friend, Mr. Cobbett, who had continued to write his Register, and had
sent it home from America to be published in England, seemed to have
almost entirely forgotten that there was such a person as myself in
existence; for more than five months, from the 8th of May, the date
of his first Register written in America, till that dated the 10th of
October, he scarcely ever mentioned the name of _his friend_, even
accidentally. However, in the Register of the 10th of October, 1817, it
appears that he had at length discovered that I was neither literally
nor politically dead; for in a letter to Mr. Hallett, of Denford, in
Berkshire, dated Long Island, 10th of October, 1817, my name was again
brought fully upon the carpet, relative to my opinion of Sir Francis
Burdett, as it has been frequently expressed by me in confidence to
him. Very soon afterwards I received a private letter from him, full of
professions of friendship, which correspondence was continued up to
the period of his return from America. He also addressed to me, in the
Register, twelve public letters, beginning with "My dear Hunt," and
ending with "_your faithful friend_," occasionally complimenting my
zeal, courage, and fidelity in the cause of Reform, and declaring that
he was "in no fear as to the rectitude of my conduct, but always in
anxiety for my health!" How faithful his friendship is, he has admirably
proved! About the second or third letter which I had from him, he
strongly urged me to oppose Sir Francis Burdett, for the city of
Westminster; at any rate to offer myself as a candidate for that city,
which would give me an opportunity of exposing the Baronet's desertion
of the cause of Reform. I wrote for answer, that I dreaded the expense
of the hustings; and the exorbitant charges of the High Bailiff, &c.
These difficulties, however, he made light of, and assured me that, if
it was not done before, he would take care to have me remunerated by a
public subscription, as soon as he returned from America.
With this assurance, and from a conviction in my own mind that Sir
Francis had deserted, or at least neglected, the cause of Radical
Reform, I sent an advertisement to be inserted in the London papers,
offering myself as a candidate for the representation of the city of
Westminster. A meeting was called by my friends, in the great room of
the Crown and Anchor, when my name was put in nomination, as a proper
person to be one of the representatives of that city; it having been
publicly announced that Lord Cochrane, who was preparing to sail to the
assistance of the Patriots in South America, certainly meant to resign
all pretension to sit again as the Member for Westminster. At this
meeting a very large majority voted that I was a proper person to
represent that city. I believe it was nearly a fortnight before
any other person was put in nomination by any of the electors of
Westminster, and it was thought by many of my friends that Sir Francis
Burdett and myself would be returned, without any opposition. I firmly
believe that this would have, indeed, been the case, had not the friends
of Sir Francis Burdett, the Rump, proposed Mr. Douglas Kinnaird as his
colleague. Major Cartwright was then put in nomination by some of his
friends. The Whigs and Tories of Westminster perceiving that there
was likely to be a great division amongst the Reformers, and that Mr.
Douglas Kinnaird and Major Cartwright had been both started as it were
in opposition to me, Sir Samuel Romilly was proposed as a candidate by
the Whigs, and Sir Murray Maxwell by the Ministerial interest. There was
a little band of very worthy and independent men, who stood forward as
my supporters, namely, Mr. West, Mr. Dolby, and Mr. Giles, who were
electors, and Mr. Carlile, Mr. Gale Jones, and Mr. Sherwin, who were not
electors. Although at the outset I saw that, under such circumstances,
there was no chance of my success, yet I was determined to keep open
the poll to the last moment allowed by law, which is fifteen days. At
a public dinner that was held at the Crown and Anchor, my colours were
produced, and consisted of a scarlet flag, with UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE as a
motto, surmounted by a Cap of Liberty, surrounded with the inscription
of Hunt and Liberty. This flag was provided by Mr. Carlile; and I had
the honour of being the first and only man who ever offered himself as
a candidate for a seat in Parliament upon the avowed principles of
Universal Suffrage, Annual Parliaments, and Vote by Ballot.
