Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq Volume III Part 10

The next day the London papers were crammed full of the most wonderful accounts of this most wonderful plot and insurrection; attributing the whole of it to ME, and to the Spaflelds meeting. The London press had raised such an outcry as never was heard of before; and if ten thousand of the inhabitants of the city had been ma.s.sacred, there could not have been greater consternation produced throughout the whole country; which consternation was sedulously kept up by the most abominable falsehoods promulgated by almost the whole of the country provincial newspapers. As a faithful account of the whole transaction was published at the time by Mr. Cobbett, in his Register of the 13th of December, in a letter which he addressed to me on the subject, and as it contains matter worthy to be recorded in my Memoirs, I shall insert it verbatim.

"_A Letter to Henry Hunt, Esq. of Middleton Cottage, near Andover, on the London Plots._

"London, 13th Dec. 1816.

"Sir--The summer before last, when you came over to Botley and found me transplanting Swedish turnips amidst dust, and under a sun which scorched the leaves till they resembled fried parsley, you remember how I was fretting and stewing; how many times in an hour I was looking out for a south-western cloud; how I watched the mercury in the gla.s.s, and rapped the gla.s.s with my knuckles to try to move it in my favour. But great as my anxiety then was, and ludicrous as were my movements, ten thousand times greater has been that of Corruption's Press for the coming of a PLOT, and ten thousand times more ludicrous its movements in order to hasten the accomplish ment of its wishes! You remember how my wife laughed at me, when, in the evening, some boys having thrown a handful or two of sand over the wall, that made a sort of dropping on the leaves of the laurels, I took it for the beginning of a _shower_, and pulled off my hat and held up my hand to see whether more was not coming, though there was nothing to be seen in the sky but the stars s.h.i.+ning as bright as silver. Just such has been the conduct of Corruption's sons upon hearing of the _discovery_ of Mr. Watson's and Mr. Preston's _papers_.' They sigh for a PLOT. Oh, how they sigh! They are working and slaving and fretting and stewing; they are sweating all over; they are absolutely pining and dying for a Plot!

"In these their wishes it is hard to say which character is most prominent, the _fool_ or the _knave;_ for, if by any means, they were to make out the real existence of a Plot for the destruction of the Government, would such proof tend to the _credit_ of that Government in the eyes of the world at large, or in those of the people of this kingdom? Would it tend to make the world believe that the Government is good, and is beloved by the people? Would it tend to lessen the ma.s.s of misery that is now in existence? Would it tend to enable the Landlords and Farmers to pay the interest of the Debt? And, if it would have no such tendency, what good could arise to the Government from the producing of even undeniable proof of the existence of a Plot of any sort, however extensive?

"But, as clearly appears from all their publications, the main hope of Corruption's sons has been to trace a Plot to YOU! In order to effect this, they have stuck at no thing that villainy could suggest. They have a.s.serted _as admitted facts_ hundreds of falsehoods. As a specimen of these, the _Times, Sun, Courier_, and others have stated '_on authority_,' that you and I were in _close consultation_, on the Sunday before the riots, _with Lord Cochrane, in the King's Bench Prison_. You know that you were at _Wanstead, in Ess.e.x_, all that day; and I know that I was at _Peckham, in Surrey_, never having seen you on that day, and not until the succeeding Tuesday. The wretched man who conducts the Sun newspaper a.s.serted, that I came up for the express purpose of organizing the Plot; and that, having prepared every thing, I _set of to Botley_ the night before it broke out.--_Here_ I have been in London, however, without having stirred out of it one minute from that time to this. I could mention a hundred other falsehoods which the sons of Corruption have sent forth with equal boldness, with equal impudence, and with equal baseness. But, the _Times_ newspaper, always preeminent in infamy, a.s.serted, that '_Young Cobbett_' was one of the persons who _spent the evening_ with you after your return from the Spa-fields Meeting on the Monday. The object of this falsehood was to alarm his _mother_ and _sisters_ for his safety, seeing that that statement was accompanied with other falsehoods calculated to excite a fear that all who were with you that evening would be _implicated in some state crime!_ It is for the Courier, the Sun, the Post, and some others to be guilty of premeditated falsehoods, but it is only, I believe, for Walter, the Proprietor of the Times, and the instigator to the killing of the brave Marshal Ney, to be guilty of such baseness as _this_.

