Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1858-12-24
tEron the philadelphia Pt.ss.j
ohH Bright, Rdmund Burke. an a StsnI,.r

II tAoSAJ SOuu -ITlenuS VINO
chose to ridicule him, there are some lines
sKetchlng the character of the famous Edmund
burke which, without much straining. NAV he
| applied to- modern statesman-not so learned
or philosophical, perhaps, but good deal more
nohest, more practical, and more popular Ii
cannot be said OF John Bright, the presehtlead-
er OF the Democratic party in England-who an
closely resembles our own Stephen 4. DOUGLAS
IN the character of his vivid eloquence and the
i nigh tone and purity of his patriotism-itscan
not os sad of John Bright, as was said of Ell.
mund Burke, that
= born for the universe, he narrowed bIro,nd T q
ANA 70 party gave up what Was meant for mankIndn
H9r,rtrom the popular style of his .oratory.
(Which eSchews recondite illusions and ultra.
logical dissertations and seizes upon facts to IL
l9strate his thought can it be said of Bright
that, he =
Toe desp Gorhls hearers, sim vent on refining,
And thought eteonyneng, while they ougit OF nin
Lord Brougham, himself scarcely excepted. the
best popular and parliamentary speaker Of the
present day in England, is this Manchester cot.
Lon'splnner. In the Legislature, the cry 'tsTobn
Brlght is up" Immediately makes a rush of
members into "the House." from Bellamy's,
tom the library, from the writing-room, from
the Slnoking.rooIn, and none of these dream of
retiring until the speech be concluded. no mat
ter now much time it has occupied. The same
spell keeps crowd ofadniring auditors on the
qua UiUe when John Bright makes n most nrnn.
.IOrk festival.
un England, publii 1tnners are the great safety
valves of public politicians.) In a public meet.
ing OF the masses-on the hustings Mt an lElec
tion-any where, in fact, ION the stump. - as we
would call it, MIR. Bright is equally facilc. i'm
pressive self-sustained, and convincing. He
puts old truths into new and fitting garbs, and
he enunciates ,facts with skill which almost
converts them into arguments. He who can ex.
tract eloquence out ofa big volume of dry statis
tics, who eau blend sterile figures of arithmetic
with fanciful figures of speech, and make one
suoserve the other, is no ordinary speaker Add
to thisia comely face, in which bold determine
ton is mingled with clear Sagacity and cheerful
good nature; compact figure, which conveys
the idea DISABILITY and resistance; well form.
ed head, with the anterior organs of intellect,
thought, and Imagination very strongly develop.
ed; action, natural and impressive, with a GER.
tain grace which Immediately interests you
searching eyes, in whose blue depths world OF
delicate fancy, and dreamy poetry, and tender
Pathos are sometimes visible, shedding lambent
light over his thoroughly Anglo.Saxon features,
and voice clear and ringing as silver bell, |
audible in its lowest tone, and in7its highest
pcalng forth the thunder sounds patriotic elo.
qnence which make the hearts of mighty Peo-
pie swell with emotion, and whose vibrations
sound into the very Penetralia of Power, like as
We may imagine the clear note from the sum
noning trump of the mighty archauge, as de-
scribed by Milton.
It Will probably strike many of our readers
that there is a great general resemblance be.
tween the oratorical characteristics of John
Bright and Stephen a. Douglas We have often
thought so. Both are emincntly Men Of the
People-self.made, selfeducated, selfreliant-I
Both have sprung from and both labor for the
People. Above all, both are honest to the core
Burke, as a public speaker, had little resem.
blance either to Bright or Douglas. These men
are natural, Burke was wholly artificial. These
men are honest-their bitterest antagonists have
never dared to say, even to hint to the contrary.
There is no blot upon tho cscutcheon Of either.
Burke was trickey, trading, turgid, and truck
ling politician; the veriest slave of party; din.
ner.out, at the tables of the nobility, and selling
himself to the Court, for pension, after life.
profession of patriotism. AS it is considered a
sort of petty treason to say that Tom Moore was
a parasite and smell.ieast, that old Goethe was
a sensualist and wine bibber, that Thackefay is
something of a snob," SO it may be looked up
on as improper to say that Burke was not an
honest public man. Sayit we do, however, be-
cause we believe that we can prove it, and, as
an old writer finely has it, "It is for slaves to
lie, and for freemen to speak the truth"
Bright and Douglas are emincnty natural
speakers. Yet as always with men ofintelect,
when they think upon their legs, the fitting in
tonation and the appropriate action voluntarily
come, and
''snateh grace beyond the reach of artn
Burke, on the contrary, not only schooled
himself as public speaker by constant prac-
tice at the Robin Hood debating society,
(Which, at later day, had Grattan, Curran,
Erskine, and Canning among its members but
was perpetually in the gallery of the House of
Commons, and when he himself became mem
Der of Parliament, took lessons in defamation
from Garrick, the actor. Every thing about
Burke was artifcial-his oratory, his patriotism.
his very friendships. To the last, he showed
thetheatrical character of his eloquence. Every
one recollects, no doubt, how, during the exces.
ses of the French Revolution, scene was crea.
ted in the House OF Commons, by Burke's com
mitting the outrageous absurdity of throwing
drawn dagger upon the floor, and shouting, to
the astonished members, "That is what you will
gain by an alliance with France" But every
one may not know how this extravagance was
summarily reproyed by the presence of mind
of Brinsley Sheridan, who started up and ex-
claimed, 'sThere is the knife-but where is the
fork2n at which retort Burke scowled at the
VIII, picked up his papers. and rushed out of
the House, followed by shout of laughter
The good nature Of Bright and Douglas is
proverbial. Burke was essentially malevolent
The rancorous nature of his hostility to Warren
Hastings is recorded in the historical page
While the trial of Hastings was proceeding,
Burke said to the eldest son of an aged peer,
I =