John Bright
Member of Parliament for Birmingham Central | |
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Personal details | |
Born | 16 November 1811 Rochdale, Lancashire, England |
Died | 27 March 1889 Rochdale, Lancashire, England | (aged 77)
Political party | Liberal Unionist (1886-89) Liberal (1859-86) Radical (until 1859) |
Spouses |
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Part of a series on |
Liberalism |
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John Bright (16 November 1811 – 27 March 1889) was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, one of the greatest orators of his generation and a promoter of free trade policies.
A
Bright sat in the
Early life
Bright was born at Greenbank,
In Rochdale, Jacob Bright was a leader of the opposition to a local church-rate. Rochdale was also prominent in the movement for parliamentary reform, by which the town successfully claimed to have a member allotted to it under the
But it was as a member of the Rochdale Juvenile
On some early occasions, however, he committed his speech to memory. In 1832 he called on the Rev. John Aldis, an eminent
Cobden and the Corn Laws
He first met
In November of the same year there was a dinner in
In 1840 he led a movement against the Rochdale church-rate, speaking from a
Into Parliament: the Member for Durham
At the
Mr Ewart's motion was defeated, but the movement of which Cobden and Bright were the leaders continued to spread. In the autumn the League resolved to raise £100,000; an appeal was made to the agricultural interest by great meetings in the farming counties, and in November
In the next session (1845) he moved for an inquiry into the operation of the
In the autumn of 1845 Bright retained Cobden in the public career to which Cobden had invited him four years before; Bright was in
"Flog a dead horse"
According to the
However, an earlier instance is attributed to Bright some thirteen years previously: speaking in the Commons on 28 March 1859 on a similar issue of parliamentary reform, Lord Elcho remarked that Bright had not been "satisfied with the results of his winter campaign" and that "a saying was attributed to him [Bright] that he [had] found he was 'flogging a dead horse.'"[4]
"England is the Mother of Parliaments"
Bright coined this famous phrase on 18 January 1865 in a speech at Birmingham supporting an expansion of the franchise. It has often been misquoted as a reference to the UK Parliament.
Marriage and Manchester
Bright married firstly, on 27 November 1839, Elizabeth Priestman of Newcastle, daughter of Jonathan Priestman and Rachel Bragg. They had one daughter,
In July 1847, Bright was elected uncontested for
In the election of 1852 Bright was again returned for Manchester on the principles of free trade, electoral reform and religious freedom. But war was in the air, and the most impassioned speeches he ever delivered were addressed to this parliament in fruitless opposition to the
In 1860, Bright won another victory with Cobden in a new Free Trade initiative, the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty, promoting closer interdependence between Britain and France. This campaign was conducted in collaboration with French economist Michel Chevalier, and succeeded despite Parliament's endemic mistrust of the French.
MP for Birmingham: 1858–89
In 1857, Bright's unpopular opposition to the
On 27 October 1858, he launched his campaign for parliamentary reform at
For deeply personal reasons, Bright was closely associated with the North Wales tourist resort of Llandudno. In 1864, he holidayed there with his wife and five-year-old son. As they passed through the graveyard, the boy said, "Mamma, when I am dead, I want to be buried here." A week later, he had died of scarlet fever, and his wish was granted. Bright returned to Llandudno at least once a year until his own death. He is still commemorated in Llandudno where the principal secondary school was named after him, and a new school, Ysgol John Bright was built in 2004.[12]
Bright had much literary and social recognition in his later years. In 1880 he was elected Lord Rector of the
, were renamed in his honour.Opposition to Home Rule
When in the wake of the Great Irish Famine, an all-Ireland Tenant Right League was formed, Bright expressed sympathy and support for reform of Irish land tenure. In 1850 he advised the House of Common to "resolutely legislate" on the question. Key for Bright was that "Instead of the [tenant-right] agitation being confined, as heretofore to the Roman Catholics and their clergy, Protestant and Dissenting clergymen seem to be amalgamated with Roman Catholics at present; indeed, there seems an amalgamation of all sects on this question."[13] But once the sectarian division over Ireland's future within the United Kingdom reasserted itself, Bright's position hardened. Supporting Protestant Ulster, he would have no truck with what he described as the "disloyal Ireland".[14]
In 1886 when Gladstone proposed Home Rule for Ireland and another Irish Land Act, Bright opposed it, along with Joseph Chamberlain and Lord Hartington. He regarded Charles Stewart Parnell's Irish Parliamentary Party as "the rebel party".[15] Bright was repeatedly contacted by Gladstone, Chamberlain and Hartington to solicit his support. He was widely regarded as a force to be reckoned with and his political influence was considerably out of proportion to his activity.[16] In March 1886 Bright went to London, and on 10 March met Hartington, having an hour's talk with him on Ireland. On 12 March Bright met Gladstone for dinner, writing that Gladstone's "chief object is to settle the Land question which I rather think ought now ought be considered as settled. On the question of a Parliament in Dublin, he wishes to get rid of Irish representation at Westminster, in which I entirely agree with him if it be possible". On 17 March he met Chamberlain and thought "his view is in the main correct and that it is not wise in him to support the intended measures".[17] On 20 March he had a two-hour-long meeting with Gladstone:
