on the first day of the year 1800; but it was now discovered, by the
wisdom of John Gull, that the new century did not commence till the old
one was finished, and therefore millions, who had before celebrated it,
now performed the ceremony over again. I was then, as I now am, in a gaol,
but I was in a very different gaol from this. When St. Paul's clock struck
twelve, all the bells in the metropolis struck up a merry peal. I had sat
up later than it was my custom, on purpose to welcome in the new year; and
as Mr. Waddington was retired to rest, I had called up Filewood, the
turnkey of the lobby of the King's Bench, and had treated him with a glass
of grog and a pipe. Twenty years ago, at this very hour of twelve, I was
smoking my pipe in a gaol. Gracious God! the scenes that I have since
witnessed, how they crowd upon my memory! The recollection of that night
is as familiar to my imagination as if it were yesterday. I was in a
prison to be sure, but I had every accommodation that was necessary; all
my friends had free access to me, from daylight till ten o'clock at night;
and my family might have remained with me the whole time, day and night,
if I had chosen that they should do so. I was never locked into my room,
and I could at all times pass into the yard, and was within call of the
turnkey and his family; and the communication to my friend Mr.
Waddington's apartments was always open. In fact, it would have been truly
ridiculous had it been otherwise. The same apartments which I inhabited
had been previously occupied by Mr. Horne Tooke, Lord Thanet, and many
other eminent political men who had fallen into the clutches of the
harpies of the bar and the bench; and never did the slightest
inconvenience arise to the marshal, or any of his officers, in consequence
of treating such prisoners committed to his custody with that sort of
consideration which made them easy and contented under unpleasant
circumstances. Such liberal treatment always produced a corresponding
feeling and action in the prisoners, and I never heard of any instance of
disagreement between them. I know that, in our case, so far from any
complaint being made on either side, Mr. Waddington, myself, and the
marshal always continued, and we parted, upon the best terms, mutually
satisfied with each other. But what a contrast was that to my present
situation in _this_ gaol, one of the most confined, unhealthy, and
inconvenient gaols in the kingdom! Since the high sheriff came to my
relief, my confinement is considerably softened, particularly by the
admission of the female branches of my family: but the contrast is yet
such as to beggar description. In the first place, I am shut up in a
complete dungeon; it is true, I have a window, but that is rendered almost
useless by its opening into a small yard, of about ten yards square,
surrounded entirely by a dark wall, nearly twenty feet high. This being
situated on the north side of a very high building, both light and air are
excluded. I have not caught a glimpse of the sun from this yard or room,
since October. In the next place, no friend or any other person is
admitted till nine in the morning, and not after four in the afternoon; so
that my family, who, in consequence of Sir Charles Bampfylde's
interference, are now permitted to see me, are yet compelled to submit to
the inconvenience and expense of passing _seventeen hours_ out of the four
and twenty at the inn, to be enabled to see me for the remaining _seven_.
At six o'clock in the afternoon I am locked up in solitary confinement, in
my room, (some time back it was at _five_); all the outward doors
surrounding my burying vault of a yard are also closed for the night; and,
as my dungeon is situated in a remote part of the gaol, I never hear the
sound of a human voice till the door of my cage is opened, at seven
o'clock in the morning; so that, for thirteen hours, I have no possibility
of making any one hear, let what might happen, either from illness or
accident; a month back it was fifteen hours, from _five_ till eight. To
remove this unpleasant and brutal inconvenience, a worthy and considerate
visiting magistrate, Aaron Moody, Esq. of Kingston, very properly ordered,
amongst many other necessary improvements of my den, that a bell should be
hung, to enable me to call one of the officers of the gaol, when I might
want any thing; but I am now deprived of this common and necessary
accommodation by the order of Mr. Gaoler, who forsooth has caused the bell
to be muffled, and the wire pegged, so as to render it totally useless.
