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 The history of the Radical party In Pari 
 
 oiin 
 
 3 1924 030 498 764 
 
THE HISTORY 
 
 RADICAL PARTY IN PARLIAMENT 
 
THE HISTORY 
 
 RADICAL PARTY IN PARLIAMENT 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM HARRIS 
 
 LONDON ' G: r 
 
 (I, .' > 
 
 KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH & CO., i, PATERNOSTER SOUARE 
 
 1885 \^(f<i 
 
(LI'S 
 
 //corn El 
 
 :l\ 
 
 UN [VERS 
 
 1TY[ 
 
 \UBRAR 
 
 l/^ 
 
NOTE. 
 
 The main authority for the history of events which 
 have taken place in Parliament must be the record of 
 the proceedings in the Houses themselves. Such a record, 
 continuous for the whole period dealt with in this book, 
 is formed by The Parliamentary History and 
 Hansard's Debates. That work is divided into various 
 series, an arrangement which interferes with the titles 
 and the consecutive numbering of the volumes, but the 
 chronological order is unbroken throughout. In all cases, 
 therefore, of speeches, debates, and divisions referred to, 
 the dates have been given in text or note, and it is 
 thought that this will afford a sufficient and convenient 
 means of verification, without adding the more cumbrous 
 method of giving in each instance the name of the series 
 and the number of the volume and the page. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 PACK 
 
 I. Introduction — Origin of the Party ... i 
 
 II. From the Accession of George III. to the 
 
 Death of Chatham (1760-1778) ... ... 12 
 
 III. From the Death of Chatham to the First 
 
 Ministry of his Son, William Pitt (1778-1784) 24 
 
 IV. From the Formation of Pitt's First Adminis- 
 
 tration to the Act of Union with Ireland 
 
 (1784-1800) 45 
 
 V. From the Act of Union to the Dismissal of 
 the Grenville Ministry — Death of Pitt 
 and Fox (1800-1807) ... ... ... ... 69 
 
 VI. From the Dismissal of Grenville to the End 
 
 of the War (1807-1815) ... ... ... 90 
 
 VII. From the Close of the War to the Death of 
 
 George III. (1815-1820) ... ... ... 115 
 
 VIII. From the Death of George III. to the Death 
 
 OF Castlereagh (1820-1822) ... ... ... 143 
 
 IX. From the Death of Castlereagh to Canning's 
 
 Appointment as Premier (1822-1827) ... i66 
 
 X. From Canning's Premiership to the passing of 
 
 THE Reform Act (i 827-1 832) ... ... 196 
 
 XI. The First Reformed Parliament (1833-1834) 230 
 
viii Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XII. From the Dissolution of the First Reformed 
 Parliament to the Death of William IV. 
 (1834-1837) 259 
 
 XIII. From the Accession of the Queen to the 
 
 Close of the Melbourne Administration 
 (1837-1841) 282 
 
 XIV. Sir Robert Peel's Administration (1841-1846) 313 
 XV. From the Resignation of Sir Robert Peel to 
 
 his Death (1846-1850) ... ... ■•■ 35' 
 
 XVI. From the Death of Peel to the Resignation 
 
 OF the Aberdeen Ministry (1850-1855) ... 381 
 
 XVII. From the Resignation of Lord Aberdeen in 
 1855 TO the Dissolution of Parliament in 
 1859 ... ... ... ... ... ... 410 
 
 XVIII. Palmerston's Last Administration (1859-1865) 437 
 XIX. From the Death of Palmerston to the Passing 
 
 of the Reform Act (1865-1867)— Conclusion 465 
 Appendix ... ... ... ... ... ... 487 
 
 Index ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 491 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 91, line 4, after "sympathy" insert "with*" 
 „ 109, line 32, _/ijr "previous" rettd "beginning of the." 
 ,, 110, Une II, ^r "this year" read "ini8i3," 
 „ no, lines 22 and 23, after "magngite" th^ sentence should read "and son of 
 
 George Grenville, a former Whig Premier." 
 ,, 215, lines 28 and 29, for " Sir H. IngUss" rea(d " Sir R. Iiiglis." 
 „ a^g, Wne y, for "Dinett" read "Divett." 
 
THE HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Radical Party in Parliament 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION — ORIGIN OF THE PARTY. 
 
 The growth and development of political parties follow the 
 same general laws as those which affect and govern other social 
 organisms. A party is sometimes spoken of as a piece of 
 mechanism which can be formed at will, which is absolutely 
 distinct from other associations of the same kind, and the 
 outlines of which can be definitely and sharply drawn. Such 
 a description can apply only to special combinations for 
 particular purposes. The Anti-Corn Law League and its 
 supporters might have been called the free-trade party ; and 
 on the other side we have had what called itself the fair-trade 
 party. Such organizations, however, are not parties in the 
 proper sense of the term ; they are not the result of the 
 natural cohesion of men accepting the same general principles 
 and ready to apply them to special cases as they occur, but 
 rather combinations of people who, whatever their general 
 principles, are willing to co-operate for a special purpose. 
 Men holding the most divergent views as to the true laws of 
 government, could, and did, combine to efifect the repeal of 
 
2 History of tht Radical Party in Parliament. 
 
 the corn laws ; but their aggregation did not form a political 
 party which could survive the adoption of the one object, and 
 devote itself to affecting the broad general lines of national 
 policy. This is to be taken as applying not to the individual 
 members of the league, but to the particular organization 
 itself. Its founders and main supporters, if not in numbers, 
 at least in power, were members of a wider party, and were 
 the result of its growth and the occasion of its further 
 development ; but in that respect the league was an instru- 
 ment which they used, and not an organism of which they 
 were parts. 
 
 Let us now take an example — the most important, per- 
 haps, in our history, and sufficiently remote to enable us to 
 examine it with impartiality — of the manner in which natural 
 party characteristics survive, and more conscious and arti- 
 ficial combinations die out. In the struggle between the 
 Royalists and the Parliamentarians in the seventeenth century, 
 the two most elementary parties into which a nation can be 
 divided, and which in every community exist in a more or 
 less developed state, came into inevitable contest. The prin- 
 ciples of authority on the one side and of liberty on the 
 other were opposed in the most direct manner. These two 
 ideas are both essential to the existence of society and to the 
 exercise of the functions of government ; yet they are so 
 essentially distinct, and, under certain circumstances, so con- 
 flicting, that they form centres towards which individual 
 natures, with varying tendencies and sympathies, are attracted 
 in natural groups. They may be regarded as vital powers, 
 each struggling to preserve its own existence, and which, 
 although they are ultimately reconcilable, are for a time 
 fiercely antagonistic. 
 
 We should have to go much further back if we wished to 
 trace the time when the first divergence took place, and in a 
 community all practically accepting the idea of a personal 
 authority, there were some who desired to place limits to its 
 exercise, and who by degrees became wise enough to devise 
 and strong enough to enact regular constitutional checks. 
 
Introduction — Origin of the Party. 3 
 
 We have to consider a later time, when King and Parliament 
 formed the centres round which were ranged the lovers of 
 authority on one side and of liberty on the other. The two 
 parties were riot entirely homogeneous, nor could the line of 
 demarcation between them be clearly and sharply drawn. 
 There was so much difference between the two wings of either 
 army, and so much sympathy between what were called the 
 moderate sections of the two, as might be expected if their 
 development as parties was the result of natural social growth. 
 Falkland and Essex, although fighting in opposite camps, 
 were nearer in sympathy to each other than the former was 
 to Strafford or the latter to Harrison. The main lines, how- 
 ever, were always discernible ; popular rights on one side, and 
 personal power on the other, were arrayed in opposition. So 
 far the party distinctions were evidently the result of the 
 action of natural laws, of the gradual growth and develop- 
 ment of social and intellectual germs. But the excitement of 
 the times gave to this growth an abnormal impetus, and pro- 
 duced a political structure which could not find permanent 
 nourishment either in the intelligence or the sympathies of 
 the mass of the people. The republic was the thorough of 
 Liberalism, which opposed itself to the autocratic thorough 
 of the King and Strafford. Such a form of government may 
 prove to be the natural result and outcome of the ideas of 
 liberty and popular rights, but it was then produced out of 
 due time, and even if the life continued, the outer form 
 decayed. So that what was seen when the crisis passed away 
 was a return largely to the old state of things, with this 
 difference — that both of the naturally formed parties, that 
 of authority and that of liberty, were considerably modified. 
 The extreme section of absolutists, with their idea of divine 
 right, began to die out, and the process was so continuous and 
 rapid that, if not as a theory, at least as an element of 
 English politics, it has become a mere rudimentary survival, 
 an embryotic function, representing an instrument which in 
 earlier times society was able to oppose to the dreaded evils 
 of lawlessness and anarchy. In that direction there is no 
 
4 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. 
 
 further growth. At the same time, the development which 
 had taken place at the other end of the scale, and which pro- 
 duced the Radicalism of the republic, although nipped and 
 checked, was not killed. The old form was gone, but the 
 seeds of life still existed, and, under more temperate and 
 natural surroundings, the idea has grown in spite of, or per- 
 haps in consequence of, difficulties which have called into 
 being its strongest faculties, and have led to its survival in the 
 political struggle. 
 
 During the period which immediately followed the 
 Restoration, that struggle continued to be one between two 
 old parties. In 1688 the triumph remained with the 
 Liberals, and it was not unnatural that the methods and 
 instruments by which it had been accomplished should be 
 formulated, and regarded as the only possible conditions of 
 Liberal life, and thus Whiggism became a sort of creed. But 
 the hardening of creeds is the death of religions, and the life 
 of Liberalism had to find for itself some new form. The 
 idea of popular rights could not be permanently embodied in 
 a group of noble houses, nor in a definite parliamentary 
 system of limited constituencies. To some extent — to a 
 great extent indeed — this spirit infused itself, in the course of 
 time, in nearly all sections of the Liberal party ; but it was 
 forced upon the attention of the old Whigs by the left wing 
 of the party, and there were always some of the acknowledged 
 leaders by whom it was not accepted. It must be borne in 
 mind that this new spirit affected not only the methods of 
 government — the legislative machinery — but also the objects 
 to be aimed at, the legislation to be achieved. The two 
 things, indeed, are inseparably connected. Freedom and self- 
 government are essential elements in the happiness and 
 nobility of a people, and the supposed interests of the 
 governing class — be that class large or small — will affect the 
 character of its legislation. 
 
 If, then, there is any reality or any usefulness in the exist- 
 ence of a Radical party, it will employ its energies in two 
 directions — in the endeavour to extend political rights and 
 
Introduction — Origin of the Party. 5 
 
 duties; and in the effort to promote, as far as law can fairly do 
 so, the diffusion amongst the whole people of the real bless- 
 ings of civilization, material, intellectual, and moral. A con- 
 siderable part of such a programme would be the common 
 property of all Liberals ; but if we find in one section of them 
 an increasing recognition of the necessity of consciously 
 devoting the powers of government to the service of the 
 Democracy, we may profitably trace the growth and develop- 
 ment of that section into the separate entity which we call 
 the Radical party. We must, however, limit this inquiry to 
 the presence and operation of the party in Parliament. It is 
 only in the legislature that direct and immediate influence can 
 be exercised over the principles and policy of the govern- 
 ment. Until it can find expression there, no cause and no 
 party can be said to be within the range of practical politics. 
 Any change forced upon the nation by powers extraneous to 
 Parliament would, if possible at all, be revolution, and not 
 reform. None such has taken place within the period covered 
 by our inquiry. What has often occurred is, that certain 
 questions have been debated and agitated for by people out- 
 side before they have found organized support inside Parlia- 
 ment. But the history of the formation and discussion of 
 social and political ideas in the community at large, would be 
 at once too extensive and too indefinite for our present pur- 
 pose, which is to ascertain not how ideas originate, but how 
 certain classes of them obtain expression in policy and law. 
 The former object would be the work of the science of 
 sociology ; the latter may furnish a manageable chapter in 
 political history. So far as it is really effective, it will deal 
 with the same natural laws of growth and evolution, but it 
 will only attempt to observe them as they are manifested 
 within specific limits of time, place, and circumstance. 
 
 If this theory of the development of the party is sound, 
 we must not expect to be able to fix any precise and definite 
 date for its birth. We may, however, trace, either in the ranks 
 of the Liberals in Parliament or among the people outside, 
 the action of causes which would lead to new combinations. 
 
6 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. 
 
 We may also watch the introduction of ideas and principles 
 likely to attract one section of the Whigs and repel another, 
 or calculated to attract the attention and incite the interest 
 of persons and classes who had hitherto held aloof from 
 political work. When any special excitement is produced 
 on great questions this tendency to definite organization 
 may be suddenly awakened into active life, as when water is 
 upon the point of freezing, a touch or a breath will expedite 
 the process and seem to serve as the immediate cause of 
 crystallization. Such circumstances did arise in England 
 in the latter half of the eighteenth century, and they were 
 sufficiently marked to form a political era. 
 
 Mr. Lecky — agreeing in that with Wingrove Cooke — 
 ventures to be more precise, and to fix the actual year in 
 which he thinks the party was born. He says, " The year 
 1769 is very memorable in political history, for it witnessed 
 the birth of English Radicalism, and the first serious attempt 
 to reform and control Parliament by a pressure from without, 
 making its members habitually subservient to their consti- 
 tuents." * This statement is a great deal too definite as re- 
 gards dates, and that perhaps arises from a misconception 
 by the writer of the distinguishing feature of the new party. 
 It is a mistake to suppose that it was a novel idea charac- 
 teristic of the Radicals, that outside opinion ought to influence 
 the action of Parliament. That, on the contrary, was the 
 strongly expressed opinion of the old W^higs, as opposed to 
 those now called Radicals ; the latter seeking rather some 
 constitutional means for representing larger numbers of the 
 people, and representing them more purely, in the legislature 
 itself The external pressure theory was urged strongly by 
 Burke, who, in this and all other branches of political opinion 
 and philosophy, was the ablest exponent of Whig principles ; 
 and he constantly proposes it as a means whereby consti- 
 tutional reform, which he disliked, might be rendered un- 
 necessary and prevented. 
 
 Cooke, 
 
 History of England in the Eighteenth Century," vol. iii. p. 174 ; Wingrove 
 "History of Parties," vol. iii. p. \?&,etseq. 
 
Introduction — Origin of the Party. 7 
 
 In his " Thoughts on the Causes of the Present Discon- 
 tents," Burke says, " I see no other way for the preservation 
 of a decent attention to public interest in the representa- 
 tives but the interposition of the body of the people itself" 
 Mr. Morley fairly summarizes Burke's view on this point. 
 "Against the system of the omnipotence of the adminis- 
 tration," he says, " Burke called on the nation to set a stern 
 face. ' Root it up,' he kept crying ; ' settle the general course 
 in which you desire members to go ; insist that they shall 
 not suffer themselves to be diverted from this by the authority 
 of the Government of the day ; let lists of votes be published, 
 so that you may ascertain for yourselves whether your trustees 
 have been faithful or fraudulent ;— do all this, and then there 
 will be no need to resort to those organic changes, those 
 empirical innovations, which may possibly cure, but are much 
 more likely to destroy.' " * It is true that he at the same time 
 objected to authoritative mandates given by a constituency to 
 its members, but all the same he constantly urged the efficiency 
 of popular pressure as a substitute for organic change. 
 
 The Radicals, then, were striving for some legal and settled 
 reform ; the Whigs, resisting constitutional modifications, 
 advocated a plan of irregular outside agitation, which was 
 in their own minds indefinite, and which, if it ever became 
 definite, must have become revolutionary. It was not there- 
 fore characteristic either of the old Whigs or of the new 
 Radicals, that either of them appealed to public opinion as 
 a power in the State. The distinction was, that one set of 
 men would have used it in order to strengthen the traditional 
 forms into which Parliamentary Liberalism had been moulded, 
 whilst the others wanted to give it permanent and recognized 
 force in the official government of the country. 
 
 Whilst it is impossible to point with certainty to any 
 particular year as marking the origin of a party whose exist- 
 ence was the result not of an act of creation, but of growth 
 and development, it is quite possible to refer to a time when 
 movements took place amongst the Whigs, which led to the 
 
 * " Men of Letters— Burke," p. 58. 
 
8 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. 
 
 grouping of different sections round particular leaders and 
 in defence of special ideas, and which gave to politicians, 
 without traditional or family connections with them, the 
 desire to appeal to a wider constituency. This period, which 
 on other accounts may be taken as almost the starting- 
 point of a new era in our political history, was the beginning 
 of the reign of George III. It was then that the old fight 
 between royal prerogative and popular liberty was recom- 
 menced, but under conditions very different to those which 
 had marked the cessation of the former conflict between the 
 two forces. In the struggle with the later Stuarts, the people 
 had found in Parliament an instrument which was sufficient 
 for the purpose of opposing despotism and maintaining con- 
 stitutional government. But the institution, which was at that 
 time vital, had since become mechanical. It was regarded, 
 partly by classes whose special interests it served, and partly 
 by the general reverence of the country whose liberties it had 
 protected, as sacred in form as well as beneficial in spirit. 
 Under the first two Georges there was no danger that the 
 Crown would either encroach upon the domain of Parlia- 
 mentary power or use Parliament itself for autocratic purposes. 
 But this very freedom from royal interference, and the 
 preponderance of Whig principles which made outward 
 struggle unnecessary, led to internal corruptions ; so that 
 when George III. and his immediate advisers came to examine 
 the position with a view of reconstructing the personal power 
 of the monarch, they found the process so far advanced that 
 the King was able to bribe, to intimidate, and to corrupt with 
 as much freedom as Walpole had done or as Newcastle was 
 doing. The constitutional machine was weakened, and if it 
 were not amended and strengthened it must become amenable 
 either to irregular pressure from the people or to the direction 
 and dictation of the Crown. 
 
 Before the accession of the new King it had been proved, 
 by the success of Pitt, that whatever might be the complete- 
 ness of the Whig system of Parliamentary management, a 
 decided manifestation of public feeling was sufficient to 
 
Introduction — Origin of the Party. g 
 
 overpower an institution which was strong only by its tradi- 
 tions, and not by its representative character. And when 
 Henry Fox * openly set to work, in 1 762, to buy a majority in 
 favour of the treaty which closed the war, it became evident 
 that the old barrier against despotic power was not calculated 
 to resist the new weapons which were directed against it. All 
 real Liberals, therefore, came to see that some change was 
 necessary, and it is in the choice of methods by which the 
 alteration was to be effected that the process of differentiation 
 of Whigs and Radicals is to be traced. The difference is 
 discernible in more than one great question, but it was not 
 at the time recognized as making a distinct division in the 
 party. Neither at that early period, nor for a long time 
 afterwards, did any set of men announce that they held 
 opinions which separated them from the rest of the Liberals, 
 and that they intended to form a new party. A political 
 party, let us repeat, cannot be created in that manner ; it must 
 grow, and it is because it has silently and gradually been 
 developed in this manner, that the Radical party is at length 
 seen to be an operative power in the State. 
 
 In some way or other actual entities get themselves 
 distinctive names, but it was long after the first signs of its 
 existence were manifested that the name of Radical was 
 given to the party. Harriet Martineau, writing of the year 
 1 8 19, says, " It is stated to have been now that the reformers 
 first assumed the name of Radicals." t The name was certainly 
 given, or taken, in immediate connection with an agitation 
 for parliamentary reform, but it has from time to time been 
 used, and properly used, to designate those who not only 
 sought directly to increase the power of the democratic 
 element in the government, but who tried to utilize existing 
 institutions for obtaining some material, intellectual, or social 
 advantages for the unrepresented masses of the people. 
 
 The fixing of a name was not only in itself a proof of the 
 public recognition of distinctive aims and methods, but it led 
 
 * Afterwards Lord Holland. 
 
 t " History of the Thirty Years' Peace," vol. i. p. 226. 
 
lo History of the Radical Party in Parliament. 
 
 naturally to efforts to define those aims and describe those 
 methods. As to objects, Carlyle, writing in 1840, says, 
 " Radical members, above all, friends of the people, chosen 
 with effort by the people to interpret and articulate the dumb, 
 deep want of the people ! • To a remote observer, they seem 
 oblivious of their duty. Are they not there, by trade, mis- 
 sion, and express appointment of others, to speak for the 
 good of the British nation ? Whatsoever great British interest 
 can the least speak for itself, for that, beyond all, they are 
 called to speak. They are either speakers for that great 
 dumb, toiling class which cannot speak, or they are nothing 
 that one can well specify." * As to method. Miss Martineau, 
 when dealing with the state of parties at the death of George 
 IV., contrasts generally three systems of government. " On 
 every account it was a good thing that the old Tory rule was 
 broken up, but chiefly for this — that when the thing was 
 done by strong compulsion of fact, of necessity men were 
 beginning to look for the principle of the change, and thereby 
 to obtain some insight into the views of the parties that had 
 governed, or would or might govern, the country. Men began 
 to have some practical conception that the Tories thought it 
 their duty to govern the people (for their good) as a dis- 
 posable property ; that the Whigs thought it their duty to 
 govern as trustees of the nation, according to their own dis- 
 cretion ; and that there were persons living, and effectually 
 moving in the world of politics, who thought that the people 
 ought to govern themselves through the House of Commons." t 
 We find, then, that immediately after the accession of 
 George III., a series of events took place which involved 
 important changes in the position and principles of English 
 political parties. Amongst those changes was such a move- 
 ment in the ranks of the Whigs as was equivalent to a break- 
 up and reconstruction of their party, which from that time 
 ceased to be identical with the general body of Liberals. In 
 the course of this action there was gradually formulated a 
 
 * " Chartism, " p. 5- 
 
 t " Histoiy of The Thirty Years' Peace," vol. i, p. 555. 
 
Introduction — Origin of the Party. 1 1 
 
 series of ideas, tending to the increase of the popular power, 
 around which were concentrated at different times groups of 
 politicians in and out of Parliament, not always composed of 
 the same persons — various objects attracting individuals with 
 varying force. There was, however, a tendency to unite 
 amongst those who were most frequently and most generally 
 agreed ; and by such union again there was more clearly 
 defined a common programme, and the way was opened to 
 the existence of a new party. This movement, like every 
 other manifestation of active political life in England, was 
 arrested by the events which followed the French Revolution. 
 It resumed its progress after the peace so definitely that a 
 distinctive name had to be found, and in a few years after, 
 historians recognized the fact that the new party, under the 
 new name, was exercising an important influence on the 
 national policy. 
 
12 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1760 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 FROM THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE III. TO THE DEATH OF 
 CHATHAM (1760-1778). 
 
 The long reign of the Whigs was shaken by the defeat of 
 Walpole, but it was shaken by a coalition of which Whigs 
 like Pulteney and Townshend were leading members. It was 
 restored apparently with all its old force under the Pelhams, 
 but the Patriots had appealed to a power with which the 
 party managers could not ultimately deal. That public 
 opinion which had led to the dethronement of Walpole, after- 
 wards forced Pitt upon an unwilling monarch and an unfriendly 
 Cabinet ; and Pitt was determined to rely not upon the 
 placemen who merely tolerated him, but upon the people who 
 really trusted and loved him. Throughout his whole career 
 he declared his intention to break the trammels of party. 
 There were occasions on which this resolution seemed to act 
 disastrously for the interests of the nation, as when he refused 
 to ally himself with, the Rockingham Whigs. There is no 
 doubt that Burke's argument in favour of party allegiance 
 under a Parliamentary system is unanswerable. Representa- 
 tive government will be impossible if men who are generally 
 of the same way of thinking will not consent to so far modify 
 their individual views as, whilst preserving their principles, will 
 enable them to agree upon the details in which those princi- 
 ples are to be embodied. But the circumstances of the time 
 were peculiar, and, in Pitt's opinion, the rule of the Whig 
 oligarchy was as much opposed to political freedom as would 
 have been an absolute monarchy itself. 
 
1778.] Accession of George III. to the Death of Chatham. 13 
 
 When George III. ascended the throne, this first inroad 
 upon Whig supremacy had been made, and the new King and 
 his advisers soon opened an attack still more effective upon 
 the forces of the old party. When the old struggles between 
 Tories and Whigs had ended in so complete a triumph of the 
 latter that there was practically no opposition, and therefore 
 no need to appeal to the feelings or the passions of the nation, 
 the chief machine of government became what was known 
 as Parliamentary influence. This consisted of two or three 
 branches. There was first the possession of pocket boroughs ; 
 then the use of bribery and of official power and corruption in 
 constituencies ; and lastly, the direct purchase of votes in Par- 
 liament itself, either by money or place. All these instruments, 
 which had been used with such vigour by Walpole, and were 
 employed even more unscrupulously by Newcastle, the King 
 and his advisers began to adopt. Some of them, especially 
 those which depended upon the possession of places and the 
 command of public money, were as easily available to the 
 Crown as to its ministers. The effect was soon seen in the 
 presence in Parliament of the body of political creatures called 
 the King's friends, who opposed in turn every minister who 
 did not obey the royal behests, and voted not in accordance 
 with any principle or in unison with any party, but simply in 
 obedience to the word of command from the sovereign. There 
 had always existed in the House of Commons a small phalanx 
 of Tory members, representing some of the counties, who 
 hated the Whigs and loved the prerogative. These men 
 could not give willing service or affection to either of the 
 two first Georges, but they had no difficulty in transferring 
 their active allegiance from the hopeless cause of the Stuarts 
 to an English-born king holding Tory views. Besides these, 
 which may be called the main constitutional forces, there 
 were to be noticed one set of men, not numerous or powerful 
 enough to be called a party, but able always to make them- 
 selves heard and often to make themselves felt. The city of 
 London and most of the constituencies where city influence 
 reached, were still possessed with the same love of liberty 
 
14 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1760- 
 
 which had made them the strongholds of the old enemies of 
 despotic power. The representatives sent from these places, 
 and the outside leaders of opinion, were sometimes men of 
 more force than delicacy, but they had to do work from which 
 more refined people might shrink. They were persistent alike 
 in outside agitation and in Parliamentary duty, and they fur- 
 nished a contingent which gave support to whichever section 
 of the old party took the most advanced view on the subject 
 of the day. They were assisted by a few of the representa- 
 tives of populous counties, and there, if anywhere, could be 
 found the germs in which might be traced the first signs of 
 the life of the future Radical party. 
 
 In spite of all contending forces, however, the power of 
 government had not passed, and could not for some time pass 
 out of Whig hands. Macaulay exaggerates the case when he 
 says, "On the day of the accession of George III. the ascend- 
 ancy of the Whig party terminated, and on that day the 
 purification of the Whig party began." * For one thing, all 
 the practical governing ability, all the knowledge of aiTairs, 
 all the official experience, were in the hands of one section or 
 other of the party. Two years after his accession the King 
 could make Bute Premier and Dashwood Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer, but he could not give them the ability to direct 
 the affairs of the country or to manage the House of Commons, 
 so that one or other Whig chief had to be called in, either 
 Grenville or Newcastle or Rockingham, for even in its division 
 the party was indispensable. These very divisions, manifested 
 at a time when new political ideas were beginning to be 
 discussed and new influences to be exercised, give to this 
 period its especial value for our particular purpose. It is in 
 the break-up and reconstitution of parties that we are best 
 able to watch the manner in which these principles and 
 influences impressed themselves upon different minds, and 
 how they served to unite in fresh bonds, or finally to sever, 
 men who had hitherto been connected by conditions which 
 were now ceasing to exist. 
 
 ' Second Essay on Chatham. 
 
1778.] Accession of George III. to the Death of Chatham. 15 
 
 Three subjects now come up for consideration of not 
 merely temporary importance, but raising questions affecting 
 the authority of Government, the rights and Hberties of 
 individuals, and the true source of political power. The first 
 and in every way the most important of these three subjects 
 was the struggle between England and the North American 
 Colonies. This contest involved constitutional questions of 
 the gravest character, the ultimate issue being nothing less 
 than the authority to deal with the properties, rights, and 
 liberties of a people by any government not chosen by and 
 directly representing them. Much ingenuity has been em- 
 ployed in discussing whether or not the taxation of the 
 colonies was technically justified by the English law and 
 custom of the time. But the case was one which went too 
 deep for the letter of law and precedent to settle ; it was one 
 of fundamental right in accordance with which laws have to 
 get themselves made, and not one which could be answered 
 by mechanical law. If we look not only at the vital conse- 
 quence of the issue, but at the vehemence and heat by which 
 its discussion was soon surrounded, it is astonishing to see 
 with what absolute indifference its first introduction was 
 attended. The Stamp Act was passed in 1765, with scarcely 
 any discussion at all in Parliament. Colonel Barr6 was one 
 of the very few members of the House of Commons reported 
 by the Parliamentary History as having spoken against it. 
 But the manner in which it was received in America put 
 another complexion upon the matter. In 1766 it was found 
 necessary to repeal the Act, and the discussions which then 
 ensued, and the views taken by different sections of politicians, 
 are characteristic and instructive. 
 
 There were three main lines on which opinions ran. In 
 the first place, there was the doctrine of the absolute authority 
 of the Imperial Government over the lives and liberties of its 
 subjects either in America or elsewhere. This was, of course, 
 the view taken by the King, by the King's friends, by the 
 Tories, and by all, in fact, to whom the principle of authority — 
 more or less tinctured with the flavour of divine right — was 
 
1 6 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1760^ 
 
 accepted as the basis of their policy. But the people named 
 were not alone in maintaining this opinion, or, at all events, in 
 supporting the course of action to which it pointed : the two 
 Grenvilles, Lord Temple and his brother George, were both 
 strongly against repealing the Stamp Act, and they were 
 supported by other Whigs. 
 
 The second position was, that Parliament had of right the 
 power of taxing the colonies, but that it was inexpedient and 
 practically unjust to do so. This was essentially the Whig 
 doctrine, and it was held by the Ministry, which proposed at 
 the same time the repeal of the Stamp Act, and the passing 
 of a declaratory Act saving the whole power of the English 
 Parliament. The two parts of the proposition were supported 
 with different degrees of earnestness by the several members 
 of the Government. Burke always dwelt upon the folly and 
 wickedness of exercising the power, which he yet acknow- 
 ledged to exist, and the very ablest and noblest of his 
 contributions to political philosophy were devoted to this 
 subject. The Duke of Grafton, when introducing the Decla- 
 ratory Resolution, announced his opinion to be "that the 
 Americans were as liable to be taxed as any man in Great 
 Britain." 
 
 The third view taken of the question was, that it v/as a 
 violation of fundamental and constitutional right for' the 
 Enghsh Government to tax the Americans, who were not 
 represented in Parliament. Pitt strongly maintained this 
 position. Speaking on the 14th of January, 1766, he says 
 distinctly, " It is my opinion that this kingdom has no right 
 to lay a tax upon the colonies." His great friend and fol- 
 lower. Lord Camden, was quite as definite. With regard to 
 the Stamp Act, he said, " In my own opinion, my lords, the 
 legislature had no right to make the law." This may be. 
 fairly called the Radical doctrine ; it was held by a minority 
 only in either House, but it was the only ultimate logical 
 reply to the Tory creed of an inherent authority in Govern- 
 ment to rule its subjects in accordance with its own will. Pitt, 
 it is true, made a distinction between this right of taxation and 
 
1778.] Accession of George III. to the Death of Chatham. 17 
 
 all other powers of Government which he maintained to be 
 possessed by England over the colonies ; and he either sug- 
 gested, or at all events supported, the idea of a Parliamentary- 
 declaration of these powers when the Stamp Act was repealed. 
 The declaration actually made, however, was not in accordance 
 with his avowed opinions, which were expressed in the House 
 of Lords by Camden, who said, "The resolution now proposed 
 is in my opinion too general, as it gives the legislature an 
 absolute power of laying a tax on America." 
 
 The Annual Register of 1766, at that time conducted by 
 Burke, recognized and set out the three sets of opinions which 
 were held by different parties on the American question, and 
 especially alluded to Pitt as denying the rights of Parliament 
 to tax the colonists. Pitt and his friends assisted Rockingham 
 in obtaining the repeal of the Stamp Act, but the difference 
 between doing this in obedience to a broad constitutional 
 principle which denied the right to tax an unrepresented 
 people and doing it as an act of political expediency, was 
 soon fatally manifest. The distinction which Pitt raised 
 between the taxing power and the other powers of Govern- 
 ment was scarcely definable, and not at all capable of 
 practical maintenance. The next year, when the great 
 minister — then Earl of Chatham — was in office, duties were 
 levied on glass, paper, and pasteboard, red lead and colours, 
 and tea, and the signal thereby given which led to the war 
 and the independence of the colonies. This was in the first 
 stages of that long illness which seemed to shroud the mind 
 as much as it prostrated the body of the minister ; but he was 
 evidently more impressed with the duty of asserting the 
 general power of government than of sustaining the constitu- 
 tional right on which he had before insisted, and the place 
 that he left was not filled on this occasion by any other 
 champion, so that the new Act was passed as easily and with 
 as little opposition as that which had been recently repealed. 
 
 The history of the unhappy conflict which ensued has not 
 to be dealt with here ; it is sufficient to notice the failure of the 
 efforts in which, on his recovery, Chatham joined with the 
 
1 8 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1760- 
 
 Rockingham Whigs to undo the mischief which had been 
 done. It became evident to all earnest Liberals that the 
 colonists were upholding not only their own cause, but the 
 cause of freedom in the whole of the British dominions. 
 They were fighting not on behalf of the wise policy of the 
 Whigs, but for the right of subjects to be taxed only with 
 their own consent, and governed only by their own repre- 
 sentatives. The circumstances attending the first discussions 
 raised the all-important questions, and they point clearly to 
 the existence among active politicians of opinions which could 
 never form part of the official Whig or Tory programmes, and 
 must therefore lead sooner or later to the growth of a third 
 party in the State. During this period questions very vitally 
 affecting home liberties divided with the American question 
 the attention of the country and Parliament, and at times 
 aroused passions in a manner which only feelings of personal 
 animosity could account for. Freedom of the subject as 
 affected by the right of Government to issue general warrants ; 
 freedom of the press as secured by the right of juries to 
 decide on law as well as on fact, in cases of libel, and as 
 affected by the power of publishing the proceedings of both 
 Houses of Parliament ; freedom of election threatened by the 
 assumption of the Commons, that by their sole resolution 
 they could declare any particular person to be ineligible for 
 election ; — all these great subjects were raised, directly or 
 indirectly, through the conduct of one man, who, howeV-er 
 unworthy either by character, position, or ability to take the 
 lead in a national movement, must certainly be regarded as 
 an instrument by which valuable results were achieved. 
 
 John Wilkes was one of those reckless people who rush 
 with delight into positions from which more delicate natures 
 shrink, and by their very extravagance irritate the powers they 
 attack into violent proceedings that must end in failure in any 
 country where law is more powerful than personal authority. 
 However personally unpleasant such men may be, they often 
 furnish the only possible method of testing the justice of an 
 administration of law which aims merely at preserving the 
 
1778.] Accession of George III. to the Death of Chatham. 19 
 
 respectabilities of social life. Wilkes shocked a great many 
 worthy people when he attacked the King's favourite, the 
 King's mother, and even the King himself, and the shock 
 was the more severe because it was administered by a man 
 who was known to be loose in his moral character ; but the 
 same issues could never have been raised by mild speaking 
 and gentle criticism. He has been accused of having taken 
 up politics only as a resource when his fortunes were ruined 
 and his character lost ; but niceness of morality and purity of 
 political motives were not universal in the public men of the 
 time, and Wilkes, at all events, sought to serve not the class 
 who were dispensers of wealth and honours, but that great 
 body of the people who were too frequently regarded by 
 placemen and party managers as machines to be used and 
 property to be disposed of Throughout the term of his 
 active political career, Wilkes, although violent in his language, 
 and affected and histrionic in his proceedings, was yet con- 
 sistent in the advocacy of a really liberal policy, which should 
 protect popular liberties and extend popular rights. 
 
 Throughout this continuous and most important struggle 
 the Whig party was divided, and there was the greatest con- 
 fusion in the ranks. Burke and some of the Rockingham 
 section were earnest in their defence of constitutional rights 
 and individual liberty, but there was no definite acknowledg- 
 ment of principles which could bind the whole party. George 
 Grenville, the Duke of Bedford, and Lord Sandwich, were in 
 the government which issued the general warrant ; and the 
 Duke of Grafton and Lord Weymouth were amongst the 
 ministers who proposed and carried the resolutions disquali- 
 fying Wilkes from serving, and declaring Luttrell duly elected. 
 Grenville on the last occasion was in opposition, and strongly 
 resisted the disqualifying proposal ; and, indeed, many of the 
 party leaders took different views on the same kind of ques- 
 tions, according as they were in or out of office. Chatham 
 was throughout, on these as on all great constitutional 
 questions, on the side of freedom ; but Chatham woifld not 
 call himself a Whig, and would not act as a member of the 
 
20 History of the Radical Party in Parliament [1760- 
 
 party. The last of these struggles — that which was waged 
 over the right of publishing the debates of Parliament — was 
 ■marked by similar circumstances. Chatham, Burke, Grenville, 
 and many of the Whigs, were on the popular side, but they 
 could not rally the strength of the party, and the majorities 
 by which the right of printing was opposed were much larger 
 even than those usually obtained by the Government. 
 
 Throughout the whole of this series of efforts to obtain and 
 to secure the liberty of the press, the strength of the Liberal 
 side lay not with the ordinary leaders in Parliament, but with 
 the popular feeling outside, represented by a few determined 
 men in the House. It was in the City of London especially 
 that the fight was most vehemently maintained. The Cor- 
 poration was always ready, either by petitions, by addresses 
 to the King, or by popular demonstrations, to keep up the 
 excitement. The lord mayor and aldermen did not hesitate to 
 oppose the House of Commons, to resist its orders, to imprison 
 its messengers, and generally to defy its authority. Behind 
 the whole of this agitation, exciting its spirit and directing 
 its movements, was the indefatigable Wilkes. The question 
 with regard to the law of libel and the rights of juries was 
 settled in the law courts ; but with respect to the disqualifica- 
 tion of members, and the publishing of reports, the nature of 
 the triumph itself was plainly indicative of the means by 
 which it had really been gained. Chatham and Burke, and 
 other great Parliamentary leaders, had thundered against the 
 disqualification of Wilkes, and against the exclusion of re- 
 porters and the imprisonment of printers. But they had 
 protested against other things, which either went on all the 
 same under the protection of great ministerial majorities or 
 were settled by formal votes in Parliament. In these two 
 cases there was no victory gained in divisions. Wilkes took 
 his seat, and the debates were reported, not because the oppo- 
 sition obtained a majority, but because neither ministers nor 
 Parliament could resist the outside opinion which found 
 expression in the House of Commons, through the small 
 group of men who worked in the city with Wilkes, and in the 
 
1778.] Accession of George III. to the Death of Chatham. 21 
 
 Lords through Chatham and his immediate friends, who would 
 own no allegiance to the Whigs. It was the early working of 
 a spirit of devotion to the popular cause, and of independence 
 of old Parliamentary traditions, which ultimately developed 
 itself into the form of a new party. 
 
 The same observations apply exactly to the movements 
 for Parliamentary reform which began during this period. 
 Here, indeed, the political weakness of the Whigs was most 
 manifest. Burke and many of the Rockinghamites, who were 
 firm on the other questions which have been under considera- 
 tion, were, as we have before seen, opposed to any consti- 
 tutional change. On the other hand, the Duke of Richmond 
 advocated universal suffrage and annual Parliaments. Chat- 
 ham himself was more undecided on this than on any other 
 great subject with which he had to deal ; but through all his 
 irresolution as to details, he was always ready to make some 
 change which should give more definite and powerful expres- 
 sion to the honest public opinion of the country. His 
 favourite plan — and one which he actually submitted to 
 Parliament — was to give a larger share of representation to 
 the counties, those being the constituencies in which he 
 thought bribery, intimidation, and other forms of corruption 
 had least influence. As to the shortening of the duration of 
 Parliaments, he wavered from time to time, but his latest 
 opinion seems to have been in favour of such a proposal as 
 tended to make members more alive to their responsibilities 
 towards their constituents. There was, however, a fixed and 
 growing determination to agitate for reform on the part of 
 the city men, and of some other earnest members of the 
 Commons. And here it was early felt that if any advance 
 was to be made, it must be the result of the efforts not of the 
 people who owned or worked or represented the corrupt and 
 limited existing constituencies, but either of those who were 
 returned by the independent counties or cities, or of people 
 and places who were excluded from all share in elective 
 privileges. It was this feeling that led to the formation of 
 associations and the holding of public meetings for discussing 
 
22 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1760- 
 
 political questions, which Mr. Herbert Spencer and his col- 
 laborateurs hold to be one of the distinguishing features of 
 the period 1768-70.* 
 
 In the House of Commons, Alderman Sawbridge began 
 the system of annual motions on popular subjects, by moving 
 every year, from 1771 to 1778, for leave to bring in a bill to 
 shorten the duration of Parliaments ; and in 1776 Wilkes 
 asked leave to introduce a measure, by which he proposed to 
 increase the number of representatives for the metropolis, the 
 counties of Middlesex and York, and other populous counties, 
 and to give members to the great trading and manufacturing 
 towns, such as Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, and Leeds. 
 The demand for reform was largely based on the corrupt 
 power of the Crown in Parliament, and attempts were made 
 to remedy the evil by the disqualification of placemen and 
 officers in the public departments. It was on this point of 
 endeavouring to purify the existing institutions rather than 
 to re-construct them, that Burke separated himself from the 
 reformers. Throughout the country, however, reform be- 
 came a popular cry, and the large counties joined the city in 
 active agitation for its adoption. This system of combined 
 public and Parliamentary action was still further developed in 
 the next following period, and it was then supported by a 
 man who, from the splendour of his abilities as well as for his 
 ardour on behalf of liberty, was worthy to take the place 
 which Chatham was so soon to vacate. Charles James Fox, 
 who was for a few years a member of Lord North's adminis- 
 tration, and in that capacity opposed some of the earlier effiDrts 
 to obtain reforms, left the Tory party in 1774, and soon 
 became the great Liberal champion. 
 
 During the period which has now been under review, we 
 can clearly trace the influence of principles which the King 
 and the Tories hated, and which the official leaders of the 
 Whigs could not accept ; and we can see also the action of 
 men who either, like Chatham, refused to be bound by party 
 traditions, or, like Wilkes, were regarded as political incen- 
 * "Descriptive Sociology— England," table v., and notes thereon. 
 
1778.] Accession of George III. to the Death of Chatham. 23 
 
 diaries. This position was recognized and acknowledged by 
 Chatham himself in the often-quoted letter to Calcraft, in 
 which, speaking of Lord Rockingham and his friends, he says, 
 " The Marquis is an honest and honourable man, but that 
 ' Moderation ! moderation ! ' is the burden of the song among 
 that body. For myself I am resolved to be in earnest for 
 the public, and shall be a scarecrow of violence to the gentle 
 warblers of the grove, the moderate Whigs and temperate 
 statesmen." Not a bad foreshadowing this of the character 
 which would be assumed by, or given to that Radical party, 
 to the origin of which the great orator certainly contributed. 
 
24 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1778- 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FROM THE DEATH OF CHATHAM TO THE FIRST MINISTRY 
 OF HIS SON, WILLIAM PITT (1778-1784). 
 
 The period to be dealt with in the present chapter is one full 
 of interest to the political and social student. There was such 
 fulness and activity of national life, such a wide diffusion of 
 public spirit, such sympathy between the awakening energies 
 of the people and the ablest and best of their leaders, as must 
 have seemed most hopeful to those engaged in the work, and 
 contrasts quite tragically with the gloomy close of the century, 
 brought about by the influence of the French Revolution on 
 English thought and feeling, and by the long and disastrous 
 war to which it led. Nor was the time less important in view 
 of the particular purpose of this inquiry. There were many 
 signs which gave promise of the formation of a party in 
 Parliament, answering to one actually existing in the country, 
 which should have for its objects the promotion of the 
 interests of the mass of the people rather than those of 
 privileged persons and classes ; and for its means such a 
 diffusion of political power as would make popular legislation 
 possible, and give it stability when obtained. In speaking of 
 such a possible conflict of interests, it must not be assumed 
 that there was even at that time any considerable number of 
 persons who consciously and deliberately subordinated the 
 welfare of the community generally, to that of the particular 
 rank or class to which they belonged. A government so 
 selfish in intention could not have been maintained ; but there 
 were political theories and fictions, adhesion to which produced 
 
1784.] Death of Chatham to the First Ministry of Pitt. 25 
 
 the same effect which would have resulted from the avowed 
 sanctity of individual and sectional interests. There was, in 
 the first place, an abstraction called the nation, which was 
 separated, in the minds of the rulers, from the people of 
 whom it consisted, and tended more and more to mean the 
 particular classes who, by birth or wealth, by aristocratic 
 connections or court influence, were brought into immediate 
 contact with the Government. The men in office then could 
 aim at advantages to the nation, in the way of military glory, 
 territorial additions, or international influence, without count- 
 ing the cost in loss and want and misery to the people who 
 found the taxes and filled the armies. To the same officials 
 the security of the nation meant the stability of the existing 
 form of government, and any extension of popular power 
 seemed to threaten revolution and national disaster. There- 
 fore, in order to preserve the nation, the people were to be 
 ■kept in subjection, and even in ignorance ; and men so unlike 
 in character and ability as Windham and Eldon, combined to 
 resist and defeat the first attempt to establish by law a system 
 of popular education. It will be seen how the effect of the 
 French Revolution was to increase and to extend these 
 feelings, and to put back for an indefinite time the attempts 
 which were being made on behalf of social progress and 
 constitutional reform. 
 
 This, it may be said, was the Tory idea of national 
 policy. In its best aspect, it may be stated as the govern- 
 ment of the people, for the nation by prerogative. The 
 Whig view was different in theory, but not so much un- 
 like in practice. It recognized, indeed, the happiness and 
 welfare of the people as the direct objects at which govern- 
 ments should aim, but it refused to give to the people 
 any active share in the work of their own improvement 
 and progress. Whilst, therefore, it often appealed success- 
 fully to outbursts of public opinion on behalf of particular 
 measures, it refused to place any permanent constitutional 
 power in the hands of the people. The Whig theory was the 
 government of the people, /^r the people by existing privileged 
 
26 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. I177S- 
 
 classes, that was practically, by the aristocracy. We now have 
 evidence of the more definite formation, within the bounds of 
 what we call Liberalism, of a party the individual members 
 of which would have called themselves Whigs, and are some 
 of them still regarded as characteristic leaders of that body, 
 but who aimed at objects and would have adopted means 
 which were distinctly beyond the Whig programme. Even 
 now there was no conscious attempt to form a new party ; the 
 old lines were followed. The Radicals supported and often 
 were members of Whig cabinets, only they desired that the 
 party should travel quicker and further in the direction of 
 democratic reform. Those who were most impressed with 
 the evils which existed, the waste of the national resources, 
 the corruption and jobbery in all departments of the public 
 service, the pressure of taxation, the reckless conduct of the 
 war, the repression of all attempts to improve the moral and 
 intellectual condition of the people, were the most convinced 
 that no essential change could.be effected whilst the whole 
 power of government remained in the hands of a limited 
 class, to every member of which a share in the spoils of cor- 
 ruption seemed within reach. But this consciousness did 
 not, in a great part of their political life, separate many of 
 the men who held it from their colleagues in the Whig 
 ranks. Fox, who looked to reform as the instrument by 
 which permanent improvement was to be gained, was the 
 colleague in office and the friend in council of Burke, who 
 wanted to abolish jobbery without extending the popular 
 power in the Constitution. Yet the views of the reformers 
 gradually became distinctive, and there was a growing ten- 
 dency in those who held them to associate and work together. 
 That this association was only incidental to, and not a 
 systematic part of, the pohtical life of the more important 
 men led to noteworthy results. What organization existed 
 was loose, inefficient, and easily broken, so that its members 
 were not influenced by it in joining or forming ministries, or 
 in taking any other step affecting practical Parliamentary 
 work. Fox and Sheridan, for instance, at the time we are now 
 
1784.] Death of Chatham to the First Ministry of Pitt. 27 
 
 dealing with, were active members of an advanced political 
 association ; but they Joined the Rockingham ministry, broke 
 off from it when, on the death of its chief, Shelburne became 
 Premier, and coalesced with North, not only without any 
 co-operation, but, so far as is known, without any consultation 
 with their unofficial friends. The manner in which these first 
 attempts at Radical organization were made, and the indefi- 
 nite character of their influence, are illustrated by the history 
 of perhaps the most important of them all, having regard to 
 the number and the position of its originators and members. 
 This was the body called first the " Westminster Committee 
 of Correspondence," and afterwards the " Westminster Com- 
 mittee of Association." This committee was established on 
 the 2nd of February, 1780, and it continued to exist until April, 
 1785. The minutes during that period are consecutive, 
 although for a great part of the time the meetings were few 
 and irregular.* The interest for us in the account of thi 
 committee arises from the fact that it contained a great 
 number of members of both Houses of Parliament, and that 
 it interested itself quite as much with the proceedings of 
 Parliament as with outside agitation. It seems, indeed, to 
 have been for some time the centre of deliberation of that 
 section of the party which Macaulay calls the Ultra Whigs, 
 and which he speaks of as one of the combinations with 
 which the younger Pitt might have associated himself at the 
 commencement of his career, and with which for a time he 
 did work on behalf of Parliamentary reform.f The great 
 Whig historian speaks of this section as distinguished from 
 that with which Fox was connected, whereas the orator was 
 quite as intimately associated with them as he was with the 
 official Whigs, and was the chairman of the Westminster 
 committee during the whole period of its existence, and 
 presided at the majority of its meetings. 
 
 * These original minutes, which are in three volumes and are signed by the 
 various chairmen — principally by C. J. Fox — are in the possession of Mr. Samuel 
 Timmins, of Birmingham, who kindly lent them to me for perusal and extract. 
 
 t " Biography of William Pitt." 
 
28 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1778- 
 
 In 1779 meetings were held in various counties to petition, 
 in the first place, for a reduction of expenditure and taxation, 
 and the abolition of sinecure places, exorbitant emoluments 
 of necessary offices, and pensions unmerited by public ser- 
 vices, all of which had been, and were still, increasing to an 
 alarming extent. To this claim for the redress of immediate 
 grievances was added a demand for Parliamentary reform, 
 but this at the outset held a quite secondary place in the 
 thoughts of the promoters and the prayers of their petitions. 
 The greatest of these meetings was held at York, on the 30th 
 of December, 1779; and the example was followed in a very 
 short time by the counties of Middlesex, Chester, Hants, 
 Hertford, Sussex, Huntingdon, Surrey, Cumberland, Bedford, 
 Essex, Gloucester, Somerset, Wilts, Dorset, Devon, Norfolk, 
 Berks, Bucks, Nottingham, Kent, Northumberland, Suffolk, 
 Hereford, Cambridge, and Derby. In February, 1780, the 
 city of Westminster held its meeting for the same purpose, 
 and formed the committee already referred to. Amongst 
 the members then elected were the Duke of Portland, Lord 
 Temple, Fox, Burke, Sheridan, Wilkes, Sawbridge, five 
 Cavendishes, Barrd, Beckford, Churchill, and James and 
 Thomas Grenville. Here we find representatives of nearly 
 all shades of Liberal opinion, and the number and repre- 
 sentative character were further increased by subsequent 
 additions, amongst others being the Dukes of Richmond and 
 Devonshire, the Earl of Shelburne and Sir Cecil Wray. On 
 the 20th of February, 1783, that is, three years after the forma- 
 tion of the committee, on a change of secretary a complete list 
 of members was entered on the minutes, and it is important 
 to know that it then contained sixteen peers and fifty-one 
 members of the House of Commons, for this fact gives great 
 significance to the resolutions passed and the policy advocated. 
 At the first meeting of the committee. Fox was chosen 
 permanent chairman, and a resolution was passed inviting the 
 various Committees of Correspondence throughout the country 
 to co-operate. This invitation was responded to by the 
 associations of Yorkshire, Huntingdonshire, Gloucestershire, 
 
1784.] Death of Chatham to the First Ministry of Pitt. 29 
 
 Hampshire, Nottinghamshire, Middlesex, and London. The 
 committee intended to act on ParHament and on the con- 
 stituencies, and at its third meeting, held on the 23rd of 
 February, it requested the chairman "To procure as correct 
 a list as possible of the members of the House of Commons 
 who voted for and against Lord North's amendment to Sir 
 George Saville's motion for a full account of the pensions, 
 which amounts to a direct refusal of one of the great objects 
 of the petitions of the people, and that he do transmit the 
 same to the different committees." 
 
 Thanks were also voted to Burke for his plan of economic 
 reform, which he had introduced on the 1 1 th of February, in 
 the memorable speech which is said to have '" placed him not 
 merely in the first rank of orators, but also in the very first 
 rank of practical statesmen." On the ist of March two resolu- 
 tions were adopted, one appointing three members to meet 
 a deputation from the other committees, and another " recom- 
 mending such members of this committee as are members of 
 the House of Commons, to give the most diligent attendance 
 to their duty on impending business." The attention of the 
 committee had been given to financial and other business, but 
 it began to be felt more and more not only that one of its 
 main functions was to promote Parliamentary reform, but that 
 this work was the one on which all the others really depended. 
 At the meeting on the iSth of March it was resolved — 
 " That by the resolution of the general meeting, directing 
 this committee to prepare a plan of an association on legal 
 and constitutional grounds to support the laudable reform and 
 such other measures as may conduce to restore the freedom 
 of ParHament, this committee conceive themselves bound to 
 enter into the consideration of every question tending to 
 establish the independency of Parliament on a solid and 
 durable basis." Accordingly, a sub-committee was appointed 
 to inquire into the state of the representation of the country, 
 and to report. Of this sub-committee Sheridan was appointed 
 chairman, and its report, presented on the 20th of March, is 
 signed by him in the minute-book. It defends annual Par- 
 
30 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1778- 
 
 liaments as constitutional, and as having been illegally altered ; 
 states that by the statute 8 Henry VI. th§ Parliament then 
 elected by the commonalty at large, passed an Act to dis- 
 franchise the greater part of the constituents by establishing 
 the forty-shillings qualification ; and then refers at length to 
 the decay of old boroughs, the representation of which is con- 
 trolled corruptly either by the Crown or by hereditary owners, 
 whereas new and large communities had grown up which are 
 entirely unrepresented ; and it ends by the declaration that, 
 whether as regards population or property, the representation 
 is essentially unequal. On the presentation of this report, it 
 was resolved that annual Parliaments are the right of the 
 people, and that " the present state of the representation is 
 inadequate to the object, and a departure from the first 
 principles of the Constitution." At a meeting on the 22nd 
 of March, with Fox in the chair, and Burke, Sheridan, and 
 Beckford present, we come upon the first reference to the 
 ballot in a resolution — "That the obtaining of a law for 
 taking the suffrages of the people in such a mode as to 
 prevent both expense in elections and the operation of 
 undue influence therein, is necessary towards the freedom of 
 Parliament." 
 
 A change was now made in the form of the committee. On 
 the 3rd of April a sub-committee, consisting of Fox, Sheridan, 
 and Colonel Fitzpatrick, was instructed to draw up a plan of 
 an association, to be submitted to a general meeting called 
 by advertisement, addressed to " the nobility, gentry, clergy, 
 electors, and other inhabitants paying taxes to Government, 
 resident in the city and liberty of Westminster." At the 
 public meeting the plan of association was adopted ; the com- 
 mittee then became "the Committee of Association," and 
 Fox was again elected chairman. Contact with popular 
 feeling seems to have strengthened the tone of the com- 
 mittee, and enlisted its energies more definitely on behalf of 
 Parliamentary reform ; for a sub-committee was appointed, 
 which reported to a meeting on the 27th of June. The report, 
 which was submitted by Mr. Brand Hollis, was long, elaborate, 
 
1784-] Death of Chatham to the First Ministry of Pitt. 31 
 
 and rhetorical, but it concluded with a definite scheme, as 
 comprehensive and as thorough-going as any which has been 
 put forward by the most advanced Radicals at any time. It 
 included the well-known " five points " of the Chartists,* and 
 proposed a plan of electoral divisions similar to that recently 
 proposed by the Rev. Mr. Fowle,t and which seems to possess 
 the merits of equalizing the voting power, whilst recognizing 
 the local associations of the counties which have existed from 
 the very commencement of our Parliamentary system. There 
 were sixteen recommendations, which were to the following 
 effect : — 
 
 I. Each county to be divided into as many districts as it 
 is entitled to elect representatives, each district 
 choosing one representative. 
 
 (The number of members for each county was set 
 out, but was to be subject to periodical revision ac- 
 cording to the relative increase of population. See V.) 
 II. Each district as far as possible to contain an equal 
 number of males ; the name of the district being 
 taken from the parish containing the greatest num- 
 ber of electors. 
 III. Annual Parliaments to be elected on the first Tuesday 
 in July each year, the election to commence between 
 eight and eleven, and close before sunset of the same 
 day. 
 'IV. All male inhabitants of this country (aliens, minors, 
 criminals, and insane persons excepted) to vote. 
 V. Makes first allotment of members to counties, — in all 
 
 513- 
 VI. Regulation as to register. 
 VII. Grand inquest in each county to allot members to 
 
 districts. 
 VIII. Election to take place in principal town or village of 
 district. 
 
 * These were universal suffrage, vote by ballot, equal electoral districts, 
 payment of members, abolition of property qualification, 
 t Fortnightly Revieiv for October, 1880. 
 
33 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1778- 
 
 IX. Votes to be taken by ballot. 
 X. Churchwardens to declare poll to sheriff of county, 
 
 who returns writ. 
 XL The annual session of Parliament to commence on 
 the first Tuesday in November. 
 XII. Session to end in April, or, if necessary, may be con- 
 tinued by Crown to first Tuesday in July. 
 
 XIII. Declaration by members. 
 
 XIV. All members to be paid. 
 
 XV. All election causes to be decided by jury before judges 
 of assize. 
 XVI. Every person competent to vote to be eligible for 
 election. 
 
 This very pronounced scheme, having been considered, was, 
 at a meeting on the loth of July, ordered to be printed and 
 sent to all the committees of counties, cities, and boroughs. 
 It did not form the basis of any prolonged agitation, and 
 was not, indeed, looked upon as the definite reform pro- 
 gramme of the committee ; for on the 3rd of November Sir 
 George Saville was thanked for a declaration about Parlia- 
 mentary reform, and requested to prepare a scheme and 
 submit it to Parliament, and some months afterwards the 
 Duke of Richmond was asked to publish his bill for universal ^ 
 suffrage and annual Parliaments. The remarkable thing is 
 that proposals so extreme should have been accepted at all, 
 and without opposition, by a committee of which Burke, 
 Shelburne, and Townshend, as well as Wilkes, Sawbridge, and 
 Beckford, were members. 
 
 At this time, however, the movement for reform, although 
 rapidly coming to the front, was regarded rather as the 
 subject of outside agitation, to be supported, indeed, by 
 declaratory resolutions in both Houses, than as the imme- 
 diate practical work of the Liberals in Parliament. The most 
 pressing business was to bring the fatal war with America to 
 a close ; and that which seemed to offer the best prospect of 
 useful result was the effort in favour of financial and economic 
 
1784] Death of Chatham td the First Ministry of Pitt. 33 
 
 reform, which, especially after the success of Dunning and 
 the splendid advocacy of Burke, was brought well within the 
 range of practical politics. During this year, 1780, the 
 Liberal members at once informed the committee, and re- 
 ceived from it encouragement and support on both these 
 subjects. At the meeting on the 3rd of November, at which 
 Fox was in the chair, a resolution was passed against the con- 
 tinuance of the American war, as " if it could possibly be 
 attended with success it would not only be destructive of the 
 Liberties of England ; but in the highest degree injurious to 
 the general interests of mankind." On the 30th of the same 
 month. Fox again presiding, the thanks of the committee 
 were^ voted to " Mr. Wilkes and such other friends to public 
 liberty as opposed the vote of thanks to General Clinton and 
 Lord Cornwallis on Monday last, on the ground that success 
 in the American war would be the ruin of the liberties both 
 of America and England." 
 
 At the close of this year the proceedings give us an 
 illustration of the feelings, not only of confidence but of 
 affection, with which Fox was regarded by his associates 
 and colleagues. On the loth of November, John Churchill 
 in the chair, thanks were given to Fox for his conduct in 
 the House, accompanied by a declaration that his honesty 
 and boldness may make him " the object of such attacks 
 as he has already received ; " and the inhabitants of West- 
 minster were invited to do their best " to preserve to the great 
 body of citizens by whom he has been elected, and to his 
 country, the benefit of his services and the inviolable security 
 of his person." On the 14th of December, when Colonel 
 Fitzpatrick was in the chair, it was resolved to carry Fox 
 at the election without any charge whatever to the candidate. 
 
 In the following year, 178 1, the committee continued its 
 outside agitation and its influence with the popular Liberals 
 in the House. On the 23rd of January, Fox, the Earl of 
 Efifingham, Sheridan, General Burgoyne, W. Wyndham, 
 W. Scott, and John Churchill were appointed delegates to 
 attend in London or Westminster, to communicate with the 
 
 D 
 
34 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1778- 
 
 delegates of other petitioning associated bodies on the 
 means of carrying into effect the objects of their petition. 
 At the next meeting instructions were given to the delegates 
 that their objects should be to obtain — 
 
 1. Economic reform and regulations for reducing the 
 unconstitutional influence of the Crown. 
 
 2. More equal and fair representation by adding one 
 hundred additional members, to be chosen in due proportion 
 in the different counties and principal cities. 
 
 3. Shortening the duration of Parliament. 
 
 The meetings of these delegates attracted considerable 
 attention, and were regarded by Government and its sup- 
 porters as dangerous, if not illegal. Although they petitioned 
 Parliament in their individual and not their representative 
 capacity, their proceedings were objected to, and at a meeting 
 of the committee on the 4th of April, a formal declaration was 
 made of the right to meet, associate, and correspond. In this 
 year, although it was not the most active, the committee con- 
 tinued its work on behalf of economic reform and its protest 
 against the American war. On the 8th of December a petition 
 to the King was prepared, which, after denouncing the war, 
 ended thus : "We therefore humbly implore your Majesty that 
 your Majesty will be graciously pleased to dismiss from your 
 presence and councils all advisers, both public and private, of 
 the measures we lament, as a pledge to the world of your 
 Majesty's fixed determination to abandon a system incom- 
 patible with the interests of your crown and the happiness of 
 your people." This petition was submitted to and approved 
 by a public meeting, and Fox was requested to present it. 
 
 On the 9th of February a resolution was passed, calling on 
 all members of the committee who were members of Par- 
 liament, to support Burke's motion for economical reform ; 
 and a similar appeal was made on the 27th of March on behalf 
 of Dunning's motion for reforming abuses in the expenditure 
 of public money and for reducing the influence of the Crown. 
 
 The beginning of the year 1782 was both the most active 
 and the most interesting period in the history of the com- 
 
1784] Death of Chatham to the First Ministry of Pitt. 35 
 
 mittee, because the political events of that time were of the 
 greatest national importance, and they were affected mainly 
 by the influence and energy of men who found in the com- 
 mittee their point of contact with the people. But there is 
 another matter of great personal as well as historic interest, 
 illustrated by the minutes of the transactions of these few but 
 eventful months, that is, the relation between Pitt and those 
 whom Macaulay calls the " Ultra Whigs." During this period 
 the North Ministry was destroyed ; the long determination of 
 the King not to make peace with the colonists was broken 
 down ; Fox and Sheridan, Shelburne and Burke, were in 
 office under Rockingham ; and William Pitt had made it 
 known that he did not intend to enter any Ministry in the 
 formation of whose policy he had not a potent voice — and at 
 that time Pitt was a sincere and earnest reformer. At the 
 beginning of this year everybody knew that the end of the 
 war and the end of North's Ministry would come together, and 
 that both must come soon. On the 22nd of February General 
 Conway moved a resolution in the House of Commons for 
 ending the war, and it was lost only by one vote, the numbers 
 being 193 to 194. This was a sign, and the reality followed 
 closely. On the 27th Conway moved — "That the further 
 prosecution of offensive hostilities for the purpose of reducing 
 the revolted colonies to obedience by force, would weaken the 
 efforts of Great Britain against her European enemies, in- 
 crease the mutual enmity so fatal both to Great Britain and 
 America, and, by preventing a happy reconciliation with that 
 country, frustrate the desire expressed by his Majesty of 
 restoring the blessings of peace and tranquillity." A motion 
 made by ministers for adjournment was defeated by a majority 
 of nineteen, and General Conway's resolution was carried 
 without a division. So the long-lived and disastrous admini- 
 stration of Lord North received its fatal wound ; but yet it 
 could not for some weeks be got decently buried out of sight. 
 Confusion, irritation, and passion were displayed, not only in 
 Parliament, but in all political quarters, and it was not until 
 the 20th of March that North formally announced his resig- 
 
36 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1778- 
 
 nation. In the mean time, our Westminster committee had 
 shared the common anxiety and activity. On the 4th of 
 March, Earl Fitzwilliam being in the chair, it was resolved to 
 thank the members who voted for General Conway's suc- 
 cessful resolution. On the 26th of March, Churchill chair- 
 man, there was a promise to support those approved friends 
 of the people who, " in this awful and discouraging crisis," 
 will endeavour to rescue the country from " a general con- 
 fusion which has been heaped together by the combined 
 negligence, folly, and wickedness of the worst and most in- 
 capable ministers." Two days after this the announcement 
 was made in Parliament of the arrangement for the new 
 Ministry, in which the Marquis of Rockingham was Premier, 
 Shelburne and Fox Secretaries of State, and Burke Pay- 
 master. On the same day the committee resolved — " That 
 the Right Hon. C. J. Fox, by his able, spirited, and finally 
 successful opposition to an administration profligate beyond 
 the example of former times, hath accomplished an essential 
 part of the wishes of his constituents, and shewn himself 
 worthy of their warmest approbation and support." 
 
 Although the defeat of North and the formation of the 
 new Ministry had been hailed with satisfaction by all sections 
 of the Liberals, it was soon seen — and this was the first 
 experience of a system which in later times became only too 
 common — that whilst the victory had been largely due to the 
 enthusiasm of the reformers or Radicals, the policy of the ad- 
 ministration, although Liberal, was to follow strict Whig lines. 
 The conditions under which the Ministry was formed were 
 announced as — (i) peace with America ; (2) financial reform 
 on Burke's plan ; (3) the diminution of the influence of the 
 Crown. Under the last article the bills for excluding con- 
 tractors from seats in Parliament and disqualifying revenue 
 officers from voting were included. There was nothing about 
 constitutional reform, nor any proposal whereby Parliament 
 should be made more directly representative of the people. 
 The committee was not slow in recognizing and protesting 
 against this omission, although its chairman (Fox)was one of the 
 
1784.] Death of Chatham to the First Ministry of Pitt. 37 
 
 chiefs of the Ministry. On the 19th of April it was resolved— 
 " That this committee, sensible of the baneful influence from 
 whence the late administration derived the power and support 
 which enabled them to persist in measures to the utmost 
 degree disgraceful and ruinous to the nation, do expect from 
 the same spirit and constancy with which the public cause has 
 been maintained against a Ministry existing by Parliamentary 
 corruption, a full and permanent security against undue in- 
 fluence by the establishment of such constitutional reforms in 
 the Commons House of Parliament as shall restore to it its 
 purity, and cause it to be a real representative of the people." 
 At the same time, the necessity of continued outside agitation 
 was proclaimed by an invitation to other committees of cities 
 and counties "to correspond upon the proper means of en- 
 couraging and strengthening the expected movements of the 
 Parliamentary friends of reformation by the authority of the 
 collective body of the people." 
 
 Nor was it without hope that this call for public support 
 was made, for although the Ministry would not touch the 
 question of reform, it was now taken up by one who, by his 
 connections no less than his abilities, began to fill that position 
 in politics which was destined to become so striking in im- 
 portance and so tragical to himself and his country in result. 
 William Pitt inherited much of the oratorical power, all the 
 self-reliance, and at first something of the popular enthusiasm 
 of his great father. On the 7th of May, in this year, he moved 
 in the Commons for a committee to inquire into the state of 
 the representation in Parliament, and to report to the House 
 their observations thereon. His principal object was to abolish 
 , rotten boroughs, and establish equal representation. Although 
 Fox was in the Ministry which refused to act in this direction, 
 he supported Pitt's motion, as did also Sheridan and Sir 
 George Savilk. But Burke and Townshend opposed, and the 
 dead weight of the Whig following was cast in the same scale, 
 and Pitt was defeated, although by a majority of only twenty.^ 
 The committee at once met. They thanked Fox for his sup- 
 port of the resolution, and resolved—" that Alderman Saw- 
 
38 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1778- 
 
 bridge, Sir Cecil Wray, Mr. Churchill, and Major Cartwright be 
 deputed from this committee to the Hon. W. Pitt, to express 
 to him our acknowledgment of his truly patriotic motion on 
 the 7th inst, respecting the state of the representation of this 
 country in Parliament, and our hopes that he will continue his 
 exertions in support of a reform essentially necessary to the 
 independence of Parliament and the liberty of the people." 
 On the 23rd of May, 1782, the following letter from Pitt, 
 addressed to Alderman Sawbridge, was received and entered 
 on the minutes : — 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " I am extremely sorry that I was not at home when 
 you and the other gentlemen from the Westminster committee 
 did me the honour to call. May I beg the favour of you to 
 express that I am truly happy to find that the motion of 
 Tuesday last has the approbation of such zealous friends to 
 the public, and to assure the committee that my exertions 
 shall never be wanting in support of a measure which I agree 
 with them in thinking essentially necessary to the indepen- 
 dence of Parliament and the liberty of the people. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, with great respect and esteem, 
 sir, your most obedient and most humble servant, 
 
 " W. Pitt." 
 
 The connection thus opened the committee were willing 
 enough to continue and strengthen. During this same month 
 of May, a vacancy in the representation of the city of West- 
 minster was caused by Sir George Rodney being created a 
 peer. Pitt was requested by the committee to stand, but at a 
 meeting on the 3rd of June, Fox being in the chair, Churchill 
 reported "that the Right Hon. William Pitt declines the 
 honour of offering himself for this city ; " and Sir Cecil Wray, 
 who had been nominated at a public meeting, was accepted. 
 Events soon occurred which not only prevented any joint 
 action between Pitt and Fox, but broke the unity of the 
 Whig party, and for a long time alienated from Fox the 
 
1784.] Death of Chatham to the First Ministry of Pitt. 39 
 
 sympathy and support of many of his old friends, and of a 
 large part of that public opinion which had been his greatest 
 strength. On the ist of July the Marquis of Rockingham died. 
 His was the only influence which could keep the two sections 
 of the Cabinet united, and at his death the quarrel between 
 Fox and Shelburne, which had long smouldered, burst into 
 flame. Both these great men have been defended by friends 
 and advocates for the part they took on this occasion. We 
 have less to do with the causes of the dispute than with its 
 results, which, as regarded the fortunes of Liberalism in Parlia- 
 ment and the country, were most disastrous. Burke and other 
 old Whig leaders went with Fox, and it was soon seen that 
 Shelburne could not form a Ministry from what was left of 
 the old connection. When, however, the time came for the 
 King to have any voice in the appointment of a Cabinet, Fox 
 was certain to be excluded, and so Shelburne became Premier, 
 and William Pitt was, at the age of twenty-three, made 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer. It must be remembered, how- 
 ever, that the young minister was at that time a Whig in 
 opinions, with even Radical tendencies, and was supposed 
 especially to feel the desire which his father had always 
 manifested, to give increased effect in Parliament to the 
 popular will. His joining a Whig Ministry was therefore in 
 itself no injury to the cause of Liberalism. The evil effects 
 were subsequently developed. The first of these was the 
 commencement of that separation between Pitt and Fox, 
 which afterwards became so complete and so bitter ; and this 
 could not but have a bad effect on Pitt, if only because it kept 
 him from the influence of that enthusiasm for the cause of 
 freedom and popular progress which all contemporaries agree 
 to have been almost irresistible by those who came into close 
 and intimate relations with Fox. Another consequence was 
 the beginning of that alliance between Pitt and the court 
 party which was so soon to manifest itself in defiance of the 
 precedents of Parliamentary rule, and that close personal 
 devotion to the Sovereign to which Pitt often sacrificed not 
 only his own wishes, but his opinion of what was right towards 
 
40 History of the I^adical Party in Parliament. [1778- 
 
 the nation. The worst immediate effect of the triumph of 
 Shelburne was that which it exercised upon Fox himself. 
 For almost the only time in his life, he seems to have allowed 
 the sense of his personal injuries, and the injustice with which 
 he had been treated, to affect, if not to overcome, his devotion 
 to his political principles. He formed that coalition with 
 Lord North which indeed avenged his own wrongs and 
 seated him in office in spite of King and court, but which 
 damaged him irreparably in the opinion of his countrymen, 
 and remains a blot upon a most illustrious career. 
 
 The effect of this strange alliance was not long in mani- 
 festing itself. The new Ministry was formed in July, 1782, 
 and on the 20th of January, 1783, the preliminaries of peace, 
 whereby the independence of the United States was recog- 
 nized, were signed in Paris. On the 24th of the same 
 month the conditions of the treaty were discussed, and the 
 existence of the coalition for the first time made known to 
 Parliament. Fox and North both attacked the provisions 
 of the treaty, although neither then nor at any sub- 
 sequent stage of the discussions did they endeavour to 
 prevent the acceptance of the conditions to which the 
 nation had, as they held, been improperly committed. As 
 soon as the alliance was known, it was felt that the fate of 
 the Ministry was sealed. There were regret and dismay in 
 the minds of many Liberal leaders, and still stronger feelings 
 among the majority of the people outside ; but the bonds of 
 the Parliamentary party were too strong to be broken, and the 
 followers of Fox and those of North, who had so often waged 
 bitter war with each other, now marched in an unbroken and 
 irresistible phalanx to attack the government. On the 17th 
 of February the Ministry were defeated in the Commons. On 
 the 2 1 St a like calamity befel them, and Shelburne resigned. 
 Under ordinary circumstances this would have ended the 
 matter, and the victorious opposition, commanding a strong 
 Parliamentary majority, would have taken office. But the 
 King was determined not to admit Fox to his council, if he 
 could by any means prevent it ; and in this determination he 
 
1784-] Death of Chatham to the First Ministry of Pitt. 41 
 
 found support in Pitt, who took the unprecedented course of 
 remaining in office for no less than five weeks after the Cabinet 
 had been virtually destroyed by the resignation of the Premier. 
 The time thus gained was used by the King in making 
 incessant efforts to construct an administration which should 
 not include Fox. He wanted Pitt to form a Ministry ; he 
 vainly endeavoured to induce North to betray and desert his 
 newly-made colleague. All, however, was in vain ; North was 
 faithful, and the majority unbreakable. A resolution was 
 passed on the 24th of March, by the House of Commons, calling 
 upon the King to form a Ministry. A similar resolution was 
 proposed on the 31st, but was withdrawn on Pitt's announce- 
 ment that he had resigned ; and on the 2nd of April the 
 Coalition Ministry was formed. Of this Cabinet the Duke of 
 Portland was nominally the head, but the real power was 
 divided between the two secretaries. Fox and North. 
 
 It was soon to be seen how little permanent strength 
 could be possessed by a Ministry supported by a mechanical 
 majority in the Commons, not united by any devotion to 
 common principles, and not in harmony with public feeling 
 in the country which could either impress the court or make 
 effective an appeal to the nation. By these events both the 
 possible arms of an actively Liberal party were disabled : 
 Pitt by his alliance with the court and his obedience to the 
 wishes of the King, and Fox by the alienation from him of 
 popular sympathy and affection. As regards the last-named 
 consequence, the proceedings of the Westminster committee 
 form an illustration. During the early period of its existence 
 all the Parliamentary struggles of Fox had been marked by 
 corresponding action on the part of the committee. There 
 had been the most perfect unison between the active party 
 in Parliament and public feeling outside. That was now 
 changed. The committee still continued, and was, indeed, 
 in its greatest numerical force, for it was in the month of 
 February in this year (1783) that the long list of members 
 before referred to was compiled. But there was no sympathy 
 shown with Fox on the present occasion, and no desire 
 
42 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1778- 
 
 manifested to give him support. During the interregnum, 
 when Fox was battling with the court, no meeting was held. 
 After the formation of the Coalition Ministry, which was on 
 the 2nd of April, a meeting took place on the 30th. Sir Cecil 
 Wray, afterwards Fox's opponent in Westminster, was in the 
 chair, but no notice was formally taken of the late ministerial 
 crisis or its result. It was resolved that "this committee 
 will continue to exert themselves to obtain a more equal 
 representation of the people and a shorter duration of Par- 
 liament," and " that no minister will deserve the confidence 
 and support of the people who will not sincerely promote a 
 more equal Parliamentary representation." It was a curious 
 commentary on this vote that in the following week, on the 
 7th of May, Pitt moved three resolutions on Parliamentary 
 reform, and his motion was rejected by 293 to 149. This 
 was in the House in which Fox was virtually the leader. He 
 himself voted and spoke strongly for the motion, but his 
 colleague North not only voted but spoke against the resolu- 
 tions. In estimating the forces which were engaged in the 
 vehement Parliamentary struggle between Pitt and the 
 Coalition majority this fact must be borne in mind, that Pitt 
 still acted as the advocate of the increase of popular privileges, 
 and Fox had allied himself with the man and the party who 
 were its most persistent and bitter opponents. 
 
 The struggle soon came. On the nth of November the 
 Indian bills were introduced. They were carried in the 
 Commons ; but the King was determined they should not 
 pass, and, by a most unblushing violation of constitutional 
 usage, his private opinion was employed to influence votes in 
 the House of Lords, and the Ministry were defeated on the 
 iSth of December by 87 to 79. On this occasion no time was 
 allowed for consultations. On the i8th the King called upon 
 the ministers to resign, and on the 19th Pitt became Premier. 
 •From that day until the 25th of March in the following year, 
 a period of more than three months, there was one long 
 passionate Parliamentary war. Pitt's position, holding office 
 with a majority in the House of Commons constantly opposed 
 
1784-] Death of Chatham to the. First Ministry of Pitt. 43 
 
 to him and calling by actual vote for his resignation, was 
 clearly contrary not only to Parliamentary precedent, but to 
 the plainest principles of the Constitution. Yet he held on 
 without either speakers to help him or votes to support him, 
 against the attacks of the ablest orators who have ever 
 moved Parliament and the constant majorities which were 
 behind them. The one thing which redeemed his conduct 
 from the worst form of absolutism was the consciousness on 
 both sides that an appeal to the country would result in the 
 triumph of the Ministry. Here the opposition put them- 
 selves entirely in the wrong, denying by votes the undoubted 
 right of the Crown to dissolve Parliament that the opinion 
 of the constituencies might be ascertained. What that 
 opinion would be was hardly a matter of doubt. In West- 
 minster itself Fox had lost his hold on public feeling. The 
 majority of the old committee was passively with him, but 
 took no open steps in his behalf; and an active section, 
 including Churchill and Sir Cecil Wray, was in violent 
 antagonism. A public meeting had been held by the oppo- 
 sition, at which one hundred members were added to the 
 committee, which by vote refused to receive them or have 
 them admitted. On the 14th of February, 1784, whilst the 
 Parliamentary war was raging, Fox's friends held a meeting 
 at which he presided. There was violent disturbance, and 
 a bag containing capsicum and euphorbium was thrown at 
 Fox, who was in front of the hustings. A reward of two 
 hundred guineas was offered by the committee to any one 
 who would bring the perpetrator of this outrage to justice, 
 but without effect. On the 5th of March, during the very 
 height of the final struggle, the committee met, but made 
 no reference to the crisis, and passed a general resolution in 
 favour of reform and declaring its readiness to co-operate 
 with other committees of counties and cities. 
 
 It was not until the contest was practically over that the 
 committee spoke, and then it was in view of a dissolution 
 rather than as taking part in the Parliamentary battle. On 
 the 8th of March Fox in a division had a majority of only one 
 
44 History of the Radical Party in Parliament, [1778-1784. 
 
 vote, and everybody knew that his case was lost. On the 
 19th, what was left of the committee met. There were but 
 twenty-five members present, and there were two dissenting 
 voices to the resolution — " that it is the opinion of this com- 
 mittee that the continuance of the present ministers in their 
 offices after the House of Commons has declared by repeated 
 resolutions that they do not possess the confidence of that 
 House, and has addressed his Majesty for their removal, is 
 contrary to the essential principles of the Constitution, injurious 
 to the most valuable interests of the nation, and has a mani- 
 fest tendency to prolong the unhappy distractions and divisions 
 which prevail in this country." Even when the committee 
 got to the real work for which it met, there was one dissentient 
 voice to the resolution, that in the case of a dissolution the 
 committee recommend the electors of Westminster to sup- 
 port Fox. Five days afterwards the dissolution came, the 
 Coalitionists were routed all over the country — 160 of them 
 lost their seats, and gained the name of Fox's Martyrs— and 
 their great leader himself narrowly escaped. He was opposed 
 in Westminster by his former friend, Sir Cecil Wray, whom 
 he only defeated by 235 votes ; and there was a long and 
 acrimonious struggle over a petition and scrutiny before he 
 could sit for the city, a provisional Scottish seat having to 
 be found for him in the mean time. Thus was broken for a 
 time the connection between the people, needing as they did 
 and longing for constitutional and practical reforms, and the 
 only man who, alike by his abilities and his earnest convictions, 
 was qualified to create and lead a party which should not 
 immediately obtain — for that was impossible — but steadily 
 prepare the way for the accomplishment of the national desire. 
 
( 45 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FROM THE FORMATION OF PITT'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 
 TO THE ACT OF UNION WITH IRELAND (1784-1800). 
 
 The accession of Pitt to the supreme power in 1784, marks an 
 era in English political and party history rather from the 
 possibilities which it involved, and which were developed by 
 unforeseen circumstances, than from any actual change of 
 policy which could be seen and appreciated by the people at 
 the time. The minister, who ended as the most bitter 
 opponent not only of popular rights, but even of freedom of 
 thought and speech, began as a decided if not an enthusiastic 
 Parliamentary reformer. He commenced his rule as a 
 financial reformer, desirous above all things to reduce the 
 national debt, which he ended by nearly quadrupling. There 
 was at the outset, therefore, no reason why the Liberal feeling 
 should have been alarmed at the power of the new minister. 
 He had been in close correspondence, if not in alliance, with 
 Wilkes, Sawbridge, Barr^ and other Radicals; and his 
 severance from Fox was naturally regarded with the less 
 dislike because the coalition with North had for a time 
 destroyed the popularity of the great orator. The true cha- 
 racter and power of Fox were indeed hidden and obscured ; 
 but the events which kept him from power restored him to 
 greatness. He was by instinct and sympathy the champion 
 of causes which could not gain immediate victories, but which 
 he watched and guarded and kept alive in times of darkness 
 and danger. He had himself seen where his true place in 
 political life was, and the work which he was best qualified to 
 
46 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1784- 
 
 perform. In 1778 he had written of himself: "People flatter 
 me that I continue to gain rather than lose estimation as an 
 orator ; and I am so convinced this is all I shall gain (unless 
 I choose to be one of the meanest of men), that I never think 
 of any other object of ambition. I am certainly ambitious by 
 nature ; but I have, or think I have, totally subdued that 
 passion. I have still as much vanity as ever, which is a 
 happier passion by far, because great reputation I think 
 I may acquire and keep ; great situations I never can acquire, 
 nor, if acquired, keep, without making sacrifices that I will 
 never make.'' This statement is not only a wonderful speci- 
 men of self-appraisement, but it shows the insight of genius 
 into the conditions of the time, and the political instruments 
 with which he would have to work. None of the great objects 
 on which the mind of Fox was set could be obtained with the 
 then existing constitution of Parliament, and a change in that 
 constitution seemed to become ever less and less possible. 
 Both these facts were manifest in the case of Pitt when he 
 was firmly seated in office. 
 
 The strength of his Ministry has been the subject of 
 .remark to all historians of the time. The Parliamentary 
 majority was overwhelming ; there was a fusion of both the 
 old political parties, and an agreement of many and varying 
 social interests in its favour. But the power of the Premier 
 was not coincident with that of his administration. It is true 
 that he had the appearance of almost despotic rule ; but he 
 had soon to learn that there were limitations to his authority, 
 and these mark not only the boundaries of his personal 
 influence, but those of possible political action. Pitt, when he 
 first took office, was a Whig, alike by tradition, training, and 
 sympathies. He had especially made himself the advocate of 
 a reform more advanced than the old Whigs would accept : 
 he had co-operated with Wilkes and Sawbridge, and obtained 
 the thanks of the popular committees. This must be remem- 
 bered in thinking of the manner in which his accession to 
 office was accepted by the Liberal opinion of the country. He 
 endeavoured to redeem the pledges which he had given, and 
 
i8oo.] Pitis First Ministry to the Union with Ireland. 47 
 
 to justify the popular confidence. In less than a year after 
 the meeting of the new Parliament — on the i8th of April, 1785 
 — he introduced a motion for reform, which, on the 20th, was 
 rejected by 248 votes to 174. He is described as the most 
 determined minister who ever held power. He had almost 
 the greatest majority behind him which has ever supported 
 a cabinet ; and he is said to have been as powerful with the 
 Crown as with the country. This was a subject which he had 
 made especially his own, which he had introduced in more 
 than one Parliament, and which he had declared to be 
 " essentially necessary to the independence of Parliament and 
 the liberty of the people." Yet this omnipotent minister, this 
 self-willed man, is defeated on his favourite subject by a 
 majority of seventy-four ; and, what is more, sits down quietly 
 under the blow, and never afterwards brings forward the 
 matter in any shape. Well might the Westminster committee, 
 at its last recorded meeting, resolve — " that this committee, 
 impressed with the idea of the absolute necessity of a reform 
 in the representation of the people in Parliament, feel the 
 deepest concern in finding that the House of Commons has 
 refused to give leave for bringing in a bill on the motion of 
 the Right Hon. William Pitt, for amending such representa- 
 tion," and then give up the hopeless struggle. 
 
 The condition of the nascent Radical party was now 
 indeed depressed, if it could be said to have any definite 
 active existence. Its spirit and principles lived in the hearts 
 of the people without any sense of their immediate value, and 
 in the minds of a few statesmen without power to give them 
 practical expression. Another cause for this state of calm 
 is to be found in the fact that there was at this time no 
 pressure of unusual suffering in the country, and no exercise 
 of despotic power on the part of the Government. Neither 
 Pitt nor any one else would be allowed to interfere with the 
 existing order of things ; but there was no influence strong 
 enough to threaten the power of the King or the patronage of 
 his friends. There was in the political world the sort of 
 indifferentism which comes from the existence of a strong 
 
48 History of the Radical Party in Partiament: [1784- 
 
 Ministry professing generally' popular opinions, but not 
 striving in the least to carry them out. Such a period is 
 within our memory during the supremacy of Lord Palmerston. 
 The incessant growth of society, the increase of its wants, the 
 development of its ideas, render the long continuance of such 
 a state of affairs impossible ; and it may prelude, according to 
 the conditions of the time, either some violent outbreak of 
 a neglected and suffering people, or some manifestation of 
 national energy in the direction of material and intellectual 
 progress. What would have been the result in the present 
 case if it had been left to English ideas and Englishmen to 
 decide, we need not attempt to inquire, for we can never 
 know ; for the terrible storm of the French Revolution burst 
 over Europe, kindling hopes or arousing terrors before which 
 the ordinary life of nations was bent and distorted, and their 
 ordinary thoughts and traditions were swept away. The 
 actual legislation which was effected or attempted between 
 1784 and 1790, gives us little clue to the natural tendencies of 
 the time, outside the narrow range which King and court had 
 marked. A good deal of the time of Parliament during this 
 period was occupied ■ by two subjects, one of which was 
 discussed on broad national grounds, and the other on the 
 narrowest lines of party, or even faction. The impeachment 
 and trial of Warren Hastings lie beyond our boundaries, 
 except so far as they inculcated the principle of the responsi- 
 bility of rulers to the people through their representatives. 
 In the discussions which arose on the first illness of 
 George III., as to the terms upon which the regency was 
 to be entrusted to the Prince of Wales, great principles were 
 indeed introduced, but they were used for palpably party 
 objects. The opposition, in order to increase the power of 
 their friend and patron the Prince, maintained his hereditary 
 right to the position. The Ministry, to whom his accession 
 would mean dismissal, were all for constitutional limitations. 
 The contest was creditable to neither party, and it was a good 
 thing when it ended in the recovery of the King. For the 
 rest, the business of the country went on quietly, Pitt tried 
 
i8oo.] PMs first Ministry to the ' Uftion ivith Ireland. 49 
 
 his nostrum of the sinking fund ; he negotiated a commercial 
 treaty with France ; and he slightly re-arranged the incidence 
 of taxation, as chancellors do when, with nothing serious on 
 hand, they have to make some show of activity. The Whigs, 
 on their side, had no power to do anything, and did not try to 
 do much. A few mild efforts were indeed made, but they 
 were not pushed on with the strength of the party, which, as 
 we have seen before, were never united or hearty on the 
 matter. One subject only of primary importance was debated 
 with earnestness. The Test and Corporation Acts weighed 
 heavily upon the Nonconformists, interfering with their rights 
 and interests in every department of local work. It is in the 
 nature of things, that this class should belong to the advanced 
 section of the Liberals, those who most strenuously maintain 
 liberty against authority, and efforts in the direction of reli- 
 gious freedom will therefore be amongst the earliest signs of 
 political activity on the part of the Radicals. The Parliament, 
 however, which refused Pitt's request for reform was not likely 
 to adopt any such proposition as that for the repeal of the 
 Test Act, which, being moved on the 28th of March, 1787, 
 was rejected by a majority of 176 to 98. It will be seen by 
 these numbers that there was a substantial, although not 
 powerful. Whig party. In fact, the Whigs had been strength- 
 ening their position in many respects. Fox was outgrowing 
 the evil effects of the coalition — which Pitt lost no opportunity 
 of calling to mind — and his oratory daily gained in brilliance 
 and power. The friendship of the Prince of Wales was at 
 once a source of Parliamentaiy strength to the party, and 
 a guarantee to its more timid members that no very violent 
 policy would be pursued. 
 
 Suddenly, however, the whole aspect of affairs and the 
 constitution and relation of parties was to be changed. The 
 proceedings in France during the years 1788 and 1789 were 
 watched with the keenest interest here. By no class of states- 
 men were they at first regarded with fear or even with dislike. 
 Pitt seemed to agree with Fox in the hope that the movement 
 would lead to the establishment of a settled system of freedom 
 
 E 
 
50 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1784- 
 
 until then unknown in France: The violent proceedings of 
 the end of the year 1789, the march upon Versailles, and the 
 seizure of the King and the royal family, began to produce a 
 feeling at first of disgust and then of horror in the minds of 
 many Englishmen. Amongst the first to give expression to 
 these sentiments was Burke. To his philosophic intellect it 
 was clear that no permanent progress in liberty or in well- 
 being could result from the unregulated violence of the city 
 mobs who were making themselves masters of the destinies of 
 France. He did not realize the fact that to break down the 
 terrible despotism of Crown and nobles, by which the con- 
 dition of the people of France had been made a perpetual 
 slavery, and their lives one long and hopeless misery, a 
 passionate national effort was necessary ; and if he did admit 
 the fact, he would have still thought that the method of its 
 overthrow was at once wicked and unwise. So he became the 
 mouthpiece not only of the few who, like himself, loving 
 practical liberty, loved also the ancient forms by which it 
 had been limited and regulated, but of the more numerous 
 class of all ranks to whom any change at all was hateful, and 
 violent change appalling. It was in the beginning of the 
 year 1790 that Burke's difference with his old friend Fox was 
 first publicly manifested. In January of that year Fox 
 praised the French army for its sympathy with the popular 
 cause, and on the 9th of the following month he spoke in 
 favour of the Revolution generally. Burke immediately 
 replied, and denounced the Revolution in the most bitter and 
 contemptuous terms. No open breach occurred at that time, 
 but it was felt to be inevitable, and every day saw an increase 
 of the number of Whigs who were prepared to go with 
 Burke. On the 4th of March an application was made by 
 Mr. Flood to bring in a bill for Parliamentary reform. Pitt 
 strongly opposed it, although he admitted that it resembled 
 the scheme which he had himself once introduced. The old 
 argument of inopportuneness was used, and Burke, Wilber- 
 force, Grenville, Windham, and Powys having spoken against 
 it, and Fox in support, it was withdrawn without a division. 
 
i8oo.] Pitt's first Ministry to the Union with Ireland. 51 
 
 No improvement in English institutions was to be possible 
 for many a dreary year. 
 
 The crisis soon came. Its phases were marked chiefly by 
 the relations between Fox and Burke. In March, 1791, the 
 " Reflections on the French Revolution " were published. On 
 the 15th of April, Fox made a speech, in concluding which he 
 said, with regard to the change of system that had taken 
 place in the French constitution, there were different opinions 
 entertained by different men ; he for one admired the new 
 constitution, considered altogether, as the most glorious fabric 
 ever raised by human integrity since the creation of man. He 
 thought it superlatively good, because it aimed at making 
 those who were subject to it happy. Burke at once rose to 
 reply to this challenge; but it was late at night, there were 
 interruptions and confusion, and he sat down. Attempts 
 were made by the Duke of Portland — the acknowledged chief 
 of the Whigs — and others to heal the breach ; but as they all 
 involved the relinquishment by Burke of the right of express- 
 ing his opinions freely in the House, they came to nothing. 
 On the 6th of May came the celebrated debate in which Burke 
 lamented the loss of friendship made inevitable by his 
 position with regard to the Revolution ; and when Fox said 
 that there was, that there could be, no loss of friendship 
 between them, he replied, "Yes, there was. He knew the 
 price of his conduct ; he had done his duty at the price of his 
 friend — their friendship was at an end." Burke was right. 
 The friendship between the two statesmen had been one 
 founded on and sustained by agreement in principles and 
 devotion to a common cause. To both of them politics was 
 the very breath of life, the main subject of their thought, the 
 one end of their actions. Private friendship could not survive 
 the severance of the ties that made it valuable, and the 
 severance was complete. It was not merely the cessation of 
 agreement ; it was active antagonism. The causes which led 
 to this separation were producing similar results throughout 
 " the whole social and political life of England. Sir Erskine 
 May does not exaggerate the case when he says, " Society 
 
53 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1784- 
 
 was becoming separated into two opposite camps — the friends 
 and the foes of democracy." * The fear, and, it may be 
 added, the misapprehension of the designs of what he calls 
 the democrats, are reflected, indeed, in Sir Erskine's own views 
 as he describes the break-up of the Whig party. "When 
 Mr. Grey gave notice of his motion for reform, the tone of 
 the debate disclosed the revulsion of feeling that was arising 
 against popular questions and the widening schism of the 
 Whig party. While some of its members were not diverted 
 from their purpose by the contact of democracy, others were 
 repelled by it even from their traditional love of liberty." 
 Again, after speaking of the failure of the attempt to recon- 
 cile Pitt and Fox, he goes on to say, "But Mr. Fox, in 
 opposition, was encouraged to coquet with democracy, and 
 proclaim out of season the sovereignty of the people, while 
 the alarmist section of the Whigs were naturally drawn 
 closer to Mr. Pitt." f This way of speaking about democracy 
 as something terrible with which the Radicals were prepared 
 to coquet — it being too fearful even for them to acknowledge 
 openly — has been the fashion with the milder class of Liberals 
 and with all Tories, from the days of Sidmouth down to the 
 time when the late Lord Derby declared it was his mission 
 " to stem the tide of democracy," just before he passed the 
 Reform Act of 1868, which gave to the people the most 
 direct influence in the government of the country. But 
 instead of being frightened by names, it is well to try and 
 understand exactly what they mean. This is especially 
 desirable in political discussions, where opponents are apt to 
 pelt each other with epithets without stopping to define, 
 much less to justify them. If by democracy is meant a desire 
 to suddenly alter the form and substance of government ; to 
 abolish in politics the influence of social and intellectual 
 gradations ; to ignore the result of national character and 
 traditions, and begin with an old race in an old land an 
 entirely new system, as the French were doing when Burke 
 
 * "Constitutional History of England," first edit. vol. ii. p. 30. 
 t Ibid., p. 38. 
 
i8oo.] Pitts first Ministry to the Union with Ireland. 53 
 
 was so angry with them — then there has never been in the 
 English Parliament a democratic party. But if by a democrat 
 we mean a person who wishes to extend the principle of self- 
 government among the people ; to give them a more direct 
 constitutional influence, as well as to recognize in their inde- 
 pendence, progress, and welfare the true end of government ; — 
 then every Liberal must of necessity be a democrat, and the 
 Radical especially may accept the name. What may be the 
 effect upon the social future of the continual increase of 
 popular power, it may not be possible to predict. Philosophers 
 have drawn conflicting pictures of that future ; for us it is 
 enough to trust that, if it is the result not of violent artificial 
 change, but of natural growth and development, we may, 
 whilst doing the duty which lies nearest to us, possess our 
 souls in patience. It was different, however, at the time when 
 Burke and Fox were separated. Then efforts were being 
 made in Europe to overthrow established institutions by 
 violence, which, however well deserved, seemed incapable of 
 replacing the forms it destroyed by others suited for the per- 
 manent service of society. It was indeed a great thing that 
 Fox and the remnant of the Whigs — the Radicals they may 
 well be called — who adhered to him in spite of the outcry 
 which was being raised, had faith enough in their principles, 
 and belief enough in the character and morale of their 
 countrymen, to keep true to their old professions, and still 
 to advocate the cause of reform. They are to be judged not 
 as politicians desirous of undertaking the actual conduct of 
 affairs, but as men recognizing great principles, and willing to 
 abandon present power for their sake. 
 
 It was here that Fox and the Radicals were brought into 
 contact with Burke's fundamental principle of civil govern- 
 ment, its authority, and its function. His desire to separate 
 the experimental and practical from the abstract in the theory 
 of government, and expediency from legality in its practice, 
 are well described by Mr. Pollock as the essence of his con- 
 tribution to the theory of politics.* It is to be noticed that 
 • " The History of the Science of Politics," Fortnightly Review, October, 1882. 
 
54 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1784- 
 
 the actual and the expedient meant the conditions of the 
 Constitution as he found them existing in his own time. They 
 were the result of the endeavour of past generations to bring 
 those conditions into harmony either with ideas of right or 
 with the changing requirements of a society in which new 
 interests were arising and new powers were being exerted. 
 The Constitution, the form of government which Burke was 
 willing to accept, was the result of constant and continuous 
 growth and change. But he seemed desirous, and his theory 
 involves the necessity, of arresting this process of development. 
 The wisely expedient thing is to be careful that alteration is 
 not mere arbitrary change, but the consequence of natural 
 growth. But Burke, as we have seen, opposed every sugges- 
 tion of constitutional reform. The necessity of some reform 
 was accepted by almost every other great practical statesman 
 of his time. Chatham, and his son William Pitt, Richmond, 
 Shelburne, Portland, Fox, had all recognized the fact that 
 some modification of the representative system was essential, 
 in order to make it consistent with the social and political 
 necessities of the time. Burke resisted every one of these 
 attempts. What he was willing and indeed anxious to do, 
 was to remove abuses of the system. He would clean and oil 
 the machinery, but would not have it altered. And if the 
 instrument of government were indeed a machine, and not a 
 living organism, he might have been right. It was arguable 
 that this machine had been perfected, and did not admit of 
 improvement. But if it is permissible to regard the form of 
 a constitution apart from the feelings, the traditions, the 
 sympathy, and the wishes of a people, we should have to go 
 further than Burke, and to admit that at any given time in 
 any nation the actual state of things would be practically 
 unchangeable. It would be for the administrators of the day 
 to be satisfied with it — as Burke was in the case of England — 
 to settle the matter. Forms of government would be, as Pope 
 said, indifferent : 
 
 "Whate'er is best administered is best." 
 The whole case is changed if we take the other view, and 
 
i8oo.] Pitfs first Ministry to the Union with Ireland. 55 
 
 regard political institutions as a part of a living social 
 organism. Inorganic machines may remain unchanged, but 
 to a living organism change is a part of the law of its being. 
 Either growth and development or decay and disintegration 
 are, and always must be, going on. It is the test of the 
 wisdom and sagacity of statesmen, that they shall know 
 how little or how much change is desirable or inevitable. 
 
 The Radicals were acting in obedience to a sound political 
 law — and that none the less although they did hot understand 
 its origin and basis — in declaring that some constitutional 
 change was necessary alike to comply with the wishes 
 and requirements of the people, and to improve the working 
 of the practical government of the country. That their 
 proposals were defeated and the natural growth checked, 
 does not invalidate this interpretation of the law. The 
 natural growth of a child or of a limb may be impeded and 
 distorted by artificial bandages, but it is at the cost of present 
 suffering and permanent weakness. The greatness of the 
 suffering which came upon England because its political insti- 
 tutions were not allowed to represent its varying interests and 
 reflect its growing spirit and intelligence, the history of the 
 country from the outbreak of the French war to the death of 
 Castlereagh sufficiently demonstrates. Pitt's own career is 
 a sort of illustration in little of the theory that has been 
 discussed. When he ceased to be progressive, he became 
 positively reactionary ; dropping reform, he took up restric- 
 tion of personal Hberty and freedom of expression, and 
 employed the constitutional forms, into which he ceased to 
 want to infuse new life, as instruments for the exercise of the 
 most arbitrary rule. 
 
 There was no possibility of either healing over or con- 
 cealing the differences in the Whig camp. Burke's statement 
 as to the end of the friendship betwixt himself and Fox, was 
 made on the 6th of May, 1791. On the nth the final debate 
 took place, in which Burke, whilst declaring that sentence of 
 banishment from his party had been pronounced against him, 
 vindicated his position and accepted the decree of severance 
 
S6 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1784- 
 
 from the men who continued to reprobate the principles which 
 he had enunciated in his book on the Revolution. The next 
 day the Morning Chronicle, the recognized organ of the 
 Whigs, pubHshed what Burke called the " definitive sentence," 
 in the following terms : — " The great and firm body of the 
 Whigs of England, true to their principles, have decided on 
 the dispute between Mr. Fox and Mr. Burke ; and the former 
 is declared to have maintained the pure doctrines by which 
 they are bound together, and upon which they have invariably 
 acted. The consequence is that Mr. Burke retires from 
 Parliament."* It was, however, one thing for the formal 
 leaders of the Whigs to take this position, and another to 
 carry with them the bulk of their followers. On all ques- 
 tions but one, which affected constitutional changes or any 
 advancement of popular liberties, the Ministry from this time 
 forward were strengthened by Whig votes. The one subject 
 on which Fox was able to accomplish a work of permanent 
 value was in the case of an amendment, or rather a clearer 
 definition, of the law relating to the power of juries in libel 
 cases. The measure, which asserts the right of a jury to 
 decide both as to facts and law in such trials, was introduced 
 by Fox on the 20th of May, 1791, and carried through the 
 Commons, but was lost in the Lords. Brought forward again 
 in the next year it became law, having been supported by 
 Pitt. With this exception. Fox and his immediate colleagues 
 found themselves deserted on all the questions to which they 
 were most devoted. Many, indeed, of the old leaders accom- 
 panied or followed Burke in his secession. The consequences 
 to the power of what remained of the party showed them- 
 selves with greater rapidity as the fierce drama of the French 
 Revolution was unfolded. At the opening of the session of 
 1792, on the 31st of January, the address in the Commons, in 
 reply to the speech from the throne, was carried by 209 to 85. 
 During that year, occurred in Paris the attack on the 
 Tuileries, the massacre of the guards, and the imprison ment 
 and trial of the King ; and when the next session met in 
 * Quoted in "Pictorial History of England " edition, 1857, vol. v. p. 81 3. 
 
i8oo.] Pitfs first Ministry to the Union with Ireland. 57 
 
 December, having been called much earlier than usual, Fox 
 could only carry fifty votes with him, in opposing the address 
 which virtually committed the country to war. The faithful- 
 ness -of the few was severely tried in the course of the year. 
 On the 2 1 St of May, 1793, the Government issued a proclama- 
 tion for preventing seditious meetings and writings. This 
 proclamation was a direct attack upon the freedom of ex- 
 pression of public opinion, either in meetings or in the press. 
 It warned the people against wicked and seditious writings, 
 industriously dispersed amongst them, and commanded magi- 
 strates to discover the authors, printers, and promulgators of 
 such writings, and sheriffs and others to prevent tumults and 
 disorders. This was a direct incitement, or rather command, 
 to the executive authorities throughout the country — for the 
 most part responsible to no one but the Sovereign^to enter 
 upon a system inquisitorial and arbitrary to the last degree. 
 Yet when the House of Commons was asked to approve of 
 the proclamation, the motion, although it was opposed by 
 Fox, Grey, Whitbread, Russell, Hamilton, and others, was 
 carried without a division. 
 
 Another measure of the growing weakness of the Whig 
 party and the desertion of its members, is to be found in the 
 proceedings having reference to religious liberty. In 1789 
 Mr. Beaufoy had brought in a bill to repeal the Test and 
 Corporation Acts, and secured 102 votes. In 1790 Fox made 
 a similar attempt, and had 105' supporters ; but when, on the 
 I ith of May this year, he proposed a much less important 
 concession to the Nonconformists, leaving the Test and 
 Corporation Acts untouched, but repealing some old and very 
 oppressive laws, only thirteen members of his old party would 
 go with him. Even this number was soon further reduced. 
 The proclamation against seditious writing and meetings 
 formed one occasion for desertion ; and the execution of 
 Louis XVI., and the immediate declaration of war in the 
 beginning of 1793, gave the final blow to the strength of 
 a party to which no one could remain constant who was not 
 either personally attached to the great leader, or so impressed 
 
58 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1784- 
 
 with faith in and devotion to the cause of popular liberty as 
 to be able to look beyond the violence and confusion of the 
 day, to a future in which great principles must triumph over 
 temporary obstacles. The time was one, indeed, in which, 
 on both sides, there were manifested the passion which is 
 born of political excitement, and the violence which springs 
 from terror. Timid people might be excused if, in such a mad 
 world, they clung with desperation to existing authority as 
 the only protection to society against revolution and anarchy. 
 It was indeed a fire in which to try the temper of men and 
 nations. The revolutionary clubs and associations of re- 
 formers were undistinguished by the opponents of all change, 
 the voluntary suppressors of sedition, the friends of " Church 
 and King," and by every class and grade of the official world. 
 It was at this time — the end of 1792 and the beginning of 
 1793 — that many of the old Whigs followed Burke in his 
 hatred of France, his resistance to reform, and his support 
 of the most coercive measures of the Government. Windham, 
 who was one of the first to leave his old party, became one of 
 the most bitter of their foes. Lord Loughborough, whom 
 the Whigs had intended to make Lord Chancellor if the 
 regency had not been arrested by the recovery of the King, 
 took that office under Pitt, on the enforced retirement of 
 Thurlow. The Duke of Portland himself joined the deserters 
 from the army which he had nominally commanded, and he 
 was accompanied or followed by Grenville, Lords Spencer, 
 Sheffield, Carlisle, and Fitzwilliam, and Sir Gilbert Elliott. 
 
 There was, in fact, no party left in the House of Lords, 
 and in the Commons from forty to fifty votes were the most 
 that Fox and his friends could muster in a division. We 
 have seen that only fifty members voted against the address 
 to the Crown, on the opening of Parliament on the 13th of 
 December, 1792 ; and when, on the 30th of January following, 
 ministers announced the death of Louis, the withdrawal of 
 ambassadors, and the virtual declaration of war with France, 
 it was hopeless even to take a division. This position was 
 fairly represented by the vote on Mr. Grey's motion in favour 
 
i8oo.] Pitts first Ministry to the Union with Ireland. 59 
 
 of Parliamentary reform, based on a petition from residents 
 in London. The debate was commenced on the 6th of May, 
 1793, and continued by adjournment on the following day. 
 Pitt had now reached the level of the most bitter opponent of 
 the reforms which he had previously advocated, and declared 
 that he would rather abandon what he conceived to be the 
 best plan of reform than risk the Constitution as it then 
 existed. Fox spoke strongly in favour of the motion, which 
 was rejected by 282 to 41. The forty-one members who voted 
 with Grey may be taken as forming that Radical party which, 
 deserted by their Whig colleagues, and subjected to abuse 
 and misrepresentation, remained true through the darkest 
 days to the cause of liberty.* 
 
 They were indeed dark days which were coming upon 
 England, not only for the friends of reform and progress, but 
 for the whole nation. With a war commenced without definite 
 object, carried on without method and without success, and 
 ending in a desperate struggle for life ; with the resources of 
 the country lavished in subsidies to allies without energy or 
 genius ; with trade paralyzed, and the people daily sinking 
 lower in want and suffering ; with a Government driven by 
 fear — that most cruel of all human passions — into a policy 
 of continual coercion and repression, there seemed neither 
 within nor without any possibility of present happiness. 
 
 * The following are the names of the forty 
 that Tierney, who was afterwards so energetic a 
 then in the House. He was elected in 1796. 
 
 Fox, Rt. Hon. C. J. 
 Grey, Charles 
 Taylor, M. A. 
 Francis, P. 
 Wharton, J. 
 Macleod, Col. 
 Erskine, Hon. T. 
 Spencer, Lord R. 
 Fitzpatric, Col. 
 Thompson, Thos. 
 Baker, W. 
 Curwen, J. C. 
 North, D. 
 Courtenay, J. 
 
 Weycombe, Lord 
 Vaughan, Ben. 
 Birch, J. R. 
 Millbank, R. 
 Colhoun, W. 
 Sturt, C. 
 Western, T. C. 
 Church, J. B. 
 Smith, W. 
 Lambton, W. H. 
 Jekyll, J. 
 Lemon, Sir W. 
 St. John, H. A. 
 Lee, Antoine W. 
 
 one. It must be remembered 
 member of the party, was not 
 
 Shawe, W. C. 
 Bouverie, E. 
 Russell, Lord J. 
 Taylor, Clement 
 Jervis, Sir R. 
 Whitmore, T. 
 Plumer, W. 
 Harrison, John 
 Featherstonaugh, Sir H. 
 Phillips, J. S. 
 Honeywood, T. 
 
 Sheridan, R. B. ] 
 Whitbread, T. [ 
 
 Tellers. 
 
6b History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1784- 
 
 any hope of future improvement. It was through this period 
 of desolation and despair that the small band which rallied 
 round Fox had to keep alive the fire which has happily never 
 been quite extinguished in England. Engaged in such a 
 struggle and against such odds, we must not too minutely 
 examine by our present lights the prudence of every step they 
 took, the wisdom of every word they uttered. It would have 
 been strange indeed if, encountered by persecution and abuse, 
 they had not replied in terms of passionate indignation ; nor 
 is it wonderful that in circumstances so unprecedented they 
 should, like their opponents, mistake the meaning of some of 
 the actors and the tendency of some of the events which were 
 convulsing the whole of Europe. If their belief in the leaders 
 of the French Revolution, and their trust in Napoleon, 
 were shattered by the mad violence of the terror and the 
 heartless ambition of the Emperor, they were at least inspired 
 by sympathy with the aspirations of nations, and not by devo- 
 tion to the power of monarchs and the interests of privileged 
 classes. 
 
 It is a striking illustration of the continuity of history, a 
 proof that the events of the life of a nation are not mere 
 isolated incidents, but are links in the long chain of growth 
 and evolution, that even in these evil times there was no posi- 
 tive reaction so far as the forms and institutions of government 
 were concerned. The powers of the law were stretched to the 
 utmost for the suppression even of free thought and speech, 
 but the law itself was not overstept. Even the last bulwark, 
 that created by Fox's Libel Act, was respected, although by 
 increasing the powers of juries it preserved the liberties, if not 
 the lives, of many men obnoxious to the Government. The 
 protection afforded by the Habeas Corpus Act was suspended 
 more than once, and the country prisons were filled with 
 suspects ; but the suspension was effected by the constitu- 
 tional power of Parliament, and freedom of debate in the 
 House of Commons itself was never denied. The old struggle 
 on behalf of Hberty against authority was indeed continued, 
 but it was carried on under new forms. Authority spoke in 
 
iSoo.] Pitfs first Ministry to the Union with Ireland. 6i 
 
 different tones, although its meaning was the same ; it had 
 become less personal in its forms, and less distinct in its 
 claims ; but this did not decrease the difficulty of its oppo- 
 nents. Instead of the acknowledged supremacy of the royal 
 prerogative, there was the subtle and pervading influence of 
 the court and courtiers ; instead of the infallible authority of 
 the Church, there was the interest of churchmen always ready 
 to do battle for their own order and its friends ; instead of the 
 proud authority of the old aristocracy, there was the interest 
 of the landowning class and the monied men who purchased 
 rank by using their wealth for political purposes. 
 
 It is not to be assumed that the direct influence of king, 
 noble, or priest was abolished ; only that it was modified. 
 Whoever has read the " Life of the Prince Consort," written 
 for and approved by the Queen, will know what authority the 
 Crown still exercises over even the most powerful of responsi- 
 ble ministers. And in the time of George III. this authority 
 was more direct. We have seen that his power was checked 
 by the union of the Whig aristocracy with the popular leaders, 
 but this opposition was in its turn undermined by the method 
 adopted by George and his minister of filling the benches of 
 the upper House with new men devoted to Church and King. 
 This is described by Wingrove Cooke, who says "George III. 
 had early set his heart upon changing the character of the 
 upper House. If we scrutinize the votes of the Peers from the 
 period of the revolution to the death of George II., we shall 
 find a very great majority of the old English nobility to have 
 been the advocates of Whig principles. The splendour of 
 their name enabled them to espouse popular doctrines without 
 fear of being herded with the ignorant demagogues of the day. 
 The party creed was generally as hereditary as the family 
 estates, and as these ancient titles were commonly created by 
 writ, and consequently descended to heirs general, there ap- 
 peared but little chance of the Whigs being extinguished in 
 that House. As the tide of the royal favour gradually drifted 
 away from Whiggism, he also saw the advantage of having a 
 stable and indissoluble majority of his own party in the House 
 
62 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1784- 
 
 of Peers. He wisely divined that the surest way to accomplish 
 this object was to fill the House with men whose descent was 
 not such as to enable them to take liberties with their dignity ; 
 who would vote popular doctrines vulgar, and think that their 
 new nobility compelled them to be exclusive. George HI. had 
 kept the doors of the House of Peers cautiously shut against 
 the Coalition, but he threw them wide open to Pitt. The 
 change was to be effected, not by a sudden inundation, but by 
 turning a streamlet into the House. Without shocking the 
 ancient nobles, the aggregate of the Pitt peers soon became 
 considerable. Within four years after he had assumed the 
 government, Pitt could reckon forty-two of his own creations 
 in that House."* 
 
 When this result was obtained, there was a union of the 
 three elements of authority against any attempt to extend 
 popular privileges. The battle had become not less social 
 than political, and even if less personally dangerous, it was 
 made more difficult by the number and variety of the forces. 
 Sir Erskine May says, " There was a social ostracism of Liberal 
 opinions, which continued far into the present century. It 
 was not enough that every man who ventured to profess them 
 should be debarred from ambition in public and professional 
 life. He was also frowned upon and shunned in the social 
 circle. It was whispered that he was not only a malcontent 
 in politics, but a free-thinker or infidel in religion. Loud 
 talkers at dinner-tables, emboldened by the zeal of the com- 
 pany, decried his opinions, his party, and his friends. If he 
 kept his temper, he was supposed to be overcome in argument. 
 If he lost it, his warmth was laken as evidence of the violence 
 of his political sentiments." f Against such forces the mild 
 Whigs did not attempt to fight ; indeed, by joining it they 
 made the army of authority the stronger. From a Parliament 
 elected by and representing narrow constituencies where such 
 elements were predominant, there could be no hope of reform. 
 It was more diflScult to obtain it now than it would have 
 
 * "History of Parties," vol. iii. pp. 363, 364. 
 
 t "Constitutional History of England," pp. 11-36. 
 
i8oo.] Pitfs first Ministry to the Union with Ireland. 63 
 
 been before the power of the old Whigs was broken, and 
 before the French Revolution had filled the minds of the 
 people with doubt, and those of their rulers with terror. 
 The very instrument by which alone a change could be 
 effected was in the hands of a class to whom all change was 
 hateful, and by whom it was held to be dangerous. 
 
 Such was the position in which the little band which 
 followed Fox found themselves, and they maintained the 
 struggle with wonderful courage. Their only hope was that 
 they might create an effect upon public opinion, and it was 
 inevitable that they should adopt a tone which the calmer 
 members of their party have called violent and demo- 
 cratic. During the remainder of the year 1793 some further 
 efforts were made to arrest the war, but they secured on 
 divisions only between forty and fifty votes, and Parliament 
 was prorogued in June. This year a young man entered Par- 
 liament who was destined to exercise an immense influence 
 upon the position and power of parties in England, and to 
 begin a new era in the foreign politics of his country. George 
 Canning, who sat for the first time as member for Newport, 
 in the Isle of Wight, began his career as an admirer and a 
 supporter of Pitt, and he continued faithful for the remainder 
 of the life of the great minister. He was from the beginning 
 a bitter and unscrupulous opponent of Radicals and Radicalism, 
 and attacked them alike with satire and with serious eloquence. 
 Yet he lived to do more harm to Tories and Toryism than he 
 was ever able to accomplish against the objects of his early 
 hatred. 
 
 In the year 1794 there was little change in the real 
 strength of parties in Parliament, and none in the policy of 
 repression at home or in the feebleness and extravagance 
 of the conduct of the war. The division in the Whig camp 
 was completed, or rather publicly acknowledged, by the 
 acceptance of office under Pitt by the Duke of Portland and 
 Earls Fitzwilliam and Spencer, which took place in July. 
 Windham had already gone over, led by his admiration for 
 Burke. These accessions to the Government took place 
 
$4 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1784- 
 
 whilst it was using its power in the most remorseless way for 
 the purpose of preventing every expression and punishing 
 every action on behalf of what were called " French principles," 
 which included any word or thought in favour of liberty or 
 reform. They joined the Ministry in the same year in which 
 the prosecution of Muir, Palmer, and others, in Scotland 
 resulted in trials which were a mockery of justice and sen- 
 tences which were an outrage on mercy ; in which attempts to 
 punish Home Tooke, Hardy, Thelwall, and others, in England 
 failed only because of the firmness and honour of English 
 juries; and in which, after that failure, the Habeas Corpus Act 
 was suspended, and the liberty of the subject handed over to 
 the tender mercies of ministers who did not hesitate to 
 denounce in Parliament the men whom the juries had just 
 acquitted.* 
 
 The Government grew stronger by its converts, and con- 
 tinued to use its strength without moderation. Early in 1795 
 Sheridan moved to repeal the Act suspending Habeas Corpus, 
 but was defeated by 184 to 41 ; and motions against a con- 
 tinuance of the war met with a like fate. The distress which 
 such a war so conducted was certain to cause began now to 
 be felt, and when the King went to open Parliament on the 
 29th of October, he was mobbed by people, who cried out for 
 cheaper bread and the dismissal of Pitt, and a shot was fired 
 at his carriage. The Ministry had but one reply to its 
 
 * In the debates on the address, Windham spoke of Home Tooke and others 
 as no better than acquitted felons. On the 6th of October, 1794, the grand jury 
 of Middlesex found true bills against Hardy, Home Tooke, Thelwall, and nine 
 others, for high treason. Hardy, who had been secretary to the Corresponding 
 Society, and had written and published some very strong things, was first tried. 
 There was a very full bench of judges, and Scott — afterwards Lord Eldon — 
 opened the charge in a speech which lasted nine hours. After being carried on for 
 eight days, the trial ended on the 5th of November, in a verdict of acquittal. As 
 Hardy's was certainly the strongest case, there was not much chance of the con- 
 viction of the other prisoners. The Government, however, determined to perse- 
 vere, and on the 17th of November Tooke was put upon his trial. He amused 
 the public and irritated the prosecution by his wit, and on the 22nd he was 
 acquitted. Thereon all the other cases were abandoned, except that of Thelwall - 
 but, after a trial lasting over four days, he also was found not guilty. These trials 
 are evidence at once of the malignity of the Ministry and the independence of 
 English juries. 
 
i8oo.] Pitts first Ministry to the Union with Ireland. 65 
 
 opponents in Parliament or the famishing people outside — 
 more repression. So bills were brought in and carried to 
 "provide for the safety and preservation of his Majesty's 
 person and Government against treasonable and seditious 
 practices and attempts," and " for the prevention of seditious 
 meetings." The causes of the troubles were dwelt upon by the 
 opposition, and especially by Grey, who, on the loth of March, 
 1796, on moving for a committee on the state of the nation, 
 called attention to the fact that in three years the national 
 debt had been increased by ;^ 77,000,000, whilst the total 
 amount borrowed for the American war was only ;£63,ooo,ooo. 
 The resolution was negatived by 207 to 45 ; and on the 19th 
 of May Parliament was dissolved by a speech from the throne, 
 which referred to the happy effects experienced from the 
 provisions adopted for suppressing sedition and restraining 
 the progress of principles subversive of all established govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The new House of Commons, which met on the 6th of 
 October, differed little in character from the last one. What- 
 ever might be the feeling amongst the mass of the people, 
 the classes who held possession of the electoral power were 
 still filled with terror of French principles and hatred of 
 French rulers. The opposition numbers were slightly in- 
 creased, and additions were made to it of two members who 
 were to be heard of afterwards, one as a solid and important 
 leader, the other beginning as a declamatory agitator, and 
 ending as a deserter from the Radical party. These were 
 Mr. Tierney and Sir Francis Burdett. The test of party 
 strength was applied on a motion by Fox, condemning the 
 advance- by ministers of ;£'i,200,ooo to the Emperor of Ger- 
 many, on account of the war, without the consent of Parlia- 
 ment. To this resolution, which declared that by this act 
 ministers had acted contrary to the trust reposed in them, 
 and had violated the constitutional privileges of the House, 
 an amendment was carried by 285 to 81. Some negotiations 
 which had been opened having failed, the war was continued. 
 Its effects upon the finances of the country were felt with 
 
 F 
 
66 History of tke Radical Party in Parliament. [1784- 
 
 increasing weight, and early in 1797 cash payments were 
 suspended, first by the Government, and afterwards by a bill 
 which remained in operation until 18-19. The year was in 
 every way disastrous and gloomy. The expenditure on the 
 war and the consequent burden of debt increased with terrible 
 rapidity, and two mutinies broke out in the fleet. It was in 
 the midst of these misfortunes — the second mutiny broke 
 out oil the 20th of May — that Mr. Grey, on the 26th of May, 
 moved for a sweeping reform in Parliament. The time was 
 not wisely chc«en, the long existing fear of change was in- 
 creased and rendered more acute by the mutiny, and yet he 
 obtained ninety-three votes for his resolution, which was more 
 than double the number he could rally six years before in the 
 last Parliament. Yet in spite of this increase the outlook 
 seemed so dark, the battle so hopeless, that Fox and many of 
 his followers resolved to give up the struggle, and to cease to 
 attend in the House. This secession lasted with more or less 
 consistency until the end of 1800, and even then Fox himself 
 did not return to regular attendance. The whole of the party 
 did not join in this movement. Sheridan remained at his post, 
 and even supported ministers in their action with regard to 
 the mutineers — a course of conduct for which he was never 
 entirely forgiven by his old friends. Tierney, too, continued 
 his attendance, and, in the absence of Fox, soon came to take 
 the lead of what Liberal forces were left. But the party was 
 shattered and rendered useless by the secession, and ministers, 
 no longer opposed even by the eloquence of their old enemies, 
 were entirely unrestrained in their policy. 
 
 Secession such as this is a course which admits of no 
 justification, more especially from a Liberal to whom the 
 principles of representative government ought to be dear. It 
 is conceivable that a man who obtains a seat, either by pur- 
 chase or the exercise of hereditary or social influence, may 
 come to look upon his office as a piece of property to be used 
 or enjoyed for his personal ends only. Such a one might 
 either attend or absent himself from the House, as suited his 
 convenience, his interests, or his caprice. But a. Radical must 
 
iSoo.J Pitt's first Ministry to the Union with Ireland. 6j 
 
 regard the position conferred upon him by a constituency as 
 a trust to be exercised for the good of the community, to be 
 held only so long as the conditions can be honourably fulfilled. 
 He cannot hold a commission and refuse to fight. It is 
 always open to a member to decide whether or not he will 
 continue to hold the trust ; but so long as he holds it, he must 
 perform the duties. When he can do this no longer, he must 
 give way to one who will — otherwise he deprives his con- 
 stituents of all representation. And abstention is as much a 
 mistake in policy as it is a violation of principle. The work 
 of the world will go on whether a particular set of men take 
 a share in it or not. Neither the work nor the life of any man 
 is so essential that the business of a nation can stop because 
 he cries Hold! although it may take a somewhat diff"erent 
 direction in consequence of his exertion. This was seen 
 plainly enough in the present instance : the minister proposed 
 his measures and his followers voted for them, irrespective of 
 the fact that Fox was not there to criticize, and that the oppo- 
 sition votes numbered nineteen instead of ninety. 
 
 A worse time could not have been chosen for such an 
 experiment than that which was actually selected. Not only 
 did the war and the war expenditure go on without sufficient 
 discussion, but a most important piece of internal legislation 
 was commenced and completed during the absence of the 
 Foxites. The union with Ireland was a work of the very 
 greatest consequence to the future government of the country. 
 Every detail of such an arrangement ought to have had the 
 careful consideration of the party in Parliament, which repre- 
 sented the feelings of the popular or democratic section of the 
 constituencies. Perhaps if Pitt had been met by such full 
 discussions, the immediate consequences, as regards his own 
 position, which followed the completion of the union might 
 have been avoided. The great work, however, was accom- 
 plished without such criticism, and, it may be said, it was 
 done in the absence of any Radical or Liberal party in the 
 House. The Act of Union received the royal assent on 
 the 2nd of July, 1800; and the Imperial Parliament, including, 
 
68 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1784-1800. 
 
 in the House of Commons, the old members and one hundred 
 Irish members, met on the 22nd of January, i8or, and with 
 its meeting begins a new chapter not only in the history of 
 the Radical party, but of the Parliamentary government of the 
 nation. 
 
( 69 ; 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FROM THE ACT OF UNION TO THE DISMISSAL OF THE 
 GRENVILLE MINISTRY — DEATH OF PITT AND FOX 
 ( 1 800-1 807). 
 
 The influence exercised on the policy and the parties in 
 Parliament by the union with Ireland was from the first 
 very great, and it has been growing rather than decreasing 
 in importance to the present time. It arose from many 
 circumstances, and manifested itself in various ways, all of 
 them having a tendency to disintegrate the old party 
 organizations, and to raise questions with which the old 
 party traditions were unable to deal. The introduction of 
 one hundred members, nearly one-fourth of the original 
 number, and those ijien not only personally new to the House 
 of Commons, but of another nationality, and with ideas 
 and sympathies different to those of the British members, 
 was in itself a sufficiently striking thing which could not 
 but alter the previous balance of parties. But the personal 
 element, however important, was of much less consequence 
 as regards permanent effect upon the country than the new 
 interests which Parliament was called upon to consider, and 
 the new ideas and principles which it was compelled to dis- 
 cuss. Two subjects especially forced themselves upon public 
 attention, one of which appealed to the deepest feelings, whilst 
 the other seriously affected the material welfare of the Irish 
 people. These were the religious and the agrarian questions, 
 which, although seemingly separate, were in reality intimately 
 connected, since the laws relating to the tenure of land, 
 
70 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1800- 
 
 like all other laws, had been framed with the view of pre- 
 serving the ascendancy of the English pale and of the Pro- 
 testant religion. It is true that with the carefully restricted 
 franchise which then existed, from which the Celtic and 
 the Catholic elements were as far as possible excluded, the 
 members sent to Parliament represented mainly such sections 
 of the community as were opposed to change, and were in 
 harmony with the general policy of the Conservative govern- 
 ment. Yet when Irish questions came up for discussion, it 
 was found that they presented aspects to which the traditions 
 and principles of English parties did not apply, and on no 
 question did the new contingent naturally and thoroughly 
 agree with the old political forces. 
 
 The consequence was what may be called an unstable 
 equilibrium of parties, and uncertainty as to the line which 
 ordinary politicians would take on any particular question. 
 On Irish subjects, then, it happened that as the old party 
 formularies could not be applied, the opinions, feelings, and 
 wishes of the people had to be more ^and more considered, 
 and Radical principles of government had, either consciously 
 or unconsciously, to be adopted. Thus, both by the weaken- 
 ing and partial disintegration of the Tory and Whig parties 
 and by the enforced introduction of popular ideas and tests, 
 there were gradually established conditions favourable to the 
 growth and power of Radicalism. The effect of these con- 
 ditions upon the fate of English cabinets has been very 
 remarkable. Four times since the union have Tory Ministries 
 been either absolutely shattered or hopelessly weakened by 
 their action on questions which were either entirely Irish or 
 complicated by peculiar relation to Ireland, and. more than 
 once have Whig or Liberal governments suffered from the 
 same causes. The first instance was the immediate result of 
 the conditions under which the Act of Union was passed, 
 Pitt himself resigning and breaking up his Cabinet because 
 the King would not consent to Catholic emancipation. Twice 
 afterwards did the same question destroy the solidarity and 
 power of the Conservatives : once when the party leaders 
 
1807.] From Irish Union to Dismissal of Grenville. 71 
 
 would not join Canning in consequence of his views on the 
 subject ; and again when Wellington and Peel, having op- 
 posed Canning almost to the death, themselves accepted the 
 responsibility of flying in the face of all their own ante- 
 cedents and all the traditions and convictions of their party, 
 and of passing the very Act which they had deserted their old 
 colleague for promoting. Even on the business, which per- 
 haps of all others has most vitally affected the material 
 welfare and progress of the English people, the effect of Irish 
 influence was felt. The repeal of the corn laws would 
 probably have been a question of a very short time under any 
 circumstances ; but it was the occurrence of the Irish famine 
 which hurried Sir Robert Peel to the determination to adopt 
 a course which, whilst conferring untold benefits upon his 
 country, broke up his party and closed his own official career. 
 On the other side, divisions on an Irish Church measure 
 destroyed the ministry of Grenville after the death of Fox, 
 and fatally weakened that of Lord Grey in 1834, and the first 
 direct blow given to Mr. Gladstone's first administration was 
 given by its failure to deal with Irish university education. 
 The consequences in ordinary times of the action of Irish 
 representatives on the relative strength of English parties, 
 especially after emancipation and reform had introduced new 
 elements into the representation, will be manifested in the 
 whole future course of our Parliamentary history. 
 
 When the Imperial Parliament first met, there was nothing 
 to indicate that any great change would result from the intro- 
 duction of the hundred Irish members, for, on Grey's moving 
 an amendment to the address, he was defeated by 245 to 63, 
 the same kind of division to which he had been used in the 
 old English House. In the Ministry it was soon found that 
 serious complications existed. Much has been written about 
 the character of the pledge which Pitt gave, or authorized 
 others to give in his name, as to the admission of Roman 
 Catholics to Parliament as a condition of the vote of the Irish 
 legislature for the Act of Union. The one thing certain is, 
 that the minister felt himself bound in honour, whatever he 
 
73 History of the Radical Party i?i Parliament. [1800- 
 
 may have been in direct form, to carry out the promises 
 which had been made. When, however, he opened the 
 subject to the King, the I'esolute resistance of that monarch 
 placed him in the most difficult position. So passionate was 
 the King in his determination to resist what he held to be 
 a violation of his coronation oath, that the very proposal 
 brought on a return of his mental disease. That Pitt ought 
 to have made himself acquainted with the view of the King 
 before committing his administration absolutely to eman- 
 cipation must be allowed, but he may be excused for not 
 anticipating so decided an opposition. When he became 
 aware of it the act was done, and there was no way of escape 
 with honour, for to have obtained such a concession on 
 conditions which he was unable to perform, could not but 
 affect his character, not for personal veracity, but at least for 
 responsible statesmanship. 
 
 The firstfruits of the union, as regards its effects on 
 English parties, were not long in ripening. On the 31st of 
 January, the same month in which the United Parliament 
 first sat, Pitt wrote to the King, explaining that he felt that 
 some measure of relief to Catholics was required by the State 
 of Ireland, would be safe as regarded England, and was so 
 imperative that he could not remain in office if it was not 
 granted. George III., who had just before said, " I shall 
 reckon any man my personal enemy who proposes any such 
 measure," replied to his minister's letter the day after it was 
 sent. He hoped to retain Pitt in office, but could not even 
 discuss any proposition to alter the existing constitution in 
 Church and State. Further correspondence ended in the 
 acceptance by the King of the resignation on the 5th of 
 February, and Addington was entrusted with the formation of 
 a new Ministry. The King's illness and other causes delayed 
 the formal conclusion of the business, but on the 14th of 
 March Pitt withdrew from office, and was accompanied in 
 his retirement by Dundas, Spencer, Grenville, and Windham. 
 This was an event most momentous in the history of English 
 parties. It broke up one of the strongest Ministries which 
 
1807.] From Irish Union to Dismissal of Grenville. 73 
 
 have ever held power and, what was perhaps still more im- 
 portant, it dissolved the union between Pitt and Grenville, 
 and the section of the Whigs which had followed the latter in 
 his alliance with the late Premier. 
 
