28 NOVEMBER 1868, Page 2

Several journals have declared, with an appearance of authority, that

Mr. Bright has declined to accept office in the forthcoming Liberal Government. Mr. Bright's Birmingham friends deny this, and they are clearly in the right. Cabinets are not formed till they are wanted, and Mr. Gladstone is the last man in England to show any disrespect to the Queen. For ourselves, we scarcely see how Mr. Bright after his speeches about a free breakfast- table, the balance of power, and the reductions to be made in the estimates, can wish to hold office under any government, but most assuredly no offer can have as yet been made to him, even informally.