"Mr. Elliman, a draper at Tring, has lately formed a considerable
plantation of the locust tree, which Mr. Cobbett claims the merit of
having introduced into this country. The number he has planted is about
30,000, on five acres and a half of very indifferent land, and they have
thrived so uncommonly well, that not more than 500 of the whole number
have failed. The success of the plantation being made known to Mr.
Cobbett, induced him to pay a visit to Tring to inspect it, and during
his sojourn it was determined upon by his friends to give him a dinner
at the Rose and Crown Inn. Thursday was fixed for the purpose; when
about forty persons, agriculturists and tradesmen of Tring and the
neighbouring towns, assembled, and sat down to a dinner served up in
very excellent style, by Mr. Northwood, the landlord: Mr. Faithful,
solicitor, of Tring, is the chair.
"The usual routine toasts having been given,
"The Chairman said he was sure the company would drink the toast with
which he should conclude what he was about to say, with every mark of
respect. In addressing the company, he rose under feelings of no
ordinary kind, for he was about to give the health of a gentleman who
had the talent of communicating to his writings an energy and
perspicuity which he had never met with elsewhere; who conveyed
knowledge in a way so clear, that all who read could understand. He (the
Chairman) had read the Political Register, from the first of them to the
last, with pleasure and benefit to himself, and he would defy any man to
put his finger upon a single line which was not in direct support of a
kingly government. He advocated the rights of the people, but he always
expressed himself favourable to our ancient form of government; he
certainly had strongly, but not too strongly, attacked the corruption of
the government; but had never attacked its form or its just powers. As a
public writer, he considered him the most impartial that he knew. He
well recollected--he knew not if Mr. Cobbett himself recollected it--a
remarkable passage in his writings: he was speaking of the pleasure of
passing from censure to praise, and thus expressed himself. 'It is
turning from the frowns of a surly winter, to welcome a smiling spring
come dancing over the daisied lawn, crowned with garlands, and
surrounded with melody.' Nature had been bountiful to him; it had
blessed him with a constitution capable of enduring the greatest
fatigues; and a mind of superior order. Brilliancy, it was said, was a
mere meteor; it was so: it was the solidity and depth of understanding
such as he possessed, that were really valuable. He had visited this
place in consequence of a gentleman having been wise and bold enough to
listen to his advice, and to plant a large number of locust trees; and
he trusted he would enjoy prosperity and happiness, in duration equal to
that of the never-decaying wood of those trees. He concluded by giving
Mr. Cobbett's health."
"Mr. Cobbett returned thanks for the manner in which his health had been
drunk, and was certain that the trees which had been the occasion of
their meeting would be a benefit to the children of the planter. Though
it might appear like presumption to suppose that those who were
assembled that day came solely in compliment to him, yet it would be
affectation not to believe that it was expected he should say something
on the subject of politics. Every one who heard him was convinced that
there was something wrong, and that a change of some sort must take
place, or ruin to the country would ensue. Though there was a diversity
of opinions as to the cause of the distress, and as to the means by
which a change might be effected, and though some were not so deeply
affected by it as others, all now felt that a change must take place
before long, whether they were manufacturers, brewers, butchers, bakers,
or of any other description of persons, they had all arrived at the
conviction that there must be a change. It would be presumptuous to
suppose that many of those assembled did not understand the cause of the
present distress, yet there were many who did not; and those gentlemen
who did, he begged to have the goodness to excuse him if he repeated
what they already knew. Politics was a science which they ought not to
have the trouble of studying; they had sufficient to do in their
respective avocations, without troubling themselves with such matters.
For what were the ministers, and a whole tribe of persons under them,
paid large sums of money from the country but for the purpose of
governing its political affairs. Their fitness for their stations was
another thing. He had been told that Mr. Huskisson was so ignorant of
the cause of the distress, that he had openly said, he should be glad if
any practical man would tell him what it all meant. If any man present
were to profess his ignorance of the cause of the distress it would be
no disgrace to him; he might be a very good butcher, a very good farmer,
or a very good baker: he might well understand the business by which he
gained his living; and if any one should say to him, because he did not
understand politics, 'You are a very stupid fellow!' he might fairly
reply, 'What is that to you?' But it was another thing to those who were
so well paid to manage the affairs of the country to plead ignorance of
the cause of the prevailing distress.
