Bailiff to be as follow:-Romilly 5,538, Burdett 5,239, Maxwell 4,808,
Hunt 84. Upon the show of hands at the nomination by the High Bailiff,
when the election commenced, Sir Francis stood _third_, below myself and
Sir Samuel; at the end of the election Sir Francis stood _second_ upon
the poll, 300 _below_ Sir Samuel Romilly. This was a sad blow to the
Baronet's popularity, and a still more severe blow to the upstart gentry
who formed the Rump Committee. When Lord Cochrane resigned his seat, at
the dissolution of the Parliament, and I publicly offered myself as a
candidate, if Sir Francis and the Committee had stood neuter, even I
should have been returned with him without any opposition; but this did
not suit him, or the Committee; they opposed me, and no one doubted
their power to prevent my being elected, though, at the same time, they
little dreamt that I had the power to endanger the election of their
idol, Sir Francis, and by my exertions to cause the Whig candidate,
Romilly, to be placed at the head of the poll 300 above him. Even all
that, however, was easier to be borne than to have me in Parliament.
Whether I acted right, or whether I acted wrong, in thus opposing and
bringing down that man, who had but a few years before been returned
at the head of the poll for Westminster (2,000 above all the other
candidates), is a matter of great doubt with a number of good men; I can
only say, if I erred, I erred from public and not from private motives.
Sir Francis Burdett has, since I have been here, acted the most noble
part towards me, and I have no doubt but he is convinced that I was
actuated in my opposition to him solely by public views; and if I was
then deceived and mistaken as to his public conduct, he has shown that
he has the nobleness of soul that knows how to forgive my hostility
to him, because he believes that I was his opponent, not to serve any
selfish end, but from a sense of public duty.
A few days after I had been so grossly misrepresented by the press, with
respect to Cleary's affair, another circumstance occurred. One of
the gents belonging to the _Observer_ newspaper, was a Mr. Spectacle
Dowling, who appears to have written so many falsehoods upon the
subject, that he actually believed at last that what he had written was
true. I had, in one of my speeches, alluded to the evidence which this
person had given, on behalf of the Crown, upon the trial of Watson. The
next morning, when I entered the hustings, a person at the door spoke to
me, and while I was looking back to answer him, I felt the stroke of a
small whip upon my hat, and, on turning hastily round to see what it
meant, there was Mr. Spectacle Dowling flourishing a small jockey whip
in a violent manner. I dashed up to him, and had just reached him a
slight blow in the chin, when I was seized by the constables; but in his
flight he received a blow in the mouth from my brother, and another
from my son Henry, a lad of eighteen. We were all three held by the
constables, who were all prepared to favour his escape.
Mr. Dowling immediately summoned my brother before Sir Richard, then
Mr. Birnie, for the assault. I attended to give bail for him, and I
certainly never saw a person who more resembled "raw head and bloody
bones" than Mr. Dowling did, for he was bleeding at every pore; the
marks of the three blows he had received were very evident upon his
forehead, his mouth, and his chin. It appeared that Mr. Dowling's object
was, not so much to get my brother held to bail, as it was to get
_himself_ bound over to keep the peace towards me; and Mr. Birnie, who
had learned that Mr. Dowling was the first aggressor, urged me to prefer
the complaint, and he would hold him to bail for the assault, as Dowling
bravely protested before the Magistrates that he should have given me a
_good horsewhipping_ if the constables had not interfered. I, however,
positively declined to make any charge against the gentleman, as I had
resolved that the first time I met him I would give him an opportunity
of taking a belly-full. I own that I walked the streets many an hour
afterwards, in hopes of meeting him, and I carried a good cane in my
hand, in order to lay it smartly about his shoulders. It was, however,
many months before I met the gentleman. At length, one day, I was
standing in Mr. Clement's shop, talking with Mr. Egan, the gentleman
who at that time was the fashionable slang reporter of all the pitched
battles and prize fights of the day, and who has since produced from his
pen those characters which have made such a noise at the Adelphi and
other theatres, namely, _Tom and Jerry._ While I was conversing with Mr.
