THE MUTINY AT FALMOUTH.
For some years My Lords the Postmaster General had found an ever growing
source of satisfaction in the conduct of their Packets in face of the
enemy. There was abundant credit to be had out of controlling a body of
officers who went into action with the spirit of Captain Anthony,
Captain Rogers, or Mr. James. The navy itself could have produced no
better seamen or more gallant officers: yet, just as the navy was
tainted here and there with mutiny, so the sailors of the Post-Office
Service broke out occasionally in revolt, which was the more difficult
to quell since the men were not subject to the provisions of the Mutiny
Act.
The source of the disturbances, which occurred at Falmouth in the year
1810, is to be found in the suppression of the private trade, of which a
description was given in a former chapter of this work. From that
suppression the Lisbon Packets had been exempted; and this preferential
treatment of that section of the Service which in other ways enjoyed the
greatest opportunities of profit, naturally increased the feeling of
injustice which rankled in the minds of the men employed on the West
India boats.
It was long before the sailors could believe that their little
opportunities of making profit were at an end. “The Government has been
obliged to prohibit trade,” they argued among themselves, “but they will
wink at it all the same.” And so the men laid our their savings on boots
and cheeses just as before, fancying that the “searcher,” the newly
appointed officer who was to examine every Packet before she proceeded
to sea, would be conveniently blind, that the whole search was to be a
farce, and that all they were asked to do was not to flourish their
cheeses in the searcher’s face, but bring them up the side disguised as
bedding, or hidden in their sea-chests.
At first this answered well enough, for the searcher had to gain his
experience, and some time elapsed before he was a match for the seamen
in wiliness. At last, however, he gained ground upon them, and the
following list of goods turned out of the “Townshend” will be read with
admiration of the cunning which could bring so many and such bulky
articles on board and secrete them in the face of the officers and in
defiance of their commands: eleven loose cheeses; two baskets of cheese;
three large bundles of dried ling; four hogsheads of potatoes; six bales
of dry goods; three boxes of the same; three bags of shoes; a large
quantity of shoes secreted loose in different places. The major part of
these articles was turned out of the sailor’s hammocks, some few came
out of the boatswain’s cabin; but with one consent all the men professed
the greatest astonishment on seeing them. The boatswain was confident
that the sailors must have put them in his cabin; the sailors themselves
could offer no explanation at all, but were indignant at the mere
suspicion of having had any hand in the affair. The searcher was
perplexed. The Inspector of Packets wanted to make each man declare on
oath whether he had or had not brought the goods on board; but Lord
Auckland, with his usual good sense, declined to “place a whole ship’s
company in the alternative between worldly ruin and a perjury,” and so
the affair remained one of those insoluble mysteries which occur in the
experience of every public department.
The goods which were nobody’s property were sent on shore before the
“Townshend” sailed, and doubtless were reclaimed by their original
owners, so that, though the seamen lost their chance of profit, they
incurred no actual loss. Possibly this is the reason why the seizure
made so small an impression on the Service. If the goods had been
confiscated, the searcher’s duties might have been less arduous; but, as
it was, he found it necessary to report a few months later, that only
four Packets out of the entire number employed on the Falmouth Station
had not been detected in breaking the rule. It seemed impossible to
teach the men that the new rule was intended seriously; and many a brave
fellow, who had fancied foolishly enough that he would be exempted, or
that he could evade the searcher, had the mortification of seeing the
boots and cheeses which he had bought out of his scanty savings swimming
in the harbour, or tossed unceremoniously into the first boat which came
alongside, to be landed on the quay, where they would be at the mercy of
any chance Autolycus.
These things were hard to bear and not easily forgiven; while the blow
was driven home on the arrival of the Packet at her destination, when
the merchants’ clerks would come down offering Jack famine prices for
the very goods he had been robbed of—so he would naturally put it to
himself—and the price of many a spree on shore, to say nothing of pretty
things for the wife at home, would go back into the merchant’s pocket
instead of jingling in Jack’s.
The wages were raised on the boats which were no longer allowed to
trade, but the increase by no means compensated for the profits lost,
and the seamen maintained that they were still lower than the current
rate in the Merchant Service. If they were reminded that merchant
sailors were exposed to the danger of the pressgang, while Packetsmen
carried protections, they retorted that the protections were not always
respected.
