Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/182

 1 68 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1822- was called, by some undefined and yet well-recognized mani- festation of public opinion, to take the office which was of the greatest importance in the Ministry, which made him leader of the House of Commons, and enabled him to affect the policy of the whole of Europe, and thereby to give scope and efficiency to sentiments and principles which were in turn to react upon England, and to give life and force to the popular party here. The new minister was appointed just in time to give strik- ing expression to the sentiments which he represented. A congress of the European powers, having met at Vienna, had adjourned to Verona. Lord Londonderry had intended to represent England at the meeting, and his death took place whilst preparations were being made for his departure. The Duke of Wellington went instead, the time being too short for any such alteration of policy as would have been involved in the refusal to send a representative. The business to be trans- acted at Verona was twofold. The nominal object for which the conference was called was to consider the affairs of Greece, and so prevent a war between Russia and Turkey. The real object was different ; it was to bring the combined forces of the Holy Alliance to bear to put down the revolu- tionary movement in Spain, as they had already been used to crush out liberty and national life in Italy. The public feeling of England had revolted against the action of the alliance, and there is no reason to doubt that if Londonderry had lived to attend the congress, he would have refused to join in any enterprise to overturn, by foreign arms, the constitution which the Spanish people had obtained. His refusal, however, would have been only a formal protest, coming from a man known to be in general sympathy with the allies, and would not, most probably, have prevented combined action against Spain. Canning spoke in a very different tone, whatever similarity there may have been in the words, and the effect produced was of another kind. When the Duke of Wellington was informed that the affairs of Spain would be brought before the congress, he