The Press.
London, England, 1858-12-11 00:00:00

.THE PRESS, DECEMBER 11, 1858.

largest amount of voluntary action might be
reckoned upon in support of the resolutions of an
assembly constituted with the concurrence of the
entire body of the communicant laity; in the
latter case, any legislative measure founded upon
those resolutions would have the advantage of
the advocacy in Parliament of a number of lay-
men conversant, by previous discussion in the
assemblies of the Church, with all the bearings
of the question. We might then hope to see
Parliamentary Church legislation of a character
really conducive to the efficiency of the Church,
and thereby to the best interests of the country
at large, because proceeding on the principle that
the Church consists not of the clergy alone, but
of clergy and laity—that is, laity in the full
exercise and enjoyment of Church communion.

DRUMMOND versus BRIGHT.

I r is said that when two men are determined to
quarrel, the best way is to turn them both into
a sawpit and let them talk it out. Mr. DRUM-
MOND and Mr. BRIGHT are in a kind of sawpit,
and at present the talking is very loud. BRIGHT
began it ; DRUMMOND went on with it. BRIGHT
assailed the Constitution and advocated demo-
cracy; DRUMMOND hates democracy, and raises
the standard of the Constitution. Within the
last few days we have been favoured with a pam-
phlet containing the only categorical answer to
Mr. BRIGHT, and the best castigation of his fla-
grant misstatements that we have yet seen. Mr.
BRIGHT is a gentleman of long range. He sees as
well as any man the results of the measures he
advocates. The uninstructed constituents whom
he addresses and professes to represent are so
much taken up with guns, ironwork, brass-
work, and all the wear and tear of manu-
facturing life, that they have little or
no means of testing the extravagant state-
ments by which it is sought to pave the way
for the subversion of all aristocracy, whether
landed or otherwise, and the introduction of ele-
ments of Government which would soon lead to
the utmost confusion both of principle and action.
But Mr. DRUMMOND is not one of the deluded ;
he is neither gunmaker nor brassfounder. In his
own opinion, if he is anything at all, he is a great
gun, an oracle, the depositary of human wisdom,
the censor of human conduct, and the arbiter of
the proprieties of legislation. With this impres-
sion of himself, he has taken Mr. BRIGHT to task
in a very amusing, and, in many instances, a very
truth-telling pamphlet. The genius of the two
men and their tactics are wide as the poles. The
one is all talk ; the other all thought. The one
loves plain speaking, and never leaves a moment's
doubt of his meaning ; the other is more versa-
tile, and not always so comprehensible. So Mr.
BRIGHT speaks, and Mr. DRUMMOND writes.
Mr. BRIGHT advocates Reform, and Mr. DRUM-
MOND takes him to task for attempting to sub-
vert the Constitution. Mr. BRIGHT, as might be
expected, is bold, reckless of history and logic,
and therefore frequently inaccurate; Mr. DRUM-
MOND, on the other hand, is cautious and
sequential. The result is a very pretty quarrel
between the two, in which—if great principles
were not at stake—nothing would be more
amusing than to watch the contest, and speculate
upon its chances.

But the subjects handled are of the gravest
kind, and the men who handle them represent
important classes of the community, and influen-
tial schools of political thought. We are not
prepared to accept Mr. DRUMMOND as the apostle
of Conservative principles and the landed inte-
rest, but we should be false to our cause did we
not confess that he has very ably and successfully
dealt with the weak points of his adversary, and
given the school which Mr. BRIGHT leads a les-
son which may save them from many mistakes,
if they are wise enough to learn it in time. Sel•
dorn has any member received from another so
thorough a castigation. Mr. BRIGHT calls the
newspapers "the best possible public instructors."
Yet Mr. DRUMMOND turns the fire of half the
papers against Mr. BRIGHT, and shows him
w conclusively and unsparingly " the best
public instructors" have exposed his radical
folly. We cannot, in one article, go page
11 page through Mr. DRUMMOND'S pam-
phlet ; but it will give our readers some
idea of Mr. DRUMMOND'S strength and Mr.
BRIGHT'S weakness, if we select for notice a few
of the more salient poiate. In the first instance