The day at length arrived for the commencement of the election in
Covent-Garden. I had proclaimed that I would not, either by myself or by
any of my friends, canvass or solicit a single vote--that I should go
to the hustings, and act upon the constitutional principle of neither
soliciting votes nor going to any expense. The High Bailiff opened
the proceedings, and the following candidates were proposed by their
separate friends:--Sir Francis Burdett, Sir Murray Maxwell, Sir Samuel
Romilly, Major Cartwright, Mr. Douglas Kinnaird, and myself. Upon the
show of hands being taken, the High Bailiff declared it to be in favour
of Henry Hunt, Esq. and Sir Samuel Romilly. Sir Francis Burdett's
friends appeared dissatisfied with this decision of the High Bailiff,
and urged that a greater number had held up their hands for Sir Francis
than for Sir Samuel; but no one disputed my having had a majority, of
at least ten to one, in my favour. The reader will see that this speaks
volumes as to the opinion of the people. Though the people assembled
could hold up their hands, yet when it came to the vote, the result
clearly showed that the people had no share in electing those who were
chosen as their representatives.
During this contest I was baited like a bull; it was very different from
any election that ever took place before, for I tore the mask from
all parties, and all factions; in doing which I exposed myself to a
combination of the whole press of England, all the managers of which
were leagued together to abuse, to misrepresent, and belie me. The
_Tory, the Whig, and the Burdettite_ press attacked me not only without
mercy, but also without the slightest regard to truth or fair play; and
that portion of the press which was either under the influence or in the
pay of these three parties consisted of more than nineteen twentieths of
the press of the whole kingdom!
After the election had proceeded for a few days, it was found that upon
the poll Sir Francis Burdett was left considerably behind Sir Samuel
Romilly and Sir Murray Maxwell. Major Cartwright's and Mr. Douglas
Kinnaird's names were, therefore, withdrawn from the contest, and
the friends of both those gentlemen joined to support Sir Francis's
election, which appeared to be in great danger. As, however, I had no
such views as they had, my exertions being daily and solely directed to
open the eyes of the electors of Westminster to what I conceived to be
the gross negligence of Sir Francis Burdett with respect to the cause of
the people, it was determined to stand out the contest, especially as I
had made an affidavit, before the Lord Mayor of London, previous to the
commencement of the election, binding myself to keep the poll open to
the last hour allowed by law. Notwithstanding this affidavit, which had
been printed, and posted all over London, a little impudent Irishman, of
the name of Cleary, whom I have mentioned before, as a sort of writer
or clerk, hired as such by Major Cartwright, came forward upon the
hustings, and in a broad Irish brogue called upon me to tender my
resignation, and to render all the assistance in my power to promote the
election of Sir Francis Burdett, and took the liberty of insinuating
that I could be no friend of the people if I did not do so. Nothing
could equal the impudence of this upstart, paid secretary, this hireling
of the Major's; he was no elector of Westminster, and had no legal
business whatever upon the hustings in Westminster. However, I treated
this proposition with the silent contempt that it merited; and this drew
down the malevolence of the Rump, of which this Cleary now formed a
part. They denounced me as a _spy of the Government_, and every thing
that was base; and they put no bounds to their abuse. In the evening,
as I was addressing the electors, and defending myself against these
assassin-like attacks from the Rump, I stated the circumstance of their
having prevented the holding of a public meeting in the metropolis,
which meeting I had proposed for the purpose of raising a subscription,
to enable Brandreth, Turner, Ludlam, and others, who had been indicted
for high treason at Derby, to fee counsel, and pay the expenses of their
witnesses, so as to obtain a fair trial; and I of course alluded to the
dirty trick which had been played me, in order to prevent the meeting,
by writing me a letter, in the first instance, to say that a meeting
would be called, and then putting it off when it was too late for me to
come to London to call the meeting myself. I did this in general terms,
without mentioning any names; upon which Cleary came forward, and
unblushingly declared that what I had said was false, and that there
was no letter whatever of the sort written to me. On this, there was a
general call "produce the letter, name, name." In reply I asserted, that
not only was such a letter written, but Cleary himself was the writer,
and that he had gone so far as to say, in the letter, that he was so
offended with the prisoners who were charged with high treason, _that
he could almost find it in his heart to go down and hang them himself._
Cleary again presented himself, and, in the most solemn manner, called
God to witness, that what I had said was totally devoid of truth. The
clamour of the party of the Rump committee, now became excessive, they
one and all bawled out, "produce the letter!--you cannot, Hunt!--it is
all false!" At length I vociferated that I would produce it the next
day. I thought I had the said letter amongst some others in my trunk,
but, upon looking them over, I found that it was left at Middleton
Cottage, with my other papers. I therefore dispatched one of my family
into the country, a distance of sixty-one miles, to enable me to perform
my promise, and the demand of the party. The next day I was obliged to
state the fact, that the letter was in the country, but that I had sent
an express for it, and it should be produced as soon as that messenger
returned. Upon this the whole gang burst out into a forced horse laugh,
swearing that it was all false, that I had no such letter, and that I
never could produce it.