 This dissolution of the Ministry restored the possibility of 
 solidarity to the Liberal party by reuniting Grenville and his 
 friends to the section which had stood by Fox. On the other 
 hand, it took from the Tory ranks all that had any 
 semblance of Liberality. Pitt, even in the days when his 
 hatred and dread of French principles urged him most 
 strongly to a policy of repression and coercion, could not 
 forget the love of liberty and the desire for reform which he 
 inherited from his father and avowed in his own youth. He 
 gave a proof of this by resigning, because he could not 
 accomplish the act of justice to the Roman Catholics of 
 Ireland to which he considered himself pledged. All that 
 had been thoroughly oppressive, obscurantist, reactionary in 
 the Government remained there unchecked and undiluted. 
 Addington, Castlereagh, Eldon, the respectable but dull 
 courtier, terrified at every popular movement ; the friend and 
 ally of despotism at home and abroad ; the passionate, in- 
 vincible enemy of change — these were the men who were now 
 retained in office. The full effect of their policy was not yet to 
 be felt, for whilst Pitt and Fox, Windham and Grenville were 
 alive, complete power could not remain in the hands of men so 
 inferior in political ability and with less hold upon the public 
 feeling of the country. Their present tenure of office was but 
 a prelude to the chapter of oppression and misery which 
 they were destined to write in the history of their country. 
 Evidence was soon given of their ideas of government. They 
 took office in the middle of March, and before the prorogation 
 on the 2nd of July, they had passed Acts for the suppression 
 of rebellion in Ireland, the suspension of Habeas Corpus 
 Acts in England and Ireland, for preventing seditious — that 
 was all free public — meetings, and for indemnifying all persons 
 concerned in securing, imprisoning, and detaining individuals 
 under former suspensions of the Habeas Corpus Act. 
 
74 History of ihi Radical Party in Parliament. [i8oo- 
 
 It was a curious instance of the uncertainty of political 
 affairs that this pre-eminently Tory Government should have 
 had for its first — and, indeed, its only important — business, the 
 negotiation of peace with France. Fox and his following of 
 Ultra-Liberals had all along clamoured against the war, and 
 had lost no opportunity of pressing for its termination ; Gren- 
 ville and the Whigs had divided their party in order to support 
 Pitt in his warlike policy; and now a Ministry which was too 
 Conservative for either Grenville or Pitt, had to bring the 
 struggle to a close, not by the subjugation of France, not by a 
 suppression of French principles, but by a recognition of, and 
 by many concessions to, that very revolutionary Government 
 against which all the monarchical powers of Europe had 
 vainly directed their attacks. When the Treaty of Amiens 
 was made with the first consul, it was not because he was 
 thought to be what he afterwards proved, the worst enemy of 
 republicanism. He was the bitter foe of England, but all 
 parties in this country believed him to be the representative 
 of the principles which the war had been intended to destroy. 
 Pitt must have found some consolation for the loss of place 
 and power in the fact that he had not to be the instrument 
 through which the humiliation of treating with Napoleon had 
 to be effected. Yet every one knew that the war could not 
 be continued. France had defeated the combined power of 
 Europe, leagued in the endeavour to check the Revolution and 
 restore the Bourbons. She had placed at the head of her 
 Government the commander who had been the instrument not 
 only of her defence, but of her revenge. Grenville and a few 
 of his friends remained on this point more Pittite than Pitt, 
 more Tory than Addington, and would fain have continued 
 the war rather than acknowledge the republic. But continu- 
 ance was impossible, for we were left without allies and 
 with resources that demanded rest. The national debt had 
 been increased by ;^2 7 6,000,000, and there was no object 
 which a prolongation of the contest could secure. These pre- 
 liminaries were agreed to on the ist of October, i8oi,and the 
 Peace of Amiens finally concluded on the 27th of March, 1802, 
 
i8o7.] From Irish Union to Dismissal of Grenvilh. 75 
 
 There were few who believed that peace would be permanent ; 
 but it was supported by Pitt and Fox, and Granville and 
 Windham could rally very little opposition in either House. 
 Another member of the old opposition, Tierney, had for a 
 time left the party and taken office under Addington. His 
 secession, if it really amounted to that, was not of serious con- 
 sequence at the time, and he rejoined his friends when, at a 
 later date, they had to contend against the repression and 
 tyranny which followed the final close of the great war. 
 
 There was as little belief in the stability of the new 
 Ministry as in the permanence of the peace. Many people 
 thought that Addington only held office to keep the place 
 until his old friend and leader Pitt could consistently return. 
 The Premier himself took a very different view of the position 
 and of his own importance, and his opinion was strengthened 
 by the terms of confidence and almost of affection which grew 
 up between him and the King. So it fell out that the end of 
 the peace came before that of the Government, but it was all 
 the more strongly felt that the one event could but be a pre- 
 lude to the other. In a time of peace Addington might 
 manage to hold on to place with a friendly sovereign, a sub- 
 servient Parliament, and with Pitt willing to stand on one side. 
 With a great war raging, the conditions were entirely changed. 
 Parliament, while still obedient, did not conceal its opinion as 
 to the desirability of Pitt's return to office, and the great man 
 himself no longer pretended to feel confidence in the ability of 
 his successor. As for the King, he was constantly hovering 
 between sanity and insanity, and his confused mind, played 
 upon by the small tactics of Addington, was unable to under- 
 stand the real necessities of the case. In this state of affairs, 
 the position of the Liberal party became a matter of increas- 
 ing importance. A complete estrangement between Adding- 
 ton and Pitt seemed likely to make an efficient Government 
 impossible without an alliance by one of the rivals with some 
 of the Whig leaders. The majority in the Commons might 
 rather be called ministerial than Pittite, although a large part 
 of it would gladly follow the old chief, if he were once more 
 
^6 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1800- 
 
 in harmony with the King. Yet Addington had a consider- 
 able personal following, which, added to Pitt's position and 
 indecision, was sufficient to give working power to the Govern- 
 ment. The last-named element had to be balanced by some 
 help, if not in numbers yet in ability and popular support, by 
 an alliance with the Whigs. This was soon seen to be impos- 
 sible. Grenville and Fox, although differing on the question 
 of the war and on some other subjects, were agreed as to the 
 necessity of Catholic emancipation. Grenville, indeed, seemed 
 determined to adhere more resolutely than Pitt to the implied 
 pledge which had been given to Ireland when the Act of 
 Union was passed. On the 19th of February, it was reported 
 that the two Whig leaders had united their forces, and that 
 neither of them would enter the Ministry without the other. 
 
 This was equivalent to declaring that the new Ministry 
 should be exclusively Tory, for George III. was determined 
 not to admit Fox into his counsels, and Pitt himself was not 
 earnest in the desire that he should, although he submitted 
 the name with that of Grenville as desirable additions to the 
 strength of the Government. The minister evidently expected 
 that in the last I'esort Grenville would accept office without his 
 great ally under the pressure of the times. He was bitterly 
 pained and disappointed by the refusal, and declared he would 
 teach that proud man that, in the service and confidence of the 
 King, he could do without him, even if it should cost him his 
 life. The last days of the Addington administration have no 
 interest beyond this failure to form a coalition. Its death, 
 indeed, was as undignified as its life. It had concluded a 
 delusive peace, and recommenced a hopeless and disastrous 
 war. There had been actual rebellion in Ireland, and an 
 appearance of revolutionary feeling in England. Emmett in 
 the one country and Colonel Despard in the other were 
 executed. Biit the causes which led to disaffection in 
 England, and the more desperate oppression which drove 
 Ireland into chronic rebellion, were left untouched, left to 
 fester unhealed and to break out into fresh social and political 
 sores. And now the Ministry, strong in votes but feeble in 
 
iSo;.] From Irish Union to Dismissal of Grenville. yj 
 
 purpose, was kept in office by the help of a majority which 
 had no faith in its efficiency, and longed to see it superseded 
 by the man whose retirement had made its existence possible. 
 The Whigs were powerless to shake the Government; it fell by 
 the hands of its own friends. On the loth of May, 1804, Pitt 
 once more took the seals of office, and formed his second and 
 last administration. The changes in the Ministry were neither 
 numerous nor important. Cut off from the Whigs, the Pre- 
 mier was compelled to look to his old Tory friends and those 
 of Addington for support. He was thus once more shut up 
 within the narrowest range of policy. This had been rendered 
 inevitable when he once more sacrificed his own convictions — 
 this time on the Catholic question — to the prejudices and 
 obstinacy of his sovereign. The most interesting of the new 
 appointments were two minor ones. Canning was made 
 treasurer of the navy, and Huskisson one of the secretaries to 
 the treasury. These two men were hereafter to exercise an 
 important influence upon the fortunes of their party, intro- 
 ducing ideas which were fatal to its unity, and opening the 
 way for the introduction of Radical principles, which were 
 opposed to the traditions of both the old schools of politicians. 
 At present they were both, and Canning especially, moved by 
 a strong personal devotion to the chief who had placed them 
 in office. Windham did not rejoin the Government ; he re- 
 turned to opposition, strong in his adhesion to those opinions 
 of hatred to France and the Revolution, and of dislike of con- 
 stitutional changes at home, which he had imbibed from 
 3urke and held with a sort of religious fervour, and which 
 separated him, as it had done his great teacher, from sympathy 
 with popular feeling. He remained a typical Whig, as dis- 
 tinguished from Liberals like Fox and Grey. 
 
 Although Pitt had been recalled to office because, in 
 the opinion of people and Parliament, he was the only man 
 capable of conducting the nation through the stormy and 
 dangerous times which lay before it, his personal power was 
 by no means so great as it had been during his first admini- 
 stration. No doubt his position on the Catholic question had 
 
78 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [i8oo- 
 
 shaken the sympathy of the ultra-Protestants and Tories, as 
 it had done that of the King, and both had been transferred in 
 large measure to Addington. Whilst, therefore, the minister 
 made the King's friends feel that he was indispensable, they 
 on their part made him feel his dependence upon them, now 
 that he was left without the support of Grenville and Wind- 
 ham. His majorities became less than those which had been 
 held insufficient to maintain his predecessors in power. The 
 Bill for dealing with military defence w^s carried by a majority 
 of forty only, and he was reminded in the House that he 
 had fewer supporters than the man whom he had displaced. 
 It was true, and felt to be so, that Pitt was less dependent 
 upon the number of his followers than a feeble minister like 
 Addington would be ; nevertheless, the position was humi- 
 liating, and tended to become dangerous. So towards the end 
 of the year, as there was no chance of gaining over Grenville, 
 the Premier had to turn to his old follower, and Addington 
 joined the Ministry, at the same time receiving a peerage. 
 The title Viscount Sidmouth, which he now assumed, was 
 that under which he was known for so many years as one of 
 the most obstinate and determined opponents of every form 
 of liberty, the advocate of repression and coercion, the friend 
 of bigotry and intolerance. In all these points he was such 
 a man as a king like George III. would delight to honour. 
 The alliance brought temporary strength to the Ministry, as 
 was manifested when divisions were taken. But there was no 
 heart in the once proud minister to enter upon any home policy. 
 He was reproached by Fox, when Parliament met in January, 
 1806, with doing nothing towards redeeming his old pledges 
 in favour of the Roman Catholics. He defended himself, but 
 without much spirit. That the House of Commons was not 
 in a mood to undertake any earnest work was manifested by 
 the fate which befel Wilberforce's motion for the abolition of 
 the slave trade. On previous occasions he had carried his 
 proposals through the House with large majorities, but when 
 he renewed them on the 19th of February of this year, he was 
 defeated by seventy-seven to seventy votes. 
 
i8o7.] From Irish Union to Dismissal of Grenville. 79 
 
 The state of affairs in Europe was enough to damp the 
 ardour of Parliament, as it was evidently wearing away the 
 life of the Premier. Everywhere during this fatal year of 
 1806 Napoleon was triumphing over the coahtions formed 
 by Pitt, defeating armies, overthrowing thrones, and finally 
 alienating allies. The universal gloom was pierced only by 
 the dazzling ray of victory which shot from Trafalgar ; but 
 that victory, although it secured the safety of Great Britain 
 from invasion, could do little to affect the fortunes of France 
 on the continent. In the midst of the depression and almost 
 despair which fell upon the minister from these causes, he 
 received a blow which struck alike at his sense of official 
 honour and his warmest personal friendship. His colleague 
 and friend Lord Melville was accused of gross misconduct in 
 his office of treasurer of the navy. When he was impeached 
 by the Commons, Melville was acquitted by the Peers of the 
 high crimes and misdemeanours of which he was accused ; but 
 he was convicted of great irregularities and of conduct in 
 office which led to his dismissal from the Ministry, and even 
 to the striking of his name off the list of privy councillors. 
 It was evident to all who saw him that Pitt was grievously 
 hurt by these proceedings, the bitterness of which he had to 
 bear almost without sympathy. They led to further com- 
 plications and troubles in the Cabinet. Sidmouth and his 
 friends had gone with the opposition in the attack on Melville, 
 yet they selected that time to ask for appointments which 
 would have strengthened their own position in the Ministry. 
 These concessions Pitt would not make, and a division was 
 the consequence. Parliament was prorogued on the 12th 
 of June, and two days afterwards Sidmouth and three of his 
 friends resigned their ofifices. How the minister would have 
 met Parliament, and what permanent arrangements he would 
 have made in his Cabinet in consequence of these resignations, 
 cannot be known. There were rumours of efforts to induce 
 the King to accept Fox, but George III. was then in a terrible 
 condition. Nearly blind and scarcely sane, it was difficult to 
 give him information, and quite impossible to reason with 
 
8o History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [j8oo- 
 
 or convince him. As the autumn came on the European 
 misfortunes increased. First came the news of the capitulation 
 of Mack at Ulm, then the victory of Trafalgar gave relief ; 
 but directly after, the Battle of Austerlitz and the secession of 
 Austria from the confederation destroyed all chance of success. 
 Before Parliament met in January, Pitt was lying hopelessly 
 ill. The session opened on the 21st of June, 1806, and on 
 the 23rd the great minister died. 
 
 On a consideration of the general character of Pitt as a 
 statesman this is not the place to enter. Whether or not 
 he would have made a good peace minister has been discussed ' 
 with quite sufficient fulness by Macaulay and other writers. 
 On one point most men are now agreed, he was not com- 
 petent to deal with the difficulties of the terrible conflict 
 which he had been one of the active instruments in provoking. 
 A war against ideas and principles was easily aroused, but 
 was not easy either to conduct with success or to close with 
 honour. Pitt's whole later life was spent in the endeavour 
 to control events which were too mighty for him ; and his 
 responsibilities as a war minister gave him no chance of 
 showing how he would have governed the country in which 
 at one time his power seemed to be supreme. Yet what light 
 is thrown upon the subject of his earlier official conduct, and 
 his treatment of such political questions as were forced upon 
 him in later years, does not enable us to form a very favour- 
 able opinion either of his wisdom or of the real strength of 
 his character. This we shall see if we try to ascertain how 
 far his views and his actions affected the character and in- 
 fluence of English parties, and facilitated or hindered their 
 operation to the advantage or injury of the nation. When 
 Pitt first took office, the cause of Liberalism, and especially 
 that phase of it which was directed to obtain constitutional 
 reform, was most favourably situated. It had been accepted 
 by Chatham and by many of the Whig chiefs, the repre- 
 sentatives of the great houses, and had been forced upon the 
 national attention by the efforts of Fox, Sheridan, Wilkes, 
 Junius, Sawbridge, Barr6, Cartwright, and other speakers and 
 
j8o7.] From Irish Union to Dismissal of Grenville. 8i 
 
 writers. It had secured good divisions in both Houses of Par- 
 liament, and although the King was an enemy to all changes, 
 his opposition could have been overcome on this as it had 
 been by Chatham and Rockingham on other subjects. Fox 
 at this time had weakened his own influence with his natural 
 followers by his coalition with North; but the amount of 
 dislike which he thereby incurred is a measure of the strength 
 of the public feeling on the other side, and the allegiance of 
 the reformers was not lost to the cause, but was transferred 
 to Pitt, who had made himself its special champion. He had 
 brought forward the subject of electoral reform more than once 
 in the House of Commons, and on one occasion was within 
 twenty votes of carrying his resolution. There seemed every 
 probability that a very considerable measure of reform might 
 then have been carried without any serious conflict between 
 the various classes and parties in the State. Without Pitt 
 no permanent administration could have been secured on the 
 anti-reform basis. The circumstances and conditions under 
 which he accepted place, and the character of the support 
 on which he consented to depend, soon changed the aspect 
 of affairs. In the memorable contest which he waged against 
 the members of the coalition and the majority of the House 
 of Commons, he found arrayed against him nearly every 
 section of independent politicians, Whig and Tory alike. 
 His chief supporters were the court and the people called 
 " the King's friends." The courage and the vigour with which 
 he carried on the struggle won for him a good deal of public 
 sympathy ; and, outside the close Parliamentary ranks of his 
 opponents, he still commanded much of the confidence and 
 inspired something of the hope amongst reformers which, by 
 the coalition. Fox for the time seemed to have betrayed and 
 destroyed. Still, when the long fight was over and the dis- 
 solution came, court influence, patronage, and money were 
 largely responsible for the greatness of the majority, and on 
 more than one occasion afterwards it was seen to be the 
 following rather of the monarch than the minister. Pitt 
 amply justified the trust and paid for the support which he 
 
 G 
 
82 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1800- 
 
 received from the King. We have seen the process by which 
 this was done — how he quietly dropped the reform question ; 
 how, on the outbreak of the French Revolution, he commenced 
 a system of repression and coercion which made every ex- 
 pression of a Liberal sentiment penal, and branded every man 
 who strove for popular rights as a criminal ; and how he had 
 converted the House of Peers from an aristocracy in which 
 many of the great houses were actuated by a traditional 
 love of liberty, into an assemblage of mere landholders and 
 placemen filled with the narrowest class prejudices. At his 
 death he left a country from which the energy of political 
 hope had been expelled, and a Parliament from which no 
 national regeneration could be expected. 
 
 The hopelessness of the position as respected Liberalism 
 and reform was soon manifested by the issue of what might 
 at first sight have appeared a favourable event. The com- 
 plication, not amongst parties, but the leaders of parties, was 
 so great that no Ministry could be formed which did not 
 include Grenville and Fox, now become inseparable. The 
 advent of Fox to office might well seem to be a triumph for 
 the principles which he had so long advocated. It was really 
 nothing of the kind. Office with him did not involve the 
 power to accomplish any of the objects in domestic legislation 
 on which his heart was set. The " all talents " administration 
 was called a combination ; the word coalition, which properly 
 described it, having been rendered unpopular by former trans- 
 actions. But a coalition it really was, since it included Fox 
 the Radical and Sidmouth the Tory. Efforts were made by 
 the King and his friends to form a Cabinet without Fox, the 
 prejudices of George III. being as strong as ever against 
 the great orator. This was found to be impossible, and on 
 the 5th of February, 1806, the new Ministry was announced. 
 Grenville was Premier, Fox Foreign Secretary ; other members 
 being Grey — now become Lord Howick by the elevation of 
 his father to the peerage— Windham, Romilly, Sidmouth, 
 and Ellenborough. The appointment of the last-named peer 
 as a member of the Cabinet must in itself have been evidence 
 
i8o7.] From Irish Union to Dismissal of Grenville. 85 
 
 of the weakness of Fox. Ellenborough was supposed, with 
 Sidmouth, to represent the King's feelings and opinions. He 
 was at the time Lord Chief Justice of England — a position 
 which he, very prudently for his own interests, declined to 
 vacate for the precarious post of Lord Chancellor. But the 
 impropriety on all constitutional grounds of making the chief 
 administrator of the law a member of the executive Govern- 
 ment was glaring. It needed only to suppose that when 
 Home and Thelwall and other Liberals were prosecuted, a 
 member of the Cabinet, one of the actual prosecutors, might 
 sit as the highest judge on their trial, to prove how improper 
 such an arrangement must be. The House of Commons, 
 however, obediently accepted the plan, a motion condemning 
 it being rejected by 224 to 64 votes. There was no question 
 of home policy on which Fox, Grey, and their friends could 
 hope to carry out their views. They would not, indeed, give 
 any promise or undertaking not to bring forward the Catholic 
 claims, and distinctly declared that they should vote for any 
 proposal of the kind which might be introduced by indepen- 
 dent members ; but to enter a Cabinet with Sidmouth and 
 Ellenborough was virtually to abandon the cause. Nor were 
 the Tory members of the Government the only ones by 
 whom a liberal and progressive policy was opposed. The 
 Whigs represented by Grenville and Windham were little 
 less adverse to constitutional reforms. This division of 
 sympathy has been well defined by the statement that " Mr. 
 Fox was the head of the old opposition, which had opposed 
 the war, advocated broad popular liberties, and appealed 
 to broad popular sympathies ; and Lord Grenville the leader 
 of the new, which, though Whig in its principles, had sup- 
 ported the war as a painful necessity, and discountenanced 
 any present extension of popular liberties." * 
 
 This condition of affairs completely silenced the Radicals 
 
 in Parliament, Under the leadership of Fox, they had kept 
 
 up a constant if not a hopeful fight. They had protested 
 
 against the oppressive and coercive policy of successive 
 
 * " Introdaclion to the History of the Peace," p. cxlvi. 
 
84 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1800- 
 
 governments ; they had from time to time introduced motions 
 in favour of electoral and administrative reform, and had 
 voted for justice to Roman Catholics and Nonconformists. 
 Even these protests would be meaningless and ridiculous when 
 the old movers of the resolutions, the old tellers in divisions, 
 occupied the offices from which alone any practical legislation 
 must emanate. There was but one question raised on which 
 Fox could speak with his old heartiness, and on which he 
 could entertain any hope of a successful issue, and that was 
 the abolition of the slave trade. Wilberforce had for years, 
 in season and out of season, kept this object before the 
 attention of Parliament, and on its behalf had appealed to 
 the conscience of the nation. It had not been made a strict 
 party question, but the Radicals had always given it their sup- 
 port. The new Government formally took up the business, 
 although they were not unanimous even here, for Sidmouth 
 had been a constant opponent of Wilberforce. Fox did not 
 live to see the actual accomplishment of the noble work, but 
 he had the satisfaction of knowing that it was safe in the Com- 
 mons, for he carried a motion in its favour by 1 15 to 14 votes. 
 
 Lest, in spite of the opposing influences by which they 
 were surrounded in the Cabinet itself, the Liberals in the 
 Ministry should try to accomplish any work of reform, the 
 section of Tories which was left out of office commenced now 
 for the first time the use of that instrument of obstruction 
 which has since become so famous. For night after night 
 Castlereagh and others made long speeches on no particular 
 occasion, inflicting unbearable weariness upon the ministerial 
 ranks, until Sheridan, as a sort of despairing joke, proposed 
 that the burden should be distributed by the process of form- 
 ing relays of attendants, so that no one should be called upon 
 to bear the whole of the merciless infliction. What he sug- 
 gested in fun a later generation has been obliged to adopt in 
 sober earnest, for Canning, and Castlereagh and Perceval did 
 not realize the full value of the method they invented. 
 
 What Fox had really hoped to do, and what he strove 
 with all his might to effect, was to bring to a close the great 
 
1807.] From. Irish Union to Dismissal of Grenville. 85 
 
 war to which he had always been opposed, and which was 
 working so much misery to England and to the whole of 
 Europe. Here he was again doomed to bitter disappoint- 
 ment. On this point he met with no serious opposition at 
 home, for there were few English politicians who were not 
 anxious to end a contest which was pressing so heavily on the 
 resources of their country. But the struggle which the 
 Radical policy might have prevented no effort could arrest. 
 Napoleon, in the pride of his victory, the greatness of his 
 ambition, and the intensity of his hatred of England, would 
 consent to no terms which the most peace-loving minister 
 could recommend to this country as consistent with either her 
 honour or her safety. So the war, which had become one for 
 national existence, had to be carried on. In whatever the 
 Government for the time being proposed by way of warlike 
 preparation, they met with a ready support in Parliament. 
 When Windham brought forward his military proposals 
 Canning opposed them, but, by a majority of 271 to 1 19, they 
 were carried in the House of Commons. But Fox was not 
 destined to carry on the painful and hopeless work much 
 longer. Parliament was prorogued on the 23rd of July, but 
 for two months before the great Liberal had been unable to 
 attend. He was never more to visit the scenes of his labours, 
 of his triumphs as an orator, of his reverses as a statesman. 
 On the 1 3th of September he died, and England lost the service 
 of one of her noblest and truest sons, the cause of liberty 
 one of its most faithful and most brilliant advocates. 
 
 The character and the work of Fox must be tried by a 
 peculiar standard. He was a Radical when Radicalism was 
 neither appreciated nor understood. Passionate in his denun- 
 ciation of wrong, fearless in his proposals for reform, a 
 sublime agitator and leader of forlorn hopes, he was yet born 
 into the ranks of the governing class, and it was as much part 
 of the necessities of his position and of his inherited nature 
 as it must have been the desire of his active spirit, to aim at 
 taking part in the practical government of the country. Yet 
 he knew, and did not hesitate to declare, that under the social 
 
86 
 
 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1800- 
 
 and political conditions of his time it was impossible for him 
 to carry out, when he was in oflfice, the objects for which he 
 had striven when in opposition. So that the time of what 
 might be called his success as a politician was the time of his 
 worst failure as a statesman. There were no instruments 
 either in Parliament or in the constituencies with which he 
 could perform the work on which his heart was set. It was 
 this which made it inevitable that he should be associated with 
 men who shared neither his hopes nor his aims. The differ- 
 ence was more in appearance than in essence, as to whether 
 his colleagues were Whigs like Grenville and Windham, who 
 were set against any increase of the popular element in the 
 State, or Tories and King's friends, who disliked all change. 
 This misfortune was more striking, but not more real, when he 
 sat in the Cabinet with North or with Sidmouth, the repre- 
 sentatives of a party which hated him, and whose principles 
 he hated. It was when he was free from the restraints of 
 office ; when he could become the mouthpiece of the unen- 
 franchised millions of his countrymen, setting forth their 
 sufferings and demanding their rights ; when he was the 
 champion of liberty and progress ; — it was then, with few 
 followers and little power, that he was really successful in 
 serving the best interest of his country, and in building up 
 the solid foundation of his own great fame. 
 
 The administration, weak and divided as it was, could not 
 long survive its greatest member. With the sitting Parlia- 
 ment clearly nothing could be done. It had existed only 
 four sessions, and during that short period it had swung round 
 from Addington to Pitt, from Pitt to the coalition ; it had been 
 constant only in its determination to support the King and to 
 resist change. There was just a hope that a new Parliament, 
 elected under their direct influence, might maintain in office 
 ministers many of whom were Whigs. The chance was not 
 great, but it seemed worth trying, and so dissolution was 
 suddenly announced. The experiment was a. failure, as it 
 could scarcely help being. The controlling influences over the 
 constituencies, the borough-mongers, landlords, and placemen 
 
i8o7.] From Irish Union to Dismissal of Grenville. 87 
 
 could be affected by no patriotic feelings, and there was no 
 great question raised to stir the enthusiasm of the people. 
 So the new Parliament, which met on the 19th of December, 
 1806, was exactly like the old, just as untrustworthy, just as 
 time-serving. If ministers would carry on the war and leave 
 other things alone, if they would not disturb institutions and 
 would not annoy the court, they might go on ; otherwise, they 
 must take the consequence. So the address in reply to the 
 King's speech was passed without a division. One thing this 
 shortest of Parliaments did worthy of being remembered : it 
 passed the Act for the abolition of the slave trade. 
 
 The royal assent was given to the Act on the 25 th of 
 March, 1807, but before that time the fate of the Ministry was 
 sealed. On the 5th of March Lord Howick, who had succeeded 
 Fox as foreign minister, moved for leave to bring in a bill 
 for securing to all his Majesty's subjects the privilege of 
 serving in the army and navy on taking a prescribed oath. 
 This measure would have laid open all grades in both services 
 to Roman Catholics. Perceval opposed the introduction of 
 the bill, but it was supposed that the King had assented to 
 its introduction, and leave was given. The royal permission 
 had, however, it afterwards appeared, been given only to a 
 portion of the proposals, and, even to them under some mis- 
 take. When Sidmouth,' Malrnesbury, Eldon, and Perceval 
 conferred with him and explained the real provisions of the 
 measure and their own objections, the monarch recalled his 
 consent, and the bill was withdrawn. But the efforts of the 
 Tories, both in and out of the Government, and the deter- 
 mination of the King did not end here. The King demanded 
 that ministers should give a written undertaking never again 
 to bring forward the measure, nor to propose anything with 
 regard to the Catholic question to his Majesty. This was an 
 engagement which was not only repulsive to their sense of 
 independence and honour, but was directly contrary to their 
 duty as responsible ministers. They therefore refused to give 
 the required pledge, and the King dismissed them. The 
 vindication of their policy with regard to the Irish Catholics 
 
88 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1800- 
 
 was made by Grenville in words that might form the justi- 
 fication of all subsequent proposals of conciliation, and the 
 condemnation of the whole policy of coercion and repression. 
 " I consider," declared Grenville, " that four millions of Catholic 
 subjects are to be governed by conciliation and kindness, and 
 not by intolerance and exclusion." 
 
 The Government were dismissed, and the House of Com- 
 mons, elected under their own auspices, and in which they 
 hoped to find a majority to support them against the court, 
 failed them on the first trial. On the 25th of March, a new 
 Cabinet having been formed, the old ministers resigned their 
 seals of office. On the 3rd of April the trial of strength took 
 place. Mr. Brand moved " That it is contrary to the first 
 duties of the confidential servants of the Crown to restrain 
 themselves by any pledge, express or implied, from offering, 
 to the King any advice that the course of circumstances might 
 render necessary for the welfare and security of any part of 
 his Majesty's extensive empire." The terms of this resolution 
 were incontrovertible, and the Whigs confidently expected 
 to carry it ; but it was lost by thirty-two votes, the numbers 
 being 258 to 226. Another resolution more directly personal, 
 expressing the deepest regret at the late change of admini- 
 stration, moved by Mr. Littleton, was rejected by a still greater 
 majority, the votes being 244 for and 198 against. These 
 opinions were remarkable not only as deciding the fate of the 
 late administration, but as indicating the lines on which, even 
 under circumstances most favourable to Liberal success, the 
 government of the country was to be conducted. This point 
 is well put by Mr. Wingrove Cooke, who says, " Nothing can 
 more clearly prove the subserviency of the House of Commons, 
 as at that time constituted, than that the same assembly which 
 had pronounced in favour of the Grenville Catholic Bill readily 
 turned over to a Tory administration, and refused by a 
 majority of thirty-two to vote that it was contrary to the 
 duties of a minister to restrain himself by a pledge as to the 
 advice he should offer to the King." * 
 
 * " History of Parties," vol. iii. p. 465. 
 
1807.] From Irish Union to Dismissal of, Grenville. 89 
 
 The new Ministry was entirely Tory. The Duke of Port- 
 land was the nominal Premier, but he was old and infirm, 
 and the real leadership was understood to be in the hands 
 of Perceval, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer. Eldpn 
 was Lord Chancellor, enough in itself to banish all hope of 
 progress. Canning indeed, who became foreign minister, was 
 destined to disturb the equanimity of the Tory ranks ; but at 
 present, although not quite understood by his colleagues, he 
 did not, in the opinion of the country, alter the complexion 
 of the Government. For such a Cabinet even the Parliament 
 which had given such proofs of its docility contained too 
 large an element of Liberalism, and on the 27th of April it 
 was prorogued and dissolved, having existed only four 
 months and seven days. The new House of Commons was, if 
 possible, to be made " thorough." Every bad political instru- 
 ment was brought into use to effect this purpose. The privy 
 purse was drawn upon to aid corruption ; the influence of the 
 Crown was used to fascinate ; the power of Government was 
 exercised to intimidate ; the no-popery cry was raised to 
 excite the bigot ; the attractions of place and pension were 
 offered to allure the corrupt and the ambitious. Never were 
 the evils of the unreformed system of representation so signally 
 exhibited, so unblushingly adopted. The success was com- 
 plete. The New Parliament met on the 22nd of June, and 
 when test votes were taken on proposed addresses censuring 
 the late dissolution, they were lost in the Lords by 160 to 6t, 
 and in the Commons by 350 to 155. The high Tory party 
 had obtained that full power which it was destined to use for 
 many a year, in opposing every form of liberty and repressing 
 every sign of national life. 
 
90 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1807- 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 FROM THE DISMISSAL OF GRENVILLE TO THE END OF 
 THE WAR (1807-1815). 
 
 The death of Fox, the dismissal of the Granville Ministry, 
 and the election of the new court and Tory Parliament, were 
 events which seemed to mark the completion of the ruin of 
 the Liberal party. For the time its power for any useful or 
 effective work in the State seemed utterly broken. There 
 were Whigs in the House of Commons, of course. Some of 
 the pocket boroughs were owned, and some of the counties 
 were dominated, by the great houses which had always 
 belonged to that party, and, as we have seen, 155 members 
 voted against the address to the Crown when Parliament 
 met. These numbers were quite ins.ufficient to produce any 
 effect upon the policy of the Government, so long as they 
 were not backed up by any strong manifestation of public 
 feeling outside ; and no such support could be hoped for, or 
 invited, by the bulk of the Whigs. They derived neither their 
 inspiration nor their election from the people. They were 
 Liberals in the sense that they advocated — especially when in 
 opposition — such reforms in the administration, and such 
 moderate enlargement of the popular liberties, as would not 
 alter the balance of the Constitution, nor remove the ultimate 
 power in the State from the hands of the governing classes. 
 These are conditions which would render the obtainment of 
 effectual reform at any time difficult, and, under circumstances 
 like those which existed in 1807, absolutely impossible. At 
 that period reformers were faced by the power of the Crown, 
 
i8i5.] Dismissal of Grenville to the End of the War. 91 
 
 which had been insidiously but constantly increasing, and 
 was now exercised by a sincere but obstinate King, opposed 
 with a passion related to his insanity to any change ; by 
 ministers who were either in complete sympathy or in virtual 
 subserviency to the monarch ; by a Parliament of which the 
 upper House was swamped by the nominees of the court, and 
 the lower one was filled by creatures of those nominees ; and by 
 a large and influential class outside, who had not recovered 
 from the terror into which they had been thrown by the out- 
 break of the French Revolution. Such forces were not to 
 be successfully met by a minority who derived their own 
 authority from no more popular source, and many of whom 
 had at one time or other taken office, or worked in harmony, 
 with the very ministers they were now opposing. 
 
 All the distinction which the public could see between the 
 Whigs and the Tories was, as the writer in the " Annual 
 Register '' declared, that between the ins and outs ; and no 
 doubt he was justified in saying that, with regard to both, 
 " the people at large had absolutely lost all confidence in a 
 majority of them." * The Whigs had not yet come to see 
 that no progress of any kind, no reform of administration, no 
 removal of abuses, would ever be possible in England without 
 a great and substantial change in the electoral system, and the 
 provision of machinery by which the people themselves could 
 obtain direct representation of their wishes and their wants. 
 This opinion, however, was fast spreading in the country, and 
 it never was without some few advocates in Parliament itself. 
 There was a remnant of the Whigs who still preserved the 
 traditions sent down by Chatham and Richmond, by Fox 
 and Sawbridge, and who maintained the succession of 
 Radicalism in both Houses. They were not, however, the men 
 who moved the masses outside, and their work had to be 
 supplemented by that of agitators who acknowledged no 
 allegiance to the old party leaders. It was almost a necessity 
 of the struggle which was slowly approaching, that the 
 popular advocates should be to a great extent outside the 
 * " Annual Register," 1807, p. 235. 
 
92 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1807- 
 
 ordinary social and political influences, and nearer in sym- 
 pathies to the rough and suffering millions, than to the smooth 
 and subservient courtiers and placemen. Easy-going and 
 respectable folk, fearful of giving offence, and anxious to stand 
 well in the opinion of their little world, are not the stuff by 
 which the forlorn hopes of politics are led. To give and take 
 rough words and hard blows were the inevitable conditions 
 of such a position, and this must be remembered when any 
 attempt is made to estimate the character and the work of the 
 Radicals in the beginning of this century. 
 
 The two men who first assumed a position of antagonism 
 to the old parties on behalf of the popular cause were not by 
 social position and fortune separated from those whom they 
 attacked. Lord Cochrane and Sir Francis Burdett, we are told 
 by the writer previously quoted, " had become popular by 
 disclaiming all attachment to all parties and factions." The 
 writer goes on to say that the abilities and energy of Sir F. 
 Burdett "had procured him a reputation not to be tarnished 
 by any or all of the surmises concerning the danger of 
 innovation, that is, the danger of timeous reformation and 
 reparation." * In accounting for the hold which Burdett had 
 at this time obtained upon the confidence and almost the 
 affection of the people, we must not look forward to the eccen- 
 tricities and follies of his later years, when, puffed by vanity 
 and ambition, he played tricks which shocked his friends and 
 admirers; or when, disappointed in his- inordinate desire for 
 notoriety, he deserted the cause of which he had constituted 
 himself the champion. In 1807 he aroused enthusiasm, 
 because he made himself the spokesman of the wide-spread 
 feeling that without constitutional changes no substantial 
 reform of any kind was possible, and because he declared that 
 neither of the two great parties in the State really desired 
 such changes. 
 
 The new Ministry soon began to show the principles upon 
 which they considered that government ought to be conducted, 
 and the new Parliament as quickly gave the assurance of its 
 * "Annual Register," 1807, 
 
1815.] Dismissal of Grenville to the End of the War. 93 
 
 support. On the 9th of July, less than a month after the 
 opening of the session, a new Irish Coercion Bill was brought 
 in; it was opposed by Sheridan, but carried by 108 votes to 
 10. The attention of the ministers was mainly devoted to the 
 conflict with France, which was becoming ever more and more 
 desperate. It was now, that, finding it hopeless to contend 
 with England on the sea, and impossible for that reason 
 to strike her by means of the long-threatened invasion, 
 Napoleon pushed forward his scheme of forcing all the states 
 which were either friendly or subservient to him to interdict 
 all commerce with this country, hoping thereby to ruin the 
 trade by which alone we were enabled to keep up the contest. 
 During this and the following year, the British Government 
 responded to this policy by issuing the famous Orders in 
 Council. These orders, which damaged our own trade more 
 even than did the action of Napoleon, and which ultimately 
 involved us in war with the United States, were issued in 
 forms of constantly increasing stringency. They culminated 
 in a decree that no neutral vessels would be allowed to trade 
 with France, or with any other hostile country, unless they first 
 touched at an English port, and, paying custom dues, obtained 
 proper permission. These orders were vigorously but vainly 
 resisted by the opposition, but they were not revoked till 181 2. 
 Amongst the noteworthy things respecting them is the fact 
 that Henry Brougham established his first claim to the notice 
 and respect of the country by his vigorous opposition to their 
 maintenance, appearing before the House as counsel for 
 merchants and other persons in Liverpool. 
 
 Whilst the Government was thus engrossed by the war, 
 and the public interest in politics was limited to a desire for 
 fuller representation, questions were now and again brought 
 forward with a view of improving the social and material 
 condition of the people. All these proposals emanated from 
 the opposition side, and such of them as did not involve any 
 constitutional reform, but could be regarded as gifts from the 
 governing class to the community, were sure of the support 
 of the united Whig party. Under existing conditions mem- 
 
94 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1807- 
 
 bers of that party were willing enougH to make suggestions 
 which, when in office, they were not so ready to adopt, but 
 which the Radical section had to take up, agitate for, and 
 ultimately carry out. Amongst subjects of this kind was 
 that of national education. The Parliamentary discussion of 
 this great question may be said to have been begun in 1807, 
 and with the hope of success which was to be long deferred. 
 On the 6th of August in that year Whitbread brought in a 
 bill for the education of the poor by establishing schools in 
 all the parishes of England. To the surprise, no doubt, of its 
 author, this passed through all its stages in the House of 
 Commons. There was no chance of such a measure being 
 carried by the Peers, and it was at once thrown out, Lord 
 Eldon being, of course, the chief and most violent of its 
 opponents. It was said, and generally believed, that the bill 
 was only allowed to pass the Commons because of the 
 certainty of its rejection in the Lords. 
 
 The year 1808 was marked by no political activity. The 
 debates on the Orders in Council occupied much of the time 
 of Parliament, and the war and its consequences took up 
 the remainder. In the following year there was more 
 general activity, especially on the part of what was called the 
 extreme opposition section. The earlier part of the session 
 was occupied by the consideration of the charges against the 
 Duke of York, which led to his retirement from the position 
 of commander-in-chief The inquiry — or, as it might well be 
 called, the prosecution — of the royal culprit was commenced 
 at the instance of Mr. G. L. Wardle, a militia officer, who had 
 been at one time a Tory, and having left that party, had not 
 stopped short at Whiggism, but had joined Sir F. Burdett 
 and the Radicals. The remainder of the session from the 
 beginning of May was devoted almost entirely to a series of 
 discussions on Parliamentary reform, in which Whigs and 
 Radicals seemed to be in competition for leadership on the 
 subject. 
 
 The campaign was opened by W. A. Madocks, who on the 
 5 th of May brought a charge of electoral corruption against two 
 
i8is.] Dismissal of Grenville to the End of the War. 95 
 
 of the ministers, Lord Castlereagh and Mr. Perceval. This 
 was rejected, but was repeated in an altered form on the nth 
 of the same month, and was again defeated, the numbers being 
 85 for, and 310 against. Both these motions were avowedly 
 brought forward with the view of proving the necessity for 
 reform. In the same month Curwen moved for leave to bring 
 in a bill for the prevention of bribery and corruption. This 
 was the mild Whig method of dealing with the subject. 
 Windham immediately opposed even the proposition for leave 
 to be given. He said " it had been for many years his opinion 
 that the House ought strenuously to oppose as dangerous and 
 mad any proposal for Parliamentary reform," and this was the 
 so-called old Whig policy which Windham declared he had 
 imbibed from Burke. The ministers, however, allowed the bill 
 to pass, but they altered it so completely in committee that 
 its parents would not own it. So thorough was the change 
 that Lord Folkestone moved that a new title should be given, 
 and that it should be called, "A bill for more effectually 
 preventing the sale of seats in Parliament for money, and for 
 promoting a monopoly thereof to the treasury by means of 
 patronage," and this curious proposal he took to a division, 
 securing 28 votes for it against 133 for Government. Another 
 proposal which may be taken as coming from the broader 
 section of the official Whigs was made on the 8th of June 
 by Whitbread, who moved for an inquiry as to " how far it 
 may be expedient to limit the number of persons holding 
 seats together with pensions, sinecures, and places of emolu- 
 ment under the Crown." This was defeated by a majority of 
 fifty-nine, there being fifty-four votes recorded in its favour. 
 
 It was now the turn of the Radicals to submit a scheme 
 of reform, and this was done on the 15th of June by Sir F. 
 Burdett. The plan he brought forward contained the follow- 
 ing propositions : — 
 
 1. That freeholders and others subject to direct taxation 
 in support of the poor, the Church, and the State be required 
 to elect members to seive in Parliament. 
 
 2. That each county be sub-divided according to its 
 
96 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1807- 
 
 taxed male population, and each sub-division required to elect 
 one representative. 
 
 3. That the votes be taken in each parish by the parish 
 officers, and that all the elections should be finished in one 
 and the same day. 
 
 4. That the parish officers make the return to the sheriff's 
 court, to be held for that purpose at stated periods. 
 
 5. That Parliament be brought back to a constitutional 
 duration. 
 
 The proposal was supported by Mr. Hutchinson and Sir 
 T. Turton, and on a division sixteen votes were recorded in 
 its favour.* The plan, it will be seen, was substantially the 
 same as that propounded thirty years before by the Duke of 
 Richmond, and that formulated by Fox and his Westminster 
 committee. 
 
 The Parliamentary session closed on the 21st of September, 
 but the end of the year saw changes in the administration 
 which had effects upon the relations of all parties in the State. 
 The dissatisfaction of Canning with the policy and conduct 
 of his colleague Castlereagh had been expressed to the Premier 
 and to other members of the Cabinet, but it had been con- 
 cealed from the person whose position and character were 
 implicated. Further concealment being impossible, Castle- 
 reagh was at last informed of the real circumstances, but this 
 was done in a way which led to a not unnatural mistake as 
 to the course which Canning had pursued. A duel between 
 the two ministers followed. Canning was wounded, and both 
 of them retired from the Cabinet. In all these proceedings 
 
 * Hansard records the names of the minority, which may be taken generally 
 as constituting the Radical party at that time : 
 
 Adams, Charles Cambell, G. Cuthbert T R 
 
 Knapp, G. Madocks, W. A. Moore P 
 
 Turton. Sir T. Vi'estern, C. C. Hutchinson, C. 
 
 Burdett, Sir F. Combe, H. Tracey, Hanbury 
 
 wT'r t' Maxwell, W. Thornton, Henry 
 
 Wardle, G. L. Wharton, J. ^ 
 
 To these must be added Lord Cochrane, who was accidentally shut out from the 
 division, and Mr. Lyttleton, who paired. 
 
1815.] Dismissal of Grenville to the End of the War. 97 
 
 there was no doubt that the prejudices and sympathies of 
 Eldon and the high Tory party were set against Canning. 
 He was too clever and too energetic for them, and his well- 
 known views on the Catholic question were enough to make 
 them distrust and dislike him. So that, after the immediate 
 affair had passed over, Castlereagh was restored to the 
 Ministry ; and Canning, the ablest man in the party, was left 
 outside, with the result, no doubt, of directing his thoughts 
 and increasing his attachment to those points on which he 
 was most out of harmony with the people who had injured 
 him. This was the commencement of one of those rifts in 
 the Tory party which broke it up from within when there was 
 no constitutional means of overcoming it from without. The 
 ministerial changes of the year did not end with this. On 
 the 29th of October the Duke of Portland, the nominal prime 
 minister, died. Efforts were now made to extend the basis 
 of the Administration, and negotiations were opened with 
 some of the Whigs. They failed, and the Cabinet was recon- 
 structed on the old lines, Perceval becoming Premier, the 
 Marquis of Wellesley Foreign Secretary, and Lord Liverpool 
 Secretary at War. One appointment to a junior post serves 
 to connect the past generation with our own. Lord Palmer- 
 ston, who had entered Parliament in 1807, was now made 
 Under Secretary at War. From this time, 1809, to 1828 he 
 continued in office under the Tories, and was almost the only 
 man of eminence who, leaving that party, became a thorough- 
 going Whig, with no more popular sympathy or enthusiasm 
 than the driest member of the most select Whig family. In 
 this year, too, Robert Peel first entered Parliament, a man 
 who was destined to carry on the series of revolts and deser- 
 tions which shook the Tory party and facilitated reforms. 
 
 The session closed on the 21st of June, and Parliament did 
 not meet again until the 23rd of January, 1810. There was 
 of course no change in the position of parties, ministers carry- 
 ing the address in the Commons by 263 to 167 ; but in the 
 course of the year there were lively and not very creditable 
 scenes in the House. There were to be animated discussions 
 
 H 
 
98 History of the Radical Party in Parliament [1807- 
 
 on the famous Walcheren expedition, the loss and disgrace 
 attending which had powerfully affected public opinion. In 
 order, as he said, to prevent the charges against the Govern- 
 ment and the commanders being made public before the replies 
 could be made, Mr. Yorke, ministerial member, enforced, 
 the standing order for the exclusion of strangers. On this, 
 Sheridan moved for an inquiry into the propriety of this 
 course, and was defeated by 166 to 8a This decision created 
 a good deal of discontent outside, and among others the 
 members of a debating society called the British Forum 
 discussed the subject. The president of the society, was Mr. 
 John Gale Jones, who published placards announcing that the 
 exclusion of strangers was an attack on the liberties of the 
 press which ought to be censured, and announced further 
 debates on the action of Mr. Yorke. This was held to be a 
 breach of privilege, and the printer was brought up to the bar. 
 Dean, the printer, gave at once the name of the author, and 
 Jones was ordered to attend. On the 22nd of February Jones 
 appeared, and after saying that at the time he issued the 
 placard and conducted the debates he thought he was in 
 order, he now admitted that he was wrong, and threw him- 
 self on the mercy of the House. The House was not inclined 
 to show much mercy ; Dean was reprimanded and dismissed, 
 but Jones was committed to Newgate for a gross breach of the 
 privileges of Parliament. 
 
 A more important claimant for the distinction of martyr- 
 dom on behalf of the liberty of the press now came forward. 
 Sir Francis Burdett called in question the legality of the whole 
 proceedings against Jones, and on the 12th of March moved 
 that the prisoner should be discharged. Only the. most 
 thorough-going members of his party went with him on this 
 occasion, and he was defeated by 153 to 14. From this vote 
 he appealed from Parliament to the people. His speech in 
 the House had been violent, but he republished it, with 
 additions still more reckless, in Cobbett's Weekly Register^ 
 and accompanied it by a letter, in which he denied the right 
 of the House to commit for breach of privilege, and asked 
 
iSis-] Dismissal of Grenville to the End of the War. 99 
 
 whether our hberties should lie at the mercy of the House of 
 Commons, an assembly which he described as a part of our 
 fellow-subjects collected together by means which it is not 
 necessary to describe.* The attack was too gross, the 
 challenge too public, to be overlooked. On the 27th of 
 March Mr. Lethbridge introduced the subject to the House. 
 It was delayed by several adjournments, but finally on the 
 5th of April it was decided, by a majority of thirty-eight, 
 to commit Sir Francis to the Tower. He did not, however, 
 intend to acquiesce quietly in the sentence, but rather to make 
 it the occasion of a great public demonstration. He refused 
 to submit to the warrant, and wrote a letter to the Speaker, 
 denying its legality, and contemptuously protesting against 
 the authority of the House. He barricaded his residence so 
 as to prevent access by the officers, and the sheriff, who for 
 some days was uncertain how to proceed, at last placed the 
 matter in the hands of the law officers of the Crown. The 
 delay was utilized to the utmost by Burdett, and by his 
 admirers and followers. Crowds assembled round the hous2 
 and kept watch and ward day and night, and rioting and 
 tumult were practically unchecked. At last it was decided to 
 take the fortress by storm. A little army comprising cavalry 
 and infantry marched to the aid of the civil authorities, 
 and, a breach being made in one of the area windows, the 
 besiegers gained the citadel. When the victors marched into 
 the presence of the defeated commander, they found him pre- 
 pared to form a fitting subject for a great historical picture. 
 He was seated, expounding to his little son, who stood by his 
 side, the glorious principle of Magna Charta, a copy of which 
 great document he held in his hand. The officers ruthlessly 
 broke up this picturesque family group, and, although Sir 
 Francis refused to submit to anything but actual force, he was 
 at last quietly led downstairs, placed in a carriage, and driven 
 to the Tower. 
 
 * The letter, which, with much violence and rhodomontade, contains some able 
 arguments and some valuable historical precedents, is given entire in the "Annual 
 Register," 1810, and is quoted also in Hansard. 
 
lOO History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1807- 
 
 The worst difficulties were yet to be faced. There 
 were excited crowds in the streets, anxious to rescue their 
 champion. The soldiers, to avoid as far as possible the 
 violence and obstruction of the mob, took a circuitous and 
 unexpected route to the Tower. Other troops, of which an 
 unusually large number had been called to London to meet 
 the emergency, marched to the Tower to secure and protect 
 the approaches. By these means, although the news of the 
 arrest rapidly spread, and the populace in thousands hurried 
 towards the great prison, the captive was got safely into 
 the Tower. But the public excitement increased every 
 moment, the soldiers were mobbed and assaulted, and when 
 a cannon was fired, as usual, to announce the reception of a 
 State prisoner, it was said that the Tower guns were firing on 
 the people. This roused the passion of the crowd to an 
 ungovernable pitch, and the soldiers, who had to fight their 
 way, fired and killed two or three people and wounded many 
 others. The war in the streets was soon over, but the poli- 
 tical contest waged more fiercely than ever. Burdett was now 
 at the height of his popularity, and was as much the hero of 
 the hour as Wilkes had ever been. His name was on every 
 tongue, his portrait in every house, his praises in every 
 popular print. He made the most of the occasion, and 
 brought actions for false imprisonment against the Speaker, 
 the serjeant-at-arms, and the governor of the Tower. This 
 kept up the excitement both in and out of Parliament ; for, 
 whilst the papers were filled with the addresses to Burdett 
 and his replies, the House of Commons had to decide whether 
 or not any appearance should be entered in the law courts. 
 This did not seem an easy problem to solve; a committee had 
 to be appointed, and many debates took place. Nor was this 
 the only trouble Parliament experienced. Petitions were sent 
 in from the city of London and many other places, praying 
 for the release of Burdett, some of them in terms highly dis- 
 respectful to the House ; those from Westminster, Middlesex, 
 and the city were especially so insolent that they were 
 absolutely rejected. 
 
i8is.] Dismissal of Grenville to the End of the War. loi 
 
 The subject of these petitions forms for us one of the 
 most interesting points in the whole affair. In the case of a 
 popular demonstration, it is desirable to know not only what 
 is the character of the hero of the hour, but what are the 
 principles which he is supposed to represent. The merits 
 and the importance of the object are transferred to the 
 man, and what looks at first sight like simple hero-worship, 
 is found to be, to a large extent, devotion to a cause. In 
 the present case there was no doubt as to this. The 
 petitions which asked for the release of Sir Francis all 
 called in the most earnest terms for Parliamentary reform. 
 The people were quite justified in uniting the two things. 
 Burdett was at that time the leader of the most advanced 
 section of reformers. He had formed a party — small of ne- 
 cessity, but very active — in the House of Commons who pro- 
 tested against the insufficiency of the claim of the existing 
 legislature to represent the will or the wishes of the nation. 
 The very documents for the issue of which the popular hero 
 was now iinprisoned, insisted strongly on this point. In the 
 minds of his admirers, then. Sir Francis was the champion of 
 the cause of reform, and it was easy to see how they were sure 
 to overlook the eccentricities, the affectations, and the personal 
 vanity of a man who had advocated their views in a corrupt 
 Parliament, and was now suffering imprisonment for his efforts 
 on their behalf The interest in the event was not confined 
 to any one class. " There was not," it is said, " any gathering 
 of men, however small, in which the privilege question was not 
 argued. Lord Erskin'e had the honour of meeting the Prince 
 of Wales at dinner one day, when the argument on the subject 
 grew hot between them. Lord Erskine said that the prin- 
 ciples which he advocated were those which had seated the 
 family of his Royal Highness on the throne ; and the Prince 
 retorted that they were principles which would unseat any 
 family from any throne."* It was clear that Burdett was 
 believed by people of all ranks to represent an important 
 principle in national politics. 
 
 * " Introduction to the History of the Peace," p. cclxxv. 
 
I02 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. I1807- 
 
 The end of the performance was neither so melodramatic 
 nor so dignified as its commencement and its progress. The 
 release which was refused to popular pressure and could not 
 be obtained by legal process, came about naturally by the 
 prorogation of Parliament. The people, however, meant to 
 make it the occasion of another great demonstration. It was 
 known that Parliament would rise on the 21st of June, and 
 preparations were made, with the knowledge and approval of 
 Burdett, for a great procession to carry the hero from his 
 prison to his home. An enthusiastic response was given by 
 the people to the invitation to join in the celebration. On 
 the appointed day all the streets from the Tower to Burdett's 
 home were crowded. There were organized bands of men 
 with banners and colours, there was a mounted escort, and 
 everywhere, in roadway and on housetops, at windows and on 
 platforms, thousands of eager people, decked with the popular 
 blue ribbons, waited to greet the champion of reform, the 
 martyr to freedom of the press. The whole mass, leaders, 
 organizers, escort, processionists, spectators, were doomed to 
 disappointment. There was in many minds fear lest the 
 excited crowds in the streets should come into contact with 
 the soldiers, who were ordered to be ready to act. Sir Francis 
 shared these fears, and at the last moment he decided to 
 break his engagement with his friends, to disappoint the 
 public, and go quietly by water from the Tower, avoiding all 
 the demonstrations which had been prepared for his honour. 
 So Major Cartwright and the sheriffs and the other leaders 
 went away, and, although the people determined to have 
 their procession and parade their forces, the display of incense 
 without the idol was but a tame affair. 
 
 There can be no doubt that this escapade weakened the 
 influence of Burdett both in the country and in Parliament, 
 and such a consequence was ■ inevitable. Prudence and 
 wisdom are admirable qualities, and are as valuable in 
 political agitation as in any other undertaking. But prudence 
 should be employed in the plan and design of a campaign ; 
 what men want to see in its conduct is courage. Burdett 
 
iSij.] Dismissal of Grenville to the End of the War. 103 
 
 may have been right in desiring to avoid the risks which his 
 procession would involve ; he was wrong in making or sanction- 
 ing the preparations, and summoning his supporters to the 
 scene of danger, and then quietly leaving them to take care 
 of themselves. His power with the people arose from their 
 belief that- he was prepared to suffer in their cause ; his in- 
 fluence in Parliament was derived, not from his ability nor 
 from the number or importance of his followers, but from the 
 feeling that he was a daring leader, with the ability to incite, 
 and the courage to lead, popular enthusiasm in a struggle 
 against existing grievances and in defiance of existing institu- 
 tions. In both these respects he suffered, and with him the 
 cause of which he had made himself the mouthpiece suffered 
 also. 
 
 The good that came of all this popular excitement and 
 demonstrating was that it showed the mind of the people to 
 be fixing itself with increasing firmness on the fact, that in 
 Parliamentary reform was to be found the only hope of any 
 change in the method of government that could improve their 
 condition. This gave directness of purpose to the small 
 section in Parliament who either sympathized with the desires 
 or wished to obtain the direct confidence of the unrepresented 
 masses. It kept up a permanent bond of union among what 
 were then called the extreme opposition. More than this, it 
 convinced the majority of the Whigs that they could expect 
 no such outer support as would enable them to overcome the 
 organized Toryism in Parliament if they did not take up this 
 great question of reform. They had to compete with the 
 Radicals for public confidence, and although they could not 
 do this in the way of thoroughness of proposal, they could 
 at least show larger minorities when they did move. In this 
 year, 18 10, on the 21st of May, whilst the Burdett excitement 
 was going on, Mr. Brand moved for a committee of inquiry on 
 the state of the representation. He obtained 115 votes, but 
 was defeated by a majority of 119. 
 
 Of the questions which were destined to mark, or indeed 
 to originate, differences of opinion between the Whig and the 
 
I04 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1807- 
 
 Radical elements in the Liberal party, none were more active 
 than those affecting religious freedom and dealing with the 
 relations between Church and State. It is here that the con- 
 flict between authority and liberty is most directly waged. 
 In such matters there was a distinct line to be drawn in theory 
 between those who asserted and those who questioned the 
 broad principle that the State has no right to interfere at all 
 with religious belief, either to suppress, to limit, to encourage 
 or endow one form or other. In practice the division was not 
 so sharp — at least at the time which is now under considera- 
 tion. There were but few Whigs who did not admit that the 
 powers of the Church ought to be relaxed, and the privileges 
 of Nonconformists extended. There were few, if any, Radi- 
 cals who would not have been content with concessions very 
 far short of disestablishment. It is true that when Fox made 
 an attempt to repeal the Test and Corporation Act, he was 
 opposed by Burke and some others of the Whigs ; but the 
 -question had widened even in that short interval. There 
 were two things which helped to accelerate the progress of 
 public opinion ; one was the increasing importance of the 
 Irish Catholic question, and the other was the growth in 
 numbers and in social influence of Nonconformists. This 
 last element is one which must be taken into special account 
 in watching the history of Radicalism. Not only did their 
 questions lie at the root of all possible intellectual as well as 
 political liberty, but the Nonconformists have been the most 
 robust and active members of the party, both in and out of 
 Parliament. Every incident, therefore, which illustrates their 
 power and energy is worthy of record. 
 
 Such an event occurred in the early part of the year 181 1. 
 Usually discussions on religious and ecclesiastical questions 
 were forced on by the Liberals, the Tories, as mere resisters 
 of all change, not being desirous of raising any issues of the 
 kind. On this occasion a different line was taken. Lord 
 Sidmouth, most narrow of Tories, most devoted of Church- 
 men, was too anxious to display his zeal. He thought that 
 some social disturbances, and was certain that some political 
 
iSij.] Dismissal of G'renville to the End of the War. 105 
 
 excitement, had been encouraged by the example and teach- 
 ing of dissenting ministers. Without much, probably without 
 any, consultation with Government, he brought in a bill to 
 amend the Toleration Act. His object was to establish some 
 State control over Nonconformist teachers by requiring them 
 to take out licences before they could preach. These licences 
 were to be issued subject to certificates of character. The 
 proposal was immediately and strongly opposed in the House 
 of Lords. Lord Holland was the first and most strenuous of 
 the opponents, and he distinctly enunciated, in opposition to 
 all claims for Government interference, the doctrine that it 
 was the inalienable right of every man who thought himself 
 able to instruct others, to do so, provided his doctrines were 
 not incompatible with the peace of society- The bill was 
 read the first time, but then the Nonconformists — or, as the 
 "Annual Register" for the year calls them, the Separatists* — 
 were in arms. Meetings were held, protests were made, and 
 petitions poured in, and the Tories were shaken by this evi- 
 dence of the widespread influence of dissent. When, on the 
 2 1st of May, the bill came on for the second reading, 
 Sidmouth had not a single supporter, and his measure was 
 rejected without a division. Ministers took advantage of this 
 warning, and next year they introduced a bill themselves to 
 amend the Toleration Act, but this time it was to extend and 
 not to limit the liberties of the Separatists, who had shown 
 their power for almost the first time, and made it felt and 
 respected. 
 
 The liberty of the press was attacked more persistently 
 and more successfully. Prosecutions against editors and 
 writers increased with great rapidity. In the year 1810, 
 amongst other sufferers from such prosecutions were Cobbett 
 and John and Leigh Hunt, who all suffered fine and imprison- 
 ment. On the 20th of March in this year (181 1), Lord Folke- 
 stone — one of the ultras— brought the subject before the House 
 of Commons, and moved for an account of all prosecutions for 
 libel by information ex officio since the first of May, 1801, and 
 * "Annual Register," 181 1. 
 
io6 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1807- 
 
 of the proceedings which had been taken thereupon. There 
 were thirty-six votes, exclusive of tellers, for this motion, of 
 whom ten had been in the minority who had voted for 
 Burdett's scheme of reform in 1809. They were on this 
 occasion supported by some of the Whigs, amongst others by 
 Whitbread, Romilly, Cavendish, and Brand. At this time 
 Whitbread's vote was generally given for the most thorough- 
 going proposals that were brought forward. 
 
 The Ministry kept steadily on with their policy of repres- 
 sion, their only idea of an instrument of government ; and 
 they were, as we see, backed up by the great majority in 
 Parliament, who were able to understand that the full expres- 
 sion of popular opinion, or, at all events, any practical conces- 
 sions to it would be inconsistent with the basis of their own 
 political power. To disagree with the views of the governing 
 classes was wicked — this made Burdett and his friends dis- 
 liked ; to express that disagreement through the press was 
 criminal — this sent Cobbett and the Hunts to prison ; to try 
 by popular action to give effect to the disagreement was 
 treason— and this afterwards made the Peterloo massacre at 
 Manchester possible. 
 
 The maintenance of the personal rights, dignity, and 
 liberties of the humbler classes of the community was as much 
 a matter of difficulty as the defence of intellectual freedom. 
 On this matter, too, the Radicals, led by Burdett, registered 
 protests when they could do nothing more. The cause of 
 Cobbett's imprisonment was the publication of articles on the 
 subject of discipline, and especially of flogging in the army, 
 which it was said would lead to insubordination in the ranks. 
 This question of flogging Burdett brought before the House 
 of Commons on the i8th of June, when he moved for an 
 address to the Prince Regent, asking him to take into con- 
 sideration the flogging of soldiers, and praying him to issue 
 such orders as would be calculated " to restrain, and finally to 
 abolish, that cruel, unnecessary, and ignominious punishment." 
 Brougham was teller with Burdett in the division on this 
 motion, but they only took ten members with them. Such 
 
1815.] Dismissal of Grenville to the End of the War. 107 
 
 proceedings as these, hopeless of immediate success, became 
 the principal work of the Radical party. Their proposals 
 were at first scorned as extreme and unpractical : they were 
 always hated by the Tories. At first they were neglected or 
 opposed by the Whigs, who slowly and piecemeal adopted 
 them ; and they came at last to be recognized as essential 
 parts of a wise and liberal national policy. 
 
 The year 18 12 opened amid signs of widespread distress, 
 and manifestations of the lawlessness and disorder which 
 suffering inevitably produces among an ignorant and neglected 
 people. The Orders in Council were no doubt increasing the 
 commercial depression, as well as causing a quarrel with the 
 United States, and it was found impossible to maintain them. 
 Efforts were vainly made to modify or to temporarily prolong 
 the Orders, and at last they were entirely revoked. Brougham, 
 who had, as counsel, worked so ably against them, had entered 
 Parliament in 18 10, and had now the satisfaction of assisting 
 as a member in their defeat. 
 
 The people, who were starving, had not the patience to wait 
 for the distant effect of economical reforms, and they had not 
 the knowledge of the real origin of their distress. Many of 
 them in the manufacturing districts, especially in Nottingham 
 and its neighbourhood, thought that the introduction of 
 machinery was the chief cause of their suffering. That the 
 changes which mechanical improvements induced did for a 
 time inflict hardship, not only on individuals, but on large 
 classes, was undeniable, and it fell upon people who were 
 unable to bear the strain either upon their resources or their 
 temper. Violent and dangerous disturbances broke out, and 
 frame-breaking became a crime which called for special treat- 
 ment. No one denied that such excesses would have to be 
 suppressed. Some members thought inquiry into the causes 
 of the outrages and attempts to alleviate the distress ought to 
 accompany the repressive measures. On the 14th leave was 
 asked to bring in a bill positively revolting in its character. 
 A division was challenged, but only eleven votes, including 
 those of Burdett and Whitbread, were recorded against the 
 
io8 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1807— 
 
 measure. When a companion bill had been introduced, Mr. 
 Herbert moved for a committee of inquiry, but was defeated 
 by forty votes to fifteen. It was of this coercion bill that 
 Lord Byron, in his first speech to the House of Lords, declared 
 that its provisions could only be enforced by twelve butchers 
 as a jury and Jeffreys for a judge. It was only the prelude 
 to a series of Acts by which Sidmouth endeavoured to suppress 
 by mere force every public manifestation of opinions or feelings. 
 It was resisted at every stage, and led to violent discussions — 
 ministers, of course, making the most of the lamentable crimes 
 of the Luddites and frame-breakers, and the opposition dwell- 
 ing upon the misery and suffering which drove the ignorant 
 people to violence. When a break in the distress and a pause 
 in the violence took place, and men began to talk about 
 political reform instead of joining in bread-riots, Sidmouth 
 could not distinguish between the two processes, but restrained 
 and punished one as well as the other. He regarded every 
 speech as sedition, every meeting as treason. 
 
 Whilst these matters affecting the material prosperity of the 
 country were being discussed, the Catholic question was press- 
 ing itself forward under conditions most embarrassing to the 
 leaders of parties. It was now to find in ministerial comphca- 
 tions and difficulties an opportunity of still further advance. 
 On the 2 1st of April Lord Donoughmore submitted a resolu- 
 tion to the House of Lords in favour of Catholic relief, and 
 obtained 102 votes to 174. For a similar motion brought 
 forward in the Commons by Grattan, the votes were 215, and 
 300 voted against. This was the third Parliamentary defeat, 
 and it proved that the influence of the Prince of Wales, who 
 had now, by the confirmed illness of his father, acceded to full 
 power, would not be exerted on behalf of religious liberty. 
 But a sudden and painful event which altered the Adminis- 
 tration made a great difference in the position of the question. 
 On the nth of May Mr. Perceval, the Prime Minister, was 
 shot in the lobby of the House of Commons. The murderer, 
 Bellingham, was actuated by motives of private revenge, but 
 the public consequences of his act were serious. It was no 
 
1815] Dismissal of Grenville to the End of the War. 109 
 
 easy matter to reconstruct the Ministry. There were con- 
 flicting elements in the Tory party which limited the area of 
 selection. After the quarrel between Canning and Castlereagh 
 they could not both sit in the same Cabinet. The ability of 
 the one or the Parliamentary influence of the other must be 
 given up. Then Sidmouth had to be counted with, and he 
 and his friends also had a considerable number of nominees 
 and dependents in the Commons. The sympathies of Eldon 
 and Sidmouth were with Castlereagh, but the Marquis of 
 Wellesley was an important man, and he would go with 
 Canning. The Prince of Wales, too, was anxious to have his 
 own part in the construction of the Ministry, and he was 
 anxious to nominate Wellesley and Canning, and willing to 
 consent to a coalition which should also include Grey and 
 Grenville. 
 
 So negotiations, conferences, and intrigues went on, the 
 front stairs and the back stairs of the court being both in 
 constant use. The end of it all was the construction of a 
 Ministry of the highest Tory pattern. Lord Liverpool was 
 Premier, and Eldon, Sidmouth, and Castlereagh members. In 
 this Ministry Robert Peel took office for the first time. Can- 
 ning and Wellesley were left outside — left, fortunately, to 
 develop those liberal tendencies which must have been sup- 
 pressed if they had been in such a Cabinet. The result was 
 soon manifested. On the 8th of June Liverpool announced that 
 he had been appointed First Lord of the Treasury, and had 
 undertaken to form a Ministry. On the 22nd of the same 
 month Canning brought forward a resolution declaring that 
 the House would, in the next session, take the Catholic ques- 
 tion into consideration. This was carried by 235 votes to 
 106, a wonderful change in the opinion of the House since 
 Grattan's defeat in the previous year. On the 1st of July a 
 similar motion was only lost by a single vote. 
 
 This was a contest in which Canning the Tory, Grenville 
 the Whig, and Burdett the Radical, could work and vote 
 together ; but there were questions on which the Whigs had 
 opportunities of showing the depth of their own Liberalism 
 
I lo History of the Radical Party iii Parliament. [1807- 
 
 and the earnestness of their own purpose. On the subject 
 of Parliamentary reform they continued the old half-hearted 
 policy, not content to leave it alone, and not prepared to go 
 for anything really effective. On the 8th of May this year 
 Mr. Brand had moved for leave to bring in a bill to entitle 
 copyholders to vote for knights of the shire. The proposal 
 was not calculated to elicit much enthusiasm, and leave was 
 refused, but eighty-eight members voted for it. On questions 
 of economy and purity of administration the Whigs had, since 
 the days of Burke, assumed to take a leading part. On this 
 point they suffered this year not only defeat, but humiliation. 
 They had carried, even against ministers, a bill for abolishing 
 many sinecure places, but when economy threatened to touch 
 the members of their own great houses they had to draw back. 
 After the success of Bankes's Sinecure Bill, Mr. Creevy said 
 that they should not be content with small savings, but should 
 strike at great ones, and he proposed to deal with the two 
 tellerships of the exchequer. This was striking at high game, 
 for these offices were worth, it was estimated, about ^26,000 a 
 year each. But the holder of one of these very desirable places 
 was the Marquis of Buckingham, who was the uncle of the 
 great Whig magnate, Lord Grenville, and had been as Mr. 
 George Grenville a Whig Premier himself. Lord Grenville 
 gave it to be understood that he should regard support of the 
 proposal as a personal attack upon himself, for he also held a 
 lucrative sinecure. It was all very well to be econoniical in 
 general terms or in small matters, but to touch the sacred 
 houses was too much. So the Whigs who wanted to serve 
 their chiefs joined with the Tories who opposed all reform or 
 retrenchment, and even an inquiry into the circumstances of 
 the case was refused by 148 votes to 40. Whitbread was 
 again faithful to the popular cause, and so was Brougham. 
 This kind of public spirit was not qualified to produce any 
 popular enthusiasm to counteract the increasing Toryism of 
 the borough-mongers and landlords. It was clear, howevei-, 
 that, what with the vote on Catholic emancipation and that on 
 Bankes's Sinecure- Bill, the existing Parliament was not to be 
 
iSis-l Dismissal of Grenviile to the End of the War. 1 1 1 
 
 depended upon by Ministers, and so, having passed their 
 Frame-breakers and Nottingham Peace Acts, they resolved 
 on a prorogation on the 30th of July, and a dissolution on the 
 30th of September. 
 
 The result justified their action, for the new Parliament 
 was more decidedly Tory than any previous one. The victory 
 of the ministerialists was general ; the opposition lost the cities 
 of London and Bristol, and in Liverpool Canning defeated 
 Brougham, who remained out of Parliament until 18 16. For 
 a time all attention was withdrawn from the thought of 
 domestic questions, and would have been even had the oppo- 
 sition had anything like a spirited policy to offer. The power 
 of Napoleon was at last shaken, and was soon to be completely 
 shattered. The fatal Russian campaign, which it seemed 
 that only the madness which the Greeks looked upon as pre- 
 ceding destruction could account for, had ended in terrible 
 disaster and disgrace. With its defeat the fall of its author 
 seemed inevitable, the more so because of the triumphs which 
 Wellington was gaining in Spain, and the loss of men and of 
 prestige which they inflicted upon the imperial cause. These 
 things filled the countiy with hope and with earnestness : 
 with hope that the long and desperate struggle was at last 
 drawing to a close ; with earnestness in the determination to 
 let nothing interfere with the efforts of the Government to 
 finish the great work. 
 
 When the new Parliament met on the 4th of November, 
 ministers found their power great and their difficulties small. 
 The address in reply to the speech passed without a division, 
 although not without some severe criticism in both Houses. 
 There was some debating force in the opposition, but the 
 voting was in the hands of ministers. There were debates 
 about the war with America, the opposition condemning the 
 policy which led to the war and the manner in which it was 
 conducted, but still no division was ventured on. The Radi- 
 cals made one demonstration during the year, enough to show 
 their courage and their numerical weakness. A printed peti- 
 tion had been sent from Nottingham in favour of Parlia- 
 
1 1 2 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1807- 
 
 mentary reform. It was against the custom, if not the law, of 
 the House of Commons to receive printed petitions, and the 
 rejection of this one was proposed by ministers on that 
 account. This was resisted, and a division talcen. Only those 
 who were determined to support the cause under any condi- 
 tions were likely to vote, and it is not surprising that only 
 eleven members, exclusive of the tellers, were recorded in 
 favour of receiving the petition.* The new session opened 
 on the 4th of November, and by that time the prospects of the 
 war had become still brighter. News of victory after victory 
 continued to arrive, the whole country was in a state of enthu- 
 siasm, and there was an almost unanimous determination to 
 let nothing interfere with the work of the Administration in 
 carrying on the war. With this view the Houses adjourned 
 on the 26th of December to the ist of the following March. 
 
 By the time Parliament met again in March, 1814, the 
 great drama on the Continent was nearly played out, and the 
 leading actor forced for a time from the stage. Wellington 
 had driven Soult far into the interior of France, and Blucher 
 and the allies had so outnumbered and surrounded Bona- 
 parte that he was unable, in spite of all his ability and energy, 
 to preserve his capital. On the 30th of March Paris capitu- 
 lated. On the following day the Emperor and the King of 
 Prussia entered that city ; and on the 4th of April Bonaparte 
 signed an act of abdication. By the 30th of May the Treaty 
 of Vienna was signed, which restored the Bourbons to France, 
 consigned Bonaparte to Elba, and, as it was hoped and 
 believed, gave peace to Europe. Whilst this belief was still 
 unbroken, the English Parliament began to consider subjects 
 of domestic policy. Among other things ministers brought 
 in an Alien Act, which, under the pretence of amending, really 
 
 * The following are the names of the minority who adhered to their prin- 
 ciples under the discouraging influences of the new Parliament : 
 
 Atherley, A. Moore, P. Whitbread 
 
 Brand, T. Ossulton, Lord 
 
 Bennett, H. Rancliffe, Lord Burdett Sir F ) 
 
 Combe, H. C. Tavistock, Marquis Smith, J ' \ '^^'l^"- 
 
 Gaskell, B. Western, C. C. 
 
1815.] Dismissal of Grenville to the End of the War. 113 
 
 continued the most stringent provisions of the old law. It was 
 opposed, but ineffectually — only twenty-eight of the extreme 
 opposition voting against it. Whitbread, who had become 
 increasingly active and irritating to the Government, was of 
 course in the minority, and so also was Lord John Russell, 
 who had in 1813 been elected for the family borough of 
 Tavistock. 
 
 During the year 18 14 a great misfortune befell one of the 
 most able and most popular members of the small Radical 
 party. Lord Cochrane, one of the members for Westminster, 
 had been a brilliant, gallant, and successful naval officer. His 
 professional prospects had been injured by a charge which he 
 brought, but did not succeed in substantiating, against Lord 
 Gambler, who had been associated with him in an attack upon 
 a French foixe. Retiring, therefore, from the career in which 
 he had done so much to distinguish himself and to serve his 
 country, he devoted himself to politics, joining -those members 
 who were striving to increase the popular power in Parlia- 
 ment. He was now charged with having been a party to a 
 stockbroking fraud, and, being found guilty, was sentenced 
 to a fine and to stand in the pillory. The latter part of the 
 sentence was revoked, but he was by vote expelled from the 
 House of Commons. His old constituents immediately re- 
 elected him, and he continued his adhesion to his party. 
 Years after, when Lord Grey was in office, the stigma upon 
 him was formally removed. This was in 1830, when he was 
 restored to his rank in the service ; and in 1847 Queen Victoria 
 conferred upon him the Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. 
 In 1851 he was vice-admiral of the White, and in 1854 rear- 
 admiral of the United Kingdom, and he died in i860, full of 
 years and honour. The confidence of the constituents who 
 were faithful to him in his hour of trouble, was as honourable 
 to themselves as to their hero. 
 
 Parliament, which had adjourned on the 2nd of December, 
 met again in February, 1815. There were some debates as 
 to the policy which had been adopted by the allies with regard 
 to Norway and Genoa. The consideration of home questions 
 
1 14 History of the Radical Party in ParliaJttent [1807-1815. 
 
 would then have been proceeded with, but suddenly the 
 whole of Europe was struck with amazement and dismay by 
 the news that Bonaparte ha-d escaped from Elba ; that he had 
 returned to Paris, had been received there as Emperor, and was 
 preparing to recommence the war. Ministers immediately 
 declared their intention to join with their allies in providing 
 for the general and permanent security of Europe. Whitbread 
 opposed the commencement of a new war for the purpose of 
 deciding who should fill the throne of France. Only thirty- 
 two members voted with him, and it was generally felt that 
 it was too late to raise such a question as that. This vital 
 contest once more attracted the attention of the whole of 
 Europe, and no nation had time or inclination to devote to 
 domestic affairs. The struggle was terrible, but brief It is 
 not within our purpose to trace its course. On the i8th of 
 June it was settled finally — Waterloo was won, Bonaparte 
 was powerless, and Europe at last was really at peace. 
 
( "S ) 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 FROM THE CLOSE OF THE WAR TO THE DEATH OF 
 GEORGE HI. (1815-1820). 
 
 At the close of the war the English people had a right to 
 demand that attention should be given to measures for the 
 improvement of their material and social condition, and the 
 increase of their political liberties. They had earned the right 
 by a long and patient endurance of difficulty and distress. 
 They had borne the pressure of the enormous war taxation ; 
 they had filled the ranks of the army, and manned the ships 
 of the navy, under regulations which regarded the privates in 
 either service as nothing better than mere fighting machines ; 
 and they had submitted to a long series of repressive and 
 coercive laws, not indeed without murmurs, but without any 
 attempt at violent resistance. They had done this in order 
 that the hands of the Government, which was responsible for 
 the conduct of a struggle which came at last to be regarded 
 as one for national existence, might not be weakened by 
 internal difficulties and divisions. Now that peace had been 
 secured, it was natural that the people should expect that, by 
 reduction of taxation and by wise commercial legislation, 
 their burdens should be reduced ; and that, in questions 
 affecting their welfare, their own voices should make them- 
 selves heard. On all sides the popular expectations were 
 utterly disappointed, the popular demands vehemently resisted. 
 The first years of the peace were marked by commercial 
 and manufacturing difficulties, and by consequent industrial 
 sufferings which surprised as much as it distressed the public 
 
i.i6 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1815- 
 
 mind, but which no Government action could prevent* But, 
 unhappily, legislation had been adopted which artificially in- 
 tensified and prolonged the distress, and which it took years 
 of labour and agitation to reverse. As soon as the war was 
 supposed to be finished (in 18 14), an effort was made to pass 
 a set of corn laws which should prevent the importation of 
 food, and artificially maintain the price of the products of 
 English agriculture. There was no time in that session to 
 accomplish the work, but early in 181 5 it was resumed. On 
 the 22nd of February it was proposed that the House should 
 go into committee to consider the question, and this was 
 carried with only seven dissentients. Gore Langton and Sir 
 W. Curtis leading what opposition existed. The fact was, 
 that few of the politicians of the time understood the gross 
 violation of economic law involved in the proposal. The 
 people in the towns, however, became at once aware that 
 the object was to increase the price of their food, and they 
 speedily began to protest by petitions and meetings against 
 the bill. This had some effect, and on the ist of March the 
 second reading was opposed by thirty members, Whitbread, 
 Wilberforce, Horner, and the old Sir Robert Peel being in 
 the opposition. The public feeling was so strong in London 
 that on the 6th of March, when the bill was again on for 
 consideration, the House of Commons was surrounded by an 
 excited mob, who stopped members and endeavoured to 
 force from them promises to oppose the measure. The 
 military had to be called out to suppress the riots. The 
 promoters of the bill did not intend to lose any time, and 
 on the loth of March the third reading was carried, by 245 
 to "]"] votes. Thus less than a month was occupied from the 
 first going into a committee of inquiry to the final passing of 
 a measure which did so much to cripple commerce and 
 impoverish the people. 
 
 * " That the first year after the restoration of general peace should have been 
 characterized in this country as that of a more widely extended distress than its 
 annals can for a long period exhibit, must doubtless have occasioned as much 
 surprise as disappointment in the greater part of the nation." — "Annual Register " 
 i8i6, p. 91. 
 
i82o.] Close of the War to the Death of George III. 117 
 
 The commercial and financial pressure, however, reached 
 the monied classes, and their dissatisfaction made itself felt 
 with more effect. Ministers proposed, in the session of 18 16, 
 to continue the property tax, and this was strongly resisted. 
 The ordinary strength of the combined opposition was about 
 130, as was shown by divisions on the Budget and on the 
 military establishments ; but on the income tax ministers 
 were defeated by 238 to 201. The Government replied to this 
 by a proposal which proved that it was not by chance that 
 the land-owning class were protected at the cost of the indus- 
 trial community. Instead of trying to make up the deficiency 
 caused by the repeal of the tax, they immediately proposed 
 to add to it by the removal of the malt tax, and to cover 
 the whole deficit by loans. Even these concessions were not 
 considered sufficient, and Mr. Western, the representative of 
 the landed interest, proposed to increase the stringency of 
 the corn laws, passed only the year before, by rescinding the 
 provision for bonding corn free, and by giving bounties and 
 drawbacks for the encouragement of exportation. In favour 
 of this broad statement of the principle of protection the 
 House declared by unanimously resolving on going into 
 committee for its consideration. The resolutions were not 
 carried into law on this occasion, but it was clearly made 
 known that, in the contest between the poor and the monopo- 
 lists, the sympathy of what should have been the people's 
 House was against the people. That this was understood by 
 the popular representatives was stated clearly enough by 
 Burdett, who, speaking in the property tax debate on the 27th/ 
 of February, declared that "he despaired of making the'^ 
 majority of that House, constituted as at present it was, feel 
 for the distress of the country ; but he hoped that the sentiment 
 of the people would be so expressed as to compel ministers 
 and, through them, their adherents, to abandon the measure." 
 
 It was becoming every day clearer to the popular mind 
 that Burdett's words were true, and that, without a change in 
 the constitution of Parliament, no legislation was possible 
 which should aim at increasing the public welfare, lessening 
 
ii8 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1815- 
 
 the public burdens, or increasing the public liberties. It is 
 from this time, therefore, that we date the commencement of 
 the long and earnest agitation, both in and out of Parliament, 
 { on behalf of Parliamentary reform* For a long time the 
 outside agitation was the more active, and in some respects 
 the more important, since it marked the growth of opinion in 
 the nation which at length swept away all opposition. The 
 direct history of this rise and progress of what became known 
 as the Radical movement in the country is not within the 
 scope of our present inquiries, but the manner in which it 
 acted upon Parliament, the sympathy and the antagonism 
 which it aroused, had great and permanent effects upon the 
 relations of political parties, and especially drew with great 
 clearness the line dividing the Radical from the Whig section 
 of Liberals. The distinction began now to be for the first 
 time formally recognized, and men had to find a name by 
 which the new fact could be described. The " middle way of 
 steering " characteristic of the Whig proper was never more 
 manifest than during the ten years which followed the close 
 of the great war. 
 
 The Tories in Parliament, the ministers and their followers, 
 knew exactly how they meant to treat the demand which 
 began to be made for constitutional reform. Repression, com- 
 plete and thorough, was the method they adopted. National 
 discontent was to them not a symptom indicating a- disease in 
 the body politic calling for a remedy ; it was itself a disease to 
 be eradicated only by the knife. Freedom of political action 
 was entirely denied ; freedom of speech was restrained within 
 the narrowest limits ; freedom of thought was as far as pos- 
 sible suppressed. The remedy was speedily applied when any 
 popular political activity was displayed. In 18 16 Cartwright, 
 Cobbett, Hunt, and others, were carrying on an agitation for 
 
 • " Up to the close of 1816, the spirit of Parliamentary reform was seldom 
 evoked in the British Parliament. . . . But the ' Worthy Pioneer ' got above 
 ground in 1816, and virhen he -vizs fairly loosened to the open sky, he was not 
 quite so tame and innocent and stupid a spirit as his ordinary supporters and his 
 
 systematic revilers had been in the habit of believing him to be." Martineau's 
 
 " History of the Thirty Years' Peace," vol. i. pp. 46, 47. 
 
J 820.] Close of the War to the Death of George III. 119 
 
 Parliamentary reform, to which Hunt especially was largely 
 attracting public attention, and by which he was arousing 
 manifestations, which were sometimes turbulent, of public 
 opinion. The city of London was then, as it had before been, 
 one of the strongholds of reform, the municipality and the 
 populace being alike attached to the cause. Public meetings 
 were there more easily assembled, and with more difficulty inter- 
 fered with, than in other parts of the country. The Reform 
 Agitation was clear enough in its action as far as its leaders 
 and organization went. The Reform Clubs and the Hampden 
 Clubs had one main object before them. They were connected 
 with their friends in Parliament, Burdett being chairman of 
 the London Hampden Club. But around them, and some- 
 times working with them, were other associations less innocent 
 in their objects or less wise in their conduct. It was this 
 connection which furnished an excuse to the Government for 
 the suppression of all attempts at public agitation. 
 
 In November, 18 16, a meeting had been held in Spa 
 Fields, London, on behalf of Parliamentary reform, and it 
 was attended not only by Hunt, but by two Watsons, and by 
 other leaders of the Spencean Philanthropists, who advocated 
 social changes of a questionable character, and were prepared 
 to support them by violent and criminal actions. There was, 
 however, no disturbance then, and the meeting was adjourned 
 to the 2nd of December. On that day there was a very large 
 assemblage, so large indeed and so divided in its objects that 
 two separate meetings were held. At one of them the Watsons 
 and their followers made violent harangues, displayed arms, 
 and incited their hearers to violence which was to culminate 
 in an attack upon the Tower. Their eloquence was so far 
 effectual that the crowd followed them in a wild rush towards 
 the Tower ; one gunsmith's shop was attacked and robbed, its 
 occupier being shot at and wounded ; and a general scene of 
 violence was for a short time exhibited. One of the rioters, 
 afterwards an informer, and then suspected of being a spy, 
 even mounted one of the Tower walls, and excited the mirth 
 of the soldiers by calling upon them to surrender the fortress. 
 
I20 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1815- 
 
 Nothing further happened, and without much force, but by 
 the exercise of a little judicious firmness on the part of the 
 lord-mayor and a few other gentlemen, the outbreak was 
 suppressed. In the mean time, the other part of the meeting 
 in Spa Fields went on, Hunt declaiming and the people 
 shouting in favour of Parliamentary reform. That the 
 reformers and the rioters were separate bodies was at the 
 time well known. The " Anrtual Register " for the year says, 
 " It seems certain that this insurrection, as it may be called, 
 had no connection with the political meeting ; " * and the lord- 
 mayor who had helped to suppress the riot, within a fortnight 
 afterwards petitioned in favour of Parliamentary reform. 
 
 In other parts of the country the same confused, and in 
 many cases conflicting, agitations were being carried on. 
 There were in every district men who, suffering intensely from 
 existing distress, rushed blindly after some immediate remedy 
 such as the Spencean and other social theorists had to offer ; 
 and there were others who felt, and were taught by their 
 political leaders, that it was only by the reform of the instru- 
 ment of legislation that better government could be obtained. 
 It has been found easy, by critics living in later and better 
 times, to judge harshly of both sides of this movement ; to 
 look down with an air of superiority on Major Cartwright 
 and others, who saw in reform a possible cure for all the evils 
 of the State ; and to condemn as visionaries and revolution- 
 ists the advocates of a forcible settlement of social questions. 
 We are able to see that some union of the two processes forms 
 the true basis of political life ; that the people must acquaint 
 themselves with the causes of the evils which exist, and with 
 the means by which they can be removed, and must create 
 such a machinery of government as will honestly use the 
 means when they are discovered. At the end of 18 16, how- 
 ever, the Radicals were right in making Parliamentary reform 
 their first and greatest object. They were in the presence of 
 a Government to whom changes of any sort were equally 
 detestable, and all who sought for change were equally revo- 
 * "Annual Register," 1816, p. igi. 
 
i82o.] Close of the War to the Death of George III. 121 
 
 lutionists. To Sidmouth and Eldon and Castlereagh the 
 reformer and the Spencean were alike enemies of the State, 
 and a maintenance of existing institutions in all their parts 
 the only hope of safety for the nation. 
 
 This theory was laid down very clearly in the Regent's 
 speech by which Parliament was opened on the 28th of 
 January, 18 17, the month following that in which the Spa Fields 
 riots had occurred. The Regent said,," I rely with the utmost 
 confidence on your cordial support and co-operation in up- 
 holding a system of law and government from which we have 
 derived inestimable advantages, which has enabled us to 
 conclude with unexampled glory a contest whereon depended 
 the best interests of mankind, and which has hitherto been 
 felt by ourselves, as it is acknowledged by other nations, to be 
 the most perfect that has ever fallen to the lot of any people." 
 The idea of positive finality, the repudiation of any prin- 
 ciple of life and growth in national affairs, could not be 
 more definitely stated by the most ardent supporter of abso- 
 lute government. It was against such opponents that the 
 reformers of 18 17 had to contend. Nor were these statements 
 in the royal speech intended to be merely declaratory ; they 
 were only the preface of a policy of repression and coercion 
 which has ngver been surpassed. On the 3rd of February, 
 within a week after the meeting of Parliament, a message was 
 sent by the Regent to both Houses, telling them that " he had 
 given orders that there be laid before them papers containing 
 information respecting certain practices, meetings, and com- 
 binations in the metropolis and in different parts of the 
 kingdom, evidently calculated to endanger the public tran- 
 quillity, and to alienate the affections of his Majesty's subjects 
 from his person and government, and to bring into contempt 
 the whole system of our laws and constitution." 
 
 This message and the papers by which it was accom- 
 panied were referred by both Houses to committees, which 
 were to sit and examine and deliberate in secret. The re- 
 ports were such as might have been expected. The com- 
 mittee of the Lords said that the evidence submitted to them 
 
122 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1815- 
 
 " leaves no doubt in our minds that a traitorous conspiracy 
 has been formed in the metropolis for the purpose of over- 
 throwing, by means of a general insurrection, the established 
 government, laws, and constitution of the kingdom, and of 
 effecting a general plunder and division of property." They 
 also declared that all this was being done " under pretence of 
 Parliamentary reform." The Commons' report stated that 
 " attempts have been made, in various parts of the country, 
 as well as in the metropolis, to take advantage of the distress 
 in which the labouring and manufacturing classes of the com- 
 munity are at present involved, to induce them to look for 
 .immediate relief, not only in a scheme of Parliamentary 
 reform on the plan of universal suffrage and annual election, 
 but in a total overthrow of all existing establishments, and in 
 a division of the landed and extinction of the funded pro- 
 perty of the country." Both committees called for further 
 provisions for the preservation of p'eace and property against 
 dangers which they believed that the utmost vigilance of 
 Government, under the existing laws, had been found inade- 
 quate to prevent. Ministers lost no time in submitting their 
 remedy for the existing evils. More coercion, more repression, 
 to prevent, if possible, any independent thought on social and 
 political questions, and, at all events, to proscribe any expression 
 of opinion ; that was their plan. On the 24th of February a 
 bill to suspend Habeas Corpus was introduced in the House . 
 of Lords ; and on the same day Lord Castlereagh, in the Com- 
 mons, asked leave to bring in a bill for preventing seditious 
 meetings. These were two of the infamous Acts by which 
 for a time public liberty was destroyed in England. 
 
 The opposition of the Whigs to these measures was half- 
 hearted. They spoke and voted, indeed, against the suspension 
 of Habeas Corpus ; but, on a division, leave to bring in the 
 Seditious Meetings Bill was given by 190 to 14.* The 
 
 * The following are the names of the minority given in Hansard : 
 
 Aubrey, Sir John Hughes, Col. Waldegrave, Hon. W. 
 
 Brand, T. Ossulton, Lord Webb, Edward 
 
 Ferguson, Sir R. Rancliffe, Lord 
 
 Fitzgerald, Rt. Hon. T. Russell, Lord W. Bennett, H. ) 
 
 Folkestone, Lord Smith, Wm. Burdett, Sir F. > ^^'^''^''■f- 
 
 Gordon, R. Tavistock, Lord 
 
i82o.] Close of the War to the Death of George III. 123 
 
 Whigs were not absent, although they did not vote ; for 
 in the debate Ponsonby and Brougham and Romilly all 
 spoke against the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. To 
 have a full idea of what this abstention meant, we must see 
 what the bill really was. Its objects were — 
 
 1. To prevent public meetings, except those called by 
 county or borough authorities or on requisition of seven 
 householders — in the latter case subject to stringent regu- 
 lations. 
 
 2. To prevent the existence of debating societies, lecture- 
 rooms, reading-rooms, etc., for admission to which money was 
 received. 
 
 3. To declare unlawful all societies that had delegates 
 or missionaries for the purpose of confirming others in the 
 principles they professed. ' 
 
 4. To suppress a particular society calling themselves the 
 Spenceans or Spencean Philanthropists. 
 
 Every one of those instruments for political education 
 which we now value so highly and use so constantly, every 
 means by which sound opinion could be formed, as well as 
 every method by which it could express itself to the legis- 
 lature and the Government, were thus ruthlessly put down by 
 a bill against the introduction of which only sixteen members 
 could be induced to vote. Ministers were not content with 
 the powers — enormous as they were — which Parliament con- 
 ferred ; they assumed and delegated to the most irresponsible 
 instruments of the executive still more arbitrary authority. 
 On the 27th of March the Home Secretary, Lord Sid- 
 mouth, addressed a circular letter to the lords-lieutenant of 
 counties, in which he urged the importance of preventing 
 the circulation of blasphemous and seditious publications ; 
 and informed them that he had ascertained that the law 
 officers of the Crown were of opinion that a justice of the 
 peace might issue a warrant to apprehend any person charged 
 on oath with the'publication of a blasphemous or seditious 
 libel, and compel him to give bail to answer the charge. The 
 circular further declared that the vendors of pamphlets or 
 
124 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [iSij- 
 
 tracts were within the Hawkers and Pedlars Acts, and should 
 be dealt with accordingly if found selling such things without 
 a licence. That the conduct of the Government in issuing 
 this circular was unconstitutional was clearly proved. The 
 case was plainly put by Romilly when he brought the subject 
 before the House of Commons on the 25th of June. " By the 
 constitution of this country," he said, "there are only two modes 
 in which the law in matters of doubt can be declared — one is 
 by the whole legislature by a declaratory statute ; the other by 
 the decisions of the judges upon points which have come 
 judicially before them. It has at all times been thought of 
 the utmost importance to prevent the law from being in any 
 other way declared, and particularly to guard against the 
 Crown presuming to declare it. Yet, he went on to say, 
 "the circular resting on the opinion of the law officers had 
 declared the law on a point which was before doubtful, and 
 the Secretary of State, assisted by such advice as he could 
 command, had thus assumed the functions of legislation." 
 
 Under these exceptional laws, and in the spirit which 
 dictated Sidmouth's circular,- the summer and autumn of 
 1817 were marked by a systematic course of oppression and 
 coercion, rarely, if ever, equalled in this country. Political 
 writers were harried by constant prosecutions ; the distressed 
 artisans were goaded, and in many cases absolutely tempted 
 by Government spies, into acts of violence, which, although 
 they were never really dangerous, formed the excuse for 
 further repression. The march of the Blanketeers and the 
 so-called risings at Derby and Nottingham tended to increase 
 the terror from which the Government agents profited, and 
 were used as arguments against any concessions to popular 
 demands. The people were indeed in a painful position. All 
 regular and constitutional agitation was proscribed, and every 
 effort to resist the oppression was magnified in its proportions 
 and punished with a terrible severity. Yet it was under this 
 reign of terror that the feeling in favour of Parliamentary 
 reform was strengthened and extended, promoted by the 
 sense that there were no other means by which the wants of 
 
1820.] Close of the War to the Death of George III. 125 
 
 the people could ensure attention, much less obtain redress. 
 That the fear was exaggerated and much of the repressive 
 action unnecessary, was admitted even by the partisans of 
 ministers themselves. Parliament met on the 27th of 
 January, 18 18, and immediately both Houses were invited 
 again to elect secret committees to consider the proceedings 
 which had taken place in the country. These inquiries were 
 intended to justify the application by the Government for an 
 Act of Indemnity to cover the acts of themselves and their 
 agents during the past year. The report of the Committee of 
 the Lords, presented on the 23rd of February, contained one 
 passage which was alone sufficient to vindicate the patience 
 and law-abiding character of the people and the unnecessary 
 nature of the methods which had been pursued. " The 
 committee," it said, "have the satisfaction of delivering it 
 as their decided opinion, that not only in the country in 
 general, but in those districts where the designs of the dis- 
 affected were most actively and unremittingly pursued, the 
 great body of the people have remained untainted, even 
 during the periods of the greatest internal difficulty and 
 distress." 
 
 There was no reason, therefore, even on the showing of 
 ministers, why the law suspending the operation of the 
 Habeas Corpus Act should not be repealed, and this was 
 done. In the House of Commons repeated petitions were 
 presented from persons who had suffered imprisonment during 
 the suspension, and on the 17th of February Lord Folkestone 
 moved that a Committee be appointed to inquire into the 
 truth of the allegations, but was defeated by 167 votes to $8. 
 There were also resolutions submitted for inquiry into the 
 conduct of spies and informers, but these were also rejected 
 by large majorities. 
 
 On the gth of March the Attorney-General introduced an 
 Indemnity Bill, intended to meet all such attacks. In his 
 speech he made it clear that, by their repressive policy, 
 ministers aimed not only at the suppression of violence, but 
 at the prevention or limitation of the quietest agitation for 
 
126 History of fhe Radical Party in Parliament. [1815- 
 
 political purposes outside a line which they themselves thought 
 proper to draw. Speaking of the movement in favour of 
 Parliamentary reform, he said, "In his view those who sought 
 such objects (universal suffrage and annual Parliaments) must 
 be understood to seek revolution, for he maintained that such 
 objects were incompatible with the existence of the British 
 Constitution, of which neither annually elected Parliaments 
 nor universal suffrage ever formed any part ; nay, he was 
 prepared to maintain that the establishment of such a 
 system was inconsistent with the stability of any constitu- 
 tion whatever — that, in fact, it could not last for one year 
 in any country that desired the possession of a regular govern- 
 ment." On the day following Sir Francis Burdett gave a 
 practical reply to this dictum by presenting a petition from 
 Warrington, praying for annual Parliaments and universal 
 suffrage. 
 
 It was at this time, when the policy of coercion was in full 
 operation, and when ministers not only put down all attempts 
 at reform, and all means of political discussion, but when 
 they even declared that to agitate for constitutional change 
 was treasonable, that the Whigs chose to desert the cause of 
 Parliamentaiy reform, and thereby accentuated the differences 
 between themselves and the Radicals in Parliament. The 
 commotions which took place in 18 17, which the committee 
 of the Lords declared did not affect the great body of the 
 people, alarmed the members of the privileged and propertied 
 class in both political parties, and the Whigs had not sufficient 
 faith in their countrymen to remain true to their cause under 
 circumstances of trial and excitement. Wingrove Cooke says, 
 "Since the rise of the democratic faction, the Whigs have 
 owed all their reverses, as a party, to their timidity of the 
 people." * They never showed this timidity more than at the 
 time under consideration. The secession began in 1 8 1 7, writing 
 under which date Harriet Martineau says, "From this year 
 we may date the retrogression of the course of Parliamentary 
 reform, which continued to go back, or stand still, as long as the 
 
 * "History of Parties," vol. iii. p. 297. 
 
i82o.] Close of the War to the Death of George III. 127 
 
 middle classes were afraid of its agitation." * There was not 
 much sign of the division during the remainder of that Parlia- 
 ment, but after the dissolution on the i8th of June, 1818, it 
 soon became manifest. 
 
 From the election of the new Parliament, which met on the 
 14th of January, 1819, the word Whig ceased to be considered 
 by any one as synonymous with Liberal. There were two 
 sections of the party working together whenever the Whigs 
 would make a forward movement, but avowedly recognizing 
 different standards of policy, and advocating different rates of 
 progress. So far as the respectabilities and gentilities of the 
 time could effect it. Radicalism was put under a ban. Its 
 leaders were demagogues, its followers wild democrats ; every 
 term which could be applied to it was in turn made one of 
 reproach. We have not yet outgrown the practice which was 
 then established, and which constitutional historians and 
 royal biographers have caught from political opponents. 
 During the early part of the session some divisions were 
 taken which tested the relative strength of parties. There is 
 no record which will show how many members were distinctly 
 Radical. One work f has been devoted to the purpose of 
 ascertaining the political character of all candidates, but full 
 materials for the purpose were not available, and the particu- 
 lars for all years before 1832 are quite useless. Thus, for the 
 election in 1 8 1 8 the only Radicals recorded are Daniel Whittle 
 Harvey, who sat for Colchester, and Sir R.T.Wilson, member for 
 Southwark; even Sir Francis Burdett being entered as a Whig. 
 
 On the 3rd of February a bill was introduced called the 
 Westminster Hustings Bill, to relieve the high bailiff of that 
 city from the costs of elections. It was opposed by Burdett, 
 but not on the broad grounds that candidates ought not to 
 bear the charges, and the division list is therefore not very 
 important. Ten members, besides his fellow-teller, supported 
 him, and the second reading was carried, thirty-two voting 
 
 * " History of the Thirty Years' Peace,'' vol. i. p. 152. 
 
 t " The Parliaments of England from the first of George I. to the Present 
 Time," by Henry Stooks Smith, three vols., 1844-50. 
 
128 History af the Radical Party iti Parliament. [1815- 
 
 for it.* The list is mainly interesting from its containing the 
 names of two men who afterwards took prominent positions 
 in the Radical lines— D. W. Harvey, who had entered Parlia- 
 for the first time ; and Joseph Hume, who had been returned 
 in 1 81 2 as a Tory, but who now sat for Aberdeen as a Liberal. 
 The broader question between ministers and opposition was 
 raised on the i8th of May, by Tierney's proposal for a com- 
 mittee on the state of the nation. It was avowedly a motion 
 of want of confidence, and Whigs and Radicals united in its 
 support. The result was largely in favour of the Government, 
 the numbers being 178 for, and 357 against, Tierney's reso- 
 lution. The position which the Radicals intended to take 
 as representing and defending the interests of the body of 
 the people was illustrated on the 22nd of June, when Hume 
 presented a petition from artisans for the repeal of the 
 laws against combinations of workmen. In submitting the 
 petition, he said, " He would leave it to the feelings of every 
 gentleman present whether it was just to give to the rich 
 master the power of combining against the journeyman, and 
 to prevent the latter, if he attempted to procure what he 
 considered to be a fair remuneration for his labour." The 
 labourer was to be made aware that his voice could be heard 
 in Parliament, and he naturally became the more anxious for 
 a reform which would give increased power and efBciency to 
 his friends. 
 
 It was on the. 1st of July that the first open protest was 
 made by the Whigs of their difference with the Radicals on 
 the subject of reform. On that day the Marquis of Tavistock, 
 who had'shown himself one of the most Liberal members of 
 his party,fpresented to the House of Commons a petition 
 from Liverpool. In making the presentation, he said, " He 
 regretted to say that he had lately had but too many oppor- 
 tunities of witnessing the dissensions which prevailed among 
 
 * The following are the names of the ten : — 
 
 Bamett, J. Ommaney, F. M. Wellesley, W. P. T. L. 
 
 Harvey, D. W. Protheroe, E. Williams, W. 
 
 Hume, Joseph Rancliffe, Lord Burdett, Sir F ) 
 
 Lawson] M. Sebright, Sir J. Wilson, Sir R. J '^^^'^'- 
 
1 820.] Close of the War to the Death of George III. 129 
 
 those who advocated the cause of Parliamentary reform. 
 Some were moderate reformers, while others were Radical 
 reformers, and wished nothing less than such reform as would 
 be totally destructive of the Constitution. He heartily dis- 
 approved of all those wild, impracticable theories which had 
 lately been broached." 
 
 Sir F. Burdett then moved — "That early in the next 
 session of Parliament this House will take into consideration 
 the state of the representation," and he at once dealt with the 
 Whig opposition. Speaking of the late time at which he had 
 brought forward his resolution, he said, " Had I stirred this 
 question sooner, it might have been attributed to me that I 
 had thrown the apple of discord amongst that party denomi- 
 nating themselves Whigs, maliciously and advisedly, with a 
 view of defeating all those rational and moderate plans of 
 reform, as they are falsely called, of which they are the 
 champions. Every failure might have been attributed to me, 
 and I might have been exposed to accusation, on account not 
 only of what they had left undone, but also of what the 
 ministers had done. Not only might have been attributed to 
 me the failure of schemes of economy and retrenchment, but 
 likewise the imposition of the three millions of new taxes on 
 the public." 
 
 Lord John Russell took up the challenge, and in a very 
 short speech manifested that feeling of timidity, and that dis- 
 trust of public opinion, which have counterbalanced in the 
 minds of the people the devotion to moderate and careful 
 reforms which the Whigs always professed. He said, "He 
 wished to state distinctly that he did not agree with those 
 who opposed all and every system of reform. He agreed 
 in the propriety of disfranchising such boroughs as were 
 notoriously corrupt, and would give his consent to any 
 ' measure that would restrict the duration of Parliament to 
 three years. He could not, however, pledge himself to sup- 
 port a measure that went the length of proposing an inquiry 
 into the general state of the representation, because such an 
 inquiry was calculated to throw a slur upon the represen- 
 
 K 
 
I30 History of the Radical Party in Parliammt. [1815- 
 
 tation of the country, and to fill the minds of the people 
 with vague and indefinite alarms. The hon. baronet had 
 complained that the reformers were represented to be wild 
 and visionary theorists, and bad called upon the House to 
 state where those wild and visionary reformers were to be 
 found. If the hon. baronet did not know where to find 
 them, he would refer him to those persons who had advised 
 him during the last session to bring forward his celebrated 
 motion for annual Parliaments and universal suffrage." That 
 this was no feeling peculiar to Lord John and his immediate 
 connections was shown in the following session, when, in 
 moving an amendment to the address, Tierney,* the acknow. 
 ledged leader of the opposition, spoke as follows :— " With 
 regard to plans of reform, it was unfortunately too true that 
 some men in this country entertained the strangest and most 
 extravagant notions of Parliamentary reform ; and here he 
 begged to be understood to be as much an enemy as any man 
 to what were called the Radical leaders, he was as willing 
 as any man to mark, in the strongest terms, his contempt of 
 their understanding, his disgust at their proceedings, and his 
 jealousy of their objects. . . . The right hon. gentlemen who 
 were in office were unpopular with the Radicals, but the 
 unfortunate Whigs who had long left office came in for a sort 
 of post obit of unpopularity." 
 
 It was the policy of the Whig leaders, clearly enough 
 expressed in these speeches, to stigmatize the Radicals as 
 ignorant and violent people, altogether low and impracticable. 
 This doctrine was acceptable enough to the landowners, the 
 squires, the borough-o^wners, on both sides the then existing 
 House of Commons. The attacks of the Whigs were, how- 
 ever, to be compensated for by the formation, which was at 
 the very time going on, of a school of political and moral 
 philosophy, small in numbers, but of great authority derived 
 from their learning, their ability, and their courage. The 
 so-called Philosophical Radicals, following the methods and 
 sharing the conclusions of Bentham, performed the duty of 
 * On the 23rd of November, 1819- 
 
iSzo.] Close of the War to the Death of George IIL 131 
 
 proving that the poHtical reforms, to which the instincts of a 
 suffering and oppressed people looked for relief, were not the 
 mere creations of disaffected ignorance, but were founded on 
 great moral and social laws, and were supported by men to 
 whom scientific method and historical research were alike 
 familiar. The effect of the teachings of Bentham and Mill, 
 of Grote and Molesworth, did not, until a later period, pro- 
 duce any direct effect upon the constitution or proceedings of 
 Parliament ; but it soon became impossible to dismiss their 
 arguments with the lofty scorn which had been used towards 
 Cartwright and Hunt: and the Tierneys of the future would 
 have been laughed at if they had expressed their " contempt 
 of the understanding " of the historians of India and of 
 Greece. One important characteristic of the early teaching 
 of Bentham was the persistence with which he kept in view 
 the union and interdependence of the objects of government 
 and the machinery by which they were to be effected. When 
 the promotion of the happiness of the greatest number was 
 realized — not as a vague theory, but as a vital principle — as 
 the end of government, it was the easier to see that it was 
 absurd, as well as unjust, to exclude from the discussion of 
 aims and methods the bulk of the people whose happiness 
 was immediately concerned. 
 
 The union of ends and means in the popular demonstration 
 was natural. It was the pressure of distress, and the absence 
 of any attempt at relief by the existing Government, which 
 forced the masses of the people to ask for some constitutional 
 reform. The most extreme demands, those for universal 
 suffrage and annual Parliaments, had been urged years ago 
 by Richmond and Fox, the predecessors of the very Whigs 
 who were now horrified at their mention. But they were 
 then advanced as theories which their professors, when in 
 power, never thought of carrying into practice ; they were 
 now claimed as the only means of help by the millions of 
 over-burdened and suffering people. At Manchester, and 
 other places where the distress was most keenly felt, every 
 political meeting exhibited banners on which " No corn laws '' 
 
132 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1815- 
 
 and " Universal suffrage " were inscribed side by side. It has 
 been the custom to sneer at these men for blindly seeking 
 reform as a mechanical cure for the evils under wrhich they 
 laboured, but, in fact, they knew that some change was neces- 
 sary before their grievances could even be listened to, much 
 less remedied. 
 
 Burdett, and several of the speakers who supported his reso- 
 lution on the 1st of July, had warned the House of Commons 
 that to refuse even to take into future consideration the ques- 
 tion of reform would be looked upon by the people as a proof 
 that they had nothing to expect from the existing forms of 
 government, and that they might therefore be driven into 
 violent agitation. These warnings were too quickly justified. 
 Some of the great unrepresented towns took upon themselves 
 the right of electing representatives, which the makei's and the 
 administrators of the law denied them. Birmingham was the 
 first place where this action was taken. On the 12th of July, 
 the day before Parliament was prorogued, a meeting was held 
 at Newhall Hill, at which at least 15,000 persons were present, 
 and it was resolved to elect a " Legislatorial attorney and 
 representative " for the town. The movers stated that the 
 issuing of a writ being compulsory, they had not awaited the 
 form of the mandate, but anticipated the right. The privilege 
 constitutionally belonged to them, and they were fulfilling 
 the duty of good subjects in proceeding to advise the sovereign 
 by their representative. Sir Charles Wolseley was then 
 elected, according to regular form, by an immense show of 
 hands, and amid the thundering acclamations of the concurring 
 multitude. A remonstrance was read, which the newly elected 
 member was to present to Parliament, and a deputation was 
 appointed to carry to him the instructions of his constituents. 
 Sir Charles, in return, pledged himself to claim his seat in the 
 House of Commons.* This proceeding, whilst it encouraged 
 the reformers in other towns to take similar action, alarmed 
 the Government, and determined them to take strong measures 
 to put a stop to the agitation. Leeds, at a meeting held a few 
 * "Annual Register," 1819, pp. 104, 105. 
 
i82o.] Close of the War to the Death of George HI. 133 
 
 days later, resolved that as soon as an eligible person could be 
 found an election should take place. The Ministry quickly 
 replied. On the 19th of July Sir Charles Wolseley, the elected 
 representative of Birmingham, was arrested at his residence, 
 Wolseley Park, Staffordshire, carried to Knutsford, and com- 
 pelled to give bail for his appearance to answer for seditious 
 words spoken by him at a public meeting at Stockport. A 
 great meeting, under the presidency of Hunt, was held in 
 Smithfield, London, on the 21st, which occasioned great 
 alarm to the authorities, but it went off with peacefulness and 
 order. At this meeting a man named Harrison was arrested 
 for words used at the same Stockport meeting where Wolseley 
 had spoken. The officer who had arrested both Wolseley and 
 Harrison was attacked by a mob when he reached Stockport, 
 and was wounded by a pistol-shot. Other arrests were made, 
 and circular letters and proclamations were issued by the 
 Government, prohibiting seditious meetings, and warning 
 lords-lieutenant and magistrates to take prompt and effective 
 measures for the preservation of public tranquillity ; and, as a 
 measure of precaution, directions were to be given to the 
 yeomanry of the counties to hold themselves in readiness. 
 
 The opposing forces — the excitement of the people and the 
 determined repression of the Government — were sure to come 
 into collision. The catastrophe occurred at Manchester, at- 
 tended by circumstances which have made it memorable in 
 English political history. A meeting was announced to be 
 held in St. Peter's Field, on the i6th of August, for the purpose 
 of electing a representative, and of adopting Major Cartwright's 
 plan of Parliamentary reform. Hunt was to take the chair, 
 and it was supposed that he would be chosen as the repre- 
 sentative. The whole neighbourhood was excited, and an 
 enormously large attendance was expected. The authorities 
 acted in a manner which made a violent scene inevitable. A 
 committee of county magistrates had been sitting for some 
 days, deliberating on the steps to be taken, and they resolved 
 at last not to prevent the meeting, but, when it was assembled, 
 to direct the arrest of the leaders and prevent the transaction 
 
134 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [iSis- 
 
 of any business. Police, special constables, yeomanry, and 
 soldiers were prepared for the suppression of any resistance 
 and for the dispersion of the meeting. On the fatal day vast 
 numbers assembled ; ■ deputations from all the surrounding 
 districts marched into the town, with bands of music at their 
 head, and displaying banners and caps of liberty. It was 
 estimated that 80,000 persons were present. It was through 
 this dense mass of human beings that the officers who were 
 to arrest the leaders had to try and penetrate. The task was 
 impossible. The yeomanry endeavoured to assist and to reach 
 the hustings, but they became isolated, wedged in among the 
 crowd, and powerless. Then the Hussars were ordered to 
 charge, and dashed in, sabres in hand, among the multitude. 
 There was no proof, scarcely any pretence, that there had 
 been any manifestation of violence or of opposition on the 
 part of the meeting ; the physical impossibility of executing 
 the warrants formed the only excuse for the massacre which 
 followed. Bamford, the author of the " Life of a Radical," 
 who was present, and was afterwards arrested and punished for 
 taking part in the meeting, gives a graphic account of the 
 scene which followed the order to the soldiers to charge the 
 defenceless' mob. " The cavalry were in confusion. They 
 evidently could not, with all the weight of man and horse, 
 penetrate that compact mass of human beings, and their 
 sabres were plied to hew a way through naked up-held hands 
 and defenceless heads ; and then chopped limbs and wound- 
 gaping skulls were seen, and groans and cries were mingled 
 with the din of that horrid confusion." There were five or 
 six people killed, and the " Annual Register " says that the 
 whole number of persons injured amounted to between three 
 and four hundred. The thing is too horrible to dwell upon : 
 this reply of a strong Government to the cry of a suffering 
 people met to pray for relief and for reform. Ministers were 
 not afraid to think of what they had done, for the return of.a 
 despatch brought to Sir John Byng, commander of the district, 
 a letter from Sidmouth, stating that his lordship had laid before 
 the Prince Regent a letter addressed to himself, and that it 
 
rSao.] Close of the War to the Death of George HI. 135 
 
 was with great satisfaction that he obeyed the commands of 
 his Royal Highness by requesting that he would express to 
 Lieut.-Col. L'Estrange, and to the officers, non-commissioned 
 officers, and privates who served under his command at Man- 
 chester on the 1 6th of August, his Royal Highness's high 
 approbation of the exemplary manner in which they assisted 
 and supported the civil power of the county palatine of 
 Lancaster on that day.* This was the sort of royal approval 
 which it was usual to address to troops who had distinguished 
 themselves by bold and brilliant services in war, and it was 
 now used to men who had ridden fully armed into a mass of 
 unresisting English citizens. Nowhere was there any official 
 expression of sympathy with the people who had suffered, or 
 of regret that the massacre had occurred. 
 
 There was a cry of indignation throughout the country 
 when the Manchester tragedy became known. If open 
 sedition or rebellion had been contemplated or possible, it 
 would have been attempted then. But the public mind, 
 although excited, had no turn towards violence ; where it was 
 allowed orderly expression, it spoke in peace. At Paisley, the 
 authorities unwisely attempting to prevent a meeting, a tumult 
 took place, and the town was kept in an uproar for two or 
 three days. At Leeds and Birmingham and other towns, 
 meetings were held to denounce the conduct of the Govern- 
 ment, and although there was strong language used, there was 
 no riot or disturbance. The country waited to see how the 
 ministers would meet the new crisis which they were called 
 upon to face 
 
 They met it in the old fashion. Sidmouth and Castle- 
 reagh and Eldon had but one remedy for ewtxy political 
 evil, but one reply to every popular demand. Repression 
 and ever more repression, that was their only resource. 
 Parliament was called to an autumnal sitting, and met on 
 the 23rd of November. The Regent's speech explained that 
 the unusual perjod of the meeting was the consequence of 
 seditious parties, and declared that " a spirit is now fully 
 * " Annual Register," 1819, p. 107. 
 
136 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1815- 
 
 manifested, utterly hostile to the Constitution of this country, 
 and aiming not only at the change of those political institu- 
 tions which have hitherto constituted the pride and security 
 of this country, but the subversion of the rights of property 
 and of all order in society. I have given directions that the 
 necessary information on this subject shall be laid before you; 
 and I feel it to be my indispensable duty to press on your 
 immediate attention the consideration of such measures as 
 may be requisite for the counteraction and suppression of a 
 system which, if not effectually checked, must bring confusion 
 and ruin on the country." The gentlemen of the House of 
 Commons were then informed that " the necessity of affording 
 protection to the lives and property of his Majesty's loyal 
 subjects has compelled me to make some addition to our 
 military force." It was a new thing, even in the worst times 
 of English politics, to increase the army for the preservation 
 of domestic peace. 
 
 The debates on the address turned, of course, upon the 
 Manchester meeting -and its consequences. Parliament met 
 on the 23rd of November, and on that day the opposition in 
 both Houses moved amendments asking for an official inquiry 
 into the case, and in both it was urged that reform and con- 
 ciliation ought to take the place of mere coercion and 
 repression. In the House of Lords Earl Grey said, " He had 
 heard strong observations on the progress of sedition and 
 treason, and on the necessity of adopting measures of coercion 
 calculated to avert the danger which threatened the country ; 
 but he had as yet heard no recommendation to avert the 
 danger by relieving the people from some part of the h^avy 
 burdens which oppressed them. It was by conciliation, by a 
 reduction of the enormous public expenditure which weighed 
 down the country, and by a system of timely reform and 
 economy, that the threatened danger should be met." In the 
 other House the Marquis of Tavistock said, " With respect to 
 the difficulties which threatened the country, he thought they 
 might be overcome, and the breach might be healed, if they did 
 not drive the people to despair by refusing inquiry. He should 
 
1 820.] Close of the War to the Death of George III. 137 
 
 conciliate them by granting at least some step towards 
 reform. So long as that House was constituted as at present 
 it was, it could not, it ought not to, possess the confidence of 
 the people." The debate in the Commons lasted over two 
 evenings, those of the 23rd and 24th of November, and was 
 particularly brilliant. It has been the custom to regard 
 Burdett as a mere commonplace declaimer, but this was not 
 the opinion entertained of him at the time, as an observation 
 made by Sir Fowell Buxton about this very discussion will 
 show. He says, "We have had a wonderful debate; really it 
 has raised my idea of the capacity and ingenuity of the human 
 mind. All the leaders spoke, and almost all outdid them- 
 selves ; but Burdett stands first. His speech was absolutely 
 the finest and the clearest and the fairest display of masterly 
 understanding that ever I heard ; and, with shame I ought to 
 confess it, he did not utter a sentence to which I could not 
 agree. Canning was second ; if there be any difference 
 between eloquence and sense, this was the difference between 
 him and Burdett." * 
 
 The eloquence was of little avail ; the Tories were firm, and 
 even some of the Whigs went with them, and ministers had a 
 majority of 381 to 150, and no protest availed to prevent them 
 from proceeding vigorously with the work of repression. They 
 brought in and carried the infamous Six Acts, by which liberty 
 of speech, liberty of the press, and liberty of meeting were 
 practically destroyed, so far as legislature could effect that 
 purpose.f The Whig leaders opposed these oppressive 
 
 * "Memoirs," edited by his son, p. 79. This tribute is the more striking 
 because its author had nopoUtical sympathy with Burdett. In a letter to his uncle, 
 C. Buxton, written at the same date, he says, " I quite agree with you in 
 reprobating the Radicals. I am persuaded that their object is the subversion of 
 religion and the Constitution, and I shall be happy to vote for any measure by 
 which the exertions of their leaders may be suppressed " (Ibid., p. 82). His great 
 friend Gurney had just written to him, "Do not let thy independence of all party 
 be the means of leading thee away from sound Whiggism " (Ibid., p. 79). 
 
 t The Six Acts were — 
 
 1. An Act to prevent delay in the administration of justice in cases of 
 misdemeanour. 
 
 2. An Act to prevent the training of persons to the use of arms, etc. 
 
 3. An Act for the more elTectual prevention and punishment of blasphemous 
 and seditious libels. 
 
r38 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [rSij- 
 
 measures, and they began to speak once more, although in 
 guarded terms, of the necessity for Parliamentary reform. 
 They were beginning to learn that it was impossible for them 
 to make any impression upon Parliament as then constituted. 
 The ministers on their side did not hesitate to defy them. 
 During the recess Earl Fitzwilliam had been dismissed from 
 the office of Lord-Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire 
 for having signed a requisition for, and attended, a reform 
 meeting ; and in a debate on a motion for a committee in the 
 House of Commons on the 30th of November, Castlereagh 
 made a violent attack upon the whole body of the Whigs, 
 which astonished as much as it annoyed them. They could 
 not but be aware that to destroy the Tory supremacy some 
 change must be made in the representative system, and, at the 
 same time, that no change would be acceptable to the class in 
 whose hands that system placed the power of government. 
 Moderate reformers were as hateful as extensive ones to the 
 men who would lose by any reform whatever. The obstacle 
 thus formed could be broken down only by means of popular 
 support, and for this none of the Whigs could compete with the 
 Radicals, and many of them would have objected to making 
 the attempt. Mr. Rush, the American minister, described the 
 situation in the statement that "the Whigs have lost their 
 strong ground, the reformers having taken it from under them. 
 They are a party of leaders with no rank and file ; accom- 
 plished men, but as aristocratic as the Tories." * They were, 
 in fact, still jealous of the Radicals ; still anxious to try if, by 
 opening a kind of middle way, they could obtain a leader- 
 ship which would not involve too rapid a march or too 
 extensive operations. 
 
 Further evidence on both these points was given during 
 
 4. An Act for the seizure and detention of arms (authorizing search by day 
 or night). 
 
 5. An Act to subject certain publications to the duties of stamps upon news- 
 papers, and to make other regulations for restraining the abuses arising from the 
 publication of blasphemous and seditious libels. 
 
 6. An Act for more effectually preventing seditious meetings and assemblies. 
 * " Residence at the Court of London," vol. i. p. 362. 
 
i82o.] Close of the War to the Death of George III. 139 
 
 this session. On the 30th of November the Marquis of 
 Lansdowne moved in the House of Lords for a committee 
 to inquire into the state of the country, and in supporting that 
 motion Lord Grey said, " Could he be suspected of any 
 attachment to the principles of the Radical reformers ? Was 
 he not aware that those persons called Radical reformers 
 were decided enemies to the Whigs ; that he himself was 
 pointed out by some as their greatest, if not their principal, 
 enemy ? " We have seen what the amount of excitement was 
 in the country, and the extent of reform which the public 
 feeling demanded ; we have seen also the answer which the 
 Tory Government gave to the popular request ; and we have 
 now to see what the Whigs were prepared to offer. On the 
 14th of December Lord John Russell proposed his resolutions. 
 They were four in number, and were to the following effect : 
 
 1. Boroughs in which gross and notorious bribery and 
 corruption were proved to prevail, to be disfranchised ; those 
 electors not guilty to have votes for the county in which the 
 boroughs were situated. 
 
 2. Members so taken away to be given to great towns 
 having not less than 15,000 population, or to the largest 
 counties. 
 
 3. That it was the duty of the House to consider of further 
 means to detect and prevent corruption. 
 
 4. That Grampound should be at once disfranchised. 
 These very moderate proposals were introduced in a 
 
 speech of at least equal moderation. " It is impossible," said 
 Lord John, " not to see that there are two parties dividing the 
 country, both greatly exasperated, and both going to extremes ; 
 the one making unlimited demands, and the other meeting 
 them with total and peremptory denial ; the one ready to 
 encounter any hazard for unknown benefits, the other ready 
 to sacrifice for present security those privileges which our 
 ancestors thought cheaply purchased with their blood." What- 
 ever may have been the effect upon public feeling, neither 
 the speech nor the resolutions alarmed the Government. 
 Lord Castlereagh complimented the speaker upon the tone 
 
140 History of the Radical Party in Parliament [1815- 
 
 of his remarks, and had no violent opposition to offer ; he 
 accepted, indeed, the only practical suggestion — the disfran- 
 chisement of Grampound, although he was not quite pre- 
 pared to say to what constituency the members should be 
 transferred. Lord John, on his part, was touched by the 
 kindness and courtesy of the minister, and withdrew his 
 resolutions, giving notice of his intention to move for leave 
 to bring in a bill to disfranchise Grampound. This was 
 indeed a weak and contemptible solution of a great political 
 problem. Here there was a nation which, in the opinion of 
 the Whigs themselves, was frightfully misgoverned; its re- 
 resources being wasted, and its liberties undermined ; the 
 constitution under which it was governed so defective that 
 the representative House itself, as the Marquis of Tavistock 
 declared, " could not, and ought not to, possess the confidence 
 of the people." With these facts the mass of the people were 
 deeply impressed, and they called, with a vehemence which 
 ministers thought bordered upon revolution, for some thorough 
 reform which should give them an effective voice in the 
 government of the country. Under such critical conditions, 
 and in response to so earnest an appeal, the party which 
 assumed to be the protectors of freedom and the champions 
 of reform proposed to disfranchise one corrupt borough, and 
 to give its members to some constituency not yet selected. 
 There is little cause for wonder that the people should not 
 accept such an offer, and that they should distrust the party 
 by which it was made. The Whigs had yet to be thoroughly 
 convinced that without the support of popular enthusiasm 
 no progress of any kind was possible, and that such a feeling 
 could only be aroused by men who had sufficient love for 
 liberty, and sufficient faith in the people, to propose a scheme 
 which should give to the popular element a substantial power 
 in the Constitution. The lesson was to be rapidly learned, 
 but in the mean time the Radicals had to go on, in spite of 
 the hatred and persecution of the Tories, and the coolness 
 and contempt of the Whigs, with their great work of educating 
 public opinion and giving direction and energy to its expres- 
 
I820.1 Close of the War to the Death of George III. 141 
 
 sion. This continued for many a year, both before and after 
 the first instalment of reform was obtained, to be the task 
 which they had to perform, leaving the honour and the 
 profit of reaping the harvest which they had sown to be 
 claimed by the old political organizations, as one or other 
 of them should in turn become convinced that abuses could 
 no longer be maintained, and that reforms could be no longer 
 delayed. 
 
 The Parliament in which these events had taken place 
 was not destined to exist much longer ; but before it resolved 
 on the adjournment which preceded its dissolution one division 
 took place, which is remarkable as being the first introduction 
 into any modern European legislature of the question of 
 Socialism, which has recently attained such great importance. 
 Robert Owen had been for some time carrying on at Lanark 
 his great experiment in communism. His attempt had 
 attracted much attention, which it deserved as an effort to 
 promote the social independence, the material welfare, and 
 the intellectual culture of the people. On the i6th of Decem- 
 ber Sir W. De Crespigny, one of the members for South- 
 ampton, moved for a committee to " inquire into the plan of 
 Mr. Owen for ameliorating the condition of the lower classes." 
 There was a short debate, conducted with good feeling and 
 temper, but of course the proposal was rejected.* It is worth 
 noticing that Ricardo, the politico-economist, was in the 
 minority. He voted for the committee, not because he 
 approved of Owen's principles, but because he thought an 
 experiment so serious and important ought to be fairly and 
 fully examined. 
 
 Parliament was on the 29th of December adjourned to 
 
 * The numbers wore — for 16, against 141. The following are the names of 
 the minority : — 
 
 Aubrey, Sir J. Lamb, Hon. G. Waithman, Alderman 
 
 Bai-nett, J. Pringle, J. Wood, Alderman 
 
 Compton, S. Rancliffe, Lord 
 
 Gaskell, B. Ricardo, D. Crespigny, Sir W. De ) ^^^^^^^ 
 
 Graham, S. Palmer, J. Maxwell, John 5 
 
 Harvey, D. W. Sinclair, G. 
 
142 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1815-1820. 
 
 the 15th of February, 1820, but it was destined to meet much 
 earher. On the 29th of January George III. died at Windsor, 
 ending in sorrow and gloom a reign which had begun with 
 the brightest promises of happiness and success. The friends 
 and the hopes of his early life had alike passed away, and 
 the old King had become rather a memory than an active 
 reality before the grave closed over him. The memory was 
 associated in the minds of his subjects with feelings of per- 
 sonal affection ; but the political ideal for which he had 
 striven, that of a King reigning supreme over an obedient 
 Parliament by the help of dependent ministers, seemed a very 
 mockery in the presence of the poor wreck, stricken in mind 
 and body, in whose name the business of his country had for 
 years past been conducted. Of the ambitions and the 
 struggles of the throne, of the affections and the sorrows of 
 the home, there were none that he now could feel or care for. 
 
 " Oh, let him pass ! he hates him 
 That would upon the rack of this tough world 
 Stretch him out longer. " 
 
( 143 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 FROM THE DEATH OF GEORGE III. TO THE DEATH OF 
 CASTLEREAGH (1820-1822). 
 
 The death of the old King seemed at first to make little 
 difference either to the state of parties in England or to the 
 conduct and progress of political affairs. He had long been 
 withdrawn from all personal share or interest in public events. 
 The son who now succeeded him had been, as Byron said in 
 the bitterest of his verses, " in all but name a king." With 
 him ministers had consulted, by him State documents were 
 signed and State ceremonial conducted ; why, then, should 
 not the old policy be carried out by the same Ministry, 
 under the same authority ? For some time there was no 
 change. When the Plouses'of Parliament met, which they did 
 on the 30th of January, they had to swear allegiance to the 
 new King, and this formality being completed, they received 
 an address from George IV. instead of one from the Prince 
 Regent. But the speech directly declared that there was to 
 be no alteration in the policy which had been justified by " the 
 experience of the past," and the old advisers of the Crown re- 
 tained their power. The constituencies, as they then existed, 
 were equally averse to change, and at the ensuing election the 
 great Conservative ministerial majority was maintained. 
 
 Yet, in spite of all these appearances, the death of 
 George III. had a great effect upon the course of English 
 events, which, if not immediate, was not very long deferred. The 
 removal of the personal influence of the monarch was in itself 
 an important matter. That influence had survived the retire- 
 
144 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1820- 
 
 ment of the King from any actual share in the government 
 of the country, or in the interests, duties, and affections of 
 ordinary human Hfe ; but it remained a power impressed both 
 on the traditions and modes of thought of the governing 
 classes, and on the feelings and sympathies of the people 
 generally. The habit of reckoning the opinion of the King 
 as the first element in the constitution of a policy, or in the 
 decision of any great question, had grown with the growth of 
 the existing generation of politicians and statesmen. The 
 unbending determination — call it obstinacy or firmness as we 
 may — which had broken up the old Whig domination, had 
 bent the power and genius of both the Pitts to its purpose, 
 and had even in its decline conquered the pride of Grenville, 
 — had become recognized by all possible ministers as a natural 
 power in the State. The personal affection which his 
 undoubted singleness of purpose and simplicity of life had 
 won from the people would have revolted from any sudden 
 change of policy which it was known would shock and pain 
 the old sovereign if he had retained, or would distress him if 
 he should recover, his mental powers. The most striking 
 instance of the i-epression which this feeling produced upon 
 the minds and the actions of politicians was the course taken 
 with regard to the Catholic question. There were men in the 
 Tory party itself who, like Canning, shared the opinion of 
 their old leader Pitt, that some concession should be made to 
 the claims which had been recognized in the negotiations 
 which preceded the passing of the Act of Union ; yet every 
 one knew that so long as the old King lived no progress would 
 be made or even seriously attempted. 
 
