ood, have immediately taken
energetic means, and have opened the harbours, bought corn, and
provided for the case of a rise of prices. Sir Robert proposed the
same thing for England, and, by opening the ports, a preparation for
the abolition of the Corn Laws. His colleagues refused, and of the
whole Cabinet only Lord Aberdeen, Sir James Graham, and Mr Sidney
Herbert voted with him. Sir Robert hoped that in time the opinions of
the others would change, and therefore postponed a final decision.
In the meanwhile the agitation of the Anti-Corn Law League began;
in every town addresses were voted, meetings were held, the
_Times_--barometer of public feeling--became suddenly _violently_
Anti-Corn Law, the meetings of the Cabinet roused attention, a general
panic seized on the mass of the public. Sir Robert called anew his
Cabinet. In the midst of their deliberation Lord John Russell issues
from Edinburgh an address to the City of London.[31]

[Footnote 31: Declaring for the Repeal of the Corn Laws.]

The whole country cries out: the Corn Laws are doomed.

Thereon Sir Robert declared to his Cabinet that nothing but unanimity
could save the cause, and pressed for a decision.

The Duke of Buccleuch and Lord Stanley declared they could not take a
part in a measure abolishing the Corn Laws, and would therefore have
to resign. The other members, including the Duke of Wellington, showed
themselves ready to support Sir Robert, yet, as the latter says,
"apparently not willingly and against their feelings." Thereupon Sir
Robert resolved to lay down his office as Minister.

When he arrived here he was visibly much moved, and said to me, that
it was one of the most painful moments of his life to separate himself
from us, "but it is necessary, and if I have erred it was from loyalty
and too great an anxiety not to leave Her Majesty in a moment of such
great difficulty. I ought to have gone when I was first left by my
colleagues in a minority in my own Cabinet. I was anxious, however, to
try my utmost, but it is impossible to retrieve lost time. As soon as
I saw Lord John's letter I felt that the ground was slipping away
from under me, and that whatever I might now propose would appear as
dictated by the Opposition, as taking Lord John's measure. On the 1st
of November the whole country was prepared for the thing; there had
been no agitation, everybody looking to the Government, as soon as
they saw this wavering and hesitating, th