The reader must find it difficult to discover the motives for this and a
hundred other daily acts of petty tyranny that are practised upon me here;
and, to render this conduct the more pointed, unjust, and odious, the
_bell_ which was hung at the same time, and for the same purpose, in the
room of my fellow-prisoner, Mr. Kinnear, remains untouched, for his
constant use and convenience. And yet I understand my gentleman gaoler
complains of what he calls my attacks upon him, although he cannot deny
the truth of one of my statements.
From the comparison which I have drawn, the reader will perceive, that
_one month's_ imprisonment in this bastile, is worse than _a year's_
imprisonment in the King's Bench. In the King's Bench I enjoyed the
rational society of all my friends, and I was particularly pleased with
the society of Mr. Clifford. I have since suffered many great
inconveniences and disappointments, which I might have avoided, if I had
given credit to some of his statements, which, at the time, I thought
totally impossible to be correct, but which I have since, by experience,
and to my cost and sorrow, found to be true to the very letter. I was
induced by him to believe many of the infamous acts attributed to the
ministers and their agents, and the cruelties practised by their tools and
myrmidons; but it was not possible for me to give full credence to many of
the stories and anecdotes which he recounted of the _Judges_ upon the
bench, in connivance with the _gentlemen_ at the bar. It was difficult to
make me comprehend and credit, the infamous and disgraceful practice of
the masters of the crown office, in procuring and packing a special jury,
which he assured me was constantly and invariably done in every political
cause, where the crown was the prosecutor; but he brought me so many
proofs, that, at length, it was worse than self-deception to doubt it. But
that the _Judges_ upon the Bench, in violation of their solemn oaths,
would lend themselves to _delay_, to _deny_, or _sell_ justice, was a
crime which I could not be persuaded to imagine was within the verge of
possibility, though he solemnly assured me that all this was not only
done, but that it was the every day practice, particularly in political
matters. To think that, upon the ex-parte statement of one of the counsel,
a Judge would submit to make himself acquainted with the case before he
came into court; to think that a Judge could be _spoken with_ privately,
upon a cause that he was going to try openly in public court, that he
would be influenced by unworthy motives, or take a _bribe_, was so
abhorrent to every notion of justice that I had imbibed, it was to me so
horrible, that I could scarcely listen with any degree of temper to his
recital of numerous instances of the kind, which, he assured us, had come
within his own knowledge.
If I could have had the wisdom to have listened and have improved from the
excellent information that I gained from Mr. Clifford, how many painful
and useless exertions I might have saved myself, how many difficulties
might I have avoided! But it was not in my nature to believe such things,
or to think mankind, and particularly the Judges of the land, such
hypocrites, or such base tools as he represented them to be. And such is
the natural feeling and habits of an Englishman, that he imbibes the
notion of reverence for the Judges of the land at a very early period. We
are taught this almost as early as we are taught the Lord's prayer, and it
is nearly as easy to eradicate the one, as the other, such is the effect
of early impressions. Poor Clifford! how often have I heard him exclaim,
"of all tyrannies, that which is carried on under the _forms_ of law and
justice is the worst." How well he understood the practice of the courts,
and the trickery of the Judges; every word he ever communicated to me upon
this subject I now believe to be true, my own experience has since
confirmed it. He gave us the history, a full account, of the treatment of
those persons who were confined in dungeons for political purposes under
the suspension of the Habeas Corpus act; and amongst others he described
the cruel and unnatural treatment of poor Colonel Despard, who was then
confined in the Tower, and who had been imprisoned at that time for five
or six years. Mr. Clifford was employed by Colonel Despard, and offered to
convince me that his description of his treatment was correct, by
introducing me to him any morning that I would accompany him to the Tower;
which I promised to do the first opportunity, and a day was fixed
accordingly for the interview.
I received frequent communications from home to say that all my large
farming concerns were going on well, in fact those were glorious times for
farmers; the price of corn and all sorts of agricultural produce was
enormous, and as I had grown most excellent crops that season, my profits
were very ample. My bailiff wrote me word, that he continued to obtain the
highest price in Devizes market for my corn, both for wheat and barley,
and one week he sold wheat for five guineas a sack, and barley for five
pounds a quarter. This was once thrown in my face by an upstart of the
name of Captain Gee, when I was standing a contested election at Bristol.
