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 770 COBDEN COBLENTZ with vast funds raised by the free-traders. Sir Kobert Peel finally became a convert to the necessity of a change, and, with much opposi- tion from the agricultural interest, succeeded in procuring the passage of the memorable act for repealing the duties on the importation of corn, to which the royal assent was given June 26, 1846. Driven out of power immediately after by a hostile vote on his Irish policy, Peel took leave of office in a speech which contained a handsome acknowledgment that the repeal of the corn laws was chiefly attributable to Mr. Cobden. National gratitude shortly after presented Mr. Cobden with a substantial pe- cuniary acknowledgment, raised by subscrip- tion, to the amount of 80,000, on the receipt of which he retired from business, and pur- chased the property near Midhurst on which he had been born, and which his family had formerly owned. While absent in 1846-'7 on a continental tour through France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Russia, and Sweden, he was reelect- ed member of parliament for Stockport, and also for the West Riding of Yorkshire. He decided to sit for the great county rather than for the small borough. He was reflected in 1852. As an active member of the peace so- ciety, he had advocated the propriety of de- ciding national disputes by arbitration rather than by arms, and had published several pam- phlets strongly urging these views. He dis- countenanced the war with Russia, which his constituents supported. In 1857 he was one of the majority which passed a vote of censure on Lord Palmerston for entering into the war with China, which caused his rejection by the electors of the West Riding. Soon afterward he went abroad, and spent nearly two years on the continent and in the United States. Du- ring his absence he had been returned to par- liament from the borough of Rochdale, and upon his return in 1859 he was informed that Lord Palmerston had offered him a seat in his cabinet as president of the board of trade. This office he declined, on the ground that his views had always differed so much from those of the premier that he could not consis- tently serve in his cabinet. In 1860, however, he consented to act as commissioner in nego- tiating a treaty of commerce with France, in which he was entirely successful. This treaty was regarded as a great triumph of diplomacy, but it was abandoned by the French in 1872. Mr. Gladstone, speaking in 1866, said in regard to it, " I don't believe that the man breathed upon earth at that epoch, or now breathes upon earth, that could have effected that great mea- sure, with the single exception of Mr. Cobden." After the negotiation of the treaty he was offered a baronetcy and a seat in the privy council, both of which he declined. The frail state of his health prevented his taking so active a part in public affairs as he had for- merly done ; nevertheless, he made occasional speeches in parliament, urged the repeal of the paper duty as a tax on knowledge, and the re- duction of the national expenditure, particular- ly in the military and naval departments. He was always the earnest and consistent friend of the United States, never lost faith in the cause of the Union during the civil war, and vigorously opposed all schemes for recognizing or aiding the confederacy. Mr. Cobden was, with John Bright, a leader of the Manchester school or party, and, besides the measures above alluded to, favored electoral reform and the vote by ballot. A marble statue of Cobden has been erected in the town hall of Bradford at the expense of Mr. Booth, an American merchant of that town. His works have been collected under the titles of "Political Wri- tings of Richard Cobden " (2d ed., London, 1867), and "Speeches on Questions of Public Policy," edited by Bright and Rogers (1870). His biography has been written by J. McGil- christ (London, 1865), and in German by Von Holtzendorff (1866) and De Roth (1867). COBI, Desert of. See GOBI. COBIJA, or Puerto la Mar, the only seaport town of Bolivia, capital of the department of Atacama or Cobija, on the Pacific coast, in lat. 22 32' 50" S., Ion. 70 17' 5" W., 365 m. S. W. of Potosi. The town is on the beach, at the foot of a range of high hills. On a point jutting into the sea is a small fort, mounting five or six guns. The harbor affords good anchorage, but landing is difficult on account of the surf. Efforts have been made to improve it of late by the erection of a mole. The town is a wretched place, composed of a few wooden houses, the princi- pal of which are on a street running N. and S. along the shore. Water is scarce and of poor quality. The port is free, and is much visited by vessels of various nations, as it is the chief outlet for the exports of the country, and through it the southern provinces are supplied with foreign commodities. The only road from the seacoast to the interior in Bolivia is that from this port to Oruro, and it is constantly traversed by beasts of burden, bringing coin, bullion, ore, and other products from the inte- rior, and carrying imported goods inland. A railway to Potosi has been planned, and if built will add greatly to the prosperity of the place, which is dependent on the mines. These mines, which are chiefly of silver and copper, are mostly in the hands of English capitalists, who import everything used by them. Until 1829 Cobija was a mere fishing village, inhab- ited by Indians. It was made a free port in that year, and in 1839 it became the capital of the department. In 1855 it had a population of about 600, which had grown in 1858, in con- sequence of increased activity in mining, to 2,800. It has now about 2,500 permanent residents and a floating population of as many more. In official documents the town is called Puerto la Mar. COBLENTZ (Ger. Coblenz or Koblenz; anc. Confluentes), a fortified city of Prussia, capital of the province of the Rhine, at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle, 49 m. S. E. of Co-