with a princely fortune; he lived like a nabob, in a beautiful place at
Wilbury, and he received us in the most polite manner possible. Having
briefly premised the object of our visit, I handed him the requisition,
which he read over; and then, casting his eye over the number of
signatures, he said, "Really, Mr. Hunt, I know of no other course to
pursue but to comply with the request of yourself and your brother
freeholders, who have signed the requisition. Without pledging myself
to any opinion upon the subject, I consider it my duty to attend to the
legitimate request, made by such a respectable number of freeholders of
the county of which I am the sheriff. But," added he, "before we consult
together where will be the most convenient place, and what will be the
most convenient time, to hold the meeting, both for you and me, I have
one request to make to you; which is, that after your ride you and your
friend will take some refreshment, which I have ordered to be laid for
you in the next room. If you will follow me, I shall be happy to partake
of it with you, and we will then talk the matter over." He now led us
into a magnificent saloon, where there was a cold collation spread
before us, fit for a prince and his suite. It consisted of every
delicacy of the season, and some most beautiful fruit, the production of
his extensive hot-houses. The butler drew the corks of some sparkling
Champaigne and fine old hock; but my friend, who was a worthy farmer,
requested a draught of ale, in preference to these delicious wines,
neither of which did he relish equal to some home-brewed old stingo.
This was instantly produced, and in it the Baronet heartily pledged my
companion. When we had regaled ourselves, he proposed that we should
take a walk round his domain and gardens, and return to an early dinner,
so that we might get home in good time in the evening. The first part of
the invitation we accepted; but as we had already fared so sumptuously,
I declined the invitation to dinner. After he had shown us round the
gardens and park of Wilbury, we agreed that Salisbury would be the most
proper place to hold the meeting; and, at my request, he fixed the day
for Wednesday, the 17th of May; a distance of time which would allow the
notice of the meeting to be advertised twice in the Salisbury Journal.
Thus, to a perfect stranger, did Sir Charles Malet conduct himself;
seeking only to do his duty openly, honestly, and conscientiously,
without being guided or warped by party feelings, or factious views or
motives. There was no high-sounding title among the requisitionists, but
they were men, and they were freeholders; and, as he justly observed, it
was not his business to inquire whether they were Lords or Commoners,
his only study was to do his duty; which he would endeavour to perform
conscientiously.
The next day I sent for my attorney, and instructed him to prepare a
conveyance, a deed of gift of a freehold tenement and garden, which I
wished to be delivered immediately to Mr. Cobbett; which he promised to
do at Salisbury, on the morning of the 17th of May, if Mr. Cobbett would
meet him there. I directed him to write to that gentleman, to request
him to meet us there for that purpose, and I also wrote to him to say,
that I begged his acceptance of a freehold in the county of Wilts, that
he might no longer have the same excuse for not attending our county
meeting, which he gave to me when I met him at Winchester, and invited
him to meet me on the appointed day. I received an answer from him, to
say, that he would attend; and, in consequence of this, before we went
into the Hall in the morning, I met him at the Antelope, where my
attorney was waiting with the deeds, which I signed, and made a present
of to Mr. Cobbett; thus conferring upon him, for his patriotism, a
freehold estate, which, although a small one, made him, nevertheless,
a freeholder of the county, and entitled him not only to be present as
such at our meetings, but also to a vote for the members of the county.
I had prepared the resolutions, which were similar in effect to those
which were passed at the Hampshire meeting; but Mr. Madocks having, in
the intermediate time, on the 11th of May, made his famous motion in the
House of Commons, distinctly charging Mr. Perceval and Lord Castlereagh
with having actually sold a seat in Parliament to Mr. Quinten Dick, and
with having endeavoured to prevail upon Mr. Dick to vote against Colonel
Wardle's motion, in the case of the Duke of York; and the Honourable
House having declined to inquire into it, Mr. Cobbett proposed to notice
this circumstance in the resolutions. This was immediately done, and
we proceeded to the Council-House, where Sir Charles Malet opened the
business, in the most crowded assembly that was ever witnessed in that
city. As soon as he had done this, I addressed the meeting, which
address was received in the most flattering manner, and I closed it by
proposing the following resolutions. They were seconded, in an able
speech, by the late William Collins, Esq. of Salisbury, and supported by
Mr. Bleek, of Warminster, and were carried by an immense majority, many
thousand hats being held up for them, and not above a dozen against
them. They were inserted in the 15th volume of Cobbett's Register, page
855; but it may be necessary, perhaps, to insert them here, as all my
readers may not have access to that work.
