. Little journeys to the homes of great reformers ... e and genuineness thatbeamed from his eyes, and which told the story evenbetter than his words. ND so the Anti-Corn-Law agi-tation continued. Sir RobertPeel, as head of the Ministry,sought in every possible w^ayto silence Cobden and bringhim into contempt, even todenouncing him as a danger-ous agitator who would, if hecould, do for London whatRobespierre did for time went on as timedoes, and Cobden had beenbefore the country as the upholder of unpopular causesfor more than ten years. There was famine in the roadside fam
. Little journeys to the homes of great reformers ... e and genuineness thatbeamed from his eyes, and which told the story evenbetter than his words. ND so the Anti-Corn-Law agi-tation continued. Sir RobertPeel, as head of the Ministry,sought in every possible w^ayto silence Cobden and bringhim into contempt, even todenouncing him as a danger-ous agitator who would, if hecould, do for London whatRobespierre did for time went on as timedoes, and Cobden had beenbefore the country as the upholder of unpopular causesfor more than ten years. There was famine in the roadside famishing mothers held to their with-ered breasts dying children, and called for help uponthe passers-by. Cobden described the situation in away that pierced the rhinoceros hides of the landlords,and they offered concessions of this and that. Cobdensaid, Future generations will stand aghast withamazement when they look back upon this year andsee children starving for bread in Ireland, and we for-bidding the entry of corn into the country with a pro-132. GREAT REFORMERS—Richard Cobden hibitive tariff, backing up this law with armed common people began to a\vake S<^ If faminecould occur in Cork and Dublin, why not in Manches-ter and London ? The question came close, now. TheAnti-Corn-Law Leag[ue sa\w its opportunity. Massmeetings were held in all cities and to-wns. In Man-chester, Cobden asked for funds to carry on the agita-tion. He himself headed the list w^ith a thousandpounds. Twenty-three manufacturers followed hislead in three minutes. Windsor andWestminster nowsat up and rubbed their sleepy eyes, and Sir RobertPeel sent word to Cobden asking for a replied, All we desire is an immediate re-peal of the Corn La-ws—no conference is Sir Robert Peel sent in his resignation as PrimeMinister, saying he could not in conscience complywith the demands of the mob, and while complianceseemed necessary to avoid revolution, others mustmake the
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