For fifty years after the coming in of the Georges the country had
been ruled by a powerful Whig (SS479, 548) monopoly. Under George III
that monopoly was broken (S548), and the Tories (S479) got possession
of the government. But whichever party ruled, Parliament, owing to
the "rotten-borough" system, no longer represented the nation, but
simply stood for the will of certain wealthy landholders and town
corporations. A loud and determined demand was now made for reform.
In this movement no one was more active or influential among the
common people than William Cobbett. He was a vigorous and fearless
writer, who for years published a small newspaper called the Political
Register, which was especially devoted to securing a just and uniform
system of representation.
On the accession of William IV the pressure for reform became so great
that Parliament was forced to act. Lord John Russell brought in a
bill (1831) providing for the abolition of the "rotten boroughs" and
for a fair system of elections. But those who owned or controlled
those boroughs had no intention of giving them up. Their opponents,
however, were equally determined, and they knew that they had the
support of the nation.
In a speech which the Reverend Sydney Smith made at Taunton, he
compared the futile resistance of the House of Lords to the proposed
reform, to Mrs. Partington's attempt to drive back the rising tide of
the Atlantic with her mop. The ocean rose, and Mrs. Partington,
seizing her mop, rose against it; yet, notwithstanding the good lady's
efforts, the Atlantic got the best of it; so the speaker prophesied
that in this case the people, like the Atlantic, would in the end
carry the day.[1]
[1] Sydney Smith's "Essays and Speeches."
When the bill came up, the greater part of the Lords and the bishops,
who, so far as they were concerned personally, had all the rights and
privileges they wanted, opposed it; so too did the Tories (S479), in
the House of Commons. They thought that the proposed law threatened
the stability of the government. The Duke of Wellington (S573) was
particularly hostile to it, and wrote, "I don't generally take a
gloomy view of things, but I confess that, knowing all that I do, I
cannot see what is to save the Church, or property, or colonies, or
union with Ireland, or, eventually, monarchy, if the Reform Bill
passes."[2]
[2] Wellington's "Dispatches and Letters," II, 451.