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

reason to repine in the midst of the abundance and
prosperity which have followed his exertions.

Mr. Cobden was not 61 years of age when he
died ; and at his years a statesman is in this country
still deemed young. When the story of his life comes
to be written, there are few :things in biography
which will be more interesting than the account of
his rise from the home of a Sussex yeoman, and from
the position of a boy in a London warehouse, to a
place in the Senate, where he could command his
audience and influence the destiny of nations. Born
in 1804 at Durnford, near Midhurst, he lost his
father early, and while still young found a post
in a wholesale warehouse in the city. In process
of time he became a traveller for this establish-
ment, and ultimately settled down with some
friends of his own standing as partners in a
cotton-printing business in Manchester. He
quickly threw himself into local politics, and
took an active part in public life. In 1834 he
sought a change in travel. In that year he visited
Egypt, Greece, and Turkey ; in the following year
he went to America ; and the fruit of his travels
appeared in two well-known pamphlets, as well as
in references through many subsequent speeches to
the views which he had in these visits imbibed. In
the year 1837, when he was but 33 years of age, he
felt strong enough in his position to think of going
into Parliament, and he offered himself, though
without success, to the borough of Stockport. It
was in the year which followed that he commenced
that great agitation which outside the walls
of Parliament until 1841, and as member for Stock-
port afterwards, ended only in 1846 in the repeal of
the Corn Laws.

Were it our object to write an indiscriminating
panegyric on Mr. Cobden we should stop here, and
pass over in silence the part which he subsequently
took in public affairs, except indeed the negotiation
of the French Treaty. After the repeal of the Corn
Laws, however, Mr. Cobden distinguished himself
by a succession of speeches directed against our
foreign policy, by which he came to rbe con-
sidered as the advocate of what is called Peace
at any Price. We will not stop to examine
how far this criticism was just ; it is certain that
for a time, and especially during the days of the
Crimean and Chinese wars, these speeches were
a great drawback to his well-won popularity.. He
also took great delight in foretelling events, and as
these events very seldom corresponded with his ex-
pectations, his reputation suffered somewhat by the
failure of his predictions. We have also remarked
that Mr. Cobden's later efforts have been marked by
a spirit of intolerance towards those who differed
from him and an impatience of contradiction which,
it is only fair to say, did not manifest themselves
to the same degree in his earlier days. Perhaps the
impatience arising from repeated attacks of illness
may be held to excuse these occasional flaws' of
temper. We only mention them now with the view
to make our sketch complete, and not to pass over
anything which seems necessary to the comprehen-
sion of the man such as he really was. Our ownlot
has been for many years past to oppose those
schemes which Mr. Cobden has nearest at heart ;
but we do not the less recognise him as a great
benefactor to the country, nor regret the loss of a
man who, though not exempt from human failings,
was pure and disinterested as well as able, and who
has left behind him a name which, as Sir Robert
Peel in his celebrated eulogium said of himself, will
be ever remembered by his countrymen when " they
recruit their exhausted strength with abundant and
untaxed food, the sweeter because no longer lea-
vened by a sense of injustice."