petitioner possesses no means of ascertaining the secret
thoughts of men, he cannot pretend to assert, that none of
the persons, with whom the calling of the first Spafields
meeting originated, had no views of a riotous or revolutionary
kind; but he humbly conceives, that a simple
narrative of facts will be more than sufficient to satisfy
your Right Honourable House, that no such dangerous
projects ever entered the minds of those who constituted
almost the entire mass of that most numerous meeting.
Therefore, in the hope of producing this conviction in the
mind of your Right Honourable House, your petitioner
begs leave to proceed to state: that he, who was then at
his house in the country, received, a short time before the
16th of November last, a letter from Thomas Preston,
Secretary of a Committee, requesting your petitioner to
attend a public meeting of the distressed inhabitants of
the metropolis, intended to be held in Spafields on the
day just mentioned; that your petitioner thereupon wrote
to Thomas Preston to know what was the object of the
intended meeting; that he received, in the way of answer,
a newspaper called the Independent Whig, of November
10th, 1816, containing an advertisement in these
words; to wit: 'At a meeting held at the Carlisle,
Shoreditch, on Thursday evening, it was determined to
call a meeting of the distressed Manufacturers, Mariners,
Artizans, and others of the Cities of London and Westminster,
the Borough of Southwark, and parts adjacent, in
Spafields, on Friday, the 15th instant, precisely at 12
o'clock, to take into consideration the propriety of petitioning
the Prince Regent and Legislature, to adopt immediately
such measures as will relieve the sufferers from
the misery which now overwhelms them. (_Signed_)
JOHN DYALL, Chairman, THOMAS PRESTON, Secretary.'
That your petitioner, upon seeing this advertisement, hesitated
not to accept of the invitation; that he attended
at the said meeting; that he there found, ready prepared,
a paper, called, to the best of his recollection, a _memorial_,
which some persons, then utter strangers to him, proposed
to move for the adoption of the meeting; that
your petitioner, perceiving in this paper, propositions of
a nature which he did not approve of, and especially a
proposition for the meeting going in a body to Carlton
House, declared that he would have nothing to do with
the said memorial; that your petitioner then brought forward
an humble petition to the Prince Regent, which
petition was passed by the meeting unanimously, and
which petition, having been by your petitioner delivered
to Lord Sidmouth, that Noble Lord has, by letter, informed
your petitioner was immediately laid before his Royal
Highness the Prince Regent. And your petitioner here
begs leave further to state, upon the subject of the aforementioned
memorial, that _John Dyall_, whose name, as
_Chairman_ of the Committee who called the meeting (and
of which Committee Thomas Preston was Secretary),
having, _before the meeting took place_, been called before
Mr. Gifford, one of the Police Magistrates, had _furnished
Mr. Gifford with a copy of the said memorial_, and that
that copy was _in the hands of Lord Sidmouth at the moment
when the meeting was about to assemble_, though
(from an oversight, no doubt) neither the Police Magistrates
nor any other person whatever gave your petitioner
the smallest intimation of the dangerous tendency
or even of the existence of such memorial, or of any improper
views being entertained by any of the parties
calling the meeting, though it now appears, that the
written placards, entitled "_Britons to Arms_," are imputed
to those same parties, though it is notorious that
that paper appeared in all the _public prints_ so far back as
the month of _October_, and though, when your petitioner
waited on Lord Sidmouth with the petition of the Prince
Regent, that Noble Lord himself informed your petitioner,
that the Government were fully apprized before-hand of
the propositions _intended_ to be brought forward at the
meeting. So that your petitioner humbly begs leave to
express his confidence that your Honourable House will
clearly perceive, that if any insurrection had taken place
on the day of the first Spafields meeting, it would have
been entirely owing to the neglect, if not connivance, of
those persons who possessed a previous knowledge of the
principles and views of the parties with whom that meeting
originated.
"With regard to the SECOND assertion, namely, that
'_care_ was taken to adjourn the meeting to the 2d of December,'
your petitioner begs leave to state, that it will
appear upon the face of the proceedings of that day, that
there was nothing like previous _concert_ or _care_ in this
matter; for, that a resolution first proposed to adjourn
the meeting to the day of the meeting of Parliament, and
then to meet in _Palace-yard_, of course _not so much in the
vicinity of the Bank and the Tower_; and that when this
resolution was awarded so as to provide for a meeting on
the 2d of December on the same spot, it was merely
grounded on the _uncertainty_ as to the time when the
Parliament might meet. Your petitioner further begs
leave to state here, as being, in a most interested manner,
connected with this adjournment of the meeting, that,
when your petitioner waited on Lord Sidmouth with the
petition to the Prince Regent, _he informed his Lordship
that the meeting was to re-assemble on the 2d of December_,
when your petitioner had engaged to carry his Lordship's
answer and deliver it to the adjourned meeting, and that
his Lordship, so far from advising your petitioner not to
go to the said meeting, so far from saying any thing to
discourage the said meeting, distinctly told your petitioner,
that your petitioner's presence and conduct appeared
to his Lordship to have prevented great possible
mischief. Whence your petitioner humbly conceives,
that he is warranted in concluding, that there did, at the
time here referred to, exist in his Lordship no desire to
prevent the said meeting from taking place.
