The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-02 00:00:00

MR. COJIDEN.

(From the Times.)
Mr. Cobden has declined to accept the seat in the
Cabinet which was reserved for him at the forma-
tion of the present Administration. We must, of
course, regard the question merely as a public one,
and divest it of all private considerations which
may have swayed Mr.Cebden's mind when he arrived
at this resolution. The Liberal party throughout the
country will hear Mr. Cobden's decision with great
regret. How are the middle classes ever to be re-
presented in the Cabinet if those gentlemen who
simply by the exercise of their own ability and
genius have won their way to Parliamentary posi-
tion decline any practical share in the government
of the country ? Hitherto it has been possible to
declaim at hustings and at indignation meetings
against the exclusiveness of the aristocracy and of
particular cliques of politicians ; but what is to be
done if the natural representatives of the middle
classes refuse power when it is offered to them ?
Two seats out of sixteen in the Cabinet have been
offered to Messrs. Cobden and Gibson—that is to
say, one-eight share of political powor. Now, the
party in which these gentlemen have occupied so
prominent a place certainly does not number one-
eighth of the whole House of Commons—possibly
they may count for one-sixth of that motley con-
gregation of members which we speak of by the
generic term " the Liberal Party." That party,
then, has not been unfairly dealt with in the dis-
tribution of offices. The only doubt which can re-
main on the mind of the most ultra-Liberal is whe-

(her, upon the refusal of Mr. Cobden to accept
office, the name of another gentleman who has
fairly won his way to great Parliamentary distinc-
tion should not be substituted for that of the Free
Trade Leader. By Mr. Cobden's refusal, however,
a great opportunity is thrown away. Mr. Cobden
might have largely contributed to break the spell
by which the possession of political power in this
country has been too long held to be the birthright
or perquisite of certain great families. This has
been more especially true of the Liberal Party, and
the independent members had great reason to com-
plain that they were invariably pressed for their
zealous support, but were never suffered to parti-
cipate in power. The answer has always been
that it proved a practical impossibility, whenever
the thing was tried, to obtain the assistance in the
Cabinet of independent members who carried any
weight with the house and the country, and who
were also willing to devote their time to the public
service. The old hacks of office were always led
out and harnessed to the Liberal coach, simply be-
cause it was impossible to find a team elsewhere.
This has been denied, hitherto we admit without
reason, but how will stand the facts henceforward?
Upon other grounds, too, we should have sup-
posed that Mr. Cobden would have accepted Lord
Palmerston's offer. He is emphatically the repre-
sentative of two opinions, the embodiment of two
ideas. Free Trade and Peace make up Richard
Cobden, the public man. How is it that he can
throw away such an opportunity of keeping, or
helping to keep, England out of all participation in
the war which is now raging in the south of Eu-
rope ? As a member of the Cabinet Mr. Cobden's
opinions would carry with them great weight, even
though he might be outvoted by his colleagues in
the long run. It is in the Cabinet that the incu-
bation of measures takes plaee. There it is that
the leading idea is originally started, amplified,
modified, accepted, or dismissed. There it is that
suggestions tell, and account is taken of the reluc-
tance of a colleague to enter upon a course which
he profoundly and notoriously disapproves. By the
time a measure is introduced into the house it has
passed through this preliminary stage. Its au-
thors can but defend it, its opponents attack
it openly. The one is the chamber of coun-
sel, the other the stage for action. Now there
never has been a time in the history. of England in
which a leading member of the House of Commons,
backed by a numerous body of supporters out of
doors, could do more to preserve for his country the
blessings of peace, if be would consent to act as a
member of Administration. The man who could
unite in his own person the three qualities of Par-
liamentary , orator, popular leader, and Cabinet
Minister would be no insignificant personage at a
time like the present. One of the constant com-
plaints again, of the party with which Mr.
Cobden has so long acted has been of the evils
of secret diplomacy. It is this obscure and un-
satisfactory system which, according to the views
of these gentlemen, has betrayed England into
all her wars, and inflicted on us a national debt
and an income tax. But here was the oppor-
tunity given to Mr. Cobden of tracking the evil
to its very source. In a man of Mr. Cobden's
well-tried public spirit ens would have sup-
posed that these considerations would outweigh
any reluctance which he might feel to take upon
himself the responsibilities and toil of a novel form
of life. Mr. Cobden is ft.r removed yet from old
age. Mr. Henley, when he began official 'life in
the late Government, was several years Mr. Cob-
den's senior ; indeed, among Cabinet Ministers Mr.
Cobden would show as a mere youth.
Upon these two grounds, then, chiefly we regret
that Mr. Cobden has not felt himself at liberty to
join the present Administration. His presence and
that of Mr. Gibson in the Cabinet would have re-
presented the substantial defeat of the old Whig
monopoly of office. Mr. Cobden, again, in the
Cabinet would have been a useful advocate of peace
and neutrality. His extreme notions upon this
point would have been held in cheek by the prac-
tical experience of his colleagues—by his own ex-
perience, we will add, of the responsibilities of
office. We do not believe that the Right Hon.
Richard Cobden, the Cabinet Minister, would have
laid down his head on his pillow at nights in peace,
had he felt the country without sufficient protec-
tion, and himself answerable for that course. It is
a very different thing for an irresponsible member
to utter commonplaces about the advantages pf
- peace, which everybody admits, and to explain his-
- tory in a manner which everybody denies. Re-
gretting, however, as we unfeignedly do in the pi-
_ terest of the middle classes, the great opportunity
which Mr. Cobden has thrown away, We may also
state our firm conviction that Mr. Cobden has acted
in entire good faith, and that it is only his belief—
as we think mistaken—that he can do better ser-
vice as an independent member of Parliament than
as a Cabinet Minister Which has actuated hint in
declining office.