there never was a "manchester school," though a volume has been published upon it. it never had professor nor special tenets. manchester stands for free trade and nothing more. its three great leaders—thomas thomasson, richard cobden, and john bright—were also for peace, retrenchment, and reform, for the extension of the suffrage, and the repeal of the taxes upon knowledge, because they were essential to the popularity and maintenance of free trade. but manchester took no special interest, save in free trade, which was a local manufacturing necessity, as well as a national one.
mr. john morley uses the term "manchester school," as embodying the personal convictions of the great free trade leaders. manchester did a great thing in adopting, adhering to, and enforcing free trade. that itself is a noble distinction.
the advocacy of thomasson, cobden, and bright included principles loftier and wider than manchester. the "manchester school" is but a term of courtesy used for convenience of reference, far less definite than the "school of bentham." the "school of cobden" is intelligible, as covering a larger area of thought than manchester. as to cobden, no one can presume to give any new estimate of him, after john morley has written his life. therefore i confine myself to such personal incidents as came under my own observation.
once, when i had the pleasure to be a guest of mr. joseph chamberlain at highbury, mr. john morley was present conversation in the library turning upon cobden, i remarked that he had introduced more immorality into politics than any other public man in my time. "how?" asked mr. morley, with a quick, questioning look. i answered, "by advising electors to vote for any candidate, irrespective of his politics, who would vote for the repeal of the corn laws." this was in effect saying, "vote for the devil, provided the devil will vote for you," who, even if he keeps faith with you, is a dangerous ally to put in power. in a speech to the council of the anti-corn law league in manchester in september, 1842, mr. cobden said: "we are no political body. we have refused to be bought by the tories;* we have kept aloof from the whigs, and we will not join partnership with either radicals or chartists;** but we hold out our hand, ready to give it to all who are ready to advocate the total repeal of the corn and provision laws."
* would the tories have bought them? what could they have
done with them?
* neither radicals nor chartists asked them. both parties
conditionally opposed the corn law repealers. thomasson held
that the repeal of the corn laws could precede the charter.
the chartists contended that the corn laws could not be
repealed until the people had universal suffrage. thomasson
was right.
this doctrine, sanctioned by cobden's illustrious name, has demoralised politics and placed every prime minister at the mercy of every conscientious party strong enough to defeat him by an unscrupulous conspiracy in caves, or at the poll. the independent labour party founded their ishmaelitish policy (of more than aloofness) upon this contagious manchester speech—leaving out the friendly condition of "readiness to give their hands" to any who advocate the interests of labour, which is their professed reason of being. women who seek the political emancipation of their sex adopt the policy of voting for tories, and mr. woodall, in their name, risked the wrecking of a liberal government if it did not accede to their claim. mr. cobden, in inviting electors to vote for conservatives who were against the corn laws, would have established tory ascendancy in the land. considering that the stricken condition of the people was through their food being taxed, toryism might be a lesser evil than the denial of free trade. cobden might reasonably be of opinion that no party can do so much harm as starvation, and therefore felt justified in possibly destroying the liberal party to save the people. but he should have qualified his policy by restricting it to extreme cases, where the arrest of a progressive government is a lesser peril than refusing a particular and paramount claim. without such qualification cobden's precedent proclaimed a policy of selfishness which fights for its own hand against the general interest of the state. this is the charge which liberals bring against the aristocracy. it is the policy of self which makes the multiplication of parties a public danger. such unqualified advocacy of reforms carries with it an element of national hostility. justifying himself by the example of cobden, we have seen the publican going for the bung, and the teetotaler for the teapot the anti-vaccinator will risk poisoning the nation by toryism in order to arrest the lancet; as certain workmen will destroy liberalism in the interest of labour. thus, generally speaking, every party is for its own hand and none for the state.
the great french revolution, which promised the emancipation of europe, was destroyed by the determination of each party to obtain the ascendancy of its own theories, at the peril of the republic.
