The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-13 00:00:00

Slut

LONDON, THURSDAY, JULY 13, 1865,

-a-

Mr. BRIGHT had one :of his opportunities yester-
day, when he could speak uncontradicted, and
launch out into his extrenie theories irrespective of
consequences and consideration. If Mr. BRIGHT
really feels what he says, that on such occasions as
that which brought them together much depended,
that they were " putting in force a power which,
for good or evil, is felt in the very humblest homes
of the people of this kingdom ;" it is a pity that he
does not exercise the power more warily and wisely.
Running into extremes at every turn, and abusing
all who presume to differ from him, is a very undig-
nified mode of proceeding, and cannot but injure,
instead of serving, the cause he professes to rever-
ence and admire. Reform, of course, is the
key-note of the hon. member's speech, and he
seemed almost to exhaust his powers of description

in discussing it.

It may be remarked, however, that the, account
he gave of others does very well for himself, for he
would be lost if this great question were once
settled for our generation. What would he do
without this grand excuse for abusing the aristo-
cracy, reviling the Government, and extolling the
great services of himself and his friends? " Othello's
occupation would be gone" indeed, and this solu-
tion is the only reason we can see for the apparently
inconsistent course which this zealous patriot has
pursued. He was one of the chief obstacles to the
passing of the Conservative Reform Bill. He went
about the country, from town to town, like a second
PETER the Hermit, to warn the per.ple of impending
danger, and stir up their energies and stimulate
their exertions. Then when the contest was over,
and a Liberal Goi-ernment installed in office, where
were Mr. BRIGIIT'S tirades, and what had become of
his censures? They were buried with Lord Rus-
SELL'S incomplete and inconclusive measures.
I•Tpw Mr. BRIGHT seeks to play his game career,
and abuses Lord PALMERSTON ! Doubtless the
Ministers are Much to blame, but Mr. BRIGHT is
not the fit person to de so. . At every crisis of
affairs his name is found in the list of Govern-
ment supporters, and it is thi s support which
renders the Cabinet so reckless and so
impracticable: If it was culpable of the DERBY
Ministry to introduce an insufficient scheme of
Parliamentary Reform, what was it for the Cham-
pion, of Reform to cause an entire failure and then
to take no steps to retrieve the error? Mr. BRIGHT
will never faithfully represent the people of England
while he puts one class in opposition to the other.
It is an unfair style of proceeding, and one that
shows that his party feelings and conventional pre-
judices are paramount to• what should be general
schemes for the advancement of the nation at large.
When he talks of the county representation " as a
dead body tied to the living body of the borough
representation," he exhibits in a strong degree that
narrow view and bounded notion which has mate-
rially checked the influence of his party. Because
Mr. BRIGHT has a particular dislike to everything
rural, and thinks the term " agriculture" synony-
mous with all that is contemptible, it does not
follow that the places which fall under his
displeasure are to be blotted out from the
representative map that must soon be traced.
In vain (12es he put forward his great eloquence and
exert his trained powers of debate. lle can never
convince the calm and impartial that he is sincere and
straightforward while lie condescends to such artifices
and manoeuvres. For instance, he was strong about the
iniquity of Anti-Reformers, and puts forward an
impressive sketch of their infatuation, telling us
how they look upon the Reform which is a-head of
them, like the poet has said we look upon death—
That is the doom they dread, yet dwell upon."

• And yet, in pursuing this theme, Mr. BRIGHT shows
where his partialities begin, and how his prejudices
never end. The " fancy franchises" are his abo-
mination, he is proud of having nicknamed them,
he rejoices in having defeated their object. Now
this is very absurd ; because why should not a man
who pays more than double for a part of a house
than some of Mr. BRIGHT'S protege's for their places
of residence be qualified to vote ? As for educa-
tion and intelligence, we should find far more among
the holders of fancy franchises, but perhaps that
would not suit the views of the hon. member for
Birmingham, or perhaps the is jealous of the fact
that those he called the arch-enemies of Reform
should have stolen a march upon him, and dis-
covered an improvement in popular representation
that had not been dreamt of in his philosophy.
One proof of better sense and taste than he
generally shows in such addresses Mr. BRIGHT gave
yesterday, in paying a tribute to Mr. DISRAELI,
although he qualified his praise by add-
ing that he wasted his energies on a
" decaying party." Mr. BRIGIIT should wait
until the result of the elections is known before
he applies such flattering terms to the Opposi-
tion; and, judging by his own standard, they are
as flourishing as the Ministerial ranks he serves in.
They all seem rushing on headlong to destruction,
if we are to take the estiniate here presented to our
view by the great oracle of Birmingham.
It is much to be regretted that one so able should
not make the most of his opportunities, but it is
useless to expect that the hon. member for Birming-
ham will ever control his excitement, or allow rea-
son to curb his prejudice. lie is an honour to the

class to which he belongs ; he might be of great
service to his country, but he throws away his
chances and wastes his powers in abuse instead of

concentrating them in argument. lie would make
a much more effective speaker across the Atlantic,

where he could launch out his denunciatory lan-
guage as much and as far as he pleased,