nobler idea ever emanated from the mind of man. It had for its object peace and good will among nations, and no structure, hitherto erected, ever conveyed a more striking impression of "the abodes of Peace" than did the Crystal Palace of 1851. To it, all nations were invited to send specimens of the natural and cultivated produce of their soil, and the manufactures and arts of their people.
Messrs. Cobden and Chevalier meet first there,
and, ultimately in 1860, carry the Commercial Treaty.
In that marvellous structure, two great and good
men for the first time met—Richard Cobden of
England and Michael Chevalier of France. Men of
such great intelligence could not fail to see how
numerous were the articles exhibited which were
required by the people of both countries where they
could not be economically produced, but which were
heavily taxed, merely for the special benefit of the
few who produced them, to the great loss of whole
communities; and that, consequently, productions
and manufactures were limited by a system of protection,
alike iniquitous and unnecessary for the
purposes of revenue. They, therefore, resolved to
do what they could to modify the tariffs of both
countries, especially France, and thus to secure a
more free interchange of those articles each country
produced more cheaply and more abundantly than
the other. The result of their labours was the
Commercial Treaty of 1860.
Although, by the great changes in the English tariff, carried into effect by Sir Robert Peel (1842-46), the duty on French goods had been much reduced in England, and on a great number of articles altogether abolished, France still maintained high duties on most manufactured articles, and, indeed, prohi-
