Page:Dictionary of National Biography. Sup. Vol I (1901).djvu/347

 speech upon the second reading (23 April) he disclaimed a share in the decision of the government to deal with the extension of the franchise independently of redistribution—a tactical step assailed by Earl Grosvenor's amendment, and attributed to him. The bill, which he characterised as 'not adequate,' was abandoned on the resignation of the ministry (19 June) after defeat upon Lord Dunkellin's amendment [see ]. General public agitation followed the defeat of the bill. There was an increasing sense that enfranchisement must be conceded upon a larger scale, and Bright, as their most prominent representative in parliament, was looked to as the leader of the growing numbers of the advocates of household suffrage. When the Reform League invited him to the meeting in Hyde Park (24 July), which had been prohibited by the conservative government [see ], he replied in a letter (19 July) indicating the right of the people. At a meeting in Birmingham (27 Aug.) he pronounced 'the accession to office of Lord Derby' to be 'a declaration of war against the working classes.' At Leeds on 8 Oct., at Glasgow on 16 Oct., at Manchester on 20 Nov., and in St. James's Hall, London, on 4 Dec, he addressed enormous audiences in favour of reform. A year earlier, when Palmerston was still living, he had replied to an invitation, 'I cannot bear the weight of an agitation for reform' (10 Sept. 1866). The accession of the tories to office had inspired him with the strength for this great campaign. From Glasgow he proceeded to Ireland. At Dublin he delivered two addresses (30 Oct. and 2 Nov.), linking the cause of disestablishment and land reform in Ireland with the reform of parliament through the agency of a new democratic constituency. It was at a banquet organised by the National Reform Union at Manchester on 20 Nov. that he laid down household suffrage as the essential basis of the next bill. On 4 Dec. he addressed the trade societies of London on the same topic. It was upon this occasion that he made a memorable defence of the queen, upon whose infrequent appearance in public Ayrton [see, Suppl.] had offered some censorious criticisms. His activity exasperated some of his opponents to petty reprisals in the form of calumnies upon his relations to his workpeople. These attacks involved him in an acrimonious correspondence with Sir Richard Garth, member for Guildford, They were rebutted by an address of twelve hundred of the firm's work-people at Rochdale (26 Jan. 1867) and by another from his fellow-townsmen (30 Jan.)

When, at the opening of the session (11 Feb.), Disraeli introduced a series of resolutions in favour of reform. Bright condemned the resolutions (Letter of 16 Feb.), and in the House of Commons demanded a bill (11 Feb.) The ministry capitulated, and the bill was introduced on 18 March. On the second night of the second reading (26 March) Bright delivered a hostile criticism of the measure. He resumed his attack upon it at a great public meeting at Birmingham on 22 April, and again in Hyde Park on 6 May. When the lords sent down the bill with an amendment in favour of the representation of minorities. Bright protested vehemently against it, as being a restriction of electoral power (8 Aug.) Nevertheless the amendment was accepted by 263 to 204 votes. The next advance of reformers, he wrote (18 Aug.), must be to the ballot. To this he added redistribution in a speech at a congratulatory meeting on the election of his brother Jacob for Manchester (23 Dec.)

The state of Ireland was now engrossing the attention of the country. At Rochdale (23 Dec), at Birmingham (4 Feb. 1868), and in the House of Commons (13 March), Bright founded on Irish discontent a plea for the extension by state aid of the Irish proprietary and for Irish disestablishment. By these speeches he contributed much to prepare the public mind for the resolutions by Gladstone in favour of disestablishment, which he supported in the House of Commons in a masterly speech (1 April). The final debate led to a passage of arms between Bright and Disraeli, Bright describing the prime minister's reference to his interviews with the queen as couched 'in a manner at once pompous and servile,' and Disraeli retorting that he was indulging in 'stale invective.'

Irish disestablishment now occupied the first place in Bright's political programme and in the mind of the country at large. He expounded it to the Welsh National Reform Association at Liverpool (3 June 1868), to the Limerick Athenæum (14 July), and to his Birmingham constituents (22 Aug.) Parliament was dissolved on 11 Nov.; on 18 Nov. Bright was re-elected for Birmingham, and was, on the formation of Gladstone's first ministry in December, offered the place of secretary of state for India. He declined the offer, chiefly on conscientious grounds, as the office would associate him with military administration. He afterwards accepted the presidency of the board of trade, being re-elected for Birmingham without opposition on 21 Dec. He was at the same time admitted to the cabinet and the privy council,