Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-04-18 00:00:00

SPAIN.

The Madrid journals of the 11th have arrived.
In the Chamber of Deputies a debate 'had:taken
place as to whether certain measures taken by the
Constituent Cortes in 1856 were to be considered
valid, though'-hot sanctioned by the Queen. M.
Olozaga and M. Calvo Asensio :Maintained that,
under the circumstances, and from what took place
in 1812, they. ought to be; but the President of
the Council and. the Minister of the Interior insisted
that no act of the Legislature was valid without the
Royal sanction. No formal decision was come to on
the matter. What occasioned the discussion was
the presentation of a petition praying that a pension
accorded by the Cortes in 1856 to the family of a
captain shot in 1847 for political causes should be
paid, and the petition was referred to the Minister of
War.

Why is a chicken-pie like a gunmakers shop ? Because it
contains fowl-in-pieces.
TRANSPOSED —A boy's construction of a proverb : Spoil
the rod and spare the child."
EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY OF A MURDER. There has
been a most remarkable discovery of a murder committed
by a husband in America, which affords another instance of
the adage that "-Murder will out" The particulars are of
a most romantic kind. An Irishman, named Stephens, has
for some time resided in the upper part of New York,
in the employment of. an extensive carriage maker, whose
goodwill he had won by his strict observance of the reli-
gious duties of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which
he was a member. His wife, also Irish, was nearly 14
years older than himself. They had lived together in
apparent happiness for several years, till in two succes-
sive summers two nieces of his wife had arrived from
Ireland, and become members of his family. Two
years ago his wife sickened, and in September, died.
He followed her to the grave an apparently sincere
mourner, and continued in the employment of his old
master, trusted as before., Just within a year after
his wife's death the brother of the nieces arrived from
Ireland, and immediately made an assault upon Stephens
with a pistol at his workshop. He was arrested, and
in the course of the examination it came out that
Stephens was charged with having made an attempt at
violence upon one of his nieces, and of. having poisoned
his wife for the purpose of offering her his hand. His
friends demanded that the body of the wife should be
exhumed and analysed to acquit, him of those slanders.
It was taken up on the anniversry of the burial, and
subjected to what was probably the most searching
examination in the history of medical jurisprudence.
Hour after hour the chemists stood by to watch the
result of a simple test. Enough to say that the presence
of arsenic in sufficient panties to destry hu-
man life was proved beyond a doubt. It was also-
shoWn that the prisoner had about that time purchased a
quaniity of arsenic. On the part of the defence, it was
attempted to be shown that the arsenic so bought had been
used to kill rats, and that the character of the nieces was
abandoned. In both of these positions the defence failed,
and the jury, after a trial of most unprecedented length,
even in that city of lengthened litigation, found the
prisoner guilty.
THE ENFIELD RIFLE.—The rapid march of invention in
everything which relates to the science of gunnery and the
manufacture of small arms, renders it absolutely essential
for the government authorities who have charge of that
department to be watchful of every proved defect, with a
view to applying a speedy remedy, and thereby. keep pace
with the requirements of the service. In this point of view,
the discussion which has recently arisen respecting the
Enfield rifle, possesses no little interest, since it bears inti-
mately upon the question of military efficiency of those in
whose hands it is placed. Although it was regarded as
the best possible weapon with which the soldier could
be armed, facts have transpired which appear to modify that
opinion, and induce the belief that it is still susc.ptible of
great improvement. Complaints are, made that, however
perfect it may be in. theory and on the practice-ground at,
home, in India experience tells a different tale ; for,
whether from faults of construction or from a difference in
the lubricating material, the efficiency in the Enfield rifle
is stated, upon capital authority, to be so greatly impaired
as seriously to diminish its high reputation, and even to
suggest doubts as to the propriety of continuinc, its use
until means are found of remedying its alleged' defects.