"However, even these falsehoods will tend to good. There are yet many very worthy people, who have believed in the statement of these sons of Corruption; who, judging too much from their own hearts and minds, have not been able to work themselves into a belief, that other men could be so totally void of all sense of moral feeling as coolly to put upon paper, in the most serious and solid manner, and to send forth as acknowledged truths, that which they know to be utterly false. To such worthy persons it seems to be a libel on human nature to suppose, that such black-hearted villainy can be in existence. They cannot conceive how a man can dare walk the streets, or how he can look even his acquaintances or his own family in the face, after being guilty of such shameful conduct. They now see, however, that this really is the case; and, though there are some who will still, from corrupt motives, _affect_ to believe in the statements of these corrupt men, there will, I hope, be found a great many to say, that they have been deceived, and that they will be deceived no longer.

"The unfortunate men, whom want and ruin have driven to deeds of desperation, are not, with all their temptations, more desperate in their way than are the sons of Corruption in theirs, without any temptation at all. The numerous and ponderous facts, the clear and forcible arguments, by which they have been a.s.sailed, leave them no means of _defence_.--They have been driven to the wall, beaten, subdued.

They dare not show themselves, in the field of dispute. They, therefore, resort to false accusations; and, unable to find any thing upon which to put a false construction, they have, at last, thrown aside all attempts to discover the means of misrepresentation, and have had recourse to open, unblus.h.i.+ng, to sheer _invented falsehoods_. That love of _fair play_, for which all orders of Englishmen in all ages have been so famed, finds no place in the bosoms of these degenerate men.--They enter the ring with seeming bravery, but being, round after round, knocked down and crippled, they use, like a Dutchman, their remaining strength to draw out a _snigarsnee_ to run into our bowels. Let us, however, by a steady and cool perseverance in the cause of our country's freedom and happiness, endeavour to break the arm that wields this hateful instrument of malignity and cowardice.

"You, conscious of your honourable motives, and listening only to your courage, have always been deaf to the intreaties of those who cautioned you against the danger of spies and false-witnesses. But, do you think that the wretches who could be base enough to publish falsehoods such as I have enumerated above: who could coolly represent you as having been sent first to gaol and then to Bedlam; and who, in order to deter me from my duty, could exhibit my son as being in danger of his life, and thereby cause alarm in his mother and sisters: do you think that men so lost to all sense of shame, and so devoted to every thing that is corrupt; do you think they would hesitate one moment to bribe villains to swear falsely against you or against me or against any man, whom they thought it their interest to destroy? Nay, do you think that they would hesitate one single half moment to be guilty, for such a purpose, of the blackest perjury themselves? Be you a.s.sured, that there is nothing of which such men are not capable; intimidation, promises, bribes, perjury, any thing such men are capable of recommending to others, or of doing themselves. Your country life, your sober habits, your dislike of feastings and carousings; these are great securities; but, while you follow the impulses of your public-spirit and your valour, I hope you will always bear in mind, that there are such things as _false-swearing_ in the world, and that a defeated coward has never been known to be otherwise than inexorably cruel. The proprietor of the Morning Post, in his paper of last Monday, says, that Cobbett and Hunt ought at least to lose their lives; and the author of the Antigallican has, I am told, put the drawing of a gallows in his Paper, with a _rope_ ready for use, having _my name_ on it, or very near it.--And, you may be well a.s.sured, that, if the _false oaths_ of these men could do the job, those oaths would be very much at our service. Therefore, though I am quite sure, that these menaces will not deter you from doing any thing, which you would have done if the menaces had never been made; yet, as being proofs of the shameless, the remorseless, the desperate villainy of these tools, their present conduct ought to impress on your mind the necessity of being on your guard, so far, at least, as not _unnecessarily_ to expose yourself to the consequences of _false-swearing_. These men and their a.s.sociates call the younger Mr. Watson (whom they, without proof, charge with shooting Mr. Platt) an _a.s.sa.s.sin_, though they themselves state, that the shot arose from the seizure of Watson by Platt, and that the former, like a wild enthusiast as he appears to have been, expressed his sorrow on the instant, and actually went to work to save the life of the wounded man. n.o.body justifies, or attempts to justify, the shooter; but, if he were an _a.s.sa.s.sin_, what are these men who, while they keep their _names hidden_, are endeavouring to produce persecution and ruin and death in every direction? The man who shot Mr. Platt, though highly criminal, is not a thousandth part so criminal as these men, who to premeditated b.l.o.o.d.y-mindedness add a degree of cowardice such as was never before heard of.

