n n n n n n n n , : a G a '. '.',.. r>--.. . -, . : V !' . K 1 1 ' ; ^' : -v:' : / : : THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES C. W. Link. THE LIFE OF THE RIGHT HON. JOHN BRIGHT, M.P. THE LIFE AND SPEECHES OF THE RIGHT HON. JOHN BRIGHT, M.P. BY GEORGE BARNETT SMITH, Author of the ' Life of the Right Hon. IV. E. Gladstone, M.P.' ' Poets and Novdists, ' etc. WITH PORTRAITS IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 27, PATERNOSTER ROW. MDCCCLXXXJ. Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Printers, London and Aylesbury. PBEFACE. A TASK which I have long been desirous of accomplishing is completed hy the publication of the present work. That task, although laborious, has been congenial, and I trust that the results of iny labour will not go altogether unappreciated by the English-speaking race at home and abroad. My object was to compile full and adequate accounts of the public career and speeches of the greatest Liberal statesman and the greatest Liberal orator of the nineteenth century. Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Bright stand as public men in a position so excep- tional, that no apology is needed for relating the story of their lives while they are still amongst us, especially as I do not, of course, presume to pass judgment upon their labours and character. Indeed, in this respect with the exception of a few closing observations in both biographies I attempt less of formal criticism than may be discovered in the lead- VI PREFACE. ing reviews and newspapers. It has been rather my desire to collect for the reader accurate and exhaustive materials upon which he may base his own political, personal, and historical estimates. The great favour with which the public and the press received the biography of Mr. Gladstone, encouraged me to proceed with the life of Mr. Bright, which may be regarded as a companion work to its predecessor. In the history of Liberalism during our own genera- tion, Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Bright have been com- plementary forces. The former has been the great official exponent of Liberal ideas ; while Mr.Bright has been the great popular leader, first imbuing the multitude with his own principles, and then expound- ing them to the Legislature, by which body he has seen them eventually adopted and transformed into law. Probably no other English statesman, looking back upon a political career extending over forty years, was ever able to point to so consistent a course as Mr. Bright has led, or to affirm with equal truth that the cardinal principles of his political creed had been successively accepted and adopted by the various Governments of his time. This much even his opponents may I may even say must admit. In some respects, the reader will, perhaps, find the present work more interesting than the one which PREFACE. VII preceded it. In the first place, I was naturally obliged to devote much space to the ten Budget speeches of Mr. Gladstone ; and it is beyond the power of any one to invest these fine displays of oratorical power and financial skill with anything like the charm or the interest which attended their delivery in the House of Commons, by the greatest financier and the greatest statesman and party orator of the age. But in addition to the fact that all Mr. Bright's speeches possess a strong human interest, there is in the present work considerable material that is now published for the first time, and which has a direct personal bearing. Notes of Mr. Bright's earliest oratorical efforts have likewise been recovered, and are now published. One word as to the speeches. Mr. Thorold Eogers has published three volumes of Mr. Bright's Parlia- mentary speeches and public addresses, and the selec- tions are very admirable, so far as they go. But there are many important speeches, both in the earlier and later years of Mr. Bright's career, which Mr. Kogers has been compelled to omit ; and he has only included one of the right hon. gentleman's speeches delivered in the course of the Free Trade campaign, and that, as it seemed to me, not the most eloquent or the most vigorous. The reader will find Vlll PREFACE. in the ensuing pages a full account of the great move- ment which developed and demonstrated Mr. Bright's powers, and copious extracts are given from all his remarkable Free Trade speeches. It is true of the greatest speaker who ever lived, that after the lapse of a certain period there must be lengthy passages in his orations which cease to have that special bearing they had upon his age and his contemporaries ; and by summarizing these in Mr. Bright's case, I have been enabled to give in full those other passages which must exercise a profound influence upon the minds of men to the latest generations. Then, too, after a time, the general reader requires a connecting narrative of events and debates sufficiently full to enable him to comprehend the various points in the speeches of the orator: this I have endeavoured always to supply in the following work. Besides having dealt with all the speeches which appear in Mr. Thorold Rogers's volumes giving, I trust, the substance of every argument employed, and publish- ing in extenso the perorations and the most striking passages in all the addresses I have brought the ensuing narrative down to the year 1881. The Par- liamentary speeches collected by Mr. Rogers closed with the year 1868 ; and all the speeches of moment which Mr. Bright has delivered in the House of PREFACE. IX Commons during the past thirteen years have been summarized in this work. There are also incorpo- rated the many addresses delivered in the country, including some which Mr. Eogers was unable to embrace in his volume of 'Public Addresses,' and others which have been delivered since his collection was compiled. The objects of the two works are thus entirely different. Mr. Eogers, in publishing his volumes, acted in an eclectic spirit, and, as I have said, his collections are excellent, but necessarily only partial ; my object has been to furnish a com- plete survey of Mr. Bright's life, with a full and comprehensive account of his speeches down to and including the present year. I am able to state further, in conclusion, that an authentic biography of Mr. Bright is now published for the first time. Apologizing to the reader for troubling him with so long preface, which under the circumstances could not well have been avoided, I now leave the work to his consideration and indulgence. G. B. S. LONDON, Sept. 24, 1881. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. BIRTH, YOUTH, AND EDUCATION. PAGE Introduction. The Brights a Wiltshire Family. Migration Northwards. Mr. Bright's Father. In Business at Rochdale. His Family. Childhood of John Bright. Early Education. Favourite Pursuits. Interest in Political Questions. His Ancestor, John Gratton. A remarkable Character. Mr. Bright's earliest efforts at Speech-making. Anecdotes. The Reform Agita- tion of 1831-2 . . 1 CHAPTER II. EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. Mr. Bright first visits the Continent. The Rochdale Literary and Philosophical Society. Mr. Bright on Capital Punishment. On various questions of inte- rest. Tour in the East. Address on Church Establishments. Education. Mr. Bright's first meeting with Cobden. Factory Labour. The Corn Laws. Address to the Reformers of Rochdale. Church Rates. An exciting Contest. Animated Speech by Mr. Bright. His efforts as a Writer. First Marriage .......... 18 CHAPTER III. ELECTED FOR DURHAM. Mr. Bright's first Election Contest. Cause of his non-success. His Opponent, Lord Dungannon. Mr. Bright the Popular Candidate. Lord Dungannon unseated. Second Election in July, 1843. A singular Conservative Can- didate. Mr. Bright's Election Addresses. Scene at the Hustings. Election Pleasantries. Return of Mr. Bright. A Free Trade Triumph. Rejoicings. Great Meeting in London . .... 59 XU CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. FIRST SPEECH IN PARLIAMENT. FACTORY LEGISLATION, KTO. PAOI The League Triumph at Durham. Mr. Bright's appearance in the House. His maiden Speech. Import Duties. An Appeal to Ministers. The Corn Laws the real grievance of the People. The Chelsea Out-pensioners' Bill. Com- mercial relations with the Brazils. Factory Legislation. Lord Ashley and Mr. Bright. Defence of the Operatives. A dramatic incident. Distress in the Eastern Counties. The evils of Protection. Mr. Bright on the Game Laws. Speech on the Maynooth Grant . . . . .89 CHAPTER V. THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. The Corn Law Monopoly. Manchester after the Reform Bill. First movements for Repeal. Cobden's Letters and Pamphlets. Anti-Corn-Law Association formed in 1836. The Corn Law question in 1837-8. Formation of the League. Mr. Bright on the Provisional Committee. Mr. Paulton's Addresses. The Manchester Chamber of Commerce petitions against the Com Laws. Meetings in 1839. Mr. Bright's early appearances. The movement in Manchester. In Parliament. The League and the Press. The Elections of 1841. Cobden in the House of Commons. Lamentable Condition of the Country .......... 122 CHAPTER VI. THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE (continued). Great Distress amongst the Working Classes. Meeting of Free Trade Delegates in London, in February, 1842. Sir Robert Peel's Sliding Scale. Continued Destitution in the Country. The Duke of Sussex and the League. Scene outside the House of Commons. Deputations to Ministers. The Chartist Rising. Mr. Bright issues an Address to the Working Men of Rochdale. Tour through the Midlands. Mr. Bright in the North. Lord Brougham and the Repealers. Opening of the Free Trade Hall at Manchester. Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Cobden. Extraordinary Scene in the House of Com- mons. Sympathy in the country with Mr. Cobden. Speech by Mr. Bright. Carlyle on the Corn Laws. League Meetings at Drury Lane Theatre. The Agitation in 1843. Tour of Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright. The Question in the House of Commons. The League gains influential Adhe- rents. Meetings in 1844. Demonstration in Covent Garden Theatre. Address by Mr. Bright. Registration Movement by the League. Increase of Freeholds. Peel's Budget of 1845. Mr. Cobden's Motion on the Agricul- tural Distress. Great Free Trade Bazaar at Covent Garden. Mr. Villiers's last Motion on the Corn Laws in the House of Commons. Speeches of Sir J. Graham, Mr. Bright, and Mr. Cobden. The Question approaching its final Settement . .147 CONTENTS. Xlll CHAPTEE VII. REPEAL OF THE CORN LAWS. PAGE The Potato Disease in Ireland. The Government and the Crisis. Lord John Russell's important Letter declaring for Free Trade. Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright appeal to the Prime Minister. The Corn Laws doomed. Great League Meeting at Covent Garden Theatre. Cabinet Difficulties. Peel returns to Office. Meeting of Parliament. Measure for the Repeal of the Corn Laws introduced. Sir Robert Peel's Statement. Protracted Debates. Mr. Bright's eulogium upon the Premier. The Corn Importation Bill passes both Houses. Dissolution of the League. Interesting Proceedings. Final Speech by Mr. Bright. Celebrations in the Country. Presentations to the League Leaders. General Effects of Free Trade . . .205 CHAPTEE VIH. ELECTION FOR MANCHESTER. PERSONAL DETAILS. The General Election of 1847. Mr. Bright returned for Manchester. Scene at the Hustings. Speech of the New Member. Moral of his Election. Mr. Bright's Second Marriage. His Family. Death of his child Leonard . 233 CHAPTEE IX. IRISH QUESTIONS 1847-53. State of Ireland in 1847. Government Measures. Statesmanlike Speech by Mr. Bright. Irish Debates in 1848. Disestablishment recommended by Mr. Bright. The Land Question. Irish Difficulties. Terrible Condition of the Country. A Great Opportunity for English Statesmen. Mr. Bright visits Ireland. Receives an Address from the Irish Residents of Manchester and Salford in 1850. Important Letter to Dr. Gray on the Irish Church . 246 CHAPTEE X. GENERAL LEGISLATION 1846-53. Mr. Bright on Questions of General Legislation. Factory Labour. Lord Ashley's Ten Hours' Bill. Arguments of Mr. Bright and his Friends. The Factory Acts of 1847 and 1850. Flogging in the Army. Lord John Russell's Educa- tion Scheme of 1847. It is opposed by Mr. Bright. His Speeches on the Cultivation of Cotton in India. Excessive Public Expenditure. Mr. Cobden's Motion thereon. The Hastings-Cobden Correspondence. Mr. Bright attacks the Derby Government of 1852. Further Speeches on Free Trade and Pro- tection. Capital Punishment. Evidence on the Game Laws. Bill for their Repeal introduced. The Burdens on Land. Mr. Disraeli's Proposal to relieve the Landowners. It is opposed by Mr. Bright, and defeated. Second Resolu- XIV CONTENTS. MM turn on Agricultural Distress. It is lost by a narrow majority. Mr. Hume's Bill to Amend the National Representation. Supported by Mr. Bright. The County Franchise. Lord John Russell's Reform Bill of 1852. The Ballot. Mr. Bright on Church Rates. Taxes on Knowledge and the Free- dom of the Press. Speeches of Mr. Bright and Mr. Cobden. Government Defeat on the Advertisement Duty. Mr. Bright on Parliamentary Oaths. The case of Alderman Salomons. Papal Aggression. Mr. Bright eloquently opposes the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill. Public Addresses at Manchester and other places. Mr. Bright invited to stand for Rochdale. The Kossutli Reception at Manchester. Defence of ' the Manchester Party.' Mr. Bright at Belfast. The Manchester Election of 1&52. Mr. Bright on the War Panic of 1853 . 277 CHAPTER XL RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR. Origin of the Crimean War. The Holy Places. Russia, Turkey, and the Chris- tian Protectorate. Declaration of War by Turkey. Mr. Bright on British Interests and the Integrity of Turkey. War Fever in England. Sir Charles Napier and the Peace Society. Powerful Speech by Mr. Bright. Mr. King- lake on the attitude of Cobden and Bright. Deputation from the Peace Society to the Czar. Treaty of Alliance between England, France, and Turkey. Mr. Bright on Sir C. Napier and the English Cabinet. Flippancy of Lord Palmerston. Declaration of Hostilities against Russia. Debate in the House of Commons. .Elaborate Speech by Mr. Bright. University Reform, Church Rates, etc. The Manchester Patriotic Fund Meeting. Letter from Mr. Bright. The Law of VatteL The Vienna Note. The Policy of the English Government. Effects of Mr. Bright's Letter- Meetings at Manchester. War Debates in the House of Commons. Gross Mismanagement of the War. Mr. Bright condemns the War with singular eloquence and power. Memorable Scene during his Speech . . .351 CHAPTER XII. RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR (concluded). The War at the beginning of 1855. Condition of the English Army before Sebastopol. Mr. Roebuck's Motion for a Select Committee. Resignation of the Aberdeen Government. A Palmerston Ministry formed. Resignation of Mr. Gladstone, Sir J. Graham, and Mr. S. Herbert. Ministerial Explana- tions. Mr. Bright's striking appeal to Lord Palmerston to stay the War. The struggle continues. Mr. Bright defends the Peace Party. Debates in the House of Commons on the prosecution of the War. Important Speech by Mr. Bright. Preponderance of Russia in the Black Sea. Policy of the Government. Attack on Lord John Russell. Proposed Vote of Censure upon Ministers. Animated Speech by Mr. Bright. His extra-Parliamentary utterances on the War Question. Close of the Crimean Campaign. General Remarks upon Mr. Bright's attitude on the War . . . .398 CONTENTS. XV CHAPTER XIII. MR. HEIGHT'S FIRST ILLNESS. REJECTION AT MANCHESTER. PA OB Mr. Bright's Illness in 1856. Visits to Scotland, Algiers, and Nice. Interesting Interview with the Empress of Russia. Mr. Bright visits Rome and Switzer- land. Offers to resign his Seat for Manchester. The offer not accepted. The Palmerston Government defeated on the Chinese question. Mr. Bright in accord with Mr. Cobden. Dissolution of Parliament. The Election for Manchester. Messrs. Bright and Gibson defeated by a Coalition. Opinion of the Press on the Election. Mr. Bright's Farewell Address to his late Constituents. His temporary Retirement from Public Life . . . 423 CHAPTER XIV. RETURNED FOR BIRMINGHAM. Vacancy in the Representation of Birmingham. Meetings to select a Candidate. Mr. Bright nominated. He issues his Address. Observations on Indian Legislation and the Mutiny. Election of Mr. Bright. Speech in acknow- ledgment by Mr. Duncan Maclaren. Letter from Mr. Bright. Birmingham __ ^~\ and the Reform question ....... ( 440 \ CHAPTER XV. MR. BRIGHT ON INDIA. England and India. Evils of British Rule. Lord Palmerston and the French Emperor. The Conspiracy to Murder Bill. Defeat and Resignation of the Ministry. Indian Legislation in 1853. Mr. Bright on Sir C. Wood's Bill. Indian questions in 1858-9. Results of our Government in the East. Able Survey by Mr. Bright. His proposals for the future Government of India. Lord Canning's Proclamation. Debate on Lord Ellenborough's Despatch. The Indian Budget of 1859. Another powerful appeal by Mr. Bright. Sir A. Burnes and the Afghan War of 1837-8. Sir Arthur Cotton at Manchester. Mr. Bright's Remedies for Indian Famines . . . . .450 CHAPTER XVI. THE REFORM QUESTION IN 1858-9. Parliamentary Reform in 1858. Mr. Locke King's County Franchise Bill. The Ballot. Reform Campaign in the Provinces. Mr. Bright at Birmingham. Points of his proposed Reform scheme. Our Foreign Policy. Reception of Mr. Gibson and Mr. Bright at Manchester. What a Reform Bill should include. Mr. Bright at Edinburgh and Glasgow. The Derby-Disraeli Reform Bill of 1859. Debate on the Second Reading. Speech by Mr. Bright. Defeat of the Government. Dissolution of Parliament. Election at Bir- mingham. Opposition to Mr. Bright. Scene at the Nomination. Animated XVI CONTENTS. PACK Speech by Mr. Bright. Great Liberal Victory. Meeting of Parliament. Spirited Debate. Motion carried against the Government. Their Resig- nation. A Palmerston Ministry formed. Important Debate on Financial Policy. Miscellaneous Questions. Mr. Cobden at Rochdale. Reform Con- ference in London . . . . 476 LIFE OF THE RIGHT HON. JOHN BRIGHT, M.P. CHAPTEE I. BIRTH, YOUTH, AND EDUCATION. Introduction. The Brights a Wiltshire Family. Migration Northwards. Mr. Bright's Father. In Business at Rochdale. His Family. Childhood of John Bright. Early Education. Favourite Pursuits. Interest in Political Ques- tions. His Ancestor, John Gratton. A remarkable Character. Mr. Bright's earliest efforts at Speech-making. Anecdotes. The Reform Agitation of 1831-2. ~T ANCASHIEE enjoys the distinction of having -*~^ given birth to four of the most eminent English statesmen of the nineteenth century. Early in the year 1788, there was born at Chamber Hall, near Bury, the future repealer of the Corn Laws, and of the disabling statutes against the Roman Catholics, Eobert Peel; in 1799, Edward Geoffrey Stanley, afterwards Earl of Derby, first saw the light at Knowsley; ten years later, William Ewart Glad- stone was born at Liverpool; and finally, on the 16th of November, 1811, John Bright was born at THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. i. Greenbank, then near and now within the town of Rochdale. From north to south, and from east to west, the county which claims these distinguished men has long been conspicuous for its political energy and activity. Manchester, Oldham, Bolton, Rochdale, and other towns, have been especially famous for their zeal since the days of the Reform Bill of 1832. Manchester, indeed, has furnished the title for a school of politicians of whom the subject of our biography is the most celebrated living repre- sentative. Once member for that city, his relations with it have always been of a cordial and intimate character. A momentary estrangement, however, led to a severance of his legislative connection with Manchester, and now for almost a quarter of a cen- tury Mr. Bright has been member for Birmingham, which, as the capital of the Midlands, has become as great a centre of political influence and enthusiasm as its manufacturing rival in the north. The Bright family originally came from Wiltshire, where, in the year 1684, we find that they were occu- pying a farm some two miles from the picturesque village of Lyneham. The original house no longer exists, but it is stated that the farm-house now standing still bears the name of ' Bright 's Farm.' Early in the eighteenth century, one Abraham Bright married Martha Jacobs supposed, from her name, though with no actual proof of the fact, to be a Jewess and he and his family migrated to Coventry, in Warwickshire. The grandson of Abraham and i8ii-32.] BIRTH, YOUTH, AND EDUCATION. 3 Martha Bright was a certain Jacob Bright, the grandfather of the statesman. Jacob Bright married Martha Lucas, by whom he had eight children. The youngest of these was named Jacob. He was born at Coventry in the year 1775. All the Brights were members of the Society of Friends, and it may be mentioned as an interesting fact that the registers of the Society were so accurately kept for upwards of two hundred years, that, upon the passing of the existing law affecting registration, these registers were accepted as legal documents, and acted upon. Mr. Bright 's father was educated at Ackworth School, near Pontefract, soon after its establish- ment ; and from school he went to New Mills, in Derbyshire, to serve an apprenticeship with William Holme, who farmed a little land, and had some looms for the manufacture of fustians. In the year 1802, two of his master's sons removed to Eoch- dale, where they built a cotton mill then and now called Hanging-road Mill, Mr. Bright also settling in Eochdale, and being employed in con- nection with the same mill. Some time after this, Mr. Bright married one of the daughters of his master, and continued up to the year 1809 engaged in the business of his brothers- in-law. He attended the Manchester market regu- larly, and his attention to business gained him the good opinion of a firm of agents, who proposed to him to join them in the trade of cotton-spinning, they offering to find the capital, if he would under- 4 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. I. take the management of the concern. To this he consented, as there was no certainty that his brothers-in-law and their partners would be willing to accept another partner in their business. He took a lease of a mill, then standing empty, at the edge of Cronkeyshaw Common, less than a mile from the centre of the town of Eochdale. Here he pros- pered, and was able in 1816, at the end of seven years, to conduct the business with his own capital ; but in consideration of the kindness of the partners who had enabled him to begin business, he con- sented to prolong the partnership for another term of seven years, at the expiration of which, that is in the year 1823, he took the concern into his own hands. 'From 1809 to 1867,' observed Jacob Bright's son on one occasion, ' is at least fifty-seven years, and I venture to say that with one single exception, and that not of long duration, there has been through that fifty-seven years an uninterrupted harmony and confidence between my family con- nected with the business and those who have assisted us and been employed in it.' Surely not an empty boast, considering the disturbed periods through which both English labour and capital have passed during that time. Jacob Bright was thrice married. By his first and third wives he had no issue. His second wife, by whom he had a numerous family, was Miss Martha Wood, daughter of a tradesman of Bolton-le-Moors. They were married on the 21st of July, 1809, and i8ii- 3 2.] BIRTH, YOUTH, AND EDUCATION. 5 had no fewer than eleven children, seven sons and four daughters. Of these, John Bright was the second, and he was born on the date already men- tioned. By the death of the first-born at the age of four years, however, he became the eldest in the family. Mrs. Bright was a woman of remarkable qualities. She, also, had been educated at Ackworth School : she was fond of reading and of poetry, and her mind was singularly clear and logical. Un- happily, she was not long spared to be the helpmeet and companion of her husband, for she died on the 18th of June, 1830, leaving ten children, the eldest of whom was, as we have just stated, the subject of this memoir, he being then only eighteen years of age. Of Jacob Blight's children only five now survive, namely, three sons and two daughters. These are Mr. John Bright, Mr. Thomas Bright, and Mr. Jacob Bright, M.P. ; Mrs. Maclaren, wife of Mr. Duncan Maclaren, late M.P. for Edinburgh, and Mrs. Lucas, widow of Mr. S. Lucas. Mrs. Lucas is well known for her earnest efforts in the Temperance cause, and for her support of all move- ments for the social amelioration of women. Miss Esther Bright, who was married in 1849 to Mr. Yaughan, now one of the magistrates at Bow Street, London, died in 1850 ; Miss Sophia Bright, who was married to Mr. Thomas Ashworth, died in 1844 ; Mr. Benjamin Bright died at Graefenberg in 1845, at the early age of twenty- eight ; Mr. Gratton Bright died at Bologna, in 1853, at the age of thirty ; and 6 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. I. Mr. Samuel Bright died at Geneva in the year 1873. The remains of the last-named were conveyed to England, and they lie buried in the cemetery at Rochdale. Mr. Jacob Bright was liberal and humane towards his workpeople, and bore with all who knew him the character of a strictly just and upright man. After an exemplary life, during which he brought up his large family in habits of virtue and temperance, inculcating also at all times the principles of the Christian religion, Mr. Bright died on the 7th of July, 1851, at the age of seventy- six. He was buried in the Friends' graveyard in Eochdale. With such parents watchful guardians exercising constantly over him the most direct influence it is not surprising that John Bright should early have given evidence of being cast in the same mould. Severely conscientious and just, there was yet in him from the first a vein of tenderness which could melt him to tears at any story of human suffering or wrong. His sympathies have ever been lofty and wide, and in their admiration of the luminous intellect, men have sometimes lost sight of the noble heart which prompted the highest and most eloquent efforts of that intellect. Probably no man of commanding power has yet passed through the world and alto- gether escaped being the victim of misrepresentation. Mr. Bright has been no exception to the rule ; but in public matters the strength of his convictions is more than sufficient to sustain him, while as regards i8ii-32.] BIRTH, YOUTH, AND EDUCATION, ^ the obloquy which has now and again been cast upon his name by the ignorantly informed, those who best know him best know also its utter groundlessness. We have said thus much upon this point, conscious that as regards some questions of public policy we may feel called upon, with others but likewise with that deference due to a name so justly esteemed to dissent from his conclusions. As a child, Mr. Bright was exceedingly delicate, but with care he was brought through the ritic al stage of youth, and in time developed into a handsome and intelligent boy. Though apparently robust, however, he was never so strong as he appeared. Quite early he was sent as a day scholar to the boarding-school of Mr. William Littlewood, of Townhead, Eochdale. His abilities were far above the average, but we do not hear much of precocity a thing by no means to be regarded as unpromising, seeing that many precocious youths have entirely failed in after-life, while some who as children were regarded as their intellectual inferiors have attained world-wide distinction. Mr. Bright's devotion to the piscatorial art is matter of universal knowledge ; and it would surely have delighted the heart of old Izaac Walton, could he have revisited the earth, to find so ardent a follower of the ' gentle craft ' as John Bright was before he attained the age of twelve. It is pleasant, notwithstanding, to find that study was not neglected. Mr. Littlewood was satisfied with the progress of his pupil, and that pupil has on more than 8 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. I. one occasion since spoken of his first master with great respect and affection. In the year 1822 Mr. Bright was sent to the Friends' School at Ackworth, near Pontefract, where he remained for a year. The next two years were spent in a school at York, con- ducted by Mr. William Simpson. The site of this school is the first house out of Walmgate Bar, on the left. The air of York not being favourable to his health, he was removed to a school at Newton, six miles from Clitheroe, where he passed a year and a half very pleasantly. The studies here were neither diffi- cult nor protracted, and there was much opportunity for healthy amusement. Mr. Bright, who was espe- cially fond of outdoor pursuits and pleasures, was greatly pleased with the beautiful scenery which abounds in the neighbourhood of Clitheroe. The river Hodder, a tributary of the Ribble, afforded excellent fishing, with bathing and swimming in the summer ; while the young student was not long in discovering every point and nook of interest in the surrounding hills and woods. Long walks, broken by birds'-nesting, were matters of frequent occurrence ; and he found in the whole of this lovely district a perennial spring of amusement and enjoyment. On the 16th of February, 1827, that is, when Mr. Bright was but three months over fifteen years of age, he left school for good, to engage now in the serious occupations of life. He came home, and at once began to attend to business, helping in the warehouse, walking through the mill, and making i8ii-32.] BIRTH, YOUTH, AND EDUCATION. 9 himself acquainted with the machinery and the different processes carried on at the works. Mr. Jacob Bright took a practical view of things, and did not regard as essential a classical training for his sons. Had such a training been given to Mr. Bright, he would undoubtedly have gained in some respects, but the world might have lost that won- derful freshness which distinguishes all his orations. As may be gathered from the character of his speeches, however, Mr. Bright was at a very early period a student of the best English poets in whom he is well grounded and of the course of British history. He also took a keen interest in the various public questions of the time. But although he had previously been stirred by such subjects as Catholic Emancipation, it was really in the year 1830 that his strongest concern in practical politics began. In that year a very exciting election occurred at Preston. The late Lord Derby, then Mr. Stanley, was opposed by Henry Hunt, or 'Badical Hunt,' or 'Orator Hunt,' as he was variously styled. It appears that in Messrs. Bright's warehouse there was one Nicholas Nuttall, a very intelligent man ; and Nicholas, as he was always called, evinced the utmost enthusiasm in the Preston contest, which, as the manner of elections then was, lasted many days. There were no railways and no telegraphs, but each morning the state of the poll at Preston was made known in Kochdale. Nicholas discussed the progress of the election from day to 10 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. I. day, and when the contest ended in favour of the popular candidate, Mr. Hunt, his delight was un- hounded. Much of this enthusiasm was of course imparted to Mr. Bright, and politics now became in some degree a study with him. Mr. Bright is a Liberal both of necessity and from reason. His father was Liberal, and the religious Society in which he was brought up was composed of Liberals. He had heard and read much of the history of the Friends, and of the persecutions they had endured, and also of their principles of equality and justice. He knew that he came of the stock of the martyrs that one of his ancestors, John Gratton, of Monyash, in Derbyshire, had been in prison for several years because he pre- ferred to worship in the humble meeting-house of his own sect, rather than in the church of the law-favoured portion of the community, by whom the Friends were barbarously persecuted. This John Gratton, whose granddaughter was Mr. Jacob Bright's grandmother, was a remarkable man. He was a Quaker preacher of great power and indomitable energy, who travelled through many of the English counties, his religious fervour and eloquence exercising especially an extra- ordinary influence for good in Cheshire and Derby shire. He also visited Scotland and Ireland. Arrested several times, and subjected to the statutory fine of 20, he never abated his zeal. In his own journal he says : * I was a prisoner for the Gospel's sake about five years and a half, before I was set at i8ii-32.] BIRTH, YOUTH, AND EDUCATION. II liberty by King James the Second. As also many hundreds more were, I was discharged in open court, the 23rd of the first month, 1686.' John Gratton died in the month of September, 1711 ; and in the biographical literature of the Society of which he was a most conspicuous member will be found the record of his life. In the county in which he lived he was a person of much influence, and in a Parliamentary return which Mr. Bright moved for many years ago, it is recorded that when Nonconformist places of worship were legalized by the Toleration Act, all the meeting-houses of Friends in Derbyshire were registered by, and in the name of, John Gratton. Something of this man's spirit was communicated to his descendants, and in the inflexible and upright character of John Bright we perceive a by no means faint reminiscence of John Gratton. Much of the same character, indeed, runs through all his family ; and there is scarcely one of his brothers and sisters who has not either devoted himself or herself to the elevation of the people, either within the quiet sphere of personal influence or upon the platform. Interest naturally attaches to Mr. Bright's earliest efforts at public speaking; and his first speech of note of which any record exists, was one made in connection with a series of lectures delivered by Mr. J. Silk Buckingham at Eochdale, on Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and India. Mr. Buckingham, who will doubtless be widely remembered as the founder of 1 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. i. the Atlienceum, was a highly cultured man, and an admirable and effective lecturer. Mr. Bright, from his remarks made at the close of the series of addresses, seems to have been much impressed by the vivid pictures drawn by Mr. Buckingham. He rose to propose a vote of thanks to the lecturer, and we are fortunately able to give the brief speech he delivered on this occasion. After an introductory sentence, he said : * Under the able guidance of an experienced traveller we have visited the classical land of Egypt ; the wonders of her splendid cities have been described, the tombs of her Pharaohs and of their subjects have been explored. We have even ascended the giant pyramid, and from its summit have surveyed in imagination the splendid prospect so beautifully, so poetically described to us the glorious sun rising in. the east proclaiming the approach of day, the silvery moon sinking in the pathless waste of sand, and as if unable or unwilling to compare with his superior brilliancy. We have traversed the barren sands of Arabia, and have, as it were, feasted our eyes upon the beauties of the oases of the desert; we have admired the nobleness of soul which so eminently characterizes the wander- ing tribes, and have paid our tribute of respect to that spirit of independence whose fire burns as brightly in their breasts now as in ages long gone by; we have heard with feelings of solemnity and of unspeakable interest the animated description of the present condition of Palestine ; we have viewed i8ii-32.] BIRTH, YOUTH, AND EDUCATION. 13 with astonishment the lofty cedar of Lebanon the witness of a thousand years, and the unvarying fertility of Mount Hermon; we have trod the calm and peaceful retreats of the Mount of Olives, and have perambulated the streets of Jerusalem, the most renowned city on the face of the earth ; and as we gazed on Calvary, the recollection of the momentous transactions with which it will ever be associated awakened in us feelings which it would be vain for me to attempt to describe. From the summit of a neighbouring hill we have beheld Damascus in all its beauty, its fertile plain, its lucid streams, its glittering minarets, its lofty domes almost realising to the fancy the existence of a Paradise upon earth. Again, we have wandered at leisure along the banks of those majestic, those magnificent rivers the Tigris and the Euphrates, and have felt sad at beholding the complete desolation of Nineveh and Babylon. We have journeyed on to Bagdad, a city whose very name is synonymous with splendour; we have admired the vastness and sim- plicity of its mosques, the beauty of its caravanserais, the grandeur of its baths, the extent of its bazaars and I doubt not we have received impressions in some degree favourable with regard to the manners and customs of Eastern life. This evening we have penetrated into that grand country situate between the Indus and the Ganges, that land which our imagination has pictured as ever teeming with wealth *4 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. i. " Where from fountains ever flowing Indian realms their treasures pour." We have seen how that wealth may be rendered available to England, and how the blessings of civili- zation and Christianity may be spread abroad in that vast empire. We have also had a clear view of that which to this country is of great importance, viz., the immense field which there exists for the extension of British commerce, and for the consumption of British manufactures.' In response to the call of Mr. Bright, Mr. Buckingham was warmly thanked for his instructive lectures lectures, perhaps, the more generally appre- ciated, because at that time the means for obtaining information on such subjects, within the reach of the working classes, were very limited. It is interesting to note that the above early and hitherto unpublished observations by Mr. Bright show that even soon after he had passed his twenty-first year his attention was drawn to the great commercial value of India. The sympathies of Mr. Bright were in his youth enlisted in the cause of temperance, and his first ap- pearance in public in connection with the movement, which was then creating considerable interest in Lancashire and Yorkshire, was at a temperance meeting held in the schoolroom at Catley Lane Head, near Eochdale. Amongst his other early addresses, was one delivered at a meeting of the Bible Society, held in the Friends' Meeting-house at Eochdale. The Eev. John Aldis, a Baptist i8ii-32.] BIRTH, YOUTH, AND EDUCATION. 15 minister of eminence whose sons have of recent years won distinguished and unparalleled honours at Cambridge has described his meeting with Mr. Bright on this occasion. In 1832, Mr. Aldis was stationed at Manchester, but he attended the Kochdale meeting above mentioned, and subse- quently gave the following interesting reminiscence of Mr. Bright's appearance. Mr. Aldis was at a friend's house when John Bright arrived to accom- pany him to the meeting : ' Soon a slender, modest young gentleman came, who surprised me by his intelligence and thoughtfulness. I took his arm on the way to the meeting, and I thought he seemed nervous. I think it was his first public speech, at all events in such connection. It was very eloquent and powerful, and carried away the meeting, but it was elaborate and memoriter. On our way back, as I congratulated him, he said that such efforts cost him too dear, and asked me how I spoke so easily. I then took the full advantage of my seniority to set forth my notions, which I need not repeat here, except this that in his case, as in most, I thought it would be best not to burden the memory too much ; but having carefully prepared and committed any portions when special effect was desired, merely to put down other things in the desired order, leaving the wording of them to the moment. Years rolled away. I had entirely forgotten the name of the young Friend, when the Free Trade Bazaar was held in London. One of those engaged for it Mr. Baker, of Stockport 1 6 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. I. calling on me, asked if I had called on Mr. Bright. I said I had not been ahle to attend the meetings, and did not personally know him at all. He replied, " You must, for I heard him say that you gave him his first lesson in public speaking." I went to a sub- sequent meeting, and recognized the young Friend of 1832.' While Mr. Bright was energetic at this time as regards a variety of objects, he did not forget that healthful recreation which does so much for the life of the body. In addition to other pursuits, he was an active member of the Eochdale Cricket Club, until the year 1833, playing in its various matches, and playing well. In the record of total individual scores for the year 1833, his name appears fourth on the list. The Eeform agitation was at its height in the year 1831. The town of Eochdale had not been included in the original schedule of the Eeform Bill amongst the towns which it was proposed to enfranchise, and this fact caused great disappointment in the town and district. Vigorous steps were at once taken, and meetings held upon the question. Mr. Bright was present as a listener at one of these meetings. Ulti- mately the movement was successful, and the name of the town of Eochdale was inserted in the favoured list. The debates in Parliament during the ensuing session created the most profound feeling throughout the whole of Lancashire. When the bill passed, reformers hailed with delight the greatly enlarged constituency. i8n-32.] BIRTH, YOUTH, AND EDUCATION. I? Towards the close of this memorable year in the history of the Keform question, Mr. Bright attained his majority. As yet he was engaged in expanding his mind by reading and observation, and in garnering the rich fruits of experience. Though unconsciously laying the groundwork of future distinction, he had not hitherto given striking evidence of the possession of those powers which were destined to place him in the very first rank of British orators. 1 8 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. n. CHAPTER II. EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, KTC. Mr. Bright first visits the Continent. The Rochdale Literary and Philosophical Society. Mr. Bright on Capital Punishment. On various questions of inte- rest. Tour in the East. Address on Church Establishments. Education. Mr. Blight's first meeting with Cobden. Factory Labour. The Corn Laws. Address to the Reformers of Rochdale. Church Rates. An exciting Contest. Animated Speech by Mr. Bright. His efforts as a Writer. First Marriage. IN the year 1833 Mr. Bright went abroad for the first time. His delight in foreign travel was very great, although he has not, as he himself has said, done what he could have wished in this direction, in consequence of the pressure of business and public engagements. His first continental experiences were brief. From London he passed over to Ostend, visiting Ghent, Brussels, Antwerp, Cologne, Frank- fort, and Mayence. He voyaged down the Rhine to Rotterdam, but finding the cholera severely prevalent in that city, returned to England. On arriving at Rochdale, he occupied himself as usual with business, attending the Manchester market with the utmost regularity, and earning considerable reputation for his business habits. Mr. Bright took a prominent part this year in the formation of a society called the Rochdale Literary I833-39-] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 1 9 and Philosophical Society. Politics and religion were excluded from its discussions, but in other respects the society as such societies will hoxed the entire compass of social, philosophical, and practical questions. There is one subject on which Mr. Bright has always felt strongly, and upon which he has recently spoken with much force, viz., the abolition of capital punishment. It will therefore not be without interest that we shall give some unreported notes of a speech he made in his twenty-second year upon this question, and in con- nection with the above-named society. He began by observing that he was not disposed to argue the question as to the propriety of the punish- ment of death on religious grounds, nor did he intend to quote largely from Scripture in support of his views. They should study this question with a just estimate of its importance, and unbiassed by the prejudices which formed an almost passless barrier. It was urged that there was a declaration in the Bible to the effect that { whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed,' yet David committed a pre- meditated murder, and he was not destroyed. 'Here then it is proved that death need not of necessity follow the commission of murder, and there are pro- bably other modes of punishment which are of equal or greater efficacy.' As regarded the New Testament, there was amply sufficient in that to convince the real inquirer after truth, that any extreme of cruelty in punishment beyond what could be proved to be really 20 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP n. necessary and indispensable, was contrary to the spirit of Christianity. The question then resolved itself into one of utility, and if it could be shown that the punishment of death was useless and unnecessary, humanity would have gained a triumph. Mr. Bright then went on to maintain that the end of all punish- ment should be the correction of the criminal with a view to reclaim him, and the holding out of an example which might serve to deter others from the like evil actions. Now correction with a view to amendment was certainly unattainable by death, and thus one-half of the end to be gained by punishment was entirely defeated. The intention of example, too, was no better answered, when we found that year after year desperate robberies and murders were committed as frequently as ever, and that criminals treated the idea of death with levity and scorn. Every possible expedient should be had recourse to before taking human life. With regard to the argu- ment that the * death ' punishment placed it out of the power of the individual to commit murder again, he pointed out that upon the same reasoning every insane person might be put to death, because the public were never entirely secure from the conse- quences of insanity. If we could avoid the mad actions of these men, could we not as easily place the Criminal in such circumstances that he should never more have power to inflict injury ? But there was another very strong argument against the punish- ment of death, viz., that if the sufferer were guiltless 1 833-39.] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 21 the injury was irremediable, the wrong irreparable. Many cases had occurred where innocent men had been executed. What reparation could be made here ? The consequences were fearful if the sufferer were innocent. Such a punishment could not be in accordance with the spirit of our nature, or with the principles of the Christian religion. It was abhorrent alike to sound policy, religion, and humanity. As a proof that the punishment was repugnant to us, he cited the estimation in which the character of a public executioner was held. Why should we place him almost without the pale of civilized life, while 'the warrior is dressed in a manner calculated to charm the unthinking ? his proud and haughty bear- ing imposes upon the ignorant, his glittering steel and trappings strike the fancy, the stirring strains of martial music divert the thought from his real occupation, and we look with complacency nay, with approbation upon a profession, if not instituted for, yet generally employed for, the sole purpose of ravaging the earth, murdering mankind, of aggran- dising the few at the expense of the many, and of destroying the roots of the blessed tree of liberty wherever they may have a tendency to flourish.' This passage foreshadows a little Mr. Bright's declamation in later years. The speaker proceeded to remark that custom was no proof that a thing was right. But if we abolished capital punishments, what was proposed as a substitute ? The ferocious robber and the murderer must not again be let loose upon 22 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. II. society. There was a punishment that would answer both the ends of correction and reclamation, viz., solitary confinement, with or without labour as cir- cumstances might require. It was generally acknow- ledged that crime is prevented more by the certainty than the severity of punishment, and here the punish- ment would be rendered perfectly certain, and regu- lated by degree. In reply to the objection that solitary confinement is not punishment enough for the crime of murder, Mr. Bright asked, * Does any one know what solitary confinement is ? When the guilty mind is left without anything to distract atten- tion from itself, it cannot remain inactive, it must think, and the remorse which accompanies its mis- deeds will prey upon it with tenfold fury ; conscience, perhaps long dormant, will reassert its sway, and the pangs of self-condemnation will be immeasurably increased ; nay, if all the wretchedness of a few years of solitary confinement could be concentrated into a few moments, would it not surpass all the pain which can possibly be felt from dissolution ? Upon the horrors of solitud e when the guilty soul can prey upon nothing but itself, I can adduce the testimony of one who, I doubt not, at times felt deep remorse for his misdeeds. I allude to Lord Byron, who says " There is no power in holy men, Nor charm in prayer, nor purifying form Of penitence, nor outward look, nor fast, Nor agony, noi; greater than all these, The innate tortures of that deep despair Which is remorse without the fear of hell, i 833-39-] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 23 But all in all sufficient to itself To make a hell of Heav'n can exorcise From out the unbounded spirit, the quick sense Of its own sins, wrongs, sufferance, and revenge Upon itself : there is no future pang Can deal that justice on the self-condemn'd, He deals on his own soul." ' Men who had committed terrible crimes had deli- vered themselves up to justice because they could bear no longer their load of misery. They pre- ferred the momentary horrors of a public execution rather than be doomed to drag out a wretched exist- ence. He firmly believed that the punishment he had alluded to would, in many cases, be much more dreaded than death itself, and that incarceration would have a far more powerful and enduring effect upon the public than any which could be produced by the frequency of public executions. ' When we consider,' urged Mr. Bright, in conclusion, * that the effect of public executions is to deaden the feelings of kindness and mercy implanted by nature in the breast, to blunt all the finer sensibilities of the heart, and to substitute barbarism and vindictiveness in the place of civilization and Christian forbearance when we consider the awful consequences to the wicked, degraded, and miserable sufferer, allowed no time for repentance, distracted by the thoughts of his approaching fate, hurried from time into eternity by the hand of a being owing his existence to the same Creator as himself shall we not conclude that man, a being weak in purpose and feeble in action, whose 24 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. n. limited comprehension and contracted views are daily evident to our senses, by taking away the life of man employs a power which has not been delegated to him, and usurps an authority which belongs only to our Sovereign Judge ? I appeal to you as to men whose minds are unfettered by the trammels of prejudice, and as being disposed to have other and better motives for your actions than the mere sanc- tion of custom, I appeal to you on behalf of humanity and religion, and feel confident that the justice of the cause will ensure your zealous support.' Such was Mr. Bright's first utterance upon the question of capital punishment. Other interesting topics were discussed by the Eochdale Literary and Philosophical Society. For example, on one occasion Mr. Bright raised the question, ' From our study of history, ancient and modern, what form of govern- ment appears the best suited to promote the happi- ness of mankind ? ' Ultimately, the mover submitted a resolution, ' That a limited monarchy is best suited for this country at the present time ; ' and this motion was carried by eighteen votes to four. At another meeting, Mr. Bright discussed the point whether Alfred or Alexander was more justly entitled to the epithet of * the Great.' He summed up strongly in favour of the English monarch, and the meeting unanimously endorsed his views. On the question whether defensive war was justifiable on scriptural grounds, Mr. Bright moved an amendment to the effect that it was not justifiable ; and this was carried i 833-39.] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 25 by a majority of six, thus showing that the Society had a considerable number of peaceably disposed citizens in its midst. Mr. Bright supported a motion declaring that in the opinion of the meeting the universal education of the people was necessary, which also was unanimously agreed to. Another motion was passed on the initiative of Mr. Bright, to the effect ' That the moral tendency of public amusements, such as the theatre, circus, etc., is injurious.' The society was rather puzzled by the 1 science ' of phrenology, which was just then begin- ning to attract great attention, and exactly even numbers were recorded for and against it. During the session of 1836 Mr. Bright gave a lecture upon the decline and fall of nations, concluding with a motion, ' That there are causes to which the decline of nations may be attributed without having recourse to the argument that "nations are subject to the same laws as individuals," etc.' This rather vaguely- expressed resolution secured general opinion in its favour. A member having brought forward for dis- cussion the question, * Was Mary, Queen of Scots, accessory to the death of her husband, Lord Darnley?' a long and warm debate ensued. Mr. Bright, whose historical studies were amongst his most favoured intellectual pursuits, gave evidence of a close acquaint- ance with the subject, and expressed his fear that Mary was not entirely blameless in the matter. But that unfortunate and misguided Queen was saved from utter condemnation at the hands of the Kochdale 26 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. II. debaters by the passing of a resolution to tbe effect that the contradictory nature of the evidence adduced by historians of the sixteenth century made it impos- sible to convict or acquit Mary of being accessory to the murder. In June, 1838, Mr. Bright read an essay on the ' Success of Steam Navigation between this Country and America, and the spread of Civilization and Knowledge consequent thereon.' Later in the same year he headed a committee formed for the purpose of making a collection for an exhibition, when a number of very entertaining and valuable objects appear to have been secured. Mr. Bright was really one of the chief moving spirits of this society, which, in the general literary ability of its members, and its lists of eminent men as lecturers, etc., ranked above the average of such debating institutions. In the summer of 1836 Mr. Bright again went abroad, his journeyings on this occasion being more extensive and protracted. He sailed in the Crescent steamer from Liverpool, bound for Smyrna and Con- stantinople, visiting Lisbon, Gibraltar, Malta, Syra, the Pirasus, Athens, and Marathon. A fortnight which he spent at Smyrna with an English merchant, Mr. H. B. Barker, was a time of great enjoyment. On arriving at Constantinople, he found the plague present in that city, and was not admitted into the houses of the Europeans. Mr. Bright subsequently visited Beyrout, Jaffa, Jerusalem (with the adjacent points of world- wide interest), and Alexandria. He was struck by the wretchedness of the people at the I833-39-] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 2J last-named place. From Egypt lie again went to Athens, where he remained for six weeks, heing unable to get away, as there were no vessels for Malta. While at Athens, Mr. Bright was attacked by a severe intermittent fever. Upon his recovery he left the Piraeus on Christmas Eve for Malta in a Greek brig. The passage occupied eleven days. There was very little wind, and two days were lost owing to the captain's taking a mistaken course. On arriving at Malta, the vessel was put in quaran- tine for fourteen days. Subsequently Mr. Bright went by sailing-boat to Catania, thence to Messina, Palermo, Naples, and Rome. He also visited Flo- rence, Leghorn, and Genoa, and returned to England by way of Marseilles and Paris. Altogether, he was away from England for a period of eight months, of which more than a month was spent in quarantine. This spell of travel was not only of immense interest to Mr. Bright, but he always regarded it as of great physical and intellectual benefit to him. His journey raised only one feeling of regret, viz., that owing to uncontrollable causes it could not be repeated. Upon his return in 1837, the enthusiastic traveller delivered a lecture in his native town on the countries he had visited, interspersing his descriptions with extracts from Lord Byron, a poet whom he at that time greatly affected. Perhaps the most effective passage in this lecture was Mr. Brigbt's description of Jerusalem, a city which had long exercised a strange fascination over him, as it does upon the 28 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. n. minds of all Christians. He was greatly moved by its fallen grandeur, and the literal fulfilment of the old prophecies of which it furnished so striking an example. A speech delivered by Mr. Bright about this time at a great meeting at Eochdale, but of which no report was published, enables us to get at the right hon. gentleman's early views upon the question of Church establishments. Being called upon to second a resolution that all civil establishments of religion are directly opposed to the spirit of Christianity, Mr. Bright observed that the creed and form of worship did not constitute the Establishment, but the pre- ference and union of the civil power. They wished to wage no war with religious opinions ; their object was to show the mischievous tendency of any alliance between Church and State. A principal argument for the continuance of an establishment was that it provided for the religious instruction of the whole population. But establishments could not compel people to become religious, or to believe in any particular tenets. They could compel, and did com- pel, payment for benefits which they pretended to dispense, but which were not received. But they could only offer religious instruction, and did not Dissenters do the same ? He trusted that the time had gone by when Christianity should be thought to stand in need of such assistance. Referring to the argument that the downfall of the Establishment would be attended with the downfall of 1 833-39.] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 2 9 Christianity, which he described as monstrous, Mr. Bright thus raised by anticipation the Irish Church question : ' This assertion carries with it its own refutation ; but if arguments are wanted, if instances and examples are requisite, look for a moment upon America and upon Ireland. In the former country there is no civil establishment ; all are alike equal in the eye of the Government ; all work smoothly together, and without those never-ending heart- burnings and jealousies which exist in this country, and particularly in Ireland. Will any one venture to say that the United States of America are less religious than Ireland that crime is more common and immorality more prevalent ? And yet there religion receives no support from, nor is it in any manner connected with, the State ; whilst in unfor- tunate Ireland there is a Church established by law, countenanced by the Government, and supported by an army of some twenty-five thousand men, wringing its maintenance from an almost starving population, seven-eighths of whom entirely disagree with it in principles and in doctrine. When he heard of the acts of persecution which took place in Ireland, he could almost blush that he was of a nation whose Government and whose Church, established by law, sanctioned such unholy deeds. But it was in the very nature of all monopolists to persecute those who were unwilling to submit to their dictation. Basil Hall, when speaking of America, and of monopolies in religion, observed that America was more religious 30 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. n. than England, and England was more religious than Italy the closer the monopoly, the less abundant the supply. The corruption which was so evident in the Church established by law arose mainly, if not solely, from its alliance with the State. To ally a Church with the State was the best and speediest method of impairing its efficiency and destroying its purity. When the Church was dependent upon the State, it naturally supported that system of government which was willing to continue its monopoly. At one time it was conceded, to the English clergy by the State to preach against the horrors of war if they were not chaplains to regiments or in the navy. The ministry, therefore, by being dependent upon the State, became degraded and corrupt, and more desirous of retaining their incomes than of propagating the truths of religion. A remarkable instance of this was upon record. Out of 9,400 beneficed clergymen who acknowledged the Pope as head of the Church, only 177 preferred to resign their livings rather than own the supremacy of Queen Elizabeth. This reminded him of the Vicar of Bray, whose religious convictions were dependent upon the Sovereign for the time being. When reproached for his inconsistency, he answered that he considered himself a very model of consistency, for he had long been determined to live and to die the Vicar of Bray. Mr. Bright went on to remark that the Establish- ment was papal, though its present religion was not. The eyes of the people were at length being opened 1 833-39.] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 3 r to the crying abuses of the system, and to see that a civil establishment of religion was incompatible with religious liberty contrary to that freedom of conscience which was the inalienable right of every human being. Toleration was not liberty, and they refused to have only by permission that which be- longed to them as a right. History proved that all religions which had been exalted above others, and patronised by the civil power, had shown themselves intolerant in spirit, and persecutors of those who differed from them. The priesthood in all ages had been persecutors whether Jews, Pagans, Catholics, or Protestants. Seeing, then, these things, and that within the last two hundred years there were no less than five thousand of the members of his own society, as well as great numbers of Baptists, in prison for conscience' sake, did it not seem inevitable that a predominant sect should imbibe an intolerant and a persecuting spirit ? ' The declaration of the laity of the Church as by law established says, I believe, that the Establishment has been the means of increasing individual piety and national prosperity ; but I would ask, How comes it that England is now, as regards a vast proportion of her population, ignorant and irreligious how is it that whilst the Church has had the king for its head and governor, the two Houses of Parliament to support it, and the whole influence of the aristocracy and landed gentry of the country to boot (with the advantage of being educated at Oxford and Cambridge, from which Dissenters have been shut out) that whilst the Church has had millions upon millions to work upon, drawn not only from their own party, but from the property of Dissenters I ask how comes it that England is neither a sober nor a moral country, and that vice in every shape rears its horrid front ? Does it not prove that there is a radical error in the system? By the union of the people of England advantages of no trifling amount have lately been gained : the barrier of 3 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. n. the Test Acts has been broken down ; the citadel of Parliamentary cor- ruption has been stormed with success ; and I trust the time is not far distant when the consciences of men will be no longer shackled by the restrictions of the civil power, when religious liberty will take the place of toleration, and when men will wonder that a monopoly ever existed which ordained State priests " sole vendors of the lore that works salvation." ' This is, perhaps, the freshest and most forcible of those early addresses by Mr. Bright of which hitherto no record has been preserved. The subject of our biography has always taken a deep interest in the education question, and it was in connection with this question that his friendship with Mr. Cobden arose. Mr. Bright detailed the circumstances in his address at Bradford, when unveiling the Cobden statue. * I went over to Man- chester,' he said, * to ask him if he would be kind enough to come to Rochdale and to speak at an education meeting which was about to be held in the schoolroom of the Baptist chapel in West Street of that town. I found him in his office in Mosley Street. I introduced myself to him. I told him what I wanted. His countenance lit up with pleasure to find that there were others who were working in this question, and he, without hesitation, agreed to come. He came, and he spoke ; and although he was then so young as a speaker, yet the qualities of his speech were such as remained with him so long as he was able to speak at all clearness, logic, a conversational eloquence, a persuasiveness which, when conjoined with the 1 833-39.] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 33 absolute truth there was in his eye and in his counte- nance, it was almost impossible to resist.' After the Eochdale meeting, Mr. Cobden spent the night at the house of Mr. Jacob Bright, and from that time forward was established a friendship between the Anti-Corn Law leader and John Bright, which gathered in intimacy, and lasted, unbroken and undisturbed by a single jar of any kind, during the long period of twenty-five years. The two friends came to be known, in fact, as the Jonathan and David of the League, and the comparison was far from being inapt. In the year 1836 Mr. Bright stepped into the field of controversy on the question of the factory opera- tives. Factory legislation is one of those subjects upon which the right hon. gentleman has suffered from misrepresentation. On account of certain views which he held upon factory labour, he has been charged with being the enemy of the poor and over- worked operative. Nothing could be further from the fact ; nor was he opposed to remedial legislation on behalf of children in factories. The truth is, that the factory reformers, in propounding their schemes of amelioration, proposed to prohibit the labour of adult women as much as the labour of young persons under eighteen years of age ; and as mills could not be worked without a certain proportion of female labour, the consequence of such a step would be to limit the labour of men in the same manner and in the same degree. On this point, therefore, of the employment 3 34 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. n. of adult female labour, Mr. Bright supported the view that no compulsion should be used. In the year above mentioned, Mr. John Fielden, M.P. for Oldham, issued a pamphlet entitled The Curse of the Factory System. To this pamphlet Mr. Bright put forth a reply, and we have now his observations before us. It was not the author's intention to show that the factory operatives of England could without injury continue to labour for the same number of hours that they had been doing, nor did he attempt to prove that the employers were free from blame in the great question of factory labour. Mr. Fielden, in his pamphlet, enlarged upon the cruelties practised towards factory apprentices, and quoted statements from Sir B. Peel's speech in 1816 to prove the heart- lessness of the employers. He also gave extracts from the evidence taken before the Commissioners of 1833 to prove that these enormities still existed, and that the same relentless spirit and love of gain actuated the manufacturers. Granting that a strong case had been made out for legislative interference, Mr. Bright regretted that the cause had been advo- cated in an unworthy manner, and in a vindictive spirit towards those who had already legislated upon the question. Mr. Bright proved that Mr. Poulett Thomson's proposed bill would not re-enslave 35,867 children, as asserted by Mr. Fielden, and further showed that Ministers had not opposed Lord Ashley's Ten Hours' Bill because it did not afford protection to children, but because it interfered with the labour 1833-39- ] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 35 of adults. The writer then went on to answer Mr. Fielden point by point upon details connected with the management of factories and the system pursued towards the operatives. He (Mr. Bright) applauded that man who endeavoured to rescue the operative from a situation in many respects injurious to the full development of his faculties, and hostile to the amelioration of his moral and physical condition ; hut this could never be done by a statement in which those whose intentions were equally good with the author's were loaded with obloquy, and in which greatly exaggerated statements were made for the sole end of exciting commiseration. Mr. Bright then came to Mr. Fielden's remarks, as follows, upon foreign competition : ' If I am told that that which is necessary to be done is that we should manufacture in England so cheaply that no people engaged in like pursuits can undersell us in any market in the world, my answer is that the customers in those markets will take good care that we do this, and therefore we need have no concern on that score.' He was at a loss to conceive what this meant ; and if the writer had failed to convince, he had certainly puzzled his readers. Whilst he was attempting to convince us of the folly of the ideas we had entertained upon foreign competition, he proved beyond doubt that either we must manufacture as cheaply as our rivals, or we must lose our customers in foreign markets. And yet we were at the same time told that foreign competition was a fallacy, a 3 6 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. 11. bugbear ! ' The author of The Curse of the Factory System, though unconscious of any evil to be suffered from foreign competition, is continually haunted by the belief that we are on the brink of destruction, and that a rapid and appalling decline is taking place as to our foreign trade in our manufac- turing pursuits, because we are returning to the Americans a larger quantity of cloth in exchange for the quantity of cotton we receive from them than we were doing a few years ago.' Mr. Bright demon- strated by statistics the fallacy of this argument, and proceeded to remark that, upon the hypothesis of Mr. Fielden, every increase of consumption in this country had only served to accelerate its ruin, by bringing us nearer upon the heels of the cotton grower ; and thus at length the very causes to which the world had attributed our unexampled wealth and prosperity had been discovered by the sagacity of the hon. member for Oldham to be those which had all along been hurrying us unconsciously to our ruin. As a sovereign remedy for these imaginary disasters, a reduction of the time of labour to ten hours was prescribed ; and this specific was not only to protect the children, but to serve as a regulator to production, and to prevent stocks from increasing in the market. Now, the protection of children was a good ground for demanding a reduction in the hours of labour, but he strongly protested against the principle that trade would be benefited by any interference on the part of the Government as to production, stock, etc. Mr. 1 833-39.] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 37 Fielden had also taken upon himself to defend the landowner ; and in sketching the history of the tax upon corn, Mr. Bright remarked that while a poor man with a large family probably consumed more corn than the rich man with a family equally numerous, yet instead of paying less in corn-tax, he must necessarily pay more than the rich man, whilst at the same time the rich man was receiving all the benefit of the monopoly. The Corn Laws, he maintained, were the principal curse of the operative, and the curse of the factory system had in great measure its origin in the effects of those laws. If the advocates of the Ten Hours' Bill were to demand the abolition of the unholy monopoly in corn at the same time that they called for a reduction in the hours of labour, they would stand upon firmer ground. The whole country would then take up the cause of the factory operative. The writer fully and entirely agreed with Mr. Fielden and Mr. Greg that a reduction in the hours of labour was most important to the health of the manufacturing population, and absolutely necessary to any general and material amelioration in their moral and intel- lectual condition ; and he envied neither the head nor the heart of that man who could live amongst the factory operatives of Lancashire without perceiv- ing the injurious effects of the long hours and close confinement to which they were subjected, and with- out feeling an ardent desire to assist in improving their condition. 38 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. n. This is not the language of an opponent of factory reform. Mr. Bright further said that the day had happily gone by when it was necessary to argue whether it was the duty of Government to aid in this work ; and he combated the idea that such a course would be an infringement of the liberty of the subject and the legitimate employment of capital, or that it would so far interfere with the principles of Free Trade as to be undesirable and pernicious. He argued these points at length ; and with regard to the evidence taken before the Committee of the House of Commons on the treatment of young persons in factories, he thought no reasonable or humane man would refuse his assent to the proposition that a case had been made out which called for the interference of the Legislature. Touching upon the legislation which had come into operation on the 1st of March pre- ceding (1836), he pointed out the causes of its failure. Experience had taught, and every one acquainted with the factory question knew, that the adults in a mill could not work twelve hours while the children only worked ten one class depending so much upon the other; and that whatever restrictions were imposed upon the one, would be equally binding upon the other. They must therefore fix a time during which both children and adults should work, and which limit should not be exceeded by either. The Act would then be so simple that evasion would be impossible. Millowners themselves were to blame for much of the excitement that had arisen, as they had held them- I833-39-] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 39 selves aloof from all sound legislation on the subject. Mr. Bright concluded by suggesting a practical com- promise, which should at once show the willingness of the millowners to consult the welfare of the opera- tives, and at the same time content the operatives themselves, and materially improve their condition. He finally exhorted the millowners to cast aside selfish considerations, and adopt the just and sound maxim, ' That the interests of all classes are so inti- mately blended, that none can suffer without injury being inflicted upon the rest, and that the true interest of each will be found to be advanced by those measures which conduce to the prosperity of the whole.' In the above observations we have the first expres- sion of Mr. Bright 's views on the Corn Laws. One of his leading points that the abrogation of these laws would be of inestimable advantage to the working classes has been strikingly fulfilled. Under the regime of Free Trade, the English workman has better wages, better food, and fewer hours of labour. There is, in fact, no act of the legislature to which we could point which has done so much for the comfort and improvement of the working classes as the repeal of the Corn Laws. In and before the year 1837, the Tories were making strenuous efforts to regain their power in the country. The time was regarded as an anxious one by all reformers, who were most desirous not to lose what they had acquired since 1832. It was, therefore, during a period of considerable political perturbation 40 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. II. that Mr. Bright put forth an address, dated January 31st, 1837, ' To the Kadical Keformers of the Borough of Rochdale.' The address was anonymous, and we quote from the only copy of it probably which is in existence. It began by pointing out the important juncture which had arrived in political affairs, and the necessity laid upon every man to range himself with one of the two great parties struggling for the mastery. The writer then continued : ' By the Tories the government of this country has been conducted for fifty years at least, previous to 1830 ; and I pre- sume I need not go at length into their doings to persuade you to unite with me in opinion, that the profligate waste of public money, the shameless system of jobbery and corruption, which has grown up under their rule, has no parallel in the history of any people pretending to the possession of a representa- tive government. The Tories wish to continue this system ; and on every side we behold the extra- ordinary exertions they are now making to regain possession of the power which has been so lately, and with so much difficulty, wrested from them. Compared with the mass of the nation, their number is inconsiderable ; they are, however, formidable from their wealth, and still more so from the untiring activity which they display in the prosecution of their nefarious projects. In the House of Commons they are in a minority, but they count there upwards of three hundred members. In the Lords their prin- ciples are omnipotent, and the peers are straining I833-39-] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 4 1 every nerve to regain their ascendancy in the Com- mons. The majority which the very hest measures of the Ministry can command is by no means great, and hence will be seen at once the importance which is now attached to the acquisition of a single vote by either of the contending parties.' The young and ardent elector then turned to the condition of politics in his native town of Eochdale. Nowhere had Toryism shown itself in more detestable colours than in that borough. The writer thus ob- served upon their conduct with respect to the church- rate question : l You will recollect, fno doubt, that when they found themselves unable to obtain a rate from the assembled parishioners, they proceeded to levy one for which they had no authority; that by dint of coaxing some and bullying others they suc- ceeded in obtaining some payments ; that they seized the goods of those who would not submit to church- warden law, and attempted to sell them by auction, but found no purchasers, except amongst the wretched hangers-on of their own desperate party, and the vile refuse that infested the purlieus of the police courts ; that they entered the cottage of the poor, the aged, and the dying (oh, how they love the poor !), and did not hesitate to take away the family Bible to satisfy the unholy cravings of the Church : yes, they scrupled not to take from a poor and virtuous man, when ex- tended on the bed of death, that Book from which he might have drawn consolation in the hour of trial, when all the efforts of human nature are unable to 4 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. n. sustain the mind, and when religion alone can give solace and relief. And this deed, than which the records of the Inquisition show none more foul, was perpetrated in the cause of shall I say Keligion ? no, but in the cause and by agents of the Established Church. Well may it be said, " Oh, Keligion ! what crimes have been committed in thy name ! " At the previous election for Eochdale there were feastings and revelry at the public-houses, and there was a sensation of horror 'which filled every well- disposed mind when all the engines of demoralization were brought into play to sway the votes of the electors of the borough, when your streets almost ran down with the liquor which robbed the poor deluded creatures who partook of it of their senses ; whilst those who infamously furnished it were plun- dering them of their political rights. You remember that this abominable system sent more than one solitary victim to a premature grave, and that human life itself was not deemed an offering too costly for the altar of political and social depravity/ 1 The recent conduct of the Tories in Parliament is well known to you. Allow me just to remind you that they deem you wholly unqualified to exercise the right of voting with propriety ; that they strug- gled long and hard to prevent the extension of the franchise by the Reform Bill, and that, if occasion offered, they would undoubtedly deprive you of the franchise ; that they refuse to allow you any pro- tection for your vote, and will not grant the ballot, 1833-39-] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 43 which would rescue many electors from their control ; that they approve of seven years' Parliaments, so that the responsibility under which the representative is held to the electors may be as slight as possible ; that they support the odious Corn Law by which you are now paying at least fifty per cent, more for your bread than bread of equal quality may be bought for in Paris or Brussels, whilst at the same time foreign States, in retaliation, refuse to admit your goods ; thus at once raising the cost of the chief necessary of life, and preventing you from obtaining money to purchase it ; that they refuse to yield any one of the just demands of Dissenters, and are determined that you shall still pay to the support of a Church whose services you do not attend, and whose clergy you almost invariably find ranged on the side of your inveterate enemies.' The writer went on to say that he had drawn once more this old indictment because the Tories were endeavouring to regain possession of their old power. They hoped to make a powerful assistant in this deeply-laid scheme of the Poor Law Amendment Bill. Mr. Bright traced the depravity and wretched- ness which existed under the old Poor Laws. A new law had been passed, which on the whole had worked well, and it would be as wise to ask for the repeal of the Reform Bill because riot and bloodshed had taken place at an election in a single borough, as to demand the repeal of the Poor Law on the ground that some few cases of hardship had occurred 44 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. 11. in carrying its provisions into effect. The Poor Law Amendment Bill was a great and momentous experi- ment which deserved a fair trial. Now, were the Tories in power, they could not repeal this Act, and their outcry against it was merely a stratagem by which they hoped to create discord amongst reformers. The new law could not work in towns so great a change as it would in the agricultural unions, for in the former places the administration of the old Poor Law was probably as near perfection as it was possible to have it. The writer then briefly sketched the operation of the leading clauses of the Act, and replied to Mr. Fielden's suggestion that no Kadical should support any candidate for the representation of the borough who refused to pledge himself to vote for the absolute repeal of the bill. The Tory party had really no fixed opinions upon the measure, but merely used it as a stalking-horse, using it differently in different boroughs. He next referred to the threatened divisions amongst the Liberals ; and of the Liberal candidate then before the constituency, Mr. Fenton, remarked that he was a friend to house- hold suffrage, the ballot, and short Parliaments; and that he was in favour of the abolition of the Corn Laws, Church-rates, and abuses of every description. All these points of agreement far outweighed any accord- ance of opinion which might exist on the single question of the Poor Law Amendment Bill. It was unfortunate that the working classes were inclined to listen to the Tories in this matter. Did they I833-39-] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 45 suppose that the Tories had in view the real welfare of the labouring classes, and that the tiger-like character of Toryism had all at once softened down into the mildness of the lamb ? One of their most loquacious converts had lately made the notable discovery that ' the Bible is pre-eminently a Tory book ; ' but did they suppose that a book which contained the injunction ' Do unto others as ye would that they should do unto you,' and which specially denounced all those that oppressed the poor, could in any way justify a party which had invariably sacri- ficed the masses for the purposes of self-aggrandise- ment, and which dared by the iniquitous Corn Law to arrest the course of heaven, which showered down plenty upon the human race ? The Tories had invariably oppressed the people ; they had won their confidence only to betray them; and yet, with an effrontery which was perfectly unmatched, they per- sisted in claiming credit for the best intentions. ' Reformers of Rochdale ! you will in all probability soon have an opportunity of redeeming the character of your town, and of wiping off the disgrace of being misrepresented by a man whose inefficiency in Par- liament is a fitting sequel to the foul and detestable means which were employed to send him there. If you neglect this opportunity, if from unyielding obstinacy on any one point you are content to sacrifice all the rest, then the deep stigma will cling to you as a poisoned garment, and the very stones of your streets will cry shame upon you.' 46 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. n. Kochdale did not neglect its opportunities in the sense indicated by the address. At the previous election of 1835, Mr. Bright had addressed the electors on behalf of the Liberal candidate in vain. Now, in 1837, the position was reversed. Mr. Fenton, the Liberal candidate, was elected by 374 votes, or a majority of 25 over his opponent, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Bright's early connection with the Corn Law agitation we shall reserve for separate treatment. It is interesting, however, to note here that in 1840 we find him taking the chair at a great open-air meeting held at Rochdale, when a congratulatory address to Her Majesty upon her marriage was adopted, and three enthusiastic cheers were given for the young Queen. It is not a little singular that although Mr. Bright has frequently been regarded as a Republican in many quarters, he has invariably spoken of his Sovereign with the greatest respect and esteem ; and we have already seen that when a young man, and a member of the Rochdale Literary Society, he brought forward a motion in favour of a limited monarchy. The question of church-rates in Rochdale for many years led to scenes of excitement and agitation scarcely paralleled by those arising in connection with any other subject. In the month of June, 1834, the usual meeting of the parishioners was convened to pass the accounts of the retiring churchwardens, and to consider the propriety of making a rate for the ensuing year. For some time before this a rate of 1 833-39.] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 47 one penny in the pound had been granted, which the wardens had applied to the repairs of the church. But as it was believed that church-rates were about to be abolished, it was resolved to collect this year a magnificent sum. The wardens boldly demanded twopence-halfpenny in the pound, and to make this extravagant demand appear less glaring they placed amongst the supposed expenses a sum of .90 for a hearse. This hearse was to be only free to the paupers, the rest of the parish having to pay for it when occasion demanded its use, though the wardens wished them to buy it in the first instance. This sum, together with the salaries of the ringers, organist, etc., absorbed almost the whole of the rate, leaving very little for the repairs of the church, for which only church-rates should be lawfully collected. The parishioners were determined not to submit to the rate, and a resolution was passed adjourning the meeting to the 23rd of June, 1835. The wardens demanded a poll, which resulted in a majority of 147 against them, notwithstanding the efforts of the Church party, who spared no pains to bring the voters up, and who in some instances paid the rates due from individuals in order to qualify them to vote for the rate. But in defiance of the clearly expressed wishes of the parish, the wardens proceeded to lay a rate, which, by means of persuasion in some cases and threats in others, was paid in some instances. Many refused to pay, however, and these were summoned before the magistrates, who decided that they had 4 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. 11. no jurisdiction. The Consistory Court of Chester was then put into operation, but the defendants contended that the proceedings of the wardens were illegal, as only eight out of the ten wardens of the parish had joined in the suit. The Chancellor of the Court overruled the objection, and commanded the defendants to appear absolutely, upon which the latter appealed to the Archbishop's Court at York. The York Chancellor decided that all the wardens must join in the suit, and reversed the decision of the Chester court, discharging the defendants from the citations. To show the spirit in which the churchwardens conducted this contest, we need only refer to the case mentioned by Mr. Bright, in which they had seized upon, and actually sold, the Bible of a poor old man, then on his death-bed, to satisfy the rate. Bitter feelings were engendered in the town, and these were not allayed for years. We have cited the above facts in the church-rate controversy partly to show the spirit that prevailed amongst the official defenders of the rates, and partly because they lead up to one of the most spirited and able speeches delivered by Mr. Bright before taking his seat in the House of Commons. In July, 1840, a rate having been decided upon at a meeting of ratepayers, its opponents demanded a poll. At its close, it was found that 3,976 had voted for the rate, and 4,060 against it. The Church party immediately called another meeting for the 29th of July, for the purpose i 833-39.] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC, 49 of laying another rate. On the day named St. Chad's Church was densely crowded. Mr. Bright and others took up a position in the reading-desk, amidst the cheers of their friends ; but at length, on account of those not able to procure admittance, it was decided to hold the meeting in the church- yard. In a few moments about six thousand persons were assembled in this last resting-place of the dead. A rate of a halfpenny was proposed, a statement by the vicar's churchwarden to the effect that the foun- dations of the steeple and the church were unsafe, and giving way, not unnaturally causing some laughter. Mr. Bright then proposed an amendment ' That no church-rate be granted before the 30th day of July, 1841, and that this meeting stand adjourned to that day.'* Touching first upon the legal aspect of the question, the speaker showed that the law did not, and could not, compel the inhabitants of a parish to make a rate. Lord Denman and four other judges had unanimously decided that the power to make a church-rate existed only in the parishioners. With regard to the vicar's statement that it was the intention of the law that a rate should be laid, Mr. Bright first showed the groundlessness of this, and then effectively turned the tables upon Dr. Moles- worth. ' Once on a time/ he said, 'it was ordered by law that whenever a clergyman came into posses- f There is a copy of this speech by Mr. Bright, printed on a crown folio sheet, and corrected from the Manchester Times, in the Rochdale Free Public Library. 