«T^LIE«¥]MII¥IE]RSnr¥''

BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME
OF THE
PERKINS FUND
190i

MEMOIRS

HENRY HUNT.

Tnis wanton outrage was perpetrated in the
presence of those, who will, gerhaps, blush
when they read this. I do notlay that this was
done by the Magistrate ; but it was , dpne by
the gang that surrounded him, and f know
the villain who did it. The poor thing lay
senseless for some time; no one of the nume
i'ous spectators daring tq^o to her assistance.
Wheri she came to her senses, she was co-
vered from head tOffoot with blood, that had
flpAved from the wound, which was on the
scalp, and was four inehes in length. In this
state shg came running to me, and made her
way up to the front of the procession: — ^we
halted, horror-struck at her appearance. The
blood was streaming down her snowy bosom,
and her white gown was nearly covered vf ith
the crimson gore; her^cap and bonnet and
dothes had been torn to rags ; her fine black
VOL. III. *' B

MEMoms^bt

hair reached her waist ; and, in this state, she
indignantly recounted her wrongs. O God,wna^
I felt ! There were frora four to five thousand
brave Bristolians present, who heard this tale,
and with ong accord they burst forth in excla
mations of revenge ; every man of them was
worked up to such a pitch of excitement by the
cruelty of the atrocious act, that they would
have instantly sacrificed their tives, to have
e?iecuted summary justice upon the cowardly
authors of it. I own that I never was so near
compromising my public duty, by giving way
to my own feelings, as I was at this moment.
Burning with indignation, I half turned my
horse's head ; but, recovering my reason, I took
the fair sufferer by the hand, and led her for
ward, admonishing my friends not to be se
duced into the trap, that had been so inhu
manly set foi* tfaem. In this state we proceeded
through the streets of Bristol; the poor girl
streaming with blood. I took her to my inn,
sent for a surgeon, and had the wound dressed
and the scalp sewed up. She never failed to
attend the election every day afterwards, and
she displayed as genuine a specimen of female
heroism, as ever I met with in my life.
I could relate a hundred such instances of
the manly conduct of my loyal opponents during
the election, if I |hose; but, in spite of their

HENRY HUNT. . 3
baseness, we continued steadily and resolutely
to attend the poll, from nine till four, for
fifteen days; our enemies writhing with the
expense that was daily incurred, and groaning
under the lash of my daily exposures.
The above-named Mr. Goldney was, in his
private character, esteemed a very worthy
man ; but when he gave way to the baleful
system of factious politics, he became as great
a tool, and as blind a bigot to the over-ruling
power of intimidation, as any one of the exe
crable gang that composed the Members ofthe
White Lioft Club. " But list ! Olist ! " Amiable
«s Mr. Goldney is, he could not resist the temp
tation of coming to Ilchester, out ofhis own
County of Gloucester, forty miles, to have a
pe^ at the captive in his cage. I, however,
felt just as much superior to him, when I saw
him here, as I did when he was running about
with Burn's Justice in his hand, exclaiming,
*' Stop, and hear the Riot Act read ! " If he
meant to gratify himself, by having a peep at
him, whom the Courier calls a fallen leader qf
the rabble, he never was more disappointed in
his life ; f(»* he came just at the time that I had
substantiated before the Commissioners all my
charges against the Gaoler and the Magis-
strates. Every evening, after coming from the hu§t?^

•4 wWiiOtKS-M
ings, I weht to the public Exchange, ^d de
livered an oration tothe. assembled multitude,
who always came there at that time to hear an
account of the transactions qfthe day; for the
Guildhall was not capable of containing a ht-
tjethpart of the inhabitants who were mter
ested in the election. It will be recollected,
and let it never b© forgotten, that not only the
whole press of Bri^t;0l, but the whole press of
Eijgland was employed in trad tiding and.vilify-
ing me ; for I was daily exposir|g the two fac
tions who had united against me : in fact, that
has been always the case, .bol^ the factions
Jiave always united against every friend of the
j)eopIe, whether in or out.of Parliament. Mr.
Oldfield, in his History ofthe Boroughs^ gives
ttjiji jfeQrt acpount .Of this election : " Hfnry
J^tuiit„ Esq. of I^i^ddleton Cotta^, in ^amp-
shire, Oifered: hipiself as a. .c^ndid%|e|rQpon the
old constitutioHal" system,! of incurring no ex
penses, nor canvassing, votes. He was received
with every demonstration of populaf enthu
siasm, thpugh the newspapers were hired to
^traducehim, and every measure was resorted
to, that the ingenuity of his opponents could
devise, to injure him in the pubhc opinion."
^. This is % brief, buta true, history of the
case ; this election was, perhaps, one .;of the
|J|iost s^ere and expensive contests that the

Whit^Lion Club; or Tpry Faijtion, ever had
to encounter; and, for the pUrpPsie of shorten
ing it, .every art, trick, apd iftarioeuvre was re
ported' to, in the yain hppe pf drawing me off
from the main point, that pf beirig always pre
sent upon ^e hustings, and keeping open the
•ppu. They flattered themselves, tooj with the
idea, that .it would be physically imppssible
for me to hold out. I was, indeed, very ill,
for I had caught a cold, and labpured.under an
iBritatieai of.the Jungs„ which bprdejed closely
>cmiinflan)mation, and was aggravated by daily
speaking; The papers announced, that I wa^
-suffering under a very severe fit of ijlness, al-
J;hPhgh I rifsvei* quitted the hustings. This
peached my family at Rowfant, in Sussex, and
ithey began to,gr0^ jineasy upon the subject.
JFpFtviriateJy', thPy set pf tp j^^sipj the very day
,.befws*!Wi§"of the most diabolica^l acts of malice
iiiiy^ «$>(jTyaydice, that ever disgraced the charac
ter of a hum^ln fceifig, was put into executipn
,by my despicable opponents. One of thfs cow
ardly wretches wrote into Sussex,.!* letter tp
one of my family (it was to a feinale top!) in
rthe name of the Chairman of my Gcanmittee,
to say,; that Ihad fallen a sacrifice .to thefiiyy
of th^ snob, whose rage had been tiirned
against me by sorae circjumstance. The cai^tiff

6 MEMOIRS OF
described, in very pathetic language, the dis
tress of my friends, and requested instructions
for the funeral of the mangled corpse. 1 his
letter was written in the most plausible man-
ner; the hand-writing and name ofthe Chair
man of my Committee was forged, and every
thingwas admirably calculated to give the im
pression, that it was genuine truth. But, for-
tunsitely, this fiendish scheme failed of its pur
pose; for, as my family had left Rowfant be
fore the letter arrived, the letter was never
opened till we returned together after the elec
tion was over. '^
The day subsequent to the closing of the
election, Mr. Davis was to be chaired ; he hav
ing been returned by a very large majority,
only Two Hundred and Thirty-five freemen
having voted for me. I left Bristol on that day
for Bath, as I bf*no means wishedfto interrupt
the ceremony of chairing Mr. Davis, whp was
so very unpopular, that half the city were
sworn in as special constables on the occasion,
and all the avenues were barricadoed and
blockaded with three-inch deal planks, to pre
vent the populace from making any sudden
rush upraajthe procession. He was chaired
amidst thehisses, groans, and hootings of an
.immense majority of the population. I had

HENRY HUNT, 7
promised tp returri to dine with my friends
the day following. * **
The White Lion Club immediately printed
and posted up a l£fi-ge placard, containing the
names, trades, and places'"bf abode, ofall those
persons who voted for me. This was done to
injure them intheir business, by pointing them
out to the malice and the vengeance of my op
ponents. But I will now publish a list for a very
different purpose, tp hand their names dpwn
to posterity, as follows :
Bristol, Juiy 22, 1612.
A LIST OF THE PERSONS WHO VOTED FOR MR. HUNT AT ^
THE LATE ELECTION.
TTiosc marked fr. are Freeholders, and voted as such.
Attwood John, cabinet-maker. Castle Precincts.
Atkins George, tiler and plasterer, St. Mary, Redcliff.
Allen William, shipwrigh^^t. Mary Redcliff.
Anderson George, gentleffln, St. James (fr. St. James)-
Barnett S. A., carpenter, St. Philip and Jacob.
Baker Thomas^ji «0Bdwainer, St. Paul.
Baker John, cordwainer, St. Paul. j.
Baker Joseph, cordwainer, St. Paul.
Brown CharlSs, sailcloth-maker, St. Philip.
Burge Samuel, cooper, St. Paul.
Bartlett Robert, cordwainer, St. Philip.
Belcher Joseph, tailor. Castle Precmcts. .
Bright Newman, brickmaker, St. Philip (out).
Brown George, brightsmith, St. Philip.
Brewer Richard, ironfounder,, St. Philip,
Ballard John, tobacco-pipe-maker, St. Philip
Broad William, freestone mason, St. Philip (fr. St. Paul) .
Bansill John, brazier, St. James.,
Buffory Mark, tyler and plasterer, St. Augustine.
Brownjohn William, peruke-maker. Castle Precincts.
Bidden John, printer. Temple.
Bright William, cutler, St. Philip.
Bennett Elisha, labourer, St. Philip. *

MEMorns OF

Britton William, house-carpenter, St. Jobn.
Bush Petjar^ turner, Kingswood. '"^ ' ^-
Bright William, brig-htsmith, St. Paul. *'
Beale John, glasscutter, St. Mary Redcliflf.
Brookes Samuel, mason, Bitton, Gloucestershire.
Bowles Peter, cordwainer. Temple. ..
Blacker Henry, carpenter, St. Paul (fr. St. Paul. J
Bennett Francis, brazier. Temple.
BeCkelt Charles, cooper, St. Paul.
Bower William, tailor, 3,t.. James.
Clark W. N. carjp^nter, St. James (fr. St. James).
CardweU ThoMas, gentleman, St. Philip ffr. St. Michael;.
Codrington John, jpork<(utter, St. Mary Redclifr.
Cole Joseph, butcher, St, James.
Coles John, upholsterer, St. Pauj^
Cork 7ohn, %?ictualler, St. Augustine.
Cooi#bs John, brightsmith, St; PhiHp.
Coombs John, b§ker,JSt. James.
Crew Solomoil.coal-ininsr, Bitton, Gloucestershire.
Cunningham B. B., cordwainer, St. Mary Redcli'ff.
Cqddirigton Richard, corkcutter, Bath.
Clark J'§liii,To'ymaker, St^i*hilip. • • ¦
Dolman Charlesi brightsi^th, Christ Church.
DuffettJdk&Vbrushmaket, St. Philip. -- ',
Da.niel Samuelj barber-surgeony .'St. Philipj ,i. . , t ,
Dufl^ Jonathan, labourer, St.'Paul.
Davis James, miller, St. Gedrge. ; A
Daniel Thomas, painter, St. James. ;.,,*,-„» .
Davis David, mason, St. Paul (fr. St. Paul). .;
Davis William, victualler. Castle' Precincts.- ,
Duffett Daniel, brushlhaker, St. Philip. -'^* '
Docksey Thomas, peruke-maker, St. James.
ElUs Johji, cordwainer, ^t. Philip.
Edmonds' Richards, barber-surgeota, St. James.
Elliott Alexs&der, tailor. Temple (fr. Temple).
Emers James, mason, St.i Paul.
Ellis J^mes, brightsmith;' St. James.
Eagle William, tailor, 'St. Philip.
Frincis James ,.co^|)et^ Sf. Miehaei.
Foot John, cordwainer, St. Philip.
Fudge George, masbn. Temple (fr. St. Philip).
Fehley JopJ^jpoksoller, St. Jaines (fr. St. James).
Ferris Johflfliailor, Bath. ¦
::Godwin John, vSire-worker, St. Thomas.
^'^riffln'Jqhn, shipwrVhtJ St. Mithael.

.henry' hunt, " flP
«. . ' »•
Grimes John, silV-weaverj{St,|Ia|neaf4i|ft '<
feeorge Johp, stdrnfecutte]f,'s5]j^^s.
Green William, .maringr, lie(|^m^er. -^ .
Hughes Benjamin, bHcljsnjithi St. Ijliilip*- p
Hobbs' James, mason, $ii James. '
Hobbs William, masofl, St. jP-hilip. ¦ ^,
Ray cock WilUam, itailor/^t.^Philip. ,'.•':'
' Harding John,"genwSxhaH, Stri*aul'(lr. St; Pauljr' .
He wljfcs, Moses, ciirrier, ^t-PhiJipt ¦¦ "¦¦.•¦.- , \;-
Hfepwood William, labourer, St. piiiliD. S- «
Hiftit James, ^r^swaiper, ,l'femple.£ ^i , • # !*»)! . .
Hole James, shoemaker, St. PaiSI (fr, St. jl'a]!!);^ ' .
Hughes Joshua, cordwainer, Sti>Paul (^^^^Jfichael).
'iurst Jpseph, mason, Sil James,, ' . :"'i .
j|)pe John, labourer, St. Micheli 5p • ,; *
Jardwick^obert, waterra^^jj ftanliia^.^ , . ; , ;
'Hone Jannes, tailor, St, J|^es. . .; ;. . . •; *
Hasl^ips Samuel, pla.steret.'St. Mi^?^i (fr.iSt. lifictiael.)
Hehimings Jameii, rnajitster, Cas jie jfrecincfe.'
HuntvWilliam, hooper, Clifton^
Autchiijson, Johni^^srrig^ Temgle (f^, "^emple^.
Jones Richard, "jtJiiief, StWolM**'" >'*i',''«i^
James Thomas, brewer, St. James. ; '-' , ,,,
Jewell William, smithy St. Mary Redcliff.
Jeremiah >Edmpnd, wheelwright, St. Paul (fr. St, Paul.)
Jennings Benjamin, carpenter, St, Mary, Redcliff
James John, tailor, St. James (fr. St, James.)
James Philip, pin-maker, St. George.
Jennings James, tailor, St. Thomas.
Jones Isaac, plumber. Temple.
James John, shipwright, St, Aug^ustine,
Kennecott Nicholas, to^apco-pipe-maker, Bedminster.
Knight William, labourer, ^^St. Jp»;nes.
Knight Josephj broker, St. Thomas (fr, St. Thomas.)
Lqi^ett Johp, waterman, St. Philip,
Liscombe Robert, carpenter and jpiner, St. James (fr. St,
James.)
^ewis John,, mason, St. James,
Lansdown William, hopper, St. Philip.
Lewis Matthew, mason, St. James,
Leonard William, pork-butcher, St, James (fr, St. Jame^.}
, Lewis Edwayd, pluiribeTj.Redcliff, ,,^
Langueil Thomas, mason, St, Jame^.
La,wful Francis, sawyer, St, Phjjip,
Lancaster James, cordwainer, St.,James.
VOL. IIL C

10

MEMOIRS OF

Lewis John, joiner, Bridgewater.
Liddiard James, turner, Teinple.
Martin John, rope-maker. Temple. . P^
Morgan William, carpenter, Redcliff (fr. St. Mary, K.ea-
cliff.)
Meredith James, confectioner, St. Stephen.
Morgan William, glazier, St. Philip.
Milton Francis, printer, St. James.
Mittens Thomas, cabinet-maker, St. Paul.
Mountain Abraham, blacksmith, St. Philip.
Mutter Joshua, carpenter, St. Paul (fr. St. Paul.)
Moore Weph, crate-nfaker, St. Mary, Redcliffe.
Mitchell James, sawyer, St. Paul.
Melsom William, cheese-factor, St. James (fr. St. PauLj^L
Norris John, tobacconist, St. Peter. "^
Oliver George, victualler, St. Mary, Redcliff (fi*'. St. Paul.)
Owens Lewis, tailor and mercer, St. Michael.
Owen Robert, tiler and plasterer, St. Paul (fr, St. Paul.)
Pymm Thomas, currier, Christchurch.
Phelps James, gardener, St Philip.
Perry James, jun. cooper, St. Peter.
Parker William, yeoman, St. Paul.
Primm Jacob, cordwainer, St. Michael.
Prescott William, carpenter, St. Philip.
Palmer William, hat-maker, St. Philip. .
Pymm William, tailor, Christchurch.
Parfltt Thomas, cabinet-maker, St. Thonias.
Perry Charles, labourer, Frenchay.
Pearce Joseph, cordwainer, St. Paul,'(fr. St. James.)
Perrins John, potter. Temple.
Parker James, carver and gilder, St. James.
Phillips Samuel, glass-maker, St. Philip.
Parker Edward, grocer, St. James (fr. St. James.)
Philips Christopher, victualler, St. Nicholas.
Prigg Francis, iron-founder, St. Philip, *
Poole William, tailor, St. Michael.
Phillips William, plasterer, St. Phillip.
Price William, tiler and plasterer, St. Philip (fr. St. Paul.)
Pollard William, blacksmith, St. Nicholas,
Penny Thomas, painter. Castle Precincts.
Phillips Thomas, saddler, Bath.
Perrin Robert, painter, St, Michael (fr. St. Michael.)
Perrin William, jun. cooper, St. Paul.
Philips James, turner, St. James.
Palmer William, brass-founder, Bedmlnster.
Price James, shopkeeper, St. Paul (fr. St. Paul.)

HENRY HUNT. H
Roberts John, baker, St. Philip.
Rate John, shoemaker, St. Paul.
Rowland Thomas, carver, St. Stephen (fr, St. Stephen.)
Rosser John, turner, St. James.
Rogers Churchman, yeoman, St. James.
Rumley Benjamin, labourer. Temple.
Ravenhill Robert, bellows-maker, St. Philip.
Rivers James, potter. Temple.
Rees David, stationer, Christchurch (fr. St. Paul.)
Rogers John, cooper, St. Mary, Redcliff.
Robins Charles, cabinet-maker, St. James. ,
Reynolds John, wheelwright. Castle Precincts (fr. Castle
Precincts.)
Reed William, cordwainer, St. James.
Radford Joseph, brass-founder. Temple.
Rawle William, cordwainer, St. Philip.
Stanmore Samuel, shipwright. Temple.
Sexton, Daniel, trunk-maker. Temple.
Sheppard John, brazier. Temple.
Stinchcomb William, cabinet-maker, St. James.
Simms Thomas, glass-cutter, Nailsea.
Sheppard William, hatter, St. Philip.
Stringer Thomas, confectioner, St. Philip (fr. St. Philip.)
Sheppard Benjamin, clothier, frome,
Skene William, grocer, St. Paul,
Smith John, pewterer, St. Michael.
Slocombe John, glazier, St. James.
Sayce Thomas, carpenter, St. Paul.
Smith Thomas, shopkeeper. Temple.
Stephens James, carpenter, St. Augustine.
Stokes John, joiner, St. Paul.
Stretton William, cooper, St. Nicholas.
Sweet Thomas, potter, St. Philip,
Stokes, Henry, cordwainer, Chepstow (fr. Temple.)
Simms William, glassman,, Wraxall.
Sims James, glass-maker, Nailsea. ,
Skammell R, V. tiler and plasterer, St. James.
Searle Benjamin, plasterer, St. Philip,
Simpkins George, cordwainer, St. Paul.
Smith William, ironmonger, St. Mary, Redcliff (fr. St.
Mary, Redcliff.)
Snig William, box-maker, St. James.
Shackell Robert, cordwainer, Fran?pton (fr. St. James.)
Thomas Timothy, tallow-chandler, St. Stephen (fr. St.
Stephen.)

12 MEMOIRS or
Taylor James, brushmaker, St, Mary*. Redcliff,
Thomas John, brushniaker, St. Mary, Redcliff.
Tilly John, blotek-nftaket , St. Stephen.
Tippet James, shipwright, St, Augustine.
Tilley William, crate-maker. Temple.
Thomas Thomas, carpenter, Sl Paul. , „, , ,
Tiler William, gentleman, Bedmlnster (fr. St. James,;
Taylor thomas, glazier, St. Peter.
Underaise Jamed, merchant tailor, St. James.
Vaughan John, gentleman, St. Paul (fr. Temple,)
Walker Richard, accomptant, St. Michael (fr. St. Michael.)
Westcott James, cabinet-maker, St. Michael (fr. St.
Michael.)
Wood William, twine-spinner, St. Philip.
Whittington Thomas, carpenter and joiner. Temple. 'i«'f«
Williams Isaac, carpenter, Mangotsfield.
Weetch Robert, undertaker, St, Paul (fr. St. Paul.)
White John, mariner. Temple,
Welsh John, butcher, St. Philip.
Williams Robert, cordwainer, St. Augustine,
Watts William, cordwainer, St. Paul,
Watts Thomas, cordwainer, St. Philip.
Wilmot W. W. glass-cutter. Temple.
White William, carpenter, St. Paul.
Wipperman Christopher, baker, St. Augustine (fr. St.
Paul)
WeUs Robert, wheelwright, Bath. \, -
Wilson William, Accoinptant, St. Paul.
Ware George, cordwainer, St. Paul (fr. St. Paul.)
"Webb George^ carver and gilder, St. Michael.
Woodland William, turner, St, Philip (fr. St. Philip.)
Welch James, brickmaker, Binegar. f*/
Waters Benjamin, wine-hooper, St. Philip.
Wood John, clerk, Ne'lsrton St. Loe. '*
Young George, cutler, St. Philip.
Yearbury R. A. cordwainer, Frome.
I have recorded the names of these brave
men, for the purpose pf handing them down
to posterity, as a specimen of genuine patriot
ism and disinterested love of Liberty. Men
who, in the nineteenth century, regardless of
every personal consideration, and anxious

HENRY HUNT, 13
only to perform conscientiously what they
considered to be a sacred duty to their coun
try, had the courage and the honesty to give
their votes agreeable to the dictates of their
hearts, in spite of the terror and threats of
lawless power; in defiance of the corrupt in
fluence of the corporation, the clergy, and
the merchants of Bristol, and all the bribes
that were held out to seduce them from giv
ing me their support. Men such as these
deserve to be remembered with honour. I
am bound to declare that, during the election,
I witnessed as great a degree of enthusiasm
as was ever exhibited by the people upon any
occasion ; and I beheld such daily individual
acts of heroism as would have done honour to
the character of the most revered Roman or
Spartan patriot. My worthy friends Williams,
Cranidge, Brownjohn, William Pimm, and
many others, were incessant in their labours
to assist me, and most cheerfully braved the
anger and the ungovernable rage of our
opponents. We had daily to encounter the
most artful and unprincipled manoeuvres,
which were put in practice to entrap and mis
lead us. There was no mean and despicable
art, nothing which was likely to irritate and
inflame, that was not tried, for the purpose of
throwing me off my guard; and All those who

14 MEMOIRS OP

chose to try these experiments upon my pa
tience and my temper, let them commit any
atrocity however glaring, were sure to be
shielded by the authorities. There was no
law, no protection for me or my friends; and
we had only to rely upon the goodness of our
cause, our general forbearance, or our prompt
and courageous resistance to lawless violence.
One day, towards the latter end of the con
test, a person introduced himself into my
room (for any one who asked was instantly
admitted), and, after behaving in a very im
proper manner, he placed himself in a boxing
attitude, and commanded me to defend my
self, or he should floor me. I had no incli
nation to have a set-to with a perfect stranger,
and was about to request his immediate de
parture, when he struck me a smart blow
upon the chin, and then affected to apologise
for the insult, or rather assault, by saying, that
it arose entirely from the want of my keeping
a proper guard. I, however, instantly spoiled
his harangue, by retaliating in a way that he
little expected : I seized the gentleman, and,
having sprung with him out of the door, I
gave him, in spite of the most determined
resistance, a cross-buttock, and pitched him
a neat somerset over the banisters, into the
landing-place ofthe ground-floor, before my

HENRY HUNT. 15
friend Davenport had scarcely left his seat.
This being witnessed by some of my friends,
who were standing at the bottom of the stairs,
and saw the fellow come flying over the
banisters, with part of my coat in his hand,
which he had seized hold of, and held fast in
the struggle ; they, without farther ceremony,
began "to serve him out" in proper stile, as
he was immediately recognized to be a
, sheriff's oificer, and a notorious bruiser, be
longing to the White Lion faction ; and if Mr.
Davenport had not rushed to his assistance,
and secured him by consigning ; him to the
custody of two constables, he would have paid
very dearly for his insolent frolic ; and, as it
was, he came off very roughly, with several
bruises and a dislocated shoulder.
I had given my word to my friends, that
on the day after the chairing of Mr. Datis, I
would return from Bath, arid dine with them.
I kept my word, and I was met at Totterdown,
about a mile from the entrance of the city,
and conducted through the streets in the most
triumphant manner. I was taken to the
Exchange, where I protested against the illegal
manner in which the election had been carried
tby the lawless introduction of the military
force, and I pledged, myself to petition Par
liament against the return of Mr. Davis; this

w

MEMOIRS OF

pledge was received with every demonstration
of applause, and promises of pecuniary sup
port were reiterated from eveiy quarter. I
dined with a very large party of my friends,
and thus ended a contest as severe as ever
was maintained at any election upon record.
From this contest there resulted one benefit,
which amply paid me for my toils. Durii%
fifteen days, the people of Bristol had an op
portunity of hearing more bold political truths,
than they had ever heard before; both the
factions of Whigs and Tories were exposed,
and their united and unprincipled efforts to
deceive and cajole the peeple were freely
canvassed, and rendered incontrovertible. —
There had always been in Bristol two factions,
nearly equally divided betweai the Whigs
and Tories , and the whole . of the politics of
the people consisted in supporting these two
factions, which were designa:ted the high and
the low party. The opposllaon, or WhigB,
hiad always contrived to make the people be
lieve that they were their friends, and that
the ©Dverriment, or Tory faction, were their
enemies; that the Whigs were every thing
that was pure and honourable, and disin
terested and patriotic ; but that the Tories,
or Blues, were every thing that is the reverse.
During these fifteen days, this delusion was

HENRY HUNT. 17
dispelled, and the actions of the Whigs were
as rigidly discussed as those of the othet
faction ; in fact, more so, for the people all
well understood the practice as well as the
principles erf the Tories, but they had not till
now been enlightened upon the subject of the
Whigs, so as plainly to see and understand
their situation. The task of enlightening
them on this head, I made it my business to
accomplish, and, aided by the Whigs them
selves, I did accomplish it effectually. At the
appearance of such an antagonist as I was, all
the leading Whigs, united with those whom
they had heretofore made the people believe
to be their greatest enemies, their chiefs
of the low party, now left that party, and
joined the Mgh party, though hitherto it had
been the constant study and care of both these
Actions, to make the people give credit to the
sincerity and purity of the opposition. Tp
banish this delusion was my grand object, in *'
which I flatter myself, that I succeeded to a
miracle. I not only recounted the famous acts
of the Whig administration, and dilated upon
the sinecures, pensions, and places of profit,
that the WMgs enjoyed out of the earnings
pf the people; but I also caused the list of
them to be published and placarded. There
were the sinecures of Lord Grenville and bis
VOL. III. D

IS MEMOIRS^OF
family, the Marquis of Buckingham arid others,
placed side hy side with those of Lord Arden
and the Marquis Camden; Whigs and
Tories were blended together; and when this
light was thrown upon the business, the people
soon saw through the mist of faction, by which
they had been kept in utter darkness. This
mode of proceeding, of course, drew dowri
upon me the maledictions of both factions;
nor was this all, for they joined heartily in mis
representing me, and fabricating every species
of calumny against me. There was no false
hood too gross to serve their turn. They
seem to have acted on the old rascally maxim,
of throwing as much dirt as possible, in the
presumption thsit some of it will stick. Perhaps,
since the invention of printing, no man had
ever been so grossly attacked and belied as I
was, by the whole of the public press ; with
the exception of Mr. Cobbett, who stood man
fully by me, I do not know a single public
newspaper in the kingdom that did not vilify
me, and labour in all ways to sully my cha
racter, and to depreciate my exertions. The
liberal and enhghtened editor ofthe Examiner,
took the lead in making these attacks upon*
me, and professed to be desperately alarmed,
lest thte pubhc should imagine that he was the
vulgar candidate for Bristol, of the name of

|, KENRV HUNT. '*' 19
Hunt. He not only disclaimed all connection
with me, or even knowledge of me, but he
professed to lament, as a misfortune, that his
name was " Hunt." This being the subject.
of conversation one night, when Sir Francis
Burdett and some other friends were spending
the evening with Mr, Cobbett, in Newgate ;
the Baronet, speaking of this foul abuse from
Mr. Leigh Hunt, said " that the editor of the
Examiner was not worthy to wipe the shoes
of his friend Hunt." This was what I was
afterwards told by those who were present.
Npthing, indeed, could be more unfair than
the conduct of Mr. Leigh Hunt upon this
occasion, because^he was not writing from his
own knowledge^ nor from the knowledge of
any one that he could rely upon ; but all his
information musit have been derived from the
venal press ; and to be sure, I was bespattered
and misrepresented as much by the opposition
.press, as I was by that of the ministerial
hacks. I Ti'eely forgive Mr. Hunt, however, *
as I have no doubt that he was imposed upon,
in fact, he has long, long since, honourably
done me ample justice, and made amends
for his former attacks and mis-statements.
After the election was over, I returned by the
way of Botiey, in Hampshire, on purpose to pay
avisit to my friend Cobbett, who had just been

20 MEMOIRS OF ¦%
liberated from Newgate, after having been
imprisoned there for two years, if it might be
called imprisonment, though I can scarcely
call it imprisonment, when compared to my
incarceration in this infamous bastile. I do
not hesitate to say, that one month's imprisonr
ment in this gaol, is a greater punishment
than one year's imprisonment in Newgate;
and that I have suffered many more privations
during the forty days of my soUtary con
finement here, than Mr. Cobbett suffered
during the whole of the two years that he
was in Newgate. As I have before said, his
sentence was not much more than living two
years in London in lodgings. To be sure, he j
paid dear for that accommodation, but actually
little more than he would have paid for ready
furnished lodgings, of equal goodness, in any
tother part of London. He would have paid
just as much for good lodgings upon Ludgate-
Hill; and his lodgings in Mr. Newman's house
,were equal, if not superior, to any on Ludgate-
Hill. All his friends had free access to him,
from eight o'clock in the morning till ten at
night, and his family remained with him night
and day. As 1 visited him a great deal, I
know how well he was at all times accom
modated. When I knocked at Mr. Newman's
door, and asked for Mr. Cobbett, I was re-

HENRY HUNT. , 21
ceived with attention by the servant, and
introduced immediately; in fact, the recep
tion given by Mr. Newmanys servants to Mr.
Cobbett's visitors, was much more respectful,
and more attentive and accommodating, than
they ever experienced from the servants of
Mr. Cobbett at his own house; at least it
always struck me so, as my friend Cobbett's
servants were not always the best mannered
in the world, I mean his domestic servants,
those who were not under his management
altogether, but under the direction and ma
nagement of the female part of his family.
In truth, I do not remember ever going to
Mr. Cobbett's house twice following, without
seeing new faces, or rather new maid servants.
Mrs. Cobbett was, what was called amongst
the gossips, very unfortunate in getting
maid servants ; they seldom suited long
together. But not so with Mr. Cobbett ; it
was quite the reverse with him : his servants
about his farms always lived as long with him
as they conducted themselves with propriety ;
he was, indeed, what is called very Iticky
the choice of his servants. For years and
years, and years together, when I went to
visit him, I found the same faces, the same
weU-known names. The same tenant occtt-
pied tbe same cottage ; the same carter drove

23 MEMOIRS OF

the same team ; the same ploughman held the
same plough; the same thrasher occupied the
same barn ; and the same shepherd attended the
flock. The names of Dean, Jurd, Coward,
and Hurcot, and, many others, were for a
number of years, as familiar to me as the
names of my own servants. The editors of the
venal hireling press, and the enemies of Mr.
Cobbett's political writings, h^ve always re
presented him as a bad master, and as being
capricious, cruel, and tyrannical amongst his
servants and poorer neighbours ; and by means
of as foul a conspiracy against him as ever
disgraced the age in which we live, or as ever
disgraced the courts of justice in any country.
The calumny about Jesse Burgess was pro
pagated from one end of the land to the
other, by the whole venal press of the king
dom, sanctioned by the dastardly conduct of
the hireling barristers of the day, particularly
by the infamous conduct of Mr. Cpjinsellor,
liow Judge Burrough. The whole ofthis was
a base, fraudulent, and infamous transaction.
Mr. Cobbett has behaved very ill to me ever
since his return from America; his desertion
of me at a time of danger and difliculty, and
his neglecting to aid me with his pen, in the
herculean task which I have had to perform in
this bastile, must to every liberal mind appear

HENRY HUNT. 83,
unpardonable. Such a struggle, and made
by a prisoner under such circumstances too,
to detect, expose, and punish fraud, cruelty,
tyranny, and lust, perpetrated within the
walls of an English gaol, surely deserved the
assistance of every enemy of oppression. —
Mr. Cobbett having failed to render me the
slightest assistance, and by his silence having
even done every thing that lay in his power
to counteract my exertions, and to encourage
my cowardly and vindictive enemies to de
stroy me, it will not be imagined that I shall
write with any degree of undue partiality to
wards him, or that I can be prejudiced so
much in his favour as to exceed the bounds of
truth. But I have a duty to perform to my
self, and a duty to perform to the public, and
no feeling of personal irritation on my part,
arising from neglect on his, shall induce me
to withhold the truth. I most unequivocally
and most solemnly declare, from my own per
sonal knowledge, that Mr. Cobbett was one of
the kindest, the best, and the most considerate
masters, that I ever knew in my life. His ser
vants were indeed obliged to work for their
wages, as it was their duty to do ; but they
always had an example of industry and so
briety set them by their master; they were
always treated with the greatest kindness by

24 MEMOIRS OF
him; they were wefl paid and well treated in
every respect ; and the best proof, if any were
wanting, after what I have said, that they were
¦well satisfied with their employer, is, that they
aU hved with him for very long, periods, and
that those who left his service did so not in
cpnsequence of any dislike to their master,
and were always anxious to return to him.
While on the subject of servants, I may be
allowed to say a word respecting myself; I
was never accused, even by the venal hire
lings ofthe press, of being a bad raaster; but,
on the contrary, I was always proverbial for
being a good one. The fact that I was so, is
abundantly proved by one circumstance. When
I left my farm in Wiltshire, and went to reside
at Rowfant, in Sussex, my old servants follow
ed me there, a distance of nearly one hundred
miles, so that in Sussex I had the same ser
vants, the whole time I remained there, that
had hved with me and my father for, from
ten to thirty years before ; they all followed
me into Sussex at their own risk, and they, re
mained with me as long as I lived in that
county ; and when I left it to go into Hamp
shire, they also aU left it, and accompanied
me. This is the best evidence that can be
given of my being a good master ; yet I have
no hesitation in saymg, that there never was

HENRY HUNT. 25
a bette^c master living than Mr. Cobbett. I
was, however, more fortunate than he was in
my domestic servants ; for in twenty years I
have only had three cooks, three housemaids,
and three men servants, each of them having
lived severi years, and none of them having
left us till they married and settled ; and,
thank God, it is a great satisfaction they have
all done well, improved their situation in life,
and got up in the world. The man servant
and two maid servants, whom I have now re
maining with me, to take care of my cottage,
have lived with me, I think it is now nearly
eight years.
During the whole time that Mr. Cobbett
was in Newgate, I was in the constant habit
of visiting him; there was never a mpnth, and
seldom a fortnight passed, that I did not go to
London to see him. Up to this period Ihad
always received from Mrs. Cobbett the greatest
civility and attention, in return for my atten
tion to her husband. I was never an evening
in London but I passed it with my friend who
was in prison, and very delightful and rational
parties; we used to have in Mr. Cobbett's apart
ments ; these parties consisted of Mr. and Mrs.
Cobbett, Sir Francis Burdett, Col. Wardle,
Major Cartwright, Major Worthington, Mr.
Peter Walker, Mr. Samuel Millar, and a few
VOL. IIL E

26 MEMOIRS OF
Other select friends, aif* staunch assertors of
the cause of Liberty. I will relate two circum
stances which occurred at these meetings, be
cause I have always considered them to have
had a very important share in creating the
political hostility that has since existed be
tween Sir F. Burdett and myself, and to have
ultimately led to that coolness which has been
so visible in the conduct of Mr. Cobbett to
wards me, during the last two years. There
is no breach of confidence in my mentioning
them, and the narrative will shew by what
trifles important results may be produced.
One evening. Sir Francis and Mr. Cobbett
were speaking in very warm terms of my ex
ertions in procuring a Requisition which led
to the first County Meeting held at Wells, in
•Somersetshire ; and the former was giving me
great credit for having roused such a large,
long, dormant county, and for having made
such a favourable impression upon the Free
holders, in the cause of Reform. With the in
tention of putting an end to such overwhelming
praise bestowed on me to. my face, I rephed,
that I was a zealous and devoted political dis
ciple ofthe Baronet, that I would continue to
follow his praiseworthy example, and never
Would desert the cause in which we were em
barked, " But," said I, " remember, Sir

HENRY HUNT> 27
Francis^ ihat at the same time that I promise
you never to withdraw my zealous and faith
ful support to those principles which you ad
vocate, and ofthe partizans ofwhich principles
you are deservedly the leader ; yet, if ever
you should stand still, so far from promising
you, that I also shall halt, I assure you that
nothing, shall deter me from proceeding ; then?
and only then, shall I leave you." What in
duced me to utter this speech, I cannot tell; I
certainly had not the slightest opinion or
suspicion that the Baronet would ever stand
still. It was the farthest thing in the world
from my intention to say any thing to create
surmises, or to give the slightest offence. My
words were merely a sort of involuntary,
randbm-shot effusion ofthe heart, meant only
to evince my sincerity, and to silence the
praises which were bestowed upon me to my
face. It certainly had thelatter effect; it im
mediately put a stop to the conversation alto
gether. I saw that I had unintentionally com
mitted a blunder ; I saw, or thought that I
saw, Mr. Cobbett look at me with a most in
quiring eye, endeavouring to discover whether
my words were meant to convey an impres
sion that I really suspected that the Baronet
would ever stand still. God is my witness,
I had not at the time the slightest idea of; the

28 MEMOIRS OF
sort; for Sir Francis Burdett, in his profes
sions and conversation, if not in his actions,
always appeared to desire for the people the
full extent of that liberty for which I was con
tending; namely, the representation of the
whole of them in the House of Commons.
Sir Francis Burdett drew up instantly, and I
perceived that I had, without meaning it, cast
a damp upon the cheerfulness that had pre
viously prevailed. There was, however, no
room for explanation. I looked grave myself,
and my mind was occupied with such thoughts
as had never obtruded themselves before ; not
created by what I had said, but by the im
pression which it appeared to have made upon
my hearers. Whether it was imagination, or
whether there was any just ground for it, I do
not know, but I always fancied, from that time
forward, that the Baronet was not so familiar
as he was before; and, although we continued
upon the best of terms, that he manifested a
degree of reserve that I had never previously
observed. The other blunder which I made was as fol
lows : — one evening, when there was a large
party, and Mr. Cobbett had been keeping us
in a roar of laughter by his wit and vivacity,
the very life and soul of the company, which
he always was when he chose, all at once, in

HENRY HUNT, Hi)
th^ midst of our mirth, he exclaimed, addres
sing himself to me, "Hunt, I have a. particular
favour to ask of you ; will you promise to
grant it me ?" This was said with great ear
nestness, and with peculiar emphasis. I re
plied, " if it is any thing in reason and within
riiy power, I will ; but let me know what it is,
and I have no doubt that I shall gratify your
wish." He urged me again and again to pro
mise him before-hand — all eyes were fixed upon
me, and Mrs. Cobbett appeared by her looks
to desire that I should comply with her hus
band's request, evidently indeed shewing that
she anticipated what it was he wished me to
promise him. This earnestness made me press
him to explain, and at the same time I repeat
ed my assurance that I would comply with his
wish, if within my power. I own I expected
that he was about to get me to promise him,
in the presence of our mutual friends, that I
would accomplish something of importance;
as he knew if I once gave my word, tha,t no
thing would deter me from endeavouring to
carry my promise into effect. Expectation
was upon the tiptoe, every one seeming anxious
to know what was the object of such a serious
and almost solemn request. " Well," said he,
" promise me then that you will never wear
white breeches again .'" Every one appeared

ao MEMOIRS OF
thunder-struck, that the mountain had brought
forth such a mouse. I had on a clean pair of
white cord breeches, and a neat pair of top
boots, a fashionable, and a favourite dress of
mine at that time. There was a general.
laugh, and as soon as this subsided, all were
curious to hear my answer. It was briefly
this: " I certainly will, upon one condition."
« What is that?"—" Why, that you will pro
mise me never to wear dirty breeches again.;'/
Cobbett at the time had on a remarkably dirty
pair of old drab kerseymere breeches. The
laugh was now turned against my friend, and
I instantly felt sorry for the repartee. I saw
that my friend was hurt. He thpught it un
kind, and dropped his under lip. Mrs. Cob
bett's eyes flashed the fire of indignation, and
she was never civil to me afterwards. Nothing,
could be farther from my intention than to
hurt the feelings of my friend ; it was an ill-,
natured and thoughtless, although a just re
taliation. At all events I was very sorry for
it, and it called to my recollection an old say
ing, which was very commonly used by my,
father, " a fool's bolt is soon shot."
In consequence of Mr. Cobbett having giyen
me the support ofhis able pen pi-evious tothe,
Bristol election, every exertion was made to
induce him not to write upon that occasion in

HENRY HUNT. 31
my favour. On the day that I was going
down to Bristol, I was sitting with Mr. Cobbett,
in his room in Mr. Newman's house, in New
gate, and consulting with him about the best
plan of operation, when a gentleman was in
troduced ; he was a stranger to me, and Mr.
Cobbett rose hastily, and said, " walk this
way, my Lord," and instantly, topk him into
the next room. After having remaii^ed with
him some time, and then sent him down the
back stairs. He returried to me, laughing,
and informed me that it was Lord F  e,
who had been endeavouring tP prevail uppn
him not to support me for Bristol, but to give
his aid, to Sir Samuel Romilly. The reader
will,, however, have seen by the letter, and the
obseiTations . published in my last two num
bers, selected from Mr. Cobbett's Register at
that period, how little weight those attempts
to injure me in his opinion had upon him.
But my enemies took a more effectual course
to injure me with Mr. Cobbett, by whispering
calumny to those whp were more ready to listen
to it than he was ; they assailed tMr*.Cobbett, and
endeavoured to injure rae in the estimation of
my friend, by poisoning the ear of his wife.
I inay, perhaps, relate a few instances of this
sort hereafter. But there was one aCt of base
ness that ought to be, and shall be recorded.

32 MEMOIRS OF
to enable the worid to form a proper judg
ment of.the villain who could be guilty of it.
It occurred at the latter end of the year 1811
or at the beginning of the year 1812, at the
time when there was such a desperate atterapt
made to impose upon the public, by endea
vouring to persuade them that a one pound
note and a shilling, were equivalent to a
guinea, although the latter was selling in the
market at the time for twenty-seven shillings.
As I have alluded to the paper system, I
may as well, before I proceed to ray proraised
story, raention one circurastance connected
with it. To expose that system was always a
favourite scheme with Mr. Cobbett, and he
was now anxious to try the question with a
country banker, to shew that, notwithstanding
the Bank- of England was protected .against
paying in specie, yet the country banks were
liable to pay in gold. . If you carried 50/. to
the Bank of England of their notes j scribbled
over with the lying formula " I promise to
pay,'' instead of giving cash for them, they
only give you other paper of " I promise to
pay," in exchange. If you carried 50/. of coun
try notes to the bank which had issued them,
instead of giving you cash, they gave you
Bank of England notes in exchange. Mr.
Cobbett very much wished to have this ques-

HENRY HUNT. 33
tion tried, and, at his request, I promised him
that the first time I went into the country I
would do it. Being at Bath soon afterwards,
and having received, in payment of rent, some
of Sir Benjamin Hobhouse's bank notes, I
took my tenant with me to the Bank, and ten
dered twenty-six pounds worth of their notes,
for which I demanded cash in payment. They
refused to give it, and tendered in return
twenty-six pounds in Bank ofEngland paper.
This I declined to receive, and persisted in
ray demand fbr cash. One of the partners
was called ; and, upon my peremptorily de
manding payment in coin, he as peremptorily
refused to pay it, and once more offered me
Bank of England paper. This 1 again declined
to take, assuring him^ that if he did not pay
me the amount in cash, I would bring an ac
tion against him for the debt, and compel him
to do so. This then he treated with great le
vity, and I left his shop and the twenty-six
pounds of bank notes together. I immediately
went to an attorney in Bath, and instructed
him to bring an action against the firm of
Hobhouse and Co. for a debt of twentyrsix
pounds, to which I offered to make an affida*-
vit. When I explained the circumstance, the
Bath attorney declared that he wouldnot act.
I then applied tb my own attorney in London,
VOL. HI. F

34 MEMOIRS OP
who politely declined the honour of conduct
ing such a suit, as he very honestly said, that
if he did condnct it, he must never expect tp
have another bill discounted, or any accommo
dation from one of these formidable country
bankers. At length, after some difficulty, Mr.
Cobbett procured me an attorney in London,
who commenced an action against the firm of
Hobhouse and Co.
I will now proceed to my story, which is, in
deed, connected in some degree with what I
have just related. While I was in the country,
at Glastonbury, I let several little odd lots of
land by auction, specifying that those who
might becorae tenants should find security for
payment of the rent. Mr. John Haine, a per
fect stranger to me, took the manor-house, or
chard, and the fishery within, the manor, for
thirty-six pounds a-year, for three years. The
next morning, when he came to sign and com
plete his contract, I told him, that, as he was
a stranger to rae, and as I had great trouble
in collecting ray rents, I must require him to
give security for the payment of the rent.
Mr. Haine, who was a man of considerable
property, felt very indignant at this proposi
tion, and certainly expressed his indignation
in no very equivocal terms. In the course pf
some rather warm conversation, I told him,

HENRY HUNT. 35
that I should expect he would pay the rent in
cash, if he were called upon to do so. He
contended that I could not compel him to do
that; however, to shew me that he was a man
of property, and to get rid of all difficulty
about finding security for the payment of the
rent, he pulled out ofhis pocket several hun
dred pounds in bank notes, and offered to pay
me down the three years' rent, amounting
to one hundred and eight pounds, which money
he tendered to me upon the ta,ble, saying, that
it was no difference to him, and that it would
at once save trouble and the expense of draw
ing up any agreement or lease, as I should
have nothing to do but to give him a receipt.
At first I declined to do this, but a person who
was with me suggested, that, if I allowed
Mr. Haine five per cent, for the money, nPthing
could be more equitable on both sides. This
was at once assented to ; I threw my tenant
back five per cent, and gave him a receipt for
the three years' rent ; wfe had, therefore, no
occasion for any settlement till the three years
were expired, when we renewed the agree
ment, and never had a word of dispute as to
the rent afterward.
This, however, led to the following misre
presentation, by one of those persons who had
been very pressing to induce Mr. Cobbett

36 MEMOIRS OF
not to write in my favour on my becoming.
a candidate for Bristol, but to support the
cause of Sir Samuel Romilly. This man,
one William Adams, a currier, of Drury Lane,
one of the pillars of the Westminster Rump,
had frequently been traducing me to Mr. Cob
bett, who always dared him to the proof of
any of the calumnies that he urged against
me ; and, in order to get rid of the fellow's
impudent and malignant representations, told
him plainly, that he should not be prejudiced
against me without proof. " But," added he,
*' Adams, I promise you, that if you will bring
me proof that Mr. Hunt has ever been guilty
of a dishonest or dishonourable act, I wiU
give him up instantly, and will have no raore
to do with . him •' but, till you do this, I beg
you will refrain frora aU your little tittle-tattle
about his wife,. of whom you appear to know
nothing. ..
Adams took his departure, but called again
some time after, saying, that he had been to
Bristol fair, and he now could substantiate,
upon unquestionable authority, that I had
been guilty of a most flagrant act of dis*
honesty to all my tenants at Glastonbuiy.
" Wellj'? said Cobbet*, ?' let us hear what it
is." Adams proceeded as Mlows :— '^ Mr. Hunt
went down to Glastonbury, and undf r a threat

HENRY HUNT. 37
of compelling all his tenants to pay their rent
in specie, he induced them tp advance him
three years' rent, for which he gave them
receipts. But, no sooner had they paid bim
their rent, than the mortgagee came, and
made them all payit over again, so that g,ll
his tenants were paying double rents." "WeU,"
said Cobbett, " if this be true, it is a very dis-
horiourable act ; but, as I have ascertained that
the last story you told me, about his having
turned his wife out of doors to starve, without
makihg her any allowance, is a fiction, or, to
speak plainly, I have ascertained it to be a most
scandalous and wicked falsehood, you must
excuse me if 1 do not believe one word of this
affair, - about his tenants, till you bring me
some better proof than your bare assertion*''
Atlength, Adams confessed that he was only
told so by a person with whom he met at
Bristol fair. The fact was, that Mr. Haine had
related the circumstance at Bristol iamongst
his friends, just as it happened ; Adairris heard
ofit, and out of sueh slender materials, he
manufactured as baise atnd as unfounded et.lie
as ever defiled the lips of an inbabitarit of
Drury-Lane or St. Giles's. Mr. Cobbett saw
at once through the villainy ofthis Mr. Curriet
Adariis, an^ he always afterwards treated him,
as he deserved. With merited <;oritemjpt.-: ^

38 MEMOIRS OF
This Adams is the person who, in thei
Court of Kingis Bench, upon the trial of
" Wright versus Cobbett," for a libel, (if
Wright's and the other reports are true,),
swore that he had several times assisted in
turning Hunt out of the room at public meet
ings. This is a most bare-faced falsehood as
ever was stated in a court of justice; and Mr.
Cobbett, who knew that it was false, should
have indicted the ieUow for perjury. No
human being ever laid hands upon me in the
whole course of my life, to turn me out of ; a
room, either public or private, with the excep
tion of the ruffians whp endeavoured to drive
me and my friends out of the theatre at Man
chester, in the year 1818. The very idea of
Mr. Currier Adams ever attempting to do any
such thing, is absolutely ludicrous. If the
ruffian had said that he had often been hired
tp a,ssail me at the Crown and Anchor meet
ings, for the purpose of preventing the truths
that I delivered being heard there, he might
have told the truth ; but to swear that he or
any of his gang had ever dared to lay hands
on me, either at a public or a private meeting,
is as arrant a falsehood as ever was uttered at
the Old Bailey.
.As I observed before, when the election was
over at Bristol I returned to Rowfant, in Sus-

HENRY HUWT, 30
sex, by the way of Botiey, in Hampshire, to
congratulate my friend upon his release from
Newgate, and to talk over the election at
Bristol. When I arrived there with my
friend Davenport, Mr. Cobbett received us
with that hearty welcome which he was ac
customed to give; but the other part of the
farriily behaved in the most rude, unhand
some, and disgusting manner, both to Mr.
Davenport and myself. I shall not descend to
particulars ; but I am sure my friend Daven
port will never forget it, as long as he lives.
There is, however, no accounting for the con
duct of some women. Mr, Cobbett was al
ways, as far as I was capable of seeing,
a kind and indulgent husband, as well as a
most fond father, and this he carried even to
a fault ; and it now appeared very evident
that he began to feel his error. But perhaps
Socrates would never have proved himself so
great a philosopher, if he had not been blessed
with the little ripplings of Xantippe.
I returned to Rowfant, where every thing
had gone on pretty well in my absence, under
the care of my brother and my old Wiltshire
servants. The hay was all made, and the har
vest was near at hand. I soon recovered from
the excessive exertion which I had undergone
at Bristol, an exertion, such as few men ever

40 MEMOIRS OF
overcome, and in consequence of which, my
family always said, I was seven yedrS older.
It is a fact, that my hair turned grey during
the three weeks that I was at Bristol, and I
have no doubt but it was occasioned by exces
sive mental and corporeal efforts. On our ar
rival at Rowfant we found the infamous letter,
which was written from Bristol to my family,
giving a detailed and sanctimonious account
of my death. I have met with a great num
ber of base scoundrels during my political hfe,
but it was reserved for the gentlemen of
Bristol to find among them a monster in
human form, capable of committing so detest"
able and cowardly an act as that. The pepple
of Bristol are proverbial for their bravery;
witness the Belchers, Pierce, Neate, &c. but
wh^t is called the gentry of Bristol," witha
very few exceptions, are the most mean, das
tardly, selfish, and cowardly of their speciesJ
Burke's definition of a Bristol merchant is
truly characteristic. " He has no churob but
the Exchange; no Bible but his ledger; and
no God but his gold ! ! !" Burke stood a con
tested election for Bristol, and represented
that eity many years in Pariiament, and he
well knew the character of the dominant
classes.; I believe that this raceof Bristolians
are greatly degenerated since Brirke's^ time.

HENRY HUNT. 41
The people, the populace, are bi^ve, gene
rous, and humane; but the merchants and
gentry, as l^ey are called, are the most selfish,
the most corrupt, the most vulgar, the. most
ignorant, the most illiberal, and the most
time-serving race that are to be found in
Europe. It is said that a Bristol miri is known
all over the world for his underhanded, tricks
ing, overreaching, sharper-hke dealing; he
is described to be exactly the . reverse of, a
Liverpool raerchant ; and it is added, (and the
sarcasm is not too bitter) that you may knoV
a Bristol merchant, by his always sleeping
with one eye open. There are,, o# course,
some very honourable exceptions', though I
am cpmpeUed to say, that I met with very few
instances of liberality. Christian charity, or
even common honesty amongst tfrem, whilel
was there. The Corporation is the ricjjipst in
the world, perhaps, except London ; while the
freemen, whose property goes to enrich the
said Corporation, are »the very poorest frie-
men in the world. Queen Anne granted a
charter to the city, by which the daughters ofa
freeman confer upon their husbands the right
of voting at an election. Tradition say Sf that
the Queen, when at BristPl, took n<^ice that
the women were so remarkably plain, that she
conferred this boon upon them as a sort of
VOL. III.' G £^

42 ¦ MEMOIRS OF
dower ; so^at whoever marries the daughter
of a freeman, is himself immediately entitled
to tb| freedom of the city. So that the free
dom ;of Bristol may be gained by birth, by
marriage, or by servitude. While, however,
I relate this j^ircumstance, I do riot mean to
concur in the assertion, that the women of
^Bristol are proverbially ugly ; on the contrary,
some of them are very pretty; and I recollect
tljat, when- 1 was a young man, Bristol justly
iboa®ted of having given birth to one of the
handsomest women of the age. Miss Cle
mentina, Atwood, who was a native of Bristol,
was, af the period when I knew her, univer
sally esteemed, and in my estimation was
the most beautiful, elegant, and accomplished
female in the British dominions. I remember
riding frono^lnford to Bristol and back again,
a distgince of ninety-two miles, on the same
day, only for the chance of passing a few
hours in her society ; and the worst of it was,
that I was disappointed at last, as she had
left Bristol for a few days, with her friend
Miss Rigg, whose mother was just deceased.
But I passed the day with her cousins, and
retumed home in the evening.
I nbw directed iriy attention towards the
management of my farm, with as much zeal
as I had recently directed it to the con-

HENRY HUNT. _^ 43
cerns of the election. My natural disposi
tion, my taste, and my habits, all led me to
the eryoyment of domestic comforts, in a rural
sphere. I was always doatingly fond of the
country, country pursuits, and a country life-
The sports of the Afield — hunting, shooting,
&c., tp me afforded the most captivating de
light. The pleasures of cultivating the soilj^^
and attending to the growth and progress of
the crops, can only be known to, and can only
be estimated by, one who has a perfect know- '
ledge of agricultural pursuits. Then, the
domestic felicity enjoyed in a quiet, cheerful
country house, surrounded by one's own fa
mily, and every now and then a good neigh
bour and sincere friend dropping in, has
always , been to me that sort of exquisite en
joyment which I could never find in any other
situation, or in any other occupation. My
natural taste, is so doraestic, that I should not
wish, on my own account, ever to mingle 'in
the busy b^aunts pf man. I cbuld freely re
main in the country, and never enter a city
or a town again. Nothing but a sense of
^public duty should ever induce me to sacrifice
myself by residing in a tpwn ; and if Fcould
once see my country free, and the people
happy, and honestly represented, the greatest
blessing I could wish for, would be, to pass

44 MEMOIRS OF
'¦i

uninterrupted, a tranquil old age in the coun
try, far aWay from the harassing turmoil,
danger, and misery of boisterous, unpro
fitable politics.. But the man who would '
immolate the interest, the, honour, the free
dom, and the happiness^ of his country, to
gratify his own love of ease and comfort, is
(imworthy the name of patriot. I can scarcely
hope to be permitted to enjoy such unmixed*
bliss, such delightful tranquillity, during the
; remainder bf that short race which I have to
run in this sublunary world ; neither shall I
sigh alpine after that, which it appears fate
has forbidden.
In the early part of this year 1812, there
had been great riots in the North ; great mis
chief was done at and near Nottingham, by
the Luddites destroying knitting frames. On
the 9th of January, a number of those Lud-
d^es were taken up at Nottingham, for break
ing frames,* and they showed a spirit of resist
ance, and had several skirmishes with the
military. On the 16th of March, the Spa
nish constitution was settled by the Cortes,
which Cortes abolished the Inquisition is^
Spairi, on the 20th of June. On the 9th of
May, Nqpoleon left^ Paris for Poland, and
entered upon that fatal campaign which
ended in his ruin. The Senate met in Paris;

HENRY HUNT, '45
and decreed extraordinary levies of soldiers,
and an immense army was formed, to at
tempt the subjugation of Russia. Both Prus
sia and Austria had now signed treaties of
alliance with France. A negociation was
entered into between France andjR-ussia, but
without success; and the latter power con
cluded treaties with England and Sweden.
Having passed the Vistula, Napoleon declared
war against Russia on the 22d of June. The
French then advanced, and entered Wilna on
the 28th of June; upon which the Russians
formed a plan of a gradual retreat, and the
invaders pursued them towards the Russian
frontiers. Many partial actions took place,
and on the 17th of August, the Moscovites
sustained a severe defeat at Smolensko, which
city they set on fire before it was entered by
the French. A second battle was fought at
Viasma ; but that at Borodino, on the 7th of
September, was most decisive in favour of the
French;, when the Russians, having been
corapletely routed, left open the road to Mos
cow, into which city Buonaparte entered on
the 14th ; Rostophin, the Russian Governor,
having taken the dreadful resolution to have
it set on fire in various quarters, previous to
the entry of the French army. He accomplish
ed his purpose by means of criminals, wbom

46 MEMOIRS OP
' ".. 0- . - '.
he employed under the promise of havmg
their lives savfed. It is said, , that 30,000
Russians were burnt in this city, whose
wounds rendered them incapable of escaping
frora this terrible conflagration. Half the
City was destroyed before Napoleon and his
troops entered, and the work of ruin was
nearly completed before a stop could be put
to the flam(?s. Napoleon ordered the execu
tion of all those that were detected in spread
ing and increasing the fire. This city being
mostly built of wood, nothing- cojild equal
the d^^^dful ravages which the flairies com
mitted. Calculating too Confidently upon the cha
racter ofthe Emperor Alexander* alone, which
he knew well to be timid and indecisive, and
anticipating that the moment he approached
his capital, the Russian sovereign would sue
for peace, in which case the French troops
might take -up their winter quarters in Mos
cow with perfect safety. Napoleon had pushed
on to Moscow so late as the 14th of September,
the time when a Russian winter was already
approaching. In thus calculating upon thfe
fears of his enemy. Napoleon was perfectly
correct, and it was weU known that Alexander
would come himself, with open arms, as he
Jad»j|efore done, to ask for terms of peace

HENRY HUNT. 47
from Napoleon, the moment after the decisive
battle of Brorodino, if he had not been pre
vented by his nobles. It was by his. not taking
the nobles into the account that the French
Emperor failed in his calculations. It is con
fidently said, and I can readily believe the
fact, that Alexander was threatened with
sharing a similar fate to that which was in
flicted upori his Father Paul, if he offered to
make any terms with Napoleon ; these nobles
having determined to burn not only Moscow,
but, if necessary, Petersburgh itself, and three-
fourths of the inhabitants, in order to harass
and destroy the French army by the frost, as
they weU knew that they could not conquer it
by arms.
I will now leave Napoleon amidst the ruins
of Moscow, and. return to what was passing
in the southern parts of Europe; and if I
dwell a considerable time on the events bf
this year, my readers must recollect that it
was the most interesting period in the history
of the world, and that more important events
occurred in this year than in any other that I
have recorded.
In England, the manufacturing population
began to suffer the greatest distresses, and
consequently rioting and Ludditism were the
order of the day. Great and destructive riots

48 MEMOIRS OF
occurred at Macclesfield, Manchester, Leeds,
Sheffield, Nottingham, and various towns in
the North: the people were ignorant of the
cause of their distresses, and they wreaked
their vengeance upon the knitting frames,
machinery in general, and destroyed the pro
perty of their eraployers. These excesses
theywere, no doubt, led to in consequence
of the delusions and deception practised upon
them by the venal hireUngs of the public press,
under the influence and controul of the Go
vernment, Every particle of the real liberty
of the press was nearly destroyed; almost
every liberal writer in the kingdora had been
prosecuted by the ex-officio informations of
the vindictive and remorseless tyrant, Sir Vi
cary Gibbs, the Attorney-General, encouraged
by the equally cruel and remorseless 'Chan
cellor of the Exchequer, Spencer Perceval,
Mr. Cobbett, Messrs. Hunts, of the Examiner,
Mr. Drakard, of the Stamford News, Mr. Peter
Finnerty, and other literary characters, were
incarcerated in the dungeons of the borough-
mongers. Under this system eight persons
were executed at Manchester for rioting,
and many others suffered death in various
parts of the country.
WhUe Napoleon in person had been suc
cessful in every battle thathe fought, and had

HENRY HUNT, 49
penetrated even to the Russian capital, his
Generals in the south had been much less suc
cessful, probably in consequence of the main
energies of the empire being directed to the
great object of subduing the powerful Autocrat.
The French armies in Spain sustained several
signal defeats. Ballasteros defeated the French,
and the grand combined army, under Wel
lington, stormed Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajos.
This army also took Salamanca on the 16th
of June. On the 1st of July it was ascertained
that the number of prisoners of war in England
Was 54,517. Another battle was fought at Sala
manca, on the 23d of July, when the French
were again defeated by Wellington's army.
Onthe llth of Augtist, Lord Wellington en
tered Madrid, and on the following day the
French evacuated Bilboa. On the 19th of
August, Soult abandoned the siege of Cadiz,
and on the 27th Seville was taken by the com
bined army of English and Spaniards. It is
necessary to record the fact, that during the
whole of the war in Spain, whenever the
French obtained possession of a place, the
inquisition was abolished; whenever the En
glish got possession, the inquisition was re
stored with all its tei-rors, untU at length the
Cortes formally caused it to be abolished, in
the latter end of June, in this year.
VOL. IIL H

50 * MEMOIRS OF
While these things were going on abroad,
an event occurred at home that caused a great
political sensation throughout the whole king^
dom. On the llth of May, Mr. Spencer Per
ceval, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was
shot in the lobby of the House of Comraons,
by Mr. John BeUingham. It is an extraordi
nary coincidence, that Mr. Perceval shoujd
thus come byhis death, at the threshold of the
House of Commons, on the anniversary of the
ever-memorable day on which Mr. Maddocks
made his motion, in the House of Commons,
charging him and Lord Castlereagh with hav
ing been concerned in trafficking for the seat
of Mr. Quintin Dick, in Parliament, into the
.grounds of which raotion the Honourable
House refused to inquire. BeUingham never
attempted to make his escape, which he might
easily have done in the confusion which the
event created. After the consternation had a
little subsided, some one present, who had
been brought out of the House by the report
ofthe pistol^ inquired who was the murderer?
BeUingham replied, " I am the man that
killed Mr; Perceval;" upon which he was
seized and searched, and another pistol loaded
was found in his pocket; He was then taken
into the House of Commons, and being exa
mined, he admitted the fact, adding, " I have

BfENRY HUNT. 51
been denied the redress of my grievances
by Government; I have been ill-treated, I
sought redress in vain, and I feel sufficient
justification for what I have done." The fact
was, that Mr. Bellingham was a merchant of
Liverpool, and had, while in Russia, been
wrongfully accused and thrown into prison by
the Governor-General. He applied to the
English Consul, Lord Leveson Gower, for
redress, but his application wasvfruitless. He
had suffered great pecuniary losses in conse
quence, and when he returned to England, he
laid his case before the Governraent, who at
flrst treated his application with neglect, and
ultimately refused to grant him any redress,.
or to inquire into the cause of his complaint.
He was then induced to draw up a petition; to be
presented to Parliament ; but he was informed,
that it was necessary to obtairi the consent
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, before
his petition could be received, as it prayed
for pecuniary remuneration. He applied in
vain; and, in his own words upon his trial,
" he was bandied about from one Minister to
another," tiU he became desperate. He then
wrote a letter to the Magistrates at Bow-
street, to inform them, that unless his case
was inquired into, " he should feel justified
in executing justice himself." Justice, and:

52 MEMOIRS QF
justice only," said he, " was my object,
which Government had uniformly denied me,
and the distress it reduced me to, drove me to
despair. In consequence, and purely for the
purpose of having this affair legally invest!*
gated, I gave notice at the Public-Office,
at Bow-street, requesting the Magistrates to
acquaint his Majesty's Ministers, that, if they
persisted in refusing justice, or even to per
mit me to bring my just petition into Parlia
ment for redress, / should be under the
imperious necessity of executing justice my
self? At length I was told, by a Mr. Hill,
at the Treasury, that he thought it would be
useless for me to make further application to
the Government, and that I was at full liberty
to take what measures I thought proper for
redress. Mr. Beckett, the' Under Secretary
of State, confirmed the same, adding, that
Mr. Perceval had been consulted, and could
not allow my petition to come forward.
TJ'hus a direct refusal of justice, with a carte
blanche to act in whatever manner I thought
proper, were the sole causes of the fatal
catastrophe; and they have now to reflect
upon their own impure conduct for what has
happened." Mr. BeUingham was found guilty
and sentenced to death, and was executed in
the front of Newgate, on the Monday follow-

HENRY HUNT, 53
ing. Previously to his being taken upon the
scaffold, one of the Sheriffs put some very
impertinent and unfeeling questions to him,
which he answered with great coolness and
dignity. In fact, from the time of his com
mitting the deed, he conducted himself with
the greatest calmness and courage; he made
a most eloquent defence, always ackripwledged
the fact, but vindicated it to the very last
moment of his existence. No man was treated
with greater neglect, no one endeavoured
more to gain a hearing and a fair inquiry
into his case; but, alas! justice was denied
him; and injustice will drive the soundest
mind to acts of desperation. His answer to
a most unfeeling and impertinent question of
one of the Sheriffs was, — " \ bore no resent
ment to Mr. Perceval as a man — and as a
man I am sorry for his fate. I was referred
from Minister to Minister, from office to
office, and at length reftised all redress for
my grievances. It was my own sufferings
that caused the melancholy event ; and I hope
it wiU be a warning to future Ministers to at
tend to the applications and prayers of those
who suffer from oppression. Had my petition
been brought into Parliamerit, this catastrophe
would not have happened." Sheriff — " I
hope you feel deep contrition fbr the deed?"

5^ MEMOIRS 6r
Upon wbich the prisoner drew up, and said,'
with a severe firnmess, " I hope. Sir, I feel as
a man ought to feel." After the cap had been
drawn over bis face, at the moment when h®
was going out of the world, his ears were
saluted with " God bless you ! God Almighty-
bless you !" issuing from the lips of thousands.^
He met his fate with the greatest fortitude'
and resignation, and left the world apparently
with an unchangeable impression that he had
only committed an imperious act of necessity, an
act of justice. I am one of those who will
never assent to the justice of taking away the
life of man in cold bjood, upon any other
principle than that of law, and laws made,
too, by universal consent. A man put to
death in cold blood, deUberately executed, in
pursuance of any law that is not made by
common consent, ihut is, by the assent of the
whole community,. I shall always hold to be-
murdered; this consideration alone is quite
sufficient to justify the demand for univer
sal suffrage. If the laws had been made
by persons chosen by the whole people, Mr.
Perceval would not have been shot ; it was the
want of an honest House of Commons that
made Mr. Perceval a tyrant ; it was the pro
tection that he was sure of receiving, from a
corrupt majority of a corrupt and packed

HENRT HUNT, 55
House of Commons, that induced him to per-
jsevere in denying justice to Mr. Bellingham ;
and if ever a man received the reward of his
own injustice, it was Mr, Perceval. I repeat,
that I by no means defend assassination ; but
in examining an act we must be careful to in
quire whether some palliation of it may not
be found in the motive by which it is prompt
ed. This was an extreme case ; Bellingham
had been grievously oppressed, he could not
obtain justice from the Government; he could
not even make his case known in any way
except by raeans of a petition to Parliament ;
and, as he had asked for remuneration for his
losses, his petition could not, according to a
rule of the House, be presented without the
consent of the Minister or the Chancellor of
the Exchequer. At the end of eighteen
months of hope and fear and agony, Mr. Bel
lingham found that the consent of Mr. Per
ceval was positively refused ; he was driven to
despair, and he shot him. It may not be
amiss to say a few words here respecting Mr.
Perceval. He had become, most unexpect
edly. Chancellor ofthe Exchequer. He was a
lawyer, and hadbeen hired as the advocate of
the Princess of Wales. During the "delicate
investigation," he had not only made hiraself
master of all her secrets, but, it is said, had

56 MEMOIRS OF
also obtained the knowledge ofall the private
history of the iJoykl Family, particularly of
the Prince of Wales. When the " delicate
investigation" was closed, and the Commis
sioners had acquitted the Princess of aU the
charges brought against her, the Morning
Post announced that two gentlemen of the
Bar had been employed by the Princess, to
draw up a report of the matter, which would
speedily be published. The fact is, that Mr.
Perceval did print this book, but he suppres
sed it, and became Chancellor of the Exche
quer and First Lord of the Treasury. If he
did not betray his raistress, the Princess of
Wales, which is doubtful, there can be no
doubt that he at least deserted her for place
and power. All his family and political con
nections, of course, lamented his deatb ; but
it cannot be disguised that the people were
far differently affected by it, and, in many
parts of the kingdom, they openly testified
their feeling by acts of public rejoicing. There
was a woeful howling set up by the writers of the
Ministerial press, about the great loss of Mr.
Perceval, on account of his being such an ex
cellent husband. According to the statement
of these hirelings, there was not such another
husband in the kingdom; and a very large
pension was in consequence settled upori his

HENRY HUNT. 57
wife ; it being urged in the House of Com
mons, that, as the loss sustained by Mrs. Per
ceval was not only irreparable, but beyond all
precedent, that loss ought to be made up to
her in the magnitude of her pension — an ar
gument worthy of the sound sense and honour
able principles of those by whom it was urged.
The best answer, however, to these hypocri
tical pleadings, was given by Mrs. Perceval
herself; for, in a very few months after the
decease of that best of all possible husbands,
that nonpareil of married males ; yes, in a
few short months after her irreparable loss, his
disconsolate widow concealed herself in the
arms of another and a younger husband !
I had riot long returned from Bristol before
I repaired to London, and formally presented
a petition to the House of Commons, against
the return of Richard Hart Davis, Esq., as
Member for Bristol. The petition charged
him with bribery, intimidation, and the intro
duction of a military force during the election,
contrary to the statute law of the land. 1
also entered into the proper recognizances,
and gave security for trying the merits of the
election, before a comraittee of the House of
Cpmmons. In the mean time Mr. Cobbett published
a secpnd letter, as follows : —
VOL. III. I

5§ MEMOIRS OF
TO THE INDEPENDENT ELECTORS OP BRISTOL.
'Gentlemen,— If I have not to congratulate you upon
the return of Mr. Hunt as your representative, I may well
congratulate you upop the spirit which you have shown
auring the election, and upon the prospect of final success
from the exertion of a similar spirit. That another contest
will take place in a few months, there can be no doubt ;
for, the law allows of no exceptions with regard to the use
of soldiers. The ancient common law ofEngland forbade
not only the use, but the very show of force of any kind,
at elections ; and, the Act ofParliament, made in the reign
of King George the Second, is quite positive as to a case
like yours. That Act, after . stating the principle of the
Common Law as to soldiers in an election town, says, that,
when an election is about to take place in any city or bo
rough, wherein there are any soldiers stationed or quar-
. tered, the soldiers shall be removed out of the said city or
borough ; that they shall go out one day, at least, before
the poll begins ; that they shall not return till one day, at
l6ast, after the .poll has closed ; that the distance to which
they shall be removed, shall be two miles at least. There^
are a few exceptions, such as Westminster or any other
place where the Royal Family may be, who are to have
their guards about them whether there be an election
^oing on or not ; and also,in case of fortified towns, where,
though there be an election going on, soldiers are to re
main in sufBcient number to take care of the works.
Now, then, as Bristol is neither a place of residence of
the Royal Family, nor a fortified town, it is clear, that, if
soldiers have been suffered to remain in, or to return to,"
your city within the periods above described, the election
must be void ; or, there is, at once, an end to the above-
mentioned Act of Parliament, and also to the ancient com
mon law ofEngland in this respect, and the very show of
freedom of election is gone. It has not only been stated
tome from the best authority ; but, ithas been stated in
print by your well-known enemies, that soldiers were not
only brought within the precincts of your city, during the
time thai the poll was open, but that they actually were
stationed, with bayonets flxed, in the very Guildhall;
and, in short, after the first or second day of the election,
the city was under the control of military armed men.
This being the case, there can be no doubt of the elec
tion being declared void ; or, if it be uot, there will, at
-any rate, be no disguise ; it will become openly declared.

HENRY HUNT. 59
that soldiers, under the command of men appointed by the
King, and removeable at his sole will, can be, at any time,
brought into a place where an election is going on, and
can be stationed in the very building wherethe poll 'is
taken. Whether, amongst the other strange things of
oui: day, we are doomed to witness this, is more than I
ean say ; but, at the least, it will be something decisive-.,'
something that will speak a plain language ; something
that will tend to fashion men's minds to what is to come.
But, I have heard it asked: " would you, then^ in no
" case, have soldiers called in during an election ? Would
" you rather see a city burnt down V Aye would I, and
to the very ground;- and, rather than belong to a city
where soldiers were to be brought in to assist at elections,
I would expire myself in the midst of the flames, or, at
least, it would be my duty so to do, though I might fail
in the courage to perform it. But, why should a city be
burnt down, unless protected' by soldiers ? Why suppose
any such case ? Really, to hear some men talk now-a-
days, one would be almost tempted to think that they look
upon soldiers as necessary to our very existence ; or, at the
least, that they are necessary to keep us in order,, and that
the people of England, so famed for their good sense, for
their public spirit, and their obedience tO' the laws, are
now a set of brutes, to be governed only by force. If
there are men who think thus of the people of England,
let them speak out} and then we shall know them. But,
Gentlemen, it is curious enough, that the very persons, .
who, upon all occasions, are speaking of the people of
England as being so happy, so contented, so much attach
ed to their government, are the persons who represent
soldiers as absolutely necessary to keep ihis same people iri,
order !
To hear these men talk, one would suppose, that sol
diers, as the means of keeping the peace, had always
made a part of our govemment ; and, that, as to elec
tions, there always may have been cases when the calling
in of soldiers was necessary. But, the fact is, that soldiers
were wholly unknown to the ancient law of England ;
and, that, as to an army, there never was any thing of an
army established in England till within a hundred,years.
How was the peace kept then ? How were riots sup
pressed in those times ? We do not hear of any cities
having been burnt at elections in those days. I will not
cite the example of America, where there are elections

60 memoirs of
going on every year, and where every man who pays a
sixpence tax has a vote, and yet where there is not a
single soldier in the space of hundreds and thousands of
miles ; I will not ask how the peace is kept in that coun
try ; I will not send our opponents across the Atlantic ; I
will conflne myself to England ; and, again I ask, how the
peace was kept in the times when there were no soldiers in
England i I put this questien to the friends of Corrup
tion ; 1 put this question to Mr. Mills, of the Bristol Ga
zette, whose paper applauds the act of introducing the
troops. This is my question : how was the peace kept at
elections, how were towns and cities preserved, how was
the eity of Bristol saved from destruction, in those days
when there were no soldiers in England? I put this
question to the apostles of tyranny and despotic sway;
and. Gentlemen, we may wait long enough, I believe,
before they will venture upon an answer.
I have heard it asked : " What ! would you, then, mak©
" an election 'void, because soldiers were introduced,
" though one of the candidates would have been killed,
" perhaps, without the protection of the bayonet ? Would
" you thus set an election aside, when it might be evident,
" that, without the aid of soldiers, the man who has been
" elected, would not, and could not, have been elected,
" Oft account of the violence exercised against him ? If
" that ,be the case, there is nothing to do but to excite
" great popular violence against a man ; for, that being
" done, you either drive him and his supporters from the
" polling place, or, if he call in soldiers, you make his
" election void." This has a little plausibility in it ; but,
as you will see, it will not stand the test of examination.
Here is a talk about exciting of violent proceedings ; here
is , a talk about burning the city : but, who, Gentleraen,
were to be guilty of these violent proceedings ? who were
to burn the city ? Not the horses or dogs of Bristol ; not
any banditti from a foreign land ; not any pirates who had
chanced to land upon the coast. No, no ; but " the rabble,
the mob ;" and what were they ? Were they a species
of monsters, unknown to our ancient laws and to the Act
of George the Second? Or were they men and women ?
If the latter, they were, in fact, people of Bristol ; and,
the truth is, that if the people of Bristol abhorred a mau
to such a degree that it was unsafe for him or his advoca,tes
to appear on the hustings, or in the streets ; if this was the
case, it was improper that that man should be elected.

HENRY HUNT. 61
since itmust be clear, that, if elected,he must owe his elec
tion to undue, if not corrupt, influence. What ! and d,o
the advocates of corruption suppose, that our law-makers
had not this in their view ? Is it to be imaginecj, that they
did not foresee, and, indeed, that they had not frequently
seen, that elections produced fierce and bloody battles ?
They knew it well, and so did the legislators in America ;
but, still they allowed of no use of soldiers. They reasoned
thus, or, at least, thus they would have reasonedf^if any
oneiiad talked to them of soldiers: 'No; we will have
' no soldiers. The magistrate has full power to keep the
' peace at all times, not excepting times of election, when
' assaults and slanders are no more permitted by law than
' at any other time. The magistrate has all the constables
, ' and other inferior peace officers at his command : he can,
, ' if he find it necessary, add to the number of these at his
* pleasure; and, if the emergency be such as not to allow
' time for this, he can, by his sole authority, and by virtue
' of his commission, which is at all times effective, ca][l
' upon the whole oif the people to aid and assist him in
' the execution of his duty, and for refusing to do which
' any man is liable to punishment. Having endued the
' magistrate with these powers ; having given him a
' chosen band of sworn officers, armed with staves; having
"' given him unlimited power to add to that band ; having
' given him, in case of emergency, the power of command-
' ing every man, of whatever age or degree, to aid and
¦ assist him in the execution of his duty ; having thus
' armed themagistrate, how can we suppose him to stand
' in need of the aid of soWiers, without first supposing the
' country in a, state, of rebellion, in whieh case it is non-
' sense to talk about elections. To tell us ahoat the po-'
' pular prejudices excited against a candidate, is to tell us
' of an insufficient qause even for the calling- out of the
' poss6 ; but, if this prejudice be so very strong-, so very
'general, andso deeply rooted, that the magistrate, with
' all his ordinary and special constables, and his power to
' call upon the whole of the people to aid and assist, is un-
' able to protect him from violence, or, is unable to pre-
' serve the city against the rage excited by his presence
' and pretensions; if there be a prejudice like this against
? a candidate, we are sure that it would' be an insult tothe -
* common sense of mankind to call such a man, if elected,
' the representative of that city,- and, therefore, we will
' make no new law for favouring the election of such a
' man.'

62 memoirs of
Such, Gentlemen, would have been the reasoning of
our ancestors, such would have been the reasoning of the
legislators of America, if they had been called upon (o
make a law for the introduction ot soldiers at an election ,•
¦which, let the circumstances of the case be what they
may> and let the sophistry ofthe advocates of corruption be
-what it may, is, after all, neither more nor less than the
forcing Of the people to suffer one candidate to be elected
and aiother to be set aside. The soldiers do, in fact, de
cide the contest, and cause the return of the sitting mem
ber ; unless it be acknowledged, that his election could
have been effected without them; and, then, where is the
justification for calling them in ? I have heard of nobody
who has attempted to anticipate any other decision than
that of a void election ; and, indeed, who will dare tb
anticipate any other ? For, if the return be allowed to
stand good in favour of Hart Davis, does any man pretend
that there can ever exist a case in which soldiers may not
be brought in ? They are brought in under the pretence '
of quelling a riot ; under the pretence of their being ne
cessary to preserve the peace, and where is the place
where this pretence may not be hatched ? It is in any
body's power to make a row and a flght during an election
at Westminster, for instance ; and, of course, accordingto
the Bristol doctrine, it is in any body's power to give the
magistrate cause for calling in soldiers, and for posting
them even upon the very hustings of Covent Garden. In
short, if Hart Davis, his return being petitioned against,
be allowed to sit, we can never again expect to see a can.-
didate of that description unsupported by soldiers ; and,
then, I repeat it, the very show, the mere semblance, of
freedom of election will not exist.
It being, for these reasons, my opinion, that the return of
Hart Davis will be set aside, and, of course, that another
election for your city is at no great distance, I shall now
take the liberty to offer you my advice as to the measures
which you then ought to pursue ; first adding to what I
said in my last a few observations relative to Mr. Hunt.
At the close of my last letter I observed to you, that it
was owing to this gentleman, and to him alone, that you
hadow election. You now know this well. You have
now seen what it is to have at your head a man of principle
and courage. With all the purses of almost all those in
Bristol who have grown rich out of the taxes ; witb all
the influence of all the corrupt ; with all the Bristol news-

HENRY HUNTi^ GQ,
papers and almost all the London newspapers ; with all
the Corporation of the City ; with all the bigoted Clergy
and all their next a-kin, the pettifogging Attorneys ; with
all the bigots, and all the hjrpocrites, and all alarmist
fools ; with all these ag-ainst him, and with hundreds of
bludgeon-men to boot ; opposed to all this, and to thirty
or forty hired barristers and attorneys, Mr. Himt stood the
poll for the thirteen days, in the face of horse ar^^foot
soldiersj and that, too, without the aid of advocate or
attorney, and with no other assistance than what was ren
dered him by one single friend, who, at my suggestion,
went down to him on the sixth or seventh day of the elec
tion. Gentlemen, this is, as 1 verily believe, what no
ether man in England, whom I know, would have done.
There may be others capable of the same exertions ; and,
let us hope, that England does contain some othSr men
-sible to undergo what he underwent ; but, it falls to the
lot of no country to produce >»amy such men. At any rat^,
he hss proved himself to be the man for you ; he has done
for you what none ofthe milk-sop, miawling- orators at Sir
Samuel Romilly's meetings would have dared even to
think of. They talk of freeingf the city from the trammels
of corruption ; they talk of giving you freedom of election ;
they talk of making a stand for your rights. What stand
have they made ? What have you had from them but talk?
They saw the enemy within your walls ; they saw him
offer himself for the choice of the people of Bristol ; they
saw preparations making for chairing him as your repre
sentative on the first day of the. election ; and what did
they do to rescue you from the disgrace of seeing him
triumph over you, while you were silent ? Nothing.
They did, in fact, sell you to him upon the implied, con
dition, that he, as far as he was able, should selj.his fol
lowers to them when thp time came. You have been
saved from that disgrace ; you have had 14 days of your
lives wherein to tell your enemies and the enemies of your
country your minds ; you have had 14 days, during which
corruption trembled under your bitter but just reproaches;
you have had 14 days of political instruction and inquiry ;
you have had those who affect to listen to your vpice 14
days before you, and in the hearing of that voice ; there
have been, in your city, 14 days of terror to the guijty
part of it. This is a great deal, and for this you are in
debted to Mr, Hunt and to him alone. Your own public
virtues, your zeal, activity and courage, and your hatred

64 memoirs op
of your country's enemies did, indeed, enable Mr, Hunt'
to make the stand ; but, still there wanted such a man as
Mr. Hunt ; without such a man the stand could not have
been made; without such a man you could not have had
an opportunity of giving utterance to the hatred which
you so justly feel agaiiist the supporters of that corrup
tion, the consequences of which you so sorely feel. '
Tfajit a man, veho wag giving such annoyance to the
corrupt, should pass without being calumniated, was not
to be expected. Every man, who attacks corruption, who
makes war upon the vile herd that live upon the people's"
labour, every such man mUst lay his account with being
calumniated; he must expect to be the object ofthe
bitterest and most persevering malice ; and, unless he has
made ijp his mind to the enduring of this, he had better,
at once, quit the fleld. One of the weapons which corrup
tion employs against her adversaries is calumny, secret as
well as open. It is truly surprising . to see how many
ways she has of annoying her foes, and the artifices to
which she stoops to arrive at her end. No sooner does a
WiatH become in any degree formidable to her, than she
sets to work against him in all the relationships of life. In
bis profession, his trade, his family; amongst his friends;
the companions of his sports, his neighbours, and his ser-
TOuts. She eyes him all round, she feels him all over,
and, if he has a vulnerable point, if he has a speek, how*
ever small, she is ready with her stab. ' How many hun
dreds Of men have been ruined by her vrithout beingj
hardly able to perceive, much less name, the cause ; and
how many thousands, seeing the fate of these hundreds,
have withdrawn from the struggle, or have been deterred
from taking part in it ! '
¦ Mir.* Hunt's separation from his wife presented too fair
, a mark to be for a moment overlooked ; but, it required the
canting crew, with a Mr. Charles Elton at their head,- to
give to this fact that deformity which it has been made to
receive. Gentlemen, I wish to be clearly understood here.
I do not think lightly of such matters. When a man
separates from his vnfe there must always be ground for
regret ; it is a thing always to be lamented ; and, if the
fault, in this case, was on the side of Mr. Hunt, it is a
fault, 'W^hich, even in our admiration of his public conduct,
we ought by no means to endeavour to palliate. But,
Gentlemen, I do not, and the public cannot, know what
was the real cause Of the separation of which so much has

HENRY HUNT. 65
been said. Mr. Hunt has, upon no occasion that I hava
heard of, attempted to justify his conduct, in this respect,
by stating the reasons of the separation ; but, I am sure
that you are too just to conclude from that circumstance,
that the fault was wholly his. It is impossible for the
public to know the facts of such a case. They cannot
enter into a man's family affairs. The tempers and hu^
mours of wives and of husbands nobody but those wives
and husbands know. They are, in many cases, unknown
even to domestic servants and to children ; and, is it not,
then, the height of presumption for the public to pretend
to any knowledge of the matter ?
But, be the facts ofthe case what they may, I am quite
sure, that as a candidate for a seat in Parliament, they
have nothing to do with the pretensionis of Mr. Hunt, any
more than they would have had to do with his claims to a
title for having won the battle of Trafalgar. There is a
Mr. Walker, who, I think, is an Attorney at Bristol, who
has written a pamphlet against Mr. Hunt, in which pam
phlet he argues thus : ' Mr. Hunt has, by quitting his wife
' to live with another woman, broken his plighted vows to
' his own wife; a man who will break his promises in one
' case will break them in another case ; and, therefore, as
' Mr. Hunt has broken his promises to his wife, he will break
' his promises to the people of Bristol.' These are not Mr.
Walker's words, but you have here his reasoning, and
from it you may judge of the shifts to which Mr. Hunt's
adversaries are drivfen. As well might Mr. Walker tell
you that you will break any promise that you may make
to your neighbours, because you have not wholly re-
nounce(ithe Devil and all his works, and all the pomps and
vanities of this wicked world, as you, in your baptism,
promised and vowed to do. If Mr. Walker's argument
were a good one, a man who' lives in a state of separation
from his wife ought to be regarded as a man dead in law ;
or, rather, as a man excommunicated bythe Pope, Ifhis
promises are good for nothing when made, to electors,
they are good for nothing when made to any body else.
He cannot, therefore, be a proper man for any body to
deal with, or to have any communication with ; and, in
short, he ought to be put out of the world, as being a
burden and a nuisance in it. - _ _
There is something so absurd, so glaringly stupid, in
this, that it is hardly worth while to attempt a further ex
posure of it, or I might ask the calumniating crew, who

&i memoirs of
Accuse Mr. Hunt of disloyalty, whether they are ready to
push their reasoning and their rulesup to peers and princes,
and to assert that they ought to be put out of power if they
cease to live with their wives. They wouJd say, no ; and
that their doctrine was intended to apply only to those
who had the boldness to attack corruption. The man
who does that is to be as pure as snow ; he is to have no
faults at all. He is to be a perfect Saint ; nay, he is to be
a great deal more, for he is to have no human being, not
even his wife, to whisper a word to his disadvantage.
" You talk of mending the constitution," said an Anti-
jlicobin to Dr. Jebb, when the latter was very ill, " mend
your own :" and I have heard it seriously objected to o,
gentleman that he signed a petition for a Reform of Par
liament while there needed a reformation amongst his ser
vants, one of whom had assisted to burden the parish ;
Just as if he had on that account less right to ask for a full
and fair representation of the people ! After this, who
need wonder if he were told not to talk against rotten
bdfoughs while he himself had a rotten tooth, or endea
vour to excite a clamour against corruption when his own
flesh was every day liable to be corrupted to the bone?
. After this, Gentlemen, I trust fhat you are not to be
cheated by such wretched cant. With Mr. Hunt's family
affairs you and I have nothing to do, any more than he has
with ours. We are to look to his conduct as a public man,
and, if he serve us in that capacity, he is entitled to our
gratitude. Suppose, for instance, the plague were in
Bristol, and the only physician, who had skill and courage
to put a stop to its ravages, was separated from his wife
and lining with the wife of another man ; would you re
fuse his assistance? Would you fling his prescriptions into
the kennel ? Would the canting Messrs. Mills and Elton
and Walker exclaim, " no ! we will have none of your
" aid ; we will die rather than be saved by you, who have
"broken your marriage vows!" Would they say this?
No; but would crawl to him, would supplicate him, with
tears in their eyes. And yet, suffer me to say. Gentle
men, that such a physician in a plague would not be more
necessary in Bristol than such a man as Mr. Hunt now isj
and that thefamily affairs of a Member of Parliament is no
more a matter of concern with his constituents than are the
family affairs of a physician a matter of concern with his
oatients. When an important service had been received
Jrom either, it would be pleasanter for the benefited party

HENRY HUNT. 67
to reflect that the party conferring the benefit was happy
in his family ; but, if the case were otherwise, to suppose
the benefit less real, or the party conferring it entitled to
less gratitude, is something too monstrously absurd to be
entertained by any man of common sense.
The remainder of my subject I must reserve for another
Letter, and in the mean while, I am, Gentlemen, your
sincere friend, Wm, COBBETT. .
Botiey, July 27, 1813.
By the insertion of these ' letters, which
were published at the tirae, I shall give the
reader a pretty clear insight into the whole
of my exertions at that period. My doing
this will show that I entertained and avowed
exactly ^|he same principles of politics at that
moment which I do at this moment, and that
I have not deviated to the right or to the left
ever since ; and thus I think I shall be ena
bled, by unquestionable documentary proof,
to shew that I have been the consistent un
deviating friend of universal liberty up to the
present day.
It was generally imagined that the re^turn
pf Mr. Davis would be rendered void by a
committee of the House of Commons, and \
was preparing my case and ready tb attack
him, as one of the most corrupt and unprin
cipled pillars of a corrupt administration',
when the Parliament was dissolved, by pro
clamation, on the 29th of September, which
at once put an end to my labours relating to
that petition. As soon as the Parliament

memoirs of

w^s dissolved, I addressed a public letter to
the Electors of Bristol, promising them to be
at my post on the day of election; which
promise, as will hereafter be seen, I scru
pulously observed.
As a petitioner, who had given the proper
securities to try the merit of his appeal, I
was entitled to a seat below the Bar in the
House of Comraons, and I occasionally availed
rayself of this privilege. During the latter
part of this Parliament, an interesting dis
cussion took place in the House of Coraraons,
upon the subject of the treatment of prisoners
in Lincoln Gaol, to which Mr. Finnerty and
Mr. Drakard had been sentenced by the
Judges of the Court of King's Bench (Lord
EUenborough, Judges Grose, Le Blanc, and
Bayley,) for the term of eighteen months eacb,
for Libels. Mr, Finnerty had previously sent
up a petition, but this discussion arose upon
Sir Samuel Rorailly presenting a petition
from Thomas Houlden, late a prisoner for
debt in the said Gaol of Lincoln. Sir Sarauel
moved for a coramittee of the House, to in
quire into the grounds of the complaint pre
ferred by Mr. Houlden against Merry-
WEATHER, the Gaoler, and Dr. Caley Illinp-
woRTH, a Parson Justice, and Visitmg
Magistrate.

HENRY HUNT. fi9
In the 22d volume of Cpbbett's Register, a
full and ample account of this interesting
debate is given, accompanied by some very
just and mo^t appropriate remarks. In speak
ing of Mr. Finnerty's conduct, in bringing
this affair before the public, Mr. Cobbett says,
" By his courage and perseverance he has
not only bettered his own condition, but that
of others also; and is now, I hope, in a fair
way of doing the public a still greater service.
The conduct of the Magistrates, as they are
called, but of the Justices of the Peace, as
they ought to be called, stands in need of
investigation more than that of almost any
pther description of men in authority; the
powers which they possess are, when one
reflects on them, really terrific ; if their con
duct is not to be investigated, what respon
sibility is there ? What check is -there ? And
in what a state are the people who are so
much within their power?" This was Mr.
Cobbett's opinion in 1812, but it appears that
similar dreadful evils in 1821 and 1822, are
not worthy Mr. Cobbett's attention, neither
have they been thought of suificient import
to excite the interest pf his readers, even al
though they have been grappled with and
exppsed in a much more efficient manner,
within the walls of Ilchester Gaol. I have

70 memoirs of
not the least doubt in my own mind, from
what I have heard from the most respectable-
authority, but that the Gaoler, Merry-
weather, and theParson Justice, Dr. Caley
Illingworth, were at that time equally
criminal with the Gaoler Bridle, and the Par
son Justice Dr. Hungerford Colston, at
the present time.
I believe, through the exertions of Sir
Samuel RomiUy, a comraission was sent down
to Lincoln, to inquire into the conduct of the
Gaoler, &c., and from that time forth the affair
was completely hushed up, and the said wor
thy Gaoler was considered as a rauch injured
calumniated man. This gentleman Gaoler,.-
it seeras, has feathered his nest pretty hand
somely. With a handsome salary, besides*
pickings, " cheese parings and candle-ends,"
&c. he has an elegant garden of two acres,
fitted up with hot-houses, &c. equal to any
nobleman's, the finest wall fruit, &c. &c. ; the
fruit from which waUs and hot-houses finds
its way upon the table of the Visiting Justices. ¦
By these and other means, Mr. Merrywea-
THER, I am told, contrives to lead the Wor
thies as completely by their noses as Bridle
did some of the Somersetshire Worthies.—
When, however, we call to mind who and
what these said Magistrates are, and how they

HENRY HUNT, 7J.
are appointed, this is not to be wondered at
so much. It should always be kept in recol
lection that ONE HUNDRED POUNDS a year
qualifies any man for a Magistrate ; and that
they are all appointed by the Lord Chancellor,
at the recommendation of the Lord Lieute
nant of the County, who is appointed by the
Ministers of the Crown ; and that, therefore,
the Lord Lieutenant take cares to recom
mend gentlemen whose principles and politics
are well known. In most counties they also
take care to have a sufficient sprinkling of
Parson# in the Comraission of the Peace, a
precious and over-whelming sample of which
breed we have in this county. I have fre
quently been admonished, by some very wor
thy men, for making use of the term Parson
so often, it being looked upon as rather deroga-
tpry to the Cloth; but, really, gentlemen
must excuse me. If the Clergy do not de
grade themselves, nothing that I can say will
ever bring them into disrepute. Why, it
was only the other day that I saw, by the
Police Report, published the 19th March, 1822,
I think it was, that a Clergyman of the Church
of England was committed tp one of the
Prisons of the Metropolis, as a rogue and
vagabond! I have accidentaUy laid my
hand upon it, and I will insert it as a proof
of what a Parson can be.^r

72 MEMOIRS OF
Guildhall.— ,R. S  , a clergyman who, we under
stand, once enjoyed considerable popularity, was brought
before Alderman Brown, on a charge of having com
mitted an act of vagrancy. Mr. Dunsley, hosier. Cheap-
side, stated, that on the previous night the prisoner came
to his shop, and begged Charity for himself and family.
He stated that he had not himself for a considerable time
tasted bread, and that his wife and children were lying in
a deplorable condition at some place in Ratcliffe-highvyay.
The prisoner was in a disgraceful state of intoxication.
The complainant, who knew hira, remonstrated with him
upon disgracing himself as an ordained clergyman, by pre
senting hiraself in such a condition. The prisoner upon
this. changed his tone, said he would have relief before he
quitted the shop, and became so violent in his abuse, and
so outrageous in his conduct, that the complainant was
under the necessity of availing himself ofthe protection of
an officer, to whom he gave the prisoner .^in custody.
This, the prosecutor said, was the third time ^m had been
so treated by the prisoner. The prisoner, in an eloquent
address, deprecated the wrath of the prosecutor, by ad
mitting that his conduct ha,d been most disgraceful. But
he declared it was done without the slightest reflection,
and that his aberrations were occasioned by a contusion
which he received on the brain whilst on service in Egypt.
His family, he admitted, were well provided for, and he
promised if he were this time forgiven, to retire to the
country, and endeavour to live upon his half-pay of fifty-
four pounds per annum, in solitude and repentance. All
the eloquence of the unfortunate Divine on this occasion
proved unavailing. Mr. Dunsley pressed the executioin of
the law, stating that he had on former occasions received
promises of this kind, which were never thought of by the
¦ prisoner after his release. The Alderman expressed great
pain at seeing a Clergyman in such a situation, but found
himself compelled to put the law inforce. He committed
the prisoner to the Compter for fourteen days, as a " rogue
and vagabond."

