Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1888-03-18
JOHN BRIGHT AT HOME
HOW he LIVES IN HIS NATIVE Ian
CASHIRE.
Living Near His Mills and the Working People,
His Carpe! ManuacOry-Skll as a Sal
mn F~Sher-Secrs. OfHis
0rat0ry.
Especial Correspondence

land thinks to- morrow. This remarkable
tribute to the strong common sense OF
Lancashire lads" aud Manchester men,
/ heard Lord Salisbury pay to the assem-
bled merchants in Manchester for a
generation inspired the prcgress of the
English people. 1t need not be retold
Low he, with Golden, created, championed
and concluded in triumph the crusade
AGAINST the Corn Laws that starved the
noor. nor how he stood almost alone
in his grandeur Of principle and
eIoquence rs the professor against
the popular Crimean War, nor how he
led the battle Of Reform that was Won in
1867. He was the pride of his native Lam
| cashire, Manchester honored itself by
| clec.iug him to Parliament, his voice was
the clarion call that could rouse the
country to action or sOothe it by exquisite
melody. Yet Manchester rejected John
Bright in "a fit of bad temper in 1857,
| since when Birmingham has prised the dis
| t~inction of calling him her NJ. 2. And,
Lancashire-like, Bright paid unfaithful
Manchester back by keeping out of her
way for nine long years. 1t was only when
the great wave of agitation for Reform
arose in 1866 that be relented for the good of
the cause, and agreed to make a speech
That memorable scene is never to be Oblit-
Grated. More than a hundred thousand
had held open-air meetings that afternoon.
At night the Free Trade Hall held two or
three thousand more than its seating capac-
ity-hve thousand-and when Bright's
noble figure was seen the pent-up enthusi-
asm of those nine cold years burst out in
torrents of cheering, found a vent in the
singing over and over again of "Auld Lang
Syne," while hard-visaged men were moved
TO tears. 1t was odd that his title of
Right Hon" was gained by his accept
ance of q at in G~ladstone's Cabinet, which
made him, the opponent of tbs State
Church, q patron of ~forty-One church
livings. He 500 gave it up.
His home has always been in his "
country, near his mills and among his
friends, the working people. He is c typi-
cal Lancashire lad' himself, Plus a Qda-
ker training and taste, which has smooth
ed down much Of the rugged uDcouthness
characteristic of the species. Rochdale is
a typical Lancashire town, irregular, up
and down, more dirty than clean, its air
penetrated with as rank a dialect as now
remains in England. Near by, just across
the wild moor that begins back OF
john Bright's house, is TOdmorden,
whose people explain its queer design,
az the "Rachda fowk" might sag of their
town, God made tn earth, but forgot
Tordmudden COS it he'd gotten under is
thoomb." The Rochdale Cooperative Pi-
orcers are the largest trading concern on
that system in the world. Through one
Of its long snake-like streets, out toward
the moor, past a large family of huge fac
tories, we come to u plain, old fashioned
but stately red brick house, standing on a
well-kept lawn, edged with hower-beds
and shrubs. This is Zone Ash" the
home of John Bright, Quaker and Man Of
the People. No shOwiness, yet unmistak-
able dignity; no trace OF wealth
display, vet there is a refinement in
the surroundings which tells OF highly cul-
tiyated taste. Tbs home prOclaims the
man. A maid-servant opens the door, o
f~avorite Scotch collie gives a much more
home-lke welcome than q liverieG foot
mSn, aud the simple ct eeteras that inter
est the visitor in the drawing room are
thoroughly in keeping with the unoSten-
tatious character Of the host. Busts OF
CobGeu, Chevalier, Milrcr, Gibson, and
engraved portraits of others Of his eminent
comrades in the old campaigns are the
principal works OF art. A handsome oak
en- cabin<t holds a collection ofthe finest
specimens of StaffOrdshire pottery and
other manufactures, presented to Mr..
Bright by the people OF that country. His
large correspondence finds him plenty Of
work with that fine small-hand pen which
he so courteOusly and cOnscientiously
Yields.
He is simplicity itself in his habits.
John Bright never was "a society man"
Since his widowertoOd he has done more
reading. FOrseveral years he had a charm
ing residence in Piccadilly, overlooking
Grcen Park, with the leading people Of
title as his neighbOrs on either hand. His
relations with his work-peOple are those
of q conscientious employer, who pays
market wages and expects a full tale OF
work. The local institute has benefited
considerably by Mr.. Bright's gifts
of books aud his kindly interest
in whatever helps the progress
of the people. As carpet-makers, the firm
of which John Bright is senior partner
have a world wide reputation, and have
made an immense fortune. The business
has been under the management OF Mr..
Benjamin Bright, and il now chiefly Coz
trolled by John Bright, Jr., of whom some
thing may yet be heard in the political
world, though be has not his fathers elO-
quence. Mr.. Jacob Bright, a younger
brother, though now about sixty, is one Of
the members for Manchester, q weak man
physically aud politically, the champion
of the wOman,s rights movement, which
big brother John stOutly opposes.
Mr. Bright is always proper" in dress.
He does not wear the Quaker garb, though
he attends meeting" and occasionally
breaches. You always tiud him in super
fine bloadclOth, old-fashioned s~tand-up
collar, black necktie, and a tall hat. But
If you follow him away north to the hanks
of the Tweed, you will see him dress the
part ia honor OF the lOTdly salmon be will
4 soon pSTSUAUS 10 ~aSCOUI pduN ulm uUuS tO
dinner. John Bright is a stalwart Usher
man, orthodox in extolling the rod and
exeCrating the spear, and he will discourse
more elOquently-and veraciously-upOn
the hsunts 5nd habits of the king of the
fishes than any in the tbrOng Of his Parlia-
ment brothers in The art, who love to
gather round and hear of his hauls. This
fishing hobby is John Brights only vice,
excepting his merCiless smuggling Of his pc
litical foes. He drinks no intoxicsnts, !
think he never began to try. am not
sure if be smokes, but l know he fumes,
and that right heartily.
Hear him when he haTfanguGS the
throug. Look at him as he marches to his
place with an air imI erial as that of q Re-
man emperor. Every one, surely, knows
by some photograph that leOnine head, the
profile Of lofty forehead, the straight, clear
cut nose, the broad puting mouth, the
bold chin ard strongEeck, and the graceful
flow Of abundant white hair like a lions
mans. He is atypical AnglO-SaK9D, a true
Briton Of the nOblest mould. His msjestic