"Let me now, before I proceed to other topics, hastily trace the _progress of the developement of the Plot_, as given to us through the channel of these same Papers. When Mr. Watson the elder was taken, the sons of Corruption promised the public a series of grand discoveries.

His answers to the questions put to him, appear, however, to have been perfectly open and frank. All that was really found out from him was, that he was a surgeon who had lived in great esteem, and had a family who had been rendered so miserable by want, that 'a lovely daughter of his had died for the want of the things, such as wine, &c. necessary to her recovery.' His story, of the truth of which there appears to be no doubt, would have softened any hearts but those of the sons of Corruption, who, instead of expressing compa.s.sion for his calamities, are as loudly vociferating for his blood, as they did for the blood of Marshal Ney. They tell us, that he attributed all the sufferings of himself and others 'to the _Oligarchy_;' but, not a word does he seem to have said, that can justify these detestable writers in imputing to him any share in any Plot or in any Riot.

"The lodgings of himself and his son have been searched, and all their papers seized, amongst the rest, we are told, _a Letter from you_ to the younger Watson. Oh! what _a prize!_ How the eye must have glistened upon the sight of your name at the bottom of a letter to the 'Chief Conspirator,' as they call him! With what eager haste were the contents run over! With what trembling, what slavering expectation must those contents have been perused! Alas! how the head must have turned slowly away and the Letter have fallen gently upon the table, when those contents became intelligible to the fluttering senses, now returned to a state of coolness!

"Corruption's darlings confess, that there was nothing in '_this_'

letter that showed you to have bad any criminal hand in '_the conspiracy_.' How came these newspaper writers to _know_ the contents of your letter? _Who_ was it that _authorized them_ to publish this account of your letter? Either they know its contents, or they do not: if the latter, they have published what they do not know to be true; if the former, why do they not publish the _whole_ of those contents? The reason is this: the contents of your letter would convince every man who should see them, that you were not only ignorant of any Plot or Conspiracy; but that, if your correspondent _really had_ any such views (which I do not believe) your letter was calculated to _check_ any hope that he might have entertained of having your co-operation. This is what, I venture to say, the contents of your letter would have proved to the satisfaction of every well-wisher to the peace and happiness of the country; and _because_ they would have proved _this,_ these base writers have carefully kept them out of their columns!

"But, Mr. Preston, they tell us, boldly _avows_ the intended '_insurrection_,' and _confesses_ all that can be wished, except, indeed, the main thing, which is, that _you_ had a hand in the said '_insurrection_.' However, this is _all a falsehood;_ and, if the _proof_ of its falsehood be not made clearly appear before this day month, I will be content to pa.s.s for an ideot for the rest of my life.

The account of Mr. Preston's '_confessions_,' as the sons of Corruption call them, you shall have in their own words. The Lord Mayor, it seems, went to Mr. Preston's home, and having examined him and his papers, found no grounds for detaining him; but, since that he has been, it appears, taken up and kept in custody, and the following is the account which Corruption's Press gives of his examination: "'The next person of importance who has been apprehended is Thomas Preston, who is called the Secretary to the Spa-fields Committee. This poor wretch lives with his two daughters in a small room in Greystoke-place, Fetter-lane. He has undergone two or three examinations, in all which be has been as communicative as the most zealous could have wished.--The substance of all he related is accurately thus--that a plan of _insurrection_ was formed--that it was as _general_ as it was _good_, but that precipitancy had injured its progress, though it had not defeated its object. The plan, he a.s.serted, must still be carried into effect--it was too powerful to be resisted when properly undertaken; and the only resource left to the Government, in order to its being averted, was, by the Prince Regent answering the pet.i.tion of the people, and the immediate adoption of Parliamentary Reform. 'The soldiers,' he added, 'were not firm;' their friends were starving, but _they_ having a provision, forgot their pledge and duty. He acknowledged his connection to the fullest extent with the Spa-fields Meetings, to which he was joint Secretary. He knew the two Watsons, and had frequently acted with them upon the Committees, and various other occasions. He denied having taken the slightest part in the riotous proceedings of Monday, and _deprecated in the strongest manner the horrid system of taking away the life of a fellow-creature_. He frequently repeated, that the plan was _const.i.tutional_, and delivered the whole of his account in the most undisguised and enthusiastic manner.' In another examination he is stated to have said, that 'the PLOT had been going on for EIGHT YEARS, and that he himself HAD WRITTEN TO THE LATE MR. PERCEVAL ON THE SUBJECT, urging him to ADOPT it, as the only means of SAVING THE NATION!'

