LORDS BROUGHAM, LYNDHURST, AND LOCAL COURTS. LORD BROUGHAM has contrived to make himself perhaps the most popular person in the country: It has, indeed, been the sole Herculean la bour of his life to become so. He has manifested throughout his career a singleness of purpose in pursuing this object, backed by prodigious physical, and great mental energies, which could scarcely fail of conducting him to success. See then the dizzy elevation he has attained-the Chancellorship of England, a position of paramount sway in the Government; the object of fervent flattery, philosophical, oratorical, and literary; the idol of THE PEOPLE. We doubt whether any single individual, in ancient or modern times, ever aimed at levying contributions from so many and such apparently incompatible sources. And in order to do so, it cannot be fairly said that Lord Brougham has been every thing by turns and nothing long;" for he has, throughout his varied and brilliant career, subordinated every thing-every occupation, every accomplishment-every failure-every triumph-to the one object we have mentioned-popularity; and that, consummate and permanent. He has striven, with persevering cunning, to entwine himself with every fibre of the people's heart; he would not have you touch one without the other; they must stand or fall to gether. That his conduct has not at times exhibited features of singular weakness and imprudence, we do not mean to assert; there have indeed been instances of such; but they have been lost-consumed-in the blaze of his successful ambition. Truly it is difficult, on many accounts, to speak soberly and accurately of Lord Brougham's pretensions; for the eye that would have scanned all, is apt, on a nearer approach, to settle exclusively on his more prominent qualities. Not that we distrust our own spirit to enter into and prosecute the enquiry, or the sources of our information-we are confident of both; but we do apprehend that his Lordship's admirers are so numerous and bigoted, and he so self-satisfied, that all we say will be but "as the idle wind, which he and they regard not!" Be that, however, as it may, we shall proceed at once to examine certain features of Lord Brougham's official character; and, in point of intellectual and oratorical qualifications, institute a comparison between him and his predecessor on the Woolsack; and by the time we have done so, the public will doubtless allow us to place the laurel on the stately brow of Lord Lyndhurst. From the first moment of Mr Brougham's appearing in public, he commenced ingratiating himself with the people. He came out on the popular interest-and he has since distanced and obscured all his brilliant competitors in the pursuit. He fought for "the people" in the Edinburgh Review; became foremost in vehemence among their champions in Parliament; his professional efforts were judiciously exerted in their cause; he even went among them in his individual capacity, and harangued them on precisely those topics most likely to fascinate themeducation, and the slave trade. No one ever timed his appearances with such tact as Mr Brougham. He never struck till the iron was hot-and then he struck, indeed, with Cyclopean force, till the country rung with the blow. His pursuit of popular applause deserved the name of a science. He has profoundly studied the anatomy of the people's heart, the exact mode of reaching, and producing an impression upon it. His object has been to endear himself to it. With vast tact, versatile ability, inexhaustible energy, and daring courage, he ever took his place at the head of their ranks; he ransacked history, ancient and modern, for inflammatory and flattering topics; in their behalf, he by turns wheedled and threatened "their enemies;" he became "all things to all men" for "the people;" he thoroughly identified his interests with theirs-and laboured to persuade them, that if they triumphed, it must be through him. And marvellously did opportunities favour him. Think of the Queen's trial! What a God-send for Mr Brougham! Mark the judgment with which he wielded the popularity it gave him-He began his enquiries into the administration of Charities! Why need we dwell upon his arduous and persevering exertions in this enquiry-in the abolition of the slave trade" popular education"-the liberty of the press-the "reform" of the law-the "reform" of the representation? In short, by first artfully selecting no topics but such as were popular and palatable, he at length gained an ascendency which enabled him to make any question he chose to advocate, palatable and popular. As his power increased, so increased his disposition to exercise it. He had only to select his object, and the people ensured him success. Then he began to meditate changes on a mighty scale, in every department of the country; whether for better or for worse, change he would have-and that, "for the benefit" of "the people." That this is a correct account of his motives and designs, may be distinctly seen in the unguarded frankness with which he expressed himself in a moment of delirious ecstasy-on the occasion of his return for Yorkshire. See his own sense of the importance, whether