The Sun.
London, England, 1837-05-24 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

OPINIONS OF LORD BROUGHAM,

Co!burn, London, I 837.
We are surprized at the small dimensions of this
,
work, considering that it professes to be a record of a.llll
the puhlie opinions delivered by Lord Brougham,'
Parliament and elsewhere, during the twenty or thirtY
years that he has stood forward as one of the leal
statesmen and writers of his age and country. tiaia
the work been in two volumes instead of one, we sh°u
0.
have been better pleased ; for it would have been
ring over with matter of the most valuable descript7;
which at present is too much abridged, and dive°
the fa,
too meagre, aphoristic a form. . For instance,
ramous speech on Law Reform which occupied lir
wards of six hours in the delivery ; which is learned--
r choohts
argumentative—witty—sarcastic—full of lo,t y vhe
and shrewd speculations—unbounded, in short, in.' e
ranpes
ge and power of its eloquence ;—this master-
is cut up into brief, detached fragments, and 10'1g
trips
within the comp skelr
ass of some five or six
pages ;
conveying no juster idea of the original, than the .5
ton conveys of the living man. Now if ever there Iv:,
an orator whose speeches can less bear this sort
wholesale, remorseless curtailment than another, I,°rd
_,e
Broughain is that man. His eloquence is clot '
ts
eloquence of words, but of ideas ; and his argunienhe
are not summed up, and dismissed in a terse passa°,
or two, but are spread over, and worked out throve,:
pages, enriched by illustrations, and enforced by an.,
logics without number ; so that to give merely at%
lines as a sample of their style and quality, is like gv`o
ing a brick as a sample of a building. Of the "f
leading orators of modern times, Brougham and Can
re
ring, we hesitate not an instant in assigning the Pr;
ference to the former. The speeches of the one pare
characterized by polish ; those of the other by el eci
Canning seldom soars above an ingeniously turn
classical common-place ; Brougham thinks for buns AS
and teaches his hearers to think also. The one
'rhe
grace of fancy : the other vigour of understanding• u. 5
one is limited; the other unbounded, in the range °f
intellectual acquirements. Canning delights by apt rep
tee, polished and well-selected phraseology, ready
1
tation, playful humour, and a display of all those 1;4';
nary resources which disciplined rhetoricians have el„
at command : Brougham astonishes by the lavish o'4"
lence of his knowledge ; his stern and searching sari
casm ; his far-sighted views ; his original powers -e
thought and style. Canning is a light and tlexterPnue
fencer ; Brougham, a sturdy gladiator. The Ph-e
wields his weapon with the grace of a Mercutio; t
other with the energy of a Spartacus. Thnse:/rho
think that in this crude and hasty parallel, vveill
accorded an undue preference to Lord Brougham'
do well, before they condemn us, to peruse attentilevi
this digest of his Parliamentary speeches. Here thdeii
will find specimens of every description of intellect"-
excellence ; impassioned declamation ; fancy Ine/11..°,:t
dized by reason ; abstruse learning that sets off;
encumbers, the subject matter ; humour quaint and";
expected, lint never far-fetched ;—in short, 46 tioug
that breathe, and words that burn ;" and these setirert
li
ier
with a reckless prodigality that it were vain to look
out of the pages of Burke, whom in the extent t
re
acquirements, though not in his imagination--Orthoetil
the author of the " Reflections" is
re'
Brougham strongly resembles. The volume is P:
faced by a brief, well-written memoir of h 1 Lordsh.:
and is calculated to be of infinite service, by teach!
rest
its readers to think, and think justly, on all the $
political questions of the day.