"Your petitioner, in adverting humbly to the THIRD
assertion of your Secret Committee, begs to be permitted
to state, that the persons who went from Spafields to
engage in riot on the 2d of December, formed no part of
the meeting called for that day; that these persons came
into the fields full two hours before the time of meeting;
that they left the fields full an hour before that time; that
they did not consist, at the time of leaving the fields, of
more than forty or fifty individuals; that they were joined
by sailors and others, persons going from witnessing
the execution of four men in the Old Bailey; that your
petitioner, who had come up from Essex in the morning,
met the rioters in Cheapside; that he proceeded directly
to the meeting, which he found to be very numerous; that
there a resolution was immediately proposed by your petitioner,
strongly condemning all rioting and violence,
which resolution passed with the most unanimous acclamations;
that a petition, which has since been signed by
upwards of 24 thousand names, and received by the House
of Commons, was then passed; and that the meeting,
though immense as to numbers, finally separated, without
the commission of any single act of riot, outrage, or violence.
And here your petitioner humbly begs leave to
beseech the attention of your Right Hon. House to the
very important fact of a _third_ meeting having taken place
on the 10th instant, on the same spot, more numerously
attended than either of the former; and that, after having
agreed to a petition, which has since been received by
your Hon. House, the said meeting separated in the most
peaceable and orderly manner, which your petitioner trusts
is quite sufficient to convince your Honourable House that
if, as your Secret Committee reported, _designs of riot do
still continue to be prosecuted with sanguine hopes of success_,
these designs can have no connection whatever with
the meetings for retrenchment, relief, and Reform, held in
Spafields.
"That as to the _pike-heads_, your petitioner begs leave
to state to your Right Honourable House, that while he
was at the last Spafields meeting, an anonymous letter
was put into the hands of your petitioner's servant, who
afterwards gave it to your petitioner; that this letter
stated that one Bentley, a smith, of Hart-street, Covent-Garden,
had been employed by a man, in the dress of a
_game-keeper_, to make some spikes to put round a fish-pond;
that the game-keeper came and took a parcel
away and paid for them; that he came soon afterwards
and said the things answered very well, and ordered more
to be made; that, in a little while after this, the said Bentley
was _sent for to the Bow-street Office_, and, after a private
examination, was desired to make a pike, or spike,
of the same sort, and to carry it to the office, which he
did. That your petitioner perceives that the information
which it contains may possibly be of the utmost importance
in giving a clue to the strict investigation, which he
humbly presumes to hope will be instituted by your Honourable
House into this very interesting matter.
"That as to the FIFTH assertion, that _Delegates_ have
assembled in London, from _Hampden Clubs_ in the country,
your petitioner has first to observe, that these persons
never called _themselves_ Delegates, and were not called
_Delegates_ by any body connected with them; that
they were called, and were, '_Deputies from Petitioning
Bodies_' for Parliamentary Reform; that your petitioner
was one of them, having been deputed by the petitioners
at Bristol and Bath; that these Deputies met three times,
and always in an open room, to which newspaper reporters
were admitted ; that an account of all their proceedings
was published; that they separated at the end
of three days, _not_ upon a motion of _adjournment_, but of
absolute _dissolution_, which motion was made by your petitioner,
who is ready to prove that your Committee has
been imposed upon as to the tact that these Delegates, or
Deputies, are expected to meet again in March.
"That your petitioner is ready to prove at the Bar of
your Right Honourable House, all the facts and allegations
contained in this petition, and that he humbly prays so to
be permitted there to prove them accordingly.
"And your petitioner will ever pray.
"HENRY HUNT."
