Parliamentary oratory.

the House of Lords, and of constitutional government, hoped that a course so temperate and conciliatory, might prevent future differences of the same kind. Should their hope be falsified, the Commons, having shown an example of forbearance, which might have been vainly sought, in an assembly less conscious of its strength,may be provoked to exercise their unquestionable powers. Having gained moral force, by their previous moderation, they would not appeal in vain for popular support, and who can doubt the result?

One of the proud results of our free constitution has been the development of Parliamentary oratory,-an honour and ornament to our history,-a source of public enlightenment, and an effective instrument of popular government. Its excellence has varied, like our literature, with the genius of the men, and the events of the periods, which have called it forth; but from the accession of George III. may be dated the Augustan era of Parliamentary eloquence.

The great struggles of the Parliament with Charles I. had stirred the eloquence of Pym, Hampden, Wentworth, and Falkland: the Revolution had developed the oratory of Somers; and the Parliaments of Anne, and the two first Georges, had given scope to the various talents of Bolingbroke, Pulteney, Wyndham, and Walpole. The reputation of these men has reached posterity; but their speeches, if they survived the memory of their own generations,—have come down to us in fragments, -as much the composition of the historian or reporter, as of the orators, to whom they are assigned. Happily the very period distinguished by our most eloquent

1 Of the speeches of Somers and Bolingbroke there are no remains whatever. Mr. Pitt said he would

rather recover a speech of Bolingbroke than the lost books of Livy, or other writings of antiquity.

statesmen was that in which they had the privilege of addressing posterity, as well as their own contemporaries. The expansion of their audience gave a new impulse to their eloquence, which was worthy of being preserved for all ages.

Chatham.

Lord Chatham had attained the first place among Lord statesmen in the late reign, but his fame as an orator mainly rests upon his later speeches,-in the reign of George III. Lofty and impassioned in his style, and dramatic in his manner, his oratory abounded in grand ideas and noble sentiments, expressed in language simple, bold, and vigorous. The finest examples of his eloquence stand alone, and unrivalled; but he flourished too early, to enjoy the privilege of transmitting the full fruits of his genius to posterity.'

He was surrounded and followed by a group of Mr. Pitt. orators, who have made their time the classic age of Parliamentary history. Foremost amongst them was his extraordinary son, William Pitt. Inferior to his father in the highest qualities of an orator,-he surpassed him in argument, in knowledge,-in intellectual force, and mastery. Magniloquent in his style, his oratory sometimes attained the elevation of eloquence; but rarely rose above the level of debate. His composition was felicitously described by Windham, as a "State paper style." He may be called the founder of the modern school of Parliamentary debaters. His speeches were argumentative, admirably clear in statement, skilfully arranged, vigorous and practical. Always marked by rare ability, they yet lacked the higher inspirations of genius. In sarcasm he had few equals.

1 Some of his earlier speeches were composed by Dr. Johnson from the notes of others; and even his

VOL. I.

I I

later speeches were delivered when
reporting was still very imperfect.

Mr. Fox.

Mr. Burke.

No one held so absolute a sway over the House of Commons. In voice and manner, he was dignified and commanding. The minister was declared in every word he uttered; and the consciousness of power, while it sustained the dignity of his oratory, increased its effect upon his audience.

The eloquence of his great rival, Mr. Fox, was as different, as were his political opinions and position. His success was due to his natural genius, and to the great principles of liberty which he advocated. Familiar with the best classical models, he yet too often disdained the studied art of the orator; and was negli gent and unequal in his efforts. But when his genius was aroused within him, he was matchless in demonstrative argument, in force, in wit, in animation, and spontaneous eloquence. More than any orator of his time, he carried with him the feelings and conviction of his audience; and the spirit and reality of the man, charm us scarcely less in his printed speeches. Wanting in discretion, he was frequently betrayed into intemperance of language and opinion: but his generous ardour in the cause of liberty still appeals to our sympathies; and his broad constitutional principles are lessons of political wisdom.

Mr. Fox had been from his earliest youth, the friend and disciple of Mr. Burke, and vast was the intellect of his master. In genius, learning, and accomplishments, Mr. Burke had no equal either among the statesmen, or writers of his time; yet he was inferior, as an orator to the three great men who have been already noticed. His speeches, like his writings, bear witness to his deep philosophy, his inexhaustible stores of knowledge, and redundant imagination. They are more studied, and more often quoted than the

speeches of any other statesman. His metaphors and aphorisms are as familiar to our ears, as those of Lord Bacon. But transcendent as were his gifts, they were too often disfigured by extravagance. He knew not how to restrain them within the bounds of time and place; or to adapt them to the taste of a popular assembly, which loves directness and simplicity. His addresses were dissertations rather than speeches. To influence men, an orator must appeal directly to their reason, their feelings, and present temper; but Mr. Burke, while he astonished them with his prodigious faculties, wearied them with refinements and imagery, in which they often lost the thread of his argument.

aston

dan.

Mr. Sheridan is entitled to the next place in this Mr. Sherigroup of orators. His brilliancy, and pointed wit, his spirited declamation and effective delivery, ished and delighted his audience. Such was the effect of his celebrated speech on the fourth, or "Begum charge" against Warren Hastings, that the peers and strangers joined with the House in a "tumult of applause;" and could not be restrained from clapping their hands in ecstacy. The House adjourned, in order to recover its self-possession. Mr. Pitt declared that this speech "surpassed all the eloquence of ancient or modern times, and possessed everything that genius or art could furnish, to agitate or control the human mind.” Mr. Fox said, "eloquent indeed it was; so much so, that all he had ever heard, -all he had ever read, dwindled into nothing, and vanished like vapour before the sun." Mr. Sheridan afterwards addressed the Lords, in Westminster Hall, on the same charge, for four days; and Mr. Burke said of his address, "that no species of oratory, no kind of eloquence which had been heard in ancient or modern times; nothing which the acute

Mr. Wind

ham.

Lord
Erskine.

ness of the bar, the dignity of the senate, or the morality of the pulpit could furnish, was equal to what they had that day heard in Westminster Hall." But while particular efforts of this accomplished speaker met with extraordinary success, he was restrained by want of statesmanship and character, from commanding a position in the House of Commons, equal to his great talents as an orator.1

The qualities of Mr. Windham were of another class. Superior to the last in education and attainments, and little inferior in wit, he never achieved successes so dazzling; yet he maintained a higher place among the debaters of his age. Though his pretensions to the higher qualities of a statesman were inconsiderable, his numerous talents and virtues graced a long and distinguished public life.

Lord Erskine was not inferior, as an orator, to the greatest of his contemporaries; but the senate was not the scene of his most remarkable triumphs. His speeches at the bar combined the highest characteristics of eloquence,-fire,-force,-courage,-earnestness,— the closest argument,-imagery,-noble sentiments,—— great truths finely conceived and applied,-a diction pure and simple,-action the most graceful and digni fied. But none of these great qualities were used for display. They were all held, by the severity of his taste, and the mastery of his logic, in due subordination to the single design of persuading and convincing his audience. The natural graces of his person completed

1 Lord Byron said of him: "Whatever Sheridan has done, or chosen to do, has been, par excellence, always the best of its kind. He has written the best comedy, the best opera, the best farce (it is

only too good for a farce), and the best address (the monologue on Garrick), and to crown all, delivered the very best oration, the famous Begum speech, ever conceived or heard in this country."