Mr. DRUMMOND charges his adversary with
making Reform and Democracy convertible terms.
Probably that is not far from Mr. linicnT's notion,
but an unguarded way of expressing himself leads
his readers to suppose that he is stating his own
conclusion when he says (p. 4), " Reform means
" the rule of the mob." This is a proposition
which we cannot endorse. We believe that the

present state of the representation is capable of
much amendment. It may be doubted whether
any modification of it will much affect the
personnel or the legislative efficiency of the
House of Commons, but it will redress ano-
malies and content the people ; and that is
no mean consideration. To that extent we
ourselves are the advocates of Reform. But
the reform which Mr. DRUMMOND, in common
with most Conservatives, wishes to see is not that
which would satisfy Mr. BRIGHT ; and knowing
that, Mr. DRUMMOND shows up Mr. BRIGHT'S
formula in all the fulness of its absurdity.
" Reform," he says, " is used as a word, under
" the pretence of which the alleged desire to
" amend one thing is intended to establish another
" thing entirely different." This Mr. DRUM-
MOND afterwards shows to mean the destruction
of the aristocracy and the introduction of the sys-
tem of America.

Everyone will recollect Mr. BRIGHT'S attack on
the House of Peers. Mr. DRUMMOND is discri-
minating in this part of his castigation. Ile ad-
mits the truth of some facts, and denounces the
malevolence of others. He thinks, and many
think with him, that it is time that the system of
voting by proxy were done away with, except in
the case of men absent on foreign or distant ser-
vice, like the Governor-General of India, the Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland, and such like public ser-
vants ; but that " idle peers, trifling their time
"in London, or only absent on their own plea-
" sure, should not be permitted to vote on ques-
" tions in the discussion of which they have taken
"no part." He would also take from the Peers
the power of criminal jurisdiction, " because
" the circumstances out of which that function

"arose have ceased to exist." But these conces-
sions made, all the rest is a cutting satire upon the
Arch-Radical pretensions. " Your language and
" sentiment," he says to Mr. BRIGHT, " are that
" vulgar and low abuse which marks the real
" adulation of titled persons, and which is the cha-
" racteristic of pot-house politicians." The fol-
lowing passage is so true, that we extract it at
length

:-

" All, however, who can appreciate that talent
in which you were taking pains at Birmingham
to distinguish yourself, know that every great
question is debated in the House of Lords with
far greater ability than it is in the House of
Commons. You know, for that style of eloquence
which is commonly called the power of debate,'
no man can be compared to Lord DERBY. Many
speeches of Lords LYNDHURST, BROUGHAM,
LANSDOWNE, GRANVILLE, CLARENDON, ELLEN-
BOROUGH, the Bishops of EXETER and OXFORD,
far exceed anything that has been heard of late
years in the House of Commons, although I am
not unmindful of yourself, or of Mr. COBDEN, and,
above all, of Mr. GLADSTONE. The speeches of
Lords MANSFIELD, HARROWBY, and GREY, at
the time of the Reform Bill, are almost the only
speeches now referred to."

The Bright school are not precise about facts.
Unlike BYRON, they do not "like to be particular
in dates." Anything that will stimulate the
passions of the people and work them round to
the point required is uttered without the slightest
reference to truth or charity. In this way Mr.
BRIGIIT attempted to show that the sons of
Peers had no inducement to work—were spoiled
by early flattery, and grew up to be drones and
dead-weights upon the energies of social. This
is Mr. Duummosn's answer :

" You rail at the House of Peers as a set of
idle men, flattered from their childhood by being
called my lord,' and having no temptation to
work hard. Nevertheless, they do work hard;
and as you attack them as a class I will venture
to assert that they are, as a class, immeasurably
superior, in intellectual and moral qualities, to
any other class that can be named. I should
like to see a competitive examination in science
between them, with Lords WROTTESLEY,
ROSBE, BROUGHAM, and LyrrEvrort, at their
head, and the whole race of cotton-spinners,
brass and iron founders, and manufacturers of

