This is the situation we are in, when immense sums are voted for the
erection of monuments to commemorate the deeds of the last 25 years!
This is the state which not to be _proud_ of, Mr. Vansittart said was
proof of baseness in an Englishman! It is in this situation of the
country, that Pitt Clubs have the insolence to hold their triumphal
carousals!--Shall we _never_ see these men in sackcloth? These insolent
men, while wallowing in wealth, do not reflect on the pangs which must
wring the poor man's heart before he can so far subdue the feelings of
the husband and the father as to make him "_desert his family_;" or, if
they do reflect on them, they must be more cruel than the storms and the
waves. The labouring men in England, generally speaking, are the kindest
and most indulgent of husbands and of parents. It has often been
observed by me, that they are generally so to a fault. If a boy or girl
belonging to them behave ill towards their employers, their father and
mother are very hard to be convinced of the fact.--I have often to
remonstrate with them upon this subject, and to remind them of how much
more indulgent they are to their children than I am to mine. 'Aye, Sir,'
said a very good woman to me a little while ago, 'but your children have
their belly full of victuals.' The answer was a _silencer_. And this is
the true cause of their indulgence, and of their excessive affection
too. They see their children in want; they grow up in continual
suffering; they are incessantly objects of compassion over and above the
love which nature has implanted in the parent's breast. Their obstinate
perseverance in justifying the conduct of their children upon all
occasions is a fault; but it arises from the most amiable of human
weaknesses; and though it may, and often is, injurious in its effects,
it is the least censurable of all the frailties of the heart.
"If I have here, as I am sure I have, given the true character of the
English labourer, as a parent and a husband, what must that state of
things be, which has rendered the _desertion of family_ so frequent an
offence as to call forth a hand-bill and _placard_ such as that which I
have quoted above? And, in a state of things like this, are men to be
called _promoters of sedition_, because they endeavour to point out the
real cause of this horrible evil, and also endeavour to point out the
remedy? Aye, but in doing this we point at the same time, to the _weight
of taxes_; and we cite Mr. Preston in support of our doctrine, who says,
that every poor man, who earns _eighteen pounds_ in a year, pays away
_ten pounds of it in taxes._ Mr. Preston's words are these:--'Every
family, even of the poorest labourer, consisting of five persons, may be
considered as paying, in _indirect taxes,_ at least _ten pounds a-year,_
or more than half his wages at seven shillings a week?' And, in another
place he says: 'It should _always be remembered,_ that every _eighteen
pounds_ a-year paid to any _placeman_ or _pensioner,_ withdraws from the
public the means of giving active employment to one individual at
the head of a family; _thus depriving five persons_ of the means of
sustenance from the fruits of _honest industry_ and active labour, and
rendering them paupers!
"What! is this _rebellious_ on the part of Mr. Preston? He is a lawyer
of great eminence. A Member of Parliament. A man of great landed estate.
Could he write and publish this from _rebellious,_ from _treasonable_
motives? What he says is certainly true; and is he not to say it,
because the saying it may be disagreeable to those who live upon the
taxes thus collected? Is it not clear, that, if the money, which the
labourer and journeyman now pay in taxes, were to be suffered to
remain in their pockets, they would not stand in need of _parish_ or
_subscription_ relief? And, if this be _not true,_ why does not some one
of the numerous tax-eating tribe attempt to prove it to be false? Have
not they their full share of the press at their command? Aye, and more
than their share. The sons of corruption are spreading about answers
to me at a penny each, and some of them are given away. There must be
money, somewhere, found for this. The sums necessary to do it must be
very large too. Are they not content with this superiority? I have no
means of _giving papers away._ They say that my writing is trash; they
call the _Letter to the Luddites_ seditious trash; they say that I am an
ignorant fellow, a shallow man, and so forth. Why, then, are they in a
passion? Why not laugh at me and my trash? Why name me at all? Why break
silence after so long a period? They are continually vowing that they
will never notice my trash again; but their hatred, like the love of the
swain, returns the next hour with more ardour than ever, and scatters
their vows to the winds. The most furious amongst them is a _Sinecure
Placeman,_ who writes in the _Times_ newspaper, and upon whom the
droppings of my pen seem to have the same effect as the crumbling of
blue-stone or lump-sugar on the proud flesh of a galled jade. He winces
and dances, and kicks and flings about at a fine rate. Amidst his
ravings he swears that he will cause me to be hanged; and if he should
not succeed, he would, I am sure, if he had any decency, finish his
career by tucking up himself, and that too in his ribbon of the order of
St. Lewis.
