Early years Cobden was born at a farmhouse called Dunford, in
Heyshott near
Midhurst, in
Sussex. He was the fourth of 11 children born to Millicent ( Amber) and William Cobden. His family had been resident in that neighbourhood for many generations, occupied in trade and agriculture. His grandfather, Richard Cobden, owned Bex Mill in Heyshott and was a prosperous
maltster who served as
bailiff and chief
magistrate at Midhurst. His father William however forsook malting in favour of farming, taking over the running of Dunford Farm when Richard died in 1809. A poor business man, he sold the property when the farm failed and moved the family to a smaller farm at nearby Gullard's Oak. Conditions did not improve and by 1814, after several more moves, the family eventually settled as tenant farmers in
West Meon, near
Alton in
Hampshire. Cobden attended a
dame school and then Bowes Hall School in the
North Riding of Yorkshire.
Early business career When fifteen years of age he went to London to the warehouse business of his uncle Richard Ware Cole where he became a commercial traveller in
muslin and
calico. His relative, noting the lad's passionate addiction to study, solemnly warned him against indulging such a taste, as likely to prove a fatal obstacle to his success in commercial life. Cobden was undeterred and made good use of the library of the
London Institution. When his uncle's business failed, he joined that of Partridge & Price, in
Eastcheap, one of the partners being his uncle's former partner. In 1828, Cobden set up his own business with Sheriff and Gillet, partly with capital from John Lewis, acting as London agents for Fort Brothers,
Manchester calico printers. In 1831, the partners sought to lease a factory from Fort's at
Sabden, near
Clitheroe,
Lancashire. They had, however, insufficient
capital between them. Cobden and his colleagues so impressed Fort's that they consented to retain a substantial proportion of the equity. The new firm prospered and soon had three establishments – the printing works at Sabden and sales outlets in London and
Manchester. The Manchester outlet came under the direct management of Cobden, who settled there in 1832, beginning a long association with the city. He lived in a house on
Quay Street, which is now called
Cobden House. A plaque commemorates his residency. The success of the enterprise was decisive and rapid, and the "Cobden prints" soon became well known for their quality. Had Cobden devoted all his energies to the business, he might soon have become very wealthy. His earnings in the business were typically £8,000 to £10,000 a year. However, his lifelong habit of learning and inquiry absorbed much of his time. Writing under the byname
Libra, he published many letters in the
Manchester Times discussing commercial and economic questions. Some of his ideas were influenced by
Adam Smith.
First publications . In 1835, he published his first pamphlet, entitled
England, Ireland and America, by a Manchester Manufacturer. Cobden advocated the principles of peace, non-intervention, retrenchment and
free trade to which he continued faithfully to abide. He paid a visit to the United States, landing in
New York on 7 June 1835. He devoted about three months to this tour, passing rapidly through the seaboard states and the adjacent portion of
Canada, and collecting as he went large stores of information respecting the condition, resources and prospects of the nation. Another work appeared towards the end of 1836, under the title of
Russia. It was designed to combat a wild outbreak of
Russophobia inspired by
David Urquhart. It contained also a bold indictment of the whole system of
foreign policy founded on ideas of the
balance of power and the necessity of large armaments for the protection of commerce.
Travel Bad health obliged him to leave Britain, and for several months, at the end of 1836 and the beginning of 1837, he travelled in
Spain,
Turkey and
Egypt. During his visit to Egypt he had an interview with
Muhammad Ali, of whose character as a reforming monarch he did not bring away a very favourable impression. He returned to Britain in April 1837. He also visited the United States in this period.
