The immediate effect of Russell's conversion, coming on the top of alarming news from Ireland, was to send Peel forward on a course he had been contemplating for years. He read a memorandum to the Cabinet on December 2 recommending that Parliament should be summoned early in January, and that he should submit a Bill for the practical and immediate repeal of the Corn Laws. Lord Stanley and the Duke of Buccleuch refused their support to this policy. The Duke of Wellington said he was still in favour of maintaining the Corn Laws, but that if Peel considered that their repeal was necessary for the maintenance of his position "in Parliament and in the public view," he would support the measure. The Cabinet adjourned till next day. By some accident--it was said that a lady was the means of it--the _Times_ became possessed of the secret, and on December 4 the startling announcement appeared in its columns that the Cabinet had resolved on the Repeal of the Corn Laws. The only modern parallel to the consternation ensuing in the clubs and the country may be found in that which took place when, in 1886, it was made known that Mr. Gladstone's Cabinet had decided to give Home Rule to Ireland. Many refused to believe the statement in the _Times_, alleging that it was impossible that a Cabinet secret could have leaked out in this way. The _Standard_ published an emphatic, though not authoritative, contradiction of the story. Excitement and dismay, delight and disgust, contended for mastery wheresoever a few men gathered together: in a few days all was known. Lord Stanley--the "Rupert of debate," as Disraeli afterwards called him--and the Duke of Buccleuch resigned their seats in the Cabinet. Peel would not consent to proceed without the unanimous consent of his colleagues; on December 5 he went to Osborne and tendered his resignation to the Queen. Lord John Russell was at once sent for to form a Ministry: he attempted to do so, but failed: Lord Grey's distrust of Lord Palmerston's foreign policy proving a fatal obstacle to it. Peel, on being required to do so by the Queen, withdrew his resignation and resumed the duties of office. The Duke of Buccleuch returned as Privy Seal, but Lord Stanley was not to be reconciled, and Mr. Gladstone entered the Cabinet for the first time as Colonial Secretary. [Illustration: _J. Doyle_ ("_H. B._").} {_Political Sketches._ A CONTRAST BETWEEN THE CARES OF OFFICE AND THE EASE OF OPPOSITION. Lord Aberdeen. Lord Palmerston.] [Sidenote: The Corn Duties repealed.]