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    - ) r s 0—to a House which buzzed and bustled , and was bored . Down he went at eleven , having accomplished his fifth or sixth peroration , profoundly convinced , as he fell back into the bosom of Pakington that lie had been tremendously eloquent , as indeed he had , which is the reason he is unendurable . Well , then , at that hour , it was du e to the House that a first-class man should rise , —first class if not in brain , at least in position . But Palmerston is never tired of poking his fun at the House : —he pu Ilorsman—Horsman with a -basket or so of oranges i ; i his neighbourhood—Ilorsman deliriously bent 0 : 1 a great speech . Horsman commenced , continued , and concluded , in his old

    stylethe old average House of Commons style , that ought to have died with I > ord George Bentinck—monotonously tragic , twangingly heroic , —a waste of words —a der-t-rt of phrases —all bald quasi-logic—not a glimpse of wit , not a touch of illustration , not a spark of passion or poetr } - —a horrible epic of sustained mediocrity—calm and complacent mediocrity , implacably dull . Now , ( he club is insolently clubby , and Ilorsman has the position—the connexion and the prospects , to suggest to men fond of placidity , when they meet all sorts of M . P ' s " out " that this pretentious Irish Secretary ought to be listened to politely . But the House wouldn ' t : thuy chattered , cachinnated , walked about ; and after

    half an hour ' s attempt at getting a hearing , Palmerston was subdued—he pulled his right lion , friend ' s coat tails— and Horsman , puzzled , baffled , his oranges not a quarter consumed , had to sit down . Here was a clear intimation , from an assembly in which he has had some dozen years' practice , that Horsman won't do—that he lias no right to thrust himself in the front of his fellowmen . But do you suppose Horsman will take the hint ?—the miserable mediocrity ¦ will be as rampant as ever in three weeks ! After th . > three heavy barristers he had his chance : and he spoke iu their st 3 'le—and he spoke worse than they did . The barristers failed because they did not correctly appreciate the

    instinctive demand of the House—for a judicial summing up : for these learned gentlemen spoke as counsel , not as judges . Of course it is altogether ignoring the theory in which a House of Commons originates to recommend any member to assume the judicial attitude . The great error of the Peelite party is- that , in a representative body , they decline to be delegates , and insist on that sagacious Providential point of view which poor Sir Robert taught them all to take—poor Sir Robert having no opinions of his own , and therefore considering himself so competent to put everybody right . The judicial—that is the individual—point of view will seldom answer in the House of Commons , unless the individual has genuine individuality , a genius like

    , or a Shakspeare fool like Henry Drummond : — ordinary personages must be intensely representative , if they would have either popularity or powerthey must breathe the voice of a constituency , like Mr . Muntz , or of a party like Mr . Disraeli . But , still , a barrister who gets into a close borough , like Sir Frederick Thesiger , on his way to the Speakership , or a Chief-Justiceship , has an opportunity of arbitration , and ought to discard the associations of Nisi Prius . When Mr . Disraeli rose to mention that he was going to submit an impartial opinion , every one laughed heartily , —it was delightful audacity ; and that tone , so suddenly imparted into the debate ,

    seemed so successful , that Mr . Disraeli , —who has an elastic style , and ia perhaps most successful in the conversational style at those times when the club , with no agitating division before it , wants amusing •—went on , in a drawing-room manner , to jest on the whole question , — if it were a drawing-room word , onu would say to " chaff" the House . It should be observed that there was , among the mass of members , notwithstanding that they had been cogitating the point for 11 week , the utmost mental confusion as to what was to bo divided on , what ought to be divided on , and " how a fellow ought to . vote " —they all put it to you , " Now how would you vote if you were in the House ? " Mr . Disraeli , with keenness and clearness , traced what he called tho pedigrees of the didbrenfc amendments , their exact

    tendency , and the results of the possible divisions , and tlii . s pleased tho House , which though shrewdly suspecting that a cross would be contrived in the end , was gliid , in caso of accident , for an analysis . Yet though Mr . Disraeli so far succeeded with the " elegant conversation" that got ; into fashion with Cunning , yet , after tho analysis , he got into a loungo on tho general subject , became tedious , provoked tho fatal buzz , and really —as so often la ' . ely—Was inistukeu by some strangers in tho gallery as one of the regular bores . With all his faults of shallownoss , impudence , boistorousness , Lord Palmerston last night , — twice Mr . Diamcli ' ti ago , but over-reaching by tact Mr . Disraeli ' s talent— struck everyone an the belter speaker of thu two . Grunted that ho told nothing iu his upeech—that he again nsulted the country—that ho scorned to forgot that