* * * * *
"Mr. Goulburn, with a string of figures as long as his arm, had
endeavoured to prove in the House of Commons that the withdrawal of the
one-pound notes, being altogether so small an amount, little more than
two millions, would be of no injury to the country, and that its only
effect would be to make bankers more liberal in discounting with their
fives. He would appeal to the company if they had found this to be the
case. Mr. Goulburn had forgotten that the one-pound notes were the legs
upon which the fives walked. He had heard the Duke of Wellington use the
same language in the other House. Taught, as they now were, by
experience, it would scarcely be believed, fifty years hence, that a set
of men could have been found with so little foresight as to have devised
measures so fraught with injury.
"He felt convinced that if he looked to the present company, or any
other accidentally assembled, that he would find thirteen gentlemen more
fit to manage the affairs of the kingdom than were those who now
presided at the head of Government; not that he imputed to them any
desire to do wrong, or that they were more corrupt than others; it was
clear, that with the eyes of the public upon them they must wish to do
right; it was owing to their sheer ignorance, their entire unfitness to
carry on the Government, that they did no better. Ignorance and
unfitness were, however, pleas which they had no business to make. It
was nothing to him if a man was ignorant and stupid, under ordinary
circumstances; but if he entrusted a man with his money, thinking that
he was intelligent, and was deceived, then it was something; he had a
right to say, 'You are not what I took you for, you are an ignorant
fellow; you have deceived me, you are an impostor.' Such was the
language proper to all under such circumstances: never mind their
titles!
"A friend had that morning taken him to view the beautiful vale of
Aylesbury, which he had never before seen; and the first thought that
struck him, on seeing the rich pasture, was this, 'Good God! is a
country like this to be ruined by the folly of those who govern it?'
When he was a naughty boy, he used to say that if he wanted to select
Members for our Houses of Parliament, he would put a string across any
road leading _into_ London, and that the first 1000 men that ran against
his string, he would choose for Members, and he would bet a wager that
they would be better qualified than those who now filled those Houses.
That was when he was a naughty boy; but since that time a Bill had been
passed which made it banishment for life to use language that brought
the Houses of Parliament into contempt, and therefore he did not say so
now. The Government, it should be recollected, had passed all these Acts
with the hearty concurrence of both Houses of Parliament; they were thus
backed by these Houses, and they were backed by ninety-nine out of one
hundred of the papers, which affected to see all their acts in
rose-colour, for no one who was in the habit of reading the papers,
could have anticipated, from what they there saw, the ruin which had
fallen on the country. Thus we had an ignorant Government, an ignorant
Parliament, and something worse than an ignorant press; the latter being
employed (some of them with considerable talent) to assail and turn into
ridicule those who had the boldness and honesty to declare their dissent
from the opinion of the wisdom of the measures of Government. It was no
easy task to stand, unmoved, their ridicule and sarcasms, and many were
thus deterred from expressing the sentiments of their minds. In this
country we had all the elements of prosperity; an industrious people,
such as were nowhere else to be found; a country, too, which was once
called the finest and greatest on the earth (for whatever might be said
of the country in comparison with others, the turnips of England were
worth more, this year, than all the vines of France). It was a glorious
and a great country until the Government had made it otherwise; and it
ought still to be what it once was, and to be capable to driving the
Russians back from the country of our old and best ally--the Turks.
