Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/180

1 66 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1822- CHAPTER IX. FROM THE DEATH OF CASTLEREAGH TO CANNING'S APPOINTMENT AS PREMIER (1822-1827). THERE was a general opinion amongst politicians of all parties, on the death of Castlereagh, that Canning was the only man who ought to, or who indeed could, succeed him as Foreign Secretary. This was felt alike by the active members of the Cabinet, who distrusted and feared if they did not posi- tively hate him, and by the majority in the Commons, which, drawing its forces from both sides of the House, desired to see some relaxation of the system of repression, if it could be obtained without venturing upon constitutional changes. The relation of the ministers to a large section of their party, which was marked by this looking towards Canning, was indicative of an important movement which had been gradually taking place in the general opinion and feeling of the country. The wave of reaction and terror which had been raised by the French Revolution was subsiding, and Englishmen were resuming the old respect for liberty, and the old belief that the part of England in European affairs was to side with the cause of freedom against that of despotism and oppression. This feeling, though not universal, was very widespread, and it was compatible with a good deal of differ- ence of opinion on domestic questions ; individual and class interests biassing, when they were affected, the judgment which was clearer and truer on foreign affairs. It is because this love of liberty in the abstract was general, and was shared in by members of all parties,, that Radicalism, not as a sudden