In April 1792, Charles Grey joined with a
group of Whigs who supported parliamentary reform to form the Friends
of the People. Three peers (Lord Porchester, Lord Lauderdale and Lord
Buchan) and twenty-eight Whig MPs joined the group. Other leading
members included Richard Sheridan, Major
John Cartwright, Lord John Russell,
George Tierney, Thomas
Erskine and Samuel Whitbread. The
main objective of the the society was to obtain "a more equal
representation of the people in Parliament" and "to secure
to the people a more frequent exercise of their right of electing
their representatives". Charles Fox was
opposed to the formation of this group as he feared it would lead
to a split in the Whig Party. However, by
November eighty-seven branches of the Society of Friends had been
established in Britain.
On 30th April 1792, Charles Grey introduced
a petition in favour of constitutional reform. He argued that the
reform of the parliamentary system would remove public complaints
and "restore the tranquillity of the nation". He also stressed
that the Friends of the People would not become involved in any activities
that would "promote public disturbances". Although Charles
Fox had refused to join the Friends of the People, in the debate
that followed, he supported Grey's proposals. When the vote was taken,
Grey's motion was defeated by 256 to 91 votes.
Some Whig MPs objected to Major John Cartwright
being a member of the Friends of the People. They particularly disapproved
of a speech Cartwright made where he praised Tom
Paine and his book Rights of Man.
On 4th June, Lord John Russell and four
other Whig MPs resigned from the group in protest against Cartwright's
continued membership.
Some Whigs also became concerned with the
growing militancy of those advocating parliamentary reform. In January
1792 Thomas Hardy, John
Thelwall, and John Horne Tooke had formed
the London Corresponding Society.
The following year several supporters of parliamentary reform were
arrested and tried for sedition. Several of the men, including Thomas
Muir, Joseph Gerrald and Maurice
Maragot, were sentenced to fourteen years transportation. Soon
afterwards, Thomas Hardy, John
Horne Tooke and John Thelwall of
the London Corresponding Society
were arrested and committed to the Tower of London and charged with
high treason. Although Hardy, Tooke and Thelwall were acquitted the
government continued to persecute supporters of parliamentary reform.
On 6th May 1793, Charles Grey once again
introduced a parliamentary reform bill. Grey argued that one of the
basic principles established by the Glorious Revolution of 1688 was
the freedom of elections to the House of Commons. Grey added that
"a man ought not to be governed by laws, in the framing of which
he had not a voice, either in person or by his representative, and
that he ought not to be made to pay any tax to which he should not
have consented in the same way." Grey also attacked William
Pitt, the Prime Minister, for the way that he exploited the present
system. Grey pointed out that Pitt had created 30 new peers who nominated
or indirectly influenced the return of a total of 40 MPs.
Charles Fox and Richard
Sheridan supported Grey in the debate that followed. Robert
Jenkinson and Lord Mornington, spoke against. So also did William
Pitt who argued that any reform at this time would give encouragement
to the Radicals in Britain who were supporting
the French Revolution. When the vote was taken, Grey's proposals were
defeated by 282 to 41. Members of the Friends of the People now realised
they had no chance of persuading the House of Commons to accept parliamentary
reform and the group disbanded.
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