the society for repealing the taxes upon knowledge met in many places. when francis place was chairman we met in essex street. at one time we met in the rooms of the secretary, mr. c. d. collet, in great coram street, within a door or two of the house where a girl was killed, for which a dutch clergyman was arrested, and falsely and ignominiously imprisoned for a time. bright and cobden attended committee meetings in great coram street.
one day when cobden came, he walked to the house of commons after the meeting, through falling snow, in the quiet, meditative way peculiar to him. as i had some duties in the house of commons in those days, i followed him, curious to see what streets he would go through, wondering as i went along, at the disinterested and unnoted services so great a man, of european fame, rendered to the interests of the working people. mistaken chartists were denouncing cobden, bright, and milner-gibson as whigs—as mere middle-class advocates—these libelled leaders were generously and disinterestedly labouring to confer upon the working class the enfranchisement of the press—although they knew full well it would put larger means of assailing them into the hands of their defamers. why should mr. cobden walk through the snow to put new power in their hands—save from nobleness of nature, which helped others, irrespective of any advantage to himself—irrespective even of their goodwill? he not only personally attended committees, as bright and gibson also did, but often sent us letters explaining principle or policy which implied constant thought upon the movement as well as labour for it.
the "pale-faced manufacturer" was a champion of the industrial classes, which he foresaw would come into the field, which were thought then good enough for paying taxes, but who were to be kept out of the pale of the governing classes.
thus i conceived and retained a personal affection for cobden, notwithstanding his aversion for some views he supposed me to hold.
when it was advised that i should appear at the london tavern to oppose mr. peter borthwick's design of setting up a separate society for the repeal of the paper duty, which would divide the forces for the repeal of the whole of the taxes upon knowledge, bright hesitated as to the propriety of sending me on that mission. "what i am thinking of," said bright, "is whether we shall not be taken as seeking the repeal of the thirty-nine articles instead of the taxes on knowledge." cobden was more fearless in things intellectual. i was deputed to speak at the borthwick meeting.
though cobden's mind was engrossed in public affairs, public affairs were never master of him. he always possessed himself.
sir alexander burne's despatches were long withheld, and when produced, at mr. blight's instigation, they were found to be so mutilated that they were spoken of as the "forged" despatches. it was of that transaction that cobden said, "palmerston was so impartial, that he had no bias, not even towards the truth," showing that he could speak epigrams that cut into a reputation.
one night mr. cobden brought to me in the bill room of the house of commons a blind young man, whom he said he wished to introduce to me. it was mr. henry fawcett, of whom he said great things might be expected in the future. mr. cobden had procured for mr. fawcett an order for the speaker's gallery. he was waiting for admission, as the doorkeeper told him there was no room. amid all the chatter and bustle of the lobby, mr. fawcett's ears were up that staircase, and he said, "i hear footsteps coming down," which meant there was a vacant seat, and mr. fawcett was admitted. no one else had heard the descending feet. it was that night that mr. cobden told me, in answer to a question put to him, that he "believed, had it not been for the occurrence of the irish famine, all the vast educative efforts of the anti-corn law league would not have effected the repeal of the corn laws at that time." nevertheless, the great propagandist activity of the league was the main element of success. the anti-corn law agitation of the league was a triumph of argument aided by calamity. subsequendy mr. fawcett became a professor, and an authority on political economy. at social science meetings, wherever or whenever i asked him to aid the co-operative question of co-partnership—by defining it in debate, as public ideas were confused about it—he would always find or make occasion to do so.
in order that co-operation should be represented at his funeral, i travelled across country through the early morning fog, from leicester to trumpington, where he was buried. i found in the churchyard my early friend, sir michael foster, who had like regard for the dead postmaster-general. i was the only person known to be connected with the co-operative movement who was present at his grave that day.
