House and the ablest man, unquestionably, with the single exception of Lord Brougham, in it. It will be at once perceived that I point to Lord Lyndhurst. As a judge, he is, perhaps, surpassed by no one who ever sat on the bench: few, indeed, in this respect, have ever equalled him. At an early age, he gave ample earnest of that distinction to which, in a country like this, his talents could not fail to raise him.

"The noble lord is distinguished above all men I ever knew for his acuteness in detecting the weaknesses or absurdities of his opponents. If they do make a slip, no matter however imperceptible to others, his lynx-eye is sure to detect it at once. Nor is be less happy in exposing the fallacies or blunders he discovers. He makes them as obvious to the minds of others as they are to his own. In this respect he stands unrivalled. Lord Brougham is as far inferior to him here as he is superior in comprehensiveness of mind, amplitude of illustration, and force of language.

"Lord Lyndhurst is one of the most ingenious sophists that ever belonged to either house of parliament. The very quality of mind which enables him, as by a sort of intuition, to detect at the first glance the sophistries, however specious, of others, makes him a perfect master of the plausibilities himself. I have known him, where, à priori, you would have thought it impossible for the utmost ingenuity of the human mind to make out even a feasible case, weave together, with the greatest manifest ease, as if the natural suggestions of his mind, a series of such ingenious sophistries, that you could not detect even the semblance of a flaw in them. Your convictions are as strong as ever that your original view of the question is the right one, and yet you feel your utter incapacity to meet the arguments-for such they appear to you -by which the noble lord supports the opposite side: you are not convinced, but you are effectually silenced. The ingenuity and ability with which he vindicated the various alterations he caused to be made last session in the Municipal Corporation Reform-bill were the admiration of every noble lord in the house. Those on the opposite side of the house and, I believe I may add, most of those on his own side alsocould scarcely credit the evidence of their ears when they heard him, by a chain of the most specious sophisms, contend that the alterations which he had made in the bill were in exact accordance with the avowed intentions of the framers of the measure. They doubtless felt that this was a fallacious assumption..

and they must also have felt that it was supported by fallacies, yet they did not -because they were convinced they could not, with equal ability-meet and expose those fallacies, one by one, in the order in which he had adduced them.

"It is only, however, when solid argument cannot be made available to his side of the question that he has recourse to sophistry. When fair argument can be urged, no man can press it into his service with better effect. In such cases he is clear, close, and severely logical beyond any man I know in either house. Every thing he says bears strictly on the question at issue, and in favour of his view of it, and he omits nothing that can be made to tell with effect on it. He exhausts the leading arguments that can he urged for his view of the matter, without employing any that are feeble or unnecessary.

"Lord Lyndhurst's manner is most insinuating. There is usually something so seductive in it, that, if you are not specially on your guard, you are sure to be led astray. No one would ever infer, from any thing he says or does, that he has in his composition the smallest particle of the partisan. You would think on all occasions that the particular view he takes of a question is solely the result of disinterested, unbiassed conviction. In all he says, and in his manner of saying it, there is every appearance of sincerity. You would at once set him down as a lover of truth for its own sake. I am far from meaning to insinuate that he does not love truth for its own sake, or that he is not sincere in his political opinions. It is but charitable to presume he is so on all points of importance; but, like most other men on both sides of the house, he is often obliged to view questions with the eye of a partisan, and to have recourse to sophisms where legitimate arguments are within his reach. In most other men, the partisan and the sophist are too transparent to be mistaken; in the case of Lord Lyndhurst they are scarcely ever so. You are satisfied, as I have just said, that in him all is the result of honest conviction-that party considerations have never been allowed to weigh one atom in the conclusions to which he has come, nor have had any thing to do with the course of conduct he pursues.

not

"Lord Lyndhurst is a nobleman of the most perfect coolness and selfpossession. I never yet knew an instance in which an opponent disconcerted him, or elicited from him any ebullition of passion. He is always as cool and collected as if he had not a particle of feeling or passion in his nature. Even

on thase a

which agitate all other bosoms, he invariably maintains the utmost calmness and composure. His clear and musical voice is never raised, though it manifestly has ample compass, to any thing like a loud, or indignant, or energetic tone; nor did any one ever yet witness in him any thing approaching to vehement gesture. Seldom, indeed, does he use any gesture at all, further than a very gentle movement of his right arm. He speaks

in that calm and collected tone which you might expect in one who was addressing an audience of ladies, and who was afraid of giving utterance to any thing which might grate on their ears, or in the slightest degree agitate their gentle bosoms. Not even the most violent and furious attacks of his great enemy, Lord Brougham, can betray him into a loss of temper. I have seen him quite cool, and seemingly indifferent, while Lord Brougham has been pouring out on him his most virulent vituperation; and I have also seen him rise up and ably repel those attacks, without affording the slightest indication of an irritated temper.