As soon as this petition was read, Lord Sidmouth rose, apparently very
much disconcerted, another petition having been presented previously
from Cleary, the secretary of the Hampden Club, denying, and _offering
to prove the falsehood_ of, many of the statements in the Report of
the Committee. His Lordship made a long and violent speech against the
measures and views of the Reformers, and called upon the House to put
them down, or the Constitution and Government of the country would be
soon overthrown. He never attempted to controvert or deny one word that
was contained in my petition, just presented; but he said, that the
Government of this country had often to contend with discontented and
turbulent men; "_but those who took the lead in these meetings, although
their steps were directed with caution, yet_ (turning round and looking
me full in the face) THEY WERE MEN OF MOST EXTRAORDINARY ENERGY, and
PURSUED THEIR COURSE WITH AN INFLEXIBLE PERSEVERANCE AND COURAGE _that
was worthy a better cause_." This was said in the most lofty tone, and
so evidently directed to me, that it drew all the eyes in the House upon
me; and it was with considerable difficulty that I could resist the
inclination I felt to declare, that it was impossible there could be
a _better cause_ than that of contending for the freedom of the whole
people. His Lordship, in alluding to cheap seditious publications, such
as _Cobbett's_ and _Sherwin's Registers_, and _Wooler's Dwarf_, which at
this time were published at twopence each, in great numbers, lamented
that the law officers of the Crown could find nothing in them that they
could prosecute with any chance of success. _Cobbett's Register_ alone,
at this period, attained a sale of fifty thousand copies a week. The
Bill was passed, with very little opposition, to prevent any public
meeting being held to petition for Reform, or any alteration in the
government or constitution of the country, without its being called with
the concurrence of the magistrates, &c. &c.; which was nothing more or
less than prohibiting all public meetings, except such as the corrupt
tools of Government chose to sanction. While the Acts were in progress,
a public county meeting was called by the Sheriff of Hampshire, upon
a requisition, signed by the Marquis of Winchester, the Marquis of
Buckingham, old George Rose, Lord Palmerston, Mr. Sturges Bourne, Lord
Malmsbury, Lord Fitzharris, and all the great Tory leaders of the
county, "to consider of an address to his Royal Highness the Prince
Regent, on the outrageous and treasonable attack made upon his Royal
Highness, on his return from opening the session of Parliament." The
meeting was held on the 11th of March. Sir Charles Ogle moved an
address, which was seconded by Mr. Asheton Smith; both did this in dumb
show, for not one word that they said could be heard. Lord Cochrane
moved an amendment, which was opposed by Mr. Lockhart; and as the
Sheriff refused to put his Lordship's amendment, declaring it to be
irregular, Mr. Cobbett addressed the assembled thousands, and moved an
amendment, which I seconded. This amendment merely proposed to add,
after the word _Constitution_, in the original address, "as established
by Magna Charta, the Bill of Rights, and the Act of Habeas Corpus, for
which our forefathers fought and bled." This amendment Mr. Lockhart and
his gang declared to be most seditious and wicked, and the Sheriff,
a little whipper-snapper fellow, of the name of Fleming, absolutely
refused to put it to the meeting. A show of hands took place upon the
original ministerial address, and, as far as my judgment went, it was
lost by a considerable majority. The Sheriff, however, decided that the
address was carried by _three to one_; but when a division was called
for, the Sheriff retired in haste from the meeting, amidst the yells and
groans of the multitude, and the Under-Sheriff actually threatened to
take Lord Cochrane and myself into custody, if we offered to address the
meeting any more.
The Seditious Meeting Act had not yet received the Royal Assent, but
these worthies knew the clauses which it contained, and the perpetual
Under-Sheriff, a Mr. Hollis, appeared determined to act upon it by
anticipation. Perhaps there never was such a disgraceful scene before
exhibited at a public meeting in England. The most foul, the most
unfair, the most outrageous, and most blackguard conduct was resorted to
by the ministerial tools and dependants of the county, amongst whom were
all the parsons, all the half-pay officers, and all the dependants of
the corrupt corporations of Andover and Winchester. A person of the
name of Loscomb, and another, Feston, of Andover, the former one of the
Andover corporation, the latter a half-pay lieutenant, were eminently
conspicuous as the brazen tools of those who called the meeting. Such a
scene of riot, confusion, and uproar had never, I believe, disgraced
a county meeting. These ministerial dependants appeared determined
to carry every thing with a high hand, now that they found laws were
passing to justify and protect arbitrary and corrupt power.
On the 12th of this month, the sailor Cashman was executed at the front
of Beckwith's, the gunmaker's, shop, on Snow-hill. Nothing will show the
distressed situation of the poor and friendless better than the answer
which Cashman made to the Judge, after he was found guilty, upon being
asked "why sentence of death should not be passed upon him." His
memorable words were:--
"My Lord--I hope you will excuse a poor friendless
sailor for occupying your time. Had I died fighting the
battles of my country I should have gloried in it: but I
confess that it grieves me to think of suffering like a robber,
when I can call God to witness that _I have passed
days together without even a morsel of bread rather than
violate the laws_. I have served my King for many years,
and often fought for my country. I have received _nine
wounds in the service_, and never before have been charged
with any offence. I have been at sea _all my life_, and
my _father was killed on board the Diana frigate_. I came
to London, my Lord, _to endeavour to recover my pay and
prize-money_, but being _unsuccessful_, I was reduced to the
greatest distress, and being poor and pennyless, I have not
been able to bring forward witnesses to prove my innocence,
nor even to acquaint my brave officers, or I am sure
they would all have come forward in my behalf. The
gentlemen who have sworn against me must have mistook
me for some other person (there being _many sailors
in the mob_); but I freely forgive them, and I hope God
will also forgive them, for I solemnly declare that I committed
no act of violence whatever."