4 50 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. n. sion of a living he was to pay over the first year's income to a fund for extending the usefulness of the Church. At that time the vicarage of Eochdale was worth under .100 per year, and the first-fruits were paid on that amount. Now, was it not the intention of the law that in all future time the first year's income should be devoted to the purpose I have just mentioned ? Certainly it was. But what does the vicar, and the rest of his brethren, in the Church? Has he paid, or does he intend to pay, his first year's income ; or will he content himself by paying under 100 to that useful fund ? How does he satisfy his conscience that he is obeying the intention of the law?' Mr. Bright then alluded to the coercion which had been used towards workmen to make them vote for the rate, and asked what language could express his indignation at such conduct. ' You have the form of man, you may have the faculties of man, you may claim the right which your Creator has con- ferred upon you ; but if you are thus coerced, if your judgment and your conscience are thus violated, if your own and your neighbours' interests are struck at and wounded through the very privileges which the law has guaranteed you for their defence, then you are no longer men ; you may crouch and confess yourselves slaves.' The speaker next touched upon the vicar's policy. Notwithstanding his great income, he and his brother-clergymen generally unblushingly charged for administering the sacra- ments of their Church. i 833-39-] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 51 Ebenezer Elliott, the impassioned bard of a great movement, was then pressed into his service by Mr. Bright. ' The vicar has published a handbill, a copy of which I hold in my hands ; he quotes Scrip- ture in favour of a rate, and a greater piece of hardi- hood cannot be imagined : " Eender unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's," leaving out the latter part of the sentence. I will give you my opinion of the applicability of this passage in a quotation from our excellent friend, the people's poet, Ebenezer Elliott. He says : " When palaced paupers, sneering, beard the town, They preach the Church Tax in a text like this No text more plain ' To Caesar give his own ! ' Ah, serviles, knavishly the mark they miss, And give to Caesar ours not theirs, nor his ! " I hold that to quote Scripture in defence of church- rates is the very height of rashness. The New Testa- ment teems with passages inculcating peace, brotherly love, mutual forbearance, charity, disregard of filthy lucre, and devotedness to the welfare of our fellow- men. In the exaction of church-rates, in the seizure of the goods of the members of his flock, in the im- prisonment of those who refuse to pay, in the harassing process of law and injustice in the Church courts, in the stirrings-up of strife and bitterness among the parishioners, in all this a clergyman violates the precepts he is paid to preach, and affords a mournful proof of the infirmity or wickedness of human nature.' Pointing to the church near, Mr. Bright thus con- cluded his address : 52 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. n. ' Fellow -townsmen, I look on that old building that venerable building, for its antiquity gives it a venerable air with a feeling of pain. I behold it as a witness of ages gone by, as one of the numberless monuments of the piety or zeal of our ancestors, as a connecting link between this and former ages. I could look on it with a feeling of affection, did I not know that it forms the centre of that source of discord with which our neigh- bourhood has for years been afflicted, and did it not seem the genial bed wherein strife and bitter jarrings were perpetually produced to spread their baneful influence over this densely-peopled parish ! I would that that venerable fabric were the representative of a really reformed Church of a Church separated from the foul connection with the State of a Church depending upon her own resources, upon the zeal of her people, upon the truthfulness of her principles, and upon the blessings of her spiritual Head ! Then would the Church be really free from her old vices ; then would she run a career of brighter and still brightening glory ; then would she unite heart and hand with her sister Churches in this kingdom, in the great and glorious work of evangelizing the people of this great empire, and of every clime throughout the world. My friends, the time is coming when a State Church will be unknown in England, and it rests with you to accelerate or retard that happy consummation. I call upon you to gird yourselves for the contest which is impending, for the hour of conflict is approaching when the people of England will be arbiters of their own fate, when they will have to choose between civil and reli- gious liberty, or the iron hoof, the mental thraldom of a hireling State priesthood. Men of Rochdale, do your duty ! You know what becomes you ! Maintain the great principles you profess to hold dear ; unite with me in the firm resolve that under no possible circumstances will you ever pay a church-rate ; and whatever may await you, prove that good and holy principles can nerve the heart ; and ultimately our cause, your cause, the world's cause, shall triumph gloriously.' Mr. Bright 's amendment was carried by a large majority. The Church party demanded a poll. The contest lasted many days ; acrimonious attacks were indulged in by both parties ; and the most strenuous exertions were made by each. At the close of the last day's poll but one, there appeared 5,216 for the rate, and 5,212 against. The excitement, consequently, on the following day was completely unexampled in 1 833-39-] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 53 the history of Rochdale. It is stated that votes were on sale to the highest bidder. The 79th Highlanders appeared with fixed bayonets in front of the National School, and this military demonstration led to stone- throwing by the crowd. Mr. Bright, fearful of a rup- ture between the people and the troops, endeavoured to dissuade the former from violence, but could not be heard. The vicar announced that he should prolong the polling for an hour, but Mr. Bright protested against this, and said that he should object to certain votes which had been taken from persons who had not paid their rates. Dr. Molesworth read the result of the poll as follows : For the rate, 6,694 ; against, 6,581 majority, 113. This was disputed by the anti- rate party, who claimed a majority of seven. More meetings were held, and at one of them Mr. Bright asked what a savage would think of the religion of the English people, if he had seen one of its ministers, on the previous Saturday night, conducted through the streets by a civil magistrate and the police, amidst the shouts and yells, hissing and hooting, of the in- sulted people ? The very man who should have been the minister of peace, and inculcated goodwill towards men, had embroiled this extensive parish in almost civil war. At this time there were some in Mr. Bright' s employ who had voted in favour of the rate, when some of their fellow-workmen attempted to coerce them ; but Mr. Bright interfered, and said that Churchmen had a right to their own opinions, and to vote as they liked. Ultimately, after legal 54 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. n. and other proceedings, the vicar found the opposition too strong for him, and church-rates in Kochdale were ahandoued. Mr. Bright for some time employed his pen, as well as his voice, in advocating such reforms as he deemed desirable. The Kev. Dr. Molesworth having launched a periodical under the title of ' Common Sense, or Everybody's Magazine,' an opposition serial was commenced, with the covertly sarcastic title of ' The Vicar's Lantern.' The most frequent contributors to the latter magazine were Mr. Bright and Mr. Oliver Orruerod. Mr. Ormerod, who was one of Mr. Blight's earliest friends, was the author of a very racy book on a visit to the Great Exhibition of 1851, written in the Eochdale dialect. It is referred to now as one of the best specimens of Lancashire humour. In ' The Vicar's Lantern,' Mr. Bright severely handled the articles which appeared in the vicar's magazine. ' The general question of the Corn Law is not to be inter- fered with,' he wrote on one occasion. ' Of course not. To withhold a few pence of an illegal church- rate is an offence which cries to heaven and demands a pamphlet, but to withhold bread from millions of honest men and their families is a general question of no immediate importance.' Again, ' An Act of Uniformity, made by weak and erring mortals to bind the human mind for ever, is a monstrous thing. Are mankind to stand still ? Are all things to change and to advance, and man alone to rest content with ignorance and superstition and imperfection ? Is a i 833-39.] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 55 parchment church, whilst it drains the purse, to perpetuate error, and to shun as a pestilence the discovery of truth ? Is custom to he venerated because it is old, or ought we not rather to affirm with Cyprian that custom without truth is but aged- ness of error ? ' Now the Bishops come under his lash. 'When the aristocracy of Britain were draining the country which has so long been afflicted by the pressure of their iron heel, for the purpose of exter- minating the germs of liberty in continental Europe, the whole bench of Bishops, with one honourable exception, were their firm allies, and their votes were ever ready in behalf of the war which was desolating the fairest portions of the civilized world.' ' When the question of the abolition of that infamous and accursed traffic in human flesh, the African slave trade, was proposed, it met with great opposition from the bench of Bishops. Their conduct on one occasion drew from Lord Eldon the cutting sarcasm that "the slave trade could not be opposed to Chris- tianity and the precepts of the Gospel, seeing that it was uniformly supported by the right reverend pre- lates." ' The writer further observed that he was not surprised the clergy should hate the Anti-Corn Law League, for ' the League is the foe of aristocratic injustice, and the State Church is the creature and tool of the aristocracy.' The following passage must have been particularly distressing to Dr. Molesworth : ' We doubt not that the munificent contribution made in this town to the Great League Fund has had an 56 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. 11. effect the reverse of soothing upon the nerves of the bread-taxing Vicar of Kochdale. When men refuse at all hazards to pay church-rates, and yet cheerfully contribute upwards of 2,000 to an Anti-Corn Law League, it indicates a degree of alienation from the "Political Church" which must shock the feelings of every well-paid and comfortable dignitary who nestles within its ample folds. And so it is in Kochdale.' Whether it was that the Vicar of Kochdale relished the written comments of Mr. Bright upon public and local questions as little as he did his eloquent verbal comments, does not appear, but at any rate 'Common Sense' the magazine we mean, we are not now discussing the quality disappeared. The opposition journal followed suit in a few months, the editor in its epitaph remarking, 'We rejoice that amidst the dangers and difficulties that have beset our path we are at length enabled in peaceful triumph to place the extinguisher with our own hand upon the "Vicar's Lantern."' This grappling with local questions had not been without its uses leading to quickness of intellectual fence, but still sterner work than crushing local opponents was soon to demand Mr. Bright's attention. Towards the close of 1839 Mr. Bright was mar- ried to Miss Elizabeth Priestman, daughter of Mr. Jonathan Priestman, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. By this lady he had one daughter, Helen, who mar- ried Mr. W. S. Clarke, of Street, in Somersetshire. 1 833-39-] EARLY SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, ETC. 57 Mrs. Bright died in the year 1841, and was buried in the graveyard belonging to the Friends at Kochdale. While sorrowing under this heavy bereavement he again saw Mr. Cobden, and their meeting has thus been described, with simple pathos, by Mr. Bright: ' At that time I was at Leamington, and on the day when Mr. Cobden called on me for he happened to be there at the same time on a visit to some relations I was in the depth of grief, I might almost say of despair, for the light and sunshine of my house had been extinguished. All that was left on earth of my young wife, except the memory of a sainted life and of a too brief happiness, was lying still and cold in the chamber above us. Mr. Cobden called on me as my friend, and addressed me as you might suppose with words of condolence. After a time, he looked up and said, "There are thousands of homes in England at this moment where wives, mothers, and children are dying of hunger. Now when the first paroxysm of your grief is past I would advise you to come with me, and we will never rest until the Corn Law is repealed." The untiring and devoted manner in which this appeal was responded to we shall hereafter see. In the same year as his first marriage, Mr. Bright built his residence of One Ash, Eochdale. The reason for this curious designation is very simply explained. Near the house is a single tree, an ash, and the name was adopted in remembrance of his ancestor, John Gratton, of Monyash, in Derbyshire. At this place, 5 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. n. and amidst congenial pursuits, he has, at the close of each session, sought recreation and the renewal of that physical health which of recent years has been seriously encroached upon by the pressure of his public duties. 59 CHAPTER III. ELECTED FOR DURHAM. Mr. Bright's first Election Contest. Cause of his non-success. His Opponent, Lord Dungannon. Mr. Bright the Popular Candidate. Lord Dungannon unseated. Second Election in July, 1843 A singular Conservative Candi- date. Mr. Bright's Election Addresses. Scene at the Hustings. Election Pleasantries. Return of Mr. Bright. A Fre-eTrade Triumph. Rejoicings. Great Meeting in London. rTTEE able and vigorous part which Mr. Bright took *- in the Anti-Corn Law agitation naturally led to the conclusion amongst his friends that he must have a seat in Parliament. By the year 1842 it began to be apparent that he would be a power in public life. ' He is earnest, argumentative, eloquent,' said one who spoke with prophetic instinct, ' clear in statement, apt in illustration, fluent in words, abun- dant in resources. Mr. John Bright is in talent a second Peel ; he was born in the same atmosphere. Let his career be observed he has entered upon it.' Men should generally distrust prophecies, but there was plenty of ground for this one. Mr. Bright had already impressed both his friends and his foes with a sense of his power. If Mr. Cobden might be described as the Paul, Mr. Bright was certainly the Apollos, of the League. 60 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. in. The opportunity of contesting a seat in the Legis- lature came sooner than was anticipated. In March, 1843, Captain Fitzroy, member for the city of Durham, resigned his seat in consequence of having accepted the appointment of Governor of New Zealand. An address from Lord Dtmgannon, in the Protectionist and Conservative interest, immediately appeared. It seemed as though his lordship would enjoy a walk- over, but only on the very day of the nomination an address to the electors from Mr. Bright was published. It was written in plain and forcible language, pointing out the special reasons why the representation of the city should be contested. The paragraph which attracted most attention in this first election address of the future statesman was the following : ' I need not allude to the attempt which is making to degrade you into the convenient tool of an aristocratic family to employ your suffrages to place a man in Parliament as a stepping-stone to the governorship of a colony, and then to hand you over, as it were by " private contract," to another, who in his address considers your sentiments and your judgment of so little import- ance that he does not even condescend to explain the principles by which his political course will be guided ! It is for you to determine whether you will become an instrument for the exaltation of those who have no interests or sympathies in common with your own ; or whether you will assert your right to be a free and independent constituency, using your electoral power to maintain the liberties 1842-43.] ELECTED FOR DURHAM. 6 1 and protect the interests of yourselves and of your country.' Lord Dungannon had been canvassing for a week, whereas Mr. Bright's canvass barely extended over the space of two hours and a half, before he met his friends to depart for the hustings. The nomination took place on April 3, when a crowd of four thousand persons assembled in front of the hustings, the Liberal candidate being accompanied by troops of friends. After the nominations had been completed, Lord Dungannon, who was a nominee of the Marquis of Londonderry, first addressed the electors, the burden of his speech being that they knew his principles, and that he had no new pledges to offer. Mr. Bright then stepped forward, and being manifestly the popular candidate, he was received with great cheering. c I come before you,' he said, after one or two preli- minary remarks, ' more particularly as an opponent of every description of monopoly, but still more particularly of that most infamous of all monopolies which obstructs the supply of food to the people of this country, for the sole purpose of aggrandizing a class. I believe that that class is mistaken, and that the time will come when they will see that injustice to other classes of their countrymen will not, in the, long run, benefit their own. But this law is calcu- lated, I am persuaded, to inflict the most appalling suffering upon the great body of the working classes.' He demanded their support for any man who came forward to break down this monopoly, and expressed 62 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. m. his great surprise that Lord Dungaunon had not uttered one word upon the great question that was already exciting more interest than any other among the intelligent portion of the population. He then proceeded to show the evils of the protective system, which the noble lord supported. ' At this moment there are thirteen hundred thousand paupers in England and Wales. The mover of the noble lord (Prebendary Townsend) spoke of this country as being a great and a free and a prosperous and a wealthy nation. Another gentleman, who is also of the profession of the hon. mover, told us not long ago that there are five millions of our countrymen living on oats, and that five millions are rejoicing on potatoes. If Lord Dungannon were sent to Parlia- ment, he would again say " aye " to any motion to keep up the price of the working man's bread, whilst nothing would be done to keep up the rate of his wages. Now, if there be not food for all, some must go short and they must be the working classes, and the poorest of those classes ; while if the repeal of the Corn Law were followed by five or ten millions of quarters entering the country, there would be plenty for all not one need go short ; and, instead of rejoicing in oats and potatoes, all might rejoice in wheaten bread. Men were almost fighting with each other for employment and wages and food.' ' And no power under heaven can diminish that competition, or give increased comfort, or cause a steady demand for labour, unless it be the repeal of that law which 1842-43-] ELECTED FOR DURHAM. 63 diminishes the demand for labour, reduces wages, makes you compete with each other constantly and of necessity, and turns the whole force and beggary of this competition into the means of increasing the rental of the noble lords and landlords who made that law.' This and other passages of Mr. Bright' s speech were received with rapturous cheering. After some further observations, the following episode occurred : ' The noble lord comes forward on " free and independent principles." (Much laughter.) There is no one more in favour of those principles than I am. But I hold that freedom and that independence to be a free- dom and an independence of all outward influence, and a perfect reliance upon the good opinion of the whole of the constituency. Now, I am afraid that, being a stranger here, I may have misunderstood the facts ; but I gather there has been something like a contract, by which the electors of this renowned and ancient borough are made subservient to the interests of a certain aristocratic family. [Loud cheers, and cries of "No' 1 and "Yes," in the midst of which Lord Dungannon spoke a few words to Mr. Bright across the Mayor.] The noble lord says there is no such contract. I do not for one moment mean to say that it is any matter of writing, or that there is any direct contract. I merely mean to say that there is a sort of understanding.' Lord Dungannon. ' Does the gentleman now opposed to me [Cries of " Order, order ! " and a remark, "Wait till Mr. Bright has done, and then reply."] If the gentleman now opposed to me asserts that I am come here under any contract from any man, or dependent upon any man, I say that he asserts that which is totally destitute of foundation.' [Cheers, hissing, and a voice said, ' You know it's true.'] Mr. Bright. ' I have read with very great amusement and interest the addresses which have been published. One of them was published by your late member, in which he speaks of the many sad reflections occasioned by his appointment ; so sad, that I do not think any one in your Assize Courts, going out to New Zealand, could have written in more plaintive terms. (Great laughter.) I do not wish to insinuate for a moment that there has been anything in the way of bargain and sale of the constituency ; but I do say that the whole transaction makes it evident that there are some parties who think it is not a diffi- 64 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. in. cult matter to transfer the constituency of Durham from one candidate to another.' Mr. Bright went on to say that he was in favour of such laws as should prevent honest and sober and industrious men from sinking from a state of inde- pendence into poverty and pauperism and degradation. He liked prevention infinitely better than cure. The speaker then said he felt convinced that grave cala- mities were impending over the country, unless representatives were sent to Parliament to support the principles which he had been advocating. 'I confidently hope,' he said in conclusion, ' not so much on my own account as on account of the principles I hold, that by to-morrow evening you will have told the world that you are not in favour of monopoly ; that you will uphold no protection which, stripped of all its ambiguity, is plain and simple robbery of one class for the benefit of another ; that you are willing to co-operate with Nottingham (where I hope the electors will this week do their duty by returning a free-trader to Parliament Mr. Gisborne, who will be known to many of you) ; and that the voice you and they shall raise against the giant evil of your country shall spread through the length and breadth of the island and the empire, and pronounce that the reign of monopoly, of oppression, of disregard to the rights of the working classes, and of total subserviency to an oligarchy which has brought this mischief on the country, pronounce that that reign is absolutely and for ever at an end.' 1842-43-] ELECTED FOR DURHAM. 65 The cheering which followed was most protracted, and for some minutes the Mayor was not able to call for a show of hands. The demonstration in favour of Lord Dungannon was a mere sprinkling in the crowd, while for Mr. Bright it appeared as if the whole assemblage had simultaneously held up their hands. The Tories demanded a poll, which was fixed to take place on the following day. A local journal observed that the account of the proceedings ought not to be closed ' without a strong animadversion on the un- gentlemanly conduct of Lord Dungannon's friends while Mr. Bright was speaking. It showed down- right ill-breeding, and an utter determination to conduct the struggle with recklessness of principle and gross discourtesy to an honourable opponent.' The result of the poll proved that while Mr. Bright had excited a strong feeling in his favour, he had come forward too late to win the seat. The numbers were : for Lord Dungannon, 507 ; for Mr. Bright, 405 ; majority, 102. At the close of the poll, Mr. Bright addressed the people in the market-place. Amidst general applause, he said he affirmed with confidence that if he had been in the field as long as the noble lord, the result of the poll would have been very different. A large majority of the electors were liberal in principle, and in favour of Free Trade. Referring to the attitude of the clergy on the question of the Corn Laws, he said, ' It is a most unhappy circumstance that any body of men holding their position in society, assuming sacred functions, pro- 5 66 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. HI. fessing themselves the ministers of the purest system of morality and religion ever known upon earth, men who call upon you to leave the grovelling things of earth, and all the miserable dross and tinsel by which you are surrounded ; to direct your thoughts to higher and holier objects ; to carry your aspira- tions towards heaven rather than stoop to the things of earth, I say it is a misfortune that by a law made by the Parliament of the country, this body of men, especially appointed to take charge of the flock, should, instead of being the shepherds, appear to all men's eyes as the shearers of the flock ; and that their enormous influence should, in almost all the parishes of England, be bound up in the conserva- tion of the most odious, the most unjust, the most oppressive, and the most destructive enactment which was ever recorded upon the statute-book of this or any other country.' Mr. Bright closed by thanking the electors, and tendering them friendly counsels, especially warning them against those who might corrupt the consti- tuency. He then proceeded to his hotel. His enthusiastic reception induced him there to enter the balcouy l with the intention of once more, in a few words, bidding his friends farewell; but the eagerness of his auditory, who seemed delighted with his powerful eloquence, drew him on from point to point, until his remarks formed another and most effective speech.' As an example of Mr. Bright 's energy, we may mention that on the day following 1842-43-] ELECTED FOR DURHAM. 67 his arduous labours at Durham he addressed an im- mense assemblage at Drury Lane Theatre, London, upon the question of the Corn Laws. Lord Dungannon's triumph at Durham was very short-lived. Being petitioned against, he was un- seated on the ground of bribery by his agents, and a new election took place in July. Mr. Bright at once again took the field, and was opposed on Tory principles by a Mr. Purvis, a barrister. If the learned gentleman made as poor a figure forensically as he did politically, his clients were greatly to be pitied. From a faithful report of his oration before his friends, we cull these few choice flowers of rhetoric : ' I have been received in Durham with the strongest enthu- siasm. I have nailed my colours to the mast; and come what blue there may,' (blue was the Liberal colour,) ' here I am, and I will support the cause to the last. I have been received enthusiastically. They have all voted for me. (A voice: " The poll has not come yet.") The promises I have received make my election certain; and I have got the women with me 5 every one. I have seen their smiles; I have seen their eyes; and I know from their very looks they have told me they are all for me. And how can a cause supported by the beauty of Durham fail ? We cannot fail.' Mr. Purvis was both premature and indiscreet in claiming the support of all the ladies of Durham ; and his remarks on this score led to a great deal of pleasantry at his expense. Caricatures appeared, showing Mr. Purvis at every point of his 68 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. in. negotiations with the ladies, as described in his speech, viz., witnessing their smiles, looking into their eyes, etc. It is easy to imagine what kind of opponent this would be in the hands of Mr. Bright. The Tories themselves scarcely knew what to make of him, and were ashamed of his ridiculous appear- ance. Mr. Bright, in addressing his friends, said it would not be necessary for him to refer at length to the circumstances which had necessitated a new election a statement which was received with laughter, as the electors remembered the fate of Lord Dungannon. The electoral franchise was worth nothing whatever, unless freely given; and he asked the electors, according to their honest convictions, to give their suffrages in his favour. Examining the address of his opponent, and referring to the doctrines of the party with whom he was associated, Mr. Bright said: 'If I were an elector of this borough, I would say, " I am as independent a man as any lord in the land. My vote is my own, for the good of my country. I am not bound to follow in the wake of this lord, or of that party. I must use my own powers of reflection. I must find out what it were best for me to do. And as I must answer at the bar of public opinion and answer, hereafter, at a tribunal where there can be no deception I am bound to vote according to my conscience for that man who I believe will best promote the interests of the country of which I am a citizen." He could bring hundreds and thousands 1842-43-] ELECTED FOR DURHAM. 69 of working men, their wives and families, who would go down upon their knees, and ask them to vote for the man who would support the repeal of those laws which were destroying your trade and their trade your prosperity and their prosperity.' Mr. Bright went on to avow himself the political friend of the working classes, and of the freemen of the borough, and he had not a sympathy in common with any lord in the neighbourhood. He had a deep, settled, and unchanging sympathy with those whose only property was their labour, and whose only income was their wages. ' Rich and great people,' continued the candidate, ' can take care of themselves; but the poor and defenceless the men with small cottages and large families the men who must work six days every week, if they are to live in anything like comfort for a week, these men want defenders ; they want men to main- tain their position in Parliament ; they want men who will protest against any infringement of their rights, and who will on all occasions stand by them as the guardians of the rights of that community of which you are the representatives. Now I ask you, electors, to consider these points. Do not consider them with reference to me, consider them with reference to yourselves. Think of your wives, and of your children, for whom you labour ; who live out of the produce of your industry. Think of them ; think what they suffer from bad laws, and that they might be comfortable under good laws. And if you are of 7 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP, in opinion that the principles which I have propounded to you are such as are likely to advance your inte- rests, then I fearlessly, and without any immodesty, ask you, when the day of election shall come, to register your votes in my favour, as the representative of those principles.' The next and concluding passage of Mr. Bright's speech possesses both a puhlic and a special auto- biographical interest. ' We are bound together by the same interests/ he observed. ' We are made happy or miserable by the same means. What brings comfort to your homes, must bring plenty and comfort to mine. What gives security to your interests, and your enjoy- ments, must equally give security to mine. I am a working man as much as you. My father was as poor as any man in this crowd. He was of your own body, entirely. He boasts not nor do I of birth, nor of great family distinctions. What he has made, he has made by his own industry and successful commerce. What I have, comes from him, and from my own exertions. I have no interest in the extravagance of government ; I have no interest in seeking appoint- ments under any government ; I have no interest in pandering to the views of any government; I have nothing to gain by being the tool of any party. I come before you as the friend of my own class and order ; as one of the people ; as one who would, on all occasions, be the firm defender of your rights, and the asserter of all those privileges to which you are justly entitled. It is on these grounds that I offer 1842-43-] ELECTED FOR DURHAM. 7 1 myself to your notice ; it is on these grounds that I solicit your suffrages ; it is for this alone, the asser- tion of my principles, and the maintenance of my opinions, that I am prepared to sacrifice the comforts of my present mode of life to give up a home which is dear to me to leave a family which is dear to me and to part with comforts which cannot be enjoyed by any man who takes a prominent part in public affairs. It is for the maintenance of those principles that I am here in your city. I will buy no votes. I don't wish them, unless they are given freely. I am persuaded that the majority of those who hear me rejoice that corruption is at an end in the city of Durham. It would be an insult to nineteen out of every twenty of the men in this assemblage if I were to say or to think otherwise. I know perfectly well that you have honest wishes, and would like to be independent. I am sure that a vast proportion of you are in favour of honesty and independence in the exercise of the elective franchise. There have been men to whom I have been pointed out as their enemy, because I am here in consequence of the overthrow of a system which faction had created. But I do not come here to ask for the vote of any man who I believe for a moment could think that a paltry, absurd, ridiculous, bad custom should be put into the balance against the rights, and the interests, and the prosperity of this great community. On these grounds, then, 1 come before you. I intend to can- vass, if possible, every elector; and I trust that when 7 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. III. the poll is declared from yonder window, or wherever the Mayor may determine, the opinions of the electors of Durham will be declared to he in favour of justice, and mercy, and truth, as applied to legislation in this country ; instead of that cruel, and unjust, and merciless system of monopoly and extravagance under which we have so long laboured.' There is no speech by Mr. Bright in his early electioneering campaigns which more clearly, if indeed so clearly, sets forth his relations to the great working- class constituency as this particular Durham speech. In that address he distinctly promulgates the grounds upon which he had at all a right to challenge public sympathy. While justly warm, perhaps, as one of his temperament must necessarily be, over the pecu- liar forms of oppression current, he was never that offensive partisan which has too frequently been represented. It may be maintained by some that the model politician is he who considers the claims of both parties from a far distance ; but in periods of crisis it is not the careful weighing of political axioms, but action, that is requisite. The country had arrived at such a crisis when Mr. Bright was contesting Durham in 1843, and it behoved him to speak out, and to speak boldly and uncompromisingly. This he unquestionably did ; and there is no political address by the right hon. gentleman which demands more careful perusal than the one from which we have quoted. It had less of appeal to feelings than to principles ; and yet the closing passage above 1842-43-] ELECTED FOR DURHAM. 73 extracted, while convincing from the argumentative point of view, is still more conclusive and admirable from that nobly-apologetic side which has since been illustrated by such distinguished examples as those of Cardinal Newman and Mr. Gladstone. For two days Mr. Bright was now actively engaged in canvassing, but on the evening of the second day he delivered another stirring address to the electors. 'I am one,' he said, 'who has been taught to believe and the longer I live, the more convinced I am that that belief has a just foundation that there is no bad law which can be passed by Government whose influence is not felt even in the smallest cottage in the most remote part of the country. It is said sometimes or some poet has said I forget the exact quotation, but the meaning of it is " How small a part of ills which men endure Are those which kings or laws can make or cure." Now I believe there are laws in this country, some of which have wrought much evil; and that by a removal of those evil laws, and the substitution of good ones, great evil might be done away with, and great good produced.' The speaker the*n referred to the suffering in Durham, and the lack of employment, remarking that the interests of the electors had here- tofore been sacrificed at the shrine of party. Now he (Mr. Bright) came before them entirely uncon- nected with either or with any party in the State. He would support no ministry as a ministry. They could have no interest in Sir Eobert Peel remaining 74 THE LIFE OF fOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. nr. in power, unless he did something to bring about a better state of things in the country, and ensure just and impartial government. He was no enemy of Sir Robert Peel ; he only spoke of him in his capacity of Prime Minister. With regard to the coal duty, the candidate observed that it was nothing but direct plunder of certain property in Northumberland and Durham; and it was put on for the purpose of staving off for a time the abolition of the Corn Laws, and of the sugar and coffee monopolies. 'I think when men are obliged to immure themselves deep in mines, until they almost forget that a sun was made, that they of all men have a right to demand of any government that no tax should be placed upon what they bring up from the mine, in order that the demand for that commodity may not be diminished that their wages may not fall and that their families may not derive less of the comforts they are entitled to from those hard and dangerous labours in which they are engaged.' From this passage of his speech, which was warmly appreciated, Mr. Bright went on to reply to certain objections which had been raised against Free Trade. One of his points was received with loud laughter and cheering. 'I have heard of a waiter,' he remarked, who was so exceedingly clever, that it was said he could pack a quart of wine into a pint bottle ; but I never heard of any one who was clever enough to get a quart of wine out of a pint bottle. And don't you know that in the case of a deficient harvest, the landowner, being the strongest, will get his share as 1842-43-] ELECTED FOR DURHAM. 75 long as he can ; that the farmer, being the next strongest, will get his share of what the farm pro- duces as long as he can ; that the labourer, being the weakest, must come in for the greatest share of the scarcity which is caused by the deficient harvest ? ' Mr. Bright then quoted passages from a speech made by a Mr. Munday, a large farmer near Andover, to prove that it was worse than folly, it was a crime, to assert that the labourers on a farm were benefited in any way by high prices and scarcity. Every man who refused to vote for the abolition of such a system as this, which by law made famine which doomed hundreds and thousands of honest men and their families to the utmost destitution which could pos- sibly be imagined was not a freeman ; nor did he wish to make others free. The speaker next dwelt upon the necessity for the ballot, for he had himself discovered that a wide system of intimidation pre- vailed. Two candidates had recently stood for Not- tingham on the principle of purity of election Joseph Sturge and Mr. G-isborne and the latter had now been returned. Why could not the men of Durham act in the same way ? Towards the conclusion of his address, Mr. Bright made the following appeal, which greatly moved the attentive crowd of listeners : ' I have found, as I said before, suffering among you, and believe it arises from bad laws ; and I believe that that suffering may be removed. I have seen in your houses a great number of little children ; and some of them reminded me of one I have at home ; and I am sure that my child is no dearer to me than your children are to you. I have seen some that looked as if born in poverty. I saw one cradle to-day, with a little child 7 6 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. in. in it, that almost brought the tears to my eyes to Bee the little clothing it had about it. It was well it was summer, or it must have suffered greatly from the cold. Well, now, if a man have three or four children, he has just three or four times as much interest in having the Corn Law abolished as the man who has none. Your children will grow up to be men and women. It may be that your heads will be laid in the grave before they come to manhood or womanhood ; but they will grow up, and want employment at honest trades want houses and furniture, and food and clothing, and all the necessaries and comforts of life. They will be honest and industrious as yourselves. But the difficulties which surround you will be increased tenfold by the time they have arrived at your age. Trade will then have become still more crippled ; the supply of food still more diminished; the taxation of the country still further increased. The great lords, and some other people, will have become still more powerful, unless the freemen and electors of Durham and of other places stand to their guns, and resolve that, whatever may come of Queen, or Lords, or Commons, or Church, or anybody, great and powerful, and noble though they be, the working classes will stand by the working classes ; and having the honesty to live by the work of their own hands, will stand up for the rights of honest industry ; and will no longer lay themselves down in the dust to be trampled upon by the iron heel of monopoly, and have their very lives squeezed out of them by evils such as I have described.' At a later meeting, Mr. Bright stated that a deputa- tion from the ironworkers of Staffordshire (who were in no better position than the coalworkers) had had an interview with Sir Eobert Peel, to lay before him the distressed condition of the trade, and the appal- ling state of destitution into which the people were being plunged. Sir Robert said he could do nothing for them ; he would take the subject into considera- tion ; he sympathized marvellously with them ; but he had no remedy for their distresses. All this misery arose from causes which he (Mr. Bright) had often pointed out. The evil was due to bad govern- ment. 'You have in this country all that should make you the most prosperous and contented people 1 842-43.] ELECTED FOR DURHAM, 77 under heaven. Providence has blessed you abun- dantly. Your prayers for daily bread your prayers for every blessing upon your country have been answered long ago from heaven. But there is another power which arrests the bounty of heaven, and dooms the children of our common Father, by hundreds of thousands, to intolerable suffering, when He has designed for them every great and continued happi- ness and enjoyment.' The nomination took place on the 24th of July. Mr. Bright and his supporters first appeared at the hustings, and the cheers with which they were greeted lasted for some minutes. His opponent, Mr. Purvis, whose chief distinction seems to have been that he brought amusement into the contest, exhibited singular nervousness in mounting the steps to the hustings, and his reception when there was such as would have discouraged a much bolder man. The Tory candidate, however, to his credit be it said, went through his uncomfortable experiences very good- humouredly. Mr. Bright himself was in excellent form ah 1 through the proceedings enjoying the fun which was then inseparable from a nomination day at an English election, and even contributing to it himself. Mr. John Henderson proposed, and Mr. William Shields seconded, the nomination of Mr. Bright ; and Mr. J. W. Hays proposed, and Mr. John Forster seconded, that of Mr. Thomas Purvis, who for some inscrutable reason appears to have been always called 78 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. in. 1 Billy ' a name which invariably evoked roars of laughter. Mr. Bright first addressed the assembly, and began by calling upon the electors to decide whether they would support the rights and interests of the people in general, or give their power and influence to a class which had already far too much power and influence in the country. He then pro- ceeded to overhaul the opinions of his opponent, respecting which great difficulty of accurate know- ledge existed. When asked, during the delivery of his addresses, what those opinions were, he referred the electors to his handbills ; and on turning to the hand- bills, he (Mr. Bright) found that Mr. Purvis merely engaged to support those Conservative principles which had placed the present Administration in power. In fact, he might say in the words of the poet, ' All that we know is, nothing can be known.' Mr. Bright then went on to show what the prin- ciples of the Ministry were, and how their present policy left the working classes in a condition of great suffering. He also referred to the condition of Ire- land, and to the great bill of the session, the Irish Arms Bill. If there are still some who could for a moment doubt Mr. Bright's deep friendliness and sympathy for the Irish people, let them turn back to these words in his Durham speech, anticipatory of his later utterances : ' What is the condition of Ireland ? Two millions of her children are paupers ; and yet it is a magnificent island, with a soil more fertile than the country in which we live with a soil capable of producing anything, 1842-43-] ELECTED FOR DURHAM. 79 and blessed, almost above every other country, with abundance by Provi- dence ; and with a people (though I need not tell you what they are) generous, warm-hearted, intelligent, honest, and virtuous, and probably, at this moment, more sober than the people of any other country in the world. What do the Irish people complain of ? Of no employment, because the Conservative policy of England has destroyed the manufac- tures of Ireland. They complain of the Established Church in Ireland as a grievance ; and so it must be admitted to be, when only one in ten of the population belong to the Church. It is just as unfair to have a Protestant establishment sweeping up the ecclesiastical revenues there, as it would be for a Romish establishment in England to sweep up all the ecclesiastical revenues of this island. The people of Ireland also believe that in the administration of the law they have not impartial justice done to them. They complain, moreover, that they are badly used by their landlords, and that they are turned out of their cottages. We have seen it stated lately, by an Irishman who is my representative in the House of Commons, that not less than seventy thousand persons have been turned out in one year in Ireland, from the cottages which they had lived in from their birth ; that landlords, to consolidate their farms, and drive away the miserable people, had ejected them from their cottages forced them out, with their wives and children, on to the highways and to the streets, having taken down their cottages yea, driven a ploughshare over the homesteads of these unfortunate people ; and when those people cry aloud to Govern- ment for redress, that Government has nothing to offer them but an Arms Bill.' Yet all this policy, continued the speaker, his opponent would support. He for his part asked the electors to stand forward and become standard-bearers in that great army of justice and right which was already marching forward to the deliverance of the country. Mr. Bright repeated his previous declara- tion that he was no party man, and that he came not at the call of any ministry. He had buried all his other politics for a time, and asked for their suffrages on the ground that he was a Free Trader alone. Some men found a seat in Parliament a stepping-stone to other offices more lucrative ; but all the office he 8o THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. in. sought was to be a representative of the people. 1 Justice and impartiality to all ' was his motto ; and so long as he had memory and voice to express an opinion, so long would he clamour against the oppres- sion which existed, and in favour of the rights of the great body of the people. Then followed this amusing and yet not altogether amusing passage : ' If I understand Mr. Purvis's opinions and I confess that from the fog, the mist, and the gloom with which he has contrived to enshroud them, I find great difficulty in discovering what they are (laughter) I suspect strongly that if by a majority of votes he be declared member for Durham, he will immediately enrol himself as a member of that Pro-Corn- Law Club which sits in St. Stephen's ; and whose main business it is to raise the price of your food, and to lower the rate of your wages. (Cheers.) The Corn Law is a famine law. Why do the landlords say it will do them harm if it be repealed ? Because it would lower the price of food. It would lower the price by bringing more food into the market. If that be true, it must be quite true that it raises the price of corn by keeping it out of the market. And if the law keep corn out of the market, then it must make food more scarce than it would be if such a law did not exist. And this making of food scarce, is what I call making a famine by law. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Now I ask you, as I did the last time I was here I ask you, working-men and freemen of Durham, who gets all the scarcity, when there is a scarcity of food ? (" The poor man," promptly answered a voice from the crowd.) My honourable opponent and myself bear no signs of having suffered from scarcity. (Laughter both the gentlemen having a tendency to plumpness.) I dare say we have hardly ever known, for this many a year, the luxury of feeling right hungry. (Laughter.) Many a man in both Houses of Parliament may suffer from eating too much ; but I will be bound that none of them feel the consequences of eating too little. (Great laughter and cheers.) ' In the case of scarcity and famine, it was the working man, not Mr. Purvis or himself, who would need to go to oatmeal or potatoes. If the existing laws were not repealed, there would be still less trade and lower wages ; more suffering, more pauperism, 1 842-43.] ELECTED FOR DURHAM. 8 1 more union workhouses, and more of all life afflictions which all men had a natural desire to shun. ' There was once a law passed through Parliament for the protection of dogs from being stolen. (Laughter.) There were some very heavy penalties attached to it, one of which was this, that any person guilty of offending against the Act should be punished by having inflicted upon him fifty or a hundred lashes ; one-half to go to the informer, and the other half to the poor of the parish ! (Peals of laughter.) Well, now, the Corn Law is one of this kind of things. It gives all the afflictions which it creates and encourages " to the poor of the parish." (Hear, hear.) I ask you to do what you can to abolish that law. (Cheers.)' By-and-by the farmers would declare that they would no longer be defrauded; for they must see that their best customers were the manufacturing and trading population ; and that when, from want of work, and consequent want of wages, that population could not buy their agricultural produce, their own ruin as high rentals continued stared them in the face. Mr. Bright then stated that his own principles were, briefly, freedom of trade, justice to all classes of the people, impartiality in the administration of the laws, a Government to protect and not to oppress, and all those principles which were truly and really conservative of all that is worthy of conservation beneath the dominion of the British Crown. Then, in the course of an impassioned peroration, occurred this passage: ' I have seen the freemen of your city looking disconsolate and sad. Their hands were ready to labour, their skill was ready to produce all that their trade demanded. They were as honest and as industrious as any men in this assemblage ; but no man hired them. They were in a state of involuntary idleness, and were driving fast to the point of pauperism. I have seen their wives, too, with three or four children about them, one 6 82 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. HI. in the cradle, one at the breast. I have seen their countenances. I have seen the signs of their sufferings. I have seen the emblems and the symbols of affection, such as I did not expect to see in this city. Aye ! and I have seen those little children who, at a not distant day, will be the men and women of the city of Durham I have seen their poor little wan faces and anxious looks, as if the furrows of old age were coming upon them before they had escaped from the age of childhood. I have seen all this in your city ; and I have seen far more than this in the neighbourhood from which I come. You have seen, in all probability, people from my neighbourhood walking your streets and begging for that bread which the Corn Law would not allow them to earn. " Bread-taxed weaver ! let us see What hath bread-tax done for thee, And thy children, vilely led, Singing hymns for shameful bread, Till the stones of every street Know their little naked feet." This is what the Corn Law does for the weavers of my neighbourhood ; and for the weaver and the artisan of yours. Yes, men of Durham ! yes, freemen and electors ! I implore you on my bended knees I would ask you, for your sakes, not mine for, personally, it is not to me the value of this piece of paper which way the election ends ; upon prin- ciple, I ask you to claim for yourselves and for your families the right to have that cheap and wholesome food which a merciful and wise God has supplied for both poor and rich, and upon which they might have been happy and comfortable if His wise laws had not been infringed by human power ; I ask you now, before it be too late now that you have an opportunity now, when your countrymen, from the furthest ends of the empire, are turning anxious looks to the accounts received from this ancient and renowned city ; I ask you on behalf of yourselves and your homes on behalf of millions of suffering families on behalf of the prin- ciples of justice and humanity I ask you, I implore you, to cast away all party feeling to come forward to the poll to-morrow, to register your votes in a cause on which, I believe, hangs the salvation of our common country ; and by which, if you are but true to it and to yourselves, you will strike a blow which may be followed up by many other counties, and cities, and boroughs of the kingdom ; and the cloud which at this moment overhangs our social horizon be swept away for ever. And as, at this moment, those clouds which soar above us temporarily obscure the rays of the glorious sun, so the clouds which now overhang this unhappy country shall be dispelled, and the radiant beams of that glorious orb of commercial freedom which gives life, and health, and joy to all, shall 1842-43-] ELECTED FOR DURHAM. 83 shine again upon the people of this country, and England shall once more be great, and happy, and free.' Mr. Bright's oratory has perhaps gathered in depth and intensity since he gave utterance, when thirty- two years of age only, to this speech ; but he has probahly never surpassed it for the exhibition of all those qualities which make an election address truly powerful viz., pathos, humour, eloquence, and that general adaptability of the whole to the audience, as regards its arguments and appeals, which never fails of success. A tolerable proficient in the art of plat- form speaking would have found it somewhat difficult to follow him upon this occasion ; but Mr. Purvis laboured under unusual difficulties. If he could have answered Mr. B right's arguments, well and good; but if not, it would have been much better to have deli- vered a speech on the old lines, and have done with it. Mr. Purvis chose the former course, much to his own discomfiture. The running fire of derisive laughter with which his answer to Mr. Bright was received demonstrated its value. This is the kind of platform nonsense that prevailed through Mr. Purvis's speech: * No doubt my hon. opponent has seen all the distress that he relates. No doubt that he has seen all the two millions of paupers he talks of, including the "wasted babies" of Durham. Now, I have canvassed Durham not so much as him but I have canvassed it ; I have been in the midst of the healthy and handsome people of Durham (roars of laughter) and I know nothing of those wasted babies and poor, 84 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. in. pale-faced women whom my hon. opponent speaks of.' (Laughter, and a remark, ' Thou's blind, Billy.') A statement that Mr. Bright had said nothing of his principles was received with shouts of laughter, as also was another statement that he (Mr. Purvis) was thoroughly independent. When the show of hands was taken, all the assembly, with the exception of some twenty or thirty people, was in favour of Mr. Bright. A poll was of course demanded, and it took place on the following day. The Tories put forth all their efforts, but Mr. Bright was returned by a majority of seventy- eight, the numbers being, Bright, 488 ; Purvis, 410. The successful candidate's reception at the Town Hall was most enthusiastic. Durham market-place was crowded beyond all precedent, and when Mr. Bright appeared outside on the hustings, the cheering and waving of hats were continued for several minutes, and seemed almost irrepressible. The new member returned thanks, affirming that that day's poll would do more to strike a telling blow at the protection, or rather the plunder of trade system under which the country had been labouring a stronger and a deadlier blow than any election which had hitherto taken place. He concluded by quoting these spirited lines of Shelley a poet whose appreciative readers were at that time very few : ' Men of England, heirs of glory, Heroes of unwritten story, Nurslings of one mighty mother, Hopes of her and one another I 1842-43-] ELECTED FOR DURHAM. 85 ' Rise, like lions after slumber, In unvanquishable number, Shake your chains to earth like dew, Which in sleep had fallen on you : Ye are many they are few.' Although Mr. Bright came forward on such pro- nounced principles, we find that amongst those who voted for him were Mr. Granger, the second member for the city, the Dean of Durham, and Mr. Preben- dary Ogle. After the declaration of the poll, the hon. member went in procession in an open carriage round the market-place, up the Bailey, through the College, and afterwards through the principal streets of the town, attended by an immense concourse of people, cheering enthusiastically at every step. He alighted at the Waterloo Hotel, where he received an ovation from probably the largest meeting ever assembled in Durham. He briefly addressed the vast crowd, congratulating them that the cloud which had hung over the city had been removed. He begged them in their politics to act upon the golden rule that whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. The election caused considerable excitement throughout the country, and it elevated greatly the hopes and the courage of the Anti-Corn Law League party. Addresses and resolutions of thanks poured in upon the electors of Durham from all parts of the country. In Mr. Bright's native town of Eochdale the rejoicing was naturally great, but the most important demonstration in connection with the election was 86 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. HI. held in London, at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, Strand. It was called ' for the purpose of congratu- lating the electors of the city of Durham on the recent victory they had so nohly achieved for the cause of Free Trade by returning John Bright, Esq., as their representative to Parliament.' Although the meeting had not been publicly announced for more than twenty-four hours, no less than from six to seven thousand persons entered the Crown and Anchor in the hope of being present, more than two- thirds of whom were compelled to retire as they came, under the dispiriting news that the place was crowded. The Hon. C. P. Villiers, M.P., took the chair, and in his opening speech said that the election had rendered a double service to the country. It had struck a blow at two great causes of the evil in this country, the abuse of property and the abuse of power. At the mention of Mr. Bright 's name, the whole audience rose to their feet, cheering loudly and waving their hats. Dr. (afterwards Sir John) Bowring, parodying a well-known epigram upon Dr. Goodenough, who was once called upon to preach before the House of Commons, said and the lines were received with tumultuous applause ' Tis meet enough and fit enough the House should be enlightened, For sure enough they're dull enough, and wanting to be Brightened ! ' Mr. Bright made an earnest speech on the great question of the day, the repeal of the Corn Laws, and in the course of it expressed his disappointment over his first experience of the House of Commons 1842-43.] ELECTED FOR DURHAM. 87 on the previous evening. Lord John Kussell opened a debate with a solemn warning to the Government ; and then Sir Eobert Peel got up. He looked as though he was going to attack Lord John Kussell in a very effectual manner, for he seemed terribly indignant ; but it was all smoke. ' He certainly did what man could do to defend the present Govern- ment, but it would have exceeded the powers of an angel to explain to the House, or to the country, how it was that with a majority in the House of Commons of more than a hundred, with nearly all the House of Lords at its back, with a starving people before them, with decaying trade, with in- surrection threatening them, more or less near, in Ireland, in Wales, in the north of England, with disease eating into the very heart's core of the empire, that, under all these circumstances, this long session should well-nigh have passed over, and the Government not be able to point to one single measure which could in the slightest degree amelio- rate the condition of the people . ' The Parliamentary band of Free Traders which, though small in numbers, was rapidly increasing in influence with the country thus received a strong and valuable accession. None of those present in the House of Commons on the 28th of July, 1843, and who saw the young representative for Durham appear at the table, and make the declara- tion prescribed by the Act for members of the Society of Friends, could for a moment imagine 88 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. in. that the new member canvassed though his advent had been was destined to develope into an orator whose eloquence pales not before that of a Sheil, a Grattan, or a Canning, or before that of his own more immediate contemporary Gladstone. CHAPTEE IV. FIRST SPEECH IN PARLIAMENT FACTORY LEGISLATION, ETC. The League triumph at Durham. Mr. Bright's appearance in the House. His maiden Speech. Import Duties. An Appeal to Ministers. The Corn Laws the real grievance of the People. The Chelsea Out-pensioners Bill. Com- mercial relations with the Brazils. Factory Legislation. Lord Ashley and Mr. Bright. Defence of the Operatives. A dramatic incident. Distress in the Eastern Counties. The evils of Protection. Mr. Bright on the Game Laws. Speech on the Maynooth Grant. WITH every disposition to minimise the triumph which the League principles had achieved in Durham, those journals which were strongly opposed to Mr. Bright and his friends found the task im- possible. Here was a candidate totally unknown in the city three months before he wrested it out of the hands of the monopolists. True, the Morning Herald had given utterance to a feeling of uneasi- ness shortly before the election when it remarked that ' the Quaker Bright has many friends in Durham.' But it seemed scarcely likely, nay, highly improbable, in the eyes of most people, that a young candidate, appearing in Durham for only the second time in his life, and contesting the representation on two such principles as purity of election and the abrogation of the Corn Laws, could win a seat hitherto regarded as the appanage of an aristocratic family, and one 90 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. iv. which was supposed to be open only to the pressure of the golden lever. Three or four days preceding the election even, the correspondent of the Times wrote from Durham to the effect that the seat might be regarded as safe for Mr. Purvis. He had very good grounds for believing that he would be returned by a substantial majority. The result defeated this and many other prognostications. Commenting on the moral of the victory, a contemporary writer observed, c Greater than the accession to the House of Commons of an additional advocate of freedom of trade, freedom of conscience, freedom of repre- sentation, and universal peace able, vigorous, and eloquent though he be must be the results of John Bright's election. It has proved that a principle is much more than a name. He has achieved a victory which could not have been attained by any one even of the very elite of the Whig aristocracy. Lord John Kussell, Lord Morpeth, Lord Howick, would have failed where the Rochdale cotton- spinner was successful.' At the same time, though the cause was good, if the advocate had been bad, the result might still have been different. The candidate must not be robbed of his share of the triumph ; the electors of Durham were quite unable to resist Mr. Bright's convincing and persuasive eloquence. But, the seat being gained, interest now centred in the new member's appearance in the House. Whatever be the cause, we suppose that no member, 1 843-4S-] FIRST SPEECH IN PARLIAMENT. 9 1 even the most fluent, ever yet rose for the first time in the House of Commons without confessing to a feeling of trepidation. He is conscious that he is addressing, not only one of the highest, but one of the most critical assemblies in the world. Elo- quence at the bar and upon the platform is not the same thing as eloquence in the House of Commons. So, although Mr. Bright had addressed very large audiences out of doors, it was not without diffidence that he rose to make his maiden speech in Parlia- ment, before the smallest audience he had probably ever addressed. This was on the 7th of August, during a discussion in a very thin House of Mr. Ewart's motion ' That it is expedient that the principles and suggestions contained in the evi- dence taken before the Import Duties Commission of session 1840 be carried into general effect ; and that the trade and industry of the country require further and more effectual relief by the removal or reduction of duties which press upon the raw ma- terial of manufacture, and on articles of interchange with foreign nations, as well as on the means of sub- sistence of the people.' Mr. Bright began by expressing his reluctance to take up the time of the House, especially so soon after he had taken his seat there, but the strong interest he felt in the question, and the duty he owed to his constituents, called upon him for the expression of his opinion. He then went on to complain that on both sides of the House there had been too much 9 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP, iv reliance upon the miserable system of protection. He avowed his own opinions, pleading for the total abolition of the Corn Law, and the adoption of the principle of perfect freedom of trade. ' Crime,' he said, ' has often veiled itself under the name of virtue, but of all the crimes against the laws of God and the true interests of man, none has ever existed more odious and more destructive than that which has assumed the amiable term of Protection.' Then he proceeded : ' The right hon. gentleman at the head of the Government ( Sir R. Peel) has acknowledged the soundness of the policy of buying in the cheapest and selling in the dearest market. The Secretary for the Home Depart- ment (Sir James Graham) says our principles are the principles of com- mon sense ; the President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Gladstone) has written and spoken Free-trade doctrines ; the opinions of the noble Lord the member for North Lancashire, and Secretary for the Colonies (Lord Stanley), I should not value highly when I remember the profound igno- rance on this question he manifested when last before his constituents ; but of all the members of the Government, the one for whom I feel an especial affection, is the right hon. the Paymaster of the Forces (Sir E. K natch bull). Unlike his colleague at the head of the Government, his words seem to have been given him for the purpose of expressing his ideas, and he has advanced the only tangible argument that has been uttered in this House in favour of the protection system. The House cannot, I am sure, have forgotten the argument of the right hon. baronet that the Corn Law is necessary to enable the landowners to discharge or maintain the settlements made on the marriages of their daughters. I have, since this declaration was made, attended many large meetings of agriculturists, and I confess I have never found a single fanner who seemed to be aware that this House had ever bestowed any attention on the means of providing portions for farmers' daughters. And no labourer has ever asserted that Parliament has taken steps to enable him to give a sum of ten or twenty pounds to his daughters to provide furniture for their cottages on entering the marriage state. I protest against the in- justice of a law that enriches the rich and cares nothing for the poor ; and if, during the period I may have a seat in this House, I should ever directly or indirectly give any support to a system so manifestly contrary 1843-45-] FIRST SPEECH IN PARLIAMENT. 93 to sound policy, and so destructive of the welfare of the great body of the people, I should be ashamed to hold up my head in any assembly of my countrymen.' It may be assumed that by this time Mr. Bright had quite lost his nervousness. Having bearded the Treasury Bench all round, he went on to remark that this question was simply one of rent ; and was rent a property more sacred than any other ? To him the property in labour was a more sacred property than any right to the soil could ever be. Why was it that the past four years had been years of suffering ? Because the protection given to one description of property prevented the application of another descrip- tion of property to the relief of the wants of the country. Seeing the extreme discontent existing among the great body of the working classes, he put it to any gentleman enamoured of the Corn Law, What was it to which we were hastening ? As regarded the Irish question, the great difficulty was how to give employment, and wages, and food to the two millions of paupers in Ireland. ' It is no petty legislation that can do this, no bringing in bills for the recovery of small debts, and making a boast of measures such as that. Landowners have been our law-makers, and yet everywhere there is suffering, and the landowners are everywhere charged with the mischief. You have been sowing curses, and you now wonder that curses have grown.' Mr. Bright concluded his first speech with this personal appeal to Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Glad- stone : 94 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. iv. ' I am surprised at the course pursued by the right hon. baronet. I should be glad to see him, not the Minister of the Queen merely, but the Minister of the people also. I should rejoice to see him disconnect him- self from the party whose principles he declares to be unsound. I should be glad to see him bearing in mind the source from which he has sprung, the source of his power and wealth, as it is the source of much of the power, and wealth, and greatness of this empire. He may have a laudable ambition he may seek renown, but no man can be truly great who is content to serve an oligarchy who regard no interest but their own, and whose legislation proves they have no sympathy with the wants of the great body of their countrymen. I live in the manufacturing districts ; I am well acquainted with the wishes and feelings of the population ; and I do not hesitate to say, when I view the disregard with which they are treated by this House, that the dangers which impend are greater than those which now surround us. I can assure the right hon. the President of the Board of Trade, that his flimsy excuses will not avail him at the bar of public opinion. He knows what is right, and he refuses to do it ; and whether the session be at the beginning or near its close, it is his duty to propose measures of relief to the commerce of the country. That this is not the time is an excuse which is as untrue as it is insulting. When will the time come ? Will monopoly resign its hold of the subsistence of the people ? " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots ? " The Government knows what is right, the people demand it to be done ; and the Ministry who refuse to act incur an awful responsibility. I have been anxious thus briefly to express my opinions ; I grieve that the country should be thus trifled with, and that it should have grounds for despairing of relief from this House. Nothing but danger can come from persisting in our present policy.' The motion for which Mr. Bright spoke was lost by 52 to 25. The hon. member's address excited a good deal of interest, and it was admitted to have many telling points. One who was in the House of Commons at the time observed that ' as a speaker Mr. Bright is far superior to many who are listened to in that assembly ; but those who know the constitution of the House know also the great influence of station, name, and wealth, and how much dulness will be tolerated from one of a good family. J843-45-] FIRST SPEECH IN PARLIAMENT. 95 Mr. Bright is about the middle size, rather firmly and squarely built, with a fair, clear complexion, and an intelligent and pleasing expression of countenance. His voice is good, his enunciation distinct, and his delivery free from any unpleasant peculiarity or mannerism. He is young, and has apparently a long career before him. His dress is rather more recherche than that of the Friends of a generation back, differing but slightly from the ordinary costume of the day.' Mr. Bright' s earnestness and energy were proverbial, and it speedily became apparent that whatever might have been the case as regards the past, in the future the representation of Durham would be no dead-letter. The Government, too, had acquired another sleep- less critic though that was an acquisition for which they were not anxious. A few days after the delivery of his maiden speech, and just before the prorogation, Mr. Bright again addressed the House, and put in a stirring if indirect plea for the Anti-Corn Law cause. The hon. member supported a motion for the rejection of the Chelsea out-pensioners bill a measure which rendered old veterans liable to be called on to serve again, or to lose the pensions which they had been awarded for long service. He began by combating the assertion of the War Secretary (Sir H. Hardinge) that a standing army was one of the greatest safe- guards of constitutional freedom, and said he trusted so monstrous a doctrine would never again be uttered. He read a letter showing that the bill before the 9 6 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. iv. House was not regarded favourably by the pensioners. The circumstances of the manufacturing districts were put forward as a reason for demanding the passing of this bill. But ' the question was, should they grant to the Government greater powers of repression whilst that Government refused all redress of the heavy grievances of the people.' Mr. Bright then detailed the sufferings which prevailed in the manufacturing districts, and added, ' The distress exists still; the laws which destroyed the trade of a rapidly increasing population exist still ; and what do the Government now propose ? To do tardy justice ? To remove the restrictions ? To let the people work who want to work, and would have work if the law did not prevent it ? Nothing of the kind. There is no sign of repentance on the part of the Ministers : justice and relief are asked for, and the people are answered by a bill to raise a new body of military to keep the discontent of the suffering and the oppressed from becoming dangerous to hon. members opposite.' The people had assembled together, but they had assembled peaceably. After referring also to our treatment of Ireland, the hon. member in this forcible passage indicated the lessons of the past : ' The people of the United Kingdom asked for a reform of this House for a better representation of the people ; and their prayer was for a long period despised and neglected. They asked that stumps of trees and old walls should no longer send members to this House, but that the thou- sands who inhabit Manchester, and Leeds, and Birmingham should have a voice in your deliberations. You refused it. It was a just demand, 1843-45-] FIRST SPEECH IN PARLIAMENT. 97 but there was no clamour. It was needful for the good of the people, but it was not then needful to secure you from violence. You dared to refuse it. But the usual results followed ; a storm arose before which you quailed, and you were for a time swept almost from before the sight of the public. Now we have grievances. ; we have a law which prevents our trade which denies the right to labour, for themselves and their families, to multitudes of honest and industrious individuals. The people ask you for nothing that is yours, but for that which is their own, and which you have taken from them for a time. The population increases, and trade does not increase with it, and therefore suffering and competition increase. ... If monopoly be right and wise, let us have it, fully and without stint ; but if Free Trade be the policy for this country, then let us have Free Trade. The question for this House to determine appears to me to be a very simple one indeed. Shall we give the people the means to live comfortably by their honest labour, or shall we afford to the Government which refuses them justice, the power to coerce them, and to render it safe to be unjust ? Is this policy to go on for ever ? ' Warning the Government that the middle classes would not for ever go on supporting the aristocracy against the rights of the most numerous class, Mr. Bright said that for himself he would be no party to giving increased power to a Government which gave no evidence of a disposition to redress the wrongs they had admitted ; but he would cordi- ally support any proposition which might serve to prevent the passing of that most unnecessary and coercive bill. The Government, however, had a large majority on the measure. Early in the session of 1844, attention was directed to the condition of our commercial rela- tions with the Brazils, and Mr. Labouchere moved an address to Her Majesty, praying her to adopt such measures as might prove best calculated to maintain and improve those relations. Mr. Glad- 7 9$ THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. iv. stone opposed the motion, on the ground of its embarrassing nature, while he admitted the great importance of our trade with the Brazils. Mr. Bright spoke upon the motion, and declared that he could only express disgust and amazement at the manner in which nohle lords and hon. gentlemen spoke of the Africans in the Brazils, while entirely overlooking the famishing population in their own manufacturing counties and agricultural districts. They had already almost an open market with the Brazils, and yet our trade with that country for many years past had been diminishing. The benefit of the existing treaty had been destroyed by sacrificing the national good to class and selfish interests. As regarded the sugar supply, the West India planters derived the same advantage from that monopoly which the landed proprietors of England sought from the Corn Laws. The Govern- ment knew that this was merely a question of self- interest, and the country knew it too. But they might depend upon it there was intelligence and virtue enough in the country to put an end, not only to this, but to every other monopoly by which the people were suffering. Mr. Gladstone had evaded the real question at issue. The monopo- lists, whether Whigs or Tories, all hung together. They were then discussing the question of sugar, but it was the same interest, whether corn, sugar, or timber. Eeferring to the prevalent distress, Mr. Bright said that no state of agricultural prosperity 1843-45-] FIRST SPEECH IN PARLIAMENT. 99 ever yet maintained the revenue of the kingdom ; and unless the Government regarded those districts with a more favourable feeling, he could tell them that consequences would some day come, for which they would have received but a small compensation from the Corn Law or the Sugar Law. With up- wards of two millions of paupers in Ireland with a million paupers in England and Wales and with an enormous mass of poverty in Scotland, it was astonishing that a Government which professed to feel for the sufferings of the people would aggra- vate, instead of seeking to alleviate, those sufferings, by still further depressing that trade which could alone afford them employment. Lord Palmerston followed on the same side, affirming that the line of argument which Govern- ment used to justify them in refusing to let in foreign sugar, was no more than declaring that this monopoly should be everlasting. If they were to wait until they could induce the Brazilians to abolish slavery and the slave trade, no person in that House would live to see the day when foreign sugar would be admitted into the home markets of this country. There voted for Mr. Labouchere's motion, 132 ; against, 205 ; so that the Government had a majority of 73. We shall pass over at present Mr. Bright's early speeches in the House connected directly with the Corn Laws, reserving them for another chapter, and deal here only with miscellaneous questions. 100 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. iv. Of these latter questions, one of the most im- portant related to the hours of factory labour a subject discussed at length and with much warmth in the session of 1844. It gave rise to considerable misunderstanding between Mr. Bright and Lord Ashley now the Earl of Shaftesbury, a nobleman imbued with true feelings of philanthropy, though these feelings may not always have been under the control of the highest wisdom. The working classes have been largely indebted both to Mr. Bright and Lord Shaftesbury, and the difference of opinion which arose between them, culminating in more than one passage of arms, was naturally therefore viewed with regret. We turn to these debates now for the purpose of showing Mr. Bright's true position in regard to factory legislation, and of dis- entangling it from that which is frequently assigned to him. It is also due to him to state, as between himself and Lord Ashley, that the latter was very largely dependent upon hearsay for many of his facts, and could not possibly be so intimately ac- quainted with the subject as those who had spent all their lives amongst the factory operatives, and were perfectly conversant with everything concern- ing them and their work. So much by way of preliminary. Sir James Graham having brought forward in the House of Commons the Government Bill for the regulation of labour in Factories, Lord Ashley proposed, in committee, the following amendment to Clause 2. 1 843-45.] FACTORY LEGISLATION. IOI 1 That the word "night*' shall be taken to mean from six o'clock in the evening to six o'clock in the following morning ; and the word " mealtime " shall be taken to mean an interval of cessation from work for the purpose of rest and refreshment, at the rate of two hours a day, with a view to effect a limitation of the hours of labour to ten in the day.' The noble mover dwelt upon the physical and moral evils attending the factory system, and asked 'in behalf of the poor, a time to live and a time to die, a time for the duties of life, and a time for its comforts.' Mr. Bright rose during the debate and delivered a lengthy and important speech. He complained in the outset that Lord Ashley had taken a most unfair and most unjust view of the question, and one which the reports of the factory inspectors did not corroborate. This the hon. member illus- trated by extracts referring to the comparatively healthy condition of the workers in factories. It was also proved in the evidence of the Factory Commission that the height of boys and girls em- ployed in agriculture, while exceeding that of those employed in mines, showed no sensible difference from that of those employed in mills. There was hardly a complaint made by Lord Ashley against the manufacturing towns of the North which might not be equally well alleged against London or Birmingham. He cited cases to prove that the labour of the London milliners and dressmakers, 102 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. iv. during the season, was much worse than the severest toil in any of the factories. Besides prolonged hours, there was also such a thing as starving to death. Let not the House suppose that if they passed the clause before them they would do more than plaister over the sores which their own most unjust legislation had created, instead of endeavour- ing to renovate the constitution and going to the root of the disease, which was well known to the Queen's ministers and hon. members. Mr. Bright further denied the truth of the terrible picture of the loss of limbs and of life in the factories. Amongst the cases adduced to prove this was that of Mr. Samuel Ashton, a large manufacturer and employer of labour. From 1819 to 1830 he em- ployed 400 hands ; from 1830 to 1835, 900 hands ; from 1835 to 1844, 1,200 hands; and yet amongst all these no fatal accident had occurred during the whole of the period. Cases of accident taken into the infirmaries were frequently described as happen- ing to factory hands when it was not so. There were far more fatal accidents amongst carters than from all the factories of the United Kingdom. It was merely trifling with legislation to establish a public prosecutor as was intended by this bill. As to alleged cruelties, the Factory Commissioners in their Keport stated that to the charge of cruelty brought against millowners, they could give the most decided and unqualified denial. The high rate of wages amongst the operatives rendered them 1 843-45.] FACTORY LEGISLATION. 1 03 independent and able to resist aggression. The Eeport further stated that l as to the immorality said to be engendered by the factory system, the whole current of testimony goes to show that the charges made against cotton factories on this head are calumnies.' Mr. Bright then contrasted the condition of the operatives with that of the agricultural labourers, greatly to the disadvantage of the latter. In schools, places of worship, means of education, wages, and general prosperity, the manufacturing classes were far ahead of the agricultural. Touch- ing on the question of popular literature, the hon. member said he had a note from Mr. W. Chambers, of Edinburgh, stating that of eighty-five thousand copies of their Chambers' Journal sold weekly, not less than four-fifths were disposed of in the manu- facturing districts. Lanarkshire and Lancashire afforded the greatest number of readers, the latter county alone taking more than twenty thousand copies, while to Dorsetshire (which was Lord Ash- ley's own county) probably not fifty copies were sent. Yet he (Mr. Bright) did not deny the suffer- ings and the wrongs of the manufacturing popula- tion. What he contended was, that as respects the remuneration for labour, the state of society, and the general comfort of the population, the cotton districts might stand a comparison with any other in the kingdom. He replied to the statement that a large proportion of the females employed in mills 104 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. iv. were married, by producing statistics which proved the very reverse. He then contrasted the rarity of parochial relief amongst the operatives with its frequency in the county which the noble lord repre- sented. He also cited the case of a labourer who came from Suffolk, where he and his family of ten had been only able to get Is. 2d. per head, per week, whereas when he became employed in Lanca- shire their earnings rose to 5s. per head. But not- withstanding all the facts he had cited, Mr. Bright admitted that there were evils, serious evils, and much distress in the manufacturing districts. But * hitherto manufacturers have had no fair chance : you have interfered with their natural progress, you have crippled them by your restrictions, you have at times almost destroyed -them by monopolies, you have made them the sources of your public revenue, and the upholders of your rents, but at your hands they have never to this moment received justice and fair dealing.' In announcing that he should vote against Lord Ashley's proposition be- cause it was impracticable, and because under the present oppressive legislation it would make all past injustice only more intolerable, the speaker further said : * The people ask for freedom for their industry, for the removal of the shackles on their trade ; you deny it to them, and then forbid them to labour, as if working less would give them more food, whilst your monopoly laws make food scarce and dear. Give them liberty to work, give them the market of 1 843-45.] FACTORY LEGISLATION. 105 the world for their produce, give them the power to live comfortably, and increasing means and increasing intelligence will speedily render them independent enough and wise enough to bring the duration of labour to that point at which life shall be passed with less of irksome toil of every kind, and more of recreation and enjoyment.' Mr. Bright' s speech had a dramatic and personal conclusion. He was compelled to make an expose of the sources from whence Lord Ashley had drawn his information, in order to show how utterly un- trustworthy that information was. He therefore told the noble lord that he had been grossly imposed upon, and that he would never obtain credit for his statements unless he could obtain them from more honest characters than those he had hitherto em- ployed. One of these individuals had published many statements respecting the manufactories in the North, some of which were wholly false, and most of which were grossly and malignantly exaggerated. 1 1 have in my hand,' said Mr. Bright, ' two of these publications. One is The Adventures of William Dodd, the Factory Cripple, and the other is entitled The Factory System, and consists of letters addressed to the noble lord. Both books have gone forth under the sanction of the noble lord. Dodd states that from the hardships he endured in a factory he was "done up" at the age of thirty-two, whereas I can prove he was treated with uniform kindness, which he repaid by gross immorality of conduct, 106 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. Iv. and for which he was at length discharged from his employment. I have in my possession letters written by this individual, in which he states that the noble lord and his party had used him, as long as they could get anything out of him. He said also that the noble lord had given him dinners at his own house, and that when he applied for a small balance due to him, the noble lord had written him an angry letter, recounting the dinners he had eafeen at his table. He also stated that the noble lord had shown him to his visitors as a cripple, and as a specimen of what the factories were doing for the population employed in them. I do not wish to dwell upon this point, but I am free to tell the noble lord that unless he employs agents more respectable, his statements and his expressions of benevolence will ever be viewed with suspicion by the manufacturers of the North; and I may add that others who are thus employed are not a whit more creditable than Dodd.' These revelations naturally caused considerable sensation in the House, and when Mr. Bright sat down, Lord Ashley sprang 'up to defend himself. The following is an accurate account of what occurred : Lord Ashley. ' I think the House will feel that in some measure I have a right to make one or two observations on the remarkable speech of the hon. gentleman : I will thank the hon. gentleman to explain that charge against me which he has insinuated, and which he said he would not pursue. I will not allow it to pass. I therefore throw myself on the indulgence and the protection of this House ; and I do request all hon. 1843-45-1 FACTORY LEGISLATION. IO7 gentlemen present to exert their influence, as members of this House and as gentlemen, to make the hon. member for Durham pursue his charge and state his case.' Mr. Bright. ' What is the charge the noble lord alludes to ? I told the noble lord that the instruments he carried on his operations with were not worthy of his cause or of him. I am prepared to maintain that assertion- I make no charge against the noble lord. I tell him that I think he is much misled by these men. I am prepared to prove that those agents of the noble lord are of a character that I would not take their evidence with respect to agricultural matters ; and I think it is not fair that it should be taken with respect to manufacturing matters. If the noble lord wishes to have information respecting manufacturing affairs, nine- teen out of twenty nay, all the respectable manufacturers in Lancashire, would be willing to give it him.' Lord Ashley. 