The gentleman put the question to me upon the hustings, whether I had not,
or whether my father had not, sold his wheat for fifty pounds a load in
Marlborough market? I was saved the trouble of an answer by the
observation of a sensible, shrewd mechanic, a freeman of that city; who
said, "Well, and suppose he did, what has that to do with the merit or
demerit of a representative who is contending for our rights and
liberties? Was Mr. Hunt not justified in selling his corn for the best
price that he could obtain for it? It is only a proof that he had a good
article to get a good price for it. Suppose that he had sold his wheat for
five pounds a load, while other people were selling it at fifty pounds a
load, do you mean to tell us, that _we here in Bristol_, should have got
our flour or our bread any the cheaper for it?" The captain was silent,
and my apologist continued, "Do you believe, sir, if Mr. Hunt had given
away his corn, that the millers or the bakers would have sold it to us any
the cheaper? then let us have no more of your nonsense; what would you
have said if your old uncle, the tobacconist, had sold his tobacco for one
shilling a pound while other people were selling it at three shillings a
pound?" As his scheme did not answer, the captain slunk away and asked no
more questions. I always felt great pride in obtaining the highest price
for my _corn; because_ it was a sure proof, that I carried the best corn
to the market, and the farmer who grows the greatest quantity of, and the
finest, corn, not only benefits himself, but, instead of being an enemy to
the poor, he is their best friend, as he contributes the largest share to
the common stock of provisions for their support.
My family meanwhile remained at home, it not being deemed advisable, under
such circumstances, to remove them to London, for so short a time as six
weeks. Mrs. Hunt had to take care of an infant son, now about four months
old, and, besides, I had no one but her to depend upon, to manage the
domestic concerns of so large an establishment as I then kept up, and
which was absolutely necessary for so large a farming business as I
carried on. Every thing, however, went on smoothly and prosperously; and I
had no lack of visitors, who were very numerous, both from London and the
country, and perhaps no nobleman in London was better supplied with game
than I was. I received daily presents from all quarters, particularly from
the members of the yeomanry cavalry, not only of the county of Wilts, but
from various other counties.
Though the whole body of the yeomanry considered themselves insulted in my
person, yet the boasted resolution of those members of the Wiltshire
yeomanry, who had declared that they would resign if I had any punishment
inflicted upon me, was never carried into effect, with one solitary
exception, which was that of my friend Mr. Wm. Butcher, who wrote from
London, the day after my sentence, and sent in his resignation, assigning
openly as the cause, that he would not continue in a service in which he
was liable to be insulted with impunity, by the caprice of a superior
officer, or liable to be prosecuted, if he resented a wanton insult with
the spirit of a man of honour and a gentleman. But Wm. Tinker of
Lavington, who had so often volunteered to resent what he called an insult
offered to every man in the regiment, never resigned, or mentioned the
subject afterward; and he, amongst all my numerous friends, was the only
one who failed to send me some game, though he was a great sportsman, and
did me the favour to hunt and shoot over my farms in my absence.
Unlike some other gaolers, the marshal of the King's Bench was not above
his business; he never for a moment neglected his duty to the prisoners.
