Talents_," as they impudently called themselves, had rendered them
sufficiently odious throughout the whole country; and it only required
this last act of theirs to render them as despicable as they were
detested. As soon as they gave notice of their intention to bring
forward the Catholic claims, the _old leaven_, the refuse of the Pitt
faction, who had only wanted a plausible opportunity, began to bellow
aloud for the safety of Mother Church, and the Protestant Ascendancy;
declaring that the church, the established religion, was in danger. They
had always their intriguers about the person of the old bigotted King
George the Third, who immediately took the alarm, or rather took
this opportunity of getting rid of a ministry that he never liked, and
with whom he had never acted cordially, although they had, in the most
subservient manner, complied with all his whims and prejudices. Now was
the time then for the remains of the Pitt faction to make an effort to
dislodge their enemies from their strong hold of _place_ and _power_!
Alas! alas!! the despicable Whigs now began to cry for help from _the
people_; from that people whom they had so infamously deceived. They,
however, called in vain for the protecting hand of that people whom they
had so basely betrayed; they called in vain for the helping hand of that
people whom they had insulted and oppressed, and whose voice they had
treated with contempt and derision, when basking in the sunshine of
power. The people had been enlightened; the people had read Cobbett, and
they were no longer to be deluded, and made the tools of a despicable,
a hypocritical, and a tyrannical faction, such as the Whigs had proved
themselves during their administration. The King was well advised of
this by the old PITT creatures; he therefore treated the Whig ministers
with very little ceremony; he made a very serious affair of their
intention to make him violate his coronation oath; he demanded that they
should abandon the Catholics, or abandon their places. The _place-loving
Whigs_ made no parley even with the King, but instantly and
unconditionally agreed to comply with his demand; thus deserting the
Catholics and their own principles together, to save their places. The
King was astonished and disappointed; he had no idea that they would
have acted so basely, and Lords Liverpool, Eldon, and Castlereagh were
foiled for a moment, in their attempt to dislodge them; but their best
ally was the hatred and the indignation which the people evinced towards
the Whigs. Taking advantage of this, the Outs urged the King on to
insult his then ministers, by demanding a written pledge from them, that
they would never bring forward the measure any more in Parliament; thus
openly evincing that His Majesty would not take their words. The paltry
Whigs did all they could to save their places; they bore kicking with
wonderful patience; they were as subservient as spaniels; they promised
every thing, and they prayed lustily; but the King was determined, and
persisted in demanding a _written pledge_. This was such a premeditated,
barefaced insult, that they could not submit to it. They would bear
kicking privately, but it was too much to be kicked and cuffed so
publicly, and to be asked to sign their names to their own condemnation;
this was too much for the most degraded of men to bear with any degree
of temper. They now remonstrated, but their remonstrances were in vain;
the King despised them for their meanness as much as he had before
detested them for their insolence, and, without any further ceremony,
he gave them one more kick, and kicked them headlong out of place and
power.
_Thus fell the bass Whig faction, never to rise more!_ deservedly
execrated by all honest men, lamented by none but those who profited
by their being in office, by their hangers-on, and by such men as Mr.
Waithman, the city patriot, who was looking out for a place with as much
eagerness and anxiety as a cat would watch to pounce upon a mouse: a few
such men as these were mortified and hurt at the fall of those to whom
they were looking up for situations of profit, and for pensions, which
were to be extorted from the pockets of the people; but the nation at
large rejoiced at the downfal of these upstart, hypocritical pretenders
to patriotism. The people knew that they should not gain any thing by
the change; they knew that the Pittites were open and avowed enemies to
the liberties of the people; and, therefore, they did not expect any
good from them. But the Whigs had professed every thing, and performed
nothing; they had grossly deceived the people, and, in revenge for their
treachery, everyone rejoiced at their fall. How many a good and staunch
friend to Liberty did I know, at this time, who became for ever
neutralized, in consequence of having been deceived in Fox; they now
made up their minds never again to place any confidence in any political
professions, from whomsoever they might come.