"It is not to be inferred from this, that Lord Lyndhurst is either deficient in political feeling or insensible to personalities. No man is more decided in his opinions, or more attached to them and his party; neither is any one more alive to personal attack. His apparent coolness on the one hand, and his indifference on the other, are doubtless the result of a severe course of self-discipline, to which he subjected himself in early life. A man of his great shrewdness must have perceived, before his appearance on the theatre of public affairs, the immeuse advantages which self-possession, and apparent coolness and indifference under attack, give to one who has to take part in the conflict of politics, over an opponent; and therefore the noble lord determined to repress every symptom of warmth of political feeling or sensitiveness to personal attack. Last session be furnished some wonderful instances of this. The substitution of the Peel for the Melbourne ministry, at the commencement of the session, and the discussions on the Municipal Corporation Reform-bill, at a later period, gave to the personal attacks of Lord Brougham on the noble lord an unusual degree of virulence and furious

ness.

Lord Lyndhurst, however, to the great annoyance of Lord Brougham, bore them all with the most imperturbable equanimity. At the same time, he

communications and explanations respecting the ejection of the Melbourne administration, he hit Lord Brougham some hard blows, and yet seemingly in the coolest manner, in return for a fierce attack which the latter nobleman had that evening made on him. He pronounced it to be the flippant attack of a flippant person; and went on, without mincing his words, but with the most perfect coolness, to give him blow after blow, until, after writhing in his seat till he could no longer endure it, he rose up and called out, Order, order!' There was something amusing in this, as the only person who had the right of correcting any one who trespassed against the rules of the house was the noble lord himself, who, as Lord Brougham conceived, was guilty of such violation. This was like appealing from Lord Lyndhurst, as the person speaking at the time, to Lord Lyndhurst, as the lord chancellor. The noble lord, how. ever, heeded not the appeal: regardless of Lord Brougham's exclamations, he proceeded with the same ease and equanimity of manner in the work of retaliation as when his opponent first interrupted him.

"Lords Lyndhurst and Brougham regard each other with feelings of the most decided dislike. They regard themselves as rivals, not in reputation and talent only, but for office. Lord Lynd. hurst's great delight is to watch the every movement of any importance of his opponent, and to annoy him at every step. Lord Brougham is more afraid of the attacks of Lord Lyndhurst than of those of all the three hundred and fifty peers on the opposite side of the house. The latter hardly ever attacks any one but Lord Brougham.

Lord Lyndhurst excels, when he chooses to indulge in it, in quiet irony. Nothing can be more galling to his opponent than some of his ironical observations. In the course of one of the discussions on the Municipal Corporation Reform-bill, last session, the noble lord made one of the happiest hits in this way I have ever witnessed. After castigating his rival in terms of no ordinary severity, he all at once assumed an air of special friendliness to him, and begged to introduce to his notice some passages from a pamphlet by a seemingly very respectable sort of personage, called Isaac Tomkins. As I quote from me. mory, I cannot give the particular phraseology which the noble lord employed on the occasion, but it was ironically felicitous in the highest de

of laughter from

"Dr. Philpotts, bishop of Exeter, is undoubtedly the most talented man who sits on the right rev. bench. His personal appearance attracts attention the moment he rises to address the house. He possesses a tall, finely formed figure, which, with his handsome, intellectual countenance, is very imposing. There is something strikingly characteristic of mental acquirements 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-to display, no doubt, to the greatest advantage, his finely developed forehead. His face rather inclines to the oval form, while his features are 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. I might have added, that the generality of spectators, on first seeing Dr. Philpotts rise for the purpose of making a speech, are so taken with his personal appearance as to make them quite inattentive to the matter of his speech. There is a calm collectedness in his manner a mildness and candour in his countenance-and a soft, subdued, yet clear tone in his voice, when he commences his speech, which have a very winning effect on all who hear him. For some time he proceeds in slow and measured accents, with as little animation or gesture as if he had no power whatever over his body.

After apologising for trespassing on the attention of noble lords, and assuring them that, while on the one hand he has only been induced to obtrude himself on their notice by an overpowering sense of duty, so on the other he will trouble them with as few observations as possible, he goes on to make a few general remarks on the question before the house, and to indicate to their lordships the particular part of the question to which he intends chiefly to apply himself. When he has got fairly into the middle of his subject, his voice becomes louder, and his enunciation a little more rapid; but still there is no appearance of warmth in his He continues to the end appa

manner.

rently as cold and motionless as he was when he commenced. It were wrong, however, to infer from the utter absence of all gesture in the right reverend prelate that there is no feeling in his speeches. He feels strongly on most questions of importance which come before the house, though that feeling be not expressed by any animation or energy of manner. The mere matter of his speeches the decision of their tone— the research they display the great care he has manifestly bestowed on their preparation, shew that he must have felt no ordinary interest in the question before it was brought under the notice of the house, and that the issue of the debate is regarded by him with an interest of no ordinary intensity.

