The Empire County argus. [volume] (Coloma, El Dorado County, Cal.) 1853-1857, 1853-11-26
CHARACTER OF LORD BROUGHAM

Brougham is thundcrbolt He may come in the
dark he may come at random, his path may be in
the viewless. graspess air; but give him something
solid. let him come in contact with the earth, and
be it beautiful barren, it feels the power of his
terrible visitation You not, or rather you heed
not the agent which works: but, just as the arch
giant of physical destroyers rends his way, you see
the Kingdoms Of Nature yielding at his approach
and the mightiest of their productions brushed
aside as though they were dust or torn as though
they were gossamcr
While he raises his voice in the House; while he
builds firmly and broadly the basis of his PROPOSE
tions, and snatches from every science beam to
enlarge and strengthen his work and while he in
dgnantly beats down and trampes upon all that
has been reared by his antagonist you feel if the
wand OF annhaton was in his hand, and the power
OF destruction in his possession
There cannot be greater treat than 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 tre-
mendous 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
snake, and his eyes glancing from under the souch
ed bar; you mark the twin demons of irony and
contempt, playing about the tersc and compressed
lines Of his mouth!
Up rises the orator slowly and clumsy His
graceful. His long and saow visage seems length
cned and decpened in its hue His eyes, his nose
and mouth seem huddlcd 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 sublimity in his brows which
one seldom sees cquaed and the obliquty Of the
light shows the organization Of the upper and lat
era parts OF his forehead proud and papable the
hills OF his native north His left hand is extended.
prepared an anvil upon which he is ever and
anon to hammer with the tore-fnSer 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 the most close clear and
logical manner does he dcniolish the castle which
his opponent has built for himself! You hear the
sounds you the FASH you look for the castle.
and it is not stone after 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 bowels 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 OF
the glory of Macintosh His features, which are
always grave, assume the very depth of solemnty
and his voice, which is always solemn, falls int
that under sophrann, that visionary tone between
speech and whisper which men employ when they
speak of their own gravesHnd collins. You would
imagine it not audible, and yet its lowest syllable
runs through the House like wildfre You would
think it only meant for the ear of him who is the
subject of it, yet it comes Immediately, and power
fully and without the possibility Of being forgotten
to every one within the walls. You would think il
the fond admonition of santed father to the en-
rors of beloved son and which the devil is said
TO exercise when he acts of the brethren
You may push aside the bright thing which raises a
laugh you may find a cover from the wit which
ambles you on antitheses, quotation; hut against
the home reproof of Brougham there is no defence
its course is firm that you cannot dash it aside