First steps in politics on
Camden High Street Cobden soon became a conspicuous figure in Manchester political and intellectual life. He championed the foundation of the
Manchester Athenaeum and delivered its inaugural address. He was a member of the chamber of commerce and was part of the campaign for the
incorporation of the city, being elected one of its first
aldermen. He began also to take a warm interest in the cause of popular education. Some of his first attempts in public speaking were at meetings which he convened at Manchester,
Salford,
Bolton,
Rochdale and other adjacent towns, to advocate the establishment of British schools. It was while on a mission for this purpose to Rochdale that he first formed the acquaintance of
John Bright. In 1837, the death of
William IV and the accession of
Queen Victoria led to the
1837 United Kingdom general election. Cobden was candidate for
Stockport, but was narrowly defeated. Other interests included his friendship with
George Combe and his involvement with the
Manchester Phrenological Society in the 1830s and 1840s. In 1850, he asked Combe to provide a phrenological reading of his son.
Corn Laws The
Corn Laws were taxes on imported grain designed to keep prices high for cereal producers in Great Britain. The laws indeed did raise food prices and became the focus of opposition from urban areas, which then had far less political representation than rural Britain. The corn laws imposed steep import duties, reducing the quantity of grain imported from other countries, even when food supplies were short. The laws were supported by Conservative landowners and opposed by Whig industrialists and workers. The
Anti–Corn Law League was responsible for turning public and ruling-class opinion against the laws. It was a large, nationwide, middle-class moral crusade with a utopian vision. Its leading advocate was Richard Cobden. According to historian
Asa Briggs, Cobden repeatedly promised that repeal would settle four great problems simultaneously: In 1838, the league was formed in Manchester; on Cobden's suggestion, it became a national association, the
Anti–Corn Law League. During the league's seven years, Cobden was its chief spokesman and animating spirit. He was not afraid to take his challenge in person to the agricultural landlords or to confront the working class
Chartists, led by
Feargus O'Connor. In 1841,
Sir Robert Peel having defeated the
Melbourne ministry in
parliament, there was a
general election, and Cobden was returned as the new member for
Stockport. His opponents had confidently predicted that he would fail utterly in the
House of Commons. He did not wait long after his admission into that assembly in bringing their predictions to the test. Parliament met on 19 August. On the 24th, during the debate on the
Queen's Speech, Cobden delivered his first address. "It was remarked," reported
Harriet Martineau in her
History of the Peace, "that he was not treated in the House with the courtesy usually accorded to a new member, and it was perceived that he did not need such observance." Undeterred, he gave a simple and forceful exposition of his position on the Corn Laws. This marked the start of his reputation as a master of the issues. in
Exeter Hall in 1846 On 21 April 1842, with 67 other MPs, Cobden voted for the motion of
William Sharman Crawford (a fellow Anti–Corn Law Leaguer) to form a committee to consider the demands of the
People's Charter (1838): votes for working men, protected by secret ballot. On 17 February 1843, Cobden launched an attack on Peel, holding him responsible for the miserable and disaffected state of the nation's workers. Peel did not respond in the debate but the speech was made at a time of heightened political feelings.
Edward Drummond, Peel's private secretary, had recently been mistaken for the prime minister and shot dead in the street by a lunatic. However, later in the evening, Peel referred in excited and agitated tones to the remark, as an incitement to violence against his person. Peel's Tory party, catching at this hint, threw themselves into a frantic state of excitement, and when Cobden attempted to explain that he meant official, not personal responsibility, he was drowned out. Peel reversed his position and in 1846 called for the repeal of the Corn Laws. Cobden and the League had prepared the moment for years but they played little role in 1846. After Peel's aggressive politicking, the repeal of the Corn Laws passed the House of Commons on 16 May 1846 by 98 votes. Peel had formed a coalition of the Conservative leadership and a third of its MPs joining with the Whigs, with two-thirds of the Conservatives voting against him. That split Peel's Tory party and led to the fall of his government. In Peel's resignation speech he credited Cobden, more than anyone else, with the repeal of the Corn Laws.
Tribute, journey and resettlement "splash" plaque. Cobden had sacrificed his business, his domestic comforts and for a time his health to the campaign. His friends therefore felt that the nation owed him some substantial token of gratitude and admiration for those sacrifices. Public subscription raised the sum of £80,000. Had he been inspired with personal ambition, he might have entered upon the race of political advancement with the prospect of attaining the highest office.