During the time of war, we were told that it was necessary to make great
sacrifices to save us from disgrace. The people made those sacrifices;
they gave up their all. But had the Government done its part; had it
saved us from disgrace? No: we were now the laughing-stock of all other
countries. The French and all other nations derided us; and by and by it
would be seen that they would make a partition of Turkey with the
Russians, and make a fresh subject for laughter. Never since the time of
Charles had such disgrace been brought upon the country; and why was
this? When were we again to see the labourer receiving his wages from
the farmer instead of being sent on the road to break stones? Some
people, under this state of things, consoled themselves by saying things
would come about again; they had come about before, and would come about
again. They deceived themselves, things did not come about; the seasons
came about, it was true; but something must be _done_ to bring things
about. Instead of the _neuter_ verb (to speak as a grammarian) they
should use the _active_; they should not say things will _come_ about,
but things must be _put_ about. He thought that the distress would
shortly become so great, perhaps, about Christmas, that the
Parliamentary gentlemen, finding they received but a small part of their
rents, without which they could not do, any more than the farmer,
without his crops, would endeavour to bring them about; and the measures
they would propose for that purpose, as far as he could judge, would be
Bank restriction, and the re-issue of one-pound notes, and what the
effect of that would be they would soon see. One of those persons who
were so profoundly ignorant, would come down to the House prepared to
propose a return to Bank restriction and the issue of small notes, and a
bill to that effect would be passed. If such a bill did pass, he would
advise all persons to be cautious in their dealings; it would be
perilous to make bargains under such a state of things. Money was the
measure of value; but if this measure was liable to be three times as
large at one time as at another, who could know what to do? how was any
one to know how to purchase wheat, if the bushel was to be altered at
the pleasure of the Government to three times its present size? The
remedy for the evils of the country was not to be found in palliatives;
it was not to be found in strong measures. The first step must be taken
in the House of Commons, but that was almost hopeless; for although many
persons possessed the right of voting, it was of little use to them;
whilst a few great men could render their votes of no avail. If we had
possessed a House of Commons that represented the feelings and wishes of
the people, they would not have submitted to much of what had taken
place; and until we had a reform we should never, he believed, see
measures emanating from that House which would conduce to the glory and
safety of the country. He feared that there would be no improvement
until a dreadful convulsion took place, and that was an event which he
prayed God to avert from the country.
"The Chairman proposed '_Prosperity to Agriculture_,' when
"Mr. Cobbett again rose, and said the Chairman had told him he was
entitled to give a sentiment. He would give prosperity to the towns of
Aylesbury and Tring; but he would again advise those who calculated upon
the return of prosperity, to be careful. Until there was an equitable
adjustment, or Government took off part of the taxes, which was the same
thing, there could be no return of prosperity."
After the reporter went away, we had a great number of toasts, most of
which were followed by more or less of speech; and, before we separated,
I think that the seeds of common sense, on the subject of our
distresses, were pretty well planted in the lower part of Hertfordshire,
and in Buckinghamshire.
The gentlemen present were men of information, well able to communicate
to others that which they themselves had heard; and I endeavoured to
leave no doubt in the mind of any man that heard me, that the cause of
the distress was the work of the Government and House of Commons, and
that it was nonsense to hope for a cure until the people had a real
voice in the choosing of that House. I think that these truths were well
implanted; and I further think that if I could go to the capital of
every county in the kingdom, I should leave no doubt in the minds of any
part of the people. I must not omit to mention, in conclusion, that
though I am no eater or drinker, and though I tasted nothing but the
breast of a little chicken, and drank nothing but water, the dinner was
the best that ever I saw called a _public dinner_, and certainly
unreasonably cheap. There were excellent joints of meat of the finest
description, fowls and geese in abundance; and, finally, a very fine
haunch of venison, with a bottle of wine for each person; and all for
_seven shillings and sixpence per head_. Good waiting upon; civil
landlord and landlady; and, in short, everything at this very pretty
town pleased me exceedingly. Yet, what is Tring but a fair specimen of
English towns and English people? And is it right, and is it to be
suffered, that such a people should be plunged into misery by the acts
of those whom they pay so generously, and whom they so loyally and
cheerfully obey?
As far as I had an opportunity of ascertaining the facts, the farmers
feel all the pinchings of distress, and the still harsher pinchings of
anxiety for the future; and the labouring people are suffering in a
degree not to be described. The shutting of the male paupers up in
pounds is common through Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Left at large
during the day, they roam about and maraud. What are the farmers to do
with them? God knows how long the peace is to be kept, if this state of
things be not put a stop to. The natural course of things is, that an
attempt to impound the paupers in cold weather will produce resistance
in some place; that those of one parish will be joined by those of
another; that a formidable band will soon be assembled; then will ensue
the rummaging of pantries and cellars; that this will spread from parish
to parish; and that, finally, mobs of immense magnitude will set the law
at open defiance. Jails are next to useless in such a case: their want
of room must leave the greater part of the offenders at large; the
agonizing distress of the farmers will make them comparatively
indifferent with regard to these violences; and, at last, general
confusion will come. This is by no means an unlikely progress, or an
unlikely result. It therefore becomes those who have much at stake, to
join heartily in their applications to Government, for a timely remedy
for these astounding evils.