But reconstruction at this time was not to be. Peel had no desire to serve again as a partisan leader, or to reorganise the Party he had felt it his duty to shatter, though his career was buried in its ruins. He and his followers joined neither the Protectionists nor the Whigs. They came to be known as the Peelites, and so bitter was the feeling among their old associates that petty objections were raised against their sitting on the Conservative benches after they had quitted office. In a pamphlet privately printed at Edinburgh Sir Robert Peel was derisively recommended to solve the problem of his seat in the House of Commons by taking “another hint from Aristophanes. As we have seen him before adopt from the ‘Knights,’ the admirable trick of the sausage seller, so now he seems to have borrowed a suggestion from the ‘Clouds.’ We are given to understand that in next Parliament he will soar above parties, for he has determined to suspend himself in a basket from the roof.”[51] CHAPTER XIV. THE FIRST RUSSELL ADMINISTRATION. The Transfer of Ministerial Offices--The Whigs Patronise Mr. Cobden--A Radical in the New Cabinet--The Peelites Refuse to Take Office--Lord Campbell as Chancellor of the Duchy--Anecdote of his Installation--Lord John Russell’s Deportment to the Queen--His Modest Programme--The Abolition of the Sugar Duties--Bishop Wilberforce and Slave-grown Sugar--Outrages in Ireland--The Whigs become Coercionists--Their Arms Act--Mutiny among Ministerialists--The Bill Dropped--The Alternative Policy--Relief Works for Ireland--A Military Scandal--Indignation in the Country--Abuse of Corporal Punishment in the Army--“The Cat” in the House of Commons--The Queen’s Views on Military Punishment--The Queen and a Deserter’s Death-warrant--Captain Layard’s Motion--The Duke of Wellington’s Interference--Restrictions on the use of the Lash--England and the Colonies--Canada and Free Trade--Nova Scotia and the Potato Famine--The Halifax, Quebec, and Montreal Railway--The New Zealand War--The Caffre War--The Expedition to Borneo--End of the Anglo-Chinese Difficulty--The “Spanish Marriages” and the Treaty of Utrecht--Louis Philippe’s Intrigues with the Queen Dowager Christina--Secret History of the Conspiracy--M. Guizot’s Pretext--How the English Minister at Madrid was Deceived--Lord Palmerston’s Indiscreet Despatch--The Queen’s Cutting Letter to the Queen Marie Amélie--Metternich’s Caustic Epigram--The Prince Consort’s Resentment against the King of the French--End of the Anglo-French Alliance--Fall of the Republic of Cracow.