friends. I did not hesitate to prognosticate their fate:—
"They have alienated all the decided reformers by their uncalled for declaration of finality; they have alienated the dissenters by refusing to rescue them from the exactions of a dominant church; they have alienated the great majority of all who are in trade, be they employers or employed, by the avowal of the premier, that he thinks men must be 'mad' who demand permission to exchange their surplus manufactures for the surplus produce of other lands; they have alienated the friends of peace by unnecessary and unjust interference in the affairs of other nations; they have alienated the friends of economy by a profuse expenditure, which calls for the imposition of new taxes. On whom can they fall back in the event of a general election? To what principle can they appeal in the frequent single elections occasioned by the acceptance of the Chiltern Hundreds by members tired out with attending debates in a house which talks and does nothing? The cry of 'Keep out the tories,' has had its day, and is no longer available. The people are no longer to be brought to the aid of men who will do nothing for them. If, therefore, ministers do not bring forward measures of substantial reform—not trifling modifications of existing evils, but measures calculated to promote the comfort and happiness of millions—the people will leave them to settle disputes with their opponents as they best may; and if, then, the tories come in, the whigs will only have themselves to blame." Four months afterwards "they appealed to the people," and the people left them to settle with their opponents as they best could and an additional affirmation was given of the truth of the old proverb concerning the two stools. The events of that year, 1841, were pregnant of instruction, but ministers saw little in them to disturb their self-complacent possession of office.
At the close of the preceding year, an agitation bearing upon Parliamentary boroughs had been commenced. In
