HENRY HUNT AND ENGLISH WORKING-CLASS RADICALISM, 1812-1832

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HENRY HUNT AND ENGLISH WORKING-CLASS RADICALISM, 1812-1832

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o William J? Nem a n 1M

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A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

RECOMMENDED FOR ACCEPTANCE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

FEBRUARY 19^0

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ABSTRACT The career of Henry Hunt (1773-1835) as an early nineteenthcentury agitator is significant for his increasingly direct appeal to the working-classes of England and for his ennunciation of a program of working-class political ends.

It was

from this combination of activities that Hunt drew his leader­ ship and thereby helped bring to birth the political movement of the English workers.

An evaluation of his leadership must,

however, take into consideration not only this achievement but also the extent to which Hunt solved the tactical problems *? Ci

which faced his movement.

In this connection the examples of

later working-class movements are helpful for they make it possible to erect a standard of working-class tactics.

Marx

t and the Fabians presented a framework of action using a method of social analysis which enabled them to recognize -v/ €

S' . f !

Lenin, "The Teachings of Karl Ivlarx", p. 565* 2. Ibid., "The Communist Manifesto", pp. h£-6; F. Engels, Germany: Revolution and Counter-Revolution (New York, 1932) pp. k7f 779 132-1;; K. Marx, The Class Struggle in France, 18348-56 (New York, n.d.), pp. 21-hj 33—^45 130; 538; K. Marx The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (New York, n.d.) p. 62.

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Universal suffrage is indispensable in bringing about a final decision. But it is only part of the scenery.

An economic

crisis also had to be in existence before a fruitful struggle could begin; a full belly is heavy baggage for a revolutionist, and wise leaders will keep a weather eye cocked on the economic life of the nation and be ready to strike a decisive blow when the proper

3. pitch of misery is reached.

This tactical law has

its corollary, for the leader of the workers is not to pine for economic disaster in solitude.

Rather he

is to spend the intervals between business crises building a solid workers organization of local groups in constant communication with each other.

With such

a tool the workers will be able to act independently of other classes and for their own ends when the time li. of crisis does come.

3.

Marx, Class Struggle in France, pp. 132; 135»

it.

Engels, Revolution and Counter-Revolution, p. 76;

122— ; 135; 135;:

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The necessity of independent action by the working class is paramount in the Marxian scheme for only thus can the workers find some secure ground in the threecornered class struggle which results from the attempt of the middle class to overthrow the feudal aristocracy and the attempts of the workers to gain their rights from the middle class.

In this effort the peasants are

accepted as valuable but dull-witted allies of the 'S* workers. The real problem of a period of basic change was that of the proper relationship of the workers to their exploiters, the bourgeoisie. It was an urgent and immediate problem for both Hunt and Marx and one to which Marx gave a well-reasoned answer.

Since the

middle class was engaged in sweeping away the rubbish of the past, the workers were to join them in this enterprise but only on the basis of a tacit not formal 'i

alliance.

There must be no union of the workers and

the middle class, for only if the workers act independently will they be free to push the revolutionary movement

5. Marx, Eighteenth Brumaire, pp. 111-16'j Civil War in France (New York, 191*0), p. 96, n. 68% Class Struggle in France, p. 13it.

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started by the bourgeoisie beyond the limits desired by them.

Once the cake of custom is broken by the

bourgeoisie revolution, change should continue to flow as swiftly as possible instead of consolidating into ' middle-class despotism.

Nor must the workers be deterred

by, the possibility of a bourgeoisie victory resulting in such an end; they must not try to skip this stage ' of history, for the working-class movement is never truly independent until the middle class has conquered

.

6 power and remodelled the state in its own interest. Since the workers must help the middle class to

victory in order to gain the favor of history, working class failure and subjection is made understandable. Marx gave a clear cut and encouraging explanation of the setbacks which the workers had already experienced and would continue to experience.

^he real significance

of such efforts were not the failures but the battles.

6. Burns, Handbook of Marxism, "Communist Manifesto", p. 58-95 Lenin, "Teachings of .Marx", p. 568; Engels,. Revolution and Counter-Revolution, pp. 7-8; l)|-5; 25-6; ip-5 ^7-95 62; 68; 70; 103-ii; 138-^6; Marx, Eighteenth Brumaire, pp. i|6-7; Civil War in France, p. 11; Class Struggles in France, p. 1*3; 58.

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These resulted in an ever-expanding union of the workers and a revolutionizing of their minds thrpugh action.

Further, defeat and the consequent repression

instills a wish for revenge and adds to the forces which will ultimately bring about victory.

A futile

battle by the workers may be painful, but it is one more nail in the coffin of capitalism.

The workers

are not to play a waiting game; on the contrary they are to make history by courageous and positive blows.

Even though the struggle be hopeless - as it

was during the Paris Commune — the masses are to take the initiatives only in that way is the demoralization of the working class prevented.

The workers as agents

of history must play their part with the energy and faith which will keep history moving and at the same 7. time prepare them for the final success which was to come as a result of the inevitable economic collapse

7. Burns, Handbook of Marxism, "Communist Manifesto", p. 33; Engels, Revolution and Counter-Revolution, 26; 32; 82; Marx, Class Struggles in France, pp. 15-16; 33; 58-9; 80; 92; 113-it; Civil War in France, pp. 3ki 80; 86; Eighteenth Brumaire, p. 62.

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of capitalism.

As the capitalistic system grew

weaker with each succeeding crisis the blows of the workers would become increasingly effective. Eventually the combination of working-class thrusts and economic weakness would bring Socialism, was the promised futures

^his

but energetic action by

the workers in the face of overwhelming odds was necessary before it could be realized. The Basis of Marxian Tactics The ideas of Marx on tactics were based on his well-known historical and economic analysis which was brought into the work-a-day world of the lower classes by specific deductions from general principles. Philosophy, said Marx, cannot be realized without the uprising of the workers, but the workers cannot rise

8.

without the realization of philosophy; ■ the tie between the two was absolute.