I could exhibit some living specimens of
Clergymen of the Church of England, in this
county, that would not only be a match for

HENRY HUNT. 7S
the worthy described in this police report,, but
would far surpass in infamy what is here held
up as an example to the world. I could pro4?
duce an instance of a man, or at least a thing in
the garb of a man, the opprobrium and scorn of
human nature, dressed up on a Sunday in the
robes of priesthood, mounted in the pulpit and
defiling the very show of religion, by pretend
ing to read and preach lessons of holiness and
godliness to those who, the night before, had
witnessed him ina state of beastly intoxication,
at a common village alehouse, not only degrad
ing the character of a clergyman, but even that
pfthe Ipwest and most abandoned ofthe human
speciies, by exhibitions of his person, most in-t
decent arid most revolting to humanity; nor am
I .alluding to this as a solitary instance of such
conduct, but to his common practice in the pre
sence of the lowest of his parishioners. I am
not drawing the picture of an iraaginary mon-
ster, but of a living clergyman of this county;
and I could describe others equally disgusting.
These a,re pretty examples of morality; these
are pretty specimens "of clerical purity ! There
is seldom a week passes over my head that I do
not receive some evidence of the abandoned
behaviour of some of the clergy; and is not this
a precious mee of men out of whidi to select
Magistrates! In fact, I scarcely ever see a
VOL. III. L

74 MEMOIRS Ot"

farmer, who has not some tale to tell me, of
the rapacity, immorality, or injustice^of some
one of these Parson Justices; one arip ail ex
claiming against the tythe systein, which does
more to uphold infidelity than ever did all the
works of Voltaire, Rousseau, Mirabaud, Paine,
and all the theological writers that ever ex
isted, put together.
Let it be always remembered, that I know
many very honourable exceptions, even in
this county, whieh appears to be notorious for
profligate and time-serving parsons; for in
stance, there is the Rev, Dr, Shaw, of Chelvey,
near Bristol ; a better christian, both in prin*
ciple and practice, does not exist. A more
horjpurable, upright, and publie spirited man
does not live; England cannot boast a raore
piqus and .exemplary divine'; in him is com
bined the gentleman, the scholar, the liberal
andvenlightened patriot, and real christiari.
He is an honour to his country, and he does
justice to that profession of which he forras
one of the brightest ornaments. Although
labouring under the pressure of ill health, and
approaching the age of eighty, this venerable
divine has made two pilgrimfiges, a distance
of nearly forty miles, to visit the " Captive
of Ilchester," during his incar<feration, to
console, to comfort, to cherish, and to cheer

HENRY hunt;* 75
him in his dungeon. What a contrast does
this wortiiy and pious clergyman furnish, to
the Clerical Parson Justice, Dr. Colston 1 It-v
would be dangerous for me to draw that con
trast; a person who did not know the fact
would scarcely believe that two dignified
clergymen of the same diocese, that two
doctors of divinity, could form two such op
posite characters. For the honour of the
county of Somerset, and of the cloth also, I
can boast the kindness and attention of many
other clergymen, and to no one do I stand
more indebted for repeated acts of that na
ture than to the patriotic and public spirited
clergyraan, the Rev. Henry Cresswell, the
Vicar of Creech St. Michael, I am proud
to bear testimony to his zealous co-opera
tion to assist me and the worthy Alderman
Wood, to procure the liberation of poor
old Mr. Charles Hill, who was falsely,^ im
prisoned and wrongfully detained in* this
Bastile for sixteen years. I had the hap
piness to see him liberated, in spite of his re
morseless persecutors, who have repeatedly
sworn, ever since I have been here, that he
should never leave Ilchester Gaol alive. It
will be recollected that it was this poor man's
sufferings that I made the ground-work of my
charges against the monster of a gaoler and

76 MEMOIRS OF
the Magistrates. How much more delightful
is the occupation to record the good, than the
evil deeds of one^s feUow creatures ; how much
more gratifying is it to rae, to write of a Dr.
Shaw, than of a Dr. Colston 1
When the Parliament was dissolved I was
at Rowfant, in Sussex, attending to my farra,
where Sir Francis Burdett and his brother
Jones Burdett had recently been to pay rae a
visit, for a few days. The Baronet wishing
to purchase an estate in that county, I showed
him over several that were to be sold, but he
saw none that he liked, except the one which
1 occupied, Rowfant House, and the estate
of a thousand acres of land attached to it.
This was certainly a most gentleman-like
property, and just such an estate as would
have suited the Baronet. The party who had
purchased it would also have been very happy
to have disposed of it, if they could, to have
got rid at once of the inconvenience of the
lease which they had granted to me ; and as
the Baronet appeared to have set his mind
Upon it, and had got the ready cash, so that
price did not appear to be an object to him,
there seeraed to be no obstacle; but, as I
saw the danger of a disagreeraent between
him and rayself, in case he should pur
chase it, I made him fully acquainted with

HENRY HUNT. 77
the nature of my lease, which empowered me
to grub up and destroy six thousand thriving
yourig oak trees ; a measure of all others that
would have been the most annoying to him,
because, instead of grubbing up one tree, he
would have planted thousands and encou
raged the growth of timber, which was so con-
genied to the soil. I perceived very clearly
that, were he to purchase the estate, he
would give me my own price for the lease,
or any sum, to save the tree's. Instead, how
ever, of thinking of my own interest, I was
anxious to avoid every thing that could pro
duce a quarrel or a shyness between us, and
therefore I took care to put him fully upon
his guard, and to conceal nothing from him,
expecting, at all events, that he would con
sult me about the terms that I would take to
give up the lease, or at least to give up that
part of it which empowered me to destroy
the timber. It was obvious to me that I
could make a handsome sum out of the Ba
ronet, which would have been of no small
importance to me, and yet would have been
nothing to him who was so rich. But I re
peat, that I acted from the most disinterested
motives, and far from planning how I could
make the most of him, I was excessively anxious
to avoid whatever might lead to any thing like

78 Memoirs of
a money transaction between us. For this
reason I unreservedly laid open the whole
affair to him, informing him upon what terms
I had offered to forbear to grub the timber,
and almost urging him not to think of pur
chasing the estate, with such a lease upon it,
tiU he had reflected whether he could approve
of my conditions for giving up the lease.
I believe that there were few men in the
kingdom who would have so acted as I did,
but I valued the friendship of Sir Francis
Burdett far above any pecuniary, considera
tion. The Baronet was a most delightful
visitor, a gentleman-like, easy, unassuming,
cheerful inmate ; and as we had every comfort
at Rowfant compatible with the residence of
a country gentleman, both he and his brother,
but particularly Sir Francis, expressed them
selves as well pleased with their reception as
we were with our visitors.
About a week after the Baronet left us, I
received a letter from the* persons who were
concerned for the proprietors of Rowfant, to
say that they had entered into a treaty with
Sir Francis Burdett for the estate at Rowfant,
which treaty they expected would be cora
pleted in a few days. I was rather surprised
at this intelligence; and although I concluded
that Sir Francis Burdett had made up his

HKNRY HVNT. 79
mind to purchase the estate and comply with
my terras; and although I knew that it would
answer the purpose of Sir Francis to give me
what I asked, even had it been double the
sum, yet I had a sort of inherent dread of
any money transaction between us, a sort of
presentiment that it might be the cause of
some disagreement, which might end in shy
ness. I therefore wrote to him immediately)
requesting him by all raeans not. to purchase
the estate till he and myself had settled de
finitively the terms upon which I was to give
him up the lease, as I knew that he was also
desirous at once to have the house as a resi
dence. I did this from the purest motives,
and from a most anxious wish not to have the
Baronet in my power; for fear that he might
suspect me of having made a raarket of him.
I believe, nevertheless, that the very means
that I took to prevent any chance of any thing
of the sort, tended to create a suspicion on his
part, and he sud*denly broke off the bargain,
and never mentioned the subject after except
in a casual manner. Thus did it happen, I
have no doubt, that, from an over delicacy
in striving to avoid every thing like the
shew of over-reaching, or taking advantage
of the Baronet's liberality, I excited in him
a suspicion which I by no means merited.

80 MEMOIRS OF
As it turned out afterwards that pohtical
disagreements occurred between us, I am,
however, raost happy that we never had any
the slightest money transaction. Sorae time
after this, I disposed of the lease of this estate
for five hundred pounds more than I should
have demanded of him ; a fact which proves
at once that I acted towards him in the raost
honourable manner, and that 1 had no reason
to regret his not having purchased the pro
perty. On the 15th of August Mr. Cobbett pub
lished his Third Letter to the Independent
Electors of Bristol, and, as these letters will
give the reader a clear insight into the whole
affair, I shall insert the whole of them in this
work. This Bristol election was a very im
portant transaction of my history, and one
to which, I have no doubt, I may fairly at
tribute some part of my sentence of two
YEARS AND SIX MONTHS, and a very consider
able portion of the perseciiPtion and ill-treat
raent which I have experienced from the local
authorities and Magistrates of this county;
and for this reason I wish to have the whole
placed fairly upon record.
TO THE INDEPENDENT ELECTORS OF BRISTOL.
Gentlemen, — Before I resume the subject, upon whicb
I addressed you in my last, give me leave to explain to
¦you what I mean by an independent elector. I do not

HENRY HUNT. 81
mean a man who has money or land enough to make him
Independent ; for, I well know, that money and land have
no such effect ; as we see every day of our lives, ver.y rich
men, and men of what is called family too, amongst the
meanest and most dirty dependents of the ministry or the
court. Independence is in the mind; and I call indepen
dent that man, who is, at all times, ready to sacrifice a
part, at least, of what he has, and to brave the anger and
resentment of those from whom he derives his living,
rather than act, in his public capacity, contrary to the
dictates of his own mind. This is what I mean by an
independent man. The journeyman who carries all his
fortune in a silk handkerchief is as likely to be an inde
pendent man as is a Lord or a 'Squire ; and, indeed, we
find him much oftener worthy of the name.
It is to men of this description that I address myself
upon the present occasion, and to their attention I now
beg leave to recall some of the circumstances of the late
election at Bristol, or, rather, the late contest; for, ac
cording to my notion of the law, there can be no election
where soldiers are present during any portion of the time,
from the beginning to the end of the poll.
Of the two candidates, generally, I have spoken be
fore ; but, I now wish to draw your attention more par
ticularly to the pleidges tendered you, and given you, by
Mr. Hunt. He promised and vowed three things: 1st.
That he never would, as long as he lived, either directly
or indirectly, pocket a single farthing oi the public money.
This, Gentlemen, is, with me, and so, I trust, it is with
you, a capital point. Indeed, it always appears to me ne
cessary to the safety of the electors, as far as the fidelity of
their member goes. If the man elected can take the pub
lic money, is not the temptation too great for most men?
In short, what can be more absurd, what can be more re
volting to reason, what more shocking to common sense,
than the idea of a man's being a guardian of the public
purse, while, at the same time, he votes, in that capacity,
part of the people's money into his own pocket ? In all
the other situations of life we see the payer and the re
ceiver a check, upon each other; but. in the case of a
Member of Parliament who receives part of the public
money, there is no such check.
We are often asked, whether we would wish gentlemen
of great talents to serve the country as Secretaries of State,
Chancellors of the Exchequer, Sec. &c. without any pay ?
yOL. III. M

82 MEMOIRS OF
To which I, for myself, answer no. I would not only have
them paid, but well paid ; but I would not have them sit
iri parliament while they received the pay. If we are told
that this is impracticable, we point to the experience in
its support ; for, in the United States of America, there
are no paid offlcers in the Legislature. No man can be a
raember of either House who is in the receipt of a six
pence of the public money under the Executive ; and,
what is more, he cannot receive any of the public money,
in the shape of salary, during the time for which he has
been elected, if the office from which the salary is derived
has been created or its income increased since his election.
This is the case in America. There are no chancellors of
the exchequer, no secretaries of state, or of war,, or of the
admiralty, in either House of Congress ; there is no Trea
sury Bench ; there are no ministers and none of those other
things of the sarae kind, and which I will not here name.
Yet is America now exceedingly well governed ; the peo
ple are happy and/ree ; there are about eight millions of
them, and there are no paupers ; in that country poor men
do not, to be sure, crawl almost upon their bellies before
the rich, but, there are very few murders. I lived eight
"years in the largest city in the country, and there was no
human being hanged, or otherwise put to death for a crime,
while I lived there. The country, therefore, must be
pretty well governed, and yet there is no member of either
House of the Legislature who is in any office whatever
under the government. The members are paid for their
time, and paid their expenses to and from theplace of sit
ting. They are appointed by the people and paid by the
people ; they are the people's representatives, and are not
suffered to be the servants of, or to receive pay from, any
body else.
Here, then, we have a proof, an experimental proof, of
the practicability of conducting a government without
giving placemen seats in the Legislature. And, though
the positive pledge may, in all cases, not be insisted on,
the principle ought to be clearly understood ; and, where
the candidate is not very well known indeed, and has not
had long trial, I am for insisting upon the positive pledge.
This pledge Mr. Hunt has given you, and you must be
well assured, that, if he were disposed to, break it, he
would not dare to do it. For this alone I should prefer him
to either of the other candidates, both of whora, all three
of whora, you may be assured, have in view either public
money or title, both of which Mr. Hunt disclaims.

HENRY HUNT. 83
The 2d pledge that Mr, Hunt has given you is, that he
will endeavour, if elected, to do away all the sinecure
places, and all the pensions not granted for real services.
This is a pledge which I deem of gteat importance. The
sum of money expended annually in thjs way has been
stated by Sir Francis Burdett at nearly a million of pounds
sterling, that is to say, a sum sufficient to maintain
125,000 poor people all the year round, supposing them not
to labour at all. I, for my part, should deem the abolition
of these places and pensions of far greater importance to
us than the gaining of a hundred battles, by land or sea.
The 3d pledge of Mr. Hunt is, that he will, if elected, do
all that in him lies to procure for the nation a peace and a
Reform ofParliament. Now, Gentlemen, look back for
the last 2#-years ; reflect on what has passed during that
time ; and then say, whether you sincerely believe, that this
nation can possibly continue in its present course much
longer. The finger of wisdom, of common sense, points
to peace as the only possible means of rescuing ourselves
from our dangers; but. Gentlemen, how are we to have
peace ? The terms offered by the Emperor of France are
fair ; they are, indeed, such as I never expected to see
obtained at the close of a negociation ; they would, if ac
cepted of, leave us in possession of all our conquests, of
all the Islands in the West Indies ; ofthe exclusive fishery
of Newfoundland ; of the Cape of Good Hope and the
French Settlements in Senegal ; of the French and Dutch
Settlements in the East Indies ; of the Isles of France and
Bourbon ; in short, they would leave us in possession of
about 40 millions of conquered people, while France her
self would not possess above 17 or 18 millions of con
quered people. And, which is never to be forgotten, they
would leave in our hands, the island of Malta itself,
which, as you well know, was the avowed object of the
war. Why, then, have we nqt peace ? Because we have
not reform, it being absolutely impossible, in my opinion,
for our present internal system to be continued during a
peace which should be accompanied with the usual con
sequences of peace. When the present war began, it was
stated by the then Minister, Addington, that we were at
tear because we could Tiot be at peace; and, I suppose,
that the same reason would now be giVen; for, otherwise,
it is, I think, impossible to account for the rejection of the
late overtures of the Emperor Napoleon, which, as I

84 MEMOIRS OF
have, I am persuaded, clearly shown in a former Register,
were both honourable and advantageous to England. Not
only, therefore, will this country, in my opinion, never
regain its former state of freedom and happiness without
a reform of parliament ; but, I ara convinced, that, without
such reform, it will never again have peace with France.
This being the case, it raust be an inexcusable folly for
you to elecf any raan who is not decidedly for a reform of
the parliaraent; and, amongst all your candidates, Mr,
Hunt is the only raan who has declared for that reforra.
The partisans of Sir Samuel Romilly say, that they doubt
not that he will declare for reforra. I do not think that he
ever will; at least, not till such men as Mr. Hunt shall
have made it inconvenient to be against reforra. If Sir
Samuel Romilly were for reform, why should he be so
loath to make the declaration? Hehas told you, that
those who promise most perforra least ; but, if this were
to be taken as a rule without an exception, there would,
at once, be an end of all pi?oraises and engagements be
tween raan and raan. In this case, however, the rule did
not apply ; for he raight have expressed his wish to see
reform ta,ke place without raaking any proraise upon the
subject. This he did not do; and, during the whole tirae
that he has been a candidate for Bristol, he has not once
mentioned, in any way, the subject of parliamentary
reforra. There is, besides, with regard to Sir Samuel RomiUy,
a most suspicious circurastance ; and that is, that his lead
ing partisans all belong to that corrupt faction, which has
been designated under the name of Whigs, and which
faction is, if possible, raore hostile to reform than the fol
lowers of Pitt and Perceval themselves. I have frequeritly
asserted, that the two factions cordially unite upon all
occasions, where an attack is raade upon corruption in
general, or where the interests of party are concerned.
We saw them join hand- in-hand and heart to heart when
the late Perceval and Castlereagh were accused by Mr.
Madocks, on the 1 lth of May, 1809, on the anniversary of
which day Perceval was shot, at the door ofthe very place
where he bad before triumphed. We saw them join in
rallying round that same Perceval when Sif Francis Bur
dett was sent to the Tower under the escort of thousands
of soldiers. We saw them join in reprobating the Address
to the Prince Regent proposed by Sir Francis Burdett.
In short, upon all occasions when something was to be

HENRY HUNT, 85
effected hostile, decidedly hostile, to the people, the two
factions have cordially joined ; they have, for the time,
become one. They. hate one another; they would de
stroy one another ; but, they love the public money more
than they hate one another ; and, therefore, when th,e
system is in danger, they always unite. They cordially
unite also against every raan who is hostile to the system.
They hate him even more than they hate each other;
because he would destroy the very meat that they feed on.
Hence, Gentlemen, the united rancour of the factions
against Mr. Hunt, and their united approbation of Mr.
Bragge Bathurst. But, of this latter we must take more
particular notice. There has appeared in the Bristol
newspapers a publication respecting a Meeting for the
purpose of uniting in a testimony of gratitude to Bragge
Bathurst. At this meeting the following resolutions were
passed ; but, I beg you to observe, first, the language
and sentiments of the resolutions, and next, who were
the principal actors in the scene. The whole of the
publication was as follows:  " At a General Meeiirig
of the Merchants, Traders, and other Inhabitants of this
City, convened by public advertisement, for the purpose
of uniting in a testimony of gratitude to their late Repre
sentative, the Right Hon. Charles Bathurst, — Thomas
Daniel, Esq. in the Chair, — the following Resolutions
were moved by Michael Castle, Esq. and seconded, by
John Cave, Esq. and carried unanimously: — Ist, That the
conduct of the Right Hon. Charles Bathurst has been dis
tinguished, during 18 years that he represented this City
in Parliament, by a meritorious attention to its local in
terest, and an invariable eeal for the individual concerns
of its inhabitants, entirely independent of every consi
deration of political party. — 2d, That in the retirement of
the Right Hon, Charles Bathurst from that elevated situa
tion which he so deservedly held amongst us, we feel de
sirous of testifying, in this public manner, the gratitude
we entertain fpr services that have reflected so much
honour upon his abilities and eccertions.-^3d, That a
Subscription be now entered into, for the purpose of pre
senting the Right Hon. Charles Bathurst with a perma
nent Token of our esteem and approbation of services that
have been so frequently called upon, and attended to
with so much advantage to the City at large. — 4th, That
a Committee be appointed of those Gentlemen who signed
the requisition for the call of this meeting, together with

86 MEMOIRS OP
any of those Who may be subscribers, for the purpose of
carrying into execution the wishes and intentions of this
meeting.— Sth, That the name of Mr. Robert Bruce be
added to the twenty gentlemen who have signed the re
quisition, for the purpose of forming a Committee, with
any other of the Subscribers.— 6th, That Mr. Thomas
Hellicar be requested to take upon himself the office of
Treasurer. — Thomas Daniel, Chairman."
Now, Gentlemen, you will observe, that here is as de
cided praise as men can bestow. Mr. Bragge is praised
for his eighteen years' conduct, though, during that time,
he has been doing every thing which the supporters of
Sir Samuel Romilly affect to disapprove of. To describe
his conduct under three heads, it has been this : he has
uniformly supported Pitt and the war ; he has uniformly
distinguished hiraself as an opponent of Parliamentary
Reform, and was one of the foremost in reprobating Mr.
Madocks's motion ; he has, during the 18 years of war and
national misery, been a great part of the time a placeman,
and he is now a placeraan in possession of a rich sinecure,
with immense patronage attached to it. And, it is for
conduct like this that these townsraen of yours are about
to give a testimony of their gratitude !
If, however, this were cwifined to the friends of Bragge
Bathurst, to those who profess his principles, all would
be in its place, all would be natural enough. But, you
will bear in mind. Gentlemen, that the two factions have
united here, and these resolutions, extolling to the skies
a. sinecure placeman, a Pittite, and a known and decided
enemy of reform of parliament; you will bear in mind that
these resolutions were moved by Mr. MICHAEL CASTLE,
the very^ man who introduced Sir Samuel Romilly into
your city ; the -very man in whose carriage Sir ' Samuel
Romilly entered your city ; the very man who filled the
chair at Sir Samuel Romilly's dinner. This was the man
selected to MOVE resolutions expressive of the gratitude
of the people of Bristol for the conduct of Bragge Bathurst,
the sinecure placeman, the supporter of Pitt and the war,
and the decided and distinguished enemy of parliamen
tary reform. This was the man, this Mr. Michael Castle,
to tell the world in the most solemn manner, that the
friends of Sir Samuel Romilly approved of the conduct Of
the very man, whom they, when canvassing you for your
votes, represented as unfit to be your member.
Gentlemen, can you want any further proof of the poli-

HENRY HUNT. 87
tical hypocrisy of such men as Mr. Charles Elton, and Mr,
Mills, and Mr. Castle ? Can you be made to believe that
they are sincere when they tell you that they wish for a
reform of any sort? The truth is, they wish to put in a
member of their own, that they may enjoy the benefit of
his patronage ; but, in doing this, they must take care not
to do any thing hostile to the system, for without the ex
istence of that all their prospects are blasted'. You see,
that they have in these resolutions, no scruple to declare
the vile and abominable principle upon which they act.
They here most explicitly avow, that they are grateful to
Bragge Bathurst for the zeal he has shown in the indi
vidual concerns of his constituents. That is to say, in
getting them places under the government ; or, in other
words, in enabling them to live upon the taxes ; that is
to say, upon the fruit of the people's labour. I told you ,
in my first letter, that they had no other object than this
in view ; that one part of them only wanted to put in Sir
Samuel Romilly that he might give them more of the
taxes than they had been able to get from Bragge Bathurst.
Mr. Hunt had told you this before ; and now you see the
fact openly avowed. The jobbers on both sides plainly
tell whoever is to be their candidate, that he must take
care of their individual concerns.
This„ Gentlemen, is the real cause of the hatred, the
rancour, the poisonous malice, of both factions towards
Mr, Hunt, who makes open war upon the tax-eaters.
This is the reason why they hate him. There are other
reasons, but this is the great reason of all ; and you may
be well assured, that you will see both the factions always
unite against any man, be he who he may, who -is opposed
to the system of places and pensions. But, what, then,
must be the extent of the hypocrisy of the friends of Sir
Samuel Romilly! They pretend that they wish for a
reform of parliament, when they must well know, that
such a reform would totally destroy the very root whence
spring those individual benefits for which they express
their gratitude to Bragge Bathurst. Sir Samuel Romilly,
as I had before the honour to pbserve to you, has never
told you that he is for a reform of the parliament; and,
after the publication of these Resolutions, moved by the
man who introduced him into your city, there are Very
few amongst you, I trust, who will not be convinced, that
his partisans are well convinced that he will not support
such a reform as shall give us a chance of destroying that

88 MEMOIRS OF
corruption which is now eating out the very vitals of the
country. Clear as it is, then, that both the factions are your
enemies, I hope that you will stand firmly by each other
in opposition to so detestable an union. Both factions are
hateful ; but of the two'the Whigs are the worst ; because
they disguise their hostility to the cause of freedom.
Take, however, only a little time to reflect, and you will
not be deceived by the cant of Mr. Charles Elton and Mr.
Mills, both of whom, I would venture my life, have
bespoke places for themselves in case of success to their
candidate. They well know that the success of Mr. Hunt
would defeat their scheme, and therefore they hate him.
' They do not dislike him for his separation from his wife ;
they would not give his wife a bit of bread to save her
life, if she was a beggar instead of being, as she is, well
and liberally provided for ; they would see her drop from
their door dead inthe street, rather than tender hera
helping hand; but, to speak of the separation suits the
turn of the hypocrites ; by having recourse to it, they can
cast calumny on their fOe without letting their real motive
appear. They would, if they dared, tell him that he is a
cruel savage for endeavouring to prevent them from
pocketing the public money ; but this would not suit their -
purpose ; and they therefore resort to his separation from
his wife.
. Trusting now. Gentlemen, that you see clearly the
motives of the two factions, and that their main objeotHs
to get a share of the public money, I shall not fear, that,
at another election, you will resolutely endeavour to
defeat that vile object. The whole mystery lies here. It
is the public raoney that the factions want to get at. They
are not attached to any particular set of men or of means.
Whoever or whatever will give them the best chance of
getting at the public money is the man or the thing for
them ;. and Sir Samuel Romilly has been brought forward
uponthe recent occasion, only because there were a set
of men, who found that they could not get so much of the
public money as they wanted under any of the other
candidates. They found the old ground too thickly settled
for them ; they therefore resolved to get new ground of
their own ; and they chose Sir Samuel Romilly, because
he was at once likely to be a placeraan, and was a man of
a good deal of deserved popularity. They, if he were
elected, would say as Falstaff did of the moon : " the

HENRY HUNT. 89
chaste Diana, uiider whose influence we steal." They
mean to make a passage Of him through which to get at
the people's earnings ; and, all this, too, under the guise
of virtue and patriotismr. With me there wanted nothino-
to produce conviction of this fact before ; and now, I
trust, that there is no man who will affect to doubt it ;
now when we see them moving and signing resolutions,
applauding the conduct of a member of parliament who
has become a sinecure placeman^ and who is notoriously
a most decided enemy of reform of parliament.
With these facts before him, it is not to be believed,
that any one amongst you will give his vote for this hypo
critical faction. If Sir Samuel Romilly will declare openly
for reform of parliament, you will do well to vote for
him and for Mr. Hunt; but, if he will not, it is your duty
not only not to vote for him, but to do all that lies in
your power to prevent his being elected ; for, be you well
assured, that, without a reform of parliament, no man
living can save this country or render it any essential ser
vice. There is no national evil that we feel, be it small
or great, which may not be traced to the want ofa parlia
mentary reform^ and such a reform, too, as shall cut up
corruption by the roots.
It is with great pleasure that I perceive Mr. Hunt has
promised you to be a candidate at Bristol at every future
election, as long as he has life and health, unless he should
be St member when a vacancy takes place for your city.
This promise ensures you an election ; it secures you against
being sold like dumb creatures ; it secures you the exercise
of your right of voting, and the right of now and then .
openly reproaching and loading with just maledictions
any of the wretches who may betray you. To be a mem
ber for Bristol, in future, a man must stand an election of
some days, at any rate ; no one will be able to get in by a
mere day's parade ; an election at Bristol will not in fu
ture be & ceremony like that of choosing a churchwarden ;
your voices will be heard, and, I hope, they will always
carry terror to the hearts of the corrupt. You have only
to persevere. To keep steadily on. To suffer nothing to
turn you aside. Your enemies cannot kill you, nor can
they do you harm. If they collect and publish lists of your
names.; you will do well to collect and publish lists of
theirs, &nd then stand your chance for the final effect.
But, above all things, be upon your guard against the
fraudulent dealings of the Whigs, who are the worst fac-
VOL. IIL N

#0 MEMOIRS OF
tion of the two, because they are the greatest hypocrite*.
They make use of the name of Sir Samuel Romilly as the
means of deceiving you, and of getting a share of tho
public money into their own pockets; and of this fact I
¦beg you never to lose sight,
I am, Gentleraen, your friend, i.-,
Wm. COBBETT, ;
-Botiey, Tuesday, lUbAuguit, 1812.
These three letters wiU give a clear view
of the state of politics at Bristol. I offered
myself as a candidate for that city, not with
the expectation of being returned as one of
the Members, but from a firm conviction,
and, indeed, a thorough knowledge, that it
was one of the most corrupt cities in the uni
verse; that the people had been kept in total
jgnorance and darkness by the intrigues and
cabals of the two factions, the Whigs and To-
¦ries, in which glorious and praiseworthy work
those factions had been ably assisted by the
local press of thecity. Matthew Gutch, the
Editor of Felix Farley's Journal, the Ministe
rial or Tory hack editor, and John Mills, the
Whig hack editor, two beings equaUy unprin
cipled in politics, had contributed raainly to
assist in perpetuating the ignorance of the
people ; the whole of the patriotisra of the
citizens consisting in being devoted tools
either to the Whig or Tory factions, blind
supporters of the high or the l<m party. It
wall be seen by these letters, that my great

HEiVRY HUNT. 91
object was to rescue the people of Bristol
from this deplorable state of ignorance and
darkness^ into which they had been plunged
by the intrigues and unpx'incipled compro
mise of these two factions. How far I was
successful in this attempt, may be best de
duced from the unwarrantable and villainous
abuse that was poured out upon me by all
the rascally editors of the public press of that
day. Gutch and Mills vied with each other
which could be most scurrilous, and whicb
could tell the greatest number of the most
unprincipled and barefaced falsehoods. It
will be seen also, from these letters, that I
was assailed by Mr. Charles Elton and Mr.
Walker, both supporters of Sir Samuel
RomiUy ; the former the son of Sir Abraham
Elton, and the latter an attorney, who pub
lished a pamphlet at the time on purpose to
abuse me. When I say that these two gen
tlemen were the most liberal minded men
in the City of Bristpl, you may form some
idea of the prejudice that was excited against
me, and the pains that were taken to put me
down. As, however, Mr, Elton and Mr^
Walker have made some amends, by ex
pressing themselves in a very different man
ner of me since I have been here, I am by
no means disposed to bear them any ill-will;

92 ' MEMOIRS OF
on the contrary, I think them two ofthe very
best men amongst the gentry of Bristol, and
an exception to the sweeping character which,
in my last number, I gave of the Bristol
gentlemen, although at the period to which
I allude they were two of the foreraost to
abuse and belie me. If either of thera should
read this, I have not the least doubt but they
will lament the injustice they did me ; the
naraes of both of them appear amongst those
who have subscribed to remunerate me for
some of my expenses; and I ara inforraed that
they liberally proraoted the Bristol petition,
that was presented to the House of Coraraons
last week by Mr. Bright, one of the Merabers
for that city. This evidently shews that, if
they still remain my political enemies, they
are at any rate liberal and generous foes ; but
I would fain hope that they have by this time
convinced themselves from observation, that
I am more deserving of their support than
their hatred and opposition. They will have
,:,seen that I have, ever since they first saw me
at Bristol, been the steady persevering friend
of Radical Reform ; they will see that I havo
always advocated the same principles; and
they wiU acknowledge that the very principles
and sentiments that I promulgated, during
the first election for Bristol, are become

HENRY HUNT, 93
almost universal now; that the Very same
language which I made use of upon the
pedestal, in the front of the Exchange, has
lately been made use of, and repeated almost
verbatim, by Nobleraen and Members of
Parliament, at county meetings; that the
very remedies which at Bristol I declared, in
1812, tobe necessary, to restore the country
to freedom and happiness, are now almost
universally aUowed to be the only remedies
in 1822. These letters, which were written
by Mr. Cobbett, I do not publish for the sake
of raking up any old grievances ; far from it :
but I do it for the purpose of maintaining
and proving my consistency, and also that,
whatever I may have erred in, my errors
have sprung from the head and not from the
heart. The reader has seen in these letters, that
I promised the electors of Bristol that I would
always be a candidate for Bristol, at all future!
elections; but this, of course, was condi
tional. When the proper time comes I shall,
I think, give a very satisfactory reason why
I did not keep this promise, or at least why
I was prevented from doing so; although
perhaps, it would, as it turned out, have
been much better for me, personally, if I had
gone there again, under all the disadvan-

94 MEMOIRS OF . '-
tages which 1 had to anticipate, rather than
have destroyed my health* and wasted my
property in opposing Sir Francis Burdett for
the City of Westminster. Still, however
much I raay have suffered upon that occasion,
I raust persist in thinking that a great public
good was effected by it. These things, how
ever, I shall at least honestly account for,
whether ray explanation prove satisfactory or
not, at the proper epoch of ray history.
The general election was to take place in
October. The Bristol election was fixed to
coraraence on the 6th of that raonth. On the
Sth I arrived once more in Bristol, and I was
received, if possible, with more enthusiasm
and greater demonstrations of respect than
ever by the people. A raost dirty trick was
played rae by Mr. Protheroe, one of the Whig
candidates. He and his friends, by bribes and
^threats, got possession of ray inn, the Talbot,
IfWhich ,1 had occupied upon the forraer occa
sion ; .arid, as I had arranged to go there
.iagain, it created sorae disappointment to my
friends, for these cunning feUows had taken
possession of this inn only the day before I
arrived in Bristol. My friends, however, took
me as usual to the Pedestal, at the Exchange,
where, in addressing the raultitude, I inforraed
them of this trick that had been played rae^:

HENRY HUNT, 95
which I had not been aware of till I came into
the city. But I soon convinced these gentry
that I was not to be driven out of the city by
such means, although I had been 'informed
that all the inn-keepers had been threatened
with the loss of their licenses, if they jidmitted
me into their houses. I declared niy resolu
tion to take up my residence upon the Pedestal,
where I then stood, if I could procure no other
accommodation. This sort of mean persecu
tion to which I was exposed, generally, how
ever, brings with it its own remedy; and I
soon had a message from the mistress of the
Swan-inn, in Mary port-street, that she would
furnish me with apartments. It appeared
that her husband was a partizan of the Whigs,
and would fain have kept me out of his house,
but the lady was resolute, and she discovered
a degree of spirit and independence, in which
the gentlemen of Bristol were lamentably defi
cient, and I was consequently received into,
very good- quiet apartments, and receive^^
every accoramodation and attention that I re
quired. ' ¦'fl-
There were four candidates — ^Mr. Davis,
the White Lion or Tory candidate, Mr.
Protheroe, and Sir Samuel RomiUy, both of
whom stood upon the Whig interest, and my
self, who contended^ upon true constitutional

96 MEMOIRS OF
principles, to maintain the right of the people
to free election. The moming came, and I
proceeded to the Exchange, where, while I
was addressing my friends who had assembled
in great numbers, inteUigence was brought to
me, that the Sheriffs, with the other three
candidates and their friends, were gone to the
GuildhaU, which was filled almost to a state
bordering upon suffocation. Thus, by another
trick, had these worthies stolen a march upon
me, by filling the haU with their friends
before the usual hour. As no tirae was to be
lost, I proceeded thither with as much speed
as the density of the crowd would permit. I
believe that no man except rayself would have
been allowed to penetrate Broad-street; but
I was cheered by friends and even foes, all
anxious to assist me to the hustings. When I
came to the haU-door, the steps were so jam
raed with the people, that it was irapossible to
penetrate through the solid raass of human
bodies, upon which one raan, at the top of
ihe stairs, hailed those at the bottom, as
follows: — " Mount Mr. Hunt upon your shoul
ders, ray friends, and let hira pass over us,
as he cannot get through the crowd." This
plan was instantly adopted, and I raarched
along deliberately stepping upon the shoulders
of those assembled, every individual endea-

HENRY HUNT. 97
to assist me, as I passed amidst the cheers of
the whole multitude ; but when I sprung upon
the hustings, the shout was such as made the
old walls of the Guildhall shake, and it was
actually so deafening that it was some time
before I could hear again. I found that the
greatest confusion and uproar prevailed, in
consequence of the Sheriffs having stopped up
and barricadoed the Two (raZfen'e* with three-
inch deal planks, lashed together with strong
iron plates and hoops. These galleries were
the very best places for the people to see the
election, as they completely overlooked the
hustings and the whole court, which was cal
culated more than any other circumstance to
secure fair play. At any rate, every trick,
quibble, arid foul proceeding, every fraud and
underhanded transaction, that had been at
tempted at the former election, by the agents
of the factions who had combined against rae,
was detected and exposed, and the detection
was exceedingly facilitated by my friends, and
the friends of fair play and the freedom of
election, some of whom took care to place
themselves in these galleries every day ; and
they were sure to be so completely on the
alert, that when, any thing escaped my obser
vation, it was sure to be instantly detected by
these watchful lookers-on, who, from their
VOL. III. o

98 MEMOIRS OF <
peculiar situation, had the most commanding
power of seeing every transaction that passed.
This was a raost galling circurastance to those
who wished to carry on their old pranks, as
heretofore, unperceived and undetected.-?-
Araongst this number was the worthy perpe
tual Under Sheriff, Mr. Arthur Palraer. He
appeared to be dreadfully annoyed by being
thus rigidly scrutinized; and therefore, as
deputy coramanding officer over all the
minutice of benches, tables, seats, &c.&c. he
had, in conjunction with his friend Jerry
Osbourn, proposed and planned this notable
scheme, to get rid of yphat they considered as
so intolerable a nuisance, by curtailing one-
fourth of the space of the hall, which before
was infinitely too small for the purpose of
holding an election.
In consequence of this obstruction, the
greatest uproar ensued, and a scene of tumult
followed, such as, in all my previous attend
ance at public raeetings, I had never witnessed
before. The people were highly exasperated
at this wanton and daring encroachraent upon
their rights, as freeraen, to the freedom of
election ; and every now and then we could
discover a voice more powerful than the rest
exclaiming, " open the gaUeries ! down with
the planks !" &c. &c. The pressure of the

HENRY HUNT. 99
crowd towards the hustings now increased to
such a degree, and the heat was so intolerable,
Jfliat the Sheriffs (the two young Mr. Hill-
houses) appea»red greatly alarmed; all were
grasping for breath, and I believe that some
would have suffered from suffocation, if the
Sheriffs had not resorted to the expedient of
admitting a little fresh air, by dashing to
pieces the large Gothic window, or at least
the glass of it, at the back of the hustings,
which they did with their swords. I sat
quietly down, and with my arms folded I
calmly looked on in silence upon this tremen
dous scene of uproar and confusion. Poor Sir
Samuel Romilly ! I shall never forget his looks ;
he stood aghast, and I saw his eyes were fre
quently turned to me, with a sort of imploring
expression. The Sheriffs, after having in vain
made repeated attempts to procure silence,
appealed to me, and in the most supplicating
manner requested me to address the multitude
to obtain it. I, however, sat firm upon ray.
seat, and resolutely refused to interfere ; say
ing, that I could have no influence, as the
Sheriffs had, by a trick, shut out all my friends,
and packed the hall with the friends of the
other candidates. I therefore begged them to
apply to those candidates, to procure science
from their own partisans. The Sheriffs did

100 MEMOIRS OF ;
SO ; but Davis and Protheroe knew they should
not be attended to, and consequently they
declined to make the attempt. At lengtl^
Sir Samuel Romilly stood for\^rd, but with
out the least possible chance of a single word
thathe uttered being heard : he retired, and
then joined his intreaties to those of the
Sheriffs, to request me to address the people ^
to be silent while the Sheriffs read the writ
for comraencing the election. For some time
I declined to interfere ; and urged the knight
of the gown and wig to try again, repeating
what I had before said, that I could not be
expected to have any influence, as the greatest
part of my friends were, by a petty trick of
the Sheriffs, shut out and left upon the Ex
change, while the hall was pacjied and cram
med full by the friends of the other three
candidates. 1 observed that there were a
great raajority wearing the colours of Sir
Samuel Rorailly, and 1 entreated hira to raake
Smother atterapt to be heard ; he did so, but
it was all in vain. They aU now repeated
their supplications to rae, that I would rise
and endeavour to gain silence, but for, I sup
pose, nearly half an hour, I reraained immov
able. 1 thought this a proper opportunity to
place the question of my popularity beyond.
I^ail dispute. The corrupt hirelings of the

HENRY HUNT. lOl
press, particularly the corrupt John Mills, the
proprietor of the Bristol Gasette, had denied
that I was the popular candidate, and claimed
this honour for Sir Samuel Romilly; I was
therefore determined to put' this- question at
rest at once. All the corrupt knaves of attor
neys, petty-foggers and all, looked to me in
; the most humble and imploring manner, and
they might have looked and implored till this
hour, before I would have stirred an inch," or
have uttered a word to have gratified them,
had I not been loudly called for from all parts
of the hall, and the call of the people I in
stantly obeyed.
The moment that I rose frora my seat I
was received with three cheers, upon which
I gave a slight wave of my hand, and im
mediately, as if by raagic, the most profound
silence ensued. I began as follows : " In the
riame of the insulted freemen of Bristol, I
demand of the Sheriffs to be publicly in
formed by whose authority it is that the gal
leries have been barricadoed !" (loud cheers.)
" I wait for an answer" ! ! ! The Sheriff, the
elder Hillhouse, " a/» unlicked cub," both of
them being mere boys, totally incapable of
performing the office of Sheriff with any
degree of credit to themselves, or honour to
the City, drawled out in a faultering voice,

102 MEMOIRS OF
-^that the galleries had been examined by
the city surveyor, and had been pronounced
unsafe." I knew this was a shuffle, as it was
evident that the galleries were most sub
stantial; for, being supported by large up
right solid piUars, they were capable of
sustaining ten times the weight required to
fiU them with people. I therefore demanded
if the surveyor was present to answer for
himself? The answer was, no. The name of
the surveyor was demanded, but an abusive
answer was given by Mr. Perpetual. After a
sbower of hisses frora the audience, I delibe
rately declared it to be an infamous shuffle,
a premeditated insult to the citizens, and a
step calculated to obstruct the freedom of
election, and to promote and screen bribery
and corruption. I, therefore, desired the
people to remove the nuisance, by taking
down the planks and forcing an entrance into
the galleries as usual, and I would be answer
able for the consequences. A sailor instantly
scaled the height, and in about twenty mi
nutes the immense barricade was removed,
and the planks, iron and all, were handed
over the people's heads into the streets; and
thus what had taken Mr. Arthur Palmer
several days to erect, was now removed in a
|ew minutes. The galleries were soon filled

HENRY HUNT. 103
with several hundred pepple, and complete
silence was restored. To accomplish this
might altogether have taken up two hours.
Davis, Protheroe, Romilly, and Hunt, were
duly and regularly proposed and seconded
by their respective friends, and each having
addressed the electors, the show of hands
was taken by the Sheriffs,., and declared by
them "to have fallen upon Mr. Hunt and
j^ir Samuel Romilly, by a very large majo
rity ;" upon which Davis and Protheroe
demanded a poU ; and each candidate having
polled a few electors, the election was ad
journed till the next morning.
My friend Davenport had kindly consented
to accompany me to Bristol, and I was sur
rounded and supported by all my former
friends, who had given me their support
during the recent contest, with the exception
of a Mr. Webb, who did not appear amongst
them. It was soon found that he had openly
joined the ranks of the enemy, as his secret*
intrigues and infamous treachery, during the
former election, had been detected by my
friends, who found out that every night,
afterheleft my committee, hehad proceeded
to a secret comraittee of Mr. Davis, and
communicated to them the whole of the plans
of my supporters; and, in fact, through this

104 MEMOIRS OF
treacherous caitiff they every night kWk
what we had done, and what we intended'^ to
do on the foUowing day. Although this
was. a most diabolical act on the part of Mr.
Webb, and very unfair upon ray coraraittee^
of w^m he made one, and generally the
chairman, yet as I had no secrets, it did
not serve the .purpose of my opponggits
miich. To be sure, it in a sraall degree
enabled them to anticipate and frustrate
the effect of the plans of ray coraraittee;
but, as I took a straight fprward course,
it did not put me off my guard at all,
and, besides, as I soon found that all the
projects of my coirimittee were known to the
enemy, and was, of course, quite sure that
we had a spy in our camp, I took good care
to keep my order of battle to myself till it
was about to be put in force. I must, how
ever, own that this viper did completely
deceive me; as I had not the slightest,
suspicion of him till after the election, when
he was detected, in fact, not till I had it from
one of the White Lion Club, that Webb
came every night to them, and frequently
supped with thera after he left mji^jCpm-
mittee ; and even then I was incredules,/ till
he related sorae particular facts, thit put
all doubt out of the question, by proving the

HENRY HUNT. 105
truth ofhis information in the most unequi
vocal manrier; '- "
In my address to the electors, I put it
fairly to Sir Samuel RomiUy, to declare
whether he would support a real Reform in
Parliament "or not ; I meant such a Reform as
Sir Francis Burdett at that time advocated ;
and I declared it to be my, intention, in case
he answered in the affirmative, to give him
every aid in my power. Sir Samuel candidly
and honestly declared that he would vote for
a reform of abuses, and also that he would
always vote for a moderate Reform ; but that
he ,.coulc(Tnot with consistency favour the
kind of Reform for which Sir Francis Burdett
was contending. This reply was received
with cheers *by his imraediate advocates, t^such
as Mister MiUs, and Mr. Winter Harris,
who had declared to the citizens, upon their
canvass, that the Knight was a staunch friend
of Reform. As, however, the Knight had
never declared it himself, I thought this the
proper time to put the question ; the answer
to which the great body of the people re
ceived, some with surprise and some with
disgust. I thenrstated my objections to a
lawyer, and especially my particular objec
tion to a King's Counsel, being a Meraber of
Parliament for an independent and populous
VOL. in. p

106 MEMOIRS OF
city ; which objection was this, that , the
moment a c<*insellor received a" m7^ gown,
he accepted a retaining fee from'the Crown,
to plead at all times against the people.
This assertion was received with cheers
from the people, and a burst of indignation
from the^artizans of Sir Samuel RoraiUy.
I repeated the assertion, and added, that
in case any one*^ of Sir Samuel Romilly's
voters had an indictment preferred against
him .for a libel, for any offence under the
excise laws, for high treason, or, indeed for
any offence where the prosecution was in the
name of the Kingj that the worthy coun
sellor could not plead for his constituent the ¦
subject, against his master the King, unless the
subject would submit to the juggle'ofi taking out
a licence, for which he must pay ten or twelve
pounds to the King, to enable the gentleman^
with the silk gown to plead against the Crown.
This caused a great sensation throughout the
hall, and the truth of it was most vociferously,,
denied by the RomiUites, many of whom' de-
cjared that it was a base and -false assertion.
John Mills, always foremost at such times with
his brazen face and stentorian lungs, roared
out that it '^as a lie. As this gentleman was
remarkably deficient in sense and talent, he
endeavoured to raake amends by bluster and

HENRY HUNT. 107
violence ; this will sufficiently account for the
vulgarity ofthis language. An apology from
him was, however, loudly insisted upon by his
indignant hearers. As soon as silence was
restored, I turned round to Sir Samuel Romilly,
and called} upon him to say honestly and fairly
whether I had not spoken the truth ; and as I
stated that I waited for an answer, the Knight
came forward amidst the cheers of his parti
zans. Knowing what would be the result, I
did not fail to cheer also. Sir.Samuel Romilly
said he had no hesitation in admitting that what
Mr. Hunt had stated was perfectly true, that
a .King's|pounsel could not plead for a subject
in a criminal prosecution, without a licence
from the Crown. If Sir Samuel Romilly had
not been present to admit the fact, these amia
ble Bristolians would have lied and sworn out
of it, but they were now chop fallen, and 1 was
allowed to proceed without any further inter
ruption. During the whole election afterwards, no
statement of mine was contradicted. I said
nothing against Sir Samuel; on the contrary,
I gave him full credit for being one ofthe very
best of the gown and wig gentry; not one of
fensive personal expression was j^ used by me
towards him throughout the whole election;
neither did he throw out one insinuation

108 MEMOIRS OF
against me; pn the contrary, it was the fashion
for us to compliment each other. In fact, he
followed ray exaraple, and after the poll was
closed forthe day, he every evening addressed
the people upon the Exchange from the window
ofhis Comraittee-room, I always gave him
the precedence to address them, so that had
he been disposed to join his Cpmmittee, by en
deavouring to practise delusion, I should have
immediately detected and exposed any such
sophistry upon i^the spot. But I will repeat
now what 1 unequivocaUy stated at the tirae,
that, had the Committee and the friends ofthe
Knight possessed half the liberalityt^nd ho
nesty that he did, and practised one-tenth of
the fairness that was shewn upon aU occasions
by Sir Sarauel, 1 have no doubt but he would
have been elected with myself, instead of Mr.
Davis and Mr. Protheroe. But the RomiUites
in Bristol were not a rush better or more libe
ral than the friends of Davis or Protheroe.
There was as rauch corruption, bribery,
treating, intimidation, and undue influencej
exercised on the part of these hypocriticaly-
professed friends of freedom, as there was by
the partizans of Davis, who was the avowed
enemy of freedom, and the determined, unprin^
cipled champipn of tyranny and despotism.
By this conduct the^ real friends of Reform

HENRY HUNT. 109
were disgusted, and the enthusiasm that was
so visible during the former election was para-
lized : neither myself nor any one of my friends
ever canvassed for a single vote; the electors
had been all canvassed, over and over again,
by the partizans of Davis, Protheroe, and
Romilly. I saw that the latter was most hear
tily sick of being made the tool of the Whig
faction, without any chance of beirig elected.
Sir Samuel frequently told the people that
they were indebted to Mr. Hunt for the little
share ofthe freedom of election which they had
left them, and although he got behind upon
the poll every day, yet he solemnly declared
that he would not resign as long as there was
a man left to poll foi* him. This declaration,
however, proved to be a bravado, for he re
signed on the eighth day, when there, were a
considerable number of voters left unpolled in
the city, and one half of the out-voters had not
been polled. My friends, WiUiams, Pimm,
Cranidge, Brownjohn, and others, stood firmly
and staunchly by me, and Mr. Cossens, one of
Sir .Samuel RomiUy's committee, I found also
to be a staunch friend; and I believe this was
the only friend I had amongst them : almost all
the freemen thathe brought up to the hustings
polled for Romilly and Hunt, but aU those of
Sir Samuel RomiUy's voters, who were under

no MEMOHIS OP
the influence of their masters, were ordered to
give plumpers for Sir Samuel Romilly, and all
of them were canvassed to do so. Suchj how
ever, as had the spirit to follow the dictates of
his conscience, voted for Hunt and Romilly;
almost all the London voters did this, although
they were urged to vote for RomiUy alone.
During this contest, if it may be called one,
the notorious Captain Gee was a very active
partizan of Mr. Davis's; he headed a gang of
blackguards, a set of second-rate prize-fight
ers, amongst whom was the notorious Bob
Watson. This gang used to annoy the voters
of Sir Samuel RomiUy > most infaraously.
Watson used to come into the box, where ten
or twelve of Sir Samuel Romilly's voters were
assembled waiting to poU, and with the assist
ance of two or three more of his gang, backed
on by Captain Gee, he would hustle and drive
them all out of the box, and prevent thera
from giving their votes. At length. Sir Sarauel
was induced to make a serious remonstrance
to the Sheriff against such an unwarrantable
violation of the freedom of election, and he
called upon the Sheriff to have Watson taken
into custody, who had actuaUy been assaulting
several of his voters in the presence of the
Sheriff. Although Mr. Sheriff had been an eye
witness of these proceedings several times be-

HENRY HUNT. Ill
fore, yet he felt that, now his attention was
thus publicly called to the subject, he could
not connive at them any longer ; and as Watson
had been laying about him in the most outra
geous, manner, in which he had the audacity
to persevere, although called upon by the
Sheriff to desist, Mr. Sheriff ordered his con
stables to take Watson into custody. Two or
three of these guardians of the peace made a
faint attempt to obey his orders, but Watson
beat them all off, and set them at defiance'.
Sir Samuel remonstrated again; the con tables
were called up, and they informed the Sheriff
that, notwithstanding there were fifty of thera
in the Hall, yet they dared not seize Watson.
Mr. Sheriff, turning to Sir Samuel, said, "there
you hear. Sir, what the constables say, what
can I do more than I have done ?" This pusil
lanimous speech made Watson ten times more
violent than he was before. I confess that my
blood boiled at hearing such language from
the Sheriff; and although I was not personally
concerned, as Watson had not touched one
man that had my colours in his hat, yet I felt
disgusted and angered to see such partial and
indecisive conduct on the part ofthe Sheriff,
who actually turned round and appealed to me
to know what he should do? I replied indig
nantly, " why, commit the constables, and seize

112 MEMOIRS OF
the daring violater of the law yourself, to be
sure; you cannot plead that you have not the
means to put a slop to this brutaL insolence,
when you have the power of caUing every man
to aid and assist you." The Sheriff did not
like this advice, or at best he did not attempt
to follow it; but made sorae paltry excuse,
sayihgthat it would be very dangerous to in
terfere wilh such desperate ruffians, and he
could not do more than he had done.
All this time Watson was committing the
most daring Putrages upon every one who
came within reach ofhis fist. At length I said
aloud to the Sheriff, " Sir, as your constables
have refused to obey your orders, will you au
thorise ?»e to bring Watson before you?" " By
all means, Mr. Hunt, and I shall really be
much obliged to you if you will aid and as
sist." I sprang from the hustings upon the
table appropriated for the inspectors, and
from thence into the box where Watson was,
and seized the ruffian by the collar, and almost
in the twinkling of an eye I threw him out of
the box 'Upon the table. Inthe effort I had
stripped his coat. Waistcoat and shirt, off his
back, nearly down to his waist; there he stood
riveted in my grasp, with his brawney shoul
ders naked and exposed to the whole assembly;
and the Sheriff and Sir Samuel Romilly ap-

H|:NRY HUNT. 118
peared to be thunderstruck for the moment.
The Sheriff ordered him into the custody of
half a score of constables, and directed that he
should be taken before the mayor, either to be
committed or bound over to keep the peace,
and Sir Samuel Romilly undertook to go and
prefer the charges against him. The fellow
was led away thus guarded, and I received the
warm thanks of Sir Samuel as well as the
Sheriff; the former yas very sincere, but the
latter was mpst Jesuitical. Within five minutes
the news was brought, that Watson had no
sooner got into the street than he upset the
ten constables, and raade his escape. However,
my decisive conduct had the effect of keeping
Mr. Watson out of the hall for the remainder
pf the election, and the very brave Captain
Gee became much less troublesome after
wards. Those who saw this transaction will
never forget it.
Sir Samuel Romilly having resigned on the
eighth day, the poll was continued open on the
ninth, and the electors continued to offer
their votes and poll, although but slowly; yet
as it was expected that a considerable number
of out-voters from London and other places
would arrive on the following day, to vote for
Sir Samuel Romilly, some of his friends wish
ed to keep open the poU; but the Shpriff or-
VOL. IIL Q

114 MEMOIRS OF
dered it to be closed at four o'clock on the
tenth day, at which time Messrs. Davis and
Protheroe, whose forces had been united by a
coalition, were declared to be duly elected.
The numbers who voted were stated to be, for
Davis 2910— Protheroe 2435— RomUly 1685—
Hunt 455. The only remarkable thing in these
nurabers is, that so many should have voted
for me, who never spent a shilling, and who
never canvassed a vote, and whose friends
never spent a penny. The fact was, that the
city had been canvassed by all parties but
myself, and every species of bribery, intimi
dation and corrupt practice had been resorted
to by the partizans of the three candidates, by
whora an immense sura had been squandered
away. The White Lion candidate and the
Club, of course, accoixiing to their ancient and
laudable custora, scattered their raoney pro
fusely to purchase votes ; they had an interest
in doing so; but Mr, Protheroe's and Sir
Sarauel Romilly's appeared to be a bad spe
culation. Mr. Protheroe and his friends could
not have expended less than twenty thousand
pounds. It was, indeed, said to have cost the
two successful candidates and their friends as
much as thirty thousand each ; and, when all
things are taken into consideration, perhaps
this is not over-rating it. The expenses of

HENRY HUNT. 115
Sir Samuel RomiUy's election could not have
been less than twenty thousand pounds, it
might have been more, for it will be recol
lected that eight thousand were subscribed in
one day at the meeting held at the Crown and
Anchor in London; so that for every vote given
to Sir S. Romilly it cost at least ten pounds
a man; and for every vote given to Davis
and Protheroe, supposing the number to have
been 3,000 and the , expenses of each 30,000^.
every vote must have cost twenty pounds
a man; while my whole expenses, thither and
back, and while I remained there, did not ex
ceed twenty-five pounds, about a shilling for
each vote. Only look at the contrast, and no
one will be surprised at the apparent smallness
of the number which voted for me. I believe
almost every man who voted for me voted also
for Sir Samuel Romilly; but his partizans
evinced full as great an hostility to me as the
myrmidons of the White Lion Club did. Every
vote was urged to poll plumpers for RomiUy;
and, in fact, when they answered that they
should poll for Hunt and Romilly, theywere fre
quently told that the friends of Romilly would
not accept their votes on any such terras, they
would rather lose the votes altogether than
suffer them to vote for Hunt. Between two
and three thousand freedoms were taken up

116 MEMOIRS OF
and paid for by the friends of the candidates,
and all those taken up by the partizans of
Romilly were paid for upon the express con
dition that they did not vote for Hunt, but give
plumpers for Romilly. It was this sharaeful
conduct that palsied all public feeling, and fiUed
the real patriotic friends of Liberty with disgust.
Many hundreds would not corae forward at all,
as they deemed it absolute folly to lay them
selves open to the vindictive revenge of the
agents of Government, raerely to support such
illiberal proceedings; and raany hundreds,
when they found what was the language of
those who canvassed for Sir Samuel Rorailly,
actually went and voted for Davis and
Protheroe, under the impression that, if they
must support such a corrupt system, they had
rauch better do it where they could do so with
safety, and where they could benefit rather
than injure theraselves. If the friends of Sir
Samuel, or rather those who wished to raake
a tool of hira to serve their own grovelling
interests, had corae forward manfully, and
declared their readiness to support and vote
for Hunt as well as for hira, against the coali
tion of Tories and sham Whigs, the public en
thusiasm would have been such that we should
undoubtedly have been both elected, instead
of Davis and Protheroe, in spite of aU the

HENRY HUNT. 117
money that the latter were spending to bribe
the voters. But the mean, selfish, temporising
conduct of the friends of Romilly, lost him the
election. The fact was, that these hypocri-:
tical Whigs would rather have sacrificed
Romilly a hundred times, and have elected
the devil himself, than they would have voted
for Hunt. "Take any shape but that!" They
knew that I should spoil their sport; they
knew that I would not connive at the corruption
of the Whigs, any more than I would at that
of the Tories; and therefore I was no man for
them; and the result was, that Romilly lost his
election solely through this dastardly and cor
rupt feeling. ¦
Sir Samuel took his departure for London
immediately, and I went to a friend's near
Bath, whence I returned the next day, by
appointment, to dine with my friends in Bristol.
The multitude that carae out to receive me,
the unsuccessful candidate, surpassed all
former precedent. I was taken as usual to
the Exchange, where 1 pledged myself, if
supported, at aU by the friends of RomiUy,
that I would present and prosecute a petition
to Parliament against the return of Davis and
Protheroe. Upon this, I received the assur
ance of many of Romilly's friends, that they
would s,upport the petition, by a pecuniary

lis MEMOIRS OF
subscription; although they, snake-like, or
rather Bristol-men-like, declined to be seen
openly supporting it. I own I did not rely
much upon these proraises, and it was fortu
nate that I did not, for, if I had, I should have
been raost wretchedly deceived.
I returned into the country, and as soon as
the Parliaraent met, I presented the following
Petition to the Honourable House : —
" To the Honourable the Commons ofthe United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled.
" The Petition of Henry Hunt, of Rowfant House, in the
County of Sussex, Esquire ; William Pimm, of the City
of Bristol, salesman ; Thomas Pimm, ofthe City of Bris
tol, currier; William Weetch, of the City of Bristol,
clothier ; and Thomas Gamage, of the City of Bristol,
cabinet-maker, " HUMBLY SHEWETH,
" That your petitioners, William Pimm, Thomas Pimm,
William Weetch, and Thomas Gamage, now are, and at
the time of the last election of two Members to serve in
the present Parliament for the City of Bristol, were elec
tors of the said City, a;nd claim to have a right to vote,
and did vote, at the said election ; and at the said election
your petitioner Henry Hunt, together with Richard Hart
..Davis, Esquire, Edward Protheroe, Esquire, and Sir
Samuel Romilly, Knight, were candidates to represent
>,4he said City, as citizens of the same, in this present Par
liament. "That the said Richard Hart Davis, Esquire, and
Edward Protheroe, Esquire, by themselves, their agents,
friends, managers, committees, partizans, and others on
his and their behalf, previous to and at the said election,
were guilty of gross and notorious bribery and corruption ;
and at and during the said election, and previous thereto,
the said Richard Hart Davis and the said Edward Prothe
roe, by themselves, their agents, friends, managers, comr
mittees, partizans, and others on their behalf, by gifts and
rewards, and promises and agreements, and securities for

HENRY aUNT. 119
gifts and rewards, did corrupt and procure divers persons,
as well those who were qualified to vote, as those who
claimed or pretended to have a right to vote, at the said
election, to give their votes for them the said Richard Hart
Davis and Edward Protheroe, Esquires; and did also, by
gifts and rewards, and promises, agreements, and securi
ties for gifts and rewards, corrupt and procure divers other
persons, being qualified to vote at the said election, to
refuse and forbear to give their votes at the same, for your
petitioner the said Henry Hunt, or the other candidate,
contrary to the laws and statutes enacted for the preven
tion of such corrupt practices.
" That the said Richard Hari Davis and the said
Edward Protheroe, by themselves, their agents, friends,
managers, committees, partizans, and others on theirbe
half, were guilty of the most flagrant and notorious acts of
intimidation, thereby basely and unlawfully procuring by
threats, divers other persons, being qualified to vote at the
said election, through the fear of being persecuted, ruined,
imprisoned, and otherwise ill-used ahd punished, to for
bear to give their vptes to your petitioner the said Henry
Hunt, or the other candidate, in violation of the rights of
the electors, the privileges of Parliament, and the free
dom of election.
" That the said Richard Hart Davis and Edward Pro
theroe, by themselves, their agents, friends, managers,
committees, partizans, and others on their behalf, after
the test of the writ for the said election, and before the
election of the said Richard Hart Davis and Edward Pro
theroe to serve in the Parliament for the said City of Bris
tol, did give, present and allow to divers persons, who
had votes, or claimed or pretended to have a right to
vote at such election, money, meat, drink, entertainment
and provision, and make presents, gifts, rewards and en
tertainments, and make promises, agreements, obliga.J y
tions, to give and allow money, meat, drink, provisionf^
presents, rewards and entertainments, to and for such per"-* ^ -
sons having or claiming or pretending to have a right to
vote at the said election ; and to and for the use, advan
tage, benefit, emolument, profit and preferment of such
person and persons, in order to their the said Richard Hart
Davis and Edward Protheroe being elected, and to pro'^
cure tbe said Richard Hart Davis and Edward Protheroe
to be returned to serve in the present Parliament fop the
said City of Bristol, in violation of the standing^ ord'ers
and regulations of your Honourable House, and in d^fi-

120 MEMOIRS OF
ance of the laws and statutes ofthe realm enacted for pre
venting charge and expense in the election of Members
to serve in Parliament.
" That a large body of military, consisting of the Mid
dlesex militia, were quartered within two miles of the
said City, and many of whom were actually stationed
within the walls of the said City of Bristol; and that
Colonel Gore, commandant of the Bristol Volunteers, gave
orders, the day before the election commenced, to have
two pieces of brass ordnance, six pounders, removed from
the Grove, where they had been kept for the last two
years, and had them placed upon the Exchange, where
they remained during the whole of the said election, to the
terror of the electors and peaceable inhabitants of the said
City of Bristol, regardless of the privileges of your Hon.
House, and contrary to the statute of the Sth of George
the Second, chap. 30th, in that case made and provided.
" That a great number of freemen were employed by
the said Richard Hart Davis and Edward Protheroe, or
their agents, under the denomination of bludgeon men,
or pretended constables, and that various sums of money
were paid by the said Richard Hart Davis and Edward
Protheroe, or by their agents, committees, friends, manag
ers, or others, on their behalf, to influence such of them as
were entitled to vote, or pretend to have a right to vote, at
the said election, and to induce them to give their votes for
the said Richard Hart Davis and Edward Protheroe, Esqrs.
" That the poll was closed by the Sherifls, the return
ing officers, two days sooner than by law directed, not
withstanding your petitioner, the said Henry Hunt,
openly protested against it ; several freemen at the time
having offered to poll for the said Henry Hunt, which
votes were refused to be taken and entered on the poll,
and notwithstanding the Sheriffs were publicly informed
ff'. that many other votes were on the road, who were coming
with the intent to poll at the said election.
'' Your petitioners therefore humbly pray, that the Ho
nourable House will take the premises into their most seri
ous consideration, and that the election and return of the
said Richard Hart Davis, Esquire, and Edward Protheroe,
Esquire, may be declared to be null and void ; and that
such further relief may be granted to your petitioners ai
thejustice of the case may require.
" Henry Hunt. •' William Weetch.
" William Pimm. " Thomas Gamage."
" Thomas Pimm.

henry hunt. 121
Having done this, I entered into the usual
securities for the prbsecution of the inquiry
before a Comraittee of the Honourable House,
which Committee was appointed to be baUotted
for on the 24th of February following.
A very extraordinary and unexpected change
had in the mean time taken place in Russia;
namely, the defeat of the French army , the reco
very of Moscow by the Russians, and the rapid
retreat of the French amidst a Russian winter.
When Napoleon entered Moscow, the Governor
Rochtopchin had, as we have before seen,
caused great part of the capital to be destroyed
by fire; and as the Emperor saw that it was
destruction to attempt to remain there with
his army during the \vinter, he resolved upon
a retreat; but he remained too long before he
began it. He first proposed an armistice,
which was rejected, and he began his retreat
on the ninth of November. The frost sat in
severely nearly a month earlier than usual
that year, and the. ground was covered with
a deep snow. The Russian armies pursued
the retiring invaders ; and the sufferings of the
French and their allies were indescribable.
The men and horses perished from cold upon
the road by hundreds, and their carriages and
artillery were broken to pieces and abandoned.
Having accompanied the remains of his army
VOL. IIL R

122 MEMOIRS OF
back to Poland, Napoleon set off to Paris,
where the Senate shewed him every mark of
respect and attachment; but great discontent
was very evident amongst the people. The
loss sustained by the French, in raen, and
what is called the materiel of the array, was
immense and incalculable. Thus was the
finest, the bravest, the best disciplined, and the
best equipped army that in aU probability ever
took the field — an army that, under such a
leader, would have been victorious against a
world in arms, was overthrown, defeated,
routed, and destroyed by the horrid climate,
by the artillery of a Russian winter.
Lord Liverpool had been appointed First
Lord of the Treasury, and Mr. Vansittart
Chancellor of the Exchequer, before the disso
lution ofthe old Parliament. A nuraber of
naval actions took place, which answered no
other good purpose but to establish the bravery
bf our seamen, which was and had been for a
long time established beyond the possibility
ofa doubt; so these expeditions only added
to the waste of human blood, and of the
treasures ofthe country. The new Parliament
met on the 24th of Noveraber, but very little
business was done before Christraas, except
granting a sura of 200,000/. of John GuU's
money to the Russians, as a corapensation for

HENRY HUNT. I23
the losses which they had suffered by the inva
sion of the French !
Thus ended the year 1812; the supplies
voted out of John Gull's pocket being sixty-two
millions, three hundred and seventy-six thou
sand, three hundred and fifty-eight pounds.
The average price of wheat, per quarter, was
six pounds four shillings and eight-pence, and
of the quartern loaf, one and sixpence. The
return of the notes of the Bank of England
in circulation was twenty-three millions. By
a return made to Parliament it was ascertained
that out of ten thousand two hundred and
sixty-one incumbents in England and Wales,
only 4421 were residents: the remaining 5840
wereof course non-residents; yet this precious
priesthood of the established Church is re
ceiving yearly upwards of five millions of
pounds out of the earnings of John Gull! So
much for politics, and so much for religion!
All my time was now occupied in preparing
my evidence, to prove the allegations in my
petition, the hearing of which was to come
on in February. I found it necessary to take
lodgings in London, as I meant to conduct the
whole of the proceedings in person, on the
part of myself and the petitioners. I had to
apply to the Speaker for his warrants, to
summon witnesses, and, amongst others, Mr.

124 MEMOIRS OP
Perpetual Under Sheriff, to produce the poU,
and other witnesses to produce books, papers,
&c. &c.
In all these applications I found no difficulty
¦in procuring warrants to make the parties
produce whatever I applied for. At last it
occurred to me, that this would be an excel
lent opportunity to get hold of the books of
the Corporation, which were kept in the
Chamberlain's office; which office was held so
saered, and the books therein contained were
considered as such rare and valuable matter,
that ev&n the Members of the Corporation
themselves were excluded, and could not gain
access to the books, without a particular order
from the Court of Aldermen. I was, however,
determined at least to make an attempt to get
into this sanctum sanctorum, by means of a
Speaker's warrant, 1 never communicated
my intention to a living soul; but I at length
decided upon a copy of a warrant, that I
thought would answer the purpose, which was
to be directed to the Mayor, the Town Clerk,
and the Chamberlain of the City, summoning
them to appear before the Committee of the
House of Commons, ordering them to permit
myself and the other petitioners to have access
to all the deeds, books, papers, and accounts,
belonging to the Corporation, whether in the

HENRY HUNT. 125
Chamberlain's office or elsewhere, and to allow
us to take copies or extracts from such deeds,
books, papers, or accounts, and to produce
before the Committee any part of the said
books and papers, that the said petitioners
might require, on their giving due notice of
the same, &c. &c. &c.
Having settled aU this in ray mind, Iwent
to the Speaker's clerk, and desired him to draw
rae up a warrant to the above effect, and to
get it signed by the Speaker. When he read
it over he stared, and observed that it was a
most sweeping warrant, and such a one as he
had never before known applied for or granted.
I told him it was not possible for me to com
plete my case before the Committee, unless I
could produce some of these books, and that
it was much more rational to give me power
to go down and examine them upon the spot,
than it would be to direct the Chamberlain to
bring up a waggon load of books, to lay be
fore the Committee, when, perhaps, three or
four of them would be aU that I might require.
He concurred in the propriety of this remark,
and appeared extremely ready to assist me in
procuring the Speaker's signature, and said
he would lay it upon his table the moment he
had eaten his dinner. But, as it was very
important for me to get this document signed,

12G I^EMOIRS OF
I suggested to him the advantage that might
arise from his laying the warrant, with se
veral others, before the Speaker just as he
was going to sit down to dinner, as in that
case he might sign it with the others, as a
matter of course. This hint was made a
proper use of. At half-past seven, on the sarae
evening, I received the much-longed-for war
rant from the Clerk of the Speaker, at his
house in Palace-yard; at half-past eight on
the sarae evening, (Saturday) I was safely
seated in the Bristol Mail at the Gloucester
Coffee-house; and, on the Monday morning
following, I contrived that the Mayor, the
Town Clerk, and the Chamberlain should be
all served with the warrants at one and the
same tirae! I rayself delivered that which
was addressed to Mr. Winter Harris, the
Chamberlain. The warrant was peremptory, but the
Charaberlain required a short tirae to consult
his brother officers of the Corporation, which
I readily granted, and appointed to return at
the end of two hours, to commence ray exami
nations. I attended with ray friends, at the
tirae appointed, and found that the Mayor
and the Charaberlain had got a good fire
prepared in the adjoining Council Chamber,
with pens, ink, and stationary. This room.

HEMRY HUNT. 127
they said, should be appropriated to our use,
and we could have as many of the books at a
time from the Chamberlain's office, as I might
require. Both parties were very well satisfied
with this arrangement, and we immediately
sat to work, and continued at it for seven or
eight hours in the day, till I had looked over
all the books, papers, and deeds, belonging
to the said Corporation, and taken what copies
and extracts I thought proper. In this labour
I was incessantly occupied for several days; I
think nearly a week. I took copies of some
most curious and valuable documents, many
of which were published, by my old and
worthy friend Cranidge, in the year 1818, 1
having made him a present of the manuscript
for that purpose. I wiU here insert as speci
mens, two or three items which I transcribed
from the cash-book :
1793.
Oct. 12. — Paid Lord Viscount Bateman, to re
imburse him and the Officers and
Men of the Herefordshire Militia,
the extra expenses they have
lately been put to, in providing
accommodation for the said Mili
tia at the time of the late Riots in
thisCity,viz. — The Bridge,... £105 0 0
This is an item worthy to be recorded in
every publication relating to the city of Bristol,
Lord Bateman was Col. Commandant of the

128 MEMOIRS OF
Herefordshire Militia, at the time when they
fired upon, and massacred the citizens of
Bristol, at the memorable slaughter at the
Bridge, in the year 1793. Was this hundred
guineas the price of that slaughter? This
curious fact would never have been known,
had it not been for our famous all-powerful
Speaker's warrant. I understand that many
of the Corporation were astonished, when this
fact was pubhshed ; they never having heard
of it, or dreamed that 105Z. of the citizens own
money was paid to this Lord, for ordering his
troops to fire upon them!
1793. . £. s. d.
Oct. — Paid George Daubeny, Esq. for rais
ing Bristol Volunteers  300 0 0
1801. — Paid expenses during the Market
Riots, &c. on account of the dear
ness of Provisions, in the month
of April, 1801  117 7 4
N.B. The Chamberlain's Salary was
this year raised from 62Z. 10s. per
quarter, to 125i. per quarter,
making the annual amount, , , . 500 0 0
1806. — Paid George Webb Hall,' at sun
dry times, towards passing the
Bristol Paving Bill  1,000 0 0
1810. — Paid commemorating the National
Jubilee on the25th October, 1809 337 II 4
1811. — Paid John Noble, Esq. for Wine sent
to the Lord High Steward, the
Recorder, and the two Members
ofParliament  315 0 0
N. B. This is an annual gift from
the freemen.
I81I. — Paid on account of the expenses of
the invitation and the visit of

henry hunt. 129
Lord Grenville, to an entertain- £. «. d.
ment given him by the Citizens,
as High Steward, in May, 1811,.. 1,393 11 0
1812.
July 14. — Paid John H. Wilcocks, Mayor, thc
monies expended by him in enter
taining the Military, viz, (the
East Middlesex Militia and Scots
Greys) at the Mayoralty House ;
and for Beer for Guards mount
ed IN THE City during the
Election, viz  437 0 4
1812. Sept. — Paid J. M. Gutch, for printing
Advertisements for calling a
Public Meeting of the Citizens
to address the Prince Regent on
the Death of the Right Hon,
Spencer Perceval, Chancellor of
theExchequer  52 18 0
Only let the reader cast his eye over the
foregoing items, extracted from amongst some
thousands of a similar nature ; few as they
are, they will serve as a specimen ofthe man
ner in which the Corporation of the city of
Bristol spend the monies of the citizens ; for
whom, be it reraerabered, they only act as
trustees. Lord Bateman was the Colonel of
the Herefordshire Militia, who fired upon the
citizens, and slaughtered a number of them;
and his Lordship received one hundred guineas
for this valiant and humane feat ! ! The Cham
berlain's salary is raised, is doubled, in the
year 1801, in consequence of the high price of
provisions. Quere, has it been lowered again,
VOL. III. s

130 memoirs of
now that the price of provisions is fallen ? The
item of July the 14th, 1812, is such as I do not
believe disgraces the books of any other Cor
poration in England; between four and five
hundred pounds paid to the military, by the
civil power, for services perforraed during the
election, some of which services I have before
noticed. Four hundred and thirty-seven
pounds paid to the miUtary, for preventing
the election of Henry Hunt for the city of
Bristol, in the year 1812. The itera of 52^. 18*.
for advertising a public meeting of the citizens
of Bristol, to address the Prince Regent on the
death of Spencer Perceval, is another precious
proof of sharaeful, or rather shameless, expen
diture. Why, five pounds would have been
ample, to have informed every inhabitant of
the city of it. But here, hpwever, is 521. 18*.
paid to one corrupt knave of an editor, raerely
for calling a raeeting ! No wonder these caitiff ,
editors are such time-serving tools, when they
can get so profusely paid for their mercenary
loyalty. This is a pretty bill of goggle-eyed
Gutch, and for a pretty purpose too. This
shews the expense of getting up a loyal meet
ing ! During the whole time that I was taking
the above extracts, and all those which have
been pubhshed by Mr. John Cranidge, not only
the Chamberlain, but the whole Corporation,

HENRY HUNT. 131
were, in a state of fever and the greatest agita
tion. This, however, did not prevent my
steadily persevering in my purpose. These
impudent fellows of Bristol city, who were
the greatest tyrants in Christendom over those
whose fate it is to be placed in their power,
were quite tame, were civil, and even polite
for Bristol chaps ! So it is always ; a subdued
tyrant is the most tame, time-serving, abject
slave in the world.
Perhaps there never before was such a mass
of fraud and chicanery discovered and exposed.
There might be seen charities upon. charities,
vast estates left for charitable purposes, pro
ducing a large annual income, and which, if
fairly let, would produce an enormous increase,
at least three times the sum; but one and all
of these, with their immense revenue and
. patronage, were misapplied and perverted to
corrupt electioneering purposes ! In fact, when
ever I could come at the truth, there did not
appear to be a single charity in the whole
city, whether vested in the Corporation or not,
and great numbers there are, but what was per
verted to electioneering purposes. Hospitals,
schools, alms-houses, charities for apprentice-
ing freemen's sons — charities for setting up
young freemen in business— charities for lying-
in women — charities for widows— charities for

132 memoirs o«'
orphans, in fact, all sorts of charities, all were
rendered subservient to the accursed purpose
of rivetting the fetters of the people, by being
made instruments of bribery. In the first
place, the original property is in most instances
granted out upon long leases, or upon lives,
for a mere nominal premium and nominal
rent, to the tools and dependents of the Cor
poration. In truth, almost all the Corporation,
all their dirty instruments, and the major
part of the parsons and lawyers, are tenants.
Large sums of money are lent by the Corpo-
.ration, to the members of the Corporation, at
mere nominal interest. Almost all the mer
chants and tradesmen of the city hold some
thing under the Corporation, and at the time
of the elections are their abject tools ;— but to
give a full and faithful account of these, would
be to write the history of Bristol, and, as that
is not my purpose, I shall proceed to other
matters, not, however, till I have strongly
recommended to every one, who is in any
way connected with that city, to read the book
published by John Cranidge, A.M. in the year
1818, entitled, " A Mirror for the Burgesses
and Commonalty of theCity of Bristol; in which
is exhibited to their view, a part of the great
and many interesting benefactions and endow
ments, of which the city has to boast, and for

HENRY HUNT. 133
which the corporation are responsible, as
the stewards and trustees thereof: correctly
transcribed from authentic documents, by John
Cranidge, A. M."
It is very true, as Mr. Cranidge asserts,
that the Corporation are the trustees for the
freemen and burgesses, to whom they are, or
rather ought to be, responsible. Having
made myself complete master of this subject,
I had resolved in my own mind, in case I had
been elected the member for the city of
Bristol, to make these worthies, the Corpo
ration, really and not nominally responsible ;
and, with the blessing of God, I would have
made them account for and refund those
enormous sums and immense funds which
they had so disgracefully, so infamously,
misapplied. The charities are so nuinerous
and so ample, that I firmly believe, if the
property belonging to them were fairly let
and made the most of, there would not be
a citizen of Bristol that would not be hand
somely provided for out of these funds. No
city in the world ever produced more philan
thropists, or more misanthropists, than the
city of Bristol. No city of its size in the
world can boast more charitable institutions —
no city is more degraded by poverty and

134 memoirs of
wretchedness amongst its inhabitants, raainly
created by the corrupt misapplication of those
very charities.
On the 24th or the 25th of February, 1813,
the Committee was baUotted for in the House
of Coraraons; the petitioners and the sitting
members each striking out a certain number
till they were reduced to thirteen, which,
together with the nominee for each party,
raade fifteen, as follows —
Michael Angelo Taylor, Esq. Member for Poole, Chairman,
P. GrenfeU, Esq. Great Marlow.
Philip Gell, Esq. Penryn.
Hon. R. Neville, Berkshire.
H. Pierce, Esq, Northampton.
Abel Smith. Esq. Wendover.
Lord G. Russell, Bedford.
C. Harvey, Esq. Norwich.
T. Whitmore, Esq. Bridgenorth.
G, Shiffner, Esq. Lewes.
D. S. Dugdale, Esq. Warwick.
J. Daley, Esq. Galway.
B. Lester Lester, Esq. Poole,
nominees.
Sir Francis Burdett, Bart. Westminster ; for the Petitioners.
Sir James Graham, Bart. Carlisle ; for the Sitting Members.
SITTING MEMBERS.
Richard Hart Davis, Esq. — Edward Protheroe, Esq.
PETITIONERS.
Ist, Henry Hunt, Esq. — ^2nd. Wm. Pimm, T. Pimm,
Wm. Weech, T. Gamage, Electors.
Counsel for Mr. Davis, Mr. Warren and Mr. Harrison.
Counsel for Mr. Protheroe, Mr. Adam & Mr. Randle Jackson.
Mr. Hunt appeared in person for himself and other
petitioners.

HENRY HUNT. 135
The parties were all called to the bar ofthe
House, when the names of the Committee
were caUed over, and the 26th was appointed
for commencing the proceedings.
On the 26th of February, 1813, the Com
mittee assembled at twelve o'clock, and I
opened the proceedings by an address of about
two hours in length, in which I laid before
them my case; a case containing a detail ofthe
evidence by which I meant to substantiate the
charges and allegations contained in the peti
tion. The hearing of this petition lasted
fourteen days, and it concluded by the Cora
mittee deciding " that the Sitting Merabers
were duly elected, but that the petition was
not frivolous or vexatious." So each party
had the pleasure of paying his own costs. My
expenses I estimated at about six hundred
pounds. The whole of the mighty subscrip
tions which I was to have received from the
friends of Sir Samuel Romilly, amounted to
the amazing sum of twenty-five pounds,
and no more ; which sum exactly paid one of
my witnesses, Mr. Alderman Vaughan. I
have heard since that there was a much larger
sum subscribed ; but, if it was so, somebody
else took care of that. I can Only say that
was the whole amount that ever came to my
hands, or was ever appropriated to pay any

IS©"'' MEMOIRS OF
part of the expenses that I incurred. Many
of my friends paid their own expenses to
London and back, as witnesses, and raised a
subscription to pay the expenses of other
friendly witnesses ; and I believe some of the
petitioners were sued for some expenses after
wards. It was calculated that the sum ex
pended by the sitting raembers in resisting the
petition, was not less than four thousand
pounds. All that I can say is, I am quite con
fident that had the Coraraittee been chosen
frPm a House of Commons fairly elected by
the people of England, or had they been
the honest representatives of the people
of England, instead of being, as they were,
the representatives of corrupt and rotten
boroughs, and corrupt and rotten influence, I
repeat, I am quite sure that I proved abundant
ly sufficient to have rendered it a void election.
But it must be borne in mind, that this Com
mittee was chosen from as corrupt and profli
gate a Boroughraongering Parliaraent as ever
disgraced the Parliaraentary annals of once
free and happy England.
I now retired once raore to ray farm, at
Rowfant, in Sussex; and although pretty much
minus in pocket, I had yet the gratification of
being conscious that I had done my duty to
the people of Bristol, and had effected a great

HENRY HUNT. 137
national good, by the exposures which I had
made of the corrupt state of the representa
tion, even in what was called a popular repre
sentation of a populous and free city. Sp satis
fied were the people of Bristol with my exer-
tioijs, that they invited me down to a public
dinner, as a testimony that, although I was
unsuccessful, still the Citizens of Bristol were
not insensible of the services which I had ren
dered them, by making an effort in their
behalf, and fighting so gallantly their battle
and the battle of Reforra. 1 was received with
every, demonstration of respect ; and indeed
with increased enthusiasnkand attention by all
classes of the citizens, except the corrupt fac
tions and their corrupt and time-serying de
pendants and tools. These testiraonials of
respect and attadiment to me, as the avowed
champion of Radical Reforra, were exces
sively galling to the Corporation, and to the
corrupt knaves ,of attorneys, parsons, mer-
phants, and pettyfoggers of all sorts, who lived
on the taxes, and battened on the distresses of
the people ; those, in short, who were gorging
upon the vitals of the poor, rioting in luxury,'
and waUowing in wealth, wrung frora the
sweat of the labourers' and mechanics' brows.
' During these pubMcj -exertions I ha,d not
been inattentive to the management of my
VOL. IIL T

138 MEMOIRS OF
farm. As I had made up my raind not to^ re
main at Rowfant ; first, because it was not a pro
fitable farm to occupy; and, second, because
the siluation of the country being^low, and
damp in the winter, did not agree with me,
and had ^used rae to suffer very considerable
ill health frora rheuraatisra, 1 was induced to
iraprove the estate, more with an idea of dis
posing of the lease, than with the intention of
raaking any immediate profit from the culti
vation of the soil. In this object I completely
succeeded. 1 so effectually on ray own prin
ciples drained a great part of arable, as well
as of the pasture land, that it* paid me an
hundred-fold; for, during the spring and
summer of 1813, no farm in the kingdorn had
a raore flourishing appearance. Or bid fairer
for better crops. Every thing was beautiful
and luxuriiant, and put on such a face as would
have'done credit to the cultivation of the very,
best land, rauch raore to a poor, hungry, de
ceitful and barren soil, which a great portion
of this farm at Rowfant reaUy was. I adver
tised ^e lease to be sold,f and very soon had
Some customers, with one of whom I quickly
struck a bargain, and disposed of my lease
and crops, the whole, of which the purchaser
xmdertook to take Off ray hands at a valuation,
as soon as it could be raade.

HENRY HUNT. 139
Some of my speculations upon this estate
completely failed. I had sunk a Considerable
sum in endeavouring to keep a flock of sheep,
for which the farm was by no means congenial;
added to this, my flock became infected with the
foot rot, having been contarainated by the few
half Southdown half Merinos which Ihad pur
chased of Mr. Dean, of Chard, of which unfor
tunate deal I have before spoken. In calcu
lating the loss which I sustained by purchas
ing these sheep, which were unsound, and
infected with that incurable disorder (at least
incurable upon a wet soil), I then placed it
as before, much below the mark ; for I sin
cerely believe I was ultimately two hundred
pounds out of pocket by the bargain, notwith
standing the infamous falsehoods of the infa
mous editor of the Taunton Courier.
Another speculation, in which I was very
unfortunate, was the making of charcoal. I
had a very fine lot of wood, which I could not
dispose of, and I was therefore advised to
make it into charcoal, as other farmers in that
neighbourhood were accustomed to do. In fact,
there did not appear any other rational method
of disposing of my wood, which I had been
obliged to take at a valuation when I took the
estate. Well, I hired a man to make this char
coal j so far the business succeeded, for as it'

140 MEMOIRS OF
was very fine wood, so it produced a large
quantity of very nice charcoal, as good as ever
was seen. But then the next thing was to pro
cure ^cks to put it in, that it raight be sent to
the London raarket for sale. It required two-
hundred und forty sacks, of about two bushels
each, to make a load; these were ordered
from a manufacturer at East Grinstead. The
charcoal was loaded and sent off to London,
altogether as good a set-out as ever passed
over Blackfriars Bridge. A customer was
soon found, but I never touched the cash, nor
ever saw my 240 sacks again; so that the
whole was a dead loss of about fifty pounds.
Thus ended my speculations in charcoal, as I
was determined that I would never cut any
more wood as long as I kept the estate, but
that I would let it grow for the next person
who should follow me, to try, if he pleased,^
his band at dealing in charcoal; it appeared
to me to be wise to put up with the first loss,
and quit the concern.
I had, in the whole, expended six thousand
''pounds in the purchase of,what I took to when
I entered upon this farm, and in the iraprove
ment which I had made in cultivation, stock,
&c. I sold my lease for two thousand pounds,
and the valuations were to the amount of six
thousand more; the whole sum being eight

HENRY HUNT. 141
thousand pounds, which was paid me on the
nail, by Richard Crawshaw, Esq. the present
proprietor; and I took my leave of Rowfant,
bearing away with me two thousand pounds
more than I carried thither. This was such
an occurrence as had never been known, in
the memory of man, to have happened to any
stranger that had come to reside in the parish
of Worth— that of leaving the parish richer
than he entered it.
On the sanie morning that I received this
money, which was paid rae in one thousand
pounds' Bank notes, I called at the Bank of
England, to change one of the thousand pound
notes. I was desired to present it to the in
spector, which I did, and he raade his mark
upon it as good, and tore off at the lower
corner the name of the person who had entered
it. He then desired me to carry it back to
the clerk, io whom I had first presented it for
payment ; I did so, and presented it again.
The gentleman inquired in what notes I should
like to have the change? I replied, one five
hundred, and five of one hundred each.
Drawing the pen from behind his ear, and
dipping it in the ink, he handed it to me, to
gether with the note, saying, " write your
name and address on the back of the note, I
will give you the change immediately." I

142 MEMOIRS OF
Stared thp jockey fuU in the face for a short
time, which, stare he returned; and then ex
claimed, " corae. Sir, write your name and
address." " Not I, indeed," was the answer.
" What," said he, in a loud voice, " what, re
fuse to sign your name?" "Yes," said I, '' I
do refuse to sign ray name." This was said
in about two keys higher than Mr. Clerk's
interrogatory. " WeU, then," said he, " I
shall not give you the change, till you do sign
your name and address upon the back of the
note." " What," said I, raising my voice still
higher, " back one of your notes for a thou
sand pounds? Indeed, I shaU do no such
thing! I have not confidence enough in your
firm to back one of your one pound notes, and
much less one of your notes for a thousand
pounds." By this time I had a mpb coUected round
me, spme processing to be astonished at ray
impudence, but others unequivocally ex
pressing their approbation of my conduct;
a,ddiiig9 that they were very happy to hear me
take these impudent, aU-sufficient gentleraen
clerks to task a little. The former set, who ex
pressed their astonishment, seemed, frora the
cut of their coats, and the turn of their
phizzes, to be bankers' and merchants' clerks;
^%VLt many of the latter seemed to be gentleraenr

HENRY HUNT. 143
I continued boldly to demand my change, or
my note. The latter was instantly handed to
me; but, as it was mutilated, andthe nameof
the person, by whom it had been entered, had
been torn off by the inspector, I declined to^
take it. Mr. Clerk as resolutely refused to
give me the change, saying, that they had po-*
sitive orders not to take any notes of that de
scription, above 50^. from a stranger, without
his name and address were endorsed on the
note. I demanded what law there was for
such a proceeding, but I could get no an
swer. I then demanded to see the Governor;
but I was told that he was engaged, and eould
not be spoken with. I asked if it was not a
good note? They replied " yes, it was ad
mitted to be so by the inspector." " Then,"
said I, " as you have mutilated the note, and
refuse to give me change; and as you also
refuse to admit me to the Governor, I will
swear the debt of 1000/. against the Governor
and Company of the Bank of England; and if
there is an independent attorney in London,
I will instantly strike a docket against them*
On hearing this they all started; all the clerks
stood with their pens behind their ears; all|
business was at an end; and, as I spoke loiid,
eyery man in the Rotunda heard whaf I said.
Two or three gentlemen present gav^ iwe .

144 MEMOIRS OF
their cards of address, promising to corae for
ward, to prove that the clerk refused payraent,
and denied the Governor of the Bank, which,
as I said, was evidently an act of bankruptcy;
' and they offered rae numerous thanks for call
ing these impudent gentry to account, and
''checking their usual insolence, which, many
of them said, was unpardonable. I repeated
ray declaration, and walked out of the Bank,
leaving my note in their hands, and all the
clerks half petrified and gazing on each other
in utter astonishment.
I tried three or four attorneys, to indjice
them to strike a docket against the Governor
and Company of the Bank of England, and
offered to make an affidavit of the debt, the
refusal of payment, and the denial of the
Governor. But I could not get one of these
worthies to move a peg in the affair; so I left
the note where it was, and went into the
country for three or four days.
Upon ray return to ray inn in London,
Cooper's Hotel, in Bouverie-street, I found a
tetter from Mr. Henry Hase, the cashier of
the Bank of England. It seems ,that, on my
quitting the Bank, they sent some one to dog
rae to the inn, and by these means they found
out who I was. The letter was couched', in
very civil langupge, requesting me to ca^l fpr

HENRY HUNT. 145
the thousand pounds, or offering to send it tb
me to the inn, in any notes I pleased. The
next day I called at the Bank, with my son,
who was then about fourteen years of age,
being determined, one way or another, to set
at rest this question of giving names. I gave '&
to my son a five hundred pound note, to put
in his pocket, that he might, at a proper time,%
demand it to be exchanged ; for it was a mock
ery to call it payment, it being only exchanging
one PROMISE TO PAY for another promise to
PAY. On my arrival at the Bank, I demanded
to see Mr. Hase. Business was at an end the
moment that I entered the Rotunda, the clerks
all having their eyes fixed upon me. I was
immediately introduced to Mr. Hase, in his
private room, and I expostulated with him
against such iUegal conduct as I had expe
rienced. I was introduced by him to the
Governor, who, together with Mr. Hase, ad
mitted that there was no law to compel any
person to sign his narae or give his address;
but they said it was, nevertheless, their in
variable practice not to exchange a note above
fifty pounds for any stranger, without first
obtaining his name and address, and they
pleaded the necessity of this, to enable them
to trace forgeries or robberies ; and they
proceeded to say, that they did so for the be-
VOL, III, u

146 MEMOIRS OP
riefit of the public, I contended, on the con
traiy, that it was not only illegal, but an in
sult upon the public, and a particular insult
to the person presenting the note to be ex-
^dhdiiged (I always calling it exchanged, they
always calling itjoayjwenfj y for, after their in
spector had admitted the note to be a good
one, they had no legal or moral right to refuse
to exchange it for other notes. I candidly told
them that I had kept ray proraise, and that I had
seriously endeavoured to get a docket struck
against them, for an act of bankruptcy. The
Governor smiled, but Mr. Hase looked veiy
grave. They, however, apologised for the
trouble which I had experienced ; Mr. Hase
adding, " it will not happen again, Mr, Hunt.
Asyou are now so well known to the clerks, they
wUl not require your name in future. We
certainly ought, (continued he) to have known
you, as we recollect that you brought an ac
tion against Messrs. Hobhouse, Clutterbuck
and Co. bankers, of Bath, because they would
hot pay you their notes in cash; you having
refused to take Bank of Englaind notes in ex
change. We know that you are an enemy to
our paper system ; but we recognise you as an
honourable and open enemy,"
A good deal of such conversation passed
between us, and it ended by a polite offer, on

HENRY HUNT. 147
the part of the Governor, to shew me and
my son over the establishment. As I was
rather in a hurry, and had other business
to do, I declined on that account to accept the
offer, Mr. Hase then said, with a smile, that
he would feel pleasure in taking another op
portunity to shew me over their whole esta
blishment, when he had no doubt but he should
convince me of their solvencv.
I now took my leave of the Governor, and
Mr. Hase accompanied me out to the clerk,
and desired him to give Mr. Hunt change for
his note, in any sums which he might choose.
He then made his bow, and quitted me.
When this was arranged, my son, whose name
was unknown, produced his note for five hun
dred pounds. It was, as usual, handed to the
inspector, amidst the inquiring eyes of aU
the clerks. It was marked as a goodon^, and
my son returned to the cle^k, and demanded
five hundred pound notes. Mr. Clerk handed
him the pen, and desired him to write his
name and address ; to which he replied, that
he should certainly do neither, but that he
insisted on the change. The clerk refused?
saying it was as much as his situation was
worth to comply. I was, meanwhile, taking
down notes with a pencil in my pocket-book,,
without saying one word, except that I would

148

MEMOIRS OF

be a witness for him. The whole place was
again iri a state of uproar, but my young friend
was immovable, and acted his part like a
hero. At length Mr. Hase was called out
again, and the clerk informed him that the
yeuth refused to give his name, and he wished
to knpw if he must pay him the five one hundred
pound notes without it. For a raoment Mr.
Hase lost his temper, and positively ordered the
clerk not to pay it unless the usual custom was
complied with ; and he began in a pettish man
ner to question my son, and in a peremptory
tone demanded his name. The younker,
however, as peremptorily and as sturdily re
fused to comply. Mr. Hase was just going
away in dudgeon, when he happened to cast
his eye upon me, and perceived that I was
deliberately taking down all that passed with
put saying a word ; upon which, instantly re
collecting himself, he turned back, and laugh
ing, said to the clerk, " pay him the notes; as
he is with Mr. Hunt we can call upon him to
give us his narae, if ever it should be found
necessary." Then, patting ray son upon the
shoulder, he added, " recollect, young gen
tleman, that you are the first who ever left the
Bank with such a sura without giving his
name." He then turned to rae, and said,
" You have carried your point, Mr. Hunt;

HElVRY HUNT. 149
good morning." I answered sarcastically,
" good morning, Mr. Cashier." The clerk
having paid my son the notes, I bade him
good morning, telling him, at the same time,
that I Avas very sorry he should have given
himself and his master so much unnecessary
trouble. My son also significantly nodding
his head, and patting his pocket, added his
" good morning, Mr, Clerk ;" and off we
marched, amidst the cheers of a very consider
able multitude, who had collected and listened
to this curious dialogue. Amongst the number
was one ofthe gentlemen who had given me
his address on the previous day, when I left
my thousand pounds; and he heartily thanked
me for having brought these Jacks-in-office
for once to their senses, and compelled them to
act agreeably to the law, which they had so
long been in the habit of setting at defiance.
I now went to reside at Middleton Cottage,
in Hampshire, situated on the London-road,
about three miles from Andover, which I
rentedof Jaraes Widmore, Esq. together with
the manor of Longparish, extending over a
very fine sporting country, of eight or ten
thousand acres, well stocked with game,
particularly partridges and pheasants. As
I found that farming was become a very
expensive amusement, and that in consequence

150 MEMOIRS OF
ofthe great increase of poor's rates and king's
taxes, the, profits attending the best raanaged
farm were very precarious, I had made up my
mind to remain put of business rather than run
the risk of sinking my capital without any
corresponding chance of making it pay com
mon interest; and, therefore, for a while I
hved at Middleton Cottage, enjoying domestic
happiness, combined with the sports of the
field. I soon, hpwever, found that I was not
formed for an idle life. Although 1 toojs more
exercise, in shooting and fishing, than most
men in business are in the habit of taking, yet
some more serious occupation was required to
fill up the measure of my time. An opportunity
having also offered for me to resume my agri
cultural pursuits, by the lease of Cold Hanly
Farm, near the Borough of Whitchurch, being
sold by auction, I was induced, frpra the re
presentations of my attorney (who I afterwards
discpvered to haye been interested in the sale
of this lease), to purchase it, and I entered
upon the farm early in the year 1814, This
certainly was a bad speculation, as the lease
had only three years to run. I bought in the
stock upon this farm at a very high price.
Many of my horses cost me upwards of fifty
pounds each, and all the other farming stock
a proportionably high price.

HENRY HUNT. 1,51.
My principal inducement to take this farm,
which contained about four hundred acres of
land, was my wish to try the experiment of
raising large crops of corn in the manner re
comraended in TuU's Husbandry; which work
I had been reading with great pleasure, on
the recommendation of Mr. Cobbett, who had
begun partially to adopt the system of drilling
at wide intervals, as practised by the late Mr.
Jetheroe TuU, of Shalbourn, near Hungeriord,
Berks. There is something very captivating i n
the language of Mr. TuU's writings upon culti
vation. It is so clear a.nd so reaspnable, that,
when combined with the facts which he lays
before the reader, as to the nature and the
amount of the crops raised by him, every
line almost carries conviction with it. Unfor
tunately, both Mr. Cobbett and myself placed
too great reliance on the opinions and asser
tions of Mr. TuU. We both suffered severely
in pocket, by persevering too long in, and
acting too extensively upon, the plan of drill
ing wheat at Wide intervals, as laid down by
TuU. I do npt mean to insinuate that Mr.
TuU ever stated the amount of his crops to be
better in quality, or more in quantity, than
they really were; but I have no hesitation in
sayingj that the climate»6>f England must have
been ' very different in the time of Mr. TuU

152 ^ MEMOIRS OF
from what it was in the days of Mr. Cobbett
and Mr. Hunt, to have produced either the
quantity or the quality of wheat which Mr.
TuU says was produced per acre upon his ferm,
according to his system. When I found the
practice fail, and that wheat was blighted
upon the high hUls and cold soil of Hampshire,
I took a farm into ray own hands at Upavon,
in Wiltshire, for the purpose of giving the
system a fair trial. Nay,, so convinced was I
of the truth of the principles laid down by
TuU, respecting the food of plants, and such
reliance did 1 place upon the truth of his
assertions, that I persevered one or Iavo years
after Mr. Cobbett had given the thing up as a
hopeless and losing speculation. I mean to
be understood only as far as relates to the driU-
ing of wheat at four feet intervals, to plough
between the rows; for the practice certainly
succeeds with turnips, to the full description
of any thing given by TuU. Mr. Cobbett, I
see, has lately republished the work of TuU,
and I therefore caution such of ray friends
as raay read that work, not to be led away
with the beautiful theory of Mr. TuU, so as
to adopt the plan of drilling wheat to any
extent. In certain soils it raay succeed with
barley; but in these times it is too expensive
a systera for any one to pursue with advantage

HENRY HUNT. 153
to any extent. Those who have good light
ploughing sandy, or sandy loam soils, will
fiud it answer their most sanguine expec
tations, in turnips of any sort, and particularly
in the cultivation of Swedish turnips. Of
course, I only address nayself to those farmers
who superintend the whole progress of drill
ing, transplanting, hoeing and ploughing;
for TuU's is not a system to answer if trusted
to servants. I can only say for myself, that I
adhered to the system so long, that 1 believe
I was minus by it, first and last, above a thou
sand pounds, and I believe Mr. Cobbett was
a loser to an equal degree.
We must now turn our attention again to
politics. The immense losses sustained by
the French in their 'i-etreat from Moscow to
the Russian frontier, compeUed them to con
tinue their retreat, and from Wilna Napoleon
set off for Paris, The treacherous Prussians
now betrayed him; their General led the way
by entering into a convention, and the King
followed by joining the coalition. Many
places fell, and the victorious Russians entered
Warsaw, and advanced to the Elbe. Jaded
and dispirited, the French troops were defeated
in almost every battle; in fact they had never
recovered the effect of the dreadful ravages
committed upon their ranks by the horrors of
VOL. IIL X

154 MEMOIRS OF
a Russian winter. Russia, Prussia, and
Sweden now all leagued together, and sup
ported by the treasures of England, the
wealth of the British nation, wrung from the
sweat of; John Gull's brow, was lavished to
maintain the armies of the Northern hordes,
which were advancing against France. John
GuU was stark mad with joy at the news of
the defeat of the French; and the general:
cry amongst the shopkeepers and farmers was,
" down with Buonaparte, cost what it will !"
They not only were willing to advance large
sums in taxes, but the Parliaraent was encou
raged and hallooed on, by what are called
the middle classes, to borrow and spend
without controul. O how drunk, the farraers
used to get at every account that reached
England of the ill success and the defeat of,
the French ! John would at this time not only
have spent his last shilling, but he was ready
to pawn even his breeches off his rurap, to sup-.
pprt the Ministers in their extravagance.
Upon Napoleon's return to Paris he laid the
state of his affairs candidly before the Senate,
and they immediately voted him 350,000 men
to repair his losses. Having accomplished
this point, he was not disposed, like some of
his Royal enemies, to waste his time in the lap
of luxury and slothful, inglorious idleness; he

HENRY HUNT. 155
therefore set off and joined his army again
at Mentz, on the 20th Of April. He opened
the campaign by the battle of Leitzen, in
which the French arms were once more vic
torious. This was followed up by two success
ful battles at Baultzen and Wiertzen, which
compelled the Allies to repass the Oder. Na
poleon then proposed an armistice, which was
accepted ; bnt, as the terms of peace could not
be settled, the war re-coharaericed, and with
great disadvantage to the French. The Crown
Prince of SAVeden, who had deserted his bene
factor, and joined the Allies against hira in
the North of Germany, now took the field with
a formidable army. But the fatal blow to Na
poleon was the defection of Austria, which
never joined the coalition on the 12th of
August. The AUies having united all their
forces, to the number of 180,000 raen, the
French arrny now took up a position on
the river Elbe, and attacked Napoleon in his
position near Dresden; but they Avere foiled,
and compelled to retire into Bohemia by the
superiority of his rhilitiary skill. This advan
tage was, however, rendered of no avail by
the loss of a division of 12,000 men undei-
Vandamme, Avho had irhprudently entangled
himself in the defiles of Bohemia, where he
was surrounded and compeUed to surrender.

