Mr.Bright, in a vigorous letter to a Birmingham correspondent, published
in Thursday's Times, denies that he ever held, or intimated that be held, that a separate Irish Parliament would benefit the Irish people. In a speech to the Cork Farmers' Club in 1866, he did, no doubt, remark that the Irish farmers would have more influence over a Parliament in Dublin than over one at Westminster. But though he made that remark, which is, of course, perfectly true, he no more approved then of a Parliament in Dublin than be approves of such a Parliament now. It was a remark made to bring home to the public the slaty of regarding Irish grievances with more of the anxious attention with which an Irish Parliament would regard them, but not made to advocate the application of a remedy which might just as well have been demanded by the Ulster people on behalf of Ulster, or by the Scotch Highlanders on behalf of the Highlands. Mr. Bright perfectly admits that a local Par- liament is not in danger of neglecting the consideration of local affairs. But he implies that it is in danger of making other mistakes which may be even more fatal. It may, for instance, show a partisanship and a partiality of which the central Parliament is incapable.
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