It was at first supposed that the manufacturers were in
fault; but the severe supervision.° which the gnnmakers
bear testimony, and the rigid ordeal to which every rifle is
submitted, do not allow us to attach much value to this hy-
pothesis. The well-known marvellous accuracy of the ma-
chinery with which the Enfield rifles are turned out is of
itself almost a sufficient guarantee that -no discrepancy of.
bore could exist. It can hardly be supposed that differ-
ence of climate could produce an appreciable variation;
besides which, the effect of increased temperature, would
be to expand, not contract the barrel. It has been
suggested with some degree of plausibility, that the defect
complained of may be traced to the continual checking by
the ring of the bayonet of that expansion of the barrel which
is caused by the vibrations produced at the moment of
explosion—thus, after a certain number of rounds, inducing
an absolute contraction at the part in question. This,
however, if the real cause, would have been discovered long
ago. Nor is it in the portion of the barrel adjacent to the
muzzle that the obstruction is found to exist We are, there-
fore, driven to the conclusion that the defective action arises
not from the weapon itself, but from that which is put
into it ; or, in other words, either from some fault in the
construction of the cartridge, or from the use of an un-
suitable " clogging up" composition. A valuable communi-
cation, signed " A Civilian," has recently appeared in the
columns of a morning contemporary, entering at some length
and with considerable acumen in what appears likely to
become [a vexatia questio, unless a ssries of carefully con-
ducted experiments are made with a view to its elucidation.
Under any circumstances, the remedy which the Govern-
ment officials are attempting to apply is as devoid of com-
mon sense as it is opposed to scientific principle. Instead
of setting to work to discover the cause of the defect, they
content themselves with supplying a cartride smaller than
the original one‘by the 1-15,000 th of an inch, thus utterly
subverting the very principle on which the efficiency of the
Enfield rifle depends ; viz., that the bore should only be
so much larger than the cartridge as to admit of the latter
being rammed home without violence ; and this proportion
has been attained by the relative diameter of the bore and
size of the cartridge, viz,, 577 and 575; the difference
between them being consequently two-thousandths of an
inch. The effect of the reduction as forcibly
pointed out by the writer of the communication
referred to, is necessarily, that " the explosive force
of the powder will the elongated but loose and ill-assorted
ball from the breech to the muzzle of the musket, the
amount of windage inevitably rendering its passage along
the calibre swerving and bent with undulation."
Under such circumstances, it is more than probable that
the advantages derived from the shape and posterior
expansion of the cylindro-conoid projectile will be to a
great extent neutittlised, and that its course along and
after leaving the barrel will partake largely of the irre-
gularity attaching, to the old spherical bullets. If it be
likewise true that 60,000 smooth-bored muskets are
sent, or shortly to be sent to India, we can only
say that in this particular, as in many others, the dictates of
good sense and experience and the most ingenious revela-
tions of science are alike thrown away on the government.
It must be confessed that at a time like the present, when,
as Mr, Disraeli stated, a European war may be merely "an
affair of hours," is ill chosen for exhibiting so humili-
ating a want of recourse on the part of those
who govern us. • We venture to assert that,
with respect to the diminution of the size of the
cartridge, not only no scientific man would have
suggested such an idea, but that any well-informed
mechanic in the Enfield factory would have given sounder
advice on the subject. This is not the time for rash and
ill-advised changes, especially when, as in the present in-
stance, they tend to nullify the results of science, and reduce
our brave soldiers to a level with those whose weapons are
really inferior. If we are to have experiments, let them at
least be' guaranteed by the authority of men of high scientific
repute, and not be resorted to as the last despairing device
of some blimdering and bewildered official of the War
Office.—Telegraph.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS.—SATURDAY.
The house sat for appeals at half-past ten o'clock.
After the private business, the Municipal Election Bill
was read a third time and passed.

ELECTION NEWS.
The Times assumes, as a matter of course, that the people
of Rochdale will return Mr. Cobden; and both applauds
their choice and thinks them honoured in securing such a
representative. The Times devotes a leading article to Mr.
Cobden's career as a public man, and gives a full report of
the speech of Mr. Bright at Rochdale last week.
OLDHAM.—The Manchester _Examiner learns that Mr. J.
T. Hibbert has consented to stand for the borough of Old-
ham. His candidature is not to be considered in any way
hostile to Mr. Fox, whose services it would be ungrateful to
'dispense with. The seat likely to be jeopardised is Mr.
