Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/32

18 Rockingham Whigs to undo the mischief which had been done. It became evident to all earnest Liberals that the colonists were upholding not only their own cause, but the cause of freedom in the whole of the British dominions. They were fighting not on behalf of the wise policy of the Whigs, but for the right of subjects to be taxed only with their own consent, and governed only by their own representatives. The circumstances attending the first discussions raised the all-important questions, and they point clearly to the existence among active politicians of opinions which could never form part of the official Whig or Tory programmes, and must therefore lead sooner or later to the growth of a third party in the State. During this period questions very vitally affecting home liberties divided with the American question the attention of the country and Parliament, and at times aroused passions in a manner which only feelings of personal animosity could account for. Freedom of the subject as affected by the right of Government to issue general warrants; freedom of the press as secured by the right of juries to decide on law as well as on fact, in cases of libel, and as affected by the power of publishing the proceedings of both Houses of Parliament; freedom of election threatened by the assumption of the Commons, that by their sole resolution they could declare any particular person to be ineligible for election;—all these great subjects were raised, directly or indirectly, through the conduct of one man, who, however unworthy either by character, position, or ability to take the lead in a national movement, must certainly be regarded as an instrument by which valuable results were achieved.

John Wilkes was one of those reckless people who rush with delight into positions from which more delicate natures shrink, and by their very extravagance irritate the powers they attack into violent proceedings that must end in failure in any country where law is more powerful than personal authority. However personally unpleasant such men may be, they often furnish the only possible method of testing the justice of an administration of law which aims merely at preserving the