LORD BOLINGBROKE.

(1678-1751).

His Parliamentary Career.-Henry St. John was returned to Parliament in 1700 for Wootton Basset, which his father had represented before him. He was twenty-eight years old at the time. All his connections were in the Whig interest, but he attached himself to the Tory party under Harley. His eloquence soon gained him influence in the House, and in 1704 he was appointed Secretary at War and of the Marine, Harley being Secretary of State. To the latter office St. John succeeded when Harley took the Chancellorship of the Exchequer in 1710, and he was raised to the peerage as Baron St. John and Viscount Bolingbroke in 1712. It was into the hands of Addison that he had to resign the seals, when the death of Anne in 1714 put an end to the hopes of his party; and his attainder took place in the following year.

Evanescence of Parliamentary Eloquence in Former Days. In the case of Bolingbroke (remarks Lord Brougham), the defect, so often to be deplored in contemplating the history of modern oratory, attains its very height. Meagre as are the materials by which we can aim at forming to ourselves some idea of the eloquence of most men who flourished before our own day; scanty as are the remains even of the speakers who figured during the Seven Years War, and the earlier part of the American contest-when we go back to the administration of Walpole we find those vestiges to be yet more thinly scattered over the pages of our history; and in Queen Anne's time, during which alone Bolingbroke spoke, there are absolutely none. It is correct to affirm that of this great orator-one of the very greatest, according to all contemporary history, that ever exercised the art, and these accounts are powerfully supported by his writings-not a spoken sentence remains. The contemplation of this chasm it was that made Mr. Pitt, when musing upon its brink, and calling to mind all that might be fancied of the orator from the author, and all that traditional testimony had handed down to us, sigh after a speech of Bolingbroke-desiderating it far more than the restoration of all that has perished of the treasures of the ancient world. -Statesmen of the Time of George III. The impression produced by Bolingbroke is shown in the Earl of Chesterfield's remark in one of the letters to his son: "I would much rather that you had Lord Bolingbroke's style and eloquence, in speaking and writing, than all the learning of the Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society, and the two Universities united."

Creation of Peers.-Oxford and Bolingbroke gazetted twelve new peers in one day. On their taking their seats, Wharton inquired if they were to vote, like a jury, by their foreman; and Bolingbroke, on hearing that the question had been carried by a majority of one, exclaimed, "If those twelve had not been enough, we would have given them another dozen." This is the solitary instance of a creation of peers in mass to carry a measure.-Hayward's Essays.

JOSEPH ADDISON.

(1672-1719.)

Successful Silence.-Addison sat for Malmesbury in the House of Commons which was elected in 1708. But the House of Commons (writes Macaulay)" was not the field for him; the bashfulness of his nature made his wit and eloquence useless in debate. He once rose, but could not overcome his diffidence, and ever after remained silent. Nobody can think it strange that a great writer should fail as a speaker; but many, probably, will think it strange that Addison's failure as a speaker should have had no unfavourable effect on his success as a politician. In our time a man of high rank and great fortune might, though speaking very little and very ill, hold a considerable post; but it would now be inconceivable that a mere adventurer-a man who, when out of office, must live by his penshould in a few years become successively Under Secretary of State, Chief Secretary for Ireland, and Secretary of State, without some oratorical talent. Addison, without high birth, and with little property, rose to a post which dukes-the heads of the great houses of Talbot, Russell, and Bentinck-have thought it an honour to fill. Without opening his lips in debate, he rose to a post the highest that Chatham or Fox ever reached; and this he did before he had been nine years in Parliament."

Ineffectual Conception.-It was Lord Wharton (writes Mr. O'Flanagan) "who brought Joseph Addison to Ireland, and appointed him Secretary of State. He represented the borough of Cavan in the Irish Parliament, in 1709. Though famous as an easy and graceful writer, he could not express himself with any degree of fluency. An anecdote related of him proves this. On a motion before the House, Addison rose, and having said Mr. Speaker, I conceive '-paused, as if frightened by the sound of his own voice. He again commenced-'I conceive Mr. Speaker' when he stopped, until roused by cries of hear! hear!' when he once more essayed with-Sir, I conceive.' Power of further utterance was denied, so he sat down amidst the scarce suppressed laughter of his brother members, which soon burst forth when a witty senator said, 'Sir, the honourable gentleman has conceived three times, and brought forth nothing.""

