The Petition had long since ceased to be the focus of Chartist thoughts and hopes. Very few delegates continued to express the opinion that it might be seriously considered by the Commons, and even they cherished the hope against their better knowledge. The Convention devoted itself to the consideration of "ulterior measures." Soon after the Petition was handed over to Attwood, the Convention quitted London for Birmingham after a session of three months. With the arrival in Birmingham a new phase of the movement began, in which the evils of dissension, recklessness, and lack of proper leadership worked themselves out to a dismal and ignominious end.
It must be confessed that the Convention had not accomplished great things. Considering the exertions made, the Petition had not been very extensively signed. Though 1,200,000 looks a respectable figure enough, yet it compares unfavourably with the later Petition of 1842.[1] Through the missionaries the Convention had accomplished something. In fact, this was the most hopeful and successful side of its work, but it was not developed enough. The truth is that the leadership of the movement was never thoroughly in the hands of the Convention. The latter was being driven by the excitement and impatience of its followers. The longer it delayed, the greater grew the pressure from behind, until the Convention was wrecked by forces which it could no longer control.
- ↑ Richard Carlile in a pamphlet preserved in Home Office Papers (40-43), p. 8, says that the Petition of 1839 compared very badly with that of 1817.