This was true enough. For when the press-gangs were sweeping the streets
of Falmouth, bursting forcibly into sailors’ drinking shops, and, half
drunk themselves, giving chase to any sturdy fellow whom they met, it
often happened that a Packetsman was seized and only laughed at, or
knocked down and soundly cursed, when he claimed exemption. Sometimes
his protection was torn in the scuffle. Sometimes it was fraudulently
taken from him; and if then he lost his temper and became violent, he
was told that his mutinous conduct had deprived him of any right to
protection; and not even the intervention of the agent, or of the
Postmaster General, could restore him to the Packet Service.
So the irritation at Falmouth went on, sometimes seeming to die away,
but ever reasserting itself, and often threatening serious trouble.
There needed but some natural occasion for an outbreak; and such an
occasion was found in 1810.
In that year, for some unrecorded reason, the Lisbon Packets were
brought into line with the West India boats, and private trade was
henceforth forbidden on both. The Lisbon sailors resented the new rule
fiercely; and the long-threatened tumult broke out at last in resentment
over the somewhat excessive zeal with which the searchers and the
Custom-House officers enforced it.
Before entering on the details of the curious events which accompanied
this outbreak, it will be well to refer to two actions fought about this
time, not only because both were skilfully conducted and very gallantly
fought; but even more because the crew of the “Duke of Marlborough,”
which was the Packet engaged, were ringleaders in the coming revolt, and
the circumstances show that their discontent in no way affected the
spirit in which they fought.
The first of these actions occurred on July 26th, 1810, when the “Duke
of Marlborough” was on her homeward voyage from Lisbon, under the
command of Mr. James, who had defended her so bravely in 1807. Her
adversary was a French brig Privateer, carrying no less than eight guns
(believed to be 18–pounders) on her broadside, in addition to one on the
forecastle, with a very large complement of men; and the action was
conducted at such close quarters that one of the French sailors, having
fired his musket at Mr. James, and missed him, threw the weapon at him.
It was well for the Falmouth men, outnumbered as they were, that this
was so; for if the Privateer had chosen a more distant position, her
heavy guns must in the end have given her the victory; whereas in
meeting boarders the British sailor is in his element, and time after
time as the French came on the Falmouth men met them cheerfully, and
always drove them back.
For an hour and fifty minutes of almost ceaseless fighting Mr. James and
his brave crew maintained their dogged and obstinate resistance, until
at last a well aimed shot brought down the Privateer’s foretopmast, and
she sheered off, leaving the “Duke of Marlborough” to pursue her voyage.
It was not too soon, for there were several feet of water in the
Packet’s hold, and she would probably have sunk if the fight had lasted
much longer. Mr. James had three men wounded, but fortunately none
killed.
The second action was remarkable in this respect, that it occurred in
full sight of home.
It was on October 1st, in the same year 1810. The “Duke of Marlborough”
was once more homeward bound from Lisbon, and was approaching the coast
of Cornwall on a thick, hazy morning, when she sighted a strange
schooner, but almost at once lost her again in the mist. At 9 A.M. the
Packet was within three leagues of the Lizard, and Pendennis Castle,
which crowns the entrance to Falmouth Harbour was in sight, when the
strange vessel reappeared suddenly, standing towards the Packet under a
press of sail. Captain Bull made the private signal, but it remained
unanswered; and though the English coast was so close that it appeared
the height of audacity for an enemy to venture an attack, he judged it
prudent to order the ship to be cleared for action. His orders were
obeyed with alacrity; and having seen the boarding nettings triced up,
the mail brought on deck and shotted, and every other preparation made,
he spoke a few encouraging words to his crew. He was a man of brief and
pithy speech, and knew his crew too well to suppose that any but the
plainest eloquence was needed. Therefore, pointing to the shore, which
was then clearly visible, he simply said, “Now, my lads, there is
Pendennis, there are your homes,” and felt content, as well he might,
that no man on board would forget that he was about to fight under the
eyes of his friends, and in sight of his own cottage door.
