ORATORY AND ELOCUTION. 



preacher: "Atterbury. The glory 

 of English orators ! His Language 

 in its strictest purity and beauty : 

 nothing dark, nothing redundant, 

 nothing defective, nothing mis- 

 placed. Trivial thoughts avoided ; 

 uncommon ones introduced ; set in 

 a clear and strong light in a few 

 words ; a few admirable similies ; 

 graceful allusions to Scripture be- 

 yond any other writer. On the 

 whole, he is a model for courtly 

 preachers." N 



SHERIDAN. 



Sheridan was one day much an- 

 noyed by a fellow-member of the 

 House of Commons, who kept cry- 

 ing out every few minutes, " Hear ! 

 hear !" During the debate he took 

 occasion to describe a political co- 

 temporary who wished to play the 

 rogue, but had only sense enough 

 to act the fool. " Where," exclaimed 

 he, with great emphasis, "where 

 shall we find a more foolish knave 

 or a more knavish fool than hel" 

 "Hear! hear!" was shouted by 

 the troublesome member. Sheridan 

 turned round, and, thanking him 

 for the prompt reply, sat down amid 

 a general roar of laughter. 



APPLAUSE IN THE GALLERY OF THE 

 HOUSE OF COMMONS. 



The late William Gardiner, of 

 Leicester, related the following 

 story of himself, in his work called 

 Music and Friends: 



" I was presented with an order 

 to the gallery of the House of 

 Commons. That night there was 

 a grand debate upon Mr. Grey's 

 motion touching the seizure of 

 Oczakow by the Empress of Russia, 

 in which I heard all the principal 

 speakers. Mr. Grey's style was 

 that of sober argument; Sheridan's, 

 playful; Burke's, imaginative and 

 lofty; Pitt's (what little he said), 

 supercilious and scornful ; Fox's, 

 powerful and eloquent. He was the 

 last speaker, and I was so excited 



by his oratory, that, without re- 

 flecting where I was, I vehemently 

 called out 'Bravo!' I was de- 

 lighted to that degree that I made 

 the house ring again. The speaker, 

 Addingtou, immediately got up and 

 said, that more unwarrantable con- 

 duct he had never Avitnessed than 

 that of the person who had inter- 

 rupted the proceedings. Strangers 

 were upon sufferance in that house, 

 and could not be permitted to ap- 

 plaud or disapprove anything that 

 was passing. It was a high breach 

 of privilege, and a sergeant-at-arras 

 was ordered to bring the offender 

 to the bar. A tall, handsome man, 

 sitting alone in the side gallery, 

 approached me, and said, with a 

 countenance almost breaking into a 

 laugh, 'How could you be so in- 

 discreet, young man?' 'Sir,' I 

 replied, 'I hope you will excuse 

 me ; I am but a countryman.' By 

 this time the officer was making 

 his way to take me up, when this 

 person, waving his hand, caused 

 him to desist. It was no other 

 than the Prince of Wales, whom 

 the importance of the debate had 

 brought into the house, and who, 

 most probably, saved me from New- 

 gate. The gallery, however, in 

 consequence of my indiscretion, was 

 ordered to be cleared ; and as I 

 passed through the crowd, I had tho 

 execration of the whole company. 

 Many years after wards, when on a, 

 journey to the south of England, I 

 arrived late in the evening at the 

 Single Star, in Exeter, and was 

 shown into the travellers' room, 

 where a merry party were discuss- 

 ing the merits of the different 

 speakers in the House of Commons. 

 A gentleman told us that he was in 

 the gallery one night, enjoying the 

 debate, when he had the mortifica- 

 tion to be turned out, in conse- 

 quence of the folly of some fellow 

 calling out ' Bravo !' I kept my 

 countenance, and joined in the laugb, 

 and did not reveal to the gentleman 



