tter announcing his
resignation. The letter was intended to be only a conditional
intimation of his purpose, but the Duke took it as positive and final,
and announced it as such to the King. There was no course left open to
Huskisson but to resign. The incident created much talk at the time,
and gave rise to a good deal of satirical comment. Several other
members of the Government, among whom was Lord Palmerston, resigned
along with Huskisson, and they formed themselves into an independent
party, bearing the name of the Canningites. It is curious to notice
that the reconstructions caused in the Government by these
resignations, and the new appointments which had to be made, led to
that vacancy in the county of Clare which gave O'Connell an opportunity
of coming forward as a candidate for the seat and being elected.

Peel saw that the Duke of Wellington's Government had lost some of its
most influential members. Other events, too, had been turning his
attention towards the growth of the agitation in Ireland. The Marquis
of Wellesley, elder brother of the Duke of Wellington, had been Viceroy
of Ireland. Wellesley had been a distinguished statesman, and as
Viceroy of India had conducted to a successful issue, with the help of
his younger brother, the great Mahratta war. When he became Viceroy of
Ireland he had gone over to that country as a strong opponent of the
Catholic claims, but his experience there soon convinced him that it
would be impossible to resist those claims much longer, and at the same
time {73} to keep Ireland in tranquillity. Therefore, when the Duke of
Wellington, on coming into office as Prime Minister, refused to
recognize the Catholic claims, Lord Wellesley resigned his place. He
was succeeded by the Marquis of Anglesey, a soldier who had done
brilliant service in the wars against Napoleon, and was well known as a
determined opponent of the demands made by the advocates of Catholic
emancipation. Lord Anglesey, too, became satisfied during his time of
office in Ireland that there was no alternative between emancipation
and an armed rebellion among the Irish Catholics, a large number of
whom were actually serving in the ranks of the army. His opinions were
again and again impressed on the Government, and the course he took
only led to his recall from the Viceroyalty.

In the House of Commons an event took place which had a great effect on
the mind of Peel. Early in 1828 Sir Francis Burdet