He gave me a long memorandum, historical in character, on the past Irish story, which seemed to be somewhat one-sided, leaving out of view the important minority and the views and feelings of the Protestant and loyal portion of the people. He explained much of his policy as to a Dublin Parliament, and as to Land purchase. I objected to the Land policy as unnecessary—the Act of 1881 had done all that was reasonable for the tenants—why adopt the policy of the rebel party, and get rid of landholders, and thus evict the English garrison as the rebels call them? I denied the value of the security for repayment. Mr G. argued that his finance arrangements would be better than present system of purchase, and that we were bound in honour to succour the landlords, which I contested. Why not go to the help of other interests in Belfast and Dublin? As to Dublin Parliament, I argued that he was making a surrender all along the line—a Dublin Parliament would work with constant friction, and would press against any barrier he might create to keep up the unity of the three Kingdoms. What of a volunteer force, and what of import duties and protection as against British goods? ... I thought he placed far too much confidence in the leaders of the rebel party. I could place none in them, and the general feeling was and is that any terms made with them would not be kept, and that through them I could not hope for reconciliation with discontented and disloyal Ireland.[14]
On 8 April Gladstone introduced the Home Rule Bill into the House of Commons, where it passed the first reading without division. Bright did not enter the debates on the Bill and left London at the end of April to attend the funeral of his brother-in-law. He then returned to his home in Rochdale. On 13 May Gladstone sent him a letter, requesting he visit him in London. This date was also the anniversary of the death of Bright's wife's, so he replied that he felt the need to spend it at home. He further wrote:
I cannot consent to a measure which is so offensive to the whole Protestant population of Ireland, and to the whole sentiment of the province of Ulster so far as its loyal and Protestant people are concerned. I cannot agree to exclude them from the protection of the Imperial Parliament. I would do much to clear the rebel party from Westminster, and do not sympathise with those who wish to retain them—but admit there is much force in the arguments on this point which are opposed to my views upon it. ... As to the Land Bill, if it comes to a second reading, I fear I must vote against it. It may be that my hostility to the rebel party, looking at their conduct since your Government was formed six years ago, disables me from taking an impartial view of this great question. If I could believe them honorable and truthful men, I could yield much—but I suspect that your policy of surrender to them will only place more power in their hands to war with greater effect against the unity of the 3 Kingdoms with no increase of good to the Irish people. ... Parliament is not ready for it, and the intelligence of the country is not ready for it. If it be possible, I should wish that no Division should be taken upon the Bill.[18]
On 14 May Bright came to London and wrote to the Liberal MP Samuel Whitbread that Gladstone should withdraw the Home Rule Bill and that he should not dissolve Parliament if the Bill were put forward for a second reading and were defeated in a vote: "... it would only make the Liberal split the more serious, and make it beyond the power of healing. He would be responsible for the greatest wound the Party has received since it was a Party ... If the Bill were now withdrawn, the whole present difficulty in our Party would be gone". He also predicted the Conservatives would gain in strength if an election were called.[19]
At the famous meeting at the Committee Room 15, Liberal MPs who were not outright opponents of the idea of Irish self-government but who disapproved of the Bill, met to decide upon a course of action. Among the attendees were Chamberlain, and Bright wrote to on 31 May:
My present intention is to vote against the Second Reading, not having spoken in the debate. I am not willing to have my view of the bill or Bills in doubt. But I am not willing to take the responsibility of advising others as to their course. If they can content themselves with abstaining from the division, I shall be glad. they will render a greater service by preventing the threatened dissolution than by compelling it ... a small majority for the Bill may be almost as good as its defeat and may save the country from the heavy sacrifice of a general election. I wish I could join you, but I cannot now change the path I have taken from the beginning of this unhappy discussion ...P.S.—If you think it of any use you may read this note to your friends.[20]
Chamberlain read aloud this letter to the meeting and he later wrote that Bright's "announcement that he intended to vote against the Second Reading undoubtedly affected the decision" and that the meeting ended by unanimously agreeing to vote against the Bill.[21] Bright wrote to Chamberlain on 1 June that he was surprised at the meeting's decision because his letter "was intended to make it more easy for and your friends to abstain from voting in the coming division".[22] On 7 June the Home Rule Bill was defeated by 341 votes to 311, Bright voting against it.[23] Gladstone dissolved Parliament.