It was through theory that the

fluttering bird of Utopianism, magnificent though its plumage was, should be made captive and useful.

The

8. ,B. Russell, Ereedom versus Organization, 1811+-1911+ (New York, 1931+), p. 179; Eingels, Revolution and Counter-Revolution, p. 12f?.

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classical economists had provided a buttress of natural law for their patrons ; Marx would do the same for his followers.

Once the laws of society were

known to the working class, decisions could be made in the light of their eternal necessity. . Armed with understanding the workers would realize the need for 10 and the significance of revolutionary action.

.

The first boon to be derived from this weltanschuung is the realization that the only true source of tactics is the relationship of classes.

It is therefore a

study of such relationships that gives the correct moves to be made at any one moment.

The means of action are

not to be invented

the mind; rather they are to be 11. discovered by the mind. But economics must be supple­ mented by history.

The historical analysis of a situation

9. Bums, Handbook of Marxism, Engels, "Herr Eugen Duhring's Revolution in Science (Anti-Duhring)", p. 255; K. Marx, "The Poverty of Philosophy", pp. 365; 368; 369-70.

10. Engels, Revolution and Counter-Revolution, pp. 70-1; 127; 129-30; Burns, Handbook of Marxism, Lenin, "‘Left-Wing1 Communisms an Infantile Disorder", p. 876; Marx, Eighteenth Brumaire, p. 19; V. I. Lenin, Two Tactifcs of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution (New York, 1935)» pp. 33; 95-6. 11. Burns, Handbook of Marxism^ Lenin, "Teachings of Marx", p. 565; Lenin, "Our Programme", p. 571; Engels, "AntiDiihring", pp. 275; 296.

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gives the workers further means of cool appraisal. The world is now presented to them as developing in time rather than repeating the weary round of the eighteenth-century cosmos.

It is from the process

of progressive movement that a pattern emerges which has all the sanction of law.

Out of chaos comes law;

from law comes a sense of direction, and from a sense of direction comes right-minded decisions.

The world

is also revealed by history as a place where power rather than wishful thinking is supreme; the minds of the workers are accordingly directed toward the factor 12 . which determines change. Tactical moves take a new meaning when seen from this perspective; they cease to be isolated incidents but become part of a program of events which is not only inevitable but which also extends into the future as well as the past.

Since the program is fixed in

advance by immutable forces, political action must take cognizance of it.

The task of the Socialist is

12. R. Postgate, How to Make a Revolution, (London, 193h) pp. 27-8; 32; 38; lj.b-1; Burns, Handbook of Marxism, '•Communist Manifesto”, pp. 37; ij8 ; LO; f?3-7; fcngels, "Ludwig Feurbach", pp. 220-22.

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27

to bring to the consciousness of the workers what their future holds and the nature of the acts which 13. they as a class are destined to perform. To Marx the future was the teacher of the present.

It is only

from a knowledge of the future that the workers can prepare for it by directing their agitation towards its needs as well as the needs of their own day. With an eye on what is to come the workers have some­ thing to replace the worn-out and inadequate ideas which they had inherited from the past.

Marx saw that

the new economy of nineteenth-century Europe demanded something else than a re-avowal of old gods; it demanded an acceptance of what was and what was to be. The workers of I8I48 had tried to make history as it had been made in the past by calling upon ghosts of

lit. men long dead to assist them. past which could offer advice.

But it was not the The future is the true

13. Ibid., Lenin, "Teachings of Marx", p. $61; see "Communist Manifesto", pp. 29-36; Engels, "AntiDuhring", pp. 269; 271; 277; 299II4. Marx, Eighteenth Brumaire, pp. 13-6.

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source of vision, and this is what the materialist •

15.

dialectic provided. The recognition of the "final aims" of the workers as discovered by the dialectic gives them their proper role at any one moment of time.

Change is not constant

but rather fitful and sporadic3 there may be long periods of stagnation with alternating short periods of quick, sharp moments of decision.

Knowing the

former for what it is and knowing that the latter will come, the working class and its leaders can plan their actions with the future moment of decision in mind.

In a period of "snail’s pace" the workers can

prepare themselves to good advantage by cultivating 16. class consciousness and fighting strength. A time of pause is not a time of irest. Marxian laws tell the workers how to use a period of seeming sterility when parades, meetings, and riots knock at the gates in vain.

15. Burns, Handbook of Marxism, Lenin, "Teachings of Marx", p. 5655 Engels, Revolution and Counter-Revolution, pp. 126-7. 16. Burns, Handbook of Marxism, Lenin, "Teachings of Marx", pp. 565-66.

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Thanks to a knowledge of things to come the workers know what to do 5 they know what is right and what is wrongj they not only have history on their side but also wisdom. " . . . The fact that difficulties exist does not mean that these difficulties are insurmountable. "What is important is to be convinced that the path chosen is the correct one, and this conviction, will multiply a hundredfold the revolu­ tionary energy and revolutionary enthu­ siasm which can perform miracles." 17.

Ill Fabian Tactics How Socialism Was to Be Brought to England "Whereas Marx saw history composed of moments of widespread change alternating with periods of political stagnation, the Fabians saw many, many moments of decision strung out like beads on a necklace; taken individually they are nothing; taken together they

17. Lenin, Two Tactics3 p. 86.

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30

are a new creation.

The Fabians rejected revolution

for evolution^ in so doing the tactics of the workers movement was shifted to harmonize with the history of Britain in the fifty years before I889. The Fabians condemned as romantic amateurs all those who had gone before them, and in this condemnation they included 1. Marx. Constitutionalism became the Fabian answer to the Socialists' prayer, plain and undistinguished though the wench might be.

