Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-06-30 00:00:00

ARRIVAL OF MR. COBDEN

IN LIVERPOOL.
The Indian screw-steamer having arrived in .the river
Yesterday morning and gone into dock, a meeting of the friends
of Mr. Cobden was held in the Clarendon-rooms, at eleven
Velock, - for the, purpose- of -preparing and adopting 'an
-address, to be presented to the right honourable gentleman,
to congratulate him upon his return to his native country
and = his parliamentary career. The meeting was very
numerously attended. Among those present, were the
following :—Rebertson- Gladstone; William Brown, J. R.
Jeffery, Richard Shiel, Charles Edward Rawlins, C. T.
Bowring, George Melly, J. J. Stitt, I. Ronalds, C. R. Hall, '
,Prancis Boult, Charles Holland, J. Haigh, James Ryley:
Liversedge, A. C. Stewart, John Moss, Thomas Cope,
J. Kitchen, J. C. 'Corbally, and J. Macrae. The chair was
laken, on the motion, of Mr. James Molyneux, by Mr.
Robertson Gladstone.
The Chairman said : Gentlemen,—Whilst I thank you
for the hononr you have done me in placing me in this.
lta2sition, I think perhaps I am assuming too much, because
. Brown, who is so much my senior, so much better'
known to you all, better qualified, and justly more fitted to
Preside upon this occasion than I am, ought to have taken,
the chair. However, lam always at your service, ready to
do what I can in an Minable way to meet the objects for'
Which we are assembled
•upon this or any other similar
Occasion. It was thought, by a few frienns and admirers
of Mr. Cobden, that we should not allow him to pass
through this great- seaport without tendering him
3°M.C, expression of our goOd feeling, bearing
111 mind especially a faithful recollection of his invaluable
past services to this country. (Hear, hear.) We thought
it might appear as if we were cold and insensible to all the
virtues and the high charaeteristics which are unquestion-
ably,, his in every sense of 'the word, if we did not step
mrward in, a quiet and unostentatious manner, to say to that
gentleman, upon his landing, that we
,heartily greet him
upon his return to his native shores. (Hear, hear, and
applause.) Mr. Brown has prepared an address,.arid-ar—
Jeffery, myself and others, have also prepared an' address:
There may be some little difference between the two, and I
believe there is distinctly, but this is not an occasion for
differences. (Hear, hear) .It is one on which we should
rejoice at seeing again a mentleman to whom, as I have
already stated, we are all, individually, collectively, and
nationally, for ever and most deeply indebted. (Hear,
hear.) .1 had the pleasure of" seeing Mr. Cobden ten
Minutes ago, He has suffered very much from sea-sickness,
hut still is in the enjoyment of health.' His return to this
Wintry is a matter of no mere personal consideration, but
an event which affects us all in a national point of view.
(Rear, hear.) If he shall consent -to beeome a member of
the Government, as I trust he will do (hear, hear, and
cheers), I hope that he will stem the tide of war, preserve a
course of neutrality, and keep us out of mischief. (Hear,
hear.) He intends, I believe, to go to the Adelphi • Hotel,
and Mr. Jeffery has made an arrangement for his receiv-
in' a deputation there, in order to affOrd an opportunity
of' presenting any address- you may think proper to ap-
prove of.
Mr. William Brown said, at a late hour last night Mr.
Jeffery was good enough to call upon him, and to show him
the address he had prepared to be read to Mr. Cobden. It
seemed to him rather too long, and there were some passages,
in it which, he thought, might be altered with advantage.
lie found that it was impossiblet without re-casting the
whole, to make the alterations which he thought judicious ;
and, he therefore, ventured 'to propose an address himself
for their consideration. He felt it the more ' necessary to
do so, because Mr. Jeffery informed him that it was the
wish of the Reform party that he ,(Mr. Brown) should
present the address ; and no one would feel anxious to
present an address which was not precisely in unison with
his own feelings. Mr. Brown then read the following
ADDRESS.