SIR RICHARD STEELE.
(1671-1729.)

The "Tatler."-Steele entered the House of Commons when the Tory party, whom he had exasperated by his political writings, were in the ascendant, and they determined to put him down. Alluding to Sir Thomas Hanmer's opposition to the Commercial Treaty, in 1714, he said, "I rise to do him honour;" on which many members, who had before tried to interrupt him, called out "Tatler! Tatler!" And as he went down the house several said, "It not so easy a thing to speak in the House; he fancies, because he can scribble," &c., &c.

His Expulsion from the House of Commons. When, upon the publication of his "Crisis," which was but the sequel to those papers

in the Guardian that led to his election for Stockbridge, the motion was made to expel him, for having "maliciously insinuated that the Protestant succession in the House of Hanover is in danger under her Majesty's Administration," the Whigs rallied to his support with what strength they could. Robert Walpole and General Stanhope took their place on either side of him as he waited at the bar, and Addison prompted him throughout his spirited and temperate defence. He spoke, says one who heard him, for near three hours, with such temper, eloquence, and unconcern as gave entire satisfaction to all who were not prepossessed against him. But perhaps the most interesting occurrence of that memorable day was the speech of Lord Finch. This young nobleman, afterwards famous as a minister and orator, owed gratitude to Steele for having repelled, in the Guardian, a libel on his sister, and he rose to make his maiden speech in defence of her defender. But bashfulness overcame him; and after a few confused sentences he sat down, crying out as he did so, "It is strange I cannot speak for this man, though I could readily fight for him!" Upon this such cheering rang through the House, that suddenly the young lord took heart, rose again, and made the first of a long series of able and telling speeches. Of course, however, it did not save Steele, who was expelled by a majority of nearly a hundred, in a House of four hundred members.-Forster's Essay on Steele.

The Silent and the Eloquent.-On the death of Queen Anne, and the breaking up of the Tory party, Steele was again returned to Parliament, for Boroughbridge, and made some figure as a speaker. He wittily described the House, at the time, as consisting very much of silent people oppressed by the choice of a great deal to say, and of eloquent people ignorant that what they said was nothing to the purpose.

Triennial Parliaments.-Steele was a warm advocate in the House of Commons of the repeal of the Act which limited the duration of Parliaments to three years. In a speech on the subject he said: “Ever since the Triennial Bill has been enacted the nation has been in a series of contentions. The first year of a Triennial Parliament has been spent in vindictive decisions and animosities about the late elections. The second session has entered into business, but rather with a spirit of contradiction to what the prevailing set of men in former Parliaments had brought to pass than for a disinterested zeal for the common good. The third session has languished in the pursuit of what little was intended to be done in the second; and the approach of an ensuing election has terrified the members into a servile management, according as their respective principals were disposed towards the question before them in the House. Thus the state of England has been like that of a vessel in distress at sea; the pilot and mariners have been wholly employed in keeping the ship from sinking; the art of navigation was useless, and they never pretended to make sail."

Not a Good Pedestrian.-William Whiston, in his " Memoirs," writes of Steele: "I shall set down one encounter I had with him at Button's coffee-house, when he was a Member of Parliament, and had been making a speech in the House of Commons, in the days of King

George I., to please the court, but against his own conscience, for the South Sea directors, then under the great disgrace of the nation; and against which South Sea scheme he had before for some time written weekly papers, till he saw he could not recover his post of Censor of the Playhouse, from which he had been turned out, which used to bring him some hundreds a year, without making such a speech. I accosted him thus: They say, Sir Richard, you have been making a speech in the House of Commons for the South Sea directors.' He replied, "They do say so. To which I answered, 'How does this agree with your former writing against that scheme?' His rejoinder was thus: Mr. Whiston, you can walk on foot and I cannot.' Than which a truer or an acuter

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answer could not have been made by anybody."

THE EARL OF CHESTERFIELD.

(1694-1773.)

