6 The Triumph of Agitation. 



a science the science of revolutionising without convulsing corrupt 

 states. Affording herself a ready disciple of this philosophy, imbibing its 

 maxims deeply, and steadily governing her practice by them, England has 

 achieved a "deed of peace" which will shed a living splendour over her 

 history, when the advance of knowledge shall have stripped her deeds of 

 arms of their false glitter. Birmingham will be glorious when Waterloo 

 shall be a laughing-stock j and the Attwoods, the O'Connells, and the 

 Humes the men who agitated, the men who organised, the men who 

 marshalled the opinion of the country, and under whose moral general- 

 ship she fought and won the good fight of liberty, will be the saints of 

 the calendar of patriotism, canonized in the affections of millions of 

 freemen, surrounded (to borrow the fine parody of Lord Brougham) 

 with the 



" Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious peace," 



when the fame of the military conqueror will be levelled with the repute 

 of the bandit and the butcher. 



But though the success of the Bill is a great victory, let us not for a 

 moment be so deluded as to believe it a complete conquest. Our true 

 situation is that of a general after winning a great battle, who must, 

 however, push his advantage immediately, or lose a glorious opportunity 

 of terminating the war. We have won Cannae 5 let us beware of turning 

 aside to Capua, instead of marching at once upon the metropolis of 

 corruption. The Reform Bill is but the machinery for producing a 

 popular House of Commons ; it must be worked by the people ; it must 

 be worked with all our skill and all our energy, or we shall have to accuse 

 ourselves for its failure. To do this it is indispensable not to abandon 

 for an instant our habits of organization and union. We must not think 

 for some time to come of returning our swords to their scabbards. The 

 Political Unions, which contributed so largely to give us the frame of a 

 free Parliament, must be set to work again to fill up that frame with men, 

 by reason of their talents, their virtues, and their principles, worthy to 

 represent the country, and able to serve her. They must be employed 

 to discover men of legislative abilities and democratic sentiments, where 

 they are not apparent j and to encourage and support them wherever they 

 present themselves to notice. They must be employed to detect and ex- 

 pose the hypocrisy of such persons as will endeavour to insinuate them- 

 selves into the Reformed House without the spirit of Reform in their 

 breasts. They must be employed to counteract the enormous influence 

 which the Tories will still exert upon elections, by virtue of their vast 

 wealth, and the numerous situations of power which the weak and tem- 

 porizing policy of the Whigs has allowed them to retain. They must 

 be employed to continue the good work of politically educating the 

 people j pressing upon them, in season and out of season, all the benefits 

 to be secured by the independent exercise of their franchises, and all the 

 loss, immorality, and scandal, of suffering themselves to be influenced by 

 either gold or intimidation; inculcating it on their minds according 

 to the creed of our adversaries that political union is political strength, 

 and without continued manifestation of it, all that we have hitherto done 

 will be of little avail, that we shall only have furnished the hands of our 

 enemies with a scourge for our own backs. 



