early years were retained by him throughout his life. On 7 Nov. 1833 he introduced a motion at a meeting of the society 'that a limited monarchy is best suited for this country at the present time.' This he regarded as an axiom of politics, and on 7 April 1872 (Times, 10 April 1872), in reply to a letter, declined even to discuss the question of Monarchy v. Republicanism. His attitude towards the church was similarly consistent, though the outcome rather of his early training than of independent reflection. His father had frequently been distrained upon for church rates, and when in 1834 an attempt was made to levy a church rate upon the inhabitants of Rochdale, Bright threw himself with vehemence into the struggle. For seven years, from 1834 to 1841, Rochdale was distracted by this controversy. Bright at once took the lead of the anti-church party and, in a succession of powerful addresses, founded denunciations of the principle of church establishments upon the text of church rates. On 29 July 1840, on the occasion of an attempt to induce the parishioners to make a church rate, he delivered in the churchyard of St. Chad's Church, Rochdale, one of the speeches which won him a reputation before he entered parliament. His eloquence carried his amendment to the proposal, and led eventually to the abandonment of the endeavour to levy a church rate in Rochdale. The speech was reprinted from the 'Manchester Times' for distribution. Another formed judgment, introduced by him in 1834 to the Literary and Philosophical Society of Rochdale, was upon capital punishment. His convictions of its wrongfulness remained with him to the last, and he repeatedly spoke and voted for its abolition when in the House of Commons. Of these speeches the most remarkable was that delivered on 3 May 1864, affording a contrast in its illustrations from history and experience to the abstract though effective argument of thirty years earlier. In 1836 he had already marked out his position with regard to factory legislation. A pamphlet had been published by John Fielden [q. v.], M.P. for Oldham, entitled 'The Curse of the Factory System.' To this Bright is said to have written an anonymous answer (Barnett Smith, i. 34). He agreed that a reduction of the hours of labour was needful for the factory operatives, but he objected to the interference of the legislature. Writing to a correspondent on 1 Jan. 1884 he said, 'I was opposed to all legislation restricting the working of adults, men or women. I was in favour of legislation restricting the labour and guarding the health of children. … I still hold the opinion that to limit by law the time during which adults may work is unwise and in many cases oppressive.' The real curse of the operative was, he maintained, the corn law. Henceforth Bright stood forward as the defender of the manufacturers against the landowners. The repeal of the corn laws and the extension of the factory acts were the rallying cries of the two parties.
In 1833 Bright paid his first visit to the continent. In a letter dated 16 Jan. 1883, declining an invitation from the Union League Club of New York to visit America, he speaks of his 'once strong appetite for travel.' He sailed from London to Ostend and visited Ghent, Brussels, Antwerp, Cologne, Frankfort, and Mayence. Thence he voyaged down the Rhine to Rotterdam, and returned home to Rochdale. In the summer of 1836 he took a more extended tour to Lisbon, Gibraltar, Malta, Syra, the Pirseus, Athens, Smyrna, Constantinople, Beyrout, Jaffa, Jerusalem, and Alexandria. From Alexandria he set out on his homeward voyage, but at Athens was attacked by an intermittent fever. Having recovered from this, he embarked in a Greek sailing vessel for Malta. From Malta he sailed to Catania, Messina, Palermo, and Naples. After Naples he visited Rome, and, passing through Florence, Leghorn, and Genoa, returned to England by way of Marseilles and Paris. The voyage occupied eight months. Upon his return to Rochdale in 1837 he delivered a lecture upon his travels. Once more he threw himself into politics. The whig government in 1836-7 held office by the precarious tenure of a majority of thirteen, and a dissolution was at any moment possible. In anticipation of the struggle Bright issued anonymously 'to the radical reformers of the borough of Rochdale' an indictment of the tory party in parliament, associating with it the odium of the exaction of church rates, of the corn laws, and of the demoralisation of the people by drink (31 Jan, 1837). On 13 Oct. 1838 he joined the committee of the Anti-Corn-Law Association, as it was then called. He and his father, with whom he entered into partnership in 1839, together contributed nearly 8001. to the association's funds. On 2 Feb. 1839 he addressed an anti-corn-law meeting in the Butts at Rochdale. By this time his conviction in favour of free importation of corn had expanded into a conviction in favour of free trade in general. The meeting was attended by thousands of persons, among them a numerous body of chartists, who succeeded in carrying an amendment to the effect that political should precede eco-