Cashman, who had been accustomed to witness scenes of death, met his
fate with determined courage, exclaiming, "Huzza, my boys, I'll die like
a man!" Calling to the executioner, he said, "Come, Jack, let go the
jib-boom." "Now, my lads, give me three cheers when I trip." The few
remaining seconds of his existence he employed in similar addresses, and
at the instant when the fatal board fell from beneath his feet, he
was cheering. This exhibition was calculated to harden the distressed
inhabitants of the metropolis who witnessed his execution, and thousands
felt and exclaimed that it was much better and easier to encounter death
in such a way than to endure the lingering torture of being starved
to death. The multitude did not fail to shower down their deepest
execrations against all those who were concerned in this affair, and the
public were so exasperated at what was justly called the murder of this
man, that, had the poor fellow shewn any disposition to avoid that death
which he appeared rather to court, there is little doubt but he would
have been rescued, in spite of the host of constables and police
officers that attended the execution.
A system of terror was now the order of the day. The reader will bear in
mind that a Bill had passed both Houses of Parliament, and only waited
for the Royal Assent, to make it death to attend any seditious meeting;
at least to make it death not to disperse when ordered by any Magistrate
or public officer. It was under such auspices that a public county
meeting for Wiltshire was called, and appointed to be held at Devizes.
This meeting was called, as in Hampshire, by the great aristocratical
leaders of both the Whig and Tory factions. It will be remembered that
I had given Mr. Cobbett a freehold, to enable him to take part in the
Wiltshire county meetings, all of which, that had been subsequently
held, he had attended with me, and at all these Wiltshire county
meetings the resolutions and petitions proposed by myself and Mr.
Cobbett had been invariably carried. The meeting now in question was to
be convened the latter end of March, or the beginning of April. On my
leaving London, Mr. Cobbett had promised to meet me at Devizes, on the
day appointed. I went to Devizes, with my friend Mr. William Akerman, of
Potney, at whose house I had slept the preceding night. When we arrived
at the Castle Inn, the place of rendezvous, I was surprised to find
that, though it was rather late, my friend Cobbett had not arrived; yet,
so thoroughly convinced was I that he would not disappoint me, that
I was determined to wait at the inn for him, and not to go to the
Town-hall, the place of meeting, till he joined me. As I wished to know
what time the business was to commence, Mr. Akerman, at my request, went
down to the Bear Inn, where the Sheriff and my Lord Pembroke, with all
those who had called this meeting to address the Prince Regent upon his
miraculous escape from the potatoe (which I had now ascertained was
thrown by Mr. JOHN CASTLES), had assembled. He very soon came back,
almost out of breath, to inform me, that the party, with the Sheriff at
their head, were just proceeding to the Hall; and with a loud laugh he
informed me that the _Courier_ newspaper, which had just arrived in the
coffee-room of the Bear Inn, had an article in it which stated that
"COBBETT WAS ARRIVED AT LIVERPOOL, AND HAD TAKEN HIS PASSAGE FOR
AMERICA" "I at once," said he, "declared this to be an infamous lie, and
I offered to bet any of the party 50_l._, which I put on the table, that
Mr. Cobbett would be in Devizes, and attend the meeting, within one hour
from that time." Fortunately for my friend Akerman, not one of the gang
assembled had confidence enough in the rascally _Courier_ to induce them
to take the bet; had they done so, my friend would have lost his 50_l_.
note.
_I was thunderstruck_ for a moment, as Mr. Cobbett had never given me
the slightest intimation of his intention, and till I saw the _Courier_
I could not believe it possible that any man could act so treacherously
towards one for whom he had expressed, not only in public but in
private, the most unbounded confidence. For the first time it now
occurred to me, that there was something _mysterious_ in Mr. Cobbett's
conduct when I last saw him, which was a few days before in London. It
was, however, of no use to ponder or to despair, and therefore, I jumped
up out of my chair, in which I had been almost riveted by the unexpected
intelligence, and earnestly inquired of Mr. Akerman if he had actually
made the bet. He replied, "no one would accept it, or I should most
willingly have made it." "Well," said I, "I am glad that none of the
villains had confidence in the rascally Editor of the _Courier_, but
whether it be true or false, I will go to the meeting." It is much more
easy for the reader to imagine what were the sensations which I felt
as I walked to the meeting, than it is for me to describe them. I had
for many years acted in strict union with Mr. Cobbett, both in Wiltshire
and Hampshire, at all the public meetings that had been held in these
counties; I had placed implicit and unbounded confidence in him, and
I thought that on his part such feelings had been reciprocal; but a
thousand occurrences which hitherto had made no impression on me now
rushed upon my mind, and half convinced me that I had been deceived.