'What, no charge? No "unpaid balance," I suppose ! No " cripple paraded for exhibition " ! Well, if the hon. member says he has made no charge, and if before the assembled Commons of England he is prepared to assert that he made no charge against me, I can assure him with satisfaction that the matter may there rest. But those who heard the hon. gentleman's statement can best judge whether a charge were made ; and those who hear me can best judge whether the hon. member had the courage to maintain it.' Mr. Bright. t The noble lord is entirely mistaken. I say the noble lord is entirely mistaken if he supposes that I judge of his character by the character of the men in whom I tell him to put no trust. I tell the noble lord plainly that I have letters in my hand which will prove all that I have stated. I will hand them to the noble lord with pleasure. I will go further, and tell the noble lord that the individual who wrote the letters I hold in my hand offered, for a sum of money, to sell a friend of mine a large number of other letters, which that friend of mine was, as I think, too fastidious to lay hold of. I tell the noble lord not to trust these men. I have always thought that the noble lord was honest in his convictions ; I have always said so, both in public and in private ; but I repeat that the instruments that he has worked with are not worthy of him or of his cause.' Extracts read from the letters fully corroborated all that Mr. Bright had said, but he again repeated that he had a high respect for the character of Lord Ashley, who in this case had been entirely misled. His lordship accepted Mr. Blight's explanation, and 108 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. iv. admitted that he had been deceived in the character of his informant Dodd. With this the exciting incident closed. But Lord Ashley's statements generally in his opening speech had ' vanished into air, into thin air,' under the examination of the hon. member for Durham. It was commonly felt that they had been greatly exaggerated, though the fault lay with others, and not with the noble lord. A word more remains to be said upon this question of factory legislation. Lord Ashley's motion was carried by 179 to 170 ; and the amendment came on at a later stage in a more substantive form. He now moved to substitute 'ten' for ' twelve ' as the hours of labour, but was defeated on this occasion by a majority of seven, in a House composed of nearly four hundred members. Sir James Graham withdrew the bill, and introduced another in its stead. A prolonged discussion took place on the third reading, when Lord Ashley again proposed to limit the hours of labour. During the discussion Mr. Bright replied to the noble lord's second speech, pointing out its inaccuracies and gross exaggerations, as on the first occasion. The manufacturers, he said, desired that the House, instead of passing a measure which would tend to restrict their market and diminish wages, should give to their workmen the means of obtaining sugar, bread, and other necessaries at a lower rate. Lord Ashley's motion was rejected by 297 to 159 ; and amongst those who voted against it I843-45-] AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS, IO9 were Mr. Cony, Sir T. E. Colebrooke, Mr. Bright, Mr. J. Evelyn Denison, Mr. Milner Gibson, Mr. Gladstone, Sir James Graham, Sir W. Heathcote, Mr. Sidney Herbert, Sir Kobert Peel, and Mr. Roebuck. This question has been much misrepresented, and Mr. Bright indicated what he considered to be the true remedy when he demanded Free Trade. In that was to be found the secret of cheaper food, higher wages, and fewer hours of labour. Towards the close of the session much excitement was caused by a great number of incendiary fires which took place in the Eastern Counties, where terrible distress was prevalent. Mr. Milner Gibson brought the matter under the attention of the House of Commons, and moved an address to Her Majesty representing that there was reason to believe the incendiarism which had for some time prevailed in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and Cambridgeshire was caused by deep discontent among the labouring popu- lation of those counties, and praying Her Majesty to issue a Commission to inquire into the condition of the agricultural labourers in those counties, and to ascertain what were the grievances from which they suffered. Sir J. Graham, speaking for the Govern- ment, gave the motion his most decided opposition, affirming that Mr. Gibson's speech and the success of his motion would have the effect of swelling the outrages which all deplored. Mr. Bright delivered a very animated speech in 1 10 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. iv. support of the motion. Ever since he had taken his seat in that House, he said, there had been a very strong disinclination to inquire into anything con- nected with the agriculture of the country. He attributed this to fear lest there should be revelations made against the Corn Laws. Why should we be kept in total ignorance about the produce of the soil? The Government would not issue an inquiry into these fires, although if one fire a month, and not 250 in nine months, had occurred in the manufacturing districts, there would have been loud condemnation of the conduct of the manufacturers towards those they employed. But the Times and the Chronicle had not forgotten their office, and their commis- sioners showed that security to property was not compatible with the terrible distress that existed among the labouring population of the Eastern Counties. The Poor Law was a harsh measure, but a man had other evils of no light character before he felt this. ' He must be a miserable legislator indeed who fancies that the Poor Law could secure permanent comfort to the people. The great and all-present evil of the rural districts is this, you have too many people for the work to be done, and you, the landed proprietors, are alone responsible for this state of things; and, to speak honestly, I believe many of you know it.' Tenants and labourers in Suffolk and other counties were being devoured by excessive competition, whilst the magnanimous landlords shel- tered themselves from all competition by the Corn 1 843-45.] AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS. Ill Law which they themselves had passed, and made the competition of all other classes serve to swell still more their rentals. It was for this object the Corn Law was passed, and yet in the face of their countrymen they dared to call it a law for the pro- tection of native industry. Mr. Bright adduced statistics in proof of this. If the League could not force a settlement of this question, the increase of population would. The landlords disregarded all rights but their own. The tenantry were greatly oppressed, too, by the preservation of game. How many lives had been sacrificed during the past year to the childish infatuation of preserving game ? After depicting the misery of the agricultural labourer, the hon. member said, ' I will tell you what your boasted protection is, it is a protection of native idleness at the expense of the impoverishment of native industry.' He threw back with scorn the imputation that he and his friends desired to pro- duce discord in the rural districts, though that had been attempted for long in the north of England. As l protection to native industry ' had placed the agricultural labourers in hovels, gaols, and union- houses, he recommended them to try another policy a little fair dealing, a little common humanity, a little common sense. ' Here you sit,' said Mr. Bright, speaking with great energy, l representatives of the people, legislators of this great commercial empire, making laws for your own exclusive gain, and denying the most natural and incontestable right 1 1 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. iv. of all men, the right to live by their industry, to the great mass of those for whom you profess to legislate. You, the magnanimous aristocracy of Britain, you own the soil, you boast of ancestry, you amuse your- selves with much painting on the panels of your coaches and yet you make laws in this House to enrich your own class at the expense of millions, to whom you deny all political power, and to whom you give no protection whatever. For all this you must one day answer, and the worst I wish you is that, when the time of retribution shall come upon the landed proprietors, it may please Heaven to visit them with more of mercy than they have ever shown to the poor of this country.' The House was not yet prepared to listen to appeals respecting the Corn Laws, or to stir in the agricultural question at all, and Mr. Gibson's motion was defeated by 130 votes to 41. Early in the ensuing session the 27th of February Mr. Bright moved for the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into the operation of the Game Laws. In doing so, he enlarged upon the enormous number of offences, conflicts, and outrages which resulted from these laws, and recounted the previous committees which had sat on this question. Besides the great injury inflicted upon farmers generally by the preservation of game, it was notorious that the destruction of grain by game throughout the country was enormous, and far beyond that usually supposed. Even the fear of free trade which prevailed amongst 1 843-45.] THE GAME LAWS. II 3 farmers would be mitigated if they knew that game preserving was at the same time to come to an end. Mr. Bright brought forward many cases to show the cruel hardship and injustice to which the Game Laws gave rise. The punishments inflicted upon the poor for offences against these laws were, he insisted, monstrous, when compared with the offences; and the infliction of such punishments destroyed all reverence for the law, and all belief in the imparti- ality, the wisdom, and the mercy of the Legislature. He could not understand how any man could set his enjoyments and amusements, though abstractedly innocent, in- comparison with the great and grievous evils afflicting the country as the result of these laws. 1 He could state, with the utmost sincerity, that there was not in his own breast a particle of feeling of hostility towards any human being in connection with this question ; but he had seen the sufferings of thousands of the poor and defenceless of those or whom the law should be a protector those for whose special good the Parliament and the constitu- tion had been instituted ; and he had seen other cases where persons had had their lives sacrificed under this system. He had seen cases where persons had been led out to undergo the awful sentence of the law, whilst the public sympathy was decidedly in their favour; and under these circumstances he did think that the House would not be doing justice to those over whom they were called to govern, if they did in any way give encouragement to a system 8 "4 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. iv. productive of so many grievous evils, not to one class, but to many classes ; and not to one district, but to the whole kingdom.' Sir James Graham, on the part of the Government, consented to the appointment of a committee, the members of which were eventually nominated. About a month after his exhaustive and impressive speech in the House, Mr. Bright spoke upon the same subject at St. Alban's, in Hertfordshire. It appears that a public dinner was given to a well- known farmer, Mr. Horncastle, as a testimony of the approbation felt by his brother farmers for his courage in exposing the grievances of the Game Laws. Mr. Bright received an invitation to the dinner, and was called upon to speak. After bearing witness to the spirited manner in which Mr. Horncastle had come forward for the purpose of saying what was known to be the opinion of nineteen out of every twenty farmers in the kingdom, Mr. Bright said that it was only fitting such men should be honoured. He had heard it said that there was no spirit amongst farmers ; but he had never believed that : it was only slumbering. Referring next to the conditions under which farmers took their land, the speaker asked, * Is it not notorious that in every county of Great Britain there is, and has been for years past, a competition for land so fierce that nearly all the bargain is in the hands of the landlord ? The effect of this compe- tition is to bid up rent to the very highest point at wl ich it can be hoped to be paid, and to bear down 1 843-45.] THE GAME LAWS. 1 15 every covenant and right which, under other circum- stances, the farmer might reasonably expect to be granted to him for the preservation of his interests.' The farmer gave all his best energies and labour, and yet he was ruined by a system which did no good to any human being whatsoever the system of game-preserving. Mr. Bright observed that in moving for a com- mittee in the House of Commons on this suhject, he had brought forward cases which had been laughed at in that assembly; and yet he could produce a tenant to show that for a number of years he had expended 1,000 annually in the purchase of artificial manure, but so completely was his farm ravaged by game, that he found it useless to toil and sacrifice his capital and to farm in this manner, and he therefore discontinued this large purchase of artificial manure, and thus to a very great extent diminished the em- ployment of labourers, and consequently lessened their chance of a fair remuneration in the parish in which that farm was situate. By this system the landlords were made the greatest enemies of a class in whose real well-being they had the truest and greatest interest. There were no capitalists in the country who had had so small a return upon their labour and capital as the farmers. He knew more about this question than many of the landlords, and the House of Commons would have been infinitely worse than its greatest calumniator or enemy had ever dared to brand it, had it refused the investiga- 1 1 6 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. iv. tion which he demanded upon the cases he was then able to submit to it. The committee had been chosen fairly, and what they wanted now were specific and accurate statements of damage, and opinions from competent authorities. Upon this question of game- preserving, ninety-nine farmers out of every hundred were entirely agreed. ' Let us have from every county where game-preserving has been carried to any serious extent, a body of witnesses who shall for ever settle the question as respects the particular county. It is not sufficient that I should prove that game-preserving has done alarming mischief in Suffolk or in Wiltshire, for to prove that there is a local malady would not perhaps justify Parliament in applying that which may be termed a general remedy ; but what I want is to bring out as much as possible the truth from every county where this nuisance has been oppres- sive.' Mr. Bright next exhorted the tenant farmers themselves to look after their interests, and there was no reason why they should not send their own representatives to Parliament. He hoped that a new era was beginning to dawn. When that era came, the cultivators of the soil the honourable, ancient, numerous, and most necessary of all classes of the community would no longer be made the shuttle- cock of political parties, but be treated as rational men, and their interests considered in a rational manner. Another subject which excited great public in- 1 843-45.] THE MAYNOOTH GRANT, 1 1? terest came up in the House of Commons in the session of 1845, viz., the question of the Maynooth grant. On the 3rd of April, Sir Kobert Peel proposed a resolution for the improvement of Maynooth College, fixing the grant at 26,000 per annum. It was held by some that the measure would justify the endow- ment of the Koman Catholic priesthood, and this Lord John Eussell described as a larger, more liberal, and more statesmanlike measure. The grant was objected to by others on theological grounds, while a third party saw in it a step towards endowing another Church Establishment in Ireland. The resolution was agreed to by 216 votes to 114, and the bill was brought in and read a first time. On the second reading, the most protracted debate of the session ensued, lasting through six nights. Mr. Bright opposed the bill, on the ground that an institution purely ecclesiastical was to be paid for out of the public taxes. His attitude was intelligible enough, being that of one opposed to State endow- ments of religion altogether. He was anxious, how- ever, to make an explanation with regard to the principle on which he should give his vote ; and as the matter was one of very great importance, we shall give the chief points of his speech. He held that there was no argument used in defence of the measure which would not be just as valid for the defence of further measures, not for payment of the Catholic priests of Maynooth only, but for the pay- ment of all the priests in Ireland or in England. If Il8 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. iv. the principle were conceded now, ten or twenty years hence some Prime Minister might stand up and state that in 1795 the principle was conceded, and that in 1845 that concession or rather, that principle was again sanctioned; and then, arguing from the two cases, it would be easy to demonstrate that it was no violation of principle whatever to establish a new Church in Ireland, and add thereby to the monstrous evils which exist there now from the establishment of one in connection with the State. Mr. Bright continued : ' The ohject of this measure was just as objectionable to me when I learned that it was intended by this vote to soothe the discontent which exists in Ireland. I will look at the causes whence this discontent arises. Does it arise because the priests of May- nooth are now insufficiently clad or fed? I have always thought that it arose from the fact that one-third of the people are paupers that almost all of them are not in regular employment at the veiy lowest rate of wages and that the state of things amongst the bulk of the population is most disastrous, and to be deplored ; but I cannot for the life of me conceive how the grant of additional money to Maynooth is to give additional employment, or food, or clothing to the people of Ireland, or make them more satisfied with their condition.' It was a sop given to the priests hush-money, that they might not proclaim to the whole country, to Europe, and to the world, the 1 843-45.] THE MAYNOOTH GRANT. UQ sufferings of the population to whom they admi- nistered the rites and the consolations of religion. He asserted that the Protestant Church of Ireland was at the root 'of the evils of that country. The Irish Catholics would rather see that foul blot wiped out than receive collateral endowment. There was Protestant ascendency through everything in Ireland. The object now was to tame the priests of Ireland so that they should not tell of the wrongs of the people. Observing that he was altogether against this system for any purpose, under any circumstances, and at any time whatever, Mr. Bright said that the experience of State Churches was not of a character to warrant the House in going further in the direction of endowment. The Established Churches in England and Scotland had done little good and much evil. There were some Wesleyan Nonconformists who accepted the principle of endowment, and did not seem to value the great principles for which their forefathers struggled and suffered. For himself, he should oppose the bill at every stage, simply on the ground that endow- ment was most unjust and injurious to the country. In conclusion, the hon. member said, ' When I look back to the history of this country, and consider its present condition, I must say that all that the people possess of liberty has come, not through the portals of the cathedrals and the parish churches, but from the conventicles, which are despised by hon. gentlemen opposite. When I know that if a good measure is to be carried in this House, it must be by men who are sent hither by the Nonconformists of Great Britain, when I read and see that the past and present State alliance 1 20 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. iv. with religion is hostile to religious liberty, preventing all growth and nearly destroying all vitality in religion itself, then I shall hold myself to have read, thought, and lived in vain, if I vote for a measure which in the smallest degree shall give any further power or life to the principle of State endowment ; and, in conclusion, I will only exhort the Dissenters of England to act in the same way, and to stand upon their own great, pure, and unassailable principle ; for if they stand by it manfully, and work for it vigorously, the time may come nay, it will come, when that principle will be adopted by the Legislature of the country.' The second reading was carried by 323 votes to 176. The division list was a curious one. In the majority were Mr. Bright's intimate friends, Mr. Cobden, Mr. Milner Gibson, and Mr. Villiers, with Lord John Russell, Lord Palmerston, and other Liberals, and Mr. Gladstone, Sir Eobert Peel, and many fellow-Conservatives. Mr. Bright was in equally strange company in the minority, which in- cluded immovable Conservatives of the Newdegate type, though there were also with him staunch Liberals and Nonconformists. One of the minority tellers was none other than Lord Ashley, Mr. Bright's opponent of the year before in another field. Another division took place on the order for going into committee, and a further one on the motion for bringing up the report, but the Government had large majorities ; and the third reading of the bill was carried by 317 to 184 votes. Even on the question that the bill do pass, it was once more contested, and a division taken. The measure subsequently passed through the House of Lords, after great debate, and became law. 1 843-45.] THE MAYNOOTH GRANT, It is worthy of note that during the whole period in which Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright were in the House of Commons together, there were only two occasions on which they were found in different division lobbies. One of these we have referred to above, and the other was in the division which took place in connection with the expenditure over the South Kensington scheme. The project was one in which the Prince Consort took a deep interest, and Mr. Cobden, having been one of the Commissioners for the Great Exhibition, and associated with the Prince, did not wish to separate himself from him in this matter. 122 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. v. CHAPTEE V. THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. The Corn Law Monopoly. Manchester after the Reform Bill. First movements for Bepeal. Cobden's Letters and Pamphlets. Anti-Corn Law Association formed in 1836. The Corn Law question in 1337-8. Formation of the League. Mr. Bright on the Provisional Committee. Mr. Paulton's Addresses. The Manchester Chamber of Commerce petitions against the Corn Laws. Meetings in 1839. Mr. Blight's early appearances. The movement in Manchester. In Parliament. The League and the Press. The Elections of 1841. Cobden in the House of Commons. Lamentable Condition of the Country. ~V\7E shall now briefly trace the course of that movement which, beginning in very humble guise, and subject in its early stages to the ridicule and contempt of the supporters of Protection, at last became so influential that it wrung from Parliament legislation destructive of a great and powerful mono- poly. Of all acts of the Legislature of equal magni- tude, the wisdom of that which abolished the Corn Laws has been the least seriously challenged. Early in the century, and as one result of the war with France, the working classes of England suffered great privations. Taxation was abnormally heavy, and food exceedingly dear. In the year 1801 wheat stood at 115s. \\d. per quarter, and for the following seventeen years it averaged 84s. On the overthrow 1832-41-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 123 of Napoleon, and the declaration of peace, the ports were once more thrown open. The agricultural classes, however, now became alarmed, and appealed to Parliament for protection. The result was that in 1815 Parliament composed chiefly of landlords passed the Corn Law, an Act which prohibited the importation of wheat, except under an enormous duty, until the price of home-grown reached 80s. per quarter. The consequence of this legislation was to raise the price of food to almost as high a figure as it had before attained. In 1816 corn reached 103s. Id. per quarter ; and in 1817 112s. 8d. Great discontent was caused throughout the country, and riots occurred in many places. The oppressive impost was farther aggravated by heavy Customs and Excise duties, which were especially and severely felt in Lancashire ; and in 1820 the Manchester Chamber of Commerce was established, with the object of discussing the grievances of the trading classes in that city, and appealing to Parliament for relief. The effects of the Corn Law monopoly were thus periodically but painfully felt from the second decade of the nineteenth century; but those who desired to see beneficial changes effected in this as well as in other directions felt that the matter was hopeless, unless the necessary preliminary step could be first obtained of a reform of the House of Commons. With this accomplished, religious, social, and other reforms might be expected to follow. All energies were therefore bent towards securing a large measure of I 24 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. v. Reform, the result being the great Act of 1832. Manchester having now become enfranchised, that city, from the great number of anti-Protectionists in her midst, began to take the lead in the opposition to the Corn Laws. At the first general election consequent on the passing of the Reform Bill, there came forward as candidates Mr. William Cobbett, Mr. Mark Philips, Mr. J. Thomas Hope, and Mr. Samuel Jones Loyd. Mr. Hope was a Conservative, and Mr. Jones Loyd a Whig. Of the other candidates, Mr. Cobbett, in his addresses, made no allusion to the great question which had then begun to attract atten- tion ; but Mr. Mark Philips, who was an advocate of short Parliaments and the Ballot, further declared himself an enemy to all restrictions and monopolies, which, depriving alike the capitalist of his remune- ration and the labourer of his wages, impeded the natural progress and prosperity of trade. It would be the duty of a reformed Parliament, he said, to abolish the East India, the Bank, and the timber monopolies, and that greatest of all monopolies which was upheld by the Corn Laws. Mr. Philips was, in short, a pro- gressive reformer on almost all points. As Cobbett was distasteful to the great bulk of the Liberals on account of his silence upon the corn monopoly, and as he had also offended the slavery abolitionists of Manchester, it was seen that Loyd must be returned with Philips, unless a second Liberal candidate were brought forward. This was immediately done by the Free-traders, the candidate selected to run in 1832-41.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 125 conjunction with Mr. Philips being the Right Hon. C. Poulett Thomson, Vice-President of the Board of Trade, an able and energetic reformer. Philips and Thomson were elected, the former by a large and the latter by a considerable majority. In some other Lancashire towns the efforts made to return progressists were not so successful. The elections generally gave a great majority for Ministers, but it was difficult to tell who were real reformers and who were not; and it was therefore resolved to strengthen the hands of the Government against the landowners by petitions for the repeal of the Corn Laws. Other practical reforms were also demanded. Ministers, however, declared that it would em- barrass them to have these questions at once brought to the front for settlement, and many reformers became reconciled to this view. But on the 17th of May, 1833, an effort was made, notwithstanding, to enlist the support of Parliament against the Corn Laws, when Mr. Whitmore moved that, instead of producing equality of prices, and thereby a per- manent good, they had produced a contrary effect, and tended injuriously to cramp trade. Lord Althorp, Chancellor of the Exchequer, deprecated agitating the question at that moment, when they would not have an opportunity of setting it at rest, owing to the quantity of other business before Par- liament. The Ministerial plea was accepted, and the matter was shelved for that session. The ' not- the-time ' plea has always been a favourite and 1 26 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. v. potent argument with statesmen when they have desired to stave off legislation upon some pressing question. But the people were not allowed to slumber over the subject of the Corn Laws. Amongst the energetic denouncers of these laws was Mr. Archibald Prentice, proprietor and editor of the Manchester Times, who wrote, ' There ought to be a systematic opposition to the continuance of the bread tax. Let half a dozen persons in each of the surrounding towns meet together, and resolve to agitate the question in public meetings. The matter only needs a beginning.' Manchester did indeed say something on the topic, by a public meeting held early in 1834, attended by several members of Parlia- ment and other influential gentlemen. A committee was formed for the purpose of considering how the cause of Corn Law repeal might best be forwarded, but at that time nothing could be done. The people had scarcely as yet begun to be educated on this question. In the House of Commons a motion was brought forward for a committee, with the view of substituting a fixed duty on corn in lieu of the fluctuating scale. The landowners were at once up in arms. Mr. Feargus O'Connor said the ruin of Ireland would follow the admission of corn duty free ; but Mr. Poulett Thomson (though unsupported by his col- leagues) took a larger and a prophetic view of the subject when he said, * Let them wait until one of those fluctuations should, under Providence, occur, 1832-41.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 12 J through a failure of the harvest in France, and then a change of the Corn Laws would be called for in much less respectful language than he should ever wish to hear addressed to that House.' Mr. Hume's motion, however, was negatived hy 313 to 155 votes. Ebenezer Elliott, the Corn Law Ehymer, in a stirring address to the people of England, called upon the masses to repudiate at once and for ever the idea of a fixed duty, which he described as ' graduated iniquity.' He strongly advocated a union of all the great towns. ' Put not in the banns for a new marriage of reptile-spawning fraud and time ; but with the word Eestitution, pronounced in thunder, startle your oppressors from their hideous dream of injustice and ruin made permanent.' As trade was tolerably good, and the pinch of poverty was not felt, this appeal, and others like it, failed to have any appreciable effect. Towards the end of the year 1834 the Whig Ministry was dismissed, and Sir Kobert Peel installed as Premier. But early in the following year the Whigs once more returned to office, and the Corn Law repealers saw their cause pushed still further back by the plentiful supply of corn there was in the country, which led to a demand from the agricultural members for an increased pro- tection rather than no protection at all. The year 1835 also witnessed an abundant harvest ; and with wheat at four shillings and sixpence a bushel, there was little desire to agitate for the repeal of an unjust law a law which operated with terribly 128 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT, [CHAP. v. injurious force in periods of deficient harvests. At this time, Mr. Prentice printed in the columns of the Manchester Times several well-written letters from an unknown correspondent. From these letters he con- cluded that there was a new man rising up, who, if he held a station that would enable him to take a part in public affairs, would exert a widely beneficial influence amongst the people. Shortly afterwards a pamphlet was published entitled England, Ireland, and America. A copy was sent to Mr. Prentice, ' from the author,' and the handwriting showed it to be by his anonymous correspondent. It was further revealed that the writer was Eichard Cobden. The meeting of the two men is thus described by the historian of the League : ' I found a man who could enlighten by his knowledge, counsel by his prudence, and conciliate by his temper and manners ; and who, if he found his way into the House of Commons, would secure its respectful attention ; but I had been an actor amongst men who, from 1812 to 1832, had fought in the rough battle for Parliamentary Eeform, and I missed, in the unassuming gentleman before me, not the energy, but the apparent hardihood and dash which I had, forgetting the change of times, believed to be requisites to the success of a popular leader. In after-years, and when having attained great platform popularity he had been elected a member of Parliament, and when men sneered and said he would soon find his level there, as other mob orators had done, I ventured to say that he would be in his 1832-41.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. I2g proper vocation there, and that his level would be amongst the first men in the House.' * In his pamphlet, Cobden strongly advocated the doctrine of Free Trade and non-intervention in the affairs of other States. The brochure was circulated by tens of thousands. Amongst other forcible means em- ployed for rousing public opinion on the question, were Colonel Thompson's Catechism on the Corn Law, Cobden' s Russophobia, and numerous articles in the Westminster Review, and various other periodicals and newspapers. At length, in 1837, the time was ripe for systematic effort, an impetus having been furnished by a rise in the price of corn, the unsatisfactory condition of the money market, and the failure of certain banks. Accordingly, an Anti-Corn-Law Association was formed in London, and on the Committee were the following members of Parliament : Messrs. Joseph Brotherton, J. Silk Buckingham, J. Blackburne, W. Clay, P. Chalmers, T. S. Duncornbe, H. Elphinstone, W. Ewart, George Grote, D. W. Harvey, B. Hawes, Joseph Hume, J. T. Leader, Sir W. Molesworth, J. Pattison, E. Potter, J. A. Eoebuck, J. Scholefield, Col. Thompson, C. A. Talk, T. Wakley, and R. Wallace. Amongst other members of the Committee were Mr. John Marshall, Mr. Archibald Prentice, Mr. * History of the Anti-Corn-Law League. By Archibald Prentice, one of its Executive Council, author of ' Historical Sketches of Manchester,' etc. To this work, and to the League newspaper, I have frequently recurred in the preparation of the ensuing sketch of the Free Trade movement. 9 130 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. v. Laman Blanchard, Mr. William Tait, and the three popular writers and poets, Thomas Campbell, Ebenezer Elliott, and William Howitt. In the following March, Mr. Clay moved in the House of Commons the adop- tion of a fixed duty of ten shillings a quarter on wheat. There voted for the motion 89, and against 223 ; but in the minority were no fewer than ten members connected with the Government. On the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837, a general election took place, and notwithstanding the waning popularity of the Melbourne Ministry, they were supported by a majority in the country, not be- cause they approved the policy of the Whigs, so much as to exclude the Tories from office. Manchester again elected Thomson and Philips ; and Salford, Wigan, and Oldham followed its example in returning reformers. The total number of votes in some fifty boroughs, which returned between seventy and eighty Protectionists, did not exceed the vote of Manchester alone. Thirty-eight members strongly favourable to progressive measures were returned by London, West- minster, Marylebone, Nottingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, and other places, repre- senting about five millions of the population. Mr. Cobden declared that with the ballot these numbers would have been greatly increased. In the session of 1838 several efforts were made in the House of Com- mons to procure a modification of the Corn Laws ; but the large majorities against this showed that the House was little inclined to be disturbed in the 1832-41.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 13 l matter, and the conviction began to force itself upon the Free-traders that outward pressure must be had recourse to. At the beginning of July, Earl Fitz- william presented a petition to the House of Lords from Glasgow, praying for the repeal of the Corn Law, and supporting its prayer. During the debate, Lord Melbourne significantly said that the Govern- ment would not take a decided part till it was certain the majority of the people were in favour of a change. This declaration virtually indicated the policy of the Free-traders. By the end of August the average price of wheat had risen to 77s., or about double the price which ruled at the close of the harvest of 1835. Mr. Joseph Sturge, Colonel Thompson, and others now urged instant action. The League was formed about this time, in the following manner. A Dr. Birnie having announced a lecture on the Corn Laws in the Bolton Theatre towards the close of July, 1838, a good audience assembled, and the lecturer was well received. He appears, however, to have acquitted himself so in- differently in his task, that Mr. Thomas Thoniasson, turning to a young medical student named A. W. Paulton, said, ' Do, Paulton, get on the stage and say something, and don't let such a meeting be lost.' Paulton went round to the stage, and asked the people to hear him for a few moments. He spoke very acceptably for about twenty minutes, and it was ultimately arranged that he should deliver a lecture in the theatre on the 6th of August. On that night, 132 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. v. to a crowded audience, Paulton dealt with the ques- tion in a full and able manner, and one which deeply enlisted the feelings of the audience. At Manchester the question was still further discussed in a meeting hastily called to welcome Dr. Bowring, who was on his way to Blackburn. At this meeting, Mr. James Howie proposed that the company then present should at once form themselves into an Anti-Corn-Law Association. The proposition was well received, and those favourable to it were requested to meet again on the following Monday evening. M. Frederic Bastiat, in his work upon Cobden and the League, observes : ' Seven men united themselves at Man- chester in the month of October, 1838 ; and with that manly determination which characterizes the Anglo-Saxon race, they resolved to overturn every monopoly by legal means, and accomplish without disturbance, without effusion of blood, with the power only of opinion, a revolution as profound, perhaps more profound, than that which our fathers worked to effect in 1789.' These seven men, who were present at the first meeting of the Anti- Corn-Law Association at the York Hotel, Man- chester, on the 24th of September, 1838, were the following : Edward Baxter, W. A. Cunningham, Andrew Dalziel, James Howie, James Leslie, Archibald Prentice, and Philip Thomson. From their names it would seem that all these earnest men were Scotchmen. To give the League a popular foundation, and to include all classes, it was 1832-41.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 1 33 resolved that the subscription should be only five shillings. On the 13th of October, a Provisional Committee was advertised, which included the following names: Messrs. Elkanah Armitage, John Bright, "W. E. Callender, George Hadfield, Alex. Henry, Thomas Potter, Absalom Watkin, and George Wilson, with John Benjamin Smith as treasurer. The week afterwards there were added to the committee, in addition to many others, Messrs. Ashworth, Cobden, John Edward Taylor, and Samuel Watts. The members of the Provisional Committee were liberal subscribers towards the expenses of the movement in its earlier stages ; and it appears that at a later period, when a call was made for a 250,000 League Fund, these same gentlemen alone subscribed a total sum of 10,600. At the first lecture delivered by Mr. Paulton on behalf of the Association in the Corn Exchange, it was stated that the organization was established on the same righteous principle as the Anti- Slavery Society. The object of that society was to obtain the free right for the negroes to possess their own flesh and blood; the object of the new society was to obtain the free right of the people to exchange their labour for as much food as could be got for it; that the people might no longer be obliged by law to buy their food at one shop, and that the dearest in the world, but be at liberty to go to that in which it could be obtained cheapest. Mr. Paulton's '34 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. v. address was received with great enthusiasm. In a second lecture, he demonstrated the utter inadequacy of the sliding scale as a means of supplying food to the labouring man, denounced the injustice of the law and the legislative inventors of it, and concluded hy quoting these lines from Lord Byron's Age of "Bronze lines which were warmly applauded, and which were frequently afterwards made use of by the advocates of Free Trade: ' For what were all these landed patriots born ? To hunt, and vote, and raise the price of corn. Safe in their barns these Sabine tillers sent Their brethren out to battle why ? for rent ! Year after year they voted cent, per cent., Blood, sweat, and tear- wrung millions : why ? for rent ! They roared, they dined, they drank : they swore they meant To die for England. Why then live ? for rent ! And will they not repay the treasures lent ? No ! down with everything, and up with rent ! Their good, ill, health, wealth, joy, and discontent, Being, end, aim, religion rent ! rent ! rent ! ' Paulton, who seems to have been both eloquent and imbued with a sense of the complete justice of the cause, was now invited to attend great meetings in other towns, and the opinion fast spread, alike in the centres of population and the agricultural districts, that the Corn Laws were injurious to the interests of all classes of the country. The Manchester Chamber of Commerce was stirred to action, and at one of its meetings, Mr. Cobden, after showing the evil effects of restriction upon trade, entreated the members not to suffer them- selves to be deluded by any other plan which the 1832-41.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 135 aristocracy might, with a view to lead them upon a wrong scent, propose to do, whether by war or diplomacy, to benefit trade. He exhorted them to keep a steadfast eye on the Corn Law, which was the real and only obstacle to a steady and large increase of their trade. In the end, a petition to Parliament, drawn up by Mr. Cobden, was adopted by the Chamber. The petition set forth the disadvantages under which British trade and manufactures laboured, and thus proceeded : ' Your petitioners cannot too earnestly make known that the evils are occasioned by our impolitic and unjust legislation, which, by preventing the British manufacturer from exchanging the produce of his labour for the corn of other countries, enables our foreign rivals to purchase their food at one-half the price at which it is sold in this market; and your petitioners declare it to be their solemn conviction that this is the commencement only of a state of things which, unless arrested by a timely repeal of all protective duties upon the impor- tation of corn and all foreign articles of subsistence, must eventually transfer our manufacturing industry into other and rival countries.' This petition con- tained in brief the chief arguments of the Free-traders, holding it to be the inalienable right of eveiy man freely to exchange the results of his labour for the productions of other people, and maintaining that the practice of protecting one part of the community at the expense of all other classes was unsound and unjustifiable. 136 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. v. The members of the League did not underrate the difficulties of the task upon which they had entered. They were opposed by the landowners, by mono- polists of all kinds, and by large majorities in the Legislature, the Church, and the State. But they believed themselves to be capable of gaming the support of a united people ; and the great body of the people is after all the most powerful, and the only truly irresistible force in this kingdom. Early in January 1839, a meeting was held at the York Hotel, to consider the proper mode of carrying forward the proceedings of the Anti-Corn-Law Association, in a manner commensurate with the magnitude of the obstacles to be surmounted, and worthy of the object for which it had been established. Mr. Holland Hoole, a Conservative, took the chair, representing, he said, all the people in his employment, who with himself were threatened with destruction by the operation of the Corn Laws. Subscriptions were called for, and in a short time a sum of 6,136 was announced. Besides being actively opposed by the Tories, the movement was now seriously obstructed by the Chartists, under the mistaken idea that the repeal of the Corn Laws would be followed by a diminution in the price of labour. One other misunderstanding in connection with the movement may be mentioned here. Miss Harriet Martineau, in her History of England during the Thirty Years' Peace, while paying a high tribute to the Free-trade leaders, observed 1832-41.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 137 that ' they were surprised to find how little they themselves knew when they first devoted themselves to the cause. The deepest of them had scarcely an idea how closely the interests of the agriculturists were involved in the establishment of a free trade in food, and how society was injured through all its ramifications by an artificial restriction in the first article of human necessity.' Now Mr. Prentice avers, in reply to this, that from the very commencement of the agitation, the mutual dependence of agricultural and manufacturing interests had been made a strong point by the advocates of free commerce. Certainly the speeches of Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright on this question show that they were fully alive to the fact that the interests of commerce and agriculture were in a mutual and equal degree bound up in Free-trade measures. Delegate meetings were now held in London, Manchester, and other places; and Mr. Villiers who was amongst the earliest and most earnest pioneers in the movement periodically disturbed the compla- cency of the Protectionist majority of the House of Commons by motions on the subject of the Corn Laws ; but although the majority against him showed symptoms of decline, it still continued to be great and formidable. The organization now assumed a larger character, and in 1839 became formally known as the National Anti-Corn-Law League. An organ of the new movement, entitled the Anti-Corn- Law Circular, appeared in Manchester, and in the 138 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. v. course of a few weeks attained a circulation of fifteen thousand copies, though this did not represent its entire influence, as it was passed from hand to hand. The monopolists became alarmed, and their associa- tion, 'The Central Agricultural Society of Great Britain and Ireland,' set to work to counteract the influence of the League. But the establishment of the penny postage placed a wonderful engine at the service of the latter.* Mr. Bright early took part in the movement, his name, as we have seen, standing second on the list of the first provisional committee. On the 2nd of February, 1839, an Anti-Corn-Law meeting was held in the open air at Kochdale. Several thousand persons were present, and the Chartists whose erroneous views we have already referred to mustered in great force. Mr. Bright spoke for the first time on the question of Free Trade, and moved the following reso- lution: * That it is the opinion of this meeting that the Corn Laws have had the effect of crippling the com- merce and manufactures of the country have raised * By way of showing also that the intellectual press of London was ahead of the nation in this matter of the Corn Laws, we may state that in the year 1839 the following influential journals earnestly advo- cated repeal the Sun, the Athemeum, the Spectator, the Dispatch, the Planet, the Morning Chronicle, the Morning Advertiser, the Globe, the Examiner, the Patriot, the Charter, and the Weekly True Sun. Nor must the conspicuous service rendered by some fifty provincial journals of ability be forgotten. These included the Scotsman, the Leeds Mercury, the Manchester Times, the Aberdeen Herald, the Birmingham Journal, the Bradford Observer, the Liverpool Chronicle, the Sheffield Independent, the Dundee Advertiser, the Brighton Herald, and the Bolton Free Prest. 1832-41.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 139 up rival manufactories in foreign countries have been most injurious and oppressive in their operation upon the great bulk of our population, and that the work- ing classes have been grievously injured by this mono- poly of the landed proprietors.' Mr. Bright dwelt upon the fact that it was not a party question, for men of all parties were united upon it. It was a pantry question, he maintained in homely but forcible language a knife-and-fork question, a question between the working millions and the aristocracy. Before the American tariff was laid on, one-fifth of the flannel manufactured in Eochdale went to America ; but since that tariff was imposed, which was in consequence of the Corn Laws, there had not been as many pieces sent there as there had been bales before. It was the duty of the Govern- ment to protect the rights of industry, and it was the interest of the working classes to assist in calling for the repeal of the Corn Laws. After Mr. Bright's speech, Mr. James Taylor, a Chartist, proposed an amendment to the effect that although the Corn Law was an injurious tax, no House of Commons constituted on the existing suffrage would repeal that law ; and therefore it was necessary first that the people should obtain possession of their political rights. The amendment was carried, the Chartists at that moment having the ear of the working classes in the chief towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire. Mr. Cobden having pressed Mr. Bright to assume a 14 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. v. more prominent part in the League movement, the latter spoke in public on the question (for the first time save at Kochdale) at a dinner given at Bolton in 1839 to Mr. Paulton. He is described as being then a young man, ' giving evidence, by his energy and his grasp of the subject, of his capacity soon to take a lead- ing part in the great agitation.' Shortly afterwards, that is on the 29th of January, 1840, he attended a meeting called at Eochdale for the purpose of forming a branch of the League, on which occasion he explained its objects. A committee was formed, of which he was appointed treasurer ; and in the course of a few weeks a petition against the Corn Laws was forwarded to the House of Commons. The movement must have taken deep root in a short time, for the petition embraced nearly ten thousand signatures. Evidence was in fact furnished daily of the great and growing interest now taken in this question. In the year 1840 it was resolved to build the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, Mr. Cobden, who owned nearly all the unoccupied land in St. Peter's Field, offering a site for that purpose. By a singular coincidence it happened to be the very spot where, in the year 1819, the Peterloo massacre occurred. Pending the erection of the permanent hall for the purposes of the League, a temporary pavilion was constructed, and on the 13th of January an imposing demonstration was held, attended by nearly thirty members of Parliament, and delegates from all parts of the country. Mr. Bright was present as 1832-41.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 141 one of the Eochdale delegates. The principal speakers were Daniel O'Connell, Mr. Villiers, and Mr. Cobden. In a note upon the meeting, we read that a ' Suffolk landowner, Thomas Milner Gibson, appeared on this occasion, for the first time, before a Manchester audience, and by his youthful and gentlemanly appearance, and by the mingled good humour and pungency with which he demolished the arguments and statements of men of his own class, from whom he had come out to make common cause with the people, made a most favourable impression.' Great meetings now followed each other in rapid succession, and deputations of delegates waited upon Lord Melbourne, and other members of the Ministry, but nothing more substantial was obtained than the usual exhibition of official politeness. Mr. Villiers renewed his motion in the House of Commons, but could scarcely obtain a hearing in consequence of the uproar on the Protectionist benches. Mr. Mark Philips also made an unsuccessful attempt to be heard amid the deafening clamour, and the motion was lost by 300 to 177. In the country, ladies now began to give their services in aid of the movement. One old lady, eighty years of age, assured Mr. Prentice that in her daily prayers for daily bread she also prayed for a blessing on the good work of Kichard Cobden, and of all who were labouring that the afflicted poor should enjoy, in their humble homes, an abundance of the gifts which God had *4- THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. v. bestowed for the use of man. In the Manchester Corn Exchange, a great gathering was held on October 29th, chiefly consisting of ladies, in support of the agitation. Replying to the charge of those who complained of the want of delicacy in the ladies who thus took the part of the poor and the needy, M. Bastiat says, ' Because the times are changed ; because the age is advanced ; because muscular force has given place to moral energy; because injustice and oppression borrow other forms, and strife is removed from the field of battle to the conflict of ideas, shall the mission of woman be terminated ? Shall she always be restricted to the rear in the social movement ? Shall it be forbidden to her to exercise over new customs her benignant influence, or to foster under her regard the virtues of a more elevated order which modern civilisation has called into existence ? No ! This cannot be. There is no point in the upward movement of humanity at which the empire of woman stops for ever. As civilisation transforms and elevates itself, this empire must be transformed and elevated with it, not annihilated ; there would then be an inexplicable void in the social harmony, and in the providential order of things.' No class of the people could be more deeply inte- rested in the abrogation of the Corn Laws than the women of the existing and the mothers of a future generation. In 1840 the League made large use of the press in the dissemination of its views. It appears that 1832-41.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 1 43 during this year 763 petitions, with 775,840 signa- tures, were sent to the House of Commons ; and 22, with 78,000 signatures, to the House of Lords. Handbills and tracts to the number of a million and a quarter were distributed, as well as 20,000 copies of the Anti-Corn-Law Almanack, and 330,000 copies of the Anti-Corn-Laio Circular. In the following year the association was equally active. On the 15th of April, at a meeting held in Manchester, at which some two thousand persons were present, Mr. Bright moved a resolution that members of Parlia- ment should be waited upon and invited to support Mr. Yilliers's forthcoming motion. He spoke, it is said, effectively, but very briefly, on the misery occasioned by the Corn Laws. At a later meeting, these resolutions, proposed by Mr. Bright, were adopted : * That under the more encouraging cir- cumstances in which this question of the bread tax is now placed, it is highly expedient that redoubled efforts be made to obtain a full expression of public opinion in condemnation of that unjust and inhuman enactment;' and 'That, in order to carry into effect the foregoing resolution, a deputation shall be sent to Birmingham, Hull, Bristol, and Newcastle, and such other towns as the Council think proper, in order to rouse the inhabitants to the absolute necessity of making increased exertions to forward petitions to the House of Commons at this important crisis of the great question of the repeal of the bread tax.' An address, written by Mr. George Wilson, 144 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. v. chairman of the Council of the League, was also distributed throughout the kingdom. On the 27th of May, Sir Kobert Peel's motion in the House of Commons declaratory of a want of confidence in the Whig Government was carried by a majority of one, the numbers being, for the motion, 312; against, 311. Upon this, Lord John Eussell said Ministers intended to appeal to the country, and Parliament was at once dissolved. In the elections which ensued, Mr. Cobden was elected for Stockport, it being expected that he would take a leading part in Parliament upon the Free- trade question. Mr. Bright was present in the .House when Mr. Cobden made his first speech, and subsequently gave a description of the scene. The great Leaguer's maiden effort excited considerable interest ; and there was much speculation, said Mr. Bright, as to the position he would take in the House. Mr. Horace Twiss (of the Times), near whom in the gallery Mr. Bright sat, was a Tory of the old school. 'He appeared to have the greatest possible horror of anybody who was a manu- facturer or a calico printer coming down into the assembly to teach our senators wisdom. As the speech went on, I watched his countenance, and heard his observations; and when Mr. Cobden sat down, he said with a careless gesture, " Nothing in him; he is only a barker." . . . Well, now, I believe, there is no reason to doubt the fact that some of Mr. Cobden's speeches one in particular that I recollect in connection with the effect of protection on agriculture had 1832-41.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 145 such an effect upon the mind and opinions of Sir Kobert Peel, that if I were to point out any one thing that mainly brought Sir R. Peel to be a Free- trader not long afterwards, I should point to the speech made on that particular night by Mr. Cobden. This " barker " of Horace Twiss became a great power in the House of Commons, and a great power in the country. Now I had the good fortune after the year 1841, and for five years, and, in fact, for something longer than five years, to be most inti- mately and closely associated with him in his labour. I can speak of his industry and his sagacity, of the incessant correspondence in which he was engaged, and I can speak also of the speeches he delivered. I remember the beautiful and yet homely illustrations with which they were filled. I recollect well how at every meeting he attended I could see the truth, as it were, spreading from his lips, and permeating the minds of all those who heard him, till you could see in their countenances and eyes that they had got hold of a new truth that they would keep for ever.' While not an orator of the first rank, Mr. Cobden had qualities which enabled him to secure for himself a position in the House of Commons at once powerful and unique. The elections went against Ministers, and, being defeated upon the Address by a majority of 91 in the Commons, they resigned. Sir Eobert Peel accord- ingly became Prime Minister. Meanwhile, the League did not relax its energies, and it was now assisted by a 10 146 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP, v great religious movement in favour of the agitation. The condition of the country at this time was lament- able. Statistics collected showed that there were no fewer than 20,936 persons in Leeds whose average earnings were only elevenpence three-farthings a week. One-fourth of the whole population of Paisley was in a state bordering upon actual starvation; and in one district in Manchester a visitor found 258 families, consisting of 1,029 persons, whose average earnings were only sevenpence halfpenny per head per week. 'In Spitalfields,' said Mr. Dunckley, in his Charter of Nations, * 8,000 looms were idle, and 24,000 per- sons thrown upon parochial relief. In the metropolis 1,000 letterpress printers and 9,000 tailors were altogether without work.' The same tale of suffering came from all the great manufacturing towns ; and the terrible condition of the people was further aggra- vated by the fact that wheat, which stood at an exceedingly high price, was charged an import duty of nearly twenty-five shillings per quarter. The year set in gloom upon the great masses of the population, and not without a dawning conviction upon the mind of the new Conservative Prime Minister that a relaxation of the restrictive laws which perpetuated and aggravated the distress of the country was fast becoming imperative. CHAPTEE VI. THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE (continued). Great Distress amongst the Working Classes. Meeting of Free-trade Delegates in London in February, 1842. Sir Robert Peel's Sliding Scale. Continued Destitution in the Country. The Duke of Sussex and the League. Scene outside the House of Commons. Deputations to Ministers. The Chartist Rising. Mr. Bright issues an Address to the Working Men of Rochdale. Tour through the Midlands. Mr. Bright in the North. Lord Brougham and the Repealers. Opening of the Free Trade Hall at Manchester. Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Cobden. Extraordinary Scene in the House of Commons. Sympathy in the country with Mr. Cobden. Speech by Mr. Bright. Carlyle on the Corn Laws. League Meetings at Drury Lane Theatre. The Agitation in 1843. Tour of Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright. The Question in the House of Commons. The League gains influential Adherents. Meetings in 1844. Demonstration in Covent Garden Theatre. Address by Mr. Bright. Regis- tration Movement by the League. Increase of Freeholds. Peel's Budget of 1845. Mr. Cobden's Motion on the Agricultural Distress. Great Free-trade Bazaar at Covent Garden. Mr. Villiers's last Motion on the Corn Laws in the House of Commons. Speeches of Sir J. Graham, Mr. Bright, and Mr. Cobden. The Question approaching its final Settlement. mOWAEDS the close of the year 1841, the League -*- appointed commissioners to investigate the appalling condition of the working classes, and the details collected of their suffering and destitution were most heartrending. At a meeting held at Manchester on the 16th of December to consider the depression in the manufacturing districts, Mr. Bright presented an account of the state of things in Eochdale, where the flannel trade had been almost 148 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. annihilated in consequence of the American tariff, the inevitable effect of the diminished demand for flannel goods being scarcity of employment and a fall of wages. ' We saw around us,' said Mr. Bright, 1 wide-spreading distress. Misery was seen in the house of every poor man. Poor men he was ashamed to call them, but that was the term now applied to every working man. Misery was to be seen on his very threshold ; haggard destitution and extreme poverty were the most prominent things in his family. The consequence was that discontent had so per- vaded the country that scarcely any working man would lift a finger in defence of those institutions which Englishmen were wont to be proud of. Neither the monarch nor the aristocracy were safe under such a state of things a state of things that would blast the fairest prospects and destroy the most powerful nation that ever existed.' On the motion of Mr. Bright, this resolution was carried : 1 That the district of which Manchester is the centre, engaged in the various branches of the cotton trade and its dependencies, is suffering under a general depression, the duration of which has no parallel in the history of Lancashire ; that it is in evidence before this meeting that the condition of the sur- rounding population, both employer and operative, is greatly deteriorated; that fixed capital, such as buildings, machinery, etc., has depreciated in value nearly one-half since 1835; that capitalists, as a body, have long ceased to obtain a profitable return 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 149 for their investments ; that bankruptcy and insol- vency have alarmingly increased; that the shop- keepers have suffered corresponding reverses ; that the reward of labour has been generally diminished ; that great numbers of skilful and deserving workmen are either wholly or partially unemployed; and that pauperism, disease, crime, and mortality have made fearful inroads amongst the poorer classes of the com- munity ; that, in the opinion of the deputies now assembled from the various towns of Lancashire, all these evils are experienced at the present moment with unmitigated severity, and that there is no visible prospect of any amelioration of the distresses of this great community.' Early in 1842 meetings were held at Gloucester, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and in fact through- out the length and breadth of the land, and at' many of them farmers attended, who unhesitatingly admitted that they had no reason to fear for the ruin of their order from the working classes of the manu- facturing towns being permitted their just right to exchange the produce of their industry for food raised in foreign lands. Pending an anticipated measure from Ministers for the revision of the Corn Laws, an important meeting of Free-trade delegates was held in London on the 8th of February, 1842, at the Crown and Anchor, Strand. Mr. Duncan M'Laren, afterwards M.P. for Edinburgh, presided, and amongst the speakers was Mr. Bright, who now stepped into the front rank of the repealers. I 5O THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP, vi His address was full of power, and its effect was such that every future appearance of the orator was eagerly looked forward to, and welcomed with delight. On this occasion, Mr. Bright said he came from a neighbourhood where the question was looked upon as one of life and death by thousands of honest men ; and if there were any in that room, as there were many, who had no conception of the state of things to which this country was fast hastening under these mischievous laws, he should like them to go with him into the streets and lanes where he could take them, and if they had any intellect, any heart, he was sure they would go away fully con- vinced of the necessity of the total and immediate repeal of the law. Eeferring to the flannel trade of his native town, he said that he was not interested in it in any way, but he knew the extent to which the Corn Laws had operated against that trade. Several thousand persons in his neighbourhood were driven from their country as the result of the operation of the Corn Laws. Amidst general cheering, Mr. Bright said that in consequence of the glaring evils of those laws, he had turned his attention to them day and night, and he was firmly convinced that there was no point of view in which they did not manifest their evil operation, and call for total and immediate abolition. He stated that his motion was to pledge the deputies never to swerve from their purpose, nor relax in their efforts, until the total repeal of the Corn Laws was accomplished ; and this he enforced 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 15 l 1 with so much argument, and so energetic and fervent an eloquence, that at the close of his spirit- stirring address the whole assembly rose and testified their approbation by loud and long-continued hur- rahs.' From this time forward, Mr. Bright came into special prominence, and his name was now coupled with those of the other popular leaders in the movement Cobden, Villiers, and Wilson. In conjunction with them he was instrumental in forming many provincial branches of the League. Sir Eobert Peel's measure providing for a sliding scale in the duty on corn was carried during this session, after prolonged debates. During one of these debates, Mr. Cobden said that upon the shoulders of the Premier would the people fix the whole of the responsibility for their present position. On the third reading he further entered a solemn protest against the bill, denouncing it as a robbery of the poor. The new tariff with the sliding scale became law ; and the best proof that it was inade- quate to meet the necessities of the case was the relief felt by the Protectionists that they had come off so cheaply. The members of the Anti-Corn-Law Conference again assembled on the 4th of July, at Herbert's Hotel, Palace Yard. Mr. P. A. Taylor presided, and Mr. Bright was the first speaker. He observed that the distress had now become universal. If they went to Scotland, they found Forfar, Glasgow, Paisley, in desolation. If they came further south, 1 5 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. in Newcastle almost the whole of the working popu- lation were out of employment, and were living on the charity given out by the Town Council. He had a letter from Shields, in which it was stated that the trade was almost annihilated. In Lancashire, the working population of many towns were actually subsisting on charity. Bolton and Stockport were in a state of desolation. In Leeds it was still worse ; there were thirty or forty thousand persons existing upon charity alone. In Sheffield, men were driven to the lowest state of distress ; and it was the same in Derbyshire. He had seen a letter in the Morning Chronicle, giving an account of the state of Hinckley, in Leicestershire, and he would recommend all to read it, as it gave a faithful picture of the prevalent distress. Going still further south, in the agricultural counties of England the poor-rates were at that moment rapidly on the increase. The labouring population of Somersetshire were living on charity. If they went on to that part of the country, they would find that twenty or thirty thousand persons were now out of employment who were a short time before in comparative comfort. In Ireland they found that famine was stalking through the land, and that riots were taking place, men being killed by the police merely because they endeavoured to obtain food. How, then, could they sit calmly by? Humanity, if nothing more, would call them from their homes. But there was a feeling of policy their own safety and the safety of the country were at stake. Mr. 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 153 Bright added that there was one remedy, but it had been rejected by the Legislature. Much would depend on the course taken by the delegates, and he prayed that they might enable the Government to see that the time had come when this question could no longer be tampered with ; that the time had arrived when justice and mercy must take the place of cruelty and oppression ; and if the Government should still refuse to hearken, he for one trembled at the result. Observing that the people themselves had the power to compel a settlement of this question, Mr. Bright added : * There were other weapons than those of war ; there were other weapons beside those which wounded the body ; there was a most beautiful and admirable system which the people had in their own power, to which he was fully persuaded they were rapidly drifting, and which, if put into active operation, could not fail to bring the struggle to an active issue.' Mr. Bright's statements as to the condition of the country were abundantly corroborated by other dele- gates. The representative from Wolverhampton stated that there were sixty-two blast furnaces tying idle ; and the Stockport delegate stated that a poor- rate in that town, which in 1839 at Is. 8^. had pro- duced .5,000, now failed to produce ,3,600 at 2s. The poor-rate at Manchester went up to 3s. 4d. in the pound. At Burslem, the people became greatly excited, and the military required to be called out. At this juncture, the cultured and liberal-minded J 54 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. Duke of Sussex expressed his sympathy with the objects of the League. A deputation had been appointed to wait upon him, and Mr. Bright reported that he and his coadjutors had been received by his Royal Highness with the utmost cordiality and friend- liness. Although he did not think that everything wrong was to be attributed to the Corn Laws, he admitted that they had been the occasion of a great deal of evil, and he himself had always been strenu- ously opposed to them. His Eoyal Highness, said Mr. Bright, appeared to be exceedingly well informed on the subject, and it was evident he kept well up with the newspapers. He promised to do everything in his power to further their object, and, if they wished it, would find a way of presenting a memorial to the Queen ; but she could not give them a reply, as she could not constitutionally do acts of sovereignty ex- cept through the agency of her Ministers. The Duke expressed great commiseration with the distress of the country, and the deputation had come away with a good opinion both of his heart and his understanding. The delegates continued vigorously to prosecute their mission ; and on one occasion, being denied admission into the lobby of the House of Commons, they congregated round the entrance, shouting ' Total repeal ' and ' Cheap food ' as the members entered. Meeting on their retirement from the House the carriage of Sir Robert Peel, their cries caused the Premier to lean back in his carriage, with a pale and grave countenance. The delegates next waited upon 1 842-45.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 1 55 the Home Secretary, Sir James Graham, to whom they unfolded their story; but Sir James for the moment seemed unahle to conceive that there was general and severe distress in the country, because a few new mills had been erected in Manchester ! Mr. Bright deprecated making the question one of mills, or of Manchester only ; the greatest distress prevailed where there were no mills. Proceeding next to the Board of Trade, the deputation waited upon Lord Eipon (' Prosperity Robinson ') and Mr. Gladstone. This was the first public occasion on which the pre- sent Premier and Mr. Bright, now his colleague, met. Allusion having been made to the United States, Lord Ripon said that the Americans them- selves had a law against the admission of Canadian wheat ; whereupon Mr. Bright retorted, ' Yes, and the promoters of that measure quoted our example as a precedent.' The President of the Board of Trade declined to discuss the question at length. Mr. Gladstone inquired whether there were any symptoms of improvement in trade, but was answered that the distress, so far from being alleviated, was greatly aggravated. With this the conference closed. Sir Robert Peel himself, however, at the close of an interview with one of the deputation, thanked its members for the testimony they had borne, and which he feared was incontestable. The Chartists at this time exercised great influence over the factory workers in the large towns of Lanca- shire, Yorkshire, and Cheshire ; and there was a strong I5 6 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. turn-out of hands in Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester, Dukinfield, Oldham, Stalybridge, and other places. It was feared that riots would ensue, especially as in Manchester a public procession was talked of, and Feargus O'Connor was expected. It was not a question of advance of wages with the Chartists ; it was rather a demand for the Charter ; and it was thought a general stoppage of work would compel the Government to concede it. But the agitation was rendered innocuous by the attitude of the masters. The Chartist leaders had represented to the opera- tives that they must carry the day, in consequence of the universality of the movement. Many of the em- ployers, however, had no objection to allow their mills to stand idle, when their standing still was about as profitable as working. Sir Benjamin Heywood issued an address to the working men of Manchester, demon- strating the folly and short-sightedness of the move- ment. The agitation extended of course to Rochdale, amongst other towns. Factory workers were ordered to leave the mills, the establishment of Messrs. Bright being amongst the number where a turn-out was demanded by the Chartists. The manufacturers of the town resisted the demands made upon them, and after one of the meetings on Cronkeyshaw Common, Mr. Bright addressed a large number of persons near Greenbank Mill. He said it was a great mistake to resort to violence by plug- drawing (emptying the boilers, and so stopping the mills), and that violence 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 157 would not serve any good cause ; that the strike was a mistake if it was undertaken for a political object, and he hoped they would keep the peace while the struggle lasted. For his own firm, he could say that they were prepared to open their mill any day when the workpeople were ready to return to their work. Mr. Bright also issued an address ' To the Working Men of Eochdale,' in which he brought forward cogent arguments against strikes. ' Many of you,' he said, 1 know full well that neither Act of Parliament nor act of a multitude can keep up wages. You know that trade has long been bad, and with a bad trade wages cannot rise. If you are resolved to compel an advance of wages, you cannot compel manufacturers to give you employment. Trade must yield a profit, or it will not long be carried on ; and an advance of wages now would destroy profit.' Eeplying to those leaders who recommended the workpeople to give up the question of wages, and stand upon the Charter, the writer observed : ' The working classes can never gain it of themselves. Physical force you wisely repudiate. It is immoral, and you have no arms, and little organization. Moral force can only succeed through the electors, and these are not yet convinced. The principles of the Charter will one day be esta- blished ; but years may pass over, months must pass over, before that day arrives. You cannot stand idle till it comes. Your only means of living are from the produce of your own labour. Unhappily, you have wives and children, and all of you have the 158 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. cravings of hunger ; and you must live, and in order to live you must work.' Having shown that the Chartist leaders were deceiving the masses, as they knew that their objects were not attainable in the way they indicated, Mr. Bright continued : ' If every employer and workman in the kingdom were to swear on his bended knees that wages should not fall, they would assuredly fall if the Corn Law continues. No power on earth can maintain your wages at their pre- sent rate if the Corn Law be not repealed. You may doubt this now, but consider the past I beseech you ; what the past tells you the future will confirm. You may not thank me for thus addressing you, but never- theless I am your friend. Your own class does not include a man more sincerely anxious than I am to obtain for you both industrial and political freedom. You have found me on all occasions, if a feeble, yet an honest and zealous defender ; and I trust in this, time will work no change in me. My heart sym- pathizes deeply in your sufferings. I believe I know whence they mainly spring, and would gladly relieve them. I would willingly become poor, if that would make you comfortable and happy. To such of you as have been employed at the mills with which I am connected, I may add that as soon as you are disposed to resume your work, the doors shall be open to you. I invite you to come, and you shall be treated as, I trust, you have ever been as I would ever wish you to treat me.' The address was not without its effect, and Mr. Bright's counsel was speedily followed. Al- 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 159 though tumults arose in some districts, the Chartist agitation subsided without those fearful consequences which in the outset were anticipated. As the result of a tour which Mr. Bright and Mr. Cobden made on behalf of the League through the Midlands, they raised in subscriptions about 3,000 towards the 50,000 which was asked as a special fund for the purposes of the Association. Speaking subsequently at a meeting in Manchester, Mr. Bright said that he had felt humiliated by the manner in which he and his friends had been treated at every meeting they had addressed ; persons who came from the Anti-Corn-Law League were looked upon as the very deliverers of the commerce of the country from the shackles in which ifc had been so long enthralled. ' The time is now come when we must no longer regard this infamous law as a mistake on the part of the aristocracy and the landowners it was no mistake of the landowners, no accident ; chance had nothing to do with it; it was a crime of the deepest dye against the rights and industry, and against the well-being of the British people ; and " Not all that heralds rake from coffin'd clay, Nor florid prose nor honied lines of rhyme, Can blazon evil deeds, or consecrate a crime ! " ' Mr. Bright was indefatigable in the cause of the League, attending and addressing meetings about this time at Sheffield, Huddersfield, Coventry, Liverpool, Bradford, Halifax, Woodside, Kendal, Carlisle, New- castle-on-Tyne, South Shields, Rochdale, Sunder- 1 60 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vr. land, and Darlington. In all these large towns, and in other districts also, the principles of the League made rapid and striking progress. On the 29th of December Mr. Bright spoke at a large meeting in the Corn Exchange, Manchester, and his address on that occasion seems to have aroused the audience to an unwonted pitch of enthusiasm. We have already quoted an extract from this speech, but it demands further notice. The speaker gave first an account of the meetings which had been attended by deputations from the League, showing the extra- ordinary feeling which the movement had evoked in the minds of the population. The other towns looked up to Manchester as the metropolis of the empire at that moment. They were not looking to London to lead them on this question ; they believed that in Manchester was the centre and heart of the great demonstration being made throughout the country in condemnation of the iniquitous Corn Laws. Mr. Bright went on to refer to the retaliating tariffs of other nations, the distress inflicted upon the popu- lation of our own land by the diminution of trade, the constant struggle for daily bread, and the conse- quent competition in the labour market diminishing wages, the wretched culture of land under protection, the exemption of landowners from their fair share of taxation, the miserable condition of the protected farmers and farm labourers, the insecurity of pro- perty in the agricultural districts ; and he claimed for the League the merit of being the best friend to 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. l6l the farmers, and to the community generally, that they had ever known. Mr. Bright cautioned his hearers against allowing the struggle to be made a mere plaything between the two political parties, and after observing that the League was feared and hated by those upon whom rested the guilt of the Corn Laws, he remarked, in conclusion, ' To the landed aristocracy, to the monopolist and bankrupt portion of them, we say, We do not ask you to repeal the Corn Law, and to loose your grasp from the sub- sistence of this most industrious and meritorious, and yet most injured population, we do not ask it from your sense of justice and from your love of right, for had you possessed either the one or the other this infamous law would never have been enacted, but we appeal to what is more honest and more virtuous, we appeal to the millions of our countrymen who are awakening to the wrongs they have so long and so patiently endured, and to the consciousness that it is you who have inflicted them, we appeal to the honesty and intelligence of the middle classes of this empire, in the full confidence that the hour is at hand when their united voices shall be heard above the roar of party, and shall decree the immediate and the utter and everlasting extinction of this odious and inhuman and most unnatural law.' One who was present at this meeting, and wit- nessed the fervour caused by Mr. Bright's speech, uttered the following prediction with regard to the most eloquent defender of the League : ' Though it 11 1 62 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. is asserted that the League will dissolve, and its public men retire to private business or private life, when its purposes are accomplished though the League may dissolve and its men seek retirement, and though the Friends should continue as unassum- ing as they have ever been, Mr. John Bright will, if he lives long enough, be a leading man in the British Legislature. I am not aware that he ever whispered the probability of his becoming a member, to say nothing of a leader, but talents like his will take root too firmly in the public mind, long before the Corn Law repeal is accomplished, to admit of his retirement, even were he desirous of repose.' The Free Trade advocate had already made it apparent that his eloquence was far from being circumscribed, and his sympathies far from being narrowed and exhausted, by the cause of the League admirable though that cause might be. As the League was now too great a fact to be ignored, its members were exhorted by the timid and the hesitating to wait and see what Peel would do. But the Council took a different view of the matter, and issued an address, signed by the chairman, Mr. George Wilson, to the people of England. The Common Council of London had emphatically and almost unanimously denounced the Corn Laws, and the metropolis was now appealed to, to place itself at the head of the movement. Such men as Mr. Fox Maule, with the prospect or the actual possession of a large stake in the country 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 163 as landowners now declared themselves in favour of total and unconditional repeal. Mr. Bright referred to this at one of the League meetings, and in describ- ing a tour he had made in Scotland, said that at Edinburgh no fewer than twenty-nine ministers of religion were upon the platform. They had taken up the question in the conscientious belief that it was one nearly allied to the duties of the office which they had assumed. The mother of Mr. Drummond, under-secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and a gentleman who would be long remembered on account of one single sentence that he had addressed to the Irish landowners, viz., * Property has its duties as well as its rights,' sent a subscription to the League, thus showing that she coincided in the view that her son had expressed. At various towns in Scotland landed proprietors came forward to express their sympathy with the movement. The Manchester Free Trade Hall one of the most famous buildings in the country, and, with the exception of Westminster Hall, the largest in the kingdom was opened on the 30th of January, 1843. At the commencement of the proceedings, Mr. George Wilson read a list of contributions to the 50,000 fund, amounting to 40,600, of which sum Manchester subscribed 7,000, Glasgow 2,500, Liverpool 2,200, and Eochdale 2,200. The remaining portion of the fund was speedily forth- coming, although the promoters of the scheme had been laughed at as foolishty sanguine for asking such 1 64 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. a sum as 50,000. A series of meetings were held in the new hall, Mr. Bright being amongst the speakers at several of the gatherings. Early in 1843, a singular misunderstanding oc- curred between Lord Brougham and the Eepealers, which resulted in a correspondence between his lord- ship and Mr. Bright. The clever but irascible peer demanded from Mr. Bright a disclaimer of what he described as an * atrocious falsehood ' published in the Anti-Bread-Tax Circular (as the organ of the League was now called), to the effect that he had importuned a League deputation to entrust him with a motion in the House of Lords on the subject of the Corn Laws. Mr. Bright, in his reply, defended the League generally; but the anger of Lord Brougham was not in any degree mitigated. The article which had so greatly irritated him was not from the pen of Mr. Bright. In the month of February, the House of Commons was invited to discuss the question of Free Trade on a side issue. Lord Howick moved for a committee to inquire into the distress of the country, and during the lengthy debate which ensued Mr. Gladstone made the significant admission that if a change in the Corn Law were to take place, and if that change were to procure an increased importation of foreign corn, and if that importation of foreign corn were to be paid for in British manufactures, he thought it would be taking a most short and false view of the interests of British agriculture to view that impor- 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE, 165 tation of foreign corn as so much displacement of British agricultural commerce. The first effect would be that it might reduce prices, but undoubt- edly it would give a demand for the labour of those now unemployed, and thereby create a new class of producers, and raise the wages of those who had now low wages, thus enabling them to consume more largely. Mr. Disraeli, as a sanguine Protectionist, thought that if time were given for the operation of natural causes, trade would certainly revive! He made no allowance for the other hypothesis that by the operation of these same natural causes harvests might be blighted, trade destroyed, and the people starved. On the fifth night of the debate a strange scene occurred. After the speech of Mr. Cobden, which was an unanswerable argument in favour of repeal, Sir Robert Peel rose, and in his excitement indirectly insinuated that Mr. Cobden was inclined to favour assassination against him. Here is an account of this brief but painful episode : Sir Robert Peel. ' Sir, the hon. gentleman has stated here very emphatically, what he has more than once stated at the Conference of the Anti-Corn-Law League, that he holds me individually (these words, which were pronounced with much solemnity of manner, were followed by a loud cheer from the Ministerial benches, of a very peculiar and emphatic kind. It lasted a considerable time, and while it continued, and for some time afterwards, the House presented an appearance of extreme excitement, the members in the galleries standing up, and many of those below speaking eagerly to each other) individually respon- sible for the distress and suffering of the country ; that he holds me personally responsible. (Renewed cheering of the same character.) Be the consequences of those insinuations what they may (cheering re- 1 66 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. newed with great vehemence) never will I be influenced by menaces (continued cheering) to adopt a course which I consider (the rest of the sentence was lost in renewed shouts from the Ministerial benches).' Mr. Cobden. 'I did not say that I held the right hon. gentleman person- ally responsible. (Shouts from the Ministerial benches of " Yes, yes ; you did, you did," mingled with cries of " order " and " chair.") I have said that I hold the right hon. gentleman responsible by virtue of his office (renewed shouts from the same quarter, cries of " No, no," and confusion) as the whole context of what I said was sufficient to explain. (Renewed cries of "No, no," from the Ministerial benches.)' It was generally admitted that for this unhappy incident Sir Robert Peel was wholly responsible. In mitigation, however, it must be added that the Premier was suffering from highly-overwrought and nervous feelings, in consequence of the attempt at his assassination, which had resulted in the death of his secretary, Mr. Drummond. Indeed, Sir Robert admitted immediately afterwards that he was not certain Mr. Cobden used the word personally. He ought therefore to have frankly accepted the emphatic disclaimer twice repeated by the latter. The result of the debate was that Lord Howick's motion was rejected by 306 to 191 votes. Peel was credited in some quarters, notwith- standing his continued opposition to repeal, with a desire to settle the question, if he could see his way to it. Meanwhile, the Conservatives were being urged to repeal in various directions. Carlyle, in his Past and Present, begged them to hasten, for the sake of Conservatism itself, to probe Protection vigorously, and to cast it forth at once and for ever if guilty. * If I were the Conservative party of 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 167 England,' he said, * I would not for a hundred thousand pounds an hour allow those Corn Laws to continue. Potosi and Grolconda put together would not purchase my assent to them. Do you count what treasuries of bitter indignation they are laying up for you in every just English heart ? Do you know what questions, not as to corn prices and sliding scales alone, they are forcing every reflective Englishman to ask himself? Questions insoluble, or hitherto un- solved ; deeper than any of our logic-plummets hitherto will sound : questions deep enough, which it were better we did not name, even in thought ! You are forcing us to think of them, to begin uttering them. The utterance is begun; and where will it be ended, think you ? When now millions of one's brother-men sit in workhouses, and five millions, as is insolently said, " rejoice in potatoes," there are various things that must be begun, let them end where they can.' At the first metropolitan League meeting held after the melancholy scene in the House of Commons, Mr. Cobden was received with rapturous cheers, which lasted several minutes, as a protest against the endeavour to fix a stigma upon his name. The hon. member himself expressed his astonishment that he, a member of the Peace Society before he was a poli- tician, and who conscientiously believed that it was worse than useless to take human life even for murder, should be accused of instigating to assassination. Mr. Cobden was followed by Mr. Bright, who claimed for the League the credit of having preserved the THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. peace in an alarming state of affairs in the previous year, and said that to such outbreaks the country would always be liable so long as the Corn Laws existed ; but that if they were repealed, there would not need to be maintained a soldier in Lancashire or in Yorkshire. A great meeting was also held on the 23rd of February, in the Free Trade Hall, Manchester upwards of five thousand persons being present ' to repudiate the charges made in the Legislature against the League, and more particularly against Eichard Cobden, Esq., M.P.' The word ' charges ' had reference both to the Peel episode in the Commons and Lord Brougham's invectives in the Lords. Mr. George Wilson warmly defended the League, and Mr. Absalom Watkin said that they who made the charge did not believe it; but it should be repelled, in order that silence might not be mistaken for acquiescence, and the usefulness of the League be impeded by the infamous calumny. At the same time he thought they should assert fully and clearly the constitutional doctrine of the c individual and personal responsibility ' of every Minister of the Crown. This responsibility had never been doubted by any writer on the law of England. ^Resolutions were passed expressing the highest esteem for Mr. Cobden, and an address was also adopted to him from the inhabitants of Man- chester and Salford. Amongst the speakers were Messrs. Henry Ashworth, T. Bazley, Sir T. Potter, John Bright, and Aid. Callender. 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 169 After some preliminary observations, Mr. Bright, who spoke with much warmth and energy, said: 1 Every man must deplore the fact that the Prime Minister of this country should have degraded himself by such an exhibition as that which he made in the House of Commons last week. I rejoice that we have so speedily again an opportunity of meeting in this Hall, to denounce the law which the Prime Minister acknowledges to be unjust, and which he knows full well must soon be repealed. Look at the miserable tactics of our opponents from the beginning. We are not at the climax of the game they have been playing. They treated us at first with ridicule. Afterwards they pretended to meet us with a little argument ; and that failed, as it was likely to fail. Then they hinted at the suppression of the League as an illegal association ; but though there are laws in this country with meshes so small that it might be possible we should not be able to get through them, yet these laws are laws which no Minister dare enforce, unless he have the sanction of the great body of the intelligent population of this country; and I dare assert that on this question the intelli- gence of the country, and of the middle classes in particular, is in direct antagonism to the Ministry of the day. This project, then, of suppressing the League as an illegal association did not do, and slander was next resorted to.' Mr. Bright then severely animadverted on the attempt of Lord Brougham and Mr. Koebuck to 1 7 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. crush the League through its most distinguished advocate in the House of Commons, declaring that never was an attempt more vain. Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just ; And he but naked, though locked up in steel, Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.' He had experienced sensations of the deepest humi- liation when he had witnessed the Protectionists in the House of Commons all conscience-stricken. But what was to be said of the leader of this band of men, who, holding Free-trade opinions, yet shrank from the just responsibility which had been laid upon him? When asked to enforce his opinions, the answer was, c It is not the time.' ' I ask, when will it be the time ? We thought it was time five years ago. I tell you that it is a hypocritical defence to say that this is not the time. It is now the time ; the hour is now striking. It is absolutely necessary that this law should be repealed, in order to restore prosperity, and avert from you calamities which I cannot contemplate without horror. I tell you, men of Manchester, that it is from you must come the deliverance of your country. You have the power to say to this monstrous, this hideous monopoly, " Go back to the den from whence all such hideous things have come, and let honest men enjoy the life that God has given them." I got up for the purpose of proposing that we should present an address to Eichard Cobden.' At the mention of Mr. Cobden's name, the whole 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. I? 1 meeting burst into a tremendous round of cheering, with waving of hats and handkerchiefs, in which the ladies joined heartily, the demonstration lasting for several minutes. The speaker continued: 'They say that the people are proverbially ungrateful. It is a gross calumny upon them. I do not stand up to flatter the member for Stockport. I believe him to be a very intelligent and very honest man. I believe that he will act with a single eye to the good of his country. I cannot suppose that the triumph of the great principles of which he is so distinguished an advocate is far distant, and when that is accomplished we shall be amply repaid by the marvellous change which in a few years will take place in the moral aspect of this country.' The League now decided to hold a series of meet- ings in Drury Lane Theatre. The first of these demonstrations took place on the 15th of March, 1843, when pit, boxes, and gallery were all alike densely crowded. Mr. George Wilson presided, and Mr. Cobden made one of his most forcible speeches. The question was, he said, whether the feudal system in this country was to flourish beside an advancing and progressive manufacturing and commercial commu- nity. There were manufacturing and commercial communities in other countries, where feudalism did not exist. They would exist here by the side of feudalism, if feudalism would allow them; but if not by the side of feudalism, feudalism would not be permitted to stop the progress of civilisation ; if not 1 72 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. by the side of it, then the manufacturing and com- mercial interests would flourish upon the ruins of feudalism. Mr. Bright described as ' of Koch dale ' for the last time followed Mr. Cobden. He spoke with great power and effect. Describing first the pauperized condition of the country, and earnestly warning that great audience that London could not long remain exempt from the general wretchedness, he thus proceeded : 'There was no institution of this country the monarchy, the aris- tocracy, the Church, or any other whatever of which he would not say, " Attach it to the Corn Law, and I will predict its fate." In this country everything which he held dear was contained. In countries not far off they had seen institutions shaken to their foundation by dire calamities. They had seen crowns and hierarchies shaken to the dust ; they had seen ranks, and orders, and parties overthrown ; but there was one party which survived all this, and that party was the people. Whatever convulsion might happen in this country, whatever orders might be overthrown, the people would survive The people of London were the centre of a great empire, the fate of which was trembling in the balance, and which had long been struggling even to faintness with this great iniquity. The provinces, without which they could not exist, and from which they drew all their wealth, all their sustenance, had done that which was the duty of the people of London. He spoke in the name of the numerous meetings which he had attended throughout the country, and he called on them to raise their voices to the Legislature, and to co-operate with those meetings until that blessed and happy day should arrive when this monopoly should be overthrown, and the blessings which God had pro- vided for the whole of His people, should be enjoyed by all." One of the finest orators of the League at this time was Mr. W. J. Fox, who fairly divided the honours of popularity with Cobden and Bright. His speeches had an electrical effect, and Mr. Prentice recalls one extraordinary scene in particular, when be called upon 1842-45.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 173 his hearers to bind themselves in a solemn league never to cease their labours till the Corn Laws were destroyed thousands starting to their feet, with arms extended, as if ready to swear extinction to monopoly. Mr. Bright himself, we have reason for stating, regarded the oratory of Mr. Fox as more powerful and striking than that of any other League speaker. The Drury Lane meetings were continued with unflagging spirit and energy ; and by way of further extending its influence, the League now ceased the publication of its small fortnightly Anti-Bread-Tax Circular, and established the League weekly news- paper in its stead. During the year 1843 the League carried their agitation into the agricultural districts. A deputation consisting of Mr. Ashworth, Mr. Bright, and Mr. Cobden, visited some of the most highly cultivated parts of Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland, and East Lothian, for the purpose of procuring trustworthy information on the position of agriculture and the views of the farmers. The mission occupied several weeks, and Mr. Ashworth has remarked that the sequence of the initials of the three members of the deputation led to the joke that the ' A B C ' of the League had gone to study farming. Mr. Bright and Mr. Cobden subsequently went to the south of England, and addressed meetings respectively at Taunton, Liskeard, Dorchester, Uxbridge, Bedford, Eye, Huntingdon, Colchester, Chelmsford, Lewes, Salisbury, Canterbury, Oxford, etc. At Dorchester, 1 74 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. Mr. Bright put the question of the operation of the Corn Law into a nutshell. ' The Corn Law, by preventing imports of corn, and thereby un- duly raising the prices during seasons of deficient harvests, takes from the people so much of their earnings as to leave them without the means of keeping up their usual consumption of such articles of clothing, furniture, etc., as they require, and by the making of which millions of people are profit- ably employed, and paid, and earn a livelihood ; and thus, when the general demand for these articles falls off, and men are without employment, distress is brought upon large masses of the people. The home trade, or demand for home products, is thus greatly injured; and whilst this process is going on, the Corn Law is also preventing the extension of the foreign trade, by raising up high duties abroad, and by diminishing the home consumption of foreign commodities, and thus diminishing the amount of exports required to pay for those commodities. But however injurious the Corn Law has been to manufacturers, it has been more destructive of the well-being of the tenant farmers. If it has injured and impoverished the farmers' customers, it must have injured the farmers.' Again, * The Corn Law renders the farmers wholly dependent upon their landlords. They can scarcely think or act for themselves. They are cajoled or bullied into voting for the landlord's candidate, who as a legislator maintains the Corn Law by which 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 175 trade is destroyed, and farming made a hazardous and unprofitable business.' Mr. Cobden, at a county meeting at Bedford, waged a verbal contest for six hours with the farmers, and in the end his arguments prevailed, a resolution in favour of Free-trade principles being carried by two to one. Farmers generally, in fact, now began to have their faith completely shaken by Mr. Cobden's proofs that no Corn Law could ever guarantee them even 36s. a quarter, and they were already asking, ' What is the use of a Corn Law, if tenants are to get Dantzic prices, and to pay English rents ? ' Speaking at Huntingdon, Mr. Bright maintained that the Corn Law was most prejudicial to the interests of the country, and that whether it raised rents or not, it was essentially a rent law, and nothing else. ' There is not a man present,' he said, ' who can place his hand upon his heart and say he does not believe that the farmers have been tricked by political jugglery. The men whom you elect derive more advantage from the present Ministry being in power than anything they can gain from the Corn Law. This Government has hundreds, if not thousands, of offices at its disposal, there being no less than five hundred appointments in India alone; and with the political landlord it becomes very much like Tom Moore's description of the Whigs upon one occasion and the same would equally apply to the Tories : 1 76 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. VI. " As bees on flowers alighting cease their hum, So, settling upon places, Whigs grow dumb." I conclude by telling you that the Anti- Corn- Law League, which you have been taught to consider your enemy, is a body of individuals composed of all classes, united in one strong desire that every portion of the people should prosper. I have a business as large as any man in this assembly, and with as much property at stake in it, and I am so convinced of the evil of this law not to me only, but to you that if trade were prosperous, which it is not, I would still come among you and tell you that the Corn Law is a curse to agriculture even more blasting than it has ever been to manufacturers.' At Salisbury Mr. Bright spoke with special force and eloquence, and, referring to the evil effects of the Corn Law upon the tenant farmers as compared with its effects upon the manufacturers, said, ' If it has scourged us with thongs, it has lashed you with scorpions. It has made your trade fluctuating and hazardous, it has deprived you of political independence, it has surrounded you with discontented and impoverished labourers, it has raised your poor-rates ; and by making you compete with each other for farms, it has raised your rents ; and all this has been done under cover of professing to protect you. We come among you to ask your assistance in the great struggle we are engaged in, a struggle which will be crowned with complete and early success, 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 177 a success which will deliver you and our country from the most destructive and disgraceful imposition which any Government ever practised upon any people.' Mr. Bright also made a tour in the north, from Kelso to Alnwick and Newcastle. The delegates excited hostility in some quarters, but it was reserved for a journal in the last-named town to reach the climax of unscrupulous opposition, by suggesting that Mr. Bright should be violently dealt with. The * stalwart yeoman,' however, who was called upon to curse Mr. Bright, and to lay hands upon him, ended by blessing the delegate, who had convinced him by his arguments of the soundness of Free-trade principles. In the House of Commons, Mr. Villiers brought on as usual this session his motion for the abolition of the Corn Laws. Peel defended the laws, though more in an apologetic than a positive fashion. After the Premier's speech, Mr. Milner Gibson moved the adjournment of the debate, whereupon a disgraceful scene ensued, in which the Protectionists were the chief actors. The House resembled a menagerie; there was cock-crowing in its highest perfection, the bleat of the calf, the bray of the ass, the hiss of the goose, together with divers supple- mental sounds, which Mr. Cobden, with strict and impartial justice, described as the most extraordinary and inhuman noises he had ever heard. The two party leaders, Sir Robert Peel and Lord John 12 1 7' THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. Bussell, left the House, and the belligerents became fiercer and wilder than ever. The Speaker's voice was a mere whisper in the Babel of sounds. It was not until they were quite worn out by their exertions that the majority yielded to the adjournment of the debate. On the fifth night Mr. Cobden spoke very effectively, exposing the fallacies of the Protectionists, and showing the evils of the existing law ; but Mr. Villiers's motion was lost by 381 to 125. In the minority, however, were several prominent and ex- official Whigs, including Lord Howick, Mr. Charles Buller, Mr. Ellice, Sir George Grey, Mr. Fox Maule, and Mr. Macaulay. In the course of some two months after this debate, Mr. Bright was elected member for Durham under circumstances detailed in a previous chapter. The Council of the League, towards the close of 1843, issued an address to the people of the United Kingdom, giving an account of the work that had been done during the year. From this it appeared that there were employed in the printing and making up of the electoral packets of tracts upwards of three hundred persons, while more than five hundred others were engaged in distributing them from house to house in the constituencies. Amongst the parliamentary electors alone of England and Scotland there had been distributed five millions of tracts and stamped publications. Besides these, there was a general distribution among the working classes, and others who were not electors, to the 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 1 79 number of 3,600,000. Altogether, the number of tracts, stamped publications, etc., issued by the Council during the year amounted to 9,026,000, or in weight upwards of one hundred tons. Fourteen lecturers, employed in England, Wales, and Scot- land, had delivered about 650 lectures during the year. A vacancy having arisen in the representation of London through the death of Sir Matthew Wood, the Free Traders brought forward a candidate in the person of Mr. Pattison, who was opposed by Mr. T. Baring, as the representative of the Conservatives and the monopolists. The election excited great interest, the League most warmly supporting its candidate, and regarding the contest as one between opposing sets of principles. Mr. Bright described the plain and simple test as the complete, total, and immediate abolition of the monopoly of food. ' In this vast metropolis,' he said, 'where there are nearly two millions of inhabitants, probably not less a sum than six or eight millions sterling is wrung from your resources in different ways, not going into the pockets of the landlords, but being lost by the way, a great portion of it in order that their extortion may keep up a veil on its horrid countenance, and have something of the show of legitimate taxation, instead of being apparent and downright plunder. There will, in a very short period, be an opportunity for you to show decidedly that the principle of Free Trade is consecrated in your hearts and guides your l8o THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. votes.' The Free Trade candidate triumphed, the numbers at the close of the poll being, Pattison, 6,535; Baring, 6,334. It was determined now to raise a fund of .100,000 to further the objects of the League. At a meeting in Manchester there was subscribed towards this sum ,12,500, many firms contributing ,500 each. The Times alarmed the monopolists by the admissions it made in a leading article published on November 18. * The League is a great fact,' it observed. ' It would be foolish nay, rash to deny its importance. It is a great fact that there should have been created in the homesteads of our manufactures a confederacy devoted to the agitation of one political question, persevering at it year after year, shrinking from no trouble, dis- mayed by no danger, making light of every obstacle.' After mentioning other facts, the article continued : ' No moralist can disregard them ; no politician can sneer at them ; no statesman can undervalue them. He who collects opinions must chronicle them ; he who frames laws must to some extent consult them.' The aspect of things had certainly changed when the Times could confess that a new power had arisen in the State changed, that is, in the eyes of those who based their opinions upon the information and guidance furnished by the daily press. On the 1st of January, 1844, the Marquis of Westminster gave in his adhesion to the movement. Writing to Mr. G. Wilson, he said, * I have much pleasure in sending a contribution of 500 to your 1842-45.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. l8l fund, and I venture to express a hope that you will not relax your endeavours until you have obtained from Government, in whatever hands it may happen to be, the fullest measure of Free Trade compatible with what is due to the maintenance of public credit.' The organization now numbered amongst its sup- porters, as Mr. Prentice remarks, the wealthiest individual of the monied interest, Mr. Jones Loyd; the wealthiest of the manufacturers, Mr. Marshall, of Leeds ; and the wealthiest of noblemen, the Marquis of Westminster. The Earl of Carlisle (then Lord Morpeth) wished success to the League, although he did not completely identify himself in detail with its principles. His lordship, however, attended a great West Eiding demonstration, held at Wakefield, on behalf of the League. At the banquet Mr. Bright was called upon to propose ' The Abolition of the Sugar and all other Monopolies,' and in doing so he thus referred both to Lord Morpeth's attitude and the general question : ' I listened to his lordship's description of some portion of his journey on the American continent ; to the glowing language in which he spoke of those vast prairies, which seemed as though countless ages had passed since the vast ocean flowed over them, and had by some omnipotent fiat been at once suspended and changed into the solid earth ; and I heard his description of those great rivers which rise no one knows how, or where, and that are in future times to be highways from the ocean to the people who may 182 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. inhabit their banks. I was pleased to hear all this; and when he spoke of the surplus produce of those vast countries, and of the want there is in this country, I confess I did feel disappointed that any bar should be proposed or permitted to be put which should in any degree narrow the market and the circle out of which we might obtain a supply for the hungry people of this country. A small fixed duty might not be insurmountable by the corn- growers of the nearest country; but to America, distant three thousand miles, and to those vast prairies, distant five thousand miles, a fixed duty of very small amount would operate generally as an insurmountable barrier to a constant trade in corn between this country and that. I will not enter more into this part of the question. The League has put its hand to the plough, and it will not turn back.' Twice during the session of 1844 the Corn Law question was raised in the House of Commons. On the 12th of March, Mr. Cobden moved for a committee to inquire into the effects of protective duties on agri- cultural tenants and labourers. The hon. member supported his demand by facts and statistics bearing upon the condition of the population. Mr. Gladstone opposed the motion, on the grounds that such a com- mittee would cause apprehension, and that it could not usefully deal with the subjects opened up by the mover. Mr. Bright spoke in favour of the motion. Though the persons who thought with Mr. Cobden 1842-45.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 183 and himself, he remarked, might be few in that House, they were many and influential in the country. He and his party had been charged with exciting the people. He did not deny it; they had excited the people, and should continue to do so. No evil had ever found redress until agitation had compelled it. The Corn Law, ever since 1815, had been a fraud upon the tenants, for they had been led to believe that the effect of it would be to maintain an average price of 80s. per quarter. Indeed, every prophecy of the agricultural soothsayers had failed of fulfilment. The Protectionists had made many misrepresentations, either from ignorance or from some worse cause. He besought the House to take into immediate considera- tion the distress of the agricultural labourers, which he believed to extend throughout the southern counties of England, and over Wales and Scotland. He dwelt particularly on the evils prevalent in Dorsetshire, the state of which county was, in his opinion, a clear proof of the inefficiency of the Corn Law to produce agricultural prosperity. The increase of population would in a few years force the repeal of that law, unless the Legislature had the wisdom to repeal it earlier. Mr. Bright made a strong point when he told the House that if the majority thought the justice of the Corn Law could be proved, they would grant the committee at once. There was only one way, he said in conclusion, by which this question could be carried, and that was by making it thoroughly known 1 84 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. to the country. ' When they exposed the bad prin- ciples of this law, they exposed also the most unwise policy of the agricultural members of that House ; and passing from county to county, and town to town, the constituents of this empire should know that the andowners sat in that House, if not with an express desire and design, yet they did sit there, resisting any attempt, however small, to affect the price of the produce of land, with determined opposition, and maintaining a law the object of which was to prevent a reduction of rent ; and when millions throughout the country asked for an inquiry into the subject, they did not hesitate to vote as if they were a cor- poration sitting there to support their own interests, and keep up the rent of land.' Mr. Cobden's motion was lost by 224 votes to 133. On the 25th of June, Mr. Villiers brought forward his annual motion by a series of resolutions, which Mr. Gladstone said the Government would meet with a direct negative. Mr. Bright, in supporting the motion, said : ' I am convinced that, whatever may be the feel- ings of confidence now entertained by the right hon. baronet (Sir E. Peel), whenever bad harvests again occur, he will either abolish this law, or his Govern- ment will be overthrown, as was the Government he succeeded by the bad harvests we have lately suffered from. I do not wish this law to be repealed in times of excitement, nor do I wish its destruction to be achieved as a great party victory ; I would rather it were for ever abolished by the unanimous verdict of 1842-45.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 1 8 5 the honest and intelligent classes of the country. We should regard it as a question of great national interest, not as one affecting our own profits or pro- perty ; we should legislate upon it in such a manner that, laying our hands upon our hearts, we may say that we have dealt with it upon great and just prin- ciples, with an honest regard to the common good, and not merely with regard to the claims of a parti- cular interest.' Although Mr. Villiers's proposition was lost hy 328 to 124, in less than two years from its utterance the Premier fulfilled Mr. Bright's prediction. The League having been unable to make arrange- ments for the continuance of their weekly meetings in Drury Lane Theatre, now hired the theatre in Covent Garden for that purpose. In the latter house, many enthusiastic assemblies gathered to listen to the stirring oratory of Mr. Cobden, Mr. Fox, Mr. Bright, and other leaders in the movement. At one of these meetings Mr. Cobden announced that it was not the intention of the League to recom- mend any further petitioning to the existing House of Commons. The audience rose and enthusiastically applauded this announcement, as well as the further statement by the speaker to the effect that when such a point had been reached as would justify the step, the Council would recommend the electors to memorialise the Queen in favour of the immediate dissolution of Parliament. Mr. Bright, in a long address, said that while 1 86 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. viewing that great meeting as a pleasant proof of the progress of the cause, it was nevertheless somewhat humiliating to think that an assembly of four or five thousand people should be required to be called together at this time of day to protest against a law so evidently bad and unjust as the Corn Law, and to assert a right so clear and evident as that which they wished to gain for the people perfect freedom for their industry. They asserted this principle that every man had a right to the fruits of his own industry, and a right to exchange it with any other man ; a right to dispose of it wherever he could get most for it. Mr. Bright next dealt with the argu- ment of the Standard that there was a great improvement in trade, and therefore that repeal was not called for. Admitting this temporary improve- ment, he asked, c Would not bad harvests return again ? Had there been any revelation from heaven saying that in future the earth should always yield abundantly ? Would not the return of bad harvests bring with it the return of all the calamities from which he trusted some portion of the people were now escaping ? And if they had suffered so much for five years past if honourable men had become bankrupts from no fault of their own, and if multi- tudes of honest, industrious, and meritorious artisans had been driven into the degradation of pauperism, and not a few into crime, through the pressure of these Corn and Provision Laws, if that was so, was it to be thought that they who had put their hands 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 187 to the plough would now turn back from the work? Lancashire at present enjoyed a little sunshine, but the prospects in Ireland were very unpleasant for the monopolists. After referring to the miserable condition of the farmers in England, the speaker continued : ' The monopolist landowners tried to keep their tenantry away from meetings where they might hear the Corn Law discussed. And why ? For the same reason that they tried to shut up Drury Lane Theatre. They did not wish to have the matter touched ; they felt that it would not bear handling, that it would not bear to be examined. They knew that the pretences on which the Corn and Provision Laws were maintained were unfounded and dishonest. They wished their tenants, therefore, not to hear the matter discussed ; but they were greatly deceived if they nattered themselves that the farmers would not make amends for their exclusion from hearing by reading, for the report of this meeting would be sent to nearly every occupying farmer in some one or more of the counties of England.' Yet there were not wanting members of the aris- tocracy who had considerable sympathy with the League. Some of them were not only Corn Law repealers, but Free-traders in the widest sense of the word. The members of the League wanted to have this question settled for the world as well as for England. ' They were tired of what were called the natural divisions of empires. They wanted not that 1 88 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. the Channel should separate this country from France; they hoped and wished that Frenchmen and Englishmen should no longer consider each other as naturally hostile nations. It was common to speak of rivers, and mountains, and seas as the natural divisions of countries, separating one nation from another, from all time and for all time; but there was no barrier which nature had reared which was a thousandth part so detrimental to the interests of mankind, or so much calculated to embitter their feelings and promote hostilities, as were those mise- rable unnatural barriers which legal restrictions on trade had imposed, and which were upheld by lines of custom-houses between nation and nation.' Mr. Bright said it was terrible to think that the Queen of the United Kingdom should be wielding a sceptre, not over twenty-seven millions of happy and independent people, but over three or four and twenty millions living as they best could, and over four millions of absolute and hopeless paupers. The League, he said, would stand between these helpless beings and their oppressors ; and he thus concluded : ' We have a perfect faith in the beauty, excellence, and perfection of the principles we promulgate ; and we know that heaven will prosper those who are working in a cause that shall bless the world ; and we know that the promises of Omnipotence are to those who bless His creatures, and who bring happi- ness to their hearts and homes. We shall go onward, then; we shall have no slackening in our ranks because 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 189 cotton is a little dearer than it was. We did not buckle on our armour for a sham contest. We our- selves were not hungering ; I never had a meal the less, however many of my countrymen were suffering and my business has always yielded some profit. We have no other motive to action than the wish to do away with this cruel injustice. Our opponents know that they are unjust, and they now know that we know it ; and we are resolved that the millions amongst whom we live shall no longer be trampled on by the iron hoof of monopoly. We have fought this battle with the confidence of success, and we know that success awaits us, for we remember in faith and gratitude that royal lips have declared by the inspiration of the Eternal Spirit that "the needy shall not alway be forgotten ; the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever." The harvest of 1844 having been better than usual, and the price of bread being comparatively low, there was a slight lull in the Free-trade agitation. But the League, knowing that it was fallacious to build hopes of a permanent improvement without repeal, now addressed themselves to another and a very important task that of purging the electoral regis- ters. For three or four months this task was pursued, and on the 24th of October a meeting was held in the Manchester Free Trade Hall to hear the result. Mr. George Wilson produced a detailed account of the great gains to the Free-trade party in the registration for every borough in Lancashire, IQO THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. and stated that in sixty-eight boroughs in other parts of the kingdom there had been similar gains. The registration list for the county of Lancaster had also been revised, with the result that it gave to the Leaguers a seat for South Lancashire, and a gain of 533 votes for North Lancashire, leaving the monopolists three seats in the boroughs, or five out of the whole twenty-six members for the entire county. In the history of registration there had never been so complete a sweep of a county as that. This new development of League policy naturally spread alarm amongst the monopolists, and this alarm was increased by a suggestion of Mr. Cobden that there was an opening for a great increase in the number of forty-shilling freeholds, thus enabling probably the repealers to gain many of the counties. It was felt that every county possessing a large town population might be won, if the people could be roused to a systematic effort to qualify themselves for the vote in the way in which the South Lanca- shire people had reached the qualification. Mr. Bright was especially earnest upon the one point that it was a false security to believe that the comparative prosperity then enjoyed was likely to be permanent. Providence might give them one, two, or three more good harvests ; but the course of the seasons could not be changed to suit the caprice, the folly, or the criminality of human legislation. The speaker added : 1842-45.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. ' As we have had before, so shall we have again, a change of seasons ; and when that change shall come, and if the people of this country have not, in the meantime, bestirred themselves and shaken off this iniquitous impost, I ask you, whom will you blame but yourselves, and where can you run for refuge ? for your own folly will have led you into danger, and by your own neglect alone will you have allowed these evils again to come upon you. You will again have to suffer those evils which arise from the price of bread rising all over the country. The consumption by the great mass of the people of all kinds of manufactured goods will be greatly crippled ; you will again have a great exportation of gold, and a great derangement of the monetary affairs of the country ; you will again have numbers of merchants and manufacturers going rapidly, week after week, into the Gazette; you will again have your shopkeepers impoverished ; and, worst of all, you will again have the labourers o this district, our honest and industrious artisans, plunged into all that distress which we have lately witnessed ; and, arising from that distress, discontent and disaffection, and a brutalizing and barba- rizing of the minds of the people, such as they have suffered from for the last half a dozen years, and which they are now only partially getting rid of. It is impossible to draw a picture too gloomy of that which we have already seen in this district, and it is much less possible to draw a picture of that which must come if we neglect the power that we have in our hands to wipe away these infamous laws. I ana sure we have the power ; the statements made by our chairman to-night prove that we have the power. The Reform Act never has been worked by either the Liberal or Free-trade party in this country. It may be a bad bill ; it has flaws enough, we all know ; it has pitfalls many for us, and it has privileges far too many for our opponents. But for all that, if we will only work it, I am persuaded there is within it enough of the popular principle to enable us to amend it, if need be, and to do many other things which we may think necessary for our welfare.' The registration and freehold movement received considerable impetus by a meeting held in Covent Garden Theatre on December 12th. Mr. Villiers spoke confidently, firmly persuaded that victory was not far distant ; and Mr. Cobden was equally hopeful, changing Sir Eobert Peel's well-known adjuration to 'Kegister' into 'Qualify, qualify, qualify!' Mr. Bright, who was even more eloquent than usual, said THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP, vi that his hope was brighter than ever his faith undimmed by the smallest shadow of a doubt. In a great struggle, in the long run, the just always wins, and he must have read very little history who did not know that liberty was triumphing. Freedom, Heaven's first gift to man, was still living, breathing, growing, and every day increasing in strength. * This freedom for which you struggle is the freedom to live ; it is the right to eat your bread by the sweat of your brow. It is the freedom which was given to you even in the primeval curse ; and shall man make that curse more bitter to his fellow-man ? No ; instead of despairing, I have more confidence and faith than ever. I believe that those old delusions and superstitions which, like venomous and polluted rags, have disfigured the fair form of this country's greatness, are now fast dropping away. I think I behold the dawn of a brighter day; all around are the elements of a mighty movement. We stand as on the very threshold of a new career ; and may we not say that this League this great and growing confederacy of those who love justice and hate oppres- sion has scattered, broadcast throughout the land, seed from which shall spring forth ere long an abundant, a glorious harvest of true greatness for our country, and of permanent happiness for mankind ? ' Meetings, attended by deputations from the League, followed at Liverpool, Bradford, Sheffield, Wakefield, Bolton, Manchester, Warringtou, Preston, Oldhain, Blackburn, Durham, etc. Mr. Bright spoke at many 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 193 of these meetings, and at all, the constitutional move- ment for the increase of the forty-shilling freeholders was warmly welcomed. Before the meeting of Parliament in 1845, several large and influential free-trade meetings were held. At the first of these meetings, held in Covent Garden Theatre on the 15th of January, Mr. Milner Gibson said he agreed with the Morning Post that the only difference between the policy which Sir Robert Peel was prepared to pursue and the policy of the League was this that Sir Robert's was a slow decay of gradual poverty saddened by disap- pointed hopes, while the policy of the League was prompt as the guillotine but both were forms of extinction. Mr. Cobden said that he and his friends were anxious to guard themselves against this that Sir Robert Peel should not mix up the question of Free Trade with his dexterity in finance. Let it be understood that they would have nothing to do with mystification and shuffling. Theirs was a very simple and plain proposition. They said to the right hon. baronet, 'Abolish the monopolies which go to enrich that majority which placed you in power and keeps you there.' A satisfactory annual aggregate meeting of the Liverpool Anti-Monopoly Association was held a few days later. The objects of the meeting are sufficiently indicated by the title of the Association. On the 22nd of January the annual aggregate meeting of the League was held in the Free Trade Hall. The report stated that there 194 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. was an undoubted gain upon the register in regard to 112 boroughs, and that in many of these the improve- ment was such as to ensure the return of free-traders in the place of monopolists, in the event of an election. The council had further reason to believe that within the past three months a sufficient number of persons had purchased freehold qualifications in North Cheshire, South Lancashire, and the West Eiding of York, to secure to those important con- stituencies a free-trade majority; whilst a large addition had been made to the ranks of the re- pealers in Middlesex, North Lancashire, and several other populous counties. Besides this, the usual operations of the League had not been allowed to suffer, but had rather increased than otherwise. Of the fund of 100,000 proposed to be raised, upwards of 82,000 had already been received ; and after all the expenses of the agitation had been met, there was still a balance in hand of 26,675. On the following day, the first dinner of the Sussex Agricultural Protection Society took place at Brighton. The Duke of Eichmond presided, and was supported by several members of both Houses of Parliament. The Earl of Egmont asked whether any man could read the speeches made by free- traders, and not believe that the whole foundation of their proceedings was revolution. He and his friends had now hoisted the flag of protection to agriculture, and they would bid defiance to the Anti- Corn-Law League. Mr. Stafford O'Brien predicted, 1842-45.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 1 95 as amongst the results of Free Trade, that whole districts would be thrown out of cultivation, and that estates would be brought to the hammer. The Duke of Eichmond said that so long as he had blood in his veins he would stand up for the agri- cultural interest. Parliament opened on the 4th of February, the Queen's speech alluding to the prospect of continued peace, and the general state of domestic prosperity and tranquillity. In the debate on the Address in the Commons, Lord John Eussell said he was convinced that protection was not the support but the bane of agriculture. He considered, both with respect to Ireland and the question of Free Trade, that the Government ought to take advantage of the present tranquil time. His lordship, in one point, took the same view as Mr. Bright, viz., that two or three bad harvests would cause such popular excitement as would force a change in spite of all resistance. Nor must it be forgotten that at this time Peel himself had already said that we ought to buy in the cheapest market and sell in the dearest ; while Sir James Graham had declared that Free-trade principles were the principles of common sense. Sir Kobert Peel produced his Budget on the 14th of February. There was a surplus of 3,409,000, which he proposed to devote to the reduction of the sugar duty, the abolition of the duty on glass, cotton, wool, and on the importation of Baltic staves. It was also proposed to abolish the duty I9 6 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. on all those articles which merely yielded nominal amounts, a step which would sweep away 430 articles from the tariff. Lord John Kussell's amendment on one of the Budget resolutions censuring the distinction between free-labour and slave-labour sugar as illusory, and detrimental to the revenue, was lost by a majority of 94; and Mr. Milner Gibson was also defeated in his resolution in favour of an equalization of duty on foreign and colonial sugar. The Budget excited considerable opposition, for what the Minister gave with one hand he took away with the other. The proposals were discussed at an aggregate League meeting in Covent Garden Theatre, and those parts of the new ministerial measures which were founded on Free-trade principles were approved. Mr. Bright spoke at this meeting, sarcastically describing the farmers' friends in both Houses of Parliament. Then turning to their own organization, he said they had no alliance with lords or dukes. The prominent men of the League were men from the ranks. From their very beginning they placed no reliance but on the omnipotence of truth, and the intelligence and virtue of their country- men. To them they had again and again appealed, and nobly had those appeals been responded to. In 1839 they first asked for subscriptions, and 5,000 was given. In 1840 between '7,000 and 8,000 was subscribed. In 1841 they held the great conference at Manchester, at which upwards of 700 ministers of religion attended. In 1842 they had their grand 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 197 bazaar in Manchester, from which 10,000 was realized. In 1843 they asked for 50,000, and got it. In 1844 they called for 100,000, and between 80,000 and 90,000 had been paid in, besides what would be received from the bazaar to be held in May. This year was young, but they had not been idle. There had been invested a sum of not less than 250,000 in the purchase of county qualifications. With regard to the bazaar, a great deal was being done, and a great deal more could and would be done before the time, in order to produce a display which he hoped would be so remarkable as to be worth a visit from the highest personage in the realm. In the House of Commons, on the 7th of March, Mr. Cobden moved for a select committee to inquire into the causes and extent of the alleged existing agricultural distress, and into the effects of legis- lative protection upon the interests of landowners, tenant farmers, and farm labourers. Having adduced a mass of information and statistics in support of his demand, the hon. gentleman said, ' I have no hesitation in telling you, that if you give me a committee of this House, I will explode the delusion of agricultural protection. I will bring forward such a mass of evidence, and give you such a preponderance of talent and authority, that when the Blue Book is published and sent forth to the world, as we can now send it by our vehicles of information, your system of protection shall not live in public opinion 198 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. for two years afterwards.' Was that old tattered flag of protection, he asked, tarnished and torn, to be kept hoisted still in the counties for the benefit of politicians, or would they come forward honestly and fairly to inquire into this system ? He could not believe that the gentry of England would be made mere drumheads on this question, to be sounded upon by others. The country gentlemen could, if they pleased, have on the committee a majority of members of the Central Association. Mr. Sidney Herbert, speaking for the Government, opposed the inquiry, saying that they could not countenance a committee which had no other object in view than to provide means for further agitation. Mr. Bright supported the motion, speaking inci- sively against the Corn Laws, and contending that it was clear from their past history that all protection had been unavailing to keep up the price of corn. Turning upon those agricultural members who were subservient to the Government, he said he would ask them one question, ' Did they believe that the farmers would have voted for them at the last election if they had declared at the hustings they would support measures which would bring down the price of corn from 61s. a quarter, which it was then, to 45s. a quarter, which it was now ? And yet this they had done, in voting first for Sir Kobert Peel's alterations in the Corn Laws, and afterwards for his alterations in the tariff. As protection had hitherto done them little, or rather no good, he recommended 1842-45- THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 1 99 them to go into committee, and inquire whether it would not be for their advantage to abandon pro- tection entirely.' Mr. Bright added that no one could deny that the tendency of the country was towards Free Trade. But the country gentlemen believed only too implicitly that Mr. Cobden could explode protection, and so they voted against him. The motion was lost by 213 to 121, or a majority of 92. On the 8th of May, the great Bazaar in connection with the League was opened in Covent Garden Theatre. It created, as Mr. Prentice says, an interest ' scarcely inferior to that which was felt at a later and happier period at the opening of the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park.' The London newspapers of all shades of opinion were rilled with descriptions of the affair. The appearance of the building was very- novel and striking. Instead of the horseshoe sweep of boxes with Grecian scrolls terminating at the massive pillars of the proscenium, the long perspective of a Gothic hall stretched across pit and stage ; the vista of slender columns and Tudor arches terminating in a mimic painted window. The roof was bright with gay colours, produced by transparent painting ; and in lieu of heraldic blazonry, escutcheons charged with a bunch of wheat-ears on an azure field, and inscribed with the motto, ' Free ' the badge of the League were seen in every direction. Gothic lan- terns of gay colours shed light upon the moving throng that rilled the gangways, and on the heaps of 200 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. manufactured articles piled up and hanging down on every side. The contributions from each town occu- pied a separate stall Manchester alone having three stalls. The articles offered for sale were of the most varied description, and at one stall there was a veri- table lock of Sir Walter Scott's hair offered for the sum of .3 3s. A post-office was amongst the inge- nious devices for raising money, and disseminating free-trade doctrines. Portraits there were in many forms of Messrs. Cobden, Bright, and Villiers. Although the weather was very unfavourable, the bazaar was most successful. The visitors numbered upwards of 100,000 ; goods to the value of 20,000 were presented for sale, and 400 ladies, the wives and daughters oT* leading Free-traders, presided at the stalls. The sum of 25,000 was realized towards the funds of the League. The bazaar attracted great attention in the press, many metropolitan journals observing that its influence and significance could not be ignored by politicians opposed to the repeal movement. On the 10th of June, Mr. Villiers submitted for the last time in the House of Commons his motion for a committee of the whole House to consider his resolu- tions for the abolition of all restrictions on the impor- tation of foreign corn. At the close of a long and able speech, Mr. Villiers said he was at a loss to know what plea would now be urged by the Govern- ment in reply to his demand, on behalf of the people, for free access to the means of subsistence. If the 1842-45-] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 2OI Government should either plead the pressure of local taxation, or the peculiar burdens on land, he would reply, ' Bring us in at once an account of what is paid on those scores, and we will show that it is far less than the loss which the people sustain every year owing to the restriction of their supply of food.' He called upon the Government to indemnify the land- lords in any way they pleased except that of making the food of the people dear. Sir James Graham, of whom some hopes had been entertained by the Free-traders, met the motion with a decided negative. He advocated a gradual and cautious policy in legislation affecting the Corn Laws ; and said it was his conviction that suddenly and at once to throw open the trade in corn would be incon- sistent with the well-being of the community, and would give such a shock to the agricultural interest as would throw many other interests into a state of convulsion. Mr. Bright expressed his surprise at the Home Secretary's speech, and said he was at a loss to dis- cover whether it was intended to give more hope to the Opposition, or more consolation to the Ministerial side of the House. Sir James had evidently been endeavouring to say one thing in one part of his speech, and to unsay it in the next. In the com- mencement he had been a furious Free-trader ; in the close he had brought forward in a mass all the fallacies of the Protection Society. It was time that this imposture should cease ; for so long as it prevailed 202 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. the country would be involved in a perpetual agitation. The question of the repeal of the Corn Laws was now only one of time. He would score off every part of Sir James Graham's speech after that sentence of it which contained the enunciation that Free Trade was the key-stone of Sir Robert Peel's policy. Let the county members reflect upon that, and let them remember that if Sir Robert Peel gave the word for the repeal of the Corn Laws, they had no power to prevent it. Replying to the objection that the abo- lition of the Corn Laws would cause a suspension of labour, Mr. Bright asked, Did the right hon. baronet know that the whole number of persons who were engaged in producing the 2,000,000 quarters of corn he spoke of were not as great as the number of persons who were thrown out of employment probably in one town in this country by the state of things caused by this monopoly, like Sheffield, Leeds, or Stockport ? Addressing the agriculturists, he adduced numerous instances of greatly increased importation of articles, the produce of the soil, which had not at all injured the interests of agriculture. He again warned them that there was a strong feeling in the country against protection, which it would not be wise to despise. The hon. member then gave a history of the Anti-Corn-Law League, the annual contributions to which had increased from 5,000 in the year of its birth to 110,000 in the present year. His allusion to the Covent Garden Bazaar having been sneered at, he said there was one person who 1842-45.] THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. 2O3 would not sneer at it, and that was Sir Eobert Peel. Mr. Bright thus concluded his speech : ' An hon. member opposite had lately given to the world a book in which he represented the monarch of this country as reigning over two nations, the rich and the poor,* and there was a great deal of truth in that. Others talked of the widening of the separation between the very rich and the very poor. The Corn Law created nothing ; it blighted almost everything- There was an abundance of capital, of labour, and of material in this country, but there wanted an honest distribution of it ; and that honest distribution could only be given upon those just, true, and immutable principles which the great Creator had given for the regulation of the ordinary affairs of life. He knew that on going to a division his party would be in a minority of course, but he also knew that minorities in that House often became majorities ; and if a man advocated a sound prin- ciple, and knew that millions out of doors supported it, let him not be deterred because the teller gave a majority against it, instead of in its favour. They had seen good principles growing, growing, growing, because everybody supported them ; and bad principles fading away, and those who formerly adhered to them ashamed to recall them. If they wanted this law to be maintained on its principle, they should have prevented Caxton from erecting his press in Westminster Abbey, they should have placed an interdict upon Chambers, proscribed Knight's weekly volumes, and put down all newspapers, and, above all, put a stop to those loco- motive engines which came up from Manchester to the metropolis in four hours and a half.' Mr. Cobden complained that the questions mooted by Mr. Villiers had not been met. These were, first, Had they a right to restrict the supply of food for the people ? secondly, Was it true that they had a law to that effect ? and, thirdly, If their Corn Law was not to that effect, what was its purpose ? By careful calculations made, he supported Mr. Yilliers's propo- sitions. Lord John Eussell pointed out the incon- sistencies of Sir James Graham, and said that the Corn Law, as it now stood, was vicious in principle, * Sybil ; or, The Two Nations. By Benjamin Disraeli, M.P. 204 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vi. and could not long be maintained in its present condition. He felt himself at liberty to go into com- mittee with Mr. Villiers, and to consider in what way a relaxation of the law could be made. Sir Robert Peel said that if he could believe in the predictions of Mr. Cobden, his objections to an immediate repeal of the Corn Law would be greatly alleviated ; but he could not, and therefore must proceed gradually with legislation. On the division being taken, there appeared for the motion, 122; against, 254; majority against repeal, 132. These numbers indicated a still increasing support to Mr. Villiers's proposition. With those who paired or were absent, there were now 190 members in favour of Free Trade, as compared with 165 in the year 1844. Confident as the members of the League were, however, of the coming triumph of their cause, there was probably not one amongst them who thought it was so immediate, so close at hand, as it actually was. Precipitating causes such causes as Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright had again and again said must bring matters to an issue were already at work to force on repeal ; and the curtain was des- tined shortly to rise on the last act of the great Parliamentary drama in connection with the Corn Laws. 205 CHAPTER VII. REPEAL OF THE CORN LAWS. The Potato Disease in Ireland. The Government and the Crisis. Lord John Russell's important Letter declaring for Free Trade. Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright appeal to the Prime Minister. The Corn Laws doomed. Great League Meeting at Covent Garden Theatre. Cabinet Difficulties. Peel returns^to Office. Meeting of Parliament. Measure for the Repeal of the Corn Laws introduced. Sir Robert Peel's Statement. Protracted Debates. Mr. Bright's eulogium upon the Premier. The Corn Importation Bill passes both Houses. Dissolution of the League. Interesting proceedings. Final Speech by Mr. Bright. Celebrations in the Country. Presentations to the League Leaders. General Effects of Free Trade. PN the middle of August, 1845, there began to -*- appear the earliest indications of that mysterious potato disease which was^fco complete the work of the Anti-Corn-Law League, and to force from Parliament that measure of repeal which had long been clamoured for in vain. In Ireland the minute plague spread rapidly, till it blackened thousands of acres, and destroyed the food of millions of men. In a very short time two-thirds of the tubers were found to be rotten within, though large and well-looking without. On the 13th of October Sir R. Peel wrote to Sir J. Graham that the accounts of the state of the potato crop in Ireland were becoming very alarming. Something would have to be done, and he had no confidence in such remedies as the prohibition of 206 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vn. exports or the stoppage of distilleries ; the removal of the impediments to import was the only effectual remedy. A meeting of the League was held in the Free Trade Hall on the 28th of October. The object of the meeting was to point out the remedy for the famine which threatened England, and to avert the misery, starvation, and death of millions in Ireland. Mr. Cobden said the natural and obvious remedy was to open the ports. Russia, Turkey, Germany, and Holland had done so, and why should not our Govern- ment follow their example ? Mr. Bright said that everything around was telling them in a voice louder than ever that every word of reproach, every harsh saying which they had uttered against the Corn Law, had not by any means conveyed its true character as it was then exhibited. The Corn Law was now having its due effect, and one which its framers anticipated that of taking something from the pro- duce of the millions of almost starving poor, and handing it to the rich. Looking at the matter in every light, he added, ' How dreadful the abandon- ment of duty, how awful the crime, not less than that of those who made the Corn Law, if we step back from our place, if we fail in the work we have set ourselves, which is to abolish the law that restricts the bounty of Providence, and to establish the original and heaven-given law which will give plenty to all the earth.' Cabinet Councils now became frequent, and in a 1845-46.] REPEAL OF THE CORN LAWS. 2O7 memorandum, afterwards published, dated November 1st, the Premier asked, ' Can we vote money for the sustenance of any considerable portion of the people on account of actual or apprehended scarcity, and main- tain in full operation the existing restrictions on the free import of grain ? I am bound to say my impres- sion is that we cannot.' The Government were me- morialized from all quarters instantly to open the ports. The Prime Minister was desirous of giving way, but there were dissensions in the Cabinet, his only sup- porters being the Earl of Aberdeen, Sir James Graham, and Mr. Sidney Herbert. The Dublin Mansion House Belief Committee issued a series of resolutions, one of which was to the following effect : ' We feel it an imperative duty to discharge our consciences of all responsibility regarding the undoubtedly approach- ing calamitous famine and pestilence throughout Ireland, an approach which is imminent and almost immediate, and can be obviated only by the most prompt, universal, and efficacious measures of pro- curing food and employment for the people.' The Committee impeached the conduct of the Ministry in refusing to open the ports, or to call Parliament together earlier than usual. At this juncture. Lord John Eussell wrote from Edinburgh to his constituents, the electors of the City of London, admitting that it was no longer worth while to contend for a fixed duty. 'Let us unite to put an end to a system which has been proved to be the blight of commerce, the bane of 208 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vn. agriculture, the source of bitter division among classes, the cause of penury, fever, mortality, and crime among the people.' His lordship called upon the Government for satisfactory measures. Lord Morpeth, in forwarding a subscription to the League Fund, wrote to Mr. Edward Baines : * I wish to record, in the most emphatic way I can, my conviction that the time has come for a final repeal of the Corn Laws, and my protest against the continued inaction of the State in the present emergency.' When this letter was read at the Leeds meeting, the enthusiasm which prevailed was indescribable. It also caused consider- able excitement in London. Mr. Cobden, speaking at one meeting in London, called on Sir Kobert Peel to save the country from the impending famine. ' There is no man in the world,' he said, ' whether he be the Grand Turk, or whether he be a Eussian despot, who has more power than Sir Robert Peel now has in this country. He has the power, and I say he is a criminal and a poltroon if he hesitates a whit.' Mr. Bright also said: ' Sir Robert knows well enough what is wanted, and were his Government ten times as strong as it is, it must yield before the imperious and irresistible necessity which is every day gaining upon it. From his recent speeches I should argue that he intends to repeal the Corn Law. He cannot say what he now says, and yet mean ever to go back to the old and foolish policy of protection. He sprang from commerce, and until he has proved it himself, I will never believe that 1845-46-] REPEAL OF THE CORN LAWS. 209 there is any man much less will I believe that he is the man who would go down to the grave, having had the power to deliver that commerce, and yet not having had the manliness, honesty, and courage to do it.' On the 4th of Decemher, the Times made the startling announcement that Parliament would be summoned for the first week in January, and that the Royal Speech would recommend an immediate consideration of the Corn LawSj preparatory to their total repeal. This information was described as an ' atrocious fabrication ' by the Standard, but its accu- racy was speedily demonstrated. Lord Stanley and the Duke of Buccleuch having signified their inability, however, to support the Premier in his repeal policy, Sir Eobert Peel temporarily resigned office on the 5th of December. At the same time, he intimated to the Queen that if she should entrust Lord John Russell with the formation of a Government, he would support measures founded on the general principle indicated in his lordship's letter to the electors of the City of London. On the 15th, Mr. Cobden, speaking at a meeting in the London Guildhall, said he had been over almost every part of the country, and the accounts he had received of the potato crop were so bad, that he believed in many districts before next spring there would not be any even for seed. ' What infatuation, then, must it be on the part of those dukes and squires who go maundering about like old women at public meetings who rise in the inoruiug 14 2IO THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vn. and go out to shoot, and come home in the afternoon to their champagne and venison.' If there was no potato rot, he wanted to know what murrain it was which had crept into the Cabinet. At another gather- ing in Covent Garden Theatre, on the 17th, he said that the League had only to work for six months longer, when it would be dissolved into its primitive elements by the triumph of its principles. On the same day, Sir Kobert Peel wrote to the Queen that he could not fetter himself, before the Corn Laws were discussed in Parliament, by a distinct pledge to Lord John Kussell that he would support their imme- diate and total repeal. At this critical period, a great League meeting was held at Covent Garden Theatre, on the 19th, Mr. Bright being the principal speaker. His address on that occasion was very telling and vigorous. He began by stating that during the past month he had been pre- sent at meetings in Lancashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Staf- fordshire, Somersetshire, and Middlesex ; and he had been forced to the conclusion that the agitation throughout the kingdom was of no trivial or common character. The question now arose, how was social order to be preserved ? and he affirmed that the con- tinuous government of the country by any Administra- tion was totally incompatible with the maintenance of the Corn Laws. The speaker then eloquently said, ' This contest has now been waged for seven years ; it was a serious one when commenced, but it is a far more serious one now. Since the time 1845-46.] REPEAL OF THE CORN LAWS. 211 when we first came to London to ask the attention of Parliament to the question of the Corn Law, two millions of human beings have been added to the population of the United Kingdom. The table is here as before ; the food is spread in about the same quantity as before ; but two millions of fresh guests have arrived, and that circumstance makes the question a serious one, both for the Government and for us. These two millions are so many arguments for the Anti-Corn-Law League so many emphatic condemnations of the policy of this iniquitous law. I see them now in my mind's eye ranged before me, old men and young children, all looking to the Government for bread ; some endeavouring to resist the stroke of famine, clamorous and turbulent, but still arguing with us ; some dying mute and uncomplaining. Multitudes have died of hunger in the United Kingdom since we first asked the Government to repeal the Corn Law ; and although the great and powerful may not regard those who suffer mutely and die in silence, yet the recording angel will note down their patient endurance, and the heavy guilt of those by whom they have been sacrificed.' Mr. Bright then went on to observe that there had been a succession of skirmishes, but they now ap- proached the final conflict. The struggle was that of the many against the few between h e numbers, wealth, comforts, the all, in fact, of the middle and industrious classes, and the wealth, the union, and sordidness of a large section of the aristocracy of this empire ; ' and we have to decide, for it may be that this meeting itself may to no little extent be the arbiter in this great contest, we have to decide now, in this great struggle, whether in this land in which we live we will longer bear the wicked legislation to which we have been subjected, or whether we will make one effort to right the vessel, to keep her in her true course, and if possible to bring her safely to a secure haven.' The landlord rule in this country had been long, and its legislation corrupt and unequal. Under the sway of landlordism, great numbers of the 2 1 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vir. people had been reduced to pauperism. He proceeded to demonstrate the evils of protection, and the miser- able condition of the agricultural labourers. * The crowning offence of the system of legislation under which we have been living is, that a law has been enacted in which it is altogether unavoidable that these industrious and deserving men should be brought down to so helpless and despairing a condition. By withdrawing the stimulus of competition, the law pre- vents the good cultivation of the land of our country, and therefore diminishes the supply of food which we might derive from it. It prevents, at the same time, the importation of foreign food from abroad, and it also prevents the growth of supplies abroad, so that when we are forced to go there for them, they are not to be found.' The most demoniacal ingenuity, he asserted, could not invent a scheme more calculated than this inge- niously malignant law to bring millions of the working classes into a state of pauperism, suffering, discontent, and insubordination. And then a fat and sleek dean, a dignitary of the Church and a great philosopher, recommended for the consumption of the people he did not read a paper about the supplies that were to be had in the great valley of the Mississippi Swede turnips and mangel-wurzel ; and the Hereditary Earl Marshal of England, as if to out-herod Herod himself, recommended hot water and a pinch of curry powder. Here was a law which said to twenty-seven millions 1845-46.] REPEAL OF THE CORN LAWS. 213 of people, ' Scramble for what there is, and if the poorest and the weakest starve, foreign supplies shall not come in for fear some injury should be done to the mortgaged landowners.' But the promises of Lord John Kussell, or any other Minister, to repeal this law were only conditional. They could not of themselves repeal the Corn Law. It could only be done by the unequivocal expression of the public will. Having promised such a demonstration throughout the country as should make the monopolists quail, Mr. Bright thus concluded : ' Two centuries ago the people of this country were engaged in a fearful conflict with the Crown. A despotic and treacherous monarch assumed to himself the right to levy taxes without the consent of Parliament and the people. That assumption was resisted. This fair island became a battle-field, the kingdom was convulsed, and an ancient throne overturned. And if our forefathers, two hundred years ago, resisted that attempt if they refused to be the bondmen of a king, shall we be the born thralls of an aristocracy like ours ? Shall we, who struck the lion down, shall we pay the wolf homage ? or shall we not, by a manly and united expression of public opinion, at once, and for ever, put an end to this giant wrong ? ' Our cause is at least as good as theirs. We stand on higher vantage- ground ; we have larger numbers at our back ; we have more of wealth, intelligence, union, and knowledge of the political rights and the true interests of the country ; and, what is more than all this, we have a weapon, a power, and machinery, which is a thousand times better than that of force, were it employed I refer to the registration, and especially to the 40s. freehold, for that is the great constitutional weapon which we intend to wield, and by means of which we are sure to conquer, our laurels being gained, not in bloody fields, but upon the hustings and in the registration courts. Now I do hope that if this law be repealed within the next six months, and if it should then be necessary that this League should disperse, I do trust that the people of England will bear in mind how great a panic has been created among the monopolist rulers by this small weapon, which we have discovered hid in the Reform Act, and in the constitution of the country. I would implore the middle and 214 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT, [CHAP. vn. working classes to regard it as the portal of their deliverance, as the strong and irresistible weapon before which the domination of this hereditary peerage must at length be laid in the dust.' On the morning after the delivery of this speech, Lord John Kussell informed Her Majesty that he had found it impossible to form an Administration. Sir Kobert Peel was sent for the same day, and agreed to return to office. The Duke of Buccleuch now ceased his opposition, and the only change in the official list of the restored Peel Cabinet was the substitution of Mr. Gladstone for Lord Stanley as Secretary of State for the Colonies. The League held an important meeting at Man- chester on the 23rd of December, when it was resolved to raise a fund of a quarter of a minion sterling for the purpose of promoting Free-trade principles in the existing emergency. Upwards of .60,000 was sub- scribed in the room the largest sum ever subscribed in the same space of time for any cause. Mr. Bright expressed his great delight with the proceedings. They had never seen in all their experience any meeting to compare with that. The past meetings had demonstrated that the supporters of the League were in earnest, and this meeting, if any confirmation were required, furnished that confirmation ; and he was convinced that it would have a powerful effect on public opinion. Amongst firms which subscribed jl,000 each were the following : Messrs. S. Greg and Sons, T. Hoyle and Sons, Kobert Platt, James Chadwick, John Bright and Brothers, Thomas Ashton 1845-46.] REPEAL OF THE CORN LAWS. 215 and Sons, H. and E. Ashworth, A. and S. Henry and C., and J. and N. Philips and Co. The sub- scribers of <500 each were very numerous. This meeting had a powerful influence upon the monopo- lists and the press, showing, as it did, the unalterable determination of the League to push their campaign to victory. Parliament met on the 22nd of January, and Sir Kobert Peel, in the course of some personal explana- tions made during the debate on the Address, admitted that his opinions on the question of the Corn Laws had undergone a complete change. ' The immediate cause of resignation,' he said, c was the great and mysterious calamity which had befallen Europe the failure of the potato crop. But it would be unfair to the House if I were to say that I attached exclusive importance to that particular cause. I will not withhold the homage which is due to the progress of reason and to truth, by denying that my opinions on the subject of protection have undergone a change. Whether holding a private station or in a public one, I will assert the privilege of yielding to the force of argument and conviction, and acting upon the results of enlarged experience. It may be supposed that there is something humiliating in making such admissions. Sir, I feel no such humiliation ; I should feel humiliation if, having modified or changed my opinions, I declined to acknowledge the change for fear of incurring the imputation of inconsistency.' The Prime Minister further said that while he should 2 1 6 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vn. have regarded relief from the task before him with honour as a favour, yet while honour and a sense of public duty required it, he did not shrink from office. 1 1 do not desire to be the Minister of England, but while I am Minister of England I will hold office by no servile tenure. I will hold office unshackled by any other obligation than that of consulting the public interest, and providing for the public safety.' The Government measures were brought forward in the House of Commons on the 27th. The House was crowded, even to its approaches, and amongst the distinguished strangers present were Prince Albert and the Duke of Cambridge. Sir Robert Peel's speech occupied three hours and a half. He proposed, he said, with regard to the great question of the Corn Laws, that there should be a total repeal at the end of three years. From the passing of the Act, and until the 1st of February, 1849, the maximum duty would be 10s., exigible when the price was under 48s., and to fall a shilling with every shilling of rise in the price till the price reached 53s., when the duty was to fall to the minimum of 4s. The duties on barley and oats would undergo an alteration propor- tionally the same ; all grain from British colonies to be admitted free of duty, and maize or Indian corn to be admitted, immediately after the passing of the Act, at a nominal duty. Other articles in the tariff, under the heads of articles of food, agriculture, manu- facture, and miscellaneous, were dealt with, to the amount of several hundreds, in the way of duties 1845-46.] REPEAL OF THE CORN LAWS. 217 repealed or reduced. By way of compensating the landed interest, the Premier proposed a consolidation of parish-road trusts, an alteration in the law of settlement, transferring the burden from the parish of the pauper's birth to that in which he had an industrial residence of five years last preceding his application for relief ; the payment from the treasury of one-half the cost of medical attendance on paupers ; and the removal from the local rates of the expenses of criminal prosecutions, which were to be defrayed in future by an annual Parliamentary vote. In closing, Sir Eobert Peel said : ' Because this is a time of peace, because you are not subject to any coercion whatsoever, I entreat you to bear in mind that the aspect of affairs may change ; that we may have to contend with worse harvests than that of this year ; and that it may be wise to avail ourselves of the present moment to effect an adjustment which I believe must ultimately be made, and which could not be long delayed without engendering feelings of animosity among different classes of Her Majesty's subjects.' As he had a sincere conviction that the settlement could not be delayed, he should deeply lament the failure of measures intended to conduce to a ' friendly feeling between different classes to provide additional security for the continuance of peace and to maintain content and happiness at home by increasing the comforts and bettering the condition of the great body of the people.' The Ministerial scheme of course excited the anger 2l8 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vn. and the bitter denunciations of the Protectionists. The League, on the other hand, while welcoming the great changes proposed, still held to the chief article of their creed total and immediate repeal. Now arose that long course of vituperation of Sir Kobert Peel in which Mr. Disraeli bore so conspicuous a part. The Minister who had given way to the wishes of the people, and who had every inducement to retire into private life instead of taking upon himself the lead in the abrogation of the Corn Laws, was assailed with extraordinary personalities, and in a manner probably unprecedented in the career of a political leader. But the work went forward. The debate on Sir Kobert Peel's propositions was carried on by repeated adjournments for twelve nights. Upwards of one hundred speeches were delivered during the debate, forty-eight members speaking in favour of Free Trade, and fifty-five in favour of Protection. The Premier, in the middle of the debate, entered into an elaborate defence of his scheme, asking the House which should be its motto, ' Advance ' or ' Ketrograde. ' He earnestly entreated the gentlemen of England to support these measures, by which they would take another guarantee for the content, and love, and willing obedience of the population. If a calamitous time should come, when they must offer to the mass of the people exhortations to bear their destiny with fortitude, it would be a consolation for them to reflect that they had relieved themselves from the necessity of regulating the supply 1845-46.] REPEAL OF THE CORN LAWS. 2ig of food in a time of famine ; and that, in a period free from clamour and excitement, they had anticipated difficulty and removed every impediment to the free circulation of commerce. The Premier spoke on this occasion for nearly three hours, and in his best vein. On the evening following this speech, Mr. Bright addressed the House. Having first demonstrated the necessity for measures of relief, he passed this glowing enlogium upon Sir Kobert Peel : ' You say the right hon. baronet is a traitor. It would ill become me to attempt his defence after the speech which he delivered last night a speech, I will venture to say, more powerful and more to be admired than any speech which has been delivered within the memory of any man in this House. (Cheers.) I watched the right hon. baronet as he went home last night, and for the first time I envied him his feelings. That speech has circulated by scores of thousands throughout the kingdom and through- out the world ; and wherever a man is to be found who loves justice, and wherever there is a labourer whom you have trampled under foot, that speech will bring joy to the heart of the one, and hope to the breast of the other. You chose the right hon. baronet why? Because he was the ablest man of your party. You always said so, and you will not deny it now. Why was he the ablest 1 Because he had great experience, pro- found attainments, and an honest regard for the good of the country. You placed him in office. When a man is in office he is not the same man as when in opposition. The present generation, or posterity, does not deal as mildly with men in government as with those in opposition. There are such things as the responsibilities of office. Look at the population of Lancashire and Yorkshire, and there is not a man among you who would have the valour to take office and raise the standard of Protection, and cry " Down with the Anti-Corn-Law League, and Protection for ever ! " There is not a man in your ranks who would dare to sit on that bench as the Prime Minister of England pledged to maintain the existing law. (Lewd cheers.) The right hon. baronet took the only, the truest course he resigned. He told you by that act, I will no longer do your work. I will not defend your cause. The experience I have had since I came into office renders it impossible for me at once to maintain office and the Corn Laws. The right hon. baronet resigned he was then no longer your Minister. He came back to office as the Minister of his Sovereign 220 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vn. and of the people not the Minister of a class who first raised him into office for their own special and private purposes.' (Loud cries of l Hear, hear.') With regard to this speech, the Sun observed that the singularity of Mr. Bright's position, as he rose to address the ministerialists and oppositionists, seemed to animate him to an unwonted pitch of rhetorical excellence ; his periods were, as usual, adroitly and elegantly turned ; but, in addition to this, they alter- nately glittered with satire, and burnt and thrilled with a tone even pathetic. Those who sat near Sir Robert Peel observed that the tears started to his eyes at this unexpected generosity on the part of a political antagonist. The first reading of the Premier's resolutions was ultimately carried by a majority of 337 to 240. When the House went into Committee, Mr. Villiers's amendment on the first clause,, making the action of the bill immediate instead of prospective, was nega- tived by 265 to 78 votes. During the discussion, Mr. Bright made some allusions to the whining tone of the agriculturists, as exemplified in their speeches on that occasion. He recollected, he said, in one of Mr. Bickens's works, that he gave an account of an election to the dignified office of parish beadle, on which occasion the walls were covered with placards bearing the inscription, ' Vote for Scroggins and eleven small children.' There was. scarcely, even in that, anything more pitiable than to witness the great landowners of the country coming to the House 1845-46.] REPEAL OF THE CORN LAWS. 221 and talking of the incumbrances upon their estates, or of the necessity of providing fortunes for their grown-up daughters. On the general question, he remarked that if they did not gain immediate repeal that session, they would have to discuss it every session until the law was fairly abolished. After another fine speech by Sir Eobert Peel, the second reading of the Corn Importation Bill was carried, on the 27th of March, by a majority of 88, in a House of 516. Although large Free-trade majorities were obtained at every stage, the Protectionists fought the measure stoutly on all points. At length, on the morning of the 16th of May, the third reading of the bill was carried in the House of Commons by a majority of 98 in a House of 556. It then went to the House of Lords, where it also passed after debates on various stages, and became law on the 25th of June. On the same day the Peel Ministry fell upon the Irish Coercion Bill. The Premier, in his speech on leaving office, delivered on the 29th, reviewed the course and policy of his Government, paid a warm tribute to Mr. Cobden, and closed with these memorable words : ' In relinquish- ing power, I shall leave a name, severely censured I fear by many who, on public grounds, deeply regret the severance of party ties deeply regret that sever- ance, not from interested or party motives, but from the firm conviction that fidelity to party engagements the existence and maintenance of a great party constitutes a powerful instrument of government. I 222 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vn. shall surrender power severely censured also by others who, from no interested motive, adhere to the principle of Protection, considering the maintenance of it to be essential to the welfare and interests of the country : I shall leave a name execrated by every monopolist who, from less honourable motives, clamours for pro- tection because it conduces to his own individual benefit ; but it may be that I shall leave a name sometimes remembered with expressions of goodwill in the abodes of those whose lot it is to labour, and to earn their daily bread by the sweat of their brow, when they shall recruit their exhausted strength with abundant and untaxedfood, the sweeter because it is no longer leavened by a sense of injustice.' The words printed in italics were subsequently engraved upon one of the numerous memorials erected to the eminent statesman who uttered them. The work of the League having been now prac- tically accomplished, that organization was dissolved at a meeting held in the Manchester Town Hall on the 2nd of July. Mr. G. Wilson, chairman of the Council, briefly sketched the operations of the League from its commencement. He was followed by Mr. Cobden, who said it would be impossible ever again to im- pose the Corn Laws. Eeferring to the ex-Premier, he added, 'If he has lost office, he has gained a country. For my part, I would rather descend into private life with that last measure of his, which led to his discomfiture, in my hand, than mount to the 1845-46.] REPEAL OF THE CORN LAWS. 223 highest pinnacle of human power.' Mr. Cobden then moved a resolution formally dissolving the League. This was seconded hy Mr. Bright, who said that, under the circumstances of that meeting, he would be the very last man to utter one syllable of unworthy exultation over those who had been defeated. But he was of opinion that that final meeting might have some result beyond that of merely winding up the affairs of the League ; that by it they might point a moral and learn a lesson ; that they might contemplate the past, and to some extent look into the future. The public had learned that there was nothing which could be held out to the intelligent people of this kingdom which was so calculated to stimulate them to action to united and persevering action as a great and sacred prin- ciple like that which was espoused by the League. 1 They have learned that there is in public opinion a power much greater than that residing in any parti- cular form of government ; that although you have in this kingdom a system of government which is called "popular" and "representative" a system which is somewhat clumsily contrived, and which works with many jars and joltings that still, under the impulse of a great principle, with great labour and with great sacrifices, all those obstacles are overcome, so that out of a machine especially con- trived for the contrary, justice and freedom are at length achieved for the nation ; and the people have learned something beyond this, viz., that the way to 224 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vn. freedom is henceforward not through violence and bloodshed.' The League would henceforth stand as a sign of a new order of things. It had come into conflict with the great proprietors of the soil, and the power of the landed aristocracy had succumbed to it. We had been living through a revolution without knowing it. Mr. Bright, alluding to Sir Eobert Peel, said he rejoiced that it was one of themselves who had given the finishing stroke to that gigantic monopoly which they had opposed. The National Anti- Corn-Law League had been charged with all kinds of sinister ends, but now that its work was ended, the Crown was as safe and as popular as it had ever been ; while as for the House of Lords, he had a greater respect for it now than he ever had at any former period. They might also have a higher opinion of the House of Commons. The country, too, was in a much better position now than when the agitation commenced, for it had been taught that justice between man and man was really the prin- ciple on which legislation ought to take place. In conclusion, Mr. Bright said : ' We need not raise monuments of stone, or of brass, or of any such durable material, to the honour of this League. If we have not been mistaken during the seven years we have worked, if we are not mistaken now and I think I may say for all who have been working in this cause that we not only do not believe that we are mistaken, but we are confirmed in our conviction that we shall find the result of this measure in 1845-46.] REPEAL OF THE CORN LAWS. 22 5 extended freedom and increased security, not only for property, but for labour, and for the rewards and enjoyments which are procured by labour ; and I trust and believe I speak conscientiously, and after years of consideration I believe that we have cleared away the greatest obstacle in the path of the people ; that we now stand on the threshold of a new career ; and that if the spirit, the energy, and the intelligence, the great and noble qualities of which we boast ourselves the possessors, and which to some extent have been exhibited in the working of this League if we still bring those qualities into action, I know not that there is any height to which this nation may not aspire ; and I know not but that in all good things we may lead forward other nations on the same career.' The resolution was carried with loud cheers, and votes of thanks were then passed to the officers of the League. A sum of .10,000 was voted to the chairman, Mr. George Wilson, who had systema- tically declined to receive a farthing of remuneration for his services. It is stated that as the meeting drew towards its close, a feeling of grave solemnity stole over the five hundred gentlemen present. Those who had so often met together during the great contest would never meet under similar cir- cumstances again. Mr. Cobden reminded them that they were under obligations to the Queen, who was said to have favoured their cause as one of humanity 15 226 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vn. and justice ; and with three loyal and hearty cheers in her honour the meeting dissolved. Celebrations in honour of the repeal of the Corn Laws took place in various parts of the country. Mr. Bright's native town of Rochdale was con- spicuous in its rejoicings. There was a procession embracing some twelve thousand people, and after this the manufacturers and other employers treated their workpeople to sumptuous dinners. In the evening a meeting of Messrs. Bright's workpeople was held in the schoolroom attached to the mill. Mr. Jacob Bright took the chair, and Mr. Elihu Burritt, the * learned blacksmith,' who had just arrived from the United States, spoke of the great victory which had been achieved a victory far more noble than the sanguinary one of Waterloo. Mr. John Bright also addressed the gathering, and while he predicted a better state of things now that the Corn Law was gone, he reminded his hearers that people could not live without work, or have large incomes without toiling at some honest industry. But there would be a great demand for labour, and a more regular income for those who lived by labour, ' if in both classes of employers and employed,' said Mr. Bright, ' we cultivate feelings of justice and kindness to each other, sympathy and honour and respect for each other. I do look forward to a great and striking and permanent improvement in this district ; and if there ])e political institutions which it may become us, 1845-46.] REPEAL OF THE CORN LAWS. before long, to struggle to remove, I trust that as we have struggled for this great blessing, and achieved this great conquest, we may struggle in a like spirit of harmony for other things that are before us; and that, whilst endeavouring to improve the state of matters around us, we may look into our homes and houses and cottages, that we may educate our children, and with all cordial sympathy and co-operation spread amongst the whole society of which we are members greater intelligence, greater morality, greater virtue ; and then with these there must inevitably be greater and more enduring happiness.' Mr. Bright's Durham constituents invited him to a banquet, in order to testify their admiration of his independent and honourable conduct, his efficient services in Parliament, and above all his ' eminent advocacy of the recent important national measure.' The Mayor presided, and the hon. member, in respond- ing to the toast of his health, said he took that meeting as an evidence that he had not altogether left unfulfilled the promises and expectations which he held out three years ago. Dealing with the great measure which had just been achieved, he said that such revolutions were not to be effected by merely vapouring about freedom. * There have been dema- gogues in this country whose hands are never out of their kid gloves, and whose feet are always in boots of japanned leather. (Laughter.