"COUNTY OF WILTS.
"At a meeting of the Freeholders, Landholders, and
other Inhabitants of the County of Wilts, convened by
the High Sheriff, and holden in the Council-Chamber
in the City of New Sarum, on Wednesday, the 17th
of May, 1809, Sir Charles Warre Malet, in the chair;
"It was Resolved,
"That the thanks of this meeting be given to Gwillim
Lloyd Wardle, Esq. for having instituted the recent inquiry
in the House of Commons, relative to the conduct
of His Royal Highness the Duke of York, as Commander
in Chief: for having, unconnected with, and unsupported
by, any party or faction, prosecuted that laudable undertaking
with unexampled magnanimity, talent, zeal, temper,
and perseverance; and especially for having had the
resolution to discharge his duty, in defiance of threats
and prejudices excited against him by the King's Ministers,
and many of the leaders of the opposite party.
"That the thanks of this meeting be given to Sir F.
Burdett, Bart. who seconded Mr. Wardle's motion; and
also to Lord Viscount Folkestone, for the active and able
assistance he afforded to Mr. Wardle during the whole of
the inquiry.
"That the thanks of this meeting be given to Lords
Viscount Milton and Althorpe, Lord Stanley, the Hon.
T. Brand, Sir Samuel Romilly, Knight, Major-General
Fergusson, S. Whitbread, T. Curwen, T. W. Coke, H.
Martin, T. Calcraft, and C. W. Wynne, Esqrs. who, during
such inquiry, stood forward the advocates of impartial
justice; and also to the whole of the minority of 125,
who divided in favour of Mr. Wardle's motion; amongst
whom, we, as Wiltshire men, observe with pleasure the
name of that venerable and truly independent senator,
William Hussey, Esq. who, for nine successive Parliaments,
has represented the city of New Sarum with ability
and perseverance, and with undeviating integrity
and independence: of Thomas Goddard, Esq. Member
for Cricklade; and of Benjamin Walsh, Esq. Member for
Wootton Basset, in this county: while we observe with
indignation and regret, that the name of neither of the
Members for this county does appear in that honourable
list: and we also lament that, with the exception of
Lord Folkestone, William Hussey, Thomas Goddard, and
Benjamin Walsh, Esquires, we do not recognise in that
list the names of any of the THIRTY-FOUR Members who
are sent to Parliament by the various boroughs in this
county.
"That, in reverting to the cause of the disgraceful
acts revealed and demonstrated during this inquiry, this
meeting cannot help observing, that in the Act of Parliament, commonly called the Act of Settlement, in virtue
of which Act only His Majesty's family were raised to the
throne of this kingdom, it is declared, 'That no person
who has an office or place of profit under the King, or
receives a pension from the Crown, shall be capable of
serving as a Member of the Commons' House of Parliament:
but that, notwithstanding the wise precautions of
this Act, which is one of our great constitutional laws,
and which, as its preamble expresses, was made for the
further limitation of the Crown, and better securing the
rights and liberties of the subject, it appears from a
report laid before the House of Commons, in the month
of June last; in consequence of a motion made by Lord
Cochrane, that there are in that House EIGHTEEN placemen
and pensioners, who, though part of what they
receive was not stated, are in the said report stated to
receive 178,994_l._ a year, out of the taxes paid by the
people, and out of that money, to watch over the expenditure
of which they themselves are appointed.
"That we observe the names of all those Placemen and
Pensioners voting against Mr. Wardle's motion.
