Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 08
Religion
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 08
Literature -- Collections
I now turn to that other part of the honorable and learned gentleman's
[Mr. Brougham's] speech; in which he acknowledges his acquiescence in
the passages of the address, echoing the satisfaction felt at the
success of the liberal commercial principles adopted by this country,
and at the steps taken for recognizing the new States of America. It
does happen, however, that the honorable and learned gentleman being
not unfrequently a speaker in this House, nor very concise in his
speeches, and touching occasionally, as he proceeds, on almost every
subject within the range of his imagination, as well as making some
observations on the matter in hand,--and having at different periods
proposed and supported every innovation of which the law or
Constitution of the country is susceptible,--it is impossible to
innovate without appearing to borrow from him. Either, therefore, we
must remain forever absolutely locked up as in a northern winter, or
we must break our way out by some mode already suggested by the
honorable and learned gentleman; and then he cries out, "Ah, I was
there before you! That is what I told you to do; but as you would not
do it then, you have no right to do it now."
In Queen Anne's reign there lived a very sage and able critic named
Dennis, who in his old age was the prey of a strange fancy that he had
himself written all the good things in all the good plays that were
acted. Every good passage he met with in any author he insisted was
his own. "It is none of his," Dennis would always say: "no, it's
mine!" He went one day to see a new tragedy. Nothing particularly good
to his taste occurred till a scene in which a great storm was
represented. As soon as he heard the thunder rolling over his head he
exclaimed, "That's my thunder!" So it is with the honorable and
learned gentleman: it's all his thunder. It will henceforth be
impossible to confer any boon, or make any innovation, but he will
claim it as his thunder.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account