Egan, Mr. Dowling opened the door and walked in. I immediately addressed
him, and said, "The last time I had the honour to meet you, Mr. Dowling,
I believe was at Bow-street, when you stated to Mr. Birnie that you had
struck me upon the Westminster hustings with a whip, and if you had
not been prevented by the constables you would have given me a good
horsewhipping." "Sir, (said he) I do not wish to have anything to say to
you." "But, (replied I) there is a little account to settle between us;
you struck me a blow with a whip, and I gave you a slap on the chin, so
far we were equal; but you informed the Magistrates, that, if you had
not been prevented by the constables, you would have given me a good
thrashing; now, Sir, there are no constables present to interfere, and I
will give you an opportunity to carry your threat into execution." "Sir,
(he again repeated) I do not wish to have any thing to say to you;" and
he was making out of the shop as fast as he could shuffle; but as soon
as he opened the door, and stepped upon the pavement, I said, "Protect
yourself," and at the same time I gave him a slight blow in the face
with my _flat hand_, which knocked off his spectacles. The gallant
reporter picked them up very coolly, and putting both hands before his
face, he sued for mercy, saying, that if I persisted he should take
the law of me. He kept his word, and I was indicted at the Middlesex
sessions, and fined five pounds.
So ended the horse-whipping affair and the Westminster election, with
the exception of a _trifling_ after-clap or two, such as the High
Bailiff sending me in a bill for my third share of the hustings,
amounting to upwards of two hundred and fifty pounds (I think that was
the sum). I refused the payment of it, and he commenced an action for
the amount, and obtained a verdict for a great part of his charge. This
brought me for the first time in contact with Mr. Counsellor Scarlett,
he having been employed by the High Bailiff against me. I at once
discovered, that this worthy Barrister, although a very clever fellow,
was cursed with a very irritable, waspish disposition, of which I always
took advantage afterwards, as often as we met in the Courts, which,
unfortunately for me, was much too frequently for my pocket.
About this time an action had been brought against me, in the name of
my landlord, Parson Williams, of Whitchurch, of whom I had rented Cold
Henly Farm for three years, at a loss of about two thousand pounds,
which I sunk in cleaning and improving the estate. When Mr Cobbett fled
from England to go to America, in 1817, some of the Winchester attorneys
and parsons openly said that they "had driven Cobbett out of the
country, and they would try hard to make me follow him." They were as
good as their words, for they tried all sorts of ways to injure my
credit, and not succeeding to their wishes, an action was commenced
against me, by a man who is clerk to the Magistrates, a Mr. Woodham, an
attorney at Winchester, in the name of Mr. Williams, for breaches of
covenants while I occupied Cold Henly Farm. I called on Mr. Williams,
who denied having ever given any orders to Woodham to commence the
action; he said that Woodham had urged him to do it, but that he refused
to do so, and he wished every thing to be settled amicably. I relied
upon the word of the old parson, who said he would write and stop any
further proceedings; but my confidence was very soon betrayed, as I had
notice that I had suffered judgment to pass by default, and a writ of
inquiry was to be held at the next assizes to assess the damages. The
writ of inquiry was executed at Winchester, and a verdict was obtained
against me for, I believe, 250_l_. The breaches of covenant were easily
proved, although they had been assented to by the parson, which assent I
had carelessly and confidingly neglected to obtain from him, either in
writing or before witnesses. Mr. ABRAHAM MORE, an eminent barrister upon
the Western Circuit, was employed, and conducted the inquiry for Mr.
Attorney Woodham. Mr. More was esteemed the best special pleader, and,
after Mr. Sergeant Pell, he was certainly the best advocate upon the
Western Circuit. But I take leave to ask, what is become of Mr. More?
Mr. More has quitted the circuit and the bar, and fled from his country,
since I came to this Bastile. I believe Mr. More was the Recorder of
Lord Grosvenor's rotten borough of Shaftesbury, and he was, I am
told, his lordship's steward, and suddenly left England under such
circumstances as would have been blazoned forth in every newspaper in
England, if he had been a poor Radical. I bear no personal hostility to
Mr. More, therefore I shall not say any thing to wound the feelings of
those of his relatives and friends who are left behind. But it is
a remarkable fact, that the learned barrister, the Recorder of
Shaftesbury, and the once learned and honest attorney, Mr. Richard
Messiter, of Shaftesbury, should have left their country, and both have
fled to America, under such _peculiar circumstances_.