By making Socialism respect­

able to the average Englishman, piecemeal progress in the shape of franchise extension and a gradual transfer of rent and interest to the state could be accomplished. In such fashion the English would socialize themselves rather than having Socialism imposed upon them by 2 catastrophe.

.

1. B. Shaw, Lord Passfield, G. Wallas, The Lord Olivier, W. Clarke, A. Besant, H. Bland, Fabian Essays (London, I9I48$ Jubilee Edition), pp. XXIX - XXXI $ 170$ G. B. Shaw, The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism (New York, 1928). pp. 376-7; Eric Bentley, Bernard Shaw (Norfolk, Conn"., 19h7)> p. 8; E. Pease, The History of the Fabian Society (London, 1916), pp. §9-91. 2.

Ibid., pp. 53-lj.j 82; Fabian Essays, pp. XXXVIII* 170-1.

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.

In this painless progress the Fabians were to be the dynamo of change.

Using their technique of

permeation, at first they turned their back on attempts to build an effective political party and upon any claim to represent the workers.

Instead they focused

their remarkable powers of persuasion, on those who 3. occupied the.seats of the mighty. Prime ministers, members of Parliament, and the middle class were to be convinced of the necessity of installments of Socialism as a means of meeting daily questions of public life. Such installments would appear merely as ways to a greater social efficiency, but in fact they would lead eventually to a socialistic state.

The Fabians thus

held aloof from the street agitations of the l880*s in order that they might hold a conference and work out a 1*. practical plan for the eight-hour day. These middle-

3. Ibid., p. XXXVIII; G. B. Shaw, Essays in Fabian Socialism, (London, 1932), "The Fabian Society", pp. 126-7; 137-1*1; 150-£6; Pease, Fabian Society, pp. Shi 61—3; 67-9; 70; 207; Shaw, Woman’s Ouide, p. 3hk. See Pease, Fabian Society and B. Webb, Our Partnership (New York, 191*8), passim for examples of their technique. it. Shaw, Essays in Fabian Socialism. "The Fabian Society", pp. 131-7; Pease, Fabian Society, pp. 83-1*.

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class Socialists flourished best in a peaceful milieu; released passions simply obscured the fine and delicate reasoning necessary to convert an M. P. to social action.

But Fabianism was more than tracts giving

specific answers to specific problems and giving free advice to the harassed men of the world.

Despite the

early disavowal of working-class action the Society as early as 1889 had recognized the ultimate need for a political party of workers dedicated to Socialism.

By

I89O with the cry, "To Your Tents 0 Israel," they began to move towards the combination of trade unionism and evolutionary Socialism which produced the Labour Repre£• sentation Committee. At the same time the older technique of working within the established political structure of Britain laws continued; Socialism was still to come ty any constitutional means available and by bickering in the political market-place.

5. Fabian Essays XXVL; "The Outlook", passim; Shaw, Essays in Fabian Socialism, "The Fabian Society", pp. llj7-50; Pease, Fabian Society, pp. 112-7; l£l; l5H>«

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The Basis of Fabian Tactics Marx and the Fabians disagreed on how Socialism was to come, but they both agreed that its coming was inevitable.

Both rested their concepts of tactics on

the study of history which assured this happy state of things.

The Fabians were sure that constitutionalism

and evolution was the only road to success because history dictated this means.

History was and had been

building the structure of Socialism in a series of i

peaceful installments.

Socialism is nothing but the

" . . . obvious evolution of society as we see it around us, . . . the' next step in the development of society, rendered inevitable by the changes which followed from the industrial revolution of the eighteenth century." 6 . To Marx the history of his own time and of the near future would not bring Socialism but rather the increasingly painful conditions out of which Socialism must eventually spring full grown.

To the Fabians history .was daily

bringing specific applications of Socialism which would

6 . Pease, Fabian Society, pp. 9 0 - 1 H. Lynd, England in the Eighteen-Eighties (Hew York, 19lt5)j pp* ItOO-lj Fabian Essays, pp. II4I 5 1683 202 j ^haw, Yfoman1s Guide,

pH U .

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34

some day cover England with a blanket of new social arrangements. The stream of history upon which they banked their fortunes was made up of two developments of the nineteenth century, the industrial revolution and political democracy.

The former brought a full

measure of misery and unjust appropriation; the latter brought the means of redeeming these grim 7. features of the new civilization. That the attempt of democracy to assert its rights to what it had produced is of necessity piecemeal and evolutionary is shown by the history of nineteenth-century England, for the Fabian analysis placed England in 1889 not at the beginning of the transition to Socialism but in 8. the middle of it. The Fabians looked back over a longer vista of working-class history than did Marx.

Even before they

7. Fabian Essays, pp. 31-2; 35; 375 56; 57 J 87; 92-3; 985 lijl5 162; Lynd, England in the Eighteen-Eighties, p. I4.O7; Shaw, Essays in Fabian Socialism, "Anarchism”, p. 85; ‘Woman*s ijuide, p. 378.

8. Fabian Essays, p. l6l.

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35

had entered the scene there had been bit-by-bit progress toward Socialism in England of which the municipal socialism of Joseph Chamberlain is only 9. one example. Since Socialism was already on its way, there was no need for a series of explosive charges of increasing intensity. The work of -the Fabian Society was thus simply the " . . . interpretation of an existing movement, the explanation and justi­ fication of tendencies which origi­ nated in Society at large . . . 10. They had only to keep open the lines of progress ty explaining what that line was so that no "casual 11. reaction" would break it. The problem was to discover the underlying tendencies of the age, to forecast the next stage - not the far-off future - and to be there with a welcoming smile and a plan of action as society, 12 confused and weary, draws up to ask for help.

.