On the following day, which was Sunday, I received the letter from the
country. In the meantime all the London papers had misrepresented this
affair in the most scandalous and unprincipled manner, and every one of
them agreeing that I had made a groundless charge against Cleary, and
intimating that the story of the letter was a fabrication. The gang had,
in reality, contrived to raise a general outcry against me. Monday,
however, came, too soon for _them_, and on the hustings I then produced
the letter, and offered to read it; but the tumult raised by the party,
totally prevented it from being heard. This being the case, I promised
to have it printed the next day. I kept my word, and one thousand copies
were circulated; upon which Cleary produced a letter from Mr. Cobbett,
said to have been addressed to a person of the name of Wright. In this
letter, written, I believe, ten years previous to this epoch, Mr.
Cobbett grossly abused me, and represented me as a _sad_ fellow, and
recommended to the _Westminster committee_ to have nothing to do with
me. As on the face of it this epistle appeared to have been written some
years before I knew Mr. Cobbett, I felt no anger or resentment against
him; although it certainly showed that he possessed a bad heart, to be
capable of writing such gross and palpable falsehoods and malignant
calumny against a man whom he knew only by report; which man, report
must at the same time have convinced him, was a zealous and persevering
friend of Liberty. The former cry was now dropped, and in its place was
substituted another. It was impudently pretended that I had behaved very
unhandsomely, in producing and publishing a private letter of Cleary's;
though the fact was, that it was a _public_ letter written upon public
business, by a man who was a sort of public general secretary for all
public matters debated on and meetings held in Westminster, and who was
also the paid secretary to Major Cartwright and the Hampden Club! To
bring forward a charge of this kind against me, was stretching impudence
and falsehood as far as they could possibly go.
The next morning a note was put into my hands, which had been delivered
open at my lodgings, on the preceding night, after I had retired to bed.
This detestable composition contained a challenge from Mister Cleary,
together with a great deal of vulgar Billingsgate abuse. I inquired who
delivered it, and I was informed that between twelve and one o'clock,
about two hours after I was in bed and asleep, some one knocked at the
door, which was opened by my female servant, upon which three fellows
rushed into the passage, and demanded to see me. The servant, however,
informed them that I was gone to bed, and could not be disturbed. After
behaving in a very boisterous and bullying manner, they gave her a
letter, and informed her that it was a challenge for her master to fight
a duel, and they desired, or rather ordered her to give it me as soon as
I rose in the morning. All three of them refused to leave their names.
When I rose, rather late in the morning, I found that this famous
challenge had not only been read by all the females of my family, but
that all the people in Norfolk-street, in which I lodged, had been
informed of it, and the intelligence had also been communicated to
the Magistrates at Bow-street. Two Bow-street officers were likewise
observed parading the street, apparently to watch me out. Now, I will
candidly appeal to my readers, and ask if ever they heard of a challenge
to fight a duel having been delivered in such a way before? A challenge,
avowed as such, and delivered _unsealed,_ to a female, by three drunken
Irishmen (for such my servant described them), between twelve and one
o'clock at night, after the person challenged bad been in bed and asleep
for hours, and not one of the party consenting to leave his name! To
suppose that this poor creature meant to fight, or that those who
brought his challenge, and gave it _open_ to my female servant, ever
intended that he should fight a duel, would be the height of credulity.