"Now, when your laughing fit is over, let me ask you, whether you ever heard of a _Plot_ and _Insurrection_ like this before? What! an eight years' Plot! a _good_ Insurrection! Dennis, in his criticism upon Addison's silly play of _Cato_, ridicules the idea of the conspirators against Cato's life picking out _Cato's own hall_ for the scene of their consultations; but these modern Plotters beat Syphax and his a.s.sociates hollow; for they, in order to further their view of destroying the government, communicate their Plot to the Prime Minister himself!

"What must the people _in the country_ think of all this? What a ma.s.s of absurdities and contradictions! What madness it all appears to be!

_Good_ insurrections; _const.i.tutional_ attacks on the government!

_Plots_ which the prime Minister has been urged to adopt in order to save the nation! What _can_ the people at large make out of such a strange medley? The sons of Corruption it is who have made the medley.

They wanted a _Plot_. The mad riots in the city afforded them a pretext, and they have put the words PLOT and INSURRECTION _into Mr. Preston's mouth_ in order to favour their views. Now, let us see how a plain tale will put them down and expose their malice to the world.

"About sixteen years ago, a Mr. SPENCE, a schoolmaster in Yorks.h.i.+re, conceived what he called a PLAN for making the nation happy, by taking all the lands into the hands of a just government, and appropriating all the produce or profit to the support of the people, so that there would be no one in want, and all would live in a sort of _Christian Brotherhood_. This plan, accompanied with some political remarks, he published in 1800, for which he was pursued by a Criminal Information Ex-Officio, by the present Chief Justice, who was then Attorney-General.

When brought up for trial I was present in the Court of King's Bench. He had no counsel, but defended himself, and insisted that his views were _pure_ and _benevolent_, in proof of which, in spite of all exhortations to the contrary, he read his pamphlet through. He was found _guilty_ and sentenced to be imprisoned for I forget how long. He was a plain, unaffected, inoffensive looking creature. He did not seem at all afraid of any punishment, and appeared much more anxious about the success of his _plan_ than about the preservation of his life. After he came out of prison, he pursued the inculcation of his _plan_, appearing to have no other care; and this he did, I am a.s.sured, to the day of his death, always having been a most virtuous and inoffensive man, and always very much beloved by those who knew him.

"We have all seen, for years past, _written on the walls_, in and near London, these words, "SPENCE'S PLAN:" and I never knew what it meant, until, a little while ago, I received a pamphlet from Mr. Evans, Newcastle-street, Strand, detailing the _Plan_ very fully. This Mr.

Evans, I understand to be a very worthy man, and his pamphlet, though I do not agree with it in opinion as to many of its propositions, contains some interesting observations, and breathes a spirit of benevolence throughout the whole.

"Mr. Preston and the Watsons appear to have been followers of Mr.

Spence; and the '_plan_' of which Mr. Preston is said to have '_confessed_' the existence, is, as you will see, '_Spence's Plan_,' and nothing more; and nothing more, no, not a hair more, will Corruption's sons, with all their torturing and twisting, with all their falsehoods and affected alarms, be able to make of it! Thus, you will clearly perceive, that the 'confessions,' as they are called, of your correspondent, Mr. Preston, are no confessions at all. You will clearly see, that Corruption's Press has foisted in the words _insurrection_ and _plot_; for, unless you see this, what sense is there in the words _good_ and _const.i.tutional?_ What absurdity to believe, that a man, and a _guilty_ man, too, would talk about a _good_ insurrection and about a plot that was _const.i.tutional_, and which plot had been going on for _eight years_, and had been _communicated to Mr. Perceval_ as the only means of saving the nation! But, strip these lying accounts of the words _insurrection_ and _plot_, and leave the word _plan_, and then the whole, however wild in itself, becomes perfectly consistent; and such, you may depend on it, and no other, has been the 'confession' of Mr.

Preston.

