. If com- 
 j^elled, in self-defence, to play the pugilist, I am 
 satisfied there are very few men in the country who 
 would prove a match for him. 
 
 lie has not only, as I have already observed, a 
 perpetual flow of excellent spirits, but he seems as 
 healthy and of as vigorous a constitution, not- 
 withstanding the wear and tear of sixty-one years, 
 most of which have been spent in hard and con- 
 stant labour, — as if his age were only thirty. It is 
 this circumstance, coupled with that of most of his 
 ancestors having lived to nearly one hundred years 
 of age, which has caused him to adopt the singular 
 notion that he is to live other thirty years yet, 
 making his age, at the supposed time of his death, 
 ninety-six. 
 
 His face, like his person, is large. It is round,
 
 314 MR. O'COXXELL, 
 
 but can hardly be called fat. His complexion has 
 a freshness and ruddiness about it, which are 
 indicative both of his good health and excellent 
 spirits. His nose is rather flat, and is slightly 
 cocked up. He has dark, laughing eyes, expres- 
 sive at once of benevolence and nntellect. His 
 forehead has nothing peculiar about it. It is by no 
 means fine ; at least so far as his wig will allow one 
 to judge. His hair — ^namely, of his wig — is dark 
 brown, and judging from its rough and uproarious 
 appearance, it is not much troubled with a comb. 
 He invariably weai-s a dai'k green surtout, except 
 on St. Patrick''s day, or when at some dinner party, 
 when his coat is black and of the usual cut. The 
 brim of his hat is broader than that of any Quaker. 
 He ahvays wears his hat cocked on the right side of 
 his head, in the manner so common among sailors. 
 His whole appeai-ance, indeed, is like that of a ship 
 captain, for which he is often taken by strangers. 
 When sitting in the house, his usvial position is 
 that of having his right leg over his left. His son 
 Maurice, to whom he is particularly attached, 
 though devotedly fond of all his family,* often sits 
 
 * Mr. O'Connell has three sons in the House — Morgan, 
 Maurice, and John. Neither of them hardly ever speaks. 
 1 do not recollect ever hearing Morgan utter a syllable. 1 
 have heard John deliver himself of some dozen or fourteen 
 
 sentences,
 
 MR. SHIEL. 315 
 
 beside him, and I have repeatedly seen him, in the 
 most affectionate manner, take Maurice's hand in 
 his own, and keep his hold of it for a considerable 
 length of time. 
 
 Among the Irish members Mr. Shiel ranks next 
 to Mr. O'Connell, both in talents and influence. 
 He is in person a man of very diminutive stature. 
 He is much below the middle size. His face is 
 proportionably small. His complexion is dark, and 
 his hair black. His eyes are dark and piercing, 
 and his whole physiognomy indicates the quickness 
 and hastiness which ai'e the most prominent qualities 
 in his character. His featvu'es are deficient in re- 
 gularity, but are by no means unpleasant. His 
 
 sentences, on one or two occasions, on some unimportant 
 subject. Maurice made a respectable speech which lasted 
 an hour, in August last, in moving for a Committee of In. 
 quiry in General Darling's case. His manner is easy but 
 tame. Morgan is most like to his father; but is neither so 
 tall nor so robust, by a good deal. He is somewhat of a fop 
 in his dress. Maurice, on the other hand, is careless about 
 his personal appearance, except when he is going to speak, 
 when he very carefully oils and combs his hair. He is 
 rather tall and slender in person. His hair and complexion 
 are fair. John is much under the middle size, and slenderly 
 made. He has a good face, is of dark complexion, and has 
 black hair. He dresses with taste, but there is no foppery 
 about him. Neither of them has a particle of the genius 
 or talent of their father. 
 
 p2
 
 316 MR. SHIEL. 
 
 chin slightly protrudes. In his dress he is careless 
 His linen is not of the finest manufacture for which 
 his country is distinguished, nor can his washer- 
 woman's bills be any very serious item in his weekly 
 expenditure. There was more truth than was ge- 
 nerally supposed in the statement ofthe Standard, 
 that he went as one of the deputation to the King- 
 to present the answer of the Commons to his Ma- 
 jesty's most gracious address at the opening of the 
 present Parliament, — with a shirt by no means re- 
 markable for its cleanness, and in clothes which had 
 seen better days, but which, even when they came 
 from the hands of the tailor, were by no means, 
 either as to cut or colour, particularly appropriate 
 for the presence of royalty. These are not the 
 Standard' s words, but they embody the facts con- 
 tained in the statement of that journal ; and that 
 statement I can confirm from my own personal ob- 
 servation on the occasion in question. I take the 
 secret of the thing to be, that the address being- 
 presented on a Saturday, — that, as Dr. Johnson 
 would have said, was not " clean-shirt day"'"' with 
 Mr. Shiel. His dress on that occasion was exactly 
 the same in every respect as it usually is, namely, 
 a black silk handkerchief, tied very carelessly 
 around his neck, a brown coat, with dark vest and 
 pantaloons.
 
 MR. SHIEL. 317 
 
 Mr. Shiel is a man of superior talents, and of 
 considerable genius. There are few men in the 
 House who confine themselves more strictly to the 
 subject of debate. His ideas are always good, often 
 striking and brilliant. His language is at once elo- 
 quent and forcible. His sentences are remarkable 
 for their brevity ; but so full is his mind of ideas 
 that almost every sentence, however short, contains 
 one. He has a fine imagination, and when he gives 
 loose reins to it, his diction is glowing and poetical. 
 He is always listened to with great attention. He is 
 liked by all parties in the house. He is of a kindly 
 and liberal disposition. He never indulges in per- 
 sonalities, and is not often the object of vituperation 
 on the part of the Tories. He has a high sense of 
 honour ; but is so careful not to transgress the 
 bounds of gentlemanly language himself, when deal- 
 ing with an opponent, that he hardly ever gets into 
 a personal quarrel. The only one I recollect his 
 having got into was with Lord Althorp, in the in- 
 stance I have refeiTcd to in speaking of Col. Leith 
 Hay. And that was with him a matter of necessity, 
 not of choice. He only intimated that he would hold 
 his lordship responsible for the imputation, when 
 the latter refused to give up the name of the person 
 on whose information he grounded his charge. 
 
 Mr. Shiel though an effective, is a most awkward
 
 318 MR. SHIEL. 
 
 speaker. His utterance is more rapid than that of 
 any other member in the house. He speaks with 
 such amazing rapidity, that the most expert repor- 
 ter in the gallery is unable to follow him. Hence, 
 when he is anxious to be reported at length he is 
 obliged to write out his own speeches, and send a 
 copy to the office of one of the leading newspapers, 
 from which the other journals procure slips when 
 put in types. Formerly, he used to write out his 
 speeches before-hand, and carry them with him in 
 liis pocket wherever he went to speak ; but having 
 some years since given a copy of his speech to the 
 proprietors of an evening paper some hours be- 
 fore the time appointed for the delivery of it, and 
 the clamour and uproar of the meeting at which 
 it was to have been delivered — it was a meeting in 
 favour of the Catholic Claims, held in 1829, on 
 Penenden Heath — ^being so great at to prevent his 
 proceeding, while the Journal in question repre- 
 sented him as having " spoken his speech,"*' and gave 
 four or five columns of matter as his, of which he 
 never uttered a word, — Mr. Shiel, ever since this 
 " untoward occurrence," has not only never given 
 his speech to any reporter until the actual delivery 
 of it, but does not until then write it out for the use 
 of the newspapers. 
 
 Mr. Shiel does not speak often. Mr. O'Connell
 
 MR. SHIEL. 319 
 
 makes at least twenty speeches for his one. Mr. 
 Shiel writes out at full length, and commits to 
 memory, all his speeches on important questions. 
 He hardly ever attempts extempore speaking. I 
 am surprised at his want of confidence in this 
 respect. Judging from the only specimen I ever 
 heard of his extempore speaking, I should conclude 
 his fame would not suffer were he often to get up 
 on the spur of the moment. The speech I refer to 
 was one of some length. It was in the middle of 
 last session, in reply to one of Sir Robert Inglis, 
 in which that right honourable Baronet charged 
 the Roman Catholic members with having, by 
 voting for the affirmative of the Church Property 
 Appropriation Question, violated the oaths they 
 took on entering Parliament not to do any thing 
 hostile to the interests of the Church of England, 
 as by law established. A happier or more power- 
 ful speech I have seldom heard. His indignation 
 at the charge was so great, that he could not, not- 
 withstanding his diffidence as to his qualifications 
 for extempore speaking, confine it to his own 
 bosom. 
 
 When Mr. Shiel is going to speak, he does not 
 rise, like any other member, but literally leaps or 
 jumps off his seat on the floor, as if about to run 
 out of the house. The fact is, he is quite the crea-
 
 320 MR. SHTEL. 
 
 ture of impulse. Every thing he does, he does in 
 as great haste as if it were a life and death affair. 
 His motions when addressing the House ai-e quite 
 mercurial. Not content with the most redundant 
 gesture, in so far as his arms are concerned, he 
 sometimes bends his body to such a degree, that 
 you are sometimes not without fears^ he may lose 
 his equilibrium, and fall, head foremost prostrate on 
 the floor. At other times, he advances to the table, 
 gives three or four lusty strokes on the box, and 
 then suddenly retreats backwards four or five 
 steps. In a few seconds, you see him, by another 
 sudden bound, leaning over the table, and stretch- 
 ing out his neck, as if trying to reach some 
 honourable member opposite, — his eye fixed on 
 him, meanwhile, with as great an intensity of 
 gaze as if he were determined to flash convic- 
 tion on him by the piercing glances of his optics, 
 should he fail to produce it by the words of his 
 mouth. 
 
 Mr. ShieUs articulation is very indistinct. This 
 arises partly from the extraordinary rapidity of his 
 delivery, but chiefly from the sci'eeching tones of 
 his voice, and the loud key at which he pitches it. 
 His manner in this respect is unlike any thing I 
 ever heard either in the house or elsewhere ; it 
 is impossible, by words, to convey any adequate
 
 MR. SHIEL. S2\ 
 
 idea of it. His voice has often such an irregular 
 effect, that you would think the sound came from 
 between the wall and the ceiling opposite the place 
 whence he addresses the House. A stranger is, 
 indeed, sometimes apt to mistake him for a fo- 
 reigner. An instance of this occurred last session, 
 when a gentleman in the gallery, who was not 
 aware that Mr. Shiel was the person then speaking, 
 and forgetting for the moment that none but na- 
 tives of the United Kingdom were eligible to a seat 
 in the House, innocently inquired of another gen- 
 tleman, wlio was sitting next to him, whether that 
 was not a foreigner who was then addi'essing the 
 House. 
 