He did not act, as if he felt it to be his only business to tyrannize
over, to harrass, to oppress, to punish, and to torture those unfortunate
persons who were committed to his custody. On the contrary, he took
especial care to protect his prisoners from insult, imposition, or
cruelty. Instead of employing his time to devise means of annoyance
against those who were placed in his custody, he occupied it in a very
different manner. He knew that it was his duty (and he acted up to the
letter and spirit of it) to take every means in his power to make each
prisoner as comfortable as his situation would admit, and, above all, to
shield him from any insult or ill treatment from the officers of the
prison; and to take care that the prisoners were not imposed upon by those
who served them with provisions and necessaries. He made a point of going
frequently into the prison during market time, and if he found any bad
meat, butter, or other provisions, brought into the prison, he would, for
example sake, have it seized and destroyed; and he frequently, without
previous notice, went round with his officers to examine the weights and
measures, so that his prisoners were completely guarded from imposition
and extortion; and a man in the King's Bench prison could lay out the
little money he had to spend, to as much advantage as he could in any
market in the kingdom. In fact, Mr. Jones, the marshal, was a humane as
well as a charitable man, and he encouraged the prisoners to make
excellent and just regulations for their own government; but the
refractory, those who would not be governed by the rules of well regulated
society, and who violated all moral obligations, were made to feel the
weight of his power. He was a magistrate of the county of Surrey, it,
therefore, was not necessary for him to perform the farce of sending for a
_visiting magistrate_. Any ungovernable delinquent was brought before him,
and after a fair hearing, if it appeared upon oath that he merited it, he
was committed for a month to Horsemonger Lane prison, or sentenced to be
confined in the refractory room. I do not remember a single instance of
any one being punished by him unjustly. When it was necessary for the
marshal to use severity against any man, it generally had the sanction of
an immense majority of that man's fellow-prisoners. The only one that was
punished, during the six weeks that I was there, was a drunken captain,
who, in one of his paroxysms, had smashed all the chapel windows, and
committed several other depredations upon the property of his fellow
prisoners. He was put into the strong room till the next day, when he was
brought up, and after an open and patient hearing, it being found that he
had nothing to urge in his defence except drunkenness, he was sent to
Horsemonger Lane for a month. No secret inflictions, no acts of torture
were permitted in this gaol. Punishment, when requisite, was given openly,
and fairly, and consistently with the true principles of justice, and
every one knew what measure of it was meted out to the offender. As there
are frequently a great number of profligate characters within the walls,
it was highly necessary to have some good rules and regulations, _some
local laws_, to protect the well-disposed, the innocent, and the
unfortunate, (of whom there was always a great number) from the insults
and depredations of such abandoned persons. These _local laws_, though
they were administered with strict justice by Mr. Jones, yet, as far as my
own observation enabled me to judge, they were invariably tempered with
mercy. There were frequently six or seven, and sometimes eight hundred
prisoners within the walls, and the marshal had a great responsibility
upon his hands, yet every thing was conducted with liberality. He had
extensive power, yet I never saw any man exercise power with more
discretion and moderation than he did.
The reader will recollect that this is my opinion now, my confirmed
opinion at this period, after having been three times committed to his
custody by the _Honourable_ Court of King's Bench. A second time, for
having given a good thrashing to a ruffian who was hired to assault me as
I was riding along the high road, and who was proved to have actually
assaulted me first. The Judge, Baron Graham, upon the trial at Salisbury,
instructed the jury to find me guilty of an assault, though he admitted it
to be clearly proved that the fellow had committed the first assault. His
argument, if so it may be called, was, that I had given him more than an
equivalent beating in return: had I, he said, only struck him once, I
should have been justified; but, as I had struck him three times with my
fist, it was an assault; and for this I was sentenced to _three months_ to
the custody of the marshal. But it will be recollected that I was then
become a political character, and had been the means of calling two
meetings for the county of Wilts. The third time was preparatory to my
visit here--but more of these things at the proper period.
While I was in the King's Bench, many anecdotes came to my knowledge,
relating to certain political characters, which it would be neither just
nor prudent to mention here, and indeed it might justly be considered a
breach of confidence. I must, therefore, withhold the publication of them
till I have the permission of those who communicated them to me. There
were also numerous most important matters, communicated to me by Mr. Henry
Clifford, with whom, as the reader has already been told, I soon became
closely intimate, which I do not feel justified in promulgating, as they
are of an extraordinary character, and would be scarcely credited, the
parties not being alive either to contradict or to confirm them.