} Now these are the men who can never obtain such triumphs as have been obtained this year. It requires that they should 228 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vil. not only themselves be the advocates of a just policy, but also that they should show their willingness to make sacrifices, and to work continually until the public mind is leavened and saturated with the truths they would teach ; and this is the only way in this age whereby great and beneficial changes can be effected. I do not wish to boast of myself, and all those with whom I acted, but I do think that when men for many years have seen the necessity of the application of a great principle, and have devoted themselves without intermission to its establishment, and at length succeeded against the most tremendous obstacles I do think they have a right to look to their fellow-countrymen for some degree of approval that at least they are men entitled to be heard when they express their opinions on any great national or political question.' Mr. Cobden, who had sacrificed his business in order to further the great cause he had at heart, was presented by the Free-traders of the kingdom with the sum of .75,000. At a later period, and at a time of great anxiety, he was presented with a further sum of .40,000. Mr. Bright also was presented with a valuable memento of the services he had rendered to the League. The subscription set on foot having resulted in a sum of upwards of ,5,000, this was expended in the purchase of a library of 1,200 volumes the selection of the works being left to Mr. Bright and a large, handsome oak bookcase to contain them, which runs the length of the library at 1845-46.] REPEAL OF THE CORN LAWS. 22g One Ash. The design of the bookcase recalls the free-trade struggle. The supports between the large glass panels are elegantly carved into sheaves of corn, and surmounting the cornice is a relief showing a vessel homeward bound the burden of the design being ' Free Trade in Corn.' There was a temporary revival of the League in 1852, on the accession to office of Lord Derby's strongly-protectionist Government. There was some danger of reactionary legislation, and the council of the League and its chief supporters were summoned to meet again in Manchester, there to confer upon the condition of public affairs. Mr. Cobden proposed a resolution reconstituting the League, in consequence of the advent of Lord Derby's Ministry to power. Amongst other resolutions carried was one moved by Mr. Bright, to the effect that a memorial to the Queen, praying for an immediate dissolution of Par- liament, be signed by the Chairman on behalf of the meeting, and transmitted for presentation to Her Majesty. Mr. Bright said, alluding to the demand that they should give the new Government a fair trial, ' We have been trying them all our lives. We have tried both them and the Corn Law, and so far as they are connected with that question, we say that a party more hostile to the true rights of this country, more revolutionary in its character, never held the reins of office.' It was their first duty to drive them from the offices where they had no right whatsoever to be. The Government was one which 4t 230 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. VH. on a question of industrial freedom, had not and could not have any sympathy with either the wants or wishes or interests of the population of the great towns and cities of the United Kingdom. He had not the shadow of a doubt that if the question were put fairly to the constituencies, a large majority would, in 1852, ratify, confirm, and seal for ever the policy which was adopted in 1846. Throughout all ranks and classes in the country, the conviction was spread- ing that not only was the comfort of millions of homes increased, but that the political and social safety of the country during the past four years had been owing in a large degree to the policy of 1846. Subscriptions were called for, and in a very short time a sum of nearly ,70,000 was subscribed. Though the fears of the League were not groundless, the general election saved them another long campaign. Parliament was dissolved on the 1st of July, and the new House was so largely composed of Free-traders, that all fears of protectionist legislation were speedily at an end. Lord Derby's Government was succeeded by the Coalition Ministry of the Earl of Aberdeen. A recent writer, Mr. A. Mongredien, dealing with the general results of Free Trade upon the commerce of the country, has observed that ' just as the Free- trade system enabled us .to take the utmost possible advantage of the period of prosperity, so it has enabled us to meet the phase of reaction and adver- sity with less strain on our resources than any of the protected countries.' Any change, therefore, in the 1845-46.] REPEAL OF THE CORN LAWS. 231 direction of protection would prove in the highest degree inexpedient and disastrous. The great lesson we should learn is to he prepared for those fluctua- tions in trade which must inevitably occur, and not to act in seasons of prosperity as though there would never more he a season of adversity. The writer whom we have just quoted has also clearly proved, by arguments and statistics, the following, amongst other propositions : ' That Free Trade is the only system under which capital and labour find their most natural and profitable fields for employment. That the protective system transfers capital and labour from natural and profitable into forced and unprofitable employments, artificially raises the cost of commodities, forfeits the advantages accruing from the division of labour, reduces foreign trade, and tends to isolate a country from the rest of the world. That the reciprocity or retaliatory system, were it prac- ticable (and it is not), would be fraught with all the evils of protection, of which it is the reproduction under another name.' M. Chevalier, who was entertained by the Man- chester Chamber of Commerce in May, 1875, referred in terms of high praise to the League and its leaders. Of the latter he said, ' The names of these men, so deserving to be preserved for ages, ought to be inscribed in letters of gold on the walls of the meeting room of the Chamber of Commerce of Manchester. The first name would be that of Eichard Cobden ; next would come the name of John Bright ; and the 2 3 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. VH. President of that evening, Mr. Edmund Ashworth, partook with his brother, Henry Ashworth, the honour of having been from the first one of the most devoted and most resolute members of the League.' This eulogium was not exaggerated, for the good which these reformers did will live after them through many generations. The National Anti-Corn-Law League laboured on behalf of humanity, and by humanity it has already been crowned. As regards the subject of our biography, and his relation to that great movement, there is no episode in his career which, in the eyes of posterity, will reflect greater lustre upon his name. 233 CHAPTER VIII. ELECTION FOR MANCHESTER. PERSONAL DETAILS. The General Election of 1847. Mr. Bright returned for Manchester. Scene at the Hustings. Speech of the New Member. Moral of his Election. Mr. Blight's Second Marriage. His Family. Death of his child Leonard. PARLIAMENT was dissolved in the year 1847, under circumstances devoid of any unusual poli- tical excitement. There was, it is true, considerable interest manifested in various individual contests, but as the old Parliament had died a natural death on the completion of its full constitutional term, and as there were no great party questions demanding immediate settlement, the election generally was one of the quietest on record. Some well-known political characters voluntarily relinquished Parlia- mentary honours at this juncture ; while a few others, including the brilliant orator and statesman Macaulay, were rejected by their former constituents. About nine months before the dissolution, the Liberals of Manchester prepared for the eventuality of a contest. With singular unanimity, they resolved upon securing Mr. John Bright, if possible, as their representative in the ensuing Parliament. The Man- chester Eeform Association met on the 14th of 234 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vm. October, 1846, and resolved that a deputation should wait upon the hon. member for Durham, formally requesting him to offer himself as a candidate. Mr. Bright agreed to be put in nomination if the recom- mendation of the Association should be endorsed by the electors. He also wrote a letter from Koch- dale on the 15th, in which he said : ' I am induced to consent to become a candidate for the suffrages of the electors of Manchester in the belief that to a large extent my sentiments accord with theirs, and because my sympathies are bound up in an especial manner with the advancement of the interests of that great and industrious population of which Manchester may be deemed the centre.' The choice of the Association was a natural and reasonable one, Mr. Bright being closely identified with Manchester interests. An aggregate gathering of the electors was held in the Free Trade Hall, on the 18th of the same month, in order to endorse the selection. Mr. G. Wilson presided. Mr. Bright, having been formally nominated, addressed the meet- ing. ' It may be thought I have no qualification,' he said, ' which should entitle me to ask for the suf- frages of any of the electors of Manchester. I said before, that accident had made me a public man; that I had no desire to leave the occupation in which I had been brought up ; and I can say now that home and domestic claims have to me lost none of their relish. It would be to me personally no discomfort that not you alone, but every constituency in the I847-] ELECTION FOR MANCHESTER. 235 kingdom, should think that I was not qualified from my opinions to represent them.' It is curious to note how Mr. Bright still shrank from coming forward prominently as a public man, although opinion had now become universal that he was well qualified for such a position. Continuing his address, he remarked : ' I can assure this meeting that there is scarcely any occupation in life which is a more chequered one which has more of trouble to balance its delights, more of suffering to com- pensate for its enjoyments, than that of an honest representative of the people. But if this meeting, and after this meeting the still larger body of the electors whom you may be supposed to represent, should think me a fit person to speak in your name in the British House of Commons, I will not shrink from the heavy, the onerous duties which that appointment would impose upon me. I cannot boast of blood and ancestry. My ancestry were people who followed an honourable industry such as I myself should have preferred always to follow such as you follow now, and such as your forefathers followed. My sympathies are naturally with the class with which I am connected, and I would infi- nitely prefer to raise the class of which I am one, than by any means whatever to creep above it or out of it. If I am elected, I can only promise you zeal which I think few can surpass me in for those great public questions with which I have been connected, and for those principles which I have espoused ; and 236 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vni. it will be to me ample compensation for any labour I may endure, for any obloquy I may meet with, for any suffering I may undergo, if in years to come if years to come should be granted me I may be able to look back and reflect that I have done something for the furtherance of those great principles and objects with which the name of Manchester is so gloriously identified.' This frank and outspoken statement was received with great favour, the whole audience rising en masse and cheering vigorously. Mr. Bright's candidature now became an actual fact, and meetings were fre- quently held in its support, many of which the candidate himself attended. The Conservatives at first indulged a hope of contesting the representation, and an application was made to Lord Lincoln, son of the Duke of Newcastle, to come forward. His lord- ship made some inquiries, however, as to the result of the Conservative canvass, and finding that the support promised was not sufficient to justify him in coming forward, he wisely declined to put his friends to the expens^ of a useless contest. The election took place on the 29th of July, in St. Ann's Square, and for the first time in the history of the borough it was not contested. Some ten thousand persons were present in front of the hustings. Although extremely popular with a large portion of the constituency, there were even some Liberals, or rather Whigs, who opposed Mr. Bright's candidature. Then there was a portion of the working classes who 1 847-1 ELECTION FOR MANCHESTER, 237 did not approve of his views on factory legislation. The presence of this element led to Mr. Bright being disturbed in his speech on the hustings; but the great majority of those present were with him. It is in the power of a hundred persons to spoil the enjoyment and comfort of ten thousand ; and by one such small band of obstructionists incited, it was understood, purposely to the work the proceedings at the Manchester election were rather disagreeably diversified. The Mayor, Mr. Elkanah Armitage, having opened the proceedings, Mr. Alderman Watkin nominated the Eight Hon. T. Milner Gibson as a fit and proper person to represent the constituency in Parliament, and Mr. Alderman Walker seconded the motion. Mr. George Wilson then nominated Mr. Bright, observing that he should feel insulted if any man asked him whether Mr. Bright's votes had not always been in favour of popular rights and social progress. Civil and religious freedom was the motto of his party. Mr. Absalom Watkin, in seconding the nomination, said : ' In electing Mr. Bright you will return a member peculiarly fitted for the work he has to do ; in electing him you will confer upon him the highest honour the people can bestow upon one of themselves, for there is no greater honour a man can desire than that of being the unbought representative of such a constituency as that of Manchester. You will elevate him to a degree of importance and influ- ence in the House of Commons proportionate to the 238 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. viii. wealth and independence of this great constituency ; you will give him a distinguished place among the representatives of the people, and he will enter the House of Commons unfettered by any pledges, but guided by known principles and strict integrity, prepared to battle with the enemies of the people, and anxious to effect social and political improve- ments.' The Mayor declared Mr. Gibson and Mr. Bright duly elected, there being no other candidate. Mr. Gibson first addressed the vast audience, and then Mr. Bright came forward. He was warmly cheered by his supporters, but the small knot of operatives already mentioned had collected in front of the hustings, and they were evidently bent on creating a disturbance. When the hon. member could be heard above the uproar, his language was of that bold and fearless character it has ever been. * I am not afraid,' he said, 'to meet any portion of the inhabitants of this town ; I have never deceived you, I have never flattered you, and I owe you nothing but for the good opinion of me which you have manifested. You owe me nothing, but that I have endeavoured to do something in your service. I should be ashamed to stand here if I did not believe that I am the representative, not only of the electors of Manchester, but of the interests of the vast majority of the working population of this town.' The confusion now increased, but Mr. Bright could be heard to say, ' I differ from some of you in 1 847.] ELECTION FOR MANCHESTER. 239 opinion, but I am not the less entitled to a fair and impartial hearing from you. I am willing to answer to every individual here for any political opinion I hold, for any vote I have ever given, for any speech I have ever made. If it be the will of a small part of this vast assembly to prevent any expression of opinion, their fellow-townsmen will know that they at least are not the friends of freedom, however much they may quarrel with me.' At this point, according to the Manchester journals, a rather alarming incident occurred. The onward pressure of the multitude caused the crossbeam from the centre of the barrier rails to the central upright of the hustings to break away from its fastening. The barrier was broken, in spite of the united force of the policemen to keep it in its position. For a moment there was a backward movement of the multitude, but again came the onward pressure, and the police, imagining that the peace was about to be broken, drew their staves before anything could be said to prevent them, and by a free use of them upon the heads of the foremost ranks of the crowd cleared a space in front of the hustings to the depth of twelve yards, in less time than it occupies to record it. Further violence was prevented by the inter- position of the Mayor, the Town Clerk, and other gentlemen on the hustings. The people were subse- quently allowed to approach the platform. The Mayor made a vain appeal for order, the animus of the noisy portion of the assemblage being but too evident. 240 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vni. Mr. Bright, resuming, said : ' Although there are here many of the operative classes who consider me to be their enemy, I would rather have their ill-will now, while defending their interests, than have their ill-will hereafter, because I had betrayed them. Whether in Parliament or out, whether receiving your hisses or your cheers, I shall still fight for those principles which I have already on many occasions explained to you; and you will find me in the House of Commons just as much your honest representative, and the defender of the rights of the working classes, as of the electors of this town. Gentlemen, I feel confident that of the ten thousand persons here assembled, there are not one hundred men who would not have listened to the arguments and statements which their candidates and members might have to utter. I am blamed here because I did not give my assent to a measure which I believed to be injurious to the operatives themselves. I am blamed because I opposed the Ten Hours' Bill because I did not consent that Parliament should interfere to close the manufactories of this country for two hours per day. I may have been wrong, but if wrong I am wrong in ignorance, and not in intention. I boldly stated my intention to oppose that measure ; I have fearlessly expressed my opinion ; I have spoken and I have voted in accordance with that opinion, and I am now ready to maintain it. But hereafter we shall have an opportunity of seeing who is right the advocates of that measure, or its 1847.] ELECTION FOR MANCHESTER. 241 opponents. If it prove a piece of successful legis- lation, I shall rejoice ; if it be not, I shall be willing to help in its amendment.' From this frank claim to independence of opinion upon a particular piece of legislation, Mr. Bright passed on to other topics. Alluding to the recent creation of a bishopric of Manchester, he said he regretted that it was not in his power to give a vote in opposition to that ' calamity ' which had befallen the town. ' My right hon. colleague, Mr. Gibson, says that he should sleep comfortably if no more bishops had been made ; my slumbers would be unbroken if the bishops that are made were to be unmade. I never yet saw any good that the bishops did ; I have seen the multitudinous mischiefs that the bishops have done. I believe that hierarchies, state-manu- factured clergies, are in themselves evils, and that the time will come when they will be no more known on the face of the earth than some of those great creatures of which we have remnants left, which lived before the flood.' Mr. Bright further said that before he went to Parliament at all he was a politician, simply because he saw great wroogs inflicted upon the country ; he became an active man in politics because he felt it right to use his influence to obtain a redress of those wrongs. During the four years he had sat in Parliament he had never given a vote r he would not give again ; he had never expressed any opinion which he did not honestly hold ; and he would pursue again undevi- 16 242 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vin. atingly the same course he had hitherto done. ' I trust,* said the hon. member in conclusion, 'that if at a future time I shall be permitted to render an account of the stewardship which has this day been committed to my hands, that I shall be able to give a good account of it ; that I shall be able to say I have abandoned no opinion that I hold ; that I have betrayed no man's confidence ; that I have not, for anything that Ministers or parties can offer, sacrificed any of those convictions which are dear to me ; and that I have, to the best of my power, fulfilled honestly and conscientiously the duties of one of the representatives of the borough of Manchester.' The proceedings shortly afterwards concluded. Manchester had gained a representative who was to find a more important status in political life than he had hitherto taken; and yet his relations with that distinguished constituency were destined only to last for a period of ten years. The reasons for his sever- ance will be dealt with in their proper order. Meantime the friends of progress in the northern city congratulated each other upon their new repre- sentative, elected without opposition. This election alone showed the enormous strides which Mr. Blight's principles had made. ' Few facts in the modern history of this country,' wrote the Man- chester Times, ' are more illustrative of the large futurity they enclose than the simple record we have this day to make of the unopposed election of John 1847.] ELECTION FOR MANCHESTER. 243 Bright to the representation of Manchester. This record marks an era in the history of principles. It is characteristic of the new life that is moving the body politic. It proclaims a great fact, a fact greater hy the future it represents than the past which it realizes. Unostentatious as the triumph may be, its significance is the deeper on that account. Manchester stands forth to the country and the world, quietly crowning the new alliance of industrial independence with political power. These are the victories that secure the safety of great principles. They embody, not matured opinion alone, but the moral testimony to its depth and strength in the national heart. They exalt political into practical moral truths, and certify the future supremacy of justice by demonstrating the power that supports it. They are the last vindication needed of the past, the best of all possible lessons to the statesmen of the future.' The electors were justified in looking to the future of Mr. Bright' s career for a true and noble exemplification of what political disinterestedness, unswerving honesty, and unquestionable ability could do for the advancement and realization of great principles. As he had begun the tried friend of civil and religious liberty so would he go forward, eager for every conflict where an anomaly was to be rectified, an act of justice to be done, or an abuse to be destroyed. The year which saw Mr. Bright's election for Manchester witnessed also his second marriage. On 244 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. vin. the 10th of June, 1847, he was united to Miss Margaret Elizabeth Leatham, daughter of Mr. William Leatham, of Heath House, Wakefield, the well-known West Riding banker. The marriage ceremony was performed in the meeting-house of the Friends, George Street, Wakefield. We shall make no apology for giving a brief description of the rite of marriage as observed by the Friends, from a local historian who records Mr. Bright's marriage. For those who are unfamiliar with the ceremony, the description will possess a general interest. The rite was severely simple. In accordance with the usages of the Friends, the marriage party sat for some time in silence, at the expiration of which Mr. Bright rose and took the right hand of Miss Leatham, pronouncing in low but distinct tones the formula of the Friends, as follows : * Friends, I take my friend, Margaret Elizabeth Leatham, to be my wife, promising, by Divine assistance, to be unto her a loving and faithful husband till it shall please the Lord by death to separate us.' Miss Leatham then, still holding hands, repeated similar words regarding Mr. Bright, promising to be ' unto him a faithful and loving wife.' A brief space of silence next ensued, which was broken by one of the congregation offering up prayer, the whole assembly standing. Again there was a short period of silence, and then one of the company read the certificate or declaration, which was signed by the bride and bridegroom, and their relations and friends, 1 847-] PERSONAL DETAILS. 245 and afterwards by a large number of the congregation. The whole ceremony occupied about an hour. This union was blessed by a family of seven children. Mr. John Albert Bright, Mr. Bright's eldest son, was born on the 18th of March, 1848. There were afterwards born, from 1849 to 1863 inclu- sive, the following children : Mary Harriet, William Leatham, Anna Elizabeth, Margaret Sophia, Leonard, and Philip Bright. Of these, Leonard, a bright and promising child, died in his sixth year, on the 8th of November, 1864, and was buried in the churchyard of St. Tudno, Llandudno. While Mr. Bright, accom- panied by his family, was on a visit to his favourite seaside resort, his son was attacked by scarlatina, and died after an illness of four days. St. Tudno's church and graveyard are situate on the high promontory overlooking Llandudno, known as the Great Orme's Head. In this quiet graveyard where no noise is heard save the dashing of the waves on the rocks beneath there is a white marble headstone bearing the brief yet touching record, ' In loving remembrance of Leonard Bright (son of John Bright, M.P., and Margaret Elizabeth his wife), who died at Llandudno, November 8th, 1864. Aged nearly six years. " And there shall be one fold and one Shepherd." The quiet graveyard of St. Tudno has of recent years had many visitants, besides those members of Mr. Bright's family, who have kept the memory of the little child that sleeps there fragrant with flowers. 246 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. ix. CHAPTEE IX. IRISH QUESTIONS 1847-53. State of Ireland in 1847. Government Measures. Statesmanlike Speech by Mr. Bright. Irish Debates in 1848. Disestablishment recommended by Mr. Bright. The Land Question. Irish Difficulties. Terrible Condition of the Country. A Great Opportunity for English Statesmen. Mr. Bright visits Ireland. Receives an Address from the Irish Residents of Manchester and Salford in 1850. Important Letter to Dr. Gray on the Irish Church. state of Ireland in the year 1847 was most -*- lamentable. Famine had done its deadly work- upon thousands, and a large portion of the population were still in a most wretched and destitute condition. Legislation became imperative, and early in the session Lord John Eussell unfolded the Government plans for the relief of the distress. They proposed, amongst other things, the reclamation of waste lands in Ireland, intending to devote a million sterling for this purpose ; but this reclamation scheme was never car- ried out. The chief measure carried was the Poor Law Extension Act, which established an efficient Poor Law in Ireland, and compelled the land to pro- vide for the relief of its own pauperism. Government also made useful provisions in the British American colonies for emigrants on landing, and engaged to facilitate their access to employment. That great calamity the failure of the potato crop had annihi- i8 4 7-S3-] IRISH QUESTIONS. 247 lated food to the amount of 16,000,000. Ministers were indemnified for the measures which, by anticipa- tion of the sanction of Parliament, they had been compelled to take. The two Houses also passed a bill for advancing loans from the Treasury to certain Irish railways. These measures effected a considerable amount of good, but when the new Parliament assembled, towards the close of the year, Ireland was again the all-absorbing topic of discussion. It was now found that the previous remedial legislation required to be supplemented by measures to check the perpetration of crime in certain counties and districts in the sister country. Homicides and crimes of violence generally had increased to an alarming degree ; and the almost daily occurrence of outrages in the disturbed districts called for immediate attention on the part of the Government. The Home Secretary, Sir George Grey, accordingly brought forward a Coercion Bill on the 29th of November, prefacing its introduction by a full exposition of the disorganized state of the country, and a description of the nature of the law by which it was proposed to repress the prevailing crimes and outrages. The Government had hoped, he said, that the late remedial measures would have drawn together the different classes of Irishmen in one common bond of unity, and would have taught them the value of mutual co-operation in promoting the peace, order, and prosperity of their common country. He for one was not yet prepared to 248 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. ix. abandon that hope ; for the case he had to lay before the House applied only to a part of Ireland, and he was happy to state that in the greater portion of it crime had diminished, and life and property were as safe as in England. We need not enter into the Secretary's statistics showing that exceptional legislation was called for in exceptional districts ; they were of the character which, unfortunately for Ireland, have had a periodical recurrence in her history. To prove how necessary the measure was regarded, it may be mentioned that it was supported by such men as Mr. Brotherton, who had opposed every coercion bill which had hitherto been introduced in their time. The bill, notwithstanding, was con- tested at every stage, but the number of its opponents was exceedingly small, and several Irish representa- tives voted for it upon the ground that it was far from being of a very stringent character. In the debate on the third reading, Mr. Bright delivered a statesmanlike speech, pointing out the true remedies to be applied in regard to Ireland. Having presented a petition against the bill, signed by more than 20,000 persons, inhabitants of Man- chester, he said he was unwilling to vote without giving the reasons which made it impossible for him to oppose the measure. The case of the Government, so far as the necessity for the bill was concerned, appeared to him to be as clear and as perfect as it could be. From the speech of the Home Secretary, I847-53-] IRISH QUESTIONS. 249 from the unanimous statements of all the news- papers, and from the evidence of all parties connected with Ireland, it was placed beyond a doubt that in the disturbed districts of Ireland the ordinary law was utterly powerless. In England the people were in favour of carrying the law into effect, but in Ireland in certain districts opinion was depraved and thoroughly vitiated. Assassinations were not looked upon as murders, but rather as executions. It was clear, then, that the ordinary law had failed. But Mr. Bright, after making these admissions, went on to maintain that the Government had not shown the courage which was necessary to deal effectually with the difficulties of Ireland. Lord John Eussell had said that all parties were to blame for the misgovernrnent of Ireland ; but he must remember that he was now in the position of a dictator on Irish questions. Then there was another fact to which he (Mr. Bright) would call attention. ' The Irish members complain, and very justly, of the past legislation of this House ; but when we call to mind that there are 105 of them here, of whom 60 or 70 are of Liberal politics or opinions, and that about 30 of them are Kepealers, and hold very strong views with regard to the mismanagement of Irish affairs in the Imperial Parliament, I think we have a right to complain that they have not laid on the table of the House any one measure which they believe to be necessary to the prosperity of their country.' He was quite sure that 105^ or even 30, 250 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. ix. English members, sitting in a Parliament in Dublin, would have done something by working manfully together for their country. The Irish members were as much to blame as any others for the absence of good government in Ireland. The speaker continued : ' I will not, like them, complain of bad legislation, and propose no remedy. What is the condition of Ireland ? Last year we voted millions to keep its population from starvation ; and this year we have been asked for a further sum, but have not granted it. We maintain a large army in Ireland, and an armed police, which is an army in everything but in name ; and yet we have in that country a condition of things which is not to be matched in any other civilized country on the face of the earth, and which is alike disgraceful to Ireland and to us. The great cause of Ireland's calamities is that Ireland is idle. I believe it would be found, on inquiry, that the population of Ireland, as compared with that of England, do not work more than two days per week. Wherever a people are not industrious, and are not employed, there is the greatest danger of crime and outrage. Ireland is idle, and therefore she starves ; Ireland starves, and therefore she rebels. We must choose between industry and anarchy ; we must have one or the other in Ireland. This proposition I believe to be incontrovertible, and I defy the House to give peace and prosperity to that country until they set in motion her industry, create and diffuse capital, and thus establish those gradations of rank and con- dition by which the whole social fabric can alone be held together.' The idleness of the people in Ireland, said Mr. Bright, was not wholly their fault. It was for the most part a forced idleness, for when Irishmen migrated to Lancashire and other districts, they worked as well as others. The great secret of their idleness at home was, that there was little or no trade in Ireland. The hon. gentleman went on to complain that the House had not as yet seen the Government Bill for the sale of encumbered estates in Ireland. There was a unanimous admission that the misfortunes of Ireland were connected with the '847-53-] IRISH QUESTIONS. 251 question of the management of the land; and Govern- ment should now take their stand above all class interests. He was informed on excellent authority that in the province of Connaught there was not five per cent, of the land free from settlements of one kind or another, and that probably not one per cent, was free from mortgages. If that were true, it was idle to seek elsewhere for the source of the evils of Ireland. Patchwork legislation, speeches, loans, would not now succeed in reviving the industry of Ireland. It was the duty of Government, in the first place, to bring in a Sale of Estates Bill, and thus make it easy for landlords who wished to dis- pose of their estates to do so. They should bring in a bill to simplify the titles to land in Ireland. They should diminish temporarily, if not permanently, all stamp duties which hindered the transfer of landed property; and they should pass a law by which the system of entailing estates should for the future be prevented. This last recommendation being received with laughter, Mr. Bright assured his hearers that at some not distant day the entailment of estates would cease, not in Ireland, but in England also. An owner of property should be permitted to leave it to whomsoever he will, provided the individual were living when the will was made. ' Perhaps I shall be told that the laws of entail and primogeniture are necessary for the maintenance of our aristocratic institutions ; but if the evils of Ireland spring from 252 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. ix. this source, I say, perish your aristocratic institutions rather than that a whole nation should be in this terrible condition. If your aristocratic families would rear up their children in habits of business, and with some notions of duty and prudence, these mischievous arrangements would not be required, and they would retain in their possession estates at least as large as is compatible with the interests of the rest of the community. If the laws of entail and primogeniture are sound and just, why not apply them to personal property as well as freehold ? Imagine them in force in the middle classes of the community, and it will be seen at once that the unnatural system, if uni- versal, would produce confusion, and confusion would necessitate its total abolition.' Mr. Bright held that everything would be unavail- ing unless the fetters by which the land was now held were cleared away so that it might become the possession of real owners, and be made instru- mental to the employment and sustentation of the people. Speaking as a representative from a county which suffered extremely from the condition of Ireland, he said that Lancashire was periodically overrun by the pauperism of Ireland ; that it had suffered seriously from the pestilence imported ; and that many of the evils hitherto attributed to the extension of manufactures in that county had arisen from the enormous immigration of a suffering and pauperized people driven for sustenance from their own country. In conclusion, he said 1 847-53.] IRISH QUESTIONS. 253 'As a Lancashire representative, I protest most solemnly against a system which drives the Irish population to seek work and wages in this country and in other countries, when both might be afforded them at home. Parliament is bound to remedy this state of things. The present Parliament contains a larger number of men of business and of members representing the middle classes than any former Parliament. The present Government is essentially of the middle class [a laugh'] and its members have on many occasions shown their sympathy with it. Let the hon. gentleman laugh ; but he will not deny that no Govern- ment can long have a majority in this House which does not sympathise with the great middle class of this country. If the Government will manfully and courageously grapple with the question of the condition of land in Ireland, they will, I am convinced, be supported by a majority of the members of this House ; they will enable the strength and skill of Irishmen to be expended on their own soil, and lay the foundation of her certain prosperity by giving that stimulus and reward to industry which it cannot have in the present circumstances of that country. Sir, I feel it impossible to refuse my vote in favour of the bill now before us ; but I am compelled to say that unless the Government will zealously promote measures in the direction I have indicated, they cannot hope long to retain the confidence of this House or of the country.' The bill passed the House of Commons by a majority of 159, only fourteen members voting against it. A few days later it went through its various stages in the House of Lords and became law. In the session of 1848 Mr. Bright again took part in the debates which arose on Irish questions. He twice spoke against the bill, introduced by Sir George Grey, known as the Crown and Government Security Bill, which had for its object the more effectual re- pression of seditious and treasonable proceedings. This bill was brought in partly in consequence of the Chartist agitation, and partly to meet the disturbed condition of things in Ireland. Mr. Bright held that it was quite within the right of an English- man or an Irishman to discuss what form of govern- 254 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. ix. ment he would choose to live under ; and he further maintained that when the Government brought forward these measures restricting the liberty of the subject, they should accompany them by others devised for the welfare and amelioration of the people. On the 25th of August Mr. Poulett Scrope brought forward the following resolution : ' That no future appropriation of moneys taken from general taxation be made in aid of the poor-rate of Irish unions except on condition 1. That it be expended in the productive employment of the able-bodied poor. 2. That repayment be secured by a lien on the property improved by the works, as well as on the rateable property of the union.' The motion was opposed by Lord John Kussell, and it was even- tually negatived without a division, but it enabled Mr. Bright to deliver an exposition of his views on the subject of the employment of the poor in Ireland. He admitted in the outset that it was difficult to suggest adequate measures of Irish relief without causing two evils : first, the waste of a great portion of the money granted ; and next, the demoralization of a large number of those to whom the relief was given. For these reasons he made allowances for the Government. As this was the last opportunity he should have that session, he was anxious to explain briefly what he conceived to be the course which ought to be taken with regard to that country, to enable its population to place themselves in a position 1 847-53.] IRISH QUESTIONS. 255 of comfort and independence. The past of Ireland was known to all; it was a tale of idleness, and poverty, and periodical insurrection. The present of Ireland was like the past, except that all its ordinary evils were exhibited in an aggravated form. But there were one or two points with regard to this subject to which he wished especially to ask the attention of the House. First, there was the effect which this state of things in Ireland had upon certain districts in England. In many of the towns of Lanca- shire, for example, there had been a great influx of Irish population, and although not a few of these persons were steady, respectable, and industrious, it was notorious that a portion of them were the opposite of this. Their influence on the native population was injurious, and crimes of violence had increased. Then there was another important point : ' Driven forth by poverty, Irishmen emigrate in great numbers, and in whatever quarter of the world an Irishman sets his foot, there stands a bitter, an implacable enemy of England. That is one of the results of the widespread disaffection that exists in Ireland. There are hundreds of thousands I suppose there are millions of the population of the United States of America who are Irish by birth, or by immediate descent ; and be it remembered, Irishmen settled in the United States have a large influence in public affairs. They sometimes sway the election of members of the Legislature, and may even affect the election of the President of the Republic. There may come a time when questions of a critical nature will be agitated between the Governments of Great Britain and the United States ; and it is certain that at such a time the Irish in that country will throw their whole weight into the scale against this country, and against peace with this country. These are points which it is necessary to con- sider, and which arise out of the lamentable condition in which Ireland is placed.' Mr. Bright thought that both the Government and THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. ix. the people of Ireland were at fault. Governments generally had been negligent of Ireland. Difficulties arose, too, from the constitution of the Government. Both Houses of Parliament were almost exclusively aristocratic, and the Administration was necessarily the same. The condition of Ireland required two kinds of remedies one political, the other social. With regard to the first, three-fourths of the Irish people had a total disbelief in the honesty and integrity of the Government of the country, and to remove this feeling some great measure or measures must be offered to them measures which would act as a complete demonstration that bygones were to be bygones, and that henceforth new, generous, and equal principles of government were to be adopted. Then, too, there must be equality between the great religious sects in Ireland between Catholic and Protestant. It was impossible that this equality could be much longer denied. There was a rumour that Government in- tended bringing forward a proposition for paying the Roman Catholic priests of Ireland ; but it would be much more in accordance with political justice, and with the true interests of religion, to withdraw the Church Establishment from Ireland, and thus bring about perfect equality. Having thus advocated Disestablishment nearly twenty years before the passing of Mr. Gladstone's great measure, Mr. Bright went on to say, with regard to the Parliamentary representation of Ireland, that from the experience of seventy-three days which he I847-53-] IRISH QUESTIONS. 257 had spent in an examination of the subject whilst serving as a member of the Dublin Election Com- mittee, he asserted most distinctly that such repre- sentation as existed was a fraud. He was quite confident that next session the questions of religious equality in Ireland and of Irish representation must receive a much more serious attention than they had obtained in any past session. The social remedies which were immediately possible were those having reference to the mode in which the land of Ireland was held or cultivated. ' It is a notorious fact that there are vast tracts of land in Ireland which, if left in the hands of nominal and bankrupt owners, will never, to the end of time, support the population which ought to live upon them. And it is on this ground that I must question the policy of measures for expending public money with a view to the culti- vation and reclamation of these lands.' The true solution of the matter was to get the lands out of the hands of men who were the nominal and not the real possessors. Mr. Bright again referred to the evils of entail and primogeniture, and closed with this appeal : ' You have toiled at this Irish difficulty session after session, and some of you have grown almost from boyhood to grey-headed old men since it first met you in your legislative career ; and yet there is not in ancient or modern history a picture so humiliating as that -which Ireland presents to the world at this moment. ' Let the House, if it can, regard Ireland as an English country. Let us think of the eight millions of people, and of the millions of them doomed to this intolerable suffering. Let us think of the half -million who, within ten years past, have perished miserably in the workhouses, and on the 17 258 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. ix. highways, and in their hovels more, far more, than ever fell by the sword in any war this country ever waged. Let us think of the crop of nameless horrors which is even now growing up in Ireland, and whose disastrous fruit may be gathered in years and generations to come. Let us examine what are the laws and the principles under which alone God and nature have permitted that nations should become industrious and provident. I hope the House will pardon me if I have said a word that can offend any one. But I feel conscious of a personal humiliation when I consider the state of Ireland. I do not wish to puff nostrums of my own, though it may be thought I am opposed to much that exists in the present order of things ; but whether it tended to advance democracy, or to uphold aristocracy, or any other system, I would wish to fling to the winds any prejudice I have entertained, and any principle that may be questioned, if I can thereby do one single thing to hasten by a single day the time when Ireland shall be equal to England in that comfort and that inde- pendence which an industrious people may enjoy, if the Government under which they live is equal and just.' Mr. Scrope's motion was eventually negatived without a division. The Government introduced several Irish measures in the session of 1849, the chief of which was a pro- position by the Chancellor of the Exchequer for a Kate in Aid. It was during the debate on the bill founded upon Sir Charles Wood's resolution that Mr. Bright delivered one of the greatest of his many elaborate speeches on Irish questions. The Chancellor of the Exchequer first proposed that a sum of .50,000 should be granted to certain Irish unions in which distress was more than usually prevalent. He further proposed that in each of the two following years there should be paid by every union in Ireland a sum equal to the rate of sixpence in the pound on each electoral division in such union, towards a general fund for the relief of the poor in Ireland and that the sum should 1847-53- IRISH QUESTIONS. 259 be applied in such manner as Parliament might direct. The second reading of the bill founded on these reso- lutions was moved on the 27th of March, and the debate was prolonged till the 3rd of April, when the second reading was carried by 193 to 138. The third reading, which was also opposed, was carried on the 30th of April, and the bill subsequently passed the House of Lords. Mr. Bright opened the third night's debate on the second reading. He began by justifying the proposed rate, not on the ground of the necessity of the case, but on the ground that Great Britain had already paid its rate in and on account of Ireland to an amount greater than the sum now proposed to be levied from Ireland herself. This the hon. member conclusively showed by poor-rate statistics drawn from Glasgow and Manchester. The latter town had suffered severely, yet had uttered no loud or clamorous complaints respecting the excessive burden borne by them for the support of the Irish. Seeing that all the English manufacturing towns had paid no small sums for Irish paupers, he did think that the land- owners and persons of property in Ireland should make an effort during a temporary period to supply that small sum which the present bill demanded from them. As to the objections entertained against the measure by the proprietors of Ulster, if the bill could succeed in making Ulster a part of Ireland in interests and sympathies, it would be attended with a very happy result, and one that would compensate for 260 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. ix. some portion of the present misfortunes of Ireland. Ulster men had stood in the way of improvements in the franchise, in the Church, and in the land question; they had purchased Protestant ascendency, and the price paid for it was the ruin and degradation of their country. With regard to the proposal emanating from certain quarters to substitute an income-tax for the purpose for which the rate was intended, Mr. Bright said he was averse to this proposition; he had insuperable objections to raising an income-tax for the support of the poor. But had such a tax been proposed, he was certain that it would have been opposed as much as the rate in aid had been, and, in his judgment, opposed on much better grounds. Looking at the general question, in its connection with the whole state of Ireland, he was led to think that either the malady of that country was incurable, or that there was a great lack of statesmen in the House. Ireland had for ages been entirely governed through its landlords. The pernicious principle on which it had been ruled through them was still in practical operation. The pivot on which the Government of Ireland had turned, and on which it still continued to revolve, was that of force and alms. They had 50,000 armed men in that country, to keep the people down; and they were annually voting away large sums of money to keep them up, in other words, to keep them alive. He presumed that government by troops was easy, and that the I847-S3-] IRISH QUESTIONS. 26 1 1 Civil power may snore at ease, While soldiers fire to keep the peace.' Tried by its fruits, this system was a palpable failure. And what alterations in the system were now pro- posed with a view to better results ? As a measure for the regeneration of Ireland, the Poor Law had proved a complete failure, and so would the rate in aid. Something more was necessary something which, instead of dealing with its mere symptoms, would attack the disease at its very root. At present, the rich were menaced with ruin, and the poor with starvation. The speaker then gave the following terrible picture of the condition of Ireland : ' On looking over the reports of the Poor Law Inspectors, I find them teeming with statements of the wretchedness which prevails in the distressed districts of Ireland. The general character of the reports is that starvation is, literally speaking, gradually driving the population into their graves. Many cannot quit their hovels for want of clothing, whilst others cannot be discharged from the workhouses owing to the same cause. Men are seen wearing women's apparel, not being able to procure proper clothing ; whilst, in other instances, men, women, and children are all huddled together under bundles of rags, unable to rise for lack of covering ; workhouses and prisons are crowded beyond their capacity to contain, the mortality being very great in them. Persons of honest character commit thefts in order to be sent to prison, and some ask, as a favour, to be transported. ' I know of nothing like this in the history of modern times. The only parallel I can find to it is in the work of the great German author, Mosheim, who, in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, speaking of the inroads of the barbarians into the Roman empire in the fifth century, says that in Gaul the calamities of the times drove many to such madness that they wholly excluded God from the government of the world, and denied His providence over human affairs. It would almost appear that this state of things is now to be seen in Ireland. The prisons are crowded, the chapels deserted, society is disorganized and ruined ; labour is useless, for capital is not to be had for its employment. The 262 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. ix. reports of the Inspectors say that this catastrophe has only been hastened, and not originated, by the failure of the potato crop during the last four years, and that all men possessed of any intelligence must have foreseen what would ultimately happen.' Mr. Bright next referred to the radical improve- ments required with regard to the titles and transfer of lands. Extravagance and the prevalence of life interests in property were also sources of evil in Ireland. Asking what the noble lord at the head of the Government had done towards grappling with these evils, he answered Nothing, absolutely nothing. He held that the GovernmeDt was highly reprehensible in not having come forward with some large and earnest measures for the regeneration of Ireland. The plan proposed by Sir Eobert Peel with regard to the land and other matters was in its main features admirable, although he was inclined to regard it as a little vague in the shape in which it had been proposed. The right hon. baronet seemed to shrink from throwing a great deal of Irish land at once into the market, as such a course would lower its price. But he could assure the right hon. baronet that neither Englishmen nor Scotchmen would invest their capital in Irish land unless it were very cheap. Mr. Bright then proceeded to review the whole system of -real property tenure in Ireland, inveighing against the strict and cumbrous system of entails existing in that country, against the law of primo- geniture and its consequences, against complicated titles, and the pride and extravagance of the Irish gentiy. He suggested reforms in all these directions 1847-53-] IRISH QUESTIONS. 263 and when told that he was interfering with property, he asked what value Ireland was now, while the property in labour of four million persons was almost totally destroyed? In the state of the land question lay the real difficulty of the country. They must free the land, and facilitate its transfer, ere they could hope to effect anything like a permanent rege- neration of Ireland. To do so was no doubt somewhat difficult; but there were modes in which it might speedily be done. 'If ever there were an opportunity for a statesman,' said Mr. Bright, 'it is this. This is the hour undoubt- edly, and we want the man.' He feared whether he was on the Treasury bench, but the character of the Government was at stake, and it could not remain inactive. Having alluded to the great subscription raised for Ireland three years before, when contri- butions came from all parts of the globe, the hon. member concluded with this eloquent peroration : 'Hon. gentlemen turn with triumph to neighbouring countries, and speak in glowing terms of our glorious constitution. It is true that abroad thrones and dynasties have been overturned, whilst in England peace has reigned undisturbed. But take all the lives that have been lost in the last twelve months in Europe amidst the convulsions that have occurred take all the cessation of trade, the destruction of industry, all the crushing of hopes and hearts, and they will not compare for an instant with the agonies which have been endured by the population of Ireland under your glorious constitution. And there are those who now say that this is the ordering of Providence. I met an Irish gentleman the other night, and, speaking upon the subject, he said that he saw no remedy, but that it seemed as if the present state of things were the mode by which Providence intended to solve the question of Irish difficulties. But let us not lay these calamities at the door of Providence ; it were sinful in us, of all men, to do so. God has blessed Ireland and does still bless 264 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT, [CHAP. ix. her in position, in soil, in climate ; He has not withdrawn His pro- mises, nor are they unfulfilled ; there is still the sunshine and the shower, still the seedtime and the harvest ; and the affluent bosom of the earth yet offers sustenance for man. But man must do his part we must do our part we must retrace our steps we must shun the blunders, and, I would even say, the crimes of our past legislation. We must free the land ; and then we shall discover, and not till then, that industry, hopeful and remunerated industry, free and inviolate, is the only sure foundation on which can be reared the enduring edifice of union and of peace.' This speech marked Mr. Bright 's advancement into the highest rank of Parliamentary orators and debaters. At its close, cheers burst forth spon- taneously from all parts of the House, Conservatives vieing with Liberals in their appreciation of the eloquence which had deeply moved the entire chamber. Mr. Disraeli, who spoke on the same evening, said that although he agreed with Mr. Bright as little as with any member in the House, he had listened to his speech with pleasure and gratification, as he must to every demonstration which sustained the reputation of that assembly. Before the House met in the following session, viz., 1850, Mr. Bright paid a visit to Ireland. In the questions which subsequently arose in Parlia- ment relating to the distressed unions, the elective franchise, etc., he took a lively interest, pointing out defects in the various measures introduced, although not addressing the House at any length upon the general question of Ireland. On the subject of the franchise, however, he spoke very emphatically, and said he should feel ashamed to own himself a citizen of this country did he believe I847-53-] IRISH QUESTIONS. 265 it possible that, for any length of time, it could be tolerated that six men out of seven should be shut out from, the ordinary exercise of the common right of the franchise. The Government Bill for the extension of the Irish Parliamentary franchise was carried this year, having been first subjected to considerable revision in the House of Lords. There were three important points in the measure, however, when it finally became law namely, it fixed the fran- chise for Irish counties at 12, instituted a poor-law valuation, and required the payment of poor-rates as the only test of qualification. This Act increased the number of electors in the counties from 27,000 to 135,000. Mr. Bright made some important references to the Irish Church during a debate which occurred in the session of 1853, on a motion by Mr. G. H. Moore for a select committee to inquire into the ecclesiastical revenues of Ireland, with the view of ascertaining how far they were made applicable to the benefit of the Irish people. Lord John Eussell delivered a speech on this motion which was very illiberal as compared with his previous utterances on the question, .and one which greatly exasperated the Roman Catholics and the Nonconformists. Mr. Bright expressed the sorrow with which he had listened to the noble lord's address, and proceeded to contrast his lordship's past career with his present, when he was cheered by those who sat opposite, and listened to in silence by those who 266 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. ix. sat behind him. With regard to the general ques- tion, he (Mr. Bright) said that if this kingdom of Great Britain, powerful in population, in wealth, and in the combination of all its people, were to inflict upon a smaller island and its smaller popu- lation a great injustice like the Irish Church, and to maintain that injustice on the ground that it would affect some of the institutions of this country, were he an Irishman, nothing but the impracti- cability of carrying the proposition would for one single moment keep him from being as zealous a repealer of the Union as that island had ever produced. At the present moment it was impossible for any impartial person to travel through Ireland and not perceive that there was one question which poisoned all the social relations of that country. Whether in the elections, or in any other matter, political or social, this one question of the Church Establishment was the pestilent and poisonous question in Ireland, and made it as impossible now as for the last two hundred years that that country should be in the possession of tranquillity and con- tentment. He advised the Irish Liberal members to make this question of religious equality in Ireland the cardinal question in their political movements. Were he a Koman Catholic, he would not come into that House and let any occasion slip of denouncing the insult offered to his Church and his country. There was goodness and there was greatness enough in the people of this country I847-S3-] IRISH QUESTIONS. 267 yet to consent to a measure of full justice to Ireland. Although Mr. Moore's motion was rejected by a large majority, this stirring and uncompromising language on the part of the member for Manchester must have greatly fluttered and discomposed the occupants of the Treasury bench, most of whom felt that there were striking anomalies in connection with the Irish Church. Mr. Bright was accurate in his reading of the people of England, but they required to be acted upon yet more strongly before this great act of reparation could be achieved. Towards the close of 1849, Mr. Bright advocated the claims of Ireland at a great meeting in the Free Trade Hall, Manchester. He showed that for thirty years past the imperial Legislature had had laid before it, time after time, a statement of the actual condition of the Irish people ; and he brought it as a serious charge against the constitution of the country against the aristocratic form of our government that all these statements had passed unregarded, and that the condition of Ireland had scarcely, until recently, excited any real solicitude on the part of either the Ministry or Parliament. Mr. Bright has never used soft words or delusive phrases when it has seemed necessary to him to speak out, but his address on this occasion by its very outspokenness drew upon him the vials of wrath from a not uninfluential portion of the press. He was charged with fostering that want of self- 268 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP, ix reliance which had always been complained of as lacking in the Irish people ; whereas his only object had been to take away from those who had done evil to Ireland that subterfuge under which they had constantly sheltered themselves, viz., that there was something in the race and religion of Irishmen which made it impossible for their country to prosper. The hon. gentleman's advocacy of the cause of Ireland, however, and his steadfast devotion to its interests, was warmly appreciated by the vast body of Irish residents in Manchester and Salford; and by these he was presented with an address in the Manchester Corn Exchange, on the 4th of January, 1850. The address expressed the deep gratitude of the Irish residents, and expressed a hope that Mr. Bright might be enabled still further to brighten the path to Ireland's prosperity and England's glory. Mr. Bright delivered a lengthy speech in reply, recapitulating his previous suggestions and recommendations for a settlement of the most press- ing of Irish grievances. The labourers and the peasantry of Ireland were almost gone they were either dead, or in America, or in the workhouse. Irishmen had no country ; and his propositions went to give them a country. The proposal which had been made in certain quarters to re-enact the Corn Laws surpassed in audacity any other made by those who professed to seek the welfare of Ireland. It was made by a body of coroneted conspirators against the food and the industry of the people of 1 847-53.] IRISH QUESTIONS. 269 the United Kingdom. Having dwelt at length upon the necessity for land reform, religious equality, and a further extension of the suffrage, he thus recapitu- lated the three branches of remedies which he con- sidered necessary for the welfare of Ireland : the economical, which took in the question of the land and the security of the tenantry all those points which could be said to affect the industrial and social condition of the people ; the political, affect- ing the franchise and the representation ; and the ecclesiastical, which involved such a change as to place all the religious sects of Ireland upon a plat- form of perfect equality before the law. ' I hope/ said Mr. Bright, in conclusion, ' that Lord John Russell may rise to the great work that is before him. He has an opportunity of doing more for this country than almost any other Minister in our time. He might, I believe, add the industry and affections of millions to the wealth and strength of this great empire. But if he should fail if he should prove himself to be the agent of a timid and selfish oligarchy, rather than the Prime Minister of the Crown and of the people if he shall not dare to do these things which in my conscience I believe he knows to be necessary, even then we will not despair; for, as I said, there is growing up in England, and I hope in Ireland, a party so strong and numerous, that by-and-by it will leave out only the pauperism at one end of the scale, and, it may be, the titled and the privileged at the other ; it will 2 70 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. ix. include almost the whole people ; it will urge upon Government united as we shall be with the people of Ireland these great questions which I have discussed to-night. If the aristocracy of the United Kingdom has heaped evils unnumbered upon Ireland, why, I ask, should not the intelligent and virtuous people of the United Kingdom make them an ample restitution ? And when I speak to that great party throughout this country, I would say that in all their struggles, whatsoever they may undertake, whatsoever they may accomplish, they cannot do a nobler or a better thing than to consecrate the cause of their advancing liberties by glorious and fruitful labour for the regeneration of Ireland.' One more deliverance on Irish questions at this juncture must be noticed. On the 25th of October, 1852, Mr. Bright addressed an important letter to Dr. Gray afterwards Sir John Gray, M.P. proprietor of the Freeman's Journal. As Mr. Thorold Rogers has observed, the estimate of the property of the Irish Church given in this letter was too low, but it does not affect the argument, or the principle of the proposed arrangement. The document was penned in view of a conference which the friends of religious equality in Ireland were about to hold in Dublin, with the object of considering the existing ecclesiastical arrangements of the country. Taking the keenest interest in this question, and being unable to be present at the deliberations of the Conference if, indeed, the invitations had extended beyond Irish- I847-53-] IRISH QUESTIONS. 271 men and Irish representatives Mr. Bright had adopted this course to make his opinions known. He began by observing that the case of the Catholic population of Ireland was so strong, so unanswerable, and so generally admitted, that nothing was wanting to ensure its complete success but the combination of a few able and honest men to concentrate and direct existing opinion. If such men could be found resolute, persevering, and dis- interested a great work was before them ; they would meet with insult and calumny in abundance ; but having a right cause, and working it with right means, they would certainly succeed. Mr. Bright went on to assume that perfect religious equality would be demanded; in fact, on this point there should be no possibility of mistake ; the demand for equality must be unequivocal, and it was most desirable that some mode of attaining it should be distinctly pointed out. Lord John Eussell and Lord Grey, seeing the enormous evil of the existing system, were ready to justify almost any measure that promised political and ecclesiastical equality to the Irish Catholics ; but they wished that equality to be obtained without the subversion of the Pro- testant Established Church in Ireland. But to have two Established Churches in Ireland, the one Protestant and the other Catholic ; to have in the House of Lords Protestant and Catholic bishops, elbowing each other on the ' right reverend bench,' guarding c the temporal and spiritual interests of two 272 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. ix. Churches which denounce each other as idolatrous or heretical, would be an inconsistency so glaring that it would go far to overthrow all reverence for Governments or Churches, if not for Christianity itself. The scheme is surely too ahsurd to be seriously thought of; and if there be a statesman bold enough to propose it, he will find no support in the opinion of the English public, except from that small section with whom religion goes for nothing, and Churches and priests are tolerated as machinery in the pay and service of the Government.' There was one equality, however, that would be received with general favour, and that was one starting from the point that henceforth there must be no Church in Ireland in connection with the State. But there would still arise with this the question of the appropriation of the large funds then in the hands of the Irish Established Church. Mr. Bright next detailed his own scheme for the appro- priation of these funds. He proposed the establish- ment of a Church property commission, authorized to appropriate the ,10,000,000 of Church property in certain proportions among the Established, Presby- terian, and Roman Catholic Churches. In dividing the sum he would appropriate so much of it to the Roman Catholics as would provide a small piece of land in every parish say from ten to twenty acres in the possession of the Catholic Church, to be made over absolutely and for ever to the Catholics of Ireland. Under an arrangement of this kind, of 1 847-53.] IRISH QUESTIONS. 273 course the special grant to the College of Maynooth would be withdrawn. In their turn, the Presby- terians would resign the Regium Donum, and receive instead such a portion of the general fund, absolutely and for ever, as would produce a revenue equal to the Parliamentary grant. Similarly he would treat the Protestant Episcopalians ; giving them absolutely a sum about equal to that bestowed on the others, together with the privilege of possessing their churches at a nominal rent, so long as there should be a congregation. Thus he would have exhausted three out of the ten millions to be allotted. The remaining five or seven millions, as the case might be, could, and in his opinion should, be reserved for purposes strictly Irish, and directed to the educa- tional and moral improvement of the people, without respect to class or creed. Meeting a possible objection that his suggestions were contrary to his own well-known views on the subject of religious equality, Mr. Bright said, ' From Scotland, and probably from certain quarters in England, we may hear of the great crime of handing over 1,000,000 sterling to the Roman Catholics of Ireland. It will, perhaps, be insisted upon, that to add to the means of a Church whose teaching is held to be " erroneous " is a grievous national sin ; and many will honestly doubt the wisdom of a scheme which proposes such an appropriation of a portion of a great public fund. Now, there is not a man in the United Kingdom more averse to religious endowments by the State than I am. I object to the compulsory levying of a tax from any man to teach any religion, and still more to teach a religion in which he does not believe ; and I am of opinion that to take a Church into the pay of the State, and to place it under the control of the State, is to deaden and corrupt the Church, and to enlist its influence on the side of all that is evil in the civil govern- 18 274 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. ix. ment. But in the plan now suggested the Irish sects or Churches would be left entirely free, as is the Free Church in Scotland, or the Wesleyan Methodist Church in England. The grants once made, each Church would possess absolutely its own funds, just as much as if they were the accumulations of the voluntary contributions and liberality of past generations of its members, and thus would be avoided the damage to religion and to civil government which is inseparable from what is called the union of Church and State ; whilst the sum granted to each Church, being equal to a provision of about 40,000 per annum, would be too small to create any important corporate influence adverse to the public interest.' The writer looked for objections to his scheme. The grievance was centuries old, and around it were entwined interests, prejudices, fanaticism, animo- sities, and convictions. It was a desperate evil, and whoever waited till the remedy was pleasant to everybody would wait for ever. The object in view was the tranquillity of Ireland, and the means were simple. Being neither Eoman Catholic, Protestant Episcopalian, nor Presbyterian, nor an Irishman, his own interest in the matter was not local or sectarian. He had endeavoured to study it, and to regard it as became an Englishman loving justice and freedom, anxious for the tranquillity of Ireland, the welfare of the empire, and the honour of the Imperial Govern- ment. ' Some experience and much reflection,' Mr. Bright added, ' have convinced me that all efforts on behalf of industry and peace in Ireland will be in great part unavailing until we eradicate the senti- ment which is universal among her Catholic popula- tion that the Imperial Government is partial, and that to belong to the Eoman Catholic Church is to 847-53-] IRISH QUESTIONS. 275 incur the suspicion or the hostility of the law. A true "equality" established among the Irish sects would put an end to this pernicious but all-pervading sentiment; and Catholics, whether priests or laymen, would feel that the last link of their fetters was at length broken. Supremacy on the one hand, and a degrading inferiority on the other, would be abolished, and the whole atmosphere of Irish social and political life would be purified. Then, too, Christianity would appeal to the population, not as a persecuting or a persecuted faith, with her features disfigured by the violence of political conflict, but radiant with the divine beauty which belongs to her, and speaking with irresistible force to the hearts and consciences of men. I know not if the statesman be among us who is destined to settle this great question ; but whoever he may be, he will strengthen the monarchy, earn the gratitude of three kingdoms, and build up for himself a lasting renown.' The position assumed in Mr. Bright's letter, that the Irish Church was an anomaly and an iniquity, was not denied, or at least only by interested bodies. As was said at the time, the Church was in the position of the Rois Faimans of the Merovingian race in France, who were universally recognized as an evil, but who maintained their position simply because, before an experiment was made, no one could calculate the consequences of getting rid of them. The difficulty was a practical one, and one of great magnitude. Nevertheless, the statesman 276 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. IX. was living who actually brought the Irish Church question to an issue and a settlement some years later, though not, as regards details, on the lines indicated by Mr. Bright. But perfect religious equality was achieved, and Mr. Bright could little have anticipated that he would be a member of the Government which, under Mr. Gladstone's guidance, accomplished the task. 277 CHAPTER X. GENERAL LEGISLATION 1846-53. Mr. Bright on Questions of General Legislation. Factory Labour. Lord Ashley's Ten Hours' Bill. Arguments of Mr. Bright and his Friends. The Factory Acts of 1847 and 1850. Flogging in the Army. Lord John Russell's Educa- tion Scheme of 1847. It is opposed by Mr. Bright. His Speeches on the Cultivation of Cotton in India. Excessive Public Expenditure. Mr. Cobden's Motion thereon. The Hastings-Cobden Correspondence. Mr. Bright attacks the Derby Government of 1852. Further Speeches on Free Trade and Pro- tection. Capital Punishment. Evidence on the Game Laws. Bill for their Repeal introduced. The Burdens on Land. Mr. Disraeli's Proposal to relieve the Landowners. It is opposed by Mr. Bright, and defeated. Second Resolu- tion on Agricultural Distress. It is lost by a narrow majority. Mr. Hume's Bill to Amend the National Representation. Supported by Mr. Bright. The County Franchise. Lord John Russell's Reform Bill of 1852. The Ballot. Mr. Bright on Church Rates. Taxes on Knowledge and the Freedom of the Press. Speeches of Mr. Bright and Mr. Cobden. Government Defeat on the Advertisement Duty. Mr. Bright on Parliamentary Oaths. The case of Alderman Salomons. Papal Aggression. Mr. Bright eloquently opposes the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill. Public Addresses at Manchester and other places. Mr. Bright invited to stand for Rochdale. The Kossuth Reception at Man- chester. Defence of 'the Manchester Party.' Mr. Bright at Belfast. The Manchester Election of 1852. Mr. Bright on the War Panic of 1853. DURING- the earlier years of his Parliamentary career that is, when he was in the prime of his physical strength the member for Manchester furnished abundant evidence of the deep interest he took in all great public questions. As one proof of this, we find that in the period above-named, the eight years extending from 1846 to 1853 inclusive, he addressed the House on no fewer than forty-four 2 78 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. occasions, all in connection with subjects of moment. Most of these speeches were of considerable length, and many of them were of representative importance. And in these addresses we take here no note of the many Parliamentary and extra-Parliamentary speeches Mr. Bright delivered in the course of the year 1846 on the Free Trade question. The session of 1846 had scarcely opened when the subject of factory labour was again brought before the House of Commons. The large party in favour of a reduction in the hours of labour included very heterogeneous elements. Those like Lord Ashley, who least understood the question from its practical point of view, but were yet the most numerous body in favour of reduction, were perhaps the most sincere in their advocacy. There were some, too, like John Fielden and Richard Oastler, who were also sincere, but few in numbers; while there were others who regarded factory legislation as a kind of retaliation upon the manufacturers for the powerful part they had played in the Free Trade campaign. Mr. Cobden, Mr. Bright, Mr. Joseph Hume, and those who thought with them, opposed compulsory measures in con- nection with the hours of labour from the standpoint of free trade. The workman had the utmost right of freedom in this respect, and they claimed that any alteration of the hours of labour ought to be left for settlement as between employer and employed. The Protectionists, of course, threw in their influence with those who were in favour of compulsory legis- 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 2J9 lation, and against the Free-traders; and there were many Kadicals who, on grounds of supposed humani- tarianism, followed the same course. On the 29th of January, 1846, Lord Ashley brought in his bill for limiting the hours of labour of young persons in factories to ten hours. Sir James Graham, the Home Secretary, did not oppose the introduction of the bill, although he intimated that no decision with respect to the Corn Laws could ever alter his opinion with regard to the propriety of interfering with adult labour in the manufacturing districts. Mr. Hume contended that industry and capital ought to be free, and the real effect of Lord Ashley's measure would be to throw large numbers of men out of employment, for their labour was dependent upon that of the children. Mr. Bright said they were all anxious that the labouring population should work less, and have better wages; but the noble lord looked at one side of the question, and attributed evils to the working of mills which in reality arose from the circumstance of large towns and the labourers being left by their more powerful neigh- bours in a state of very great neglect. These evils were now diminishing, and there was a unanimous endeavour to improve as far as possible the condition of factory workers. He did not believe that a majority of the working classes were in favour of the proposed measure ; but he believed that a large number were in favour of it, and he was extremely sorry to give his vote or to speak in opposition to 280 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. the wishes of a number of honest men. He did not oppose a reduction in the hours of labour, which he believed would come with greater prosperity, and a feeling of harmony between masters and workmen, but he did oppose this compulsory bill. The favourite argument of the promoters of the Ten Hours' Bill, that as much could be earned in ten hours as in twelve, was strongly combated by Mr. Bright in the debate on the second reading. But even if it were so, the loss of two hours' pay would be a more serious injury than the saving of two hours' work. In the cotton districts, people were generally paid by the piece, and how then could such legislation affect them favourably, so far as wages were concerned ? The speed of machinery could not be increased so as to make up the difference in time lost. He reiterated his conviction that when the free-trade measures of the Government were carried out, and the manufacturers became actuated, as they would be, by feelings more and more kindly towards their workpeople, all that they could hope to achieve by the bill would be attained by voluntary arrangement, and without the mischief that invari- ably attended the interference of the Legislature in such questions. Lord Ashley's bill was lost by a majority of ten ; and those who have charged Mr. Bright with oppo- sing this legislation from interested motives may be reminded that there also voted against Lord Ashley the following distinguished members, many of whom 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 28 1 were well entitled to be considered the friends of the working classes : Mr. Milner Gibson, Mr. Bouverie, Dr. Bowring, Mr. Cobden, Sir A. Cockburn, Mr. J. Evelyn Denison, Mr. Goulburn, Sir J. Graham, Mr. Sidney Herbert, Mr. H. Labouchere, Mr. Fox Maule, Lord Morpeth, Sir Eobert Peel, Mr. Ricardo, Sir F. Thesiger (Lord Chelmsford), and Mr. Walpole. This measure for limiting the hours of labour in factories was reintroduced in the following session. During the debate on the second reading, Mr. Bright entered still more fully into the question, his speech being to some extent necessitated by the frequent allusions made to him. He said that he had lived all his life amid the population for whom they were called upon to legislate ; that he had been largely, and was now very largely, connected with this par- ticular trade ; and that he had not a farthing in the world that was not invested in it. He had therefore a right to speak of the feelings and wishes of the working classes in Lancashire. But let it not be supposed for a moment for he would deny it alto- gether that in his opposition to this Ten Hours' Bill he was influenced by a belief that it would in any degree, if passed, injure his property or his personal prospects. If this measure were calculated to advance the interests of the twelve hundred thousand persons who were more or less interested in the cotton trade, then his interests must be con- sulted in that which would advance the interests of by far the largest proportion of those who were in 282 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. any way connected with those trades. The accu- sation of inhumanity he repelled, and reminded the House that already no child under thirteen was allowed to work more than six hours a day. The real object of the promoters of the measure was not to take care of children under eighteen, and women of all ages, but to interfere by law with the labour of all persons, of whatever age and whatever sex they might be, who were engaged in the manu- factures of this country, and to give to all these classes that measure of legislative protection he used the word protection in the sense in which it had been used by all who were in favour of monopolies a protection that would diminish the hours of labour; while it would continue a rate of wages which, from the days of Sadler till the present time, was clearly a rate higher than labour in a free market could command. Mr. Bright adduced evidence to prove the incor- rectness of the statements respecting the unhealthi- ness of factory life. In the following passage he gave some interesting personal reminiscences, and then demonstrated the morality of the factory opera- tives : ' The hon. member for Dorsetshire (Mr. Bankes) spoke of the impossi- bility of persons obtaining education under the system of twelve hours' labour. The hon. member should understand that he (Mr. Bright) was not defending the principle that these persons should work for twelve hours a day. He was merely meeting the argument which had been advanced in favour of the bill. Did the hon. member for Dorsetshire forget that those children did not work more than six hours a day until they were thirteen years old ? For himself, he could say that he had 1846-53.] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 283 never been at school after he was fifteen years of age. It was true there were, no doubt, many things which hon. members knew or learned by remaining at college until they were twenty or twenty-one, of which he was ignorant; but still, he considered his own case to be in some degree a proof that a man might get some education by remaining at school only until he was fifteen, and that he might do something by remaining there even if he was thirteen. But what could be more ludicrous than to say that a person could get no education under thirteen ? The old system was to bind apprentices at the age of fourteen ; but he would maintain that the degree of education among factory labourers was not inferior to that to be found among all the other classes of this country. He had no doubt whatever but that their consumption of books, their purchase of newspapers, and their general devotion to literature, which the present age afforded so many opportunities of encouraging, was as pure and as extensive at least as that of any other class of the labouring population of Great Britain. If the hon. gentleman the member for Dorsetshire was not yet convinced on this point, he would beg to bring before him the evidence of the Rev. Mr. Clay, who had compiled a list of the extent of criminality existing in various classes in Lancashire. He began with No. 1, and went up to No. 20, the first number showing the class among which crime was highest, and the last the class in which there was the smallest number of criminals. Now, No. 19 in that list was the class of domestic servants, and No. 20 was that of the female operatives in factories, while No. 1 was the class of grooms and coachkeepers, persons who were much more extensively employed by members of that House than by cotton - spinners. Now, if the factory labourers were not the sober and orderly class of persons of which the noble lord (Lord John Manners) had spoken, he believed Mr. Clay would not have produced evidence like this. He believed there was not a magistrate in the manufacturing districts who would not bear testimony to the good conduct of these persons, and to the fact that their good behaviour even exceeded that of other classes in the same counties.' Mr. Bright then dealt with the question of wages, and also with the decrease in the consumption of raw material in connection with the various manufactures of the country, which must take place if this bill passed. He produced statistics bearing upon these questions; and he maintained that Parliament had no business to interfere with the workman's right 284 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. to labour. To show that capitalists were not un- mindful of the interests of their workpeople, he mentioned that in the factory with which he was himself connected they had a large infant school, together with a reading-room and news-room, and a school for adults, where the workmen attended after working hours. Not a few hundred pounds per annum were expended in promoting in this manner the interests of the workmen; and that, too, wholly independent of any act of the Legislature. This was the case at many other manufactories ; and he warned the House that by arming the workmen against the capitalists, as in the proposed legislation, it would be impossible that a friendly mutual feeling could con- tinue. He blamed the Government for leaving this subject an open one, and not making it a Cabinet question. The fates were against Mr. Bright, however, for before the close of the session the bill passed both Houses and became law. It was due to the subject of our biography that his position on a much-debated question should be stated with some fulness, and in his own language. His arguments were certainly endorsed by the best political economists of the day, as well as by a large section of the intelligent men of both political parties. It is further due to Mr. Bright to state that in 1855, when Mr. Cobbett unsuccess- fully attempted to reopen the question of factory labour, and to legislate upon it, Mr. Bright, in opposing the hon. member, said that although he 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 285 had been a strong opponent of the existing law, he would not be the man to move or second any motion having for its object to disturb the duration of labour fixed upon by the bill of 1850. The Legislature had decided the question, and there he would leave it. The bill of 1850 was introduced and passed to give effect to the provisions of the Act of 1847. So early as 1846 Mr. Bright was one of a small minority who were in favour of the abolition of flogging in the army. When Dr. Bowring divided the House on the question, and delivered an able speech in behalf of his motion, he was supported by Mr. Bright. The latter referred to the treatment to which soldiers were subjected by their officers treatment such as flesh and blood could not stand. He also explained the reasons why the calling of a common soldier was regarded as a degrading one. In the manufacturing districts, when a man had run through every kind of vice he became a soldier, and it was mentioned as a culminating fact in his career that such an one had enlisted. The reason why they would never get any but the lowest of the people was that there was not a warlike spirit in England. There was a commercial spirit in England, and the people found the means of a more profitable and honourable existence in the walks of trade and commerce than in the gaudy trappings offered them in the service of the State. It was not to be expected that when a man could live comfortably in his own cottage, earning in an honourable way a subsistence 286 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. for himself and his family, that he would become a soldier. He should rejoice to see the warlike spirit die away, and less occasion for armaments, and forces, and military displays, not to speak of those horrors by which the people of England had of late been excited. But only thirty-seven members voted for the aboli- tion of flogging, and the motion was lost by a majority of fifty-three. When the Government scheme of education was unfolded by Lord John Eussell in 1847, it was scarcely to be expected, seeing how distasteful were its provisions to the Nonconformists, that Mr. Bright could remain silent. Ministers proposed to act upon certain minutes of the Education Committee of the Privy Council by issuing grants of public money for the purposes specified. Eoman Catholic schools were excluded from the grants. Other points of the Government plan will be apparent from the hon. member's reply. Mr. Bright first strongly condemned the minutes, and then proceeded to reply to Mr. Macaulay's argu- ment that the State was bound to educate the people. He utterly denied the truth of this position, remarking that it was strange that neither in past centuries nor in modern times had any statesman acted on such a principle. If it were a solemn duty to see that all the people were educated, then Government were obliged to enforce education. The object, tendency, and result of the present scheme was to give increased 1846-53-1 GENERAL LEGISLATION. 287 and enormous power to the clergy of the Established Church so had every step taken by the Government since 1839. The speaker then went on to show what had been done in the last few years by the voluntary system in England, Scotland, and Wales. Producing statistics in each case, he showed, particularly as regarded the last-named division of the empire, that where the Church had educated one child, the Dis- senting Churches had educated from eight to ten. 