1205

any description. I should like to see another
examination between them in literature,
either modern or ancient, and I will back
Lord DERBY, Lord CARLISLE, Lord STANHOP.,
Lord CARNARVON, and many more, against all
the owners of mills in Britain. But the fact is,
this attack on classes is unstatesmanlike and
narrow-minded, and proceeds only from an igno-
rance of mankind. Every class contains a pro-
portion of good and bad, clever and stupid,
learned and unlearned people, and that propor-
tion is commensurate with the opportunities of
each individual in it becoming what he is."

Mr. DRUMMOND, though an Irvingite, comes to
the rescue of the Established Church. Mr.
BRIGHT does not scoff at the doctrine or dis-
cipline of the Church, except when he offen-
sively called the Bishops the offspring of an
adulterous intercourse; but he scoffs at it for
being established. Mr. DRUMMOND, in answer,
says :—" It is the duty of every man to warship
" GOD ; it is the duty of every family, as one
" body, to worship GOD ; it is the duty of every
" community to worship Goo. The nation, as
"one, can only do this by established laws and
"regulations." And then he adds the following
telling passage on the relations of Church and
Dissent :

" The Established Church is the only Church
in which the poor have a right to go and worship
Gon, and hear His Word preached without pay-
ing for it. This is what ' the ruling class
that is, the Government—in fulfilment of its
duty, has done for the lowest class. The Dis-
senters are mostly of the middle class ; they
indulge in the luxury of chapels of their own,
in which they allow no poor man to have his
child baptiz4 nor partake of the Holy Com-
munion, unless he pays for a sitting, which, in
the Free and other Dissenting Churches in
Scotland, costs six shillings a quarter. These
six shillings go to the preacher, and this preacher
is under the control of the rich middle-class
Dissenters who sit in his chapel. The poor
preacher dare not expose the villany of the
manufacturers and shopkeepers who adulterate
every article of food or medicine which they
sell—bread, milk, and butter, cheese, beer,
wine, sugar, tea, &c.—as Mr. WAHLEY, a
middle-class man, has exposed, and, by the help
of Dr. HASSALL, has published to the world.
The poor preacher dare not expose the whole-
sale villany of the middle-class merchants who
have figured in the Western, Northern, and
Scotch banks, because these persons would
withdraw their distinguished patronage from
the poor preacher, who is dependent on them,
but they will allow him to rail at the vices of
the higher classes, of which they know nothing,
and at the wickedness of taking a walk on a
Sunday."

How true this is we need not stop to prove.
Mr. BRIGHT was very great upon the Ballot—
a measure which, he says, is necessary to protect
the country voters. This, however, is not Mr.
DRUMMOND'S opinion. He thinks, from what
working men have told him, that it would be a
great comfort to them as a screen from the
tyranny of their masters, and more still from
the tyranny of their own class ; for in all large
establishments the workmen lord it over their
employers in matters of business, and over their
fellow-workmen in matters relating to elections,
to strikes, to subscriptions, to clubs, and similar
societies. He passes on to show that since Mr.
BRIGHT'S notion of Reform would make the
House of Commons represent numbers and not
property, and the majority must always be poor,
the Parliament would soon be found repre-
senting poverty and not wealth, the inevitable
result of which would be the predominance of the
doctrine that property is robbery.
Whenever Mr. DRUMMOND descends to per-
sonalities with his adversary he is most unspar-
ing. Here is a specimen :
"Mr. COBDEN said well, that, if it had not
been for your external profession, you would
have been a prize-fighter ; and lately you have
avowed yourself not to be sufficiently pleased to
act with other people. How then, in the name
of common sense, can you imagine that you can
ever be a statesman in a free country ?"
But the best portion of the whole pamphlet is
that in which Mr. DRUMMOND exposes the un-
fairness and absurdity of sneering at the ar: ,-•
cracy as the " ruling elopes' Me proves Sig,
4
I