Lord John Russell, who, soon after the repeal of the Corn Laws, succeeded Peel as prime minister, invited Cobden to join his government but Cobden declined the invitation. Cobden had hoped to find some restorative privacy abroad but his fame had spread throughout Europe and he found himself lionised by the radical movement. In July 1846, he wrote to a friend "I am going to tell you of a fresh project that has been brewing in my brain. I have given up all idea of burying myself in
Egypt or
Italy. I am going on an agitating tour through the continent of Europe." He referred to invitations he had received from France,
Prussia,
Austria,
Russia and Spain and added, Well, I will, with God's assistance during the next twelve months, visit all the large states of Europe, see their potentates or statesmen, and endeavour to enforce those truths which have been irresistible at home. Why should I rust in inactivity? If the public spirit of my countrymen affords me the means of travelling as their missionary, I will be the first ambassador from the people of this country to the nations of the continent. I am impelled to this by an instinctive emotion such as has never deceived me. I feel that I could succeed in making out a stronger case for the prohibitive nations of Europe to compel them to adopt a freer system than I had here to overturn our protection policy. He visited in succession France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Russia, and was honoured everywhere he went. He not only addressed public demonstrations but also had several private audiences with leading statesmen. During his absence there was a general election, and he was returned (1847) for Stockport and for the
West Riding of Yorkshire. He chose to sit for the latter. In June 1848 Richard Cobden moved his family from Manchester to Paddington, London, taking a house at 103 Westbourne Terrace. In 1847 he had also repurchased the old family home at Dunford and in 1852 or 1853 rebuilt the house there, which he then continued to occupy until his death.
Pacifist activism When Cobden returned from abroad, he addressed himself to what seemed to him the logical complement of free trade, namely, the promotion of peace and the reduction of naval and military armaments. He was a supporter of
non-interventionism and his abhorrence of war amounted to a passion and, in fact, his campaigns against the Corn Laws were motivated by his belief that free trade was a powerful force for peace and defence against war. He knowingly exposed himself to the risk of ridicule and the reproach of
utopianism. In 1849, he brought forward a proposal in parliament in favour of international arbitration, and, in 1851, a motion for mutual reduction of armaments. He was not successful in either case, nor did he expect to be. In pursuance of the same object, he identified himself with a series of
peace congresses which from 1848 to 1851 were held successively in
Brussels, Paris,
Frankfurt, London, Manchester and
Edinburgh. On the establishment of the
Second French Empire in 1851–1852, a violent panic, fuelled by the press, gripped the public.
Louis Napoleon was represented as contemplating a sudden and piratical descent upon the British coast without pretext or provocation. By a series of speeches and pamphlets, in and out of parliament, Cobden sought to calm the passions of his countrymen. In doing so, he sacrificed the great popularity he had won as the champion of free trade, and became for a time the best-abused man in Britain. However, owing to the quarrel about the religious sites of
Palestine, which arose in the east of Europe, public opinion suddenly veered round, and all the suspicion and hatred which had been directed against the emperor of the French were diverted from him to the emperor of Russia. Louis Napoleon was taken into favour as Britain's faithful ally, and in a whirlwind of popular excitement the nation was swept into the
Crimean War. Again confronting public sentiment, Cobden, who had travelled in Turkey, and had studied its politics, was dismissive of the outcry about maintaining the independence and integrity of the
Ottoman Empire. He denied that it was possible to maintain them, and no less strenuously denied that it was desirable. He believed that the jealousy of Russian aggrandisement and the dread of Russian power were absurd exaggerations. He maintained that the future of European Turkey was in the hands of the Christian population, and that it would have been wiser for Britain to ally herself with them rather than with what he saw as the doomed and decaying
Islamic power. He said in the House of Commons You must address yourselves as men of sense and men of energy, to the question – what are you to do with the Christian population? For Mahommedanism [Islam] cannot be maintained, and I should be sorry to see this country fighting for the maintenance of Mahommedanism ... You may keep Turkey on the map of Europe, you may call the country by the name of Turkey if you like, but do not think you can keep up the Mahommedan rule in the country. The torrent of popular sentiment in favour of war was, however, irresistible; and both Cobden and
John Bright were overwhelmed with obloquy.
