Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-05-24

The Quaker statesman, John Brlghts
1t has been said that eloquence is treason
penetrated and made red-hot by passion" Few
ter than Mr.. Bright. He is passionately in
earnest; and there lies the secret OF his
strength-for the rest secret easy enough to
heard Mr.. Bright regret has probably been OF
some service to him as an orator: he knows no
language but our mother-tongue, re sembling In
this respect the greatest speakers Caat the
world has ever knoWn-those OF the Athenian
republic He has to address EngliShmen, aud
he does SO In perfectly English way, out Of
exclusion of all others) His words and SEN
fences, TOO, are pure English, distlgured by no
Gal1cisms or TeutOnicisms or Hellenism5. He
knows nothing Of q Solidarity" or OF "Geist,"
ana may wen nave sighed at being Obliged to
claim autonomy" for the Bulgarians while
d9 in;1s 4 "negemony" must have been doubiy
Mr.. Bright Is intensely patriotic. Not the
less SO because on questions OF foreign policy
ne olners from the vast majority OF English
men. PROFESSIONALLY his views are somewhat
narrow; out at least he is not the victim OF that
unfortunate sentiment which induces certain
persons to prefer the interests Of any country
10 that OF their own. "Perish Savoy" was his
memorable utterance some nineteen sessions
ago, when the Emperor Napoleon seemed de5ir-
Gus Sn to inherit the blessing pronounced on those
when the old English jealousy of France was
beginning to make the prospect Of war be-
tween the two nations dangerously imminent.
pie bluntness, evidently was that the tndepen-
dence OF number Of trumpery SavOyards was
net matter which called for the expenditure
Of single English shilling. AS TO the idea tn 1t
France might grow too strong for us, that was
equally preposterous Too strong for England,
Ii deed! He should like to see the nation that
would be too strong for England.
No wonder Mr.. Bright is an incomprehensib.e
phenomenon to foreign liberals. l remember
seeing him and Louis Blanc engaged 10 polti-
cal discussion. The French radical learned with
fr,r
was In favor Of shutting up public houses dur
ing certain hours on Sundays. "Ah, you have
no liberty In England" he remarked, bitterly
immortal principles of 's9 might bring the
French Qn their good time) some greater benefit
than that OF Increased facilities for drunkenness
Mr.. Brig ht himself, by the way, is now a tee
totaller, and smokes much less than formerly
Iu Cd times he and Lord Stanley {the present
Lord Derby might often be seen In the smoking
room Of ire House Of Commons putting away,
according to the elegant expression Of a friend,
like couple Of chimneys. The two were (and
are) fast friends; and, strange as it may seem,
there can be little doubt that the man who re-
Gently flung away his chances Of becoming a
tory prime minister was the apt pupil of Mr..
Bright. The Quaker statesman very early Inn
bued him with that dislike of war which made
him the despair of the Jingoes.
But Mr.. Bright's most famous disciple is
gentleman who was already Cabinet minister
when the former entered Parliament The
conversion of Mr.. Gladstone from high tory1sm
to something very. like radicalism is in great
measure the work Of MIR. Bright. The late
Lord Strangford put the fact In his own mimi
table way, but In somewhat too conversational
style to meet the eXigencieS Of British Jour
nalism. He pointed out that Mr.. Bright's
strong, masterful nature had completely doml-
mated and subdued that of Mr.. Gladstone. He
rode roughshod over him. II Mr.. Gladstone
had scruples Mr.. Bright pooh poohed them
He laughed him out of a too squeam1sh rever-
ence for the past. II Mr.. Gladstone saw two
sides to question Mr.. Bright would poIat out
that one could 60 on looking at both sides for
ever. Three courses might be olen," but only
one could be taken.
Mr.. Bright attempted to use the same pro-
made Of far sterner stuff. Mr.. Bright could
gain no ascendancy over him, and did not par
ticular;y regret his defeat at Westminster in
impract1cable, and considered that his presence
in Parliament had rather done mischief to the
liberal party. Mr.. Bright fairly lost his temper
Clause-which he described as "chlldiSh."
For Mr.. Gladstone, albeit he has had to teach
him, his admiration is unbounded. Last sum-
Re apPp TO
To and a e Tn 51
Greenwich. A princess of the blood led the
might. Mr.. Bright said nothing for awhile;
the then quietly turned to LADY and asked her II
asr es hs Tsn had M
should give them an early opportunity of doing
SO, that they may be able in after days to say
that they have seen one OF the greatest men
that England ever produced"
He is Staunch FREUD and a serviceable one,
for 10 late years he has developed an extraor-
binary amount Of tact. They say, indeed, of
Jacob that he is John without Johns tact
This is not quite true; but lie Is certain that
John shows wonderful dexterity in steering
clear OF all crotchet-mongers and hobby-horseS
When there Is woman'S rights division he
votes with his brother, but Is hopelessy unea-
thus1aStic about the subject. Ihave heard one
OF the tuneful slSterhOOd denounce hin as q
''weakling." A Quaker mellowed into a man
OF the world would not be bad description Ut
Mr.. Bright.
Careful Of the public money, Mr.. Bright is
generous with his own. 1t Is not so well re-
membered as it deserves to be that during the
cotton famine, when Mr.. Bright's operatives
were thrown out OF work. he allowed them two
thirds OF their regular wages without exacttng
any sort OF return. He is even said to have
seriously impaired his fortune by this splendid
act OF mun1ficence. This is the man whom a
tory paper abused at the time for not SUBJ
scribing to the Lancashire relief fund. He dis
dained to reply, but the late Lord Derby took
care that the fact should be known.
No man Is complete without a pet incon-
siStency. Mr.. Bright thinks foX-hunting cruel
but cannot be made to look upon salmOn-fiShipg
(at which he Is an adepr In the same light.
The BOdega Introduced into New
York.