156 MEMOIRS OF
Macdonald was also defeated, with heavy loss,
in Silesia ; and Marshal Ney at Dennewitz.
Bavaria, which owed so much to Napoleon,
now not only abandoned him, but also united
its forces with those of Austria, its natural
enemy. Napoleon had by this time taken up
a position in the neighbourhood of Leipsic,
and to that spot the combined forces, consist
ing of 330,000 men, advanced to give him
battle. The French army was not more than
175,000 strong. The battle, or rather succes
sion of battles, lasted from the 16th to the 19th
of October, and was sanguinary beyond ex
ample. The scale was, at length, decisively
turned against the French by the desertion of
the Saxons, who went over to the AUies, and
turned their cannon against their recent com
rades at the critical period ofthe contest. The
French were compelled to commence their re
treat, and by the destruction of a bridge their
rear-guard was cut off, and made prisoners.
They fell back towards the Rhine, and found
the Bavarian army posted at Hanau to inter
cept them. The Bavarians were, however,
defeated, and the French army reached the
Rhine. Napoleon now hasted to Paris, and having
assembled the Senate, he laid before them the
full particulars of his disastrous campaign.

HENRY HUNT. 157
upon which they immediately ordered out
300,000 conscripts. At this time the news
reached the French capital of the counter-re
volution that had taken place in Holland —
that Dresden had surrendered to the enemy
with 23,000 men— that Westphalia was lost,
and that the Dalmatian coast was occupied by
the Austrians; in fact, that misfortune and
defeat attended the French arms in every
quarter. The arms of England meanwhile
were victorious in Spain, and under Welling
ton gained a decisive victory at Vittoria.
Wellington having stormed St, Sebastian, en
tered France without any interruption, and
easily defeated the French at St. Jean de Leu
and on the. Nive. As, by the advance of Wel
lington into France, they had got rid of what
were always considered by the Spanish people
as equally troublesorae intruders, naraely,
both the French and English armies, the
Cortes began to act with some vigour; the
Regency was dimissed, and a new one formed.
The extraordinary Cortes wiere dissolved, and
the ordinary Cortes summoned.
In America, Mr. Madison was elected Pre
sident in the room of Mr. Jefferson. The
Congress assembled, and a paper was laid be
fore thera that justified the war which they
had entered into against England. One of

158 MEMOIRS OF
their armies made an attempt upon Niagara,
but it was repulsed. Dearborn was also
obliged to retire from Lake Champlain. In
the mean time the ports were declared to be
in a state of blockade by the English. The
Americans took York town, in Canada, and
Mobille, in West Florida. The Emperor of
Russia offered himself as raediator, and the
President appointed three citizens to treat
with England. On Lake Ontario the British
fleet was successful; but on Lake Erie the
Americans defeated the English fleet, and
took the whole of her naval force in that
quarter. When the Parliament met, the British Mi
nisters also laid papers upon the table to jus
tify themselves from being in fault in making
war upon America. The great cause of this
war with America, be it remembered, was this :
The English had always claimed a right to
search all American vessels, and even ships of
war, for Enghsh seamen, which, if found on
board an American ship, were seized and
forcibly removed on' board English ships of
war. This had been always coraplained of
by the Americans as an unjust and arbitrary
proceeding. But the English fleets being al
ways masters of the ocean, the British claimed
and enforced this right of search, which the

HENRY HUNT. 159^
Americans, not being able to resist, reluctantly
submitted to, no doubt with a determination.^
to throw off the gaUing yoke as soon as they
thought themselves able to offer a successful
resistance. They now believed ihat time to
be arrived, and they resolved to make the
attempt; and wherever they were strong
enough they resisted all attempts to search.
On thepart of the Americans I raay say that
this was the only substantial cause of the war;
all the other aggressions and insults that were
offered by the English, (and they were many)
might have been, and would, for sorae time at
least, have been endured without an open rup
ture ; the right of search by the English was
therefore the grand matter in dispute.
Sorae debates took place in the House of
Comraons respecting the Princess of Wales,
but nothing definite was agreed upon. At
length, however, her conduct was inquired
into, and as it was approved of, the public.
could no longer be restrained, by the intrigues
of petty and interested politicians, from openly
expressing their sentiments upon the subject
of her ill-treatment. A Common Hall was
called, on the suggestion of Alderraan Wood,
who got a requisition signed, and who moved
the Resolutions and an Address to her Royal
Highness, aU which were strenuously opposed

1(50 MEMOIRS OF
by Mr. Waithman, who was backed by the
iewell weighed opinion" of Mr. Sturch, of
Westminster, so well known as having taken
a very active part in the election of Sir F.
Burdett, This was the first and the last tirae
I ever knew Daddy Sturch, (as he is called in
Westminster) appear upon the hu.stings at
Guildhall, to address the Livery at a Common
Hall, Nevertheless, in spite of the violent
opposition of Mr. Waithman, and " the well
weighed opinion" of Mr, Sturch, to which Mr.
Waithman earnestly recommended the Livery
to attend, the Address was carried by an
overwhelming majority. Notwithstanding Mr.
Waithman's objections to voting the Address,
yet he fell in with the stream, and went up in
his carriage with the procession, to present
the Address to her Royal Highness, who then
resided at Kensington Palace, and he received
with great sang froid the sarcastic thanks and
polite attention of the Princess,
I do not know that the circumstances attend
ing the management of the various parties,
• who took a lead in this affair, have ever been
placed in a clear light before the public, and
possibly some of them may never be made
known; but, as I am acquainted with many of
the secret springs by which the parties were
worked upon and moved, I will relate one of

HENRY HUNT. 161
the intrigues of the City plotters, which de
layed for a whole year the expression of the
public opinion. While Mr. Cobbett was in
Newgate, in the year 1812, Mr. Alderraan
Wood was very anxious to procure a Com
mon Hall, to address her Royal Highness,
and I was present when a requisition was
drawn up, which he took away with him, for
the purpose of getting it signed by a number
of the Livery, that it might be presented to
the Lord Mayor. On the next day, he came
back, and said that he had found it almost
impossible to succeed ; that when they became
acquainted with his object, the friends of Mr.
Waithman had so actively exerted themselves
to prevent the calling a Common Hall, that he
was induced to decline proceeding at that
time, he being fully convinced that, even if
he procured a meeting, there would be such
an opposition to the Address that it would be
imprudent for him at this moment to per
severe. Thus it will be seen that the worthy
Alderman was anxious to exert himself in
favour of an Address to her Royal Highness,
a full year before he could bring it to bear;
and that the very same party in the city who,
by dint of intrigue, contrived at that period to
prevent the Common HaU, likewise strained
every nerve to prevent the Address being
VOL. in. Y

162 MEMOIRS OF
carried, when the worthy Alderman did at
length get a HaU of the Livery convened.
Mr. Waithraan, who found that there was a
great public feeling in favour of the Princess
of Wales, brought forward Mr. Sturch, (who
had acquired a considerable degree of popu
larity in Westminster) to assist him at the
Common HaU in putting down and neutralizing
that honest feeling. He urged the Livery, if
he had lost their confidence, and they did not
choose to rely upon his advice, at least to listen
Avith attention to the " well weighed opinion
of his respectable and inteUigent friend, Mr.
Sturch." But all would not do ! The City
Cock was left in a contemptible minority, the
honest efforts of the worthy Alderman Wood
were crowned with complete success, the Ad
dress was carried by acclaraation, and it was
agreed that the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, and
Livery, dressed in their gowns, should carry
up their Address, and present it to her Royal
Highness at Kensington Palace; and, to crown
the whole, Mr. Waithman, who had so perti
naciously opposed the Address, was one ofthe
most conspicuous in the procession to carry it
up to her Royal Highness, to whom this fact
of his opposition was well known! There are
some other curious circurastances, connected
with this support of her Royal Highness at that

HENRY HUNT. 163
epoch, which it may be necessary at a future
time to lay beforethe public; and although,
after what we have seen, they will not create
any great surprise as to the conduct of the
party concerned, yet they wiU doubtless excite
the indignation of every honest man and
woman in the country.
In consequence of this sort of conduct in
Mr. Waithman, in his frequent opposition to
the honest, straight-forWard proceedings of
Mr, Alderman Wood, I was induced to accept
the invitation that had been often given me
by Mr. Samuel Millar, as well as by many
others, to becorae a Liveryman of the city,
the expenses attending which, I was always
told, should be discharged for me as soon as
I would give ray assent. At length I agreed
to the proposal, solely with a view to endea
vour to counteract the tricks and intrigues of
the Whig or Waithmanite faction in the city,
when assembled in Comraon Hall. Well, the
time came, I obtained my freedom, and I was
sworn a Liveryman in the Loriraer's Com
pany. This was managed by Mr. Millar,
through the instrumentality of Mr. Ireland, of
Holborn-bridge; but instead of having the
expenses paid for me, I had to pay the whole
myself, which I believe were about fifty pounds,
I shall not easily forget, when I appeared for

164 MEMOIRS OF
the first time upon the hustings in GuildhaU,
what long faces were exhibited, and what
surprise it created. On my stepping forward
to address that Livery, the Lord Mayor, Scho-;
ley, jumped up out of his chair, and exclaimed,
"is he a liveryman?" Mr. Millar answered
significantly, "Yes;" and I proceeded. At
this period 1 found Mr. Millar, Mr. Thompson,
the spirit-merchant, of Holborn-hill, and Mr.
Alexander Galloway, with a few others, de
cidedly hostile to the measures of Mr. Waith
raan, but wanting the resolution and the con
fidence to oppose him openly.
I have been frequently reminded of particu
lar events of my life that 1 have omitted in my
Memoirs, many of which had for years been
banished from my meraory, and if I were to
record every little incident which raight occur
to me I should extend my volumes to an un
wieldy size, I have therefore been compeUed
to pass over many occurrences which some
might think of importance, but I have been
careful not to omit any part of my political
history which 1 could recollect. One circum
stance I shall notice, Avhich has been recaUed
to my memory by the publication ofa virulent
although impotent attack upon my public
and private character, by one of those mush
room politicians, of which class I have seen

HENRY HUNT. 165
hundreds, who spring up in a day and are
gone in an hour, and we hear no more of
them. I have been reminded ofthe imprison
ment of Mr. White, the proprietor and editor
of the Independent Whig, a London weekly
newspaper, which was published by him for
many years with great public spirit and patriotic
talent. As a public writer, I consider Mr. White
to be a man of the most inflexible integrity,
and although from the very title of his paper
it may easily be conceived that Mr. White and
myself were of opposite sentiments as to the
course that ought to be followed to recover
our lost rights and violated liberties, yet we
never were at variance on that account. I al
ways believed Mr. White to be a real friend
to Liberty, and 1 believe that he considered
me to be the same ; consequently we never
quarrelled about shades of difference in opinion
how that liberty was to be obtained and se
cured. The Editor of the Independent Whig
was also a zealous guardian of the right con
ferred by real, undisguised, and honest trial by
jury. He was the lynx-eyed scrutinizer ofthe
conduct of the Judges ; the honest censor of
the Courts of Justice ; therefore, of all men
he was the most likely to fall under the dis
pleasure of the dispensers of the laws. To
criticise fairly the conduct of the Judges,

166

MEMOIRS OF

though it is one of the most necessary and the
niost honourable of occupations, is likewise
one of the most dangerous. There is always
plenty of room for severe animadversion, and
the harpies of the Courts are always upon the
look-out, to pounce upon and make victims of
those who venture to animadvert on them.
Having been justly strong in his censures upon
the arbitrary and corrupt conduct of Lord El-
lenborough, the Chief Justice Of the Court of
King's Bench, who was as violent and in
temperate a political Judge that ever disgraced
the Bench, Mr. White was prosecuted by the
Attorney-General for a libel, and was sentenced
to be imprisoned in Dorchester Gaol for three
years. Mr. Hart, the printer of the Indepen
dent Whig, was imprisoned in Gloucester
Gaol at the same time, for the same libel.
I was not then personally acquainted with
either of them; but in some newspaper,
(most likely the Independent Whig) I read
that Mr. Hart was subject to very great pri
vations in Gloucester Gaol, and, amongst
other things, that he was deprived of seeing
his family and friends in private, he being
obliged, even with his wife, to converse in the
presence and hearing of a turnkey, through
the iron bars of his dungeon door ; and that
he was very much restricted for room to walk

HENRY HUNT. 167
in to procure fresh air. I was then living at
Clifton, and had as yet entered but very little
into politics ; but from my earliest age I had
been taught to hate oppression and practice
humanity. I was told that the readers ofthe
Independent Whig had met in Bristol, and in
London also, I think, and passed some strong
resolutions, and made some excellent speeches,
condemning such inhuraan and barbarous con
duct ; but still the restrictions reraained the
same, and these worthy men might have raet
and passed resolutions till the iraprisonraent
of Mr. Hart had been at an end, without the
slightest chance of rendering hira any real ser
vice. As mere pity and speech-making could
be of no use, I drove over in my curricle to
Gloucester, a distance of nearly forty miles,
to see what could be done for the aggrieved
prisoner. I called at the prison, and asked
to see Mr. Hart, but I was too late in the even
ing. I slept at the Bell, and called again the
next morning, as soon as I could gain admit
tance, having employed the intermediate time
in endeavouring to obtain information relating
to the Gaolj the Visiting Magistrates, and other
necessary particulars. As, however, I was
a perfect stranger at Gloucester, I made but
little progress ; for every one I met appeared
as shy of having any thing to say about the

168 MEMOIRS OF
gaol, as if he were himself afraid of becoming
an inmate in the horrid place. At length, I
found a person of the name of Wittick, a hair
dresser, the genuine Dickey Gossip of the
city, who was exactly what I wanted. Having
told him my name and ray business, he " let
loose his tongue," and gave me such a history
of some of the revolting scenes that occurred
within the walls of their city bastile, as har
rowed up my soul with horror. The victims
of oppression and tyranny, as Wittick had
described them,, flitted before my imagination
during the whole night, and I rose in the
morning but little refreshed with my night's
rest. On my repairing to the Gaol I was admitted
to the door of Mr, Hart's dungeon, and there
I ascertained from his own mouth, and indeed
from my own observation, the truth of the
stateraents which 1 had seen in the paper.
All that passed was in the presence of a turn
key, Mr. Hart standing in the inside, and I
on the outside, of a door coraposed of iron
bars. He said his wife was corae frora Lon
don, in hopes of being permitted to adminis
ter to his comforts, and to aUeviate the horrors
of his imprisonment; but she was nearly heart
broken, and was going to return the next day,
as she had been refused by the Visiting Ma-

HENRY HUNT. 169
gistrates any further admission to him, than to
see him through the iron door ; he added also,
that his health was impaired by the want
of fresh^air, as he was only perraitted to walk
certain hours in the day, in a small court,
surrounded' with high walls, which excluded
a free circulation of air and the genial influ
ence of the sun. I tpld him who and what I
was;*and, as I had come from Cliftpn on pur
pose to. endeavour to render him some assist
ance, I desired him to delay for a few days
the departure of his wife, Avhile in the interval
I would do my best to procure her admission
to him. As Iwas quite a stranger to the
Magistrates, I could not answer for my success,
but I would at a.ny rate make the attempt.
He thanked me, but with a deep sigh said, he
jfeared my kindness would be in vain, though
his wife should certainly not leave the place
till I had. tried the experiment.
I took leave of Mr. Hart, and repaired to
the Visiting Magistrates; one of them was
from home; ithe second, a parson, I think,
heard what I had to say,, was exceedingly civil
and polite, but preached a good deal about
good order and the necessity of keeping up a
strict prison discipline. He, nevertheless,,
promised thathe would do all that was in his
power at the next nieeting of the M*agistrates,
VOL. III. z

170 MEMOIRS OP
which wouldjake place in a fortnight; but he
emphatically observed, " you know I am but
one, Mr. Hunt." " A fortnight!"^ I exclaimed,
" why. Sir, the poor woman will leave plouces-
ter broken-hearted long before half that tirae
arrives." "-Corae, come. Sir," replied he,
" these things cannot be accomplished so easily
as you imagine; and after all I must say, that
although I promise to do every thing that lies
in my power to serve the unfortunate prisoner,
you must aUow that his crime is a most heinous
one. I cannot give you ^ any great encou
ragement to hope that I shaU succeed with Sir
George PauU and the other Magistrates."
This chap was a thorough Dr, Colston in his
heail;, and I left him with a determination not
to trust my case in his hands. I next ordered
my curricle and drove to Sir George PauU's.
I was introduced to him immediately, and I
communicated the object of my v^it. He
had received me very politely, but the rao
ment that I raentioned my business, he drew
up, and began to hesitate and make excuses.
Before I left him, however, he adraitted that
Mr. Hart's case was a very hard one, and he
promised most faithfuUy that he would do
whatever was in his power to comply with my
request, .vrfiich was, that his wife might hav>§
free access to hir)aite8''^d that he, might have

HENRY HUNT. 171
the liberty Of walking in a larger yard. But
I found this could not be done under a fortnight,
and he politely assured me that he would write
me the, result of the meeting of Magistrates.
Though in the manner of this gentleman,
who I believe was chairman of the quarter
sessions, there was something much more
honest and open than in that of his brother
justices, yet when I left him, to return to
Gloucester, I was not satisfied that I had done
all that I could do, and therefore I drove on
to Bromsgrove, in Herefordshire, to call on
Mr. Honeywood Yate, of whom I had heard
as an independent Magistrate, aS well as a
friend of Reform, I soon enlisted him in the
service; but he was very much engaged with
other business, which, after awhile, as Mr.
Yate was a very humane man, was made
subservient to the cause of the oppressed and
persecuted captive. Mr. Yate went to Glou
cester the next day. Before I returned to
Clifton I had the satisfaction of hearing that
there was an order made for Mrs. Hart to visit
her husband in his room, and for him to walk
in the garden, I think, of the Governor.
To the kindness* and humanity of Mr. Yate
was Mr. Hart greatly indebted for this indul
gence. Without his assistance it might never

172 MEMOIRS OF
have been grajited ; at any rate it would have
been protracted to a cruel distance.
Since that period 1 have never seen Mr. Hart
except once, and that was in Londjgp, after
the term of his imprisonment had expired ;
and for the trouble which I had taken in his
behalf, I was amply rewarded by the manner
in which he expressed his sense of the accom
modation that I had been so instrumental in
procuring for him. If he read this, it will
recall the whole to his recollection. Mr. White
laboured under an asthmatic complaint, and
suffered greatly from his confinement; but 1
understood that he was treated with proper
respect and attention by the Magistrates.
Pittman, who was then' the head turnkey of
Dorchester Gaol, called upon me the other day,
and almost the first words he uttered were,
that the apartments allotted to Mr. White and
his family, in Dorchester Gaol, were quite a
palace compared to the room in which he
found me. He said that Mr. White had two
airy rooms over the Chapel, which comraanded
a view of the circumjacent country, and that
he had the liberty of walking round the large
open area of the Gaol, which was composed
of a beautiful gravel walk; that his was, in
short, altogether a very corafortable situE|tion

HENRY HUNT. 173
compared to that which I occupy in Ilchester
Bastile. He was here before the walls were
lowered, and consequently, he saw the place
in all its native wretchedness.
Before I proceed with ray narrative, I must
mention a few circumstances, which it wiU
not be improper to record. At the latter end
of this year, 1813, there was a most remark
able fog, which extended fifty or sixty miles
round London, accompanied by a severe
frost, which lasted six weeks without inter
mission. The average price of wheat this
year was one hundred and seven shillings and
ten-pence halfpenny, and the quartern loaf
was one shilling and five-pence: these were
glorious times for the farmers, whose anti
pathy to jacobins and levellers, or rather
reformers, increased in proportion to the
high price of corn and bread. To be sure
John Gull was taxed pretty handsomely, but
the farmers, at least such of them as looked
only to iSelf, always contrived to squeeze their
taxes out of the earnings of the labourer.
Those, on the contrary, who thought that the
labourer had a right to something more than
what would barely keep life and soul together,
could not cultivate the soil to the same advan
tage. .The supplies voted this year were
Seventy-seven Millions, Five Hundred*

174 MEMOIRS OF
AND Thirty-seven Thousand, Four Hun
dred and Sixty-five Pounds.
While the British arms were crowned with
complete success in Spain, the Government
was carrying on, both by sea and land, a ruin
ous and disastrous war in America. The
American frigate Chesapeake was taken by
the Shannon ; but, in return, the Americans
captured the Java frigate. The British troops
were compelled to evacuate Fort Erie and
Fort George, whieh were taken possession of
by the Americans, and ultimately the Araeri
can fleet took, burnt, sunk, or destroyed the
¦whole ofthe English fleet on Lake Erie. Every
real lover of liberty in England deprecated
this war with our brethren of America ; but
the enemies of liberty now began to boast that
they would put down and destroy the princi
ples of Republicanism throughout the world.
I always considered the war with America to
be a raost unjust war; and, although I lament
ed to hear of the' destruction of huraan lives,
and the spilling of human blood, and particu
larly that of my own countrymen, yet I always
wished success to the Americans, who were
fighting for their rights arid liberties against
an invader, who would gladly have red^ced
them to that state of slavery frora which they
had eraancipated themselves by a glorious and
Successful struggle.'**^*

HENRY HUNT. 175
The late harvest was very fine, and the
crops were good ; corn, therefore, began to
fall, and of course the landed interest caught
the alarm, and set about sounding the tocsin
for a corn bill, to keep up the price ofthe grain.
In consequence of this, the subject was fre
quently discussed in Parliament. The Minis
ters professed to disclaim the proposition, but
they set their friends, the Country Gentlemen,
forward to propose the measure. It was at
length settled, that corn should not be im
ported unless the price of wheat was above
eighty shillings per quarter. Although a
farmer myself, I always exclaimed against this
measure, notwithstanding it did not appear
likely that the country would be immediately
affected by it, as there was no probability of
the price of wheat being much below eighty
shiUings a quarter during that season.
At this period I was fully occupied in a most
laborious and uprofitable speculation. I had
taken a farm of nearly four hundred acres. This
farm, had been occupied by a Major Andrews,
a retired militia officer, who had commenced
farmer, a business of which he was totaUy ig
norant, and in the pursuit of which he sunk a "¦
good fortune; yet when he quitted this farm, or^,
rather when his property and stock were seized
arid sold under an execution, perhaps the county

176 MEMOIRS OF
of Hants could not have produced its equal
for foulness and bad condition. I had occu
pied three thousand acres of land in Wiltshire,
and I will venture to say, that there was not
half the quantity of couch grass upon the
whole of it that I now found upon the cleanest
acre on Cold Heniy Farm. Couch grass is
the most injurious ofall weeds, and, in some
parts of Wiltshire, it is very appropriately
called "the farmer's devil," This farm of
Cold Heniy was about seven miles frora my
residence at Middleton Cottage, and therefore
I had ample exercise in riding to and fro, and
attending all day to the cleaning of the land.
The proprietor ofthe farm was a clergyman,
and, as he professed to be very friendly with
me, and gave me to understand that he should
be happy to continue me as a tenant after my
lease was out, 1 spared neither pains nor ex
pense in cultivating the land, in hopes of here
after reaping a reward for my labour. In fact,
it was absolutely necessary to have the soil
perfectly clean and free from all sorts of weeds
and grass, to be enabled to cultivate it upon
the drill system, as laid down by TuU. I be
lieve that in the course of the first summer I
burned forty thousand cart loads of couch,
which made as raany bushels of ashes fpr ma
nure. Almost all the land required to be

HENRY HUNT. 177
ploughed five or six times, by means ofwhich,
and of innumerable draggings and harrowings;
and incessant and persevering labour, the
farm became, in my hands, altogether as clean
as it -was foul and overrun with every descrip
tion of weeds and grass, before I came to it.
I was induced to expend a large sum of money
in improving this farm, from the promises of
tbe cunning, artful, and deceitful old clergy
man, who was the proprietor of it. The
buildings, which were very extensive, and
miserably dilapidated, I put into complete
repair ; and, perhaps, altogether I expended
on the land and offices three times as much
as a common rack-renting farmer would have
done. Being fully satisfied that I was greatly
benefiting his estate, the parson not only gave
his consent to any alteration that 1 thought
proper in the course of husbandry, which the
old tenant was bound in his lease to pursue,
but he took all occasions to enc6Urage me to
do so; and, as my proceedings were so ex
tremely beneficial to his farm, which he never
failed to acknowledge, I did not once dream
that he would hereafter, for the sake of liti
gation, pretend to object to it. As this farm
was a manor of itself, and was well stocked
with game, I had plenty of shooting of * all
sorts upon it, as well as over the manor of
VOL, IIL 2 A

178 MEMOIRS OF'
Longparish, over which I also held the de
putation. This year, 1814, was one of the raost event
ful periods in the history of the world. The
first week in January, Dantzic was occupied
by the allies, whose grand army passed the
Rhine, and occupied Coblentz. The treache
rous and dastardly Murat, King of Naples,
basely betrayed and deserted his patron, his
friend, his benefactor, and his relation. Na
poleon, by concluding a treaty with England;
and on the 17th he openly joined the allies
against France. Of all the despicable, base,
and treacherous conduct of the base and
dastardly crowned heads, during the whole
war, this desertion of Napoleon, by his brother-
in-law, Murat, was the most base and dastardly.
To be sure, during the whole of this long and
bloody war, carried on by the despots and ty
rants of the earth, their conduct was one con
tinued exhibition of treachery, falsehood, sel
fishness, and deception. This abandoned race
of Sovereigns, Kings and Eraperors, who as
surae a divine origin, and set up a claim of
divine rights, have, by their acts, unequivocaUy
proclaimed to the whole world that no reliance
can be placed in their Avords, their bPndS, or
their oaths. They have aU of them broken the
most soleran treaties, and violated the most
sacred and binding obligations, without the

HENRY HUNT. 179
least regard to truth, to honour, or to honesty.
At the very time that the Governraents of the
different states of Europe have, in high-sound
ing language, been preaching about national
faith, national honour, and national credit ;
the favoured Ministers of each of them, in con
junction with their masters, have, wherever
it suited their interested and corrupt purposes,
without the least regard to precept or principle,
unblushingly violated and abandoned all nation
al credit, honour, and faith; and have rendered
faith,honour, and credit, mere bye-words among
nations. Ifa man in common life were to act
in the same unprincipled and dastardly man
ner as these Sovereign Princes have done, he
would be shunned and spurned out of all so
ciety. If one of the " lower orders" were to
conduct himself in a similar manner, he would
be kicked out of the corapany ofthe most aban
doned frequenters of the lowest brothels and
tap-rooms; no raan wpuld eraplpy him or
have any transaction with him; he would
be driven from amongst even the lowest of man
kind, and deservedly left to starve, to pe
rish, and to rot upon a dunghill.
The moment that the fortune of war turned
against Napoleon, all the royal, mean, cringings
timid, time-serving, contemptible wretchesj
who had filled up the measure of his glory,

180 MEMOIRS ot
and alraost worshipped him when he was vic
torious ; those who had partaken ofhis bounty,
and whose whole existence had depended on his
smiles; all those that he had elevated to power,
and who had reigned by his sufferance, now
joined the tide and swelled the torrent that
was collected to overwhelm hirri. Sweden
and Denmark having, like others, been bribed
by English gold, drawn from the sweat of
John Gull's brows, had now joined the allies
against France, and the first action upon the
territory of Old France took place on the 24th
of Januaiy, when Mortier was defeated ; and
on the 27th the army commanded by Napo
leon in person, at St. Dizier, in Champagne,
was overpowered by numbers, and repulsed
with considerable loss. The tyrants of Rus
sia, Austria, and Prussia met at Basil, and
soon after all their armies advanced. 'Blucher
and Bemadotte, Crown Prince of Sweden,
Crossed the Rhine with their numerous hordes,
and the armies of France gave way. Nancy,
Troyes, Vitry, and Chalons were taken by
the allies. But Napoleon having .rallied his
divisions, defeated first the Russians, and
then Blucher, who led his army on to attack
Marmont, but he was defeated a second time.
Prince Schwartzenburg advanced with the
troops under his coramand direct for Paris,

HENRY HUNT. 181
but Napoleon attacked him with an inferior
force, beat him, and obliged him to retreat.
The battles were now so numerous, and the
success was so equally balanced, that it would
require a history of itself to recount them.
With an army which was never one third as
strong as that of the invaders. Napoleon con
tested every inch of the ground, and fought
so bravely and so skilfully, that the issue was
for some time doubtful. At length the nume
rous hordes of the confederated nations of
Russia, Austria, Prussia, Germany, Denmark,
Sweden, and Bavaria, flushed with their suc
cess, pushed on to Paris, to defend which Mar
shals Marmont and Mortier had but very in
adequate means. The assailants, two hun
dred thousand in number, reached the northern
side of Paris on the 29th of March, and on the
following day a desperate battle took place.
It was not till they had sacrificed fifteen thou
sand men that the allies could raake thera
selves masters of the posts which the French
held in the neighbourhood of Paris. Not dis
posed to run the risk of another engagement,
and especially of the arrival of Napoleon, who
was hastening back by forced marches, the
coalesced despots were glad to obtain the sur
render of the capital, by granting honourable
terms to Marmont, Avho accordingly withdrew,

l82 MEMOIRS or
with his troops from Paris, which Maria Louisa
had already quitted. On the 1st of April all
the allied Sovereigns entered that city as con
querors. The Emperors of Russia and Austria,
and the King of Prussia, all of whora had been
so repeatedly conquered by Napoleon, who
had generously, although foolishly, restored
two of them, after having conquered them
and taken their capitals, now, in return for
his generous conduct to them, had the mean
ness and the cowardice to declare that Napo
leon was the only obstacle to the establish^
ment of a peace; upon which he magnani
mously, to save the effusion of human blood,
did not hesitate to offer his resignation. This
was accepted; the French Senate met, and
agreed to a provisional Government, tiU a
Constitution could be formed, and they passed
a decree on the 2d of April, declaring Napo
leon Buonaparte and his family to have forfeit
ed the Imperial Crown, It was agreed to by
all the allied Sovereigns that Napoleon should
retire to the Isle of Elba, which hewas to possess
in full sovereignty — that he and Maria Louis^
should,/or life, retain the titles of Eraperor and
Erapress— that a large revenue should be granted
to both of them, and to the Erapress the Duchies
of Parma, Placentia, and Guastalla, which
were to descend to her son. The treaty being

HENRY HUNT. 188
thus arranged. On the 4th day of April, 1814,
the brave Napoleon signed his abdication of
the Crowns of France and Italy. On the 13th
the treaty between the allied Powers and Na
poleon received the signatures of the contract
ing parties, and on the 28th Of April he em
barked at Frejus, in Provence, for the Isle of
Elba, in the British frigate the Undaunted.
In the meantime the English army under
Lord Wellington had advanced frora Spain,
invested Bayonne, and passed the Odour. A
division under Marshal Beresford entered
Bourdeaux. At Toulouse Wellirigton had a
battle, and the dispirited skeleton of an array
under Soult was defeated about the time that
the news arrived of a cessation of arms.
Although Napoleon had retired, it yet re
quired very considerable address to replace
on the Throne of France the Boui-bons — ^a
race that was deservedly despised and exe
crated by the Whole French nation, with the
exception of the lazy, indolent, rapacious, and
profligate priesthood, and a few of the old
bigotted nobility. The provisional Govern
ment presented to the Conservative Senate a
Constitution, and proposed that Louis, the
brother of Louis the Sixteenth, should, on the
acceptance of that constitution, be declared
King of France.

184 MEMOIRS OF
•It is time now to tum our eyes towards
England, from the affairs of which the reader
will remember that I broke off at the period
when the Parliament had settled that corn
should nbt be imported, unless the price was
above eighty shillings a quarter. Motions
Avere now made to address the Prince Regent,
to seize the favourable opportunity to procure
from the allied Powers some salutary regula
tions respecting the slave trade. The country,
both in and out of Parliament, was raad drunk
with GLORY. The House manifested its in-
toxication by a profligate and extravagant
grant of the public money to Wellington, who
was also created a Duke. While this was
going on within the walls of Parliament, the
farmers were drunk and mad without, and
were amusing themselves by burning and
hanging Napoleon in effigy. Deputies had
already arrived in England, to invite Louis
the Eighteenth to return to France. He
entered London on the 20th of April, with
great pomp and state ; he came from his
retreat at Hartwell, attended by the Life
Guards and many of the King's carriages,
and accompanied by our magnanimous con
queror, the Prince Regent. He took up his
residence at GriUon's hotel, in Albemarle-
street, where he held his Court, and Ayas con-

HENRY HUNT. 185
gratulated by tte Lord Mayor (Sir William
DomviUe), and the citizens of London, and
also by many of the nobility, all of whom
would no doubt have as readily paid their
devoirs to a mastiff dog, if he had been caUed
a King. Louis left London in great state, to
embark for France, on the 23d of April, and
he set sail from Dover on the 24th, in the
Royal yacht, and landed at Calais in four
hours. His public entry into Paris took place
on the 3d of May, and on the 14th of the sarae
month a grand farce, or funeral service, was
performed in France for the Kings Louis the
Sixteenth and Seventeenth, the Queen and
the Princess Elizabeth. Louis was no sooner
in possession of power, than he discovered that
the Constitution which had been framed, and
on his presumed acceptance of which he had
beenrestored, was not practicable, and that
the people of France must submit to receive as
a boon, one ofhis own manufacttire. " Put not
your itrust in Prin(?es." The Marshals had
-been brought over one by one, and jpeace was
at length settled upon the terras which the
AUies dictated. By this treaty France was to
J«eep her ancient boundary, with sorae addi
tions ; the navigation of the Rhine was to be
free; the territory of Holland and the Nether-
VOL. III. 2 B

186 MEMOIRS OF
lands were to be incorporated and governed
by the Stadtholder; Germany was to forra a
federal Government ; and Switzerland to be
independent. While these things were going on in France,
the Ministers were not inactive in England.
They caused Lord Cochrane, and Colonel
Cochrane Johnson, his uncle, to be expelled
the House of Commons, for what was called
a conspiracy to defraud the Stock Exchange.
To punish men for defrauding, or rather play
ing off< a hoax upon a set of swindlers and
gamblers in the stocks, was curious enough !
The Emperor of Russia and King of Prussia
arrived in London on the 7th of June, and the
town was illuminated. The Emperor of Rus
sia took up his residence at the Imperial
Hotel, in Piccadilly, and the King of Prussia
in St. James's Palace. They were received in
state at Court, which was held at Carlton
House, and the Emperor of Russia and. King
of Prussia were invested with the Older of
the Garter. All the Tom and Molly fools in
the country were flocking to London, to see
these mighty Sovereigns; they spent their
money, and most of them returned disap
pointed, the fools having expected to see
something more than man in a King and an

HENRY HUNT. 187
Emperor, and something raore than a brute
in the dirty old animal Blucher. Nothing
else but our new Visitors was talked of in town
or country. WJiatever company you went
into, the first question was, " Well, Avhat do.
you think of the Emperor Alexander ? what
do you think of Blucher ? What! not seen the
Emperor, and not seen Marshal Blucher's
whiskers ? To hear the females of England,
my fair countrywomen, talk of shaking
hands with this filthy old beast, and some of
them even boasted of his having kissed them,
not only disgusted but quite sickened me;
and I raust own that the scenes I have heard
described,' which took place at Portsraouth,
when they were all there at the great naval
fete, made such an unfavoura!ble impression
ujpon my mind, that I have always thought
with the utmost contempt of those who parti
cipated in these disgusting, revolting orgies.
It was all very natural that the time-serving,
corrupt. Vain, purse-proud Aldermen of Lon
don should act as they did ; it was very natu
ral that they and their wives and daughters
should disgrace themselves as they did ; but
that my good, handsome, wholesorae pountry-
women, should hdVe suffered such a disgusting
monster as old Blucher to have slobbered them
over and mouselled them with his dirty, stink-

188 MEMOIRS OF
ing whiskers and mustachios, is something so
extraordinary and so abhorrent to the charac
ter of English women, or, in fact, of any
modest woman, that I, as an Englishman, was
horror-struck every time I heard the filthy
accounts of it. Thank God, none of my family
or connections ever disgraced themselves,
even by going to see any of these German,
Russian, Prussian, or Cossack aniraals. I had
business in London, but I put it off, nay ne
glected it, because I would not make one of
the throng of fools who flocked to grace the
triumph of these tyrants, who had been so
long waging war against the liberties of man
kind, arid who had caused the shedding of
oceans of human blood, for the sole purpose
of gratifying their own malignant desire, to
destroy every vestige of liberty and rational
freedom upon the face of the globe. During
the whole time that these fiends in humEm
form, these enemies and destroyers of the
human race, remairied in England, I stayed at
home ; I never spoke of them but with abhor
rence and disgust ; and as my family felt to-?
wards them as I did, they were seldom men-.
tioned at all. I even, as much as possible,
avoided having any company at my house,
that their blood-Stained names might never
be introduced.

HENRY HUNT. 189
I shall, perhaps, be told by some who read
this, that I am inconsistent to express such a
horror at blood-stained tyrants, and yet take
every opportunity of extolling Napoleon, who
was as great a tyrant as any of those whom I
condemn. To the unthinking, an explanation
is certainly necessary from me; for I fully
concur in the opinion that CONSISTENCY
is absolutely necessary to form the character
of a useful and honourable public man ; that
amongst the dangerous failings in a public
character, inconsistency is the most dangerous.
\ vacillating, weathercock, changeable being,
in the comraon pursuits, iri any pursuits of
life, is, to say the least of hira, a conteraptible
creature, one who is generally despised by aU
classes; but a weathercock in politics, which is
the sarae as a weathercock in principle, is a
being not only despicable but most mischieyouss
To blow hot and to blow cold, in the sarae
breath, or to raaintain one opinion to-day and
another opinion to-morrow, and the next day
to revert to the former opinion, is not so much
a proof of a weak head, as a sure proof of a
profligate, an abandoned, and a dishonest
heart. I do not mean to say that a man can
not alter his opinion without being dishonest ;
far from it ; to maintain this proposition
would be to deny the possibility of improve-

190 MEMOIRS OF
ment in the human understanding. But that
man is to be dreaded and avoided, who can
change, his principles, or desert his public
duty, from private pique, or selfish, interested
motives ; such a man would sacrifice not only
his principles, but he would sacrifice his
dearest friends, nay, a whole nation, to gratify
his malignant and selfish passion for revenge ;
such a passion springs wholly from cowardice;
and as a coward is always the inost cruel of
mortals, such a man, from mere cowardice, is
always the most revengeful and remorseless;
and he would wade up to his knees in human
blood to accomplish his private and selfish
ends._ Therefore, of all the deadly sinfe with
which public men are accused, oh ! save rae
and protect me, from the misfortune, frora the
iridelible disgrace, of beirig deservedly pro
nounced AN inconsistent CHARACTER ! I
have never praised .^ Napoleon, or at least I
have never intended to eulogise him, as a
friend of freedom, I have characterised him
as a brave and noble-minded man ; and the
reason why 1 have been led away sometimes,
perhaps, to be too general in ray praises and
admiration of the man is, not because he was
not a tyrant himself, but because I always
found him more disposed to tyrannize over
mighty tyrants than he was to crush the weak

HENRY HUNT. '191
and the unprotected. Possibly all mankind
are by nature tyrannical. Take, for instance,
the most humane, the most generous, themost
sincere lover of liberty, and one who has been
the most steady practiser of it — to such a man
even as this only give an unliraited, uncon-
trouled, and unrestricted sway over his fellow-
creatures, and ten to One but he becomes an
arbitrary tyrant ; when, on the other hand, if
he had been restrained within due bounds, by
means of the proper checks and guards pre
scribed by a free constitution, he would have
been, one of freedom's brightest ornaments,
oneof liberty's safest, staunchest, guardians
and protectors. So it was with Napoleon. If
the tyrants of Europe had suffered hira to
remain First Consul of France, surrounded by
such men as Carnot, to guard the liberties
and rights of Frenchmen, and to controul
their ruler's actions. Napoleon possessed all
the qualifications for raaking a raild, liberal,
and patriotic, as weU as a brave arid brilliant
ruler. But the despots and tyrants of Europe
dreaded such an exaniple ; they dreaded the
example of freedom which the then constitu
tion conferred upon the people of France. It
was not Napoleon's political influence, great
as it was, that excited their hatred, but they
dreaded thp little remaining liberty that the

192 MEMOIRS OF
French people possessed, and it was their com
bined eflforts, supported, raaintained, and
cherished, by the wealth of the • people of
England, that drove the Erench nation to sub
mit to the hard and cruel necessity of placing
unliraited authority in his hands, and conse
quently preparing the way for a great tyranny,
and compeUing him tO be a tyrant. My sin
cere and unchangeable opinion is, that few
men ever lived, who, if they had- been masters
of the same boundless power that Napoleon
was, would not have made much more cruel and
more arbitrary tyrants than he ever did, and
have exercised it more vindictively againstthe
liberties of mankind than he did. My admira
tion of Napoleon has, therefore, been always by
comparison, as contrasted with the sanguinary
and remorseless tyrants who were opposed to
him ; men who had sworn eternal abhorrence
of liberty, eternal war against it ; men, who,
at the time that they professed a hatred of the
tyranny of Napoleon, were theraselves the
greatest tyrants in the universe, and whose
sole aim in destroying. Napoleon's power was
to rivet the chains of slavery upon the inha
bitants of the whole civilized world, and A^ho
have since sworn upon the altar of the Holy
AUiance to maintain an indissoluble uniori,for
the purpose oft extinguishing every Spark of

HENRY HUNT. 193
freedom, wherever it may arise. Napoleon
was the enemy, the successful enemy of these
tyrants ; and under his sVv^ay, despotic as it
might apparently be, and governed by thp
excellent code of laws that bears the name of
its author, the peOple of France enjoyed a
tenfold greater portion of Kberty than any of
the people who lived under the protection, or
rather who groaned under the pretended
forms of law and justice exercised by the
hypocritical tyrants who were opposed to
him. AU these tyrants had made war upon
France, because the French had the spirit to
overthrow the most execrable tyranny that
ever cursed mankind; they made war against
French liberty and French principles, before
Napoleon was known; he Was the child of
fortune, who sprung up during the Revolu
tion, arid his talent and bravery pointed him
out to the people of France as the most likely
man successfully to oppose her enemies. He
Avas elevated to unlimited power through the
rancour and the malice of those who had
sworn in their hearts to restore the hated
Bourbons, the Pope, the Devil, and the Inqui
sition. While he exercised that power he
subdued all those who resisted him, and his
greatest fault, his greatest crime, was his ge
nerosity to the Austrian, Russian, and Ptus-
VOL. III. 2 c

194 MEMOIRS Of
sian despots: having had those enemies to
liberty and humanity in his power, it was a
crime, an offence, in the eye of God and man,
not to annihilate them, and thus secure the
human race from the continuance of their ar
bitrary and brutal domination. Napoleon
having conquered them all, restored them all
to power, and when they got him into their
clutches, the return which they made hira was,
to banish him, to linger out the remainder of
his life upon a barren rock, in a noxious and
pestilential climate, cut off from the society
even of his wife and son. Peace to his manes,
Ibr he beat, he humbled, and he subdued, the
•greatest of tyrants, and he was the author of
the Napoleon code, which restrained the power
of infamous Judges, and established a real,
' instead of a mock trial by jury. These are
the traits of Napoleon's character, which, as an
Englishman, I admire; had I been a French
man, I should have adored him. He is dead and
gone, and John QuU is beginning to- reap the
bitter fruits that were sown to procure Na
poleon's destruction. John is now grumbling,
because he is cafled upon by the despots "to
pay the biU, to discharge the expenses which
they incurred in dethroning and destroying
Napoleon, and restoring Louis td the throne
of France. I hope and I believe there is not

HENRY HUNT. idJT
a man in the world who hates and detests ty
rants and tyranny more than I do; yet I
trust that I may, nevertheless, be permitted
to admire certain traits in the character ofthe
brave and murdered Napoleon, without being
justly accused of inconsistency. If I am asked
whether I should like to live under such a ty
rant and such a tyranny as existed in France,
during the latter days of Napoleon's reign, I
answer no. But if I must submit to a tyrant,
let it be to one that I can look ap to, and whose
superior qualities I can admire, rather than to
a despicable wretch, who has not one noble
quality, but, on the contrary, is deserving of
contempt, derision, and execration. I have
been led into this digression by the recollec
tion of hearing a very pretty little girl say,
that she had been kissed by the filthy old
beast Blucher, at Portsraouth, where the scep
tered tyrants and their whole train had been
to view the English fleet and the naval arse
nal. This young lady, who was really a very
pretty delicate giri, I had always before consi
dered as also a very amiable and a very mo
dest girl ; but, after hearing her boast of hav
ing been . kissed by that dirty old aniraal, I
could never look upon her but with pity, min
gled with disgust.
On the 20th of June, peace was proclaimed

196 MEMOIRS OF
in London. The country was still intoxicated j
or rather insane, with the idea of the glory
that had been obtained by the downfall of one
man, against whom all the despots in Europe
bad been united, and all the wealth of nations
had been squandered during fourteen years.
On the 25th, there was a naval review at Ports
mouth, to amuse the Royal tyrants ; and on
the 27th they all departed for Dover, where
they embarked on the 28th. On the 7th of
July, a mockery or thanksgiving for peace
was offered up in these churches, where the
tocsin of war had for so many years been
sounded by the pious preachers of the Gospel,
the, servants of the meek and lowly Jesus. On
this occasion the Prince Regent went in state
to St. Paul's. On the 21st he gave a superb
fete to two thousand five hundred persons, and
on the 1st of August there was a pompous
celebration, on account of the peace, held in
Hyde and St. James's Parks, in the latter of
which there was a grand display of fireworks ;
while, still further to amuse the John and Jen
ny Gulls of the cities of London and West
minster, there was a sham naval engagement
got up on the Serpentine River, representing
a battle between the British and American
fleets. Of course the British fleet was victo-
rioiis, arid the Americans struck their colours.

HENRY HUNT. 197
amidst the huzzas and shouts of the family of
the Gulls, who, having for nearly a quarter of
a century been gulled out of their money to
pay the expenses of a sanguinary war, were
now gulled out of an additional sum of their
money to pay the expenses of a mock naval
engagement with the Americans, who were in
reality beating the British navy out of their
lakes and seas. This was the way in which
the peace was celebrated, and at the same
time the jubilee to commemorate the acces
sion of the House of Brunswick. It was a
considerable drawback upon the pleasure to
some of the Royal party, that, at the drawing-
room which was held at Court, to receive the
Royal visitors, the Princess of Wales was
excluded ; and as soon as the rejoicingSAvere
concluded, her Royal Highness quitted Eng
land, and embarked from Worthing for the
Continent. All this time the old King was confined at
Windsor Castle, in some apartments which
were padded six feet high; in these, blind
and mad, he Was suffered to wander about, a
melancholy and disgusting object. It is con
fidently affirmed, however, that he had fre
quent intervals of reason, in which he was
perfectly sensible of his forlorn and wretched
fate. During one of these lucid intervals it

198

MEMOIRS or

is said that one of the domestics about his per
son informed him of the abdication of Napo
leon ; upon which he put himself in a great
passion, and swore " it was a lie." This
wretched old man was reduced from the
highest pinnacle of grandeur to the most pitia
ble condition; none of his subjects were ad
mitted to see him for many years ; even his
children were excluded, except upon particu
lar occasions, and then they Avere admitted
only in the presenpe of certain indivi
duals. The old Queen had the care of his
person, and it is currently reported that she
governed his; gracious Majesty (it being of
course necessary to do so) with considerable
harshness. When one reflects upon the bloody reign of
George the Third, and calls to mind the rivers
of human gore that were shed during that
reign ; when one looks back to the period of
the American war, which \pas generally un
derstood to be a war of the King's, more, than
of his Ministers ; when one caUs to recoUec
tion the commencement of the French war,
which, it has been asserted, Avas Avaged at his
Majesty's particular instance, in opposition to
the private opinion of Mr. Pitt; when one
looks back on the numerous sanguinary penal
statutes that were passed during this King's

HENRY HUNT. 109
reign, and the thousands of victiras that fell a
sacrifice to thera ; when one contemplates the
myriads upon myriads of brave Britons whose
lives were offered!^ up as a sacrifice to these
Moloch wars, it may well and truly be called
the unfortunate reign of King George the
Third — which reign was concluded by the
King himself being locked up, for manyyears,
in his own castle, a solitary captive, suffering
under the complicated and melancholy visita
tion of blindness and madness : and when one
thinks ofall this, one may, without being very
superstitious, consider the catastrophe as an
awful instance of the Divine vengeance levelled
at the ruler of a sinful nation.
The story goes that a mouse had contracted
a sort of friendly sympathy for the hoary-
headed, sightless Royal maniac, and paid him
such frequent visits, during his long captivity,
that it was at length become quite tame, and
would submit to be handled by the unfortu
nate shadow of a great monarch. The King
was very much delighted Avith this friendly
little visitant, and its little antics and gambols
assisted him to pass away many a wearisome,
sorrowful hour. Unfortunately, the Queen
came into the room one day, before the little
trembling animal had time to escape to its
hiding place. The Queen eyed it before it

209 MEMOIRS OF
had yet left the King's hand, and when sho
quitted the apartment she ordered the attend
ant to take care and kill that " nausty mose,"
before she came again. The attendant ven
tured to state that the poor old King was so
exceedingly partial to the mouse, and ap
peared so rauch entertained with it, that he
was fearful his Majesty Avould raiss it very
much, and that the loss of it might make him
unhappy. The answer was " kill the nausty
mose before I come again !" It was as much
as the servant's situation was worth to dis
obey, and the poor little tame animal, too con
fident of its former protection, was easily
caught and killed I The King, of course, soon
missed the little solitary companion ofhis ad
versity, and for a long time inquired the cause
of its absence with the greatest earnestness ;
and when he found that it never came again,
he grieved incessantly, more so than he did
for any thing that happened to him during his
long and cruel captivity.
So goes the tale, and I, for one, beUeve it.
What a subject this for reflection, what a pic
ture of misery, what an awful monument of
faUen greatness ! If the King had those lucid
intervals of reason which it is said he had, his
situation must have been, if possible, infinitely
more deplorable than that of the captive of

HENRY HUNT. 20l
St. Helena; it must have been a thousand.
times more hopeless than that of the latter;
shut up and confined for life in his own palace,
byhis own family, he must have soon lost
all hope : while Napoleon, tUl he found that
his; dissolution was approaching, must have
always .been cheered by the hope, arising.
from ten thousand chances which could not.
fail to present themselves to his mind, ofhis
being at length relieved from his iron bond
age. .
George the Third was the only King lever
saw, and I ncA'er wish to see another King.
The, last; time I saw him was when he was
getting^ out of his carriage at the Star, at
Andover, on his return from WeymOuth;
which place he never after visited. His eye
sight was then nearly gone, and his attend
ants were obliged to guide his feet, and to
lead him . like a child into the Inn. I had
known him in his prime, and had frequently
hunted with him. At the time when I saw
him at Andover, he had indeed sadly fallen
off, and his signature to all docuraents was
effected by a stamp, some one directing his.
hand. AU Acts of Parliament, aU Comrais-.
«ions, all Deathrwarrants, and all Pardons,
were for a long time signed in this manner..
He who had signed more death-warrants
VOL. III. 2 D

aos MEMOIRS OF
than any mortal that ever breathed, and wh©
couM spare or kiU human beings by the mere
dwsh ofhis pen ; alas! alas! he, once so power
ful, icould not now even save the life ofa poor
mouse. He who, as a mere matter of course,
awd perhaps without giving the subject a
thou^t, had pat his fiat on the black
scrolls which oi'dered hundreds upon hun-
di'eds of his fellow creatures to be sent to their
long homes, and executed in cold blood; he
now grieved and lamented, and cried . like a
ohild, at the death of a mouse. I would bave
had the Emperor Al^cander, the King of
Prussia, and all the Royal Visitors, go down
to Windsor, to foe eye-witnesses of the " iUs
that (Iloyal) flesh is heir to :" they should have
been reniinded, by a personal interview with
this poor old maniac, to what a wretched state
it was possible ev«n for the greatest monardt
to be reduced, by the hand of Providence.
That all-wise and just Providence, the same
Power that permitted the Emperor Napoueon
to be sent a prisoner to St. Helena ; the same
Power that permitted Henry Hunt to remalfl
adaptivein Ilchester Bastile, for two years
AND sik months, commanded also that
Georg^ the Third should, after having
LOST HIS SIGHT, and been ©eprivUd ot
HIS REASON, be confined as a solitary prisoner

BENRY HUNf. « tjOSI'
i^ his own pajace, for many of the latter year^
of his existence. The Lord's will be done!
During the whole time that these ridiculo^gsf
freaks were going on in London, and thatt
John GuU and his family were running star^
mad with joy and glory, each beUowing out,
whenever or wherever you met him, have yoi;
not seen the Emperor? have you not seen the
King? have you not seen Blucher with his
whiskers? surely you have seen the I)on
Cossack? &c. &c. ^e.; during this time I re
mained quietly and snugly at Middleton Cot
tage, occupied in fishing or looking after my
farm, and most sincerely lamenting the foUy of
my countrymen and countrywomen; and when
ever I had an opportunity, I did not fail to
remonstrate with them on their ridiculous and
preposterous conduct, and to assure them tbat
the hour would come when they would be
heartily ashamed of it, and would have caus&
and leisure for bitter repentance. With many
this time has arrived, with others it is fast
approaching. So far was I from ever making
one of the number of fools who ran after these
Sceptred despots, that, when some of thera
were travelling post by the horise where I was
Staying, I retired into a back room, in order
to avoid the possibility of seeing them; al
ways saying, when the question was put to

^04 t

MEMOIRS OF

me, that " I thanked God I had seen one
King, and was so well satisfied, that I never
wished to see another." A single sample was
quite enough for me. One of my great poli
tical friends had expressed the same sort of
disgust at the idea of running after these
foreign Sovereigns, and he swore most round
ly and lustily, that none of his family should
stir an inch to see them. It turned out, how
ever, that he did not keep his word— ^but
whether his breach of it arose from " the grey
mare being the better- horse," or from his
being himself overcome by a childish curi
osity, I cannot tell; perhaps a little of both
prevailed; at any rate I heard that -my friend
and aU his famUy went to Portsmouth, to see
the Royal sight, and get a squint at Blucher's
whiskers and mustachios. My friend and his
family swelled the number of those who suf
fered at Portsmouth — " ninny nanny, one fool
makes many!" It was now all glory, all joy,
and all seeming prosperity with John Gull,
every thing was military ! As a proof that it
could not well be otherwise, let us look to a
return, which Avas presented to the House of
Comraons, of the nuraber of officers in the
British army in the pay of John, which return
was as foUows : Field Marshals, 5 — Generals,
81 — Lieutenant Generals, 157 — Major Gene-

HENRY HUNT. 20JS
Vals, 221 — Colonels, 152 — Lieutenant-Colonels,
618— Majors, 612— Captains, 2960— Lieute
nants, 4725 — Ensigns, 2522 — amounting in
the whole to the enormous number of twelve
thousand and fifty-four officers ! What
think you of this, John Gull ? Here is a larger
ai-my of officers than the whole nuraber of rai
litary that was thought sufficient by our an
cestors to be kept up during the tirae of peace.
Yes, the officers alone, at the time to which I
allude, actually out-numbered the Avhole of
what our peace establishment used to be.
One of the precious effects of the downfaU
of Napoleon was the restoration ofthe bigotted,
despicable tyrant, Ferdinand the Seventh, to
the throne of Spain ; and one of his first acts
was to restore the hellish Inquisition, ^ith all
its horrors, which had been abolished during
the sway of the French, and which had also
been suppressed by the Cortes. The amiable
Pope Pius the Seventh being restored to the
see of Rorae, he performed his part in the
scene of rauraraery and tyranny, by issuing a
Bull for the restoration of the order of the Je
suits. So it will be clearly seen that the cant
ing Boroughraongering Protestant Parliament
of England, while it pertinaciously refused to
grant emancipation to the Catholics in Ire
land, contrived to restore the Pope, Popery,

206 MEMOIR* OF
the Inquisition, the Jesuits, and every speea^t^
of superstition and intolerance upon the Conr
tinent !
About this time two fanatics, of the names
of Johanna Southcote and Hannah More, were
much followed in the West of England. So
mersetshire could boast of possessing two fe
male saints, Mrs. Hannah More and Mrs. Jo
hanna Southcote, at the same time ; which of
the two was the greatest imposter it would be
very difficult to decide, although the former
appears to have borne pff the palm of success
ful fraud and imposition. Miss Hannah, who,
in her younger days, had been a very frolic
some lass, became all at once converted into a
saint, and set up for a severe and rigid mp-
ralist ; and she had the merit of establishing
the gang generally known by the title of the
SAINTS,' amongst our politicians. In her train
she had the Sidmouths, the Wilberforces, the
Babingtons, tbe Diekensons, and others of that
puritannical east; although it has been whisc
pered, but that, of com'se, must be a calumny,
that; from the well-known character of some
of these gentry, who were very frequent in
their visits, the buxom darae (who had now
assumed the title of Mrs.) contrived, like the
friars of old, to indulge in the gratification of
those passions to which it is said real saints

BKNRY HUNT. 807
are not prone. Some of her neighbours were
in consequence so ill-natured as to say, that
her convei'sion was not sincere, but that it
Avas a mere cloak to cover certain practices.
But my readers are aware that we must not
believe all that the world says. Mrs. Johanna
was an illiterate woman, whose fanaticism was
carried to full as high a pitch as that of Mrs.
More; but as her doctrine did not suit " the
powers that be" quite so well as the doctrine
of the other did, she could not boast of having
Ministers of State and many of the Nobility
as her disciples, although amongst her numer
ous followers she did not want for men of ta
lerit and educjttion. Dr. Ash, under whose
care the very venerable Judge Best re
ceived his education, was a staunch disciple of
Johanna's, and it is said the venerable Judge
himself at times discovered a little hankering
after the prophetess ; but whether his attach
ment was to her person or her principles, is
not clearly decided.
Daring this period the British troops were
carrying on a marauding, petty warfare in
Anaerica, and on the 24th of August they burnt
«he newly-built, half-finished city of Washing
ton, and magnanimously destroyed the dty
^i-inting-press, and threw the types into the
8!treets, that they ^might be trampled under

208 MEMOIRS OF
the horses feet. England being at peace witb
all the rest of the world, the Government had
nothing else to do but to direct its whole force
against the Americans, both by sea and land,
and 1 believe it was Mr. Charles Yorke, the
First Lord of the Admiralty, who put forth a
speech in his .place in Parliament, to the fol
lowing effect : — " That now Napoleon was de
posed there was another example of democra
tic revolution, and it was necessary to depose
James Madison, the President of the United
States of America." This speech was hailed
and cheered by a great number of the Mem
bers ofthe Honourable House, many of whom
seemed to think that it was no very difficult
matter to carry it into effect. But they reck
oned without their host ; for the news having
arrived of the total defeat of the British fleet,
on Lake Champlain, matters began to wear a
different aspect, and the boasters were cora
peUed to draw in their horns a little. Sir
James Yeo had the command of the English
fleet upon the Lakes, and Coramodore Dow
nie, in the Confiance, of 38 guns, had the com
mand of the British squadron upon Lake
Champlain, supported by Captain Pring, in
the Linnet, of 16 guns; Lieutenant M'Ghee, in
the Chub, of 11 guns ; and Lieutenant Hix, in
the Finch, of 11 guns. Lieutenant Raynham

HENRY HUNT. 209
and Lieutenant Dual had the command of
twelve gun-boats. The American squadron
Avas commanded by Commodore M'Donough,
in the Saratoga, of 26 guns ; Captain Harley,
in the Eagle, of 22 guns ; and Captain  , in
the Ticonderoga, of 18 guns, with 1 sloop, and
10 gun-boats. The English fleet had 90 guris
and 12 gun-boats ; the American fleet had 83
gunsand 10 gun-boats— so that the British
fleet bad the superiority in number of guns
and weight of metal. The American fleet
was anchored opposite an American battery,
commanded by General M'Coomb, at the
head of 800 men. The British troops, under
the command of Sir George Prevost, amount
ing to thirteen thousand men, were all drawn
up on shore ready to take the battery, if the
English fieet had succeeded in beating the
Americans. It was communicated to Sir
George Prevost that the English fleet would
attack the Americans that day. Comraodore
Downie called all his officers on board, and
communicated to each the order Of battle, and
his last words were, " Lieutenant M'Ghee will
lead into action ; let it be close quarters, Mtrz-
ZLE to MUZZLE." He doubled a point of the
American coast with a fair wind, and came in
full view of the enemy lying at anchor ; the
signal was then given to bear up, and com-
VOL. III. 2 E

210 MEMOIRS OF
raence the action, Mr. M'Ghee carried in the
Chub, of 11 guns, and placed her gallantly
close alongside ofthe Eagle, of 22 guns, agree
able to orders, having sustained the fire of the
gun-boats as he passed ; he blazed away at
the enemy and received their fire in return,
till he himself was wounded in three places,
and every man out of his complement of sixty
was either killed or wounded, with the excep
tion of six. In fact, the Chub was made into
a cullender, and completely disabled, before
he struck her colours. The same fate attend
ed the Confiance, the Linnet, and the Finch,
the latter ofwhich grounded on a reef of rocks
about the raiddle of the engagement. The
gun-boats appear absolutely to have run away.
Thus was the British fleet captured by an in
ferior fleet of the Araericans. Coraraodore
Dowriie was killed by a ball frora the Ameri
can gun-boats very early in the contest, and
the Confiance is said to have struck her co
lours without coraing fairly into action; the
result was, the British fleet was lost, and the
officers were tried by a Court Martial. All
the others were promoted, and the gaUant
Lieutenant M'Ghee was reprimanded for tak
ing his ship jJrematurely into action. This is
a pretty speciraen of British justice in the
naval department, and a melancholy example

HENRY HUNT. 211
of the reward bestowed upon the gallant offi
cers and men who fought our battles and main
tained the British character.
On the 1st of November was opened the
Congress at Vienna, where Lord Castlereagh,
as the representative of the King of England,
attended, and where it is generally believed
he played second fiddle to Prince Metternich.
In consequence of the peace, and the Bank
of England having drawn in a considerable
quantity of its paper, preparatory to the pay
ment in specie, which, as the law stood, they
were compelled to at the end of six raonths
after the peace had been proclaimed ; in conse
quence of this, and there having been a good
crop of wheat and a fair harvest, the average
price of wheat during the year was seventy-
four shillings per quarter, and the price ofthe
quartern loaf was reduced to one shilling.
Notwithstanding this, many riots took place
in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, by the
Luddites, who continued to set the laws at de
fiance, and to break the frames in the most
lawless and unwarrantable manner. Their
hostility was directed against all sorts of ma
chinery, but particularly against the looras and
fraraes used for weaving and knitting in the
stocking trade.
The supplies voted this year amounted to

212 MEMOIRS OF
seventy-five millions six hundred and twen
ty-four thousand five hundred and seventy-
two pounds. By a return, it appeared that
the amount of Bank of England notes in cir
culation was between twenty-eight and twen
ty-nine millions, and that the number of pri
vate banks was seven hundred and twenty-
four. The Parliament had met late in the fall of
1814, but little was done of importance, ex
cept passing the address, and a Bill. called
" the Preservation of Peace Bill," to put down
by force the disturbances in Ireland. The
state of Ireland had become very alarming, as
the poor Irish were suffering the greatest pri
vations fi'om bad government and severe laws ;
which laws were exercised with the greatest
severity, to support an infamous tithe system
and a national church, the most profligate, the
most expensive and rapacious that ever exist
ed; a church in every respect hostile to the re
ligion of four-fifths of the inhabitants, and a
priesthood proud, overbearing, and intolerant.
In the higher circles it was now confidently
given out that the Princess Charlotte, the heir
apparent to the throne of England, was to be
married to the hereditary Prince of Orange ;
but the disposition of her Royal Highness
had been greatly Soured by the infamous

HENRY HUNT. 213
treatment of her poor mother, and, conceiv
ing that this said young Dutch upstart had
not paid her mother proper respect and atten
tion, but that he was raore disposed to fawn
and cringe to the will of her father, it is said
that she dismissed him from her presence, and
peremptorily refused to marry him. This
drove her Royal Papa into a great passion,
and our magnanimous Prince Regent went
suddenly to Warwick House, the residence
of his daughter, and discharged all her ser
vants. She, however, proved herself a legi
timate Guelph, in obstinacy, at any rate; for
she, refused to see the young Orange after
wards. This young lady had secured the
affections of every honourable and unpreju
diced person in the kingdom, by her unde-
A'iating attachment to her mother, and she
gained the hearts , of thousands by her firm
and undaunted opposition to the arbitrary
mandates of her father, with respect to that
mother. The Parliament met very early after the
adjournment, and the first Act they passed
was to renew the restriction of cash payments
by the Bank of England; another violation
of a positive pledge pf the Honourable House,
another gross breach of faith committed upon
4he people by a corrupt Parliament, which

214 MEMOIRS OF
had solemnly declared by an act that the
Bank should be corapelled to pay their notes
in specie at the end of six raonths after peace
was raade.
Accounts were now brought to England
that Napoleon was reigning in full sove
reignty at Elba, and all the corrupt writers
in the Ministerial and daily press were sneer
ing at the idea of his fancied sovereignty.
But by the soleran treaty of Paris, Napoleon
was as rauch an Emperor as he ever had been;
as rauch a Sovereign as the Emperor of Rus
sia ; and, by the law of nations, quite as much
entitled to raake war or peace with other
powers as was the King of England, the King
of France, or any other Sovereign^ But these
writers, as 1 have before said, were daily
ridiculing his sovereignty, and holding his
power in derision. But it will be seen here
after, that it is a very dangerous thing to
treat with contempt the hostility of an enemy,
however weak that enemy may be. , In the
meantime Louis the Desired, the contemptible
King of France, decreed that the property of
the Buonaparte faraily should be sequestred ;
the old Bourbon tyranny was raaking the
most rapid strides ; the press was rauch raore
enslaved than under the reign of Napoleon;
disturbances had broken Out in raany parts of

HENRY HUNT. 215
France ; yet such was the dreadful, enthralled
state of the press, that no one dared to raen
tion thera, nor were they ever known but by
the proclamations of the King, to restrain
and repress thera. The finances of France
were, nevertheless, in a flourishing state;
their trade was fast reviving, and every means
that ingenuity could devise were resorted to,
to induce the people to feel for royalty ; and,
amongst other things, a solemn funeral for
the late King and Queen of France took place,
which was conducted with great pomp and
ceremony. In Araerica, the English were routed at New
Orleans, by General Jackson, who, with an un
disciplined militia, and very inferior numbers,
caused great slaughter ainongst the British
troops ; in faet, the number killed in the English
ranks amounted to more than the whole num
ber of the American troops, so expert were the
riflemen, and so superior were the abilities of
the American General Jackson. This was a
death-blow to the hopes of the English, for the
bravery ofthe Americans appeared to be invin
cible; they were in truth fighting for Liberty,
for themselves and their country, and not
for any despot or any despotism. This fine
spirit gained them a peace, which it may
fairly be said they fought for, bled for, and

216 MEMOIRS OF
ultimately obtained by conquest; and James
Madison remained, in spite of all the threats
of deposing him. President of the only free
people upon the habitable globe. Thus^
as I hope and trust, have they secured and
placed upon an imperishable basis, the liber
ties and just rights Of their people. They
had a right to be proud of their success. En
gland, at peace with all the rest of the world,
carried on a war with America ; yet the latter,
single-handed, not only met and contended
with, but repelled the mighty power of her
adversary, and by the equity of her cause,
and the bravery of her citizens, she con
quered a peace, in spite of the threats of En
gland's haughty, bullying, ignorant, and in
tolerant Ministers, who had declared that the
right of search was a sine qua non which
must form the basis of any negociation.
Ultimately, however, these very Ministers
were glad to make peace with the Americans,
by saying nothing about the sine qua non,
the right of search, for which they had gone
to war. England went to war almost solely
to maintain the right of search; the Ame
ricans went to war to resist that right; and
Englarid having made peace, and suffered the
right of search to be passed over in silence,
the Americans have gained their object, and

HENRY HUNT. 217
the English have lost the point which was
the cause of the war.
On the 17th of January in this year, 1815, a
Catholic meeting was held in Dublin, at which
it was determined to petition Parliament for
an unqualified eraancipation.
The price of wheat and all sorts of grain
having been reduced, the great landholders
had been for some time raising a cry, that the
landed interest was in danger, and that the
farmers would be ruined unleiss some law was
made to keep up the price of grain to the war
standard, which, on an average, was from
twelve to fifteen shillings a bushel. The Mi
nisters had been pressed hard by the great
landholders, in both Houses of Parliament, to
bring forward such a measure ; but, knowing
and feeling the unpopularity to which it would
expose them, they had, from time to time, put
thera off, and they appeared to discountenance
any such proposition, whenever it was raen
tioned in the House. At length, however, the
Ministers gave way tO the urgent demands of
the landholders, although apparently with
great reluctance and considerable doubts. In
several districts the landholders urged the
farmers and their tenants to petition the
House for a Corn BiU. Amongst the nuraber
of these landholders, the most active and the
VOL. III. 2 f

218 MEMOIRS OF \
most forward to promote such petitions in
Wiltshire and the West of England, was Mr.
John Benett, of Pyt-House, near Shaftesbury,
the present Member for that county. Com
mittees of both Houses of Parliament were
appointed to inquire into the state of agricul
ture, for the purpose of ascertaining what
measures it were necessary to take, or what
Act to pass to keep up the price of corn, or
rather to keep up the price of the quartern
loaf to the war standard. Mr. John Benett
was one of the witnesses who volunteered tp
be examined at great length before both of
these Committees, that of the House of Lords
as well as thaf M the House of Commons.
As soon as the evidence given before these
Committees was published, I rode over to Bot
iey, to my friend Cobbett, to urge him to take
a more decided part against the measure ; for
I thought I discovered in his Register a lean
ing towards a Corn Bill, or rather the doctrine
was raaintained that it was necessary to pro
tect the farmer as well as the merchants and
other trades. When I arrived, I found him
endeavouring, by arguments the raost power
ful, to shew the injustice of leaving the farmer
open to the competition of foreign growers,
who could raise the grain at half the expense
which mustbe incurred by the native growers.

HENRY HUNT. 219
Perhaps this was said to ascertain my senti
ments upon the subject, which I iraraediately,
and in the most unequivocal manner, stated
to be in direct opposition to the measure, I
argued against the injustice of making the
mechanic and the labourer pay a war price
for his bread in time of peace, and I maintain
ed that it was the duty of the farmer and the
landholder to petition for a reduction of taxa
tion, so as to enable hira to compete with
the foreign farmer, instead of petitioning for
a monopoly by his exclusion. In five minutes
my friend Cobbett was either convinced ofthe;
propriety and justice of my remarks, or at any
rate he professed to be so; and he concurred
with me in the necessity of caUing upon the
public to come forward to oppose so injurious
and ruinous a measure as that which was con
templated. I pointed out to him the fallacy
and fhe hypocrisy of those who pretended to
be anxious for the good of the farraer, and we
both very soon came to this conclusion, that
a Corn Bill would be ultiiftately injurious to
the ftirmer, and that the only result of it would
be, to raise the price ofthe stoff of life, and to.
grind the face of the poor, to enable the farmer
to continue to pay high taxes, for the support
of an unconstitutional large standing army in
the time of peace, and to enable the lazy sine-

220

MEMOIRS OF

curist and the unmerited pensioner to wallow
in wealth and riot in luxury, drawn frora the
sweat of the poor raan's labour. From this
time forward Mr. Cobbett took the most deci
sive part in opposition to every raovement of
the Corn Bill gentry.
Sir Henry Parnell, an Irish Member, one
of the opposition, brought forward the
measure in the House of Coramons, and I be
lieve he was Chairman of the Committee. I
will now put upon record a few questions and
answers, extracted from the evidence of the
aforesaid John Benett, Esq. of Pyt-House,
voluntarily given before the Committee of the
House of Lords, in favour of a Corn Bill,
which evidence was printed by order of the
Right Honourable House :
The Evidence of 1 o-aa'B-Ey ETT, Esq. of Pyt-House, \e\\m-
tarily given before the Committee ofthe House of Lords,
in favour of the Corn Bill.
You hold a considerable quantity of land in your own
hands'? — I do.
What number of acres? — I believe upwards of 2000
acresj in various parishes in the western part of Wiltshire,
aibout twelve miles from Warminster. — My residence is
Pyt-House, in Wiltshire,
Have you any general information about the state of
that quarter of the country, or can you speak only to the
particular district in which you reside ? — I can speak to
the county of Wilts; for Iam in the habit of riding through
it very pften, and am in the habit of meeting with the
farmers in the county, from having been for some years a
farmer, and am now President ofthe Agricultural Society
of that county.

HENRY HUNT. 221
Can you give the Committee any account of the increase
and alterations that have taken place in the value and
prices of the different articles of produce from land, and
the expenses of cultivation, and from what period ? — I can
speak to nearly twenty years. The price of wheat has
varied so very materially, it is more easily ascertained
from the returns ofthe markets than from recollection.
In the present state of the improved cultivation of those
parts of the county of Wilts with which you are ac
quainted, can you state the various prices which it will be
necessary for the farmer to receive for the different spe
cies of grain he rears, in order to remunerate him for his
expenses ? — Taking the taxes, the price of labour, and all
outgoing expenses of tho farmer as they now stand, and
the rents at which land has lately been let, I do not con
ceive the farmer can possibly raise wheat, and remunerate
himself with ten per cent, interest upon his capital, under
I2s. a bushel, or 96s, per quarter.
If the farmer was to receive only 75«. per quarter,
would he be capable of paying any rent at all ? — No, he
certainly would not be able to pay his rent, and get his
ten per cent, upon his capital. ' -• ¦
Is land generally let in Wiltshire upon the supposition
that wheat will stand at 96s, and barley at half the price
of wheat? — I believe that lands have been let even at a
higher calculation than that ; I am in the habit of valuing
estates of my own as well as of others, and of giving
opinions to my friends; and I have always calculated
upon 12s. a bushel, and I believe surveyors do the same ;
many of the estates let by survey let at a much greater
calculation, or rather, I believe, without any.
Do you believei there is any surveyor who practises the
surveying of estates for the purpose of fixing rents, who
proceeds on the calculation of wheat being at a higher
price than I2s. per bushel, or 96s. a quarter ?— I believe
no estates have been let in Wiltshire, by our first-rate
surveyors, on a calculation of more than 12s. per bushel,
or 96s. per quarter, for the last eight years, since the high
price of corn and the competition for estates.
If wheat should be at 80s. and other grains at a pro
portionate price, do you believe the farmers would con
tinue in the cultivation of their land at the expense of the
present mode of culture ? — Certainly not ; I think less
wheat would be sown, and less money wOuld be ex
pended in the cultivation of land.

322 MEMOIRS OF
From yoiur knowledgeof the general ideas of farmers,
do you believe that the same opinion you have expressed-
to the Committee upon this subject . is generally enter
tained-?^— With respect to renting farmers I; believe the
same opinion prevails'- with those who have leases they-
cannot get rid of; but where they have not leases, or
their landlords will permit them to surrender them, they
are not under the same alarm, because they will quit their
farms altogether, unless they can get a reduction in their
rent in, proportion to the price of corn; but no reduction
o^ rent will answer as it stands now, it will exhaust the
whole rent, i
Do you know of any farmers who have actually with
drawn their capital, from agriculture ? — No, I do not ; but
a tenant of my own surrendered a beneflcial agreement,
of which there were seven years to come. I gave my
tenants . notice that I Would not promise to sink their
rents, but that they might surrender their leases altogether.
At what value "of wheat did you compute the rent
which the tenant paid you under the lease, of which only -
one" year has run? — I made no particular computation for
that ; I have been in the habit of making valuations of
my.own farms; I have generally taken it at I2«. ; I could
have got more for this estate, it being a particularly valu- >
able farm ; I made no particular calculation as to this •
farm. I have another tenant, whose term of seven years
only has expired; I expected to have raised his rent
nearly 400^ -per.annumi upon a rent of 870i. ; Ihave not
raised him a farthing ; I dare not propose to raise him ; I
think he would quit me if I should attempt it ; and Icdoubt
my power oflettingdt, if he should quit me. I directed
my surveyor to look over his farm, and let me know the
price he thought I might put upon it, and if he thought it ¦
would bear raising, to let me know ; and I have not
heard from him, though he looked over it' about two
months ago. ,
How long bad he possessed it at the rent of 870l-.i :
— Only seven years.
At what rate did you calculate the Value of wheat at
that time?— 'At 12s. a bushel.
At what wouM you have calculated the price of wheat
if you had raised.it? — It is, proper I should explain that;
I did not in fact fix the rent ; I agreed he should take it
at the Commissioners' valuation, it, being then just laid: in
under the act of inclosijre.

HENRY HUNT. 22.3
Do you know whether the Commissioners fixed the
rent, calculating wljeat at 1 2s. a bushel ? — I do not ; but
I told him at the time I considered the Commissioners'
valuation would be a certain price ; that if the valuation
was lower than the price, he should have it at the lower
rate;. tbe Commissioners' valuation exceeded my price,
therefore he has it at the price named by me, though I
thought it too little.
Is it a farm which requires the apJ)lication of much
capital to render it productive ?— Yes,:it does.
When you had in your own mind settled that you
would get an advanced rent of 400l. a year," what did you
take the price of wheat at in forming that caleulatioU ?
— 1 conceived, wheat was higher than 12s. a bushel, not
more than 13s. a bushel. 1 have not valued this farm
particularly at 400Z. a year more, but I felt that the farm
was worth 400i. a year more than 1 had let it at.
You have said that at the time the Commissioners
valued it, you believe they proceeded on the idea that
wheat was worth I2«. a bushel? — No, I do not know
what calculation the Commissioners made ; they were
three eminent surveyors.
When it passed in your mind that you would get 400?.
a year more, was not that in consequence of your having
an opinion that .the Commissioners had fixed the land at
a lower rent than if wheat were calculated at 1 2s. a
bushel ?-^Gertainly it was.
And your idea of getting I270Z. was in consequence of
what passed in your mind as to wheats being fairly to be
valued at 12s. a bushel?T-.Certainly it was.
Having stated your knowledge to be general over the
county of Wilts, and having stated your calculation of
wheat to be at 12s. for the last seven years, do you apply
that to the farms within your own immediate knowledge,
or over the county of Wilts generally ?.^1 believe that
generaUy over the county of Wilts, 12s. is the lowest
calculation which has been made tay surveyors in letting
land. .
If a free importation should take place, how many rents
do.youthink the farmer will be able to make then?— It
depends entirely upon what effect the free importation
may have upon the price of corn ; taking wheat at Ss. a
bushel, and. taking all agricultural expenses to stand as
they now do, I conceive the farmer with an average crop
cannot pay any rent at all.

224 MEMOIRS OF
You conceive a proprietor farming his own estate, with
a competent share of skill and capital, would be a loser if
the price of wheat was 8s. a bushel ?— Yes, I do.
Has any pi-oportion of the value of daily labour been
made up to the labourers out of the poor's rates ? — Yes, it
has; the weekly income of every family is made up to
the gallon loaf and three-pence per head. Supposing
the father to eam 9s. one of the children 3s. another
2s. and another Is. 6d. the magistrate conceiving they
are able to earn that, or the overseer being willing
to give them the money for their labour, whatever
the deficiency is, is made up to the amount I have
stated. I must explain, that I give this evidence as a
magistrate more than as a farmer ; for I act for a very
large district, and am in the habit of making this order.
The gallon loaf per head per week is what we suppose
sufScient for the maintenance of every person in the
family for the week ; and the 3d. is for clothes ; and if the
parish think proper to find clothes, the 3d. is deducted.
This practice goes through all the western parts of Wilt
shire, and I believe throughout the county.
Have you, from your situation as a Magistrate, any con
nexion and knowledge ofthe condition of the lower class
of manufacturers ? — I have ; I live within nine miles of a
great number of them, and act for several manufacturing
parishes as a Magistrate.
Can you state the average consumption of a family ? —
The manufacturers live better than the farming labourers,
but they need not live better ; when they come to the pa
rishes they have only the same allowance from us as pau
pers of every class.
Do you expect the labouring manufacturers will con
sume a greater proportion of farm produce than they
have hitherto done ? — I conceive greater waste will be
made of farm produce when it is at a low price than when
it is at a high price, and, in fact, they must consume more:
they live upon wheat instead of barley ; they lived upon
barley formerly, and now they live upon wheat, and eat
fewer potatoes probably.
Do you think it would be possible for landlords to re
duce their rents so as to enable the tenant to make a fair
proflt, according to the present price of corn ? — No ; ,1 do
not think it is in the power of landlords, it must depend
upon the riche§ of the landlord ; but if he reduces the
whole rent upon some farms, it would not be sufficient ac-

HENRY HUNT, 225
cording to the present price of corn ; taking the present
price of wheat at eight shillings a bushel, and all other
grain following the same scale.
The price is high abroad at present ? — It is.
The case ofa peace with America, and of our receiving
corn from thence, do not you conceive, in case of a great
influx of corn from the continent, the price must fall con
siderably ?-^Cei;taihly, as the price falls upon the conti
nent, it will fall here, if free importation is permitted ;
but I would wish to be understood here as to the price of
corn, it must very much depend upon the crop of the
year, because 1 do not believe it possible to import suffi
cient to feed the people of Great Britain, and very much
must depend upon the quantity of corn grown ; and my
own belief is, that the price of corn will be very high in
deed in three years, higher than it has probably beeh
known for the last ten ypars. I think the importation is
an uncertain sort of supply; there may be a bad crop Upon
the continent, or a thousand interruptions may stop the im
portation. On what i^s your opinion founded, that it will be at a high
price? — Because a great deal less wheat will be sown in
consequence of the low prices ; I believe the defalcation in
the number of acres sown will be very great indeed.
Do you think that the present rents are the cause of
the tenants not being able to obtain a fair profit) corn
being at eight, shillings a bushel ; or does it arise from the
price of labour, the amount of poors' rates, taxes, and atheir
expenses ? — I do not myself think the rents are too high,
taking them at a general average ; in fact, I do not think
the gentlemen of la/hded property can now live at the pre
sent rents with the same comforts their forefathers have
done on the same estates'; that if the rents are to be lower
ed, the gentlemen of landed property must be sunk in their
scale in socieity.
Do you conceive that the existing rents bear a greater
proportion to the produce than foi-merly ? — No ; not so
great by a great deal ; 1 conceive that rents have not risen
in the same proportion that all the articles of life, which
we are compelled to have as country gentleraen, have
risen. The following requisition was published in
the Salisbury and Winchester Journal, on the
2d of January, 1815, calling a public meeting
VOL. III. 2 G

226

MEMOIRS OF

of the landholders and farraers of the county
of Wilts, to be held at Warrainster, on the
6th day of January following : —
We, the undersigned Land-Owners and Occupiers of
Xand, in the county oif Wilts, conceiving it to be impos
sible that the British farmers should ever contend on fair
or equal terms with foreign growers of corn, even in
British markets, as long as the former shall have to bear
such heavy charges of rates, taxes, assessments, and
other -expenses attendant on their cultivation, ofwhich
the latter know nothing: Being also convinced that the
farmers of this kingdom have already suffered severely,
even to the ruin of many of those who have had small
capitals ; and also that the eVil is fast approaching to the
land-owners, and must (ifno relief be given to the agri
culturists) evidently fall on the country at large: Feeling
it also to be a duty incumbent on as many of us as are land
lords, to exert ourselves for the protection of our tetfants,
and on us all jointly to exert ourselves, for our mutual
protection:— tDo hereby give Notice, That we intend to
meet at the Lord's Arms Inn, at Warminster, in the
county of Wilts, on Friday the pth day of January next,
at 12 o'clock at noon, for the purpose of considering of the
propriety of preparing Petitions to the two Houses ofPar
liament, on behalf of ourselves and others ; and we invite
all Land-Owners, and Occupiers of Land, in the county of
Wilts, who may wish to unite with us in forwarding this
our object, to meet us on that day, an.d to co-operate with
us, in adopting such measures as may then and there be
thought necessary, for our mutual relief and preservation.
Dated this 30th of December, 1814, (Signed.)

Thomas Grove.
George South.
'H. Linton.
John Davis,
John Gordon.
WilUam Smith.
Henry Hubbard.
John Pearce.
Richard Pocock.
Robert Payne.
WiUiam Marsh.
John Barter.
Thomas Burges.
.John WilUs.
E. F. Seagram.
John Gale.

John Benett.
J. H. Penruddocke.
T, Davis, Jun.
J. E. Strickland.
H. Biggs.
Robert Smith.
RobertCandy, George Young.
James Pearce.
J. Howel,
Thomas Chandler.
John Phillips.
John Mitchell.
Bobert Rumsey.
Jaraes Goddard.

James Everard Arundel .
Alexander Powell.
S. Card.
G. J. KneUer.
J. Slade.
Richard Rickword.
John Neat.
James Burges.
William Glass.
John Folliott.
Thomas BurBtt.
Henry Phillips.
J. C. Burbidge.
James Chisman.
John Goddard.

henry HUNT. 227
^ This was short notice, as many people of
the county of Wilts did not get the Salisbury
paper till the 3d or 4th of January. In fact, I
rayself, who was living in Hampshire, did not
get it till the 4th in the evening, nor should
I have seen it at all, if a friend had not sent
it to me. As I had a small freehold in the
county of Wilts, and also occupied a consi
derable farm at Upavon, in that county, I made
up my mind, within five minutes after I saw
the above advertisement, that, although I was
living at a distance of nearly forty railes from
the scene of action, I would raake one at this
intended snug meeting. I mounted my gig
the next day (the Sth), and drove as far as
Deptford Inn. I had heard of a Mr. Gourley,
who lived at Deptford, upon an estate of the
Duke of Somerset's ; and, as he had acquired
the character of being at least an eccentric, if
not an independent man, I called at his house
with the intent to have some conversation
with him upon the proposed raeeting. For
tunately, however, he was frora horae, or I
might have been hampered with a very trou
blesome and a very disagreeable companion ;
for I afterwards found that^Mr, Gourley,
though perhaps a very well-meaning person,
was so flighty, so confused, and so opinionated
in his wild and visionary notions, that he was

^8 memoirs of
a very dangerous man to have any thing to do
with ; at anyrate, he was a person that it was ¦
hnpossible to go hand in hand with. I slept
at Beptfotd Inn, and proceeded through
Heytesbury to Warminster in the morning,'
calling upon my old friend Gousens in ray way
thither ; I knew that he was staunch to the
back-bone, and that, in case he was at horae,
I should be sure of his support to second any
amendraent that I might find it necessary tO
propose. When I drove up to his door at
Heytesbury, I was surprised to find all the
window-shutters closed, although it was nearly
ten p'clock. Upon hailing him, he popped
his head out of the chamber window with a
night^eap on^ ih one of the severest hoar frosty
mornings I ever beheld. I told him where I
was going, and he promised to follow me in-
stantlyj without fail; and he kept his word,
for he overtook me upon his grey pOney be^
fore I reached the town.
When I drove into Warminster, the towri
was as stfll and as quiet as possible, without
any of those bustling indications which I had
been accustomed to witness at a public meet^
ing. While l^was taking my breakfast at the
Lord's Arms Inn, some of the requisitionists
made their appearance, and they were soon
followed by the reraainder, and a considerable

HENRY HUNT. 329
number of the landholders of the cownty,
amongst whom, as I sat at an up-stair window,
I recognised Mr. Wyndham, of Dinton, the.
High Sheriff; Paul Mpthuen,. Esq. one lai the
Members for the couniy ; and the said John
Benett, surrounded by a few of the requiri-;
tionists. I sat very quiet while my friend
Cousens reconnoitred their forces, and com-*
municated their arrival. At length we saw
them all proceed to the Town-haU, perhaps
twentyrfive or thirty of them at the outside —
as pretty a little snug cabal as ever was mus
tered upon any occasion. They passed ray
window and went.smirking along, little dream
ing that they should meet with the slightest
interruption or opposition to their measures,
which were aU ready cut and dry, and safely
deposited in the pocket of the celebratjed at
torney, Mr. Charles Bowles, of Shaftesbury ^
As the train passed up the street, the town's-
people took little other notice of them than by
now and then eyeing them askance with a jea
lous look. I had remained the whole time
snug in my room, without one soul of them
knowing or suspecting that I was in War
minster; but, as soon as I saw them all safely
housed, out I bolted into the street, and made
my way after them. As we walked np the

2.30

MEMOIRS OF

Street, my friend Cousens intimated to two or
three of the shopkeepers who I was, and the
news flew like wildfire round the town, that
Mr. Hunt was arrived, and gone up to the
Hall. As, therefore, something like fair dis
cussion was likely to take place, the said raeet
ing, which, ten minutes before, excited no in
terest whatever amongst the town's-people,
was, in a very short space of time, crowded
by the shopkeepers, and attended by almost
every respectable man in the town. When I
entered the HaU it was very evident that I was
not a very welcome guest, and that I had not
been expected by any one. As, however, I
was a landholder of the county, and one of
those who were invited, it was impossible to
make any objection, as I was as much entitled
to be present as any man in the room. Mr.
Grove, whose name stood at the head of the
requisition, was called to the chair. This
gentleman, who is descended from one of the
raost ancient families in the county, having
shortly stated the object of the raeeting, Mr.
Benett arose, and, after sorae wriggling and
twisting, addressed thera. As the following
report, which was published in Keene's Bath
Journal, on the Sunday following, contains a
brief outline and an irapartial account of the

HENRY HUNT. 231
proceedings, I will insert it verbatira, as it was
afterwards copied into alraost every newspaper
in the kingdora :
On the 6th of January a Meeting of " Landholders and
Occupiers of Land," was held at the Town-Hall, War
minster, convened by public advertisement, signed by
John Benett^ Esq. of Pyt-House, (the gentleman who
gave such long and strong evidence before the Committees
of both Houses of Parliament in favour ofthe Corn Bill),
and several other respectable land-owners and farmers of
the county of Wilts, to take into consideration the pro- ,
priety of presenting Petitions to both Houses of Parliament,
on ' behalf of the proprietors and occupiers of land.
Thomas Grove, Esq. of Fern, one of the gentlemen who
called the meeting, having taken the chair, Mr. Benett ad
dressed them at a very considerable length in favour of a
petition that he submitted for their adoption, expressive of
the serious injury already sustained by the farmer, and the
probable result likely to fall on the landholder, arising
from the reduced and low price of corn, owing particularly
to the importations from France, &c. The Petition fur
ther stated, that as the agricultural interest was blended
with that ofthe tradesman and mechanic,the latter were in
vited to join in its support, and add their signatures thereto.
Mr. Benett insisted that, as the evidence given before the
Corn Committees had never been contradicted, the legis
lature were bound to afford the agricultural interest their
protection ; and, enforcing the necessity of Parliamentary
interposition in favour of the landed interest, he said, that
unless some measure were devised to enable the farmer
to pay his present rent and taxes, the landholders would
be completely ruined ; and he solemnly .declared, that,
unless this desirable object was carried into immediate
execution, he for one would be under the absolute neces
sity, before that day twelvemonth, of leaving the country
with his family, to reside where provisions and all the ne
cessaries of life were to be obtained at a rate within the
reach of his fortune,* The motion was briefly seconded
by Mr. Bowles. — Mr. Hunt began by stating his objec-
• Quere. — If this solemn asseveration of Mr. Benett 's be correct,
(who, bythe bye, is a Land-owner to the amount of lO.OOOi. a year J
what will be the fate of those who are left behind, without the raeans of
'flying from the evil ?

232 MEMOIRS OF
tioB to the meeting; altogether, asserting, that if the meet
ing was not illegal, it was highly improper for a few
individuals of a particular class to call a meeting to peti
tion Parliament in favour of tradesmen and mechanics,
without giving them an opportunity of attending to decide
upon its propriety. This was a close meeting of land
holders and farmers ; many respectable tradesmen, inhar
bitants of the town, would have attended, but they were
told they had no business there, not being landholders or
farmers. This meeting, therefore, bore a resemblance to
a " Conclave of Cardinals with closed doors." — Instead of
calling a meeting like this, why not call a public county
meeting, and meet the question manfully and openly?
One reason against this was, that at an open county meet
ing,^ even Mr. John Benett would not be so hardy as to
bring forward a petition, the sole object of which was the
keeping up the price of corn, under the cloak of its being
a petition in favour of the tradesman and the mechanic. —
In fact, this was a petition especially to benefit the land
holder ; even the farraer was of secondary consideration,
and it was decidedly hostile to the interest of every other
class, of societj ; and if acted upon would prove ruinous to
the little tradesman, the mechanic, and the labourer. The
landlord had met with no reverse siuce the commence
ment of the war ; his rents had progressively increased,
in proportion as the rest of the community had suffered
privations; the nearer the mechanic and the labourer
had approached to starvation and beggary, the higher
were the profits- and the more efficient the means of the
landholder. This was no theoretical proposition, hastily
introduced, it was a practical truism, the result of careful
and recent inquiry. He would read to the meeting an
account of the population of the parish of Enford, a large
parish in the centre of tbe county of Wilts, with the com
parative statement of the rise in the price of labour, the
price of bread, andthe price of land, within the last 30
years. The number of houses were 143, population 6,56,
farmers, &c. 250, labourers 406, labourers (not paupers)
201, labourers (paupers) 205. About 30 years back, the
labourers in this parish received 68. per week ; at this time
they received 8s. per week — 30 years back, the quartern
loaf averaged about 5d. at this time it is lO^d,— 30 years
back, fhe labourer could purchase with his week's pay, 6s.
fourteen quartern loaves ; now he can only purchase with
his week's pay, 8s. nine quartern loaves — about 30 yeart

HENRY HUNT. 28.3
I
back, the principal farm in this parish/ theu belonging to
the late Mr. Benett, of Pyt-house, in this county, was let
for 400/. a-year ; at the present time this farm, the property
of Mr. John Benett, of Pyt-house, is let for 1,260?. a-y|^ffi-
Thus it clearly appears in this parish, within tlie last*W'
years, labour has risen from 6s, to 8s. per week, 33 per
cent., the quartern loaf from 5d.'to lO^d., 105 per cent.,
the rent of land from 400Z. to 1,260/., 212 percent. This
proves that bread has risen within this period more
than three times as much as labour, and land more than
twice as much as bread, and more than six times as much
as labour. At the present price of land, corn, bread, and
labour, the landlord is benefited three times as much as
the farmer, and six times as much as the labourer.
Mr. Benett said, that he had, since the period men
tioned by Mr. Hunt, purchased the tithes, and added
them to the farm, which was included in the present
rent. Mr. Hunt replied, that he was perfectly aware of
this : circumstance, as well as of another circumstance
equaUy important, which was this, that Mr. Benett had
taken a considerable portion of the best land from hi#
farm, and added it to another, which produced a greater
rent than the value of the tithes, therefore the balance
was more in favour of the landlord than he had
stated. He had mentioned this particular farm, as it be
longed to Mr. Benett, the proposer of the present mea
sure; but from his own knowledge (having an estate
himselfin the same parish) he could state, that the land
had risen in the same, and, in some instances, in a higher
proportion. He, therefore, particularly enjoined the
farmers to pause before they gave their sanction to a mea
sure, which had only for its object the benefit and ag
grandizement of a few rapacious landholders, whilst it
was calculated to shift the odium of a dear loaf off their
own shoulders, and fix it upon the back of the farmer.
Let the odium rest where it was due, upon those who
were the supporters of the war, upon those who have fat
tened upon the miseries of the people. — Mr. Bleeck fol
lowed on the same side with Mr. Hunt, exposing the fal
lacy of attempting to palm upon the meeting a petition,
professing to have for its object the welfare ofthe trades
man 'and the mechanic, whilst the operation of it WQul4
tend to perpetuate the misery they had so long endured ;
he called to the recollection of, many ofthe meeting, the
scenes which they had been in the habit of witnessii^ m
VOL. ni. 2 H

23.4 MEMOIRS OF
that hall, the walls of which had so often resounded witI*
tjie professions of;those gentlemen who were now com^
pUinirig of the present times, the effect of that war, to
STOport which, they had so often solemnly pledged, not
0^^ their last guinea,, but their last drop of blood. He
called upon the Chairman not to blink the question,, be
cause the majority of the meeting appeared Etgainst the
petition, but let it fairly meet its fate. — Paul Methuen,
Esq., one of the representatives for the county, said, that
seeing a meeting called, signed by a number of respect
able individuals, he felt it his duty to attend it ;. but if he
had known that it was to have been a close meeting with-
closed doors, he certainly would not have come near the
place. If the , meeting decide4 upon petitioning the
House of Commons, whatever that petition may be, he
^ould feel it his duty to. present it ; although he would
not pledge himself to support the landed interest, to the
injury of the tradesman and the mechanic. The Chair
man having hinted that it was going a little, too far, tosay
thgt this petition was in favour of the tradesman and me
chanic, and as they would not have an opportunity of
yoting upon the subject, he thought they, had better ba
left out of the petition. The whole nieeting appeared to
concur ih this, and Mr. Benett proposed to draw the pen
through the words " tradesman and mechanic ;" .which
being done the Chairman desired all those who were for
the petition to hold up their hats* The Chairman declared
a decided majority kept their hats on ; which was followed
by a symptom of approbation, whereupon the Chairman
asserted, that the meeting was so tumultuous, he would
not take the sense, of it against the petition. Upon this,
the Chairman, with Mr. Benett and a few ofhis friends,
retired to a priyate room at the inn, but whether to sign
this petition in secret, which they could not carry in
public, or to abandon it altogether, we do not know. —
Astatement of the fate of the petition was announced to
the inhabitants of the town by the bellman, amidst the
becoming 'cheers of the populace.
I have no hesitation to say, that the publi
cation of this report in all the London news
papers, and in almost every country news
paper in the three kingdoms, first roused a
general feeling against the proposed^Gorn Bill.'

HENRY HUNT. 285
Meetings were afterward? called in London
and in Westminster, and petitions were pre
sented against the measure from almost every
town and district throughout the country.
Sir Francis Burdett attended the meeting of
his constituents in Palace-yard, where they
passed strong resolutions, and sent a petition
to the House against the measure; but Sir
Francis took a different view of the question,
and appeared to think it was necessary that
the English farmer should be protected, and I
believe he said that he cared not whether the
Bill was passed or not, and thq.t it would make
no difference to him personally whichever way
it was decided. This certainly was not view
ing the question with that liberality and sound
judgment with which the Baronet was accus
tomed to act. For the moment, his speech
threw a considerable damp upon the ardour
ofa great many persons, who had before been
very sanguine against the adoption of the said
Corn Bill, and so corapletely were the affec
tions of the people riveted to the opinions of
Sir Francis Burdett, that his constituents
cheered him, and drew him home in his car
riage afterwards, amidst the acclamations
of the populace.
This was the .first instance that I recollect,
for many years, in which I acted in opposi-

286 MEMOIRS OF
tion to the opinions of Sir F. Burdett ; biit; as
I was thoroughly convinced of the mischievous
intention of the supporters of the measure, as
well as of the fatal result that raust follow its
adoption, I persevered in ray oppositiori to it
with all ray power. 1 was not contented with
having attended the Common Hall, as a Li
veryman of the city of London, to protest
against the Bill ; I was not satisfied with hav
ing blown up the cabal at Warminster, and
compelled the parties to sneak off with their
resolutions and petitions, to pass thera and
get. thera signed in holes and corners; but I
personally procured a requisition to be signed
by the freeholders of the county of Wilts, and
presented it to the High Sheriff for the coun
ty,. my, old school-fellow, Williara Wyndham,
Esq. of Dinton, who was then residing at
Marshwood, near that place, while his house
was building at Dinton. The Sheriff was just
upon the point of going out of office, and said
.the day was; fixed for hira to raeet the new
Sheriff, at . Salisbury, for the purpose of the
latter being sworn in. He, however, under
took, to transmit ray requisition to him, and
recoraraended that he should give notice of
the meeting in the first Salisbury paper after
he had entered into his Sheriffalty. I ascer
tained that a Mr. George Eyre, the King's

HENRY HUNT. 287
printer, of the house of Strahan and Eyre,
printers in London, was to be the new She
riff, and, not choosing to trust tO this raush
roora gentleman, I appointed to nieet Mr.
Wyndham at Salisbury, with the requisition,
that I might see the old and new Sheriff to
gether ; telling him, at the same tirae, that I
was determined not to be shuffled out of the
county meeting, for, in case the new Sheriff
did not choose to call it, I should go to the
expense of calling it myself; and in the pro
priety of doing so Mr. Wyndham concurred
with rae. (My elder readers will recollect,
and it is necessary to inforra my young friends,
that there was no law at that period to prevent
my calling the county together, to consult
upon the propriety of petitioning, the Parlia
ment ; at least as many of them as chose to
assemble for that purpose.)
I had drawn up a requisition, and procured
a nnmber of respectable signatures, and if the
Sheriff, by refusing to call the meeting, had
dared to neglect his duty and abuse the high
trust reposed in him by his office, it wias only
necessary to advertise the requisition, and
call the meeting in the narae of the requisi
tionists. When the day arrived I was punc
tual to my appointment, and raet the two
Sheriffs at the office of their Deputy, Mr. At-

:S99 MEMOIRS OF
tomey Tinney, who would as sOori have' seen
the devil as rae ; but, as he knew that I was
nOt to be put off with any of his usual quib
bling tricks, upon demanding an interview
with his principals, I was admitted forthwith.
I found this Mr. George Eyre just such a Jackr
in-office as 1 should have expected a Kirig's
printer, or a King's lacquey, or a King's hair
dresser to be ; as unlike Mr, Wyndham, both
in appearance and manner, as a sneaking up
start could be unlike a respectable country
gentleman. The latter was unassuming, free,
easy, and gentleman-like, wiUing and anxious
to do his duty in such a way as was at once
consistent with the character of his high office,
aind accommodating to the requisitionists;
whilst the former was jealous of his authorityj
and appeared orily to consider how he could
get over the task which he had neither the'
Courage to decline, nor the address to raanage
with comraon urbanity. The day, however,
was at length fixed, but at the greatest possible
distance of time, evidently for the puipose <rf
frustrating the object of those who signed the
requisition, as in all probability the Bill would
be passed the House of Comraons before the
day of raeeting, or at least before the petition
could be presented. In fact, both the Sheriff
and his hopeful Deputy declared with a sneer.