9. Ibid., pp. 28; 30; ij-6; Pease, Fabian Society, pp. 2ii0-l. 10. Ibid., p. 2U2. Shaw states that the whole process is aided immeasurably by the fact that nine-tenths of all decent men are Socialists to begin with. Shaw, Essays in Fabian Socialism, "Socialism and Superior Brains", p. 25>H. 11. Pease, Fabian Society, p. 2i}2. 12. Shaw, Essays in Fabian Socialism, "Fabian Society", pp.lit2-li Fabian Essays, pp. 138; llfO-l; Lynd, England in the EighteenEighties, pp. 397-8.

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History could take care of itself, but the Fabians would ease its path by service on matters of detail. Generalization and wide prophesy could be forgotten for the specific.

The musty book of history made

clear that the precise solutions to particular social problems, i. e., "possibilism", was all that was necessary to continue an evolution already under way. Any other tactical appraoch would hold back this development; the Marxist revolutionaries were, for example, making socialism impossible in England by 13. their threats to society. Once again a study of history and a view of the future drawn from history decide a tactical approach. The Fabians came, therefore, to a position where tactics was all and the ultimate end comparatively insignificant.

It was this which was their great

achievement; they were the first of the English workingclass movements to think their way through the problem of tactics and to give full consideration to the question.

13. Shaw, Essays in Fabian Socialism, "Anarchism”, pp. 65-6.

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This was accomplished not only by an absorption of the principles of Marxism, but also and more importantly, %

by looking back to the political and social experience of their nation.

IV What is Required of a Working-Glass Leader. Marx and the Fabians were able to develop their complicated tactical patterns in part because of the precedent which they had to draw on.

The progressive

realization during the nineteenth century of a working-, class movement brought an accumulation of lessons which could be codified into practical ways and means of achieving ends.

Such experience was essential to a

sophisticated political force, but it was an aid of which the movement led by Hunt had no knowledge.

The

working-class effort of 1815-19 was rudimentary; in some instances little more than mob action converted to political ends.

Yet never before had there been a

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38

' f

•working-class movement of such dimensions.

It was

i

this dichotomy which provided the basis of its tactical problem.

Hunt achieved nothing less than the birth of

a new power in politics.

On the part of Hunt and his

followers there was an eager desire for action but there was no distinctive working class success already in existence which could act as a guide as to what forms this action should take.

There was knowledge and

experience of the tactics of other types of movements, humanitarian, mercantile, and electoral, but nothing which the working class itself had evolved for its own purposes.

This was a new situation.

As a new political force the movement would eventually have to work out a new schemework of tactics and manuvers which would be relevant to its special conditions and purposes. movements did this.

We have seen how two later

Both Marx and the Fabians developed

a thought-out frame of reference from which their tactics were derived.

Their methods of gaining their ends were

not instinctive but calculated.

F-urther, they were

acclimated to the conditions of their time.

To know

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.

what those conditions were an analysis of society was made in which various factors affecting the movement were delineated.

In this way what was feasible was

separated from what was not feasible, at least in the minds of the leaders and his adherents.

Marx, for

example, understood the position of the middle class in his own time and he knew— -to his own satisfaction— how the workers must deal with this group.

Tactics

ceased to be the indiscriminate seizing of all the tools that might be at hand; it became the selection of the best tools or, if necessary, the making of new ones. The second characteristic ,of Marx’s and the Fabians approach to tactics is closely related to the first. As far as tactics was concerned the analysis of society which was made was predominantly historical; economics in this instance entered only as a facet of history. Both movements used history to show the trend of their times and to project that trend into the future.

The

professional historian may cavil at prediction but the Socialist does not.

But the certain knowledge that the

movement would at some near point in the future reap the

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reward of its virtues was not merely a sanction of certain manuvers which could be deduced from the course of events.

The promise of success was in

itself a shrewd'tactical move which aimed at the release of energy which is born of confidence. Tactics must not only consider the forces opposed to a movement; it must also consider the best use it can make of the support at its disposal.

The invocation

of history provided one means to this end; for the final result of turning to the past was an optimistic theory of tactical action which proved to the movements that they had a future and that the future was good. These ideas were the result of a considerable amount of intellectual effort.

Hunt was no intellectual;

he was an agitator in the most direct use of the word. But as-the leader of the workers it was he who supplied them with their program and tactics.

In part the

quality of his leadership must be judged by his ability to develop tactics and concepts which gave strength to the movement.

As the father of the new mass movement

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his status must depend to a great extent on his skill in formulating a point of view distinctivelyworking class in content and on his capacity to develop an optimistic theory of working-class action.

A successful leader must do more than

stimulate a desire for a goal— that was" easy enough for Hunt.

He must also give assurance to his followers

that the goal will be reached and tell them how and why it will be reached.

This may require omnipotencej

but it is an important part of working-class tactics.

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CHAPTER. Ill HUNT THE FARMER

In Wiltshire Hunt received his first stock of concepts and ideas. Born and raised in the country, his youth "was that of a son of a prosperous farmer, and it was the attitudes of this class which he ab­ sorbed as he took an active interest in his work on his father's farm and as he participated in the social life of the region.

The industrial revolution

had scarcely touched Wiltshire, and a rural existence was all that Hunt knew for the first thirty years of his life. Hunt in these years was a Tory of the most stolid and conservative type.

Unquestioning in his obedience

to throne and the constitution as interpreted by Parliament, he only just began his political education while he lived in Wiltshire.

But it was begun for it was also

during these years that contact with London Radicals showed him new ways of thinking and gave him personal acquaintance with another way of life. Just as important was the culmination of his natural

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enthusiasm in a hasty marriage and soon after a runaway romance with another woman.

Snapping his

social ties with his past and leaving Wiltshire for another area, Hunt was freed from the enervating atmosphere of rural loyalism.

Hunt had rebelled

against the conventions of his society not only by living with another woman than his wife but also by other acts of impulse during his years with the Yeoman Corps.

By 1803 Hunt was ready to carry further his ■f~

rebellion against social restraint.