for good or for evil, he had at length acquired: "It will arm me with an extraordinary, and vast, and important accession of power to serve the people of England." And he subsequently expressed himself in a similar strain of triumphant enthusiasm, characterising his return for Yorkshire, as "The highest honour of his life, the pride and exultation of which could never be eradicated from his mind but by death, nor in the least degree allayed by the lapse of timethe most splendid distinction which any subjects could confer upon a fellow-citizen." Brougham mentioned Sir John Leach. "It is supposed," said his companion, with a significant smile, "that a certain member for Yorkshire is most likely to be the new Chancellor "God forbid! God forbid! God forbid! It is impossible," replied Mr Brougham, with vehement emphasis. Alas, however, what is man? The gorgeous vision of the seals presently glittered before his eyes, and in three days' time they were deposited before the gaunt figure of LORD Brougham and Vaux, sitting upon the Woolsack! He took an early opportunity of assuring the Yorkshiremen, that his acceptance of office-" far from disabling him to discharge his duty to his country -far from rendering his services less efficient, had but enlarged the sphere of his utility, and held out the gratifying prospect, that in serving his King, he should at the same time be better able to serve his country." His Lordship will forgive us, however, if we say it is one of the objects of this paper to prove, that in making this desperate bound, his "Vaulting ambition did o'erleap itself, And fall on t'other side." Consider for a moment the position Mr Brougham occupied before his elevation. He was leader of the House of Commons; paramount within, idolized out of doors-and was besides, perhaps, one of the first men at the Bar, in point of practice and emolument. Look at the extensive machinery his sole hand had set working;-a Commission, extending the whole body of the common law upon the rack of investigation; another ransacking the records of every charitable institution in the country; an extraordinary organization for "educating" the people, and disseminating his own principles throughout the lower classes of society; he had called forth a storm of fury on the subject of slavery which no earthly force could prevent from devastating the Colonies-and chiefly stimulated the lower orders into their clamour for Parliamentary Reform ! Before proceeding, however, to shew how he has "served his King and his country," as Lord Chancellor, we shall advert to one most characteristic feature of his crafty policy-that Mr by which he has striven, and yet He solemnly and publicly devoted himself afresh on this occasion, in terms of vehement asseveration, to the service of the people; protesting that no offer of place, however eminent, should alienate him from their ranks-should displace him from the position to which THEY had elevated him. A distinguished gentleman, at once a Yorkshire client and constituent, asked him who was likely to succeed Lord Lyndhurst? strives most effectually, to elevate himself upon the shoulders of the people-we mean-and grave is the charge as true-his uniform, artful depreciation of the aristocracy. Finding that he could not safely rise and retain his eminence, but at their expense, he has taken prodigious pains to point them out as "the enemies of the people"-the legitimate objects of their distrust and hatred; possessing no real claims to superiority-ever grasping at rights and privileges inconsistent with the welfare of "the people." He has based much powerful declamation, many successful reasonings, on the assumption, that if the people obtain their rights in any matter, it must be in spite of the aristocracy; he has paid them from time to time, when likely to be most effective, the bitterest ironical compliments; and constantly insinuated that their ORDER is of trifling value, though heavy cost, to the State. Examine his various speeches and writings, and see if what we state be not true. We shall select a few instances. Mark the tone of his peroration on the Queen's trial. "My Lords, I pray your Lordships to pause. You are standing on the brink of a precipice."-" My Lords, from the horror of this catastrophe save the country-save yourselves from this situation. Rescue that country of which you are the ornaments, but in which you could flourish no longer when severed from the people, than the blossom when cut off from the root and stem of the tree-save that country, that you may continue to adorn it."" The Aristocracy which is shaken," &c. "But I do here pour forth my supplications at the Throne of Mercy, that that mercy may be poured down upon the people of this country in a larger measure than the merits of its rulers may deserve, and that your hearts may be TURNED to justice." Observe how artfully Mr Brougham points the finger of public odium and disappointment at the Lords; how slightly he speaks of their station and uses; and prays that their hearts may be "turned" to justice! Mark him again, (July 8, 1825,) in a speech to the Mechanics' Institute, sneeringly representing the Aristocracy as our self-nominated supe riors!" See the threatening tone he assumes most unnecessarily-in his speech on the Local Courts Bill, (Dec. 2, 1830.) "I counsel you to leave no means unbefitting your high station-to let no pride of place prevent your earnestly attempting this great work. And let neither your station nor pride be offended, when I tell you that a feeling has gone abroad of disrespect towards both Houses of Parliament," &c.