66 REFORM AND DEMOCRACY 



cratic landed interest by which both parties 

 were controlled stood firm and unyielding. 

 The Corn Law was to prove the last strong 

 hold of the old system to be carried by the ris 

 ing middle-class industrial interest. After the 

 death of Canning in 1827 his powerful patronage 

 was seen to have been indispensable to the re 

 forming projects of Huskisson; for there soon 

 came open rupture between the Canningites 

 and the ultra-Tories headed by the Duke of 

 Wellington. Differences about the Corn Law 

 had much to do with this dissension, though 

 two other subjects took precedence in practical 

 consideration when the reforming influence got 

 the upper hand. 



The first of these subjects was Catholic eman 

 cipation. In 1829 the general disqualification of 

 Catholics for holding office or sitting in Parlia 

 ment was finally removed. This action had 

 long been sought by enlightened statesmen, 

 and had failed of realization in law only through 

 the dogged resistance of royalty itself. The 

 relief act of 1829 was significant less from its 

 content than from the means through which its 

 passage, despite the sullen opposition of the 

 King and a few bigoted advisers, was made 

 unavoidable. Daniel O Connell, between 1823 