"That, in the Act called the Bill of Rights, it is declared,
'That the election of Members of Parliament
ought to be free:' and in the same Act it is declared,
'That the violating the freedom of election of Members
to serve in Parliament, was one of the crimes of King
James the Second, and one of the grounds upon which
he was driven from the throne of this kingdom;' but that,
notwithstanding that law, this meeting have observed,
that on the 14th instant, Mr. Madocks did distinctly charge
Mr. Perceval and Lord Castlereagh with having sold a
seat in Parliament to Mr. Dick, and with having endeavoured
to prevail upon the said Mr. Dick to vote against
Mr. Wardle on the case of the Duke of York; and that
Mr. Madocks having made a motion for an inquiry into
the said transactions, the House, by a very large majority,
decided that there should be no such inquiry.
"That, from these facts, as well as numerous others,
notorious to us and the whole nation, this meeting have
a firm conviction, that in the House of Commons, as
at present constituted, exists the great and efficient cause
of all such scandalous abuses, in various departments of
the state, as have in other countries alienated the subject
from the sovereign, and ultimately proved the downfall of
the state.
"That, therefore, this meeting, anxious alike for the
preservation of His Majesty's throne and legitimate authority;
for the restoration of the rights and liberties
bequeathed them by the wisdom, the fortitude, and the
valour of their forefathers, hold it a duty which they owe
to their sovereign and his successors, to themselves and
to their children, and to the safety, happiness, and renown
of their country, to declare their decided opinion
and conviction, that no change for the better can be
reasonably expected without such a Reform in the Commons'
House of Parliament, as shall make that house in reality,
as well as in name, the representative of the people, and
not an instrument in the hands of a minister. And we
further declare, that, from the proof we have always had
of His Majesty's love for his people, we have full confidence
in his Royal support and protection in our constitutional
efforts against a faction, not less hostile to the
true dignity and just prerogatives of His Majesty's throne,
than they are to the interest and feelings of his faithful,
suffering, and insulted people.
"That Henry Penruddock Wyndham and Richard Long,
Esquires, the representatives of this county, have, by
their late conduct in Parliament, proved themselves undeserving
the confidence of their constituents, and of the
future support of this county.
"Resolved unanimously, That the thanks of this meeting
be given to the High Sheriff, for calling the same,
and for his impartial conduct in the chair."
This being the first public meeting which, within the memory of man, was
ever held in this county for any other purpose but that of an election;
and this meeting being called by a requisition of the yeomanry of the
county, without the names or influence of either of the factions of
Whigs or Tories; and these resolutions being also proposed by me, and
carried most triumphantly, by an immense majority, I have thought proper
to record them, at full length, in the pages of my Memoirs. Mr. Cobbett,
who attended the meeting, expressed himself in language of very high
approbation, as to the manner in which the proceedings were conducted.
This might truly be called the triumph of the people over faction, and
we celebrated it by dining together at the Three Swans Inn. An excellent
short-hand writer, of the name of Willett, attended our meeting, and he
also had attended all the county meetings held at that time, upon this
very important question, an account of which proceedings was given
exclusively in the Statesman newspaper, of which he was the proprietor,
and by whose means that paper was established.
From this period I may date the commencement of my political intimacy
with Mr. Cobbett, who, in his next Register, spoke in very exulting
terms of the respectability and good order of our meeting, and the great
unanimity with which the Resolutions were passed. This was on the 17th
May, 1809--eleven years after, on the 17th May, 1820, I passed by
Salisbury on my road to this Bastile. I had long been a staunch advocate
for a Reform in the representation of the Commons' House of Parliament;
but the infamous practices which had been developed by Mr. Madocks, and
the rejection, by a large majority, of his motion for an inquiry into
those disgraceful practices, so thoroughly rooted in me a conviction of
the absolute necessity of such a Reform, that I came to a determination
within myself, never to cease from my endeavours to obtain it; being
perfectly satisfied that, without an effectual and Radical Reform in the
House of Commons, the boasted Constitution of England would soon become
a mere mockery, and the scoff instead of the envy and admiration of
surrounding States.
