papers, requesting the freeholders to attend a preliminary meeting, to
sign a requisition to the Sheriff, for the purpose of calling a county
meeting, to address the Prince Regent, upon his accepting that office. A
considerable number of freeholders who were in Bath attended, and signed
the requisition that I had drawn up, and at the head of which I had set
my name. About twenty or thirty names were subscribed, and the next
morning I waited upon Mr. Gore Langton, one of the then Members for the
county, to ask his opinion, and to give him an opportunity of signing
his name, if he chose; I candidly and explicitly informed him, that the
purpose was to take, as the ground-work of the address, a Reform in
Parliament, and the abolition of useless sinecures and unmerited
pensions. He politely thanked me for the call, said that it would be
indiscreet in him, as the Member for the county, to sign his name to the
requisition, but added, that he perfectly approved of the object of the
meeting, and in case the Sheriff should call it, he would make a point
of attending it, and of supporting the address to the Regent, which it
was my intention to propose; the heads of which I read to him, and which
he highly approved. I told him that I designed to drive round to the
principal towns of the county, to procure signatures from all parts,
that the Sheriff might not have any opportunity of refusing to call the
meeting. Of this plan he also very much approved.
I took a friend with me in my tandem, and drove to Bristol, where we
procured only one name. From thence we went to Wells, Glastonbury,
Bridgwater, Taunton, Wellington, and returned by Chard, Yeovil,
Ilchester, Shepton Mallet, and Frome, to Bath. We were out, I think,
five days, and obtained the signatures of upwards of four hundred
freeholders, men of all parties, as the requisition was drawn in very
general terms, to take the sense of a county meeting upon the propriety
of presenting a dutiful and loyal address to His Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales, upon his accepting the high office of Regent of the
United Kingdom, &c. On my arriving at Ilchester, I called first upon Mr.
Tuson, the attorney, as the most respectable person in the town; and
upon reading over the requisition, he immediately signed it, and
requested that, if I went to Yeovil, I would call on Mr. Goodford, which
I promised to do. I obtained a number of names amongst the freeholders
of Ilchester, many of whom, I found, were clients of the worthy
attorney. My having obtained such a name as his, was a sure passport to
success amongst his neighbours. The fact was, that the attorneys pretty
generally took the bait; to promote the presenting a dutiful and loyal
address to the new Regent, met with their general concurrence.
We went on to Yeovil, and called on Squire Goodford, as Mr. Tuson had
requested. The Squire was a young man, and upon seeing Mr. Tuson's name,
he gave us his without hesitation; and having got the Squire's name, of
course we got the name of almost every free holder in the town upon whom
we called. At some places we certainly received a rebuff; but,
generally speaking, we were received with great politeness, attention,
and civility. At Taunton we met with a very hearty welcome, and got a
great number of signatures. Dr. Blake, Mr. Buncomb, and Mr. Dummet, will
not fail to recollect it, and that they promised to attend the county
meeting and support an address for Reform.
Whether the word Reform was in the requisition, I forget; but I well
know that, to all those who inquired or wished to be informed of the
object of the meeting, I never disguised my intention of making that a
leading feature of the address. Indeed, it spoke for itself. It was a
requisition to the Sheriff to call a meeting of the freeholders and
inhabitants of the county, to take into consideration the propriety of
addressing his Royal Highness the Prince Regent. Nothing could be
clearer or fairer. First, it was to call a meeting; second, when the
meeting was assembled, it was to take into its consideration the
propriety of presenting a dutiful and loyal address to the individual
who was just invested with the office of Chief Magistrate; and third, if
that proposition should be agreed to, why then to discuss and to settle
what should be the nature of that address. We invited all parties to
sign it, without distinction or exception; and, as almost every man in
the county was a stranger to us, we met with some very curious
adventures, of which the two following may be taken as a specimen. In
the small manufacturing town of Chard, we called first upon an attorney,
I think of the name of Clark, who, upon reading over the requisition,
signed it, and without making any comment. He then drew out his purse,
and placed a guinea upon the paper, saying that he begged to accompany
his name with that subscription towards defraying the unavoidable
expense. I politely declined to take it, declaring that we only
solicited signatures, but did not require any subscription. He, however,
would not be denied, adding, that our travelling round the country must
be attended with considerable expense, and, as it ought not to fall upon
one or two individuals, he should feel hurt if we did not suffer him to
pay his share of it. I was about to expostulate, when my companion gave
me a smart twitch by the elbow, and taking up the guinea, he observed
that the gentleman was quite right, and he was much obliged to him.