Karl Marx wrote "And without total abandonment of the law of the Koran [argues opposition MP Cobden], it was impossible to put the Christians of Turkey upon an equality with the Turks. We may as well ask Mr Cobden whether, with the existing State Church and laws of England, it is possible to put her working-men upon an equality with the Cobdens and the Brights?"
Second Opium War At the beginning of 1857 tidings from China reached Britain of
a rupture between the British
plenipotentiary in that country and the governor of the
Canton province in reference to a small vessel or
lorcha called the
Arrow, which had resulted in the British admiral destroying the river forts, burning 23 ships belonging to the Qing Navy and bombarding the city of
Canton. After a careful investigation of the official documents, Cobden became convinced that those were utterly unrighteous proceedings. He brought forward a motion in parliament to this effect, which led to a long and memorable debate, lasting over four nights, in which he was supported by
Sidney Herbert, Sir
James Graham,
William Gladstone, Lord John Russell and
Benjamin Disraeli, and which ended in the defeat of
Lord Palmerston by a majority of sixteen. But this triumph cost him his seat in parliament. On the dissolution which followed Lord Palmerston's defeat, Cobden became candidate for
Huddersfield, but the voters of that town gave the preference to his opponent, who had supported the Russian war and approved of the proceedings at Canton. Cobden was thus relegated to private life, and retiring to his country house at Dunford, he spent his time in perfect contentment in cultivating his land and feeding his pigs. He took advantage of this season of leisure to pay another visit to the
United States. During his absence the
general election of 1859 occurred, when he was returned unopposed for
Rochdale. Lord Palmerston was again prime minister, and having discovered that the advanced liberal party was not so easily "crushed" as he had apprehended, he made overtures of reconciliation, and invited Cobden and
Thomas Milner Gibson to become members of his government. In a frank, cordial letter which was delivered to Cobden on his landing in
Liverpool, Lord Palmerston offered him the role of
President of the Board of Trade, with a seat in the
Cabinet. Many of his friends urgently pressed him to accept but without a moment's hesitation he determined to decline the proposed honour. On his arrival in London he called on Lord Palmerston, and with the utmost frankness told him that he had opposed and denounced him so frequently in public, and that he still differed so widely from his views, especially on questions of foreign policy, that he could not, without doing violence to his own sense of duty and consistency, serve under him as minister. Lord Palmerston tried good-humouredly to combat his objections, but without success.
Cobden–Chevalier Treaty Though Cobden declined to share the responsibility of Lord Palmerston's administration, he was willing to act as its representative in promoting
freer commercial intercourse between Britain and France. But the negotiations for this purpose originated with himself in conjunction with Bright and
Michel Chevalier. Towards the close of 1859 he called upon Lord Palmerston, Lord John Russell and Gladstone, and signified his intention to visit France and get into communication with
Napoleon III of France and his ministers, with a view to promoting this object. These statesmen expressed in general terms their approval of his purpose, but he went entirely on his own account, clothed at first with no official authority. On his arrival in Paris he had a long audience with Napoleon, in which he urged many arguments in favour of removing those obstacles which prevented the two countries from being brought into closer dependence on one another, and he succeeded in making a considerable impression on his mind in favour of free trade. He then addressed himself to the French ministers, and had much earnest conversation, especially with
Eugène Rouher, whom he found well inclined to the economical and commercial principles which he advocated. After a good deal of time spent in these preliminary and unofficial negotiations, the question of a treaty of commerce between the two countries having entered into the arena of diplomacy, Cobden was requested by the British government to act as their plenipotentiary in the matter in conjunction with
Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley, their ambassador in France. But it proved a very long and laborious undertaking. He had to contend with the bitter hostility of the French