"The Courier of Monday last, in pursuance of its endeavours to keep the scent of a _plot_ from cooling, has these remarks: 'Whether the _plan_ of the _rioters_ was to commence in the morning or at night, is not ascertained; but from the declaration of Preston, who charges young Watson with _precipitancy_, it appears _that the operations were not to commence till dark_. Preston still maintains a high and indignant tone; he talks more _enthusiastically_ than before of the _extent of the plot_, and adds, that not less than three hundred thousand persons _were enrolled in the cause_. Hooper, who states Preston to be the instigator and great mechanist of the _conspiracy_, has declared that the two Watsons, himself, and Preston, were in concert together in Spa-fields on the morning of Monday.'--Now, I dare say, that it will finally turn out, that Hooper has said no such thing as is here stated. But here again you see, that the words _plot_ and _conspiracy_ are used instead of the word _plan_, and this is manifestly for the base and diabolical purpose of causing the people to believe, that there has been a _conspiracy_ against the government, and that _all the Reformers_ are enrolled in this conspiracy! But be you well a.s.sured, that these eager efforts to excite alarm will fail of their purpose, and that the workers in them and their abettors will come out of the attempt covered with infamy, though nothing can produce in them any feeling of shame.

"In the meanwhile the Spenceonians are posting up, all about, the prospectus of this plan, and as if for the express purpose of preparing the way for their own everlasting disgrace, the owners of the Corrupt Press are publis.h.i.+ng this very doc.u.ment, which I insert here as taken from the Courier of Monday.

"'The following hand-bill, it is stated, was circulated through the Metropolis yesterday, and _excited much apprehension:_--

'SPENCE'S PLAN For Parochial Partners.h.i.+ps in the Land, Is the only effectual Remedy for the Distresses and Oppressions of the People.

The Landholders are not Proprietors in Chief; they are but the _Stewards_ of the Public; For the LAND is the PEOPLE'S FARM.

The Expenses of the Government do not cause the Misery that surrounds us, but the enormous exactions of these '_Unjust Stewards._'

Landed Monopoly is indeed equally contrary to the benign Spirit of Christianity, and destructive of The Independence and Morality of all Mankind.

'The Profit of the Earth is for all;'

Yet how deplorably dest.i.tute are the great Ma.s.s of the People?

Nor is it possible for their situations to be radically amended, but by the establishment of a system, Founded on the immutable basis of Nature and Justice.

Experience demonstrates its necessity; and the rights of mankind require it for their preservation.

To obtain this important object, by extending the knowledge of the above system, the Society of Spencean Philanthropists has been inst.i.tuted. Further information of its principles may be obtained by attending any of its Sectional Meetings, where subjects are discussed calculated to enlighten the human understanding, and where also the regulations of the Society may be procured, containing a complete developement of the Spencean system.--Every individual is admitted, free of expense, who will conduct himself with decorum.

The Meetings of this Society begin at a quarter past eight in the evening, as under:

First Section, every Wednesday, at the c.o.c.k, Grafton-street, Soho.

Second ............ Thursday, Mulberry Tree, Mulberry-court, Wilson-street,Moorfields.

Third ............. Monday, Nag's Head, Carnaby-market.

Fourth ............ Tuesday, No. 8, Lumber-street, Mint, Borough.'

"_This_ is the _Plan_! This is the plan, the plot, the conspiracy, and the insurrection scheme! And, what an impudent, what an incorrigible, what a hardened impostor, must this writer be, who can tell the public, that this hand-bill _excited much apprehension_! Apprehension, I believe, indeed, _in him_ and his a.s.sociates and encouragers; for it furnishes the clue to unravel all their falsehoods and to expose them to scorn and to detestation; but, it is calculated to excite _'apprehension'_ in n.o.body else. The public indignation is fast collecting and winding up to a high pitch; and it only waits the result of the present examinations to pour down upon the heads of these corrupt instigators to fury and bloodshed. A gang of spies and informers, in one of Beaumont and Fletcher's plays, who, after long and wearisome contrivances to discover a plot and to get the reward, just at the moment when they are expecting to see their victim swing and to pocket the blood-money, are sent away abashed and confounded by the discovery that it was a _Cod's Head_ and not that of the _Sovereign_, against which he had been _plotting_. Not less complete would be the confusion of these corrupt writers, if it were not that they are dest.i.tute of every feeling that can lead to shame or remorse.

