Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/165

 1 822.] Death of George II 7 to the Death of Castlereagh. 1 5 1 In 1820 Harvey was re-elected for Colchester, but he was unseated, and remained for some time out of Parliament. Wilson was a very pronounced member of the party, and is the only man who is recorded in Smith's work as having at that time declared himself in his candidature as a Radical. Amongst those who, whilst advocating and supporting Radical opinions, still retained their connection with the members and leaders of the Whig party, the foremost place was held by J. S. Lambton, afterwards Lord Durham. This great man, with the enthusiasm of a popular leader and the genius of a statesman, was able by his associations and con- nections to force his broad Liberal principles upon the attention of the most exclusive of the Whigs. The representative of one of the oldest county families in the kingdom,* the son-in- law of Earl Grey, he was in a position which gave weight to opinions which were received with contempt when expressed by less important persons. It was a position, however, in which the whole social and political influences of his class would be brought to bear upon him in order to moderate his views and restrain his action. It was owing to the depth and earnestness of his convictions, and to the strength of his will, that he resisted such temptations, and gave impressions to, rather than received them from, his official associates. Whilst retaining his relations with the Whigs, he extended his sym- pathies and entered into personal association with the most active of the Radicals. When Duncombe, who had become more Radical, again secured his seat for Hertford in 1830, a message of congratulation came from Lambton ; and no one rejoiced more than Durham at the victory gained by Grote in the city of London, f The influence of Lambton was beneficial both to the cause of reform and to the interests of the Whig party. It did for Radicalism with the official Liberal leaders what the writings of Bentham and Mill had done with reading and thinking since the twelfth century. f "Memoirs of T. S. Duncombe," vol. i. p. 113; "Personal Life of George Grote," by Mrs. Grote, p. 74.
 * His family had held the Lambton estates in uninterrupted male succession