A Youthful Adversary Disarmed.-Chesterfield was returned to the House of Commons when Lord Stanhope, and before he had attained full age. He spoke soon after his entrance, attacking the Oxford ministry, and said, "He never wished to spill the blood of any of his countrymen, much less the blood of any nobleman, but he was persuaded the safety of his country required that examples should be made of those who had betrayed it in so infamous a manner." The reply of the Government was a very prudent one. It was privately intimated to the young speaker that he had displayed great ability, but, in taking his seat although a minor,* he had exposed himself to a penalty of five hundred pounds, which would not be enforced against him unless he attempted to vote. Stanhope took the hint and left the house, to which he did not return till duly qualified.

A Hint to Statesmen.-The Earl of Chesterfield delivered a speech in the House of Lords, 1737, against the Play-house Bill. The following extract is from the "Parliamentary History: "-" It is not licentiousness, it is an useful liberty, always indulged the stage in a free country, that some great men may there meet with a just reproof, which none of their friends will be free enough, or rather faithful enough, to give them. Of this we have a famous instance in the Roman history. The great Pompey, after the many victories he had obtained and the great conquests he had made, had certainly a good title to the esteem of the people of Rome; yet that great man, by some error in his conduct, became an object of general dislike. And therefore, in the representation of an old play, when Diphilus, the actor, came to repeat these words, Nostra miseria tu es Magnus,' the audience immediately applied them to Pompey, who at that time was as well known by the name Magnus as by that of Pompey, and were so highly pleased with the satire that, as Cicero says, they made the actor repeat the words a hundred times over. An account of this was immediately sent to Pompey, who, instead of resenting it as an injury, was so wise as to take it for a just reproof; he

See p. 20.

examined his conduct, he altered his measures, he regained by degrees the esteem of the people, and then he neither feared the wit nor felt the satire of the stage. This is an example which ought to be followed by great men in all countries."

Dexterity with a Difficult Subject.-A bill for the reform of the Calendar was introduced in the House of Lords by Lord Chesterfield in 1751, and in his "Letters" he thus alludes to his speech: "This bill was necessarily composed of law jargon and astronomical calculations, to both which I am an utter stranger. However, it was absolutely necessary to make the House of Lords think that I knew something of the matter, and also to make them believe that they knew something of it themselves, which they do not. For my own part, I could just as soon have talked Celtic or Sclavonian to them as astronomy, and they would have understood me full as well; so I resolved to do better than speak to the purpose, and to please instead of informing them. I gave them, therefore, only an historical account of calendars, from the Egyptian down to the Gregorian, amusing them now and then with little episodes; but I was particularly attentive to the choice of my words, to the harmony and soundness of my periods, to my elocution, to my action. This succeeded, and ever will succeed. They thought I informed, because I pleased them; and many of them said that I had made the whole very clear to them, when, God knows, I had not even attempted it. Lord Macclesfield, who had the greatest share in framing the bill, and who is one of the greatest mathematicians and astronomers in Europe, spoke afterwards with infinite knowledge, and all the clearness that so intricate a matter would admit of; but, as his words, his periods, and his utterance were not near so good as mine, the preference was most unanimously, though most unjustly, given to me. This will ever be the case; every numerous assembly is a mob, let the individuals who compose it be what they will."

Bleeding for One's Country.-Maty, in his memoir of Chesterfield, relates that Lord R, with many good qualities, and even learning and parts, had a strong desire of being thought skilful in physic, and was very expert in bleeding. Lord Chesterfield, who knew his foible, and on a particular occasion wished to have his vote, came to him one morning, and, after having conversed upon indifferent matters, complained of the headache, and desired his lordship to feel his pulse. It was found to beat high, and a hint of losing blood given. "I have no objection; and, as I hear your lordship has a masterly hand, will you favour me with trying your lancet upon me? Apropos," said Lord Chesterfield, after the operation, "do you go to the House to-day?" Lord R answered, “I did not intend to go, not being sufficiently informed of the question which is to be debated; but you, who have considered it, which side will you be of?" The earl, having gained his confidence, easily directed his judgment; he carried him to the House, and got him to vote as he pleased. He used afterwards to say that none of his friends had done so much as he, having literally bled for the good of his country.