The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-06 00:00:00

OLD ATZTAGONISTS.

Twenty-two years ago Lord Shaftesbury(then Lord
Ashley) and Mr. Roebuck were engaged in a very
bitter election Contest A Bath, the result of which
was that his lordship succeeded in ejecting the old
member of a dozen Years' standinst, Who left .the

place, snaking off the dust Of Jal3 rest agsumrd
it. They have now just met together in order
to take part in the same work, the laying of the
foundation stone of some almshouses at Sheffield,
which are to be built at the cost of the Master Cutler.

Both spoke on the same subject—the necessity of main-
taining good relations between capital and labour if
the country is to continue prosperous and united.
Lord Shaftesbury said that as Whitefield had appro-
priated secularmelodies to divine worship, because the
devil ought not to have all the best tunes, so
Euh-
men might appropriate to good uses the demofttic
cry of liberty, fraternity, and equality. "We shoald
have the same and equal liberty for all, no
tyranny of trades unions, no private tyranny,
but full, complete, and equal liberty for all.
Equality we could have without disturbing any social
arrangements—equality in rights and in law, which
' the law would recognise ; and as to fraternity, there
was no reason why we should not be a nation of
brothers, having such a Constitution as that which
we enjoyed." Mr. Roebuck said that British
trade had two dangers ahead—foreign competition
and internal discord. Competition was inevitable,
and the only way to prevent discord was for the
capitalist to consider the well-being of those in his
employ, and for the labourer to remember that
without capital there could be no trade, and, there-
fore, that he ought to assist, instead of making war
upon, capital.
LORD BROUGHAM AND THE " TIMES."

One of the most curious incidents told by Lord
Campbell in his Life of Lord Brougham relates to
that celebrated man's relations with the Times. For
a long period the " Thunderer," as it was then popu-
larly called, used to eulogise the Chancellor in terms
which the better taste of to-day would think
intolerably fulsome. Some coolness sprang up
between Mr. Barnes, the editor, and certain of the
Whig chiefs. One day while Brougham • was
sitting in Chancery he received the following letter
from Lord Althorp :—" Dear Brougham,—What I
want to see you about is the Times—whether we are
to make war on it, or come to terms.—Yours ever,
ALTHORP." Brougham tore up the letter and
answered it. A reporter picked up the fragments,
pasted them together, and took the restored letter
to Mr. Barnes. He, having occasion to ask for
some special news that same night, and it being
refused him, took for granted that Brougham
had decided upon " war." Barnes lost no time in
opening fire. He began by publishing rumours un-
favourable to the Chancellor, expressing an earnest
wish that they might receive an authoritative denial.
Soon this masked mode of attack was exchanged for
open hostilities, and it was not long before the fault-
less Minister of a few months before was held up to
ridicule and contempt, Brougham, who had been almost
suffocated with praise, felt the change acutely.
Some time afterwards he caused it to be rumoured
that he was dead, hoping that on the principle
of de mortuis nil nisi honum the papers would come
out with panegyrics, and restore his reputation. He
was grievously disappointed. His eccentricities were
too recent, and he was severely handled. The Times
did not credit the report, and some days afterwards
insinuated that Brougham had originated it. The
only result of this manoeuvre was such ridicule and
sarcasm as few men but Brougham would have
survived.