I Wiltshire in the Last Years of the Eighteenth Century The county into which Hunt was born and in which he lived his early life was an agricultural area com­ posed of large and small farms, market towns, villages and a thriving wool industry.

Geographically divided

into north and south Wiltshire, its agricultural products were diverse and provided a good living for

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the many farmers of the area. Cobbett*s description in 1826 of the valley of the Avon as it enters into Wiltshire from the south gives a picture of the valley life somewhat as it must have looked twenty-five years before he was writing.

"Villages, hamlets, large farms, towers,

steeples, fields, meadows, orchards, and very fine 1. timber, trees, scattered all over the valley." On each side of the valley rose the forbidding Downs, some of them steep, some gently sloping.

In the

area around the famous town of Salisbury with its thirteenth-century cathedral lay large farms devoted to the raising of sheep.

The land was good; Cobbett

notes sarcastically, "it must be so, for the farmers 2

confess it."

.

Wiltshire in-general was a bare, wet

and rainv land, but although the Downs were cold and 3. damp the valleys were snug and heavily wooded.

1. W. Cobbett, Rural Rides (New York, 1932), p. 2k7* 2. Ibid., p. 21*8. 3. Ibid., pp. 2I48; 253-5.

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In the north of the county another river Avon is found running through the flat land.

Pastures

are frequent and make this a fine dairy district. Again the land is good and productive.

The lack

of Downs, however, sharply distinguishes this land from that of the southern part of the county. Wiltshire had felt the impact of the enclosure movement in the early part of the eighteenth century, especially in the north.

The land, however, was not

exclusively in the hands of a small landed class. On the contrary, in Wiltshire the farmer-landowner had held his own, and many of the farms of the county were small in comparison with those found elsewhere in England; the independent yeoman had retained his hold on the land, for although the land had been divided and subdivided, Terramania had resulted in a well-to-do class of small farmers. Despite the enclosures, however, much of the land of 'Wiltshire was unimproved, and large scale agriculture

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in the best Arthur Young Tradition was rare. Wiltshire was more than an agricultural district. It was part of the southwestern wool manufacturing area, the home of the British wool industry in the eighteenth century.

Before the Industrial Revolution

this was one of the most populous sections in England, and the center of the cottage wool industry, a primacy which it had lost by 1801.

By that date the

economic decay had already set in; only Middlesex had retained its population supremacy above Lancashire; Wiltshire along with Surry, Somerset, Gloucester and the other counties of the southeast had suffered from the northward shift of population.

Cobbett noted the

decay of the wool industry In 1826s

11 . . . I am

quite convinced, not that cloth is at an end, but that

6.

it never will be again what it has been."

I4. Clapham, Economic History of Modern Britain (London, 1927), I, 101-2; Lord Ernie, English Farming, Fast and Present (London, 1936), pp. 29hi 233-Iu 5. J- L. and B. Hammond, Skilled Labourer (London, 1919)* p. 137* Clapham, Economic History of Modern Britain, I, 1j5>-6; G.M. Trevelyan, British History in the Nineteenth Century and After (London, 1937), pp. 3-it*

6 . Cobbett, Rural Rides, p. 265-

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Although the wool industry in southwestern England was highly capitalized in the eighteenth century and has become one of the classic examples of the putting-out system of manufacture, it was not 7. mechanized until late in the century. At that time the cottage trade began to feel the first effects of 8. the change. In both the weaving and spinning branches of the trade mechanization gradually came to take the place of the older established techniques.

The spinning

jenny was introduced into the trade in the 1770's and

1780's, the flying shuttle as early as 1757.

The

mechanical transformation was complete by 1805*

Although

riots marked the period of transition, the new inventions were accepted without undue disturbances since the change took place during an era of prosperity for the trade.

Toward the end of the century spinning

factories were established in some of the more important towns, although not without the traditional eighteenth-

7. J. L. and B. Hammond, Skilled Labourer, pp. 137-9; 156-9 Clapham, Economic History of Modern Britain, I, 1*5j 179-81.

8 . Cobbett, Rural Rides, p. 262.

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century protest - a riot. 9. were not developed.

Weaving factories, however,

Despite these developments and despite an occasional riot over new machinery in the wool trade, Wiltshire in the final years of the eighteenth century was a prosperous, busy agricultural piece of Old England.

Seemingly stable and firmly based on the

round of seasons and a traditional way of life, it nevertheless represented the England which was soon to disappear amidst a welter of factories and discontent.

II Hunt's Youth Henry Hunt was born in South Wiltshire, November 6, 1773s at Widdington Farm, an isolated, lonely house 10 . with the nearest neighbor more than a mile away.

9. J. L. and B. Hammond, Skilled Labourer, pp. Iii5-9j 159-61; 171. 10. The following information on Hunt's early life is taken except where noted, from H. Hunt, Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. Written by Himself in His Ma.-jesty's Jail~at Illchester in the County of Somerset (London, 1820, "3 vols.).

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The event was celebrated with the conviviality- common among the farmers of southern England, a sugar-toast feast which lasted for well over a fortnight.

There

was plenty of "good old October", or "stingo" and layered toast interspersed with sugar and nutmeg soaked in boiling ale.

Usually the feast lasted for only one

day, but Hunt's father was so delighted with the birth of Henry that he set no bounds to his exertions, and two hogsheads of ale kept the feast rolling on its merry way. The father who celebrated so lustily the birth of his first child was the recipient of a long family tradition which he passed on to his young son.

Henry

Hunt's obvious pride in his family background reveals the rural well-to-do farmer underneath the Radical Reformer; the levelling demagogue opens his Memoirs with the forthright statement that he was "descended from as ancient and respectable a family as any in that county (Wiltshire)."

The roots of this family

went back to the time of William the Conqueror, it is claimed.

