MR. BRIGHT.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XII, Issue 707, 17 August 1859, Page 3

MR. BRIGHT.

! (FrOrnVTh'eSatu^ay Review,' April'3oth.) , j.Jir., Bright, although ■sufficiently bent: upon having his own way,,possesses one of those para- , doxical but not uncommon tempers which are irri- ; tared by the absence of opposition. 'Rightly con- : side'ring'that the ftiilrire of Parliament in passing a 1 Reform Bill is:favourable to.his owripeculiar object^ : his attacks on thbs'e'who; oppbse him in domestic ; R^'.t'cs l)aye. lately assumed a tone of triumphant : cli^erfulness wjiich; might /almost be!'mistuken for ;gopd-^moar..;. In.common, however, with other ]candidates/and, orators, Mr. Bright.-has, a. second: j topic,to discuss; and : in; dealing with the impending jwar he finds, with' disappointed surprise, that Whigs: jan.d Tones;have presumed to hold' in the present ;crisis opinions not less pacific than his owii. Under' : these circumstances, if becomes necessary to search tli^ past and'the future^ for'pretexts'of quarrel and . ioccasions of insult; and accordingly, " intriguing ..placeholders and intriguing place-hunters"—-or itr other words', statesmen of all parties—receive fair warning that one patriot at least will not sit tamely by while "they slip, and drift, and slide, as it were, into the terrific abyss which^yawns below us." " I value", says Mr. Bright, "the blood, I value the sweat, I value the comfort, the,lives, the homes, the happiness of the people of this country. Never' for one single moment, at the behest of power or ■'at the call of popular frenzy and popular clamour, shall.any man be able to charge me with being accessary to a policy which ,should sacrifice the happiness of the common people on the altar of sanguinary war." There is but too much foundatipn'fpi;.thei complaint that diplomacy.is wanting in foresight and in firmness; : and especially in the courage which dares, in spite of calumny and misrepresentation, to Warn'the country o!f impending danger. • Mr. Bright'would have stigmatized the Ministers as traitors if they had known and proclaimed a month ago the fearful tidings which have taken them at the last mpmentby surprise. As for his own formula,, if it yere adopted, it would effectually supersede all processes of slipping, or drifting, or sliding, by. inviting provocations which would arouse1 the nation' to a 'spontaneous and irresistible demand for an appeal to arms. The "common people" are always the readiest to' "sacrifice their happiness ori the altar of sanguinary war;" but foreign aggressors readily trust the promises of popular orators that England will, entirely.abstain from all resistance to their ericroackments. One costly war is, for a single generation, a sufficient tribute to the influence of the Peace Society. The Emperor Nicholas trusted in the speeches of Mr. Cobden and in the longsuffering of Lord Aberdeen, until he was himself top far committed to retreat; while English feeling was irritatedbeyond control by the ill-judged slackness..pf the Government in.resenting foreign insolence^. In his recent eulogy on Mr. Cobden's character,-Mr. Bright applauded the empty protests which have not' prevented the assemblage of unprecedented armaments in every quarter of the Cpnti-? nent. . He still boasts of, the consistent opposition which, in cpinmori with, his friehd, he offered to-the national policy' duriiig' the Russian war. If; tlie' theory of hori-resistarice: had ever saved a :single ; drop of blood, there might be some ground for inquiring whether: it was i compatible with public •; interest,-with honour, or ; with duty. s , In assuming to, himself a raonopply of regard for humanity and: peace, Mr. Bright, as usual, endeavours to stigmatize arid to annoy the'rivalswliopuivsue the same object with himself-^bnly'differing in their selection of

