The Press.
London, England, 1858-12-18 00:00:00

E PRE S S, DECEMBER 18,

lactery and pronouncing the shibboleth, and in
secret laughing at that straitlaced and easy-
principled sect. How far his dabbling in Reform
Bills may be inconsistent with the creed of his
co-religionists we are unable to guess. But of
this we are sure,—that, should he lose his whole
reputation as a Quaker, he will not weigh six
ounces less avoirdupois.
Does he mean his reputation as an English-
man ? What is it ? Where is it ? Has he not
denounced in virulent invective—mistaken for
eloquence by the Morning Star—all that makes
up the strength and reflects the glory of Eng-
land? Ile has denounced the Peerage as effete,
and insinuated, if not argued, that the submer-
sion of that ancient asylum of justice and freedom
in the muddy waters of the fierce democracy
would be a consummation and a benefit devoutly
to be desired. He has represented the English
Episcopacy as an "adulterous breed "—ignorant
as he is, or unmindful as he ought not to be, of a
fact, patent in every chapter of our history, that,
with all their faults, the Bishops have written
those defences and vindications of our religion
which the highest continental scholarship has
been the first to recognize, while as a whole they
have allied themselves with the broadest interests
of the nation. When our country felt called
upon to unsheathe the sword, and our dearest and
deepest feelings and character were " jeoparded
" in the high places of the field," it was his
custom and delight to disparage his country, to
denounce her sense of duty as Quixotism, and to
scare the masses by exaggerated pictures of the
expenses of war. His mean and mercenary
spirit estimated duty at so many shillings—pre-
ferring a cheap though dishonourable peace to a
dutiful because inevitable war. No public man
drew down more contempt and scorn at that day.
No citizen was more unpopular, even with the
masses among whom his only force lay. his
retirement from public life became a necessity, if
it had not been a choice. He has now emerged
from his obscurity neither a wiser nor a better
man. lie again bids for the popularity he had
forfeited by his unpatriotic conduct, by making
Birmingham and Manchester speeches which
have alike amazed the more moderate of his sup-
porters and inflamed the passions of the more
unreflecting of the English poor. In the judg-
ment of the wise and good, he has not hazarded
but ruined such reputation as he had left him.
Ile need be under no apprehension of hazarding
his reputation by introducing a Reform Bill. It
is a virtue it is not likely he will recover, and
positively certain that he cannot lose.
Does he mean that he hazards his reputation
as a statesman ? Ilis assumption of the thought
is preposterous. Even in the Free-Trade con-
flict COBDEN did the work. BRIGIIT merely ran
beside him and barked. What law has he
placed on the Statute-book? What beneficent
measure has he introduced ? What blessing
will lowly cottage or noble hall associate with
Jonx BRIGIIT ? What monument of patriotic or
philanthropic goodness has he built ? Where,
either in report or record, is there any evidence
of his statesmanship ? What does the vain
talker mean by hazarding his reputation ? There
are in him no elements of statesmanship. He
has neither the practical sagacity of Sir ROBERT
PEEL, nor the moral power of GLADSTONE, nor
the genius of DERBY, nor the English feeling of
PALMERSTON, nor the constitutional learning of
RUSSELL, nor the breadth of mind inherited by
STANLEY. His only possession is unbridled gab,
unmodified licence of speech, and a recklessness of
all consequences in his thirst for platform applause
and popular hero-worship.
Does he mean his reputation for acquaintance
with the history, or the constitution, or the ante-
cedents of his country's history ? We hand him
over to HENRY DRUMMOND, at whose hands he
received one of the neatest drubbings that a noisy
democrat ever tasted. In his recent speeches his
imagination supplied much of his history and his
memory a good deal of his eloquence. Never
certainly was Quaker less guilty of knowing his
country's 4 history, or schoolboy—with, perhaps,
one exception, his copatriot, R Gißaox