RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF THE HOUSE OF
LORDS
Is to a considerable extent a counterpart of the reminiscences of the House of Commons. It is written by the same writer : it is framed on the same plan ; it is distinguished by the same qualities ; and the differences that will be found in the book spring altogether out of the diflerences in the subjects. Thus, the House of Lords consists of more indifferent senators, but of better-bred men : hence the Upper Chamber is not so crowded as the Lower, the behaviour is more grave and decorous, the vehe- mence not so great ; and " scenes " are of such rare occurrence as to lead the author to opine that if Lords BROUGHAM! and LON- DONDERRY were expelled none would take place. Our friend the raconteur still displays a laudable disposition to report upon fashions; but as those who " sacrifice to the graces" are not so numerous in the Lords as in the Commons, we have nothing equal in richness to the picture of PEEL and his bunch of seals, or the rings of Mr
SPRING RICE. •
These points relate, if one may so say, to the essences of the subject. The formal variations are equally independent of the writer. The introductions, for example, describe the old and new edifices, and the forms, rules, and regulations for the despatch of business. The miscellaneous observations, which come next, tell us of the number, precedence, and so forth, of Peers, as well as of the kind of' material their robes are made of. As there were not two Speakers in the relative position of MANNERS SUTTON and ABERCROMILY, our author, not to break the dual arrangement be formerly followed, first depicts two dead members, Lords KING and SUFFIELD. The different grades of the Peers, however, force a slight change in the way in which the mere prominent persons are presented. Thus, we first have the Tory party dis- tributed into Dukes, Marquises, Earls, and Barons ; then come the Cabinet Ministers; the Liberal party next appear, divided like the Tories, as per order of rank ; the neutral duo, the Duke -of RICHMOND and Lord RIPON, follow; and the Spiritual Peers wind up the whole.
Let us reverse this order in our extracts, and place the last 'first. The following passages describe our author's opinion of the argumentative powers of the head of the Church, and the personal appearance of one of its well-known champions.
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY AS A DEBATER.
Few men more frequently commit themselves by uttering things which pru- dence would suggest should be confined to their own bosoms. Many a time, by his unguarded expressions, does he afford a handle to his enemies, of which a more prudent or dextrous person would deprive them. His speeches in op- position to the claims of the Catholics, and to those of the Dissenters at a later period, abounded with indiscretions of the kind to which I have referred. He is no tactician ; be cannot play the Jesuit with effect, even if he were anxious to do so. He wants dexterity ; he is a soft, easy, straightforward sort of man ; with a good deal of that aristocratic opinion of himself which has a tendency to blind him to consequences which other persons cannot fail to perceive will ensue from his statements, positions, and admissions. Of all the speeches which are made on his side of the House in favour of his view of the question, his own is sure to be the easiest for an opponent to answer, and to afford the most tacit admissions in favour of the opposite side of the question. He is never ingenious or clever ; lie never makes out a plausible case in favour of his own view of the question. He has no pretensions to be regarded as a reasoner. Whatever he might do were he to sit down to commit his ideas to paper, he certainly hiss never, during the years I have been in the habit of hearing him speak in the House of Lords, delivered any thing entitled to the name of argus Inelnlits. manner is still worse titan his matter. I have never heard a worse speaker, in so far as regards his enunciation. He stammers and stutters and misplaces his words, at every fourth or fifth sentence ; and often occupies as much time in correcting the imperfections of one sentence, as might have suf- ficed to deliver two or three more. It is a wonder, too, if he leave the amended sentence in the best possible taste, after he has lavished his alterations and improvements on it. His style, even during the short intervals—few and far between, however—in which he gets on pretty creditably, is not good. It is weak, and often rough and disjointed.