-"if unhappily one party should be temporarily alienated."-"I would say-maintain your own rights, preserve your own dignity, but take care and do your duty to yourselves and the alienated party, by improving their condition, and removing all just grounds of complaint. Trust me, my Lords, the road to duty-the door of reconcilement-is open to you; and it will be exclusively your own faults if again the language of disrespect is addressed to you from any portion of the King's subjects." Here he assumes that the Aristocracy and the people are estranged, and implores the former not to let their "station" and "pride" prevent a "reconciliation." Mark, again, the air of insolent menace with which, in an hour of perilous excitement, he seizes the opportunity of holding up this obnoxious order, (in the person of one of its most amiable and accomplished members,) to the dislike, contempt, and ridicule of " the people." "My noble friend (!) [Earl of Dudley,] too, who lives near Birmingham, and may therefore be supposed to know his own neighbours better than we can, sneers at the statesmen of Birmingham, and at the philosophers of Manchester. He will live-I tell him-he will live to learn a lesson of practical wisdom from the statesmen of Birmingham, and of forbearance, from the philoso phers of Manchester. My noble friend was ill-advised when he thought of displaying his talent for sarcasm upon 120,000 people in the one place, and 180,000 in the other. He did little by such exhibitions towards gaining a stock of credit from the order he belongs to-little towards conciliating for the order he adorns, by pointing his little epigrams against such mighty masses of the people. He has thought it becoming and dis creet to draw himself up in the pride of hexameter and pentameter verse-skill in classic authors-the knack of turning fine sentences, and to look down with derision on the knowledge of his unrepresented fellow-countrymen, in the weightier matters of practical legislation. I have no desire ever to hear them read a Latin line, or hit off in the mother tongue any epigram. In these qualities, they and I freely yield the palm to others. I, as their representative, yield it." "Again, representing them here,-for them I bow" (suiting the action to the word) "to my noble friend's immeasurable superiority in all things classical or critical. In book lore, in purity of diction, in correct prosody, even in elegance of personal demeanour, I and they hide our diminished heads. But to say that I will take my noble friend's judgment on any grave practical subject,-on any thing touching the great interests of our commercial country, or any of those manly questions which engage the statesman, the philosopher, in practice,-to say that I could ever dream of putting the Noble Earl's opinions, aye, or his knowledge, in any comparison with the bold, rational, judicious, reflecting, natural, and, be cause natural, the trust-worthy opinions of those honest men, who always give their strong natural sense a fair play, having no affectations to warp their judgment-to dream of any such comparison as this, would be on my part a flattery," &c.-"I speak now of the middle classes, of those hundreds of thousands of respectable persons, the most numerous, and by far the most wealthy order in the community. For if all your Lordships' castles, manors, rights of warren, and rights of chase, with all your broad acres, were brought to the hammer, and sold at 50 years' purchase, the price would fly up and kick the beam, when counterpoised by the vast and solid riches of those middle classes, who are also the GENUINE DEPOSITARIES of sober, rational, intelligent, and honest English feeling. Unable though they may be to round a period, or point an epigram, they are solid right-judging men; and above all, not given to change. They will neither be led astray by false reasoning, nor deluded by impudent flattery (!), but so neither will they be scared by classical quotations, or brow-beaten by fine sentences; and as for an epigram, they care as little for it as they do for a cannon ball!" This, to be sure, was said ostensibly of Lord Dudley only-of Lord Brougham's "friend," and very kindly said of him, too-but he must be blind, indeed, who does not see that-it was really said and meant of the whole "order" to which he belonged!