Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/215

 1832.] Cannings Premiership to Passing of Reform Act. 20 1 the report of the committee was brought up, by the larger majority of 133 to 122. The bill would have removed all prohibition of import, and the amendment proposed that "foreign corn should not be taken out of bond until the average price of corn should have reached sixty-six shillings." By some extraordinary process Wellington had persuaded himself that this amendment would not vitally affect the bill, and that it would be accepted by the Govern- ment. Such an idea was really preposterous, and the bill was abandoned, Canning feeling and speaking very warmly against the course taken by Wellington. From that time to this the House of Peers has seldom, if ever, given a voluntary vote in favour of measures to increase religious, civil, political, or commercial liberty. Its members have yielded many times under pressure put upon them by their wiser leaders, under fear of famine, under threats of revolution ; but they have yielded only after pro- longed resistance, and their opposition has been one of the factors to be taken into account by all who have had to advocate or carry out any proposal for reform. In the excited state of persons and parties, there was no hope of practical legislation during the remainder of the session of 1827. A temporary bill was passed giving the Government power to let out of bond any corn then bonded, together with any that should be warehoused by the ist of July in that year ; Canning declaring his intention to re-intro- duce in the next session the bill which had been defeated by the Peers. An attempt was made to deal with the notorious and growing corruption at Parliamentary elections, and some legal reforms were effected on the motion of Peel ; but on the 2nd of July three weeks after the loss of the Corn Bill Parliament was prorogued. The royal speech which closed the session contained the ministerial challenge with regard to their defeat in the concluding paragraph, which said, " His Majesty trusts that, although your deliberations on the corn laws have not led, during the present session, to a permanent settlement of that important question, the consideration of it