Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-07-07

form where the interests of education wer
being urged, and at once they became fas
friends. Bright wa, then under thirty
and had been recently married. Shortl
afterwards his wife died. and while
n THE PANGs OF BEREAVEMENT
Golden paid him visit to which he him
self thus refers 8" was in bennington
and Mr. Golden called on me. l was thel
in the depths of grief may almost sa,
of despair-for the light and sunshine o
my house had been extinguished. Al
that was left of my young wife, except tn
memory OF sainted life and too briei
happiness, was lying still and cold in tn,
chamber above us. Mr.. Golden called OF
me as his friend, and addressed me, az yol
may suppose. with words of coincidence
After time he looked up and said
There are thousands and thousands o.
homes in England at this moment where
wives and mothers and children are dying
of hunger. Now, when the first paroxysn
of your grief is past, | would advise you tC
come with me, and we will never rest unit
the Corn laws are repealed" This was
the turning point in Mr.. Bright's career,
the moment when he formed the purpose
to assume the responsibilities of public life.
Two years afterwards he entered Parlia.
ment, and not many years after that the
object OF the lofty ambition of these gifted
and kindred souls was an accomplished
fact. The friendship which subsisted be-
tween Richard Golden and John Bright
was of the most beautiful and intimate
character, and when Golden had passed
away and reference was made to his death
in the House of Commons the scene wit.
messed was both
TOUCHING AND MEMORABLE.
After tributes to the value of Cobden's
life. and work had been paid by several
speakers, we are told Mr.. Bright rose, and
speaking under the influence of profound
emotion, said "Sir, feel that l cannot
every expression of sympathy which have
heard has been most grateful to nay heart.
But the time which has elapsed since, in
my presence, the manifest and gentlest
spirit that ever tenanted or Quilted hu-
man form, took its flight, is so short, that
l dare not attempt to give utterance to the
feelings by which l am oppressed. l shall
leave TO some calmer moment, when | NAV
have an opportunity of speaking before
some portion of my countrymen, the lesson
which think may be learned from the life
and character of my friend. | have only
to say that after twenty years of most intl-
mate and almost brotherly friendship with
him, | little knew how much | loved him
until l found that | had lost him" The
few extracts given above of Mr. Bright's
manner of expressing himself will convey
fair idea of those qualities of brain and
heart which have made him the wonderful
orator he Is. He is, in the first place, per-
fectly sincere in what he says. The topics
upon which he speaks are matters of deep
conviction with him. They are not the
passing whims of an hour they are
thoughts that have been matured by long
years of observation and study-ideas
which are, in the speakers estimation, so
transcendently important that
HE WOULD UTTER THEM IF HE HAD TO DIE
FOR IT.
Those who listen to him feel this They
realize above all things that they are stand
ing in The presence of true man one
who has cause to advocate which has be-
come part of himself. Another charac.
teristic of Bright's manner, one arising
naturally from his sincerity of purpose, is
its transparent simplicity. He has none of
the arts of the demagogue. His style is,
In fact, exactly what a conventional dema.
gogue's ought not to be. 1t is pure to aus.
terity. 1t is stripped of all superfuous or
nament. It never gushes or foams. 1t
never allows itself to be mastered by pas
sion. His self.restraint is marvellous. for
in his most powerful passages he appears
as If ne were keeping in his strength rather
than taxing it with effort. He never shouts
or storms, and INDUCES in but few gesticu-
lstions. Vehement he may be at times.
but he is never overstrained His enun-
citation is calm and n. measured, his voice
clear and resonant with a peculiar vibra.
ton IN it which lends unspeakable effect
to any passage of pathos or scorn. He has
an admirable gift of humor and keen
ironical power. Withal, he speaks in the
purest Saxon and expresses his thoughts in
short sentences which do not tax reflection
too heavily. Such are some of the more
salient features of the greatest orator Eng
land has produced in the last half century.
Mr.. Bright's pet sobriquet is
1.-THE PEOPLES TRIBUNE"
During the twenty-five years he has repre-
sented Birmingham in Parliament his con-
stituency have given him the very warm
est support. The town and the man are
exactly suited to each other, for where
could the most liberal statesman of the age
find SO congenial a people as in a place |
which has the reputation of being very
hot-bed of liberal principles? But this |
champion of human rights |
belongs not alone to Birmingham or to |
England He is the common property of |
all the English. speaking peoples. He is,
in fact, worlds man, his truest title be. |
ing that applied to him by Birmingham
whose closed shutters on Mon
day bore the announcement that the store |
was shut up in honor of "The Patriot of |
A large proportion of the re-
forms which Mr.. Bright has advocated |
have been effected. One of these, the
legalizing of marriage with a deceased |
wife's sister, was, by happy coincidence,
carried to a successful issue in the House |
of Lords on the very day of his triumphal
progress through the streets OF Birming.
ham. The most prominent of the measures
TO which the weight of his eloquence and
character have been given, which yet await |
enactment, are the repeal of the Parlia.
mentary oaths, the abolition of capital pun
shment and the Disestabli.hment of the
English Church. Being now 70 years of
age he will scarcely live to see any of
these things brought about, but that the
former and the latter of the three will be
in the not very distant fu-
.ure, no one can doubt who reads candidly
either the records of the past or the signs
If the present.
WITH VIoLETs