The wind had almost dropped, and the sea was perfectly smooth, so that
the vessels neared each other slowly, and in silence. There was a period
of waiting. The schooner had hoisted no colours, and her nationality was
still uncertain, when Mr. James, perhaps losing patience, fired a musket
at her, whereon she ran up the French ensign, with a bloody flag, in
token that she would give no quarter. This was quite enough for Captain
Bull. He gave the word to his gunners, and a broadside of canister and
musket balls roared out across the bay, doing great execution at the
short distance which separated the vessels.
This was at 10 A.M., and the engagement at once became general. At 10.30
A.M. the Privateer ran down with the evident intention of boarding; and
as the enemy were seen to be in great numbers it was judged prudent to
sink the mail. It was unfortunate that this decision was not delayed a
few minutes longer; for just as the two ships were grazing each other,
and the boarding party were grouped together on the forecastle of the
Privateer, they were discouraged by a gun crammed with canister which
Captain Bull fired into their midst.
In the confusion following this slaughter, the Privateer fell away, and
the opportunity of boarding was lost. The cannonade was then resumed,
but without much spirit, and in half an hour more the Privateer got out
her sweeps, and placed herself beyond the reach of her adversary’s guns.
It was indeed high time for her to be off: for Lieutenant James Cock,
R.N., who was stationed at the signal post at Falmouth, put off from
land with two boats full of men as soon as he heard the firing, and was
now close at hand. The action was over however before he came on board,
and there was nothing left but for him to congratulate the victors. Such
was the conduct of the crew of the “Duke of Marlborough” in face of the
enemy; and it will be only fair to set this conduct to their credit as
against the part they took in the events now to be related.
In August, 1810, Mr. Saverland, the Post-Office agent at Falmouth,
reported to his chiefs in London that there was some “uneasiness” among
the sailors of the Lisbon Packets. This restless and dissatisfied
feeling originated of course in the sailors’ standing grievance, namely
the suppression of the private trade. But it had another basis also; and
they were certainly on stronger ground when they pointed out that since
the rate of their wages was fixed, a rate intended to include some
compensation for the loss of trading profits, the prices of all
commodities had risen so enormously as to render it a sheer
impossibility for the men to support their families on their pay.
There seems little doubt that the rate of wages was too low. The agent
certainly was of that opinion; and he stated that the seamen urged their
complaint with great moderation and propriety. They assembled in great
numbers outside the agent’s office on August 15th, and selected two men
from the crew of each Packet, whom they charged with the presentation of
their memorial. This document contained a temperate statement of their
case, and was in due course forwarded to London for consideration.
The Post-Office took the not unnatural view that the question of
increasing the wages of the seamen was one for the consideration solely
of the captains, who received a fixed yearly payment from the office,
and might distribute it, within certain limits, as they pleased. There
was, moreover, some intention of re-opening the question of the private
trade, and of seeking legal sanction for it, on the condition that a
certain portion of the profits should be appropriated by the Department.
Both these considerations led to some delay in dealing with the
memorial.
On August 24th the seamen returned in a large body to the agent’s
office, and inquired whether there were any answer to their memorial. On
being told that none had been received they dispersed quietly, and Mr.
Saverland, in reporting the matter to London, stated that he did not
apprehend any disturbance, but thought that if the position of the men
was not in some way improved, many of them would leave the Service. It
was finally resolved to obtain the materials for a full comparison
between the wages paid to the seamen serving on the Packets and those
employed in the navy and the Revenue Service. With some care the
comparison was made, and it resulted that the seamen on the Packets were
somewhat better paid than those in the navy. It did not of course follow
necessarily from this that the wages were fully adequate, but none could
expect that a public department would pay more than the current rate.
It was early in October when this conclusion was reached; and though it
was of course not acceptable to the sailors, it seems possible that a
contented feeling might have sprung up again. At this moment, however,
the smouldering discontent was blown up into a fierce fire by the action
of the Customs officers.
