The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-17 00:00:00

MR. COBDEN, M.P., at FLORENCE.

Free-trade principles are gradually gaining ground ip
every part of Europe. The particulars of Mr. Cobden 's
triumphant march through France and Spai▪ n have
already been amply recorded in the pages of this
journal. From Spain the Hon. Member tor Stockport
proceeded to the other great peninsula of the south of
Europe, where he has won the same golden opini▪
ons and
been honoured with the same grand receptions. He has
shaken hands with the Pope, and held familiar conver-
sations on his favourite topic with many of the savans
litterati of Italy. Florence, the seat .of the fine arts
from time immemorial, and of free-trade for the last
century, has not been backward in rendering homage to
the representative of the enlightened principles of com-
mercial intercourse which bid fair soon to become the
basis of all the fiscal codes of the continent. We have
received from the Tuscan capital the particulars of a
grand banquet in honour of the English free-trader,
which took place there on the 29th ult. As many as 110
persons assembled in the magnificent gallery of the
Borghese Palace, where the feast was prepared.
The presidential chair was occupied by the Chevalier
Vincenzo Peruzzi Gonfaloniere, of the city of Florence.
and the select cif cle around him included many pt rsons
distinguished by name, by talents, and by fortune.
The guests having done justice to the delicious viands
and exquisite wines which overspread the table, the Pre-
sident rose and proposed the health of " the Grand
Duke Leopold of Tuscany, the Sovereign of the State."
The Vice-President, Signor Emanuelle Fenzi, then ad-
dressed Mr. Cobden in Italian, as follows:
" To the fer%id and sincere prayers for a long and
prosperous life, to the applause which you have received
in other parts of Italy, and especially in the Eternal
City, we are rejoiced to-day to be able to add those of
our own Florence—Florence, in which letters, together
with the arts and sciences, first revived after the dark-
ness of the middle ages, and which heard freedom of
trade proclaimed in its bosom sixty-six years ago, thus .
giving a great example, by which, when it developed
and adopted by all nations, ' the misery of many millions
of men will be relieved, and the most powerful obstacle
that is opposed to the fraternity of nations—diversity of
interests—removed.' Florence honours and admires in
you, Sir, the head of that League' which, with imper-
turbable constancy, with immense sacrifices, and van-
quishing obstacles which appeared insuperable, effected
in your country one of the greatest, and at the same time
the most peaceful of revolutions, thus affording to the
whole world the spectacle of the irresistible force with
which an idea is developed when armed by science and
the force of persuasion alone, and when with inde-
fatigable activity it is peacefully and legally sustained by
worthy men. Continue your labours, 0 Richard! gather
other laurels so much the more to be desired, because
they are not stained with blood, but are covered with
the benedictions of the human race. We shall continue
to admire and to applaud you—we who—thanks to an
enlightened prince, courageous in his endeavours to
vanquish the prejudices of his age, and to put in practice
the liberal doctrines with which he was imbued—have
experienced for three generations the efficacy of free
trade in alimentary substances, which has averted from
our country the scourge of famine; as the same freedom
in trade, not excluding that of instruction, and the free
interchange of immovable property produced by the
abolition of fiefs, has banished distress from our land
or restricted it to its least painful limits, if the generous
idea of the free interchange of produce and articles of
commerce generally has become law in the great country
to which you belong, the great example must be fol-
lowed by other nations. We offer, in the mean time,
fervent prayers for your felicity and your glory, which
is our own, and we cry with one voice—Long live
Richard Cobden !' "