 Towards the new King there were no such feelings of con- 
 sideration and affection. The sentiment of personal loyalty, 
 always an important element in English politics, remained, 
 and had been increased by the events of a reign extending 
 over more than fifty years, during which the monarch 
 had constantly asserted and maintained an actively para- 
 mount influence in the State. In the course of that reign 
 an entire generation had grown up, had formed its opinions. 
 
i822.] Death of George III. to the Death of Castlereagh. 145 
 
 and had acquired its social habits and its political tendencies. 
 The character of George IV. soon began to have an effect 
 upon these feelings, and thereby upon the course of political 
 life in the country. It could not, indeed, immediately affect 
 the relations of parties in Parliament, for the classes and the 
 interests which commanded the majorities in both Houses 
 were not altered by the change of sovereign. The Tory 
 supremacy remained intact, and the first practical consequence 
 of the accession of a sovereign would naturally manifest 
 itself in the release of some members of that party from the 
 restraint under which they were held by respect for the 
 opinions and prejudices of George III. This was seen when 
 the Catholic question again came up for discussion ; but there 
 was one subject which forced itself at once on public atten- 
 tion, and did much to destroy any feeling of personal affection 
 or even respect for the new King. 
 
 This subject was the relation of George IV. with his wife, 
 and the treatment by monarch and ministers of the unhappy 
 Queen Caroline. The history of this unfortunate woman has 
 to be touched upon here only as it affects the action and posi- 
 tion of the several Parliamentary parties, and it must be said 
 that little to the credit of either of the two old political sec- 
 tions is to be found in the record. Tories and Whigs seem in 
 turn to have taken up and dropped the cause of the Princess, 
 according as they were in office or in opposition, and as a 
 means of gaining either court favour or popular support. In 
 1806, when Fox and Grenville were in power, they consented 
 to the issue of a commission, under which the servants of 
 Caroline were examined without previous notice, either to 
 them or to their mistress. At that time Perceval, the typical 
 Tory, was acting for the Princess, and Eldon himself was one 
 of her advisers. When in 1814 she, in opposition to the wishes 
 of her friends, determined to go abroad, the Tories held office, 
 with Eldon as Lord Chancellor, and they issued the Secret 
 Commission which followed the Princess, and got together 
 the scandalous evidence which, whether it was true or false, 
 covered its collectors and publishers with disgrace, and shocked 
 
 L 
 
146 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1820- 
 
 the moral sense of the nation. When her husband came to 
 the throne, it was evident that something definite would have 
 to be done with regard to the position of the woman who 
 was now Queen Consort of England. The King wished his 
 ministers to promise at once to obtain for him a divorce — a 
 demand to which they declined to accede, unless the Queen 
 should come to England to claim her position in the royal 
 court. They yielded, however, so far as to leave her name 
 out of the Liturgy, an insult which forced her to take that very 
 step of returning from abroad, which they were so anxious to 
 prevent. 
 
 In the struggle that followed, the ministers tried in vain to 
 crush the miserable lady, not by means of a fair and honest 
 trial, but by the shameful attempt to force a bill of pains and 
 penalties through what they hoped would prove a subservient 
 Parliament. This effort failed, as it deserved to do ; but in 
 the process the public feeling was raised to the highest pitch 
 of excitement in favour of the Queen and against her 
 opponents, whether on the throne or in the Cabinet. These 
 events created in the public mind feelings not merely of 
 dislike, but of contempt for the King, in striking contrast to 
 the sentiments of personal respect and affection with which 
 his father had been regarded. Such opinions could not but 
 tell on political affairs, to the extent of considerably affecting 
 the direct influence of the Crown, the more so as they were not 
 confined to any class of society or any party in the State. 
 Canning, who was afterwards to become the first adviser of 
 the Sovereign, resigned the ofiSce he held rather than take any 
 share in the prosecution of the Queen. All the Whig leaders 
 voted with Brougham, who was Caroline's attorney-general ; 
 and many of the ministers themselves had previously 
 advocated her cause, and entered with reluctance into the 
 harsh proceedings against her. It was impossible, therefore, 
 when differences afterwards arose, that either Cabinet or 
 Parliament should be willing to modify their views or their 
 conduct out of any private love or regard for the King. 
 The root of prerogative had struck too deeply into the poll- 
 
iS22.] Death of George III. to the Death of Castleredgh. 147 
 
 tica] traditions and habits of English politics to be speedily- 
 eradicated ; but at least it was not, during the reign of 
 George IV., strengthened by any new manifestation of personal 
 affection. 
 
 The only way in which, for a time, this altered relation 
 between sovereign and subjects could practically exhibit 
 itself, was in making possible divisions among the Tories 
 themselves. Their power over the constituencies was so 
 complete — or rather the interests of the majority of the 
 governing class were so involved in the success of their prin- 
 ciples — that Parliamentary opposition from the Liberal side 
 was futile. The conduct of the House of Commons which 
 was in existence at the time of the death of George III., 
 furnished no means of judging whether or not any alteration 
 in public opinion was caused by the change of sovereign. 
 But the test of a general election was to be at once applied. 
 On the 17th of February, 1820, the session was formally opened 
 by the speech from the throne, some necessary business was 
 rapidly transacted, and on the 28th Parliament was prorogued 
 and dissolved. During the interval Lord John Russell intro- 
 duced, and carried through some of its stages, a bill to 
 suspend- the issue of writs for Grampound, Penryn, and 
 Camelford, to which, in the course of the debates, Barnstaple 
 was added. A proposition of this kind was not calculated to 
 arouse any great enthusiasm in the mind of reformers ; but 
 neither was it likely to alarm those magnates amongst the 
 Whigs, who, whilst they were honestly desirous of improving 
 the government of the country, did not wish to lose that 
 political and social power which arose from the possession of 
 pocket boroughs and territorial influence in counties. 
 
 The elections, therefore, were quiet and uneventful. The 
 new Parliament was very like the old one in its general 
 character, in its hatred of change, and its solid support of the 
 Tory Ministry. The relative strength of parties was soon 
 tested by divisions. The session was opened on the 21st of 
 April, by a speech which acknowledged " the distress which 
 still unhappily prevails among many of the labouring classes 
 
148 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1820- 
 
 of the community." On the 3rd of May Hume moved for 
 statements showing the expenditure on civil list account, but 
 was defeated by 113 votes to 60. This may be regarded 
 rather as an independent Liberal than as a Radical vote. On 
 the 8th of May, on a motion for further considering a report 
 of the committee on the civil list, Lord John Russell moved 
 an adjournment of its consideration in order that it might be 
 submitted to a select committee. The full Whig strength 
 was brought up on this occasion, with the result that the 
 Government had a majority of ninety-nine votes, the num- 
 bers being 256 to 157 ; the old ministerial strength was 
 thus manifested. 
 
 Any attempt at serious political movement might have 
 well seemed hopeless under such conditions ; yet it was in 
 this Parliament, where the Tory preponderance was so great, 
 that the final struggle which ended in the passing of the first 
 Reform Act was practically commenced. It was interrupted 
 by the battle over Catholic emancipation, by striking minis- 
 terial changes, and by the interest attaching to the adminis- 
 tration of foreign affairs by Canning, but it was never 
 absolutely relinquished. This very time, indeed, was chosen 
 for actively resuming the agitation outside Parliament, by 
 which alone any effective debate inside could be induced. 
 During the remainder of the year 1820, the debates on the 
 treatment of the Queen caused the postponement of nearly all 
 other business. In the following year, however, the reform 
 agitation was resumed, and from that time it was systemati- 
 cally maintained. It is important, therefore, to examine into 
 the constitution of the Liberal party, to ascertain what were 
 the elements to which the popular appeal could be success- 
 fully directed. 
 
 It has been seen that the distinction between Whigs and 
 Radicals was recognized by the leaders of the party in the 
 House of Commons, both Tierney and Russell on the one 
 side, and Burdett on the other, acting upon the supposition 
 that it existed. It was not, however, as an organized party 
 that the Radicals were generally regarded. The name itself 
 
i822.] Death of George III. to the Death of Castlereagh. 149 
 
 was intended as a term of reproach, describing men who were 
 looked upon rather as wild and reckless agitators than as 
 serious and responsible politicians. In this, of course, there 
 was nothing more than a repetition of what had taken place 
 when the old names of Whig and Tory were originated. In 
 the present case the use of bad names was more persistently- 
 adopted, and it had a long-continued success owing to the 
 peculiar constitution of the House of Commons at the time. 
 The constituencies, as we have seen, were for the most part in 
 the hands of a limited class. There were very few seats, 
 either for counties, cities, or boroughs, which could be secured 
 by a really popular vote apart from either private influence or 
 ministerial control. As a rule, then, the extreme party could 
 only be reinforced by members of the governing class itself, 
 whose convictions were strong enough to resist the pressure of 
 their social and political surroundings. There were exceptions 
 to this rule, but they were extremely rare, being confined to 
 the metropolis, and to one or two boroughs in which the free- 
 men were comparatively independent. Some of the larger 
 counties, too, were responsive to the impulse of great national 
 excitement, although in ordinary times they owned the sway 
 of territorial influence. The abuse and contempt which were 
 heaped upon the name and nature of Radicalism told in many 
 ways upon its fortune. They armed all sections of Whigs to 
 oppose, in the constituencies, any man who was branded with 
 the opprobrious epithet ; they cut ofi" from the most reasonable 
 ambition any prospect of an official career ; and they pre- 
 vented anything like organization of a party to which many 
 members were ashamed or afraid to acknowledge adhesion. 
 
 In estimating the real strength of Radicalism in this Parlia- 
 ment, we must take count not only of those who accepted the 
 name — for there were few such — but of those also who, whilst 
 remaining nominally enrolled amongst the Whigs, were more 
 advanced in opinion than either the leaders or the majority of 
 their party. Of the avowed Radicals, those who repudiated 
 the Whig leadership. Sir Francis Burdett still remained the 
 chief, both in popular support and in vehemence of action. 
 
I50 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1820- 
 
 On the 8th of March in this year, 1821, he was sentenced in 
 the Court of King's Bench to pay a fine of ;^2000, and to be 
 imprisoned for three months, for a Ubel contained in a pub- 
 lished letter on the Manchester massacre. The punishment 
 only tended to strengthen him in the confidence of his con- 
 stituents, and it had no deterrent effect on his own proceedings ; 
 for, soon after his release on the 14th of May, he moved in 
 the House for an inquiry into the circumstances attending the 
 massacre, and was strongly supported by speeches from the 
 Liberal benches. On his conviction, a meeting of his constituents 
 was held to sympathize with him, and to raise a fund to pay 
 the fine. On that occasion the chair was taken by his colleague 
 in the representation, J. C. Hobhouse, the first of the set of 
 men known as Philosophical Radicals who obtained a seat in 
 Parliament. He immediately took an active part, especially 
 in the discussions on Parliamentary reform, in which he 
 argued the question as one of broad political science as well 
 as one requiring attention from the conditions and wants of 
 the time. Joseph Hume now began, bn a plan which involved 
 immense labour, those efforts on behalf of financial reforms 
 by which he afterwards became so well known. If he descended 
 to attack details of the public expenditure, it was not for want 
 of ability to grasp the whole system of national finance. In 
 the speech which he made on the 27th of June, he displayed 
 a knowledge of the real requirements of nearly every depart- 
 ment of the public service, founded on an acquaintance with 
 ■the history of the growth and the causes of the lavish expendi- 
 ture of the time. His thorough Radicalism on other points 
 gave force to his financial opinions amongst the popular party, 
 and it was greatly owing to his influence that the word 
 " retrenchment " took its place with " peace and reform " as a 
 part of its recognized programme. Two other avowed Radicals 
 should be named, because they sat at different times for one 
 of those Metropolitan constituencies where public opinion 
 could secure Parliamentary representation. Sir Robert Wilson 
 was, in this Parliament, member for Southwark; for which 
 Borough, some years later, Daniel Whittle Harvey was returned. 
 
i822.] Death of George III. to the Death of Castlereagh. 151 
 
 In 1820 Harvey was re-elected for Colchester, but he was 
 unseated, and remained for some time out of Parliament. 
 Wilson was a very pronounced member of the party, and is 
 the only man who is recorded in Smith's work as having 
 at that time declared himself in his candidature as a Radical. 
 Amongst those who, whilst advocating and supporting 
 Radical opinions, still retained their connection with the 
 members and leaders of the Whig party, the foremost place 
 was held by J. S. Lambton, afterwards Lord Durham. This 
 great man, with the enthusiasm of a popular leader and the 
 genius of a statesman, was able by his associations and con- 
 nections to force his broad Liberal principles upon the attention 
 of the most exclusive of the Whigs. The representative of 
 one of the oldest county families in the kingdom,* the son-in- 
 law of Earl Grey, he was in a position which gave weight to 
 opinions which were received with contempt when expressed 
 by less important persons. It was a position, however, in 
 which the whole social and political influences of his class 
 would be brought to bear upon him in order to moderate his 
 views and restrain his action. It was owing to the depth and 
 earnestness of his convictions, and to the strength of his will, 
 that he resisted such temptations, and gave impressions to, 
 rather than received them from, his official associates. Whilst 
 retaining his relations with the Whigs, he extended his sym- 
 pathies and entered into personal association with the most 
 active of the Radicals. When Buncombe, who had become 
 more Radical, again secured his seat for Hertford in 1830, a 
 message of congratulation came from Lambton ; and no one 
 rejoiced more than Durham at the victory gained by Grote in 
 the city of London.f 
 
 The influence of Lambton was beneficial both to the cause 
 of reform and to the interests of the Whig party. It did for 
 Radicalism with the official Liberal leaders what the writings 
 of Bentham and Mill had done with reading and thinking 
 
 • His family had held the Lambton estates in uninterrupted male succession 
 since the twelfth century. 
 
 t "Memoirs of T. S. Duncombe,'' vol. i. p. 113; "Personal Life of George 
 Grote," by Mrs. Grote, p. 74. 
 
152 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1820- 
 
 people — obtained for it consideration, not as the wild demand 
 of impatient ignorance, but as something brought by the 
 soundness of its principles within what a later statesman has 
 called "the range of practical politics." In this way, too, the 
 energy, which might have been lost in mere declamatory 
 agitation, was concentrated and focussed in Parliament. The 
 force which was contained in public opinion, like that in wind 
 or steam, was practically wasted until the machine and the 
 mill were constructed through which it could be utilized. The 
 advantage to the Whigs was even more direct and immediate. 
 Whether for the triumph of their principles or for the gratifi- 
 cation of their ambition, their object as a political party was 
 to obtain place and power. Any success of the Whigs would 
 involve some change, however small, in constitution and policy 
 which might injuriously affect the interests of the governing 
 class. It was certain, therefore, that the masters of the present 
 constituencies, the manipulators of Government seats, the 
 owners of pocket boroughs, the territorial magnates of counties, 
 would not entrust power to the hands of a party favourable to 
 reforni of any sort. Only by pressure of an extraordinary- 
 kind could this dead weight of Conservativism be overcome. 
 Nothing less than an agitation undertaken in real earnest by 
 all sections of the unenfranchised ; the middle class in towns 
 as well as the lower class throughout the country ; the con- 
 victions of the educated giving strength and direction to the 
 popular desires and determination ;— nothing less than a 
 thoroughly national movement of this kind could overcome 
 the obstacles to political progress. Such an agitation could 
 neither be aroused nor led by the Whig party as it then 
 existed. 
 
 The greater number of the Whigs were men who did not 
 wish to materially reduce the influence of rank and wealth in 
 the government of the country. They owned boroughs and 
 dominated counties, and were naturally unwilling to destroy 
 the power in which they shared. They were honestly desirous 
 of effecting reforms in the administration and in the finances 
 of the country ; they would have secured and extended the 
 
1 822.] Death of George III. to the Death of Castlereagh. 153 
 
 liberty of the subject and the freedom of the press ; and many 
 of them were willing to remove some of the barriers of religious 
 intolerance. But all this they would do for, and not by and 
 with the help of, the people. What slight constitutional 
 modifications were necessary in order to replace an absolutely 
 despotic Ministry by a moderately liberal one, the Whigs 
 would support ; but to transfer the governing power from the 
 hands of their own class to those of the hitherto unen- 
 franchised masses, that was a proposition to which they 
 could not listen. Their schemes of reform were of this feeble 
 and limited character, and had never any real life in them, 
 nor any chance of success. They awakened no popular 
 enthusiasm,, and they were contemptuously rejected by the 
 Tory Government. 
 
 The work, then, which Lambton, and men like him, had to 
 perform was of a double kind. They had to convince the 
 Whigs that without some real extension of popular power, the 
 practical reforms at which their party aimed were absolutely 
 unattainable ; and that policy, no less than justice, called for 
 the enfranchisement of the people. Then, if they succeeded 
 in this, and to the extent to which they did succeed, they had 
 to form a medium of communication between the Whigs and 
 the trusted leaders of the people. There was plenty of work 
 to do in both directions. The ideas of the Whigs as to the 
 amount of Parliamentary reform required were absurdly 
 inadequate. The difference between their proposals and 
 those which the Radicals advocated was marked distinctly 
 in this year, 1821, in two main directions — in the theoretical 
 arguments of scholars and thinkers, and in the schemes sub- 
 mitted to Parliament by the active politicians of the two 
 sections. 
 
 Sir James Mackintosh was one of the most Liberal, as he 
 was certainly one of the most learned and accomplished, 
 members of his party. To the Edinburgh Review, No. Ixi., 
 he contributed an article on Parliamentary reform, which, 
 although it was not without liberality of view, nevertheless 
 missed the only reason why the nation required any change of 
 
1 54 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1820- 
 
 the kind— the necessity that the people should have a direct 
 and influential voice in the government of the country. 
 Mackintosh went to great pains in the construction of a 
 system by which not the masses of the people, but particular 
 social interests, should be represented, numbers being still 
 subordinated to class interests. To a wide extension of the 
 suffrage and to the ballot he was directly opposed. Of course 
 such a proposition, whatever might be its philosophical merits, 
 could never commend itself to the sympathy, nor obtain the 
 active support, of that public opinion without which no altera- 
 tion of any kind could be obtained. To this article Grote 
 wrote a reply, in which he enforced the principles which he 
 had imbibed by his association with Bentham and Mill, and 
 had matured by the strength of his own learning and intelli- 
 gence. In the course of his essay he maintained the necessity 
 of a wide extension of the suffrage, of the ballot, and of short 
 Parliaments, and pointed out the fallacy of the Whigs in 
 trying to evade these broad issues by incomplete and fantastic 
 schemes. 
 
 In Parliament, two plans submitted, one by Lambton, and 
 the other by Lord John Russell, stand in quite as great 
 contrast. On the 17th of April Lambton moved a resolution 
 founded on a bill which he had prepared, and which he was 
 anxious to introduce. The bill is printed in extenso as an 
 appendix to Hansard's Report for 1821, its principal objects 
 being, as he said, the extension of the franchise to the unre- 
 presented classes, the disfranchisement of venal, corrupt, and 
 decayed boroughs, and the recurrence to triennial Parliaments. 
 The plan with regard to boroughs was thorough. It provided 
 for the disfranchisement of all boroughs, cities, Cinque Ports, 
 nd other constituencies — excepting only the Universities — 
 returning burgesses to Parliament, and the formation of new 
 districts round populous centres. All householders were to 
 have votes in these districts. In counties the franchise was to 
 be extended to all copyholders and leaseholders. Stringent 
 provisions were to be enacted for the prevention of bribery 
 and corruption. This was a scheme which would have given 
 
i822.] Death of George III. to the Death of Castlereagh. 155 
 
 real vitality to the representation of the people, and it was of 
 course rejected. It did not even attract a large attendance, 
 and the division — in' which forty-three voted for, and fifty-five 
 against, the motion — was taken early, and in the absence of 
 Lambton and some of his friends, who had expected a longer 
 debate. 
 
 On the 9th of May Russell brought forward his proposal, 
 which was formulated in four resolutions. The first set forth 
 the existence of bribery and corruption, which might be 
 " destructive to the constitution of Parliaments ; " the second 
 declared the necessity of giving to such places as were greatly 
 increased in wealth and population, the right of returning 
 members ; the third proposed the appointment of a com- 
 mittee to consider how these members might be returned 
 without making " an inconvenient addition to the members of 
 this House ; " and the fourth referred it to the same com- 
 mittee, to consider the mode of proceeding with respect of 
 any boroughs thereafter charged with bribery and corruption. 
 This was the extent to which one of the best of the old section 
 of the Whigs was prepared to go. There was no extension 
 of the franchise, either in existing boroughs or in counties ; 
 nothing, indeed, but a small addition to the number of 
 members, which, although it represented populous consti- 
 tuencies, would have been lost, like a drop of water in a 
 bucket, in a House filled with the members of a single class 
 and their nominees. It will be seen that the Radicals had 
 something to do before they could prepare the Whigs to 
 submit proposals that would receive, or deserve, any popular 
 support. 
 
 In the course of this session Lord John Russell had a sort 
 of half-victory in the way of reform. On the ist of February 
 he introduced a bill to disfranchise Grampound and give the 
 two members to Leeds, conferring the right of voting on all 
 inhabitants renting houses at ;£'io a year. The bill was read 
 a second time, but in committee the qualification was raised 
 from .£"10 to ;£'20, on which Lord John threw up the charge of 
 the measure, which nevertheless passed and went up to the 
 
156 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1820- 
 
 Lords. There another serious alteration was made, the two 
 members being given to the county of York instead of to the 
 town of Leeds^a change which took from it all its value in 
 the eyes of reformers, which was exactly what the Conserva- 
 tive peers desired. The measure had to be passed in this 
 shape or given up altogether; no one cared much about so 
 insignificant an affair, and so two more knights of the shire 
 were added to the House of Commons. This was the position 
 of the two sections of the Liberal party on the question of 
 reform at the time when that national agitation was com- 
 mencing which, during the following ten years, had such an 
 important effect, not only on the fortunes of parties, but on 
 those of the country. 
 
 The question of Catholic emancipation was now forced to 
 the front, and, with the increased support which it received, began 
 to produce that effect upon the party organizations to which 
 allusion has been made. On the 28th of February Plunkett 
 moved in the Commons that a committee of the whole House 
 should consider the state of the laws affecting the Roman 
 Catholics, and inquire whether it would be expedient to alter 
 or modify the same. A division in the Ministry was at once 
 manifested. Peel strongly opposed the resolution, which was 
 supported by Castlereagh, and carried by a majority of six. 
 On the and of March the House went into committee, and 
 Plunkett moved six resolutions involving the principles of 
 emancipation, and they were agreed to pro forma, Peel 
 announcing his intention to oppose the bills which were to be 
 founded upon them. Two bills were introduced and read a 
 first time on the ist of March. The subsequent stages were 
 marked by vehement opposition on the part of Peel, and by 
 support from Canning, who, on the second reading, made one 
 of his most eloquent and impassioned speeches. The second 
 reading was carried by 254 to 243 ; the two bills were then 
 consolidated, and on the 2nd of April, after more speeches by 
 Peel and Canning, were passed by a majority of nineteen. 
 Thus, in little more than a year after the death of George IH., 
 the measure to which he had been so bitterly opposed was 
 
i822.] Death of George III. to the Death of Castlereagh. 157 
 
 carried by a majority in the House of Commons ; the minis- 
 terial leader in that House, and the ablest and most popular 
 member of the Tory party, although personally opposed on 
 almost every other question, agreeing in its support. The 
 Peers rejected the bill on the i6th of April, by 159 votes and 
 proxies to 12O, but its ultimate success was now insured. 
 Lord Grenville spoke and voted in its favour, a matter of 
 course, but of the more importance because, in the following 
 year, the Ministry had to seek an alliance with him and his 
 friends. 
 
 The coalition, if it really deserves the name, took place in 
 January, 1822, before the meeting of Parliament. It occa- 
 sioned very few changes. The Marquis of Buckingham was 
 made a duke, C. W. W. Wynne became President of the 
 Board of Control, and H. Wynne was appointed envoy to the 
 Swiss cantons. The Board of Control had been held by 
 C. Bathurst, in conjunction with the chancellorship of the 
 Duchy of Lancaster, which latter office he continued to oc- 
 cupy, so that there was no displacement, but only an addition 
 to the Cabinet. 
 
 The alliance illustrated the existing position of parties, 
 and also affected to some extent their individual composition 
 and their relations to each other. The Tories could not but 
 feel their weakness in Parliamentary ability. Canning had 
 left the Government, and his views with regard to the cause 
 of the Queen, irrespective of the jealousy and dislike with 
 which he was regarded by many of his old colleagues, seemed 
 likely to keep him out of office for some time to come. 
 Castlereagh had little power as a speaker, and Peel had yet 
 to win his spurs as an orator and a tactician. Beyond these 
 and the two law officers, there was no one to meet the 
 attacks of Tierney, Mackintosh, Lambton, Brougham, Russell, 
 Burdett, and other opposition speakers. They wanted to add 
 to their voting power some debating skill, and, if possible 
 without affecting their real policy, to attract to themselves 
 something of the popular character of which all the Whigs 
 were supposed to partake. Perhaps the chief induceiTnent, 
 
158 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1820- 
 
 after all, was the desire to break up the opposing ranks, and 
 to take from the opposition that section of its leaders who 
 were held to be able, from experience and connection, to take 
 part in the government of the nation. 
 
 The experiment was in no way a success, except that in 
 the opinion of the exclusive official circles the Whigs were 
 thought to be more than ever disqualified for office. The 
 actual strength in votes was more than compensated for by the 
 increase of disaffection and disintegration in the Tory party. 
 It was not merely that there were men who thought that the 
 offices and dignities conferred upon the Grenville people 
 would have been better employed in rewarding the services of 
 old and consistent Tories, for some who think they deserve 
 place must always be disappointed whenever there is a redis- 
 tribution of offices. The grievance on this occasion was more 
 special and better founded. There was already, as we have 
 seen, a difference in the party on the Catholic question which 
 threatened to become a serious split. Grenville and his 
 followers were amongst the most strenuous advocates of 
 emancipation ; they had suffered loss of office on its account 
 in former days, and were still firm in its support. In 
 strengthening the hands of Canning and the other Conser- 
 vatives who took the same view, they weakened those of 
 Eldon and the men who represented the old thorough-going 
 principles of Toryism, and the time was coming when this 
 was to be a matter affecting the stability of the party and the 
 existence of Ministries. There were other points in which a 
 general tendency to Liberalism in domestic, and especially in 
 foreign affairs, still existed in the minds of the Whig seceders, 
 and in which accordingly they encouraged and supported the 
 most Liberal section of the Tory party. 
 
 The effect of the coalition on the Whig fortunes and 
 policy was exactly contrary ; it caused a little temporary loss, 
 but it proved a permanent gain. What the leaders felt at 
 first was that their chance of obtaining place and power 
 was lessened, and they were consequently angry ; but the 
 office which would have been possible to them under the 
 
i822.] Death of George III. to the Death of Castlereagh. 159 
 
 existing conditions, was ofifice without the ability to carry out 
 any of the principles to which they professed adhesion. By 
 the secession their prospect of any alliance with moderate 
 Conservatives was destroyed, and they were made the more 
 dependant on the other or Radical wing of their own party. 
 This in the end was good for themselves and for the country. 
 It gave them the strength of popular support, whilst they on 
 their part could offer to public opinion the advantages of an 
 experienced and organized Parliamentary party. This ap- 
 proach of the two sections was gradual, but it was certainly 
 promoted by the alliance of the Tories and Grenvilleites, and 
 was further accelerated by the Liberalism, in one or two 
 directions, of Canning and his friends. 
 
 Another ministerial change which was made at about the 
 same time was the appointment of Peel as Home Secretary, 
 in the place of Sidmouth, who retired from the office, but 
 remained in the Cabinet. Little importance was attached to 
 this appointment, as it indicated no alteration of policy. The 
 " Annual Register " did but echo the general opinion of the 
 country when it said, " Mr. Peel's political predilections, sym- 
 pathies, and prejudices were very much the same with those 
 of Lord Sidmouth, so that the substitution of the one for the 
 other could have no effect in the course of administration." * 
 We know how after events falsified this calculation, but for 
 some time it was justified by Peel's adhesion to the whole 
 Tory creed, and especially by his opposition to Canning on 
 those very points, the Catholic question and the policy of 
 protection, on which afterwards he sacrificed his party to the 
 cause of his country. 
 
 The Parliamentary session of 1822 was marked by events 
 which illustrated the various party relations and tendencies 
 which have been adverted to, and which were soon to affect 
 the fate of Governments and the fortunes of the people. The 
 ministers resisted all change, except one, which touched the 
 interests of the landed class. Canning continued to represent 
 whatever of Liberalism there was in the Tory party ; Lambton 
 * "Annual Register," 1822. p. 6. 
 
i6o Histcry of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1820- 
 
 maintained his friendship with the Radicals; and Russell 
 made a material advance in his proposals on behalf of reform. 
 
 The one change which ministers were willing to make was 
 to increase the stringency of the corn laws. There had been 
 much agricultural distress, and there was no doubt that rehef 
 of some kind was required by the farmers, either a decrease 
 of their payment in rent and taxes, or a rise in the price of 
 their commodities. The Government adopted the latter 
 alternative as the one to be aimed at, and introduced resolu- 
 tions accordingly. Their first proposal was to make an 
 advance out of the national revenue for loans to farmers on 
 the security of corn placed in bonded warehouses ; but this 
 was laughed out of the House and withdrawn. The main 
 resolution was to reduce the price at which the importation of 
 foreign wheat was to be prohibited from eighty to seventy 
 shillings per quarter, insuring a tax on the consumer of a 
 corresponding amount. This was fought at every stage ; 
 Huskisson, the great friend and colleague of Canning, join- 
 ing with Ricardo the Radical in supporting an amendment. 
 Of course all opposition was futile, for Whig as well as Tory 
 landowners were anxious for protection. At first ministers 
 proposed that corn which had been previously imported might 
 be ground in this country for re-exportation ; but there was 
 a fear that some of it might get into English markets, and 
 the resolution was withdrawn ; Canning, who moved it when 
 ministers abandoned it, obtaining only twenty-one votes, most 
 of those being given by Radicals. 
 
 The position of Canning was even now of importance, and 
 was soon to become of the very greatest consequence. It has 
 been said that he represented the Liberal section of the Tories, 
 but it must be remembered that he did this because he 
 remained a Tory. He opposed all constitutional change, all 
 reforms, political or social, with as much earnestness as 
 Sidmouth ; and in this session, when Russell moved his 
 reform resolution, the House would not be content until 
 Canning had brought the weight of his eloquence to bear 
 against it. Yet he gave strong evidence in the course of 
 
i822.] Death of George III. to the Death of Castlereagh. i6i 
 
 the session that he remained firm in his adherence to the 
 cause of Catholic emancipation. On commercial and financial 
 questions, too, he was becoming increasingly Liberal. He 
 had, however, given up any hope of ministerial advancement, 
 and so he accepted the appointment of Governor-General 
 of India, which had been ofiered to him by the Company, 
 and he believed that this would be his last session in 
 Parliament. 
 
 Lambton took no very active part in the proceedings of 
 the session, but he did enough to show that he sympathized 
 with the Radicals, and was prepared openly to work with 
 them. On the 22nd of March he presented a petition from 
 Newcastle on behalf of Hunt, whose treatment in prison was 
 the subject of debate in both Houses. The petitioners, in the 
 course of their statement, referred to " the notorious and 
 avowed corruptions which have crept into your House." This 
 passage was strongly objected to ; the reception of the petition 
 was opposed by Wynne, the new Grenville ally. Peel, and 
 other ministerialists, and on a division it was rejected by 123 to 
 22, the minority being almost purely Radical.* Nor was this 
 the only question on which the extreme party acted together. 
 On the 2nd of July Hobhouse moved to repeal the house and 
 window tax, but was defeated by 146 votes to 59. In the 
 mean time petitions in favour of reform continued to be pre- 
 sented, and it was evident that whatever might be the state of 
 opinion on the question inside Parliament, the agitation out- 
 side was steadily growing. 
 
 The Whigs generally, and Russell in particular, were quite 
 alive to this fact, and were prepared to advance their bids for 
 
 * The names given in Hansard are — ■ 
 
 Barrett, T. M. Hobhouse, J. C. Roberts, Col. 
 
 Bernall, R. Hume, J. Robinson, Sir G. 
 
 Birch, J. James, W. Wilson, Sir R. 
 
 Bury, Lord Maberley, J. Wood, Alderman 
 
 Calvert, N. Maule, Hon. W. 
 
 Creevey, T. Monck, J. B. Bennett, Hon. H. G. 1 
 
 Ellice, E. Nugent, Lord Lambton, J. G. J ~'^^r^- 
 
 Fergusson, Sir R. Palmer, C. F. 
 
 Gaskell, R. Ricardo, D. 
 
 M 
 
1 62 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [i8zi>- 
 
 popular support. On the 25th of April Lord John moved in 
 the Commons— "That the present state of the representation 
 of the people in Parliament requires the most serious consider- 
 ation of this House." The general plan which he intended to 
 propose was the addition of one hundred members to the 
 House, of which sixty were to be given to counties, and forty 
 to great towns not before enfranchised. In order that the 
 total number of members might not be increased, he proposed 
 to take away one representative from each of the hundred 
 smallest boroughs returning two members. This was an 
 advance on any proposition he had before advocated, but its 
 special weakness was that it did not touch the question of the 
 franchise in any of the existing constituencies, and so would 
 still have left the great bulk of the population unrepresented. 
 On a division, there were 164 for, and 269 against, the pro- 
 posal. This was the largest vote which had been recorded 
 lor many years, and its effect was to encourage the reformers 
 to further action. 
 
 The Catholic question, which was to do so much to affect 
 the fortunes of English political parties, was rapidly approach- 
 ing the stage when further delay became impossible. On the 
 30th of April Canning introduced a bill to enable Roman 
 Catholic peers to sit in the House of Lords. This was not 
 what would be called a very heroic measure, but it served to 
 keep the subject alive, and it gave another opportunity to the 
 Upper House of convincing the Catholics, and the Irish 
 ,people especially, what was the real seat of the power which 
 oppressed them. The bill was carried through the Commons, 
 but on the 22nd of June it was thrown out in the Lords 
 by a majority of forty-two. The agitation in Ireland was en- 
 couraged not only by the position assumed by the House of 
 Commons, but by the almost unaccountable course taken by 
 the Cabinet in the constitution of the Irish Government. At 
 this very time, when they were using their influence with the 
 Peers to counteract the effect of the votes of the represen- 
 tative chamber, ministers appointed to the Lord-Lieutenancy 
 of Ireland the Marquis of Wellesley, a well-known abolitionist. 
 
i822.] Death of George HI. to the Death of Castlereagh. 163 
 
 Although the new viceroy had no power to affect the legal 
 position of the Catholics, yet his well-known sympathy with 
 them, and the tendency to yielding which his appointment 
 indicated, were strong inducements to continued agitation. 
 There was a temptation, moreover, to make their action more 
 and more violent, since, on the one hand, it might be sup- 
 posed that a friendly lord-lieutenant would not suppress too. 
 rigidly any movement in favour of a policy with which he 
 agreed ; and, on the other, the very appointment was a proof 
 that the Government was divided and open to pressure. Thus 
 were the Irish people acquiring that lesson, the most fatal 
 which rulers can teach, the most dangerous which subjects 
 can learn, that reforms and concessions which are refused to 
 orderly agitation may be obtained by disorder and violence. 
 The idea has taken root and fructified, with results which do 
 not even yet seem to have reached the end, and those who 
 are most responsible for its inculcation are undoubtedly the 
 Tory ministers of this period, who opposed the dead weight of 
 their influence in the House of Lords to the just requirements 
 of the Irish people and the growing intelligence and mode- 
 ration of the House of Commons, until, brought face to face 
 with the threat of absolute revolution, they not only retired 
 from further contest, but themselves made the capitulation at 
 the cost of the disruption and disorganization of their party. 
 
 Such was the state of parties, and such the position of 
 great questions, at the close of the session of Parliament, 
 which took place on the 6th of August ; but an event 
 occurred immediately after, which entirely altered the aspect 
 of affairs, and affected the policy not only .of this country, but 
 of the whole of Europe. After the prorogation, whilst the 
 King Was on a state visit to Scotland, Canning had gone to 
 Liverpool to take farewell of his constituents before his deparr 
 ture for India, when his proceedings were arrested, and the 
 whole country astounded, by the announcement that the 
 Marquis of Londonderry * had, on the 12th of August; com- 
 
 * Lord Castlereagh had succeeded to this title on the death of his father in 
 1821, .. ,, ; 
 
164 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1820- 
 
 mitted suicide at his residence at Foot's Cray. The conse- 
 quences of the death of Londonderry were more striking than 
 could have been expected by any of his contemporaries. 
 There is hardly another instance in our modern history of the 
 removal of one man, and he not in the iirst rank as to ability, 
 causing so great an effect on the feelings and the policy of the 
 country. There was a sensation of relief, if not of absolute 
 satisfaction, in the minds alike of foreigners and of English- 
 men of which it is tragical to read. Harriet Martineau says, 
 " The relief to a multitude was so extraordinary and porten- 
 tous that little children who carried the news, as children love 
 to carry wonderful news, without knowing what it means, 
 were astonished at the effect of their tidings, and saw, by the 
 clasped hands and glittering eyes of aliens in English towns, 
 that there was a meaning in the tidings beyond their compre- 
 hension. There are some now who in mature years cannot 
 remember without emotion what they saw and heard that 
 day. They could not know how the calamity of one man — 
 a man amiable, winning, and generous in the walk of his daily 
 life — could penetrate the recesses of a world, not as a 
 calamity, but as a ray of hope in the midst of thickest dark- 
 ness." * The writer has heard old men, the Radicals of that 
 time, describe the share which many Englishmen had in these 
 feelings of relief and satisfaction. 
 
 To understand this we must recognize what a oneness 
 there is between the home and the foreign affairs of a 
 nation, and how the domestic conduct of a government is 
 affected by the associations with neighbouring states and the 
 principles which it shares with them in international policy. 
 Castlereagh, although he agreed with the coercive and re- 
 pressive measures of the Tory Government, was neither their 
 originator nor, except from his being leader in the House of 
 Commons, was he the most prominent of their supporters. 
 Liverpool, as Premier, was more directly responsible, and 
 Sidmouth and Eldon were the most zealous of their advocates ; 
 but Castlereagh, as Foreign Minister, and as the man who had 
 * " History of the Thirty Years' Peace," vol. i. pp. 286, 287. 
 
i822.] Death of George III. to the Death of Castlereagh. 165 
 
 been in direct communication with the tyrants of the Con- 
 tinent, had become associated with the despotic theories the 
 maintenance and active development of which formed the one 
 object of diplomatic relations in Europe. He was therefore 
 regarded not so much as the adviser of particular measures of 
 repression — indeed, in the matter of Catholic emancipation he 
 was more Liberal than the other chiefs of the Ministry — but 
 as the incarnation, as it were, of the principles on which 
 despotic government was based. His removal was regarded 
 by many Conservatives as affording an opportunity for 
 delivering the country from embarrassing and dishonouring 
 foreign relations, and by all Liberals as increasing the chances 
 for moderate constitutional changes and reforms. 
 
i66 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1822- 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FROM THE DEATH OF CASTLEREAGH TO CANNING'S 
 APPOINTMENT AS PREMIER (1822-1827). 
 
 There was a general opinion amongst politicians of all 
 parties, on the death of Castlereagh, that Canning was the 
 only man who ought to, or who indeed could, succeed him as 
 Foreign Secretary. This was felt alike by the active members 
 of the Cabinet, who distrusted and feared if they did not posi- 
 tively hate him, and by the majority in the Commons, which, 
 drawing its forces from both sides of the House, desired to 
 see some relaxation of the system of repression, if it could 
 be obtained without venturing upon constitutional changes. 
 The relation of the ministers to a large section of their party, 
 which was marked by this looking towards Canning, was 
 indicative of an important movement which had been 
 gradually taking place in the general opinion and feeling of 
 the country. The wave of reaction and terror which had 
 been raised by the French Revolution was subsiding, and 
 Englishmen were resuming the old respect for liberty, and the 
 old belief that the part of England in European affairs was 
 to side with the cause of freedom against that of despotism 
 and oppression. This feeling, though not universal, was very 
 widespread, and it was compatible with a good deal of differ- 
 ence of opinion on domestic questions ; individual and class 
 interests biassing, when they were affected, the judgment 
 which was clearer and truer on foreign affairs. It is because 
 this love of liberty in the abstract was general, and was shared 
 in by members of all parties, that Radicalism, not as a sudden 
 
1827.] Death of Castlereagh to Cannings Premiers/dp. 167 
 
 appearance, not as an isolated fact, but as a result of the 
 natural historical growth of the Liberal tendencies of the 
 nation, increased in power and influence. 
 
 It was neither unnatural nor unfortunate, therefore, that 
 the man who was to give expression to, and convert into 
 active policy, this national feeling in favour of freedom, should 
 be a member of the Tory party. Had he been a Whig, he 
 would have had ho power to carry Parliament with him ; and 
 the fear that he might introduce the same principles into his 
 treatment of domestic affairs would have closed the ranks of 
 the dominant faction, against which opposition would have 
 been useless. Canning was, on many of the most prominent 
 subjects of the day, a Tory of Tories. He was the most 
 persistent and the most determined of the enemies of Parlia- 
 mentary reform, and he maintained the privileges and powers 
 of the English Church with the greatest vigour, and so it 
 seemed that he might be trusted to support Liberalism abroad, 
 without danger of applying it too recklessly at home. 
 
 The old leaders of the party, indeed, distrusted him, and 
 in that they did but follow an instinct which told them that 
 the spirit in which Canning was inclined to work was perilous 
 to them and to their doctrines. It is true that, in his advocacy 
 of Catholic emancipation, he was in agreement not only with 
 Pitt, but also with Castlereagh ; but with them, and especially 
 with Castlereagh, the opinion was one to be avowed as a 
 theory and as a part of a bargain made at the time of the 
 union, but not to be pushed forward with any zeal, or even 
 with much desire for its success. With Canning the case was 
 different : he was the actual ally and encourager of men whose 
 whole life and soul were devoted to the cause, and he took it 
 up with the intention of carrying it to a successful issue. 
 This distinction, however, was not recognized as vital by many 
 of the Tories in the House of Commons, nor were they quite 
 alive to the effect which the commercial and financial policy 
 of Canning and Huskisson might have upon the interests of 
 the landed proprietary and the fortunes of their party. And 
 so, in spite alike of the wishes of King and Cabinet, Canning 
 
i68 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1822- 
 
 was called, by some undefined and yet well-recognized mani- 
 festation of public opinion, to take the office which was of the 
 greatest importance in the Ministry, which made him leader 
 of the House of Commons, and enabled him to affect the 
 policy of the whole of Europe, and thereby to give scope and 
 efficiency to sentiments and principles which were in turn to 
 react upon England, and to give life and force to the popular 
 party here. 
 
 The new minister was appointed just in time to give strik- 
 ing expression to the sentiments which he represented. A 
 congress of the European powers, having met at Vienna, had 
 adjourned to Verona. Lord Londonderry had intended to 
 represent England at the meeting, and his death took place 
 whilst preparations were being made for his departure. The 
 Duke of Wellington went instead, the time being too short for 
 any such alteration of policy as would have been involved in 
 the refusal to send a representative. The business to be trans- 
 acted at Verona was twofold. The nominal object for which 
 the conference was called was to consider the affairs of 
 Greece, and so prevent a war between Russia and Turkey. 
 The real object was different ; it was to bring the combined 
 forces of the Holy Alliance to bear to put down the revolu- 
 tionary movement in Spain, as they had already been used to 
 crush out liberty and national life in Italy. The public feeling 
 of England had revolted against the action of the alliance, 
 and there is no reason to doubt that if Londonderry had lived 
 to attend the congress, he would have refused to join in any 
 enterprise to overturn, by foreign arms, the constitution which 
 the Spanish people had obtained. His refusal, however, would 
 have been only a formal protest, coming from a man known 
 to be in general sympathy with the allies, and would not, 
 most probably, have prevented combined action against Spain. 
 Canning spoke in a very different tone, whatever similarity 
 there may have been in the words, and the effect produced 
 was of another kind. 
 
 When the Duke of Wellington was informed that the 
 affairs of Spain would be brought before the congress, he 
 
1827.] Death of Castlereagh to Cannings Premiership. 169 
 
 wrote for instructions.* The reply was, " If there be a deter- 
 mined project to interfere, by force or by menace, in the 
 present struggle in Spain, so convinced are his Majesty's 
 Government of the uselessness and danger of any such inter- 
 ference — so objectionable does it appear to them in principle, 
 as well as utterly impracticable in execution, that when the 
 necessity arises, or, I would rather say, when the opportunity 
 offers, I am to instruct your Grace at' once frankly and peremp- 
 torily to declare that to any such interference, come what 
 may, his Majesty will not be a party." This despatch was 
 written on the 22nd of September, 1822, and it soon became 
 evident that it would have to be acted upon decisively. The 
 King of France had established a military line along the 
 Spanish frontier. ■ This was at first assumed to be merely a 
 cordon sanitaire, to prevent the introduction into France of a 
 virulent fever said to be prevalent in Spain. It was found, 
 however, tliat the real fever dreaded was that of constitutional- 
 ism, or, as the continental monarchs chose to call it, revolution. 
 The French King was bent not only upon stopping the spread 
 of this disease to his own territories, but upon stamping it 
 out in Spain itself by military force, and it was this project 
 which the congress really met to accomplish. On the 20th 
 of October the French minister gave in a paper requiring 
 answers to three questions from the ministers of the allies. 
 The first was whether, if France should be under the necessity 
 of withdrawing her minister from Spain, the other allied 
 powers would do the same. The second inquiry must be 
 given in full, because it set forth not only the action required 
 to be taken, but the principle on which it was to be founded. 
 It ran as follows : — " Should war break out between France 
 and Spain, under what form, and by what acts, would the 
 high powers afford to France that moral support which would 
 give to her measures the weight and authority of the alliance, 
 and inspire a salutary dread into the revolutionists of all 
 
 * The papers were laid before Parliament on the 14th of April, 1823. They 
 are given in the "Annual Register" for 1823, and are summarized in the same 
 volume, pp. 18, ei sej. 
 
I/O History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1822^ 
 
 countries?" The third question was as to the form of the 
 effective assistance which the aUies would give to France, 
 in case active interference should, -on her demand, become 
 necessary. 
 
 To these questions the three continental allies answered, 
 on the 30th of October, that they would act as France should 
 do in respect to their ministers in Spain, and would give to 
 France every countenance and assistance she should require — 
 the cause for such assistance, and the period and the mode 
 of giving it, being reserved to be specified in a treaty. The 
 minister of Great Britain answered, that, having no knowledge 
 of the cause of dispute, and not being able to form a judgment 
 upon an hypothetical case, he could give no answer to any 
 of the questions. France and Spain were both of opinion 
 that this refusal of England prevented the combined inter- 
 ference of the alliance, and practically reduced the difficulty 
 from one involving the whole of Europe to one between the 
 two neighbouring countries. This Canning declared was the 
 first object which he had in view. "The immediate object 
 of England," he said,* "was to hinder the impress of a joint 
 character from being affixed to the war — if war there must 
 be — with Spain ; to take care that the war should not grow 
 out of an assumed jurisdiction of the congress ; to keep 
 within reasonable grounds that predominating Areopagitical 
 spirit which the memorandum of the British Cabinet pf May, 
 1820, describes as beyond the sphere of the original concep- 
 tion and understood principles of the alliance — an alliance 
 never intended as a union for the government of the world, or 
 for the superintendence of the internal affairs of other states." 
 Even with regard to France and Spain there was hope that 
 war might be avoided, and negotiations proceeded during the 
 remainder of 1822 and into the spring of the following year, 
 the good offices of England being sought by Spain and 
 accepted by France. 
 
 Parliament met on the 4th of February, 1823, whilst 
 the dispute was going on, but before it had culminated 
 * Speech in Parliament, 30th of April, 1823. 
 
1827.J Death of Castlereagh to Canning's Premiership- i7f 
 
 in war. Canning, who had accepted office on the 1 1 th of 
 September, had not yet obtained his seat, and for a short time 
 Peel was the leader in the Commons. Further alterations 
 had been made in the Ministry which tended to strengthen 
 Canning's position, Robinson being appointed Chancellor of 
 the Exchequer, and Huskisson President of the Board of 
 Trade. The King's speech, read by commission, contained 
 the following reference to the affairs of Spain : — " Faithful to 
 the principles which his Majesty has promulgated to the 
 world as constituting the rule of his conduct, his Majesty 
 declined being a party to any proceedings at Verona which 
 could be deemed an interference in the internal concerns of 
 Spain on the part of foreign powers. And his Majesty has 
 since used, and continues to use, his most anxious endeavours 
 and good offices to allay the irritation unhappily existing 
 between the French and Spanish governments ; and to avert, 
 if possible, the calamity of war between France and Spain." 
 The interest of Parliament was mainly concentrated on foreign 
 affairs, and was increased by the actual invasion of Spain by 
 the French army. This took place on the 7th of April, and 
 was announced to the French chambers three days afterwards. 
 On the 14th of April the papers relating to the nego- 
 tiations were laid before Parliament ; and on the 28th a debate, 
 which extended over three nights, was commenced in the 
 House of Commons. Canning was then in his place, having 
 been returned for the borough of Harwich. Mr. Macdonald 
 opened the debate on behalf of the opposition, and moved 
 a long resolution, which, among other things, alleged that the 
 failure to preserve peace arose " in a great measure from the 
 failure of his Majesty's ministers to make the most earnest, 
 vigorous, and solemn protest against the right of the sovereigns 
 assembled at Verona to make war on Spain on account of 
 her political institutions, as well as against the subsequent 
 pretensions of the French government to deny that nations 
 can lawfully enjoy any civil privileges but from the spon- 
 taneous grant of their kings ; " and concluded by the proposal 
 "to represent to his Majesty that, in the judgment of this 
 
172 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1822- 
 
 House, a tone of more dignified remonstrance would have 
 been better calculated to preserve the peace of the continent." 
 The resolution said nothing about interfering by force of 
 arms on behalf of Spain against the attack by France, but 
 that was clearly in the minds of many of the opposition, and 
 Mackintosh the Whig and Hobhouse the Radical both spoke 
 in that sense. There was, indeed, so strong a sympathy with 
 Spain under the injustice which had been committed, and 
 with the cause of constitutionalism trampled on by a foreign 
 army, that it naturally carried away the feelings of all Liberals. 
 It was difficult to limit the effect of such sentiments by con- 
 siderations of calmer policy, and by the reflection that non- 
 interference and the preservation of peace were the true 
 objects of Radical policy. Canning was able to answer the 
 attacks which were made upon his proceedings, and to show 
 that his conduct was consistent with a hatred of oppression, 
 with a desire to check the ambition of the Holy Alliance, and 
 with a thorough devotion to constitutional principles. His 
 speech was delivered on the third night of the debate, and 
 produced an extraordinary effect upon the House. The 
 opposition, partly perhaps in order to limit the victory of the 
 minister, but mainly because they accepted the principles 
 which he enunciated and were convinced of his sincerity in 
 their vindication, endeavoured to avoid a division. Brougham 
 recommended the withdrawal of the resolution, and when the 
 House would not allow that, it was negatived without a 
 division ; but when the amendment proposed on behalf of the 
 Government came to be put, there was an exciting scene. 
 There were cries of "Aye," but none of opposition. Some 
 ministerialists, however, anxious that a division should take 
 place, called out that the " Noes " had it. The Speaker thereon 
 ordered those who wished to vote for the amendment to go 
 into the lobby, and those who meant to vote against it to 
 remain in the House. There was immediately a- general rush 
 to the lobby, opposition and ministerial members alike anxious 
 to vote, and, but for the lobby being too small to contain 
 them all, the decision would have been unanimous. As it 
 
1827.] Death of Castlereagh to Cannings Premiership. 173 
 
 was, twenty members, who could not find room in the lobby, 
 formed an unwilling minority, 372 votes being recorded in 
 favour of the amendment. 
 
 After this Canning had no further trouble in the House of 
 Commons on account of his foreign policy. His real oppo- 
 nents sat with him in the Cabinet, and their enmity was not 
 likely to be lessened by the fact that the ultra-Liberals 
 warmly supported the action of their obnoxious colleague. 
 The disintegration of the Tory party went on all the more 
 rapidly because of the public triumph of the foreign secretary. 
 The old ministers had their revenge in seeing the differences 
 which were excited between Canning and the Whigs by the 
 conduct which he was compelled to pursue with regard to the 
 Catholic question. He could not make concession on this 
 point a condition of joining the Cabinet, and he well knew 
 that the formation of any other Ministry accepting emancipa- 
 tion as a part of its programme was impossible. He could 
 only do as Pitt had done before him, and as Castlereagh had 
 done throughout his whole late career — accept the situation, 
 retaining his freedom of speech and vote on the subject. 
 
 When, however, he went a little further than this, and 
 advised that the question should not be pressed forward in 
 that session, he aroused the indignation of some of the Whigs 
 and Radicals. Burdett, protesting against the position which 
 Canning had taken, formally withdrew from what he said was 
 a useless discussion.* Brougham was more violent, and 
 declared that Canning had " exhibited a specimen, the most 
 incredible specimen, of monstrous truckling, for the purpose of 
 obtaining office, that the whole history of political tergiversa- 
 tion could furnish." When he had reached this point. Canning 
 started to his feet, exclaiming, " I rise to say that this is 
 false ! " A scene followed, which was only closed by one of 
 those arrangements which seem so absurd, and yet are almost 
 indispensable in such a case, wherein Brougham said that he 
 applied the description not to Canning personally — for he 
 entertained the highest respect, and so on — but politically ; 
 * The debate was oii the 17th of April, 1823. 
 
J 74 History, of the Radical Party in Parliament. [18^2- 
 
 and tlie minister accepted the explanation. The end of the 
 business was that the emancipation question was not raised 
 again during the session. 
 
 On other subjects in the course of the year the Radicals 
 made themselves heard, and the Whigs became increasingly 
 Liberal. The popularity of Canning in the House of Com- 
 mons made competition with him there impossible, and it was 
 only by insisting upon those points wherein he remained true 
 to Tory principles that the Whigs could rally any public 
 support. Russell continued his action on behalf of Parlia- 
 mentary reform, and his views were widening so fast, and the 
 influence of Lambton upon his policy was so evident, that the 
 lead of the question was given to the young Whig lord. On 
 the 20th of February Lord John moved for a committee to 
 inquire into the right of voting and the number of persons 
 entitled to vote in cities and boroughs, but was defeated by 
 1 28 votes to 90. On the 24th of April he brought on the ques- 
 tion in a more direct form, moving, in the same terms which 
 he had used in the previous session, " That the present state 
 of the representation of the people in Parliament requires the 
 most serious consideration of this House." He was again 
 defeated, but the large number of votes, 280 to 169, gave evi- 
 dence of the continued importance attached to the subject. 
 
 Two questions were raised this session, both of which were 
 destined to lead to years of discussion and strife, and to affect 
 very materially the policy and fortunes of EngHsh parties^ 
 One of these related to the Established Church in Ireland, on 
 which, on the 4th of March, Hume moved four resolutions of 
 a character sufficiently startling to the politicians of that day. 
 The first declared the property of the Church of Ireland to be 
 public property, under the control and at the disposal of the 
 legislature, for the support of religion and for such other 
 purposes as Parliament in its wisdom might deem beneficial 
 to the community, due attention being paid to the rights of 
 every person then enjoying any part of that property ; the 
 second called for an inquiry whether the establishment was 
 not more than commensurate to the services it performed • 
 
i827.] Death of Castlereagh to Cannings Premiership. ly^ 
 
 the third was in favour of a commutation of tithes in Ireland ; 
 and the fourth proposed the appointment of a committee to 
 consider how the objects set forth could be best carried into 
 effect. These propositions, of course, aroused a storm of oppo- 
 sition, and the cries were raised about confiscation and spoli- 
 ation which have since been used when the principles, which 
 then seemed so daring, came to be carried into actual opera- 
 tion. The first, third, and fourth resolutions were negatived 
 without a division ; but on the second Hume obtained the 
 votes of sixty-two members.* 
 
 The corn laws formed Ijie other subject which, being once 
 subjected to Liberal criticisms, could not again be closed until, 
 under a reformed Parliament, public opinion became too 
 strong to be resisted. On the 26th of February Mr. Whit- 
 more, one of the members for Bridgnorth, moved for leave to 
 bring in a bill to amend the corn lawff. His proposal was to 
 lower the import price two shillings a year until it came down 
 to sixty shillings a quarter, for he believed that the quantity 
 of corn which might be brought into our markets when the 
 price was so low as sixty shillings would be but trifling. 
 Huskisson, the President of the Board of Trade; approved of 
 the principle, but thought the time not suitable for its appli- 
 cation, and advised the withdrawal of the motion. This was 
 opposed and a division taken, the result being the rejection 
 of the motion by seventy-eight to twenty-five. In the 
 minority the Radical votes were prominent, Hume acting as 
 teller with Whitmore, and Hobhouse and Ricardo supporting 
 them. 
 
 The modern free-trade policy, which has been so fruitful 
 in social and political results, received its earliest impulse at 
 this time from the action of Canning and Huskisson. The 
 Warehousing Bill, the Reciprocity of Duties Bill, and the Beer 
 Bill all had for their object the modification, or removal of 
 fiscal or protective interference with trade. That this policy 
 was not adopted without. strong opposition in the Cabinet 
 might be assumed, and one evidence was given publicly of 
 • The numberswere — Ayes, 62 ; Noes, 167. 
 
176 History of the Radical Party in Parliatnent. [1822- 
 
 the fact. Huskisson, on the 9th of May, obtained leave to 
 bring in a bill to repeal the Spitalfields Acts, which gave 
 magistrates the power to fix the wages of journeymen silk- 
 workers. The measure was carried through the House of 
 Commons ; but in the Lords, although it was supported by 
 the Premier, it was strongly opposed by the Lord Chancellor, 
 and rejected. 
 
 In these various directions, we see that public opinion was 
 making itself felt even in the Parliament which so indirectly, 
 and to so limited an extent, represented the people. Outside, 
 the fact was impressed more and more upon the popular 
 mind, that whilst on many vital subjects alteration and 
 reform were necessary, yet that substantial progress was 
 hopeless without some change in the constitution of the 
 legislature. This opinion had, during the recess, been ex- 
 pressed by county meetings all over the country, and the 
 proceedings in Parliament during the session of the year 1823 
 were calculated to give it both strength and courage. 
 
 The Spanish question continued to engage attention and 
 to embitter the relations between different sections of the 
 Cabinet. The French army had marched without opposition 
 through Spain, and had enabled the King to alter the con- 
 stitution. This had been regarded with the utmost dislike 
 by every Liberal politician in England. France, however, 
 asserted the disinterested nature of her interference, and the 
 British Government maintained its neutrality. There were 
 two consequences of the invasion, howeveV, which threatened 
 to render this position untenable. One was the position of 
 Portugal, to which country the reactionists of Spain looked 
 with hatred, and they desired to inflict upon the constitution 
 there the same injury which France had done to their own. 
 But England was bound, no less by treaties than by inclina- 
 tion, to preserve the independence of Portugal, and Canning 
 had given notice that this duty would be performed at any 
 cost. On the other side, the French were anxious to put 
 down the revolutionary risings which had taken place in the 
 South American colonies of Spain, and to restore them to the 
 
1 827.] Death of Castlereagh to Cannings Premiership. 177 
 
 subjection which they had thrown off. Here again Canning 
 was firm. Early in the negotiations he had denied the 
 right of European monarchs to decide under what form of 
 government the Americans should live ; and, whilst recog- 
 nizing the right of Spain to preserve her hold upon the 
 colonies if she could, he refused to acknowledge the transfer 
 of that right to the foreign power which for a time was 
 dominant in her territory. He said, "We will not inter- 
 fere with Spain in any attempt she may make to reconquer 
 what were once her colonics, but we will not permit 
 any third power to attack them or to reconquer them for 
 her." 
 
 A further and more decisive step was taken in August, 
 1823. An application had been made by merchants _ that 
 commercial agents should be appointed to protect British 
 interests in South America. On the 22nd of August an 
 answer was sent by direction of Canning, which stated that 
 the subject was under consideration ; and shortly afterwards 
 consuls and consuls-general were appointed to the principal 
 stations in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chili, and Buenos Ayres,* 
 and this was the first step towards the recognition of inde- 
 pendence. What is most interesting to us is to learn that in 
 all these resolutions in favour of national liberty. Canning had 
 to meet the determined and persistent opposition of Eldon, 
 Sidmouth, and their friends. Harriet Martineau, speaking of 
 Canning's trials at this time, says, " He met with almost as 
 much resistance at home as abroad ; he was twice on the 
 verge of retiring from office, before he finally achieved the 
 recognition of South American independence. Up to this 
 time Lord Sidmouth had retained a seat in the Cabinet 
 without office ; he now resigned it, partly because he could 
 not agree with those of his colleagues who advocated the 
 immediate recognition by his Majesty of the independence of 
 Buenos Ayres." f Thus was the old party of resistance to 
 Liberalism shaken internally, and rendered unable to meet 
 
 * " Annnal Register," 1823, p. 146. 
 
 t "History of the Thirty Years' Peace," vol. i. p. 299. 
 
 N 
 
178 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1822- 
 
 the attacks which were to be made upon its policy, alike in 
 home and foreign affairs. 
 
 The year 1824 was not fruitful in discussions or divisions 
 which tested or affected the strength of parties. One ques- 
 tion, however, was dealt with in Parliament which only a 
 Radical like Hume would have brought forward. That 
 indefatigable man moved, on the 12th of February, for a 
 committee to inquire into the laws concerning artisans and 
 machinery. Three points were submitted for their considera- 
 tion : first, the state of the combination laws ; second, the 
 propriety of legalizing the emigration of artisans ; and third, 
 the expediency of permitting the exportation of machinery. 
 In their report, submitted on the 21st of May, the committee 
 recommended such a modification of the combination laws as 
 amounted to a virtual abrogation of them, and a direct and 
 total repeal of those Acts which prohibited artisans from 
 leaving this kingdom to exercise their callings in foreign 
 countries. As to the exportation of machinery, the committee 
 recommended that further inquiry should be made in a future 
 session. In accordance with the recommendations of the 
 committee, two Acts were passed.* The first abolished all 
 the old regulations of the combination laws, whilst it provided 
 for the severe punishment of those who .should attempt to 
 influence or overawe by violence or intimidation. The second 
 repealed the old laws against the emigration of artisans. 
 
 Hume's activity was not restricted to this one object, nor 
 to the constant efforts he made to reduce the expenditure 
 and redress financial abuses. Whilst debates about the 
 grievances of the Roman Catholics of Ireland went on with- 
 out result, he struck at the foundation of the whole evil by 
 declaring that the only course which could be pursued with 
 advantage was " to break up the Irish Church entirely." He 
 afterwards moved — " That it is expedient to inquire whether 
 the present Church Establishment of Ireland be not more 
 than commensurate to the services to be performed, both as 
 regards the number of persons employed and the incomes 
 * XCV. and XCVII. of 4 and 5 George IV. 
 
1827.] Death of Castlereagh to Canning's Premiership. 179 
 
 they receive." For this resolution he obtained more votes 
 than was expected, the numbers being — Ayes, 79 ; Noes, 153. 
 Scarcely any Irish members voted in the minority, the Pro- 
 testant and Church interest only being represented in Parlia- 
 ment. Hobhouse was scarcely less energetic than Hume ; 
 he supported the member for Aberdeen, acting as teller with 
 him in the division on the motion for prohibiting corporal 
 punishment in the army,* and himself repeating his proposal 
 to abolish the window tax. By these means many of the 
 objects on which improvement was required were kept before 
 the public, and the reason for seeking for Parliamentary 
 reform was made more and more evident. 
 
 The most important events of the year 1824 were the forma- 
 tion and proceedings of the Catholic Association in Ireland, the 
 first open meeting of which was held in January. For twenty- 
 four years the Catholics had waited the redemption of the 
 pledges given when the Act of Union was passed, and had 
 waited in vain. It is true that the cause had gained strength 
 in the House of Commons, where a majority had been 
 recorded, and that in the Peers the majority against it had 
 been decreased. If the subject had been a merely speculative 
 one, in which the growth of opinion could be left to make 
 its way, so that with intellectual conviction the thing would 
 be settled, this state of things might have been encouraging. 
 The case, however, was altogether different. Whilst English 
 parties were debating, a whole nation was kept in a state of 
 subjection to laws which were of the most unjust and dis- 
 graceful character. The national religion was not only 
 discouraged, but the profession of it was made the cause of 
 entire political disfranchisement, whilst the Church of the 
 alien minority was upheld at the cost of the nation which 
 repudiated it. Vested interests, theological prejudices, firmly 
 rooted traditions, were united in defence of the injustice. The 
 Crown, the Peerage, the Church, were allied with the organized 
 power of the governing class to resist change ; and against 
 such a combination it would require more than a mere 
 * On the iSth March, when the numbers were 47 for, and 127 against. 
 
i8o History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1822- 
 
 occasional vote in the House of Commons to force a practica 
 solution of the difficulty. It became evident to the Irish 
 leaders, that if it were left to the decision of English parties 
 in the English Parliament, their cause, so far as their own 
 generation was concerned, was hopeless. So they naturally 
 and wisely determined to take the case into their own hands, 
 and to obtain by the force of a national agitation what they 
 had vainly asked from a sense of justice. 
 
 The time was well chosen for the establishment of the 
 Association. The strength of the cause in the House of Com- 
 mons, although not sufficient to carry the proposed relief, was 
 a powerful auxiliary, which was likely to become strll 
 stronger as the agitation outside grew more active. The 
 division amongst ministers, if it could not lead to the 
 formation of a Cabinet pledged to emancipation, prevented 
 the possibility of framing one which should unanimously 
 oppose that policy. There could be no union and no peace 
 among English statesmen until the question was- disposed of, 
 and it could be finally settled only in one way. As if to 
 encourage the Irish people in their agitation, the division 
 which existed in the Government in England was marked 
 and illustrated by differences in the Irish administration, in 
 which one minister favoured, and one opposed, emancipation. 
 This in itself was a concession to the popular feeling which 
 invited further manifestations of its power. It was more than 
 this, for it was a virtual admission of the justice of the 
 demand, since otherwise no Ministry could have consented to 
 the appointment, as lord-lieutenant, of a nobleman who was 
 one of its advocates. The continued resistance of the extreme 
 Tory party and their representatives in the Peers was under 
 these conditions equal to a statement that justice and policy 
 were alike unavailing against prejudices, bigotry, and class 
 interests. It was the beginning of a system to which we have 
 since become only too well accustomed, whereby agitation is 
 resisted until it threatens to become revolution, and con- 
 cessions are made to fear which are refused to reason and 
 justice. 
 
1827.] Death of Castlereagh to Cannings Premiership. 181 
 
 Agitation of a violent kind was the more natural before 
 the passing of the Emancipation and Reform Acts, because the 
 majority of the Catholic population were absolutely without 
 any representation in the Parliament which had the control of 
 their fortunes. The Association stood forv^ard on their behalf, 
 and it did directly represent the people in whose name it 
 acted. Just at this time, too, a great leader presented himself 
 who could stir the enthusiasm of his followers and fearlessly 
 attack their opponents. The time was coming when Daniel 
 O'Connell was to be an active element in national politics, 
 ranging himself often with the Radicals in opposition to the 
 Whigs: but at present he appears only as the champion of the 
 cause of his own oppressed countrymen. Under his leader- 
 ship the Catholic Association rapidly grew in power and 
 importance, having much more influence in Ireland than was 
 possessed by the imperial Parliament. During the first year 
 of its existence it held regular sessions in Dublin, nominated 
 committees, received petitions, referred them to a committee 
 of grievance, ordered a census of the population to be taken, 
 and even proceeded to levy a tax upon the people. It 
 assessed the cities, towns, and parishes, appointing collectors 
 in every district for the receipt of a tax which they called 
 " Catholic rent." * What alarmed the Government not less 
 than its success in directing agitation, was the ability of the 
 Association to ensure an obedience to the law which its ordinary 
 adminstrators could not effect. At the bidding of the Asso- 
 ciation ribbon brotherhoods and secret societies of all kinds 
 ceased their operations, agrarian crime disappeared ; the whole 
 energy of the people was bent, in obedience to their leaders, 
 upon accomplishing the one object of emancipation. 
 
 The speech with which the Parliamentary session of 1825 
 was opened on the 3rd of February, contained references to three 
 subjects of great interest : the formal recognition of the inde- 
 pendence of some of the Spanish South American colonies ; 
 the success of and the propriety of extending the free trade 
 policy recently commenced ; and the position and objects of 
 
 * "Annual Register," 1824, p. 42. 
 
1 82 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1822- 
 
 the Catholic Association. In the debate on the address, 
 Brougham declared that with regard to the first two points— 
 the South American colonies and free trade— the policy 
 which the Government had at last adopted was that which 
 the opposition had 'long advocated, and was only an accept- 
 ance of Liberal principles. This was true, but it was no less 
 true that, but for Canning's wisdom and courage, both principles 
 would have had to wait much longer for adoption. As it was, 
 every step he took was accompanied by obstruction and 
 animosity in the Cabinet, and was, in fact, leading to the 
 break-up of the party in whose name he was acting. 
 
 The Act obtained by Hume in the session of 1824, for 
 repealing the laws against the combination of artisans, hfid 
 been followed by violent proceedings in many parts of the 
 country, which alarmed capitalists and forced themselves upon 
 the attention of Government. The terms in which the restraints 
 of the common law had been removed were too sweeping, and 
 doubtless encouraged ignorant men to follow illegal and 
 dangerous courses. So there was panic where there had been 
 sudden liberality, and on the 29th of March, 1825, Huskisson 
 moved for a committee to inquire into the working of the 
 Act. The committee recommended the repeal of the law of 
 last session, and the enactment of provisions by which the 
 action of the common law was restored, with the condition 
 that an exception should be made to its operation in favour 
 of meetings and consultations amongst either masters or 
 workmen, the object of which was peaceably to consult upon 
 the rate of wages to be either given or received, and to agree 
 to co-operate with each other in endeavouring to raise or 
 lower it, or to settle the hours of labour. Combinations to 
 control employers by moral violence were again subjected to 
 the common law. Hume and Burdett both protested, and 
 with reason, that sufficient time had not been allowed to judge 
 of the permanent effect of the new law, but the recommenda- 
 tions of the committee were carried by large majorities. 
 
 It was the Catholic question which engrossed the chief 
 attention of Parliament during the session, and the first form 
 
1827.] Death of Castlereagh to Canning's Premiership. 183 
 
 in which it was raised was an attack by Government upon the 
 Association. The King's speech had stated, after referring 
 to other Irish matters, " It is, therefore, the more to be regretted 
 that associations should exist in Ireland which have adopted 
 proceedings irreconcilable with the spirit of the Constitution, 
 and calculated, by exciting alarm and exasperating animosities, 
 to endanger the peace of society and to retard the course of 
 national improvement. His Majesty relies upon your wisdom 
 to consider without delay the means of applying a remedy to 
 this evil." When the speech was under discussion, Brougham 
 declared that at every stage of the proposed bill, on the first 
 readlng^ — nay, on the introduction of papers — "he for one 
 would take his stand, and offer every opposition which he 
 could to what appeared to him to be an enormous mischief, 
 bottomed in the grossest injustice," 
 
 In his reply to this speech. Canning made use of some 
 very remarkable expressions. Brougham had invited him, 
 with respect to the Catholic and the South American questions, 
 to cut himself off from the illiberal members of the Government. 
 " What," he asked, " had a minister to fear, with this House, 
 these benches, the country, all England at his back ? " Canning 
 could not deny the existence of differences in the Cabinet, but 
 he said that Brougham was wrong as to their character. The 
 line which was frequently drawn between the supposed Liberals 
 and lUiberals of the Cabinet council was by no means a 
 straight, but a serpentine line. As regarded the Catholic 
 question, it was nearly straight and direct ; but wherever habit 
 did not arbitrarily prevail, or personal honour was not pledged, 
 the members brought their minds to the discussion totally 
 disengaged. " The project of breaking up the Cabinet and 
 forming a completely new one from the different benches of 
 that House, would be found not very easy in practice." He 
 was before long to find the task terribly difficult — impossible, 
 indeed, except at a cost of anxiety and labour which broke 
 down his powers and ended only with his life. That he 
 was induced now to speak of it at all, was a proof that his 
 thoughts were exercised as to his future position, and his 
 
1 84 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1822- 
 
 doing so must have been significant to some of his col- 
 leagues. 
 
 On the loth of February Goulburn moved for leave to 
 bring in the bill which was intended to suppress the Catholic 
 Association. The motion led to a debate which lasted over 
 four evenings. It was on the last night, the 15th of February, 
 that Canning made the great speech in which, whilst defending 
 his opposition to the Catholic Association, he gave a history, 
 called for by attacks which had been made upon him, of the 
 devotion with which he had supported the cause of emancipa- 
 tion, and the sacrifices which he had made on its behalf. He 
 described how, in 1812, he had refused office when it would 
 have been most acceptable to him, rather than enter into 
 an administration pledged against the Catholic question ; and 
 how he had been compelled, in consequence of his continued 
 adhesion to the principle, to give up another long-cherished 
 hope. " From the earliest dawn of my public life — ay, from 
 the first visions of youthful ambition — that ambition had been 
 directed to one object above all others. Before that object 
 all others vanished into comparative insignificance ; it was 
 desirable to me beyond all the blandishments of power, 
 beyond all the rewards and favours of the Crown. That 
 object was to represent in this House the university in which 
 I was educated. I had a fair chance of accomplishing this 
 object, when the Catholic question crossed my way. I was 
 warned, fairly and kindly warned, that my adoption of that 
 cause would blast my prospect. I adhered to the Catholic 
 cause, and forfeited all my long-cherished hopes and expecta- 
 tions." This speech created a deep impression. It was felt 
 that a cause for which such a man had made such sacrifices 
 could not be much longer postponed. 
 
 The Act was passed ; the Government and the legislature 
 had done their worst. National attention had been called to 
 the Association ; it had been threatened, and it survived in 
 essence, having only to change its name and alter some of its 
 methods of action. O'Connell afterwards said that there was 
 no Act of Parliament through which a coach-and-four could 
 
1827.] Death of Castkreagh to Canning's Premiership. 185 
 
 not be driven, and certainly this particular measure did not 
 stop the progress of the Irish agitation. The very House of 
 Commons which had thought it necessary to vindicate the 
 law by the Act against the Association, thought itself bound 
 to promote the object which the society was established to 
 secure. On the ist of March Burdett moved that the House 
 resolve itself into committee to consider the state of the laws 
 affecting Roman Catholics, and the motion was carried by 
 247 votes to 234. Six resolutions were then passed, and a 
 bill founded upon them was ordered to be brought in by 
 Burdett, Tierney, Grant, Plunkett, Mackintosh, Canning, 
 Palmerston, H. Parnell, Abercrombie, and Spring Rice. Of 
 these ten, four were members of the Government, one of them 
 being the leader of the House of Commons, and this in itself 
 formed an important advantage to the cause of emancipation. 
 On the 23rd of March the bill was brought in by Burdett. It 
 proposed to abolish Catholic disabilities ; to make a State 
 provision for Catholic ministers, and as a set-off in favour of 
 the Protestant Irish, to raise the county franchise in Ireland 
 from forty shillings to ten pounds. 
 
 The bill passed the House of Commons, the second reading 
 being carried on the 21st of April, by 268 to 241, and the third 
 reading on the loth of May, by 248 to 227. Between the two 
 dates an event took place which might have been attended with 
 serious consequences, but which, mainly owing to the strong 
 common sense of the nation, merely produced a transient 
 effect. This was no less than an attempt — the last one which 
 has been made in this country — to interpose the royal prero- 
 gative between the nation and the execution of its will. The 
 effort was made not by the actual occupant of the throne, but 
 by the heir presumptive ; and it was fortunate that it was so, 
 since the danger of a collision between Crown and Parliament 
 was rendered the more remote, and ultimately avoided. It 
 was after the second reading of the bill in the Lower House, 
 that the Duke of York rose in the House of Lords and made 
 a declaration of his determination to oppose that and any 
 similar measure. He asserted that his view of the coronation 
 
1 86 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1822- 
 
 oath was that which was taken by his father, and would 
 forbid him ever to assent to a proposition for the removal of 
 the Catholic disabilities. He concluded with the statement 
 that " these were the principles to which he would adhere, and 
 which he would maintain and act up to, to the latest moment 
 of his existence, whatever might be his situation of life— so 
 help him God ! " 
 
 Such a proceeding as this might, a few years later, have 
 precipitated the revolution, the fear of which drove Wellington 
 and Peel to desert the cause they had so long upheld. This 
 was avoided, but the duke's speech led to complications and 
 to increased activity on both sides of the dispute. It was on 
 the 25th of April that it was delivered, and on the very next 
 night Brougham entered a very spirited protest against it in 
 the House of Commons. He urged the House to proceed 
 with the bill with the more earnestness and vigour, since delay 
 might lead to serious consequences. " There was not," he 
 said, " an hour to be lost, for the time might come when even 
 such a majority would be ineffectual ; and when the unani- 
 mous vote of both Houses of Parliament, joined to the 
 expression of opinion from the whole country, would have no 
 other consequence than to lead to an irreparable breach with 
 the Crown." But whilst the speech was used as an incite- 
 ment to speedy action by the friends of emancipation, it 
 served to encourage the opponents to a more vigorous resist- 
 ance. This was seen when the bill reached the House of 
 Lords, where it was defeated on the second reading by 178 
 to 130. There was no further attempt to raise the question 
 in that Parliament. 
 
 In the early part of the year 1826 there was a good deal 
 of activity in the House of Commons. It was felt that an 
 early dissolution was to be expected, and the commercial 
 crisis which had followed upon an era of the wildest specu- 
 lation was spreading distress amongst all classes of the 
 community. The subjects of the corn laws, the national 
 expenditure, and Parliamentary reform were sure to receive 
 attention at such a time. Parliament met on the 2nd of 
 
1827.] Death of Castlereagh to Cannings Premiership. 187 
 
 February, and lively discussions soon took place. Hume was 
 particularly active. On the 9th of March he presented a 
 petition praying for an alteration of the corn laws, which Mr. 
 Curwen met with the statement which now seems perfectly 
 incomprehensible, that "if permission were given to import 
 corn into this country without restriction, the result of it would 
 be visible in a few years in the production of a famine." Mr. 
 Whitmore moved, on the i8th of April, for a committee to 
 consider the propriety of a revision of the corn laws, but was 
 defeated by 2 1 5 votes to 81. Ministers opposed Whitmore's 
 motion; but the pressure of distress became great, and 
 threatened to grow still more severe, and after prolonged dis- 
 cussions in both Houses they passed two temporary bills — one 
 to permit bonded corn to be taken out for home consumption, 
 and the other to admit not more than 500,000 quarters of 
 foreign corn for home consumption under certain limitations. 
 During the recess these provisions were found to be insufficient 
 to meet the emergency, and Government had to take further 
 action on its own responsibility. 
 
 Financial questions were frequently discussed, and Hume 
 took his full share in the debates. On the z)th of May he 
 made a formal motion on the state of the nation, preceded 
 by a string of forty-five resolutions touching upon almost every 
 topic connected with the state and management of the finances. 
 Such a proceeding gave no opportunity of a practical issue, 
 but it served to call the attention of the country, on the eve of 
 an election, to subjects of the gravest importance. Hobhouse 
 also took a share in the efforts to promote economy, moving 
 for a reduction of the army, and obtaining thirty-four votes 
 for the proposal. 
 
 Lord John Russell again brought forward the question of 
 Parliamentary reform on the 27th of April, when he moved — 
 " That the present state of the representation of the people in 
 Parliament requires the serious consideration of this House." 
 Lord Althorpe seconded the resolution, and Hobhouse made 
 a long and able speech in its favour ; but it was lost by 247 
 votes to 123. 
 
1 88 History of the Radical Party in Parliatnent. [1822- 
 
 The Parliament which could not deal with the great reli- 
 gious subject which agitated Ireland, found time during its last 
 session to pass an Act relating to the not less fruitful cause 
 of anxiety, the tenure of the land in that country. The statute 
 7th George IV. c. 29 was " An Act to amend the law of Ire- 
 land respecting the assignments and sub-letting of lands and 
 tenements," and its object was to prevent the sub-letting of 
 property by a lessee, whether the original lease did or did not 
 contain a covenant against sub-letting. The point to be 
 noticed with respect to this Act is, that it formed one of the 
 continued series of attempts to assimilate the Irish land laws 
 to those of England, although the customs and the facts 
 underlying them were essentially different. The Irish tenant 
 had a right of property in his holding quite unlike that of an 
 English farmer, and legislation of this sort was an attempt 
 to interfere with the exercise of the right, which, however it 
 might seem to English economists to be wise and prudent, 
 was essentially unjust. Such a method of treating the land 
 question was merely a preparation for trouble in the future. 
 It was carried easily, of course, for there was no representative 
 of the Irish tenantry in the House of Commons, and no land- 
 lord thought it wrong to support the interests of his class, or 
 had an idea that any system of land tenure which differed 
 from that of England could be worthy of respect. This deep- 
 rooted cause of dissatisfaction in Ireland did not make itself 
 felt in the Radical party at the time ; but after emancipation, 
 and when even a portion of the tenant farmers obtained the 
 franchise, it became a political element of great importance. 
 
 The session was closed on the 31st of May, and on the 2nd 
 of June Parliament was formally dissolved, the writs for the 
 election to be returnable on the 2Sth of July. The general 
 election which followed was not marked by any striking 
 events likely to affect the balance of parties. Any direct 
 addition to the ranks of avowed Radicalism was not to be 
 expected ; the conditions of the suffrage and the character of 
 the constituencies rendered that impossible. Cobbett and 
 Hunt both offered themselves, the one for Preston and the 
 
1&2J.] Death of Castlereagh to Canning's Premiership. 189 
 
 other for Somersetshire, but rather by way of protest or 
 demonstration than with any hope of success. One new 
 member was returned who became an active Radical, and was 
 afterwards a leader of the extreme section of Chartists. This 
 was T. S. Buncombe, who obtained a seat for Hertford, and 
 was at once received as an important friend to the cause of 
 Parliamentary reform. ' He was a curious instance of the 
 sources from which for the time the Radical ranks could alone 
 be recruited. Vehement in his desire to extend the political 
 power of the people, his advocacy did not arise from any 
 personal connection with them, either by descent or associa- 
 tion. A member of an old county family, himself an officer 
 in the Guards, and accustomed to all the habits and modes of 
 thought which such surroundings would be likely to form, he 
 was able to obtain a seat in spite of opinions which kept out 
 Cartwright and Cobbett, and other old and earnest reformers. 
 He remained to the end an exceptional man, always what was 
 called a social swell, yet always a thorough and consistent 
 Radical. That his services were less valuable towards the end 
 of his career than was expected by some of his friends, was 
 owing more to the effects of his imprudent social and private 
 life than to any alteration of his political opinions or inten- 
 tions. 
 
 What could be done by the election was to place before the 
 country the measures which a truly Liberal policy would pro- 
 mote, so that the public mind might gradually prepare itself 
 for action when the time came. Of these subjects, those which 
 were most insisted upon during the contest were the corn 
 laws and Catholic emancipation.* The discussions brought 
 immediate loss rather than gain to the Liberal side of the 
 House. The Radicals, it is true, suffered no defeat, Burdett 
 and Hobhouse being again returned for Westminster, Wilson 
 for Southwark, and Hume for Aberdeen ; but the Whigs met 
 with some serious reverses, the Bedford interest especially 
 receiving a decided check, and some of the northern counties 
 rallying to the Ministry. The fact was that the appeal of the 
 * "Annual Register," 1826, pp. 169, et seq. 
 
I90 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1822- 
 
 Duke of York, and of the old Tory faction on behalf of 
 resistance to the Catholics, was responded to by the owners 
 of seats, and whatever was the opinion of the people generally, 
 the voters had to obey the commands of their masters. So 
 that, as was seen when Parliament met, the cause of emanci- 
 pation lost ground by the election. 
 
 The case of the corn laws was 'different. The pressure 
 caused by the commercial distress, added to the fear of a 
 bad harvest, was so great, a positive famine being threatened, 
 that ministers were compelled to exceed their constitutional 
 powers, and to open the ports to some classes of foreign corn 
 without waiting for the return of the price averages. Such a 
 course made a special meeting of Parliament necessary, a fact 
 which helped to concentrate public opinion upon the laws, 
 which could only be maintained at the cost of national suffer- 
 ing, and to escape the natural results of which the constitution 
 had to be violated. 
 
 The new Parliament met on the 14th of November, and, 
 the preliminary formalities disposed of, the King opened the 
 session by a speech, in which he said, " I have called you 
 together at this time for the special purpose of communicating 
 to you the measures which I judged necessary to take in the 
 month of September for the admission into the ports of the 
 United Kingdom of certain sorts of foreign grain, not then 
 admissible by law." This being the only business to be 
 brought forward, there was no real trial of the strength of 
 parties. On the address being moved, Hume proposed an 
 amendment dealing with Ireland, the corn laws, and Par- 
 liamentary reform, but only obtained twenty-four votes in its 
 favour. The bills of indemnity passed without serious dis- 
 cussion, but it was announced that ministers proposed to deal 
 further with the question of the corn laws when the House 
 met again after Christmas. 
 
 Before the adjournment took place, an important interna- 
 tional difficulty arose which had to be dealt with and explained 
 to Parliament. A new constitution had been established 
 in Portugal which was very distasteful to the reactionary 
 
1827.] Death of Castlereagh to Cannings Premiership. 191 
 
 government of Spain. When opponents of the reform in 
 Portugal itself took up arms and were defeated they retired 
 into Spain, where, instead of being interned, they were 
 organized, rearmed, and sent back to continue the civil war 
 in their own country. This course was continued so long and 
 so systematically as to form a virtual invasion of Portugal, 
 with the object of changing by external force its form of 
 government. Against such attacks England was bound by 
 treaties to protect her ancient ally, and although Canning had 
 been averse to interfere by arms when the French invaded 
 Spain, he did not shrink from the undoubted responsibility 
 which now devolved upon him. After repeated remonstrances 
 to the court of Madrid, it was decided to send an expedition 
 to the Tagus, and this form of protest was at once effectual. 
 The Spanish Government withdrew from its indefensible 
 position, and Portugal was left free to conduct her own 
 internal policy. One effect of these proceedings was to 
 strengthen Canning's position, both in Parliament and in the 
 country. This made it more than ever impracticable that 
 a Ministry could be formed without him, and thus rendered 
 more unavoidable a disruption in the Tory party which could 
 not but serve the cause of Liberalism. The ministeral defence 
 of the Portugal policy was made in both Houses on the 12th 
 of December, and on the following day an adjournment was 
 made till the 8th of February. 
 
 The year 1827 opened amidst a political calm which did 
 not at all presage the violent events which marked its course. 
 The commercial storm was subsiding, a good harvest had 
 removed the danger of scarcity of food, and the Ministry had 
 agreed and had pledged itself so to deal with the corn laws 
 as to reduce their stringency and to increase the freedom of 
 trade to which they formed so serious an impediment. With 
 regard to the question of Catholic emancipation, there was 
 to be expected the usual contest between parties, if not 
 between the two Houses. The death of the Duke of York, 
 which took place on the 5th of January, removed one element 
 of difficulty even in this matter, since it was no longer 
 
192 History of tke Radical Party in Parliament. [1822- 
 
 necessary to force 011 a decision for fear that the next 
 occupant of the throne might attempt to interpose his veto 
 between the decision of Parliament and its proper result. 
 There was every appearance, therefore, that a quiet and 
 business-like session would be held. Never were appearances 
 more strikingly falsified by events. 
 
 In accordance with the terms of the adjournment. Parlia- 
 ment met on the 8th of February, and Lord Liverpool gave 
 notice that on the 19th of that month he would introduce the 
 Corn Bill in the House of Lords. On the 12th the Premier 
 moved the address to the King on the death of the Duke of 
 York, but a few days after he was attacked by a paralytic 
 stroke, from the effects of which he never recovered. Some 
 relief of the more acute symptoms was obtained, but it soon 
 became evident that his public life was closed. This sudden 
 event precipitated that division of the Ministry and disruption 
 of th6 Tory party which had long been preparing, and which 
 no other influence than that of Lord Liverpool was able to 
 prevent. Length of office, respectability of character, and 
 equability of disposition, made it possible for him not only to 
 unite in his Cabinet men of divergent and even of conflicting 
 opinions, but to induce them to work together in the pursuit 
 of a common policy. It was on his persuasion that Canning 
 had consented to enter a Cabinet in which the chief and the 
 majority were opposed to him on the Catholic question. 
 There was no one left who could do as Liverpool had done ; 
 no one under whom the diff'ering sections of the Ministry 
 could all be induced to work. From his position in the 
 Cabinet and in the confidence of the House of Commons, 
 Canning had the first claim to the premiership. But Eldon 
 and Wellington and Peel were all resolved not to serve under 
 him, with his views on the great subject. It was true that he 
 offered to leave emancipation an open question, as it had been 
 under the late Prime Minister ; but they replied that it was 
 one thing to have it left in that position with a Premier 
 agreeing with them, and another to enter a Cabinet under a 
 chief who was the leading and most active advocate of the 
 
i827.] Death of Castlereagh to Canning's Premiership. 193 
 
 the opposite side. On the other hand, if, this being the only- 
 point of difference, Canning had consented to waive his un- 
 doubted claims on that account, he would have ruined his 
 own character for sincerity, since he had been more than once 
 reproached with having taken office without making the 
 acceptance of emancipation a condition. The decision so 
 difficult to arrive at was naturally postponed as long as 
 possible, under the nominal hope that Liverpool might recover 
 sufficiently to resume his old post. 
 
 Whilst affairs were in this unsettled and critical position, 
 the subject which was the immediate cause of most of the 
 difficulty came on for discussion in Parliament. As early as 
 the 29th of February we know that Canning had spoken to 
 Peel, and that the latter had refused to take office under a 
 Premier holding Canning's views.* On the 5 th of March 
 Burdett moved — " That this House is deeply impressed with 
 the necessity of taking into immediate consideration the laws 
 imposing civil disabilities on his Majesty's Roman Catholic 
 subjects, with a view to their relief" On this resolution the 
 two sections of the Ministry, as well as the two parties in 
 Parliament, had to try their strength in the new House of 
 Commons. There was no question as to the solid Tory 
 majority on general subjects ; the question now was as to the 
 number of those who would leave the ranks and follow 
 Canning and his friends. It was a curious spectacle, that of 
 official colleagues striving against each other ; not new as 
 regarded the particular object, but with new conditions added 
 by the state of the Cabinet. Canning and Plunkett replied to 
 Peel and Copley, and the issue was looked forward to with 
 great anxiety. It disappointed the hopes of the emancipa- 
 tionists, the numbers being for Burdett's resolution, 272 ; against 
 it, 276. This proved that, as far as the British constituencies 
 went, the cause had lost ground by the election, for in Ireland 
 a great effect had been produced by the priests and O'Connell. 
 
 The question of the alteration of the corn laws was in a 
 different position. There was, no doubt, considerable difference 
 * Peel's speech in the House of Commons, ist of May. 
 
 O 
 
194 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1822- 
 
 of feeling among the Ministers and their party on the subject, 
 and Canning's free-trade policy was one cause of the dislike 
 with which he was regarded by some of his colleagues. Here, 
 however, he was stronger, because Peel was more in accordance 
 with him, and no open division had taken place. There was 
 scarcely a responsible politician who did not admit that the 
 necessities of the time called for some modification of the law, 
 and in form, if not in spirit, the Cabinet were united. The 
 matter was to have been introduced to the House of Lords 
 by Liverpool on the 19th of February, but his illness intervened, 
 and it was left to Canning to open the business in the Com- 
 mons. Canning, however, was himself unwell, having caught, 
 at the funeral of the Duke of York, a chill which laid the 
 foundation of the illness which was so soon to prove fatal. On 
 the 1st of March he was well enough to attend, and he then 
 made a statement of the proposals of the Government. 
 
 The principleof protection to native agriculture was retained, 
 but the scale of duties and the prices at which it should apply 
 were considerably modified, and there was to be no actual 
 prohibition, only such rapid increase of taxation as would, in 
 reality, stop importation. The price of sixty shillings per 
 quarter was fixed as the first point at which high duties should 
 begin. At that price the duty was to be twenty shillings, to 
 decrease two shillings for every rise in price of one shilling 
 per quarter, until at seventy shillings there would be left 
 nothing but a permanent one shilling registration fee. On 
 the other side, the duties were to increase two shillings for 
 every fall of one shilling in price, until at fifty-five shillings per 
 quarter the impost would be thirty shillings ; and this was 
 practical prohibition. The relief — and it would have been a 
 material one to the consumers — lay first in removing the 
 clause by which the old Act was not to come into operation 
 until the price was eighty shiUings, a figure which it had never 
 reached, then in the reduction of what was the average price 
 aimed at, and the encouragement which a reduced scale would 
 give to foreign trade. There were amendments proposed by 
 the landlords to increase, and by the free-traders to reduce. 
 
1827.] Death of Castlereagh to Canning's Premiership. 195 
 
 the scale of duties, and one by Hume to substitute a fixed 
 duty ; but they were all defeated, and the bill embodying the 
 resolutions of the Government passed the third reading in 
 the House of Commons on the 12th of April, the day when 
 the adjournment for the Easter holidays took place. 
 
 Whilst these transactions were being conducted public 
 feeling was growing impatient with the continuance of what 
 was really a ministerial interregnum. On the 30th of March 
 Tierney moved to refuse a vote of supply on the ground that 
 there was no responsible administration to whom it could be 
 entrusted. Canning opposed the motion, and it was of course 
 defeated, but it served to prove that some decision must be 
 soon come to as to the persons by whom, and the principles 
 on w'hich, the affairs of the country were to be conducted. 
 There was to be little more delay. On the loth of April 
 Canning received instructions from the King to form a 
 Ministry, and he then found that the distrust and dislike of ■ 
 him extended amongst the old Tory section of the late 
 Government even farther than he had anticipated. When he 
 went to hold an interview with the King on the 12th, he took 
 with him the resignations of Wellington, Peel, and Bexley ; and 
 those of Eldon, Bathurst, and Westmoreland followed him to 
 the royal closet. Presenting these refusals to serve to the 
 King, Canning said, " See here, sire, what disables me from 
 executing your Majesty's will. Nothing is yet done which 
 commits your Majesty to any particular line of conduct ; but 
 I must crave permission to state to you, that if I am to go on 
 in the formation of a new Administration, my new writ must 
 be moved for to-night, for I cannot go on through the recess 
 without endeavouring to finish the business." His Majesty 
 gave him his hand to kiss, and Canning was minister.* 
 
 • "Annual Register," 1827, p. lob. 
 
196 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 FROM canning's PREMIERSHIP TO THE PASSING OF THE 
 REFORM ACT (1827-1832). 
 
 When Canning received from the King his appointment as 
 First Lord of the Treasury, six of his colleagues in the 
 Cabinet had resigned their offices. The resignation of Lord 
 Melville followed, and thus seven out of the twelve members 
 of the Cabinet refused to act with him. Nor was this all. 
 Wellington ceased to be master-general of the ordnance, an 
 office which he might have held, and at Canning's death did 
 hold, without politically attaching himself to the Ministry. 
 Other and minor offices were vacated. Mr. Wallace retired 
 from the mastership of the Mint, Sir Charles Wetherell from 
 the office of attorney-general, and Sir J. Beckett from that of 
 judge-advocate. The changes extended even to the house- 
 hold. The Duke of Dorset resigned his staff as lord chamber- 
 lain, and his son, the Marquis of Graham, the office of vice- 
 chamberlain, and the Marquis of Londonderry ceased to be 
 one of the lords of the bed-chamber. These changes, we are 
 told,* came unexpectedly upon the country, and it was evident 
 that social pressure was to be added to political influence to 
 make the task of the new minister seem hopeless. 
 
 That, in spite of these tactics, and of the active antagonism 
 of the old Tory leaders, of their most influential followers 
 in the Lords and their dependents in the Commons, it was 
 found to be impossible to prevent the appointment of Canning 
 or his success in forming a working administration, must have 
 * "Annual Register," 1827, p. 100 
 
1832.] Cannings Premiership to Passing of Reform Act. 197 
 
 been owing to the growth of Liberal opinion in the party 
 itself as well as in all other sections of the community. The 
 fact that this growth or change, constant although gradual, 
 was going on in the nation, gives its greatest importance to 
 the history of these transactions. If the acceptance, by an 
 increasing number of members, of Radical opinions had been 
 an isolated fact, it would have had little result, and have been 
 worthy of little consideration. It is because the birth and 
 progress of Radicalism were parts of a national development 
 that they possess permanent interest. The accession of 
 Canning to power marked and drew attention to a distinct 
 stage in that development, appreciable in every party and 
 section into which English politicians were divided. 
 
 There was at one end of the scale the extreme high Tory 
 party, and' even there the altered state of affairs was suf- 
 ficiently evident. That there was no one to take the place 
 of Liverpool as a Premier pledged to resist Catholic eman- 
 cipation was in itself significant. Sidmouth's place was 
 unfilled ; and Eldon, who was willing enough to rally to the 
 old cry of resistance and repression, was quietly dropped, 
 even when a compact Tory Ministry was contemplated after 
 the death of Canning. Peel had already given an intimation 
 of his liability to conviction ; Wellington was not long in 
 learning that the old doctrine could not be reconciled with 
 the new life ; and Copley — now made Lord Lyndhurst — 
 accepted office under the new Prime Minister, with whom he 
 had engaged in bitter controversy but a week before. The 
 movement which isolated Eldon and affected Peel manifested 
 itself in another section of their party, by furnishing to 
 Canning such a number of supporters as, added to the votes 
 he received from the Liberals, gave him a working majority 
 in the House of Commons. 
 
 We come then to the Whigs, and it has been before 
 observed that there was a very considerable and very rapid 
 advance made by the representatives of the old leaders on 
 the subject of Parliamentary reform. With some of them, 
 no doubt, the opinion was affected by the fact that it was 
 
igS History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- 
 
 evidently hopeless for them to expect to obtain power without 
 some change was made in the representation. They found 
 that even the popular enthusiasm, which was the only instru- 
 ment that could be used to force the close constituencies, was 
 obtainable only by the acceptance of some such thorough 
 scheme of reform as was advocated by the Radicals. This 
 was in itself a proof, to them at least, that the country was 
 growing in liberalism even amongst the class which could 
 be expected to influence elections. These party calculations, 
 however, by no means account for the whole of the change 
 among the Whigs. Their members shared in and added to 
 the national movement in the popular direction. A party 
 that could produce, and place confidence in, a Lambton must 
 have been really progressive. The spirit which was thus 
 manifested in the ranks of both the old parties could not 
 but give at once encouragement and power to the Radicals 
 themselves ; and Hume, Burdett, and Wilson, in different 
 ways, showed that they were conscious of the force which was 
 behind them in the state of public feeling and opinion. They 
 did not doubt that any genuine reform would add to their 
 numbers and their strength in Parliament 
 
 This was the state of feeling that made it possible for the 
 new Premier to form a Ministry strong enough and bold 
 enough to undertake to govern the country against the wishes 
 of the majority of those who had hitherto regarded office as 
 their monopoly. When Parliament met on the ist of May, 
 after the recess, Canning had completed his arrangements, 
 both as regarded the construction of the Cabinet and the 
 support which was to be expected from the Liberal side of 
 the House. There was no coalition in the way of a distri- 
 bution of place and responsibility. A few Whigs, Scarlett 
 among them, took places ; but the party leaders remained 
 out of office, although there was a general promise of in- 
 dependent support. The House of Commons, when it 
 assembled, presented a most unwonted appearance. On the 
 ministerial side sat the leader of the House, surrounded by 
 many of his old colleagues, and with a considerable number 
 
1832.] Cannings Premiership to Passing of Reform Act. 199 
 
 of the rank and file which had been used to obey his com- 
 mands. But on the same side now sat men who had been 
 all their lives in opposition, and to whom the vote in favour 
 of ministers was indeed a novelty. Some of the small band 
 of Radicals went across with the Whigs. Lambton, Burdett, 
 and Wilson were prominent in their support of the Premier : 
 but Hume refused to share in the action ; he had no con- 
 fidence in the real Liberalism of Canning, agreeing in that 
 respect with the opinions so fiercely expressed by Lord Grey 
 in the other House. He showed his own determination, and 
 put to the proof the concession which his old friends were 
 prepared to make for the sake of upholding ministers, by a 
 motion which he brought forward on the 31st of May, for 
 repealing one of the notorious Six Acts which imposed a stamp 
 duty on cheap periodical publications. There could not have 
 been proposed a more severe test, but it was met openly by 
 Sir Robert Wilson, one of the oldest and staunchest Radicals, 
 and obtained only ten votes in its favour.* 
 
 Not all his popularity in the country, nor the union of his 
 new with his old friends in the Commons, could save Canning 
 from defeat at the hands of what was practically a new 
 element in the Constitution — the House of Peers as re- 
 modelled and essentially reconstructed by George HI. and 
 his successor. It has been seen how and why this work of 
 changing the character of the Upper House was begun during 
 the Ministry of Pitt,t and it was continued throughout the 
 remainder of the two reigns. The extent of the change, and 
 the permanence of its influence, may be gathered from the 
 fact that whilst, during the reigns of William IH., Anne, and 
 the first two Georges, there had been of peerages which now 
 exist only fifty-three creations or elevations in the peerage 
 
 * The following are the names of what may be called the irreconcilables, con- 
 trasting them with the opportunists who supported Canning : — 
 Dawson, A. Lombe, Edward Warburton, C. 
 Ferguson, Sir R. Maitland, Captain Wood, John 
 Hobhouse, J. C. Monck, J. B. Hume, J. \ ^^^^^^^ 
 Howick, Lord Pelham, C. Wood, Alderman J 
 
 t Ante, Chap. IX. 
 
200 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- 
 
 of the United Kingdom, there were, between the accession 
 of George III. and the year 1827, no fewer than 250 of 
 such new or promoted peers, in addition to the twenty- 
 eight Irish representative peers, who, from the method of 
 election, were as a matter of course of the same political com- 
 plexion. The first object of this policy was to counteract the 
 traditional Liberal feeling of the old noble houses, and to 
 check their too independent power, which had made them not 
 amenable to the influence of the Crown and its ministers. 
 That part of the work it had accomplished, insidiously and 
 quietly, but not the less thoroughly. Hitherto it had not 
 been necessary to use this new instrument against the 
 majority of the House of Commons ; it was formed, in fact, to 
 act in accord with that majority. In the short intervals when 
 Fox and Grenville and Grey were in office, both Houses 
 were equally under the influence of the Crown, and the 
 " King's friends '' in one place were as industrious as nominees 
 in another in undermining the power of the actual Govern- 
 ment. During the long and weary time when the Tory 
 administration had ruled, the Peers were the willing sup- 
 porters of the policy of repression and coercion, of obstinate 
 resistance to progress or to change of any kind, and there 
 was at least unity amongst the various constitutional powers 
 ■ — Crown, Lords, and Commons being agreed. 
 
 A new state of things had arisen when public opinion 
 made itself felt in the Lower House, in spite of the narrow- 
 ness and corruption of the representative system. The Peers 
 then took up the position of opponents of the new spirit, the 
 enemies of all change ; in alliance with the King so long as 
 he was in accord with them ; in antagonism to Crown and 
 Ministry and Commons, when the privileges of their order 
 and the interests of their class seemed at stake. The first 
 step in the pursuit of this disastrous policy was taken when 
 an amendment to the Corn Bill of the Government was 
 carried in committee, on the motion of the Duke of Wel- 
 lington, by seventy-eight to seventy-four. This was finally 
 confirmed on the 12th of June by another vote, when 
 
1832.] Cannings Premiership to Passing of Reform Act. 201 
 
 the report of the committee was brought up, by the larger 
 majority of 133 to 122. The bill would have removed all 
 prohibition of import, and the amendment proposed that 
 " foreign corn should not be taken out of bond until 
 the average price of corn should have reached sixty-six 
 shillings." By some extraordinary process Wellington had 
 persuaded himself that this amendment would not vitally 
 affect the bill, and that it would be_ accepted by the Govern- 
 ment. Such an idea was really preposterous, and the bill 
 was abandoned. Canning feeling and speaking very warmly 
 against the course taken by Wellington. 
 
 From that time to this the House of Peers has seldom, 
 if ever, given a voluntary vote in favour of measures to 
 increase religious, civil, political, or commercial liberty. Its 
 members have yielded many times under pressure put upon 
 them by their wiser leaders, under fear of famine, under 
 threats of revolution ; but they have yielded only after pro- 
 longed resistance, and their opposition has been one of the 
 factors to be taken into account by all who have had to 
 advocate or carry out any proposal for reform. 
 
 In the excited state of persons and parties, there was 
 no hope of practical legislation during the remainder of the 
 session of 1827. A temporary bill was passed giving the 
 Government power to let out of bond any corn then bonded, 
 together with any that should be warehoused by the ist of 
 July in that year; Canning declaring his intention to re-intro- 
 duce in the next session the bill which had been defeated by 
 the Peers. An attempt was made to deal with the notorious 
 and growing corruption at Parliamentary elections, and some 
 legal reforms were effected on the motion of Peel ; but on the 
 2nd of July — three weeks after the loss of the Corn Bill — 
 Parliament was prorogued. The royal speech which closed 
 the session contained the ministerial challenge with regard to 
 their defeat in the concluding paragraph, which said, " His 
 Majesty trusts that, although your deliberations on the corn 
 laws have not led, during the present session, to a permanent 
 settlement of that important question, the consideration of it 
 
202 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- 
 
 will be resumed by you early in the ensuing session, and that 
 such an arrangement of it may finally be adopted as shall 
 satisfy the reasonable wishes, and reconcile the substantial 
 interests, of all chsses of his Majesty's subjects." 
 
 This challenge was never to be vindicated. The frame of 
 Canning, undermined by previous illness, broke down under 
 the excitement and the grief caused by the defection of his 
 old colleagues, and the fierce attacks of some members of the 
 party to which he had always belonged ; and on the 8th of 
 August he died at Chiswick, in the same house in which Fox 
 had breathed his last. So passed away one of the greatest of 
 English statesmen, before he had been able to realize the 
 objects on which his mind was most earnestly set, but not 
 before he had created an important effect upon the state of 
 political parties, and upon the whole future policy of his 
 country. With an intellect clear and richly stored, an 
 imagination vivid and active, and a nature at once tender and 
 enthusiastic, he was formed to endeavour to embody high 
 principles in national policy, and to allure and encourage men 
 to unaccustomed courses by the charm of his manner as 
 much as by the earnestness of his nature. He was the first of 
 three famous men who have left the Tory party for the sake 
 of carrying out measures which they believed to be essential 
 to the well-being of the State. Unlike Peel, he was not 
 induced by the pressure of events to adopt a course of which 
 he had not formerly approved ; unlike Gladstone, he never 
 became thoroughly imbued with general Liberal principles ; 
 but, like them both, he did not hesitate to sacrifice party 
 loyalty and personal associations for the sake of what he 
 considered public duty. The first to enter upon the path, he 
 was subjected to the most violent attacks, and was destined 
 to achieve the least practical success. 
 
 The influence of Canning, though less direct in the way of 
 actual legislation, was scarcely less important than that of his 
 two successors as regarded the future history of parties. So 
 strongly intrenched were the Tories, not only in the House of 
 Lords, but through their territorial influence in counties and 
 
1832.] Canning's Premiership to P assing of Reform Act. 203 
 
 their command of corrupt boroughs, either as private owners 
 or as the depositaries of the Government power, in the Com- 
 mons also, that no successful attack could be made upon 
 them by ordinary Parliamentary proceedings.* There were 
 but two ways in which the growing Liberalism of the country 
 could make itself felt. One was by violent agitation and 
 the fear of revolutionary action. This element was to make 
 itself felt in the case of the Irish demand for emancipation ; 
 and, later on, something of the same kind was experienced 
 in the final struggle for Parliamentary reform. Another and 
 better method of breaking down the obstinate resistance of 
 the Tories was by some action within their own party, which 
 should lessen the dead weight of obstruction, and increase to 
 a sensible extent the number of members amenable to the 
 expression of public . opinion. It was in effecting this last 
 object that Canning's action was most beneficial to the nation. 
 A breach was made in the ranks of the defenders of abuses, 
 and the army of reform was encouraged to make ever- 
 renewed attacks. 
 
 It seemed at first that Canning's death would arrest the 
 
 ♦ The extent of the direct influence of the peerage upon the so-called Repre- 
 sentative House, is illustrated by the following letter from Croker to Canning, 
 which was written to indi(ce Canning to pay more deference to the aristocracy. 
 It is published in the recently issued " Life and Letters of Croker," vol. i. p. 370. 
 
 " April 3, 1827. 
 
 "Dear Mr. Canning, 
 
 "Some gentlemen, and particularly our friend Sir George, talk so 
 slightingly of blue ribands that I think it right to send you a memorandum 
 which will show you, in one view, how impossible it is to do anything salis- 
 ^ctory towards a Government in this country without the help of the aristocracy. 
 I know that you must be well aware of this, yet the following summary may 
 not be useless to you, though I know that it is imperfect. 
 
 " Yours, dear Canning, most truly, 
 
 "J. W. C. 
 
 " Number of members returned to the House of Commons by the influence of 
 some of the Peers :— Tories.— Lord Lonsdale, 9 ; Lord Hertford, 8 ; Duke of 
 Rutland, 6 ; Duke of Newcastle, 5 ; Lord Varbro' (for W. Holmes), 5 ; Lord 
 Powis, 4 ; Lord Falmouth, 4 ; Lord Anglesey, 4 ; Lord Aylesbury, 4 ; Lord 
 Radnor, 3 ; Duke of Northumberland, 4 ; Duke of Buccleuch, 4 ; Marquis of 
 Stafford, 3 ; Duke of Bucks (2), 3 ; Lord Mount-Edgcumbe, 4=7°. besides at least 
 12 or 14 who have each two seats, say 26=96. 
 
 "Whigs.— Lord Fitzwilliam, 8; Lord Darlington, 7; Duke of Devon, 7; 
 Duke of Norfolk, 6 ; Lord Grosvenor, 6 ; Duke of Bedford, 4 ; Lord Carrington, 
 4=42, with about half a dozen who have each a couple of seats, 12 = 54." 
 
204 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- 
 
 movement which he had promoted. Experience proved once 
 more that, however important the influence of a great man 
 may be in arousing and directing national opinion, he does 
 but direct and cannot create the force, nor can his loss destroy 
 the tendency of popular progress, which is the result of the 
 irresistible law of growth and development. The Ministry, it 
 was evident, could not long survive its chief There was no 
 one to take his place as a Parliamentary leader, and no other 
 member of the party who commanded outside confidence. 
 Nor could it be expected that the Whig magnates would 
 consent to give their independent support to any man less 
 distinguished than Canning had been ; and the Cabinet con- 
 tained no man with a claim to such distinction. Huskisson 
 was perhaps the ablest man in the Administration, and he, 
 besides, was known to have been most closely associated with 
 Canning, and to have shared most intimately in his councils ; 
 but Huskisson was not thought of as the successor of his friend, 
 and the weakness of his conduct in first taking office under 
 Wellington, and then resigning without having thoroughly 
 decided to do so, proved that he did not contain the stuff of 
 which a fighting minister in a time of extraordinary excitement 
 ought to be made. 
 
 Lord Goderich, who, as Mr. Robinson, had been Chancellor 
 of the Exchequer, became Premier ; but his Ministry did not 
 live long enough even to meet Parliament. On the 8th of 
 January, 1828, he resigned ; and, after some negotiations and 
 correspondence, and in spite of a recent declaration that he 
 should be mad if he ever thought of undertaking an office for 
 which he was so little fit, the Duke of Wellington became 
 Prime Minister. 
 
 The Tories might well have expected that good days were 
 coming back to them. The duke was one of their staunchest 
 members, as resolute in his conviction, it was supposed, as he 
 was firm in will. He would not listen to compromise in the 
 case of the Canning Ministry, and State and Church might 
 alike feel secure from change under his administration. But 
 fate is stronger than the strongest will, and the set determina- 
 
1832.] Canning's Premiership to Passing of Reform. Act. 205 
 
 tion of a nation's tendencies are no more to be kept back than 
 the flow of the tide can be restrained. So Wellington, who 
 was properly described as "the strongest and most peremptory- 
 man of all," was not able to realize the hopes of the re- 
 actionaries arid put a stop at once to the progress of reform. 
 He could not, or he did not try to, even form a distinctly 
 Tory Ministry. The Whigs, indeed, who had allied themselves 
 with Canning and Goderich, were dismissed, and Tierney and 
 Scarlett went once more into opposition ; but the Canningites, 
 not less hateful to the true Tory, remained in office. Huskisson, 
 Dudley, Palmerston, and Grant kept their places ; and poor 
 Lord Eldon, who had looked to the accession of Wellington 
 as the sign of coming triumph, sat at home, waiting in vain 
 for the- realization of his hopes. He was the representative 
 of the party of blind resistance which had already become 
 antiquated, and was not even asked to join the Government. 
 
 There was a popular outcry, not because Huskisson and 
 his friends were asked to keep office, but because they con- 
 sented- to do so. They justified themselves by the assurance 
 that the policy of their old leader was to be continued. A 
 little prescience would have enabled them to say that it was 
 destined to be exceeded in Liberalism. Parliament met on 
 the 29th of January, 1828, the King's speech being chiefly 
 remarkable for speaking of the battle of Navarino as " an 
 untoward event." It was in the debate on the address that 
 the Canningites made their explanations, and Russell replied 
 in sarcastic terms to the eulogy of Wellington; with which 
 Palmerston accompanied the defence of his own conduct — an 
 episode not without interest at the time, but made still more 
 noteworthy by the subsequent history of the two men. 
 
 The chief event of the session was one which helped to 
 prove how little the greatest men can do in the face of a 
 national movement, and how the wisest are often at a loss to 
 understand its real power and meaning. When Canning was 
 making a declaration of his policy, he had declared that he 
 intended to strenuously resist the repeal of the Test and 
 Corporation Acts. It might well have been supposed that 
 
2o6 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- 
 
 the ministers for whom Canning had been too Liberal would 
 have refused under any conditions to sanction a reform which 
 he had opposed, yet they soon found themselves powerless to 
 prevent it. The Acts were so flagrantly unjust, and at the 
 same time so useless, that the wonder was that they could 
 have been maintained so long. They never could have been 
 but for the Acts of Indemnity by which their violation had 
 been covered. As it was, they merely represented pretensions 
 to supremacy and predominance on the part of the Church 
 which were a constant course of irritation and disgust to the 
 dissenters. That a Parliament, which it was felt would soon 
 relax the laws imposing disabilities on Roman Catholics, 
 should allow the continuance of the insulting restrictions upon 
 Protestant sects, could hardly be admitted by the Liberals. 
 Preparations for the attack had been made in the previous 
 session, and on the 26th of February Lord John Russell 
 moved — " That this House will resolve itself into a committee 
 of the whole House to consider so much of the Acts of 13 
 and 25 of Charles II. as requires persons, before they are 
 admitted into any office or .place in corporations, or having 
 accepted any office, civil or military, or any place of trust 
 under the Crown, to receive the Sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper according to the rites of the Church of England." 
 The resolution was opposed by ministers ; Huskisson, Peel, 
 and Palmerston spoke against it, but it was carried by 237 to 
 193. The House at once went into committee pro forma, and 
 obtained leave to sit again on the 28th. On that day Lord 
 John moved a resolution for the repeal of the obnoxious 
 clauses, and it was agreed to, the members of the Government 
 withdrawing before the vote was taken. 
 
 They were not yet agreed upon the ultimate course which 
 they should take, although they had convinced themselves of 
 the impossibility of successful resistance. Their retirement 
 from the House gave rise to some criticism and ridicule, which 
 fairly represented the effect upon the country of their anoma- 
 lous position. No change took place before the second reading 
 of the bill founded on the resolutions, which, on the 14th of 
 
1832.] Canning's Premiership to Passing of Reform Act. 207 
 
 March, was carried without a division. By the time for going 
 into committee, fixed for the i8t*h of March, ministers had 
 made up their minds to accept the inevitable. On that day- 
 Peel, speaking on behalf of the Government, at the head of 
 which was the Duke of Wellington, the champion of Conserva- 
 tism, announced the surrender. " He was," he said, " prepared 
 to dismiss from his mind any idea of adhering to the existing 
 law, or even of the proposal of mere suspension." The best 
 and wisest course, he declared, would be to come to such a 
 final arrangement as, while it should not affect the fair and 
 conscientious scruples of the dissenters, would give a reason- 
 able proof to the Church of England that in the repeal of 
 the tests her rights were to remain sacred. He accordingly 
 introduced a declaration to be taken, in lieu of the tests, that 
 the person taking office would never exert any power or 
 influence which he might possess by virtue of his office, to 
 injure or subvert the Church. The amendment was accepted, 
 although not without protest from the Liberals, and the bill 
 passed the Commons. It was taken into the Lords virtually 
 as a Government measure, and passed the second reading 
 there on the 17th, and its final stage on the 28th, of April. 
 Some alteration had been made in the wording of the declara- 
 tion, to make it look as much like an oath as possible ; but 
 this was acepted by the Commons, and the bill became law. 
 The change, however, by which the declaration was made, "on 
 the true faith of a Christian," had the effect of keeping out the 
 Jews, and so of raising another long and bitter struggle between 
 the friends and foes of religious liberty. 
 
 The repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts was a proof 
 that the Radical feeling in the country was making itself felt 
 in Parliament, in spite of restricted franchises and close and 
 corrupt constituencies. The Ministry were supposed to be 
 all-powerful, yet they opposed it in vain, and public opinion 
 was so decided that they could not continue their resistance. 
 The measure was not a favourite one with the old Whigs, 
 for not many years back they had furnished its strongest 
 opponents. Harriet Martineau says, very truly, " The credit is 
 
2o8 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- 
 
 due, not to either the aristocratic or the liberal section of rulers 
 and their adherents, but to the Liberal members of each House 
 unconnected with Government." * Important as the Act itself 
 was, the conditions under which it was passed were, politically- 
 speaking, almost as important, and they raised questions as 
 to the duty and responsibility of ministers of the gravest 
 character. The Government of a constitutional country have 
 a double duty to perform : they must carry out the wishes of the 
 people expressed through their legitimate representatives, and 
 at the same time they are bound to give to the Crown advice 
 founded on their own conscientious opinions, and to endeavour 
 to carry out that view in their policy. If these two duties 
 conflict, as they must often do, the course would seem clear : 
 ' they have no power to resist the will of Parliament, they have 
 no right to act against their own convictions ; they should 
 resign, and give place to those who can honestly accept the 
 national decision. 
 
 Wellington and his colleagues chose not to accept this 
 alternative, and they set, for almost the first time, an example — 
 which has since been often followed by Conservative ministers 
 — of undertaking to carry out a policy to which they were 
 on principle opposed. In the present instance there was no 
 pretence of altered opinion. One week ministers strongly 
 opposed the repeal of the Acts ; the next, they themselves 
 supported and carried the measure. There were, no doubt, 
 peculiar circumstances attending this case, and the same will 
 be found as other instances occur ; but casuistry is as danger- 
 ous in politics as in morality, and the issue must be tried by 
 an appeal to principle. That there are serious evils attending 
 the course adopted by the Government can hardly be denied. 
 It strikes at the root of the personal responsibility of 
 ministers ; for if an Act, which they perform unwillingly and 
 against their own opinions, turns out to be injurious to the 
 country, how are they to be blamed } It weakens the national 
 sense of conscientiousness in politics when ministers can do 
 indifferently what they consider wrong and what they consider 
 
 * " History of the Thirty Years' Peace," vol. i. p. 467. 
 
1832] Cannings Premiership to Passing of Reform Act. 209 
 
 right, and it is then difficult to see where morality comes into 
 practical politics. That men who carry out a particular Act 
 do so not because they believe in it, but because it is essential 
 to their retention of power, will be apt to limit its application, 
 to check its operation, and thereby injure its character and 
 effect. This may be a minor evil, but it is, nevertheless, one 
 pajpable and almost inevitable. 
 
 There were excuse and apology to be made for the Govern- 
 ment in the present instance. The opinion of the nation and 
 of Parliament on the point raised was unmistakable ; but, 
 without some constitutional reform, there was only one way 
 in which it could be obeyed. With the then existing consti- 
 tuencies there was no possibility of any but a Tory Adminis- 
 tration, and to such a Government constitutional change was 
 absolutely inadmissible. There seemed, then, only the alterna- 
 tive of submission on the part of ministers, or of something 
 like administrative anarchy, and as it was the first principle of 
 Wellington that his Majesty's Government must be carried on, 
 we can understand how he persuaded himself to sacrifice his 
 own views for the purpose. The same difficulties gave rise to 
 other concessions on the part of the same ministers : there was 
 in every case the necessity of passing Radical measures without 
 adopting the Radical policy of Parliamentary reform. The 
 whole process, after all, rather promoted than retarded the 
 coming changes, since it convinced the timid that if the policy 
 which the Radicals advocated could be safely adopted by a 
 Tory Government, the advocates themselves could not be so 
 dangerous as their opponents pretended. 
 
 The Premier himself had to make another concession, and 
 suffer a humiliation which peculiarly affected himself. When 
 the Corn Bill of 1827 was withdrawn in consequence of the 
 amendment carried by Wellington, Canning had declared that 
 a similar measure should be introduced in the following 
 session. This pledge had to be redeemed by the Ministry of 
 which the duke was chief, and a bill was brought in without 
 the clause which, the year before, the present Premier had 
 declared to be indispensable. The measure did not quite 
 
 P 
 
210 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- 
 
 satisfy the Canningite ministers, because it slightly raised the 
 scale of duties ; but it was accepted all round as a compromise, 
 and was speedily carried, being first brought in by Grant on 
 the 31st of March, and on the 26th of June finally passed. 
 
 It was known that these difficulties and concessions in 
 Parliament answered to differences and dissensions in the 
 Cabinet, and that the state of things there was strained and 
 critical. The climax was reached in a quite unexpected 
 manner. Canning had always been- an opponent of Parlia- 
 mentary reform, yet it was a question of reform which led 
 to the separation of his former friends and followers from the 
 Ministry. It was a little matter, to be sure ; but, as Mercutio 
 says, it was enough. At the very beginning of the session, 
 on the 31st of January, Lord John Russell obtained leave to 
 bring in a bill to disfranchise Penryn and enfranchise Man- 
 chester, giving votes to ;^20 householders ; and on the same 
 day Mr. Tennyson took the same course with regard to East 
 Retford — in this case the members to be given to Birmingham. 
 There was a difference of opinion as to the disposal of the 
 seats, one party wishing to give them to large towns as pro- 
 posed, another desiring to give them to the hundreds adjoining 
 the original boroughs. Here again ministers were not agreed. 
 Peel saying that if there were two boroughs disfranchised, he 
 would enfranchise one large town ; and Huskisson declaring 
 that if there were only one seat to dispose of, he would give 
 that to a large town. It was not a very serious difference, as 
 it seemed, but when the rupture was inevitable the exact occa- 
 sion was not of much importance. Events seemed to conspire 
 curiously to bring about the crisis. The Penryn Bill passed 
 the House of Commons with the Manchester clause in. 
 Whilst it was before the Lords, with a certainty, as was felt 
 then, of being rejected, the East Retford Bill came on, and 
 an amendment was moved to give the seat to the hundreds 
 instead of to Birmingham. It was on the 19th of May that 
 this critical question arose. Peel, who had consented to the 
 enfranchisement of Manchester, was free to vote for the amend- 
 ment, which he did. Huskisson's course was not so clear 
 
1832.] Cannings Premiership to Passing of Reform Act. 211 
 
 But he was sure that the Peers would reject the Penryn Bill, 
 and then there would be but one seat to dispose of, and, in 
 accordance with the spirit of his pledge, he voted for the 
 enfranchisement of Birmingham and against his colleagues. 
 Huskisson may seem to have exaggerated the importance 
 of this vote, but the already uneasy relations of the Cabinet 
 must be taken into account. He acted hastily, however, for 
 on the very night of the division he wrote a letter which 
 he thought contained an expression of willingness to resign, 
 but which the Premier regarded, and acted on, as a positive 
 resignation. There were some attempts, unfortunate and 
 undignified on the part of Huskisson, to reverse this decision; 
 but the duke was firm, and the resignation was final. Hus- 
 kisson made his explanations on the 2nd of June, and all the 
 Liberal, or, as they were called, Canningite ministers followed 
 Huskisson; Lord Palmerston, Lord Dudley, Mr.. Lamb, and 
 Mr. Grant, all left ofiice, and their places were filled by Tories, 
 so that at last there was a Cabinet united in devotion to the 
 same political principles. 
 
 It was too late now for the closest unity to bring peace to 
 the official ranks. There were troublesome questions con- 
 stantly arising which no agreement in the Cabinet could put 
 down. Even before the resignation of Huskisson, a warning 
 had been given that the work of concession to the new feelings 
 of the country was not finished. The new spirit was alive, 
 and the Radicals at least were neither afraid to appeal to it 
 nor disappointed at the response. Hume and Hobhouse con- 
 tinued the struggle for economy and retrenchment. On the 
 1 3th of May there was a vote on a proposal to make a pro- 
 vision for the family of Canning. It was not- a pleasant thing 
 for the Whigs to oppose such a proposition, but Hume 
 challenged a division, and obtained fifty-four votes against 
 the motion, amongst the number being Lord Althorpe, 
 Burdett, and Hobhouse. A week afterwards the same inde- 
 fatigable economist moved for a return of pensions on the 
 civil list, with a view to some reform, and for this resolution, 
 so unpalatable to all officials or possible officials, there were 
 
212 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- 
 
 recorded 52 to 131 votes. Both these votes were much larger 
 than only a year or two before could have been obtained for 
 such proposals. 
 
 The subject, however, which was most in men's minds, and 
 threatened not only the repose of ministers, but the peace and 
 stability of the nation, was that of Catholic emancipation. 
 The new House of Commons, when appealed to in 1827, had 
 given a majority of four against proceeding with a considera- 
 tion of the question ; but the House, like the country, was 
 growing in liberalism. On the 12th of May this year (1828), 
 Burdett moved — " That the House do now resolve itself into 
 a committee of the whole House, for the purpose of taking 
 into consideration the state of the laws affecting his Majesty's 
 Roman Catholic subjects in Great Britain and Ireland, with a 
 view to such a final and conciliatory adjustment as may be 
 conducive to the peace and strength of the United Kingdom, 
 to the stability of the Protestant establishment, and to the 
 general satisfaction and concord of all classes of his Majesty's 
 subjects." The motion was opposed by Peel on behalf of the 
 Government, but after three nights' debate it was carried by 
 a majority of six, the votes being 272 for, and 266 against. 
 This was a sharp reply to the Premier, who had said, in the 
 discussion on the Test Acts, "There is no person in this 
 House whose feelings and sentiments, after long considera- 
 tion, are more decided than mine are with regard to the 
 subject of the Roman Catholic claims ; and until I see a great 
 change in that question, I certainly shall oppose it." * The 
 declaratory resolution having been passed in committee, it 
 was on the i6th of May, on the motion of Burdett, resolved 
 that the resolution should be communicated to the Lords in 
 conference, and their Lordships' concurrence asked thereto. 
 The conference took place on the 19th, and the resolution, 
 being conveyed to the Upper House, was taken into considera- 
 tion on the 9th of June. It was debated for two days, and 
 was ultimately defeated by a majority of forty-four. The 
 Duke of Wellington, although opposing the motion, did so in 
 
 • "Annual Register,'' 182S, p. 104. 
 
1832.] Canning'' s Premiership to Passing of Reform Act. 213 
 
 a far less decisive tone than usual ; he was perhaps not quite 
 certain that the "change" about which he had spoken was to 
 be long deferred. 
 
 The session closed on the 28th of July, but even before 
 then an alteration had taken place in the character of the 
 agitation in Ireland, which promised little peace for a Cabinet 
 united against concessions to the Catholic claims. The Irish 
 leaders determined to carry the contest into the polling-places 
 of the counties, hitherto the stronghold of Conservatism. 
 They began in a sufficiently striking manner. Mr. Fitzgerald, 
 who sat for county Clare, was nominated to succeed Mr. 
 Grant as President of the Board of Trade. He was in favour 
 of the Catholic claims, and expected to be returned without 
 opposition. It was decided, however, to begin the new move- 
 ment at once, and to make it only the more remarkable by 
 first attacking a half friend. O'Connell himself was nomi- 
 nated, and was elected by 2057 to 983 votes. The victory 
 was overwhelming, and it encouraged the Catholics to 
 declare that every county seat in Ireland should be won, and 
 it proved their possession of power to carry out the threat. 
 At the same time, the Act for its suppression having expired, 
 the Catholic Association was openly and ostentatiously re- 
 organized, and assumed what was practically the government 
 of the country. There was something for the duke and his 
 united Cabinet to ponder over before they again met in 
 Parliament. 
 
 They thought over their difficulty to some purpose, and 
 with a result that was to astonish the whole country. The 
 duke had begun to make concessions, and now he saw 
 nothing before him but violence, which would amount to 
 civil war or the greatest of all capitulations. He and his 
 Cabinet — the men who had driven Canning to despair, if not 
 to death — determined to surrender. They were all doubly 
 pledged to resist the Catholic claims, and they decided to 
 grant them. We can imagine that the struggle cost them 
 anxiety and pain ; but they kept their trouble to themselves, 
 whereby they were saved from many a useless reproach 
 
214 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- 
 
 and from any chance of organized opposition. The closeness 
 with which they kept the secret was made a subject of 
 special attack. The chronicler of the day says, "The 
 Protestant party found that, up to the very moment of the 
 assembling of Parliament, they had been allowed to rest in 
 the belief that the question would not be stirred, or that, if it 
 should be stirred, the influence of the leading members of the 
 Cabinet would still stand in its way ; while, in truth, their 
 most tried friends had been plotting and planning how they 
 might most successfully secure a triumph to the enemy, and 
 were concealing at the same time their intended defection, up 
 to the instant when the contest was to begin. It seems 
 impossible to acquit the Duke of Wellington and Mr. Peel of 
 having acted, in this part of the afl"air, with a disingenuousness 
 which might be perfectly in its place in a miserable political 
 intrigue, but which limited their character as public men in 
 relation to a question of such vast and vital importance." * 
 
 These and such-like criticisms, not altogether undeserved, 
 ministers knew that they would have to face when they 
 announced to P arliament the completeness of the concessions 
 they proposed to make. The session opened on the Sth of 
 February, 1829, and the speech from the throne contained 
 the following statements with regard to Ireland : — " The state 
 of Ireland has been the object of his Majesty's continued 
 solicitude. His Majesty laments that in that part of the 
 United Kingdom an association should still exist which is 
 dangerous to the public peace and inconsistent with the 
 spirit of the Constitution ; which keeps alive discord and ill 
 will amongst his Majesty's subjects ; and which must, if 
 permitted to continue, effectually obstruct every effort per- 
 manently to improve the condition of Ireland. His Majesty 
 confidently relies on the wisdom and on the support of his 
 Parliament ; and his Majesty feels assured that you will 
 commit to him such powers as may enable his Majesty to 
 maintain his just authority. His Majesty recommends that, 
 when this essential object shall have been accomplished, you 
 * "Annual Register," 1829, p, 4. 
 
1832.] Cannings Premiership to Passing of Reform Act. 215 
 
 should take into your deliberate consideration the whole con- 
 dition of Ireland, and that you should review the laws which 
 impose civil disabilities on his Majesty's Roman Catholic 
 subjects." 
 
 In the performance on the national stage which followed 
 this overture, the farce preceded the tragedy. The Catholic 
 Association, which had brought about the great result, was to 
 be sacrificed before its work was allowed" to culminate. The 
 process may have seemed desirable, but it could not be 
 dignified. As a precaution, it was not necessary ; as a piece of 
 revenge, it was contemptible. With the introduction of the 
 Government measure for emancipation, the Association would 
 have died a natural death, and there was small glory in 
 slaying the champion when the cause had triumphed. There 
 was little time lost over this preliminary business. It was not 
 resisted by the Catholics, who knew, from the Premier's speech 
 on the address, how complete was to be their victory. On the 
 loth of February Peel obtained leave to bring in a bill for 
 putting an end to the Association, and it went rapidly through 
 both Houses, being passed by the Lords on the 24th of the 
 same month, a fortnight serving for the whole process. This 
 was the last act which Peel pei-formed as member for the 
 University of Oxford. On the 4th of February, the day 
 before the meeting of Parliament, he had written to say 
 that he was ready to vacate his seat, leaving it to the 
 university to decide when his formal resignation should be 
 sent in. The offer of resignation was accepted ; he again 
 stood, but was defeated after a three days' poll by Sir H. 
 Ingliss. He was elected for the borough of Westbury, in 
 Wiltshire — a vacancy being made by the retirement of Sir 
 M. Lopes — in time to introduce the great measure of the 
 session. 
 
 On the sth of March, the same day on which the 
 royal assent was given to the Act for the suppression of the 
 Association, Peel rose to move that the House should go into 
 committee on the laws which imposed disabilities on the 
 Catholics. The proposed bill, as sketched on this occasion 
 
2i6 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- 
 
 by the minister, and as subsequently carried, was a wide, and 
 on the whole, a wise one. It contained clauses, and was 
 accompanied by other measures, which were neither just nor 
 dignified ; but, as regarded its main object, it was bold and 
 complete. It repealed those laws which placed Catholics, 
 unless they took certain oaths, on a different footing from 
 Protestants, even in regard to real property ; it provided for 
 the admission of Catholics to Parliament on the same terms 
 with Protestants ; and it admitted Catholics to all corporate 
 offices, to the enjoyment of all municipal advantages, and to 
 the administration of civil and criminal justice. The only 
 offices from which Catholics were for the future to be excluded 
 were those of Regent, of Lord Chancellor of England or of 
 Ireland, of Viceroy of Ireland, and of all those connected with 
 the Church, its universities, and its schools. They were also 
 restricted from the exercise of Church patronage. What were 
 called securities consisted in the provision of an oath in lieu 
 of the oath of supremacy, whereby Catholics entering Par- 
 liament bound themselves to support the existing institutions 
 of the State, and not to injure those of the Church; in for- 
 bidding the display of the insignia of office in any place of 
 worship other than those of the Estabhshed Church ; and in 
 requiring that communities bound by monastic vows should 
 not be extended, and that the number of Jesuits in the 
 country should not be increased. 
 
