Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/160

 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 office 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-