Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/143

 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