The Passing to the Great Reform Bill

London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1914. First edition. Good +. The Constitution as we know it wears, to all intents and purposes, the shape it assumed in 1832. To parody a famous phrase, that year is now the limit of constitutional memory. The passing of the Great Reform Bill takes us suddeny into another air; we leave the remote world of the 18th century, peopled by the heroic ghosts of Pitt and Fox and Canning, for the era of Peel and Palmerston, of corn-laws and the Crimea. The old aristocratic system begins to crumble and the feet of the nation are set in the path that leads to democracy. The story of the Reform Bill has never been fully told. This book was mainly written in the summer of 1912 as a dissertation for a Trinity fellowship. It is more concerned throughout with negotiations behind the scenes, and with the working and effect of popular opinion, than with the course of events in Parliament. minor marks to cover, blue boards with writing to spine. some bumping.pages some foxing and the foredges a bit dirty. binding a little loose. owner inscribed in ink.heavy book so post and packing to be adjusted accordingly. AB70