"The ease and dignity of manner which so forcibly strike every person present on Dr. Philpotts rising are sustained throughout. His sentiments and arguments flow from his lips with a smoothness and facility in the delivery which are seldom witnessed on either side of the house. Occasionally-but even then but very seldom-when quoting from memory extracts from the writings of others, he does stammer slightly never, however, to an extent to render his delivery unpleasant. You see in his calm and tranquil manner the consciousness of superior intellectual resources; and he always takes care, by the force and ingenuity of his arguments, to make his opponents feel that this consciousness is not unfounded. I know of no member of either house whose appearance, when speaking, is more fascinating than that of the right reverend gentleman. No one ever saw him exhibit the slightest symptoms of irritated feeling. His countenance has as placid an aspect when speaking as if his eyes were sealed up in the deepest and most tranquil sleep. It is in admirable keeping with the singular mildness of the tones of his voice.

64

In his language, he never transgresses the rules of gentlemanly courtesy. He treats his opponents in the most respectful manner. He seems as if incapable, under any circumstance, and however great the provocation, of applying to any antagonist a single term which that antagonist could by possibility consider of personal nature. But he

generally gives abundant cause of soreness or mortification to the noble lord to whom he replies, by the masterly way in which he demolishes his positions.

"Some persons say that the singular mildness and urbanity of Dr. Philpotts' manner is affected, not real; that he assumes a virtue which he has not. If he does adopt the advi

speare's most popular characters, and look like the innocent rose while he is the serpent underneath it, he is certainly entitled to the credit of doing it with inimitable effect. Those who question the sincerity of the seeming good nature and mildness of his manner refer, in proof of their opinion on the subject, to some of his pamphlets on the Catholic question, where, they contend, there are abundant proofs of asperity and abuse. I do not at this moment recollect the style in which these pamphlets were written, nor does it come within my province to advert to his temper as a writer; I speak of his mildness and good temper only as a speaker in the House of Lords: and certainly, during the several years I have seen him in his place there, I never in a single instance heard him utter a word, or saw any thing in his manner, which could, for a moment, justify me in inferring that his mild and courteous manner was only assumed, not real.

86 There is not a man in either house who is listened to with greater attention than Dr. Philpotts. When he rises to address their lordships, every eye is fixed on him, and every ear is open to receive the words which are about to fall from his lips; nor, however long he may occupy their time, do any of their lordships betray any signs of impatience. This is the more surprising when one considers the marked tameness of his manner. Nothing but the impression, à priori, that something singularly able is about to be addressed to them could, in the first place, excite their attention; and nothing but the actual delivery of something of superior merit could keep up that attention to the end, after it has been awakened.

"I mentioned in the outset that he is unquestionably the most talented man on the bench of bishops. I might have added that, with the exception of Lords Brougham and Lyndhurst, he is, perhaps, the ablest man on either side of the house. His speeches are, I should say, more strictly and closely argumentative than those of any man in either house. Whatever can be urged in favour of his view of the subject is sure to be urged by him; and urged, too, in the clearest and most forcible manner. He exhausts the subject. No one need expect to say any thing after him which will have the double merit of being new and apposite. He shews you that he has examined the question in all its bearings, and that he has discovered every thing in it which can be urged with effect in favour of his

manner.

"The happiest effort which the right rev. prelate has made for some years past was made last year, when the house was in committee on the New Poor Law Bill. On that occasion he brought forward a motion in opposition to the clause which compels the mother of an illegiti mate child, and failing her, her parents, if alive, to support that child,-while the father, who possibly seduced the girl, escapes without punishment in any shape whatever. A specimen of purer eloquence-a display of more masterly argumentation-or a speech breathing from beginning to end a loftier order of humanity, has seldom been delivered within the walls of either house of the legislature. It occupied about three hours in the delivery, during which time the noble lords on both sides the house listened to the right rev. prelate with an attention as unbroken and undiminished as it was intense. And seldom has a speech, either in the House of Lords, or in that of the Commons, been the means of proselytising so many of the audience to the views of the speaker. It is well known that many noble lords went down to the house that evening with the full intention of voting against Dr. Philpotts' amendment, who were not only convinced by the arguments and eloquence of the right rev. prelate, but evinced the sincerity of that conviction