This gentleman, although a perfect stranger, offered us refreshment, &c.
and pointed out to us where to call upon other freeholders. As soon as
we got into the street, my companion began to expostulate with me,
telling me that it was the height of folly not to make every one who
signed his name subscribe something, as Mr. Clark had done, towards
defraying our expenses. I replied, that I would not suffer him to ask
for any thing from any one; that if any offered to subscribe, well and
good; but if it were known or suspected that we were calling for money,
we should not only lose many signatures, but should in many instances be
considered as very unwelcome visitors, and probably even be treated as
downright intruders My companion, who was a narrow-minded politician,
and of a penurious disposition, followed me in, grumbling, to the next
house that we called at, which was a tradesman's, who, I recollect, sold
salt. I accosted this tradesman in the usual way, by informing him of
our business, requesting him to read the requisition, and desiring to
know if he had any objection to sign it. "Sir," said he, "I do not wish
to read the requisition; I have no objection to sign it, if you are
quite sure that it will not cost me any thing. You are very welcome to
my name as a freeholder, to assist in calling a county meeting. God
knows _we want something done badly enough_; but, if it is ever to cost
me a sixpence, I will not touch it." Giving my friend, who was staring
with his mouth open, a very significant look, I assured the gentleman
that it would never cost him a farthing; upon receiving which assurance
be very deliberately took his pen from the desk, and as deliberately
dipped it in the ink, and then, having taken the paper in his left hand,
and laid it upon the counter, he looked me once more full in the face,
and demanded, "are you quite sure, Sir, if I sign my name, that I shall
not be obliged to attend the county meeting, when it is called?" I told
him that we should be happy with his company if he chose to come to the
meeting, but that it would be left entirely to his own option, whether
he would do so or not. "Sir," said he, "I do not think you would deceive
me," and he then signed his name.
To give an account of the various incidents which occurred, in this
perambulation of the county of Somerset, would be an interesting and
diverting history of itself. I had, indeed, told my companion, at
starting, that, if he kept his eyes and his ears open, our journey would
afford him an opportunity of studying human nature, and witnessing its
various shades and colours, possibly in much greater perfection than he
had ever before experienced, and my prediction was verified. I suppose
that we did not call upon less than five hundred freeholders; in fact,
we procured nearly that number of signatures, and to me this was a most
interesting and entertaining expedition. I had no self-interested object
in view; I was, or at least I believed I was, performing an important
public duty, and my only aim was to procure a county meeting--and for
what, it will be asked? My answer is, for the sole purpose of inducing
my brother freeholders and fellow-countrymen of Somersetshire to look
into their own affairs, instead of trusting to those persons who were
duping and plundering them.
In the neighbourhood of Chard we called upon Mr. Dean, a large
manufacturer of woollen-cloth, who had been a customer of mine to a very
large amount, he having purchased of me at one deal between eight and
nine thousand fleeces of valuable South-down wool, at half-a-crown a
pound; which, I recollect, averaged about six shillings a fleece; so
that the whole sum was about two thousand five hundred pounds. The wool
was to have been paid for, as is usual, upon delivery. But when Mr.
Forsey, who was the partner of Mr. Dean, came to weigh the wool, he
unexpectedly requested, on the part of Mr. Dean, with whom I had had
previous dealings, that I would give them two or three months' credit,
by taking their bills, at that date, for the amount. As in former
transactions I had found Mr. Dean a very honourable man, I readily
consented to grant the favour, though, as a farmer, the custom was
always to be paid for every thing in ready money. The reader must excuse
this apparent digression, or rather this descending to minute
particulars in this transaction with Mr. Dean, which will be hereafter
accounted for. I find it, indeed, necessary to be very particular in
explaining my transactions with Mr. Dean, in consequence of an infamous
calumny, which, subsequently to my leaving the country, and going to
reside in Sussex, was published in the _Taunton Courier_, relative to
what took place when I was, upon this occasion, at Mr. Dean's. I shall
prove the editor of this contemptible paper to be an unprincipled, cold-
blooded libeller, destitute of every manly and honourable feeling; a
wretch, who, from the basest and most mercenary motives, to raise his
obscure paper into notice, and to promote its sale, could disgrace the
name of man, by propagating the most notorious and unfounded falsehood
against the private character of a public man.
