Mr. Bright

“ Bright's first flights of oratory were delivered from a tombstone in Rochdale church-yard in indignant denunciation of a tax which to him, as a member of the Society of Friends, appeared especially odious It was not, however, till 1839, when he joined the Anti-Corn Law League, that Mr. Bright's reputation spread beyond his own immediate neighbourhood ”

“ Bright then turned to Bill.
"Me? Oh, well, I've got no aunt, I've no use for donkeys. You might lick that sneakin' perleeceman on the wharf an' send me his resate."
When the two young men took leave of Mr. Bright, on board the John L. Stephens, after a hearty hand-shaking all round, that gentleman gave them this parting advice: "Make all the friends you can, and keep them if you can. Remember, nothing is easier than to make enemies."
At a meaning look from Walter, Charley withdrew himself out of earshot. ”

“ Blumenthal, who was as yet unconscious of the secret they had revealed, was singing in the garden, while she gathered some flowers for her vases. Mr. Bright, who was cutting up weeds, stopped and listened, keeping time on the handle of his hoe. When Flora came up to him, she glanced at the motion of his fingers and smiled. "Can't help it, ma'am," said he. "When I hear your voice, it's as much as ever I can do to keep from dancing; but if I should do that, I should shock my neighbor the Deacon. ”

“ Miss Bright. “Nobody asks Me; and if they did, I should certainly decline.”
Lord Russell’s Whig prejudices were too strong to permit his offering Mr. Bright a seat in the Cabinet—though none had better deserved it.—1865.
No. 20.
30
CARTOON.—DECEMBER 9, 1865.
JOHN SLOW AND JOHN FAST.
Earl Russell. “Well, well! Don’t be violent, Mr. Bright, and proper inquiries shall be made, as we have perfect confidence in our friend, Mr. Workingman.”
Lord Russell claimed to have a monopoly of the Reform Question, and was not prepared to make the violent changes demanded by Mr. Bright.—1865. ”

“ Bright, and I thank you for the lesson."
"It is a just judgment," replied their sensible hostess. "I often tell Mr. Bright we cannot be too thankful that we were brought up to wait upon ourselves and earn our own living. You will please to excuse me now, ladies, for it is time to prepare tea."
As she closed the door, Rosa pressed her sister's hand, and sighed as she said, "O, this is dreadful!"
"Dreadful indeed," rejoined Flora. "To think of him as he was when I used to make you blush by singing, 'Petit blanc! ”

“ The Duke wrote back: "Dear Lady----,—It is a curious coincidence that, just before I got your letter, I had put down your name for a like sum to the English Mission for converting Irish Catholics; so no money need pass between us." But perhaps the supreme honours of curt correspondence belong to Mr. Bright. Let one instance suffice. Having been calumniated by a Tory orator at Barrow, Mr. Bright wrote as follows about his traducer: "He may not know that he is ignorant, but he cannot be ignorant that he lies. ”

“ Bright in his life has been the doer of some heartless and cruel things; he has wrought more mischief than most men of his age; his idea of progress has been that of the bourgeoisie, not that of the workman; his beau ideal of a country is a republic where there is no titled aristocracy, but where the working-classes, having fair wages, are quite content with their station and have no inconvenient aspirations beyond it. The manufacturers and the traders are Mr. Bright’s “people”; he would like to see nothing above them ”

“ Bright has very frequently expressed an ardent admiration for American institutions, and he has often been accused of wishing to Americanize the British Constitution. Had Mr. Bright been born to an earldom, he would have been the greatest stickler for the rights of his class who has lived since the 557days of Louis XIV. A dozen English noblemen could be named who are more ardent republicans than is John Bright. He does not like to see men above him; but he is quite content to see any number below him, so long as they help him to lower those above him to his own level. ”

“ Are you in the habit of chasing every carriage you may chance upon in the street?" again interrupted the silent man.
Stung by the bantering tone of the stranger, Walter made no reply. Mr. Bright was his employer and had a perfect right to question him; but who was this man, and by what right did he mix himself up in the matter?
"Quite right of you, young man, to say nothing to criminate yourself; but perhaps you will condescend to tell us, unless it would be betraying confidence [again that cunning smile] , if you knew that this Ingersoll was a gambler?" ”