 To all these so-called safeguards there was little to object, 
 considering the state of opinion at the time, but there were 
 other measures proposed of which the same cannot be said. 
 The most contemptible proposal was that which refused to 
 make the Act retrospective, the only object or possible effect 
 of that being to prevent O'Connell from taking his seat with- 
 out re-election. There was another provision, made by a 
 separate measure which was carried on stage by stage with 
 the Relief Bill, which was unjust and reactionary. This 
 was a limitation of the county franchise in Ireland by the 
 substitution of a ten-pound for a forty-shilling qualification. 
 The restriction of the franchise is a direct inroad upon the 
 
1832.] Cannings Premiership to Passing of Reform Act. 217 
 
 spirit of representative government ; it is an assertion that 
 the people are not entitled to a voice in the administration of 
 their own affairs. To maintain limitations which already exist, 
 is bad enough ; to take votes from those who possess them, is 
 insulting as well as unjust ; but to do this whilst a remedial 
 and conciliatory measure is being offered to promote peace 
 and remove disaffection, is of all conceivable courses the most 
 impolitic and unstatesmanlike. It inflicts a new wound whilst 
 an old one is being healed, and makes national health im- 
 possible. Such were the great measures, with their merits and 
 their faults, which the Ministry — in violation of all their pre- 
 vious policy and pledges, but in accordance with what they 
 believed to be a solemn national duty — proposed and carried. 
 We need not follow the course of their progress through 
 Parliament. The Emancipation Bill was, as we have seen, 
 first explained to the Commons on the 5th of March, and on 
 the 13th of April it received the royal assent. 
 
 The passing of this great measure was another proof that 
 neither class interests nor party organizations, neither the 
 determination of ministers nor the resistance of peers and 
 monarch, could permanently defeat the will of the people, 
 expressed on behalf of an object just and politic. Still, it 
 could not but be seen that, however desirable was that object 
 and however beneficial its effect, it had been obtained in an 
 unsatisfactory manner. It was proposed and carried by men 
 who had spent the greater part of their political life in oppos- 
 ing it, and who even now did not profess to believe that it was 
 right, but had only been convinced by violent agitation that 
 it had become necessary. Such a course is dangerous to the 
 character of statesmanship and to the honour of statesmen. 
 Laws which are proposed by men who do not believe them 
 to be essentially just and wise, can hardly comniend them- 
 selves to the reverence, even if they secure the obedience, of 
 the whole people. Yet the ministers who carried emancipa- 
 tion were beyond all question honest and honourable ; they 
 would have scorned to do, for the sake of personal power or 
 emolument, what they consented to undertake from a feeling 
 
2i8 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- 
 
 of duty. The country could not fail to see that if there 
 was no other way in which the existing Parliamentary 
 machinery could be got to execute such a necessary piece 
 of work, it was time that a change was made in the instru- 
 ment, in order that when it required such business to be 
 transacted it could construct a Parliament and a Ministry 
 ready to effect it willingly and conscientiously, and not from 
 fear of violence or revolution. 
 
 Thus the effect of the action of the Government upon the 
 state and the fortunes of political parties was twofold. It 
 increased the disposition of ordinary people in favour of those 
 constitutional reforms which had but a short time ago been 
 branded as the wild schemes of Radicals, but were now being 
 advocated more or less heartily by the Whigs. At the same 
 time, it increased to the greatest possible extent that disaffec- 
 tion in- the Tory ranks, that want of confidence in their leaders, 
 which disabled them from presenting an unbroken front to the 
 charges of the reformers. Where, indeed, could they look 
 for certainty of action and consistency of counsel when 
 Wellington and Peel had twice deserted the cause, and had 
 even themselves led the attack upon the fortresses which they 
 had been selected to defend .'' It was inevitable that the 
 agitation for Parliamentary reform should rapidly increase, 
 and that its friends should be encouraged by the success 
 which had attended the efforts of the Dissenters and the 
 Roman Catholics. 
 
 Little was done in that, or, indeed, in any other direction. 
 Ill-feeling was perpetuated in Ireland by a clause in the Act 
 intended to allay it — that, namely, which prevented O'Connell 
 from sitting for Clare without taking that oath which was 
 now repealed. The man who had been of all others most 
 instrumental in effecting emancipation, and was thus singled 
 out for an exhibition of revenge, was just the one to make the 
 most of the ill-judged policy. He spoke with dignity and 
 effect when pleading his cause before the House of Commons ; 
 he stormed and raged when protesting to his constituents 
 against his exclusion ; and altogether the affair served the 
 
1832.] Canning's Premiership to Passing of Reform Act. 219 
 
 purpose only of those who had objects in view with regard 
 to Irish politics, which could be served by keeping alive 
 animosity to England and to the English Government. It 
 became evident that when Irish members were elected, their 
 sympathies would be in favour of that party which was 
 opposed to the governing classes, alike amongst the Tories 
 and the Whigs. 
 
 In the mean time, only a very faint sign of the coming 
 reform struggle was given this session, when the Marquis 
 of Blandford moved a resolution against the maintenance of 
 close, decayed, and corrupt boroughs, and was defeated by 
 1 14 votes to 40. Hume once more contended against the use 
 of corporal punishment in the army, but did not go to a 
 division. The fact was, that all parties were exhausted by 
 the excitement attending the great battle for religious liberty, 
 and were glad when, as early as the 24th of June, Parliament 
 was prorogued. 
 
 When, on the 4th of February, 1830, Parliament met for 
 what was to be its last session, it met with its temper soured 
 and its organization unsettled. The bulk of the Tory party 
 had been shocked and irritated by what they considered the 
 political treason of the ministers in accepting and forcing on 
 the Emancipation Act. The recess had served only to deepen 
 this feeling, and they had no desire to retain in power the 
 men who had betrayed them. The Whigs, on the other hand, 
 were not disposed to preserve a Government in which they 
 had no share. On their part, ministers could make no ap- 
 proaches toward either a reconciliation with their old friends 
 or a coalition with their old foes. There was, in the great 
 question which everybody felt was coming up next for 
 settlement, another case of the weakness and isolation of 
 the Government. What was supposed to be the feeling 
 of the offended Tories on this point may be gathered from 
 the language of the compiler of the " Annual Register " for 
 the year, a writer vehemently Conservative in opinion and 
 outspoken in expression. Speaking of " the Tories, who had 
 been disgusted by the conduct of ministers regarding the 
 
220 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- 
 
 Catholic Bill," he says, " Between them and the Whigs the 
 distance now was at least not greater than between them and 
 the Ministry, and the Whigs had never betrayed them ; and 
 the unblushing disregard of the public voice of England 
 and Scotland, which had been manifested in carrying through 
 the Catholic Bill, had made, even among the opponents of that 
 bill, converts to the question of Parliamentary reform — almost 
 the only distinguishing legend that now remained visible on 
 the banners of Whiggery." * 
 
 Amongst those who had thus been converted to a belief 
 
 in reform by the action of Government was the Marquis of 
 
 Blandford. He had been a strong opponent of emancipation, 
 
 and thought he saw, in the facility with which Parliament had 
 
 changed its opinions at the call of ministers, a sufficient reason 
 
 for extending the direct representation of the people. He 
 
 moved an amendment to the address in this sense, and on 
 
 the 1 8th of February he asked leave to bring in a bill to 
 
 provide for the disfranchisement from time to time of 
 
 decayed or corrupt boroughs, and the enfranchisement of 
 
 populous places in their stead. Lord Althorpe moved, as an 
 
 amendment, "That it is the opinion of this House that a 
 
 reform in the representation of the people is necessary," 
 
 but both the amendment and Lord Blandford's motion 
 
 were negatived. The proposals brought forward by the 
 
 Whigs themselves during the session were not very violent. 
 
 Another attempt was made, on the nth of March, to 
 
 transfer the seat from East Retford to Birmingham, but it 
 
 was lost by twenty-seven votes, and the proposal to give the 
 
 votes to the hundred carried. It was on this occasion that 
 
 the serious attention of Parliament was called to the growth 
 
 of those political unions which were giving expression to the 
 
 national desire for reform, and organizing the people for 
 
 the struggle to obtain it. Mr. Huskisson, in his speech on 
 
 behalf of the enfranchisement of Birmingham, said, " He saw 
 
 in Birmingham lately an association which, as far as he could 
 
 perceive its elements, principles, and operations, seemed 
 
 » "Annual Register," 1830, p. 2, 
 
1832.1 Cannings Premiership to Passing of Reform Act. 221 
 
 exactly formed on the model of the Catholic Association ; for 
 it had its subscriptions, its funds, its meetings, its discussions, 
 and its agitator. The purpose of this association was to raise 
 a universal cry for Parliamentary reform ; to carry the question 
 by exaggerating the difficulties, abuses, and distresses of the 
 country." Failing in the attempt to enfranchise a single town. 
 Lord John Russell, on the 23rd of February, brought forward 
 a proposal to enable Leeds, Manchester, and Birmingham to 
 return members to the House of Commons. This was sup- 
 ported by Huskisson, and, on a division, was lost by only forty- 
 eight votes, the numbers being 188 to 140. 
 
 As a rule, the Radicals had been content to follow and 
 support the Whigs in their mild proposals, but they had now 
 obtained a colleague who would not take part in any such 
 tactics. O'Connell was always for taking the most extreme 
 course, and he hated the Whigs as heartily as he did the 
 Tories. Accordingly, on the 28th of May he moved for 
 leave to bring in a bill to establish triennial Parliaments, 
 universal suffrage, and vote by ballot. These were only the 
 ■same propositions which had been in the old days supported by 
 Fox and his friends, but in proportion as the question of re- 
 form approached the time for its practical treatment, the dread 
 which the moderates felt for any thorough scheme increased. 
 Lord John Russell and Brougham protested against universal 
 suffrage and the ballot, and Lord Althorpe, whilst not object- 
 ing to the ballot, strongly opposed universal suffrage. O'Con- 
 nell was defeated by 332 votes to 13, and thereon Lord John 
 Russell took occasion to move a series of four resolutions, of 
 which the first three proposed to increase the number of 
 members of the House ; to give members to large towns, and 
 additional members to wealthy and populous counties ; and, to 
 obviate the too great increase of members, to take from not 
 more than sixty boroughs containing less than 2,500 inhabi- 
 tants each, one of the members. 
 
 The last of the four resolutions contained a proposition so 
 startling that it is scarcely credible now that it could ever 
 have been seriously made by a responsible politician. It only 
 
222 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- 
 
 proved to what a system the evil of corruption had been 
 reduced. In the eye of the law such practices had always 
 been criminal, and the electors had a right to their votes free 
 from any interference by compulsion or bribery, and number- 
 less bills to prevent corruption had been introduced and 
 passed. Now the very leader of the reform party of the 
 Whigs came forward with a motion which recognized corrup- 
 tion, not as an offence to be suppressed, but as a right not to 
 be extinguished without compensation. This fourth resolu- 
 tion was — " That it is expedient that compensation be granted 
 to those boroughs that have been reduced to one member to 
 serve in Parliament, by means of a fixed sum to be paid 
 to them annually for a certain number of years." Nothing 
 could add to the force of this resolution as a proof of the 
 utter rottenness of the existing so-called representative 
 system. The whole of the four resolutions were rejected by 
 213 votes to 117. 
 
 These various motions were rather indications of a future 
 than parts of a present practical struggle. In the mean time, 
 the opposition to the Ministry grew stronger, and their 
 position more irksome. Whether or not they could, under 
 ordinary circumstances, have lived through the session is 
 doubtful, but the trial was destined not to be made, for on 
 the 26th of June George IV. expired. Perhaps no man who 
 had held so eminent a position in the world ever left it and 
 caused so few regrets. There could scarcely be a single 
 living person attached to the miserable being, either by affec- 
 tion or respect. Coarse, selfish, and insincere, depraved alike 
 mentally and morally, it was a strong proof of the attachment 
 of the people to their national institutions, that the appearance 
 of personal loyalty could be preserved towards such a king. 
 Of active influence in the policy of the country, such as that 
 which, as long as he was sane, his father had exerted, he 
 possessed nothing. Eldon had tried to make him use such 
 power in the case of the Emancipation Act, but though ready 
 to cry and moan like a child over the necessity which was 
 imposed upon him, his cowardice and weakness made resist- 
 
1832.] Cannings Premiership to Passing of Reform Act. 223 
 
 ance impossible. What he could do, and what he did, v/as 
 to make the lives of his ministers unhappy, by the constant 
 necessity of persuading or coercing him into the performance 
 of the duties of his position. The most that could be said 
 about his influence on actual affairs was that his death re- 
 moved one reason for maintaining the Ministry in power, the 
 determination and firmness of Wellington being no longer 
 required to direct and control his nominal sovereign. 
 
 There was a general belief, soon to be confirmed by events, 
 that the death of the King would lead to the death of the 
 Government. The Whigs at once determined to make an 
 end of the half-alliance, which, as it had led to no division of 
 power or office, they were not likely to prolong. Declaration 
 of war was made forthwith. The new King sent a message, 
 which recommended Parliament to make such temporary 
 provisions as might be requisite for the public service in the 
 interval that would elapse before a new Parliament could be 
 elected. There was in this advice a serious mistake, which 
 might have resulted in grave national difficulties. The King, 
 although in good health, was an old man, and the heir to the 
 throne, the Princess Victoria, was a minor. That a Regency 
 Bill should have been introduced before the dissolution was 
 most desirable. How great the danger really was few people 
 at the time understood ; certainly the nation at large did not 
 know, until Hume, many years after, discovered and exposed 
 what may well be called the Orange Conspiracy, with which 
 the Duke of Cumberland, the person next in succession to 
 the throne, was mixed up. All could see, however, that the 
 course taken by ministers was imprudent, and the opposition 
 made their objection to it the occasion of breaking up what 
 agreement had before existed. The attempt to prolong the 
 session to deal with the question was, however, defeated in 
 both Houses, and on the 24th of July Parliament was dis- 
 solved. 
 
 Although the Whigs had endeavoured to postpone the dis- 
 solution, yet the time chosen for the election was especially 
 auspicious for the cause of Liberalism. The agitation organized 
 
224 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- 
 
 by the political unions and other associations in favour of 
 Parliamentary reform, had been increasing in earnestness, and 
 the well-known weakness of the Government had encouraged 
 the movement. This public feeling had been increased to 
 a state of great excitement by the events which had been 
 taking place in France and Belgium. All through the sum- 
 mer, the whole of Europe had been watching with the keenest 
 interest the proceedings which were taking place in Paris ; the 
 endeavours made by Charles X. and his ministers to destroy 
 what constitutional liberties existed in France ; and the re- 
 sistance which the chambers, the press, and the people offered 
 to the attempt. The struggle culminated in the three days' 
 revolution, which closed, on the 29th of July, in the triumph 
 of the people and the expulsion of the King. This was just 
 when the English constituencies were entering on that election 
 contest which was to be the prelude of a revolution less 
 violent, but not less important, than that which had occurred 
 in France. The spirit of the reformers all over the kingdom 
 was roused, and their exertions were encouraged by the victory 
 in Paris, and they entered upon the campaign with a vigour 
 which broke down the influence of territorial magnates and 
 borough-mongers, and resulted in the return, for the first time 
 in forty years, of a House of Commons in which the reforming 
 element was predominant. 
 
 There had been great distress in the country for some time 
 past, and this, whilst it predisposed the people to political 
 change, urged some of them to turbulence and disorder. There 
 were riots, rick-burning, machine-breaking, and other acts of 
 violence which might draw attention to, but could not relieve, 
 the prevalent suffering. It was under these conditions that 
 the new Parliament met on the 26th of October, and, the 
 preliminaries having been got through, the session was opened 
 on the 2nd of November by the new King in person. In the 
 royal speech there was one sentence which implied, rather 
 than expressed, opposition to a reform of the Constitution. 
 After speaking of the loyalty and attachment of the great 
 body of his people, the King went on to say, " I am confident 
 
1832.] Canning^ s Premiership to Passing of Reform Act. 225 
 
 that they justly appreciate the full advantage of that happy 
 form of government under which, through the favour of Divine 
 Providence, this country has enjoyed for a long succession 
 of years a greater share of internal peace, of commercial 
 prosperity, of true liberty, of all that constitutes social happi- 
 ness, than has fallen to the lot of any other country of the 
 world." This statement was soon challenged. Even before 
 the address was moved, Brougham gave notice that he would 
 submit a distinct proposition for a change in the representa- 
 tion. In the Lords, in the debate on the address, Earl Grey, 
 referring to France and Belgium, said, " We ought to learn 
 wisdom from what was passing before our eyes ; and when the 
 spirit of liberty was breaking out all around, it was our first 
 duty to secure our own institutions by introducing into them 
 a temperate reform. He felt persuaded that, unless we did so, 
 we must make up our minds to witness the destruction of the 
 Constitution. He had been a reformer all his life, and at no 
 period had he been inclined to go farther than he would be 
 prepared to go now if the opportunity were offered." This was 
 a plain and a bold declaration, and it was answered by one 
 equally as bold and far more extraordinary. The Duke of 
 Wellington replied in a speech which has become historical, 
 and which, alike from its tone and the time when it was 
 spoken, could not but be taken as a defiance of the unmistak- 
 able wish of the bulk of the nation. He praised the existing 
 state of the representation as being absolutely perfect, and as 
 possessing the full and entire confidence of the country. Then, 
 in conclusion, he said, " The representation of the people at 
 present contains a large body of the property of the country 
 in which the landed interests have a preponderating influence. 
 Under these circumstances, I am not prepared to bring forward 
 any measure of the description alluded to by the noble lord. 
 I am not only not prepared to bring forward any measure of 
 this nature, but I will at once declare, that as far as I am 
 concerned, as long as I hold any station in the Government 
 of the country, I shall always feel it my duty to resist such 
 measures when proposed by others." 
 
 Q 
 
226 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- 
 
 It was thus that issue was joined between the party of 
 resistance and the party of progress. The first business of 
 the reformer was to remove from his " station in the Govern- 
 ment" the Prime Minister who misrepresented and opposed 
 the opinion of the country. This was done on the 1 5th of 
 November, when, on ministers bringing forward their proposals 
 as to the civil list, in the House of Commons, an amend- 
 ment was moved by Sir Henry Parnell for a select committee 
 to take them into consideration. This was carried by 233 to 
 204, giving a majority of twenty-nine against Ministers. 
 Next day they announced that they had tendered, and that 
 his Majesty had accepted, their resignations. They afterwards 
 declared that they came to this resolution not so much on 
 account of the civil list vote as from an anticipation of 
 the result of a division on Mr. Brougham's proposition for 
 reform.* The King sent for Lord Grey, and he undertook 
 to form an Administration on condition that he should 
 have his Majesty's authority to make Parliamentary reform 
 a Cabinet question. On this basis the Ministry was formed 
 which framed and, after a long and fierce contest, ultimately 
 carried that first great Act which, with all its defects and 
 deficiency, yet did, nevertheless, give the national sanction 
 to the principle that the House of Commons should not be 
 composed of nominees of borough-mongers or of close cor- 
 porations, but, to some extent at least, should represent 
 the people in whose name it spoke, and on whose behalf it 
 professed to act. 
 
 The Ministry which had to undertake this great work was 
 composed mainly of Whigs and Canningites,t but on the 
 
 * "Annual Register," 1830, p. 163. 
 
 t The Ministry was first composed as follows : — 
 
 In the Cabinet. 
 
 Earl Grey Sir James Graham 
 
 Viscount Althorpe Viscount Goderich 
 
 Lord Brougham Lord Auckland 
 
 Marquis of Lansdown Charles Grant 
 
 Lord Durham Duke of Richmond 
 
 Viscount Melbourne Lord Holland 
 
 Viscount Palmerston Earl of Carlisle 
 
1832.] Cannings Premiership to Passing of Reform Act, 227 
 
 question of reform the Premier himself, from his long advocacy 
 of the subject and the importance which he gave to it, may be 
 said to have been the guiding spirit. After the formation of 
 the Government little was done in Parliament. The Regency 
 Act was passed, and some necessary routine got through ; and 
 on the 23rd of December both Houses adjourned to the 3rd 
 of February, the long adjournment being declared necessary 
 in order to enable ministers to prepare the various measures 
 which they wished to submit, and more particularly the plan 
 of reform, to which they were especially pledged. This last 
 and greatest subject was immediately proceeded with. As 
 soon as the Administration was definitely organized, Earl 
 Grey appointed a committee to discuss the whole subject and 
 report upon it to the Cabinet. " This committee consisted 
 of Lord Durham, his own son-in-law, who was perfectly 
 acquainted with Lord Grey's views on the subject ; of Lord 
 Duncannon, who was supposed to be well versed in borough 
 hi.story and details, more especially in Ireland ; of Sir James 
 Graham, who was popular with the more ardent reformers, 
 and at that time deemed almost a Radical ; and of Lord John 
 Russell, who had represented the Whig party in the House 
 of Commons when dealing with the question of reform in his 
 various proposals on the subject." * 
 
 The Houses reassembled on the 3rd of February, 1831 ; 
 and on the ist of March Lord John Russell introduced the 
 Reform Bill in the Commons, and its provisions were for the 
 
 Not in Cabinet. 
 
 Charles Wynn Sir W. Home 
 Sir James Kempt 
 
 Duke of Devonshire Ireland. 
 
 Marquis Wellesley Marquis of Anglesey 
 
 Earl of Albermarle Lord Plunkett 
 
 Marquis of Winchester Sir John Byng 
 
 Lord John Russell E. S. T. Stanley 
 
 G. A. Ellis E. Pennefather 
 
 C. P. Thompson P. Crampton 
 Sir T. Denman 
 Lord Duncannon joined the Ministry afterwards. 
 
 • Roebuck's " History of the Wh^ Ministry of 1830," vol. ii. pp. 28, 29. 
 
228 Historji of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- 
 
 first time made known to the country. On the whole, the 
 measure, as thus propounded, was received by Radicals in and 
 out of Parliament with delight, and almost with surprise at its 
 thorough-going character. There were principles which they 
 considered important which were not recognized ; there were 
 deficiencies in the methods that were adopted. The ballot, 
 a shorter duration of Pariiaments, and most especially a 
 wider extension of the suffrage, were felt to be questions 
 which had been unwisely neglected ; but, as Harriet Martineau 
 says, "All agreed to reHnquish their minor objects for a 
 time, to secure the overthrow of borough corruption, and the 
 great cry was raised which from that hour rang through 
 the land for above a year — 'The bill, the whole bill, and 
 nothing but the bill.' " * 
 
 From this time to the passing of the Act there is no 
 separate history of the Radical party in Parliament. The 
 determination to assist the Whigs in the prolonged effort to 
 carry the great measure was practically unanimous.f It was 
 the feeling outside which made it possible to break down the 
 opposition of the Peers and the reluctance of the King, and 
 outside the Radicals had the command of the devotion, and 
 the direction of the energies, of the whole people. It was the 
 popular enthusiasm thus aroused and sustained which sup- 
 ported ministers in their first defeat, sent back a strong and 
 compact reform majority when Parliament was dissolved, and 
 defeated even the resolution of the Duke of Wellington, 
 although at one time it was said that he contemplated the 
 possibility of using the army to suppress the people. It was 
 this which induced the King to promise Lord Grey power to 
 
 * "History of the Thirty Years' Peace," vol. ii. p. 32. 
 
 t There were two curious exceptions. Orator Hunt, who had defeated Mr. 
 Stanley at Preston, vigorously denounced ministers and their proposition ; but no 
 one regarded him as a serious element in politics. Sir R. Wilson, however, had 
 long been a consistent Radical, but by some twist he constructed a principle out of 
 a mere detail, and voted against Government on the amendment, which refused to 
 allow of a diminution of the number of members of the House. The carrying of 
 this led to a dissolution, and in the election following Wilson lost his seat for 
 Southwark. 
 
1832.] Cannings Premiership to Passing of Reform Act. 229 
 
 create peers sufficient to carry the bill, and convinced the 
 Lords themselves that further resistance was impossible. So 
 that it was truly a national, and not a party, victory which 
 was completed, when on Thursday, June 7, 1832, the royal 
 assent was given, and the Reform Bill became law. 
 
230 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1833- 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE FIRST REFORMED PARLIAMENT (1833-1834). 
 
 On the i6th of August, 1832, the last session of the last 
 unreformed Parliament was closed. By the elections which 
 followed, the extent and the position of the Radical party in 
 the House of Commons were materially affected. Hitherto 
 the Radical members had been regarded rather as the 
 mouthpieces of outside opinion than as exercising any direct 
 influence upon the proceedings of Parliament. For a long time 
 to come they were destined to maintain the same place. They 
 represented the wishes and the feelings of the people, they 
 formulated and expressed the national desires, and they kept 
 before Parliament the growing determination to obtain reforms 
 in certain directions ; but when the popular demands had 
 reached a point at which they could no longer be resisted, the 
 work of Liberal legislation was taken up, not by the men who 
 had been responsible for its preparation and who believed 
 in its principles, but by members of one or other of the old 
 parties, who had to the last moment resisted the concession, 
 but who still retained command of the majority of the con- 
 stituencies. The Tories were almost as ready to make con- 
 cessions as the Whigs ; and the Whigs were quite as deter- 
 mined as the Tories to keep the power of the Government in 
 the hands of the privileged classes to which they all belonged 
 Yet in the first reformed Parliament there was a definite 
 Radical party, returned as such by the electors, and recognized 
 as such by the House. To ascertain why it was that this 
 
1834] The First Reformed Parliament. 231 
 
 party was so large, and, what is still more important, how it 
 happened that it was not larger and more influential, it is 
 necessary to see what the Reform Act really was, and what 
 its authors intended it to be ; what it did, and what it left 
 undone ; and how the classes which it enfranchised, and the 
 constituencies which it manipulated, were capable of being 
 managed and controlled. 
 
 The places from which the Radical party could be re- 
 cruited were increased in number, but the increase was 
 limited, and the possibility of growth small. It was in the 
 large metropolitan and other new boroughs, in which there 
 were not only a considerable number of working men enfran- 
 chised, but where the influence of public opinion could affect 
 voters in other classes, that there was a chance for candidates 
 who took that opinion for their guide, and who wished to gain 
 for it wider and more direct expression in Parliament — men 
 who desired that the government of the country should be 
 for the people and by the people. Forty-two new boroughs 
 were created, ofwhich twenty-two were to return two members, 
 and twenty were to return one member each. It was hoped 
 that immediate gain would be derived from this source, and 
 from a few of the older cities and boroughs, such as London, 
 Westminster, Southwark, Liverpool, Bristol, and Newcastle. 
 The chances of growth in the future wei'e that many of the small 
 boroughs which retained members might become more popu- 
 lous and more independent, and that in some of the grouped 
 boroughs, especially in Scotland and Wales, territorial influence 
 might be divided, and in some might be overcome. Only 
 from the last-named direction has the assistance really come. 
 
 On the other side, the probability of increased strength 
 from the counties was cut off by the operation of the Chandos 
 Clause, which, by giving votes to occupiers of £^Q value and 
 upwards, practically made the landowners paramount. Some of 
 the Radicals — and Roebuck was amongst them * — hoped that 
 this influence might in time be overcome, and that the tenant 
 farmers would vote in accordance with their own views and 
 * " History of the Whig Ministry," vol. ii. p. 198. 
 
232 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1833- 
 
 interests rather than at the command of their landlords ; but 
 this expectation has not yet been reaUzed. Whilst the terri- 
 torial power was thus made stronger, the area of its operation 
 was increased by the additional members given to counties. 
 Out of the total number of seats to be appropriated, sixty-five 
 -were allotted to county constituencies, and the Tories mainly, 
 and at the best the Conservative section of the Whigs, were 
 permanently strengthened to that extent. In what were 
 retained of the small nomination boroughs, in which the great 
 families were as powerful as in the counties, the Radicals had 
 little hope. The Whigs had, in their treatment of these 
 constituencies, been almost undisguisedly influenced by party 
 considerations ; but in spite of this arrangement there were 
 many of such nomination seats left in the hands of the Tories, 
 and in all of them, as in the counties, the tendency has been 
 for the holders of such power to grow ever more Conservative, 
 and to give support to the party opposed to change. 
 
 The strength and the weakness of the Radicals were 
 defined by these conditions. Supposing that they obtained 
 the whole of the seats for the popular boroughs, they could 
 •never be numerous enough to form and maintain an adminis- 
 tration. But these constituencies were naturally far from 
 being unanimous ; some of them were eventually found to 
 be Whig, and some even Tory, so that the Radicals could 
 not command a force great enough and united enough to 
 regularly make an impression on the Whig policy. This 
 state of things led to a condition of disorganization and of 
 individual instead of combined action, which has been said 
 to be the cause, but was in reality quite as much the conse- 
 quence, of the weakness of the party in Parliament. Another 
 influence which served to increase this want of solidarity in 
 the party, was the entire absence of official or even Parlia- 
 mentary experience amongst its members. Now and again 
 it occurred that when the Radicals acquired this experience 
 they were admitted into the charmed circle of Whig officialism, 
 not as Radicals, but as Liberals, and their old colleagues 
 were often more vexed by what they considered desertion 
 
'834-] The First Reformed Parliament. 233 
 
 than pleased at the influence they might exercise on ministers. 
 This period of isolation is an inevitable stage in the history 
 of any political or social organization, and is continued longest 
 when men are most impressed with the importance of the 
 principles to which they are devoted, and which they fear to 
 injure by any compromise even on the details of administration. 
 
 The relation of the Whigs towards the Radicals in this 
 respect has already gone through three stages. The first 
 was that in which the governing class refused to reckon the 
 popular party at all as a source from which the Government 
 was to be drawn or from which the ideas of government were 
 to be derived. The second was when the importance of 
 individual Radicals was recognized, not only on account of 
 their personal ability, but because of their representative 
 character ; but when they were still admitted not to affect 
 the policy, but to strengthen the position of the Whigs. The 
 third stage, which has only been very recently reached, was 
 when not only the persons but the principles of Radicals 
 were admitted into the highest counsels of the Liberal party, 
 and the men were expected not only to support measures in 
 Parliament, but to help to frame them in Cabinets. In all 
 these cases the nation has been the gainer by the increase 
 of the influence of those who have most directly represented 
 the popular wishes — who have striven to widen and improve 
 its institutions, and to increase the social, the intellectual, 
 and the political liberties of the people. 
 
 The actual gain in numbers, and in influence, to the 
 Radical party immediately following the passing of the 
 Reform Act, has been variously estimated. In a work to 
 which reference has been before made (" The Parliaments 
 of England from first of George I. to the present time," by 
 Henry Stooks Smith), the third volume of which was published 
 in 1850, an attempt has been made at party classification, 
 founded, as it appears, on the recorded views of candidates 
 and local records and opinions. In this book the number 
 of avowed or recognized Radicals in the first reformed House 
 of Commons, elected in 1832, is given as forty-six, of which 
 
234 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1833- 
 
 there are eighteen English, one Scotch, and twenty-seven 
 Irish members. In the next ParUament, elected in 1835, there 
 are recorded nineteen English, two Scotch, and thirty Irish 
 Radicals.* This list does not accord with the generally 
 received opinions. Speaking of the state of things after 1832, 
 Sir Erskine May says, " The Radical reformers or Radicals, 
 long known as an active party in the country, had at length 
 gained a footing in the House of Commons, where they had 
 about fifty representatives." t The estimate made by Harriet 
 Martineau is much higher. Speaking of the time of the 
 dissolution in 1837, she says, "From the beginning of the 
 reform struggle the number of Radical reformers in the House 
 had never been less than seventy or eighty ; and in the las-t- 
 Parliament they had been one hundred and fifty. It was 
 strange that they had not yet been a powerful party ; and 
 it would be stranger still if they did not become so now." \ 
 
 The difficulty of arriving at any definite calculation of 
 numbers arises from the fact, that although at that time the 
 Radicals were thought of as separated from the Whigs, it 
 was rather as individuals than as a distinct Parliamentary 
 party. They had no formal organization, no acknowledged 
 leaders who could call with authority for a display of their 
 full power, and they made no pretence to any official position 
 in the Government. One special element of uncertainty was 
 the action of the Irish members, who formed, numerically, 
 an important contingent of the force. Their votes were only 
 given in full number on some few of the broader que.stions 
 of national politics ; and where they were allied to the most 
 Liberal section, that is, on ecclesiastical subjects, the union 
 in action was not based on agreement in principle. The 
 English Radicals attacked the Irish Church from the side of 
 religious liberty ; the Irish members had mainly in view the 
 interests and rights of Roman Catholicism. On another 
 
 * Although evidently incomplete, the lists are interesting, and the names given 
 as Radicals in the Parliaments of 1832 and 1835, and the constituencies they repre- 
 sented, are set out in an Appendix. 
 
 t "Constitutional History," vol. ii. p. 60. 
 
 X " History of the Thirty Years' Peace," vol. ii. p. 351. 
 
i834-] The First Reformed Parliament. 235 
 
 point, too, there was still further divergence. There could be 
 no constant and permanent alliance without something like 
 mutual sympathy on the matters which the several parties 
 regarded as essential. But the English members could not 
 repay Irish support by votes in favour of the principal object 
 on which the latter were most in earnest. O'Connell had 
 raised the banner of repeal, and to that flag no English 
 Radicals could rally. They could not, therefore, on any 
 special English question make a claim on the united loyalty 
 of the Irish members. 
 
 From these various causes, even the divisions taken in 
 the House are not conclusive as to the real strength of the 
 party, and they vary considerably ; yet on the whole they 
 form the only trustworthy guide on the subject. Those 
 which took place in the first sessions were very characteristic 
 of the state of parties. The first that was called for in the 
 reformed Parliament was pressed for by some of the Radicals 
 on account of what they thought a desertion of principle by 
 the Government in the choice of a Speaker. Mr. Manners 
 Sutton, the Speaker in the former Parliament, had been 
 selected by Tory ministers as a Tory president of a Tory 
 House. There was naturally a feeling of surprise and regret 
 when the reform Ministry decided to propose him as Speaker 
 in the Liberal House. Loyalty to the Government restrained 
 all but the most determined Radicals, and the first division 
 list is interesting as showing how many of these there were. 
 Hume proposed Mr. Littleton, in opposition to the old Speaker, 
 and on a division obtained 31 votes against 241.* Amongst 
 
 * The following formed the minority : — 
 
 Baldwin, D. H. Gaskell, D. Potter, Richard 
 
 Beauclerk, Major A. W. Grote, George Roche, William 
 
 Bowes, J. Hume, J. Roe, James 
 
 Bulwer, E. L. Hutt, W. Roebuck, J. A. 
 
 Butler, Hon. P. Kinlock, G Romilly, J. 
 
 Cobbett, W. Lloyd, J. H. Strutt, Edward 
 
 Dykes, F. L. B. Lynch, A. H. Sutton, Rt. Hon. C. M., 
 
 Evans, George Nagle, Sir R. Speaker. 
 
 Ewart, W. O'Connell, Daniel Vigors, N. A. 
 
 Faithful, G. O'Connell, John 
 
 Fielden, W. J. O'Connell, Morgan Warburton, Henry, Teller. 
 
236 History of the Radical Party in Parliament [1833- 
 
 these thirty-one was the late Speaker, who of course is not 
 to be reckoned with the Radicals. Another challenge was 
 given on the address, when amendments were moved by 
 O'Connell and Tennyson, both taking exception to the Irish 
 coercion clauses in the royal speech. Tennyson's amendment 
 declared, " That if, under the circumstances which may be 
 disclosed to us, we should be induced to entrust his Majesty 
 with additional powers, we shall feel it our duty to accom- 
 pany that acquiescence in his Majesty's wishes by a close 
 and diligent investigation into the causes of discontent in 
 Ireland." For this there were, including tellers, sixty-two 
 votes, including thirty-four Irish and twenty-eight English 
 members.* 
 
 These divisions may be taken as representing the pure or 
 thorough Radical vote, but there were occasions on which the 
 Radical element in the Whig party was also represented. The 
 most important of these in the first session was that caused by 
 Grote's resolution in favour of the ballot. The new member 
 introduced the motion in a speech which not only conferred 
 honour on the speaker, but strengthened the party to which 
 he was attached. On a division, there were 106 Ayes and 211 
 Noes. In addition there were twenty-six members who paired 
 in favour of the ballot, so that the total force on this decidedly 
 Radical question, brought forward by an avowed Radical, was 
 132, or, adding tellers, 134, justifying the highest estimate 
 which has been formed of its strength. 
 
 Even more important than the numbers of the Radical 
 party at this new starting-point in its history, were the 
 character, ability, and position of its members. Important 
 
 * The English votes were the following :— 
 
 Attwood, T. Grote, G. Palmer, Gen. 
 
 Beauclerk, Major E. Harvey, D. W. Philips, Mark 
 
 Brotherton, James Hume, J. Potter, R. 
 
 Butler, C. Humphrey, J. Roebuck, J. A. 
 
 Cobbett, W. Hutt, William Wallace, R. 
 
 Faithful, G. Kennedy, J. Warburton, Henry 
 
 Fielden, John Kinlock, G. 
 
 Fryer, R. Lloyd, J. H. • Bulwer, E. L. ) 
 
 Gaskell, D. Molesworth, Sir W. Tennyson, C. J 
 
 Tellers. 
 
I834-J The First Reformed Parliament. z'^'j 
 
 these were, not only to the party, but to the nation. What- 
 ever might be their power and influence for the moment in 
 Parliament, they were men by whom the future policy of the 
 country would be decided. It was by them and under their 
 direction that those questions were introduced and explained 
 to the people, which, after being supported by outside agita- 
 tion, were finally forced upon a reluctant legislature. It was 
 of the first consequence that these men, who stood at the head 
 of the party of progress, should not only be inspired by the 
 popular enthusiasm, but should possess such practical ability 
 as would enable them to convert political ideas into actual 
 working proposals, and give confidence to those who had 
 been taught to suspect as theorists all who ventured into new 
 and untried paths. 
 
 As to the manner in which these requirements were met, 
 there was quite as much difference of opinion amongst those 
 who ought to have been competent to judge as there was 
 about the numerical strength of the party. Examples of these 
 divergent views are worth consulting. And first we may take 
 the sublime self-superiority of the man in society, who looks 
 upon the millions of people who are outside the ruling class 
 as scarcely worthy of notice. Greville, the one-time clerk 
 to the Privy Council, writing in his diary at the time, says, 
 " In the mean time, the reformed Parliament has been sitting 
 for a fortnight or so, and begins to manifest its character and 
 pretensions. The first thing that strikes one is its inferiority, 
 in point of composition, to preceding Houses of Commons, 
 and the presumption, impertinence, and self-sufficiency of the 
 new members. Formerly new members appeared with some 
 modesty and diffidence, and with some appearance of respect 
 for the assembly into which they were admitted; these fellows 
 behave themselves as if they had taken it by storm, and might 
 riot in all the insolence of victory. There exists no party 
 but that of the Government : the Irish act in a body under 
 O'Connell to the number of about forty ; the Radicals are 
 scattered up and down without a leader, numerous, restless, 
 turbulent, and bold— Hume, Cobbett, and a multitude such 
 
238 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1833- 
 
 as Roebuck, Faithful, Buckingham, Major Beauclerk, etc. 
 (most of whom have totally failed in point of speaking) — 
 bent upon doing all the mischief they can, and incessantly 
 active." * 
 
 What we may call the official Whig view may come next. 
 Sir Erskine May says of the Radicals, " Without organization 
 or unity of purpose, and with little confidence in one another, 
 they were often found in combination against the Government. 
 And, in addition to this body, the great towns recently enfran- 
 chised, and places suddenly relieved from the thraldom of 
 patronage and close corporations, had returned a new class of 
 reformers, having little sympathy with the old Whigs. These 
 men had sprung from a different source ; they had no connec- 
 tion with the aristocracy, and no respect for the constitutional 
 Whig party. Their political views were founded upon prin- 
 ciples more democratic, and experience of the restraints 
 and compromises of public affairs had not yet taught them 
 moderation." j 
 
 Let us turn to an account more philosophical, and which, 
 even if it be somewhat too eulogistic, had the essential truth 
 only to be gained by some sympathy with the principles 
 which actuated the Radicals and the objects for which they 
 were striving. Harriet Martineau writes — " These Radical 
 reform members were men of conscience, of enlightenment, of 
 intellectual ability and moral earnestness, of good station, 
 and, generally speaking, of independent fortune. They were 
 so unlike the vulgar Tory misrepresentation of them — so far 
 from being destructives and demagogues — that the sober- 
 minded of the community might more reasonably trust them 
 for the conservation of property than either the Conservatives 
 or the Whigs. . . . There was no other party which, in 1837, 
 was known to include such men as Grote, and Molesworth, 
 and Roebuck, and Colonel Thompson, and Joseph Hume, 
 and William Ewart, and Charles BuUer, and Ward, and 
 Villiers, and Bulwer, and Strutt ; — such a phalanx of strength 
 
 * " Greville Memoirs," vol. ii. p. 360. 
 
 t "Constitutional History of England," vol. ii. pp. 60, 61. 
 
iS34.1 The First Reformed Parliament. 239 
 
 as these men, with their philosophy, their science, their read- 
 ing, their experience, the acuteness of some, the dogged- 
 ness of others, the seriousness of most, the mirth of a few, 
 might have become, if they could have become a phalanx 
 at all." * 
 
 The party of which such divergent opinions were formed, 
 as regarded alike their voting power and their character and 
 ability, entered on the work of legislation with a vigour un- 
 checked by official responsibility, and a hopefulness untamed 
 by Parliamentary experience. They represented the people 
 who had just been enfranchised, and electors and members 
 alike supposed that the enfranchisement was intended, not as 
 an end, but as a means for obtaining practical reforms. They 
 were too sanguine in their expectations, too trustful of the 
 official Liberals, and anxious to do more than was possible in 
 the time. The lesson had to be learned, and it was not long 
 before it was forced upon them, that their work was not at 
 first to pass measures through Parliament, but to prepare the 
 country for them, and to lead the agitations which should 
 enforce success. This was not a pleasant revelation for men 
 who were deeply impressed with the grievances which existed, 
 and the remedies which were required. What hurt them most 
 was the resistance which they met with from the ministerial 
 party, who owed their position to the popular enthusiasm. 
 This gave rise to feelings of animosity against the Whigs, 
 which sometimes found an exaggerated expression, but which 
 yet was the natural result of disappointed hopes. Thus, if the 
 Whigs regarded the Radicals as unreasonable demagogues, 
 the Radicals returned the compliment by treating the minis- 
 terialists as no better than Tories. One of the most brilliant, 
 the most active, and, it must be added, the most bitter of them 
 said, " The Whigs have ever been an exclusive and aristocratic 
 faction, though at times employing democratic principles and 
 phrases as weapons of offence against their opponents. It is 
 the fashion of the writers who advocate their cause and 
 eulogize their party, to describe them as representing the 
 • " History of the Thirty Years' Peace," vol. ii. pp. 351, 352. 
 
240 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1833- 
 
 principle of advance and change, in the hope of improvement, 
 which must be ever acting with a people who are themselves 
 continually improving ; but this assumption is not justified by 
 experience. The Whigs employ the phrases of liberality upon 
 compulsion. They are liberal because they need some means 
 of exciting the nation. When out of office they are dema- 
 gogues ; in power they become exclusive oligarchs. In the 
 one case and the other, they pursue without scruple what they 
 believe to be their party interest." * 
 
 This feeling of antagonism between the most active 
 Radicals and the Whigs did not correspond with any sharp 
 line, either in principles or policy, between the two parties. 
 There were many causes which led to union rather than 
 to separation. The difference between the division lists on 
 some of the questions points to the most important of these 
 causes — the fact that there was a growing tendency towards 
 Liberalism amongst nearly all classes of politicians. This fact 
 vas marked by the change of name which was now adopted 
 by both the old parties. Whigs and Tories' became Liberals 
 and Conservatives.! On the part of the Whigs, the change 
 had become desirable on account of the new element which 
 had been introduced into Parliament by the operation of the 
 Reform Act. It would have been impossible for them to carry 
 on the Government if the Radicals had been in permanent 
 opposition. It was necessary, therefore, to recognize the fact 
 that there was a party of progress, of which different sections 
 were anxious to proceed at different rates, but all were pre- 
 pared for advance of some kind. The title of Liberal answered 
 to what the Whigs required ; it could be applied as a descrip- 
 tion of, and used as a rallying cry to, all opponents of Toryism. 
 When there was a division which threatened the existence of 
 the Ministry, it might be represented as a violation of party 
 loyalty for the extreme section of the Liberals to desert their 
 more moderate colleagues. This instrument, it will be found 
 
 * Roebuck's " History of the Whig Ministry of 1830," vol. ii. pp. 405, 406. 
 t The changes are well described in Spencer Walpole's "History of England 
 from 1815," vol. iii. pp. 135, 136. 
 
'834-] The First Reformed Parliament. 241 
 
 has been used to the utmost by Whig statesmen ; but although 
 the organization of Radicahsm has been hindered by it, the 
 thing itself has not been destroyed. 
 
 On their part, the Tories had suffered even more than their 
 rivals from the endeavour to ignore or suppress the Liberalism 
 of some of their members. The attempts of men like Eldon 
 and Sidmouth and Wellington to resist all change, had led 
 to the secession of Canning and Huskisson, of Goderich and 
 Palmerston, and had culminated in making the Reform Act 
 much more effective and far-reaching than it would have been 
 if the resistance at first had been less vehement. If this loss 
 of members, of intelligence, and of popular tendencies, was 
 not to be made continual and utterly ruinous, it was necessary 
 to stop it by recognizing the fact that reaction was impossible, 
 and mere obstruction a mistake. Peel was wise enough to 
 see this, and his party of Conservatives, therefore, was not 
 reduced by deserters to the Liberals, but, on the other hand, 
 was strengthened by the sympathy of the more conservative 
 of the Whigs. Even he could not foretell the strength of the 
 national sf^ream which was setting towards Liberalism, and 
 which was to carry him faster than the bulk of the party 
 which he anxiously tried to prepare for some movement. 
 
 The position of the Radicals, then, was this : they were 
 numerous enough to make themselves important to the 
 Ministry, and they had behind them the full force of the 
 popular agitation which could be raised on any great question. 
 On the other hand, whilst admission to the Government was 
 impossible, they could not force the Whigs beyond a certain 
 line, because there was always the Conservative vote to appeal 
 to against what might be stigmatized as revolutionary pro- 
 posals. It is not surprising that they did not at once understand 
 the full meaning of their position, and that in consequence 
 they were more eager for action and more sanguine of success 
 than the realities of the case warranted. At all events, they so 
 far justified their claim to be the representatives of public 
 opinion, that in the first session of the new Parliament they 
 raised in one form or other nearly every great question which 
 
 R 
 
242 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1833- 
 
 has since become the subject of national endeavour, has been 
 the occasion of party strife, and has led to the formation and 
 destruction of Ministries. 
 
 First we must look at the measures which the Government 
 proposed and carried. For the rapid success of these they 
 were indebted to the public spirit which had carried the 
 Reform Act and elected the new Parliament. So evidently 
 was this influence at work that some of the most important 
 of the proposals were forced on them from outside their own 
 ranks. This was the case with the Acts which abolished two 
 sorts of slavery, that of the factory children at home, and 
 that of the negroes in the colonies. Human life and human 
 rights were acquiring a higher place in the consideration of 
 statesmen. The cause of religious liberty received an impetus, 
 the effect of which has never been exhausted, by the discussions 
 attending the passing of the Irish Church Bill.* Besides these 
 things, the Bank Charter had been revised, and the government 
 of the great Indian Empire had been reconstructed. In 
 addition there had been a committee appointed to inquire 
 into municipal corporations, the first step towards the great 
 reform in local government which was subsequently effected. 
 This was in reality an enormous amount of work to have been 
 accomplished in a single session, and one in which much time 
 had been unhappily spent over the Irish Coercion Bill, and it 
 has since been regarded as a great achievement t which was 
 made possible only by the political enthusiasm of the time. 
 Yet neither the public feeling nor that of the Radicals was 
 satisfied with what had been done, and the Ministry rather 
 declined in popularity from what was left undone, than gained 
 in credit by that which was effected. 
 
 The dissatisfaction of the popular party was caused to 
 some extent by positive acts of the Government, especially 
 
 * "The germ of that principle upon which, thirty-five years later, the dises- 
 tablishment of the Protestant Church in Ireland was based, dates from 1833." 
 
 " Personal life of George Grote," p. 86. 
 
 t " No previous Administration had ever accomplished so many reforms as the 
 Grey Cabinet had effected in a year." — Spencer Walpole's "History of England 
 from 1815," vol. iii. p. 209. 
 
1834.] The First Reformed Parliament. 243 
 
 by the introduction of the Coercion Bill for Ireland, and the 
 mutilation of the Church Bill by the withdrawal of the 
 appropriation clause. So far the discontent was justifiable ; 
 but as to the sins of omission, it must be admitted that the 
 Radicals strove for and expected more than it was possible to 
 achieve in the time. They had not yet accepted their position 
 as pioneers of, and agitators for, thoroughly Liberal measures ; 
 their early disappointment perhaps made them too willing to 
 accept it in the future, when they continued to maintain in 
 power ministers whom they might honourably either have 
 compelled to make progress, or have left the Conservatives to 
 deal with. In this first session, however, they developed a 
 programme sufficiently comprehensive. With respect to 
 political liberty and constitutional reform, besides Grote's 
 motion on the ballot, which has been already referred to, a 
 good fight was made on a resolution proposed by Tennyson 
 in favour of a bill to shorten the duration of Parliament, for 
 which 164 votes were given to 213 against. In this case if 
 the Ministry had not obtained Tory votes they would have 
 been beaten, and this was an experience which they often had 
 to undergo. 
 
 Religious liberty was made the subject of nearly constant 
 discussion. The most strenuous efforts were made by the 
 Radicals to prevent the injury to the Irish Church Bill. But 
 they went further than this, for on the i6th of April Faithful, 
 one of the members for Brighton, introduced resolutions 
 declaring that the Church of England as by law established 
 was not recommended by practical utility ; that its revenues 
 have always been subject to legislative enactments ; and that 
 the greater part, if not the whole, of these revenues ought to 
 be appropriated to the relief of the nation. These resolutions 
 were seconded by Cobbett, but were negatived without a 
 division. A bill for the removal of Jewish disabilities was 
 carried through the Commons, but rejected by the Lords — 
 the first of a series of proceedings of the kind. 
 
 The "Annual Register" for the year 1833 says that "there 
 was nothing in regard to which more lively hopes had been 
 
244 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1833- 
 
 excited in the great mass of the people than the corn laws." * 
 An attempt to realize these hopes was made by Mr. Whitmore, 
 who, on the 17th of May, moved a resolution to amend the corn 
 laws by substituting in their stead a moderate duty, fixed at 
 all periods except those of extreme dearth. Once more the 
 reform Ministry led the Tories and their own Whig followers 
 into the lobby against the advocates of the popular desires. 
 Lord Althorpe, in a speech which did not attempt to deal 
 with the merits of the case, but objected to the time at which 
 it had been brought forward, moved the previous question, 
 which was carried by a majority of 305 to 206, numbers which 
 proved the interest which attached to the subject. Another 
 motion was made on the i8th of June to bring in a bill to 
 alter the corn laws, but it was defeated. 
 
 Questions which touched personal liberty were not likely 
 to be overlooked by the Parliament which resolved to abolish 
 negro slavery at a cost to the nation of twenty millions 
 sterling. Hume, the indefatigable, repeated his annual 
 proposal to abolish flogging in the army, and lost it by only 
 a narrow majority, the numbers being 140 for and 151 against. 
 A still nearer approach to victory was obtained on the 15th of 
 August by Buckingham, who moved for the abolition of the 
 impressment of seamen, for which he obtained fifty-four votes, 
 whilst only fifty-nine voted against. 
 
 It was not likely that the old friends of economy and 
 purity in the administration of the national finances would 
 lessen their exertions when their influence had been so much 
 increased. A considerable amount of time was spent in 
 discussions on this subject, which were rendered at once more 
 vehement and more important from the excited state of public 
 opinion. It had been the generally expressed view, during the 
 reform agitation, that a more representative Parliament would 
 lead to such improvements in method and principle of finance 
 as would effect an immediate and appreciable relief from the 
 burdens of taxation. This expectation could not be realized, 
 and there was a conflict between the agricultural and the 
 
 * Page 210. 
 
1834] The First Reformed Parliament. 245 
 
 commercial interests as to the direction in which relief was 
 most urgently required. The malt tax on the one side, and 
 the assessed taxes, especially the house and window taxes, on 
 the other, were declaimed against, and ministers used one set 
 of agitators against the other in order to defeat both. In 
 connection with these discussions, the first illustration was 
 given of the relation which the ministerial party intended to 
 hold towards any Radicals who might aspire to or accept 
 office, and the opinions which the great constituencies would 
 entertain of that relation and its consequences. Sir J. C. 
 Hobhouse had been, since his first election for Westminster 
 in 1820, an active and consistent Radical. He had on more 
 than one occasion taken a prominent part in the effort to 
 obtain the repeal of the house and window tax. On the 
 formation of the Grey Ministry he accepted office, and he had 
 now to pay the price. There ought to have been no difficulty 
 in such a case in his retaining office whilst continuing his 
 policy with regard to these particular imposts, a policy which 
 was well known when he entered the Ministry. That course, 
 however, was not taken ; he could not, it appeared, act 
 independently, and so he took a step which elicited a 
 remarkable expression of public opinion. He did not vote 
 for the repeal of the taxes, and so he determined to resign at 
 once his office and his seat for Westminster. 
 
 If the resignation had been brought about by his adhesion 
 to his old principles at the cost of relinquishing office, he 
 would have been sure of a cordial response from his con- 
 stituents. It was meant, however, as a request that his 
 desertion of his old opinions might be condoned, and the 
 request was indignantly denied. When he came forward for 
 re-election, the electors voted " That Sir F. Burdett and Sir 
 J. C. Hobhouse — the one by opposing the strongly expressed 
 wishes of his constituents, and the other by deserting his post 
 of duty when his services were most needed — had forfeited the 
 confidence of the electors of Westminster." This resolution 
 was carried out on the poll, Colonel De Lacy Evans, an avowed 
 Radical, defeating the ministerialist by 2027 votes to 1835. 
 
246 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1833- 
 
 Some advance was made in the way of economical reform. 
 On the 14th of February Hume moved— "That it is the opinion 
 of this House that the utmost attention to economy in all 
 branches of public expenditure is at all times a great and 
 important duty," and "That it is the opinion of this House 
 that sinecure offices, and offices held by deputy in the army and 
 navy, are unnecessary and inexpedient as a means of remune- 
 rating public services." Ministers accepted the first resolution, 
 which was merely declaratory ; but on the second they moved 
 the previous question, and had a majority of 232 to 138. The 
 contest, however, was not over. On the i8th of April the 
 Government agreed to accept two resolutions, proposed by 
 Hume, that no future vacancies of sinecure offices should be 
 filled up, and that no person should receive an appointment 
 to any situation to which emolument is attached, the duties of 
 which are to be performed by deputy. The acceptance of these 
 resolutions was a surrender so far as principle was concerned, 
 but the reformers were not content with a merely nominal 
 victory. So on the i6th of July Mr. Ruthven, an Irish 
 Radical, moved a resolution which asserted — "That, in justice 
 to the people who pay taxes, all sinecure places should be 
 abolished throughout the British Empire," and this was 
 carried against ministers by a majority of nine. These were 
 not empty victories, for they resulted in the abolition of more 
 than thirteen hundred places.* 
 
 A subject perhaps more important than any of those 
 previously mentioned, not only as regards the social condi- 
 tion and the personal happiness of the people, but as affiscting 
 their political status — that of national education — was now 
 accepted by the Radical leaders as a part of their recognized 
 political scheme. Brougham had made this subject his own 
 in previous Parliaments, but his removal to the upper House, 
 and the claims of his official duties, left the way open for other 
 advocates. The first step was taken in unison by two members 
 of the advanced party, who represented two of its best 
 characteristics. Roebuck was at that time keenly alive to all 
 * "Personal Life of George Grote,'' p. 86. 
 
1834] The First Reformed Parliament. 247 
 
 popular sympathies, and was as ready in action as he was 
 quick in intellectual apprehension. Grote was at once a 
 master in scholarship and a deep philosophical thinker, 
 especially in that best school of historic science which lays 
 the firmest foundation for political experiment. The two 
 men united to bring the subject of education before the 
 new Parliament. On the 30th of July Roebuck moved and 
 Grote seconded a resolution that the House would, "early 
 next session, proceed to devise a means for the universal and 
 national education of the whole people." The scheme which 
 he propounded included the main elements on which alone 
 any national system could be based ; it proposed compulsory 
 attendance, the division of the country into school districts, a 
 popular election of local managers, a special education rate, 
 and the appointment of a member of the Cabinet as minister 
 of public instruction. The resolution was, on the request of 
 Lord Althorpe, withdrawn without a division ; but its dis- 
 cussion, no doubt, assisted to induce Government to propose, 
 later in the session, a vote of ;^2O,000 in aid of public educa- 
 tion, which was the first step in the long and tedious process 
 by which we have at length reached a national system. 
 Parliament was prorogued on the 29th of August, the session 
 having been the longest, as well as the most important, of 
 modern times. 
 
 The new session commenced on the 4th of February, 1834. 
 There was, of course, no alteration in the numerical strength of 
 parties, but in other respects there was a marked difference. 
 It was felt, both by their friends and their enemies, that the 
 position of ministers had undergone a marked change for the 
 worse, as regarded their command of the confidence of Parlia- 
 ment, and their hold upon the public opinion of the country, 
 since they first met the reformed House twelve months before. 
 Reasonable or unreasonable it might be, but there was no doubt 
 that this feeling really existed. During the early part of the 
 session the Government did nothing to remove this unfavour- 
 able impression, nothing to show that they had an active policy 
 and were prepared to carry it out. It was known not only that 
 
248 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1833- 
 
 Ministers were weak, but that they were not agreed among 
 themselves on those very Irish questions which had been 
 the cause of their loss of popularity. The Tories were not 
 anxious for any ministerial movement ; their purpose in all 
 ways was best served by an inaction which prevented what 
 they thought mischief, whilst it discredited their opponents. 
 
 The Radicals, for their part, were active enough, but for 
 some time their actions were restricted to resolutions directed 
 to subjects to which it was desirable that attention should be 
 invited, but on which definite legislation was scarcely expected. 
 The divisions, therefore, furnished no guide to the extent of 
 the loss, if any, which ministers had suffered ; they were of a 
 sort where Whig help of any kind was unlikely. Thus, on the 
 25 th of February, Mr. Pryme raised a subject which has recently 
 attracted more of the national attention which it sowell deserves, 
 by moving that the committee on every inclosure scheme shall 
 in their report certify whether a portion of land is reserved to 
 be let as allotments at low rents to all labourers in the parish 
 who desire it. For this proposal there were 3 1 votes, against 
 136. Household suffrage for the counties was not then 
 within view. On the 13th of March Mr. Rippon moved that 
 the bishops ought to be excluded from the House of Lords, 
 and some surprise was expressed that so many as 58 members 
 should vote for such a proposition. The Noes were 125. 
 
 Another matter in which the predominance of the Church 
 was concerned had a different fate in the Commons. Petitions 
 had been presented to both Houses, from some members of 
 the senate of Cambridge University, for the abolition of 
 religious tests as a necessity before taking degrees. Short 
 debates on the subject took place on the presentation of the 
 petitions, and on the 17th of April Colonel Williams moved 
 resolutions in favour of the abolition of iests. On this Wood 
 moved, as an amendment, for leave to bring in a bill for the 
 purpose, which was carried by 185 to 44. The second 
 reading was carried on the 30th of June, by 321 to 174, 
 Peel opposing ; and on the 28th of July — by which time the 
 Ministry had been remodelled — the bill was read a third time. 
 
I834-] The First Reformed Parliament, 249 
 
 and passed by a majority of 164 to 75. It was, of course, 
 rejected by the Peers, there being neither time, nor force of. 
 public opinion, enough to induce their lordships to consent. 
 
 There was yet another Church question raised on which 
 the Whig ministers, anxious to please the dissenters without 
 alienating churchmen, failed to satisfy either party. On the 
 1 8th of March Diyfett moved a resolution for the abolition of 
 church rates, when Lord Althorpe said that, as he had given 
 notice of a Government measure on the subject he should 
 oppose the resolution, and it was therefore withdrawn. On 
 the 2 1st of April Althorpe moved his resolution, "that 
 after a fixed time church rates should cease and determine, 
 and in lieu thereof a sum not exceeding ;£'2 50,000 should be 
 granted from the land tax, to be applied to the expenses 
 of the fabrics of churches and chapels in such a manner as 
 Parliament should direct." It was an indication of the want 
 of sympathy of the Whigs with the public feeling that they 
 either did not themselves see, or thought the dissenters would 
 not see, that this proposal, instead of being one of favour to 
 Nonconformity, was in reality a strengthening of the establish- 
 ment, and that to propose to transfer the burden from local 
 to imperial taxation was a mere pretence of relief The 
 dissenters knew exactly what the proposal meant, and they 
 immediately raised a strong opposition, which was well 
 expressed by Hume in the debate. Ministers carried their 
 resolution by 246 to 140 votes, but they proceeded in the 
 matter no further. 
 
 The Government seemed quite as little able to enter into 
 the feelings of the dissenters with respect to their objections 
 to the marriage laws, and therefore proposed a bill which 
 contained in a striking form the worst feature of the old plan. 
 The measure which they introduced provided that marriages 
 might be celebrated by dissenting ministers on proof that the 
 banns had been published in church. It was really absurd to 
 offer to those who asked for religious equality with regard to 
 the civil act of marriage, a proposal which contained the 
 glaring condition of inferiority, or subjection, involved in the 
 
2 so History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1833- 
 
 fact that a ceremony performed by a church minister was 
 necessary in order to make the act of a dissenter legal. The 
 bill was of course dropped, but the fact of its having been 
 introduced helped to alienate from the Government the 
 support of an important section of the Liberals. Exactly on 
 the same lines, followed by the same fate, and leading to the 
 same result, was the ministerial proposal for the commuta- 
 tion of tithes, which was made on the 15 th of April, but not 
 proceeded with. 
 
 The feeling in the country which led, in the first place to 
 the introduction, and afterwards to the defeat of these pro- 
 posals, must be borne in mind when we consider why the 
 Irish Church question was again forced into prominence by 
 the Radicals, and why it had such a disastrous effect upon the 
 constitution of the Ministry. The desertion of the appropriation 
 clause in the Act of last session had shocked and irritated 
 this party, and they were determined to bring the subject 
 forward again and ensure for it that complete discussion which 
 had been evaded by the ministerial tactics. They were en- 
 couraged in this course by the dissensions amongst ministers, 
 which had been openly exhibited in the debate on the Irish 
 Tithe Bill on the 2nd of May. Accordingly Ward gave 
 notice that on the 27th of May he would move the following 
 resolution : — " That the Protestant episcopal establishment in 
 Ireland exceeds the spiritual wants of the Protestant popula- 
 tion ; and that, it being the right of the State to regulate the 
 distribution of Church property in such a way as Parliament 
 may determine, it is the opinion of this House that the 
 temporal possessions of the Church of Ireland, as now 
 established by law, ought to be reduced." 
 
 This resolution, thorough both as to principle and appli- 
 cation, was framed, it was supposed, after more than usual 
 deliberation and consultation amongst the Radicals. It was 
 believed that one of its objects was to force the Premier to 
 strengthen his Ministry by the introduction of more Radical 
 members.* What seemed clear was, that whatever fate befel 
 * Spencer Walpole's " History of England," vol. iii. note 2, on p. 252. 
 
i834-] The First Reformed Parliament. 251 
 
 the motion some reconstruction of the Cabinet must follow. 
 Russell, who had accepted the principle of appropriation, 
 would without doubt vote against Stanley, who repudiated it. 
 The uncertainty was not dispelled until the eventful 27th, and 
 until the leader entered the House he was not informed of the 
 decision come to by some of his colleagues. Ward had risen 
 to propose his resolution,* when Althorpe intervened to 
 request the House to adjourn, in consequence of circumstances 
 which had come to his knowledge since he entered. The 
 adjournment was agreed to, and it was soon known that the 
 circumstances referred to by Althorpe were the resignations 
 of four members of the Cabinet — Richmond, Ripon, Graham, 
 and Stanley. It had been all along understood that neither 
 of these ministers would assent to the proposition made by 
 Ward, and it was feared that their secession might lead to 
 the entire disruption of the Administration. A compromise 
 had been proposed by Brougham, in the appointment of a 
 commission to inquire into the state of the Irish Church, and 
 report on the relation between the provision it made and the 
 requirements it had to meet, and the cost of its maintenance. 
 Such a compromise was, however, quite unacceptable to 
 Stanley and his friends, since it would commit them to the 
 very action they opposed if the inquiry resulted in the manner 
 which seemed inevitable. They therefore persisted in retiring, 
 and their places in the Cabinet were filled up by Lords 
 Carlisle, Conyngham, and Auckland, and Mr. Spring Rice. 
 
 By the 2nd of June, the date to which the adjournment was 
 made, the changes had been completed, and the Ministry were 
 united on the policy which they were prepared to submit. 
 They were, although united, weakened on one side of their 
 supporters without having gained strength on the other. The 
 compromise which had failed to conciliate Stanley and 
 Graham did not commend itself to Ward and Grote. When 
 Althorpe announced the reconstruction of the Cabinet, he 
 
 * The speeches of Ward in moving, and of Grote in seconding, the resolution 
 were reported, but Mrs. Grote says they were never really delivered ("Personal 
 Life of George Grote, " p. 90. ) 
 
252 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1833- 
 
 requested that Ward's resolution should be withdrawn, to 
 await the precise information which the commission was to 
 collect. The Radicals refused to accede to this request. 
 They said that they did not consider the tenure in office of 
 ministers as being secure, and that the manner in which the 
 appropriation clause of the previous year had been dealt with 
 rendered it impossible to trust the Government without a decla- 
 ration of principle by the House. Lord Althorpe thereupon 
 moved the previous question, which, after a long debate, was 
 carried by 396 to 120, the minority being of course composed 
 of English Radicals and Irish members. Ward and Grote 
 and their friends were much blamed by the Whigs for 
 endangering the position of the Ministry by an abstract 
 resolution, but it was not long before they followed the 
 example, and by the same kind of instrument overturned the 
 Peel government. 
 
 The Church was not the only Irish subject on which 
 ministers were divided, and as to which their policy was un- 
 popular ; it was the proceedings with regard to the Coercion 
 Bill which led to the actual break-up, and to Earl Grey's 
 retirement from official life. The Act of the last session would 
 expire in August, 1834, and the Government had to decide 
 if they would ask for the continuance of the whole or any 
 part of it. There was not only difference of opinion in the 
 Cabinet ; there was conflicting advice, given at various times 
 by the same people. Lord Wellesley, the Lord- Lieutenant, at 
 one time recommended the re-enactment of all the clauses ; 
 then that those relating to courts-martial, and, again, those 
 prohibiting public meetings, should be omitted. These 
 varying counsels appealed to the sympathies of different 
 sections of the Ministry, and the decisions were consequently 
 uncertain. At one period it was so far understood that 
 moderate opinions would prevail that Littleton, the chief 
 secretary, actually gave O'Connell to understand that the 
 two sets of clauses referred to would be excluded, and the 
 great agitator refrained for some time from action in conse- 
 quence. Eventually, however. Grey decided to go on with 
 
1834] The First Reformed Parliament. 253 
 
 the whole of last year's Act ; O'Connell had to be informed 
 of this, and the inevitable storm arose. 
 
 It was on the 3rd of July, two days after the renewing 
 bill had been introduced into the House of Lords by the 
 Premier, that the scene took place in the Commons. Explain 
 it as they might, it was now evident to all the world that there 
 had been divisions in the. Cabinet, and it was impossible to 
 conceal who were the members who had advised the more 
 moderate policy. Grey himself was not one of these, for 
 when Lord Durham, upon the second reading in the Lords on 
 the 4th of July, objected to the clauses relating to public 
 meetings, the Prime Minister declared that if he could not 
 have introduced the bill with those clauses he would not 
 have proposed it at all. On the other hand, Lord Althorpe, 
 the leader and mainstay of the party in the Commons, knew 
 that his opinions, which differed from those of his chief, were 
 public property. He felt that he could not, under such 
 circumstances, either conscientiously or successfully support 
 the measure, and on the 7th of July he resigned, and, on an 
 interview with Earl Grey, refused to withdraw his resignation. 
 Even if he had been anxious to do so, the Premier knew 
 that without Althorpe he could not carry on his Government, 
 and on the 9th of July he announced to the House of Lords 
 that he was no longer minister. It was an unhappy close of 
 a noble public life, that the Premier who had carried the great 
 Reform Act should retire because he could not induce his 
 colleagues to pass a sufficiently stringent Coercion Bill. This 
 event raised a cloud between the once popular hero and some 
 of his admirers ; but it was a cloud which the sun of national 
 gratitude dispersed, and men remembered more vividly the 
 work which he had done than the mistake which led to his 
 retirement. 
 
 This resignation was supposed at the time to increase the 
 
 power of the Radicals, to give an " addition to the influence 
 
 of the movement party, as it was called — that is, of the party 
 
 who clamoured for more Radical and destructive innovations."* 
 
 » " Annual Register," 1834, p. 124. 
 
254 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1833- 
 
 The appointment of Melbourne as the successor of Grey did 
 not support tliis theory. Whatever else Melbourne might be, 
 he could never be called a Radical. He had no enthusiasm 
 for political principles, and was a Liberal rather by intel- 
 lectual conviction than instinctive feeling. Originally a 
 Whig, he had joined Canning's Ministry, and remained in 
 office not only under Goderich, but under Wellington. 
 However willing, therefore, he might be to give expression to 
 Liberal feeling, he was not a man likely to lead any revolt on 
 the part of the most advanced officialism against the interests 
 or the prejudices of the governing classes. It did not annoy 
 him to make concessions in either direction, and, having 
 been appointed First Lord on the i6th of July, he appeared as 
 Premier in the House of Lords on the 17th, and announced 
 the changes in the Coercion Bill which Grey had refused to 
 adopt. 
 
 This was the last event which affected the position of the 
 Ministry. It had been weakened by the secession first of 
 Stanley and his friends, and afterwards of Grey. Its means 
 of carrying any disputed measure depended on the extent to 
 which it could appeal to popular support, and this was an 
 instrument very unacceptable to the old Whigs. The 
 directions in which advance would sooner or later have to be 
 made, if this help was to be secured, were manifested by 
 debates during the session. As early as the 6th of March, 
 before any of the Cabinet disasters had occurred, Hume had 
 moved — " That this House do resolve itself into a committee 
 of the whole House, to consider of the corn laws, and of 
 substituting, instead of the present graduated scale of duties, 
 a fixed and moderate duty on the import at all times of 
 foreign corn into the United Kingdom, and for granting a 
 fixed and equivalent bounty on the export of corn from the 
 United Kingdom, with the ultimate view of establishing a 
 free trade in corn." There were two nights' debate, Althorpe 
 and Graham opposing, and Poulett Thompson, a member of 
 the Ministry, and Lord Howick supporting it, and in the end 
 the resolution was rejected by 312 to 155. The subject was 
 
1834-] The First Reformed Parliament. 255 
 
 further debated on the 19th, 20th, and 21st of March, on the 
 presentation of a petition from Liverpool, the occasion being 
 remarkable from the statement of Peel, that he objected to 
 free trade in corn as unjust to the landed interest in view of 
 the protection given to manufacturers, and he gave illustra- 
 tions of protective duties. This is important in view of the 
 action subsequently taken by Peel in tariff reform, and in that 
 way his removal of the main ground on which he opposed 
 free trade in corn. 
 
 On different branches of Parliamentary reform and other 
 popular subjects, debates were held and divisions taken. On 
 the 15th of May Tennyson moved for leave to bring in a bill 
 to shorten the duration of Parliaments, for which he obtained 
 185 votes; and on the 19th of June De Lacy Evans moved 
 the abolition of the rating clauses of the Reform Bill, and the 
 votes were 37 for, and 134 against. Bulwer, who was as yet 
 enrolled amongst the Radicals, moved, on the 22nd of May, 
 " that it is expedient to repeal the stamp duty on newspapers 
 at the earliest possible period." The motion was seconded 
 by Roebuck, but was lost, the numbers being — for, 58 ; 
 against, 90. 
 
 Whilst these popular discussions and ministerial changes 
 had been going on, the chief — or, it may be said, the only 
 — practical piece of legislation effected was the amendment 
 of the poor laws. The new law was a measure which, 
 although it excited intense popular feeling, did not divide 
 the Parliamentary Liberals, the Ministry deriving great 
 assistance from Grote and other Radicals. It was not 
 until the middle of August that this difficult subject was 
 disposed of, and on the iSth of that month Parliament was 
 prorogued. 
 
 The prorogation was followed ■ by some events outside, 
 which, as they affected the. solidarity of the ministerial party, 
 ought to be briefly referred to. The House of Lords afforded 
 very few materials of Radicalism ; but there was one member, 
 Lord Durham, who, by conviction and courage and con- 
 sistency, was worthy of being, as he really was, one of the 
 
2S6 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1833- 
 
 most trusted leaders of the popular party. There was a good 
 deal of opposition in feeling and in policy between Durham 
 and Brougham, and it was one of the causes of Radical sus- 
 picion and discontent that the former had been forced or 
 manoeuvred out of the Cabinet. When Parliament broke up, 
 Lord Grey went into Scotland, and was welcomed on his. way 
 at many places by public demonstrations, gratitude for his 
 lifelong services having already overcome the dissatisfaction 
 with the immediate cause of his retirement. He was accom- 
 panied by his son-in-law Durham. The Lord Chancellor, 
 Brougham, had also started on a round of exhibitions of him- 
 self as a great popular statesman, which were regarded with 
 astonishment at the time, and are now the subject of little 
 more than ridicule. In some places he posed as the adviser 
 of progress and reform, at others he announced himself as the 
 friend of moderation. 
 
 At Edinburgh, on the isth of September, the two parties 
 met. Brougham attending and speaking at a great meeting 
 held in honour of Grey. His speech on this occasion took the 
 moderation tack, and he spoke with vehemence and at great 
 length against reformers, who, in a fretful impatience, en- 
 dangered all progress by rash attempts to go too fast. It was 
 impossible for Durham to refrain from answering a challenge 
 so evidently directed to him, and in reply he said, " My noble 
 and learned friend, Lord Brougham, has been pleased to give 
 some advice which I have no doubt he deems very sound to 
 some classes of persons — I know none such — who evince too 
 strong a desire to get rid of ancient abuses, and fretful im- 
 patience in awaiting the remedies of them. Now, I frankly 
 confess I am one of those persons who see with regret every 
 hour which passes over the existence of recognized and un- 
 reformed abuses." The cheers which greeted this sentiment, 
 from ministers who were present as well as from the general 
 audience, formed a rebuke to the Lord Chancellor, which his 
 temper and his self-importance rendered him unable to bear. 
 A few days after he made a speech at Salisbury, in which he 
 defied Durham to meet him in the House of Lords — a curious 
 
1834-] The First Reformed Parliament. 257 
 
 arena in which to settle a dispute between Liberals.* The 
 challenge was accepted, but the combat never took place ; it 
 was prevented in a quite unexpected manner. 
 
 The King did not love his ministers, and he hated their 
 politics. Scenes like that at Edinburgh showed him not only 
 that there were dissensions and consequently weakness in the 
 Cabinet, but that the Government were, to a great extent, cut 
 off from that popular sympathy which had forced them into 
 power. He was therefore encouraged to take advantage of 
 any opportunity for escaping from their control. An occasion, 
 not very promising, but still sufficient to serve a foregone 
 purpose, soon presented itself On the loth of November 
 Lord Spencer died, and Lord Althorpe, going into the Upper 
 House, had to relinquish the post of Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer. Such a change of offices as then became neces- 
 sary was not regarded by the Premier as of very great 
 importance, and on the 14th of November he waited on the 
 King, to submit to him the proposed arrangements, which 
 included the nomination of Lord John Russell as leader of the 
 House of Commons. Melbourne had expected the interview 
 to be merely formal, and the approval of his proposals to be a 
 matter of course ; but, to his surprise and dismay, he was 
 informed that his Majesty would not impose upon him the 
 task of completing the official arrangements, but would apply 
 to the Duke of Wellington to form a new Administration. 
 
 On the following day Wellington saw the King, and 
 advised him to entrust the formation of a Ministry to Sir 
 Robert Peel, and the advice was accepted. Peel was at the 
 time in Italy, and Wellington undertook to make provisional 
 arrangements and "to carry on the routine of Government 
 during the absence of the new Premier. He took for the time 
 the place of First Lord of the Treasury, and Lyndhurst was 
 appointed Lord Chancellor. On the 9th of December Peel 
 arrived in London, and accepted the task which had been 
 offered to him. He applied, in the first place, to Graham and 
 Stanley, but they both declined ; so he completed his Ministry 
 • Martineau's " History of the Thirty Years' Peace," vol. ii. p. 159. 
 
 S 
 
258 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1833-1834. 
 
 from more purely Tory sources, and, having done so, 
 advised the King to dissolve Parliament, and on the 30th 
 of December the notice of dissolution was published. So 
 ended the first Reformed Parliament, after an existence of 
 only two years. 
 
( 259 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 FROM THE DISSOLUTION OF THE FIRST REFORMED PARLIA- 
 MENT TO THE DEATH OF WILLIAM IV. (1834-1837). 
 
 The dismissal of the Ministry and the dissolution of Parlia- 
 ment were events which struck the Whigs with as much 
 surprise as indignation. The surprise was shared by the 
 country ; it remained to be seen if the anger was anything 
 hke as gerieral. Only two years ago the Tories had believed 
 that the Reform Act had entirely changed the course of 
 English political life ; that at one step the line between order 
 and anarchy had been passed ; that the old influences of 
 aristocracy, church, wealth, and social position, had been 
 destroyed, and that democracy had been made supreme. 
 The Whigs believed that whilst the fears of their opponents 
 were exaggerated, they had so manipulated the constitu- 
 encies that a long and unbroken tenure of power had been 
 secured. The elections in 1832 seemed to give colour to 
 both these views. The majority of Liberals in the Com- 
 mons was so overwhelming that practically the House was of 
 one mind ; and amongst the Liberals the Radicals were so 
 numerous, so earnest, and so strong in the possession of public 
 confidence that they seemed destined to give the law to the 
 Government. The Peers professed to be fighting rather to 
 preserve their existence than to maintain their old political 
 predominance, and the Crown had no choice but to accept 
 a Ministry so unmistakably nominated by the national will. < 
 Now only two years had passed, and the King ventured to 
 dismiss the ministers who had been so popular, and to dissolve 
 
26o History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1834- 
 
 the Parliament which had been created by so remarkable an 
 exercise of public enthusiasm. It was a bold action, and, 
 though not absolutely unconstitutional, decidedly irregular, for 
 the Sovereign to dismiss a cabinet which had the confidence of 
 a large majority of the House of Commons, and appoint a new 
 one which was as certainly in a minority; and that not in conse- 
 quence of any vote even in the Lords, but merely on the occasion 
 of a personal change which did not affect either the policy or 
 the stability of the Ministry. The Whigs hoped that this pro- 
 ceeding, followed by a dissolution of the reformed Parliament, 
 would lead to such a demonstration of public feeling as would 
 send them back to office with an undiminished, if not with an 
 increased, majority. In this they were deceived ; either the 
 people had to a great extent withdrawn their confidence, or 
 the electorate as reorganized still failed to fairly represent 
 the people. Both these causes were in operation. The gains 
 that were made on the Liberal side were chiefly those of 
 the Radicals, whilst the counties and many of the smaller 
 boroughs, answering to the territorial pressure which had 
 been made possible by the Act, returned a large Tory con- 
 tingent from what had been thought Whig strongholds. 
 
 Whilst, then, an increase took place in the Radical 
 numbers, there was a decrease in the general Liberal ranks. 
 The "Annual Register" calculated that the election "brought 
 an addition of more than a hundred members to the Conserva- 
 tives, exclusive of those Whig reformers, such as the party of 
 Lord Stanley, who refused to identify themselves with the 
 Whig opposition in its present condition and conduct." * 
 The Whig loss in the elections did but represent their loss 
 of character and regard in the mind of the nation. It has 
 been said, that it was only enthusiasm and earnestness about 
 some great cause which could break down the force which 
 political and social influences kept constantly arrayed against 
 the extension of popular privileges. The late ministers had 
 done nothing and offered nothing to arouse that enthusiasm. 
 The people had hoped to have their food untaxed, ministers 
 * "Anjiual Register,'' 1835, p. 13. 
 
I837-] First Reformed Parliament to Death of William IV. 261 
 
 had voted against the repeal of the corn laws; they had hoped 
 for relief from taxation, ministers had voted with the Tories 
 against the reduction of the pension list, and seemed to care 
 nothing for financial reform ; they had hoped for a settlement 
 of the Irish Church difficulty, ministers had abandoned the 
 only clause in the bill which dealt with the principle at stake ; 
 they hoped "to conciliate the Irish people and effect a real 
 union, ministers had proposed the most stringent Coercion 
 Bill which had ever been known ; they had hoped that 
 religious equality would have been vindicated by the reform 
 of the marriage laws, ministers offered a measure which the 
 dissenters rejected with contempt. On all these questions 
 there seemed as much to be expected from the Conservatives 
 as from the Whigs. Before the Reform Act was passed, a 
 Tory Parliament had amended the corn laws and had carried 
 Catholic emancipation, and the Whigs had done nothing 
 better or bolder. So thousands of electors quietly accepted 
 the direction of landlords and patrons, and voted for Con- 
 servatives. 
 
 Where there was any enthusiasm the constituencies looked 
 to the Radicals as opposed to the Whigs, and again the old 
 ministers were the losers. It might have been thought — and 
 at the time it was thought — that these conditions would make 
 the Whigs more than ever dependent upon the Radicals, and 
 would result in the adoption of a stronger and more decided 
 policy. " It became one of the results of the change," said 
 the "Annual Register," "that a greater degree of influence 
 was acquired by the Radical party than it had yet been able 
 to manifest." * This was the opinion of some of the most 
 thoughtful members of that party, and there was great 
 disappointment when the expectations were not realized. 
 John Stuart Mill has expressed in his "Autobiography" the 
 feeling of disappointment which was caused by the failure of 
 the Radicals to make themselves felt in legislation in the 
 years following the Reform Act.f The failure was still more 
 
 ♦ "Annual Register," 1835, p. 3. 
 + "Autobiography," pp. 194, ei seg. 
 
262 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1834- 
 
 marked in the second Parliament, but its causes were more 
 easily to be explained. 
 
 For one thing, it is clear that a policy can only be fully 
 developed and efficiently carried out by those who thoroughly 
 believe in it. Until the Radicals are prepared to undertake 
 the government of the country, they cannot expect that their 
 principles will inspire the thoughts and acts of the Govern- 
 ment ; until they can insist upon obtaining not merely an 
 occasional seat, but a recognized position of equality in the 
 Cabinet, they cannot expect that in any ministerial pro- 
 gramme their policy will obtain a fitting recognition. The 
 Radicals in 1835 were neither sufficiently organized to insist 
 upon such a position, nor provided with leaders who could 
 have filled it. The Whigs, on their side, were as much repelled 
 from, as attracted to. Radicalism by the result of the elections. 
 It was true that their only chance of resuming office lay in 
 securing the votes of the reformers ; but, on the other hand, 
 there was proved to be amongst the constituencies a solid 
 force of Conservatism which made it hopeless to attempt to 
 carry against the House of Lords any policy of reform which 
 was not thorough enough to awaken the popular spirit, and to 
 such extreme views the Whigs were as much opposed as the 
 Conservatives. If it came to a real trial of principle, there was 
 much more likely to be a coalition between moderate Con- 
 servatives and Whigs than between Whigs and Radicals. At 
 the worst, when they were once in office the old ministers 
 could count, as they had done in the last Parliament, upon 
 Conservative votes to resist the too Liberal section of their own 
 followers. For the next thirty years this was the position 
 which the Whigs held. They had to be Liberal enough to 
 outbid the Conservatives, but not so Liberal as to endanger 
 the privileges and power of the class to which they as much 
 belonged as did their avowed opponents. 
 
 The first thing to do, however, when the new Parliament 
 met in 1835, was to turn out the Conservative Ministry. To 
 effect this object, it was not enough that the English and 
 Scotch Radicals should be conciliated, for the Government 
 
1837.] First Reformed Parliametit to Death of William IV. 263 
 
 following outnumbered the whole of the British Liberals. 
 The Irish party had also to be secured, and the character and 
 temper of O'Connell made this a more difficult matter. It 
 was so evidently the policy of all sections to unite for the 
 defeat of the ministers that the alliance to that extent was 
 accomplished. The price, in promises, which was paid to the 
 Irish members was shown when the time for decisive action 
 came. This did not arrive quite so early as was expected, 
 although its coming was foreshadowed on the first night of 
 the session. The House of Commons met on the 19th of 
 February ; the first business was to elect a Speaker, and this 
 was made the occasion of a trial of strength. Now that the 
 Liberals were in opposition, their leaders could not take 
 the course they did in the last Parliament, and assent to the 
 election of a Tory Speaker; and so Mr. Abercromby was pro- 
 posed by them, ministers on their part moving for the 
 reappointment of Sir Manners Sutton. The contest was 
 closer than was expected on either side, the numbers being — 
 for Abercromby, 316; for Sutton, 306. This was enough to 
 prove that the Government could not permanently hold office ; 
 but Peel's object was not so much to retain power as to show 
 that his party had a practical working policy and administra- 
 tive power for its realization. In this he succeeded, for the 
 opposition were not strong enough to venture upon a direct 
 vote of want of confidence. 
 
 Preliminary business having been got through, the session 
 was formally opened by the King in person on the 24th of 
 February. To the address in reply to the speech the opposi- 
 tion moved a very mild amendment, the principal point in 
 which was the expression of an opinion that the late dissolu- 
 tion was unnecessary, and that it had interfered with the 
 progress of reforms. This was not a very inspiriting war-cry, 
 and it did not rally the party to any violent eff'ort, the 
 amendment, after three nights' debate, being carried by a 
 majority of seven only, the numbers being 309 for, and 302 
 against. This was discouraging to the opposition, and gave 
 the Government time to develop their policy. Peel took 
 
264 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1834- 
 
 advantage of the opportunity with a skill which surprised his 
 opponents, and a courage which impressed all parties. He 
 announced that he was prepared to consider the report of the 
 municipal commission, and to deal with its recommendations 
 in a liberal spirit. He introduced a Marriage Bill which, 
 unlike that of the former Ministry, won, as far as its main lines 
 went, the acceptance of the dissenters. He proposed a scheme 
 for the commutation of tithes which manifested both adaptive 
 and administrative skill. Above all, in his speech against 
 the repeal of the malt tax, he had shown such an ability in 
 understanding the real bearing of financial questions, and such 
 a readiness to deal with them, as were scarcely claimed, and 
 were certainly not possessed, by any other living statesman. 
 He could not hope, by all his exertions, to maintain power in 
 a Parliament where the majority was determined to defeat 
 him, but what he did was to teach the country that it was not 
 dependent upon one set of men for capacity to carry on the 
 Government, and that if the people were dissatisfied with the 
 Whigs, they need not hesitate to say so from the fear of a 
 reactionary policy on the part of the Conservatives. 
 
 The opposition taunted the ministers for retaining ofifice 
 after repeated defeats in the House of Commons ; Peel replied 
 that unless a vote of want of confidence were carried, he would 
 not resign until he had submitted his proposals to Parliament. 
 At last the contest reached a climax. Ministers introduced 
 resolutions which proposed to deal with the subject of tithes 
 in Ireland. The opposition determined to raise the old appro- 
 priation question in a form which, if carried, the Government 
 could not accept. Accordingly, after some preliminary notices 
 and change of date, the 30th of March was fixed upon as the 
 day for the final attack. The selection of the subject was 
 evidently decided upon from strategical reasons. It would 
 secure the heartiest support from the Radicals, and especially 
 from the Irish section of the party, on whose action the result 
 depended. Otherwise the choice was not a fortunate one, and 
 it was afterwards the cause of bringing such dishonour upon 
 the Whig leaders as scarcely any other body of English poli- 
 
1837.] First Reformed Parliament to Death of William IV. 265 
 
 ticians has suffered. On a previous occasion, when in office, 
 they had submitted clauses carrying out the principle, and 
 had withdrawn them; and they had themselves assisted to 
 out-vote Ward when he proposed a resolution of a similar 
 character. Afterwards they allowed the very question on 
 which they destroyed Peel's Government to be carried against 
 them; but, unlike Peel, they submitted to the defeat, and con- 
 sented to live on as a Ministry under the disgrace. 
 
 On the 30th of March Russell moved his famous resolu- 
 tion, " That this House resolve itself into a committee of the 
 whole House in order to consider the present state of the 
 Church establishment in Ireland, with the view of applying 
 any surplus of revenues not required for the spiritual care of 
 its members to the general education of all classes of the 
 people, without distinction of religious persuasion." The 
 debate occupied three nights, and the division was taken on 
 the 3rd of April, when the numbers were — for the resolution, 
 322 ; against, 289, giving the opposition a majority of thirty- 
 three. This majority was created by the Scotch and Irish 
 vote, the English leaving the motion in a minority of nine.* 
 It was early on Friday morning that this division was obtained, 
 and the, minister proposed that the committee should not be 
 taken until the following Monday. The opposition would not 
 allow even that delay, and on the same evening, therefore, the 
 debate was begun, and was adjourned to the 6th, when the 
 numbers voting were — in favour of the resolution, 262 ; against 
 it, 237, leaving a majority of twenty-five. On this Lord John 
 moved another resolution declaring — " That it is the opinion of 
 this House that no measure upon the subject of tithes in Ireland 
 can lead to satisfactory and final adjustment, which does not 
 embody the principle contained in the foregoing resolution." 
 This second resolution was carried by a majority of twenty- 
 seven ; the declaration which condemned beforehand any bill 
 which it was possible for them to introduce ministers con- 
 sidered fatal, and on the 8th of April Peel announced that 
 he and his colleagues had resigned. 
 
 * "Annual Register," 1835, p. 221. 
 
266 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1834- 
 
 The Liberals, then, were again called to office, and there 
 was some speculation as to the conditions and principles under 
 which the distribution of places would be made. The ques- 
 tion on which the contest had been based was distinctly 
 Radical. It had in the previous session split up the Whig 
 Ministry, and led to the secession of Ripon, Stanley, and 
 Graham, and there were Whigs yet left in the party to whom 
 it was far from acceptable. But it was necessary that some 
 decided step should be taken — in the first place, to prove that 
 the opposition leaders were really more Liberal than the 
 Ministry ; and in the second place, to secure the Irish and the 
 extreme Radical support. There was good ground for claim- 
 ing that those whose ideas and whose votes had assisted in 
 the victory should share in the spoils, or rather should be 
 allowed to assist in carrying into effect the policy to which 
 they were most sincerely devoted. The Radicals, besides 
 being the strongest in popular estimation, were numerically 
 nearly one-half of the entire Liberal party. We have seen 
 that estimates as to the exact numbers of the different sec- 
 tions varied somewhat widely, but it is fair to reckon that only 
 Radicals would vote for the ballot,* and when, in this first 
 session of the new Parliament, on the 2nd of June, Grote 
 brought forward his resolution for that object, he obtained 
 144 votes, whilst the total number of votes in the final divi- 
 sion which drove out the Conservative Government was 322. 
 It is necessary once more to notice that the Radicals were 
 not divided by any sharp line of demarcation from the other 
 Liberals. They were the most advanced and the most earnest 
 section of the party, the result of the growth of opinion in the 
 country and in Parliament, and not a suddenly created caste 
 with views and feelings separated from those of the rest of the 
 nation. They had more faith in the people, and a stronger 
 desire to extend the popular power, than the Whigs showed in 
 their actions, but not more than they professed when they 
 
 * How strongly the Whigs looked upon the ballot as a distinctively Radical 
 question, may be gathered from the way in which their clerical champion Sidney 
 Smith speaks of secret voting and its advocates.— See article " The Ballot," in his 
 collected works, single volume edition, pp, 769, et seq. 
 
1837.] First Reformed Parliament to Death of William IV. 267 
 
 were bidding for office. No doubt, out of the 150, more or less, 
 of recognized Radicals there were many who, if any division 
 had been actually made, would have voted for the Whigs ; but, 
 on the other hand, all the Whigs were prepared to vote Radical 
 when their leaders asked them. The gradation of parties from 
 the High Tories to the Radicals was remarkable, and was well 
 understood at the time, as was the consequent difficulty of 
 forming a compact majority on either side of the House. T. S. 
 Duncombe, himself a very decided, and at that time a very 
 active, Radical, made a calculation which illustrates this part 
 of the subject very completely.* He divided the members of 
 the House of Commons in 1836 first into the two great parties, 
 giving 319 to the Conservatives, and 332 to their opponents, 
 This was no doubt an actual and practical division, but he 
 went on to subdivide both sections, with this result. On the 
 ministerial or Liberal side, he said there were — 
 
 Whigs ... ... ... ... ... 152 
 
 Liberals ... ... ... ... ... ... loo 
 
 Radicals ,.. ... ... ... ... ... 80 
 
 332 
 
 On the other side — 
 
 Ultra-Tories ... ... ... ... ... ... 100 
 
 Moderate Tories ... ... ... ... ... 139 
 
 Liberal-Conservatives ... ... ... ... ... 80 
 
 319 
 
 This estimate was made with considerable shrewdness, and the 
 hundred members whom he called Liberals would have heartily 
 approved of an active policy on the part of the new Ministry. 
 It would have been nothing but just, therefore, and it would 
 have been extremely wise also, if the Liberal leaders, when 
 they were called upon to form a Government, had chosen a fair 
 number of colleagues from the popular party. By this means 
 their own policy would have been kept more healthy ; they 
 would have been in more direct communication with the 
 men who represented not only the popular constituencies, but 
 the popular ideas. They would consequently have retained 
 
 * "Life of Duncombe," vol. i. pp. 212, 213. 
 
268 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1834- 
 
 that hold on the national feeling which, by adopting a different 
 course, they were destined speedily to lose. For the Govern- 
 ment was formed upon the narrowest sectional basis, no new 
 man representing the new ideas being admitted. The only 
 persons connected in any way with Radicalism were Hobhouse 
 and Poulett Thompson, of whom the former had been disowned 
 by the Westminster constituency, and the latter was not 
 sufficiently strong to vindicate his principles in a Cabinet 
 where he stood alone. Thompson, indeed, did insist upon the 
 right of voting for the repeal of the corn laws, but that at the 
 time was regarded as a very cheap concession. 
 
 This difficulty of deciding how to deal with Radical claims 
 was, perhaps, one of the causes of the delay which occurred in 
 the formation of the Ministry. The King, in the first place, 
 sent for Lord Grey ; but he declined, and advised that Lord 
 Melbourne should be called, and the advice was accepted. It 
 was on the 8th of April that Peel had announced his resignation, 
 and it was not until the i8th that Parliament was informed 
 that the new Administration was formed, when Melbourne 
 said that the difficulties which he had encountered in construct- 
 ing his Ministry had not only been many and great, but some 
 of them of a peculiarly severe and mortifying nature. This 
 mortification did not end with the appointments, for on the 
 re-election of those members of the House of Commons who 
 had taken office a severe reverse was experienced. Russell 
 was rejected by Devonshire, and Palmerston by Hampshire, 
 both having to find other constituencies ; and seats in Stafford- 
 shire and Inverness-shire, rendered vacant by the elevation of 
 Littleton and Grant to the peerage, were both filled by Con- 
 servatives. There was nothing in the constitution of the 
 Cabinet to excite any popular feeling, and without that the 
 counties were sure to be lost. 
 
 The Government did not learn either of the lessons which 
 these reverses should have taught them ; they neither leaned 
 towards the Radicals nor stiffened their own policy. On the 
 contrary, as they were beaten in the counties by the Tories, 
 they seemed inclined to become themselves more Conservative. 
 
i837-] First Reformed Parliament to Death of William TV. 269 
 
 Both Houses had adjourned to the 12th of May, and when the 
 Commons met, Russell, who had become leader of the House, 
 said that if he had learned anything by the experience of the 
 last three years, during which he had been a member of the 
 Government, it was that they frequently fell into difficulties 
 by undertaking too great a multiplicity of measures — an error 
 which, if the Whigs had ever committed, they never from that 
 time went anywhere near repeating. For the present session he 
 announced, that whilst ministers would consider any question 
 that had been brought before the House by the late Ministry, 
 they would confine their own initiative to two questions — 
 municipal reform and the regulation of Irish tithes. This last 
 subject was forced upon them because they had forced it upon 
 the House as the instrument for destroying the late Govern- 
 ment ; but it proved far more injurious to them than it had done 
 to their rivals. Peel lost office, but the Whigs lost honour, by 
 their method of dealing with the subject. 
 
 Municipal reform was first dealt with, and the Act which 
 the Government passed forms one of the strongest claims 
 which they possess to the respect and gratitude of the country. 
 It was introduced by Russell on the Sth of June, was read a 
 second time on the iSth, and went into committee on the 22nd 
 of the same month. There were numerous divisions over 
 clauses in committee, but no alterations were made, the 
 Liberal union being too strong and too fresh from its victory 
 over the late Ministry to give way on any point. On the 20th 
 of July the bill was read a third time and passed. In the 
 House of Lords its fate was very different. The great merit 
 of the bill was that it did for local government, so far as 
 regarded the large towns, what the Reform Bill did for 
 national government : it destroyed the system of corrupt, 
 close, and self-electing corporations, and substituted for it the 
 great principle of popular representation. The principle was 
 limited and restricted, but it was there, and its presence 
 roused the opposition of the Peers. A good deal was said 
 about vested rights and ancient institutions, but the real 
 ground of offence was pretty plainly put by Lyndhurst, when, 
 
270 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1834- 
 
 011 the 14th of August, he was supporting a proposal for the 
 introduction of life-members into corporations. He said that 
 town councils, constituted as they would be under the bill as - 
 it stood, could not safely be entrusted with the extensive 
 powers which it conferred upon them. They were to be 
 elected by the whole body of ratepayers, and all experience 
 showed that they would act under the control of the persons 
 by whom they were elected. This is the secret of the enmity 
 of the Lords to all reform — a fear lest the people should obtain 
 the full management of their own affairs. Of the injurious 
 amendments introduced into the bill in the Upper House 
 some were rejected, a few were accepted, and several were 
 modified,* and ultimately, on the 9th of September, the 
 measure became law. 
 
 The Ministry were less successful with the Irish tithe 
 question. They carried through the Commons a bill which 
 included the disputed appropriation clauses. The Peers 
 passed the other part of the measure, but struck those clauses 
 out. The Government had declared that they meant to stand 
 or fall by the principle, but, being defeated, they decided 
 to stand without it for a time, and eventually to desert it 
 altogether. Having once accepted defeat, they became gradu- 
 ally feebler in disposition and weaker in popular support, 
 and subjected themselves to the well-deserved rebuke of 
 the men whom they had driven out of office on this very 
 question. The absolute surrender was deferred for three 
 years, but it was inevitable from the time when without 
 resigning they accepted the destruction of the bill of 1835. 
 
 The Whigs had practically decided neither to strengthen 
 the Ministry by any additions from the Radicals, nor to 
 adopt any of the principles of that section of the party. The 
 Radicals, on their side, not being able to carry any measure 
 in opposition to the combination of Whigs and Conservatives, 
 and not feeling justified in leaving the Government to the 
 
 * The consideration of the Peers' amendments took place on the 31st of 
 August, when some very strong language was used about the House of Lords by 
 Roebuck and O'Connell. 
 
1837.] First Reformed Parliament to Death of William IV. 271 
 
 tender mercies of the opposition, were debarred from even 
 that amount of influence which their numbers would have 
 warranted. Throughout the remainder of this Parliament, 
 therefore, they were restricted to efforts to increase the 
 efficiency of the ministerial proposals, in which they were 
 not very successful. In this session of 1835, however, they 
 accomplished two objects, one of permanent and one of great 
 temporary importance. On the Sth of March Roebuck, fol- 
 lowing up the line which he had taken in the former Parlia- 
 ment, moved for and obtained a committee on the subject of 
 education, a step which led to the beginning, in a very 
 moderate way, of what afterwards became the national system 
 and remained so until after the passing of the next Reform 
 Act. 
 
 During the session there was much discussion as to the 
 character And object of the Orange Societies which were 
 established in different parts of England, and which, in con- 
 travention of the Articles of War, had been introduced even 
 into the army. It was Hume who obtained the information 
 and originated the proceedings taken in Parliament. It seems 
 now scarcely credible that a conspiracy of so serious a kind 
 could have been carried on in times so recent ; but it was 
 established by the evidence accumulated by Hume, that the 
 Duke of Cumberland, who was Grand Master of the order, and 
 some of his associates, in their desire to stop the spread of 
 reform, and to reverse some of the great work already done, 
 went so far as to contemplate an alteration in the succession 
 to the throne, and even the dethronement of the reigning 
 sovereign. The conspiracy had been carried on for some 
 time, but the public exposure destroyed it, and in the follow- 
 ing year the Orange Societies were dissolved.* The spirit of 
 which this conspiracy was the outcome was one of the forces 
 against which Radicalism had to work, and which it required 
 the outspokenness of popular representatives to defeat. 
 
 * The history of these extraordinary transactions is too long to be given here, 
 but it is told with great force and fulness by Harr i et Ma riineau. in her " History 
 of the Thirty Years' Peace," vol. ii. pp. 266, et seq. 
 
272 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1834- 
 
 In the course of this year death removed two men who 
 had long been associated with outside agitation, but had 
 neither of them made any mark in Parliament. Hunt died 
 on the 15th of February, and Cobbett on the i8th of June. 
 Cobbett's place could not be filled by another, for, in fact, his 
 work was done. There was no longer an uninstructed public 
 dependent upon the exertions of one man for the food of 
 political and social discussion ; the periodical press was being 
 increasingly recognized as a means of political education, 
 and efforts were being made to free it from the trammels by 
 which its action was limited. The work of Hunt was of a 
 much more ordinary character ; he was what the genteel 
 politicians have generally agreed to call a demagogue — that 
 is, he spoke to the class whom those politicians neglected 
 and despised, and spoke to them in very strong language 
 about rights and privileges which might be discussed in 
 philosophical disquisition, but could not without impropriety 
 be mentioned to the people whose interests were directly 
 affected. Many of the things he said were true, but he spoke 
 to the wrong class, and in terms not sufficiently polite. As, 
 however, so long as injustice remains, some one will be found 
 to talk about it, Hunt's special place was taken by Feargus 
 O'Connor and his Chartist colleagues, who came in their turn 
 under the same reproach which reached those who sought to 
 give irregular expression to the views of the bulk of the 
 people to whom constitutional representation was denied. 
 These deaths could not be said to cause any distinct loss to 
 Parliamentary Radicalism, whilst the election of Mr. C. P. 
 Villiers for Wolverhampton, which took place this year, was 
 a great gain. 
 
 The session of 1836 was one of almost unmixed misfortune 
 and dishonour for the Whig Government. Their determi- 
 nation to keep office on any terms, and their readiness to 
 desert their Radical supporters, were recognized by the Tories 
 and the want of popular sympathy which such a policy in- 
 volved was deliberately traded upon by the opposition in the 
 House of Peers. The " Annual Register," then a vehemently 
 
1837.] First Reformed Parliament to Death of William IV. 273 
 
 Tory publication, expressed this view without disguise. 
 Speaking of the Irish Municipal Bill, it said that ministers, 
 on introducing it, " could not be ignorant that in the House 
 of Commons they would have to contend with a large 
 minority, and in the House of Lords with a large majority, 
 which, unless acted upon by some universal exterior excite- 
 ment, would never consent that such a bill should pass. . . . But 
 although the calls were loud, no spirit came. The people of 
 Britain could not be roused to aid a system of exclusive 
 popery, and Parliament was left to exercise its undisturbed 
 reason on a great political question." * 
 
 Parliament met on the 14th of February, and in the King's 
 speech was a clause relating to this subject of Irish muni- 
 cipalities, expressing a hope that it might be settled upon 
 the same principles as those of the Acts already passed for 
 England and Scotland. Exception to this was at once taken by 
 the Conservatives, and an amendment to the -address object- 
 ing to it was carried in the Lords and lost in the Commons. 
 When the bill was introduced, the opposition to it was founded 
 upon the fact, that if the municipal suffrage was extended, as 
 the measure proposed, in the large boroughs to the £\o house- 
 holders, and in the smaller towns to the .^5 householders, 
 the majority of electors would be Roman Catholics ; and 
 because the Irish people did not hold the same religious 
 opinions as their English fellow-subjects, they were to be 
 denied all the rights and privileges of self-government. The 
 bill was read a second time in the House of Commons on 
 the 29th of February, and passed on the 28th of March by 
 a majority of sixty-one. In the House of Lords it was read 
 a second time on the i8th of April, and was then entirely 
 altered in committee — all the clauses conferring popular 
 franchises being struck out, and a system of patronage and 
 life-tenure of offices inserted. The bill as altered was on the 
 19th of May sent down to the Commons, where ministers 
 proposed a compromise, accepting some alterations and re- 
 jecting others. The Peers, however, refused any arrangement 
 * "Annual Register,'' 1836, p. 32. 
 
 T 
 
274 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1834- 
 
 of the kind, and insisted upon all their amendments ; on which 
 Lord John Russell moved that the amendments be taken into 
 consideration that day three months, which was carried, and 
 the bill thereby dropped. 
 
 A similar fate befel the ministerial attempt to deal with 
 Irish tithes. On the 25th of April Lord Morpeth moved a 
 resolution and explained the nature of the proposed bill, 
 which was to include clauses providing for the appropriation 
 of surplus church revenue to other than church purposes. 
 The second reading was moved on the ist of June, and, on a 
 division on the 3rd, was carried, over an amendment moved by 
 Lord Stanley, by 300 to 261, giving a majority of thirty-nine. 
 No material alterations were made in committee, and on the 
 15th of July the bill passed. It was read a second time in the 
 House of Lords on the 22nd of July, and went into committee 
 on the 25th, when all the appropriation clauses were struck out, 
 and in the altered shape it went back to the Commons. As 
 agreement was impossible, the same course was taken on the 
 2nd of August as was adopted with the Municipal Bill, and 
 the measure dropped. The Ministry were equally unfortunate 
 in an attempt to amend the English Municipal Act, especially 
 the part relating to the administration of charitable trusts. 
 The peers objected to the elective principle being introduced, 
 and the Commons would not consent to matters remaining as 
 they were. The differences between the two Houses were 
 strenuously debated, two free conferences being held between 
 them ; but in the end the Peers refused to give way, and 
 this bill also was abandoned. 
 
 That ministers should accept these defeats and remain in 
 office, as though nothing particular had happened, was fatal to 
 their character. It has been, unfortunately, a matter of 
 necessity that Liberal Governments have had constantly to 
 submit to the alterations, and often to the rejection, of their 
 measures by a House in which there is a permanent Tory 
 majority, which can be moved only by fear to assent to any 
 Liberal legislation. But there have, in the case of every 
 Government, been questions involving serious principles 
 
1837.] First Reformed Parliament to Death of William IV. 275 
 
 which they were bound either to carry or to resign. There 
 has never been a case in which this honourable obligation 
 was more binding than it was on the Melbourne Admini- 
 stration, with regard both to the appropriation principle and to 
 the introduction of representation into municipal government. 
 They were both points on which there could be no com- 
 promise, and with regard to tithes. Sir Robert Peel had set 
 the nobler example of resigning because the opposition had 
 carried a vote, the effect of which, now that they were in office, 
 they allowed to be destroyed. There could be no public 
 confidence in politicians who acted in such a manner, and 
 they were only retained in power because the real Liberals 
 were afraid of the immediate intentions of the Conservatives. 
 
 If they could not defeat the opposition, ministers could 
 with its aid, and with that of the Irish members, set at 
 defiance the wishes of the English Radicals. A measure 
 which they brought in to carry out the recommendations of 
 Peel's ecclesiastical commission, was in effect a proposal to 
 increase the influence and strengthen the position of the 
 Anglican episcopacy. It was opposed by the Radicals, and 
 on the third reading, on the igth of July, Hume proposed, 
 C. BuUer seconded, and Buncombe supported, a motion for 
 its rejection, all of them speaking strongly of the folly of the 
 Government in passing Conservative measures. As O'Connell 
 and his friends deserted their old associates, only forty-four 
 votes were obtained for the amendment, that being a fair test 
 of the number of the thorough-going English Radicals who 
 would rather sacrifice the Whig Ministry than betray their 
 principles. 
 
 For the rest the session was tame enough. A bill to 
 amend the marriage laws for the relief of dissenters was 
 passed without opposition, Peel having, when in office, pro- 
 posed a measure pretty much on the same lines. The 
 commutation of tithes in England, being equally agreeable to 
 the Conservatives was also passed. The stamp duty on news- 
 papers, instead of being repealed, was reduced, a half-and-half 
 way of proceeding which satisfied no one ; what was retained 
 
2/6 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1834^ 
 
 being useless for revenue purposes, but effectual for the limita- 
 tion of the influence of the press. The Radicals, as we have 
 seen, were powerless. They moved resolutions — such as that 
 introduced on the 13th of April for the abolition of flogging in 
 the army, which was lost by 215 votes to 95 — which were 
 rather protests on behalf of principles than efforts expected 
 to have practical results. In point of fact, the people outside, . 
 and the popular members inside. Parliament were convinced 
 by the action of the privileged governing classes of both 
 parties that little was to be hoped for until some further 
 reform of Parliament was obtained, and it was now that the 
 seed was sown which grew into the Chartist agitation. 
 
 At the opening of the session of 1837 it was the general 
 opinion that the Whig Government had reached a stage of 
 weakness and degradation which seemed to render their 
 continuance in office impossible. Harriet Martineau says of 
 them, " The history of our Whig Administrations is almost 
 always made up of obstruction on the part of their 
 adversaries, and powerless on their own ; but never were the 
 Whig rulers reduced to more desperate straits than in the 
 spring of 1837. .... In the House of Lords the Tories cried 
 out that the country was without a Government ; and the 
 Jiadical members in the other House repeated the ciy." * 
 .Spencer Walpole says, " Hopelessly discredited, the ministers 
 passed through the autumn of 1836 ; hopelessly discredited 
 they met Parliament in the spring of 1837." t Nor was this a 
 mere unexpressed feeling of which the Government might, 
 have been unconscious. They had both foes and friends who 
 spoke out the truth plainly. At the end of the previous session 
 on the 1 8th of August, 1836, Lyndhurst had gloried over their 
 position. " Was there ever," he said, " in the history of this 
 country a body of men who would have condescended so low 
 as to attempt to carry on the government under such circum- 
 stances >. In this House they are utterly powerless — they 
 -can effect nothing. . . . Yet, thus disgraced and trampled 
 
 * " History of the Thirty Years' Peace," vol. ii. p. 339. 
 + " History of England from 1815," vol. iii. p. 375. 
 
1837.] First Reformed Parliament to Death of William IV. 277 
 
 on, they still condescend to hold the reins of government. 
 Proud men, eminent statesmen, distinguished and high- 
 minded rulers ! " 
 
 When the new session opened, the Radicals were equally 
 plainspoken. The Houses met on the 31st of January, and in 
 the debate on the address Roebuck attacked the ministers 
 and their policy. They had deserted, he said, the prin- 
 ciples to which they owed their position, and he thought 
 the Radicals should openly separate from such pretended 
 friends. There was no actual breach, however, but there 
 was no reconciliation. Ministers clung to office, whilst every 
 proposition to which they attached importance was rejected ; 
 and they would not strengthen themselves by closer alliance 
 with the Radicals, although, in order to defeat the resolu- 
 tions of the popular party, they were uniformly indebted to 
 the votes of the Tories who despised them. 
 
 It is difficult to understand the obstinacy with which the 
 Whigs at this period refused to make any concession, either in 
 the way of personal promotion or of acceptance of principles, 
 to the section of Liberals which was both most numerous in 
 Parliament and most popular in the country. That section 
 contained men of undoubted ability, of irreproachable charac- 
 ter, and of good position, and who were neither extreme in 
 their demands nor violent in their methods. The exclusive 
 class — and almost family-^feeling which limited the area of 
 selection, ought not to have been maintained under such 
 hopeless conditions ; and the theory of the finality of the 
 late Reform Act could not be reasonably sustained, when 
 ministers were unable to carry measures which they believed 
 to be essential to the good government of the country, and 
 on the success of which they had staked their official exist- 
 ence. There was not wanting a ready means by which the 
 union could be effected. In Lord Durham there was a man 
 who was connected with the best Whig circles, whilst he 
 possessed the full confidence of the Radicals throughout the 
 country. His acceptance of office would have been an 
 assurance that reform principles were to be a reality, essential 
 
2/8 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1834- 
 
 to the continued existence of the Government, and that, 
 perhaps, was one reason why his alliance was not sought. He 
 was broken in health and spirits, but he was well enough, and 
 vigorous enough, for ministers to use him for help in the most 
 serious and vital business in which the country was concerned 
 — in the settlement of the Canadian trouble— and they used 
 and then deserted him. 
 
 The history of the session is the record of a series of these 
 two kinds of events : defeat of Government measures by the 
 Tory peers, and rejection of Radical proposals by ministers 
 leading Tory majorities in the Commons. There were two 
 Irish questions before the country. On one of them, the 
 rearrangement of tithes, the Government had pledged itself in 
 former years to stand or fall by, but their measures fell and they 
 still tried to stand. On the other question, the establishment 
 of representative municipal institutions, they were just going 
 through the same process. In 1836 they had brought in a 
 bill which the Lords so mutilated that it was dropped. This 
 year the subject formed again one of the principal items in 
 the King's speech, and the bill was introduced on the 20th 
 of February and read a third time, and passed on the nth 
 of April by a majority of 302 to 247. It was read a second 
 time in the House of Lords, but on the 5th of May Welling- 
 ton proposed and carried a motion to postpone the committee 
 to the 9th of June. This was resented by the Radicals in the 
 other House, and on the same night Hume proposed to 
 postpone the supplies to the 9th of June also, but ministers 
 objected, and the motion was withdrawn. When the 9th of 
 June came, Lyndhurst proposed another postponement, which 
 was carried, and nothing more was done before the death of 
 the King put an end to the session. 
 
 The only other important Government measure, that which 
 proposed to deal with the vexed question of church rates in 
 England, met with a fate just as disastrous. The scheme, 
 which was introduced on the 3rd of March by the Chancellor 
 of the Exchequer, proposed to take possession of the church 
 lands which formed the source of the incomes of bishops, 
 
i837-] First Reformed Parliament to Death of William IV. 279 
 
 deans, and chapters, and by. better management to increase 
 the proceeds, applying the surplus to the purposes for which 
 church rates were used. The plan commended itself neither 
 to the church party nor to the dissenters ; and on the 22nd of 
 May, on the second reading, it was carried by a majority 
 of five only, the numbers being 287 to 282 ; and, this being 
 equivalent to a defeat, the business went no further. This is 
 a barren record of a ministerial session, but it was all that 
 was attempted ; and if the Parliament had been prolonged, it 
 is miich more probable that the Government would have been 
 turned out than that they would have accomplished any 
 practical work. 
 
 The Radicals, on their part, were unusually active. If they 
 had known, at the beginning of the year, that the death of the 
 King would lead not only to the calling of a fresh Parliament, 
 but to the opening of a new era in political life, and if with 
 this knowledge they had tried to formulate a programme for 
 the adoption of their party in the country, they could scarcely 
 have taken wider grounds than they did. The subjects on 
 which they gave notices, and on most of which discussions 
 took place, were directed to both branches of politics ; to those 
 which dealt with beneficient legislation, and to those which, 
 by increasing the power of the people, would render any such 
 legislation possible. Under the first head, the most important, 
 both in its character and in its influence on the immediate 
 political history of the future, was the proposal to repeal 
 the corn laws. This was a distinctly Radical motion, for the 
 Whigs were as much opposed to it as the Tories ; Melbourne 
 and Russell were as strong in its condemnation as Wellington 
 and Peel. This year it was Clay who, on the l6th of March, 
 submitted a resolution for the repeal, which was seconded by 
 Villiers, who was soon afterwards, at a meeting of the Radical 
 leaders held at Sir William Molesworth's, formally requested 
 to take charge of the question in Parliament.* On this occa- 
 sion the motion was lost by forty-five votes, the numbers 
 being 89 for, and 134 against. On the no less important 
 * Memoir attached to " Free Trade Speeches of Villiers," vol. i. p. 16. 
 
28o History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1834- 
 
 subject of education, Ewart gave notice of a motion for the 
 appointment of a minister of education, and Roebuck of one 
 for. the establishment of a national system. Ewart also took 
 one of the earliest steps in the agitation for land law reform, 
 by moving, on the 4th of April, for the abolition of the law of 
 primogeniture, for which he obtained only twenty-one votes.* 
 It was becoming more and more evident that no per- 
 manent progress was to be expected until the opinions of the 
 majority of the people obtained constitutional expression 
 through a reform of the representative system. No advance 
 of any kind was possible without long and violent agitation ; 
 and whatever the special question before the country might 
 be, a demand for parliamentary reform inevitably formed 
 a part, and a very important part, in the public discussions 
 which it aroused. The Peers would not give way on any 
 subject until they were convinced that the excitement caused 
 by their obstruction was likely to threaten their hold on the 
 legislature. Accordingly, the motions of this kind were 
 numerous and far-reaching. Amongst the notices given were 
 those of Grote for the Ballot ; by Molesworth for the abolition 
 of property qualification of members, and for a committee on 
 peerage reform ; by Hume for household suffrage ; by Dun- 
 combe for the repeal of the rate-paying clauses of the Reform 
 Act, and for the abolition of proxy voting in the House of 
 Lords ; by Tennyson d'Eyncourt for the repeal of the Septen- 
 nial Act ; and by Lushington for the exclusion of the bishops 
 from the House of Lords. All those of the above motions 
 which were actually introduced were defeated by large 
 majorities, but many of them secured a considerable number 
 of votes. Thus for the ballot there were 155; for abolishing 
 property qualification, 104 ; for the exclusion of the bishops, 
 92 ; for abolition of proxy voting, 81 ; for the second reading 
 of the bill to repeal rate-paying clauses, 73 ; and for shorten- 
 
 * Whilst the new school of Radicals were thus active, they were deserted by 
 one who had once occupied the most prominent place in the party. Burdett, who 
 had been lukewarm, now openly left them, resigned his seat at Westminster, and 
 stood again as a Tory. He was successful then, but retired at the general election, 
 and took a county seat. 
 
1837.] First Reformed Parliament to Death of William IV. 281 
 
 ing Parliaments, 87. In all cases these were purely Radical 
 votes, the ministers opposing them all ; and what is note- 
 worthy is, that in most of the cases they were Tory members 
 who supported the Government. Thus on the ballot division, 
 which took place on the 7th of March, out of 267 votes against 
 Grote's motion, 200 were given by Tories. The "Annual 
 Register," speaking on these divisions generally, and refer- 
 ring especially to that on the proposal to shorten the duration 
 of Parliaments, in which the numbers were ninety-one to 
 eighty- seven, says, " It will be observed that on all these 
 divisions on constitutional questions the ministers were alto- 
 gether dependent upon the Tories for the stand they were 
 enabled to make against their more Liberal allies. On the 
 present occasion, the number of Whigs and reformers who 
 voted with Lord John Russell did not exceed twenty-nine, 
 including persons in office ; the remainder of their majority 
 being gathered altogether from the benches of opposition." * 
 
 To this depth of helpless dependence and of inefficiency 
 had the Ministry fallen, and on the 9th of June, the day to 
 which the Irish Municipal Bill stood adjourned in the Lords, 
 and the tithes question in the Commons, Roebuck moved for 
 a committee on the state of the nation." In his speech, the 
 member for Bath was almost as bitter as Lyndhurst himself 
 on the feebleness and shortcoming of the Government. What 
 would have been the fate of the resolution if any considerable 
 number of Tories had supported Roebuck cannot be told. It 
 was, however, withdrawn, for by this time it was known that 
 an event was imminent which would change altogether the 
 immediate relations of parties, and the position of the 
 Government towards the Crown and the nation. Early in the 
 year William IV. had been weak and ailing ; towards May he 
 became much worse ; in June he was so seriously ill that 
 bulletins began to be issued ; and on the 20th of that month 
 he died. 
 
 * "Annual Register," 1837, p. 126. 
 
282 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1837- 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 FROM THE ACCESSION OF THE QUEEN TO THE CLOSE OF THE 
 MELBOURNE ADMINISTRATION (1837-1841). 
 
 The death of the King relieved the Melbourne Ministry in 
 two ways. It removed a sovereign who was unfriendly to 
 them and their policy, replacing him by one who would at 
 all events be impartial, if not absolutely favourable, and who 
 would not obtrude personal opinions and prejudices into the 
 sphere of regal duty. Then it gave them an opportunity of 
 obtaining a dissolution of Parliament, without first trying 
 if Peel could form an Administration, and this it was pretty 
 certain William IV. would not have allowed. They had, too, 
 a prospect of retaining the Government influence in certain 
 constituencies, and of securing for themselves the consideration 
 due to the actual advisers and ministers of the young Queen. 
 These were very considerable advantages, especially in the 
 low ebb of their fortunes in the existing Parliament. 
 
 Their relations with the late King had been to ministers 
 a constant source of irritation and danger. William IV. had 
 the same desire which his father and brother had manifested — 
 to interfere directly in forming the policy of the country ; but 
 his fitful and changing temper made his intervention more 
 annoying than the settled purpose of a more determined man 
 would have been. From his youth he had shown the same 
 unsteady disposition, and when he entered the navy he was 
 too wayward and erratic to be allowed to continue in any 
 responsible command. His character had not been modified 
 by any systematic training for the high position to which he 
 
1 84 1.] Accession of the Queen to Fall of Melbourne. 283 
 
 was called, for it did not seem probable for many years that 
 he would succeed to the Crown. The consequence was, that 
 when he did ascend the throne he had neither a definite 
 policy to pursue, nor the habits of consecutive application 
 either in thought or action. Such a character was peculiarly 
 liable to receive impressions, but little capable of retain- 
 ing them. 
 
 The changes in his policy thus occasioned could not be 
 understood and appreciated by the people, who naturally 
 attached moral blame to what was really intellectual weak- 
 ness. When, in the early part of his reign, he seemed heartily 
 in favour of Parliamentary reform, he was everywhere hailed 
 as a patriot king. Later on, when under the influence of 
 members of his family, he shrank from the consequences 
 of his own actions, and endeavoured to check his ministers in 
 the course of practical Liberalism which the Reform Act was 
 thought to have rendered possible, the reaction of popular 
 feeling was equally sudden and violent, since he was supposed 
 to have deliberately deserted principles which, in fact, he 
 never understood. To the Tory party, and especially to that 
 section of it which felt most deeply on ecclesiastical questions, 
 the later conduct of the monarch was most welcome, and it 
 gave additional strength to their resistance to the Govern- 
 ment measures. The antagonism to the ministerial policy 
 developed at last into personal dislike and disrespect to the 
 ministers themselves, and added to the other causes of 
 weakness from which they were suffering. 
 
 During the present reign the relations between the Crown 
 and the Cabinet have been different. No one who has read 
 Sir Theodore Martin's " Life of the Prince Consort " and the 
 " Memoirs of Baron Stockmar," will think that personal pre- 
 rogative is, or is assumed to be, extinct, or that it does not 
 sometimes render the duties of ministers most onerous and 
 difficult. Some of them have been subjected to a pressure 
 which they could not resist, nor even explain, and which was 
 the more embarrassing because it was not sufficiently urgent 
 to justify resignation. There are, however, two features in 
 
284 History of the Radical Pariy in Parliament. [1837- 
 
 which the exercise of the personal authority of the Crown 
 by the Queen varies from the method adopted by her last 
 three predecessors. It is more decidedly constitutional in 
 form, being in all cases applied through the Cabinet itself, 
 only in rare instances through individual ministers, and never 
 through Parliament or rival politicians behind the backs of, 
 or in direct opposition to, the responsible advisers. There 
 has been nothing like the formation of a party of King's 
 friends by George III., nor like the announcement that he 
 would never accept a particular statesman as a minister, or 
 listen to a proposal which his Cabinet and the majority of 
 Parliament considered essential to the good government of 
 the country ; nothing like the appeal of George IV. to Eldon 
 to help him in his desire to frustrate the policy of his minis- 
 ters ; nothing even like the statement made by William IV. 
 to the bishops when they waited upon him, to object to the 
 proposals of the Government with regard to the Irish 
 Church. 
 
 In the second place, the influence of the Queen has been, so 
 far as published statements show, for the most part directed 
 to foreign affairs, and not to the course of domestic policy. 
 It is not the less important on this account, but it is certainly 
 more difficult to attack. There is a theory that the declaration 
 of war, the conclusion of peace, and the making of treaties, 
 are matters pertaining to the royal prerogative. By this it 
 is not, of course, meant that the authority should be exercised 
 without, or in opposition to, the advice of responsible ministers ; 
 but when any department of the public service is removed 
 from the direct control of the representative chamber, it 
 neither surprises nor shocks the public mind to learn that 
 more or less influence is exercised, personally, by the monarch 
 in whose name the whole business is transacted. What is 
 wanted to be done is to place under the management of 
 Parliament and subject to its authority, the conduct of those 
 affairs which affect, more vitally even than domestic policy, 
 the welfare, the honour, and the stability of the nation. 
 
 At the commencement of the reign, however, the Whigs 
 
1841.] Accession of the Queen to Fall of Melbourne. 285 
 
 possessed, and made most unsparing use of, the confidence 
 and favour of their young sovereign. The King's death put 
 a stop to all business except the voting of the necessary 
 supplies and formal routine measures, and on the 17th 
 of July Parliament was dissolved. In the election contest 
 which followed, the name of the Queen was used by the 
 Whigs in a manner which would now be considered un- 
 justifiable and improper, and which gave rise to remarks 
 and insinuations from Conservative speakers and writers 
 to which it was unfair that the sovereign should be subjected. 
 The result was a slight increase in the Liberal majority, not 
 greater, perhaps, than might have been accounted for by the 
 use of Government influence, but sufficient to secure the 
 continuance of the Ministry in office. 
 
 The comfort and convenience of the Cabinet, if not their 
 actual strength in Parliament, were increased by a change 
 which gradually took place in the policy of the Radical party. 
 That party had lost little, if anything, in numbers by the 
 elections. Some of the leaders met with disaster in the 
 course of the campaign — Roebuck, Colonel Thompson, Hutt, 
 and Ewart being defeated by Tories, and left without seats. 
 Hume also was thrown out for Middlesex, but he found 
 refuge in the borough of Kilkenny — an arrangement having 
 been made there which illustrates the connection which then 
 existed between O'Connell and some of the English Radicals, 
 and the loyalty with' which the Irish electors followed the 
 instructions of the great agitator. O'Connell was nominated 
 with Hume and Ewart — the plan being to elect O'Connell 
 if he were defeated in Dublin ; if he succeeded there, then 
 to return Hume, if he were beaten in Middlesex ; if both 
 O'Connell and Hume were elected, then to take Ewart. 
 The five polling days allowed time for working this scheme, 
 and O'Connell getting in for Dublin and Hume losing 
 Middlesex the latter was returned for Kilkenny. As a 
 set-off for the defeat of Roebuck and the others. Leader 
 won Westminster, from which Burdett retired, and for which 
 Sir George Murray stood in the Tory interest. The Radical 
 
286 History of the Radical Party in Parliament [1837- 
 
 character of the constituency was thus maintained, Leader 
 and De Lacy Evans being returned. 
 
 The numbers of the Radicals were, as we have said, httle, 
 if at all, diminished ; that is to say, there were as many 
 members holding Radical opinions in the new House as there 
 had been in the old. This was seen in some divisions in 
 which votes might be given without any danger of injury 
 to the Government. The party, however, no longer acted 
 even with the approach to organization and unity which 
 had once characterized it. There was a strong intention 
 manifested to consider the Liberal party as the common 
 centre of unity, and not to take any action which would 
 forward the interests of the Tories. In accepting this position, 
 the Radical leaders practically renounced the chance, and the 
 hope, of forcing into the Government men who should be 
 admitted not as individual Liberals, but as acknowledged 
 representatives of the extreme section, with the power of 
 affecting in a definite manner the general policy of the 
 party. By this course, however self-denying and public- 
 spirited it was thought to be at the time, the exclusive 
 Whig feeling was strengthened, and the labour of obtaining 
 official support to any thorough programme was enormously 
 increased. From this time for many years the efforts of 
 Radical members were directed to obtain outside pressure 
 in favour of reforms which, if they had been more self-reliant 
 and determined, they might have dictated from a place in 
 the Cabinet itself 
 
 This policy, if it was consciously and deliberately adopted 
 at all, was not approved of by the whole party, and the 
 diversity of feeling thus manifested formed a cause of weak- 
 ness to the general body. There were two sections, the 
 smaller one of which strove to direct public attention to, 
 and arouse agitation on behalf of, those constitutional changes 
 without which they were convinced that no substantial 
 progress could be secured. It was natural that, being in 
 this matter deserted by the bulk of the party in Parliament, 
 they should have framed their proposals on the broadest 
 
i84'] Accession of the Queen to Fall of Melbourne. 287 
 
 possible base, that they might at the same time make them 
 consistent with the most democratic principles and obtain 
 for them the widest and most earnest popular support. In 
 this they did but fairly represent the opinions of the bulk 
 of the working classes, who, after assisting to carry the Reform 
 Act, found themselves left by its provisions without any 
 direct voice in the selection of their rulers. The first 
 important step taken by this party was the formulation 
 of their demands in the shape of the People's Charter, the 
 framing and publication of which took place in the following 
 year (1838). 
 
 The other and more numerous section of the Radicals, 
 whilst they did not deny the necessity of Parliamentary 
 reform, devoted their energies to promoting administrative, 
 commercial, and social reforms by means of pressure upon 
 the existing legislature. They commenced their action in 
 the new House also in the year 1838, by the meeting, before 
 referred to, at Sir William Molesworth's, when Mr. Villiers 
 was requested, and in fact formally deputed, to take charge 
 of the movement for the repeal of the corn laws.* The 
 kind of work thus undertaken was arduous to the last degree. 
 It involved, as we have since seen, the cost, in labour and 
 time and money, of originating and carrying on a separate 
 national movement on behalf of every special piece of 
 improvement which was to be undertaken ; and it offered 
 to the people, instead of the direct representation to which 
 they were entitled, the opportunity of putting, by long- 
 continued or violent agitation, an indirect pressure upon 
 the governing classes in Parliament. Some compensation 
 there was for this trouble and delay. If the Whig ministers 
 themselves were never converted to any stalwart kind of 
 policy, the average Liberalism of the party was increased by 
 the propagandism of the Radicals, and the process which a 
 more modern statesman has described as a permeation of 
 the Whig mass by the Radical leaven went on. The influence 
 was less than it should have been, because there were leading 
 
 * Ante, p. 279. 
 
288 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1837- 
 
 Radicals who from time to time took office on the condition 
 not of insuring consideration for their own poHcy, but of 
 being allowed to carry out that of their superiors. 
 
 One other gain has been obtained, of which the chief result 
 is yet to be realized. The country has learned, at a heavy 
 price to be sure, that the policy which the Radicals have 
 advocated, which through a succession of agitations they have 
 impressed upon the public mind, and for which by slow degrees 
 they have obtained a partial acceptance by the legislature, 
 is that which was wisest and best suited to its wants and require- 
 ments. There is scarcely an Act which has been passed to 
 ameliorate the condition of the people, to elevate their moral, 
 social, and political status, and to remove abuses, which has 
 not been striven for by the Radicals, and called for by their 
 followers, long before it was conceded by either section of the 
 governing class. The nation must indeed be blind if it does 
 not see that the men who were the first to appreciate the 
 necessity of reform, to guage the popular feeling, and to 
 adjust our institutions to the growing necessities of modern 
 times, were at least as much deserving of the name of 
 statesmen as the ministers who resisted progress whilst resist- 
 ance was possible, and maimed and mutilated the proposals 
 which they were forced at last to entertain. 
 
 The Queen's first Parliament met on the 15th of November. 
 The election of Speaker and the usual formalities occupied 
 some days, and on the 20th business was commenced. The 
 first division in the House of Commons was taken on an 
 amendment moved to the address by Wakley, containing a 
 declaration in favour of extension of the suffrage. The 
 challenge was taken up by Russell, who declared himself 
 opposed to an extension of the suffrage, the ballot, and 
 triennial Parliaments. Leader and Charles Buller both 
 protested in the name of the Radicals against this speech ; 
 Buller using language so strong that he afterwards modified 
 and partially withdrew it. The division, when it was 
 taken, formed the first proof that there were many men 
 who, whilst approving of the principle of the amendment, 
 
1841.] Accession of the Queen to fall of Melbourne. 289 
 
 were not prepared to oppose the Ministry and divide the 
 party upon such an issue. Only twenty members voted for 
 the amendment, which was opposed by 509. The list of 
 the minority is interesting as containing the names of the 
 English Radicals who were determined to support the cause 
 of reform at any cost, and as not containing those of the Irish 
 Radicals.* 
 
 The remainder of the year was occupied mainly by the 
 discussions attending the settlement of the civil list. The 
 Radicals did what they could to keep the grants within 
 reasonable limits, and especially to restrict the pension list, 
 Harvey being the chief mover on their side. Their efforts on 
 the whole could not be considered very successful. After 
 the settlement had been made on most liberal terms, ministers 
 arranged for the continuance to the Crown of the incomes of 
 the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, which made the total 
 grants what can scarcely be described as otherwise than 
 extravagant. The matter, however, led to no action which 
 affected the position of parties. On the 23rd of December 
 Parliament was adjourned to the i6th of January. 
 