Cobbett's. This gentleman has hitherto been returned on
the credit of a name to which he does, politically, but little
honour. He talks Chartism to the electors, • but gives his
voice and influence to the Tories. The Liberals owe it to
themselves to supersede Mr. Cobbett by a man in whose
professions they can place some reliance, and we trust the
result of the contest will be to return Fox and Hibbert for
11 Oldham.
CHESTER.—The excitement in this city is increasing daily.
Earl Grosvenor has commenced his canvass, and his return,
which is practically unopposed, is certain. The contest for
the second seat seems likely to be one of the severest ever
witnessed in Chester. Mr. Humberstone addressed an
immense assemblage on Thursday evening, and was most
enthusiastically received. Mr. Humberstone's, canvass bas
been so successful that little doubt is now felt of his ultimate
success.
Suanwsßunir.—Along with Mr. Tomline, who Commenced
his canvass last week, Mr. R. A. Blaney again seeks re-
election. Colonel Phibbs has suddenly retired from the
contest, and in place of the gallant colonel a Mr. Richard
Banner Oakeley has come forward, and issued an address on
Conservative principles.
SHROPSHIRE (Nonrn).—The lion. Rowland Clegg Hill
offers himself for re-election in the Conservative interest.
Mr. Dod, one of the sitting members, retires from the
representation. The vacancy will be hotly contested by Mr.
J. R. Ormsby Gore and Sir Baldwin Leighton, whose
addresses have already been published. Mr. Gore's father
formerly represented this division, and Sir B. Leighton is
Chairman of Quarter Sessions.
SHROPSHIRE (SOUTH).—In all probability Viscount New-
port and the Hon. Robert Wilson Clive will be returned
unopposed.
STAFFORD. —Colonel Addison goes down to contest this
borough on independent principles. A somewhat remarkable
address has been issued to the people of the Potteries."
It is signed by Thomas Piers Healey, and is dated " White-
cross-street Prison, 14th April.".
MILITARY CANDIDATES.—Amongst the names of
aspirants for the honour of a seat in the next parliament,
we perceive those of a good many militia field officers, and
a few retired as well as effective warriors. For the county
Clare, Colonel Vandeleur, Colonel Whyte, and Major
Armstrong M'Donnell, offer themselves; Major-General
`Wood, formerly M.P. for Middlesex, goes in for Brecknock-
shire General Wyndham and Captain Lowther stick to
Cumberland ; Lieutenant-Colonel Cope adheres to East
Norfolk; Captain Bennett, and Major Windsor
Parker contest West Suffolk with' Earl Jermyn • Major
Edwardes has rushed to the rescue of Beverley ; 'Captain
Jervis does not intend to desert Harwich ; Colonel Clifford,
of course, holds Hereford ; Captain Vivian tries Truro ;
Colonel Sykes obligingly proposes to continue to represent
Aberdeen ; Sir W Fraser does not desire to lose Barnstaple
—and we do not desire to lose Sir W. Fraser; Colonel
Freestun is not disposed to relinquish Weymouth, and we
hope he will be returned, that he may try another fall with
General Peel in the cause of the army subalterns ; Colonel
Blackburne, a good conservative, offers himself for South
Lancashire; General Peel still seeks the suffrages of Hun-
tingdon ; Sir De Lacy Evans has made a stirring appeal to
Westminster, and we cordially wish him good luek ; Colonel
Smyth has addressed the electors of York ; Lieutenant-Col.
Stuart has no desire to be turned out of Cardiff ; Colonel i
Wood is up' for Cork city ; Lientenant-Colonel Meyrick, of
the Scots Fusilier Guards, stands for Maldon ; Lieutenant-
Colonel Dickson, co. Limerick Militia, comes forward for
Limerick ; and Mr. Otway, late M.P. for the pure borough
of Stafford, has every desire to turn out Major-General
Sir F. Smith, the conservative M.P. for Chatham. In all
this list there are not more than half-a-dozen names of solid
promise, as far as the interests of the profession are
concerned. We, therefore, contemplate the contest with the
most profound philosophy and calm resignation. United
Service Gazette.

LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S SPEECH TO THE
ELECTORS OF THE CITY OF LONDON.