“ Noticing the young man's embarrassment, Mr. Bright drew him aside, out of earshot of those who still lingered about. "So, so, my young friend," he began with a quizzical look at Walter, "we've had some trouble finding you. Pray what were your reasons for avoiding us? Neither of us [turning toward his daughter] is a very dangerous person, as you may see for yourself."
"Now, don't, papa," pleaded Dora. Then, after giving a sidelong and reproachful look at Walter, she added, "Why, he wouldn't even let us thank him!" ”

“ The rest of the squadron were in sight at nightfall, but at such a considerable distance that it was past ten o’clock on the morning of Thursday the 29th, before the Agamemnon joined them. Some time previous to reaching the rendezvous the engineer-in-chief (Mr. Bright) went up in the shrouds on the lookout for the other ships, and accordingly had to “pay his footing”—much to the amusement of his staff. Most of them being more advanced in years would not probably have been so equal to the task in an athletic sense. ”

“ He has only seen in our progress a benefit and an example to mankind. As such he has gloried in it, and not the less because we are a kindred race and an offshoot from British civilization. The fact that we have been the inheritors and partakers of the glories of the English nation, which seems to increase the asperity with which many English statesmen now regard us, is to Mr. Bright a greater reason why sympathy should be extended to us. His speeches on America manifest a thorough knowledge of our history and of the spirit of our Constitution. ”

“ By and by, however, the speed was increased to four knots, the cable going five, at a strain of 2,000 lbs., and an angle of from twelve to fifteen. At this rate it was kept with trifling variations throughout the whole of Monday night, and neither Mr. Bright, Mr. Canning, nor Mr. Clifford ever quitted the machines for an instant. Toward the middle of the night, while the rate of the ship continued the same, the speed at which the cable paid out slackened nearly a knot, while the dynamometer indicated as low as 1,300 lbs. ”

“ Brightman. "When do you return home?"
"I did mean to go to-night, and I called to leave with you this small deed that my father said I might as well bring up with me, as I was coming"—producing a thin folded parchment from his capacious pocketbook. "But I began thinking, as I came along, that I might as well have a bit of a spree now I am here, and go down by Monday night's train," added the young man, tying up the bag again, and slipping it into his pocket. "I shall go to a theatre to-night."
"Not with that bag of gold about you?" said Mr. Brightman. ”

“ As for me, I'm perfectly satisfied to take what I put in to fit Charley out, provided you pay him back his investment, and what's right for his and Bill's time and trouble."
Charley coughed a little at this liberal proposal, but Walter signed to him to keep quiet. Bill grunted out something that might pass for consent.
But Mr. Bright was not the man to take advantage of so much generosity. In truth, he had already formed in his own mind a plan by which to come to an agreement. Changing the subject for the moment, he suddenly asked, "By the way, have you never heard anything of Ramon?" ”

“ Honor Bright was as good as his word, and the geese grew fatter, and fatter, and fatter.
"Good morning, Mr. T. Cat," cried Mr. and Mrs. Goose early one morning. "Had your breakfast?"
"Of course," answered Mr. T. Cat; "Honor Bright always feeds me the very first thing."
"You must be mistaken!" cried Mr. and Mrs, Goose. "Honor Bright always feeds us first."
"But Honor Bright gives my children their breakfast very early!" cackled Mother Hen.
"Well," squeaked Father Rabbit Gray, "we've all had breakfast; and that's the main thing. Now, let's make Honor Bright president, because he's so good. ”

“ Mr. Lennard came in. The clerks, one excepted, had gone out to dinner. "Do you know whether it will be long before Mr. Brightman comes in, or where he has gone to?" he said to Miss Methold.
"Indeed, I do not," she answered rather shortly. "I only knew he was out by his not appearing now at luncheon."
"Charles, go to the carriage and tell Mrs. Brightman that we don't know how long it may be before Mr. Brightman comes in," said he. ”