After the toast had been duly drunk, and the applause
in a degree subsided,
Mr. CoIIDEN rose and spoke as follows: —" Gentle-
men, I should feel much embarrassed if I believed that
this splendid demonstration was intended as a personal
compliment to myself; for, whatever may be thought of
my merits in other countries, I can have no title to pre-
eminence as a free trader in an assembly of Tuscans.
But, no; we meet here as brethren in a common faith,
myself a younger brother, to unite our vows in favour
of that commercial liberty which Tuscany, of all the
nations of the earth, was the first to put in practice upon
sound politico-economical principles. Other people, as
for instance the Dutch and the Swiss, owing to the acci-
dentals of their geographical position, may have always
enjoyed peculiar exemptions from commercial restric-
tions, but to Tuscany is undoubtedly due the glory of
having preceded by half a century the rest of the world
in the application of the theories of economical science
to its legislation. Here political economy was first
erected into a commercial code. Let us render a solemn
homage to the memories of those men who gave to the
world so great a lesson in' statesmanship. Honour to
Bandini, who a century ago discovered the truth—of
which more than half the civilised world is still igno-
rant—that liberty of commerce is the only safeguard of
nations against the evils of scarcity, and their surest
guide to agricultural end commercial prosperity !
Honour, immortal honour, to Leopold, who taking the
torch of science from the hand of Bandini, entered upon
the then dark and untrodden path of free trade, and
guided only by its pure light, proceeded onwards with
an unfaltering step, undeterred by the obstacles which
ignorance, prejudice, and self-interest threw in his way !
Honour to Neri, John Fabbroni, Fossombroni, and the
rest who have preserved his great work from the attacks
of sophistry in our day! These are the real benefactors
of mankind, to whom we ought to decree honours and
monuments, whose peaceful triumphs will shed blessings
upon myriads yet unborn, long after the causes and con-
sequences of blood-stained victories are lost in oblivion
and nothingness. Gentlemen, I am not in the habit of
addressing my hearers in terms of flattery, and I should
like it to be understood that the few words I have to
add are intended for those who may chance to read my.
remarks in other countries rather than as-complirnentary
phrases offered to a Tuscan audience. Upon this m>
first visit to Italy, I have felt naturally curious to wit
ness the effects of free trade, particularly in corn,
upon the moral condition of a people. I must
confess that I entered Tuscany with feelings of en-
thusiasm, such as a devotee experiences in visiting
the shrine of his faith. But I have endeavoured to cast
an impartial eye upon all that I have seen, and if what
I state as the result of my observation be erroneous, it
will be open to correction by others. During the last
eight months I have been travelling in nearly all the
countries of southern Europe, and I am bound to state.
without wishing to disparage other nations, that I find
the condition of the population of Tuscany superior to
that of any other people I have visited. The surface of
the country resembles that of a well-cultivated garden;
the people are everywhere well-dressed; I have seen no
beggars excepting a few lame or blind; and in this
season of the general scarcity there is less of suffering
from want of food here, with a perfect freedom of ex-
port and import of corn, than in probably any other
country in Europe. I find such industries as are natural
to Tuscany carried on with success, and that, in par-
ticular, of its indigenous straw manufacture has attained
a development which has surprised me. But I do not
confine my observations to the material condition of the
people. Where a country bad enjoyed for fifty years
the advantages of commercial liberty, I expected to find
the spirit of free trade entering into the character of its
people, abating their national prejudices, destroying the
spirit of egotism, and imparting to them a sentiment of
brotherhood towards other nations. And in this respect
I have not been disappointed in the inhabitants of
Tuscany. I am only repeating the opinion of every
traveller when I say that they are eminently courteous
and mild towards strangers. Foreigners make this
country their favourite abode, not merely because here
there is no impediment to a cheap and abundant supply
of luxuries and comforts from every part of the globe,
but because they find a charm in the amiable cordiality
of the Tuscan people. Such is the description of the
only country in southern Europe which enjoys the ad
vantages of free trade, and I will not add a word of
comment, but leave the facts I have stated for thein-
struction of other nations. Gentlemen, I thank you
heartily for this cordial reception of a fellow-labourer
in our good cause. The remembrance of this happy
evening will always be a source of the highest gratifica-
tion to me. I conclude by drinking to the rapid exten-
sion of free-trade principles all over the world."
A number of speeches in Italian were afterwards de-
livered, for which we cannot find room. The whole
affair passed off most satisfactorily, and the gallant
Italians vied with each other in paying every attention
to the fair lady of the illustrious free trader, who accom-
panied her husband to the banquet by special invitation.