how well cobden could take care of himself appeared in a matter in which my friend, thornton hunt, to my great regret, was in the wrong. the times had published defamatory imputations on mr. cobden, who took the editor, mr. delane, by the throat and held him with a grasp of such vigour that when he died the marks of cobdens fingers were upon the neck of his reputation. the daily telegraph, of which mr. thornton hunt was consulting editor, published comments in defence of the times on cobdens letter to delane, but refused to insert cobden's letter of self defence. mr. hunt, who had real regard for cobden, wrote to assure him of it, and gave as the reason for declining to insert his letter, his fear lest it should damage his reputation. it was the same as saying to cobden, "our readers have a great regard for you, but if you should prove you are not a knave, you will sink in their estimation." the ineffable meanness and audacity of this inspired mr. cobden with a contemptuous indignation, and he told mr. hunt there was only one favour he could do him, and that was not to take his reputation under his repellent patronage.
apart from instances such as the perfidy to cobden, mr. delane was a great editor, determining the fluctuating policy of the times (the policy of the ascendancy of prevailing opinion, right or wrong), selecting leading articles and defining the lines to be taken by the writers. robert lowe (afterwards lord sherbrooke) received directions which might themselves be printed as leaders in brief. as it was mr. lowe's custom to throw mr. delane's letters into his paper basket, they came into the hands of his butterman, who, having practical curiosity, took them to mr. james beal, who, upon the advice of mr. bright, sent them back to mr. lowe. all who saw the letters were surprised at the fidelity of the articles as they appeared in the times to mr. delane's preconceived comprehensive, explicit, and well-defined tenor.
it was a favourite story told against cobden by his adversaries, that when he visited the central illinois railway, the company gave free tickets to residents near each station, that the seeming crowd of travellers might impose on cobden to report well on its prospects.
it is what sharp business americans might be supposed to do. but it did not impose on the popular traveller, whom many naturally strove to see. the chief of the company was candid to him* mr. morley has made clear that what did influence cobden was the prospect of advancing the welfare of emigrants abroad.
at the great exhibition of 1851 a belief arose that international commerce would increase. a friend of mine, mr. allsop, like cobden, lost a large fortune by premature enthusiasm. mr. cobden's was a like error, but a generous one.
on the night of cobden's last speech in rochdale, i was one of the audience in the great mill room in which he spoke. he sent to me a note from the platform. it was the last i received from him. i was that night more conscious than ever before of his wonderful self-possession in speaking. he held up as it were, in the air, a chief sentence as he spoke it, and supplied, before he left it, the qualification he saw it needed, or the amplification he saw it required, so that malignity could not pervert it, nor ignorance misunderstand it. after making the longest speech of his life to the largest audience he had ever met in one room, he was taken to the house of a friend, where he was kept standing on the cold marble hearth in a fireless room, while his friends greeted him until late that november night. to a man of cobden's temperament standing is painful after mental exhaustion. a cold followed the fireless reception. i knew in birmingham a speaker of great promise, mr. j. h. chamberlain (unrelated to mr. joseph chamberlain) who was surrounded by his friends after a long and brilliant lecture, and when at last he sat down, he died.
i was in lavington churchyard when cobden was buried. on our walk from the station there, mr. gladstone, who was before me, turned round to shake hands with a friend. i saw at once that he was a lancashire man, which had never struck me before. he shook hands from the shoulder, which i had observed lancashire men did. in the churchyard i lingered behind, and stood within a clump of trees overlooking the grave. when mr. bright, who had left the other mourners, came there himself, i moved noiselessly away. he remained alone, looking down on the last resting-place of his star-bright colleague in counsel and in fight.
cobden excelled among politicians of the people in enthusiasm of the intellect. he regarded strong, lucid argument as the omnipotent force of progress. when one morning the news came, "cobden is dead" it was felt in every workshop in the land that a great power for peace and industry was lost to the nation. his disciples have grown with succeeding years, and if he be regarded as the founder of a school, no nobler one exists among politicians. he laid the foundations of free trade, not only for manchester, but for the world. as mr. morley tells us in his great "life," mr. gladstone "ranked the introduction of cheap postage for letters, documents, patterns, and printed matter, and the abolition of all taxes on printed matter as in the catalogue of free trade legislation." "these great measures," says mr. morley, "may well take their place beside the abolition of prohibitions and protective duties, the simplifying of revenue laws, and the repeal of the navigation act" these were all cobden's ideals. most of them he called into being, and he was the principal enchanter who gave them a local habitation and a name.
