Mr. Can ning. Lord Grey. Lord Eldon. eloquence of their own countrymen, hailed his accession to their ranks, as one of the most auspicious results of the Union. Mr. Canning's brilliant talents, which had been matured under Mr. Pitt, shone forth in full splendour, after the death of that statesman. In wit and sarcasm, in elegant scholarship, in lively fancy, and in the graces of a finished composition, he was unrivalled. His imagery, if less original than that of Chatham, Burke and Erskine,—was wrought up with consummate skill, and expressed in language of extraordinary beauty. For more than twenty years, he was the most successful and accomplished debater in the House of Commons, -delighting his friends with his dazzling wit,—and confounding his opponents with inexhaustible repartee. Earl Grey had also risen to distinction in the days of Mr. Pitt; but the memorable achievements of his riper age, associate him with a later generation. In dignity and high purpose,-in earnest gravity of argument and exposition, he was the very model of a statesman. His oratory bespoke his inflexible virtues, and consistency. While his proud bearing would have pronounced him the leader of an aristocracy, and the mouthpiece of his order, he devoted a long life to the service of the people. Lord Eldon exercised so important an influence upon political affairs, that he cannot be omitted from this group of orators, though his claims to oratory alone, would not have entitled him to a place amongst them. From the time when he had been Mr. Pitt's SolicitorGeneral, until he left the woolsack, --a period of nearly forty years,-his high offices gave authority to his parliamentary efforts. For twenty years he led captive the judgment of the House of Lords: but assuredly neither by eloquence, nor argument in debate. Tears and appeals to his conscience were his only eloquence,— a dread of innovation his only argument. Even upon legal questions, the legislature obtained little light from his discourses. The main service which posterity can derive from his speeches, is to note how recently prejudice and errors were maintained in high places, and how trivial the reasons urged in their defence. Plunket. Lord Plunket, like his great countryman, Mr. Grattan, Lord had gained a high reputation for eloquence in the Parliament of Ireland, which he not only sustained, but advanced in the British House of Commons. He had risen to eminence at the bar of Ireland, where his style of speaking is said to have resembled that of Erskine. In debate,—if displaying less originality and genius than Mr. Grattan, and less brilliancy than Mr. Canning, -he was as powerful in sustained argument, as felicitous in illustration, and as forcible and pointed in language, as any orator of his time. Peel. Sir Robert Peel was a striking counterpart of Mr. Sir Robert Pitt. At first his extraordinary abilities in debate had been outshone by the dazzling lustre of Mr. Canning, and subdued by the fiery vehemence of Mr. Brougham; but his great powers, always improving and expanding, could not fail to be acknowledged. His oratory, like that of Mr. Pitt, was the perfection of debate. He rarely aspired to eloquence; but in effective declamation,-in close argument,-in rapid appreciation of the points. to be assailed or defended, in dexterity, in tact,— and in official and Parliamentary knowledge, he excelled every debater of his time. Even when his talents were exercised in maintaining the political errors of his age and party, it is impossible not to admire the consummate skill with which he defended his untenable po The Duke ton. sitions, against assailants who had truth on their side. Arguments which provoke a smile, when we read them in the words of Lord Eldon, surprise us with their force and semblance of truth, when urged by Sir Robert Peel. The oratory of a man so great as the Duke of Welof Welling- lington, was the least of all of his claims to renown. First in war, in diplomacy, and in the councils of his sovereign, his speeches in Parliament were but the natural expression of his experience, opinions and purposes. His mind being clear,—his views practical and sagacious,—and his objects singularly direct, his speaking was plain, and to the point. Without fluency or art, and without skill in argument, he spoke out what his strong sense and judgment prompted. He addressed an audience, whom there was no need to convince. They hung upon his words, and waited upon his opinions; and followed as he led. The reasons of such a man were often weighty; but they were reasons which had determined his own course, and might justify it to others, rather than arguments to prove it right, or to combat opponents. Mr. O’Connell. The House of Commons was not the field for the best examples of Mr. O'Connell's oratory. He stood there at a disadvantage, with a cause to uphold which all but a small band of followers condemned as false and unpatriotic,-and with strong feelings against him, which his own conduct had provoked; yet even there, the massive powers of the man were not unfrequently displayed. A perfect master of every form of argument, -potent in ridicule, sarcasm and invective, rich in imagination and humour,-bold and impassioned, or gentle, persuasive and pathetic,- he combined all the powers of a consummate orator. -- His language was simple and forcible, as became his thoughts1; his voice extraordinary for compass and flexibility. But his great powers were disfigured by coarseness, by violence, by cunning, and audacious license. At the bar, and on the platform, he exhibited the greatest, but the most opposite endowments. When he had thrown open the doors of the legislature to himself and his Roman Catholic brethren, the great work of his life was done; yet he wanted nothing but the moral influence of a good cause, and honest patriotism, to have taken one of the highest places in the senate. His countryman, Mr. Sheil, displayed powers singu- Mr. Sheil. larly unlike those of his great master. He was an orator of extraordinary brilliancy,-imaginative, witty, and epigrammatic. Many parts of his speeches were exquisite compositions,-clothing his fancy, in the artistic language of the poet. Such passages may be compared with many similar examples, in the speeches of Mr. Canning. He was equally happy in antithesis, and epigram. He excelled, indeed, in the art and graces of oratorical composition. But his thoughts were wanting in depth and reality : his manner was extravagant in its vehemence: his action melodramatic; and his voice, always shrill, was raised in his impassioned efforts, to a harsh and discordant shriek. rary This second group of contemporary orators would Other be incomplete, without some other striking characters contempowho played their part amongst them. We would point orators. to the classical elegance of Lord Wellesley, the readiness and dexterity of Perceval, the high bearing and courage of Lord Castlereagh, the practical vigour of It was happily said of him by Mr. Sheil, "He brings forth a brood of lusty thoughts, without a rag to Living orators. Improved knowledge and taste Tierney,―the severe virtues, and high intellect of Ro- All these have passed away; but there are orators still living, who have contended in the same debates, and have won an equal fame. Their portraiture will adorn future histories; but who is there that will not at once fill up this picture of the past, with the transparent clearness, and masterly force of Lord Lyndhurst, and the matchless powers and accomplishments of Lord Brougham? Progressive excellence in so divine an art as oratory, is no more to be achieved than in poetry or painting,in sculpture or architecture. Genius is of all ages. But if orators of our own time have been unable to excel their great models, a candid criticism will scarcely assign them an inferior place. Their style has changed, — as the conditions under which they speak, are altered. They address themselves more to the reason, and less to the imagination, the feelings and the passions of their audience, than the orators of a former age. They confront, not only the members of their own body, but the whole people, who are rather to be convinced by argument, than persuaded by the fascination of the orator. In their language, there is less of study and artistic finish, than in the oratory of an earlier period. Their perorations are not composed, after frequent recitals of Demosthenes1; but give direct 1 "I composed the peroration of my speech for the Queen, in the Lords, after reading and repeating Demosthenes for three or four weeks, and I composed it twenty times over at least, and it certainly - succeeded in a very extraordinary degree, and far above any merits of its own."-Lord Brougham to Zachary Macaulay, as advice to his celebrated son, March 10th, 1823. |