" The numerous body of, gentlemen who are now present
fairly represent the feelings of the inhabitants of Liverpool
Who are benefitted by, and dalyrapprecio.te the advantages
You.have• conferred dot only on them, but on your country,
by your devotion to the _ advocacy of commercial
freedom. I can assure you that it affords us great
pleasure to have an opportunity: of offering to: you our
sincere congratulations on• your safe return from the United
States. We were much pleased .to see the manner
in which you were received, there. Your private, worth
and public services seemed to be as well known to our
Transatlantic friends as to your own countrymen. The
revocation of the Corn LaWs, of which you were-so distin-
guished ,au nuvocata, w ill racer_ forgotten in Great
Britain, where it has contributed to the happiness of millions,
nor in the United States, as • it tends ta cement that
friendship and commercial intercourse which is highly ad-
vantageous, and of the greatest importance to the two nations
so closely united -by kindred, by language, by laws, by
usages, and by customs. It must he exceedingly gratifying
to you, as it is to all free-traders, that we do not hear
a murmur even from the, landed interest, who were
afraid that by the removal Of the protective duty on
Corn they would be ruined. They • find that so -far
from being injured, it has contributed 'to their pros-
Parity. It is a proper appreciation of your Services in
Walk life, that Rochdale has returned you to parliament in
Your absence unopposed, and that our most gracious
sovereign has been pleased •to call upon you to occupy a
seat in the cabinet and to be president of the Board of
Trade, for which your antecedents so eminently qualify you.
It puts it in your power, by your councils and advice, to
render further important services to your country ; and
although it will , impose upda you both anxiety and
labour, we trust and hope you will not for a moment
hesitate or shrink from taking -up`'n yourself the
important duties of the office. We liv: anxious times,
and. aro most desirous of having a gentleman in •the Cabinet
Who has earned the respect and confidence of his countrymen,
and who, we feel assured, will use his most strenuous efforts to
maintain our neutrality, and not permit us, if it bepossible to
avoid it, to be parties to the unhappy contest which is now
raging in Italy. Sir, we most:cordially offer you our
congratulations on your resumption of your most honourable
Public career, and with them our prayers that your life may be
long spared, with health and strength, to discharge those
Public duties to which you are called."
Mr. Brown added; that he had -drawn up the address in
order that it might luogest as little difference of opinion as
p)ssiblo, and to prevent' any criticism to the effect that they
had said more than they were justified in saying on the
present occasion.
Mr. J. R. Jeffery was then called upon to read the other
address. He said that the gentlemen who undertook to
frame the address which he was about to read, after
'mature consideration, quite agreed with Mr. Brown that it
should be made as short -as compatible with the circum-
stances to which it would be necessary in the address to
refer; bat it never occurred to them for one moment that
anything which they would say in their address would
entrammel Mr. Cobden in any course which he might
think it his duty to pursue, but that the parties who might
attach their signatures to that address would be expressing
their opinions on the past, present, and future. And, there-
fore, after deliberating for some time, and well weighing
every sentence ;which would be. now• read to them, it was
thought that nothing less than this would answer, and that
"thin less-than this should be said. It was not decided,
'in tho first place, ill whose name or whose behalf the address
4'hould be presented, and a blank was left for this to be
filled up. Mr. Jeffery then proceeded to read the following
ADDRESS.
"We, the undersigned, congratulate you upon your safe
return to your native country, under circumstances so
honourable to yourself personally ; to the constituency
Which, unsolicited, has restored to Parliament one of its
most distinguished ornaments;, and to the Administration
Which has tendered to your acceptance a post so admirably
'befitting your past career as that of the Presidency of the
board of Trade. While all classes of our fellow-countrymen
Will join in our congratulations in spirit, if not in person
and in words, it is highly probable that with them as with
'us the feeling of gratitude for past services is all the more
Pl'ofound, because it is mingled with a lively expectation of
services to come. We need hardly remind you, sir, of the
predictions of ruin and desolation which assailed you in the
course of your glorious anti-corn law agitation ; nor of the
:confident and yet, judging by the events, most modest
.•anticipations with which you met those -doleful prophecies.
The experience of ten years has satisfied them all, and so far
' Outrun your own most sanguine expectations that it is only
here and there a solitary Protectionist blind to conviction,
because resolutely closing his eyes to all that possess
around him, rises to lament for the abolished impost
on the poor man's loaf; while those who have derived the
greatest benefit from comparatively free trade in corn and
its consequences, are the owners and cultivators of the soil,
illanY of whom expected to be absolutely. ruined by it.
here in this great emporium of the commercial world, the
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