Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/232

 218 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1827- of duty. The country could not fail to see that if there was no other way in which the existing Parliamentary machinery could be got to execute such a necessary piece of work, it was time that a change was made in the instru- ment, in order that when it required such business to be transacted it could construct a Parliament and a Ministry ready to effect it willingly and conscientiously, and not from fear of violence or revolution. Thus the effect of the action of the Government upon the state and the fortunes of political parties was twofold. It increased the disposition of ordinary people in favour of those constitutional reforms which had but a short time ago been branded as the wild schemes of Radicals, but were now being advocated more or less heartily by the Whigs. At the same time, it increased to the greatest possible extent that disaffec- tion in the Tory ranks, that want of confidence in their leaders, which disabled them from presenting an unbroken front to the charges of the reformers. Where, indeed, could they look for certainty of action and consistency of counsel when Wellington and Peel had twice deserted the cause, and had even themselves led the attack upon the fortresses which they had been selected to defend ? It was inevitable that the agitation for Parliamentary reform should rapidly increase, and that its friends should be encouraged by the success which had attended the efforts of the Dissenters and the Roman Catholics. Little was done in that, or, indeed, in any other direction. Ill-feeling was perpetuated in Ireland by a clause in the Act intended to allay it that, namely, which prevented O'Connell from sitting for Clare without taking that oath which was now repealed. The man who had been of all others most instrumental in effecting emancipation, and was thus singled out for an exhibition of revenge, was just the one to make the most of the ill-judged policy. He spoke with dignity and effect when pleading his cause before the House of Commons ; he stormed and raged when protesting to his constituents against his exclusion ; and altogether the affair served the