 Mr. Shiel is a man of very considerable literary 
 attainments. He has written various articles, which 
 have been much admired, in the New Montldtj 
 Magazine^ and other periodicals. To the New 
 Monthly, when under the editorship of his friend 
 Mr. Thomas Campbell, he was a regular contri- 
 butor for some years. The account of the pro- 
 ceedings of the deputation, of whom he was one, 
 sent over to this country by the Roman Catholic 
 Association of Dublin, and the " Sketches of the 
 Irish Bar,*" which appeared in the New Monthly 
 some years since, were from his pen. He has 
 also written several tragedies, in all of which there 
 p3
 
 322 MR. FEAKGUS o\oXXOR, 
 
 are many beautiful passages, gloAving and burning 
 with poetic spirit ; but, as a whole, they are not ad- 
 mired, and consequently have not been successful. 
 
 Mr. Shiel is in the primeof life, his age being only 
 forty-tAvo. There is, therefore, reason to expect 
 his reputation will rise still higher. It used to be 
 said that Mr. 0*'Connell was jealous- of him, fear- 
 ing he might one day become his rival, and that 
 consequently he did not regard him Avith any very 
 friendly feelings. There never was a more un- 
 founded insinuation against Mr. O'Connell. He is 
 one of Mr. ShieFs greatest friends, and warmest 
 admirers. There is not a man in the House, when 
 Mr. Shiel speaks, more cordial or liberal in hs 
 cheers than Mr. O'Connell. The impression of each 
 of these men is, that there is ample scope for all the 
 talents, and patriotism, and exertions of both, in the 
 present state of Ireland. 
 
 Mr. Feaugus 0''Connor''s name is too familiar to 
 the public to be passed over in a Avork of this kind, 
 though at the moment I write he be not a mem- 
 ber of Parliament ; especially as, from the circinn- 
 stances under which he was unseated, and his 
 popularity among the Radicals in England as well 
 as Ireland, there is little chance of his being long 
 excluded. In person he is moderately tall, and of 
 a firm compact make, without any tiling approach-
 
 MR. FEARGUS o'cONNOR. 323 
 
 ing to corpulency. He is red-haired, and of very 
 fair complexion. There is a slight protusion in 
 his brow, which gives that part of his face about the 
 eyes somewhat of a sunken or retiring appearance. 
 His nose is prominent, not from its size, for it is 
 rather small, but from its cocked-up conformation. 
 He is yet but a young man, his age being about 
 forty. 
 
 Mr. Feargus O'Connor is a man of more than 
 respectable talents. He is a fluent and graceful 
 speaker : the chief blemish in his speeches is, that 
 they are generally too wordy. His voice has some- 
 thing of a bass tone in it ; he cannot modulate or alter 
 its tones : he continues and ends in exactly the same 
 key as he began. He is a man of sterling integrity 
 in his public character. There is not a more 
 honest man in the House. No earthly considera- 
 tion will induce him on any occasion — even on a 
 single occasion — to swerve from his pi'inciples. 
 Rather than act contrary to his convictions of 
 what is right, he would a thousand times sooner 
 peril his seat. I recollect one occasion, towards 
 the close of the Session of 1834, in which he stre- 
 nuously opposed Mr. O'Connell, Mr. Shiel, and all 
 the other Irish Liberal members, on some qviestion 
 of Irish Policy, the nature of which I now forget, 
 — with the fullest impression on his mind, that the
 
 324 MR. HEXRY GRATTAN. 
 
 consequence of the course he was pursuing would 
 be the loss of his seat. He alluded to the proba- 
 bility of such being the penalty of the line of con- 
 duct he adopted on the occasion, adding, that if his 
 anticipations should be realized, he would most 
 cheerfully retire into the solitude of private life, 
 consoled with the reflection that he 4iad acted ac- 
 cording; to the dictates of his conscience. Had Mr. 
 O'Connell thought fit to quarrel with jNIr. OX'onnor 
 for his conduct on the occasion I refer to, there 
 was no question that he could have prevented Mr. 
 O'Connors re-election, either by the constituency of 
 the County of Cork, which he then represented, or 
 any other constituency in Ireland. Mr. O'Connell, 
 however, had too high an opinion of Mr. O'Connor's 
 talents and integrity of character, to have ever 
 dreamed of excluding him from ParHament on any 
 such ground. He has, on many occasions, been one 
 of Mr. O'ConnelPs most zealous and most efficient 
 coadjutors in the efforts ' of the latter to procure 
 redress for the evils of Ireland. 
 
 Mr. Henry G rat tan, member for Co. Meath, 
 is a name with which every reader of the debates 
 in ParHament must be familiar. He is the eldest 
 son of the great Henry Grattan, one of the ablest 
 and most zealous, as well as most eloquent, patriots 
 which Ireland ever produced. He has much of the
 
 MR. SHARMAN CRAWFORD. 325 
 
 attachment to his native country which blazed in 
 the breast of his illustrious father; but unhappily 
 he has not a tithe of his talent. Indeed, he cannot 
 be said to be a man of talent at all. He, however, 
 speaks tolerably well. If there are no traces of 
 genius, no approaches to eloquence, there is always 
 an abundant infusion of burning Liberalism in his 
 speeches. It is impossible for him to give expres- 
 .sion to half-a-dozen sentences without getting into 
 a downright passion, and indulging in such violence 
 of gesture, that it is quite misafe for any member 
 to sit with his head within reach of his right arm. 
 He is by far the best specimen of a wild Irishman — 
 " wild," in Lady Morgan"'s sense of the term — in 
 the house. He is open, generous, straight-forward, 
 in all the relations both of public and private life. 
 In stature he is tall, without being robust. His 
 hair is dark, and his complexion has something of 
 sallowness about it. His face is angular. His 
 general appearance is gentlemanly, and he seems in 
 excellent health and spirits. His age is upwards of 
 forty. He is often confounded with Mr. Thomas 
 Grattan, the author of " High Ways and Bye 
 Ways."" 
 
 Mr. Sharman Crawford, the member for Dun- 
 dalk, is not a man whose talents will ever bring 
 him prominently before the public ; for these are
 
 326 MR. EUTHVEN. 
 
 not above mediocrity. But the active part he takes, 
 both in and out of the house, in every thing that 
 relates to Ireland, joined to the extreme honesty of 
 his character and liberality of his opinions, makes 
 iiim deservedly respected both in his native country 
 and in the house. He is a man of great modesty. 
 He wants confidence in himself. Hence, in the de- 
 livery of his speeches, there is no animation and 
 scarcely any gesture. He is the only Protestant 
 member from Ireland who acts almost uniformly 
 with the Liberal or Catholic Irish members ; for 
 
 he terms are convertible in this case. His person 
 is rather above the usual height, and slenderly made. 
 His complexion is dark, and his hair black. His 
 face is thin and angular, and is slightly pitted with 
 the small pox. The expression of his countenance 
 is pensive, with a tinge of melancholy about it. 
 He is one of the most humane men in the house. 
 Judging from appearances, one wovild conclude 
 that he is in delicate health. His age is about forty- 
 five. 
 
 Mr. RuTHVEN, the colleague of Mr. O'Connell 
 in the representation of the city of Dublin, is enti- 
 tled to a few Avords of notice on account of his eccen- 
 tricities. He stands alone in the house in all the 
 leading elements of his character. " None but 
 himself can be his parallel."" Last year he not only
 
 MR. RUTHVEV. 327 
 
 brought himself into notice, but kept himself before 
 the Hovise and the public by moving the adjourn- 
 ment of the House, night after night, at a certain 
 hour, no matter how important the business before 
 it, or who Avas speaking at the time. Whenever he 
 himself attempted to speak — and he often did, in 
 the literal sense of the terms, " trespass on the 
 attention of the House" — he was sure to be assailed 
 with all sorts of yawns, coughs, groans, &c. He 
 soon, however, made the grand discovery, that an 
 effectual, and the only effectual, means of putting 
 down such interruptions, was by threatening, if 
 not allowed to proceed, to move the adjournment of 
 the House. 
 
 Mr. Ruthven is altogether so singular a person 
 that it is impossible to convey any idea of him to 
 those who have not seen him. Thoug-h he often 
 speaks, he cannot put two sentences of ordinary 
 Eno-lish together. When he g-ives utterance to a 
 sentence of any length, the chances are two to one 
 that the latter part of it has no connection with the 
 first. In fact, though he has the name of being a 
 good scholar, he cannot speak the English language 
 at all. He often tries to correct himself, and stam- 
 mers away at an extraordinary rate in the attempt, 
 but he only in the end flounders the more deeply in 
 the mire of bad Eno;lish.
 
 328 MR. RUTIIVEN. 
 
 His voice has a curious, uneai-thly kind of sound. 
 He speaks with sufficient strength of lungs to make 
 such a noise as is heai-d in all parts of the house, 
 but from the unusual tones of his voice, aggravated 
 by a bad articulation, what he says is often known 
 to himself alone. He is not now yawned or coughed 
 at for the reason I have mentioned, but he is not 
 listened to when he addresses the House. He often 
 speaks what are called Irish bulls, to the great 
 amusement of honourable members. He sometimes 
 rises for the purpose of telling the House that 
 he has nothing to say on the subject before it, but 
 that as he is on his legs, he may as well say that he 
 will give his vote in a particular way. But though 
 Mr. Ruthven speaks a great deal of nonsense, 
 he certainly does, on many occasions, take a com- 
 mon-sense view of the questions before the House, 
 and assign, though in wretched English, very good 
 reasons for the course he has made up his mind to 
 pursue. 
 
 His personal appearance is made to match with 
 the peculiar conformation of his mind. He is of 
 the middle size, and of a full make without being 
 corpulent. He is slightly hunch-backed, or at least 
 his mode of walking gives him somewhat of that 
 appearance. His manners are awkward in the ex- 
 treme. He looks like a person newly imported from
 
 MR. RUTHVEN. 329 
 
 the country, and who has all his life been a workinf^ 
 farmer. He is one of those men who are completely 
 proof against the march of manners. Suppose he 
 were to live for a thousand years to come — his pre- 
 sent age is about fifty-five — he would not be a whit 
 more advanced in the practice of the art of polite- 
 ness than he is at this moment. He feels a thorough 
 contempt for the very name of Chesterfield. If 
 any one would put that nobleman's " Letters to his 
 Son"" into his hand, he would toss them into the 
 fire the next moment, as if there were polkition in 
 the very touch. His hair is beginning to turn grey. 
 His head is large and massy. His nose is large; 
 so are his eyes. His complexion is ruddy. The 
 expression of his countenance corresponds with the 
 sketch I have given of his character. In his dress 
 he is rather careless, without being slovenly; his 
 clothes never fit him. He is always to be seen mov- 
 ing slowly about on the floor of the house. He has 
 no fixed seat; at one time yovi see him — where from 
 his principles and sympathies he ought always to 
 be — seated beside the Irish Liberal members ; at 
 another you see him on the opposite side in the very 
 midst of the Tories. Notwithstanding his eccentri- 
 cities he is a man who knows well when any personal 
 affront is intended him, and there are few men in 
 the house who will more readily resent it.
 