 The shortness of the recess was caused by the anxiety 
 which was felt with regard to the serious position of affairs in 
 Canada. The two provinces of that great colony had been 
 driven into disaffection, and one of them into rebellion, by 
 the obstinate refusal of the home Government to concede the 
 principle of representative government. In the year 1837 the 
 crisis had been reached ; and on the i6th of March in that 
 year Russell had met it by a series of resolutions which, after 
 setting out the nature of the position, declared, amongst other 
 things, that it was inexpedient to make the legislative council 
 
 * The names of the minority were — 
 
 Aglionby, H. A. Duncombe, T. S. Ward, H. G. 
 
 Attwood, T. Fielding, J. White, A. 
 
 Brabazon, Sir W. Finch, J. White, S. 
 
 Browne, R. D. Grote, G. Williams, W. 
 
 Bryan, G. Hallyburton, Lord 
 
 Butler, Hon. Col. Hume, J. Wakley, T. \ r II 
 
 Collins, W. Leader, J. T. Molesworth, Sir W. J ''«'^''■'• 
 
 Deninstoun, J. Vigors, N. A. 
 
 U 
 
290 History of ike Radical Party in Parliament. [1837- 
 
 elective. The Radicals strongly opposed these resolutions, 
 and Leader moved an amendment, which was supported by 
 Roebuck, that the legislative council ought to be made 
 elective. The amendment was lost by 318 to 56. Without 
 hope of having their rights conceded, the colonists plunged 
 into actual rebellion, which was, however, speedily suppressed. 
 It was whilst the news of the rebellion was being received in 
 England that the adjournment took place. 
 
 When Parliament met on the i6th of January, 1838, 
 Russell announced that Lord Durham was to be sent out to 
 Canada, and explained the bill by which his powers and 
 duties were to be regulated. This measure relieved the 
 colonists from many of the practical grievances under which 
 they had suffered, but still refused their main request for a 
 representative government. To this the Radicals again 
 objected, but in vain, an amendment moved by Leader for 
 delay being defeated by 188 to 28. Durham went out with 
 full powers, and his use of them tended to the rapid pacification 
 of the provinces. In one respect, however, he exceeded his 
 technical authority. He banished some of the leaders of the 
 late rebellion to Bermuda, a colony clearly beyond his 
 jurisdiction. The error was not really material, because he 
 had power to send the rebels out of Canada, but it was seized 
 hold of by the opposition, and by Brougham, the bitter 
 personal enemy of Durham. The ministers at first supported 
 their governor ; but, cowed by the attacks made upon them, 
 they on the loth of August announced that they had dis- 
 allowed the ordinance and accepted a bill of indemnity, which 
 Brougham had introduced. This desertion of Durham, whilst 
 it destroyed his prestige in Canada, broke his spirit, and he 
 immediately resigned and returned home. His last service 
 to his country was the preparation of a scheme for the future 
 administration of Canada, which contained all the principles 
 which have guided to such success the subsequent government 
 of the Dominion. Radicalism has done no greater service to 
 the kingdom than the vindication of the right of self-govern- 
 ment in our colonies, and this was formulated in the report 
 
1841] Accession of the Queen to fall of Melbourne. 291 
 
 which was to be the dying bequest of one of the best and 
 noblest of the statesmen whom it has produced. 
 
 Next to the Canadian business, the most important and 
 most interesting part of the proceedings of the session was 
 the settlement of the Irish tithe question, and the humiliation 
 inflicted by it upon the Ministry. On the 14th of May 
 Russell introduced a string of ten resolutions as a basis on 
 which to found his new Tithe Bill. The main interest which 
 these resolutions excited centred round the question whether 
 they did or did not involve the principle of appropriation, to 
 which the Government had solemnly pledged themselves and 
 the House in 1835. The present resolutions were framed 
 with such ambiguity that it was impossible to say what 
 answer they furnished, but in his speech Russell had been 
 understood to say that the great principle was abandoned. 
 It afterwards became clear that the concession had really 
 been intended, but the ministers hoped to be allowed to carry 
 a bill which gave up the principle without a direct confession 
 of the fact. Such an escape from their difficulty, however, 
 neither the Tories nor the Radicals were prepared to permit. 
 Immediately after the resolutions were moved. Sir Thomas 
 Acland rose, in pursuance of a notice which he had given, and 
 proposed as an amendment that the resolutions of the 7th 
 and 8th of April, 1835, should be rescinded. In the debate 
 which followed Ward, the great champion of appropriation, 
 said that he had thought he descried in the resolutions the 
 germ of the appropriation principle, but he was assured by 
 Lords J. Russell and Morpeth that the principle was aban- 
 doned. O'Connell, to the surprise of many of the Radicals, 
 supported ministers in their proposition. Sir Robert Peel, 
 to whom, as the writer of the " Annual Register " said, " the 
 present occasion was one of no slight triumph," * rose to 
 support Acland's proposition. He pointed out how the 
 resolutions had been the instrument by which his Government 
 had been overthrown, because he would rather lose office 
 than sacrifice his principles, and now the very men who had 
 
 * "Annual Register,'' 1838, p. 125. 
 
292 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1837- 
 
 risen on his defeat were willing to sacrifice their principles 
 rather than lose office. There was no defence from this 
 charge, and the Ministry never overcame the disgrace in which 
 it involved them. The amendment was, however, defeated by 
 a majority of nineteen, the numbers being 317 to 298 ; and the 
 Government passed a bill which aimed merely at converting 
 the composition into a rent charge, relinquishing a claim 
 for the repayment of advances previously made to tithe- 
 owners, and giving facilities for some further outlay for the 
 extinction of arrears. During the debates on this bill Ward, 
 on the 2nd of July, moved to insert the appropriation clause, 
 and he dwelt upon the obligations under which the Govern- 
 ment and the Parliament lay to observe the pledges made 
 by the resolutions ; but the proposition was lost, only 46 voting 
 for it, and 279 against. 
 
 The Government had hoped that the abandonment of the 
 appropriation clause would have induced the Tories to assent 
 to a reasonable Irish Municipal Bill ; but in this they were 
 deceived, the Lords altering the conditions of the franchise in 
 a manner which could not be accepted, and the measure was 
 thereon dropped. It is thus that the Conservatives have time 
 after time justified the complaint of Irishmen that they are 
 treated by the imperial legislature in a different manner and 
 on different principles to their fellow-countrymen in the other 
 parts of the kingdom. 
 
 The Tories, however, were still prepared to support the 
 ministers in their opposition to the policy proposed by the 
 majority of the Liberals. At a banquet giving to him on 
 the 1 2th of May, Sir Robert Peel said that the opposition 
 under his guidance exercised much of the power of Govern- 
 ment, and he gave, in proof of his assertion, cases in which 
 the ministers had been dependant upon the opposition for the 
 votes necessary to defeat proposals made by Liberals. Two of 
 these instances had occurred during the existing session. The 
 first was the 1 5th of February, when Grote moved his annual 
 resolution for the ballot, and on a division there were — Ayes, 
 198 ; Noes, 315. Of this majority 254 were Tories, and only 61 
 
1841.] Accession of the Queen to fall of Melbourne. 293 
 
 ministerialists, so that if the Whigs had been left to themselves 
 they would have been in a minority of 137. The second case 
 was that of the vote on Mr. Villiers' motion for the repeal of 
 the corn laws, made on the 15 th of March, and defeated by 
 300 to 95. The majority was made up of 226 Tories and 74 
 Whigs, the ministers again being in a minority of their own 
 party. Thus far had the Whigs advanced in " a policy which 
 irritated a nation and destroyed a government." * 
 
 Under such conditions, the other Parliamentary proceedings 
 of the session could not possess much historic interest ; but 
 two events occurred during the year which exercised much 
 influence, in the first place upon public opinion outside, and 
 afterwards upon the action of the legislature itself The 
 People's Charter was pubhshed on the 8th of May, 1838. It 
 had been drawn up by a committee appointed in the spring 
 of 1837, consisting of six members of Parliament and six 
 working men. f The charter was a carefully prepared bill con- 
 taining provisions for registration and the conduct of elections, 
 but its chief feature was the formulation of what were called the 
 " six points," — universal suffrage, vote by ballot, equal electoral 
 districts, annual Parliaments, abolition of property qualifica- 
 tion of members, and payment of members. The other event 
 alluded to was the formation of the Manchester Anti-Corn 
 Law Association, which in the following year was merged in, 
 or rather developed into, the famous Anti-Corn Law League.}: 
 
 It was unfortunate that anything like a division of the 
 Radical party should have been caused by the agitation of 
 these two subjects. Parliamentary reform and corn law 
 repeal were both essentially Radical measures ; that is to say, 
 they were both strongly and persistently opposed by the Whig 
 leaders and ministers, and as strenuously desired by the Radicals. 
 The repeal of the corn laws was one of the objects which 
 
 * Spencer Walpole, " History of England from 1815," vol. iii. p. 392. 
 
 t " The Life and Struggles of William Lovett," pp. \\\, et seq. On p. 114 
 the names are given, the members of Parliament being — 
 
 J. A. Roebuck D. O'Connell Col. Thompson 
 
 J. T. Leader C. Hindley W. S. Crawford 
 
 X The "League " was formally established on the 29th of March, 1839. 
 
294 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1837- 
 
 the people hoped to attain by means of the Reform Act, and it 
 was natural that they should look to a further reform of the 
 Constitution to give them the power which the first had failed 
 to secure. On the other hand, the misery caused by the exist- 
 ence of those laws was so great, their hindrance to national 
 development and prosperity so flagrant, that it is not surprising 
 that earnest philanthropists and practical politicians should 
 decide to postpone every other subject to the determination 
 to relieve the country from their oppression. 
 
 The tendency towards division in the party, caused by this 
 difference of opinion as to the immediate policy which ought 
 to be pursued, had a permanent effect on its fortunes in Parlia- 
 ment. It was increased by the clear and definite form into 
 which the charter had put the demands of the people. There 
 were comparatively few members who were prepared to 
 accept the whole scheme, but there was no choice between 
 doing so and losing the control of the agitation which had 
 been commenced. It soon became the fashion to speak of 
 the charter as something strange and violent, and as contain- 
 ing propositions too extreme to be considered by any but 
 wild demagogues, the name always ready at hand to be 
 applied to those who thoroughly trust the people and work 
 with them. In reality the bill contained no such new 
 doctrines ; every point in it had been specifically considered 
 and adopted by a committee, of which Fox was chairman, and 
 Burke, Sheridan, and other Whigs, were members.* Of the 
 two main propositions, universal suffrage and vote by ballot, 
 one has already been adopted, and a great stride has been 
 made towards the other. Every advance in the direction of 
 redistribution must be a nearer approach to the equalization 
 of voting power ; and there are few Liberals who believe that 
 seven years is not too long a period for the existence of 
 Parliament. The property qualification for members has been 
 abolished ; and, if all classes are to be really eligible for election, 
 and full responsibility of members to their constituents 
 effected, the payment of members must be adopted here, as 
 
 * See ante, p. 31. 
 
1841.] Accession of the Queen to fall of Melbourne. 295 
 
 it is in nearly every other country where constitutional 
 government exists. 
 
 The phantom which was conjured up, therefore, like all 
 such creations of diseased fancy, lost its terrors when it was 
 calmly faced ; but whilst its effects were new it did what the 
 enemies of progress most desired— it separated the friends of 
 reform, and alienated the sympathies of the middle and lower 
 classes and of their advocates in Parliament. The leadership 
 which was thus declined by the bulk of the Parliamentary 
 Radicals, was to a great extent assumed by the most violent 
 section of the Chartists — men like Feargus O'Connor being 
 able to frustrate the policy of wiser and more moderate 
 advisers, such as Leader and Attwood inside Parliament, and 
 Lovett and Vincent outside. The consequence was seen in 
 the listlessness and half-heartedness which for years marked 
 our Parliamentary history when Whig and Tory rule 
 alternated, and culminated in the absolute political stagnation 
 which characterized the last premiership of Palmerston. 
 Throughout this long and dreary period, the Radicals did 
 the work of originating and agitating for every proposal to 
 ameliorate the social condition and increase the liberties of the 
 people ; but they could not arouse the full force of popular 
 enthusiasm, because for years they did not propose any definite 
 scheme of reform which could take the place which the charter 
 had held in the estimation of the working classes. 
 
 At the close of the session of 1838, the position of the 
 party seemed almost hopeless. The Whig Ministry, suffering 
 from the disgrace of the surrender on the Irish tithe question, 
 was yet as much as ever determined not to seek for strength 
 by any concession to popular demands. They were as 
 decided as the Tories in resisting the repeal of the corn laws, 
 and yet were dependent upon the advocates of that repeal for 
 their existence. The Radicals had either to preserve a 
 Government which would do little that they wanted, or allow 
 it to be replaced by one more actively opposed to all reform. 
 During the recess there had been agitation on both the great 
 subjects which were engaging the attention of the country. 
 
296 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1837- 
 
 The Chartists had begun to alarm the timid, and the corn- 
 law repealers had strengthened their organization and in- 
 creased their efforts. The consequence was soon manifested 
 when Parliament met. The session was opened on the 6th of 
 February, 1839, by a speech which proved the continuance of 
 the inability or the unwillingness of the Cabinet to meet the 
 requirements of the country. Of domestic subjects action 
 was advised upon three only — Irish municipal reform, a 
 measure to increase the efficiency of the Established Church, 
 and some provision for the better enforcement of the law and 
 the more speedy and certain administration of justice. There 
 was also a reference to efforts which had been made to excite 
 the people to disobedience and resistance to the law, but no 
 proposals were to be submitted on the subject. A more 
 striking confession of feebleness has seldom been made in a 
 royal speech, and it seemed almost to invite the defeat which 
 the Cabinet were soon to suffer. 
 
 The Radicals lost little time in raising both the great 
 questions which the Government had tried to evade. In the 
 debate on the address the corn laws were discussed, Villiers on 
 one side and Peel on the other being the principal speakers. 
 In reply, Russell gave the first intimation that some change 
 might be possible by declaring that he thought that the time 
 had arrived when it should be considered whether the present 
 system acted beneficially or not. No vote was taken on this 
 subject, but Buncombe moved an amendment to add to the 
 address the following words : — " To assure her Majesty that, as 
 the amendment of the representative system, enacted in 1832, 
 has disappointed her Majesty's people, and as that measure is 
 not, and cannot be final, her Majesty's faithful Commons will 
 take into early consideration the further reform of the 
 Commons House of Parliament." This was seconded by 
 Ward, and was met by Russell with another statement, of 
 his belief in the finality of the Reform Act. On a division, 
 the amendment received eighty-six votes. At the beginning 
 of the previous session only twenty votes had been given for 
 a similar amendment ; but on the present occasion O'Connell 
 
1841.] Accession of the Queen to fall of Melbourne. 297 
 
 and some of his friends took part, whilst in 1838 they had 
 abstained.* 
 
 Resolutions on the corn laws were at once submitted to 
 both Houses, in the form of motions that evidence should 
 be heard at the bar as to their operation and effect. Lord 
 Brougham brought the subject before the Peers on the i8th 
 of February. He was opposed by Melbourne, and the motion 
 was negatived without a division. On the following day 
 Villiers moved in the Commons that certain persons "be 
 heard at the bar of the House, by their agents, witnesses, or 
 counsel, in support of the allegations of the petition presented 
 to the House on the 15th inst, complaining of the operation 
 of the corn laws." Russell, whilst objecting to the mode of 
 inquiry proposed, said he was willing to have the question 
 examined by a select committee. This was a sign of 
 wavering, and so far a gain to the repealers, who on a division 
 found that they had increased their strength in the House, 
 receiving on this occasion 172 votes to 361, whilst last year 
 the numbers had been 95 to 300. 
 
 The subject was again raised in more direct form. On 
 the 1 2th of March Villiers proposed a committee to consider 
 the Act 9 George IV. c. 50 ; and on the 14th Earl Fitzwilliam, 
 in the other House, moved a resolution that the Act had 
 failed to secure that steadiness in the price of grain which 
 is essential to the best interests of the country. The debates 
 led to a manifestation of wide differences amongst the chief 
 members of the Cabinet. In opposing Earl Fitzwilliam the 
 Premier made the statement which has often been quoted, 
 that " to leave the whole agricultural interest without 
 protection, I declare before God that I think it the wildest 
 and maddest scheme that has ever entered into the imagina- 
 tion to conceive." He went on to express his special dissent 
 to a fixed duty. But on the 18th of March, in the adjourned 
 debate on Villiers' motion, Russell, the leader of the House 
 of Commons, said that he was in favour of a fixed duty, and 
 
 * Villiers, De Lacy Evans, Sir L. Bulwer, and other Radicals who were absent 
 before, now voted. 
 
298 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1837- 
 
 he voted for going into committee. There were three parties 
 to the dispute : the Radicals knew what they wanted — the total 
 repeal of the laws ; the Tories equally knew their own mind — 
 they resisted any alteration whatever ; but the ministers were 
 divided and uncertain, the only thing clear being that they 
 were open to the influence of pressure. 
 
 There was no prospect of much practical legislation, but 
 in the middle of the session business was altogether suspended 
 by a ministerial crisis, succeeded by a resumption of place by 
 the Melbourne Government under conditions which subjected 
 them not only to humiliation, but to contempt. The proceed- 
 ings attending the abolition of slavery had led to great 
 dissatisfaction on the part of the planters in Jamaica, and 
 when the period first fixed for the continuance of the pre- 
 liminary state of apprenticeship was shortened, the excitement 
 increased and manifested itself in the House of Assembly of 
 the colony by a refusal to obey or to recognize the law. The 
 Whigs had in this case, as they had with regard to Canada, 
 a short and simple method of settling the difficulty. They 
 brought in a bill to suspend the constitution of the island for 
 five years, and to provide in the interim for its government by 
 the imperial authority. The bill was read a second time, and 
 counsel was heard against it. The motion that the Speaker 
 do now leave the chair, that the House might go into 
 committee, was made on the 3rd of May, and was opposed 
 by Peel. A debate followed, which was adjourned to the 
 6th, in the course of which different sides were taken by the 
 Radicals. BuUer strongly supported the bill on the ground 
 that the constitution of Jamaica was oligarchical, and the 
 sooner it was amended the better ; but both Hume and Grote 
 spoke against the measure. There were a sufficient number 
 of seceders to alarm the ministers, and Russell, in his reply, 
 denounced their conduct. The alarm was justified, for on 
 a division ten Radicals voted with Peel, and there were — for 
 the bill, 294; against it, 289, leaving Government with a 
 majority of only five, which they considered equal to a defeat. 
 
 On the following evening, therefore, ministers announced 
 
1841.] Accession of the Queen to fall of Melbourne. 299 
 
 their resignation. A week afterwards, on the 13th of May, 
 Russell said that since he had last addressed the House Sir 
 Robert Peel had tried to form an Administration and had 
 failed, and that her Majesty had graciously permitted that 
 gentleman to state the circumstances which had led to the 
 failure. The explanation was contained in a description of 
 what is known as the great bed-chamber question. The 
 Whigs had surrounded the Queen by ladies connected with 
 their own families. At first Peel had not noticed this fact, 
 and did not propose any action with regard to it. He 
 naturally supposed that at all events the relatives of the late 
 Cabinet ministers would leave office when their husbands and 
 brothers left. Beyond this line he never thought of going ; 
 but to his surprise he found that the wife of Lord Normanby 
 and the sister of Lord Morpeth both intended to retain their 
 positions in the royal household. To this Peel objected, and 
 when the Queen applied for advice to Lord Melbourne, he 
 recommended that the request of Peel should be refused. 
 There is no doubt now that Melbourne's advice was con- 
 stitutionally wrong ; but it was accepted, and behind the 
 petticoats of their ladies the Whigs sheltered themselves from 
 the indifference of the Commons and the hostility of the 
 Lords, and consented to continue in office. 
 
 It need not be said that place accepted on such terms 
 brought no honour and very little power. What the terms 
 were was clearly manifested by the fate of the second Jamaica 
 bill, which the Government substituted for the one which had 
 led to their resignation. On the 30th of May the new 
 measure was brought in. The first clause empowered the 
 governor in council, in case the Colonial Legislature should 
 not, before the ist of October — afterwards extended to 
 the 15th — pass certain Acts, to make ordinances on the 
 subject of contracts for labour, vagrancy, and the occupation 
 of waste lands. This clause contained the very essence of the 
 bill. It was carried in committee, on the loth of June, by 
 a majority of thirty-four ; but on the 19th of June, on the 
 motion for the passing of the bill, Goulburn moved its 
 
300 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1837- 
 
 rejection, and this time the Government majority was only 
 ten. The Lords, of course, rejected this main feature of the 
 measure, and ministers had to be content with the miserable 
 remainder. But their resignation proved that they did not 
 possess the power without which office ought to have been 
 considered valueless. That the weakness arose not from the 
 actual strength of the Tories, but from the disaffection of the 
 Radicals, was shown when a vote was taken for the election 
 of a new Speaker on the resignation of Abercromby. The 
 election took place on the 27th of May. Shaw Lefevre was 
 proposed by the Liberals, and Goulburn by the Tories, and 
 the former was carried by a majority of eighteen, the numbers 
 being 317 to 299. 
 
 What are called open questions — that is, questions on which 
 members of a Government are not agreed, and each one is 
 allowed to take his own course — are rarely heard of under 
 a strong Administration, and never as applying to subjects of 
 the first magnitude. The Melbourne Ministry, however, which 
 had been destroyed by the secession of ten Radicals, could 
 not afford to stand out on a proposal on which the whole 
 Radical element of the party was agreed. So that when, on 
 the 1 8th of June, Grote brought on his annual motion in 
 favour of the ballot, Macaulay — who had recently returned 
 from India — announced that this was an open question, and 
 that he should vote for the motion. On a division the 
 numbers were — for the ballot, 217 ; against, 335. The number 
 voting for was greater by seventeen than that of the previous 
 year, and supposing the full party vote to have been given on 
 the election of Speaker, it left only one hundred Whigs who 
 were not Liberal enough to accept the ballot. 
 
 Some other debates were raised on proposals for Parlia- 
 mentary Reform. On the 21st of March Hume was defeated 
 by eighty-five votes to fifty on a motion to go into Committee, 
 to introduce a bill which was for the establishment of household 
 suffrage ; and on the 4th of June Sir H. Fleetwood moved for 
 leave to bring in a bill to assimilate the county to the 
 borough franchise, for which he obtained eighty-one votes, but 
 
1841.] Accession of the Queen to fall of Melbourne. 301 
 
 was in a minority of 126. The question, however, which most 
 severely tested the thoroughness of the Radicalism of 
 members was the introduction of the charter. On the 14th 
 of June Attwood had presented the national petition in 
 favour of the six points, which had been signed by 1,200,000 
 persons. Going beyond the usual practice of the House, he 
 was allowed, in consideration of the unusual character of the 
 petition, to make a short speech on the presentation, and on 
 the 1 2th of July he moved that the House should go into 
 committee to consider the petition. At this time the 
 question was compromised by the alarm which had been 
 created in the minds of the upper and middle classes by the 
 violent speeches and proceedings of some of the Chartists, 
 a section of whom, under the instigation of Feargus O'Connor, 
 calling themselves " Physical-force Chartists," had openly 
 advocated an appeal to arms. Notwithstanding the general 
 excitement, the debate on Attwood's motion was very tame, 
 and the vote under the circumstances was very favourable, 
 there being for the resolution, 46 ; against it, 235.* 
 
 Of the practical work of the session there is not much to 
 be said. One important step was taken in the miserably slow 
 process by which the State moved towards the performance of 
 its duty to national education. The Committee of Council 
 
 * The following is a list of the members who at such a time had the cours 
 
 to vote for the resolution : 
 
 — 
 
 
 Aglionby, H. A. 
 
 Harvey, D. W. 
 
 Rundle, J. 
 
 Beamish, F. B. 
 
 Hector, C. J. 
 
 Salway, Col. 
 
 Blake, M. J. 
 
 Hindley, C. 
 
 Scholefield, J. 
 
 Bridgeman, H. 
 
 Hodges, T. L. 
 
 Somerville, Sir W. M, 
 
 Brotherton, J. 
 
 Jervis, S. 
 
 Turner, W. 
 
 Browne, R. D. 
 
 Johnson, Gen. 
 
 Vigors, N. A. 
 
 Collins, W. 
 
 Leader, J. T. 
 
 Villiers, Hon. C. P. 
 
 Currie, B. 
 
 Lushington, C. 
 
 Wakley, T. 
 
 Duke, Sir J. 
 
 Marslahd, H. 
 
 Wallace, R. 
 
 Dancombe, T. 
 
 Martin, J. 
 
 Warburton, H. 
 
 Easthope, J. 
 
 Milton, Visct. 
 
 "Williams, W. 
 
 Ellis, W. 
 
 Molesworth, Sir W. 
 
 Wood, Sir M. 
 
 Euston, Earl of 
 
 Muskett, S. A. 
 
 
 Evans, G. 
 
 O'Connell, D. 
 
 Attwood T..^^^^^^ 
 Hume, J. J 
 
 Fielden, J. 
 
 O'Connell, J. 
 
 Finch, F. 
 
 Ramsbottom, J. 
 
 
 Grote, G. 
 
 Roche, E. B. 
 
 
302 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1837- 
 
 on Education was now formed and entrusted with the control 
 and distribution of the educational grant, which was raised to 
 vf30,ooo for the year. Even this advance was not made 
 without strenuous opposition by the Tories in both Houses. 
 On the 14th of June, when Russell moved that the order of 
 the day for going into committee of supply on the education 
 vote be read, Stanley proposed as an amendment "that an 
 address be presented to her Majesty, to rescind the order 
 in council for constituting the proposed Board of Privy 
 Council," and this was defeated by five votes only, the 
 numbers being 280 to 275. 
 
 The contest was continued on the 24th of June, when 
 Russell moved that the House resolve itself into committee 
 of supply. The division was even closer than before, the 
 numbers being- — for, 275 ; against, 273, showing a majority of 
 only two. Here, however, the struggle ended as far as the 
 Commons were concerned, but it was taken up vigorously by 
 the Peers. On the 5th of July the Archbishop of Canterbury 
 moved a series of resolutions against the Government action, 
 which, being carried, the Lords went in a body to her Majesty 
 to offer their remonstrance against the scheme. Their 
 lordships, however, took nothing by their motion. In her 
 reply the Queen said, "I duly appreciate your zesd for the 
 interests of religion and your care for the Established Church. 
 ... At the same time I cannot help expressing my regret that 
 you should have thought it necessary to take such a step on 
 the present occasion. ... I trust that the sums placed at my 
 disposal will be found to have been strictly applied to the 
 objects for which they were granted, with due respect to the 
 rights of conscience and with a faithful attention to the security 
 of the Established Church." It was, of course, in the name of 
 religion that this opposition to educational progress was raised, 
 but by religion the bishops and their friends always meant the 
 predominance of the Church. Because the expenditure was 
 to' be in the hands of the ministers of the State instead of those 
 of the Church, every nerve had been strained to reject the plan. 
 Postal reform was the other practical achievement of the 
 
I84I.1 Accession of the Queen to fall of Melbourne. 303 
 
 session. This had been forced upon the Government by 
 external agitation, which had found expression in Parliament 
 through Wallace, the Radical member for Greenock. The 
 writings and speeches of Rowland Hill, especially his work, 
 " Post Office Reform : its Importance and Practicability," had 
 proved that a complete change of system was not only 
 necessary, but easy of attainment, and, unlike too many social 
 reformers, he was destined not only to see the adoption of his 
 principles, but to take an active part in their realization. 
 
 The Peers were fortunately unable to stop the educational 
 movement proposed by Government, but where they could 
 arrest Liberal action they did. The annual farce connected 
 with Irish municipal reform was again performed. The 
 House of Commons passed a bill, which was altered in the 
 other Chamber in a manner which made it unacceptable. As 
 ministers were not strong enough to enter upon a contest with 
 the Lords, they did as they had done before — dropped the 
 measure, and postponed the subject to another session. 
 Parliament was prorogued on the nth of August. 
 
 The discredit into which the Melbourne Government had 
 fallen had been increased, in the popular mind, by the suffering 
 consequent upon a long season of commercial and agricultural 
 distress ; and in the opinion of thoughtful men, by the utter 
 failure of their financial policy. The word policy can, indeed, 
 Jiardly be applied to the feeble hand-to-mouth proposals which 
 had from year to year been brought forward by Spring Rice, 
 the Whig Chancellor of the Exchequer. His predictions had 
 been rarely justified, his plans rarely successful, and the 
 consequence had been a series of deficiencies which grew so 
 far beyond his control, that in this his last year of office he 
 did not even attempt to equalize the receipts and expenditure, 
 but left a nominal deficit of over half a million, which was 
 further increased by a million, owing to the decrease of revenue 
 from the post-office during the first year of the new experi- 
 ment. It was not surprising, therefore, that at the end 
 of the session Rice should have been anxious to resign, nor 
 that his colleagues should have been willing to allow him to 
 
304 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1837- 
 
 seek for peace in the less exciting sphere of the House of 
 Lords. Baring became Chancellor of the Exchequer, but if 
 he had the spirit, he had not the opportunity of reforming the 
 system of finance to which his party had become accustomed. 
 
 Other alterations were at the same time made in the 
 Cabinet Russell, Home Secretary, and Normanby, Colonial 
 Secretary, exchanged places, in the hope, it might be, 
 that change in administrative details would compensate for 
 the want of vigour in general policy. These arrangements 
 would not be deserving of notice but for the fact that Lord 
 Howick made them the cause of his retirement from the 
 Cabinet. His reason, as given in the following session, was 
 that the changes were unfavourable to that section of the party 
 who wished to avoid further constitutional reforms.* It is 
 difficult now to understand the position thus taken up, but 
 his lordship's readiness to assume the character of the 
 candid friend, and to damage his party whilst remaining 
 in it, perhaps gave special acuteness to his vision. It has 
 since that time placed him in antagonism to the most earnest 
 and useful Liberal leaders. His defection could just then do 
 little good or harm to the Ministry, and his place was filled by 
 Macaulay, who could at least give help as an orator to the 
 decaying fortunes of the Government. 
 
 The Queen opened, in person, the session of 1840, and the 
 principle subject of interest in the speech was the announce- 
 ment of the intended marriage of her Majesty. The choice 
 made by the sovereign gave universal satisfaction to people 
 and Parliament, a satisfaction which steadily increased as the 
 character of the Prince Consort became more known. There 
 was, however, a difference of opinion as to the allowance which 
 ought to be made to him, the views of economists being 
 strengthened by the general distress which existed in the 
 country. The Government proposed the sum of ;^5O,O0O a 
 i year, to which Hume, on the 27th of January, moved an 
 amendment that it be ;£"20,ooo. He was defeated by 305 to 
 
 * The explanation was given in his speech on the debate on Sir J. Buller's 
 want of confidence and resolution, on the 28th of January, 1840. 
 
1841.] Accession of the Queen to Fall of Melbourne. 305 
 
 38 ; but another amendment to make the annuity £30,000 
 proposed by Colonel Sibthorp, was supported by Peel and hir, 
 party, and, taking also the Radical votes, it was carried by 262 
 votes to 158. Neither the sovereign nor her ministers were 
 pleased with this decision, and Russell had shown his temper 
 with regard to the amendment before the vote was taken, by 
 a declaration that it showed a want of respect to the Queen. 
 He did more harm than good by this ; he received rebukes 
 from Peel and Graham, and had not authority to influence the 
 vote in any appreciable degree. The wishes of the Cabinet 
 had ceased to be an active power in politics. 
 
 The Tories, however, were too sanguine in their calculations 
 as to the extent of the Liberal dissensions, or, at least, as to 
 the willingness of the Radicals to leave the Government to the 
 tender mercies of the opposition. They found this out when 
 anxious to try their strength at once. Sir J. Y. Buller, as early 
 as the 28th of January, moved " that her Majesty's Government, 
 as at present constituted, does not possess the confidence of 
 this House." In the course of the debate. Ward, on behalf of 
 the Radicals, justified their vote for ministers by showing the 
 hopelessness of expecting any of the reforms for which they 
 were anxious from the party to which Graham belonged. There 
 was thus a united Liberal vote, and it gave the Government 
 a majority of twenty-one. This was a much larger support 
 than they had lately been in the habit of receiving, but it did 
 not give them any assurance of increased power : it was given 
 rather against Peel than in favour of Melbourne ; it represented 
 neither symyathy in the country nor loyalty in the House ; 
 and it did not in the least prevent the Peers from treating the 
 ministerial proposals with contempt. 
 
 Evidence of this was furnished when the Irish municipal 
 question again came up. The ministerial proposals were very 
 much milder than those which they had made when they first 
 took office, but mild as they were the House of Lords made 
 them still less effective. Morpeth moved the second reading 
 of the bill on the 14th of February, and it was carried by 149 
 to 14, and the other stages were passed by large majorities. 
 
 X 
 
3o6 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1837- 
 
 As thus adopted by the Commons, the bill fixed the qualifi- 
 cation for voting at ;£'io in the larger, and £?> in the smaller, 
 boroughs, and it limited the rights of freemen. The second 
 reading in the Lords was carried with the consent of Welling- 
 ton by a large majority; but on the 29th of June, in committee, 
 Lyndhurst carried amendments which made the qualification 
 in the small towns ;^io instead of £i, and preserved and 
 perpetuated all the rights of freemen. Thus amended the 
 bill was read a third time, and passed on the 31st of July, 
 and went to the Commons. At first the House would not 
 accept the amendments ; but, as Lyndhurst would not give 
 way, the Government had to do so, and on the lOth of August 
 the bill received the royal assent. It was an unmistakable 
 defeat and humiliation to the ministers, that after six years 
 of contest they were unable to obtain what they believed 
 to be justice for the people of Ireland. There has been 
 little encouragement to the Irish to accept willingly a 
 continuance of that union, under which they are subject 
 to a Parliament in which the Whigs have been unable, and 
 the Tories unwilling, to confer what they know to be their 
 rights. Radicals could not hold power on such terms ; to 
 them justice to Ireland would form an essential condition 
 of existence. 
 
 The most interesting events of the session were the debates 
 on the corn laws, which gave evidence of the growing feeling 
 in the country in favour of repeal, whilst they illustrated still 
 further the weakness and want of unity in the Ministry. On 
 the 1st of April Mr. Villiers brought forward his third annual 
 motion on the subject. The debate was twice adjourned, but 
 late on the third day, when Warburton moved another 
 adjournment, and many of the supporters of the motion 
 were absent, a division was pressed for and the adjournment 
 refused by 245 to 129. Thereupon Warburton moved the 
 adjournment of the House, which being carried the original 
 motion became a dropped order, and Villiers was enabled 
 to introduce it again. This he did on the 26th of May, 
 when he was met by a scene of violence and disturbance 
 
i84i.] Accession of the Queen to Fall of Melbourne. 307 
 
 of the most disgraceful kind. The mover was interrupted, 
 and other speakers on the same side were shouted down. 
 In the course of what Httle debate was possible, Russell 
 declared himself in favour of inquiry ; but he said " he was 
 decidedly opposed to the repeal of these protecting duties, 
 whether on corn or manufactures." So little did he under- 
 stand, or so little was he in unison with, the growing feeling 
 of the nation. .Melbourne was still less Liberal, for he opposed 
 the resolution brought forward by Earl Fitzwilliam on the 
 4th of June, "that it is expedient to reconsider the laws 
 relating to the importation of foreign corn." This resolution 
 was defeated, the numbers being 152 to 34. 
 
 In the midst of distress and almost despair in the country, 
 of failure and helplessness in Parliament, the session closed 
 on the nth of August. It was almost as much relief to the 
 people as it was to the Cabinet to be done with the farce 
 of legislation. It was seen soon afterwards that a competent 
 Ministry could, by wise commercial policy and bold and 
 honest finance, show the nation the methods by which to 
 escape from the misery under which it was suffering. Mel- 
 bourne's Government, however, incompetent to originate and 
 feeble in administration, could offer no hope : but stood mocked 
 by their opponents and mourned by their friends, trade 
 decaying, workmen starving, and agitators inciting to violence, 
 because the rulers had no help to offer. It was hardly to be 
 wondered at, that during the winter the spirit which used to 
 manifest itself in political activity turned in very hopelessness 
 on some sides to disorder, on others to indifference. There 
 seemed to be no interest excited when the period for the 
 new session had arrived, for there was no reason to expect 
 more activity from an Administration which was daily grow- 
 ing weaker, or from a Parliament distracted and divided 
 without efficient leadership or definite policy. 
 
 Little surprise was felt when, on the opening of the session 
 on the 26th of January, the Queen's speech contained no 
 promise of important legislation. Reform in the Administra- 
 tion and the expiry of the powers of the poor law com- 
 
3o8 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1837- 
 
 missioners were the only two domestic subjects referred to, 
 and these, although important in themselves, were not of a 
 character calculated to excite interest in the mind of a nation 
 whose people were suffering from a distress which in many 
 parts amounted almost to famine. With such a programme 
 it seemed almost like a profane farce to " humbly implore of 
 Divine Providence that all your counsels may be so directed 
 as to advance the great interest of morality qnd religion, to 
 preserve peace, and to promote by enlightened legislation 
 the welfare and happiness of all classes of my subjects." The 
 feeling of the Radicals as to the state of things which existed 
 was well expressed by Grote, in the last speech which he was 
 to make in Parliament. In the debate on the address, after 
 objecting to the ministerial policy with regard to Turkey, 
 which he considered endangered the peace of Europe and 
 especially estranged the sympathies of France, Grote said, 
 " If, in respect to our internal affairs, we are destined to 
 obtain no further progress or improvement ; if the cold 
 shadows of finality have at length closed in around us, and 
 intercepted all visions of a brighter future ; if the glowing- 
 hopes once associated with the reform Ministry and the 
 reformed Parliament have perished like an exploded bubble ; 
 — at least, in regard to our foreign affairs, let us preserve 
 from shipwreck that which is the first of all blessings and 
 necessities, that which was bequeathed to us by the anti- 
 reform Ministry and the unreformed Parliament — I mean 
 peace and accord with the leading nations of Europe, but 
 especially with our nearest and greatest neighbour, France." 
 To this appeal Russell could only reply with commonplaces 
 about his desire to maintain the institutions of the Established 
 Church, the hereditary House of Lords, and the hereditary 
 Monarchy. 
 
 The address in reply to the speech was agreed to in 
 both Houses without a division ; but this was the last sign 
 of confidence or respect which the Government were to 
 receive — all after this was defeat, reverse, and humiliation. 
 They had suffered several disasters before they brought in the 
 
1841.J Accession of the Queen to Fall of Melbourne. 309 
 
 budget, and it was generally believed that their financial and 
 commercial proposals would be framed as much with a view 
 to' their effect upon the country as with any expectation that 
 they would be carried in Parliament. The 31st of April was 
 the day fixed for the financial statement, but before it was 
 made, Russell gave notice that on the 31st of May he should 
 move " that the House resolve itself into a committee of the 
 whole House, to consider the Acts of Parliament relating to 
 the trade in corn." This was exactly the resolution which 
 Mr. Villiers had moved year after year, and its adoption by 
 ministers was regarded as a bid for popular support in the 
 election which it was known could not be much longer delayed. 
 Identical in terms as the motion of the Government was with 
 that of the League, it did not cover the same intention, a 
 compromise in which the principle would be sacrificed being 
 all that the new friends of free trade intended to accomplish. 
 This was soon made known in the House of Lords, where, on 
 the 3rd of May, Melbourne, questioned by Ripon as to whether 
 the alteration in the corn laws was to be on the principle 
 of taxation or protection, said, " Unquestionably it will be upon 
 a principle of protection." 
 
 After Russell's notice the budget was brought on. It 
 showed the usual and inevitable Whig deficit, amounting this 
 year to no less than .£'2,421,000. The Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer did liot attempt to deal with the whole of this evil, 
 but he proposed to mend it to some extent by changes in the 
 duties on foreign timber and foreign sugar. He said nothing 
 as to the proposed change in the corn duties, except that 
 Russell's proposals would not seriously affect his calculations. 
 This was felt not to be explicit enough to form the foundation 
 of a financial scheme, and on the 7th of May, when the sugar 
 duties were to be debated, Russell again interposed, before 
 going into committee, with a statement that he intended to 
 propose fixed duties on wheat of 8j., on rye of 5^., on barley 
 of 4J-. 6d., and on oats of is. 6d. per quarter. The discussion 
 on the sugar duties then proceeded. Lord Sandon moving an 
 amendment to the Government proposal. In the debate Peel 
 
3IO History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1837- 
 
 declared that he looked upon the question as one of confidence, 
 and, while declaring his adhesion to a sliding scale in the corn 
 duties, refused to submit a competing budget to that of 
 ministers. On a division the numbers were — for going into 
 committee, 281; against, 3 1 7, leaving Government in a minority 
 of 36. This would have been enough for any ordinary 
 ministers, but, to the surprise of the House and the country. 
 Baring got up as though nothing particular had happened, and 
 quietly announced that on the Monday following he should 
 move the usual annual sugar duties. 
 
 This was a very calm way of taking a beating, but the fact 
 was, that Government did not mean to resign until they had 
 obtained all the benefit they could from their last move as to 
 the corn laws. They were, however, no longer able to dictate 
 even the terms of their capitulation. Russell fixed the 4th of 
 June for bringing on his corn law resolution ; but Peel 
 immediately afterwards gave notice that on the 27th of May 
 he would move a direct vote of want of confidence. The 
 debate which arose on this motion extended over five nights, 
 but on the 4th of June a division was taken which left the 
 Government in a minority of one — 312 voting with Peel, and 
 311 for Government. Even the Melbourne Administration 
 could not stand against such a blow as this. They would not 
 resign, indeed, for there was a bare chance that an election 
 might increase their following ; and they wished not to dissolve 
 Parliament without submitting their corn law resolution, but, 
 pressed by their conqueror, they declared that no time should 
 be lost. The hope of success at the polls was not very 
 promising, for the votes given in the House were consequent 
 on those which had been cast in the country. In the previous 
 year Buller's motion of want of confidence had been lost by 
 twenty-one votes ; Peel's was now carried by a majority of 
 orae, and this did not represent any defection of Whigs or 
 Radicals, but was the result of changes in the representation 
 made in the mean time. Between January, 1840, and June, 
 1 84 1, there were ten gains by Conservatives and two losses, 
 making a difference of sixteen on a division. There were 
 
1841.] Accession of the Queen to Fall of Melbourne. 311 
 
 three moderate so-called Liberals in the majority, Lord A. 
 Lennox, W, Long, and H. D. Goring ; but their defection 
 caused no surprise, and they could never have been relied 
 upon as supporters. The vote had indeed been close on the 
 Conservative side, for, whilst in January, 1 840, they had nine 
 absentees, there were none when Peel took his vote.* All 
 business, except that absolutely necessary for carrying on 
 the public service, was now suspended, and on the 22nd of 
 June Parliament was prorogued by the Queen in person, and 
 on the following day it was dissolved. 
 
 The elections, especially in the English counties, went 
 against the Government. Their net loss was forty votes, equal 
 to eighty on a division, so that before Parliament met it was 
 known that Peel would have a good working majority.f The 
 new Parliament assembled on the 19th of August, and on the 
 24th the Queen's speech was read by the Lord Chancellor. 
 It seemed almost ridiculous to go through the process of 
 preparing and delivering a royal speech advising Parliament 
 to pursue a policy which it was absolutely known would not 
 be adopted, and nothing but waste of time could result. The 
 principal clause in the speech was that which stated that " Her 
 Majesty is desirous that you should consider the laws which 
 regulate the trade in corn. It will be for you to consider 
 whether those laws do not aggravate the natural fluctuations 
 of supply ; whether they do not embarrass trade, derange the 
 currency, and by their operation diminish the comfort and 
 increase the privations of the great body of the community." 
 In both Houses amendments were moved declaring a want 
 
 ♦ These details of the division are given in the Tivies of the 8th of June, 
 
 1841. 
 
 t The profit and loss are given as follows in the "Annual Register," 1841, 
 
 p. 147 ; 
 
 
 Conservative 
 
 gains. 
 
 Liberal gains 
 
 English boroughs 
 
 38 
 
 
 ... 31 
 
 ,, counties 
 
 23 
 
 
 I 
 
 Scotch boroughs 
 
 2 
 
 
 I 
 
 , , counties 
 
 5 
 
 
 ... 3 
 
 Irish boroughs ... 
 
 6 
 
 
 I 
 
 ,, counties 
 
 4 
 
 
 I 
 
 38 
 
312 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1837-1841. 
 
 of confidence in the Ministry, and they were carried, that in 
 the Lords on the first night, by a majority of seventy-two ; 
 and that in the Commons after four nights' debate, by a 
 majority of ninety-one. The numbers in the latter case 
 were — for the ministerial, address, 269 ; for the amendment, 
 360. The end had come at last ; on the 30th of August, 
 Melbourne in the Lords and Russell in the Commons 
 announced the resignation of ministers^the close of the 
 Whig rule which had lasted eleven years. 
 
( 313 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 SIR ROBERT PEEL'S ADMINISTRATION (184I-1846). 
 
 The election of 1841 made a marked difference in the 
 personal constitution of the Radical party, but its results 
 affected still more materially its future policy and conduct. 
 Two of the leading members, representing the thought and 
 the activity of the party, now left, one for a time only, the 
 other permanently, the House in which they had played a 
 distinguished part ; and a third celebrated man, defeated now 
 as a Liberal, returned afterwards to Parliament as a Con- 
 servative. Grote, whose great learning and business ability, 
 devoted unreservedly to the popular cause, had given weight 
 to the opinions and the proceedings of his party, retired from 
 Parliament. His seat for the city was lost to the Liberals ; 
 and Lord John Russell barely kept the third seat from a 
 Tory competitor. Hume, whose constant attention to 
 financial affairs had made him a distinct position, which his 
 thorough consistent Liberalism also justified, was defeated at 
 Leeds, but in the following year (1842) he was returned for 
 Montrose. The case of Bulwer was different. He had 
 worked with the Radicals heartily in their efforts to obtain 
 Parliamentary reform, and given special and successful 
 attention to the removal of the taxes on knowledge, which 
 interfered as much with the political as with the general 
 education of the people. There were some matters of 
 practical importance, however, on which he did not agree 
 with the party, the principal one being the corn law question. 
 His defeat for Lincoln led to his absence from Parliament 
 
3 14 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- 
 
 till 1852, and during that period his disagreement with the 
 Liberals developed, and when he next contested a seat it was 
 as a Tory. 
 
 The additions made to the party were at the same time 
 of great consequence, regarded either as furnishing assistance 
 in the struggle then waging in favour of free trade, or as 
 affecting the development of ideas and the course of action 
 in the future. In both these respects the entrance into 
 Parliament of Cobden and Milner Gibson, to be followed in 
 two years by that of Mr. Bright, was important. Roebuck 
 now regained his seat for Bath, but he did not long preserve 
 his usefulness to his party. Able and vigorous he always was, 
 but he manifested eccentricities of conduct, and tendencies to 
 personal motives for action, which prevented him from giving 
 consistent and valuable aid to the cause with which he had 
 been so long associated. In these respects, no less than in 
 undoubted intellectual power, he resembled to a considerable 
 extent that erratic genius Brougham, for whom, in his 
 history of the Whig Ministry, he expressed so much admira- 
 tion, and with whom he formed for a time a close and 
 congenial friendship. 
 
 Whilst the personal changes did not, on the whole, detract 
 from the aggregate ability of the party, and rather increased 
 jts power to deal with the great subject which was exciting 
 the mind of the nation, an alteration began to take place 
 with regard to the relation of Radicalism to the other 
 branches of Liberalism. The Radical element became more 
 and more merged in the general ranks, and for some time 
 neither thought of itself, nor was regarded by the public, as 
 a distinct political organization which could affect directly 
 the constitution of Ministries or the policy of Governments. 
 The circumstances of the time combined with the disposition 
 of individual members to effect this result. In the first 
 reformed Parhament the Liberal majority was so enormous 
 that internal differences could be developed and exhibited 
 without any risk that a Tory triumph would be the con- 
 sequence. At that time, too, the Radicals formed, if not a 
 
1846.] Sir Robert Peel's Administration. 315 
 
 numerical majority of the whole party, yet such an important 
 section that if they had been sufficiently organized they 
 would have been justified in insisting upon the recognition of 
 their leaders in the constitution of the Ministry. They 
 appear, as a rule, not to have felt either the desire or the 
 necessity for such organization and separate action, and by 
 degrees the Whigs thought it more politic to lean towards the 
 Conservative rather than the Radical element— a policy which 
 must have been always congenial to men like Melbourne and 
 Palmerston, who had left, under the stress of excitement in 
 the reform days, a party with which they had always much 
 sympathy. 
 
 After the election of 1 841, the conditions were altogether 
 different. The united forces of Whigs and Radicals together 
 were outnumbered by the Conservatives, and the two sections 
 were quietly merged in one opposition. Th^e remained, 
 however, the same divergence of ultimate object — the Whigs 
 desiring a return to office on the basis of a very moderate 
 policy ; the Radicals striving to achieve particular reforms, 
 but with no great hope of directing the ordinary conduct 
 of affairs. Without some considerable extension of Parlia- 
 mentary reform it was impossible for them to obtain such 
 numbers in the House of Commons as would justify them in 
 looking for supremacy or equality in office, and such ex- 
 tension was beyond reasonable expectation for some time 
 to come. To strive for it, indeed, was still the great dis- 
 tinguishing characteristic of Radicalism, and the extent to 
 which it was pursued m'ight fairly be taken as a test of 
 the loyalty of members to their principles. In this matter 
 the new' free-traders were as faithful as any of the older 
 Parliamentary Radicals, and more constant than some of 
 them. An opportunity of applying this test occurred at the 
 very beginning of the new Parliament. On the 28th of 
 August, the day after the division which had unseated the 
 Ministry, on the report on the address, Sharman Crawford, 
 who now sat for Rochdale, moved an amendment declaring 
 that the House felt it to be its duty to consider the means 
 
3i6 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- 
 
 of so extending and regulating the suffrage, and of adopting 
 such improvements in the system of voting, as would confer 
 on the working classes just weight in the representative body. 
 On this proposal. Ward said that it ought not to be submitted 
 at that time when there was no Government in office ; that 
 the vote ought not to be taken as a test of the strength of 
 the Radical party ; and that he should retire without voting. 
 Roebuck, who, in the great debate which had just closed, had 
 rebuked the Whigs for not having adhered to the principles 
 of reform, expressed his agreement with Ward, and his 
 intention also not to vote. Duncombe spoke strongly about 
 this desertion, but there was little further debate. On a 
 division, the motion was rejected by 283 votes to 39.* 
 
 This discussion was rather an isolated protest on behalf 
 of a general principle, submitted in its vindication to the new 
 Parliament, than part of a matured scheme to attain a definite 
 object. The minds of the most earnest Radicals were set upon 
 a purpose which they conceived to be pressing beyond all 
 others, that of relieving by just legislation the terrible distress 
 under which the people were suffering. What the amount 
 of that distress was we can scarcely realize now. As one 
 instance, we are told that there were in Leeds alone 20,936 
 persons whose average earnings were only i \\d. a week ; f and 
 throughout the whole manufacturing districts similar ex- 
 
 * This division was the first in which Cobden had an opportunity of mani- 
 festing his Radicalism. The following is the list of the minority : — 
 
 Aglionby, H. A. 
 Bell, J. 
 Blake, N. 
 Blake, M. J. 
 Blake, Sir V. 
 Blewitt, R. J. 
 Bowring, Dr. 
 Bridgeman, H. 
 Brotherton, J. 
 Butler, Hon, Col. 
 Cobden, R. 
 Collins, W. 
 Elphinstone, H. 
 Ewart, W. 
 
 Fleetwood, Sir P. H. 
 Gibson, T. Milner 
 Granger, T. C. 
 Hay, Sir A. L. 
 Hill, Lord M. 
 Hindley, C. 
 Johnson, Gen. 
 Johnston, A. 
 Layard, Capt. 
 Marsland, H. 
 Murphy, F. S. 
 Napier, Sir C. 
 O'Brien, C. 
 O'Brien, J. 
 
 t " Villiers' Free Trade Speeches," vol. i. p. 275. 
 
 Pechel, Capt. 
 Powell, C. 
 Rawdon, Col. 
 Rennie, G. 
 Rundle, J. 
 Seale, Sir J. H. 
 Wallace, R. 
 Wason, R. 
 Williams, W. 
 Wilson, M. 
 York, H. R. 
 
 Crawford, S. 
 Duncombe, T. S 
 
 Tellers. 
 
1846] Sir Robert PeeVs Administration. 317 
 
 perlences were being felt. At most periods the pressure of 
 
 this misery would have incited the people to efforts for 
 
 some change in the form of government, especially as it was 
 
 being proved by the ablest reasoners and most eloquent 
 
 speakers of the day, that the suffering was caused and 
 
 perpetuated by laws which a wiser legislature could and 
 
 would repeal. There was now a considerable amount of 
 
 agitation going on for Parliamentary reform. Chartists' 
 
 associations and complete suffrage unions being in active 
 
 operation, especially in London and the midlands ; but the 
 
 greater part of the Parliamentary enthusiasm, the protest 
 
 against the suffering, the struggle for improvement, were being 
 
 concentrated and directed by the Anti-Corn Law League, 
 
 against the monstrous system of monopoly by which the food 
 
 of the people was deliberately made scarce and dear. 
 
 In their eager desire to save the lives of the people, the 
 free-traders had no time and no inclination to stop and 
 consider the comparative advantage of political methods. 
 They felt bound to drive right on to the accomplishment of 
 their purpose, using all the means and instruments which 
 presented themselves — mainly, to be sure, the weight of that 
 passionate public opinion which want and misery inspired, but 
 not neglecting either the influence of official Whigs, or, if it 
 might be obtained, the occasional help of Conservatives. 
 They had no thought that the vast organization which their 
 necessities compelled them to construct might be used for 
 permanent political purposes, yet all the same corn law repeal 
 was at this time a Radical idea ; that is, it was rejected alike by 
 Whigs and Tories, both of whom still believed in protection, and 
 was advocated in Parliament by the same party which originated 
 and developed every other great measure of reform. And 
 this was seen in the first division on the subject which took 
 place in the newly elected House of Commons. The result 
 of those discussions, indeed, proved that the attacks of the 
 free-traders were beginning to tell upon the position which 
 they were storming. It was all very well for both the great 
 parties in the State to retain their hold upon the county 
 
3i8 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- 
 
 constituencies by declaring their adhesion to the principles 
 of protection, but when they both had to confess that the 
 laws which they held to be essential must be modified in order 
 to relieve the sufferings of a nation, they gave up the very 
 essence of their argument. The Whigs had already done 
 this when they proposed a small fixed duty in lieu of the 
 sliding scale, and the Conservative Ministry were now to 
 follow by greatly reducing the amount of the tax. 
 
 When they took office after the vote of the 30th of August, 
 1 841, the year was too far advanced for Peel's Government to 
 bring forward any financial or commercial policy of their own ; 
 they merely proposed to carry out, with some trifling alteration, 
 the plans of their predecessors, to prorogue Parliament early, 
 and to use the recess for the preparation of their own scheme. 
 It was pressed upon them, both in and out of Parliament, that 
 the distress in the country was so acute that something ought 
 to be done at once for its alleviation ; but the reply was, that 
 to offer an ill-considered remedy for so great a disease would 
 be only to increase the danger which existed. It was on the 
 1 6th of September that the House of Commons met after the 
 re-election of all the members of the Government. On that 
 day Peel announced his intention to reserve the consideration 
 of his policy; and on the 7th of October Parliament was 
 prorogued, by a speech in which the principal feature was 
 the expression of her Majesty's deep concern at the distress 
 which prevailed. 
 
 The session of 1842 opened on the 3rd of February. The 
 Queen's speech, after referring to the necessity for improving 
 the. financial position of the country, proceeded to say, " I 
 recommend also to your consideration the state of the laws 
 which affect the importation of corn, and of other articles the 
 produce of foreign countries." Public attention was very 
 much excited by the proposal to touch the corn laws, the more 
 especially as the retirement from the Cabinet of the Duke of 
 Buckingham, who was a thorough protectionist, seemed to 
 indicate that a concession of some sort was to be made to the 
 free-traders. The League increased its efforts to put pressure 
 
1846.] Sir Robert Peel's Administration. 319 
 
 upon Parliament, and the Whigs waited with interest to see 
 to what extent the Ministry would bid against them on the 
 great question. The suspense was not to be long continued, 
 for on the 4th of February Peel preceded the motion on the 
 address by a notice that on Wednesday, the 9th, he should 
 move for a committee of the whole House to take into con- 
 sideration the laws which affected the importation of corn. 
 On the day appointed the Premier explained his proposal. 
 It involved the maintenance of the sliding scale, but made 
 reductions in the amount of duty, and varied the gradations 
 by which it was lowered. Under the old plan, the highest 
 duty on wheat was twenty-seven shillings a quarter, levied 
 when the price was fifty-nine and under sixty shillings. 
 Under the Government scheme, the highest duty would be 
 twenty shillings, when the price was fifty and under fifty- 
 one shillings. The rate when the price was fifty-nine and 
 under sixty shillings, the point at which the highest rate was 
 formerly charged, would now be thirteen shillings. There were 
 alterations made in other parts of the scale, the minimum rate 
 of one shilling being still reserved for the price of seventy- 
 three shillings, and changes were also proposed in the method 
 of obtaining the averages. Mr. Cobden at once denounced 
 the proposal as an insult to the sufferings of a people whose 
 patience had been extolled. 
 
 The general debate on the Government scheme began on 
 the 14th of February, when Lord John Russell moved an 
 amendment declaring — " That this House, considering the evils 
 which have been caused by the present corn laws, and 
 especially by the fluctuations of the graduated or sliding scale, 
 is not prepared to' adopt the measure of her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment, which is founded upon the same principle, and is hkely 
 to be attended by similar results." Although he submitted no 
 alternative proposal in his resolution, he argued, in his speech, 
 in favour of a fixed duty. These, then, were the Conservative 
 and Whig propositions — one a sliding scale with reduced but 
 still exorbitant duties ; the other a moderate fixed duty, im- 
 posed mainly for the purpose of protection to native agriculture. 
 
320 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- 
 
 The debate lasted over three nights, and on a division there 
 were — for Russell's amendment, 226 votes ; against it, 349, giving 
 a majority of 123 for Government. Then came the turn of the 
 Radical proposal, the total abolition of all duties on corn, and 
 this was submitted to the House by Mr. Villiers on the i8th of 
 February, the Friday following the close of the former debate. 
 Five nights' further discussion took place on this motion, 
 which in the end was rejected by 393 votes to 90. Comparing 
 the numbers in these divisions with those on the vote which 
 changed the Ministry, we find that practically the Tories polled 
 their whole strength for the maintenance of a high sliding 
 scale. The Liberals, on the contrary, were divided — the Whigs, 
 supporting a fixed, moderate, but still protective duty, obtained, 
 by the aid of some Radicals who preferred repeal, but went 
 for the Whig scheme as an alternative to the Tory proposals, 
 226 votes out of 269 given in August, 1841 ; whilst the 
 Radicals, voting for their own plan of total repeal, counted 
 ninety members, being thus about one-third of the Liberals, 
 
 The chief of the party of resistance, the Premier himself 
 
 was, however, about to take a course which would form a 
 
 preparation for the repeal which he now strenuously opposed. 
 
 He had already, by the act of opening the question at all, 
 
 done something to encourage reformers and alarm staunch 
 
 friends of protection like the Duke of Buckingham. But the 
 
 whole of his scheme of financial and commercial improvement 
 
 which he commenced this year, and which forms his great 
 
 claim to the remembrance and gratitude of his country, was, 
 
 unintentionally perhaps, but irresistibly, preparing the way for 
 
 the great measure which was to complete the edifice. In 
 
 March, 1834, in a discussion on the corn laws raised by a 
 
 petition from Liverpool, Peel had objected to free trade in 
 
 corn as unjust to the landed interest, in view of the protection 
 
 given to manufactures. He now proceeded to remove that 
 
 objection by his reforms of the tariff, by which year after year 
 
 he continued to-astonish and delight the country. The account 
 
 of the development of this policy forms the most interesting 
 
 chapter in the history of the Peel Administration, and its 
 
1846.] Sir Robert PeeVs Administration. 321 
 
 discussion occupied the greater part of the time of Parhament. 
 The remedy which it applied to the distress in the country- 
 was effectual, but it was slow, and it was rendered unnecessarily 
 so by the too long postponement of the repeal of the corn 
 laws, without which its other provisions were incomplete. 
 
 The delay in the improvement of their condition was 
 borne with difficulty by a people who were suffering distress 
 of the most terrible kind, approaching often to that actual 
 state of famine the occurrence of which in Ireland finally led 
 to the ultimate triumph of free trade. It was to be expected 
 that political agitation would be aroused, and that the people 
 would seek a change of Government as the means of relief 
 from misery which they knew to be increased, if not entirely 
 caused, by the operation of laws which the masters of the 
 existing constituencies were interested in maintaining. There 
 was accordingly constant agitation going on with regard to 
 Parliamentary reform, which was mainly directed by the Chartist 
 and Manhood Suffrage organizations. The connection between 
 these associations and the Parliamentary Radicals was less 
 close than it had at one time been, but there existed never- 
 theless a good deal of sympathy and some amount of combined 
 action. This showed itself on several occasions during the 
 year. On the 21st of April Sharman Crawford moved a 
 resolution declaring it to be the duty of the House to take 
 into consideration the laws relating to the representation, " with 
 a view of giving to every portion of the community a full, fair, 
 and free representation in the Commons' House of Parliament." 
 Ward, Villiers, Cobden, and Roebuck spoke in favour of the 
 resolution, which was defeated by 226 votes to 67. 
 
 An occasion which tried still more the loyalty of the 
 Radicals to their principles occurred a few days later. On the 
 2nd of May Buncombe presented to the House a great petition 
 with nearly 3,500,000 signatures in favour of the six points of 
 the charter. The petition, besides setting forth the prayer, 
 went at great length into the social and political causes which 
 made reform necessary. Among other things it advocated the 
 disestablishment of the Church, some method of dealing with 
 
 Y 
 
322 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- 
 
 the national debt, and the right of the Irish people to obtain a 
 repeal of the Union. Advantage was taken of this argumenta- 
 tive matter to refuse consideration to the petition. On the 3rd 
 of May, the day after its presentation. Buncombe moved that 
 the petitioners be heard at the bar by themselves or their 
 counsel in defence of the claims they preferred. The Whigs 
 did not, as they might well have done, leave the ministerialists 
 to deal with this proposal, but Macaulay and Russell took very 
 early opportunities of opposing it. The discussion was not 
 prolonged, the most characteristic part of it being Buncombe's 
 opening speech, in which he said that the Chartists of to-day 
 were the Radicals of former times. There was much in the 
 petition which many of the friends of the people could not 
 approve, and the clause about the repeal of the Union gave so 
 much offence to reformers outside, especially to those in 
 Scotland, that another petition was soon afterwards set on 
 foot.* Under these circumstances, those who voted for 
 Buncombe's resolution may well be regarded as thorough- 
 going Radicals. There were 49 of them, besides the two 
 tellers, and there were 287 votes against them, t More support 
 was given to a motion in favour of one of the points of the 
 charter, the ballot, which was introduced on the 21st of June 
 
 * " Life and Struggles 
 t The following is the 
 
 Blake, Sir V. 
 
 Blewitt, R. J. 
 
 Bodkin, J. J. 
 
 Bowring, Dr. 
 
 Brotherton, J. 
 
 Browme, R. D. 
 
 Cobden, R. 
 
 Collins, W. 
 
 Crawford, W. S. 
 Dalrymple, Capt. 
 Dashwood, G. H. 
 Duncan, Visct. 
 Duncan, G. 
 Easthope, Sir J. 
 Ellis, W. 
 Elphinstone, H. 
 Fielden, J. 
 Hall, Sir B. 
 
 of William Lovett," p. 
 list of the minority : — 
 Holland, R. 
 Hume, J. 
 Jervis, J. 
 Johnston, A. 
 Muntz, G. F. 
 Murphy, F. S. 
 O'Brien, J. 
 O'Connell, D. 
 O'Connell, M. 
 O'Connell, M. J. 
 O'Connell, J. 
 Pechell, Capt. 
 Plumridge, Capt. 
 Powell, C. 
 Ricardo, J. L. 
 Roche, E. B. 
 Roebuck, J. A. 
 Rundle, J. 
 
 264. 
 
 Scholefield, J. 
 Seale, Sir J. F. 
 Somers, J. P. 
 Strickland, Sir G. 
 Tancred, H. W. 
 Thomeley, J. 
 Villiers, Hon. C. 
 Wakley, T. 
 Wallace, R. 
 Ward, H. G. 
 Williams, W. 
 Wood, B. 
 Yorke, H. B. 
 
 Duncombe, T. 
 Leader, /. T. 
 
 Tellers. 
 
1846.] Sir Robert Peel's Administration. 323 
 
 by Ward, and which received 157 votes, — a considerable 
 majority of the whole Liberal party. 
 
 The session closed on the 12th of August. It left the 
 new minister with an increased reputation for practical ability. 
 His financial proposals had been designed upon a broad and 
 effectual scale, and they were so framed that they could be 
 carried successfully through Parliament and put into immediate 
 operation. This feature of the Government policy contrasted 
 strikingly with the feeble and inefficient method of the Whig 
 Administration, and the opposition could make no way against 
 it. The people who really faced the Ministry with a power 
 which was to grow were the Radical free-traders, who were 
 encouraged by the fact that the Conservatives had been com- 
 pelled to touch what was once considered the sacred ark of 
 protection. They were not strong in numbers in Parliament, 
 but they had behind them the force of popular opinion 
 increased to vehemence by the pressure of the distress which 
 even the occurrence of a good harvest had been unable to 
 remove. During the recess, indeed, the suffering increased 
 rather than diminished, and the commercial reforms of the 
 past session had not had time to effect the improvement 
 which they were calculated to produce. 
 
 There were everywhere gloom and despondency, so that 
 Parliament, which met on the 2nd of February, 1843, had its 
 whole attention drawn to what Carlyle called the condition 
 of England question. The Queen's speech referred to " that 
 depression of the manufacturing industry of the country which 
 has so long prevailed ; " and on the 1 8th of February Lord 
 Howick moved for a committee of the whole House to take 
 that part of the speech into consideration. In the debate on 
 the address. Peel had declared that the Government had not 
 in contemplation any amendment of the corn laws, and the 
 motion of Lord Howick was framed so as to ensure the support 
 of the whole of the Liberals, who all wanted some change, the 
 Whigs adhering to their idea of a moderate fixed duty, and 
 the Radicals demanding entire repeal. As obtaining support 
 from all sections of the party the proposal was successful, but 
 
324 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- 
 
 it did not rally a very large vote, the numbers being — for the 
 committee, 191 ; against it, 106, giving ministers a majority 
 of 115. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone, in the debate raised by Lord Howick, had 
 spoken of having a very good temporary answer to those who 
 asked why corn should, in the matter of taxation, be dealt 
 with differently to other commodities. This, together with the 
 Premier's own refusal to regard the subject as finally settled, 
 gave great encouragement to the free-traders in the House to 
 continue the agitation. The growing feeling that there could 
 be but one real settlement, and the increasing power of the 
 League, which was urging on the acceptance of the true 
 remedy, were also telling on the structure of the Liberal party. 
 Both these tendencies were manifested during the session, the 
 corn laws being kept constantly before Parliament in one way 
 or other. On the 14th of March Ward moved for a special 
 committee to inquire if there were any special burdens 
 affecting the landed interest, or any peculiar exemptions 
 enjoyed by that interest. It had been often urged, in the 
 debates on the corn laws, that the existence of special burdens 
 justified protection, and it was a very telling challenge for 
 the free-traders to ask for a searching inquiry. Those who 
 had been loudest in the appeal to those alleged grievances 
 were the first to resist the inquiry, and the motion was re- 
 jected' by 232 to 133. It was only in the country, and not 
 in the House, that such a discussion could produce its proper 
 effect. 
 
 This was a sort of general Liberal attack, but the usual 
 Radical and Whig proposals were afterwards submitted in 
 due course. On the 13th of May Mr. Villiers brought on his 
 annual motion for a committee of the whole House to 
 consider the duties affecting the importation of corn, with a 
 view to their immediate abolition. The debate lasted over 
 five nights, and at times was very stormy. In the end the 
 motion was lost, the numbers being — for, 125 ; against, 381, 
 showing a majority of 256. This vote manifested a remark- 
 able growth of opinion in favour of repeal. As compared with 
 
1846.] Sir Robert Peel's Administration. 325 
 
 the division in the previous year, the numbers voting for the 
 motion had increased by thirty-five, and those against it had 
 decreased by twelve. The increased support was of course 
 drawn from the Whig side of the party, although the leaders 
 were not yet converted, Russell and Palmerston both voting 
 against the resolution. They still adhered to their special 
 belief in a moderate fixed duty, which became every day more 
 hopeless and less acceptable to the country. This was seen 
 when, on the 13th of June, Russell moved for a committee of 
 the whole House to consider the corn laws. The resolution 
 did not specify the particular solution of the question aimed 
 at, but the mover advocated it in his speech. The result was 
 by no means a Whig triumph. Lord John received 145 votes 
 only twenty more than were given for Mr. Villiers, although in 
 this case Villiers, Milner Gibson, Brotherton, and other Radicals 
 voted with him. The party was evidently rapidly under- 
 going the process of conversion, and the conviction of the 
 leaders was only a question of time and increased popular 
 pressure. 
 
 In the mean time, the Government was still further pre- 
 paring the way for free trade, and the next step, by a sort of 
 irony of fate, had to be taken at the instance of Lord Stanley, 
 one of the most vehement of the protectionists. The Canadian 
 Legislature, with a view of obtaining the right to send corn to 
 England at a nominal duty, had passed an Act imposing a tax 
 of three shillings per quarter on all wheat imported into the 
 colony from any source except her Majesty's dominions. In 
 consideration of this Act, the English Government now 
 proposed to admit wheat from Canada on payment of a duty 
 of one shilling per quarter, and flour at a proportionate rate. 
 With regard, therefore, to wheat coming from Canada, or from 
 the United States vid Canada, the idea of a revenue-producing 
 tax was abandoned, and the protection to English agriculture 
 was reduced to the very moderate fixed duty of four shillings 
 a quarter, three shillings of it levied in Canada, and the 
 remaining shilling in our own ports. The resolutions approv- 
 ing this arrangement were submitted by Lord Stanley, and 
 
326 History of the Radical Party in Parliament [1841- 
 
 gave rise to some curious cross-firing. They were opposed by- 
 some Liberals because they admitted the system of protection 
 into Canada, and by some Tories because they reduced the 
 amount of protection in England. They were, however, carried 
 by large majorities, and a bill founded on them passed the 
 second reading on the 2nd of June by 209 to 109. In the 
 House of Lords the same confusion of parties took place. On 
 the 4th of July, on the vote for going into committee on the 
 bill, a debate took place. The Duke of Richmond opposed 
 the measure, because it diminished the protection to the 
 British farmer, and Lord Teynham because it was not a free- 
 trade measure. It passed by a majority of fifty-seven to 
 twenty-five, and became law. 
 
 Much of the time of Parliament was thus occupied in 
 debates on the corn laws and on subjects related to them. A 
 great part of the remainder was taken up by the discussion of 
 an Arms Bill for Ireland. It did not much matter which of 
 the English parties was in power so far as the treatment of the 
 Irish people was concerned. Now under the Tories, as 
 formerly under the Whigs, the substantial grievances remained. 
 The land laws were unaltered ; the municipal institutions were 
 based on principles different to those of England ; and the 
 alien Church maintained its supremacy. Practical efforts were 
 devoted to the suppression of the disturbances which bad 
 government rendered inevitable. This Arms Bill of 1 843 came 
 up for second reading in the Commons on the 29th of May ; 
 it was debated step by step and clause by clause, the English 
 Radicals assisting in the opposition, and it was not until the 
 9th of August that it was read a third time and passed. It 
 was of course carried much more rapidly through the House 
 of Lords — coercion has never met with prolonged opposition 
 there — and only two nights were spent in debate over this 
 specimen of the policy. 
 
 There was thus little opportunity, even if there had been 
 any great desire, to press forward in Parliament the subject of 
 constitutional reform. The desire, however, was not strongly 
 manifested ; and there has scarcely ever been a time when 
 
«846.] Sir Robert Peel's Admmistration. 327 
 
 there seemed to be less complete and active sympathy between 
 the popular reform movement outside and the response to it 
 inside Parliament. It was not that the Radicals in the House 
 of Commons failed to recognize, or hesitated to express, the 
 necessity for reform ; but there were causes which gave to 
 their action in this matter a perfunctory character. The 
 violence and folly of one section of the Chartists had con- 
 tributed to this result. Unfortunately, Feargus O'Connor and 
 his followers, who called themselves physical-force Chartists, 
 had obtained the command of the largest following, and their 
 direct incitements had led to riots which could do nothing but 
 injury to the cause of reform. There were others who, like 
 Joseph Sturge and William Lovett, entered a constant protest 
 against this irrational and mischievous policy ; but their voice 
 was not potent enough to allay the tumult, and it suited the 
 enemies of all reform to associate the name of Chartist with 
 the ravings and the conduct of the violent leaders, and their 
 misguided followers. During the autumn of 1842 there had 
 been riotous proceedings in many counties, and in the spring 
 Assizes of 1843 there had been trials and committals of 
 Chartists in Lancashire, Staffordshire, and Warwickshire. It 
 was not easy for a Parliamentary party to work in unison with 
 agitators of this kind. Another reason was to be found in the 
 pre-occupation — and that constantly increasing — of the minds 
 and energies of the most earnest Radicals in the great work 
 which they had undertaken of setting free the food of the 
 people, which up to this time was, as we have seen, an 
 essentially Radical movement. Yet Parliamentary reform 
 was not entirely neglected in the House.; enough was done to 
 keep up a perpetual protest, although there was no appearance 
 of forcing the question into immediate prominence. On the 
 18th of May Sharman Crawford moved for leave to bring in 
 " a bill to secure the full representation of the people, and to 
 shorten the duration of Parliament." His object was, he 
 explained, to obtain extended suffrage, annual Parliaments, 
 the abolition of property qualification, the payment of members, 
 and the ballot. Leave was refused by loi votes to 32 ; but on 
 
328 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- 
 
 the 20th of June Crawford returned to the charge, with a 
 resolution to repeal the Septennial Act. He was supported 
 by twenty-three votes, amongst which were those of Cobden 
 and Villiers, and opposed by forty-six, Russell and Wood 
 being in the majority against him. 
 
 There has been no subject dearer to the Radicals, or more 
 constantly striven for by them, than that of national education. 
 We have seen how, early in the first reformed Parliament, 
 the question was raised by Roebuck, whose effort was appre- 
 ciated by the whole party, and of whom one of its ablest 
 writers, John Stuart Mill, wrote at the time — " In the case of 
 Roebuck, it is his title to permanent remembrance, that in the 
 very first year during which he sat in Parliament he originated 
 (or re-originated after the unsuccessful attempt of Mr. 
 Brougham) the Parliamentary movement for national educa- 
 tion." * It was unfortunate, therefore, that during this session 
 Roebuck himself and other leaders of the party were compelled 
 to appear in the character of opponents to a scheme for 
 extending education. Their objection, it is scarcely necessary 
 to say, was not made to the extension of education, but to the 
 violation in the proposal made by the Government, of that 
 principle of religious equality and freedom without which no 
 really national system could be established in this country. 
 In the controversy which has been raised by the proceedings 
 in 1843, the extent of the ministerial plan has been exaggerated, 
 and the stand taken by the Radicals has been misunderstood," 
 The scheme was developed early in the year. On the 28th of 
 February Lord Ashley moved that an address be presented 
 to the Queen, asking her to take into consideration the best 
 means of diffusing moral and religious education among the 
 working classes. In speaking to this resolution. Sir James 
 Graham sketched the outlines of the measure which he intended 
 to introduce. It would provide for the compulsory education 
 only of pauper and factory children. It proposed to limit the 
 employment of factory children between the age of eight and 
 thirteen years of age to six hours and a half per day, and to 
 
 * " Autobi(^raphy, " p. 195. 
 
1846.] Sir Robert Peel's Administration. 329 
 
 require certificates that they had attended school at least three 
 hours. To carry out the plan, Government proposed to make 
 grants in aid of local exertion for the erection of schools, which 
 were to be maintained out of the poor rate, and by a sum not 
 exceeding threepence per week, or one-twelfth of the earnings 
 of each child, to be retained by the employer in aid of the 
 fund. 
 
 The objectionable features were the regulations as to the 
 character and management of the schools. Religious instruc- 
 tion was to be given through the medium of the authorized 
 version of the Scriptures, together with portions of the Liturgy, 
 under the superintendance of the clergy of the Established 
 Church. The trust clauses were, however, the most objec- 
 tionable. There were to be in each case seven trustees, to 
 consist of the clergyman of the district, two churchwardens, 
 and four elective trustees, two of whom at least must be free- 
 holders. The trustees were to appoint the master, but he 
 must be a member of the Established Church, and the nomina- 
 tion must be approved by the bishop of the diocese. The 
 right of inspection was reserved to the clerical trustees and 
 to the committee of council. It is not surprising that this 
 thoroughly church scheme was opposed by the Noncon- 
 formists ; the wonder would have been that they should 
 listen to its advocates for a moment. The Bill carrying out 
 these proposals was introduced by Graham on the 8th of 
 March, and came on for second reading on the 24th of the 
 same month. The religious clauses were at once objected to 
 by Ewart, Hume, Hawes, and other Radicals, and as they 
 became better known to the Nonconformists a blaze of 
 opposition was kindled such as is rarely seen. The meetings 
 were numerous and unusually enthusiastic, and "the mass 
 of petitions which was, in a very short space of time, poured 
 into both Houses of Parliament exceeded all modern pre- 
 cedent." * 
 
 The opposition was stronger than any Government could 
 resist. On the ist of May Graham submitted amendments. 
 * "Annual Register," 1843, p. 196. 
 
330 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- 
 
 which it was hoped would satisfy the Nonconformists, and the 
 bill was recommitted. The alterations were inefficient, and on 
 the 1 8th of May Roebuck raised the main issue clearly by 
 moving a resolution against the inculcation of any religious 
 opinions in State education. This was lost by a majority of 
 ninety-six, sixty Radicals voting for it, and Russell and other 
 Whigs against. It was found impossible to resist the popular 
 feeling, and the education clauses of the bill were withdrawn. 
 It violated the principle of religious equality, without being an 
 efficient scheme of education. As Cobden said, it was 
 ridiculous as a national scheme, because it would provide only 
 for 60,000 children altogether. Another attempt was made to 
 vindicate the same principle of religious freedom in education 
 by Mr. W. D. Christie, who, on the 25th of May, moved for 
 leave to bring in "a bill to abolish certain oaths and sub- 
 scriptions in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and 
 to provide for the extension of education in those Universities 
 to persons who are not members of the Church of England." 
 In the division, when Mr. Milner Gibson was teller with 
 Christie, the numbers were — for the motion, 105 ; against 
 
 it, 175- 
 
 Parliament was prorogued on the 24th of August, the 
 Queen's speech declaring her Majesty's firm determination to 
 maintain inviolate the legislative union between Great 
 Britain and Ireland. This was the reply of Government to 
 the violent repeal agitation which O'Connell had been con- 
 ducting during the year by means of monster meetings and 
 anti-rent manifestos, in which one of the " three F's," fixity of 
 tenure, was promised as a result of repeal.* On the 14th 
 of October the great agitator and nine other repealers were 
 arrested on charges of conspiracy, sedition, and unlawful 
 assemblage, but the trial did not take place until the 
 following year. 
 
 Parliament met on the 1st of February, 1844, in more 
 prosperous times than had been known for some years past, 
 and with the financial troubles overcome. The Queen in her 
 * Martineau's " History of the Thirty years' Peace," vol, ii. page 567. 
 
1846.] Sir Robert PeePs Administration. 331 
 
 speech was able to congratulate the country upon the relief 
 from suffering and privations which at former periods she had 
 occasion to deplore. Ireland was still the place over which 
 clouds were hanging ; but the Government were determined 
 to maintain the union, and Peel was far-sighted enough to 
 know that in the land laws and the relation between landlord 
 and tenant lay the root of much of the trouble which existed 
 there. Accordingly there had been appointed that Devon 
 Commission which for the first time gave Englishmen an 
 opportunity of ascertaining, if not the whole truth of the case, 
 at least enough to convince them, if they had studied it 
 sufficiently, that the same laws and customs which prevailed 
 in England were monstrously unjust when applied to the 
 altogether different conditions of Ireland. If the lesson had 
 been sooner learnt and applied, we should have been spared 
 years of misery to Ireland, and disgrace to England. 
 
 It was hoped, both by the Government and the country 
 party, that the diminution of actual distress would allay the 
 agitation against the corn laws. No such result followed. 
 The reform agitation still continued, and where an extension 
 of popular power was claimed, one of the reasons urged for its 
 necessity was that the tax upon food might be abolished. 
 This was clearly put by Sharman Crawford, who, on the 
 consideration of the address, moved an amendment to the 
 effect that her Majesty be informed, that before supplies were 
 voted the Commons would deem it their " first and most 
 important duty to inquire into the various grievances com- 
 plained of by the people, and to devise such measures as may 
 be most effectual for redressing all just causes of complaint." 
 Amongst the grievances Crawford enumerated unfair and 
 inadequate representation in Parliament, class legislation, 
 accumulation of capital and property in the hands of a few, 
 taxation of food, and extravagant public expenditure. This 
 was a very bold and broad application of the principle that 
 redress of grievances should precede supply, and it found 
 support only among the extreme Radicals. It was defeated 
 by 285 votes to 29. Mr. Bright, who had been elected for 
 
332 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- 
 
 Durham in July, 1843, was in the minority.* Not satisfied 
 with this reverse, Crawford followed up his proposal by an 
 actual attempt to stop the supplies. On the 6th of February, 
 on the motion for going into committee of supply, he moved 
 an amendment, rehearsing at length the grievances to which 
 he had referred in his former speech, and concluding with the 
 assertion that the complaints "should be inquired into, and 
 if found to be justly made, redressed before this House shall 
 proceed to the voting of supplies." For this motion he only 
 obtained 22 votes, and there were 130 against.it. Once more 
 the indefatigable reformer returned to the charge. On the 
 14th of May he moved for leave to bring in a bill to extend 
 the suffrage and secure the free representation of the people. 
 On a division the numbers were — for the motion, 31 ; 
 against it, 97. 
 
 The direct corn law campaign opened on the 12th of 
 March, when Cobden moved for a select committe to inquire 
 into the effects of protective duties on imposts on the interests 
 of tenant farmers and labourers. The motion was defeated 
 by a majority of ninty-one only, the numbers being — for, 133 ; 
 against, 224. On the 2Sth of June Villiers brought on his 
 annual motion, for a committee of the whole House to 
 consider certain resolutions, one of which was that the corn 
 law "is indefensible in principles, injurious in operation, 
 and ought to be abolished." The debate lasted over two 
 nights, and in the course of it Lord John Russell gave proof 
 that the work of conversion was going on. He had on former 
 occasions voted against Villiers, now he meant to abstain, his 
 
 * The following are the names of the minority : — 
 
 Barnard, E. S. Elphinstone, H. Trelawney, J. L. 
 
 Bernal, Capt. Fielden, J. Villiers, Hon. C. 
 
 Blewitt, R. J. Gibson, T. M. Wakley, T. 
 
 Bodkin, J. J. Gisborne, T. Warburton, H. 
 
 Bowring, Dr. Hindley, C. Ward, H. G. 
 
 Bright, J. Hume, J. Williams, W. 
 
 Brotherton, J. Johnson, Gen. Yorke, H. R. 
 
 Cobden, R. Plmnridge, Capt. 
 
 CoUett, J. Ricardo, J. L. Crawford, S. ) _. ,, 
 
 Currie, R, Roebuck, J. A. Wallace, R. \ ^"'^"■ 
 
 Duncombe, T. Thorneley, T. 
 
1846.] Sir Robert Peel's Administration. 333 
 
 objection being less to the principle of free trade than to the 
 sudden change proposed by the Anti-Corn Law League. The 
 division was again more favourable than that of the preceding 
 year; the majority in 1843 having been 256, whilst now it 
 was only 204, the gain being in the reduced number of Whig 
 opponents, many of them following Russell in abstention 
 from voting. 
 
 Quite as important, in the view of the permanent settle- 
 ment of the question, was the sign of suspicion and want of 
 confidence on the part of some of the Tories towards the 
 Ministry. Two cases occurred, during the session, of the 
 relaxation of that discipline which is usually characteristic 
 of the party. In the first instance, the principle of protection 
 was not directly raised, but the feelings and prejudices of 
 some of its advocates were affected. On the 5th of February 
 Graham introduced the new Factory Bill, leaving out the 
 education clauses, which had led to such trouble on a former 
 occasion. The measure now submitted limited the hours of 
 labour of children — between the ages of nine and thirteen — to 
 six and a half hours a day, and that of young persons — 
 between thirteen and eighteen — and women to twelve hours 
 a day. The bill went into committee on the 15th of March, 
 when Lord Ashley moved an amendment, declaring that the 
 working day should close at six instead of eight o'clock. 
 This, besides being acceptable to those who honestly desired 
 to improve the condition of the working classes, was eagerly 
 seized by some of the protectionists, who desired to do a bad 
 turn to those manufacturers whom they regarded as the 
 enemies of the landed interests. A long debate ensued, which 
 was carried on to the next night, when, on a division, the 
 Government was defeated, a majority of nine voting with 
 Lord Ashley. Ministers would not accept the decision as 
 final, but said that on another clause, when the number of 
 working hours had to be definitely stated, they would move 
 that the word " twelve " be inserted. On the 22nd of March 
 this issue had to be settled, Lord Ashley moving as an 
 amendment that the word should be "ten." An extra- 
 
334 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- 
 
 ordinary result followed, the house first rejected the Govern- 
 ment proposal by a majority of three, and then threw out the 
 amendment by a majority of seven. 
 
 In this peculiar predicament the Ministry had three 
 courses open to them — to accept a compromise and offer to 
 make the number of hours eleven ; to throw up the scheme 
 altogether ; or to withdraw the bill and introduce a new one, 
 without any limit as to working hours. They decided upon 
 the last-named course, and they let it be known-that this time 
 they should regard the question as one involving the existence 
 of the Government. This intimation was sufficient to recall 
 most of their followers to obedience. The bill was introduced, 
 was read a second time on the 22nd of April, and passed 
 through committee quietly, the struggle being reserved for the 
 third reading. That stage was reached on the loth of May, 
 when Lord Ashley moved the introduction of a clause limiting 
 the hours of labour to eleven from October, 1844, and to ten 
 from October, 1 847. Two nights of debate followed ; the con- 
 version of the Tories formed the subject alternately of rage 
 and ridicule ; but in the end Lord Ashley's amendment was 
 rejected by a majority of 138, and the third reading carried by 
 a majority of 129. The victory was gained, but it was over 
 their own friends, and left the position of the ministers 
 very unpleasant. 
 
 The other and more important act of conservative in- 
 subordination took place with respect to a proposed alteration 
 of the sugar duties. The Government proposed a reduction 
 in the case of foreign free-grown sugars, which admitted 
 them at a duty of thirty-four shillings, the colonial duty 
 remaining as before, at twenty-four shillings. This proposal 
 pleased neither the West Indian planters and their friends 
 the protectionists, nor the free-traders, and a curious coalition 
 was the consequence. Mr. Miles, one of the most decided 
 of the protectionists, moved an amendment reducing the duty 
 on colonial sugar from twenty-four to twenty shillings, and 
 that on different classes of foreign sugar to thirty and thirty- 
 four shillings respectively. The issue was confused, for at 
 
1846.] Sir Robert Peets Administration. 335 
 
 first sight it appeared that the amendment would only cause 
 a general reduction, leaving the amount of colonial protection 
 the same. Cobden and the shrewder free-traders saw that 
 this was a delusive promise, and that practically there would 
 be an increase of protection. The free-traders, however, were 
 divided, and Russell and the Whigs, seeing an opportunity 
 of injuring the Government, went with the protectionists, 
 and the result was a division which took place on the 14th 
 of June, when there were — for the Government plan, 221 ; 
 against it, 241, leaving ministers in a minority of twenty. 
 This vote also, like that on the ten-hours resolution, the 
 Cabinet refused to accept as final, and they demanded a 
 reversion of it as a proof of the confidence of the House. 
 On the 17th Peel himself stated the course which his 
 Government intended to pursue. This was practically to 
 reintroduce their proposal, and stake the existence of the 
 Ministry upon its acceptance. It was not only that they 
 objected to the nature of the amendment itself, but the 
 conditions under which it had been passed would leave the 
 Government powerless in the future. The House, then, had 
 either to rescind its resolution or accept the resignation of the 
 Ministry. This was a strong policy to proclaim. It was 
 extremely unpalatable to the ultra-protectionists, and they 
 resisted it as an attack upon the independence of the House. 
 They found their most effective mouthpiece in Disraeli, who 
 on this occasion made the first of those attacks upon the 
 Minister which formed the foundation of his own importance 
 to the party. Russell also protested, but all in vain, for on 
 a division there appeared for the Government, 255 ; against 
 them, 233, giving what was, under the circumstances, a 
 very substantial majority. It was plain, however, that the 
 protectionists ceased to place their trust in the Ministry, 
 and this was the most instructive part of the whole trans- 
 action. 
 
 The session was made memorable by the debates which 
 arose in both Houses on the subject of the inviolability of 
 letters sent for transmission through the post. On the 14th 
 
336 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- 
 
 of June the subject was opened by Buncombe, who presented 
 a petition from Serafino Calderara, Joseph Mazzini, W. J. 
 Linton, and William Lovett, complaining that their letters 
 had been opened in the post-office. Graham acknowledged 
 that in the case of one of the petitioners the allegation was 
 true, and that in opening the letters he had exercised a right 
 which the law undoubtedly gave to the officers of the Crown. 
 There was a loud and general cry of indignation throughout 
 the country, especially as it was thought that the inspection 
 had taken place at the instance of a foreign government, 
 and had endangered the lives of some of their subjects. 
 This statement was denied, but Buncombe and his Radical 
 friends obtained a special committee of inquiry, and a like 
 committee was appointed by the Peers, at the instance of 
 the Earl of Radnor. The inquiry resulted in the issue of 
 reports which supported the statement that the examination 
 of letters was legal ; that it was specifically provided for on 
 the foundation of the post-office ; and that it had been used, 
 although very rarely, by succeeding Ministries. There was 
 no alteration of the law, but the vehement expression of 
 public opinion has been of service to the cause which 
 Buncombe espoused with such vigour and ability. 
 
 The cause of religious liberty did not want occasion for 
 vindication by the .Radical members during the year. On 
 the 31st of May, when there was before the House of 
 Commons a proposal for altering and amending the eccle- 
 siastical courts, Buncombe moved to abolish them alto- 
 gether, and to transfer their jurisdiction to civil courts. 
 This was a proposal which, if adopted, would have struck 
 at the foundation of a good deal of the difficulty which has 
 arisen from the fact that ecclesiastical officers of the State 
 have supposed that, because they have access to special 
 courts, they ought not to be subject to laws passed by 
 Parliament in the ordinary manner. Buncombe obtained 
 seventy votes for his proposal, which was lost by a majority 
 of forty-five. On the nth of June Ward submitted his 
 annual motion for a committee of the whole House upon 
 
1846.] Sir Robert Peel's Administration. 337 
 
 the present state of the temporahties of the Irish Church, 
 the division showing — for, 179; against, 274. 
 
 The business of the session was at an end by the 9th of 
 August, but the prorogation was delayed, in order that the 
 House of Lords might have an opportunity of trying the 
 appeal which had been made from the decision of the court 
 in Dublin, in the case of O'Connell and his companions. The 
 trial had been long and wearisome. It began on the 2nd 
 of November, 1843, and it was not until the loth of February 
 following that the verdict was returned. O'Connell was found 
 guilty on all the eleven counts. The Rev. Mr. Tierney 
 escaped lightly, but the other prisoners were found guilty 
 on nearly all the counts. Another delay took place, and it 
 was the 30th of May before sentence was delivered. O'Connell 
 was sentenced to a year's imprisonment and a fine of ;^2000, 
 and bound over to keep the peace for seven years. In the 
 cases of the other prisoners the fine was only .£'50, and the 
 term of imprisonment nine months, but all were bound over 
 to keep the peace for the same term. It was against these 
 verdicts that an appeal was made to the House of Lords, 
 and Parliament was kept together until the case could be 
 heard. On the 4th of September judgment was delivered, 
 the decision of the court below being reversed, and the 
 prisoners released. Four law lords only voted in the case. 
 Lords Denman, Cottenham, and Campbell being for the 
 acquittal, and Lord Brougham, strangely enough, voting 
 against it. On the next day Parliament was prorogued. Soon 
 afterwards, on the 7th of October, Lord Stanley was called 
 to the House of Peers by the title of Baron Stanley of 
 Bickerstaffe, an event of no little consequence to his party, 
 affecting, as it - eventually did, the leadership of the pro- 
 tectionists in the Commons. 
 
 The session of 1845 commenced on the 4th of February. 
 The royal speech congratulated Parliament on the improved 
 condition of the country. The contemporary chronicler says, 
 " The harvest of the preceding autumn had been a productive 
 one, trade was brisk, the manufacturing classes well employed, 
 
 Z 
 
338 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- 
 
 and the abundance of capital was testified, among other 
 symptoms, by the unprecedented number of new railway 
 undertakings, more than two hundred schemes being prepared, 
 at the commencement of the session, to apply for legislative 
 powers. The revenue gave symptoms of continued advance, 
 proving at once the substantial prosperity of the community 
 by increased productiveness in some of its most important 
 branches, and attesting the expediency of those fiscal alter- 
 ations, in the reduction of import duties, which Sir Robert 
 Peel had carried into effect." * If a temporary return of 
 prosperity, and a more plentiful supply of food, could allay 
 the agitation for free trade in corn, the hearts of the pro- 
 tectionists might have been relieved. In fact, however, there 
 was no consolation for them. The very prosperity which was 
 being celebrated was to a great extent owing to the partial 
 application of those principles of commercial freedom which 
 they hated ; the people in the country were every day rallying 
 with more eagerness to the League ; the Liberals in Parliament 
 were becoming more united on the question ; and, worst of 
 all, the minister who ought to have been the bulwark of the 
 cause of protection, was more than suspected of sympathizing 
 with the enemy. The task of the Radicals in the free-trade 
 struggle was nearly completed — how nearly they scarcely 
 knew themselves. They had first appreciated the vital 
 importance of freedom ; they had enunciated and proved 
 the truth of its propositions ; they had, in the course of a 
 long and arduous agitation, informed the public mind and 
 aroused the public enthusiasm ; and they were fast convincing 
 the governing class of both parties that there could be but 
 one solution to the national problem. They had prepared 
 the ground, had sowed the seed, had watched and guarded 
 the early growth of the crop : and now the official reapers were 
 about to undertake the part of gathering in the harvest. 
 
 The work of conversion amongst the Whigs had been 
 going on rapidly. Only a few years back, Melbourne had 
 declared that it was the wildest and maddest thing to think 
 * "Annual Register," 1845, PP- i> 2. 
 
1846.] Sir Robert Peel's Administration. 339 
 
 of leaving the agriculturists without protection ; and Russell, 
 whilst advocating a fixed duty, maintained that the tax ought 
 to be levied not for revenue, but for protection. Now, in the 
 debate on the address on the first night of the session, 
 Russell said, " I am convinced that protection is not the 
 support, but the bane of agriculture." The actual campaign 
 was again opened by Cobden, who once more moved for a 
 select committee to consider the effect of the corn laws 
 on agriculture. He was strongly supported by Lord Howick, 
 who was amongst the first of the official Whigs to accept the 
 complete free-trade policy. On this occasion he startled the 
 House and shocked the squires, after he had argued that 
 monopoly made prices rise and wages fall, by quoting from 
 the Bible the awful denunciation, " Behold, the hire of the 
 labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you 
 kept back by fraud, crieth : and the cries of them which have 
 reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." 
 He expressed his deliberate conviction that, in consequence 
 of the corn laws, the hire of the labourers who had reaped 
 our fields had been kept back by fraud, and thought that as 
 a nation we ought to take that solemn warning to ourselves. 
 This strong language irritated, but did not convince the 
 protectionists ; they wanted no inquiry, and rejected the 
 motion by 213 to 121. 
 
 The protectionists were not content to stand merely on 
 the defensive. On the 17th of March Mr. Miles moved — 
 " That it is the opinion of this House that, in the application 
 of surplus revenue towards relieving the burdens of the 
 country by reduction or remission of taxation, due regard 
 should be had to the necessity of affording relief to the 
 agricultural interest." The motion was opposed by Sir James 
 Graham, but it was used as an opportunity of protest by the 
 ultra-protectionists against their desertion by the Ministry. 
 Of this feeling Disraeli was making himself the mouthpiece, 
 and his speech on this occasion contained some sentences 
 which have become memorable. " Protection," he said, 
 "appears to be in about the same condition that Pro- 
 
340 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- 
 
 testantism was in 1828. The country will draw its moral. 
 For my part, if we are to have free trade, I, who honour 
 genius, prefer that such measures should be proposed by the 
 honourable member for Stockport, than by one who, through 
 skilful Parliamentary manoeuvres, has tampered with the 
 generous confidence of a great people and of a great party. 
 Dissolve, if you please, the Parliament you have betrayed, 
 and appeal to the people who, I believe, mistrust you. For me 
 there remains this, at least — the opportunity of expressing thus 
 publicly my belief that a Conservative Government is an organ- 
 ized hypocrisy." The defection, as shown by the vote, was 
 serious, there being for the resolution, 78, all protectionists ; 
 and against it, 213. The agriculturists were again challenged 
 by Ward to explain the peculiar burdens to which Miles had 
 referred. On the 3rd of June he moved for a select committee 
 to inquire into the subject, but was defeated by 182 to 109. 
 
 Before this Russell had led what he hoped would prove 
 a combined Liberal attack on the whole political position. 
 On the 26th of May he moved a string of nine resolutions 
 to the following effect : — 
 
 1. Declared the present state of political tranquility to be 
 favourable to the consideration of measures for improving the 
 condition of the labouring classes. 
 
 2. Pronounced against protective duties. 
 
 3. Was against the corn laws especially. 
 
 4. Pledged the House to an alteration of those laws. 
 
 5. Referred to an alteration of the law of parochial settle- 
 ment. 
 
 6. Advocated a systematic plan of colonization. 
 
 7. Declared that the advance made in the education of 
 the people had been satisfactory. 
 
 8. Recommended increased means of extending religious 
 and moral instruction. 
 
 9. Was for an address to her Majesty on these resolutions. 
 These resolutions covered a wide area, but in no case 
 
 were they founded on a really broad principle, as explained 
 in the speech by which they were introduced. The general 
 
1846.] Sir Robert Peel's Administratio7t. 341 
 
 statement against protective duties was almost contemptible 
 
 when aimed against a minister who had done much to extend 
 
 commercial freedom, by one who, during a long tenure of 
 
 power, had scarcely attempted to touch the subject. As to 
 
 the corn laws, Lord John, although he had declared against 
 
 protection, still adhered to his idea of imposing a fixed duty, 
 
 a proposal rejected by the earnest men of both sides. He 
 
 was now, however, willing to reduce the duty from eight 
 
 shillings, which he had for years advocated, to six, five, or 
 
 four shillings, as the House might prefer — a kind of Dutch 
 
 auction in which he obtained no new bidders. As regarded 
 
 education also, he touched no solid ground ; the very term 
 
 " religious and moral education " showed that he was not 
 
 prepared to grapple with the real difficulty which was in 
 
 the way of the establishment of a national system. But what 
 
 made the Radicals most dissatisfied was, that in an elaborate 
 
 scheme which professed to deal with the questions affecting 
 
 the labouring classes there should be no mention of any 
 
 desire to extend their political privileges. Accordingly, whilst 
 
 ministers were able to dispose of his new-born zeal for free 
 
 trade, Crawford moved an amendment to insert in the first 
 
 resolution the words, "to give immediate attention to the 
 
 claims so repeatedly urged in petitions for an extension of the 
 
 Parliamentary suffrage." On this amendment, which raised one 
 
 of the main issues between the Whigs and the Radicals, a 
 
 division was taken, when there were 33 for, and 253 against* 
 
 * On this occasion the reformers did not poll their full strength, but the list of 
 the minority is given because it was the last important division on the subject 
 during Peel's administration. The names were — 
 
 Baine, W. Ellis, W. Russell, Lord E. 
 
 Berkeley, Hon. H. F. Etwall, R. Tancred, H. W. 
 
 Blake, M. J. Fielden, J. Trelawney, J. S. 
 
 Blewitt, R. J. Ferguson, Col. Villiers, Hon. C. 
 
 Bouverie, Hon. E. P. Granger, T. C. Wakley, T. 
 
 Christie, W. D. Hallyburton, Lord J. F. Warburton, H. 
 
 Cobden, R. Hill, Lord M. Ward, H. G. 
 
 CoUett, J. Mitchell, H. Wawn, J. T. 
 
 Duncan, G. Metcalfe, H. Yorke, H. W. 
 
 Buncombe, T. Pechell, Capt. 
 
 Dundas, Hon. J. C. Plumridge, Capt. Crawford, W. S. ) ^^^^^^ 
 
 EUice, E. Ricardo, J. L. Bowring, Dr. 5 
 
342 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- 
 
 Russell's first resolution was lost by 182 to 105, and the others 
 were withdrawn. 
 
 Villier's annual motion was introduced on the lOth of 
 June. Russell this time made another step in advance. In 
 1843 he had voted against, in 1844 he had abstained, and 
 now in 1845 he announced his intention of voting for the 
 resolution. Peel was able to rally Lord John on this change 
 of front, but neither the ministers nor the protectionists could 
 fail to see that their case was daily growing more hopeless. 
 The division showed — for the motion, 122 ; against it, 254, so 
 that the majority had again fallen from 204 to 132. 
 
 A great part of the time of Parliament was taken up by 
 the consideration of proposals of the Government with regard 
 to the College of Maynooth, which engrossed public attention 
 and aroused in all its bitterness the fury of religious in- 
 tolerance. The determination to introduce the question had 
 led to the retirement from the Ministry of Mr. Gladstone, 
 who held that he was precluded by opinions, which he had 
 previously published, from taking an active part in what he 
 regarded, to some extent, as an endowment of the Roman 
 Catholic Church. This resignation, regretted at the time, 
 was not followed by any hostility to the Government or their 
 measure, but its effect was no doubt felt at the close of the 
 year, when Mr. Gladstone's sympathy and support in the 
 Cabinet would have been invaluable to Peel in the final 
 struggle on behalf of free food. What ministers now 
 proposed to do with regard to Maynooth, was to vote a large 
 sum to put the building in a state of repair, to fit it to become 
 the seat of a national college, to enlarge the annual con- 
 tributions for maintenance, and put the whole institution upon 
 a permanent footing. These proposals gave rise everywhere 
 to violent agitation and fierce discussions. The '' no popery " 
 cry was deafening, and men were ready to declare that 
 ministers were acting in open defiance to the known will 
 of the Almighty. The Radicals were not united on the 
 question, although none of them joined the ranks of in- 
 tolerance ;. Roebuck supported the scheme as an act of 
 
1846.] Sir Robert Peel's Administration. 343 
 
 justice ; Crawford and Duncombe strongly opposed it because 
 they objected to any endowment of religion. Even Cobden 
 and Bright took different sides. Mr. Bright opposed the 
 measure on the ground that an institution purely ecclesiastical 
 ought not to be paid for out of the public taxes, and he 
 denounced the Irish Church Establishment as the root of all 
 that country's evils.* There was more union amongst both 
 Radicals and Whigs on an amendment moved in committee 
 by Ward — "That it 'is the opinion of this House that any 
 provision to be made for the purposes of the present bill 
 ought to be taken from the funds already applicable to 
 ecclesiastical purposes in Ireland." For this there voted 148, 
 against it there were 322. All the stages of the bill were 
 passed, both in the Commons and the Lords, by large 
 majorities. 
 
 The same fortune attended the Government proposals for 
 the establishment of unsectarian colleges in Ireland. The 
 bill, which was introduced by Graham on the 9th of May, 
 provided for the erection of three colleges at a cost of 
 ;^ 1 00,000, and their maintenance by an annual grant of 
 ;^ 1 8,000. The Government provided no theological pro- 
 fessorships, but these might be established by voluntary 
 efforts by the different churches. The measure met with 
 strenuous opposition from the extreme partizans of Romanism 
 and Protestantism. The second reading was moved on the 
 2nd of June, the debate being continued over two nights by 
 adjournment. The bill was carried by a majority of 3 1 1 to 46, 
 and it passed the other stages in both Houses in an equally 
 triumphant manner. 
 
 The principle of tenant right in Ireland was at last 
 recognized by the Government, although no practical result 
 followed. On the 9th of June Lord Stanley introduced a 
 Tenants' Compensation (Ireland) Bill, which proposed to 
 give compensation to tenants for their expenditure in three 
 
 * These opinions were expressed on the second reading of the bill, which was 
 moved by Peel on the nth of April, the debate being continued for six nights in 
 succession. 
 
344 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- 
 
 cases, building, draining, and the removal of the cumbrous 
 banks which took the place of fences. This bill was read 
 a second time on the 24th of June, but it did not become 
 law. Its introduction would have been an important matter 
 but for the troubles and ministerial changes which followed, 
 and which unfortunately diverted attention from the subject. 
 Lord Portman endeavoured to follow this up by a proposal 
 to give compensation to English tenants, but his bill was 
 defeated on the second reading on the 26th of June. 
 
 The session closed on the 9th of August, with an outlook 
 not so bright as that which marked its opening, but with no 
 indication of the terrible extent of the trouble which was 
 coming on. The gloom of the great disaster did not close 
 over the country until some time after the prorogation, but 
 symptoms of it speedily began to appear. Throughout the 
 summer and early autumn there had been almost constant 
 rain, chill and heavy rain, which made it certain that the 
 harvest would be small in quantity and bad in quality, and 
 that the nation would have to depend for its food upon a 
 foreign supply. Soon a still greater misfortune was seen to 
 be approaching, one altogether unforeseen and unprecedented. 
 The potato disease was silently and rapidly destroying that 
 crop upon which so large a portion of the people of Ireland 
 especially depended, and the total failure of which would 
 inevitably lead not merely to scarcity, but to absolute famine 
 in many parts of that country. Fear and anxiety took 
 possession of all minds, and all were anxious to know what 
 ministers proposed to do. The League and the protectionists 
 were especially interested. As the realization of the fore- 
 bodings seemed to be more certainly approaching, it was 
 everywhere admitted that some decided step must be taken 
 with regard to the corn laws. Never since their first imposi- 
 tion was it supposed that they could be maintained in their 
 entirety in a time of actual scarcity. On previous occasions 
 they had been temporarily suspended, the ports being opened 
 to meet cases of emergency. Now it was doubted, by the 
 most earnest protectionists, if after such a suspension they 
 
1846.] Sir Robert Peel's Administration. 345 
 
 could ever be restored. Some expression was given by 
 public men to the feelings which were so general. On the 
 1 0th of October Lord Ashley, a Conservative, wrote a letter 
 to his constituents, in which he expressed his opinion that the 
 corn laws could not be maintained. Early in November 
 Lord Morpeth wrote to the League, and said, " I wish to 
 record, in the most emphatic way I can, my conviction that 
 the time is come for a total repeal of the corn laws." F inally 
 Lord John Russell wrote to the electors of London the 
 famous letter of the 22nd of November, in which he an- 
 nounced that he had given up the idea of a fixed duty, and 
 was converted to the necessity of immediate repeal. " Let 
 us, then," he wrote, " unite to put an end to a system which 
 has proved to be the blight of commerce, the bane of agri- 
 culture, the source of bitter divisions among classes, the cause 
 of penury, fever, mortality, and crime among the people." 
 
 In the meantime the Ministry were impressed by the 
 responsibilities imposed upon them. In the Cabinet, as else- 
 where, the anxiety was accompanied by division of opinion 
 as to the course which ought to be taken. The Prime 
 Minister was the first to realize the necessities of the position, 
 and he of course felt most deeply the responsibilities. 
 Between the 1st and the 6th of October there were several 
 Cabinet councils held, and Peel advised that, before it was 
 too late, measures should be taken, either by opening the 
 ports by an order in council, or by calling Parliament together 
 in a fortnight, to obviate the impending evil.* The advice 
 of the Premier was not taken, only three of his colleagues 
 concurring with him, and the Cabinet separated on the 6th 
 of November, Peel reserving the power of calling it together 
 and renewing his recommendation if events should confirm 
 his opinions. Accordingly the Cabinet met again on the 
 26th of November, the evidence which he had received in 
 the interim not having diminished the apprehensions of the 
 
 » The history of these transactions, and of the ministerial crisis which followed 
 is given va, the speeches of Sir Robert Peel and Lord John Russell, at the opening 
 of Parliament on the 19th of January, 1846. 
 
346 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- 
 
 Prime Minister. But an important change had been made 
 in the position by the publication of Russell's letter. What- 
 ever was done in such a time, if it were to have its proper 
 effect on the country and to obtain the proper support in 
 Parliament, ought to be, and to appear to be, the spontaneous 
 act of the Government. After the Edinburgh letter, it would 
 be thought and said that the Government were adopting the 
 proposition of Russell. Even this risk, however, Peel was 
 prepared to run, if the Cabinet had been united. Stanley 
 refused to accede to the policy proposed by his chief, and 
 he was not the only member of the Government who would 
 have resigned. Under these circumstances Peel resolved 
 to send in his resignation, which he did on the 8th of 
 December. The Queen at once sent to Lord John Russell, 
 and after some correspondence as to the support he was to 
 expect from Peel in dealing with the corn laws, he undertook 
 the task of forming an Administration. He failed mainly 
 because Lord Grey declined to join him, the refusal being, it 
 was understood, owing to the noble earl's determination 
 not to become a colleague of Lord Palmerston's. On the 
 20th of December Peel was informed of this failure, and was 
 commissioned to resume office. He undertook the task, and 
 prepared to submit to Parliament those measures which he 
 thought necessary to meet the emergency. Stanley alone 
 of all his old colleagues refused to serve, and his place was 
 taken by Mr. Gladstone, whose help both in council and in 
 Parliament was most valuable. 
 
 It was under these conditions that the session of 1846 was 
 opened on the 19th of January. The Queen's speech did not 
 allude in direct terms to the corn laws, but, after referring to 
 the previous repeal of prohibitive and relaxation of protective 
 duties, it recommended Parliament to consider whether the 
 same principles might not " be yet more extensively applied, 
 and whether it may not be in your power, after a careful 
 review of the existing duties upon many articles, the produce 
 or manufacture of other countries, to make such further 
 reductions and remissions as may tend to insure the con- 
 
1846.] Sir Robert Peel's Administration. 347 
 
 tinuance of the great benefits to which I have adverted." 
 The general meaning of this language was understood by 
 every one, but the greatest anxiety existed to learn the 
 precise manner in which the work was to be done. On the 
 27th of January, the day fixed for the ministerial statement, 
 the House of Commons was crowded in all parts, and every 
 word was listened to with the deepest interest. The speech 
 of the Premier, in which he set out the various financial and 
 commercial proposals of the Government, occupied four 
 hours ; but the part most interesting at the time, and the 
 most important permanently, was the explanation of what 
 was to be done with the corn laws. The provisions on this 
 subject were far-reaching and thorough. In three years all 
 duty on corn was to be abolished, except a nominal charge of 
 one shilling a quarter to serve as a registration fee, so that 
 the amount of imports might be ascertained. Thus the great 
 central feature of the scheme was the abolition of protection. 
 For immediate relief there were other provisions. Agri- 
 cultural produce serving as food for animals, amongst which 
 were reckoned buckwheat and Indian corn, was to be 
 admitted duty free, and all colonial-grown corn at a nominal 
 rate. The duties on foreign corn which were to expire in 
 three years were immediately reduced, the effect of which was, 
 at the then existing prices, to lower the tax from sixteen to 
 four shillings a quarter. There were some provisions for 
 relieving the agricultural interests. The cost of prisoners was 
 transferred from the local to the imperial rates ; an alteration 
 was made in the law of settlement ; and the highway admini- 
 stration was improved, consolidated, and thereby cheapened. 
 The great thing, however, which absorbed all interest and 
 gave rise to all discussion, was the slightly deferred but 
 absolute repeal of the corn laws. 
 
 Thus the principle for which the Radicals had so long 
 contended, to which the Whigs had been slowly converted, 
 and which a vast popular organization had been created to 
 promote, was at last carried out by a great Conservative 
 statesman — but not with the consent of the Tory section of 
 
348 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- 
 
 his party. The stronghold of protection was defended to the 
 last with desperate energy. The proposal that the House 
 go into committee on Peel's motion was made on the 9th 
 of February, when Mr. Miles moved " that the House do 
 resolve itself into committee on that day six months." The 
 debate was long and stormy, Radicals and Whigs supporting 
 ministers. Protectionists passionately opposing them. The 
 discussion extended over twelve nights, during which forty- 
 eight members spoke for free trade, and fifty-five against. On 
 a division, on the 2nd of March, there voted for the motion, 
 337 ; against it, 240, giving the Government a majority of 
 ninety-seven. In committee, on the same night, Villiers 
 moved that the duties on corn should cease at once, but was 
 defeated by a majority of 187. The bill was brought in, and 
 the second reading was moved on the 20th of March, when 
 another long debate, extending over four nights, took place. 
 The House divided on the 27th of March, when the numbers 
 were — for, 302 ; against, 214; majority, 88. A final division 
 was taken on the third reading, when the bill was carried by 
 327 votes to 229. In all these divisions — except that moved 
 by Villiers, on which the vote was essentially Radical — the 
 Government had the aid of nearly the whole of the Liberals, 
 the opposition being almost entirely Tory.* In the House of 
 Lords the bill was read a second time on the 25th of May, by 
 a majority of 211 to 164; and was read a third time and 
 passed on the 26th of June, without a division. 
 
 * The actual proportions as given in Hansard on the two great divisions, 
 those taken on the 2nd and 27th of March, are as follows. The numbers in this 
 case include the tellers, and vary to that extent from those in the text. 
 
 2ND OF March. 
 
 Majority. Minority. 
 
 Conservatives .,, ... 112 Conservatives 231 
 
 Liberals ... 227 Liberals 11 
 
 339 242 
 
 27TH OF March. 
 
 Majority. Minority. 
 
 Conservatives ... ... 102 Conservatives ... ... 208 
 
 Liberals ... ... ... 202 Liberals ... ... ... 8 
 
 304 216 
 
1846.] Sir Robert Peel's Administration. 349 
 
 The work was done ; it was accomplished at the cost of 
 the disruption of an ancient party, and the destruction of the 
 power of a great statesman. With Peel, patriotism and a 
 sense of public duty were stronger than the bonds of party ; 
 with the protectionists, rage at the loss of vested interests, and 
 hatred of the chief who had deserted their cause, overcame all 
 other feelings. It was known that the Ministry could not 
 long survive the passing of the Act to which they had 
 sacrificed their party. On the very night when the House of 
 Lords passed the Corn Law Bill, the Government were 
 defeated and overthrown by a division in the Commons. In 
 the beginning of the session they had introduced in the Peers 
 a bill for the protection of life in Ireland, which was read 
 a second time on the 24th of February, and afterwards passed. 
 It was introduced into the House of Commons on the 30th 
 of March, and was met by a determined opposition which 
 delayed its progress, and it was not until the 9th of June that 
 it came up for the second reading. Then the protectionists 
 opposed it as a mark of want of confidence in the Ministry, 
 and, after a debate which was frequently adjourned, it was, 
 on the 26th, defeated by a majority of seventy-three, the 
 numbers being — for, 219; against, 292. On the following 
 night Wellington in one House and Peel in the other, 
 announced the resignation of the Ministry. The speech in 
 which Peel took his farewell of office was an eloquent 
 vindication of his motives and his conduct, and his closing 
 words cannot be too often quoted. " I shall leave a name," 
 he said, '' severely censured by many who, on public grounds, 
 deeply regret the severance of party ties ; deeply regret that 
 severance, not from interested or personal motives, but from 
 the firm conviction that fidelity to party engagements — the 
 existence and maintenance of a great party — constitutes a 
 powerful instrument of government. I shall surrender power 
 severely censured also by others who, from no interested 
 motive, adhere to the principle of protection, considering the 
 maintenance of it to be essential to the welfare and interests 
 of the country. I shall leave a name execrated by every 
 
350 History of the Radical Party 'in Parliament. [1841-1846. 
 
 monopolist, who, from less honourable motives, clamours for 
 protection because it conduces to his own individual benefit. 
 But it may be that I shall leave a name sometimes re- 
 membered with expressions of good-will in the abodes of 
 those whose lot it is to labour, and to earn their daily bread 
 by the sweat of their brow, when they shall recruit their 
 exhausted strength with abundant and untaxed food, the 
 sweeter because it is no longer leavened with a sense of 
 injustice." As was fitting, the last few words which expressed 
 the national gratitude to Peel were delivered by Joseph Hume, 
 the veteran Radical, who in days gone by had led the forlorn 
 hope against the fortress which had now fallen, and vindicated 
 the principles of freedom which were now triumphant. 
 
( 351 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 From the resignation of sir Robert peel to his 
 
 DEATH (1846-1850). 
 
 On the resignation of Peel's Government, Lord John Russell 
 was called upon to form an Administration. The composition 
 of the Ministry showed that the old tradition of the Whig 
 party still prevailed; that the objects of the Government might 
 be Liberal, that its efforts might be conscientiously directed 
 towards promoting the well-being of the people, but that it 
 must be administered by the members of the privileged 
 families. There was some foundation for the repeated asser- 
 tions of Disraeli, that the Whig aristocracy resembled the 
 Venetian oligarchy in their determination to reserve within 
 very narrow limits the area from which the rulers of the 
 country should be chosen. The Tories have always been freer 
 than their old rivals in acknowledging the claims, or, at all 
 events, in availing themselves of the abilities, of new men. On 
 the present occasion the Whig custom was rigidly adhered to. 
 The policy which had led to the defeat of the Conservative 
 Ministry was Radical, its ablest and most successful advocates 
 were Radicals, and it seemed impossible not to recognize these 
 facts in the formation of the new Government. They were 
 recognized — in a way. A few Radicals were admitted to a 
 position which enabled them, not to take part in deciding 
 the policy of the Government, but to give it official support 
 when adopted. Gibson and Ward and Shell were in the 
 Ministry, but not in the Cabinet ; and so they were debarred 
 from the independent advocacy of their old principles without 
 
352 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1846- 
 
 being able to force them upon the attention of the Cabinet 
 ministers, of whom they were the colleagues without being 
 the equals. Gibson was vice-president of the Board of Trade, 
 an office which had been offered to, and declined by, Villiers;* 
 Ward was Secretary of the Admiralty; and Shell Master of the 
 Mint. Hobhouse, it is true, was in the Cabinet ; but he had 
 served his apprenticeship to Whiggism, and had long ago 
 forgotten that he had been a Radical. 
 
 The case of Shell was perhaps the most striking. On his 
 accepting office, he seems, either by his own act or by that of 
 his constituency, to have ceased to claim or have been allowed 
 even the name of Radical. In Smith's book, which is founded 
 on official and local information, Shell, in the election of 184 1, 
 is marked as Radical ; in that of 1 846, consequent on his 
 appointment, and in that of 1847, he is marked as a Whig.f 
 It was not long before he justified the change of name. Peel's 
 Government had been defeated on a Coercion Bill for Ireland, 
 which Shell had vehemently opposed, and against which 
 Russell had also spoken. Immediately after the formation of 
 the new Ministry, they announced that the renewal of the 
 Irish Arms Act would be one of the first measures to be 
 pressed forward during the session. This was a lamentable 
 instance of the want of consistency and firmness of the Whigs, 
 of their unwillingness or inability to insist, when in office, on 
 the adoption of principles which they had supported when in 
 opposition. It was the kind of policy which has caused a 
 large part of our Irish difficulties, by making it impossible for 
 the Irish people to trust to the promises of any English party 
 strong enough to affect the constitution of the Government. 
 On this occasion the Radicals were instant and strenuous in 
 opposition, but Shell was silent. The one thing which would 
 have rendered his appointment to office important — the exer- 
 cise pf a direct influence in the formation of the Irish policy 
 — was wanting, and his countrymen might be excused for 
 believing that a place given to a patriot was, if not a bribe 
 
 * " Free Trade Speeches," vol i. p. Ixiii., note. 
 t " The Parliaments of England," vol. iii. p. 246. 
 
1850.] Resignation of Sir Robert Peel to his Death. 353 
 
 for, a direct inducement to, the desertion of active support to 
 the national cause. The opposition of other Radicals was so 
 strong, and the inconsistency of the Government so striking, 
 that the measure had speedily to be abandoned. On the 7th 
 of August the intention of ministers was announced in the 
 Commons; the second reading of the Arms Bill was carried 
 on the loth by a majority of thirty-three ; and on the 17th 
 Lord John Russell announced its abandonment. He had done 
 just enough to prove that his Government would be feeble in 
 action as well as indecisive in policy. 
 
 The Parliament as well as the Ministry was disorganized. 
 The Tory party was broken up, and the main body of the 
 opposition formed by the protectionists, and led in the Peers 
 by Lord Stanley and in the Commons by Lord George 
 Bentinck, was not strong enough to threaten the existence of 
 the Government. The Peelites, whilst almost bound to sup- 
 port the Cabinet which their own policy had put in office, 
 were yet Conservative in feeling, and were a check, if one had 
 been wanting, to anything like a forward policy by the Whigs: 
 The Radicals, therefore, were relegated to their old place, 
 where they had the duty of originating Liberal policy, of in- 
 structing and arousing public opinion upon it, and of gradually 
 forcing it upon the attention and the acceptance of Parliament. 
 One great disadvantage of this position was, that it gave their 
 leaders no opportunity of obtaining an active acquaintance- 
 ship with the practical work of administration, and enabled 
 the privileged classes, taking the benefit of their own injustice, 
 to refer to the men who were really wise politicians as mere 
 theorists, not qualified to undertake the responsibilities of 
 government. It was a comfort to members, and no loss to 
 the country, when the session closed. It had seen the per- 
 formance of one of the greatest works which an English 
 Parliament has ever accomplished, but it had passed out of 
 the guidance of the statesman who had directed its policy, 
 and was exhausted by the labour which he had induced it to 
 undertake. The instrument itself was out of tune, and smaller 
 performers could not restore the tone which it had produced 
 
 2 A 
 
354 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1846- 
 
 under the hand of a master. The prorogation took place on 
 the 28th of August. 
 
 The continuance of commercial distress, aggravated by the 
 deepening horror of the famine in Ireland, where a recurrence 
 of the potato disease had left the people in a state of helpless 
 misery, marked the opening of the year 1847. Men looked 
 to the opening of the last session of the expiring Parliament, 
 not for exhibitions of inventive statesmanship, but merely to 
 see what temporary methods it could devise to alleviate the 
 sufferings of a starving people. Parliament met on the 19th 
 of January, the main interest of the Queen's speech being con- 
 centrated on the clauses relating to Ireland. Although the 
 Coercion Bill had been withdrawn, the Queen was able to tell 
 " My Lords and Gentlemen," that they would " perceive, in the 
 absence of political excitement, an opportunity for taking a 
 dispassionate survey of the social evils which afflict that part 
 of the United Kingdom." The efforts of ministers were 
 directed, however, to measures intended to relieve the imme- 
 diate distress. The royal speech had said that various bills 
 would be laid before Parliament which, '' if adopted, may tend 
 to raise the great mass of the people in comfort, to promote 
 agriculture, and to lessen the pressure of that competition for 
 land which has been the fruitful source of crime and misery.'' 
 Ministers, however, had nothing to propose touching the 
 action of the artificial land laws of Ireland, which, founded on 
 those of England, were utterly inadequate to the social condi- 
 tions of the sister country. Whilst the discussions of the pro- 
 posals for relief were going on, Sharman Crawford introduced 
 this most important question by moving, on the nth of 
 February, a resolution—" That no measure would be effectual 
 which did not include such amendment of the laws of land- 
 lord and tenant as shall give to the improving tenant in 
 occupation a sufficient permanency of tenure, or else establish 
 the tenant's right to claim by law full compensation for all 
 benefits created by the expenditure of his labour and capital 
 on the premises in his occupation." This resolution was with- 
 drawn with a view of bringing in a bill to effect its objects. 
 
i8so.] Resignation of Sir Robert Peel to his Death. 355 
 
 This was done, and the second reading was moved on the 28th 
 of April. The debate was adjourned to the 1 6th of June, 
 when, on a division, the bill was thrown out by 112 to 23. It 
 was a curious commentary on the past policy of Whigs and 
 protectionists alike, that the recent corn law, by which the 
 duty on wheat was four shillings a quarter, had to be entirely 
 suspended, as it was by a bill founded on resolutions intro- 
 duced by Lord John Russell on the 21st of January. 
 
 Once more, on the 23 rd of February, the old Parliament 
 was challenged to give an opinion on the subject of electoral 
 reform. The suggestion was a very mild one, Duncombe 
 moving for leave to bring in a bill for repealing the rate-paying 
 clauses of the Reform Act. Leave was refused by a majority 
 of twenty, the numbers being fifty-eight to thirty-eight. In 
 this division Milner Gibson, who had supported many much 
 more extensive reforms, was in the majority. It must have 
 been an unpleasant position, and it was one which he soon 
 found insupportable ; for in the following April he resigned 
 office, and resumed his place beside Hume, Cobden, and the 
 other Radicals. Ward was absent from this division, but he, 
 unlike Milner Gibson, grew accustomed to official restraints 
 unaccompanied by power. 
 
 The cause which stood next to that of reform in the 
 opinions of the popular party — that of national education 
 — made but little progress in Parliament. The policy of 
 the Government was to continue and very slightly extend the 
 system of grants in aid of voluntary efforts, through the 
 medium of the committee of privy council. When the vote 
 came up, on the 27th of April, Duncombe moved for the 
 appointment of a committee to inquire into the whole subject, 
 but was defeated by 372 votes to 47. He was supported by 
 the Radical vote, Milner Gibson and Ward being both absent. 
 There was, indeed, no possibility of taking any important step 
 with a Parliament which was daily expecting to receive the 
 dismissal which came on the 23rd of June, when it was pro- 
 rogued and dissolved. 
 
 The general election of 1847 showed to how great an 
 
356 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1846- 
 
 extent the old party lines had been confused and party bonds 
 loosened. It was the Conservative party which was most 
 affected by this influence, and a new title had to be created 
 by which for the time to designate those who had broken 
 with the Tories without joining the Liberals. The name of 
 the leader of the secessionists was chosen as that of the 
 party, and the Peelites were entered in the returns and tabular 
 statements of the time, in a column distinct from the Con- 
 servatives and the Liberals. The distinction could not be 
 drawn very clearly, and some of the politicians of the day 
 declined to accept any calculation of the relative strength of 
 parties, either as regarded their allegiance to organizations or 
 their adhesion to defined principles. The editor of the 
 Spectator having been asked to classify the members of the 
 new House, refused to do so, declaring that it was impossible 
 to draw any distinct or arbitrary line.* The estimate 
 generally accepted was that the Conservatives numbered 165 ; 
 the Peelites, i6i ; and the Liberals, 327, — giving the avowed 
 Liberals a majority of one only over the combined sections of 
 their old opponents. Such a condition of parties could not 
 but have a marked effect upon the political action of the Par- 
 liament. Ministers were dependent upon the Peelites for a 
 working majority ; but the Peelites had recently been the 
 leaders of the Conservative party, and were not prepared to 
 sanction or allow any constitutional changes in Church or 
 State. The only matter on which they were, as yet, entirely 
 agreed with the Liberals was as to the maintenance and 
 extension of the free trade policy ; and as this was exactly 
 the point which the Tories wanted to attack, the alliance 
 between Whigs and Peelites was on the whole likely to be 
 continued. 
 
 This union, involving the possibility of advance on finan- 
 cial and commercial questions, but inaction with regard to 
 general political and social affairs, had its effect at the other 
 end of the scale, and added to the number of the Liberals who 
 were prepared to sympathize and vote with the Radicals. It 
 
 * The Spectator for September li, 1847. 
 
i8so.] Resignation of Sir Robert Peel to his Death. 357 
 
 was another instance of the action of the law of development 
 which has been seen in operation so often in the course of 
 our political history. It was, however, a position which for 
 some time to come, whilst it removed any danger of reaction, 
 made progress almost impossible ; and it had the inevitable 
 effect of convincing a constantly increasing number of earnest 
 people that the one way to insure healthy national life was to 
 effect some change in the character of the constituencies. 
 Unfortunately, there was a want of sympathy between the 
 most active reform agitators outside and the majority of the 
 Radical party inside Parliament. The Chartists generally 
 had, unfortunately, rallied to the leadership of Feargus O'Con- 
 nor, and although comparatively few of them accepted 
 seriously his wild talk about physical force, the character of 
 the whole movement was seriously affected by it. In the 
 course of this and the following year, attempts were made 
 to originate an agitation which, aiming at less extreme 
 objects, and dissociated from the violent party, should com- 
 bine the middle classes with the artisans in a demand for 
 reform, under the leadership of some of the popular members 
 of the House of Commons. 
 
 The election of O'Connor for Nottingham was one of 
 the events which affected the personal composition of the 
 party in Parliament. A few other changes also took place. 
 O'Connell had died on the i Sth of May, and there was no one 
 who could act his part as a connecting link between Irish and 
 English Radicalism. He had not been able to effect this 
 completely, the repeal agitation keeping alive a cause of 
 alienation ; but after his removal from the scene the division 
 became constantly more complete, to the injury of both 
 nations. Roebuck was again lost to the party by his defeat 
 at Bath, and this may be looked upon as almost the final 
 separation ; for, after *his return for Sheffield in 1849, he never 
 heartily united himself with his old friends. A new member, 
 W. J. Fox, who was elected for Oldham, was useful as an 
 eloquent exponent of extreme opinions, although he did not 
 exercise any wide influence ; and a similar addition was made 
 
3S8 History of the Radical Party in Parliament, [1846- 
 
 to the ranks by the success of George Thompson, at Tower 
 Hamlets. There was still little definite organization in the 
 party. Buncombe and Crawford retained the confidence of 
 the Chartists ; * Hume was regarded with respect by all sec- 
 tions ; Cobden, Villiers, Bright, and Milner Gibson were 
 looked upon as the men who commanded the confidence of 
 the middle classes, whilst full of sympathy for the popular 
 cause. Molesworth, of all the party, retained more completely 
 the characteristics of what were called the Philosophical 
 Radicals, and his great intellectual ability and deliberation 
 made him likely to be acceptable to the most Liberal section 
 of the Whigs. 
 
 The new Parliament met on the i8th of November, the 
 speech from the throne referring to the commercial crisis, to 
 the distress and the prevalence of outrages in Ireland, and 
 to the navigation laws. The business which occupied most 
 of the time of the short session was the consideration of an 
 Irish Coercion Bill, giving extraordinary powers to the lord- 
 
 '' The manner in which Duncombe was regarded at this time by the Chartists 
 may be seen from the following letter, written by O'Connor on his election for 
 Nottingham : — 
 
 " Paradise, Sunday. 
 
 " Beloved General, 
 
 " In discharge of my first and far most pleasing duty, I called at 
 head-quarters. Spring-gardens, on my arrival, to report myself, but was told you 
 were not in town. I now perform my duty by letter, and beg to assure you that 
 no monarch on earth ever had a more devoted subject, and no general a more 
 obedient soldier. It will not be my fault if you are not the first mail in your 
 country. My terms are, that upon Irish questions I shall be free to act as 
 I please; in all else \ follow you, but no other man. I will propose no national 
 question of which you are the proper, the acknowledged, the loved leader ; nor 
 shall adversity or prosperity ever banish from my recollection the boldness of my 
 friend who visited me in my dungeon. My service is not like that of any other 
 man when I give it ; life itself is offered, if needed. 
 
 " Ever and ever, your fond, affectionate, and devoted friend, 
 
 "Feargus O'Connor. 
 
 "It would be morally impossible to describe the state of Nottingham. Lord 
 Rancliffe, the two principal bankers, and most of the clergy, voted for me and 
 asked me to dine ; and Smith, the banker, was chaired with us. 
 
 ' ' Yours, 
 
 "F. O'C." 
 — Life and Correspondence of T. S. Duncombe, vol. i. p. 373. 
 
iSsa] Resignation of Sir Robert Peel to his Death. 359 
 
 lieutenant. There seemed to be a fatality attending the 
 Whigs in the treatment of subjects on which they were 
 opposed to Peel. In 1835 they had thrown out Sir Robert's 
 Government on the appropriation question, which they had 
 afterwards to abandon ; and now, having joined in the majority 
 which, by defeating the Coercion Bill in 1846, led a second 
 time to his resignation, they found themselves, or thought 
 they did, under the necessity of summoning the new Parlia- 
 ment to a special session in order to pass a more stringent 
 measure. The bill was introduced by Sir George Grey on 
 the 29th of November, and passed rapidly through all its 
 stages in both Houses. There was little else to do ; the 
 discussion of the financial difficulties attending the crisis did 
 little more than fill up the intervals. The election of Roths- 
 child for the city of London had brought to an issue the 
 question of the right of Jews to sit in Parliament without 
 taking an oath "on the true faith of a Christian," Russell 
 moved a resolution affirming their elegibility, which was 
 carried by a large majority, and on the 20th of December 
 both Houses adjourned until the 3rd of February. 
 
