long ago that there are five millions of our countrymen, living on oats, and that five millions are rejoicing on potatoes. If Lord Dungannon were sent to Parliament, he would again say "aye" to any motion to keep up the price of the working man's bread, whilst nothing would be done to keep up the rate of his wages. Now, if there be not food for all, some must go short-and they must be the working classes, and the poorest of those classes; while if the repeal of the Corn Law were followed by five or ten millions of quarters entering the country, there would be plenty for all-not one need go short; and instead of rejoicing in oats and potatoes, all might rejoice in wheaten bread. Men were almost fighting with each other for employment and wages and food. And no power under heaven can diminish that competition, or give increased comfort, or cause a steady demand for labour, unless it be the repeal of that law which diminishes the demand for labour, reduces wages, makes you compete with each other constantly and of necessity, and turns the whole force and beggary of this competition into the means of increasing the rental of the noble lords and landlords who made that law.'

This and other passages of Mr. Bright's speech were received with rapturous cheering. After some further observations, the following episode occurred:

The noble lord comes forward on "free and independent principles." (Much laughter) There is no one more in favour of those principles than I am. But I hold that freedom and that independence to be a freedom and an independence of all outward influence, and a perfect reliance upon the good opinion of the whole of the constituency. Now, I am afraid that, being a stranger here, I may have misunderstood the facts; but I gather there has been something like a contract, by which the electors of this renowned and ancient borough are made subservient to the interests of a certain aristocratic family. [Loud cheers, and cries of "No" and "Yes," in the midst of which Lord Dungannon spoke a few words to Mr. Bright across the Mayor.] The noble lord says there is no such contract. I do not for one moment mean to say that it is any matter of writing, or that there is any direct contract. I merely mean to say that there is a sort of understanding."

Lord Dungannon. Does the gentleman now opposed to me [Cries of "Order, order!" and a remark, "Wait till Mr. Bright has done, and then reply."] If the gentleman now opposed to me asserts that I am come here under any contract from any man, or dependent upon any man, I say that he asserts that which is totally destitute of foundation.' [Cheers, hissing, and a voice said, 'You know it's true.']

Mr. Bright. I have read with very great amusement and interest the addresses which have been published. One of them was published by your late member, in which he speaks of the many sad reflections occasioned by his appointment; so sad, that I do not think any one in your Assize Courts, going out to New Zealand, could have written in more plaintive terms. (Great laughter.) I do not wish to insinuate for a moment that there has been anything in the way of bargain and sale of the constituency; but I do say that the whole transaction makes it evident that there are some parties who think

it is not a difficult matter to transfer the constituency of Durham from one candidate to another.'

Mr. Bright went on to say that he was in favour of such laws as should prevent honest and sober and industrious men from sinking from a state of independence into poverty and pauperism and degradation. He liked prevention infinitely better than cure. The speaker then said he felt convinced that grave calamities were impending over the country, unless representatives were sent to Parliament to support the principles which he had been advocating. 'I confidently hope,' he said in conclusion, 'not so much on my own account as on account of the principles I hold, that by to-morrow evening you will have told the world that you are not in favour of monopoly ; that you will uphold no protection which, stripped of all its ambiguity, is plain and simple robbery of one class for the benefit of another; that you are willing to co-operate with Nottingham (where I hope the electors will this week do their duty by returning a free-trader to Parliament-Mr. Gisborne, who will be known to many of you); and that the voice you and they shall raise against the giant evil of your country shall spread through the length and breadth of the island and the empire, and pronounce that the reign of monopoly, of oppression, of disregard to the rights of the working classes, and of total subserviency to an oligarchy which has brought this mischief on the country,-pronounce that that reign is absolutely and for ever at an end."

The cheering which followed was most protracted, and for some minutes the Mayor was not able to call for a show of hands. The demonstration in favour of Lord Dungannon was a mere sprinkling in the crowd, while for Mr. Bright it appeared as if the whole assemblage had simultaneously held up their hands. The Tories demanded a poll, which was fixed to take place on the following day. A local journal observed that the account of the proceedings ought not to be closed 'without a strong animadversion on the ungentlemanly conduct of Lord Dungannon's friends while Mr. Bright was speaking. It showed down-right ill-breeding, and an utter determination to conduct the struggle with recklessness of principle and gross discourtesy to an honorable opponent.' The result of the poll proved that while Mr. Bright had excited a strong feeling in his favour, he had come forward too late to win the seat. The numbers were for Lord Dungannon, 507; for Mr. Bright, 405; majority, 102. At the close of the poll, Mr. Bright addressed the people in the market-place. Amidst general applause, he

said he affirmed with confidence that if he had been in the field as long as the noble lord, the result of the poll would have been very different. A large majority of the electors were liberal in principle, and in favour of Free Trade. Referring to the attitude of the clergy on the question of the Corn Laws, he said, 'It is a most unhappy circumstance that any body of men holding their position in society, assuming sacred functions, professing themselves the ministers of the purest system of moralty and religion ever known upon earth, men who call upon you to leave the grovelling things of earth, and all the miserable dross and tinsel by which you are surrounded; to direct your thoughts to higher and holier objects; to carry your aspirations towards heaven rather than stoop to the things of earth,-I say it is a misfortune that by a law made by the Parliament of the country, this body of men, especially appointed to take charge of the flock, should, instead of being the shepherds, appear to all men's eyes as the shearers of the flock; and that their enormous influence should, in almost all the parishes of England, be bound up in the conservation of the most odious, the most unjust, the most oppressive, and the most destructive enactment which was ever recorded upon the statute-book of this or any other country.'