.THE PRESS DECEMBER 11
1 t 1858. 1205
- -i•
largest amount of voluntary action might be Mr. DRUMMOND charges his adversary with any description. I should like to see another
reckoned upon in support of the resolutions of an making Reform and Democracy convertible terms. examination between them in literature,
assembly constituted with the concurrence of the Probably that is not far from Mr. Bormtr's notion, either modern or ancient, and I will back
entire body of the communicant laity; in the but an unguarded way of expressing himself leads Lord DERBY, Lord CARLISLE, Lord SwirroPsr,
latter case, any legislative measure founded upon his readers to suppose that he is stating his own Lord CARNARVON, and many more, against sA
those resolutions would have the advantage of conclusion when he says (p. 4), " Reform means the owners of mills in Britain. But the fact is,
the advocacy in Parliament of a number of lay- " the rule of the mob." This is a proposition this attack on classes is unstatesmanlike and
men conversant, by previous discussion in the which we cannot endorse. We believe that the narrow-minded, and proceeds only from an igno-
assemblies of the Church, with all the bearings present state of the representation is capable of ranee of mankind. Every class contains a pro-
of the question. We might then hope to see much amendment. It may be doubted whether portion of good and bad, clever and stupid,
Parliamentary Church legislation of a character any modification of it will much affect the learned and unlearned people, and that propor-
really conducive to the efficiency of the Church, personnel or the legislative efficiency of the tion is commensurate with the opportunities of
and thereby to the best interests of the country House of Commons, but it will redress ano- each individual in it becoming what he is."
at large, because proceeding on the principle that malies and content the people; and that is Mr. DRUMMOND, though an Irvingite, comes to
the Church consists not of the clergy alone, but no mean consideration. To that extent we the rescue of the Established Church. Mr.
of clergy and laity—that is, laity in the full ourselves are the advocates of Reform. But BRIGHT does not scoff at the doctrine or dis-
exercise and enjoyment of Church communion. the reform which Mr. DRUMMOND, in common cipline of the Church, except when he offen-
with most Conservatives, wishes to see is not that sively called the Bishops the offspring of an
DRUMMOND versus BRIGHT. which would satisfy Mr. BRIGHT; and knowing adulterous intercourse; but he scoffs at it for
Ti is said that when two men are determined to
that, Mr. DRUMMOND shows up Mr. BRIGHT'S being established. Mr. DRUMMOND, in answer,
formula in all the fulness of its absurdity. says :..._,, It is the duty of every man to warship
quarrel, the best way is to turn them both into o Reform," he says, "is used as a word, under "D; 170 • t is the duty of every family, as one
a sawpit and let them talk it out. Mr. Daum- "the pretence of which the alleged desire to "body, to worship GOD; it is the duty of every
Nosy and Mr. BRIGHT are in a kind of sawpit, " amend one thing is intended to establish another " community to worship Gon. The nation, as
"thing entirely different." This Mr. DRU.M-
and at present the talking is very loud. BRIGHT"one, can only do this by established laws and
MOND afterwards shows to mean the destruction o
began it ; DRUMMOND went on with it. BRlGHTations." And then he adds the following
of the aristocracy and the introduction of the re•gui
sys- telling passage on the relations of Church and
assailed the Constitution and advocated demo- tern of America. Dissent :
cracy ; DRUMMOND hates democracy. and raises Everyone will recollect Mr. BRIGHT'S attack on
the standard of the Constitution. Within the " The Established Church is the only Church
the House of Peers. Mr. DRUMMOND is discri-
last few days we have been favoured with a pain- in which the poor have a right to go and worship
urinating in this part of his castigation. lie ad-phlet containing the only categorical answer to GOD, and hear His Word preached without 1)7.-
mits the truth of some facts, and denounces the
Mr. BRIGHT, and the best castigation of his fla- *n for it. This is what `the ruling class '—
rant
malevolence of others. He thinks, and many 1 g is, . .