On the 22d of July the son of Napoleon was created Duke of Reichstadt
by his grandfather, the Emperor of Austria. On the 15th of August,
very considerable disturbances took place at Manchester, amongst the
manufacturing poor, who were suffering great privations and misery, in
consequence of the high price of provisions, and the ruinous low prices
given for manufacturing labour. On the 29th of September, the Emperors
of Russia and Austria, and the King of Prussia, held a congress at
Aix-la-Chapelle, assisted by ministers from England and France. On the
2d of October, the convention of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed. At the
same period it was publicly announced by the Americans, that their navy
consisted of six ships of the line, eleven frigates, and twenty-two
sloops. On the 21st, Lord Ellenborough resigned the office of Chief
Justice of the Court of King's Bench.
On the 2d of November, Sir Samuel Romilly put an end to his existence,
by cutting his own throat with a razor. This event excited a very
considerable sensation throughout the whole kingdom. Sir Samuel Romilly,
although a lawyer, was very generally beloved and respected. By his
death, a vacancy occurred for the representation of the city of
Westminster, and, within ten minutes after I heard of the deed which had
been committed by Sir Samuel, I determined upon an opposition against
whoever might be nominated by Sir Francis and the Westminster Committee.
I did not, indeed, myself, choose to encounter a repetition of the
expenses which I had recently incurred, by standing a contested election
for Westminster, but I was, nevertheless, determined to have some one
put in nomination, to prevent, as far as lay in my power, the great and
powerful city of Westminster from being made a rotten borough, under the
influence of Sir Francis Burdett. But I found all the little staunch
phalanx who had supported me during my own contest, now declined
supporting an opposition in favour of Mr. Cobbett, whom I proposed
to put in nomination. In fact, I could not get a single elector of
Westminster either to propose or second the measure.
I ought to have noticed before, that, at the former contest, I was
manfully and ably supported by Mr. John Gale Jones, who never deserted
me, and who stood boldly by me to the very last day of the election. I
ought also to have noticed, that my colours, surmounted by the Cap of
Liberty, with the mottos of "_Universal Suffrage_" on one side, and
"_Hunt and Liberty_" on the other, were every day, during the first
general election in this year, carried to the hustings, and there nailed
to the same, where they remained proudly floating in the air the whole
day, till they were taken down, when the polling was closed, to proceed
with my carriage every night into Norfolk street. I beg the reader,
young or old, not to forget this fact, that at the general election in
June 1818, for the _first_ time in England, a gentleman offered himself
as a candidate, upon the avowed principles of "_Annual Parliaments,
Universal Suffrage,_ and _Vote by Ballot;_" that at this election, which
lasted fifteen days, the Cap of Liberty, surmounting the colours with
that motto, was hoisted and carried through the streets morning and
evening, preceding my carriage to and from the hustings in the city of
Westminster; and that these were the only colours that were suffered
by the people to remain upon the hustings, all other colours that were
hoisted being torn down and trampled under the feet of the multitude,
while the Cap of Liberty and the flag with Universal Suffrage remained
all day, and every day, for fifteen days, fixed to the hustings, without
the slightest insult or molestation being offered to it by any one. The
cap and flag were frequently left for several hours together, without
any one of my committee or myself being present; and I never heard
that it was even hinted to offer to remove them, except once, on which
occasion the following curious circumstance took place. One day, one of
the constables, observing that myself and all my immediate friends
were absent from the hustings, proposed in a low voice to some of his
companions, to remove Hunt's flag and Cap of Liberty; but, softly as he
had spoken, the proposal reached the quick ears of the multitude, and a
loud and general cry was raised, "Protect Hunt's flag, my lads; touch
it, if you dare!" This was accompanied by a rush towards that part of
the hustings where it was fixed. The constable gentry slinked off, and
never mentioned it afterwards, or attempted any thing of the sort.
