Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/200

 1 86 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1822- oath was that which was taken by his father, and would forbid him ever to assent to a proposition for the removal of the Catholic disabilities. He concluded with the statement that " these were the principles to which he would adhere, and which he would maintain and act up to, to the latest moment of his existence, whatever might be his situation of life so help him God ! " Such a proceeding as this might, a few years later, have precipitated the revolution, the fear of which drove Wellington and Peel to desert the cause they had so long upheld. This was avoided, but the duke's speech led to complications and to increased activity on both sides of the dispute. It was on the 25th of April that it was delivered, and on the very next night Brougham entered a very spirited protest against it in the House of Commons. He urged the House to proceed with the bill with the more earnestness and vigour, since delay might lead to serious consequences. " There was not," he said, " an hour to be lost, for the time might come when even such a majority would be ineffectual ; and when the unani- mous vote of both Houses of Parliament, joined to the expression of opinion from the whole country, would have no other consequence than to lead to an irreparable breach with the Crown." But whilst the speech was used as an incite- ment to speedy action by the friends of emancipation, it served to encourage the opponents to a more vigorous resist- ance. This was seen when the bill reached the House of Lords, where it was defeated on the second reading by 178 to 1 30. There was no further attempt to raise the question in that Parliament. In the early part of the year 1826 there was a good deal of activity in the House of Commons. It was felt that an early dissolution was to be expected, and the commercial crisis which had followed upon an era of the wildest specu- lation was spreading distress amongst all classes of the community. The subjects of the corn laws, the national expenditure, and Parliamentary reform were sure to receive attention at such a time. Parliament met on the 2nd of