The Best Man for the Job, by John Bright

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If the Liberal party in a constituency, speaking and acting through its recognized organization, selected a working man as its candidate, I hope I should give him my hearty support; but I object to have him thrust upon the party merely because he is a working man. The policy now recommended to working men in regard to this matter is, in my judgment, fatal to unity, as it is to an honest representation of all classes and interests.

I hope I need not say that, if I were one of your constituency, I should have no difficulty in giving my vote to Mr Walton.

I am sorry you should have misunderstood me. Your letter has only just reached me, and I send you this hasty reply.

I thank you for the kind expressions in your letter, and am,

Very truly yours,

John Bright.

by John Bright 1811-1889

From ‘The Public Letters of the Right Hon. John Bright MP’ (1885) by John Bright (1811-1889), edited by H. J. Leech.

Précis

To make sure he had been rightly understood this time, Bright repeated his point, adding that such class favouritism was highly damaging to the party and to democracy itself. As for his correspondent’s election hopeful, Bright gave his assurance that Mr Walton could count on his support, and with that he signed off courteously.

Questions for Critics

1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?

2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?

3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?

Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.

Précis

Questions for Critics

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