grant misstatements that we have yet seen. Mr. that the Government—in fulfilment of its
think with him, that it is time that the system of
BRIGHT is a gentleman of long range. He sees as duty, has done for the lowest class. The Dis-
voting by proxy were done away with, except in
well as any man the results of the measures he senters are mostly of the middle class ; they
the case of men absent on foreign or distant ser-
advocates. The uninstructed constituents whom indulge in the luxury of chapels of their own,
vice, like the Governor-General of India, the Lord
he addresses and professes to represent are soin which the allow no poor man to have his
Lieutenant of Ireland, and such like public ser-much taken up with guns, ironwork, brass-child baptize nor partake of the Holy Corn-
vants • but that "idle peers, trifling their time
work, and all the wear and tear of menu- 44 in munion, unless he pays for a sitting, which, in
eir own plea-' London, or only absent on th •
factoring life, that they have little or " sure, should b
, not e permitted to vote on ques- the Free and other Dissenting Churches in
no means of testing the extravagant state- Scotland, costs six shillings a quarter. These
" tions in the discussion of which they have taken
ments by which it is sought to pave the way six shillings go to the preacher, and this preacher
"no part." He would also take from the Peers
for the subversion of all aristocracy, whether is under the control of the rich middle-class
the power of criminal jurisdiction, " because
landed or otherwise, and the introduction of ele- ~ Dissenters who sit in his chapel. The poor
the circumstances out of which that function
ments of Government which would soon lead to preacher dare not expose the villany of the
"arose have ceased to exist." But these conces-
the utmost confusion both of principle and action. manufacturers and shopkeepers who adulterate
sinus made, all the rest is a cutting satire upon the
But Mr. DRUMMOND is not one of the deluded ;every article of food or medicine which they
Arch-Radical pretensions. "Your language and
he is neither Funmaker nor brassfounder. In hissell—bread, milk, and butter, cheese, beer,
"sentiment," he says to Mr. BRIGHT, "are that
own opinion, if he is anything at all, he is a greatwine, sugar, tea, &c.—as Mr. WAHLEY, a
" vulgar and low abuse which marks the real
gun, an oracle, the depositary of human wisdom, ~ adulation of titled persons, and which is the cha- middle-class man, has exposed, and, by the help
the censor of human conduct, and the arbiter of " racteristic of pot-house politicians." The fol- -of Dr. HASSALL, has published to the world.
the proprieties of legislation. With this impres- l • • thatextract itat
owing passage is so true,we
sion of himself, he has taken Mr. BRIGHT to task sale villany of the middle-class merchants who
fen h•—
gt .
in a very amusing, and, in many instances, a very have figured in the Western, Northern, and
truth-telling pamphlet. The genius of the two " All, however, who can appreciate that talent Scotch banks, because these persons would
men and their tactics are wide as the poles. The in which you were taking pains at Birmingham withdraw their distinguished patronage from
one is all talk ; the other all thought. The one to distinguish yourself, know that every great the poor preacher, who is dependent on them,
I
loves plain speaking, and never leaves a moment's question is debated in the House of Lords with but they will allow him to rail at the vices of
doubt of his meaning ; the other is more versa- far greater ability than it is in the House of • the higher classes, of which they know nothing,
tile, and not always so comprehensible. So Mr. Commons. You know, for that style of eloquence li and at the wickedness of taking a walk on a
BRIGHT speaks, and Mr. DRUMMOND writes. which is commonly called `the power of debate,' Sunday."
Mr. BRIGHT advocates Reform, and Mr. DRUM- no man can be compared to Lord DERBY. Many i How true this is we need not stop to prove.
MOND takes him to task for attempting to sub- speeches of Lords LYNDHURST, BROUGHAM,
• Mr. BRIGHT WaS Very great upon the Ballot—
vert the Constitution. Mr. BRIGHT, as might be LANSDOWNE, GRANVILLE, CLARENDON, ELLEN-
a measure which, he says, is necessar
y to protect
