body feels it. It was a crisis big with importance, not only to themselves, but to all the nations of Europe. There was a determination for change pervading the social fabric which no power on earth could resist; and unless the instruments of safe guidance had been prepared by heaven, there must have been a wreck-certainly a shock, that would have rent society with a violence not soon to be repaired, and which perhaps would have thrown back improvement in the science and the art of governing mankind for generations to come.

The Aristocracy and Democracy of Great Britain had long been approaching to the point of collision, and in 1830, when William IV. ascended the throne, and called Earl Grey to the head of his government, these two antagonist elements stood marshalled against each other in fearful array. The democracy was mighty and determined; the aristocracy, accustomed to rule, was determined not to be ruled. Democracy had gained a manifest ascendency, and felt its own strength; while its antagonist power discovered that the fight was probably for its own existence. Where was the individual-for great changes in society require a leaderwhere was the man, in such a crisis, that could check and modify the impetuosity of the one party, and yet retain the confidence of the other, at the same time conducting them both to a safe adjustment of the conflict? There was manifestly but one upon the stage that could do it.

For a long life of consistent devotion to the principles and cause of reform, Earl Grey had earned and well merited the confidence of the popular party. A member of the aristocracy, proud of its dignities, attached to it in principle as well as in affection, resolved to maintain its privileges, and being generally known by those of his rank to be of this opinion and to have this temper, he had all that respect among them which this character, bating his known devotion to reform, could inspire. With Earl Grey, Reform did not aim at encroachment on what he regarded as the rights of the aristocracy. By the democracy he was believed to be an honest man; by the aristocracy he was known to be honest; and he enjoyed the unqualified respect of both parties for the sufficiency of his talents to preside over the councils of the nation, and to act with dignity as well as with decision and energy in a great emergency. He was, in fact, the connecting link between these two great and conflicting parts of society; for the period of his administration, society was bound and held together by his influence; and he had the reins of government a sufficient time to guide the nation through one of the most eventful periods of their history. The crisis passed without convulsion, though in May, 1832, they were on the borders of a revolution; and that only because Earl Grey felt obliged to re

tire, on account of the opposition of the House of Lords to his great measure. The necessity which the sovereign was under, of recommitting the government to his hands, proved he was the only man for the time.

The moral beauty of his retrospective history—the chief glory of his career and of his last great achievement-is, that his name is untarnished: his reputation is left clear and splendid as the sun in a cloudless day. His moral qualities have all along maintained a symmetry with his intellectual powers-or rather, perhaps, the latter have been under control of the former. Both, doubtless, have acted reciprocally on each other, to enlighten, purify, and invigorate the whole man, and to set him up as the prominent and leading star of the constellation that surrounded himthe sun of the sphere in which he moved, and which was governed and blessed by his influence. He has been loved, as well as respected, even by his political enemies; and will be so the more, as he recedes from that high place, in which, not personally, but politically, he was obnoxious to them. No party-no man-can bring to his charge a moral delinquency, or the want of courtesy as an opponent; however, some may think he has erred in judgment of what the times have demanded.

To have been thus honoured by Providence and by society -to have filled such a place to have been so universally qualified for the exigencies of such an eventful period-to have met them calmly, even with an unruffled temper-to have controlled them with dignity, for the attainment of a result so desirable and grand, for the political regeneration of a community of such unbending character, and of such vast, complicated, and long-established relations-holding a steady and firm hand on the symptoms of convulsion for the time being, to rebuke and suppress them—and then to descend from power in peace, to enjoy the gratitude and receive the blessing of a great nation-is a part of the history of one man that rarely finds a parallel.

Whether Earl Grey has had his coadjutors; whether he could have accomplished this work unaided by other men in the various ranks and relations of life; whether he could have done it unsupported by the people, whose cause rested on his shoulders; or without the press, that mighty engine of power; or without the popular branch of the legislature, which was the mediate and immediate instrument of his power-are not questions to be debated. But yet is it true, that he stood alone in the peculiarities of his relations, and in the supremacy of his influence; yet is it true, apparently, that no other man in the British nation could have filled his place and done his work. He was raised up by Providence for this same purpose."