 The year 1 848 was the year of revolution, of the collapse 
 of arbitrary governments before a sudden uprise of oppressed 
 populations, and the influence of the events which took place 
 first in France, and then in Prussia, Austria, Italy, and other 
 parts of Europe, could not but be felt to some extent in 
 England also. There was no suffering from actual oppression 
 here, and the wise commercial policy of the last few years 
 had relieved the severity of the distress which might else 
 have carried disaffection into the region of violence and revolt ; 
 but there was considerable depression still, which led to want 
 and trouble amongst the population, and there was the sense 
 of political injustice and inequality, which was felt more 
 keenly when the people of other countries were, for the time, 
 successfully vindicating their rights. The Chartists of the 
 O'Connor faction became more violent in their demonstra- 
 tions, and those of the more sober kind were anxious to form 
 
360 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1846- 
 
 an alliance with those Radicals in Parliament who, whilst 
 sincere in their desire for reform, were prudent in their 
 counsels, and were possessed' of the confidences of the middle 
 classes. Accordingly William Lovett was deputed, on behalf 
 of an association called the People's League, to see " some of 
 the leading reformers among the middle classes, such as 
 Hume, Cobden, Miall, and others," and to confer with them 
 as to the issue of an address in favour of the following 
 objects: — i. The adoption of the charter. 2. The reduction 
 of national expenditure. 3. The repeal of customs excise, 
 and all indirect taxes. 4. A direct tax on property in an 
 increasing ratio upwards according to its amount. When 
 Lovett saw them with this scheme, " Hume and Cobden, 
 while they expressed themselves favourable to our views of 
 reform, were fearful that the middle classes could not be got 
 to unite in any plan for its attainment. The chief point 
 dwelt upon by both of them was, that O'Connor and his 
 disciples had, by their folly and violence, made the name of 
 Chartist distasteful to that class." Hume, however, anxious 
 that something should be done, obtained the signature of 
 about fifty of his friends to resolutions in favour of municipal 
 reform and household suffrage.* 
 
 This decision prevented the union of the orderly Chartists 
 with Hume and his friends, and led to open divisions in the 
 country when the agitation for household suffrage was 
 commenced in a systematic manner. A temporary advantage 
 was thus gained by O'Connor, who obtained the enthusiastic 
 support of numbers which contrasted with the more moderate 
 demonstrations which the household suffrage party were able, 
 or even wished, to elicit. The Chartist used his power in the 
 wildest and most reckless way, encouraging appeals to force, 
 and alarming those who were most disposed to assist him. 
 The great petition, which was being signed under his 
 directions, was in itself to be made not the means of laying 
 before Parliament the wishes of the people, but the occasion 
 
 * " Life and Struggles of William Lovett,'' pp. 335, 336. 
 
iSjo.] Resignation of Sir Robert Peel to his Death. 361 
 
 of an attempt to intimidate the Government and the Legis- 
 lature.* 
 
 ParHament met to resume business on the 3rd of February. 
 The revolutionary movement in France had already begun. 
 The reform banquet fixed to take place in Paris on the 19th 
 of January, had been interdicted by the authorities, ' and 
 postponed in consequence by the promoters. It was to be 
 held on the 22nd of February, and in the interval directions 
 were issued as to the mode in which a procession was to be 
 formed, and the National Guards were invited to attend in 
 uniform, " for the purpose of defending liberty by joining 
 the demonstration, and protecting order and preventing all 
 collision by their presence." The meeting was again for- 
 bidden by the Government on the 21st of February; on the 
 24th the King abdicated the throne, a provisional government 
 was formed, and the republic established. This rapid and 
 successful revolution excited the imagination and aroused the 
 energies of the people in nearly every nation in Europe, and 
 thrones fell and constitutions arose as if by magic. The wave 
 of feeling reached England now, as it had done in 1830, but 
 its effect was the less extensive because the advance made in 
 
 * What Buncombe thought of these proceedings may be seen by the following 
 letter :— 
 
 "Sidmouth, April 6, 1848. 
 "My Dear Feargus, 
 
 ' ' Though absent, I am not an inattentive observer of passing events, 
 and it saddens me to see a cause for which I have so perseveringly struggled — and 
 I think in the right direction — now likely to be damaged by folly. 
 
 " I can, of course, make every allowance for reasonable excitement, but I 
 cannot reconcile to, my mind the folly of jeopardizing a good and just cause by 
 extravagant language and foolish threats, which, as of old, can only have the 
 effect of retarding progress and disarming its best friends. 
 
 "Nothing in my mind could be more ridiculous or cruel than to hazard 
 the long-looked-for prospects of the people by any rash collision with the 
 authorities, and those who adopt such a course will impose upon themselves a 
 fearful responsibility. 
 
 " Think ! think ! think ! 
 and remember that one false step may seal the fate of millions. 
 
 ' ' Faithfully yours, 
 
 "T. S. Buncombe." 
 — Life and Correspondence of T. S. Duncombe, vol. i. p. 375. 
 
362 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1846- 
 
 1832 had been permanently secured, and the necessity for 
 violent agitation was not generally acknowledged. 
 
 There was, however, some amount of excitement in the 
 public mind, some response to the appeal made by the 
 French Revolution, and there was a right and wrong way of 
 trying to make use of it. O'Connor chose the wrong way, 
 endeavouring to imitate the method of violent insurrection 
 by which alone the people of France had been able to con- 
 vince their Government of the earnestness of their desire for 
 reforms. That method, even where, as in France, it seemed 
 necessary, was of only temporary value ; in England it was not 
 only unnecessary, it was impossible. Nevertheless O'Connor 
 resolved to try it. Chartist demonstrations had been made in 
 many places — in Glasgow, attended with rioting and violence ; 
 in Manchester, Birmingham, and other places, with more or 
 less vehemence. A great national petition in favour of the 
 charter was being signed all over the country, and its pre- 
 sentation was to be the occasion of such a display of force 
 as should overawe Parliament and coerce the Government. 
 The day — the loth of April — was fixed on which the great 
 demonstration was to be made, a fact in itself sufficient to 
 show the impossibility of its success. Revolutions are not 
 made to order, and delivered in to time, in that fashion ; and 
 the Government had no difficulty, with such a definite notice 
 given to them, in preparing measures sufficient to avert any 
 danger. And so the day came and went, and all passed off 
 safely. There were to have been half a million people at 
 Kennington Common ; there were about 25,000. O'Connor 
 said there were 5,706,000 signatures to the great petition ; 
 there were 1,975,496, and a great number of them not genuine. 
 The demonstration in both respects was great and important ; 
 the exaggeration did more than the opposition to lessen its 
 effect and subject it to ridicule. The Chartist agitation died 
 away on the loth of April, but its effect was not altogether 
 lost. There had never been any real danger of revolution, 
 for there was no element in English political life to which 
 such a course would be congenial. There was widespread 
 
iSjo.] Resignation of Sir Robert Peel to his Death. . 363 
 
 discontent with the existing state of things — discontent that 
 the most numerous class of society should suffer distress, and 
 have no constitutional method of expressing an opinion as to 
 the making of the laws by which they might be helped. The 
 outbreak in the spring of 1848 opened the eyes of thoughtful 
 people to the fact not only of discontent, but of its justifica- 
 tion, and the Radical party in the House took up the question 
 of reform in a fresh and more practical manner, connecting 
 themselves in a definite way with external organizations 
 established for the purpose. It was some time before a 
 triumph was effected, for the process had to be gone through 
 of educating the Whigs, without whose co-operation no actual 
 result could be obtained. Even that process was now com- 
 menced, and Lord John Russell took many opportunities of 
 declaring that he had been misunderstood when it was thought 
 that he had pronounced the Reform Act of 1832 to be final, 
 or that he was absolutely opposed to any further advance. 
 
 The new movement found its first expression in Parlia- 
 ment on the 20th of June, when Hume moved — " That this 
 House, as at present constituted, does not fairly represent the 
 population, the property, or the industry of the country, 
 whence has arisen great and increasing discontent in the 
 minds of a large portion of the people : and it is therefore 
 expedient, with a view to amend the national representation, 
 that the elective franchise shall be so extended as to include 
 all householders ; that votes shall be taken by ballot ; that 
 the duration of Parliaments shall not exceed three years ; and 
 that the apportionment of members to population shall be 
 made more equal." The debate which followed, and which 
 lasted over two nights, showed that the question was now put 
 upon a new footing, and demanded the attention of the 
 governing class on both sides the House. Russell, as was said 
 above, protested against being pledged to oppose all reform, 
 and he even pointed out directions in which he would be 
 prepared to suggest alterations. Disraeli opposed the motion, 
 but he did so on peculiar grounds, and his speech might be 
 regarded as the first lesson in that course of education to 
 
364 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. ri?46- 
 
 which he afterwards said he had subjected his party. He 
 objected to making property the only basis of the franchise, 
 or to extending' it merely in that direction. On the 6th of 
 July the debate was continued, Cobden, Locke King, and 
 Villiers being amongst the supporters, and on a division the 
 resolution was lost, the numbers being — for, 84 ; against, 351. 
 This was a larger and more important vote than any which 
 had been given in favour of an extensive scheme of reform 
 for some time past, and was indeed encouraging to the men 
 who had now entered upon the work.* 
 
 During the session there were some interesting debates on 
 the finances of the country. The Whigs had been, as usual, 
 unfortunate in their management of these affairs, and the 
 
 * The list of the minority gives the first opportunity of judging of the number 
 and character of the Radical party in the new House of Commons ; the following 
 are the names. — It will be seen that Milner Gibson, having now left the Ministry, 
 took his place in the ranks with his old friends. 
 
 Adair, H. E. 
 
 
 Fox, W. J. 
 
 Pilkington, J. 
 
 Aglionby, H. A. 
 
 
 Freestun, Col. 
 
 Raphael, A. 
 
 Alcock, T. 
 
 
 Gibson, Rt. Hon. T. M. 
 
 Reynolds, J. 
 
 Anderson, A. 
 
 
 Granger, T. C. 
 
 Ricardo, J. L. 
 
 Berkeley, Hon. H, 
 
 F. 
 
 Green, J. 
 
 Roche, E. B. 
 
 Berkeley, Hon. G. 
 
 F. 
 
 Hall, Sir B. 
 
 Salwey, Col. 
 
 Berkeley, Hon. C. 
 
 F. 
 
 Hastie, A. 
 
 Scholefield, W. 
 
 Blake, M. J. 
 
 
 Headlam, T. E. 
 
 Scully, F. 
 
 Blewitt, R. J. 
 
 
 Heniy, A. 
 
 Smith, J. B. 
 
 Bouverie, Hon. E. 
 
 P. 
 
 Hindley, C. 
 
 Smythe, Hon. G. 
 
 Bowring, Dr. 
 
 
 Hodges, T. T. 
 
 Strickland, Sir G. 
 
 Bright, J. 
 
 
 Humphry, Aid. 
 
 Stuart, Lord D. 
 
 Brotherton, J. 
 
 
 Jackson, W. 
 
 Sullivan, M. 
 
 Caulfield, J. M. 
 
 
 Kershaw, J. 
 
 Talbot, J. H. 
 
 Clay, J. 
 
 
 King, Hon. P. J. L. 
 
 Tancred, H. W. 
 
 Cockburn, A. J. E 
 
 
 Lushington, C. 
 
 Thompson, Col. 
 
 Collins, W. 
 
 
 MacGregor, J. 
 
 Thompson, G. 
 
 Cowan, C. 
 
 
 Meagher, T. 
 
 Thornely, T. 
 
 Crawford, W. S. 
 
 
 Marshall, J. G. 
 
 Trelawney, J. S. 
 
 Currie, R. 
 
 
 Marshall, W. 
 
 Turner, E. 
 
 Dash wood, G. H. 
 
 
 Molesworth, Sir W. 
 
 Villiers, Hon. C. 
 
 Devereux, J. T. 
 
 
 Mawatt, F. 
 
 Wakley, T. 
 
 D'Eyncourt, Rt. Hon. C. T. 
 
 Muntz, G. F. 
 
 Wawn, J. T. 
 
 Duke, Sir J. 
 
 
 Nugent, Lord 
 
 Willcox, B. M. 
 
 Duncan, G. 
 
 
 O'Connor, F. 
 
 Williams, J. 
 
 Evans, Sir De L. 
 
 
 Osborne, R. 
 
 Wilson, M. 
 
 Evans, J. 
 
 
 Pearson, C. 
 
 
 Ewart, W. 
 
 
 Pechell, Capt. 
 
 Hume, J. 1 
 Cobden, R. \ ^''' 
 
 Fagan, W. 
 
 
 Pelo, S. M. 
 
1850.] Resignation of Sir Robert Peel to his Death. 365 
 
 estimates for the year, as set forth by the Premier on the i8th 
 of February, showed a deficit of more than ;£'2,ooo,ooo. To 
 meet this it was proposed to raise the income tax from seven- 
 pence to one shiUing in the pound, or from three to five per 
 cent, for the next two years. Cobden, Hume, and other 
 Radicals, urged that the proper way out of the difficulty was 
 not to increase taxation, but to reduce expenditure — -beginning 
 now a systematic attempt, continued for many years, in favour 
 of economy. The proposal to increase the income tax raised 
 so violent an opposition that on the 28th of February the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer came down to the House with 
 an amended budget, abandoning the unpopular increase. He 
 could devise no other method of meeting the deficiency 
 except the last resort of spendthrifts — that of borrowing money 
 to pay off debts. The scheme was laughed at, but there was 
 no help for it, and it had to be accepted. This condemnation 
 of their budget was not the only misfortune which befell 
 ministers. They were known to be weak, and the Peers, as 
 usual, took advantage of that fact to do as they liked with 
 Liberal measures. The Jewish Disabilities Bill, to carry out 
 the resolution passed in the autumn sitting, was read a second 
 time in the House of Commons on. the 7 th of February, by a 
 majority of seventy-three - and read a third time on the 4th of 
 May, by a majority of sixty-one ; but it was thrown out by 
 the Lords on the 2Sth of May, by a majority of thirty-five. 
 
 Irish affairs took up a good deal of the session. Another 
 Coercion Bill was passed, and the Incumbered Estates Act was 
 intended to facilitate the transfer of land in the hope that the 
 occupiers would be able, in some cases, to become the pur- 
 chasers. It produced but little effect, because, founded on 
 English notions, it only transferred the tenants' rights, as well 
 as those of the old owners, to the new purchasers, and thus 
 continued the greatest of all Irish grievances — the practical 
 forfeiture of the property of the occupier in the improvements 
 which were morally his own. The session closed on the Sth of 
 September. 
 
 Immediately after the prorogation, an event occurred 
 
366 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1846- 
 
 which considerably affected the relation of parties to each 
 other. On the 21st of September Lord George Bentinck 
 died at Welbeck. On the break-up of the Conservative party, 
 when Peel left office after the repeal of the corn laws, the 
 protectionists, who formed the majority of the party, were left 
 without any acknowledged leader in the House of Commons. 
 Lord Stanley was recognized as the chief of the party, but he 
 had no second in command to represent him in the Lower 
 House. Disraeli was undoubtedly the man who by ability 
 and courage had manifested his superiority, but it went 
 against the grain with the country squires to follow the lead 
 of a Hebrew romancist, whose peculiar abilities they feared as 
 much as they admired them. Under these circumstances, 
 Lord George, who had never been disposed to take a re- 
 sponsible part in affairs — having refused office when it was 
 offered to him by Sir Robert Peel — consented to assume the 
 position which no one else could fill. His leadership brought 
 no disgrace to the party, for he was a man of more than 
 ordinary ability, with the power of putting a case in clear and 
 incisive language. He had the sagacity also to appreciate the 
 services and the power of Disraeli, whom he treated rather as 
 a colleague in the leadership than as a follower. On the 
 death of Lord George there was ho question as to his suc- 
 cessor, and the squires fell into place under a commander 
 who had to educate before he could use them. One effect of 
 this acceptance of Disraeli's leadership was to cut off all 
 chance of a reconciliation between the Tories and the Peelites, 
 and the latter became more and more inclined to transfer 
 their great administrative ability and the influence of their 
 character in the country to the Liberal cause ; and the 
 Liberalism of the best of them was of a kind which could not 
 rest in Whiggism, but had a tendency to broaden itself and 
 rely increasingly upon direct sympathy with the masses of 
 the people. 
 
 Parliament met on the ist of February, 1849, the session 
 being opened by the Queen in person. The speech referred to 
 the civil war in Sicily ; the rebellion in the Punjaub ; the con- 
 
1850.J Resignation oj Sir Robert Peel to his Death. ^Qy 
 
 tinued disaffection in Ireland, and the distress caused there by 
 another failure of the potato crop ; and it recommended an 
 alteration or repeal of the navigation laws. This was not a 
 vigorous programme, but the Ministry were not in a vigorous 
 state. They had been from the first dependent upon the 
 assistance of the Peelites ; and that support, given heartily 
 until the policy of free trade seemed secure, was now, if not 
 withdrawn, at least considerably relaxed.* Whilst this was 
 the case with the leaders, it was natural that many of the rank 
 and file, who had left the Conservatives under the influence of 
 a national emergency, but were generally more in accord with 
 them than with the Liberals, should gradually return to 
 friendly relations with their old party. This state of affairs 
 gave trouble to the ministerial army on both wings, for it 
 encouraged the Tories on the one side, and the Radicals on 
 the other, to renewed exertions. 
 
 The Tories showed their sense of the improvement in their 
 prospects by moving amendments to the address in both 
 Houses, the two leaders, Stanley and Disraeli, taking the 
 initiative. The amendments declared — "That neither your 
 Majesty's relations with foreign powers, nor the state of the 
 revenue, nor the condition of the commercial and manufac- 
 turing interests, are such as to entitle us to address you in the 
 language of congratulation ; but that a large portion of the 
 agricultural and colonial interests of the empire are labouring 
 under a state of progressive depression, calculated to excite 
 serious apprehension and anxiety.'' In the Lords the amend- 
 ment was taken to a division, and the Ministry were only 
 saved from defeat by the aid of the Duke of Wellington, and 
 even by that help their majority was only two, the numbers 
 being fifty-two to fifty. The attack in the Commons was less 
 successful. It was opened by Disraeli, who marked and 
 justified his accession to the leadership by a speech of great 
 
 * " The session of 1849 was remarkable chiefly for the neutrality of Sir Robert 
 Peel, and for the state of debility into which the Ministry, in whom no man 
 reposed confidence, consequently fell." — Doubleday's Political Life of Sir Robert 
 Peel, vol. ii. p. 463. 
 
368 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1846- 
 
 brilHance and vigour. The debate lasted two nights. Minis- 
 ters had no help in the way of speaking from the Peelites, but 
 the opinion that they would receive their votes was confirmed 
 when, at the close of the second night's discussion, a motion 
 for further adjournment was defeated by 221 to 80 votes, and 
 the amendment was withdrawn. 
 
 In the debates in both Houses, Ministers were taunted 
 with having introduced in the speech the statement, that " the 
 present aspect of affairs has enabled me to make large re- 
 ductions on the estimates of last year," not from conviction, 
 but as a concession to pressure from the Radicals in and out 
 of Parliament. Stanley said, " I venture to state, openly and 
 fearlessly, that it is not the aspect, of affairs abroad or in 
 Ireland, but the aspect of affairs in another place, which has 
 induced the Government to make reductions." Disraeli had 
 made merry over their conversion to the principles of financial 
 reform ; and Cochrane said that they were influenced by a 
 pressure from without, and by a fear of Cobden. It was 
 perfectly true that there had been a very strong expression of 
 public feeling on the subject of economy. Associations for 
 promoting the cause of financial reform were established in 
 London, Edinburgh, and other large towns * — that of Liver- 
 pool being especially active in the diffusion of information and 
 the expression of opinion. That the Ministry should be in- 
 fluenced by a movement so general in its character was 
 natural enough ; the strange thing was, that it should be urged 
 as a charge against the head of a representative Government 
 that they were desirous of carrying out the undoubted wishes 
 of the people they were supposed to represent. 
 
 The opposition were right also in regarding Cobden as 
 being one of the most important leaders of the agitation. 
 The reputation which he had acquired during the corn law 
 agitation secured an amount of attention which his ability in 
 grasping, and explaining, financial and commercial questions 
 amply justified. He had, moreover, the way of putting such a 
 subject in a concrete and striking form, so as at once to attract 
 
 * "Annual Register," 1849, p. 153. 
 
i8so.] . Resignation of Sir Robert Peel to his Death. 369 
 
 attention and excite enthusiasm. His plan, which he had 
 developed during the recess, was to reduce the expenditure 
 by the suffl of ten millions, being the amount by which the 
 current outlay exceeded that of 1835. This proposal he 
 submitted to the House of Commons on the 26th of February, 
 when he moved a resolution setting forth — that the national 
 expenditure in 1835 was ;^44,422,ooo, whilst in 1849 it was 
 ^54,185,000; that the increase, owing mainly to augmen- 
 tations of war establishments, was not warranted by the 
 circumstances of the country ; and that it was expedient to 
 reduce the expenditure with all practicable speed to the sum 
 which was found sufficient in 1835. A short debate followed, 
 after which 78 voted for, and 275 against, the motion. The 
 minority was practically a Radical vote, Hume acting with 
 Cobden as teller. 
 
 This was not the only discussion on the subject. In 
 addition to the debates when the budget was introduced, 
 another special vote was taken. On the 8th of March 
 Disraeli brought forward a motion to relieve the burden of 
 the owners and occupiers of real property. This was a phase 
 of the new protectionist agitation which had been vigorously 
 commenced, and it was so treated in the discussion which 
 followed, and in that respect the division seemed likely to 
 form a more definite test of the strength of parties than had 
 yet been afforded in the present House. The financial aspect 
 of the resolution, however, gave Hume an opportunity of ^ 
 moving an amendment in favour of the reduction of the 
 expenditure as the only means of relief to any class. The 
 debate was twice adjourned, and the votes were taken on the 
 15th of March. There were — for Hume's Amendment, 70; 
 against it, 394 : and then came the party division, when 
 Disraeli obtained 1 89 votes to 280, being left in a minority of 
 ninety-one. This result was mainly owing to the votes of the 
 Peelites. It showed the Tories that they would be unable to 
 carry on the Government on protection principles ; and it was 
 no doubt remembered by the Conservative peers, when, on 
 the 8th of May, they declined to exercise the power which 
 
 2 B 
 
370 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. .[1846- 
 
 they possessed of throwing out the bill for repealing the 
 navigation laws, and thereby destroying the Ministry. 
 
 This bill had been hotly debated in the Commons, and it 
 had been carried by less than the usual free-trade majorities, 
 having been read a second time on the 13th of March by 
 266 to 210, and read a third time on the 23rd of April by 
 275 to 214. It came before the Peers for a second reading on 
 the 7th of May, which, after two nights' debate, was carried by 
 a majority of ten only. It was known that the Conservatives 
 could reject the bill if they chose, but they shrank from the 
 responsibility, and on the third reading they left the House, 
 and the measure passed. Another attempt was made at the 
 end of the session to shake that composite majority in the 
 Commons which was so fatal to- the Conservatives. On the 3rd 
 of July Disraeli moved that the House should resolve itself 
 into committee to consider the state of the nation ; but it led 
 rather to loss than to gain, the votes being — for, 156 ; against, 
 296, a heavier defeat than that of the i Sth of March. 
 
 Whilst the Government were being thus attacked by the 
 Tories on one side, the Radicals, on the other, displayed a 
 great amount of activity, which was warranted alike by the 
 ability of their leaders, their strength in the House, and their 
 possession of the confidence of the majority of the people. 
 The support of the Peelites was variable, and the hearty alle- 
 giance of a compact body of from eighty or ninety of the most 
 popular Liberals was of great importance. There was not at 
 this time any intention manifested by the Radicals to swerve 
 from their loyalty to the general Liberal party, but all the 
 same the earnestness of their convictions had to be taken into 
 account, and it was constantly widening the area of their 
 influence. On the question of Parliamentary reform they 
 made, during the session, several demonstrations, some in 
 detail, but one in general terms. On the 22nd of May 
 Tennyson D'Eyncourt moved for leave to bring in a bill for 
 shortening the duration of Parliament, and was defeated by a 
 majority of five in a small House ; and on the 24th of May 
 H. Berkeley introduced a motion in favour of the ballot, when 
 
1850.] Resignation of Sir Robert Peel to his Death. 371 
 
 the numbers were — for, 85 ; against, 136. It was on the 5th of 
 June that the more complete scheme was proposed by Hume, 
 who moved for leave to bring in a bill similar to that for 
 which he had asked last year — one that is to include house- 
 hold suffrage, ballot, triennial parliaments, and redistribution. 
 On a division 82 voted with, and 268 against, the veteran 
 reformer. The record of the numbers, however, was not 
 the most important part of the proceedings. The education 
 of some of the leading Whigs, and notably that of the 
 Premier himself, was being effected. In the course of his 
 speech on the motion, Russell was careful to repeat that he 
 saw nothing in the Reform Act, or in any opinion he had 
 expressed, that should debar him from adopting any plan by 
 which the basis of the suffrage might be widened in favour 
 of the working classes. In the course of a few years the 
 progress of education had gone on so far that Lord John 
 came to be considered by the official Whigs as being 
 definitely committed to some system of reform. What 
 seemed almost like the echo of an old agitation was heard 
 on the 3rd of July, when O'Connor introduced a motion in 
 favour of the charter, for which he obtained only thirteen 
 votes.* 
 
 The Radicals kept the mind of the nation alive on other 
 important matters, with regard to which immediate action 
 was not possible, but the formation of sound opinion was 
 desirable. On the 1 3th of March Trelawny moved — " That it 
 is the opinion of this House that effectual measures should be 
 immediately taken for the abolition of church rates." For 
 this he obtained the full vote of the party, a division giving 
 
 * The names were : — 
 
 Fox, W. J. O'Connell, J. Walmsley, Sir J. 
 
 Greene, J. Pearson, C. 
 
 Heyworth, L. Scholefield, W. O'Connor, F.i 
 
 Hume, J. Tancred, H. W. Crawford, S. J '' "'^"■ 
 
 Lushington, C. Thompson, Col. 
 
 Nugent, Lord Thompson, George 
 
 It may be noticed that Roebuck and Hindley, two of the authors of the 
 charter, who were both members of the House, Roebuck having been returned in 
 April for Sheffield, did not vote for the motion. 
 
3/2 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1846- 
 
 84 for, and 119 against. Mr. Bright acted as teller with 
 Trelawny. On the 12th of June Cobden moved a resolution in 
 favour of international arbitration, but was defeated by 176 
 votes to 79. During the session a great advance was made 
 towards the adoption of just principles in the management of 
 the colonies, and the foundation of independent representative 
 governments was laid. In this work Roebuck had for years 
 been actively engaged, and he and Molesworth rendered 
 service in the cause which deserves to be permanently 
 recorded. The session closed on the ist of August. 
 
 The protectionists had not yet given up the contest ; they 
 still openly sought for an opportunity to reverse the decision 
 in favour of free trade. In nothing did they differ so widely 
 from the great statesman from whom they had separated 
 themselves, as in this refusal to accept the verdict of the 
 nation when it had once been decisively pronounced. Sir 
 Robert Peel showed his wisdom most strikingly in this respect, 
 that he never would become a reactionist. He opposed the 
 Reform Bill, but when it was once passed he loyally accepted 
 it, and directed his policy to applying it so as to serve what 
 he believed to be the best purposes. If he had been opposed to 
 the repeal of the corn laws, he would never have sought to re- 
 impose them, at the cost of continued popular excitement and 
 the unsettlement of the whole commercial and financial 
 arrangements of the country. Stanley and Disraeli were not 
 so wise ; they would not accept the inevitable, and, striving 
 after the impossible, they lost the actual strength which they 
 might have obtained by a reconciliation with the bulk of the 
 Conservatives who were also free-traders. The agitation 
 which was kept up was disquieting, even if it was not 
 dangerous, and it was known that when Parliament again met 
 the contest would be renewed. 
 
 The session of 1850 was opened by commission on the 
 31st of January. In order to give the most effective answer 
 possible to the protectionists, and to show that the Govern- 
 ment were at one with the Radical free-traders on the 
 question, Mr. Villiers was specially asked to move the address 
 
1850.] Resignation of Sir Robert Peel to his Death. 373 
 
 in reply to the Queen's speech, which set forth that it was " a 
 source of sincere gratification to her Majesty to witness the 
 increased enjoyment of the necessaries and comforts of Hfe, 
 which cheapness and plenty have bestowed upon the great 
 body of her people." This selection of a mover was unusual 
 in two ways : Mr. Villiers was a borough member, and the 
 regular practice was for a county member to move the 
 address; and he was an old debater and party leader, and, as 
 such, outside the ranks of those usually chosen for so purely 
 ornamental a purpose. The choice, therefore, marked the 
 seriousness of the occasion, and his speech was regarded — and 
 deservedly so — as a national manifesto on behalf of com- 
 mercial freedom. The opinion of Parliament was at once 
 challenged, amendments being moved referring to agricultural 
 distress, and declaring it " mainly applicable, in our opinion, 
 to recent legislative enactments, aggravated by the pressure of 
 local taxation." Put in this plain way as an attack upon 
 recent legislation, the amendment received the hostility of the 
 whole of the Peelites ; it was, indeed, the proposition which 
 would insure to the Government the largest possible vote. In 
 the House of Lords it was moved by the Earl of Stradbroke, 
 and defeated by a majority of forty-nine ; and in the Commons 
 it was moved by Sir J. TroUope, and negatived by 311 
 against 192. 
 
 There were many of the Peelites, and some of the Whigs, 
 who, whilst refusing to re-open the question of protection, were 
 quite prepared to make concessions in other directions to the 
 land-owning class, to which they themselves belonged. To 
 these Disraeli appealed with more success when, on the 19th 
 of February, he moved for a committee of the whole House to 
 consider such a revision of the poor laws as might mitigate 
 the distress of the agricultural classes. The debate was 
 adjourned, and the division, taken on the 21st, differed widely 
 from that taken on the amendment to the address, the 
 numbers being— for the motion, 252; against it, 273, giving 
 ministers a majority of only twenty-one, whilst they had 
 secured a majority of 119 against TroUope's proposition. This 
 
374 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1846- 
 
 was a proof of the necessity of union between all sections of 
 Liberals. The same lesson, too, was enforced by the result of 
 another direct appeal in favour of protection on the 14th 
 of May, when Grantley Berkeley moved for a committee of 
 the whole House to consider the corn laws, and he was 
 defeated by 298 to 184. 
 
 The uncertain nature of the tenure on which they held 
 power convinced an increasing number of Liberals of the 
 necessity for some Parliamentary reform which should give 
 to what they believed to be the wishes of the majority of 
 the people, a more direct constitutional expression. The 
 Radicals, therefore, obtained larger votes than before on this 
 subject. The most important of these occasions was when 
 Hume, on the 28th of February, again moved for leave to 
 bring in a bill, similar to that for which he had asked in the 
 previous year, to provide for household suffrage, vote by 
 ballot, triennial parliaments, and redistribution. The motion, 
 which was seconded by Sir Joshua Walmsley, led but to a 
 short debate, in the course of which Russell said, that although 
 he negatived the motion, he did not therefore hold that the 
 existing limits of the franchise must be permanently main- 
 tained. On a division, there appeared for the motion 96; 
 against it, 242. As compared with the vote of 1849, this was 
 an increase of fourteen supporters, and a decrease of twenty- 
 six opponents. A still better result was obtained on the 
 resolution in favour of the ballot, introduced by H. Berkeley, 
 121 voting for it, and 176 against. On the 9th of July Locke 
 King moved for leave to bring in a bill to assimilate the 
 county to the borough franchise, for which he obtained one 
 hundred votes, the majority against it being fifty-nine. All 
 these motions, and the reception they met with, proved the 
 continuance of activity amongst the Radicals, and the growth 
 of opinion in the Liberal party generally. Nor was this 
 favourable condition affected by the fact that when O'Connor, 
 on the 1 2th of July, proposed a resolution in favour of the 
 Charter, the House was counted out. 
 
 The efforts to promote economy were continued. Without 
 
iSjoJ Resignation of Sir Robert Peel to his Death. 375 
 
 attaining all that its advocates desired, the agitation in and 
 out of Parliament had not been without result. The Govern- 
 ment had entered honestly into the desire for retrenchment, 
 and the budget of 1850 exhibited decreased estimates, and 
 a balance favourable to some reduction of the national bur- 
 dens. Encouraged rather than satisfied by this, Cobden, on 
 the 8th of March, upon the motion for going into committee of 
 supply, moved an amendment in favour of a reduction of the 
 national expenditure, and based his argument on the fact of 
 the unnecessary increase v^rhich had taken place since 1835. 
 Hume, of course, joined in this debate with the greatest readi- 
 ness, and he and Cobden were tellers in the division, when 89 
 members voted with them, and 272 against. An unexpected 
 turn was taken in this direction by H. Drummond, the eccen- 
 tric Irvingite Conservative, who on the 12th of March moved 
 a resolution for the reduction of taxation. Whatever were the 
 objects of the mover — Cayley, the seconder, openly advocated 
 protection — the Radicals looked only to the terms of the 
 motion, and voted for it, thus swelling the number of Ayes to 
 150, the Noes being 190. 
 
 Connecting the principle of responsible representative 
 government with the desire for financial reform, came the 
 proposal of Milner Gibson to establish county financial 
 boards. This was the formal commencement of the move- 
 ment for extending to the counties the same privilege of local 
 self-government enjoyed by the boroughs, a movement which 
 is yet awaiting its legitimate result, and the inception and 
 early advocacy of which were due to the Radicals. The bill 
 was favourably received by the Liberals generally. It was 
 introduced on the 5 th of February, passed the second reading 
 on the 15th of March, and was then referred to a select com- 
 mittee — a gentle method of extinction. Many other important 
 questions affecting the good government of the country and 
 the principles of civil and religious liberty, by which alone 
 that can be secured, were raised and supported by the Radi- 
 cals in the course of the year. Some of these were of a 
 character which deserved the early attention of Parliament, 
 
376 History of the Radical Party in Parliament [1846- 
 
 and the neglect or delay of which has been detrimental to the 
 country, and kept open controversies which ought long ago to 
 have been settled. In this class must be placed the proposal 
 made by Locke King, for an amendment of the land laws 
 by facilitating transfer and abolishing the law of primogeni- 
 ture. The motion was made on the 21st of March, 52 voting 
 for it, and no against. 
 
 By far the most important part of the work of the 
 Radical party at this time was that directed to the cause 
 of national education, which they sought to promote in many 
 ways and by various instrumentalities. The movement in 
 Parliament had been prepared for, as usual, by discussion 
 and agitation in the country. It is the old story over again. 
 The members of privileged classes ; the holders of hereditary 
 power ; the proprietors of vested interests ; the ecclesiastics 
 of a dominant sect ; — all the people to whom social or political 
 progress means inconvenience and loss of personal power or 
 influence, are constantly talking about the rashness and 
 inexperience of Radical politicians, and the danger of sub- 
 mitting the destinies of the country to the direction of the 
 mob. It is well to appeal from this cry of interested prejudice 
 to the facts of history and the teachings of experience, from 
 which we learn that there is scarcely a measure which has 
 tended to improve the moral, social, or intellectual condition 
 of the nation ; any course of policy which has given material 
 plenty, social and political liberty to the people, or infused 
 the principles of justice and the influence of conscience into 
 our foreign policy ; — which has not been originated by Radical 
 teachers, accepted by the unrepresented masses, and at last 
 forced by agitation upon Parliament and Government. 
 
 This was the case with regard to the legislation which 
 freed the material food of the people, and it was so with 
 respect to that more important intellectual food which elevates 
 the morals and vivifies the mind. The peer and the priest, 
 whilst they declared that ignorance ought to debar the many 
 from political power, yet held that knowledge was a dangerous 
 instrument to place in the hands of the people. So they 
 
i8so.] Resignation of Sir Robert Peel to his Death. 2>77 
 
 made teaching inaccessible, and books and newspapers dear, 
 and then said that power should always go with learning. 
 Against these doctrines the Radicals have always protested, 
 and from the time when Roebuck, in the first reformed 
 Parliament, raised the plea for national education, a constant 
 effort has been made on behalf of that object. The agitation 
 thus carried on was brought into a complete and systematic 
 form after the close of the free- trade struggle. In 1847 
 an association was formed in Manchester, which was after- 
 wards converted into the " National Public School Associa- 
 tion," the object of which was to promote the establishment 
 by law in England and Wales of a system of free schools, 
 supported by local rates and managed by elective local 
 authorities, to give secular instruction only, leaving to parents, 
 guardians, and religious teachers the inculcation of religion, 
 to afford opportunities for which it was proposed that the 
 schools should be closed at stated hours in each week. The 
 movement originated with Mr. Samuel Lucas, Mr. Jacob 
 Bright, Professor Hodgson, Mr. Alexander Ireland, Mr. George 
 Wilson, and the Rev. W. McKerrow. It won the support 
 of the best-known Liberal pohticians in the country, and Mr. 
 Cobden devoted a large part of his valuable life to secure 
 its success.* 
 
 On the 26th of February W. J. Fox moved in the House 
 of Commons for leave to bring in a bill for national education 
 founded mainly on the plan of the Public School Association, 
 but leaving religious instruction an open question, and giving 
 assistance to voluntary denominational schools for secular 
 results. Leave was given, and the bill was ordered to be 
 brought in by Fox, Henry, and Osborne. Between the intro- 
 duction and the second reading an agitation on both sides 
 was carried on, and the spirit of religious fanaticism was 
 
 * Adams, "History of the Elementary School Contest in England," pp. 151, 
 152. Mr. Adams says of this movement, "It had the benefit of the experience 
 and machinery of the Anti-Corn Law League. The Liberal press advocated it 
 almost unanimously. . . . Manchester now became the centre from which, under 
 various conditions, an agitation was maintained unceasingly until the passing of 
 the Education Act of 1870." 
 
37^ History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1846- 
 
 aroused. The debate on the second reading began on the 
 7th of April, and was continued on the 3rd of June. Russell 
 opposed the measure, objecting both to its secular character 
 and to the principle of free education. Sir R. Inglis accused 
 Mr. Fox of neglecting the eternal destiny of the children ; 
 Lord Ashley took a similar view, and the evangelical oppo- 
 nents were joined with equal vigour by the Roman Catholic 
 party.* The combination was too strong for the reformers, 
 and the bill was rejected by 287 votes to 58.t It was after 
 this defeat that, at a great conference at Manchester, the 
 Lancashire Association was converted into the " National 
 Public School Association," and the agitation was continued 
 with increased determination. 
 
 More immediate success attended another effort made 
 by the party to promote popular education. On the 14th 
 of February Ewart, who then sat for Dumfries, obtained 
 leave to bring in a bill to enable town councils to establish 
 
 * Adams, p. 154. He says, "From the high-priest point of view there was no 
 good in the scheme, but only visions of Democracy ! Socinianism ! Communism. ! 
 and Infidelity ! and all these because it was proposed to teach the alphabet." 
 
 t The following are the names of the members who were wise enough, in 1850, 
 to vote for a plan which the whole nation — when it was more efficiently represented 
 — declared to be necessary in 1870 : — 
 
 Adair, H. E. 
 
 Aglionby, H. A. 
 
 Anderson, A. 
 
 Anstey, T. C. 
 
 Armstrong, Sir A. 
 
 Bass, M. T. 
 
 Berkeley, Hon. H. F. 
 
 Bouverie, Hon. E. P. 
 
 Brotherton, J. 
 
 Browne, W. 
 
 Bunbury, E. H. 
 
 Cayley, E. 
 
 Clay, J. 
 
 Cobden, R. 
 
 Davie, Sir H. R. F. 
 
 Dawson, Hon. T. V. 
 
 D'Eyncourt, Rt. Hon. C. T. 
 
 Evans, Sir D. L. 
 
 Ewart, W. 
 
 Fergus, J. 
 
 Ferguson, Col. 
 
 Forster, M. 
 Fortescue, C. 
 Fox, W. J. 
 Green, J. 
 . Hall, Sir B. 
 Harris, R. 
 Henry, A. 
 Heywood, J. 
 Lushington, C. 
 Marshall, J. G. 
 Melgund, Visct. 
 Milnes, R. M. 
 Milton, Visct. 
 Mitchell, T. A. 
 Mowatt, F. 
 Muntz, G. F. 
 O'Connell, J. 
 Pechell, Sir G. B. 
 Pelham, Hon. D. A. 
 Romilly, Col. 
 Russell, F. C. H. 
 
 Sadleir, J. 
 Scholefield, W. 
 Smith, J. B. 
 Strickland, Sir G. 
 Stuart, Lord D. 
 Stuart, Lord J. 
 Tenison, E. K. 
 Thicknesse, R. A. 
 Thompson, Col. 
 Thornley, J. 
 Villiers, Hon. C. I 
 Wall, C. B. 
 Walmsley, Sir J. 
 Williams, J. 
 Willyams, H. 
 Wilson, M. 
 
 Gibson, T. M. ; 
 Hume, J. \ 
 
 Tellers. 
 
iSjo.] Resignation of Sir Robert Peel to his Death. 379 
 
 public libraries and museums. The bill, as passed, was 
 hampered by provisions which retarded its adoption and 
 limited its operations. Many of these have since been 
 removed, and the amount of good which the Act has 
 accomplished cannot easily be estimated. Including those 
 libraries established by private legislation, 113 towns in the 
 United Kingdom have adopted Library Acts. Every pro- 
 vincial town in England of more than 100,000 inhabitants, 
 except Hull, has adopted them. Apart from London, there are 
 in England and Wales sixty-three towns of over 40,000 in- 
 habitants apiece, with a population amounting altogether to 
 6,483>874. Forty-six of these towns have already adopted 
 the Acts, and, since they were the most populous of the 
 great towns, over five millions of the urban population of 
 England and Wales enjoy the benefits of public libraries, 
 supported by themselves and managed by themselves.* Ewart 
 also moved, on the 7th of May, a resolution to abolish the ad- 
 vertisement duty ; biit he was defeated by 1 69 to 39,the minority 
 being Radicals, and Milner Gibson acting with Ewart as teller. 
 In the contest which arose over the policy of the Govern- 
 ment — or rather of Lord Palmerston — respecting the differ- 
 ence with Greece over the Don Pacifico and Finlay claims," 
 the Radicals were divided. Roebuck and some others of the 
 party supported Palmerston, because they believed that he 
 intended to use the influence of England on behalf of consti- 
 tutional governments in other countries ; whilst Cobden, 
 Bright, and Gibson represented a large section who maintained 
 that strict non-intervention and non-interference were the true 
 lines on which the nation ought to act. The peculiarly arbi- 
 trary conduct of the foreign minister towards Greece and 
 France was scarcely defensible on any grounds, but this part 
 of the subject was dwelt upon lightly by the Government 
 advocates. The attack made in the House of Lords by 
 Stanley was successful, the vote of censure being carried by 
 
 * Notes of a paper read to the Metropolitan Free Libraries Association, by 
 Mr. H. R. Tedder reported in "Monthly Notes of the Library Association of the 
 United Kingdom," vol. iv. No. 12. 
 
380 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1846-1S50. 
 
 169 to 139. ' Ministers took no action in consequence of this 
 vote, and when questioned about it by Roebuck on the 20th of 
 June, Russell laid down a principle which is fatal to the claim 
 of the equality of the power of the Peers with that of the Com- 
 mons. He said that while a change of government in conse- 
 quence of a resolution of the House of Lords would be 
 unconstitutional, it might produce great confusion in the State, 
 and be to none so dangerous as to the House of Lords itself 
 So ministers intended to continue in that course which they 
 had hitherto followed, and which had been condemned by the 
 Peers. Roebuck, however, thought that the censure of one 
 House ought to be met by a vote of confidence in the other, 
 and he gave notice of his intention to propose such a resolution. 
 This he did on the 24th of June, and a long and spirited debate 
 followed, which was adjourned over four nights, the division 
 being taken on the 28th of June, when the Government 
 obtained a majority of forty-six, the numbers being 310 to 264. 
 The debate was rendered memorable by its being the 
 occasion of the delivery of the last speech which Sir Robert 
 Peel made in Parliament. He spoke against ministers, and 
 after alluding to the merits of the Greek dispute, addressed a 
 long and careful argument in favour of a policy of non-inter- 
 vention. He believed that the cause of constitutional liberty 
 would only be encumbered by our help, while, by obtruding that 
 help, we should involve this country in incalculable difficulties. 
 This speech was delivered on the 28th of June ; on the follow- 
 ing day he met with the accident which led to his death, and 
 he died on the 2nd of July. The sad event was felt by all 
 classes as a national calamity. There were differences of 
 opinion amongst politicians as to the effect upon public morality 
 of having measures carried by men who had long and 
 consistently opposed them : there was no difference on the 
 subject of the thorough conscientiousness of Peel on the two 
 great occasions when he had shattered his party by reversing 
 its policy, and there was a universal recognition of his ability. 
 The belief in his honesty, and the gratitude for his services 
 were as universal as was the sorrow for his loss. 
 
( 38i ) 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 FROM THE DEATH OF PEEL TO THE RESIGNATION OF THE 
 ABERDEEN MINISTRY (l 850-1 85 5). 
 
 The death of Peel had a great and almost immediate effect 
 upon the position and fortune of English parties. It was a 
 time when a change in the weight of personal influence made 
 itself felt in an extraordinary manner. The Liberals, as we 
 have seen, had a nominal majority of one only over the 
 combined forces of Peelites and Protectionists, who, although 
 strongly opposed on one subject, were united on general 
 Conservative principles. The occasional antagonism had, like 
 the quarrel of friends, aroused bitter personal feelings, which 
 hindered re-union even when its original cause was ceasing to 
 operate. The fiercest of these animosities had been directed 
 against Peel, because it was his powerful genius which had 
 induced the defections from the old party lines which had 
 twice carried into effect Liberal policy by Conservative votes. 
 His removal, therefore, paved the way for a gradual reconcili- 
 ation on the part of some at least of the men who had followed 
 him. On protection itself they could not give way, but short 
 of that they were willing to make concessions to the landed 
 interests, and they were anxious to prevent changes in Church 
 or State. 
 
 The Liberals on their side were divided in opinions, the 
 Radicals being desirous to force on reforms, to which a large 
 section of the Whigs were opposed. So far as the death of Sir 
 Robert removed a hindrance to union between the two sections 
 of the Conservatives, it made the ministers more dependent 
 
382 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- 
 
 upon the Radicals. If did more than that, for, as it tended 
 more to equalize the balance of political power, it convinced 
 some at least of the Liberal leaders that important changes 
 must be made. A step might be taken in one of two 
 directions. A coalition with a considerable number of the 
 Peelites would give the Government a fair working majority ; 
 but it was doubtful how many of the rank and file the leaders 
 would carry with them in an alliance, which would mean the 
 adoption to some extent of Liberal policy. On the other hand, 
 the Whigs, if they were not careful, were likely to lose as much 
 by the secession of Radicals as they would gain by Peelite ad- 
 hesions; and they would lose, besides, that hold upon public 
 opinion which would be secured by loyalty to Liberalism, even 
 if it did not take a very active form. There was only one other 
 course, and that was called for as much by the absolute neces- 
 sities of Government as by the interests of the Whigs themselves. 
 If they could not strengthen themselves by coalition with Con- 
 servatives they must gain power on the Liberal side, and as it 
 seemed impossible to do that with the existing constituencies, 
 a reform in the system of representation was clearly desirable. 
 The position was difficult to manage, and ministers were 
 most unfortunate in their attempt to deal with it. They tried 
 both methods, but did not succeed well with either. Their first 
 efforts were directed to coalition, but an event occurred soon 
 after the loss of Sir Robert Peel which complicated affairs 
 considerably, and very much deranged party calculations. 
 Parliament was prorogued on the 15th of August, 1850, in the 
 midst, as it was thought, of a political calm ; but in a couple 
 of months later the country was in a blaze of excitement and 
 indignation over what was known as the " Papal aggression." 
 By a brief, dated the 30th of September, Pope Pius IX. created 
 one archbishopric and twelve bishoprics in England with 
 English territorial titles. This brief was promulgated in 
 England with a pastoral by Cardinal Wiseman, the newly 
 created Archbishop of Westminster, dated the 7th of October. 
 Both these documents were pitched in a key of triumph on the 
 restoration of England to the pale of the Roman Catholic 
 
iSssO Death of Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 383 
 
 Church. The matter and the style were both offensive to the 
 feelings of English Protestants, and especially to the clergy 
 of the Anglican Establishment. The anti-popery cry was 
 immediately raised with great vigour, and unfortunately Lord 
 John Russell joined in the agitation, and in a letter to the 
 Bishop of Durham, dated the 4th of November, he said, " The 
 present state of the law shall be carefully examined, and 
 the propriety of adopting any proceedings with reference to the 
 recent assumptions of power deliberately considered." The 
 -Government was thus suddenly committed to action in a case 
 where, as it afterwards proved, effective legal action was 
 impossible. 
 
 It was in the midst of the excitement caused by these events 
 that Parliament met on the 4th of February, 185 1. It was not 
 long before ministers found that, however sincere may have been 
 their conviction that an offence had been committed by the 
 pope, they had made a grave political error in their haste to 
 deal with a religious question by the action of the law. When 
 they came to consider the course which it was possible for 
 them to take, they could propose no remedy which did 
 not seem ridiculously feeble when compared with the evil 
 which they described. They found, also, that they were 
 opposed by the two sections of politicians, from one or other 
 of which alone they could derive support enough to maintain 
 themselves in power. The Peelites and the ablest of the 
 Radicals alike declared themselves against the policy adopted 
 by the Ministry, and they had to rely for anything like hearty 
 approval of their policy upon the most bigoted section of the 
 old Tory party. There was no amendment to the address, 
 but Roebuck, immediately after it had been moved and 
 seconded, rose and expressed the pain he felt at finding an 
 Administration calling itself Liberal about to take a back- 
 ward step. 
 
 The Government Bill was introduced on the 7th of 
 February by the Premier. Lord John had to admit that, after 
 consultation with the law officers of the Crown, he found that 
 neither by the common nor statute law could the mere assump- 
 
384 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- 
 
 tion of titles be prosecuted as an offence. To proscribe such 
 assumption was, therefore, clearly an infringement of existing 
 liberties. The motion to bring in the bill was resisted by 
 Roebuck, Bright, Hume, and Frederick Peel, and it was sup- 
 ported in a contemptuous speech which was worse than 
 opposition by Disraeli. The debate was continued through 
 four nights, although on the 14th of February the votes 
 were — for the introduction, 395, and against it only 6^. But 
 the moral effect of the measure was gone, and ministers, while 
 certain to carry it through Parliament, were equally certain to. 
 lose in character and influence by their action. Before the 
 time came for the further stages of the bill to be entered upon, 
 the weakness of the Government had been demonstrated in 
 the House and acknowledged by themselves. The proper 
 exponents of the cry of religious intolerance to which the 
 Whigs had bowed, were the extreme Church and State Tories ; 
 for any section of Liberals would be bound, even whilst they 
 introduced, to limit the terms of, repression. 
 
 The first sign of ministerial unpopularity was given on the 
 occasion of a resolution moved by Disraeli on the nth of 
 February, declaring — " That the severe distress which continues 
 to exist among the owners and occupiers of land, lamented in 
 her Majesty's speech, renders it the duty of the Government 
 to introduce without delay measures for their effectual relief" 
 The motion was debated for two nights, and ministers were 
 supported in their resistance to it by the Radicals and the 
 Peelite leaders. It did not appear, however, that the latter 
 could rally the full strength of their party against a resolution 
 which did not nominally set up the principle of protection, and 
 the death of Peel had already done something to weaken the 
 bonds of union. When the division was taken on the 13th 
 of February, there voted for the motion, 267 ; against it, 281, 
 leaving Government with a majority of only fourteen. In the 
 previous year a resolution of a similar character had been re- 
 jected in a smaller House by a larger majority. This proof of 
 waning power was followed by another still more embarrass- 
 ing, the attack coming then from the opposite quarter. 
 
i8s5.] Death of Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 385 
 
 An increasing number of Liberals were beginning to feel 
 that the only way in which legitimate strength was to be 
 gained for their principles was not by clever trimming 
 between opposing sections in Parliament, but by some 
 change in the representative system by which public opinion 
 could make itself more directly felt. This feeling was ap- 
 pealed to by Locke King, who, on the 20th of February, 
 moved for leave to bring in a bill to assimilate the county 
 and borough franchises. Lord John Russell now made a 
 statement which showed that his education had advanced 
 very rapidly. He did not restrict himself to a general state- 
 ment that he was not absolutely opposed to all reform, but 
 said that some reform was desirable, and that a measure 
 should be introduced for a further extension of the suffrage. 
 There were reasons, however, why such a measure should 
 not be brought in this session, though there would be no reason 
 why it should not be brought before the House at the com- 
 mencement of the next session ; and if he were a member of 
 the Government then, he should feel it his duty to lay such a 
 proposal before Parliament. This was a definite promise which 
 was very acceptable to the reformers ; it encouraged them, 
 however, to push the present motion to division, when they 
 obtained a majority of forty-eight against the Ministry, the 
 numbers being one hundred to fifty-two. 
 
 The climax was reached when the financial proposals of 
 the Government were received with such general expressions 
 of disapproval that it was evident that they could be carried 
 only with great difficulty. The accounts showed a surplus of 
 ;^ 1, 890,000, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed to 
 appropriate iJ 1,000,000 to repayment of debt, and part of the 
 remainder to the conversion of the window tax into a kind of 
 house duty, and to continue the income tax. The strongest 
 objections were raised to the maintenance of the income tax 
 and the refusal to repeal the window tax unconditionally. The 
 financial statement was made on the 17th of February ; on the 
 20th the division took place on the Franchise Bill, and on the 
 2 1st the Ministry resigned. Such rapid acts of statesmanship 
 
 2 C 
 
386 History of the Radical Party in Parliament [1850- 
 
 had rarely ever been witnessed in the English Parliament. 
 The Houses had only been in session a little over a fortnight, 
 and already three important divisions had taken place, parties 
 had displayed themselves in new combinations, and a Govern- 
 ment had retired. The various causes which led to the 
 resignation did not prepare the way for a strong Ministry to 
 succeed. The Peelites seemed to hold the fate of Government 
 in their hands, but they were so peculiarly placed that they 
 could not definitely ally themselves with either party, although, 
 as was explained by Lord John Russell and Lord Stanley, 
 they were applied to by both.* They could not agree with 
 the Tory party on account of its continued adherence to pro>- 
 tection, and there were other political and personal grounds 
 which made such a coalition impossible. The personal reasons- 
 may be understood from the violent attack which, when he 
 was, a few months later, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Disraeli, 
 levelled at Graham and his friends. The cause which kept 
 Whigs and Peelites apart was a more isolated and less per- 
 manent one — the course which the former had taken with 
 respect to the papal aggression. Russell had already begun to 
 find out the mistake he had made in this business, and he 
 offered to modify hjs bill in almost any way to suit the views 
 of the Peelites. No modification, however, would meet the 
 case, and complete withdrawal was impossible. 
 
 So all negotiations went off, and there was nothing left but 
 for the old Ministry to return to office — with a knowledge, 
 however, that the way had been opened for an ultimate union 
 with the party which held the balance of power in its hands. 
 The position and the immediate duty of the Radicals were 
 alike affected by these transactions. They were Liberals and 
 free-traders, and were of necessity anxious to prevent the 
 accession to power of that Tory section of the Conservative 
 party who were avowedly reactionary with respect to com- 
 mercial policy, and opposed to any advance in the direction of 
 constitutional liberty ; who regarded the agitation for reform 
 
 * The full statements were made on the 28th of February, in the Lords by- 
 Lord Stanley, in the Commons by Lord John Russell. 
 
1855.] Death of. Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 387 
 
 as the " tide of democracy " which they were called upon to 
 stem. Some concession, too, had been made by ministers, 
 and the Premier had pledged himself to introduce a bill for 
 the extension of the franchise. It was not probable that more 
 than this could be gained by direct pressure, and it was 
 uncertain whether the increased dependence on the Peelites, 
 which must result from the defection of Radicals, would not 
 tend to Conservative rather than to Liberal action. All possi- 
 bility of future power for the popular party depended upon 
 some amendment of the parliamentary system by which the 
 people would be able to speak for themselves. The promise 
 of some advance made by Russell tended, therefore, to repress 
 separate action on the part of the Radicals, and so to prevent 
 the better organization which would have enabled them to 
 secure that direct representation in the Government which 
 their numbers and ability would have justified them in 
 demanding. 
 
 When the Ministry, therefore, was reconstructed, the 
 Radicals had to pursue their old course of securing, not 
 practical adoption, but continuous discussion of their policy. 
 On the 2nd of April Locke King's bill for extending the 
 franchise in counties came up for second reading. On this 
 occasion the Whigs, who had supported its introduction, now 
 returned to their strict obedience to Government, and Tories 
 and Peelites went the same way, with the result that 299 voted 
 against the bill, and 83 for it. This number represented 
 the solid Radical vote. On the 2nd of May Fox moved 
 a resolution in favour of the establishment of free schools for 
 secular instruction, under representative local management, 
 and was defeated by 139 to 49. A larger number supported 
 Berkeley when, on the 8th of July, he introduced his annual 
 motion for the ballot. This proposal had always secured 
 more support than any other branch of reform, and it now 
 obtained 1 29 votes, 242 being recorded against it. 
 
 The Government, by the aid of one section or other of 
 their opponents and allies, got through the business of the 
 session without further disaster. They amended their budget, 
 
388 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- 
 
 consenting to the absolute repeal of the window tax, and 
 defeating a formal amendment challenging their financial 
 policy, which Disraeli moved on the 30th of June, by a 
 majority of 242 to 229. They also passed their Ecclesiastical 
 Titles Bill, with many concessions and amendments, in a final 
 form which, after the fierce prelude by which it was intro- 
 duced, was perfectly ridiculous — all the thunders of ministers 
 and bigots resulting in a clause by which any person using 
 such titles as those created by the pope should be subject to 
 a fine of ;£'iOO. Weak as the provisions were, they proved 
 entirely unworkable, and it was not long before the sound 
 policy of Radicals and Peelites was openly justified by the 
 repeal of the Act. On the 8th of August the session which 
 had witnessed such unexpected changes was brought to a 
 close. 
 
 Again the recess proved as fruitful in important events as 
 the session, and when Parliament re-assembled, on the 3rd of 
 February, 1852, it was met by a Ministry which had lost one 
 of its strongest, most self-reliant, and, as far as Parliament 
 went, its most popular members. In December of 185 1 Louis 
 Napoleon had accomplished his great coup d'/tat ; had 
 destroyed the constitution which he had sworn to maintain ; 
 had imprisoned the members of the assembly who dared to 
 resist his will ; had deluged the streets of Paris with blood ; 
 and bad banished from France the most distinguished men 
 who had served her in politics, in arms, in literature, in art, 
 or in any form to which independent thought was necessary. 
 To the author of these crimes the Foreign Minister of England 
 had hastened to express approval and sympathy, and he had 
 been dismissed from his office. It was a righteous judgment, 
 but it was not awarded in consequence of the real offence. 
 The Foreign Secretary was dismissed, not because he had 
 shocked the moral sense of the country, and committed 
 England to the praise of assassination and the encouragement 
 of a conspirator ; but because he had broken through the 
 routine of court and official etiquette, and had not informed 
 his chief or his sovereign of his intentions before they were 
 
i8ss.] Death of Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 389 
 
 carried out.* Palmerston, whilst he had outraged public 
 feeling by his hasty approval of the coup d'etat, had given 
 some satisfaction to the people by the favourable views he 
 was known to have entertained towards Kossuth, the Hun- 
 garian patriot, who, in the autumn of 1850, had visited 
 England, but had been denied that official reception which, 
 but for the pressure of the Premier, the Foreign Minister, it 
 was thought, was willing to allow. 
 
 There would, therefore, be necessarily much difference of 
 opinion as to the propriety of Palmerston's dismissal ; but it 
 was evident to every one that, necessary or not, it would be a 
 serious loss to the Government, and materially weaken them 
 in Parliament. In less than a month he had shown his power, 
 and revenged himself on the Ministry by its destruction. 
 This action left Lord John with only just time to introduce 
 and describe the new Reform Bill, of which all that can be 
 said is, that it was useful as a definite official declaration of 
 the necessity for a change. On the 9th of February Russell 
 moved for leave to bring in a bill which was to lower the 
 borough franchise from a ;^io to a ;^5 rating qualification ; to 
 give county votes to ;^20 rated occupiers, and to persons who 
 paid forty shillings a year assessed taxes and lived outside 
 a borough ; to enlarge some small boroughs, but not dis- 
 franchise any ; to abolish property qualification ; to alter the 
 oath which excluded Jews from Parliament ; and to make 
 some slight changes in the Scotch and Irish franchises. The 
 announcement of the provisions of the measure was received 
 without enthusiasm. It was accepted by the Radicals, but not 
 as a satisfactory proposal ; and it was evident that it had no 
 element of vitality, and could make no appeal to that popular 
 support which alone could overcome the dead weight of 
 opposition on both sides of the House. Leave was given for 
 its introduction, and that was the last that was heard of it, 
 until the author himself moved its abandonment The only 
 
 * The account of the transactions is given in Lord Russell's speech in Parlia- 
 ment on the opening of Parliament on the 3rd of February, and in Martin's " Life 
 of the Prince Consort," ch. xliv. 
 
390 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- 
 
 reason why the bill received any attention was that it had 
 been introduced by the Premier, and soon Lord John ceased 
 to hold that position. 
 
 The catastrophe happened on the 20th of February, when 
 Russell moved for leave to bring in a bill for the amendment 
 of the militia law and for the maintenance of a local militia. A 
 description of the proposed measure had been given on the 1 6th 
 of February, and Palmerston had then intimated his intention 
 to move amendments, which he now proceeded to do. His 
 proposal was to continue the form of a general militia, and 
 to increase and strengthen it, and he moved to omit the word 
 "local " from the description, and to add the word "consolidate." 
 The issue was as to the nature of the force to be raised, and 
 that was clearly a matter for the Ministry, and to alter their 
 proposition would be an expression of want of confidence ; 
 for if they could not be trusted to arrange for the national 
 defence, they could not be really the Government. After 
 some debate, a division was taken which resulted in the defeat 
 of ministers, the numbers being — for Lord John's motion, 1 26 ; 
 against, 135. In the division most of the Radicals had voted 
 with ministers, and the Peelites and Tories with Palmerston.* 
 The Premier said he considered that the vote showed that 
 ministers had no longer the confidence of the House, and the . 
 natural result followed. On the 23rd of February the resig- 
 nation of the Government was formally announced, and the 
 Earl of Derby f had undertaken to form an administration. 
 
 There was no choice but to submit to a Tory Govern- 
 ment, unless a dissolution had been determined on, and that, 
 indeed, would not have been likely to change the relative 
 strength of parties. A coalition between the Whigs and the 
 Peelites would, on grounds of general policy, have been pos- 
 sible ; but on this particular occasion Russell's followers and 
 the Peelites had been in different lobbies, and an immediate 
 
 * Amongst the supporters of Government were W. J. Fox, Milner Gibson, 
 Sir B. Hall, Hindley, and Hume ; on the other side were Gladstone, Herbert' 
 Palmer, Disraeli, and Lord John Manners. 
 
 + Lord Stanley had succeeded to this title on the death of his father on the 
 30th of June, 1 85 1. 
 
i8s5.] Death of Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 391 
 
 junction was impracticable. There must therefore be another 
 Ministry on sufferance, not only without a majority in the 
 House of Commons, but known to be opposed to the opinion 
 of the country generally on the most. immediately interesting 
 political subject— that of free trade. On this very question, 
 which they were pledged to raise in some form or other, they 
 were met by the combined hostility of all other parties, 
 Russellites, Palmerstonians, Peelites, Radicals — all were deter- 
 mined to resist the change which the only possible Ministry 
 were obliged to propose. The position was too confused and 
 complicated to be permanent. The Radical free-traders, at 
 all events, were determined that public opinion should be 
 heard ; and on the 2nd of March the Anti-Corn Law League 
 was revived at a meeting, when ;^ 27,000 was subscribed in 
 ten minutes in order to support a determined agitation against 
 any return to protection. Approaches had been made by the 
 new Premier to Palmerston, but this question of protection 
 made impossible a coalition, which else might well have been 
 effected, for it was in free trade alone that Palmerston was 
 a Liberal, and he was a determined opponent of any advance 
 in the direction of Parliamentary reform. 
 
 On the 27th of February the new Premier explained in 
 the House of Lords the policy which he intended to pursue. 
 He did not disguise the fact that he was in favour of a duty 
 on corn, but he did not propose to introduce any legislation 
 on the subject until an opportunity had been given of a 
 " reference to the well-understood and clearly expressed 
 opinion of the intelligent portion of the community." There 
 was to be no corn law until there had been a dissolution, 
 but the Government were anxious to obtain a decision in 
 favour of one. Of course the Tories would not proceed with 
 the Reform Bill ; and as to education, which, Russell had said, 
 ought to follow the extension of the franchise. Lord Derby 
 " did not care for the mere acquirement of temporal knowledge 
 or the development of the intellectual faculties, but for that 
 education which was built on the basis of all knowledge — the 
 study of the Scriptures." For the promotion of such educa- 
 
392 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1830- 
 
 tion he relied with confidence on the Established Church, and 
 to uphold that Church in its integrity was not only the 
 interest but the duty of Government. The Radicals, at least, 
 were warned of the effect, financially, politically, and socially, 
 of having a Tory Ministry in office, and the warning may 
 account for a good deal of endurance of delay and neglect 
 on the part of Liberal Administrations, when the alternative 
 was a system so reactionary and obstructive. 
 
 It was, under the circumstances, impossible that any 
 measure involving controversial principles could be carried 
 or even proposed. The Government were continually re- 
 ceiving notice of the frailty of their tenure of power, and, 
 under the form of requests for an explanation of their policy, 
 were reminded that a dissolution was expected, and that they 
 must act only with moderation until it had taken place. 
 Several useful bills were introduced and carried. The militia 
 was enlarged and reorganized, and some legal reforms were 
 effected. The budget was essentially a provisional one, for 
 the commercial policy of the country could not, under the 
 circumstances, be touched ; and the income and property 
 tax was simply continued for another year. The Whigs, of 
 course, could make no important proposals ; but the Radicals 
 were free to continue the policy of educational agitation, which 
 it was their special duty to carry on, and the opportunity was 
 favourable for the work. There was no Liberal Government 
 to be injured by a resolution in favour of reform, as had 
 happened with the division on Locke King's motion, and 
 therefore the way was open for a good vote. The .strength 
 of the party was not, however, materially increased, thus 
 showing that it was not only the leaders, but the majority 
 of the Whigs who required education. 
 
 On the 2Sth of March Hume brought on his annual 
 motion for electoral reform and the ballot, and was defeated, 
 receiving 89 votes to 155. On the 30th of the same month 
 H. Berkeley brought on the question of the ballot separately, 
 and as usual obtained a larger amount of support, the numbers 
 being — Ayes, 144; Noes, 246. The introduction by Locke 
 
i85S.] Death of Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 393 
 
 King of a resolution in favour of the assimilation of the county 
 to the borough franchise, which he moved on the 27th of April, 
 led to an important discussion, in the course of which Disraeli 
 said that the Reform Act contained one great deficiency — a 
 want of consideration of the rights of the working classes to 
 the franchise, and he professed that the Government would 
 be ready to consider any well-devised plan for repairing the 
 deficiency. The debate on the whole was encouraging, and so 
 were the numbers — 149 votes for the resolution, and 202 against. 
 Milner Gibson continued his efforts to obtain a repeal of the 
 taxes on knowledge, and was evidently gaining strength. On 
 the 22nd of April he proposed — " That arrangements be made 
 that will afford a repeal of the paper duty." The debate was 
 adjourned to the 12th of May, and on a division there were 
 107 votes for, and 195 against. In nothing was the foresight 
 of the Radicals better illustrated than in their proposals with 
 regard to Irish affairs. Crawford was amongst the first to 
 insist that it was essential to the well-being of that country 
 that the system of land tenure should be amended. He 
 introduced a bill to secure tenant right, which, after being 
 once talked out, came on for second reading on the 5th of 
 May, when it was defeated by 107 to 57. Amongst those 
 who were wise enough to vote for it were Cobden, Bright, and 
 Walmsley, but they were wise before their time ; it wanted 
 distress, disturbance, and almost revolution, to convince the 
 English Parliament that Irish ideas ought to be represented 
 in Irish legislation. 
 
 The Parliament was prorogued and dissolved on the ist of 
 July, and it was remitted to the constituencies to settle finally 
 whether or not the food of the people should be taxed for the 
 advantage, nominally of the agricultural community, really for 
 that of the landowners. Even before the dissolution arrange- 
 ments had been commenced for some combination by which 
 the Tory Government should be displaced, and they went on 
 more actively immediately after that event. On the 21st of 
 July Russell had expressed his opinion that the Peelites had 
 three courses before them — first, to stand aloof, as they had 
 
384 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- 
 
 tion of titles be prosecuted as an offence. To proscribe such 
 assumption was, therefore, clearly an infringement of existing 
 liberties. The motion to bring in the bill was resisted by- 
 Roebuck, Bright, Hume, and Frederick Peel, and it was sup- 
 ported in a contemptuous speech which was worse than 
 opposition by Disraeli. The debate was continued through 
 four nights, although on the 14th of February the votes 
 were— for the introduction, 395, and against it only 63. But 
 the moral effect of the measure was gone, and ministers, while 
 certain to carry it through Parliament, were equally certain to. 
 lose in character and iniluence by their action. Before the 
 time came for the further stages of the bill to be entered upon, 
 the weakness of the Government had been demonstrated in 
 the House and acknowledged by themselves. The proper 
 exponents of the cry of religious intolerance to which the 
 Whigs had bowed, were the extreme Church and State Tories ; 
 for any section of Liberals would be bound, even whilst they 
 introduced, to limit the terms of, repression. 
 
 The first sign of ministerial unpopularity was given on the 
 occasion of a resolution moved by Disraeli on the 1 1 th of 
 February, declaring — " That the severe distress which continues 
 to exist among the owners and occupiers of land, lamented in 
 her Majesty's speech, renders it the duty of the Government 
 to introduce without delay measures for their effectual relief" 
 The motion was debated for two nights, and ministers were 
 supported in their resistance to it by the Radicals and the 
 Peelite leaders. It did not appear, however, that the latter 
 could rally the full strength of their party against a resolution 
 which did not nominally set up the principle of protection, and 
 the death of Peel had already done something to weaken the 
 bonds of union. When the division was taken on the 13th 
 of February, there voted for the motion, 267 ; against it, 281, 
 leaving Government with a majority of only fourteen. In the 
 previous year a resolution of a similar character had been re- 
 jected in a smaller House by a larger majority. This proof of 
 waning power was followed by another still more embarrass- 
 ing, the attack coming then from the opposite quarter. 
 
i8s5.] Death of Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 385 
 
 An increasing number of Liberals were beginning to feel 
 that the only way in which legitimate strength was to be 
 gained for their principles was not by clever trimming 
 between opposing sections in Parliament, but by some 
 change in the representative system by which public opinion 
 could make itself more directly felt. This feeling was ap- 
 pealed to by Locke King, who, on the 20th of February, 
 moved for leave to bring in a bill to assimilate the county 
 and borough franchises. Lord John Russell now made a 
 statement which showed that his education had advanced 
 very rapidly. He did not restrict himself to a general state- 
 ment that he was not absolutely opposed to all reform, but 
 said that some reform was desirable, and that a measure 
 should be introduced for a further extension of the suffrage. 
 There were reasons, however, why such a measure should 
 not be brought in this session, though there would be no reason 
 why it should not be brought before the House at the com- 
 mencement of the next session ; and if he were a member of 
 the Government then, he should feel it his duty to lay such a 
 proposal before Parliament. This was a definite promise which 
 was very acceptable to the reformers ; it encouraged them, 
 however, to push the present motion to division, when they 
 obtained a majority of forty-eight against the Ministry, the 
 numbers being one hundred to fifty-two. 
 
 The climax was reached when the financial proposals of 
 the Government were received with such general expressions 
 of disapproval that it was evident that they could be carried 
 only with great difficulty. The accounts showed a surplus of 
 i^ 1, 890,000, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed to 
 appropriate ;^ 1,000,000 to repayment of debt, and part of the 
 remainder to the conversion of the window tax into a kind of 
 house duty, and to continue the income tax. The strongest 
 objections were raised to the maintenance of the income tax 
 and the refusal to repeal the window tax unconditionally. The 
 financial statement was made on the 17th of February ; on the 
 20th the division took place on the Franchise Bill, and on the 
 2 1 St the Ministry resigned. Such rapid acts of statesmanship 
 
 2 C 
 
386 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- 
 
 had rarely ever been witnessed in the English Parliament. 
 The Houses had only been in session a little over a fortnight, 
 and already three important divisions had taken place, parties 
 had displayed themselves in new combinations, and a Govern- 
 ment had retired. The various causes which led to the 
 resignation did not prepare the way for a strong Ministry to 
 succeed. The Peelites seemed to hold the fate of Government 
 in their hands, but they were so peculiarly placed that they 
 could not definitely ally themselves with either party, although, 
 as was explained by Lord John Russell and Lord Stanley, 
 they were applied to by both.* They could not agree with 
 the Tory party on account of its continued adherence to pro- 
 tection, and there were other political and personal grounds 
 which made such a coalition impossible. The personal reasons 
 may be understood from the violent attack which, when he 
 was, a few months later. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Disraeli, 
 levelled at Graham and his friends. The cause which kept 
 Whigs and Peelites apart was a more isolated and less per- 
 manent one — the course which the former had taken with 
 respect to the papal aggression. Russell had already begun to 
 find out the mistake he had made in this business, and he 
 offered to modify his bill in almost any way to suit the views 
 of the Peelites. No modification, however, would meet the 
 case, and complete withdrawal was impossible. 
 
 So all negotiations went off, and there was nothing left but 
 for the old Ministry to return to office — with a knowledge, 
 however, that the way had been opened for an ultimate union 
 with the party which held the balance of power in its hands. 
 The position and the immediate duty of the Radicals were 
 alike affected by these transactions. They were Liberals and 
 free-traders, and were of necessity anxious to prevent the 
 accession to power of that Tory section of the Conservative 
 party who were avowedly reactionary with respect to com- 
 mercial pohcy, and opposed to any advance in the direction of 
 constitutional liberty ; who regarded the agitation for reform 
 
 * The full statements were made on the 28th of February, in the Lords by 
 Lord Stanley, in the Commons by Lord John Russell. 
 
i8s5.] Death of_Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 387 
 
 as the " tide of democracy " which they were called upon to 
 stem. Some concession, too, had been made by ministersy 
 and the Premier had pledged himself to introduce a bill for 
 the extension of the franchise. It was not probable that more 
 than this could be gained by direct pressure, and it was 
 uncertain whether the increased dependence on the Peelites, 
 which must result from the defection of Radicals, would not 
 tend to Conservative rather than to Liberal action. All possi- 
 bility of future power for the popular party depended upon 
 some amendment of the parliamentary system by which the 
 people would be able to speak for themselves. The promise 
 of some advance made by Russell tended, therefore, to repress 
 separate action on the part of the Radicals, and so to prevent 
 the better organization which would have enabled them to 
 secure that direct representation in the Government which 
 their numbers and ability would have justified them in 
 demanding. 
 
 When the Ministry, therefore, was reconstructed, the 
 Radicals had to pursue their old course of securing, not 
 practical adoption, but continuous discussion of their policy. 
 On the 2nd of April Locke King's bill for extending the 
 franchise in counties came up for second reading. On this 
 occasion the Whigs, who had supported its introduction, now 
 returned to their strict obedience to Government, and Tories 
 and Peelites went the same way, with the result that 299 voted 
 against the bill, and 83 for it. This number represented 
 the solid Radical vote. On the 2nd of May Fox moved 
 a resolution in favour of the establishment of free schools for 
 secular instruction, under representative local management, 
 and was defeated by 139 to 49. A larger number supported 
 Berkeley when, on the 8th of July, he introduced his annual 
 motion for the ballot. This proposal had always secured 
 more support than any other branch of reform, and it now 
 obtained 1 29 votes, 242 being recorded against it. 
 
 The Government, by the aid of one section or other of 
 their opponents and allies, got through the business of the 
 session without further disaster. They amended their budget, 
 
388 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- 
 
 consenting to the absolute repeal of the window tax, and 
 defeating a formal amendment challenging their financial 
 policy, which Disraeli moved on the 30th of June, by a 
 majority of 242 to 229. They also passed their Ecclesiastical 
 Titles Bill, with many concessions and amendments, in a final 
 form which, after the fierce prelude by which it was intro- 
 duced, was perfectly ridiculous — all the thunders of ministers 
 and bigots resulting in a clause by which any person using 
 such titles as those created by the pope should be subject to 
 a fine of ;^iOO. Weak as the provisions were, they proved 
 entirely unworkable, and it was not long before the sound 
 policy of Radicals and Peelites was openly justified by the 
 repeal of the Act. On the 8th of August the session which 
 had witnessed such unexpected changes was brought to a 
 close. 
 
 Again the recess proved as fruitful in important events as 
 the session, and when Parliament re-assembled, on the 3rd of 
 February, 1852, it was met by a Ministry which had lost one 
 of its strongest, most self-reliant, and, as far as Parliament 
 went, its most popular members. In December of 185 1 Louis 
 Napoleon had accomplished his great coup d'etat; had 
 destroyed the constitution which he had sworn to maintain ; 
 had imprisoned the members of the assembly who dared to 
 resist his will ; had deluged the streets of Paris with blood ; 
 and had banished from France the most distinguished men 
 who had served her in politics, in arms, in literature, in art, 
 or in any form to which independent thought was necessary. 
 To the author of these crimes the Foreign Minister of England 
 had hastened to express approval and sympathy, and he had 
 been dismissed from his office. It was a righteous judgment, 
 but it was not awarded in consequence of the real offence. 
 The Foreign Secretary was dismissed, not because he had 
 shocked the moral sense of the country, and committed 
 England to the praise of assassination and the encouragement 
 of a conspirator ; but because he had broken through the 
 routine of court and official etiquette, and had not informed 
 his chief or his sovereign of his intentions before they were 
 
1855.] Death of Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 389 
 
 carried out* Palmerston, whilst he had outraged public 
 feeling by his hasty approval of the coup d'dtat, had given 
 some satisfaction to the people by the favourable views he 
 was known to have entertained towards Kossuth, the Hun- 
 garian patriot, who, in the autumn of 1850, had visited 
 England, but had been denied that official reception which, 
 but for the pressure of the Premier, the Foreign Minister, it 
 was thought, was willing to allow. 
 
 There would, therefore, be necessarily much difference of 
 opinion as to the propriety of Palmerston's dismissal ; but it 
 was evident to every one that, necessary or not, it would be a 
 serious loss to the Government, and materially weaken them 
 in Parliament. In less than a month he had shown his power, 
 and revenged himself on the Ministry by its destruction. 
 This action left Lord John with only just time to introduce 
 and describe the new Reform Bill, of which all that can be 
 said is, that it was useful as a definite official declaration of 
 the necessity for a change. On the 9th of February Russell 
 moved for leave to bring in a bill which was to lower the 
 borough franchise from a ^10 to a £^ rating qualification ; to 
 give county votes to ;^20 rated occupiers, and to persons who 
 paid forty shillings a year assessed taxes and lived outside 
 a borough ; to enlarge some small boroughs, but not dis- 
 franchise any ; to abolish property qualification ; to alter the 
 oath which excluded Jews from Parliament ; and to make 
 some slight changes in the Scotch and Irish franchises. The 
 announcement of the provisions of the measure was received 
 without enthusiasm. It was accepted by the Radicals, but not 
 as a satisfactory proposal ; and it was evident that it had no 
 element of vitality, and could make no appeal to that popular 
 support which alone could overcome the dead weight of 
 opposition on both sides of the House. Leave was given for 
 its introduction, and that was the last that was heard of it, 
 until the author himself moved its abandonment The only 
 
 * The account of the transactions is given in Lord Russell's speech in Parlia- 
 ment on the opening of Parliament on the 3rd of Febr\iary, and in Martin's " Life 
 of the Prince Consort," ch. xliv. 
 
390 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- 
 
 reason why the bill received any attention was that it had 
 been introduced by the Premier, and soon Lord John ceased 
 to hold that position. 
 
 The catastrophe happened on the 20th of February, when 
 Russell moved for leave to bring in a bill for the amendment 
 of the militia law and for the maintenance of a local militia. A 
 description of the proposed measure had been given on the 1 6th 
 of February, and Palmerston had then intimated his intention 
 to move amendments, which he now proceeded to do. His 
 proposal was to continue the form of a general militia, and 
 to increase and strengthen it, and he moved to omit the word 
 "local " from the description, and to add the word "consolidate." 
 The issue was as to the nature of the force to be raised, and 
 that was clearly a matter for the Ministry, and to alter their 
 proposition would be an expression of want of confidence ; 
 for if they could not be trusted to arrange for the national 
 defence, they could not be really the Government. After 
 some debate, a division was taken which resulted in the defeat 
 of ministers, the numbers being — for Lord John's motion, 126 ; 
 against, 135. In the division most of the Radicals had voted 
 with ministers, and the Peelites and Tories with Palmerston.* 
 The Premier said he considered that the vote showed that 
 ministers had no longer the confidence of the House, and the . 
 natural result followed. On the 23rd of February the resig- 
 nation of the Government was formally announced, and the 
 Earl of Derby f had undertaken to form an administration. 
 
 There was no choice but to submit to a Tory Govern- 
 ment, unless a dissolution had been determined on, and that, 
 indeed, would not have been likely to change the relative 
 strength of parties. A coalition between the Whigs and the 
 Peelites would, on grounds of general policy, have been pos- 
 sible ; but on this particular occasion Russell's followers and 
 the Peelites had been in different lobbies, and an immediate 
 
 * Amongst the supporters of Government were W. J. Fox, Milner Gibson, 
 Sir B. Hall, Hindley, and Hume ; on the other side were Gladstone, Herbert, 
 Palmer, Disraeli, and Lord John Manners. 
 
 + Lord Stanley had succeeded to this title on the death of his father on the 
 30th of June, 1 85 1. 
 
1855.] Death of Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 391 
 
 junction was impracticable. There must therefore be another 
 Ministry on sufferance, not only without a majority in the 
 House of Commons, but known to be opposed to the opinion 
 of the country generally on the most. immediately interesting 
 political subject — that of free trade. On this very question, 
 which they were pledged to raise in some form or other, they 
 were met by the combined hostility of all other parties, 
 Russellites, Palmerstonians, Peelites, Radicals — all were deter- 
 mined to resist the change which the only possible Ministry 
 were obliged to propose. The position was too confused and 
 complicated to be permanent. The Radical free-traders, at 
 all events, were determined that public opinion should be 
 heard ; and on the 2nd of March the Anti-Corn Law League 
 was revived at a meeting, when _^ 27,000 was subscribed in 
 ten minutes in order to support a determined agitation against 
 any return to protection. Approaches had been made by the 
 new Premier to Palmerston, but this question of protection 
 made impossible a coalition, which else might well have been 
 effected, for it was in free trade alone that Palmerston was 
 a Liberal, and he was a determined opponent of any advance 
 in the direction of Parliamentary reform. 
 
 On the 27th of February the new Premier explained in 
 the House of Lords the policy which he intended to pursue. 
 He did not disguise the fact that he was in favour of a duty 
 on corn, but he did not propose to introduce any legislation 
 on the subject until an opportunity had been given of a 
 " reference to the well-understood and clearly expressed 
 opinion of the intelligent portion of the community." There 
 was to be no corn law until there had been a dissolution, 
 but the Government were anxious to obtain a decision in 
 favour of one. Of course the Tories would not proceed with 
 the Reform Bill ; and as to education, which, Russell had said, 
 ought to follow the extension of the franchise, Lord Derby 
 " did not care for the mere acquirement of temporal knowledge 
 or the development of the intellectual faculties, but for that 
 education which was built on the basis of all knowledge — the 
 study of the Scriptures." For the promotion of such educa- 
 
392 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850^ 
 
 tion he relied with confidence on the Established Church, and 
 to uphold that Church in its integrity was not only the 
 interest but the duty of Government. The Radicals, at least, 
 were warned of the effect, financially, politically, and socially, 
 of having a Tory Ministry in office, and the warning may 
 account for a good deal of endurance of delay and neglect 
 on the part of Liberal Administrations, when the alternative 
 was a system so reactionary and obstructive. 
 
 It was, under the circumstances, impossible that any 
 measure involving controversial principles could be carried 
 or even proposed. The Government were continually re- 
 ceiving notice of the frailty of their tenure of power, and, 
 under the form of requests for an explanation of their policy, 
 were reminded that a dissolution was expected, and that they 
 must act only with moderation until it had taken place. 
 Several useful bills were introduced and carried. The militia 
 was enlarged and reorganized, and some legal reforms were 
 effected. The budget was essentially a provisional one, for 
 the commercial policy of the country could not, under the 
 circumstances, be touched ; and the income and property 
 tax was simply continued for another year. The Whigs, of 
 course, could make no important proposals ; but the Radicals 
 were free to continue the policy of educational agitation, which 
 it was their special duty to carry on, and the opportunity was 
 favourable for the work. There was no Liberal Government 
 to be injured by a resolution in favour of reform, as had 
 happened with the division on Locke King's motion, and 
 therefore the way was open for a good vote. The .strength 
 of the party was not, however, materially increased, thus 
 showing that it was not only the leaders, but the majority 
 of the Whigs who required education. 
 
 On the 2Sth of March Hume brought on his annual 
 motion for electoral reform and the ballot, and was defeated, 
 receiving 89 votes to 155. On the 30th of the same month 
 H. Berkeley brought on the question of the ballot separately, 
 and as usual obtained a larger amount of support, the numbers 
 being — Ayes, 1445 Noes, 246. The introduction by Locke 
 
i8ss.] Death of Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 393 
 
 King of a resolution in favour of the assimilation of the county 
 to the borough franchise, which he moved on the 27th of April, 
 led to an important discussion, in the course of which Disraeli 
 said that the Reform Act contained one great deficiency — a 
 want of consideration of the rights of the working classes to 
 the franchise, and he professed that the Government would 
 be ready to consider any well-devised plan for repairing the 
 deficiency. The debate on the whole was encouraging, and so 
 were the numbers — 149 votes for the resolution, and 202 against. 
 Milner Gibson continued his efforts to obtain a repeal of the 
 taxes on knowledge, and was evidently gaining strength. On 
 the 22nd of April he proposed — " That arrangements be made 
 that will afford a repeal of the paper duty." The debate was 
 adjourned to the 12th of May, and on a division there were 
 107 votes for, and 195 against. In nothing was the foresight 
 of the Radicals better illustrated than in their proposals with 
 regard to Irish affairs. Crawford was amongst the first to 
 insist that it was essential to the well-being of that country 
 that the system of land tenure should be amended. He 
 introduced a bill to secure tenant right, which, after being 
 once talked out, came on for second reading on the 5 th of 
 May, when it was defeated by 107 to 57. Amongst those 
 who were wise enough to vote for it were Cobden, Bright, and 
 Walmsley, but they were wise before their time ; it wanted 
 distress, disturbance, and almost revolution, to convince the 
 English Parliament that Irish ideas ought to be represented 
 in Irish legislation. 
 
 The Parliament was prorogued and dissolved on the ist of 
 July, and it was remitted to the constituencies to settle finally 
 whether or not the food of the people should be taxed for the 
 advantage, nominally of the agricultural community, really for 
 that of the landowners. Even before the dissolution arrange- 
 ments had been commenced for some combination by which 
 the Tory Government should be displaced, and they went on 
 more actively immediately after that event. On the 21st of 
 July Russell had expressed his opinion that the Peelites had 
 three courses before them — first, to stand aloof, as they had 
 
394 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- 
 
 done since Sir R. Peel's death ; second, to act in friendly con- 
 cert with the Whigs, preserving their own independent position ; 
 or third, to join the Whigs and form a fusion either with or 
 without Cobden. The last-named course was adopted ; it 
 was, indeed, inevitable if any strong Government was to be 
 formed. The chief difficulty lay, not in the want of agreement 
 between the Peelites and Whigs, but in the differences between 
 the Whigs themselves, Lord John Russell having engaged 
 to re-open the question of Parliamentary reform, to which 
 Palmerston and Lansdowne were opposed* There was 
 throughout all the negotiations a possibility felt that Palmer- 
 ston would join Derby rather than the coalition ; and Greville 
 in his Journal, as late at the 22nd of October, 1852, says, " I 
 have been for two days at Broadlands, where I had a good 
 deal of talk with him (Palmerston), and I came away with the 
 conviction that it would end in his joining the Government" 
 
 Whilst all this excitement was being manifested in official 
 circles, the public attention was for a long time diverted from 
 it by the passing away of one who had been looted upon as a 
 final arbitrator when the confusion of parties endangered the 
 stability of Governments. The Duke of Wellington died on 
 the 14th of June, and over his grave there was the mourning 
 of the heart of the whole nation — a nation which forgot the 
 times when he had been in opposition to the popular will, 
 and remembered only his enormous services, the nobility of 
 his character, and the sincerity of his desire to serve his 
 country. 
 
 The election of 1852 did not make any great difference in 
 the relative strength of parties ; what change did take place 
 was to the advantage of ministers, at the expense of the 
 Peelites. The Government were supposed to have gained 
 sixty-three seats, and to have lost forty ; the returns, as far as 
 they could- be depended on, showing — ministerialists, 310; 
 
 * These negotiations and speculations are described in the memoirs of Lord 
 Aberdeen, privately printed, but summarized and quoted from in the Edinburgh 
 Review for October, 1883. See also Greville's Journal and Martin's " Life of the 
 Prince Consort." 
 
i8s5-] Death of Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 395 
 
 opposition, 344, leaving the Government in a minority of thirty- 
 four. There were, however, thirty-six members who were put 
 down as neutrals, and whose votes might affect the result of a 
 party division. The Radicals were not much affected, so far 
 as numbers were concerned, but some additions were made of 
 members who have since served the party in a noteworthy 
 manner. Of these Edward Miall, who was returned for Roch- 
 dale, became the acknowledged advocate of the Nonconformists 
 in their efforts to promote the cause of religious equality ; and 
 Mr. (now Sir) Charles Forster, who was then first elected 
 for Walsall, occupied a position as nearly approaching that of 
 whip, or official representative of the party, as its loose and 
 indefinite organization admitted. 
 
 The new Parliament met on the 4th of November, when 
 Mr. Shaw Lefevre was re-elected Speaker ; and the pre- 
 liminary business of swearing in members having been accom- 
 plished, the session was opened by the Queen on the nth of 
 November. With regard to the one subject of home policy 
 which occupied the attention of the country, the royal speech 
 -was intentionally vague, conveying to the public the idea that 
 ministers would, if they could, restore direct protection, but 
 that they hardly hoped to do this, although they would seek to 
 carry out the same idea of conferring special advantages upon 
 the land-owning class in some other manner. " It gives me 
 pleasure," the speech said, " to be enabled, by the blessing of 
 Providence, to congratulate you on the generally improved 
 condition of the country, and especially of the industrious 
 classes. If you should be of opinion that recent legislation, in 
 contributing with other causes to this happy result, has at the 
 same time inflicted unavoidable injury on certain important 
 interests, I recommend you to dispassionately consider how 
 far it may be practicable equitably to mitigate that injury, and 
 to enable the industry of the country to meet successfully that 
 unrestricted competition to which Parliament in its wisdom 
 has decided that it should be subjected." The explanations 
 of ministers were, if anything, more indefinite than the official 
 statement of their policy ; and the Opposition, and the 
 
39^ History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- 
 
 Radicals especially, were determined that a speedy decision 
 should be arrived at. 
 
 Some days were spent over the arrangements for the pubHc 
 funeral of the Duke of Wellington, and the expression by 
 Parliament of the national sentiments of honour for his ser- 
 vices and mourning for his loss. The funeral took place on 
 the 1 8th of November, and on the 23rd Mr. Villiers moved a 
 resolution which declared that the prosperity of the country 
 was the consequence of recent legislation, " and especially of the 
 Act of 1846, which established the free admission of foreign 
 corn ; and that that Act was a wise, just, and beneficial 
 measure." The resolution went on to advocate the further 
 extension of free trade, and concluded with the statement — ■ 
 " That this House is ready to take into its consideration any 
 measures, consistent with the principles of these resolutions, 
 which may be laid before it by her Majesty's ministers." The 
 motion having been seconded by another Radical — Mr. Ewart 
 — the Chancellor of the Exchequer rose to move an amend- 
 ment, which acknowledged the duty of the Government to 
 adhere to the policy of free trade, but omitted what he after- 
 wards called " the three odious epithets," wise, just, and bene- 
 ficial, as applied to that policy. Here the issue might have 
 been left, but Palmerston intervened to save the feelings of the 
 Ministry, and proposed a further amendment, which, with 
 some alteration, was eventually carried. The debate was 
 carried over the 25 th and 26th, on which latter day the 
 division was taken. Disraeli had withdrawn his amendment 
 in favour of Palmerston's, but Villiers insisted upon taking a 
 vote upon the original resolution. When the House divided, 
 the numbers were — for Villiers' motion, 256 ; against it, 336. A 
 division then took place on Palmerston's amendment, pre- 
 viously to which seventy-one members left the House, and it 
 was carried by 468 votes to 53. Thus ended the long battle 
 of protection, and the cause of free trade was substantially 
 vindicated, although the would-be protectionist Ministry was 
 for a short time longer left in power. 
 
 The final struggle was not long deferred. On the 3rd of 
 
i8ss-] Death of Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 2>97 
 
 December Disraeli introduced his budget, of which the 
 principal features were — the reduction of the malt tax and the 
 hop duty by one-half, and of the duty on tea from two 
 shillings and twopence farthing to one shilling, to take place 
 gradually during a period of six years ; the alteration of the 
 income tax, reducing the amount at which exemption was 
 allowed ; and the increase of the house duty to one shilling and 
 sixpence on houses, and one shilling on shops, and applying 
 it to houses of not less than ten pounds instead of those of not 
 less than twenty pounds a year. This was clearly a budget 
 giving compensation to the landed interest at the cost of the 
 industrial communities, and it was vigorously opposed. The 
 discussion upon it began on the loth, and lasted over four 
 nights. On the i6th of December the Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer replied, after which Mr. Gladstone rose to give 
 the coup-de-grace to the budget and the Ministry. His 
 speech was, as Sir Theodore Martin says, "one of those 
 few famous displays of oratory that are reputed to have 
 decided an issue which had before been doubtful. " * The 
 division followed, there being — Ayes, 286; Noes, 305, a majority 
 of nineteen against the Government whose fate it sealed. 
 
 Lord Derby immediately resigned. In his speech on the 
 2 1st of December, explaining the causes which led to his 
 defeat, he gave his account of the relative strength of parties 
 in the House of Commons. The adherents of the Government 
 numbered, he said, about 310 ; the mixed Whig and Liberal 
 party comprised about 260; and then there were the Irish 
 Roman Catholics and the Peel party, which last were few in 
 number, but strong in experience and ability. Thus the 
 ministerialists, though stronger than any single section of the 
 opposition, were unable to contend against them when united. 
 They were now united not only for the purpose of defeating 
 the Government, but also for that of forming a new Admini- 
 stration. The Peelites had decided not to stand aloof, and not 
 merely to support the Whigs, but to form a fusion and take 
 their share in the power and responsibility of government. 
 * " Life of Prince Consort," chap, xlvii. 
 
398 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- 
 
 The determination was already known, and on Derby's 
 resignation Lords Aberdeen and Lansdowne were sent for, 
 and although Aberdeen alone waited on the Queen, he 
 announced their joint readiness to form a Cabinet. On the 
 27th of December the new Premier announced in the House 
 of Lords the formation of his Government, and the House 
 separated for the Christmas recess, and on the 31st the 
 House of Commons also adjourned to the loth of February. 
 
 In Lord Aberdeen's Cabinet all the sections of the late 
 opposition were represented, but in very unequal proportions. 
 As Sir James Graham recorded in his journal, the Ministry 
 consisted of seven Peelites, five Whigs, and one Radical.* 
 There were two Radicals also in office, but not in the Cabinet, 
 men of very different character and influence — Bernal Osborne 
 and C. P. Villiers. The latter appointment was at once a 
 recognition of free-trade principles, and a guarantee of their 
 maintenance. The relations of the Radicals were not deter- 
 mined merely by the inadequate representation they obtained 
 in the Mim'stry. There were other reasons why they were 
 alike bound and pleased to give it a loyal support. In the 
 then state of parties both in Parliament and in the country — 
 using that phrase as meaning the limited constituencies which 
 existed — the Tories could only be kept from power by a 
 combination such as that which had been effected ; and to 
 keep the Tories out of power was the duty of all who desired 
 any advance in Liberal politics. But there were positive, no. 
 less than negative, inducements to Liberals to support the 
 Government. Some of its members were ready to take the 
 lead in real — even if it were too moderate — reform, and in 
 others there was an active growth going on which indicated an 
 increasing sympathy with the cause of the people. 
 
 Of one of these classes Lord John Russell was a good 
 specimen, of the other, Mr. Gladstone was the most striking 
 
 * See Edinburgh Review, October, 1883, p. 570. The Peelites were 
 Aberdeen, Cranworth, Gladstone, Argyle, Newcastle, Graham, and Sidney 
 Herbert ; the Whigs were Granville, Palmerston, Russell, Wood, and "Lansdowne ; 
 the Radical was Molesworth, who, although not at that time a strong man, 
 represented many of tlie best traditions of the party. 
 
i8s5-] Death of Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 399 
 
 example. Russell must be regarded as one of the most Liberal 
 of the Whigs, touched, rather in method of procedure than in 
 acceptance of principles, by the old ideas of official manage- 
 ment and compromise. With regard to Parliamentary reform 
 and education, both of which be was honestly desirous of pro- 
 moting, he was now in much the same position which he held 
 up to 1845 on the corn laws. He was then desirous of relieving 
 the food of the people from the artificial restraints which 
 made it dear ; but he thought that his particular fancy of a 
 moderate fixed duty would cheapen bread, whilst it would to 
 some extent serve the landed interests. Now, whilst anxious 
 to widen the basis of the franchise, he wanted to do it in some 
 way that might rather affect the balance of parties than the 
 solid influence of the privileged classes. Whilst his theories 
 pointed forward, his practice lagged behind. The very 
 opposite was the case with Mr. Gladstone, who, without hasty 
 expressions of advanced principles, went greidually on from one 
 practical reform- to another, all in the direction of extending 
 rights and curtailing privileges. There was enough, however, 
 in the attitude of these and other members of the Government 
 to warrant, on the part of the Radicals, if not a policy of entire 
 trust, at least that attitude of friendly expectation which 
 marked the first session of the h^^n Parliament. 
 
 The Houses met, after the Christmas recess, on the loth 
 of February, 1853, when a general statement was made of the 
 course of business which the Government proposed to pursue. 
 The Reform Bill was not to be introduced till next session, but 
 on the 1 8th, in reply to a question from Disraeli, Russell said 
 there were two questions he wished to promote — the further 
 education of the people, and the amendment of the represen- 
 tation. On the 4th of April the Education Bill was brought in. 
 It was a halting measure, recognizing principles which it failed 
 to carry out, and laying down broad plans and spoiling them 
 in detail. Thus it admitted the principle of local rating, but 
 confined it to municipal corporations ; and introduced local 
 management of the funds, but strictly limited the manner in 
 which they should be applied. Its merit was, both in design 
 
400 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- 
 
 and in effect, rather to point out methods than to adopt them ; 
 and so, whilst many of the Radicals gave it a nominal 
 support, it evoked no warmth of approval, and got no further 
 than the first reading. 
 
 The most important- domestic event of the session was the 
 budget, interesting alike from the actual proposals it con- 
 tained, from the policy on which it was founded, and from the 
 ability by which it was explained and supported by the Chan- 
 cellor of the Exchequer. Mr. Gladstone on this occasion stepped 
 at once into the place which had been occupied by Sir Robert 
 Peel in the confidence of commercial men, and of all who 
 wished to see a financial policy which should extend freedom 
 and aim at substantial economy. The introduction of the 
 plan had been preceded by an attempt of the Radicals to 
 obtain a repeal of the taxes on knowledge. On the 14th of 
 April Milner Gibson moved three resolutions for the remission 
 respectively of the duties on advertisements, newspaper 
 stamps, and paper. The first, which related to the advertise- 
 ment duty, was carried by 200 to 169; the other two were 
 defeated by very large majorities. It was on the i8th of 
 April that Mr. Gladstone made his statement in a speech 
 which engaged the attention of the House for five hours. The 
 proposals were far-reaching, but the principal points were — the 
 continuance of the income tax and its extension to Ireland ; 
 the entire repeal of the duty on soap ; the reduction of that on 
 tea ; and, most remarkable of all, the extension of the legacy 
 duty to real property, which had hitherto been exempt. It 
 was this last proposition which pleased and encouraged the 
 Liberals as much as it irritated the country squires, and it was 
 greatly owing to the general feeling thus excited that a 
 majority much larger than that which ordinarily followed the 
 Government was secured for its financial policy. 
 
 Owing to the circumstances which have been referred to, 
 there was little activity on the part of the Radicals in the way 
 of special proposals for legislation. On the 3rd of May Locke 
 King again moved for leave to bring in a bill on the county 
 franchise; but, looking forward to the promised introduction of 
 
i85S-] Death of Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 401 
 
 the Government measure, he withdrew his resolution without a 
 division. On the 4th of June Berkeley pushed his resolution 
 on the ballot further — a course which was justified by the 
 support which it had received in previous years, and the reason 
 thereby given why it should be pressed on the attention of 
 Government. The division showed — Ayes, 172 ; Noes, 232, a 
 result which was not discouraging to the reformers. 
 
 All thoughts about home improvement were, however, 
 rapidly distracted by the shadow of a great calamity which 
 was gathering over Europe. The quarrel between Russia and 
 Turkey had been going on all through the year, and, step by 
 step, our Government was being drawn towards the abyss of 
 war. As early as April the 25 th statements had been made 
 by Lord Clarendon, the Foreign Minister, as to negotiations 
 which were going on ; and on the 27th of May he gave further 
 explanations, and made the declaration which was really fatal 
 to the prospects of permanent peace — that the policy of England 
 was to uphold the independence of the Turkish Empire. What 
 this meant became evident when, on the 14th of June, the 
 Czar issued a manifesto announcing his intention to occupy the 
 Danubian provinces, and on the 2nd and 3rd of July his troops 
 actually crossed the Pruth. This was a signal violation of the 
 independence which we were pledged to uphold. The occupa- 
 tion of the provinces was declared not to be an act of war ; 
 Russia said it was only the acquisition of a material guarantee 
 for the performance of treaties, and England and France, 
 anxious to secure peace, went on negotiating. Instructions 
 were, nevertheless, sent to the English fleet to take up a posi- 
 tion near the Dardanelles. In spite of all these proceedings, 
 when Parliament was prorogued, the Queen's speech declared 
 " That her Majesty has good reasons to hope that an honour- 
 able arrangement will speedily be accomplished." The hope 
 was based on the proceedings of the Vienna Conference, by 
 which at last a note was issued in the name of the great 
 powers, the conditions of which were accepted by Russia, but 
 refused by Turkey. The chance of maintaining peace rapidly 
 disappeared. On the 5th of October Turkey declared war with 
 
 2 D 
 
402 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- 
 
 Russia ; on the 14th the combined fleets entered the Dardan- 
 elles ; and on the ist of November Russia formally declared 
 war. Active hostilities soon commenced. The Turkish army 
 crossed the Danube ; on the 2nd and 3rd of November the 
 Battle of Oltenitza was fought ; and on the 30th of November 
 took place the fatal engagement at Sinope, in which the 
 Turkish fleet was destroyed. Still negotiations went on, and 
 it was not until the 27th of March that in England and France 
 messages were delivered to the Legislatures equivalent to a 
 declaration of war. 
 
 This war, into which, as one of her responsible ministers 
 said, England drifted, disastrous as all war must be to the 
 interests of domestic progress, was specially mischievous by 
 destroying the unity of the Radical party, to whom the initia- 
 tion of all effective reform was due. The division was more 
 important as respected ability and influence than numbers. 
 An event which separated Cobden, Bright, and Gibson from 
 their old colleagues and companions could not but be unfor- 
 tunate, especially when it was of a character to arouse strong 
 passions and excite deep feelings. The state of opinion in 
 the country coincided with that in the House, the bulk of the 
 Radicals being in favour of war ; not such a war as the 
 Government contemplated, merely with the object of prevent- 
 ing the dismemberment of Turkey, but for the purpose of 
 crippling and checking the power of Russia. This overwhelm- 
 ing sentiment, represented in ParUament by Lord Dudley 
 Stuart and Mr. Layard, was all but universal. To understand 
 this, it must be remembered what part the Czar of Russia had 
 played in putting down the popular movement which began in 
 1 848, and in propping up despotisms and destroying liberty in 
 all parts of Europe. Wallace very tersely describes this feeling 
 when referring to an attempt at rebellion which marked the 
 commencement of the reign of the Emperor Nicholas ; he 
 says, " The incident stereotyped his character for life, and 
 made him the sworn enemy of Liberalism, and the fanatical 
 defender of autocracy, not only in his own country, but through- 
 out all Europe. In European politics he saw two forces 
 
i8ss.] Death of Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 403 
 
 struggling for mastery, monarchy and democracy, which were, 
 in his opinion, identical with order and anarchy, and he was 
 always ready to assist his brother sovereigns in putting down 
 democratic movement." * 
 
 The war, therefore, which the Radicals in the country 
 hoped to see commenced was one against this champion 
 of despotism, and consequently in favour of European liberty. 
 But there was no such feeling in the minds of the Government. 
 They did not — at least, the majority of them did not — want 
 to enter upon a contest at all ; and at most they desired 
 only to prevent any encroachment by Russia upon the terri- 
 tories of Turkey. Ministers however had a more unfortunate 
 object — that of maintaining the integrity and independence 
 of the Turkish Empire. In this they were aiming at an end 
 impossible of achievement, and which, if it had been possible, 
 would have been in reality more injurious to liberty even 
 than the despotism of Russia. The tyranny of the Porte 
 over its Christian subjects was worse than any oppression 
 of continental monarchs, and the attempt to perpetuate it was 
 most unfortunate. The power of Russia, too, was no doubt 
 exaggerated in the popular mind. During the actual armed 
 rebellions of 1848, it had certainly been exerted in a direct 
 and disastrous manner ; but it was an influence which could 
 neither be appealed to nor exercised in ordinary circum- 
 stances, and the time was coming, as all men might see, 
 when her own domestic affairs would claim all the attention 
 and exercise all the energy of her Government. 
 
 Cobden and Bright saw clearly the side of the question 
 which was at the time the least popular ; that the influence 
 of Russia in Europe could not be touched by fighting her 
 in the East ; that the rotten Empire of Turkey neither could 
 nor ought to be propped up by western aid ; and that to 
 incur the horrors and the dangers of war for such objects was 
 a crime to be resisted by all means. The three aspects of 
 the case were put before the House of Commons on the i6th 
 of August, immediately before the prorogation. Lord John 
 
 * Wallace's " Russia,^' vol. ii. p. 200. 
 
404 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- 
 
 Russell hoped that peace would be preserved ; Layard and 
 Lord Dudley Stuart inveighed against Russia, and attacked 
 the Government for their unwillingness to enter upon the 
 conflict ; Cobden, whilst strongly disapproving of the policy 
 of Russia, did not want to go to war, either to uphold the 
 oppressive power of the Porte or to maintain a theoretical 
 balance of power, declaring that Russia was not to be feared, 
 and that Turkey could not be saved ; and Palmerston made 
 a savage onslaught upon Cobden, averring that Turkey had 
 the elements of life and prosperity, and that the dictum of 
 France and England, if insisted upon with spirit, would yet 
 be respected. 
 
 Parliament was prorogued on the 20th of August, and 
 on the 1 6th of December the public were surprised by the 
 announcement that Palmerston had resigned. What led to 
 the resignation was never clearly explained, and in a few 
 days it was withdrawn. This was after the terrible engage- 
 ment of Sinope, which had destroyed the expectation of 
 peace in all minds except those of some members of the 
 Government, who seemed to hope against hope. The session 
 of 1854 opened on the 30th of January, and ministers must 
 still have thought that war could be prevented, for the Queen's 
 speech contained a list of domestic subjects to be dealt 
 with that would have demanded the undivided attention 
 of the most industrious Parliament through the longest 
 session. Alteration of the shipping laws ; improvement in 
 university management ; civil service reform ; amendment 
 of the legal administration of the poor laws ; and, above 
 all, a measure for Parliamentary reform — a large programme 
 this, of which a foreign war would be litely to make short 
 work. The very proposals, however, were calculated to attract 
 the confidence of the Radicals towards a Ministry who could 
 admit that there was so much in the national institutions 
 that required amendment. 
 
 Good intentions were all that the Government was fated 
 to give to the country, but for a time there was at least the 
 appearance of activity. On the 13th of February Lord John 
 
1855.] Death of Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 405 
 
 brought in the promised Reform Bill. It was long and com- 
 plicated, and had evidently been the result of a good deal 
 of thought, but was certainly not worth the trouble that 
 had been taken over it. The little good there was in it was 
 a mere extension of the Act of 1832 ; the new parts were 
 fanciful and worse than useless. Of popular extension of 
 the suffrage there was practically none, for the borough 
 franchise was fixed at a £6 ratal, with two and a half years' 
 residence as a qualification ; and the county franchise was 
 given to i^io occupiers, provided ^5 a year at least was the 
 bonA fide rent of buildings apart from land. There were 
 what Mr. Bright afterwards called " fancy franchises," in 
 abundance. Persons receiving £100 ■&. year salary — provided 
 it was paid quarterly, so that a workman should not be 
 included ; — those who derived ;^io a year from stock or 
 dividends ; all who paid forty shillings a ' year to assessed 
 taxes, income tax, or licence duty, or who had ,^50 in a 
 saving-bank of three years' standing, were to have borough 
 or county votes. The tens and the hundreds were carefully 
 looked after, but the thousands and the millions were as 
 carefully excluded. And lest, after all, the really popular 
 constituencies should obtain too much power, there was for 
 the first time the miserable proposal of a minority clause — 
 that refuge of the half-hearted who, pretending to trust the 
 people, have no true confidence in them ; who try to evade 
 the national will which they dare not openly contest ; and 
 who make of national politics a game of shuffling intrigue 
 instead of an honest dependence upon democratic principles. 
 The disfranchisement clauses were like an appendix to the 
 great Reform Bill, except that the seats taken from small 
 boroughs were to be given principally to counties. The 
 thing, however, was important only as showing how little 
 of the popular element there was in the Whig idea of reform, 
 for on the nth of April the measure, which had of course 
 excited no enthusiasm anywhere, was formally withdrawn. 
 
 In the intervals of discussion on the Eastern question, the 
 Radicals made various efforts to advance some of the subjects 
 
406 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- 
 
 in which the people were interested. On the 14th of February 
 Locke King moved for leave to bring in a bill to amend the 
 law of succession to real property, that is to abolish the system 
 of primogeniture. Leave wis given, and on the 8th of March 
 the second reading was proposed, and was defeated by 203 to 
 82.* The desire to make some kind of progress with the 
 question of national education led to a proposal for an experi- 
 ment to be made in one town of a system of rate-supported 
 and locally managed schools, and this was the object of the 
 Manchester and Salford Education Bill. It came before the 
 House on the 2ist of February ; but Milner Gibson moved — 
 " That education to be supported by public rates is a subject 
 which ought not to be dealt with by any private bill," and this 
 being carried put an end to the scheme. Sir William Clay 
 
 * The division was the first occasion of showing the strength of the Radical 
 party in tliis Parliament, and proves that under better conditions it might have 
 exercised an important influence in Parliament. The following were the Ayes : — 
 
 Adair, H. E. 
 Alcock, T. 
 Anderson, Sir J. 
 Barnes, T. 
 Bass, M. T. 
 Bell, J. 
 Biggs, W. 
 
 Bouverie, Hon. E. P. 
 Brady, J. 
 Brotherton, J. 
 Butler, C. S. 
 Challis, Aid. 
 Chambers, M. 
 Cobden, R. 
 Cowan, C. 
 Crawford, S. 
 Crossley, F. 
 Devereux, J. T. 
 Duffy, C. G. 
 Duncan, G. 
 Duncombe, T. 
 Dunlop, A. M. 
 Evans, Sir De L. 
 Fagan, W. 
 Fielden, M. J. 
 Fergus, J. 
 Fitzgerald, J. D. 
 Forster, C. 
 Fox, W. J. 
 
 Furguson, J. 
 Goderich, Visct. 
 Goodman, Sir G. 
 Greene, J. 
 Gregson, S. 
 Hadfield, G. 
 Hall, Sir B. 
 Hastie, A. 
 Hey wood, J. 
 Heyworth, L. 
 Hitchin, E. J. 
 Hutt, W. 
 Kennedy, T. 
 Kershaw, J. 
 Langton, H. G. 
 Laslett, W. 
 Lee, W. 
 Lucas, F. 
 McGavin, J. 
 Maguire, J. F. 
 Massey, W. N. 
 Miall, E. 
 Milnes, R. M. 
 Mitchell, T. A. 
 Moffatt, G. 
 Morris, D. 
 Murragh, J. S. 
 O'Connell, J. 
 Pechell, Sir G. B. 
 
 Pellatt, A. 
 Phinn, T. 
 Pilkington, J. 
 Potter, R. 
 Power, N. 
 Ricardo, J. L. 
 Richardson, J. T. 
 Robartes, T. 
 Roebuck, J. A. 
 Scholefield, W. 
 Scobell, Captain 
 Scully, F. 
 Sculley, V. 
 Shafto, R. D. 
 Shelley, Sir J. V. 
 Smith, J. B. 
 Strickland, Sir G. 
 Thicknesse, R. A. 
 Thompson, G. 
 Thornley, T. 
 Walmsley, Sir J. 
 Wilkinson, W. A. 
 Willcox, B. M. 
 . Wilharas, W. 
 
 King J. L.) 
 Bnght.J. ) 
 
1855-] Death of Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 407 
 
 resumed his effort on behalf of religious liberty, by again 
 bringing in a bill for the abolition of church rates. Leave 
 was given on the 23rd of May, by 129 to 62 ; but the second 
 reading, moved on the 21st of June, was lost by 209 to 182. 
 The ballot again secured a good division. Introduced by 
 Berkeley on the 13th of June, it was lost by only a small 
 majority, the numbers being 157 for, and 194 against. 
 
 Long before this the fatal step had been taken which 
 involved the country in the horrors of war. It had been 
 undertaken by some at least of the ministers with a spirit 
 quite unsuited to so solemn a responsibility. At a dinner 
 given to Sir C. Napier, who, in anticipation of the commence- 
 ment of hostilities, was sent to the Baltic with the English 
 fleet, the speeches were more fitted for the opening of festi- 
 vities than for the beginning of war. Against this manifesta- 
 tion of levity Mr. Bright protested in the course of a discussion 
 on the 13th of March, to whom Palmerston replied in terms 
 studiously offensive, beginning by addressing his critic as the 
 " hon. and reverend gentleman." On being rebuked by 
 Cobden for this unseemly jest, he said, " Any opinion he (Mr. 
 Bright) may entertain of me personally or of my conduct 
 private or political, is to me a matter of the most perfect in- 
 difference." There could not be much desire for peace under 
 such coarse manifestations of levity. It is to the honour of 
 Lord Aberdeen and some of his immediate friends that they 
 did not share in this indifference to the horrors of war, and did 
 all they could to avoid them. " Fate hurried onward fast," 
 however, and on the 27th of March a message was sent from 
 the Queen to Parliament, which was virtually a declaration of 
 war. The address in reply was agreed to the next day with- 
 out a division, but after an eloquent protest from Mr. Bright. 
 After this all thoughts were directed to the one subject, and 
 nothing of importance took place, until on the 12th of August 
 Parliament was prorogued. 
 
 The war had been carried on, giving proof once more of the 
 valour of English soldiers. Alma and Balaclava and Inker- 
 man had been fought, and the men who had carried themselves 
 
4o8 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- 
 
 like heroes in these engagements were dying in the trenches 
 without medical stores, almost without food, and entirely with- 
 out proper clothing or provisions for shelter. Such a winter 
 as was passed by our troops in those fatal trenches has not 
 often been heard of The accounts came over to this country 
 slowly, and when the winter session was opened on the 12 th 
 of December, the excitement on the subject was only com- 
 mencing. The time before Christmas was occupied in passing 
 votes of thanks to our own forces and to the French com- 
 manders, and in enacting a Foreigners' Enlistment Bill to raise 
 a force of not exceeding 15,000 foreigners to be drilled in this 
 country. On the 23rd the House adjourned for the Christmas 
 holidays. 
 
 Before Parliament met again, the bad news from the Crimea 
 had become known, and " the public sympathy and indignation 
 were roused to the utmost by the conviction that the soldiers 
 of the finest army Great Britain had ever sent forth were 
 ingloriously perishing of disease, overtasked, and underfed, 
 from the absence of the most ordinary calculation and fore- 
 sight." * On the 23rd of January, 1855, when Parliament 
 again assembled, the popular feeling found expression in 
 notices of motion given in both Houses, the most important 
 one being that by Roebuck, for a select committee to inquire 
 into the administration of the war. This, which would have 
 been formidable in any case, was rendered doubly so now by 
 the action of the leader of the House of Commons. On the 
 25th January, when Roebuck's motion was to be discussed. 
 Lord John rose and announced his resignation, which he had 
 tendered because he did not see on what grounds the proposed 
 inquiry could be resisted ; but, as it impugned the conduct of 
 some of his colleagues, if he could not oppose it on their behalf, 
 he was bound to resign. If there had been any doubt before 
 as to the result of the decision on the motion, it was now at an 
 end ; the resolution was accepted as a vote of want of 
 confidence in the Government, and there was only the remnant 
 of a Government left to confide in. On the 26th Roebuck 
 
 * " Annual Register," 1855, p. 2. 
 
1855-] Death of Peel to Resignation of Aberdeen. 409 
 
 moved for the special committee. He was unable from ill health 
 to make his speech ; but no speaking was really required. The 
 nation demanded an inquiry, and it had to be undertaken. 
 The debate was adjourned to the 29th, when, on a division, the 
 resolution was carried by 305 to 148, and Lord Aberdeen's 
 Ministry ceased to exist. 
 
 Whatever other result the war was to accomplish, it had now 
 destroyed an English Ministry, one which contained Liberal 
 elements, and which might have been mildly progressive in 
 its domestic policy if the foreign catastrophe had not occurred. 
 Mild, however, its progress must inevitably have been. A coali- 
 tion is not likely to originate and carry a thorough scheme of 
 reform of any kind. There are so many interests to be con- 
 ciliated, so many opinions to qualify the original proposition, 
 that a simple and definite plan has no chance of adoption. 
 That Russell was genuinely desirous to effect improvements is 
 certain now, and was felt at the time ; but his processes, even 
 if he had not been hampered by unwilling colleagues, were 
 always tentative and timorous. Mr. Gladstone, as we have 
 since learnt, was growing in that substantial Liberalism which 
 is not afraid to apply great principles when they have once 
 been accepted ; but at that time his attention was mainly 
 directed to reforms in the financial department, to which he 
 was invited by his official duties, and the Radicals had not yet 
 found in him a hearty friend, much less a great leader. The 
 Aberdeen Ministry neither promised great reforms itself nor 
 prepared the way for a more adventurous Administration. It 
 existed because there was no strong party in Parliament, and 
 the causes which created it were to exercise for some time 
 longer the deadening influence which, like the frost of winter, 
 was destined to precede the stronger birth of a new and 
 vigorous spring. 
 
4IO History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1855- 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 FROM THE RESIGNATION OF LORD ABERDEEN IN 1 85 5 TO 
 THE DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT IN 1859. 
 
 When Aberdeen resigned, application was made first to 
 
 Derby, as leader of the formal opposition, and then to Russell, 
 
 whose secession had been the means of destroying the unity 
 
 of the late Cabinet. On the failure of both these statesmen, 
 
 Palmerston was asked by the Queen, and strongly advised by 
 
 Lansdowne, to persevere in the formation of a Ministry. The 
 
 new Government was still somewhat composite in character — 
 
 Mr. Gladstone, Graham, and Sidney Herbert retaining office ; 
 
 Aberdeen, Russell, and Newcastle retiring. This first accession 
 
 to power of Lord Palmerston marked the beginning of a long 
 
 period not of reaction, but of stagnation in domestic policy. 
 
 By degrees the Conservatives and the Whigs, without entering 
 
 into a coalition, formed a working combination, which left 
 
 office in the hands of Palmerston and power in those of the 
 
 old governing classes. What the position of the new Premier 
 
 was with respect to home policy may be ascertained from the 
 
 fact that, during his attempt to form an administration, Derby 
 
 had applied to Palmerston to join him, and Derby said, " I 
 
 found that, with regard to any personal considerations, he could 
 
 have no objection to act in a Government with which I was 
 
 connected. We went so far as to discuss the particular position 
 
 in the Government in which the noble viscount should be 
 
 placed." * 
 
 For the time, however, the public mind was fixed not on 
 
 domestic, but on foreign affairs ; the war with Russia and its 
 
 * Lord Derby's speech in the House of Lords on the 8th of February, 1855. 
 
i8s9.] Resignation of Aberdeen to Dissolution in 1859. 411 
 
 probable consequences were absorbing all attention. The 
 people in the country, and the Radicals who directly repre- 
 sented them in Parliament, had already begun to see that the 
 object which induced them to support the war — the reduction 
 of the power and influence of Russia in Europe — was not the 
 end which the Government had in view. To prop up the 
 decaying empire of the Turk was the ultimately impossible 
 task which the English Cabinet had set before itself There 
 was, however, a general opinion that, of all the ministers, 
 Palmerston was the one who shared with the people the desire 
 to promote the cause of Liberalism abroad, and to promote it 
 by weakening, if nothumiliating, Russia. There was thus, for 
 a time, the curious spectacle of the least Liberal of the Whigs 
 receiving Radical support at the expense of some of his 
 colleagues, who were genuinely in favour of domestic reform. 
 It is one of the curses of war that it distorts the national view 
 not only of events, but of men. The minister, who was thus 
 welcomed to office, deliberately and of set purpose prevented 
 any political advance, and for years restrained the desire for 
 those constitutional changes which were the indispensable 
 precursors of social progress. The key-note of his policy was 
 struck when, on the i6th of February, the Prime Minister 
 announced what was to be the future conduct of his Govern- 
 ment. Of domestic concerns, he referred only to the questions 
 of administrative reforms, which had been raised in so serious 
 a manner by the vote in favour of Roebuck's motion for a 
 committee of inquiry. Palmerston offered that, if the com- 
 mittee were abandoned, its functions should be undertaken by 
 the Cabinet, which had already instituted the preliminary 
 provisions not only for inquiry, but for actual reform. He 
 would honestly endeavour to obtain peace, and had induced 
 Lord John Russell to proceed to Vienna as the English 
 representative at a congress, to show the importance attached 
 to the negotiations and the sincerity of our desire for their 
 success. 
 
 Whilst the countiy was thus disturbed by the conduct of 
 the war and the instability of governments, there passed from 
 
412 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1855- 
 
 its service one of the most devoted, most indefatigable, and 
 most honourable men who have, in modern times, represented 
 the cause of liberty and progress in Parliament. Joseph 
 Hume died on the 20th of February, at the age of seventy- 
 eight. It would be much easier to forget many of the services 
 which he rendered to the nation than to overrate the work 
 which he actually accomplished. He was amongst the earliest 
 and ablest advocates of free trade ; always an earnest friend 
 of national education ; and the acknowledged champion of 
 the cause of Parliamentary reform. Wherever liberty was 
 restricted, either by test acts which touched the conscience 
 or by combination laws which affected the industrial rights of 
 the people, Hume stood forward to remove the obstruction. 
 He was one of the first of the statesmen who advocated 
 large and liberal principles in the government of the colonies, 
 and was throughout his life a strenuous supporter of a policy 
 of justice and conciliation towards Ireland. He carried, almost 
 single-handed, the repeal of the old combination laws, of the 
 prohibition of the export of machinery, and of the Act for pre- 
 venting workmen from going abroad. In a like manner, almost 
 alone, he exposed and defeated that monstrous Orange con- 
 spiracy, which, although it is now nearly forgotten, was at 
 the time a dangerous attempt — headed by the second heir to 
 the throne and the commander of the national army — to effect 
 by force a change in the government of the country, to 
 repeal the great popular reform accomplished in 1832, and 
 to restore to the aristocracy the power of which that great Act 
 had deprived them. In later times, his especial devotion to 
 the principles, and his insistence upon the details, of financial 
 reform had overshadowed the memory of his more general 
 services ; but, as a public wi'iter * said on the occasion of his 
 death, " It would be wrong to suppose that Mr. Hume's mind 
 was contracted to the effecting mere pecuniary savings, 
 although the mountain of abuses he had to destroy rendered 
 necessary an incessant application to the task. He was a 
 reformer of a higher order, quite capable of appreciating the 
 
 * Morning Chronicle quoted in "Annual Register," 1855, p. 254. 
 
i8s9.] Resignation of Aberdeen to Dissolution in 1859. 413 
 
 influence of public honesty and morality on the national 
 character, and desirous to elevate by education the standard 
 of national intelligence." 
 
 Not long before his death, Hume had received a sort of 
 official recognition of the public gratitude by being called to 
 the Privy Council ; but it was at once a loss to the nation and 
 a disgrace to its political system, that such a man should not 
 have been chosen to take part, as a responsible minister, in 
 the practical administration of the government which he did 
 so much to purify, and in carrying out the reforms which he 
 originated. He had ability, experience, and industry ; but he 
 had neither a connection with the governing class nor a 
 subservience to their privileges and interests, without one or 
 other of which, in the then state of the representation, in- 
 dependence in office was impossible ; and Hume was a man 
 who, like Cobden, would decline any nominal power which 
 involved the inability to actively press forward the reforms to 
 which he was devoted. His work was not the less of national 
 importance. As regarded the Radical party in Parliament, his 
 ' great service was that he kept constantly before it not only 
 occasions for protests on behalf of its broad, principles, but 
 opportunities for making advances towards them by reforms 
 in detail in every administrative department. 
 
 Palmerston's first Cabinet, which had been formed after 
 such long deliberation, went speedily to pieces. The Premier 
 had strongly opposed the appointment of Roebuck's com- 
 mittee, and the Peelites who consented to remain in office 
 did so with the belief that he would resist its final acceptance. 
 There was no definite engagement on the matter, and Palmer- 
 ston did not chose to risk his popularity by resolutely refusing 
 to go on with the Government if the committee were elected. 
 He declared his own opinion, and asked the House to re- 
 consider its decision, but did not attempt to make it a matter 
 of confidence. His own character as an administrator was not 
 touched by the inquiry, and if Parliament were disposed to in- 
 sist, he was prepared to run the risk to the public service which 
 he thought that such a public investigation would involve. 
 
414 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1855- 
 
 Graham, Gladstone, Herbert, and Cardwell, were in a different 
 position. They were bound both by indination and by 
 honour to defend the character of their friend and late chief, 
 Lord Aberdeen, and the vote for a committee directly im- 
 pugned his ability, if not his political honesty. To take office, 
 in the face of a national emergency, under a Premier who had 
 succeeded him, was possible to them ; but to consent to what 
 was virtually a continuance of a vote of censure was quite 
 another matter, and they resolved to resign, the announce- 
 ment being made on the 23rd of February. 
 
 It was indicative of the peculiar state of parties that 
 secessions of such importance did not for a moment shake 
 the stability of the Ministry. Had there been any question 
 of political principle involved in the arrangements or in the 
 thought of Parliament, such a transaction could not have 
 taken place. It suited the views of the Prime Minister to 
 consider his Government merely as an administrative machine ; 
 he neither desired nor intended to raise any constitutional 
 issue, and a change in the details of the machinery was there- 
 fore not a matter of supreme importance. Equally significant 
 was the way in which the vacancies were filled up and the 
 Cabinet completed. In appearance the Ministry was made 
 more homogeneous, all the new members being Whigs, and 
 there was no character of coalition left. In reality the 
 Government was not made more Liberal in itself, and it was 
 more at the mercy of one or other section of the Opposition. 
 
 The most peculiar point was the acceptance of office by 
 Lord John Russell, who now took a place under the man 
 whom but a short time before he had dismissed from his own 
 administration for insubordination. That was a personal 
 matter only, and no one would have thought the worse of 
 Russell for sinking considerations of his individual dignity 
 in the desire to serve the country in a time of difficulty. But 
 Russell, who had previously made his alliance with Aberdeen 
 conditional on Parliamentary reform being adopted as a 
 Cabinet question, now accepted as his chief the man who 
 was a well-known opponent of reform. The old characteristic 
 
i8s9-] Resignation of Aberdeen to Dissolution in 1859. 415 
 
 of Whig rule was thus revived, the Ministry being in form 
 willing to adopt administrative and social improvements pro- 
 viding they were to decide, without any more direct appeal 
 to the people, in what direction and to what extent changes 
 were to be made. There was this difference, however, between 
 the position of the present Whigs and that of their pre- 
 decessors in the last century — that the House of Lords was 
 under the influence of the Tory party, and no reform could 
 be accomplished except under the fear of that very appeal 
 to the people to which Palmerston openly objected. 
 
 The confusion was not confined to the Whig and Tory 
 parties ; the Radicals had not recovered from the divisions 
 occasioned by the outbreak of the war. Yet they had changed 
 their relative positions towards the Ministry. In the debate 
 which followed the statements of Graham and Mr. Gladstone 
 on the 23rd of February, Mr. Layard made a vehement 
 attack upon Palmerston, partly because of the narrow basis 
 on which his Ministry was formed, but mainly on account 
 of the absence of any probability that under the new Govern- 
 ment the objects of the war would be widened so as to affect 
 the cause of Liberalism in Europe. Mr. Bright, on the other 
 hand, promised his support to Palmerston, with the under- 
 standing that the basis of the current negotiations should not 
 be altered, and that peace should be obtained as early as 
 possible. There was no opportunity, under such circumstances, 
 for any effective work being done by the Radicals ; yet during 
 the session they made some not unimportant demonstrations 
 of strength. There was at the outset a practical triumph for 
 the party, in the decision of the Government to accept one 
 part at least of the proposals urged by Milner Gibson on 
 behalf of the freedom of the press. The compulsory stamp 
 upon newspapers was abolished, an act which led at once to 
 an increase of the means of thoughtful discussion of public 
 affairs, the value of which soon became manifest. The formal 
 proposition was made on the 19th of March, and the resolu- 
 tion agreed to. 
 
 On the subject of Parliamentary reform, the only effort 
 
4i6 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1855- 
 
 made was Berkeley's annual motion for the ballot, which was 
 introduced on the 22nd of May, and defeated by 218 to 166 — 
 a division which, under the circumstances, was not discouraging. 
 Still better votes were obtained by Sir W. Clay on the church 
 rates question, a fact which proved the growing importance 
 and influence of the Nonconformists. On the 29th of March 
 Clay moved for leave to bring in a bill to abolish those rates, 
 and obtained it by 155 to ^6. The second reading was 
 carried on the i6th of May in a more triumphant manner, 
 the votes being 217 for, and 198 against. As the leaders of 
 all sections of the official Liberals, Palmerston, Russell, and 
 Gladstone, voted against the bill, the protest in favour of 
 religious liberty was all the more remarkable. The measure, 
 of course, came to nothing — it never could have passed the 
 Lords ; and on the 25 th of July, as no progress could be made. 
 Clay moved that the order for going into committee should 
 be discharged. National education was kept before the 
 attention of the country, not only by discussions upon the 
 estimates, but by the introduction of a Free Schools Bill by 
 Milner Gibson, for which leave was given on the 29th of 
 March. On the 20th of March Sir Joshua Walmsley had 
 moved unsuccessfully that the British Museum and the 
 National Gallery should be opened on Sundays. 
 
 The subject, however, which excited the most general 
 interest was what was called administrative reform, which 
 included the method of appointment to all departments of the 
 public service. The disgraceful break-down of the services in 
 the Crimea had first aroused attention to the matter, and it had 
 been sustained by the discussions attending the appointment 
 of Roebuck's committee. Mr. Layard constituted himself a 
 sort of champion of the cause, and on the 15 th of June he 
 brought forward a very remarkable resolution, which declared — 
 " That this House views with deep and increasing concern the 
 state of the nation, and is of opinion that the manner in 
 which merit and efficiency have been sacrificed in public 
 appointments to party and family influences, and to a blind 
 adherence to routine, has given rise to great misfortunes, and 
 
1859-] Resignation of Aberdeen to Dissolution in 1859. 417 
 
 threatens to bring discredit upon the national character and 
 to involve the country in grave disasters." To this resolution 
 Sir Bulwer Lytton moved the following amendment : — " That 
 this House recommends to the earliest attention of her 
 Majesty's ministers the necessity of a careful revision of our 
 various official establishments, with a view to simplify and 
 facilitate the transaction of public business, and, by instituting 
 judicial tests of merit, as well as by removing obstructions to 
 its fair promotion and legitimate rewards, to secure to the 
 service of the State the largest available proportion of the 
 energy and intelligence for which the people of this country 
 are distinguished." Two nights' debate took place, and on the 
 1 8th of June Layard's resolution was lost by 359 to 46.* The 
 consideration of Lytton's amendment was adjourned to the 
 2 1 St of June, when it was carried. A milder resolution than 
 that of Layard on the same subject of administrative reform 
 was, on the loth of July, introduced by Vincent Scully, and 
 was defeated only by 140 to 125, a proof that the matter was 
 pressing itself on the consideration of Parliament. 
 
