The Sun.
London, England, 1857-03-20 00:00:00

t~ ~

J

•• 7
... •• ••
' 7 • ' ."
i •
' ' e • '
•
-.•
••••,..: ••..:?1,
..•\ 4... Y
.•
••••
i I
•
.. ,
, 4
..,
_._ , ...
7-''1f':..',,:`,..;a,,,; s,. .
, 1
2.0.\-1.1azi.L4:;..4-4.,..,
;,4
'% s , ••• &via la_. ...,.. --- ;‘."‘- I,
..-... ~" ~..t7 ,
+
1 r.,.:
* If
~._ ... 1• - lil 1 A t 4 A..-.,.., 11
r.,..,4:" ..'i•"l,norT.•‘, -." * `4'.`.\, 7-------'4(..-
--
'' • .. ....
~ . '7'2 4 ;41 •41,1 ~.,t- i-
~:1",!,' LTD) t.,, ilij. U 1,5 li 4,iiiV ''' '
...-:- ••-. og, -1. —.............. •,,,,.. --- ~, 4, ;It'fl:''' ~••••e: - • •
...'4,..... :•• • ••
.....

[PRIOR 4D• S ,'4 MP ;D sfi

1
it said that we have been a thorn in the side of
three Governments. We are told that three or
four of us have been a thorn in the si,e of Lord
Aberdeen, Lord John Russell, and now of Lord
Palmerst ,n. I cell only say this—if Msnrhester
should send up the two gentlemen that are now
• candidates in opposition to my hon. friends, they
won't be. thorns in the side of any Government.
(L end laughter.) Well, but whet do you want
in Parliament? Do you -send up men to Parlia-
ment just to be told off into une lobby or the other,
according as the whip Fer-in of the Treasury decide,?
I suppose you want your members to do something
better than follow the bidding of the Treasury whip.
Do you think there is much da,nger now of your caech-
ingmentiberi of Parliament likely' o be too iudepend-
cot ? I can assnreyouyou willfieditjustthecentiary.
And if the threats now held out should be carried
into effect—if you should, uuhappili for yourselves,
lose those two members you have got—(never)--I
will venture to say it will be a long time b-,fore you
will have t a get two others,
be
whom you will have
to cOliplain that they will e too independent wlrai
they get t a Londen into Part:anent. (Hear, bear.)
-Why, now, the very thing of all others nr.st diffi-
cult to find in London is indepsndesce. Only cast
your meinorics back ; how few men have we ever
got permanently to j in us ie our attempt to thwart
a Governmeut ? Four, or five, or nix, or eight, or
ten: I could count them all on my ten fingers who
xerna;nsd resolved and determined to maietain an
nclependeut coarse. And why? Because the
-Vrriptations, mitteilltments, itild--seduc. ions prac-
t.se 1 on weelbers of Parliament are very well
known to those engaged' in that avocation. Do
you think I was not tempted like everybody else ?
Lhave had my cards, my dinner cards, as large as
that (exhibitin4 a half-sheet of pap ?r), -an i Irani
Lord Palm,:rst,n, too. (Loud cheers.) When I
went up to Parliament, in - 1811, it would have
been mush easier, more tranquil, and, to many
minds, a much more agreeable life, if I had at once
filleh into the trick, and, instead of setting up an
independent resistance to Government when I chose,
I had joined i he governing class and become one of
their humble servants. But the very first day I
went into Parliam-nt, in 1841, when the lines of
party were still visible, when there was a great gulf
between the two great rarties on the two sides of
the house ; wh•n Sir Ro' ert Peel had his 393 or
400 men, and Lerd John Russell his 270 or 280
men, the very first time I got up and spoke as the
member for Stockport, I declared I came there to
do something—and that was to repeal the corn
laws, and I would know pettier Whig nor Tory
—(loud cheers)—until that work was done. Well,
now, suppose I had pursued another course—sup-
pose I had allied myself to the Whig party, which
was then the most liberal, and which had then
adopted the advanced position at that time, of an
Bs. fixed duty—suppose I had joined that party, as
I might have done, and depended upon them and
not upon au abstract principle fir the success of
our agitation, do you thinlewe should ev.a. have got
the teal and immediate repeal ? No it would not
have been possible ; because we should have told
Sir R. Peel and the party opposite, " we are not
going to 'aka it from you at alt ; it is a patty ques-
tion--a Whig question, and we are going to take
the repeal of the corn laws in no other way." But
when Sir R. Peel and the party opposite saw we
were in earnest, and did net make a party question
of our principle, he did the work for us, which the
Whigs never could have deue. Are we not te pur-
sue the same course again ? (Yes-) Am I, becaus s
I find Mr. Disraeli and Sir J. Pakington coming
round to principles I have been advocating--am I,
at the moment which offers a fair chance of success
to my op nion, to say, "No, I will not joie you ;
that, would be c mlsiracy—that would be a coati-
ton." (Hear, and chem.) After referring to the
pressure of •taxation, Mr. Co'aien proceeded e—l
come now for a moment to the conduct of my right
hon. friend here, and the conduct of my right hen.
friend whom I represent here on this occasion.
(Great cheering, followed by "Three clie.,rs for
Bright," and "One cheer more.") Knowing him,
than, I stand here in all humility as his representa-
tive ; for what I have long cherished in my friend
Mr. Bright is this, that I have seen is him an
ability and an eloquence with which he is endowed;
and that Ihavallat the fond consolation of hoping
that Mr. Bright, being seven or eight years younger