HiENRY HUNT. 889
i'hat the necessity of holding the meeting
might possibly be set aside, by the House of
Commons passing the Bill. Old birds, how
ever, are not to be caught with chaff, and
therefore the requisition was drawn too gene
ral to allow of practising a trick of this sort ;
it said not a word about the House of Com
raons; it merely requested that a county
meeting might be called, to consider the pro
priety of petitioning Parliament against the
proposed Corn Bill ; and I sarcastically ob
served to these wiseacres, that it depended
upon the feeling of the meeting, when we were
assembled, which branch of the Parliament
we should petition, whether King, Lords, or
Commons, and it would be quite time enough
to consider that point when we were assem
bled. It always required considerable ad
dress and presence of mind to keep the upper
hand of these, legal quirk-dealers,- these impu-?
dent under-strappers, whose whole trade con
sists in trick and chicane; but I do not recol*
lect ever having been outwitted by a,ny dne of
them as to the proceedings of a public meet
ing. In the interval between the presenting of
the requisition and the coming together of
the meeting, there were great riots in London^
each night that the measure was discussed in

240 MEMOIRS OF
the House of Comnions; great multitudes had
assembled about the House in a menacing
manner; the military were called in, andthe
Bill was passed while the House was guarded
with an armed military force with bayonets
fixed. Many of the Members ofthe Honour
able House were hooted and hustled as they
passed into the doors ; and Mr. Garrow, the
then Attorney-General, had rather a narrow
escape. It is said that he.was surrounded,
and the mob were just upon the point of clap-
ing a halter round his neck, supposing him to
be one of the obnoxious individuals who had
been pressing the Bill through the House with
the most indecent haste, when , some one in
the crowd sung out with a loud voice that it
was Garrow, the Attorney-General, who had
not prosecuted any one for a political libel
since he had been in office ; upon which they
gave him three cheers and let him pass.
The day for. the meeting at length came.
When we arrived at Salisbury, where the
meeting was called, the news was brought
down that the Bill had passed the House of
Commons the night before ; but we were not
thrown off our guard by this event, as we had
in some measure anticipated it. It was, how
ever, necessary; to draw up fresh resolutions,
and a petition to: the Lords instead of the Com-

HENRY HUNT. 241
mons, which Mr. Cobbett and rayself had
scarcely time to half accomplish before a mes
senger entered out of breath, to say that the
Sheriff and his party were gone to the Hall,
whither they had proceeded the moment the
clock struck twelve, instead of waiting, as
usual, till it was one; the county meetings
having always been called at twelve, under an
understanding that one was the hour at which
business was to be commenced. In another
minute or two a second messenger hurried to
us, to say that the Sheriff had opened the pro
ceedings, and the meeting would be instantly
closed if we did not proceed to the spot with
all possible expedition. In Consequence of
this, Mr. Cobbett and myself packed up our
half-finished resolutions and hastened to the
scene of action, yet still conceiving it impos
sible that any thing assuming the character of
a gentleman could be guilty of such a raean,
pitiful, and underha!nded trick as that which
we were told would be played. Scarcely,
however, had we reached the door of the HaU,
when we met Mr. Sheriff, Mr. Deputy, and a
pretty little knot of sycophants and depend ants,
coming out ; and Tinney informed us, that, as
no one had come forward when the requisition
was read, the Sheriff had dissolved the meeting.
We expostulated against such an ungentleman-
VOL. III. 2 I

S42 MEMOIRS OF
like trick, but our expostulations would have
been in vain if the tricksters had happened to
have got without the door of the Hall ; but,
fortunately, we got into the entrance pas
sage, and met them face to face, where our
arguments were supported by such an over
whelming power in the rear, that they were
quite irresistible. The fact was, there hap
pened to be no back door, and with a little
gentle force we conveyed, or rather wriggled,
these worthy men in office back again, step
by step, and inch by inch, till the worthy
Sheriff once more took the chair, amidst the
deafening shouts of the largest county meet
ing that I ever witnessed. To tell the truth,
they found it impossible to get out ofthe Hall,
and at length, after having made as many
shifts and feints and shuffles as an old fox
would to avoid the well-trained, true-bred
pack, and finding that we neither yielded to
coaxing, buUying, nor wheedling, they ulti
mately made a virtue of necessity, and the
high-bred High Sheriff turned-to very kind
ly, and once more opened the proceedings of
the meeting, by reading the requisition. I
then moved an adjournraent into the open
air, and two carpenters' benches (the very best
temporary hustings) being at hand, the busi
ness went on and passed off in a most regular

HENRY HUNT. 243
and satisfactory raanner. After I had raoved
arid Mr. Cobbett had seconded the resolutions,
and a petition to the House of Lords, pray
ing that they would protect us from the ra
pacity of the Comraons, and not pass the Corn
Bill, and after an amendment had been pro
posed by the Reverend Mr. Hill, supported
by Mr. Gourley, our resolutions and petition,
which also prayed for a Reform of the House
of Commons, a reduction of all useless places,
and an abolition of all unmerited pensions and
sinecure places, were carried unanimously, or
at least with only a few, very few dissenting
voices. Sheets of parchraent and pens and
ink were provided, and the people began to
sign their names instantly. Mr. Cobbett re
lurned to his home, while I sent messengers
or went myself into every town in the county,
and collected signatures, which araounted, at
the end of four days, to twenty-one thou
sand, and were forwarded with the petition
to Lord Stanhope, who presented it on the
second reading of the Bill in the House of
Lords. I reckoned that it cost me upwards
of fifty pounds, out of my own pocket, to ac
complish this county meeting and petition;
no one soul but myself ha,ving contributed a
single sixpence towards the expense.
About the time that the populace in Lon-

S44 MEMOIRS OF
don were coinmitting great excesses, by break
ing the windows of those Merabers of Parlia
raent who took a prominent part in favour of
the Corn Bill, Lord Cochrane, who was con
fined in the King's Bench prison, in conse
quence of a verdict given, or at least procured,
against him, for the part it was pretended he
had in the Stock Exchange hoax, made his
escape from that prison, a circumstance which
caused a very considerable sensation through
out the metropolis and the country; for it
was rumoured that his Lordship had made
his escape with the intention of placing him
self at the head of the London rioters, who
had by Jhis time increased in numbers and
daring resistance to the authorities. In de
scending by a rope from the top of the wall,
his Lordship fell from a very considerable
height, and injured himself severely, so much
so, that he was for a great length of time un
able to raise himself from the earth. His
Lordship remained undiscovered for some
weeks, and then appeared in his place in Par
liament, where he was discovered sitting upon
one of the benches ofthe House of Commons,
and from thence he was taken by the civil
power, and delivered once more into the cus
tody of the Marshal of the King's Bench pri- -
son.

HENRY HUNT. 245
Let the reader bear in mind what I have
already mentioned, that the Parliament of
England was obliged to be aided by the mili
tary ; that Westminster Hall and both Houses
of Parliament were encircled by troops, and
all the avenues leading thereto were guarded
by soldiers with their bayonets fixed, and that
thus this law, this infamous Corn Bill, to en
hance and keep up the price of bread, the
staff cf life, was passed under the protection
of a military force, in defiance of the prayers,
the petitions, and the remonstrances of a great
majority of the people of England; a fact
which clearly demonstrated that the House of
Commons, where the Bill originated, were so
far from being the representatives of the peo
ple, that they acted in direct hostility to them,
and had no feeling in common with them, but
were more like a band of venal, corrupt, pro
fligate, dishonest, and merciless oppressors.
The landed gentry in other parts had now
began to' shew a disposition to shake off the
income tax, called the property tax, which
was an arbitrary and inquisitorial war, tax,
and ought to have been abolished as soon as
peace was proclaimed. As, however, the Mi
nisters were evidently not in the least disposed
to give up fourteen millions a-year, which this
horrid imposition produced, many meetings

246 MEMOIRS OF
were held and petitions agreed to, praying
for its being abolished. Amongst the num
ber a requisition was signed and presented to
the Sheriff of Somerset, George Edward Al
len, Esq. of Bathhampton, requesting him to
call a public meeting to take the subject into
consideration, and he immediately advertised
a meeting of the freeholders and inhabitants
of the county, to be held at Wells. At the
head of this requisition was Mr. Banning, of
Dillington, 1 saw the advertisement in the pub
lic papers, and as it appeared that the parties
calling the meeting only intended to petition
for a partial repeal ofthe tax, as far as it affect
ed themselves, while they left the most odious
and obnoxious half ofit untouched, I mean that
part which affected the small annuitant and
fundholder, the widow and the orphan, whose
income was under one hundred pounds a-year,
I directly made up my mind to attend the
meeting. As a preliminary step, therefore,
I wrote a letter to the freeholders and inha
bitants of the county, calling upon them to
come to the meeting, and to support me in
the endeavour to frustrate such a partial pro
ceeding. In case of their being disposed to
petition the Parliament, I urged them lo sup
port me in petitioning for an absolute repeal
of the ichole lax. This letter was published

HENRY HUNT. 247
in one Or two of the county newspapers, and
I also printed and caused to be circulated five
hundred copies of it in hand-bills.
When the day came, I had lo drive from
Middleton Cottage in the morning, a distance
of fifty miles, and I reached Wells a little
after one o'clock, the meeting having been ad
vertised to commence at that hour. The
news flew through the city like wildfire, and as
I drove through the streets in my tandem I
was hailed by the acclamations of the people.
I had not been five minutes in the inn, before
I received a polite message from the High
Sheriff, Mr. Allen, to say that he had delayed
opening the meeting till my arrival, and he
would not go to the hustings tiU I was ready
to attend. Here was a contrast to the con
duct of the paltry upstart of the county of
Wilts ! As soon as the clock struck one, Mr.
Allen was urged, by Mr. Perpetual Under-
Sheriff and hi;s associates, some ofthe attendr
ing Magistrates, to proceed to the hustings,
and to open the proceedings forthwith. With
this suggestion he, however, peremptorily re
fused to comply, saying, " as Mr. Hunt has
published a letter in the public newspapers,
to ^ay that he should attend the meeting, and
propose some amendment to the petition
which is meant to be submitted to the meet-

248 ' MEMOIRS OF
ing by those who signed the requisition, I
haive not the slightest doubt but he will keep
his word ; and as he lives at a great distance,
I should not be doing my duty conscientiously
if I did not wait half an hour, to make allow
ance for the difference of clocks, or any acci-^
dental delay that may have arisen in so long
a journey." As he had anticipated, I arrived within ten
minutes ofthe time; and in answer to his po
lite message I returned another, thanking
him for his attention, and promising not to
detain him five minutes. In the meanwhile
I had a message from Mr. Hanning and the
other gentlemen who signed the requisition,
to say that, previous to our going to the hust
ings, they wished lo consult with me upon the
propriety of the resolutions, &c. that they
meant to submit to the meeting. My answer
was, " give my compliments to the gentlemen,
and say that I am at the Swan, where I shall
be happy to confer with them if they wish it."
In three minutes, before I could scarcely wash
m.y hands and face after my journey, they en
tered my room. They began by saying that
they had seen my letter in the public papers,-
and as they by no means wished to act hos
tilely lo me, or to create any division at the
meeting, they had no objection to adopt my

HENRY HCNT. 249
resolutions and petition, which prayed for
the total repeal of the Properly Tax, instead
of those which they had drawn up, which only
went to the partial repeal of it. I saw by this
that they had fuUy ascertained what was the
real public feeling, and that they were not wil
ling to brave it al the meeting. I begged lo
see their resolutions and petition, adding,
that I by no means wished lo lake it out of
their hands ; and lo shew them lhal I wished
lo meet them upon liberal terras, I proposed
the embodying one of my resolutions among
theirs, and a corresponding clause in their pe
tion. As these additions fully recognised the
principle for which I contended, I was desi
rous to shew the requisitionists that I did not
wish lo take any advantage of the popularity
that I possessed, and I therefore agreed that
Mr. Hanning should propose his resolutions
and petition, thus altered and amended, and
that I would then give him my hearty concur
rence and support.
My proposition being readily accepted, and
hailed as an emblem of union, we proceeded
to the hustings together, and every thing went
off with the greatest unanimity and cordiality
amongsi all the parties, with the exception of
a discussion that took place upon a bye reso
lution, which I proposed, of a vote of Ihanks
VOL. III. 2 K

250 MEMOIRS OF
to the Ministers, for having concluded a " peace
with the Americans, the only reraaining free
Government in the universe." I meant this
resolution to answer a double purpose ; first,
by thanking the Ministers, 1 gave the Whigs a
kick ; and second, it was a compliment due
to the Araericans, for having bravely repelled
a tyrannical invader. It was a Whig raeet
ing, at least it was called by the Whigs, and
therefore every exertion was raade lo prevent
the passing of this resolution. Old Sir John
Cox Hippisley palavered, and whined, and
begged and prayed, for an hour, and endea
voured to wheedle and coax me to withdraw
my motion for the sake of unanimity. Upon
all public matters, however, I was ever inflexi
ble, and I was therefore prepared al all times
lo do my duty without looking to the right or
to the left, and I consequently insisted upon
havirig the motion put to the meeting. On a
division it was lost by Only a very sraaU raa
jority. In the month of January, 1815, a treaty was
concluded between the Allied Powers at
Vienna, to raaintain the treaty of Paris. In
the Congress, by which this treaty was settled,
the Ministers of some of the Allied Powers
seriously proposed lo seize Napoleon at Elba,
to carry him off by force from that island, and

HENRY HUNT. 251
to convey him to St, Helena ; and this base
scherae was to be executed in violation of the
solemn compact entered [into with him ; a
compact granting to him the island of Elba in
full sovereignty ! But il is quite clear that
there are no treaties, however solemn; no en
gagements, however binding ; no obligations,
however sacred, that tyrants will not violate,
and laugh to scorn, when it suits their purpose
so to do.
The treaty of Vienna was entered into upon
the 25th of January, and it is supposed, and I
believe pretty well understood, that this dia
bolical plot against the life and liberty of
Napoleon was privately communicated lo him,
by some friend that he had amongsi the diplo
matists of the Allied Sovereigns. Napoleon,
therefore, took the resolution of leaving Elba
as soon as possible, and returning to France,
to endeavour to reconquer that crown which
had been forced frora hira by the very same
despots whom he had more than once restored
lo liberty and power after he had subdued
them. Having deliberately made up his mind to
risk the attempt. Napoleon promptly carried
il into execution. He set sail from Elba on
the 26th of February, with about one thousand
brave followers, in four vessels. An English

252

MEMOIRS OF

frigate prelerided to chase them, but he landed
his little force at Frejus, in France, on the 1st
of March, 1815, and he was soon joined by
various bodies of the army, who flew lo the
ranks of their old comraander, who had bravely
led them into a thousand battles, and with
whom they had participated in a thousand
victories over the enemies of their country.
Though at the outset his force was not raore
than a thousand strong, he marched boldly
forward in a direct line for Paris, and his
numbers continued to swell as he advanced.
France was in a state of the greatest agitation,
and of hopes and fears for his safety and his
success. He arrived at Gasson the Sth, the
next day he crossed the Upper Alps, passed on
through Grenoble, reached Burgoin on the
10th, and on the llth he entered the City of
Lyons, the second city of the French empire,
where he was received with every deraonstra
tion of respect and attachment. The army
and the people vied with each other which
should evince the greatest enthusiasra ; frora
Lyons he issued a Proclamation, annulling all
that had been done in his absence. On the
following daiy he marched on, and reached
Autun; onthe 16th he entered Auxerre; on
the 17th he halted at Fontainbleau ; and
raade his entrance into Paris in triumph on

HENRY HUNT. 253
the TWENTIETH OF MARCH. There he was
hailed with enthusiastic delight; and, amidst
the deafening acclamations of the Parisians,
he entered the Palace of the Thuilleries, frdm
whence Louis the Desired had fled but a few
hours before, with the utmost precipitation
and dismay. Napoleon could have arrested
his flight, and brought him back as a prisoner
wilhout the least difficulty, but he was too
brave even lo tread upon so fallen a creature.
At a subsequent period the Duke d'Angouleme
also fell inlo the hands of one of his Generals,
but the moment Napoleon heard of il, he
ordered him lo be set at liberty to go where
he pleased. But, as it turned out afterwards,
this proved a fatal lenity. On the day lhal
Napoleon entered Paris, the following notices
were placarded by the people on the walls of
the Thuilleries and the neighbourhood. " A
Palace to be let well furnished, except kitchen
utensils, which have been carried away by the
late proprietor." " A large fal hog to be sold
for one Napofeon," &c. &c. These things evi
dently shewed with what feelings of utter con
tempt the Bourbons were regarded by the Pa
risians. Napoleon, as I have already stated,
was informed that Louis had only quitted
Paris a few hours previously, and that it would
be very easy to overtake him and his caval-

254 MEMOIRS OF
cade, and bring them back prisoners to Paris ;
but this he positively forbade, adding, that he-
had no wish to touch a hair of his head. Thus,
was Napoleon placed upon the throne of
France,.. restored to all his former power of
sovereignty in that country without one life
being lost, one single shot being fired. If ever
there was a legitimate monarch. Napoleon
was now that man; for he was voluntarily
elected and placed upon the throne by the
united voice of the whole people. The cause
of the Bourbons became so desperate, that not
the slightest hope remained for thera, except
what could arise from resorting to the aid of
foreign, arms to restore the King to the throne
from which he had fled with the greatest pre
cipitancy, without having made the slightest
resistance. In fact the whole people were by
this time completely sick of the Bourbons.
The Despots of Europe, meanwhile, were in
the greatest alarm, but they, soon entered into
a league to make war upon France to restore
the old tyranny of the Bourbons, and they in
stantly began to prepare to carry their project
into effect. Buonaparte offered peace lo the
corabinationof Sdvereigns, but he did not ne
glect to prepare his troops for any eraergency
that might happen.
When the news arrived in England that Na-

HENRY HUNT, 255
poleon had quitted Elba, and landed at Pro
vence, in France, it was with the greatest
difficulty that John Gull could be made to be
lieve that it was true, till the daily accounts
arrived of his steady march towards Paris. As
he approached that capital the most intense
interest was excited, not only in France and
England, but aU over the civilised world. In
England nothing else was talked of Or Ihought
of. I own I never before felt so much anxiety 5
and the desire lo see the newspapers, which
furnished an account of the daily progress
which he made, became every hour more and
more acute. At length, the official intelligence
arrived, that Napoleon had entered Paris, and
that he was peaceably restored to the throne
amidst the shouts and applause of the whole
French nation. I had heen from home upon
business the whole day, and I had heard of
this happy event, and when I relurned in the
evening I was much gratified to find that my
farifiily had anticipated my wishes, had pro
cured candles, and were preparing lo illu
minate MY HOUSE. I had said, in the be
ginning of March, when the information reach
ed England, that Napoleon had landed in
France, that I would iUuminate my house if ever
he reached Paris alive. Although some doubts
were expressed at the lime by ray family, as

256 MEMOIRS OF
to the prudence of such a course, yet, as I de
clared my determination to do so when the
time arrived, there was no hesitating, no de
sire to baulk my intentions, or to disappoint
my wishes, which, having been once seriously
expressed, were quite sure to be accomplished
in my family ; so that, if 1 had not returned
home that night, my house would nevertheless
have been iUuminated. The candles were aU
fixed, and every pane of glass could boast a
light. The moment it was dark, Middleton
Cottage was illuminated from lop to bot
tom. This was the only occasion, this was the
first time in my life, that ever any house of
mine had been iUuminated.
Middleton Cottage is situated on the south
side ofthe great Western Road, leading from
London lo Exeter, sixty-one miles from Lon
don, and three miles from Andover. The
Exeter and the Auxiliary Mail, and three or
four other coaches, pass towards London be
tween seven o'clock in the evening and twelve
o'clock at night. Every one ofthe coachraen
pulled up their horses, and stopped to inquire
the occasion of this blaze of light. The pas
sengers in the first coach also inquired of the
coachman whose house il was, and what was
the cause ofthis splendid display ? Some one
said, he supposed it was in consequence of

HENRY HUNT. , 257
peace with Araerica, which had just been an
nounced. — " No, no ;" said the coachman, " it
is on account of the restoration of Buonaparte."
"O, a vile Jacobin!" exclairaed a nondescript
with a whistling, pipirig voice, " I wish sorae
body would break all his windows." The
coachman cracked his whip, and on they
passed; but, as there was the raail, and four
other coaches lo pass, I sent ray servant out to
stand at the gate, lo inform those that might
inquire,'.that ray house was illuminated in con
sequence ofthe safe restoration of Napoleon to
the throne of France. The next coach that
came was the raail ; it was going very fast,
being rather down the hill; and, as the glare
carae suddenly upon thera, the coachraan had
some difficulty in pulling up his horses till they
got rather beyond the front of the collage. I
was just coming out of the garden, and as it
was dark, I heard, unseen, but very distinctly ,
the following dialogue : " Aye, aye, coachman,
stop, by G-d ! tell me whose house this is?"—
" Il is Middleton Cottage, Sir, the resi
dence of Mr. Hunt." " I suppose it is illu
minated for the return of Napoleon?" —
" Yes, Sir," said my seryant, apparently to
save farther trouble of inquiry, " my raaster
illurainates his house for the first tirae in his
life, because Buonaparte has ascended the
VOL. Ill, 2 L

258 MEMOIRS OF
throne, and reconquered the crown erf Franc^,
without bloodshed." With sorae treraendous
oath, two of them (who it turned out were
geramen of the army) swore that they wOuld
get out and smash every one of the windows,
and they immediately began to open the door
of the coach, to put their threat into execution.
Upon hearing this, I lost not a moment's time,
but darted in dpors, and having seized a faith
ful cudgel, I sallied out, with the determina
tion of taking prisoner thefirst matt that threw
a stone, and, at all hazards, conducting him
into my parlour, where he should have drank
long life and success to Napoleon upon his
knees, before he should have been liberated.
This was the resolution I formed while I was
hastening after my cudgel, and having once
formed that resolution, 1 woidd have carried it
into effect at the risk of my life. When I
got out the coast was clear, and the mail was
got nearly out of hearing. My servant in
formed irie, that as soon as the guard saw what
was going on, he jumped down from his seat,
"and warmly expostulated with the military
"heroes upon their foUy and rashness; but
whenhe saw lhal they persevered, he sitore
that the coachman should drive on and leave
therii behind if they got out; and he added,
that he had no doubt but Mr. Hunt would

HENRY HUNT. 259
blow both their brains out with his double-
barrelled gun, if they offered to touch one pane
of his windows. To this the coachman as
sented, exclaiming, at the same time, " By
G— d it would serve them right for their pains."
This being the case, the doughty heroes
Ihought proper to sit still, but muttered out,
" d— - — d jacobin," as the coachman drove off.
These worthies, I have no doubt, communi
cated this circumstance* al head-quarters, and
some of my worthy neighbours, of the rotten-
borough of Andover, kindly conveyed the fact
to several editors of the London newspapers.
The editors, however, took good care not to
mention a word of il in their papers, but it was
very currently talked of in the coffee-houses
of Paris. I know thousands of Englishmen
that rejoiced at the escape of Napoleon from
Elba, and at his return to the French capital,
but I know of no one excepl myself who had
the courage to testify his joy by any open de
monstration. As soon as the news of Buonaparte's landing
i« France arrived in England, the Prince Re
gent sent a message to both Houses of Parlia
ment, declaring his intention lo join the Allies,
and corresponding addresses were voted ac
cordingly. A public meeting was called by
the electors of Westrainster, to take into con.

260

MEMOIRS OF

sideration a petition to be presented to Parlia
ment, against renewing the war for the pur
pose of forcing a ruler upon the people of
France. I was in London when this raeet
ing was held in Palace-yard ; I attended it,
and I spoke there, for the first time,- in sup
port of this petition. What 1 said was so fa
vourably received by the people, that they
pstssed an unanimous vote of thanks to me, and
drew me in my carriage to my inn, the British
Coffee-house, they having spontaneously taken
off the horses. When I got there I mounted
the roof of the carriage, briefly thanked the
multitude, and requested them lo retire peace
ably, which they did without delay. The pe
tition was presented by Sir Francis Burdett,
and, I think, on the same (evening. It was a
strong remonstrance against plunging once
more into a war with the French, merely to
restore the Bourbons to that throne which they
had nol the talent or the virtue to fill, either
with honour to themselves or with advantage
to the people.
The Parliament now, almost by acclama^
tion, voted that the property tax should be
continued for one year. The treaties made
with Holland, Russia, and Sweden, were laid
before both the Houses of Parliament, and
approved ofi The Minister likewise proposed

HENRY HUNT. 261
new taxes, to the amount of 3,728,000^. p^r
annum. While the British legislators were thus ho>*
nourably employed, the allied despots col
lected their forces in two great bodies, under
Marshal Blucher and WeUington, the latter of
whom had been created a Duke. Napoleon
on his side was busily engaged, both in civil
and military affairs. He laid before the {Se
nate of France a new constitutiori, which was
accepted, and a raeeting, called the " Champ
de Mai," was held at Paris, on the 1st of May,
to swear to lhal constitution. On the 1st of
June there was a revolution at Martinico, in
favour of Napoleon, but il was soon suppress
ed by the British troops. On the Sth, a con
federation, or rather a conspiracy of tyrants
and their agents, was signed at Vienna, called
the " Holy Alliance." On the 12th, Napoleon
left Paris, lo join his army on the Belgian
frontier. The Prussian army, under Blucher,
was attacked at Ligny, and totally defeated
by Napoleon on the 15th, and on the following
day he attacked the Dutch and the "Enghsh
under Wellington, and compelled thera to fall
back from Quatre Bas, al which place they
were posted. The combined English, Dutch,
Belgian, and Hanoverian forces were con
centrated, on the 17th, under WeUington, at

26:^ MEMOIRS OF
Waterloo. On the eighteenth, N^oleon^ with
sixty-eight thousand men, attacked the corner
bimed aj-my commanded by Wellington, con
sisting of ninety thousand troops. A dread
ful slaughter ensued, and WeUington was
hardly pressed by his illustrious pppon^.t.
This success on the side of Napoleon continued
tiU four o'clock, at which tiirie he considered
thS battle as wo», when two Prussian corps,
one of thirty thousand and the other of forty
thousand, under Bulow and Blucher, unexpect
edly arrived and turned the right wing ofthe
French. The whole army was thrown into
confusion frora this unexpected reinforce^
ment to their enemies, and at half-past
nine they fled in all directions. The ar
rival of these two • corps was occasioned
by some strange misconduct, or something
worse, on the part of Marshal Grouchy, who
was dispatched by Napoleon to attack these
corps with a division of the French army, but
by some strange fetality he suffered them to
approach the right wing of Napoleon's army
unmolested. This and this alone caused the
defeat of Napoleon, as these corps of them
selves were more numerous than the whole of
the troops under his command, harassed and
fatigued loo as they were at the latter end ofa
dreadful battle. " Never did the French array

HENRY HUNT. 263
fight better tban it did upon this occasion ; it
perforraed prodigies of valour ; and the supe-
¦riority of the IroOps, infantry, cavalry, and
artiUery, over the enemy opposed to them, was
such, lhal had nol Blucher arrived with his
second corps of Prussians, the victory over the
Anglo-Belgian army under Wellington would
have been complete, though aided by Bulow's
thirty thousand troops ; that is to say, it would
have been gained by sixty-nine thousand men
Opposed to nearly double their nuraber ; for
the troops in the field commanded by Wel
lington, before Blucher's arrival, amounted to
one hundred and twenty thousand men." The
AHies, by their own account, lost sixty thou
sand men, viz. eleven thousand three hundred
English, three thousand five hundred Hano
verians, eight thousand Belgians, and thirty-
eight thousand Prussians. This makes a ge
neral total of sixty thousand eight hundred
men. The losses of the French, including
those sustained during the rout, and tiU their
arrival at the gales of Paris, ma^ forty-am thou
sand men. Out of twenty-four English Gene^
rais, twelve were killed or badly wounded.
The mind quite Sickens at the recital of such
a horrid slaughter of human beings, for the
sole purpose of gratifying the malignant pas
sions of a few tyrants, who had sworn to an-

3G4 MEMOIRS OF
nihilate the very spirit as well as the sub
stance of liberty. To destroy Napoleon,
and to raise up Louis, one hundred anq
ten THOUSAND Uvcs Were sacrificed upon this
occasion !
Napoleon repaired to Paris, where he found
that traitors of the vilest cast had been at
work. The Chambers were in a state of in
surrection, and on the 22d of June, 1815, Na
poleon resigned the government to a provi
sional Council. On the 3d of July a suspen
sion Of hostilities was signed at St. Cloud, and
on the same day Buonaparte arrived at Roch
fort, while Paris was evacuated by the French
troops and occupied by the aUied army. By
the articles of capitulation, on which Paris was
surrendered, a complete indemnity was se
cured lo all persons. We shall -soon see how
they were fulfilled. On the 5th, the troops
under General Oudinot declared for Louis;
and on the 8th, Louis the Desired returned
once more to Paris, and resumed the govern
ment under the protection of a foreign array.
On the 15th, Napoleon look the fatal resolu
tion of throwing hiraself upon the protection
of the British Government. Relying upon
the honour of the English character, he sur
rendered himself to Captain Maitland, of the
BeUerophon ; on the 24th he arrived in that

HENRY HUNT. ^ 265
ship at Torbay, and on the twenty-sixth he
sailed to Plyraouth, lo which port lens of
thousands of persons crowded from all parls
of England lo obtain a sight of him. He was
not -allowed lo land, but on the seventh of
August he was removed on board the Nor
thumberland, Captain Cockburn, which sailed
on the following day for St. Helena. Napo
leon is now dead and gone, but his name will
live for ever. It makes my heart aChe to
think lhal such a man should* have been so
'deceived and deluded as lo the characfei* of
the Englisb Government, so riidch so,'as to
flatter himself for a moment that he would
ever receive justice or mercy at their hands !
Noble, generous, forgiving, and possessing all
the attributes of a truly brave man hiriiself,
he little dreamt of the fate that awaited him;
he- had heard ofihe generosity of the Eiiglish
'character, he knew the English to be "brave,
he had always found theni so, but he was de
ceived as to their power and influence over
the Governritient; he was grossly ignorant of
the state and character of the British Parlia
ment 5 he had read De L61me and Olher po-
ipula:r writers upon the Bi-itish Constitution,
and he feU into the ^ fatal, the iri^etrievable
CTror, of believing that the practice of that
constitution was the same thing as the theory
VOL. III. 2 M

266 MEMOIRS QF
m
described by these writers ; and thus he was
betrayed into a gulf from whence he was never
to be extricated. I have before observed, that
atthe Congress of Vienna it was proposed and
seriously urged to seize Napoleon at Elba, and
to convey him to Sti Helena ; and those who
proposed this measure had taken care to have
all things in readiness to carry their project
into execution, in case it had been agreed to.
No time was, therefore, now lost in acting
upon this plan. The English Ministers knew
the sentiments of the Allied Despots upon the
subject, and the brave Napoleon, the fallen
Emperor, was shipped off to linger, pine, and
rot upon a barren rock, in a distant and pesti
lential climate, irt the same way that we would
send out a wretch convicted ofthe highest crimes,
as a transport for life. He who had spared
Emperors, Kings, and Princes — he who had
restored them to their thrones after having
bmvely conquered them, was now treated like
a common convict transport! Disgraceful,
damnable, imperishable blot in the escutcheon
of England's character ! ! !
The Asserably of France now met, and
passed such laws as might naturally be ex
pected in a country lUled withi foreign troops.
Treaties were entered into by the restored
Monarch, to settle the terras of peace, and

HENRY HUNT. ^Qf
were signed on the twentieth of July. By
these treaties France lost all the coriquered
territory which she had been allowed lo re
tain in 1814, and was placed nearly inthe same
geographical siluation as beforethe revolution.
One hundred and fifty thousand troops of the
five Allied Powers were to reraain in France for
five years ; France was to raaintain thera, and
pay a large pecuniary indemnity, in which a
provision was made for the claims of British
subjects ; and all olher malters, good, bad, and
indifferent, were to be settled by a convention^
to be held at Vienna. The expenditure of
this year, drawn out of the pockets of John
Gull, amounted to no less a sum than eighty-
one MILLIONS, of which TWENTY-SEVEN
MILLIONS were borrowed by loan. The
Honourable House of Commons voted two
HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS as an additional
r-emuneration lo the Duke of Wellington. In
the raeantirae, the wretchedness of the people
of Ireland had driven thera lo a stale of des
peration ; the resistance to the collection of
the TITHES became general in many counties,
and a large army of regulars and militia was
employed lo put down the poor, starved, dis
tressed, a.nd pl#idered people. Many lives
were lost, and a special commission was ap
pointed, by which great numbers were found

268' MEMOIRS OF
guilty, and transported to Botany Bay, and
all this arose frora the most horrid system of
rapine and plunder that ever disgraced any
nation on the face of the earth.
At the latter end of July, 1815, I was oiie,
night taken suddenly ill; I had gone lo bed in
high robust heialthj but about three o'cJock in
the raorning I was awoke by a most violent
attack in my head, which caused a sensation
like the ringing of a church bell in my ear.
The fact Was, that a sudden pressure of blood
upon the brain had taken place. The effect
was such that I was almost blind and speech-'
less. My surgeon, Mr. Davis, of Andover,
was instantly sent for ; but, before he could ar
rive, I had fainted away four or five times, and
he tound me in such a state, without any
pulse, that he at first hesitated to bleed me ;
however, upon my urging hira to do so, he
complied, and the horrid noise which was
caused in my head by the blood rushing
through my brain with accelerated velocity,
somewhat abated, and in the course of the
day it wore off, and became like the singing of
a tea-kettle. This attack was so violent, and
left such a weakness, that I was incapable of
rising from my bed, and it slBas several days
before I could walk across the room without
assistance. As soon as I was able, which was

HENRY HUNT, 269
in four or five days, I drove to Bath, for th©
advice of Dr. Parry, one of the most eminent
physicians of the day, and under whose care
one of my family had recovered from the very
point of death. Dr. Parry and rayself had
been upon very friendly and intimate terms,
during the time I had lived in Bath, and he
had always attended my family while I was
there. When I had described to hira the way in
which I was taken, and the extraordinary-
sensation and noise which I had in ray head,
wbich still continued like the singing ofa tea
kettle, he said, " You have had a narrow es
cape. Sir ; and had you not been a very tem
perate raan, you would have never spoken
again; you have had a violent pressure of
blood upon the brain, and you are wholly in
debted for your safety to your temperate
manner of living; if, however, you will put
yourself under ray care, and strictly follow
my advice, I am confident that I can effect a
radical cure, so that you will be no longer
liable to a return of your complaint. The
means I propose will be slow and tedious, but
they will be certain. If you return inlo the
country, and ft^ow the course usually pursued
in similar cases, you will, in all 'probability,
be apparently recovered, and as well as

879 MXHDIRS OF
ever in a month; but then, take my word
for it, yom will he very liable to a repetition of
the same sort of attach, which wiU very likely
prove fastjd." I told him that I would raost
dertainly place myself in his hands, and Scru
pulously follow his directions. "Well, then,"!
said he, " I shaU have you bled twice before
you leave Bath, and my directions are, that
you abstain from all fermented liquors, eat
very sparingly of animal food, take regular
strong exercise, and lose a pOund of blood at
least once a month, for a twelvemonth." I
certainly lodied at him with some degree of
astonishment, but when I saw that he was
serious and in earnest, I replied, " If you say
that all this is absolutely necessary for the
tecovery of my health, it shah be done; but
so excessively weak and languid am I at pre
sent, that I do not think I shall be able
to take wbat you caU strong exercise. I
drove my tandem down here yesterday to see
you, and I was so excessively exhausted, that
Iwas obliged to be earried out of.the carriage
into the inn where 1 arrived." " O,^ said he,
" driving fifty miles in a tandem may be very
good exercise for your horses, but it is not
sufficient ©xercise for you; you iriiisl lake regu
lar walking and riding exercise. To keep a maii
in good health, it is always necessai'y that he

HENRY HUNT. Q7\
should take sufficient exercise to make ita 1{H
bour ; it is indispensible for the health of man
that he should labour — and it will be absolutely
necessary lo your recovery, that you labour
daily. I assure you, my good friend," added
he, " there is nol one in a thousand that ever
recover from such an attack as you have had,
I never knew a patient Avho had the resolutiosQ
to follow the advice which I havo given you ; I
rely, however, upon your good sense, to con
cur with rae in the absolute necessity of re
ducing your system very low, by abstaining
from fermented liquors and animal food — ^by
laborious exercise — and by a constant and
regular succession of copious bleeding ; and I
have confidence in your courage and perse
verance in carrying ray plan into execution,
by which I mean to effect a perraanent and
radical cure ; that is to say, I raean that you
shall be rendered as perfectly free frora any
future attack of the sort, as you were when
you were born. I know the precise nature Of
your complaint well, and I ara confident of the
remedy, although I have no particular prece
dent, because I never knew any one act up to
the rules I have laid down for you. I know
tbat you have had a violent pressure of blood
upon the brain ; I know, also, that this attack
was not produced by excess or intemperance^.

d72 MEMOIRS OF
but that it arose from your having natureilly
too great a disposition of blood to the head.
I know that your system has received a violent
shock, that the blood-vessels upon your brain
have been distended, and thereby rendered
liable to another and a raore fatal attack, un
less it can be guarded against by a total
alteration of your whole systera, which can
alone be accomplished by the means that I
have suggested." Here he raade a short
pause, and theri earnestly demanded if I was
prepared to give him my word that I would
act up to his directions ; " because," added
he, significantly, " I know if you once make
up your mind to it, and give me your word
that you will do it, that our object wUl be
attained." Thus it is, that a clever and intelligent phy
sician, by flattering his patient, prevails upon
him to encounter what would otherwise ap
pear to be insurmountable difficulties; and
thus it is, that human nature is able to bear so
much. I promised strictly to abide by his
prescription, both as to regimen, exercise, and
bleeding. He then sent for Mr, Geoi;ge Nor
man, the surgeon, and 1 was bled iraraediately.
This being'done, the doctor said that he would
call again in the raorning, and see the bleed
ing repeated, and then I should have nothing

HENRY HUNT. 2?3
to do but to return to my home inthe country,
and follow the plan that he laid down for me.
He did so ; and, although I was in a state of
great weakness, I reached Middleton Cottage
the same evening, having driven my tandem
fifty miles in the afternoon,
A circumstance lhal occurred al this time
made such a lasting impression upon my
memory, that I shall record it for the benefit
of future generations. Although it is of a
private and pecuniary nature, yet I suspect
that it will not be altogether devoid of interest,
as it makes part of my history. When I left
Rowfant, in Sussex, my stock, crops, under
wood, and furniture, produced a very consi-r
derable sum, amounting to eight thousand
pounds; and, after paying off all pecuniary
deraands upon rae, I purchased five thousand
pounds in Exchequer Bills, which I took with,
me to Middleton Cottage, and opened an ac
count with Messrs. Heaths, the bankers, of An
dover. In their hands I deposited several hun
dred pounds, and the Exchequer Bills, taking
all their notes, and drawing upon them for
what sums I required to furnish my house,
stock my farm, &c. &c., they turning the Ex-
che(Juer Bills inlo cash as oflen as I wanted
money. I took care never, for any length, of.
time, to have less thaia five hundred pounds in
VOL. III. 2 N

574 MEMOIRS OF
cash in their hands, generally several hundreds
more, and soraetiraes as rauch as fifteen hun
dred pounds balance of cash in my favour,
which they had the use of, as well as the
advantage of my taking their notes, and cir
culating thera round the country, besides
what I kept in my house. I stocked ray
farras, both in Hampshire and Wiltshire, at a
most expensive time, giving as high as fifty
guineas each for my cart-horses ; and as I had
made great alterations and improvements, at
a heavy expense, the raoney flew pretty fast.
When I was taken so ' dangerously ill, the
news spread over the country with considerable
rapidity, and, amongst others, it seems it
reached the ears of my bankers, who, for the
first time, the next morning sent in my ac
count by the post, saying, that as I had over
drawn it a few pounds, they would thank me
lo remit the balance. This was the latter end
of July, and immediately at the point of har
vest. Thus situated, I wrote an answer, or
rather dictated an answer, stating my situation;
and, as I expected 1 should be prevented from
getting out to collect any money lo meet the
expenses of the harvest, I requested that they
would allow me to draw for one hundred
pounds for a few weeks, when the balance
should be repaid, and my account should be

HENRY HUNT. 273
replenished with a fresh advance. To my
great surprise, however, I received a reply,
saying, lhal they were much in want of cash,
and not only declining to comply with my
request, but re-urging the payment of the
small balance due lo thera. I certainly fell
extremely mortified at such illiberal, un
generous, ungrateful, and, I might add, brutal
conduct ; because it was generally believed
at the time that I was in a mosl perilous
situation, and my surgeon had pronounced
it as his opinion, that it was absolutely neces
sary lo keep me quiet, and ray mind perfectly
easy, or the most fatal result raight be ex
pected frora a relapse; and I have good reason
to know that ray worthy friend, Mr. William
Heath, the Quaker Banker, had been in
forraed of this fact, previous lo his sending
in ray accounts. This treatraent, however,
operated very differently upon rae from what
might have been expected, and probably
exactly the reverse of what might have been
anticipated hy Friend William. I had ex
perienced a sudden and violent attack of
illness, which had deprived me of the use of
my lirabs, and almost deprived me of my
sight and my speech; I was unable lo leave
my bed, and it was nol expected that I should
be able to leave my room for several weeks ;

2176 MEMOIRS OF
aiwi ia the weak and very .languid state in
which I felt myself, I have often thought,
and I believe now, that if I had not been
roused, hy the base and unfeeling conduct of
Friend: William^ I should have given way
to, extreme lassitude; I: should have had a
^relapse, and probably should never have left
my room alive, although I was attended by
Mr. Davis, who is at the same time one of the
most skilful, experienced, and attentive sur-
;^ons in the kingdom, and in. whose ability
and judgment 1 placed the greatest reliance ;
but the moment I received this second letter
from the Quaker (which was in the evening
of the third day of my illness), I got out of
bed, and with the assistance of- my family I
put my clothes on, and with great difficulty I
was taken down stairs. I ordered my servant
to get my horses ready, as Iwas determined
to go to Bath the next day, to have the advice
of Dr. Parry; But the real fact was, that I
was much more anxious to see my tenants
tbere, to receive some rent that was due to
me,- that J might be prepared to pay my har
vest people, and get out of the hands of
neighbour HeaXli, the Quaker Banker. 0«
thenext day I accordingly drove to Bath, as I
have before, described, and succeeded in both
theol^eets of; my journey, by obtaining^ the

HENRY HUNT. 277
advice of Dr. Parry, and receiving my
rent. On my return home I wrote an answer to
Friend Williain^ to say, that I was sorry
to hear that he was so pressed for money, the
truth of which, I told him, I did not doubt,
and, as that was the case, I would pay him the
small bialance which was due; but that, at the
same time, I should certainly decline placing
any more money in his hands^ and I should
also take good care not to keep any of his
notes hy rae any longer than I could help;
and from that lime to this I have keptriay
word, as the day may not be far distant when
a sovereign may be worth a hundred pounds'
worth of them.
I am bound in justice to say, that I do not
believe that Messrs. Charles and Thomas
Heath were in any way privy to this trans
action. On the contrary, I am convinced,
that they are totally incapable of such dirty
conduct; there is no improbability in their
being ignorant of the matter; Squire Quaker
Williams having the sole management of the
Banking concern, while the two elder brothers^
Charles and Thomas, managed the Brewing
and Wine Trade. » The secret of this dirty
conduct of Mister William Heath soon after^
wards came out. It seems that he was at the

278 MEMOIRS OF
time bargaining to quit the Beaver, and to
give up thee and thou for a seal in the
Qopporation ofthe rotten-borough of Andover ;
and I have no doubt but that he acted in this
unworthy manner in hopes of currying favour
with the rotten managers of that rotten, cor
rupt, and conteraptible Corporation; as he
very soon afterwards doffed the straight-cut
coat without a collar, sunk the broad-briraraed
hat, mounted a dandy-cut coat and puppy hat;
went to church, married the Parson's sister j
and became a right worthy member of that
truly worthy body, the Corporators of Andover.
Of course he had gone through the ceremony
of being read out ofthe meeting, -vihitAi is similar
to that of being drummed out of a regiment.
Alas! alas! what would his poor old father
say, if he could peep out of his grave and take
a squint at his lisping, darling, baby boy Billy !
The old man was a very worthy, respectable,
staunch Quaker, and I believe the two elder
brothers are very worthy honest raen; but
Master Billy has just that sort of cast with
his eye, that my father always used to caution
me against. He always used to say, beware
how you trust any feUow thai has such a twist
in his eye; and I have generally found this
observation correct.
Master BiUy Heath is also the nominal pos-

HENRY HUNT. 279
sessor of a tofl of land, or a pig-sty, at Lud-
gershal, and being a tofl man of that wretched
Borough, of course he is one of the electors,
and he has been instrumental in sending to
Parliament some of the most corrupt merabers
that ever entered lhal Honourable House.
This amiable worthy has had a finger in the
nalional pie ; he has been one of those who
has voted for those that created the nalional
debt; he is, therefore, one of those whom I
hold responsible for the payment of it, as long
as he has a shiUing leftto pay with. We hear
of a great deal of horror expressed aboul the
breach of national faith, when persons have
talked aboul a reduction of the nalional debt;
and it would indeed be a breach of national
faith to reduce the interest of the widow and
the orphan, who have their money in the
funds, while one of the ramifications of the
boroughraongers has got any thing left to pay
it with ; let all those who supported the system
of extravagance, which created the debt, by
all means pay the interest of it, as far as they
are able; but the great breach of national
faith has beeri, to compel olhers who have
had no finger in the pie, to pay towards
making it. Only think of those impudent
imposters who supported the infaraous breach
of national faith in the year 1797, by passing

280 MEMOIRS OF
a law to protect the Bank of England frora
paying their notes ; only think of those bare-
&ced swindlers now whining and canting
about national faith ; only think of the im
pudence of those who, at the very moment
that they are blustering about national faith,
and pretending lo be shocked at the bare
mention of reducing what they call the national
debt; only think of their passing an Act of
Parliament 10 reduce the interest of a par-
ticidar portion of that debt, by lowering the
5 per cent, stocks to 4 per cent. ; thus, in the
most partial manner, reducing the income Of
those persons who had their money in the
5 per cents, from one hundred pounds a-year
to eighty, while aU the holders of other stock
OQiatinue to receive their fuU interest!! Arid
yet these are the raen that pretend they are
so rauch shocked at the idea of being guilty
of any breach of national faith !
But lo return to my narrative. — On the six
teenth of August, 1815, a most sanguinary
murder was comraitted by the French Govern
ment, in direct violation ofthe treaty of Paris,
which guaranteed the safety of all who had
taken part against the Bourbons. Marshal
Mey was executed; and this was done urider
the sanction of the high Allied Powers. Ami
able alliance ! what a disgrace to the character

HENRY HUNT. 2S1
of Wellington I Ney was a brave soldier, and
to execute such a man, under such circum
stances, was the height of treachery and base
ness. Talk of keeping faith, indeed! This
is another proof that tyrants never keep their
faith with God or man, any longer than they
think it their interest lo do so. My opinion
is,.lhat Ney deserted and betrayed Napoleon,,
after the battle of Waterloo, by not doing his
duty when he returned to the French capital;
but lhal was no excuse for the gross and
cowardly violation of the terms of the capitu
lation of Paris. There could, in fact, be no
justification for such an unfeeling breach of
faith, and there certainly was no olher excuse
for such an act, but that of a base desire to
be revenged in, cold blood, upon a brave
general, whom they could never subdue in
honourable warfare.
On the third of October following, the brave
patriot Spanish Goneral, Porlier, met a simi
lar fate, and was executed at Corunna, by the
order of the escecrable and treacherous tyrant
Ferdinand. To shew their detestation of such
a raurder, a considerable number of the British
inhabitants of Coriinna appeared in mourning
for the death of the brave, though unfortunate
patriot; upon which, Ferdinand iraraediately
l^id an extraordinary contribution upon them.
VOL. III. 2 o

282' MEMOIRS OF ¦
Let the present patriots of Spain never forget
this fact, and let thera reraeraber that the
cause of rational Liberty in that country will
never be safe while such a treacherous tyrant
has any power left. It is cruelty of the very
worst description to suffer such a raonster to
endanger the freedora and happiness of a
whole people. . In Italy the despots also en
joyed a triumph. Murat, having been defeat
ed by the Austrian troops, fled, arid was as
sassinated in the kingdom of Naples on the
thirteenth of October.
About this time there were serious riots
in the North, and particularly amongst
the seamen al Sunderiand, Newcastle, and
Shields, which were ultimately settled by
giving them the increase of wages which
they demanded. On the fifth of No
vember a treaty was entered into between
Russia and Great Britain ; by which treaty
the Greek Islands, called the Ionian Islands,
were placed under the protection ofthe latter
power ; and on the twentieth, trea:iies of ge
neral peace were signed at Paris. On the
twenty-first of December, Lavalette, condemn
ed at Paris for high treason, escaped from
prison in the clothes of Madame Lavalette.
Sir Robert Wilson, and Messrs. BrUce and
Hutchirison, were mainly instrumental in pro-

HENRY HUNT. 288
curing tJie escape of this destined martyr to
the Bourbon tyrants, by assisting Madame
I^ayaletjle in this holy enterprise, for jvhich
they \>(ere afterw^ards tried, found guilty, and
sentenced to three months' imprisonment in
Paris, Sir Robert, as well as Messrs. Bruce
and Hutchinson, one of whom was an Irish
man, the other a Scotchman, secured lo them
selves immortal honour, in addition to the
sweet satisfaction of having rescued a victim
froni the remorseless hands of a cruel tyrant.
On the sanie day. Lord Cochrane was sen
tenced lo a hundred pounds fine for escap
ing from the Icing's Bench Prison; but such
was the enthusiasm in favour ofhis Lordship,
tha,t the money was raised in a few days by a
penny subscription. The House of. Comraons
having honoured his Lordship by expelling
him, when he was found guilty of being privy
to the Stock Exchange Hoax, a dead set was
made by the Westminster Rump to get Mr.
Brougham elected in his place; and many
private meetings were held at the Crown and
Anchor for that purpose. These intrigues
having been coraraunicated lo rae by Mr.
pamuel Miller, I wrote lo him a letter, which
I begged him to shew to the Members of the
Rump, and say, that itwas my opinion the
^Electors of Westminster would disgraGethem-

"884 MEMOIRS OP
selves if they did riot unanimously give the
Honourable House a kick, by returning Lord
Cochrane again, and that if they did not
choose to elect Lord Cochrane again, if they
proposed to bring in arty bther person, except
Major Cartwright, I would corae to town and
oppose hira for at least the space of fifteen days.
This letter was shewn by Mr. MiUer to sorae
of the leaders of the junto, and Mr. MiUer in
formed me that it had thie effect of raaking
thera at once come to the resolution of return
ing Lord Cochrane again, or at least of not
making any opposition tb him, by bringing
forward any other person. I believe that on
this occasion Sir Francis Burdett stood neuter,
but it nevertheless was thought that he was
favourable to the return of Mr. Broughara.
Whether this was so or not, I cannot say, but
it was very natural to conclude so, because
those very persons who were his most devoted
supporters, appeared to wish it. There had,
in fact, been an attempt made, a short tirae
before, to prepare the way for Mr. Broughara
and the Whigs to have a share in the rotten
Borough ;of Westminster. It was raade at
a public raeeting, held on sorae occa,sion, I
forget what, in Palace-yard. At that raeeting
I attended, having heard that a resolution
was to be raoved, which had been agreed to,

HENRY HUNT. '285
at a previous private meeting, held the night
before at the Crown and Anchor, and at which
nieeting sorae of the said Whig members at
tended. This said resolution was drawn up
by Lawyer Brougham himself, and it was
in effect a vote of thanks to the Whigs, for
their patriotic exertions in Parliament. Well,
after a considerable portion of the business of
the day had passed off, as a matter of course,
it was announced to the gaping, astonished
crowd, by old Wishart, that some patriotic
Members of Parliament were in attendance,
and that they wished lo address the people,
they having just arrived upon the hustings
for that purpose. The old Tobacconist, Wish
art, acting as a sort of master of the ceremo
nies, introduced thera in forra as they came
lo the front of the hustings : as, " This is Mr.
Broughara, Gentlemen : this is Mr. Lambton :
this is Mr. Madocks, (upon which a few voices
in the crowd cheered) : this is Mr. Grey Ben
net : this is Mr.  , Member for Hert
fordshire," I forget his name, which is nol of
rauch consequence, as he has since changed it,
by taking a Peerage. There might have been
several others, but I forget; they were, how
ever, all exhibited to the wondering raultitude
by Mr. Wishart, and very rauch in the lone,
voice, and manner that a showman exhibits

286 MEMOIRS OF
the wild bea$ts at a country fair — "This is
tfhe royal tiger from Bengal," &c. ,
While allthis was going on, I stood snug aJ
one corrier in the front ofthe hustings, and I
must own, that I was considering in ray mind
which would be the best way lo expose this in
tended hoax upon the people of Westminster;.
I saw there was no feeling of enthusiasm
amongsi the people; they looked first at the
exMbited M, P. and then cast an inquiring
suspicious look at the^ dealer in pigtail and
rappee, who iintroduqed them, I contrived to
keep my muscles Sq unconcerned that no one
could imagine what was passing in my mind,
yet I saw and felt that I had a difficult card to
play, and that it would seem very invidious to
oppose a mere vote of thanks to any one ofthe
iridividuals, or,, in fact, to oppose a general
vote of thanks to those Members ofParliament,
for their opposition to the measures of a cor
rupt adnainistration. On the other hand,;it
forcibly struck me that it would look very
much like an act of cowardice, to stand silent
aind hear a vote of thanks passed to the Whigs,
whose raeasures and Whose conduct I; had so
often beheld behind their backs, and, in con
junction with Sir Francis Burdett, reprobated
and exposed in the strongest language. I
therefore determined at aU risks to stand for-

HENRY HUNT. 287
ward, and give my reasons for my oppositiori.
At any rate I was determined to support my
consistency ; although I felt some doubt about
the success of my apparently difficult under
taking. Thanks, however, to Mr. Wishart,
who, al the best of limes, was but a blundering
politician, and who had no other influence over
the minds of the people than that which he
Had acquired from being a wealthy shop
keeper^ and by putting himself forward at the
Westrainster elections and diriners, as the
advocate of Sir Francis Burdett, I was soon
relieved frOra. the unpleasant situation in
which I was placed. By the speech which he
rifiade, preparatory lo the raoving this reso
lution, he likewise completely reraoved all
all doubts which I had previously entertained
upon the question; for he began With a
pompOus eulogium uponthe political conduct
of the Whigs generally, and on that of Mr.
Fox in particular. I took care to observe the
manner in which the raultitude received this
eulogiura; and I plainly saw, that it cmly
required the boldness to refute his arguments,
to be able to carry the proposition in the
negative. I saw, loo, lhal there was every
now and then a hint given, by one of the
Rump understrappers upon the hustings,
to gel the people to cheer the sentiments

288 MEMOIRS OF
which were delivered by Mr. Wishart, but if
would not do ; a few of the powdered^headed
gentry in the crowd certainly responded these
hints, by a solitary cheer or two, while the
great mass of the people listened more with
astonishment than with indifference, and con
tinually cast their eyes towards me with an
inquiring look, as much as to say, " Hunt,
will you tolerate all this humbug? Surely
you wiU come forward and blow it into the air ;
we wiU support you." Mr. Wishart concluded
his speech by reading, the resolution, and
saying, that he confidently expected that it
would be carried unaniraously. " Stop a bit,"
said a man in the crowd, " Softly, Sir ! let
us first hear what Mr. Hunt has to say to it."
Mr. Brougham had been standing, smirking,
and bowing, and smiling, aU the lime that Mr.
Wishart had been larding them over with
praises, and he was only waiting lo have the
resolution put and carried, as a raatter of
course, and was absolutely raaking ready,
and seemed, even to be clearing his throat, to
thank the enlightened and patriotic Electors
of Westminster, for the great honour which
they had conferred upon him, and his honour
able friends. Some person, I forget who, but
il was one of the junto, seconded the motion.
I shall never forget the old Major's suppli^

HENRY HUNT, 289
eating look al me; as plain as looks could
speak, he seemed to say, " Pray do, Mr. Hunt,
let the vote pass; if you do nol oppose il no
one else will, and I shall have these gentry at
any rate entangled in the meshes of my
political net." But Wheri the paper was put
into the hands of Mr. Arthur Morris, the ttigh
Bailiff, I coolly pulled Off my hatj and before
I could say a wOrd, I was greeted with a shout
that might have been heard at the Palace^, and
at Brooks's. This' reception was a death
blow to the Whigs, who began lo stare al
each other in the most pitiable manner. They
knew rae well, and they knew that I would
not fail lo denounce and expose to their faces,
the hypocrisy of the Whigs, as I had so often
done behind their backs. I began, and the
first sentence was received with a loud cheer,
and " Bravo, Hunt ! give it them ; they richly
deserve it," resounded from Ihecrowd. " I
shall," said I, " without being personal, en
deavour to shew you the fallacy, the absurdity,
arid the inconsistency, of all that Mr. Wishart
has said."T-^(Cheers.) I then went through
the history bf the Whig measures during the
administration of Mr. Fox, and this I did in
the way of questions lo Mr. Wishart, askings
hira if he meant that Mr. Fox who brought a
BiU inlo -the House of Commons, and got it'
passed by Ministerial majorities, to enable
VOL. III. 2 p

290 MEMOIRS OF
Lord Grenville to hold, at the sarae tirae, the
two incompatible offices of First Lord of the
Treasury, and Auditor of the Exchequer? —
" Bravo ! answer that, Wishart." Whether,
when he was speaking of the purity of mind,
and disinterestedness of soul of Mr. Fox,
whether he meant that Mr. Fox who brought
in the said BiU, -to enable Lord GrenviUe to
receive six thousand a-year, as First Lord
of the Treasury, and at the same lime
four thousand a-year more, to audit his
own accounts ? — (tremendous cheers.) — I then
went on in the same strain, to ask him,
if he meant that Mr. Fox, and those Whigs,
who, in defiance ofall former precedents, when
they were in power, in the year 1807, intro
duced into the Cabinet, Lord EUenborough, a
corrupt) political Judge, so that he raight sit
one day as a member of the Cabinel, and
advise the prosecution of a man for sedition,
or high treason, and the next day raight sit
in judgraent upon hira ? Whether he raeant
that Mr, Fox, and those Whigs, who raised
the allowances of all the younger branches of
the Royal Faraily, frora twelve thousand to
eighteen thousand a-year? Whether he raeant
that Mr. Fox, and those Whigs, who had so
violently opposed the passing of the income
tax by Mr- Pitt, declaring, in the House of
, Comraons, that it was so unjust, so uncon-

HENRY HUNT. 291
stitutional, and so inquisitorial a measure,
that the people of England would be justified
in taking up arms lo resist the collection of it;
yel, when they came into place- and authority
ihemselvesj immediately raised the same in
come-lax, from six and a quarter lo ten per
cent. ; while, to curry favour with the Crown,
they exempted the Icing's private properly in
the funds, amounting to several millions, frora
the operation of the act, though, with an in
faraous want of humanity, they left the widow
and the orphan of fifty pounds a-year, subject
to all its demands? Whether he meant that
Mr. Fox, and those Whigs, who brought a
Bill into the House lo subject lo the operation
of the Excise Laws, all private families who
brewed their own beer; a Bill, which, if passed,
would have increased the nuraber of Excise
officers from ten to twenty thousand, giving
them power al all hours to -enter the house of
every private family in the kingdom who
brewed their own beer? I went on in this
way, through the whole history of the Whigs,
during the lime that they were in power,, one
year, one month, one week, and one day, in
1806 and 1807; and, before I could gel to the
end of any one of the questions, the people,
who anticipated what was coming, for the
subject had been rendered familiar to the

293 MEMOIRS OF
mind of every one, gave several almost una
nimous and tremendous cheers.
It wiU be seen that I never spoke one dis
respectful word of Mr. Fox, or ever mentioned
the names of. one of the Whig Members of
Parliament who were upon the hustings, or
even aUuded to them ; but just as I was about
to wind up my string of questions, by noticing
their dismissal from office, I observed a great
bustle amorigst the populace, who. soon burst
forth into exclamations of " Look there ! they
are running away ! Why. do you.not stay and
answer the- questioijs?'' I did not at first
understand what this meant, till a gentleman
exclaimed with a loud voice, J' Look round,
Mr.Hunt; all the Whig gentry are run
away!" I turned , round, . and sure enough
they were all flowri, .having escaped from the
back part of the hustings through the King's
Arras Inn. As soon as they were gone, the
people gave three cheers, and roared out lus
tily, " Hunt for ever !" I proceeded with my
harangue, and lamented, that the gentlemen
had not reraained to assist Mr. Wishart in an
swering my questions; and I put it to the good
sense of Mr. Wishart, whether, unless he could
answer them satisfactorily, it would not be more
prudent to withdraW-the resolution ofa vote of
thanks to the Whigs, especially: as none of

HENRY HUNT. 293
them remained to return thanks, even sup
posing, it possible that.the resolution should
be carried. (This wa? recei veij with a loud
laugh, and a cry to put the question.) Mr.
Wishart, Jio wever, as if for the purpose of
exposing his friends, and totally defeating his
own object,, persisted in baving the resolution
submitted to the meeting. The result was,
that perhaps forty or fifty hands were held up
for it, and a forest of ten thousand hands were
raised against it.. The High Bailiff, of course,
declared that the resolution was lost by a very
large majority. This was received with loud
peals of applause, and the usual votes of thanks
having been passed lo the members and the
High Bailiff, the meeting was dissolved, reite
rating the warra expressions of their approba
tion of my blowing up such a bubble as was
intended to have been palmed upon thera by
the gentlemen of the Rump Committee.
The Courier, Morning Post^ and other Mi
nisterial papers, were unpardonably witty,
both in prose and verse, at the expense of the
poor- Whigs, while the Morning Chronicle,
and other Whig papers, were equally severe
upon me, and the filers did not fail to be
very lavish in their vulgar abuse. That the
Whigs were irritated al me is nol very won
derful ; it was quite clear that they set their

294 MEMOIRS OF
hearts upon this meeting ; in fact, it was got
up by the Rump on purpose to gratify them,
the other measures which were brought for
ward being a raere secondary consideration ;
and, after all^ their labour was worse than
thrown away ; such a coraplete defeat never
having been before sustained by'' any party
at a public meeting. Yet I will take upon
myself to say that, had I not been there, the
"vote of thanks would have been passed with
out the slightest opposition, and Messrs. Law
yer Broughani and Co. would have figured
away in great stile, and would have sworn
that the meeting was not only the most re
spectable and the most numerous that they
ever witnessed, but was composed of much the
most intelligent, enlightened, and patriotic
citizens in the world ; now, forsooth, they were
a despicable rabble, deluded and led away by
that abominable demagogue. Hunt! The
fact is, that the multitude are often taken by
surprise, and an English political assemblage
is not only the most peaceable, but the best
natured body in the world. They often are
misled forwant of thought, and, in the warmth
of their hearts, and for want of explanation,
hold up their hands for raeasures which, upon
reflection, they regret. But if the raatter is
fairly discussed, and they are clearly made to

HENRY HUJVT. 295
understand the question, they always decide
right; and they are not only the most disin
terested, but the most honest and upright
judges inlhe world.
Lord Cochrane, as I have before mentioned,
having been; sentenced to be imprisoned and
fined 100/. for escaping from the King's
Bench prison, it was proposed to pay this
fine by subscriptions of one penny from each
person ; and the very same Rump Committee,
who had been intriguing to bring in Mr.
Brougham for Westminster instead of his
Lordship, never choosing to let a good thing
slip through their fingers, and always looking
out to catch the public opinion, and to turn it
lo their own advantage, now stood forward to
promote this subscription. Boxes were placed
up at Brooks's, in the Strand, the standing
treasurer of the Rump Committee, as wellas
at many other places in London and West
minster, and subscriptions, more or less, were
sent in from every part of the kingdom;
and, what is very extraordinary, the whole
sum was subscribed to a penny; not one
penny was there more or less than one
hundred pounds ; at all events, I never heard
of any overplus, and I am sure if there had
been any deficiency we should have heard
enough ofit. When the time came for his
Lordship's liberation, it was proposed tO tender

296 MEMOIRS OF u
the whole iri coppbr-pence, as it had been
subscribed ; and I believe it was proposed or
suggested by me, that there should be a public
meeting called in Palace-yard, on the same
day, and that I would announce to the people
assembled, that we were going down to the
King's-Bench, to pay in pence. Lord Cochrane's
fine of one hundred pourids, which would be
taken down in a cart; and I added, that I
would give the hint, that those who wished to
accompany us might see his Lordship walk
out of the front door of the prison, instead of
escaping over the walls. By this plan I pro
posed to bring Lord COchrarie out of prison,
and to have him drawn in triumph through
the streets of the metropolis, to his house
in Bryanslone-street, Bryanstone-square, at
tended by twenty or thirty thousand people.
Mr. Cobbett, who had taken a very active
part in his Lordship's favour, was in London
at the lime, and he fuUy concurred in the
propriety of carrying my plan' into effect.
The original plan of paying the firie in pence,
I believe, was his own : my plan of procuring
the meeting in Palace-yard, and proceeding
from thence in a body, beirig an after-thought.
As the period approached, there appeared
to be a great deal of shuffling by the Rurap,
about calling the raeeting, and I was on the
point of making some stir in the affair, but

HENRY HUNT. 297
Mr. Cobbett said they had considered ofit,
and they thoughl it would be better for me
not to have any thing to do with the meeting,
but lo let the Westminster people do it them
selves. A hint of this sort was never lost
upon me, and I immediately said lhal I con
curred in the opinion, that it would be much
better for the whole lo be done by his Lord
ship's constituents; but I added, " I am fear
ful that some cursed hitch may prevent the
thing altogether, and that his Lordship will at
last be left to walk out of the prison by him
self," « Oh !" said Mr. Cobbett, " Peter Wal
ker and the Major will take care of that." I
saw that my services were not wanted, and
therefore I retired the next day into the coun
try, wbere my business demanded my pre
sence, and where my inclination at all times
called me. Before ^ I left Town, .however, I
said in a very* emphatic 'manner,. " take i^
word for it, Cobbett, there will be no meeting."
Mr. Cobbett replied, ".By G— r. Hunt, you
are a little too bad! You would make one
believe thiat nothing can be done, unless it is
done by yom" To this sally I merely answer
ed, " We shall see." >
" I went into the country, and, as I had anti
cipated, there was no. meeting called. The
worthy members of the Rump knew very well
VOL. IIL :^ 2 Q

298 MEMOIRS OF
how to manage to a^nicety a thing of that sort,
and they parried the importunities of Mr.
Walker from tirae to tirae, till at length they
, boldly declared that it was too late to call a
, meeting. Ultimately the fine was paid, and
¦ Lord Cochrane left the prison quietly, with
out his constituents knowing any thing of the
raatter; whereas, if it had been raade public,
lens of thousands would have paid him the
corapliment to have attended his liberation,
and would have conducted him home, as he
ought to have been, in triumph through the
^streets of the metropolis.
I forgot to mention that Lord Cochrane's
original sentence, for the Stock Exchange
hoax, was, that he should be imprisoned and
stand in ttie PILLORY. The latter partof
this sentence*was 'remitted, not out of any
Jpndness, but because thq more prudent part
of the Cabinet considered the experiment of
placing his Lordship in the pillory, t(\be one
upon which it would be a little loo hazardous
lo venture. It was currently reported, that,
when Sir Francis Burdett heard of this infa
raous Star Charaber sentence, he^al once de
clared that he would accorapany his coUeague,
and stand by his side during the time of his
undergoing that which was intended to be a
disgraceful exposure. However, as I said

HENRY HUNT. 299
before, this part of the sentence was remitted,
for reasons the most obvious; since, instead
of being a disgrace to his Lordship, it would
have redounded to his immortal honour. The
intention of placing men in the pillory is, to
hold them up to the haired, contempt, and
execration of their fellow-citizens ; but it was
well known lo his Lordship's persecutors, that
their making the attempt, in this instance,
would have had a directly opposite effect : for
if they had proceeded lo place his Lordship
in the pillory, he would have been greeted
with the applause and affection of the whole
population of the metropolis. This exhibition
was, however, dispensed with; but no thanks
to the cruel, vindictive, and reraorseless El-^
lenborough; no Ihanks to the araiable and the
mild Judge Bayley, who passed the sentence ;!|
no Ihanks lo the Ministers, who were ohly
restrained from carrying it into effect by their
fears, and by their fears alone. Those Mini
sters had already i-eceived a lesson on this
subject. When Daniel Isaac Eaton was put in
the pillory, for publishing some work' which
was pronounced to be blasphemous by the
Judges, he was cheered by the people during
the whole of the lime that he stood there;
every one endeavouring lo console him by
kindness and attention. The cunning Mini-

soo MEMOIRS OF
Sters did not want a second exhibition of this
sort ;^ what had passed was calculated to bring
the punishraent of the pillory into disrepute
with ' the rainions of despotisra. The public
were becorae too "enlightened to contribute to
the corrupt views of such a tool to the Go
vernraent as EUenborough, and therefore it
was lhal one of the precious minions of the
Whigs was selected to bring a Bill into Par
liament, lo abolish the punishment of the pil-
loiy, unless upon a conviction for perjury, and
some other particular offence. This Bill
passed through both Houses of Parliament
without any opposition, and without any dis
cussion. The punishment of the pillory surely
is as good a piinishment for misdemeanours
, as it was in the days of Piynne, who had his
jaose slit, his ears cut off, arid stood in the
pilloVy*, by a sentence of the corrupt Judges
of that day, but who lived to see his persecu
tors brought to condign punishment. Placing
a man in the pillory is an appeal to public
opinion; and therefore no punishment on earth
can be inflicted which leaves greater disgrace
upon the character of the sufferer, where pub
lic opinion coincides with and supports the
sentence ofthe Court: but, where 'public opi
nion does not coincide with the sentence,
where, on the contrary, the sufferer is caressed

HENRY HUNT. 301
and applauded by the public, it inflicts no dis
grace whatever, but may raiher be considered
an honour. It inflicted no disgrace upon
Daniel Isaac Eaton, because not one single
soul in the metropolis concurred in the justice
of the sentence; the whole populace applauded
him, and protected him, so that if one of the
myrmidons of lawless power had dared to
insult him, or lo pelt him, that caitiff would
have suffered on the spot for his temerity and
villainy. Had Lord Cochrane been placed in
the pillory (and I wish the corrupt knaves of
the day had carried their design into execu
tion), it would not have been the slightest
disgrace to his Lordship; it would have only
shewn lhal his malignant persecutors Ihought
they had the power to carry their revengeful
sentence into execution. As it was, they had^
the shame of having wished lo do what they
did not dare lo do. At all events, the Sen
tence, the being expelled frora the navy and
the House of Coraraons, and the kicking of
his Lordship's knight's banner out of West
minster Abbey, was quite enough lo show
what they would have done, could they but
have " screwed their courage to the sticking
place." When this prosecution was commenced, his
liOrdship was on board a ship of war, upon

302 MEMOIRS OF
the point of sailing to cruise against the Ame
ricans, and to fight against the only free peo
ple in the universe. He was at that time not
half a real Reforraer, though he had certainly
incurred the hatred of the Boroughraongers,
by exposing the villainy of the Prize Courts
of the Adrairalty. He had even gone further;
he had done that for which he will never be
forgotten, or forgiven by thera. He had pro
cured a return lo be made to the House, of all
the places, pensions, and sinecures, held under
the Crown. His Lordship look the House
rather unawares, he caught its members in a
complying mood., and, like a raan of war, he
pressed on to conquest, and induced thera to
grant that which they can never recall ; and
for granting which they have scarcely forgiven
themselves, and will certainly never forgive
him aslong as he lives. It was for this that
he was prosecuted; itwas for this that he
was sentenced to stand in the pillory; it was
for this that he was expelled the navy ; it was
for this that he was expelled the House of ;
Conamons; itwas for this that his knight's
banner was kicked out of King Henry's cha
pel: had il nol been for this, he would never
have been prosecuted at all ; but if these
things had never happened, I belieye his Lord
ship would have never been a real Radical,

HENRY HUNT 303
which now I hope and believe that he is ; had
it not been for this, I believe he would have
still continued the ornament of the British
Navy, and would never have joined lo assist,
by his talents and his consummate naval skill,
to emancipate the South Americans from the
slavery of Old Spain, the mother country, as
it is foolishly called.
There were great emigrations to America,
this year, 1815, both frora England and Ire
land, in consequence of the distressed state of
the farmers, who gave up their leases, owing
to the decreased prices of all sorts of agricul
tural productions. The average price of wheal,
during the year, was sixty-four shillings and
fourpence a quarter, about eight shillings a
bushel ; the quartern loaf was sevenpence. The
supplies voted this year were eighty-nine
MILLIONS eight hundred and ninety-three thou
sand nine hundred pounds, for England, and
NINE MILLIONS seven hundred and fifty thou
sand pounds for Ireland, making 99,643,900/.
This, together with the expenses of collection,
(say five millions) and ten miUions paid for ,
poor rales, makes the round sum ofl 14,643,900/.
collected in direct taxes this year frora the
pockets of John Gull, besides tithes and
other et ceteras. O, brave John ! thou art at
any rate a hard-headed and empty-paled

304 MEMOIR.? OF
feUow ; and all in good time thy pockets will
be as empty as thy hard pale now is !
As raight have been expected, France and
Spain were ruled with a rod of superstition,
wielded by the flinty hearts and iron hands of
the Bourbons, Louis the Eighteenth of France,
and Ferdinand of Spain, a precious pair of
English proteges. In spite of all the pledges
and securities which had been given, execu
tions, banishraents, and proscriptions were the
order of the day, both in France and Spain.
In France, Labedoyere and Marshal Ney fell
the victims of Bourbon revenge and cowardice.
A law of pretended amnesty was indeed after
wards passed, but all the relatives of Napo
leon were excluded from residing in the French
territory. In the unhappy kingdom of Spain
the execrable and impotent Ferdinand, impo
tent in all but cruelty, exercised the most un
limited powers of tyranny and oppression ; a
sad contrast to the coinparatively mild and
liberal Government of Joseph Buonaparte.
In Spain, almost every man who had assisted
Wellington to drive out the French, in fact,
every avowed friend of civil and religious
Liberty, were either executed, banished, or im
prisoned by the execrable and despicable bigot
ed tyrant Ferdinand, the beloved Ferdinand !
May the vengeance of Heaven pursue him !

HENRY HUNT. 305
The Parliament of Erigland met on the first
of February, when Castlereagh moved that a
national monument should be erected, to com
raeraorate the late victories; which propo
sition was unanimously agreed to by the "col
lective wisdom" of the nation. Mr. Brough
am moved for a copy of the treaty signed at
Paris, by the allied despots, comraonly caUed
the Holy Alliance. This was negatived by
the " coUective wisdom," who also refused a
copy of the treaty of Vienna. John Gull had
to pay for all, but John was nol worthy of
being trusted with such mighty secrets.
The Ministers now atterapted to continue
the property lax ; but this caused such a fer
ment through the country, that public meetings
were called, and petition^, were presented from
every part of the kingdom : the Livery of Lon
don sel the example, and sounded the alarm,
which flew like lightning throughout the coun
try. Seeing that the, pubhc were alive and
anxious to oppose this lax, the Whigs once
more raade an attempt to rally ; in fact, all the
landed proprietors were against it; and the
leading Whigs therefore called county meet
ings all over the kingdom; we had a county
meeting in Hampshire. It was held al Win
chester, and was called by the Whigs, the lea
der of whom was Mr. Portal, of Trifolk, whose
vol, IIL 2 R

306 MEMOIRS OF
feither had amassed a large fortune, by raaking
all the paper for the Bank of England notes.
Mr. Cobbett and rayself attended, and we
completely frustrated the intention of the
Whigs. The Whigs, as we expected, endea
voured to make a party question of it, and all
their anger was directed against the Ministers,
or rather against the Prince Regent, because
he would not turn those Ministers out of place,
and put them in. Mr. Portal called the tax a
Highwayman's Tax. Mr. Cobbett and ray
self thoroughly exposed those hypocritical
Whigs, and proved to the satisfaction of our
hearers, that, if it were a highwayman's tax,
the Whigs had taken to the road in 1 807, and
robbed the people quite as much as their more
fortunate opponents. I recollect that I took
occasion to reraind the worthy descendant of
the Bank of England paper-maker, that I
agreed with him fully iri the designation thathe
had given to the tax, and to assure him that I
considered those who collected it as nothing
better than highwaymen ; but I begged that
he, as well as those that heard rae, would at
the same time not fail to reraember that I con
sidered him (Mr. Portal) an accomplice ; for
he aided and abetted them in their robbery, by
acting as a Coraraissioner of the Property
Tax, and did it with so much heart and soul,
that he sanctioned not only the assessor and

HENRY HUNT, 307
the collector, but likewise scarcely ever failed
to confirra every infamous surcharge that the
rascally inspector chose lo make. This caused
a burst of laughter, al the expense of the said
Whig Commissioner, who looked extremely
foolish. Mr. Cobbett and myself approved of
their petition, as far as it went, but we moved
a rider, which prayed for the reduction of the
war raalt lax, the reduction of the standing
array, the abolition of useless pensions and
sinecure places, and also for a Reforra of the
Parliaraent. The Parsons, the Whigs, and
the Tories, all united and voted against us,
and raaintained the propriety of continuing
these burdens; and we were consequently left
in a minority upon a division, as always was
the case at every public county meeting that I
attended at Winchester, with the exception of
the county meeting held upon the subject
of the Duke of York and Mrs. Mary Anne
Clark, of notorious memory. Upon that occa
sion the public feeling was so unanimous, that
Mr. Cobbett's motion, for a vote of Ihanks to
Colonel Wardle, was carried by a very large
majority. Between the Parsons, the placemen
and their dependants, they have always con
trived, at all other limes, lo carry every thing
before them; when I say they, I mean an union
of the Whigs and Tories against the people.

308 MEMOIRS OF
I also attended the meeting at the Comraon
Hall of the Livery of London, to petition
againk the renewal of the Property Tax.
Although the petitions were by no raeans so
numerous, nor so numerously signed, as they
were against the Corn BiU, yet as a great body
of the Members of the Honourable House
were personally interested in abolishing the
Incorae Tax, they, good souls, kindly conde
scended to listen, or at least they pretended
to listen, to the prayers of the people, and on
the eighteenth of March this infamous lax was
repealed. On the nineteenth of April a BiU was pas
sed for detaining the Emperor Napoleon Buo
naparte a prisoner at St. Helena. This Bill
wUl ever remain a hateful and foul blot upon
the statute book of England. Whigs and To
ries joined in passing this disgraceful Bill ; an
act that will be handed down to posterity as a
stigma not only upon the legislature of the coun
try, but also upon the character of the age in
which such an unjust and tyrannical proceeding
could be permitted. Napoleon was not the
prisoner of England. The moment thatpeace
Was signed he was as free to come to England
as any other man in the world, and the En
glish Government had no more right to seize
him, and carry him prisoner to St; Helena,

HENRY HUNT. 309
than the French had a right to seize the Prince
Regent of England, and chain him to a bar
ren rock for life. It was arbitrary, cruel, un
just, and most cowardly. The protest which
Napoleon made against being sent to St. He
lena was as follows : " I hereby solemnly pro
test, in the face of God and man, against the
violation of my most sacred rights, in forcibly
disposing of my person and my liberty. I
came voluntarily on board the Bellerophon, I
am not the prisoner but the guest of England.
As soon as I was seated on board the Bellero
phon, I was upon the hearths of the British
people." Alas, poor Napoleon ! you ought to
have known that there was then no British
people; that the British people, who formerly
held an influence over the mind and actions
of the Governraent, were no more ; that the
people of England were becorae a set of ab
ject, grovelling slaves, ready to bow the knee
and bend the neck to their taskmasters ! The
conduct of the Ministers, in transporting Na
poleon forcibly to St. Helena, and afterwards
sending out such a gaoler as Sir Hudson Lowe
to worry him to death, was well becoming
their upstart character ; for nOne but the
basest cowards will be fourid to insult a fallen
foe. Mr. Brougham could not hold his tongue
upon the occasion, but must disgrace himself,

310 MEMOIRS OF
not only as a man but as a legislator, by de
claring in Parliament, when this shameful raea
sure was brought before the House, " that the
law of nations justified the detention of Na
poleon at St. Helena." Mr. Broughara did
not condescend to tell us what law of nations ;
but of course he meant to say that the law of
nations would justify any thing that a Govern
ment had the power to effect ; this is the only
standard by which modern statesraen estimate
the law of nations. On the sarae principle,
or, raore correctly speaking, want of prin
ciple, an Act was passed, to restrict the Bank
of England once more from paying their notes
in cash; or, in other words, to protect them'
from the just demands of their creditors. The
Act, however, explicitly declared that this pro
tection should cease on the 5th of April 1818,
when the Bank should positively pay their
debts which they owed, and which they had
so repeatedly promised to pay to the public.
The Parliament was, in this case, like the shep
herd boy, who so often cried " wolf," for fun
to alarm the people, that when the wolf really
carae and attacked his flock, nobody either
believed or heeded his cries. Thus it was
with the Parliament ; they had so repeatedly
promised the people that they would raake
the Bank of England pay their notes, and they

HENRY HUNT. 311
had so frequently broken this promise, that
the people firmly believed that payments in
cash would never be made. All those, too,
who read the writings of Mr. Cobbett were
persuaded that it was impossible for it even
tobe attempted, and therefore those who had
any faith in his predictions were of course to
tally unprepared for il, on the tirae arriving for
its being carried into effect.
On the 24th of AprU, 1816, Major-General
Sir Robert Wilson, Michael Bruce, Esq. and
Captain J. H. Hutchinson, were convicted, in
Paris, of assisting the escape of the Count de
Lavalette, who was condemned for high trea
son, and they were sentenced to three months'
iraprisonraent. A well-written article has ap
peared in the Times newspaper, contrasting
the raild sentence inflicted upon these gentle
men, with that which has been inflicted upon
me, of two years and six months' incarcera
tion in this Bastile.
Some time in the spring of this year, a
public meeting was called of the freeholders
of the county of Somerset, and it was adver
tised lobe held at Bridgwater, John Goodford,
Esq. of Yeovil, High Sheriff. I forget now
what was the precise object of the signers of
the requisition, but I believe that it was to
congratulate the Regent upon the marriage.

312 MEMOIRS OF
or the intended marriage, of the Princess
Charlotte of Wales', to the Prince of Saxe
Cobourg. This I know, however, that the
meeting was called by that faction in the coun
ty, at the head of which stood the Rev. Sir
Abraham Elton, Bart. By accident I saw, in
a London paper, the advertiseraent for this
meeting, and though I was then residing in
town, I made up my raind to attend it.
When I arrived at Bridgwater, I put my
horses up at the Globe, and during Ihe-time
that I was changing ray dress, I saw the coun
try people and farraers ride into the town in
droves, but I did not see a single soul whora
I knew ; and being a perfect stranger in the
town of Bridgwater, I had to make ray way
up to the hustings alone. As, however, I
passed up the street, Mr. Tynte, the present
Member for that town, accosted me, saying,
" WeU, Mr. Hunt, what are you corae here ?
I really believe that the meeting was called in
this town because you were not known here,
and therefore it was expected, or rather hoped,
that you would not corae. At Wells they
knew you would carry any proposition that
you might choose to bring forward, and I
really believe it will be the sarae here." After
this salutation from him I passed on; he tooljL
one side of the street, and 1 the other; for as

HENRY HUNT, .313
he was a magistrate of the county, and one of
the gang, il would nol have been at all in
character to have seen him walking at the
same side of the street with me.
I reached the hustings jijst in lime, and up
I went with the rest.. Little Squire Goodford
opened the proceedings, and had the requi-
sitiori read, after which he called upon the
people to hear all parties that might choose to
address them, &c. &c. &c. Sir Abraham Elton
next came forward, and addressed the raeet
ing in one of the most bombastical and ridicu
lous speeches that I ever heard. He expa
tiated upon the GLORY that we had acquired
by the war, and the overthrow of Buonaparte,
and predicted that peace, plenty, and their
conpomitant train of blessings, would, strew
the path of John BuU. Of the virtues of the
Prince of Saxe Coburg, he spoke in highs-
sounding terras; and he. drew the. conclusion
that the union betveeen him and our Princess,
Charlotte would contribute greatly to the hap
piness, and even safety, of the British people.
Some one of the same kidney foUowed him,
and seconded his motion in a similar strain of
sublime, humbug and nonsense.
While this farce was .performing by the Rev.
Baronet and his band, and while the people
of Somerset, who were assembled to the
VOL. Ill, 2 s

314 MEMOIRS OF
amount of six or eight thousand persons, were
gaping and swallowing all the stuff and trash
dealt out to them by these worthies, a Mr.
Trip, a gentleman of the lower part of the
county, a barrister, addressed himself to rae,
requesting to know if I raeant to propose any
amendment. I told him 1 had some resolu
tions of a very different nature, which I cer
tainly meant to move as an araendraent. He
then shewed rae some resolutions which he
had drawn up, and which he had intended lo
propose as an amendment, if no others were
offered. Upon reading them over, I found
that they embraced all the material points
contained in those which I had fraraed ; and
as they went raost decidedly to object to the
whole that was proposed by Sir Abrahara, it
was settled between us that he should raove,
and that I should second thera. He accord
ingly moved them, after a very able and vio
lent- speech, which certainly contained a great
deal of good matter, though it was evidently
clouded every now and then by ebullitions of
party spirit, which at county raeetings gene
rally shews itself. He was, nevertheless, heard
with attention, and received considerable ap
plause. The raoment that I came forward to
second the resolutions, a murmur ran through
the crowd to know who 1 was; and, on ray

HENRY HUNT. 315
name being announced, I was instantly . ho
noured with three cheers. In seconding Mr.
Trip's resolutions, I cerfainly look rather dif
ferent ground upon which to found my argu
ments. I ridiculed, in indignant language,
the idea of granting sixty thousand a-year to
a young German adventurer, merely for mar
rying our Princess, and of giving them fifty
thousand pounds as an outfit. But the most
monstrous and most infamous proposition of
the whole, I considered that of settling fifty
thousand a-year upon him for life, in case of
the decease of his wife. It was, I said, a pre
mium upon her death.
I was going on amidst the laughter and
cheers of the whole multitude, when little Mr.
Goodford, the Sheriff, interfered to call me
lo order; adding, that as he stood there as
the representative of the King, and as a loyal
man, he could never suffer the Royal Family
of England to be spoken of in the way in
which I had spoken of it, and he insisted that
I should not go on so in his presence. This
interruption was received with evident marks
of disapprobation. Never at a loss upon such
an occasion, I replied, that I considered my
self quite as loyal a man as Mr. Goodford,
both to the King and the people, and lhal, as
the meeting appeared almost unanimously dis-

816 MEMOIRS OF
posed to hedr me, Mr. Goodford, as chairman,
.had nothing to do but to take .the sense ofthe
meeting, which, if he did, not choose to. act
up to, it was orily for hira. to vacate the chair,
^and we would place some one in it that would.
,The little' Sheriff did not relish^ the idea of
vacating the chair, and^thereforethe question
was put whether the meeting would hear what
I had to say or not. The; show of hands in
favour of my continuing in the same strain
, was nine hundred and ninety-nine, out of every
thousand; there being only .three hats, that I
saw, held uJ) against it. These three persons
consisted of a little knot of placeraen, led on
by, a notorious Custora-house scarap of that
town; a tall, 'lanky, fellow, whose, head was
nearly half a foot above the rest of the crowd.
Frora the visage- of :this worthy projected a
cocked nose of a very peculiar kind, the nos
trils of Which appeared to be, two round holes
passing*' horizontally, instead of perpendicu
larly, into his head. Upon this delicious pro
boscis (which was a sort of rai:^ture between
the pug-dog and a Chinese pig), was mounted
a pair of silver foarnides, apparently placed
there for the purpose of hiding a brace of
things mOre resembling coddled gooseberries
than hunian eyes. That feature which, in
men, made as they ought to be, is called a

HENRY HUNT. 317
mouth, was in him not entitled to the name ;
il being a vulgar gash, with a pair of very
thick lips, extending across two duraplirig
cheeks, and nearly uniting a brace of treraen
dous asiriine ears. These altogether formed
something like a half-decayed turnip stuck
upon a mop-stick. Let the reader only ima
gine to himself a figure of this sort, constantly
opening the slit that I have above described,
and vomiting forth al once, from a fetid car
case, the mosl disgusting sound and stench,
and then he will have some faint idea of the
scene exhibited by this animal of a Custom
house officer. After being admonished twice
to be peaceable, and not attending to it, he
and his salelliles were handed out of the
crowd, and banished from the scene of action,
amidst the cheers of the multitude. This
operation being performed upon the Custora-
house ass and his two supporters, I proceeded
to address the meeting, for the purpose of
winding up the subject upon which I had been
dilating, when Squire Goodfordspoke to order.
I certairily handled, with very little ceremony,
the trash which Sir Abraham had been sport
ing, and, after having admonished my hear
ers to exercise their own judgment like English
men, and not be led by the nose like slaves, I
concluded by seconding the resolutions which

318 MEMOIRS OF'
had been lAovedby Mr. Trip, which, of course,
included a resolution declaring the necessity
of a Reforra in Parliaraent.
What followed was raore curious than all
the rest. Sir John Acland, the Chairman of
the county quarter sessions, now carae for
ward, and, like a cunning old fox, who saw
which way the wind blew, he turned short
round upon those whora he raeant before to
support, and declared that the resolutions
raoved as an amendment by Mr. Trip, and se
conded by Mr. Hunt, had his full concurrence.
Sir John saw which was the strongest side,
and which way the current of popular opinion
was rolling, and therefore he was determined
to come in for his share of merit, by join-^
ing in the cry and runriing with the stream.^
Upon a shew of hands our amendraent was
carried by a raajority of one hundred to one,
at least. I never saw a raan so delighted as
Mr. Counsellor Trip was, J Ihought he would
have jumped over the hustings for joy. It was
evident to me that this success came upon him
unawares, and that, although he had raade up
his mind to move ana.mendment, yet hehad
not the slightest idea that it would be carried.
I was raore accustomed to these things, and
took it more coolly ; in fact, I felt it neces
sary to admonish him to bear his victory with

HENRY HUNT. 319
more becoming joy, and not to exult so out
rageously. A vote of thanks was passed to
little Squire Goodford, the nominal High
Sheriff; I say nominal, for, in fact, allthe
Sheriffs of this county, for many, many years,
have been called pauper Sheriffs, and bave
been merely nominal High Sheriffs ; Messrs.
Perpetual, or raiher Messrs. Alternate Sheriffs,
that is lo say, Messrs. Mellior and Broderip,
being the real or bona fide Sheriffs', their mas
ters having been their mere puppets; or nomi
nal Sheriffs.
When the meeting was dissolved, almost the
whole assembly followed, or rather attended
me to my inn, where I was obliged to address
them from the window, before they could be
prevailed upon to depart. Every one appeared
delighted with the result of the meeting, ex
cepl poor Sir Abraham, the Sheriff, and a
litlle knot of Whigs, who had meant to curry
favour with the Prince Regent, by presenting
to him an abject, time-serving address from
the county of Somerset; but who had been
foiled, and, in a great measure, by my exer
tions. Sir Abraham, and his friend the Sheriff,
looked most wretchedly; no Frenchman ever
shrugged his shoulders with a more emphatic
expression of disaster, than the Rev. Baronet
did ; and he really reminded rae of the knight
with the rueful countenance.

