252 History of the 



furthered them with his influence, if not to any great extent with 

 his purse. 



We have remarked above that Mr. Munn at one time in his 

 career exercised greater influence in Rossendale than any other 

 man. We might safely have said, than any other dozen men put 

 together. But it was not so during the last twenty years of his life. 

 During that period his name, though still in the first rank of 

 Lancashire capitalists and cotton spinners, had gradually ceased 

 to be "a name to conjure by." This result was unquestionably 

 due to the change that some time after the repeal of the Corn 

 Laws took place in his poHtical opinions. In the prime of his 

 life there was no more ardent Liberal than the deceased, associated 

 as he was with Cobden, Bright, Henry Ashworth, of Bolton, and 

 the other leading spirits of the great Anti-Corn Law League. In 

 those days he was a prominent figure in what was unquestionably 

 the ablest coalition of men of business and of natural genius that 

 ever before in the history of this or any other country associated 

 together for a beneficent political purpose. The leaders of the 

 League, both individually and collectively, were men who towered 

 above their fellows, and Rossendale was proud of its representative. 

 In clear-headedness, in business tact, and in wealth, Mr. Munn 

 was equal to most of his associates of those days ; he came behind 

 some of them only in his power of expression, for he never was a 

 public speaker, though he essayed to appear once or twice in that 

 capacity. But in private conversation, and in the committee room, 

 his vigorous words, the enthusiasm that would at times glow in his 

 eyes and hurry his speech to his lips, were all well suited to 

 stimulate the spirits of his compeers. It is well known also that 

 he was a large contributor to the funds of the League. When 

 afterwards he fell away from the political faith of his younger years, 

 there was silent grieving in Rossendale, for it was well known to 

 his best friends that in no true sense could he ever sympathise 

 with the doctrines of his new allies, whilst it was seen that his 

 influence as a man and a politician would suffer declension. The 

 result proved the truth of these anticipations, for he eventually 