During the subsequent
Going through the Bill with some of them clause by clause, I was able to answer all their objections, and in many cases to get their promise of support. Mr Bright's speech, however, at once undid all my work. In the whole country it probably kept many thousands of Liberal voters from going to the polls, and did more than all the other influences put together to produce the Liberal abstention which gave the Coalition its decisive victory.[27]
Bright was re-elected by his Birmingham constituents and it turned out to be his last Parliament. He sat as a
From this point until his death, Bright did not meet Gladstone, despite their long political relationship together.
MLA for Kennedy, Queensland: 1869–70
The Colony of Queensland achieved separation from New South Wales in 1859 with Brisbane in the south-east corner chosen as its capital. By the 1860s, the perceived dominance of southern Queensland created a strong separatist movement in Central Queensland and North Queensland, seeking to establish yet another independent colony. In the 1867 Queensland colonial election, some separatists decided to nominate John Bright as the candidate for the electoral district of Rockhampton in Central Queensland, arguing that representation in the Queensland Parliament had been ineffective, so they would seek a representative within the British Parliament.[29] However, he polled only 10 votes and was not elected.[30]
Subsequently, on 11 June 1869, Thomas Henry Fitzgerald, member for the electoral district of Kennedy in North Queensland, resigned, triggering a by-election. John Bright was again nominated as part of the separatist protest and on this occasion won the resulting by-election on 10 July 1869. When nominating him, one separatist declared:
Let us elect a man of some weight at home, who will take our case before the Queen and try for redress. There is no man more eminently qualified for this purpose than the Honourable John Bright—a favourite with the Queen, a favourite with the nation—the representative of trade, commerce, and manufactures in the Government and the champion of liberty, and yet a loyal subject. If we can enlist his sympathies, we are right. I believe he is the man who will break the iron rod of the South and set us free; for he has already fought for the liberty of the subject, and I cannot believe he will turn a deaf ear to our manifold sorrows.[31]
In January 1870, the separatists sent a petition to
It is not known what role John Bright had in these Queensland political activities, or indeed if he was even aware of them.[32] However, it was claimed in 1867 that Bright was an "intimate personal friend" of the then Governor of Queensland George Bowen.[35]
Death
In late 1888, Bright became seriously ill and he realised the end was near. On 27 November his son Albert wrote a letter to Gladstone in which he said his father "wishes me to write to you and tell you that "he could not forget your unvarying kindness to him and the many services you have rendered the country". He was very weak and did not seem able to say any more, and I saw the tears running down his cheeks".[36] Gladstone replied that "I can assure you that he has been little absent of late from mine, that my feelings towards him are entirely unaltered by any of the occurrences of the last three years and that I have never felt separated from him in spirit. I heartily pray that he may enjoy the peace of God on this side the grave and on the other".[37]
Bright received many letters and telegrams of sympathy from the Queen downwards. The Irish Nationalist MP
Bright died at his home One Ash on 27 March 1889 and was buried in the graveyard of the meeting-house of the
The Conservative Prime Minister