820 MEMOIRS OF
WiU any raan who reads this believe that
the worthy Judges of the Court of King's
Bench had not the effect of this raeeting in
their mind, when they sentenced me to be
confined two years and six months in
Ilchester Bastile, where they well knew the
Rev. Baronet and the worthy Squire were two
of the Visiting Magistrates? WiU any
pne who reads this have the least doubt, that
ihose who have persecuted rae here have been
actuated by the cowardly feeling of wishing
to be revenged upon me, now lhal they have
me in their power, because. I defeated their
ridiculous and time-serving projects, and ex
posed their folly at the said county meeting
at, Bridgwater? Can any one doubt that the
Ministers ordered their tools to send rae here,
that their underlings might exert their petty
tyranny, in order to annoy me?
On the twelfth of May, in this year, the
Prince of Saxe Coburg was raarried to the
Princess Charlotte of Wales. The Parlia
ment, as I have before observed, gave them
lor an ovA^tfifty thousand pounds oi iohn
Gull's money, and settled sixty thousand
pounds a-year of the said John's raoney, and
also settled upon hira as a dower, for his life,
fifty thousoMi pounds a-year, in case of her
death; so that this hopeful German now re
ceives annually out of the pockets of the dis-

HENRY HUNT. SSl
tressed people of England fifty thousand
pounds a-^ear, while the President of the
United States of America only receives six
thdusand pounds a-year; so that Saxe Co-
burg does us the honour to drain the people
of Erigland of a sum more than eight times as
much as the President of the United Stales of
America receives from the people of that coun
try, for attending to all their affairs, and pre
siding as the Chief Magistrate of a vast arid
free country, containing ten miUioris of peo
ple. In the middle of May there were disturb
ances al Bideford, from the poor endeiavour-
ing to prevent the exportation of potatoes.
There was also a riot and great disturbances at
Bury, by the unemployed, to destroy a spin-
riing-jenriy. On the 24th, a great body of
farraers and labourers asserabled in a verf
riotous manner al Ely, and committed many
depredations. They were al lenglh suppress
ed, after some blood had been Spilt. On the
28th, there were grieat disturbances, amongst
the pitmen and others, at Newcastle-upon-
Tyne. On the same day a Serious turauH
Occurred at Halstead, in Essex, to liberate
some persons who had been t&ken up for de
stroy irig tbreShirig-machines. On the 2d of
Jtdy, the Prince Regerit prorogued the Pariia-
VOL. III. 2 T

329 MEMOIRS OV
ment, after a new Alien BiU, and a Bill to re
gulate the Civil List, had passed^ On the 12th
of July, 1816, there was a public funeral of Ri
chard Brinsley Sheridan, Esq. certainly the
most brilliant and accomplished orator of the
age. In my. opinion, <he far surpassed either
Pitt or Fox in real eloquence, and, in the
midst of all his changings and vacillations, he
was always, without one exception, the steady
and zealous friend of the liberty of the press.
Poor Sheridan was always iu pecuniary dif
ficulties, and overwhelmed with debt ; and he
at last became quite a swindler in order' to
evade his creditors, and he died at a time whea
he could not obtain credit for a pot of porter.
On the 22d, the Duke of Gloucester, who was
called, by the Royal Family SiUy Billy, was
married to one of his cousins, the Princess
Mary. Fortunately for the public, they have,
I believe, no children for- John Gull to keep.
On the 2d of August, a riot took place in the
Calton, one of the suburbs of Glasgow, on ac
count of the soup-kitchens, which was not sup
pressed- till some blood was spilt. On the Sth
of the same month, a mortar of uncommon
size, left by Marshal Soult on his retreat from
Cadiz j was fixed in St. James's Park, opposite
the Horse Guards. This piece of ordnance is
comraonly known by: the narae of the Prince

HENRY Hl^NT. 338
Regent's bomb. On the 27th, Algiers was
bombarded^ and the batteries destroyed by
the English fleet, comraanded by Lord Ex
mouth — a treaty was entered into aflerwards,
by the Dey of Algiers and Lord ExmOuth, in"
which Christian slavery was abolished. On
the 16th of September a riot and great dis
turbance took place at Preston,^ in Lancashire, -
by the distressed and uneraployed workraen.
There was also a riot at Frome, inconsequence
of a sudden rise of one-jthird in the price of
potatoes, in which riot the Yeoraanry Cavalry
sustained a defeat, and were driven from the '
field of action by the stones, potatoes, and rot
ten eggs that were hurled at them by the mul
titude, several of whom vvere taken into cus
tody. One of that anomalous hermaphrodite
race called Parson-justices,' a person of the
name of Sainsbury, l"ead the Riot Act, and
called out the cavalry. But, by the judicious
conduct of Mr. Charapness, of Orchardleigh,
the disturbances were quelled, and peace was
restored. A Mr. ThornhiU, who was a paid ¦
agent and adjutant of the Soraerset Yeoraanry
Cavalry, who carae over from Bath on the fol
lowing day, after all was peace and quietnesSj
wrote a leiter to the Editor of the Courier
newspaper, giving- a most ridiculous and false
account of the whole transaction. In order lo

994 uxmoiRt ori^
ascertain the truth, as to what really toolg
place, I drove over from Bath, with Mr. Allen
of Bath, and having detailed the circumstances
to Mr. Cobbett, he handled the brave bluster
ing Captain in a masterly stile, and fixed upon
him the name of Captain Bobadil, which wiU
last him as long as he lives. Captain Bobadil
and the battle of Frome will not readily be
forgotten in the west of England, nor, indeed,
in any place where Mr. Cobbett's Register Was
read, which was now published at two-pence
anumber, and in consequence had increased
ten-fold in its circulation. There were also
great riots at Nottingham, by persons calling
themselves Luddites; these consisted of un-
eanployed workmen, who went about in the
most lawless manner, destroying the frames
by which the stocking manufactory was carried
on. There were riots, too, at Myrthir-Tyd-
vil, in Glamorganshire, by the workmen em
ployed in the iron-manufactories, on a reduc
tion of wages; and at WalsaU, in Staffordshire,
amongst the distressed and unemployed work
men. In fact, great distress and dissalisfactiou
prevailed, not only in England, Ireland and
Scotknd, but all over Europe, which was in
a calamitous state, produced by the reaction
of thewar, the fatal efiSacts of which now be-

HCNRY HUKT. 9!^
gan to be felt most severely. The distress
amongst the farmers was very great, and the
agricultural gentry began to cry out most un
mercifully. The fools now began lo find out
that what I had told them was true, naraely,
that the Corn Bill would not ultimately serve
them, that i]t was never intended by its pro
moters for any olher purpose than lo enable
the Government, by means of keeping up the
price of corn, to continue to extract from the
farmers high rents and high taxes. In many
parts the manufacturers likewise suffered
greatly, particularly in Staffordshire, South
Wales, and the Metropcdis, and especially
amongst the poor weavers in Spitalfields. The
trulh was, that the Bank of England had cur
tailed the issue of their notes, in order to
meet the demands of their creditors, which
they expected they should be compeUed to
pay in cash, instead of being longer protected
by a. pretended restriction, designed to pre-;
vent them from being called upon to pay any
thing more than "I promise to pay," in ex-,
change for "I promise to pay." This restric
tion was nothing more nor less than a Govern
ment protection against the demands of their
creditors, which enabled them to refuse to^
pay their just debts with impunity, and ac
cordiiig to Act of Pariiament. Distress and:

826 MEMOIRS OF
discontent therefore prevailed from one end of
the land- to the other, but in no place more
than the metropolis, which was full of dis
charged seamen, who had been dismissed
from the British Navy, which was now dis
mantled almost universally. These poor fel
lows, who had fancied that they hadbeen
fighting the battles of their country, who had
suffered all the hardships of a sailor's life,
during a long and bloody war, and who had
been successful against every power for such a
length of time, had become exceedingly dis
heartened by the checks and defeats they had
experienced in the naval warfare with the
Americans, who, if I may- use a familiar
phrase, had completely taken the shine out of
the British seamen, a race proverbial for be
ing veiy superstitious. They had ^always
boasted that an English sailor was a match for
two -Frenchmen, or any other -seamen; but
Jack found in the American sailor not only his
equal in bravery and skiU, ¦¦ but more than his
match. Thus dispirited and almost broken
hearted, and the British Navy being laid up,
our sailors were discharged and treated worse
thah dogs; they were put on shore at any
port, and they had to march to London^ bare
footed and pennyless,' to receive the little pay
and prize money that was due to them. Hun-

HENRY HUiST. 827
dreds and hundreds did I relieve, as they pas
sed by Middleton Cottage ; broken down in
body and in spirit, they were made to feel
that they had been fighting for despotism in
stead of Liberty. Soup Committees were es
tablished, and subscriptions raised all over
the kingdom, to supply the starving poor with
soup ; but lo the offer of it they replied, that
they did not want charity, they wanted work,
and they would much rather live upon a scanty
meal, the fruit of their own labour, than be
feasted by charity.
Some lime in the early part of September,
1 received a letter from London, signed A.
Thistlewood, requesting mcj when I carae to
town, to do hira the favour of a call, as he
had to coraraunicate to rae matters of the
highest importance, connected with the wel
fare and happiness of the people, to proraote
whose interest he had always observed that I
was most ready and active, &c. &c. As Mr.
Thistlewood was a perfectstranger to me, and
as I was a stranger even to his name, I wrote
to a Mr. Bryant, a quondam attorney, and
Clerk of the Papers at the King's Bench; a
man who was said to know every body and
every thing that was going on in London, both
in high and low life ; — I wrote to this geritle-;
map, and requested him to inquire at such a

MEMOIRS OF
number for Mr. Thistlewood, and let me know
who and what he was, as I had received ra
ther a mysterious letter from him, and I wish
ed to know something of him before I gave
him any answer. The ariswer which I received
from Mr. Bryaril was such that I never replied
tothe letter of Mr. Thistlewood, or took any
ftirther notice of it.
Some time, however, iri*the beginning of
November, I received a letter from London,
signed Thomas Preston, Secretary, to say
that a public meeting of the distressed inha
bitants of the metropolis was advertised to be
held in Spafields, on Monday, the 15th of
November, and that he was instruc^d by the
Committee to solicit my attendance. This
letter was dated frora Greystoke-place, and the
writer requested an answer, which I gave him
by return of post, desiring to be informed
what was the object of the raeeting. 1 re
ceived a reply, stating, that the object was to
agree lo a raemorial lo the.Prince Regerit, set
ting forth their grievances, and prayirig for
relief. I instantly wrote, to say that I accept
ed their invitation, and I would attend the
meeting at the time appointed.
On the next day I rode over to my friend
Cobbett, at Botiey, to consult with him what
was best to be donei When I meritioned the

HENRY HUNT. 329
circumstance to him, he looked very grave,
and said it was a d^gj^erous experiment, and
he scarcely knew how lo advise me, whether
to go or not. " Oh," said I, " make your
mind quite easy upon that point ; there is no
difficulty in it, I have accepted the invitation,
and I mean to attend the meeting. The mo
raent that I ascertained that it was for a legal
purpose, that of addressing the Prince Regent
upon the distressed state of the people, and
praying for redress, I no longer hesitated, but
accepted the invitation, and proraised to be
there in tirae. All that I want you to do,
therefore, is, to assist rae in drawing up sorae
resolutions, and preparing a proper address lo
be presented t|| his Royal Highness upon the
occasion." " That," said he, " I will do wilh
great pleasure." After due consideration the
resolutions and the address were agreed upon,
and drawn up by him. Mr. Cobbett never
mentioned one word to me that he had been
invited by the same party to attend this said
nieeting ; but he said he should be al his lodg
ings in London at the tirae.
I arrived in London the Saiturday before the
intended raeeting, and called at Graystock-
plape, lo inquire for Mr. Thonias PrestOn. I
found no one there but two or three dirtily
dressed, raiserable, poor children, who told me
VOL. III. 2 u

330 MEMOIRS OF
that I should find^ their fether at some house
in SOuthampton-buildirigs, Chancery-lane.
Thither I repaired, raeditating as I went along
on the wretched erablem of the distresses of
the limes, which I had just witnessed in the
family of Mr. Thomas Preston. When I.
reached Southampton-buildings, I knocked at
the door, and inquired for Mr, Preston, The
servant said there was no such person there,
but she would go and inquire of Mr, Thistle
wood and the Doctor. She then desired me
lo walk in, and I was shewn into a very neat
and well-furnished dining-room. I could not
avoid observing to myself the contrast between
the elegant apartment I was now in and that
which I had just quitted in waystock-place ;
the name of Thistlewood was still tinkling
upon the drum of my ear, I having quite for
gotten where I had,heard it before.
In a few minutes two gentlemen walked in ;
the one dressed in a handsome dressing-gOwn
and morocco slippers, the other in a shabby-
genteel black. The forraer addressed me
very familiarly by name, saying, that he was
Mr. Thistlewood, and he begged lo introduce
his friend Dr. Watson. They at once inforra
ed me that they were part of the Committee,
for whom Mr. Preston acted as Secretary ; that
they had called the meeting, and directed

HENRY HUNT. 331
their Secretary to invite me to attend it, and
that they had also wruten to invite Sir Francis
Burdett, Major Cartwright, Mr. Waithman,
Mr. Cobbett, and several other political cha
racters. I then inquired what was the nature
of the memorial or address which they meant
to submit to the Prince Regent ? They an
swered, that they ^ad it not then by them,
but that, if / wished it, they would procure
me a sight of it before I went to the meeting.
To this I replied, that I certainly did not wish
merely for a sight of it, but for something
more ; as, if I attended the raeeting to take
any part in it, I should choose to have time to
peruse the 'memorial very minutely before I
undertook to gife it"ihy support. This they
promised I should have an opportunity of do
ing, and the Doctor appeared anxious to have
my opinion upon it. I could, however, see
that Mr. Thistlewood had, set his heart upon
this memorial as it stood, and he slightly in
timated tnat the Committee had made up
their minds on the subject, and that it was
finally settled that the memorial was to be sub
mitted to the meeting. I inquired who the
Committee were composed of, and I soon
found that Mr. Thistlewood and Dr. Wat
son, the two gentlemen before me, were in
reality the Committee; young Watson, Pres-

332 MEMOIRS OF
ton. Hooper, Castles, and one or two others,
who formed the remainder Of the Coriitriittiee,
being merely riominal rnembers, I inforraed
therri that I waS staying at CoOper'S Hotel^ in
Bouverie-street, which makes part Of the
Black Lion Inn, in Water-liane, where they
promised lo wait upon me in the evening with
the raemOrial, that I might look it over.
Mr. Thistlewood and the Doctor came at
the appointed hour, and brought the docu
ment with them. It was very long, and filled
several pages closely written upon foolscap
paper. As soon as I had read the first resolu
tion, I was satisfied in my own mind as to how
I ought to act with respect to this volurainous
production; but when I had read to the bot-
of the first page 1 closed the book, and Very
seriously infornied my visitors that it evident
ly contained trea^nable mcttler, and that no
thing more than the overt act of holding the
meeting, to carry the scheme int^exe^tion,
was required to ma,ke aSl that were concerned
init liable at least to be indicted for high trea
son. I certainly should riot, I told them, coun
tenance any such measures as were proposed
even in the first page, and the project of march
ing in a body to Carlton House, to demand
arid enforce ari audience of the Prince Regent
(whith fotriied a part of their design), was

HENRY HUNT. 333
quite preposterous, as well as unjust and un
reasonable. As a private gentleman, I my
self would nol submit to be intruded upon in
such a manner, and it was very unreasonable
lo expect that il could be endured by the Chief
Magistrate of the country. I found, in tact,
that the whole affair was made up of Spencean
principles, ^elating to the holding of all the
land in the kingdom as one great farm belong
ing to the people, or something of that sort.
I told them my ideas upon the subject, which
were, that the first thing the people had to do,
in order lo recover their rights, was lo obtain
a Reform of the Comraons' House of Parlia
raent. When once the people were fairly
and equally represented in that House, such
propositions as were contained in their merao
rial might then be discussed, but for one set
of people to dictate to any other what should
be the law, I maintained to be arbitrary and
unjust.^ The Doctor very readily concurred
with me, and he ^Ssked ray advice as lo what
was best lo be done. I replied, that the only
course lo be pursued was, to pass certain reso
lutions, pointing out the distressed state of the
country, and the absolute, necessity of Reform,
to save the wreck of the eonstitutien, and de
claring that the only Reform that would be of
any avail must be upon the pririciples of An-

334 MEMOIRS OF
nual Parliaments,!^ Universal Suffrage, and
Vote by BaUot. They both at once agreed
to the propriety of my suggestions, and re
quested that I would prepare ^ome resolutions,
and an address to his Royal Highness, which
they also begged me to propose lo the raeet
ing, and they would support them. I asked
them if they did not expect^the attendance of
any other of the public characters to whom
they had written ? To this they relied, that
I was the only person who had accepted the
invitation. The Doctor and Mr, Thistlewood
promised^ to take care about the hustings be
ing erected in Spa-fields, and the former was
to call on me on Monday morning, to 'prepare
and transcribe the resolutions and the petition
which were to be submitted to the meeting.
The Doctor came at the time appointed, and
he copied the resolutions and the petition
which I had drawn up, which, with some few
alterations and additions, were the sametks
were agreed upon by Mr. Cobbett ertid myself
at Botiey. ibefore we had finished these, a
messenger arrived, to say that an imraense
number of persons were assembled in the
front of the Merlin's Cave public-house., in
Spa-fields, and that they were impatient' for
our arrival. Upon this, the Doctor and my
self got into a hackney-coach, and drove im-

HENRY HUNT. 335
mediately to the spot, "which was covered by
much the largest concourse of people I had
ever seen together in my life. We were hail
ed with the most deafening shouts, and, with
some considerable difficulty, we were driven
to the summit of the hiU, surrounded by the
multitude. Upon inquiry where the hustings
were, I found that nothing had been done or
thought of towards the erecting of them. In
this dilemma I mounted upon the top of the
hackney-coach, and was immediately followed
by the Doctor and another person, which per
son, without further ceremony, hoisted a tri-
coloured flag, red, white, and green! The
bearer ofthis flag was no less a personage than
the notorious Mr. John Castles, a gemman
that I had never seen before. I soon found
that it was impossible to address such an im
mense multitude from such a situation as that
of the lop of a coach, and as the wind blew
very sharp, our birth was a very disagreeable
one. While we were looking round for a bet
ter situation, we were hailed by sorae gentle
men frora the window ofa house in the neigh
bouring row, arid a young person, whom I
afterwards found to be Mr. William Clark,
having made his way lo the coach, invited
me to enter the house opposite, and to address
the multitude from the window ; and, as the

336 MEMOIRS OF
party who were assembled in that room still
kept beckoning me to join them, I readily as
sented. We dismounted and followed Mr.
Clark, who led us up stairs into the front room
of the Merlin's Cave public-house, which I
afterwards foUnd had been taken by, and was
partly occupied by, the Magistrates, accom
panied by a number of the officers of the po
lice and the reporters of the public press.
The sashes were immediately removed from
the window, and I presented myself to the as
sembled multitude amidst universal shouts of
applause. I found rayself surrounded by
strangers, there being scarcely a raan in the
room I had ever before seen, with the excep
tion of Mr. Clark and some of the reporters
of the public press. I proppsed that Mr. Clark
should lake the chair, which proposal was se
conded, and carried by acclamation. I was
the only person present who was known to the
multitude as a public man. I had often ap
peared before the people at Palace-yard, and
at the Guildhall ofthe city of London, and I
was instantly recognized by thera. In fact,
I believe that it had been publicly placarded
and advertised that I had accepted the invi
tation lo attend, which had been sent lo me
by the Committee, and I was, therefore, ex
pected. The Chairman having, in an appro-

HENRY HUNT. 337
priate speech, briefly opened the meeting, I
stood forward to move the resolutions, which
I prefaced by a speech of aboul an hour in
length. I pointed out the enormous sums
paid by the public for what is called the Civil
List, amounting in the last year to 1,038,000/.;
and in the same year, on account of deficien
cies of the said Civil List, 584,713/. more;
and for the CivU List for Scotland, 126,613/.
additional, making in the whole, for the Civil
List of that year, one million seven hun
dred and forty-nine thousand three
hundred and twenty-six pounds. I show
ed that the expense of keeping up the array,
including the ordnance, was 26,736,017/.;
that the additional allowance to the Royal Fa
mily that year was .366,660/. ; that the secret
service raoriey was 153,443/.; and that the
sura voted for the poor clergy of the Church
of England was 100,000/. I also read a list of
sorae of the raost profligate sinecurists and
pensioners, male and feraale, in which I in
cluded a sufficient sprinkling of ladies and
gentlemen belonging to both the great fac
tions of Whigs and Tories, taking as nearly
as I could an equal number from each of them.
Among those whom I specified were the Mar
quis of Buckingham and Lord Camden, the
two Tellers of the Exchequer, whose sinecures
VOL, HI. 2 X

338 MEMOIRS OF
at that time were about thirty-five thousand
a-year each ; Lord Arden, the elder brother
of Perceval, thirty-eight thousand a-year;
Lords Grenville and Erskine, &c. &c. &g.
Amongst the number of lady pensioners I no
ticed Lady Auckland, Lady Louisa Paget, Mrs.
Hunn, the mother of Mr. Canning, &c. &c. I
represented these persons as contributing lo the
distresses of the country, by taking such large
sums out of the taxes, without doing any thing
for it. I contended that the enorraous weight
of taxation alone produced the misery under
which the people were groaning, and that the
sole cause of such heavy impositions being
placed upon the people, arose from the corrupt
state of the representation in the Commons'
or people's House of Parliament; and I la
boured strenuously to convince them that the
high price of bread and raeat did not originate
with the bakers and butchers, as was falsely
asserted to be the case by the corrupt con
ductors of the daily press, I demonstrated to
thera the folly of wreaking their vengeance
upon unoffending tradesmen, who were suffer
ing from the weight of taxes nearly as rauch
as themselves; and I endeavoured to convince
. them of the superiority bf mental over physi
cal force ; contending that it would be an act
of injustice, as well as folly, to resort to the

HENRY HUNT. 339
latter while we had the power of exercising
the former. Above all things, I look the
greatest pains to promote peace and good
order, as the only means by which they were
likely to obtain any redress for their grievances,
or any alleviation of their miseries, and to
convince them that lo commit acts of violence
was lo prove themselves unworthy of relief. I
concluded by reading and recoraraending lo
their adoption the four following resolutions.
These resolutions were received wilh long
continued shouts of approbation :
Resolved 1st, That the country is in a state of fearful
and unparalleled distress and misery ; and that the prin
cipal immediate cause of this calamity, which has fallen
upon all classes of persons, except that class which de
rive their incomes from the Taxes, is, that enormous load
of taxation, which has taken, and which still takes, from
the Farmer, the Manufacturer, and the Tradesman, the
means of maintaining their families, and paying their
debts, and of affording, in the shape of wages, a suflSci-
ency to employ and support their Labourers and Journey
men. Resolved %d, That the causes of this intolerable bur
den, are, Ist, the amount of a Debt contracted by Bo-
roughmongers for the purposes of carrying on a long, un
necessary, and unjust War, the main objects of which
now appear to have been to stifie Civil, Political, and Re
ligious Liberty, and to restore Diaspotism and Persecution ;
2d, The maintenance of an Army in France, in order to
uphold the restored Despots and Priests in opposition to
the express wishes of the whole French Nation ; 3d, The
keeping up of an enormous Standing Army in these King
doms, with a view of overawing the People, and com
pelling them to submit to War Taxes in time of Peace ;
4th, A lavish and profligate expenditure of the Public
Money on innumerable men and women, who are the
holders of Sinecures, Pensions, Grants, and Emoluments

340 MEMOIRS OF
of various descriptions, without having ever perforitied
the smallest service to their Country.
Resolved 3d, That the sole cause of thfese desolating
measures and practices, is the want of the People being re
presented in the Commons' House of Parliament, and the
return of Members to that House by those base and cor
rupt means, which were by the Members themselves
shamelessly confessed to be " as notorious as the sun at
noon-day." , Resolved 4thj That a Petition be presented to the
Prince Regent, beseeching him to take into his gracious
consideration the sufferings of this industrious, patient, and
starving People, praying that he will be pleased immedi
ately to cause the Parliament to be assembled, and to re
commend to them, in the most urgent manner, to reduce
the Army, to abolish ali Sinecures and all Pensions, Grants,
. and Emoluments fflot merited by Public Services ; and to
apply the same to feed the " hungry and clothe the
NAKED," so that the unhappy and starving People may
be saved from desperation ; and above all, to listen, before
it be too late, to those repeated prayers of the People, for
being restored to their undoubted right of enjoying the
benefit of Annual Parliaments chosen freely by the People.
Dr. Watson seconded these resolutions, and
they were carried unanimously, amidst the
cheers of the raultitude, vvithout one dissent
ing voice. I then read the following petition,
which, after having been seconded by the Doc
tor, was unanimously adopted by the greatest
concourse of people that had ever, within the
raemory of man, been known to assemble for
any political purpose :
" To his Royal Highness the Prince Regent ofthe United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
" The Petition of the distressed Inhabitants of the Me
tropolis, held in Spa-fields, the 15th day of Novem
ber, 1816,
" Humbly Showeth— That this kingdom is in a state
of unparalleled distress ahd misery, and that the principal

HENRY HUNT. 841
immediate cause of this calamity, which has fallen upon
all classes of persons (except that class which derive their
incomes from the taxes), is that enormous load of taxa
tion which has taken, and which still takes, from the
farmer, the manufacturer, and the tradesman, themeans
of maintaining their families, and of paying their debts,
and of affording, in the shape of wages, a sufficiency to em
ploy and support their labourers and journeymen.
" That the causes ofthis intolerable burden are-^First,
The amount of a debt, contracted by Boroughmongers
and their agents, for the purpose of carrying on a long,
unnecessary, and unjust war, the object of which now ap
pears to have been to stifle civil, political, and religious
liberty, and to restore despotism and persecution . Second ,
The maintenance of an English Protestant Army inFrance,
in order to uphold the restored Despots and Priesthood,
whom we have been taught to hold in abhorrence. Third,
The keeping up in these kingdoms of an enormous Stand
ing Army, with all its colleges, barracks, and arsenMs,
with a view of overawing the people, and corapelling
them to submit to War Taxes in time of Peace. Fourth,
A lavish and profligate expenditure of the public money
on innumerable men and women, who are holders of sine
cures, pensions, grants, and emoluments of various de
scriptions, without having ever performed the smallest
service to the country.
" That the sole cause of these desolating measures and
practices is, the want of the people being represented in
their own House of Parliament, and the return of Mem
bers to that House by those base and corrupt means,
which means were, by the Members themselves, shame
lessly confessed ' to be as notorious as the sun at noon
day.' " Upon the ground of these facts, the existence ofwhich
mustbe familiartothe mind,and painful to the heart of your
Royal Highness, we earnestiy beseech your Royal Highness
to take into your gracious considerationthesufferingsof this
industrious, patient, and starving people ; and we ear
nestly pray,
" That your Royal Highness will be pleased to cause
the Parliament to be assembled immediately, and, as the
friend of your Royal Father's people, to urge the two
Houses to reduce the Army, to remoye those barracks,
military colleges, and all thbse menacing parades so, hate
ful to our eyes and sb hostile to that Constitution which

342 MEMOIRS OF
your Royal House were placed on the Throne to defend ;
to abolish all sinecures and all pensions, grants, &uA emo
luments not merited hy public services, and to apply the
amount of the same to /eed the hungry and clothe the
naked; arid, above all, to listen, before it be too late,
to those repeated prayers of the people for being restored
to their undoubted right of annually choosing their own
Representatives. In the mean time we implore your
Royal Highness to appropriate a few hundred thousands
of the enormous Civil List for the immediate relief of the
numerous suffering, starving, and dying people.
" And we shall ever pray, &c. &c."
The following resolutions were then pro
posed and carried unanimously :
Resolved 6th, That Sir Francis Burdett, Bart, be re
quested to Wait on the Prince Regent, and deliver this
Petition, into his hands as soon as possible.
Resolved 6tii, That Henry Hunt, Esq. be requested to
accompany Sir F.Burdett.
Resolved 7th, That Sir Francis Burdett, Bart, assisted
by Major Cartwright, be requested to prepare and bring
into Parliament, as soon as they meet, a Bill for a Reform
thereof, agreeable to the Constitution.
Resolved Sth, That this Meeting do adjourn to Mon
day fortnight, then to assemble to hear the answer . of
the Prince Regent, in Spa-fields, at One o'Clock precisely.
Resolved 9th, That this Meeting do re-assemble the
first day after the raeeting of Parliaraent, in Palace-yard,
Westminster, at One o'Clock, to petition Parliament for
a Reform thereof, agreeable to the Constitution.
Resolved 10th, That our fellow-countrymen of Bristol,
Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Lei
cester, Glasgow, Paisley, and of every City, Town, and
populous place in the United Kingdom, are hereby invited,
and requested by this Meeting to assemble and meet ou
the same day, at the same hour, and for the same pur
pose. Resolved llth, That theThanksof the Meeting be given
to H. Hunt, Esq.
' Resolved 13th, That the Thanks ofthe Meeting be given
to Mr. Dyall and Mr. Preston, and those Gentlemen who
Sailed the Meeting.
Resolved ISth, That the Thanksof the Meeting begiven
to the Chairman, William Clark, Esq.

HENRY HUNT. 343
The parties thanked having briefly return
ed the compliment, the meeting was dissolved
by the Chairman, who accompanied me into
a coach, which the multitude immediately
took possession of, and drew amidst the most
unaniraous cheers, lo ray inn, the Black Lion,
Water-lane, where I had appointed to raeet a
friend lo dine. As soon as they had safely
conveyed us, they dispersed lo their several
homes, in the rapst peaceable manner.
Just as we were sitting down to dinner, four
of us, Mr. Bryant, his son, Mr. Clark, and my
self, to our great surprise in marched Messrs.
Watson, Thistlewood, and three or four stran
gers, whom they introduced as Mr. Watson,
jun. Mr. Castles, Mr. Hooper, &c. who had
followed us from the meeting, with an inten
tion, as they said, of dining with me. I was
very much disconcerted by this intrusion^ and
told them that I had private business to set
tle, that I had no idea of dining in public, and
that dinner was only ordered for four. As,
however, they did not .appear lo lake the hint
(although it was a pretty broad one), Mr.
Bryant ordered more fish arid sorae chops to
be added lo our dinner, and the table being
lengthened, down we aU sat together. Mr.
Bryant took the chair, at ray request.
Dinner being ended, Mr. Bryant drank the

344 MEMOIRS OF
health of the Kirig, which toast passed round
till it came to Mr. Castles, who, having filled
a bumper, substituted the following vulgar
and sanguinary toast for that of the King —
" May the last of Kings be strangled with the
guts of the last priest ;" a piece of brutality
which had not even the miserable merit of
being original, he having copied it frora one
of the French anarchists. This was a pretty
speciraen of the corapany that had intruded
upon us ! I reraonstrated against such black
guardism, and declared that I would not re
main in the room if there was any repetition
of it. Mr. Castles, nevertheless, soon began
again in a similar strain, and having put forth
some most outrageous speech, as vulgar as it
was seditious, both rayself and Mr. Bryant in
sisted upon the worthy gentleraan leaving the
roora, or holding his peace. He proraised to
do the latter, and he soon dropped off, or ap
peared to drop off, into a very sound sleep.
This was a circurastance which struck me as
being very suspicious, and therefore I was
particularly guarded in what I said, and in
what was said by others. At length two of
the party, young Watson and Hooper, made
a raove to retire, and I insisted upon it that
they should take their friend Castles with
them ; but he shammed so sound a sleep that

HENRY HUNT, 345
it Was with difficulty he Was got out of the
rbomj and it was only effected by my pulling
the chair from under him ; upbn v/hich he Was
in an instant as wide awake as any man in the
room. This convinced me that his sleep was
all a mere pretence. Soon after this the rest
of the party left us, and Mr. Bryani and my
self remained to talk oVer the curiotis. adven
tures of the evening. We were both convinced
that Castles was at any rate a great villain,
^nd I was determined in future not to be in a
room where he was.
On the next morning, Dr, Watson and Mr.
Thistlewood came to aJ)ologise for the ill-be
haviour of their friend Castles, who they as
sured me was at heart a very good fellow, but
that he was overcome with Ifqubron the pre
ceding evening, and that he now wished ver;^^
rnuch to have an opportunity of making an
apblogy in person, for which purpose he -wak
Waiting hard by. I, however, positively re
fused to see him, saying, lhal I beheved hiiri
to be a great scoundrel, and that I would ori no
account suffer him lo come irito my rooiri
again ; and I nbi only cautioned the Doctor
rigainsl hira, but 1 believe I told him 10 take
care, or Castles would bring him to the gal
lows. In fact, I made up my mind that as lon^
as the Doctor and Mr. ThistlewOoil kept com-
VOL. IIL 2 Y

346 MEMOIRS OF
pany with such a fellow, I would have nothing
lo do with them in private, nor would ever
see them alone. The Doctor will recollect
that, when they called on me in the evening
afterwards, to raake some inquiry about the
proceedings which were to be adopted on
the following raeeting, intended to be held on
the 2d of Deceraber, 1 declined lo enter into
any particulars, and did not even ask them to
take a seat, although Mr. MitcheU, a livery
man of the city, was with me. I felt that I
had been in very dangerous company, and,
though I would not neglect my public duty, I
was determined that I would not place myself
in the power of such a man as Mr. Castles ap
peared to me lo be.
On the day ofthe meeting ofthe 15th of No
vember, the Cowrter newspaper roundly stated
that Hunt had arrived at the raeeting about
one o'clock, and, after having addressed the
raultitude in a most inflammatory speech, had
submitted to them a memorial lo be presented
to the Prince Regent, full of treasonable mat
ter ; and the corrupt knave, who conducts that
paper, actually inserted one of the resolutions
of the memorial which Dr. Watson and Mr.
Thistlewood had submitted lo rae, and which
I had rejected. The truth was, that the Go
vernment had previously procured a copy of

HENRY HUNT 347
the said memorial, from a person ofthe name
of Pyall, one of the party who had called the
meeting, and as this meraorial had been una
nimously agreed lo by the Committee, my
Lord Sidmouth, the Secretary of Slate, and
his agents, made so certain that I should fall
into this trap, and propose il lo the meeting,
that their principal organ, the editor of the
Courier newspaper, actually inserted a copy
of il iri the paper, as having been proposed by
me at the meeting. But they soon found, to
their sorrow, that old birds were nol lo be
caught with chaff; for that I had blasted their
fondest hopes of bloodshed, by proposing a
petition to the Prince Regent, of a nature to
tally the reverse of the said meraorial ; which
petition was universally adopted by-the raeet
ing ; and that I had undertaken to present il
to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, and
had also promised to report the answer, if I
received any, at the next raeeting, which was
appointed to be held on Monday, the 2d of
Deceraber. On the following day, not only the Courier
and the Morning Post, but every paper pub
lished in the metropolis (with the exception of
the Statesman, which was then conducted by
Mr. Lovell), joined in pouring forth a torrent
of falsehood, misrepresentation, and abuse of

348 MEMOIRS OF
me. I do not know that I can give a more
correct account of what took place iii London,
raore fairly represent the conduct of the pub
lic press upon this occasion, than by giving
an extract fro^ Mr. Cobbett's Register, which
was published the ensuing week, as foUowSj
h^^ded " Spa-fields Meeting :"
" Since my long acquaintance with the press, I do not
think that I have ever witnessed so much baseness of con
duct as this Meeting has giveij rise to. If Mr. Hunt had
be^n the most, notorious pick-pocket ; if he had been a
raggamuffln covered with a coat hired for the day ; if he
had been a fellow who took up his lodgings in the brick
kilns or in the niches on Westminster Bridge ; and if he
had Actually proposed to the Meeting to go directly and
plunder the silversmiths' shops and cut the throats of aU,
those who opposed them ; if he had drank off a glass of
human blood by way of moistening his throat : monstrous
as this is, it is a real fact, that, if he had been and had
done all this, the London press could not have treated
hini in a worse manner than it has. The Statesman news
paper is an exception; bijt, I believe, th^t it- is almost
the only exception. Talk of violence indeed ! Was there
eyer violence like this heard of in this world before?
And, what is the monstrous crime vvhich h^s emboldened
these literary ruffians to make this savage assault, and
¦yh^ich induces them to suppose that they shall finally, esr
cape with impunity? They, the vile wretches, ar-e the
redl'mob. They attack in body ; they know that defence
is irnpossible ; tljey know;, that a hundred tiraes the for^
tu'ne'bf Mr. Hunt would not purchase enough of their co
lumns to contain an answer to their falsehoods. Is this
manly, is this/ai'rne.ss, is this discussion, is this liberty of
the press? Infamous cowards ! They merit to be drag-
^ged by a halter fastened round their necks, and whipped
through the streets. Th,ey talk of decency and decorum
indeed r They call people blackguards and ' ruffians !
They pretend to complain of misrepresentation &nd exag
geration ! They ! who set ijp pne comraon howl of foul
abuseand viperous calurany.- '
" But, what is the act which has awakened all those

HENRY HUNT. 349
fllthy curs, and put them in piotion ? Sqme persons, no
matter who, but,' I belieye, some suffering tradesmen, in
London, agreed to call a meeting of distressed people in
Spa-fields, in order tb present a petition on the subjpct of
their sufferings : one of the Committee, who had called
this Meeting, wrote to Mr, Hunt to come ahd assist at it.
This he did. Being there, he proposed a Petition, which
was agreed to. This Petition has appeared in the States
man newspaper, to which I refer the reader ; and when
he has looked at it, he will be Convinced, that, if the lan
guage of moderation be desirable, the language of this
petition is much more moderate than that of almost any
petition, which has recently appeared in print. Upon
what ground, then, is this outrageous abuse founded ? The
Meeting separated very quietly ; never did any Meeting
partake less of riotous behaviour. In the evening ofthe
same day, a mob of boys and others attacked some bakerat
and butchers' shops. But, whose fault was this ? Was
it Mr. Hunt's, who seems to hii,\e spent a quarter of ai^
hour in endeavouring to convince his hearers, that to com
mit such acts was to prove themselves unworthy of relief ;
or, was it the fault of those pestiferous vehicles of false
hood, the Courier and the Times, who are incessantly in
veighing against the avarice of bakers and butchers?
" It is clear, that these proceedings of the evening had
no connection with the Meeting, but, on the contrary,
that every thing which was said at the Meeting had a
natural tendency to prevent them. As to the attack on
the offfice of the Morning Chronicle, that might possibly
arise out of \yhat Mr. Hunt said at the Meeting. And,
what then ? Was he to endure the calumnies, .the unpror
yoked calumnies, of that paper for years, and never rep^y
a vyord ? It would have cost him hundreds of pounds toi
cause to be published in that paper answers to ia hunr
dredth part ofthe base attacks upon him containe.d in that
same, paper. And, was he never to answer in apy way f
Was he, when he had ^ huhdj-^d thousand men within hii;
hearing, to abstain from expressing his indignation at tlig
conduct of that paper, lest, by possibility, thg indignatibg
might be catching? The Morning Chronicle, The Cou
rier, and Times, make no scruple to endeavour to cau^e
hini to ie knocked in the head; they point him out for
either hanging or murdering; they are ready beforehg,hd
with an apology Cor any one who may take bis life. And
is he, \yhp c^r) find no entrance into their colunuis, with-

350 MEMOIRS OF
out covering his paragraph with gold, to abstain from ut
tering a word against them when he comes before a pub
lic meeting, lest tbe people should espouse his cause and
demolish their windows ? Whence have they derived this
privilege of assaulting him with impunity? He has no
newspaper in his hands. He has no means of answering
them through the press. They assail him, sitting snugly
in their offices. They assail him daily. And, is he never
to open his lips at any time, or at any place ?
" Where, then, is the ground ofall this infamous abuse?
After acctising Mr. Hunt of having raised a mob for trea
sonable purposes, some of the papers have, in the most
serious raanner, asserted that he was insane, and that he
had been to a madhouse! Is not this a pretty stretch of
calumny ? Is a raan bound to endure this in silence ? ' He
has his redress at law.' Oh ! the base cowards ! Their
answer is worse than their crime.
" Was it any/awZ/in an Englishman, living in the coun
try, to corae to Loiidou to take part at a Meeting of Eng
lishmen in distress J Was this a.ny fault? No one can
say that it was. — The Meeting had been advertised many
days before any knowledge of it reached Mr. Hunt ; he
was requested to come up ; and who can blame him for
coming ? However, it is not a question of blarae or no
blame ; he had a right to corae, and he chose to exercise
his right. If, indeed, the invitation had been frora per
sons in prosperity, he raight have easily declined ; but, I
do not see how he was to resist the call of people in dis
tress. " But his speech, that was • inflammatory.' Good God !
what is M0« inflaramatory now-a-days? But, though the
' speech might, and, I dare say, did contain matter rauch
stronger than that which I have read in the report of it,
I am very sure that it could not surpass what I have read in
the Morning Chronicle within this raonth ; and that it
could not surpass (for nothing can surpass) the inflamma
tory matter in the Times and the Courier on the subject
of their alleged extortions of the Bakers and Butchers.
Besides, as to the printed reports of the speech, Mr. Hunt
was wholly at the mercy of the Reporters. They have
. made him say just what they pleased, and he has no re
dress; no means of correction ; no chance of being heard
in explanation. They impute to him the having asserted,
that Lady Oxford is on the pension list. This was false,
as he has since proved to me by the list which he read.

HENRY HUNT. 351
It has been asserted, that he went to the Meeting with a
tri-coloured flag. This is also false, he never having
known of tbe existence of any flag until his arrival on the
spot ; and, was he to go away merely because some whim
sical persons had hoisted a flag and a cap of Liberty ? Be
sides, are there not flags enough at contested elections?
Do not freemasons and others parade about with flags'?
Why was this meeting not to have a flag, if it chose it ?
Call the thing nonsensical if you please, and I shall not
dissent. But, where was the harm ? , Where was the
justification fOr all this vile, this atrocious abuse? ,
" It is' said, that Mr. Hunt urged the people to use phy
sical force if their petition was not granted. This also is
false ; or, at least, he assures me that it is ; and I believe
him, because it was too foolish for him to think of. But,
how often have we heard of resistance being recommend
ed ? Mr, Fox once recommended it, and he never was
calumniated in this outrageous manner. I have no doubt
that many things escaped Mr.Hunt during his speech,
that he himself wished he had uttered in more select
phrases; but, who is there who is so very choice upon
such occasions ? If any one say, that he would do better
to remain in Hampshire or Wiltehire, and take care ofhis
farms, the answer is, that he is seemingly of a different
opinion. He chooses to take a part in public matters.
He prefers this bustle to the tranquillity of a country life.
The boisterous hallooing of multitudes is more pleasing to
his ears than the chinkling ofthe plough traces, the bleat-'
ing of lambs, or the song of the nightingale. His taste
may be bad ; but, a'God's name, do not cover him with
all sorts of infamous names and imputations, on account of
his want of taste. Besides, if this sort of objection were
made to leaders at Public Meetings, we should, I imagine,
have very few meetings. One might be told to keep to
his snuff-shop, another to his haberdashery, and so on.
Indeed, the tools of Corruption are so very nice upon this
head, that I have never yet heard of any one trade, or
calling, which they did not despise, if a man who came
forward against abuses happened to be of that trade or
calling ; and, on the 'other hand, there is nothing too low
or vile for them, if it be put forward in Corruption's de
fence, or employed as one of her agents.
" We shall see in the end how this most calumniated
gentleman conducts himself. He has engaged to carry
the Prince's answer to the Spa-fields Meeting next Mon-

^53 ikSMOIRS OF
day wieek. Now, if, in the conducting of this bi/siness, he
shall be found tq have acted the part of a stupid country
jolterhead, or of a head-strong insolent ass, let him be
left to the public contempt ; hot, if he shall be found to
have carried the matter through with due respect towards
the Prince and his Ministers, and at the sarae time, with
0e spirit and resolution of an independent man, let him
nave the praise that will be his due,
" In the meanwhile it must be not a little mortifying
to the Morning Chronicle ih particnlar to see, that votes of
thanks to Mr. Hunt have been passed at many of those
meetings, in different parts of the kingdora, the proceed
ing's at which meetings Mr. Perry has very highly and
very justly 23roised.' How will this caluraniator of Mr,
Hunt account for this ? And how will he account for
the speech of Mr. Hunt, at the late Westrainster Meeting,
having^ been re-published iiji Norfolk, and Widely circu
lated in that county? There can have been no trick'
maide use of by Mr. Hunt tb produce these effects. He
has no acquaintances and cronies about the country. Ten
times his fortune would not have purchased hira these
marks of popularity. And, why should the people of Spa
fields be abused for having chosen to ask the assistance of
hiWi, who has received votes of thanks frora those very
meetings, both in England and Scotland, the proceedings
of which meetings Mr, Perry of the Chronicle has praised
to the skies ? Surely, the people in Scotland, in Norfolk,
in Lancashire, cannot have had their judgraent unduly
biassed in his favour ! They have heard the former out
rageous a6use of Mr. Hunt; never have heard, except by
mere accident, a word in his defence ; and, yet they have
most soliemnly decided, that his efforts are worthy of their
•praise and of their specific thanks.
" Were I, who am acquainted with Mr. Hunt, to say to
him, ' why do you not stay quietly at home and attend
to'your country affairs, and pursue the foxes, and hares,
fetid pheasants, when you find yourself in need of recrea
tion ? You will be much happier in so doing, than in get
ting into all this turmoil of politics, and exposing your-
Sfelf to so much calumny, and, indeed, to the hatred of
those, whose hatred is full of danger to you.' Tf I were
to say this to hira, would he not be fully justified in ask
ing rne, why / did not myself act upon the principle of
my own advice ? Times and circumstancies crieate men ;
or> at least, they call men forth, who would otherwise

HENRY HUNT.

3S3

haYe fertiained uhknown to the ^ndbf tKeir «faj^ ; andthe
ijiresent are times when it is imjioSsible for such men as
Mr. Hunt to remain dormant.
" Since Writing the 'former -part of this article, 'I have
, discovered, that the report of Mr. Hunt's speech in the
Statesman was taken, word for word, or nearly so, from "
ihe Chrdnicle. The'evenitigpapers have, I find, no rc-
porters. So that no true account has gone forth ; arid
thus has the misrepresentation fcirculated without the pos-
"sibUiHf of defence! Theire is a gentleman in Wiltshire,
whose name is Benett, whpse speech, at an agricultural
meeting, about the Com Bill, was piiblished in 'all ¦ihe
London papers, and which speiech, as published, drew
down on him the execrations pf those same papers, and,
'indeed, of the public in general. He Said, that he heVer
uttered such words ; that he had been very g'rossly mfs-
represented. He wrote to spme of these same papers a
corkradiction of thb ^tfLiement; k defence of hiniself. Bdt,
in order to get in a s'hort paragraph, he was called upon
to pay to one paper nineteen, guineas ! and, though he
has a foftune of, probably, 10,666l: a year, he declared
that his fortune would have been insufficient to obtain the
means of defending himself through the same channels
which had attacked him'. A hundred such fortunes wonld
not haye, obtained the means of such defence ; for, the
moment he had paid for inserting a defence against one
calumny, he would have found anotheV 'to defend hi'ihself
against. What, then, is a calumniated man to do ? The
law! The reptiles know how to evade that; andj fee-
sides, where is the forturie sufficient for tew .* Therefore,
the calumnies must go and t^ke their course. If men
cannot hear up against them, th'e;^ must hold their peacfe,
and retire from before the public. Whether Mr, Hunt is
to be driven offby these means remains to be seen.
" \V]fl. Cobbett."
The reader, who is old enough to i-ecollect
this circumstance, vfrill never forget the ih-
feimous condnct of the public pi-ess at that
time. Mr. Cobbett's description of it, in the
above Extract, is by nto meahs an exaggeration.
If'be younger branch of my readers mai^ thfls
VOL. III. 2 z

354 MEMOIRS OF
form some faint idea of what a bold and
straight-forward friend of the people had to
encounter in the year 1816. While this cry
was yet at its height, I wrote to Sir Francis
Burdett, who was then staying at Brighton,
with General Halse, the Aid-de-Camp of the
Prince Regent, and I inforraed hira of the re
solution which had been passed, requesting
him, at the sarae tirae, to present the petition
to the Prince Regent, a copy of which and of
the resolutions, I enclosed to him as they were
published in the Statesman newspaper. I like
wise begged that he woidd favour me with an
answer, to say when he would please to pre
sent it, as I wished to accompany hira, agree
able to the instructions of the raeeting. I re
ceived a very laconic answer frpra the Baronet,
saying, that " he did not choose to be made a
cat's-paw of, neither would he insult the
Prince Regent." As I had for many years
been upon terms of intiraacy with Sir Francis
Burdett, and had always acted in strict con
forraity wilh his political principles, I own
that I considered that answer to rae as a direct
insult, and, in the heat of the raoraent, I was
disposed at once to resent it as such. From
this, however, I was dissuaded by Mr. Cob
bett and Major Cartwright, who -were ex
tremely anxious not to do any thing to risk

HENRY HUNT. 355
the loss of Sir Francis Burdett's support lo
the nuinerous petitions which had been agreed
to, and were preparing lo be sent up lo the
Parliaraent, frora all parts of the kingdom.
Mr. Cobbett had addressed several of his
Registers to Sir Francis, pointing out what
sort of Reform it was necessary and just the
people should have. In these letters he con
tended for Annual Parliaraents, and that all
direct tax-payers should have a vote, but no
olhers. In his Register, No. 16, of Volume 31,
published on the 19th of October, after hav
ing in a very elaborate manner maintained
this doctrine, he says, " All, therefore, that
the. Reformers have now to do, is lo adhere to
the above-stated main points. Every man
who pays a direct tax to have a vote ; and
Parliaments to be elected annually." The test
to ascertain whether a man should have a vote
or not, is laid down by Mr. Cobbett as follows :
— " When a man coraes to vote, the Church
wardens who have the charge of the ballot-
box, ask his narae; the Overseers look inlo
their rate-book, to see whether he be a tax
payer ; finding his narae there, they bid hira
put in his ballot, which done, horae he goes to*
his business. If the Overseers do not find
him to be a tax-payer, he, of course, does not
vote." This was the sort of Reforra which, on

356. ^EMPI^?,0F
the IQth qf 0<^ob?ir, 181^, Rf r. Cpbbett pro
posed as compe;t^qt, tp wpr^ our.salvation.,
IV^r. Cpb^tt, very, ^pp^rly, , a^l^ribn^^ a
great pp:^tipnpfth^,ey4is, which tl}^ people en'-
d^ii-pdftqthe^cflrrupt, state of the public press,
wjh^^J^ h^ . d?nomina|;e|d> '^ blind- guides""
« Thf y^rfi„" sa^d h^ (ip .sp^aki^^ pf,lh^ pro-
vi^cj^l p^per^), " spm^pf th^pjii tpols of.cpr-
rujpilip^, ai^^ sonpi?, o^. t^ , dmk ^^99^^ that
h9,ye j n^t i\^, cpm'^ge, tp tfike, ^\^ paj-t ,eitherK
off ig^ij^jpr^wro^ig \ tl^^y,are neither one thmg
nq^^ tli?,, othj?f ;; th^y^ ai;^. qu^te, vapfd, and,
ihev.^p)V,% wjll the p^bl,:i^9, ' spew ttien\. ou,t of ;
their, m,9J^jtlp^.' Np,t, indeed, siiich,pap,ei"?,as
tlj^ I^Qtiir^gham R^vipyi,, ih^,StfimfqTd;New^^
thj^ LiY|;|tj^poL, MpPiCu^y, and som,e, other?^
the; proprietprs^^of w,hi<<h,\d,Q hpnour, tp the,
press, and thi? p^ges^of,wh,i.cli,Aw;\U^al,VEays.ib?-
Y^pA , wi^h, , plpasuj^e aji^^ adyanjtage." This Js, -
the w?iy,in w,hj,ch|,h^ %f?k/9. aijd>|Wf9te. of Mr.
Egpj*1^pn Sip^h, the proprietor of, th^, Liver
pppl^ Merqufy, in, the y eai^ j 1816. ,
After»,tl?e great pubUq meeting, wliich ihad,;
been |ield p .Spa-|ieldjs,,on,the, IStJ^pf JVoyejurv
ber. Ml*, C^ob^ett, in, tljie, very , n^p^ Numbey of,,
hj^ .R^gi^^er, pubUshed jon thp,,23(l;,of,thftt;
month, came round all at^^oi^t^e tq,.t(?»^,f^*of^,j
S%ffrage; and ,he say^, " In Nos, 16 apd,J§J,^
g?ive rny reasons fov, excluding from, the vpte.

HEi«l»Y!HUNT. 867
all^pejl©>iis \«h>o.did noitipjQs diresatitaxesi" ' He.
thea* veryi d-t^riycd^monstrat^' thei justice of;
euer^jowihavingo'aivote, and adds," Butj.it j;
appearediitoma, when JiwnoteNoa^ 16 afailSi
t©.h© tooidiflfieiultilo pnti this- rightin motion
all at oaee ; aaadjtherefore I reeomnftendead tthetj
ccsafining of the; right of voting to th^i pay&nsi
oficUmMi tmipesiur^tjhthm&islmf^'he time forr
air@tQrnised>PiarUai]aenjb'. to chmge>the modes of)
taficin§ik Since),^ JiQweyer j I ihwe corae to, lions-i i
don,. I have hsdan oppipctumtysoficonsulting?
MA4r!ai{(> CABTiWffeiGiHT upou the, subjeeft; aHadii
thigjresult is, my>TaoR9;u<SH convjctjon thai
npthing sh-cwt of IjNivERSALiSufFRApK would ;
bei; just, and/ that such a syslsem is perfectly
PKaetieabiW: This; was pwbljishbd, lon thaf^M.}
of fNPvember, 18il6w Thtei reader wiH hav^ to j
reiDoUficfc 1 tbese. thjiigs s wheni J come M detail ?
wthattook placft at :the_m!eeting of idetegatfis,! :
iaLiondon, onttheifoMfihwingr Jami^yv iVbio,
JVfci Cobbett says ..that" theijeiaisedhareeithttiagSi
foK, whichi) I wM&mAr-^lh,i^e^sal; Svffim^is
Ann%eAPmyxm,mtSf.andiJ^QtmJ)yvB'alht" As SQQn:<as I reeeivedfjSau F^anois iBurdfitt's )
letteFi^ decUningi toipresenti thetpeifeitibp of fib© ^
distKessed!5)pop|eit©i the Prince fBegen/b# J toolfo
the learJie^t oppjOKtuflity .of .precejedingt© Carl
ton, H!q>ii^tby»mys@lf.i When>Immv#d there*
In was in%medr;tbftt CblomBl.iM'Mah©n, hist

35S MEMOIRS OF
Royal Highness's secretary, had left town, and
would not return liU two o'clock the next day.
I inforraed the under secretary, who was in
waiting, who I was, and what was my business,
and J made an appointment to wait on Colonel
M'Mahon at two o'clock on the following day.
I took care to knock at the gate at Carlton
House at the ajppointed lime, and the inoment
that -the gate was open, the porter took off
his hat, and, ringing a bell, accosted me by
name, and requested me to walk forward to
the front door, which I had scarcely reached
before the large folding doors of Carlton
House were thrown «)pen, and I was politely
requested by the attendants to walk in, as
Colonel M'Mahon was ready to receive me.
I was ushered into his apartments in great ¦
state, and was immediately- introduced to
him by name. I was raost graciously received
by the Secretary, to whom I stated that I was
deputed to present to his Royal Highness a
petition, agreed to at a raeeting of nearly one
hundred thousand of his distressed subjects
of the metropolis, assembled in Spafields on
, the 15th, and that I wished to know when I
could have an audience for that purpose. The
Colonel then took his book, and informed me
that the next levee would lake place in about
three weeks, which was the first opportunity

HENRY HUNT. 359
that I could have of being introduced to his
Royal Highness the Prince Regent. I told
hira that would be too distant a date, and I
begged to know if there were no raeans of pre
senting the petition earlier, as I had proraised
to deliver the Prince's answer to the people on
the second of December, when they would
assemble again to hear what the answer was.
To this he replied, lhal the only other raeans
was lo forward the paper through the Secre
tary of State for the Home Departraent, who,
he had no doubt, would deliver il to his Royal
Master iramediately, as he knew it was consi
dered by the Ministers as a raatter of very
considerable iraportance. I thanked hina for his
polite attention and obUging information, and
I then retired with the same forra as I en
tered, the Colonel altending rae lo the doors,
which were thrown wide open as before.
I immediately wrote a letter lo Lord Sid
raouth, lo appoint a tirae when I could have an
audience, for the purpose of delivering lo hira
the petition to be presented to the PrineeRegent,
and I carried this letter rayself direct to the
oflSce of the Secretary of Stale, and sent it up to
his Lordship, saying, that I would wait in the
ante-roora for an answer. In a very few rai
nutes the servant in waiting returned, attended
by an under secretary, who said lhal Lord

360 SfEMOiRS OF
SidmoUfh Would give me amdudidncfe iirimfedi-
sttcly, and he'desired that 1 Would follow him.
I did so, and was forthwith iritroduced irito
the audience room. Where his Lpr^shi]f) re-
'ceived me with aU that parade of overi^traJned
'polite?ness which belongs to a fini^ed courtier.
^e was surrounded by some half-dozen lord-
Ihrgs^ who, from the manner in w^idh he or
dered them otrt of €16 room, ap^ieared to 'be
¦fetungry eipecfetoUs, seekmg and sttpj)licating
«ome place, offifee, 'or boon. They vanished
In a^tfwinkfiiig, and his Lordship couM nc^
hear a word for the wprld, tiU I did him the
honour lo take a seat, which he politely drew
fbr me. My letter had explained the object
of my visit, and, after having briefly apolo
gised for irremding at a time when he was sur
rounded ^1 others, I ^xpiiessed my wish to
have thepeftition of lW,000of the distressed
inhabitants of themetrppolis, whp had assem
bled in Spafields the preceding Monday, pre
sented to the Prince Regent; and I then put
into his hands the petition: he read it over
a!*entiv<dy, and having finished the perusal Cf
it, he said that it wa« a mosl importaht p&p&t,
and was couched in such proper language^ that
he should feel ithis duty to lay il before his
Eoyal Master the very first thing on the foilow-
ifi^ morning, and he had ndt the \&&kt 4fy\M

HE^RY HUNT. * 361
but every attention would be p^id to the pray
er of it. I begged to know if I raight expect
any reply from his ,Royal Highness. He an
swered, certainly npt ; it being the practice
n^yer to give any answer to petitions; but, if
il was thought advisable to attend to the pray
er of it, his Royal Highness's Ministers would
iminediately act uponit, and indeed he had
no doubt that it would receive-^ dye* attention.
He- then entered* into familiar convers,ation as
to the nature and extent of the meeting; and
I erabraced the opportunity of pointing out, in
glowing terms, the great and severe distress
under which the mass of the people were la
bouring, and expressing ray earneslinhopes
that sorae relief would be; granted to them.
He next introdticed the subject ®f the Mepio^
rial, a cqpy of which, he infoKitoed me, he
had received several days before lhe meeting
was held; and he declared, thajt if any attempt
at gping in a body to Carlton House had been
made, il would have been resisted by t^e mil^r
tary, and that bloodshed would have been the
consequence^ He was perfectly affare that I
had been, the cause of setting aside the Memo
rial, and substituting the petition in its stead ;
and he emphaticaUy added, J^^his Majesty's
Ministers are gilatly indebted to you, and
they are fully sensible that you have been the
. VOL. III. 3 A

362 MEMOIRS OF
cause of preventing a great public Calaraity ;
you have prevented the spilling of huraan
blood." I told him that I had promised to at
tend another meeting, in the same place, on
the Second pf December, lo acquaint thera
with the result of ray application, and I pro-
raised' him that I woijld represent it fairly.
With this he appeared»perfectly satisfied, and
he repedited the assurance, that he would lay
the petition before his Ro/al Highness •the
moment he could gain access to him in the
morning, and that he had no doubt it wouldj
receive due attention.
In the evening paper, the Courief,^ of the
nextJjUay, it was announced that the Spafields
petition had been presented to the Prince Re-
gei^t, who had graciously ordered four thou
sand POUjVDS lo be paid to the^ Spitalfields
soup committee; which sum was to be taken
frora the Droits of the Admiralty, In conse
quence of this grant frora his Royal Highness,
the soup committee rael, and called a public
meeting in the city, for the purpose of promot
ing the subscriptions, and deviding the best
means of relieving the distress which now was
admitted universally to prevail amongst the
labouring classes in the metropolis; so that it
Was quite evident that our%pafields raeeting
had produced infinite good, that in all prpba-

HENRY HUNT. 363
bility it had been the means of saving the lives
of thpusands, and relieving the distresses of
lens of thousands. Mr, Fowell Buxton attend
ed this meeting, and^ after having described
the unparalleled distress and misery of the
people, he made a most animated and feeling
appeal to the humanity of the public, lo come
forward lo relieve them. This and all the
other meetings that followed, and all the sub
scriptions that were raised, may very justly
be ascribed to the meeting at Spafields ; for till
*that meeting took place, the general over
whelming distress was little known, and less
regarded, by the opulent and powerful, who
alone had the means of relieving it. Notwith
standing this was undeniably the fact, yet the
whole public press of the metropolis, with
very few exceptions, was daily employed in
spreading the raost atrocious falsehoods and
caluranies against me, for having attended
that raeeting. I was represented as a traitor,
and one who wished to overturn the sacred
institutions of the country, and to prpduce
revolution, confusion, and bloodshed. The
Times, the Chronicle, the Morning Post, and
the Courier, held rae up lo public execration,
and even pointed, rae out for destruction. The
editor of the Times, who was then the notOr

364 MEMOIRS OF
rious Dr. Slop, alias Dr. Stoddart, the present
proprietor of the JVew Times, urged my assas
sination over and over again. As, however, no
one would kill me in reality, he determined
at least to kill me in print. Accordingly a long
article was inserted in the paper, announcing,
in the gravest manner, the death of Hunt. It
stated that I had got drunk, at-Mr. Thompson's
gin-shop on Holborn-hill, and bad fallen into one
of the areas of the new buildings at Waterloo-
place, opposite Carlton-House, where I was
found dead. A few days afterwards, it was
declared that they were misinformed as lo my
death, but that I was taken in a raelancholy
state of insanity to Bedlam ; and the writer
gave an account of the incoherent conversa
tion which I had held with Major Cartwright,
Mr. Cobbett, and Sir Francis Burdett, who
had been to visit me. These accounts were
given in such a serious manner, the details
were so minute, and they had altogether so
much the appearance of truth, that many of
ray friends and relations, in the country were
exceedingly alarraed, not having any idea
that the editor of a respectable newspaper
would have the irapudence to put forth such
barefaced falsehoods. There was also gene
rally one scoundrel or other who gratified his
malignity by writing to my family some dread-

HENRY HUNT. 365
ful Story of ray death, or of sorae serious in
jury which I had received.
On the Saturday previous to the 2d of De
ceraber I drove again to London, and as I was
sitting, in the evening of that day, in the room
al the Black Lion, Water Lane, Dr. Watson
and Mr. Thistlewood called to consult rae upon
what 1 meant to propose on the following
Monday. I declined, however, to have any
conversation with them upon the subject. I
should, I told thera, -be there al the lime ap
pointed (one o'clock), on the, ensuing Mon
day ; but lhal I was going out of town on the
next morning, and should return on the fpl-
lowing day in time for the raeeting. On Sun
day morning I left London with my servant, and
drove to a friend's, at Wanstead, in Essex,
where I passed the day and slept, on purpose
lo be out of the way of the party which I had
betbre met at Spafields ; as, after what I had
seen and heard when Mr. Castles was present,
I was deterinined to avoid having any com
raunication with any of thera, unless it was in
public. About twelve o'clock I started frora Wan
stead in ray landera, and, as I was driving
down Cheapside at a pretty smart pace, I met
a considerable crowd going towards the Man-
sion-House; and, just after I passed Bpw*

366 MEMOIRS OF
Church, I saw Mr- John Castles amongst those'
who appeared lo be going in a contrary direc
tion from that which Jed to Spafields. He
beckoned me, and I drew up to the pavement
to inquire the cause of what appeared to rae
rather extraordinary. Before, however, I
could put the question to Mr. Castles, he in
quired where I was going? to which I replied,
" to Spafields, to be sure." " Oh," said he,
" the raeeting has been broken up these two
hours nearly ; young Watson has got posses
sion ofthe Tower, and we are ail going thither;
turn your horses' heads and come with us."
I gave him a look that appeared to strike him
dumb, and laying my whip uppn my wheel-
horse, I passed rapidly on, exclaiming " what
a—-  *^ scoundrel ! " I looked at the clock
of BoTjf'-Cburch, and saw that it wanted a
quarter of an hour to one. I drove on at a
smart pace towards Spafields, and observed
to my servant, that I had no doubt in ray own
mind that Castles, the viUain whom we had
met, was an agent of the Government, a spy;
and the suspicions which I entertained of him
when I first met him, were now fully confirmed.
When we reached Spafields, the throng
was very great, rauch larger than even at the
first raeeting of the 15th of November. By
the kindness of the multitude I was enabled

HENRY HUNT. . 367
to drive up to the door of the Merlin's Cave,
in the front of which the people were assem
bled. My servant returned with my tandem,
with orders to have my horse Bob, whieh I
drove as leader, ready in the evening with a
saddle and bridle on, that I might ride bim
home lo my Inn from the meeting. The cheers
of the congregated tens of thousands were al
most insupportable ; I never heard such before.
I made my Way into the Merlin's Cave with '
difficulty, as it was again taken possession of
by the police. When I entered the room, I
found very few persons there except the news
paper reporters, and the police magistrates
with their officers, and none of those that had
taken any part at the previous meeting but
Mr. William Clark, who was again appointed
to lake the chair. Watson, Thistldlpood,
Preston, and all that party were absent, but
i had no knowledge of the cause, any farther
than the intimation which I had received from
the very worthy Mr. John Castles, not one
word of which did I believe to be true.
After having addressed the people, I moved
a string of resolutions, the first of which in
culcated the necessity of peaceable conduct,
and denounced as the greatest enemies of Re
form all those who should commit any act of
violence, or any breach whatever of the peace.

368 MEMOIRS OF , •
Another resolution Was, to agree to petition the
House of Commons for a Reform in the repre
sentation of the people, upon the principle of
universal suffrage, annual parliaments, and vote
by ballot. The resolutions being seconded by
Mr.Haydon of Welbeck-street, were aU passed,
and the petition which I proposed was unani
raously agreed to, and was, as will hereafter
be seen, signed hy twenty-four thousand pf the
suffering unrepresented people, and which was
* presented to the Honourable House by Lord
Cochrane. Towards the latter end of the raeeting infor
mation was brought to me that, in the course
of the day, there had been sorae Serious riots
in the city; I therefore iraraediately cautioned
all those who had attended our raeeting to
avoiHf mixing themselves up in any way with
those illegal and foolish «proceedings. I told
them that I should ride home to my hotel
upon ray favourite horse Bob, and, as I knew
they would attend me, I earnestly entreated
them that, as soon as they had protected me
lo my abode, they would each of thera peace
ably and quietly return horae, and not give
the enemies of Reform an opportunity of attri
buting disorderly conduct to any part of the
raeeting. This advice they proraised rae they
would attend to. I then mounted ray horse.

HENRY HUNT. 369
and almost the whole assembly accompanied
rae to ray inn. As we passed in the front of
the^ House of Correction, in Cold Bath Fields,
I observed great nurabers of constables and
police officers assembled, armed with their
staves of office, &c. &c., as if for the purpose
of protecting that building from the fury of
the populace. But there was not the slightest
occasion for this, as the people did nol evince
the least disposition to do any harm lo any
one; and, notwithstanding the imraense pres
sure of the crowd, I do not believe lhal there
was a single pane of glass broken.
When we arrived at the Black Lion in
Water-lane, I stood up in my stirrups, and
demanded of the people if they would grant
me one favour 'i A thousand voices exclaimed
" Yes, Sir, any thing that you wish." I^hen
requested them to disperse iraraediately, and
return to their homes. They answered, " We
will, we will !" I alighted and went inlo my
inn, and in a very few minutes afterwards the
whole of this imraense raultitude had disper-S-
ed, and were on their way homeward, without
doing any mischief.
It was now for the first time that I heard any
thing of the riots which had taken place in the
city. A second edition of the Courier gave a
raostexaggerated account of them, misrepre-
VOL. IIL 3 B

370 MEMOIRS OF
senting every thing, and heading the state
ments " Spafields Meeting ;" when the truth
was, that so far from any of the persons who
attended the Spafields meeting having had any
hand in the riots, they actually knew nothing
of the matter, till they heard it frora their
neighbours, after they had relurned horae from
the meeting. The fact was this : Watson and
Thistlewood found that I would not have any
thing to do with their wild scheraes, whatever
they might be ; they therefore asserabled in
Spafields about eleven o'clock in the raorning,
more than an hour before the persons who
meant lo attend the aaeeting began to meet
together; they mounted the waggon, and
addressed the few individuals that surrounded
them, perhaps at the tirae two or three hun-
dredr; the elder Watson harangued thera upon
the advantages of the Spencean plan, and
young Watson, urged on by Castles, having
briefly addressed thera, juraped frora the wag
gon, and caUed upon those who wished lo be
led on to victory lo foUow him; the villain'
Castles taking care to leave a few bulets,
wrapped up in an old stocking, so exposed in
the waggon, that those who reraained could
not avoid seeing thera. The whole of what
occurred was reported by Mr. Spectacle Dow
ling, a confidential repprler pf the Sunday

HENRY HUNT. STK
Observer, Who swore to the particulars after-
Wards with an astonishing degree of minute
ness, although olher reporters who were
present declared, that not one-tenth of what
was said could be heard.
Aboul forly persons followed young Wat
son, accompanied by his friend Castles ; and
Mr. Dowling the reporter followed this little
squad of desperadoes, no doubt for the pur
pose of giving a faithful detail of what passed,
although he was sent by Mr. Clement, of the
Observer, lo report the proceedings of the
meeting to be held in Spafields al one o'clock.
Il appears that having been reinforced by a
party of distressed sailors and others, who
were returning from the Old-Bailey, where
they had been to witness the hanging of spme
criminals, these gentry attacked and began lo
plunder the shpp of Mr. Beckwith, a gun-smith,
in Skinner-street. It is s^aid that young Wat
son was seized there by a man of the name of
Plait, and that, in order lo save himself, he fired
a pistol loaded with powder and wadding only,
which wounded the said Platt in the groin.
Young Watson was, however, seized and taken
up stairs inlo a back room, and the front doors
of the shop and the windows were closed.
During the confusion Platt escaped over a back
wall of the premises, and as young Watson

372 MEMOIRS OF
was left in the house a prisoner al large, he
walked into a front room, opened a window
that looked into the street, and waved his
handkerchief to the raultitude, to raake an
effort to relieve hira. This they iraraediately
attended to; a sailor volunteered his sei"vices,
and being hoisted up by thepeople, he threw
hiraself through the fan-light over the front
door, which he soon opened, and Watson was
released without any resistance. They then
seized some of the guns, and pushed forward
towards the Exchange, firing in the air as they
passed along Newgate-street and Cheapside.
They entered the Exchange; upon which the
doprs were closed upon thera, and Alderraan
Wood, who was a second time Lord Mayor, and
Sir Jaraes Shaw, seized a sailor or two, one
of whom proved to be Cashraan, who was then
bearing the tricoloured flag. The rest of the
party, headed by \\%son, marched off to the
Tower, where, as it was afterwards sworn,
Thistlewood demanded of the soldiers upon
duty on the parapets to surrender the Tower to
them. Some of the party broke into a gun
smith's shop in the Minories, and carried
off several, of his guns, some finished and
others not finished. By this time, however,
a half-dozen of horse soldiers raade their ap
pearance upon Tower-hUl, upon which the

HENRY HUNT. 373
authors of this mighty insurrection all fled
with the greatest precipitancy, helter skelter,
the devil take the hindermost, without the
soldiers having made a charge, raised an arm,
or even approached near to them.
So much for this disgraceful and con
temptible riot, during the whole of which not
one life was lost, and, with the exception of
Plait, not one person was even wounded or
hurl. While these things were going on, it
has been seen that Castles had contrived lo
way-lay me, in Cheapside, on ray road from
Wanstead towards Spafields; and, as I have
before observed, kindly invited me to accom
pany him lo the Tower, which he said young
Watson had gol possession of for raore than
an hour before.
In the evening the elder Watson and Thistle
wood were taken near Paddington or Islington,
as they were endeavourilj^ to make their escape
into the country. The worthy Mr. John Castles
no doubt surrendered himself, and soon after
Preston and Hooper were apprehended, and
they were all five coraraitted to prison. I be
lieve a reward of 750/. was offered for the ap
prehension of the chief conspirator, young
Watson. The next day the London papers
were craramed full of the mosl wonderful
accounts of this most wonderful plot and insur-

374 MEMOIRS OF
rection ; attributing the whole of it to me, and
to the Spafields meeting. The London press
bad raised such an outcry as never was heard
of before; and if ten thousand of the inhabi
tants of the dty had been massacred, there
could nol have been greater consternation
produced throughout the whcde 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 Decem
ber, in a letter which he addressed to rae on
the subject, and as it contains matter worthy
to be recorded in my Meraoirs, I shall insert
it verbatim.
" A Letter to Henry Hunt, Esq. of Middleton Cottage,near
Andover, on the London Plots.
.4|, "¦ London, IZih Dec, \B\e.
" Sir — The summer before last, when you came over to
Botiey and found me transplanting' Swedish turmps amidst,
djist, and under a sun which scorched the leaves till they
resembled fried parsley, you remember how I was fretting'
asnd stewing ; how many times in an hourl was looking
out for a south-western cloud ; how I watched the mer
cury in the glass,, and rapped the glass with my knuckles
to try to moye it in my favour. But great as my anxiety
then was, and ludicrous as were my movements, ten thou
sand timesgreater hasi been that of Corruption's Press for
the coming of a PLOT, and ten thousand times more ludi
crous its movements in order to hasten the accomplish
ment of its wishes! You remember how my wifelaiugh-
ed at me, when, in the evening, some boys having thrown,-
a handful or two of sand over the wall, that made a sort

HENRY HUNT. 375
of dropping on the leave's of the laurels, I took it for the
beginning of a shoinery 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 shin
ing 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. Pteston's papers ! They sig'h 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 dyiiig' for a Plot !
"^ .Inthese 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
Plpt for the destruction of the Government, would such
proof tend to the credit of that Government in the eyes
of tbe world at large, or in those of the people of this
kingdom ? . Would it tend to, make the world belieye that
the Government is good, and is beloved by the people ?
Would it tend to lessen the mass 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 1)0 such tendency, what good could arise, to the Go
vernment from the producing of even undeniable proof of
the existence of a Plot of any sort, however extensive ?
" But, as clearly appears ftom 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 bave asserted as
admitted facts hundreds of felsehoods. As a specimen of
these, the Times, Swn, 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 Essex, 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 asserted, that I
came up for the express purpose of organizMg the Plot ;
and that, having prepared every thing, I set off to Botiey
the night before it broke out. — Here I have been in Ldn
don, however, without having stirred out of it one minute
ftom that time to this. I could mention a hundred other
falsehoods which the sons of Corruption have sent forth
wilh equal boldness, with equal impudence, and with
equal baseness. But, the ITtmes newspaper, ^Ways pre-

376 MEMOIRS OF
eminent in infamy, asserted, that ' Voung Cobbett' was
oneof the persons -who spent the evening with you after
your return from the Spa-flelds Meeting on the Monday,
The object of this falsehood was to alarm his mother and
sisters for his safety, seeing that that statement was ac- ,
companied with other falsehoods calculated to excite a
fear that all, who were with you that evening would be
implicated in some state crittjte ! It is for the Courier-, the
Sun, the Post, and some others to be guilty of premedi
tated falsehoods, bnt 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' be
lieved 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 ofall sense of moral feeling
as coolly to put upon paper, in the most serious and solid
manner, andto 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 con
duct. They now see, however, that this really is the
case ; and, though there are some who will still, from cor
rupt motives, affect to believe in the statements of these
corrupt men, there will, I hope, be found a great many to
say, tliat 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 teraptation at all.
The numerous and ponderous facts, the clear and forcible
arguments, by which they have been assailed, 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 accusa
tions ; and, unable to find any thing upon which to put a
false construction, they have, at last, thrown aside all at
tempts to discover the means of misrepresentation, and

HENRY HUNT. 377
have had recourse to open, unhlashing^ to sheer invented
falsehoods. That love of fair play, for which all'orders
of Englishmen in all ageis have been so famed, finds no
¦place in the bosoms of these degenerate raen. — They en
ter the ring with seeming bravery, but being, round after
i'ound,'knocked down and crippled, they use, like a Dutch
man, their remaining strength to draw out a snigarsnee to
run into our bowels. Let us, however, by a steady and
cool perseverance iri the cause of our country's freedom
and haippinesS, endeavour to break the arm that wields
this hateful instrument of malignity apd cowardice.
" You, conscious of yoflr honourable motives, and lis'^
tening only to your courage, have always been deaf to
the intreaties of those who cautioned you againstthe dan
ger of spies ind false- witnesses. But, dO you think that
the wretches ¦who could be base enough to publish false
hoods 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 dangler 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 de
voted to every thing that is corrupt; do you think they
vyould 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 assured, that there is no
thing of which such men are not capable ; intimidation,
promises, bribes, perjury, any thing suoh men are capable
of recommending" to others, or of doing themselves. Your
country life, your sober habits, yonr dislike of feastings
and carousings ; theSe are great' securities ; but,' while
you follow the impulses of your public-spirit and your va
lour, I hope you will always beJEir in mind, that there are
such things as false-swearing in the world, ''and that a de
feated coward has never been known to be otherwise than
inexorably cruel. The proprietor of the Morning Post,
in his paper of last Monday, sa!ys, that Cobbett and Hunt
olig'ht at least to lose theii^ lives ; and the author of the
Antigallican has, I am told, put the dfawing of a gallo'lvV'S'
in his Paper, with a r6pe ready for WSe, having my fiaine
on it, or very near it. — And, you may be well assured,
that, if the false oaths of these men could do the job, those
VOL. IIL 3 C

378 MEMOIRS OF
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 con
sequences of false-swearing. ¦ These men and their asso
ciates call the younger Mr. Watson (whom they, without
proof, charge with shooting Mr, Platt) anassawsin,, though
they themselves stale, that the shot arose from the seizure
of Watson by Platt, and that the former, like a wild en
thusiast 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. Nobody justifies, or attempts to
justify, the shooter; but, if he were an assassin, 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 bloody-mindedness add a
degree of cowardice such as was never before heard of.
" Let Jiie 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 iGrank, All that was really
found out from him was, that he was a surgeon who had
lived in great esteem, and had a family vvho had been
rendered so miserable by want, that ' a lovely daughter
of his ""had died for the want of the things, such as wine,
&a necessary to her recovery.' His story, of the truth of
¦^hich there appears to be no doubt, would have softened
any hearts but those of the sons of Corruption, who, in
stead of expressing compassion 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 ;' hut,
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 arid his son have been search-

HENRY HUNT.' 379
ed, and all tbeir papers seized, amongst the rest, we are
told, a Letter from you to the younger Watson. Oh !
what a priee ! 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 had any criminal
hand in ' the cotispiracy.' How came these newspaper
writers to know the contents of your letter ? JVho was
it that authorised them to publish this account of your let
ter ? Either they know its contents, or they do not: if the
latter, they have pubhsljpd 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 Conspi
racy; 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 hav
ing your co-operation. This is what, I venture to say,
the contents of your letter would have proved to the sa
tisfaction 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 in
tended ' insurrection,' and confesses all that can be wish
ed, 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 pass 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 house, and having
examined him and his papers, found no grounds for de
taining 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 :

380 MEMOIRS OF
" 'The next persori of importance who basbeen ap
prehended 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 ex
aminations, in all which he has been as communicative as
jlhe most zealous could have wished. — The substance of
all he related is accurately thus — that a plan of insurrec
tion 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 asserted, must
still be carried into effect — it was too powerful to be re
sisted when properly undertaken ; arid the only resource
left to the Government, in order to its being averted, was,
by the Prince Regent answering the petition of the peo
ple, and the immediate adoption of Parliamentary Re
form. ' 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 Wat
sons, and had frequently acted with them upon the Com
mittees, and various other occasions. He denied having
taken the slightest part in the riotous proceedings of Mon
day, 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 constitutional, and
delivered the whqle of his account in the most undisguised
and epthusiastic manner.' In another examination he is
stated to have said, that ' the PLOT had been going on
forEIGHT YEARS, and tbat he himself HAD WRIT
TEN TO THE LATE MR. PERCEVAL ON THE SUB
JECT, urging bim to ADOPT it, as the only means of
SAVING THE NATION !'
" Npw, 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 Insur
rection ! 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 Sy-
phax and his associates hollow ; for they, in order to fur
ther their view of destroying the government, communi
cate their Plot to the Prime Minister himself!
" What must the people in the country thinic of all

HENRY HUNT. 381
this? What a mass of absurdities and contradictions!
What madness it fill appears to be ! Good insurrections ;
constitutional attacks on the government ! Plots which
the prime Minister has been urged to adopt in order to
save the nation ! What can the people iat large make
out of such a strange medley ? The sons of Corruption it
is who have made the medley. They wanted a Plot.
The riiad riots in the city afforded them a pretext, nnd
they have put the words PLOT and INSURRECTION
into Mr. Preston's mouth in order to fayqur 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 school
master in Yorkshire, conceived what he called a PLAN
for making the nation happy, by taking all the lands into
I the hands of a just government, and appropriating all the
produce or profit to the support ofthe 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 brougiit 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 nnd 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 1 forget how long. He
WEIS 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 assured, 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 wallSi
in and near London, these words, "SPENCE'S PLAN:"
and I never kpew what it meant, until, a little while ago,
I received a pamphlet from %r- Evans, Newcastle-street,
Strand, detailing the Plan very fully. This Mr. Evans, I
understand to be,a yery vyorthy man, and bis pamphlet,,
though I do qot agree with it in opinion as to manyof its
propositions, contains some interesting observations, aud^
breathes a spirit of benevolence throughout the whole.

382 MEMOIRS OF
" Mr. Preston and the Watsons appear to have been fol
lowers of Mr. Spence ; and the ' plan' of which Mr. Pres
ton 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 ofit! Thus, you will
clearly perceiYe, that the ' confessions,' as they are called,
of your correspondent, Mr. Preston, are no confessions at
all. Yqu 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 con
stitutional? What absurdity to believe, that a man, and
a guilty man, too, would talk about a good insurrection and
about a plot that was constitutional, and which plot had
been going on for eight years, and ha4 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 en
deavours 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 ihe operations
were not to commence till dark. Preston still maintains a
high and indignant tone; he talks more enthusiasticall-y
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 insti
gator and great mechanist of the conspiracy, has declar
ed that the two Watsons, himself, and Preston, were in
concert together in Spa-flelds 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 wprds 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 assured, that these
eager efforts to excite alarm will fail of their purpose,
and that the workers in them and their abettors will corae

HENRY HUNT. 383
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 Corrript Press are publishing
this very document, 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 ap
prehension : — ' SPENCE'S PLAN
For Parochial Partnerships 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 ;
Forthe LAND is the PEOPLE'S FARM.
The Expenses ofthe Government do not cause the Misery thai
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 ofthe Earth is for all ;'
Yel how deplorably destitute are the great Mass 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 inankind
require it for their preservation.
To obtain this important object, by extending the knowledge of the
above system, the Soeiety of Spencean Philanthropists has been in
stituted. 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 \there also the
regulations of the Society may be procnred, 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 ia the
evening, as under :
First Section, every Wednesday, at the Cock, Grafton-street, Soho.
Second' • • • •  Thursday, Mulberry Tree, Mulberry-court, Wil
son-street, Moorfields.
Third  Monday, Nag's H,ead, Carnaby-market.
Fourth  Tuesday, No. 8, Lumber-street, Mint, Borough.'
" 7%t« 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 impos
tor, must this writer be, who can tell the pulflic, that this
hand-bill excited much apprehension ! Apprehension, I
beHeve, indeed, in him and his associates and encour

384' MEMOIRS OF
ragers; for it furnishes the clue to unravel all their false
hoods and to expose them to scorn and to detestation ;
but, it is calculated to excite ' apprehension' in nobody
else. The public indignation is fast collecting and wind
ing 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 ^nd bloodshed. A gang
of spies and informers, in one of Beaumont and Fletcher's
plays, who, after long and wearisome contrivances to dis
cover a plot and to get the reward, just at the moment when
they are expecting to see their victim s'wing and to
pocket the blood-money, are sent away abashed and con
founded 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 desti
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 go
vernment, the punctuality and decorum of your proceed
ings, the language and matter of your Resolutions and
Petition, and the effect of these, very justly entitled you to
a large share of public applause ; but, the blows which
these ferocious writers have aimed at your life have ex
cited an interest in your favour such as no human being
could have thought possible, and in the tide of which are
completely drawned all your momentary errors and indis
cretions, which, besides, ha'ving 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 vio
lent 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 over
powered all the alarms of the good and timid people in
whose breasts what is called your violence had excited
such alarms.

HENRY HUNT. 385
" -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: defi
ance 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 fllled with talk about you. They have
contrived by their endeavours to implicate you in a ' trea
sonable 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 Thursr
day 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 ac
count of all the movements of your body ; and, after what
I have seen within these ten days, I, do not despair of see
ing 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 pleas
ed to express his high approbation of the ingenious mode
of laying the crab-stick on uponthe 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
Tanrfew is become far more renowned than the Bullet
proof coach, and your horse Bob, is far mpre famous al
ready than the charger of -old Blucher.
" Oh I the fools ! Could not the- settled reputation of be
ing the most consumn^ate of knaves content them ? Was
it necessary, in order to satisfy their ambition, to stand un
rivalled through the world for folly as well as for knavery ?
"Gratified, however, as you raust be by these demon
strations 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.
VOL. III. 3 D

386 MEMOIRS OF
which you will now be the better able to serve, because,
having given such ample proofs of earnestness and reso
lution, you may safely moderate your seal 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 bal
last: exchange a little of the courage of the lion for a
little ofthe 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 cotintry is becoming day after
day more and more perilous, arid there can be no relief
withont a radical cure. The Prince in his answer to thp
City of Londori (¦which I shall fully notice by and by)
confesses, as he well may, the existence of national dtsiress
and difficulty. These are important words, and espe
cially the last. This is a great change produced since
the beginriing of last session of Parliament, when the
wondrous prosperity of the country was a prominent
theme of the Speech, and when your Wiltshire County
Member, Mr. Paul Methueui congratulated the House,
that this country had 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 svrells at a greai rate,
and, as a means of immediate relief, I am glad it does,
though I shall always contend, that whatever degree ot
good may thereby be done, is due to you' more than to any
othei: persoUj and more than to all other persons put toge
ther ; for, it is impossible that the misery should not have
existed before the flrst Meeting iu Spa-fields ; and why,
then, was it not before relieved? Mr. Buxton must have
long known the facts which he so eloquently arid so affect
ingly described ; and why did he not then describe them
sooner ? "The miserable sailors have long been perishing
about the streets with hunger and cold ; and why, then,
has no measure of relief for them been adopted ' uritil
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 1 am quite
sure of, that it was your first meeting and your petition

HENBY HUNT, 38T
which roused their feelings intp immediate action; I do
not isay , nbr 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,'
^as 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 andi
old clothes in all directions ! But, this very Courier, after
the first Meeting, expressly stated, that tl^e people in
and near London, were not in want. He said, that,
though work had fallen pff and wages had been lowered
in the coufUry, it was not so in London ; and he called
the poor starving multitudes mutinous, lasy, and rebel
lious. He charged them with designs to overset the Go-.
vernment, and plainly and distinctly asserted, that they
stood in no need of relief! How quickly he changed hi*
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 pro
ducing symptoms so horrible that one siekens but to think
of them. Amongst others, take the facts described in a
placard now sticking against the walls. ' PUBLIC NO
TICE. — ^United Parishes of Saint Andrew, Holborn, above
Bar", and St. George the Martyr, Queen's Square. At a
meeting ofthe overseers held this day in consequence of
MANY PERSONS DESERTING THEIR FAMILIES,
—It was resolved. That, in future, all persons, who de
sert their families, whereby they become chargeable to
these parishes, or when the reputed parents of ari illegi
timate child abscond, such persons shall be advertised in
the public papers, or in posting bills, -with a full descrip
tion of their persons, residence, and calling, and other par
ticulars, 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 I And this is the age ,pf

388 MEMOIRS OF
our glory, is it ? This is the situation we are in, when im
mense sums are voted for the erection of monuhients 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 sitiiation
of the country, that Pitt Clubs haye 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 raake him
" desert his family ;" or, if they do reflect on them, they
mustbe more cruel than the storms and the waves. The
labouring men in England, generally speaking, are the
kindest and most indulgent of husbands andof parents. It
has often been observed by me, that they are generally so
toa fault. If a boy or girl belonging to them behave ill
tbwards their' empl6yers, their father and mother are very
hard to be convinced of the fact. — I have often to remon
strate with them' upon this subjeet, and to remind them of
how much more ihdulgent they are to thefr children than
Iam to mine. ' Aye, Sir,' said a very good woman to me
alittie while ago, ' biit 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
affectibn too.- They see their children in want ; they grow
up in continual suffering ; they are incessantlj' objects of
compassion over and above the love which nature has
implanted in the parent's breast. Their obstinate perse
verance 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 thp heart,
" If I have here, as I am sure I have, given the true
character of the English labourer, as a parent and a hus
band, what must that state of things be, which has ren^
dered 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 a'i the same time, to the weight of
taxes ; ¦ and we cite Mr. Preston in support of otir doctrine.

HENKY HUNT. 389
who saysi that every poor riian, 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 con
sidered as payirig, in indirect taxes, at least ten pounds
a-year, or more than half his wages at seven shillings 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 in
dividual at the head of a family ; thus depriving five per
sons of the means of sustenance from the fruits of honest
industry and active labour, and rendering. them paupers !
" What I is this rebellious on the part of Mr. Preston ?
He is a lawyer of great eminence. A Member of Par
liament. A man of great landed estate. Could he write
and publish this from rebellious, from treasonable mo
tives ? 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 sub
scription 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 comraand ? 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 aw'ay.
There must be moneyi 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. Whj', then, are they in a passion ? Why not
laugh at me and my trash ? Why name rae 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 Sine
cure Placeman, who writes in the Times newspaper, and
lipon whom the droppings of riiy pen seem to have the
same effect as the crumbling of blue-stone or lump-sugar

300 MEMOIRS OF
OB Jth^ proud flesh of a gall/ed JR(^e. He winc^? an^
dances, and kicks and flings abqut at a ^ne rate. Ainids^
his ravings he swears that he wilfcaqse me to be hanged ;
and if he should not succeed, he would, I am sure, if he
had any decency,, flnish his career by tucking up himself,
and th^t too in his ribbon ofthe order, of St. Lewis.
•' The truth is, that these menand their assistapts and ^n-
cpurag.ers see their certain doo,m in the enlightening of Oie
people. They see clearly enongh, that convictioji raust.
follow facts and arguments like mine rendered familiar.
They see that I am uniting the mind with the muscle qf
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 j^ to pursue a peaceable and orderly conduct.
They hate every qne who dwells upon the mds&^ies of the
country; fpr, ^o iAew, it is confusion to acknowledge that,
rpisery exists. The Ccwrier asserted, only the other
day, that there was no suffering in or near Jiondqn, and
aibused the people for complaining! Such men ¦would
kill you or me or any man who talks of the people's suf-
fej^ipgs. They call the coraplaints of hunger sedition.
Thpse writers are like the wretch, who, unE^ble to force
liis poor worn-outand starved hor^e to drag his load along
any further, took. out his knife and cut his tbroa't. 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
siibmissipn. The followi^ng case, taken frojn their awn
-accounts of Wednesday last, will serve as a specimen of
what is going on in London. Tias is dying quietly , ac
cording to the recommendation of Mr. Jabet's Old Towns
man, w.ho gave such just offence to the people of Bir-
mii|gham. ' Between twelve and one o'clock on ypster-
day morning, a poor fellow was found in. a passage in
Highr-street, Bloomsbury, by Sullivan and Hogan, the_
watchmen of that district; he had taken shelter for the
night. They requested him to walk on to his lodgings ;
he did, not answer, but walked towards Monmouth-street,
and .they walked the contrary road. Between two and
three o'clpck they again fojind him It/ing upon a. step in
the, same street; they asked him if he had no lodgings:
he tried to answer, but could only move his lips, which
gave no utterance. They raised him lupon his feet to
assist him to the watch-house ; he walked a few yards.

llENrtY HUNT. , 391
and fl-om, weakness fell upon his knees. They goth im
upon their shoulders to 6arry him to the watch-house,
but before they arrived with him h6 appeared to be dead:
The watchman took him to the workhouse, and called up
the house surgeon, who' exaniined the body, and said it
was useless to bleed hira, or use any method to restore
him, as he was quite dedd. The deceased is apparently
dhout flfty years of age, the most complete pidture of
human misery, having no linen upon his back, and his
bones almost through his skin. By his dress he appears to
be a workraan out of employ-. He has not been owived.'
-—Look at this, ye vile miscreants, and then say, ¦whether it
¦vras a crime to call a meeting of the distressed to petition
for relief I Hundreds must perish in this way. Only five
days ago I saw more than t'v^renty sailors on Westfriinster
Bridge, neither of whom had any linen Oh, and sorae nei
ther shoes. Stockings, nor hat. But, the numbers who
have perished and who are perishing from the diseases
occasioned by want are not to be counted. And yet, it
¦was a crime in you, and the sanguinary sons of corrtiptiori
called for your instant execution, because yoa obeyed the
call of the distressed to hold a meeting of them in Spa»
fields ! Not to have obeyed that call would indeed have
been a crime;' but, it was a crime of which your nature
was incapable.
" I now come to the City Petition and the answer of
the Prinee Regent. This is a very important matter, and, ,
therefore, I shall insert the documents themselves previous
t6 rifiaking any reriiarks on them.
" ' ABDRE8S AND PETITION.
" ' May it please your Royal Highness,
" ' We, his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, thfe
Eord Mayor, Aldermen, and Comraons of the City of Lon
don, in Common Council assembled, humbly approach
ybur Royal Highness, to represent our national suffering's
arid grievances, and respefetfully to suggest the adoption
of measutes which we conceive to be indispensably neces-
saily for the safety, the quiet and prosperity of the Realm,
" ' We forbear to enter into details of the affliiJtihg
scenes of privatidns and sufferings that every Where
exist ; the distress and misery which for so Many years
has heen progressively accumulating, has at length be
come insuppoi-table— it is no longer partially felt, nor

89? MEMOIRS OF
linjited to one portion of the empire — the commercial,
.the raanufacturing, a^d the agricultural interests are
equally sinking under its irresistible pressure ; and it has
.becorae impossible to flnd employment for a large mass of
the population, much less to bear up against our present
enormous burdens.
. " ' We beg to irapress upon your Royal Highness, that
our.present complicated evils have not arisen from a mere
transition fropi war to peace, nor from. any sudden or acci
dental causes^rueither can they be removed by any par
tial or temporary expedients.
" ' Our grievancjes are the natural effect of rash and
ruinous wars, unjustly commenced and pertinaciously per
sisted in„when no rational object was to be obtained — of
imraense subsidies to foreign powers to defend their own
territories, or to commit aggressions on those of their
neighbours — of a delusive paper currency— of an uncon
stitutional arid unprecedented military force in time pf
peace — of the unexampled and increasingmagnitude ofthe
(Civil List^^pf the enormous sums paid for unmerited pen
sions and sinecures — and of a long course of the .most
lavish and improvident expenditure of the public money
throughout every branch of the Government, all arising
from the, corrupt and inadequate state of the representa
tion of the people in ParRament, whereby all constitu
tional controul oyer the servants of the Crown has been
lost, and Parliaments have become subservient to the will
.pf Ministers.
" ' We cannot forbear expressing our grief and disap
pointraent, that, notwithstanding your Royal Highness's
gracious recoraraendation of economy at the opening of
the last Session of Parliament, your Ministers should'haye
been, found opposing eyery proposition for lessening-.the
national expenditure; and that they should have been
able to obtain majorities to support and sanction their
eonduct, in deflance of your Royal Highness's recomriien-
dation and the declared sense of the nation;— affording
another melancholy proof of the corrupt state of the re-.
presentation, in addition to those facts so often stated, and
offered to be proved at the bar of the House of Commons,
in a petition presented in 1793, by the Honourable Charlgs,
now Lord Grey,- whereby, it appeared, that the great body
of the people were excluded |from all share iri the election
of Members, and that the majority of the Honourable^

'' HEl^RY HUNT. 393
House were returned by the proprietors of rotten bo
roughs, the influence of the Treasury, and a few powerful
families. . '
" ' We can. Sir, ijo longer support out of our dilapi
dated resources, an overwhelming load of tcixation ; and
we humbly submit to your Royal Highness, that nothing
but a reformation of these abii$e,s, and restoring to the
people their just and constitutional right in the election
of MembOrs of Parliament, can affptd a security against
their recurrences-calm the apprehensions ofthe people^ —
allay their irritated feelings, and prevent those misfoi;-
tunes in which the option must inevitably be involved, by
an obstinate and infatuated adherence to the present sys
tem of corruption and extravagance. .
" ' We therefore humbly pray your Royal Highness to
assemble Parliament as early as possible ; and that you
will be graciously pleased to recoraraend to their imme^
diate consideration these important matters, arid the ad'op-
tion bf measures for abolishing all useless places, pensions,
and sinecures ; forthe reduction of our present enorraous
military establishraent ; foj- making eYery practicable reduc
tion in the Public Expenditure, and restoring to the peopje .
their just share and weight in the Legislature.
" ' Signed by order of the Court,
" ' Henry Woodthorpe.' "
" ' prince's answer.
" ' It is with strong feelings' of surprise and regret,
that I receive this Address and Petition of the Lord
Mayor, Alderraen, and Cpmmons of the City of London,
in Coramon Council assembled.
" ' Deeply as I deplore the prevailing distress and di0-
culties of the country, I derive consolation from the per
suasion, that the great body of his Majesty's subjects, not
withstanding the various attempts which have been made
to irritate andmislead the.m, are well convinced/that the
severe trials which they sustain with such exemplary pa
tience and fortitude, are chiefly to be attributed to una
voidable causes, and I contemplate with the raost cordial
satisfaction the efliirts of that enlightened benevolence
which is so usefiillyand laudably exerting itself through
out the king'dom,
"''I shall res«»rt with the utmost confidence to Ae
TRIED wisdom of Parliament, at the timej which upoin
VOL. in. 3 E

394 MEMOIRS OE
the: fullest consideration, I have thought most advisable,
under the present circumstances of the country ; and I
entertain a perfect conviction, that a firm and temperate
administration of the Government, assisted and supported
by the good sense, public spirit, and loyalty of the nation,
will eSectusAly counteract those proceedings, which, from
'Whatever motives they ma.y Originate, are calculated to
render TEMPORARY difficulties themeans of producing
PERMANENT' and irreparable calamity.'
" The surprise and regret, and the broad hints that
came after, have nettled the citizens a little. Whether
they will shew any bottom, remains to be seen ; but, as to
the distress and difficulties being TEMPORARY, and as
to their having arisen frora UNAVOIDABLE causes, I
differ with his Royal Highness, or, rather 'with his Minis
ters who advised this answer. The distre.ss has been
visibly proceeding in a regular increase of severity for
more than two years ; it becomes every day greater and
greater ; it is deep rooted ; ' it is destroying the means of
resuscitation; it is ripping up the goose and taking out
the gplden eggs ; in suspending the operations of labour,
it is cutting off the possibility of a speedy return of em-
plpyment. But, what say the Correspondents of the
Board of Agriculture ? Not one single man of them, ex
cept a parson or two, pretends that the distress is of a
teriiporary nature ; onthe contrary, 205 of them, out of
322, attribute the ruin to the weight of taxes! And,
therefore, to make the distress temporary, the weight of
taxes must be teraporary ; and this is one of the main ob
jects ofthe prayer of the Citizens of London.
.5' Oh, no! the distress and difiiculties have npt arisen
from unavoidable causes ; for the weight of taxes might
have been avoided. However, let me ask the Ministers a
few questions here. I will not ask them whether it was
unavoidable for the Bank to stop payment in cash in 1797 ;
whether it was unavoidable to renew the warin 1813;
whether it was unavoidable to persevere in the war
with Araerica after the war in England ceased, and, at
last, to make peace without attaining any object pf war ;
whether,;* was unavoidable to renew the war in 1815 for
the purpose of compelling the French people to give up
Napoleon and, submit to the Bourbons; whether it! was
unavoidable to keep up an army to maintain tbe Bourbons
on the throne of Francpi at a time whep thousands of the
Protestants of the country were butchered or burnt by

HENRY hunt. 395
those who called themselves the loyal. I will not put
any of these questions to the Ministers ; but with the offi
cial accounts before me, I will ask them a few questions
applicable to the present moment. 1 ask them, then. Pounds..
Was it unavoidable to keep up an army at the expense, ¦> gg ygg Qg,j,
including the Ordnance, of ••¦••••• ¦  •  i ' '
-Was ii unavoidable that the expense of the .Civil List! j 928 OOO
should, in last year, amount to  j ' '
Was it unavoidable for us to pay in the same year, on ac-> -g. .,_
count of the deficiencies ot the Civil List  J '
Was It Mma»oido6/e that' the other additional allowancesT S66 660
to the Royal Family, in that year, should amount to - • • j '
Was it unavoidable that.the Civil List for Scotland should > .„„ - ,_
amount to  •  J '
Was it unavoidable to give for the relief of suffering •\ "¦ "
French and, Dutch Emigrants, in that year, /after thef 70 fig I
J^ourbons and the * Orange Boven' had been restored, C '
the sum of  J
Was it unavoidable to expend in that year (including 1
an arrear of the former year), in SECRET SERVICE V 163,446
Money, the sum of • . •  •, )
Was it unavoidable topay last year, out ofthe taxes for^
the relief of the Poor Clergy ofthe Church ofEngland, >¦ 100,000
the sum of  S '

" I could ask them a great many raore questions of a
sirailar nature and tendency ; but here are enpugh for-the
present ; and, if- the Citizens of London should happen to
be satisfied, that all these expenses were unavoidable, all
the taxes, of course, are unavoidable, and then it is clear,
that the present distress and difflculty ofthe country are td
be attributed to unavoidable causes. But, if the citizens
should think, that a very large part, nine-tenths, for in
stance, of these expenses raight have been avoided, then
they will come to the opposite conclusion, and, if they bg-
not beaten at a single blow, they will riot fail to communi
cate that conclusion to his Royal Highness.
" As to the- hint about irritating ; and misleading the
people, the charge can apply only to the enemies of Par
liamentary Reform ; for we deal in soothing language, in
the insjjiring of hope, and in the promulgation of useful
political truth, and^ therefore, the charge cannot apply to
us. But, when the Prince is advised to talk of the TRIED
wisdom of the Parliament, he compels us to fix our eyes
on those ' distresses and difficulties,' of which he is gra-

396 MEMOIRS OF .
ciously pleased to speak at the same time, and which, at
any rate, have grown into being under the existence pf
t|iat .' 'fRlED mWom.' ,
" I have just received from America the most authentic
accounts of tfie happy state of the people there. English
goods "Were selling at auctiop for a fourth of their prime
d6«(,- and the Aw^i'lcans say, that they are, in this way,
getting 6a,cfe. what thpy lost by our Orders in Council,
uridfefSvhich their ships vvere' seized and conderiined. The
rkin, in America, is whplly.ponflqed to, the agen/s and.
merchants connected with England. The country at
large is ip. the most flourishing state; no beggars, 'no
pSibpers, rio distress, and their newspapers are fllled with
true accounts of owr distresses^ Stillv.let us cling to the
Old Ship, -and let us tryy in spite of all-oppositioB/to make
our own cpuntry as happy as America. But, here is ano
ther raark of our distresses not being of a temporary na
ture. The market of America is gone for ever as tp most
articles of manufacture. ,1 shallj however, treat, more
fully of tins ariother tiine.
" I aiii,- with the greatest respect; ' '
".Sir,- ¦:¦•¦.'
" Your most obedient and most humble Seryarit,
"Wm COBBETT."
Whon the reader has perused this letter,
he will be able to form a pretty correct opinion
t)f the state of the public mind in the, metro
polis upon this occasion ; and, as it was writ
ten at the time when Mr. Gobbett was divested
of prejudice, it will be read with considerable
interest at this period.
The plot that had been laid for the purpose
of SPILLING MY BLOOD, had been completely
frustrated. I returned to the coijntry, where
1 received invitations to attend public ineet
ings for Reform, whi«h the inhabitE^nts of

HENRY HUNT.. 807
'Bath and Bristol wished to hold. I went to
spend a fortnight with a friend at Newton,
near Bath, and, as I was a freeholder of both
those, cities, I drew up requisitions and signed
them first, to be presented to the Mayors, re
questing them tp call meetings, to petition for
Reform. They bpth refused to comply with
the request of their feUow-citizens, and we,
the requisitionists, therefore advesrtised and
called them ourselves. MlmXyi
i.iThe Bristol meeting was advertised to be
held >i upon Brandon-hill, on the 26th of De
cember, the Mayor having refused us the use
of the GuildhaU. I started from Newton
about 11 p'clock, on oiie of the wetesl; days
that I ever remember. On the road I passed
several troops of the Lancers, who had been
ordered up from Weymouth, to watch ithis
meeting, d When Ireached BristoU met, at
Temple-gate, my worthy friend Mr. John Cos-
sens, with Mr. Pimm and a few others.; 1 1 They
informed me, that: they had been detearried by
the corporation from erecting any hustings up
on Brandon-hill, and that the City was: investr
ed yby a regiment of Nt)rth Somersetshire
Yeomanry Cavalry, whi^ bad been arriving:
from all parts for several hours. Some of my
friends strongly urged the propriety of my
returning tOi Bathj and postponing fkei meet-

39S MEMOIRS 0?*
ing to some future time, in consequence of the
extreme wetness of the day. I had never pro
mised to attend any public meeting ofthe peo
ple and -then disappointed them, and Ifelt ex
treme reluctance at the base thought of doing
so upon this occasion ; particularly as such a
body of the military were assembled from all
quarters, since, to decline holding the meeting
under such circumstances, would carry the
idea that, because the corrupt knaves of Bris
tol had called out the military, we were fearful
of performing, and that, too, in a perfectly
legal and constitutional manner, an imperative
public duty. That, however, in order to de
ter us, some persons, who were not gifted
with strong nerves, should hesitate, is not
to be wondered at, when we look at the fol
lowing statement, which was published in the
London Courier, of the 25th of December,
the day previous to the meeting being held :
" that the regular soldiers are assembling; that
the North Somerset regiment of Yeomanry
Cavalry are ready to march to the aid of the
Mayor ; that a vestry in one parish has been
held to collect persons to march to the Mayor's
to be sworn in as special constables; that the
parties signed a resolution at the said vestry,
that they will not distribute any Christmas
gifts en Thursday, in order to keep the watch-

HENRY HUNT. 39&
men to^their duty on that day; and that they
will dismiss from their employ all persons who
do not work on the day of the miceting."
This was all true; the streets were lined
with troops, drenched in rain: I never saw
such drowned rats in my life ! they Idoked
wretched indeed! nevertheless, on I drove,
through the City up to Br^ridon-hill. When I
got there not ten persons were pi-esent, but as
the rain held up,; arid the day became fine, in
less than ten minutes there were as many
thousands assembled.: I sent my servant with
the. leader of my tandem to the inn, and I
made my gig the hustings. A chairman was
appointed J and the resolutions and a petition
to Parliament were proposed by me, and se
conded by Mr. Cossens, and were unanimously
adppted by the meeting. The petition;
which was for Annual Parliaments, Universal
Suffrage, and Vote by Ballot, was left for
signatures in the City, ^and in a very short
time it received Twenty Five Thousand
names. These resolutions and this petition
were carried by a meeting of unarmed citizens,
assembled upon Brandon-hiU, which was sur
rounded by armed troops, drawn up within
sight, and some of them within hearing,, df
what was said and done by myself and others
who took part in the said meeting. . ; Iu

400 MEMOIRS OF
The. Bath trpops were commanded on that
day by a person of the name of King, a mar
ble mason of that city. The men were
linounted before diay-iight, when the rain com
menced; and this very gallant officer and pro
found soldier objected to the men wearing
their cloaks. As they were going upon such a
magnanimous errand, such an heroic eS;ploit,
he said " he hoped they would not disgrace
themselves by wearing their cloaks." The con
sequence was, that ihe&e feather-bed soldiers
sufferfed most wretchedly, as they were soak
ed to the slsin before they had got two miles on
the road to Bristol. Their being kept in this
woeful plight all day caused the death of two
or three of them ; Rohert Ansty, a butcher,
and Wilton, who kept the Bear inn at HoUo
way, never recovered from the effects of their
trip to Bristol. Therewas, in truth, nomore
call for soldiers at Bristol on that day than
there was for ^era in the Guildhall at Bath,
where there was no meeting to be held. The
Mayor of Bristol and other Magistrates had
.sworn in 800 special constables upon the oc
casion ; in fact, the appearance, oi^ the City
was more hke a besieged fortress than any
thing else. But all this parade was intended
Lonly for the purpose of intimidating the minds
of the weak and siUy portion of the people.