The “Prince Adolphus,” Captain Boulderson, was announced to sail on
October 24th, for the Mediterranean, and at noon on that day her crew
was mustered, the mails and passengers were on board, and the Packet was
ready to slip her moorings. The “Duke of Marlborough” was to sail in
company with her for Lisbon. At the last moment the Customs officer came
on board; and, not content with satisfying himself that no large
quantity of goods was stored in either Packet, he caused the sailors’
chests to be broken open, and confiscated the little private ventures
which the men considered themselves entitled to retain. The crew of the
“Prince Adolphus” at once refused to take the ship to sea; and after
trying in vain to induce them to return to their duty, Captain
Boulderson made the signal for the agent to come on board. Mr. Saverland
lost no time in boarding the Packet, and reasoned with the crew,
pointing out that by refusing to obey orders they forfeited their claim
to protection against the Impress. He failed, however, to produce any
effect; and was returning on shore to consult with Captain Slade, the
senior naval officer then at Falmouth, when he was hailed by Captain
Bull. On pulling alongside the “Duke of Marlborough,” Mr. Saverland
learned that the Customs officer was then on board that Packet, acting
with the same violence which had provoked the sailors of the “Prince
Adolphus,” and that Captain Bull feared the same results would follow.
Mr. Saverland was, however, powerless to interfere and returned on shore
where he held a consultation with Captain Slade. They were quickly
joined by Captain Bull, who stated that his crew had, as he feared,
refused to proceed to sea. He thought, however, that the personal
influence of the agent might have a good effect, and it was noticed that
the “Duke of Marlborough’s” men did not return the cheers with which the
crew of the “Prince Adolphus” announced what they probably considered a
moral victory. Having arranged therefore that Captain Slade should
forthwith board the “Prince Adolphus,” and impress the mutineers, Mr.
Saverland returned to the “Duke of Marlborough” where he remained for
two hours, using every kind of argument, but in vain. Captain Bull
therefore ordered the sails to be furled: and the mutinous seamen from
his ship also were pressed. This was not done without some difficulty.
Several of the older men resisted stoutly; and one drew his knife on
Captain Slade, fortunately, however, without injuring him.
On the following morning a very large number of seamen assembled in the
court-yard before the agents office, loudly demanding the release of the
men who had been pressed; and asserting that they would not return to
their duty until this demand was complied with. It was unanimously
resolved that no concessions could be made to the men while they
remained mutinous; and the disturbance shortly became so great that the
magistrates were sent for and the Riot Act read. The seamen thereupon
retired, cheering as they went, but the aspect of affairs was so
threatening that the garrison was got under arms, and Mr. Saverland
thought it prudent to acquaint Sir Robert Calder, who was then in
command at Plymouth, with the facts of the case.
On the following day there was no improvement. The sailors assembled on
the bowling green, on an eminence above the town. They had been joined
by practically all the Packetsmen who were in Falmouth at the time; and
Mr. Saverland, visiting each Packet in succession, found only the
officers and a few boys on board. The mutineers had now added to their
demand for the release of the pressed men, a claim for additional pay.
The next day the public crier went round the streets of Flushing calling
on all Packetsmen, lumpers, and riggers, to assemble that evening at the
“Seven Stars” Tavern. The object of the meeting was to select two
delegates who were to proceed to London, and lay the complaints of the
men before the Postmaster General. Accordingly two men, Richard Pascoe
and John Parker, were chosen; and started by the mail coach for London
on the morning of the 28th.
The naval officers, who were acting in concert with Mr. Saverland, were
strongly of opinion that the mutiny was the work of a few men, and would
collapse if the ringleaders could be secured. They determined,
therefore, to surround the “Seven Stars” while the meeting was in
progress, and with this view a boat’s crew entered Mylor Creek, and was
marched over the hill down into the town of Flushing. The mutineers kept
good watch however, if, indeed, the suspicion entertained by the naval
officers, that there was bad faith on the part of some of the
magistrates acquainted with the scheme, was groundless, and the
attacking party found the tavern empty.
By this time a certain friction was manifest between the mayor (Mr.
Angove) and magistrates of Falmouth, and the naval officers with whom
the agent acted. Mr. Saverland complained that the magistrates had shown
no proper anxiety to secure the ringleaders; and there is little room
for doubting that not only the magistrates, but the whole town of
Falmouth, sympathized with the seamen; and, if they did not openly help
them, were yet unwilling to take side against them. On the morning of
the 28th Captain Slade urged the mayor to call in military aid, and to
forcibly enter the houses of the ringleaders to secure their persons. At
noon he left the mayor in the belief that both his proposals had been
accepted; but the suggestion of search warrants was quietly dropped; and
though a body of the West Essex Militia, then quartered in the
neighbourhood, were summoned, they did not enter the town till six
o’clock, while at four o’clock the sailors had marched in large parties,
quite unmolested, into the open country.