 330 IRISH LIBERAL :\IEMBERS. 
 
 I do not think that any other of the Irish Liberal 
 members stand out with a sufficient prominence to 
 render a notice of them necessary. They are in 
 number about sixty, all of whom, with two or three 
 exceptions, are Roman Catholics, and are remark- 
 able for their unity of purpose and action.
 
 331 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 LITERARY MEMBERS. 
 
 MR. EDWARD LYTTON BULWER — LORD FRANCIS 
 EGERTON — DR BOWRING — MR. BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 Several members of some pretensions to literary 
 talent have, with greater propriety, been included 
 under other heads. The most distinguished lite- 
 rary man in the house is Mr. E. L. Bulwer, mem- 
 ber for Lincoln, and author of Pelham^ Eugene 
 Aram, &c. He does not speak often. When he does, 
 his speeches are not only previously turned over with 
 great care in his mind, but are written out at full 
 length, and committed as carefully to memory as if 
 he were o-oino; to recite them at some annual exami- 
 nation of a public school. He is artificial through- 
 out—the mere creature of self-discipline — in all his 
 exhibitions in the house. You see art and affectation 
 in his very personal appearance — in his mode of 
 dressing, and in his every movement. One of his 
 school-fellows has told me, that at school he was as 
 much noted for his attention to the cut of his coat.
 
 332 MR. EDWARD LYTTOX BULWER. 
 
 as to his intellectual pursuits. He is the same man 
 still. He is a great patron of the tailor and frisseur. 
 He is always dressed in the extreme of fashion. 
 He sometimes affects a modesty of demeanour ; but 
 it is too transparent to deceive any one who has the 
 least discernment. You see at once_ that he is on 
 stilts ; that it costs him an effort even to assume 
 the virtue which he has not. His manner of speak- 
 ing is very affected : the management of his voice 
 is especially so. But for this he would be a plea- 
 sant speaker. His voice, though weak, is agreeable, 
 and he speaks with considerable flviency. His 
 speeches are usually argumentative. You see at 
 once that he is a person of great intellectual acquire- 
 ments, though his speeches appear much better in 
 print than when you hear them delivered. His ar- 
 ticulation is impaired by the affected manner of his 
 pronunciation, and the rapidity of his utterance. 
 His favourite svibject in the house, is the Repeal of 
 the Taxes on Newspapers. On that question he 
 makes a motion every Session. I believe him to be 
 sincerely anxious for the abolition of those duties ; 
 but, had he, last year, not yielded to the previously 
 expressed solicitations of the friends of Mr. Spring 
 Rice to withdraw his motion, the newspaper taxes 
 would by this time have ceased to exist. There 
 were a considerable majority in the house at the time,
 
 LORD FRANCIS EGERTON. 833 
 
 in favour of his motion, and 1 recollect observing the 
 exultation expressed in their countenances, at their 
 anticipated triumph. But the secret of the matter 
 was, that he brought forward his motion at that 
 time, not with the intention of carrying it, but for 
 the mere sake of a little display, coupled, perhaps, 
 with a wish to make an appearance of redeeming a 
 pledge he had previously given, to bring the sub- 
 ject forward in the course of the Session. 
 
 Mr. Bulwer is a fine-looking man. IJe is rather 
 tall and handsome. His complexion is fair, and 
 his hair of a dark brown colour. His nose is acqui- 
 line and prominent, and his face angular. He usually 
 wears a green surtout. He is young ; I cannot give 
 his precise age, but I am certain it cannot exceed 
 thirty-five. He is understood to average from 
 ^£^1,200 to ^1,500 a-year by his literary labours. 
 
 Lord Fraxcis Egerton is better known as a lite- 
 rary man by his previous title of Lord F. L. Gower. 
 His literary reputation chiefly rests on his know- 
 ledge of the German language, and several of his 
 translations from the poetical works of Goethe. He 
 has also written several small original poetical pieces, 
 which possess the merit of sweetness of sentiment, 
 elegance of style, and harmony of versification ; but 
 they want vigour and originality. He is a nobleman 
 of a cultivated mind, and of varied information, es-
 
 334 DR. BOWRING. 
 
 pecially on the subject of modern literature. He 
 hardly ever speaks, and then but very indifferently. 
 He spoke for twenty-five or thirty minutes on the 
 question of the answer to the King's Speech, 
 at the opening of last Session. Being a Tory, 
 though not an ultra one, he, of coiu'se, supported 
 the Government of Sir Robert Peel on that occa- 
 sion. His voice is harsh and husky, and not very 
 strong. There is no variety either in it or in his 
 gesture. Both are monotonous in a high degree. 
 In person he is tall, and well made. His hair is 
 black, and his complexion dai'k. His face is par- 
 tially angular, and his features regular, but with a 
 somewhat pensive expression. He is much res- 
 pected by his own party, both for his private 
 worth and high family connexions. 
 
 Dr. BowRiNG, the member for Kilmarnock, is 
 one of the new members. He is a man of varied, 
 though not of profound literary acquirements. 
 He has written, and written well, in almost every 
 department of literatvu'e. For some years he con- 
 ducted the Westminster Review. His political 
 articles in that periodical were more distinguished 
 for the ease and accuracy of their style, than for 
 originality of conception or comprehensive views. 
 It is as a polvglot he is most celebrated ; here he 
 stands unrivalled. He has a critical knowledge
 
 DR. BOWRING. 335 
 
 of almost every language in Europe, and has given 
 translations from the poetry of most of them. He 
 has written some original poetry, but it has little 
 pretensions to merit, beyond the elegance of the 
 style and the amiable feeling it, for the most part, 
 breathes. He is not a good speaker. His delivery 
 has somethinof drawling about it. His voice is 
 clear, and capable, with proper management, of 
 being made pleasant to the ear ; but he seems to 
 have no control over it : he speaks often, but never 
 long. He has not realised the expectations of his 
 friends since his admission into the house. He has 
 committed two great errors. The first is, his 
 speaking too often on topics of trifling importance : 
 the second is the circumstance of his never having 
 brought forward a motion on any question of com- 
 manding interest, nor ever made a speech of any 
 lengtli, on any great question brought forward by 
 others. He is most regular in his attendance in the 
 house : I know of few members who are more so ; 
 he is always to be seen bustling about on the floor, 
 or in the side galleries, with a bundle of papers in 
 his hand. I do not recollect ever seeing him, on 
 a single occasion, without a large quantity of par- 
 liamentary papers in his hand or under his arm. 
 
 Dr. Bowring is in person rather below the middle 
 •size. His hair is black, and his complexion pale.
 
 336 MR. BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 He is short-sighted, and is consequently obliged to 
 wear glasses. His face is angular, and his chin 
 slightly protrudes. His physiognomy is rather 
 expressive of mildness and good-nature — qualities 
 which he does possess in an eminent degree — than 
 of any thing intellectual. He is not old ; judging 
 from his appearance, I should think he is not much 
 above forty. If he does not make a shining 
 member, he promises to be one of the most useful : 
 for he unites in a high degree the closest attention 
 to his parliamentary duties with a sound judgment 
 and the strictest integrity. 
 
 Mr. Buckingham, the member for Sheffield, is 
 a person whose name has been, for the last eight oi- 
 ten years, most prominently before the British pub- 
 lic. He is generally supposed to have something of 
 the quack in him. I am not siu-e that the charge 
 is altogether unfounded, though I am persuaded 
 he has often been actuated by the most disinterested 
 motives in cases in which the general impression 
 has been quite the reverse. I believe he mav — 
 unconsciously I have no doubt — have exaggerated 
 the extent of his pecuniary losses by the arbitrary 
 proceedings of the Indian Government ; but it 
 cannot be denied that he did, in addition to tlie 
 abstract tyranny and injustice of those proceedings, 
 suffer in purse, or perhaps, more properly speaking,
 
 MR. BtCKIXGHAM. 337 
 
 prospectively, to a very large amount. That he has 
 kept his persecutions, by the Indian Government, 
 before the public, with a prominence and steadiness 
 at which other persons similarly circumstanced 
 would have shrunk back, is not to be denied ; but 
 great allowances are to be made for him, when it is 
 recollected that ke lost not a part, but the whole of 
 his fortune, by his deportation from the East- 
 Indies, and that ever since he has had to struggle 
 with all the horrors of poverty, sometimes, indeed, 
 with something approaching to absolute want. 
 
 Mr, Buckingham is a man of more than res- 
 pectable literary attainments. His travels in Meso- 
 potamia and other covuitries in the East, are among 
 the best that have been published respecting those 
 countries. His Oriental Herald also, a great part 
 of which was written by himself, was a Journal of 
 considerable merit. The great fault of his style is 
 its extreme wordiness. 
 
 As a member of Parliament, he has not earned 
 much reputation. On first entering the House 
 he made great efforts, by repeated speeches of con- 
 siderable length, to acquire for himself a name as 
 a legislator ; but the attempt was quite a failure. 
 There was a strong prejudice against him, owing 
 in a great measure, to the general impression that 
 he was a political adventurer. When he rose to
 
 338 MR. BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 address the House, the circumstance became a 
 sional, sometimes for forced coughs, yawning, &c. 
 and always for inattention and other marks of 
 want of due respect. The result has been that he 
 now scarcely ever speaks at all. Nor was he by 
 any means regular in his attendance in the House 
 last session, though previously he was one of the 
 most exemplary in this respect, out of the whole 
 six hundred and fifty-eight. 
 
 Mr. Buckingham is a fine speaker. His man- 
 ner is remarkably easy and pleasant. There is not 
 a more fluent speaker in the House. His voice 
 is sweet and melodious ; but there is a sameness 
 in his tones. His action is graceful, but is defi- 
 cient in energy. He can speak at any time and on 
 any subject. In person he is tall and handsome. 
 Notwithstanding all the hardships and fatigues he 
 underwent in his extensive journeyings in tropical 
 countries, he appears to be of a vigorous constitution 
 and in excellent health. His complexion is fair and 
 his hair of a light grey. He has a fine forehead. 
 His features are regular, but distinctly marked. 
 His face is full, and has something very intellectual 
 about it. In his appearance and manners, he is 
 quite the gentleman. He is about fifty years of age.
 
 3^9 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 RELIGIOUS MEMBERS. 
 
 SIR ANDREW AGNEW MR. BUXTON MR. ANDREW 
 
 JOHNSTON MR. WILKS MR. BAINES MR. FINCU 
 
 COLONEL PERCEVAL MAJOR CUMMING BRUCE 
 
 MR. POULTER — MR. SINCLAIR. 
 