HENRY HUNT. 401
and creating a panic throughout the country.
I will venture to say, that the business of the
meeting would have been carried on as
quietly, and as much without any breach of
the peace, and' without one window having
been broken, had there not been one soldier,
or one constable or peace officer present at the
time. Mr. Thomas Cossens, of Castle-street,
manfully stood forward to support me, and
courageously braved the anger of the cor
rupt knaves of Bristol. He rode through the
city with me to the extremity of it, cheered
all the way by the people,* unless it was in
passing the new reading room, in Clare-street,
where a few of those who had been sworn in
as special constables were assembled ; a little
contemptible group of the abject, dependant
tools of the corjporation, whb, as I suppose,
from the appearance of their lips, attempted
to raise a hiss, but their voices were instantly
drowned by the cheers ofthe multitude ; and
thus the meeting passed off as peaceably as if
there hadnot been any bustle made by the
corporation and police of the city, in order to
create a riot.
A few days after this, I got a requisition
signed by thirty respectable inhabitants of the
City pf Bath, the e^^act number of the c&rpo-
VOL. IIL 3 F

402 MEMOIRS OF
ration whp retjujrn the members, Having pla
ced my name at the head of them, I waited
upon the Maypr, a Mr. Anderton, an apothe
cary, Ihselieve; he was better known amongst
tjie citizens by the name of Pump-heindle.
When I laid the requisition before him, he was
presiding at the justice-room at the GuildhaU.
He read it over, while I kept my eyes fixed
vpon him, and whenhe had finished the perusal
of it, he hemmed and hawed, and began tp make
all sorts of excuses, saying that the City pf Bath
had never been troubled with a public mejeting^
and he could not see why there shpuld be any
meeting there now. I told him that there
would certainly be a meeting, whether he caU
ed it or not; that we the requisitionists merely
wished tp pay him the compliment of giving
him, as the chief magistrate of the city, an
opportunity of convening it ; but that, if he
felt the least difficulty upon the subject, we
would quite as soon call it ourselves. He re
plied by some foolish observation, which I
no\v forget, but the purport of which was, to
.leave it dpubtful whether he would pr \?ould
(lao^ comply with our wishes. This, however,
did not suit me, and I pressed hjm for a defi-
inite answer. At length he gave such a pne as,
rbefpre I waited on himj I was thoroughly
con\?inGed that he \?puld give, namely, that he

HENRY HUNT. 405
could not think of complying with the request
of his feUow-citizens. So thoroughly convin
ced indeed had I been that he would not call
the meeting, that, previous to my waiting on
him, I had sent the copy of the placard, call
ing the meeting ourselves, to the printer's to
be set up, only leaving room for the answer of
the Mayor; so that, within one hour a;fter he
had refusedj large broadsides were placarded
all over the city, calling the meeting on the
following Monday, in the name of myself and
the other persons who signed the requisition.
The meeting w'as appointed to be held at 12
o'clock, on my premises, a large yard in
WalCot-street, fprmerly belonging to a brewer,
so that we were totaUy free from any interrup
tion that might have been intended to have
been given us.
The circumstances attending the calling of
this meeting were rather curious, and deserve
nbtic^, to shew how necessary it is upon these
occasions to act with promptness and decision.
The calling of this meeting had been in con
templation for some time. I had drawn up a
requisition, signed it with my own name, and
sent it to Mr. John Alien, who, together with
Dr. Oliver and Mr. Binns, had undertaken to
get it signed. Some names, I knew, had been
procured, but the business had been driven

404 MEMOIRS OF
off from time to time, and a number of diffi
culties had been started ; but now that I was com©
into the neighbourhood of Bath the thing was to
have been done out of hand. I had, meanwhile,
procured and held the meeting at Bristol, and
now that it was over I was determined to see
after that of Bath, wilhout further delay. I"
therefore drove over, and fpund matters quite
at a stand, and all sorts of difficulties and
impediments appeared to have quite overcpme
Messrs. Alien, Oliver, and Co. 1 saw that.it
was their determination not to call the meet
ing ; as they said it was impossible to carry
resolutions and a petition for Reform in a city
which was under such a corrupt influence, I
requested tohave the requisition handed over
to me^ and I would get it signed myself; but,
after a great deal of searching the shop of,
Mr. Binns, and hunting a long time fori'^e
said requisition^ it was lost. To be hum-,
bugged in this sort of way did not suit me ; I
called for pen, ink and paper, instantly drew
up another requisition, signed it myself, and
sent little Young, my tenant in Walcot-street,,
and little Hickman, the assistant at. Binns'
shop, round with the requisitipn, tp gpt it
signed by thirty tradesmen whp were house-
keepersj which I predicted they would accom
plish in half an hour. In the meantirae L

¦' HfiNRY BUNT. 40*
drew up the copy of a placard, to be posted
on the walls, caUing the meeting on the follow
ing Monday, in tlie name of the requisi
tionists ; I being, as I have already stated,
perfectly convinced that the Mayor would not
call the meeting. As I had anticipated, Hick
man and Young returned, in less than an hour,
with the requisition signed by thirty very re-'
spectable tradesmen, and Young and myself
carried it instantly and presented it to the
Mayor, so that in less than three hours after I
put my shoulder to the wheel, the requisition-
was drawn up, signed, presented to the Mayor,
and his answer was printed on large placards,'
which placards were posted all over the city,'
appointing the meeting to be held on the fol-'
lowing Monday. AU this was accomplished
in less than three hours, though the little clan
of pretended Reformers, Messrs. Allen and Co.
had been humdrumming about it for three
weeks, without even getting the requisition
signed. I wish I had a list pf the brave men's
names who so promptly signed this requisi
tion ; I would certainly record them. I remem
ber that Mr. Crisp, , the hatter, and Mr. Rolf,'
the shoemaker, and my tenant, Mr. Young,
the builder, in Walcot-street, were tbree of)
them ; Mr. Hickman, not being a householder, !
did not sign it.

406 MEMOIRS OF
The day came, and a hustings was erected
in my yard, and when I arrived, not only was
the plaee full from top to bottom, but all the
rPofe of the buildings were covered with peo
ple. This also I had anticipated, and pro
vided for. I had got two carpenters' benches
already loaded in a cart, which, upon a sig
nal being given, were to be taken to the Abbey
Grove, to which spot it was my intention to
move that the meeting should adjourn. Ac
cordingly as soon as I got upon the hustings,
I moved that the meeting should forthwith
adjourn to the Abbey-Grove. This was se
conded, and, dillfoough it came very unexpect
edly, yet it was eai'ried by acclamation. The
cart with the carpenters' benches reached' the
Abbey-Grove before we did, and they were
placed tinder the wall of the Abbey-Church.
Thither land my friends walked, the immense
multitude, of from twelve to fifteen thousand
persons^ following us througb the Market--
place,, where many of the military were drawn
up ; for, in spite of the example of peaceable
ness whieh, in the week before, the people
of Bristol had exhibited; the worthy Mayor
of Bath had ordered out aU the troops, Lani-
cers and Somersetshire Yeomanry; and he
had likewise been occupied the whole of the
previous days in swearing in a large btjdy of

HENRY HUNT. 407
the gentlemen and tradesmen of the city, to
act as special constables. These, of course,
being present at the meeting, swelled our
numbers very considerably. When we mount
ed the liustings, the AbbeyrGrove was at least
one-third of it crammed full, so that, pn a
moderate calculation, there were from twelve
to fifteen thousand persons present. A public
meeting of the people for any political pur
pose had never before been held in Bath, and
therefore it attracted greater attention than is
usual in other cities.
Resolutions were now proposed and passed,
which exposed the glaring injustice of paying
away enormous sums of the public money to
sinecure jplacemen and unworthy , pensiour
ers, &c. The Marquis of Camden, who. held
the office of one of the Tellers of the Excher
quer, a sinecure of thirtyrfive thousand a year,
being the Recorder of the city of Bath, gave
us a fine opportunity of expatiating on
the profligate waste of the public money
upon that corrupt and knavish corporation.
Our resolutions were extremely strong and
pointed upon this subject of owr Recorder's
enormous sinecure ; and these resolutions were
embodied in our petition, which was pas
sed almost unanimously) amidst the cheers of
the citizens of Bath. In this petition we

408 MEMOIRS OF
fprcibly remonstrated' against such a wanton
and unfeeling waste of the public money, and
urged the necessity of the immediate abolition
bf the Marquis of Camden's sinecure. I wish
I had a copy of the resolutions and petition by
me, that I might insert them here, as I con
ceive this to have been the most momentous
petition that was ever presented to the House
of Commons; and the effect which it produced'
was more important than that of any other
jpetition that was ever passed at any public
meeting, not excepting that which was passed
at Spafields. At this, as well as at aU the
public meetings that I attended, the petition
pirayed for Annual Parliaments, Universal
Suffrage, and Vote by Ballot ; but, as it was
the first and only petition that ever came from
a public meeting of the citizens of Bath, we
laid very great stress upon the Marquis of
Camden's sinecure, he being the Recorder of
the City.
After this petition had been passed unani
mously, it was left for signatures in several
places in the city, but the rendezvous was at
Mr. Young's, who occupied my house and pre
mises in Walcot-street, so that he was totaUy
independent bf the corporation. The meeting
was held and conducted in the most peaceable
and orderly manner, and as soon as it was

HENRY^ HUNT. 409
concluded the people retired totheir homes in
the same regular and satisfactory way, each
individual being conscious of having done. his
duty to himself, his family, and his country.
It is necessary to observe, that Mr. John Allen,
a builder, of Bath, who had offered himself as
the popular representative for that City in 1812,
altogether abstained from taking any |iart in
any of the proceedings of this meeting. He
beihg a mushroom reformer, raised his head
fora short season, and was cut off and disap
peared from the politteal world €lmost^as quick
as a mushroom disappears 'after a nipping
frost. The effect prodiiced by this meeting did
indeed rouse him agam for a moment; but it
was only that he might fall still lo^er, and be
totally buried in the lap of corruptioij, ming^
ling -With its Jjasest tools and dependants.
The ^tition was signed by upwards of twenty
thousand persons, in a fe\y|iays.
There had, in the meafrv?hile,*been meet-^
ings held, for the purpose of petitioning for
Reform, all over the kingdom, particulgirly in
the North of England and Scbtland; which
meetings emanated from the first Spafields''
meeting; and at almost all of these meetings
resolutions and petitions of a similar tendency
were passed ; Annual Parliaments, Universal
Suffrage, and Vote by BaUot, b^ing v6ry gener
VOL. III. 3 G

410 MEMOIRS OF
rally prayed for. Hampden Clubs had been
formed all over the North, of England, by Ma
jpr Cartwright, who had sent an agent round
the country for that purpose. The Major had
also supplied a copy of a petition for Reform,
to be transmitted to the members of these
bodies, which prayed for the suil^iEige, or
right «tf voting, to be extended only to all
payers of direct taxes. These petitions being
printed upon large. paper, were very generally
adopted, as this saved the trouble of drawing
lip others. A dUrcular let^r had also been sent
round the countty, signed by Sir F. Burdett,
or rather with the Baro^jet's fac-simile, which
he had authorised the Major to use, for the
purpose of inviting the Hampden Clubs, and
all otheu petitioning bodies, to send up dele-
^ gates or deputies to LPndon, to irieet a ^ depu
tation pf the Hampden Club, to decidPupon
what sort of Refor^the reformers would una
nimously a^e to*|ietition for. Great num
bers had followed the example set them at Spa
fields, Bristol, and Bath; others, who had
signed the Major's printed petitions, only
prayed for aU payers of direct taxation to be
admitted to the right of voting.
On the 20th of January, 1817, five persons
were tried at the Old Bailey, for rioting inthe
City of Londot, on the day of the second Spa- ,

HENRY HUNT. 411
fields meeting. Cashman, the sailor, was
found guilty, and sentenced to be executed in
the front of Mr. Beckwith's, the gun-smith's
shop, in Skinner-street.
The Parliament was to meet on the 28th of
January. About the 24th of that month, the
delegates, or deputies, from the Hampden
Clubs, and other petitioning bodies, from vari
ous parts of the kingdom, arrived in London ;
and a day was appointed for them to meet
at the Crown and Anchor. I was delegated
from Bristol, to accompany Mr. Cossens, who
brought the petition from that fity, signed by
twenty-four thousand persons.. I was also de
legated from Bath, together with Mr. John
AUen, who, seeing the spirit displayed by his
townsmen, volunteered once more to act the
part ofa Reformer, and he brought up the Bath
petition, containing upwards of 20,000 signa
tures. The Reformers of Bath and Bristol gave
positive instructions to their delegates that they
should support Annual Parliaments, Universal
Suffrage, and Vote by BaUot. Mr. Allen brought
up the written instructions from Bath, which
he delivered to me, and he accepted the dele
gation upon the express condition that he would
support and vote for Annual Parliaments, Uni
versal Suffrage, and Vote by Ballot. I met
Mr. Hulme from Bblton, Mr. E. Taylor from

412 ' MEMOIRS OF
Norwich, Mr. Warburton from Leicester, and
several other delegates from England and
Scotland, at Mr. Cobbett's house in Catherine
street, in the Strand, which was the general
rendezvous ; and there I first saw Mr. Fitton
and Mr. Kaye of Royton, Mr. Bamford from
Middleton, Mr. Benbow and Mr. MitcheU from
Manchester, and many others. Major Cart
wright had, in the meantime, been down to
Brighton, personally to ascertain Sir Francis
Burdett's opinion upon the subject; and from
him the Major learned that he would not sup
port any petitions that prayed for Universal
Suffrage; that he would support Householder
Suffrage and the payers of direct taxes, but
nothing farther. When the Major returned he
communicated this to Mr. Cobbett, who was
requested to use all his influence to prevail
.upon me to give up Universal Suffrage, and
to adopt the plan of Sir Francis Burdett. I
had consulted with Mr. Hulme, whom I found
an jhonest and staunch friend of Liberty, and
he had agreed to support me in the motion
which I had resolved to make at the delegate
meeting, for Universal Suffrage, and Vote by
Ballot. The Major, as weU as Mr. Cobbett,
had already done every thing to prevail upon
us to give it up for the householder plan, but
we were inflexible.

HENRY HUNT. 413
This being the situation of affairs, on the
day before the meeting was to take place,
the Major was very anxious for Mr. Cobbett
to attend as a delegate ; but to accomplish
this was not quite an easy matter, as Mr. Cob
bett had not been elected a delegate by either
of the petitioning bodies. The Major, how
ever, was never at a loss for a scheme^ and
his agent or writer, whom he employed at the
time, an Irishman, of the name of Cleary,
was set to work privately to assemble some
members of the Union, which had been form
ed in London by the Major, previous to the
formation of the Hampden Club ; in fact, the
latter sprung out of the former, which was
too democratical for the aristocracy, and they
consequently set on foot a select club amongst
themselves, called the Hampden Club; al
though I believe, with the exception of tlie
Major and Mr. Northmore, there was not a
member amongst them who was at all dis
posed to foUow the example of John Hampden.
But, be this as it may, Cleary was ordered to
get together, at the Crown and Anchor, the
night before the intended delegate meeting,
a chosen number of the members of the
Union, expressly for the purpose of appoint
ing two delegates for the metropolis. Al
though we were both members of the Union,

414 MEMOIRS OF
Cleary was strictly enjoined not to communi
cate either to me or to Mr. Hulme any inten
tion of holding this conclave, which was to
have been a snug juntp of Westminster men,
nothing more nor less than the Rump Com
mittee, who were to assemble at the request
of the Major, to appoint Mr. Cobbett a dele
gate, that he might attend the meeting the
next day, purposely to oppose my motion for
Unifier sat Suffrage, and to move in its stead,
that we, the delegates, should adopt the re
commendation of the Hampden Club, and
support the householder suffrage only.
This good piece of generalship could not,
however, be carried completely into effect, as
one of the invited party communicated it in
confidence to Mr. Hulnie and myself. We
laughed heartily at the intrigue of the old
Major and Mr. Cobbett, and agreed that,
being members pf the Union, we would un
expectedly attend the meeting at seven o'clock,
without saying a word to any one. We both
dined with Mr. Cobbett, and a little before
seven we made an excuse for leaving his table,
saying, that we had a particular engagement
for an hour or two, after which we would
return again. Mr. Cobbett strongly opposed
our leaving him; but whether he had any
suspicion that we were up to the tricks of

HENRV HUNT. 4l5
the Major and himself, I never ascertained.
However, off Mr. Hulme and I started toge
ther, and we soon arrived at the Crown and
Anchor, and desired to be shown into the
room where the members of the Union were
assembled. At first the waiters did not ap
pear to understand us ; at length they asked
me if we meant Mr. Brooks and Mr. Cleary's
room. We replied, " exactly so," and in we
marched, to, the great consternation of Mr.
Brooks, who sat at the head of the table,
with Cleary at his right, and surrounded by
some half score of as pretty a picked junto
for dishing up a little under-pJot of the sort)
as could have been selected for the purpose in
the whole kingdom.
Our unexpected visit, without any invita
tion, appeared to create very considerable
uneasiness, and even dismay, I informed
them that, as we were both old members of the „
Union, and had accidentally heard that there
was to be a raeeting, we did ourselves the
pleasure of attending it, although (no doubt
from mistake) we were not summoned. This
did notat all relieve them from the dilemma
in which they were placed. After looking at
each other for some time, they cautiously de
veloped the object of the meeting, and with
great timidity and doubt Mr. Brooks pro-

416 MEMOIRS OF
I
posed Mr. Cobbett as " a proper man to be a
delegate to represent the Union, at the dele
gate meeting to be holden the next day." In
stead of throwing any obstacle in the way,
which they had expected would be the case,
I instantly arose and seconded the motion;
adding, that I believed Mr. Cobbett to be one
of the most proper men in the kingdom to at
tend such a meeting, and that I proposed Mr.
Brooks as a proper colleague for him ; and I
moved that those two gentlemen should be ap
pointed as the delegates of the Union Socffety,
to maintain their rights at the approaching
meeting. Mr. Hulme seconded the motion,
and it was carried unanimously ; upon which
we returned to Mr. Cobbett's, and were the
first to communicate the result of that select
assembly which was got up privately, and from
which it was intended that we should have
been totally excluded. He appeared asto
nished, but carried it off with a laugh.
After this, many, many hours were em
ployed by Mr. Cobbett, in endeavouring to
prevail upon us to give up the plan of sup
porting Universal Suffrage. He should, he
said, propose to the delegates to agree to the
householder plan; especially as Sir F. Burdett
had declared that he would not support the
former. I lamented differing from him, but

HENRY HUNT. 417
I declared that I would support Universal Suf
frage from principle, in spite of all the policy
in the world, and in spite of the opinion or
whim of all the baronets in the world.
With this determination we left him, and
met at the appointed hour, at the Crown and
Anchor, on the next day. Major Cartwright
and Mr. Jones Burdett were the deputation
from the Hampden Club ; and there were, in
the whole, about sixty delegates from differ
ent parts of the kingdom of England and
Scotland; but, with the exception of those
from^ath, Bristol, and London, they all came
from thie North.
Major Cartwright was unanimously called
to the chair, and he opened the proceedings
by informing us, that the Hampden Club had
come to the determination of supporting the
Householder Suffrage; which plan he strongly
recommended to the delegates to adppt, par
ticularly as Sir Francis Burdett had declared
that he would not support any petition that
prayed for a more extended right of voting.
In truth, the Major, instead of performing the ^
part of chairman, actually became the stre
nuous and eloquent advocate of the Hampden
Club, and their notable scheme of restricting
the' right of voting to householders and pay
ers of direct taxes to Church and King; and
VOL. III. 3 H

418 MEMOIRS OF
I must injustice say, that I never saw an advo
cate labour harder than the Major did to carry
this point, which I believe he confidently re
lied upon accomplishing, as he knew that he
would have the support of Mr. Cobbett's great
talent and weight of influence amongst the
assembled delegates.
Mr. Cobbett then rose, and, in a luminous
and artful speech, endeavoured to convince
the delegates, or rather to bring them over to
the same way of thinking. He, as well as the
Major, were heard with great attention, bUt it
Was with such silent attention as rend^d it
very evident to me that their doctrine of ex
clusion "vi as listened to by the delegates with
out any conviction of its truth. It may easily
be supposed thati took good care narrowly to
watch the contrivances of those who, by their
votes, were to decide the great question ; many
of whom Mr. Cobbett had previously had
an opportunity of communicating with, and
using" his influence upon, in private. After a
most ingenious speech, he concluded by mov
ing, that the present meeting was of opinion,
that the right of voting for Members of Parli
ament could be safely and practicably extend
ed only to householders paying direct taxes to
Church and State, and that it should be recoin-
mended to the Reformers throughout the

HENRY HUNT. 419
cpuntry to petition for a Reform of the Com-?
mons' House of Parliament, upon the plan of
householder suffrage. If not the words,
this was the substance and meaning of the
motion. The moment that Mr. Cobbett sat down^
(sat down with perfect silence round him), to
my great astonishment up started John Allen,
my brother-delegate frpm Bath, and seconded
the mdtion for the exclusion from th^right of
voting of all persons except householders and
payers of direct taxes ; that is, except they
wer# payers of church and poor rates, and
King's taxes. This was the conduct of the
volunteer delegate from Bath, although he had
received written instructions, from the com
mittee of Reformers of that city, to support
Universal Suffrage. *
As sopn as Mr. Alien was seated, I rose to
move an amendment to my friend Cobbett's
motion, and, in my address to the delegates,
I combatted and successfully controverted the
.doctrine of esQclusion which had been so forci
bly urged bythe chairman, and so ingeniously
supported by Mr. Cobbett. I modestly and
with great deference called to their recoUection
the language, the irresistible arguments, in
favour of Universal Suffrage, which, in his
Register, Mr. Cobbett himself had published,

420 MEMOIRS OF
within one short fortnight of the time in which
I was addressing' them. Almost every sen
tence that I uttered in favour of Universal
Suffrage was hailed by the enthusiastic cheers
of the great body of the delegates., Mr. Cob
bett rose to order, and protested in strong
language against my quoting his own words,
or any thing he had previously published, in
order to controvert his present proposition.
I therefore forbore to do so again; not from
any conviction of its impropriety or unfairness,
but because I wished to conciliate, and because
1 was quite clear that my amendment w^uld
be carried. I concluded by asserting the right
of every freeman to be represented in the
Commons' House of Parharaent, which could
only be done by Universal Suffrage ; and on
this ground I mo^ed that the word umversal
should be substituted for householder.
Mr. Hulme seconded the motion, and Mr.
Baraford was about to support hira, by refuting
Mr. Cobbett's arguments with respect to Uni
versal Suffrage being impracticable; but be
fore he had concluded his sentence, Mr. Cob
bett rose and said, that what Mr. Bamford had
stated had convinced him of the practicability
of Universal Suffrage, and consequently he
should withdraw his motion, and support Mr.
Hunt's amendment. The fact was, that Cob-

HENRY HUNT. 421
bett plainly saw that his motion would be lost
by a large majority, and he had the policy
not to press it to a division.' I, however, in
sisted upon having the question put, and it was
xarried in favour of Universal Suffrage by a .
majority of twenty to one. The question of
Annual Parliaments was also carried unani
mously. Mr. MitcheU then moved, that votes
should be taken by ballot; this was opposed
also by Mr. Cobbett and others, but on a divi
sion it was carried by a majority of more than
two to^ne. When I held my hand up for it,
Mr. Coobett turned to me and said very earn
estly, "What! do you support the ballot too?"
I answered " Yes, most certainly, to its fullest
extent." These points being decided, and sbme minor
resolutions being passed, the meeting was ad
journed ; but, as I afterwards found, only tb
assemble again the next day, where the Major
was at his post in the chair, passing various
resolutions, which of course I expected would
be finally settled that evening. We were,
however, surprised to find that the meeting
was adjourned to the King's Arms, Palace
Yard, opposite Westminster Hall, where it
was expected they (the delegates) would assem
ble from day to day tiU the Parliament met.
This was thought by Mr. Cobbett, as well as

42<; MEMOIRS OF,
by myself, to be not only a useless but a dan
gerous proceeding; useless, because the maiti
, question upon which the delegates met was
settled; and dangerous, because it wouJd be
taken advantage of by the Government, which
would construe such meetings, so continued,
into an attempt to overawe the Parliament. Mr.
Cobbett declared he would not go near them
again; in fact, he had not attended the second
day; and he added, that they would aU be ap
prehended, for holding their meetings for an
illegal purpose. He and I and Mr. Elulrae aU
agreed, therefore, that as we had OTranged
those points tp deliberate upon which we had
been assembled, it was very desirable to dis
solve the meeting, but tp stir a single step to
accomplish this end, Mr. Cobbett positively re
fused. Mr. Hulme and myself, however, at
tended, and after the Major had got some of his
resolutions passed, I moved that the meeting
should be dissolved, and urged my reasons
for the measure. Mr. Hulrae seconded ray
motion, and a warm debate ensued, which was
maintained with great spirit on both sides,
for the dissolution was strongly opposed.
However, when the question was put, my mo
tion was carried by a very considerable majo
rity, and the far-famed delegate- meeting was
dissolved. It is a curious fact that Mr. Cobbett

HENRY HUNT. 423
never noticed these proceedings in his Re
gister. In the evenings of these meetings, many
of the delegates assembled at the CoCk, in
Grafton-street, by invitation, to, meet Dr.
Watson, Pendrill, and others of the Spen-
Ceans. It appears that they were taken there
by ONE Cleary, an Irishman, who had been
an attorney's clerk in Dublin, and who had
contrived to be employed as the secretary of
the Hampden Club, and who, as private se
cretary of Major Cartwright, attended the
delegare meetings. These private meetings,
at the Cock in Grafton-street, took, place un
known to me, and were afterwards made a
pretence for suspending the Habeas Corpus
Act; and, strange to i-elate, warrants were
issued out, by the Secretary of State, against
every one of the persons who attended those
meetings, except the said Cleary.
The delegates, as we have already seen,
were in town; they had brought up with them
petitions, signed by half a million of men, ^
artd they were anxious to place them in the
hands of some Member of Parliament, who
would present them and support the prayer of
their petitions. But such a man was not
easily to be found. Sir Francis Burdett had
promised the Major to come to town in time to

424 MEMOIRS OF
present these petitions, or at least some of them,
as soon as Parliaraent raet ; but when he fpund
that the delegates who had been assembled
in his name had declared for Universal Suf
frage, and that the petitions in London like
wise mostly prayed for Reform upon the prin
ciple of Universal Suffrage, he declared that
he would not support the prayer of them,
neither had he arrived in town on the day
previous to the meeting of Parliament.
On the failure of Sir Francis to come for
ward, Lord Cochrane had been applied to by
the Major and Mr. Cobbett, to present these
petitions ; but he had declined to act in oppo
sition to his colleague, Sir Francis Burdett;
every effort had been tried to induce him to
do so, but they had been tried in vain. At
length I hit upon a plan, which I proposed to
Mr. Cobbett. It was this — that on the day
when the- Parliament raet, I would collect
. ten or twenty thousand people in the front
of Lord Cochrane's house, which was in Old
Palace Yard, and thus cut off his Lordship's
access to the House, unless he would take in
spme of the petitions. I shall never forget
Cpbbett's look. " What!" said he, " would
you bedege the raan in his own house ?" I
' answered, that desperate cases required des
perate reraedies. " Aye ! aye !" said he, " that

HENRY HUNT. 425
is very pretty talking, it is Uke beUing the
cat. Suppose such a thing likely to succeed
with his Lordship, how the devU would you
contrive to collect such a number of people
there, without his knowing it, so as to avoid
them, if he pleased?" I replied, " leave that.
to me. If you will go to his Lordship's house
about one o'clock, and detain him at home,
by endeavouring to persuade him to present
the petitions, I will undertake to bring ten
thousand people to the front of his house by
two o'clock," — the House of Commons being
to assemble at three. In fact, there appeared
no other alternative; for on the next day the
Parliament was to meet, and we had not yet
one single Member cf Parliament who would
present our petitions, all being unwilling, be
cause they prayed for Universal Suffrage.
After making a hundred excuses. Lord Coch-
rane had absolutely refused to present them ;
at least he refused to support the prayer of
the petitioners. There being no other chance
of accomplishing our purpose, Mr. Cobbett at
length adopted my plan, and agreed to make
the attempt as a sort of forlorn hope, and
accordingly he promised to be at his Lord
ship's house at the time appointed.
I knew that great numbers of people would .
be collected, in and about Parliament-street;^
vol. III. 3 I

426 MBMOIRS or
at that time, tb see the Prince Regent gb down
to the House, to open the Session bf Par
liament. I therefore made an arrangement
with all the delegates in town, to meet me at
the Golden-Cross, Charing-Cross, a quarter
before two o'clock, and requested that each
man would bring with him his roUs of parch
ment, containing the petitions. This they all
complied with, and met me at the time ap
pointed, in number about twenty ; it might bd
more or less. I informed them that I wished
them to march, two and two, down Par*
• liament-street, into Palace-yard, to the door
bf Lord Cochrane's house, who I had reason
to hope would present their petitions, and 1
begged them to follow me. I then requested
my friend Cossens to unroU a few yards of the
. Bristol petition, which I took in my hand, and
proceeded down Parliament-street, at the head
©f the delegates. The people stared at such
an exhibition ; and I announced that the dele-
, gates were going down to Palace-yard, to
get Lord Cochrane to present their petitions.'
This information was received with huzzas,
and the people ran forward to communicate
the intelligence to others, so that before we
had got opposite the Horse Guards, we were
attended by several thousand people, cheering
us as they went along. ¦ When we arrived at
the front of Lord Cochrane's house, there was

HENRY HUNT. 437
the largest assembly that I ever saw in Palace-
yard, aU believing that his Lordship had un
dertaken to present our petitions.
I knocked at the door, and gained imme
diate access tp his Lordship, with whom, as I
expected, I found Mr. Cobbett. He asked
what was the matter? I told him that the
people had accompaiiied the delegates, to re
quest his Lordship to present their petitions;
to which he replied, " that Mr. Cobbett had
been using, every argument in his power to
prevail upon him to do it, but he could not
take such a step without ^consulting his col--
league. Sir Francis Burdett." A great deal
was now urged by us to induce him to com
ply, in which we were most heartily joined by
his lady, but all was to little purpose. At
length, I led him to the window, and requested
him to address twenty thousand of his fellow-
countrymen, and tell them himself that he
refused to present their petitions; for that I
certainly would never inform them of any
such thing. Our appearance at the window
drew forth some tremendous cheers. " There,"
said 1, " my Lord, refuse their request, if you
please; but if you do, I am sure that you
wiU regret it as long as you live. Besides,"
added I, " I deny the possibility of your get
ting from your house, without your previously
consenting to present their petitions."

423 MEMOIRS OF
At length we carried .our point, and hrs
Lordship agreed that he would take in the
Bristol petition, which was the largest, the
roll of parchment being nearly the size of a
sack of wheat,- and containing twenty-five
thbusand signatures. It was rolled upon a
but/idle of sticks, tightly bound together, as
an emblem of the strength of an united people.
His Lordship also now agreed to move an
amendment to the address, which had been
previously drawn up, in hopes that he migbt
be prevailed on to do so. The moment that
his Lordship yielded to our entreaties, I flew
down, stairs to the door, and announced the
intelligence to the asserabled multitude, who
received it with loud and long continued ac
claraations, which raade Old Palace-yard and
Westrainster-Hall ring again. I then pro
posed that the delegates should carry his
Lordship in a chair, frora his house to the
door of Westminster-Hall, if the people would
make a passage to allow him to proceed thither
in that way. This suggestion was instantly
adopted; an arm chair was provided and
placed at the door, in which his Lordship was
seated, with the Bristol petition and the bun
dle of sticks rolled up in it. In this raanner
he was carried by the delegates across Palace-
yard, myself leading the way; and he was
set down at the door ol the House, amidst the

HfiNRY HUNT. 429
deafening cheers of the people, who, at my ,
request, immediately dispersed in psace and
quietness to their homes.
As the Prince Regent returned from open
ing the Session of Parliament, some gravel
or a potatoe was thrown at' his carriage, the
window of which was cracked. This the
Courier and the venal press made a great'
noise about the next day; and Lord James
Murray, who was in the carriage with the
Prince Regent, attended in his seat in the
Hpuse of Commons, in the evening, and
stated that the Prince Regent had been fired
at, on his way from the House; and the ball
had passed through the window of his coach.
This caused a great sensation in the House,
and the outrage was attributed to the Reform
ers, not one of whom do I believe was present;
at any rate not one of the delegates was there.
This greatly assisted the Ministers to carry
their intended measures through both Houses;
that of suspending the Habeas-Corpus Act,
and that of passing the Seditious Meetings
Bill. Lord Cbchrane presented the Bristol peti
tion, and moved the following amendment to
the address, which, as a vindication of the
conduct of the Reformers, I will here record.

480 MEMOIRS OF
" That this House ha^ takeji a Yio,w of the public pro
ceeding's throughout the conntry, by those persons who
have met to petition, for a Reform of this House, and tfaat,
in justice to those persons, as well as to the people ftt
large, and for the purpose of convincing the people that
this House wishes to entertain and encourage no misre
presentation of their honest intentions, this House, with
great' humility, beg leave to assure his Royal Highness;
that they have not bepn able to discover one single in
stance, in which meetings to petition for Parliamentary
Reform have been accompanied with any attempt to dis
turb the public tranquillity ; and this House further beg
leave to assure his Royal Highness, that in order to pre
vent the necessity of- thofee rigorous measures, which are
contemplated in-the latter part of the speech. of his Royal
Highness, this House will take intp their early consider
ation the propriety .of abolishing sinecures and unmerited
pensions andgrants,the reduction ofthe civil list, and ofall
salaries which are now disproportionate to the services,
and especially, that Ihey will take into their considera
tion the Reform of this House, agreeably to the laws and
constitution of the land, this liouse being decidedly of
opinion that justice and humanity, as well as policy, call
at this time of universal distress, for measures of concilia
tion, and not of rigour, towards a people who have made
so many and such great sacrifices, and who are now suf
fering, in consequence of those sacriflces, all the calamities
with which a nation can be afflicted."
It is a melancholy subject for reflection,
that there was not one man to be found in the
House that would even second this amend
ment, which was neither more nor less than a
true account of the proceedings of the Reform
ers throughout the country; and in conse
quence of this, the motion fell to the ground
without a division. Lord Cochrane continued
night after night to present these petitions.

BENRY BUNT. 431
brought up by the delegates ; and the most
remarkable event of these times was, that the
very night that Lord Cochrane presented the
petition from Bath, which especially pointed
out the enormous sums annually received
by their Recorder, Lord Camden, and which
prayed for the abolition of his enormous sine
cures ; that very night a message was brought
down to the House, and it was announced by
one of the Ministers that Lord Camden had
actually resigned his enormous sinecure of
Teller of the Exchequer, which did not amount
to less than thirty-five thousand pounds a
year. No one will doubt that this act of his
Lordship was occasioned solely by the reso
lutions and the petition passed at the Bath
meeting. He well knew that Lord Cochrane had
presented the Bristol petition, and had stated
in the House that he had several other petitions
to present ; and amongst the number that from
Bath, signed by upwards of twenty thousand
persons. To prevent, therefore, the discussion
which was likely to arise from the presentation
of this petition, he anticipated the prayer of
it, by resigning his sinecure of TeUer of the
Exchequer. How often have we been asked
by the tools of corruption, what good was
there in holding public meetings ! We have
been everlastingly told that these great public

432 MEMOIRS pF
meetings, and the violent petitions passed at
thera, did- a great deal of harra, but that they
never produced any good. What these knaves
mean by this is, that the House of Coraraons
never attended to the prayers and petitions of
the people, and that therefore it was of np
use to persevere in petitioning. This, as far
as it goes, is very true ; the House of Com
mpns never did attend to the petitions of the
people for Reform; but yet I boldly answer,
that petitioning has done sorae good; that
the petition of the first Spafields meeting ob
tained four thousand pounds from the droits
of the Admiralty, for the suffering poor of
Spital-fields and the metropolis. This was
some good. Again, I say, that the petition
and the resolutions passed at the Bath meet
ing, caused Lord Caraden to surrender thirty-
five thousand a year to the public. This
alone was sorae good. Nor must we stop
here. Alraost all the petitions in which I was
ever concerned, petitibned" for the abolition of
all sinecure and useless places, and unmerited
pensions; and I always particularly denounced
the sinecures of the late Marquis of Bucking
ham, the other TeUer of the Exchequer, and
prayed and petitioned for its abolition. At
the death of the old Marquis it was abolished.
Does any man of sense and candour believe,

HENRY HUNT. 433
for a moment, that this would have ever been
done to this hour, if it had not been for the
prayers, petitions, and remonstrances of the
people? Here, then, is another saving of
upwards of thirty thousand pounds a year. —
Therefore, I say, that the great public meet
ings have done a great deal of good; and those
who promoted them have rendered very con
siderable service to the country, although they
have themselves been the victims of that sys
tem of tyranny and oppression, which, in these
two instances alone, has had its plunder cur
tailed in more than sixty thousand pounds a
year. Add to air this, that the Prince Regent ,
surrendered fifty thousand pounds per annum
to the public exigencies. Will any man say
that the Regent would have done this, had it
not, been for the great public meetings held in
Spafields and other places ? and was this no
thing? Again, Mr. Ponsonby resigned his ,
Chancellor's pension oifour thousand pounds
a year. Is this nothing ? Here I have shown
that, within three months ofthe great meeting
first held in Spafields, and between the second
and third meeting which was advertised, no
less a sum than NINETY THOUSAND
POUNDS A YEAR was surrendered for the
public exigencies; and was this doing nothing?
To be sure, five persons had been found
VOL. III. 3 K

434 MEMOIRS or
guilty of rioting on the day of the second Spa
fields meeting, and Cashman was sentenced
to death; but this had nothing to do with
the meeting itself, which raet only for the
purpose of petitioning Parliament, and peace
ably separated, after agreeing to a petition,
which was signed by twenty-four thousand
persons, praying for Reform, and the abolition
of all sinecures, and a reduction of the public
expenditure; which petition had been pre-?
sented,. and received by the House of Com-"
mons, before these surrenders and resigna
tions of these large sums were made. To be
sure. Lord Sidmouth had delivered in the
House of Lords a message from the Prince
Regent, laying before Parliament the famous
green bag, full of precious documents, got
up to prove that sedition, conspiracy, and
rebellion were close at hand ; and that trea
sonable practices existed in London, and in
various parts of the kingdom : upon which a
committee was appointed by the Ministers,
in both Houses of Parliament, to examine and
report upon the contents of the said bag.
The result pf this was, that Mr. Evans, of
Newcastle-street, the Spencean, and his son^
were arrested on a charge of high treason!
About this time I received a letter from^ the
Reformers of Portsmouth, rec^uesting me to

HENRY HUNT. 485
attend and preside at a public meeting, which
they wished to hold in or near that town, to
petition for Reform. I showed this letter to
Mr. Cobbett, who said, " I know these peo
ple ; I will answer that letter for you, and ar
range with them all about their meeting. As
you are so much engaged in other matters at
this time, I wiU take this trouble off your
hands, and you will have nothing to do but to
attend the meeting when the day is appoint
ed." This offer I cheerfully accepted, and I
thought no more of the business till I saw it
publicly announced tHat a meeting would be
held on Portsdown-Hill, on the 10th day of
February, the. very day that was fixed for
holding the third Spafields meeting; and
that was done without consulting or saying a
word to me upon the subject, although I was
the only person written to by the people of
Portsmouth. It did certainly strike me at
the time, that there appeared to be a good
deal of trickery and management made use
of to keep me from this meeting. As, how
ever, I was never jealous of any one myself, I
had no suspicion that my friends were jealous
of me, and I took no notice ofit, though I was
sorry to find that to the people who met on
Portsdown, no apology or explanation was
made for my absence, or at least for the meet-

436 MEMOIRS OF
ing being held on the day that I was at Spa
fields ; and I have reason to think that the
people of Portsraouth, who first invited me,
were very much disappointed at my not be
ing present, and that they felt themselves
slighted by me, which, I assure them, was the
farthest thing in the world frora ray wish or
intention. While my friends were acting in this man
ner, my enemies were riot idle, and the agents
of Government, in Order to injure rae in the
opinion of the public, not only vilified and
abused and libelled me from day. to day, in
the public newspapers, but they actually caus
ed a placard to be printed and posted all over
the metropolis, which was headed " Mr. Hunt
hissed out of the City of Bristol," and con
tained all sorts of infamous falsehoods and
scurrilous abuse. It appeared from the news
papers that a bpy, of the name of Thomas
Dugood, had been committed tP prison, by a
Police Magistrate, for having pulled down one
of these posting-bills. " I immediately s*et
abPut an inquiry, to find out the poor boy, to
endeavPur to relieve him from his imprison
ment; and to gain hira some redress fpr the
' persecution which he had suffered, TO' dis
cover whei-e the boy was, Iwent to the Police
Office, and, after a great deal of shuffling, I

HENRY HUNT. 437
was directed to Coldbath-fields Prison, which,
as I subsequently found, was the wrong gaol,
the boy. havihg been committed tothe New
Prison. In the mean time, however, finding
that I was resolved to go to the bottom of the
business, they had released the boy. Atlength
I found him out at his lodgings, and learned
fro'm him that he had been confined for several
days among the vilest felons. I took him to
the Police Office, to identify the Magistrate
that committed him, and there I caused the
police officer, Limbrick, to be placed at the
bar, for robbing the bOy of his books and
money at the time he was apprehended. The
inquiry ended in the said police officer return
ing the boy his books and money, and con
fessing that he was ordered to attend the post
ing of the said bills, and to protect thiem from
being pulled down after they were posted.
The bills were printed at the office of the
Hue and Cry, near Temple-bar, and an agent
of the Government paid the bill-sticker a large
sum for the posting of them in the night. Find
ing that I could get no redress for the boy at
the Police Ofifice, I took him into the Court of
King's-Bench, and appealed to the Judges.
But Ldrd EUenborough could do nothing for
him. By the stir which I made, however, the
case got into all the papers, and the conduct

43B MEMOIRS OF
of the Government was completeljgexposed. I
then caused a petition from Dugood to be
presented to the House by Lord Folkestone,
and anotfaer petition of my own, by Lord
Cochrane. The Under Secretary of State^
Mr. Hiley Addington, promised that the con
duct of the Police Magistrate should be in^
quired into; but ultimately itwas asoertaixted
tfaat LoKd Sidraouth faad no power to inter
fere. Tfae Miagistratej Mr. SeUon, who had
committed the boy, was not a Police Magis
trate, but a Magistrate of the county of Mid
dlesex ; therefore his Lordship could not. in-
tei-fere, and the boy must, forsooth, proceed
at law against the Magistrate, i shall here
insert the petitions that were presented to the
House, which wili place this transaction in a
clear point of view before my readers, and will
^ow tfaem to what meanness tfae Government
submitted, in order to injure my character
with tfae public, , and to destroy the influence
wfaicfa they discovered that I had over the
peopiliB. This transaction will speak for itself
without any furtfaer comment of mine.

WKKRY HUNT. '489
" To the Honourable the Commons of the United King
dora of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament as
sembled. " The Pefition of Thomas Dugood, of the Parish of
St. Paul, Covent-Gardei), iA tbe City of West
minster,
" Humbly Sheweth,
" That your petitioner is a parentless and friendless
boy, seventeen years of age, who, until lately seized by*
two Police Offlcers and sent to prison by the police, ob
tained the honest means of living by the sale of Religi-'
ous and Moral Tracts, which he used to purchase of Mr.
Collins, of Paternoster-row.
" That your petitioner has, for more than four months
last past, lodged, and he still lodges, at the house of Keeran
Shields, who lives at No. 13, Gee's-court, Oxford-street,
And who is a carter to Mr. White, of Mortimer-stFeet, and
who is also a watchman in Marybone parish.
" That your petitioner has never ih his life livbd as a
vagrant, but has always had a settled home, has always
pursued an honest and visible means of getting his living,
bas always been, and is ready to prove that he ftlVvays has'
been an industrious, a peaceable, sober, honest, and order
ly person.
" That, on the 10th of January) I8I7, youi* petitioner,
for having' pulled down a posting bill, entitled, " Mr.
Hunt hissedowt of the City of Bristol," was committed by
Mr. Sellon to the New Prison, ClerkenweU, where he was
kept on bread and water and compelled to lie on the bare •
boards until the twenty-second of the same month, when
he was tied, Witb about fifty others, to a long rope, or
cable, and marched to Hicks's Hall, and there let loose.
" That your petitidner has often heard it said, that the
law affords protection to the poor as, well as to the rich,
and that, if unable to.olrtain redress any where else, every
subjectof his Majesty has the road of petition open to him ;
therefore your petitioner, being unable to obtain redress'
in any other manner for the grievous wrongs done him
by the Magistrate of the police, most humbly implores
your Honourable House to afford him protection and re
dress, and to that end he prays your Honourable House
to permit hinKto prove at the bar of your Honourable
House all and several the allegations contained in this
his most humble petitibA.
" And jteur petitioner will ever pra}-.
" THOMAS DlJGOOD."

440 MEMOIRS OF
"To.the' Honourable the Commons of the United -King
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament as
sembled. *
" The Petition of Henry Hunt, of Middleton Cot
tage, in the County of Southampton,
" Humbly Sheweth,
" That your petitioner, being ready to prove at the
bar of your Honourable House, that there has been car
ried on a conspiracy against his character, and eventually
aimed at his life, by certain persons, receiving salaries out
of the public money, and acting in their public capacity,
and expen«ling for, this vile purpose a portion of the taxes ;
and there being, as appears to him, no mode of his ob
taining.^ chance of security, other than those which may
be afforded him by Parliament, he humbly sues to your
Honourable House to yield him your protection, v
" That your petitioner has always been a loyal and
faithful subject, and a sincere and zealous friend of his
country. Thftt, at a time, during the first war against
France, when there were great apprehensions of invasion,
and when circular letters were sent round to farmers and
others to ascertain what sort and degree of aid each
would be willing to afford to the Government in case of
such emergency, your petitioner, who was then a farmer
in Wiltshire, did not,' as others did, make an offer, of a
small part of his moveable property, but that, really be
lieving his country to be in danger, he, in a letter to the
Lord Lieutenant, the Earl of Pembroke, freely offered his
,all, consisting of several thousands of sheep, a larg-e stock
of horned cattle, upwards of twenty horses, se'ven or
eight waggons and carts with able and active drivers, se
veral hundreds of quarters of corn and grain, and, his
own person besides, all, to be at the entire disposal of
the Lord Lieutenant; and this your petitioner did without
{iny reserved claim to compensation, it being a principle
deeply rooted in his heart, that all property, and even
life itself, ought to be considered as nothing, when pnt in
competition with the safety and honour of our country.
And your petitioner further begs leave to state to your
Honourable House, that, at a subsequent period, namely,
in the, year 1803, when an invasion of the country was
again apprehended, and when it was propo%|0 to call out
volunteers to serve within certain limits of iheir houses,
your petitioner called aronnd hirn the, people of the vil
lage of Enford, in which he lived,, and that all the men jn
tbat parish (with the exception of three) oapable of bear-

HENRY HUNT, 441
ing arms, amounting to more than two hundred in niim-
. ber, immediately enrolled themselves, and offered .to serve,
not only wifhin the district, but in any part of the king
dom where the enemy might land, or be expected to land,
and this offer was by your petitioner transmitted to, Lord
Pembroke, who expressed to your petitioner his great sa
tisfaction at the said offer, and' informed- him, that he
would make a point of communicating the same to his
Majesty's Ministers.
_ " That your petitioner, still actuated by a sincere de
sire to see his country free and happy, and holding a high
character in the world, has lately been usiug his humble
endeavours to assist peaceably and legally in promoting
, applications to Parliament for a Reform in your Honour
able House, that measure appearing to your petitioner to
be the only effectual remedy for the great and notorious
evils under which the country now groans, and for which
. evils, as no one attempts to deny their existence, so no
one, as far as your petitioner has heard, has attempted to
suggest any other remedy.
" That your petitioner, in pursuit of this constitutional,
and, as he hopes and believes, laudable object (an object
for which, if need be, he is resolved to risk his life against
unlawful violence) lately took part in a public meeting of
the City of Bristol, ofwhich he is a freeholder ; and that
though a large body of regular troops and of yeomanry
cavalry were placed in a menacing attitude near the place
of our meeting, the meeting was conducted and concluded
in the most peaceable and orderly manner, and the result
of it was a petition to your Honourable House, voluntari
ly signed by upwards of twenty thousand men, which
petition has been presented to, and received by, your Ho
nourable House.
" That your petitioner, who had met with every de
monstration of public good-will and approbation in the
said city, was surprised to see in the public newspapers
-an account of a boy havingbeen sent to gaol by certaia
Police Officers and Justices, for having pulled down a
posting-bill, which alleged, your petitioner to have been
hissed out of the City of Bristol, and containing other
•gross falsehoods and infamous calumnies on the charactsr
,of your petitioner, calculated to ei^cite great hatred against
your petitioner, and to prepare the way for his ruin aad
destruction. " That your petitioner, who trusts that he has himself
VOL. III. 3 L

442 MEMOIRS OF
always acted an open and manly part, and who has never
been so base as to make an attack upon any one, who had
not the fair means of defence, feeling indignant at this act
of partiality and oppression, came to London with a view
of investigating the matter, and this investigation having
taken, place, he now alleges to your Honourable House,
tbat the aforesaid posting-bills, containing the infamous
calumnies aforesaid, were printed by J. Downes, who is
the printer to the Police ; that the bill-sticker received
the bills from the said Downes, who paid him for sticking
them up; that the bill-sticker was told by the said
Downes, that there would be somebody to watch him to
see that he stuck them up ; that Police Offlcers were set
to watch to prevent the said bills from being pulled down :
that some of these BiUs were carried to the Police-office at
Hatton Garden, and there kept by the officers, to be pro
duced in proof against persons who should be taken up for
pulling them down ; that Thomas Dugood was seized,
sent to gaol, kept on bread and water, and made to lie
on the bare boards from the tenth to the twenty-second
of January, 1817, when he was taken out with about 'fifty
other persons, tied to a lon"' rope or cable, and marched
to Hicks's Hall, where he was let loose, and that his
only offence was pulling down one of those bills ; that
a copy of Dugood's commitment was refused to your pe
titioner ; that your petitioner was intentionally directed
to a wrong prison to see the boy Dugood ; that the Ma
gistrate, Wiiiiam Marmaduke Sellon, who had committed
Dugood, denied repeatedly that he knew any thing ofthe
matter, and positively asserted that Dugood had been com
mitted by another Magistrate, a Mr. Turton, who Mr.
Sellon said, was at his house very ill, and not likely to
come to the offlcefor some time.
"That your Honourable House is besought by your
petitioner, to Ijear in mind the recently exposed atroci
ous conspiracies carried on by officers of the Police against
the lives of innocent men, and your petitioner is confi
dent that your Honourable House will, in these transac
tions, see the clear proofs of a foul conspiracy against the
character and hfe of your petitioner, carried on by persons
in the public employ, appointed by the Crown, and re
movable at its pleasure, and that this conspiracy , has -been
also carried on by means of public money.
" A.nd, therefore, as the only mode of doing justice to
4he petitioner and to the public in a case of such singu-

HBMRY HUNT, 443
lar atrocityj your petitioner prays your Honpurable House
that he may be permitted to prove (as he is ready to do)
all and singular the aforesaid allegations at the Bar of
your Honourable House, and that if your Honourable
House shall find the allegations io be true, you will be
pleased to address bis Royal Highness to cause the afore
said Magistrate to be dismissed from his office.
" And your petitioner shall ever pray.
" H.HUNT."
The day of the third Spafields meeting
arrived, and I drove to town in my tandem,
and, put up at the British Coffee-house livery-
stables, in Cockspur-street, wfaere I had for
several years before gone with my horses.
My trunk was, as usual, taken into a bed
room, where I meant to change my dress pre
viously to my going to the meeting. I had
first to walk into Fleet-street on business, and
when I got there, I saw nine pieces of artil
lery drawn over Blackfriars-bridge, which
proceeded up Fleet-market towards Spafields,
attended by a regular company of artillerymen
from Woolwich. I had called on Major Cart
wright as I drove into town, and he informed
me that he had heard, from ^ood authority,
that a Cabinet Council had been held on Sa
turday, and that Lord Castlereagh had
proposed to disperse the intended meeting by
military force, but that the other Cabinet
Ministers had opposed this raeasure, and that
at length Castlereagh retired, muttering
vengeance, and adding that he would take the

444 MEMOIRS or
responsibility Upon fairaself. Tfae Major spoke
witfa great earnestness and feeling, while, if I
recollect right, I treated his informatidn rather
lightly, saying, that if they killed me I hoped
the Major would write my epitaph. When,
however; I saw the artillery pass up Fleet-
market, in a direction for Spafields, tfae place
of meeting, I began to think more seriously
ofthe matter; but, as 1 was about to do that
which my conscience approved of, and as I
knew that I should not violate any law, I re
turned towards my inn, certainly in a serious
mood, yet deterrained to do ray duty. Not
one man that I knew in the wfaole metropolis
would or did accompany rae. I called at Cob
bett's lodgings, in Catfaerine-street, and asked
the young ones, rather sarcastically, if they
meant to attend the meeting ? to which they
kriswered, that their father had left positive
orders that they should not go over the thresh-
hold of the door tfaat day. When I got to my
inn, in Cockspur-street, I ordered my servant
to get ray horses ready, and I went to my bed
room to put on a clean shirt, but I was sur
prised to find that my trunk had been re
moved.^ I rung the beU several times before
any one came ; at length the Boots appeared,
instead of the chambermaid, and I demanded
the reason of my trunk Jaeing removed. He

HENRY HUNT. 445
either knew or pretended to know nothing of
the matter, but said he would inquire. After
he had been absent for sonie time, I rung again,
upon which a stranger, appeared, a person
whom I had never seen before. He said he ,
was the master ofthe house, and he had order
ed my trunk- to be removed ; to which he add- *
ed, that I should not sleep in his house, as it
would drive away his best customers. I told
him I had slept there occasionaUy for .many
years, and was .always treated with civility ;
and drawing out my purse, I said that as he
was a stranger I would immediately pay him
whatever he might demand for the use of the
room. He still, however, persisted that I
should leave his house. I demanded my
trunk, and declared I would dress' there first;
he swore .1 should not, and made an effort to
hustle me out of the.room. I then told him to
keep his hands off, or L would thrash him;*
upon which he put himself into a boxing atti
tude,- and offered to fight me. He was a little
insignificant creature, and I was just upon the
point of kicking him out of the room, when I
saw a fellow peeping round the corner of the*
door. It immediately struck me that this,was
a -trap to get me into a scrape, and I paused
and drew, back inconsequence. 1 1 told the
little gentleman, wholsaid his name was Mor-

446 MEMOIR* OF
ley, that I would meet him and talk over the
matter at any other time; but, as I was al
present engaged, I asked him as a favour to
iet me have my trunk to dress^ and I would
leave his housein ten minutes. It was agreed
that we should meet at Mr. Jackson's rooms,-
some day iu the foHowing wetek. Thither I
went at the time appointed, with perhaps the
tirorst second in the world, Mr. Cobbett. When
1 got there each told his story, and Jacksdni
proposed that we should go into the fields to
settle the dispute, butthis was not assented to
by either Mr. Morley or myself, and Mr. Cob
bett was vehement against my. having any
thing to do with my antagonist. The affair,
therefore, terminated with some smart words,
without either of us offering to fight. This
iSiffair was, however, blazoned forth in all the
morning papers, which, in utter defiance of
truth, asserted, that I faad befaaved iU to a
man ofthe name of Morley, who kept the Bri
tish Coffee-house in Cocfcspur-street; that we
had met by appointment at Jackson's, and
that Ihad refused to fight him. Supposing
that I had done so, I should, under all the cir-
cumstancesi, have been perfectly justified; but
it was no sucfa tiding, tfae feUow never offered
to fight me at any other time but in fais own
faouse, wfaere, if I had struck him, I am

BENli^ HUNT. 447
thoroughly convinced that a police-ofl&cer was
in attendance, to take me into custody for
assaulting ia man in his own house; conse
quently, I should have been detained till the
time of the meeting in Spafields had passed:;
and it would have been made a pretty handle
of in the papers the next day, when the publie
would have been told that, instead of my at
tending the meeting in Spafields, I had been
taken to Bow-street, and detained in custody,
for assaulting the landlord of the inn at which
I had put up. AU that Ishall add upon the
subject is, that on no occasion in my life did
lever turn my back upon two such men as
Mr. Morley.
At the time appointed' I arrived at the
meeting, which was much larger than either "
of the former meetings. Resolutions Were
passed, and a petition was unanimously agreed
to, praying for Reform, &c. which petition
was placed the same evening in the hands of
Lord Folkestone, by Mr. Clarke^ who had been
for the third time our chairri^an ; and which
petition was presented to the House of Com
mons the same night, by his Lordship. I was
accompanied by the people to Hyde-Park Cor
ner, where 1 took my leave of them, and
returned to my house at Middleton Cottage;
¦the whole of these three meetings m Spafields

44S MEMo4N OF
having been held in the most peaceable and
orderly manner, without the least disturbance,
or one single breach of the peace having been
committed by any person that attended it,
notwithstanding all the infamous falsehoods
that were published in the newspapers to the
contrary. The truth is, tfaat I have seen ten
• times more disturbance, disorder, and tumult,
^, at one Common-Hall, in the city of London,
where the Lord Mayor presided, than there
was at all tfaese meetings put togetfaer.
While these things were going peaceably
on out of doors, and petitions were daily and
numerously pouring in from all parts of the
kingdom, particularly from the North of
England, and from Scotland, the two Houses
of Parliament were in their way not inactive.
The committees that were appointed made
tfaeir report, and bills were iramediately
jDrougfat in to suspend the Habeas-Corpus
Act, and to prevent seditious meetings ; which
bills were, with very faint opposition, agreed
to. It ought not to be forgotten, that on this
• occasion the Wfaigs 'took a raost prominent
part against tfae people, and that they were
quite as loud and as violent against tfae
Reformers as the Ministers were. To be sure
the people had committed one inexpiable crime.
They had by their steady, peaceable, and per-

H^NRY HUNT. 449"
severing conduct, frightened the Whig leader,
Mr. Ponsonby, out of his sinecure of 4,000^.
per annum, which he held in consequence of
his having been Lord ChanceU^ of Ireland,
du'ring the Whig administrati(^ in th'e year
1807. The cunning Scotchman, Prskine, who
had been for the same short period Lord
Chancellor of England, was also pressed very
hard to foUow the example of his Irish friend;
but Sawney was of a more tenaciously grasp
ing nature, and he stfjtck to the ship,,, deter
mined to partake of the plunder as long as
she would swim. It was for this that the
Whigs wreaked their malice upon the Re-
formerfc and that Mr. BrOugham andhis con
federal^ appeared to run»a race every night
which shoilld most abuse and calumiiiate them.
The plot bein^ ripe, Watson, Thistlewood,
Preston, and Hooper, were committed to the
Tower fof high treason. On the other hand,
meetings were held in Westminster, and in <
the city of London, to petition' against the
suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. The
following petition of mine was also presented
to the House of Lords, by Lord Holland. I
was below the bar at the time his Lordship
presented it, immediately before Lord Sid
mouth rose to move the passing- of the Sedi
tious Meetings BUl, and I shall never forget
vol. IIL # 3 M

450 MEMOIRS OF
the look that his Lordship, the Secretary of
Statf, gave me; fpr I stood right in front of
the bar, and witfain a few yards of him.
" To the LorjJIjSpiritual and Temporal of the United
Kingaom of^reat Britain and Ireland, in Parliament
assembled. " The Petition of Henry Hunt, of Middleton Cot-
» tage, in the County of Southampton,
" Humbly Sheweth,
" That your petitioner, who had the honour to be the
mover ofthe petitions at the recent meetings held in Spa
fields, one of which petitions has been received by his
Royal Highness the Prince Regent, and two of which
petitions have been presented to, and received by, the
Honourable the House of Commons, has read, in the pub
lic prints, a paper entitled a Report of the Secret Com
mittee of your Right Honourable House, and which Re
port appears to your petitioner, as far as his humble
powers- of disentangleijient have enabled him to analyse
the same, to submif to- your Right. Honourabl{^|Iouse, as
solemn truths, the following assertions ; to wi^^
" That the first public meeting in Spafields, which had
for its ostensible object a petition for relief and Re
form, was closely connected ''with, and formed part of, a
Conspiracy to produce an insurrection for the purpose
bf overthrowing the Government.
" 2. That Spafields was fixed upon as the place of assem-
blingf on account of its vicinity to the Bank and the "
Tower ; and that, for this same reason, ' care teas taken
to adjourn the meeting to the 2d of Deceniber, by
which time it was hoped that preparations fOr the in-
surrectionwould be fully matured.'
' 3. That, at this second meeting, flags, banners, and all
the ensigns of insurrection, were displayed, and that,
finally, an insurrection was begun -by joersons collected
in the Spafields, and that notwithstanding the ultimate
object was then frustrated, the same designs still con
tinue tobe prosecuted with sanguine hopes ef success.
' 4. That a largp quantity of Pike-heads had been order
ed of one individual, and that 250 had actually been
made and paid for. . . -

HENRY HUNT. 451
" 5. That Delegates fram Hampden Clubs in the Country
have met in London, and that they are ejected to,
meet again in March.
" That, as to the first of these assertions, as your
petitioner possesses no means of ascertaining the secret
thoughts of men, he cannot pretend to assert, that none of
the persons, with whom the calling ofv.,tJie flrst Spafields
meeting originated, had^o views of a^lfiotous or revolu
tionary kind; but he humbly conceives, that a simple
narrative of facts will be more than sufficient to satisfy
your Right Honourable House, that no such dangerous,
projects ever entered the minds of those who constituted
almost the entire mass of that most numerous meeting.
Therefore, in the hope of producing this conviction in the
mind of your Right Honourable House, your petitioner
begs leave to proceed to state : that he, who was then at
his house in the country, received, a short time before the
Ifith of .November last, a letter from Thomas Preston,
Secretary of a Committee, requesting your petitioner to
attend a public meeting of the distressed inhabitants of
the metropolis, intended to be held in Spafields on the
day just mentioned ; that your petitioner thereupan wrote
to ThQjgjas Preston to know what was the object of the
intended meeting ; — that he received, in the way of an
swer, a newspaper called the Independent Whig, of No
vember IOth, 1816, containing an advertisement in these
words; to wit: ' At a meeting held at the Carlisle,
Shoreditch, on Thursday evening, it was determined to
call a meeting of the distressed Manufacturers, Mariners,
Artizans, and others of the Cities of London and West
minster, the Borough of Southwark, and parts adjacent, in
Spafields, on Friday, the 15th insta:nt, precisely at 12
o'clock, to take into consideration the propriety of peti
tioning the Prince Regent and Legislature, to adopt im
mediately such measures as will relieve the sufferers from
the misery which now overwhelms "them. (Signed)
John Dyall, Chairman, Thomas Preston, Secretary.'
That your petitioner, upon seeing this advertisement, he
sitated not to accept of the invitation ; that he attended
at the said raeeting; that he there found, ready prepared,
a paper, called, to the best of his recollection, a memorial,
which some persons, then utter strangers to him, pro
posed to move for the adoption of the meeting ; that
your petitioner, perceiving in this paper, propositions of

452 memoirs of
a nature which he did not approve of, and especially a
propositi^ for the m'eeting going in a body to Carlton
House, declared that he wpuld have nothing to do with
the said memorial ; that your petitioner then brought for
ward an humble petition to the Prince Regent, which
petition was passed by the meeting unanimously, and
which petition, having been by your petitioner delivered
to Lord Sidmoutfcthat Noble Lord has, by letter, inform
ed yoiir petitjonerwas immediataly laid before his Royal
Highness the Prince Regent. And your petitioner here
begs leave further to state, upon the subject ofthe afore-
nientioned memorial,' that JoAn Dyall, whose name, as
Chairman of the Committee who called the meeting (and
of which Committee Thomas Preston was Secretary),
having, before the meeting took place, been called before
Mr. Giffot'd, one of the Police Magistrates, hadfurnished
Mr. Giffordwith a copy of the said memorial, and that
that copy was in the hands of Lord Sidmouth at the mo
ment when the meeting was ahout to assemble, though
(from an oversight; no doubt) neither the Police Magis
trates nor any other person whatever gave your peti
tioner the smallest intimation of the dangerous tendency
or even of the existence of such memorial, or of any im
proper views being entertained by any of the.parties
calling the meeting, though it. now appears, ttiat the
written placards, entitled " Britons to Arms," are im
puted to those same parties, though it is notorious that
that paper appeared in all the public prints so far back as
the month of October, and though, when your petitioner
waited on Lord Sidmouth with the petition ofthe Prince
Regent, that Noble Lord himself informed your petitioner,
that the Government were fully apprized before-hand of
the propositions intended to be brought forward at the
meeting. So that your petitioner humbly begs leave to
express his confldence that your Honourable House will
clearly perceive, that if any insurrection had taken place
on the day of the'* first Spafields meeting, it would have
been entirely owing to the neglect, if not connivance, of
those persons who possessed a previous knowledge of the
principles and vieWs of the parties with whom that meet
ing originated.
" With regard to the second assertion, namely, that
' care was taken to adjourn the meeting to the 2d of De-'
, cember,' your petUioner begs leave to state, that it will
appear upon the f *e of the proceedings of that day, that

HENRY HUNT. 453
there was nothing like previous concert or care in this
matter ; for, that a resolution first proposed, to adjourn
the raeeting to the day of the meeting of Parliament, and
then to meet in Palace-yard, of course not so much in the
vicinity of the Bank and the Tower ,- and that when this
resolution was awarded so as to provideTor a meeting on
the 2d of December on the same spot, it was merely
grounded on the uncertainty as to the time when the
Parliament might meet. Your petitioner further begs
leave to stat^ here, as being, in a most interested manner,
connected with this adjournment of the meeting, that,
when your petitioner waited on Lord Sidmouth with the
petition to the Prince Regent, he informed his Lordship
that the meeting was to re-assemble on the id of December,
when your petitioner had engaged to carry his Lordship's
answer and deliver it to the adjourned meeting, and that
his Lordship, so far from advising your petitioner not to
go to the said meeting, so far from saying any thing to
discourage the said meeting, distinctly told your peti
tioner, that your petitioner's presence and conduct ap
peared to his Lordship to have prevented great possible
mischief. Whence your petitioner humbly conceives,
that he is warranted in concluding, that there did, at the
time here referred to, exist in his Lordship no desire to
prevent the said meeting from taking place.
" Your petitioner, in adverting humbly to the third
assertion of your Secret Committee, begs to be permitted
to state, that the persons who went from Spafields to
engage in riot on the 2d of December, formed no part of
the meeting called for that day; that these persons came
into the fields full two hours before the time of meeting ;
that the^ left the fields full an hour before that time ; that
they did not consist, at the time of leaving the fields, of
more than forty or fifty individuals ; that they were join
ed by sailors and others, persons going from witnessing
the execution of four men in the Old Bailey ; that your
petitioner, who had come up from Essex in the morning,
met the rioters in Cheapside ;, that he proceeded directly
to the meeting, which he found to be very numerous ; that
there a resolution w.as immediately proposed by your pe
titioner, strongly condemning all rioting and violence,
which resolutidn passed with the most unaniKious accla
mations ; that a petition, which has since been signed by
upwards of 24 thousand names, and received by the House
of Commons, was then passed;,, and that the meeting,
though immense as to numbers, finally separated, without

454 MEMOIRS OF
the commission of any single act of jiot, outrage, or rio
lence. And here your petitioner humbly begs leave to
beseech the attention of your Right Hon. House to the
very important fact of a third meeting having taken place
on the IOth instant, on the same spot, more numerously
attended than either of the former; and that, after hav
ing agreed to a petition, which has since been received by
your Hon. House, the said nieeting separated in the most
peaceable and orderly manner, which your petitioner trusts
is quite sufficient to convince your Honourable House that
if, as your Secret Committee reported, designs of riot do
still continue tobe prosecuted with sanguine hopes pf suc
cess, these designs can have no connection whatever with
the meetings for retrenchment, relief, and Reform, held in
Spafields. " That as to the pike-heads, your petitioner begs leave
to state to your Right Honourable House, that While he
was at the last Spafields meeting,, an anonymous letter
was put into the hands of your petitioner's servant, who
afterwards gave it to your petitioner ;. that this letter
, stated that one Bentley, a smith, of Hart-street, Covent-
Garden, had been employed by a man, in the dress of a
game-keeper, to make some spikes to put round a fish
pond; that the game-keeper came and took a parcel
away and paid for them ; that he came soon afterwards
end said the things answered very well, and ordered more
to be made ; that, in alittie while after this, the said Bent
ley was sent for to the Bow-street Office, and, after a pri
vate examination, was desired to make a pike, or spike,
of the same sort, arid to carry it to the office, which he
did. That your petitioner perceives that the information
which it contains may possibly be of the utmost import
ance in giving a clue to the strict investigation, which he
humbly presumes tb hope will be instituted by your Ho
nourable House into this very interesting matter.
" That as to the fifth assertion, that Delegates have
assembled in Loudon from Hampden Clubs in the coun
try, your petitioner has flrst to observe, that these per
sons never called themselves Delegates, and were not call
ed Delegates by any body connected with them ; that
they were called, and were, ' Deputies from Petitioning
Bodies' for Parliamentary Reform; that your petitioner
was oneof them, having been deputed by the petitioners
at Bristol and Bath ; that these Deputies met three times,
and always in an open" room, to vvhich newspaper re-
porters were admitted ; that an account of all their pro-

HENRY HUNT. 455
ceeding-s was published ; that they separated at the end
of three days, not upon a motion of adjournment, but of
absolute dissolution, wfaich motion was madeby your pe-
titioper, who is ready to prove that your Committee has
been imposed upon as to the fact that these Delegates, or
Deputies, are expected to meet again in March.
" That your petitioner is ready to prove at the Bar of
your Right Honourable House, all the facts and allegations
contained in tbis petition, and that he humbly prays so to
be permitted there to prove them accordingly.
" And your petitioner will ever pray.
" HENRY HUNT."
As soon as this petition was read, Lord Sid
mouth roscy apparently very much discon?-
certed, another petition having been presented
previously from Cleary, the secretary of the
Hampden Club, denying, and offering to prove
the falsehood of, many of the statements, in
the Report of the Committee. His Lordship
made a long and violent speech against the
measures and views of the Reformers, and
called Upon the House to put them down, or
the Constitution and Government ofthe coun
try would be soon overthrown. He never
attempted to controvert or deny one word that
was contained in my petition, just presented ; -
but he said, that the Govemment of this coun
try had often to contend with discontented
and turbulent men; " but those who took the
lead in these meeting^, although their steps
were directed wiih caution, yet (turning round
and looking me full in the face) they were

456 MEMOIRS OF
MEN OF MOST EXTRAORDINARY ENERGY, and
PURSJJED THEIR COURSE WITH AN INFLEXI
BLE PERSEVERANCE AND COURAGE that waS
worthy a better cause." This was said in tfae
most lofty ton*, and so evidently directed to
me, that it drew all the eyes in the House
upon rae; and it was with considerable diffi
culty that T could resist tfae inclination I felt
to declare, tfaat it was irapossible tfaere could
be a better cause than that of contending for
the freedom of the wfaole people. His.Lord-
sfaip, in alluding to cheap seditious publica
tions, such as Cobbett's and Sherwin's Regis
ters, and Wooler's Dwarf, whicfa at tfais time
were published at twopence eacfa, in great
nuinbers, laraented tfaat the law officers ofthe
Crown could find nothing in them tfaat tfaey
could prosecute witfa any cfaance of success.
Cobbett's Register alone, at tfais period, at
tained a sale of fifty tfaousand copies a week.
Tfae BiU was passed, with very little opposi
tion, to prevent any public meeting being held
to petition for Reform, or any alteration in
the government or constitution of the country,
without its being caUed with the concurrence
of tfae magistrates, &c. &c. ; wfaicfa was notfaing
raore or less than prohibiting all public meet
ings, except such as the corrupt tools of Go
verriment chose to sanction.

hkNry hunt. 467
While the Acts were in progress, a public
county meeting was called by the Sheriff of
Hampshire, upon a requisition, signed by the
Marquis of Winchester, the Marquis of Bucl^
ingham, old George Rose, Lord Palmerstonj
Mr. Sturges Bourne, Lord Malmsbury, Lord
Fitzharris, and all the great Tory leaders of
the county, ^' to consider of an address to his
Royal Highness the Prince Regent, on the
outrageous and treasonable attack made upon
his Royal Highness, on his return from opeUr
ing the session of Parliament." The meet
ing was held on the llth of March. Sir
Charles Ogle moved an address, which was se
conded by Mr. Asheton Smith ; both did this
in dumb show, for not one word that they said
could be heard. Lord Cochrane moved an
amendment, which was opposed by Mr. Lock
hart; and as the Sheriff refused to put his
Lordship's amendment, declaring it to be irre
gular, Mr. Cobbett addressed the assembled
thousands, and moved an amendment, which
1 seconded. This amendment merely proposed
to add, after the word Constitution, in thfe
Original address, " as established by Magna
Charta, the Bill of Rights, and the Act of
Habeas Corpus, for which our forefathers
fought and bled." This amendment Mr. Lock
hart and his gang declared to be most sedi-
VOL. III. 3 N

458 MEMOIRS OF
%
tious and wicked, and tfae Sfaeriff, a little
whipper-snapper feUpw, of the name of Flem
ing, absolutely refused to put it to the meet
ing. A show o^ faands took place upon the
priginal ministerial address, and, as far as
my judgment went, it was lost by a consider
able majority. The Sheriff, faowever, decided
that the address was carried by three to one;
but when a division was called for, the Sfaeriff
retired in haste from the meeting, amidst the
yells and groans of the multitude,' and the
Under-Sheriff actually tfareatened to take Lord
Cocfarane and myself into custody, if we of
fered to address tfae meeting any more.
The Seditious Meeting Act had not yet re
ceived the Royal Assent, but these worthies
knew the clauses whicfa it contained, and the
perpetual Under-Sheriff, a Mr. Hollis, appear
ed determined to act upon it by anticipation.
Perhaps there never was such a disgraceful
scene before exhibited at a public meeting
in England. The raost foul, the most unfair,
the most outrageous, and most blackguard
conduct was resorted to by the ministerial
tools and dependants of the county, amongst
whom were all the parsons, all the half-pay
officers, and all the dependants of the corrupt
corporations of Andover and Winchester. A
person ofthe name pf Loscomb, and another.

HENRY HUNT. ^469
Feston, pf Andover, the former one of the An
dover corporation, the latter a half-pay lieu
tenant, were eminently conspicuous as the
brazen tools of those who called the meeting.
Such a scene of riot, confusion, and upro^
had never, I believe, disgraced a county meet
ing. These ministerial dependants appeared
determined to carry every thing with a high
handj now that they found laws were passing
to justify and protect arbitrary and corrupt
power. On the 12th of this month, the sailor Cash-
man was executed at the front of Beckwith's,
the gunmaker's, shop, on Snow-hill. Nothing
will show the distressed situation of the poor
and friendless better than the answer which
Cashman raade to the Judge, after he was
found guilty, upon being asked " why sen
tence of death should not be passed upon
him." His memorable words were : —
" My Lord — I hope you will excuse a poor friendless
sailor fo-i occupying your time. Had I 'died fighting the
battles of my country I should have gloried in it : but I
confess that it grieves me to think of suffering like a rob
ber, when I can call God to witness that / have passed
days together without even a morsel of bread rather than
violate the laws. 1 have served my King, for many years,
and often fought for my country. I have received nine
wounds in the service, and never before have been charg
ed with any offence. I have been at sea all my life, and
tny father was killed on board the Diana frigate. I came
to London, my Lord, to endeavour to recover my pay and
prize-mtiney, but being unsuccessful, I was reduced to the
greatest distress, and being poor and pennyless, I have not

460 MEMOIRS OF
been able to bring forward witnesses to prove my inno
cence, nor even to acquaint my brave oflScers, or I am sure
they would' all haVe cdme forward in my behalf. The
gentiemea who have sworn against me must have mis
took me for some other person (there being many sailors
in the mob) ; but I freely forgive them, and I hope God
will also forgi've them, for I solemnly declare that I com-
aiitted iio act 6f violence whatever."
Cashman, who had been accustomed to
witness. scenes of deatfa, met fais fate with de
termined courage, exclaiming, " Huzza, my
boys, I'll di e like a man ! " Calling to the exe
cutioner, he said, " Come, Jack, let go the
jib-boom." " Now, my lads, give me three
cheers wfaen I trip." The few reraaining se
conds of his existence he eraployed in similar
addresses, and at the instant when the fatal
board fell from beneath his feet, he was cheer
ing. This exhibition was calculated to harden
the distressed inhabitants of the raetropolis
who witnessed his execution, and thousands
felt and' exclairaed that it was much better
and easier to encounter death in such a way
than to endure the lingering torture of being
starved to death. The multitude did not fail
to shower down their deepest execrations
against all those who were concerned in this
affair, and the public were so exasperated at
what was justly called the murder of this man,
that, had the poor fellow shewn any disposi
tion to avpid that death wfaich he appeared
rather to court, there is little doubt but he

HENRY HUNT.

Wl

would have been rescued, in spite of the host
of constables and police officers that attended
the execution. <
A system of terror was now the order c^jMie
day. The reader will bear in mind that ^iU
had passed both Houses of Parliament, and
only waited for the Royal Assent, to make it
death to attend any seditious meeting; at
least to make it death notto disperse when or
dered by any Magistrate or public officer. It
was under such auspices that a public county
meeting for Wiltshire was called, and appoint
ed to be held at Devizes, This meeting was
called, as in Hampshire, by the great aristo
cratical leaders of both the Whig and Tory
factions. It will be remembered that I had
given Mr. Cobbett a freehold, to enable him
to take part in the Wiltshire county meetings,
aUof which, that had been subsequently held,
he had attended with me, and at all these
Wiltshire county meetings the resolutions and
petitions proposed by myself and Mr. Cobbett
had been invariably carried. The meeting
now in question was to be convened the latter
end of March, or the beginning of April. On
my leaving London, Mr. Cobbett had promised
to meet me at Devizes, on the day appointed.
I went to Devizes, with my friend Mr. Wil
liam Akerman, of Potney, at whose house I

4M

MEMOIRS OF

had slept the preceding night. When we ar
rived at the Castle Inn, the place of rendez
vous, I was surprised to find that, tfaougfa it
wafc-atfaer late, my friend Cobbett had not
arrived ; yet, so thoroughly convinced was I
that he would not disappoint me, tfaat I was
determined to wait at tfae inn for faim, and
not to go to tfae Town-faall, the place of meet
ing, till he joined me. As I wished to know
what time the business was to commence, Mr.
Akerman, at my request, went down to the
Bear Inn, where the Sheriff and my Lord
Perabroke, with all those who faad called tfais
raeeting to address tfae Prince Regent upon
fais rairaculous escape from the potatoe (whicfa
I faad now ascertained was tfarown by Mr.
John Castles), faad asserabled. He very soon
carae back, almost out of breatfa, to inform me,
tfaat tfae party, witfa tfae Sfaeriff at tfaeir faead,
were just proceeding to tfae Hall; and with a
loud laugh he informed me that the Courier
newspaper, which had just arrived in tfae coffee-
roofti of tfae Bear Jnn, faad an article in it
wfaich stated that " Cobbett was arrived
AT Liverpool, and had taken his passage
FOR America." " I at once," said he, " de
clared tfais to be an infaraous lie, and I offered
to bet any ofthe party 50/., which I put on tfae
table, tfaat Mr. Cobbett would be in Devizes,

HENRY HUNT. 46S
and attend the meeting, within one hour from
that time." Fortunately for my friend Aker
man, not one of the gang assembled hadjon-
fidence enough in the rascally Courier ^In
duce them to take the bet ; had they done so,
my friend would have lost his 50/. note.
/ was thunderstruck for a moment, as Mr.
Cobbett had never given me the slightest in
timation of his intention, and till I saw the
Courier I could not believe it possible that any
man could act so treacherously towards one
for whom he had expressed, not only in pub
lic but in private, the most unbounded con
fidence. For the first time it now occurred to
me, that there was something mysterious in
Mr. Cobbett's conduct when I last saw him,
which was a few days before in London. It
was, however, of no use to ponder or to des
pair, and therefore, I jumped up out of my
chair, in which I had been almost riveted by
the unexpected intelligence, and earnestly
inquired of Mr. Akerman if he had actually
made the bet. He replied, " no one would
accept it, or I should most willingly have
made it." " WeU," said I, " I am glad that
none of the villains had confidence in the
rascaUy Editor of the Courier, but whether
it be true or false, I will go to the meeting."
It is much more easy for the reader to ima-

464 MEMOIRS OF
gine what were the sensations whicfa I felt as
I walked to the meeting, than it is for me
to j^scribe them. I had for many years
acffli in strict union- with Mr. Cobbett, both
in Wiltshire and Hampshire, at all the public
meetings that had been held in tfaese counties;
I had placed iraplicit and unbounded con
fidence in hira, and I tfaought that on fais part
sucfa feelings faad been reciprocal ; buta thou-*
sand occurrences whicfa faitfaerto had made no
impression on me now rushed upon ray mind;
and half convinced rae tfaat I faad been
deceived. We reacfaed the Town-haU soon after the
business of the day was begun; it was cram
med to suffocation, and a great many persons
wfao could not gain adraission, were standing
at t'he outside. By tfae assistance of my friend
Akerman, I contrived to get near enougfa to
the entrance of the haU, to expostulate with
the Sheriff, for attempting to faold a county
meeting in sucfa a confined situation ; adding,
that a great number of people: were totally
excluded, and amongst tfaat nuraber was Mr.
Richard Long, one of the Members for the
county. Upon this, Mr. Long replied,, that
he was very well off, and that he did not wish
to gain admittance. Tfais, to be sure, caused
a great laugfa, but I persevered by moving

HENRY HUNT. 4^
an adjournment, and after a great deal of
noise and squabbling, the Sheriff agreed to
adjourn the meeting to the Market-place,
whither we proceeded, and Mr. Sheriff Pen
ruddock took his station upon the steps of t||»
Market-cross, where he was surrounded by
such a gang of desperadoes as never disgraced
a meeting of highwaymen and pickpockets
in the purlieus of St. Giles's. This gang
was headed by the notorious John Benett, of
Pyt-House, from whom they took the word of
command, when to be silent and when to bel
low, hoot, hallow, and make all sorts of dis
cordant vulgar noises, such as would have
degraded and lowered the character of a horde
of drunken prostitutes and pickpockets, in the
most abandoned brothel in the universe.*—
The plan of operations had been previously
arranged, and a set of wretches had hired
themselves, to play the raost disgraceful and
disgusting part. Lord Pembroke, the Lord
Lieutenant of the county, had ordered and
commanded aU his tenantry, and even his
tradesmen, to attend the meeting to oppose
Hunt. A butcher at Wilton, who served his
Lordship's family with meat, pleaded his pre
vious engagements on businessof importance,
as an excuse for his non-attendance ; but he
was informed by his Lordship's agent, that if
VOL. III. 3 o

«4^6 MEMOIRS OF
he did not appear at Devizes, to oppose any
proposition that was made by Hunt, he should
never serve the family at Wilton-house witfa
anotfaer joint of meat. Tfae gang tfaus raked
ll^etfaer was led on by regular leaders ; Black
Jack, alias the Devil's Knitting Needle, was
coramander in chief; Bob Reynolds, a scamp
ing currier of Devizes, wfao was a sort of
lickspittle to Old Salmon, the attorney, was
bully major ; and a jolter-headed farmer, of
the name of Chandler, wfao lived on tfae Green,
was captain of a gang of little dirty toad-
eaters of tfae corporation; in fact, every scamp
who lived upon the taxes — every scrub wfao
had an eye to a place— and every lickspittle
of the corrupt knaves of the corrupt and vile
rotten-borough of Devizes, took a part in
these un-Englisfaman-like, partial, cowardly,
and disgraceful proceedings. Every expect
ant underling, every dirty, petty-fogging
scoundrel showed his teeth, opened fais vul
gar moutfa, and sent fortfa tfae most nau
seous and disgusting ribaldry. A time-serv
ing, place-hunting, fawning address to the
Prince Regent was moved by some person.
It was stuffed with aU sorts of falsehoods, and
was supported by John Benett, of Pyt-House,
in an address to the people, wfaicfa' contained
nothing but a violent, dastardly, and unmanly

HENRY HUNT. 467M
attack upon me, attributing to me all the
disturbances that had taken place in London,
and roundly asserting that I was the cause of
Cashman's being brought to the gallows. By
the independent portion of the meeting, th||^
harangue was listened to with considerable
impatience ; but he had, nevertheless, every
sort of fair-play shown him, from their natural
conviction, that, as I was present, I should
have an opportunity of replying to these in
famous charges : it was this conviction alone
that procured him a hearing, and gave him
an opportunity of uttering such diabolical
and premeditated falsehoods. But the fellow
knew that he was safe, and that he could lie
and abuse with impunity. He knew that his
dirty hirelings would protect him against a
reply from me, and he, therefore, gave a-
loose to a most malignant spirit. The moment
that 1 attempted to speak, the yell began.
About fifty or sixty, or perhaps one hundred,
out of two pr three thousand persons assem
bled, commenced a bellowing and braying
like so many of their four-legged brethren,
and they were so well marshalled, and acted
so well in concert, that it was impossible for
the great majority of the people to gain me
a hearing. At length the Sheriff, Hungerford
Penruddock, Esq. who looked ready to faint

f4fi8 MEMOIRS OF
with shame at what he was about to do, dis
solved the meetings and ordered the Riot Act
to be read, which, I believe, little whiffling
Mr. Salmon made a sort of durab-show or
ipretence to do, and tfaen iramediately gave
orders to have rae taken into custody. Now
began such a contest as was seldom if ever
seen; the descendants of a petty-fogging at
torney, a bankrupt tailor, a usurious split-
fig, &c. &c. &c. William H  *, William
S  n, Stephen N  1 (^ Cok who were mem
bers of the corporation, and now hecome great
men, (good Lord, what would their forefathers
have said to have heard this?) aided by
Reynolds, Chandler, and Co. made a desperate
effort to seize me, but all their attempts were
in vain; the gallant, brave, and kind-hearted
people of Wiltshire surrounded me with an
impenetrable phalanx; tfaey forraed an irresisti
ble bulwark witfa their persons, which proved
an irapregnable barrier against all the assaults
of the constables, bullies, and blackguards,
that were urged on by the Mayor and his
myrmidons — a " matchless crew." I was
hoisted upon tfae sfaoulders of those who
stood in the centre of this brave phalanx, and
had a perfect view of all their operations. The
gang repeatedly returned to tfae charge upon
the people, with staves and clubs, but the

HENRY HUNT. 469
people stood as firm as rocks, upoh whom
they never made the slightest impression, the
people all the while acting solely on the de
fensive. At length, two ruffians, Reynolds
and Chandler, seized , my brother by the^ol-
lar, one on each side ; he was standing as a
spectator, taking no part but that of. looking
on. My brother smiled at first, but finding
them in earnest, and being surrounded by the
whole gang, who began to drag him off, he let
fly right and left, and, as if they had been
shot, the two bullies fell like slaughtered
calves upon the ground, and before the people
could get to his assistance, the whole cow
ardly gang had taken flight. This all occur
red in the Market-place, in the front of the
Bear-inn, where the Sheriff and the notable
founders and supporters of the infamous time-
' serving petition were assembled, and from
the windows of which they had the mortifica
tion of witnessing the defeat, the disgrace,
and the complete routing of their hirelings,
and the victory of the people, who, instead
of taking advantage of their success ; instead
of inflicting summary vengance upon those
who had as.Siaulted them in such a cowardly
manner ; instead of chastisiiig those who had
conducted themselves in such a partial, cor
rupt, unmanly, and disgraceful way; they

470 MEMOIRS OF
:f
peaceably bore me off to ray inn. Tfae pot-
vahant Jack-in-office, Mr. Mayor, soon after
followed us, with a fresh posse of constables,
and repeated tfae reading ofthe Riot Act under
my^indow, araidst the jeers, tfae scoffs, the
hootings, and the execrations of the people,
who had coramitted no act of riot,- or breach
of the peace, to justify such a measure. From
the window of the Castle-inn, where I was
dining witfa some friends, I addressed tfae
people, and tfaey peaceably dispersed, al
tfaougfa tfaey kept a good look-out to see
tfaat tfaere was no atterapt raade to annoy or
interrupt me. Had any attempt of that sort
been made, I believe, from what I have since
faeard, tfaat the consequences might have
proved very serious to those ' who had been
concerned in it.
One circurastance that occurred in the even
ing afterwards is wortfa recording. One of ray
tenants, Mr. George Jones, wfao keeps the
George Inn, in Walcot-street, Bath, had dri
ven fais niece up to Devizes in tfae raorning,
for tfae purpose of seeing rae on some business,
and also to attend the meeting. As an English
man, fae of course wished for a fair hearing of
both parties, and standing near the bullies
Bob Reynolds and fais brotfaer, at the tirae
they were conducting themselves so foully to-

HENRY HUNT. 47i
wards me, he admonished them in a way
which they did not appear to relish. Mr. Jones
drove home in his gig, in the evening, with his
niece, andjust as they were entering Melksham,
they passed Reynolds's brother, who resided
there at the time, in the capacity of a paid
serjeant of the Melksham troop of yeomanry.
As soon as Mr. Jones had passed him, Reynolds
rode up to the back of the gig, and, without
giving him any notice, coward and assassin
like, he struck him a heavy blow on the back
of his head, with a thick bludgeon. Fortu
nately Mr. Jones wore a high--crowned stout
beaver, which saved his head, but the crown
of the hat was sevei'ed in two by the blow.
Jones no sooner recovered himself, than he
turned-to, and with his gig whip he gave a
sound flogging to the dastardly ruffian, who
sued in vain for mercy, till the whip was com
pletely demolished. Some gentlemen, who
happened to be passing at the time, and saw
the whole transaction, offered to give Mr. Jones
their address, and recommended him to take
legal proceedings against the villain, they vol-
lunt^ering their services as witnesses. But
Mr. Jones very coolly replied, " I have taken
summary redress, and paid the fellow in his
own coin ; therefore it will be only necessary
to give such a scoundrel ' rope enough and he

472 MEMOIRS GF
will hang himself " Mr. Jones'^ obsei*var
tion was not only very just, but most pro-
pfaetic. The loyal and the worthy Mr. Rey
nolds, afew months afterwards, to save Jack
Ketch the trouble, pwt aii end to his own ex->
istence, by hanging himselfin a malt-house.
If wfaat I faear of anotfaer of tfaem be true, it is
not very improbable tfaat he may soon follow
fais exaraple.
As I drove faorae in the evening from this
meeting, Icould not avoid seriously reflecting
upon the critical situation in whicfa I was plac
ed by my friend Mr. Cobbett having deserted
me, and stolen away to America. I faad been
constantly and fiaitfafuUy acting with faim for
many years, up to tfae vei-y hour of his flight,
for I had now no doubt in my mind that the
report in the Courier was true. 1 felt indig
nant and mortified in tfae extreme, at tfais de- .
sertion on tfae part of my. friend, at such a
moment, and without his ever faaving given
me tfae sligfatest reason to suspect him of any
sucfa intention. My first resolve was this :—
let wfaat will come I will never fly my country,
never desert my countrymen in tfae hour of
peril. The Habeas Corpus Act was suspended,
the Seditious Meetings BiU had been passed
and received tbe Royal Assent. Many of the >
brave Reformers of Lancashire had, in conse-

H£NRY HUNT. 478
/
quence, been arrested and thrown into dun
geons, particularly those who hac^ttended in
London at the delegate meeting ; therefore I
expected to share the same fate, but still I
made up my mind to this, that I would never
run from the danger ; and, as I never secreted
myself, but was always to be met with any
day, and every day, I was also resolved that
no one should with impunity treat me in the
way in which Messrs. Knight, Bamford, Healy,
and others had been treated. They had not
merely been arrested, but their houses had
been broken into, and they had been drag
ged out of their beds in the dead of the night,
and hurried away in irons to the dungeons of
the Boroughmongers.
When I reached home I informed my family
of what it was possible might happen, and this
I did, not to alarm them, but to put them upon
their guard, that they might not lose presence
of mind in case of any nocturnal assault being
made upon my house. Irt my own mind I had
firmly settled how to act : if any messenger
from the Secretary of State's office came to ap
prehend me in the day time, I should attend
him very quietly and peaceably ; but if any
nocturnal visit was intended me by the officers
of the ministers, I was determined to resist
and to defend my hotise to the last moment ;
VOL. III. 3 p

474 MEMOIR* OF
because by, SO doing they would leave them
selves witl^t the sfaadow of an excuse, as
they always knew when and where I was to be
foimd in the face of day. Desperate as this
plan may appear in the eyes of many, it was
that on wfaich I was deterrained to act. I took
with me every night into my bed-room a brace
of loaded pistols, tfaat never missed fire, and
my double-barreUed gun, cfaarged and fresh
primed ; and ai^ nuraber of men less than
four would not have gained admittance alive
into my house in tfae night time, I faad violat
ed no law, I faad coramitted no breacfa of the
peace, and I was resolved tfaat I would main-
lain tfae rigfat of an EngUsfaman's faouse being
'fais own castle, in spite of Seditious Meeting
Bills, or tfae suspension pf tfae Habeas Corpus
Act. Fortunately, my coolness and determina
tion were never put to tfae testi. I, faowever,
never went to bed for many weeks witfaout ex
pecting, the enemy, and cautioning my fiamily
not to be alarmed in case of any nocturnal vi
sit being paid me.
Mr. Cobbett's leave-taking address was pub^
lished, in wfaich he pretty clearly intimated.
what would be the fate of every man that re
mained in tfae country, who had been an active
leader of tfae people inpromoting petitions for
Annual Parliaments, Universal Suffrage, and

HENRY HUNT. 475
Vote by Ballot; and he avowed the dread of a
dungeon to be the cause of his leaving the
country ! As he had never communicated the
sUghtest hint to me of his intention, so he ne
ver made the slightest allusion to me in his
l^ave-taking address, any more than as if he
never had such a friend. This, at the moment,
I considered as most unkind, unfeeling, ahd
treacherdus. But, upon reflection, I esteem
it the highest compliment that he could have
paid me ; for it clearty proves that he knew
the honesty of my nature too well, to expeict
that I should have ever sanctioned so dastardly,
so thoroughly unmanly a proceeding as that of
flying from my country, and abandoning the
Reformers to the uncontrolled malice of their
enemies, and that, too, at such a moment of
difficulty and danger.
Yet, doubly wounded as I was by the con
duct of Mr. Cobbett, wounded both personally
and as a friend of the people, I, nevejftheless,
soon endeavoured to find at least some excuse
for him, and I made up my mind not to act
the same part towards him which he had
done towards me. Real friendship is not
easily alienated from its object. On the very
first opportunity, therefore, I rode over to
Botiey, td make inquiries about his circum
stances, and, if j^ossible, to serve my friehd.

476 MEMOIRS OF
notwithstanding his desertion of me. I found
that Mr. Tuhno, the mortgagee, had taken
possession of his estate, and that the landlord;
of the farm whicfa he occupied, and of the
house in whicl;! fae faad lived, faad seized for
rent; and, as migfat naturally be expected:
under such circumstances, every thing was
goiijg, or rather gone, to rack ; all his faraily .
had abandoned the place, and were in London.
I called upon tfae only person in Botiey that ;
used to be intimate with him, from whom I re
ceived such an account as raade rae forra a
worse opinion of mankind than I had ever be
fore entertained. He spoke in opprobrious
terms of his forraer acquaintance, saying tfaat
he, Cobbett, had run away in every one's debt,
and, with an oath, (most brutaUy, as I felt it)
he declared " hanging was too good for him."
I never spoke to this man afterwards ; neither
was I deterred by fais language from proceed
ing in py endeavours to serve my absent
friend. I therefore rode on to Mr. Hinxman's,
of Chilling, near Titcfafield, wfao had been for
some time a friend of Mr. Cobbett's; and
wfaeij I got there I was ranch delighted to find
hira as zealous for hira as fae faad been. He was
not merely a professing friend, but fae wished tp
show fais friendsfaip by deeds as weU as words,
and he had been devising, the best means of .

