The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. II., No. 10, September, 1836Various
General
The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. II., No. 10, September, 1836
Various
American literature -- 19th century -- Periodicals
In addition to this, he was no common speaker. The impression of his
dignified, convincing and penetrating oratory, is still deeply
impressed on the recollection of those who were accustomed to hear
him; the air and manner of a great nobleman, which always
distinguished him, gave additional force to his authority. The noble
affability of his manners would remind you of the old Duke of
Montmorency-Laval. There is this difference between them, that Lord
Grey did not succeed in forming and supporting his ministry alone by
the influence of his fine manners, as the _ci-devant_ plenipotentiary
of Charles X at Vienna, did in respect to his embassies.
The other nobleman of coarse appearance, still fresh and blonde, is
the Earl of Ripon, politically better known by his second title of
Viscount Goderich. He also was raised for a moment to the top of the
ministerial ladder; but it does not appear that he has made up his
mind to remain in private life, into which situation his incapacity
made him so soon fall back. However, if he aspires to reascend, he has
not taken the right road to accomplish his designs; it is no longer
the period when one may balance between two opinions, or feed on two
political parties. It would be a double mistake in him to persist in
his attempts to reseize the reins of supreme authority. The confusion
of his reasoning as well as of his ideas, when he attempts to speak,
proves very clearly that he does not possess the clear and firm head
necessary to manage the furious horses of the chariot of state.
The Duke of Richmond has never raised himself to the same sublime
elevation; he is one of those poor nobles whose liberalism must be
maintained by high and lucrative employments. He is one of those
aristocratic worthies, always ready for any sort of military or civil
work, and all sort of salaries. Lieutenant General and _aid-de-camp_
of the king, his grace has not hesitated to stoop to manage the mails,
and to become a member of a whig cabinet. At the present moment, he
has the bearing of one who flatters himself with the chimerical hope
of a _juste-milieu_ administration, of which he would be a member.
Louis XVIII would have placed him in his upper house. The noble duke,
remarkable for a false air of Parisian elegance, which distinguishes
his carriage from that of our great men, usually so full of stiffness
and formality; yet I do not think that any of the modern great men of
France have ever, as the Duke of Richmond often does, crossed their
legs and raised their feet higher than the level of their heads, in
full session, for the purpose of better viewing themselves in their
polished boots.
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