be ruined. Much to their surprise they all became. a great deal more prosperous and busy. The fact was, that so long as we would not take goods from abroad, foreigners could not buy much from us, because it was difficult to pay in money. Directly, however, that France, for example, was free to send us wines, vinegar, silks, and lace, they could be exchanged for British iron, cottons, and woollens. That many of the duties were absolutely useless was further shown by the fact that they actually brought in less money than was spent in collecting them. So by degrees restrictions on manufactures were abolished. This, however, was only half-way towards Freetrade. There were still the Corn-laws, which, it was said, were for the good of the British farmer. The Corn- When it was proposed to abolish these and laws. import corn into the country free of duty, all who held land or worked on it cried out in indignation that if this were done they would be ruined. It was easy to show that the Corn-laws made bread dearer than it need have been; that in times of scarcity artisans were starving because the law forbade cheap corn to be brought from abroad. But there was more than this. The Corn-laws were not doing any good to either farmers or farm-labourers. The price of corn was high, certainly; but the higher it went, the higher went the rent, so that the landlord was really the only one to benefit. Thus the Corn-laws taxed the food of the poor, and filled the pockets of the rich. The man who made this clear to the nation was Richard Cobden. He went up and down the country speaking and arguing; he found a helper Cobden. in John Bright; he started the Anti-Cornlaw League to spread his ideas. Everywhere he strove to make the electors choose only those who were ready to vote against the Corn-laws. The Irish Cobden's work, however, was but half done. The Free-traders in the Commons indeed were growing in numbers, and the Whig party favoured them; but the Tories were in power with Peel at their head, and Peel was believed to have given his pledge to stand by the Corn-laws. Suddenly the potato-rot began in Ireland; the chief article of food for a whole people failed; if the Irish were to be saved from starvation corn must be sent thither, and to get the corn it would be necessary to admit foreign corn free of duty. Here was the Free-traders' chance. "Famine," said John Bright, 'against which we had warred, joined us." Peel saw that the ports must be opened to let in corn from abroad; and he saw further that it would be impossible ever to close them again. His followers would not listen to him. They decided against free corn, and Peel resigned. However, Lord John Russell could not form a Whig Ministry, and Peel had to come back. The sight was a strange one-a Tory minister, supported by the Whigs and a few of his own friends, and opposed by the party that had placed him in power, proposed the very measure he had been relied on to reject. Yet, amid the most bitter attacks, the most galling charges of desertion and treachery, Peel held on his way. Repeal of the The hour for Free-trade had come, and it was his duty to carry it. With the Corn-laws went the last relics of the old system. Britain set the world the example of the first free-trading country. The example has not indeed been followed. Other countries have hesitated to copy us; as a rule they are doubtful about our wisdom. There are still persons even in Britain who seem to wish for some form of Protection. But on one thing all agree. We could never go back to the Corn-laws and wheat at 70s. or 80s. the quarter. Whatever happens, we shall never again tax the chief food of the poor. XXXV.-CRIMEAN WAR. INDIAN MUTINY. With Free-trade came a period of great industrial prosperity in Britain. After the Great Exhibition in 1851, to which masses of foreigners came to see British goods and to exhibit their own, a number of people began to think that European wars were at an end, and that, for the future, states would content themselves with friendly rivalry in trade and commerce. This was an unduly hopeful view. The course of the next ten years was to see Britain engaged in two great struggles. We have followed British ambition in many fields: till the end of the fifteenth century in France; in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries mainly in America; now principally in the East. As our Indian empire has grown we have come to rule more Mohammedans, and to be more concerned in Eastern affairs, than any other state in the world. Our most Rivalry with dangerous rival has of late been Russia. Thus it has been part of our policy to help Turkey against Russia, and most of all to guard against Russia getting Constantinople; to protect our Indian frontier from Russian attack; and lately to check Russian power in China. Fifty years ago, however, Russia had hardly become dangerous Russia in the East. either in India or China; but it seemed likely that she might overthrow Turkey completely. So Britain and France joined together to aid the Turks. To cripple the power of Russia in the Black Sea it was resolved to attack the fortress of Sevastopol. A British and French army was landed and won the battle of the Alma, and had the allies pushed on at The Crimean once they might have taken Sevastopol with a rush. The generals, however, were over-cautious. They marched round to the southern side of the city, and began a regular siege. This was likely to be a long business. War, 1854-56. The Russians soon showed that they did not mean to leave the allies to conduct the siege quietly. First The Balaclava they made an attack on Balaclava, the Charges. port where all the British stores lay. The British were outnumbered, but two famous cavalry charges saved the day. The Heavies rode at an immense mass of Russian cavalry uphill, fought their way through them, and broke them. The Light Brigade, mistaking an order, charged the Russian guns. Tennyson tells us how "Storm'd at by shot and shell, Into the mouth of Hell Rode the Six Hundred. Flash'd all their sabres bare, All the world wonder'd: Plunged in the battery smoke Then they rode back, but not- |