the end of a narrow pass through which they had to go, scarcely a thousand men were left out of four thousand who had started from Cabul. To save the women and children they were delivered up to Akbar Khan, who promised to treat them kindly. He kept his word, and no harm happened to them. The men had to march on to death. They reached another narrow pass. The cruel Afghans were already on the rocks on either side, and shot them down without mercy. Very few lived to reach the other end. Those few pushed on, hoping to reach Jellalabad, where there was a British garrison. When they were still sixteen miles from Jellalabad only six were alive. The pony on which one of these, Dr. Brydon, rode was so worn out, and he himself was so utterly fatigued, that he lagged behind. The other five pushed on and were slain by the Afghans. Believing that the last Englishman bad been killed, these Afghans went off to tell the tale. Weary and unnoticed Dr. Brydon came on slowly. At last he reached Jellalabad. He was the one man who arrived to tell the tale of the great disaster.

5. Pollock's March to Cabul.—Jellalabad held out against all the Afghan forces that could be brought against it. A fresh army under General Pollock came to its succour. Then Pollock advanced to Cabul. The prisoners were recovered. The place in which Macnaghten had been murdered was destroyed. Then Pollock returned. Dost Mahomed was sent back and allowed to reign without further interference.

6. The Anti-Corn-Law League.-At home something was done to lighten the toil of those who were

least able to bear it. A law was made forbidding the employment of women and girls in mines and collieries. By another law, it was forbidden to make children work in factories more than six and a half hours a day. Yet the great evil remained unredressed. Bread was dear, because a duty had to be paid on corn brought in from foreign countries. There were a few men in Lancashire who resolved to devote themselves to the work of procuring the abolition of the Corn Law in order that the food of the people might be brought in free of duty. First of these was Richard Cobden, a Sussex man, who had established himself in Manchester. He and his friends, of whom the principal was John Bright, established the Anti-Corn-Law League. It was a society formed for the purpose of lecturing and printing pamphlets with the object of instructing the public on the evils which arose from the Corn Law. The League was soon busily employed, but it had many difficulties before it. Many of the working class were suspicious of it, because it originated with master manufacturers, and they thought that the demand for the repeal of the Corn Laws was a trick to make them forget the People's Charter. Naturally many of the landowners were against them, because they thought that they would be ruined if foreign corn was allowed to come in freely, and because they believed that if they were ruined all England would suffer, and in this they had the farmers on their side. Yet there were not a few amongst the landlords who were ready to take their chance of being ruined, as soon as they were convinced that the whole nation, and especially

the poor, would suffer by the maintenance of the Corn Law. Nevertheless the League persevered. It had a good cause, and it set forth its cause with plain and convincing arguments. It converted many persons, and it half converted Peel. What converted him entirely was the Irish famine.

7. The Irish Famine.-In Ireland the greater part of the population lived upon potatoes. The potato disease, unknown before, appeared, and made the greater part of the crop unfit for food The mass of the Irish people found starvation before them. The Government tried to do what it could to provide work and pay for the hungry millions. Bountiful subscriptions were collected and sent over. But all that could be done was not enough. Masses of Irishmen emigrated to America. In the face of such suffering Peel felt that food could no longer be kept artificially dear. He proposed to the other ministers that food should now be allowed to come in without paying duty. The ministers would not agree to this. Lord John Russell wrote a letter on behalf of the opponents of the Government, declaring that the Corn Laws must be abolished. On this, Peel urged his fellow ministers, not merely to let corn come freely into Ireland for a time, but to ask Parliament to abolish the Corn Laws altogether. When Parliament met, Peel proposed their abolition. Most of his own followers were desperately angry. A new party known as that of the Protectionists was formed. They treated Peel as a deserter who had come into office to uphold the Corn Laws, and who remained in office to abolish them. The Protectionists

however could not get a majority in the House. A certain number of Peel's followers were convinced by his arguments, and he had the support of the Liberals who had hitherto been his opponents. The Corn Laws were abolished, and free trade in corn was introduced. The food of the people was no longer to be taxed.

8. The End of Peel's Ministry.-Peel's ministry did not last much longer. The first time that the Liberals differed from him, the Protectionists joined them against him, and Peel was left in a minority. He resigned office. He had done a good deed, but he was generous enough to remember that, if his had been the hand to accomplish the work, the thought of doing it had come from another, and in the last speech which he made as Prime Minister he reminded the House of Commons that his success was due to Richard Cobden.

CHAPTER XLVII.

FROM THE BEGINNING OF LORD JOHN
RUSSELL'S MINISTRY TO THE END OF
THE CRIMEAN WAR.

(1846-1856.)

1. The European Revolutions.-The new Prime Minister was Lord John Russell. He had not been long in office when troubles burst out over nearly the whole of the European continent. The year 1848

was one of general alarm. There was a revolution in France. King Louis Philippe was forced to fly, and a Republic was set up. In Italy the kings and princes were forced to allow Parliaments to meet, and to make war on Austria, which ruled over a great part of Northern Italy. In Austria itself and in Prussia Parliaments were set up after insurrections.

2. The Chartists in London.-In England the Chartists thought that now was the time to gain what they had so long demanded in vain. Their leader was Feargus O'Connor, a member of Parliament. He and the leading Chartists determined to gather in enormous numbers on Kennington Common, where Kennington Park now is, and to carry with them a petition to Parliament on behalf of the Charter. They thought that Parliament would not venture to refuse to grant a request made by so large a number of men. They forgot two things: first, that it was against the law to go in procession to Parliament in such numbers; and, secondly, that the great bulk of the English people was thoroughly resolved that Parliament should not be bullied into changing the laws. The Government declared the plan of the Chartists to be illegal, and invited any one who would, to come forward as a special constable, that is to say, to act as a policeman for the day. Thousands of men did. as they were asked, and the Chartists discovered that the numbers of those who were against them were far greater than the numbers of those who were on their side. There were about 200,000 special constables. Besides, the Duke of Wellington had soldiers ready to act in case of necessity. At Kenning