When we arrived at Mr. Dean's, we were received with the most hearty
welcome. He lived in very great stile, and he did every thing to shew
his sense of my liberal and generous conduct towards him. The fact of
the case was, that a request was made for more time to pay for the wool;
and, as I was not in want of the money, the further time was given; and
when, at the end of six months, I did receive the debt, I declined to
charge any interest for it. Mr. Dean and his family appeared to feel
great pleasure in paying me every attention, in return for what he
openly declared to be most handsome and liberal conduct on any part. He
admitted that mine was the finest and best lot of English wool that he
had ever purchased; that it turned out remarkably well, and fully
answered the sample. When I sold off my valuable stock of sheep at
Chisenbury farm, Mr. Dean sent up and purchased twenty lambs, that he
might possess some of my stock of pure South-downs; and he afterwards
much regretted that he had been prevailed upon to cross them with the
Spanish Merino breed, which, he said, had entirely defeated his original
object. He took me into his field, to show me the sort which the cross
had produced, and said, that he very much wished to dispose of them, as
they were more plague than profit to him: in fact, he offered to make me
a present of them; which offer I declined to accept; but I told him, as
I had now taken a farm in Sussex, if he would send them half way, I
would purchase them at their value. I believe there were about twenty-
six ewes and an old Spanish ram; and, as far as I can recollect, I was
to give him thirty shillings each for them, which was a fair price, as
times went, they being only small two-teeth ewes.
The requisition being signed by upwards of four hundred freeholders, I
wrote to the Sheriff, Mr. Horner, of Wells, to know when I should wait
upon him with it. He replied, that, as he was just going out of office,
and as the new Sheriff, Mr. Smith Leigh, would be sworn in at Bath, on a
day named in his letter, he begged that I would attend there on that
day, that it might be presented to the new Sheriff, when I could know
his pleasure upon the subject. At the appointed time I accordingly
attended, and the Sheriff, Mr. Leigh, named Monday, the -- day of
March, for the county meeting to be held at Wells.
Although I had taken an estate in Sussex, I had not yet given up my
house in Bath, where I was then residing. On the Sunday previous to the
day fixed upon for the meeting, Mr. Jones Burdett dined with me at Bath,
and while we were at dinner, Mr. Power, an eminent reporter of the
Morning Chronicle, came in. He travelled down, as I understood, at the
request of Sir Francis Burdett and Mr. Cobbett, to report the
proceedings of the meeting. After dinner, the resolutions and the
address being agreed upon, we started for Wells, where we slept that
night, to be in time for the meeting, which was to be held at twelve
o'clock on the following day. We now learned that there had been a very
great stir made in the county, by the gentry and magistrates, of both
the Whig and Tory faction. Many of them had canvassed their tenants and
the freeholders of their neighbourhood, to attend the meeting, to vote
against the proposition of Mr. Hunt, without knowing themselves, or
attempting to explain to others, what Mr. Hunt was going to propose.
Sir John Cox Hippisley, an old Whig Member of Parliament, was very
active; and he employed one James Mills, who was a sort of a steward or
understrapper to Lady Waldegrave, to canvas all their tenants and the
surrounding neighbourhood, for the purpose of bringing in farmers and
others to hold up their hands against "HUNT." Many, who inquired what
they were to oppose, were told by this worthy, that they were to hiss,
hoot, and make a noise, when Hunt spoke, and to hold up their hands
against any thing that he brought forward. I recollect Mr. Power
coming, in the morning, to the door of my bed-room, to inform me of the
character and disposition of the farmers and yeomanry who were
assembled, many of whom he had heard express themselves in a very
indignant manner against this Mr. Hunt, who was going to do something
which the squires had ordered them to prevent.
