The Nevada journal., 1853-12-09
Character Of BrOugham.

DiOuSiAdlil Is tnunuerDOlt. lie may
come in the dark, he may come at random,
his path may be in the viewless, graspless
air, but give him something solid, let him
come in contact with the earth, and, be it
beautiful or barren, it feels the power OF
visitation. Yo' see not, or rather you heed
not, the agent which works but Just as
the arch giant of physical destroyers rend
his way, you see the Kingdoms of Nature
yielding at his approach, and the mig ghtiest
of their productions brushed aside as
though they were dust, or torn as though
they were gossamer!
While he raises his voice in the House :
while he builds firmly and broadly the
basis of his propositions, and snatches from
every scene beam to enlarge and strength
en- his work; and while he Indignantly
beats down and tramples upon all that has
been reared by his antagonist, you feel as
if the wand of annihiation was in hand,
and the power of destruction in his DOS
session!
There cannot be greater treat thar to
| hear Brougham upon one of those great
questions which give scope for the mighty
swell of his mind, and which permit him
to launch the bolts of that tremendous
sarcasm, for which he has not now, and
perhaps never had an equal in the House.
When his display is reply, you see his
lathy figure drawn aside from others, and
coiled up within itself like a snake, and
his eyes gancing from under the slouched
bar; you mark the twin demons Of irony
and contempt, playing about tho terse and
compressed lines Of his mouth!
Up rises the orator slowly and clumsily
His body swung in an attitude which is
none the most graceful. His long and sal
low visage seems heightened and deepened
in lis hue. His eyes, his nose and his
mouth seem huddled together, as if, while
he presses every illustration in his speech,
he were at the same time condensing all
his senses into one. There is a lowering
subIimity in his brows which one seldom
sees equalled; and the obliquity of the
light shows the organization of the upper
and lateral parts of his forehead, proud
and palpable as the hills of his native
north. His left hand is extended, prepared
as an anvil, upon which he is ever and
anon to hammer with his fore-fnger of his
right, as the preparation to that full swing
which is to give life to every muscle, and
motion to every limb. He speaks! In
the most powerful and sustained, and at
the same time in the most close, clear, and
logical manner, does he demolish the castle
which his opponent has built for himself
You hear the sounds, you see the flash,
you look for the castle, and tits not stone
alter stone, turret after turret, battlement
after battlement, wing after wing, are
melted away, and nothing is left, save the
sure foundation upon which the Orator
himself may build! There are no political
bowls in him. He gives no quarter, and
no sooner has he razed the fort than he
turns him to torture the garrison. He is
now something more terrible than the satire
or mock solemnity of Canning, the glow
OF Burdett, or the glory of Macintosh =
His features, which are always grave.
assume the very depth of solemnity: and
his voice, which is always solemn falls into
that under sophrann, that visionary tone
between speech and whisper, which men
employ when they speak of their own
graves and coffins. You would imagine
it not audible, and yet its lowest syllable
runs through the House like wild6re.-
You would think it only meant for the ear
of him who is the subject of it, yet it comes
Immediately, and powerfully, and without
the possibility of being forgotten to every
one within the walls. You would think
it the fond admonition Of a sainted father
to the errors of a beloved son; and which
the devil is said to exercise when he act:
as accuser Of the brethren. You may
push aside the bright thing which raises :
laugh; you may find cover from the wi
(which ambles you on antitheses, or quota.