 The decided course which Sir Andrew Agkew, 
 member for the Wigton district of burghs, has 
 taken for some years past on all questions of a 
 relio'ious character which have been brouo-ht before 
 the house, and the notoriety, especially, into which 
 he has brought himself by his perseverance, session 
 after session, in defiance of all the ridicule which 
 has been heaped upon him, with his Sabbath Bills, 
 entitle him to a priority of notice in this chapter. 
 His appearance exhibits nothing particularly se- 
 rious. He looks soft and good-natured rather than 
 grave or serious, nor is there any thing in his man- 
 ner, when he rises to address the House, which at 
 all mark the zealot. His mode of speaking is 
 remarkably cold and destitute of animation. He 
 a2
 
 340 MR. F. BUXTON. 
 
 appears as if he were timid ; and yet he is not so. 
 Had he not the quality of moral courage in a very 
 high degree, he would never have persisted in his 
 measures for the better observance of the Sabbath, 
 in the face of the ridicule he has always had to 
 encounter. His voice is either weak, or he does not 
 exercise his lungs in any degree when addressing the 
 House ; nor does he use much gesture. He extends 
 his right arm, and gently moves it up and down, 
 which may be said to constitute the whole of his 
 gesticulation. He is a man of easy temper ; not at 
 all disposed to take offence at what an opponent 
 says ; on the contrary, I have repeatedly seen him 
 smile when some of the Radical party were heaping 
 ridicule on his peculiar religious opinions. He 
 never speaks, except on his own Sabbath Bills, or 
 on those brought in from time to time by others. 
 His speeches are seldom of any length. In his 
 political opinions he is moderately liberal. In 
 person he is tall and slender. His complexion is 
 sallow, and his hair of a dark brown colour. His 
 face is sharp and angular. There is a strong re- 
 semblance in the form of his nose to the beak of an 
 eagle. He is not old. I do not know his exact 
 age ; but it is, I have no doubt, imder forty. 
 
 Mr. F. Buxton, the member for Weymouth, is 
 one who takes a great interest in all questions of a
 
 MR. F. BUXTON. 341 
 
 religious nature. His exertions for the emancipa- 
 tion of the West-India slaves, are too well known 
 to require any particular allusion to them. They 
 had their origin in religious principle. He is a 
 Dissenter. His piety is decided, without being 
 tinged with fanaticism. The great question in 
 which he felt the deepest interest, was that of the 
 Emancipation of the Negroes in the West-India 
 Colonies : when it was before the House, he inva- 
 riably spoke. Since it has been in a great measure 
 settled, he seldom addresses the House. His voice 
 is strong, but pleasant. There is much simplicity 
 in his manner of speaking. He makes no preten- 
 sions to, nor efforts at oratory. He hardly uses 
 any gesture, except it be in the moderate move- 
 ment of his right arm. He is a man of respectable 
 talents. There is always much good sense in what 
 he says, and occasionally some happy ideas. He 
 is listened to with attention by the House. In 
 fact, his irreproachable private character and his 
 consistent public conduct could not fail to com- 
 mand respect from men of all shades of political 
 feeling. He is, in person, very tall and muscular. 
 He is full six feet two in height, and of proportonal 
 stoutness. He usually wears a blue coat. His 
 clothes are always good, but they are never well 
 made. He is slightly pitted with the small-pox.
 
 342 MR. ANDREW JOHNSTON. 
 
 His features are distinctly marked. His nose is 
 large, and is made more prominent by its being 
 oenerally surmoinited by a pair of spectacles. He 
 is, as already hinted, greatly esteemed by men of all 
 paties in the House. He is in his fifty-fourth year. 
 
 ]Mr. Andrew Johnston, member for the St, 
 Andrew"'s district of burghs, has lately become 
 son-in-law to Mr. Buxton. He is a young man, 
 being only about thirty-five years of age. He is 
 about the middle size in personal stature, and of a 
 somewhat slender make. His hair is dark, and 
 his complexion slightly fair. His features are re- 
 gular, and his countenance has altogether a pleas- 
 ing aspect. He speaks tolerably well, but not 
 without previously committing what he means to 
 say to memory. The question in which he takes 
 the deepest interest is that of the existing state of 
 church patronage in Scotland. He is for the repeal 
 of the statute of Queen Anne, which took from 
 the male members and hearers of every church, 
 the right of choosing their own pastor, and trans- 
 ferred that right to some one individual having 
 large property in the respective parishes. For the 
 last three or four sessions he has brought forward 
 a formal motion for the repeal of this statute ; but 
 the friends of Ministers have always taken care 
 either that there should be no House on the night
 
 MR. ANDREW JOHXSTON. 343 
 
 fixed for the motion, or if there were at the com- 
 mencement of his speech, that it should thin suffi- 
 ciently, before he had got to the middle of it, to 
 admit of its being counted out. The opinions of 
 the House have consequently never yet been ascer- 
 tained on this subject, though it be one in wliich 
 the people of Scotland take the liveliest interest. 
 
 The treatment Mr. Johnston has lately received 
 from his contituents is sure to lead to one out of 
 two effects as regards other members. It will 
 either prevent their giving positive pledges to the 
 electors at all, or if they do they will give those 
 only which they mean in earnest to redeem. At 
 the last election, Mr. Johnston, according to the 
 representations of his constitvients, pledged him- 
 self to vote for the appropriation of any surplus 
 church property that might be found to exist, to 
 other than ecclesiastical purposes ; but when Lord 
 John Russell brought forward his motion, recog- 
 nizing the right of the state to deal with church 
 property as it thought fit, he did not vote at all. 
 Since then he has been called on, time after time, 
 by large bodies of his constituents, to resign his 
 seat, which they say he also pledged himself on the 
 hustings to do, should a majority of his consti- 
 tuents require such resignation at his hands. He 
 and they give different versions of what he said on
 
 J344 MR. WILKS. 
 
 that occasion. Which party is in the right, whe- 
 ther the representative or the represented, I have 
 no means of knowing. If he did break a positive 
 unequivocal pledge, he has been amply punished 
 for it ; for his seat must have been one of thorns 
 to him ever since. There can be no justification 
 for a man who makes pledges and breaks them : 
 but I cannot help saying that Mr. Johnston has 
 been hardly dealt with compared with many other 
 honourable members, some of whom have violated 
 their pledges, made in the heat of a hustings speech, 
 by the dozen. 
 
 Mr. WiLKS, the member for Boston, is the great 
 champion of the Dissaiters. In fact, he may be 
 called their representative. In every thing that 
 relates to their interest, he takes the lead in the 
 house. When a measure affecting their rights and 
 privileges is brought forward, one may with certainty 
 conclude from the course he takes, as to the reception 
 such measure will meet with from that numerous 
 body throughout the country. He is a man of 
 respectable talents. As a speaker he is somewhat 
 above mediocrity. He has a rather awkward way 
 of mouthing the words, and sometimes expectorates 
 slightly, but he speaks with ease and some fluency- 
 His voice is not good ; it wants clearness, which, in 
 conjunction with his not very distinct articulation,
 
 MR. BAINES. 345 
 
 makes him sometimes difficult to be heard. He is 
 occasionally animated in his manner, and makes a 
 rather effective speech. He is defective in pro- 
 nouncing the letter r. He speaks pretty often, 
 though all his best efforts are on questions affecting 
 the Dissenters. He by no means acquits himself 
 so well in the House as out of it. I have heard 
 him make really excellent and effective speeches 
 at Exeter Hall, and other places, in his capacity of 
 Secretary to the Society for the Protection of Civil 
 and Religious Liberty. 
 
 In person, Mr. Wilks is of the middle size, and 
 rather, if any thing, slenderly formed. His consti- 
 tution is evidently not strong. He has a venerable 
 appearance. His face is angular. His nose is pro- 
 minent, and his eyes are large. His complexion is 
 florid, and his hair of a dark brown. The crown of his 
 head is partially bald. He is nearly sixty years of 
 age. He usually sits on the Opposition side of the 
 House. 
 
 Mr. Baixes, the member for Leeds, is also a 
 Dissenter. He is a respectable speaker. His voice 
 is clear, but monotonous. He times his utterance 
 to the ear with good taste, and speaks with much 
 ease and accuracy of language. If he is never 
 eloquent, he invariably speaks great good sense. 
 His speeches are always short, but pithy and to 
 Q.3
 
 346 MR. FINCH. 
 
 the point. They would liave more effect, if deli- 
 vered with greater animation. He is a man of 
 extensive information on all subjects connected Avith 
 manufactures, especially those of Lancashire. He 
 is also intelligent on general topics. He is pro- 
 prietor of the Leeds Mercury, which is conducted 
 by his son, with whom he is sometimes confounded. 
 It was Mr. Baines, junior, and not IMr. Baines, 
 the member, who lately published an able and very 
 elaborate work on the manufactures of Lancashire. 
 He is, however, the author of a History of Lan- 
 cashire. Mr. Baines is much respected in the 
 House. His manners are mild and conciliatory, 
 but very plain. He usually wears a blue coat. In 
 personal height he is about the middle size, but of 
 a robust frame. His hair is red, and his complexion 
 fair. His countenance is pleasing, and rather intel- 
 ligent. His features are regidar. He is what would 
 be called a good-looking man. He is in his sixty- 
 first year. 
 
 Mr. Finch, the member for Stamford, always 
 takes an active part in all proceedings in the House 
 which affect the interests of the Church of Eng- 
 land, He is a man of respectable talents, and is 
 a pleasant, though certainly not a showy speaker. 
 His voice is clear, but not strong. He speaks with 
 ease, but never rises to eloquence. He is a man 
 
 excellent private character. In his politics he
 
 MR. FIXCH. 347 
 
 is Conservative. He occasionally takes a Bible 
 with him in his pocket to the House. When, 
 towards the close of last session, a keen discussion 
 took place one night relative to some proposed 
 grant of money for the purposes of Education 
 in Ireland, of which grant the Roman Catholics 
 were to receive a part, some honourable member 
 chanced to introduce a verse from the Scriptures, 
 which bore on the point in dispute, when another 
 honourable member — I think it was Mr. Sergeant 
 Jackson, for nearly twenty years Seci'etary to the 
 Dublin Kildare-street Society, — maintained that the 
 text was not correctly quoted. Several other mem- 
 bers gave quite different versions from what either 
 of the first two had given; in short, the floor of the 
 House of Commons became an arena for the display 
 of the biblical knowledge of the members. The 
 controversy — -as theological controversies usually 
 do — became very keen as to the literal version of 
 the text in question, when Mr. Finch at once set 
 the matter to rest, by putting his hand into hi> 
 pocket, and pulling out a very handsome chamond 
 Bible, from which, amidst shouts of laughter, he 
 read the passage in question. If I remember 
 rightly, all the honourable members who took pait 
 in the discussion as to the exact wording of the 
 passage, were more or less in error.
 
