Nevertheless, as a mere question of literary skill and temper,
there can be no question that Mr. Cobden has been utterly worsted, which is the less creditable to his composure, as he had a case which would have rejoiced the heart and nerved the pen of any literary wrestler. His foolish boast that the Times now never entered his doors was met by Mr. Delane's quiet reminder that he had once thought a single copy of that paper worth all the works of Thucydides," to which Mr. Cobden still more un- warily replies that he gave it up when it began to revile him as the negotiator of the treaty of commerce with France. In other words, Mr. Cobden's estimate of a paper varies accurately with its estimate of him, which will lead people to infer that he thinks it the first function of the press to be a good Cobdenometer. Of the literary judgment passed on this duel we may form some conception from the fact that, with the exception of the Daily News, and a very small but respectable minority, the newspapers, both metropolitan and country, have been engaged during the whole week in violently wagging their tails to the nmes, and the Times in suitably acknowledging the compliment.
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