At a meeting of the Electors of the City of London, held
on Friday afternoon, Lord John Russell was very warmly
received, and said :
Gentlemen, I rise to address myself to the important
questi in of the approaching dissolution, and the election for
the City of London, and I fear that I must detain you for a
considerable time longer than either of those gentlemen who
have preceded me have done. The reason is a very simple
one ; they have taken, no doubt, a very clear and liberal
course, but they have not had, as I have, to sustain the
blame and the reproaches arising from different quarters,
for my having taken a very prominent part in the events of
the last year. (Hear, hear.) I say of the last year, because
I propose to go through with you the events of that year,
and I hope you will indulge me, as we have had little bio-
graphic notices lately. (Laughter.) I hope you will indulge
me while I give some historical notices of what has happened
during the course, I should say, of the last fifteen months.
You all • remember, gentlemen, that there was a bill
brought into parliament by Lord Palmerston's government
—a bill of which I did not approve, considering not that
the bill was so very objectionable of itself, but that the
English parliament ought not to legislate to comply with
the wishes of any foreign power. But, gentlemen, in that
opinion I entirely differed from what is called the great Con-
servative party. They not only supported that bill, but the
present prime minister suggested an outline of it on the
meeting of parliament last year, and they gave Lord Palmer-
ston every reason to suppose that by their aid such a bill
would be carried by an overwhelming majority. So it
appeared in the early stages of the bill, and the ninety-nine
who voted against its introduction were looked on with
something like contempt from the smallness of our numbers
and the seeming insignificance of our position. When it
came to a second reading a resolution was proposed by my
right hon. friend Mr. Milner Gibson, which did not directly
touch on the latter, but censured the ministry for neglecting
to answer, or leaving unanswered, a despatch, and con-
nected that censure with the second reading of the bill.
Now, gentlemen, you would hail() thought, and I certainly
thought that, although I, who was bent on defeating that
bill, might safely and naturally have voted for that resolution,
that the party which had signalised itself by arguments
more cogent, and by zeal more enthusiastic for
that bill than the members of the government
themselves had shown, would certainly have voted
for its second reading. (Hear, hear.) But to my
surprise, and the surprise of many, that party adopted the
resolution, and thereby defeated the bill to which they had
given apparently such great support. Now, gentlemen, on
that fact I have two observations to make. The first is,
that I think Lord Palmerston was very ill-treated by those
who pretended to be so ready to support his measure ; and
the second that it is wonderful to me that those who defeated
Lord Palmerston, who opposed that vote of censure, and
thereby defeated the bill of which they had professed them-
selves to be the friends and advocates, should now come
forward and denounce a factious proceeding, a resolution_
proposed by those who were against that bill, and which
resolution was directly in point, and applied itself to the
bill that was before the House. (Cheers.) [The noble
lord then referred to the India Bill, and the course he took
upon it.] Mr. Bernal Osborne, in one of his amusing
speeches at Dover, declared that I ought to have had a
tprize from the Royal Humane Society, for I had rescued
the Ministry 'from drowning. (Laughter.) I did, I
own, rescue them, thinking it a public duty so to do
(laughter), but I did not consider I was for ever to act
the part of an officer in the Humane Society's service,
and go about with along pole and a hook at the end, and
always to pull the Ministry out of the water when they
were scrambling and floundering from the effects of their
own blundering and awkwardness. [The noble lord then
went into a history of the Government Reform Bill, noticing
its two chief defects.] What I do maintain is that, besides
the £lO householdea, you ought to admit a great portion

of the working classes of Britain to vote for members of
Parliament. Now Ministers maintained in the course of
the discussion not only that such a provision was not
necessary, but that it would be exceedingly hurtful.
The Colonial Secretary, in a speech of great eloquence,
placed before our eyes the horrors of a French revolu-
tion, together with all the results which flowed from the
very unwise and insane conduct of the leaders of that
revolution. The Chancellor of the Exchequer spoke with
much more moderation, and undoubtedly made the best
speech in defence of the Government. (Hear, hear.)
He said in substance, " I don't expect from the working
classes of England massacre or robbery. I do not expect
this, but I do anticipate that there will be a vast increase of
expenditure, and that there will be a diminished and a
diminishing taxation, so that the finances of the country
will be exposed almost to ruin. I expect there will be wars
rashly entered into and ignominiously concluded." These
were the things the Chancellor of the Exchequer expected.