"Monstrous, however, as are the baseness and malice and cruelty of these men, they are, I think, still exceeded by their folly. The main object of all their endeavours, is, very clearly, to render you odious and to put you down; and, if they had been created for the express purpose of exalting you, it would have been impossible for them to labour to that end with more zeal or more effect. Your manner of conducting the second meeting, the way in which you carried on your communications with the government, the punctuality and decorum of your proceedings, the language and matter of your Resolutions and Pet.i.tion, and the _effect_ of these, very justly ent.i.tled you to a large share of public applause; but, the blows which these ferocious writers have aimed at your _life_ have excited an interest in your favour such as no human being could have thought possible, and in the tide of which are completely drowned all your momentary errors and indiscretions, which, besides, having arisen from an excess of zeal, were not calculated to be long held in remembrance. Some very good, but very weak and timid people talked of your _violence_, while they seemed to overlook the _violent_ thing which you attacked; but in the minds of all good men there is an inherent abhorrence of baseness like that which has aimed its murderous sting against your life, and, in the present case, this abhorrence has overpowered all the alarms of the good and timid people in whose b.r.e.a.s.t.s what is called your violence had excited such alarms. "The vipers have the mortification to perceive this, and their rage is increased accordingly. They see your _portrait_, from three different hands, setting them at defiance in the print-shop windows. They hear your _speech_ and _resolutions_ cried through the streets, and sold out of shops in several separate editions. They hear the taverns and public-houses filled with talk about you. They have contrived by their endeavours to implicate you in a '_treasonable conspiracy_,' to excite a strong feeling of some sort or other respecting you in every human breast. And this is _their_ way of _putting a man down!_ They have, even by the use of their own columns, made your _name familiar_ to the very water's edge of these islands. They have made you _the only one of your kind;_ there is now but one Mr. Hunt in the world. Your ambition must be a cormorant indeed, if this does not satisfy it. No longer ago than Monday, they very seriously announced, that 'Hunt was SEEN, _in his Tandem,_ going towards his home on _Thursday last_!' They seem to think that the public is much more interested in your movements than in those of the Prince Regent or of the Queen. I should not wonder if they were to have a '_Court News Writer_' to give an account of all the movements of your body; and, after what I have seen within these ten days, I do not despair of seeing them announce, that 'on Monday, Mr. Hunt took the diversion of shooting till three o'clock. On Tuesday, Mr. Hunt went to inspect his barns, and was graciously pleased to express his high approbation of the ingenious mode of laying the crab-stick on upon the sheaves of wheat. On Wednesday, Mr. Hunt gave audience to several tax-gatherers, to whose importunities he did not listen with an overstock of complacency.' And so on, day after day. Why should I despair of this, after what I have seen? Your _Tandem_ is become far more renowned than the _Bulletproof coach_, and your horse _Bob_, is far more famous already than the charger of old Blucher.

"Oh! the fools! Could not the settled reputation of being the most consummate of _knaves_ content them? Was it necessary, in order to satisfy their ambition, to stand unrivalled through the world for folly as well as for knavery?

"Gratified, however, as you must be by these demonstrations of the impotent malice of such men, I hope, and indeed, I am sure, that a more gratifying consideration with you will be, as it ought to be, that these vile men have added to your power of serving your country, and which you will now be the better able to serve, because, having given such ample proofs of earnestness and resolution, you may safely _moderate your zeal_ without risking any imputation of a want of that super-excellent quality. That quality, in which so many men are deficient, you possess to a redundance. Guard against this excess in future: take in a little sail, and add a little to your ballast: exchange a little of the courage of the lion for a little of the wisdom of the serpent: give up a little, and only a very little, of the stubbornness of the oak, for a little, and only a very little, of the pliancy of the reed: do this, and trust to the folly and knavery of these stupid and malignant wretches to make you a _great man_.

"The situation of the country is becoming day after day more and more perilous, and there can be no relief without a radical cure. The Prince in his answer to the City of London (which I shall fully notice by and by) confesses, as he well may, the existence of national _distress_ and _difficulty_. These are important words, and especially the last. This is a great change produced since the beginning of last session of Parliament, when the wondrous _prosperity_ of the country was a prominent theme of the Speech, and when your Wilts.h.i.+re County Member, Mr. Paul Methuen, congratulated the House, that this country bad become the pillar of legitimacy all over Europe! Alas! how soon things have changed! Misery is a greater teacher than Messrs. Lancaster and Bell both put together.

