had been wronged, and were absolved from further allegiance.1 Ministers were charged with sinning against political morality, in another form. The Whigs and followers of Mr. Canning, allowing their tardy resolution to be wise and statesmanlike, asked if they were the men to carry it into execution. If they were convinced that the position they had held so stubbornly could no longer be defended, should they not have capitulated, and surrendered the fortress to the besieging force? If a just and conciliatory policy was, at length, to be adopted, the principles of the opposition had prevailed; and to that party should be confided the honourable privilege of consummating the labours of a political life. Men who had maintained power for thirty years, by deferring to the prejudices of their party, were not entitled to its continuance when they had accepted the policy of the opposition. If the Catholics were to be emancipated, they should owe their privileges to their own steady friends, and not to their oppressors.2 Nor was this opinion confined to the opposition. The Tories themselves,-fiercely as they condemned the conversion of their leaders,-condemned no less fiercely their retention of office. Had ministers resigned, the united body of Tories might have shown a formidable front against a Whig government, though aided by the Tory supporters of the Catholic cause: but they were 1 Hans. Deb., Sess. 1829, passim; Ann. Reg., 1829, ch. i.-iv.; Letter of Duke of Wellington to Duke of Buckingham, April 21, 1829; Court and Cab. of Geo. IV., ii. 397. 2 Mr. Peel freely acknowledged that the measure was due to the efforts of the opposition. He said: "The credit belongs to others, and not to me: it belongs to Mr. Fox, to Mr. Grattan, to Mr. Plunkett, to the gentlemen opposite, and to an illustrious and right hon. friend of mine, who is now no more. By their efforts, in spite of every opposition, it has proved victorious." -Hans. Deb., 2nd Ser., xx. 1289; Guizot's Life of Peel, 39. 3 Hans. Deb., 2nd Ser., xx. 1119, 1163, 1263; Twiss's Life of Lord Eldon, iii. 73. powerless against their own leaders, who retained the entire influence of the government, and could further rely upon the support of the opposition. The friends of Mr. Canning observed that, two years ago, the Duke of Wellington and Mr. Peel had refused to serve with that eminent man, lest they should give countenance to the Catholic claims; and had pursued him with relentless hostility. And now these very men were engaged in carrying a measure which Mr. Canning himself would have been restrained, by the conditions under which he took office, from promoting.1 Men of all parties looked with astonishment at the sudden abandonment, by ministers, of the distinctive principles of their party. Some doubted the honesty of their former professions: others deplored an inconsistency which had shaken the confidence of the people in the character and statesmanship of public men. All saw plainly that the Tory party could not long survive the shock. The question which had first broken the consolidated strength of that party in 1801, and had continued to divide and weaken it, throughout the regency and the reign of George IV., had at length shattered it to pieces. The Catholic Relief Bill was passed but time did not abate the resentment of the Tories. Henceforth the government were kept in power by the friendly support of the opposition, who at the same time, prepared the way for their own eventual accession, by the advocacy of economic and parliamentary reform, the exposure of abuses, and the assertion of popular principles. In 1830, the ministers, thus weakened and discredited, were forced, by the death of George IV., to appeal to the people ;-when their own unpopularity, 1 Hans. Deb., 2nd Ser., xxi. 221; Stapleton's Political Life of Canning, iii. 460; Quarterly Re- The Whigs restored to power in 1830. Union of the Whigs with the people. the resentment or coolness of their friends,- the increased activity and spirit of the Whigs and Radical reformers,-popular discontents at home, and revolutions abroad, -combined further to disturb the ministerial majority at the elections'. The Duke of Wellington's imprudent handling of the question of parliamentary reform speedily completed his ruin.2 He fell; and at length the Whigs were restored to power, at a time most favourable to the triumph of their principles, and the consolidation of their strength. The ministry of Earl Grey comprised the most eminent Whigs, together with the adherents of Mr. Canning who had separated from the Duke of Wellington, and were now united with the reformers. This union was natural; and it was permanent. Its seeds had been sown in 1801, when differences first arose amongst the Tories: it had grown throughout the administration of Lord Liverpool: it had ripened under Mr. Canning; and had been forced into maturity by the new impulse of reform. The time was also propitious for enlisting, on the side of the Whigs, the general support of the people. Hitherto they had fallen, as an aristocratic party, between the dominant Tories on one side, and the clamorous Radicals on the other. Notwithstanding the popularity of their principles, they had derived little support from democracy. On the contrary, democracy had too often weakened their natural influence, and discredited their efforts in the cause of liberty. But now the popular voice demanded a measure of parliamentary reform; and the reform ministry became at once the leaders of the people. Even democracy,— 1 Supra, Vol. I. 354; Edinb. Rev., vol. li. 574; Courts and Cabinets of Will. IV. and Queen Victoria, i. 45, 47, 77, 85, 143. 2 Supra, Vol. I. 354. hitherto the terror of every government,-was now the turbulent and dangerous, but irresistible ally of the king's ministers. Such was the popular ferment, that it was even able to overcome the close electoral system of the unreformed Parliament. The Tories, indeed, forgetting their recent differences, were suddenly reunited by the sense of a common danger. The utter annihilation of their power was threatened; and they boldly strove to maintain their ground. But they were routed and overthrown. The ascendency of landlords in counties, the local influence of patrons in boroughs, were overborne by the determined cry for reform ; and the dissolution of 1831, when none of the old electoral abuses had yet been corrected, secured a large majority for ministers, in the House of Commons. The dissolution of 1832, under the new franchises of the Reform Acts, completed their triumph. Sad was the present downfall of the Tories. In the first reformed Parliament they numbered less than one hundred and fifty.' The condition of the Whigs, in 1793 had scarcely been more hopeless. Their majority in the House of Lords was, indeed, unshaken: but it served merely to harass and hold in check their opponents. To conquer with such a force alone was out of the question. ency of the after the The two first years after the Reform Act formed Ascendthe most glorious period in the annals of the Whig Whigs party. Their principles had prevailed: they were Reform once more paramount in the councils of the state; and Act. they used their newly-acquired power in forwarding the noblest legislative measures which have ever done 1 In 1834, Sir R. Peel said one hundred and thirty only.-Hans. Deb., 3rd Ser., xxvi. 293. It appears, however, from statistics of the old and new Parliaments, in "Courts and Cabinets of Will. IV. and State of parties after the Reform Act. honour to the British Parliament. Slavery was abolished: the commerce of the East thrown open: the church in Ireland reformed: the social peril of the poor-laws averted. But already, in the midst of their successes, their influence and popularity were subsiding; and new embarrassments were arising out of the altered relations of parties. While they were still fighting the battle of reform, all sections of reformers united to support them. Their differences were sunk in that great contest. But when the first enthusiasm of victory was over, they displayed themselves in stronger relief than ever. The alliance of the Whigs with democracy could not be permanent; and, for the first time, democracy was now represented in Parliament. 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.' Without organisation or unity of pose, 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 enfranchised, and places suddenly released from the thraldom of patrons 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 connection with the aristocracy, and no respect for the traditions of the constitutional Whig party. Their political views were founded upon principles more democratic; and experience of the difficulties, restraints, and compromises of public affairs had not yet taught them mode Edinb. Rev., July 1837, p. 270; Bulwer's England and the pur English, ii. 261; Guizot's Life of |