Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 1889.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5437, 29 March 1889, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 1889.

. I JOHN BRIGHT.

A liKKATinan lias this day fallen in Israel. By the death of the Right Hon. John Bright England lias lost one of the noblest men who had ever entered upon the troubled sea of politics, a man whose name will evct stand high on the roll of British statesmen and patriots. Throughout the forty odd years that John Bright served in the Parliament j of his country, lie steered a true course, and his bitterest enemies— he had many political but none personal— never accused him of sellish aims. The object of his life was to improve the condition of his countrymen, and that England is wiser, richer, and frcecr to-day than "she was half a century back is largely due to the efforts of the deceased statesman. Only for a brief period was John Bright a Minister of the Crown. Office whs not of his own seeking, but was forced upon him by the solicitation of his friend.-?. The great Tribune of the English people had livcd°down animosities. In the early days of his career, and well towards the end of the sixties, John Bright was regarded as a deiuogogue by the Conservative classes of his countrymen." Many years before the brilliant career came to a close, his work spoke for itself, and Britons of all shades of opinion

aud of all classes in the commonwealth recognised that John Bright was a statesman and not a demagogue. The highest honors could have been conferred upon the great member for Birmingham, and not a breath of demur would have been heard throughout the United Kingdom. He wanted neither title 3 nor honors such as the Crown can bestow. He was a " Right Honorable " by virtue of an office he held in the government of his country, and consequently the title was not bestowed upon him as a special mark of favor. Itwouldnothavebeenaccepted if it had not come in that guise. The constitution of England now rests upon a wider basis through the extension of the franchise. Tho United Kingdom has hcaoine a Republic \vith_ an hereditary president, and, in all probability, for ages the Sovereign shall continue to sit securely on the throne. Docs anyone in this age pretend to think that the British people would have much longer tolerated the rule of caste and cksa. Reform has prevented revolution. There are other reforms still to be carried out, but the power to effect the needed reforms is in the hands of the people themselves. Democracy is more triumphant in England than it is in" the United St-ites. A foreign writer more than fifty years ago observed that the aristocracy of England was more liberal and the common peoplu more conservative than was the case in the nations on the Continent of Europe. Tho events of the immediate past years bear out the truth of this conclusion. Tho democracy has obtained [he upper baud, and law and order are maintulnpd. T|ie country is socially, morally, and materially advancing. Tho Continent of Europe, is honeycombed with soclalisrn, but .socialism has no footing in England. Tho broadening of the franchise and the abolition, more or less, of class privileges have undoubtedly contributed to a feeling of content amongst the people of the Mother Country. 'I here islittlo of that" unrest" that prevails on the Continent, and whioh threatens to overwhelm thrones and constitutions. John Bright \y,ks a lover of peace, and his efforts to keepGrc.it Britain free from embroilment in foreign wars at times met with the disfavor of those who supported him on internal questions. The fact of Mr Bright being a member of the Society of Friends no doubt influenced his views on war. Although shrinking at the prospects of the horrors of war, he was) gifted with high moral courage, and no amount of abuse or the bitterest opposition of the most powerful pur ties fn the States, ever diverted him a moment from his purpose, or stilled tho eloquence which was ever used in a righteous cause. John Bright was the foremo.st English orator of modern days. He fought the classes, and he beat them, and tho classes have ever}' reason to bo thankful for the issue. The deceased statesman during the whole course of his life strove to cement the friendship between England and the United States. His efforts were conspicuously brought forth during the war between North and South, when there appeared imminent danger of England taking the side of the slaveholders. Had she done, so, it would have been one of the greatest crimes of all time. It would have been worse than a crime — to adopt a cynical French phrase — it would have been the hugest of national blunders. During the American Civil War Bright ami Coin] en heroicly exerted themselves in tho cause of the North, aud as they carried meetings; with them in the large centres of population, the great Trans-Atlantic branch of the British race were made acquainted with the fact that all England was not on tho side of the slaveowners. Mr John Bright has exercised more influence upon the destinies of the English nation thnn any other statesman who did not owe his influence to office.