DR. PHILPOTTS,
Bishop of Exeter, is undoubtedly the most talented man who sits on the Right Reverend bench. this personal appearance attracts attention the moment lie rises to address the House. He possesses a tall, finely-formed figure, which, with his handsome intellectual countenance, is very imposing. There is some- thing strikingly characteristic of mental aequireinents in the expression of his countenance. His forehead is lofty, finely formed, and full of character ; while his dark, intelligent eye, fully verifies, whatever others may do, the celebrated remark of one of the ancients that the eyes are the windows of the soul. His dark hair, like the quills of the fretful porcupine, stands on end on the fore part of his head, not naturally. but is made to do so by the aid of a comb—[how does the writer know ?]--to display, no doubt, to the greatest advantage, his finely- developed forehead. His face rather inclines to the oval form, while his features arc small and regular. His complexion is rather dark, but has visibly impressed on it the glow of health. He is in the meridian of life, being only about his forty-fifth year. He rises to address the House with an ease and dignity of manner, which concur with his commanding person to .produce the effect to which I have already alluded, of attracting the stranger's attention.
The same faults we remarked upon in the former book are visible in the present. Several of the opinions are more like echoes than original judgments—rather the notions of a certain class or coterie than the results of individual thought—whilst the writer still discovers an unbounded admiration for the obvious and flashy. To the tricky, plausible, and claptrap qualifications of Lord LYNDHURST, he renders ample justice : Lord MELBOURNE is be- yond his comprehension. His directness of purpose and breadth of argument find some slight degree of favour in the reporter's eyes; but the soundness of judgment, the sufficiency of matter, the easy strength of expression, and the classical simplicity of style, which distinguish the speeches of the Premier from all other speakers of the day, are lost upon him. " Lord MELBOURNE," quoth our oracular guide the Gallery, " cannot be said to be of a man of superior talents." The most astonishing point about hint, in this writer's view, evidently is his readiness of quotation, or more strictly, of illustration,—as if an accomplished general scholar required, like your imitative Panglosses, to be wound up by a Dolphin index before he could be set a-going. But though this et itic cannot apprehend the inner mind, lie eau describe the outward manner : so we will take
THE EXTERNALS OF THE PREMIER.
His action generally is plain and unpretending ; in that, any more than is his language or delivery, he dues not aim at oratorical effect. On ordinary. oc- casions, he uses his right arm moderately, while he holds his hat and wslking- stick (the latter he always takes with him to the House) in his left hand. When the question is one of importance, or he expects to address their Lord-
ships at sonic length, he lays his hat and walking-stick on the bench on which
lie was sitting, as soon as he rises. If he rise with his hat and cane in his left band, as past stated, under the impression that he will be brief and cool in the obseivations he is about to make, but finds himself wax warm and get more lengthened in his remarks as he proceeds, he pauses for a moment, till he has disburdened his left hand of the cane and hat, and then becomes violent in his gesture. You then see his face colour, you hear him, as before observed, re- peatedly, arid to an extent sometimes painful to all present, stutter ; you hear at intervals his lusty knocks on the table ; and you observe an excite- ment in his whole appearance, which often causes hint to draw hastily backward as far as the bench from which he has arisen will allow, and then rush forward again with equal precipitation, till prevented front advancing further by the table of the House. Lord Melbourne's voice is not good—it wants flexibility - he has little or no control over it, neither is it pleasant ; it has something hard and husky about it. He speaks with some rapidity, always the more rapidly as he becomes ex- cited. He usually speaks in a sufficiently audible, though not in a loud tone. Lord Melbourne, though not old, has passed the prime of life. He is in his fifty-seventh year. He is apparently in excellent health, and full of spirits, The anxieties and responsibilities of office have not, as yet, made any visible impression on his countenance; which is much more cheerful and open than the countenances of statesmen usually are. His hair is of a dark brown colour, and his complexion is ruddy. His face is round, and his fea- tures are rather large and marked. His general appearance inclines to plain- ness, and in his manners there is a simplicity approaching to bluntness. No one who sees hint would think that he had ever breathed the atmosphere of court. He has the aspect of a man of decision and firmness ; which his con- duct proves him to be. In height he is about the usual size, with a strong compact frame, inclining to stoutness, which is evidently capable of enduring great fatigue. He usually sits in an easy, careless posture, with one leg thrown over the other, and with his hat, which in the summer season is always a white one, sittin5 so loosely on the back of his head, that you think every moment it will fall off.
Here we must break off, although several more passages are tempting us ; and be satisfied with recommending the volume to the reader. On the whole, he will find it something inferior to the Commons -in the peculiarities that furnish amusement, but superior to it in point of taste.
Previous page