expected, is bold, reckless of history and logic, BOROUGH, the Bishops of EXETER and OXFORD,
the country voters. This, however, is not Mr.
and therefore frequently inaccurate; Mr. DRUM- far exceed anything that has been heard of late
DRUMMOND'S opinion. He thinks, from
what
MOND, on the other hand, is cautious and years in the House of Commons, although I am
working men have told him, that it would be a
sequential. The result is a very pretty quarrel not unmindful of yourself, or of Mr. COBDEN, and, i
eat comfort to them as a screen from the
between the two, in which—if great principles above all, of Mr. GLADSTONE. The speeches of •gr
anny of their masters, and more still from
were not at stake—nothing would be more Lords MANSFIELD, HARROWBY, and GREY, at
the tyranny of their own class ; for in all large
amusing than to watch the contest, and speculate the time of the Reform Bill, are almost the only
establishments the workmen lord it over their
upon its chances, speeches now referred to." employers in matters of business, and over their
But the subjects handled are of the gravest I
The Bright school are not precise about facts. fellow-workmen in matters relating to elections,
kind, and the men who handle them represent Unlike BYRON, they do not "like to be particular to strikes, to subscriptions, to clubs, and similar
important classes of the community, and influen- in dates." Anything that will stimulate the societies. He passes on to show that since Mr.
fiat schools of political thought. We are not
passions of the people and work them round to BRIGHT'S notion of Reform would make the
prepared to accept Mr. DRUMMOND as the apostle the point required is uttered without the slightest House of Commons represent numbers and not
of Conservative principles and the landed inte- reference to truth or charity. In this way Mr. property, and the majority must always be poor,
rest, but we should be false to our cause did we BRIGIIT attempted to show that the sons of the Parliament would soon be found repre-
not confess that he has very ably and successfully Peers had no inducement to work—were spoiled senting poverty and not wealth, the inevitable
dealt with the weak points of his adversary, and by early flattery, and grew up to be drones and result of which would be the predominance of the
given the school which Mr. BRIGHT leads a les- dead-weights
mad-weights upon the energies of society. This doctrine that property is robbery.
son which may save them from many mistakes, :
is
DRUMMOND'S answer : Whenever Mr. DRUMMOND descends to per-
il they are wise enough to learn it in time. Sel- Mr.
sonalities with his adversary he is most unspar-
dom has any member received from another so " You rail at the House of Peers as a set of .
mg. Here is a specimen :
thorough a castigation. Mr. BRIGHT calls the idle men, flattered from their childhood by being
"
newspapers " the best possible public instructors." called 4my lord,' and having no temptation to Mr. COBDEN said well, that, if it had not
Yet Mr. DRUMMOND turns the fire of half the work hard. Nevertheless, they do work hard ; you
been for your external profession, would
pa yourself not to be sufficiently pleased to
pers against Mr. BRIGHT, and shows him and as you attack them as a class I will venture have been a prize-fighter ; and lately you have
w conclusively and unsparingly " the best to assert that they are, as a class, immeasurably avowed
public instructors" have exposed his radical superior, in intellectual and moral qualities, to act with other people. How then, in the name
folly- We cannot, in one article, go page any other class that can be named. I should of common sense, can you imagine that you can
bever be a statesman in a free country ?"
y page through Mr. DRUMMOND'S pain- like to see a competitive examination in science
phlet ; but it will give our readers some between them, with Lords WROTTESLEY, But the best portion of the whole pamphlet is
idea of Mr. DRUMMOND'S strength and Mr. BOSSE, BROUGHAM, and Li-rravrost, at their that in which Mr. DRUMMOND exposes the un-
BRIGHT'S weakness, if we select for notice a few head, and the whole race of cotton-spinners, fairness and absurdity of sneering at the az' ,-•
of the more salient points. In the first instance brass and iron founders, and manufacturers of cracy as the "ruling classes' lie proves slat, ,
4
I •

Al