and, as a public duty, I call the attention of my readers in the
metropolis to the situation of this worthy man, this real friend of
Liberty, who has been neglected and insulted by that venal band of
mercenary and time serving politicians, those flippant summer flies of
the metropolis, those fair-weather patriots, which, when compared with
the steady, sound, and inflexible patriotism of Mr. Jones, are like the
dross of the vilest metal put in competition with the purest gold.
In doing this justice to Mr. Jones's character (and it is but bare
justice), I do not, however, mean to say that all the members composing
the Westminster Committee are quite the reverse of what he is; on the
contrary, I know many of them to be very worthy and most respectable
men in private life, and perhaps they have very unintentionally been
instrumental in making Westminster a rotten borough, in the hands of
a particular circle. Probably there did not live a more honourable,
upright man, in private life, than the late Mr. Samuel Brooks; and, as
to his public exertions, I believe that his intentions were equally
honourable, although he was frequently made the instrument to promote
injustice, partiality, and foul play, by some of the designing and
unprincipled knaves who surrounded him, some of whom had great influence
over him, and frequently urged him on to do that which in his heart I
know he very much disapproved.
But I must now return to my narrative, from which I was led by the foul,
unmanly, un-Englishman-like conduct of the Westminster party, in hooting
and howling down Mr. Jones at the public meeting at the Crown and
Anchor, which meeting was called expressly to discuss a subject of great
national importance, and to decide upon who was the most proper man to
represent the great, the enlightened, the opulent city of Westminster.
Mr. Hobhouse and Mr. Cobbett were, as I have already stated, put in
nomination, and the chairman took the sense of the meeting, which,
certainly, was very evidently in favour of Mr. Hobhouse; those who held
up their hands in his favour being more than ten to one. Upon this
occasion I produced a letter, which I received from my friend Mr.
Cobbett, from America, and likewise a New York newspaper, wherein was
inserted a letter, which he had written to the editor of that paper.
In his letter to me, as well as his letter in the New York paper, he
solemnly declared that the letter which was read by Cleary upon the
hustings, at the late Westminster election, which Cleary stated to be
written by Cobbett, was a FORGERY, and, of course, was never written by
him. Upon this Cleary went to Brooks's and produced the letter, which,
when it was shown to me, still appeared to be forged, as it was written
in a much stronger hand than Mr. Cobbett usually wrote; and I also
observed the post-mark was different from that of the office where I
knew he always sent his letters when at Botley. These circumstances, and
my having implicit reliance upon the word of my friend, who in the most
solemn manner declared it to be a forgery, made me have no hesitation in
pronouncing it as my belief that it was such.
As the show of hands was so decidedly in favour of Mr. Hobhouse, and as
I could not get a single Westminster man to join me, it was in vain to
persist in forcing Mr. Cobbett's claims upon the electors; but I was
nevertheless determined to look out for some other cock to fight, so
satisfied was I that it was necessary to oppose the schemes of that
party who appeared determined to make Westminster a rotten borough, it
being very evident that Mr. Hobhouse was the mere nominee of Sir Frances
Burdett. There was plenty of time to look about for a candidate, but I
felt quite sure that no one would oppose him if I did not bring forward
that candidate. The Whigs had no chance whatever, unless some popular
character stood forward to oppose the Westminster faction; and as for
the Ministers, they had no relish to start another man, after the
failure of Sir Murray Maxwell. Nothing could, indeed, have more forcibly
shown their conscious weakness, and the thorough detestation in which
they were held by the public, than that they did not even dare to start
a candidate in the very hot-bed of corruption, the very citadal of Court
influence.
The election was not to take place till the spring; in the mean time I
did not fail to sound all the men that I thought likely to assist me,
but I did this quite privately, while every possible exertion was made
by Mr. Hobhouse and his friends, aided by the powerful influence, and
still more powerful purse, of Sir Francis. The Westminster Committee now
found it necessary to exert their utmost, and to strain every nerve.
