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    Character of Mr . Whitbread . ( from the Dublin Sentinel . ) WE consider the death of this eminent Senator among the greatest calamities which this country could sustain . We are disposed to regard his loss as irreparable , for we know not how it can be repaired .

    He was not the leader of the opposition party , but he was more ~~ he was a party in , himself . He attacked the uinistry without the opposition—rthey might follow if they would-t-they often refused to follow him * but they never did so without lo § s of character .

    He was worth all the opposition put together \ he was worth - more— - — - — "They and all their talents « Could not make up the tithe of bhn . "

    He had not all the talents of Fox , but he had all his virtues , and none of bis weaknesses . He learned patriotism from Fox , and he could have taught him patriotisni . He improved on the lesson . He outdid his master . Unlike

    Fox , he never was a rnau of pleasure , and always a man of application . Perhaps Fox . had more learning , but , certainly Whitbread had more information .

    He despised that principle laid down by BurKe that a man should sacrifice , Or , at least suppress his own opinion when it differed from that of his party . Whitbread maintained , that in no case Mhatever should a man sacrifice or

    flppressr his own opinion—r-that he should regulate his own actions , not by the vote of any set of men , but by Ae light of his own understanding—T hat he should support his party sp [ ° ng as he agreed with them , and act fa himself when his party would not

    support Mm . Burke thought that the ° FPPsitioTi should alw . ays brigade toother in their resistance to a ministry . W'hitbrey d thought that they sfrouJFi ] Mgade together when they they W « dtogether ; and that when they c not agree , the members shpuld < 'independently .- ~ r-Butke s mode wa ^ led for the

    ^ attainment of power ; H ofWftitbread f 6 r retraining it B thought tljat m the discipline ,. J ^ gu lsup' opposition , the opinion ;* ofl « aividual& , should he thrown into a OI omon stock—that the heads of th ^ Parties tfjottfd decide on operations , dn leader should conduct , them , ^ hitWad thought " that an iiide-

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    pendeut Senator should acknowledge no superior but the law , and iljafc no man on any occasion should put hi » understanding into commission . The principle of Burke was adopted by Fox , and acted on by the Whigs .

    Whitbread was neither a Whig nor a Burdettite—he acknowledged ail the Whig principles , but not the Whig party . He acknowledged most of the Burdettite principles , but not the Burdettite party . He differed from the Whigs and Burdett because he was a friend to a reformed and irresponsible parliament .

    He was not a faultless orator—but as a speaker , he was much better than an orator . He was more anxious about what should be said , than how it should be said . In teat upon facts , he was indifferent to phrases , and engrossed with the subject he rejected ornament .

    He was one of the few among $ he members of opposition , who might be called " a man of business , ' and yet he was one of the few who declined place when his friend * came into power * No man was more regular in his attendance to his official duties

    than Mr . Whitbread was to his parliamentary ones . The Speaker receives 4000 / . a year for discharging his duties in parliament—at three o ' clock in the day , or three o ' clock in the morning , he could see Mr . Whitbread on his left hand , . with Mr .

    Wynne and Mr . Abercrombie at his side . His habit of prompt and ready speaking made him an efficient member of parliament . The thought wa »

    expressed as it sprung from the mind , in such language as the moment could supply : sometimes the expression was of course inelegant * but often happy j always strong , a pt > suitable and

    impressive . It was the rule of Pythagoras , that seven years devoted to contemplation ,, aad spent , in silence , was a necessary preparative to the study of wisdorn ,. — . Mr . Whitbread , as a senator , imposed

    on himself a more protracted and rigprous discipline . ] yfr . Wp itbuead sat fourteen , years in parl . iaroept , a regular aiid attentive rnemJber , befpre he considefed if bpc «>* ning , or h'jjpiaelf qualified , tp hold the attention of the House of Commons , Indeed , it was not until the trial of JLord Melville , that he became

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    Character of Mr . Whitbread . 4 $ 7

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1815, page 487, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1763/page/23/