 Before the session closed, there was to be another striking 
 scene of ministerial disunion. The war had been carried on 
 in the Crimea with enormous losses of life on all sides. The 
 conference at Vienna had been attended by Lord John Russell 
 as the English representative. That amiable but too self- 
 * The following formed the minority, which is almost entirely Radical ; — 
 
 Alexander, J. 
 Bell, J. 
 Bower, G. 
 Brockman, E. D. 
 Brown, H. 
 Cobden, R. 
 Dillwyn, L. L. 
 Dundas, G. 
 Dunlop, A. M. 
 Fitzgerald, W. R S. 
 Fox, W. J. 
 Goderich, Visct. 
 Greaves, E. 
 Grogan, E. 
 Hadfield, G. 
 Keating, H. S. 
 King, Hon. P. J. L. 
 
 Langton, H. G. 
 Laslett, W. 
 Lee, W. 
 Lindsay, W. S. 
 Lowe, R. 
 Maguire, J. F. 
 Mangles, R. D. 
 Miall, E. 
 Michell, W. 
 Mowatt, F. 
 Murrough, J. P. 
 Oliveira, R. 
 Otway, A. J 
 Parker, R. T. 
 Pechell, Sir G. B. 
 Pellatt, A. 
 Price, W. P. 
 
 Reed, J. H. 
 Roebuck, J. A. 
 Scholefield, W. 
 Scobell, Capt. 
 Scully, V. 
 Smith, J. B. 
 Thompson, G. 
 Tite, W. 
 Vance, G. 
 Warner, E. 
 Williams, W. 
 Wise, A. 
 
 Layard, A. H. 
 ChfTord, H. M, 
 
 .} 
 
 Tellers. 
 
 2 E 
 
41 8 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1855- 
 
 reliant statesman had undertaken a duty for the performance 
 of which he was not quahfied. He had, no doubt, heard it laid 
 down in the English Cabinet that Russia was not to be driven 
 to extremes, and that some method of saving her honour would 
 be accepted in the final negotiations. This sentiment his lord- 
 ship ventured to express in public, which might have been all 
 very well if his Government were prepared to back him up in 
 the declaration. In the same way, when certain propositions 
 submitted to Russia were met by explanation and modification, 
 Russell said that in his opinion the suggested change ought 
 to be accepted, but here again his Government did not agree 
 with him. They were bound to the Emperor of the French, 
 who declined to accept the Russian proposals. So the nego- 
 tiations came to nothing, and Russell, on his return, im- 
 mediately resigned the seat in the Cabinet, which he had so 
 recently accepted, and an influence, certainly Liberal, if not 
 very thorough, was withdrawn from the Ministry. Imme- 
 diately after this, on the 1 7th of July, Roebuck moved, as the 
 result of the inquiries of his committee, a resolution declaring 
 that the calamities in the Crimea were due mainly to the con- 
 duct of the Administration, and that the House "' do visit with 
 severe reprehension every member of that Cabinet." This 
 vote of censure, which included the Prime Minister and most 
 of his colleagues, was lost by 289 to 182, the division being 
 taken on the 19th of July. On the 14th of August Parliament 
 was prorogued. 
 
 When Parliament met on the 31st of January, 1856, the 
 Queen was able to congratulate members on the fall of 
 Sebastopol, and on the settlement of preliminaries on which 
 negotiations for peace might be carried on. The death of 
 Emperor Nicholas, which took place on the 2nd of March, 
 1855, had made it more practicable to treat with Russia on 
 the basis of concessions to be made by her after a great 
 military reverse. The young Emperor was, neither by wishes 
 nor honour, bound to continue the contest to the extent to 
 which his father was. Arrangements had been made, therefore, 
 for a conference to take place in Paris, at which it was almost 
 
i8s9-] Resignation of Aberdeen to Dissolution in 1859. 419 
 
 certain that peace would be definitely secured. Attention 
 might therefore be directed once more to domestic affairs, and 
 if there had been any desire on the part of the Ministry to 
 promote effectual reforms, the fact would have been properly 
 referred to in the Queen's speech. That there was no such 
 desire was proved not by the omission of the subject altogether, 
 but by the terms in which it was treated. " There are many 
 subjects connected with internal improvement," the speech 
 said, " which I recommend to your attentive consideration ; " 
 but when these " many subjects " came to be recited, they 
 resolved themselves into three only as worthy of particular 
 mention. The commercial code of Scotland was to be assimi- 
 lated to that of England ; the law of partnership was to be 
 amended ; and a change was to be made in the local dues and 
 passing tolls to which merchant shipping was liable. 
 
 Little was done before the Easter recess except to debate 
 matters connected with the war, and to look forward anxiously 
 for the conclusion of peace. On the 3rd of March Palmerston 
 announced that the preliminaries of peace had been signed 
 " one day last week." When the Houses met after the holiday, 
 on the 31st of March, they were informed that on the previous 
 day at two o'clock a treaty of peace was signed at Paris. The 
 terms of the treaty did not thoroughly satisfy any English 
 party. Those who wished for the power of Russia to be 
 checked and her influence in Europe to be decreased, received 
 some gratification. The great military empire had suffered a 
 defeat ; her territory was curtailed to form a part of the new 
 Roumanian province ; and she was debarred from constructing 
 an armed fleet in the Black Sea. Both these provisions were 
 subsequently reversed, but that she strove afterwards for 
 their withdrawal was a proof that at the time they were tokens 
 of humiliation. The one object about which the Government 
 had talked — the maintenance of the integrity and indepen- 
 dence of Turkey — was treated in a very strange fashion, the 
 Provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia, for the defence of which 
 the war had arisen, being separated from the Empire and con- 
 structed into what was practically a separate nation. In con- 
 
420 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1855- 
 
 senting to this course, ministers adopted, almost unconsciously, 
 the only method by which the Ottoman Empire can be 
 gradually broken up without European complications of the 
 most dangerous kind. To perpetuate the Turkish despotism 
 over its Christian subjects would be infamous, if it were pos- 
 sible. To build up independent states, hke Roumania, Servia, 
 and Montenegro, having national sentiments and national 
 objects, is the way to emancipate the oppressed subjects of 
 the Porte without leading to the acquirement, by any one 
 western power, of influence and authority which would be 
 regarded as dangerous by the others. 
 
 With the close of the war attention could be once more 
 directed to domestic reforms, and the question that was iarst 
 pressed forward was that of national education. On the 6th 
 of March Lord John Russell introduced a series of twelve 
 resolutions which touched on almost every branch of the 
 subject, although they everywhere stopped short of the thorough 
 recognition of principles. The resolutions proposed — (i) To 
 extend and revise the minutes of the Privy Council ; (2) to 
 increase the number of inspectors ; (3) to appoint sub- 
 inspectors of Dissenting and Catholic schools ; (4) on report of 
 inspectors to form school districts ; (5) to enable sub-inspectors 
 to report on deficiency of education ; (6) to enlarge the powers 
 of the charity commissioners to devote endowments to 
 educational purposes ; (7) to enable ratepayers, in districts 
 where there was a deficiency, to rate themselves ; (8) to enable, 
 under certain circumstances, quarter sessions to impose school 
 rates : (9) to provide for election of school committees by rate- 
 payers ; (10) to regulate religious instruction in rate schools ; 
 (11) to enact that employers should furnish certificates of 
 attendance and pay for instruction ; (12) to encourage educa- 
 tion by prizes and by diminution of school fees. This scheme, 
 it will be seen, was far-reaching, but it did not secure the 
 support of any party. The Radicals were divided, Gibson and 
 Roebuck speaking in favour of secular education, and Miall 
 and Hadfield opposing all State interference. Receiving no 
 general encouragement, Lord John withdrew the resolutions. 
 
1859.] Resignation of Aherdeen to Dissolution in 1859. 4^1 
 
 and moved and carried a motion that on the loth of April the 
 House would resolve itself into a committee to consider the 
 question. On the day appointed the House went into 
 committee, when Russell moved — " That in the opinion of this 
 committee it is expedient to revise and consolidate the 
 minutes of the Committee of Privy Council on Education," but 
 was defeated by 260 votes to 158. An advance was, however, 
 made during the session by the appointment of a vice- 
 president of the Committee of Council on Education, who 
 should be a minister having special charge of the subject. 
 
 The greatest activity was shown by the Radicals with 
 regard to religious liberty. Sir W. Clay again introduced his 
 bill to abolish church rates, and once more obtained large 
 rnajorities in his favour. This year, too, he succeeded in 
 securing the votes of ministers. The second reading, which 
 took place on the 5th of March, was carried by 221 to 178 — 
 Palmerston, Sir G. C. Lewis, and Sir C. Wood being in the 
 majority, and Russell and Gladstone in the minority. The 
 bill was withdrawn on the 27th of June. A more striking 
 proposal was made by Miall on the 27th of May, when he 
 moved to disendow the Irish Church, and to discontinue the 
 Regum Donum to Nonconformists in Ireland, saving in both 
 cases all existing life-interests. For this thorough-going 
 resolution he obtained 93 votes, whilst 163 were recorded 
 against it. The division showed that there existed in Parlia- 
 ment a very strong feeling in favour of relieving the Irish 
 people from the dominance of an alien Church. 
 
 On the 20th of May Berkeley moved for leave to introduce 
 a bill for the adoption of the ballot, but was defeated by 1 5 1 
 to III. An attempt was made by the Ministry to introduce 
 a reform of the House of Lords in a manner which if it would 
 not have been very effective at the time, yet would have 
 settled a principle which might by degrees produce something 
 like an approach to sympathy of feeling between the two 
 Houses, instead of the direct antagonism which now exists 
 whenever there is a Liberal majority in the Commons. The 
 appointment of Lord Wensleydale as a life peer would have 
 
422 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1855- 
 
 been a precedent fruitful of results, and it was exactly on this 
 ground that it was successfully resisted by the majority in the 
 House of Lords. On the 22nd of February, the House being 
 in committee of privilege, Lyndhurst moved that, the com- 
 mittee having examined the letters patent purporting to 
 create the Rt. Hon. Sir James Parke, Knight, a baron of the 
 United Kingdom for life, reported it as their opinion that 
 neither the letters patent nor the writ of summons issued in 
 pursuance thereof can entitle the grantee therein named to 
 sit and vote in Parliament ; and this was carried, an amend- 
 ment being defeated by ninety-two to fifty-seven. That the 
 resolution was an interference with the royal prerogative was 
 hardly denied, but the Peers were for the time masters of 
 the situation. The reform of their House will have to be 
 accomplished in a more direct and more thorough manner. 
 
 At the close of the session, on the 2Sth of July, Disraeli 
 reviewed its history for the purpose of showing how great and 
 repeated had been the failure of the Government to carry 
 their measures. In the course of his speech he made a 
 declaration of the principles of his party, which, in the light 
 of subsequent events, is sufficiently interesting. He held that 
 to be a Conservative principle which regards the Parliamen- 
 tary settlement of 1832 as a satisfactory settlement; that ta 
 be a Conservative principle that in any representative scheme 
 the influence of landed property ought to be sensibly felt ; 
 that would be a Conservative principle which would maintain 
 the supremacy of the English and Irish Churches. Some of 
 his- statements of principle were received with ironical cheers 
 by the Liberals ; but he turned the tables upon them when, 
 in conclusion, he said that the Government was really pursuing 
 a Conservative policy, and that although this would be better 
 done by Conservatives, he called on his friends to take heart, 
 since the Liberal party could not long exist, when its chief 
 and selected men were in power and continued to hold office, 
 not only without carrying Liberal principles into effect, but 
 without even frankly avowing their profession. There were 
 Radicals listening to this attack who could not deny some of 
 
i8s9.] Resignation of Aberdeen to Dissolution in 1859. 423 
 
 its charges, but Palmerston treated the matter in his own 
 jaunty style. The session was closed on the 29th of July. 
 
 Another foreign subject was preparing to distract attention, 
 to confuse political issues and break up parties. On the 8th 
 of October the lorcha Arrow was seized by the Chinese 
 authorities in the river at Canton. The vessel was said by her 
 owners to have been under the protection of an English 
 register, to have been commanded by an English officer, and 
 to have flown the English flag. The last assertion seems to 
 have been proved, although the flag was displayed without 
 any legal authority. The register, if it had ever been in force, 
 had expired some time before, and when the seizure was made 
 all the persons on board were Chinese, one of them being a 
 notorious pirate. It was on these grounds, which, if the 
 acting power had been a European state, would scarcely 
 have led to a formal inquiry, that a war was speedily 
 commenced. The hollowness of the pretence was soon after- 
 wards admitted by a change of object, which, instead of being 
 confined to a demand for apology and compensation for the 
 seizure of the A rrow, was made to extend to a right of entry 
 into Canton. " English interests " were made to take the 
 place not only of consideration for a comparatively weak 
 nation, but of common justice to an antagonist. 
 
 When Parliament met on the 3rd of February, 1857, the 
 Queen's speech referred to the commencement of hostilities 
 with China, and to the success which had so far attended our 
 operations. But for such an interference it was soon seen 
 that the Radicals were prepared for an active political 
 campaign. On the 12th of February Clay again introduced 
 his bill for abolishing church rares, and it was read a first 
 time. On the 19th of the same month Locke King moved 
 for leave to bring in a bill for extending the county franchise, 
 and was defeated only by the narrow majority of thirteen — 
 the numbers being 179 for, and 192 against. On this occasion 
 Russell voted for the bill, which was opposed by Palmerston 
 and the other ministers. Another demonstration in favour of 
 Parliamentary reform was made on the 24th of February, by 
 
424 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1855- 
 
 Sir J. Walmsley, who moved for a committee to consider 
 the representative system and report upon means for " ex- 
 tending to the unenfranchised that share of political power to 
 which they may be justly entitled." The support of this 
 proposal was not general even with the Radicals, for Dun- 
 combe opposed it on the ground of its uselessness, and on a 
 division it was lost by 190 to 73. 
 
 The relative strength of Liberals and Conservatives in the 
 House of Commons, when both acted strictly on party lines, 
 was fairly indicated by a vote which took place on the 23rd of 
 February. On that day Disraeli moved an amendment to the 
 budget, and was defeated by a majority of eighty. Three 
 days afterwards, on the 26th of February, the Ministry were 
 overthrown by a majority of sixteen. This was on a resolution 
 moved by Cobden on the Chinese question, which stated, 
 " This House considers that the papers which have been laid 
 upon the table fail to establish satisfactory grounds for the 
 violent measures resorted to at Canton, in the late affair of the 
 Arrow!' In favour of this resolution there was a union of 
 Radicals, Peelites, and Conservatives, and it was carried by 
 263 to 247. Cobden and Milner Gibson were the tellers, and 
 the motion was on their part a vindication of the principles of 
 justice and honour in dealing with weaker states. They were 
 followed by the bulk of the Radicals, amongst them being Fox, 
 Goderich, Hadfield, Locke King, Layard, and Roebuck ; but 
 there were some well-known members against, of whom Sir 
 W. Clay, Cobbett, Villiers, and Scholefield were conspicuous. 
 For the time it seemed that this victory was fatal to the in- 
 terests of the party, and there was certainly a strong feeling in 
 the constituencies which resented their action ; but a calmer 
 review of the facts has convinced the people of the country 
 that no better service could be rendered to them than to up- 
 hold the cause of justice against the selfish feelings of the 
 hour. The reverses which followed were soon made good, and 
 the character of the men who suffered for a time has been 
 permanently raised by the transaction. On the 5th of March 
 Palmerston announced that, in consequence of the vote of the 
 
iSjg.] Resignation of Aberdeen to Dissolution in 1859. 425 
 
 26th of February, he had decided to appeal to the country ; and, 
 some formal business having been transacted, Parliament was, 
 on the 2 1st of March, prorogued and dissolved. 
 
 The result of the general election which followed was a 
 great triumph for Palmerston. His opponents were routed in 
 all directions, and he was supposed to be insured a long period 
 of office.* The Radical leaders especially suffered, amongst 
 those who were defeated at the polls being Cobden, Bright, 
 Milner Gibson, W. J. Fox, Wilkinson, Walmsley, Layard, and 
 Vincent Scully. The repulse was only temporary ; before the 
 end of the year Bright and Milner Gibson were both returned, 
 the latter for Ashton, and the former in a most honourable 
 manner for Birmingham. Cobden was elected in 1859 for 
 Rochdale, and other members found seats at different times. 
 If the leaders of the party suffered, however, there was no 
 suggestion that their general principles were condemned by 
 the country. On the contrary, the growth which we have seen 
 taking place in the Liberal ranks was quite as distinctly mani- 
 fested now as at any former time. That the Radicals were an 
 important section of his party was recognized by Palmerston, 
 who was shrewd enough to know their power and to endeavour 
 to retain it in his service. 
 
 The new Parliament met on the 30th of April, and the pre- 
 liminary business of swearing in members and electing a 
 Speaker being gone through, the session was formally opened 
 on the 7th of May. The address in reply to the speech was 
 carried without a division. In the course of the debate 
 Palmerston, referring to the question of Parliamentary reform, 
 said that there was no time during that session to deal with it, 
 but that between then and the next session the Government 
 would consider it, with a view to introduce a practical measure. 
 This, coming from the old opponent of reform, was a proof of 
 the position which the subject held in the opinions of a large 
 number of Liberals. It had, however, the effect — no doubt, 
 anticipated by the astute Premier — of postponing all attempts 
 
 * The party strength in the new Parliament, as given in " McCalmont's Poll 
 Book," was — Liberals, 366 ; Conservatives, 287, showing a Liberal majority of 
 seventy-nine. 
 
426 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1855- 
 
 at immediate action. Thus, on the loth of June, leave was 
 refused to Locke King to bring in a bill on the county fran- 
 chise, by '204 to 145 ; and Berkeley's motion on the ballot, on 
 the 30th of June, met with a similar fate, being rejected by 
 257 to 189. 
 
 Parliament was prorogued on the 28th of August, but 
 before that time news had arrived of a great national calamity, 
 which for another period — fortunately a short one — again 
 distracted attention from domestic affairs. The Indian 
 Mutiny broke out into open action on the lOth of May at 
 Meerut, whence, spreading to Delhi, it assumed the propor- 
 tions of a fearful rebellion. Soon the news reached home, and 
 Government and people became aware that they were engaged 
 in a life and death struggle for the maintenance of the Indian 
 Empire. The men oh whom the fortunes of England de- 
 pended proved themselves worthy of the mighty trust. There 
 had been momentary hesitation and indecision of counsel at 
 Meerut ; but when the real danger was recognized there was 
 no more weakness. Lawrence, Edwards, and Nicholson ; 
 Havelock, Rose, Outram, and Campbell ; — these, and colleagues 
 worthy of their companionship, upheld the fortunes of their 
 country and restored its supremacy. On the 2ist of Septem- 
 ber Delhi was recaptured ; on the i6th of November Lucknow 
 was finally relieved, and the back of the rebellion was broken. 
 When Parliament met on the 8th of December, the Queen 
 was able to speak hopefully of the prospect of restoring order 
 and peace in India. 
 
 The winter session had been called on account of the com- 
 mercial and financial crisis, and the consequent suspension by 
 the Government of the Bank Chai'ter Act, for which an 
 indemnity by Parliament was necessary. The speech from 
 the throne, however, referred to the general business of the 
 session, and, amongst other things, promised the introduction of 
 a measure on Parliamentary reform in redemption of the 
 pledge given by the Premier in May. On the 12th of Decem- 
 ber, when the special financial business had been transacted, 
 an adjournment took place. 
 
i8s9.] Resignation of Aberdeen fo Dissolution in 1859. 427 
 
 The Houses reassembled on the 4th of February, 1858, and 
 it was not long before a catastrophe, striking both from its 
 character and the means by which it was brought about, fell 
 upon the strong Government of Lord Palmerston. The noble 
 lord had always posed as the special defender of Liberalism in 
 Europe, and the great champion of English honour and 
 dignity. He had more than once reproached some of the 
 Radicals with being ready to accept humiliation for the sake 
 of peace. He was now to appear as a minister ready to limit 
 the right of asylum in England, and willing to alter the laws of 
 this country, at the dictation of a foreign despot and his mili- 
 tary supporters. To make the transaction still more dramatic, 
 he was to be rebuked and punished at the instigation of some 
 of the very men whom he had been in the habit of accusing of 
 cowardice or unpatriotic folly. 
 
 The attempt on the life of the French Emperor, made 
 by Orsini and others on the 14th of January, had been 
 arranged, and the bombs made use of had been prepared, 
 in this country. This gave rise to some absurd and threaten- 
 ing declarations by certain colonels and other officers in the 
 French army, who, amongst other wild words, talked of 
 their " indignation and wrath against those who become the 
 accomplices of those sanguinary anarchists, by giving them 
 an asylum ; " and, alluding to this country, said, in an address 
 to the Emperor, "If your Majesty wants soldiers to get 
 at these men, even in the recesses of their den, we humbly 
 beseech you to choose the 82nd Regiment as part of the 
 advanced guard of that army." * This sort of language was 
 only made important because it was officially inserted in 
 the Government paper. The colonels could not be expected 
 to know much about international law or the modes of 
 communication between governments ; but a more serious 
 matter was a request for an alteration in the English law, 
 conveyed in a despatch from Count Walweski on the 20th 
 of January. To this no distinct or written refusal was given, 
 but on the 8th of February Lord Palmerston moved for 
 * "Annual Register," 1858, p. 221. 
 
428 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1855- 
 
 leave to bring in a bill to alter the laws relating to conspiracy 
 to murder. Notice of some such bill had been given in the 
 preceding session, but its introduction now had all the 
 appearance of being the consequence of the application 
 of a foreign power, accompanied by threats and menaces 
 officially promulgated. Palmerston, therefore, appeared in 
 a double character, both aspects of which were in direct 
 antagonism to the pretensions which he had always assumed. 
 The indignation caused in the public mind by this conduct 
 soon manifested itself in an irresistible manner. Leave was 
 given to bring in the bill, but when, on the 19th of February, 
 it came up for second reading, the storm broke out. Milner 
 Gibson moved an amendment, which, after stating that the 
 House would at all times be ready to assist in remedying 
 any defects in the criminal law, declared that "This House 
 cannot but regret that her Majesty's Government, previously 
 to inviting the House to amend the law of conspiracy at 
 the present time; have not felt it to be their duty to reply 
 to the important despatch received from the French Govern- 
 ment, dated 'Paris, January 20th, 1858,' which has been 
 laid before Parliament." On a division, this amendment was 
 carried by 234 to 215. To make the situation more dramatic, 
 Milner Gibson and Mr. Bright were the tellers who had 
 to convey, through the Speaker, to the Premier this serious 
 condemnation of his conduct. The blow was fatal to the 
 Government, and on the 22nd of February their resignation 
 was announced. 
 
 The fall of Palmerston's administration was followed by 
 the formation of a Government by the Earl of Derby — a 
 glaring anomaly in our constitutional system, being a 
 Ministry in a minority in the House of Commons, and 
 therefore holding office on the condition that they did not 
 attempt to carry into actual legislation the political prin- 
 ciples which they professed. There were two things in this 
 arrangement which must be considered extraordinary — that 
 the House should allow such a Government to exist ; and that 
 men should be found ready to take office on such terms. 
 
^859-] Resignation of Aberdeen to Dissolution in 1859. 4^9 
 
 It was said that the confused state of parties in Parliament 
 made such a course necessary, but this is a commentary, and 
 not an explanation. There was, in fact, no such complication 
 in parties as had existed only a few years before, when, on 
 the death of Sir Robert Peel, there were three separate sets 
 of opinions held by prominent statesmen, no one set having 
 a majority. In the present case the Parliament had been 
 elected on the old party lines, affected only by the expression 
 of confidence in Palmerston, which did not alter the broad 
 issue. There was a clear Liberal majority in the House of 
 Commons, if the Liberals had been loyal to their opinions. 
 
 The difficulty lay in the power and position of the 
 Radicals, the force of their views in the country, and the 
 unwillingness of the Whig leaders to frankly recognize 
 the facts. The progress of Radicalism had been manifested 
 not more in the importance of individual members than in 
 the growth of opinion in the bulk of the party. This had 
 been shown in the strength of the votes given on some 
 of what might be considered test questions. On the three 
 most important subjects especially — national education, 
 religious liberty, and Parliamentary reform — the most decided 
 advance had been made. On the last point every recent 
 Ministry had declared that some change must be made, 
 and Lord Derby, like his predecessors, was ready to promise 
 a measure of the kind. The wise and honest way would 
 have been for the Whig leaders, willing to accept a Radical 
 proposal, to have called into office some members of the 
 party which originated the policy, that it might be efficiently 
 carried out. The objects of Whigs and Radicals, however, 
 were not identical. Whigs and Conservatives alike desired, 
 whilst making concessions to the popular demands, to 
 accompany them by conditions and limitations which should 
 preserve power to the same social class which had now 
 the control of so many of the constituencies ; and each 
 was ready to give, if not active, at least passive support 
 to the other, whilst attempts were made to invent some 
 workable compromise. They either did not see that no 
 
430 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1855- 
 
 such policy could permanently succeed, or were willing 
 to accept the delay certain to follow the adoption of even 
 an imperfect scheme. In this the depth as well as the 
 clearness of public opinion was misunderstood. The people 
 wanted not the appearance, but the reality of power in the 
 Government ; and it was certain that in no other way could 
 the dead-lock of parties be ended, and a Ministry constructed 
 strong enough in public support to overcome the inertia 
 of the Peers and make progressive legislation possible. 
 
 For some time longer, however, the game of delay and 
 compromise was to be played, and the establishment of the 
 Derby Ministry was but another move. The new Premier, 
 who knew exactly what his acceptance of office meant, did 
 not evidently expect that considerations of political con- 
 sistency would stand in the way of his obtaining colleagues, 
 for, when he made his statement in the House of Lords on 
 the 1st of March, he said that he had applied to men as 
 divergent in opinion as Mr. Gladstone, the Duke of New- 
 castle, and Earl Grey, and was surprised to receive refusals 
 from them all. The Government had to be formed, then, 
 with no pretence of coalition which would give the sem- 
 blance of Parliamentary support ; it was to exist avowedly 
 on sufferance. 
 
 This plan of governing without a Government, of con- 
 verting the Cabinet into a mechanical administrator of the 
 decrees of Parliament, was unexpectedly successful in one 
 case of supreme national importance. The outbreak of the 
 Indian Mutiny, and the means by which it had been sup- 
 pressed, had made a change in the form of Government 
 of that country inevitable. It was a conviction almost 
 universal amongst others than members and dependents 
 of the old authority, that the period of mixed, and therefore 
 partially irresponsible, government must end, and that the 
 nation must assume the direct duty of ruling the millons 
 of subjects of its great eastern empire. On the I2th of 
 February Lord Palmerston — being then in office — had moved 
 for leave to bring in a bill to transfer the government of 
 
1859] Resignation of Aberdeen to Dissolution in 1859. 43^ 
 
 India from the Company to the Crown. A debate lasting 
 over three nights took place, and on the i8th, on a division, 
 the House, by 318 to 173, decided that the bill should be 
 brought in, and by this vote it sanctioned the proposed 
 transfer of power. The change of government prevented 
 the measure being proceeded with ; but it was not withdrawn, 
 and the new ministers introduced a competing bill, which 
 was called the " India Bill No. 2." 
 
 Disraeli brought in the measure on the 26th of March, 
 and it proved to be one of the most miserable jumbles ever 
 submitted to Parliament. Ministers, it seemed, wanted — or 
 their Chancellor of the Exchequer wanted them— to pose as 
 the real friends of representative government, and they pro- 
 ceeded to make the attempt in the usual fashion of beginners 
 — not to say pretenders. In talking about elective govern- 
 ment for India, they had no thought of representing the two 
 hundred millions of people who were to be governed ; but 
 proposed that, of the new council to be constituted, five 
 should be chosen by about 5000 persons who had been con- 
 nected with the former government or army, or had been 
 engaged in commercial or financial speculations in India, 
 and five others by the Parliamentary constituencies of London, 
 Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Belfast. In the debate 
 which followed, Mr. Bright fairly characterized these pro- 
 visions when he said it struck him that they might be called 
 clap-trap. The fate of such an ill-conceived scheme was not 
 long in doubt. On the evening when it was introduced the 
 House adjourned for the Easter recess, and before the holidays 
 were over it was generally known that the bill would be re- 
 jected, and there was much anxiety in official and electioneer- 
 ing coteries as to the probable result. The Whigs were not 
 ready to take office, and members on both sides were anxious 
 to avoid the cost and trouble of a general election. Yet the 
 Indian Bill was absolutely inadmissable ; it could not even 
 be mended. A method, however, was discovered out of the 
 difficulty. Lord John Russell proposed that neither the 
 Government bill nor that of Lord Palmerston should be pro- 
 
432 Histdry of the Radical Party i7i Parliament. [1855- 
 
 ceeded with, but that the House should in committee con- 
 sider a series of resolutions as the basis for a new measure. 
 The proposal was eagerly accepted, and it was thus that the 
 present machinery for the government of a great empire was 
 framed. The method had some advantages in a case in 
 which party considerations were not strongly pressed, and it 
 enabled Parliament to have the full benefit of the wisdom 
 and the constructive ability of the Radicals, which wfere con- 
 spicuously exhibited in the course of the discussions. 
 
 During the session ministers had many serious reminders 
 of the nature of the tenure on which they held office. A 
 most unpleasant one for the old Tories was the question of 
 the admission of Jews to Parliament. The exclusion of Jews 
 was a pet bit of religious persecution, which they had been 
 allowed to perpetrate probably because the sufferers were 
 neither numerous nor noisy. Now at last, at the very time 
 that they were in office, the surrender had to be made ; but 
 it was done with a bad grace, which showed how very dis- 
 agreeable the process was. The bill, which had passed the 
 House of Commons by large majorities, contained two 
 sections — one altering the form of the oath of abjuration, 
 and the other allowing the Jews to take their oath without 
 the words " on the true faith of a Christian." On the second 
 reading in the House of Lords, on the 23rd of April, the 
 Premier, whilst not opposing the whole bill, gave notice that 
 he would in committee vote for the rejection of the part 
 affecting the Jews. This he did on the 30th of April, and 
 the clause was accordingly struck out. The bill thus mutilated 
 was sent to the Commons, who, on the loth of May, refused 
 to agree with the Lords' amendment. There was some very 
 plain speaking on the occasion, and Sir R. Bethell said that 
 he should propose a plan by which the House of Commons 
 could deal with the question of the admission of its members 
 for itself. The House of Lords took the warning, and, 
 although Derby would not so directly come down as to re- 
 insert the old clause, he consented to the passing of a separate 
 bill, giving each House power to provide by resolution for 
 
i8s9] Resignation of Aberdeen to Dissolution in 1859. 433 
 
 the admission of Jews. The compromise was accepted, the 
 bill passed, and on the 26th of July Baron Rothschild took 
 his seat. 
 
 Another warning on the subject of religious liberty, 
 which, although effective, was not so immediately accepted, 
 was given by the progress of the bill for the abolition of 
 church rates. This was introduced by Sir John Trelawney ; 
 was read a second time on the 17th of February by 
 214 to 160; and on the 8th of June was read a third time, 
 and passed in the Commons by 266 to 203. The Peers, 
 however, had done as much in this line as they could bear 
 in one session, and on the 2nd of July the second reading 
 was, on the motion of Lord Derby, defeated by 187 to 36. 
 Yet it was seen in the next session that the Government, at 
 least, were convinced that some concession must be made 
 even here. Altogether they were having a far from happy 
 time. 
 
 Ministers had said that they were prepared to give the 
 question of Parliamentary reform a fair consideration, and 
 the Radicals were determined to give them materials to con- 
 sider. To begin with, there was in this business also a small 
 practical success. A bill, introduced by Locke King, to 
 abolish property qualification for members of Parliament was 
 accepted by Government, and passed rapidly through both 
 Houses. Thus one of the points of the People's Charter 
 was quietly adopted : quite safely so far as the propertied 
 classes were concerned, for until its natural complement — the 
 payment of members — is accepted, it will be of little practical 
 value. Still, the passing of such an Act was indicative of a 
 change in feeling, and Lord Grey saw in it the inevitable 
 thin end of the wedge. The House of Commons was as 
 decided about the lowering of the county franchise, but not 
 as successful. On the loth of June the bill for that purpose 
 was read a second time by 226 to 168, but there was neither 
 time nor opportunity to proceed with it further. Milner 
 Gibson, on the 21st of June, proposed a resolution, declaring 
 that the paper duty was not a proper permanent source of 
 
 2 F 
 
434 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1855- 
 
 revenue, and that such financial arrangements should be 
 made as would enable Parliament to dispense with it. The 
 first part of the resolution was accepted by the Chancellor 
 of the Exchequer, and carried. The session — not a pleasant 
 one for either Whigs or Tories — was closed on the 3rd of 
 August. 
 
 Parliament met on the 3rd of February, 1859, the Queen's 
 speech saying, " Your attention will be called to the state of 
 the laws which regulate the representation of the people in 
 Parliament." The Radicals opened the campaign early. 
 On the 7th of February Mr. Dillwyn obtained leave to bring 
 in a bill on endowed schools ; on the 8th Trelawney re- 
 introduced his Church Rates Bill ; and on the 17th of the 
 same month Locke King took a similar step with regard to 
 the abolition of the law of primogeniture. Of these questions 
 that which related to church rates led to the most important 
 discussions and divisions. On the 21st of February Walpole 
 brought in and explained a Government scheme for dealing 
 with the subject. The plan might have been called a pro- 
 vision for making church rates perpetual. It proposed to 
 make the rate a landlords' rate ; to enable owners to make 
 existing rates a charge on land ; to allow tenants to recover 
 the rate from landlords ; and to exempt from payment those 
 who sign a written paper claiming exemption on the ground 
 of being dissenters. Such a compromise was evidently 
 impracticable. On the 9th of March the Government bill 
 was defeated, on the motion for its second reading, by 254 to 
 171 ; and on the 15 th of March Trelawney's abolition bill 
 was read a second time by 242 to 168. The ministerial crisis 
 and dissolution prevented further progress with the measure. 
 
 The catastrophe was brought about by the attempt of the 
 Government to deal with the reform question. The proposal 
 was an almost unmitigated piece of what is sometimes called 
 Parliamentary strategy, but what plain people call political 
 trickery. It had but one redeeming feature in it — the 
 reduction of the county franchise, and that was accompanied 
 by provisions for alteration of boundaries, the disfranchise- 
 
1 859-] Resignation of Aberdeen to Dissolution in 1859. 435 
 
 ment of freeholders living in boroughs, and other conditions 
 which rendered its action uncertain. The most amazing 
 thing about it was the method of dealing with the borough 
 franchise. The whole reason why a Reform Bill had been 
 found to be necessary was the demand, which all parties had 
 admitted to be irresistible, of the populations of towns for 
 some direct voice in the choice of representatives, and this was 
 the one thing which was practically refused. The household 
 franchise in boroughs was to be left at ;^iO. Every imaginary 
 claim was to be acknowledged, but the real and solid one was 
 rejected. Stockholders, savings-bank depositors, graduates 
 of universities, ministers of religion, and certificated school- 
 masters were all to have votes ; but the mass of the working 
 classes were still to be excluded. There was also a little 
 tinkering with redistribution. Fifteen small boroughs were to 
 be deprived of one member each, and the number was to be 
 distributed over three counties and six new boroughs. 
 
 The plan was condemned the moment it was known. 
 
 Russell declared at once that it would be opposed at every 
 
 stage ; and Mr. Bright objected to the total exclusion of the 
 
 working classes, and to the "fancy franchises," which were 
 
 absurd and delusive. Leave was given to bring in the bill, 
 
 but there was little doubt as to its fate. Its first effect, 
 
 however, was to cause a split in the Ministry itself. Walpole 
 
 and Henley both resigned — the former because of the 
 
 reduction of the county franchise — and the latter partly 
 
 because he also objected to the identity of franchise, but also 
 
 because he wanted a real bill which would admit more of the 
 
 working people. On the 21st of March the second reading 
 
 was moved, and a long discussion took place, lasting 
 
 altogether for eight nights. Nearly every Liberal speaker 
 
 condemned the bill ; but Roebuck was one of the few who 
 
 thought that, instead of its being summarily rejected, it might 
 
 be served as the India Bill had been — taken possession of by 
 
 the House and altered to suit the wishes of the majority. This 
 
 was evidently a method impossible with such a measure, and 
 
 on the 3 1 st of March the division took place, and the Govern- 
 
436 History of the Radical Party iti Parliament. [1855-1859. 
 
 ment were defeated by 330 to 291. They decided not to 
 resign, and on the 4th of April announced their intention to 
 appeal to the country. Some formal business was done, the 
 only party question raised being that of the ballot, introduced 
 by Berkeley on the 12th of April, when he was defeated by 
 102 to 99 ; and on the 19th of that month Parliament was 
 prorogued and dissolved. 
 
( 437 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 PALMERSTON'S LAST ADMINISTRATION (1859-1865). 
 
 The dissolution of Parliament was a desperate venture — the 
 Prime Minister's only chance, as it appeared, of saving his 
 position, his party, and his principles. If the old Parliament 
 were kept in existence two things would happen, both 
 disastrous to the Conservatives. A Liberal Ministry would 
 be called to power, and an effective Reform Bill must be 
 passed. The former danger might be only temporary, to 
 be overcome as it had been before, if the second one could be 
 avoided. But a constitutional change which would alter the 
 character of many of the constituencies, and give to the people 
 a real share in the representation, might prove a more lasting 
 evil, and mean not only the relinquishment of office for a 
 time, but the loss of political and social power for the govern- 
 ing class. Clearly, then, the risk attending a general election 
 was worth running. 
 
 The experiment was not entirely unsuccessful, although it 
 did not se;;ure its primary purpose of saving the Ministry. 
 The Liberal majority was seriously diminished, but it was not 
 destroyed. When the elections were over, the newspapers of 
 the time calculated that the returns showed — Liberals, 353 ^ 
 Conservatives, 302, giving a Liberal majority of fifty-one, 
 including a double return for Aylesbury, which did not 
 materially affect the issue.* This showed a Liberal loss of 
 twenty-three as compared with the numbers in the previous 
 
 * Times, May 20, 1859. McCalmont's " Poll Book," published in 1879, gives 
 the numbers as— Liberals, 348 ; Conservatives, 305 : Liberal majority, 43. 
 
438 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1839- 
 
 Parliament. There were forty-four losses and twenty-one 
 gains, boroughs and counties both helping to increase the 
 Conservative following. 
 
 The alteration in numbers produced a good deal of uncer- 
 tainty and commotion amongst the Liberals. It made the 
 absolute union of all sections a condition of return to power, 
 and the possible ministers, having to be dependent upon 
 keeping Radicals and Whigs alike in good humour, had no 
 easy task before them. This seemed to secure some practical 
 advance, because without that the Radicals would in no way 
 have been conciliated. On the other hand, the ultra-Whig 
 section would not allow a too rapid progress, and on the 
 whole their disaffection would be more dangerous than that of 
 the Radicals, because in a case of revolt they could secure the 
 Conservative vote in their favour, and there was the House of 
 Lords always ready to give the finishing stroke to any pro- 
 posal about which there was any disagreement amongst the 
 Liberals. 
 
 The difficulty arose at the very outset, in the attempted 
 formation of a new Ministry. It was at last recognized on all 
 hands that the Radicals were a definite power, and that they 
 must have a direct representation in the Cabinet. Not, as 
 had been hitherto the case, the selection of some individual at 
 the sacrifice if not of his principles, at least of his free 
 advocacy of them ; but the admission of men who would be 
 expected to keep the Radical policy before Parliament when 
 in office as they had done when they were out. The process 
 which had nominally elevated, but had really silenced,' 
 Hobhouse and Molesworth and Shell, was no longer possible, 
 and this was a fact which prolonged the negotiations for the 
 formation of a Ministry. Russell and Palmerston had agreed 
 to compromise their differences, and a few years back that 
 would have been sufficient. Now the case was altered, and 
 the fact was set forth in most melancholy terms by a writer in 
 the Times, who said, "What we lament is, that the Liberals 
 would return to power with an aggravation of the difficulties 
 which drove them from it. We cannot flatter ourselves that 
 
t865.] Palmerstoris Last Administration. 439 
 
 the events which have reconciled Palmerston and Russell will 
 make Bright less assuming and confident." 
 
 The Whig leaders had to meet the case, and they did it 
 in a fairly satisfactory manner. If the object was to give 
 the Radicals an actual voice, but not an important vote, 
 in the inner council of the State, it was obtained by the 
 selection made. Cobden, who was then abroad, had the 
 office of President of the Board of Trade, with a seat in 
 the Cabinet, left open for his acceptance. Such an appoint- 
 ment was evidently bond fide. No Whig could even hope, 
 much less believe, that Cobden could be silenced or diverted 
 from his own line of policy by any place. Milner Gibson, 
 who was made head of the Poor Law Board, and was also 
 in the Cabinet, was, if less decided in character than Cobden, 
 a sound and conscientious Radical, who, if not able to lead 
 the Ministry in his own direction, might at least be counted 
 on to resist any reactionary policy. Charles Gilpin, who 
 also possessed the confidence of many Radicals, had a 
 subordinate office. If Mr. Bright was to be left out, it would 
 not have been easy to find a better representation of the 
 party, supposing that Cobden would accept the offer made 
 to him. This, however, he declined to do. On his return 
 to England, he let it be known that his opposition to 
 Palmerston was too thorough and sincere to admit of taking 
 office under him. Whatever may have been thought of the 
 immediate effect of this refusal on the fortunes of the Radical 
 party, there can be no doubt that it was calculated to elevate 
 the tone of political morality, and to increase the personal 
 influence of the statesman who would not sacrifice principle 
 for place. 
 
 The necessity of filling the vacancy thus occasioned in 
 a manner which should be acceptable to the Radicals and 
 serviceable to their policy was generally admitted. A writer 
 in the Examiner newspaper gave definite expression to this 
 feeling in commenting on Cobden's refusal. " We trust," he 
 wrote, "that the place vacant will be filled by a staunch 
 
 * Times, 24th of May, 1859, leading article. 
 
440 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859- 
 
 reformer, as the number of advanced reformers in the 
 Government — professedly framed on the representative prin- 
 ciple — even in the proposed arrangement including Mr. 
 Cobden, is not proportionate to the strength of the Radical 
 party measured by the test of the ballot."* When Mr. 
 Villiers was chosen to take the vacant seat in the Cabinet, 
 it was felt that a satisfactory decision had been made. By 
 his long service to his party, no less than by his unswerving 
 devotion to its principles, the old free-trader had earned the 
 gratitude and the confidence of the country. If he was not 
 as likely as Cobden to impress his individuality upon the 
 Cabinet, he too might be trusted to be a constant advocate of 
 a progressive policy. 
 
 The discussions and consultations which led to this final 
 arrangement were not concluded before the meeting of 
 Parliament. They were, indeed, so far from settled that it was 
 doubtful if the Government would not for some time longer 
 be left in the hands of the minority, owing to the inability 
 of the majority to settle their own differences. On the 31st 
 of May, 1859, the Houses met, and, after the preliminary 
 business of electing a Speaker and swearing in members 
 of the House of Commons, the session was formally opened 
 by the Queen in person on the 7th of June. During the 
 interval the Liberals had completed their negotiations, and 
 when the debate on the address came on they were prepared 
 to make a definite attack upon the Ministry. The royal 
 speech announced the commencement of the war of France 
 and Sardinia with Austria, and declared the intention of 
 the Government to preserve a strict neutrality, but at the 
 same time to increase the naval forces. As to Parliamentary 
 reform, the Queen said she would with pleasure give her 
 sanction to any well-considered measure, but thought the 
 subject would have to be postponed to next year. 
 
 The opposition determined to meet the Government with 
 an amendment to the address, declaring a want of confidence 
 in her Majesty's ministers. This was moved by the Marquis 
 
 ' Examiner, July 2, 1859. 
 
1865.] Palmerstoiis Last Administration. 441 
 
 of Hartington, and led to an animated discussion. On 
 a division, the amendment was carried by 223 to 210, giving 
 a majority of thirteen only against the Government. The 
 unanimity of the Liberal party had not been quite complete, 
 two votes especially having been given against them. Mr. 
 Roebuck on this occasion took the final step which severed 
 him from his old connections — the Chartist Radical giving 
 his help to the Tories, and Mr. Gladstone giving the last 
 vote which Conservatism was destined to receive from him. 
 The majority, if not large, was sufficient for the purpose, and 
 on the 17th of June it was announced that ministers had 
 resigned, and that Lord Palmerston had succeeded in forming 
 an Administration. 
 
 The new Cabinet contained nine old Whigs, four Peelites, 
 and two Radicals, and its formation marked the definite 
 completion of another stage in the progress of the Radical 
 party. They were now admitted to a position not of equality, 
 but of independence, in the Government, and if they could 
 not originate, could at least try to affect its policy. It was 
 not possible, however, for them, in the existing state of the 
 constituencies to exercise an immediate influence on affairs. 
 It required another Reform Act to enable them to secure an 
 equality of position ; we have now to see if the result of 
 another advance will not be to give them the actual predomi- 
 nance which their support in the country, the success of their 
 policy, and their ability alike indicate as inevitable. One 
 great advantage was derived from this preliminary stage. 
 The people had learned that the policy of the Radicals was 
 wise and far-seeing, and they were accustomed to find it piece 
 by piece adopted after long agitation first by the Whigs, and 
 afterwards by all parties in Parliament. But the men who 
 originated the policy had no opportunities of directing its 
 administration. The country had to be convinced by experi- 
 ence that there was good practical political ability, as well as 
 sound theory, to be found in the party of progress, and that 
 there was no reason why Liberal measures should be entrusted 
 to any one but their authors for realization. 
 
442 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859- 
 
 This lesson was taught during the existence of Palmer- 
 ston's Ministry. The management of the department of the 
 Board of Trade, to which he was transferred on Cobden's 
 refusal, by Milner Gibson, was admirable ; and Mr. Villiers 
 at the Poor Law Board gave evidence not only of ordinary 
 administrative talent, but of the statesmanlike faculty of 
 meeting and dealing with grave and sudden difficulties. 
 During Villier's tenure of office the occurrence of the 
 " cotton famine " called for special legislation and for im- 
 mediate action in an emergency, and both demands were 
 met to the full by the Radical president of the Board.* 
 
 A still more striking example of political insight, com- 
 bined with extraordinary statesmanlike ability, was furnished 
 in the case of the commercial treaty with France. That 
 treaty was originated, negotiated, and completed by Richard 
 Cobden alone. The central idea which Cobden had in view 
 was a broad and noble one^ — to unite two great nations by 
 the bonds of a friendship based on mutual interests, and 
 so to destroy the jealousies and rivalries which had involved 
 them in wars innumerable. That not only the great cause 
 of peace would be promoted, but that the material welfare 
 of both peoples would be increased, was a consideration 
 which no wise statesman would overlook. With these great 
 objects in view, Cobden began his work, without much 
 encouragement in England, and with the Government and 
 people of France alike unprepared to receive any such a 
 proposition. Every difficulty which could be imagined pre- 
 sented itself, and the industry and prudence by which they 
 were met and overcome were as remarkable as the wisdom 
 by which the project was conceived. A year's anxious and 
 arduous labour was devoted to the cause, and it was not 
 until the loth of February, i860, that the treaty was 
 submitted to Parliament. No words can more fittingly 
 describe the work than ■ those used by Mr. Gladstone in the 
 
 * The services rendered by Mr. Villiers in this office are fairly set out in 
 the Political Memoir attached to Free Trade Speeches, in pp. Ixxxii. to xciii. 
 inclusive — a record which deserves to be studied. 
 
1865.] Palmerston's Last Administration. 443 
 
 House of Commons. " Rare," he said, " is the privilege of 
 any man, who, having fourteen years ago rendered to his 
 country one signal service, now again, within the same brief 
 span of life, decorated neither by land nor title, bearing 
 no mark to distinguish him from the people he loves, has 
 been permitted to perform another great and memorable 
 service to his sovereign and his country." * 
 
 By the 30th of June, 1859, the arrangements of the new 
 Ministry were completed, and on the evening of that day the 
 statements were made in both Houses. Earl Granville, in the 
 Lords, said that the question of Parliamentary reform would 
 engage the earnest attention of the Government, with a view 
 to the introduction of a measure early in the following session. 
 He reminded his hearers that the elections had turned mainly 
 on that question — a fact that is worth remembering, in view of 
 the persistent declaration of some of the Whigs that there was 
 no popular demand for reform. The war in Italy attracted 
 much attention, and it was made the excuse — for it was really 
 no justification — for demands for an increase in our armaments. 
 The discussions on this subject took up much of the time of 
 Parliament, and destroyed what little chance there ever had 
 been of practical domestic work in the remainder of the broken 
 session. The Church Rates Abolition Bill was, on the 1 3th of 
 July, read a second time by 263 to 193, Palmerston for the 
 first time giving it his support. The triumph was a barren 
 one, as there was no time to proceed with the measure. The 
 Endowed Schools Bill was again introduced by Mr. Dillwyn, 
 was read a second time by 210 to 192, and then referred to a 
 select committee,, which meant shelving it for a time. Parlia- 
 ment was prorogued on the 13th of August. 
 
 The session of i860 was opened, on the 24th of January, 
 by a speech which referred to the Italian war and the French 
 commercial treaty, and said that " measures will be laid before 
 you for amending the laws which regulate the representation 
 of the people in Parliament, and for placing the representation 
 upon a broader and firmer basis." The bill thus promised 
 
 * Budget speech, loth of February. 
 
444 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859- 
 
 was not introduced until the ist of March, when Lord John 
 Russell explained its provisions. The proposals were to 
 reduce the county franchise to ;^io occupiers, and the borough 
 to £6. There was to be a little redistribution, one member 
 being taken from each borough having less than 7000 inhabi- 
 tants, which would give twenty-five seats for appropriation. 
 Of these, two were to be given to West Riding, and one each 
 to thirteen other counties or divisions, five to new boroughs, 
 one each additional to Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, 
 and Leeds, and one to London University. The bill was 
 accepted, but without enthusiasm, by the Radicals; it was 
 opposed, but without bitterness, by the Tories ; its fatal 
 opponents were the Whigs. It was now that they showed 
 the strength of their position, arising from the near balance 
 of power between the two great parties, and the ease 
 with which, by alliance with the Conservatives, they could 
 check any active Liberalism of ministers. They were en- 
 couraged in this policy of resistance by the absence of 
 violent agitation outside. The quietness did not really arise 
 from indifference on the part of the people, and those who 
 assumed that it did had afterwards to pay in increased con- 
 cession for the mistake they made. The fact was, that all 
 parties in turn, Conservatives, Whigs, and Radicals, had 
 admitted the necessity of reform, and had submitted pro- 
 posals for its accomplishments ; and the English people, being 
 practical politicians and not mere visionaries, accepted in 
 good faith this universal profession, and did not see why they 
 should make extraordinary efforts to obtain what was so 
 generally offered. 
 
 Lord Granville had declared, at the opening of the new 
 Parliament, that the elections had turned on this question, but 
 this constitutional expression of the national will the Whigs 
 chose to forget, and they began at once to cabal for the defeat of 
 the Government scheme. The second reading was moved on 
 the 19th of March, and was continued by adjournment over 
 six days, during which the secession was plainly manifested. 
 Macaulay opposed the bill openly, and Ramsden, Walter, and 
 
1865.] Palmerstons Last Administration. 445 
 
 other Whigs, did the same in a less direct manner. The 
 second reading was carried without a division ; but the com- 
 mittee stage was interrupted by another long debate, in the 
 course of which, on one division on the 7th of June, the 
 Government only obtained a majority of twenty-one, the num- 
 bers being 269 to 248. Some of the arguments made use of 
 were curious, looked at in the light gained from subsequent 
 events. Disraeli * thought that a measure which founded the 
 constituency upon the principle of numbers, not fitness, and 
 which added 200,000 electors, composing one homogeneous 
 class, having the same interest, who would neutralize the voices 
 of the present borough constituency, was not wise and well 
 considered. Rolt and other members declared that the bill 
 would lead to household suffrage, and then to universal 
 suffrage. The speakers did not see, what is obvious now, that 
 the refusal of a moderate measure did not prevent, but hastened 
 the adoption of a more Radical policy. The delay and the 
 weakness of ministers made ultimate success impossible, and 
 on the nth of June Russell withdrew the bill. On this occa- 
 sion Mr. Bright explained and denounced the policy of the 
 seceders. He said the opposition had been emboldened by 
 members on the Liberal side of the House, who wanted a pure 
 Whig Government, which would never be seen again — which 
 was just as much extinct as the dodo. This language was 
 justified not only by the strength of the Radicals in the 
 country, but by their numbers in the House, as again shown in 
 a division on Berkeley's proposal, made on the 20th of Marp h, 
 to introduce a bill for the adoption of the ballot, for which 107 
 members voted. 
 
 Two other Radical measures obtained considerable support, 
 but did not become law. On the 21st of March Dillwyn 
 moved the second reading of his Endowed Schools Bill, but 
 was defeated by 190 to 120. Better fortune attended 
 Trelawney's Church Rate Abolition Bill, which was read a 
 second time on the 8th of February by 263 to 234, and read a 
 third time on the 19th of April by 235 to 226. It was, of 
 • On the 19th of March, on the second reading. 
 
446 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859- 
 
 course, thrown out by the Lords, who, on the loth of June, 
 refused the second reading by 128 to 31. 
 
 Apart from these efforts of the Radicals and the defeat of 
 the ministerial Reform Bill, the session which closed on the 
 28th of August, 1 860, was made memorable by two transac- 
 tions of an important character, one of which led to results the 
 full effect of which is not yet realized. The first of these two 
 events was a conflict between the two Houses on a question of 
 taxation, when the Peers, encouraged by the divisions and 
 consequent weakness of the Liberal party, ventured to alter 
 the means of raising the revenue upon which the Commons 
 had decided. Part of the financial scheme of the Chancellor 
 of the Exchequer — Mr. Gladstone — had been the repeal of the 
 paper duty, and the raising of money from other sources. The 
 bill to abolish this tax was read a third time and passed by 
 the Commons on the 8th of May, by a majority of nine. On 
 the 2 1st of the same month, when it came up for second read- 
 ing in the House of Lords, it was rejected by 193 to 104. 
 Much discussion took place on this subject, but after all ex- 
 planations, and defence of the Peers on technical grounds, the 
 broad fact remained that the spirit of the Constitution had 
 been violated. It is the undoubted right of the Commons to 
 decide from what sources the imperial revenue shall be raised, 
 and what taxes shall be laid upon the country. By their vote 
 on the Paper Duty Bill the Lords reversed this principle, and 
 decided that a tax which the Commons had refused should 
 still be levied upon the people. Ministers, uncertain of their 
 position, took the insult quietly, although Mr. Gladstone made 
 an indignant protest. They proposed and carried three 
 declaratory resolutions, but they allowed the tax to be 
 continued.* 
 
 * The position of Palmerston at this time towards the Radicals as understood 
 by the Tory leaders, is illustrated by a statement of Lord Malmesbury, who says, 
 after the rejection of the Paper Duty Bill, " In this critical state of public affairs 
 Lord Derby had desired me to go to Lady Palmerston and assure her of the 
 support of our whole party against the Radicals, and to give a positive promise 
 that we wU not coalesce with them in or out of office." — Memoirs of an Ex- 
 Minister, vol. ii., p. 228. 
 
1865-] Palmer stotis Last Administration. 447 
 
 The other and more important event, to which reference 
 has been made, was the passing of an Act to amend the law 
 relating to the tenure and improvement of land in Ireland. 
 This Act, introduced by Cardwell on the 29th of March, went 
 through both Houses with very little discussion. That the 
 English Radicals did not perceive the mischievous effects of 
 the proposal, and that even the Irish members did not oppose 
 it more strenuously, was a proof of the force of the central 
 doctrine of Radicalism, that no legislation can be safe or satis- 
 factory in which the people directly interested have not a 
 real and efficient representation. There is no doubt that the 
 measure was honestly intended by its introducers to benefit all 
 classes of the Irish people ; but the small tenant farmers of 
 that country were unrepresented, and English politicians, acting 
 on English ideas, entirely misunderstood the case with which 
 they were dealing. Proposing to secure the consolidation of 
 the law, it really " contained a clause calculated to destroy the 
 tenant's right to compensation, either as to the present or the 
 past." * The . Act fortunately had little direct effect, but it 
 destroyed the faith of the Irish tenantry in English legislation ; 
 led immediately to an immense emigration ; and laid the 
 foundation of the Fenian outbreak and of the agrarian agita- 
 tion, which, in their turn, have forced the English Parliament 
 to deal with Irish land on principles consonant with the 
 customs and traditions of Ireland, and therefore with the 
 essential justice of the case. 
 
 The session of 186 1 was opened on the sthof February by 
 a speech made interesting by a reference to the outbreak of 
 the American civil war, but which was almost silent with 
 regard to domestic affairs. As to the American crisis, there 
 was at the commencement a very general feeling in favour of 
 preserving a strict neutrality, and, so far as Parliamentary ex- 
 pression went, there was little difference of opinion. By 
 degrees, however, there was developed not a party, but a set 
 of tendencies in which sympathy with what was supposed to 
 
 * The Parliamentary History of the Irish Land Question, by O'Brien, 1880, 
 pp. 114 and 115, and notes. 
 
448 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859- 
 
 be the aristocracy of the South was opposed to the democracy 
 of the North. In addition to this, there was a still more des- 
 picable feeling manifested — one of jealousy towards the power 
 of the great republic of the West, and a wish that it might be 
 weakened by the success of the rebellion. The most earnest 
 Radicals saw not only the folly but the wickedness of this 
 policy, although it made some way in certain social circles. 
 But one of the most remarkable circumstances in international 
 history was the clearness with which the bulk of the people of 
 the great towns saw that the issue was one between freedom 
 and slavery, and the firmness with which, even when some of 
 their old leaders and many of the Liberal organs of opinion 
 deserted them, they remained true to the great principle for 
 which the North was contending. Even under the bitter trials 
 to which the Lancashire artisans were subjected by the cotton 
 famine, they never swerved from this noble attitude, although 
 they were tempted by the suggestion that an interference in 
 favour of the South would open the ports and revive their 
 trade. If anything were wanted to prove with how great 
 safety and advantage the English working people may be 
 called upon to take a part in their own government, it was this 
 clearness of insight into the merits of a great national question, 
 and this resolute determination to support the right. 
 
 The tone of the Queen's speech, with respect to home 
 politics, was an acknowledgment that the Government had 
 accepted the result of the informal alliance between Whigs 
 and Conservatives, and were prepared to adopt a policy of 
 inaction. As regarded the Prime Minister himself, this 
 course was taken with perfect cheerfulness. He had never 
 been an ardent reformer, and, although willing to make 
 moderate advances, was not ready to risk loss of power on 
 their behalf. The times seemed propitious for the success of 
 this rather ignoble poHcy. The Radicals differed from their 
 rivals, the Whigs, in one respect, which was important to Lord 
 Palmerston. They were not prepared to sacrifice the ministers 
 who would not insist upon reform, for the sacrifice would not 
 have brought them practically nearer to their object. The 
 
1865.] Palmerstoris Last Administration. 449 
 
 Whigs had not hesitated to oppose their leaders on what 
 ought to have been made a matter of confidence. So long, 
 then, as Palmerston should remain in power, it was generally 
 felt that there would be no substantial reform. The Radicals 
 had, therefore, to take up their old part of protest in Par- 
 liament and agitation outside. Their chances of ultimate 
 success were, however, very much greater than they had ever 
 been before. Their numbers were largely increased — that 
 meant that their opinions and policy had spread more widely 
 amongst the great body of Liberals ; and there was a growing 
 belief that no active political and social life was to be looked 
 for without a substantial measure of Parliamentary reform. 
 
 The strength of the party was tested on several occasions 
 during the session. The first attempt of the kind was a com- 
 parative failure. In the debate on the address, Mr. White, one 
 of the members for Brighton, moved an amendment in favour 
 of Parliamentary reform, and was defeated by 129 to 46. 
 Better support was given to three other proposals, which were 
 brought forward in a more deliberate and formal manner. On 
 the 19th of February leave was given to introduce two bills, 
 one by Locke King, to reduce the county franchise ; and one 
 by Baines, to lower the borough franchise to £6. Both these 
 provisions had been included in the Government bill of the 
 previous session, and had, indeed, formed its main features. 
 They were, of course, lost on the second reading. On the 
 13th of March Locke King's bill was rejected by 248 to 220. 
 Palmerston, Russell, and Gladstone all voting with the 
 minority. The Borough Franchise Bill came up on the loth 
 of April, and that was defeated by 245 to 193. Berkeley did 
 not get so far with his Ballot Bill, for on the 23rd of April 
 leave was refused for its introduction by 279 to 154. Judging 
 from these notes, it appeared that the Radicals might be 
 reckoned as something over 1 50, and that there were over 200 
 Liberals really willing to adopt some measure of reform. 
 
 The Radicals received still greater support on questions 
 affecting religious liberty, which did not threaten to interfere 
 with territorial influence in the constituencies. On the 27th 
 
 2 G 
 
450 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859- 
 
 of February Trelawney's Church Rate Abolition Bill was read 
 a second time by 281 votes to 266 ; but on the 19th of June, 
 when it came up for the third reading, a curious fate befell it. 
 On a division the numbers were equal, 274 voting on each 
 side and the Speaker, called upon for his casting vote, gave it 
 against the bill. Sir Morton Peto introduced a bill for allow- 
 ing the burial of Nonconformists in churchyards, thus com- 
 mencing a Parliamentary agitation destined to last for some 
 years. On this occasion the bill was rejected on the second 
 reading, the division, taken on the 24th of April, showing 155 
 for, and 236 against. The session closed on the 6th of 
 August. 
 
 Parliament assembled on the 6th of February, 1862. The 
 speech commenced with a reference to the great sorrow which 
 had fallen on the Queen by the loss of her husband, who died 
 on the 14th of December, 1861, and to the sympathy which 
 her Majesty had received from all classes of her subjects. 
 The settlement of the difference with America arising out 
 of the unfortunate "Trent" affair was also announced, and 
 the commencement of the Mexican difficulty followed. As 
 to domestic affairs, they seemed to enter but very slightly 
 into the consideration of the Government, the only promise 
 with regard to them being that measures for the improvement 
 of law, including a bill for rendering the title to land more 
 simple and its transfer more easy, and that other measures 
 of public usefulness, would be submitted. On the i8th of 
 February the Premier, replying to a rather unnecessary 
 question put by Mr. Cox, said that it was not the intention 
 of the Government to introduce a reform bill* 
 
 The most interesting debates of the early part of the 
 session were those which took place on the subject of educa- 
 tion and the famous " Revised Code " to regulate the grants 
 of the department. This code, prepared by Mr. Lowe, had 
 been formally submitted to Parliament at the close of the last 
 
 * Lord John Russell, to whom the question might have been unpleasant, had, 
 in the previous year, been removed to the serener sphere of the House of Lords, 
 where no such questioning was to be feared. 
 
1865.] Palmerstoris Last Administration, 451 
 
 session, and had been left for public discussion, of which it 
 received a full share. The object of the alterations it con- 
 tained was to secure a performance of the work for which 
 the grants were made, and to establish a system of payment 
 by results. The immediate effect was to raise the cry of 
 interference with vested interests. Managers of schools, 
 clergymen, and teachers assumed that because they had 
 once received money without conditions, they were to go 
 on for ever receiving it in the same way. The agitation 
 was to some extent successful, backed as it was by Bishops 
 and Peers, Tories and Whigs. On the nth of March Mr. 
 Walpole laid upon the table of the House of Commons a 
 series of resolutions he intended to move as amendments 
 to the code. Ministers had to give way, and modifications 
 were made. One great good had been done, however : the 
 country was made aware of the folly of entrusting the public 
 funds to irresponsible people, and the cause of representative 
 government was so far advanced. 
 
 The usual attempts were made by the Radicals, but more 
 by way of protest and the education of public opinion than 
 from any hope of immediate gain. That hope, indeed, so far 
 as the existing Parliament was concerned, grew fainter instead 
 of stronger, and the success of the Tory-Whig alliajice 
 encouraged further defection. Thus, on the 14th of May, 
 the second reading of the Church Rates Abolition Bill was 
 rejected by a majority of one, the numbers being 287 to 286. 
 In the early sessions of the Parliament it had been carried 
 by the Commons by good majorities, in 1861 the votes were 
 equal, and now there was a majority against the measure. 
 So it was with the ballot, which this year was presented in 
 two forms, one as applying to Parliamentary, and the other 
 to Municipal, elections. Leave was given to bring in both 
 bills, but one was rejected on the i8th of June by eighty-three 
 to forty-five, and the other on the 2nd of July by 211 to 126. 
 An attempt was made by Mr. Ayrton to improve the law of 
 compensation to workmen in the case of accidents. The bill 
 was introduced on the nth of February, and defeated on the 
 
452 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859- 
 
 second reading on the 19th of March. On the 30th of May 
 a proposal to abolish purchase in the army was made by Sir 
 De Lacy Evans, and lost by 247 to 62 ; and the Endowed 
 Schools Bill had to be withdrawn. 
 
 At the close of a session so useless, a formal demon- 
 stration against the miserable policy of the Ministry was 
 made by Cobden, who, although he disclaimed the position 
 of a party leader, was entitled to speak on behalf of the 
 Radicals in and out of Parliament. It was on the ist of 
 August, after notice given, that he brought forward his im- 
 peachment of the Government. The principles of the Liberal 
 party, he said, were retrenchment, non-intervention, and reform., 
 and the Ministry had violated them all. " If a party," he said, 
 " violates its professed principles, I think that party should be 
 called an imposture." It would be better for the Liberals to 
 be out of power than to be nominally in office without for- 
 warding the objects for which they existed. " I say, therefore, 
 that, facing even that which I may regard as the worst alter- 
 native of this state of things, if there is nobody but the noble 
 lord to mislead us and mock our principles instead of enforcing 
 them, let us go into opposition, and there we shall find leaders 
 who will rally us to some principles." This was a protest 
 which had its effect in the country, but Cobden did not 
 propose to take any vote, and influence in the House of 
 Commons could not be obtained. Palmerston had lost the 
 confidence of all that was active and earnest in his own 
 party, but he could only be displaced by a union between 
 Conservatives and Radicals, and that was an impossible con- 
 juncture; so he relied as much as ever on his policy of inaction, 
 and practically defied public opinion. Parliament was pro- 
 rogued on the 7th of August. 
 
 The royal speech with which the session of 1863 was 
 opened, on February 15, seemed framed to show the most 
 studied contempt for the opinion of the Radicals in Parliament, 
 and for the demands of the people outside. Other speeches 
 have been bare in their references to home affairs, but this 
 one stands alone in the series as having mention of no single 
 
i865.] Palmerstotis Last Administration. 453 
 
 item of domestic policy. " Various measures," it said, " of 
 public usefulness and improvement will be submitted to your 
 consideration," but neither Parliament nor country were 
 of sufficient importance to be told what direction their 
 thoughts and labours would be invited to take. If he could 
 get through without a disturbance in foreign affairs, the 
 Premier did not intend to give the Conservatives anything 
 to oppose at home, and the Radicals could bring forward no 
 proposition, saving the improbable one of a direct vote of 
 censure, on which they could receive support from the other 
 side. So it was likely, as Lord Derby said in speaking on 
 the address, to be " a quiet, humdrum session." 
 
 It was indeed uphill work to keep alive the cause of 
 reform in such a Parliament, and with such a minister in 
 power. The Radicals, however, went through the process 
 with commendable spirit, if with decreasing success. On 
 the 6th of February Trelawney once more rallied to the anti- 
 church rate contest, but on the 29th of April the second 
 reading of his bill was rejected by 285 to 275, a falling off 
 even from the low standard of the past year. The Endowed 
 Schools Bill, which was introduced on the 6th of February, did 
 not go to a division on second reading. The Burials Bill was 
 again thrown out on the 15th of April, by 221 to 96. The 
 most interesting debates on religious questions were those 
 which took place on the Irish Church, which now came up 
 for serious consideration, after having been put on one side 
 since the great Whig desertion of the Appropriation clause in 
 1838. On the 28th of May Mr. Dillwyn moved for a select 
 committee on Irish religious endowments, and after three 
 adjournments the order was discharged to give place to a 
 motion by Bernal Osborne, on the same subject. This was 
 brought forward on the 26th of June, and the debate was 
 continued on the 29th, when the motion was shelved by an 
 adjournment of the House. 
 
 It is almost needless to say that this revived attention, 
 given to an Irish question, was partly to be accounted for 
 by the signs of coming trouble in Ireland. Once more there 
 
454 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859- 
 
 were bad seasons, and the people, living hopelessly under the 
 rule of alien laws, could only suffer and complain. The Act 
 of i860 was manifesting, to all who understood the question, 
 its inability to do anything but increase the sense of injustice ; 
 yet the English Government, speaking by the reckless mouth 
 of the young Sir Robert Peel, declared that they considered 
 that it was a final settlement of the question* In times of 
 distress all symptoms of bad government showed themselves, 
 and this symptom of the shameful dominance of a foreign 
 Church, as it touched the consciences and sympathies of an 
 excitable people, was always uppermost. The Fenian out- 
 break, which was beginning to organize itself, although it had 
 not disestablishment as an aim, used it as an instrument, and 
 from now to 1870 the question was never lost sight of 
 
 The American civil war attracted the attention of all parties 
 throughout the session. The vindication of the cause of the 
 North was a forlorn sort of hope for politicians, which only the 
 strongest Radicals sustained, and in which Mr. Bright bore 
 a noble part. But fortunately the principle of neutrality was 
 supported by the Conservative leaders, and Disraeli especially 
 was firm in its defence. On the other side, there were loud- 
 mouthed boasters, like Roebuck and Laird, who did their best 
 to embroil the two great nations in war. This feeling found 
 its most extraordinary expression in a speech by Roebuck, 
 on the 30th of June, when he moved a resolution in favour 
 of recognition of the South. With an impertinence almost 
 sublime, he declared, " As far as my influence goes, I am 
 determined to do all I can to prevent the reconstruction of 
 the union ; and I hope that the balance of power on the 
 American continent will in future prevent any one state from 
 tyrannizing over the world as the republic did." The resolu- 
 tion was withdrawn ; but Palmerston, whilst he was too clever 
 to be pushed into absolute intervention, was not wise enough 
 or honest enough to be true to the spirit of the neutrality 
 
 * Speaking in reply to a resolution moved by Mr. Maguire on the 23rd of 
 June, "that as the Land Act of i860 had been inoperative, a royal commission 
 might be appointed to consider the Irish land laws." 
 
186$.] P aimer stori s Last Administration. 455 
 
 which he professed. The consequence was a violation of the 
 law of nations which passed for dignified independence at the 
 time, but afterwards cost the nation a sacrifice both in wealth 
 and honour. It was on the 13th of July that Roebuck 
 withdrew his resolution, and on the 28th ParHament was 
 prorogued. 
 
 The description of one session, under the government of 
 Palmerston, is very much like that of another, so far as regards 
 internal administration. There is some variety in the nature 
 of the foreign complications with which they contended with 
 difiTerent degrees of feebleness, but the dull routine of inaction 
 at home was broken only by the sound and successful financial 
 policy of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In his depart- 
 ment Mr. Gladstone was showing an ever-increasing desire 
 to administer the commercial and financial affairs of the 
 country with a view to improve the condition and advance 
 the interests of the great body of the people. The Queen's 
 speech, read at the opening of the session of 1864, on the 
 4th of February, so far differed from that of 1863, that it did 
 mention one domestic subject to which attention would be 
 directed. But whether or not that was an advance may be 
 questioned when it is remembered that the favoured topic 
 was the report of a commission, which had been appointed 
 to revise the various forms of subscription and declaration 
 required to be made by the clergy of the Established Church. 
 Under these conditions the prospects of reform were not 
 very hopeful, and yet in this dreary time one gleam of light 
 was shown which gave a promise of brighter days. On the 
 nth of May the bill introduced by Mr. Baines for extending 
 the borough franchise came on for second reading. On that 
 occasion it was strongly supported by Mr. Gladstone, in a 
 speech which was remarkable for a bold and statesmanlike 
 view of the question. He advocated reform because he had 
 trust and confidence in the mass of the people, and because 
 they had shown wisdom and self-restraint, which proved their 
 fitness for self-government. He declared his opinion "that 
 every man who is not presumably incapacitated by some 
 
456 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859- 
 
 consideration of personal unfitness or political danger, is 
 morally entitled to come within the pale of the Constitution." 
 This was no mere Whig concession to popular pressure, but 
 a broad recognition of Radical principles, and from that time 
 forward Mr. Gladstone has more and more endeared himself 
 to the confidence and affection of the people, and of that 
 party in Parliament by which they are most directly repre- 
 sented. The fate of the bill was not likely to be affected by 
 this adhesion, and it was defeated by 272 to 216 ; but it was 
 strongly felt that success was now only a question of time. 
 Shortly before this, on the 1 3th of April, a closer division had 
 been taken on the second reading of Locke King's County 
 Franchise Bill, the numbers being 227 for, and 254 against. 
 Berkeley's resolution in favour of the ballot, moved on the 
 2 1st of June, was rejected by 212 to 123. 
 
 During the session two losses befell the Ministry, although ^ 
 the effect was felt only by the individuals, the Government, or 
 rather the Premier, remaining as strong as ever. In the first 
 of these events the Radicals were directly interested, it being 
 a member of their party who was attacked. Mr. Stansfeld 
 had but recently been appointed one of the Lords of the 
 Admiralty, and was showing considerable administrative 
 capacity. At the trial in Paris for a conspiracy to murder 
 the Emperor, it was stated by the Procureur-Imperial that a 
 paper had been found in the possession of one of the accused, 
 directing him to write for money to Mr. Flowers, at 35, 
 Thurloe Square, Brompton, where, the Procureur said, a 
 member of the English Parliament resided, who, in 1855, had 
 been appointed banker to the Tibaldi conspirators against the 
 Emperor's life. The address given was that of Mr. Stansfeld. 
 On the 14th of March notice was taken of this statement in 
 the House of Commons; and on the 17th a further debate 
 took place, and Mr. Stansfeld of course denied that he had 
 been concerned in, or cognizant of, any conspiracy of the kind. 
 On the following night the subject was again discussed, and 
 Mr. Stansfeld said that he had allowed Mazzini, the Italian 
 patriot, to have letters directed to his house under the name 
 
i86s.] Palmerstoiis Last Administration. 457 
 
 of M. Fiori — the Italian name for Flowers — but he indignantly- 
 protested against its being supposed that Mazzini would be a 
 party to a conspiracy to murder. Sir Henry Stracy moved — 
 " That the speech of the Procureur-Imperial on the trial of 
 Greco, implicating a member of her Majesty's Government 
 in the plot for the assassination of our ally, the Emperor of 
 the French, deserves the serious consideration of this House." 
 This resolution was defeated by a majority of ten, the numbers 
 being 171 to 161 ; but, in consequence of the debate and the 
 closeness of the division, Mr. Stansfeld sent in his resignation, 
 which was accepted. No one pretended to think that he had 
 known of any conspiracy ; the real offence was, that he avowed 
 his acquaintance and sympathy with one of whom kings and 
 emperors were in fear, and the chance of striking at the 
 Government through him was an opportunity not to be 
 resisted. There was a possibility, too, that the Whigs and 
 Radicals might be estranged by the publicity given to the 
 subject. 
 
 The other resignation was that of Mr. Lowe, Vice- 
 President of the Council. The clerical and other managers 
 of schools had never forgiven that gentleman for the trouble 
 he had caused them by his revised code. In his own de- 
 partment there were partisans of the same colour, and some of 
 the inspectors were inclined to lecture their own chief in the 
 reports which they presented, Mr. Lowe, following the 
 example of all his predecessors, chose to decide what part of 
 these reports should be printed at the cost of the State, and 
 made considerable excisions in some of them. On this one 
 of the most bitter of the denominationalists. Lord Robert Cecil 
 — now the Marquis of Salisbury — moved " That in the opinion 
 of this House the mutilation of the reports of her Majesty's 
 inspectors of schools, and the exclusion from them of state- 
 ments and opinions adverse to the educational views enter- 
 tained by the Committee of Council, while matters favourable 
 to them are admitted, are violations of the understanding 
 under which the appointment of inspectors was originally 
 sanctioned by Parliament, and tend entirely to destroy the 
 
448 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859- 
 
 be the aristocracy of the South was opposed to the democracy 
 of the North. In addition to this, there was a still more des- 
 picable feeling manifested — one of jealousy towards the power 
 of the great republic of the West, and a wish that it might be 
 weakened by the success of the rebellion. The most earnest 
 Radicals saw not only the folly but the wickedness of this 
 policy, although it made some way in certain social circles. 
 But one of the most remarkable circumstances in international 
 history was the clearness with which the bulk of the people of 
 the great towns saw that the issue was one between freedom 
 and slavery, and the firmness with which, even when some of 
 their old leaders and many of the Liberal organs of opinion 
 deserted them, they remained true to the great principle for 
 which the North was contending. Even under the bitter trials 
 to which the Lancashire artisans were subjected by the cotton 
 famine, they never swerved from this noble attitude, although 
 they were tempted by the suggestion that an interference in 
 favour of the South would open the ports and revive their 
 trade. If anything were wanted to prove with how great 
 safety and advantage the English working people may be 
 called upon to take a part in their own government, it was this 
 clearness of insight into the merits of a great national question, 
 and this resolute determination to support the right. 
 
 The tone of the Queen's speech, with respect to home 
 politics, was an acknowledgment that the Government had 
 accepted the result of the informal alliance between Whigs 
 and Conservatives, and were prepared to adopt a policy of 
 inaction. As regarded the Prime Minister himself, this 
 course was taken with perfect cheerfulness. He had never 
 been an ardent reformer, and, although willing to make 
 moderate advances, was not ready to risk loss of power on 
 their behalf. The times seemed propitious for the success of 
 this rather ignoble policy. The Radicals differed from their 
 rivals, the Whigs, in one respect, which was important to Lord 
 Palmerston. They were not prepared to sacrifice the ministers 
 who would not insist upon reform, for the sacrifice would not 
 have brought them practically nearer to their object. The 
 
i865.] Palmerstoris Last Administration. 449 
 
 Whigs had not hesitated to oppose their leaders on what 
 ought to have been made a matter of confidence. So long, 
 then, as Palmerston should remain in power, it was generally 
 felt that there would be no substantial reform. The Radicals 
 had, therefore, to take up their old part of protest in Par- 
 Hament and agitation outside. Their chances of ultimate 
 success were, however, very much greater than they had ever 
 been before. Their numbers were largely increased — that 
 meant that their opinions and policy had spread more widely 
 amongst the great body of Liberals ; and there was a growing 
 belief that no active political and social life was to be looked 
 for without a substantial measure of Parliamentary reform. 
 
 The strength of the party was tested on several occasions 
 during the session. The first attempt of the kind was a com- 
 parative failure. In the debate on the address, Mr. White, one 
 of the members for Brighton, moved an amendment in favour 
 of Parliamentary reform, and was defeated by 129 to 46. 
 Better support was given to three other proposals, which were 
 brought forward in a more deliberate and formal manner. On 
 the 19th of February leave was given to introduce two bills, 
 one by Locke King, to reduce the county franchise ; and one 
 by Baines, to lower the borough franchise to £6. Both these 
 provisions had been included in the Government bill of the 
 previous session, and had, indeed, formed its main feature.s. 
 They were, of course, lost on the second reading. On the 
 13th of March Locke King's bill was rejected by 248 to 220. 
 Palmerston, Russell, and Gladstone all voting with the 
 minority. The Borough Franchise Bill came up on the loth 
 of April, and that was defeated by 245 to 193. Berkeley did 
 not get so far with his Ballot Bill, for on the 23rd of April 
 leave was refused for its introduction by 279 to 1 54. Judging 
 from these notes, it appeared that the Radicals might be 
 reckoned as something over 1 50, and that there were over 200 
 Liberals really willing to adopt some measure of reform. 
 
 The Radicals received still greater support on questions 
 affecting religious liberty, which did not threaten to interfere 
 with territorial influence in the constituencies. On the 27th 
 
 2 G 
 
4SO History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859- 
 
 of February Trelawney's Church Rate Abolition Bill was read 
 a second time by 281 votes to 266; but on the 19th of June, 
 when it came up for the third reading, a curious fate befell it. 
 On a division the numbers were equal, 274 voting on each 
 side and the Speaker, called upon for his casting vote, gave it 
 against the bill. Sir Morton Peto introduced a bill for allow- 
 ing the burial of Nonconformists in churchyards, thus com- 
 mencing a Parliamentary agitation destined to last for some 
 years. On this occasion the bill was rejected on the second 
 reading, the division, taken on the 24th of April, showing 155 
 for, and 236 against. The session closed on the 6th of 
 August. 
 
 Parliament assembled on the 6th of February, 1862. The 
 speech commenced with a reference to the great sorrow which 
 had fallen on the Queen by the loss of her husband, who died 
 on the 14th of December, 1861, and to the sympathy which 
 her Majesty had received from all classes of her subjects. 
 The settlement of the difference with America arising out 
 of the unfortunate " Trent '' affair was also announced, and 
 the commencement of the Mexican difficulty followed. As 
 to domestic affairs, they seemed to enter but very slightly 
 into the consideration of the Government, the only promise 
 with regard to them being that measures for the improvement 
 of law, including a bill for rendering the title to land more 
 simple and its transfer more easy, and that other measures 
 of public usefulness, would be submitted. On the i8th of 
 February the Premier, replying to a rather unnecessary 
 question put by Mr. Cox, said that it was not the intention 
 of the Government to introduce a reform bill.* 
 
 The most interesting debates of the early part of the 
 session were those which took place on the subject of educa- 
 tion and the famous " Revised Code " to regulate the grants 
 of the department. This code, prepared by Mr. Lowe, had 
 been formally submitted to Parliament at the close of the last 
 
 ♦ Lord John Russell, to whom the question might have been unpleasant, had, 
 in the previous year, been removed to the serener sphere of the House of Lords, 
 where no such questioning was to be feared. 
 
1865.] Palmerston's Last Administration. 451 
 
 session, and had been left for public discussion, of which it 
 received a full share. The object of the alterations it con- 
 tained was to secure a performance of the work for which 
 the grants were made, and to establish a system of payment 
 by results. The immediate effect was to raise the cry of 
 interference with vested interests. Managers of schools, 
 clergymen, and teachers assumed that because they had 
 once received money without conditions, they were to go 
 on for ever receiving it in the same way. The agitation 
 was to some extent successful, backed as it was by Bishops 
 and Peers, Tories and Whigs. On the lith of March Mr. 
 Walpole laid upon the table of the House of Commons a 
 series of resolutions he intended to move as amendments 
 to the code. Ministers had to give way, and modifications 
 were made. One great good had been done, however : the 
 country was made aware of the folly of entrusting the public 
 funds to irresponsible people, and the cause of representative 
 government was so far advanced. 
 
 The usual attempts were made by the Radicals, but more 
 by way of protest and the education of public opinion than 
 from any hope of immediate gain. That hope, indeed, so far 
 as the existing Parliament was concerned, grew fainter instead 
 of stronger, and the success of the Tory-Whig alliance 
 encouraged further defection. Thus, on the 14th of May, 
 the second reading of the Church Rates Abolition Bill was 
 rejected by a majority of one, the numbers being 287 to 286. 
 In the early sessions of the Parliament it had been carried 
 by the Commons by good majorities, in 1861 the votes were 
 equal, and now there was a majority against the measure. 
 So it was with the ballot, which this year was presented in 
 two forms, one as applying to Parliamentary, and the other 
 to Municipal, elections. Leave was given to bring in both 
 bills, but one was rejected on the i8th of June by eighty-three 
 to forty-five, and the other on the 2nd of July by 211 to 126. 
 An attempt was made by Mr. Ayrton to improve the law of 
 compensation to workmen in the case of accidents. The bill 
 was introduced on the nth of February, and defeated on the 
 
452 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859- 
 
 second reading on the 19th of March. On the 30th of May 
 a proposal to abolish purchase in the army was made by Sir 
 De Lacy Evans, and lost by 247 to 62 ; and the Endowed 
 Schools Bill had to be withdrawn. 
 
 At the close of a session so useless, a formal demon- 
 stration against the miserable policy of the Ministry was 
 made by Cobden, who, although he disclaimed the position 
 of a party leader, was entitled to speak on behalf of the 
 Radicals in and out of Parliament. It was on the ist of 
 August, after notice given, that he brought forward his im- 
 peachment of the Government. The principles of the Liberal 
 party, he said, were retrenchment, non-intervention, and reform., 
 and the Ministry had violated them all. " If a party," he said, 
 " violates its professed principles, I think that party should be 
 called an imposture." It would be better for the Liberals to 
 be out of power than to be nominally in office without for^ 
 warding the objects for which they existed. " I say, therefore, 
 that, facing even that which I may regard as the worst alter- 
 native of this state of things, if there is nobody but the noble 
 lord to mislead us and mock our principles instead of enforcing 
 them, let us go into opposition, and there we shall find leaders 
 who will rally us to some principles." This was a protest 
 which had its effect in the country, but Cobden did not 
 propose to take any vote, and influence in the House of 
 Commons could not be obtained. Palmerston had lost the 
 confidence of all that was active and earnest in his own 
 party, but he could only be displaced by a union between 
 Conservatives and Radicals, and that was an impossible con- 
 juncture; so he relied as much as ever on his policy of inaction, 
 and practically defied public opinion. Parliament was pro- 
 rogued on the 7th of August. 
 
 The royal speech with which the session of 1863 was 
 opened, on February 15, seemed framed to show the most 
 etudied contempt for the opinion of the Radicals in Parliament, 
 and for the demands of the people outside. Other speeches 
 have been bare in their references to home affairs, but this 
 one stands alone in the series as having mention of no single 
 
i86s.] Palmerston's Last Administration. 453 
 
 item of domestic policy. " Various measures," it said, '' of 
 public usefulness and improvement will be submitted to your 
 consideration," but neither Parliament nor country were 
 of sufficient importance to be told what direction their 
 thoughts and labours would be invited to take. If he could 
 get through without a disturbance in foreign affairs, the 
 Premier did not intend to give the Conservatives anything 
 to oppose at home, and the Radicals could bring forward no 
 proposition, saving the improbable one of a direct vote of 
 censure, on which they could receive support from the other 
 side. So it was likely, as Lord Derby said in speaking on 
 the address, to be " a quiet, humdrum session." 
 
 It was indeed uphill work to keep alive the cause of 
 reform in such a Parliament, and with such a minister in 
 power. The Radicals, however, went through the process 
 with commendable spirit, if with decreasing success. On 
 the 6th of February Trelawney once more rallied to the anti- 
 church rate contest, but on the 29th of April the second 
 reading of his bill was rejected by 285 to 275, a falling off 
 even from the low standard of the past year. The Endowed 
 Schools Bill, which was introduced on the 6th of February, did 
 not go to a division on second reading. The Burials Bill was 
 again thrown out on the iSth of April, by 221 to 96. The 
 most interesting debates on religious questions were those 
 which took place on the Irish Church, which now came up 
 for serious consideration, after having been put on one side 
 since the great Whig desertion of the Appropriation clause in 
 1838. On the 28th of May Mr. Dillwyn moved for a select 
 committee on Irish religious endowments, and after three 
 adjournments the order was discharged to give place to a 
 motion by Bernal Osborne, on the same subject. This was 
 brought forward on the 26th of June, and the debate was 
 continued on the 29th, when the motion was shelved by an 
 adjournment of the House. 
 
 It is almost needless to say that this revived attention, 
 given to an Irish question, was partly to be accounted for 
 by the signs of coming trouble in Ireland. Once more there 
 
454 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859- 
 
 were bad seasons, and the people, living hopelessly under the 
 rule of alien laws, could only suffer and complain. The Act 
 of i860 was manifesting, to all who understood the question, 
 its inability to do anything but increase the sense of injustice ; 
 yet the English Government, speaking by the reckless mouth 
 of the young Sir Robert Peel, declared that they considered 
 that it was a final settlement of the question* In times of 
 distress all symptoms of bad government showed themselves, 
 and this symptom of the shameful dominance of a foreign 
 Church, as it touched the consciences and sympathies of an 
 excitable people, was always uppermost. The Fenian out- 
 break, which was beginning to organize itself, although it had 
 not disestablishment as an aim, used it as an instrument, and 
 from now to 1870 the question was never lost sight of 
 
 The American civil war attracted the attention of all parties 
 throughout the session. The vindication of the cause of the 
 North was a forlorn sort of hope for politicians, which only the 
 strongest Radicals sustained, and in which Mr. Bright bore 
 a noble part. But fortunately the principle of neutrality was 
 supported by the Conservative leaders, and Disraeli especially 
 was firm in its defence. On the other side, there were loud- 
 mouthed boasters, like Roebuck and Laird, who did their best 
 to embroil the two great nations in war. This feeling found 
 its most extraordinary expression in a speech by Roebuck, 
 on the 30th of June, when he moved a resolution in favour 
 of recognition of the South. With an impertinence almost 
 sublime, he declared, "As far as my influence goes, I am 
 determined to do all I can to prevent the reconstruction of 
 the union ; and I hope that the balance of power on the 
 American continent will in future prevent any one state from 
 tyrannizing over the world as the republic did." The resolu- 
 tion was withdrawn ; but Palmerston, whilst he was too clever 
 to be pushed into absolute intervention, was not wise enough 
 or honest enough to be true to the spirit of the neutrality 
 
 * Speaking in reply to a resolution moved by Mr. Maguire on the 23rd of 
 June, " that as the Land Act of i860 had been inoperative, a royal commission 
 might be appointed to consider the Irish laud laws." 
 
i86s.] P aimer ston's Last Administration. 455 
 
 which he professed. The consequence was a violation of the 
 law of nations which passed for dignified independence at the 
 time, but afterwards cost the nation a sacrifice both in wealth 
 and honour. It was on the 13th of July that Roebuck 
 withdrew his resolution, and on the 28th Parliament was 
 prorogued. 
 
 The description of one session, under the government of 
 Palmerston, is very much like that of another, so far as regards 
 internal administration. There is some variety in the nature 
 of the foreign complications with which they contended with 
 different degrees of feebleness, but the dull routine of inaction 
 at home was broken only by the sound and successful financial 
 policy of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In his depart- 
 ment Mr. Gladstone was showing an ever-increasing desire 
 to administer the commercial and financial affairs of the 
 country with a view to improve the condition and advance 
 the interests of the great body of the people. The Queen's 
 speech, read at the opening of the session of 1864, on the 
 4th of February, so far differed from that of 1863, that it did 
 mention one domestic subject to which attention would be 
 directed. But whether or not that was an advance may be 
 questioned when it is remembered that the favoured topic 
 was the report of a commission, which had been appointed 
 to revise the various forms of subscription and declaration 
 required to be made by the clergy of the Established Church. 
 
 Under these conditions the prospects of reform were not 
 very hopeful, and yet in this dreary time one gleam of light 
 was shown which gave a promise of brighter days. On the 
 nth of May the bill introduced by Mr. Baines for extending 
 the borough franchise came on for second reading. On that 
 occasion it was strongly supported by Mr. Gladstone, in a 
 speech which was remarkable for a bold and statesmanlike 
 view of the question. He advocated reform because he had 
 trust and confidence in the mass of the people, and because 
 they had shown wisdom and self-restraint, which proved their 
 fitness for self-government. He declared his opinion "that 
 every man who is not presumably incapacitated by some 
 
4S6 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859- 
 
 consideration of personal unfitness or political danger, is 
 morally entitled to come within the pale of the Constitution." 
 This was no mere Whig concession to popular pressure, but 
 a broad recognition of Radical principles, and from that time 
 forward Mr. Gladstone has more and more endeared himself 
 to the confidence and affection of the people, and of that 
 party in Parliament by which they are most directly repre- 
 sented. The fate of the bill was not likely to be affected by 
 this adhesion, and it was defeated by 272 to 216; but it was 
 strongly felt that success was now only a question of time. 
 Shortly before this, on the 1 3th of April, a closer division had 
 been taken on the second reading of Locke King's County 
 Franchise Bill, the numbers being 227 for, and 254 against. 
 Berkeley's resolution in favour of the ballot, moved on the 
 2 1 St of June, was rejected by 212 to 123. 
 
 During the session two losses befell the Ministry, although , 
 the effect was felt only by the individuals, the Government, or 
 rather the Premier, remaining as strong as ever. In the first 
 of these events the Radicals were directly interested, it being 
 a member of their party who was attacked. Mr. Stansfeld 
 had but recently been appointed one of the Lords of the 
 Admiralty, and was showing considerable administrative 
 capacity. At the trial in Paris for a conspiracy to murder 
 the Emperor, it was stated by the Procureur-Imperial that a 
 paper had been found in the possession of one of the accused, 
 directing him to write for money to Mr. Flowers, at 35, 
 Thurloe Square, Brompton, where, the Procureur said, a 
 member of the English Parliament resided, who, in 1855, had 
 been appointed banker to the Tibaldi conspirators against the 
 Emperor's life. The address given was that of Mr. Stansfeld. 
 On the 14th of March notice was taken of this statement in 
 the House of Commons; and on the 17th a further debate 
 took place, and Mr. Stansfeld of course denied that he had 
 been concerned in, or cognizant of, any conspiracy of the kind. 
 On the following night the subject was again discussed, and 
 Mr. Stansfeld said that he had allowed Mazzini, the Italian 
 patriot, to have letters directed to his house under the name 
 
i86s.] Palmerston's Last Administration. 457 
 
 of M. Fiori — the Italian name for Flowers — but he indignantly 
 protested against its being supposed that Mazzini would be a 
 party to a conspiracy to murder. Sir Henry Stracy moved — 
 " That the speech of the Procureur-Imperial on the trial of 
 Greco, implicating a member of her Majesty's Government 
 in the plot for the assassination of our ally, the Emperor of 
 the French, deserves the serious consideration of this House." 
 This resolution was defeated by a majority of ten, the numbers 
 being 171 to 161 ; but, in consequence of the debate and the 
 closeness of the division, Mr. Stansfeld sent in his resignation, 
 which was accepted. No one pretended to think that he had 
 known of any conspiracy ; the real offence was, that he avowed 
 his acquaintance and sympathy with one of whom kings and 
 emperors were in fear, and the chance of striking at the 
 Government through him was an opportunity not to be 
 resisted. There was a possibility, too, that the Whigs and 
 Radicals might be estranged by the publicity given to the 
 subject. 
 
 The other resignation was that of Mr. Lowe, Vice- 
 President of the Council. The clerical and other managers 
 of schools had never forgiven that gentleman for the trouble 
 he had caused them by his revised code. In his own de- 
 partment there were partisans of the same colour, and some of 
 the inspectors were inclined to lecture their own chief in the 
 reports which they presented, Mr. Lowe, following the 
 example of all his predecessors, chose to decide what part of 
 these reports should be printed at the cost of the State, and 
 made considerable excisions in some of them. On this one 
 of the most bitter of the denominationalists. Lord Robert Cecil 
 — now the Marquis of Salisbury — moved " That in the opinion 
 of this House the mutilation of the reports of her Majesty's 
 inspectors of schools, and the exclusion from them of state- 
 ments and opinions adverse to the educational views enter- 
 tained by the Committee of Council, while matters favourable 
 to them are admitted, are violations of the understanding 
 under which the appointment of inspectors was originally 
 sanctioned by Parliament, and tend entirely to destroy the 
 
45 8 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859- 
 
 value of their reports." This resolution was carried by loi to 
 93, and Mr. Lowe resigned his office. In doing this he so 
 successfully vindicated the conduct which had been impugned 
 that Lord R. Cecil said, if Mr. Lowe had, on the former 
 occasion, given an explanation similar to that now given, the 
 motion would probably not have been pressed to a division. 
 In other words, he confessed that his action had not been 
 based on such knowledge of the facts as could have alone 
 justified his violent attack. On the motion of the Premier, 
 a committee was appointed to consider the whole question. 
 This committee having reported entirely exculpating Mr. 
 Lowe, the resolution, which its own mover admitted to be 
 indefensible, was formally rescinded. 
 
 The Ministry thus lost the services of a man whose 
 relations to party organizations have given a perhaps undue 
 importance to his proceedings. He is what may be called an 
 exotic or artificially produced Whig — one, that is to say, who 
 thinks that legislation ought to be based on what he holds as 
 Liberal principles ; that the people should be well governed, 
 but that they should always be governed, and not govern. He 
 differs from the true historic Whig in this, that the qualifica- 
 tion which he would substitute for popular election would be 
 not family influence and traditional power, but an undefined 
 intellectual status, which his set have almost deified under the 
 term " culture." Some few of the elect, who have gone through 
 a process of scholastic training, are gifted, according to their 
 own view, with a sort of divine right to say to what extent 
 the people of this country should be entrusted with a voice in 
 the regulation of their own affairs. Mr. Lowe proved himself 
 not a successful example of the strength of his theory, his 
 failure as financial minister showing that some other test, 
 besides the most entire self-confidence, is necessary to secure 
 good administrators. Radicals say that the only safe test 
 is an appeal to the suffrage of the whole nation. 
 
 The time did not seem very appropriate for trying legis- 
 lative experiments, but in this session the first attempt was 
 made to introduce a measure which has since been the subject 
 
i86s.] Palmerston's Last Administration. 459 
 
 of much popular agitation and party difficulty. On the 8th 
 of June Mr. Lawson moved the second reading of his Per- 
 missive Bill, which was to give power to a certain proportion of 
 ratepayers in a district to veto the issuing of licences for the 
 sale of intoxicating liquors. On this its iirst appearance the 
 measure was rejected by 292 to 35, but it was supported by 
 men who to a burning zeal added untiring industry, and it has 
 been forced upon the attention of Parliament in a manner 
 altogether unprecedented. 
 
 Towards the close of the session the Conservatives plucked 
 up courage to try a fall with the Government. Encouraged 
 by the charges brought the year before by Cobden, they 
 thought there was a chance of some secession from the 
 Radicals, and a very small one would have been sufficient for 
 the purpose of defeating ministers. On the 4th of July 
 motions of want of confidence were submitted to both Houses. 
 That in the Lords was carried by a majority of nine, the 
 numbers being 177 to 168. In the Commons the debate was 
 more protracted, and was adjourned over four nights. In the 
 course of the discussion it was soon known that the Radicals, 
 however much they distrusted and disliked the Premier, would 
 not put the Tories in office. Cobden explained once more 
 the grounds of his opposition, but would not be a party to the 
 overthrow of the Government. The consequence was, that on 
 the 8th, when the division was taken, the vote of censure was 
 rejected by 313 to 295. This majority was the full force of 
 the united Liberal party, which had been decreased since the 
 general election. It gave great encouragement to the Govern- 
 ment, which, it was felt, would now see out the present Par- 
 liament, which had one more session to run. The Houses 
 were prorogued on the 29th of July. 
 
 In the last session of a Parliament the nearness of a general 
 election always produces some appearance of activity, and 
 even the Palmerston Ministry was susceptible of impressions 
 of this kind. So that the Queen's speech, delivered on the 
 7th of February, 1865, presented quite an array of subjects to 
 be dealt with, instead of the single measure of 1864 and the 
 
460 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859- 
 
 absolute silence of 1863. Certainly the list of matters referred 
 to was not of a very exciting character, consistin_g as it did of 
 the concentration of the courts of justice, the revision of the 
 statute law, patents, poor law relief, and the reform of 
 endowed schools. There was little in this to challenge con- 
 troversy, and the addresses in reply were passed in both 
 Houses without division. 
 
 The unhappy condition of Ireland, the distress which had 
 caused the wholesale emigration, and the disaffection amount- 
 ing to attempted rebellion which had resulted from it, forced 
 upon the early attention of Parliament the two great questions 
 by which the country was agitated. It was not yet understood 
 in England how unjust and cruel it was to impose a land law 
 on the Irish people which neither accorded with their senti- 
 ments nor recognized their fair proprietary rights. That the 
 Act of 1 860 had failed began to be admitted, but why it had 
 failed was not so well known. A demand for inquiry, at least, 
 could not be refused, and after some preliminary discussions 
 and divisions had taken place, Mr. Maguire moved, on the 
 31st of March, for a select committee to inquire into the 
 laws regulating the relations between landlords and tenants 
 in Ireland, with a view to their more equitable adjustment. 
 The resolution was seconded by Mr. W. E. Forster ; but, on 
 Palmerston's suggestion, the scope of the inquiry was narrowed 
 to the result of the Act of i860, and on that condition the 
 committee was granted. The other Irish question which 
 was once more taking its place in the region of active agita- 
 tion, was that of the maintenance of an alien Church. On 
 this point the Radicals again originated a discussion, which 
 led to the taking by Mr. Gladstone of another step in the 
 rapid progress of Liberalism on which he had entered. On 
 the 28th of March Mr. Dillwyn moved a resolution — 
 " That the present position of the Irish Church Establishment 
 is unsatisfactory, and calls for the early attention of her 
 Majesty's Government." In his speech on this motion Mr. 
 Gladstone admitted that the position of the Church was 
 unsatisfactory, but he could not support that part of the 
 
1865.] Palmerstoris Last Administration. 461 
 
 resolution which called for the immediate attention, which 
 ought to involve the immediate action, of the Government. 
 This, however, was the beginning of the end ; the subject, 
 if touched at all, could be dealt with in one manner only. 
 The debate on the resolution was adjourned, and was not 
 resumed. In the meantime the usual remedy was applied 
 to the Irish fever, a Peace Preservation Act being introduced. 
 It was read a second time in the House of Commons on the 
 19th of June, by seventy-six votes to twenty-nine, and sub- 
 sequently became law. 
 
 On the eve of an election discussions on reform were 
 inevitable. Although there were constant assertions by the 
 opponents of reform that there was no enthusiastic demand 
 for it, yet every party in Parliament had acknowledged its 
 justice and necessity, and the majority of the constituencies 
 were in its favour. When Mr. Baines moved, on the 3rd of 
 May, the second reading of his Borough Franchise Bill, it 
 was supported by Sir George Grey on behalf of the Govern- 
 ment, but on the 8th of May it was defeated by 288 to 
 214. It was a curious exhibition, the responsible Ministry 
 declaring their opinion that one of the most serious steps 
 which a nation could contemplate — that of amending the 
 Constitution of the country — ought to be taken, and yet 
 allowing the proposal to be rejected as a matter of course. 
 On the 1 6th of June Berkeley's resolution on the ballot was 
 defeated by 118 to 74. 
 
 Before either of these discussions had taken place, a voice 
 was for ever silenced which could have spoken with power 
 in favour of a concession of political justice to the people. 
 Richard Cobden died on the 3rd of April, and the country 
 lost one of the purest, wisest, and noblest statesmen who have 
 ever devoted themselves to her service. He was the advocate 
 of a foreign policy which would preserve an honourable 
 peace, based upon a recognition of the rights of other nations. 
 The treaty which he negotiated did not deal with the appor- 
 tionment of spoils after a sanguinary contest, but provided 
 for the friendly intercourse of two great nations on terms 
 
462 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859- 
 
 conducive to their common interests. The commercial and 
 financial policy of which he was a most eloquent defender 
 aimed at improving the material conditions of the great 
 body of the people. He was the champion of a system 
 of national education of the broadest and freest kind, and 
 of thorough religious freedom, the love of which did not 
 spring from indifference, but from deep conviction. He 
 saw clearly the necessity of an alteration of those land laws 
 which, artificially built up for the social and political benefit 
 of a class, have divorced the people from the soil, and kept 
 one half of the population of the country in a state of 
 inferiority and subservience. And he was far-seeing enough 
 to know that all the great objects for which he was con- 
 tending could only be obtained, and could only produce their 
 natural results, by a political enfranchisement which would 
 give to all classes of his countrymen a full and free voice 
 in the government of the nation. In Cobden Radicalism 
 found a mouthpiece which could express and defend its 
 noblest aspirations, and could justify its policy to the country 
 and the world. 
 
 No one, of course, expected any practical work to be 
 effected at the end of this session, and on the 27th of June 
 Palmerston announced that the prorogation would take place 
 on the 6th of July. Immediately before that time the 
 Ministry sustained another loss, or at least the resignation 
 of another of its members. The scandal about the Leeds 
 Bankruptcy Court, in which the Lord Chancellor's son was 
 implicated in transactions affecting his appointment to an 
 office in the House of Lords, led to an inquiry by a select 
 committee. The report presented, whilst acquitting the 
 Lord Chancellor of any charge except that of haste and 
 want of caution, yet declared that there were circumstances 
 calculated to excite the gravest suspicions, and that the 
 inquiry was highly desirable for the public interests. No 
 one said that Lord Westbury was guilty of personal corrup- 
 tion, but it was evident that his imprudence made his 
 retention of the highest legal office impossible, and on the 
 
1865.] P aimer storis Last Administration. 463 
 
 5th of July he resigned. On the following day Parliament 
 was prorogued and dissolved. 
 
 The general election which took place immediately was 
 not a very exciting affair. The masters of the constituencies, 
 the landowners, Whig and Tory alike, were anxious not to 
 raise any troublesome questions, and agreed to support 
 Palmerston as the great preventive of change. In that case 
 it did not much matter whether the nominal Liberal majority 
 was a little greater or a little less ; the Premier was to be 
 retained in office in either case. The large popular constituen- 
 cies gave evidence of their continued desire for reform, and in 
 some cases made the Ministry feel the effect of their discon- 
 tent. Thus Sir Charles Wood had to leave Halifax, which 
 required a more independent Liberal ; and Frederick Peel was 
 dismissed from Bury, to make way for a good Radical in the 
 person of Mr. R. M. Phillips. An important addition was 
 made to the ranks of the party by the election for Westminster 
 of John Stuart Mill. The action of such a man was a fresh 
 refutation of the charge that Radicals were mere thoughtless 
 demagogues, without a knowledge of the great principles on 
 which the government of a country should be founded. Here 
 was a man who had deeply studied the laws of political 
 economy and the philosophy of society and politics, and who, 
 as the result of his knowledge and thought, was convinced 
 that the safest foundation for national well-being was the 
 extension of the area of popular representation. It is probable 
 that a nominal loss of one election was as great a real benefit 
 to the cause as the gain of several others. The University of 
 Oxford, by its rejection of Mr. Gladstone, only showed, as far 
 as it was itself concerned, that it hated anything like sympathy 
 with popular desires or support of popular measures. But as 
 respected its late representative, it set him free from that 
 desire to represent even the prejudices of his old constituents, 
 which, if it could not affect the growth of his political opinions 
 or the sincerity of his convictions, might hamper and impede 
 his practical progress. The sense of relief from this indefinite 
 but real restraint was not absent from his own mind, as some 
 
464 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1859-1865- 
 
 of his addresses to the electors of South Lancashire proved ; 
 but it was more distinctly felt and more openly expressed by 
 Liberal politicians of all sections, and especially by those of 
 the most advanced school. 
 
 The general result of the elections was to increase the 
 Liberal majority, and to strengthen the position of the 
 minister. The Times calculated that the Liberal gains were 
 fifty-seven, and the losses thirty-three, showing an increase of 
 twenty-four, equal to forty-eight on a division. The full num- 
 bers it gave as — Liberals, 367; Conservatives, 290, or a majority 
 of seventy-seven.* McCalmont's " Poll Book " gives — Liberals, 
 361 ; Conservatives, 294 ; majority, 67. Either of these 
 totals would show a good working majority, and if it had been 
 a victory gained on clear political lines, there would have been 
 ample means in the hands of the Government to secure a 
 sound progressive policy. Unfortunately, this was not the 
 case ; a considerable number of the majority were Liberal 
 only to the extent of preventing the accession to power of the 
 Conservatives, and were prepared to check any active reform 
 legislation. To this extent the party was Palmerstonian 
 rather than Liberal, a fact which soon became painfully 
 evident.f For the master into whose hands the new Par- 
 liament was willing to place almost unrestricted power, was 
 fated never to exercise it. Palmerston died on the i8th of 
 October, and his death closed the period of political compro- 
 mise and inaction. There was now to be that conflict of 
 opinions which is the sign of real national life, and it was 
 a contest which, whatever might be the result of the first 
 campaign, could end only in one of two ways, either in the 
 victory of Radical principles or in national weakness and 
 decay. 
 
 * The Times, July 25, 1865. 
 
 t There were, however, nearly 170 members who had never sat before, and who 
 were to some extent untried. Many of these were Radicals, among them being 
 Mr. Trevelyan, Mr. Fawcett, and Mr, Samuel Morley. 
 
( 465 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 FROM THE DEATH OF PALMERSTON TO THE PASSING OF 
 THE REFORM ACT (1865-1867) — CONCLUSION. 
 
 It was generally felt that the death of Palmerston closed the 
 truce which had existed between Conservatism and Radicalism 
 during his tenure of office. Both parties hesitated to attack 
 the minister, in whom neither believed, and who, in fact, seemed 
 to have no deep political convictions of any sort. It was 
 a pause before battle, which both sides had been willing to 
 prolong, but which now came to an end. Those timid 
 politicians who called themselves Liberals, but dreaded 
 reform, had to decide upon a definite course of action, and 
 many of them chose to go over to the Tories in the struggle 
 which was now commenced. In this they were as foolish as 
 they were cowardly, and what they succeeded in doing was 
 to defeat the moderate measure of reform which the Ministry 
 offered, and which the Radicals were willing to accept, and by 
 so doing to arouse a spirit of determination in the country, 
 before which their temporary combinations were scattered, 
 and on the strength of which the popular wishes were more 
 thoroughly carried out. 
 
 The new Ministry, which was now formed by Russell, con- 
 sisted mainly of the same men who had composed the last, but 
 it was known that there was a great difference in its spirit 
 and intentions. Some indication of the change of feeling was 
 given by the appointment of Mr. Stansfeld and Mr. Forster to 
 office. The great alteration, however, was the substitution of 
 Mr. Gladstone for Lord Palmerston as leader of the House of 
 
 2 H 
 
466 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1865- 
 
 Commons ; of a statesman for a political manager ; of a man 
 who " made a conscience of his work " for one who was content 
 to take what came, and to change his opinions with a change 
 of fortune. 
 
 Parliament met on the ist of February, 1866, and the 
 preliminary business having been gone through, the Queen's 
 speech was delivered on the 6th of the same month. When 
 that speech was read, it was known that the reform contest 
 had really begun. It said that information as to the right 
 of voting was being prepared, and that when it was complete 
 the attention of Parliament would be called to it, " with a view 
 to such improvements in the laws which regulate the rights of 
 voting in the election of members of the House of Commons 
 as may tend to strengthen our free institutions and conduce 
 to the public welfare." As much as this had been said before ; 
 but now it was known that the matter must go beyond speak- 
 ing, and it was soon announced that ministers meant to stake 
 their existence on the success of their proposal. They would 
 fulfil their promise to the country or resign. The history of 
 this short Parliament is mainly the record of the struggle of 
 privilege and prejudice against popular rights — successful for 
 a time, but inevitably doomed to ultimate defeat. 
 
 There was a difference not only in the spirit shown by 
 ministers, but in the tone of the House of Commons. In 
 nothing was this more marked than in the position taken 
 by, and the attention paid to, the Radical leaders. In the 
 case of Mr. Bright this took the shape of constant attacks 
 by the Whig and Conservative allies. For some time past 
 the member for Birmingham had been arousing and directing 
 a popular agitation in favour of reform. At first he was 
 sneered at for attempting an impossible task — he was whip- 
 ping a dead horse ; he was piping with no one to dance. 
 Now there was a change in the accusation, and he was charged 
 with-exciting the passions of the people and leading them on 
 to a violent onslaught upon the Constitution. He was setting 
 class against class ; he was Americanizing our institutions ; 
 he was endangering the throne ; he was doing all kinds of 
 
1867.] Death of Palmerston to Reform Act. — Conclusion. 467 
 
 terrible and indefinable things. The ridiculous pertinacity 
 of these attacks was rebuked in the House of Commons 
 by Mr. Baxter, who said " he might be permitted to say, at 
 the same time, that he hoped the discussion would be allowed 
 to go on without any more personal and monotonous attacks 
 upon the honourable member for Birmingham. He was sure 
 the country was tired of these incessant personal references. 
 The other day he met a gentleman who was constantly in 
 the habit of attending the debates in that House, and who 
 entirely differed from the honourable member for Birmingham 
 in politics ; and he (Mr. Baxter) asked why he had not 
 appeared lately in the gallery. He replied, 'You people 
 in the House of Commons seem to be doing nothing but 
 discuss John Bright, and I am quite sick of it.' " * The fact 
 which lay at the bottom of all this abuse was, that the subject 
 of it represented a depth of public opinion which was danger- 
 ous to all obstructives, and which gave to his actions an im- 
 portance not to be denied and a power, which could not long 
 be resisted. Mr. Mill, even on his entrance into Parliament, 
 spoke with unquestioned authority, which was in the first 
 place due to his fame as a thinker and writer, but was soon 
 increased by the thoroughness of his principles and the force 
 of his advocacy. There were many other members of the 
 party who vindicated its influence in Parliament, and alto- 
 gether its position became more in accordance with its 
 strength in the country than it had been before. 
 
 The introduction of the promised Reform Bill was delayed 
 by the discussion of two other subjects which had been referred 
 to in the Queen's speech, the ravages of the cattle plague in 
 England, and the Fenian Rebellion in Ireland. With regard 
 to the Irish troubles, the old short and easy method was of 
 necessity adopted, but on this occasion it was applied with 
 unwonted rapidity. An Act to suspend the Habeas Corpus 
 Act in Ireland passed through all its stages in both Houses 
 of Parliament in a single day, Saturday, the 17th of February, 
 the sitting of the Lords being prolonged into the Sunday to 
 * Speech in the House on the second reading of the Reform Bill, April 13. 
 
468 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1865- 
 
 complete the business. Mr. Bright and Mill, whilst not 
 opposing the bill, spoke in the strongest terms about the 
 necessity of some legislation to remove the grievances which 
 had been the cause of the disturbance. Parliament, however, 
 was in no such great haste as to remedies, and although a 
 Tenant Right Bill was introduced by the Government and 
 read a second time, the ministerial crisis prevented its 
 adoption. On the motion for second reading, Mill impressed 
 upon the House in a most striking manner that difference 
 in the customs and traditions on the land question between 
 England and Ireland, without a recognition of which no just 
 legislation for the latter country could be carried, and no 
 permanent tranquillity and prosperity insured. 
 
 There were not wanting signs that Parliament woiild be 
 called upon, and would be ready, to consider many of those 
 social questions on which the Radicals were desirous of 
 making progress. On the 12th of February the Government 
 introduced a bill for improving the dwellings of the labouring 
 classes through the instrumentality of local authorities. On 
 the 13th Mr. Fawcett opened the question of education in 
 manufacturing towns ; and on the 7th of March the Church 
 Rates Abolition Bill was, on the motion of Mr. Hardcastle, 
 read a second time. Attention to all other subjects was, 
 however, rendered feeble and distracted by the thought of 
 what was to be done on the great question of reform. A 
 sort of preliminary experiment was made by Mr. Clay, who, 
 on the 20th of February, introduced a bill for the creation 
 of a new franchise as a result of an educational examination. 
 
 The real business began a little later. On the ist of 
 March Mr. Gladstone gave notice that on the 12th he would 
 move for leave to bring in a Reform Bill. On the day named 
 he rose to explain the Government proposals. These were 
 very simple, and dealt with the franchise only, redistribution 
 being left for a special bill- to be submitted in the following 
 year. The county franchise was to be extended to occupiers 
 of property of ;^I4 rental, which was supposed to be equal 
 to about £\2 ratal. Adult male depositors in savings- 
 
1867.] Death of P aimer ston to Reform Act. — Conclusion. 469 
 
 banks of ;^SO and upwards were to have votes for the place 
 in which they resided. The qualification for the borough 
 franchise was to be £'j rental, and lodgers occupying rooms 
 of the annual value of £\o, exclusive of furniture, were to 
 have votes. Moderate as these proposals were, they encoun- 
 tered the opposition not only of the Conservatives, but of 
 a considerable section of the Whigs. Mr. Horsman, Mr. 
 Lowe, and Mr. Laing hastened to attack the bill and the 
 Ministry, and that combination was formed to which Mr. 
 Bright at once gave the appropriate and enduring name, 
 the " Cave of Adullam." The Radicals, on the other hand, 
 gave the measure a hearty support, although it was less 
 extensive than propositions which had previously been ac- 
 cepted- by the large majority of Liberals. In this they 
 showed their political wisdom, their moderation commending 
 them to an increased following in the country, whilst the 
 short-sightedness of the " Cave " was shown when their 
 present obstruction led in the following year to the adoption 
 of a scheme much more democratic. Their virulence and 
 rancour were equal to their folly, and night after night they 
 made attacks upon the character of their countrymen and 
 the stability of the Government. Amid the enthusiastic 
 cheers of the Tories, these men speaking from the Liberal 
 benches, declared that the majority of the people of England 
 were unfit, from selfishness and ignorance, to be entrusted 
 with a voice in the management of their own affairs, and that 
 the Ministry which offered to enfranchise even a few of them 
 was unworthy of the support of Parliament. Once more the 
 Radicals proved themselves to be not only the truest repre- 
 sentatives of the national will, but the soundest practical 
 statesmen. 
 
 The discussion on the motion for leave to introduce the 
 bill was adjourned to the 13th, when, after further debate, it 
 was carried without a division, and the second reading was 
 fixed for the 12th of April. The first formal attack upon the 
 bill was made by a member of one of the great Whig families, 
 and seconded by the son of the late Conservative Premier. A 
 
470 History of the Radical Party i?i Parliament. [1865- 
 
 more striking proof of the determination of the privileged 
 classes, to whichever political party they belonged, to combine 
 to secure the interests of their own order could not well be 
 given. When the second reading was moved, on the 12th of 
 April, Earl Grosvenor proposed, and Lord Stanley seconded, an 
 amendment declaring that it was inexpedient for the House 
 to consider the bill for the reduction of the franchise until it 
 had before it the whole scheme of the Government for the 
 amendment of the representation of the people. The dis- 
 cussion was not limited to the avowed object of the amend- 
 ment, Mr. Lowe and other Adullamites opposing any change 
 in the constitution of the House. For eight nights the 
 debate went on, the excitement constantly increasing, and 
 on the 27th of Apr-il Mr. Gladstone closed it in a speech 
 of remarkable power. In concluding his oration, he told 
 the opposition on both sides that their efforts must ultimately 
 fail, even if they gained a temporary advantage. " You 
 cannot fight against the future," he said. "Time is on our 
 side. The great social forces which move on in their might 
 and majesty, and which the tumult of our debates does not 
 for a moment impede or disturb — these great social forces 
 are against you ; they are marshalled on our side ; and the 
 banner which we now carry, though perhaps at some moment 
 it may droop over our sinking heads, yet it soon again will 
 float in the eye of heaven, and it will be borne by the firm 
 hands of the united people of the three kingdoms, perhaps not 
 to an easy, but to a certain and to a not-distant victory." This 
 was the spirit of true Radicalism, this belief in great principles, 
 this trust in the people and in their future. It was scorned 
 at the time by the tricky politicians of the one side and the 
 conceited pedants of the other ; but the Tories and their tools 
 found, in a very short time, that the forces at which the one 
 laughed and the other trembled were indeed too strong for 
 them. The division on Earl Grosvenor's amendment showed 
 a majority of only five for the Government, the numbers being 
 318 to 313. The strength of the Liberal secession was shown 
 in this result. There voted for the Government, including the 
 
1S67.] Death of Palmerston to Reform Act. — Conclusion. 471 
 
 tellers, 3 1 8 Liberals and two Conservatives ; against them, 
 282 Conservatives and 33 Liberals.* 
 
 The closeness of the figures was received, of course, by the 
 opposition with great delight, and Mr. Gladstone took time to 
 consider what course the Government would pursue in con- 
 sequence. On the 30th of April the decision was announced. 
 Although their majority was so small, ministers did not think 
 it consistent with their duty to abandon the bill ; but after so 
 many members had expressed their opinion that redistribution 
 should be dealt with, they intended to accept the necessity 
 and introduce their plan. This was done on the 7th of May. 
 The proposal was to obtain forty-nine seats for distribution, 
 by withdrawing one member each from all boroughs having a 
 population under 8000, and by grouping certain boroughs 
 which had now separate representation into sixteen constitu- 
 encies, some with one and some with two members. The 
 forty-nine members were to be allotted — twenty-six to English 
 counties, fifteen to English boroughs, one to London University, 
 and seven to Scotland. Four of the English borough mem- 
 bers were to be given to increase the representation of existing 
 constituencies, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds 
 each obtaining one. 
 
 This scheme, although not very complete, was accepted by 
 the Radicals, whose desire was to bring the matter to some 
 practical conclusion ; but it was opposed by those who 
 objected to reform of any kind. The part which was disliked 
 
 * The following are the names of the Liberal deserters : — 
 
 Agar-EUis, Hon. L. Doulton, F. Lowe, Rt. Hon. R. 
 
 Andover, Visct. Duff, R. W. Mackie, J. 
 
 Anson, Major Dunkellin, Lord Mainwaring, T. 
 
 Baring, H. B. Elcho, Lord M'Kenna, J. N. 
 
 Beaumont, W. B. Fitzwilliam, Hon. C. Marsh, H. H. 
 
 Bruce, Lord E. Gregory, W. H. Packe, Col. 
 
 Bulkeley, Sir R. Grosvenor, Earl Pirn, Jonathan 
 
 Brecknock, Earl of Grosvenor, Lord R. Saunderson, E. 
 
 Carington, Hon. C. Heathcote, Hon. G. Stock, Osborne 
 
 Clinton, Lord Arthur Horsman, Rt. Hon. E. Tomline, Geo. 
 
 Crosland, Col. Laing, Samuel Tracey, Hon. C. H. 
 
 The two Conservatives who voted with ministers were R. J. Harvey and Sir 
 G. Bowyer, 
 
472 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1865- 
 
 was that which struck at the proprietary influence in the small 
 boroughs which were to be grouped. Many of these places 
 were as much the appanage of territorial houses as were the 
 close boroughs disfranchised by the first Reform Act. It was 
 likely, therefore, that the alliance which had been so nearly 
 successful against the Franchise Bill would be doubly energetic 
 on this point. The Redistribution Bill was read a second time 
 on the 14th of May, and on the 28th the two measures were 
 referred to the same committee. On the motion that the 
 Speaker leave the chair, for the House to go into committee, 
 Captain Hayter moved — " That in the opinion of this House 
 the system of grouping proposed by Government is neither 
 convenient nor equitable, nor sufficiently matured to form the 
 basis of a satisfactory measure." During the debate, it became 
 so evident that the landed interests on both sides of the House 
 would be too strong for ministers that Mr. Gladstone had to 
 declare that the principle of grouping was not vital to the bill. 
 This was enough, and the amendment, which its mover wished 
 to withdraw, was rejected by 403 votes to 2. 
 
 The bills were now in committee, where the opposition 
 would have increased means of resistance and obstruction, and 
 they soon gave evidence of their intention to make use of them. 
 On the 7th of June Lord Stanley moved the postponement of 
 the franchise clauses until redistribution had been considered, 
 but was beaten by 287 to 260. The crucial point was now 
 reached. On the nth of June Ward Hunt moved that the 
 county franchise should be based on rating instead of rental. 
 This amendment was debated for two nights, and the division 
 taken on the 14th showed — for the amendment, 273 ; against it, 
 280, giving Government a majority of seven only. This vote, 
 given on a subject which the Ministry had declared to be of 
 the very essence of the bill, encouraged the seceding Liberals 
 and presaged the defeat of the measure. The end came on 
 the 1 8th of June, when Lord Dunkellin, a professed Liberal, 
 opened the same question with regard to boroughs which had 
 been raised by Hunt in respect to counties. He moved 
 that, in describing the new borough franchise, the word 
 
i867.] Death of Palmerston to Reform Act. — Conclusion. 473 
 
 "rateable" should be used instead of " clear yearly." This was 
 carried by 315 to 304, and the Reform Bill and the Govern- 
 ment were at once destroyed. On this occasion forty-four 
 Liberals had voted against the Ministry, and only one Conser- 
 vative for them.* On the 19th, Earl Russell and Mr. Gladstone 
 informed the Houses that ministers had resigned. 
 
 The victory had been gained by the combined enemies 
 of reform, but before it was well completed those who were 
 most interested knew that it would prove fruitless. The 
 desperate defenders of privilege, the Grosveners and Dun- 
 kellins, the freelances, the Lowes and Horsmans, might 
 be willing to fight for the retention of the position which 
 had been gained ; but those who were called to power, and 
 who would be responsible for the conduct of affairs, knew 
 that no government could be carried on which did not accept 
 the necessity for reform. For that overwhelming public 
 opinion, for the expression of which the opponents of progress 
 had called, and which they had boasted did not exist, now 
 manifested itself in a form not to be mistaken. There had 
 been an absence of great demonstrations before, not, as was 
 now seen, because the people were indifferent, but because, 
 all parties in Parliament being pledged to reform, there was 
 a reasonable hope that justice would be obtained without 
 agitation. That hope had been rudely shattered, and now, 
 convinced that they could only succeed by their own action, 
 the people " took the matter into their own hands, and showed 
 in an unmistakable manner, both to friends and foes, that 
 they were thoroughly in earnest." f The agitation which was 
 immediately commenced had three great elements of success. 
 It had a definite objectj about which there was no division 
 
 * Some few Liberals who had voted for Earl Grosvenor did not support Lord 
 Dunkellin, but the following additions were made to the list of the deserters : — 
 
 Biddulph, Col. Bering, Sir E. Heneage, E. 
 
 Blennerhasset, R. Finlay, A. S. MacEvoy, E. 
 
 Browne, Lord J. Foley, H. W. Peel, Sir R. 
 
 Cholmeley, Sir M. Foster, W. O. Pritchard, J. 
 
 Clinton, Lord E. Goldsmid, J. Sheridan, R. B. 
 
 + Molesworth's History of England from lS$o to 1874, vol. iii. p. 289. 
 
474 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1865- 
 
 of opinion. It had competent and trusted leaders : at tlie 
 meeting in London, in Trafalgar Square, on the 29th of June, 
 the rallying cry was "Gladstone and Liberty," and at most 
 of the great demonstrations which followed in all parts of 
 the country, resolutions were passed giving the warmest and' 
 most grateful thanks to Gladstone, Bright, and Mill, and 
 declaring " confidence in the honesty and ability of Mr. Bright 
 to champion the people's cause in Parliament during the 
 coming Parliamentary struggle." * And thirdly, the agitation 
 had behind it the enthusiasm of the vast mass of the popu- 
 lation, increased by a sense of injury and injustice. The 
 meetings were larger than had ever before been known. At 
 Birmingham; on the 27th of August, 200,000 people met 
 on Brookfields ; at Manchester, on the 24th of September, 
 between 100,000 and 200,000 were present at Campfield ; 
 and at Leeds over 100,000 assembled at Woodhouse Moor. 
 
 The event which caused the most alarm took place 
 in London on the 23rd of July. A great reform demonstra- 
 tion had been announced by the Reform League, to be 
 held in Hyde Park on that day. The Home Secretary and' 
 the police authorities decided that the meeting should not 
 be held in the park. The originators of the affair resolved 
 that the processions should march to the park as arranged,, 
 and, if refused admission, should adjourn to Trafalgar Square. 
 When the vast concourse reached the park the gates were 
 closed, and in resisting the attempted entrance by the people 
 the police used their staves. There was great excitement, 
 and the crowd, refused access by the gates, pulled down the 
 railings in many places, and, after a considerable conflict 
 with the police, rushed into the park and held their meetings. 
 The violence used was really an accident, caused by the 
 foohsh policy of closing the park in so arbitrary a manner ; 
 and that no serious disturbance was either intended or was 
 likely to follow was shown by the peaceful close of the 
 proceedings. But all the same there was widespread alarm 
 amongst the classes who had resisted reform, and a feeling 
 
 * A7inual Register, 1866, pp. 137, 143, 162. 
 
1-867.] Death of Palm'erston to Reform Act. — Conclusion. 475 
 
 manifested as though a rebellion were impending. The people 
 who had refused to believe in the national demand because 
 it was urged without violence, were panic-stricken when 
 their challenge for agitation was accepted. 
 
 The effect of these outside proceedings was soon felt 
 in Parliament. The Earl of Derby formed a new Cabinet, 
 and the first time he spoke in the House of Lords, which 
 was on the 9th of July, when the excitement was only 
 beginning, he hastened to declare that he was not opposed 
 to reform. He would not pledge himself to bring in a bill 
 immediately, but he could not deny that there were practical 
 anomalies in our representative system, and nothing would 
 give him greater pleasure than to see a large increase in the 
 number of electors, and a considerable infusion of persons 
 who were now excluded from the representation. Disraeli 
 spoke in the same strain when he addressed his constituents. 
 This was cold comfort to the men who had deserted their 
 old party for the sake of preventing reform, which was now 
 as inevitable as before. The Ministry formed by Lord Derby 
 was purely Conservative. He made overtures again to some 
 of the moderate Whigs, and especially to the Adullamites, 
 but with no success ; and had to meet Parliament with a 
 Cabinet taken entirely from the party which was in a minority 
 in the House of Commons. His position was very peculiar. 
 On all questions which, apart from constitutional change, 
 affected practical administration, the Liberals would be 
 united and would outnumber the Conservatives, and on the 
 subjects on which some of the Whigs would help them 
 ministers were unable to make a stand. Fortunately, the 
 session was nearly at an end, and some months were before 
 them in which they could consider and mature their policy. 
 Several important measures had to be withdrawn, among 
 them Mr. Gladstone's proposals for the reduction of the 
 national debt and the bill to amend the Irish land laws. 
 One subject, however, was carried a stage further after the 
 resignation of the Russell Cabinet, and that served to show 
 on what lines the Liberals would act together. On the i8th 
 
47^ History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1865— 
 
 of July Mr. Gladstone moved the second reading of the 
 Compulsory Church Rates Abolition Bill. It was evident 
 that the bill could not be carried during the session, and 
 on that ground its opponents urged its withdrawal. On such 
 a question, however, a declaration of principle was desirable, 
 and, after an adjournment, the second reading was carried 
 on the 1st of August, with the understanding that no further 
 progress should be made. It must have been an unpleasant 
 thought for the Conservative Ministry, that they could not 
 resist an attack upon the Church of which they were the 
 sworn champions. The necessary routine work being got 
 through, the session closed on the loth of August. 
 
 During the recess the education of the Ministry went on, 
 the lessons being given in every part of the country, and the 
 reform agitation extending in all directions. The Hyde Park 
 railings had been pulled down before the prorogation, but the 
 other great demonstrations to which reference has been made 
 now followed each other in rapid succession. The movement 
 was everywhere joined by people who do not usually take an 
 active part in political agitation, but who, convinced now that 
 nothing could be done in the way of permanent legislation 
 until the reform question was disposed of, united in a demand 
 for its settlement. These men, too, saw plainly that Mr. 
 Bright, instead of being the firebrand which he was called by 
 the Whigs, was in reality a statesman who had first seen the 
 true remedy for existing evils, and had manifested as much 
 wisdom in his methods as courage in his advocacy of them. 
 In the course of this agitation, he had secured for himself and 
 his party that full assurance of popular confidence which 
 made it not only possible, but imperative, that he and they 
 should take a prominent and influential part in the responsible 
 government of the country. 
 
 Parliament met on the sth of February, 1867, and it was 
 soon seen that the agitation had done its work. The Ministry 
 which had come into power by the rejection of a Reform Bill, 
 and which in July was not prepared to commit itself to a 
 promise to introduce a measure of its own, now in February 
 
1867.] Death of Palmer ston to Reform Act. — Conclusion. i,77 
 
 informed Parliament, in the Queen's speech, that its attention 
 would again be called to the state of the representation of the 
 people, and the hope was expressed that its deliberations, 
 " conducted in a spirit of moderation and mutual forbearance, 
 may lead to the adoption of measures which, without unduly 
 disturbing the balance of political power, shall freely extend 
 the elective franchise." That this determination was occa- 
 sioned by pressure from without, and was not the result of the 
 conscientious convictions of the Cabinet, was scarcely con- 
 cealed. The ministers, indeed, did not pretend even then to 
 have arrived at any definite opinion as to the advance which 
 was to be made. Their action declared, as plainly as any 
 words could have done, that they were ready to make any 
 concession to the popular demand which was shown to be 
 inevitable, and instead of submitting any distinct proposals of 
 their own, they invited Parliament to declare, in the shape of a 
 series of resolutions, how far it considered that the nation desired 
 to be carried. For themselves, they would not refuse to be the 
 medium of carrying out the wishes of the country, and desired 
 that at the outset it might be understood that the success 
 or failure of any particular measure should not affect the 
 existence of the Administration. 
 
 The royal speech announced the intention to deal vnth 
 two other pressing questions — the land law of Ireland and the 
 relation between workmen and masters. These promises, 
 together with the statement that the condition of Ireland 
 would allow of the cessation of exceptional laws for the 
 preservation of order, made up a speech to which no objection 
 could be taken by Liberals, and the address was unanimously 
 adopted. In speaking in the debate on the address, Disraeli 
 gave notice that he intended, early in the following week, to 
 state to the House the course which the Government proposed 
 to take on the subject of reform. 
 
 In accordance with this notice, the Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer rose on the nth of February to explain the 
 intentions of ministers. He proposed to lay upon the table 
 a series of thirteen resolutions, to which he invited the con- 
 
478 History of the Radical Party in. Parliament. [1865^ 
 
 sideration of the House — as it was, he maintained, Parliament 
 rather than the Ministry which was committed to the subject 
 of reform, and was bound, therefore, to make known its views 
 as the foundation of an acceptable measure. He did not 
 "think that this was a question which should determine the 
 fate of Cabinets, and the House, therefore, might with the 
 -greater freedom be invited to -express its opinion. The 
 ■course proposed was not flattering to themselves, but they 
 ■considered it more honourable to take a part, however humble, 
 in the settlement of this controversy, than to bring in a 
 mock measure which party spirit would not allow to pass. 
 He would, on the 25th, move that the House go into 
 committee to consider the resolutions. The exceedingly 
 ingenious proposition that Parliament should itself dictate 
 the provisions of a Bill, which the Cabinet would then register, 
 was not accepted. The House evidently intended, in a very 
 free spirit, to deal with the subject, but preferred to have a 
 Government bill to alter rather than to prepare one by means 
 of resolutions. 
 
