time, now, in this your day of salvation, take counsel, not of
prejudice, not of party spirit, not of the ignominious pride of a
fatal consistency, but of history, of reason, of the ages which
are past, of the signs of this most portentous time. Pronounce
in a manner worthy of the expectation with which this great
debate has been anticipated, and of the long remembrance which it
will leave behind. Renew the youth of the State. Save property,
divided against itself. Save the multitude, endangered by its
own unpopular power. Save the greatest, and fairest, and most
highly civilised community that ever existed, from calamities
which may in a few days sweep away all the rich heritage of so
many ages of wisdom and glory. The danger is terrible. The time
is short. If this bill should be rejected, I pray to God that
none of those who concur in rejecting it may ever remember their
votes with unavailing remorse, amidst the wreck of laws, the
confusion of ranks, the spoliation of property, and the
dissolution of social order.

...


PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. (JULY 5, 1831)

A SPEECH DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ON THE 5TH OF JULY
1831.

On Tuesday, the fourth of July, 1831, Lord John Russell moved the
second reading of the Bill to amend the representation of the
people in England and Wales. Sir John Walsh, member for Sudbury,
moved, as an amendment, that the bill should be read that day six