protectionists, which occasioned a good deal of vacillation on the part of the emperor and his ministers. There were also delays, hesitations and cavils at home, which were more inexplicable. He was, moreover, assailed with great violence by a powerful section of the British press, while the large number of minute details with which he had to deal in connection with proposed changes in the French tariff, involved a tax on his patience and industry which would have daunted a less resolute man. But there was one source of embarrassment greater than all the rest. One strong motive which had impelled him to engage in this enterprise was his anxious desire to establish more friendly relations between Britain and France, and to dispel those feelings of mutual jealousy and alarm which were so frequently breaking forth and jeopardizing peace between the two countries. This was the most powerful argument with which he had plied the emperor and the members of the French government, and which he had found most efficacious with them. But while he was in the midst of the negotiations, Lord Palmerston brought forward in the House of Commons a measure for fortifying the naval arsenals of Britain, which he introduced in a warlike speech pointedly directed against France, as the source of danger of invasion and attack, against which it was necessary to guard. This produced irritation and resentment in
Paris, and but for the influence which Cobden had acquired, and the perfect trust reposed in his sincerity, the negotiations would probably have been altogether wrecked. At last, however, after nearly twelve months' incessant labour, the work was completed in November 1860. "Rare," said Mr Gladstone, "is the privilege of any man who, having fourteen years ago rendered to his country one signal service, now again, within the same brief span of life, decorated neither by land nor title, bearing no mark to distinguish him from the people he loves, has been permitted to perform another great and memorable service to his sovereign and his country." On the conclusion of this work honours were offered to Cobden by the governments of both the countries which he had so greatly benefited. Lord Palmerston offered him a
baronetcy and a seat in the
privy council, and the emperor of the French would gladly have conferred upon him some distinguished mark of his favour. But with characteristic disinterestedness and modesty he declined all such honours. Cobden's efforts in furtherance of free trade were always subordinated to what he deemed the highest moral purposes: the promotion of peace on earth and goodwill among men. This was his desire and hope as respects the commercial treaty with France. He was therefore deeply disappointed and distressed to find the old feeling of distrust still actively fomented by the press and some of the leading politicians of the country. In 1862 he published his pamphlet entitled
The Three Panics, the object of which was to trace the history and expose the folly of those periodical visitations of alarm as to French designs with which Britain had been afflicted for the preceding fifteen or sixteen years.
American Civil War When the
American Civil War threatened to break out in the United States, Cobden was deeply distressed, but after the conflict became inevitable his sympathies were wholly with the
Union because the
Confederacy was fighting for
slavery. Nonetheless, his great anxiety was that the British nation should not be committed to any unworthy course during the progress of that struggle. When relations with the United States were becoming critical and menacing as a consequence of depredations committed against the United States by aid to the Confederacy from
blockade runners and Confederate
commerce raiders issuing from British ports respectively, actions that would lead to the post-war
Alabama Claims, he brought the question before the House of Commons in a series of speeches of rare clearness and force. In an 1862 speech in Rochdale about the
Lancashire Cotton Famine he said that "t would be cheaper to keep the whole population of the cotton districts [...] on turtle, champagne and venison than to send to America to obtain cotton by force of arms".
Character and motivations Cobden was characterised from his early years by energy and sociability, but also particularly by a desire to learn and understand the traits of the world, a characteristic that stayed with him throughout his life. He had many friends from many walks of life.
Disraeli commended Cobden on his careful art of avoiding to drive his arguments to an extremity, which was one secret of his singular persuasiveness. Cobden may have been disappointed that improvements in material wealth did not bring moral improvements. He wrote towards the end of his life
"Nations have not yet learnt to bear prosperity, liberty, and peace. They will learn it in a higher state of civilization. We think we are the models for posterity, when we are little better than beacons to help it to avoid the rocks and quicksands. The world is sadly slow to learn..." ==Death==