1841 witnessed the agitation in the Church of Scotland over the vexed question of lay patronage. Under the leadership of Dr. Chalmers and Dr. Welsh 474 Ministers renounced their connection with the Established Church, and, with a great body of elders and members, formed the Free Church of Scotland in May, 1843.

In the early days of Sir Robert Peel's Ministry there came news from the East that a disaster had occurred, which, for a time, shook the stability of our power in India. When Captain Burnes visited the Court of Dost Mahomed, the ruler of Afghanistan, in 1837, to establish commercial relations with that country, he found it at peace under that popular prince. Dost Mahomed was not the lawful heir to the throne, but an usurper. One of the dethroned family ruled the principality of Herat, and the rightful heir to the throne of Afghanistan was a refugee in India, living under British protection. The Shah of Persia had picked a quarrel with the Prince of Herat, and our Government, both at home and in India, chose to view the Shah as a tool of Russia. It is undoubtedly true that Russian officials were making frantic efforts to secure an alliance with Dost Mahomed; but Captain Burnes believed he had gained that alliance on behalf of England. Our Government, however, chose to believe Dost Mahomed a traitor, and proceeded to enter into a treaty to dethrone him and restore the exiled prince. It did not take very long to do this. Dost Mahomed made a splendid defence and then surrendered. The exiled prince was placed on the throne amid the sullen silence of a proud and fierce people, who felt themselves disgraced. Then began our troubles, and Captain Burnes was the first victim of a policy he had opposed and condemned. An insurrection broke out, which spread rapidly among the tribes, and was soon organised by Akbar Khan, the favourite son of Dost Mahomed. The British forces were defeated in every battle, and at last lay helplessly at the mercy of Akbar Khan. The shameful surrender and the infamous treaty were but the prelude of the crowning disaster which reduced our army in its retreat from Cabul to one man, who arrived at the gates of Jellalabad more dead than alive. Fortunately for our reputation and the safety of India, there was stationed at Jellalabad a band of resolute men, under the command of General Sale, who held it against an earthquake, which shattered the walls, and Akbar Khan, who besieged it; and before General Pollock could come to his relief, General Sale had defeated and dispersed the enemy. Then, wishing to retrieve the military honour we had lost, Generals Nott, Sale, and Pollock sought, and fought, and scattered the army under Akbar Khan in all parts of the country; but, in the end,

we had to withdraw, having proved, as Lord Ellenborough, the new Viceroy of India, pointed out, how hard it is to force a ruler upon an unwilling people.

In Ireland troubles were every day becoming more serious. Daniel O'Connell was using his unrivalled powers as a popular orator and leader to procure the separation of Ireland from England, and in the year 1843 the agitation reached a crisis. In O'Connell centred the most contradictory elements. While he professed the most perfect loyalty to the Queen and personal affection for her, he was carrying on a movement which was likely at one time to cause a rebellion against her authority; while he was a friend of the English in England, he stirred up the Irish hatred and bigotry against the hated Saxon ; and while he carried the agitation to the point of insurrection, he declared he only sought the end aimed at by Constitutional means. Such was his power in Ireland, that he could command an audience of a quarter of a million, could talk them into a fever of passion, could cool them down again and send them home in peace. Grievances in Church and State, in Land Laws, and social conditions wanted redressing, and O'Connell thought they could only be redressed by an Irish Parliament. At one time he thought he could see success just ahead, and assured the people that this year, 1843, should then and for ever be called the Repeal Year. The demonstration at Clontarf, to be held on Sunday, October 8, was to complete the work. The numbers present were to be greater than at any other previous gathering, and the excitement was intense. The gravity of the occasion dawned upon the officials at Dublin Castle; but nothing was done till the day before October 8, when a proclamation was issued prohibiting the demonstration as a dangerous and seditious gathering. On the same day O'Connell issued another proclamation declaring the Lord Lieutenant must be obeyed, and thus showed to all parties he did not intend to take the sword and fight for repeal. But, for all that, he was apprehended and put upon his trial, and by a jury, not one of whom was a Roman Catholic, was found guilty and sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment and a fine of £2,000. He appealed to the House of Lords, and was kept in prison till the conviction was quashed, in September, 1844. Out of prison he came, the lion of the hour ; but he was getting an old man, and his strength was fast failing. His young and passionate followers who wanted to fight fell from him, and formed the Young Ireland party. O'Connell lived on for three years longer, loved by many; but, shorn of his power, and wishing to die under the shadow of St. Peter's, at Rome, he took his journey thither, but he expired on the road, May 15, 1847.

