MR. COBDEN ON ARMAMENTS. (From the "Britannia.")

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 603, 24 January 1852, Page 3

MR. COBDEN ON ARMAMENTS. (From the " Britannia.")

"We have not been much troubled of late with the sayings or doings of Mr. Richard Cobden. We cannot say, with truth, that we have expeiweed any severe pang of anguish at the partial withdrawal of so eminent an actor from the political stage, nor do we think that the public in general are serious losers thereby. Still the silence is ominous and remarkable. Mr. Cobden does not resemble the soldier who, in the desperate crisis of his fortune, led a forlorn hope, carried the fort, and was rewarded by his commander accordingly. That knowing veteran having gained all that he desired, very prudently abstained from volunteering his assistance at the next assault, alleging that such a perilous honour should be reserved for those who had everything to lose and nothing to gain. We shall do Mr. Cobden the justicej ustice to say, that we believe him to be animated by a spirit of greater gallantry. His appetite for debate, and his passion for democratic oratory have not been quenched by the receipt of some seventy thousand pounds, subscribed by his ardent admirers in the first paroxysm of their gratitude. Whether seventy thousand pence would be forthcoming, now that the .effects of the experiment have become visible, is a question which we shall not raise. Suffice it to say, that he got the money, and, nevertheless, went on talking for a time, after the manner of the Gracchi, as glibly and pertinaciously as ever. It is not easy to foresee where he might have stopped, had he not been met directly in the^ teeth by sundry unfortunate contradictions. Like many an abler man, he laboured under the delusion that he was a sort of inspired prophet; and, accordingly, throughout his whole career, he has indulged in vaticinations, which experience, in every instance, has refuted in a most conclusive fashion. He assured his dupes that the adoption by England of the Free-trade policy would be immediately followed by entire reciprocity on the part of other nations, more especially America and France. The result has been, that both countries have declared themselves more strongly than ever in favour of the protective system, lie scouted the idea of war and revolution, andin a month afterwards the whole continent was in an uproar. He predicted the downfall of Austria just before it extinguished rebellion. He commenced a crusade against the Kussian loan, threatening to gibbet in eternal infamy any dastard Briton who might advance a sixpence to the Czax', and before his meeting could be convened the whole money was subscribed. He is exactly the opposite of Cassandra — nobody in Troy believed her, and yet all her prophecies came true. Almost everybody in Manchester believed Cobden, and yet aJI his prophecies have been falsified.

Strange to say, lie is indebted 1o <ho inl'exilulity of fate, which has denied him the faculty of foresight for the best stroke of business ho ever made in liis lif'o. He was wont to represent himself as the disinterested champion of Free-ivnde, und to protest tint ho expected to receive nothing for its advocacy. Fate, determined that he should neve.' be right", opened the hearts and the purses of divers silly wen, who rewarded him with a comfortable independence. Mr. Oobdcn, however, has prophesie 1 rather 100 often. Credulity, like everything else, lias its limits. When Sirs. Buchan, the celebrated Scottish prophetess, assured her followers that they should see her ascend into the clouds, and act dally fixed the day on which the apotheosis was to lake place, every man, woman, and child in the encampment believed her. Sho appeared at (.he appointed time, but the law of gravitation was too much for her. She did not soar ns was expected. A second and a third experiment followed, v.ith similar results, and the sect of the Buchanircs gradually dwindled away until but one discing was left. Mr. Cobden is ai present a ory much in the situation of Luckie Buchan. He linn been too confident and too specific in liis predictions ; and his frequent palpable failures hive shaken the faith of all men, if we except the trufcly and confiding Bright. Hence it is that, in Parliament, his advocacy and co-operation are rather deprecated than courted. jN t o man wishes that Cobiler. should rise and speak in his behalf or support, lest liaply lie &lio-uld. uttcv a raliooi-iciiion which is enough to condemn his cause. The riuHitude without no longer listen to him as before. He cannot show his face in certain districts where his appearance was once sufficient to co> mand a numerous auditory, — his dupes are bw t Lining to discover the extent and consequences of thcie folly, — and some of them, like Mr. John Jackson, the miller, have turned against him in their wrath, and are irreverently denouncing him as a one-eyed leader of the blind. It is to these causes, and not to any excess of modesty, or plethoric apathy, that we attribute Mr. Cobdcn's late comparative silence. Had he maintained it altogether, v/e should not have stepped out of oxtv way to notice him. But the old cacocthcs is there, and like Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, he must deliver himself at periodical times. Accordingly, on Tuesday last, he took up his old subject of the reduction of armaments, and, as usual, exhibited an ignorance of his topic which would have disgraced an ordinary drummer. We presume it is unnecessary for us to say that in common with Mr. Cobden, Elihu Burritt, or .any other itinerant apostle of petite, we entertain the most anxious desire for the maintenance of tranquility, or that we yield to none m our appreciation of the honors and disastrous consequences of war. We suspect that most people in the British islands are tolerably agreed upon this point. Independently of the higher motives vhich are dictated by religion and humanity, mere wordly interest would lend us to abstain from entering recklessly or unnecessarily into a quarrel which could only be settled by lie arbitration of the sword, at an expenditure of blood ar " treasure, which it is frightful even to contemplate This feeling is so general that it may be taken ns a sufficient guarantee that we will neither commit nor suffer to be committed, any aggression against the rights of our neighbours, which could lead to such a catastrophe, and that we will do our utmost to maintain undisturbed the peace of Europe and of the world. But, beyond that, all is absolute folly. Does Mr. Cobden believe that any remonstrances on the part of our Government would lead those of France or Russia to lessen the amount of their armaments, undo and dismantle their fortifications, or entirely alter their policy ? If such are his notions, he is really ripo for Utopia and should set out on a voyage towards that favored land, in whatever latitude it may lie. We have have no idea that he believes anything of the kind. He knows perfectly well that, beyond the general proposition of the propriety of mpin;aining peace, which no body disputes, he is talking egregious nonsense, and that his motions or I resolutions, even if they could be cariied, would not only, be barren in practical results, but would be extremely prejudical to the status and character of this country. Mr. Cobden once thought and expressed his opinion that the peace of tue world might be more effectually secured by unlimited exports of calico, than by means of the Christian religion. It was an idea that hardly could have entered into the brain of any one but a fanatic of Free-trade ; still there was a kind of business look about it, -which, for the moment, saved it from being stifled by utter ridicule. But when he changes one mode of pacification for another, and proposes that v/ar &hall be rendered impossible by the discontinuance of navies and of armies, he commits an outrage on common sense, and an insult on the understanding of mankind, which places liiia quite beyond the pale of ordinary forbearance. He once told us that the Duke of Wellington ought to ask pardon of the French for the injuries which he j had inflicted upon that nation. We recal the fact simply that our readers may form their own conclusion as to the merits of this incomparable pacificator.