ABSTRACT
Some of the petitions inevitably demanded Parliamentary Reform, too, sometimes in very Radical terms, but by far the greater number seem to have been drawn up by men, who had agreed to exclude contentious political matter and to concentrate on “distress”. During the struggle of some six weeks that ensued, all the “liberal” elements in politics supported Ministers against the more conservative half of their own party in Commons and Lords. On February 5, 1829 the fateful Session began in which Ministers designed to carry Catholic Emancipation. In the hope of placating their resentful “Protestant” supporters, Government opened the Session, disarmingly, with a Bill, virtually, to suppress the Catholic Association and any similar Association that might be founded in its place. Meanwhile, during the autumn and winter of 1829—1830, there came another industrial and agricultural depression which spelt inevitable trouble for Ministers.