HENRY HUNT. 477
showing his friendship. As the result of his
reflections, he put into my hands an add ress j^
which he had drawn up, to the people of Eng
land, proposing a subscription of one shilling
each person, to pay off the debts of Mr. Cob
bett, and thus to enable him to return to his
country, free from pecuniary embarrassments.
This address was penned in a masterly
style, and in every sentiment whichit contain-.
ed, IfuUy concurred. I promised to do every
thing that lay in ray power to promote its ob
ject, and to attend a public meeting, which
was to be called at the Crown arid Anchor, for
the purpose of promulgating it ; and I agreed,
to take the chair upon the occasion, '. provided
that Major Cartwright and Lord Folkestone
declined the offer of it, which was, in the first
instance, to be made to them. With the firm
impression on my mind that this plain would
be carried into full effect^ 1 1 left Mr. Hinxman,
perfectly satisfied with the result of mf* jour
ney of three days to serve my friend. Mr.
Hinxman sent his address to > London, as pro^
posed ; but the.partiesa,pplied to immediately
put a negative on the propiasition, assigning: as
a reason, that it would be establishing a, very
bad precedent, to raise a .subscription amongst'
the iReformei;s to pay. the debts of a man who
had deserted the cause ofthe people, by flying
from the country, at a mpment^of peml, and

478 M1EM0IR* OF
difficult^; and thus at once was a stop put to
tiae laudable intentions of Mr.Hinxman. There
was, indeed, no possibility of giving any sa
tisfactory answer to such a reason, and the
j»oject was in consequence altogether aban
doned. By this time upwards of six hun
dred petitions had been presented to the
House of Commons, praying for retrenchment,
a reduction of the army, and for a Radical
Reform in Parliament. These petitions
were signed by nearly a million and a half of
people. The only answer that was given to
tfaem was, as the reader has already seen, pass
ing tfae Seditious Meetings Bill, and tfae sus
pension of tfae Habeas Corpus Act. Tfaese
petitions were suffered silently tobe laid upon
tfae table ofthe House ; nothing that they pray
ed for was ever granted, and so far from the
Honourable House, or any of its members, ever
'answering the allegations contained in them,
they rifevereven condescended to discuss any
of the matters contained in tfaem.
Altfaougfa Mr- Gobbett, the great literary
champion of tfae Radical Reformers,had desert
ed and fled to America, yet others sprung up.
About this period Mr. Wooler began to pub
lish fais Black Pwarf, and Mr. Sfaerwin publisb
ed fais Weekly Register. These were two
bold and powerful advocates of Reform, and
Mr. Wooler, as well as Mr. White, of the

HENRY HUNT. 479
Independent Whig, lashed Mr. Cobbett most
unmercifully for his cowardice in flying his
country, and abandoning the Reformers at
such a critical moment. Mr. Wooler was ex
cessively severe, and he laid it on with an un
sparing hand. I lost no opportunity to vindi
cate the character of my absent friend, and in
doing this I attacked Mr. Wooler as violently
as he attacked Mr. Cobbett, for which Mr.
Wooler denounced me as a spy of the Govern*
ment !
Some time in May, 1817, a Count Maiibrueil
was tried at Paris for robbing the Queen of
Westphalia, when it came out that he had been
hired by an accredited agent to assassinate the
Eraperor Napoleon, on his journey to' Elba.
Maubrueil afterwards published in London tlie
details of this transaction. On the 17th of
May, Messrs. Watson, Thistlewood, Hooper, '
and Preston, were brought into the Coiirt of
King's Benchy' to plead to cbai*ges of high
treason. Mr. Hone also appeared, and com
plained of the illegality of his arrest on Lord
EUenborough's warrant. On the SOth of May,
the Right Honourable Charles Abbott resigned
the situation of Speaker of the House of Com
mons, and Mr. Manners Sutton was chosen in
his place. On the 6th of June, Mr. Wooler
was tried for a libel on Ministers ; he was ac*

480 MEMOIRS OF
quitted in consequence of doubts having arisen
respecting the validity of the verdict of guilty
delivered in by the foreman of tfae jury, al
tfaougfa some of thera were not agreed in the
verdict.
¦ On the 9tfa of June, Messrs. Watson, Tfai stle-
wood, Preston, and Hooper, were conveyed from
tfae Tower, where they faad been confined, to the
Court of King's Bench to be tried for faigfa trea
son. Watson was tried first. His trial lasted
^even da,y s,atthe end ofwhich he was acquitted.
TfaeAttorney-General tfaen gave up tfae prosecu
tion against tfae others. The principal witness
called by the Crown was tfae famous Mr. John
. Castles, the worthy gentleman who feigned
asleep in my room at tfae Black Lion, Water-
lane, on tfae evening after tfae first Spafields
meeting, and tfae same worthy wfao met me
in Cfaeapside, as I was driving to tfae second
raeeting on tfae second of Deceraber, and wfao
kindlyjnvited me to go to tfae Tower witfa faim,
wfaich he assured rae was in the possession ..of
young Watson. Wfaat follows is curious and
wortfay of notice. It was publicly known
tfaat Castles was to be tfae principal witness
against his forraer associates. I therefore sent
a gentleman, to inform the attorney: for the
prisoners;' that I had become acquainted
with certain circumstances, relating to tfais

HENRY HUNT. 481
Mr. Castles, which would be of infinite service
to his clients. This message was sent a fort
night before the time fixed upon for their
trial; but the 9th of June approached without
my having received any answer. I sent a se
cond message, by another person ; but, as no
notice was taken of it, I sent a third person,
on the Sth, to say that I was in town, and un
less it was intended to hang the prisoners, I
expected that I should be subpoened, and that
I was come to town on purpose to give my ,
evidence. In fact, this third message rather
conveyed a demand than a request, and I was
next morning subpoened.
Another very extraordinary circumstance
made up part ofthis transaction. Mr. Brough
am had been applied to, and I understood had
positively refused to become counsel for the
prisoners, and Mr. Wetherell and Mr. Copley
were retained ; the former a most decided rank
thick and thin supporter ofthe Ministers; the
latter, as I was informed, not only a decided
opponent of the Ministers, but an avowed-Re
publican in principle. Mr. Samuel Shepherd
was Attorney, and Mr. Gifford Solicitor-Gene
ral ; and they of course were counsel for the
prosecution. When I saw Mr. Wetherell at his
chambers, which was in the evening of the
9th, after the first day's proceedings were over,
VOL. III. 3 Q

4S2 MEMOIRS OF
and stated to him what I knew of Castles,
he at once declared tfaat my testimony would
be most important, and would most likel;y'
save the lives of the prisoners ; and he express
ed great astonisfaraent tfaat this had never been
comraunicated to hira before. Frora wfaat I
stated to him, he was enabled to draw out of
Mr. Castles' own mouth, in cross-examinati
on, the full proof of his own infaray, which
he never could have done without it. After I
had given ihy testimony in court, I saw
plainly that the jury faad made up tfaeir
minds to acquit the doctor, who was the
first and ohly one put upon his trial. At the
end of seven days, the tirae Watson's trial
lasted, tfae jury returned a verdict of not
guilty, and tfae Attorney-General then gave
up the prosecution against the other three
prisoners. It is very curious that it was never
coraraunicated to tfae prisoners that I was in
attendance to give evidence on their behalf;
but wfaen tfaey saw me in court, tfaey actually
thought that I was subpoened as an evidence
for the Crown against them.
Lord Sidmouth now brougfat in a Bill forthe
furtfaer suspension of the Habeas-Corpus Act.
In the House of Commons, Sir Francis Burdett
called the attention of its Merabers to tfae con
duct of Oliver, the spy, and of otfaers who

HENRY HUNT. . 483
had been employed by Government, and who
had excited distressed persons to riot in the
North. The county of Middlesex petitioned
in vain agaipst the renewal of the Habeas-Cor
pus Act, The Bill passed, and Parliament
was prorogued by the Prince Regent on the
nth of July.
On the 31st of July, a public dinner was
given at the Crown and Anchor, to celebrate
the acquittal of Watson, Thistlewood, Pres
ton and Hooper, at which dinner I was in the
chair, and upwards of a hundred persons sat
down to it. Hooper very shortly after died ; .
he fell a victim to a cold which he caUght in
prison. Such was tfae increasing distress of the peo
ple in the metropolis, tbat the Old Bailey Ca
lendar contained above 400 prisoners for trial;
forty-five more than were ever before known.
In this year, 1817, the Bank of England pro- ,
secuted one hundred and twenty-four persons
for forgery, or uttering forged notes. This
speaks for itself, and shews the state of soci
ety produced by the Pitt system. On the
22d of September the Bank of England an
nounced their intention of paying in cash all
their smaU notes issued before the first of Ja
nuary 1817. This was a beginning of calling
in one povind Bank of England notes.

484 * MEMOIRS Of
In this year the Comraon Hall of the City of
London had petitioned against the passing of
the suspension of the Habeas-Corpus Act, and
tfaey had instructed their raerabers to support
tfae prayer of tfaeir petitions, by opposing tfae
measure. As usual, tfaeir raerabers set the
prayers of the Livery at defiance, and sup
ported the Bill ; at least Curtis and Atkins did ;
and as for Alderman Combe, the Whig Mem
ber, he was not in the House during any of
tfae debates. Wfaen tfae Coramon Hall assem
bled tfae next time, tfae Waitfamanite faction
iptended to move a vote of censure against
Curtis and Atkins, for not attending to^fae in
structions of tfaeir constituents ; and of course
tfaey contrived to procure from AlderraanCorabe
a letter to be read in the Hall, apologising for
fais non-attendance in fais place in tfae House
of Commons, in consequence of very ill faealtfa,
whicfa faad prevented fais attendance there ever
since he faad been last elected, and wfaicfa, in all
probability, would prevent fais attending there
any more. This game faad been carried on
for a long time by tfae Waithmanites, and I
faad raade up my mind, whenever an occa
sion should offer, to enter my protest againi^t
the City of London being represented by a
person who never attended the House, and
who was rendered incapable of doing so frora

HENR^HUNT. 486
ill health. I had several times carried sortie
resolutions in my pocket, to the meetings of
the LiVery, but no opportunity had offered
for me to bririg the subject forward befdre.
As soon ai§ this letter was read from Alderman
Combe, which stated his inability to attend in
his place, &c; &c., I told Sir Richard Phillips,
who was standing near me upon thdlhustings,
that, as soon as the usual vote of thanks was
moved to Alderman Combe, I should move
some short resolutions, wbich I shewed him,
as an amendment : " 1st, thanking the Alder
man for his past honourable services : 2nd,
sympathizing with him on his illness, and la
menting the cause of his incapacity to attend
the House of Commons : and 3rd, respectfully
calling upon him to resign his seat, to give
the Livery an opportunity of electing an effi
cient Member of Parliament as their repre
sentative, in his stead." I asked Sir Richard
• if he would second these resolutions ; he re
plied ho, he could not, but he would ask Mr.
Waithman to do it; and away he went in the
horiesty of his heart, and told Mr. Waithman
that I was going to move such resolutions as
an amendment to the usualvote of thanks to
Alderman Combe, and he very inriocently
asked faim if he would second them ? I shall
never forget the city hero's look ; he ttirned

486 , WEMQISS OF
round as if he would, have bit Sir Riefaard's
mose pff, and in a wM^iper that I could hear
aU across the hustiit^s, replied, "^Oitis
meant to cut my throat." ,Sir Richard, sur
prised and mortified at tfae mistake wfaich fae
had unintentionally made, retumed me the
resections, without saying a word, as he saw
tfaali h^ heard Waithman's answer, wfaicfa
I was laughing at raost heartily. I knew that
Mr, Waithwtan would not have joined rae in
any measure, even if it had been to save the
City of Jjondon firom an earthquake, or its
citizens frora the greatest erf all calamities, a
famine ; but at the first tiew of the thing, I
did Bot pereeive faow this araendraent was
ca3culated to injuire or ewt the throat of Mr.
Waithraan. The dread of this raighty sacri
fice did not, however, deter rae from doing
my -duty. Tfae vote of thanks having been
moved to Alderman Corabe, 1 stepped for
ward and proposed my resolutions as an
amendment ; this I did in the most respectful
and handsome manner towards the Alderman,
giving him much greater credit for fais past
exertions, as our City Member, than he in
fact ever raerited.
I had never consulted one single individual
as to the propriety or the policy of this raea
sure, and it was by mere accident that I men-

HENR HUNT. 487
tioned it upon the hustings to Sir Richard
PhiUips; therefbre, I was not prepared with
any one to second my pK)positien, but it Was^,
nevertheless, received by the Livery with
strong marks of approbation. Never were
resolutions more .appropriate, or thj|t came
more pat to suit the occasion. I saw that
this was a happy opportunity to appeal to the?
honest sentiments of the Livery, and I seized'
it, as an ,act of justice to- them and to the
public, without the slightest intention- to annoy
or injure Mr. Waithman, and without the
slightest intention of gratifying the facticms
views of any party. It certainly struck me,
and it had all along struck me; that if Mi*.
Alderman Combe could be prevailed upon
to resign during the second ifaayoralty of
my worthy friend Alderman Wood, the latter
would be selected by the citizens of Londori
as his successor, without the chance of a suc
cessful opposition against him; but I had
never given him the most reraote hint of my
thoughts or designs, neither did I expect that
the friends of Waithman, amongst the Livery,
would be prevailed upon to do any thing
that was lifcely to promote the election of
Alderman Wood. All that under such cir
cumstances I ever considered was, how best
to perform my duty, when I was' before the

48S MEMOIRS OF

public, either at a meeting of the people in
Spafields, or in Pakce-yard, or at a meeting
of riiy fellow Liverymen in the Guildhall. I
never personally cared wfaetfaer my motions
were carried, pr wfaetfaer tfaey were rejected,
my nia||ck object being to perform, my duty
-bpldly and cpnscientidusly. Tfais I did on
the occasion to whicfa I faave alluded, witfaout
knowing wfaetfaer any one would second my
proposition or not.
Before, faowever, any one could come for
ward as ray supporter, Mr. Waitfaman pre
sented himself tothe Livery,, and endeavoured,
by every art that he was master oi^ to prevail
upon the citizens not to countenance my pro
position. His own little gang attempted to
get hira cfafeered, but all tfaeir efforts proved
fruitless. He coaxed, fae wheedled, he begged, •
and he prayed; when that did not take, he
hlustered, bullied, and threatened tfaem, but
all would not do; fae bullied one moment,
and cringed the next, with equal ill success.
He and his friends began to feel for once
that the force of truth was likely to prevail
over fraud, trickery, and cunning. At last,
when he found that none of these faad a chance
of prevailing, he turned about and resorted
to tactics. He declared that the proposition
was irrelevent, that the Livery wejffe taken by

HENRY HUNT. 480
surprise, that they were not assembled for any
such purpose, and that another Common-Hall
ought to be convened, on purpose to take my
resolutions into consideration ; and he boldly
called upon the Lord Mayor, Wood, to pro
hibit the resolutions being put to the Livery.
I nev^ saw Mr. Waithman labour so hard
in my life; if his existence had been at stake;
he could not have sfaown more anxiety.
The Lord Mayor now came forward, and
in the most unequivocal manner declared that
the resolutions were not only perfectly in order,
but that he considered them most proper to
be submitted to the consideration of the com
mittee upon that occasion. I thought Waith
man would have bursted . a blood-vessel with
rage and mortification at this decision of the,
Lord Mayor, who was not to be buUied out
of doing his duty honestly, particularly when
he saw that it received the sanction of so great
a portion of his fellow-citizens. The question
was at length put, and the resolutions were
carried by a very large majority, amidst such
a round of cheers as I seldom ever heard in
the Common-Hall. I then moved that the
Lord Mayor be requested to convey the reso
lutions of the Livery to Mr. Alderman Combe,
as soon as he could conveniently do- so, and
also to call another Common-Hall, to commu-
VOL. Ill, 3 r

4ap MEMOIRS OF
ni9ate tfae answer of tfae worthy Alderman to
his constituents. This likewise was carried,
with a faint opposition from the puny faction
that surrounded the mortified and discomfited
great little raan.^ Tfae Lord Mayor then step
ped forward, and proraised that tfae wisfaes of
tfae Livery should be promptly executed ; and,
after he faad given tfais promise, the meeting
broke up.
The Lord Mayor kept fais word, and wait
ed upon Mr. Alderraan Corabe witfa the reso
lutions, the sarae night, before the faction
had tirae to plan any scherae to frustrate tfae
wisfaes of the Livery. The result was, that the
Alderman was glad of an opportunity of
sending in his resignation of an office whicfa
he was totally incorape tent to fill, and, in tfae
most faonourable and patriotic manner, fae
wrote fais forraal coinpliance witfa tfae wisfaes
of his constituents, and delivered it into the
faands of tfae Lord Mayor, who iraraediately
offered his services to his fellow-citizens, to
supply the vacancy. They estimated cor
rectly tfae value of those services, and, in spite
of the most pitiful arts, the most diabolical
misrepresentations, and the most unblushing
falsehoods of the Waithraanite faction to pre
vent it, the worthy Alderman Wood was
unaniraously elected, during his second May-

HENRY HUNT. 491
oralty, one of the Representatives in Parlia
ment for the City of London.
I must own that I gloried more in this suc
cessful single-handed effort of mine, sponta
neously made, and so honourably carried into
execution, than I ever did in any public act of
my life. When the Alderman was elected,
I addressed my brother LiverymeU;, and I
boldly predicted that he was elected for life ;
that his conduct in the House of Commons
would be such as would secure him a seat for
the City pf Lpndon, as long as human nature
would enable him to attend his duty in Par
liament. This was more than five years ago,
and I believe that the prediction has not only
been made good up to this time, but that it is
more likely to be confirmed than ever it waS.
Such, however, was the prejudice of a cer
tain party in the city against Radicals, and
particularly against me, that the worthy
Alderman never dared to thank me publicly
for what I had done to serve him. In truth
I never looked fdr any such thing ; I only did
my duty ; and I had full Confidence, whenever
the worthy Alderman was called upon, he
would not fail to do his duty. My confidence
was not misplaced, as has been fully proved
by the conduct of the Alderman, in the case
of the per sect! ted Caroline, the injured Queen

492' ' ^ MEMOIRS OP
of England. Nor faas tfae wortfay Aldenrian
ever flinched frorii his duty during the perse-?
cutions of the " Captive of Ilchester."
In consequence of the diabolical raachina
tions of the villain Oliver, the spy, who was
iraprudently introduced to the Reformers in
tfae Nortfa by Mr. Mitchell, one of tfae dele
gates wfao had attended the Major's raeetings
in London — in consequence of this infamous
fellow's hellish plots, a number of the dis
tressed inhabitants of Derbyshire and Not
tingham were instigated to acts of violence
and riot, wfaich, altfaougfa of a most contempti
ble nature, were raagnified by the Govern
ment into acts of treason and rebellion. In
pursuance of what had been planned by the
villain Oliver and his employers, these de
luded men were immediately made prisoners,
and committed to Derby Gaol, upon a charge
of higfa treason. Unfortunately, one Jeremiafa
Brandretfa, wfao was at tfae faead of those
rioters, very wantonly fired a shot at random
through the back window of a farm-house,
where the inmates had refused to admit thera,
or to deliver thera any arms, whicfa the riot
ers, scarcely one hundred in nuraber, had
demanded. It so faappened that a boy was
killed by this randora shot, which gave a
colouring to the proceedings pf the Ministers,

HENRY HUNT. 493
and created a great prejudice against these
deluded men ; and therefore, instead of in
dicting some of them for a foolish and con
temptible riot, and prosecuting Brandreth
for murder or manslaughter, the Government
proceeded against them for high treason.
This petty riot, which was put down without
any military force, was consequently blazoned
forth and proclaimed through the country as an
insurrection and open rebeUion, and great pre
parations were making to bring the prisoners
to trial for high treason, and a special com
mission was appointed to be held at Derby to
try them. The Ministers had failed in their
attempt, in London, to spill the blood of
Watson, Thistlewood, & Co. whose lives were
saved by the honesty of a Middlesex Jury.
The despicable riot in London, ridiculous and
contemptible as it was, yet it was ten times
more like a premeditated insurrection than the
Derbyshire riot ; yet an honest Middlesex Jury,
with Mr. Richardson, of the Lottery-office,
as their fdreman, refused to find the instigators
of it guilty of high treason. This having
been the case, the Ministers were determined
to try their hands at a trial for high treason
in the country. It was, in fact, necessary to
bring forward at least some shadow of a pre
text for the infamous measures which, had

494 MEMOIRS OF

been passed by the Parliament, and for the
StiU worse conduct of the Secretary df
State, who had thrown sucfa a nuraber of the
Reforraers into dungeons, the secret dun
geons of tfae Borougfaraongers, where they
were lingering under the suspension of the
Habeas-Corpus Act, without any charge being
brougfat against tfaera, and witfaout being
brought to trial, there being nothing to prove
against thera. I repeat, that it was necessary
to make a show, a pretence, a sort of justifi
cation, for these proceedings; and the riot
which had taken place at Pentridge, in
Derbyshire, was the tfaing fixed upon for
that purpose, as they could not trump up a
better. J Brandreth, Turner, Ludlam, and thirty-
five pr six others, were accordingly thrown
into prison, and indicted for higfa treason.
These poor feUows, thus assailed and iraraured
ih a gapl, were without a friend to protect tfaera,
andto see that they faad a fair trial, and in
fact were without the means of paying counsel
and witnesses, to enable them to stand any
cfaance of faaving a fair trial. In tfais forlorn
and wretcfaed situation, their attention, as a
dernier resort, was directed to me. I was a
perfect stranger to every one of them, but
they had faeard of my exertions in the cause

HENRY HUNT, 496
of the people, and they prevailed upon their
attorney, Mr. Wragg, of Belper, to write to
me, and inform me of their deplorable and
forlorn situation, and to request that I would
endeavour to raise a public subscription, to
enable them to fee counsel, and to pay for
bringing their witnesses to tfae trial, which
Mr. Wragg assured me they were totally in
competent to dd, they being all poor men,
without any moriey or frierids to help them.
I received this letter at Middleton Cottage,
where I had been for some time peaceably en
joying the sports of the field. I showed it to
a friend, who was visiting me at the time,
and he at once pronounced it to be a trap, to
inveigle riie intd a participation of their crimes.
At any rate, he thought my only prudent
course would be, either to take no notice of
the letter, or to reply that I knew nothing of
the parties, and wduld have nothing to do
with them. I put the letter into my pdcket,
and said no more to faim upon the subjet;t, as
his cold, calculating, prudent advice did not
correspond with the feelings of my heart.
My visitors and my family had retired to rest,
when I deliberately sat down, and answered
the letter of Mr. Wragg by the return of post.
Those who are of the same opinion with my
prudent friend will ask, why did you do so I

496 MEMOIRS OF
I will teU tfaem why. I said to myself, faere
are some fellow-creatures in distress, tfaey faave
not a living soul to aid tfaem; tfae whole power
and weight of the Government are mustered
against thera ; and altfaougfa tfaey are totally
unknown to rae, and although I cannot coun
tenance or approve of their foolish and wanton
proceedings; yet, as the law of England
presuraes every raan to be innocent till he is
convicted of guilt, and as they have appealed
to ME in their distressing situation, as tfae
only raan to wfaom they can look up for assist
ance ; shall I, because there appears to be per
sonal danger and difficulty in tfae undertaking,
shall I refuse or neglect to do ray best to en
able thera to obtain a fair trial? shall I aban
don thera, and refuse to obey the call of fau-
manity, 'and, because tfaey are poor and de
fenceless, turn a deaf ear to tfae prayer of tfaose
tfaat are in trouble and in prison? I asked
myself tfaese questions, and witfaout a mo
raent's pause, ray tongue obeyed the impulse
of ray heart, and I exclairaed " forbid it.
Heaven, rather let me perish this instant,
thanfaarbour a thougfat so base, so unfeeling,
and so opposite to every act of ray life !" I
tfaerefore acknowledged Mr. Wragg's letter,
and told faim that, altfaougfa he was a perfect
stranger to me, and altfaougfa tfae prisoners

HENRY HUNT,. 497,
were all strangers to me, yet my heart would
not allow me to entertain any unworthy sus-,
picions of him ; and as the lives of our fellow-
creatures were at stake, I would do every
thing in my power to enable them to obtain a
fair trial. With this view I would, by the
same post, write to London, and endeavour
to procure a public meeting, for the purpose
of raising a subscription to assist them, la
menting, at the same time, my own want of
the means to assist them.
Before I went to bed I wrote to Mr. Cleary,
who was secretary to Major Cartwright and
the Hampden Club, and also a sort of gerie
ral secretary to the Westminster committee.
I desired him to lay a copy of Mr. Wragg's
letter before some of the patriotic friends of
liberty, justice, and humanity, in London,
and to get them to call a public meeting, at the
Crown and Anchor, on the following Monday, to
raise a subscription, to enable the prisoners tp
fee counsel before their trial, which was to
take place at Derby, in the foUowing week.
I added, " if there should be any hitch or
difficulty, StUl by all means to call the meet
ing, and I will pay for the room and the adr
vertisements, and take the chair myself, if no
other person more eligible offers. I wrote
also to Mr, West, the wire-worker, in Wych-
VOL. III. 3 s

4b8

MEMOIRS OP

Street, to the same effect, and to inform him
of what I had written to Cleary. Mr. West
was the person who had taken a very decisive,
active, and manly part in assisting Dr. Watson
and Thistlewood, in getting up their defence,
When tfaey were imprisoned under a similar
charge; therefore, I thought faim tfae most
likely man I knew in London or Westminster
to promote sucfa a measure.
The reader will bear in mind that I did not
get Mr. Wragg's letter, urging rae to come
forward in behalf of tfaese poor fellows, till
five o'clock in tfae afternoon, wfaen I returned
horiie to dinner from shooting; that before I
went to bed I wrote an answer to the attorney
of the prisoners, unhesitatingly promising to
do all tfaat lay in my power to serve tfaem ; and
that I also wrote to Mr. Cleary and Mr. West,
to procure a public meeting, and, witfaout any
reservation on ray part, to call it in my name,
in the raetropolis; and the reader will not fail
to recollect, that the Habeas Corpus Act
was still suspended, and that the Seditious
Meeting Act was in full force.
I received an answer from Mr. Cleary, to
say tfaat he had seen .the friends of liberty in
Westminster, and that the meeting would be
appointed, to be held at the Crown and An
chor, as I wished it, on the following Monday,

HENRY HUNT. 499
and he would take care to have it advertised,
&c. I also received a letter from Mr. West,
who said he had seen Cleary, and that the
meeting would take place, according to my
request, on the Monday. I wrote by return
of post, to Mr. Wragg, to inform the prisoners
what Ihad done, and how far I had succeeded ;
and I promised to be at the meeting, and to
proceed to Derby in the mail, as soon as the
result was known.
On the Sunday, just as I was preparing to
set off to London to attend this meeting, I re
ceived a letter from Mr. Cleary, to say that
he had consulted the friends of liberty in
Westminster, who were unanimously, of
opinion, tharit would be highly impolitic to
call a public meeting upon such an occasion,
in which opinion he fully concurred; and that
the worthy Major Cartwright also thought it
extremely improper for the Reformers to iden
tify themselves with house-breakers and
murderers. Mr. Cleary also added, that
the Derby rioters had by their conduct done
the greatest injury to the cause of Reform,
and that he felt so indignant at them, that, in
stead of assisting them by a subscription, he
could almost go down and hang thei>( him
self. I have not the letter at hand, but this
was the substance of it, I must do Mr. West

500 MEMOIRS OF
the justice to say, that he did every thing in
his power to procure a meeting, and if fae had
not, as well as myself, been tricked into the idea
that the raeeting would be held, he would have
caUed it hiraself.
I was extremely mortified at being thus de
feated in my plan, at being tfaus swindled out
of tfae raeeting. Cleary's first letter was
' evidently written witfa a view to prevent ray
going to London, and personally convening
tfae meeting ; because he saw, from the manner
of my first letter, tfaat I was in earnest, tfaere
fore it was necessary to deceive me into a be
lief that what I was desirous of would be done,
as, otherwise, he knew that I would be in
staritly on the spot to carry it myself into exe
cution. Well, it- was too late now to tfaink of
going to London to get a meeting, and, as 1
had been thus disappointed, it raigfat by most
people faave been tfaougfat sufficient for me to
have written a letter to Mr. Wragg, to inform
bim of the circumstance, and there would
faave been at once an end to all trouble or
expense on my part. Now I beg the reader
to mark what was my conduct. Instead of
abandoning these poor fellows to their fate,
and merely writing a letter to say how I had
been disappointed by the Westminster patriots,
or rather pretended patriots, I ordered my

HENRY HUNT. 301
servant to get my horses and gig ready imme
diately, and I started off the same evening
across the country to Newbury, on my road
through Abingdon and Oxford, towards Derby.
I arrived at Leicester on the Tuesday evening,
previous to the trials commencing on tbe
Thursday foUowing; and what was very
curious. Judge Dallas and myself were shown
into the same room, at Bishop's, at the Tbree
Crowns. Although we did not appear to
know eacb other, great marks of civility were
mutually exchanged, and if I had not been
otherwise engaged, it is possible we might
have spent the evening together; and I have
often tbought bow Very curious the conver
sation migbt have proved, if we had compared
notes. We were both going tbe next day to
Derby, both going to attend the trials of Brand
reth and Co.; but how widely different would
it have been found was tbe object of our jour
ney. He, a judge, going to hang the prisoners ;
I, an bumble individual, going to do all that
lay in my power to save their lives, by pro
curing for them a fair trial. We, bowever
did not remain in company; tbe fact was, it
soon got wind at Leicester who I was; one
of the waiters knew me, and to my surprise,
as I was sitting with Mr. Thompson, of the
Chronicle office, and Mr. Warburton, who

502 MEMOIRS OF
had been one of the delegates at the London
meeting, a deputation waited upon me, to
request tfaat I would spend tfae evening with a
nuraber of gentlemen of Leicester, who had
assembled in a public room in tfae inn, to
receive rae. This invitation I accepted, and,
accorapanied by my two friends, I spent a
few faours very pleasantly, amongst an assem
blage composed of tfae most respectable men
belonging to all parties in Leicester. .
On tfae foUowing day I reacfaed Derby,
wfaere I found out Messrs., Wragg, of Belper,
and Bond, of Leicester, tfae attorneys for the
prisoners, and communicated my iU success as
to collecting any subscriptions in London, by
means oftiie publicmeeting wfaich was proposed,
I, however, offered my services in any way in
wfaich they might think tbat I could be useful ;
but I soon learnt from tfaem that it was a hope
less case, that the men had been led intp. a
disgraceful riot, urged on by the villain Oliver,
and' his accomplices; that they were worthy,
poor men; Brandreth, their captain, a mere
helpless pauper, and that there was no chance
of saving tfaem; Those who had a little pro
perty, had sold their little all, even to their
beds, as had also their relations, to raise
money enough to pay for the expenses pf the
witnesses, who had been subpcened dn their

HENRY HUNT. 503
behalf; but the whole did not amount to enough
to include tbe fees of counsel. For tbe
fees, however, we calculated that might be
raised at some future tirae, as it was hoped
that, under such circumstances, the gentlemen
of the long robe would not press for their im
mediate payment.
I saw some of the witnesses, and amongst
others one who had been acting in concert
with Oliver, a regular hired spy, who de
scribed to us wbat passed between them and
Lord Sidmouth, wben he and Oliver presented
their bill of expenses, after they had performed
their job. It appeared that his Lordship
abused Oliver for a great fool, for being
detected by tbe people in bis communications
with Sir John Byng, wbo had the military
command of the district. O, it was a hor
rible plot, to entrap afew distressed, poor
Creatures to commit some acts of violence and
riot, in order that the Government might bang
a few of tbem for bigh treason! The projec
tors of it bad been frustrated in London, by a
Middlesex Jury, who had refused to find Dr.
Watson guilty of high treason, although what
was proved against him was ten tbousand times
more like high treason thari that which was
proved against these poor deluded men. But
it was thought necessary to sanction the sus-

504 MEMOIRS OF
pension of the Habeas-Corpus Act, and the
other infamous encroachments that had been
made upon the liberties of the people, by the
sacrifice of some lives for high treason, and
the Governraent paid the freefaolders of tfae
county of Derby, tfae disgraceful compliment
of selecting tfaat county as the scene of their
diabolical operations ; and, as it will be here
after seen, they were correct in their cal
culations.
, Tfae next morning I waited upon tfae attor
neys, previous to tfaeir going into Court, wfaen
I found them in rather an awkward dilemraa.
Mr. Counsellor Cross, who, by sorae un
accountable raeans or other, had been sent
for from Manchester, to take tfae lead of Mr.
Denman, wfao was tfae otfaer counsel employed,
had just sent to the attorneys to demand one
hundred pounds as his fee, before he went
into Court, declaring, that he would not stir
a peg tiU he received it. I knew nothing of
tfais fellow at tfae time, and as tfae attorneys,
particularly Mr. Bond, appeared to place great
confidence in faim. Mister Cross faad the one
hundred pounds paid into fais faands imrae-
diately. Tfaus, by tfae cupidity of Mr. Cross,
were tfaese poor feUows deprived at once of
those raeans wfaich ought to have been spent
in procuring them witnesses for their defence.

HENRY HUNT. 505
I immediately waited upon Mr. Denman at
his lodgings, and sent up my name, to say tbat
I bad some particular information to commu
nicate tbat might be of service to the prison
ers ; but I could gain no access to Mr. Denman.
I had this information from the brother of Tur
ner, who was afterwards executed. I returned
to the attorneys, and I soon found that my
interference was considered officious. They
refused to take me into Court with them, or at
least they pretended tbat it was against tbe
rules for attorneys to take any person with
them into the Court. I was, therefore, obliged
to find anotber mode of admittance; and I
ultimately, by dint of perseverance, got in with
consideriable difficulty, after having been
violently assaulted and grossly insulted by
the officers of the Court, under the direction
of a Jack-in-office, who acted as Under Sheriff,
the real Under Sheriff having resigned, pro
tempore, on purpose to becoirie Solicitor for
the Crown, in the prosecution against the pri
soners. I, however, at length succeeded in
getting a seat in the front of the body of the
Court, and I heard tbe Whole of tbe trial of
Brandreth. The whole ofthe evidence mere
ly went to establish tbe fact, that one of tbe
most contemptible riots took place that ever
VOL. III. 3 T

506 MEMOIRS OF
deserved the narae of a riot, whether with
respect to the numbers engaged, or the total
want of influence of those who took a lead in
it As for poor Brandreth, who was called
the Captain of tfae Insurrection, fae was notfaing
raore nor less than a conteraptible pauper,
witfaout power, or talent, or courage ; and it
was distinctly sworn tfaat tfae wfaole gang fied
upon the appearance of one soldier !
The raeans taken to procure tractable juries
' were the raost barefaced and abominable ; and
as the jurors were mostly selected from araongst
the tenantry of tfae Duke of Devonsfaire, tfae
prisoners faad not tfae slightest chance of
escape, even if Mr. Cross faad done fais duty ;
but, so far was fae from doing it, tfaat fae ac
tually confessed tfae guilt of fais clients, and
urged as a palliation, tfaat tfaey were led into
tfae insurrection by reading tfae writings of
Cobbett, Tfae principal witnesses, in my
opinion, for the prisoners, were never exa
mined ; and, altfaougfa Mr. Denman made an
eloquent appeal to the jury, yet he could not
remove tfae irapression wfaicfa faad been left
upon tfae rainds of tfae jurors and of tfae wfaole
Court by the precious pleadings of Mr. Cross,
Brandretfa and four others were found guilty
of fai^b treason. Brandreth, Turner, and

HENRY HUNT. 507
Ludlam, were executed shortly afterwards,
and Mr. Cross was speedily promoted to a
silk gown, as a King's Sergeant at Law.
The avenging hand of Providence, however,
caused tbe announcement ofthe execution of
these men, and the Death of the Princess
Charlotte of Saxe-Coburg and her
infant Son, to appear in the newspapers of
the day at one and the same time. The
death of this Princess was so mysterious, and
attended with such singular circumstances,
tbat I dare not trust myself to write upon the
subject. The whole nation appeared to mourn
her loss, mucb more, I believe, in consequence
of ber having always espoused tbe cause of her
unhappy and persecuted mother, than from any
conviction or well-grounded hope that any
public good would ever be derived from her
being our future Queen. A certain party at
Court could not disguise the satisfaction wbich
they felt at being released from a most per
severing and troublesome advocate ofthe Prin
cess of Wales, her mother. But tbe nation bad
tbis delightful comfort, tbat tbe gaUant Prince
OF Saxe-Coburg bore bis loss with great
fortitude, and was likely to survive bis wife
for many, many years, to enjoy the spending
of FIFTY-THOUSAND POUNDS A-YEAR,
which bad been settled upon bim for life, in
case the Princess sbould pop off.

508 MEMOIRS op.
- I have oinitted one circumstance which oc-
9|ir^ed in the spring of the year, and which
I shall now briefly notice. Mr. Sergeant
Best, who was one ofthe Members for Brid
port, was apppinted Cfaief Justice of Chester,
a post wfaich he had been long seeking for
m vain. His client, Colonel Despard, had
jbeen executed for nearly fifteen years, yet Mr.
Sei^eant faad only been promoted to a silk
gown; and in spite of every effort to become
a Judge, fae faad been frustrated, it is under
stood, by the objections raised by the Lord
ChanceUor. He, therefore, procured a seat
in Parliament, and became a violent opposi
tionist to the Governraent. At length, the
Prince Regent, it is said, deraanded his pro-?
raotion, and he was appointed to the Cfaief
Justicesfaipof Cfaester, wfaicfa is tfae stepping-
§tone to the Bench. He vacated his seat for
Bridport, as a raatter of course ; and, as it was
expected fae would be returned again for that
^ borough without any opposition, I thought it
would be a good opportunity to remind him
of-the fate of Despard, and of his own aposr
tacy, in quitting fais pretended opposition as
soon as he was offered a place of profit under
the Crown, Without further cereraony, there
fore, I drove to Bridport,, about three days be
fore the, election commenced, and announced

HBNRY HUNT. 509
my intention of opposing the election of tbe
Welch Judge, and former counsel for Despard,
Though I was not known to a single person
in the town of Bridport, yet I was received
with great kindness by a considerable portion
of the' electors, and was at once promised the
support of some of the most respectable of
them, - The Welch Judge, however, did not
make his appearance ; but in his stead came a
young 'Squire Sturt, tbe son of Best's former
patron. As I had avowedly attended only for
the purpose of opposing and exposing the
Chief Justice of Chester, I now, at tbe request
of some of tbose whose support against Best I
chiefly relied upon, declined to offer myself in
opposition to tbe young 'Squire, wbo possess
ed a majority of the houses in which the small
voters lived, and whose father had always
been a great favourite in the borough. I
gained great credit for the manner in which I
did this, in an address to the electorsfrom the
hustings, declaring that my only object was to
expose tbe delinquency of their former Mera
ber, the new Welch Judge. Tbe reader wiU
observe that I bad no acquaintance with Mr,
Sergeant Best, nor had even in the remotest
degree ever had any connection with him, or
come in contact with him, either in the way
of his profession or otherwise, I was solely

510 MEMOIRS OF
actuated by public duty, without the slightest
cause for personal dislike to the lawyer. Per
haps those who have read what I have written
since I carae here, will not now be at a loss to
account for the vindictive hostility of tfae ve
nerable Judge towards rae, wfaen I was
brougfat up for judgraent, and since I faave
been faere. Tfaey may now account for tfaat
Judge's voting for ray faaving six years im
prisonment, and for fais faaving afterwards
come the western circuit, and signed an order,
drawn up by the junto of Somersetshire Ma
gistrates, for placing and keeping me in soli
tary confinement for the last ten months of ray
incarceration. The people of Bridport will never forget
my visit, particularly Mr. Denselo, the prin
ter, who refused to print my address to the
electors, after having taken the copy, and
given his proraise to do it, and a Mr. Nicho-
lets, an attorney. I shall forbear to relate the
circurastances, and the ridiculous figure which
they cut, especially tfae latter, upon being de- ,
tected and exposed before his own townsraen
in their public hall. This exposure was ara
ple punishraent for sucfa raen, witfaout my
placing the particulars of their disgrace upon
record. I was invited to reraain in Bridport
after the election, which invitation I accepted.

HENBY HUNT. 511
and before I left the town I waited upon every
voter to thank him for his civility ; and, witb
only one or two exceptions, I received tbe
most polite attention and kind welcome ; near-;
ly two-thirds of the electors voluntarily pro
mised to give me their votes at the next elec-,
tion, whenever it might happen. If I had gone
tbere again I should have certainly bad a con
siderable majority of votes, without making
any promise whatever ; but, as I learnt tbat it
was expected that an after-bribe would be
given, I declined tbe honour of deceiving
them and disgracing myself.
One curious fact which occurred I cannot
avoid relating. I bave since ascertained, tbat
the person whom I took from Salisbury with
me to Bridport, treacherously communicated
all my plans and movements to my opponents,
every night before he went to bed ; and, wbat
is still more curious, I have learnt that be was
actually in correspondence witb my Lord
Castlereagh. I very soon afterwards ob
tained tbe knowledge of this latter fact, and
of course as soon declined tbe honour of any
farther connection with a person wbo had
sucb bigb acquaintance.
On tbe 18th of December, Mr. Hone, the
bookseller, was tried in tbe Court of King's
Bench, before Mr. Justice Abbott (wbo sat for

512 MEMOIRS OE
the Chief Justice EUenborough) and a London
i^pecialjury. Tfae offence which fae was cfaarged
with Was that of publishing a parody. After an
animated and eloquent defence, made by Mr.
Hdne in person, which lasted seven hours,
the jury returned a verdict of acquittal. The
Chief Justice EUenborough, who was ill at tfae
time, was so enraged at this verdict, that he
came into Court the next morning, and pre
sided when Mr. Hone was tried for a secdnd
parody. His Lordsfaip did pvery tfaing to in
timidate, to interrupt, and to browbeat Mr.
Hone, wfao, faowever, prdved fairaself much
the bravest as well as the most able man, and
after a defence, sirailar tp that of the day pre
vious, which lasted eight hours, another jury
of the city of London acquitted him. On the
day foUowing, the 20th of December, he was
tried before the Chief Justice and another
special jury of tfae city of London, for a tfaird
parody, and after anotfaer defence, wfaich last
ed nine faours, fae was a tfaird time acquitted.
What enhances tfae merit. of Mr. Hone's cou
rageous defence iSj tfaat during tfae wfaole of
the tiriie he was labouring under indisposition.
There is not the least doubt but these ver
dicts of acquittal, added to that of the acquit
tal of Dr. Watson, were the cause of Lord
EUenborough's deatfa^ at any rate, his decease

HENRY HUNT.. 51^
was greatly hastened by the irritationt arismg
from such repeated ' disappointments ; for in
all these cases his Lordship strongly charged
the jury for a verdict of guilty, and no agent
of the Government ever worked harder to ob
tain a verdict than his Lordship did. Ulti
mately this great lawyer became an ideot, andl
I have understood from pretty ^ood authority,
that for some time before his death he was in
the constant habit of repeating the names of
Watson and Hone, with the most evident
symptoms of horror and dismay, wfaich be
continued to do till tbe very last, as long, at
least, as he was capable of utterarice.
Tbus ended tbe year 1817, oneof the most
eventful of British history. The prospect was
most gloomy : the poor were greatly distress
ed for want of- employment : provisions were
deai", the quartern loaf averaged about thir
teen pence, and there was a genera,! de
pression of trade. At the same time, every
honest man in the kingdom considered him
self as being injured and insulted jby the sus
pension of the HabeasCprpus Act, and, indeed,
a general feeling of disgyst prevailed as to
the proceedings adopted by the Government.
As for the moral state of the country, and tbe
wretchedness of tbe people, it is only neces
sary to record tbree or four facts : at Manches-
VOL. III. 3 u

514 MEMOIRS OF
ter, in the year 1797, the poor-rates were
16,941/., but this year, 1817, tfaey amounted
to 65,212/. The number of forged notes stop
ped by the Bank of England, since the year
1814, that is, during the space of two years,
araounted to 113,361/., and in tfae year 1817,
tfae Bank prosecuted one hundred and for
ty-two persons for forgery, or uttering
forged notes ; and to support such a systera as
this, the peace establishraent of tfae standing
array, the land forces, for this year, amount
ed to one hundred and thirty-three
thousand five hundred and thirty-nine
MEN ! Bravo, John Gull !
I never heard of more than one public
meeting being faeld by tfae people, under the
provisions of tfae Seditious Meetings Bill, and
tfaat was advertised to be faeld in Palace Yard,
on the 7th of September, 1817. Tfais adver
tisement was signed by seven faousefaolders,
and a copy of it was delivered to the Clerk of
tfae Peace, and tfae neighbouring Magistrates;
agreeable to the Act. I was invited to preside
at the raeeting, wfaich invitation I accepted,
and attended accordingly. The Seditious
Meeting Act being still in force, and the Ha
beas Corpus Act being still suspended, it was
tfaougfat a very daring and faazardous proceed
ing, but I took care that the laws, rigid as

HENRY HUNT. 515
tbey were, sbould not be violated, and all tbe
provisions of the Act were strictly complied
with. This meeting was held within hearing,
and almost in sight of the Secretary of State's
office. But, as we acted according to law, not
the slightest interruption was offered to the
proceedings, or to tho^e who attended tbe
meeting. The persons who signed the requi
sition or advertisement, wbicb was delivered
to tbe Clerk of the Peace, were friends of Dr.
Watson ; he it was, in fact, that got up the
meeting. The doctor proposed the resolu
tions, which were seconded by Mr. Gast, and
carried unanimously : they protested in strong
terms against petitioning the House of Com
mons any mpre for Reform, as being proved
to be useless by the total disregard wbicb tbat
body had manifested to the prayers and tbe
petitions of tbe people during the previous
session of Parliament, when upwards of six
hundred petitions, praying for Reform, bad
been presented to tbe Honourable House. A
strong declaration and remonstrance, address
ed to tbe Prince Regent, was read and unani
mously agreed to at the meeting; whicb re
monstrance I carried and delivered to Lord
Sidmouth, at the Secretary of State's office, tbe
moment tbe meeting was dissolved ; and Iwas
attended to tbe doors of tbe office by five or

516 MEMOIRS OP
six thousand of the multitude who had com
posed a part of the meeting. When I entered
-the office, whicfa I did alone, I was instantly
conducted to his Lordship, araidst the deafen
ing cheers of the throng witfaout. I gave tfae
declaration to faim, and requested he would
-lay it before his Rdyal Master, as early as it
was convenient. He promised me that he
¦would read it carefully over, and if tfaere was
• notfaing imprc^er, that he would present it the
next day to the Prince Regent, and that he
would write to apprize me of the result.
• This Was the first time, ifl recoUect right,
dfaat a public remdnstrahce to the throne was
ever agreed to by tfae people ; and, as migfat
naturaUy faave beeh expected, fais Lordship
"found much in it tfaat he thougfat objectionable,
¦ as Well as the raanner in which it was convey
ed; it being in the shape of a firm though re
spectful remonstrance, instead of a creeping,
cringing petition. I faave ndt a copy of this
¦document by riie, but as it was agreed to at
thegreat meeting held at Manchester, as well
as at the Smithfield meeting, I wUl, if I can
procure it, publish it hereafter ; but I recoUect,
that, "after having recited a mass of atrocities
committed upon the i-ights arid liberties, and
Kves of the people, by the Miriisters of the
Crown, it demafadfed that they the said Mini«-

HENRY HUNT. 517
ters, of whom bis Lordship was one, should be
surrendered up to justice, and. brought to con
dign punishment. It is, therefore, almost
needless to say that my Lord Sidmouth not only
discovered very improper matter in the re
monstrance, but tbat he consequently declined
to communicate it to his Royal Master.
The year 1818 commenced with a great
public dinner at the City of Loaidon Tavern,
to celebrate tbe third centenary of the Refor
mation, at which dinner ome thousand five
hundred persons attended. On the 27th of
January the Parliament was opened by com
mission, and the usual speech was made, and
its echo, the address, was voted without any
opposition : a bill was now brought into tbe
House to restore the Habeas Corpus Act. A
great meeting took place at tbe City of
London Tavern, Alderman Waithman in the
chair, where a subscription was opened for
Mr. Hone, which ultimately amounted to more
tban tbree thousand pounds. Than this mea
sure, nothing can more clearly show the cba-
racter of the city patriot, and those who took
a lead in political matters in tiie metropolis.
While Mr. Hone was uuder persecution, and
even up to the day of his trial, he was totaUy
neglected and deserted ; neither Mr. Waith
man, nor any of th(Ke who afterwards came

618 MEMOIRS OF
forwards to assist hira in such a liberal way,
gave hira then the slightest countenance or
support; nay, tfaey even shunned and abandon
ed hira, and he actually went into court alraost
alone, and probably without the raeans of fair
ing counsel^ which was, in fact, a most fortu
nate circumstance for him, as, faad fae placed
fais case in the hands of counsel, I will warrant
that he would have been found guilty upon
each of the charges preferred against him;
however, as soon as Mr. Hone had obtained a
verdict of not guilty, these fair-weatfaer pa
triots began to flock round hira in order to
share the honour and popularity whicfa tfaey
now saw fae was likely to obtain. This is too
much the way ofthe world ; and if Mr. Hone's
jury had said guilty, instead of not guilty, if
he faad been tried by a country instead of a
London special jury, fae migfat faave gone
quickly to gaol, abandoned and ruined, be
fore any of the above gentry would have stir
red one inch to faave sayed faim from rotting
there. A bill of indemnity was now brought in, to
protect the Ministers against the legal conse
quences of their horrid abuses of power, during
the suspension of tfae Habeas Corpus Act.
Most of tfaose wfao had been incarcerated were
now released upon their own recognizance;

HENRY HUNT. 519
but Mr. Benbow, of Manchester, bravely re
fused to enter into any recognizance, and be was
liberated without it. Tbe Messrs. Evans fol
lowed bis example, and were also liberated
without bail.
While the indemriity bill was pending, the
Livery of the city of London met in Common
Hall, and passed some strong resolutions, and
petitioned tbe House of Commons not to in
demnify tbe Ministers against prosecutions at
law for their illegal and cruel conduct during
the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act.
This petition was presented by Alderman
Wood, our worthy representative, but with
out producing any effect, for, pn the IOth of
March, the bill was carried through both
Houses by large majorities. In the Commons,
Sir Samuel RomiUy made a brilliant effort to
resist the passing • of this Act, but there was,
nevertheless, a majority of 190 for it, and
only 64 against it. In the Lords it was sanc
tioned by 93 for it, wbile there were only 27
against it; but 10 Peers entered a firm and
spirited protest against the iniquitous mea
sure. On the 23d of March, a meeting ofthe
inhabitants of Westminster was beld in Pa
lace Yard, wben a petition to tbe House of
Commons was adopted, praying for a Reform
of Parliament. About tbis period, tbe case

520 MEMOIRS OF
of appeal of murder, Ashford against Thorvir
ton, excited considerable interest all over the
country. The case was argued in the Court
of King's Bench, which decided that the
law gave to the defendant a rigfat to fais wager
of battle ; but tfae appellant, tfae brotfaer of
Mary Ashford, the young woman who
had been murdered, not choosing to risk
his life by accepting the challenge, Thornton
was discharged.
On the first of May, the Monthly Magazine,
a work of gi«at celebrity, for tfae talent dis
played in its pages, as weU as for the phUan
thropic cfaaracter of tfae gentleman who has so
ably and successfully conducted it for so raany
years/published some interesting facts relative
to the cruel and iUiberal treatraent of Napoleon,
and. fais brave arid faitfaful adfaerents at .St.
Helena. Tfae sarae number contained a raost
infeeresting analysis of tfae progress of crirae
during the last seven years, by whicfa it ap
pears that 56,308 persons faad in tfaat time
been committed to tfae gaols of England and
Wales, for criminal offences ; tfaat 4,952 had
received sentence of death; 6,512 faad been
sentenced to transportation; and 23,795 faad
been subjected to minor punisfaraents, while
no biUs were found against 9,287. In the
same period 584 had been executed, /me? every

HENRY HUNT. 521
'number was tripled in the last year. Let tbe
philanthropist rea^ this — let the friends of
huriaanity read this^— and then say whether
we do not want a Reform in every department
of the State, particularly in the House of Com
mons, wbere the system has been so long acted
upon, which has brought England to such a
degraded state. ^-
On the second of June, Sir Francis Burdett
moved resolutions in the House of Commons,
for Universal Suffrage and Annual Parliaments.
They were negatived by a majority of 106 to
2 ; tbe minority being Sir Francis Burdett and
Lord Cochrane, the two Members for West
minster.' When, during the preceding session
of Parliament, that of 1817, there were peti
tions, signed by a miUion and a half of names,
praying for Universal Suffrage, Sir Francis
Burdett unfortunately refused to support Uni
versal Suffrage ; but now tbat tbe people bad
declined to appeal to the House, and conse
quently there was not a ' single petition lying
uponthe table; to support the Hon. Baronet's
motion, it was negatived, as I have stated
above, by an overwhelming majority.
On the tenth of June; tbe most infamous and
servile ParUament that ever sat in England,
after baving passed a Bill to continue tbe re
striction upon cash payments at tbe Bank;
VOL. III. 3 X

522 MEMOIRS OF
after faaving passed a Bill for building New
Churches, and appropriating one million of
the public money to carry it into effect ; after
having passed a Bill to add 6,000/. a year to
the incomes of the Royal Dukes, wfao faad
been married ; after faaving passed a Bill to
continue tfae Alien Act ; after having dpne aU
this, and far more, this servile, corrupt ParUa
ment was DISSOLVED.
I will mention one curious fact, with respect
to tfais precious Parliaraent. My friend, Mr.
William Akerraan, of Patney, in Wiltsfaire,
was upon a visit to me in London, and, as fae
was very anxious to go and faave a peep at the
proceedings of the House of Commons, I was
prevailed upon to accompany him thither one
evening, although I went ratfaer reluctantly,
as all tfae interest wfaich I had formerly felt
in hearing tfae debates faad long since been
banisfaed from my breast. However, I went
tfaitfaer to gratify tfae curiosity of my friend,
little thinking that I sfaould hear dr see any
thing to amuse or gratify, myself. The Hon.
House was exceedingly tfain, tfaere not being
more tfaan about a score of our honourable
representatives present : these careful trustees
had voted away, as a matter of course, sprae
hundreds of thousands of the public money.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer moved the

HENRY HUNT. 523
last reading of the Bill for building the New
Churches. The Bill was passed, and one million
of the money raised in taxes from the sweat
of the brow of John Gull was voted away, by
the Members of the Honourable House, with
as little ceremony as an old washerwoman
would toss off a glass of gin, or take a pinch
of snuff; tbere being no debate, no more pre
sent than THIRTEEN of the Honourable
Members of tbe Honourable House. But tbe
best joke was what followed: a bungling,
hackirig, and stammering gentleman got up,
on the Miriisterial side of tbe House — (for, if
I recollect right, amorig the honourable guar
dians of our lives, our liberties, and our pro
perty, tbere were none present belonging to
tbe Wbig or Opposition side of tbe House)-—
and after a considerable deal of beatirig about
the bush, which I saw made tbe Chancellor of
the Exchequer rather uneasy in his seat, I
discovered that the prosing gentleman, whose
name was Littleton or Thornton, was prattling
about the Savings* Banks, into wbicb it ap
peared tbat be had been inquiring rather more
inquisitively than tbe little Chancellor ap
proved of. Tbe result of his inquiry, he stated
to be a discovery, that three-fourths of the
money placed in tbe banks belonged to per
sons of property, wbo placed it tbere for the

524 MEMOIRS OF
sake of obtaining better interest tfaan tfaey
could get elsewfaere ; and that tfae jooor, such as
servants and persons of sraall income, whose
property it was intended by the legislature
sfaould be invested in these Savings Banks,
scarcely raade up a quarter of tfae nuraber,
and not a tenth of the amount. The gentle
man was going on, wfaen Mr. Vansittart jump
ed up, and in an under-tone pretty plainly
intimated to faira, that altfaougfa tfae benches
on the opposite side were erapty, yet there
might probably be some of the reporters left
in the House, and if wfaat faad been stated
should get abroad, it would do incalculable
mischief, by exposing the faumbug. Tfaese
were not the words of the Honourable Chan
cellor,- but 1 faave described their import.
Wfaetfaer tfae gentleraen reporters were all ab
sent, as well as the Whig Merabers, or wfae
tfaer they took the faint of tfae 'wortfay Cfaan-
cellor, or wfaetfaer tfaey did not faear wfaat fae
said, 1 do not know ; but tfae next raorning I
looked in vain in tfae newspapers for wfaat faad
transpired, wfaicfa appeared to rae so curious,
and wfaicfa faad appeared to the Chancellor a
raatter of so rauch iraportance ; not a word of
the sort was, however, to be found in any of
tfae papers.
Perhaps it was not observed by ray readers.

HENRY HUNT. 525
but it is a fact, that my friend, Mr. Cobbett,
who bad continued to write bis Register, and
had sent it bome from America to be publisb
ed in England, seemed to have almost entirely
forgotten that there was such a person as myself
in existence ; for more than five months, from the
Sth of May, the date of his first Register writ
ten in America, till that dated tbe IOth of Oc
tober, he scarcely ever mentioned the name
of his friend, even'accidentally. However, in
the Register of the 10th of October, 1817, it
appears that be bad at length discovered that
I was neither literally nor politically dead ;
for in a letter to Mr. Hallett, of Dentbrd, in
Berkshire, dated Long Island, 10th of Octo
ber, 1817,, my name was again brought fully
upon the carpet, relative to my opinion of Sir
Francis Burdett, as it has been frequently ex
pressed by me in confidence to him. Very
soon afterwards I received a private letter
from bim, full of professions of friendship,
which correspondence was continued up to
tbe period of his return from America. He
also addressed to me, in the Register, twelve
public letters, beginriing with " My dear
Hunt," and ending with " your faithful
friend," occasionally complimenting, my zealf**
courage, and fidelity in the cause of Reform,
and declaring that he was " in no fear as to

526 MEMOIRS OF
the rectitude df my conduct, but always in
anxiety for my faealtfa!" How faitfaful fais
friendsfaip is, fae faas admirably proved ! About
tfae second or tfaird letter wfaicfa I faad from
faira, fae strongly urged rae to oppose Sir
Francis Burdett, for the city of Westminster;
at any rate to offer myself as a candidate for
that city, which would give rae an opportu
nity of exposing the Baronet's desertion of the
cause of Reform. I wrote for answer, tfaat I
dreaded the expense of the faustings, and tfae
exorbitant charges of the High Bailiff, &c.
Tfaese difficulties, however, he made light of,
and assured me tfaat, if it was not done befdre,
he would take care to have rae remunerated
by a public subscription, as soon as fae return
ed from America.
With this assurance, and frora a conviction
in ray own mind that Sir Francis faad desert
ed, or at least neglected, the cause of Radical
Reforra, I sent an advertiseraent to be inserted
in the London papers, offering rayself as a can
didate for tfae representation of the city of
Westrainster. A raeeting was called by ray
friends, in the great roora of tfae Crown and
Anchor, when ihy narae was put in noraina-
li^n, as a proper persdn to be one of tfae re
presentatives of that city ; it having been pub
licly announced that Lord Cochrane, who was

HENRY HUNT. 527
preparing to sail to the assistance of the Pa
triots in South America, certainly meant to
resign all pretension to sit again as the Mem
ber for Westminster. At this meeting a very
large majority voted that I was a proper per
son to represent that city. I believe it was
nearly a fortnight before any other person was
put in nomination by any of the electors of
Westminster, audit wast bought by many of
my friends that Sir Francis Burdett and my
self would be returned, without any opposi
tion. I firmly believe tbat tbis would have,
indeed, been tbe case, bad not tbe friends of
Sir Francis Burdett, tbe Rump, proposed Mr.
Douglas Kinnaird as his colleague. Majdr
Cartwright was tben put in nomination by
some of his friends. The Whigs and Tories
of Westminster perceiving that there was
likely to be a great division amongst tbe Re
formers,, and that Mr. Douglas Kinnaird and
Major Cartwright bad been both started as it
were in opposition to me. Sir Samuel Romilly
was proposed as a candidate by the Whigs,
and Sir Murray Maxwell by the Ministerial
interest. There was a little band of very.
worthy and independent men, wbo stood for
ward as my supporters, namely, Mr. West,
Mr. Dolby, and Mr. Giles, who were electors*
and Mr. Cariile, Mr, Gale Jopes, and Mr, SheM|

528 MEMOIRS OF
win, wfao were not electors. Altfaougfa at the
outset I saw that, under such circumstances,
tfaere was no cfaance of ray success, yet I was
deterrained to keep open tfae poll to tfae last
raoment allowed by law, whicfa is fifteen days.
At a public dinner tfaat was held at the Crown
and Anchor, ray colours were produced, and
consisted of a scarlet flag, witfa Universal
Suffrage as a motto, surmounted by a Cap
of Liberty, surrounded with the inscription of
Hunt and Liberty. Tfais flag was provided by
,Mr. Cariile ; and I faad tfae faonour df being
tfae first and only raan wfao ever offered faira
self as a candidate for a seat in Parliaraent
upon the avowed principles of Universed
Suffrage, Annual Parliaraents, and Vote by
Ballot. , V
The day at lengtfa arrived for tfae com
menceraent of tfae election in Covent-Garden.
I faad proclaimed tfaat I would not, eitfaer by
myself or by any of my friends, canvass or
solicit a single vote — that I should go to the
hustings, and act upon the constitutional prin
ciple of neitfaer soliciting votes nor going to
any expense. Tfae High Bailiff opened the
proceedings, and tfae foUowing candidates
were proposed by tfaeir separate friends : — Sir
Francis Burdett, Sir . Murray Maxwell, Sir
rauel RomUly, Major Cartwrigfat, Mr.

HENRY HUNT. 529
Douglas Kinnaird, and myself. Upon the
show of hands being takene, the High Bailiflf
declared it to be in favour of Heriry Hunt,
Esq. and Sir ^muel Romilly. Sir Fra;ricis
Burdett's frierias appeared dis^at^fied witjn
^ this decision of the High Bajllffj^and urge^
tHat*a greater number had heM up their bands
loir Sir Francis than ^j^t Sir Samuel; but no
one disputed mif> having had d majority, bf iat
least ten to dhe,' in my favour. The'reader wUl
see that tbis speaks volumes as to the opinion
pf the people. Though the people assembled <
could bold up their hands, yet when it came
td the vote,' the reisult clearly showed that the
people badi no sharain electing those who w^re
chosen as their representives.
During this contest I was baited like a bull;
it wa§ very different frorifi any election that
ever took place pefore, for Itdre the riiask frorii
all parties, and all factions ; in doing whi6b I
exposed myj^felf to a combiriatidri of the whole
press of ESbgiand, all tbe niariagers of wbieh
were leagued together to abuse, to misrepre
sent, and belie me. The Tory, the Whig, aricia
the Burdettile press attaqked me riot caily .
tvlthput mercy, but alsp without the slightest
regard. 'to truth or fair pla;^ and that por-
Jtidn df the press wnich was either under the
influence or in the pay df these three parties
VOL. III. 3 y

^0 MEMOIRS or

CMisisted of more than nineteen twentieths of
the press of the whole kingdom !
After the election faad prpceeded for a few
days, it was found that upon the poll Sir Fran?,
cis Burdett wasleft considerJIwy behind Sir
Sarauel iSl^t^illy. and Sir Murray Maxwelljj
Major Cariwrigjit's and Mr. Douglas Kin-.
naird's names were, therefore? withdrawn
from tfaccontest, and tlfefriemls of botfa tfaose
gentleraenjoined to suppprt Sir Francis's elec
tion, which appeared to be in great danger.
As, nowever, I had no such views as tfaey faad,
my exertions being daily and solely directed
to^open tfae eyes of the electors of Westmin
ster to wfaat I conceiyed to be the gross neg-
ligihce df Sir Frauds Burflett with respect to
the cause of the people, I was determined to
stand out tfae contest, especially as I faad raade
an affidavit, -before tfae Lord #I^or of Lpn
don, previous to tfae cdramenceriient of the.
electidn, binding myself to keep the poll open
to the last hour allowed by law. tNotmth-
standing this affidavit, which faad been^printfed,
and posted all over London, a. little impudent.
Irishriian, ofthe name of Cleary, whora „ I
have mentioned before, as a sort of writer oi;
clerk, hired as such by Major Cartwright^
-carae forward upon the fapstings, and in a
ibroad Irish brogue called upon me to tender

. HENRY HUNT. S81
my resignation, and to render aU the assist
ance in my power to promote the election of
Sir Francis Burdett, and took the liberty of
insinuatittgr that Icould bono friend of the
people if I dfd not do so. Nothing cpuld equal
tbe impudence of tbis upstart, paid secre
tary, this hireling of the Majbr's ; he was no
elector of Westriiinster,,, and had no legal busi
ness whatever upon the hustings in Westmin
ster, However, I treated tbis proposition with
tbe silent contempt that it merited ; find this
drew down the malevolence of the Rump,
of whicb tbis Cleary now formed a part. Tbey
denounced me as a spy of the Government', ,
and every thing that was base; and they put
no bounds to their abuser In the evening, as
I was addressing the electors, and defending
myself against these assassin-like attacks from
the Rtimp, I stated the circumstance of tbeir
having prevented tbe holding of a public meet
ing in the metropolis, which meeting I had'
proposed for the purpose of raising a subscrip
tion, to enable Brandreth, Turner, Ludlam,
and others, who had been indicted for high
treason at Derby, to fee counsel, and pay the
expenses of their witnesses, so as to obtain a
fair trial; and 1 of course alluded to the dirty
trick which bad beei^layed me, in order to
prevent tbe meeting, by writing me a letter,

632 MEMOIRS OF
¦ ¦ •
in ti;ie. first instance, to say that a raeeting
would be c?^lled, and then putting it off w^^en
itwas too, late , for rae to corae to Loridon to
call the meeting myself. I did this in gener^J
terms, wiihpijt mentioning ariy names; upop
yhiph Cleary came forward, and unblushingly
declared j|hat wfaat I faad said was false, aud
tfaat tfaere was no letter wfaatever of the sort
written to me. On this, thei'e was a genera}
call " produce tfae letter, name, narae." In
reply L asserted, that not only was such, a
letter written, but Cleary hiraself was the
writer, and that he .had gone so far as to say,
in the letter, tfaat fae was so offended witfa the
prisoners who were charged with high treason,
that he could alm^t find it in his heart to go
down and hang them himself. Cleary again
presented himself, and, in tbe most. solemn
manner, calle^ God tp witness, |hat wfaat I faad
said was totally devoid of truth. The clarj(jo|i,^
of the party of the Rump committee, now b^-^
came excessive, they one and all bawled out,
" produce the letter 1 — you cannot. Hunt ! — it
is all false !" At length I vociferated that I
^puld produce it the next day. I thought 1
had the said let|.er amongst sorae others in my
trunk, but, upon looking them over, I found
tfaat it \vas left at Middleton Cottage, with qiy
other papers. I tlierefore dispatched one pf my

HENRY HUNT. 533
)
family intp the country, a distance of sixty-
one miles, to enable me to perform my pro
mise, and the demand of the party. Tbe next
jday I was obliged to state the fact, that the
letter was in the country, but that I had sent
an express for it, and it should fae produced as
soon as that messenger returned. Upon this
the whole gang burst out into' a forced horse
laugh, swearing that it was all false, that 1
had no such letter, and that I never could
produce it.
On the following day, which Was Sunday,
I received the letter from the country. In the
meantime all the London papers had misre
presented this affair in'the most scandalous and
unprincipled manner, and every one of tfaem
agreeing that I had m^de a groundless charge
against Cleary, and intimating that the story
pf the letter was a fabrication. The gang
had, in reality, contrived to raise a gerieral
outcry against me. Monday, however, carae,
tQO soon for them, and on the hustings Itheri
prpduced the letter, and offered to read it;
but the tumult raised by the party, totally
prevented it from being heard. This being,
tbe case, I promised to have it printed the
next day. I kept my word, and one thousand
copies were circulated ; upon which Cleary
produced a letter from Mr. Cobbett, said to

534 MEMOIRS OF
faave been addressed to a person of the name
of Wright. In this letter, written, I believe,
ten years previous to this epoch, Mr. Cobbett
grossly abused me, and represented me as a
sad fellow, and recoraraended to the West
minster committee to faave notping to do with
me. As on the face of it this epistle appeared
to faave been \#itten some years before I knew
Mr. Cobbett, I felt no anger or resentment
against faim; altfaougfa it certainly sfaowed that
fae possessed a bad heart, to be capable of
, writing' such gross and palpable falsehoods and
, malignant calumny against a man whom he
knew only by report; whicfa man, report must
at the sarae tirae have conviuced him, was a
zealous and persevering friend of Liberty.
Tfae former Cry was now dropped, and in its
place was substituted anotfaer. It was impu
dently pretended that I faad behaved very un
handsomely, in producing and publishing a
private letter of Cleary's ; tfaougfa tfae fact was,
tfaat it was a public letter written upon public
business, by a man who was a sort of public
' general secretary for all public matters debated
on and meetings held in Westminster, and
who was also the paid secretary to Major Cart
wright and tfae Harapden Club ! To bring for
ward a cfaarge of tfais kind against me, was
fretcfaing impudence and falsefaood as far as
ey could possibly go.

HENRY HUNT. 585
The next morning a note was put into my
hands, which had been delivered open at
my lodgings, on tbe preceding night, after I
had retired to bed. Tbis detestable compo
sition contained a challenge from Mister
Cleary, together with a great deal of vulgar
Billingsgate abuse. ,1 inquired who delivered
it, and Iwas informed that .between twelve
and one o'clock, about two bours after I was
in bed and asleep, some one knocked at the
door, Which was opened by my female seryant,
upon which three fellows rushed into the pas
sage, and demanded to see me. The servant,
however, informed tbem that I was gone to
bed, and could not be disturbed. After be
having in a very boisterous and buUying
manner, they gave ber a letter, and informed
her that it was a challenge for her master to
fight a duel, and they desired, or rather
ordered her to give it me as soon as I rose in
the morning. AU tbree of tbem refused to
leave their names. When \ rose, rather late
in the morning, I found that this.^ famous chal
lenge bad not only been read by all tbe
females of my family, but that all tbe people
in Norfolk-street, in which I lodged, had been
informed of it, and the intelligence bad also
been communicated to the Magistrates at
Bow-street. Two Bow-street officers were

536 MEMOIRS OF
likewise- observed parading the street, ap|)a-
rently to watch rae Put. Now, I will candidly
appeal to ray readers, and ask if ever they
heard of a challenge to fight a duel having
been delivered in such a way before ? A chal
lenge, avowed as such, and delivered unsealed,
to a feraale, 'by three drunken Irishmen (for
such my servant described them)} between
twelve and one o'clock at night, after the
person challenged had been in bed and asleep
for hoUrs, and not one of the party consent-'
ing to leave his name ! To suppose that this
poor creature meant to fight, or that those
who brought his challenge, and gave it open
to my female servant, ever intended that fae
should fight a duel, would be the height, of
credulity. Yet, to crown the joke, this very
fellow, Cleary, was put forward upon the
Jmstings, the next day, and actually read a
copy of his blackguard challenge, which he
said he had sent to rae tfae night before.
This was done in the presence and hearing
of Mr. the present Sir Richard Birnie, and
otfaer police raagistrates. Was ever tfae like
of this performed before in England, or any
other country?' The reader will perceive
that tfais was a trick, and a very clurasy one,
to endeavour to get me taken into custody,
and bound over to keep the peace. Yet the

HENRY HUNT. 537
venal hireling press blazoned" it forth to the
world, thdt I had injured and behaved very
unharidsorilely to Mr. Cleary, by publishing
his letter, and tbat I had refused to give him
the satisfaction of a gentleman, when he de
manded it ! ! Every one knows this was done
to create effect. If Cleary bad ever meant to
fight mn, he would have takeii a vei-y differ
ent course ; he Would have sent some con
fidential friend to communicate with me iri
private. This stratagem, however, clumsy as it was,
had the desired effect, and such Was the
beastly and scandalous misrepresentatiori of
the whole London press, that many very
worthy and honourable men think to this
'day that I ill used Mr. Cleary. They say
it was unhandsome to produce bis letter. It
is difficult to conceive on what nioi'al groririd
they come to such a conclusion. NoW^ let
us see what others, wbo were impartial, dis
interested eye-witnesses of the affair, let us
bear wbat they say upon the subject; for no
one, perhaps, can be a thoroughly fair judge
of the question who was not present. 1 will
here insert an extract frorti a letter, signM
" Leonidas," and published in Sherwin's Re
gister, bn the 26th of December, 1818. After
stating that the only apology which was ever
VOL. III. 3 z

538 MEHOIRS O'F
offered by any of the Rump for Cleary's con
duct was, that I had behaved unhandsomely
in jdiyulging Cleary's letter about the pri
soners at Derby, he says-^
''Uut this anhandsomeness, what was it ? The present
¦ writer was near the hustings on that occasion, and a plain
-tale, uninfluenced except by principle, will put the whole
thing' down.
" Mr. Hunt, whose elocution, though bad, is not at
tended withany embarrassment, a tolsen either of a clouded
intellect, or of conscious finesse, spoke,in order to set him-
eelf and those who, so nearly and furiously persecuted him
in a clear point of view before the people assembled at
the hustings, which he had a right to do, of the prisoners
at Derby, of his own conduct towards them, which was
most' courageous and humane, and of the conduct of ihe
jMW^y ,• at Westminster on the same occasion, which was
assuredly supine to a frightful degree, to speak in no
stronger language. In the midst of the most horrid yell
ing of ^e party, from whom he was continually obliged
to appeal to the mob below, as Mr. Kinnaird, unused to
his new momenclature, called thera, Mr. Hunt mentioned
that the party in Westminster had done less than nothing
to save tho lives of the Derby prisoners. So far from
aiding them, one had written to him that nothing could be
done, and the writer had declared his own indignation
against the unhappy men for disgracing the cause to
be such, that he could almost go down and hang them
- himself. " This was all fair, quite unobjectionable. Whether it
was judicious to introduce this topic, is quite another ques
tion. While Mr. Hunt was speaking in half sentences, on
account of the clamour from the hustings, and from the
stages in front of them, where the party usually took their
station, there was an evident feeling of uneasiness pre
vailing, a- consciousness that Mr. Hunt had -more to say
than it was pleasant to hear ; .,and this feeliug broke out
in one burst of foolish interruption when he arrived at
this point, and a din was raised of ' name, name ; it is all
a lie, the scoundrel, the villain, name, name.' Mr. Hunt
¦ seeihed to pause. The present writer had not the least
suspicion oi whom be bad to name. Whea the demand

HENKY HUNT, 589'
was often repeated, and the noise had somewhat abated,',
he came forward, and, with evident reluctanc6,pronounced,
' It was Mr.  ,' who by this time had placed himself'
in front of the hustings, and with writhing contortions
uttered some most passionate exclamations.
" Well, this was not sufficient. The cry now was,
• produce the letter, produce the letter ; you cannot, you
blackguard ; it is a lie,' &c. &c, Mr. Hunt could not, at
the instant, produce the letter ; but said it should be forth
coming the next day. It was not produced the next day,
when the grossest abuse was poured on him from the
usual quarter. The party would not hear his explanation, '
that it was left in the country, and scarcely could this as
surance reach the ears^ of the more inditferent spectators.
An express was sent for it, who could not return without
some delay. In the interval, Mr. Hunt was assailed with
every opprobrious epithet of liar, scoundrel, base slan
derer, and exclamations, ' He cannot produce it, it is all
a fabrication,' '&c. &c. Atlast, the letter came, and an
attempt was made to read it, without effect. Mr. Hun*
was obliged to say, ' Well, you shall have it printed
to-morrow.' " I am not conscious that I misrepresent a tittle of this
most abominable scene, such as I hope never to witness
again among human beings. This was the unhandsome
way that is said to- justify the production of a private let
ter of Mr. Cobbett, even if it had been written by him ; a
letter now however proved to be a forgery, and of the
genuineness of which no evidence was sought even at the
time, except that it was furnished by Mr. Place, the
tailor. " Now, nothing could be more justifiable than Mr.
Hunt's conduct. It was absolutely forced on him. He
could hot avoid producing the letter. Those who com
plain of imhandsomeness themselves laid on him the dis
agreeable necessity. What did they say of his not having"
the letter ready to produce ? Why, that it was a proof oft
his being a liar, and a scoundrel. Of what was it a
proof? Simply that Mr. Hunt had no previous intention
to disclose that letter, that he was forcibly obliged to pro
duce it to satisfy the clamour of the complaining: party.
If, after he had alluded to it, which might not be discreet,
but which was not at all criminal because it was not on,
private, hut public business — if after alluding to the letter,
he had reftised to produce it, let any man judga what

540 ' MEMOIRS OF
iwouid have heen his treatment from the partii. Their
character ,c}pmonstrates, to a certainty, that they would
not have allowed the existence of such a letter, though
fully co»sci.ous of it, arid wduld haye suffered Mr. Hunt to
the end of time to be considered, what they called him, a
iiar, a scoundrel, and a slanderer.
" This subject, which I had not anticipated when my
last letter was s^ri^ten, and did not iuean, before the ap
pearance of the confused and timid le,tter in Cobbett's
Register, to adyert to, has' occupied too much time to
permit rne to comprehend, in this coiiimqnication, all the
remarks -yrhicK lannounced. It must be granted me, who
am of no party but. thaf of truth, to pursue my way, at
leisure, and as free as possible fi^om the mere forms of
dft'ail. Meaning lo resume my pen, I am, for the pre
sent. Sir, &c.,
" LEONIDAS."
The reader wiU observe, that this letter
was written in Deceraber, six raonths after
the election ; and I beg here to obsei*ve, tfaat
I never knew or spoke to the writer till sonie
time after this letter was written ; but I am
proud to say, when I was introduced to him,
that this fair advocate; of truth, proved to be
a gjentleman and a raan of the strictest honour,
bred up and associating with the higher
ranks pf society, and who was a dof tor (of
divinity, I believe). He was altogether just
such ^ man as I should have selected as an
arbitrator to decide any dispute, a man of
stript veracity and unimpeachable character..
I have said thus raucfa upon this affair, in
order to clear rayself from the imputation of
unhandsome conduct, and thc chaige of co\y-,

HENRY HUNT. 641 "
ai'dice which was so lavishly bestowed upon
me by the whole of tbe corrupt, hireling, par
tial London press, the falsehoods vomited
forth by which were re-echoe^ from shore to
shore, by all the dastardly local press of the
kingdom. This virulence arose .from the fol
lowing fact. In consequence of my exposure
of the conduct of Sir Francis Burdett, not
more than 500 bands were held up for him
out of 20,000 persons present, when his name
was put in nomination; and now, on the
eighth or ninth day of the election. Sir Francis
stood THIRD upon the pdll, and ultimately he
was returned only second upon it — -Sir-
Samuel, Romilly standing several hundreds
(three hundred) above him, and Sir Murray
Maxwell only about four hundred below him.
In fact, nothing but the. foul play shpwn' to
wards Sir Murray g,nd his friends, together
with the very bad raanagement of his com
mittee, prevented his being returned with
Sir Samuel Romilly, and Sir Francis being
rejected and thrown out altogether.. This
vvas what , made the party so outrageously
clamorous and vindictive against me. Inde-,
pendent of the wound which their pride
suffered, frpm the dread of being defeated,
they had another reason to abominate me.
They were compelled to make no trifling

542 MEMOIRS OF
sacrifices of a certain kind. About the eighth
or ninth day of tfae election, a dreadful effort
was made by tfae party, and money flew
about in all directions; poor electors faad tfaeir
taxes paid up, otfaers were paid for voting,
public-faouses were opened, and all tfae sources
of corruption and bribery were resorted to,
by the friends and supporters of Sir Francis
Burdett, which were eraployed by the Minis
terial faction for Sir Murray Maxwell. By
these means tfaere was at lengtfa an apparent
spirit of entfausiasm revived for tfae Baronet.
Hundreds, wfao faad viewed fais conduct in a
similar ligfat to that in whicfa I faad viewed it,
and wfao faad conderaned faim, and given him
up, and who faad actually stood neuter faitfaerto,
not meaning to vote at aU at tfae election, as
tfaeir votes could not faave rendered rae any
service, now carae forward and voted for him,
. under the irapression that it would be better
to return hirii, bad and indolent as he was,
than to return tfae rank Ministerial tool. Sir
Murray Maxwell.
At tfae end of tfae election, the numbers were
declared by the Higfa Bailiff to be as follow : —
Romilly 5,538, Burdett 5,239, Maxwell 4,808,
Hunt 84. Upon tfae show of hands at the no-
minatiori by the Higfa Bailiff, wfaen the elec
tion commenced. Sir Francis stood third, be-

HENRY HUNT. 543
low myself and Sir Samuel ; at the end of tbe
election Sir Francis stood second upon tbe
poll, 300 helow Sir Samuel Romilly. Tbis was
a Sad blow to the Baronet's popularity, and a
still more severe blow to tbe upstart gentry
who formed tbe Rump Committee. When
Lord Cochrane resigned his seat, at tbe disso
lution of the Parliament, and I publicly offered
myself as a candidate, if Sir Francis and the
Committee bad stood neuter, even I sbould
have been returned witb bim without any op
position; but this did not suit bim, or the Com
mittee ; tbey opposed me, and no one doubted
tbeir power to prevent my being elected,
thougb, at tbe same time, they little dreamt
that I bad tbe power to endanger tbe election
of their idol. Sir Francis, and by my exertions
to cause the Whig candidate, Romilly, to be
placed at the head of the poll 300 above bim.
Even all tbat, bowever, was easier to be borne
tban to bave me in Parliament. Whether I
acted right, or whether I acted wrong, in thus
opposing and bringing down tbat man, who
had but a few years before been returned at
tbe head of the poll for Westminster (2,000
above all the other candidates), is a matter of
great doubt witb a number of good men ; I
can only say, if I erred, I erred from public
and not from private motives. Sir Francis

544 ^EH0IR« OF
Burdett has, since I have been faere, acted
tfae most noble part towards rae, and I have
no doubt but he is corivinced that I was ac
tuated iri iriy opposition to faira Solely by pub
lic views ; and if I was tfaen deceived and mis
taken as to his public fconduct, he faas sfaoWn
that he has the nobleness of soul that knows
how to fdi*give ray hostility td him, because fae
believes' that I was his opponent, not to serve
any selfish end, but frora a sense of public
duty. A few days after I had been so grossly rais
represented by the press, with respect td
Cleary's affair, another circurastance occurred.
Orie of the gents belonging to the Observer
newspaper, was a Mr. Spectacle Dowling,
who appears to have written sd raany false-
hodds upon the subject, that fae actually be
lieved at last that what he had written was
true. I had, in one of my speeches, alluded to
the- evidence which this person faad given, on
befaalf of tfae Crown, upon the trial of Watson.
The next morriing, wfaen I entered tfae faus
tings, a person at the door spoke to me, and
while I Was looking back to answer faim, I felt
tfae stroke df a smaU wfaip upon riiy hat, and,
on turning hastily round to see what it raeant,
there was Mr. Spectacle Dowling flourishing a
small jockey whip in a violent manner. I

HENRY HUNT.

dashed up to him, and had just reached him a
slight blow in the cfaiti, when I was seized By''
the constables ; btit in his flight fae received a
blow in the mouth from iriy brother, and ano
ther from my sori Henry, a lad of' eighteen. '
We were all three held by the constables, who
were all prepared to favour bis escape.
Mr. Dowling immediately sumindned my
brother befoi'e Sir Richard, then Mr, Birnie,
forthe assault I attended to give bail for
bim^ and Icertainly' never saw a pei'son who'
more resembled "raw bead and bloody bones"
than Mr. Dowlihg did, for he was bleedirig at
every pore ; tbe marks of the three ,bldWs he-
bad received were vei'y evident upori bis fdre-
bead, his mouth, and his chin. It appeared
that Mr. Dowling's object was, not so inuch to
get my brother held to bail, ds it was to get
himselfhound over to keep th^ ' peaice towards
me; and Mr. Birnfe; who bad Idained that
Mr. Dowling was tifie first jaggiresspr, urged
me to prefer tbe complairit, arid be wpuldl
hold him to bail for the asSSitilt, as Dowling
bravely protested before the Magistrates that
he should have giveri me a good . horsewhip
ping if -Qie constables h&A riot interfered. 1,
however, positively declined to make, ariy
<iharge against the geritleman, a^ I had re
eved that the fiVst time I met bini I would
VOL. III. 4 A

fA6 MEMOIRS OF
give faim an opportunity of taking a belly-fuUr
I own that I walked the streets many an
-faour afterwards^ in faopes of meeting faira,
andJ (Sirried a good cane in my faand, in or
der to-lay it smartly aborit fais sfaoulders. It
was, faowever, raany montfas before I raet tfae
gentleman. At lengtfa, one day, I was stand
ing in Mr. Cleraent's sfaop, talking witfa Mr.
Egan, the gentleraan wheat that time was tfae
fasfaionable slang reporter of all the pitched
battles and prize fights of tfae day, and wfao
has since produced from fais pen tfaose cfaarac
ters wfaich have made sucb a noise at tfae Adel-
pfai and otfaer theatres, namely, Tom and
Jerry. Wfaile I was conversing with Mr.
> Egan, Mr. Dowling opened the door and
walked in. I immediately addressed faim, and
said, " Tfae last time I faad tfae faonour to meet
you, Mr. Dowling, I believe was at Bow-street,
wfaen you stated to Mr. Birnie tfaat you faad
struck me upon tfae Westminster hustings
with a wfaip, and if you faad not been prevent
ed by tfae constables you would faave given
me a good horsewfaipping." " Sir, (said fae)
;I do not wish to bave any tfaing to say to you."
" But, (replied I) there is a little account to
settle between us ; you struck me a bldw with
a whip, and I gave ypu a slap on the chin, so
iarws'were equal ; but you informed tfae Ma-

MENRY HUNT. 54T
It
gistrates, that, if you had not been prevented
by the constables, you would bave given me a
good thrashing ; now. Sir, there are no consta
bles present to interfere, and I will give you an
opportunity to carry your threat into execu
tion." " Sir, (he again repeated) I do' not
wish to bave any thing to say to you ;" and
he was making out of tbe shop as fast as he
could shuffle ; but as soon as he operied the
door, and stepped upon the pavement, I Said,
" Protect yourself," and at the same time t
gave him a slight blow in tbe face with my
flat hand, which knocked off his spectacles;
The gallant reporter picked tbem up very
coolly, and putting both hands before his face,,;
he sued for mercy, saying, that if I persisted
he should take the law of me. He kept his
word, and I was indicted at tbe Middlesex
sessions, and fined five pounds.
So ended the horse-whipping affair and the
Westminster election, witb the exception of
a trifiing after-clap or two, such as tbe High
Bailiff sending me in a bill for my third share
of the hustings, amounting to upwards of two
hundred and fifty pounds (I tbink tbat was
tbe sum). I refused tbe payment of it, and
he commenced an action for tbe amount, and
obtained a verdict for a great part of his
charge. Thi« brought me for the first time^

«
,«48 .WBMOIRS OF,

iin. contact witfa M^ vCpiLiriseUpr Scarlett, he
having been.f^ployed, by the High Bailiff
against me^ I at- .once discovered, that this
¦Vsrorthy Bawisje/^ although .a very clever fel-
los?, Was cprsed with avery irritable, wasp
ish disposition, of which l always took ad
vantage afterwards, as often. as we met in the
Courts, whicli, -, unfortunately fpr me, was
mjiich too frequently for my pocket.
, About this time an action faad been brougfat
against me, in the name of; my landlord, Pari
son Williams, of Whitchurch, of whpm. ' Uad
rented Cold Heniy Farm fpr tfaree years, at a
loss of about two tbousand pounds, wfaicfa I
sunk in cleaning and improving tfae. estate.
Wfaen MrCpbbett fled from England to go to
A:merica, in 1817, some of the Wincfaester at
torneys and parsons openly said that tfaey
" had driven Cobbett out of the country, and
they- would try hard to make me follow him."
They were as good as tfaeir words, for tfaey
tried all sorts of ways to injure my credit, and
not succeeding to their wishes, an action was
comnienced against rae, by a man who is, clerk
tp the Magistmtes, a Mr. Woodham, an attor-;
ney at Winpfaester, in the name pf Mr. Wil
liams, for breaches of covenants while I occu
pied Cold Heniy Farm, , I called on Mr. Wil
liams, who denied having eyer given any

HENRY HUNT.

«|9

orders tp Woodham to commence the action ; he
;said that Woodham had urged bim to do it,
put that be 'refused to do so, and he wished
every thing to be settled amicably. I re
lied upon thp wprd of the old parson, who
gaid he would write and stop any further pro
ceedings ; but my confidence was very soon
betrayed, as I had notice that I bad suffered
judgment to pass ^y default, and a writ of in
quiry was to be beld at tbe next assizes to assess
the daniages. The writ of inquiry was execut
ed at Wii\chester, and a verdict was obtained
against me fpr, I believe, 250/. The breaches
of covenant were easily proved, although tbey
had been assprited to by the parson, which as
sent I had carelessly and confidingly neglected
to obtain from him, .either in writing or befpre
witnesses. Mr. Abraham Moue, an .emi
nent barrister upon the Western Circuit, was
employpd, and conducted tbe inquiry for Mr.
^.ttorney Woodham. Mr. More was esteem
ed the best special pleader, and, after Mr. Ser
geant PeUj he was certainly the best advpcate
upon thp Western Circuit. But I take leave
to ask, wbat is become of Mr. More? Mr*
More has quitted the circuit and the bar, arid
fled from bis country, since I came to thisBasr
tile. I l?elieve Mr. More Was tbe Recorder pf
Ijiprd Grpsvenor's rotten borough of Shaftesbury,

qi|0 ' ^ MEMOIRS OF
andj'fae was, I am told, fais lordsfaip's steward,
and suddenly left England under sucfa circura
stances a^ would faave been blazoned fortfa in
every newspaper in England, if fae faad been a
poor Radical. J bear nopersonalfaostilityto Mr.
More, therefore I shall not say any thing to
wound the feelings of those- of his- relatives
and friends who are left behind. But it is a re
markable fact, tfaat tfae learned barrister,
the Recorder of Shaftesbury, and tfae once
learned and honest attorney, Mr. Richard Mes-*
siter, of Sfaaftesbury, should have left their
country, and both have fled to America, under
such petuliar eircumstances.
On tfae 22d of July tfae son of Napoleon was
created Duke of Reichstadt by his grandfather,
tfae Emperor of Austria. On tfae 15tfa of
August, very' considerable disturbances took
place at Mancfaester, amongst tfae raanufactur
ing poor, wfao were suffering great privations
and raisery, in consequence of tfae faigfa price of
provisions, and tfae ruinous low prices given
for raanufacturing labour. On tfae 29tfa of
September, the Emperors of Russia and Aus
tria, and the King of Prussia, held a congress
at Aix-la-Cfaapelle, assisted by ministers from
England and France. On tfae 2d of October,
tfae convention of Aix-la-Cfaapelle was signed.
At the same period it was publicly announced

HENRY HUNT. ^ 5^
by the Americans, tbat tbeir navy consisted bf
six sbips ofthe line, eleven tfigates, and twen
ty-two sloops. On tbe 21st, Lord EUenborough
resigned the office of Chief Justice of the
Court of King's Bench.
On the 2d of November, Sir Samuel Romil
ly put an end to bis existence, by cutting his
own throat with a razor. This event excited
a very considerable sensation throughout tbe
whole kingdom. Sir Samuel Romilly, although
a lawyer, was very generally beloved and re
spected. By his death, a vacancy occurred for
the representation of the city of Westminster,
and, jvitbin ten minutes after I beard of tbe
deed wbich hadbeen committed by Sir Samuel,
I determined upon an opposition against who
ever migbt be nominated by Sir Francis and
tbe Westminster Committee. I did not, indeed,
myself, choose to encounter a repetition of the
expenses which I had recently incurred, by
standing a contested election for Westminster,
but I was, nevertheless, determined to have
some one put in nomination, to prevent, as far
as lay in my power, the great and powerful
city of Westminster from being made a rot
ten borough, under tbe influence of Sir Fran
cis Burdett. But I found all the little staunch
phalanx wbo had supported me during my
own contest, now decUned supporting an op-

MEMOIRS Oi

pomion in favour of Mr. Cobbett, whoiri I
propose(Mo put m nomination. In fact, I

could not get a single elector of Westminster
either to propose or second the measure.
I ought to have noticed before, tbat, at the
former contest, I was manfuUy and ably sup
ported by Mr. John Gale Jones, wbo never
deserted me, and who stood boldly by me to
tbe very last day of the election. I ought also
to have noticed, that my colours, surraounted
by the Cap of Liberty, with the mottos of
" Universal Suffrage" on one side, and " Hnnt
and Liberty" on the other, were every day,
during the first general election In tfais year,
carried to tfae faustings, and tfaere nailed to tfae
sarae, wfaere tfaey reraained proudly floating'
in the air the whole da^y, till they were taken
down, when the pdlling was closed, to proceed
with my carriage every night Jmo Norfolk-
street. I beg the reader,, young or old, not
to forget tfais fact, that at the gerieral election
in June 1818, for thefirst time in England, a'
gemleman pffered himself as a candidate, upon
the. avowed principles of " Annual Parlia
ments^ Universal Suffrage', arid ^oie by Bal- '
lot;" that at this election, which lasted fifteen
days, the Cap of Liberty, surmounting the
colours with that mptto, was hoisted and car
ried through the streets morning and evening,

HENRY HUNT. " 55®
preceding my carriage to and , from the
hustings in tbe city of Westminster ; and tbat
the^e were the only polours thatVei^e suffered
by the people to remain ripon the hustings, all
other colours tbat were hoisted being torn
down and trampled under the feet pi the mul
titude, while the Cap pf Liberty and the flag
with Universal Suffrage remained all day, and
every day, for fifteen days, fixed to the
hustings, without the slightest insult or mo
lestation being offered to it by any one. The
cap arid flag were frequently left for several
hours together, without any one of my com
mittee or myself being present ; and I never
heard that it was even fainted td offer to re
move them, except once, on wbicb ocmsion
the foUpwing curious circumstance tdok place.
One day, one of tbe constables, observing
that myself and all my immediate friends were
absent from the- hustings, proposed in a low
voice to some of his companions, to remove
Hunt's flag and Cap of Liberty; but, softly as
be bad spoken, the proposal reachedthe quick
ears of the multitude, and a loud and general
cry was raised, " Protect Hunt's flag, my
lads; touch it, if ybu dare!" This was ac
companied by a rush towards that part of tbe
hustings^ where it was fixed. The constable
gentry slinked off, and never mentioned it
after\$tards, or attempted any thing of the sort.
VOL. III. 4 B

554 MEMOIRS OF

One cPtwo more instances of the devotion
of the people towards me, 1 faave forgotten to
record. On me day wben Mr. Dowling affected
tb strike me witb a horse- whip, within the
hustings, some one upon the faustings. Dr.
Watson, I believe, cdmraunicated to the peo
ple without, that the constables were ill-using
me ; he seeing that tfae constables bad seized
irie by tfae arms. Witfa tfae quickness of light
ning the boards whicfa forraed tfae lower end
of the hustings were demolished, and the
brave and generous people rushed in to my
assistance, declaring that they were ready to
lose their lives in my defence. I will give but
another instance of their faonest devotion to
tfae man who they thougfat was advocating
their rights. One evening, as I was leaving
the hustings to pass to my carriage, there was,
as usual, a great crowd at the door awaiting
td salute me, and, araidst the pressure it so
happened, that, without ray being aware of
any thing of the sort, a pickpocket neatly
drew my watch from ray pocket. But, al
though the act was unobserved by rae, it did
not escape the vigilance of rriy friends, whd
surrounded the door frora purer motives. I
passed on througb the crowd to my carriage,
wfaich stood at a distance of twenty yards,
the coachman not being able to bring it nearer

HENRY HUNT. 565
up to the hustings, and, after I bad got into
the carriage, a man wbo was standi:^ close to
the door of the hustings bailed me, and hold
ing up my watch and seals in his hand, passed
it over the heads of the crowd, till it was
handed into the carriagp-window to me. The
feet was, tbat some of tbe people saw tbe fel
low take my watch and pass it to another pf
his gang, and he did the same to a third, but
they were pursued, and the watch was rescued
from the gang, wfao got a ^ound drubbing for
their pains, and the watch was restdVed td me
in the way which 1 have stated. Amongst tbo
number who acted in tbis gallant and hand
some way to me, I did not recognise any one
that I knew by name. Mr. Gale Jones was
witb me in tbe carriage, and was ari eye-wit
ness of tbis affair, so honourable to the people
of Westminster, who attended the hustings
during tbe election.
On tbe 17tb of November, Queen Charlotte
died at Kew, in ber 75th year. The Lord bave,
mercy on her! althougli Inever beard tbat,
during the very long period that sbe was
Queen of England, she ever attempted to use
her influence with her husband, George the
Third, to save tbe life of a single fellow-crea
ture, witb the exception of Dr. Dodd, a parson^
wbo was hanged for forgery ! but may the
Lord have mercy upon ber!

