Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-12-28
THE GAZETTE.
WEDNESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER %, 1855
An OLD PARLIAMENT MAN.
LORD PALMERSTUS

LORD PALNERSToS.
Come and see Palmerston. the statesman.
That is him: that old gentleman in the mid
die of the treasury bench Of the House Of
G. ,mm ms, with hat pulled down tightly over
his eyes, arms aero his breast, and one leg
thrown over the other. Is not he IN capl-
IA! state Of preservation, with nothing to
hurt han tn. new and then twlnge of
his old enemy the gout-a souvenir oi loller
wears? A wonderful old man. truly; still
erect ON horse back as ever youthful knight.
vending his way to lady's bower. DIR. john
son said Of dancing dogs, The wonder is,
not that they dance 10 well. but that they
dance ut ALL" So with Lord Palmerston;
the wonder is. not that he rules the country
80 we'll, but that he does it at all. when most
men would be in state Of idiotic decay. 1t
says something for the goodness OF his lord
ships Notwithstanding for the light
character Of his labors rs q statesmen OF halt
century; and something for the Romsey
air and his lordships medical attendants.-
But mark! be is on his legs. with all the
briskness oi fouryear old. HIS pertness Is
quite juvenile. How neat and effective IL
his retort; and yet how little there is ia i'll
as an old fiddle Palmerston does the same.
His birth, his Office, his experience. all make
him feel at hume in it; and when he sits down,
there IL laugh, and the quest,oner, somehow
or other, feels he has done something very
foolish, though he scarce knows what. Your
expectations are heightened. Very natural
" you imagine that, as the evening passes
on, and the excitement deepens, his lordship,
in corresponding manner, will become ear
nest, and passionate, and overpower'ng.--
Wait little while, and you will find DUTY your
mistake. There is the same pertness and le-
witty; the same eagerness to evade the ques-
ton by joke; the same skilfu lodging; and
the same artful adaptation OF his speech; not
10 the conscience or convictions OF the pubic,
but to the predjudices, and knowledge, and
interests of the House. Mo- 50 disappolnts
the eager stranger rs Lord Palmerston.-
His hollow, feeble voice-his intolerable haw-
hawing-his air Of hanteur and hippancy-
all combine 10 dispel the illusion which III
manner most wonderful, his lordship has
contrived 10 gather around his name.
"Ife is a jest, and all things show II;
! thought SO once, and now know u,
will be an appropriate epitaph wherewith to
d.ck the marble monument that the grateful
nation shall erect when death shall have torn
the wily Premier from the Doctors care
Lord Palmerston, with one memorable. excep-
ton, never speaks long, he is down almost
As soon as he is up; he seldom rises above the
level of an after-dinner oratory; and as you
watch his lordship out of the House at ! q,
m, at the close oft debate which has tried
his lordship's mettle aud damaged the hand
iwork Of his lordship's valet, the shambhng
old gentleman. leaning on friendly arm
does not seem quite the prodigy in your eyes
which the admirably made up nobleman did
who stepped out of his carriage just as you
reached Westminster Hall.