The Press.
London, England, 1857-01-31 00:00:00

ittraturt.

Inaugural Address delivered by Sir E. L.
Bulwer Lytton, Bart., on his Installation as
Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow,
January 15, 1857. London : Griffin and Co.
THERE is no sort of eloquence in which it is
so difficult for an English orator to excel as
in " Inaugural Addresses." Our national
tastes, and our literary prejudices, recoil
from exhortations which have a tendency to
showy displays. We like debates in Parlia-
ment, the forensic contentions in Westminster-
hall, and the persuasive appeals of the Pulpit ;
but for the most part our English society
offers few occasions when a speaker can
imitate the form of rhetoric cultivated in the
French Academy by the speakers of awes.
The Lord liectorship of the University of
Glasgow presents un exceptional instance in
which great masters of fine language may
exhibit their mastery over words, and their
ingenuity in adorning commonplaces. Origin-
ally the election of the Lord Rectors of Glas-
gow University was confined to local person-
ages connected with the city and the college ;
and then the sphere of selection was widened,
and took in eminent Scotchmen ; and after-
wards the distinguished men of the whole
empire were privileged to hold the office. In
1784 Edmund Burke was elected ; and it is to
be regretted that we have no good report of
his address on that occasion, or of the pecu-
liar reasons why he was chosen. Had his
early attempt to become Professor of Moral
Philosophy at Glasgow aught to do with his
subsequent installation as the Lord Rector?
In putting that question, we are aware that it
has been contended by some persons that
Burke never did seriously contemplate the
tenure of the professorship. It is certain,
however, that only meagre particulars have
reaehed us of the causes why he was chosen in
1784. We should not be surprised if his
acquaintance with the circle of which Adam
Smith was a brilliant member had something
to do with his nomination Certainly the
office of Lord Rector was considerably en-
hanced in value by the fact of Burke having
been proud to hold that post.
The long list of eminent persons who since
the days of Burke have accepted the Lord
Rectorship gives the office an honorary lustre,
which the Crown could neither give nor take
away. A volume containing the inaugural
addresses of the Lord Rectors was published
some years ago. The oration of Thomas
Campbell, the poet, was the finest in point of
language, and the most valuable in point of
thought. It was the result of considerable
reflection, and was evidently a great effort.
The preoccupations of other Lord Rectors, and
their inaptitude for merely scholastic displays,
rendered their inaugural harangues of no
great oratorical value. Of the whole s'ries,
from first to last, we think that the addresses of
Campbell, of Sir Robert Peel, and of Mr.
Macaulay have the most sterling merit. The
speech of Peel was singularly characteristic of
the man : it was peculiarly practical in its
character, and was intensely English. There
was nothing flashy or stilted in its composi-
tion, and it was really most impressive in its
grave admonitions. There was one passage,
in particular, which, to our own knowledge,
produced a deep effect on many young men
who heard it at Glasgow, and who read it else-
where. We allude to the passage in which
the eminent statesman enforced the value of
" Time," and adjured his hearers to put a
proper estimate on its priceless worth. The
political speech at the Glasgow Conservative
Dinner, which followed the installation, was
also an effective popular display of eloquence.
The part in which he lauded Scotland and the
Scotch wits a masterpiece of intellectual
artifice
i; and the steam-engine metaphor
in a city of ronfounders and manufacturers
brought down great applause. "If one objects
" to the horizontal movement of this wheel,
" and another to the perpendicular motion of
" that—if this man is to bore holes in the
" cylinder, and that man is to tinker the
" boiler—they may find fault with the engine,
they may clamour for more movement,