Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-12-07 00:00:00

to be the coming era. He is a man of strong natural
abilities, endowed with a power of manly and

vigorous eloquence, with a considerable acuteness

and 'sharpness of perception, seeing clearly the

little that he does see, able to use with readiness
the materials at his command—but he is also a

man with very little solid material at all,
whilst using with dangerous power what-
ever first comes to his hand ; without the
power of mental balance, and unable either to
grasp conditions not broadly projecting them-
selves to the surface—although at the same time'
exerting a material influence over the whole
question, or to moderate the confidence of a
partial view, by imagining the existence of con—
ditions not at present known or perceived. There
may be some consolation to our local vanity in.
the fact that the invitation of this man emanated
from a shopkeeping class of the same talkative
ignorance as his own, and not from the natural
representatives of the mind of Liverpool. Yet the
fact remains, that here,—where schools of a high
class abound,—where those whose actual attain-
ments are few, have still special opportunities of
acquiring the habit of mind •and thought which
saves them from that haste of ignorance whose
characteristic is to find its conclusions so long
before the legitimate processes of enquiry, and
gives them a tacit and pervading impression of
the difference between the atmosphere of opinion
and the atmosphere of truth,—that here, Mr.
BRIGHT, the great champion of uneducated and
undisciplined talent, has been invited to expound
a sort of new philosophy of politics and finance.
Now if we take for granted, which we may,
that Mr. BRIGHT is one of the galaxy of "heroes"
who is to receive the worship of the " coming
"age," it must strike us as the most discouraging
feature in the prospect, that Mr. BRIGHT is one
of those who not only plead guilty to, but posi-
tively glory in, the possession of an uneducated
mind. For this is what is meant by that
depreciation of the " old learning," whiclz
those who have not the patience and self-mastery
to attain it, affect. So confined is any mortal
grasp in comparison with the infinite range '
of knowledge, that we may almost express
the whOle difference between those who are
called learned and those who are called ignorant,
by the classification into the ignorance of the edu-
cated, and the ignorance of the uneducated mind.
The attribute of the one is enquiry, according to-
right principles ; and of the other, confident
conclusions on partial data. . The advan-
tage of education Consists rather in the law of
judging and investigating, than in the amassing
of a large collection of facts. The •whole secret
of forming adequate and useful opinions, is in the
due perception of the relations of a few things,
more than in knowledge of a multitude of things
out of this relatiOn ; and the secret of avoiding
abrupt and shallow* conclusions, is by the know-
ledge that there may be relations not yetdisco-
vered, and which, when known, might impart a
new element into the enquiry.

The danger to which society is now exposed is,
we maintain, in the supremacy of this uneducated,
clever mind, of which Mr. BRIGHT is a favour-
able and competent representative. What he
sees, he sees clearly; and his ignorant followers
applaud him to the' echo, because he has the-
ability to make them see it also. The • sus-
picion that he does not see all, the patience to
hunt out for new relations, the humility that
casts about to learn from every source and does not
disdain uncongenial teachers, are wholly foreign
to that prtsumptuous and vulgar mind. It is
needless to say how foreign they must be to the
minds of his besotted hearers.

It is only what we could expect when we note
in Mr. BRIGHT'S great achievements in the
science of " palaver," that logic of what we may call
clever ignorance, which disregards the truth and
comprehensiveness of the premises in comparison
with the process of the argumentation. True, 110
seldom announces a position which holds itg-
ground after the calm sifting of the critic. But .
if he can carry his audience along with Idyl
through a rough and ready process of a rule of
" thumb " logic, he is content, no matter whither
he is carrying them. We may say both are con-
tent to fall into the ditch together.

WE do not think it ever could have been se—
riously contemplated that Lord PiLmEnsTorft
should be the Plenipotentiary from this countrY
at the approaching Congress at Paris, to
into consideration the very complex position ill
which the Central States of Italy have bee°
placed by the failure of the pretentious
gramme enunciated by the Emperor of tile
French at the commencement of the Italiall
campaign, namely,—of freeing the Peninsulg'
from Austrian dominion from "the Alps to the
"Adriatic." In fact, we think that the position ill
which those States are now found is infinitely
.he
more disastrous than it was previous to the
annexation of Lombardy to the Crown of Pied-
mont. Sufficient has not been done to liberate
the Italians from their' subjugation, which eel"
tainly was most distasteful to their feelings, alio
which unquestionably by many arbitrary -lbe
committed by their rulers pressed most hardly 0°
them. It was not likely that the ardent sons °
the Italian soil could patiently submit to th©
uti
oppressions which were inflicted upon them; bto
we repeat much :has yet to be accomplished
wholly liberate them from these grievancesr
which have on all hands been admitted to e%ist:a
At this critical juncture we think fit 4
PA LMERSTON would be, with his impetllto
Italian sympathies, the most unfit person ,0
could possibly be deimted from this country, 1%,
adjust affairs requiring the exercise of the f•re3itri:
discretion as also of the calmest judcpmen L
1,01.
ever was seriously entertained that be