I must say I expect nothing of the sort. (Cheers.) I
expect--if these provisions are made with consideration if
we admit those who are worthy to exercise the vote accord-
ing to the constitution of England—l do net believe these
working men will produce either extra expenditure,
diminished taxation, or anything in fact, which would
reduce the power, or impair the good faith of the country.
Nor do I expect they will enter into rash wars. I believe
the people of this country wish for peace with all the world
(Cheers.) lam sure it is of interest to do so, and I believe
while they would resent any attack on the national honour,
or any attack on the national territory, that they have
as enlightened views as any part of the country with re-
spect to the benefits of peace and the benefits which flow
from it, to liberty, to commerce, and to the happiness of
man. (Cheers.) Such were two of the many objections
which I took to this bill. [The noble lord proceeded to
state the reasons which induced him to meet the question
of the second reading with the resolution, and continued.]
I determined to proceed with the resolution, not without
the advice and concurrence of those for whose opinions I
have the highest respect. I consulted my old friond Sir
James Graham, who had been united with me in preparing
the bill of 1831. I consulted Lord Palmerston, to whom
that respect was due, and whose opinion upon such a point
was of the utmost value. (Hear, hear.) I consulted Mr.
Sidney Herbert, who wished to see a good reform bill, and
who, at the same time, did not like to appear in opposition
to the government upon other than fair and reasonable
grounds. I consulted Mr. Bright (loud cheers)----I con-
stilted Mr. Bright, who is ft politician of another class,
and whose opinions in many respects differ from mine, but
who is a sincere and hearty reformer, and he agreed with
me as to the defects of Lord Derby's bill, and agreed
also with me as to the manner in which it ought to be
treated. Well, I thought it was right, in my position,
as I have already said, to get as much concurrence
of opinion as possible. It had been called by hard
names, but I think that concert amongst men for great pub-
lic objects, having nothing in vievrbut that which is for the
public good, is honourable to all who are concerned. (Hear,
hear.) Well, gentlemen, what I wish to see is a bill on
which the people of this country can rest. We have had
warnings on this subject which I think we ought to take
anxiously into consideration. (Hear, hear.) A man —not
surpassed in sa,gacity by any Minister of late years I mean
the late Sir Robert Peel, introduced a Corn bill in 1842. He
recommended that bill to the House of Commons, and it
became an act of parliament ; but in 1846, Sir Robert pro-
posed a totally different measure. He said, I have changed
my opinion ; and when he was twitted with his former act,
he said, I will not be guided and controlled by my observa-
tions of 1842. (Hear, hear.) I think we may take warning
by the course adopted by a man of such ability and eminence
and sagacity as Sir Robert Peel in changing his measure
within four years. We should agree that we don't wish
to pass a bill which would last four years, or hardly so
long, but that we should pass one which should be worthy
the wisdom of Parliament to offer - worthy the generosity
and patriotism of the peOple of England to accept. (Hear.)
Well, gentlemen, I can only say that the ministers not
having chosen to bring in a bill, and having thought it
their duty to their Sovereign and their country not to resign
their offices, there only remained the other course, namely,
to dissolve parliament, and to appeal to the constituent
body at large to declare what that reform should be. If I
complain of them it is not for taking that course, but it is
for not stating clearly the issue that is to be tried. They
have none of them in their addresses ventured to say, you
shall decide upon our bill whether it is a good or bad one ;
they have not ventured to say, we have another reform bill
in preparation, and we ask you to confide to us the manage-
ment of that great question. They have made it a personal
matter ; they have complained of the divisions amongst
their opponents; they have urged that there are sections
amongst the Liberals holding different opinions, and that
upon these grounds they must continue to hold office. I
think thatis an nnworthy way of putting the question to
the electors of the United Kingdom. The question
really is this - whether the new parliament can have
submitted to it a bill answering the requirements of the
present time, and which is likely to meet with acceptance.
I have given my opinions ; others have given their opinions.
