ABSTRACT
At the beginning of 1853 the disjointed Radical and “advanced Liberal” groups of the House of Commons contained some one hundred and sixty members who seemed to have good reason for confidence. The absence of “distress” issues from the politics of 1853 is a significant mark of the relative “prosperity” of the times. There was no widespread popular misery for the “advanced” bourgeoisie to exploit, and the “Liberal” Ministers were relatively free to choose their own line between Tory intransigence on the one hand and “Radical impatience” on the other. Outside “high politics” the year 1853 was distinguished by a mighty “wages movement.” Industry and commerce were extremely flourishing thanks to the steady influx of Californian and Australian gold; ambitious working men were still emigrating in such numbers that timid folk began to worry over the consequences; and wage advances were secured the more easily in many trades because of the admitted “scarcity of hands.”.
