We have frequently referred lately to the thoroughly British conservatism
in Mr. Bright. He never showed that conser- vatism in a healthier form than in a speech made on Monday in reference to the old Chartist demands. Those demands, he declared, had been virtually conceded so far as they were of real utility. Universal suffrage had not been granted, but house- hold suffrage had, " and if the five millions of male householders in Great Britain could not form a Parliament to govern the country wisely, no further addition of numbers to the electorate would facilitate that result." "Another demand," be said, "was for annual Parliaments. What a miserable idea that was. He should emigrate if they were to have an election once a year. It would be unendurable. He admitted, however, that the present intervals were perhaps too long." That is the sort of conservatism which we wish to see underlying the new Liberal- ism. We are disposed to agree with Lord Granville, that, excepting Mr. Bright's ultra-peace principles, there is no type of Liberalism more generous and more wise than his.
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