Canvassing committees were formed in every parish, and meetings were
called, at which Mr. Hobhouse attended in person, to solicit the favour
of the electors. The reports of these meetings I watched very narrowly,
and in all the speeches of Mr. Hobhouse, I never could discover any
one pledge given by him, to show that he was a friend to a real
constitutional and efficient Reform. He dealt in general terms, such as
his father Sir Benjamin, or Burke, or any other apostate from the cause
of Liberty, might have used with perfect safety. There, nevertheless,
appeared great enthusiasm amongst the party, and a general committee was
formed, consisting, as it was said, of three hundred electors, selected
from the different parishes. Those who were not in the secret, were
astonished to hear of such extraordinary exertions, such seemingly
overwhelming preparation; and the general opinion was, that the election
of Hobhouse was placed far above the chance of a failure. In fact, he
did not appear to have any opponent; no one had offered himself--no
one had been proposed but Mr. Cobbett, who was named by me under such
circumstances as made any opposition from such a quarter worse than
futile, absolutely ridiculous. Apparently there was but one person who
even insinuated any opposition to Mr. Hobhouse, but that one person was
Hunt. The Rump knew me too well to treat my opposition lightly. They had
so very recently experienced my power, that they saw with dismay that I
had been the sole cause of endangering the election of Sir Francis, and
that, by my exertions alone, he, their IDOL, _Westminster's pride and
England's hope_, had been placed SECOND upon the poll, having received
three hundred votes less than Sir Samuel Romilly. The Rump Committee and
Sir Francis knew all this perfectly well: they knew that if it had been
a contest between Romilly and Burdett, without any interference of mine,
that Burdett would have had a thousand or fifteen hundred votes more
than Romilly. Hence all the preparations and exertions that were now
made.
Seeing all this, I was obliged to act with great caution. I had applied,
over and over again, to those that I thought the staunchest friends of
Major Cartwright, but I found them wavering and insincere; desponding,
and exclaiming "it is all no use! it is impossible to return the Major!"
I had taken care to get a friend to sound the Major, and I found that
the old veteran was exceedingly pleased at the thought of being once
more nominated for Westminster, for which city he certainly ought to
have been the member long before. _This_ was the _Old Game Cock_, then,
that I had determined to set up against the young _Bantam_, although I
found that I should have great difficulty in bringing his seconds, or
rather his proposers, up to the mark. I had therefore solemnly made
up my mind as a dernier resort, that if my effort to have the Major
proposed should ultimately fail, I would once more offer myself,
and stand the contest in person, so convinced was I of the absolute
necessity of exposing the conduct of the electors of Westminster, who
constituted what was called the Rump Committee. They had treated me
at the late election in the most foul and unhandsome way, such as was
totally unbecoming the character of the very lowest of those who set up
any pretension to honour or honesty. I had made them feel the weight
of my opposition, and I was determined that they should a second time
experience the effect of my single-handed hostility. I well knew that
Major Cartwright was by no means popular amongst the Westminster
electors, and that he would not stand the slightest chance of being
elected; but I was alse thoroughly assured, that, as soon as the
Whigs were quite certain that I had determined to stand forward against
the Burdettite faction, they also would start a candidate. This was the
state of parties in Westminster at the close of the year 1818.
By a report of a Committee, appointed by the House of Commons, it
appeared that _four millions of pounds weight of sloe, liquorice, and
ash-tree leaves,_ are every year mixed with Chinese teas in England,
besides the adulterations that take place in China, before the teas sent
to England leave that country! The new Parliament met on the 14th of
January, 1819, and was opened by commission. The Queen's death was
noticed in the speech, and a Bill was brought in, and passed, to give
the custody of the old insane King's person to the Duke of York, instead
of the Queen, with an allowance of TEN THOUSAND POUNDS per annum! This
is about _four thousand pounds a year_ more than the salary of the
President of the United States of America. The guardians of John Gull's
purse vote the King's son _four thousand pounds_ a year more, for having
the custody of his father's person, who was confined as a lunatic in
Windsor Castle, than the Americans pay to their Chief Magistrate, for
managing all the business of the American nation! In settling the
election petitions, _three boroughs_ were declared by the committees and
by the House of Commons to have been carried by _bribery_, and an order
was given to the Attorney-General to prosecute the parties. Another bill
was passed to prevent the Bank of England from paying their notes in
gold. What a hoax! A bill was likewise passed, to prevent the subjects
of England from inlisting into the service of any foreign state at war
with another, which bill was intended to apply to the colonies of Spain.
The middle of February was fixed for the Westminster election, and not a
breath had been heard about any opposition to Mr. Hobhouse. I, however,
put an advertisement into the _Sunday Observer_, I think it was, signed
with my name, assuring the electors that an independent, real friend of
Reform would be nominated at the hustings on the day of election. Before
this letter appeared in the paper alluded to, the Westminster committee
were so satisfied in their own minds that, by their great and
overwhelming show of preparations and canvassings, they had deterred
any one from offering any opposition, and that their candidate would
be returned on the same day, without going to the poll, that the high
bailiff had not taken the usual precaution of erecting a hustings, a
temporary scaffold being thought quite sufficient. Nay, so thoroughly
convinced of this was the Rump, that they actually ordered the CAR, and
got it prepared for chairing their candidate, Mr. Hobhouse, and every
necessary preparation was made for this ceremony being performed on the
first day of the election: but, as soon as my letter appeared in the
papers, it was all consternation and confusion amongst them, and the
party were running about from one to the other like so many wild men! In
the mean time, Sir Charles Wolseley and Mr. Northmore had been written
to, and had arrived in London. A meeting was called, at the Russell
Coffee-house, under the Piazzas, over night; Sir Charles and Mr.
