Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/220

 206 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- the ministers for whom Canning had been too Liberal would have refused under any conditions to sanction a reform which he had opposed, yet they soon found themselves powerless to prevent it. The Acts were so flagrantly unjust, and at the same time so useless, that the wonder was that they could have been maintained so long. They never could have been but for the Acts of Indemnity by which their violation had been covered. As it was, they merely represented pretensions to supremacy and predominance on the part of the Church which were a constant course of irritation and disgust to the dissenters. That a Parliament, which it was felt would soon relax the laws imposing disabilities on Roman Catholics, should allow the continuance of the insulting restrictions upon Protestant sects, could hardly be admitted by the Liberals. Preparations for the attack had been made in the previous session, and on the 26th of February Lord John Russell moved " That this House will resolve itself into a committee of the whole House to consider so much of the Acts of 13 and 25 of Charles II. as requires persons, before they are admitted into any office or place in corporations, or having accepted any office, civil or military, or any place of trust under the Crown, to receive the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper according to the rites of the Church of England." The resolution was opposed by ministers ; Huskisson, Peel, and Palmerston spoke against it, but it was carried by 2-37 to 193. The House at once went into committee pro forma, and obtained leave to sit again on the 28th. On that day Lord John moved a resolution for the repeal of the obnoxious clauses, and it was agreed to, the members of the Government withdrawing before the vote was taken. They were not yet agreed upon the ultimate course which they should take, although they had convinced themselves of the impossibility of successful resistance. Their retirement from the House gave rise to some criticism and ridicule, which fairly represented the effect upon the country of their anoma- lous position. No change took place before the second reading of the bill founded on the resolutions, which, on the I4th of