"
On the 22nd of March the Second Reading was carried by a majority of one.
But directly afterwards the Government was defeated on an amendment in
Committee, and promptly appealed to the country. Parliament was dissolved
on the 23rd of April. "Bold King! bold Ministers!" wrote Sydney on the
25th. Popular feeling was now really roused. "The Bill, the whole Bill, and
nothing but the Bill" was the war-cry from Caithness to Cornwall. Lord John
Russell, who had brought the Bill into Parliament, was the hero of the
hour. He contested Devonshire at the General Election, and Sydney, who had
a vote for the county, met him at Exeter.--
"The people along the road were very much disappointed by his
smallness. I told them he was much larger before the Bill was thrown
out, but was reduced by excessive anxiety about the people. This
brought tears into their eyes!"
At this juncture Sydney composed (and published in the name of an imaginary
Mr. Dyson), a "Speech to the Freeholders on Reform"--
"Stick to the Bill--it is your Magna Charta, and your Runnymede. King
John made a present to the Barons. King William has made a similar
present to you. Never mind common qualities, good in common times. If
a man does not vote for the Bill, he is unclean--the plague-spot is
upon him--push him into the lazaretto of the last century, with
Wetherell[100] and Sadler[101]--purify the air before you approach
him--bathe your hands in Chloride of Lime, if you have been
contaminated by his touch.
Pages:
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183