y 1853.

M7 The English Despatch

9 Cavour to Marquis d'Azeglio, Dec. 9, 1860. _La Politique du Comte
Camille de Cavour de 1852 a 1861_, p. 392.

10 June 6, 1861.

11 The disaster was the outcome of the Chinese refusal to receive Mr.
Bruce, the British minister at Pekin. Admiral Hope in endeavouring
to force an entrance to the Peiho river was repulsed by the fire of
the Chinese forts (June 25, 1859). In the following year a joint
Anglo-French expedition captured the Taku forts and occupied Pekin
(Oct. 12, 1860).

_ 12 Odyssey_, xx. 63.

13 On a motion by Lord Elcho against any participation in a conference
to settle the details of the peace between Austria and France.

14 I may be forgiven for referring to my _Life of Cobden_, ii. chap.
xi. For the French side of the transaction, see an interesting
chapter in De La Gorce, _Hist. du Second Empire_, iii. pp. 213-32.

15 "I will undertake that there is not a syllable on our side of the
treaty that is inconsistent with the soundest principles of free
trade. We do not propose to reduce a duty which, on its merits,
ought not to have been dealt with long ago. We give no concessions
to France which do not apply to all other nations. We leave
ourselves free to lay on any amount of internal duties and to put on
an equal tax on foreign articles of the same kind at the
custom-house. It is true we bind ourselves for ten years not
otherwise to raise such of our customs as affect the French trade,
or put on fresh ones; and this, I think, no true free trader will
regret."--_Cobden to Bright._

M8 Outline Of The Scheme

16 The reader who wishes to follow these proceedings in close detail
will, of course, read the volume of _The Financial Statements_ of
1853, 1860-63, containing also the speech on tax-bills, 1861, and on
charities, 1863 (Murray, 1863).

17 Strictly speaking, in 1845 the figure had risen from 1052 to 1163
articles, for the first operation of tariff reform was to multiply
the number in consequence of the transition from _ad valorem_ to
specific duties, and this increased the headings under which they
were described. In 1860 Mr. Gladstone removed the duties from 371
articles, reducing the number to 48, of which only 15 were of
importance--spirits, sugar, tea, toba