more, for the representation of the uneducated as well. They demanded that every grown-up man should have a vote, that members of Parliament should be paid, that a new Parliament should be elected every year, and so on. These men tried to get up riots in favour of their demands; in 1848 it looked as if these riots were going to be serious. But the thing fizzled out somehow. Later Reform Bills, 1867 and 1885.Twice since that time new ‘Reform Bills’ have been passed, one by each party in the State, by the Tories in 1867 (now called ‘Conservatives’) and by the Whigs in 1885 (now called ‘Liberals’ or ‘Radicals’). On each occasion the vote was given to poorer and less educated classes of the people, and on the latter occasion the distinction between counties and boroughs was practically abolished; every district in Britain, whether of town or country, is now represented in the House of Commons pretty nearly according to the number of people living in it.
The Irish members.Unfortunately one exception to this principle has been allowed. With the exception of those from Ulster, the Irish members of the House of Commons since the Union of 1800 have never been loyal to our system of government, but have continually cried out for a separate Parliament in Dublin. The first great agitator for this purpose was the orator Daniel O'Connell, in the reigns of George IV and William IV and at the beginning of Victoria's reign. He has been followed by many others, notably by Mr. Parnell, and the agitation is still continuing. In order to hush this cry, British statesmen have allowed Ireland to have many more members of the House of Commons than the population of that island warrants. More than one statesman, especially the famous Mr. Gladstone in 1885 and 1892, has thought of con-