Mr. Pitt was interred, with great funeral pomp, on the 22nd day of
February. On the 29th of April, the Commons impeached Lord Melville;
and, after being _convicted_ by the unanimous verdict of the _whole
nation_, he was acquitted by a majority of his _brother peers_. On the
12th of June, peace was signed between the Emperor of France and our
magnanimous ally the Emperor of Russia: on the 20th of July, and on the
6th of August, the sanctified Emperor of Austria abdicated the throne of
Germany, and declared himself the hereditary Emperor of Austria.
On the 13th of September, Mr. Fox died at Chiswick. Oh! what an injury
has the character of human nature sustained by his not having died one
year before! If Mr. Fox had been taken from this world at the time when
Mr. Pitt died, his name would have been immortalized, and he would
have been handed down to posterity as one of the brightest and purest
instances of political patriotism. But, alas! he unfortunately lived to
make one of the Whig ministry, one of the "Talents" in 1806, and his
deeds are recorded in the TEN acts of the Whigs, as I have enumerated
them above.
About this period the conduct of the Princess of Wales was investigated
by a committee of the privy council. This affair, which was called the
"Delicate Investigation," lasted some time, and caused a considerable
sensation throughout the country. It created great anxiety amongst
politicians to ascertain what was the nature and extent of the inquiry;
but it was studiously kept a profound secret, very much to the injury of
the Princess, because, amongst the Prince of Wales's friends, there were
not wanting friends, aspersers of character, to whisper away her fair
fame.
Lord Lauderdale went to Paris on an embassy, to negotiate peace, but
soon returned without any successful termination of his mission. Mr. Fox
was buried by a public funeral, in Westminster Abbey, on the 10th of
October, and was attended by his numerous friends, which composed
a great portion of the men of talent belonging to both Houses of
Parliament. One act of the Whig ministry deserves to be recorded with
the highest praise; and this is a proof that few men are so worthless
but they possess some good qualities. If the Whig ministers had, in
other respects, conducted themselves with even a small portion of
becoming decency towards the nation; and, if they had not perpetuated
a system of white slavery at home, which they certainly did in almost
every measure that they proposed to and carried through Parliament, they
would have been immortalised by the abolition of the black slave trade
abroad. But, in this measure of abolishing the slave trade, the canting
_Saints_, with Wilberforce at their head, joined them with as great
an avidity as they supported every measure to curtail the rights and
liberties of the people at home. Lord Henry Petty stamped his character
as a statesman, by becoming a humble imitator of Mr. Pitt, even so far
as to eulogise the greatest of all frauds and humbugs, the 11 Sinking
Fund." But this was always a subject which tickled John Gull's _ear_, at
the same time that it puzzled his _brains_, and emptied his _pockets_.
The Parliament was dissolved, and a general election took place in
November, 1806. The Whigs thought that, at all popular places, they
should bring in their friends with a high hand. They, however, were very
much deceived;--they were warmly opposed every where, and, instead of
being, as they had heretofore been, the popular candidates, they were
in all quarters unpopular, and nothing but ministerial influence gained
them their seats. In several places they were thrown out. The electors
for the borough of Southwark rejected Mr. Tierney, and he was obliged to
come in for a ministerial rotten borough. Mr. Sheridan was opposed
by Mr. Paul, for Westminster, where he was evidently far from being
popular. The Whigs being in place and power, exercised the most
unconstitutional means to carry their elections; they proved themselves
much more barefaced in exercising their corrupt influence than the
Pittites ever had, and they unblushingly set the opinion of the people
at complete defiance. In Hampshire, Lord Temple behaved in the most
arbitrary manner, and attempted to dictate in the most overbearing way;
but, in doing so to Sir William Heathcote, he behaved so insolently,
that the old Pittite of a baronet exposed him to his party, which caused
the greatest indignation in the breast of every independent freeholder
throughout the county and the kingdom.
One of our members for Wiltshire, Ambrose Goddard, of Swindon, being old
and superannuated, resigned, and one of an old family, RICHARD LONG, of
Rood Ashton, was to be foisted upon the county by an arrangement made
between two clubs, without consulting the wishes of the freeholders. Mr.
