During the whole of this period Mr. Bright’s powers have been consistently exerted in behalf of certain definite lines of political policy. From first to last he has been the uncompromising advocate and champion of the principles of free trade. He has been a thorough student of American affairs; and at the time of the American civil war, it was his eloquence more than any other one thing that restrained England from following the lead of France into the policy of acknowledging the independence of the seceding States. In domestic affairs he has advocated the general policy of retrenchment, a more equitable distribution of the seats with reference to population, and a wide extension of the rights of suffrage. In 1857 his strenuous and eloquent opposition to the methods of Palmerston cost him his seat in the House; and in 1882 he resigned his place in the cabinet, because he was unwilling to share the policy of Mr. Gladstone which led to the bombardment of Alexandria. On each of these subjects he has left a group of speeches that are likely to retain an honorable and permanent place in the history of British eloquence. It has been his lot to be more frequently opposed to the government than in sympathy with it; and although he can hardly be said to have originated any great lines of policy, his influence has always been felt in behalf of peace and of an extension of popular freedom. JOHN BRIGHT. ON THE FOREIGN POLICY OF ENGLAND; DELIVERED AT A BANQUET GIVEN IN HONOR OF MR. BRIGHT, AT BIRMINGHAM, OCTOBER 29, 1858. [The foreign policy of Lord Palmerston in the Crimean War had been severely criticized by Cobden and Bright, and in consequence of this criticism, Bright had lost his seat for Manchester. He was at once, however, elected by Birmingham; and the speech here given was delivered in the Town-Hall on the occasion of his first visit to his constituents.] The frequent and far too complimentary manner in which my name has been mentioned to-night, and the most kind way in which you have received me, have placed me in a position somewhat humiliating, and really painful; for to receive laudation which one feels one cannot possibly have merited, is much more painful than to be passed by in a distribution of commendation to which possibly one might lay some claim.