The Life of John Bright (Classic Reprint) PDF Download

Author: George Macaulay Trevelyan
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781331267188
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 534

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Book Description
Excerpt from The Life of John Bright How clear-cut is the sturdy image evoked by those two blunt Saxon syllables, 'John Bright!' Once the rallying-cry of the masses seeking enfranchisement - the trump of doom to Whig and Tory in possession - the name in memory has since become the symbol of an honest man in politics, of a strong, kind face framed in venerable white hair. But to no one have the words 'John Bright' ever suggested change or hesitation, sophistry or self-interest. His views of peace and war, of Church and State, of trade and freedom, the same throughout the half-century of his public life, are as limpid and resistant as a block of crystal. If the language in which he set them forth to his countrymen often surpassed the more elaborate orations of his great compeers, it was by reason of a strong simplicity, learnt neither in academies nor senates, but springing direct from man's common experience on earth, and reaching thence straight upwards into the sphere of faultless and noble literature. His voice had a bell-like clearness; in the largest hall he never strained, and scarcely seemed to raise it. The sound of it was music and poetry. He was singular among orators for his absence of gesture: there he stood foursquare, and sometimes half raised his arm. His oncoming was as the surge of the full swollen tide, not of the sea in storm; he awed his listeners by the calm of his passion, a terrible steed restrained by a yet stronger hand. Thus he uttered his plain man's prophecy to his fellow-citizens, bidding them keep the paths of peace and freedom, righteousness and good sense, when statesmen and diplomats led them, as ever, astray. He flattered no one, great or small, man or woman, in politics or in private life, but always spoke his thought. 'Thou must not mind all the fault John finds with thee, ' wrote his sister, as he makes no scruple to say the very worst he can to our faces. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.