Goddard had resigned in consequence of some questions that I had put to
him at a former election, as to his neglect of duty; which neglect he
confessed arose from ill health and inability to attend in his place, in
consequence of his age; and this rendered it too ridiculous for him to
offer himself again. Mr. Richard Long, of Rood Ashton, was a fox-hunting
country squire, without any other qualification to be a Member of
Parliament than that of belonging to an ancient family of the county; in
fact, he was proverbially a man of very inferior knowledge, remarkable
only for being a stupid country squire, who, although a sportsman,
scarcely knew how to address his tenants on his health being drank on a
rent-day.
At a former election for the county, I attended on the day of
nomination, at the townhall at Devizes, and, after Ambrose Goddard and
Henry Penruddock Wyndham, Esgrs., had, in the usual form, been proposed
and seconded, when the sheriff was about to put it to the vote, I
stepped forward, and desired that, before the show of hands was taken, I
might ask a question or two of the candidates who were the late members.
This produced a murmur amongst the old electioneering stagers of
the county; and Mr. Salmon, an attorney, who, from his overbearing
disposition in the borough of Devizes, had acquired the name of "King
Salmon," cried, _order! order!_ and begged that the sheriff would
proceed to the regular business of the day. I was young and bashful, but
in so good a cause I was not to be put down so easily, although I had
never attended at an election meeting before; I therefore respectfully,
but firmly, addressed the High Sheriff, and demanded to exercise the
right of a freeholder, by asking some questions of the candidates as
to their former conduct in Parliament, of which questions I expected a
specific answer, before I gave them my suffrage again. I was once more
called to order by some of the ministerial sycophants; but, I added,
that, unless I was permitted to put these questions, and received a
satisfactory answer, I should feel it my duty to propose some other
candidate.
The High Sheriff, _Hungerford Penruddock_, Esq., who, by the bye, had an
eye himself to the future representation of the county, now interposed,
and decided that as a respectable freeholder of Wilts Mr. _Hunt_ had an
undoubted right to put any questions which he might think proper to the
candidates, before he proceeded to take the show of hands. Poor old Mr.
Goddard mumbled out that he had represented the county for forty years,
and had never before had any question put to him. A profound silence now
pervaded the hall, and I proceeded as follows:--" Mr. Goddard, I wish to
ascertain how you gave your vote in the House of Commons when the bill
was brought in imposing a duty of TWO SHILLINGS PER BUSHEL upon malt?
Wiltshire is a very considerable barley county, and many of your
constituents are large barley growers, whose interests are seriously
affected by this measure, which will take a very great sum of money
annually out of their pockets. How did you give your vote upon that
occasion?" Mr. Goddard hesitated, and stammered out, in a very feeble
voice, "_I have been incapacitated by old age and ill-health from
attending my duty in Parliament, for the_ LAST TWO YEARS. _I have never
been in the House during that time, and, I fear I shall never be able to
attend again_."
I next turned round and addressed Mr. Wyndham, the other candidate, as
follows:-- "Well, Mr. Wyndham, as your colleague was '_incapacitated_'
by old age from attending at all in the House, how did you vote upon
this important measure, which so materially affects the interests of
your constituents?" Mr. Wyndham, placing his _finger_ upon his right
temple, as if to recollect himself, _pertly and affectedly_ replied,
"'Pon my honour, Mr. Hunt, I cannot charge my memory whether I was in
the House or not upon that occasion_." Upon this, I addressed him, at
considerable length, shewing how many acres of barley were grown in the
county of Wilts, and what an enormous sum of money would be taken out of
the pockets of his constituents; and I proved that this was a tax that
affected them a great deal more than the income tax, about which there
had very properly been so much said. I added, that, in this additional
duty upon malt and beer, one brewer in the town of Devizes would pay
more than the whole inhabitants of the town, amounting to a population
of six or seven thousand persons, would pay by the income tax; I
urged, that the members for all the other barley counties in the
kingdom--Norfolk, Suffolk, Hertfordshire, Sussex, Hampshire, &c. had
opposed the measure with all their power and influence; therefore, I
wished to know what measures he had taken to oppose and resist the
passing of it? But all the answer that I could get from our worthy and
efficient Member of Parliament, Mr. Wyndham, was, "'_Pon his honour he
could not recollect, could not charge his memory whether he was in the
House or not when this measure was discussed and passed_!"
