THE POLITICAL WRITINGS OF RICHARD The time has not yet arrived for writing Cobden's life. The great political struggles in which he engaged are still too fresh in the memory of the present generation to admit of a faithful record of his political career, without including much which affects too closely the characters of public. men still on the scene, or but recently removed from it; and of the last great achievement of his life, and his solitary official act, the Commercial Treaty with France, it is impossible yet to speak freely. But it is on this account only the more important and especially at a time when, upon the conduct and intelligence of the Liberal party in this country, it depends whether the years before us are to bring with them a repetition of the inconsistencies and hesitations which Old Series Com I have too often deformed and paralyzed It is therefore with a peculiar satisfaction that we hail the work before us, and we trust that it may be shortly followed by a republication of his principal speeches, both in and out of Parliament, so far as these can be collected, and, if possible, by a selection of his letters on the great practical questions of the day. In bringing together in a connected form these political essays, written on various subjects, on different occasions, and at wide intervals of time, but unsurpassed in cogency of reasoning, and in their truthful and temperate spirit, Mrs. Cobden has rendered a great service both to her husband's memory and to the rising generation of Englishmen. Presented originally to the public in the ephemeral form of pamphlets, thrown The Political Writings of Richard Cobden. out in sharp opposition to the prevailing 2 Vols. W. Ridgway: London. NEW SPRIES-Vol. V., No. 6. passions and prejudices of the hour, and 42 |