"The Spitalfields subscription swells at a great rate, and, as a means of _immediate_ relief, I am glad it does, though I shall always contend, that whatever degree of _good_ may thereby be done, is due to _you_ more than to any other person, and more than to all other persons put together; for, it is impossible that the misery should not have _existed before_ the first Meeting in Spa-fields; and why, then, was it not _before_ relieved? Mr. Buxton must have long _known_ the facts which he so eloquently and so affectingly described; and why did he not then describe them _sooner_? The miserable sailors have long been peris.h.i.+ng about the streets with hunger and cold; and why, then, has no measure of relief for them been adopted until _now_? I do not pretend to say, nor do I believe, that the greater part of those who now so freely subscribe, did not before feel for the unhappy sufferers; but, this I am quite sure of, that it was your first meeting and your pet.i.tion which roused their feelings into immediate action; I do not say, nor do I believe, that the greater part of the subscribers had no real charity in them; but I defy any one to say, that their charity, which before lay dormant, was not quickened by your exertions. One of your flags, or rather of the flags of the Meeting, which had on it 'FEED THE HUNGRY,'

'CLOTHE THE NAKED,' was called by the _Courier_ 'a standard of _rebellion_;' but, it is a standard under which the subscribers have hastened to range themselves; for they are serving out _soup_ and _old clothes_ in all directions! But, this very _Courier_, after the first Meeting, expressly stated, that the people in and near London, _were not in want_. He said, that, though work had fallen off and wages had been lowered _in the country_, it was _not so_ in London; and he called the poor starving mult.i.tudes _mutinous, lazy_, and _rebellious_. He charged them with designs to _overset the Government_, and plainly and distinctly a.s.serted, that they _stood in no need of relief!_ How quickly he changed his tone! And how clear is that change to be traced to _you!_

"But, in the general subscription for the poor creatures of Spital-fields, you see only a small part of the effects of your labours.

There have been meetings in almost all the parishes of the metropolis for similar purposes. Large subscriptions are going on in every direction. Just as if the poverty and misery were not as great a month ago as they are now! Great indeed they are, and they are producing symptoms so horrible that one sickens but to think of them. Amongst others, take the facts described in a _placard_ now sticking against the walls. 'PUBLIC NOTICE.--United Parishes of Saint Andrew, Holborn, above Bar, and St. George the Martyr, Queen's Square. At a meeting of the overseers held this day in consequence of MANY PERSONS DESERTING THEIR FAMILIES,--It was _resolved_, That, in future, all persons, who desert their families, whereby they become chargeable to these parishes, or when the reputed parents of an illegitimate child abscond, _such persons shall be advertised in the public papers_, or in _posting bills_, with a full description of their persons, residence, and calling, and other particulars, and a reward offered for their apprehension. And all inhabitants harbouring persons for the night, for the like purpose, will be _prosecuted_ accordingly.'

"To what are we come at last! And this is the age of our _glory_, is it?

This is the situation we are in, when immense sums are voted for the erection of monuments to commemorate the deeds of the last 25 years!

This is the state which not to be _proud_ of, Mr. Vansittart said was proof of baseness in an Englishman! It is in this situation of the country, that Pitt Clubs have the insolence to hold their triumphal carousals!--Shall we _never_ see these men in sackcloth? These insolent men, while wallowing in wealth, do not reflect on the pangs which must wring the poor man's heart before he can so far subdue the feelings of the husband and the father as to make him "_desert his family_;" or, if they do reflect on them, they must be more cruel than the storms and the waves. The labouring men in England, generally speaking, are the kindest and most indulgent of husbands and of parents. It has often been observed by me, that they are generally so to a fault. If a boy or girl belonging to them behave ill towards their employers, their father and mother are very hard to be convinced of the fact.--I have often to remonstrate with them upon this subject, and to remind them of how much more indulgent they are to their children than I am to mine. 'Aye, Sir,'

said a very good woman to me a little while ago, 'but your children have their belly full of victuals.' The answer was a _silencer_. And this is the true cause of their indulgence, and of their excessive affection too. They see their children in want; they grow up in continual suffering; they are incessantly objects of compa.s.sion over and above the love which nature has implanted in the parent's breast. Their obstinate perseverance in justifying the conduct of their children upon all occasions is a fault; but it arises from the most amiable of human weaknesses; and though it may, and often is, injurious in its effects, it is the least censurable of all the frailties of the heart.