 348 COLONEL PERCEVAL. 
 
 Mr. Finch is small in bodily stature, but firmly 
 and compactly made. His face is round, and has 
 a cheerful expression. His complexion is dark, and 
 his hair jet black. His eye-lashes are large, and 
 his eyes have always a laughing appearance. He is 
 about forty years of age. 
 
 Colonel Pehceval, member for the county of 
 Sligo, is equally zealous with Mr. Finch in his 
 attachment to the Church of England. He is also 
 of the same political opinions. He is above me- 
 diocrity as a speaker. He has a fine powerful voice, 
 but it wants variety. He speaks with much ease 
 and fluency, and, without any seeming effort, 
 makes himself heard in all parts of the House. In 
 his manner you see a man of decisive mind and 
 firmness of purpose. His gesture, when speaking, 
 is very gentle. It consists almost exclusively of a 
 slight movement of the right arm. He is good at 
 reply, and is happy at pinning down an opponent 
 to any injudicious admission he has made. He 
 also excels in keeping members to the real ques- 
 tion at issue. He is an Orangeman, and ably and 
 boldly vindicates that party from the charges pre- 
 ferred against it by the Irish Liberal members. 
 He never shrinks from grappling with Mr. O'Con- 
 nell or Mr. Sheil, and I believe Mr. CConnell 
 thinks him one of the most formidable opponents
 
 MAJOR GUMMING BRUCE. 349 
 
 he has in the House, in all matters of dispute between 
 the Orange and Roman Catholic parties of Ireland. 
 
 Colonel Perceval is, in person, of the usual 
 height, but of a strong muscular frame. He has a 
 fine handsome face. His appearance altogether is 
 that of a perfect gentleman. His age is about forty- 
 five. 
 
 Major CuMMixG Bruce, the member for the 
 Inverness district of burghs, and grandson -in-law 
 to Bruce,* the celebrated Abyssinian traveller, has 
 distinguished himself, during the five years he has 
 been in Parliament, by his zealous advocacy of 
 the Church of Scotland as at present constituted. 
 He strenuously opposes every proposition for the 
 slightest alteration in the constitution of that 
 Church. In his political opinions he is a decided 
 Tory. He is a very fair speaker, and a man of 
 considerable talents. His voice has a curious sound, 
 of which it is difficult to convey an idea. It is 
 clear, but has a sort of twang. It is not, how- 
 ever, unpleasant. He speaks easily and with some 
 fluency. He is a man of great moral courage. 
 However unpopular his opinions he never shrinks 
 from a fearless assertion of them. I have heard 
 
 * In consequence of his marriage with the grand-daughter 
 of Bruce, the Major has added that of Bruce to his former 
 name of Camming-.
 
 350 ilR. POl'LTER. 
 
 him make some able speeclies. Those he makes on 
 religious subjects— and he seldom speaks on any 
 other — have much of a decidedly religious charac- 
 ter about them. There are few men in the house 
 better acquainted with the Scriptures, and I have 
 never heard any member cj[uote from the Bible more 
 largely. The House often, in such cases, attempts 
 to put him down, but never with effect. He never 
 loses Ms presence of mind, and is not to be driven 
 from his purpose. 
 
 In person he is tall, and of a slender form. He 
 is in delicate health. His covnitenance has a studious 
 pensive expression. His complexion is pale, and 
 his hair of a dark brown. His face is angular, and 
 his features are rather large. He is about forty-five 
 years of age. 
 
 Mr. PouLTER, member for Shaftesbur}', has 
 brought himself into some distinction by the bills 
 for the better observance of the Sabbath, which he 
 brought into tlie house in the Session of 18r34, 
 and in that of the year 1835. His views on the 
 subject of the way in which the Sabbath ought to 
 be kept, are not nearly so strict as those of Sir 
 Andrew Agnew. He is willing, for example, 
 to make an exception in favour of the gardeners 
 and o;reen-":rocers in Covent Garden and other 
 places, and also in favour of the venders of certain
 
 MR. POULTER. 351 
 
 other kinds of perishable commodities. When a 
 deputation of persons connected with Covent Gar- 
 den waited on him to remonstrate with him respect- 
 ing certain provisions of his last Bill, he expressed 
 himself willing to hear any objections to his mea- 
 sure, and to make any alterations and amend- 
 ments which could be proved to be necessary, add- 
 ing that he begged it to be distinctly understood 
 he was no Puritan. In politics he is moderately 
 Liberal. He opposed the Government of Sir Ro- 
 bert Peel, and almost invariably supports that of 
 Lord Melbourne. He is a grandson of the late 
 Brownlow North, Bishop of Winchester. He is 
 by profession a barrister, though I believe he does 
 not now practise. 
 
 Mr, Poulter is a man of fair talents. He is a 
 good speaker. His voice is both powerful and 
 pleasant, and his utterance is well timed to the 
 ear. His style is clear and correct. He speaks 
 with nmch ease and flviency. He is a man of 
 excellent private character. Few men have more 
 self-possession when interrupted in speaking, which 
 he sometimes is by certain members who deem the 
 introduction of religious matters in any shaj>e, 
 into the house, an infliction of no ordinary kind. 
 I have repeatedly admired the good temper, per- 
 fect coolness, and gentlemanly conduct he has di.s-
 
 352 MR. SINCLAIR. 
 
 played on such occasions. In describing one of 
 the general scenes in the house, it will be seen that 
 he was one of the members assailed with the tre- 
 mendous uproar which was caused on that occa- 
 sion. Even then, when a man might as well have 
 been attacked by all the Furies in concert, he ap- 
 peared as calm, collected, and well pleased, as if 
 there had been a breathless silence in the house. 
 He does not speak often, and seldom at any great 
 length at a time. 
 
 Mr. Povilter is a handsome-looking man. In 
 personal height he is about the middle size, and of 
 a rather stout and compact make. His complexion 
 is slightly dark, and his hair quite black. He has 
 a fine forehead, and his features, which ai*e regular 
 and prepossessing, have an intelligent expression. 
 He is seemingly about forty years of age. 
 
 Mr. Sinclair, the member for Caithness-shire, 
 is the last of the religious members I shall notice. 
 He was formerly, like his father, Sir John Sinclair, 
 the celebrated agricultural and statistical writer, of 
 decided Whig principles, but he took the same 
 view of the Irish Church appropriation question 
 as the Government of Sir Robert Peel, when that 
 question was brought before the House by Lord 
 John Russell — since which time he has uniformly 
 voted and acted with the Conservatives. Like
 
 MR. SINCLAIR. 353 
 
 Mr. Andrew Johnston, Mr. Sinclair has chiefly 
 distinguished himself by his exertions to procure 
 a repeal of the law of patronage with respect to 
 the Church of Scotland. He is a man of respect- 
 able talents ; but has fallen far short of that emi- 
 nence in the world to which Lord Byron, who was 
 his school companion and most intimate friend in 
 early life, predicted he would attain. Byron's 
 opinion was, that Mr. Sinclair possessed splendid 
 talents, though at the time he uttered the above 
 prediction they had not been fully developed. 
 Time has only served to show how erroneous are 
 the estimates which the greatest geniuses some- 
 times form of the intellects of others. 
 
 Mr. Sinclair is a passable speaker. His voice is 
 sufficiently audible when he endeavours to make 
 himself heard; at other times, he is but imperfectly 
 heard by those who are most remote from him. His 
 voice is clear and pleasant, but wants flexibility. 
 His gesture is usually moderate, though occasionally 
 he is not without energy of manner. He does not 
 speak often. The best speech I ever heard him 
 make was a short one on the dissolution of the Ad- 
 ministration of Sir Robert Peel, and the reconstruc- 
 tion of the Melbourne Government. In this speech 
 there were several clever points. " I have,"" said 
 he, " refrained from hazarding any remarks as to
 
 354 MR. SINCLAIR. 
 
 the new, or rather renovated Ministerial edifice, 
 until the complete elevation shall stand before the 
 public in all the stateliness of its outline, and in all 
 the synnnetry of its proportions. The three divi- 
 sions of the empire have contributed their respective 
 quotas towards promoting its stability and providing 
 for its embellishment. It must be admitted, tiiat 
 consummate discretion and admirable dexterity have 
 been displayed, not only in the choice but in the 
 exclusion of certain materials. Some hvpercritics 
 expected to see the main building supported by a 
 collossal column of basalt from the Giant's Cause- 
 way;* but " 
 
 Here Mr. Sinclair was interrupted by Mr. Me- 
 thuen rising to order, and saying " he could not 
 see what the Giant's Causeway had to do with the 
 question before the house."' 
 
 Mr. Sinclair resumed — " I believe that if we 
 were to dig a trench deep enough to reach the 
 foundations, we should find the corner-stone of the 
 edifice so entirely composed of that substance, that 
 if its support were taken away, the whole would at 
 once be laid prostrate on the earth. The fabric of 
 the late Government is now destroyed ; and the 
 noble Secretary-at-War (Lord John Russell), who 
 on two late occasions said he Avould consider that 
 * The reference here was to Mr. O'Coniiell.
 
 MR. SINCI-ATR. 355 
 
 event a misfortune, may now, like Marius on the 
 ruins of Carthage, wander amid the storied urns 
 and broken columns, indulging in a lugubrious so- 
 liloquy on the instability of human greatness, unless 
 the official syrup, which has now been administered, 
 shall operate as a soothing and salutary anodyne to 
 calm his perturbed spirit. With respect to the new 
 Administration, I fear that they will find their po- 
 sition most painful and embarrassing. They will 
 feel themselves compelled to pursue a dubious and 
 vacillating course, now veering towards the Radical 
 reefs of Scylla, and then tacking towards the Con- 
 servative quicksands of Charybdis. They will be 
 halting between the Court and the Radicals — anx- 
 ious to keep Avell with the one, and vet afraid to 
 break with the other — bold enough to alarm the 
 Tories, and yet too timid to satisfy the Destruc- 
 tives. The consequence of which will at length be, 
 that at an early period of the ensuing Session, if not 
 before (on some day which I leave to be settled in 
 the next edition of Moore's planetary almanack,) 
 an bminous and temporary junction will take place 
 between the Wellington Mars, and the O'Connell 
 Jupiter, with all his tributary satellites — a motion 
 will be made (perhaps by the Right hon. Baronet, 
 the member for Kent,* and seconded by Mr. 
 * Sir Edward Knatchbull.
 
 356 MR. SINCLAIR. 
 
 CDwyer, the late and probably future member 
 for Drogheda) that the house has no confidence 
 in his Majesty's Ministers ; and on a division, the 
 number will appear: — Ayes 426, Noes 197 — Ma- 
 jority 229." 
 
