The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-03 00:00:00

DEATH OF MR, CQBDEN.

Yesterday, about the time when Morning Service
was beginning in our churches, one of the most re-
markable men of our time vas breathing his last,
and to-day there will be but one voice of lamenta-
tion for the loss of Richard Cobden. Not yet sunk
into the vale of years, though worn away by_gradu-
ally increasing illness, this distinguished man has
passed from among us, if not in the full zenith of his
influence, at any rate in the full enjoyment of his
powers and without any warning of the approaching
termination of his career. A generation has arisen
which does not remember the old days of Protection,
or the momentous struggle which terminated in the
liberation of our commerce ; but while Mr. Cobden
was among us we scarcely felt how far these things
have drifted away from the region of contemporary
history. His fame, his success, his personal pre-
sence, were all so intimately connected with that
great struggle that it was hardly possible to see him
without going back for twenty years, and forgetting
the less brilliant period of his life by which that
struggle has been succeeded.

Richard Cobden was one of those men whom the
fertile soil of freedom never fails to cast up when-
ever there is a great deed to do, or a great reputa-
tion to make. In some respects he might appear at
first sight one who was not peculiarly well qualified
to conduct a great popular agitation. His man-
ners, at least in private life, were gentle and cour-
teous ; he habitually shunned all occasions of giving
offence, and, without deserting his opinions, took
no particular delight in supporting them. Nature had
given him tastes for both what is correct in design and
elegant in language, but his voice had neither flexibi-
lity nor power, and his manner and action were not such
as greatly to commendhim to turbulent and mixed as-
semblies; he probably was more at home inthe House
of Commons than in those large meetings over which
he exercised so great and so decisive an influence.
But though he was scantily endowed with the ex-
ternal gifts and graces of oratory, Mr. Cobden
had that within which amply compensated for
these trifling defects. - His delivery was earnest and
impressive, his lanivage was clear, vernacular, and'.
well chosen, his appeals to the reason of his hearers
weighty and well directed, his power of argument
singularly sustained, subtle, and elastic. He could
impress upon an uncultivated audience long and
subtle arguments on matters far removed from
ordinary experience, and by the united power of
language, vigour of thought, and homeliness of
illustration, could convince as well as persuade,
and win converts while he was overwhelming
adversaries. No man took up the ground he
meant to maintain with more caution ; no man
saw more clearly the weakness and difficulty
of his own position, or the assailable points of
his adversary. It was his habit to anticipate objec-
tions, and to answer arguments before they had been
urged, and so to qualify and limit his position as to
leave as few vulnerable points as possible. His
English was clear, racy, and idiomatic, free from
common and vulgar expressions on the one side, or
from exaggerated or inflated periods on the other.
He was Nature herself ; but Nature straining and
bending all her powers to the attainment of a single
object, to the establishment of a single point. He
had a mastery over every part of the great Free
Trade controversy such as nobody else could pre-
tend to, and in the number of speeches which he made
on the same subject he showed a boundless fertility
of illustration, and an inexhaustible ingenuity in
varying the arrangements and the form of his argu-
ments. Although not exempt from that inequality
which attends even the best public speakers, there
is no orator of the present day who was so sure to
bring out the facts, to adduce the arguments, and
to make the impression that he desired. Such a man
could not fail of great success, especially among the
hard heads and shrewd understandings of the
North. Year after year he laboured on in the
cause of Free Trade, and it might be difficult to
say what amount of progress he had made, when
suddenly the whole edifice of Protection crumbled
away before him, and he found himself victorious
in a struggle which many had considered as almost
without hope. •
At that moment he occupied a position as proud,
perhaps, as has ever fallen to the lot of any English
subject who, by the mere exercise of energy and
talent, has raised himself above his fellow-citizens.
Just 70 years after the discoveries of Adam Smith
were made public the victory was obtained, and the
20 years of Mr. Cobden's life which have succeeded
this glorious epoch have witnessed the verification
of his ideas and the gradual diffusion of his prin-
ciples. Mankind begin to see that Protection is the
sure cause of poverty to Governments, while Free
Trade is a mine of wealth that yields more the
more it is worked. Mr. Cobden had also the merit
of first calling the attention of the country to
sound and judicious views with reference to the
colonies. He pointed out the absurdity of supposing
that these possessions conferred on the country an
advantage at all similar to that which would arise
from an increase of the population or territory from
which we draw our taxes, and the means of defend-
ing ourselves in foreign wars. Mr. Cobden was
several times invited to take a part in a Liberal
administration, but always refused to fetter his
liberty with the toils of office, even at periods when
it might reasonably have been supposed that the
possession of an official income would be a consider-
able object to him. The public has not been un-
mindful of the benefits it has received at the hands
of this great Reformer. Once and again it has come
forward to mark its sense of his services, and to take
care that one who has done so much to make these
islands richer and happier should not have any

HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, April 1.

His Majesty the King of the Belgians- arrived at
the Castle last evening from Buckingham Palace,
attended by General Count, du Mourkerke and Dr.
Koepl.
The Queen walked in the grounds yesterday after-
noon, accompanied by her Royal Highness Princess
Helena, and again this morning with Princess Louisa
and Princess Beatrice.

Her Royal Highness Princess Helena went out
riding.
His Royal Highness Prince Alfred, attended by
Lieut. Haig, drove to Claremont, to visit Queen
Marie Amelie, and afterwards visited the Count and
Countess of Paris.

APRIL 2.

Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess
of Wales and Prince Albert Victor arrived at the
Castle yesterday afternoon on a visit to the
attended by the Countess -de Grey and Major Grey.
The Queen, their Royal Highnesses the Prince and
Princess of Wales, Prince Alfred, Princess Helena,
Princess Louise, and Princess Beatrice, and the ladies
and gentlemen in waiting, attended Divine service
this morning in the private chapel. The Very Rev.
the Dean of Christ Church preached the sermon.
The Duke and Duchess of Argyll also arrived, and
had the honour of dining with the Queen, the King
of the Belgians, and the Royal family.

The Dean of Christ Church likewise arrived at
the Castle yesterday.
The Queen did Mr. Desanges the honour to inspect
his portrait of the Princess of Wales last Thursday.
His Royal Highness Prince Alfred honoured Mr.
Brierly with a visit at his studio on Tuesday.