My efforts on this occasion were, however, in vain, I had no one to
second my exertions and inquiries, and the independent electors of
Wiltshire proceeded to the business of the day, and once more returned
the above two _worthy, capable_, and _efficient_ representatives, to
watch over their rights and liberties, to be the guardians and trustees
of their property, and to assist in making those laws which have brought
the country to its present state. I warned them, I began to warn them,
thus early; and I continued to warn them against such apathy, such
dereliction of principle, as long as I remained amongst them in that
county. My having dared to ask a question and to expose the two
venerable representatives of the county in such a public manner was an
offence not to be forgiven; and accordingly I was set down as a jacobin
and leveller, and was looked upon with an evil eye by the cunning
supporters of the system, the parsons, lawyers, and attorneys. I
received the thanks of many of the freeholders privately; but the poor
sycophants did not dare to shew their, approbation publicly. How
many of them are there who, when they read this, will recollect the
circumstance with shame, and feel a pang of remorse that they did not
stand forward at the time to obey the dictates of their conscience.
We will now return to the dissolution of the Parliament in 1806. On that
occasion I made one more effort to rouse my brother freeholders of the
county into a sense of their political rights. In order to stimulate
them to the exercise of those rights, I called upon them in a public
address, which I sent to be inserted in the Salisbury and Winchester
Journal; and, taking care that there should be no pretence for refusing
it, I sent the money to pay for it as an advertisement; but the
time-serving proprietors of that paper refused to insert it in the
columns of their Journal; I therefore had it printed and published in
numerous handbills, which I caused to be pretty generally circulated.
It also obtained admission into one of the Bath newspapers, and Mr.
Cobbett, to whom I sent one of the bills, gave it a place in his
Political Register. It will be impossible for me, in these Memoirs, to
give all the public documents of this sort which I have sent forth to
warn my fellow-countrymen of their danger, and to exhort them to stand
up to maintain and defend their rights and liberties; but I will
insert this, my first printed address, as I find it in the tenth volume
of Cobbett's Political Register, published in November, 1806; and it
will shew that I have always been consistent in my public conduct, and
always maintained the same independent principles from that time to
this.
"_Mr. Hunt's Address to the independent Freeholders of
the County of Wilts_.
"GENTLEMEN, I flatter myself that a few lines addressed
to you by a brother freeholder, (one who has ever
lived among you, and has ever been most sincerely devoted
to the liberty and independence of the county,) will not, at
this critical period, be deemed obtrusive, nor wholly unworthy
of your serious consideration.
"Considering, with many of the best disposed characters
in the kingdom, that the fate of this country will be in a
great measure decided by the approaching election, I
think it highly important, that every freeholder should be
exhorted to think and act for himself on this occasion. Let
every man remember, that by bartering his liberty at this
awful period, he may speedily endanger the very existence
of his country. If you duly reflect on the present situation
of the Prussians, and every other power on the Continent
that are opposed to our powerful enemy, I think
you will agree with me that this moment is the most awful
in the history of Europe. Old England, our country, is
not yet subdued; let us hope that she never will; but, it
is by every thinking man confessed to be in a very perilous
situation--in such a situation that it cannot possibly
much longer support its independence, without the extraordinary
sacrifices and exertions of the people. Therefore,
it behoves you, my brother freeholders of this county, at
this moment in particular, and let me conjure you, as
the greatest boon you can bestow on your country 'diligently
and impartially to inquire whether all the evils
we endure, and all the dangers that threaten us, are
not to be ascribed to the folly and the baseness of those
who have so shamefully abused their privilege of choosing
Members of Parliament.' The dangers I allude to will
(I fear) be increased by every post we receive from the
Continent; the evils are a system of taxation, which must
be felt by us all (to say the least of it) to have trebled the
paupers of this county, within the last twenty years. No
country is willing to attribute its ruin to its own baseness,
but if you tamely submit to have a man thrust down your
throats, to be a representative for this county, by the Beckhampton
or the Deptford Club, or any other party of men
whatever, without your considering whether he be a proper
independent character, and capable of executing such an
important trust, at this eventful period; if you basely and
tamely submit to this worst of degradation--whether it be
from indolence, or whether it be from the worst of all human
dependence, the fear of offending Mr. Long or Mr.