Mr. Bright closed by thanking the electors, and tendering them friendly counsels, especially warning them against those who might corrupt the constituency. He then proceeded to his hotel. His enthusiastic reception induced him there to enter the balcony with the intention of once more, in a few words, bidding his friends farewell; but the eagerness of his auditory, who seemed delighted with his powerful eloquence, drew him on from point to point, until his remarks formed another and most effective speech." As an example of Mr. Bright's energy, we may mention that on the day following his ardous labours at Durham he addressed an immense assemblage at Drury Lane Theatre, London, upon the question of the Corn Laws.

Lord Dungannon's triumph at Durham was very short-lived. Being petitioned against, he was unseated on the ground of bribery by his agents, and a new election took place in July. Mr. Bright at once again took the field, and was opposed on Tory principles by a Mr. Purvis, a barrister. If the learned gentleman made as poor a figure forensically as he did politi cally, his clients were greatly to be pitied. From a faithful report of his oration before his friends, we cull these few choice flowers of rhetoric: 'I have been received in Durham with the strongest enthusiasm. I have nailed my colours to the mast;

and come what blue there may,' (blue was the Liberal colour,) 'here I am, and I will support the cause to the last. I have been received enthusiastically. They have all voted for me. (A voice: "The poll has not come yet.") The promises I have received make my election certain; and I have got the women with me, every one. I have seen their smiles; I have seen their eyes; and I know from their very looks they have told me they are all for me. And how can a cause supported by the beauty of Durham fail? We cannot fail.' Mr. Purvis was both premature and indiscreet in claiming the support of all the ladies of Durham; and his remarks on this score led to a great deal of pleasantry at his expense. Caricatures appeared, showing Mr. Purvis at every point of his negotiations with the ladies, as described in his speech, viz., witnessing their smiles, looking into their eyes, etc. It is easy to imagine what kind of opponent this would be in the hands of Mr. Bright. The Tories themselves scarcely knew what to make of him, and were ashamed of his ridiculous appearance.

Mr. Bright, in addressing his friends, said it would not be necessary for him to refer at length to the circumstances which had necessitated a new election—a statement which was received with laughter, as the electors remembered the fate of Lord Dungannon. The electoral franchise was worth nothing whatever, unless freely given; and he asked the electors, according to their honest convictions, to give their suffrages in his favour. Examining the address of his opponent, and referring to the doctrines of the party with whom he was associated, Mr. Bright said: 'If I were an elector of this borough, I would say, "I am as independent a man as any lord in the land. My vote is my own, for the good of my country. I am not bound to follow in the wake of this lord, or of that party. I must use my own powers of reflection. I must find out what it were best for me to do. And as I must answer at the bar of public opinionand answer, hereafter, at a tribunal where there can be no deception-I am bound to vote according to my conscience for that man who I believe will best promote the interests of the country of which I am a citizen." He could bring hundreds and thousands of working men, their wives and families, who would go down upon their knees, and ask them to vote for the man who would support the repeal of those laws which were destroying your trade and their trade-your prosperity and their prosperity. Mr. Bright went on to avow himself the political friend of the working classes, and of the freemen of the borough, and he had not a sympathy in common with any lord in

the neighbourhood. He had a deep, settled, and unchanging sympathy with those whose only property was their labour, and whose only income was their wages. Rich and great people,' continued the candidate, 'can take care of themselves; but the poor and defenceless-the men with small cottages and large families-the men who must work six days every week, if they are to live in anything like comfort for a week,-these men want defenders; they want men to maintain their position in Parliament; they want men who will protest against any infringement of their rights, and who will on all occasions stand by them as the guardians of the rights of that community of which you are the representatives. Now I ask you, electors, to consider these points. Do not consider them with reference to me,-consider them with reference to yourselves. Think of your wives, and of your children, for whom you labour; who live out of the produce of your industry. Think of them; think what they suffer from bad laws, and that they might be comfortable under good laws. And if you are of opinion that the principles which I have propounded to you are such as are likely to advance your interests, then I fearlessly, and without any immodesty, ask you, when the day of election shall come, to register your votes in my favour, as the representative of those principles.'

What

The next and concluding passage of Mr. Bright's speech pos'sesses both a public and a special autobiographical interest. 'We are bound together by the same interests,' he observed. We are made happy or miserable by the same means. brings comfort to your homes, must bring plenty and comfort to mine. What gives security to your interests, and your enjoyments, must equally give security to mine. I am a working man as much as you. My father was as poor as any man in this crowd. He was of your own body, entirely. He boasts not-nor do I-of birth, nor of great family distinctions. What he has made, he has made by his own industry and successful commerce. What I have, comes from him, and from my own exertions. I have no interest in the extravagance of government; I have no interest in seeking appointments under any government; I have no interest in pandering to the views of any government; I have nothing to gain by being the tool of any party. I come before you as the friend of my own class and order; as one of the people; as one who would on all occasions, be the firm defender of your rights, and the asserter of all those privileges to which you are justly entitled. It is on these grounds that I offer myself to your notice; it is on these