"The truth is, that these men and their assistants and encouragers see
their certain doom in _the enlightening of the people_. They see clearly
enough, that conviction must follow facts and arguments like mine
rendered familiar. They see that I am uniting the _mind_ with the
_muscle_ of the country; and, above all things, they see, and they
tremble at, my incessant, and I hope, successful efforts, to convince
the labourers and the journeymen, that they are men who have _rights_,
and that the way to obtain those rights is to pursue a _peaceable_ and
orderly conduct. They hate every one who dwells upon the _miseries_ of
the country; for, _to them_, it is confusion to acknowledge that misery
exists. The _Courier_ asserted, only the other day, that there was no
suffering in or near London, and abused the people for complaining!
Such men would kill you or me or any man who talks of the people's
sufferings. They call the complaints of hunger _sedition_. These writers
are like the wretch, who, unable to force his poor worn-out and starved
horse to drag his load along any further, took out his knife and cut his
throat. And, I have not the least doubt, those men would see one half
of the people's throats cut in order to reduce the rest to silent
submission. The following case, taken from their own accounts of
Wednesday last, will serve as a specimen of what is going on in London.
This is _dying quietly_, according to the recommendation of Mr. Jabet's
_Old Townsman_, who gave such just offence to the people of Birmingham.
'Between twelve and one o'clock on yesterday morning, a poor fellow was
found in a passage in High-street, Bloomsbury, by Sullivan and Hogan,
the watchmen of that district; he had taken shelter for the night. They
requested him to walk on to his lodgings; he did not answer, but walked
towards Monmouth-street, and they walked the contrary road. Between two
and three o'clock they again found him _lying upon a step_ in the same
street; they asked him if he had no lodgings _he tried to answer_, but
could only move his lips, which gave no utterance. They raised him upon
his feet to assist him to the watch-house; he walked a few yards, and
_from weakness fell upon his knees._ They got him upon their shoulders
to carry him to the watch-house, but before they arrived with him _he
appeared to be dead._ The watchman took him to the workhouse, and called
up the house surgeon, who examined the body, and said it was useless to
bleed him, or use any method to restore him, as _he was quite dead._ The
deceased is apparently _about fifty years of age,_ the most _complete
picture of human misery,_ having _no linen upon his back,_ and _his
bones almost through his skin._ By his dress he appears to be a
workman out of employ. He has not been OWNED.'--Look at this, ye vile
miscreants, and then say, whether it was _a crime_ to call _a meeting
of the distressed_ to petition for relief! Hundreds must perish in this
way. Only five days ago I saw more than twenty sailors on Westminster
Bridge, neither of whom had any linen on, and some neither _shoes,
stockings,_ nor _hat._ But, the numbers who have perished and who are
perishing from the _diseases_ occasioned by want are not to be counted.
And yet, it was a crime in you, and the sanguinary sons of corruption
called for your instant execution, because you obeyed the call of the
_distressed_ to hold a meeting of them in Spafields! Not to have obeyed
that call would indeed have been a crime; but, it was a crime of which
your nature was incapable.
"I now come to the _City Petition_ and the _answer of the Prince
Regent._ This is a very important matter, and, therefore, I shall insert
the documents themselves previous to making any remarks on them.
"'ADDRESS AND PETITION.
"'May it please your Royal Highness,
"'We, his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Lord Mayor,
Aldermen, and Commons of the City of London, in Common Council
assembled, humbly approach your Royal Highness, to represent our
national sufferings and grievances, and respectfully to suggest the
adoption of measures which we conceive to be indispensably necessary for
the safety, the quiet and prosperity of the Realm.