Northmore subscribed 50_l_. each, and a few other subscriptions were
entered into, making in the whole about 120_l_., which was placed in
the hands of Mr. Birt, of Little Russell Street, who was appointed
treasurer; and with this sum I undertook to conduct the election of the
Major for _fifteen days_, if the arrangements were left to me. This was
agreed to, and a placard was issued, and posted immediately, merely
stating "_that the gallant Major was in the field._"
A friend of mine that evening communicated to the Whigs, who were
assembled at Brooks's, in St. James's Street, what had been done, and
what was decided upon, and that I pledged my life for a fifteen days
opposition to Sir Francis's nominee, Mr. Hobhouse. This intelligence was
not communicated to the Whigs till late in the evening preceding the day
on which the election was to be held; but they instantly assembled a
council of war, to decide upon what steps ought to be taken. At length
it was agreed upon by them to start Mr. George Lambe, the son of Lord
Melbourne. He was instantly sought for, and, as I was credibly informed,
he was called out of bed, to hear the news, so late as one o'clock in
the morning; the election being to commence at eleven the same day. I
immediately agreed for a Committee Room, at the Russell Coffee-house,
where, as I have said, we had a previous meeting of some half dozen the
evening before, to settle who was to propose and second the nomination
of the Major in the morning. The only two electors of Westminster who
attended, besides Mr. Birt, were Mr. Nicholson and Mr. Bowie. These
gentlemen hesitated about performing this office, and we separated
without any thing being decided upon as a certainty. However, I knew
that Mr. Birt was to be depended upon as a man of strict honour and
integrity; and looking forward to the probability of the other two
gentlemen failing to attend, I had taken care to provide against any
contingency of that sort. It was necessary to take every precaution, for
I was aware that I had to contend with the greatest tricksters of the
age; I knew Mr. Morris, the High Bailiff, to be one of the Rump faction;
and I knew Master Smedley, the deputy of the High Bailiff, to be a
cunning, sly, intriguing fellow; and it was therefore certain that I
should have to watch their motions narrowly, being quite sure in my own
mind that they would take advantage of any little informality to
close the election--a step, or their part, which I was determined, if
possible, to frustrate.
The morning arrived, and I attended the committee room early; but I
found no one there except Mr. Birt and Dr. Watson, from whom I learned
that Messrs. Bowie and Nicholson, the professed friends of the Major,
had appointed to meet, to breakfast, at a Coffee-room, at the top of
Catherine Street, in the Strand. Thither I repaired, and found them
still wavering and undecided. When, however, I gave them to understand
that it did not depend upon them _alone_, whether the Major should be
proposed or not, as I had procured two electors, who were ready to
propose and second the nomination of the Major if they failed to do so,
their doubts and hesitation vanished, and they immediately agreed to go
upon the hustings, and perform the task.
At this moment I received a message from the Major, who wished to see me
at Probat's hotel, in King Street, Covent Garden, where he was waiting.
I found the Major very anxious to know how matters were going on, he
having heard of the difficulties which had been started; I assured him
that all was going on well, but I strongly remonstrated against his
taking any part in the election, and censured his coming so near the
hustings as Probat's hotel, as I knew that the Rump would have been
delighted to have saddled the Major with a heavy share of the expenses
of the hustings, &c. The Major agreed to return home, and not interfere
any further, and he also assured me that he had positively prohibited
the little upstart Irishman, Cleary, from going near the committee room,
or interfering at all in the election on his account, as he knew that I
had an objection to place myself in the power of such a fellow, by being
even in the same room with him. Cleary, who, upon such occasions,
was always a very busy, officious, meddling Marplot, felt very much
mortified at this prohibition, so much so, that I am informed he
immediately offered his services to the Rump, to act in opposition to
his patron and friend, the Major. But, however basely the Rump might
have acted in other respects, they acted very properly in this instance;
for they declined to accept this treacherous offer, and poor Mister
Cleary sunk into his original nothingness.
When I returned from visiting the Major, I found that the High Bailiff
had proceeded to Covent Garden, mounted the scaffold, and with unusual
haste had proceeded to have the writ read, and to open the proceedings
of the election. I got as near as possible to the hustings, upon which I
observed that Mr. Bowie and Mr. Nicholson had taken their stations;
and with considerable difficulty I also contrived to mount them. Mr.
Hobhouse was proposed, Mr. Lambe was proposed, and the Major also was
proposed and seconded in due form; and the High Bailiff, upon a show of
hands, declared the election to have fallen upon John Cam Hobhouse,
Esq. by a very large majority, which was evidently the case, in the
proportion of eight or ten to one.
