e law of the land that no man could
take his seat in that House until he had subscribed an oath which it
was perfectly impossible for any Roman Catholic to accept, an oath
disavowing and denouncing the very opinions which are an essential part
of the Roman Catholic's faith. O'Connell, therefore, could not be
prevented from becoming a candidate for the representation of Clare,
and when the contest came on it ended in his being triumphantly
returned by an overwhelming majority. O'Connell presented himself at
the table of the House of Commons, and was called upon to subscribe the
usual oath, which, of course, he absolutely refused to do. He was then
ordered to withdraw, and he did withdraw, and the seat was declared
vacant. O'Connell returned to Clare, again offered himself as
candidate, and was again elected by a triumphant majority. Then,
indeed, men like Lord Eldon must have begun to think that the old world
was really coming to an end. King George and the Government found
themselves face to face with a crisis to which there had been no
parallel in the memory of living statesmen.

The progress of events was, meanwhile, making a deep impression on the
receptive mind of Sir Robert Peel, now Home Secretary, and by far the
most rising and powerful member of the Administration. Huskisson, it
should be said, had by this time ceased to belong to the Duke of
Wellington's Government. There had been some misunderstanding between
him and the Duke, arising out of a speech made by Huskisson in
Liverpool, which was understood to contain a declaration that Huskisson
had only accepted office on the express understanding that the policy
of the Duke's Government was to be the policy of Canning. The Duke
took exception to this, and declared that he had entered into no
understanding as to his general {72} policy, but that what Huskisson
probably had said was that he had accepted the composition of the
Government as a guarantee in itself that a sound national policy was to
be carried out.

[Sidenote: 1828--Demand for Catholic emancipation]

Huskisson accepted the explanation, and explained that this was what he
really had said, and no doubt this was really the purpose of that
passage in his speech; but the incident led to some friction between
the two men, and was the beginning of other misunderstandings. Some
difference of opinion afterwards arose on minor questions of policy,
and Huskisson sent to the Duke a somewhat hasty le