There was a fine meeting, of not less than four or five thousand
persons; and, as soon as the Sheriff had opened the proceedings, by
having the requisition read, signed, as he said, by Henry Hunt, and four
or five hundred other persons, I stepped forward and began to address
the meeting. _A howl was set up directly_, before they heard one word
that I had to say, by the said Mills, and a gang of slaves whom he had
collected off the Mendip Hills; a set of fellows as ignorant of all
political matters as they were illiterate and besotted. The parsons
joined the howl; and of the black cormorants there was a plentiful
sprinkling, as a number of them herd together at Wells, in consequence
of there being a cathedral, and the residence of a bishop, in that city.
At that time, however, I had a most powerful voice, and in spite of the
beastly howling of these mongrel curs, I made myself heard. I told them,
that the time would come, when they would wish that they had patiently
listened to my advice, and followed my recommendation. I told them then,
that the only remedy to escape _ruin_ and distress would be, for the
landlords to lower their rents, the parsons to reduce their tithes, and
then resolutely join the people in demanding a Reform of the Commons'
House of Parliament, which alone would produce a real diminution of
taxation. O, how the brutish farmers, who had come into Wells that day
at the command of their landlords, did bellow and roar to put me down,
and endeavour to prevent my being heard! O, how many of them have come
to me since I have been in this Bastile, to confess their folly and
lament that they had not taken my advice: how many scores of them have
been sent to this gaol for debt, since that time, ruined by the very
system of taxation that they bellowed for that day! After I had
concluded my address, which was delivered amidst continued contention
and uproar, a great majority wishing to hear me, and occasionally the
bellowers attempted to listen, and for a moment ceased their senseless
clamour: having heard one sentence, they appeared very anxious to hear
what was to follow; but the agent of old Sir John Cox Hippisley, James
Mills, the steward of Lady Waldegrave, under whom they appeared to act,
and whose voice or signal they obeyed as regularly as a pack of well-
trained hounds obey the voice of the huntsman; this worthy, backed by
some half-score of parsons, kept their curs in constant full cry to the
end; when I proposed an address to the Prince Regent, expressive of the
state of the country, and calling his Royal Highness's attention to that
devastating system which would ultimately bring the farmer and the
tradesman to that _ruin_ and distress which had already fallen upon the
industrious labourer and mechanic; praying for an abolition of all
useless and expensive sinecure places and unmerited pensions, a
reduction of the army, economy in the public expenditure, and a reform
in the notorious abuses which were openly practised in the election of
the Members of the Commons' House of Parliament. This address, which was
pretty well heard, was received with applause by a considerable majority
of the meeting; and it was seconded by Mr. Jones Burdett, in a very good
speech, which he delivered upon the occasion. Mr. Horner, the late high
sheriff, and a staunch ministerialist, came forward to propose an
amendment, which, after some little hacking and hammering, he read. It
was a mere time-serving piece of fulsome adulation to the Prince Regent,
totally unworthy the character of a meeting of freemen, and such as
no sensible Englishman would have offered to the Prince, without
expecting to be kicked by his Royal Highness, for its time-serving,
barefaced, unmeaning flattery. Sir John Cox Hippisley, who had not then
_ratted_, a regular Whig, seconded this amendment, in a speech which I
am sure many of those who were present will never forget; it was full of
sophistry end cant; and the old cunning fox whined and coaxed his
hearers in the most supplicating manner, to support the old magistrates
of the county, who, he said, had always been the best friends the
farmers ever had, or ever would have; and a great deal more of such
trash. He implored them not to listen to the advice of strangers, who
wished to withdraw them from that steady loyalty for which the yeomanry
of the county of Somerset had so long been remarkable: he assured them,
that the good old times would come round again, and that, if they would
only wait with patience, all the difficulties and distresses which were
partially felt in the country would be removed, and plenty and
prosperity would be restored. He admitted that a Reform in Parliament
was necessary, but he contended that _that_ was not a _proper time_ to
obtain it, neither was Mr. Hunt a proper person to obtain it for them.--
Sir John Cox Hippisley, who was a needy briefless lawyer, had married a
widow lady of the name of Cox, who was possessed of a good fat dower,
consisting of some very fine estates, which were left her by her late
husband, a gentleman of character and fortune, one of the old
aristocratical families of this county, and who, I believe, had been one
of its representatives in Parliament. Her present lucky husband, Sir
John, prospered much better as a country magistrate, and a Member of
Parliament for the borough of Sudbury, than he did at the bar. The
worthy baronet will be long remembered in Parliament for the _endless
speeches_ which he made there, and the _thin benches_ which, as a
natural consequence, he always produced. I have been told by some of the
members, that when Sir John Cox Hippisley rose in the House, it was a
signal for the other members to retire to take their dinners, or to
converse upon other subjects; for, if they remained in the House, the
baronet's voice was so melodious, that it was sure to send them all to
sleep.
