The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-11-10
LORD RRoueHAM.

appeal 10 the sense of astonishment Not that
the things he has done in life have been in
themselves OF such astonishing merit; but it has
been his fortune, or his knack, that, while his
exploits In literature, in oratory. and in con-
duct should be intrinsically noteworthy. they
should also, from some extrlusic circumstances,
be positively wonderful.
Whether Intentionally or not, his success has
illustrated, in its application to human beings,
the principle OF wonde er-working which DR..
johnson expounded in the case of does:-''rhe
wonderful thing about seeing dog walk on
two legs Is not that he walks on two legs so
well, but that he can walk on two legs at ALL"
In early life Lord Brougham did what was
marvellous because it was done by one so Young:
in middle age he did things which were mar
velous because they were known to have been
done amid the appalling multitude of the occu-
pations which his middle age delighted to
absorb; in later life he has done things which
were marvellous because they were done in later
life. In youth he had The maturity of advanced
years; in advanced years he has the activity OF
youth. A venerable boy, juvenile old man, at
each extreme OF life he has amazed the world
by doing what would not have been amazing at
the other extreme; while his stormy middle ace
was one tremendous Olympian struggle for
prizes OF all sorts--a mu!uiarious agony for both
soul and body, amazing the world because It's
work was achieved as the facile task of man
one pair of hands.
Thus. astonishing one generation by his pre-.
cocity, another by his versatility, and a third
by his antiquity in so wonderful a state of pre-
servation, he seems bent on going down to pos.
terity In person, contending with each success
sive generation tor the tame Of having known
somewhat of everything, of having done some
what of everything, of having SAID a GOOD deal
of everything, OF having never rested and never
got tired, OF having been old when he was
young and young when he was old
Nearly thuty years ago, when the splendor of
his political and personal renoWn was under an
eClipse-an eclipse, by-the-way, from which it
has not yet emerged-the announcement fell
like crash of thunder out OF a clear sky that
Lord Brougham was dead. Personal dislike
pansed: partisan hostility arrested Its own dag
ger; and the journals OF England, with but two
notable exceptions, poured forth columns of
generous eulogy. When they had given sut-
hcient vent TO their lamentations and their
praises, his lordship 10 their infinite disgust, as
suddenly reappeared upon the scene, and in
anything but the plight and bearing OF dead
man. think those IaudatOry journalists never
fOrgave him Tor coming TO lite again; and that
if after that event he had the weakness to die in
reality, they would have seasoned their second
obituaries with sucn stuff as would have made
him quite contented to stay dead. In fact, 1t
may be imagined that It is from some appre-
| tensions OF editorial vengeance that his
lor0shlp still persists in refusing them the
opportunity OF bringing out what they
nave G written. 1T BnI It is is a curious proof Of
for himself IN the word. that he-the great
statesman, judge, orator, philanthropist phIloso-
| pher-should have been thought capable of the
| vanity and the artihce OF himself starting the
| ruse III order to taste beforehand the verdict
| of posterity. 1t has been the fortune of other
| eminent men to have been proclaimed dead
while still in state OF prosperous health; as,
| for example, of Gibbon, who, on hearing the
| report OF his own death, instantly wrote Off TO
| his friend. Lord Sheffield, argument to prove
| that the report was true; but no one that re-
m a m lhpr pypp ny rhap1 hoco hoan
| suspected OF causing such report concerning
himself. In the admiration which intelligent
Engishmen feel for his great gifts, hls great
| attainments, his great services, for his in
| tellectual vigor, his endurance, his industry,
| his versatility, his once magnificent elo-
quence his philanthrophy so fruitful i'll
! grand results, there is ever perceptlble the i'm
| preston that he Is after all only spieudid
| shown an-that he Is nothing unless ostenta-
! tlous; that his oratory, his mathematics, his
| chemistry, his natural theology, his legal lore,
| are Tor exhibition; that even his JOY IN the
| amelioratIon of society is palpably eXcelied by
| his Joy III the glorlfcatiOu of Lord Brougham;
| and that, in addition TO being man Of inordI-
nate vanity be Is, partly tor this very reason, q
man OF unsound Judgment and OF an untrust-
| worthy moral character. In what is called
| society" in London ] am told the personal
| veraeitY of Lord Brougham is not only below
| par, but below zero; that il is never mentioned
| but TO be laughed at; and that the one word
| most derogatoTy to a gentleman is freely and
openly applied TO him. 1t IS full Of significance,
| alSO JnaJ lDe TWO great statesmen AT tnlS eD0on
| who have most conspicuously patronized Chris
| manipulating those 6ne compliments TO the
| Bible and saying those pretty things about
| Orthodoxy which make such effective quo
| tations in the pulpit in theological cass-r oOms
| and at religious anniversaries should have been
| precisely the two statesmen who were also
| united in their peculiar regulations for private
| morals-Daniel Webster and Henry Brougham
| They both belong to that class of great men who
| seem 10 indemnify themselves for the trouble
| of complimeDting Christianity by the liberty of
| violating the cardinal precepts. l Tor one do
| not know any greater sham in our time, or one
| more worthy OF public denunciation, for the sake
| OF wholesome public sentiment, than that pre-
| sented by the author OF celebrated work on
BILE pretty ,speeche, about Scriptlral Infal
| libility, the Trinity, the Decalogue,
the Beatitudes, and Hell-6re, allowing
| to be exhibited in the shop-windows Of London
| photograph, wherein he is represented with a
little coy standing at his side, and whereon is
| although it is well known that Lady Brougham
had but one child, and that child daughter,
| who died iorGy years ago. Lord Brougham
| should suppress either his compliments TO
| Christianity or the photographs OF bis llleeit-
mate children! In endeavOring to portray the
sort of mixed fame which he possesses among
| discriminating Euglishmen, / should perhaps
state the case not unjustlY by saying that ne has
their admiration, without their confidence or
their love. Lotbrop Motley with very droll
effect, mentions that William of Orange regarded
| Caslmir with respectful contempt 1t Is very
much that kind of regard which Engiishmen
cherish for Lord BrOugham.
gladly turn to another part OF my subject.
| Whatever may be Lord Brou9ham's faults,
| whatever may have been his motives, bis
| career has been one not only of extraordinary
| brilli8nce but of extraordinary usefulness. 10