556 MEMOIRS OF
On the same day, I think it was, there was a
meeting Ipled at the Crown and Anchor, to no
minate sorae one, as a proper person tobe elected
for Westminster, inthe room of Sir Sainuel Ro
miUy. I attended that meeting, and by accident
was seated next to Sir Cfaarles Wolseley, with
wfaom I tfaen, for tfae first time, becarae per
sonally acquainted. The cfaair was taken by
Sir Francis Burdett, who briefly stated the
purpose for whicfa the electors had met. A
Mr. Bruce, tfae young raan of tfaat name wfao
was imprisoned in France, for assisting in tfae
escape of Lavalette from prison, proposed
Jofan Cara Hobfaouse, Esq. as a fit and proper
person for tfae choice of the electors of West
rainster as their representative. One of the
Westrainster coraraittee seconded this norai
nation, and Mr. Hobfaouse, a very young
raan, raounted tfae table, and addressed fais
auditory in a good set speecfa, wfaicfa appeared
to have been prepared for tfae occasion, as it
consisted of nothing definite, but was merely
raade up 6f general professions of his being
friendly to Liberty and Reforra. After he
faad done fae left the roora, amidst a pretty
general expression of approbation. Some
time now elapsed, during which there was a
pause, as every one was in expectation of Mr.
Wooler, or sorae -friend of Major Cartwrigfat,
putting that gentleman in nomination; but,

he'nM itUNT. 557
aS noone came forward, I mounted tbe table.
After some time I obtained a bearing, and 1
began by inquiririg wbo and What Mr. Hob
house was? I demanded if he was any rela
tion to the Under Secretary of State, or if he
were ariy relatidn of that Sir Benjamin Hob
house who bad formerly professed in that very
room tbe same sort of general principles of
Liberty which were now professed by the
youth whom we bad just beard ? whether he
was any relation to that same Sir Benjamin
Hobhouse, wbo afterwards accepted a plate in
tl\e Addington administration, and who bad for
so many years annually received 2,000Z. bf the
public money, for doing nothing, as a com
missioner to inquire into the state ofthe Nabob
of Arcot's debts. The truth was, that I thbught
this young gentleman was a brother of tbe
then Under Secretary of State, and that he
was a nephew of Sir Benjamin Hobhouse, and
not his Son. I foUowed up these questions,
which were well received, and made a consi
derable impression upon the meeting; and
at length I proposed ray friend, Mr. Cobbett,
as a fit and proper person to represent the
enlightened citizens of Westminster, and I
put him in nomination accordingly. Tbere
was a pretty general cry of no ! no ! and a
loud laugh from the gentlemen of the Rump

558 MEMOIRS OF
Committee; however, some persons in the
crowd seconded ray nomination. Mr. Wooler
was then called for, as it was understood^tfaat
he was to propose Major Cartwright. After
a short parley. Sir Francis Burdett stated, that
Mr. Wooler was not an elector of Westminster,
a^d tfaat fae faad nothing to say. But, tfaougfa
Mr. Wooler faad notfaing to say, it appeared
that Mr. Gale Jones had something to say.
But Mr. Jones was not perraitted to express
his sentiraents; for, as usual, the irapartial
gentleraen of the comraittee cried faira down
with the raost horrible yell, howling out that
fae was no elector. I believe Mr. Bruce, wfao
proppsed Mr. Hobhouse, was no elector. I
was no elector, who proposed Mr. Cobbett. — ¦
Tfais I stated ; but tfae answer was, " we did
not know but you were going to propose your
self, wfaicfa you faad a rigfat to do." " WeU,"
said I, " faear Mr. Jones. How do you know
tfaat he is not going to propose fairaself?" But;
all tfaat I could urge was fruitless. No man, ,
wfao faas not been an ear-witness, knows, nor
can any man iraagine, wfaat sort of a tfaing is
tfae faowl wfaicfa is set up . by tfae party who
attend tfaose raeetings, it would disgrace a
conclave of fiends. I faave always seen Mr.
Jones hooted down by tfaese wortfaiffe, and I
never knew tfaem give him a single fair bear-

HENRY HUNT. _ 559
>¦ , , .
ing in my life. However, Mr. Jones bad
taken ample revenge upon them at the
late election; during that fortnight be paid
them off in full, for all the dastardly foul-play
that tbey had shown towards bim for many
years, and now, wben they got him upon
their own dunghill, they retaliated, not by
answering bim, or controverting wbat be bad
to say, but by refusing to bear bim at all. Mr.
Gale Jones, wbo is one of tbe most eloquent
and powerful speakers that I ever beard, was
always too independent in spirit for these
gentlemen; be could neither be purchased
nor wheedled out of his opinion. Every art
had been tried to seduce him from the path of
honour, but the humble walk of life in wbich
he has always moved is tbe best proof of his
sincerity, and that his noble mind stands far
above tbe reach of all corruption's dazzling
temptations. A man, wbo possesses bis emi
nent talent and very superior eloquence, might
in this venal age have been elevated to wealth
and power, if be would have condescended to
speak a language foreign to bis heart, and
become tbe slave and tool of tbe Government,
or of one^f the factions. I believe Mr. Jones
to be on^)f the rabst amiable, virtuous^ and
truly humane men in the kingdom. Those
who have been envious and jealous of his

56,0 MEMOIRS OF
talents, are the oply persons who speak ill
of him. Ip his profession of a surgeon,
he is skilful and assiduous, but his modesty
has always prevented him frora pushing his
practice to any extent, so as to render it
lucrative. How raany unfeeling, stupid block
heads are tfaere in London,, who ride in . their
carriages, and keep elegant establishments,
clearing thousands a-year as surgeons, wfao do
- not possess a tentfa part of the talent and skill
of Mr. Gale Jones ! It may be asked, why then
is fae not rich, like other men inhis profession.?
Tfais question is very easily answered by me.
Alas! his humanity and fais modesty have
been the cause of his poverty. Some people
will laugh at the idea of the retiring raodesty
of a raan who could stand forward upon the
faustings, and address twenty tfaousand of fais
feUow-creatures, witfa so rauch ease, and with so
liftle erabarrassraent ; but ray assertion is, ne
vertheless, not only perfectly true, but.al^p
perfectly consistent; fae is a lion in tfae cause
of Freedora and Huraanity, but a lamb in all
otfaer cases. He is bold and fearless when
contending for public Liberty ; but fae is no less
modest, meek, and faumble, in prtvate life.
Tfais has assisted to keep Mr. Jondi^oor, but
his poverty has principally arisen frpm his
^reat benevolence. I have known Mr. Jones

'' HENRY HUNT. 561
run a mile, and gratuitously devote hours,
to assist a poor and friendless fellow-creature ;
I have known bim to do tbis, and share tbe
shiUing in his pocket with the sufferer, and re
turn weary and pennyless to bis wife and fami
ly, wben he migbt have obtained a rich patient
in tbe next street, and a guinea fee, witb a
twentieth part of the trouble and time he bad
gratuitously bestowed upon the poor and help
less. I have said thus much of Mr. Gale Jones, as
a matter of common justice ; and, asa public
duty, I call tbe attention of my readers in tbe
metropolis to the situation of this worthy man,
this real friend of Liberty, who has been ne
glected and insulted by that venal band of mer
cenary and time serving politicians, tbose
flippant summer flies of the metropolis, those
fair-weather patriots, which, when comp ared
with tbe steady, sound, and inflexible patriots
ism of Mr. Jones, are like the dross of the
vilest metal put in competition witb tbe purest
gold. In doing this justice to Mr. Jones's cha
racter (and it is but bare justice), I do not,
however, mean to say that all the members
composing the Westminster Committee are
quite the reverse of wbat he is ; on tbe contra
ry, I know many of them to be very worthy
and most respectable men in private life, and
VOL. III. 4 c

16^ MKMOIRS OF
perfaaps tfaey have very unintentionally been
instrumental in making Westrainster a rotten
borough, in the faands of a particular circle.
Probably tfaere did not live amore faonourable,
uprigfat man, in private life, tfaan the late Mr.
Samuel Brooks; and, as to fais public exertions,
I believe that fais intentions were equally fao
nourable, altfaougfa fae was frequently raade
the instruraent to proraote injustice, partiality,
and foul play, by sorae of the designing and
unprincipled knaves wfao surrounded hira,
some of whom faad great influence over faira,
and frequently urged faira on to do that whicfa
in fais faeart I know fae very rauch disap
proved. But I raust now return to ray narrative, frora
whicfa I was led by tfae foul, unraanly, un-En
glisfaman-like conduct of tfae Westminster par
ty, in faooting and faowling down Mr. Jones at
tfae public meeting at tfae Crown and Ancfaor,
wfaicfa meeting was called expressly to discuss
a subject of great national iraportance, and
to decide upon wfao was the most proper man
to represent the great, the enlightened, the
opulent city of Westminster. Mr. Hobhouse
and Mr. Cobbett were, as I have already stat
ed, put in noraination, and the chairraan took
tfae sense of tfae meeting, which, certainly,
was very evidently in favour of Mr. Hobhou.se ;

HENRY HUNT. 56»
those who held up tbeir hands in his favour
being more than ten to one. Upon this occa
sion I produced a letter, whicb I received from
my friend Mr. Cobbett, from America, and
likewise a New York newspaper, wherein
was inserted a letter, wbicb be bad written to
the editor of that paper. In bis letter to me,
as well as his letter in the New York paper, he
solemnly declared that the letter which was
read by Cleary upon the hustings, at tbe late
Westminster election, which Cleary stated to be
written by Cobbett, was a FORGERY, and, of
course, was never written by him. Upon tbis
Cleary went to Brooks's and produced the letter,
which, wben it was shown to me, still appear
ed to be forged, as it was written in a much
stronger hand than Mr. Cobbett usually wrote;
and I also observed the post-mark was differ
ent from tbat of the office where I knew he
always sent his letters when at Botiey. These
circumstances, and my having implicit reliance
upon the word of my friend, who in the most
solemn manner declared it to be a forgery,
made me have no hesitation in pronouncing it
as my belief tbat it was such.
As the show of hands was so decidedly in
favour of Mr. Hobhouse, and ^s I could not
get a single Westminster man to join me, it
was in vain to persist in forcing Mr. Cobbett's

564 MEMOIRS OF
claims upon the electors ; but I was neverthe
less determined to look out for some otfaer
cock to fight, so satisfied was I tfaat it was ne
cessary to oppose tfae schemes of tfaat party
who appeared determined to make Westmin-r
ster a rotten borough ; it being very evident
that Mr. Hobfaouse was tfae mere nominee of
Sir Francis Burdett. Tfaere was plenty of
time to look about for a candidate, but I felt
quite sure tfaat no one would oppose faira if I
did not bring forward tfaat candidate. Tfae
Whigs had no chance wfaatever, unless sorae
popular character stood forward to oppose the
Westrainster faction ; and as for tfae Minis
ters, tfaey faad no relisfa to start anotfaer raan,
after tfae failure of Sir Murray Maxwell. No
tfaing could, indeed, faave raore forcibly sfaown
tfaeir cdnscious weakness, and tfae tfaorougfa de
testation in wfaich they were faeld by tfae public,
tfaan tfaat tfaey did not even dare to start a can
didate in tfae yery faot-bed of corruption, tfae
very citadal of Court influence.
Tfae election was not to take place till tfae
spring; in tfae mean tirae I did not fail to
sound all tfae men tfaat I tfaougfat likely to assist
me, but I did tfais quite privately, wfaile every
possible exertion was made by Mr. Hobhouse
and his friends, aided by tfae powerful influ
ence, and still more powerful purse, of Sir

HJENRY HUNT. 665
Francis. The Westminster Committee now
found it necessary to exert their utmost, and
to strain every nerve. Canvassing committees
were formed in every parish, and meetings
were called, at wbicb Mr. Hobhouse attended
in person, to solicit the favour of the electors.
The reports of these meetings 1 watched very
narrowly, and in all the speeches of Mr. Hob
house, I never could discover any bne pledge
given by him, to show tbat he was a friend to
a real constitutional and efficient Reform. He
dealt in general terms, sucb as bis father Sir
Benjamin, or Burke, or any other apostate
from the cause of Liberty, might have used
witb perfect safety. There, nevertheless, ap
peared great enthusiasm amongst the party,
and a general committee was formed, consist
ing, as it was said, of tbree hundred electors,
selected from the different parishes. Those
who were not in tbe secret, were astonished
to bear of sucb extraordinary exertions, such
seemingly overwhelming preparation; and
the general opinion was, that tbe election of
Hobhouse was placed far above tbe chance of
a failure. In fact, he did not appear to bave
any opponent ; no one bad offered himself —
no one had been proposed but Mr. Cobbett,
who was named by me under such circum
stances as made any opposition from such a

566 MEMOIRS OF
quarter worse than futile, absolutely ridiculous.
Apparently there was but one person who
even insinuated any opposition to Mr. Hob
house, but that one person was Hunt. The
Rump knew me too well to treat ray opposi
tion lightly. Tfaey faad so very recently
experienced my power, tfaat tfaey saw witfa dis
may tfaat I faad been tfae sole cause of en
dangering tfae election of Sir Francis, and
tfaat, by ray exertions alone, fae, tfaeir idol,
Westminster's pride and England's hope,
faad been placed second upon tfae poll, faaving
received tfaree faundred votes less tfaan Sir
Sarauel RomiUy. The Rump Committee and
Sir Francis knew all this perfectly well : tfaey
knew tfaat if it faad been a contest between Ro
milly and Burdett, witfaout any interference
of mine, tfaat Burdett would-faave had a tfaou
sand or fifteen faundred votes raore tfaan Ro
railly. Hence aU tfae preparations and exer
tions that were now made.
Seeing all tfais, I was obliged to act with
great caution. I faad applied, over and over
again, to those that I tfaougfat tfae stauncfa-
est friends of Major Cartwrigfat, but I found
tfaem wavering and insincere; desponding,
and exclaiming " it is aU no use ! it is impos
sible to return tfae Major!" I faad taken care
to get a friend to sound tfae Major, and I

HENRY HUNT. *67
found that tbe old veteran was exceedingly
pleased at the thought of being once more
nominated for Westrainster, for wbich city
he certainly ought to bave been the mem
ber long before. This was the Old Game
Cock, tben, that I had determined to set up
against tbe young Bantam, although 1 found
that I should bave great difficulty in bringing
bis seconds, or rather bis proposers, up to the
mark. I had therefore solemnly made up my
mind as a dernier resort, tbat if my effort to
bave the Major proposed should ultimately
fail, I would once more offer myself, and stand
the contest in person, so convinced was I of
the absolute necessity of exposing the conduct
of tbe electors of Westminster, who consti
tuted wbat was called tbe Rump Committee.
Tbey bad treated me at tbe late election inthe
most foul and unhandsome way, sucb as was
totally unbecoming the character of the very
lowest of those who set up any pretension to
honour or honesty. I bad made them feel the
weight of my opposition, and I was deter
mined tbat they should a second time expe
rience theeffect of my single-handed hostility.
I well knew that Major Cartwright was by no
means popular amongst the Westminster elec
tors, and that he would not stand the shghtest
chance of being elected ; but I was aise tho-

568 MEMOIRS OF
rougfaly assured, that, as soon as the Whigs
were quite certain that I faad deterrained to
stand forward against tfae Burdettite faction,
they also W;Ould start a candidate. This was
tfae state of parties in Westrainster at tfae close
of tfae year I8I8.
By a report of a Committee, appointed by
tfae House of Comraons, it appeared tfaat four
millions of pounds weight of sloe, liquorice,
and ash-tree leaves, are every year raixed witfa
Cfainese teas in England, besides tfae adulte
rations tfaat take place in Cfaina, before tfae
teas sent to England leave tfaat country ! The
new Parliament met on tfae 14th of January,
1819, and was opened by commission. The
Queen's deatfa was noticed in tfae speecfa, and a
Bill wasbrougfatin, and passed, to give tfae custo
dy of tfae old insane King's person to tfae Duke
of York, instead of tfae Queen, with an al
lowance of TEN THOUSAND POUNDS per aunum !
This is about four thousand pounds a year
more than the salary of the President of tfae
United States of America. Tfae guardians of
Jofan Gull's purse vote tbe King's son four
thousand pounds a year more, for faaving the
custody of his fatfaer's person, wfao was con
fined as a lunatic in Windsor Castle, than the
Araericans pay to their Cfaief Magistrate, for
managing all the business of the American

^. HENRY HUNT. * • 569
nation ! In settling the election petitions, three
boroughs were declared by tbe committees and
by the House of Commons to bave been car-
¦ ried by bribery, and an order was given to
the Attorney-General to prosecute the parties.
Another bill was passed to prevent the Bank
of England from paying their notes in gold. •
What a hoax ! A bill Was likewise passed, to
prevent tbe subjects of England from inlisting
into the service of any foreign state at war
witb anotber, wbicb bill was intended to apply
to the colonies of Spain.
The middle of February was fixed for the
Westminster election, and not a breath had
been heard about any oppositiori to Mr. Hob
house. I, however, put an advertisement into
the Sunday Observer, I think it was, signed
witb my name, assuring tbe electors tbat an
independent, real friend of Reform would be
nominated at the hustings on the day of
election. Before this letter appeared in the
paper alluded to, the Westminster committee
were so satisfied in their own minds that, by
their great and overwhelming show of prepa
rations and canvassings, tbey bad deterred
any one from offering any ora)osition, and
tbat their candidate would be returned on the
same day, without going to the poll, that the
high bailiff had not taken the usual precaution
VOL. III. 4 D

670 • MEMOIRS OF
of erecting a hustings, a temporary scaffold
being thought quite sufficient. Nay, so tfao
rougfaly convinced of tfais was tfae Rump, tfaat
tfaey actually ordered the CAR, and got it *
prepared for chairing their candidate, Mr.
Hobhouse, and every necessary preparation
*was made for this ceremony being perforraed
on tfae first day of tfae election : but, as soon
as ray letter appeared in the papers, it was all
consternation and confusion araongst thera,
and tfae party were running about frora one to
tfae other like so raany wild men ! In the
mean time. Sir Charles Wolseley and Mr.
Northmore had been written to, and "had ar
rived in London. A meeting was called, at
tfae Russell Coffee-faouse, under tfae Piazzas,
over nigfat ; Sir Cfaarles and Mr. Nortfamore
subscribed -SOZ. eacfa, and a few other subscrip
tions were entered into, malting in tfae wfaole
about 120^., wfaicfa was placed in the hands of
Mr. Birt, of Little Russell Street, who was
appointed treasurer; and with this sum I
undertook to conduct the election of tfae Major
fox fif teen days, if tfae arrangeraents were left
to rae. Tfais was agreed to, and a placard
was issued, and posted iramediately, raerely
stating " that the gallant Major was in the
field." A friend of mine tfaat evening communi-

HENRY HUNT. 571
cated to the Whigs, who were assembled at
Brooks's, in St. James's Street, what bad been
done, and what was decided upon, and tbat I
pledged my life for a fifteen days opposition
to Sir Francis's nominee, Mr. Hobhouse. Tbis
inteUigence was not communicated to th^
Whigs till late in tbe evening preceding the
day on which the election was to be beld ; but
tbey instantly assembled a council of war, to
decide upon what steps ought to be taken.
At length it was agreed upon by them to start
Mr. George Lambe, the son of Lord Melbourne.
He was instantly sought for, and, as I was
credibly informed, be was called out of bed, to
bear tbe news, so late as one o'clock in the morn
ing ; the election being to commence at eleven
the same day. I immediately agreed for a
Committee Room, at tbe Russell Coffee-bouse,
wbere, as I bave said, we had a previous
meeting of some half dozen the evening before,
to settle who was to propose and second the
nomination of the Major in tbe morning. Tbe
only two electors of Westminsterwho attended,
besides Mr. Birt, were Mr. Nicholson and Mr.
Bowie. These gentlemen hesitated about
performing tbis office, and we separated with
out any thing being decided upon as a cer
tainty. However, I knew tbat Mr. Birt was
to be depended upon as a man of strict honour

672

MEMOIRS OF

and integrity; and looking forward to the
probability of the other two gentlemen failing
to attend, I had taken care to provide against
any contingency of that sort. It was neces
sary to take every precaution, for I was aware
that I had to contend with tfae greatest trick
sters of tfae age; I knew Mr. Morris, tfae Higfa
Bailiff, to be one of the Rump faction ; and I
knew Master Smedley, the deputy of tfae High
Bailiff, to be a cunning, sly, intriguing feUow;
and it was therefore certain tfaat I should have
to watch their motions narrowly, being quite
sure in ray own mind that tfaey would take
advantage of any little informality to close
tfae electiori— a step, on tfaeir part, wfaicfa I was
determined, if possible, to frustrate.
Tfae morning arrived, and I attended tfae
comraittee roora early; but 1 found no one
tfaere except Mr. Birt and Dr. Watson, from
wfaom 1 learned tfaat Messrs. Bowie and Nicfaol-
son, tfae professed friends of tfae Major, faad
appointed to meet, to breakfast, at a Coffee-
room, at tfae top of Catfaerine Street, in tfae
Strand. Tfaitfaer I repaired, and found tfaem
still wavering and undecided. Wfaen, faow
ever, I gave tfaem to understand that it did
not depend upon thera alone, whether the
Major should be proposed br not, as I had
procured two electors, who were ready to pro-

HENRY HUNT. !>73
pose and second the nomination of the Major
if they failed to do so, their doubts and hesi
tation vanished, and they immediately agreed
to go upon tbe hustings, and perform the task.
At this moment I received a message from
tbe Major, wbo wished to see me at Probat's
hotel, in King Street, Covent Garden, where
be was waiting. I found the Major very
anxious to know how matters were going on, he
having beard ofthe difficulties wbicb bad been
started ; I assured him that all was going on
well, but I strongly remonstrated against his
taking any part in the election, and censured
bis cPming so near tbe hustings as Probat's
hotel, as I knew that tbe Rump would bave
been deligbted to bave saddled the Major with
a heavy share of tbe expenses of the hustings,
&c. The Major agreed to return bome, and
not interfere any furtber, and be also assured
me that be bad positively prohibited the little
upstart Irishman, Cleary, from going near tbe
committee room, or interfering at all in the
election on bis account, as be knew tbat 1 bad
an objection to place myself in the power of
sucb a fellow, by being even in the same room
with bim. , Cleary, wbo, upon such occasions,
was always a very busy, officious, meddling
Marplot, felt very much mortified at tbis pro
hibition, so much so, that I am informed he

574 MEMOIRS OF
immediately offered his services to tfae Rump,
to act in opposition to his patron and friend,
tfae Major. But, faowever basely tfae Rump
might have acted in otfaer respects, tfaey acted
very properly in tfais instance; for they de
clined to accept this treacherous offer, and
poor Mister CJeary sunk into fais original
notfaingness. Wfaen I returned from visiting tfae Major, I
found tfaat tfae High Bailiff had proceeded to
Covent Garden, mounted the scaffold, and
with unusual haste had proceeded to have the
writ read, and to open the proceedings of tfae
election. I got as near as possible fo tfae
faustings, upon wfaich I observed that Mr.
Bowie and Mr. Nicholson faad taken their
stations; and with considerable difficulty I
also contrived to mount tfaem. Mr. Hobhouse
was proposed, Mr. Lambe was proposed, and
the Major also was proposed and seconded in
due form; and the Higfa Bailiff, upon a sfaow
of faands, declared tfae election to faave faUen
upon John Cam Hobhouse, Esq. by a very
large raajority, which was evidently the case,
in the proportion of eight or ten to one. •
As soon as this ceremony was over, I found
Mr. Lambe and fais friends, Larairton, Mac
donald, and Co^ hastening off the faustiflgS,
apparently to prepare for the polling, without

HENRY HUNT. 575
ever taking any steps to demand a poll. Now
was tbe moment to exert myself, and, as no
time was to be lost, I raade my way through
tbe dense crowd upon tbe scaffold up to
Messrs. Nicholson and Bowie, and requested
tbem immediately to demand a poll, as I saw
that the High Bailiff was preparing to declare
Mr. Hobhouse duly elected. Wben tbus
brought to tbe test, Ibey botb began to shuffle,
and firially replied that tbey would not under
take to do this, as it would make tbem liable
to tbe expenses. It was in vain that I denied
tbis, and requested tbem to tender their votes
for the Major; tbey were not to be moved,
and as every tbing would be lost by a Single
instant of indecision-, I rushed back again
througb the crowd, to tbat part ofthe scaffold
ing where I bad seen Mr. Lambe and his
friends retreating, and in my way I nearly
overturned several of the Rump. . I assured
the High Bailiff that a poll would be de
manded, and with great difficulty I was just
in time to seize tbe tail of Mr. Lambe's coat,
as he Was walking down the ladder of the
scaffold. In doing this I was obliged to jostle
Mr. Lambton, who appeared excessively in
dignant at tbe shake which he received from
me. I, however, kept fast hold of Mr. Lambe's
coat, and earnestly requested him to return

576 MEMOIRS OF
that instant and deraand a poll, as otherwise
the election would be closed in favour of Hob
house. Both fae and Mr. Macdonald, altfaougfa
they had been bred to the bar, appeared tb
know notfaing of tfae matter, and seemed to
doubt tfae accuracy of ray assertion. -I again
erapfaaticaUy assured tfaera tfaat, unless tfaey
returned and instantly in writing demanded a
poll, tfae law would justify tbe High Bailiff in
declaring Hobhouse to be duly elected. My
earnestness induced, tfaem to return and do so,
and if tfaey faad not coraplied witfa ray sugges
tions, tfae election of Hobfaouse would faave
been irrevocably declared in less tfaan one
minute after. -"
Tfaus by my presence of mind were the
Higfa Bailiff and tfae Rump frustrated in tfaeir
scfaeraes ; for, had it not been prevented by
ray prorapt, bold, and decisive interposition,
Hobhouse would faave been at once cfaaired as
onfe of tfae Representatives of tfae city of West
minster. In consequence of tfae want of sucfa
decision and presence of mind, this trick faas
been a faundred times successfully piet^fed off
at elections, and would most certainly and
most effectually faave succeeded faere; for,
after tfae sfaow of faands is taken, unless one of
tfae candidates or two of tfae electors imme
diately present to tfae returning officer a writ-

HENRY HUNT. 577
ten demand of a poll, he is justified by law in
declaring that person duly elected for whora
the show of hands has been given.
It was, I repeat it, my interference, and my
single exertions upon this occasion, that pre
vented Mr. Hobhouse from being at once re
turned as tbe colleague of Sir F. Burdett ; and
yet sorae persons are so foolish as to inquire,
" what can be the reason of such men as
Tailor Place, Currier Adams, &c. &c. and the
rest of tbe Rump, persisting witb such vindic
tive and rancorous hostility against Mr.
Hunt ?" Tbe fact whicb I have stated is of
itself a sufficient reason for their malice ; but
there are otber reasons for tbe display of the
malignant feelings of Mr. Tailor Place and
Co. The reader sbould recollect, tbat I bave
often called tbe public attention to the conduct
of tbis said professed Jacobin Tailor; for
instance, when Sir Francis Burdett left the
Tower, and the procession was got up for
him, Tailor Place undertook to attend, and to
take tbe management of those who were on
horseback; but when the time arrived, the
Tailor forgot to attend, although be was one
of the most violent against tbe Baronet, for
going over the water and deceiving tbe peo
ple. Again, wben the famous Inquest was
held upon the body of the murdered Ssllis,
VOL. III. 4 E

578 MEMOIRS OF
in tfae Duke of Cumberland's apartments in
tfae Palace, who, in Heaven's name, sfaould be
selected for the foreman of that jury whicfa sat
on tfae inquest, wfao but Tailor Place, of Char
ing Cross ! Tfae verdict was felo de se, and
tfae body of poor Sellis was, buried in a cross
road ! Tailor Place was considered by some
as faaving been a very lucky fellow, to be se
lected as tfae foreman of tfae said jury, by tfae
Coroner for tfae Palace. I know, and I beg to
reraind tfae public, tfaat tfae conduct of tfae said
tailor was so very suspicious, tfaat Colonel
Wardle and Sir F. Burdett did not faU to
speak very plainly upon tfae subject; and I
know also tfaat for many years Sir Francis
Burdett wbuld not trust fairaself in tfae sarae
roora with tfae said tailor, and tfaat wfaen fae
spoke of hira fae did it in tfae raost unequivocal
terms of suspicion and distrust — and more
over, tfaat for many years tfae late Samuel
Brooks never would faave any coramunication
witfa tfae said tailor. Tfaese tfaings, witfa
many otfaers, carae to my knowledge, and I
never failed to speak of tfaem in tfae lan
guage wfaicfa they merited, botfa to tfae face
of tfae said tailor and bebind his back : my
friends will therefore at any rate not be sur
prised at tfae malignant and cowardly faostility
of tfais part of the Rump, in order to be re-

HENRY HUNT. 579
venged upon me. The exposures that I have
made, the hundred times that I have frustrated
tbe dirty plots ofthis gang, bave entitled me to,
and secured to me, the honour of tbeir ever
lasting hatred, and a bigh honour I assure
them I esteem it. '
After the poll had been demanded by Mr.
Lamb, the High Bailiff adjourned the election
till the next morning, to give time for tbe
workmen to erect a proper hustings. The
polling commenced under the most vindictive
and malignant feelings towards me dn the
part of the Rump, in consequence bf the dis
appointment and tbe defeat wbich they bad
sustained, in not carrying the election of Mr.
Hobhouse without Opposition ; wbicb opposi
tion they very justly attributed to me alone.
I stood upon the hustings the avowed advo
cate of tbe Major, but at the same time tbe
openly avowed opponent of Mr. Hobhouse,
because be was the nominee of Sir Francis
Burdett, wbom I was determined to convince
that he was nothing without the support of
the people, that people whicb I contended be
had deserted in 1816, wben be refused to pre
sent tbeir Address and Petition to the Prince
Regent, and when he declared himself hostile
to Universal Suffrage. The Baronet felt his
situation to be such that be must either retire

580 MEMOIRS OF
for ever froiri politics, or make a desperate
effort to carry his point ; be had set the die
upon the election of Mr. Hobhouse, and his
failing to carry that election would be a death
blow to his popularity tfarougfaout England,
and to fais futrire influence in Westminster. I
tfaougfat tfae Baronet faad deserted fais post,
by refusing his aid and protection to the suf
fering people, in the years 1816 and 1817, and
upon public grounds alone was I determined
publicly to bring faim to a sense of tfae relative
situation in wfaicfa fae stood with tfae people.
Whether I was right, or whetfaer I was wrbng,
is not the question. I believed that be faad
neglected fais public duty, and I took tfais pub
lic occasion, even as it might be said upori fais
own dungfaiU, to convince faim of fais error. I
solemnly declare tfaat I was actuated solely by
a sense of wfaat I owed to tfae public, and tfaat
1 never in my life felt any private enmity
towards Sir Francis ; on tfae contrary, I always
entertained a personal regard for faim. But
no influence on eartfa could induce me to
abandon wfaat I tfaougfat a public duty, to Ra
tify any private or personal considerations. I
now met Sir Francis Burdett operily upon his
own ground , wfaere fae faad been alway sidolized,
in tfae midst of fais friends, and surrounded by
his constituents. I did nbt go behind his back

HENRY HUNT. 581
to attack bim, I met him face to face, and I
boldly diarged him with having deserted the
cause of tbe people. I was indeed urged on
to do this in a less courteous manner than I
should otherwise have done, by the cowardly
and blackguard attacks which I was daily ex
periencing from tbe dirty members of the
Rump, by wbom 1 was assailed witb all the
malice, filth, and falsehood whicb that august
body could rake together, and fabricate
against me. In fact, when I began to speak,
I was baited like a bull, by a set of as cowardly
caitiffs as ever disgraced, by their presence,
the face ofthe earth ; and, in addition to these,
towards the latter end of tbe election, ruffians
and assassins were regularly hired to attack
me in a body.
The Baronet attended daily on tbe hustings,
and be went round and visited the coraraittees,
and addressed them at night ; bis purse-strings
were thrown open, and, in truth, if tbe Baro
net's life bad depended upon the event, he
could not bave laboured harder or have done
more to bave saved it, than be did to secure
tbe election of Mr. Hobhouse j — ^but all would
not do ! The gang composirig the Rump also
attended every evening, with tbeir hired
myrmidons. As my only object was to expose
them and their corrupt system, so tbeir only

582 MEMOIRS OF
apparent object now appeared to be to vilify
and abuse me, and wfaen, at lengtfa, tfae elec
tion of Mr. Larab seeraed to be alraost cer
tain, tfaey becarae desperate. I was not only
faissed and faooted, but I was pelted with sticks
and stones by their faired agents, and altfaougfa
tfae people appeared excessively indignant at
tfaese outrages, tfaey could not altogetfaer pre
vent tfaem. A little gang of desperadoes was
always placed to open on rae as soon as I
began to speak, to endeavour to drown ray
voice in tfae raost vulgar, brutal, and beastly
raanner. Amongst tfais gang generally some
of tfae reporters to the Burdettite newspapers
took up their station, and in sucb beastly
abuse, as I have alluded to, rauch too coarse
and faorrid to mention in print, tfaese worthies
freely indulged. The comraencement of tfaeir
attack was, " Hunt, wfaere's your wife ?" And
then followed a volley of such beastly and dis
gusting ribaldry as would have disgraced the
raost abandoned inraates of tfae lowest brothel
in the raetropolis.
It faad been frequently suggested to me tfaat
none but wretcfaes of tfae most profligate cfaa
racter could be guilty of sucb atrocious con
duct, in which opinion I fuUy concurred. One
day, when I was about to address the people
at tfae close of the poll, this gang began their

HENRY HUNT. 683
accustomed attack, and vociferated the raost
revolting, obscene, and truly horrid observa
tions, relating to my wife; upon whicb I
turned round and asked, if it were possible
for sucb language to proceed from the mouth
of any one who possessed tbe character of a
raan ? And I added, that it did appear to me
more tban probable, that no one would resort
to such cowardly, base, and horrid language,
but some monster who was connected witb a
gang like tbat of Vere-street notoriety. This
silenced tbe scoundrels for a raoraent, but at
length some fellow among tbem took tbis to
himself, and demanded if I meant to accuse
him of unnatural propensities ? I replied that
I did not allude to any one individual, but tbat
it did seera clear to me tbat none but mon
sters of tbe worst description could be guilty
of sucb conduct as bad been exhibited daily
before tbe hustings when I addressed the
people. This circumstance, wbich occurred exactly
as I have stated it, was, nevertheless, grossly
perverted in a great number ofthe newspapers
the next day ; tbey falsely asserting that I had
accused a person of being guilty of an unna
tural crirae, and pointed him out to tbe ven
geance of the multitude before tbe hustings ;
and tbis bas frequently been repeated and

584 MEMOIRS OF
harped upon since by sorae scoundrels, who
know the utter falsehood of tbe accusation.
It is, however, a very curious fact, which
would require but little trouble to prove, that
one of tbe very men who suffered last week at
the Old Bailey, for tbis detestable crime, was
a constant attendant at the aforesaid West
minster election, amongst that part of the
crowd from whence tbe horrid insinuations
with respect to my wife were daily vociferated.
So much for the dreadful cry out that was
made against me by the daily press, for hav
ing, as tfaey falsely asserted, accused a person
wrongfuUy. I remember at tfae time of tfae
general election, in 1812, wfaen Mr. Cobbett
offered fairaself a candidate for tfae county
of Hants, a drunken, vulgar blackguard was
abusing faim in a most beastly and insufferable
manner, wfaereupon Mr. Cobbett seriously in
formed tfae people tfaat fae was a maniac, and
tfaat fais opponents faad suffered faim to escape
for tfae purpose of abusing faira ; and be made
a most feeling appeal to tbe people, and expos
tulated, in the most grave and serious man
ner, upon the baseness and cruelty of suffering
the poor maniac to come amongst the crowd
to expose himself without fais keeper. Tfais
appeal faad tfae desired effect, for tfae drunken
ruffian was led away out of the crowd per

HENRY HUNT. 585
force, under the impression that he was actu
ally a madman, who had just escaped from his
keeper; yet no one thought of abusing Mr.
Cobbett for this trick to get rid of an intoxi
cated beast, who was unwarrantably abusing
bira. I attended the hustings daily tiU the last
day but one, when the success of Mr. Lamb,
and tbe defeat of the Baronet and Mr. Hob
house, were certain. Mr. Lamb was declared
duly elepted at tbe end of tbe fifteenth day, to
tbe great mortification of Sir Francis Burdett,
and tbe total discorafiture of tbe Rump; and
the Car wbicb had been proyided for the
chairing of Sir Francis's disciple, was laid by
for another occasion.
For tbis defeat ofthe Rump tbey have solely
to thank me. I made them a second time feel
tbe power of courage, honesty and truth, when
opposed to fraud, trickery, and pretended
patriotisra ; and this great lesson was read to
Sir Francis Burdett, tbat be was nothing with
out the support of tbe people ; that all his ira
mense wealth, that aU bis great and profound
talent, and all bis influence, were nothing in
the scale of political power without the people.
Tbe Baronet is, I believe, truly sensible that
my exertions have taught bim tbis useful
lesson, and, like a truly great and good raan,
VOL. IIL 4 F

586 MEMOIRS OF
he bears me no malice for performing this
painful duty — for I have no hesitation in say
ing, that it was the most painful, tfae most
trying public duty tfaat I ever perforraed in
the wfaole course of ray life.
Tfae numbers polled at tfais election were,
for Larab 4465, for Hobhouse 3861, for Major
Cartwright 38 : — so that Mr. Larab polled 604
raore electors than Mr. Hobhouse. As for
Major Cartwright, fae bad not tfae sligfatest
cfaance frora tfae beginning. No real Reformer,
no friend of Universal Suffrage, can have the
slightest chance to be returned for Westmin-
4 ster, while that rotten borough continues in
tfae hands of a particular faraily, or while any
considerable portion of tfae electors suffer
themselves to be led by the nose by a gang of
tfae most contemptible, as well as raost cor
rupt, raen under the face of the sun. As a
body of raen, tfae electors of Westminster are,
perhaps, as enlightened and inteUigent as any
body of men in tfae universe; but tfae little
faction called tfae Rurap, are as conteraptible
and as corrupt as tfaeir brotfaer electors are
free and irapartial. Tfae great mass of the
electors do not take any trouble to inquire
about these raatters; tfaey are industrious
tradesraen, every one of tfaera faaving business
of importance of fais own to attend to, and

HENRY HUNT. 587
consequently when an election comes they
suffer themselves to be led by the nose by a
little junto, who have no more pretensions to
patriotism than they have to talent and inte
grity, of wbicb it is plain that they are totally
destitute. When I stodd tbe contest for West
minster, at the general election, and only
obtained eighty-four votes, it was urged
against me how few friends and supporters I
had amongst the real electors of Westminster;
it was said tbat I had disgusted and displeased
all parties ; and Counsellor Scarlett, one of
tbe licenced libeUers of the Court of King's
Bench, had the impudence to state this fact
in the Court, as a proof in wfaat little estima
tion my cfaaracter was held ; and he added
this unblushing, bare-faced falsehood, that
" wherever Sir Samuel Romilly offered him
self, tbere I went to oppose him, merely be
cause be was a good man;" wbile, on the
contrary, he well knew that, had npt Sir
Francis Burdett and his nominee been opposed
by me, Sir Samuel Romilly, far from being
elected for Westminster, would never have
been even nominated for that city. But what
answer will these trading politicians give to
the fact, that Major Cartwright obtained only
thirty-eight votes during a contested election
of fifteen days? 1 bad made thousands of

588 MEMOIRS OF
personal enemies, yet I obtained eighty-four
votes ; while the Major, Whd never in fais life
made a personal enemy, could only obtain
thirty-eigfat votes, not faalf tfae number tfaat
polled for me, altfaougfa fae was amongst all
fais friends, wfaere fae faad resided for many
years, and wfaere fae was universally and justly
respected, botfa for fais private and fais public
virtues. Tfae fact is, tfaat of the Major's poli
tics, as of raine, the faonesty and sincerity are
faated and dreaded by tfae wfaole of tfae Rurap
faction, wfao would soon be reduced to tfaeir
native notfaingness, if pnce a reaUy inde
pendent raan were to be cfaosen for Westmin
ster; I mean a man independent, as weU of
Sir Francis Burdett, as of tfae Ministry and
tfae Whigs. Till tfaat tirae arrives, tfae repre
sentation of Westrainster will be upon a level
witfa tfae rottenest of rotten boroughs. We
know Sir F. Burdett to be a profound politi
cian, a real and steady friend of Liberty, and
a truly great man, yet in tfae House of Com
raons fae carries no raore weight from fais being
tfae Representative of the great city of West
minster, than fae would do if fae were only tfae
Representative of Old Sarum, or any otfaer
rotten borougfa. Sucb is the abject state to
which, by tfaeir dirty intrigues, tfae Rump faave
reduced this once great and faigfa-minded city.

HENRY HUNT. 689
by the exertions of which the whole kingdom
was wont to be agitated ! Mr. Hobhouse is
an active member of tbe Honourable House,
but he dares not quit the leading-strings ofthe
worthy Baroriet; and let me ask tbe honest
part of mankind to point out any one great
political question which he bas brought before
tbe House ? What has he done for tbe peo
ple, or for the cause of Liberty, since be bas
been elected ? I am not speaking personally ;
for I personally feel tbat Mr. Hobhouse did his
best to serve me, wben I was in bondage in
Ilchester gaol, fdr which I shall always* feel
persoriaUy grateful; but StiU, looking at the
question on public grounds, I must ask what
has he ever done in the House, such as we
might and should baVe formerly expected
from one of tbe independent Members of tbe
city of Westminster ? We know tbat be
always votes witb tbe Whigs against tbe Mini
sters ; but bow is it, if he is in earnest, that he
bas never created any great sensation through
out tbe country, by some grand exposure of
those Ministers, and of that systera of which
his father, Sir Benjamin, forms so prominent
a part? It has often been asked, wbat can
one man do in the House ? I think I can give
a silencing answer to such a time-serving ques
tion : What cPuld not one man do in the way

690 MEMOIRS OF
of exposure, if he were honestly disposed to
do it ? I think, after tfae exposure tfaat I made
wfaile I was locked up in a gaol, I am entitled
most triumpfaantly to make tfais answer.
In consequence of tfae deatfa of tfae Princess
Cfaarlotte of Wales, tfae Dukes of Clarence,
Kent, Cumberland, and Carabridge disposed
of tfaeir raistresses, and got raarried, in order,
as it would seera, to secure a faeir from the
precious stock ofthe Guelps, to fill the British
tfarone; to accoraplisfa wfaicfa desirable purpose
tfaere appears to faave been a faard race, for on
tfae- 26tfa of Marcfa, in tfais year, 1819, the
Duchess of Carabridge brought fortfa a son —
on tfae 27th the Duchess of Clarence was de
livered of a daughter — on the 24th of May
the Duchess of Kent was delivered of a
daughter — and on tfae 5th of June the Duchess
of Curaberland was delivered of a son. So
tfaat tfais wortfay faraily presented John Gull
with an increase to their burdens in one year
oi four great pauper babes, to be rocked in
the, national cradle, and to be bred up at the
national expense. Oh, rare John! wfaat a
wonderfully happy fellow thou raust be ! . On
tfae 29tfa of Marcfa, the conscientious guardians
of our rights and liberties, tfae faitfaful stewards
of public property, tfae wortfay Members ofthe
Honourable House of Commons,votedan aUow-

HENRY HUNT. 691
ance of ten thousand pounds a year to the
Duke of York — for taking care of his poor old
mad father's person ; and it is a very extraor
dinary fact that, on tbe 12tb of April, on one
of bis early visits to Windsor, to enable bim
to earn this large sum of money from John
GuU, bis Royal Highness fell in one of tbe
rooms of Windsor Palace, and broke his
ARM. All the old women in tbe nation, and
many of the young ones also, swore that tbis
was a judgment upon bim, for extorting such
a sum from John Gull's pocket, for such a
purpose ! On the 17th, Johnston, Bagguley,
and Drummond were tried, and, as a matter
of course, found guilty of sedition at the Ches
ter assizes. On the 26tb of May the House
of Commons passed a vote of thanks to Mar
quis Camden, for giving up tbe profits of bis
sinecure place of Teller of the Exchequer.
This was anotber precious hoax upon John
Gull ; tbe fellow baving been actually fright
ened out of it in 1817, in consequence of the
resolutions wbicb were passed at tbe great
public meeting where I bad the honour to pre
side ; wbicb meeting was beld in tbe city of Bath,
where the Noble Marquis was recorder. On
the 1st of June tbere was a serious riot at Car
lisle, by tbe weavers out of employment. On
the 19th there was a very numerous public

592 MEMOIRS OF
meeting faeld at Huntslet Moor, near Leeds ;
and about tfae sarae time, and in tfae tbllowing
weeks, very nuraerous meetings were faeld at
Glasgow, in Scotland, and otfaer places all
over tfae Nortfa of England, petitioning for
Annual Parliaraents, Universal Suffrage, and
Vote by Ballot. On tfae 12tfa of July a great
meeting was faeld at Newfaall Hill,, near Bir-
mingfaam, fdr Parliamentary Reform, at wfaicfa
Major Cartwrigfat and Mr. Wopler were pre
sent. It was said upwards of sixty tfaousand
persons attended, and unanimously elected
Sir Cfaarles Wolseley tfaeir legislatorial attor
ney, and representative for Birmingfaam, witfa
directions tfaat be sfaould apply to tfae Speaker
to take fais seat. On tfae 13tfa twenty tfaou
sand Spanisfa troops at Cadiz,^ destined by
Ferdinand to fight against tfae cause of Libe,rty
in. Soutfa America, mutinied and deserted. On
tfae 15tfa Bills of Indictment were found, at
Cfaester, against Sir Cfaarles Wolseley and tfae
Rev. Joseph Harrison, for political speeches
made at a great public meeting for Reform) at
Stockport; and on the 31st the Gazette con
tained a proclamation against seditious meet
ings, particularly denouncing the election of
representatives or legislatorial attoriaeys as
iUegal. ^ On the 21st a Reform meeting was held in

HENRY HUNTv 593
^niithfield. I'his meeting was called by some
of the mhsfbitants of tlip Metropolis, and I was
irivited tb attend and take the chair. Dr.
Watson and bis frierids were particularly ac
tive iri procuring tliis irieeting, and when the
cbriimitfee irivited me to take the chair, I did
riot hesitate a moment to accept it, though, at
tlie same tirae, 1 raade up my mind to be par
ticularly carel'uf as to what resolutioris were
passed, &c. and by no means to be led into the
scherae of electing any legislEttorial attorney, as
tbey had dbne at Eiirmingliam, especially as
this scherae bad been denounced as illegal
by tbe proclairiation in the Gazette the week
before. Wheri I came to London, the nigbt
befbrb the meetirig, I was met by Dr. Watson
and the coriiraittee, and t desired to see what
resolutioris tfaey had prepared to be subriiitted
to fhe meeting the next day. I found, how
ever, that they had only a few very vague and
imperfect resblutibns drawn up ; but the Doctor
prbduced a letter frora Joseph Johnson, the
brush-iriaker, at Manchester, saying, that it
was the wish ofthe people of Manchester, that
I sfaould, at tfae Smithfield Meeting, be elect
ed tfae representative and legislatorial attor
ney for the unrepresented people of the Me
tropolis, &c. He also alluded to the great
puWic meeting, Wbich was to be beld at Man-
VOL. ITI, 4 a

J>94 MEMOIRS OF
cfaester in the beginning of August, and stated,
that it was the intention of the people on tfaat
day to foUow the exaraple of the people, of Bir
mingham and the Metropolis. It was very
easy to discover tfaat tfae motive of Mr. Jofan-
son for advising tfae people of tfae Metropolis
to elect me their legislatorial attorney, was^
that he raigfat be elected for Mancfaester at tfae
ensuing meeting. Gn tfais proposition I at
oncie put a negative, by referring to tfae Ga
zette, and to tfae proclamatiori, adding, that it
Would be worse tfaan folly to run our faeads
against sucfa a post ; and I furtfaer declared,
tfaat I saw no good tfaat was to be derived
from sucfa a raeasure. In tfais, tfae coraraittee
at once concurred, and it was agreed, tfaat
every intention of tfaat sort sfaould be aban
doned, tfaat otfaer resolutions sfaould be drawn
up, and tfaat tfae sarae declaration wfaicfa
faad been passed at tfae Meeting faeld in Pa
lace-Yard, and at tfae Mancfaester Meeting, at
wfaicfa I presided in tfae early part of tfaat
year, sfaould be -proposed to tfae Sraitfafield
Meeting. It was also decided, that certain
conciliatory resolutions, and an address to the
Catholics of Ireland, sfaould be submitted to
tfae meeting. Of these resolutions I higfaly ap
proved. Tfae next morning, just before the time fix-

HENRY HUNT. 595
ed for the meeting, Mr. Jariies Mills, late of
Bristol, called at my lodgings witb a string of
resolutions, wbich he wished to be submitted
to the meeting. Dr. Watson, I think, was pre
sent. Tbese resolutions were read over in a
basty manner, and as hastily adopted, to be
raade part of the proceedings of tbe day. I
own that this was acting very differently from
my usual cautious manner ; but, as Mills gave
us to understand that they had been laid be
fore Major Cartwrigfat, and I believe he said
had been approved of by him, and as he led
us also to believe that he would attend at the
meeting to move them, they were accordingly
sent off to the Observer office, to get slips set
up, that they might be given to the different
reporters wfao attended tfae meeting.
Great military preparations were on this
occasion made, under the pretence of quelling^
some tremendous riot, or some apprefaended
insurrection. Tfae tfaen Lprd Mayor, .Iohn
Atkins, was a corrupt and devoted tool of the
Government, and fae made himself particularly
officious in this affair. Six thousand consta
bles were sworn in the day betore, and in tbe
city all was burry and bustle ; and all tbis was
done in order to work upon the fears of the
timid and foolish part of tbe community, to
create a prejudice in their minds against thd

596 MEMOIRS OF

Radicals. ^iVhen the hpjir of meetipg arrived,
an immense multitude was collected, which
was, computed to cpps|ist pf not less thap se
venty or eighty thousand persons. The Rey.
Joseph Harrison, from Stockport, attendefl,
and either mpved or seconded some of the re-
splutiops ; but Mr. Mills, the s^uthor pf t^e.rri'
never came near the place ; or at ai^ rate fae
never showed jiimself upon the hustings. A
warrant had been issued against Harrison, by
the Magistrates of Cfaeshire, with which the
officers had follpwed hira up to town, a^id,,
haying got it backed by the Lord[ Mayor, he
was apprehended upon the hustings by the city
officers. This was evidently do^e w^th the
view to work upon the feelings pf tfae miilti-
tude, and to create an appearance pf turault,
that the rnilitary might be called in and let
loose, upon the people, with some apparent
show of necessity. Had not care been taken,
to frustrate it, this plot pf the wortfay Jofan
Atkins would have succeeded ; for sprae oue-
cried out a rescue, and the raultitude was
spontaneously pressing towards tfae, officers for
that purpose ; but here my iiatural presence
of mindj in enjiergenpies was exercised prorapt-s
ly and with full success. I carae forward., and
stated to the people w'^at had occurred?, and I.
cautioned tfaem ^ot to be led , away by any

HENRY HUNT, 59''^
such plot, tP excite tbem to a breach of the
peace; and I demanded of them, in case of a
wayrarit having beep issued against rae, that
tfaey would let me go witfa the peace-officers
quietly, for npthing would delight our ene-
riiies so much as to work up the people to tu
mult and disorders that they might have a
pretence for bjloodshed. This had tbe de
sired effect. Harrison was taken away peace
ably,, and the business of the meeting proceed
ed witb tbe greatest regularity, as if nothing
had occurred of a nature to disturb it. Tfais
was certainly one ofthe most cold-blooded at
tempts to excite a riot that was ever raade in
this or in any other country. But fortunately
I had influence enPugh over the people to
frustrate this plot. The resolutions were pass
ed, and tfae declaration was carried unani
mously, as well as tfae address to tfae Catfao-
hcs ; tbe raeeting was dissolved, and tbe peo
ple retired to their bonies, in the most peace
able manner, after baving conducted mb, their
chairman, to my lodgings.
The slips, which had beenj printed at the
Observer office, had been sent to rae while I
was on tfae hustings, and I delivered them to
the different reporters, who applied for them.
Mr. Fitzpatrick, the reporter of the Mew
Tfimes, was the only one who had the baseness

598 MEMOIRS OF
treacfaerously to betray tfais confldence, by
voluntarily coming forward in tfae Cdurt, at
York, to swear to tfae faCt of my faaving fur
nisfaed him|witfa tfaera upon the hustings.
Tfaus ended tfae great Sraitfafield Meeting,
faeld on tfae 21st of July, 1819.
On tfae 26tfa of tfae sarae raontfa, at a Com
mon Hall, tfae Livery of tfae City of London
passed a strong vote of censure uppn tfaeir
Lord Mayor, Jofan Atkins, " for fais officious
and intemperate conduct on tfae day of tfae
Sraitfafield Meeting."
I forgot to niention, i^in tfae proper place,
that I had been invited to attend and preside
at a great public meeting, held at Manchester,
in tfae early part of tfais year; if I recollect
rigfat it was in January. Tfais meeting faad
been convened by public advertisement. I
slept at Stockport tfae nigfat before, and was
accompanied from tfaat town to tfae place of
meeting by tfaousands of tfae people. Wfaen I
arrived tfaere, none of tfae parties wfao faad in
vited me to Mancfaester, Messrs. Jofanson,
Wfaitwortfa, and Co. accompanied me upon
tfae faustings; but tfaey attended a public din
ner, wfaicfa, in tfae evening, after tfae meeting,
was provided at tfae Spread Eagle Inn, Hang
ing Ditcfa, at wfaicfa upwards of two faundred
persons sat down. I fourid a number of good

HENRY HUNT. 599
men at Manchester, and amongst tbat num
ber I esteem my worthy friend Mr. Thomas
Chapman, of Fannel-street, one of the very
best men and most honest advocates of Li
berty in the kingdora. I bave ever found bim
tbe sarae man in principle, sincere and bold
in public, and kind, generous, and open-heart
ed in private. To know during one's politi
cal life, and to possess tbe friendship of, two
or three sucb men as Mr. Chapman, is more
than sufficient recorapence for tbe treachery,
cowardice, and baseness of hundreds that one
must as a matter of course become acquainted
with. Here I first saw Johnson, tbe brush-
maker ; he had not the courage to accorapany
me upon the hustings, although he was one
of the most officious to invite me to preside
at tfae meeting. Jofan Knight and Saxton
were the men who attended me upon the
hustings, and addressed the people, &c. &c.
I had never seen either of them before. Mr.
Wroe and Mr. Fitton, of Royton, also were
upon the hustings. I had seen the latter, as
a delegate froiri Royton, at the meeting of
delegates called by Major Cartwright and tbe
Hampden Club, in the name of Sir Francis
Burdett, in the year 1817.
As this meeting passed off witfaout any
difficulty or danger, Johnson the brush-maker.

600 MEM'OIRS 05'
who was very young in the ranks of Reform,
professed a determination to take a more ac
tive part at a future opportunity. In con
formity with this resolutiori, he Wrote to in
vite me to attend a public meeting, to be faeld
at Manchester on the 9th of August, which
invitation I accepted. The intended raeeting
being pubUcly announced in all the Londori
papers, excited a very considerable sensation
throughout the country, and particularly
tfarougfa the Nortfa of England. As I strongly
suspected tfaat ray letters to Mancfaester,
about this tirae, were opened at tfae pOst-offiCe,
1 sent thera by other conveyances than by tfae
post. My faraily appeared to d read my second
visit to Mancfaester, and to forebode some fatal
accident, and tfaey endeavoured to persuade
me not to attend ; but, although I did not an
ticipate a very pleasant journey, yet I had'
given my word, arid that was quite eriough td
insure my attendance.
Ori rriy road, I stopped to bait my horse at
Wolseley Bridge. As soon as I arrived, tfae
landlord of tfae inn addressed me, and beggeitf
to know if my narae was Hunt. I answered
in tfae affirmative ; upon whicfa he delivered
an invitation from Sir Charles Wolseley, re^
questing rae to call on hira. He lived only
about a hundred yards frora the inn. The

HENRY HUNT. 601
fact was, I had slept at Coventry the night
before, wbere I met Messrs. Goodman, Lewis,
and Flavel, and one of tbem had written to
Sir Charles Wolseley, to say tbat I should
pass Wolseley Bridge in tbe raorning, and
this induced bim to leave tbe message whicb
I have mentioned. I accepted bis invitation,
and tbis was tbe first time that I ever met the
worthy Baronet in private. I spent a few
hours very pleasantly with Sir Charles, wbo
had also, I understood, been invited to attend
the meeting at Manchester; but some family
reasons prevented him from complying.
When I arrived at Bullock Smitbey, near
Stockport, I beard tbat tbe raeeting was put
off, and tbat another meeting was advertised
to be held on tbe 16tb of August, tbe follow
ing Monday. The cause of this was, that
Mr. Johnson and tbose concerned in caUing
the meeting had, in tbeir advertisements,
stated one of tbe objects to be, that of elect
ing a representative or legislatorial attorney
for Manchester. This foolish proposition,
directly in'the face of tbe late proclamation,
was seized on by tbe Magistrates of Man
chester, and tbey issued hand-bills, and had
placards posted all over the town, denouncing
the intended meeting as illegal, and cautioning
all persons " to abstain at their peril from
VOL. III. 4 H

602 MEMOIRS OF
attending it.", Upon tfais, Mr. Saxton faad taken
a journey to Liverpool; tp obtain tfae advice
of sorae barrister, of the narae of Raincock,
wfao gave it as his opinion that tfae meeting
was advertised for an illegal purpose, and tfaat
tfae Magistrates would be justified in prevent
ing it, or dispersing tfae people wfaen tfaey
were asserabled. Tfae parties, concerned ira
mediately, tfaerefore, advertised, and plar
carded tfae town, to say tfaat tfae meeting
would not take place on tfae 9th of August;
but tfaat another meeting would be convened
on Monday the 16tfa of August, " to take into
consideration the. best and most legal means of
obtaining a Reform in the Commons' House
of Parliament." A requisition in tfaese words
was immediately drawn up, signed by up
wards of seven faundred of tfae infaabitants,
and addressed to tfae Borougfareeve of Man
cfaester, requesting bim to caU the meeting.
It was presented to the Borougfareeve, wfao
faaugfatily refused to call tfae meeting, wfaere
upon it was immediately caUed in tfae name of
tfaose wfao signed tfae, requisition, and was ap
pointed by tfaem to be faeld on tfae sixteenth.
All tfais faad taken place; theoriginai meeting
of the ninth, to wfaicfa t faad been invited, faad
been abandoned, tfae new requisition faad been
signed, and the meeting of the 16th faad been

HENRY HUNT. 603
appointed, without my having in any way re
ceived the slightest intimation of what had
been going on. I bad arrived on the eighth at
Bullock Smitbey, wbicb is within ten miles of
Manchester, and within three miles of Stock
port, where I bad appointed to sleep on Sun
day, the day previous to the iritended meeting,
and 1 had not yet heard one word of its beirig
put off. 1 had travelled two hundred miles in
rny gig for tbe purpose of presiding, and when
1 learned tbat I had been made sucb a fobl of,
1 expressed considerable indignation, and de
clared my intention of returning into Hamp
shire iramediately. 1 was, however, at length
prevailed upon to proceed to Stockport to sleep
tbat nigbt, as 1 understood tbat Mr. Moor-
bouse had provided a bed for me, and a stall
for ray borse. On my road to Stockport 1
was met by Johnson, the brush-maker, and
Mr. Saxton, who explained to me the whole
of tbe circumstances, and at the same time
expressed a great desire that 1 sbould remain
in Manchester, to be present af the 16th, as
they had, without my knowledge, advertised
my name as chairman of the intended meet
ing. At first 1 positively refused to comply
witb their wish, and 1 assigried more reasons
than one for my refusal. At lengthj it was
agreed that 1 should proceed througb Man-

60.1 MEMOIRS OF
cfaester the next day, Monday the 9th, to dine
with Mr. Johnson at Smedley Cottage, to raeet
sorae friends whom he faad invited to join me
tfaere. I slept at tfae faouse of Mr. Moorfaouse tfaat
nigfat, and received from faira every polite and
kind attention. Wfaen I arose in tfae raorning,
I was agreeably surprised by a note being
brought to me from Sir Cfaarles Wolseley, to
say tfaat, soon after I faad left Wolseley Park,
fae faad followed me ; that fae was at the inn,
and would accompany rae to Manchester, if I
would let faim know tfae tirae at wfaicfa I raeant
to start for tfaat place. I iraraediately waited
upon faim at tfae inn, and, after breakfast, we
proceeded togetfaer in my gig to Mancfaester,
attended by many tfaousands of tfae Stockport
people. Jofanson, tfae brusfa-maker, and otfaers,
frora Mancfaester, faad come to raeet us, and
tfaey foUowed in a cfaaise, and Mr. Moorfaouse
followed, witfa a party, in fais coacfa. We
were greeted witfa tfae utraost entfausiasm by
tfae people of Mancfaester. In one of tfae open
spaces I addressed tfaem briefly, and explained
to tfaem tfae reason of my tfaen appearing
araongst tfaem. I told tfaem tfaat I faad travel
led two faundred miles to keep my appoint
ment, and tfaat it was not till tfae day before,
when I had arrived witfain a few miles of their

HENRY HUNT. 605
town, tbat information was given to me of the
meeting having been postponed.
We dined at Smedley Cottage ; and, after
having, for a length of time, resisted tbe most
urgent intreaties, I was at last, though still
very much against ray inclination, and quite
in opposition to my own judgment, prevailed
upon to yield to tbe pleadings of Mr. Johnson
and bis friends, to remain witb bim till the
following Monday, in order tbat I might take
the chair at the intended raeeting. Had John
son's life depended upon tbe result, he could
not have been more anxious to detain me.
He begged, he prayed, he implored me to
stay; urging tbat without my presence the
people would not be satisfied; and, in fact,
foreboding tbe most fatal consequences if I de
parted before tbe meeting took place. I
solemnly declare that I never before consented
with so much reluctance to any measure of
tbe sort. I bad important engagements of my
own to attend to, whicb I bad put off to en
able me to take the chair on tbe 9th, and to
remain from bome anotber week would cause
me tbe greatest personal and private incon
venience. I was, nevertheless, ultimately pre
vailed upon to stay, from a conviction tbat my
presence would promote tranquillity and good
order, and under tbe assurance that, if 1 did

606 MEMOIRS OF
quit the place, confiisitm and bloodshed would,
in aU probabUity, be tfae inevitable conse
quence. The manner in which those in au
thority had treated them, had irritated to tte
highest degree the people in and near Man
chester, and they had also been excited to acts
of desp^ation and vi<Jem», by some of those
who professed to be their leaders. As for
Johnscm, the brush-maker, he was a composi
tion of vanity, emptiness, and conceit, such as
1 never before saw concentrated in one person.
It was the most ridiculous tfaing in the world
to see faim assunuDg the most pompous and
lofty tone, wtule every oi^ about hun did not
faU openly to express contempt for his insig
nificance and foUy. In truth, even amidst all
his pomposity, at which he had so enormous a
share, this poor creature could not conceal the
feet firom any one, tbat he had not the sUghtest
c(Hifidencein himself; he expressed the greatest
terror at the idea of my leaving to faim the
management of the intended meeting, and
swore tfaat he would run away from it altf^e-
ther if 1 did not stay. In this he invfdun-
tarily did himself justice : for, in reality, every
one appeared to dread tfae thoughts <^ the
thing being left in his handaft Every thing,
therefore, conspired to imprc^ on my mind
the conviction that 1 alone had the power oi

HENRY HUNT. 607
conducting this great meeting in a peaceable,
quiet, and Constitutional manner. 1 knew
and felt, indeed, tbat it would be a task of
great difficulty, danger, and responsibility.
Yet as I bad never turned my back upon tbe
people because difficulties and dangers pre
sented tbemselves, so I made up my mind not
to desert tbem upon tbis trying occasion, wben
I knew they were surroimded by tbe most
base and blood-thirsty -opponents, who were
laying in ambush, and only waiting for a pre
text to take every unmanly and cowardly ad
vantage of any accidental disturbance or dis
order tbat might occur. I repeat again, that I
consented most reluctantly to accept Johnson's
pressing invitation to remain at his house
during tfae intervening week prior to tbe 16tb
of August; and I can, witb great truth, affirm
that tbis was one of tbe most disagreeable
seven days that I ever passed in my life, not
excepting tbe period of my solitary imprison
ment in tbe Manchester New Bailey and
Ilchester Bastile. However, most fortunately
for me, Johnson was from bome a consider
able portion of this tirae, attending to bis
brush-making and otber business ; tfais alone
rendered the vifit to Smedley tolerable : be
frequently invitecl me to visit, witb him, tbe
surrounding neighbourhood, from tbe inha-

608 MEMOIRS OF
bitants of wfaich places I faad received pressing
invitations ; but aU tfaese I decUned from pru
dential raotives, and it was fortunate I did so,
or my prosecutors would faave found some
pretence for tfae cfaarge of conspiracy, of whicfa,
as it was, tfaey could never bring tfae sligfatest
sfaadow of proof.
During this week I was waited upon by
many very respectable inhabitants of Man
chester and the surrounding country, and on
tfae Friday Mr. Edward Grundy and a friend
frora Bury called, and inforraed me tfaat tfaere
was a report in circulation in Mancfaester, tfaat
it was the intention of the Magistrates to have
me apprehended, under tfae plea of faaving
comraitted some political offence, in order to
interrupt the proceedings of the meeting ; but
tfaese gentlemen assured me tfaat tfaey would
become my bail to any amount, if it sfaould be
so. However, this did not satisfy me, and on
Saturday raorning I drove down to the New
Bailey, wfaere tfae Magistrates were sitting,
and applied to know if tfaere was any cfaarge
against rae ? — if tfaere was, I begged to know
wfaat was tfae nature of it, as I was tfaen ready
tb surrender rayself and to meet it. Mr.
Wrigfat, wfao was present, appeared surprised
at. my application, and said fae faad not faeard
of any such thing, and fae called Nadin, and

HENRY HUNT. 609

asked bim, if he bad heard of any charge
having been raade against Mr. Hunt ? Nadin,
who appeared to be surprised at the question,
replied, " none whatever." I tben informed
them tbat I understood tbe report to corae from
the police office, wbich induced me to attend
for the purpose of ascertaining tbe fact. I was,
I told tbem, tben ready, and sbould at all times
be ready, to meet any charge tbat bad been or
migbt be preferred against me; and, conse
quently, there could be no necessity to issue
any warrant or summons whatever, as tbe
slightest intimation of my conduct being called
iri question would always insure my attend
ance. Mr. Wright, as well as Nadin, professed
they were perfectly satisfied of tbis, and ap.
peared to shew to me all the polite attention
tbat tbey were capable of showing. I left the
Court House witb the full assurance from them
tbat tbere was no charge against me, nor, as
far as tbey knew of, any person wbo designed
to bring a charge against rae. Although I was
fully impressed witb the treachcEous and blood
thirsty characters of those with wbom I bad to
deal ; and, of course, was not wholly satisfied
ofthe sincerity of their language, yet I was
conscious of baving in tbis instance performed '*
an iraportant duty to the public, by depriving
the authorities of every fair pretence for inter-
VOL. III. 4 It

610 MEMOIRS OF
fering with the prpceedings of the intended
meeting. 1 therefore returned to Smedley
Cottage, with the conviction upon my mind
that I had done aU that a man could do, or
pi\gfat to do, upon such an occasion.
Qp Sunday raorning intiraation was brought
tp rae that one Murry, a sort of spy of thepoUce,
had, early i"" the raorning, been very much
beaten and ill-used, for interrupting some per
sons, who had assembled on a neighbouring
Moor, to practice the method in which they
sfaould corae into Manchester, to join the.
raeeting on the following day ; tfaeir wish being
to enter the town with that sort of regularity
Y^faich sliould give the least possible roora for
complaint to the authorities. I was sorry to
bear o^ this breach of tfae peace, as I foresaw
tfaat an advantage would be taken of tfae cir
cumstance, to inflame tfae minds of tfaose who
were perhaps as yet only faalf bent upon the.
diabolical plot against tfae liberties of the peo
ple, and tfaat it wotiljd, be used as a plausible
pi^etext to alarm tfae more timid part of those
wfao are called the respectables of Manchester. ,
I, therefore, passed tfae Sunday witfa tfaat. de
gree of aflxiety wfaicfa eyery person not wholly
devoid pf sensibility must have naturally fplt
for the result of the coming day.
iNJonday ai-cived, and a beautiful morning

HENRY HUNT 611
it Was. From my bed-room I beheld the people,
men, women, and children, accompanied by
flags and bands of music, cheerfully passing
along towards the place of meeting. Their
appearance and manner altogether indicated
that tbey were going to perform an important,
a sacred duty to themselves and their country,
by offering up a joint and sincere prayer to the
Legislature to relieve the poor and needy, by
rescuing them from the hands df the agents pf
the rich and powerful, virfao had oppressed and
persecuted them. In fact, the conduct of tlie
people, in every instance, was such, that iiOrie
but devils in human form cotild ever have pre
meditated to do them any injury.
About twelve o'clock an bpen barouche was
drawn up to the door of Smedley Cottage, to
convey to the meeting myself arid those who
were assembibd at Mr. Jdhrison's. It was set
tled that I should take the chair, that Johnson
sbould move tbe Resdlutions and the Remon
strance, and that John Knight should second
them. It was not anticipated that any other
person would address the Mfeeting. We enter
ed the bardriche sdon after twelve d'cldck on
the morning of the 16tb df August 1819^ arid
proceeded iirirriediately tbwards St. Peter's
Plain, bri Which spot the Mfeeting was tb be
held; We were attended By an immense mul- -

61% MEMOIRS OF
titude, preceeded by a band of rausic, and we
very soon met tfae Mancfaester Coraraittee of
Feraale Reformers, faeaded by Mrs.Fildes, wfao
bore in her hand a small wfaite silk flag.
Tfaese females were all faandsomely dressed
in wfaite, and tfaey proposed to lead tfae pro
cession to tfae field, walking two and two, but
as, in consequence of tfae crowd, this was found
to be impossible, tfaey fell into tfae rear of tfae
baroucfae, wfaicfa position tfaey maintained,
witfa some difficulty, during tfae wfaole way
till we arrived at tfae Hustings. Mrs. Fildes,
wfao carried tfae flag, was taken up at my sug-
gestipn, and rode by tfae side of tfae coacfaraan,
bearing faer colours in a raost gallant stile.
As, tfaougfa ratfaer sraall, sfae was a remarkably
good figure, and well dressed, it was very
justly considered tfaat sfae added mucfa to tfae
beauty of the scene ; and, as she was a married
woman of good cfaaracter, faer appearance in
sucfa a situation by no raeans dirainisfaed tfae
respectability of tfae procession, tfae wfaole of
wfaicfa was conducted with the greatest regu
larity and good order.
When I entered the field or plain, wfaere the
people were asserabled, I saw such a sight as
I faad never before befaeld. A space contain
ing, as I am informed, nearly five acres of
ground, was literally covered witfa people, a

HENRY HUNT. 613
great portion of wbom were crammed together
as thick as tbey could stand. Great bodies of
people had assembled and marched to the spot
in regular order, each striving with the otber
which should contribute most to the respecta
bility of tbe meeting by peaceable conduct ;
every one appeared to be animated with tbe
greatest enthusiasm and devotion to tbe cause
for which they bad come together; that cause
being solely either to petition, to address, or
to remonstrate with, tbe throne, for a redress
of insupportable grievances. Every one ap
peared to me to be actuated by a similar feel
ing to that by whicb I felt that I was prompted
in attending the meeting — namely, the per
formance of an important, a sacred, and a so
lemn duty to ourselves and our country. Let
the reader who was not present picture to bis
imagination an assemblage of from 180 to 200
tbousand English men and women, congre
gated together to exercise the great constitu
tional right of laying tbeir complaints and
grievances before tbe throne, and when be
has done tbis, he may form an idea of the scene
which met my view.
Tbe moment that lentered the field, ten or
twelve bands struck up tbe same tune, " See the
conquering hero coraes ;" eighteen or twenty
flags, most of them surmounted by a Cap of

614 MEMOUiS OF
Liberty, were unfurled, and from the multitude
burst forth such a shout of welcome as never
before hailed the ears of an individual, pos
sessed of no other power, no other influence
over the rainds of tfae people, except tfaat wfaicfa
fae faad gained by an honest, straight-forward
discharge of public duty. Witfa sorae diffi
culty, and by slow degrees, the carriage was
drawn up witfain a few yards of the Hustings,
where, tfae crowd was so dense as to forbid the
approach of tfae carriage any nearer. We
aligfated, and, an avenue being raade for us,
we ascended tfae Hustings. Tfae ladies cora
posing tfae Coraraittee of Female Reformers
had foUowed' close to tfae carriage up to this
point, and therefore it was absolutely necessary
to dispose of tfaem in some place of safety, to
prevent their being trampled under foot.
Some part of them were placed in the carriage,
whicfa we faad left, and the remainder were
assisted upon the Hustings.
Anotfaer shout now filled the air, as a com-
pliment{to rae, and I took off my faat, toendea-
vour to address tfaisjmraense raultitude, witfa
a full conviction tfaat tfae very orderly conduct
of the people would' deprive, tfaeir enemiesiof
all pretence wfaatever to interrupt, their* pro
ceedings. I had scarcely uttered two sen
tences, urging tfaem to persevere in the same

HENRY HUNT. 615
line of conduct, when the Manchester Troop
of Yeomanry came galloping iuto the field,
and formed in front of a house occupied by
a Mr. Buxton, where it was said the Magis
trates bad assembled for the purpose of keep
ing the peace. As soon as the military ap
peared, the people, (as is always the pase un
der such circumstance) began to disperse and
fly from the outskirts. To prevent the con
fusion likely to arise from such a circumstance,
I caused tbree cheers to be given, whicb had
the desired effect of restoring tbe confidence
of tbe people, who did not, indeed, suspect it
to be possible tbat tbe devil himself would
have authorised the Yeomanry to commit any
violence upop tbem, as tbere was not the
slightest symptom amongst them that could
have created any real fear in the mind of the
most timid. Before, however, the cheering
was sufficiently ended to enable me to raise
my voice again, the word was given, and from
tbe left fiank of tbe troop, the trumpeter lead-
irig the way, tbey charged amongst the peo
ple, sabring right and left, in aU directions,
sparing neither age, sex, nor rank. In this
matter they cut their way up to tbe Hustings,
riding over and sabring all that could not
get out of their way. In this magnaniraous. ex
ploit several fell dead, and hundreds were

616 MEMOIRS OF
wounded ; and this was done in cold blood,
with the most savage ferocity, without the
slightest provocation having been given by the
people, and without one act of resistance,
without ONE STONE, ONE STICK, Or ONE FIN
GER having been raised even to resist, much
less to provoke, such a bloodthirsty, such a cow
ardly, wanton, cruel, and murderous act. At
length it turned out tfaat tfaese diabolical
deeds were committed in order, as it was
pretended, to execute a warrant, to appre-
faend myself and otfaers wfao were upon tfae
Hustings witfa me. Now I most soleranly de
clare, tfaat tfais warrant could faave been ex
ecuted with, tfae greatest possible ease, by any
single constable, witfaout tfae aid of tfae mili
tary, or any breacfa of tfae peace wfaatever ;
and I faave not tfae sligfatest doubt in ray own
-mind, tfaat tfae magistrates were fully sensi
ble of tfais fact at tfae time wfaen tfaey ordered
tfae ferocious Yeomanry to cfaarge and cut
down tfae people. Tfae object was to strike
terror into tfae minds of tfae assembled multi
tude, and to pull down reforra by tfae sword,
regardless of tfae blood tfaat would be spilt in
tfae enterprise. Tfaat ray life was meant to
be a sacrifice no reflecting man can for a
moment entertain a doubt. We were now
seized and taken, by Nadin and fais run-

HENRY HUNT. 617
ners, to the house where tbe worthy projec-.
tors of tbe plot were sitting in soleran con
clave. While we were passing to the house,
amidst the screams of tbe flying, and the
piercing cries arid groans of the dying people,
two ruffian Yeoman made several efforts to
cut rae down, but each tirae I guarded myself,
by placing Nadin between myself and tbem
as they renewed tbeir charge upon me. Na
din endeavoured to escape, and to leave me to
tbeir mercy, but, with the aid of providence,
I held him fast, and used bim as a shield to
ward off the deadly blows of tbese blood
thirsty cowards. Nadin was so alarmed that
he at length yielded like a child to the direC"
tion of my arm, and quietly suffered himself
to be placed before rae as tbey came up, hal
lowing lustily for them to desist, and using bis
staff for bis protection. They,bowever, charged,
and cut at me several times, and I received three
cuts from tbem, a slight one on the back of
my band, and two others in my bead, which
cuts penetrated througb my hat. As I entered
into Buxton's bouse, pinioned between two
constables, Nadin and another, a ruffian came
bebind rae and levelled a blow at my bead
witb a heavy bludgeon, wbicb would have
felled me to tbe earth, bad I not been sup
ported by the constables, wbo had hold of my
VOL. III. 4 K

618 HENRY HUNT
arms. One fellow very deliberately took off
my hat, tfaat tfae other coward might have a
fairer blow at me, whicfa he instantly repeated,
and had I not at the raoraent fortunately
slipped my faead on one side, ray scull must
have been fractured. Nadin cried sharae at
tfais, and replaced tfae faat upon my faead, say
ing it was too bad! By tfais raeans Nadin
saved ray life, as it was evidently tfae inten
tion of tfae ruffian to faave taken it. Tfae fel
low who acted such a cowardly and diabolical
part, was a general in the English army, of
the name of C**y, wfao was tfaen on faalf-pay,
and living at Pendleton. Tfae following ex
tract from a letter, written to Mr. Sfaeriff Par
kins by his brother, who was an eye-witness
of the transaction, speaks for itself; it was
given to me by Mr. Parkins to make wfaat use
ofit I pleased, and I sfaall tfaerefore insert it
verbatim : " 79, Water-Street, Manchester,
"I take up my pen to relate to you one ofthe most daring,
cruel outrages that ever was committed on a defenceless
¦people. Iwas within ten yards of the Hustings, when the
cavalry surrounded the' stage on which Mr. Hunt, Mr. John-
.son, Mr. Knight,, and many other gentlemen, whom I per
sonally knew, were sta,nding, with several ladies. At this
time the main body ofthe Cavalry made a charge on the
people who' were assembled, and cut down all before them ;
arid ifl had hada pistol,'! would have levelled that villain

HENRY HUJST. 619
C**y, who used Mr. Hunt in such an outrageous manner,
that if I had gone into eterni tythat moment, I would have
shot him; but I had nothing but a small walking-stick in
my hand, with which I parried off several blows that were
aimed at me, and thank God 1 received no material injury.
I never saw a man behave with more fortitude than Mr.
Hunt did on that most trying occasion.
" Instead of reading the Riot- Act, and ordering the peo
ple to disperse, the military came on without any notice
whatever. Mr. Hnnt was committed lo the New Bailey
Prison, and what will be the result ofall this the Almighty
only knows. If you will do a praiseworthy action, come
down and back Mr. Hunt, and your name will then be
handed down to posterity with the blessing of thousands of
your suffering countiymen."
When I came before tbe worthy Magistrates,
I saw that they were dreadfully alarmed at
tbeir own deeds. Hulton and Hay took the
lead, and we were marched off to the New
Bailey, to which we were committed upon a
charge of High Treason ; it being necessary
to make some highly sounding charge, in
order to take off the attention of tbe pub
lic as mucb as possible from the foul deeds
that bad been perpetrated by the drunken
infuriate Yeomanry. I think there were
twelve in all committed, and amongst the
number was Mr. John Tyas, wfao attended as
a reporter for tbe Times Newspaper. This
circumstance 1 shaU ever consider as a most
fortunate. Mr. Tyas is a gentleman of a most

620 MEMOIRS OF
respectable family arid connections, and it is
unnecessary to expatiate on his character and
talents, it being, as far as regards these, quite
enough to say, tfaat fae faas long occupied tfae
station of a reporter to tfae Tiraes Newspaper,
a lucrative and responsible situation, whicfa
none but a raan of character and talent could
fill for any length of tirae. Mr. Tyas was
npt only present during tfae processiori from
Smedley to the Hustings, but he was upon the
Hustings, fae was apprefaended tfaere, taken
before tfae wortfay Magistrates, and sent to tfae
New Bailey, wfaere fae faad tlie faonour to pass
twenty-four faours in a solitary cell. He was an
eye-witness of tfae wfaole affair, and, as fae was
totally unconnected witfa any df tfaose wfao called
tfae meeting, he was capable of giving, and fae
did give, tfae most unprejudiced evidence upon
tfae subject, and I fabpe fae will yet live to give
fais evidence upon an inquiry into tfais atrocious
affair, eitfaer at tfae Bar or before a Committee
of tfae House of Coraraons; for if ever I get
into tfaat House, I pledge rayself never to cease
my exertions to procure an investigation, a
national investigation, intb tfae wfaole affair.
If I sfaould become a raeraber of tfae House of
Commons, I will leave no stone unturned, at
wfaatever faazard to myself, to cause sucfa in
vestigation to take place.

HENRY HUNT. 6'21
We were detained in separate cells, in soli
tary confinement, for eleveri days. I was once
brought privately before tbe worthies, and
questioned, but as it would not do, as they
could make nothing of me, they gave it up,
and we were at last brought up in open Court,
and ordered to be beld to bail, for a Conspi
racy to overturn the Government, by fright
ening out of their seven senses all the old wo
men in breeches wbo resided at Manchester.
It was not so witb Johnson. I believe the
worthy Magistrates tried us all round, and
found us all too staunch to be tampered with ;
all but Johnson ; be, it appears by his own
confession, was brought before them, and had
several private examinations, during wbich,
be offered to give up all tbe letters whicb I
bad written to him, and he at length wrote a
letter to bis wife, witb an ©rder for ber to
deliver tbem to the messenger. Fortunately
they bad been placed by Mrs. Johnson in the
bands of his attorney, wbo had too mucb ho
nour to obey such disgraceful, such unprin
cipled instructions frora his client. Not that
I was afraid of any thing tbat I had written to
any one. But as I had written in the greatest
confidence to bira, and bad sent my letters by
coach, via Oxford and Birmingham, because
tbey sbould not be opened at tbe Post Office,

622 MEMOIRS OF
it would faave been a breacfa of every princi
ple of faonesty, faonour, and fair dealing, to
have given tfaem up to tfae Magistrates, wfaile
I was in tfaeir custody under a cfaarge of Higfa
Treason. In ray poUtical connexions, I faave
met witfa sorae very base and unprincipled
fellows, but amongst tfaem aU, I do not believe
tfaat I ever knew any one, except Jofanson, tfae
Brusfa-maker, wfao would faave voluntarily
becorae sucfa a sfaaraeless pander, sucfa a
tfaorougfa-paced tirae server, as to faave given
up ray private letters to save fais own wortfa-
less carcase frora tfae cfaance of a Trial
for Higfa Treason. I repeat tfaat, amongst all
tfae political apostates I faave ever known, and
tfaey are many, and some of tfaem very vile in
deed, I never knew one tfaat I believe would
faave been so poor and mean a creature as tfais
Jofanson. Wfaen we were brougfat up for final exami
nation, tfae cfaarge was shifted from tfaat of'
High Treason to a Seditions Conspiracy to
overturn the Government. I was to give bail
in £1000 myself, and two sureties in £500
eacfa, wfaicfa Sir Cfaarles Wolseley and Mr^
Chapman were ready to enter into for. me ; but,
as I was very hot and fatigued witfa tfae ex
amination, I returned to my apartment to
change my shirt before bail was given. I had

HENRY HUNT. 623
not been in my room more tban ten minutes
before the goaler came to inforra rae tbat I
must prepare to set off for Lancaster Castle in
five minutes, as tbe magistrates had left tbe
Court, and bad ordered that we sbould be
conveyed tbere immediately, for want of bail.
1 replied tbat Sir Charles Wolseley and Mr.
Chapman were prepared to give bail for me,
and that tbey were gone, or going, witb Mr. C.
Pearson, my attorney, to Mr. Norris's house to
do so. Tbe gaoler, a very civil little person
age, lamented tbat he had no discretion, tbat
bis orders were peremptory, tbat a stage-coach,
wbicb bad been hired for the purpose, was
ready, and we must depart in less tban five mi
nutes, asa MilitaryDragoon Guard was in atten
dance, ready to conduct us thither. I answered
that I would be ready in half the time, and I
began to change ray shirt and pack up my
trunk before be left the room. The fact was,
tbat tbe parties bad made up their minds, (as
is generally the case), before tbey came into
Court ; tbey bad resolved upon a committal
on the charge of High Treaison, and tbey
bad given previous orders to prepare a coach
and tbe Military Guard. A messeriger bad
also been dispatched to Bolton, Blackburn,
and Preston, to order tbe troops stationed in
tbose towns to be ready to relieve tbe guards

624 HENRY HUNT.
as they arrived, and to proceed forward. Tfaese
relays were to faave been ready as early as two
o'clock in tfae day, tfae wortfay Magistrates
not faaving calculated upon tfae turn tfae ques
tion took in the Court, in consequence of my
cross-examination of the witnesses produced,
to substantiate the cfaarge. Tfais cross-ex
amination, wfaicfa lasted several faours, during
wfaicfa I caused all the witnesses to-be removed
out of Court except the one under examina
tion, by whicfa means I contrived to make
tfaem, not only equivocate and contradict eacfa
otfaer, but actually contradict tfaeraselves on
every material point. Tfais unexpected cir
curastance caused tfae wortfay Bencfa of Ma
gistrates to pause a little; tfaey retired to con
sult, and faeld a private conferrence witfa Mr.
Maule, the solicitor to the Crown, who was sent
down to conduct tfae prosecution for the At
torney General, The result of this confer
rence was, tfaat tfae charge of Higfa Treason
was abandoned, and we were to be faeld to
bail for a raisderaeanor only.
After I had retired, Jofanson and Moorfaouse
procured bail in Court, and tfaey were liber
ated immediately. Johnson, I understopd,
was carried to fais faorae on tfae sfaoulders of
tfae populace, but fae was totally regardless of
what became of his friend, wfao was a stran-

HENRY HUNT. 625
ger in the town. I stepped into the coach,
and was followed by John Knight and Dr.
Healy; Saxton, Bamford, and three others,
wholly unknown to me^ were placed on the
top of the coach, each attended by one of tbe
police, and with pistols and blunderbusses, &c.
Mr. Nadin did us tfae honour to ride in tbe
coach with us," whilst his runners took tbeir
stations aloft ; a troop of horse, witb swords
drawn, surrounded tbe coach, and off we went
for Lancaster, a distance of fifty miles, without
my baving had an opportunity of seeing or writ
ing to my attorney or friends to apprise them
of our departure. As I sal in the coach I
wrote three lines with a pencil to Sir Charles
Wolseley, merely stating the fact, and I handed
it out open, requesting that it might be
conveyed to him ; but I saw that it was in
stantly seized by one of our amiable atten
dants, who took care tbat it should never reach
its destination. We were paraded in tbis way
to Bolton, frora wbich place a fresb troop con
ducted us to Blackburn; another troop for
warded us to Preston, and a third attended us
to Lancaster. At Preston we baited and took
some refreshment, for which I offered to pay.
Mr. Nadin, bowever, insisted upon it that I
should not do so, as he bad already given an
order upon tbe treasurer of the county to pay
VOL. III. 4 L

626 MEMOIRS OF
all expenses. Tfaus, for tfae first and only time
in my life, I was corapelled to take a meal at
tfae public expense.
Previous to our arrival at Preston we were
nearly overturned, and the pole of the coach
was broken short off. We were consequently
obliged to disraount and walk to the next vil
lage, to get it repaired. Nadin, wfao faad fai
tfaerto conducted fairaself witfa great raodera
tion, now burst out into such a strain as would
have made a Letfabridgeite's faair stand on
end upon fais faead ; fae poured forth a volley
of oaths, whicfa for atrocity and vulgarity ex
ceeded all I faad ever faeard before or since,
except in tfae - instance of Bridle, tfae Ilcfaester
Gaoler ; fae swore tfaat fae sfaould lose aU fais
prisoners, &c. &c. and tfaat fae would blow out
tfae brains of tfae coachman anrl all fais runners.
I sat perfectly quiet during tfais disgusting
scene, and heard witfa faorror fais beastly epi-
tfaets and dreadful imprecations. At length,
faaving exfaausted fais rage, fae appealed to me
in tfae utmost confusion to know wfaat sfaould
be done. I told faim we would walk to tfae
next viUage, wfaere fae could get tfae pole
mended ; and, as I found tfaat fae was preparing
to faandcuff them together, I assured faim tfaat
I would be answerable for tfae safety of all tfae :
prisoners. Witfa this assurance he was satis
fied, and we proceeded to a small inn upon

HENRY HUNT. 627
the road. The news soon spread, the house
was very quickly surrounded, and a rescue
was boldly and openly offered. This kindness
I of course declined, and Mr. Nadin's fears
were soon dispelled.
During our stay at Preston, alraost all the
gentlemen of the town came to see us, as we
were at supper. Amongst the number were
some sincere friends, although total strangers,
who sbook me cordially by the band, in token
of tbeir sincerity. We arrived at Lancaster
Castle about three o'clock on the Saturday
morning, wbere we found tbe gaoler, young
Higgins, ready to receive us ; he having, of
course, been previously apprised of the inten
tion of the worthy Magistrates to send us
thither, right ov wrong. At tho door I thank
ed tbe officer of the Dragoons for his polite
attention, lamenting sarcastically, as I had
done to eacb of the others, that he sbould have
had so mucb trouble on my account. We tben
entered tbe walls of Lancaster Gaol, and were
conducted into a spacious dirty room, from
wbich some otber prisoners bad been reraoved
to make way for us. In an adjoining close
room we were all to sleep, and beds were or
dered for us. I expostulated against tbis ar
rangeraent, of our all sleeping in the same
room ; upon which Mr. Higgins replied, that I

628 MEMOIRS OF
should be accomraodated witb a ceU. Soon
after this we were all removed into a mucfa
better and cleaner apartraent, adjoining to one
of tfae new round towers, wfaere we spent tfae
day, Saturday, in procuring materials for cook
ing, &c. &c. At Lancaster Castle notfaing was
provided for political prisoners, not even a
trough to wash tfaeir faands in. My compa
nions, not faaving anticipated sucfa a journey
wfaen tfaey attended tfae raeeting on tfae 16tfa
of August, could only rauster a few sfaiUings
amongst tfaem, but as I faad a few pounds in
my pocket, every tfaing necessary was soon
provided, such as it was.
The fools, the mad-faeaded fools, wfao sent
us to make a parade tfarougfa tfaeir county, little
dreamt of tfae feeling which it would create;
I own I felt very indignant at tfae selfish con
duct of Johnson, wfao faad invited me to Man
cfaester, altfaougfa I never expressed this to ray
fellow prisoners. 1 was, however, quite sure
that tfae moment Sir Cfaarles Wolseley, Mr.
Cfaapman, and Mr. Pearson were made ac
quainted with the dirty trick of tfae Magis
trates, tfaat tfaey Would lose no time in procur
ing bail, and forwarding it for my release.
Wfaen seven o'clock carae, we were ordered
into our cells in the Round Tower, and most
infamously close they were. I tfaought that I

HENRY HUNT. 629 >
should have been suffocated for some time after
I entered it. I, however, laid myself down, and
soon fell into a sound sleep, from which I was
roused about nine o'clock, by the turnkey, who
carae to inform me that a gentleman was ar
rived with bail for me and Jobn Knight. I
soon dressed myself, and baving'taken leave of
Saxton and Bamford in the adjoining cells, we
proceeded to tbe Lodge, where I found my
worthy friend Chapraan, who bad come over
from Manchester, as spon as be could get Mr.
Norris to take ' the bail of himself and Sir
(^harles Wolseley, which the Magistrate had
contrived to avoid on Friday night, under
a pretence that he was engaged. Mr. Chap
man bad procured two Magistrates of the town
of Lancaster, one of tbem of tbe name of Sa
lusbury, who came down to the Gaol to take
our recognizance, notwithstanding it was an
excessively wet night, and which might bave
afforded thera soraething like an excuse to
have kept us in tbe Castle till Monday raorn
ing. But tbey proved theraselves tbe very
reverse of the Manchester Magistrates, at
whose conduct tbey appeared to feel ashamed
and disgusted, and they did all tbat honour
able men and gentlemen could do t© wipe tbeir
bands of all connection with them.
We bid adieu to the Castle, and slept at tbe

630 MEMOIRS OF m
inn in Lancaster tfaat nigfat. In the morning
we proceeded dn our return to Manchester,
where Sir Charles Wolseley and Mr. Pearson
were waiting to receive me. We stopped and
took some refresfament at Preston, wfaere sorae
of tfae wortfay Electors of that town introduced
theraselves to us, and tfaere and tfaen it was
tfaat I received and accepted an invitation to
becorae a Candidate for tfae Representation of
tfaat Borougfa, at tfae approacfaing general elec
tion. In tfae evening we reacfaed Bolton, at
wfaich town we slept, and there I becarae ac
quainted with sorae ofthe very best raen in the
kingdom. In fact, to have been introduced to
tfae wortfay men of Preston and of Bolton was
worth more than all the inconvenience I suf
fered from being dragged through tfae county
under a military escort. Tfae entfausiasm ma
nifested by tfae people of Bolton, of all ranks
and degrees, surpassed every tfaing I faad ever
before witnessed, and it impressed my mind
witfa a respect and attacfaraent for tfaat town,
whicfa will never be eradicated from my breast
till tfae faeart wfaicfa it contains ceases to
beat. My reception in Mancfaester, tfae next day,
wfaicfa place we entered about tfaree o'clock,
surpassed all description. Sir Charles Wolse
ley and Mr. Pearson came to meet us about a

HENRY HUNT. 631
mile beyond Pendleton, and tbe spontaneous
expressions ofthe whole populatfon, whicb ap
peared to have turned out to receive and wel
come rae, it is utterly irapossible for my pen to
describe. From my worthy friend Chapman,
during our journey from Lancaster, I learnt
tbe bistory of the bloody proceedings of the .
16th of August, and my soul was struck with
horror and indignation by tbe recital.
I returned to Johnson's house at Smedley, al
though Mr. Chapman bad inforraed rae of tbe
report of his cowardly and base conduct, wbile
he was confined in the New Bailey, of bis
baving offered and actually written to his wife
to give up all my confidential correspondence
to the Magistrates, to enable them to make out
a charge of High Treason against me, upon
condition that he should be admitted what is
called King's Evidence. Nbtwithstanding
Mr. Chapman assured me tbat he believed tbis
report to be true, and produced to ine almost
incontrovertible proof of the fact, still I could
not possibly bring my raind to believe that
any one could be guilty of sucb incomparable
baseness, and much less tbat Mr. Johnson, with
all his devotion, with all bis professions bf
friendship and regard, could be such a mean,
dirty, cowardly dog ; and I never should have

632 MEMOIRS QF %
credited it to its full extent if tfae wretched
slave faad not confessed it with bis own lips.
Wfaile I was confined in tfae New Bailey, not
a soul was allowed to faave any access to me
but tfae officers of tfae Gaol, and latterly my
servant, in tfae {)resence of the gaoler. I had
written to Mr. Cfaarles Pearson, to request fais
professional assistance, wfaich of course was
the greatest proof I could give of tfae faigh
estiraation I entertained of fais honour, talent,
and political integrity. It is true that I was only
slightly acquainted with him at the time, but
tfae result proved tfaat I was perfectly justified
in tfae cfaoice wfaicfa I made, and tfae confidence
which I placed in him. To faave been cursed
witfa eitfaer a fool or a knave, under sucfa cir
cumstances, would faave been worse tfaan deatfa
itself; but I found him to bo, what I expected,
a man of brilliant talent, and of inflexible poli
tical faonesty, yet possessed, at tfae sarae time,
of an intimate knowledge of all tfae quirks,
quibbles, tricks, and shuffles of both the bar
and tfae bench, as well as of all tfae interme
diate ranks between tfae lowest catcfapoU and
tfae higfaest elevated judge upon tfae bench.
Tfaougfa fae has since been unfortunate in his
pursuits, and tbough be was sometimes inat
tentive and careless, and though I have heard

HENRY HUNT. 6^3
others complain of him, yet, in the midst of all
his foibles and follies, for follies and foibles
he has as well as other men, I can safely say
that up to this bour, wben put to (be test, in
all bis dealings, relations and connections witb
me, I have found bira actuated by the strict
est notions of honour, honesty, and consci
entious integrity. In a matter of importance,
in a case of life and death, such a case as I
was tben concerned in, I would rather bave
the professional assistance of Mr. Pearson,
even under bis present circumstances, if be
would devote himself to it, than tbat of any
other man I ever met with in his profession.
Wbile I was imprisoned in Manchester, Mr.
Wooler called a Public Meeting, at tbe Crown
and Anchor, and some spirited resolutions
were entered into ; and a subscription was
set on foot for the relief of tbose who bad suf
fered at Manchester, and to bring to justice
the perpetrators of the horrid murders and
cruelties committed on the I6tb of August.
Major Cartwright was appointed the Trea
surer. Sir Francis Burdett likewise addressed
ari excellent letter to his Constituents, to call a
meeting upon t:be subject. This letter was
calculated to rouse into action every raan in
the kingdom wbo had a heart in his body, and
I verily believe that in any country in the
VOL. III. 4 M

634 MEMOIRS OF

world, except England, sucfa a letter, written
to tfae people by a raan of Sir Francis's rank,
would have caused the whole people to rise in
arras to avenge the faorrid murders wfaich had
been committed upon their helpless, unoffend
ing countrymen. Meetings were, faowever,
called all over tfae kingdomj to petition tfae
King and the Parliament to investigate the
affair, and to bring to justice tfae autfaors of
sucfa a dreadful outrage upon tfae lives and
liberties of tfae people.
In the raean time tfae subscription set on
foot by Mr. Wooler began to fill apace — a cir
curastance wfaicfa was calculated to faave tfae
very best effect. It, nevertfaeless, excited tfae
envy and jealousy of tfae wortfaies wfao com
posed the Westrainster, the Borough, and the
City of London Rurap Coraraittees, and tfaey
lost no tirae in devising tfae means of getting
tfae management out of tfae faonest faands of
tfaose wfao faad taken up tfae measure. Tfaese
gentry, wfao understand faow to manage tfaeir
matters so well, soon wormed tfaeraselves and
their agents into the Coraraittee, in suffi
cient nurabers to forra a raajprity ; and tfais
being accomplished, the next step was to
propose to elect four of tfae Westminster or
Burdettite Rump; four of the City, or Waith
manite Rump; and four of the Borougli, or

HENRY HUNT. 633
Wilson Rump, and tbese twelve worthies were
to form wbat tbey tbemselves were pleased to
denominate the Metropolitan Committee, to
manage the Subscriptions, and tbe affairs of
tbe Manchester Sufferers. Major Cartwright
and Mr. Wooler were disgusted with the pro
ceedings, ami the Major iraraediately resigned
his office of ^Treasurer, upon which tbey
apppinted their own Treasurer, and, in
the most unblushing manner, proposed to
send Mr. Harmer, a relation of one of the
leaders of tbe party, down to Lancaster, to
prefer Bills of Indictraent against the Yeo
manry, and to assist in defending myself and
others who had been prosecuted by the Go
vernment. It was, however, suggested by
some one of tbem, that it was too bare
faced a job to send Mr. Harmer down, wbo
had written for, and bad already got Mr.
Pearson down to assist us, and therefore it was
agreed upon, to appoint Mr. Harmer and Mr.
Pearson to act jointly in this affair. Mr.
Harmer was consequently sent off post to
Manchester, to do tbat wbicb Mr. Pearson,
wbo was on the spot, was so fully competent
to bave done.
The moment that I heard of tbese proceed
ings, I foretold, to Mr. Pearson and Sir Charles
Wolseley, every thing that would happen, aud

636 MEMOIRS OF
faow tfae subscriptions would be raisappiied ;
all of wfaicfa predictions faave been verified to
tfae very letter. Mr, Harraer did not arrive
till after we faad undergone tfae final faearing
before tfae Magistrates, tiU tfaey faad aban
doned tfae charge of Higfa Treason, till we faad
been sentenced to Lancaster Castle, after faav
ing undergone an iraprisonraent of eleven
days' solitary confinement ; fae did not arrive
till all tfais faad taken place, and we faad been
bailed and returned from Lancaster ; all tfais
had occurred, and we might have all been
comraitted to Lancaster Castle for Higfa Trea
son, several days before Mr. Harmer, tfae At
torney of the Trinitarian Rump Coramittee,
reached Manchester, if it faad not been for the
assistance of Mr. Pearson and ray own per
sonal exertions,
BiUs of Indictment were preferred before
the Grand Jury at Lancaster, against Owen,
Platt, and Derbyshire, for perjury. Tfae first
was found a true bill, altfaougfa bills against
tfae two otfaers were ignored upon tfae very
same evidence. Bills were also preferred
against several of tfae Yeomanry Cavalry, for
cutting and mairaing men, women, and chil
dren, in the most wanton, cruel, and murder
ous way, onthe 16tfa of August, not only at tfae
meeting on St. Peter's Plain, but likewise in

HENRY HUNT. ,637
Tj*rious parts of Manchester; and, in one or
two instances, for cutting and maiming those
who had never been at the meeting at aUj and
who were merely standing at their own dpors,
lookingat the miUtary, who were hunting,
driving, cutting and slaying in all directions,
regardless of age or sex. AU the bills, not
withstanding they were supported by the most
unquestionable testimony, and all the parties
were identified, all, all of tbem were ig
nored and thrown out by a Lancashire Grand
Jury, the foreman of which was Lord Stanley?
the great Whig. Member for that County.
Lord Stanley is the eldest son of Lord Derby,
who is a regulai' supporter of tfae Whigs in tbe
House of Lords, and Lord Stanley is a regular
supporter of all Whig measures in the House
of Commons. This Whig, Lprd Stanley, was
also one of the most violent against a parlia
mentary inquiry into the transaction, when
the question was brought before the House of
Comraons. — The Lord deliver us from the
tender mercies of the Whigs, I say !
The bill that was preferred by the Grown j
against myself and others, for attending the
Manchester meetirig, was found iramediately,
and bail to a heavy amount was required for the
appearance of all the parties^ at the Assizes 5
which bail could never have been obtained

638 MEMOIRS OF
for many of tfae party, wfao were very poor
men, faad it not been for tfae magnaniraous and
truly generous conduct of Sir Cfaarles Wolse
ley. He not only, in tfae first instance, carae
to Mancfaester to bail me, but fae remained at
Mancfaester, assisting in causing tfae bloody
Yeomanry to be indicted, and fae went to Lan
caster, and attended tfae whole time, and at
length became the voluntary bail for every
one that could not procure it otfaerwise. Tfais
was really acting a true, noble, raanly, and
patriotic part ! Sir Cfaarles actually saved se
veral of tfaose wfao were indicted witfa rae
frora remaining in prison from Septeraber to
the following Marcfa. By fais raagnaniraous
befaaviour fae proved himself to be in reality,
an independent, uprigfat Radical, a real friend
to justice and faumanity. In tfais affair. Sir
Cfaarles Wolseley didlSbre to serve the cause
of Liberty and tfae People, than was done by
all the Aristocracy and all tfae Country Gen
tlemen in England put togetfaer.
Sixteen persons faad been murdered,
and upwards of Six Hundred had been
badly wounded, on the Sixteentfa of Au
gust. Coroners' Inquests faad been held,
without effect, upon several of tfae bodies!
" Tfaey aU died a Natural Death !" tiU, atlast,
an Inquest was held at Oldham, on the body

HENRY HUNT. 639
of John Lees. This Inquest was attended by
Mr. Harmer, and, at tbe end of tbe third or
fourth day, the evidence was so conclusive,
tbat tbe Jury were prepared to have returned
their verdict of Wilful Murder ! but, by some
extraordinary fatality, by some unaccountable
cause, Mr. Harraer kept calling fresh wit
nesses, and tbe Inquest was adjourned from
day to day, and from place to place, for a
month, and after the last adjournment, they
never met again. As tbe Petition of Robert
Lees, the father of tbe murdered man, speaks
fully for itself, and will explain tbis very cu
rious circumstance better tban any tbing tbat
I can say, I shall conclude tbe subject by in
serting it at full length, as follows : —
" TO THE HONOURABLE THE COMMONS OF THE UNITED
KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND; IN PAR
LIAMENT ASSEMBLED.
" The HUMBLE PETITION of ROBERT LEES,
of Oldham, in the County Palatine of Lan
caster, Cotton-spinner,
" Sheweth, That your Petitioner's son, John Lees, a
youth twenty-two years of age, having attended the
meeting held at Manchester on the 1 6th of August last,
was, as your Petitioner is led to believe, without any just
cause or provocation, most inhumanly attacked and cut by
Yeomanry Cavalry, and afterwards most unmercifully
beaten with the clubs or batons of Police and Special Con
stables, and also trampled upon by the horses of the Ca
valry, whereby he was so much injured, that he was, from
that time, incapable of attending to his ordinary employ
ment, and lingered in pain and debility until the night of
the 6th of September following, when he died.
" That the Surgeon who attended your Petitioner's

640 MEMOIRS OF
son havii\g certified that his death was occasioned ;by vio.-
lence, seyeral :householders in Oldham and the neigh
bouring townships were -served, late in the evening" of th6 ¦
7th of September, with summonses from the Coroner of
the district, to attend the next morning at half-past ten
o'clock, to serve as Jurors on an inquest to be held on the
body of your said Petitioner's son. At the time appointed
the said Jurors assembled, and were met by a perspn
named Battye, who attended as Deputy for the said Co
roner, for thepurpose of inquiring into the cause of the
death of your Petitioner's son; and, having sworn the
Jaty, he went with them to take a view of the body. Buty ¦
finjfliijg that several witnesses had arrived from Manchester,
to give evldenceupon the said inquiry, he refused to pro
ceed in the inquest ; and having adjourned the same for
three hours, he, at the expiration of that time, further ad- , -
joumed until the 10th day of the same month, w;heri the
saiid Battye promised, that either Mr. Ferrand, his em-
p\oyer, or Mr. Milnev a neighbouring Coroner^ should
certainly attend and proceed in the investigation.
" That, on the next day^ a Surgeon attended, hy the di- ;
rection of the said Mc: Battye, to open and examine the
body of your Petitioner's son; and he was then allowed
to be interred.
" That, on the 10th day of September, the Jury again
assembled-; hut, although Mr. MiLNE attended, he refused
to interfere ia theJmsiness, ag-bo-cai^liiLrlirl nnt v.o]nng- to his
district; and the inquest Jwas further adjourned until the 25th
day of the same month. And, dnring this interval, some of
the Man.ehester newspapers inserted the vilest falsehoods,
to depreciate the reputation ofthe deceased, with a view,
as your Petitioner believes, to extinguish every feeling of
sympathy for his fate.
" That, on thesaid 23th day of September, Mr. Ferrand
attended,", and, after swearing the Jury, and ascertaining
from them that they had all seen the body, he proceeded to ¦
examine witnesses ; but, in the course ofthe investigation,
he adjourned several times for days together, without any
reasoiiEible or probable ca.use, and merely, as your Petiti
oner believes, to haras's and tire out the witnesses, who
came day after day a considerable distance to give
testimony. -.', :.~' '<-
" That,, iix de<tai0hg his complaint to your Honourable -
House, youv Petitioiier exceedingly regrets he should be; '

^'V.^^si.-'V ' t