For the same reason that I insert the foregoing Resolutions, passed at
the County Meeting for Wiltshire, I will now insert the charge made by
Mr. Madocks, in the Honourable House, on the 11th of May, 1809. Mr.
Cobbett observed, in his Register of the 20th of May following, that "It
ought to be printed "in all shapes and sizes; and be perpetuated in all
the ways in which any act can be perpetuated. A concise statement of the
_charge_ and the _decision_ should have a place in all the Almanacks;
all the printed Memorandum Books; in Court Calendars; Books of Roads;
and I see no harm in its having a place upon a spare leaf in the Books
of Common Prayer. It should be framed and glazed; and hung up in Inns,
Town Halls, Courts of Justice, Market Places, and, in short, the eye of
every human creature should be, if possible, constantly fixed upon it."
I will, therefore, as far as I have the means, hand down the charge and
the decision, by recording it in my Memoirs, for the benefit of my young
readers, who are not old enough to remember the sensation which it
excited at the time, as well as for the information of those who shall
come hereafter. The charge, in Mr. Madocks's own words, was this: "I
affirm that Mr. Dick purchased a seat in the House of Commons, for the
Borough of Cashel, through the agency of the Honourable Henry Wellesley,
who acted for and on behalf of the Treasury; that, upon a recent
question, of the last importance, when Mr. Dick had determined to vote
according to his conscience, the Noble "LORD CASTLEREAGH did intimate to
that Gentleman, the necessity of _his either voting with the Government,
or resigning his seat in that House;_ and that Mr. Dick, sooner than
vote against principle, did make choice of the latter alternative, and
vacate his seat accordingly. To this transaction I charge the Right
Honourable Gentleman, MR. PERCEVAL, _as being privy, and having connived
at it._ THIS I WILL ENGAGE TO PROVE BY WITNESSES AT YOUR BAR, if the
House will give me leave to call them." The Honourable Member, after
making an eloquent and forcible appeal to the House, _moved for an
inquiry._ The Chancellor of the Exchequer, (Mr. Perceval) addressed the
House, and humbly declared that, "whether at _such a time,_ it would be
well to warrant such a species of charges, as merely introductory to the
agitation of the great question of Reform, he left to the House to
determine:" he then made his bow and retired. Lord Castlereagh did the
same. Mr. Madocks then explicitly moved, that the said charge against
the Right Honourable Spencer Perceval, and Lord Viscount Castlereagh,
should be heard at the bar on Monday next. LORD MILTON said, "he would
oppose the motion, if he thought it would tend to promote the question
of Parliamentary Reform. But, although he would vote for the motion in
part, still in whatever way it was decided, _he would not think one jot
the worse of either of the Right Honourable Gentlemen accused, or that
they were in any degree more criminal than all former Governments."_ Sir
FRANCIS BURDETT, in supporting the motion, said, "if the House refused
to inquire into the transaction, or if any Gentleman within its walls
contended these practices formed part of the Constitution, then he must
say that Buonaparte had a "better ally within their walls than he had
any where else." MR. TIERNEY opposed the motion, and said, _"it would be
great injustice to render a few individuals the victims of a system
which did not commence with them."_ MR. WHITBREAD manfully supported the
motion, and said, _"if such a case as this were overlooked, the House
might as well, in his opinion, expunge its Journals, burn its Statutes,
and blot out the Constitution."_ MR. PONSONBY, in opposing the motion,
said, _"he would appeal to all who heard him, whether many seats were
not sold, and that being NOTORIOUS, he never could persuade himself to
take advantage of such a circumstance in a political adversary, for the
purpose of running him down."_ LORD FOLKESTONE warmly supported the
motion, and said, _"that resisting inquiry only served to strengthen the
influence and extend the limits of suspicion, by comprehending all those
who connected themselves with such resistance."_ MR. WINDHAM Opposed the
motion, and in the following words impudently justified the practice. He
affirmed that _"these things were, in fact, so interwoven with the
Constitution, and that Constitution itself was such a complicated
system, that no wise statesman would venture to tear them out, lest he
should take out something very valuable along with them."_ MR. CANNING
called upon the House _"to make a stand THAT NIGHT, against the
encroachments of the factious. To-night it was summoned to make an
immolation of TWO upon his side of the House, and perhaps, if successful
now, it would on the morrow be summoned to sacrifice two stately victims
from the other side."_ Sing Tantararara, Rogues all!!! The House
divided, and the question was taken upon Mr. Madocks's motion FOR AN
INQUIRY into the matter, when EIGHTY-FIVE members voted for the motion,
and THREE HUNDRED AND TEN members voted against all inquiry--Majority
against inquiry, TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE. Such was the _charge,_ and
such was the _result._
After having read the above, will any honest man say, that a Reform in
the House of Commons is not necessary? It was this memorable transaction
to which I alluded, in the resolutions that I proposed, and which were
unanimously adopted at the County Meeting at Salisbury; and, by being
the principal, or, I may say, the sole cause of such meeting being
called, I rendered myself so completely obnoxious to the Government,
that every means were put in practice by their agents and underlings, to
annoy, perplex, and harrass me; amongst which number the _stock purse_
combination took the most prominent part.