as with the "manchester school," so with the term "manchester men," it is used with a geographical indefiniteness; as when we speak of any one belonging to a shire instead of a town. hence cobden, who was a midhurst man, and bright, who was a rochdale man, are taken as typical "manchester men." as few readers have any definite idea of what a "manchester man" of the nobler sort individually is, i give a brief biography of one of the most influential of them, who might be regarded as the founder of the cobden school.
thomas thomasson [1808-1876], manufacturer and political economist, born at turton, near bolton, december 6, 1808, came of a quaker family settled in westmoreland (1672). his grandfather came from edgeworth, near bolton, about the middle of the seventeenth century, where he owned a small landed estate, and built a house known as "thomasson's fold." he gave the site for the friends' meeting house and burial ground at edgeworth. mr. thomasson's father, john, was born in 1776. he was manager of the old mill, eagley bridge, bolton, having also a share in the business, and subsequently became a cotton spinner on his own account. his son, thomas thomasson, the subject of this notice, erected no. 1 mill in bolton in 1841, at a time of great depression in trade, and great distress in the town—a fact which was mentioned by the prime minister (sir r. peel) in the house of commons as evidence that persons did not hesitate to employ their capital in the further extension of the cotton trade, notwithstanding its condition. thomas thomasson married a daughter of john pennington, of hindley, a liverpool merchant. though brought up a member of the society of friends, thomasson attended the bolton parish church, his wife being a churchwoman. but in 1855 he heard the clergyman preach on the propriety of the crimean war, which he thought so un-christian that he never went to church again. by his vigorous speeches he gave the impression that he knew more of the political economy of trade and commerce than any other manufacturer of his time. mr. bright and mr. cobden may be said to have learned from him. when mr. bright went out to deliver his first speech at a public meeting, he went to mr. thomasson on his way to take his opinion upon what he had in his mind to say. at thomasson's decease mr. bright bore testimony to his remarkable capacity as a man of business, saying, "he will be greatly missed by many who have been accustomed to apply to him for advice and help." he was not merely an eminent manufacturer, he was distinguished for his interest in public affairs. he assisted by money, counsel, and personal exertions in securing the incorporation of bolton. he consented to join the first council and was at the head of the poll, considering it his duty to take part in promoting the improvements he had advocated. he remained a member of the council over eighteen years. under the old government it was usual to call out armed police, or the military, for comparatively trifling disturbances, which greatly excited thomasson's indignation. he was a vigorous advocate for the town being supplied with cheap gas and cheap water, which involved watchfulness and advocacy extending over several years. he was foremost in insisting on the sanitary improvements of the town, and that the inspector should proceed against those who suffered nuisances on their premises. he gave the instance of "a family living in a cellar, outside of which there was a cesspool, the contents of which oozed through the walls and collected under the bed." ￡300 being left towards the formation of an industrial school, thomasson gave ￡200 more that it might be put into operation. on one occasion, when he was much opposed to the views of the council, he resigned rather than frustrate a compromise in which he could not concur, but which others thought beneficial. he promoted petitions in favour of decimal coinage, and refused to join in a petition against the income tax, deeming direct taxation the best. for some time he was a member of the board of guardians, but resigned because he "could not sit and see men slaughtered by a stroke of the pen," alluding to what he considered the illiberal manner in which relief was dispensed. he promoted the establishment of a library and museum, and gave ￡100 towards establishing a school on the plan of the british and foreign bible society. when new premises were required for a mechanics' institution, he gave ￡500 towards that project. he subscribed fifty guineas towards a memorial statue of crompton, the inventor, and proposed that something should be given to his descendants, saying: "if crompton had been a great general and had killed thousands of people, the government would have provided him with a small county, and given him a peerage; but as he had given livelihood to thousands of mule spinners, it was left to the people to provide for his distressed descendants." the town would have given thomasson any office in its power, but he would neither be alderman, mayor, nor member of parliament. he declined testimonials or statue. he sought no distinction for himself and accepted none; he cared alone for the welfare of the nation and the town, and the working people in it.
