370 RANDOM KECOI.LEC. riONS OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 



what is called dwelling on them. He is always clear : you can never mistake 

 the position he labours to establish, nor can you ever fail to perceive the im- 

 mediate bearing of his observations on that position. 



" Were his diction and manner good, the noble Duke would rank high as a 

 speaker, but both are bad. His style is rough and disjointed — sometimes 

 positively incorrect : it is always, however, nervous and expressive. His 

 manner of speaking is much worse than his diction. He has a bad screech- 

 ing sort of voice, aggravated by an awkward mode of mouthing the words. 

 His enunciation is so bad, owing in some measure to the loss of several of his 

 teeth, that often, when at the full stretch of his voice, you do not know what 

 particular words he is using. At other times, and this too while his gesture 

 is vehement, he speaks in so low and peculiar a sort of tone, that you lose, 

 perhaps, whole sentences together. 



" The Duke feels strongly on political questions, and there is always great 

 energy in his manner when expressing his sentiments. He generally makes a 

 liberal use of his arms, especially his right one, when on his legs, and moves 

 his body about for the purpose of enabling him to look his own friends, in 

 different parts of the House, in the face. In his more vehement moods, he 

 frequently falls into what, in parliamentary language, is called the habit of ex- 

 pectoration. His whole soul is thrown into his subject. You see at once 

 that he has no ambition to play the orator. He never uses a word more than is 

 necessary, nor does he attempt rhetorical flourishes. His speeches are full of 

 feeling and sentiment. You are only surprised when you see the intensity of 

 the former, if in opposition to any measure before their Lordships, — that he 

 does not divide the House on the subject. 



" Notwithstanding his having attained the advanced age of sixty-seven, he 

 is full of spirits, and apparently in excellent health. The conformation of his 

 face is, by portraits, or otherwise, so familiar to every one that it is unnecessary 

 to describe it. I may simply mention that his hair is of a grayish colour and 

 that his complexion is pale and wan. His eye is quick and piercing, and his 

 whole countenance is highly indicative of energy and determination. In 

 height he is rather above the middle size. His form, for one of his years, is 

 slender, and remarkably erect. In his clothes he appears to evince a partiality 

 to a blue coat, and light vest and trousers. They are seldom well made, but 

 hang rather loosely on him." 



Here we must close our extracts for the present. We received the 

 volume at too late an hour to enable us to quote any of the author's 

 Sketches of the Liberal Peers. In our next number v^e hope to be 

 able to advert to the work in a more analytical way, when we shall 

 have an opportunity of introducing to our readers such men as Earl 

 Grey, Lord Melbourne, Lord Brougham, and some of the right rev. 

 bench of bishops. 



