The Press.
London, England, 1858-10-30 00:00:00

LONDON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1858.
STAMPED ....SIXPENCE.
U NS f AMPED ..FIVEPENCE.

Mr. BRIGHT took a prominent part. On both
those occasions Mr. BRIGHT was with the Aris-
tocracy, who tried to keep the sword in its
sheath, and against the People, who were bent
upon drawing it. The Government of Lord
ABERDEEN, far from promoting the war with
Russia, struggled so long and so earnestly
against it, that they actually brought it on by
the very extremity of their reluctance. The
impulse of the People was, as it generally is, for
war, and they had war—the war that Mr.
BRIGHT denounces as so bloody, so costly, and so
fruitless. We give no opinion upon that war
now ;we simply state a fact—a fact material to
Mr. BRIGHT'S position. Was it otherwise in
the war with China ? Is it not a fact that that
war was approved and forced onward with accla-
mation by the People in opposition to the ex-
pressed conviction and recorded vote of Parlia-
liament ? And, again, is it not a fact that, had it
not been for the moderation, the tact, and the admi-
rable spirit exhibited by the Governments and
the Sovereigns of England and France, the vio-
lent momentary impulses of their respective popu-
lations would have broken up the inestimable
alliance of the two countries, and driven them
into a war that would have brought disaster and
sorrow upon the entire civilized world ? Such
would have been the result, beyond question, of
the difficulties consequent on the attempt upon
the life of the Emperor if the People of England
and France had possessed executive power as well
as legislative influence. Such equally, too, under
similar circumstances, might have been the
result of our differences with America, so hap-
pily and so skilfully arranged by Lord M.ALmEs-
BURY.
We warn the People of England against these
and the like misrepresentations. We say tc them,
examine for yourselves; see whether it be true
that there is really any great Cause, as Mr.
BRIGHT phrases it, any great contest of classes
impending, or " any great fabric of privilege to
shake to its base." We warn them not to permit
Mr. BRIGHT to send them forth in banded Quixotic
troops to attack windmills for giants, and flocks of
sheep for armies; and to Mr. BRIGHT we would
say, with high respect for his talents, and with
sincere satisfaction at his recovery, that we pra
of him to consider well how he uses that fresh
health of body, and renewed vigour of mind,
with which it has pleased Goy now to bless him.

period. They stand, as did their castles of old,
commanding the highway, and barring all pro-
gress, save on conditions the most vexatious, and
by favour of exactions the most oppressive, in
which they are backed by that monstrous and
adulterous creature the Peer of the Church.
Banded together and aided by their abettors,
the squires, these despots urge the people in
droves to the polling-booths, and contrive to
create a Lower House but little better than the
Upper, by the aid of which they carry on wars
for their own amusement at the expense of the
oppressed people whom it is Mr. BRIGHT'S mission
to enfranchise.
Such is the representation of England in 1858
which Mr. BRIGHT endeavoured to impress upon
the minds of the people, and such is the state of
things which he tells them they have to sweep
away.
But does Mr. BRIGHT believe in it, or does he
intend himself to adopt the policy which he in-
dicates and suggests to the People as national ?
We think not. The whole thing smacks of the
theatrical, and appears to have been conceived as
the best means of inducing a condition of the
public mind favourable to Mr. BRIGHT'S modes
of political action. That, at least, is our reading
of this tissue of misrepresentation, to which Mr.
BRIGHT adds another, perhaps the greatest mis-
representation of all, that he wishes "to abide
" almost religiously by those ancient landmarks
"of our Constitution " which he so vilifies as im-
pediments to progress. That he has any imme-
diate intention of attempting their removal we
do not believe. Mr. BRIGHT is too astute and
sagacious an observer of the popular mind not to
be aware that the spirit of the time is against
him, and that men and women in whose ears are
still ringing the voices of the noblemen
and gentlemen of England, who have occu-
pied the recess of Parliament in discussing
anxiously with them the best means of im-
proving their condition and of fitting them
for the beneficial exercise of political trusts,
can hardly be expected at a moment's notice to
join in a crusade against the institutions which
'have produced and foster the higher classes.
Mr. BRIGHT proposes to himself at present,
probably, only to sow a wind which at some
future time the country may reap in the dimen-
sions of a whirlwind. It is the manifest spirit
and tendency of his speech, rather than its actual
language, which we regard as so mischievous, and
against which we desire to warn those Conserva-
tives who have been disposed to regard Mr.
BRIGHT as not unwilling to tread the path of
moderate and gradual Reform by their side.
With his somewhat vague suggestions upon the
subject of a Reform Bill we shall deal on a
future occasion. We will at the present moment
simply confine ourselves to directing attention
to the fact that in his shadowy scheme Mr.
BRIGHT starts from the fundamental fallacy that
discussion and argument have no force within
the walls of Parliament, but that every result is
arrived at by sheer numerical voting. Of his
history of wars and their origin we can only
say that it will as little stand examination
as his account of taxation and its incidence.
The latter is a question too extensive to deal
with incidentally. It requires so much argu-
ment and so much statistical statement tho-
roughly to put it truly before the public. But
the origin of the wars in which we have been last
engaged admits of being more summarily dis-
posed of. The war with Russia and that with
China were those in the discussion upon which

CAMBRIDGE, AND THE ROYAL
COMMISSIONERS.
THE scene in the Arts School, Cambridge, on
Tuesday last, was such as probably no one has
witnessed since the memorable occasion in 1724,
when the Senate met to obey the peremptory
mandamus of the Court of King's Bench to
restore Dr. BENTLEY to his degrees. The pro-
ceedings on
the feeling
larger numL
BENTLEY met
ference as un
cedent prove
future good.
prevailed, and
present, sho•
great important
regarded as
hitherto worked

[Wan A SUPPLEMENT, GRATIS.

i Tuesday were less uproarious, but
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