One or two more instances of the devotion of the people towards me, I
have forgotten to record. On the day when Mr. Dowling affected to strike
me with a horse-whip, within the hustings, some one upon the hustings,
Dr. Watson, I believe, communicated to the people without, that the
constables were ill-using me; he seeing that the constables had seized
me by the arms. With the quickness of lightning the boards which formed
the lower end of the hustings were demolished, and the brave and
generous people rushed in to my assistance, declaring that they were
ready to lose their lives in my defence. I will give but another
instance of their honest devotion to the man who they thought was
advocating their rights. One evening, as I was leaving the hustings to
pass to my carriage, there was, as usual, a great crowd at the door
awaiting to salute me, and, amidst the pressure it so happened, that,
without my being aware of any thing of the sort, a pickpocket neatly
drew my watch from my pocket. But, although the act was unobserved by
me, it did not escape the vigilance of my friends, who surrounded the
door from purer motives. I passed on through the crowd to my carriage,
which stood at a distance of twenty yards, the coachman not being able
to bring it nearer up to the hustings, and, after I had got into the
carriage, a man who was standing close to the door of the hustings
hailed me, and holding up my watch and seals in his hand, passed it over
the heads of the crowd, till it was handed into the carriage-window to
me. The fact was, that some of the people saw the fellow take my watch
and pass it to another of his gang, and he did the same to a third, but
they were pursued, and the watch was rescued from the gang, who got a
sound drubbing for their pains, and the watch was restored to me in the
way which I have stated. Amongst the number who acted in this gallant
and handsome way to me, I did not recognise any one that I knew by name.
Mr. Gale Jones was with me in the carriage, and was an eyewitness of
this affair, so honourable to the people of Westminster, who attended
the hustings during the election.
On the 17th of November, Queen Charlotte died at Kew, in her 75th year.
The Lord have mercy on her! although I never heard that, during the very
long period that she was Queen of England, she ever attempted to use
her influence with her husband, George the Third, to save the life of a
single fellow-creature, with the exception of _Dr. Dodd, a parson_, who
was hanged for forgery! but may the Lord have mercy upon her!
On the same day, I think it was, there was a meeting called at the Crown
and Anchor, to nominate someone, as a proper person to be elected for
Westminster, in the room of Sir Samuel Romilly. I attended that meeting,
and by accident was seated next to Sir Charles Wolseley, with whom I
then, for the first time, became personally acquainted. The chair was
taken by Sir Francis Burdett, who briefly stated the purpose for which
the electors had met. A Mr. Bruce, the young man of that name who was
imprisoned in France, for assisting in the escape of Lavalette from
prison, proposed John Cam Hobhouse, Esq. as a fit and proper person for
the choice of the electors of Westminster as their representative. One
of the Westminster committee seconded this nomination, and Mr. Hobhouse,
a very young man, mounted the table, and addressed his auditory in a
good set speech, which appeared to have been prepared for the occasion,
as it consisted of nothing definite, but was merely made up of general
professions of his being friendly to Liberty and Reform. After he
had done he left the room, amidst a pretty general expression of
approbation. Some time now elapsed, during which there was a pause, as
every one was in expectation of Mr. Wooler, or some friend of Major
Cartwright, putting that gentleman in nomination; but, as no one came
forward, I mounted the table. After some time I obtained a hearing, and
I began by inquiring who and what Mr. Hobhouse was? I demanded if he was
any relation to the Under Secretary of State, or if he were any relation
of that Sir Benjamin Hobhouse house who had formerly professed in that
very room the same sort of general principles of Liberty which were
now professed by the youth whom we had just heard? whether he was any
relation to that same Sir Benjamin Hobhouse, who afterwards accepted a
place in the Addington administration, and who had for so many years
annually received 2,000_l_ of the public money, for doing nothing, as a
commissioner to inquire into the state of the Nabob of Arcot's debts.