It remains to be said, that Earl Grey is, and ever has

been, not only an honest and determined Reformer, but a Conservative in the better sense of the term; and more of a Conservative, probably, than they, who have sustained him and been the arm of his strength, are aware. It was best-it was necessary that he should be so; and he will, doubtless, die a Conservative. He has accomplished the work for which God ordained him; and that is enough. That, neither he nor any one else can ever undo; for himself, he will never desire it. Farther he could not go ; more he could not do ; it would be a miracle. Other, and the remaining needful degrees of Reform, must be done by other hands. It was his part to furnish them with the instrument. The name of Lord Grey now belongs to history. He may live and have influence for ten years to come; influence he must have, while his mind retains its vigour; and that influence, it may be expected, he will devote to conserve, in the best sense, the valuable institutions of his country, as well as to perfect that work of Reform in which he has been engaged. It is not unlikely he will try to save some things which he cannot save, and which ought not to be saved. His views of church and state will incline him that way.

If, indeed, his feelings have been injured and his heart disgusted, as some have surmised, even with an imaginary discovery of any unfair doings, relating to himself personally, among his late coadjutors and colleagues, it should not be matter of surprise if he is found taking a stand against what he may deem precipitate measures in the progress of Reform; nor ought he to be regarded as forfeiting in any degree the everlasting gratitude of his country for the services he has rendered. Indeed, his whole history and character entitle him still to stand up as a Conservative of many things, which popular demand will undoubtedly press to have dissolved and broken down. It is morally impossible that Earl Grey should be a Reformer to that extent which the democracy of the empire meditates and will claim. Lord Grey has ever been a British aristocrat; and the Ethiopian cannot change his skin, nor the leopard his spots. He has filled that place that was important and indispensable; he has done his work, and purchased to himself the name of one of the greatest benefactors of his country; and the nation will not be ungrateful to the man who must ever be regarded as the instrument of giving them the Reform Bill.

LORD BROUGHAM.

The late Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain-Mr. Henry Brougham that was, some five years ago that singular genius, that exalted man, who, the longer he lives and the more he does, bids fair to be the greater puzzle, as to

what he will finally come to-was described in comparison of Mr. Secretary Canning, in 1823, as follows:

"Though they resembled each other in standing foremost and alone in their respective parties, they were in every other respect opposed as the zenith and nadir, or as light and darkness.

"This difference extended even to their personal appearance. Canning was airy, open, and prepossessing; Brougham seemed stern, hard, lowering, and almost repulsive. The head of Canning had an air of extreme elegance; that of Brougham was much the reverse-but still, in whatever way it was viewed, it gave a sure indication of the terrible power of the inhabitant within. Canning's features were handsome, and his eye, though deeply ensconced under his eyebrows, was full of sparkle and gayety. The features of Brougham were harsh in the ex, treme while his forehead shot up to a great elevation, his chin was long and square; his mouth, nose, and eyes seemed huddled together in the centre of his face-the eyes absolutely lost amid folds and corrugations; and while he sat listening, they seemed to retire inward, or to be veiled by a filmy curtain, which not only concealed the appalling glare which shot away from them when he was roused, but rendered his mind and his purpose a sealed book to the keenest scrutiny of man. Canning's passions appeared upon the open champaign of his face, drawn up in a ready array, and moved to and fro at every turn of his own oration, and every retort in that of his antagonist; those of Brougham remained within, as in a citadel which no artillery could batter, and no mine blow up; and even when he was putting forth all the power of his eloquence, when every ear was tingling at what he said, and while the immediate object of his invective was writhing in helpless and indescribable agony, his visage retained its cold and brassy hue, and he triumphed over the passions of other men by seeming to be wholly without passion himself. The whole form of Canning was rounded, and smooth, and graceful; that of Brougham angular, long, and awkward. When Canning rose to speak, he elevated his countenance, and seemed to look round for the applause of those about him, as an object dear to his feelings; while Brougham stood coiled and concentrated, reckless of all but the power that was within himself. From Canning there was expected the glitter of wit and the flow of spirit, something showy and elegant; Brougham stood up as a being whose powers and intentions were all a mystery-whose aim and effect no living man could divine. You bent forward to catch the first sentence of the one, and felt human nature elevated in the specimen before you; you crouched and shrunk back from the other, and dreams of ruin and annihilation darted across your mind. The one seemed to dwell among men, to join in their joys, and to live upon their praise: the other appeared a son of the desert, who had deigned to visit the human race merely to make them tremble at his strength.