Short--you will be a disgrace to your country, and be
curst by your posterity for your pusillanimous surrender of
those liberties and just rights that were so gloriously secured
to you by your forefathers. I beseech you, let no
man deceive himself; if he act in this manner, I am persuaded
that he may live to be convinced that he has, by
losing this opportunity, been in a great degree instrumental
in his country's ruin.--Is there a man among you so insensible
as not to feel the weight of the present taxes, and
yet so hardened as to go to the hustings and give his vote
to a mere cypher:--to a man from whom he has not the
least reason to expect any thing but a tame acquiescence
in the measures of any one who happens to be the minister
of the day! The man who is now looked out to be our new
representative, his very best friends do not speak of any
qualification that he possesses, to make him worthy of that
honourable situation; they only tell us of his uncle's long
purse! therefore, in good truth, we may as well be repre-
sented by his uncle's old three-corner'd hat. And as for
the other member, even in his youthful days he was no
better in the House of Commons than an old woman. Is
there no honourable and independent man to be found in
the county of Wilts, capable of sustaining such a charge?
I, myself, have no doubt but there are many; but it is that
cursed long purse, and an idea that the freeholders of this
county will never exert themselves for their independence,
that deter many from stepping forward that would do
honour to the trust reposed in them. There are a number
of freeholders in this county that are independent, if they
would for one moment think themselves so. Then let us
say we will have a man of our own choosing, as free of
expense to himself as we would wish him to be honest and
true to the confidence reposed in him. But if you let this
present opportunity slip, I, for one, will never despair; I
shall look on you with feelings of contempt and indignation;
I shall wait patiently for the day when we shall be
enabled to exert ourselves effectually for the preservation
of those just rights and liberties that are the bulwarks of
our glorious and blessed Constitution.
I am, Gentlemen, with great respect,
Your obedient humble servant,
"H. HUNT."
"Chisenbury House,
Oct. 30th., 1806."
This appeal to the freeholders of Wilts gave great umbrage to the
numerous friends of Mr. LONG, or rather to the whole of the friends of
the Pitt system, which evidently included Whigs as well as Tories;
but it produced no beneficial effect upon the senseless and inanimate
freeholders of the county of Wilts. I was considered a very impudent
fellow for my pains, though the almost universal whisper amongst the
freeholders was, "what Mr. Hunt says is true enough, but what use is
it?" The election took place, and Mr. Wyndham and Mr. Long were chosen
without any opposition. The Whig ministry, or, ironically speaking, "All
the Talents," were discarded in the Spring of 1807. Lord Eldon took
the seals of office, and, to the astonisbment of the whole nation, Mr.
Perceval was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the whole gang
of Pitt's underlings came into place; and the Ministry was consequently
composed of Castlereagh, Canning, Liverpool, the Roses and Longs; while,
to crown the whole, Sir Vicary Gibbs was appointed Attorney General. As
soon as the new Ministers were firmly seated in the saddle and settled
in their places, they caused the Parliament to be once more dissolved.
During the last election, the people of Westminster, in consequence
of the exertions of Mr. Paull and the able friends by whom he was
surrounded, had made such a rapid progress in political knowledge,
that they were quite prepared to break the trammels in which they had
hitherto been bound by the two political factions of _Ins_ and _Outs_,
nicknamed Whigs and Tories. This change was brought about by the
strenuous personal efforts of Mr. Cobbett, and by the excellent, clear,
patriotic, and convincing addresses which he weekly published in his
Political Register, seconded by the assistance of some very intelligent,
public spirited men, amongst which number was a very worthy young
friend of Liberty, Mr. ABRAHAM HEWLINGS, and the famous Mr. POWELL, the
attorney, who lately cut such a conspicuous figure in the character of
attorney for the prosecution of the Bill of Pains and Penalties against
the Queen. By these persons the spirit of the electors of Westminster
appeared to be roused to a proper sense of the power which they
possessed, to return their own members in spite of the intrigues of the
two factions.