"'We forbear to enter into details of the afflicting scenes of
privations and sufferings that every where exist; the distress and
misery which for so many years has been progressively accumulating, has
at length become insupportable--it is no longer partially felt, nor
limited to one portion of the empire--the commercial, the manufacturing,
and the agricultural interests are equally sinking under its
irresistible pressure; and it has become impossible to find employment
for a large mass of the population, much less to bear up against our
present enormous burdens.
"'We beg to impress upon your Royal Highness, that our present
complicated evils have not arisen from a mere transition from war to
peace, nor from any sudden or accidental causes--neither can they be
removed by any partial or temporary expedients.
"'Our grievances are the natural effect of rash and ruinous wars,
unjustly commenced and pertinaciously persisted in, when no rational
object was to be obtained--of immense subsidies to foreign powers to
defend their own territories, or to commit aggressions on those of their
neighbours--of a delusive paper currency--of an unconstitutional and
unprecedented military force in time of peace--of the unexampled and
increasing magnitude of the Civil List--of the enormous sums paid for
unmerited pensions and sinecures--and of a long course of the most
lavish and improvident expenditure of the public money throughout every
branch of the Government, all arising from the corrupt and inadequate
state of the representation of the people in Parliament, whereby all
constitutional controul over the servants of the Crown has been lost,
and Parliaments have become subservient to the will of Ministers.
"'We cannot forbear expressing our grief and disappointment, that,
notwithstanding your Royal Highness's gracious recommendation of economy
at the opening of the last Session of Parliament, your Ministers should
have been found opposing every proposition for lessening the national
expenditure; and that they should have been able to obtain majorities to
support and sanction their conduct, in defiance of your Royal Highness's
recommendation and the declared sense of the nation--affording another
melancholy proof of the corrupt state of the representation, in addition
to those facts so often stated, and offered to be proved at the bar of
the House of Commons, in a petition presented in 1793, by the Honourable
Charles, now Lord Grey, whereby it appeared that the great body of the
people were excluded from all share in the election of Members, and that
the majority of the Honourable House were returned by the proprietors
of rotten boroughs, the influence of the Treasury, and a few powerful
families.
"'We can, Sir, no longer support out of our dilapidated resources,
an overwhelming load of taxation; and we humbly submit to your Royal
Highness, that nothing but a reformation of these abuses, and restoring
to the people their just and constitutional right in the election
of Members of Parliament, can afford a security against their
recurrence--calm the apprehensions of the people--allay their irritated
feelings, and prevent those misfortunes in which the nation must
inevitably be involved, by an obstinate and infatuated adherence to the
present system of corruption and extravagance.
"'We therefore humbly pray your Royal Highness to assemble Parliament as
early as possible; and that you will be graciously pleased to recommend
to their immediate consideration these important matters, and the
adoption of measures for abolishing all useless places, pensions,
and sinecures; for the reduction of our present enormous military
establishment; for making every practicable reduction in the Public
Expenditure, and restoring to the people their just share and weight in
the Legislature.
"'Signed by order of the Court.
"'HENRY WOODTHORPE.'"
* * * * *
"'PRINCE'S ANSWER.
"'It is with strong feelings of _surprise_ and _regret_, that I receive
this Address and Petition of the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons of
the City of London, in Common Council assembled.
"'Deeply as I deplore the prevailing _distress_ and _difficulties_ of
the country, I derive consolation from the persuasion, that _the great
body_ of his Majesty's subjects, notwithstanding the various attempts
which have been made to _irritate_ and _mislead_ them, are well
convinced, that the severe trials which they sustain with such exemplary
patience and fortitude, are chiefly to be attributed to _unavoidable
causes_, and I contemplate with the most cordial satisfaction the
efforts of that enlightened benevolence which is so usefully and
laudably exerting itself throughout the kingdom.
