d, and all the suspicion and hatred which had been directed against
the emperor of the French were diverted from him to the emperor of
Russia. Louis Napoleon was taken into favour as England's faithful ally,
and in a whirlwind of popular excitement the nation was swept into the
Crimean War. Cobden, who had travelled in Turkey, and had studied the
condition of that country with great care for many years, discredited
the outcry about maintaining the independence and integrity of the
Ottoman empire which was the battle-cry of the day. He denied that it
was possible to maintain them, and no less strenuously denied that it
was desirable even if it were possible. He believed that the jealousy of
Russian aggrandizement and the dread of Russian power were absurd
exaggerations. He maintained that the future of European Turkey was in
the hands of the Christian population, and that it would have been wiser
for England to ally herself with them rather than with the doomed and
decaying Mahommedan power. "You must address yourselves," he said in the
House of Commons, "as men of sense and men of energy, to the
question--what are you to do with the Christian population? for
Mahommedanism cannot be maintained, and I should be sorry to see this
country fighting for the maintenance of Mahommedanism.... You may keep
Turkey on the map of Europe, you may call the country by the name of
Turkey if you like, but do not think you can keep up the Mahommedan rule
in the country." The torrent of popular sentiment in favour of war was,
however, irresistible; and Cobden and Bright were overwhelmed with
obloquy.

At the beginning of 1857 tidings from China reached England of a rupture
between the British plenipotentiary in that country and the governor of
the Canton provinces in reference to a small vessel or lorcha called the
"Arrow," which had resulted in the English admiral destroying the river
forts, burning 23 ships belonging to the Chinese navy and bombarding the
city of Canton. After a careful investigation of the official documents,
Cobden became convinced that those were utterly unrighteous proceedings.
He brought forward a motion in parliament to this effect, which led to a
long and memorable debate, lasting over four nights, in which he was
supported by Sydney Herbert, Sir James Graham, Gladstone, Lord John
Russell and Disraeli, and which ended in the defeat of Lord Palmerston
by a majority of sixteen. But this triumph cost him his seat in