The family settled in Wiltshire and Somerset,

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50

where th^y took over considerable estates which prospered until the years of the Civil "War when Colonel Thomas Hunt took part in the struggle against Cromwell and when he participated in the Wiltshire 11. revolt of 1655* Henry Hunt's pride in this feat of loyalty to divine right was absorbed at his father's knee: "How often have I been sent upstairs to unlock the old oak chest,, and to bring down the mustv records of these eventful days . . . . How often did I at [my father's] command read the minute detail as I found it written, upon the old musty parchments and papers!" Hunt's early Toryism was indigenous. His gallant efforts notwithstanding Colonel Hunt's exploits did not restore the family to prosperity after 1660; Cromwell's confiscation of the Hunt estates was not undone by an ungrateful king.

The Colonel

retired into the county of Wiltshire where he settled

II. Earl of Clarendon, The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England Begun in the Year I6I4I (Oxford, 1888$ ed., W.D. Macray, 6 volsT), V, 379; J. Thurloe, A Collection of the State Papers of John Thurloe (London, 17b2, 3 vols.), III, 1|53; the latter work confirms in detail the escape from jail of Col. Hunt described by Henry Hunt in his Memoirs, I, 27-8.

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.

on a small estate in the parish of Enford which had been overlooked by Cromwell and where he lived the life of a gentleman.

This little estate eventually

passed to Hunt's father, but in the course of the years it had become loaded with debt.

Before coming

into possession of Enford, therefore, Hunt's father decided to strike out for himself in order to better his prospects. Turning his mind to both the rearing of a family and the making of his fortune, he married at the age of forty-one a nineteen-year old girl and rented Widdington Farm in the parish of Upavon.

One

year after the birth of Henry he came into the possession of the Enford estate.

Eventually the

improvement of the family resources was successfully achieved by the elder Hunt; it was this rural capital which was to provide the funds for many of Hunt's Radical activities. Henry Hunt was the oldest of six children; within the seventeen years following his birth two brothers and three sisters were born into the Hunt family.

Hunt

displayed early in his childhood the same abundant zest

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which was to characterize him throughout his life. His enthusiastic acceptance of the rough and tumble political life of the time and his ability to add to it his own particular techniques of husting politics show Hunt possessed of a tremendous fund of evergy. He enjoyed the life around him, and he participated in many of the sometimes crude and boisterous move­ ments and changes which were taking place in Britain at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

He

submerged himself to the full in all that he was doing.

The worn phrase, “the strenuous life*',

describes Hunt well3 seldom ill, there was no complaint or doubt in his existence.

Impulse and action ruled.

The brood which quickly developed in the household of the elder Hunt seemed only to bring prosperity despite the dire predictions of his contemporary, 1

Malthus.

Hunt's father took advantage of the agricultural

boom of the war years, and by 119b, he had under his control three farms in Wiltshire; Widdington, the farm at Enford (Littlecot farm), and Chisenbury farm; the latter was a farm of almost one-thousand acres.

Hunt's

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father could take pride in the extent and success of his farming operation.

A hard worker and a stern

man he could and did pride himself on being self-made, although the family lineage was never forgotten. Henry Hunt's education was as good as the rural areas of England then provided.

He was sent to

boarding schools in Wiltshire and Hampshire until he was ten years old; at these schools he learned geography, reading, writing, and "casting accounts".

Later his

education was continued at schools in Andover and Salisbury where Latin was added to his accomplishments. But more enticing was the "light fantastic toe" at which Hunt was more proficient than at the construing of Virgil and Horace. Hunt cannot be described as an especially good student if his own statements are to be accepted; changeable, impulsive, generous in nature, he was on the whole inattentive to books.

His application to

things of the mind was momentary at the best, and the restless activity which was to be the key to his future character was already evident.

He was fond of excelling

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at what he calls "feats of activity", although his teachers generally admitted that he was capable of learning if he would only apply his mind to his work a not uncommon complaint, surely, about young students. But Hunt's gregarious nature was already evideit at this young agej he was the leader in non-scholastic activities, including acts of insubordination at his various schools, and it was this experience rather than the cultivation of the intellect which was to stay with him. His somewhat excitable temperament became even more pronounced in the latter years of his youth. Prom the age of sixteen to twenty-one the cruel punishment at Andover school and the death of his mother contributed to emphasize his temper and hot­ headedness.

At Andover he was subjected to the type

of schooling portrayed in Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby; boxing of the ears and floggings were common occurrences in the school and Hunt, as ringleader* in most of the devilment which small boys can think up, received his full share of these punishments.

Hunt's efforts at

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organizing resistance among the boys failed - a prophetic spasm of protest.

Running away from school to the

complete disgust of his father, the fundamentally good disposition which Hunt had had before he entered this school was temporarily warped.

He was more than ever

impatient of control by his superiors; more than ever he sought to have his own way by the sheer force of his will, by throwing off the checks of convention. The death of Hunt’s mother when Hunt was seventeen years of age and at the time that he was passing through the above experiences at Andover school also contributed to his unsettlement.

Hunt's mother had

been a moderating influence in a household which in­ cluded a strong-minded husband and a wilful son.

Gentle,

religious, and somewhat fragile, she was the balance wheel, an even temper surrounded by obstinancy.

Hunt

had a real and lasting affection for his mother, an affection so strong that in after years he recalled her 12 memory with tears. Not only was her death a severe

.

12. Hunt to Davenport, July 18, 1820; Hunt MSS•

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loss in itself, but it also worsened the relations between Hunt and his father; the latter grew more aloof towards his son, while the former became more independent and assertive. The outcome of these temperamental developments was an act of insubordination which led to an attempt to run away from home and which illustrates his head­ strong character and his refusal to accept discipline. In 179U Hunt, against his father’s wishes, went to Partsmouth to witness the lauching of the Prince of Wales.

Returning home after four days of adventure,

he was ordered out of the house by his father; after strong words and despite the tearful pleas of his sister Hunt left for Bristol where he signed aboard a slave ship.