'It is not because the Church of England receives money from this grant that Nonconformists object to the grant; but it is because Nonconformists them- selves, in accordance with the principles by which they are so, cannot receive public money for the teaching of religion in their schools; and, therefore, they object to the State giving money as an advan- tage to the Church schools an advantage by which they must profit, and which will certainly be most damaging to the Dissenting schools.' Mr. Macaulay had charged the Nonconformists with abandoning the principles they once held dear ; and he cited the example of the United States in the matter of education. Mr. Bright denied that a parallel existed. ' Give us, if you please, the state of things which exists in the United States, and particularly in the State of Massachusetts. Free us from the trammels of your Church set religion apart from the interference of the State if you will make public provision for education, let it not depend upon the doctrines of a particular creed and then you 288 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. will find the various sects in this country will be as harmonious on the question of education as are the people of the United States of America.' Noncon- formists objected to any portion of the public money going to teachers of religion belonging either to the Established Church or to Dissenting bodies ; they would not receive it themselves. Any Nonconformist who took one sixpence of this grant for the purpose of teaching the tenets of his particular sect could never afterwards, with any show of consistency and good faith, say one syllable against the domination and usurpation of the Established Church. The Government had entered into overtures with the Wesleyans, who believed that the Eoman Catho- lics were to be excluded from the grant ; but if they were, he was reminded of the expression of a well- known writer: ' Of ttimes, the pleasure is as great Of being cheated as to cheat.' A proposition to open these grants to all persons of all religious persuasions whatsover, he could have understood; but he was sorry that it had come to this. Apologizing if he had spoken with warmth, Mr. Bright added : ' Let it be remembered that I am avowedly a member of a Nonconformist body. My forefathers languished in prison by the acts of that Church which you now ask me to aggrandize. Within two years places of worship of that body to which I belong have been despoiled of their furniture to pay the salary of a minister of the Established 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 289 Church ; and when I ^ook back and see how that Church has been uniformly hostile to the progress of public liberty, it is impossible for me to refrain from protesting against the outrages committed by the Government on the Nonconformist body for the sake of increasing the aggrandizements of a political institution, with which, as I hope and believe, the time is not far off when this country will dispense.' The Government grant was eventually agreed to. Eeserving for later treatment, and in their proper order, Mr. Bright 's more lengthy and comprehensive speeches on India, there are indications, in the sessions with which we are now dealing, that his attention was already closely directed to questions affecting our Indian possessions and their relations to this country. Thus, in May 1847, he moved for a select committee to inquire into the progress of the cultivation of cotton in India. In doing so, he said that what potatoes were to Ireland, cotton was to Lancashire ; and that as in Ireland there had been a calamity unparalleled in consequence of the failure of the staple food of the people, so, if we could conceive the raw material of the cotton manufacture greatly to fail, we should see calamities overspread that county equal to, if not exceeding, that which had overtaken the population of Ireland. The Lan- cashire cotton famine, many years subsequently, verified to the letter these prophetic words. Mr. Bright brought forward figures upon the growth of cotton in various parts of the world. The East India 19 290 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. Company, he said, had failed in promoting the cultivation of cotton, and he wanted a committee to ascertain why they had failed. His language was equally significant and far-seeing as regarded America. Eeminding the House that the whole of the cotton grown in America was produced hy slave labour, he affirmed that slavery would ultimately be abolished either by peaceable or by violent means ; and an interruption to the production of cotton would be a calamity severely felt through the manufacturing districts of England. Members being engaged in some occupation more pleasant to them than the discussion of this really momentous question, and the Government and the India Company being opposed to it, the House was counted out during the debate that ensued on Mr. Bright's motion. In the year 1848, however, Mr. Bright obtained and presided over a committee to inquire into the obstacles which existed to the cultivation and growth of cotton in India. Subse- quently, and as the result of this committee, on the 18th of June, 1850, the hon. member moved for a commission to proceed to India and investigate on the spot this question of the growth of cotton. It must appear, he said, of the first importance that the supply of raw material upon which an immense amount of capital was engaged, and upon the working up of which some two millions of the population obtained a livelihood, should not fail. It was a question not of local but of national importance. By statistics 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 2Qi he showed how enormously the cotton industry in this country had grown, and repeated his previous arguments. Eeviewing the history of the growth of cotton in India, he quoted authorities to prove that there was nothing in the character or social condition of the Indian people which would make it unreason- able in us to expect large supplies of cotton, the produce of their industry. But grievances required to be redressed, and measures adopted to further the prosperity of India. The population of India was helpless unless Parliament came forward to its relief. Sir J. C. Hobhouse opposed the motion, alleging that all governors and other Indian officials were doing their duty in regard to the matters indicated, and that Lord Dalhousie would make good use of the continuance of peace to further the interests of India. The motion was negatived, Mr. Bright predicting that at no very distant period Parliament and the Government would be compelled to take up this question in a much more serious manner than they then seemed disposed to do. Three years later that is, in 1853 he again drew attention to this matter, recapitulating his previous efforts in connection with it. After all that had been done in regard to India, the whole case of the condition of the native popula- tion was left untouched. It was essential, in order to form a fair judgment, that unbiassed and impartial witnesses should be examined before the committee then sitting. Having alluded to native petitions for inquiry, and the great urgency of the matter, he 292 THE LIl-E OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. asked tlie Government whether their proposed measure for the future government of India was a temporary or permanent one ; and if the former, for how many years it was intended to renew the present government. Lord John Russell made the stereo- typed official reply that the Government were con- sidering their plans, and could not reveal them at that moment. This question excited great interest out of the House, especially in Lancashire, whose interests were naturally bound up in the supply of cotton. On the 18th of January, 1850, a meeting of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce was held, for the purpose of considering whether any course was open whereby enlarged commercial intercourse with India could be promoted, and especially whether an increased supply of cotton could be obtained. Mr. Bright spoke at some length, adducing indisputable evidence that there were abundant means in India, as regarded climate and soil and population, for the production of a large supply of cotton in that country. It was because there were some obstacles in the way, which were removable, that India did not supply England with cotton. Notwithstanding a memorial to the Prime Minister, and a petition to the House of Commons from the Manchester Chamber, the Govern- ment, as we have seen, declined to appoint a com- mission. On another occasion Mr. Bright said that the industry of Lancashire could never be secure while it was dependent upon one market for a supply 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 2Q3 of cotton. By steam navigation and other modes of transit they were brought within some thirty-six days of India, a country that used to be some six months' distance from Great Britain. Government had refused an inquiry, and the Manchester Chamber of Commerce were wisely sending out Mr. Mackay upon their own responsibility. This gentleman died before his work was completed, but his report showed that with regard to the district of Guzerat, from which the main portion of cotton comes, all that had been said with regard to the influence and neglect of the Government in regard to the cultivation of cotton in India was perfectly true. Commenting upon this, Mr. Bright remarked that until some emergency came which alarmed the whole Indian administration and involved the Government in the dangers which were ahead, he was not certain that they would get any attention paid to the question in Parliament. In this matter, again, the hon. member's words were justified by the event. Mr. Bright has repeatedly inveighed against an excessive public expenditure. Speaking on the Budget of 1848, and referring to the depressed condition of the country, he said, surely that was not the time when the military expenditure of the country should be increased for the purpose of meeting an imaginary enemy; and the proposed increase of taxes for such a purpose was as unjustifiable as it was oppressive. He warned the Government that it had 294 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. come in by accident, and might be destroyed by blunders. The noble lord (Russell) and his colleagues reminded him of the religious order of La Trappe, who were said to have employed themselves diligently in digging their own graves. If the Government supposed they could do in 1848, with respect to foreign affairs and warlike armaments, what was done thirty or forty years ago, they committed the most egregious blunder that statesmen were ever guilty of. A few days later, in a debate on the public expen- diture, he protested against the constantly increasing military estimates. The House was aware that some years ago the Russians were expected in the Thames ; and very soon afterwards there was an increase in the military expenses. After that, a French Prince wrote a very foolish pamphlet ; and another increase followed that. The recent panic in the public mind had arisen from the fear that the taxation of the country was to be unnecessarily increased, at a time when the suffer- ings of the country were extraordinarily great. Again, on the 31st of March, when Mr. Hume proposed to reduce the number of the land forces from 113,847 to 100,000 men, Mr. Bright said the House might rest assured that sixty millions of taxation was an amount which could not be levied for any length of time from the people of this country without creating a deep and general fueling of dissatisfaction. To economy and retrenchment the Government would have at length to come. Nothing was done for Ireland, save that they were asked to vote millions of money to maintain 1846-53.] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 295 a standing army there. Yet in Ireland last year more of their fellow-subjects had died of positive starvation yes, literally perished of famine and pestilence in their hovels, in the workhouses, or by the side of the highroads than England had lost of her people in any war, ancient or modern, in which she had ever been engaged. This question of public expenditure Mr. Bright again dealt with in February, 1849, when his friend Mr. Cobden brought forward a proposal for reducing the public disbursements by ten millions. There was a considerable feeling in the country that something should be done in this direction, and in consequence Associations for promoting the cause of Financial Reform had sprung up in London, Edinburgh, Liver- pool, and other large towns. A severe attack upon Mr. Cobden was made by Mr. Herries, the member for Stam- ford. In commencing his speech, Mr. Bright defended Mr. Cobden, and drew a striking contrast between the representation of the West Eiding and of Manchester and that of Stamford, a small borough which was so much under the influence of a certain noble lord that a considerable portion of its inhabitants had prayed to be disfranchised. Coming to the general question, Mr. Bright referred to the contrast presented between the financial condition of England and America ; the latter, notwithstanding the increase of its population and seaboard, increased neither its army nor its navy. England maintained more troops in Canada than the whole standing army of the United States. The THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. Chancellor of the Exchequer well knew that this was entirely a question of pressure ; the Government had considered how little reduction would suffice to take off the edge of agitation. The hon. member then smartly attacked the Protectionists, informing them that the farmers would soon discover the virtue of retrenchment, when they found it was the only source of a remission of taxation ; and he called upon them to join the manufacturers in compelling the Government to make reductions. ' You vote millions here,' said Mr. Bright, * as if they were nothing, or as if every country was a California, and that gold was not produced in this country by the sweat of millions of men, who are entitled to as just and merciful a consideration of their interests as the highest and wealthiest man in Parliament.' The reformers, of course, were in a minority, Mr. Cobden's motion being defeated by 275 to 78. A curious correspondence took place between Mr. Cobden and Sir Thomas Hastings, of the Royal Navy, in December, 1850. This correspondence arose out of a reference which Mr. Bright made at the Peace Congress at Birmingham, in the previous month, to the evidence given by Sir Thomas before a Parliamentary Committee on Navy Estimates. Referring to the superstitious fear of a war with France, Mr. Bright observed that the only authority upon which a British admiral anticipated war was an idle story told by the Bishop of Madagascar. Appealed to for his authority, Mr. Bright gave 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 297 Mr. Cobden, who was a member of the committee in question. Sir Thomas Hastings thereiipon sent Mr. Cobden a challenge to a duel. The latter re- sponded in a letter full of humour. c If in my earlier days,' he wrote, 'my admiration for the genius of Sheridan had not tempted me to witness the mimic exploits of Sir Lucius 0' Trigger, I might have been at a loss to comprehend the meaning of your letter. Aided, however, by my recollections of that model duellist, I understand you to propose that we should lay down our pens, and have a personal interview, not to talk over the matter in dispute, not even to approach within speaking distance, but to take our stand at twelve paces apart, with pistols in hand, and endeavour to blow out each other's brains. Now, I am satisfied, without any such experiment on my head at least, that half an ounce of lead propelled by less than a quarter of an ounce of powder is quite sufficient to shatter the human skull to atoms , and extinguish in a moment all powers of reason, all sense of justice, and every religious sentiment. But how such a process could satisfy me that I had acted unjustly towards you, or convince you of the contrary, is, I confess, quite beyond my compre- hension. So soon as I had recovered from the fit of laughter into which,, I must own, your challenge threw me, and after I had mastered the temptation I felt to name for my second my much-esteemed friend Mr. Punch, I endeavoured to procure a copy of the report of the committee ; and r having refreshed THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. my memory by a perusal of your evidence, I will endeavour to state the facts of the case as between you and myself in such a way as shall admit of no further misapprehension.' Mr. Cobden then proceeded to show that Mr. Bright was substantially accurate, the only matter needing correction being the substitution of the French Bishop of Japan for the Bishop of Mada- gascar. Mr. Bright had informed Sir Thomas Hastings that there were verbal inaccuracies in the report of his speech, and no doubt the whole thing could have been satisfactorily explained had a further opportunity been afforded Mr. Bright. ' You must, like all public men,' said Mr. Cobden in conclusion, ' expect that your conduct will be freely canvassed ; and your fate will be a luckier one than that of most of us if you do not find yourself often misapprehended, and sometimes misrepresented. If, unable to restrain the ebullitions of an irascible temper, you must needs challenge a member of the Legislature to mortal combat, merely because another member is reported to have made a mistake in a single word in a speech of an hour's length, or because a reporter's pen may have slipped at a critical moment, then you have mistaken your vocation ; and you would be consulting your own reputation, and the interest of the country, by retiring from the public service, and seeking security for your susceptible nerves within the inviolable precincts of your own domestic circle.' With this letter the 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 299 correspondence ended, Sir Thomas Hastings dis- creetly refraining from pushing the matter further. When the Derby Government came into office in March, 1852, and delayed appealing to the country, Mr. Bright severely blamed them for not dissolving Parliament, and for attempting to conduct public business as the representatives of a minority. This forcible and vigorous speech was delivered during a debate on the Army Estimates. Alluding to the probable protectionist policy of the Government, he said, ' either you should recant your protectionist prin- ciples, or you should go to the constituencies, and let them decide the question, once for all. The Chan- cellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Disraeli), and the noble lord the First Minister (Lord Derby), have referred to the humble labours which you, as a Government, are willing to undertake. We have no objection to the humility of your tasks we think there has been a sufficient humiliation in your labours while in opposition. But there is one humility I do hope you will not stoop to, and that is, the retaining office not only when you cannot carry your principles, but when you dare not even avow them.' Mr. Bright was unusually incisive in this speech, every word of which told upon his opponents on the Treasury Bench. He showed that the representation of the country was in a bad state when a few little pocket boroughs could return the Tory Ministers. The President of the India Board (Mr. Herries) had really only one constituent at Stamford, viz., the 300 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. Marquis of Exeter. The Colonial Secretary (Sir J. Pakington) had the good fortune to return himself ; and, as might be expected, he lived in a state of unparalleled harmony with his constituency. He (Mr. Bright) warned hon. gentlemen opposite that if they attempted to carry out Protection they would see a tumult in this country compared with which that of 1832 was as a whisper to a whirlwind. ' If you are for Protection, and will not say so, then I tell you we will make war upon you. You said once you would break up an " organized hypocrisy." I say to you, we will try if we cannot break up a confederated imposture. And bad as the representation of this country is and no one is more conscious of the faults of our representative system than I am yet I am perfectly persuaded that if you will dissolve Parliament and go to the constituencies for any duty you like to name, large or small, upon corn, you will find that your ephemeral Government will be scattered to the winds ; and that the united voices of the intelligent and free people of this country will condemn the policy you avowed in opposition, and upon the promise of which, to your deluded dupes, you have scrambled to your seats of power.' This language of powerful invective raised opposing shouts, the speaker being loudly applauded from the Liberal benches. In the course of the debate on Ways and Means on the 20th of July, 1849, the question of Free Trade was raised and discussed. Mr. Bright emphatically stated that he was confirmed in his belief in the 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 301 truth of the principles of Free Trade. It would be a consolation to him, as long as he lived, that he had been, in the smallest degree, instrumental in causing the adoption of those principles by the people and the Government of this country ; and now, whatever poverty existed in the country, he never passed a man, woman, or child, however poor, however wan, however suffering, but he felt a consolation that his voice had been raised against a system which had made them more poor, more wan, and more suffering; and he believed that, as the seasons passed over us, we should find there would be, on both sides of the House, and in every portion of the country, not only a general acquiescence in the principles of Free Trade, but a clinging to them so firmly that no political party would ever be able to change the policy which the House had so wisely adopted in 1846. Directly or indirectly, the question of Free Trade came up in all the sessions with which we are at present concerned. For example, in 1848 the Govern- ment were desirous of giving a slight protection to the West India colonies in the matter of sugar, which was not sufficient for the Protectionists, and .too much for the Free-traders. Mr. Bright accordingly moved an amendment that it was not expedient to make any alteration in the Sugar Duties Act of 1846. If the present bill were carried, the West Indians would come to Parliament again and again, and that very proposition would be their justification for every future demand. The people of the colonies wished 302 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. to reserve to themselves the opportunity of imitating Mr. Dickens* s Oliver Twist, who was said to have been always asking for more. There could he no doubt that to encourage the greatest possible con- sumption was the most likely means of delivering the colonists from their present embarrassed con- dition. The principle of Free Trade was agreed to in 1846 with regard to corn, sugar, and a great many articles of English manufacture ; it was acted upon in accordance with the opinion of the vast majority of the British nation. Whether sound or not, at any rate let the principle have that trial which even its opponents said, being carried, it was right that it should have. The Government, however, prevailed, the amendment being negatived. After the elections of 1852, the Conservative Government found that the result of their appeal to the country would not justify them in attempting to reverse the policy of Free Trade. When the House met in November, Mr. Villiers brought forward the question in a series of resolutions pledging the House definitely to a Free Trade policy. The debates which arose were very protracted. Mr. Bright, in following the Chancellor of the Exchequer, delivered a lengthy speech. He confuted the leading feature of Mr. Disraeli's defence, that the Protectionist party had not attempted to unsettle the legislation of 1846. In proof of this, he referred to Mr. Grantley Berkeley's motion in 1850, to Sir John Pakington's exertions against Free Trade, and to the efforts of Mr. Herries 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 303 to restore the Navigation Laws. Mr. Disraeli had attempted to show that Lord John Russell was no better than himself in regard to commercial policy, but such recriminations would not be allowed to supersede the real question in debate. The Protec- tionist party had appealed to the country, and lost the verdict. Should that verdict be now drawn up by one who had repudiated Free Trade, or by one who had consistently supported it ? One resolution declared that the legislation of Sir E. Peel was wise, just, and beneficial it established a principle ; the amendment merely announced a fact. Mr. Bright next proceeded to show that the Corn Laws were not passed in 1815 to enable the landlords to bear the burdens on land, and that the farmers had now lost nothing by Free Trade which the improved con- dition of the country had not amply compensated. But he distrusted the sincerity of the recent minis- terial professions ; and to prove how large a party supporting Government entertained in July last strong opinions that Free Trade would be reversed, or some equivalent given in lieu of Protection, Mr. Bright cited extracts from the speeches delivered in diiferent parts of the country by Protectionist members. The Marquis of Granby and other members had declared that they would ride the horse Protection as long as he was fit to go out with. The extracts read elicited continuous cheers and laughter. Having fully proved this part of his case, Mr. Bright turned upon his opponents, remarking that their whole agitation for 3O4 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. six years had been, the first part of the time calum- niation of Sir Eobert Peel, and during the latter part demands for the Protection they had lost, or for some compensation in place of it. He asked the House now to sanction its own policy, to set its seal irre- vocably on what it did in 1846, and by its vote to establish on a firm basis the charter of free industry to the people of this kingdom. Ultimately, resolutions differing somewhat from those drawn up by Mr. Yilliers, but still resolutions emphatically sanctioning and endorsing a Free-trade policy, were adopted by an immense majority. The humane principles by which Mr. Bright has been actuated in questions affecting the public wel- fare received another exemplification in his attitude with regard to capital punishment. In three suc- cessive sessions this question came before the House of Commons. On the first occasion, in March, 1848, Mr. Ewart moved for leave to bring in a bill totally repealing the punishment of death. He was defeated by 122 votes to 66. Mr. Bright, in sup- porting the motion, said the question was making great progress in the public mind. He was of opinion that this punishment of death did not convey the awful threats that many supposed it did to that condition of men by whom crimes of this grievous nature were committed. He then proceeded to show that the present law was uncertain, irregular, and unjust to a degree which could not be imputed to any other law upon the Statute-book. Mr. Bright 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 35 having cited a number of startling cases in proof of this, asked if the House would tolerate the existence of any other branch of the law for an instant, if such irregularity could be charged against it ? Let us have such a law as existed in France, by which extenuating circumstances were allowed to prevent capital punishments. The hon. member concluded by asking whether England would disgrace itself by being behind Tuscany, France to a large extent, Belgium, America in some of her States, and other countries, with regard to this question. He believed that by abolishing capital punishment, and substi- tuting a secondary punishment, we should find that crime, instead of increasing, as was dreaded, would be considerably diminished. Mr. Ewart again brought forward his bill in the ensuing session, when his motion was lost by a majo- rity of only 24. Mr. Bright again supported the pro- position. He said it was unnecessary to go into what was called the Scripture argument, but he reminded members that for some centuries after the commence- ment of the Christian era, no person holding, or pro- fessing to hold, the Christian religion was known to 'interfere in capital punishments. In fact, up to the period of the fifth century, Christianity was under- stood to forbid its converts from being implicated in any degree whatever in the infliction of death upon criminals. Coming to the question of expediency, in all those countries where capital punishments were rarely or never inflicted, human life was just as safe 20 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. as it was in Spain, or in England, or in Ireland. Moreover, past legislation afforded no proof of the advantages of capital punishment. The Legislature formerly found all its efforts ineffectual to repress the commonest offences by this punishment. The prac- tice having failed in minor cases, how could it have an effect in putting down the crime of murder, which was almost always committed under circumstances which shut out from the contemplation of the cri- minal the consideration of that which must follow from the offence? The deterrent effect of the punish- ment had been greatly overrated, and Mr. Bright adduced cases in support of his contention. St. Augustine and others had borne special testimony to the fact that gladiatorial exhibitions and the exe- cution of criminals had the effect of increasing crime. A punishment short of death would also relieve the authorities from the possibility of fearful mistakes. Men sometimes now escaped because juries, though feeling morally certain of their guilt, would not take the responsibility of sending them to the scaffold. These were the chief grounds upon which he advo- cated the abolition of the punishment of death. Mr. Ewart made a third attempt to introduce a bill, in the session of 1850, and on this occasion was defeated by six votes only. Mr. Bright was the chief speaker in this debate. Besides re-stating many of his previous arguments with fresh force, he showed that for ninety years past Parliament had followed no guiding prin- ciple upon this question. He again applied himself 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 307 to demonstrating that the punishment was far from being deterrent, and that its inequality was dangerous and fatal to an impartial administration of the law ' If you wish to teach the people to reverence human life, you must first show them that you reverence it yourselves. An old English writer, Chaucer, says of his " Parson " " Christ's lore, and his Apostles twelve, He preached, but first he followed it himself ; " and if we would teach men to reverence and respect the lives of their fellow-men, the first and most powerful step we could take would he to abandon the halter and the scaffold, and to practise the doctrine we would inculcate upon the people.' We have already seen that Mr. Bright secured a select committee to inquire into the operation of the Game Laws. Subsequently the hon. member and Mr. R. G. Welford published a work containing ex- tracts from the evidence. Mr. Bright wrote an intro- duction, in which he demonstrated the evils of the laws from the farmer's and labourer's point of view. 1 You plough and sow,' he remarked, ' and watch the growing crops with anxiety and hope ; you rise early, and eat the bread of carefulness ; rent-day comes twice a year with its inexorable demand; and yet you are doomed too frequently to see the fertility which Providence bestows, and your industry would secure, blighted and destroyed by creatures which would be deemed vermin but for the sanction which the law and your customs give to their preservation, and which 308 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. exist for no advantage to you and for no good to the public, but solely to afford a few days' amusement in the year to the proprietor of the soil.' In the proposed draft report of the committee, Mr. Bright said, ' Game out of season is habitually provided at the clubs and dinners of the rich ; the rural labourer is made the instrument by which these indulgences of the wealthy are obtained. Everything concurs to render the Game Laws the source of demoralization, and to lead the labourers to those first breaches of the law which generally end in serious crime. The destruction of agricultural produce, the prevention of high farming, and the consequent diminution of em- ployment, form a national evil of extensive operation. These circumstances your committee believe to have an important and most mischievous influence on the morals of the people. Violence and bloodshed consequently occur from the preservation of game, of which numerous cases were referred to by the witnesses examined.' It appeared from a return published that in the year 1843 no fewer than 4,529 convictions for offences against the Game Laws took place. On the 23rd of March, 1848, Mr. Bright moved for leave to bring in a Bill for the Eepeal of the Game Laws, but the House was very apathetic in the matter as indeed it was for many years and the hon. member's object was frustrated. His speech, however, on that occasion was a trenchant indictment of these laws, being supported by indisputable and 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 309 startling facts as to their mischievous operation. He showed from the evidence of farmers the enor- mous losses consequent upon the existence of the laws, and said he was convinced that unless the cultivators of the soil had security for their capital, and were enabled to employ and pay their labourers, pauperism would constantly increase, and the depres- sion of the rural population remain undiminished. He also strongly complained of the inequitable mode of the administration of the laws with regard to game. The magistrates belonged to a class, nine out of ten of whom were in favour of protection to game. Mr. Bright then showed the serious effect of these laws upon the morals of the labouring classes. In order to find sport for 40,000 persons at the utmost, not less than about 5,000 men were every year subjected to fines and imprisonment for offences against the Game Laws. The true principle of legis- lation on this question was that, while we gave to every man protection for his property, we should at the same time give no special encouragement or sanction by law to the preservation of game. ' You build churches and endow schools ; and you profess a sincere wish that the labouring population of this country should be elevated and civilized; and yet you maintain a system which, by the evidence of your own committees, and by the testimony of all your courts of justice, has done more to demoralize the peasantry than any other thing which can, perhaps, be mentioned.' 310 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. In the session of 1849, the Protectionists, by a side issue, endeavoured to secure a partial re-adoption of their principles. They claimed that the agricultural classes were entitled to compensation and relief under the loss of the lately repealed protecting duties. Mr. Disraeli brought the whole subject of the burdens on land before the House by a resolution which pro- posed to alleviate the difficulties of the landowners by throwing a portion of the rates then assessed upon their property into the general taxation of the country. The mover of the resolution delivered a lengthy and ingenious speech in support of his proposal. Sir Charles Wood (Chancellor of the Exchequer) opposed the motion, and showed that in many European countries a far greater proportion of taxation was borne by the land than in England. Mr. Bright spoke during the debate, and main- tained, from statistics adduced, that no ground had been laid for any change in the existing burdens upon the land, which could be justified, either by the present condition of the tenant farmer, or of the prices of agricultural produce in the English markets. Having endeavoured to penetrate the veil of mystery in which Mr. Disraeli's proposition was enveloped, the hon. member remarked ' It appears to me that it is a proposition intended to withdraw burdens to the amount of some 6,000,000 per annum from certain shoulders on which they are now saddled, and to impose them upon others to relieve, in short, those who now cany them, by transferring them to those who hitherto have not borne them. The hon. gentleman's scheme of redis- tribution would probably reimpose 3,000,000 on those from whom he 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 3 11 would take the present aggregate of 6,000,000, and apportion the other 3,000,000 to other classes of the community. Well ; but the 3,000,000 that he would so withdraw from those who at present pay 6,000,000 would by no means represent the real proportion in which hon. gentlemen opposite desire to relieve the land from its present liabilities, or of the enhanced value which their scheme would practically confer upon the land generally. Assuming the whole aggregate of land in this kingdom capable of cultivation to represent an increase equal to what it, has been stated at by gentlemen opposite, a rise in the value of the fee-simple of an acre, consequent on the remission of three millions of taxation on that aggregate, would be equivalent to 2 per cent., or 60,000,000 sterling. An increased value of 2 per cent, would represent 120,000,000 as the increased value of the land, supposing it to be brought for sale into the market, or that the Legislature sanctioned such a proposition as that which is now before it. I, for one, do not think that these are times in which the Legislature could be brought to listen to any such proposition. It is not likely, I trust, to meet with much favour from this House.' Mr. Bright, in continuing, said that Mr. Disraeli's proposition was not less extraordinary than unjust. He would relieve the English landed interest, but had not a single word to say for Scotch agriculturists, while all he could give to Ireland was advice. The proposal, in fact, reminded him of an old story. ' It happened once, in a country town, and an agricultural district, that a company of strolling players proposed to get up a performance "for the benefit of the poor" of the neighbourhood. It was calculated by those who announced this intention that the object of contributing towards the relief of the poor would certainly induce the gentry to come forward gene- rously in supporting the performance ; and the event proved the soundness of this anticipation. But when it came to a question as to how the proceeds were to be appropriated, the strolling company claimed 3 I 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. them all for themselves, on the principle that they themselves were "the poor" intended.' Mr. Disraeli would procure this hoon for the tenant farmers, although he would not go for the repeal of the malt tax. He (Mr. Bright) was not one of those who thought that the people at large would be much the happier for being relieved from the malt tax; but that tax was injurious to agriculture, and oppressive upon the working- labourer and consumer. But with regard to repeal, and hon. gentlemen opposite ' Their lips are now forbid to speak That once familiar word.' They were told to wait till the proper time should arrive. With regard to the question of Free Trade, Mr. Bright said ' Let hon. gentlemen beware how they turn their attention to the ques- tion of the reimposition of the duties upon corn. If you do so, you are attempting that which, I believe, is as impossible as the repeal of any Act which has passed this House in former times. You might probably effect the repeal of the Keform Bill or the Catholic Emancipation Act in the same session as that in which you reimpose the duty upon corn. Take care what you are about. Hon. gentlemen fancy that there is a lull in the public mind ; that events abroad have frightened people at home. Bear in mind that in all the European capitals a system is being established which will have a strange effect upon the minds of the people in this country, who are looking, and wisely looking, to great and permanent changes in the constitution of Parliament ; and that whilst your conduct is encouraging such ideas, you are leading the farmers of England in the pursuit of that false and uncertain light which must land them hereafter in the midst of difficulties much greater than those which encompass them at present.' They spoke as though Free Trade had failed ; and because the system of Protection was abolished, had 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 313 wreaked their vengeance upon a Minister. 'You have scattered a powerful party you have shown an anger which political parties in this country have scarcely ever exhibited, because through the power, and I will say the patriotism, of the Minister whom you discarded, the industry of this great and growing population has escaped from the pressure of that screw which, through the medium of the Corn Laws, you had laid upon the necessaries of life.' Touching, in conclusion, upon Mr. Hume's amendment for a reduction in the public expenditure, Mr. Bright warned the House that not many sessions would pass before they would be compelled to vote for the measure he recommended. Mr. Hume's amendment having been first nega- tived, Mr. Disraeli's resolution was put to the House, and negatived by 280 to 189. In the session of 1851, the subject was again discussed, under a somewhat different motion, in connection with agricultural distress, also introduced by Mr. Disraeli. The resolution ran as follows : ' That in any relief to be granted by the remission or adjustment of taxation, due regard should be paid to the distressed condition of the owners and occu- piers of land in the United Kingdom.' Mr. Bright applied himself to a direct reply to Mr. Disraeli's speech. He observed that he had now left out of view the agricultural labourers, while he had not brought anything like proof, first of all that the owners and occupiers of land were suffering much, 3*4 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. or, indeed, that they were suffering at all; and, secondly, he had failed to show that they had any special claim to relief, even if they were suffering. There were cases of difficulty among landowners and particularly in Ireland ; but there was no class which passed so triumphantly through every commercial hurricane and disaster as did the class of landed pro- prietors. He denied altogether that the landowners were suffering to an extent which required that they should be pointed out as an ill-used class. Their investments had recently paid better than those of the manufacturers. With regard to the occupiers, he believed that some distress must necessarily arise from the circumstance that the prices of farm pro- duce were temporarily depressed. But Mr. Bright brought forward statistics establishing the significant fact that the land of England and Wales paid in 1833 double the poor-rate which it paid in 1850. The springing up of manufacturing towns and villages in every direction, with their taxation to the poor- rate, relieved to a certain extent the land from the burdens to which it had been subjected. Undoubt- edly, however, the condition of the tenant-farmer was one which every man must regard with sympathy. Those who suffered most notoriously held more land than they had capital to cultivate. If landowners bought land only to obtain political influence, they were on the road to ruin. If a tenant-farmer took more land than he could properly cultivate in refer- ence to his capital, he was also on the road to ruin. 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 315 There was one thing that operated most injuriously against the farmers, and that was the Game Laws. The tenant-farmers could not at once jump into a state of unequivocal prosperity. ' If they do get into a better position, it can only he by paths which are very evident ; in some cases, by reductions in the rents ; in other cases, by increase of produce ; and in most cases, by a more successful adaptation of the powers of their farms to the production of those articles which the markets would be most willing to take from them.' Mr. Bright having shown that there was a considerable diminution of crime generally throughout the country, said in conclusion, ' I believe in my conscience that if you talk here for ever of agricultural distress, you will still find that there is no remedy which it is in the power of Parliament to give. The only possible chance for the farmers is in the exercise of those virtues and those talents by which the rest of their countrymen thrive ; and if they exercise their own energies, and cultivate the quality of self-reliance, I am convinced that this country, with the finest roads, with the best markets, and with a favourable climate, will be found to triumph not only in her manufactures, but also in her agriculture.' Mr. Disraeli's motion on this occasion was only rejected by the narrow majority of 13, in a House com- posed of 513 members. Mr. Bright's insistance upon the principles of Free Trade was perfectly thorough in all matters into which those principles entered, as 3 I 6 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. well as regarded their effect upon agriculture. Thus during the debates in connection with the repeal of the Navigation Laws, he said that he supported the repeal of those laws on the broad ground on which he had supported free trade in corn namely, that the people of this country had an undoubted right to the best and cheapest transit of the produce of their industry. Adam Smith had most reluctantly tolerated navigation laws, not on the ground of protection to shipping, but for the purpose of maintaining that naval influence which this country had been so anxious often he (Mr. Bright) believed unwisely to possess. Questions affecting the representation of the people and Parliamentary Keform arose frequently in the House of Commons during the sessions with which we are now dealing. On the 4th of June, 1849, for example, Mr. Hume moved for leave to bring in a Bill to Amend the National Kepresentation. This proposed measure included household suffrage, the ballot, triennial Parliaments, and a more equal pro- portion of representatives to population. The scheme was supported by Mr. Berkeley, Mr. Locke King, Mr. Bright, and Mr. Bernal Osborne, and opposed by Sir George Grey, Mr. Newdegate, Lord John Eussell, and others. Mr. Bright, in the course of his speech, said that in all civilized nations there was a movement in favour of a Government more under the control of the people, and more in accord- ance with their interests. The measure proposed by 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 317 Mr. Hume was in accordance with the theory of the constitution ; the existing mode of representation was not consistent with that theory, nor with the interests of the nation; it excluded masses of the community, qualified hy knowledge and moral cul- ture for the franchise, from their just privileges and rights. Lord John BusselTs argument that further change was unnecessary, as Parliament had passed good measures since the Eeform Act, would prove that that Act itself was unnecessary ; hut even now Parliament turned a deaf ear to suggestions for the diminution of taxation, and the present system engendered discontent amongst large classes of the country, which it would he better now, hefore they were exasperated, to remove, by proving that the old system of compelling Parliament to do justice had gone by. At this time Mr. Dickens's novels had become very popular, and Mr. Bright, we doubt not, read and admired them. In the following passage from the speech with which we are now concerned there is a reference to an amusing passage in one of the great humorist's novels : ' An illustrious member of Sir Robert Peel's Government declared, in 1829, that the sole alternative of Catholic Emancipation was civil war, and to avert civil war emancipation was granted ; surely it was not a wise constitution which allowed things to grow to such a pass. The noble lord's Reform Bill was passed in a hurricane of popular feeling, without which it would not have passed at all. The constitution was helped on by brickbats, the carriages of the noble lords and hon. gentlemen who opposed the measure being smashed over and over again, in many towns and villages of this country ; surely it was not a perfect constitution that required the fillip of brickbats. Mr. Dickens has a story of a Captain THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. Cuttle, who, in making a boy a present of a very large watch, tells him that if he only puts it on a quarter of an hour every morning at breakfast, and half an hour every day at dinner, it will do him credit ; but whatever the case with Captain Cuttle's watch, the constitution which needs such vehement jerks to keep it moving, is scarcely one of a very creditable description. ... I can have no respect for a constitution, or a system of representation or legislation, which requires the menace of civil war ere it will grant Catholic Emancipation which must call in the aid of brickbats to enable it to give the Keform Bill and which must be driven into the Sale of the Encumbered Estates Bill by the starvation of half a million of the people of Ireland.' Mr. Hume's motion was lost by 268 to 82 ; but in the small band of advanced Liberals were included the names of Mr. M. T. Bass, Mr. Bouverie, Mr. Bright, Sir W. Clay, Mr. Cobden, Mr. (afterwards Lord Chief Justice) Cockburn, Mr. Milner Gibson, Mr. Locke King, Sir W. Molesworth, Mr. Bernal Osborne, Mr. Villiers, Lord Dudley Stuart, and Mr. Page Wood, afterwards Lord Hatherley. Early in the session of 1851 Mr. Locke King moved for leave to bring in a bill to extend the franchise in counties to .10 occupiers, and the motion was carried against Government by 100 votes to 52. In the ensuing April, however, when the second reading of Mr. King's bill came on, a different result occurred, the bill being lost by 299 to 83. Mr. Bright spoke in its support, observing that Lord John Russell had admitted that the class was entitled to the fran- chise, but had, at the same time, suggested consti- tutional reasons why a franchise suited for boroughs was not suited for counties. He (Mr. Bright) thought the House might discuss this bill in order to see whether it should not form part of the proposed 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 3 '9 general measure. This was not a question of prin- ciple, as regarded the suffrage, but merely one of limits. A measure of this kind ought not to be looked at as a means of placing Whigs or Protectionists in office, but to be taken on its own principle, and with reference to the particular class of persons intended to be enfranchised. There was, however, a very strong opposition to the bill, and, as we have seen, it was lost by a large majority. When Lord John Russell introduced his Reform Bill in 1852, Mr. Bright said that although he disapproved of some portions of the measure, which fell short of what the country expected, there were yet other portions which would give some degree of satisfaction to large classes. He regretted that Lord John had not, by the ballot, taken out of the hands of employers the strong temptation to exercise a most coercive influence, and that in a manner which was degrading to those who were under them in social relations, and which would be hurtful both to the House and the country. Something ought also to have been done with regard to the small boroughs. He thought the county franchise, reduced to .20, still too high, and urged that the principle of dis- franchisement should have been carried further, that larger constituencies should have additional repre- sentatives, or that new constituencies should be created. A Ministerial crisis occurring shortly after the introduction of the bill, nothing further was done with the measure of 1852. 320 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. During the debate on Mr. Berkeley's motion for the adoption of the Ballot in 1853, Mr. Bright, in sup- porting the proposition, showed that the number of election petitions had risen from 33 in the year 1833, to 67 in 1853. There had been since the Eeform Bill 315 petitions, and it needed no argument to show that, under these circumstances, the House stood in a position of considerable humiliation before the country and the world. The hon. member entered into lengthy details showing the kind of pressure exercised upon constituencies, for which the ballot would be an almost certain remedy. If they did not wish to appear hypocrites in the eyes of the world, it became hon. members either to point out a remedy as good as that of the hon. member's for Bristol, or to vote for the introduction of this bill, in order that it might be sent to the other House of Parliament. The House, however, decided against Mr. Berkeley's motion by 232 to 172. Twice Mr. Bright spoke upon the question of Church-rates. Supporting Mr. Trelawny's motion for a select committee on this subject in the session of 1851, he illustrated the grievances of Dissenters in regard to forcible seizures of property for rates. The question was one of only some .250,000 a year, and he exhorted Churchmen to settle it for ever. The law was most dubious with regard to these rates; and there were no two lawyers in the kingdom who would give the same opinion in reference to them. Whatever Minister might be in power, he would find 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 3 21 it beneficial to the interests of the Church to make a clean sweep of all matters which were not alone unjust towards the Dissenters, but materially inju- rious to the Church itself. A committee was ap- pointed, but its report when presented contained no conclusion. The question consequently came up again in 1853, when Dr. Phillimore moved to bring in a bill to alter and amend the law respecting Church- rates. Sir W. Clay proposed an amendment in favour of the abolition of the rates. Mr. Bright thought that provision might be made for the repair of churches out of Church property. The question of Church-rates, if the House chose to grapple with it, was very simple. If a bill was passed, merely abolish- ing those rates without any other provision, sufficient sums, in his opinion, would be raised by voluntary contributions in every parish for the repair of the fabric of the church. The pleasure resulting from the abolition of Church-rates would not be confined to Dissenters, but would be largely shared in by those who were members of the Church. The House, however, was not yet sufficiently advanced in opinion to do this. The amendment was rejected by 207 to 185, and Dr. Phillimore's original motion by 220 to 172. Taxes on knowledge, and all restrictions upon the freedom of the press, have ever had a strong opponent in Mr. Bright. Several instances of this occurred in the session of 1853. A question arose in February respecting the Peace Society and the enlistment for 21 322 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. the Militia. Certain persons in Buckinghamshire having distributed placards animadverting on the Militia Bill, the Government ordered a prosecution. Mr. Bright condemned the prosecution of persons who had merely attempted to dissuade others from entering the militia by distributing a few illustrated placards. The present Emperor of the French com- plained more of the pictures in Punch and the Illus- trated London News than the articles, because his people understood the one and not the other; but it was monstrous that in this free country, the monarch of which was so much beloved, and the Government one in which so many persons placed confidence, that people, for circulating a few placards such as he had described, should be rendered ame- nable to a prosecution. Lord Palmerston, who had previously attacked the Peace Society, announced that the prosecutions had been absolutely and entirely stopped, but in stating this he again attacked the members of the 'Society,' as being 'much too good to be entrusted with any political functions in this wicked and sinful world.' His lordship, nevertheless, subsequently found that many of the members of the Society were men who must be reckoned with, and who were by no means to be despised. In the House of Commons, on the 14th of April, 1853, Mr. Milner Gibson brought forward the subject of the taxes upon knowledge. He moved three reso- lutions, to the effect that the advertisement duty ought to be repealed ; that the policy of subjecting 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 3 2 3 the cheap periodical press to stamp duties and other restrictions was inexpedient ; that the law relative to taxes on newspapers was in an unsatisfactory state ; and, lastly, that the Excise duty on paper materially obstructed good cheap literature, and that the main- tenance of this tax as a permanent source of revenue would be impolitic, and would impede the progress of education. The Chancellor of the Exchequer admitted that the law relating to taxes on newspapers was in an unsatisfactory state, but thought the House would set a mischievous precedent by condemning taxes on isolated grounds, without regard to the expenditure of the country. Mr. Bright, in supporting the motion said that Mr. Gibson's speech had not been answered. These duties were not brought forward as unjust taxes, but as instruments which restrained the press; and it was time that a Government professing a regard for education should deal with these taxes. It was not a question of revenue, for it could be shown that if the advertisement and stamp duties were abolished, the loss of revenue would be so small as not to be put in the balance against the advan- tages which would arise from it. Lord Brougham had said that the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge had found it impossible to reach those classes of society of which the agricultural labourers formed the chief portion, with their publications. For those classes the existing newspapers were too large and too expensive, and treated of matters quite 324 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. beyond their limited information. They had in them more than the peasant had the heart to read : he wanted to know little about foreign affairs, but every- thing that was applicable to his own condition. Nothing was more true than the remark that what a man did know must be made the medium of com- municating information to him ; and when you in- terested his faculties in a variety of subjects, and enlarged his circle of information, you might at last have an educated people. Keferring to mischievous publications, Mr. Bright held that the only way to counteract their evil tendency was to make the press free to make the press the censor and corrector of the press. With the general agreement which existed in the opinion that the people should have no restric- tions placed on their education, that free discussion was the law of the constitution, and the law of the prevalent religion of this country, he could not believe that the House would permit any Chancellor of the Exchequer for any long period to insist on main- taining taxes which placed restrictions on the means of education. Mr. Cobden said he felt so strongly on this matter, that after giving the subject of national education his patient and constant study for many years, he came to the deliberate conviction that it was better that the taxes upon knowledge should be removed to-morrow, than even that all the votes at present granted to promote educational purposes should be continued. Upon a division, Mr. Gibson's first 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 3 2 5 resolution was carried against the Government by 200 to 169, the second was negatived by 280 to 98, and the third by 270 to 80. On the 1st of July the question was again discussed, when the Chancellor of the Exchequer moved a resolution that the advertisement duty should be reduced to sixpence. Mr. Milner Gibson moved an amendment that all duties chargeable on advertisements be repealed, in accordance with the resolution passed on the 14th of April. Mr. Bright, in opposing Mr. Gladstone's resolution, said the Chancellor of the Exchequer would find that if the advertisement duty were wholly repealed, there would be an enormous gain from the Post Office alone. He would receive more than the sixpence from the letters passing through the Post Office which the advertisements would occasion. The Stamp Act was allowed so to work that it fell almost exclu- sively upon political newspapers. It was scandalous that such a state of things should be allowed to exist. Having described the creditable manner in which the New York Tribune was produced, and its fulness of information, Mr. Bright asked the Government how it was and for what good end and by what contrivance of fiscal oppression that an English workman should have to pay fivepence for a London morning paper, while his direct com- petitor in New York could buy a paper for one penny. We were running a race in the face of all the world with the United States ; but with such things there 326 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. could not possibly be any fair rivalry between the artisans of the two countries. There was nothing in this country that was taxed to so scandalous an amount, as a mere matter of industry. There was an overwhelming case for the total abolition of all taxes upon the press. The stamp was kept from fear that what passed in that House, and all political information, should become free and cheap to the people ; and not wishing to avow that, the argu- ment of fiscal difficulties was used in order to maintain a tax which was perhaps the most dis- graceful that in the year 1853 remained upon the Statute-book of the country. Mr. Gladstone consented to Mr. Milner Gibson's amendment relating to pamphlets and other literary works, provided they were not continued periodically. The question that sixpence stand part of the resolution was negatived by 68 against 63, leaving the Government in a minority of five. The Chair- man then put the resolution as amended, with a cypher instead of sixpence, and in that form it was carried by 70 against 61. So that the cause of the freedom of the press triumphed. On the subject of oaths, Mr. Bright expressed himself on several occasions. When the Parlia- mentary Oaths Bill of 1849 was discussed, he said he was prepared to maintain that every man who, under the constitution, was elected a member of that House, had a fair right, on all the principles of that constitution, to enter that House on the 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 327 same terms and with the same powers as other members, and was to be considered fully entitled to exercise his judgment upon, and to vote upon, any and all subjects that came before him. Oaths were not necessary or effectual for any good purpose ; and no man could pretend that civil or religious equality in that House was complete so long as this system prevailed. He believed that the public respect for truth would be greatly increased were oaths abolished altogether, and men taught that the pledge of their word and their honour laid an obligation upon them the most impressive that could be imposed. Again, when the remarkable case of Mr. Alderman Salomons occurred in 1851, Mr. Bright took part in the debate. Mr. Salomons, a member of the Jewish community, had been elected member for Greenwich, and determined to take his seat. He repeated the oath of abjuration at the table of the House of Commons, but omitted the concluding words, ' on the true faith of a Christian.' Being directed by the Speaker to withdraw, he at first took his seat in the House, but afterwards retired below the bar. A discussion ensued, which was eventually postponed. On the 21st of July, Mr. Salomons again entered the House, and took his seat on the Ministerial benches. A very stormy debate followed, and three divisions took place, in two of which Mr. Salomons himself voted. Mr. Bethell delivered an opinion in favour of the competency of Mr. Salomons to sit upon 328 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. taking the oath as he had done ; but Sir F. Thesiger maintained a contrary opinion. Mr. Bright rose and said that he would not go into the question of law, for as far as law was con- cerned they was completely in the dark. As to precedent, the House had done more in 1832 than it was now asked to do. In the case of Mr. Pease, the House left out the words ' on the true faith of a Christian ; ' he was a Christian, and there was no need for the omission. He did not like to use the words * on the true faith of a Christian,' because he understood the expression to be in the nature of an oath, and to oaths of any kind the Society of Friends entertained a conscientious and insurmount- able objection, and the House dropped them. But it did more it did not require him to promise to defend the Crown ; and it, moreover, absolved him from taking several oaths, and permitted him to make one affirmation. ' Why, then, if members of the Society of Friends, being Christians, were permitted to omit these particular words from their Parlia- mentary declaration, was Mr. Salomons, not being a Christian, to be compelled to repeat those words, he declaring them to be in no way binding upon his conscience, and offering, at the same time, to take the oath which was binding on his conscience? The people of this country were loyal enough with- out these oaths. No men were sent there who needed to be bound in their allegiance to the Sove- reign, or their obedience to the law, by any oaths 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 32Q whatsoever, especially by such oaths as those passed two or three centuries ago. He should like some clean sweep to be made of these oaths, and that they should regard each other, as he believed they were, as patriotic citizens of their country coming there to do that which was their duty to their country, and not binding themselves in the slightest degree by those antiquated forms of asseveration which our ancestors of old had enacted, and which were totally unsuited to the times in which we lived. Mr. Salomons being called upon, addressed the House in a short speech. On a vote being taken, the House affirmed by 231 against 81 the motion that Mr. Salomons should withdraw. The hon. member refused to do so unless compelled, where- upon the Sergeant-at-Arms was directed to remove him, and he then retired. On the following day Lord John Kussell moved a resolution denying the right of Mr. Salomons to sit until he had taken the usual oath. The debate was prolonged through two evenings, and after several amendments and divisions the original motion was carried by 123 to 63. In the session of 1853 the question of the Jewish Disabilities was again debated, and Lord John Eussell brought in a bill for their abolition. The bill passed its first and second readings by con- siderable majorities. A further debate ensued on the third reading on the 15th of April, and during this debate Mr. Bright delivered a lengthy speech. He observed that the sentiment against the bill had 330 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP, x: now sunk down to the phrase that they were about to unchristianize the House of Commons. It always seemed to him that this feeling came from that appetite for supremacy which sprung from the fact that we had in England a powerful and dominant Church, connected chiefly with a powerful ruling class, and that step by step the people of this country, one section after another, had wrested from that Church, and that class, the rights of citizenship which they claimed, and which they now enjoyed. ' Now, what can be more marvellous,' asked Mr. Bright, ' than that any sane man should propose that doctrinal differences in religion should be made the test of citizenship and political rights? Doctrinal differences in religion, in all human probability, will last for many generations to come, and may possibly last so long as man shall inhabit this globe ; but if you permit these differences to be the tests of citizenship, what is it but to admit into your system this fatal conclusion, that social and political differences in all nations can never be eradicated, but must be eternal ? ' Keferring to Sir H. Inglis, one of the members for Oxford University, as a person who drew his political morality from the Old Testament Scriptures, Mr. Bright said : ' I cannot see, if the hon. baronet takes his public morality from these writings, and if Baron Rothschild takes his from the same source, and if the question of citizenship be not a matter of doctrinal religion, but of the due performance of 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 33 l our duties to each other and to the State I cannot see why the hon. baronet should, for thirty or forty years, have sat in this House, and Baron Eothschild, elected by the first constituency of the kingdom, be shut out.' But he (Mr. Bright) was told that there was an awful power in another place. He did not mean Lords Temporal so much as Lords Spiritual. He had no great opinion of bishops in any case. But of all subjects, this was about the very last on which he should like to take the opinion of the bishops of the Church of England. High titles, vast revenues, great power, conferred upon Christian ministers, were as without warrant to his mind in Scripture as in reason. They could not give an un- biassed, impartial judgment on a question like this. The House of Commons had decided in favour of this bill; and if the House of Commons repre- sented the country, the country was in favour of the bill. Fourteen times the measure had been carried by large majorities, but it had been rejected by the other House, sometimes almost with contempt. ' If the British constitution affords no remedy for this state of things, it is not worth all the boasting which the noble lord and others have heaped upon it. There are two remedies for this evil. The one is the creation of new peers. Do not for a moment imagine that I should recommend it. I think the remedy might be worse than the disease; but that is one of the remedies, as I understand it, which the constitution offers to the Crown in cases of 332 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. this nature, provided the case be of sufficient magnitude.' Then there was another remedy that of a ferment or agitation in the country. He had seen ferments in the country, but did not much admire them. He wanted arguments and sound principles of legislation to prevail within the Houses of Parliament, and not the fear of anything that might take place outside. But the bill must be passed. ' I cannot say,' continued Mr. Bright, * whether there is any other remedy than the creation of peers, and agitation out of doors ; but let it be a resolution on the part of the Government that this bill shall pass that they will make it a matter on which their existence, as a Government, shall be staked and if it should not be passed, upon those persons be the responsibility of forming a Government who shall prevent this measure of justice to the Jewish population of this country.' He begged the House to get rid of this question, and to see that the Commons House of England was open to the Commons of England, and that every man, whatever his creed, if elected by a constituency of his countrymen, should sit in that House, and vote on all matters which affected the legislation of the kingdom. The third reading of the bill was carried by 288 to 230. When it came before the House of Lords, however, on the motion of the Earl of Shaftesbury, the second reading was negatived by 164 to 115, so that the bill was once more lost. 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 333 One more important question in Parliament demands attention. Early in 1851 a panic prevailed in England on the subject of Papal aggression. The See of Kome had created an Archbishop of West- minster, and the organization of the heads of the Eomish Church in this country had heen generally changed without the knowledge or consent of the Government. The public excitement over this step was greatly increased by Lord John Eussell's famous ' Durham letter,' and the cry of l No Popery ' was raised. On the assembling of Parliament, the Prime Minister accordingly introduced the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, a measure which prohibited Catholic bishops from assuming any title from any place or territory within the United Kingdom. A long debate took place on the 7th of February, on Lord John Eussell's moving for leave to introduce the bill. Amongst those who strongly opposed the measure was Mr. Bright. He began by remarking that the worst he would say of Lord John's letter was that it was written under feelings of excitement which were hardly becoming a Prime Minister, and which would not add to the noble lord's character as a judicious statesman. But he had appealed to the bigotry of the country. The. end of all this excitement was not yet. There was a belief that the Eoman Catholic religion was making rapid strides in the United Kingdom, and that this measure of the Pope was an indication of its progress ; and thinking, as he did, that it would be 334 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. a calamity to this kingdom if it should return to Catholicism, he proceeded to inquire how far our past policy had been calculated to make this a Protestant empire. In the course of this inquiry, Mr. Bright described the Irish Church, abounding in wealth, and leagued, as he affirmed, with the civil power in acts of oppression, as being at the root of the extended Catholicism of Ireland. And how had our legislation acted with regard to the Koman Catholic religion in England? According to the noble lord's letter, the Church of England, which had been called the bulwark of Protestantism, was a kind of manufactory of home Popery. Notwith- standing the power and influence of the episcopacy in England, and its revenues, the depth of which the plummet of inquiry had never sounded, not only had the Church of England not saved the country from Popery, but -it was said to be deeply infected with it ; yet it was the ascendancy of this Church that the bill of the noble lord was intended to bolster up, and which he believed would be impotent for the object in view. ' I will neither legislate against the Catholics,' said Mr. Bright, 'nor in support of the Establishment ; and however much the noble lord may succeed in gratifying the passions or in satisfying the prejudices of his followers out of doors, I see nothing but evil in the course he is pursuing, and therefore I must withhold my consent from this mischievous bill.' At the close of a four nights' debate, there was an 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 335 enormous majority for Ministers, the numbers being for the introduction of the bill, 395 ; against, 63. In consequence of a Ministerial crisis which occurred shortly afterwards, the bill dropped ; but upon the resumption of office by the Whig Government, it was reintroduced with some alterations. On the order for the second reading on the 7th of March, Sir George Grey explained the provisions of the amended measure. Its leading features, however, remained the same. A debate which lasted for seven nights occurred on the second reading. The bill was opposed by the Earl of Arundel and Surrey, Mr. Eoundell Palmer (Lord Selborne), Mr. Card well, Mr. Eoebuck, Mr. Hume, and Mr. Gladstone ; and supported by Sir Eobert Peel (in a maiden speech), Sir George Grey, and others. The second reading was carried by 438 to 95. Further lengthy discussions took place in committee, and at various stages of the bill; and during one of these debates, on the 12th of May, Mr. Bright delivered a second important speech against the measure. After condemning certain speeches made at the Mansion House by high officers of the Crown, the hon. member said that he had observed almost all that had appeared in the papers during this agitation, and as yet there had been no logical definition of the injury that had been inflicted on the country, and no agreement as to any remedy which Parliament could provide. The noble lord was now conscious of his difficulty with regard to Ireland, but he could not withdraw Ireland without 336 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. overthrowing the whole speech upon which his legis- lation was founded. The noble lord objected to the Synod of Thurles ; but if the two churches were compared, they must be driven to the conclusion that the Protestant bishops and clergy were quite as meddlesome in politics as the Catholics, and more especially upon this very question of national educa- tion. An instance could not be cited in which the Catholic bishops of Ireland had broken the law ; and although he despised and loathed the language of the Pope, it was rather a form than a substance. As to the alleged attack on the supremacy of the Crown by a foreign Power, said Mr. Bright, ' the supremacy of the Queen is, in the sense used by the noble lord, no better than a fiction. There might have been such a supremacy down to the times of James II., but now there is no supremacy but that of the three estates of the realm, and the supremacy of the law. The Queen is the chief of the Established Church ; but that Church has not been assailed either in its wealth or power. The Queen has not the power of making Roman Catholic bishops, and therefore the making of them by the only Power on earth that has authority to make them, is no invasion of the pre- rogative of the Crown.' One Church always looked upon another as a usurper. He was no friend to bishops of any Church, but if they were necessary for the Anglican Church, who could say they were not necessary for the Church of Eome ? If the bishops were natives here, and appointed with the 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 337 consent of those over whom they would subsequently exercise control, it was reasonable to suppose that the Eoman Catholic Church would become more national in character than when ruled over by the Pope and the statutes of his council. ' The noble lord has designated the proceeding as an insult to the Crown, and an attack on the independence of the nation. I wish he could get rid of the silly and groundless fears he entertains on these points. To talk of this nation, its Crown and independence, being menaced by a petty sovereign or prince at Rome, is really too ludicrous.' Yet the country was misled by these phrases, which were so misused by the Prime Minister. The question now was not one of Protestantism but of politics. The Pope and Cardinal Wiseman had acted foolishly ; but the noble lord did not touch them. The true sufferers would be the wearer of the Crown, and the millions of subjects professing the Roman Catholic religion. The Romish Church would take fresh hope from the paroxysm of terror and alarm into which the Protestants of England had thrown themselves. It was evident that the Prime Minister was in a quagmire, and he knew it well. It would be far better for the interests of the Crown, of the Kingdom, of the House, and of Christianity, if the Bill were withdrawn, instead of being proceeded with. The bill was repudiated by all classes, and the press repudiated it. It was well understood that the noble lord was practising a cheat, a delusion 22 338 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. on the people of England. This measure, while it insulted Eoman Catholics, offered no defence to Protestants. Men who were really attached to the Church of England were not in favour of the measure. Some members were disposed to yield to the cry for the bill, 'We ought to resist the cry, to stem the torrent ; and it will be infi- nitely more honourable to go home to our avocations, if we have any, and abandon public life for ever, in defence of principles we have always held to be true, rather than be instruments of a cry to create discord between the Irish and English nations, and to perpetuate animosities which the last twenty-five years have done much to lessen. We are here to legislate calmly and deliberately, without reference to the passions and contending factions that may rage out of doors ; we are in a position to see that the course in which the noble lord has been so recklessly dragging us is fruitful in discord, hatred, religious animosities that it has separated Ireland from this country, has withdrawn her national sympathies from us, and has done an amount of mischief which the legislation of the next ten years cannot entirely, if at all, abate.' Mr. Bright maintained that if the Premier had foreseen all the difficulties arising out of this bill, he would not have touched it ; but he would not now withdraw it, because it would be humiliating to do so. Yet it was equally humiliating to go on with it, for no practical end could result from it. With this effective passage the hon. member concluded his speech : 'The noble lord has drawn up an indictment against eight millions of his countrymen ; he has increased the power of the Pope over the Roman Catholics, for he has drawn closer the bonds between them and their Church and the head of their Church. The noble lord has quoted Queen Elizabeth and the great men of the Commonwealth, as though it were necessary now to adopt the principles which prevailed almost universally two hundred years ago. Does the noble lord forget that we are the true ancients, that we stand on the shoulders of our forefathers 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 339 and can see farther? We have seen the working of these principles, and their result, and have concluded to abandon them. ' I have not touched on any matter purely religious ; this House is not the place for religious questions. But reflecting on the deep mysteries of religion, on my own doubts and frailties, on the shortness of the present time, and on the awful and unknown future, I ask, What am I that I should judge another in religious things, and condemn him to exclusion and persecution ? I fear not for the country on questions like this. England, with a united population though the noble lord has done much to disunite them cares nothing for foreign potentates, be their combinations what they may. England, with her free press, her advancing civilization, her daily and hourly progress in the arts, sciences, industry, and morals, will withstand any priestly attempts to subjugate the mind, and successfully resist any menaces, whether coming from Lambeth or from Rome. I am one of a sect which has invariably held the principles I now advocate, which has in past years suffered greatly from those principles which the noble lord now wishes to introduce into our Legislature. I cannot do otherwise than raise my voice against such au attempt, and ask the noble lord to proceed no further.' The bill eventually passed both Houses of Parlia- ment and became law ; but of all legislation of equal magnitude, and of all measures exciting an equal amount of feeling and interest, the Ecclesiastical Titles Act was probably the most ineffective and the most nugatory. Some mention remains to be made of Mr. Bright's appearances out of the House of Commons at this period. Before the question of Keform was mooted in the House, he attended a great meeting on the subject held in the Free Trade Hall, Man- chester, when some eight thousand persons were present. Mr. Cobden accompanied him, and the speeches of the two members roused the men of Manchester to enthusiasm on this subject, an enthusiasm, however, which was doomed to be 340 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. somewhat cooled by the apathy of the Government of the day. The Peace Society, which for thirty years had convened periodical gatherings, held a meeting in the Town Hall, Birmingham, on the 27th of November, 1850. The speakers included Mr. Joseph Sturge, the Kev. J. Angell James, Mr. Cobden, and Mr. Bright. The last named, after referring to the facilities for extending our intercourse with the European Continent and with the United States, and alluding also to the Great Exhibition, said : ' We know such things as these are but the heralds of those promises which are certain to be fulfilled promises handed down to us in the great Book but for which the world would be in darkness, but wherein we gather the cheering consolation that there shall be peace from one end of the earth to the other. Cast your eyes back over the last thirty-five years ; during the whole of that time we have had a profound peace, and have kept up war establishments notwithstanding, and have therefore gone on adding to our national debt until at length the amount of it has become so large that nobody can measure it, and nobody believes that it will ever be paid off. Look at Ireland ; you have there 40,000 men maintained out of the taxes, and another 10,000 also maintained out of the taxes in the shape of armed police. Fifty thousand men in Ireland armed to keep the peace, under a system where peace is impossible, in a country where for years the misgovernment was such that in Europe it found no parallel.' 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 341 Before the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill was brought forward, but just in the midst of the agitation, Mr. Bright attended a meeting at Manchester, and spoke both with energy and humour on this question. ' There has been,' he said, ' an attempt to frighten the country out of its propriety. I believe the cockneys have been very much frightened I mean the paro- chial mind of the various divisions in London.' But the state of feeling in the North had been entirely different, and he instanced Hull, Leeds, Manchester, and Liverpool in proof of this. ' All this attempt to distract the public mind all this attempt to point the finger of scorn at millions of our fellow-country- men who differ from us in religion all this has failed amongst the three millions of population in the part of this kingdom we inhabit, the counties of Lanca- shire and Yorkshire. I do not know how it is, but there is some fatality about two things that the people of this country have been discussing for gene- rations past Corn and Catholics. This time last year there was almost terror about corn. Some people down here were afraid that corn was going to be shut out, and the squires were making a great disturbance about, not papal, but corn aggression. It is about five hundred years ago that there was a sort of Parliament not, I believe, a very regular one held at Kilkenny, where English interests very much preponderated. They passed what has been called the Statute of Kilkenny a law by which they made it penal, in a high degree, for an Irishman's 34 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. X. liorse to graze upon an Englishman's land. Now from that time to this there has hardly been a session of Parliament when this question of Catholics has not been brought up ; and old women of both sexes, in all parts of the country, have been frightening themselves to death about this Papal aggression.' Towards the close of 1850 there was a consider- able movement in the north of England for the establishment of freehold land societies. Eochdale, amongst other towns, had its society, and celebrated its first purchase of land by a soiree in the Public Hall, on the 31st of January, 1851. The land, which was purchased at a cost of 10,000, was divided into about five hundred allotments. Mr. Bright was the president of the society, and in speaking at the meet- ing he observed that the project was not a visionary- one ; they were not to expect large estates or to have land for nothing; but the society was intended to enable great numbers of persons of limited incomes from wages to possess themselves of a small portion of land sufficient to build a house upon, and it would at any rate produce forty shillings a year rent ; and there could be no doubt that the possession of such a portion of land would give them as clear a right to be upon the register of county voters as if they pos- sessed a large quantity. The movement in Kochdale was very successful, and the greater portion of the land purchased by the society is now covered with residences. When Mr. Sharman Crawford announced his inten- 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 343 tion, in April, 1851, of retiring from the representation of Kochdale, on the ground of ill-health, a requisition was forwarded to Mr. Bright by the Liberal electors, begging that he would allow himself to be put in nomination at the next election for his native town. Mr. Bright wrote declining the invitation, but stating that he regarded this expression of the approbation of his townsmen, and their confidence in his political integrity, ample reward for any sacrifices he had made, and for such services as he had been able to render during his public life. It did not seem con- sistent with his public duty to abandon the post he then occupied. In the year 1847 he had been returned for Manchester without a contest, and he had no reason to suppose that his conduct had been otherwise than acceptable to those who had returned him for one of the very foremost constituencies in the United Kingdom. ' I cannot, therefore,' said the hon. member, l abandon the position to which I have been called, and in which I am conscious only of honest efforts to maintain and advance the great principles upon which I claimed and secured the confidence of the electors of Manchester.' The Eochdale Liberals next applied to Mr. Edward Miall, whom they returned at the general election of 1852 by a substantial majority over the Conservative candidate, Captain Ramsay. When Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot, visited this country in 1851, he was received with great enthu- siasm ; but by no town or city was he more warmly 344 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. welcomed than by Manchester. A meeting in his honour was held in the Free Trade Hall, and when Mr. Bright came forward to move an address to him the scene was most interesting and impressive. 'We are here,' said the member for Manchester, ' espe- cially to express our sympathy with a great and noble nation, suffering from tyranny, from which this country happily has been for generations free. We are here to express our admiration for a most dis- tinguished man, one of the most renowned defenders of liberty which our age and the world can boast of. I look upon him on this platform, a wanderer and an exile though he be, as far more illustrious to our eyes, and far more dear to our hearts, than any crowned head amongst the inonarchs of continental Europe. But there are men who say, "Why, what is the use of your sympathy if you have no regiments and no ships?" Well, I shall take another line of argument, and ask you whether there be any force in opinion, in opinion acting upon the nation. Let me ask you where you are assembled ? Eecollect when this Hall was built recollect by whom it was built recollect that from this platform and from this Hall went forth the voices which generated opinion in England, which concentrated it, which gathered it little by little until it became a power before which huge majorities in both Houses of Parliament became impotent minorities, and the most august and powerful aristocracy of the world had to succumb and finally, that through that opinion in this country 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 345 we struck down for ever the most gigantic tyranny that was ever practised.' Mr. Bright also defended Kossuth in the House of Commons, when it was sought to cast aspersions upon his character. In an address delivered before his constituents in May, 1851, Mr. Bright who appeared in conjunction with Mr. Milner Gibson thus spoke of the relations between members and their constituents, and of the Manchester School : ' Notwithstanding that there is not a man in England with a higher idea of the exalted position of any one who, at all worthy, should occupy the place of your representative yet when I speak of a vote in Parliament, I endeavour to shut out from my mind any idea of controlling influence down here or elsewhere. I am most happy, when I can, to agree with you ; but I think there is a higher, loftier, purer standard for a representative than even the influence of those whom he may repre- sent ; and that standard is his own intelligent, con- scientious convictions of duty on the question which is before- him.' When the applause which followed this independent expression of opinion had subsided, the speaker continued : ' Now, we are called the "Manchester Party," and our policy is the "Man- chester policy," and this, building I suppose is the schoolroom of the " Manchester School." I do not repudiate that name at all. I think it is an honour to ourselves,, and an honour to you, that by your own intelligence, your sacrifices, your combination, your intrepidity, you have actually marked the impression 346 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. of your rnind and your convictions upon the policy of the greatest empire of the globe. We have prin- ciples, and we intend to stand by them. Our prin- ciples are not rash they are not unsound. We have no interest in public misfortune. Our industry thrives in peace ; all that we have in the world depends upon the performance and success of whatever is valuable to the institutions of the country. I am not afraid of the future. We have not, as the chosen people of old had, the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, to lead us through the wilder- ness of human passion and human error, but He who vouchsafed the cloud and the fire has not left us forsaken. We have a guide not less sure, a light not less clear ; we have before us the great principles of justice and mercy which Christianity has taught us, and the advantages of philosophy and experience. Let us trust these principles. Let us believe that they exist for ever unchangeably in the providence of God ; and if we build our national policy upon them, we may rest assured that we shall do all that lies in our power to promote that which is good, and which the patriotic amongst Englishmen have in all ages panted for the lasting happiness and prosperity of this great nation.' Mr. Bright, who has been a great reader of bio- graphy as well as history, referred to the former branch of literature in a speech which he made at the inauguration of the Manchester Free Library. It was a class of reading probably accomplished less 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 347 ably and satisfactorily than some others ; ' but still,' he said, ' there are in this library scores, probably hundreds, of admirable works of biography which you may read with the greatest benefit ; and I may say for myself that there is no description of reading from which I rise, as I can myself discover, more improved by that which I have been engaged in, than when I rise from the study of the biographies of great and good men.' On the platform on this occasion, surrounding the speaker, were many dis- tinguished writers who have added permanently to the literary treasures of the country, including Thackeray, Dickens, Lord Lytton, and Charles Knight. Mr. Bright visited Ireland in the year 1852, and the occasion was seized by the influential merchants and other inhabitants of Belfast to entertain at a public banquet one who had rendered conspicuous service to Ireland, whose general political career they also approved, and who had done so much to release trade from the fetters which formerly bound it. In his speech in response to the toast of the evening, Mr. Bright said, * I have been in your country on this occasion for about a month. I have mixed with all classes, and I have observed as much as any ordinary man could observe within the same time. I have read much about Ireland, and everything leads me to say that this country is a sorrowful spectacle before the world, and that it is your duty, in this industrious town, to lead the way in the improvement of your native country.' 348 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. At the General Election of July, 1852, the Con- servatives determined to oppose the return of Mr. Milner Gibson and Mr. Bright. Candidates were found in the persons of Mr. George Loch, and Captain the Hon. Joseph Denman. The nomination took place in St. Ann's Square. Mr. Gibson's nomination was moved by Alderman Walker, and seconded by Sir E. Armitage ; that of Mr. Bright being moved by Mr. Mark Philips, and seconded by Mr. George Wilson, the hon. member's old Free-trade colleague. The Liberal candidates had the show of hands by an enormous majority, and were also subse- quently victorious at the poll, the numbers being Gibson, 5,752 ; Bright, 5,475 ; Loch, 4,360 ; and Capt. Denman, 3,969. The shadow of a great war already hung over Europe in the year 1853. There was at this period a strong war party in England, which lost no opportunity of spreading its ideas. Kumours of a great impending struggle were freely current ; and the friends of peace endeavoured to counteract the prevailing feeling and sentiment on this question. A conference was held in the Manchester Corn Exchange on. the 27th of January, followed by a public meeting in the evening, presided over by Mr. George Wilson. Mr. Bright,, who was the chief speaker, said : ' We have had uneasiness, and un- necessary preparations for war ; the tinder is abroad now, the train is laid, it wants but some accident to excite a spark to set off this in flames. Taxes 1846-53-] GENERAL LEGISLATION. 