Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/125

 1815.] Dismissal of Grenville 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 3Oth of July, and a dissolution on the 3Oth 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 1816. For a time all attention was withdrawn from the thought of domestic questions, and would have been even had the oppo- sition had anything like a spirited policy to offer.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 country 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-