Henry Clifford was a most intelligent man, and Doctor Gabriel was likewise
an intelligent man; and these two individuals gave me a clear insight into
the practice of the persons who were concerned in the courts of law, and
the church. I was not more astonished at the trickery, deception, and
complete delusion of the former profession, than I was at the cant and
hypocrisy of the latter. I soon became a disciple of Clifford's, yet so
astonished was I with his account of the mummery of the courts, and the
farcical deception of what was called the administration of justice,
particularly in all political matters, that I really looked with such
astonishment, and sometimes with such a suspicious and unbelieving eye,
that he frequently thought it necessary to bring me living proof, and
incontrovertible demonstration, of the truth of his assertions; nor was it
till he had done so, that he could bring me to acknowledge that I was
convinced of their correctness. To the doctrine so unequivocally
maintained by the worthy dignitary of the church, Dr. Gabriel, I became a
convert with even still more tardiness.
Mr. Waddington was an intelligent man, and he had seen a great deal of the
world. As a citizen of London, he had called a public meeting, at the
Paul's Head Tavern, to _petition for peace_; and this public-spirited and
truly constitutional act was at that period quite sufficient to draw down
the vengeance of Pitt and his myrmidons. His ruin was decided upon by
them, and he was handed over to the care of the minister's pliant,
powerful and dangerous tools, the Judges of the then Court of King's
Bench, the chief performer being Lloyd Lord Kenyon. Mr. Clifford assured
me, that which was afterwards proved in the same court, that there was
neither law nor justice in Mr. Waddington's persecution; but that the
minister had determined to destroy him for his decisive opposition to his
measures in the city; and he had not the least doubt but they would
accomplish the ruin of his fortune, though he was then worth one hundred
and twenty thousand pounds. It will be shewn hereafter how completely this
prediction was verified.
One morning, while we were at breakfast, Mr. Filewood came in, and told us
that two very elegant ladies were brought into the prison for debt, and
that they were in the greatest distress, as they appeared to be deserted
by all their friends, and had scarcely money sufficient to procure the
common necessaries of life. This was quite sufficient to induce Mr.
Waddington and myself to interest ourselves in their behalf, and we made
the necessary inquiries, in which we were assisted with great alacrity by
the officers of the gaol, and we learned that the parties were, a
gentlewoman and her daughter; the mother being arrested for a considerable
sum, and being sent into the gaol, the daughter had accompanied her. A
polite letter, tendering our humble aid, was sent to the ladies,
accompanied with an invitation to dinner. This invitation was accepted,
but a difficulty arose, as we were without the walls, and the ladies were
within, which appeared at first view to be an insurmountable obstacle to
their visiting us; for, although we could pass into the prison, yet no
prisoner within the walls could pass out, unless by a day-rule in term
time, or the special permission of the marshal, which no one expected to
obtain without giving sufficient security. I, nevertheless, determined to
apply to the marshal, as we were not to be driven, without an effort, from
the pleasure of doing a kind action after we had once made up our minds to
it. We knew the character of the marshal to be that of a gentleman, and as
I felt no dread at the idea of placing myself under an obligation to such
a man, I, without further ceremony, waited upon him, and communicated the
circumstances and our wishes upon the subject. Without the slightest
hesitation he granted my request, and having called his deputy, he
demanded the reason why he had not been made acquainted with the situation
of the ladies who had been brought in the night before, and he called for
the books to know who the lady was, and what sum she was in for. It was
found that her name was M----e, and that she was detained for three
hundred pounds. I immediately offered to the marshal to become security
for the sum, if he had any difficulty about it. His only answer was, "Your
word, Mr. Hunt, is quite sufficient;" and turning to the officer, he said,
"Recollect, sir, that Mrs. M----e and her daughter have free access to Mr.
Hunt's and Mr. Waddington's apartments, to dine, drink tea, and spend the
evening whenever they please to invite them; and take care also that they
have a good room provided for them, if they have not already got such
within the walls." Thus it was at all times with this worthy man. I never
knew him interpose to prevent an act of kindness or of charity to a
prisoner; but, on the contrary, he was always ready to promote their
comfort, and willing to assist in relieving the distresses of those who
were in affliction.