In the meantime two cutters sent by Sir Robert Calder had arrived in the
harbour, and were placed under the command of Captain Slade. The West
Essex Militia were quartered in the town, and a sergeant’s guard was
located in Flushing.
It is now necessary to return to the delegates chosen by the seamen to
represent their grievances at the General Post-Office. Mr. Saverland had
been careful to acquaint his chiefs with the fact of their departure;
and had despatched an express for this purpose, which, out-stripping the
coach, reached London on the morning of October 29th. A consultation was
at once held as to how Pascoe and Parker should be received. It seemed
to the strict disciplinarians of that day impossible to countenance an
act of mutiny by parleying with these men. Whatever foundations of
justice there might be in their complaints, it was essential that the
sailors should return to their duty before any discussion could take
place. It was therefore suggested to the Admiralty that Pascoe and
Parker should be impressed as soon as they arrived; and having obtained
the necessary instructions to the Regulating Officer at the Tower, and
had the warrant backed by the Lord Mayor, whose authority was required
before the men could be pressed within the limits of the city, the
chiefs of the General Post-Office awaited the coming of the delegates
with confidence. The men arrived late on the afternoon of the 29th, and
were ushered into the room where the Secretary sat expecting them in
company with the City Marshal. Their explanations were cut short; they
were told that they had no claim to be heard; and they were handed over
without more ado to the City Marshall, who forthwith lodged them in the
Poultry Compter.
It must be remembered, if this proceeding seems harsh, that Pascoe and
Parker came to London as representatives of men who were in open and
riotous mutiny, and whose conduct, by impeding the mails, was inflicting
serious loss on the mercantile community, and possibly even hampering
the movements of the commanders of our troops and fleets then engaged in
active operations. Had these men come to London to present a memorial
temperately urged by persons who were at the same time performing their
duty, they would have been very differently received.
It appears, moreover, that the delegates had not been discreetly chosen.
Pascoe, who was known in Falmouth by the nickname of “Sir Francis
Burdett,” had served as steward of the “Prince William Henry” Packet,
and had afterwards been in the Excise, whence he was discharged for
“seditious and treasonable expressions.” Parker was an American. There
is no doubt that both men were noisy demagogues.
It had been the intention to bring the men up for examination at the
Mansion House on October 30th, but on the morning of that day it was
discovered that the Lord Mayor had doubts about his powers of
impressing, within the city, men whose offence, if any, had been
committed at Falmouth. A remand was accordingly granted in order that
the matter might be reconsidered.
By this time the situation at Falmouth had materially changed. That
firmness and zeal against the seamen which no entreaties or arguments
used by the naval officers could arouse in the mayor and magistrates,
was inspired in a moment by a happy thought of Mr. Saverland’s. He
commenced to throw out hints of an important decision which would be
taken very shortly if the mutiny did not subside, and which would be
regretted by the town for many a day. The seed thus sown sprang up in a
few hours into a very promising crop of rumours and reports. People went
about with an uncomfortable suspicion that something was about to
happen, and Mr. Saverland’s office was besieged by persons anxiously
inquiring whether it was true that the Government had decided to remove
the Packets to Plymouth. Mr. Saverland had received no hint of any such
intention, but, seeing how great an effect the mere suggestion had
produced, he dilated on the extreme probability of such a step, and
protested that the conduct of the Falmouth seamen, and the almost avowed
sympathy shown them by the constituted authorities of the town, had
brought him, and his chiefs also, to the extreme limit of their
patience.
The situation thus created was, as the mayor immediately felt, too
serious to be ignored. The loss of the Packets would bring ruin on the
town; and on October 30th, a meeting of the citizens was hastily
convened, and the whole situation was fully discussed.
