Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/164

 150 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1820- On the 8th of March in this year, 1821, he was sentenced in the Court of King's Bench to pay a fine of ^2000, and to be imprisoned for three months, for a libel contained in a pub- lished letter on the Manchester massacre. The punishment only tended to strengthen him in the confidence of his con- stituents, and it had no deterrent effect on his own proceedings ; for, soon after his release on the I4th of May, he moved in the House for an inquiry into the circumstances attending the massacre, and was ' strongly supported by speeches from the Liberal benches. On his conviction, a meeting of his constituents was held to sympathize with him, and to raise a fund to pay the fine. On that occasion the chair was taken by his colleague in the representation, J. C. Hobhouse, the first of the set of men known as Philosophical Radicals who obtained a seat in Parliament. He immediately took an active part, especially in the discussions on Parliamentary reform, in which he argued the question as one of broad political science as well as one requiring attention from the conditions and wants of the time. Joseph Hume now began, on a plan which involved immense labour, those efforts on behalf of financial reforms by which he afterwards became so well known. If he descended to attack details of the public expenditure, it was not for want of ability to grasp the whole system of national finance. In the speech which he made on the 2/th of June, he displayed a knowledge of the real requirements of nearly every depart- ment of the public service, founded on an acquaintance with the history of the growth and the causes of the lavish expendi- ture of the time. His thorough Radicalism on other points gave force to his financial opinions amongst the popular party, and it was greatly owing to his influence that the word " retrenchment " took its place with " peace and reform " as a part of its recognized programme. Two other avowed Radicals should be named, because they sat at different times for one of those Metropolitan constituencies where public opinion could secure Parliamentary representation. Sir Robert Wilson was, in this Parliament, member for Southwark; for which Borough, some years later, Daniel Whittle Harvey was returned.