Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/188

 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1822- and the minister accepted the explanation. The end of the business was that the emancipation question was not raised again during the session. On other subjects in the course of the year the Radicals made themselves heard, and the Whigs became increasingly Liberal. The popularity of Canning in the House of Com- mons made competition with him there impossible, and it was only by insisting upon those points wherein he remained true to Tory principles that the Whigs could rally any public support. Russell continued his action on behalf of Parlia- mentary reform, and his views were widening so fast, and the influence of Lambton upon his policy was so evident, that the lead of the question was given to the young Whig lord. On the 20th of February Lord John moved for a committee to inquire into the right of voting and the number of persons entitled to vote in cities and boroughs, but was defeated by 128 votes to 90. On the 24th of April he brought on the ques- tion in a more direct form, moving, in the same terms which he had used in the previous session, " That the present state of the representation of the people in Parliament requires the most serious consideration of this House." He was again defeated, but the large number of votes, 280 to 169, gave evi- dence of the continued importance attached to the subject. Two questions were raised this session, both of which were destined to lead to years of discussion and strife, and to affect very materially the policy and fortunes of English parties. One of these related to the Established Church in Ireland, on which, on the 4th of March, Hume moved four resolutions of a character sufficiently startling to the politicians of that day. The first declared the property of the Church of Ireland to be public property, under the control and at the disposal of the legislature, for the support of religion and for such other purposes as Parliament in its wisdom might deem beneficial to the community, due attention being paid to the rights of every person then enjoying any part of that property ; the second called for an inquiry whether the establishment was not more than commensurate to the services it performed ;