Excerpt from The Nineteenth Century, Vol. 10: July-December, 1881 But I must now focalise these remarks by way of conclusion. It is a foul abuse of language to attempt to hide Protection and dear bread under the cloak of fair trade.' We cannot, all at once and everywhere, have a free and unshackled exchange between the various products of the earth and the fruits of man's ingenuity, skill, and labour. But we can continue to set the nations a good example, and, by degrees, get all others into the same mind with ourselves. So let us neither shrink nor flinch but endure to the end. The other day (august 22, 1881) the English Commissioners were to have joined their French colleagues in Paris for the renewal of negotiations with a view to the conclusion of a fresh Treaty of Commerce between the two countries. Unfortunately, the Government of the Republic took an attitude which obliged our own to call a halt. That advised pause was not what our good neighbours expected. Their calculation seems to have been that any sort of agreement would have been accepted rather than the prejudic tariff arranged to take effect on the 8th of November. Thus surprised, the French mind is waking up, and will perhaps find its way to the unequivocal adoption of conditions quite equal to those for which Richard Cobden success fully negotiated under the Empire. But if the interests on both sides, perilled by delay, are to be in any good measure saved, what France does she must do quickly. If, however, we have some reason for misgivings as to French tactics, we have none for mistrust when we look at home. Our fair traders start with something not either truth or firirness in their right hand. When did John Bright or any other man promise that the very first step in Free Trade between our country and others should control the changefulness of our island seasons, or safeguard our manufacturers and merchants from every cause of fluctuation and depression? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.