Only a last minute reprieve and request

for forgiveness from his father brought him home.

There

was an ’’affecting reconciliation" which seemed to clear the air, for the father’s former harshness was now replaced with kindness and better relations ensued. But the addiction to impulsive action remained a basic part of Hunt’s character.

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While Hunt was having his adventures, he was also working on the farms of his father.

After

leaving school at the age of sixteen, the question of his future became a problem; the elder Hunt thought that he had decided the question; although violently opposed to the Church, whose members he considered to be idle drones feeding on the choice honey gathered by the industrious farmers, he was impressed with their easy life. send his son to Oxford.

He therefore made plans to But Hunt’s experience of

rural life, the whippingof the parson at Andover school, and his

father’s disdainful opinion of

clergymen made him decide to become a farmer. With the aid of his father, who was secretly delighted at his son’s decision, Henry began to learn the art of fanning.

He had much time to make up, for

due to his schooling he was a novice at an age when other rural youths were becoming expert farm hands and helpers.

Before he could manage a farm he had to

learn the rudiments of farming, and thus' he began to learn farming by performing the various manual jobs

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which comprise farm life.

He drove teams, sowed,

reaped, mowed, and built ricks.

His father was a

strict taskmaster who had no use for farmers who had had no practical experience of their work.

Eventually

after several years of this type of life he was taken around his father's farms and introduced by him.to the problems and techniques of managing a farm.

After

this thorough drilling in fundamentals, Hunt was given the right to command part of the family property.

As

usual, he performed his work with enthusiasm and with a desire to excel which his father was not slow to encourage. work.

Hunt worked hard and well and enjoyed his

He began to glory in the profession of farming. At the same time that Hunt was developing into a

strong and well built man.

He was fond of setting

records of physical strength and of speed for the other farmers of the neighborhood to better if they could.

He

acquired the reputation of being one of the most active and powerful young men in the neighborhood, and he was able to bear off most of the prizes at the fairs and festivals held in "Wiltshire.

Wrestling, backsword,

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jumping, and running, no matter, Hunt excelled at them all.

For recreation Hunt learned cavalry

exercises and danced and played until the late hours although never so. late that he did not appear at lisOO a.m. dressed for the day's work. The Hunt farms along with others prospered during the period of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars; prices were high and farm values rose.

It was a boom period for those fortunate

enough to have land; the Hunts had three hundred acres under barley and oats and about fifteen hundred sheep grazing.

Over one hundred reapers

were hired during the harvest season.

But Hunt

writing in 1820 after experience with those not so happily placed looks back upon these years with a somewhat jaundiced eye:

"...

times for the fanners . . . .

These were glorious

To be sure John Gull

jjsic. Hunt's play on word0 was taxed pretty handsomely, but the farmers, at least such of them as looked only to self, always contrived to squeeze their taxes out of the earnings of the labourer."

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Prices were rising beyond the means of the poor agricultural worker and landless as they were, with­ out their "pig in the sty" which they had possessed until recently, hardship was often experienced.

Only

occasionally could they purchase a pound of bacon or other meat, for the cost of provisions was passing beyond their reach. Early Political Lessons for a Tory It was while Hunt was learning the trade of farming that he first began to develop ideas about the political events of the time.

The,years during

which Hunt came to political awareness were the first years of the conflict between France and England, a conflict which reached within the borders of England to stir up internal division and discord. Hunt was, until the turn of the century, a loyalist of the purest country stripe.

The farmers as

a class ranged themselves on the side of the government in this struggle with France, and Hunt absorbed their super-patriotic feeling.

'When he thought about the

question at all, he thought as a convinced supporter

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of British institutions 3 his ’’bosom glowed with a

sacred love of country.”

Although this was

simply the instinctive reaction of a youth who was "no politician", yet it remained the dominant political note in Hunt’s makeup for many years, as long as he remained in the quiet back waters of Wiltshire as a well-to-do farmer.

Hunt’s outlook on the affairs of the

day was simply the reaction of a farmer whose political opinions were formed by his daily experience in the rural countryside. The political education of Hunt began about 1795 with his tutor.

The Rev. Carrington was a clergyman

of Enford parish and a Whig who opposed the war and who therefore became a Jacobin in the eyes of Wiltshire farmers.

It was not long before he left the area

for a more congenial atmosphere.

Before he went,

however, the first impact of political ideas essentially foreign to the atmosphere of Wiltshire was made upon the impressionable mind of Hunt.

It was Carrington

who first introduced Hunt to a new world of political opinions, a world composed of fiery "Jacobins" and wild­ eyed Radicals.

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Hunt studied literature and ancient and modern history •under' this gentleman.

He also learned some­

thing about the world outside of the confines of Wiltshire.

Although Hunt could make nothing of the

party squabbles of the day, he was always ready to defend his tutor.

Some of the arguments between

Carrington and the local worthies ended in blowsj not, however, between Carrington and his opponents but rather with the volatile Hunt at the center of the scuffle.

Hunt was at least learning the

reality of politics, even if not the meaning of such realities.

The friendly arguments between Hunt's

father and the clergyman also did much to introduce Hunt to politics.

The elder Hunt, though a loyalst,

was liberal enough to give Carrington a hearing and to engage in purely rhetorical combat.

The son

noticed that although his father never entirely gave up his defense of the Pitt system he was often convinced of the truth of mar^y of the arguments used by Carrington, not altogether unwillingly, one may suspect, for the elder Hunt was not overly impressed

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•with the sanctity of the status quo.

In these

arguments Carrington expressed the unpopular view that Britain ought to have kept out of French affairs; that Britain should clean her own house before attending to the house of another.

He further

stated that the only way to attain this house cleaning was by free and equal representation; equal laws and impartial administration were impossible so long as the present corrupt administration was in power.