In the first place, he was the greatest master of English oratory that this generation has produced, or I may perhaps say several generations back. I have met men who have heard Pitt and Fox, and in whose judgment their eloquence at its best was inferior to the finest efforts of John Bright. At a time when much speaking has depressed and almost exterminated eloquence, he maintained robust and intact that powerful and vigorous style of English which gave fitting expression to the burning and noble thoughts he desired to express. Another characteristic for which I think he will be famous is the singular rectitude of his motives, the singular straightness of his career. He was a keen disputant, a keen combatant; like many eager men, he had little tolerance of opposition. But his action was never guided for a single moment by any consideration of personal or party selfishness. He was inspired by nothing but the purest patriotism and benevolence from the first beginning of his public career to the hour of its close.[38]
Memorials
In 1868, students of the new
The library at Bootham School is named in his honour.[39]
In 1928, the Brooks-Bryce Foundation donated significant funds to the Princeton University Library for a collection of materials on the life and times of John Bright, in honour of the statesman. The Foundation also donated funds for an outdoor pulpit to be added to Princeton Chapel, also in honour of Bright.[40]
His name is given to John Bright Street in
The town of
Legacy
Historian A. J. P. Taylor has summarized Bright's achievements:
John Bright was the greatest of all parliamentary orators. He had many political successes. Along with Richard Cobden, he conducted the campaign which led to the repeal of the Corn Laws. He did more than any other man to prevent the intervention of this country (Britain) on the side of the South during the American Civil War, and he headed the reform agitation in 1867 which brought the industrial working class within the pale of the constitution. It was Bright who made possible the Liberal party of Gladstone, Asquith and Lloyd George, and the alliance between middle class idealism and trade unionism, which he promoted, still lives in the present-day Labour Party.[41]
Bibliography
- John Bright, Speeches of John Bright, M. P., on the American question (1865) online
- Speeches on Parliamentary Reform by John Bright, Esq., M.P., delivered during the autumn of 1866 to the people of England, Scotland, and Ireland, at Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, Dublin, and London; Revised by Himself. Manchester and London: John Heywood and Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. and All Bookselers. 1866. Retrieved 11 February 2019 – via Internet Archive.
- John Bright, Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, ed. J.E.T. Rogers, 2 vols. (1869).
- John Bright, Public Addresses, ed. by J.E. Thorold Rogers, 8 vols (1879).
- John Bright, Public Letters of the Right Hon. John Bright, MP., ed. by H.J. Leech (1885) online
- John Bright. Selected Speeches Of John Bright On Public Questions (1914 ) online
- John Bright, The Diaries of John Bright, ed. R.A.J. Walling (1930) online.
- G. B. Smith (eds.), The Life and Speeches of the Right Hon. John Bright, M.P., 2 vols. 8vo (1881).
References
- ^ Woodland, Jenny (2011). Bootham School Register. York, England: BOSA.
- ^ Trevelyan, p. 100.
- ^ flog a dead horse. Oxford University Press.
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ignored (help) - ^ Hansard (28 March 1859). "Second Reading". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-135-14117-2.
- required.)
- ^ Taylor, pp. 229–253
- ISBN 978-1-4381-2680-7.
- ^ a b Bill Cash MP (27 October 2008) "A Working Class Hero" Archived 31 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Birmingham Post, p. 18
- ^ John Bright. Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ Raico, Ralph (29 March 2011) Neither the Wars Nor the Leaders Were Great, Mises Institute
- ISBN 1-84306-048-5.
- ^ Irwin, Clark H. (1890). "A history of Presbyterianism in Dublin and the south and west of Ireland (page 10 of 24)". www.ebooksread.com. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
- ^ a b Trevelyan, pp. 447–448.
- ^ Trevelyan, p. 445.
- ^ Goodlad, pp. 164–165.
- ^ Trevelyan, p. 447.
- ^ Trevelyan, pp. 450–451.
- ^ Trevelyan, p. 453.
- ^ Trevelyan, pp. 454–455.
- ^ Trevelyan, p. 455.
- ^ Trevelyan, p. 456.
- ^ Trevelyan, p. 457.
- ^ Trevelyan, p. 458.
- ^ John Morley, The Life of William Ewart Gladstone. Volume III (London: Macmillan, 1903), p. 342.
