$72

roms”
UIFE OF COBDEN. -

1848. neglect of others who have laboured long and zealously we
oe 45, me in the cause of Free Trade. I feel deeply the injustice ©
passing over Bright and Villiers, to say nothing of other’
and nothing but the conviction that I am guiltless of over
having arrogated to myself the merit of others consoles me -
the painful position in which the public have placed me;
being the vehicle for diverting the reward from men who 8°
as worthy of all honour as myself. But I wish to speak ®
yon upon & still more delicate view of this unpalatable af?™
I do not like to be recompensed for a public service af all
and I am sensible that my moral influence will be impaired
by the fact of my receiving a tribute in money from the
public. I should have preferred to have either refused it
or to have done a glorious service by endowing a colleg®
But as an honest man, and as a father and a husband, 1
cannot refuse to accept the money. You will probably be
surprised when I tell yon that I have shared the fate Of
nearly all leaders in revolutions or great reforms, by the
complete sacrifice of my private prospects in life. In a Wor 4
I was a poor man at the close of my agitation. I shall ob
go into details, because it would involve painful remint%
cences ; but suffice it to say that whilst the Duke of Rich”
mond was taunting me with the profits of my business, 1
was suffering the complete loss of my private fortune, and
I am not now afraid to confess to you that my health of
body and peace of mind have suffered more in consequen®
of private anxieties during the last two years, than fro
my public labours. With strong domestic feelings and
with au orderly mind, which was peculiarly sensitive to the
immorality of risking the happiness of those whom nate
had given the first claim on me, for the sake of a pubhie
object, I experienced a conflict between the demands of »Y
responsible public station, and the prior duties which I owed
bo my faxaily, which altogether nearly varalysed me, I ghould