The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-21 00:00:00

servators of that Palladium of our English Liberties,
0277;e;;, against the responsible members of the
band of English journalists. As one of that band we
must yet continue to reserve to ourselves in Mr,
BRIGHT'S regard, as in that of every other public
man, no matter of what class or of what party, the
privilege, whenever our conscience or our judgment
so dictate, of avowing opinions wholly in
opposition to those advanced by Mr. BRIGHT
himself or by any one of Mr. BRIGHT'S
contemporaries. Our prineiples upon so
many important matters connected with the
national polity being in a great measure absolutely
identical with those advocated with such distin-
guished eloquence and consummate ability by Mr.
BRIGHT, it is always with the more regret for that
very reason that we ever find ourselves compelled
to differ from him—as we have differed from him
again and again before now, and as we doubtless
may have to differ from him yet not unfrequently.
Dissent from his views we certainly shall (how-
ever reluctantly) under the like contingencies, as
we hold ourselves at perfect liberty under the same
contingencies to dissent from the views of any one
in the wide world. And we must certainly con-
tinue to do so none the less frankly in Mr. BRIGHT'S
regard, because while so doing we may be liable
again, forsooth, to become the target for those
poisoned but pointless and barbless scurrilities
which he has shown himself only too ready before
now to direct (most unbecomingly and ungratefully
on his own part) against that buckler of our na-
tional liberties, the Egis of English journalism.
The comprehensive address delivered by Mr.
BRIGHT last evening in the Corn Exchange Build-
ings, at Wakefield, will be read now far and wide
throughout England with the liveliest pleasure by
all ranks and classes of Englishmen. It is expres-
sive of views in every way worthy of the represen-
tative of the Liberal constituency of Birmingham,
and virtually of a far larger Liberal constituency
than the constituency of Birmingham. The hon.
member takes a clear, bold, bright-eyed survey of
the political situation. As a good-humoured pre-
liminary to doing so, however, what possibly could
be more thoroughly delightful than the momentary
glance he took (by the way) at a description of
public meeting entirely different from the one which
he himself was then addressing in Wakefield—
those meetings which he described as all having
the same rule, all going generically under the
name of " Agricultural Meetings ? " At those
particularly . pastoral and bucolic gatherings,
Mr. BRIGHT 'observed, "he found that nearly
every speaker, after just glancing at tur-
nips or some other agricultural matter, shot
off at once into political disquisitions ; and that
if he were a Conservative, he generally praised
Lord PALMERSTON, and attacked Mr. GLADSTONE,
or so humble an individual as Mr. BRIGHT." And
then followed this deliciously humorous silhouette
of the country gentleman proper, as depicted in
the keenest outline by the Member for Birming-
ham. " The country gentlemen of the North," said
Mr. BRIGHT, " were rather an odd class of men,
and if there could be a photograph of one of those
gentlemen, showing not only his outward and
physical body, but his mental lineaments, there
could be no doubt it would represent a man with a
robust constitution, and of very confused
notions." It is the very ideal of the country gentle-
man sketched out to aT. No wonder the "laugh-
ing audience" at Wakefield roared their apprecia-
tion. Disavowing any intention whatever of fol-
lowing in the -footsteps of these same ponderous
country gentlemen, Mr. BRIGHT further prefaced
his survey of the political situation by yet more
distinctly announcing his intention not to touch in
any way upon mere party politics in the remarks
that might afterwards fall from his lips. A wider
and ampler survey in truth was the one taken
yesterday by the great Tribune, who stands in
fact intermediately between all parties—apart from
any party whatever—and therefore all the more
capable of taking a strictly impartial view of the
actual position of things around him from the
elevation of his individual independence. Having
referred to the wider and wider diffusion of a more
correct knowledge of the science of political econo-
my which has marked the interval between the
present time and the final abolition of the Corn
Laws in 1845, Mr. BRIGHT uttered an opinion in
reference to the Commercial Treaty recently con-
cluded at Paris between France and England, an
opinion that falling from his lips in word so mea-
sured and emphatic, is entitled, in this country
especially, to the most respectful consideration.
He expressed his belief, the telegram already in-
forms us, "that those who lived as many years
hence as had elapsed since the repeal of the Corn-
laws would have the same opinion of the advantage
of the step which has just been taken with regard
to France, which was now held as to the step
taken in 1846 in regard to the Corn-laws."
We shall see—time will show—let us only
(now that the Treaty is actually signed and
completed) wait patiently—trusting in the mean-
time that all these confident and most encourag-
ing predictions may be realised to the full—pre-
dictions falling from great masters of the science
of political economy, such as the two great apostles
of Free-trade, Mr. COBDEN, the negotiator of the
Treaty, and Mr. BRIGHT, its original suggestor !
As for the rest of the important subjects touched
upon by the hon. member for Birmingham last
night down at Wakefield, we must now content
ourselves with referring to the report of Mr.
BRIGHT'S last speech, given elsewhere in our im-
pression of this evening, a speech in every parti-
cular worthy of this eminent and liberal English-