The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-05 00:00:00

' • .t•;
(From the Morningt Herald.)
Three long letters have been pfiblished this week
in the columns of a morning,, contemporary. We
have already alluded to them. Paragraph after
paragraph—column after column of the smallest
type—facts, figures, metaphors, fallacies, and gar-
bled quotations, we have been compelled to peruse ;
at one time thinking of the writer, ." nano morta-
hium omnibus horis sapit," at thiother expecting to
find that " Smith," " Jones," of some other name
familiar to " the ignorance of the public" was in-
dulging in the fashionable pastime of writing letters
to the Times, when at last the mystery was ex-
plained by the appearance of " Your obedient ser-
vant, Richard Cobden."
The name was known to us a* being the identical
Christian and the same surname that is reported in
" Hansard" to have made some very foolish remarks
with respect to " our national defences" and the
future prospects of Europe in the beginning of
1848. The foresight of these was immediately
proved by divers revolutions, which, immediately
after their utterance, took place in frost of the
capitals of Europe. The scenes of bloodshed and
war that followed dispelled the notion of the wis-
dom of the man who anticipated at that time that
the era of universal peace had all at once-arrived.
Our own capital was happily antexpeption, thanks
to the precautions taken by that illustrious man, so
lately removed from the scene of his patriotic exer-
tions, on the ever-memorable 19th of April. Me-
mory supplying these facts, fancy Our astonishment
at meeting with the followinc, critical observations
on the mental capacity of the 6 Duke of Wellington.:
on that occasion. From no othv 'Source Could the
same have been anticipated (alviAys excepting ;the
22 inis:•(...alled Liberal members orthe University of
Oxford who voted against the Wellington Testimo- ,
nial Fund last week) :—" An allusion to the infir-
mities of a .great mind, however painful at the pre-
sent moment, is rendered absolutely necessary by
those who quote the authority of the Duke of Wel-
lington's declining years in favour of a policy which,
in my opinion, tends neither to the peace nor the
prosperity of the country. At the time of penningliis
letter to General Burgoyne the Duke was verging
upon his eightieth year. Nowi no man retains
all his faculties unimpaired to fourscore. Na-
ture does not suspend her labours even in be-
half
of her favourite sons. The Duke was mor-
tal, and therefore subject to that merciful law
which draws a veil over our reason and dims the
mental vision as we approach the end of the vista
which terminates with the tomb. Nit the facul-
ties do not all pay this debt of nature at once, or
in equal proportion. Sometimes the strongest part
of our nature, which may have been subjected to
the greatest strain, declines the first. In the
Duke's case, his nervous system, his ' iron' charac-
teristic, gave way. He who at 40 was incapable of
fear, at 80 was subject to almost ?nfantine alarms.
This was shown on several public:occasions ; but on
none so strongly as in the provi on made by him
during the year 1848," to which r. Cobden's t
re-
marks here apply, not the year f the Exhibition,
which he proceeds afterwards tocomment upon.
On this subject of defences, t en, " Richard is
himself again !" No !no! we a wrong. Let us
use his own language, as applied himself. " The
faculties do not all pay the debt of nature at once,
or in equal proportions. Sometimes the strongest
part of our nature, which 'may have been subjected
to the greatest train, declines the first." In
Richard Cobden's case, his reasoning powers, his
aptness in dealing with facts and figures, and his
common-sense, left him first. He began as,a suc-
cessful agitator of class interests—was known as the
leader of a political school whose motto was " Sell
and Co."—and ended in penning romantic letters
on the national defences. This infantine tendency :
was shown on several public ocaasions ; on none ~
more so than in three letters he wrote to
the Rev. —, and published in the Times news-
paper.
But to go on. Persons in this state of '
mind (pace Dr. Conolly, we would so affirm)
are subject to extraordinary delusions on
particular questions. What, then, is it haunts-
Mr. Cobden's mental vision ? We use his own
words :—" Are there no symptour that we have .
spirits amongst us who want note the will, if the
power and occasion be afforded, to play the part of
Burke in our day. He excited the indignation of
his countrymen against a republic which had
decapitated a king." If this wat.t.2a,n unworthy
subject for the declamation of then, philosopher
and statesman, against whom iiii4 "what would.
