Page:Notes on the Anti-Corn Law Struggle.djvu/280

 weakened by age. Mr. Cobden says ("1793 and 1853," p. 59):—

"'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' characteristic gave way. He who at forty was incapable of fear, at eighty was subject to almost infantine alarms.'"

Mr. Cobden, though he does not absolutely profess the non-resistance principle, appears to place great reliance on the increase of commercial industry in France. He also quotes (pp. 79, 80) a letter addressed by Sir William Molesworth, January 17, 1848, to the editor of The Spectator London newspaper, in which the writer says:—

"'You say that the next attack on England will probably be without notice. Good God! can it be possible that you, whom I ranked so high among the public instructors of this nation—that you consider the French to be ruffians, Pindarees, free-booters—that you believe it necessary to keep constant watch and ward against them? Are you not aware that the French are as civilized as ourselves. Have you forgotten that they have passed through a great social revolution, which has equalized property, abolished privileges, and converted the mass of the people into thrifty and industrious men, to whom war is hateful, and the conscription detestable?'"

This letter of Sir William Molesworth, which expresses indignation at the idea of its being