As soon as this ceremony was over, I found Mr. Lambe and his friends,
Lambton, Macdonald, and Co. hastening off the hustings, apparently to
prepare for the polling, without ever taking any steps _to demand a
poll_. Now was the moment to exert myself, and, as no time was to be
lost, I made my way through the dense crowd upon the scaffold up to
Messrs. Nicholson and Bowie, and requested them immediately to _demand
a poll_, as I saw that the High Bailiff was preparing to declare Mr.
Hobhouse duly elected. When thus brought to the test, they both began to
shuffle, and finally replied that they would not undertake to do this,
as it would make them liable to the expenses. It was in vain that I
denied this, and requested them to tender their votes for the Major;
they were not to be moved, and as every thing would be lost by a single
instant of indecision, I rushed back again through the crowd, to that
part of the scaffolding where I had seen Mr. Lambe and his friends
retreating, and in my way I nearly overturned several of the Rump. I
assured the High Bailiff that a poll would be demanded, and with great
difficulty I was just in time to seize the tail of Mr. Lambe's coat,
as he was walking down the ladder of the scaffold. In doing this I was
obliged to jostle Mr. Lambton, who appeared excessively indignant at the
_shake_ which he received from me. I, however, kept fast hold of Mr.
Lambe's coat, and earnestly requested him to return that instant and
demand a poll, as otherwise the election would be closed in favour of
Hobhouse. Both he and Mr. Macdonald, although they had been bred to the
bar, appeared to know nothing of the matter, and seemed to doubt the
accuracy of my assertion. I again emphatically assured them that, unless
they returned and instantly in writing _demanded a poll_, the law would
justify the High Bailiff in declaring Hobhouse to be duly elected.
My earnestness induced them to return and do so, and if they had not
complied with my suggestions, the election of Hobhouse would have been
_irrevocably declared_ in less than one minute after.
Thus by my presence of mind were the High Bailiff and the Rump
frustrated in their schemes; for, had it not been prevented by my
prompt, bold, and decisive interposition, Hobhouse would have been at
once chaired as one of the Representatives of the city of Westminster.
In consequence of the want of such decision and presence of mind, this
trick has been a hundred times successfully played off at elections,
and would most certainly and most effectually have succeeded here; for,
after the show of hands is taken, unless one of the candidates or two of
the electors immediately present to the returning officer a written
demand of a poll, he is justified by law in declaring that person _duly
elected_ for whom the show of hands has been given.
It was, I repeat it, my interference, and my single exertions upon this
occasion, that prevented Mr. Hobhouse from being at once returned as the
colleague of Sir F. Burdett; and yet some persons are so foolish as to
inquire, "what can be the reason of such men as Tailor Place, Currier
Adams, &c. &c. and the rest of the Rump, persisting with such vindictive
and rancorous hostility against Mr. Hunt?" The fact which I have stated
is of itself a sufficient reason for their malice; but there are other
reasons for the display of the malignant feelings of Mr. Tailor Place
and Co. The reader should recollect, that I have often called the public
attention to the conduct of this said professed Jacobin Tailor; for
instance, when Sir Francis Burdett left the Tower, and the procession
was got up for him, Tailor Place undertook to attend, and to take the
management of those who were on horseback; but when the time arrived,
the Tailor _forgot to attend_, although he was one of the most violent
against the Baronet, for going over the water and deceiving the
people. Again, when the _famous Inquest_ was held upon the body of the
murdered SELLIS, in the Duke of Cumberland's apartments in the Palace,
_who,_ in Heaven's name, should be selected for the _foreman_ of that
jury which sat on the inquest, who but _Tailor Place, of Charing Cross!_
The verdict was _felo de se,_ and the body of poor Sellis was buried in
a cross road! Tailor Place was considered by some as having been a very
_lucky_ fellow, to be _selected_ as the _foreman_ of the said jury, by
the Coroner for the Palace. I know, and I beg to remind the public, that
the conduct of the said tailor was so very suspicious, that Colonel
Wardle and Sir F. Burdett did not fail to speak very plainly upon the
subject; and I know also that for many years Sir Francis Burdett would
not trust himself in the same room with the said tailor, and that when
he spoke of him he did it in the most unequivocal terms of suspicion
and distrust--and more-over, that for many years the late Samuel Brooks
never would have any communication with the said tailor. These things,
with many others, came to my knowledge, and I never failed to speak of
them in the language which they merited, both to the face of the said
tailor and behind his back: my friends will therefore at any rate not be
surprised at the malignant and cowardly hostility of this part of the
Rump, in order to be revenged upon me. The exposures that I have
made, the hundred times that I have frustrated the dirty plots of this
gang, have entitled me to, and secured to me, the honour of their
everlasting hatred, and a high honour I assure them I esteem it.