methods which are at; legist more plausible, and better approved by experience. ■' :' " . The. intolerant arid unforgiving'nature of the professed advocate. of .peace, is most remarkably; exhibited .in his. malignant reference to the critics who veptdred to question his'judgment'during, the Riissiah war! The agitator, who never opens his : lips 'but to impute' corrupt motives and to excite 1 animosity! against some class of the community, thinks it; not; unbecoming to speak thus of the journalists of England,, at-that time almost unanimous, in their : . support .of the policy which was adopted. "I was insulted and defamed; every wretched scribe who earned.his bread by,writing newspaper articles, and whose conscience was not' the guide of his .conduct^—every man of that class thought'l was a fit object for his jeers, and his calumnies, and his lies, for three years: together." There are some linen." of that class" who second Mr; Bright,, in his - assault on the, gentry, on .the educated classes, and on ; all who cherish the tra-, ditions of English freedom and glory. Perhaps their eyes' may be opened when they are told that a paid journalist is, by virtue of his occupation, "a wretched .scribb," arid that his conscience is not the guide of his'conduct. Even Mr. Bright's; audacity would scarcelyenable him to set up the insolent exr cuse that his vituperation is confined to his literary opponents. The most democratic writers in newspapers, the hired servants, of the resuscitated League, " earn' their bread" by the occupation which their favourite hero denounces as disgraceful, It may seem strange' that the leader of a party in , a free '■ country should; expect to be exempt from invective or from ridicule when he undertakes the championship of an opinion which happens to be unpopular. There-is, however, \io instance in modern political, controversy in which a pugnacious minority has. been treated, on. the whole, with the same candour and courtes.y which was extended during 'the continuance of the Russian dispute,'toMr. Bright and; Mr, Cobden. Their ability and courage were -miifoitoily appreciated, and often un-! duly! praised, by antagonists who nevertheless pointed out ihe fallacies of their reasoning, and regretted the perversity of their prejudices. Unfortunately, Mr. Bright is incapable of generosity, of fiiraesd, and above all, of forgiving the slightest' r^rsbhar offence. ■ ■ ■ ' The1 obstinate, and perhaps unconscious,; dishonesty which pervades his declamations in favor of peace is more mischievous even than, his *sedu-; loiis cultivation of malignant feelings. . Against France, which has. planned and brought about; an unnecessary war—against Austria, which lias accepted, the challenge—against Russia, which from > motive* of unmixed ambition stirs up a murderous stru^crle in the West—against the conspiracy of ; despots, for the coriqnest and partition of half the world—Mr. Bright has not a word of warning, of regret, of censure to utter. Even Germany,, arm-; ing for the defence of its independence, escapes the lash of the' uncompromising , advocate of peace. It is on England, or rather on! the English ruling' classes and'sttrtesmeri, that, at a time, when they : are straining. every' nerve to maintain -a diffitsult I neutrality, the torrent of pacific indignation bursts ■ with exclusive violence. The aristocratic jnsti- ' tutions forsooth, the small boroughs, the privileged : voters of England, thwart the. peaceful tendencies !of the intelligent ..majority which-is now unjustly I excluded from' political power. Mr. Cobden lias i often dwelt on the belligerent propensities of his i own country,.'arid explaiiied' how the equal institutiorisof France' had rendered Continental wars of aggression henceforth impossible. It remained for his more darinpr associate to point the moral of the democratic creed at the moment when the elected representative of ballot and universal suffrage is setting Europe in flames. ' ■■'

It is always safe to rely on the short memory o public meetings, but the crowds which applaud Mtt Bright's inflammatory harangues consist of individuals who can well remember how unanimously they demanded a declaration of hostilities against Russia, and how they subsequently insisted on tha vigorous prosecution of the war. The leading politicians on both sides of the House of Lord.% and the arisiocratic section of the House of Commons, were originally opposed to the national policy, and to the last they were notoriously lukewarm in the struggle. The middle classes and the people, represented by " wretched scribe's, who write, for bread," overbore the reluctance of their, ordinary leaaers^and^volcethrough'tKqtemponziiieiictiona , of. diplomacy. Birmingham was probably proud of ite share in the general movement, although its. inhabitants, may, .after the lapse of four or five years, be willing.to hear their own conduct and opinions imputed to those whom they are taught' to consider their enemies, and denounced as a proof of the faulty character of the English ConstitutionIn the attempt to convert any large portion1 ©? his countrymen 'to the doctrines of the PeaW Society, Mr. Briglit.'will assuredly fail,' It is onlr ; important that foreign, powers, should not believe, even ;for a moment, in the possible success of hia agitationi . The assumption that the only great; State in Europe had become powerless for good ot? for evil would remove the last influence which catt be expected to calm the passions or to disconhtenance the violence of the belligerents. There i» some danger that' the" misconception of 1854 may* be reproduced at the .present day. Mr. Cobdeh, after the triumph of the corn law league, was regarded throughout Europe as the "representative of dominant.. English opinion. ' Foreigner* never understand that the agitator who* had been irresistible in a just cause sank into 3 : mere idler and amateur when he amused himself, with a Peace crusade. Mr. Bright is now ther .principal leader of a revolutionary movement, and such sentinel^ of the Constitution as Lord Johri Russell and Sir Jairies Graham are already negotiating for a surrender of its principal defences. Ife may hot unreasonably be thought by France or by •Russia that the doctrines of a;thriving populai! : leader are likely tb, be accepted by the multitude!* which applaud his speeches, and applied by that politicians who are visibly courting, his support;; and it is evident that English diplomatists will only waste their time in efforts of conciliation, if' ib is understood that the neutrality of the country : will,.under no conceivable circumstances, be abandoned. The general feeling of the country will undoubtedly; disappoint all calculations which may be> founded on its Indefinite forbearance^ It is far more probable that statesmen will have difficulty in checking^popula'r excitement than that they will .be called upon to arouse a. sluggish nation. There is no worse economy of force than to be compelled to put it forth when the same effect might have been produced by a previous display of willingness to nse; it. Mr. Bright may accelerate the crisia, and render it, if possible, more dangerous; but when it arrives, his eloquence will' be powerless to avertl thecohsequehces. ■