349 imposed some taxes not reduced trade disturbed no financial reforms in the coming session no Keform Bill ; and we are told by some of the writers of the Government, the only thing now to be looked at is the defenceless condition of the country ; and if war should arise if war should spring out of these insane proceedings, language wholly fails me to describe the disastrous consequences that must ensue. I draw no picture of blood and crime, of battles by sea and land ; they are common to every war, and nature shudders at the enormities of man ; but I see before me a vast commerce collapsed, a mighty industry paralyzed, and people impoverished and exhausted with ever-increasing burdens, and a gathering discontent. I see this now peaceful land torn with factions our now tranquil population suffering and ferocious, everything good quenched, and everything evil stimulated and exalted. I see sown, as it were, before my eyes, the seeds of internal convulsion and of rapid national decay, and in the mournful vision which must affect the sight of any man who looks forward to these events I behold this great nation, the prolific parent of half the future world, sunk into hopeless ruin, the victim of its own ignorance and credulity, and of the cowardice and crimes of its rulers.' Ill-fated destiny was moving onwards, however, and England was shortly to be engaged in the war in the East a war amongst the most destructive in her history. It has not been without value, we trust, that we 35 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. x. have followed the course of Mr. Bright in regard to these various important public questions. On all of them he assumed the representative attitude of a friend to civil and religious liberty an attitude which he has always consistently preserved. He has been no dark plotter for the overthrow of the monarchy, or the subversion of churches as religious organizations. His principles, alike in those early stages of his career which we have just traced, as in his later years, are very simple. Briefly stated, they are political enfranchisement for the masses, liberty and the full rights of citizenship for the individual, perfect freedom of commercial intercourse between this and all other nations, and the severance of religion from the bonds of the State. CHAPTER XI. RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR. Origin of the Crimean War. The Holy Places. Russia, Turkey, and the Christian Protectorate. Declaration of War by Turkey. Mr. Bright on British Interests and the Integrity of Turkey. War Fever in England. Sir Charles Napier and the Peace Society. Powerful Speech by Mr. Bright. Mr. Kinglake on the attitude of Cobden and Bright. Deputation from the Peace Society to the Czar. Treaty of Alliance between England, France, and Turkey. Mr. Bright on Sir C. Napier and the English Cabinet. Flippancy of Lord Pal- merston. Declaration of Hostilities against Russia. Debate in the House of Commons. Elaborate Speech by Mr. Bright. University Reform, Church Rates, etc. The Manchester Patriotic Fund Meeting. Letter from Mr. Bright. The Law of Vattel. The Vienna Note. The Policy of the English Govern- ment. Effects of Mr. Bright's Letter. Meetings at Manchester. War Debates in the House of Commons. Gross Mismanagement of the War. Mr. Bright condemns the War with singular eloquence and power. Memorable Scene during his Speech. in the language of the Earl of -* ^ Clarendon, found herself ' drifting into war ' at the close of the year 1853. The attitude which Mr. Bright assumed in the great Eusso-Turkish conflict rendered him for a time very unpopular with a large body of his countrymen, and as his speeches on the Crimean War are in some respects amongst the most important he ever delivered, before dealing with these addresses, we shall briefly describe the events of this momentous period. Russia had long been credited with designs upon Turkey, and as far back as the year 1844 the 35 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xr. . Czar had conversed with the Duke of Wellington and Lord Aberdeen on the probable dissolution of the Turkish Empire. The Emperor Nicholas em- bodied his views in a Memorandum, which was transmitted to London, but kept secret for ten years that is, until 1854 by the British Cabinet. In 1853, a dispute arose between the Greek and Latin Churches as to the exclusive possession of the Holy Places; and in this dispute Eussia and France took opposite sides. On the recommendation of the Porte, a Mixed Commission was formed, which decided in favour of the Greeks, and a firman was promulgated to this effect. France was dissatisfied with this, and the quarrel soon assumed a wider scope. The Russians demanded that a convention should be signed by the Sultan, granting to the Czar such a protectorate over the Greek Christians in Turkey as the Sultan considered inimical to his own authority. A Conference of representatives of England, France, Austria, and Prussia met at Vienna on the 31st of July, and agreed to a Note. This was accepted by the Czar, but the Sultan subsequently required modifications which Russia rejected. On the 14th of September, two English and two French ships entered the Dardanelles, and on the 5th of October the Sultan declared war against Russia. There was a strong feeling in England against the Northern Power; and on the very day after the declaration of war by Turkey, a meeting was 1853-56-] RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR. 353 held at the Manchester Athenaeum for the purpose of denouncing the conduct of Eussia, and of en- couraging the British Government to protect British interests and to preserve the integrity of Turkey. Mr. Bright, in reply to an invitation to attend tins meeting, wrote : * I cannot conceive anything more unwise than to endeavour to excite public opinion to drive the Government into war with Eussia in defence of Turkey. If such a war should he undertaken, I believe our children and posterity will judge us precisely as we now judge those who involved this country in war with the American colonies and with France, with this difference only, that we shall be held to be so much more guilty, inasmuch as having had the blunders and crimes of our forefathers to warn us and to guide us, we have wilfully shut our eyes to the lesson which their unfortunate policy has left us. Manchester, and the two millions of people in this district, I hope and believe regard those men as their worst enemies, who, by any act at this moment, shah 1 weaken the efforts of Lord Aberdeen to preserve the peace of Europe. If men would let their reason guide them rather than their feelings, I am sure the pressure of public influence would be for peace, and not for war. War will not save Turkey if peace cannot save her ; but war will brutalize our people, increase our taxes, destroy our industry, and postpone the promised Parliamentary Eeform, it may be for many years.' But the appeal was made in vain. The war fever 23 354 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xi. had already severely attacked the great bulk of the population. Admiral Sir Charles Napier, speaking at a meeting on the 8th, held at the London Tavern, said he saw there was to he a Peace Conference at Edinburgh on the 13th, 'and Mr. Bright and all the peaceable men were to be there. He was a peace- able man, and he was going too.' The Conference met on the 12th in due course. Eleven members of Parliament were present, including Messrs. Cobden, Bright, Miall, Hadfield, Cowan, and Heyworth ; and amongst others who attended were the Rev. Dr. Guthrie, Dr. John Brown, Mr. Joseph Sturge, and Mr. Elihu Burritt. Mr. Cobden delivered a powerful speech ; but the chief interest centred in the second day's proceedings, when it was known that Sir Charles Napier would attend, and fulfil his threat of bearding the Peace Society on its own ground. The gallant Admiral combated the notion that naval and military men were always for war and large establishments. Lord Nelson was not fond of bloodshed or war, and the Duke of Wellington was always a peace man, after the war was over,' he added, amid loud laughter. Sir Charles went on to say that he was just as anxious for peace as his hon. friend Mr. Cobden ; but the plan propounded by the latter was not the way to preserve peace. The views of the Peace Society were perfectly right, 1 if you can carry them into execution.' The speaker defended such an army and navy for England as would be sufficient for her protection, showed the 1853-56.] RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR.. 355 great power which Eussia possessed, and concluded by expressing his opinion that if France and England' did not come forward hand in hand, and the other nations of Europe, to prevent the hostilities between' Russia and Turkey, no man would see the last of that war. He was as fond of peace as any one could be, but he was not one of those who would support non-resisting opinions. Mr. Bright followed. Having shown the ground- lessness of previous alarms, he went on to say that the right time to oppose the errors and prejudices of the people never comes in the eyes of those writers in the public press who pander to these preju- dices. l They say, We must not do so and so ; we shall embarrass the Government. But rumour says the Government has been pretty well embarrassed already. They say that we shall complicate 1 the 1 question if we interfere ; but it cannot well be more 1 complicated than it is,, for hardly anybody but the peace men can tell how to unravel it. Now, what is it that we really want here ?' We wish: to protest against the maintenance of great armaments in time of peace ; we wish to protest against the spirit which is not only willing for war, but eager for war ; and we wish to protest, with all the emphasis of which we are capable, against the mischievous policy pursued so long by this country, of interfering with the internal affairs of other countries, and thereby leading to disputes, and often to disastrous wars.' Admiral Napier had said that his friend Mr. Cbbden had THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xi. persuaded a feeble Government to reduce the armaments of this country to nothing. What was * nothing ' in the Admiral's estimation ? Fifteen millions a year ! The hon. gentleman next observed that we had kept up great expenditure on fallacious grounds, and he objected to these armaments as provoking a war spirit. ' From the maintenance of great fleets and armies, there grows up an esprit de corps there grows a passion for these things, a powerful opinion in their favour, that smothers the immorality of the whole thing, and leads the people to tolerate, under those excited feelings, that which, under feelings of greater temperance and moderation, they would know was hostile to their country, as it is opposed to everything which we recognize as the spirit of the Christian religion.' Further, said Mr. Bright, they (the members of the Peace Society) were against intervention. Our inter- ventions hitherto and he cited the cases of Spain, Portugal, and Syria had brought us nothing. As to its being our duty to interfere with a despotic power like Eussia, he asked, 'If it were not contrary to international law and to the law of Europe for a Eussian aimy to invade Hungary, to suppress there a struggle which called for, and obtained too, the sympathy of every man in favour of freedom in every part of the world, I say, how can it be contrary to international law and the law of Europe for Eupsia to threaten the Sultan of Turkey, and to endeavour to annex Turkey to the Eussian Empire? He wanted 1853-56.] RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR. 357 oui- policy to be consistent. As to Eussia securing Constantinople and getting to India, these were very remote contingencies. Sufficient reasons had not been advanced for England's going to war, and entering on what perhaps might be a long, ruinous, and sanguinary struggle with a powerful empire like Eussia. In a very impressive passage Mr. Bright asked his hearers what war was, expressing his belief that half the people who talked about it had not the slightest idea what it involved : ' In a short sentence it may be summed up to be the combination and concentration of all the horrors, atrocities, crimes, and sufferings of which human nature on this globe is capable. But what is even a rumour of war ] Is there anybody here who has anything in the funds, or who is the owner of any railway stock, or anybody who has a large stock of raw material or manufactured goods ? The funds have recently gone down 10 per cent. I do not say that the fall is all on account of this danger of war, but a great proportion of it undoubtedly is. A fall of 10 per cent, in the Funds is nearly 80,000,000 sterling of value, and railway stock having gone down 20 per cent, makes a difference of 60,000,000 in the value of the railway property of this country. Add the two 140,000,000 and take the diminished prosperity and value of manufactures of all kinds during the last few months, and you will understate the actual loss to the country now if you put it down at 200,000,000 sterling. But that is merely a rumour of war. That is war a long way off the small cloud, no bigger than a man's hand ; what will it be if it comes nearer and becomes a fact? And surely sane men ought to consider whether the case is a good one, the ground fair, the necessity clear, before they drag a nation of nearly 30,000,000 of people into a long and bloody struggle, for a decrepit and tottering empire, which all the nations in Europe cannot long sustain.' War, too, continued the speaker, wore a very different aspect from what it formerly did. It would now wither up the sources of the prosperity enjoyed by the middle and working classes of the country. War in 1853 would be infinitely more 35$ THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xi. perilous and destructive to the country than it had ever yet been at any former period in its history. After indicating other evils, Mr. Bright said that if we went into WAT we should have more banners to decorate our cathedrals and churches. Englishmen would fight as well as they ever did, and there was ample power to back them, if the country could be but sufficiently excited and deluded. We might raise up great generals another Wellington and another Nelson too for the country could grow men capable for every enterprise. But what would become of themselves, their country, and their chil- dren? When he thought of the tremendous perils into which unthinking men were willing to drag or to hurry the country, he was amazed how they could trifle with interests so vast, and consequences so much beyond their calculation. With this peroration, which deeply moved the audience ensuring first their complete silence and then their rapturous plaudits Mr. Bright con- cluded ;: ' You profess see these things, I speak in appre- hension of them, and in their presence I have no confidence in the noble lord, whose conduct is, I 1853-56-] RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR. 4*9 believe, humiliating to the House and full of peril to the country.' (Loud cheers.) The sympathy of the public went with the hon. member for Manchester in his vigorous denuncia- tion of Lord Palmerston's conduct towards his late colleague, although the country was not at one with him upon the general war question. With this trenchant address we reach the end of Mr. Bright 's Parliamentary utterances on the Crimean war. But before peace was concluded he spoke on many occasions out of the House on this question. In October, 1855, he attended a meeting at Eochdale, called for the purpose of making a presentation to Mr. Sharman Crawford, the late member for the borough, and in the course of his speech made some references to his own opinions on the war. He had attacked the press, he said, but fairly and honestly, and of course he would be abused by the press. He reminded his hearers that in the great war with France at the commencement of the century, the English press had made it impossible for the Government to preserve the peace. The eleven years of war made hundreds of thousands of beggars and criminals within the United Kingdom, and every hundred pounds now which the Chancellor of the Exchequer took in taxes for the present war was making also its pauper or its criminal. { The (Crimean) war may be honourable, but I assure you that those little children of yours who are now ornamenting your homes and gladden- 4 20 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. XII. ing your hearts, when they grow up to be men and women, and look back to the history of the times through which we are now passing, will have wonder- ful difficulty to discover in the restoration of Moham- medan power, or the humiliation of Kussia, or the glory of the British arms, anything that can com- pensate them for the crushing taxes from which they can only escape by emigrating from a country which should have afforded them a happy home during their lives.' At Hulme, and at Marsden, on other occasions, Mr. Bright affirmed his desire for legislation based upon just, moral, and Christian principles. He did not believe in the grand schemes of policy advanced by kings, queens, or cabinets, which flew in the face of almost ordinary resolutions of Christian morality ; and there was no greater evil that came from a condition of national twilight than that we were always getting into a state of panic. When the hon. member and Mr. Milner Gibson addressed their constituents in the Manchester Corn Exchange on the 28th of January, 1856, Mr. Bright ridiculed the phrase ''the defence of the liberties of Europe,' which Lord John Kussell had borrowed from the King's speech in the time of William III. l The balance of power' was another admirable phrase, which no man living had ever understood, or succeeded in defining. It would last until men grew wiser, and found there was nothing whatever in it. It was like hunting for the philosopher's 1853-56.] RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR. stone, or perpetual motion. They had been living under a government of old, old lords since 1688 ; and they would not have been able to sleep in their beds, if those who managed the affairs of the country were also the managers of their private affairs. Amidst general laughter and cheering, he quoted these lines from Ben Jonson : ' Hood an ass with reverend purple, So you can hide his two ambitious ears, And he shall pass for a Cathedral Doctor.' Who would say that the rulers of the United States were not as good rulers as the average monarchs of this country, or of the rest of Europe ? For himself and his friends, Mr. Bright said that they would continue to confront unflinchingly all the batteries that ridicule or malice might point against them. There is no need for us to trace further the progress of the Crimean war, the facts being within the recollection of all readers of English history of the present generation. Suffice it to state that the allies were victorious, and that on the 30th of March, 1856, the treaty of peace was signed. There are many, however, who on this matter will take up the language of the ballad in which Southey makes old Kaspar describe the battle of Blenheim, ' But what good came of it at last ? Quoth little Peterkin,; Why, that I cannot tell, said he, But 'twas a famous victory.' It is no part of our duty to attempt to define in what degree English statesmen were wrong and Mr. 422 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xii. Bright was right or vice versd in the Crimean war. There are few, however, who now defend that war from its inception to its close ; while Mr. Bright and those who agreed with him have only been confirmed in their original views with the lapse of time. It has heen our object rather to put the reader in possession of full information from Mr. Bright's own lips of his attitude and convictions upon this great question; and upon this information we must leave him to form his own judgment. But one lesson may be gathered by the Mends and opponents alike of this eminent statesman, from the consistent and upright conduct which he pursued throughout t he ^ struggle. This lesson was well indicated by Mr. Gladstone in a speech delivered at Birmingham, twenty years after the conclusion of the conflict with Kussia, when he said that we ought all to be ready to make sacrifices, as Mr. Bright showed himself to be ready, at the time of the Crimean war, to lay his popularity as a sacrifice upon the altar of his duty. It is sometimes difficult, even when our convictions support us, to dare to be in the right with two or three. Mr. Bright did this, nevertheless, in a cause which he believed to be right, and his courage and honesty will continue to draw forth, in consequence, a tribute of admiration from all classes, including those who are separated from him in political sentiment and opinion. 423 CHAPTEE XIII. MR. BRIGHT'S FIRST ILLNESS. REJECTION AT MANCHESTER. Mr. Bright's Illness in 1856. Visits to Scotland, Algiers, and Nice. Interesting Interview with the Empress of Russia. Mr. Bright visits Rome and Switzer- land. Offers to resign his Seat for Manchester. The offer not accepted. The Palmerston Government defeated on the Chinese question. Mr. Bright in accord with Mr. Cobden. Dissolution of Parliament. The Election for Manchester. Messrs. Bright and Gibson defeated by a Coalition. Opinion of the Press on the Election. Mr. Bright's Farewell Address to his late Constituents. His temporary Retirement from Public Life. T I THE anxieties of several critical and memorable -*- years began to tell upon Mr. Bright, and in January, 1856, he became ill. There was thorough prostration of the nervous system, the result of the arduous nature of his public duties, combined with the excitement arising from the war with Russia. Nevertheless, he went up to London at the opening of Parliament, hoping to be able to bear some part in the work of the session, but he was compelled to return home. In the month of March, Lord Brougham generously offered the use of his villa at Cannes to Mr. Bright and his family until the following winter. The offer, however, which was conveyed through Mr. Cobden, was gratefully declined. Mr. Bright went to Ben Ehydding, a well-known hydropathic establishment 424 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xm. in Yorkshire, where he spent two months. Not deriving the benefit he expected from this, he then went down to Scotland, and spent several months in the Highlands, fishing in its lochs and rivers. Some weeks were spent at Glengarry, on the invitation of his kind friend Mr. Edward Ellice, the member for Coventry. In the autumn, Mr. Bright paid a visit to Lord Aberdeen, at Haddo House, in Aberdeenshire. It may be stated here that the subject of our biography always recognized the earnest efforts made by Lord Aberdeen to secure peace before the outbreak of the Crimean war, and he was a statesman whom, in many respects, he held in high regard. In the month of November, Mr. Bright left Eng- land for Algiers, and spent some weeks in the French colony. He afterwards visited Italy, in company with his eldest daughter, who went out from England to join him. At Nice, in January, 1857, Mr. Bright had an interesting interview with the Empress of Eussia, the wife of the Emperor Nicholas, and grandmother of the present Emperor. The Empress, hearing of his arrival in Nice, sent Baron Meyendorf to ask him to call upon her, which he accordingly did in company with his daughter on the Russian New Year's Day. The Empress gave her reasons why she wished to see him, and said, ' I know you have been just to my country.' 1856-57-] MR. BRIGHT'S FIRST ILLNESS. 4 2 5 Mr. Bright replied that he wished to be, and thought he had been, just to both countries. The Empress spoke with much feeling, saying that she could never understand why England should have made war upon Eussia. Her Majesty spoke English, though not fluently. Baron Meyendorf, who was one of the attached servants of the Empress, lost his son at the siege of Sebastopol; and as he mentioned his loss to Mr. Bright, the tears coursed down his cheeks. Speaking of the Empress after the interview, he said, ' The Empress is so good, I love her as my mother.' From Nice, Mr. Bright went by way of Geneva to Civita Vecchia and Home. In the ' Eternal City ' he stayed about two months that is, until the middle of March, and then he went north to Florence and Venice, and thence to Milan and Turin. At Turin he had a long and interesting conversation with the celebrated Italian statesman Count Cavour, chiefly relating to the Emperor of the French, and the manner in which the Treaty of Paris had been con- cocted in the preceding year. Going next by the Italian lakes, Mr. Bright passed over the Simplon into Switzerland, where Mrs. Bright joined him for a short tour. Upon its conclu- sion, in the month of July, they returned to England. The right hon. gentleman found his health much improved after his prolonged absence from England. During the absence of Mr. Bright upon the Con- tinent, important political events had been transpiring 426 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xni. in England ; but before tracing these, some mention must be made of the hon. member's relations with his Manchester constituency. Feeling that so important a city should enjoy a more active and vigorous repre- sentation than he could hope to give it for some time to come, Mr. Bright wrote a letter to his committee, before leaving England for the Continent, in which he said, 'I have consulted physicians of extensive practice and eminent in their profession, and their opinions all concur in this, that a complete rest from labour for a longer period is necessary, and that this it is believed will give me renewed health and strength. Acting upon this advice, which my own judgment entirely approves, I am about to leave home for some months, and shall, therefore, in all probability, not be able to attend the House of Commons during the next session of Parliament.' Mr. Bright conse- quently offered to resign his seat for Manchester. His letter was laid before a meeting of the Liberal electors of Manchester on the 30th of January, 1857, and on the motion of Mr. George Wilson, the fol- lowing resolution was carried : ' That this meeting expresses its profound regret at the circumstances which unhappily necessitate the absence 6f its esteemed representative, Mr. John Bright, and desires to record its unabated confidence in his signal ability, and the high moral courage, uni- versally acknowledged, with which he has hitherto represented this great metropolis of industry in Par- liament ; that it hereby begs respectfully to express 1 856-57.] MR. BRIGHT 1 S FIRST ILLNESS. 4 2 7 its admiration of the undeviating consistency and unflinching firmness with which he has adhered to those great principles on which he was elected, as well as its warmest gratitude for the eminent services which he has rendered to the nation; that while deeply sympathizing with him under the serious indisposition which has compelled him to retire for a season from public duties, it derives sincere satis- faction from the prospect that he will be able ere long to re-enter upon them ; and that while cheerfully conceding to him the interval of repose which may be necessary for the complete restoration of his health, it requests him to allow the continuance of his Parliamentary connection with this city, in the earnest hope that the cause of popular rights, of social progress, and of international concord may soon regain the assistance of his disinterested and distinguished advocacy in the House of Commons.' The resolution was carried unanimously with every demonstration of applause, and in the course of the proceedings Mr. Bazley and Mr. Milner Gibson paid a high tribute to the hon. member's eloquence, and his undaunted moral and political courage. In March, 1857, the Palmerston Government suffered a defeat in connection with the serious rupture with China. The circumstances of the quarrel may be briefly narrated. A lorcha called the Arrow, showing British colours, had been seized by the Chinese, and the question arose whether it was entitled to the protection of the British flag. In the course of a debate 428 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xm. in the House of Lords, Lord Derby insisted that it could have no such claim, and adduced statements made by Sir John Bowring, our representative, to the effect that the license to carry the English flag had expired some time before. His lordship also affirmed that the quarrel had arisen through Sir. J. Bowring's absorbing desire to bring about his own official reception in Canton. Lord Derby's motion was lost, there being a majority against it of 36; but in the Commons, a motion condemning the Government had a different result. This resolution, which was brought forward by Mr. Cobden on the 26th of February, ran as follows : * That this House has heard with concern of the conflicts which have occurred between the British and Chinese authorities on the Canton Kiver ; and, without expressing an opinion as to the extent to which the Government of China may have afforded this country cause of complaint respecting the non- fulfilment of the Treaty of 1842, this House con- siders that the papers which have been laid upon the table fail to establish satisfactory grounds for the violent measures resorted to at Canton in the late affair of the Arrow; and that a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into the state of our commercial relations with China.' After a debate extending over four nights, in which the high legal opinion of Mr. Phillimore went completely against the Government, Mr. Cobden's motion was carried by 263 to 247 votes, thus showing a majority of 16 against the Govern- 1 856-5 7.] THE REPRESENTA TION OF MANCHESTER. 429 ment. Lord Palmerston thereupon decided to dissolve Parliament, but Mr. Cobden asked what was to be done in the meantime respecting the quarrel with China. Some one, he said, should be at once sent out to supersede all present British authority in China. Sir George Grey, on behalf of the Govern- ment, said that they would do all in their power to protect British subjects and their property in China. Mr. Bright was, as we have seen, abroad when this debate took place, but it was well known that had he been present in the House of Commons he would have voted with the majority, and in condemnation of the war. Nor was it alone on the question of the lorcha Arrow that Mr. Cobden, Mr. Bright, and those who sympathized with them, were dissatisfied with the course of the Government. They were opposed to its whole policy in respect to China, as being unnecessarily aggressive, and as tending disastrously to impair the commercial and friendly intercourse between the two countries. They regarded the Chinese wars of the period as opposed to the true spirit of humanity. In view of the impending general election, the Manchester Liberal Committee met in the Free Trade Hall, and unanimously selected as their candidates the sitting members, Mr. Bright and Mr. Milner Gibson. Mr. Bright, in a letter to Mr. G. Wilson, dated Eome, March 8, had written stating that, although he could not at present return to England, his health was sensibly improving ; and he 430 THE LIFE OP JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xm. added, 'I have consulted some Mends here whom I know, and they are altogether unwilling to entertain the idea that the state of my health now is a suffi- cient reason why I should withdraw ; and I should say the same, did not I know how often we are biassed by our wishes in deciding questions in which we are deeply interested. After much consideration, I have come to the conclusion, in which, perhaps, nothing is absolutely concluded for after stating the case fairly I must leave it in other hands that the interests of the constituency, that is, of the Liberal majority, and the welfare of the Liberal cause, must in reality decide the question. Do not, for a moment even, put my feelings, or position, or prospects in the scale against what is best for the interest and reputation of the constituency of Manchester. If there is a wish that I should stand as a candidate at this election, and if it be thought that the something of uncertainty as to my health, and my unavoidable absence from England at this moment, will not prevent my return if I am brought forward, then I am willing to offer myself for re-election. If, on the contrary, many persons should doubt my being able again to return to public life, and if they should be unwilling that one of their representatives should be so long absent from the House, if they should show a coldness because I am not present to assist in the contest, and to such an extent as to make the election a difficult and doubtful one, then I think you will do your duty to me and to the constituency by not allowing my name 1856-57.] THE REPRESENTATION OF MANCHESTER, 43 1 to appear. I am sure you will decide for the best, and I shall be entirely satisfied with the result.' But the committee determined to nominate Mr. Bright. A great meeting of the Liberal electors was held on the 18th of March in the Free Trade Hall, when Mr. Milner Gibson delivered an address, and a vote of thanks was passed to the two members for the city for their past services, as well as a resolution pledging the meeting to use every lawful means to return them again to the House of Commons. Mr. Cobden spoke warmly on behalf of his friend, observing that no two human beings ever enjoyed together a more trans- parent intimacy of mind than himself and Mr. Bright. There was scarcely a view, or a thought, or an aspiration which they did not possess in common, though Mr. Bright had an ability and an eloquence to which he (Mr. Cobden) could make no pretensions. 1 1 say,' continued the speaker, ' you have not the character, the fame, or the destinies of Mr. Bright in your hands, but I will tell you this, that your own character and reputation are at stake. I will tell you what I heard one of the oldest and most sagacious men in the House of Commons say that he did not believe there was any man in the House, with the exception of Mr. Bright and Mr. Gladstone, who ever changed votes by their eloquence. Now that is a great tribute to pay to a man. Although we, many of us, may probably convince people by our arguments, we do not convert them and make them change their 43 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xm. votes. It requires logic and reasoning power, but it requires something else it requires those transcend- ent powers of eloquence which your representative possesses.' Mr. Cobden concluded by recapitulating Mr. Bright's services in connection with the in- crease in the register, the question of Free Trade, etc., and asked who had benefited so much by the efforts of the ' Manchester School ' as Manchester itself. The nomination took place in St. Ann's Square, in the presence of some twenty thousand persons. The candidates nominated were Sir John Potter, Mr. James Aspinall Turner, Mr. Bright, and Mr. Milner Gibson. Sir J. Potter and Mr. Turner were Palmerstonian Liberals ; and as no Conservative candidates were brought forward, they received the whole strength of the Conservative vote, as well as the support of the Whigs, and those Liberals who were in favour of Lord Palmerston's policy. Mr. Bright's brother-in-law, Mr. Vaughan, spoke on his behalf; and the other three candidates addressed the immense assemblage. The show of hands was declared to be in favour of Mr. Bright and Sir John Potter. On the following day, however, the result of the poll showed that the coalition of parties had been too strong for the old members. The numbers were, for Sir John Potter, 8,368 ; Mr. J. A. Turner, 7,854; Mr. Milner Gibson, 5,588; and Mr. John Bright, 6,458. While Mr. Bright's active participation in the 1856-57-] REJECTION AT MANCHESTER. 433 contest might have greatly modified these figures, it was no doubt beyond his power to change the result. Owing to a variety of causes, Lord Palmer- ston was very popular in the country, a strong idea being prevalent in favour of what was regarded as his spirited and patriotic foreign policy. He enjoyed, moreover, all the prestige attaching to the successful conclusion of the Crimean war, while exaggerated reports of fearful atrocities committed by the Chinese came opportunely to his aid, and thus bore favour- ably upon the very policy for which he had been condemned by the House of Commons. Many other prominent opponents of the Ministry lost their seats on this occasion. Mr. Cobden, who left the West Eiding to contest Huddersfield, was defeated ; Mr. Layard was beaten at Aylesbury, and Mr. Fox at Oldbam; and the ranks of the Peelites were con- siderably thinned. Lord Palmerston obtained an increased majority in the elections. As in the case of Mr. Gladstone and Oxford University at a later period, the distinguished services of Mr. Bright were disregarded; and the electors of Manchester, unwilling to yield independ- ence on one or two important questions, preferred to elect respectable but unknown politicians to those whose talents had shed lustre upon the city. Mr. Bright's defeat was more keenly felt by the country generally than any other which marked the course of the elections. The press, also, including that portion of it which had been most strongly opposed 28 434 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xm. to Mr. Bright, expressed regret at his temporary exclusion from the House of Commons.* After the close of the poll, a Liberal meeting was * From a great number of articles which appeared in the daily and weekly journals, we take the following extracts. The Times, referring to Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright, said : ' For ten years we have opposed these two gentlemen in well-nigh every act of their public life, and yet now we must honestly say that we deeply regret to see erased from the roll-call of the House of Commons the names of Mr. John Bright and Mr. Richard Cobden.' The Daily News observed that 'the town which has won with such effect so great a fame in the electoral field, now sinks back into insignificance, preferring local thrift to the world-wide honour of being represented by the most distinguished men in Parlia- ment, and in that insignificance Manchester may be left for the present, while others draw the moral which is yielded by the defeat of the peace party in all directions.' ' In Bright,' remarked the Saturday Review, ' Parliament has lost one of its ablest orators and brightest ornaments, and these are not times in which such losses are easily repaired. The greatest danger to our institutions is to be looked for in the deterioration of the character and ability of their representative body. It may be very convenient for an Administration to rule with undisputed sway over submissive mediocrities ; but if the standard of ability in the House of Commons should ever be permanently degraded in public estimation, the end of Parliamentary government will not be far off.' The Manchester Examiner and Times, after remarking that a little trimming on the part of Mr. Bright would have ensured him an undisturbed popularity, said : ' He has maintained the same uncompromising independence towards great and small, Ministers and people, the blandishments of aristocratic favour, or the acclamation of the populace. Yet his heart was not destitute of ambition. Yes, his was the ambition to check the abuses of the Executive, to urge a righteous and beneficent policy upon the Government, to stand forth as the dauntless champion of the rights of the people, to infuse into our dealings with other nations that justice and that generosity which alone become a Christian state, and to harmonize the institutions of England with what is due to the welfare and progress of mankind. He has never deviated a hair's breadth from the accomplishment of these objects.' ' We are bound to say,' observed the Dublin University Magazine, ' strongly as we differ from the late policy of these great Manchester twins, that neither their honour nor their motives are assailable, and that the men who have been returned in their stead can no more be compared to them than the Bushman can be 1856-57-] REJECTION AT MANCHESTER. 435 held at Newall's Buildings. Mr. George Wilson, who presided, said that Mr. John Bright was almost the only man the cotton districts had produced who ranked with a Briton. The country has failed in its gratitude.' The Birmingham Daily Post said that ' had any member of the last Parlia- ment been asked the names of the six foremost men in that assembly, the name of Mr. John Bright would have been one of the six. He was foremost in oratory, and, better still, in singleness of purpose, straight- forwardness of speech, and thorough conscientiousness and honesty. The Commonwealth declared that 'never until the race of the Manchester men had we a party capable at once of arousing the nation and com- manding the ear of the Senate. Such a party is much too valuable to be permitted to pass away. It will one day be wanted quite as much as at any former time.' The Liverpool Nortliern Daily Times said : ' The amount of labour Mr. Bright has gone through has been quite prodigious, and no wonder that brain and health have been impaired. We trust that this will only be for a time, and that he will rise up like a giant refreshed with sleep, and again gird himself to the combat with political and spiritual wickedness in high places.' ' There is no single man to whom Manchester owes more than to Mr. John Bright,' affirmed the Leeds Mercury, ' nor is there any man whose continued exclusion from the House we should more deeply regret. At the present moment, how- ever, this unexpected relief from Parliamentary duties may be of great advantage to the health of one of the most illustrious champions of Free Trade, of one of our ablest orators, and of one of the most independent representatives who has ever had a seat in the House of Commons.' ' The exclusion of such a man as Mr. Bright from the House of Commons is a national loss,' said the Edinburgh Daily Review. 'As we read over the dreary columns of aimless talk by men of no name, we shall miss the glowing eloquence of the man who never spoke but to forward the cause of truth and justice, and never ceased without having added some- thing to the glory and fame of the assembly of which he was a member.' The Liverpool Daily Post said : ' In the great work Mr. Cobden sacrificed his fortune, and Mr. Bright undermined the most sacred part of his health. From the odium of this election our neighbours will never escape.' The Edinburgh Daily Express observed that ' Mr. John Bright, the greatest living orator, the most conscientious of public men, twice returned triumphantly for Manchester, after wasting his health and almost his lif e in the people's cause, is placed at the foot of the poll.' Extracts of this nature could be multiplied, but those already quoted will sufficiently attest the general feeling of the press in regard to Mr. Bright's defeat. 436 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xm. had become famous, not only in the House of Commons, but in the world ; and it was sad to think that Manchester, which had been represented by such men as Mr. Bright and Mr. Gibson, possessing such ability and without proving one single accusa- tion against them, or showing that they had deviated in the least iota from their principles should exhibit such a change of feeling as they had seen that day. Mr. Jacob Bright said he believed his brother would rather have been the representative of a large con- stituency in Lancashire than have taken any official position, whatever dignity it might have added to his name. His sorrow would be, not that Man- chester had rejected him, but because it seemed for the moment to trample upon his principles. The news of his defeat reached Mr. Bright at Florence, and from that city he wrote his farewell address to the electors of Manchester, dated March 31st, 1857. As this address is really a defence of Mr. Bright's political career up to the time of his rejection at Manchester, and is consequently a docu- ment of considerable historical value and importance, we append it in full : ' Gentlemen, I have received a telegraphic despatch informing me of the result of the election contest in which you have been engaged. That result has not greatly surprised me, and, so far as I am personally con- cerned inasmuch as it liberates me from public life in a manner which involves on my part no shrinking from any duty I cannot seriously regret it. I kment it on public grounds, because it tells the world that many amongst you have abandoned the opinions you professed to hold in the year 1847, and even so recently as in the year 1852. ' I believe that slander itself has not dared to charge me with having 1856-57.] REJECTION AT MANCHESTER. 437 forsaken any of the principles, on the honest support of which I offered myself twice, and was twice accepted, as your representative. The charge against me has rather been that I have too warmly and too faithfully defended the political views which found so much favour with you at the two previous elections. If the change in the opinion of me has arisen from my course on the question of the war with Russia, I can only say that on a calm review of all the circumstances of the case and during the past twelve months I have had ample time for such a review I would not unsay or retract any one of the speeches I have spoken, or erase from the records of Parliament any one of the votes I have given upon it, if I could thereby reverse the decision to which you have come, or secure any other distinction which it is in the power of my countrymen to confer. I am free, and will remain free, from any share in the needless and guilty bloodshed of that melancholy chapter in the annals of my country. 'I cannot, however, forget that the leaders of the opposition in the recent contest have not been influenced by my conduct on this question. They were less successful, but not less bitter, in their hostility in 1852, and even in 1854, when my only public merit or demerit consisted in my labours in the cause of Free Trade. On each occasion, calling themselves Liberals, and calling their candidates Liberals also, they coalesced with the Conservatives, whilst now, doubtless, they have assailed Mr. Gibson and myself on the ground of a pretended coalition with the Conservatives in the House of Commons. ' I have esteemed it a high honour to be one of your representatives, and have given more of mental and physical labour to your service than was just to myself. I feel it scarcely less an honour to suffer in the cause of peace, and on behalf of what I believe to be the true interests of my country, though I could have wished that the blow had come from other hands, at a time when I could have been present to meet face to face those who dealt it. In taking my leave of you and of public life, let me assure you that I can never forget the many the innumerable kindnesses I have received from my friends amongst you. No one will rejoice more than I shall in all that brings you prosperity and honour ; and I am not without a hope that when a calmer hour shall come, you will say of Mr. Gibson and of me, that as colleagues in your representation for ten years, we have not sacrificed our principles to gain popularity, or bartered our independence for the emoluments of office or the favours of the great. I feel we have stood for the rights and interests and freedom of the people, and that we have not tarnished the honour, or lessened the renown, of your eminent city. ' I am now, as I have hitherto been, very faithfully yours, 'JOHN BRIGHT.' 438 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xm. In May, 1857, when Mr. Bright was staying at Geneva, there was forwarded to him an address passed at a public meeting in Ardwick, which, while expressive of goodwill towards the right hon. gentle- man, also alluded to his defeat and that of Mr. Cohden, and expressed a determination to agitate for reform, free trade, and retrenchment. In reply, Mr. Bright wrote : ' I am very glad to find that in your town the cause of reform, free trade, and retrenchment has so many warm friends, and that you have understood and approved the policy which Mr. Cohden, Mr. M. Gibson, and myself have supported in the House of Commons. On the question of free trade, little pro- gress has been made for some years past. As to retrenchment, the word has become almost obsolete, and the military expenditure of the country is now nearly double the amount which the Duke of Wel- lington and Sir Kobert Peel thought necessary in 1835, although we have no more territory to defend, and although a large army is no longer necessary to maintain tranquillity in Ireland. As to reform, whilst almost everybody professes to be in favour of it in some shape, the preparation of the particular bill to be brought forward next year is left in the hands of a Minister whose hostility to every proposition for reform since the year 1832 is notorious and undeni- able. Whether on these three points, to which your resolutions refer, the country is in a satisfactory posi- tion, I must leave the friends of free trade, reform, and retrenchment to decide ; and with regard to the 1856-57-] REJECTION AT MANCHESTER. 439 promised reform, let me warn you not to look more to the question of the franchise than to the other arrangement of the measure. It would be easy to double the number of electors, and at the same time increase the aristocratic influence in Parliament. To give votes, without giving representation in some fair degree in proportion to those votes, is to cheat the people ; to give a large number of votes without the security of the ballot, will subject the increased numbers of our countrymen to the degrading influence which wealth and power now exercise so unscrupu- lously upon the existing electoral body.' If Mr. Bright cherished for a time the idea of not entering again upon public life, as would seem to be implied by a phrase in his address to the electors of Manchester, it was to the honour of the town of Birmingham, as we shall now see, and to the great gain of Parliament and the country, that before the close of the year 1857 he was induced to abandon such intention. 440 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xiv. CHAPTER XIV. RETURNED FOR BIRMINGHAM. Vacancy in the Representation of Birmingham. Meetings to select a Candidate. Mr. Bright nominated. He issues his Address. Observations on Indian Legislation and the Mutiny. Election of Mr. Bright. Speech in acknow- ledgment by Mr. Duncan Maclaren. Letter from Mr. Bright. Birmingham and the Reform Question. rjlHE prolonged exclusion of Mr. Bright from the -L House of Commons would have been viewed by all parties with extreme regret. Fortunately, as we have already intimated, his absence from the House was of very brief duration. Birmingham stepped forward, and in his enforced absence elected the great popular leader, thus atoning for the temporary ingratitude shown to Mr. Bright at Manchester. By the death of Mr. G. F. Muntz, a vacancy had arisen in the representation of Birmingham ; and on the 1st of August, 1857, a meeting of Liberals was held to select a candidate in the place of the deceased member. Mr. Hodgson, the ex-Mayor, presided. Mr. Aid. Lloyd, who proposed Mr. Bright, said he was of that courageous and manly disposition that peculiarly fitted him to become their representative. Mr. Bright was well versed in national and foreign affairs, and as there was no man in the House of Commons I8S7-] RETURNED FOR BIRMINGHAM. 44 1 who had given so much attention to the affairs of England's great tributary, India, his counsel would be especially valuable at the present crisis. He placed the name of Mr. Bright before the meeting as that of a man whose election would do them honour. Mr. Aid. Manton seconded the proposition, but it was opposed by Mr. Councillor Stinton on the ground of Mr. Bright 's peace principles. Some dis- cussion ensued, and the meeting was adjourned until the evening. Mr. Aid. Hodgson presided also at the second meeting. Mr. J. S. Wright now nominated Mr. Bright, and his observations evoked much en- thusiasm. He stated that Lord John Eussell had paused in the middle of a great speech in the House of Commons, to utter his profound regret that Mr. John Bright was not in the House of Commons, so that his trenchant mind might enlighten them by its counsels. Upon Reform questions, Mr. Bright was eminently fitted to be their representative. He would extend the suffrage, and give a strong and an enlightened support to the principles of civil and religious liberty. Mr. Bright was also much wanted in the House at the existing crisis in Indian affairs ; and if there was any man fully capable of contributing to the real glory of the British people, and who was desirous of developing the resources and energies of the Indian empire, and of raising the sleeping capaci- ties of the Hindoo, that man was Mr. Bright. Mr. Aid. Manton seconded the proposition. The names of one or two other gentlemen were mentioned at the 44 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xiv. meeting as probable candidates, and it was finally arranged tbat the matter should be settled at a great public meeting to be called for the 4th of August. On that evening the Town Hall was crowded with an audience numbering five or six thousand per- sons. Mr. W. Lucy occupied the chair. Mr. Bright was proposed for the vacant seat by Mr. George Edmonds, and seconded by Mr. Aid. Manton. Mr. T. A. Attwood proposed, and Mr. J. G-oodman seconded, the nomination of Mr. Baron Webster as a candidate. Mr. M. A. Dalzell, while acknowledging the high character and abilities of Mr. Bright, said that the man who had for fourteen years fought the battle of democracy in Birmingham, and almost single-handed, was Mr. George Dawson. He had youth on his side, brilliant talents, and everything requisite to make a senator. Mr. Dawson, however, came forward and said that he was unable to stand as a candidate. He expressed his conviction that Mr. Bright was the only man on whom there was any chance of their agreeing. Although he differed from Mr. Bright on the subject of the Kussian war, and on some other questions, these differences would not incline him to prefer a mere respectable Birmingham man, untried in politics, and who had done little service, to a man who was foremost in the House of Commons, and who was one of the most straightforward and honest of Englishmen. This generous tribute to Mr. Bright, coming from one who had himself been asked to come forward as a candidate, elicited loud applause. Mr. 1 857-] RETURNED FOR BIRMINGHAM. 443 Dawson added that he had a peculiar reason for liking Mr. Bright he believed him to be a right honest and able enemy of Lord Palmerston. He considered that Lord Palmerston's rule in this country was disastrous and disgraceful, and there was not a man in England who could meet him like John Bright. When the show of hands was taken, scarcely a hundred hands were held up for Mr. Webster, while six thousand persons held up their hands for Mr. Bright, who thus became the Liberal candidate. The committee for securing his election issued an address describing the services and principles of ' the people's candidate.' A Mr. M'Greachy came forward in the Conservative interest, but his candidature, like that of Mr. Webster, was not regarded as serious. Mr. Bright consented to come forward, and at once issued his address. At that time the terrible Indian Mutiny was the all-absorbing question occu- pying public attention, and on this subject Mr. Bright said : ' Whilst I deplore this terrible event, along with the rest of my countrymen, I am perhaps less surprised at it than most of them are. For twelve years I have given great attention to the subject of India. I have twice brought it before Parliament, once in moving for a select committee, and once in moving for a royal commission of inquiry; and I took an active part in the debates on the bill recently passed to continue the powers of the East India Company, and attended public meetings in several of our large cities with a view to excite public 444 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xiv. interest in the great question of the government of India. The success of the insurrection would involve anarchy in India, unless some great man, emerging from the chaos, should build up a new empire, based on and defended by military power. I am not pre- pared to defend the steps by which England has obtained dominion in the East; but looking to the interests of India and of England, I cannot oppose such measures as may be deemed necessary to sup- press the existing disorder. To restore order to India is a mercy to India; but heavy will be the guilt of our countrymen should we neglect hereafter any measure which would contribute to the welfare of its hundred millions of population. I hope the acts of the Government will be free from the vin- dictive und sanguinary spirit which is shown in many of the letters which appear in the newspapers ; and that when the present crisis is over, all that exists of statesmanship in England will combine to work what good is possible out of so much evil.' But while Mr. Bright thus supported the Government in suppressing the Mutiny, he subsequently expressed his deep indignation at the severities and cruelties practised by the British troops and their commanders on the natives of India. The nomination for Birmingham was held in the Town Hall on the 10th of August. In consequence of the state of his health, Mr. Bright was unable to be present at the proceedings. The Mayor, Mr. (afterwards Sir) John Katcliff, presided. Aid. Lloyd 1 85 7.] RETURNED FOR BIRMINGHAM. 445 nominated Mr. Bright, and Mr. George Edmonds seconded the nomination. The latter gentleman prophesied that that day's meeting would he here- after referred to as forming an epoch in the Parlia- mentary history of the Midland metropolis. The other candidates having withdrawn, Mr. Bright was declared duly elected. Mr. Duncan Maclaren, Mr. Bright's hrother-in-law, now stepped forward to thank the electors for the great honour they had conferred upon his distinguished relative. Mr. Bright's illness, he said, was the result of an overwrought brain, and his medical advisers had laid upon him strict injunctions not only to abstain from speaking, but even to abstain from appearing at public meetings, where exciting circumstances might be the means of bringing back that disease which a merciful Providence had now removed. He had been strongly pressed to give his brain two years' repose. Eighteen months of that abstinence from public life had already elapsed, and the two years would have expired ere Mr. Bright was called on to take his seat in Parliament. In Mr. Bright's address, continued Mr. Maclaren, they had the spontaneous expression of his opinions, for he was not the man to trim his sails to catch the passing breeze. He did not come forward with any apology, with any retractation, with any expression of regret, with any promise of amendment ; but he said that, as he had been an advocate of his country's interests, a defender of the rights of the working classes, the supporter of 446 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xiv. good legislation of every kind, so would he continue to be, and maintain those views which he believed to be right, whether they were in unison with or against popular opinion. The speaker went on to say that the people of Birmingham had come forward spontaneously, and held out the right hand of fellow- ship to Mr. Bright at a time when he had been struck down, and after he had given the best years of his life to the public service. The call, therefore, was one to which he felt bound to respond, and he had frankly done so. As to the Eeform question, if Birmingham worked for Eeform as it did twenty-five years before, they might depend upon it that the present election would not only be important to them as a constituency, and to Mr. Bright as an individual, but also to the best interests of the nation. Mr. George Dawson, who also spoke, said that when the proud Austrian Government heard that John Bright was returned for Birmingham, they would know and feel that it was in vain to league themselves with any emperors to ask of the English nation to put foreign exiles into their power. Upon the news of his election being telegraphed to him, Mr. Bright wrote a letter to his new con- stituents, expressing a hope of soon being able to meet them in person. In this hope, however, he was for some time further disappointed. Parliament was called together earlier than usual in the fol- lowing December; but feeling unable to begin his own Parliamentary duties before Christmas, Mr. 1 857.] RETURNED FOR BIRMINGHAM. 447 Bright wrote to that effect to Mr. Alderman Lloyd, the chairman of the Liberal Election Committee. No real business was expected to be transacted before February, and therefore he trusted that the interests of his constituents would not suffer from his temporary absence from the House. Mr. Bright added : ' It is because I wished to abstain as much as possible from public affairs, that I have not troubled my constituents with any views I may e-ntertain on the great subjects which have been so much discussed during the past three months. On the question of India, indeed, I feel that it is almost rashness to offer a decided opinion ; and I know not whether we ought to regard with admiration or with pity many of those who have written and spoken so confidently upon it since the occurrence of the insurrection. Judging from the writings of the news- papers and from the speeches of public men, I fear the country is by no means sufficiently aware of the crisis which has arisen, whether we regard the diffi- culty of restoring order in India, or the obstacles which oppose themselves to the future government of that country. Five years ago, when the India Bill was about to come under discussion, I thought I knew something of India, and felt that I could give advice on the subject. But the scene has totally changed, and that which was easy to do in fair weather, may be impossible, or of little avail, when the storm rages. I presume, however, that the days of the Leadenhall Street rulers of India are 448 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xiv. numbered. Without character and without power, it requires but a vote of Parliament to give legal effect to that which, I believe, the public opinion of England has already decreed. If the coming session shall establish the government of India on a secure and wise basis, so far as that is possible in the un- natural position in which we stand to that country, I shall feel that Parliament has not laboured in vain ; and if the threatened postponement of a Reform Bill be a disappointment to me and many others, I shall endeavour to console myself with the hope that the improvement of our representation will, hereafter, be entrusted to more friendly hands than those which now administer the affairs of the country.' Birmingham, however, began to stir in the question of Eeform, as it had done upon the great bill of 1832, and on the 2nd of February, 1858, a large and influential meeting was held upon the subject, the Mayor presiding. Mr. Bright, who was unable to be present, wrote to the promoters of the meeting, and remarked : ' If your great town, with its great constituency, is only to send two men to Parliament, whilst an equal population and property in some other part of the kingdom is to send twenty men to Parliament, then I say that the franchise is of little avail.' The writer maintained that ' any Eeform Bill which is worth a moment's thought or smallest effort to carry it, must at least double and it ought to do more than double the representation of the 1 857-] RETURNED FOR BIRMINGHAM. 449 metropolitan boroughs and the great cities of the United Kingdom.' On the question of the Ballot, he added : ' It is worthy of remark that no meeting has been held for many years in favour of Reform at which the Ballot has not been strongly insisted on. If Reform is to be granted to gratify and content reformers, if their judgment and unanimity are suffi- cient to justify or to force its concession, then surely the Ballot cannot be denied to us. I feel certain it will not long be refused.' Birmingham had now acquired a representative who reflected lustre upon the borough a repre- sentative whose name was with thousands a synonym for freedom, and justice, and progress. His claims upon the gratitude and admiration of the masses of his countrymen were known and felt; and every one who valued the independent character and the influence and usefulness of the House of Commons, applauded the step by which the great Midland town restored Mr. Bright to his just place in that assembly. 29 45 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xv. CHAPTER XV. MB. BEIGHT ON INDIA. England and India. Evils of British Rule. Lord Palmerston and the French Emperor. The Conspiracy to Murder Bill. Defeat and Resignation of the Ministry. Indian Legislation in 1853. Mr. Bright on Sir C. Wood's Bill. Indian Questions in 1858-9. Results of our Government in the East. Able Survey by Mr. Bright. His proposals for the future Government of India. Lord Canning's Proclamation. Debate on Lord Ellenborough's Despatch. The Indian Budget of 1859. Another powerful appeal by Mr. Bright. Sir A. Burnes and the Afghan War of 1837-8. Sir Arthur Cotton at Manchester. Mr. Bright's Remedies for Indian Famines. affairs of India formed the most prominent -*- topic of discussion in the session of 1858, as did the Eeform question in the session ensuing. On both these great questions Mr. Bright delivered some of his finest and most comprehensive speeches. The deep interest which the right hon. gentleman has always taken in India would alone be sufficient to refute the objection sometimes advanced by his op- ponents, that his genius and sympathies are alike insular and contracted. Twenty-five years ago England was exceedingly backward in her govern- ment of India. The East India Company did pretty well what seemed best in its own eyes ; and while it had lost its commercial monopoly in the Eastern seas, it still wielded its great administrative power 1858-59-] MR. BRIGHT ON INDIA. 45 l over the rulers and the people of India. Annexation had progressed apace ; the Company's financial policy, as one critic has pointed out, was open to severe animadversion it encouraged the culti- vation of injurious drugs for a foreign market in order to maintain its income ; it discountenanced the growth of cotton an article which would have yielded an abundant crop, and for which there was a constant demand ; internal improvements in the dependencies were utterly neglected ; and, in short, our whole administration in India was such as to bring great discredit upon the East India Company. The continuance of these evils naturally reflected some portion of this discredit upon the Home Government. At length the time came for action, and in 1858 Imperial legislation was initiated. Before tracing the course of this legislation, how- ever, we must glance for a moment at a measure which unexpectedly led to the downfall of the Palrnerston Government. After the abortive attempt of Felice Orsini and his friends to assassinate the Emperor Napoleon III., a strong feeling arose in certain influ- ential French circles that the English law afforded an improper degree of shelter and countenance to foreign refugees and conspirators. This feeling found vent in the French newspapers, but more especially in several congratulatory addresses presented to the Emperor after his escape by certain colonels in the French army, which addresses received additional importance by being published in the official columns 45 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xv. of the Moniteur. The accusations made against England by M. de Morny in the Legislative Chamber of France, and by M. de Persigny, the French Am- bassador in London, led to a strong revulsion of feeling against the Emperor and his Ministers in this country. The idea rapidly gained ground that England was being dictated to by a foreign Power. On the 8th of February, 1858, Lord Palmerston introduced his ' Conspiracy to Murder Bill,' but denied that in doing so he was acting under pressure. Indeed, with regard to the addresses complained of, he had, he said, made representations to France, and was com- missioned on the part of the Emperor to state that he regretted their publication. His lordship then briefly stated the object of his bill, which proposed to make conspiracy to murder a felony, punishable with penal servitude, and to apply it to all persons with respect to conspiracies to murder wherever intended. An amendment moved by Mr. Kinglake, with the object of deferring legislation, was subsequently with- drawn, and leave was given to bring in the bill. Mr. Bright was amongst those who opposed this measure, and by the time the bill came on for second reading it had become evident that they were backed up by a large public opinion out of doors. The conviction was strengthened that the Ministers of the Queen were merely acting at the instigation of the French Government. Mr. Milner Gibson moved a series of amendments expressive of sympathy with the French Emperor, and the readiness of the House 1858-59.] MR. BRIGHT ON INDIA. 453 to amend acknowledged legal defects at once, but also expressing surprise that the Government had not answered the despatch of Count Walewski, before calling on the House to amend the law of conspiracy. Mr. Gibson's speech was loudly cheered. He quoted the Times to the effect that ' when Lord Palmerston has made up his mind to court the good will of a foreign Power, no sacrifice of principle or of interest is too great for him. From first to last his character has been the want of a firm and lofty adherence to the known interests of England.' Mr. Bright seconded his friend's motion, but made no speech on the occasion. Vigorous speeches were delivered by Sir Eobert Peel, Mr. Disraeli, and Mr. Gladstone. The last-named observed that the times were grave for liberty, and that ' a measure passed by this House of Commons the chief hope of freedom which attempts to establish a moral complicity between us and those who seek safety in repressive measures, will be a blow and a discouragement to that sacred cause in every country in the world.' Lord Palmerston replied, but Mr. Gibson's amend- ment was carried against Ministers by 234 to 215, or a majority of 19. The Premier resigned in con- sequence of this vote ; and the Earl of Derby, who was summoned by Her Majesty, came into power as the head of a new Conservative Government. Indian legislation, which had been interrupted by the Ministerial crisis, was resumed by the new Government. In order, however, to understand the 454 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xv. position of the East India Company, and the govern- ment of India generally, we must first go back to the session of 1853, when Sir Charles Wood, President of the Board of Control in Lord Aberdeen's Ministry, introduced on behalf of the Government a measure for the better government of India. By this bill it was proposed that for the future the relations between the Court of Directors and the Board of Control should remain unchanged, but that the constitution of the former should be altered, and its patronage curtailed. The members of the Court, twenty-four in number, were to be reduced to eighteen, of whom twelve were to be elected as before, and six nominated by the Crown from Indian servants who had been ten years in the service of the Crown or the Company. Every second year one-third of the number were to go out, but they were to be re-eligible. It was proposed to abolish nominations by favour, and to separate the Governorship of Bengal from the office of Governor- General. The number of the Legislative Council was to be increased to twelve, and its greater effi- ciency provided for. The superior courts were to be improved, and minor courts were to be instituted in each of the towns of the Presidencies. It was also proposed to raise the character, acquirements, and salaries of the native judges. On the introduction of this bill, Mr. Bright delivered a speech which attested his mastery of the whole subject. In fact, he and Sir Charles Wood occupied 1858-59-] MR. BRIGHT ON INDIA. 455 the entire evening. Sir Charles spoke for five hours, viz., from five to ten o'clock, and Mr. Bright for two hours, from ten to twelve o'clock. Mr. Bright objected to the scheme entirely, on the ground of the maintenance of the double government, which was a mockery and a delusion ; and he was convinced that it would not be approved by the whole Cabinet. It was not possible, he said, amidst cheers and laughter, that thirteen sensible gentlemen, with any pretensions to form a Cabinet, would agree to a measure of that nature. The speaker then examined the various provisions of the measure, showing their inaccuracy, and fortifying his state- ments as to the condition of India by statistics and information compiled by Mr. Kaye and others on the spot. Coming to the real gist of the measure, he said : ' The right hon. gentleman is afraid of bringing the government of India under the authority of the Crown. What, I should like to know, would have been done if India had been conquered by the troops of the Crown ? We should then never have sent some thirty men into a by-street of London to dis- tribute patronage and govern a great country. The government of India would then have been made a department of the Government, with a Council and a Minister of State. But it appears that the old system of hocus-pocus is still to be carried on. This is no question of Manchester against Essex of town against country of Church against Nonconformity. It is a question in which we all have an interest, 45 6 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xv. and in which our children may be more deeply inte- rested than we are ourselves. Should anything go wrong with the finances, we must bear the burden; or should the people of India by our treatment be goaded into insurrection, we must reconquer the country, or be ignominiously driven out of it.' After this prophetic warning, Mr. Bright implored the House so to act at the existing juncture, that it might be said hereafter, ' that whatever crimes Eng- land originally committed in conquering India, she at least made the best of her position by governing the country as wisely as possible, and left the records and traces of a humane and liberal sway.' With this passage he concluded his address : ' I recollect having heard the noble lord the member for Tiverton (Viscount Pahnerston) deliver in this House one of the best speeches I ever listened to. On that occasion the noble lord gloried in the proud name of England, and, pointing to the security with which an Englishman might travel abroad, he triumphed in the idea that his countrymen might exclaim, in the spirit of the ancient Roman, (Tims Homanus sum. Let us not resemble the Romans merely in our national privileges and personal security. The Romans were great conquerors, but where they conquered, they governed wisely. The nations they conquered were impressed so indelibly with the intellectual character of their masters, that, after fourteen centuries of decadence, the traces of civilization are still dis- tinguishable. Why should not we act a similar part in India ? There never was a more docile people, never a more tractable nation. The opportunity is present, and the power is not wanting. Let us abandon the policy of aggression, and confine ourselves to a territory ten times the size of France, with a population four times as numerous as that of the United Kingdom. Surely that is enough to satisfy the most gluttonous appetite for glory and supremacy. Educate the people of India, govern them wisely, and gradually the distinctions of caste will disappear, and they will look upon us rather as benefactors than as conquerors. And if we desire to see Christianity, in some form, professed in that country, we shall sooner attain our object by setting the example of a high-toned Christian morality, than by any other means we can employ.' 1858-59.] MR. BRIGHT ON INDIA. 457 Leave was eventually given to bring in the bill, but when it came on for second reading, Lord Stanley moved a resolution against it. Mr. Lowe, Mr. Macaulay, Mr. Cobden, and Sir James Graham delivered eloquent speeches during the debate, and Mr. Bright again addressed the House. He dwelt on the miseries of the population in India, and ob- served that the town of Manchester alone had for years spent more in its own improvements than had been spent in India by a Government drawing annually 29,000,000 of taxes, and ruling more than 100,000,000 of people. He again insisted upon the popularity which a Government direct from the Crown would enjoy in India. In concluding, he urged with regard to our Indian Empire that if it was said it could be kept only by force and terror, after having been conquered by force if it was to be governed by a government in a mask if the people and Parliament of England were to be shut out from all consideration with regard to it why then the glory of that House would have departed, and we should have proved ourselves a nation which, having conquered a country, had maintained merely the conquest of arms, while we had not the intellect, the benevolence, or the ability to govern it as it deserved. The second reading was carried by a large majority, but lengthy discussions ensued in Com- mittee. Improvements in the bill, some of which were due to Mr. Bright, were effected ; and in the House of Lords the measure was subjected to still 45 8 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xv. further revision; but eventually it passed, and became law. We now come to the legislative measures of 1858 and 1859. The terrible Indian Mutiny having been suppressed, a bill was brought forward early in the former session for the purpose of placing the posses- sions of the East India Company under the immediate authority of the Crown. The Government, however, being defeated, as already shown, on the Conspiracy Bill, the measure was withdrawn. The question, nevertheless, was taken up by Lord Derby's Ministry, and India Bill No. 2 was produced on the 26th of March. Mr. Disraeli announced that, amongst other features of the bill, it provided that five members in the proposed council of eighteen should be elected by the constituencies of the following cities, London, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Belfast. Mr. Bright warned the Government to reconsider the measure, and Lord J. Russell said that the hon. member's opinion of the delusive character of its provisions had much foundation, and was largely shared. The noble lord proposed that the bill should be withdrawn, and that resolu- tions should be passed in a Committee of the whole House, the acceptance of which would be useful in guiding the policy of the Government. Mr. Disraeli accepted the suggestion, and No. 2 Bill disappeared. On the 24th of June it was succeeded by Bill No. 3. The leading principles of the measure were that the government of India should be transferred to the 1858-59-] MR. BRIGHT ON INDIA. 459 Crown, that the administration of Indian affairs should be by a responsible Minister, and that this Minister should be assisted by a Council. Lord Stanley moved the second reading, and the chief feature in the debate which ensued was a very able and comprehensive speech by Mr. Bright, in which he explained fully his views as to the best mode of governing our Eastern dependencies. He should not oppose the second reading, he said, though there were clauses in the bill of which he disapproved. As to the government of India, what were the changes required ? What was the condition of the people ? The great body of them were in a state of im- poverishment, dejection, and suffering. Industry was neglected, and perjury and its attendant evils pre- vailed in our courts of justice. With regard to public works, in a single English county there were more roads than were to be found in the whole of India ; and the city of Manchester, in supplying its inhabit- ants with water, had spent a larger sum than the East India Company had spent in fourteen years in public works of every kind throughout their vast dominions. There could not be a better test, in the long run, of good government than the state of the finances ; and the normal condition of the government of India was one of financial deficiency and bankruptcy. He held, therefore, that the government of India was a bad government ; and he traced its vices to its extrava- gance in the carrying on of unjust wars, and its wholesale annexations. 1 1 have come to the con- 460 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xv. elusion,' continued Mr. Bright, ' which many hon. members probably share with me, that the edifice we have reared in India is too vast. There are few men now, and least of all those connected with the East India Company, who, looking back to the policy that has been pursued, will not be willing to admit that it has not been judicious but hazardous, that territories have been annexed that had better have been left independent, and that wars have been undertaken which were as needless as they were altogether un- justifiable. The immense empire that has been con- quered is too vast for management, its base is in decay, and during the last twelve months it has appeared to be tottering to its fall. Who or what is the instrument the Cabinet, the Government, or the person by whom this evil policy is carried on ? ' Mr. Bright went on to say that the power of the Governor-General was too great ; and he should, if he could, propose as an indispensable condition that this office, the duties of which were far greater than any human being was competent to fulfil, should be abo- lished. If asked to suggest a substitute, he thought we should have presidencies in India, and not an empire. If he were Minister, and could get the House to agree with him, he would have five presi- dencies in India, perfectly equal, administered from Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Agra, and Lahore. Among these governments there would be a generous rivalry for good, instead of utter stagnation ; evil ambition would be checked; there would be no Governor so 1858-59-] MR. BRIGH7 ON INDIA. great that he could not be controlled ; and if we were at last driven from India, we should leave it in the form of so many compact states, able to support their own government, and not a prey to anarchy and discord. When this bill passed, the hon. member further said, he would proclaim a general amnesty, put an end to all mischievous inquiries into titles to landed estates, and hold sacred the right of adoption, telling the people of India that we believed that the Christian religion was true, and the best for mankind; but that that religion taught us to respect the rights of conscience, and that the Par- liament and the Queen of England had resolved that no wrong should be done to the millions who professed creeds which they believed to be true ; and he would establish a Court of Appeal in India, composed of judges of high character, for the settlement of disputes between the Government and its subjects. From Mr. Bright's peroration we give the following extracts : ' There are positions and times in the history of every country, as in the lives of individuals, when courage and action are absolute salvation ; and now the Crown of England, acting by the advice of the responsible Ministers, must, in my opinion, have recourse to a great and unusual measure in order to allay the anxieties which prevail throughout the whole of India. The people of India do not like us, but they scarcely know where to turn if we left them. They are sheep literally without a shepherd. They are people whom you have subdued, and who have the highest and strongest claims upon you claims which you cannot forget claims which, if you do not act upon, you may rely upon it that, if there be a judgment for nations as I believe there is as for individuals, our children in no distant generation must pay the penalty which we have purchased by neglecting our duty to the populations of India. . . . I believe that upon this question depends very much, for good or for 462 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xv. evil, the future of this country of which we are citizens, and which we all regard and love so much. You have had enough of military reputa- tion on Eastern fields ; you have gathered large harvests of that com- modity, be it valuable or be it worthless. I invite you to something better, and higher, and holier than that; I invite you to a glory not " fanned by conquest's crimson wing," but based upon the solid and lasting benefits which I believe the Parliament of England can, if it will, confer upon the countless populations of India.' This remarkable speech attracted great attention, and even those who most widely differed from it admired its power and the breadth by which it was characterized. The bill was read a second time. In Committee fresh clauses were added, amongst them being one carried by Mr. Gladstone, limiting the employment of East Indian troops to our Indian possessions. The bill ultimately passed both Houses, and became law. In the month of May another important debate in connection with India arose. An incomplete copy of a proclamation by Lord Canning, the Governor- General, having been published, threatening con- fiscation to the insurgent landowners of Oude, Lord EUenborough, the Minister for India, sent a despatch severely censuring this proclamation. This despatch became public, and led to his lord- ship's resignation, and very nearly to the defeat of the Government. A vote of censure was moved in both Houses of Parliament, but not carried, Lord EUenborough simplifying the crisis for the Govern- ment by voluntarily resigning office. In the Lords, however, out of a House composed of 325 members (a very large number), the motion was only defeated 1858-59-] MR. BRIGHT ON INDIA. 463 by a majority of nine. Mr. Cardwell brought on the matter in the Commons, but after a debate extending over several nights, the motion was with- drawn, in consequence of representations made to the mover to the effect that Lord Canning had given up his policy of confiscation. The Ministerial crisis, to which some had looked forward, was thus averted. Mr. Bright spoke during the debate, and con- demned the policy of the proclamation. His speech was exceedingly happy, alike from its humour, its argumentative power, and its eloquence. After declaring that there was no concert between himself and the Secretary to the India Board as to the pro- clamation, he said that the Solicitor- General had furnished a complete and satisfactory answer to all the charges against the Government. If the resolu- tion were carried, the people of Oude would regard the vote as an approval of the proclamation. All admitted that the people of Oude were not mutineers, yet the proclamation would produce, not a political, but a social revolution in that country. The extinc- tion of the proprietary right in the soil would apply to more than forty thousand large landowners. He believed that the proclamation sanctioned this whole- sale confiscation, and that the resolution sanctioned the proclamation. It would be so read in India, and it would be one of the most unfortunate declarations that ever went from this country to India. Mr. Bright traced our pecuniary dealings with Oude, which he said ought to make the House pause before THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xv. it filled up the cup of injury which had heen presented to the people of that country. He also reviewed the despatch, and the effects it might produce upon the feelings of Lord Canning. If the question was between hurting the feelings of Lord Canning and sanctioning this proclamation, he should have no hesitation as to his choice. Upon a probable change of the Government as the result of Mr. CardwelTs motion, the speaker amusingly remarked, ' We are told, and the whole country has been in a state of expectation and wonder upon it, that two eminent statesmen have actually dined together; and I am very glad to hear that men engaged in the strife of politics can dine together without personal hostility. I say nothing of the viands that were eaten. I say nothing of the beverage that was in the " loving cup " that went round. One of our oldest and greatest poets has told us that " Nepenthe is a drink of soverayne grace." He says that it was devised by the gods to subdue contention and subject the passions ; but that it was given only to the aged and the wise, who were pre- pared by it to take their places with ancient heroes in a higher sphere. But that could not have been the contents of the " loving cup " in this instance, for these aged statesmen are still determined to cling to this world, and to mix, as heretofore, with all the vigour and the fire of youth in the turmoil and con- tention of public life. But does the fact of this dinner point to reconciliation, and to a firm and 1858-59-] MR. BRIGHT ON INDIA. liberal administration ? I believe that any such Government would be the worst of all coalitions. I believe that it would be built upon insincerity, and I suspect it would be of no advantage to the country. Therefore I am not anxious to see such a Government attempted.' With these impassioned sentences the member for Birmingham concluded : 'I am willing to avow that I am in favour of justice and conciliation of the law of justice and of kindness. Justice and mercy are the supreme attributes of the perfection which we call Deity, but all men everywhere comprehend them ; there is no speech nor language in which their voice is not heard, and they cannot be vainly exercised with regard to the docile and intelligent millions of India. You have had the choice. You have tried the sword. It has broken; it now rests broken in your grasp ; and you stand humbled and rebuked. You stand humbled and rebuked before the eyes of civilized Europe. You may have another chance. You may, by possibility, have another opportunity of governing India. If you have, I beseech you to make the best use of it. Do not let us pursue such a policy as many men in India, and some in England, have advocated, but which hereafter you will have to regret, which can end only, as I believe, in something approaching to the ruin of this country, and which must, if it be per- sisted in, involve our name and nation in everlasting disgrace.' 30 466 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xv. In August, 1859, Sir Charles Wood brought in the Indian Budget. After dealing fully with the ques- tions of income and expenditure, the Indian Secretary stated that when all was done that we could hope to do, there must still be for a year or two a considerable deficiency in our Indian finances, and five or six millions sterling would have to be pro- vided by Parliament. It was the intention of the Government to select a person versed in finance to be sent to India, to take the revenue and financial department under his charge. Sir C. Wood main- tained that there had been a progressive improvement in the revenues of India, while of the future of the country he by no means despaired; and he concluded by moving a resolution enabling the Government to raise in the United Kingdom for the service of the government of India 5,000,000 to meet the demands of the year. The Loan Bill passed through both Houses, but before the formal resolutions were taken in the Commons, Mr. Bright, in earnest and solemn terms, once more besought the House to look its enormous responsibilities in connection with India in the face. He confessed that he took a gloomy view of the desti- nies of that country. To him the danger seemed every year to increase in magnitude, and having paid some attention to the subject, he desired to take his share in confronting the evil. On the question of annexation, he observed, 'No policy can be more lunatic than the policy of annexation we have pursued 1858-59-] MR. BRIGHT ON INDIA. of late years in India, and the calamity we are now meeting is the natural and inevitable consequence of the folly we have committed. It is not easy for great generals and statesmen who have been made earls and marquises, and had bronze statues put up in their honour in our public squares it is not easy for the statesmen who have done all this to turn round and reverse it all; they have not the moral courage to do it; it might be an act of peril; it might appear a descent from the summit of empire, and be wrongly construed throughout the world. But as a question of finance and good government, we should, a few years hence, admit that it was a sound policy.' Eeplying to Sir Charles Wood's statement that everything was satisfactory in 1853, Mr. Bright said that in that year it did happen that the deficit was 143,000 only. But it gave a better idea of the case to note that in the three years preceding the Mutiny, the deficit was 2,823,000. It must be a bad government that did not defray its expenses out of the taxes ; yet in India millions were levied on the sale and transit of opium, by a process which was not taxation. That was in danger of being impaired or cut off altogether. Next year the debt would be 100,000,000. That the money could be borrowed at all, even at a high rate of interest, only arose from the fact that England con- trived to scramble through her difficulties, and keep good faith. With regard to an Imperial guarantee, he did not oppose it from sympathy with English 4 6 8 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xv. taxpayers, but because if we let 'the service of India' put its hand into the pockets of the English people it was impossible to foresee to what lengths of un- imagined extravagance it would go. The military expenditure now absorbed the net revenue, and not a farthing was left to pay the public creditor. He predicted that either the Government of India must come to an end, or England must become tributary to India. Mr. Bright declared that the Civil Service was overpaid ; that it did not deserve the praises heaped upon it; and he proposed that its income should be reduced one-half. He also argued against maintaining an European or a native army larger than was absolutely required. The Mutiny had been suppressed by 45,000 men ; the people of Oude had been disarmed; and there was now no power in India for armed resistance except the native army, which had been built up of late to a greater extent than ever. He would not be ruled by the authority of military men as to the force which should be main- tained, and he showed that if a large European force were kept, the supremacy of the conquering race would be displayed in an offensive manner. But when the English were weak in India, the natives were treated with respect. A Government with a vast army must always be in a difficulty. There was a constant strain as to how it was to be paid. More- over, ' a large army will render it impossible for you to hold this country, for you will have a constantly increasing debt, and anarchy must inevitably over- 1858-59-] MR. BRIGHT ON INDIA. whelm you in the end. A small army, a moderate, conciliatory, and just Government, with the finances in a prosperous condition, and I know not but for generations and centuries this country may possess a share, and a large share, in the government of those vast territories which it has conquered.' Mr. Bright went on to affirm that there was no government in India, and no independent English opinion ; while the Civil Service was privileged, ar- rogant, and tyrannous. The Governor- General was the creature of the services, and procrastination was the very nature of the Government. Lord Stanley had condemned the annexation of Dhar, but no notice had been taken of his letter. Sir Charles Trevelyan had sought to introduce beneficial changes at Madras, but he had raised a hornets' nest about him. After drawing a telling and sarcastic picture of the helpless position of a Governor-General, ham- pered by circumstances and conditions, Mr. Bright came to his own remedy for India, viz., the decentral- ization of the Government, alleging Ceylon as an example, and recommending electoral councils for Bombay and Madras. He was convinced that not a single step would be made towards the improvement of India, unless we changed our whole system of government, and gave to each Presidency a govern- ment with more independent powers than were now possessed by them. What would be thought if the whole of Europe was under one Governor, who knew only the language of the Feejee Islands, and if his THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xv. subordinates were like himself, only more intelligent than the inhabitants of the Feejee Islands are sup- posed to be ? Yet we set a Governor over 150,000,000 of human beings, in a climate where the European could not do the work he has to do so well as here ; and we seemed to think that the atmosphere would be always calm and the sea always smooth. 