| Description | Letter written from Sussex, dated 8 January. Concerns free trade, and especially corn and foreign printed cottons; and criticisms made by M. Thiers and M. Dechamps. In response to Dechamps' allegation that he became an advocate of free trade in corn because of the withdrawal of protection, he briefly outlines the history of the Anti-Corn Law League, and his involvement with the movement, as well as his career as a calico printer. Cobden hopes he has demonstrated that the story originally concocted by Theirs, and borrowed by Dechamps 'could not possibly be true.' He expresses hope that the people of Belgium will come to realise that 'free trade' equates with 'plenty'. |