The Whig interpretations of the English Constitution based on the doctrine of executive responsibility to Parliament, as established by the Revolution of 1688 and Locke's vindication of that event, were crystallised and defined by eighteenth-century political practice, eulogised and expounded by Montesquieu and Blackstone, and asserted and elaborated by Junius and Burke. But they were subjected to criticism at least two decades before the Revolution in France stimulated political speculation and inspired demands for reform. Long before the outburst of reforming enthusiasm expressed in the activities of the Revolution Society, the London Corresponding Society and the Society of Friends of the People, which was kindled by the opening episodes of the French Revolution, there was in England a well-established movement for parliamentary reform.