All I ask you is to trust me as a sincere Reformer (loud
cheering, which lasted several minutes), and one who has
long been engaged in this cause. (Renewed applause.)
Gentlemen, in asking you to confide in my hands, as one of
the four members of the City of London, the important
trust of deciding what shall be the reform bill which is
worthy of being passed, I refuse to bind myself to any details
either that lor others may propose. I have given, in my
place in the House of Commons, what I think would be a fair
outline. It may be found upon consideration that that outline
may be changed or altered with advantage to the country. I
ask for a free exercise of my opinion on this subject. I ask
you to trust me upon this important question, and no less
upon this than upon another important question, which some
persons wish to make a connecting part of reform —I
mean the question of the ballot. I have always been
ready to give my opinions in the House of Commons
upon that subject, and I will not bind or tie mydiscre-
don in any way whatever. I tell you I am against the
ballot. (Cheers, and cries of " No, no.") But gentle-
men, if I were an advocate for the ballot, I should not
think that the mode of tying down every member of
Parliament, or of taking an account of his votes simply
on that subject, was the way to precure a majority in Par-
liament on that subject, because honourable men, even
though in favour of the ballot will shrink from condi-
tions which they think degrading to their personal honour.
I think, likewise, that that question, like all other questions,
if it has a right in its favour, will best be decided by a free
expression of opinion. (Hear.) I believe much in the utility
of constant discussion, year by year, for the carrying of ques-
tions which are recommended by reason and the public bene-
fit. My belief is that if you have such truth and . justice in
favour of the ballot it will be carried ; but it is not my
belief that it would be for the public interest, and, there-
fore, I believe that public opinion will ultimately pro-
nounce against it. (Cheers, and "No, no.") It is a
matter which I wish seriously to be discussed—it is a
matter of considerable importance, although I believe its
decision one way or another would hardly havd the con-
sequences which some hope and others apprehend. (Hear,
hear.) But I say let the question be fairly and freely
discussed. Do not proscribe men because they are against
the ballot—do not adopt men who have no other merit
merely because they are in favour of it. (Hear, hear.) Now,
gentlemen, with regard to our foreign relations, it appears
to me that the Foreign Minister will have two questions to
consider, when he is either called to attend congress or to
speak on the part of England to foreign Powers. The
one question is that of peace, and upon this question
there can be no doubt that he should advise everything
which is most conductive to the peace of Europe.
(Cheers.) But there is another position he must hold,
and that is, a position not unbecoming, the Minister of a
free country. (Hear, hear.) My belief is that the pre-
sent complications in. Italy have arisen, not as alleged
from the conduct of Sardinia. (Hear, hear.) They have
arisen from an abuse of military power by one of the
great Powers of Europe from 1815 to the present time.
Hence the uneasiness in Italy. Hence the temptation per-
haps to the ambition of other Powers who seek their grati-
cation in this moment of difficulty and crisis. (Cheers.)
For my part, I entirely approve that we should ask that
these Powers should be at peace amongst themselves, 'and
that we should likewise ask that the territorial arrangements
of 1815 should not be disturbed. But this I must say for
the States of Italy, that I think these States—independent
States as they were engaged to be by the treaty of Vienna—
ought to have free power to amend and reform their own
institutions. (Hear, hear.) These are, gentlemen, in a
few words, my foreign politics. (Renewed applause
have no reason to think that the present government take
other views than these. I have seen no State paper of
theirs ; I have read no declaration of theirs upon which
I am at all disposed to differ from tAnd now,
looking back for a moment
to the time that is
a p t and looking to the time that is to come,
icsannot but see that under different administrations the
cause of freedom, civil, commercial, and religious, has been
making a constant progress. I trust that progress may con-
tinue. (Cheers.) -I trust that, whoever may be the minis-
ters of the Queen, that that progress will be possible, and
that, at the same time, it will be uninterrupted. (Cheers.)
Mr. Fox once said that of all the innovations that could be
introduced-into the constitution of England, the greatest
innovation would be to say that there should be no further
change. We require changes adapted to the enlightenment
of the people ; adapted to the immense energies
which com-
merce and manufactures have produced iiie ertain parts of
the island. I trust that these changes will be effected. I
trust that they will be peacefully effected, and if you send
me to parliament to give my advice on these questions. you
may depend upon it, that as I have ever been faithful to
the cause of freedom,_ I shall never desert that cause, but I
trust serve you to the end. (The noble lord resumed his
seat amidst loud applause.)