 Mr. Sinclair is in personal height about the usual 
 size. His complexion is fair, and his hair light. 
 On the fore part of his head there is an incipient 
 baldness. His features are large, and have some- 
 thing of an intellectual expression about them. He 
 is in his forty-fifth year. 
 
 It may be proper to mention, in concluding 
 this chapter, that the above are not all the religious 
 membez's in the house. They are those only who, 
 on all occasions when religious topics are intro- 
 duced take the most prominent part in the discus- 
 sion of them.
 
 357 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 NEW MEMBERS. 
 
 SIR WILLIAM FOLLETT — MR SERJEANT TALFOURD 
 MR. BORTHWICK — COLONEL THOMPSON. 
 
 The number of new members returned at the 
 last election was not so great as might, under the 
 circumstances, have been expected ; and but very 
 few of those that were then returned for the first 
 time, had previously occupied any very prominent 
 place in public estimation. 
 
 On the Tory, or Conservative side, the most 
 valuable new return, beyond all question, was that 
 of Sir William Follett, the member for Exeter. 
 Sir William, though only in his forty-second year, 
 had already raised himself to the highest distinction 
 as a lawyer. He was known not only to be an 
 excellent speaker, but a man of very rare talents, 
 and of great intellectual acquirements. He was 
 known, at the same time, to be decidedly in favour 
 of Conservative views : hence that party greeted 
 him with a most cordial welcome on his entrance 
 into Parliament. He was also appointed Solicitor
 
 358 SIR WILLIAM FOLLETT. 
 
 General by Sir Robert Peel, which gave him addi- 
 tional importance. His maiden speech was looked 
 forward to with great anxiety, not only by the 
 Conservative party, but by the Whigs and Radi- 
 cals. It was generally expected that he would 
 have spoken on the answer to the King's Speech ; 
 but he allowed the occasion to pass over without 
 saying a word. Weeks passed away and he was 
 silent. The Church Surplus Property Appropriation 
 question came on for discussion, and as that was a 
 question which not only most deeply affected some 
 of the principles he most warmly cherished, but 
 was, in its results, to be decisive of the fate of the 
 Government of which he formed a part, he could 
 no longer remain mute. He accordingly spoke, 
 on the second night of the debate, if I rememl)er 
 rightly, and seldom had an abler or more effective 
 speech been delivered within the walls of Parlia- 
 ment. His speech occupied about an hoiu* and a- 
 quarter in the delivery, and was listened to from 
 beginning to end with breathless attention. The 
 regret which men of all shades of political opinion 
 felt, was that it did not last longer. It was com- 
 mended in the warmest terms by every one who 
 heard it. The next great question on which lie 
 spoke was that of the Municipal Corporation Re- 
 form. On it he spoke repeatedly, and with very
 
 SIR WILLIAM FOLLETT. 359 
 
 great eloquence and ability. There is a remark- 
 able clearness in his speeches. He makes you 
 understand, as fully as he does himself, the drift of 
 his argument. His mode of thinking is vigorous, 
 and his reasoning is close and masterly. He nevei- 
 digresses for a moment from the object he has in 
 view, nor loses sight of the positions he wishes to 
 establish. You see what he would be at, and you 
 see he is leading you to it by the most direct road. 
 His style is also chaste and nervous ; it is elegant 
 without being flowery. He never goes out of his 
 way in quest of rhetorical expressions. He employs 
 the phraseology which most readily and naturally 
 suggests itself to his mind, and yet it could hardly be 
 Improved, however great were the amount of labour 
 bestowed upon it. His manner is also simple and 
 natural. He does not use any extravagant gesture: 
 he chiefly confines it to a slight movement of his 
 face and body from one part of the opposite side of 
 the house to another, and to a gentle raising and 
 lowering of his right arm, accompanied by an occa- 
 sional stroke of his hand on the table. His voice 
 partakes, in a very great degree, of a bass tone, 
 which, as he can modulate it at pleasure, is parti- 
 cularly effective in the most impassioned parts of his 
 speeches. His utterance is timed with much good 
 taste to the ear : it is neither too rapid nor too
 
 860 MR. SEEJEANT TALFOrRD. 
 
 slow. His articulation is very distinct ; and he 
 always speaks loud enough to be heard in all parts 
 of the house. 
 
 In personal height he is about the usual size; 
 but inclines to stoutness. His frame is compact 
 and seemingly very strong. His features are strongly 
 marked. His nose is short and flat ; and his eye- 
 lashes unusually large. His face is round, his 
 complexion very dark, and his hair black. His 
 countenance is })leasing, but certainly wants the 
 intellectual expression which might be expected in 
 such a man. He is undoubtedly the most promising- 
 man, of any party, who has entered Parliament for 
 some years past. The Conservatives may well be 
 proud of him. 
 
 Among the new Liberal members returned at the 
 last election, Mr. Serjeant Talfourd was by far 
 the best known. I never knew a man enter Par- 
 liament concerning whom I had higher expectations. 
 I had heard him speak repeatedly out of doors, 
 and coupling that with his acknowledged literary 
 attainments, and the burning enthusiasm with 
 which he was known to cherish his principles, I 
 was fully persuaded, in my own mind, that his 
 first exhibition would dazzle and delight the 
 House. The event proved I had made a mis- 
 calculation. He made his debut the night after
 
 MR. SERJEANT TALFOURD. 361 
 
 Sir William Follett, to whose speech his was chiefly 
 a reply. He spoke for about an hour, but did not, 
 to any extent, gain the attention of the House. 
 Considerable noise, and great listlessness, prevailed 
 all the time. In short, his dehM was a complete 
 failure in so far as eiFect was concerned, though 
 the speech was one of great eloquence and ability. 
 There were many accidental circumstances, it is 
 true, which operated against him. He was, in the 
 first place, most vmhappy in the time he chose for 
 addressing the House. It was so early as six o*'clock, 
 an hour when no man of any note is ever expected 
 to speak, and when, from the noise and confusion, 
 caused by members entering the house, even the 
 most popular and influential members could hardly 
 insure attention. Then, again, the house was re- 
 markably thin at the time ; and nothing can more 
 seriously impair the effect of a good speech, 
 than its delivery when the benches are empty. 
 Lastly, he pitched his voice in too low a key. He 
 spoke no lovider than he was accustomed to do in 
 the courts of law, forgetting the house was six times 
 as large, and the members diffused over eight or 
 nine times the space ; for in courts of law, all the 
 persons present are generally congregated within 
 a few yards of the counsel. But besides these 
 disadvantageous circumstances, there was some-
 
 36^ MR. SERJEANT TALFOURD. 
 
 thing in the matter of the speech, which militated 
 greatly against its enthusiastic, or even favourable 
 reception. It was far too refined : it was one of 
 the most elaborate and philosophically reasoned I 
 ever heard delivered in the liouse. There were but 
 few members who, even after the most close atten- 
 tion, would have been able to follow the speaker, 
 and if once you lost the thread of his argument, the 
 rest would have been in a great measure unintelli- 
 gible to you. It was exactly a speech of that na- 
 ture, wliich ought to have been delivered in a quiet, 
 snug room, to a dozen or so of the most philoso- 
 phical men of the present day. In that case it 
 would have been appreciated : the admiration of it 
 bv such an audience, would have known no bounds. 
 
 Mr. Serjeant Talfourd is poetical and eloquent 
 in the highest degree. His matter almost cloys one 
 with its richness. In beautiful and appropriate 
 imagery, he excels all men I ever heard speak : — 
 I mean in the more carefully wrought passages 
 when speaking on important questions. He is fond 
 of introducing a great deal of scriptural phrase- 
 ology into his speeches. In his maiden effort in 
 Parliament, there was much of this. He talked 
 of " quitting themselves like men,"" of being " knit 
 together in love," Sec. Scc 
 
 His second, and I believe, only other speech in
 
 MR. nORTHWlCK. 363 
 
 the house, was in defence of the Municipal Cor- 
 poration Bill. It was very short. It did not occupy 
 above ten minutes in the delivery. It was much 
 less refined than the other, and was delivered at a 
 more suitable hour of the evening, and to a House 
 in a more attentive mood. It consequently told 
 with better effect. Still, the reception he met with 
 on the occasion, was not at all equal to what would 
 have been expected by those who have heard him 
 in the courts of law. 
 
 In person Mr. Serjeant Talfourd is about the 
 middle size, and well made. His hair is black, 
 and his complexion very dark. His features are 
 small, and his face round. He has the most piercing- 
 eyes I ever saw ; they have much of what lovers 
 call a languishing expression about them. His face 
 has altogether much of a soft and feminine appear- 
 ance. He is a man of much kindness of heart, and 
 much affability of manner. I question if there is a 
 man of more cultivated mind in the house. He is 
 about forty years of age. 
 
 Mr. BoRTHwicK, the member for Evesham, is 
 one of whom great expectations were also enter- 
 tained by those who previously knew him. He is 
 a Conservative, and is returned through the influ- 
 ence of a rich Conservative baronet. As a speaker 
 at public meetings, before he entered Parliament, 
 e2
 
 364 MR. BORTinviCK. 
 
 he has seldom been surpassed ; as a debater, I 
 hardly ever knew his equal. His talents for public 
 speaking and debating were so warmly spoken of 
 by those who had an opportunity of forming an 
 opinion on the subject, that the West-India interest 
 appointed him, in 1832-33, to make tlie tour of the 
 coinitry, for the purpose of replying to the state- 
 ments made by the Abolitionists, respecting the 
 condition of the negroes in the colonies. And ably 
 did he perform his task. I may mention, in proof 
 of the ex}>ectations which his own party entertained 
 of a successful parliamentai-y debut, that the first 
 time he spoke, which was in the second week of the 
 Session, Sir Robert Peel paid the most marked 
 attention to him for fifteen or twenty minutes; but, 
 as if satisfied that Mr. Borthwick's talents had been 
 over-rated, the right honourable Baronet then quit- 
 ted the house ]Mr. Borthwick continued to speak 
 for nearly an hour after, but very little attention was 
 paid to what he said. He has often spoken since, 
 but somehow or other is very unpopular in the 
 house. In the very last speech he made, which 
 was within a fortnig-ht of the close of the Session, 
 he was coughed, and sneezed, and yawned at, and 
 ironically cheered, to a very unpleasant extent. In 
 the midst of these interiiiptions, he uttered a rather 
 unusual tlireat. He said, that if the House did
 
 COLONEL THOMPSON. 365 
 
 not allow him to conclude in his own time, a)id in 
 his own way, he was determined not to conclude at 
 all. A universal shout of laughter greetetl tlie 
 sentence. 
 
 In stature he is rather under the middle size. 
 He is well formed, and has a very handsome face. 
 His complexion is slightly dark, and his hair beau- 
 tifully black. He is abovit thirty-five years of age. 
 