At the meeting of which I am now giving an account, the worthy baronet
_chattered_ for nearly an hour; and when he had concluded, Sir Thomas
Acland came forward with a very confident air. As Sir Thomas had been
taking notes all the time that I was speaking, and had frequently made
what he intended for very significant gestures, we all expected that be
would attempt something like an answer to my arguments, to show that the
address which I had proposed was either improper or unnecessary. He
began with, "Gentlemen"--but Sir Thomas, being a very young man, _could
never get out_ that which it appeared he wished to say; and, after
repeating "Gentlemen," and hesitating for some time, he, in a most
ludicrously affected manner, exclaimed, _"England, with all thy faults,
I love thee still!"_ and with this quotation he was so exceedingly
delighted, or was so unable to find any thing else to say, that after
having, cuckoo-like, to the great amusement of his audience, repeated it
at least half a dozen times, he retired without uttering another
sentence. We have heard since, that Sir Thomas is become an _orator_, he
having made several brilliant speeches in Parliament. It may be so; but
his _debut_ at Wells was most laughable. Mr. Goodford, one of the
Ilchester Bastile Visiting Magistrates, next came forward, to disclaim
any participation in calling the meeting: he had, he said, certainly
signed the requisition, but he did not know the object of it. He was
succeeded by a Mr. Stephen, a clergyman, a brother to the Master in
Chancery, who also supported the amendment, and declaimed against Mr.
Waithman and all the Reformers; but particularly, by insinuation,
against myself, who had agitated the peaceable county of Somerset. This
gentleman certainly spoke very eloquently, but he proved himself to be a
determined supporter of the most profligate system, or (to use the
proper phrase) a true thick and thin Government man. Mr. Power, the
gentleman who came to report, now stepped forward, and, in a short but
animated reply to the parson's attack upon Mr. Waithman, who was absent,
most successfully repelled his insinuations against the reformers.
When I went round the county to get the requisition signed, I met with
hundreds of not merely Reformers, but absolute heroes in the cause, who
promised to come to the meeting, and to support my address. But, alas!
when the day of battle came, these blustering blades were all vanished;
in fact, I saw but two or three of those who had so strongly pledged
themselves to attend, and they looked as shy as possible; and instead of
coming upon the hustings to support me, they were afraid of being seen
to speak to me--so subservient and so toad-eating were they to the
Magistracy, when they came into contact with them. Upon the right of the
hustings, where I stood, there were only about half a dozen, and five of
them came with me. Mr. Waddington attempted to address the meeting; but,
as he was seen coming to the hustings in company with me, the
jolterheads would not hear him; and the other person who had attended me
round the county being very illiterate, so much so, indeed, as to be
incapable of speaking three words of English, or uttering a sentence
without betraying his ignorance, we did not think it proper to expose
him. I, therefore, shortly replied to the artful addresses of Sir John
Cox Hippisley, and Parson Stephen. When the Sheriff put it to the vote,
by a show of hats, whether the amendment should be adopted or not, it
was most evident to me, and I believe to all who were upon the hustings,
that the majority was against the amendment. The Sheriff, however,
declared the show of hats to be so equal, that he could not decide which
party had the majority; upon which the _old fox_ suggested to the
Sheriff, to divide the meeting to the right and to the left. This was no
sooner said than, as if by previous consent, about forty constables made
a wide passage down the middle, which they cleared with their staves,
while the Magistrates and Parsons, with the most scrutinising eyes,
marked all those that passed over from their side to support my address.
This very unfair conduct produced the desired effect; hundreds, who had
held up their hats in the crowd for my motion, were so intimidated by
this movement, that they did not venture to expose themselves to the
rancour of the Magistrates and Parsons; and the majority was now
evidently for the amendment, although, in spite of the stratagem which
had been used, the majority was so small, that our opponents clearly, by
their looks, betrayed their conviction that they had sustained a defeat.