Yet, to crown the joke, this very fellow, Cleary, was put forward upon
the hustings, the next day, and actually _read_ a copy of his blackguard
challenge, which he said he had sent to me the night before. This was
done in the presence and bearing of Mr. the present Sir Richard Birnie,
and other police magistrates. Was ever the like of this performed before
in England, or any other country? The reader will perceive that this
was a trick, and a very clumsy one, to endeavour to get me taken into
custody, and bound over to keep the peace. Yet the venal hireling press
blazoned it forth to the world, that I had injured and behaved very
unhandsomely to Mr. Cleary, by publishing his letter, and that I had
refused to give him the satisfaction of a gentleman, when he demanded
it!! Everyone knows this was done to create effect. If Cleary had ever
meant to fight me, he would have taken a very different course; he would
have sent some confidential friend to communicate with me in private.
This stratagem, however, clumsy as it was, had the desired effect, and
such was the beastly and scandalous misrepresentation of the whole
London press, that many very worthy and honourable men think to this day
that I ill used Mr. Cleary. They say it was _unhandsome_ to produce his
letter. It is difficult to conceive on what moral ground they come to
such a conclusion. Now, let us see what others, who were impartial,
disinterested eye-witnesses of the affair, let us hear what they say
upon the subject; for no one, perhaps, can be a thoroughly fair judge of
the question who was not present. I will here insert an extract from a
letter, signed "Leonidas," and published in _Sherwin's Register_, on the
26th of December, 1818. After stating that the only apology which was
ever offered by any of the Rump for Cleary's conduct was, that I had
behaved _unhandsomely_ in divulging Cleary's letter about the prisoners
at Derby, he says----
"But this unhandsomeness, what was it? The present
writer was near the hustings on that occasion, and a plain
tale, uninfluenced except by principle, will put the whole
thing down.
"Mr. Hunt, whose elocution, though bad, is not attended
with any embarrassment, a token either of a clouded
intellect, or of conscious finesse, spoke, in order to set himself
and those who so nearly and furiously persecuted him
in a clear point of view before the people assembled at
the hustings, which he had a right to do, of the prisoners
at Derby, of his own conduct towards them, which was
most courageous and humane, and of the conduct of _the
party_ at Westminster on the same occasion, which was
assuredly supine to a frightful degree, to speak in no
stronger language. In the midst of the most horrid yelling
of the _party_, from whom he was continually obliged
to appeal to the _mob_ below, as Mr. Kinnaird, unused to
his new nomenclature, called them, Mr. Hunt mentioned
that _the party_ in Westminster had done less than nothing
to save the lives of the Derby prisoners. So far from
aiding them, _one_ had written to him that _nothing could be
done_, and the writer had declared his own indignation
against the unhappy men for disgracing the cause to
be such, that he _could almost go down and hang them
himself_.
"This was all fair, quite unobjectionable. Whether it
was judicious to introduce this topic, is quite another question.
While Mr. Hunt was speaking in half sentences, on
account of the clamour from the hustings, and from the
stages in front of them, where _the party_ usually took their
station, there was an evident feeling of uneasiness prevailing,
a consciousness that Mr. Hunt had more to say
than it was pleasant to hear; and this feeling broke out
in one burst of foolish interruption when he arrived at
this point, and a din was raised of '_name, name_; it is all
a lie, the scoundrel, the villain, _name, name_.' Mr. Hunt
seemed to pause. The present writer had not the least
suspicion of _whom_ he had to _name_. When the demand
was often repeated, and the noise had somewhat abated,
he came forward, and, with evident reluctance, pronounced,
'It was Mr. ----,' who by this time had placed himself
in front of the hustings, and with writhing contortions
uttered some most passionate exclamations.
"Well, this was not sufficient. The cry now was,
'produce the letter, produce the letter; you cannot, you
blackguard; it is a lie,' &c. &c. Mr. Hunt could not, at
the instant, produce the letter; but said it should be forthcoming
the next day. It was not produced the next day,
when the grossest abuse was poured on him from the
usual quarter. The party would not hear his explanation,
that it was left in the country, and scarcely could this assurance
reach the ears of the more indifferent spectators.
An express was sent for it, who could not return without
some delay. In the interval, Mr. Hunt was assailed with
every opprobrious epithet of _liar, scoundrel, base slanderer,_
and exclamations, 'He cannot produce it, it is all
a fabrication,' &c. &c. At last, the letter came, and an
attempt was made to read it, without effect. Mr. Hunt
was obliged to say, 'Well, you shall have it printed
to-morrow.'