MR. COBDEN.

The people of Rochdale will return Mr. Cobden as a
matter of course, so it may be thought almost superfluous for
us to say that we heartily applaud their choice, and think
them honoured in securing such a representative. If we
make any remark on Mr. Bright's very interesting account
of Mr. Cobden's career, it is because he seems to challenge
remark by something which we should call an ante-
climax in the interest of his narrative, and a paradox
in its moral. There are public careers that might
almost shake our faith in those eternal princi-
ples of justice and mercy, wisdom and goodness,
which are generally supposed to be illustrated in the his-
tory of men, as of nations. There are men who build for-
tune, position, and imperishable fame on a foundation which
we all believe to be hollow and vicious. The old fables and
stories of cringing sycophancy working its way to great-
ness, and over and over again kicking away the ladder by
which it rises, and of beginnings that by their baseneis
only seem the foil of future splendour, are too common and
too familiar to disconcert us. Prosperity is vulgar, and
we know it. The new man has to pay the full
penalty of his crime, for he has a whole popu-
lation at his heels. Bit M. Bright's story of his
illustrious colleague in the Free Trade cause leads us to the
same moral by a totally different roate. Mr. Cobden with
the power of turning his great talents to the aca_eisition of
a fortune, and thereby of power, deVoted himself wholly
and solely to the deliverance of his country from a very
sore burden. After a seven years war, conducted with con-
summate ability and enterprise, by the fire of an earnest
eloquence and the art of a sound logic, he overcame an
iniquity so inveterate that it was alleged to have been.
part of every financial arrangement, public or private,
in the whole kingdom. Mr. Bright describes,
with some touches of very fine feeling the character
of that warfare After that ho has to inform us that,
following in the train of this victory. and with Mr. Cobden's
co-operation, some other great reforms have been effected.
The differential duties on sugar have been removed, and
sugar itself much c!ie tpene.l. The Navagation Laws have
been repealed, and freight much reduced. Most of the duty
on newspapers has been removed, and in Manchester alone
every week some hundred thousand papers communicate to
all classes, at the cheap cats of a penny a-sheet, not only
the produce of our own costly enterprise, but, as Mr.
Bright says, excellent compositions of their own.
Nor is this all. On the overthrow of Vie great
and lamented statesman who became Cobden's pupil in.
Free Trade, and sacrificed himself to carry out the lessons
of his master, the politician by whom the sacrifice was
effected offered the master a seat in the Cabinet vacated by
his too sincere pupil. Though it grates rather on the ear
that we should have to view the matter in this light, and
we are not quite sure that Mr. Bright would have us do so,
still it was an act of virtue in Mr. Cobden that he declined
this honour. He had his health, his family, and his affairs
to look to, and dreaded the effect of office on the conscience.
Perhaps the nature of the transaction under which the offer
came to be made might have given fresh force to' these
scruples. Bat there, and at that point, with some amend-
ments in the laws relating to ships, newspapers, and sugar,
Mr. Cobden's career seems thus far to have terminated; nay,
worse than mere cessation, those singular talents, those
endearing personal qualities, that unexampled
triumph, have all failed to mitigate or to arrest
the most monstrous and most growing of our country's ills,
at least in the opinion both of Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright.
Since Mr. Cobden came into public life, and became a
prominent man in the House of Commons, the annual
expenditure upon the armaments of this country has
doubled, and is still increasing.

Compared with this deplorable retrogression, as it seems,
and as it is regarded by Mr. Cobden himself, all the rest we
are told about this gentleman seems of little importance.
One is not, indeed, quite prepared to hear of the saviour of
his country—the Joseph who read the dream of famine and
made it a season of abundance—visiting the United
States to look after some Illinois Central Stock, of which
we should be delighted to hear a better account than of
most other American investments. If Mr. Cobden and
his friends were .to suffer by some clever operation of
the American shareholders, we should certainly feel. it
a satire on republican sympathies, if not on- the
cause of freedom itself. Nor need one think much of the
fact, that the offer of office made to Mr. Cobden in 1846,
has not been renewed. Others shared the penalties of
Peel's great act, and have been almost ostracised from
power, because for once, at least, they were good men.