    we expect to be self-governed . But is he not worthy of this House of Commons ? In our Parliamentary history , is there anything more degrading to us than the scene in which every one , after six nights of debate , found out that there was perfect unanimity , and that any description of division was unnecessary ? Mr . Bright ' s speech on Thursday was a masterpiece of opposition attack . Now that he is joined in a Peace party by the Peelites , with their moral and political weight , and that he leaves behind him his original argument against the war , converting it into an argument against the continuance of the war , he enters a region of practicality , and can talk from a point of view suitable to an understanding which

    has of late not played freely when giving itself up to preaching abstractions about peace . Yet being as earnest as ever in his Martin-like pictures of the horrors of war , he , on Thursdaj ' , was not less surprisingly successful than on formeroccasions in the last two sessions in moving that cold and unemotional collection of blase' aristocrats , middle-class middle-aged roturiers , and old young men , into eager cheering of passionate declamation . His wit and humour—he possesses both—but served to heighten the effect of the darker passages of the sombre eloquence in which he perorated—the peroration leaving the Plouse in a state of obvious excitement under the influence of this real orator . But the merit of the speech was in

    its colder excellence of plain argument , delivered in simple language , with repressedly quiet manner . Of the series of speeches delivered by the Peace party , every one of them being first-rate men , this of Mr . Bright ' s wa 3 the most excellent ; for not only did he do , with more point and precision and tact , all that they had done , in defining the illogicality of our position in the renewed war ; but , beyond all that , he carried the argument to the destruction of the Ministers . With exquisite tact and clearness he collected all the passages , with any meaning , from Ministerial speeches , in and out of the House , and from the heap of contradictions , imbecilities , and cants , he constructed an irresistible

    conclusion , on which the country , whether with or against Mr . Bright , will ponder , that these dilapidated old intriguers , now wielding the destinies of this grand and potent England , are playing at statesmanship—that they are perfectly reckless—that they have no policy , good or bad—that they have no faith , but that , given a general and an army , they will be fighting , and that when the army is English it is mostlikely to win . Tlie effect of Mr . Bright ' s assaults on the Treasury bench can scarcely be understood from merely reading his speech . It reads merely funny—the effective hit produced by an extract from Hansard . But he is a gentleman of massive earnestness of character , and he does not in the least withhold a contemptuous manner when dealing

    with a contemptible subject . His sneers and sarcasms were enriched by the consciousness produced upon his audience by the voice , look , attitude of the man all telling that here was no affected derision , but the solemn scorn of a nature more honest and more intellectual than the dreary , be-padded , be-toothed , be-calved , old mediocrities who sat there shamming the functions of God ' s vice-gerents . Not only were they being ridiculed—Mr . Disraeli is always doing that at them—but they looked ridiculous , and looked that they knew it . The spasmodic chat of unconcern — the ghastly grin of amusement—the jerky attempts to sit indifference—they tried all this—but it was horribly apparent that they felt in their wretched souls that they were humbugs , and that mankind was discovering that such heroes were

    too ludicrous . The Baronets , Fir William Molesworth , Sir Edward Bulwcr Lytton , Sir James Graham , and Sir William Clay , have not been felicitous in this debate : tho bloody hand does not grip a war question with great force . Sir William tried to modify his reputation as a cabinet-councillor supposed to be conspiring for peace , by talking suspiciously big—and that did not seem exactly what was wanted . The second standard novelist of the Derby faction talked obvious truisms in a pretentiously square and artificial style , and was not much cheered by any but a few squires , who take for granted that a literary baronet with a bow-wowy voice , and who gesticulates with his back-bone , must be talking well . Sir

    James Graham said ditto to Mr . Gladstone , with a cunning which every one discovered ; and Sir James stands soqueerly in House estimation since his manslaughter of Christie , and attempt to fix the crime on Mr . Layard . that it cannot bo expected ho will ever again be very emphatically successful in any of his crafty oratorical progresses into a mess . As to Sir William Clay , ho was crushed by one phrase of Mr . Bright's , anil had the meanness—only to bo encountered in so proud and rich a man—to attempt to unsay what most unquestionably he had said—the attempt being quite understood by tho grinning House , but Sir William not being hooted because he is not Mr . Layard . These not eminent speeches of Molesworth , Bulwer , and Graham are three of the most prominent of tho week ' s debate , and the inference is that tho