at a time when the votes of workpeople were generally regarded as the property of employers, thomasson said: "if the men in his employ were tories and voted so"—which meant voting for the corn laws, to which he was most opposed—" they would remain perfectly undisturbed by him—their public opinion and conduct were free." he was distinguished beyond any quaker of his day for political sympathy and tolerance. his principle was "to extend to every man, rich or poor, whatever privilege, political or mental, he claimed for himself."
at a memorable occasion in the bolton theatre, when the corn law question was contested, he may be said to have called mr. paulton into public life, by sending him on to the platform to defend the cause of repeal. mr. paulton became the first effective platform advocate of that movement thomasson was the chief promoter of the anti-corn law agitation, and the greatest subscriber to its funds. when the great subscription was raised in 1845, he was the first to put down ￡1,000. when it was proposed to make some national gift to mr. cobden, thomasson gave ￡5,000. he subsequently gave,￡5,000 to the second cobden subscription. this is not all that he did. mr. john morley relates, in his "life of cobden," that thomasson, learning that cobden was embarrassed by outstanding loans, raised to pay for his illinois shares, amounting to several thousand pounds, thomasson released the shares, and sent them to cobden, with a request that "he would do him the favour to accept that freedom at his hands in acknowledgment of his vast services to his country and mankind." on a later occasion, when aid was needed, mr. thomasson went down to midhurst and insisted that cobden should accept a still larger sum, refusing a formal acknowledgment and handing it over in such a form that the transaction was not known to any one but cobden and himself. after mr. thomasson's death there was found among his private papers a little memorandum of these advances containing the magnanimous words: "i lament that the greatest benefactor of mankind since the invention of printing was placed in a position where his public usefulness was com-promised and impeded by sordid personal cares, but i have done something as my share of what is due to him from his countrymen to set him free for further efforts in the cause of human progress."
in the repeal of the corn laws he always had in mind the welfare of his own townsmen, who, he said, "were paying in 1841 ￡150,000 more for food than they did in 1835," and every town in the country in a similar proportion. he constantly sought opportunities of generosity which could never be requited, nor even acknowledged, as he left no clue to the giver. when in london, he would, two or three years in succession, call in fleet street at my publishing house—then aiding in the repeal of the taxes on knowledge and defending the freedom of reasoned opinion—and leave ￡10, bearing the simple inscription, "from t.t." several years elapsed before it was known whose name the initials represented. all this was so unlike the popular conception of a political economist, that such incidents deserve to be recorded. workmen whose views he did not share would invite lecturers to the town, whom he would sometimes entertain, and judging that their remuneration would be scant, he would add ￡5 on their departure to cover their expenses. thinking that huxley might need rest which his means might not allow, thomasson offered to defray the cost of six months' travel abroad with his family. it was not convenient to the professor to act upon the offer. at thomasson's death a note was found among his papers, saying, "send huxley ￡1,000," which his son, afterwards member for bolton, did in his father's name.
thomasson was not one of those who strongly wish improvement, but feebly will it. he willed what he wished, and gave his voice and fortune to advance it. he was not a foolish philanthropist, with emotion without wisdom; his aid was never aimless, but given discerningly to reward or aid others who rendered public service. his merit was like circumstantial evidence—if special acts did not exceed those of some other men, the accumulated instances made a record which few have excelled.
that was the character of a real "manchester man"—on whom charles kingsley poured out the vitriolic vials of his holy wrath. yet kingsley had noble qualities—far above those with which the country clergyman is usually credited. it requires discrimination to speak of men of the "manchester school" as persons—
"who have only to close their eyes,
be selfish, cold, and wise,
and they never need to know
how the workers' children grow,
and live out only half their time."
thomasson did know this—wished to know this—took trouble to know it—and gave both thought and fortune to make their lot better. thomas bayley potter was of that class, which includes manchester careers worth remembering.