Martyrs and confessors abound in the Legislature, and in a
dozen instances, if we ask why is such an one in so false
and irreparable a position, the only answer that can be
given is, that he unfortunately once listened to the sag-
gestions of conscience, and was duped by a truth. So
here Mr. Cobderes fate is only a common one. If
we choose to be virtuous, we must take the con-
sequences. But why is it that so great a man, so
good a man, and so successful a man has utterly failed to do
one jot of good towards abating the monstrous evil of a
military preparation, never ending, still beginning, now with
more to be done for it than ever, and a mere game of " beg-
ger my neighbour " in its only true bearing of foreign
armaments ? As fast as that wise old housewife Political
Economy, with her housebook, her bunch of keys, and
her scales, saves the shillings and pence, her thrift-.
less, graceless spouse, throws it all away, starves the
household, and keeps the creditor at the door, with his
interminable quarrels and preparations against every
imaginable enemy. Was it for this, then, that Peel was
overthrown, and the great Conservative party divided to the
four quarters of the Heavens ? Was it for this that Lord
Derby dominates in the Lords, and Mr. Disraeli, for a second
time, leads with much confidence and no slight glory the
Commons ?

We don't profess to see our way clear to the solu-
tion of this moral enigma. We can only say, despairingly,
that it ought not to be so. But still it must be asked,
was there no want, nothing to desiderate, or wish other-
wise, in that powerful eloquence and that great crusade ?
When a keen and practised ear detected something to blame
in the first essay of that tongue in the House of common.,
and pronounced, rashly enough, " Nothing in him, he is
only a barker,' there might be, and we think there was,
a want of some of the qualities necessary to gain
a thorough hold on the British heart and mind.
We fail, indeed, to recognise in Mr. Cobden that comprehen-
sive statesmanship which is necessary to make a man some-
thing more than the chief of one cause, and the hero of
one great victory. To be a statesman and a legislator,
a man must have sympathies with all causes, inter-
ests, and classes, and represent in his own per-
son the heterogeneous materials of this very com-
posite country. When a man so treats a great
theme that, while doing it no less than justice, he yet jars
on many a wholesome feeling, and does violence to many a
sound and useful conviction ; when he opposes himself as an
irreconcileable foe to much that will ever be in st
strength
and honour among us, we see the elements of perpetual
failure, which some partial triumph will only render more
conspicuous. There are those who are glorious in the battle-
field, but can never be statesmen. There are those who
distinguish themselves at the bar, but know not how
the country is to be governed, or the laws they themselves
interpret are to be made. There are Divines of eloquence,
learning, and genius, and we know the sort of statesmen
theology has given to the country.
are inspired in literature, or who There are men who
perform miracles of
mechanical enterprise, but are children, and very dull ones,
can
in a council or a senate.r. Cobden is a great political
economist. He regards his Mcountry as the first, the richest,
the most industrious, commercial firm in the world. He
appreciates man as "an animal that can make bargains,"
and he has made for us the best bargain, the most favour-
able as well as the most generous, ever made by thapmni,
But, as yet, there ends Mr. Cobden. He has neither the
policy nor the eloquence to stop an armament for
One day, or to mediate between one nation and
another, to divert from his prey a single aggres-
sor, to solve a "complication," to heal one breach
between classes. When a young man, he saw at a glance
that Manchester offered a great field for speculation ; and as
his heart and mind expanded, he saw how the Corn Laws
stood in the way of that and all other enterprise, and how
that bond might be broken. But these he stood, and
there he stands, and there, too, stands very much
the wisdom of his party. Mr. Bright is is
• some important respects a greater man, yitth_ a wider
vision and more varied powers ; but it remains for him to
show that he can do more than overthrow Protection, and
repeat some dozen times the process of summary execution
, done on the enlightened Statesmen who did the work of the
• Anti-Corn Law League. We trust that Mr. Cohlen's
return to Parliament will inaugurate a new and more
fruitful policy.—Tinies.