Richard Cobden direct the thunders of his " un-
adorned eloquence." On this point he is frank
and explicit : indeed, all our statesmen are more
or less so in these times except Mr. Gladstone.
Wo therefore use his own words :---" When told
that the present Emperor possesses absolute and
irresponsible power, I answer by citing three things
which he could not, if lie would, accomplish : he
could not endow with lands and tithes one religion
as the exclusively paid religion of the State,
although he selected for the privilege the Roman
Catholic Church,_which comprises more than nine-
tenths of the French people ; he could not create
an hereditary peerage with estates entailed by a law
of primogeniture ; and he could not impose a tax
on successions, which should apply to personal
property only, and leave real estate free. Public
opinion in France is an insuperable obstacle to any
of these measures becoming law, because they out-
rage that spirit of equality which is the sacred and
inviolable principle of 1789. Now, if Louis Napo-
leon were to declare his determination to carry
these three measures, which are all in full force in
England, as a part of his Imperial regime, his
throne would not be worth 24 hours' purchase ; and
nobody knowS this better than he and they who
surround him.
The three eye-sores, then,
in the British consti-
tution, which nothing but the " ignorance of the
public" suffers to remain, are—first; a Protestant
Establishment for religion—hence his remarks on
• •
Burke—hence his fear that there be some spirits
left who would re-echo the sentiments of the great
hilo
ewhherenhe cherishsaaidl " i
ll)
Establishedw o us ol
would
, Church
great and powerful.
hv
e have those
wish to see t
within,
and• pihe
t y
all those who are without. I -would have her give a
lesson of peace to mankind, that a vexed and wan-
dering generation might be taught to seek for re-
pose in the maternal bosom of Christian charity,
lastly, that the laws of England are
and not in the harlot-lap of infidelity and indiffer-
ence." Secondly, that there is no legacy duty on
principles of 17890—viz.,
real property
rwortehrtryes;pect to property, that "an English-
man may do what he likes with his own." For
this last grievanceerhtye substitutewbyoutlhdestate;
o::
ttoheusasecrheids
feudalism," the con-
and to* establish
religious equality and freedom of worship, by uprootap-
afionwscdnatiwniovio!rodolsaf,bpl,ertpporinei
propriating to the State the lands and tithes of the
Church."
These were the main principles of reform carried
out by the Constituent Assembly, and which Mr.
Cobden would imitate. But, in justice to his
friends, Mr. Cobden adds that .i' the decapitation
of a king" was not included in the original pro-
gramme for the entertainment of the Constituent
Assembly. " Let us repeat, then—if for the
dozenth time—such opinions would never be put
forth unless by a writer who presunled most insult-
ingly on the ignorance of the public."

questionsunwhdeatyheerwatheeraCiereyds,taulpPonaltabcee
(From, the Morning Post.)
ened
on
simple issue whether a day of intellectual refine-
ehWoulhden be th
opened
refine-
ment at Sydenham were not preferable to a day of
sotting and idleness in London, we gave our voice
in favour of the trip to Sydenham. We went even
further. We took occasion to maintain what we
conceived to be entirely a working man's cause,
against the deliberately expressed opinions of a very
respectable body of clergymen, who met at Zion
College to resist the proposed opening,..,
on the
ground that it was a desecration of the Sabbath.
Our dissent from these reverend gentlemen was not
based on any inferior view of the Sabbath to their
own. But we felt-1. That, with the religious ob-
servance of Sunday, a certain amount of intellec-
tual pleasure may be innocently combined. ; 2. That,
as a working man's question, it was highly desir-
able to consider it in the broadest possible view ;
and, 3. That, remembering how sadly the working
classes of London are accustomed to spend that
holy day, the attractions of the Sydenham Palace
might pave the way to something less coarse, if not
more religious, less demoralising, if not actually
edifying, and, on the whole, less mischievous, both
morally and physically.
The decision appears to us to turn upon the right
determination of two guestionl—which is the
Lora -day.? and how ought it to be observed ?
On the first, we did not presume that any discus-
sion would be raised. We were content to accept
the unanimous voice of Christendom and to acqui-
esce in the settlement upon which all Christian
Churches have framed their religious observances.
About the second there has been, and is, much
controversy. Two opposite theories aro put forth :
' the first makes the observance of the Christian Sun-