ven the first, though afterwards,
perhaps, we became before the public the foremost, but there were others
before us, and we were joined, not by scores, but by hundreds, and
afterwards by thousands, and afterwards by countless multitudes, and
afterwards famine itself, against which we had warred, joined us, and a
great Minister was converted, and minorities became majorities, and
finally the barrier was entirely thrown down.'

[Sidenote: COBDEN'S PREDICTION]

Quite early in the history of the Anti-Corn-Law League, Cobden had
predicted, in spite of the apathy and opposition which the derided
Manchester school of politics then encountered, at a time when Peel and
Russell alike turned a deaf ear to its appeals, that the repeal of the
Corn Laws would be eventually carried in Parliament by a 'statesman of
established reputation.' Argument and agitation prepared the way for
this great measure of practical relief, but the multitude were not far
from the mark when they asserted that it was the rain that destroyed the
Corn Laws.[12] The imperative necessity of bringing food from abroad if
the people were not to perish for lack of bread brought both Sir Robert
Peel and Lord John Russell almost at the same moment to the conclusion
that this great economic problem must at once be faced. Peel declared in
1847 that towards the end of 1845 he had reached the conclusion that the
repeal of the Corn Laws was indispensable to the public welfare. If
that was so, he seems to have kept his opinion to himself, for as late
as November 29, in the memorandum which he sent to his colleagues, there
is no hint of abolition. On the contrary, Sir Robert, who was always
fond of setting forth three alternatives of action, wrote as follows:
'Time presses, and on some definite course we must decide. Shall we
undertake without suspension to modify the existing Corn Law? Shall we
resolve to maintain the existing Corn Law? Shall we advise the
suspension of that law for a limited period? My opinion is for the last
course, admitting as I do that it involves the necessity for the
immediate consideration of the alterations to be made in the existing
Corn Law; such alterations to take effect after the period of
suspension. I should rather say it involves the question of the
principle and degree of protection to agriculture.'[13] As to the
justice of the demand for Free Trade, Peel, there can be no doubt, was
already convinced; but his party was regarded as th