Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/163

 1 822.] 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 off 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.