Lord John Russell,
almost immediately after, wrote a letter from Edinburgh to his
constituents, the electors of the city of London, in which he declared
that something must immediately be done, that it was "no longer worth
while to contend for a fixed duty," and that an end must be put to the
whole system of protection, as "the blight of commerce, the bane of
agriculture, the source of bitter division among classes, the cause of
penury, fever, and crime among the people." This letter produced a
decisive effect on Peel. He saw that the Whigs were prepared to unite
with the Anti-Corn-Law League in agitating for the total repeal of the
corn laws, and he therefore made up his mind to recommend to the Cabinet
an early meeting of Parliament, with the view to anticipate the
agitation which he saw must succeed in the end, and to bring forward, as
a Government measure, some scheme which should at least prepare the way
for the speedy repeal of the corn laws.
A Cabinet council was held almost immediately after the publication of
Lord John Russell's letter, and Peel recommended the summoning of
Parliament in order to take instant measures to cope with the distress
in Ireland, and also to introduce legislation distinctly intended to
prepare the way for the repeal of the corn laws.
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