If there was agitation for repeal of the union in Ireland, there was an agitation equally severe, but thoroughly Constitutional, for the repeal of the Corn Laws in England. Immediately after the close of the French war, in 1815, a prohibitive tax was put upon foreign corn until the price of home grain wheat had reached 80s. per quarter. This law was made by a Parliament representing almost exclusively the landed interest, in order to secure the farmer and landlord against the inundation of cheap corn, which was expected from the Continent as soon as peace was restored. In 1828 this law was altered, and a sliding scale was adopted, so that when the price of corn was under 37s. a quarter, the duty should be 50s. 8d., and when it rose to 73s. a quarter, the duty should be 1s. on foreign wheat. Any one can see the effect of these laws on the great manufacturing towns when work was scarce. In good harvests the pinch was felt severely enough, but in bad harvests famine stared in the face of vast numbers of people. The harvest of 1836 was wofully bad, and was matched by the scarcity of work. At Bolton-le-Moors, Lancashire, above 3,000 workmen were out of employment. This woke up thoughtful men, who were not farmers or landowners, to the cause of the wretchedness about them, and efforts began to be made for the total repeal of the laws which made bread dear, but did not increase wages. In 1839 the scattered energies of individuals and local associations were consolidated into the Anti-Corn Law League, which widened its base and became the channel through which to spread enlightened views on Free Trade generally. Richard Cobden gave himself up to the work, and sacrificed business and fortune to carry it to a successful issue; and before long he enlisted John Bright in the same cause. They laboured together each in his own way, the one by his patient, practical, persuasive addresses, the other by his splendid, stirring oratory, which took the people by storm. Nobly were they seconded by such men as Mr. Villiers, the titular head of the league, by Mr. W. J. Fox, by Mr. Milner Gibson, and by Mr. E. Elliot, the Corn Law rhymer. Against them were the Chartists, the farmers, the Central Agricultural Society, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. But such was the effect produced in 1840, that Lord J. Russell proposed a fixed duty of 8s. a quarter, and though it fell through with all the Whig financial scheme, yet this proposal was a point gained, and it had its effect upon Sir Robert Peel when he came into power. In fact, the coming in of the Tory Administration gave new life and vigour to the movement, for there was a distinct impression on the minds of the Leaguers that Sir Robert was at heart a

Free Trader.

Not long had Sir Robert been in office when he fully admitted the principle except in the case of corn. His second budget was directly on the line of Free Trade, for while it put on the Property and Income Tax, even these imposts were made acceptable, if not popular, when it became clear that duties upon 750 out of 1,200. articles were either repealed altogether or modified, and that a new and improved sliding scale would take the place of the old one for corn. But still there went on agitation for total repeal, until the Times newspaper was bound to admit that the League was a 'great fact,' that subscriptions then thought fabulous had been given to aid its work, that a new power had risen in the State, and that it was vain to ignore or deride the movement. It is still doubtful, however, whether the question would have been finally settled when it was had not the rains of 1845 destroyed the wheat crops of England and the potatoe crops of Ireland. In years of plenty the ardour of the people. sensibly cooled, but when the famine joined the League, as Mr. Bright put it, the Corn Laws were doomed. Sir Robert Peel had a heart, and it was so stirred with compassion for the people who lacked bread, that he would have thrown open the ports, but he could not bring over the Cabinet to the same mind. He resigned office, but no one could form a Ministry without him, and he had to return and deal with the great question of the day in spite of the opposition on his own side of the House. In January, 1846, Parliament was opened by the Queen in person, and there was an intense excitement to know what the Prime Minister would say about Free Trade; and when he made it clear that he was a convert to the Free Trade principles of the Manchester School, and that Protection must be abandoned, alarm filled the breasts of the old Tories, but joy the breasts of all who loved the country. All was passing off quietly when Mr. Disraeli rose in his place and made his famous speech, in which he heaped abuse without stint upon Sir Robert Peel, and called down the cheers of the "Young England' party, whose spokesmen he now became. Mr. Disraeli had at length found his opportunity, and with the quickness. of genius he seized it and made the most of it. He was laughed to scorn in 1838, now he is cheered to the echo; he was put down then, but now he compels even his enemies to listen. From this time Mr. Disraeli must be reckoned the Conservative leader, though we must admire the tact, the courage, and self-denial he displayed in so carefully using the power he had in the name of Lord G. Bentinck and Lord Derby while they lived.

The Corn Bill passed, which was really a new sliding scale with a maximum duty of 10s. a quarter, but containing a provision that in

three years even this should cease. It was upon the Irish Coercion Bill that Sir Robert Peel sustained the defeat which led to his resignation. In opposing this Bill the Young England could count on the support of Irish members with Radicals and Whigs. In three days Sir Robert announced his resignation in dignified and touching terms; he paid a just compliment to Mr. Cobden, and expressed a belief that, in future, as the poor man ate his cheap loaf, his own name might be remembered with some pleasure and good-will.

It was soon felt that Sir Robert did not contemplate taking office again for some time, if ever, but would give an independent support to Lord John Russell's Government. He lived but four years after his resignation, and, when at the early age of sixty-two, a fall from his horse resulted in his death, it was felt that England had lost a friend as well as a Statesman. He was, however, the founder of a school of Statesmen called Peelites, who, as years went on, carried forward the great work their chief had so well begun. Among them all Mr. Gladstone is the best known to this generation.

The first thing Lord John Russell's Ministry did was at once to throw open the ports to the free admission of foreign corn, hoping that this would mitigate, if it did not remove, the distress prevailing in England and Ireland. In the latter country, so disastrous and general had the famine been, that the population was reduced from eight millions to six. It taught the people that the land system was a failure, and that their only hope was in emigration. Then began that constant tide which has continued ceaselessly to flow to the United States and the Colonies. But among those who remained at home deep and dangerous tendencies were observed. The Young Ireland party went in for resisting English rule by armed rebellion. Smith O'Brian, an elderly gentleman of Royal Irish family and ample means, was the recognised leader, and with him were John Mitchell, Charles G. Duffy, and Thomas F. Meager. At an early period of the agitation Mitchell was transported, and the most dangerous spirit was removed from the country. There was a skirmish between some of the Confederates,' as they were called, and the police in a cabbage garden; the police were victorious. O'Brian and Meager were sent to Australia, and the rebellion of 1848 came to an end. This year also witnessed the last real scare of the Chartist movement. For some time a petition had been lying for signature in every part of the Kingdom, and it was said that five millions seven hundred thousand persons had signed it. A meeting of Chartists was arranged to be held on Kennington Common, where it was intended to form a