"'I shall resort with the utmost confidence to the TRIED _wisdom_ of
Parliament, at the time, which upon the fullest consideration, I have
thought most advisable, under the present circumstances of the country;
and I entertain a perfect conviction, that a firm and temperate
administration of the Government, assisted and supported by the good
sense, public spirit, and loyalty of the nation, will effectually
_counteract those proceedings_, which, from whatever motives they may
originate, are _calculated to render_ TEMPORARY _difficulties the means
of producing_ PERMANENT _and irreparable calamity_.'
"The _surprise_ and _regret_, and the _broad hints_ that came after,
have nettled the citizens a little. Whether they will shew any _bottom_,
remains to be seen; but, as to the _distress_ and _difficulties_ being
TEMPORARY, and as to their having arisen from UNAVOIDABLE _causes_,
I differ with his Royal Highness, or, rather with his Ministers who
advised this answer. The distress has been visibly proceeding in a
regular increase of severity for more than two years; it becomes every
day greater and greater; it is deep rooted; it is _destroying the means
of resuscitation_; it is ripping up the goose and taking out the golden
eggs; in suspending the operations of labour, it is cutting off the
possibility of a speedy return of employment. But, what say the
Correspondents of the Board of Agriculture? Not one single man of them,
except a parson or two, pretends that the _distress_ is of a temporary
nature; on the contrary, 205 of them, out of 322, attribute the ruin _to
the weight of taxes_! And, therefore, to make the distress temporary,
the weight of taxes must be temporary; and this is one of the main
objects of the prayer of the Citizens of London.
"Oh, no! the distress and difficulties have not arisen from
_unavoidable_ causes; for the weight of taxes might have been avoided.
However, let me ask the Ministers a few questions here. I will not ask
them whether it was unavoidable for the Bank to stop payment in cash in
1797; whether it was unavoidable to renew the war in 1813; whether it
was unavoidable to persevere in the war with America after the war in
England ceased, and, at last, to make peace without attaining any object
of war; whether it was unavoidable to renew the war in 1815 for the
purpose of compelling the French people to give up Napoleon and submit
to the Bourbons; whether it was unavoidable to keep up an army to
maintain the Bourbons on the throne of France, at a time when thousands
of the Protestants of the country were butchered or burnt by those who
called themselves the _loyal._ I will not put any of these questions to
the Ministers; but with the official accounts before me, I will ask them
a few questions applicable to the present moment. I ask them, then,
Was it _unavoidable_ to keep up an army at the expense, including the
Ordnance, of 26,736,067 pounds?
Was it _unavoidable_ that the expense of the Civil List should, in last
year, amount to 1,928,000 pounds?
Was it _unavoidable_ for as to pay in the same year, on account of the
_deficiencies_ of the Civil List 584,713 pounds?
Was it _unavoidable_ that the other additional allowances to the Royal
Family, in that year, should amount to 366,660 pounds?
Was it _unavoidable_ that the Civil List for Scotland should amount to
126,613 pounds?
Was it _unavoidable_ to give for the _relief of suffering_ French and
Dutch Emigrants, in that year, after, the _Bourbons_ and the _'Orange
Boven'_ had been restored, the sum of 79,591 pounds?
Was it _unavoidable_ to expend in that year (including) an arrear of the
former year, in SECRET SERVICE Money, the sum of 153,446 pounds?
Was it _unavoidable_ to pay _last year_, out of the taxes for the relief
of the _Poor_ Clergy of the Church of England, the sum of 100,000
pounds?
"I could ask them a great many more questions of a similar nature and
tendency; but here are enough for the present; and, if the Citizens
of London should happen to be satisfied, that all these expenses were
_unavoidable_, all the taxes, of course, are unavoidable, and then it is
clear, that the present distress and difficulty of the country are to
be attributed to unavoidable causes. But, if the citizens should think,
that a very large part, nine-tenths, for instance, of these expenses
might have been _avoided_, then they will come to the opposite
conclusion, and, if they be not beaten at a single blow, they will not
fail to _communicate_ that conclusion to his Royal Highness.