 This was more trying to the Ministry than was generally 
 known, for at the very time when the discussion was taking 
 place they had not agreed upon even the broad principles 
 of a bill. They had, in fact, two outlines before them, one 
 of which the leaders would prefer to accept, and anothef 
 which, in deference to the feelings of their weaker brethren, 
 they were prepared to submit. This extraordinary position 
 was explained, with engaging frankness, first by Sir John 
 Pakington to his constituents, and afterwards by various 
 ministers in Parliament. The statement was to be made on 
 the 2Sth of February, and on the 23rd the Cabinet supposed 
 that it had resolved to bring in the wider of the two schemes. 
 One member. General Peel, expressed strong objections to 
 the measure, but waived those objections. After the meeting, 
 however, Lord Cranbourne and Lord Carnarvon found that 
 they could not accept the bill, and sent in their resignations. 
 Suddenly another Cabinet had to be called, and Sir John 
 explained the wonderful proceedings which followed. They 
 
1867.] Death of Palmerston to Reform Act. — Conclusion. 479 
 
 all knew, he said, that on the 23rd of February a Cabinet 
 Council decided on the Reform Bill which was to be proposed 
 to Parliament On Monday, the 25th, at two o'clock in the 
 afternoon, Lord Derby was to address the whole Conservative 
 party in Downing Street. At half-past four in the afternoon 
 of that day — he mentioned the hour because it was important 
 — the Chancellor of the Exchequer was to explain the Reform 
 Bill in the House of Commons. On the Monday, between 
 eleven and twelve o'clock, he received an urgent summons to 
 attend a Cabinet Council at half-past twelve. He was 
 punctual, but so sudden had been the call that it was nearly 
 half-past one before all the members could be got together. 
 Then they were told that Lord Cranbourne and Lord 
 Carnarvon had seceded, objecting to the details of the bill 
 which it was thought they had adopted on Saturday. What 
 was to be done ? It was then past two, and Lord Derby was 
 to address the party at half-past. Literally, they had not 
 half an hour ; they had not even more than ten minutes to 
 make up their minds. In those ten minutes they decided to 
 change the mode of dealing with the English Constitution, 
 to withdraw the larger bill, and submit to Parliament a milder 
 measure, which it was hoped that the seceders would accept.* 
 It was this famous ten-minutes bill which Disraeli rose to 
 explain, but not definitely to introduce, on the memorable 25th 
 of February. It was proposed to create four new franchises — 
 first, educational, including persons who had taken a degree, 
 and ministers of religion ; second, savings-bank depositors of 
 ;^30 for one year ; third, holders of ;^SO in public funds ; and 
 fourth, persons paying twenty shillings a year in direct taxation. 
 The occupancy franchise for boroughs to be £6 ratal, and for 
 counties, ;^ 20 ratal. The redistribution plan was to disfran- 
 chise four corrupt boroughs returning seven members, and to 
 take one member each from twenty-three small boroughs 
 having a population under 7000, and to apportion the seats 
 so obtained in the following manner : — Twelve new boroughs 
 one member each. Tower Hamlets to be divided— each 
 
 * Annual Register, 1867, p. 31. 
 
480 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [r86s- 
 
 division to have two members, London University one, and 
 the remainder to counties. There was a debate which 
 was adjourned to the 28th, but before that time, Disraeli 
 announced the intention of the Government to withdraw the 
 resolutions, and to bring in a bill. Before that could be done, 
 however, a ministerial catastrophe occurred. Lord Cranbourne 
 and Lord Carnarvon found that their impulse had carried 
 them beyond their reason in allowing them to accept the 
 moderate bill of their colleagues, and so they resigned. On 
 this General Peel was released from his unwilling assent, and 
 all three retired from the Cabinet. The causes which led to 
 the crisis, and the policy of the Government, were explained 
 and discussed in the House of Commons on the 4th and 5th 
 of March, and on the last-named evening Mr. Bright reminded 
 the House that he had always said that household suffrage 
 was the true suffrage for boroughs, and urged the Ministry to 
 deal with the working classes in a generous and liberal spirit. 
 
 Such a secession as that which had now taken place 
 might have done more injury to a stronger Cabinet than it 
 did to that of Lord Derby. There was no ministerial majority 
 in the Commons to be affected by it, and the forbearance of 
 Liberals, by which the Government existed, was likely to be 
 increased rather than diminished by such an event. Certainly 
 the prospect of obtaining a good reform bill was brighter 
 than before, on account of that greater dependence upon 
 the opposition which had been caused by the resignations. 
 Ministers at once reverted to the more extensive scheme 
 which they had modified with a view of conciliating Cran- 
 bourne and Carnarvon. How extensive it was to be really 
 made, they had themselves no idea ; but they were prepared for 
 " a leap in the dark," * and trusted to fortune and the Liberals 
 for a safe landing-place. On the i8th of March the Chancellor 
 of the Exchequer introduced the second and final bill, final 
 in title, but destined to be essentially altered in its progress 
 through Parliament. The principal difference between this 
 
 * Lord Derby's speech in the House of Lords, on the 6th of August, on the 
 third reading of the bill. 
 
1867.] Death of Palmer ston to Reform Act — Conclusion. 481 
 
 second measure and the first was in the qualification for the 
 borough and county franchise, which was now to be a ;^ 1 5 
 ratal in counties, and in boroughs household suffrage, accom- 
 panied by personal payment of rates and two years' residence. 
 This last provision, Disraeli estimated, would admit 230,000 
 men who lived in houses under ^10 and paid rates, leaving 
 unenfranchised 486,000 householders. The fancy franchises 
 were left as before, and a parson, a tax-payer, a bank-depositor, 
 or a stockholder, was to have an additional vote if he was 
 also a householdei\ The old distribution scheme was also 
 retained. 
 
 In the contest which was waged over the different stages 
 of this bill, the efforts of the Radicals were directed to remove 
 the restrictions by which the extension of the suffrage was 
 hampered and limited ; to reject the fancy franchises ; and to 
 widen the system of redistribution. With regard to the first 
 and most important point, there were two methods of pro- 
 ceeding. The best plan would be the simple one advocated 
 by Mr. Bright, of giving household suffrage pure and simple, 
 unaccompanied by any restrictions as to rating or otherwise. 
 It is a tribute to the foresight and wisdom of the Radical 
 party that, after all the trouble and struggles and arrangements 
 to avoid it, this proposal had to be ultimately adopted, the tricks 
 and trammels all proving unworkable. Failing this clear and 
 definite system, there was another possible plan, which was 
 to fix a line of rental below which there should be no rating, 
 and above which all occupiers should have votes. This was 
 the plan which Mr. Gladstone supported, and it was accepted 
 by a meeting of Liberals held at his house on the Sth of 
 April. It would have been proposed on behalf of the party 
 by Mr. Coleridge, but for the outbreak of another mutiny in 
 the ranks. The great " Tea-room Conspiracy " destroyed the 
 chance of successful action, and gave increased courage to the 
 Ministry. The bill had been read a second time on the 27th 
 of March, and it was upon the motion for going into com- 
 mittee that Coleridge's amendment was to have been moved. 
 In his speech on the second reading, Disraeli had given 
 
 2 I 
 
482 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1865- 
 
 indication of the readiness of the Government to accept 
 almost any changes which the majority of the House might 
 insist upon, and in committee their powers of compliance 
 were severely tested. 
 
 The main battle raged round the compound householder, 
 the man whose rates were paid through the landlord. It was 
 this arrangement which would disfranchise two-thirds of the 
 small householders to whom the bill made a nominal offer of 
 votes ; and it was this which the wisest men on both sides 
 the House, Mr. Henley as well as Mr. Bright, knew would be 
 regarded as a mockery by the people, and must lead to further 
 agitation. On the nth of April Mr. Gladstone proposed the 
 only reasonable solution, in moving that the householder 
 should vote, " whether he in person or his landlord be rated 
 to the relief of the poor." This plan, which was to be adopted 
 after a long process of discussion in the House, and of popular 
 suffering and trouble outside, was now defeated. The debate 
 was adjourned to the 12th, when, on a division, the amendment 
 was lost, the numbers being 310 to 289. Once more Liberal 
 seceders had destroyed the chance of a wise solution, and 
 had weakened the leaders of their party. Other attempts 
 were made to deal with the question. Mr. Hibbert moved 
 that the householder should be admitted by paying the com- 
 position, and not the full rate ; but this was negatived by 322 
 to 256. At last the difficulty was removed by the rough and 
 ready process of abolishing compounding for rates altogether. 
 In this manner was the franchise forced upon thousands of 
 workmen, accompanied by a heavy penalty both in money 
 and convenience, which was soon seen to be absolutely intoler- 
 able, and had to be removed in the first session of the new 
 Parliament* 
 
 For the time, however, this great difficulty was shelved, and 
 the other parts of the bill were freely dealt with. The fancy 
 
 * As an example of the effect of this Act, it may be mentioned that the poor 
 rate in Birmingham of October, 1867, led to 25,000 poor persons being sum- 
 tooned for the rate; and that of February, 1868, to 15,000 summonses and 
 5000 distress warrants. 
 
1867.] Death of Palmerston to Reform Act — Conclusion. 483 
 
 franchises went, the two years' residence was altered to one 
 year, voting papers were discarded, the county franchise quali- 
 fication was lowered from ;^i5 to ;£'i2 occupancy, and the 
 system of redistribution was very largely extended. One 
 triumph the political pedants enabled the Tory Peers to obtain, 
 against even the wishes of the leader of the House of Com- 
 mons : the three-cornered voting process was established, 
 whereby, in all important divisions affecting the existence of 
 Governments and the policy of the nation, Manchester, with 
 53,000 electors, can give one clear vote, and Tiverton, with 
 1400 electors, gives two votes. With all its merits and short- 
 comings the bill was passed, and it received the royal assent 
 on the 1 5 th of August. 
 
 The operation of the Reform Act of 1867 made an im- 
 portant alteration in the position and power of the Radical 
 party. The gains which have accrued to the Liberals since 
 1868 have been made in the borough constituencies, where 
 alone the Radical feelings of the people can obtain expression. 
 There is now, both in Parliament and in the Cabinet, an 
 absolute equality, if not in numbers, at least in influence, 
 between the Radical and the Whig sections of the Liberal 
 party. This improved state of things is the result not of any 
 sudden impulse, but of the natural development and growth 
 of the political life of the country. It is true that the later 
 stages of that development have appeared to be more rapid 
 than some of the earlier ones, but they are just as natural for 
 all that. The action of general laws can often be best traced 
 in the history of individuals, and the career of Mr. Gladstone 
 illustrates the progress of Radicalism in its later phases. Step 
 by step he has gone on giving effect to Liberal principles, and 
 increasing his knowledge of, and therefore his trust in, the 
 masses of his countrymen. That the present Premier is ready 
 to work in perfect harmony with his Radical colleagues, and 
 to allow them their legitimate influence in the councils of the 
 nation, need not be said. Only on such conditions would Mr. 
 Bright have become a member of Mr. Gladstone's first Cabinet, 
 or Mr. Chamberlain or Sir Charles Dilke of his second. 
 
484 History of the Radical Party in Parliament-. [1865- 
 
 Opportunities have thus been afforded to the country to 
 learn that it can rely not only upon the political principles, 
 but on the administrative ability, of the Radicals. The result 
 in practical legislation has amply justified the expectations 
 which were formed. During the comparatively short time in 
 which the united Liberals have been in ofBc«, since the Reform 
 Act increased the Radical power, every department of national 
 life — religious, social, commercial, industrial, and intellectual — 
 has been invigorated and improved. The Irish Church has 
 been disestablished. The churchyards of England have been 
 made national instead of sectarian property. A system of 
 national education has been created, and the national univer- 
 sities have been widened and popularized. The land laws of 
 Ireland have been remodelled, by which the injustice of ages 
 has been removed, and the foundation for national peace and 
 unity has been laid. The laws affecting the combination of 
 workmen have been changed, the relations between employer 
 and employed have been placed upon fair and equitable 
 terms, and protection has been given to the lives of the men. 
 The army has been made national by the abolition of purchase. 
 The game laws have been amended ; and the law of landlord 
 and tenant improved by the recognition of the tenants' right 
 in the improvement of their holdings. The protection of the 
 ballot has been given to electors. Trade has been purified by 
 the adoption of a sound bankruptcy law. A nearer approach 
 to absolute freedom of commerce has been secured, and the 
 last remains of the old corn law removed. There are, perhaps, 
 none of these great works in which some defects may not be 
 pointed out, which have been the result of a compromise, 
 avowed or understood, between the two sections of the party, 
 but in all of them is to be found the spirit of Radical policy 
 and the ability of Radical statesmanship. 
 
 These later triumphs are only the legitimate realization of 
 hopes founded on old struggles carried on by the pioneers of 
 political progress. For more than a century the way had 
 been pointed out to all practical reforms by the advocacy 
 of Radicals, before the indifference of Whigs and the ppposL- 
 
i867.] Death of Palmer ston to Reform Act — Conclusion. 485 
 
 tion of Tories were overcome. Yet, even after accepting 
 the policy of the Radicals, it had been the custom of the 
 governing classes to assume that outside of the narrow 
 limits of their circle, the country could not look for men to 
 direct its, action and carry on its government. Radicals might 
 originate, but Whigs and Tories must administer. That 
 assumption is to a great extent dispelled, and a practical 
 equality is now admitted. But in such a case equality can 
 only exist on the condition that something more is possible. 
 No party can permanently maintain such a position in the 
 government of a great country unless it can, on the necessity 
 arising, undertake to govern alone. 
 
 This is a position which, especially since the passing of 
 the Franchise Act of 1884, the Radical party will be justified 
 in occupying. They have a definite policy, both in home and 
 foreign affairs, they possess a number of skilled politicians 
 and administrators, and all they want is that very steady 
 cohesion which can be acquired only by the consciousness of 
 power and the opportunity of effective action. It does not 
 follow that this power of separate action need be exercised ; 
 the demonstration that it exists may be sufficient for the pur- 
 pose. The Liberal party always has been, and probably 
 always will be, composed of men differing to some extent as to 
 the rate of progress which should be made in the direction in 
 which all desire to go. If it is no longer desirable that all its 
 movements should be directed by the section which is least 
 advanced, it does not follow that the counsels of men who call 
 themselves moderate should not be listened to. What is 
 essential is that any Government which is constituted should 
 be in accord with the opinions and wishes of the majority 
 of the people. As this ground-root of representative institu- 
 tions forms the very essence of Radicalism, it is certain tliat 
 Radicals ought to be prepared to give it effect by accepting 
 the responsibilities and exercising the powers of government 
 It is at once a blessing and a glory to our country that, on the 
 one hand, peaceful and legitimate means have been devised for 
 the admission to power of the advanced intelligence of the 
 
486 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1865-1867.] 
 
 time ; and that, on the other hand, as the result of genera- 
 tions of efforts, a party has been formed and educated and 
 strengthened until it is able to give effect to the national will 
 without violent changes of social and political ideas, but in 
 full conformity with the laws which govern the actions, shape 
 the policy, and determine the destinies of states. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 A LIST of the Members returned in the General Elections of 1832 
 and 183s, who are entered in Henry Stook Smith's "Parliaments 
 OF England " as Radicals, with the names of the places for which 
 they sat 
 
 1832. 
 
 John Ramsbottom 
 
 . , . Windsor. 
 
 John Horatio Lloyd 
 
 Stockport. 
 
 Sir William Molesworth, Bart. 
 
 ... Cornwall (East Division). 
 
 James Kennedy 
 
 Tiverton. 
 
 Joseph Hume ... 
 
 ... Middlesex. 
 
 Daniel W. Harvey ... 
 
 Colchester. 
 
 J. C. Hobhouse 
 
 . . . Westminster. 
 
 SirF. Bmdett 
 
 j» 
 
 Lieut. -Col. G. Williams ... 
 
 ... Ashton-under-Lyne. 
 
 John Fielden 
 
 Oldham. 
 
 William Cobbett 
 
 )» 
 
 Sir W. A. Ingilby ... 
 
 Lincoln (North Division) 
 
 George Grote ... 
 
 . . . London. 
 
 John Arthur Roebuck 
 
 Bath. 
 
 Joshua Scholefield 
 
 . . . Birmingham. 
 
 Thomas Attwood ... 
 
 ,, 
 
 J. S. Buckingham 
 
 ... Sheffield. 
 
 Daniel Gastrell 
 
 Wakefield. 
 
 Wm. Downe Gillon 
 
 ... Falkirk, Lanark, etc. 
 
 Nicholas A. Vigors ... 
 
 Carlo County. 
 
 Captain F. Macnamara ... 
 
 Ennis. 
 
 Feargus O'Connor ... 
 
 Cork County. 
 
 George Standish Barry ... 
 
 »j )i 
 
 Daniel Callaghan 
 
 Cork City. 
 
 H. Baldwin 
 
 >» »> 
 
 W. J. O'Neill Daunt 
 
 Mallow. 
 
 John O'Connell 
 
 . . . Youghal. 
 
 Daniel O'Connell ... 
 
 Dublin Gty. 
 
 Edward S. Ruthven ... ..■ 
 
 11 )i 
 
488 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 Charles O'Connell ... 
 Maurice O'Connell 
 Hon. Pierce Butler . . . 
 William Francis Finn 
 Edward Ruthven 
 Nicholas Fitzsimon 
 William Roche 
 David Roche 
 Andrew Carew O'Dwyer 
 Henry Grattan 
 Morgan O'Connell ... 
 Patrick Lalor ... 
 Richard Lalor Shell 
 Dominick Ronayne 
 John Mathew Galway 
 John Hyacinth Talbot 
 
 Kerry. 
 Tralee. 
 Kilkenny County. 
 
 ») J* 
 
 Kildare. 
 King's County. 
 Limerick. 
 
 jj 
 Drogheda. 
 Meath. 
 
 Queen's County. 
 Tipperary. 
 Clonmel. 
 
 Waterford County. 
 New Ross. 
 
 1835- 
 
 John Ramsbottom 
 Sir Wm. Molesworth, Bart. 
 James Kennedy 
 Cornthwaite J. Hector 
 John Fielden 
 William Cobbett 
 Joseph Hume ... 
 Thos. S. Duncombe 
 Thomas Wakley 
 George Grote 
 Sir S. St. B. Whalley ... 
 De Lacy Evans 
 John Arthur Roebuck 
 John Temple Leader 
 Daniel Whittle Harvey ... 
 Thomas Attwobd 
 Joshua Scholefield 
 J. S. Buckingham 
 Daniel Gastrell 
 Johrt Bowring 
 Alex. Graham Speirs 
 Nicholas Aylward Vigors 
 Feargus O'Connor 
 G. Standish Barry . . . 
 John O'Connell 
 Daniel O'Connell 
 Edward S. Ruthven 
 Martin Joseph Blake 
 Morgan J. O'Connell 
 Maurice O'Connell ... 
 
 Windsor. 
 
 Cornwall (East Division). 
 
 Tiverton. 
 
 Petersfield. 
 
 Oldham. 
 
 )j 
 
 Middlesex. 
 Finsbnry. 
 
 London. 
 
 Marylebone. 
 
 Westminister. 
 
 Bath. 
 
 Bridgewater. 
 
 South wark. 
 
 Birmingham. 
 
 Sheffield. 
 
 Wakefield. 
 
 Kilmarnock. 
 
 Paisley. 
 
 Carlo County. 
 
 Cork. 
 
 Youghal. 
 Dublin City. 
 
 >» )) 
 Galway Town. 
 Kerry. 
 Tralee. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 489 
 
 Hon. Pierce Butler 
 
 Kilkenny County 
 
 Wm. Francis Finn ... 
 
 ») »j 
 
 Edward Ruthven 
 
 Kildare. 
 
 Nicholas Fitzsimon ... 
 
 King's County. 
 
 William Roche ... 
 
 Limerick County. 
 
 David Roche 
 
 »J )3 
 
 Andrew Carew O'Dwyer 
 
 Drogheda. 
 
 Wm. Sharman Crawford 
 
 Dundalk. 
 
 Sir Wm. Brabazon, Bart. 
 
 Mayo. 
 
 Morgan O'Connell ... 
 
 Meath. 
 
 Henry Grattan ... 
 
 J5 
 
 Richard Lalor Sheil ... 
 
 Tipperary. 
 
 Dominick Ronayne 
 
 Clonmel. 
 
 John Maher 
 
 Wexford County. 
 
 James Power ... 
 
 jj )» 
 
 John Hyacinth Talbot 
 
 New Ross. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abercromby, J., 185, 263, 300 
 
 Aberdeen, 128, 189 
 
 Aberdeen, I^ord, 398, 407, 410, 414 
 
 Aberdeen Ministry, the, composition of, 
 398 ; character, defeat, and resignation 
 of, 409 
 
 Acland, Sir Thomas, 291 
 
 Addinglon, H. 5^^Sidmouth 
 
 Administrative reform, 416, 417 
 
 Advertisement dnty, the, motion to re- 
 peal carried, 400 
 
 Agitations : for reform, 119 et seq,, 125, 
 132, 473 et seq., 476 ; Chartist, 359 et 
 seq. ; suppression of, 124, 125. 
 
 Agricultural distress in 1822, i6o 
 
 Alien Act, the, of 1814, 112 
 
 Allotments of land to labourers advocated 
 in 1834, 248 
 
 Althorpe, Viscount, his action with 
 regard to reform, 187, 220 ; opposes 
 provision for Canning's family, 211 ; 
 universal suffrage and the ballot, 221 ; 
 takes office under Lord Grey, 226 ; and 
 resigns on Irish coercion question, 253 ; 
 Church rates question, 249 ; Irish 
 Church question, 251 ; corn law 
 question, 254 ; becomes Earl Spencer, 
 
 2S7 
 
 America, South, English prevention of 
 foreign interference with Spanish colo- 
 nies, 177; and formal recognition of 
 their independence, 181 
 
 America, United States of. See United 
 States 
 
 American colonies, the British, war with, 
 IS, 16 ; different views of our right 
 to tax them, 15, 16 ; their cause 
 the cause of freedom elsewhere, 18 ; 
 opposition of Westminster committee 
 to war with, 33 ; treaty of peace with, 
 40 ; amount borrowed for war with, 
 64 
 
 Annual parliaments advocated by West- 
 minster committee, 31 ; Whig idea of, 
 in i8ig, 130, 131 ; one of the points of 
 the Charter, 293 
 
 Arbitration, international, Cobden's mo- 
 tion for, in 1849 defeated, 372 
 
 Aristocracy, the authority of the old, 
 superseded by the interest of the land- 
 
 owning and moneyed classes at end of 
 eighteenth century, 61 
 
 Arms Act for Ireland. See Ireland 
 
 Army, the, proposal to abolish purchase 
 in, in 1862, 462 ; motions to abolish 
 flogging in, 106, 119, 179, 219, 244, 
 276 
 
 Artisans, inquiry in 1824 respecting, and 
 consequent laws, 178 ; panic and re- 
 action in consequence, 182; Artisans' 
 Dwellings Bill, 468 
 
 Ashley, Lord (afterwards Earl of Shaftes- 
 bury), religious education, 328, 378 ; 
 factory acts, 333, 334 ; corn laws, 345 
 
 Attwood, Thomas, 295, 301 
 
 Austerlitz, battle of, 80 
 
 Austria, 80, 359, 440 
 
 Authority versus Liberty, struggle of, at 
 end of eighteenth century, 60, 61 
 
 Ayrton, A. S., 451 
 
 B 
 
 Baines, E., 455, 461 
 
 Ballot, the, advocated by Westminster 
 committee, 1783, 30 ; resolutions or 
 bills for, 221, 236, 266, 280, 288, 292, 
 300, 323, 363, 370, 374, 387, 392, 4or, 
 407, 416, 421, 426, 436, 445, 449, 451, 
 456, 461 ; O'Connell's proposals for, 
 221 ; Russell's opposition to, 288 ; first 
 receives majority of Liberal votes, 292 ; 
 decreased support of, in 1862, 451 
 
 Bamford's " Life of a Radical," 134 
 
 Bank Charter, the, 242 ; its suspension 
 in 1857, 246 
 
 Bankes' Sinecure Bill, no 
 
 Baring, F., 304, 310 
 
 Barrd, Colonel, 15, 28 
 
 Bass, M. T., 378 (note), 406 (note) 
 
 Bathurst, C, 157, 195 
 
 Baxter. W. E., 467 
 
 Beauclerk, Major, 238 
 
 Beaufoy, Mr., 57 . 
 
 Beckett, Sir J., 196 
 
 Beckford, Alderman, 28 
 
 " Bed-chamber question," the, 299 
 
 Bedford, Duke of, 19 
 
 Belfast, 431 
 
 Belgium, 224 
 
 Bellingham, 108 
 
492 
 
 Index. 
 
 Bentham, Jeremy, an important charac- 
 teristic of liis teaching, 131 
 Bentinclc, Lord George, 353, 366 
 Berkeley, Grantley, 374 
 Berkeley, Hon. H. F., votes for reform, 
 341 (note) ; annual motions for the 
 ballot, 370, 374, 387, 392, 401, 407, 
 416, 421, 426, 436, 445, 449, 456, 461 ; 
 votes for national education scheme, 
 378 (note) 
 Bermuda, 290 
 
 Bethel, Sir R. (afterwards Lord West- 
 bury), 432, 462 
 Birmingham : Newhall Hill meeting and 
 election of legislatorial attorney, 132 ; 
 Manchester tragedy, 135 ; its proposed 
 enfranchisement, 210, 220, 221 ; Chartist 
 agitation, 362 ; returns Mr. Bright, 425 ; 
 proposed increase of members, 444, 471 ; 
 Brookfield's reform demonstration, 474 ; 
 summonses for poor rates, 482 
 Bishops, the, motions to exclude, from 
 
 House of Peers, 248, 280 
 Blandford, Marquis of, 219, 220 
 Blanketeers, the, 124 
 Bonaparte, Napoleon, belief of Fox and 
 Radicals in, 60 ; how regarded in iBoi, 
 74 ; successes in 1806, 79 ; hatred of 
 England, 85 ; orders' in council, 93 ; 
 his reverses, in ; defeat and abdica- 
 tion, 112 ; escape from Elba, war, final 
 defeat, 114 
 Boroughs, number of new, created by 
 
 Reform Act 1832, 231 
 Boiu'bons, the, restoration of, 103 
 Bouverie, Hon. E. P., notes on pp. 341, 
 
 364, 378, 406 
 Brand, Mr., 88, 103, 106, no 
 Bribery and corruption, Curwen's bill to 
 prevent, 95 ; charges of, against Perceval 
 andCastlereagh, 95 ; Russell's proposal 
 to recognize rights of, 222 ; proposals to 
 prevent, 139, 154, 155, 201 
 Bright, Jacob, 377 
 
 Bright, John, first elected to Parliament 
 for Durham, 314, 331 ; Crawford's 
 motion for redress of grievances, 332 
 (note) ; Maynooth grant, 343 ; his 
 position in 1847, 358 ; reform, 1848, 
 364 (note) ; abolition of Church rates, 
 372 ; advocates non-intervention in 
 1850, 379 ; " Papal Aggression," 384 ; 
 Irish tenant-right bill, 393 ; the 
 " Eastern Quesdon," 402, 403 ; bill to 
 abolish primogeniture, 406 (note) ; 
 protests against levity respecting 
 Crimean war, attacked by Palmer- 
 ston, 407 ; conditional support of 
 Palmerston, 415; Chinese ("Arrow") 
 question, 425 ; teller in division 
 overthrowing Palmerston, 428 ; Derby 
 Government India Bill, 431 ; Reform 
 Bill, 1859, 435 ; his power in 1859, 439 ; 
 Whig seceders on Reform Bill, 445 ; 
 American civil war, 455 ; Whig and 
 Conservative attacks about 1866, 466 et 
 seq. ; Irish grievances, 468 ; a hero of 
 reform demonstration, 474 ; general 
 recognition of his statesmanship, 476 ; 
 
 declares for household suffrage, 480 ; 
 the condition of his entering the Cabinet, 
 
 483 
 Brotherton, J. , 325 
 
 Brougham, Henry, Lord, counsel for 
 Liverpool merchants in opposition to 
 Orders in Council in 1807, 93 ; enters 
 Parhament in 1810, and teller for motion 
 to abolish flogging in the army, 106, 107 ; 
 assists in defeating Orders in Council, 
 107 ; defeated by Canning for Liver- 
 pool in i8r2, in ; speaks against sus- 
 pension of Habeas Corpus in 1817, 123 ; 
 considered the originator of national 
 education scheme ; attacks Canning, 
 173 ; opposition to bill to suppress 
 Catholic Association, 183 ; Duke, of 
 York and Catholic emancipation, 186 ; 
 universal suffrage Ind the ballot, 221 ; 
 reform, 225 ; takes office under Grey, 
 226 ; national education, 246 ; tour 
 in the country, and attack on Durham, 
 256 ; attack on Durham on Canadian 
 business, 290 ; corn laws, 297 ; re- 
 semblance to Roebuck, 314 ; votes 
 against acquittal of O'Connell, 337 
 Buckingham, Duke of, 318, 320 
 Buckingham, J. S., 238, 244 
 Buckingham, Marquis of, no 
 Budget, the : feeble proposals of Spring 
 Rice, 303 ; defeat of Government in 
 1841, 309 ; dissatisfaction at 1851 
 budget, 385, 388 ; Gladstone's success- 
 ful budgets, 400 ; Disraeli's amendment 
 to 1857 budget, 424 
 Buenos Ayres, recognition of independ- 
 ence of, 177 
 BuUer, Charles, his character, 238 ; Angli- 
 can episcopacy, 275 ; protest against 
 Russell's declaration on reform, 288 ; 
 Jamaica constitution, 298 
 BuUer, Sir J. F. , 305 
 Bulwer. See Lytton 
 
 Burdett, Sir Francis, first elected to 
 Parliament in 1796, 65 ; position in 
 1807, 92 ; supports charges against 
 Duke of York, 94 ; scheme of reform 
 in 1809, 95 ; conflict with House of 
 Commons and committal to Tower in 
 1810, 98-100 ; his character and prin- 
 ciples he represented, joi ; release 
 and disappointment of the people, 102 ; 
 effect of these events, 103 ; motion to 
 abolish flogging in the army, 106 ; op- 
 poses Government bill to put down 
 machinery riots, etc., 107 ; demand 
 for reform in 1816, 117 ; teller against 
 introduction of Seditious Meetings Bill 
 in 1817, 122 (note) ; presents petition 
 for annual parliaments and universal 
 suffrage, 126 ; ■ opposes Westminster 
 Hustings Bill, 127 ; motion for reform 
 and his justification of the conduct of 
 the Radicals, 129 ; Buxton's opinion of, 
 137 ; chief of tlie avowed Radicals in 
 1821, 149 ; fined for libel in a letter 
 about Manchester massacre, and feel- 
 ings evoked thereby, 150 ; Catholic 
 emancipation, 173, 185, 212 ; protest 
 
Index. 
 
 493 
 
 against reaction on artisans' combina- 
 tion question, 182 ; returned for West- 
 minster, 1826, i8g ; supports Canning, 
 199 ; opposes grant to Canning's family, 
 211 ; vote of censure passed on him by 
 Westminster electors, 1833, 245 ; de- 
 serts Radical party, 280 (note) 
 Burgoyne, General, 33 
 Burials Bills, 450, 453 
 Burke, Edmund, his theory of constitu- 
 tional reform, 7 ; argument for party 
 allegiance, 12 ; objections to taxing the 
 colonies, 15 ; conducts Annual Regis- 
 ter, 17 ; course on subjects raised by 
 Wilkes, 19 ; opposition to reform, 21 ; 
 separates himself from reformers, 22 ; 
 member of Westminster committee, 
 28 ; present at meeting when resolution 
 for ballot is passed, 30 ; and when ex- 
 tensive scheme of reform is carried, 
 32 ; motion for economic reform, 34 ; 
 in office under Rockingham, 36 ; op- 
 poses Pitt's motion for reform, 37 ; 
 sides with Fox against Shelburne, 39 ; 
 horror of French revolution, and 
 quarrel with Fox, 50, 51 ; opposes re- 
 form in 1790, 50, SI ; consideration of 
 his theory of government, 53, 54 ; split 
 with Whig leaders, 55 ; most of whom 
 afterwards follow him, 56 
 
 Bute, Marquis of, 14 
 
 Buxton, Sir Fowell, 137 
 
 Byng, Sir John, 134 
 
 Byron, Lord, 108 
 
 Calderara, Serafino ; letters opened, 336 
 
 Cambridge, University of, 248 
 
 Camden, Lord, 16 
 
 Camelford, 147 
 
 Campbell, Lord, 337 
 
 Canada, troubles in, 289 et seq. ; corn 
 duties raised, 325 
 
 Canning, George, enters Parliament for 
 Newport, his principles, 63 ; takes office 
 under Pitt, his devotion to him, 77 ; 
 assists in obstruction in the House, 84 ; 
 Windham's military proposals, 85 ; be- 
 comes foreign secretary, 89 ; his 
 position, 89 ; quarrel and duel with 
 Castlereagh, 96 ; in contest with Castle- 
 reagh for seat in Cabinet, 109 ; carries 
 Catholic emancipation resolution, 109; 
 defeats Brougham at Liverpool, in ; 
 Buxton's opinion of his speech compared 
 with Burdett's, 137 ; resigns office on 
 account of persecution of Queen Caro- 
 line, 146 ; Catholic emancipation, 156 ; 
 his position and principle in 1821 and 
 1822, 158, 159, 160 ; opposes reform, 
 160 ; Governor-Generalship of India, 
 161 ; Catholic Peers Bill, 162 ; becomes 
 foreign secretary on death of Castle- 
 reagh, reasons for same, his political 
 principles, and how regarded by the 
 various parties, 166, 167; his policy 
 with regard to revolution in Spain, and 
 non-interference by other powers, 168, 
 
 et seq.; unanimous approval of same, 
 X72 I his position with regard to the 
 Cabinet and Catholic emancipation, 
 173 ; Brougham's attack on, and con- 
 sequent scene, 173 ; his influence on 
 free trade, 175 ; policy with regard to 
 South America (Spanish colonies), and 
 opposition in the Cabinet thereto, 177 ; 
 courage and wisdom on free trade 
 policy, 182 ; declaration as to state of 
 divisions in the Cabinet, 183 ; descrip- 
 tion of the effect of Catholic emancipa- 
 tion on his career, 184 ; policy with 
 regard to Spain and Portugal, and his 
 strong position in the country, 191 ; his 
 claims to the premiership on Liverpool's 
 retirement and his antagonists, 192 ; 
 supports Catholic emancipation 1827, 
 193 ; illness, 194 ; proposals for amend- 
 ment of corn laws 1827, 194, 195 ; in- 
 terview with King, becomes premier, 
 and Tory secession, 195 ; further re- 
 signations of Tories and their effect, 
 196 etseq.; his position and supporters, 
 198, 199 ; declaration on Test and 
 Corporation Acts, 205 ; his Corn Bill 
 passes the Commons and, altered in the 
 Lords and abandoned, his declaration 
 to re-introduce it, 201 ; his illness and 
 the immediate cause of it, his death, 
 character, position, influence, and work, 
 202, 203 ; Radical opposition to pro- 
 posal for provision for his family, 211 
 Canningites, the, retain office under 
 Wellington, their justification, 205 ) re- 
 tire from Ministry, 211 ; in Grey's 
 Ministry, 1830, 226 
 Cardwell, E. (afterwards Viscount Card- 
 well), 414. 447 
 Carlisle, Lord, 251 
 Carlyle, Thomas, view of duty of Radical 
 
 members, 10 
 Carnarvon, Lord, 478, 479 
 Caroline, Queen ; her treatment by the 
 two parties previous to George IV. 's 
 accession, 145 ; the struggle after his 
 accession, 146, 148 
 Cartwright, Major, agitates for reform, 
 118 ; his ideas and harsh and unjust 
 criticisms on same, 120 
 Cash payments suspended, 1797 to iSig, 
 
 66 
 Castlereagh, Viscount, remains in office 
 with Addington in 1801, 73 ; his cha- 
 racter and ideas of government, 73 ; 
 assists in obstruction in the House of 
 Commons, 84 ; charges against in i8og, 
 9S ; quarrel and duel with Canning, 96 ; 
 in contest with Canning for seat in 
 Cabinet, 109 ; introduces Seditious 
 Meetings Bill, 122 ; attacks the Whigs 
 in the House, 138 ; violent opposition 
 to Russell's reform resolutions, 139 ; 
 supports Catholic emancipation in 1821, 
 156 ; suicide, 163 ; relief caused by his 
 death and reasons for same, 164, 165 
 Catholic Association, the, formation of, 
 in Ireland in 1824, and reasons for its 
 action, rjgetseq.; collects "rent," i8i ; 
 
494 
 
 Index. 
 
 attack on, by Government, 183, 184 ; 
 renewal of, in 1828, 213 ; unnecessary 
 suppression of, 215 
 
 Catholic emancipation, Pitt's pledge 
 with regard to, and its consequences, 
 71, 72 ; Grenville and Fox, 76 ; Fox's 
 and Grey's determination to support it, 
 although in the Cabinet, 83 ; Govern- 
 ment bill to admit Catholics into both 
 services, 1807, 87. George III. 's aver- 
 sion to it, 87 ; GrenviUe's declaration , 
 88 ; its increasing importance, 104 ; 
 motions for it in 1812, 108 ; Canning's 
 motion carried, 109 ; effect of death of 
 George III. on the question, 144 ; bill 
 passes Commons, divisions in Ministry, 
 rejected by Lords, 156 ; Catholic Peers 
 Bill passed Commons, rejected by Lords, 
 162 ; Marquis of Wellesley, Lord Lieu- 
 tenant of Ireland, 162, 163 ; Canning's 
 advocacy of, 167 ; position of the ques- 
 tion in 1824, 180 ; bill of 1825, 185 ; 
 Duke of York, 185 ; loss of bill, 186 ; 
 general election of 1826, 189, 190; effect 
 on Canning on Liverpool's retirement, 
 192 ; Burdett's motion in 1827, and 
 spUt in the Cabinet, 193 ; no possible 
 premier to oppose the question, 197 ; 
 resolution in 1828 carried against 
 Government, 212 ; determination of 
 Government to concede it, 213 ; how 
 received, 214 ; description of the Govern- 
 ment bill, 216 ; its passing, 217 
 
 Cavendish, Lord, 106 
 
 Cavendish, five of the family members of 
 Westminster committee, 28 
 
 ".Cave of Adullam," formation of, 469 ; 
 lists of members, 471, 473 ; their folly 
 shown on Lord Derby's taking office, 
 473, 475 : overtures to, by Derby, 475 
 
 Cayley, Protectionist, 375 
 
 Cecil, Lord Robert (afterwards Lord 
 Cranbourne and Marquis of Salisbury), 
 attack on Mr. Lowe, 457, 458 ; action 
 on Lord Derby's reform bill, 478, 
 
 479 
 
 Chamberlain, Joseph, 483 
 
 Change, always necessary in political 
 institutions, SS ; the general fear of, in 
 1797, 66 
 
 Charitable Trusts and Municipal Reform 
 Act, 274 
 
 Charter, the People's, publication of, 
 its committee, its six points, 293 ; vin- 
 dication of, 294 ; motions in the House 
 in favour of, 371, 374 
 
 Chartists : seed of their agitation sown 
 in 1836, 276 ; violent action, 295 ; alarm 
 at their agitation, 296, 301 ; presentation 
 of petition, list of supporters, 300 ; 
 physical force. Chartists and O'Connor, 
 301, 347 ; agitation in 1841, 317 ; 
 petition in 1842 and its consequences, 
 321, 322 ; position in 1847, 357 ; riotous 
 proceedings in 1848, their effect on the 
 Radicals, 359 «/«^.,- end of the agita- 
 tion, 362 
 
 Chatham, WiUiam Pitt, Earl of, trust 
 of the people and dislike of parties, 12 ; 
 
 view of taxation of colonies, 16 ; illness, 
 17 ; position on subjects raised by 
 Wilkes, 19 ; plan of reform, 21 ; letter 
 to Calcraft about Whigs, 23 ; contributes 
 to origin of Radical party, 23 
 
 Children, factory, act to abolish slavery of, 
 242 
 
 China, the "Arrow" affair, 423, 424 
 
 Christie, W. S. , 330 
 
 Church and State, Whig and Radical 
 ideas on, 104 
 
 Church of England : its tradidonal 
 authority superseded by the interests of 
 churchmen, 61 ; national education, 
 302 ; proposal to disestabUsh in 1833, 
 243 ; bill to strengthen episcopacy, 
 275 ; Chartist petition in 1842 advocates 
 disestablishment, 321 ; and education 
 of factory and pauper children, 329 ; 
 motion to abolish ecclesiastical courts, 
 336 ; committee on form of subscription, 
 
 45S , , ,. , 
 
 Church rates, proposals to abolish or 
 amend, debates and divisions, 249, 279, 
 372, 407, 416, 421, 423, 433, 434, 443, 
 445, 450, 4SI, 453. 468, 475 
 
 Churchill, John, 28, 33, 36, 38, 43 
 
 Civil list, proposals with regard to, 
 cause defeat of Wellington's Ministry 
 in 1830, 226 ; settlement of, 289 
 
 Civil service reform, 404 
 
 Clarendon, Lord, 401 
 
 Clay, SirW. , moves for repeal of corn 
 laws, 279 ; on abolition of Church 
 rates, 406, 416, 421, 423, 424 
 
 Coalition, of Fox and North, 40, 41, 42 ; 
 attempt to form one in 1804, 76 ; Peelites 
 and Whigs in 1852, 396 
 
 Cobbett, J. M., 424. 
 
 Cobbett, William, his Weekly Register, 
 98 ; fined and imprisoned in 1810, 105, 
 106 : agitates for reform, 118 ; stands 
 for Preston in 1826, 188 ; character of, 
 238 ; seconds resolution for disestablish- 
 ment in 1833, 24^ ; death of, 272 
 
 Cobden, Richard, first enters Parliament, 
 314 ; reform, 316 (note), 321, 328, 341 
 (note), 364; corn laws, 319, 332, 339; 
 votes for hearing Chartist petition, 322 
 (note) ; national education, 330, 377, 
 378 ; votes for motion for redress of 
 grievances, 332 (note) ; Peel's sugar 
 bill in 1844, 335 ; supports Maynooth 
 grant, 343 ; position in 1847, 358 ; the 
 Chartists, 360 ; opposes increase of tax- 
 ation in 1848, 365 ; great influence, 
 368 ; financial reform, 369, 375 ; in- 
 ternational arbitration, 372 ; non-in- 
 tervention, 379 ; tenant right, 393 ; his 
 position an element to be considered in 
 forming a ministry in 1852, 394 ; the 
 Eastern Question, 403 ; abolition of 
 primogeniture, 406 (note) ; rebukes 
 Palmerston for attack on Bright, 407 ; 
 administrative reform, 417 (note) ; car- 
 ries resolution against Government on 
 Chinese "Arrow " question, 424 ; loses 
 his seat in consequence, 425 ; elected 
 for Rochdale, 425 ; offered seat in Cabi- 
 
Index. 
 
 495 
 
 net and declines, reasons, 439 ; negoti- 
 ates commercial treaty with France, 
 442 ; Gladstone's testimony to its value, 
 443 ; denounces Palmerston and his 
 Government in i86z, 452 ; supports 
 Government against Tories, 459 ; his 
 death, character, and work, 461 et seq. 
 
 Cochrane, Lord, Radicalism and position 
 in 1807, 92, 96 ; misfortunes in 1814, 
 subsequent events of his life, 113 
 
 Cockburn, A. J. E., 364 (note) 
 
 Coercion and repression, the order of the 
 day at end of eighteenth century, 59, 63, 
 64 ; and under Addington's Government 
 in 1801, 73 ; and under Perceval's 
 Government, 106 ; Sidmouth's acts of, 
 in 1812, 107, 108 ; the order of the day 
 in 1816 et seq.f 118, 122; increased 
 measures for, after Peterloo massacre, 
 '3Si 13^' "S** a^-fo Ireland 
 
 Colchester 127, 151 
 
 Colonies, foundation for representative 
 Government, 372 
 
 Combination of workmen, petition for 
 repeal of laws against, 128 ; abolition 
 of laws, 178 ; panic and reaction in 
 consequence, 182 
 
 Commercial crisis in 1825, 186 ; in 1857, 426 
 
 Compensation to workmen for accidents, 
 
 451 
 
 Compounding for rates, abolition in 
 Reform Act 1867, its results, 482 
 
 Conservative. See Tory 
 
 Consort, Prince, account of Queen's 
 intended marriage with, and debates on 
 his allowance, 304 ; death of, 450 
 
 Constitutional usage and privileges, 
 violation of, by Pitt remaining in office, 
 41, 43 ; by George III. influencing 
 votes in the Lords to defeat coalition, 
 42 ; by the opposition to Pitt in calling 
 on King not to dissolve, 43 ; by the 
 Government in 1817, 123 ; by peers in 
 rejecting bill for repeal of paper duty, 
 446 
 
 Consuls, British, appointed in South 
 America, 177 
 
 Conway, General, 35 
 
 Cook, Wingrove, his " History of Parties, " 
 his account of George III.'s influence 
 on the House of Lords, 61 ; opinion of 
 the House of Commons in 1807, 88 
 
 Copley. See Lyndhurst 
 
 Corn Laws, the, their passing in 1815 ; 
 opposition in the House ; opposition, 
 petitions, and disturbances outside, 116 ; 
 proposal to increase their stringency in 
 1816, 117 ; outcry against, 131 ; increase 
 of stringency of, in 1822, 160 ; Whit- 
 more's proposal, 175 ; Curwen's state- 
 ment, 187 ; motion for inquiry rejected, 
 187 ; Government temporary measures 
 in 1826, 187 ; general election in 1826, 
 189 ; ministers open ports, 190 ; 
 amendments of 1827, 194, 19s ; Hume 
 proposes fixed duty, 195 ; Canning's 
 bill altered in Lords and abandoned, 
 201 ; temporary act passed, 201 ; 
 Wellington's bill in 1828, 209 ; defeat of 
 
 motions to amend in 1833, 244 ; in 
 1834, .254 ; in 1837, 279 ; formation of 
 Anti-Corn Law League, 293 ; motion 
 to repeal in 1838, supported by majority 
 of Liberals, 293 ; Whig opposition to 
 repeal, 295 ; motion to hear evidence 
 defeated, 297 ; Melbourne's declaration 
 of foUy of proposing to abolish protec- 
 tion, 297 ; Russell wavers, 296, 297 ; he 
 advocates fixed duty in 1839, 297 ; in 
 1841 , 309 ; situation of the three parties, 
 298 ; Villier's motion in 1840, 306 ; 
 scene in the House, 307 ; Government 
 motion identical in terms with Villier's, 
 but meant to maintain protection, 309 ; 
 Whig proposals after general election , 
 311 ; agitation by league, 317 ; repeal 
 still in 1841 a Radical idea, 317 ; atten- 
 tion to them called by. Peel's Govern- 
 ment in 1842, 318 ; Peel proposes 
 reduction of duties, which is denounced 
 by Cobden, 319 ; Whig proposals — 
 fixed duties (1842) rejected, 319 ; Radi- 
 cals' proposals rejected, 320 ; a source 
 of power to the Radicals, 323 ; Govern- 
 ment (in 1843) have no intention of 
 further alteration, 323 ; Ward's motion 
 for inquiry into special burdens on land 
 rejected, 324 ; increased support given 
 to Villier's motion for repeal (1843) 
 325 ; Russell's proposals, 325 ; pro- 
 posals as to admission of corn from 
 Canada, 325, 326 ; agitation in 1844, 
 331 ; Cobden's motion for committee 
 defeated, 332 ; Villier's motion for 
 repeal receives increased support in 
 
 1844, neutrality of many Whigs, 333 ; 
 position of the agitation for abolition 
 in 184s, 338 ; views of the Whigs in 
 
 1845, 339 ; protectionist motion re- 
 jected, 340 ; motion for inquiry into 
 "peculiar burdens" of agriculturists 
 rejected, 340 ; Russell's resolutions, 
 341 ; decreased majority against Villier's 
 annual motion, 342 ; necessity for 
 decided steps universally admitted, 344 ; 
 expressions by public men of opinions 
 in favour of repeal, 345 ; ministerial 
 proceedings, 345, et seq. ; Peel's pro- 
 posals for repeal, and debates and 
 divisions on, 347 et seq. ; motion for 
 duties to cease at once defeated, 348 ; 
 the effect of repeal on parties, 349 ; 
 suspension of remaining duties in 1847, 
 355 ; Anti-Corn Law League revived in 
 1852, 391 
 
 Corporation Act. See Test and Corpora- 
 tion Acts 
 Corruption. See Bribery 
 County financial board's bill, 375 
 Court, the commencement of Pitt's alli- 
 ance with, 39 ; influence of, 6i 
 Cranbourne, Lord. See Cecil 
 Crawford, W. Sharman, motions for 
 reform, 316, 321, 341 ; one of com- 
 mittee to frame charter, 293 ; votes for 
 hearing Chartist petition, 322 (note) ; 
 reform and corn law motions and 
 attempt' to stop supplies, 331, 332 ; 
 
496 
 
 Index. 
 
 opposes Maynooth grant, 343 ; bills to 
 amend Irish land laws, 354, 393 ; votes 
 for Hume's reform motion 1848, 364 
 (note) ; teller for motion on charter 
 1849, 371 
 
 Crespigny, Sir W. de, 141 
 
 Crimean war, 407, 408, 409, 410, 417, 
 418, 419 
 
 Crown, the influence of the, 13 ; its cor- 
 ruption a plea for reform, 22 ; Dun- 
 ning's motion to diminish, 33 ; the 
 Westminster committee objects to, 34 ; 
 its power over ministers at the present 
 time and at the end of the eighteenth 
 century, 6i ; at the general election 
 1807, 89 
 
 Cumberland, Duke of, connected with 
 Orange conspiracy, 271 
 
 Curtis, Sir W., opposes corn laws in 
 1815, 116 
 
 Curwen's bill to prevent bribery and cor- 
 ruption, 95, 187 
 
 Debates in Parliament, the, struggle over 
 the right of publishing, 20 
 
 Debating societies, act to suppress, where 
 money is taken, 123 
 
 Declaration of the law, unconstitutional, 
 123, 124 
 
 Delay, instance of its leading to more 
 Radical measures, 445 
 
 Democracy, consideration of the meaning 
 of, 52 
 
 Derby, 124, 410 
 
 Derby, Earl of. See Stanley, Lord 
 
 Despard, Colonel, execution of, 'j^ 
 
 Devon commission, the, 330 
 
 Devonshire, Duke of, 28 
 
 Development : Radicalism part of national 
 development, 197 ; loss of one man, 
 however eminent, cannot stop it, 204 ; 
 development of Radical party, exempli- 
 fied in Mr. Gladstone, 463 
 
 D'Eyncourt. See Tennyson 
 
 Dilke, Sir Charles W., 483 
 
 Dillwyn, L. L., administrative reform, 
 417 (note) ; endowed schools, 434, 443, 
 44S ; Irish Church, 460 
 
 Disestablishment. See Church of Eng- 
 land 
 
 Disraeli, Benjamin (afterwards Earl of 
 Beaconsfield), attacks on Peel and 
 his Government, 335, 340 ; Whig aris- 
 tocracy, 351 ; the reform question, 363, 
 393, 445, 475, 477-481 ; becomes leader 
 of the Tories, and the consequences, 
 366 ; attack on Whig Ministry, 367 ; 
 Protectionist proposals, 369, 370, 372, 
 384 ; 442 ; " Papal Aggression," 384 ; 
 attacks Graham, 386 ; Russell's mihtia 
 bill, 390 (note) ; defeat of Government 
 on his budget, 397 ; declaration of 
 " Conservative principles," 422 ; Glad- 
 stone's 1857 budget, 424 ; " India Bill, 
 No. 2," 431 
 
 Distress in the country, in 1815, 116 ; 
 in 1820, 147 ; in 1825, 186 ; in 1841, 
 316, 318 
 
 Disturbances in the country, fear of, in 
 1817 greatly exaggerated, 125 ; in 1830, 
 224 ; in 1843, 327 
 
 Divett, E., 249 
 
 Donoughmore, Lord, 108 
 
 Dorset, Duke of, 196 
 
 Drummond, H., 375 
 
 Dubhn, 28s 
 
 Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, 289 
 
 Dudley, Lord, 205, 211 
 
 Dumfries, 378 
 
 Duncombe, T. S., enters Parliament, 
 his position, connections, and influence, 
 189 ; estimate of parties, 267 ; Anghcan 
 episcopacy, 275 ; the reform question, 
 296, 316, 355, 424 ; Roebuck and 
 Ward, 316 ; Chartist petition, 321, 322 ; 
 ' ' Chartists of to-day Radicals of to- 
 morrow," 322 ; redress of grievances, 
 332 (note) ; opening of letters by the 
 post-office, 336 ; ecclesiastical courts, 
 336 ; Maynooth grant, 343 ; national 
 education, 355 ; position in 1847 
 amongst the Chartists (letter from 
 O'Connor) 358 ; letter to O'Connor on 
 Chartist proceedings, 361 ; primogeni- 
 ture, 406 (note) 
 
 Dundas, Henry (afterwards Lord Melville) , 
 72, 79, 196 
 
 Dunkellin, Lord, 472 
 
 Duration of Parliament, proposals in Par- 
 liament for shortening, 22, 154, 221, 
 243, 255, 280, 288, 327, 363, 370, 371, 
 374 ; advocated by Westminster com- 
 mittee, 34. See also annual parlia- 
 ments 
 
 Durham, J. S. Lambton, Lord, his 
 Radicahsm, family connections, position 
 and influence, and work required of 
 him, 151 et seq. ; plan of reform 1821, 
 154 ; his sympathy with Radicals in 
 1822, 161 ; his influence on Whig re- 
 form policy, 174 ; supports Canning, 
 199 ; 1832 Reform Bill, 227 ; Irish 
 Coercion Bill, 253 ; his position and 
 influence in 1834, 255 ; and in 1837, 
 277 ; differences with Brougham, 256 
 et seq. ; Government of Canada and 
 desertion by Whig Government, 290 ; 
 his last work, 290 ; his character, 291 
 
 E 
 
 Eastern Question, the, 401 ei seq., 410, 
 418, 419 
 
 East Retford, 210, 220 
 
 " Ecclesiastical Titles" Bill, 383, 386, 388 
 
 Economic reform. See retrenchment 
 
 Edinburgh, 256, 368 
 
 Edinburgh Review, the, 153 
 
 Education, national : Whitbread's bill 
 passes Commons in 1807, 94 ; part of 
 the Radical scheme in 1833, 246 ; par- 
 liamentary proposals and motions, 247, 
 280, 302, 328, 355, 377, 387, 399, 466, 
 416, 420, 421, 468 ; Roebuck's com- 
 mittee, 271 ; estabMshment of national 
 system, 280 ; opposition of Tories and 
 Lords to it in 1839,303 ; establishment 
 
Index. 
 
 497 
 
 ; of National Public School Association, 
 377 ei seq. ; appointment of vice-presi- 
 dent of council, 421 ; contest over the 
 " Revised Code," 450 ; debate on treat- 
 ment of inspectors' reports, 457 et seq. 
 
 Effingham, Earl of, 33 
 
 Eldon, John Scott, Lord, Hardy's (and 
 others) trial for high treason. 64 (note) ; 
 character and ideas of government, 73 ; 
 cabals with the King against GrenviUe 
 Ministry, 87 ; Lord Chancellor, 89 ; 
 Education Bill of 1807, 94 ; Castlereagh 
 and Canning, 109 ; the Spitalfields Act, 
 176 ; Canning's South American policy, 
 177 ; refuses to serve under Canning, 
 192, 195 ; becomes the representative of 
 antiquated party, not asked to join 
 Wellington's administration, 205 
 
 EUenborough, Lord, Lord Chief Justice 
 and in the Cabinet, 82; approval by 
 Commons, 83 
 
 Emmett, execution of, 76 
 
 Endowed schools : parliamentary pro- 
 posals and motions, 434, 443, 445, 452, 
 
 453. 460 
 
 Epithets or names, political, tendency to 
 use them against opponents, 52 ; con- 
 sideration of their meaning, 52 ; term 
 applied to Liberty and Reform at end 
 of eighteenth century, 64 ; terms applied 
 to Radicals in 1819, 127, 149 
 
 Equal electoral districts advocated by 
 Westminster committee, 31; one of the 
 "points" of the charter, 363; motion 
 in favour of them in 1848, 363 
 
 Evans, Sir De Lacy, defeats Hobhouse 
 at Westminster, 243 ; the reform ques- 
 tion, 2SSi 297 (note) ; 364 (note) ; na- 
 tional education, 378 (note) ; primo- 
 geniture abolition, 406 (note) ; abolition 
 of purchase in the army, 452 
 
 Evolution in national life, an instance 
 of the continuity of, 60 ; repudiation of 
 the principle by Government, 121 
 
 Ewart, William, his character, 238 ; 
 primogeniture abolition, 280; defeat at 
 1837 general election, 285 ; the reform 
 question, 316 (note) ; the education 
 question, 329, 378 (note) ; liis bill to 
 establish free libraries, etc. , 378 ; the 
 advertisement duty, 379 ; corn law 
 repeal, 396 
 
 Factory children, parliamentary pro- 
 posals as to, 328 et seq. , 333 ei seq. 
 
 Faithful, George, 238, 243 
 
 Farmers, hope of the Radicals in the, 
 disappointed, 232 
 
 Fawcett, Henry, 464, 468 
 
 Fenian outbreak, 447 
 
 Financial questions in 1833, 244 ; troubles 
 in 1844, 330 ; Whig mismanagement of 
 finance, 364, 365 ; reductions in esti- 
 mates, 368 
 
 Finlay claims (Greece), 379 
 
 Fitzpatricfc, Colonel, 30, 33 
 
 FitzwiUiam, Earls, 36, 58, 63, 138, 307 
 
 Fleetwood, Sir H., 300 
 
 Flood, Mr. so 
 
 Folkestone, Lord, 95, 105, 123 
 
 Forster, Sir Charles, 393, 406 (note) 
 
 Forster, W. E., 460, 465 
 
 " Forum, The British," 98 
 
 Fox, Charles James, leaves North'-s ad- 
 ministration and becomes a Liberal, 
 22 ; desire for reform, 26 ; connection 
 with official Whigs and Westminster 
 committee, 27; permanent chairman 
 of Westminster committee, 28 ; in office 
 under Rockingham, 36 ; resolution of 
 Westminster committee praising his 
 opposition to North, 36 ; supports Pitt's 
 reform motion, 37; quarrel with Shel- 
 burne, 39 ; King's objection to him, 39, 
 40, 41, 76 ; separation from Pitt, 39 ; 
 influence on his intimates, 39 ; his treat- 
 ment after quarrel with Shelburne, re- 
 sentment and coalition with North and 
 its consequences, 40 ; King cannot 
 form Ministry without him, 41 ; aliena- 
 tion of popular sympathy caused by 
 coalition, 41 ; his position on Pitt's re- 
 form motion, 42 ; dismissed from office 
 by King, 42 ; contest with Pitt, 43 ; 
 troubles with constituents and West- 
 minster committee, 43 ; outrage on at 
 his meeting, 43 ; his majority against 
 Pitt reduced to one, dissolution, re- 
 turned by narrow majority and scrutiny, 
 44 ; resuTnd of his character, his place 
 in political life, 46 ; own opinion of 
 himself, 46 ; outgrows effects of coah- 
 tion, 49 ; French revolution, differ- 
 ences with Burke, 50, 51 ; declaratory 
 act with regard to libel, 56 ; opposes 
 proclamation against seditious meet- 
 ings, 57 ; proposes repeal of laws against 
 Nonconformists, 57; advocates reform 
 in 1793, 58 ; leads Radicals in uphill 
 fight, 60, 63 ; reasons for belief in 
 French revolution and Napoleon, 60; 
 motion against subsidy to Emperor of 
 Germany, 65 ; secession from Parlia- 
 ment, its inexpediency, 66 ; union with 
 Ireland carried during his secession, 67: 
 supports peace of Amiens, 75 ; alliance 
 with GrenviUe in 1804, 76 ; weak posi- 
 tion, 82, 83 ; powerless to initiate Liberal 
 measures, 84 ; efforts for peace, 84 ; 
 illness and death, 85 ; character, work, 
 and influence, 83, 86 
 Fox, W. J., elected for Oldham, 357 ; 
 reform motion, 1848, 364 (note) ; the 
 charter, 371 ; free schools, 387 ; Rus- 
 sell's militia proposals, 390 (note) ; 
 primogeniture abolition, 406 (note) ; 
 administrative reform, 417 (note) ; 
 Chinese question ("Arrow"), 424; 
 loses his seat, 425 
 France : various effects and influence on 
 pardes in England of the French revo- 
 lution, II, 49, 50, 51, 64, 63 ; war with 
 France, 58, 65, 74, 76, 83, 93, 112, 114; 
 revolution in Spain, i68 ei seq. ; war 
 
 2 K 
 
498 
 
 Index. 
 
 with Spain, 176 ; revolution of 1830, 
 224 ; Grote's advocacy of peace with 
 her, 308 ; revolution of 1848, 359, 361 ; 
 Palmerston's conduct towards, 379 ; 
 coup dCitat of 1851, 388 ; attempt on 
 Emperor's life, 1858, and attitude of 
 French colonels, 427 et seq. ; war with 
 Austria, 440 ; commercial treaty with 
 her, 442, 443 ; plot against Emperor's 
 life alleged to implicate Stansfeld, 457 
 
 Freedom of speech and of the press, 
 Government proclamation in 1793, 
 attacking, 57 
 
 Free trade : earliest impulse given to it, 
 175 ; extension of recommended in 
 1825, 181 ; divisions of free-traders 
 on Government Sugar Bill, 335 ; Whig 
 Government's maintenance of it, ^y^. 
 See also corn laws 
 
 G 
 
 Gambler, Lord, Cochrane's charges 
 against, 113 
 
 Genoa, 113 
 
 George III., his accession marks new 
 era, 8 ; policy of reconstructing per- 
 sonal power of monarch, 8 ; his early 
 proceedings, 13, 14, 15 ; his dislike to 
 Fox, 39, 40, 41, 76, 82 ; influence over 
 Parliament, 61 ; alters character of the 
 House of Lords, 61 ; is mobbed by the 
 people, 64 ; aversion to Catholic eman- 
 cipation and rupture with Pitt, 72 ; 
 confidence in Addington, 75 ; his con- 
 dition in 1806, 75 ; attempts to form 
 Government without Fox in 1806, 82 ; 
 demands pledges from Grenville's Go- 
 vernment, 87 ; cabals with Tories and 
 dismisses Grenville, 87 ; his death and 
 summary of the events of his life, 142 ; 
 his character and power, and effect of 
 his death on parties and policy, 143, 144 
 
 George IV., effect of his character on 
 parties and policy, 145 ; his relations 
 with his wife, 145 ; its effect on the 
 country, 146 ; his objection to Canning, 
 167; his character and absence of 
 influence in politics, 222, 223 
 
 Gibson, T. Milner, first enters Parliament, 
 314 ; reform question, 316 (note), 355, 
 364 (note) ; com law question, 325 ; 
 University 'Tests, 330 ; motion for re- 
 dress of grievances, 332 (note) ; in 
 office under Russell (not in Cabinet), 
 3SI ; resigns office, 355 ; education 
 question, 355, 378, 406, 416, 420; his 
 position in 1847, 358 ; county financial 
 boards bill, 375 ; taxes on knowledge, 
 379. 393. 400. 415. 433 ; non-interven- 
 tion, 379 ; Russell's mihtia bill, 390 
 (note) ; the Eastern Question, 402 ; the 
 French question (Orsini's attempt), 428 ; 
 the Chinese question ("Arrow "), 425 ; 
 elected for Ashton, 425 ; in Palmer- 
 ston's Cabinet, 439 ; his character as 
 an administrator, 442 
 Gilpin, Charles, 439 
 Gladstone, WilUam Ewart, com law 
 
 question, 324 ; Maynooth grant, 342 ; 
 in office under Peel, 346 ; Russell's 
 militia bill, 390 (note) ; his famous 
 display of oratory, 397 ; growing sym- 
 pathy with the people, 398, 399 ; joins 
 Aberdeen Ministry, 398 ; successes as 
 finance minister, 400, 455 ; his views 
 and position in 1855, 409 ; retention of 
 office under Palmerston, 410 ; resigna- 
 tion, 414 ; Church rates question, 416, 
 421, 476 ; applied to by Lord Derby in 
 1858, 430 ; his last vote for Conserva- 
 tism, 441 ; abolition of paper duty, 
 bill thrown out by the Lords, 446 ; the 
 reform question, 449, 455, 468, -481, 
 482 ; prediction of certain future suc- 
 cess of reformers, 470 ; hero of the 
 reform demonstrations, 474 ; Irish 
 Church, 460; Oxford University, 463; 
 leader of the House of Commons, 465 ; 
 gradual development of his Liberalism, 
 harmony with Radicals in Cabinet, 483 
 Glasgow, 362, 431 
 Goderich, F. J. Robinson, afterwards 
 
 Lord, 171, 204 
 Goderich, Lord (1857), 424 
 Goulbura, H. , 184, 299, 300 
 Graham, Sir James, in office under Lord 
 Grey, 226 ; his politics in 1830, 227 ; 
 resigns office, 251 ; corn laws, 254 ; 
 declines to take office, 257; education 
 question, 328, 329 ; factory bill, 333 ; 
 opening letters at post-office, 336 ; 
 protection, 339 ; Irish colleges, 343 j 
 Disraeh's attack, 386 ; Aberdeen Minis- 
 try, 398 (note), 410, 414 
 Grampound, 139, 140, 147, 155 
 Grant, Charles, 185, 205, 210, 2ii, 268 
 Granville, Earl, 443 
 Grattan, 108 
 Greece, 168, 379 
 Greenock, 302 
 
 Grenville, George, 14, 16, 19 
 Grenville, Lord, 50, 58, 72, 74, 75 ; alii- 
 ance with Fox in 1804, 76 ; becomes 
 premier in 1806, 82 ; his opposition to 
 reform, 83 ; takes up question of slave 
 trade, 84 ; situation of his Government 
 on death of Fox, 86 ; refuses to give 
 pledge to King not to bring forward 
 Catholic question, dismissal of his 
 Government, 87 ; his declaration on 
 Catholic question, 88 ; Prince of Wales 
 wants him in the Cabinet in 1812, 109 ; 
 attitude with regard to sinecures, no; 
 supports CathoUc emancipation in 1821, 
 157 ; alliance of his followers with Liver- 
 pool in 1821, 157 
 Grey, Charles(afterwardsViscount Howick, 
 afterwards Earl Grey), opposes Govern- 
 ment proclamation against seditious 
 meetings and writings in 1793, 57 ; mo- 
 tion for reform, 58 ; moves for com- 
 mittee on the state of the nation, 64 ; 
 sweeping motion for reform in 1797, 
 66 ; the address in 1801, 71 ; becomes 
 Viscount Howick, 82 ; office under 
 Grenville, 82 ; foreign minister, 87 ; 
 Catholic emancipation, 87; anxiety of 
 
Index. 
 
 499 
 
 Prince of Wales to have him in Cabinet, 
 109 ; advocates conciliatory measures in 
 i8ig, 136 ; refuses to support Canning, 
 199 ; reform in 1830, 225 ; becomes 
 premier — his Ministry, 226 ; Reform 
 Bill, 227 ei seq. ; measures passed by 
 his Government, 242 ; its loss of popu- 
 larity, 242, 247; Irish Church (split in 
 Ministry), 251 ; IrishCoercion Bill, 252, 
 253 ; he resigns office, 253 ; declines to 
 form Ministry in 1835, 268 
 
 Grey, Earl (son of the above). See 
 Howick. 
 
 Grey, Sir George, 359, 461 
 
 Grosvenor, Earl, 407 
 
 Grote, George, reply to Macintosh on 
 reform in 1821, 154 ; his character, 
 238 ; poor laws, 255 ; education ques- 
 tion, 247; Jamaica constitution, 298; 
 proposals and motions for the ballot, 
 236, 266, 280, 292, 300 ; the Chartists' 
 petition, 301 ; his last speech in Parlia- 
 ment, 308 ; retires from Parliament, 
 313 
 
 H 
 
 Habeas Corpus Act, suspension of, at end 
 of the eighteenth century, 60, 64 ; under 
 Addington's Government in 1801, 73 ; 
 in 1817, 122 ; suspension repealed in 
 1818, I2S 
 
 Hadfield, G., 420, 424 
 
 Hall, Sir B. , 390 (note) 
 
 Halifax, 463 
 
 Hardcastle, J. A. , 468 
 
 Hardy, trial of, 64 
 . Harrison, 133 
 
 Hartington, Marquis of," 441 
 
 Harvey, D. W., 127, 128, 150, 289, 301 
 
 Harwich, Canning sits for, 171 
 . Hastings, Warren, impeachment and trial 
 of, principles involved in, 48 
 
 Hawes, 329 
 
 Hayter, Captain, 472 
 
 Henley, J. W., 435, 482 
 
 Henry, M. , 377 
 
 Herbert, Mr., 108 
 
 Herbert, Sidney, 390 (note), 410, 414 
 
 Hibbert, J. T. , 482 
 
 Hill, Sir Rowland, 302 
 
 Hindley, C. , one of the committee on the 
 charter, 293, 37c (note), 390 (note) 
 
 Hobhouse, Sir J. C, the first philosophical 
 Radical in Parliament, his position 
 there, 150 ; proposes to repeal house 
 and window tax, 161 ; advocates inter- 
 ference on behalf of Spain against 
 France, 172 ; on Irish Church, 173 ; 
 teller with Hume against flogging in 
 army 179 ; motion to reduce army ex- 
 penditure, 187 ; speech for reform, 
 187 ; returned for Westminster in 1826, 
 189 ; in oppo.sition to Canning, 199 ; 
 opposes provision for Canning's family, 
 211 ; in Grey's Ministry does not vote 
 for repeal of window tax in 1833, re- 
 signs his seat for Westminster, stands 
 again and is defeated, 245 ; in office 
 
 under Melbourne in 1835, 268 ; in Rus- 
 sell's Cabinet, 352 
 
 Hodgson, Professor, 377 
 
 Holland, Lord, 105 
 
 HoUis, B,, 30 
 
 Holy Alliance, 168 
 
 Horner, opposes corn laws in 1815, 116 
 
 Horsman, E. , 469 
 
 House and window tax, 161, 385 
 
 Household suffrage, advocated in 1867 by 
 Mr. Bright and the Radicals, 480, 481 
 
 Howick, Lord (afterwards Earl Grey), 
 254, 304, 323, 346, 430, 433 
 
 Hume, Joseph, first enters Parliament as 
 a Tory, 128; sits for Aberdeen as a 
 Liberal, 128 ; supports petition for re- 
 peal of law against combinations of 
 workmen in 1819, 128 ; motion on civil 
 list expenditure, 148 ; begins his eff'orts 
 on behalf of financial refornjs, {gSi '''s 
 Radicalism generally, 150; resolution 
 on Irish Church in 1823, 174 ; in 1824, 
 179 ; reform of corn laws, 175, 195, 
 jggj combination of artisans and export 
 01 machinery, (jJB) 182 ; abolition of 
 flogging in the arthy, 179, 219, 244 ; his 
 activity in 1826, 187 ; in 1837, 238 ; in 
 1847, 358 ; finan cial reform and re- 
 trenchment, 187, (2465 365, 369, 375 ;. 
 returned for Abera^n in 1826, 189 ; 
 amendment to address in 1826, 190; 
 opposes Canning and moves for repeal 
 of one of the " Six Acts," 199 ; opposes 
 provision for family of Canning, 2U ; 
 moves for returns of pensions, 211 ; pro- 
 poses Littleton as speaker against Man- 
 ners Sutton, 235 ; opposes Government 
 proposals on Church rates, 249; ex- 
 poses Orange conspiracy in i835,(^i); 
 opposes bill to strengthen Anglican 
 episcopacy, 275 ; proposal to postpone 
 supplies, 278 ; defeated for Middlesex, 
 returned for Kilkenny, curious arrange- 
 ment with O'Connell, 285; opposes 
 suspension of constitution of Jamaica, 
 (42« motions and bills for parliamentary - 
 reform, 300, {''^'^ 
 
 J63) 364. 371. 374. 392 
 on Chartists alra the charter, 301, 322 
 (note), 360, 371 ; motion to reduce 
 allowance to Prince Consort, 304 ; de- 
 feated at Leeds in 1841, returned for 
 Montrose in 1842, 213 ; opposes Govern- 
 ment education scheme in 1843, 329^ 
 votes for motion for redress of griev- 
 ances, 332 (note) ; expre'ssion of national 
 gratitude to Peel, 350 ; teller for Fox's 
 Education Bill in 1850, 378 (note) ; 
 resists Papal Aggression Bill, 384 ; votes 
 with Government on militia bill, 390 
 (note) ; death, character, influence, and 
 summary of work, 412 et seq. 
 
 Hungary, 389 
 
 Hunt, Henry ("Orator"), 118, 119, 120, 
 133, 161, 188, 238, 272 
 
 Hunt, John, fined and imprisoned in 
 1810, 105 
 
 Hunt, Leigh, fined and imprisoned in 
 1810, los 
 
 Hunt, Ward, 472 
 
Soo 
 
 Index. 
 
 Huskisson, William, takes office under 
 Pitt, and his devotion to iiim, 77 ; 
 President of Board of Trade, 171 ; 
 approves of principle of amending corn 
 laws, 175 ; influence on free trade, 
 175 ; claims to premiership, 204 ; re- 
 tains office under Wellington on death 
 of Canning, 205 ; opposes repeal of 
 Test and "Corporation Acts, 206 ; votes 
 for enfranchisement of Birmingham, 
 and offers to resign in consequence, 
 211 ; his forced resignation, 211 ; sup- 
 ports enfranchiseraentof large boroughs, 
 220, 221 
 
 Hutchinson, C, 96 
 
 Hutt, W., 285 
 
 Hyde Park railings disturbance, 474 
 
 Impressment of seamen, motion to 
 abolish, 344 
 
 Inclosures, 248 
 
 Income tax, the, 365, 385, 400 
 
 India ; Indian Bill, 1783, 42 ; reconstruc- 
 tion of Government in 1B33, 242 ; the 
 mutiny, 426 ; transfer from company 
 to the crown, 430 et seq. 
 
 Indifferentism in the political world, con- 
 sequences of, 48 
 
 Informers, Government, 119, 124, 125 
 
 Inglis, Sir R., 215, 378 
 
 Ireland, Alexander, 377 
 -Ireland ; Act of Union, 67 ; repeal of 
 union advocated, 235, 322, yp ; influ- 
 ence of union on policy and parties, 
 69 et seq.; Emmett's rebellion, 76; 
 causes of chronic rebellion are left un- 
 touched, 76 ; Marquis of Wellesley, 
 162 ; the Catholic Association, 179 ; 
 Catholic emancipation — attack on 
 county seats, 213 ; relation of Irish 
 members to EngUsh parties, 234 ; 
 limitation of county franchise, 316 ; 
 treatment of grievances, 163, 292, 326 ; 
 trial of O'Connell and others, 337 ; the 
 Maynobth grant, 342, 343 ; unsectarian 
 colleges, 343, 421 ; potato disease, 
 344 ; disaffection in 1849, 367 ; in 1863, 
 453 ; Fenian outbreak, 447, 467 ; sus- 
 pension of Habeas Corpus, 467 ; coer- 
 cion acts and proposals, 93, 242, 253 
 et seq., 326, '349, 352, 359, 365, 461; 
 municipal reform question, 273, 274, 
 278, 292, 303, 30s, 306 ; the land 
 question, 188, 330 ("Three F's"), 331, 
 343 (Devon commission), 354, 356, 365, 
 393, 447, 460, 468, 475, 477 ; the Irish 
 Church question, 174, 179, 242, 243, 
 250, 251, 264, 265, 270, 274, 291, 292, 
 
 • 337> 42ii 453' 46°- *5** '^^^^ Catholic 
 .emancipation and O'Connell. 
 
 Isolation, period of, an inevitable stage 
 in political and social organizations, 
 233 - 
 
 Italy, 168, 359, 443 
 
 Jamaica, disturbances in, 298, 299 
 Jewish disabilities question, the, 207, 
 
 243. 359. 36s. 432 
 Jones, John Gale, 98 
 Judge, instance of a, becoming member 
 
 of a Cabinet. See EUenborough. 
 Juries : facts and law in libel cases, 56 ; 
 
 firmness and honour in 1794, 64 
 
 K 
 
 Kilkenny, 285 
 
 King, P. J. Locke, county franchise 
 proposals, 374, 385, 393, 400, 423, 426, 
 449, 456 ; Hume's reform motion 1848, 
 364 I primogeniture abolition, 376, 406, 
 434 : administrative reform, 417 (note) ; 
 Chinese question ("Arrow"), 424; 
 property quahfication abolition, 433 
 
 " King's friends," 13, 15, 78 
 
 Kossuth, 389 
 
 Laing, W. , 469 
 
 Laird, J., 454 
 
 Lambton. See Durham 
 
 Lanark, 141 
 
 Lancashire, South, 464 
 
 Land law reform, 280, 354, 376, 406, 434 
 
 Lansdowne, Marquis of, 139, 394, 398, 
 410 
 
 Langton, Gore, ppposes corn laws in 
 1815, n6 
 
 Law, unconstitutional declaration of, 123, 
 124 
 
 Layard, A. H., 402, 404, 415, 416, 424, 
 42s. 459 
 
 Leader, J. T. , 285, 288, 290, 293, 295, 
 301, 322 (note) 
 
 Lecture rooms, act to suppress where 
 money taken, 123 
 
 Leeds, 135, 155, 221, 313, 316, 444, 462, 
 474 
 
 Lefevre, Shaw, 300, 395 
 
 Legal reforms effected. in 1827, 201 
 
 "Legislatorial attorney" elected for 
 Birmingham, 132 
 
 L'Estrange, Lieut. -Colonel, 134 
 
 Lewis, Sir G. C. , 421 
 
 Libel, act declaring right of juries as to 
 facts and law in cases of, 56 ; prose- 
 cution of Cobbett and the Hunts in 
 1810, 105 ; Folkestone's motion for 
 return of prosecutions for, 106 
 
 Liberalism, strongholds of, 13 ; social 
 ostracism of at end of eighteenth cen- 
 tury, 62 ; the hopelessness of even after 
 death of Pitt, 82 ; methods of making 
 increase felt, 203 ; increase of, 197, 241 
 
 Liberal policy adopted by Tory Govern- 
 ment, instance of, 209 
 
 Liberals, necessarily democrats, 53 ; in- 
 crease of number by election of 1796, 
 65 ; secession of Fox from the House, 
 its effect and impropriety, £6, 67 
 
Index. 
 
 501 
 
 Reunion of the party on the break-up of 
 Pitt's ministry in 1801, 73 ; Fox and 
 Grey and the party, 77 ; position of at 
 dissolution in 1830, 223 ; first use of 
 the name of to cover Whigs and 
 Radicals, its effect, 240, 241 ; gains in 
 general election, 1835, confined chiefly 
 to Radicals, 260 ; two sections of, their 
 respective positions, 485 
 
 Libraries free, acts to establish and their 
 result, 379 
 
 Linton, W. J., 336 
 
 Littleton, E., 88, 96 
 
 Littleton, E. J., 235, 252, 268 
 
 Liverpool, city of, in, 163, 231, 320, 
 368, 431, 444, 471 
 
 Liverpool, Earl of, secretary at war, 97 ; 
 premier in 1812, his ministry, 109 ; 
 defeat of on budget in 1816, 1 17 ; 
 manner of his Government's dealing 
 with the reform agitation, 118 ei seq. ; 
 Seditious Meetings Act, 122 ; more re- 
 pression after Peterloo affair, 135 etseq. ; 
 conduct of Government with regard 
 to Queen Caroline, 146 ; divisions in 
 Government on Catholic emancipation, 
 156 ; alliance with the Grenvillites, 157 ; 
 the Spitalfields Act, 176 ; illness of and 
 its consequences, 192 
 
 Loans to meet deficits in i8i6, 117 
 
 London, city of, 13, 20, in, 119, 231, 
 
 31S. 3S9. 368, 431 
 Londonderry, second Marquis of. See 
 . Castlereagh 
 
 Londonderry, third Marquis of, 196 
 London University, 444, 471 
 Lopes, Sir M., 215 
 Lords, House of. See peers 
 Loughborough, Lord, 58 
 Lovett, William, Chartist, 293, 29s, 327, 
 
 336. 360 
 
 Lowe, Robert (afterwards Viscount Sher- 
 brooke), 417 (note), 458, 469 
 
 Lucas, Samuel, 377 
 
 Luddites, the, 108 
 
 Lyndhurst, J. S. Copley, Lord, opposes 
 Catholic emancipation in 1827, 193 ; 
 takes office under Canning, 197 ; his 
 opposition to Liberalism, 257, 269, 276, 
 306 ; life peerages, 422 
 
 Lytton, E. Bulwer, afterwards Lord, 
 teller in division against Irish coercion 
 in 1838, 236 ; his character, 239 ; motion 
 to repeal stamp duty on newspapers, 
 255 ; votes for reform in 1839, 297 
 (note) ; his efforts in Radical cause, 
 defeat for Lincoln and afterwards (in 
 1852) returned as a Tory, 213 ; amend- 
 ment to Layard's administrative reform 
 resolution, 417 
 
 M 
 
 Macaulay, T. B. (afterwards Lord), his- 
 torian, 14 ; votes for the ballot, 300 ; 
 enters the Cabinet, 304 ; Chartist 
 petitioners, 322 ; opposes i860 Reform 
 
 . Bill, 444 
 
 Macdonald, 171 
 
 Machinery : riots in 1812, 107 ; inquiry 
 and legislation respecting it in 1824, 
 178 ; panic and consequent reaction, 
 182 
 
 Macintosh, Sir James, 153, 172, 185 
 
 Mackerrow, Rev. W., 377 
 
 Madocks, W. A., 94 
 
 Maguire, J. F., 454, 460 
 
 Malt tax, 377, 431 
 
 Manchester : corn law question, 131 ; 
 reform question, 131, 474; St. Peter's 
 Field catastrophe, 1^3 e^ seq. ; proposed 
 enfranchisement of, 210, 220 ; Chartist 
 demonstration, 362 ; national educa- 
 tion, 377 ; India Bill, 431 ; proposed 
 additional member, 444. 474 
 
 Manhood suffrage advocated by West- 
 minster committee, 31 
 
 Manners, Lord John, 390 (note) 
 
 Marriage law amendment, 250, 264, 
 
 275 
 
 Maynooth. See Ireland 
 
 Mazzini, Joseph, 339, 457 
 
 Meetings, public, a distinguishing feature 
 of period 1768-1770, 122 ; acts to pre- 
 vent, 72, 122, 123 
 
 Melbourne, Lord, in office under Grey, 
 226 ; becomes premier, his political 
 principles, 254 ; dismissal of ministry 
 by the King, 257 ; premier a second 
 time, negotiations for ministry, 268 ; 
 weakness of Government, 276, 307, 308 ; 
 corn law question, 279, 297, 307 ; his 
 declaration as to folly of abolishing 
 protection, 297 ; Jamaica disturbances 
 and defeat and resignation, 299 ; the 
 "bed-chamber question," 299: Irish 
 municipal reform, 303. See also 
 Ireland ; discredit of Government in 
 
 1839, 303 ; changes, 304 ; position in 
 
 1840, 305 ; defeat of Government on 
 the budget, 310 ; votes of confidence, 
 310, 312 ; Conservatism and Radicalism, 
 
 315 
 
 Melville, Lord. See Dundas 
 
 Miall, Edward, and the Chartists, 360 ; 
 first enters Parliament for Rochdale, 
 395 ' primogeniture abolition, 406 
 (note) ; administrative reform, 417 
 (note) ; national education, 420 ; mo- 
 tion to disendow Irish Church, 421 
 
 Middlesex, 285 
 
 Miles, W. , 334, 339, 348 
 
 Militia Bill, the, 390 
 
 Mill, John Stuart, autobiography, 328 ; 
 enters Parliament for Westminster, 
 463 ; his influence, 467 ; Irish griev- 
 ances, 468 ; a hero of the reform 
 demonstrations, 474 
 
 Milnes, R. M. (afterwards Lord Hough- 
 ton), notes on pp. 378, 406 
 
 Moldavia, 419 
 
 Molesworth, Sir William, character of, 
 238 ; corn laws, 279 ; property quali- 
 fication and peerage reform, 2B0 ; 
 reform, notes on pp. 289, 364 ; Char- 
 tist petition, 301 (note) ; representative 
 government in colonies, 372 ; in 
 Aberdeen's Cabinet, 398 
 
$02 
 
 Index. 
 
 Montrose, 313 
 
 Morley, Samuel, 464 
 
 Morpeth, Lord, 291, 299, 305, 345 
 
 Municipal reform, 264, 269, 270, 274 ; 
 
 in Ireland. See Ireland 
 Muntz, G. F. , nmes on pp. 322, 364, 378 
 Murray, Sir George, 285 
 Mutinies in the fleet, 66 
 
 N 
 
 Napier, Sir C. , 407 
 Napoleon III., 388, 427, 456 
 Nation, the, the Tory idea of excluded 
 - all consideration of the people, 25 
 National debt, the, its increase from 
 ■ 1793 to 1796, and for American war, 
 64 ; its increase during 1797, 66 ; by 
 war with France to 1801, 74 ; Chartist 
 ' petition, 1842, 322 ; proposals to reduce 
 
 it, 385. 475 
 Navarino, battle of, 205 
 Navigation laws, repeal of, 370 
 Newcastle, town of, 14, 161, 23t 
 Newcastle, Lord, 410, 430 
 Newspaper stamp, proposals for repeal, 
 
 25s, 27s. 400. 41S 
 
 Nonconformists and Radicals : Test and 
 Corporation Acts, 49 ; proposals to 
 repeal laws against them, S7i i°S I 
 their position in the party, 104 ; bill to 
 control their ministers, 105 ; education 
 of factory and pauper children , 329 etseq. 
 
 Non-intervention in foreign affairs advo- 
 cated by Peel and Radicals, 379, 380 
 
 Normanby, Lord, 299, 304 
 
 Norway, 113 
 
 North, Lord, 35, 40, 41, 42 
 
 Nottingham, 107, 124, 357, 358 
 
 Obstruction in the House of Commons, 
 first signs of in 1806, by the Tories, 
 84 
 
 O'Connell, Daniel, leader of the Catholic 
 movement, 181 ; declaration as to 
 evasion of Acts of parliament, 184 ; his 
 influence in Ireland, 193 ; county Clare 
 election, 213 ; petty persecution, 216, 
 2i8 ; triennial parliaments, vote by 
 ballot, and universal suffrage, 221, 
 297 ; repeal of the union, 235 ; coer- 
 ■ cion proposal, 252 ; alliance of Whigs 
 with him, 263 ; House of Lords, 270 ; 
 deserts Radicals, 275 ; Kilkenny elec- 
 tion and the Radicals, 285 ; Irish tithes, 
 291 ; the charter, 293, 297, 301, 322 
 . (note); repeal agitation, the "Three 
 F.'s," 330 ; his arrest, 330 ; trial and 
 sentence, 337 ; his death, the effect on 
 parties, 357 
 
 O'Connor, Feargus, leader of the 
 reformers, outside Parliament, 295 ; 
 physical force Chartists, 301, 327 ; 
 Chartist agitation, 327, 357, 358, 359 
 et seq.; charter motions in Parliament, 
 37'i 374 ; refoim, 364 (note) 
 
 Oldham, 3S7 
 
 "Open questions" in a weak Govern- 
 ment, 300 
 
 Orange societies, proceedings of and dis- 
 cussions on in 183s, 271 
 
 Orders in council, 93, 94, 107 
 
 Organization, first attempt at, in the 
 party, 27 
 
 Orsini, 427 
 
 Osborne, Bernal, 377, 398 
 
 Oxford University, 215, 463 
 
 Owen, Robert, 141 
 
 Pacifico, Don, claims, 379 
 
 Pains and penalties, bill of, against Q\ieen 
 Caroline, 146 
 
 Paisley, 135 
 
 Palmerston, Lord, enters Parliament, 97 ; 
 under secretary at war, 97 ; his poli- 
 tics, 97 ; Catholic emancipation, 185 ; 
 retains office on death of Canning, 
 205 ; Test and Corporation Acts , 206 ; 
 retires from office, 211 ; in office 
 under Lord Grey, 226 ; rejected by 
 Hampshire, 268 ; Conservatism and 
 Radicalism, 315 ; corn laws, 324 ; 
 Lord Grey, 346 ; Grecian poHcy (Don 
 Pacifico and Finlay claims), 379 ; his 
 dismissal, French coup d6tat, 388 et 
 seq. ; approached by Derby to join his 
 Ministry, 351 ; militia proposals, 390 ; 
 Whig or Tory in 1852, 394 ; intervenes 
 to save Tory Government, 396 ; attack 
 on Cobden, 404 ; resigns and resumes 
 office, 404 ; attack on Bright, 407 ; 
 becomes premier — his Ministry, 410 ; 
 stagnation in domestic policy, 410 ; his 
 agreeinent with Derby, 411 ; committee 
 of inquiry on Crimean war, 411, 413 ; 
 break-up and re-formation of Ministry, 
 413 : votes against Church rates aboli- 
 tion, 416 ; action of committee of 
 inquiry on Crimean war disasters,. 
 418 ; votes for Church Rates Aboli- 
 tion Bill, 421 ; attack by Disraeli on 
 Government, 422 ; votes against county 
 franchise resolution, 423 ; triumph on 
 Chinese (" Arrow") question at generaL 
 election, 1857, 425 ; promises in 1857 
 reform next session, 425 ; reform 
 mentioned in Queen's speech, 426 ; 
 Orsini's attempt on the life of the 
 Emperor, and proposals to amend the 
 English laws and consequent defeat bf 
 Government, 427 'et seq. ; compromises 
 differences with Russell, 438 ; becomes 
 premier, his ministry, 441 ; votes for 
 Church Rates Abolition Bill, 443 ; reso- 
 lutions as to Lord's throwing out money 
 bills, 446 ; how regarded by the Tories, 
 446 ; votes for County Franchise Bill„ 
 449 ; states that no Government reform 
 Bill will be introduced, 450 ; himself 
 and Government denounced by Cobden, 
 452 ; conduct as to American civil war, 
 454 ; feebleness of foreign policy, 455 ; 
 
Index. 
 
 503 
 
 vote of censure on Government rejected, 
 459 ; conduct on Irish land question, 
 460 ; his death, result of same, 464, 
 
 ^465 
 
 Pakington, Sir John, 478 
 
 " Papal Aggression" (creation of English 
 bishoprics), 382 et seq. 
 
 Paper duty, proposals for repeal of, 393, 
 400, 434, 446 
 
 Parke, Sir James. See Wensleydale 
 
 Parnell, Sir Henry, 185, 226 
 
 Parliamentary influence of Crown. See 
 Crown 
 
 Parties, political, the result of natural 
 grovcth, I, 9 ; effect of union with 
 Ireland, 69 et seq. ; effect of dissolution 
 of Pitt's Ministry, 72 ; their state and 
 relative strength and position at various 
 times, 46, 62, 63, 6s, 75, 76, 82, 87, 189, 
 197, 232 (Reform Act, 1832), 233, 259, 
 262, 267, 300, 311, 356, 381 etseq., 394, 
 397, 415 (Crimean war), 428, 437, 464 
 
 Patents law, 460 
 
 " Patriots, the," 12 
 
 Payment of members advocated by West- 
 minster committee, 31 ; one of the 
 "points" of the charter, 293; motion 
 for its adoption, 327 
 
 Peel, Frederick, 38/) , 463 
 
 Peel, General, 479 
 
 Peel, Sir Robert, the first, opposes corn 
 laws in 1815, 116 
 
 Peel, Sir Robert, enters Parliament, 97 ; 
 in office under Liverpool, 109 ; Home 
 Secretary, 159 ; relations with Canning, 
 192, 194, 195 ; Catholic emancipation 
 question, 156, 193, 212, 214, 215 ; the 
 corn laws question, 194, 255, 319, 320, 
 323, 345 et seq., 347 et seq.; free trade, 
 310, 320, 333 ; legal reforms, 201 ; Test 
 and Corporation Acts, 206 ; enfran- 
 chisement of large boroughs, 210 ; 
 suppression of Catholic Association, 
 215 ; Oxford University, 215 ; Univer- 
 sity Tests, 248 ; becomes premier, his 
 Ministry, 257 ; his objects in office, 
 263 ; his legislative proposals, 264 ; 
 speech on the power of the Opposition, 
 292 ; Jamaica constitution, 298 ; ' ' bed- 
 chamber question," 299 ; allowance to 
 Prince Consort, 304 ; general election, 
 1841, 311 ; his reputation, 1842, 323 ; 
 his knowledge of Irish troubles , Devon 
 commission, 331 ; suspicion of the 
 Tories, sugar and factory bills, 333 et 
 seq.; threatens to resign, 335 ; May- 
 nooth grant, 342 ; Irish unsectarian 
 colleges, 343 ; recognition of Irish 
 tenant right, 343 ; resignation and 
 resumption of office, 346 ; his conduct, 
 349 ; defeat and resignation, 349 ; fare- 
 well speech in office, 349 ; his neutrality 
 in 1849, 367 ; never a reactionist, 372 ; 
 last speech in Parliament — non-inter- 
 vention, 380; his death, 380; effect of 
 his death on parties, 381 et seq. 
 Peel, Sir Robert (son of the above), 454 
 Peelites, the, position of, after Peel's 
 resignation, 353 ; first use of the name. 
 
 their position in 1847, 356 ; tendency 
 of many of them towards Radicalism, 
 365 ; their neutrality in 1849, 367 ; 
 support of Whig Government, 369; 
 "Papal Aggression," 383; Disraeli's 
 1851 resolution, 384 ; they hold balance 
 of power in 1851, 386 ; Russell's 
 opinion of their duty, 393 ; coalition 
 with Whigs, Aberdeen Ministry, 398 
 Peers, the House of, George the Third's 
 influence of votes in, 42 ; declaration 
 bill (law of libel), 56 ; absence of 
 Whig party in the House, 58 ; influence 
 of George III. and the consequences, 
 61, 62, 199, 200 ; Canning's Corn Bill 
 and description of their subsequent 
 general conduct, 201 ; influence of peers 
 in the House of Commons, 203 (note); 
 Reform Bill, 229 ; proposals to exclude 
 bishops, 248, 280 ; municipal reform, 
 270 ; Roebuck's and O'Connell's lan- 
 guage, 270 ; Irish tithes question, 270 ; 
 fatal alteration of Government bills, 273, 
 274, 278, 280; motion to reform it, 280; 
 proxy voting, 280 ; national education, 
 302 ; Jewish Disabilities Bill, 365 ; non- 
 effect of vote of peers on Ministry, 380 ; 
 proposal to create life members, 421 
 Penryn, 147, 210 
 People, the, Mr. Gladstone's declaration 
 
 of trust in, 455 
 People's League, the, 360 
 Perceval, Spencer, assists in obstruction 
 in the House, 84 ; cabals with 
 George III. against Grenville, 87 ; 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, 89 ; 
 charges against him, 95; premier, 97; 
 Bill to Extend Liberties of Dissenting 
 Ministers, 105 ; his assassination, 108 
 Permissive Bill, the, first introduced, 458 
 Peterloo. See Manchester 
 Petitions to Parliament : rejection of one 
 on account of being printed, 112 ; rejec- 
 tion of one on account of language, 
 161 ; consideration of Chartists' refused 
 on account of advocating repeal of 
 the union, 322 
 Peto, Sir Morton, 450 
 Philanthropists, Spencean. See Spencean 
 Phillips, R. M. , 463 
 
 Philosophical Radicals, formation of the 
 school of, 130 ; Hobhouse the first who 
 entered Parliament, 150 
 Pillory, the, Lord Cochrane sentenced 
 
 to, 113 
 Pitt, William. See Chatham, Earl of 
 Pitt, William, son of Chatham, associa' 
 tion with Westminster committee, 27 ; 
 with "Ultra-Whigs," 35; declines 
 office unless in Cabinet, 35 ; a sincere 
 reformer, 35 ; motion for reform, 37 ; 
 character and position in 1782, 37; 
 letter to Westminster committee, 
 declines their request to stand for 
 Westminster, 38 ; Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer at the age of 23, his prin- 
 ciples then, 39 ; separation frgm Fox, 
 its effects on him, 39 ; retains office after 
 Shelburne resigns, 41 ; reform resolu- 
 
504 
 
 Index. 
 
 tions rejected, 42 ; becomes prime 
 minister, his position in hostile House 
 of Commons, 43 ; Liberals not alarmed 
 by his accession, 45 ; situation then, 46, 
 
 47 ; moves for reform and is defeated, 
 accepts defeat, 47 ; indifferentism in 
 poUtics induced by his Government, 47, 
 
 48 ; measures between 1784 and 1790, 
 50 ; ceasing to be Liberal becomes re- 
 actionary, S5 ; opposes reform, 1793, 
 59 ; creation of peers, 62 ; hatred of 
 J^rench principles, 64 ; pledge to Roman 
 Catholics previous to union with Ire- 
 land, 7r, 72 ; resignation, 1801, its effect 
 on parties, 72, 73 ; Liberalism not 
 
 ■ entirely eradicated, 73 ; supports peace 
 of Amiens, 75 ; desire of Pai'liament for 
 his return 10 office, 75 ; views as to alli- 
 ance with Fox, 76 ; anger at Grenville's 
 
 . refusal to join his Ministry without Fox, 
 
 ■ 76 ; second administration, 77, 78 ; 
 . decreasing majorities, 78 ; alliance with 
 
 Addington, 78 ; reproached for not 
 redeeming emancipation pledges, 78 ; 
 effect of Napoleon's successes in 1806, 
 79 i proceedings against Lord Melville, 
 79 ; illness and death, 80 ; character, 
 principles, and influence on public life 
 and parties, 80, 83 
 
 Pius IX., Pope, 382 
 
 Plunkett, 156, 188, 193 
 
 Ponsonby, 123 
 
 Poor law amendment, 255, 307, 404, 
 4'o 
 
 Popular enthusiasm, the power of, 228 
 
 Portland, Duke of, 28, 41, 51, 58, 63, 89, 
 
 97 
 
 Portman, Lord, 344 
 
 Portugal, 176, 191 
 
 Post-office, reform in 1839, 302 ; inquiry 
 into opening of letters, 336 
 
 Potter, R., 406 (note) 
 
 Powys, 50 
 
 Prerogative, the royal, the acknowledg- 
 ment of the supremity of superseded, 
 61 ; its position under George III., 
 143-14S ; its position under George IV. , 
 147 ; its interposition with regard to 
 Catholic emancipation and conse- 
 quence, 185 ; irregular exercise of it, 
 260 ; difference between its application 
 in Queen Victoria's and previous reigns, 
 283 et seq. ; dismissal of Palmerston, 
 " 388 
 
 Press, liberty of the, struggle for, 20 
 
 Preston, 188 
 
 Primogeniture. See land law reform 
 
 Prince Regent's approval of Peterloo 
 massacre, 135 
 
 Principles, the necessity of adhesion to 
 in times of excitement and confusion, 
 58 
 
 f'rivilege (in the House of Commons), 
 breach of, 98 
 
 Proclamation for preventing seditious 
 meetings, etc. , 57 
 
 Progress : where it is stopped reaction 
 sets in, 55 ; it is not stopped by loss of 
 one man, ho.wcver eminent, 204 
 
 Property qualification. See qualification 
 
 Property, real, extension of legacy duty 
 to, 400 
 
 Property tax, opposition to the repeal of, 
 117. See also income tax 
 
 Protection : virtually abandoned by Whig' 
 and Tory, 318 ; want of confidence of 
 Protectionists in Peel, 349 ; their posi- 
 tion after Peel's resignation, 353; 
 proposals for return to, 369, 372, 373, 
 374 ; its effect on the Tories, 372, 386 ; 
 Tory Government and the - question, 
 391, 39s ; DisraeU's resolution abandon- 
 ing, 396 
 
 Prussia, 359 
 
 Pryme, G., 248 
 
 Public opinion, instances of the power of, 
 12, 20, 198, 217, 228 
 
 Pulteney, 12 
 
 Punjaub, the, 366 
 
 Qualification, property, proposals for 
 
 abohtion of, 32, 280, 293, 433 
 Queen's name, use of in debate, 30B 
 
 Radicals : Radical party ; attempt to fix 
 date of origin, 6 ; the name first ob- 
 tained, 9 ; first signs, 14 ; favouring 
 signs, 24 ; real use of the party, 4, 5 ; 
 contrast of its. objects with those of the 
 Whigs, 7 ; Carlyle's view of their duty, 
 10 ; causes of existence, 21 ; they are 
 Democrats, S3 i Nonconformity, 104 ; 
 their particular mission and work, 
 140, 141 , 239 ; growth of Radicahsm pro- 
 moted by Tory policy, 209 ; they origi- 
 nate and develop nearly every great 
 measure of reform, 317, 376. 
 
 George III. and the Tories, 22; 
 Chatham, 23 ; their sound political law, 
 55 ; uphill fight, 60 ; French revolution 
 and Napoleon, 60 ; effect of the union 
 with Ireland, 70 ; abolition of slave 
 trade, 84 ; necessity for the party in 
 1807, 91 ; treatment of their proposals, 
 107 ; social ostracism and application 
 of names, j 27, 149 ; formal recognition 
 of distinction from Whigs, 118, 128 ; 
 Tiemey's attack, 130 ; philosophical 
 Radicals, 130 ; how regarded by govern- 
 ing classes, 149 ; where principally 
 supported, 149 ; the party not confined 
 to avowed Radicals, r49 ; the first avowed 
 Radical candidate, 151 ; strongholds of 
 the party, 231, 232 ; first recognition as 
 a party in Parliament, " 234 ; various 
 estimates of their character in 1832, 
 236 et seq. ; Irish Church question, 250 ; 
 poor law amendment, 255 ; unwilling 
 support of Melbourne Ministry, 270 ; 
 the civil list, 289 ; they are a majority 
 of the Liberal party, 293 ; loss of 
 influence after charter period, 295 ? 
 support of Government in 1840, 305 ; 
 impossibility of holding office on same 
 
Index. 
 
 505- 
 
 terms as Whigs, 306 ; relief of distress 
 in the country, 316 ; comparison with 
 the Chartists, 322 ; opposition to Irish 
 Arms Acts, 326, 352 ; national education , 
 328 et seq. ; position and duty of the 
 party in 1846, 353 ; want of sympathy 
 with outside Radicals in 1847, 357 ; 
 their attitude towards the Chartists in 
 1848, 360 et seq. ; tendency of PeeUtes 
 towards Radicalism, 366 ; retrench- 
 ment, 368 ; enforced position on Peel's 
 death, ^ZT.etseq.; "Papal Aggression" 
 question, 383 ; members of Aberdeen 
 Ministry, 398 ; Crimean war, 411 ; sup- 
 port of Palmerston, 459 ; effect of 1867 
 Reform Act on the party, 483 ; their 
 equality in iniiuence with the Whigs, 
 483 ; Mr. Gladstone in harmony with 
 the Radicals, 483 ; their difficulty in 
 educating Whigs, their administrative 
 ability, 484 ; results in measures of 
 their increased power since 1867, 484 
 
 Position and influence of the Radicals 
 at various times on the Liberal party 
 and generally, 26, 47, 59, 62, 63, 83, 
 112, 159, 167, 188, 230, 233, 241, 25o, 
 262, 265 et seq., 281, 285, 29s, 356, 
 386, 425, ^■fietseq., 483 
 
 Their iniluence on legislation, 207, 
 261, 288, 429, 441 
 
 Differences and divisions in the 
 party at various times and consequences 
 of the same, 172, 199, 286, 287, 288, 
 293 et seq., 343, 411, 424 
 
 Differences with the Whigs at various 
 times, 104, 118, 128, 281, 306, 448 
 
 Their relations with the Whigs and 
 Liberal party, 218, 219, 228, 233, 286, 
 287, 288, 314 et seq., 370 
 
 Their help used by Whigs but their 
 principles not recognized on formation 
 of ministries, 36, 268, 351 
 
 The corn law question, 175, 293 
 et seq., 323 
 
 Reform question, 120, 228, 293 et 
 seq. ,327, 341, 363, 469, See also under 
 the names of members of the party and 
 subjects 
 Radnor, Earl of, 336 
 Railway undertakings in 1845, 338 
 Ramsden, Sir J., 444 
 Reaction, the absence of, as regards 
 forms of Government, even at end of 
 eighteenth century, 60 
 Reading rooms, act to suppress, where 
 
 money taken, 123 
 Reform, parliamentary, previous to 1832 : 
 first movement in favour of it, 20 ; it 
 becomes a popular cry and is supported 
 by Fox, 22 ; the question considered 
 not one of " practical politics," 32 ; the 
 desire of the people for it, 44 ; reasons 
 for the difficulty of obtaining it at end of 
 eighteenth century, 62, 63 ; position of 
 the question in 1807, 90 ; tlie Burdett 
 excitement, 103 ; increasing necessity 
 for reform in 1816, and commencement 
 of the great agitation, 117-118 ; strong- 
 holds for the cause, 119 ; Hampden 
 
 clubs and reform clubs, 119; confusion 
 of reformers with rioters, 120 ; con- 
 founded by Lords and Commons with 
 revolutionary projects, 122 ; Govern- 
 ment intention to suppress the agitation, 
 125 ; the effect of Bentham's teaching, 
 131 ; the Peterloo massacre, 136 ; com- 
 mencement of the final struggle for the 
 first Reform Bill, 148; impossibility of 
 other reforms without it, 176 ; instances 
 of imperative necessity for it, 209 ; 
 Catholic emancipation demonstrates the 
 necessity for, and makes converts to 
 reform, 218, 219, 220 ; victory of re- 
 formers at general election of 1830, 224 ; 
 King's speech implies opposition, 224 ; 
 Brougham's and Grey's declaration for, 
 and Wellington's against it, 225 ; the 
 question made a Cabinet one in Grey's 
 Ministry, 226 ; committee of Cabinet, 
 227; introduction of the bill, its recep- 
 tion by the country and parties, 228 f 
 passing of the 1832 Act, 229 
 
 Parliamentary proposals and bills in 
 favour of it, 22, 31, 37, 42, 47, 50, 59, 
 66, 95, no, 139, 154, 155, 162, 174, 
 187, 210, 219, 220 
 Agitations for it, 21, 119, 132, 133 
 Pitt's attitude towards it, 37, 42, 47 
 Westminster committee, 31, 34, 43, 
 
 47 
 
 Whig attitude towards it, 20, 36, 37, 
 n8, 126, 128, 129, 130, 136, 138, 139, 
 
 152. 153 
 
 Radical attitude towards it, 26, 93, 
 118, 120, 153, 154 
 
 Tory attitude towards it, 118, 122, 
 
 I2S 
 
 Since 1832 : motions to repeal the rate- 
 paying clauses of the Act, 255, 288, 355 ; 
 growing necessity for further reform in 
 1837, 280 ; pubUcation of the charter, 
 its "six points," 293 ; Russell's declara- 
 tion of finality, 296 ; time of least activity, 
 reasons for same, 327 ; effect of Char- 
 tist agitation upon the question, 363 ; 
 increasing necessity for admitted in 
 1851, 385 \ Disraeli's declaration on the 
 question, 393 ; Lord Derby prepared to 
 promise some measure, 429 ; absence 
 of disturbance in the country about 
 i860, 444 ; Mr. Gladstone declares for 
 reform, 455 ; justice of and necessity 
 for reform universally acknowledged, 
 4'ii ; Education Franchise Bill, 468 ; 
 " Cave of Adullam," 469 ; Gladstone's 
 declaration of certainty of future success, 
 470; Derby and Disraeli declare for 
 reform on taking office, 475 ; dissen- 
 sions in Derby's Cabinet 1867 ; two 
 ■ bills, the "Ten Minutes Bill" ; resig- 
 nations ; introduction of the Govern- 
 ment measure, 477-481 ; payments of 
 rates, 481-483; passing of the Act ; its 
 effect on the Radical party, 483 
 
 Government proposals and bills, 385, 
 389, 399. 40s. 425. 426. 434 et seq., 444, 
 448, 449, 466, 468, 469, 470, 471 et seq., 
 477. 477-48"; 
 
So6 
 
 Index. 
 
 Other proposals and bills, 225, 288, 
 296, 300, 316, 321, 327, 341, 35;, 363, 
 
 371. 374> 424. 449. 4SS. 461, 468 
 
 County franchise proposals and bills, 
 300. 374. 385. 387. 393. 400. 423. 426, 
 433. 449. 4S5 
 Agitations for reform, 321, 473 et 
 seq. , 477 
 
 Regency acts and proposals, 48, 223, 
 227 
 
 Religious liberty, efforts of Radicals, 243 ; 
 attempt to violate, 329 et seq. See also 
 Jewish disabilities 
 
 Repeal of the union. See Ireland 
 
 Report, instance of one, of speeches 
 stated never to have been delivered, 
 251 (note) 
 
 Representation, instance of necessity for, 
 
 . of all interests, 188 
 
 Representative government possible only 
 under conditions, 12 
 
 Retrenchment : Burke's plan of economic 
 reform, 29 ; Dunning's motion, 33 ; 
 Burke's motion, 34 ; question advocated 
 by Westminster committee, 34 ; Whig 
 leaders' attitude towards it, no ; re- 
 duction in expenditure advocated by 
 Grey, 136 ; proposals in 1828, 211 ; 
 measures carried in 1833, 246 ; question 
 taken up by Government, effect on 
 Radicals, 375 
 
 Revolution: result of 1688 revolution, 4; 
 various in Europe in 1848 and effect 
 of same in England, 359 ; reasons for 
 immunity of England from it, 362 
 
 Ricardo, D., 141, 175 
 
 Rice, Spring, 185, 251, 303, 304 
 
 Richmond, Duke of, 251, 326 
 
 Rioters, confusion of them with reformers, 
 120 
 
 Ripon, 251 
 
 Rippon, C, 248 
 
 Robinson. See Goderich 
 
 Rochdale, 315, 395, 423 
 
 Rockingham , Marquis of, 14, 36, 39 
 
 Roebuck, J. A., his character, 238 ; his 
 eccentricity, 314 ; his opinion of 
 the Whigs, 239 ; repeal of news- 
 paper duty, 255 ; his opinion of 
 House of Lords, 270 ; attack on minis- 
 ters, 277 ; attack on Government, 
 281 ; defeated in 1837, 285 ; Canadian 
 legislative council, 290 ; returned for 
 Bath, 314 ; Maynooth grant, 342 ; 
 defeat at Bath and end of hearty union 
 with Radicals, 357 ; representative 
 Government in colonies, 372 ; Palmer- 
 ston's foreign policy, 379, 380 ; " Papal 
 Aggression," 383 ; primogeniture aboli- 
 tion, 406 (note) ; inquiry into adminis- 
 tration of Crimean war, 411, 413, 418 ; 
 administrative reform, 417 (note) \ 
 Chinese ("Arrow") question, 424; 
 Government Reform Bill, 435 ; votes 
 against Tory Government, 4-11 ; Ameri- 
 can civil war, 454 
 
 Efforts for national education, 247, 
 271, 280, 328, 330, 420 
 Chartist and reform questions, 293, 
 
 316, 321, 322 (note), 332 (note), 371 
 (note) 
 
 Rolt,J.,44S 
 
 Rorailly, Sir Samuel, 82, 106, 123, 124 
 
 Rothschild, Baron, 359, 433 
 
 Russell, Lord J. (1792-1793) 57, 59 (note) 
 
 Russell, Lord John (afterwards Earl), 
 enters Parliament, 113; alien bill, 113; 
 the civil list, 148 ; repeal of Test and 
 Corporation Acts, 206 ; universalsuffrage 
 and the ballot, 221 ; leadership of the 
 House, 257, 269 ; rejected for Devon- 
 shire, 268 ; declaration of policy, 269 ; 
 municipal reform, 269 ; Canadian 
 troubles, 289 ; uses Queen's name in 
 debate, 305 ; nearly defeated for Lon- 
 don, 313 ; Chartist petitioners, 322 ; 
 sugar bill, 33$ ; " Edinburgh letter," 
 345 ; Jewish disabilities, 359 ; declara- 
 tion of inability of the peers to effect 
 change of ministers, 380 ; ' ' Durham 
 letter " and " Papal Aggression," 383 ; 
 Kossuth, 389 ; militia bill, 390 ; opinion 
 of the duties of Peelites, 393 ; his posi- 
 tion and politics, 399; the "Eastern 
 Question," 403 ; motion for inquiry into 
 Crimean war, 408 ; his earnest desire 
 for reforms, 409 ; Vienna congress, 411 ; 
 Church rates aboUtion, 416, 421 ; 
 Derby's " India Bill No. 2," 431 ; 
 Palmerston, 414, 438 ; Whig cabal 
 against Reform Bill, 444 ; removal to 
 the House of Lords, 450 ; defeat of 
 Government on Reform Bill, 473 
 
 Various proposals and bills for reform 
 and his attitude towards the question, 
 130, 139, 147, 155, 162, 174 (Lambton's 
 infiuence on hi?f^, 187, 210, 221, 227, 
 288, 296, 328, 342, 363, 371, 374, 385, 
 389, 403, 423, 435, 444, 449, 473 
 
 Various offices held by him and re- 
 tirements from same, 227, 304, 346, 351, 
 385. 390. 398. 408, 414. 418, 465, 473 
 
 Irish Church questions, 251, 265, 
 29s 
 
 Corn law questions, 279, 296, 297, 
 
 307. 309. 3'9. 332. 339. 340. 342. 345. 
 
 355 
 
 National education, 302, 330, 342, 
 
 377. 399. 420 
 Russia, 168, 418. See also "Eastern 
 
 Question " 
 Ruthven, E. S., 246 
 
 Salisbury, Marquis of. See Cecil 
 
 Sandon, Lord, 309 
 
 Sandwich, Lord, 19 
 
 Sardinia, 440 
 
 Saville, Sir George, 29, 32, 37 
 
 Sawbridge, Alderman, 20, 28, 37, 38 
 
 Scarlett, J., 198, 205 
 
 Scenes in the House : on division on Can- 
 ning's foreign policy, 172 ; quarrel be- 
 tween Brougham and Canning, 173^ 
 on Villier's corn law motion, 1840, 
 306 
 
Index. 
 
 507 
 
 Scholefield, Joshua,, 322 (note) 
 
 Scholefield, William, 364 (note), 371 
 (notej, 378 (note), 406 (note), 417 
 (note), 424 
 
 Scott, W., 33 
 
 feoully, Vincent, 417, 425 
 
 Secession, unjustifiable in . Liberals, in- 
 expedient generally, and Fox's case in 
 1797, 66 
 
 Secret committees of Lords and Com- 
 mons, 121, 125 
 
 Seditious Meetings Act, 122 
 
 Septennial Act. See duration of Parlia- 
 ment 
 
 Sheffield, Lord, 58 
 
 Shell, R. L., 351, 352 
 
 Shelburne, Earl of, 28, 36, 39, 40 
 
 Sheridan, R. B. Connection with West- 
 minster committee, 28, 29, 33 ; in office 
 under Rockingham, 33 ; reform ques- 
 tions, 37, 59 (note) ; Habeas Corpus, 
 64 ; attends the House on Fox's seces- 
 sion, 66 ; suggests relays of members 
 to overcome obstruction, 84 ; Irish 
 Coercion Act, 93; exclusion of strangers, 
 98 
 
 Shipping laws, the, 404 
 
 Sibthorpe, Colonel, 303 
 
 Sicily, 366 
 
 Sidmouth, H. Addington, afterwards 
 Viscount, becomes premier in i8or, 
 72 ; oppression of his Government, 
 73 ; has to negotiate treaty of peace 
 with France, 74 ; instability of his 
 Ministry without Pitt, 73 ; recommences 
 war with France, 76 ; fall of his Govern- 
 ment in 1804, 77 ; alliance with Pitt, he 
 becomes Viscount Sidmouth, 78 ; joins 
 Opposition in attack on Pitt's friend 
 Melville, his resignation, 79 ; takes 
 office under Grenville in 1806, 82 ; op- 
 
 ' poses abolition of slave trade, 84 ; 
 
 ' cabals with King against Grenville, 87 ; 
 bill to control dissenting ministers, 105 . 
 his acts of coercion and oppression in 
 i8i2, 108 ; sides with Castlereagh 
 against Canning in 1812, 109 ; letter 
 to lords-lieutenant to suppress certain 
 publications, 123 ; approval of Man- 
 chester massacre, 135 ; retires from 
 Home Office, 159 ; retires from Cabinet, 
 177 
 
 Sinecure bills, no, 246 
 
 "Six Acts," the, 137, 199 
 
 Slavery and the slave trade, 78, 84, 87, 
 242, £98 
 
 Socialism, 141 
 
 Societies, certain, declared unlawful, 123 
 
 Somersetshire, i8g 
 
 Southampton, 141 
 
 Southwark, 127, 141, 150, 189, 228 (note), 
 231 
 
 Spa Fields meetings, 119 et seq. 
 
 Spain, 168 et seq., 176, 191 ; Spanish 
 colpnies, — see America (South) 
 
 Spencean philanthropists, 119, 120, 123 
 
 Spencer, Herbert, quoted 22 
 
 Spencer, Lord, 58, 63, 72 
 
 Spies, Government, 119, 124, 125 
 
 Spitalfields Act, bill to repeal, 176 
 
 Stagnation in political institutions, long 
 continuance of impossible, 48 ; it in- 
 evitably leads to reaction, 53; its occur- 
 rence under Palmerston, 410 
 
 Stamp Act, the, 15, 16, 17 
 
 Stanley, Lord (afterwards Lord Stanley of 
 Bickerstaffe ; afterwards Earl of Derby), 
 in Grey's Ministry, 226 ; retires from 
 same, 251 ; his connection with office 
 at various times, 257, 386, 390, 410, 
 428, 430, 441, 475 ; national education, 
 302 ; corn laws, 328, 346 ; Lord Stan- 
 ley of Bickerstaffe, 337 ; Tenants' Com- 
 pensation (Ireland) Bill, 343; Protec- 
 tionist and Reactionist, 353, 372 ; 
 recognizes power of Radicals, 368 ; 
 Palmerston, 379, 410, 446 ; reform 
 question, 429, 475 ; Jewish disabilities, 
 432 ; Church rates abolition, 433 ; stroke 
 for power, 437 ; description of the 
 session, 453 
 
 Stanley, Lord (afterwards Earl of Derby, 
 son of the above), 470, 472 
 
 State of the nation at various times, 47, 
 59, 64, 66, 107, 115 et seq. (after the 
 war, 1815), 191, 224, 307 (1840), 308, 
 321, 323, 330, 337, 344, 354 (1847), 370 
 
 Stansfeld, James, 456, 465 
 
 Statute law, revision of the, 460 
 
 Stockport, 133 
 
 Stracy, Sir Henry, 457 
 
 Stradbroke, Earl of, 373 
 
 Strangers, exclusion of, from the House, 98 
 
 Strutt, E., 239 
 
 Stuart, Lord Dudliy, 402, 404 
 
 Stuarts, the struggle with the, 2, 3, 4, 8 ; 
 transfer of Tory allegiance from them, 
 
 13 
 
 Sturge, Joseph, 327 
 
 Subsidies to allies, 65 
 
 Suffrage, household, manhood or uni- 
 versal, proposals for, 31, 154, 221, 288, 
 293, 300, 32[, 327, 363, 371, 374, 480, 481 
 
 Sugar bill, discussions on in 1844, 334 
 
 Sunday opening of British Museum, etc., 
 motion for, 416 
 
 Supply, proposals to postpone or stop, 
 
 19s. 278i 331. 332 
 Sutton, Manners, 235, 263 
 
 Tagus, the, expedition to, 191 
 
 Talents, the "AU Talents " administration, 
 82 
 
 Tavistock, Marquis of, 128, 136 
 
 Tea duty, reduction of, 400 
 
 "Tea-Room Conspiracy," 481 
 
 Temple, Lord, 16, 28 
 
 Tenant right, English, 344 
 
 "Ten Minutes' Bill," 479 
 
 Tennyson, C. (afterwards C. T. D'Eyn- 
 court), reform questions, 210, 364 
 (note) ; proposals to shorten duration 
 of Parliament, 243, 2;$, 280, 370; 
 national education, 378 (note) 
 
 Territorial, influence, defeat of, at 1830 
 election, 224 
 
So8 
 
 Index. 
 
 Test and Corporation Acts, proposals to 
 repeal the, 49, 57, 205, 206, 207 
 
 Tests, University. See University 
 
 Teynham, Lord, 326 
 
 Thelwall, trial of, 64 
 
 Thurlow, Lord, 58 
 
 '* Three-cornered Vote,'' 483 
 
 Thompson, Colonel, his character, 238 ; 
 defeated in 1837, 285 ; one of the com- 
 mittee on the charter, 29 1 ; votes for 
 Liberal measures, notes on pp. 364, 
 
 371. 378 
 Thompson, George, enters Parliament, 
 358 ; votes for Liberal measures, notes 
 on pp. 364, 371, 406, 417 
 Thompson, Poulett, 268 
 Tierney, George, enters Parliament, 59 
 (note), 55 ; leader of Liberal party, 65 ; 
 in office, 75 ; motion on state of the 
 nation, 128 ; attacks Radicals, 130 ; 
 Catholic emancipation, 185 ; motion to 
 withhold supplies, 195 ; in opposition 
 
 , to WelUngton's Ministry, 205 
 Tierney, Rev. — , 337 
 Tithes, commutation of, 264, 275 
 Tooke, Home, trial of, 64 
 Tories, Tory party : allegiance transferred 
 to George III. from the Stuarts, 13 ; 
 taxation of the colonies, 15 ; idea of 
 national policy, 25 ; all liberality taken 
 away from the party, 73 ; Addington, 
 75. 76. 77 i Pi't. IS' 7^' 78 i cabal with 
 George III. against Grenville, 87 ; re- 
 turn to full power, 89; similarity with 
 the Whigs, 91 ; effect of quarrel between 
 Canning and Castlereagh, 97 ; conflict- 
 ing elements, 109 ; increase of power, 
 III ; weakness in parliamentary ability 
 and consequences, 157, 158 ; disintegra- 
 tion on account of Canning, 173, 177 ; 
 their hatred of the Canningites, 205 ; 
 Catholic emancipation, 193, 218, 220 ; 
 their strength previous to 1832, 202 ; 
 instances of their undertaking to carry 
 out policy to which they are opposed, 
 208, 428, 475 ; power in 1828, 2ii ; 
 conversion of many to reform, 220 ; 
 attempt to crush the Liberalism of the 
 party, 241 ; dependence of Liberal 
 ministers on Tories, 243, 292, 293 ; 
 national education, 302 ; suspicion of 
 Peel, and relaxation of discipline, 333 
 et seq. ; they differ from Whigs in avail- 
 ing themselves of new men, 351 ; effect 
 of their devotion to protection, 372, 386; 
 policy of Government in 1 852, 391 e^ seq. ; 
 their relations with the Whigs, 410, 475 ; 
 Disraeli's declaration of their principles, 
 422 ; Palmerston, 446 
 
 Tower, the, threatened attack on, 119 
 
 Tower Hamlets, 357 
 
 Townshend, T. , 12, 37 
 
 Trafalgar, battle of, 79 
 
 Treason, high, trials for, 64 (note) 
 
 Trelawney, Sir John, votes for Liberal 
 proposals, notes on pp. 341, 364 ; pro- 
 posals for abohtion of Church rates, 
 371, 433, 434, 445, 450, 453 
 
 Trevelyan, G. O., 464 
 
 Triennial Parliaments. See duration of 
 Parliament 
 
 Trollope, Sir J. , 373 
 
 Turkey, 168, 308; the only means of 
 breaking up the empire without danger, 
 420. See also " Eastern Question" 
 
 Turtori, Sir T., 96 
 
 U 
 
 Unions, political, 220 
 
 United States of America : war with over 
 ' ' Orders in Council, " 9^, 107 ; Civil 
 war, how regarded in England, 447, 
 448; the " Trent " and Mexican affairs, 
 450 ; advocates of the South, 454 
 
 Universities ; university management 
 amendment, 404 ; proposals to abolish 
 tests, 248, 330 
 
 Verona, congress of, 168 
 
 Victoria, Queen, improper use of her 
 name by Whigs at elections, 285 : an- 
 nouncement of intended marriage, 304 ; 
 exercise of royal prerogative, 283, 388 
 
 Vienna, treaty of, 112 ; congress, 168 ; 
 congress of, 411 
 
 Villiers, Charles Pelham, his character, 
 239 ; enters Parliament, 272 ; efforts for 
 repeal of corn laws, 279, 293, 296, 
 297, 324, 325, 342, 348, 396 ; Reform 
 and Chartist questions, 297 (note), 301, 
 321, 322 (note), 328, 341, 364 ; redress 
 of grievances, 332 (note) ; position in 
 1847, 358 ; selected to move the address, 
 372 ; Fox's Education Bill, 378 (note) ; 
 takes office in Aberdeen Ministry, 398 ; 
 Chinese ("Arrow") question, 424; in 
 Palmerston's Cabinet, his position there, 
 440 ; his character as an administrator, 
 442 
 
 Vincent, Henry, 295 
 
 W 
 
 Wages, average earnings of persons in 
 Leeds, 316 
 
 Wakley, T., 288 
 
 Walcheren expedition, 98 
 
 Wallace, 196, 302 
 
 Wallachia, 419 
 
 Walmsley, Sir Joshua, reform questions, 
 374, 424 ; tenant right question, 393 ; 
 Sunday opening of museums, etc., 416 ; 
 defeat at general election on Chinese 
 ("Arrow") question, 425 
 
 Walpole, S., 434, 43S. 4Si 
 
 Walter, J. , 444 
 
 Warburton, H., 341 (note) 
 
 Ward, H. G., his character, 238 ; Irish 
 Church questions, 250, 231, 252, 291, 
 292, 336, 343 ; reform and Chartist 
 questions, 296, 316, 321, 322 (note), 
 323, 341 (note) ; supports Government 
 against Tories, 305 ; moves for inquiry 
 into burdens of landed interests, 324, 
 
Index. 
 
 509 
 
 340 ; redress of grievances, 332 (note) ; 
 Maynooth grant, 343 ; takes office 
 under Russell, 351 ; restraints of office, 
 absence from Radical divisions, 355 
 
 Wardle, G. L., 94 
 
 Warrington, 126 
 
 Waterloo, battle of, 114 
 
 Watson, 119 
 
 Wellesley, Marquis of, 97, 108, 252 
 
 Wellington, Duke of, victories in Spain, 
 III ; congress of Verona, 168 ; Can- 
 ning, 92 ; in office and retirements from 
 same, 193, ig6, 204, 226, 257, 349; Can- 
 ning's Corn Bill, 200 ; expectations of 
 the Tories, 204 ; Test and Corporation 
 Acts, 207, 208 ; his first principle, 209 ; 
 humiliation on Corn Bill, 209 ; dissen- 
 sions in Cabinet, 210, 211 ; Catholic 
 emancipation, 212, 213 ; weakness of 
 Ministry, 222 ; reform question, 225, 
 228 ; defeat of Ministry, 226 ; Irish 
 municipal reform, 306; saves Whig 
 Ministry from defeat in the Lords, 367 ; 
 his death, 394 ; Funeral, 396 
 
 Wensleydale, Lord {Sir Tames Parke), 421 
 
 Westbury, Lord. See Bethel 
 
 Western, Mr., 116 
 
 Westminster, 127 (Hustings Bill), 189, 
 23r, 241 [vote of censure on members), 
 285, 463 
 
 Westminster committee, the, establish- 
 ment and objects, 27 ; position and 
 connection with Pitt and Fox, 27 ; 
 action in 1779, 1780, and 1783, 28, 
 29, 32-4t ; members and chairman, 
 28 ; comprehensive scheme of reform, 
 31 ; alienation of sympathy from Fox 
 on his coalition with North , 41 ; still 
 presses reform, 42 ; division over Fox's 
 conduct, 43 ; supports Fox at West- 
 minster election, 44 ; resolution on Pitt's 
 action, 44; resolution on reform at last 
 recorded meeting in 1785, 47 
 
 Westmoreland, I^ord, 193 
 
 Wetherell, Sir Charles, 196 
 
 Weymouth, Lord, 19 
 
 Whigs, Whig party : Whiggism became 
 a creed after 1688, 4 ; differentiation of 
 Radicals from them, 10 ; their supre- 
 macy and Chatham's objection to them, 
 12; theirlossof power,i3, 14 ; taxation 
 of the colonies, 16 ; John Wilkes, 19 ; 
 their theory of Government, 25 ; the 
 regency question, 48 ; position and 
 connection with Prince of Wales, 49 ; 
 Sir Erskine May on the party, 32 i 
 French revolution, SS i desertion of 
 many of the leaders, 58 ; their influence 
 in the Lords, 61 ; effect of the mild 
 Whigs joining the Tories, 61 ; Pitt, 63 ; 
 peace with France, 74 ; Windham a 
 typical Whig, 77 ; ecclesiastical ques- 
 tions, 104 ; economic reform, no ; 
 formal recognition of distinction 
 between them and Radicals, 118, 128 ; 
 coercion bills, 122; word "Whig" 
 ceases to be considered as synonomous 
 with "Liberal," 127; Queen Caroline, 
 146 ; effect of alliance of Grenvillites 
 
 and Government, 158 ; Test and Cor- 
 poration Acts, 207 ; small nomination 
 Boroughs and Reform Act, 232 ; the 
 three stages of their relations towards 
 Radicals, 233 ; Roebuck's opinion of 
 them, 239 ; the term Liberal adopted, 
 239 ; the effect of Radicalism on the 
 party, 287, 288 ; their desertion of Lord 
 Durham, 290; become a minority of 
 Liberal party, 293 ; their advance to- 
 wards corn law repeal, 333 ; com- 
 parison of their aristocracy to Venetian 
 oligarchy, 351 ; instance of their incon- 
 sistency, 352 ; fatality attending them 
 when opposed to Peel, 339; misman- 
 agement of finances, 364 ; Aberdeen 
 Ministry, 398 ; cabal against i860 Re- 
 form Bill, 444 ; comparison of a pure 
 Whig ministry to the dodo, 445 ; folly 
 of mild Whigs in 1866, 465 ; equality 
 of Radicals in influence, 483 ; their 
 indifference at first to reforms origi- 
 nated by Radicals, 484 
 
 Their attitudes at various times 
 
 towards reform questions, 21, 37, 83, 
 
 93, 126, 131, 140, 141, 12, 153, 198,404 
 
 Irish tithes, 265, 270, 274, 275, 291, 
 
 292 
 
 Their relations towards the Radicals, 
 26, 36, 104, n8, 128, 233, 277, 281, 
 287, 288, 292, 293, 315, 363, 483 
 
 Their relations towards the Tories, 
 6i> 91! 97. 158, 281, 292, 293, 315, 410, 
 475 
 
 Their position and influence at various 
 times, 12, 13, 14, 61, 75, 90, III, 260, 
 276, 311, 315, 367, 384 
 
 Divisions in the party, 19, 39, 55, 83 
 Whitbread, S., proclamation against sedi- 
 tious writings, etc., 57: reform, 59 
 (note) ; Education Bill, 94 ; libel pro- 
 secutions, 106 ; Coercion Bill, 107 ; 
 sinecure places, no; Alien Act, 113; 
 war with France, 1 14 
 White, J., 449 
 
 Whitmore, corn law reform, 175, 187 
 Wilberforce, William, 78, 84, 116 
 Wilkes, John, i8, 22, 28 
 Wilkinson, W. A., 425 
 William IV., his dislike and dismissal of 
 the Whigs, 237; his death, 281; its 
 effect on Melbourne's Government, 282 ; 
 his character, 282, 283 
 Williams, Colonel, 248 
 Wilson, George, 377 
 
 Wilson, Sir Robert, classed as Radical 
 in i8iS, 127 ; member for Southwark, 
 150, 189 ; a very pronounced Radical, 
 151 ; supports Canning, 199 ; opposes 
 repeal of one of the "Six Acts," 199 ; 
 opposes Government on clause of Re- 
 form Bill and loses his seat, 228 (note) 
 Windham, William, connection with 
 Westminster committee, 33 ; opposi- 
 tion to reform, 50, 83 ; bitter opponent 
 of Whig party, 58 ; ^'itt, 63 ; Home 
 Tooke and others, 64 (note) ; retires 
 from office, 72 ; hatred of France, 73, 
 77 ; opposes Pitt, 77 ; typical Whiggism, 
 
5IO 
 
 Index. 
 
 77 ; in office under Grenville, 82 ; mili- 
 tary proposals, 85 
 Window and house tax, 161, 179, 388 
 Wiseman, Cardinal, 382 
 Wolseley, Sir Charles, 132, 133 
 Wood, Sir Charles (afterwards Lord 
 
 Halifax), 248, 328, 421, 463 
 Workmen and masters, proposals as to 
 
 relations between , 477 
 Wray, Sir Cecil, 28, 38, 42, 43, 44 
 
 Wynne, C. W. W., 157, i6i 
 Wynne, H., 157 
 
 Y 
 
 Yeomanry, the, and reform agitation, 133 
 York, Duke of, charges against, 94 ; 
 
 Catholic emancipation, 185 et seq. ; his 
 
 death, igi 
 Yorke, C, 98 
 Yorkshire, 156 
 
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1 8 A List of 
 
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