The Wilmingtonian, and Delaware register., 1824-09-23
NO.


ter, as he used to get up thesis under the
direction of his school-master. The matter
is nothing; the only question is, ho& he shall
express himself The consequence has been
as might be expected. Not being at liberty
to choose his own side of the question, nor
to look abroad into the world for original (but
perhaps unwelcome) observations, nor to
follow up strict chain of reasoning into its
unavoidable consequences, the whole force
of his mind has been exhausted in an atten-
ton to the ornaments or style, and to an a.
grccabe and imposing selection of topics.
1t is his business and his inclination to en-
bellish what is trite, to gloss over what is
true, to vamp up some feeble sophism, to
spread the colours of a meretricious fancy o.
yer the unexpected exposure of some dark
intrigue, some glaring iniqnity--
/" Like as the sun-burnt Indians do array
Their tawny bodies in their proudest plight
With painted plumes in goodly order digit;
As those same plumcs, so seemed heyain and light,
That by his gait might easily appear;
Fer still he Jared as dancing in delight,
And in his hands windy fan did bear,
That in ihe idle air he moved still here and there"
Spencer.
His reasoning is a tissue of glittering sophis-
try his language is a cento of f1orid common.
places. The smooth monotony of his style
is indeed as much borrowed is as little his
own, as the courtly and often fulsome strain
of his sentiments. He has no steady princi-
pies, no strong passions, nothing original.
masculine, or striking in thought or express
son There is feeble diffuse, snowy, A.
static redundancy in all his speeches--some-
thing vapid, something second hand in the
whole cast of his mind. The light that pro-
ceeds from it CLEANS from the mouldering
materials of corruption the flowers that are
seen there, gay and Haunting, bloom over the
grave of humanity Mr. Canning 9ever by
any chance, reminds one of the poet or the
philosopher, of the admirer of nature, OF
even the man of the world--he rs a mere
House Commons man, or, since he was
transferred there from College, appears ne
yer to have seen or thought of any other
place. He may be said to have passed his
life in making and dlearnng to make speeches,
| All other objects and pursuits seem to have
been quite lost upon him. He has overlook
ed the ordinary objects of nature, the famil
lar interests of human life, as beneath his no.
tice.* There is no allusion in any of his
speeches to any thing passing out of the
House, or not to be found in the classics.
Their tone is quite Parliamentary Is
the Dolphin edition of Nature. Not an image
ed his heart, any further than it could be got
up for rhetorical and stage effect. This has
an i'll effect upon his speeches 1T gives them
that bloatcd appearance which is the result
of the confined atmosphere of the House.
| They have the look of eXotics, of artificial,
hot-housc plants. Their glossiness, their
Insurance and georgcousness OF colour are
greater than their strength or stamina: they
arc forced, not lasting nor will they bear
transplanting from the rank and noxious soil
in which they grow. Or rather, perhaps,
they bcarthe same relation to eloquence that
artificial flowers do to real ones-alike, yet
not the same, without vital heat or the pow
er of reproduction, painted, passionless, spe-
cious mockeries. They are, in fact, not the
growth of truth, of nature, and feeling, but
of state policy, of art, and practice. To de-
ny that Mr.. Canning has arrived to great
perfection (pcrhaps the greatest) in the man
ufacturc of these sort of common-hlaces, ele-
| gant bnt somewhat tarnshed, imposing, but
not solid, would, VIC think, show want OF
candor: to affirm that he has ever done any
thing more (in his serious attempts) would,
we think, show an equal want of taste and
understandings
The way in which Mr. Canning gctsu up
the staple commodity Of his speeches appears
to be this. He hears an observation on the
eXCellcnCe OF the English CONSTITUTION, Ofapn
the dangers of Reform and the hckleness and
headstrong humors of the people, dropped
by some Member OF the House, or he meets
with it in an old Debate in the time of Sir
Robert Walpole, or in Paley's Moral and Po-
litcal Philosophy, which our accomplished
scholar reads, Of course, as the established
textbook at the University. He turns it in
his mind by dint of memory and ingenuity,
he illustrates it by the application of some
well-known and well authenticated simile at
hand, such as "thc vessel of the state ,'"the
torrent Of popular fury" "thc precipce Of
REFORM "the thunderbolt of war;" "the
smile Of peace" &c. He improves the hint
by the help of play upon words and upon
an idle fancy into an allegory, he hooks this
on to verbal inference, which takes you by
surprise, equally from the novelty OF the
premises and the flatness of the conclusion,
refers to a passage in CICERO in support
of his argument, quotes his authority, relieves
exhausted attention by a sounding passage
from NIRGIL, like the morn risen on mid
noon," and launches the whole freight OF
wisdom, wit, learning, and fancy, on the
floor of St. Stephenson's Chapel, where it
floats and glitters amidst the mingled Curl
osity and admiration of both sides of the
House
"Scylla heard,
And fell Charibdis murmur'd soft applause"