Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/259

 1834-] The First Reformed Parliament. 245 commercial interests as to the direction in which relief was most urgently required. The malt tax on the one side, and the assessed taxes, especially the house and window taxes, on the other, were declaimed against, and ministers used one set of agitators against the other in order to defeat both. In connection with these discussions, the first illustration was given of the relation which the ministerial party intended to hold towards any Radicals who might aspire to or accept office, and the opinions which the great constituencies would entertain of that relation and its consequences. Sir J. C. Hobhouse had been, since his first election for Westminster in 1820, an active and consistent Radical. He had on more than one occasion taken a prominent part in the effort to obtain the repeal of the house and window tax. On the formation of the Grey Ministry he accepted office, and he had now to pay the price. There ought to have been no difficulty in such a case in his retaining office whilst continuing his policy with regard to these particular imposts, a policy which was well known when he entered the Ministry. That course, however, was not taken ; he could not, it appeared, act independently, and so he took a step which elicited a remarkable expression of public opinion. He did not vote for the repeal of the taxes, and so he determined to resign at once his office and his seat for Westminster. If the resignation had been brought about by his adhesion to his old principles at the cost of relinquishing office, he would have been sure of a cordial response from his con- stituents. It was meant, however, as a request that his desertion of his old opinions might be condoned, and the request was indignantly denied. When he came forward for re-election, the electors voted " That Sir F. Burdett and Sir J. C. Hobhouse the one by opposing the strongly expressed wishes of his constituents, and the other by deserting his post of duty when his services were most needed had forfeited the confidence of the electors of Westminster." This resolution was carried out on the poll, Colonel De Lacy Evans, an avowed Radical, defeating the ministerialist by 2027 votes to 1835.