 Colonel Thompson, the member for Hull, was 
 not returned at the last general election. He was 
 chosen on the death of Mr. Carruthers, the late 
 member. He was one from whom great things 
 were expected by the Radical party, to wliom he 
 belongs, and for whom he has done so much by his 
 writings in the Westminster Review. Of that jour- 
 nal he is now sole editor, Dr. Bowring having 
 quitted the management of it eighteen or twenty 
 months since. Colonel Thompson cannot be said 
 to have failed, because he has not yet attempted 
 any thing in the way of speaking. He made some 
 observations on the presentation of the petition from 
 Hull against his retvu-n ; but beyond that he has 
 not, I believe, delivered a single sentence even in 
 the course of the desultory conversation which so 
 often occurs when the House is in Committee. I 
 have heard him speak in public ; he is by no means 
 an attractive speaker, and I have no idea he will
 
 366 COLOKEL THOMPSON. 
 
 ever acquire any distinction in that way in the 
 house. As a writer, however, he is one of the most 
 nervous and acute, though generally quaint in style, 
 of the present day. He is a thorough-going Radical, 
 and is allowed by all who know him, to be a man of 
 the strictest integrity. 
 
 In person, he is short and stout. He dresses 
 plainly. He generally wears a blue coat. His 
 complexion is a mixture of red and fair. His face 
 is large, and has something of the oval fonn. His 
 hair is beginning to get grey. He is about sixty 
 years of age. He is one of the most attentive men 
 to his parliamentary duties in the house.
 
 867 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
 
 It can hardly be necessary to mention, that in 
 selecting for special notice the members whose 
 names I have given in previous chapters of this 
 work, I have been guided solely by the frequency 
 with which their names appeared before the public. 
 The consequence has been that I have been ol)liged 
 to give sketches of some honourable gentlemen 
 who, on the mere abstract grovmd of talent, were 
 not so much entitled to a notice as many others 
 whose names scarcely ever meet the public eye. 
 There are many members in the house who are 
 known to those on terms of intimacy with them, 
 to be men of extensive information and distin- 
 guished abilities, who never open their mouths at 
 all. I could mention the names of many such in- 
 dividuals, but am prevented from doing so lest I 
 should thereby be unintentionally unjust to others, 
 who, although unknown to me, possess equal claims 
 to be so singled out. There are other members, 
 again, of very great abilities almost as much un-
 
 J368 COXCLUDIXG REMARKS, 
 
 known to Parliamentary fame, who deliver one 
 speech, perhaps, in the course of two or three Ses- 
 sions. I cannot forbear to mention the name of Mr. 
 Charles Russell, member for Reading, as an instance 
 of this. Mr. Russell is a liberal Tory, and has 
 sat for the above borough since 1830; but he has 
 spoken so very seldom as to be almost entirely un- 
 known to the public. Towards the close of last 
 Session, however, he made a speech in opposition 
 to ]Mr. Grote's motion for the Vote by Ballot, which 
 was allowed on all hands to be one of the ablest, if 
 not the very ablest, ever delivered on that side 
 of the question. It lasted for about an hour, and 
 was certainly one of the most closely and ably rea- 
 soned speeches I ever heard in the house. The 
 manner of delivery, however, was very much against 
 it. Mr. Russell had evidently carefully studied it 
 before-hand, and that circumstance concurred with 
 a natural habit of speaking rapidly, to make him 
 hurry through it in that monotonous and mechanical 
 way in which school-boys repeat the tasks they have 
 committed to memory. His voice, too, is weak, and 
 therefore he was but imperfectly heard in the more 
 distant parts of the house. Had the speech been 
 delivered by Sir Robert Peel, or any other first- 
 rate speaker, it would have electrified the auditors. 
 I have often been struck with the number of
 
 CONCLUDING REMAKKS. 369 
 
 members who have shone on the hustings, and at 
 public meetings, who have completely failed in the 
 house. The cause of this is sometimes to be found 
 in the members themselves, sometimes in the 
 House, but more frequently in both. The confi- 
 dence which sustains pviblic speakers when address- 
 ing a mixed multitude, often forsakes them in their 
 maiden efforts in the hovise, and there is conse- 
 quently a corresponding inferiority in the quality 
 of their matter — if the speech be not previously pre- 
 pared — and a proportionate deduction from the ex- 
 cellence of the delivery. No one but those who 
 have experienced it can form any idea of the para- 
 lysing effect produced, both on the matter and 
 manner of the speaker, when, instead of having his 
 almost every sentence greeted with the deafening 
 plaudits of a mixed assembly, he is not only heard 
 without a murmur of applause, but perhaps with 
 the most marked indifference and inattention. A 
 new member who meets with a cold reception when 
 making his first speech in the house, especially if 
 previously popular with promiscuous assemblages 
 of people, is usually so mortified, disappointed, and 
 disheartened, that he either never makes another 
 experiment of the kind, or if he do, the chances 
 are ten to one he will be so disconcerted by the 
 recollection of his former failure, as to meet with
 
 3T0 COXCLUDIXG REMARKS. 
 
 no better success on his second eiFort. There ai'e 
 many new members, however, who make an unsuc- 
 cessful debut, — as I have ah'eady mentioned when 
 speaking of Mr. Sergeant Talfourd's failure, — sim- 
 ply from ignorance of the best time to address the 
 House. Unless the person have a very higli out-of- 
 doors reputation, indeed, for his oratorical acquire- 
 ments, he is sure to have a listless unwilling au- 
 dience if he speak between the hours of five and 
 nine o'clock, Avhen a question of importance is be- 
 fore the House. Not only, as observed in a previous 
 chapter, is no good speaker, or member of talent, 
 expected to address the House in that interval of 
 time, but the constant bustle and noise occasioned 
 by the ingress and egi-ess of members, are most un- 
 favourable to oratorical effect. 
 
 I know there are many new members who are 
 aware, that to address the house at an early hour 
 when any question of importance is under discus- 
 sion, is sure to operate against them ; but then they 
 are equally aware that there is very little chance of 
 catching the eye of the Speaker at a later hour, the 
 most distinguished men in the house being, in almost 
 every instance, previously fixed on in the Speaker's 
 mind, for addressing the House after nine or ten 
 o'clock. The best course for new members to adopt, 
 who are quahfied, or conceive themselves to be so.
 
 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 371 
 
 for making an appearance, as it is called, in the 
 liouse, would be to give notice of a motion for a 
 particular evening on some question of general im- 
 portance. 1 hey would in that case make their 
 dehCit under every advantage. Those anxious to 
 see how they wovdd acquit themselves on their first 
 effort, would be present, and be attentive listeners, 
 which would go far to insure the attention of others. 
 The debutant would be allowed to speak as long as 
 he pleased, and would be certain of meeting with 
 no clamour or interruption ; for I hardly recollect 
 one instance — with the single exception of the case 
 of Mr. Hunt, when he brought forward a motion 
 which had folly on the face of it, respecting the 
 propriety of granting a general pardon to those 
 who had been convicted by the Special Connnis^ion 
 of that period, and which he prefaced by a speech 
 extending to so unreasonable a length as to occupy 
 four hours in the delivery,* — with this exception, I 
 scarcely recollect an instance of any attempt to put 
 down a speaker when introducing a motion to the 
 House. Then, again, new members have, in this 
 case, the right of reply, which affords an excel- 
 lent opportunity to those who have talents for ex- 
 tempore speaking, of displaying those talents to 
 advantage. 
 
 * This motion was negatived by a majority of 209 to 2.
 
 372 CONCLUDIXG REMARKS. 
 
 Every one acquainted with the House must have 
 been struck with the great addition to the number of 
 religious members, which has been made within the 
 last few years. This fact is conclusively shown in 
 the reception which late Bills for the better obser- 
 vance of the Sabbath have met with^ compared 
 with the way in which those formerly introduced 
 were treated. Sir Andrew Agnew''s first Sabbath 
 Bill, four years ago, was lost, on the second read- 
 ing, by a majority of two to one. In 1834, Mr. 
 Poulter's Sabbath Bill was read a second time by a 
 small majority, though lost in the third reading. 
 The second reading of the Sabbath Bill of the 
 same gentleman introduced last Session, was car- 
 ried by a considerable majorit}^, with reference to 
 the numbers in the house at the time, though lost 
 in an after-stage by a small majority. I am aware 
 there are several Members who voted for the Sab- 
 bath Bills of Mr. Poulter, who would not have 
 voted for those of Sir Andrew Agnew, the latter 
 being of a much more sweeping character than the 
 former ; but from a calculation I have made, I am 
 satisfied Sir Andrew Agnew's minority, were he to 
 re-introduce either of his former Sabbath Bills into 
 the house, Avould be a third larger than on any 
 former occasion. So great was the increase in the 
 number of the supporters of his Bill, or of those in
 
 CONCLUDI^JG REMARKS. 373 
 
 favour with the principle of the measure, last year, 
 tliat the second reading was lost by a majority of 
 only 36, the numbers being, for the second reading, 
 125 ; against it, 161. 
 
 It must often have been remarked by my readers, 
 that certain honourable members now and then 
 emerge, by means of some accidental occurrence, 
 from obscurity, and in a day or two fall back 
 again into as great oblivion as ever. Mr. Hume 
 has been the means made use of by several honour- 
 able members for bringing themselves into this 
 temporary notice. He is known to be a man of 
 a remarkably peaceable disposition, and not likely 
 either to give or accept a challenge. In the course 
 of last Session, there were two memorable instances 
 of members emerging for a few days from obscurity 
 throuo-h means of attacks on Mr. Hume. The 
 first was Mr. Charlton, the member for Ludlow, 
 whose name hardly ever before met the public eye. 
 Mr. Hume, or he, I do not recollect which, was ad- 
 dressing a few remarks to the House in the midst of 
 considerable noise, when the other dissenting from 
 some particular expression, the party speaking said, 
 with much tartness of manner, " Hold your tongue, 
 " Sir !" The other retorted, " You are an im- 
 " pudent felloAv." So at least the latter thought 
 and said. Mr. Charlton that night penned a
 
 374 COXCLUDIXG REMARKS. 
 
 challenge to jVIr. Hume, which the latter received 
 the next morning. Mr. Hume, immediately on 
 the House meeting, brought the svibject before it as 
 a breach of privilege, dwelling in a most pathetic 
 strain on the fact of his having received the hostile 
 billet just as he was in the act of sitting down to 
 breakfast, and which proved fatal to an ^appetite, 
 the excellence and keenness of which, but a mo- 
 ment before, had never been exceeded. A dis- 
 cussion of some length followed ; and Mr. Charlton 
 was attacked in the Morning Chronicle and other 
 Liberal papers of the following day. This gave him 
 an opportunity of replying in those papers ; so that, 
 for a few days, his name met every body'^s eye, and 
 was in every body''s mouth. In a week after, Mr. 
 Charlton was forgotten, and has not since been 
 heard of. He is, according to his own representa- 
 tion, a moderate Reformer. 
 
