LORD BROUGHAM. 279 



the decline of life he was deprived of those little indulgences 

 those sweet reliefs of age and pain to which honest industry is 

 fairly entitled. This fatal error, of which I believe every person 

 who peruses this page can produce numerous instances, embitter- 

 ed the old man's declining days with unavailing repentance, and 

 hurried his son into a disgraceful death. 



LORD BROUGHAM. 



Lord Brougham never studies his speeches before- 

 hand. This is evident from the allusions which he 

 makes to every thing of importance which trans- 

 pires in the House respecting the question before it. 

 These allusions are not slight or few, but often form 

 the very staple of his speeches. Yet, though au 

 extempore speaker, he never betrays the least diffi- 

 culty, or shows the slightest symptoms of being at 

 loss, as to how he should proceed. His mind is so 

 fertile; his resources in argument, illustration, sar- 

 casm, denunciation, invective, abuse, are so ample, 

 that the only difficulty he feels is, to select the best 

 matter which presents itself, and to know when he 

 ought to stop. The readiness and fertility of his 

 mind often lead him to overlay the side of the ques- 

 tion which he espouses, with arguments and illus- 

 trations. He is never at a loss for words, they 

 flow on him as copiously as do his ideas, they seem 

 to come, like Shakspeare's spirits, froui the vasty 

 deep, — without bemg called. 



But thous^h the noble Lord does not ])repare his 

 speeches beforehand, he does, on some great and 

 particular occasions, carefully study some parts of 

 them. Li such a case his taste is remarkably fas- 

 tidious. It is almost impossible for him to please 

 liimself with any thin<2; he does. A singular in- 

 stance of this was afibrded in his speech on the 

 conclusion of Queen Caroline's trial. The perora- 

 tion of that speech, whu^h is, undoubtedly, one of 

 tlie most splendid specimens of eloquence which 

 modern times can produce, was written aud re- writ- 

 ten no fewer than fourteen times. 



