The Express.
London, England, 1867-01-03 00:00:00

MR. BRIGHT'S CRITIC IN THE FORTNIGHTLY

REVIEW.

Mr. Henry D. Seymour, M.P. for Poole, has
addressed the folio ' letter to Mr. Bright, M.P. :
" le, Salisbury, Dec. 30, 1866.
" My dear Bright—As I am informed that your brother,
Mr. Jacob Bright, has been writing to Mr. Morley, the
editor of the PortnivAely Review, complaining of an inaccu-
racy in an article in which one of your speeches was mis-
quoted, and requiring to know the author's name, I write
this letter to inform you that I wrote that portion of the
article which relates to English affairs, and in which the
error complained of was made. lam always prepared to
accept the responsibility of what I write, and had you
expressed a wish to know the name of the writer of
the article in question, no doubt Mr. Morley would, after
consultation with me, have sent it to you without delay.
As Mr. Jacob Bright had no kind of right to ask for it I
think Mr. Morley acted properly in refusing it. I don't
know whether you yourself ever saw the article in ques-
tion, and I will, therefore, mention that it is the ' public
affairs' article of the let of November. Anapologyhaa been
inserted in the January number of the Renew, end I have
directed a number of it to be sent to you at the Reform
Club. I beg again to apologise for the mistake, and to
assure you that you were not intentionally misquoted. At
the same time, I must say that I believe your statement,
that half the land in England and Scotland is in the hands
of 150 and 12 proprietors respectively, is incorrect ; but as
you give no authority for so important a declaration, it is
impossible to point out where the error lies. That there
should have been any mistake I deeply regret, although
it did not affect my argument. I am one of the many
members of the liberal party who, admiring your oratori-
cal genius, and fully admitting the public benefits which
you have in many respects conferred upon the country
during your long career, must respectfully beg to differ
from you as to the sudden and sweeping changes which,
to judge from your speeches, you would wish to introduce
into our laws and constitution. Earnestly hoping that
you may so temper your acts and speeches as to render it
possible for moderate men to agree with and support you,

" I remain yours truly,
"J. Bright, Esq." " Hexer D. Sermorn.
It will be seen that Mr. Seymour leaves unexplained the
gravest part of the charge of misrepresentation. In • part
of the article complained of he wrote :—" Mr. Bright says
' that the poor are the only people fit to legislate for the
rich.'" Again, " Mr. Bright, if left unchecked, would
speedily bring on the war between those who hare and
those who have not. His tone too much indicate' that in
his heart he has adopted the French maxim, 'La pre-
prieta c'est le vol.' What other interpretation can be
placed on his saying that ' the poor only are fit to legis-
late for the rich r Such a course as this would bring us
to the bloody days of June, which is • curious climax for
• member of the Society of Friends to wish for."
It was to the foregoing portion of the article that his
attention was specially directed, Mr. Jacob Bright giving
the following as the passage of his brother's speech on
which the attack was founded:—" But I deny altogether
that the rich alone are qualified to legislate for the poor,
any more than that the poor alone would be qualified to
legislate for the rich. My honest belief is that if we could
be all called upon to legislate for all, that all would be
more justly treated, and would be more happy than we
are now. We should then have an average—we should
have the influence of wealth and of high culture, and of
those qualities that come from leisure, and the influence
of those robuater qualities that some from industry and
from labour." Of this part of the subject Mr. Seymour
has taken no notice.

LADIES' Mrsorcil. Couxos.—This new school of
midwifery and the accessory branches of medicine recom-
mences its lectures on Monday next. During the ap-
proaching session 25 ladies have already entered as new
students. In social position, education, and intelligence
these ladies are quite on a level with the students at the
men's medical colleges, while their assiduous attention
and propriety of conduct have been unexceptionable.
Several of the students who commenced at this college
three years ago have recently begun practice as lady mid-
wives, and are doing exceedingly well.