 On another occasion — it occurred, I think, in the 
 beginning of July last — honourable members were 
 much amused at the way in which Mr. Kearsley, 
 member for Wigan, brought himself into temporary 
 notice by attacking Mr. Hume. The House was 
 in a Committee of Supply at the time, and the 
 member for Middlesex was, as is usual on such 
 occasions, making quite a field-day of it. He op- 
 posed almost every grant of money that was that
 
 CONCLUDING REMARKS, 375 
 
 evening proposed for the public service. While 
 opposing one of these grants, 
 
 Mr. Kearsley rose and addressed the Chairman 
 as follows, looking, however, not at him, but at Mr 
 Hume in the face: — " Mr. Bernal: It hasoftenbeen 
 said in this House and elsewhere, that the honour- 
 able member for Middlesex has been very useful to 
 the country by checking the extravagant expendi- 
 ture of Ministers. But after what I have just 
 seen with my own eyes, I put down his conduct as 
 perfect humbug. (Roars of laughter with some 
 cries of Hear ! hear !) Yes, and I pronounce the 
 honourable member himself to be a complete hum- 
 bug (Renewed burstsof laughter, with cries of Order, 
 order ! from a few voices). I do not mean any 
 personal unkindness to the honourable member, but 
 1 must say, that when a vote was put to the House 
 for granting some secret service money, — it was 
 thirty something (Loud laughter) £30,000 odd, I 
 believe, — I saw an honourable gentleman connected 
 with the noble Lord (Lord John Russell) opposite, 
 go up to him, and give him a check for coming for- 
 ward (Loud laughter mingled with cheers from the 
 Conservative side of the house), — I saw it, Sir, 
 (Laughter) — yes, Sir, with my own eyes I saw it, 
 (Renewed laughter from all parts of the House) 
 It's a perfect humbug. Sir ; a complete humbug,
 
 376 COXCLUDIXG REMAUKS. 
 
 Sir, and nothing else (Hear, hear ! and roars of 
 laughter). 
 
 Mr. Kearsley, who is a short, thick-set, and re- 
 markably good-natured man, delivered these ob- 
 servations with such an emphasis and peculiarity of 
 manner, staring Mr. Hume — who was directly op- 
 posite him — all tlie while in the face, that had the 
 celebrated weeping philosopher of antiquity him- 
 self been present, he could not have refrained from 
 joining in the universal laughter. 
 
 Mr. Hume replied to the charge of being " a 
 humbug," " a complete humbug,"" " a perfect hum- 
 bug," — as follows : — " I am afraid that the honour- 
 able member's optics are not in the best possible 
 state to-night. (Great laughter.) I think the 
 honourable member sees double. (Continued 
 laughter.) I certainly did protest against voting 
 <£'30,000 secret-service money ; but I am glad we 
 have reduced the grant so low, for we formerly 
 voted =^60,000 and \ipwards for the same purpose. 
 As to the honourable gentleman's charge against 
 me, I tell him that no person whatever spoke to 
 me on the subject. No man has ever attempted to 
 control or check me in my public conduct. I will 
 be controlled by no man — and least of all shall tlie 
 honourable member control me." 
 
 Mr. Kearsley, on this, leaped to his feet, or, as
 
 CONCLUDIN'G REMAllKS. 377 
 
 the Times of the following moraing had it, " started 
 up with great animation,"" and looking Mr. Hume 
 steadily and very significantly in the face, gave 
 vent to the emotions which agitated his bosom, as 
 follows : — " And I tell the honourable member for 
 Middlesex, in return, that of all men he is not the 
 person whom I shall suffer to control me. If I 
 have any infirmity of sight, and cannot see, it is 
 not very civil on the part of the honourable mem- 
 ber to tell me of it. (Laughter.) It's not what I 
 call politeness, (Order, order ! and renewed laugh- 
 ter.) I tell the honourable gentleman, that if my 
 sight is not so good as it ought to be, neither is his 
 head so good as it ought to be. (Loud laughter, 
 and cheers from the Opposition.) I tell him that I 
 can see to count up the " tottel* of the whole''' as well 
 as he can. (A loud and universal roar of laughter 
 followed this.) No, I'll not be put down by the 
 honourable member for Middlesex. (Cries of Or- 
 der, order !) No, nor will I be put down by any 
 man who supports him, whether he be on the ho- 
 nourable member''s right hand or left hand. (Loud 
 laughter, with cries of Order !) The eyes of the 
 country are upon us, and they'll soon judge which 
 
 * This is a common expression of Mr. Hume's ; the word 
 total being- always pronounced M'ith a broad Scotch accent 
 " totiel."
 
 378 COXCLUDIXG REMARKS. 
 
 of US is right, and which of us is wrong — who's a 
 humbug, and who is not. (Renewed bursts of 
 laughter.) 
 
 Mr. Hume, whom it is impossible to put out of 
 temper, said by way of rejoinder : — " I beg the ho- 
 nourable member not to mistake me ; I did not say 
 any thing about the infirmity of his eyes. I did 
 not accuse him of not seeing ; I only accused him 
 of seeing too much.'" (Loud laughter.) 
 
 Mr. Kearsley, who seemed by this time to have 
 recovered his usual composure and good-nature, 
 said in reference to this: — " The honourable mem- 
 ber is out of his reckoning again.'"' (Laughter.) 
 
 The matter then dropped, but the account of the 
 harmless interchange of wit between ]Mr. Kearsley 
 and Mr. Hume, occupied a conspicuous place in 
 the newspapers of the following morning, and went 
 the rovuid of the provincial journals, accompanied 
 in some instances with a " w^ord of comment." ]\Ir. 
 Kearsley's name was consequently for eight or ten 
 days kept constantly before the public eye. He 
 then, like Mr. Charlton, fell back again into his 
 obscurity, and nothing more has since been heard 
 of him. 
 
 The practice of seeing double in the house, after 
 a certain hour, is not new. It was quite common 
 as far back as the days of Pitt and Dundas. They
 
 CONCLUDING RKMARK9. 319 
 
 were in the habit of dialoguing each other after 
 having dined together, as follows : — 
 
 Pitt. — " 1 can't see the Speaker, Hal; can you?" 
 DoNDAs. — "Not see the Speaker, Billy ! — I see two!" 
 
 It is often amusing to witness the undue impor- 
 tance which some honourable members attach to 
 particular measures, while others of incomparably 
 greater moment, seem scarcely to excite the least 
 attention in their minds. One very striking illus- 
 tration of this occurred towards the close of last 
 Session. Mr. Freshfield, the member for Penryn, 
 and a barrister by profession, conceived the most 
 inveterate dislike to Sir John CampbelFs bill for 
 the Abolition of Imprisonment for Debt, and that 
 dislike he took every opportunity of evincing. He 
 opposed the bill most strenuously in its every stage 
 through the House. Even after it had gone through 
 Committee, and was fixed for a third reading, he 
 opposed it (though such a course is most unusual) as 
 vehemently as ever. The third reading was appointed 
 for a Saturday, and though there were not above 
 fifteen or twenty members in the house, and only 
 one or two, as far as I could learn, opposed to the 
 measure, he spoke, and certainly with considerable 
 ability, more than an hour in opposition to it. If 
 its certain effect had been to plunge the country 
 into an immediate and universal revolution, he
 
 380 COXCLUDIXG REMARKS. 
 
 could not have dwelt more earnestly on the evils 
 with which, as he alleged, it was fraught. He de- 
 nounced not only Sir John Campbell himself, but 
 all those who sanctioned the measure, as committing 
 an offence against the well-being of the country and 
 society of the most enormous magnitude.^ In short, 
 I never knew a man feel more strongly on any 
 subject. 
 
 I have known many instances of members who 
 had been silent during the whole of a long parlia- 
 mentary career, having their mouths opened, as 
 they say when licensing a clergyman in Scot- 
 land to preach, by some measure which imme- 
 diately affected themselves personally or their con- 
 stituents. One instance of this occurred in the case 
 of the right honourable Colonel Francis Grant, of 
 Grant, member for the united counties of Moray 
 and Nairn, and a gentleman of great private worth. 
 The gallant Colonel has been in Parliament nearly 
 thirty years, but never, so far as I am aware, at- 
 tempted to utter a word in it, until, in the year 
 1832, the House, when in Committee on the Scotch 
 Reform Bill, came to that clause which proposed 
 a junction between the counties of Moray and 
 Nairn in the return of a representative to Parlia- 
 ment. The gallant Colonel was not only strenu- 
 ously opposed to such union individually, but the
 
 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 381 
 
 thing was most unpopular in the county he repre- 
 sented, and his constituents virged him to offer 
 every opposition to it in his power. He accord- 
 ingly made a speech of some length and much 
 ability against it. The speech was greatly admired 
 by those who heard it, as it afterwards was by those 
 who read it in the Mirror of Parliament. The 
 gallant Colonel, who is of a retiring and diffident 
 disposition, has not spoken in the house since then : 
 at least, not to the best of my recollection. 
 
 Mr. BisH, the member for Leominster, of "Lucky 
 Corner" and 6^30,000 prizes celebrity, could never 
 be prevailed on to open his mouth in the house, 
 except on two subjects. The one was always brought 
 forward by himself, — I refer to his singular annual 
 motion, for soxiie years past, for Parliament sitting 
 once every three years in Dublin. The other sub- 
 ject I allude to is that of Government Lotteries. 
 If any other honourable member ever mentioned 
 this subject, up started Mr. Bish the moment he 
 sat down, and descanted on the infinite benefit of 
 which such lotteries were productive to the coun- 
 try. He was sure, on all such occasions, stoutly 
 to maintain, that Government lotteries were the 
 very life and soul of the country — that to sanction 
 them was the most striking proof of enlightened 
 legislation which ever any senate exhibited to the
 
 382 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
 
 world — and tliat to do away with them was " de- 
 monstration strong" of our rapid retrogression 
 towards barbarism. 
 
 Schedule A in the Reform Bill, which destroyed 
 so many close boroughs, woriced miracles in the 
 way of causing dumb legislators to speak. The 
 zeal which many of the representatives of these 
 boroughs, who felt a presentiment, that, with their 
 extinction would close their own legislative career, 
 evinced, when the clauses proposing their annihi- 
 lation, were read, exceeded any thing I ever wit- 
 nessed. The representatives of these places dwelt 
 on the irreparable injury the House was therein 
 doing to the Constitution, with an energy and ani- 
 mation which svirprised all who heard them. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Printed by J. L. Cox and Sons, 75, Great Quetn Street, 
 Lincoln's -Inn Fields.
 
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