There is perhaps some room for doubt whether the naval officers and the
agent, on whom the chief burden of responsibility fell throughout these
anxious days, did not overrate the extent to which the mayor and
magistrates supported and encouraged the mutineers. It is certain,
however, that on the very day on which the town’s meeting was held the
aspect of affairs began to improve, and that evening Mr. Saverland was
able to report to London that some men were already returning to their
duty. On the following day the upward tendency was more marked, and it
was intimated to the agent that the greater part of the men would return
if they could be assured that they would be well received, and would not
be abandoned to the pressgang. Mr. Saverland at once caused a notice to
be printed and distributed, promising protection to all men who would
return except four or five who were specially named, and who had
distinguished themselves by particularly riotous conduct. This notice
had an excellent effect, and on the evening of the day on which it was
issued there was a full muster of men on board all the Packets.
The mischief was, however, done. The threatening aspect of the mutiny,
and the impossibility of despatching the mails, had caused an amount of
anxiety and alarm which was not to be allayed by the simple announcement
that the men had returned to their ships. It was felt necessary to mark
the occasion in some signal way, and the idea of removing the Packets to
Plymouth, which had entered Mr. Saverland’s mind on October 30th,
occurred quite independently to the Secretary of the Treasury on the
same day. It thus happened that the Secretary of the Post-Office, on
repairing to Whitehall on October 31st, to suggest the adoption of this
plan, found that it was already being favourably considered, and that
very day instructions were sent to Sir Robert Calder to despatch
forthwith to Falmouth a force sufficient to navigate the Packets round
to Plymouth.
The news fell like a thunderbolt on Falmouth. It was received on
November 2nd, and even Mr. Saverland was not prepared for it. The
sailors had, as already stated, returned to their ships, and the step
appeared so little necessary that the agent thought that his chiefs in
London must have failed to comprehend how much the situation had
improved, and he consequently sent off an express with a full report.
The measure was, however, dictated by a strong feeling that it was
necessary, once for all, to show the seamen and the inhabitants of
Falmouth that they were not masters of the position. It was felt, not
unjustly, that the danger and inconvenience of any interruption of the
Postal Service was great enough to warrant the Department in giving a
severe lesson, and the decision to remove the Packets was consequently
persisted in.
On November 6th “H.M.S. North Star,” accompanied by a frigate and two
sloops of war, entered Falmouth Harbour, and set sail again for Plymouth
in company with six Packets. On first reaching Plymouth the Packets lay
in Hamoaze, while a temporary office was secured for the agent and his
staff at the “Fountain Inn.”
It was not long before agent, officers, and men, wished themselves
heartily back at Falmouth. Writing to the Secretary of the Post-Office
on November 13th Mr. Saverland says:
“I hope the Packets will not remain here as a fixed station. If they
do, the establishment must be greatly increased and the
correspondence delayed. Both the West India and American Mails were
ready yesterday by about noon, but what with the passengers in
different and distant inns, the Packets in different places, the
cartage of the mails, the purchasing of their anchors in very deep
water—pilotage not one man-of-war ever goes to sea without, so
dangerous is the passage—that I see very clearly we shall not gain
anything in getting to sea, though the mail arrives here in the
morning.... In the late gale the ‘Diana’ parted her cable and was
nearly on shore, and the ‘Stately,’ a 74, nearly ran on board the
“Despatch,” and would have sunk her if she had, but fortunately she
ran on board a hulk, and just saved the Packet.... In Hamoaze and
the Sound the water is so deep that if it blows a little the Packets
cannot weigh their anchors, and anchors are so distributed about by
ships cutting and slipping their cables that cables are worn out in
a few hours. The “Elizabeth” cut a new cable which cost £140 nearly
through last night, getting foul of some anchor or wreck....”
Again a few days later he wrote:
“The Packets lie very badly here.... Unless moorings are laid down,
and a separate place assigned, some of them will be lost before the
winter is over. The seamen are obliged to be victualled constantly
on board, and stock of all kinds is dearer than at Falmouth,
together with greater wear and tear, exclusive of risk....”
These representations were of course not without effect, and were
pressed home by the fact that on more than one occasion Packets which
set sail from Plymouth in stormy weather were obliged to run for
Falmouth for shelter. The Post-Office, moreover, was exposed at this
time to strong pressure exerted by prominent persons in Cornwall, who
used all their influence to secure the return of the Packets to
Falmouth.