- ^ Goodlad, pp. 165–166.
- ^ Goodlad, p. 166.
- ^ Trevelyan, p. 459.
- Rockhampton Bulletin and Central Queensland Advertiser. National Library of Australia. 22 June 1867. p. 2. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
- ^ "Rockhampton". The Queenslander. National Library of Australia. 29 June 1867. p. 5. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
- Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald & General Advertiser. National Library of Australia. 29 July 1869. p. 3. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
- ^ Queensland Parliament. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
- The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 1 January 1870. p. 6. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
- The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 6 July 1870. p. 3. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
- Rockhampton Bulletin and Central Queensland Advertiser. National Library of Australia. 25 June 1867. p. 2. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
- ^ Trevelyan, p. 462.
- ^ a b Trevelyan, p. 463.
- ^ a b The Late Duke of Buckingham and Chandos – The Late Mr. John Bright – Observations. HL Deb 28 March 1889 vol 334 cc993-7
- ^ Student Facilities Archived 28 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. boothamschool.com
- Daily Princetonian, Volume 53, Number 63, 21 May 1928.
- ^ Taylor, p. 228
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bright, John". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
Sources
- Goodlad, Graham D. (1991) "Gladstone and his rivals: popular Liberal perceptions of the party leadership in the political crisis of 1886–1886" in Eugenio F. Biagini and Alastair J. Reid (eds.), Currents of Radicalism. Popular Radicalism, Organised Labour and Party Politics in Britain, 1850–1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 163–183.
- Taylor, A.J.P. (1993) "John Bright and the Crimean War", in From Napoleon to the Second International: Essays on Nineteenth-Century Europe. Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 0-241-13444-7.
- Trevelyan, George Macaulay (1913) The Life of John Bright.
Further reading
- Andrews, James R. "The rhetorical shaping of national interest: Morality and contextual potency in John Bright's parliamentary speech against recognition of the confederacy." Quarterly Journal of Speech (1993) 79#1 pp: 40–60.
- Ausubel, Herman. John Bright: Victorian Reformer (1966), a standard scholarly biography; online
- Baylen, Joseph O. "John Bright as speaker and student of speaking." Quarterly Journal of Speech (1955) 41#2 pp: 159–168.
- Briggs, Asa. "Cobden and Bright" History Today (Aug 1957) 7#8 pp 496–503.
- Briggs, Asa. “John Bright and the Creed of Reform," in Briggs, Victorian People (1955) pp. pp. 197–231. online
- Cash, Bill. John Bright: Statesman, Orator, Agitator (2011).
- Fisher, Walter R. "John Bright: 'Hawker of holy things,'" Quarterly Journal of Speech (1965) 51#2 pp: 157–163.
- Gilbert, R. A. "John Bright's contribution to the Anti‐Corn Law League." Western Speech (1970) 34#1 pp: 16–20.
- McCord, Norman. The Anti-Corn Law League: 1838–1846 (Routledge, 2013)
- Prentice, Archibald. History of the Anti-Corn Law League (Routledge, 2013)
- Punch. The Rt. Hon. John Bright, M. P.: cartoons from the collection of "Mr. Punch" (1898), primary sources online
- Quinault, Roland. "John Bright and Joseph Chamberlain." Historical Journal (1985) 28#3 pp: 623–646.
- Read, Donald. Cobden and Bright: A Victorian Political Partnership (1967); argues that Cobden was more influential
- Robbins, Keith. John Bright (1979).
- Smith, George Barnett. The Life and Speeches of the Right Honourable John Bright, MP (1881) online
- Steelman, Aaron (2008). "Bright, John (1811–1889)". In OCLC 750831024.
- Sturgis, James L. John Bright and the Empire (1969), focus on Bright's policy toward India & his attacks on the East India Company online
- Taylor, Miles. The Decline of British Radicalism, 1847–1860 (1995).
- Taylor, Miles. "Bright, John (1811–1889)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004); online edn, Sept 2013 accessed 31 Aug 2014
- Westwood, Shannon Rebecca. "John Bright, Lancashire and the American Civil War". (Diss. Sheffield Hallam University, 2018) online.
Historiography
- Loades, David Michael, ed. Reader's guide to British history (2003) 2: 185–186.