Reform Meetings -- Peterloo -- Orator Hunt's entry into London
-- The King's last illness and death.
But I must return to my Chronicle. There were Reform Meetings
everywhere. The evils in the Representation of the people were patent
to every body who would see, but the Regent was not gifted with that
perspicuity of vision that is suitable to a Ruler of Men, and his
blindness led to deplorable results, which, after all, were probable
benefits, inasmuch as they hastened the passing of the Reform Bill.
Things were beginning to look ugly. In some districts the people were
beginning to drill, and they were not of the best class. _Vide_ the
following--
"MANCHESTER, Aug. 15.--The circumstances of parties going out to
drill, having been much talked about here, _viz._, John Shawcross,
of Blossom Street, Salford, and James Murray, of Withy Grove,
Manchester, set out this morning, about one o'clock, for the purpose
of ascertaining this fact. On their way towards Middleton, these two
persons passed several squads who were in regular Marching Order,
and they heard a great many more parties calling to each other, and,
from the answers being more distant, every time they were repeated,
supposed the fields for some extent, contained different parties.
"The place appointed for a general muster was Whitemoss, betwixt
Middleton and Oldham. When Murray and Shawcross arrived at this spot,
there were at least five hundred men at drill; the greater part were
drilled in a body; there were also detached squads of fifteen or
twenty each."
The two men were found, pounced upon as spies, and nearly kicked to
death.
I give this passage, as it shows that armed men were preparing
themselves for a conflict with the civil power, which they certainly
thought imminent, yet like all cowardly English Mobs, they howled
most valiantly, and complained of the butchery, when they came into
conflict with even Citizen Soldiery. There are some people still who
regard "Peterloo" as a massacre of the innocents: they must be either
very wrong-headed, or very badly informed. Let me give the shortest,
and most succinct, contemporaneous account of that memorable day.
"Aug. 16. A meeting of Reformers took place at Manchester, on a
vacant piece of ground, on the north side of St. Peter's. The number
of persons from Oldham, Saddleworth, Royton, and other places, were
supposed to be at least 50,000, bearing banners inscribed 'Hunt and
Liberty'--'Universal Suffrage'--'Annual Parliaments,' &c., and a Club
of female Reformers also joined the group. Mr. Henry Hunt was called
to the Chair, and commenced an harangue on the usual topics of public
grievances, during which, the Manchester Yeomanry Cavalry, aided by
the Cheshire Yeomanry Cavalry, and the 15th Hussars, advanced to
the crowd, and rode through them, sword in hand; and having arrived
at the waggon, from which the orator was declaiming, Mr. Nadin,
the police officer, arrested Hunt and Johnson, on a warrant. They
submitted quietly and were taken to gaol. The Cavalry then rode
through the mob, and seized their banners, in doing which, several
persons were killed and wounded; bricks and other missiles were
thrown at the Cavalry, who, however, succeeded in dispersing the mob:
several other persons were taken into custody in the course of the
day."
Such is an unvarnished tale of Peterloo, and the student of history
must ever bear in mind, that at this period, there were no police,
as we know them, and that in case of riot the Military were always
called out, and that they had but to obey orders.
The Radical papers held it, of course, to be a brutal massacre, and
I give one print which takes a highly poetical view of it. It is
called "The Massacre at St. Peter's, or Britons, strike home!" The
officer on extreme left calls out to his corps of butchers, "Down
with 'em! Chop 'em down! my brave boys! give them no quarter. They
want to take our Beef and Pudding from us! And, remember, the more
you kill, the less poor's rates you'll have to pay; so, go it, lads,
show your Courage, and your Loyalty! "This is about as truthful as
nine-tenths of what has been written about "Peterloo."
This was the occasion, of which I have written, that Hunt got
fined. When he was bailed, he made a "triumphal entry" into London.
Of course, like all his class, he was nothing except he was _en
evidence_. It was well organized: there was the young man from
Manchester, who had got hurt at "Peterloo," there was a huge dog with
a large white collar, bearing thereon, "No dog tax," and, at last
came the procession itself.
[Illustration: Massacre at St. Peter's; or, "Britons, Strike Home!!!"]
Horsemen.
Footmen bearing a bundle of Sticks, the emblem of Unity.
Horsemen.
Six Irish footmen, bearing a green flag, with the inscription,
"Universal, Civil and Religious Liberty."
Horsemen.
Footmen, bearing a flag of mourning--Inscription, "To the
immortal Memory of the Reformers ... at Manchester."
Horsemen.
Footmen bearing a flag--Inscription, "The Palladium of
Liberty--Liberty of the Press."
Carriages for Gentlemen connected with the Press.
Horsemen.
Footmen, bearing a Red flag--Inscription, "Universal Suffrage."
A Landau, containing MR. HUNT, preceded by a flag, with this
inscription, "Hunt, the heroic Champion of Liberty," and
surrounded by six horsemen, and Members of the Committee.
Carriages and Footmen.
A Landau, with Watson, Thistlewood, and Preston, and their
Friends.
Flag--"Trial by Jury."
Horsemen and Footmen.
Flag--"Liberty or Death."
Carriages, Horsemen, and Footmen.
Flag--"Liberty or Death."
Closed by Horses, Carriages, and Footmen.
There! does not that read like a modern Irish Procession to the
Reformer's tree in Hyde Park? It had the same value and the same
result--somebody got paid something. There were also riots in
Scotland, both in Paisley and Glasgow.
I am approaching the end of my Chronicle of the Regency. In November,
it could not be concealed that the poor old King was very bad; in
fact, now and then it was rumoured that he was dead. And so he was
to himself, and to the world. Nature was having its grand and final
fight; and in a few weeks the mortal life of George III. would be
closed. How well the following description of the old King tallies
with the portrait, which is scarce: "HIS MAJESTY.--A gentleman
who has been in his presence a short time ago, states, that the
appearance of our aged Monarch, is the most venerable imaginable. His
hair and beard are white as the drifted Snow, and the latter flows
gracefully over a breast which now feels neither the pleasures nor
the pains of life. When the gentleman saw him, he was dressed in a
loose Satin robe, lined with fur, sitting in an apparently pensive
mood, with his elbows on a table, and his head resting on his hands,
and seemed perfectly regardless of all external objects" (_Bath
Journal_).
[Illustration: George III.]
Still they hoped when there was no hope, for, under date November
26th is the following: "The examination of his Majesty's Physicians
by the Members of the Council, at Lambeth Palace, has made a strong
sensation on the public mind, as they conceive that it could only
be occasioned by the conviction in the breast of his Royal Highness
the Duke of York, that the inquiry became necessary. The result of
the examination has not transpired. Report says that his Majesty has
shown symptoms of decay, by the wasting of his person, and general
weakness, which, at the advanced age of eighty-two, are signs not
to be overlooked: but we believe, that immediate danger is not
apprehended."
On the 23rd of January death claimed the Duke of Kent, the father of
our present Queen; and on the 29th God took to Himself the poor old
King--which event necessarily brings to a close my Chronicles of the
REGENCY.