334

Liem
he CORDES
[omar

1845. once said, was more to him than the active support of *
" ' hondred other men. Mr. Bright was then travelling i"
Scotland. The letter found him one evening at a hotel %
Inverness. It was the wettest autumn in the memory ©
man, and the rain came over the hills in a downpour that
never ceased by night or by day. It was the rain that rained
away the Corn Laws. Cobden begged of Mr. Bright ©
burn what he had written, and the injunction was obeyed
It was a beautiful letter, Mr. Bright has said: surely 7°
may say no less of the reply :—

“ Invernees, Septombeor 20th, 1845.
“My pear Coepen,—I received your lefter of the 15th
yesterday evening, on my arrival here. Its contents have
made me more sad than I can express; it seems as if this
untoward event contained within it an affliction perscmal for
myself, great public loss, a heavy blow to one for whom I
feel a sincere friendship, and not a little of danger to the
great cause in which we have been fellow-labourers.
“I would return home without a day’s delay, if I had #
valid excuse for my sisters who are here with me, We ha®
now been out nearly three weeks, and may possibly be 28
much longer before we reach home; our plan being pretty
well chalked out beforehand, I don’t see how I can greatly
change it without giving a sufficient reason. But it does
not appear needful that you should take any hasty step
the matter. Too much is at stake, both for you and for the
public, to make any sudden decision advisable, I m&Y
therefore be home in time for us to have some conversatio®
before anything comes before the public. Nothing of i
chall pass my lips, and I would urge nothing to be done till
the latest moment, in the hope that some way of escape mey
get be found. T am of opinion that your retirement would
be tantamount to a dissolution of the Lesgne; its main”