If it did not have a
direct political bearing on internal politics in England it
needed little of doing so. There was not even a profession of
faith in the government of England as at present constituted.
Every hostile allusion to the Aristocracy, the Church, the
opinions of the 'privileged classes,' was received with warm
cheers. Every allusion to the republican institutions of
America, the right of suffrage, the right of self-taxation,
the 'sunlight' of republican influence, was caught up by the
audience with vehement applause. It may therefore be
considered as fairly and authoritatively announced that the
class of skilled workmen in London--that is the leaders of
the pure popular movement in England--have announced by an
act almost without precedent in their history, the principle
that they make common cause with the Americans who are
struggling for the restoration of the Union and that all
their power and influence shall be used on behalf of the
North[1370]."
Bright's words of most scarifying indictment of "Privilege," and his
appeal to workers to join hands with their fellows in America have been
given in a previous chapter[1371]. Evidently that appeal, though
enthusiastically received for its oratorical brilliance, was unneeded.
Pages:
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923