than myself, will be advocating principles—and
advocating them successfully—when I shall no
longer be on the scene of duty. With those feel-
ings, I naturally take the de pest interest in the
d,:ei,,inn of this e'ectien. 1 feel humiliteed—l feel
disgusted to sea the daily personal attacks—the
diatribes that are made against this man. (Shame,
ant loud cheering.) I will deal very c indidly with
you, men- of Manche ter, in this respect. I say
you have not elle character, or the Tame, or the
destinies of John Bright in your hands ; but I
will tell you this, that your own character and
reputation with the country and with the world
at large are at stake in the conduct which you pursue
on this occasion. One who has served you so faithfully
and so assiduously—e ven to the partial destruction of
his own health—who is no longer able to appear
before you—why, the manhood that is in you must
all rebel against the cowardly assaultstbat are made
upon him. (Cheers.) But I believe the hostility
is a•pqrsonal one. (" Hear, hear," and applause.)
I believe it is confined to a select few. Toey m•ty,
perhaps, make dupes of others ; and, unless you be
watchful, they may make dupes of some of you. -
("No, no.") But what are the alleged faults of
this man—what have you to say against hint ? I
toll 3ou before that you must go to the House of
Commons for his character—to either side of the
House of Commons—and I will venture to say you
will hear but one opinion of him from Whig, Tory,
or Radical. I will tell you what I heard one of the
oldest and most sagacious men in the House if
Commons say ; that he did not believe there was
any man in the house, with the exception of Mr.
Bright and Mr. Glads'one, who ever changed votes
by their eloquence. (Hear, hear.) Now that is a
great tribute to pay to men. (Applause.) Be-
cause, although we, many of us, may probably con-
vince people by our arguments, we do not convert
them and make them change their votes—it re-
quires logic and reasoning power, but it requires
something else—it requires those transcendent
powers of eloquence•which your representatives pos-
sess. (Cheers.) I am going to Huddersfield to-
morrow. (Cheers.) If my voice does not fad me,
I should like to come back and have one More great
meeting at this hall--(loud cheers)—but it must be
on one condition, and that is, that the gentle-men
hero set to work. (Hear, hear.) Our late fr;ee a
Sir Thomas Po:ter, if he had been, living, would
have been amongst us--(cheers)—and he never al-
lowed a meeting to go off without his memorable
and famous words, , " work, work, work." With
these words I wish to dismiss you. I tell you here
is a combination—l call it a conspiracy—(loud
cheers)—a foul conspiracy—(renewed cheers)—that
upset two of the ablest men in the House of Com-
mons—one of them that is absent, and therefore it
is no flattery to say of him, that if the House of
Commons had the power of returning three men
to be members of their body, I have not the less',
hesitation in saying that one of these men, if be
were not in Parliament, would be John Bright.
(" Hear, hear," and loud cheers.) Now, he is
well known to you, and my friend Mr. Gibson is
known to you as a great worker in the good cause.
You are asked to dismiss these men without a cause.
I tell you that it is you, and not they, who are upon
your trials. You may dismiss them ; but if you do
you will never have them back again, for they will
riot be out of Parliament a month. (" Hear, hear,"
and loud applause.) And what will you have in
place of them ? I will avoid personalities. I have
only dealt with Lord Palmerston as a person be-
cause be has been put forward as a policy. ' He is
the only r °Hoy put forward on which the elections
are to turn. (Hear, hear.) lam obliged to deal
with the man as a policy. But now as to your two
1 candidates. There is Mr. Lowe. See him, and
hear him, before you choose him. (Hear.) You
have had one specimen of Ministerial oratory on
this platform—(laughter)—and I want you to hear
more of these "right honourable" and "honour-
able"otw (Loud be, ,
andt
r
e
members of the aristocracy. Lit them come
and talk t.) you, and you 'will then
ekagnro
d. h i
ru
how to
Hoartoappreciatme
rt.he
tomween. yloubahvaevhe
I will say this, and in saying it shall be borne out
by any impartial man in the House of Commons,
that, considering that he had some reputation for
ability when he was at Oxford, and as a writer in
the. Times—(hear, and laughter)—he is the most
conspicuous failure in the House of Commons.
(Cheers.) Then there is my friend Sir John Potter.
I will say nothing upon this subject except this :
I am sorry to see him in
friends. But I say to opposition to his old
you, if you want to exchange
an attitude of proud distinction, and to show your-
selves to the world instead of having tale with
represent you who are men and can gral).` hi
men in that great arena of intellectual gladiators hip,
tP4
the House of Commons—(cheers)—if you want _
• ' before the world
preserve yourpresent proud position two inen to
—that Manchester, at all events, something—then
i 1 h
keepthemen you have; butifyouthinkyou laved
a
- want to fall into
s-
fame and distinction enough, and
d mho; a bits of worn and 1117
uttg insignificance, and