"As to the hint about _irritating_ and _misleading_ the people, the
charge can apply only to the enemies of Parliamentary Reform; for
we deal in soothing language, in the inspiring of hope, and in the
promulgation of useful political truth, and, therefore, the charge
cannot apply to us. But, when the Prince is advised to talk of the TRIED
_wisdom_ of the _Parliament_, he compels us to fix our eyes on those
'_distresses and difficulties_,' of which he is graciously pleased
to speak at the same time, and which, at any rate, have grown into being
under the existence of that 'TRIED _wisdom_.'
"I have just received from America the most authentic accounts of the
happy state of the people there. _English goods_ were selling at auction
for a _fourth_ of their _prime cost_; and the Americans say, that
they are, in this way, _getting back_ what they lost by our Orders in
Council, under which their ships were seized and condemned. The _ruin_,
in America, is wholly confined to the _agents_ and _merchants_ connected
with _England_. The country at large is in the most flourishing state;
no beggars, no paupers, no distress, and their newspapers are filled
with true accounts of _our_ distresses. Still, let us cling to the _Old
Ship_, and let us try, in spite of all opposition, to make our own
country as happy as America. But, here is another mark of our distresses
not being of a _temporary_ nature. The market of America is gone _for
ever_ as to most articles of manufacture. I shall, however, treat more
fully of this another time.
"I am, with the greatest respect,
"Sir, "Your most obedient and most humble Servant,
"WM. COBBETT."
When the reader has perused this letter, he will be able to form a
pretty correct opinion of the state of the public mind in the metropolis
upon this occasion; and, as it was written at the time when Mr. Cobbett
was divested, of prejudice, it will be read with considerable interest
at this period.
The plot that had been laid for the purpose Of SPILLING MY BLOOD, had
been completely frustrated. I returned to the country, where I received
invitations to attend public meetings for Reform, which the inhabitants
of Bath and Bristol wished to hold. I went to spend a fortnight with a
friend at Newton, near Bath, and, as I was a freeholder of both those
cities, I drew up requisitions and signed them first, to be presented to
the Mayors, requesting them to call meetings, to petition for Reform.
They both refused to comply with the request of their fellow-citizens,
and we, the requisitionists, therefore advertised and called them
ourselves.
The Bristol meeting was advertised to be held upon Brandon-hill, on the
26th of December, the Mayor having refused us the use of the Guildhall.
I started from Newton about 11 o'clock, on one of the wetest days that I
ever remember. On the road I passed several troops of the Lancers, who
had been ordered up from Weymouth, to watch this meeting. When I reached
Bristol I met, at Temple-gate, my worthy friend Mr. John Cossens, with
Mr. Pimm and a few others. They informed me, that they had been deterred
by the corporation from erecting any hustings upon Brandon-hill, and
that the City was invested by a regiment of North Somersetsbire Yeomanry
Cavalry, which had been arriving from all parts for several hours. Some
of my friends strongly urged the propriety of my returning to Bath, and
postponing the meeting to some future time, in consequence of the
extreme wetness of the day. I had never promised to attend any public
meeting of the people and then disappointed them, and I felt extreme
reluctance at the base thought of doing so upon this occasion;
particularly as such a body of the military were assembled from
all quarters, since, to decline holding the meeting under such
circumstances, would carry the idea that, because the corrupt knaves of
Bristol had called out the military, we were fearful of performing, and
that, too, in a perfectly legal and constitutional manner, an imperative
public duty. That, however, in order to deter us, some persons, who were
not gifted with strong nerves, should hesitate, is not to be wondered
at, when we look at the following statement, which was published in
the London _Courier_, of the 25th of December, the day previous to the
meeting being held: "that the regular soldiers are assembling; that the
North Somerset regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry are ready to march to the
aid of the Mayor; that a vestry in one parish has been held to collect
persons to march to the Mayor's to be sworn in as special constables;
that the parties signed a resolution at the said vestry, that they will
not distribute any Christmas gifts on Thursday, in order to keep the
watchmen to their duty on that day; and that they will _dismiss from
their employ all persons who do not work on the day of the meeting_."