At the Michaelmas Sessions 1809, as I have before stated, a Bill of
Indictment was found against me, for an assault upon Stone, the ruffian
gamekeeper of John Benett, Esq. of Pyt House, which indictment was moved
by a writ of _Certiorari,_ into the Court of King's Bench. Michael Hicks
Beach had also commenced an action against me, in the name of Mr.
Jenner, one of his tenants, for a trespass, in following Colonel
Thornton's stag hounds over a portion of his property, after I had
received a notice, warning me off. Both the indictment and the action
were to be tried at the ensuing Spring Assizes, to be holden at
Salisbury, in March, 1810.
The Attorney-General had, in the mean time, moved for, and obtained a
Criminal Information against Mr. Cobbett, for an article which he
inserted in his Register, on the 1st of July, 1809, upon the subject of
flogging the Local Militia in the Isle of Ely. The account of this
flogging was published in the Courier newspaper, on the 24th of June,
which account, as follows, was taken by Mr. Cobbett as his motto: "The
mutiny amongst the LOCAL MILITIA, which broke out at Ely, was
fortunately suppressed on Wednesday, by the arrival of four squadrons of
the GERMAN LEGION CAVALRY from Bury, under the command of General
Auckland. Five of the ring-leaders were tried by a Court Martial, and
sentenced to receive five hundred lashes each; part of which punishment
they received on Wednesday, and a part was remitted. A stoppage for
their knapsacks was the ground of complaint which excited the mutinous
spirit, which occasioned the men to surround their officers and demand
what they deem their arrears. The first division of the German Legion
halted yesterday at Newmarket, on their return to Bury." This
transaction of German soldiers superintending the flogging of English
Local Militia-men, who were scarcely to be called soldiers, and who
were, indeed, only one remove from the volunteers, caused a considerable
sensation throughout the country, and Mr. Cobbett wrote a spirited
article in his Register, in which he indignantly expressed the natural
feeling of an Englishman, upon hearing that German troops were employed
for such a purpose. This publication was seized with avidity by the
Attorney-General, Sir Vicary Gibbs, who not only moved for a Criminal
Information against Mr. Cobbett, the author, but also against his
printer and publisher.
To make the young reader completely acquainted with the subject, it is
necessary here to observe, that some time previous to this, a large body
of German troops, called the German Legion, had been introduced into the
country, by a vote of the faithful guardians of the people's rights and
liberties, contrary to the letter and spirit of the Constitution, and in
direct violation of the Act of Settlement. The admitting of these German
troops excited strong suspicions in the breast of every friend to
freedom, and every lover of the Constitution; and their being employed
in such a service as that of superintending the flogging of Englishmen,
was a most disgusting and revolting sight, which was contemplated with
feelings of the utmost abhorrence by every man who had the least regard
for the honour of his country or the character of his countrymen.