"The style of their eloquence and the structure of their orations were equally different. Canning chose his words for the sweetness of their sound, and arranged his periods for the melody of their cadence; while, with Brougham, the more hard and unmouthable the better. Canning arranged his words like one who could play skilfully upon that sweetest of all instruments, the human voice; Brougham proceeded like a master of every power of reasoning and of the understanding. The modes and allusions of the one were always quadrable by the clas

sical formula; those of the other could be squared only by the higher analysis of the mind-and they rose, and ran, and pealed, and swelled on and on, till a single sentence was often a complete oration within itself; but still, so clear was the logic, and so close the connexion, that every member carried the weight of all that went before, and opened the way for all that was to follow after. The style of Canning was like the convex mirror, which scatters every ray of light that falls upon it, and shines and sparkles in whatever position it is viewed; that of Brougham was like the concave speculum, scattering no indiscriminate radiance, but having its light concentrated into one intense and tremendous focus. Canning marched forward in a straight and clear track— every paragraph was perfect in itself, and every coruscation of wit and of genius was brilliant and delightful-it was all felt, and it was all at once; Brougham twined round and round in a spiral, sweeping the contents of a vast circumference before him, and uniting and pouring them onward to the main point of attack. When he began, one was astonished at the wideness and the obliquity of his course; nor was it possible to comprehend how he was to dispose of the vast and varied materials which he collected by the way; but as the curve lessened, and the end appeared, it became obvious that all was to be efficient there.

"Such were the rival orators, who sat glancing hostility and defiance at each other during the early part of the session of 1823:-Brougham, as if wishing to overthrow the secretary by a sweeping accusation of having abandoned all principle for the sake of office; and the secretary ready to parry the charge and to attack in his turn. An opportunity at length offered; and it is more worthy of being recorded, as being the last terrible personal attack previous to that change in the measures of the cabinet, which, though it had been begun from the moment that Canning, Robinson, and Huskisson came into office, was not at that time perceived, or at least not admitted and appreciated. Upon that occasion, the oration of Brougham was at the outset disjointed and ragged, and apparently without aim or application. He careered over the whole annals of the world, and collected every instance in which genius had degraded itself at the footstool of power, or in which principle had been sacrificed for the vanity or lucre of place; but still there was no allusion to Canning, and no connexion, that ordinary men could discover, with the business before the House. When, however, he had collected every material which suited his purpose-when the mass had become big and black, he bound it about and about with the cords of illustration and of argument; when its union was secure, he swung it round and round with the strength of a giant and the rapidity of a whirlwind, in order that its impetus and effect might be the more tremendous; and while doing this, he ever and anon glared his eye, and pointed his finger, to make the aim and the direction sure. Canning himself was the first that seemed to be aware where and how terrible was to be the collision; and he kept writhing his body in agony, and rolling his eyes in fear, as if anxious to find some shelter from the impending bolt. The House soon caught the impression, and every man in it was glancing his eye fearfully, first towards the orator, and then towards the secretary. There was-save the voice of Brougham, which growled in that under tone of thunder, which is so fearfully audible, and of which no speaker of the day was fully master but himself-a silence, as if the angel of retribution had been glaring in the