“ Bright seldom dropped or raised his voice more than a semitone, and everybody has experienced, or heard of, the charm of Bright's delivery. No disrespect is implied, therefore, when the following gentlemen are mentioned as being among those numerous members who depart very little from the one dominant pitch: Mr. Cathcart Wason, Sir W. Holland, Mr. Channing, Mr. Claude Hay, Sir Samuel Hoare, Mr. Arnold-Forster, Sir William Harcourt, Mr. ”

“ HENRY BRIGHTMAN'S offices were in Essex Street, Strand, near the Temple. He rented the whole house: a capital house, towards the bottom of the street on the left-hand side as you go down. His father, who had been head and chief of the firm, had lived in it. But old Mr. Brightman was dead, and his son, now sole master, lived over the water on the Surrey side, in a style his father would never have dreamt of. It was a firm of repute and consideration; and few legal firms, if any, in London were better regarded. ”

“ Mr. Brightman almost confined himself to seeing clients. You may trust me, Sir Edmund."
"Oh yes, I dare say it will be all right," he rejoined. "Do you know that Lady Clavering and her cousin John—my cousin also—mean to dispute the will?"
"Upon what grounds?"
"Upon Sir Ralph's incompetency to make one, I suppose—as foul a plea as ever false woman or man invented. Mr. Brightman can prove—— Good heavens! every moment I forget that he is dead," broke off Sir Edmund. "How unfortunate that he should have gone just now!"
"But there cannot fail to be ample proof of Sir Ralph's competency. ”

“ Mrs. Brightman, we——"
"Pardon me," she interrupted, "but I must tell you that it is utterly preposterous. Say no more, Mr. Strange; not another word. My daughter cannot marry a professional man. I did so, you may reply: yes, and have forfeited my proper place in the world ever since."
[49]
"Mr. Brightman would have given Annabel to me."
"Possibly so, though I think not. As Mr. Brightman is no longer here, we may let that supposition alone. And you must allow me to say this much, sir—that it is scarcely seemly to come to me on any such subject so soon after his death." ”

“ It appeared useless to call: no Leah made her appearance. I shut the front door and went upstairs, wondering whether Mr. Brightman had left.
Left! I started back as I entered; for there lay Mr. Brightman on the floor by his desk, as if he had pushed back his chair and fallen from it.
"What is the matter?" I exclaimed, [69] throwing my hat anywhere, and hastening to raise him. But his head and shoulders were a dead weight in my arms, and there was an awful look upon his face, as the gaslight fell upon it. A look, in short, of death, and not of an easy death. ”

“ Now in these days one does not cower before the devil and one's own sinfulness, or see strange iridiscent wings in the light of dawn, and say nothing of it afterwards. The young solicitor's clerk told his mother and sisters at breakfast, and, afterwards, on his way to the office at Portburdock, spoke of it to the blacksmith of Hammerpond, and spent the morning with his fellow clerks marvelling instead of copying deeds. And Sandy Bright went to talk the matter over with Mr Jekyll, the "Primitive" minister, and the ploughman told old Hugh and afterwards the vicar of Siddermorton. ”

“ And Mr. Barlington is just the man to tell it with infinite gusto. It is not long since Mr. Barlington was talking to my pretty little cousin, Mrs. Moreton. She was wondering how I, Dr. Plympton, was getting on.
“Oh!” says Barlington, “I should say Plympton has a fairish practice—a fairish practice. Jeremiah Peters, Esq., is a patient of his. He’s of the right sort. Plympton’s doing pretty well.”
And he strokes his chin, and blows the dust off his velvet cuffs. And then he said that he did not see why I should not have a first-rate practice in Rexford. ”

“ She is full of remorse, thinking she might have done her duty better by her husband, made him less unhappy, and all that. Mrs. Brightman is a gentlewoman of proud, elevated instincts: she would be only too thankful to leave off this demoralizing habit; in a way, I believe she strives to do it, but it is stronger than she is."
"It has become worse, Hatch says, since Mr. Brightman died."
"Undoubtedly," concluded Mr. Close. "She had taken it to drown care."
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CHAPTER XII. MY LORD AND MY LADY.
THE breakfast-table was laid in Gloucester Place, waiting for Lord and Lady Level. ”