"I am not conscious that I misrepresent a tittle of this
most abominable scene, such as I hope never to witness
again among human beings. This was the unhandsome
way that is said to justify the production of a private letter
of Mr. Cobbett, even if it had been written by him; a
letter now however _proved_ to be a forgery, and of the
genuineness of which no evidence was sought even at the
time, except that it was furnished by Mr. Place, the
tailor.
"Now, nothing could be more justifiable than Mr.
Hunt's conduct. It was absolutely forced on him. He
could not avoid producing the letter. Those who complain
of _unhandsomeness_ themselves laid on him the disagreeable
necessity. What did they say of his not having
the letter ready to produce? Why, that it was a proof of
his being a _liar, and a scoundrel._ Of what _was_ it a
proof? Simply that Mr. Hunt had no previous intention
to disclose that letter, that he was forcibly obliged to produce
it to satisfy the clamour of the complaining party.
If, after he had alluded to it, which might not be discreet,
but which was not at all criminal because it was not on
private, but _public_ business--if after alluding to the letter,
he had refused to produce it, let any man judge what
would have been his treatment from the _party_. Their
character demonstrates, to a certainty, that they would
not have allowed the existence of such a letter, though
fully conscious of it, and would have suffered Mr. Hunt to
the end of time to be considered, what they called him, _a
liar, a Scoundrel, and a slanderer_.
"This subject, which I had not anticipated when my
last letter was written, and did not mean, before the appearance
of the confused and timid letter in Cobbett's
_Register_, to advert to, has occupied too much time to
permit me to comprehend, in this communication, all the
remarks which I announced. It must be granted me, who
am of no party but that of truth, to pursue my way, at
leisure, and as free as possible from the mere forms of
detail. Meaning to resume my pen, I am, for the present,
Sir, &c.
"LEONIDAS."
The reader will observe, that this letter was written in December, six
months after the election; and I beg here to observe, that I never knew
or spoke to the writer till some time after this letter was written; but
I am proud to say, when I was introduced to him, that this fair advocate
of truth, proved to be a gentleman and a man of the strictest honour,
bred up and associating with the higher ranks of society, and who was a
doctor (of divinity, I believe). He was altogether just such a man as I
should have selected as an arbitrator to decide any dispute, a man of
strict veracity and unimpeachable character. I have said thus much upon
this affair, in order to clear myself from the imputation of unhandsome
conduct, and the charge of cowardice which was so lavishly bestowed upon
me by the whole of the corrupt, hireling, partial London press, the
falsehoods vomited forth by which were re-echoed from shore to shore, by
all the dastardly local press of the kingdom. This virulence arose from
the following fact. In consequence of my exposure of the conduct of Sir
Francis Burdett, not more than 500 hands were held up for him out of
20,000 persons present, when his name was put in nomination; and now, on
the eighth or ninth day of the election, Sir Francis stood THIRD upon
the poll, and ultimately he was returned only SECOND upon it--Sir Samuel
Romilly standing several hundreds (three hundred) above him, and Sir
Murray Maxwell only about four hundred below him. In fact, nothing but
the foul play shown towards Sir Murray and his friends, together with
the very bad management of his committee, prevented his being returned
with Sir Samuel Romilly, and Sir Francis being rejected and thrown out
altogether. This was what made the party so outrageously clamorous
and vindictive against me. Independent of the wound which their pride
suffered, from the dread of being defeated, they had another reason to
abominate me. They were compelled to make no trifling sacrifices of a
certain kind. About the eighth or ninth day of the election, a
dreadful effort was made by the _party_, and _money_ flew about in all
directions; poor electors had their taxes paid up, others were paid for
voting, public-houses were opened, and all the sources of corruption and
bribery were resorted to, by the friends and supporters of Sir Francis
Burdett, which were employed by the Ministerial faction for Sir Murray
Maxwell. By these means there was at length an apparent spirit of
enthusiasm revived for the Baronet. Hundreds, who had viewed his conduct
in a similar light to that in which I had viewed it, and who had
condemned him, and given him up, and who had actually stood neuter
hitherto, not meaning to vote at all at the election, as their votes
could not have rendered me any service, now came forward and voted for
_him_, under the impression that it would be better to return him, bad
and indolent as he was, than to return the rank Ministerial tool, Sir
Murray Maxwell.