On Monday Mr. Bright was received in Birmingham, for the
week of rejoicing over the twenty-fifth anniversary of his con- nection with Birmingham, and the fortieth of his entrance on public life, with demonstrations of public affection such as few Englishmen indeed can boast of. The Times says that near a million of persons were stationed along the five-mile course of the procession, and that the continuous roar of their welcome produced an impression of the meaning of popular feeling for which it would not be very easy to find a parallel. Nearly fifty thousand people joined in the procession following Mr. Bright and afterwards passing before him, and amongst the most effective of the symbols displayed were the Birmingham bakers' loaves and the enormous loaf, nearly six feet high and broad in proportion, which the agricultural labourers, headed by Mr. Joseph Arch, carried before him. On each side of the way were densely packed, six and more deep, for the whole five miles, Birmingham artisans and their wives, who cheered Mr. Bright vehemently as he passed. Mr. Bright himself, no doubt, was rather overpowered both by the prospect and by the spectacle of all this homage. But the remarkable thing is that the hundreds of thousands who lined his way far more thoroughly enjoyed rendering the homage than he could have enjoyed receiving it. Birmingham and its neighbourhood felt all the happier for showing their hearty allegiance to the eloquent orator who had so often pleaded passionately for their rights, and denounced the artificial restraints placed upon both their energies and their aspirations.
