Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/194

 i8o History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1822- occasional vote in the House of Commons to force a practica solution of the difficulty. It became evident to the Irish leaders, that if it were left to the decision of English parties in the English Parliament, their cause, so far as their own generation was concerned, was hopeless. So they naturally and wisely determined to take the case into their own hands, and to obtain by the force of a national agitation what they had vainly asked from a sense of justice. The time was well chosen for the establishment of the Association. The strength of the cause in the House of Com- mons, although not sufficient to carry the proposed relief, was a powerful auxiliary, which was likely to become still stronger as the agitation outside grew more active. The division amongst ministers, if it could not lead to the formation of a Cabinet pledged to emancipation, prevented the possibility of framing one which should unanimously oppose that policy. There could be no union and no peace among English statesmen until the question was disposed of, and it could be finally settled only in one way. As if to encourage the Irish people in their agitation, the division which existed in the Government in England was marked and illustrated by differences in the Irish administration, in which one minister favoured, and one opposed, emancipation. This in itself was a concession to the popular feeling which invited further manifestations of its power. It was more than this, for it was a virtual admission of the justice of the demand, since otherwise no Ministry could have consented to the appointment, as lord-lieutenant, of a nobleman who was one of its advocates. The continued resistance of the extreme Tory party and their representatives in the Peers was under these conditions equal to a statement that justice and policy were alike unavailing against prejudices, bigotry, and class interests. It was the beginning of a system to which we have since become only too well accustomed, whereby agitation is resisted until it threatens to become revolution, and con- cessions are made to fear which are refused to reason and justice.