'And so the government of India goes on ; there are promises without number of beneficial changes, but we never hear that India is much better or worse than before.' Mr. Bright, in conclusion, presented this powerful description of our relations towards India : 'Look at your responsibilities. India is ruled by Englishmen, but remember that in that unfortunate country you have destroyed every form of government but your own ; that you have cast the thrones of the natives to the ground. Princely families, once the rulers of India, are now either houseless wanderers in the land they once called their own, or are pensioners on the bounty of those strangers by whom their fortunes have been overthrown. They who were noble and gentle for ages are now merged in the common mass of the people. All over those vast regions there are countless millions, helpless and defenceless, deprived of their natural leaders and their ancient chiefs, looking with only some small ray of hope to that omnipresent and irresistible Power by which they have been subjected. I appeal to you on behalf of that people. I have besought your mercy and your justice for many a year past ; and if I speak to you earnestly now, it is because the object for which I plead is dear to my heart. Is it not possible to touch a chord in the hearts of Englishmen, to raise them to a sense of the miseries inflicted on that unhappy country by the crimes and the blunders of our rulers here ? If you have steeled your hearts against the natives, if nothing can stir you to sympathy with their miseries, at least have pity upon your own countrymen. Rely upon it the state of things which now exists in India must, before long, become most serious. I hope that you will not show to the world that, although your fathers conquered the country, you have not the ability to govern it. You had better disencumber yourselves of the fatal gift of empire than that the present generation should be punished for the sins of the past. I speak in condemnatory language, 1858-59-] MR. BRIGHT ON INDIA. 471 because I believe it to be deserved. I hope that no future historian will have to say that the arms of England in India were irresistible, and that an ancient empire fell before their victorious progress, yet that finally India was avenged, because the power of her conqueror was broken by the intolerable burdens and evils which she cast upon her victim, and that this wrong was accomplished by a waste of human life and a waste of wealth which England, with all her power, was unable to bear.' Mr. Bright's views upon the government of India were of course not popular amongst those persons who supported to the full English interests in India. There is a very large class of individuals in this country who view India merely as a field for providing light and remunerative employment for the youth of our aristocracy, and others. Any suggestions therefore for the curtailment of the Indian services, and the reduc- tion of our vast expenditure in the East, was regarded by this numerous body of persons with great dis- favour. Then, too, there were many politicians and statesmen who honestly differed from Mr. Bright upon the principles on which India ought to be governed. Yet there never was an unofficial orator who delivered such speeches as those of Mr. Bright on this question, either as regards their wide range, their complete grasp of the subject, or the marked character of their eloquence. On several occasions subsequent to those already dealt with, Mr. Bright has touched upon Indian affairs. In the session of 1861 Mr. Dunlop brought forward a resolution to inquire into the discrepancies between certain sets of documents relating to the Afghan War of 1837-8. Some passages in the despatches of Sir Alexander Burnes had been muti- 47 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xv. lated, in order to make it appear that he advised a policy which he really condemned. Mr. Dunlop accordingly moved for a committee to inquire into the alleged mutilation of despatches presented to the House. He was answered by Lord Palmerston, but Mr. Bright afterwards took up the matter in a very spirited speech. He complained that the noble lord had heaped insult upon the memory of a man who died in the execution of what he believed to be his public duty. Having reviewed the circumstances of the case as affecting Sir A. Burnes, Mr. Bright said, 1 Nothing can sink Parliament to a lower state of degradation and baseness than that it should permit Ministers of the Crown to lay upon the table, upon questions involving the sacrifice of 20,000,000 of money, and 20,000 lives, documents which are not true which slander our public servants, and which slander them most basely when they are dead and are not here to answer.' Although the motion was negatived by a large majority, the memory of Sir Alexander Burnes was vindicated. In a speech delivered at Manchester on the llth of December, 1877, Mr. Bright again returned to the important question of the government of India. The occasion was the reception of Sir Arthur Cotton, by the members of the Indian Association in Manchester, who were desirous of hearing the opinions which Sir Arthur entertained as to the means of preventing famine in India for the future. After passing briefly in review our mode of govern- 1877-1 MR. BRIGHT ON INDIA. 473 ing India, Mr. Bright observed that the country was at that moment in a state of great and abject poverty. England for the most part took no notice of India and her famines until there came the calamity of the Mutiny, when England suffered greatly, and passed through a period of humili- ation. When the Mutiny took place, the East India Company fell, yet that old institution had been praised up to its very fall. Keferring next to the past famines, and the one now imminent, Mr. Bright asked, What is the remedy ? Sir Charles Trevelyan had said he was satisfied that with a thorough system of irrigation, famines would be impossible in India. If canals for navigation or irrigation (con- tinued Mr. Bright) were made upon some grand scheme, determined by competent and eminent en- gineers, you would find the produce of nearly all the districts of India, all those not hitherto irrigated, would probably be doubled. But as regards such matters our policy was generally to wait until the horse was stolen before locking the stable door. As to the government of India, he did not believe that half a dozen gentlemen in Calcutta were capable of administering the government of some two hundred millions of people. But, unfortunately, there were civilians, engineers, military men, everybody who were in favour of, and had an interest in, patronage, promotion, salaries, and ultimately pensions. There was also no public opinion to fight in favour of economy. Even the press in India which touched 474 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xv. the Government was, as a rule, in favour of annexa- tion of more territory, more places, more salaries, and ultimately more pensions. A government such as that which existed had some fatal defect which at no distant time must bring disaster and humilia- tion to the Government and the people on whose behalf it ruled. Mr. Bright again advocated the creation of five or six great independent presidencies as the best solution of the difficulty, especially as the day must come, from some cause or other, when the power of England would be withdrawn from India. Nearly two years after the delivery of this speech, Mr. Bright, in addressing his constituents at Birmingham, chiefly upon the Eastern policy of the Government, observed that we were in the habit of hearing constantly that Kussia was a des- potic country, and the Czar the greatest of despots. ' But our Indian Empire contains a population nearly three times as great as that of the Russian Empire, and it is an Empire also that is governed by a despotism that is, a government which has no representative institutions, and in which a few men with some one at the top of them an Emperor in Russia, in India a Governor- General represent- ing the Queen of England administer the whole government of the Empire : it does not follow that because it is a despotism it should be unjust or cruel.' But L he proceeded to ridicule the manner of our government in India, and remarked that the taxation was oppressive to such a degree that 1877.] MR. BRIGHT ON INDIA. 475 all the authorities in India admitted you could not turn the screw any more. India was pretty nearly bankrupt, and there was generally a deficit. As to our holding India, we held it at a cost which was more than double all the pecuniary benefits which we had acquired by trade in all that vast possession. ' But people may say then, perhaps, " You will give up India," and I should say "No." I do not say anything of the kind, but I think it would be worth while to become a little more rational about it.' This great question of the government of India is one to which Mr. Bright has ever paid the closest and most special attention. Our responsibilities in connection with that gigantic dependency have always weighed heavily upon him ; and had he so chosen, upon the accession of Mr. Gladstone's first Ministry to office, he might have succeeded to the very important and onerous office of Secretary of State for India. The soundness of some of his views upon India has already been proved, and it is possible that conviction may follow with regard to others. England still holds her vast Indian Empire by a more direct sovereignty than was once the case ; and by excellent government she may possibly hold it for a long time to come ; but he must be a bold man who would venture to predict the per- petual and undivided sway of Great Britain over a territory so immense, with its ever-increasing myriads of population. 476 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. CHAPTER XVI. THE REFORM QUESTION IN 1868-9. Parliamentary Reform in 1858. Mr. Locke King's County Franchise Bill. The Ballot. Reform Campaign in the Provinces. Mr. Bright at Birmingham. Points of his proposed Reform scheme. Our Foreign Policy. Reception of Mr. Gibson and Mr. Bright at Manchester. What a Reform Bill should include. Mr. Bright at Edinburgh and Glasgow. The Derby- Disraeli Reform Bill of 1859. Debate on the Second Reading. Speech by Mr. Bright. Defeat of the Government. Dissolution of Parliament. Election at Bir- mingham. Opposition to Mr. Bright. Scene at the Nomination. Animated Speech by Mr. Bright. Great Liberal Victory. Meeting of Parliament. Spirited Debate. Motion carried against the Government. Their Resig- nation. A Palmerston Ministry formed. Important Debate on Financial Policy. Miscellaneous Questions. Mr. Cobden at Rochdale. Reform Con- ference in London. IjlROM India we now pass to a subject of great -*- interest in domestic politics, and one in which for many years Mr. Bright played a very prominent part, viz., Parliamentary Reform. For a consider- able period before Mr. Bright's winter campaign of 1858, it had been generally conceded that the great Act of 1832 required to be supplemented by another and still larger measure of political enfranchise- ment. Hitherto, however, the question had either been trifled with, or matters ot greater moment had been allowed to damp the reforming zeal of Govern- ments. But in the session of 1858, several measures 1858-59-] THE REFORM QUESTION. 477 were introduced into the House of Commons bear- ing collaterally upon the subject of Parliamentary Keforrn. Mr. Locke King brought in a bill for the abolition of the property qualification heretofore required for the representatives of English and Irish constituencies. The Conservative Government supported the proposition, and Mr. King's bill was carried. It also passed the House of Lords, and became law. No such happy fate, however, awaited its author's further proposition for the extension of the franchise for counties in England and Wales to occupiers at ,10 per annum a measure which had been brought forward in several previous sessions. The Chancellor of the Exchequer now said that as the Government intended to give their consideration to the whole subject of Parliamentary Reform, he felt it his duty to move the previous question. Leave was nevertheless given to bring in the bill, and its second reading was afterwards carried by a large majority ; but in consequence of the lateness of the period, and the pressure of other matters, Mr. Locke King was compelled to abandon his measure for that session. Mr. Caird also made an unsuccessful attempt to carry a bill for the assimilation of the county franchise of Scotland with that of England. Lastly, on the 8th of June Mr. Berkeley brought on his annual resolution in favour of vote by ballot. The motion was opposed by Sir G. C. Lewis and Lord Palmerston, who made a good deal of the alleged failure of the ballot in the United States. THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. Mr. Bright, premising that he should not go either to the United States or to Australia, demanded that the measure should be considered with refer- ence to the conditions of our own society ; and insisted that this country where there were so many incentives to undue influence, and so little power of resisting it was of all countries that in which this question should be fairly considered. And if the remedy was good it ought to be applied. Describing the secret operation of influence in our electoral system, he cited cases proving the intoler- able working of the screw spoken of by Mr. Berkeley. We must have a Eeform Bill, and no measure of that kind would be complete without the great principle of the ballot. He asked whether it was not a fact that, in every petition for Parliamentary Eeform, the House was asked to include the ballot, and that at almost every public meeting held for years past, the establishment of secret voting by the ballot was made a cardinal point ? Was the House prepared to disregard this ? Observing that the ballot was no sacred principle, but a mere matter of electoral machinery, no member, he said, could be charged with inconsistency in consenting to try this great experiment. Mr. Bright appealed to both sides of the House to lay aside their fears, to have a little faith, and not to be misled by the flimsy arguments of Lord Palmerston, but for the sake of morality, and the tranquillity of the country, to give a candid and favourable consideration ^to 1858-59-] THE REFORM QUESTION. 479 Mr. Berkeley's proposition. The motion, however, was lost hy 294 votes to 197. In the ensuing October, Mr. Bright began his earnest and vigorous Eeform campaign in the provinces. Disappointed with the lukewarmness which had crept over our public men in regard to this question, his language was of an unusually vehement character. Those who were opposed to Eeform altogether alleged that he damaged his cause by the violence of his advocacy; but there are moments in the history of nations when even stronger language than Mr. Bright's would be justifiable. Every great benefactor and reformer is liable to the charge of excessive zeal, yet without such zeal many of the greatest boons ever conferred upon the human race would still be wanting. How- ever, in this matter let not us, his contemporaries, but posterity, judge Mr. Bright. The first great meeting was held at Birmingham, under peculiar and memorable circumstances, on the 27th of October, 1858. Mr. Bright had just recovered from his serious illness, and nearly three years had elapsed since he was able to appear upon a public platform for the purpose of addressing any large body of his countrymen. This was, in addition, the first time upon which Mr. Bright had met his new constituents at Birmingham. In opening his speech he made some touching references to this fact, and expressed his gratitude to the Supreme for the signal favour which had been extended to him Here the 480 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. warm cheering which had greeted the speaker on first appearing before the vast audience in the Town Hall was renewed. After a graceful allusion to the sympathy which had been shown him in his afflic- tion, and to the atonement which Birmingham had made for the passionate and ungenerous treatment of Manchester, the hon. member referred to the pre- valent misrepresentation .of his attitude in regard to the Crimean War. c Now,' said Mr. Bright, * after all is over except the tax-gatherer, and the sorrows of those who have lost their friends in the war, I will just in one sentence say that I am still unable to discover what compensation England has for the hundred millions of money she expended, or what compensation Europe has for the three hundred millions squandered by all the parties engaged in that frightful contest.' Turning next to the question of Parliamentary Eeform, he pointed out that within the last few years they had had four Governments pledged to Parliamentary Eeform. All parties now pretended to be in love with it, but their speeches on the question reminded him of the condition of that deplorable Atlantic Cable, of which he read that 'the currents were visible, but the signals were wholly indistinct.' Mr. Bright next proceeded to show, by the aid of facts and statistics, that the Parliament, as then constituted, did not fairly represent the nation. The whole system of repre- sentation was unequal and dishonest ; there were in the House of Commons 330 members (more than 1858-59-] THE REFORM QUESTION. half the House) whose whole number of constitu- ents did not amount to more than 180,000 ; while there were at the same time 24 members only whose constituents were upwards of 200,000 in number. There was, besides, the great significant fact that in Great Britain and Ireland five out of every six men you met had no vote. Mr. Bright then referred at some length to the House of Lords, and drew a very unflattering picture of the typical peer. The House of Peers did not travel very fast, even what was called a Parliamentary train was too fast for its nerves ; in fact, it never travelled at all unless somebody shoved it. He would not attack the House of Lords, but the question between the Peers and the people was one which could not be evaded. The Peer too often gave his vote against those great measures on which the country had set its heart. Then too there was another kind of Peer which he was afraid to touch upon ' that creature of what shall I say ? of monstrous, nay, even of adulterous birth the Spiritual Peer.' They were always told that Peers were necessary as a check, and if that was so they answered their pur- pose admirably. Discussing the question of the suffrage, Mr. Bright spoke in favour of a Eating Franchise, and he added that he knew no good reason why the fran- chise should not be as extensive in the counties as in the boroughs. He also advocated a more equal division of electoral power, the existing system 31 ' 482 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. XVI. being but a disgraceful fraud. Without redistribu- tion of seats, representation would remain for the future very little better than a farce. The third great point which he insisted upon was that any Reform Bill which pretended to be generally satis- factory to reformers must concede the shelter and protection of the ballot. ' Let us,' said Mr. Bright, ' have a real bill, a good bill, or no bill at all.' But the question at the moment was in the hands of the enemy, and he had his fears. As to the bugbear of c Americanising ' our institutions, if we were at liberty to draw science, products for our manufactures, and literature from every country in the world, why should we not, if we saw anything good in the politics of another country, be equally at liberty to take a lesson in that also ? Those persons who affirmed that the franchise, the distribution, and the ballot, which operated so well in America, would be perilous in England, libelled the people of this country, and libelled our institutions. Mr. Bright urged upon his hearers and the country the necessity of public meetings, of petitions, and, when the proper time came, attendance at the polling- booths. Finally, he said, * Shall we, even for a moment, be hopeless of our great cause ? I feel almost ashamed even to argue it to such a meeting as this. I call to mind where I am, and who are those whom I see before me. Am I not in the town of Birmingham England's central capital; and do not these eyes look upon the sons of those who, not thirty years ago, 1858-59-] THE REFORM QUESTION. shook the fabric of privilege to its base ? Not a few of the strong men of that time are now white with age. They approach the confines of their mortal day. Its evening is cheered with the remembrance of that great contest, and they rejoice in the freedom they have won. Shall their sons be less noble than they ? Shall the fire which they kindled be extinguished with you ? I see your answer in every face. You are resolved that the legacy which they bequeathed to you, you will hand down in an accumulated wealth of freedom to your children. As for me, my voice is feeble. I feel now sensibly and painfully that I am not what I was. I speak with diminished fire ; I act with a lessened force ; but as I am, my countrymen and my constituents, I will, if you will let me, be found in your ranks in the impending struggle.' A scene remarkable for its enthusiasm followed this statement of Mr. Bright's programme on the great question then agitating the public mind. On the following day the hon. gentleman further discussed the details of the Eeform question with a deputation from the Reformers' Union, and on the 29th he attended a banquet given in the Town Hall. Although the speech which he delivered on this occa- sion was devoted chiefly to a defence of his views on Foreign Policy, we shall preserve the consecutiveness of our narrative by dealing with it in its due order. A letter was read from Mr. Cobden, in which he said, * The electors of Birmingham may justly feel proud of their present position. Their reversal of the sen- THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. tence passed upon Mr. Bright by his late constituents has been ratified by the approving voice of the country and of the civilized world.' Mr. Bright began his address by reference to an alleged difference of sentiment between his constitu- ents and himself in matters of foreign policy, and he asked how any man should dare to say to any one of his countrymen, because he happened to hold a different opinion on questions of great public policy, that therefore he was un-English, and was to be condemned as anti-national ? He then proceeded to demonstrate that the views which he and his friends held in this respect were not novel or unpatriotic, but were asso- ciated with the names of many of the most eminent statesmen that ever presided over the legislative councils of England. He illustrated this assertion by a reference to the declared opinions of Sir Robert Walpole, Mr. Charles James Fox, Earl Grey, and Sir Robert Peel. Dealing with the results of the sacra- fices made to the war spirit, Mr. Bright said he believed he understated the same when he alleged that in pursuit of a Will-o'-the-wisp (' the liberties of Europe, and the balance of power '), there had been extracted from the industry of the people of this small island no less an amount than .2,000,000,000 sterling. Then came this graphic passage : ' When I try to think of that sum of 2,000,000,000, there is a sort of vision passes before my mind's eye. I see your peasant labourer delve and plough, sow and reap, sweat beneath the summer's sun, or grow pre- maturely old before the winter's blast. I see your noble mechanic, with his manly countenance and his matchless skill, toiling at his bench or bis 1858-59-] THE REFORM QUESTION. forge. I see one of the workers in our factories in the north, a woman a girl, it may be gentle and good, as many of them are, as your sisters and daughters are I see her intent upon the spindle, whose revolutions are so rapid that the eye fails altogether to detect them, or watching the alternating flight of the unresting shuttle. I turn again to another portion of your population, which, " plunged in mines, forgets a sun was made," and I see the man who brings up from the secret chambers of the earth the elements of the riches and greatness of his country. When I see all this, I have before me a mass of produce and of wealth which I am no more able to comprehend than I am that 2,000,000,000 of which I have spoken, but I behold in its full proportions the hideous error of your Governments, whose fatal policy consumes in some cases a half, never less than a third, of all the results of that industry which God intended should fertilize and bless every home in England, but the fruits of which are squandered in every part of the surface of the globe, without producing the smallest good to the people of England.' The speaker next observed that the great territorial families of England, which were enthroned at the Be volution, had followed their prey Like the jackals of the desert : as a consequence of the foreign policy which he denounced, from the time of William III. wars had been multiplied, taxes increased, loans made, and the Government expenditure greatly augmented. ' There is no actuary in existence,' said Mr. Bright (in a passage of his speech which was warmly cheered, though it subsequently gave great offence in many quarters), * who can calculate how much of the wealth, of the strength, of the supremacy of the territorial families of England has been derived from an unholy participation in the fruits of the industry of the people, which have been wrested from them by every device of taxation, and squandered in every conceivable crime of which a Government could possibly be guilty. The more you examine this 486 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. matter, the more you will come to the conclusion which I have arrived at, that this foreign policy, this regard for "the liberties of Europe," this care at one time for " the Protestant interests," this exces- sive love for the " balance of power," is neither more nor less than a gigantic system of outdoor relief for the aristocracy of Great Britain.' (Great laughter.} The hon. member then proceeded to remark upon the great number and the extraordinary character of the treaties and obligations we had unnecessarily entered into with almost every European nation, and also with the East ; and he showed how much the insurrection in India and the war with China arose from a policy which attributed English glory to this system. The notion that English trade had benefited by such proceedings was delusive, for all our colonies had been a loss to us, save that of Australia. Why, the consequence of entertaining such feelings as he had described had been that, within the last twenty years, our naval and military expenses had gone up from twelve to twenty-two millions per annum ; and yet there was nobody that he knew who pro- posed to invade England. With regard to this fear of invasion, and the enormous expenditure it cost us in consequence, Mr. Bright said : * There is no cause- way to Britain ; the free waves of the sea flow day and night for ever round her shores ; and yet there are people going about with whom this hallucination is so strong that they do not merely discover it quietly to their friends, but they write it down in double- 1858-59-] THE REFORM QUESTION. leaded columns, in leading articles, nay, some of them actually get up on platforms and proclaim it to hundreds and thousands of their fellow-countrymen. I should like to ask you whether these delusions are to last for ever, whether this policy is to be the per- petual policy of England, whether these results are to go on gathering and gathering until there come, as come there must inevitably, some dreadful catastrophe on our country ? ' Abuse and mismanagement, continued the speaker, existed with regard to the enormous sums raised, and an eminent mercantile authority had told him that he could manage the whole affairs of England at one- half less than the estimates which were voted every year. As to the fear of Cherbourg, had not France behaved honourably to us in the Crimean War : had she not helped us in China ; were the people not told to fall down and worship the Emperor when he came to London; and was not our Queen received with acclamation when she visited Paris ? Mr. Bright went on to insist that we could not consistently con- demn France for behaviour which we had ourselves so much exhibited. He wanted to inaugurate a new revolution of opinion, one in which among other changes the great anomaly of such a rich country having to raise ,7,000,000 for its pauper popu- lation, and the unhappy condition of a portion of our women, would be deeply considered. A duty now devolved upon the advanced members of Parliament and the people of England different from that which THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. would arise from accepting the history of Home, or any pagan nation, as the test of national greatness. Two nights ago, said Mr. Bright in closing, he had addressed a vast assembly composed to a large extent of those who had no political power, and who had but limited means of informing themselves on these great subjects. Now he spoke to a somewhat different audience, and one which could help to affect sensibly and speedily the course of the Government : 1 May I ask you, then, to believe, as I do most devoutly believe, that the moral law was not written for men alone in their individual character, but that it was written as well for nations, and for nations great as this of which we are citizens. If nations reject and deride that moral law, there is a penalty which will inevitably follow. It may not come at once, it may not come in our lif etime ; but, rely upon it, the great Italian is not a poet only, but a prophet, when he says " The sword of heaven is not in haste to smite, Nor yet doth linger." We have experience, we have beacons, we have landmarks enough. We know what the past has cost us, we know how much and how far we have wandered, but we are not left without a guide. It is true we have not, as an ancient people had, Urim and Thummim those oraculous gems on Aaron's breast from which to take counsel, but we have the un- changeable and eternal principles of the moral law to guide us, and only so far as we walk by that guidance can we be permanently a great nation, or our people a happy people.' The fight for Eeform had now fairly begun, and in a short time the battle-field was changed from the Midlands, first to the north of England, and sub- sequently to Scotland. On the 10th of December a soiree was given in the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, to Mr. Milner Gibson and Mr. Bright, for the pur- pose of congratulating the hon. member for Birming- ham on his restoration to health ; to celebrate the 1 858-59.] THE REFORM QUESTION, return of himself and his late colleague (Mr. Gibson) to Parliament for the boroughs of Birmingham and Ashton ; and to thank them for their patriotic conduct during the last session of Parliament, as well as for their long and faithful services as representa- tives for the city of Manchester. This was the first occasion on which the two ex-members had appeared in the city since their rejection by that constituency. When Mr. Bright and Mr. Gibson made their appear- ance, the great organ gave out the familiar notes of ' Auld Lang Syne ' ; and by a spontaneous and as it were electric impulse, the huge gathering caught up the touching strain. Thrilling with enthusiasm as the distinguished guests entered the arena of their former triumphs, the audience rose simultaneously, and accorded them a vehement, prolonged, and deafen- ing reception. The heroes of the ovation struggled in vain to repress their emotion, and were visibly affected by the demonstration of feeling of which they were the objects. In that moment, the ingrati- tude of Manchester was condoned. Mr. Bright had been chosen by an important conference of Parliamentary reformers, to elaborate, and in the ensuing session to propose, a new Eeform Bill, and this fact lent additional interest to the proceedings. Mr. George Wilson, president of the Anti-Corn Law League of former days, presided. Mr. Milner Gibson having been first heard, Mr. Bright was called upon, but for some minutes was unable to proceed, in consequence of the renewed 49 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. plaudits of the audience. Quiet having been at length restored, the hon. gentleman began his speech by a reference to the reception of himself and his friend, which appeared like the celebration of some great success. He then turned to the topic of the day by pointing out the fact that the present Ministry were the political descendants of those who, forty years ago, had massacred the citizens of Manchester when they were met for a purpose and on an occasion similar to the present. Next, he observed that what those present proposed was to discuss a question relative to themselves, the Commons of England, and which question had been brought before the country by the Government. He should like to put in as few words as possible what, in his opinion, the House of Commons should be. It should be a House composed of men sent up by the free election of so many of the people voting with such an equality of power as should give a real expression to the opinions of the nation. But could any person say it was so when five out of every six men had no more votes at the poll for a member of Parliament than if they lived in South America or in South Africa ? Of the House of Commons, three hundred and thirty members were returned by less than one-sixth of that very small number of persons to whom the franchise was entrusted. The hon. member (as in one of his previous speeches) then went into some statistics to show how unequally the electoral franchise was distributed, the result of 1858-59-] THE REFORM QUESTION. 49 l which was, he said, that a House of Commons so formed became for the most part, as he knew it to be, a sort of deputy to the House of Lords, and an organ of the great territorial interests of the country. It hated changes with an animosity that nothing could assuage ; it hated economy, it hated equality of taxation. The Succession Duty was a glaring instance ; the Income Tax was another instance not less glaring. They gave to property vast influence in the government of the country, and they perpetually shielded property from the burden of taxation. It was the same before the Eeform Bill as it was now. The speaker then proceeded to state that every great measure had been extorted by, and conceded to, the people, but had never been freely given even by the Legislature to the country, and instanced the repeal of the Corn Laws as occasioned by a famine, and not ' because the House of Lords or the House of Com- mons wished to grant it ; ' and now the Ballot was opposed, the Game Laws upheld, and the question of Church- rates, after years of discussion, was still un- settled, and all owing to undue territorial influence. Mr. Bright went on to observe that the Govern- ment was at a deadlock without Parliamentary Eeform, and the measure that he would propose as the basis of the franchise was all ready to his hands. He thus unfolded his scheme : ' I find in all the parishes from the time of Queen Elizabeth and, for anything I know, from the time of Alfred I don't know how many hundred years it has lasted a franchise with which everybody has been contented, which nobody has condemned, and which has done no harm to 49 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. law, or order, or the security of property. I find that, when Parliament came to legislate for poor-law unions, they adopted this same franchise as the basis of the union franchise ; when they came to legislate for the cor- poration, they adopted, with some restriction, the same franchise. Why tell me that this franchise does not act properly in the United States ? For my argument I do not care whether it does or not. We have tried it here in our parishes, our unions, our corporations ; and I say if it acts on the whole advantageously in those departments of representation, it may be trusted without danger in that more important representation which concerns our Imperial Legislature. . . . Now what is it that I pro- pose ? That every householder, of course, because every householder is rated to the poor, shall have a vote ; and if a man be not a householder strictly, but if he have an office, or a warehouse, or a stable, or land if he have any property in his occupation which the poor law taxes out of which he must contribute to the support of the poor, then I say I would give that man a vote.' Again, dealing with the charge that we were ' Americanising ' our institutions, the speaker quoted Lord John Kussell and Lord Carlisle in support of his statements as to the general progress of the United States, and he expressed his regret that the latter nohleman should have shrunk from the conclu- sion which had been fairly deduced from his uttered opinions. We might refer to America as regards anything but politics. 'You may delight yourself with their charming poets with Bryant, and Whit- tier, and Longfellow ; you may interest and instruct yourself by their great historians Bancroft, and Prescott, and Motley; but if you ask how free popular institutions are working among your own countrymen on the American continent, you are denounced as unpatriotic, and charged with treason to the House of Lords.' Affirming that the cause of Eeform was a just cause, and must sooner or later 1858-59.] THE REFORM QUESTION. 493 prevail, Mr. Bright said, in conclusion, { From this platform I do not speak to you only I speak to all my countrymen. If they wish for Keform, if they think me honest, informed, capable on this question, if they have any confidence in those with whom I am associated, then let them meet in their cities, their towns, their villages, in country parishes even, where free speech is not forbidden, let them meet and speak ; let them resolve, and let them petition. If they do this, I think I can promise them that before long they will be in full possession and in free exercise of those political rights which are not more necessary to their national interests than they are consistent with the principles of their boasted Constitution.' By this time the country had become thoroughly stirred once more upon the great question. The consistent advocates of Reform began to ask them- selves whether the members of the Derby Ministry, who professed to be very anxious to settle the matter, could after all be true friends to the cause. Mr. Bright, who, as it was remarked at the time, had to some extent thrown his protecting aegis over the Government in the previous session, now let it be clearly understood that he would be no party to a sham Eeform Bill. There was much talk amongst the advanced reformers of again rallying themselves under that old and long-tried friend of the movement, Lord John Kussell. Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli were much distrusted, and a measure was looked for from those who had long been the acknowledged 494 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. leaders of the country upon Keform. Under these circumstances, Mr. Bright went to Scotland, there to agitate the question further. Appearing first at Edinburgh, he addressed a meeting in the Municipal Hall, one of the largest public rooms in the city, but it proved totally inadequate to contain the vast crowds who assembled to hear the popular orator, and thousands were unable to procure admission. Mr. Bright spoke at great length, insisting, though with change of rhetorical treatment, upon the points which in previous addresses he had declared to be necessary and essential in the settlement of the Keform controversy. Mr. Bright had now formulated a scheme for a bill on the subject of Parliamentary Eeform, and its provisions were made known. Its main features were as follows. In the first place, the borough franchise was to be conferred upon all who were rated to the relief of the poor, and on all lodgers who paid a rent of 10; no more freemen were to be created, and the county franchise it was proposed to reduce to 10 rental. In the next place, the returning officers' expenses were to be put on the county or borough rate ; and it was further provided that votes should be taken by ballot. It was proposed to dis- franchise fifty-six English, twenty-one Scotch, and nine Irish boroughs ; and one member was to be taken from each of thirty-four other boroughs. The seats thus obtained were to be distributed according to population among the larger towns, counties, and 1858-59-] THE REFORM QUESTION. 495 divisions of counties in the United Kingdom. A few days after his appearance at Edinburgh, viz., on the 21st of December, Mr. Bright once more spoke upon Eeform, the occasion being a great meeting at Glasgow. He observed that it was now generally conceded that the figures were all on the side of the reformers ; and as to the charge that he used the same figures and facts in his various speeches, he asked what would be said if he used different facts and figures each time he spoke. It was the same case and the same grievance. We had at least six millions of grown men in the United Kingdom, yet there were not more than one million who had votes. Eeplying to the charge that he was taking numbers only, and neglecting property, Mr. Bright adduced statistics to show that whether we took numbers, or industry and wealth, or what was comprehended as political independence he did not care what test was used there was the same startling, impressive result, that these great populations and great interests were most inadequately represented in the House of Commons under the existing system of representation. The speaker next observed that there was no novelty in his opinions upon this question; they were the opinions which Mr. Fox and Lord Grey proposed to the House of Commons in 1797. c I am no conjurer, I have no specific for national happiness, I offer you nothing made up of conundrums and tricks, but I bring before you what I believe to be a rational and substantial project for the arrangement 49 6 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. of our representation, which, I venture to say, has had, during the last sixty years, the sanction and approval of many of the greatest minds and of the greatest patriots of our country.' He then defended the proposed rating franchise, which according to some was to swamp everybody, and which men stood aghast at. With a passing reference to the lodger and county franchises, he proceeded to allude to the Ballot, respecting which he was supposed to have changed his opinion, because he did not mention it at Edinburgh. The call for this measure would be more strong and imperative after a change in the franchise. ' I cannot comprehend,' remarked Mr. Bright, ' why any man should oppose the Ballot. I can understand its importance being exaggerated, but I cannot understand the man who thinks it would be likely to inflict injury upon the country. Every good influence, every legitimate influence, would still exist. The rich man would still be rich and would still be powerful ; in the nature of things it must be so. The educated man, the intellectual man, the benevolent man, the man of religious and saintly life, would continue to exercise a most bene- ficent influence, which the Ballot, I believe, would not in the slightest degree impair ; but the influence of the landlord, of the creditor, of the customer the influence of the strong and unscrupulous mind over the feeble and the fearful that influence would be as effectually excluded as I believe it could be by any human contrivance whatsoever.' From its moral 1858-59.] THE REFORM QUESTION, 497 aspect, the question of the Ballot was even still more important, and there was no proposition received with such unanimity as that the Ballot should form a portion of the coming Reform. Mr. Bright next insisted upon a good redistribution scheme, and proceeded to point out . that a real measure of Eeform was as much wanted for the secu- rity and welfare of the middle classes of society as it was for the operative classes. Many attempts had been made to frighten the middle classes, but all the predictions of the ruling classes as to the effects of progressive measures had been utterly falsified. Touching upon the land laws, and their operation in Scotland, the hon. gentleman asked if there was any reason why land should not be as free as machinery, or ships, or household furniture, or cattle, or the goods and manufactures in the warehouses. He added, however, ' I am no advocate for a law to force the division of land. I do not want any landlord to be compelled to have a greater or smaller number of tenants ; but I say the system of legislation in regard to primogeniture, and to entails and settlements, which is intended to keep vast estates in one hand through successive generations, and to prevent that economical disposition and change of property which is found so advantageous in every other kind of property I say that this state of things is full of the most pernicious consequences, not only to the agricultural classes, but to all other classes of our countrymen, since all are affected by it.' 32 49 8 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. Dealing next with affairs of State, Mr. Bright re- marked that in our Home affairs we had a very open system of government ; but when we came to Foreign poh'cy we were no longer Englishmen ; we were no longer free; we were recommended not to inquire. There was, however, the great fact that since 1815 there had been paid in connection with Foreign policy more than 1, 000,000,000 out of the industry of the population. And yet there was a supposed necessity for armaments twice as large as were neces- sary twenty-five years ago. Governments drifted into war, and the people could not help themselves. He protested against the conduct of public affairs remaining with a few leading families, who enjoyed all the emoluments and all the power. Not until the secret and irresponsible doings of the Foreign Office were placed under the free control of a Parliament elected by the great body of the people of the United Kingdom, would the industry of the people be secured from that gigantic taxation to which it had been sub- jected during the last hundred aud fifty years. Mr. Bright, in concluding, exhorted the people to examine this matter thoroughly for themselves, and sat down with these personal allusions to himself : ' I come amongst you that we may deliberate on those great questions on which our success and our prosperity depend. You know at least if you do not know it I will tell you that I am no frequenter of Courts. I have never sought for office or the emoluments of place. I have no craving for popularity. I think I 1858-59-] THE REFORM QUESTION, 499 have little of that which may be called the lust for fame. I am a citizen of a free country. I love my country, I love its freedom ; but I believe that freedom can only be extended and retained by a fair and honest representation of the people ; and it is because I believe this, that I am here to-night to ask you, through the power of your intelligence and your numbers, to step into the position which now opens up before you.' Early in 1859 Mr. Bright addressed great meetings at Bradford and Eochdale, and then the field of controversy was removed to St. Stephen's. On the 28th of February Mr. Disraeli brought in the Govern, ment Eeform Bill, which the right hon. gentleman explained was not to alter the limits of the franchise, but to introduce into the boroughs a new kind of franchise founded upon personal property. It was proposed to give votes to persons receiving W yearly from the funds, or .20 in pensions, as well as to graduates in the universities, ministers of religion, members of the legal and medical professions, and some other classes. The bill further recognized the principle of identity of suffrage between the counties and the towns, of which the effect would be to add 200,000 to the county constituencies. Lord John Russell complained that the measure did little or nothing for the working classes, while Mr. Walpole and Mr. Henley retired from the Ministry because the new principle, of a like qualification for counties and boroughs, established in the bill, was utterly 500 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. at variance with the traditions of the Conservative party. Mr. Bright held that a Government repre- senting a party which had always opposed the exten- sion of political power to the people ought not to have undertaken to settle this question. There were many points in the bill to which he took exception, but chiefly to the total exclusion of the working classes from power. The new franchises were, he said, absurd ; they seemed intended merely to make it appear that something was given. Mr. Bright also insisted upon the dissatisfaction that would be created by the withdrawal of their county vote from freeholders in towns. It would have been better if Mr. Disraeli had adhered to the ancient maxims of his party, or had adopted a measure of his opponents, than had introduced a bill which must create anger and disgust throughout the country, a bill which would disturb everything, irritate vast masses of the people, and settle nothing. The measure was read a first time, but it was doomed to be wrecked on the second reading. The debate on this stage began on the 20th of March and was sustained through seven nights. Lord John Russell moved an adverse amendment in a very vigorous speech, concluding with these words : 'With regard to this great question of Reform, I may say that I defended it when I was young, and I will not desert it now that I am old.' Mr. Horsman and others thought the bill could be altered in Committee ; and Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, with much eloquence, pleaded 1858-59-] THE REFORM QUESTION. 5OI on behalf of the measure, contending that in refusing the compromise offered, the opponents of the Govern- ment would plunge the country from end to end into a violent party-hattle. Sir Hugh Cairns spoke point- edly of the compact between Lord John Eussell and Mr. Bright, and asked whether it included the ballot and a redistribution of seats. Mr. Bright, whose speeches out of doors had been severely criticized in some quarters, delivered a tem- perate yet effective speech against the bill. There was a singular unanimity of feeling against the measure, and he was surprised at Mr. Horsman's suggestion for turning the bill inside-out, seeing that the Government had parted with two eminent col- leagues on account of differences on the very points they were discussing. The people understood by a Eeform Bill a large enfranchisement, and larger, freer constituencies. The bill did not meet that demand. It got rid of the most independent electors from counties, and insidiously proposed to alter the boun- daries of boroughs to complete the work. Yet all that had been done had the object of making the representation of counties more exclusively territorial. ' Is that desirable ? Why, the 150 gentlemen elected by the territorial interest have been the chief diffi- culty in the way of carrying every measure demanded by the country. Ask Lord Lyndhurst, ask Sir James Graham, ask Lord Aberdeen, ask Mr. Disraeli, who in 1852 was turned out because he was forced to meet the demands of his party with regard to the 502 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. malt-tax. Does any one believe that this is the sort of bill which Mr. Disraeli thinks the best for the country? He knows that this bill in its present shape is a bill framed to satisfy the prejudices, the scruples, the convictions, if you like, and the fears of the 150 country gentlemen who sit behind him.' Mr. Bright described the small boroughs as only a refuge for the politically destitute a shelter for what are called ' deserving objects.' What would be the effect of the voting-paper system upon small boroughs? ' I know no limit whatever,' said the speaker, ' to the amount of corruption it may occasion.' With regard to the exclusion of the working classes, Mr. Bright said that the bill told them they were dangerous, and that there were privileges which they ought not to share. The working classes had improved mentally, morally, and physically, and yet the Govern- ment told them they were as dangerous and ignorant as they were twenty-seven years ago ! Uniformity of franchise had been represented as a democratic proceeding, but as he was not himself very democratic, on that account it had no charms for him. No power could keep the boroughs at 10, and unless the idea of uniformity were given up, the county franchise must come down. Answering the taunt that nobody cared about Keform, Mr. Bright said that there would be agitations during the coming autumn and winter. * I happen to have been to some of the largest towns of this country, and I have seen meetings exceeding in number, and exceeding in influence, I believe, 1858-59.] THE REFORM QUESTION. 53 almost every meeting that was held by the Anti- Corn-Law League during the agitation for the repeal of the Corn Laws. The populations you are about to disappoint and defy, what have they done ? They have conquered everything they have grappled with hitherto. I do not speak of distant realms conquered under your banners, but of arts and manufactures, and all that tends to wealth and civilization. Do you think that this population will not also conquer a much larger share of their political rights than in your present mood you appear disposed to give them?' Next addressing himself to the country gentlemen, Mr. Bright said the men in the North had no fear of the people. Although a violent disturbance would be more damaging to them than to others, a large proportion of the employers of labour were in favour of extending the suffrage, for they believed it would remove discontent, and elevate and strengthen the people. * I assure you that resistance is not always conservative,' he said in conclusion. ' I profess to be, in intention, as conservative as you, I believe, infinitely more so, if you look forward twenty or thirty years into the future. Was not Free Trade conservative ? And yet you resisted it to the last. I recollect occasions when the Chancellor of the Exchequer told us of the cruelty practised on the ruined and betrayed agriculturist. I recollect he addressed us on the condition of the farm-labourer two or three years afterwards ; and since that time his condition has been improving rapidly. Is not 54 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. prosperity conservative ? Is not peace conservative ? Any energies I possess I have devoted to their advance ; I have endeavoured to stand on the rules of political economy, and to be guided by the higher rules of true morality; and when advocating a measure of Reform larger than some are prepared to grant, I appear in that character, for I believe a substantial measure of Reform would elevate and strengthen the character of our population ; that, in the language of the beautiful prayer read here every day, it would tend " to knit together the hearts of all persons and estates within this realm." I believe it would add to the authority of the decisions of Parliament ; and I feel satisfied it would confer a lustre, which time could never dim, on that benignant reign under which we have the happiness to live.' Amongst subsequent speakers was Mr. Gladstone, who said he was extremely desirous of seeing this question settled, and that he should give his vote neither to the Government nor to party, when he voted to negative the resolution of Lord John Russell. Mr. Disraeli, in closing the debate, said the Govern- ment had been sustained in all its arduous struggles by a conviction of the justice of the people of England ; and they were sustained by it at that moment, amid all the manoeuvres of Parliamentary intrigue, and all the machinations of party warfare. When the House went to a division, great excitement prevailed on all sides, and this was enhanced when the numbers were announced as follows : For the second reading of the 1858-59. THE REFORM QUESTION. 505 bill, 291 ; against, 330 ; majority against the Govern- ment, 39. The Ministry now determined to dissolve Parlia- ment, and to remit the question to the constituencies. An immediate dissolution was pressed for, and Mr. Bright admitted that the Government had taken the constitutional course they were hound to take. But while he applauded the course Ministers had taken, he protested against the attempt of Mr. Disraeli to make a little political capital by representing that the country had the option between his own measure, conservative in its character, and one that was revo- lutionary. He observed that it was very odd this Conservative bill should have had more determined opponents on the Government side of the House than on the other. For himself, he was not afraid of the tribunal before which the Government were about to bring this question. Any measure of Eeform he should propose would be on the lines of that of 1832 ; and if that were revolutionary, he did not understand the meaning of the term. If the Government made such a charge as this, when they went to the hustings they must take the consequences. He would like to go to this election in a spirit of calmness, and to discuss the question fairly. This attitude was not that of a bigoted partisan on the one hand, or that of one who recoiled from the consequences of his advocacy on the other. Parliament was prorogued on April 19, but several days before this Mr. Bright attended a meeting at 56 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. Eochdale, called to promote the return of Mr. Cobden, who was then in America. Mr. Bright was in high feather on this occasion, and his tribute to Mr. Cobden is worth quoting for several reasons. Mr. Cobden was one of themselves, he said, ' and it was quite likely that his ancestry were seated in one of the English counties at the time of the Norman Conquest, but he never boasted that those ancestors came over here with the Conqueror. He (Mr. Cobden) began by agitating the Anti-Corn-Law question, and they knew what had been the result. He was sent to Parliament, and became a great person in the House so great that in 1846 Lord J. Kussell, who was then about to form an Administration, wrote to him and offered him a seat in his Cabinet. Mr. Cobden, however, did not accept the offer, and went abroad.' Mr. Bright concluded by saying that although he should give Lord John BusseLL's bill a favourable consideration, he had not given up the thought of bringing in at some future day his own, if he were returned again to Parliament. Mr. Bright himself was opposed at Birmingham by Mr. T. D. Acland, who in his address said that he had been invited by ' a numerous and respectable body of Liberal electors ' to contest the borough. As to the character of the electors who invited Mr. Acland, controversy would now be useless ; but history records that he was lamentably mistaken when he went on to observe that he had ' no fear of the result.' Mr. Scholefield, the second recognized Liberal candi- 1858-59-] THE REFORM QUESTION, 507 date, was a true colleague, and took a very generous estimate of the situation, as well as a magnanimous view of the claims of Mr. Bright. ( It is not,' he said, 'in this case that the Conservatives love me more than Mr. Bright. It is, perhaps, that for certain reasons they dislike me a little less. And this is easily explained. I have not the power, the influ- ence, or the eloquence of Mr. Bright, and of course I am not a man of so much mark. They well know that if they turned me out of the House of Commons to-morrow, they would do little harm to the cause of progress ; hut if they turned out Mr. Bright, they would level at it a dangerous and deadly blow.' This self-abnegation on the part of Mr. Scholefield was warmly appreciated. It was well known that the opposition was really aimed at Mr. Bright's re-election ; but the result proved that the electors of Birmingham were not only desirous of endorsing the past action of their illustrious representative, but were well aware as to the nature of the coalition of bastard Liberalism and uncompromising Conservatism arrayed against him. Mr. Bright arrived in Birming- ham on the 23rd, and at once began his arduous campaign. On the day of his arrival he addressed three meetings, two of them in the open air. In these speeches he spoke chiefly of the iniquity of England engaging in the impending Continental war. On the 25th, a great town's meeting was held in the Town Hall, for the purpose of considering the claims of the candidates for the representation of the borough. 508 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. The proceedings amounted to a grand demonstration in favour of the sitting members. Mr. Acland and his friends did not attend. Nearly all the men who took part in the public business of Birmingham were present in the orchestra, behind the Mayor. Mr. P. H. Muntz proposed a resolution to the effect that in the opinion of the meeting Messrs. Scholefield and Bright were fit and proper persons to represent Birmingham in the new Parliament. Mr. Muntz said that Mr. Bright was something more than the member for Birmingham he was the member for Great Britain. The prolonged cheering which followed this remark showed the estimation in which the junior member was held. Mr. Alder- man Lloyd seconded the resolution, remarking that the electors had unanimously chosen Mr. Bright in his absence two years ago. When he asked the question, ' Does Birmingham recant ? ' the whole audience with one accord shouted a tremendous ' No.' After Mr. Scholefield had spoken, Mr. Bright stepped forward, and was received with round after round of cheering. Having made some preliminary observations, he said that on the question of Eeform their opponents had dragged their anchors they had abandoned every position which in past times, and until very recently, they had occupied. Then* glorious constitution was, under their own hands, going down like old furniture at a Dutch auction. Coming to his opponent, Mr. Bright remarked that the Tory 1853-59.] THE REFORM QUESTION. 509 party had sent to some distance, ' I don't know how far, but at all events they go some 150 miles off, and they find a gentleman who for the last ten years has been entirely secluded from political life. In all probability, and perhaps most unconsciously, they mis- represented to him the state of opinion in Birming- ham ; they bring him down here, and they trot him out before several of their supporters. I don't mean to say that this horse has been down, or that he is spavined, but at any rate any one reading his speeches to continue this description of language comes to the conclusion that he is at best an unbroken colt who has never really been in harness. If you ask him questions, you see at once that, with the greatest possible disposition to be amiable, and the same disposition to be liberal, you are asking him questions with which you are altogether familiar, and with which he is altogether unacquainted.' As to the changed attitude of the Conservatives generally on the Eeform question, the speaker asked, * Ought we not to discover the signs of the times that "the winter of our discontent " is past, and that under the genial sun of more education, more physical comfort, more intelligence amongst the people, the ice is breaking on every side, and even that party who so long insulted the people, and ruled them so long as they dared, and so long as they could, with a rod of iron, is being broken up, and the great popular party is every day becoming more omnipotent in this kingdom ? ' Success consolatory to themselves, and 510 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT, [CHAP. xvi. glorious to the country, undoubtedly awaited their efforts. On the question of foreign policy, Mr. Bright added, ' Whatever may be your opinion, what- ever the opinion of any class of my countrymen, let it be fairly understood that I am committed irrevo- cably, so far as I have any influence, to the entire abstention of England from any meddling whatsoever. .... I value the blood, I value the sweat, I value the comfort, the lives, the homes, the happiness of the people of this country. Never for one single moment, at the behest of power, or at the call of popular frenzy and popular clamour, shall any man be able to charge me with being accessory to a policy which should sacrifice the happiness of the common people on the altar of sanguinary war.' On the motion of Mr. George Edmonds, seconded by Mr. Alderman Baldwin, a resolution of thanks to the retiring members was carried by acclamation. The nomination took place on the 28th, amid a scene of extraordinary excitement, the Town Hall being crammed to excess. The enthusiasm was such, that the lungs of the Birmingham electors sustained them for fifteen minutes in cheering Mr. Bright and his colleague. Mr. P. H. Muntz proposed, and Mr. Alderman Lawden seconded, the nomination of Mr. Scholefield ; and Mr. Alderman Lloyd proposed, and Mr. G. Edmonds seconded, that of Mr. Bright. Mr. H. Van Wart next nominated Mr. Thomas Dyke Acland, but Mr. Sampson Lloyd, on rising to second the nomination, was met by an indescribable torrent 1858-59-] THE REFORM QUESTION. 5 11 of invective and interruption. He could not secure the attention of the assembly for a single moment. The candidates being called upon, Mr. Scholefield rose first, and was listened to with respect and attention. When Mr. Bright rose, there was unbounded enthusiasm. He began by some allusions to his opponents, and the ill-starred destiny of their candidate ; and coming to his own personal apology, remarked that for sixteen years he had sat in the House of Commons, and during that time there had been no charge brought against him of political inconsistency, of unfaithfulness to his trust, of self- seeking in any way, or of being found at any time a hanger-on of political parties. ( I have had the satisfaction the high and glorious satisfaction of being one of those through whose instrumentality was gained the first battle of free industry, by which were proclaimed glad tidings to all the sons of toil, not in England only, but throughout all the world.' He then charged Government with having in the past strangled the industry of the nation, and inveighed strongly against the system of expenditure upon vast armies and navies, etc. The speaker next enlarged upon the inequalities of electoral representation, and afterwards in a very impassioned part of his speech said, ' Let me tell you that, whatever your institu- tions be, those that exist across the Atlantic or those that exist here, or those that existed awhile ago in France whatever be the form of your institutions, 5 I 2 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. XVI if you have in your midst 400,000 armed men, whose whole business is war, who are separated to a large extent from citizenship, who don't live at home, but who live under canvas or in barracks, there can be no security, not ten years', not five years', not six months' security, for anything whatsoever that deserves the name of civil liberty. ' Having spoken most eloquently against England being dragged into any war at that critical juncture, Mr. Bright thus defended himself on another point : ' There are persons, and there was one in the House of Commons, a Minister of the Crown, who only the other day, I am told, for I did not notice the passage, had the audacity to taunt me, not with having criticised the House of Lords, but with having spoken in disparage- ment of the Crown of England. Now,' continued the speaker, amid vehement cheering, ' whoever said this, on whatever occasion, I throw the slander in his teeth. The Crown of England will never be jeopardized by a prosperous and contented people.' Subsequently, Mr. Bright once more announced his political position : ' I am for peace, for retrenchment, and for reform thirty years ago the great watch- words of the great Liberal party ; and whosoever may feel it worth his while to depart from that watchword, to pronounce other Shibboleths, so long as that flag floats, so long at least shall I be found one of the steadfast soldiers under it.' He and such as himself had been the very saviours of the order they were charged with destroying the aristocracy ; 1858-59-] THE REFORM QUESTION. 5*3 but they had come to the time when no institution, however deeply rooted in tradition or sentiment, could dare with impunity and safety to stand against the opinion of the people of this great nation. He had never been an official servant of the Crown ; he had sought no such distinction, nor did he seek it now, although it was no small honour ; and he con- cluded with this justifiable boast, ' If I am anything in political life, I strive to be at least a servant of the people and of truth. I have laboured for them ; I have spent many of the choicest years, and the chiefest portion of my time, in what I believe was an honest devotion to their cause.' Mr. Bright never delivered a finer or more telling electioneering speech than this. He was followed by Mr. Acland, who, notwithstanding the appeals of the Liberal candidates on his behalf, could only be heard by the reporters, and by them but very indistinctly. The electors were evidently very impatient of the opposition offered to Mr. Bright 's return. Some one hundred and fifty persons only having held up their hands for Acland, as against the thousands for Schole- field and Bright, a poll was demanded for the former, after the declaration of the Mayor. The temper of the whole town may be best understood from the fact that although Mr. Van Wart, the proposer of Mr. Acland, was a man highly esteemed in Birmingham, and had been the constant friend of liberal and progressive measures, he could not obtain a hearing, but after standing for a quarter of an hour was 33 5 H THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. compelled to sit down and read his speech to the reporters. When the poll was declared on the following day, it became apparent how weak was the coalition on behalf of Mr. Acland. The numbers were : for Mr. Scholefield, 4,623 ; Mr. Bright, 4,492 ; and Mr. Acland, 1,569. Mr. Bright was therefore nearly three thousand votes ahead of his opponent. On the same day, Mr. Cobden was elected for Boch- dale without opposition. On the 31st of May, the non-electors of Birmingham entertained the members for the borough at dinner in the Town Hall. Mr. J. A. Langford presided, sup- ported by Messrs. Alderman Lloyd, Charles Sturge, G. Edmonds, and other prominent Liberals. Mr. Bright's speech on the occasion was devoted chiefly to two topics the franchise, and the war upon the Continent. With regard to the former, he wished to ask those who knew what the non-electors and working men of Birmingham were, what there was so dreadful in them that they should be excluded from the fran- chise ? Whence the terror entertained on that subject by the Newdegates and Spooners, and from what cause did it proceed ? The hon. member ridiculed the idea that if the franchise was extended to the present non-electoral bodies it would be the means of sending up men to Parliament bent only on legislating for their own class, or for a class interest. Having dilated upon the many anomalies in the representative system, Mr. Bright adverted to the war then in progress on the Continent the war between France 1858-59.] THE REFORM QUESTION. 515 and Italy and Austria. He had been almost stoned in the streets because he thought and said that the blood of Englishmen should not be poured out to sustain a tottering and decrepid Mohammedan power. But now he found himself not alone on this question. The Queen had issued a proclamation of neutrality ; Ministers had announced that such would be their policy, and they were supported by the newspaper press. The hon. member strongly condemned a war- like spirit and policy, and although they were met in evil times he hoped for better days. Parliament met on the 31st of May, and the swearing in of members was proceeded with. On the 6th of June an open conference of the Liberal party was held at Willis's Booms. Great unanimity prevailed, and it was decided to move an amendment to the Address. Lord John Eussell and Lord Palmerston stated their readiness to accept office on the basis of progressive measures, and Mr. Bright rendered good service by disclaiming any desire to impose upon the more moderate section of the party advanced opinions for which they were not prepared. He drew, however, from Lord John Eussell a declaration that his lord- ship intended to adhere fully to the propositions for electoral Eeform stated by him at the close of the preceding Parliament. On the following day the battle over the Address began in the House of Commons, when the Marquis of Hartington moved the following amendment : ' We beg humbly to submit to your Majesty that it is 5 I 6 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. essential to the satisfactory result of our delibera- tions, to the securing the success of our councils, and to the facilitating the discharge of the high functions of your Majesty, that your Majesty's Government should possess the confidence of this House and of the country, and we deem it to he our duty respectfully to represent to your Majesty that such confidence is not reposed in your Majesty's present Government.' The debate was very ani- mated. Mr. Disraeli was spirited, humorous, and epigrammatic. He made a strong attack upon Sir James Graham (which that right hon. gentleman afterwards returned with interest), and alluded in amusing terms to the compact which had been entered into at Willis's Booms. Mr. Bright gave at length his reasons for support- ing the amendment. He did not rise to defend Lord Palmerston, and had no facts to convince him that the Government had not done all in their power to prevent the war now raging in Italy ; but as to the neutrality to which the Government had pledged themselves, he wanted to know whether it was real or pretended. The question applied almost entirely to France. The increase of our naval force in the Mediterranean, the high bounties offered for enlist- ment in the navy, and the formation of rifle corps, were not directed against Austria; and was it not likely, or even inevitable, that these preparations would destroy in the minds of the French Govern- ment and people all confidence in our professions of 1 858-59.] THE REFORM QUESTION. 517 neutrality? There was no reason to distrust the Emperor of the French ; there was no increased cause of suspicion ; yet in Germany the general opinion was that the Government of England was disposed rather to side with Austria than with France. He did not blame the present Ministers for all this ; hut he could not confide in a Govern- ment whose neutrality was to he found in continued and gigantic preparations for war. No doubt from the next Government there would be the same pro- fessions of neutrality ; but with regard to France, all classes of the people would feel that there would be somewhat more of sympathy towards France on the part of their successors than, as far as he knew, was entertained by the present Government. With regard, however, to the personal alliance between England and France, it did not in his opinion add to the dignity or to the advantage of either nation ; he should prefer a generous and dignified conduct on the part of both Governments to an alliance that seemed to separate them from other nations. In a passage which created much laughter and cheering, Mr. Bright referred to the sort of bait thrown out by Mr. Disraeli what the anglers call having a cast the throwing out of a fly on these benches to see if anybody would rise. But although the Tory party, or the Conservative party, or the Conservative-Liberal party (for the hon. gentlemen opposite had so many aliases that he knew not what to call them), had always been ready to receive men THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. of capacity in their ranks, it was only under very stringent conditions. They had cast off Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Gladstone, when those distinguished men had done something most beneficial to the country. But their rancour had done immense harm to their own party, for it had enabled Mr. Disraeli to become their leader. When the amusement which this sally created had subsided, Mr. Bright in few words stated his grounds for the course he was then taking : * I say that the Government has not, upon the rules of Parliamentary practice, so far as we know, the confidence of the House of Commons. I believe if they were to pursue the course they have taken with regard to European affairs, the neutrality which they profess will not be maintained in practice. And I believe with respect to the question of Reform, which they have done their utmost to damage during the present session, that they will endeavour to betray it in the session which is to come. I think that with a new Government a more friendly feeling with France is likely to be preserved. I think also that we should have laid on the table at an early period a measure of Reform which will be distinct and considerable, and one which it may be the duty of the House and the people to accept.' But his support of any Govern- ment would depend upon their measures and their policy. When the division came to be taken, it was found that the Government were outvoted, the numbers being For the amendment, 323 ; against, 310 : 1858-59.] THE REFORM QUESTION. 519 majority against the Government, 13. The result was received with tremendous cheering. Lord Hartington nominated the Committee, which con- sisted of the mover and seconder, Lord Palmerston, Lord J. Eussell, Mr. Sidney Herbert, and other members. Loud cries were heard for the addition of Mr. Blight's name the hon. gentleman having con- tributed probably as much as any one to the down- fall of the Government, but it was not added to the list. The House was one of the largest ever known. Out of a total number of 654 members, 637 recorded their votes. Amongst those who gave their votes for the Government were Mr. Gladstone, Lord Elcho, Mr. Cobbett, and Mr. Eoebuck. The Derby Government resigned, and a new Admi- nistration was formed, with Lord Palmerston as Premier, Lord John Eussell as Foreign Secretary, and Mr. Gladstone as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr. Cardwell ultimately became President of the Poor Law Board in the room of Mr. Milner Gibson, who went to the Board of Trade in place of Mr. Cobden, who had been designated for this post, but declined to join the Ministry. On the 21st of July, on the motion for going into committee of ways and means, Mr. Disraeli raised an important debate on the financial policy of the late Government, which he contended had been perfectly successful. He criticized his rival's financial scheme, but the most important feature of his speech was a declaration to the effect that no country could con- 520 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. tinue to raise seventy millions a year, as England was then doing, by taxation in time of peace. A more economical management of the public resources was therefore essential, and to render reductions safe, the Government must diligently prosecute a policy of peace and neutrality. They must abstain from inter- ference in the discussions at the forthcoming European Congress. Mr. Gladstone, in his reply, echoed the sentiment that every effort should be made to pre- serve and strengthen the friendship between England and France ; and he declared himself most anxious to reduce our naval and military armaments, when other nations had given a similar attestation to their pacific promises. The moment when these two great party leaders were thus in accord naturally seemed an auspicious one to Mr. Bright, and the friends of peace and retrenchment generally. Mr. Bright, following the Chancellor of the Exchequer, accordingly gave utterance to his views on the questions raised with fulness and power. He began by congratulating Mr. Disraeli on having become a convert to the views long advocated by himself and Mr. Cobden, and went on to give a qualified approval of the financial mea- sures of the Government. But on the question of the income tax he strongly expressed his opinion that it should not be made permanent until a dis- tinction was drawn betweeD permanent and precarious incomes. Mr. Bright also described the grievances inflicted upon the trading and commercial community 1 858-59.] THE REFORM QUESTION. 521 by the unequal operation of the succession duties, and contended that probate should be levied equally upon all kinds of property. Dealing with the enor- mous growth of our naval and military estimates, he ridiculed with great emphasis our periodical invasion panics, and censured those, whether editors or peers, who used irritating language towards France or the French Emperor. The admission of the Emperor that he was making war against the mind of Europe, and that he made peace because the war was assuming dimensions not consistent with the interests of France, proved that the suspicions as to his future objects were unfounded. Eeferring to the new principles upon which war was conducted, Mr. Bright said: ' Success in war no longer depends on those circumstances that formerly decided it. Soldiers used to look down on trade, and machine-making was, with them, a despised craft. No stars or garters, no ribbons or baubles bedecked the makers and workers of machinery. But what is war becoming now ? It depends, not, as heretofore, on individual bravery, on the power of a man's nerves, the keenness of his eye, the strength of his body, or the power of his soul, if one may so speak ; but it is a mere mechanical mode of slaughtering your fellow- men. This sort of thing cannot last. It will break down by its own weight. Its costliness, its destruc- tiveness, its savagery will break it down; and it remains but for some Government I pray that it may be ours ! to set the great example to Europe of 522 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. XVI. proposing a mutual reduction of armaments.' The speaker continued that the French believed we were making an outcry ahout invasion to cover designs of invading them ! The Emperor had shown that he desired to ally himself with England. Then why generate suspicions and create alarms? He closed his observations with this strong personal appeal to Lord Palmerston : ' I am not accustomed to compliment the noble lord at the head of the Government. I have always condemned the policy which I thought wrong, but which, I have no doubt, the noble lord thought was best calculated to promote the interests of the country. I believe he was mistaken, and that he was importing into this century the politics of the last ; but I do not think it would be possible to select a Minister who could better carry out a policy which would be just to France, and bene- ficial to ourselves, than the noble lord. Blood shines more, and attracts the vision of man more than beneficent measures. But the glory of such measures is far more lasting, and that glory the noble lord can achieve. I live among the people. I know their toils and their sorrows, and I see their pauperism for little better than pauperism is the lot of vast numbers of our countrymen from their cradles to their graves. It is for them I speak ; for them I give my time in this assembly ; and in heartfelt sorrow for their sufferings I pray that some statesman may take the steps which I have indicated. He who can establish such a state of things between France and England will do much to promote the future pros- perity of two great nations, and will show that eighteen hundred years of Christian professions are at length to be followed by something like Christian practice.' This speech attracted the attention of the French Emperor and his Government, and did much towards paving the way for Mr. Cobden's subsequent mission in connection with the Anglo-French Treaty. During the sessions of 1858-59, in addition to the more important subjects with which we have dealt, several questions of moment arose upon which Mr. 1858-59.] THE REFORM QUESTION. 5-3 Bright addressed the House. In the former year, upon the motion to go into committee on Sir John Trelawny's Church Kates Abolition Bill, an amend- ment was moved by Mr. Packe for the rejection of the measure. Mr. Bright condemned this motion, seeing that much the same speeches had been made year after year in connection with Church-rates. On the general question, he said that it was in the interest of public honesty, of public morality, of public order, and of religion itself, that he asked the House to abolish this unjust and irritating system. If he were a churchman, he should be ashamed of hon. members who opposed this bill. They had evidently no faith in their Church. They had no faith in the zeal of their congregations, nor in the arguments or the eloquence of their pastors. They believed their churches would fall into ruin if this bill were to pass. He had never said anything half so severe of the members of the Established Church as that. To every member in the least disposed to assist with this bill, he (Mr. Bright) would say, ' Go with us as far as you can ; the further you go, the pleasanter you will find the road ; and let us, without further delay, proceed at once with this bill, the fate of which has been irrevocably decided.' The House decided to go into committee on the bill by 346 votes to 104. One of the features of Mr. Disraeli's budget of 1858 was a proposition for the postponement of the repayment of the Exchequer Bonds. On the 3rd of 524 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. May, when the second reading of the Exchequer Bonds Bill was moved, a discussion arose upon the general financial policy of the Government. Mr. Bright held that the House was trying to do an impossible thing viz., to make a very heavy taxa- tion easy to bear. That taxation was shifted from shoulder to shoulder, and now it rested upon the masses of the population, whose incomes were small, while their consumption of taxed articles was very large. A great deal of this taxation was owing to the foreign policy we were pursuing, which he dis- cussed and strongly censured. ' Amity with all nations,' said Mr. Bright, 'justice and courtesy to all, but intimate political alliances with none. That is my policy.' He asked the House, in all serious- ness, whether, instead of going on for the next five years as they had for the last five, building vast ships which all good men hoped would never be used, and which all sensible men knew were not necessary for the purposes of our security, it would not be better to ask the French Government, ' Is it not possible to relieve your Exchequer and our Exchequer, to relieve your people and our people, from the pres- sure of this vast taxation, which we are constantly compelled to wring from them ?' But instead of this, the cry of 'Give, give,' was repeated every session in respect of the army and the navy. ' I do not like the income tax,' continued the hon. member, ' any more than you do, but I know it is the duty of Parliament either to diminish our expenditure or to 1858-59-] THE REFORM QUESTION. 525 maintain the income tax, or some other tax of that kind ; and that, as we acted in a foolish spirit in involving ourselves in this expenditure, so we are now acting a cowardly and immoral part in casting off the burden of expense from our shoulders, partly upon the great body of consumers now living, but mostly upon our posterity coming after us.' Mr. Bright held strong views upon the war with China, and on the 4th of June, 1858, he took the opportunity of saying that had he been in the House when the China question was debated in the preceding year, he should have agreed entirely with Mr. Cobden. If an insult had been offered to England in con- nection with the lorcha Arrow, and if the Government felt bound to adopt the policy of Sir John Bowring, the power of England was amply sufficient to vin- dicate the honour of England without entering into complicated arrangements with other Powers. Who knew that the objects of France and England in China were the same ? With regard to the effects of the hostilities, the last war did nothing to facilitate commercial relations with China, and the war in which they were then engaged would do no more. He made an appeal to the Government to face the question boldly, and bring the hostilities to a close. A few days later, during a discussion on the national defences, Mr. Bright demanded to know what was the precise amount of expenditure, or of force by land and sea, which was required in order to enable us to say that this country was completely defended. THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvr. Such questions as that of the public expenditure were not questions of aristocracy or democracy, nor questions of Conservatism or [Radicalism ; they were questions of the obvious interests of our country, and of humanity at large. He hoped the House and the nation would sustain the Government in every effort they might make to restore our foreign relations to a state of tranquillity and safety, so that we might turn our attention again to that from which we had been diverted for the last five years viz., the process of reducing the expenditure, in order, if possible, to render England a country which all Englishmen should prefer, rather than one from which they had incessant inducements to emigrate to every other part of the globe. On the 17th of August, 1859, a soiree was given at Eochdale to Mr. Cobden, who had now returned from America. The member for Kochdale gave his reasons for not joining the Palmerston Government. Mr. Bright passed a high eulogium upon his friend, and then said, ' Our people have been patient in suffering, they have been heroic in their labours and in their struggles ; and I count the ambition to be in public life an ambition of a low and worthless kind if it be not the ambition to devote every faculty we possess to the true interests and permanent welfare and real elevation of the great and noble people which we go to Parliament to represent.' On the evening following, both members addressed a great mass meeting, dealing chiefly with the Keform question. 1858-59-] THE REFORM QUESTION. 527 At Huddersfield, on the 9th of September ensuing, a banquet was given by the Liberals of that borough to celebrate the return to Parliament of Mr. E. A. Leatham, Mr. Bright' s brother-in-law. Mr. Bright reviewed the course of recent legislation, and ex- pressed his disappointment over the many wasted sessions which he had witnessed. He was so dis- tressed and so weary sometimes so disgusted and so hopeless that he felt a strong inclination to retire from Parliament. All that had been done of late years was to vote with listless apathy millions of money for which the people had toiled. On the 1st of December, Mr. Bright attended a soiree given by the Liverpool Financial Keform Association, in the Philharmonic Hall. In the course of a long and animated address, the hon. gentleman said : ' I ask that the Parliament may be made the real repre- sentative of the property, the industry, and the intel- ligence of the nation, that we may be delivered, if possible, from chaotic legislation, from reckless expenditure, and from taxation oppressive, unequal, and unjust. The monopolists of power reject this demand with scorn. The day will come when it will be made in a louder voice than mine when this question will be grasped by a ruder hand than mine ; and when it is so made, as was the case in 1832, that for which reason and justice now plead in vain, will be surrendered amid terror and humiliation.' At a Keform Conference held at the Guildhall Coffee House, London, on the 7th of December, in 528 THE LIFE OF JOHN BRIGHT. [CHAP. xvi. this same year, a resolution was unanimously passed thanking Mr. Bright for his labours in connection with Parliamentary Eeform, and highly approving of his bill upon the subject. A second resolution demanded a large extension of the suffrage, redis- tribution, an assimilation of the electoral laws of England, Scotland, and Ireland, the repeal of the Septennial Act, and the Ballot. Mr. Bright said that, in the event of the failure of the Government, he should be prepared to introduce his own bill, which was now in so perfect a state that it could be brought in any night. But although everything promised well at this juncture for the cause of Eeform, the hopes built upon an early settlement of the question were doomed to be frustrated by a variety of events. When at length Eeform could no longer be postponed, the measure, though largely moulded by Mr. Bright and his friends, was initiated by that party which, from the passing of the Act of 1832, had resolutely set itself against a liberal extension of the franchise. END OF VOL. I. Ilazell Wateon and Viaef, Printers London and Aylesbury. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which It was borrowed. NOV 1 2000 1 WEEK LOAN Form 1 A 000 991 336 9 PLEAfiE DO NOT REMOVE THIS BOOK CARDS University Research Library