    discussion , on the whole , has not been brilliant . Sidney Herbert ' s speech was effective , in its subtle management of the House , its adroit suggestive style of obnoxious arguments , and its clubby appeals to the House to separate itself , by soaring loftier , from the press and the public : but there was a disingenuousness in one of his suggestions—that he was eager for military success in order that peace ( upon sham terms ) might be effected , —which displeased those who , opposing the Peace party , still like the broad candour of Mr . Cobden and ? Mr . Bright . Mr . Cobden ' s speech , on Tuesday niyht , was charming in its clear comprehensiveness—its exquisite precision of statement , feople say—it was full of infelicities—it

    wanted literary tact—that happy story about " black and curly already" being botched by a lumbering narration . But is it new that Mr . Cobden ' s eloquence is unadorned—that he is " an inspired commis voyageur "—an extraordinary ordinary man ? _ A graver fault in his rapid precis of our martial muddle was that he touted for aristocratic cheersand got them . What business is it of Mr . Cobden ' s that one Griffiths talks democracy to the Great Briton in a provincial pot-house — why should Richard Cobden take it on himself to denounce that astounding phenomenon , the British democrat ? Can it be that Mr . Cobden is going in for Parliamentary fame , and to win popularity in that narrow club , the whole of whose establishment , except the gallery , he till now has obstinately ignored ? It is , indeed ,

    wonderful to see the way in which the once uncouth Manchester republicans are going in ( at any price for peace ) to defend our institutions . Mr . Cobden sneering at a movement against the old ILords is curious : but , on Thursday , one ' s heart stopped beating when one heard John * Bright warning the Tory benches that if we went on with the excess of 75 , 000 , 000 / . per annum , the poor little princes would get small pensions , and that perhaps Prince Albert would be inconvenienced by the royal washing beingdone at home . Perhaps that was not the only blunder of Mr . Bright . Can it be true what he , who knows them , says , that our capitalists would all send their capital to America , and leave " their own , their native city , " if they could get more per centage out of the Stars and Strines ?

    Saturday Morning . " A Stranger . Whittington Club . — We are glad to learn that the loan of 3000 ? ., required for completing the rebuilding of the club premises in Arundel-street , has been nearly all subscribed . About 250 J . is now wanted , and we have no doubt this small sum will be speedily obtained . The above loan , in addition to the 10 , 000 / . for which the building was insured , will , Sve understand , be amply sufficient for the erection of an improved clubhouse suited to present wants and requirements ; and we con- gratulate the members upon the spirit which they have shown , and the success which has crowned their efforts . Lord John Russell , and Jewish Disabilities . —

    The following answer has been returned by Lord John Russell to his constituents , who had addressed him on the subject of his intentions with , respect to the admission of Jews into Parliament : — " Chesham-place , May 26 . —Sir , —I did not answer your former letter of the liKh inst ., as I wished to take some time to consider the position of affairs as it regarded the privileges of the Jews . It appears to me that , -while the frienda of religious liberty are unchanged in their opinion respecting the disabilities of the Jews , the majority of the House of Lords are likewise unchanged in their opinion , that the removal of those disabilities may be safely refused . The Government in these circumstances would be only

    throwing away time in attempting to carry a measure which one House is sure to reject . Many liberal members of Parliament , while they would support a motion to relieve the Jews from their disabilities , would consider as inopportune a question which , would not advance the object to be attained . I must , therefore , consider that it would bo inexpedient to stir the question of Je ^ emancipation in the present session of Parliament . * * claims so just can bo permanently rejected , I will not believe . But the friends of intolerance naturally cling to this last vestige of religious persecution , and . exult in the facility with which the exclusion of a body not formidable in numbers can be . naintained .-I remain . Sir , your obedient servant , J . Rlm-hkix . Sidney Smith ,

    E Tw <> Hia . i-To . tv Mktaimioiw-Awkui . Misconduct or Mivistfks —Th" Moninq Herald on Monday lust , clarS the ^ rcn or with swallowing two bitter pi Is to nronu h " declining influence , and accused tho Ooah-Son of ' rowdinff with their dark shadows tho glory turn 01 si now b recommod our con torn-X ^ t ^ . uni ^ a t ^ Putative to tho turbid fountain of his rhetorical transports . T ok a IIouhb m Skv . cn 1 > iai-s . -O . iThursday ovoiihi « t half-pant ilvo , a Iiouno under repair in Oroat Furl-street , Sovon-dial . s , fell , burying several persona in Uorn . H . Tho police woro promptly on tho Hpot , and c 5 iu extricating tho 8 «« brorH . Hovou or eight S , womon , and children were dug out , they are nil doing favourably .

    Untitled Article

    Jtoe 9 , 1855 . ] THE LEAJ ) ER . 545

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 9, 1855, page 545, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2094/page/17/