Cobden: Liberty and Peace

This is a Reading List based upon a Liberty Fund conference on “Liberty and Peace in the Life and Works of Richard Cobden.”

Liberty and Peace in the Life and Works of Richard Cobden

Guide to the Readings

Editions used:

• Richard Cobden, The Political Writings of Richard Cobden, with a Preface by Lord Welby, Introductions by Sir Louis Mallet, C.B., and William Cullen Bryant, Notes by F.W. Chesson and a Bibliography, 2 vols. (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1903).
• Richard Cobden, Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, M.P., ed. by John Bright and J.E. Thorold Rogers with a Preface and Appreciation by J.E. Thorold Rogers and an Appreciation by Goldwin Smith (London: T.Fisher Unwin, 1908). 2 volumes in 1.
• John Morley, The Life of Richard Cobden (London: T. Fisher Unwiin, 1903).

See also:

• Collections: War and Peace
• Collections: The Manchester School
• Richard Cobden

Session I: Free Trade

Bright, John and Thorold Rogers, James E. Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, (London: Macmillan, 1903)

• Free Trade. V. London, September 28, 1843, pp. 33-40
• Free Trade. X. London, May 8, 1844, pp. 89-96
• Free Trade. XIX. London, December 17, 1845, pp. 173-180

Session II: Limited Government

Bright, John and Thorold Rogers, James E. Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, (London: Macmillan, 1903)

• Finance. II. Manchester, January 10, 1849, pp. 242-251
• Parliamentary Reform. V. Rochdale, August 18, 1859, pp. 578-588
• Education. III. Manchester, December 1, 1851, pp. 604-610

Morley, John The life of Richard Cobden, (London: T Fisher Unwin, 1906)

• Cobden to W. C. Hunt On the Hours of Labour pp. 951-955

Session III: Peace and War

Bright, John and Thorold Rogers, James E. Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, (London: Macmillan, 1903)

• Finance. IV. International Reduction of Armaments. House of Commons, June 17, 1851, pp. 263-269
• Peace. I. Wrexham, November 14, 1850, pp. 509-519
• Peace. II. Manchester, January 27, 1853, pp. 520-530

Cobden Richard, Political Writings, (London: T Fisher Unwin, 1903)

• Russia. Chapter IV: Protection of Commerce, pp. 217-259

Session IV: Cobden’s View of The U.S. and The Civil War

Cobden Richard, “America” in Political Writings

• England, Ireland, and America. Part III: America, pp 76-121

Hobson, J A Richard Cobden: The International Man, (London: T Fisher Unwin, 1919) “The Civil War and The Sumner Letters” (Extracts) - not available online

Session V: Critical Views

Archibald Alison, Essays: Political, Historical, and Miscellaneous, (Edinburgh: Blackwoods, 1850) pp. 362-388 and 618-660 - not available online

Friedrich List “Introduction” to The National System of Political Economy in Margaret E Hirst The life of Friedrich List (London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1909) pp. 286-318 - not available online

Session VI: Contemporary and Subsequent Views of Cobden

Sir Louis Mallet “The Political Opinions of Richard Cobden” (1867) in Political Writings

• Introduction to the Second Edition By Sir Louis Mallet, C.B. The Political Opinions of Richard Cobden, pp. xxix-xliii

M Paul Leroy-Beaulieu “Richard Cobden: His Work and the Outcome of His Ideas” in Richard Cobden and the Jubilee of Free Trade, (London: T Fisher Unwin, 1896) pp. 77-126 - not available online