"If I have here, as I am sure I have, given the true character of the English labourer, as a parent and a husband, what must that state of things be, which has rendered the _desertion of family_ so frequent an offence as to call forth a hand-bill and _placard_ such as that which I have quoted above? And, in a state of things like this, are men to be called _promoters of sedition_, because they endeavour to point out the real cause of this horrible evil, and also endeavour to point out the remedy? Aye, but in doing this we point at the same time, to the _weight of taxes_; and we cite Mr. Preston in support of our doctrine, who says, that every poor man, who earns _eighteen pounds_ in a year, pays away _ten pounds of it in taxes._ Mr. Preston's words are these:--'Every family, even of the poorest labourer, consisting of five persons, may be considered as paying, in _indirect taxes,_ at least _ten pounds a-year,_ or more than half his wages at seven s.h.i.+llings a week?' And, in another place he says: 'It should _always be remembered,_ that every _eighteen pounds_ a-year paid to any _placeman_ or _pensioner,_ withdraws from the public the means of giving active employment to one individual at the head of a family; _thus depriving five persons_ of the means of sustenance from the fruits of _honest industry_ and active labour, and rendering them paupers!

"What! is this _rebellious_ on the part of Mr. Preston? He is a lawyer of great eminence. A Member of Parliament. A man of great landed estate.

Could he write and publish this from _rebellious,_ from _treasonable_ motives? What he says is certainly true; and is he not to say it, because the saying it may be disagreeable to those who live upon the taxes thus collected? Is it not clear, that, if the money, which the labourer and journeyman now pay in taxes, were to be suffered to remain in their pockets, they would not stand in need of _parish_ or _subscription_ relief? And, if this be _not true,_ why does not some one of the numerous tax-eating tribe attempt to prove it to be false? Have not they their full share of the press at their command? Aye, and more than their share. The sons of corruption are spreading about answers to me at a penny each, and some of them are given away. There must be money, somewhere, found for this. The sums necessary to do it must be very large too. Are they not content with this superiority? I have no means of _giving papers away._ They say that my writing is trash; they call the _Letter to the Luddites_ seditious trash; they say that I am an ignorant fellow, a shallow man, and so forth. Why, then, are they in a pa.s.sion? Why not laugh at me and my trash? Why name me at all? Why break silence after so long a period? They are continually vowing that they will never notice my trash again; but their hatred, like the love of the swain, returns the next hour with more ardour than ever, and scatters their vows to the winds. The most furious amongst them is a _Sinecure Placeman,_ who writes in the _Times_ newspaper, and upon whom the droppings of my pen seem to have the same effect as the crumbling of blue-stone or lump-sugar on the proud flesh of a galled jade. He winces and dances, and kicks and flings about at a fine rate. Amidst his ravings he swears that he will cause me to be hanged; and if he should not succeed, he would, I am sure, if he had any decency, finish his career by tucking up himself, and that too in his ribbon of the order of St. Lewis.

"The truth is, that these men and their a.s.sistants and encouragers see their certain doom in _the enlightening of the people_. They see clearly enough, that conviction must follow facts and arguments like mine rendered familiar. They see that I am uniting the _mind_ with the _muscle_ of the country; and, above all things, they see, and they tremble at, my incessant, and I hope, successful efforts, to convince the labourers and the journeymen, that they are men who have _rights_, and that the way to obtain those rights is to pursue a _peaceable_ and orderly conduct. They hate every one who dwells upon the _miseries_ of the country; for, _to them_, it is confusion to acknowledge that misery exists. The _Courier_ a.s.serted, only the other day, that there was no suffering in or near London, and abused the people for complaining!

Such men would kill you or me or any man who talks of the people's sufferings. They call the complaints of hunger _sedition_. These writers are like the wretch, who, unable to force his poor worn-out and starved horse to drag his load along any further, took out his knife and cut his throat. And, I have not the least doubt, those men would see one half of the people's throats cut in order to reduce the rest to silent submission. The following case, taken from their own accounts of Wednesday last, will serve as a specimen of what is going on in London.

This is _dying quietly_, according to the recommendation of Mr. Jabet's _Old Townsman_, who gave such just offence to the people of Birmingham.