The truth was, that I thought this young gentleman was a brother of the
then Under Secretary of State, and that he was a nephew of Sir Benjamin
Hobhouse, and not his son. I followed up these questions, which were
well received, and made a considerable impression upon the meeting; and
at length I proposed my friend, Mr. Cobbett, as a fit and proper person
to represent the enlightened citizens of Westminster, and I put him in
nomination accordingly. There was a pretty general cry of no! no! and
a loud laugh from the gentlemen of the Rump Committee; however, some
persons in the crowd seconded my nomination. Mr. Wooler was then called
for, as it was understood that he was to propose Major Cartwright. After
a short parley, Sir Francis Burdett stated, that Mr. Wooler was not an
elector of Westminster, and that he had nothing to say. But, though Mr.
Wooler had nothing to say, it appeared that Mr. Gale Jones had something
to say. But Mr. Jones was not permitted to express his sentiments; for,
as usual, the impartial gentlemen of the committee cried him down with
the most horrible yell, howling out that he was no elector. I believe
Mr. Bruce, who proposed Mr. Hobhouse, was no elector. I was no elector,
who proposed Mr. Cobbett.--This I stated; but the answer was, "we did
not know but you were going to propose yourself, which you had a right
to do." "Well," said I, "hear Mr. Jones. How do you know that _he_ is
not going to propose himself?" But all that I could urge was fruitless.
No man, who has not been an ear-witness, knows, nor can any man imagine,
what sort of a thing is the howl which is set up by the party who attend
those meetings, it would disgrace a conclave of fiends. I have always
seen Mr. Jones hooted down by these worthies, and I never knew them give
him a single fair hearing in my life. However, Mr. Jones had taken ample
revenge upon them at the late election; during that fortnight he paid
them off in full, for all the dastardly foul-play that they had shown
towards him for many years, and now, when they got him upon their own
dunghill, they retaliated, not by answering him, or controverting what
he had to say, but by refusing to hear him at all. Mr. Gale Jones, who
is one of the most eloquent and powerful speakers that I ever heard, was
always too independent in spirit for these gentlemen; he could neither
be purchased nor wheedled out of his opinion. Every art had been tried
to seduce him from the path of honour, but the humble walk of life in
which he has always moved is the best proof of his sincerity, and that
his noble mind stands far above the reach of all corruption's dazzling
temptations. A man, who possesses his eminent talent and very superior
eloquence, might in this venal age have been elevated to wealth and
power, if he would have condescended to speak a language foreign to his
heart, and become the slave and tool of the Government, or of one of the
factions. I believe Mr. Jones to be one of the most amiable, virtuous,
and truly humane men in the kingdom. Those who have been envious and
jealous of his talents, are the only persons who speak ill of him.
In his profession of a surgeon, he is skilful and assiduous, but his
modesty has always prevented him from pushing his practice to any
extent, so as to render it lucrative. How many unfeeling, stupid
block-heads are there in London, who ride in their carriages, and keep
elegant establishments, clearing thousands a-year as surgeons, who do
not possess a tenth part of the talent and skill of Mr. Gale Jones! It
may be asked, why then is he not rich, like other men in his profession?
This question is very easily answered by me. Alas! his humanity and his
modesty have been the cause of his poverty. Some people will laugh at
the idea of the retiring modesty of a man who could stand forward upon
the hustings, and address twenty thousand of his fellow-creatures, with
so much ease, and with so little embarrassment; but my assertion is,
nevertheless, not only perfectly true, but also perfectly consistent; he
is a _lion_ in the cause of Freedom and Humanity, but a _lamb_ in all
other cases. He is bold and fearless when contending for public Liberty;
but he is no less modest, meek, and humble, in private life. This has
assisted to keep Mr. Jones poor, but his poverty has principally arisen
from his great benevolence. I have known Mr. Jones run a mile,
and gratuitously devote hours, to assist a poor and friendless
fellow-creature; I have known him to do this, and share the shilling in
his pocket with the sufferer, and return weary and pennyless to his
wife and family, when he might have obtained a rich patient in the next
street, and a guinea fee, with a twentieth part of the trouble and time
he had gratuitously bestowed upon the poor and helpless.