I have already said something in praise of his speeches. They have in them what an old poet calls ‘veins of nature’—a heartfelt simplicity, before which wit, and elegance, and acuteness, and the pomp of words, sink into insignificance.
Mr. Sawbridge.—Junius praises this city orator and patriot for his republican firmness. If he is to be taken as a model of the republican character, he does not, in my opinion, reflect much credit on it. In the following speech there is all the impudence, indecency, grossness, and vulgarity, of a factious demagogue. This character, I know not how, unfortunately sprung up in the beginning of the present reign.
Colonel (afterwards Gen.) Burgoyne was the natural son of lord Bingley. His defeat and capture by general Gates determined the issue of the contest with America. As a writer and a speaker, he had more success, though he aimed at more than he effected. His Heiress is a feeble, though a very elegant comedy; and in his speeches, which are modelled according to the rules of Cicero, his own abilities and his own modesty take up half of the paper, and the reader’s attention is equally divided between the speaker and the subject. At the same time, if they were a little less affected, they would not be without merit.
Mr. Jenkinson. (The present Earl of Liverpool).
‘Servetur ad imum
‘Qualis ab incœptu processerit, & sibi constet.’
Hon. Temple Luttrel.—I have introduced the following Speech as an exquisite specimen of unaccountably absurd affectation.
Mr. Wilkes, (the Lord Mayor).—This celebrated man was born in 1728. In 1761, he was elected member for Aylesbury, about which time he excited the indignation of ministry by publishing a periodical paper, called the North Briton, for the forty-fifth number of which he was apprehended by a general warrant. He was however liberated, and became the patriot of the day. He was soon after expelled the house for his Essay on Woman. He was repeatedly returned for Middlesex after this, but the election was always declared void, till 1774, when he took his seat without opposition. The following speech in his own defence contains the clearest, most logical, and best argued case, that has been made out on that side of the question. He takes the same ground, and often uses the same words as Junius, but I think he establishes his point more satisfactorily. He was a clear, correct, able, and eloquent speaker. His conversational talents were very brilliant. He was a very ugly and a very debauched man, but a great favourite with the women, whom he accordingly satirized without mercy. He died 1797.
Mr. Dunning, (afterwards Lord Ashburton,) was born at Ashburton, in Devonshire, in 1731. After studying some time under his father, who was an attorney, he entered at the Temple, and on being called to the bar, soon rose to eminence in his profession: he obtained a seat in parliament, and became one of the most distinguished members of opposition at this period. He died 1782. The following is the most brilliant display of his eloquence that I have met with; which I was at some pains to pick out from among the shreds and patches that remain of his speeches. In general, he was neither an elegant nor an agreeable speaker. His style was dry, harsh, formal, and pedantic. His legal knowledge is said to have been very great: but as this is a subject which I do not understand, I must leave it to the lawyers to pronounce his panegyric in ‘good set terms’ of their own.
Thomas (Lord) Lyttleton succeeded his father in 1773. He was a young man of great talents, but very profligate in his manners. He died in 1779, at the age of 35.