-Ponder well this pas sage! The Lord Chancellor, knowing well that the country was very near the verge of rebellion-that armed organized bodies of "hundreds of thousands" were talking of marching up to London, inflamed by the insidious misrepresentations of Lord Brougham's government-mark this Lord Chancellor rising from the Woolsack, to conciliate the people, to calm the smothered indignation of the Peers, by avowing himself THE REPRESENTATIVE of these PEOPLE! The Lord Chancellor their Representative! The self-dubbed representative of these insurgent "myriads" was then standing by the Woolsack-taunting the doomed aristocracy as the contemptible but designing enemies of "the people" holding them up as differing from "the people" only in frivolous and insignificant accomplishments, and yet resisting their claims to the death! We believe that on this memorable occasion "more was meant than met the ear;" that Lord Brougham, true to the principles of his whole life, distinctly calculated the force of his words-that they were timed with a tremendous precision, and that Providence alone averted the result. One other instance-out of many that could be selected-and we shall proceed. It was on the last debate upon the Local Courts Bill. In the midst of much arrogant egotism, some of the Peers-finding the Chancellor at his tricks again-harping on his old string-smiled. See the malice of the cunning Chancellor! "I shall endeavour to discharge my duty, thankful even for half an inch of concession in favour of the people!"-"It matters little your dashing the cup of promise from my lips-but it does matter your damping the hopes and dashing the cup of promise from the lips of the people of England. [A smile.] I expected that smile, counselled as you have been that it would be degrading to you not to disregard such consequences. [No! no!] I say yes-you were told to disregard the feelings of the people! [No! no!] Well then I am to understand you do regard the feelings of the poor suitor!" [Cheers.] We were present at the debate, and never can forget the indignation excited by this despicable manœuvre ! The sarcasm about the smile, however, is not original! Lord Brougham has borrowed it from the distinguished Mr Roebuck, Member for Bath, who, in the course of his maiden-speech in reply to Mr Stanley, on the Address, observed, "He knew the cause of that sneer from the Honourable Member; and if any thing was more distinctive than another of true aristocratic feel ing, it was, that when any appeal was made to the kindlier and more honest feelings, they were sure to meet it with a laugh!" This leaf to be plucked by the Lord Chancellor out of the green chaplet of the Member for Bath-and that without scruple or acknowledgment, is somewhat hard upon rising parliamentary talent! We cite these instances more in sorrow than in anger; and, while we are on this part of Lord Brougham's character, cannot avoid noticing another manœuvre of his Lordship, practised about the time of debating the Reform Bill when there was a slight manifestation of resistance to the payment of taxes. He caught up the idea-blazoned the intelligence from the Woolsack, magnified the mischief, by in fact suggesting its perpetration, and then in lukewarm terms cautioned "the people" against doing any thing so improper, even so unconstitutional! Was his Lordship acting on a hint in the writings of Lord Bacon-when he speaks of "teaching dangers to come on, by over-early buckling towards them?" Since Lord Brougham's elevation to the Woolsack, he has developed certain qualities for which neither his friends nor enemies gave him credit-and it is easy to account for them! His abuse, as "Mr" Brougham, of Lord Eldon, will never be forgotten. Night after night did he vent in the House of Commons the most virulent calumnies against that most gifted and amiable nobleman-who repaid it, as became his superior qualities, but with an increase of personal courtesy, whenever he had the opportunity of manifesting it. But how did Lord Brougham act, when, on the Woolsack, he fancied himself aggrieved? We must explain a little-and that little will give a key to much of his Lordship's conduct. Did you ever chance to hear, reader, of a certain Sir Edward Sugden? Do you know that he is the most consummate realproperty lawyer that lives-perhaps that ever lived-in this country? That he is admitted on all hands to be the first practitioner in the Court of Chancery? This is the man over whose head, to the indignation of the profession, Lord Brougham scrambled into the Chancellor's chair; this formidable individual was henceforth to appear before Lord Brougham (!) as a counsel, and that in the profoundest discussions upon the most subtle and complicated of sciences. He was not to be cajoled by the new Chancellor into acquiescence in his various innovations-for no sooner was his Lordship seated, than, like a madman "scattering fire-brands, arrows, and death," he began to suggest alterations by wholesale in a system with which he was about as familiar as his coachman or macebearer. Sir Edward, in his place in Parliament, suggested an enquiry into certain manœuvres of his Lordship. As soon as this came to the ears of the courteous and philosophic Chancellor, did he temperately and dignifiedly vindicate himself? He called Sir Edward Sugden a bug! Hear his very words, lest you should doubt the truth of our state Lord Brougham-or his secretary-wrote a letter to Birmingham, urging them to get up petitions in favour of the Bill! Stating that he was twitted in the House with the absence of petitions!! |