At that time forty-four members were returned to the House of Commons
from Cornwall, and it was rightly foreseen that these members would act
unanimously in the matter. A deputation of the inhabitants of Falmouth
had, moreover, reached London early in November. It consisted of the
mayor, Mr. James Bull, Mr. John Carne, and Mr. Robert W. Fox. These
gentlemen had an interview with the Secretary of the Post-Office on
November 10th, but received what was to them an unsatisfactory answer to
their representations. The unyielding disposition shown to them was due
not only to a conviction that it was much too soon to give way, but also
to the difficulties arising from the case of Pascoe and Parker.
These two men were in a high state of exultation. The consultations held
upon their case had led to the conclusion that they could not legally be
punished, and there was no alternative but to set them at liberty. It
was not to be expected that under the circumstances they would let slip
the opportunity of making capital out of their arrest, and they promptly
commenced an action for false imprisonment against the Secretary of the
Post-Office, laying the damages at the modest sum of £5000 each. In
order to obtain the funds necessary for the preliminary steps in the
matter they issued an appeal at Falmouth. It was headed, “To the Friends
and Advocates of Justice,” and described in feeling terms the sufferings
endured by the delegates during their confinement of three days “in a
dreadful gaol, having nothing to make use of, not even straw to lie on.”
It does not appear what response this appeal met with.
The mayor and his companions passed many days in London, and at last
returned to Cornwall without having obtained any pledge concerning the
return of the Packets to Falmouth. In fact, a strong effort was made at
this time by persons interested in the port of Fowey to persuade the
Post-Office that that harbour was better suited for a Packet station
than Falmouth. There was never any great prospect that this contention
would prevail, but it deserved consideration, and it was thought
desirable to have a full report upon Fowey made by a competent engineer.
That report when received was unfavourable, and by the end of the year
there was no longer any doubt in the minds of the Government that no
harbour existed which combined so many advantages for the purposes of a
Packet station as Falmouth. It was not thought, however, that the town
had been sufficiently punished, and only at the end of January, 1811,
did the Treasury sanction the return of the Packets. Long before that
time the action threatened by Pascoe and Parker had been dropped.
Pressure was applied to them by the townspeople, who rightly judged that
it was their interest to conciliate the Post-Office rather than to fight
it. The first result of this pressure applied is shown in the following
curious letter addressed apparently to the attorney who had charge of
the case:—
“Mr. Andrew Young,
“Sir,
“Having maturely considered our discourse this morning relative to
the Packets, and being ever anxious and desirous, as far as lie in
my power and compatible with the true feelings of a man, to render
every assistance to mankind in general, but more particularly to our
Friends, Relatives, and the Inhabitants of Falmouth, have well
weighed and thereby fixed unalterably (like the Laws of the Medes
and Persians) the Rule and Criterion whereon and whereby we fix the
Basis on which we make this Declaration, and offer terms, which when
we consider the damages we have laid, namely Five Thousand Pound
each, are not nominal, but such as we have reason to expect will be
allowed by Lord Ellingboro’ and an Impartial Jury of our countrymen.
By which means it will appear we are ready to sacrifice a large sum;
and like Brutus and Manlius, altho’ not offering up our children for
a total sacrifice, offer up that patrimony they for the unhappy
moments have suffered thro’ their fathers and only friends being
unlawfully detained in a dreadful gaol, and which they are lawfully
and justly entitled to. But to return to the Question, we are of
opinion, and that not a vague one formed in a hasty moment, that the
town of Falmouth is in a ruined state unless the Packets return; and
well knowing that the Inhabitants (those principal ones we mean) are
deprived of their lucrative trade and great rents unless the Packets
can be restored to their former channel, and which we learn and
anticipate cannot be done without our sacrificing our private
feelings, which although difficult to do, we will do provided we
receive the pecuniary satisfaction we demand, which is when
considered, a trivial sum, one thousand pounds each. Now, Sir, far
be it from us to beg or desire a settlement of the Business in this
way, but for the good of the town, and we leave you to make,
according to your judgment, whatever use you think proper of this
our Final determination.
“RICHARD PASCOE.
“JOHN PARKER.
“Falmouth, Sunday, Nov. 25, 1810.”
This document breathes such an elevated spirit that it is painful to
have to relate that the moderation of these two estimable men did not
serve them. The action was not compromised on these or any other terms,
but was dropped unconditionally.