I&23.] Sketches of Characters 



Brougham begins to coil up like a 

 snake; when his features are puck- 

 ered and corrugated into the centre of 

 his face ; when his voice at once sinks 

 a whole octave ; when his teeth are 

 gnashed together, and his eyes look 

 out from the folds of his brows like 

 tigers from an Indian jungle ; then, one 

 feels as if the object at which he is to 

 hurl his invective were writhing in all 

 the agonies of torture and of death. 

 The very air of the House seems to 

 become murky ; the impression is the 

 same as during that dark and dread- 

 ful pause, when the lightning is form- 

 ing in the cloud ; and the small men 

 crouch and tremble, uncertain where 

 the bolt may take effect. In like man- 

 ner, when Burdett pulls himself up, 

 and curls his lip in all its pride, a feel- 

 ing of inferiority shoots irresistibly 

 through the House ; and, when the wit 

 of Canning is about to flash and 

 sparkle, one can see every feature of 

 his face glowing with a pointed and 

 arrowy flame, each in the act of wing- 

 ing its way, to the utter confusion and 

 discomfiture of some hapless wight. 

 ' 3. Under the third may be summed 

 up the power and impression of the 

 whole. The power is always an exact 

 aggregate of the capacity and display ; 

 but not so with the impression. That 

 is also measured by real or supposed 

 moral worth, and by influence, such as 

 that of place, wealth, or name. 

 Farther, it is twofold in itself; for, as 

 the House does not purely and per- 

 fectly represent the nation, either in a 

 political or in an intellectual sense, 

 so that which produces a strong effect 

 upon the House has often but a weak 

 one upon the Nation, and vice versa. 

 The internal effect, in as far as it de- 

 pends upon the mere powers of the 

 speaker, without regard to his moral 

 worth or influence, is regulated more 

 by the manner than by the matter; 

 while the effect out of doors is regu- 

 lated chiefly by the matter itself. 



The general heads which have been 

 enumerated, and in so far explained, 

 may be farther subdivided thus, 

 / Resources 



in the Active World. 



291 



2 Judgment 

 "» Logic 

 V Self•pos8e8^ion 

 ^ Voice 

 \ Langnage 

 ..<^ Style 

 i Manner 

 \, Expression 

 rcr t S I^i'wer 



*^"*'^' \ Impression 



1. Resourtes. — These are eitlicr in- 



Intellectna^ 



Extetnal • 



herent or acquired. The iiiherent are of 

 various kinds, — as imagination, wit, 

 intuitive perception, and that unde- 

 f;nable facnlly called common sense. 

 The acquired are literary, scientific, 

 practical, common-place, mere me- 

 mory, topical, and a variety of others. 



2. JjtfiV/meni,— Is that faculty by which 

 a speaker makes a proper selection 

 from his resources. It varies in degree 

 more than in kind. 



3. Logic, — Is used to denote the 

 mode in which the matters selected by 

 the judgment are put together. Its 

 varieties are in kind. It may be 

 specious, subtle, close, clear, forcible, 

 diffuse, satisfactory, and many <rthers, 

 which can be understood from the bare 

 mention of the epithet. 



4. Self-possession, — Guards a man 

 alike from the artillery of his antago- 

 nists, and from the recoil of his own. 

 It varies in degree. 



6. Voice — This may be distinguished 

 both according to the power and the 

 feeling of its tones; and the extent to 

 which voice, considered in the abstract, 

 may heighten the whole power of a 

 speaker, will depend upon the quality 

 of these taken singly, and also upon 

 their harmony in respect to each 

 other, 



6. Language, — Isused with reference 

 to the mere words and phrases, it 

 may be elegant, showy, strong, correct, 

 plain, happy, coarse, feeble, &c. 



7. Style, — Is applied, not to the deli- 

 very of the speech, but to the speech 

 itself. It may be neat, simple, natural, 

 artless, flippant, colloquial, elaborate, 

 clear, forcible, &c. 



8. Manner, — Is used, to denote the 

 general bearing of the speaker, — the 

 w ay in which he balances his body and 

 delivers his words. It may be aus- 

 tere, mild, theatrical, gentle, con- 

 ceited, artificial, familiar, unassuming, 

 haughty,petulant,grating,reserved,&c. 



9. Expression. — This is used to de- 

 note, as it w ere, the intellectuality of 

 the manner ; the spirit which breathes 

 from the form, and utters itself in the 

 voice. It may be open, candid, manly, 

 sombre, diffident, shrewd, arrogant, 

 cool, irresolute,' firm, honest, hypocri- 

 tical, suspicious, &c. 



10. Power. — This being the sum of 

 the others, will vary in degree. 



11. Impression, — Is a matter, not of 

 reasoning, but of experiment, as it 

 depends upon the extrinsic circum- 

 stances of worth and influence. We 

 shall consider it both with reference 

 to the House, and without. 



TABOLAR 