Hunt’s father would go along with the

first of these ideas, but he could not swallow the equalitarian concepts of the latter point of. view; he feared that bloodshed would result if equality were attempted in England.

His son was to make

real his pessimistic forecast. The effect of this type of thought on Hunt’s mind should not be overemphasized, for Hunt did not become a Radical or even more liberal at this time of his life.

He was too steeped in rural conservatism

for this brief episode to cause a mental revolution. He had listened to too many stories of the guillotining

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of the King of France, of invasion, murder, and rapine £

to have any other feeling than that of intense loyalty to the country and its government. Nevertheless this was the beginning of the road which was to lead to Radicalism.

Hunt was at this

period of his life introduced for the first time to doctrines of Paine and his company^ his loyalty was tinged from now on with the realization that all mught not be well, that questioning might reveal a quarry of surprises.

His interest in political questions

had been aroused by the fierce arguments of the neighborhood, and he felt himself capable of judgment on these problems.

Although he refused to believe

Carrington's assertions that the English Constitution had not yet been carried into effect, he was now awake to the beauty of it.

An admirer of the measures of

the government, uneasy reflections nevertheless sometimes crossed his mind.

Perhaps Carrington was

right5 perhaps it was after all the English ministers who were the "bloody minded monsters" and not the French Republicans.

He had also enjoyed the position

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of defender of the underdog, and his blood had boiled at the sight of an attack on the helpless; it was not to be the last time that his sincere and generous instincts were to lead him to the middle of a fracas.

The sediment of Radicalism had been

deposited. That Hunt had generous instincts - instincts which smack more of eighteenth-century sensibility than nineteenth-century workhouses - can be shown by his feelings for the poor of his neighborhood. At the time that Carrington's influence was working on him he was often among the workers of the fields as a farm apprentice.

He had ample opportunity to

watch the rising cost of living deprive these men of their daily bread and meat. remember these days.

Later he was to

Although Hunt was soon to

participate in an attempt to put down a riot of the farm laborers of Wiltshire, he claims that he never persecuted a laborer merely because he was a Jacobin.

The line of distinction seems wavy and

thin, but at least there was a distinction in his

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mind.

Hunt was a patriot, but he was not insensible

to the sufferings of others. Hunt’s loyalty soon found athletic and enthusiastic expression in the Yeomanry Corps of Wiltshire. Invasion talk was rife throughout’the county in 179 li, and troops of yeomen were being raised to combat this menace.

The high cost of food and the consequent

riots of farm laborers was not disconnected with the enthusiasm of rural areas for these troops.

Hunt

was quick to join the cavalry corps despite the opposition of his father and Carrington.

The former

was not reneging on his loyalty to his country; he simply considered the whole affair of forming yeomen corps of the local farmers to be a joke.

Hunt found

this and more to be true; the conversation of the members of the corps consisted almost entirely of talk on how to keep the price of corn high on the one hand and how to subjugate the laborers on the other. The shining ideal of patriotism, Hunt found, was some­ what clouded by the prosaic dust of the market place. Despite his services in the cavalry Hunt did not

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therefore hold the yeomen or their leaders in high esteem.

Hunt’s disgust came to a climax when the

men refused the request of the government to leave the county to fight elsewhere in cqse of an invasion; on this occasion he made his first attempt at speech making, but he failed to move their parochial minds. Hunt left his troop and enrolled in another whose spirit he hoped would be more akin to his own. “While Hunt was engaging in these military adven­ tures, he was at the same time indulging with his usual enthusiasm in an affair of the heart which was to lead to marriage - and separation soon afterwards. The whole episode of betrothal and marriage is one more example of the impetuous and stubborn temperament of Hunt. The young lady in question was a Miss Halcomb of Devizes, the daughter of an innkeeper.

The elder

Hunt was acquainted with the family and by frequent praise of her housekeeping abilities and other attributes had brought his son to the point of an idealized and passionate attachment for a girl he had never seen.

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Hunt's subsequent acquaintance -with her only confirmed and heightened his ardour, and he pressed his advances •with such forcefulness that within a week Miss Halcomb found herself swept up in the whirlwind of Hunt's desires.

She accepted him but the stumbling block was

Hunt's father who, while impressed with Miss_ Halcomb personally, had higher hopes for his son than an innkeeper's daughter; the fatal defect in his eyes was her lack of fortune.

This opposition only

strengthened Hunt's determination to marry the lady. Hunt later felt in the ripe wisdom of middle age that without this opposition " . . .

such a hasty attach­

ment might possibly have been weakened . . . ."

The

day for the marriage was fixed despite the wishes of the groom's father and faced with an unavoidable fact he gave his consent to the match.

The marriage was

performed in due course with a dowry from the bride of j£lOOO, much more than either father or son had expected and which probably helped mollify the feelings of the elder Hunt.

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Not long after the marriage Hunt's father died leaving his eldest son his estates.

Three

farms, all of which were flourishing, came into the possession of the twenty-four year old Hunt.

Hunt's

income was high, ^1000 to i£l5>00 a year, and both he and his wife liked to live well.

His home became a

center for parties and hunting, a "scene of uninter­ rupted gaiety and dissipation" as he admitted later in life.

Xt was during these hears 'that he became,

as one of the wealthy farmers of the parish, an important figure in not only the social life of the community but also in its administrative life, in­ heriting as he did his father's position in parochical offices. In the first years of the nineteenth century a series of events occurred in Hunt's life which brought about a revolution in his way of living and which led ultimately to his moving into the ranks of the reborn Radical Movement.

An unfortunate law case brought

him into contact with several Radicals in King's Bench Jail, and separation from his wife forced him

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to leave the neighborhood in which he had been reared and to seek a home elsewhere with his mistress. Both of these represent turning points in Hunt's personal fortunes, and both were reflected in his choice of Radicalism as a career - a choice consummated by 1812. The law case which brought Hunt into King's Bench resulted from a trivial occurrence in the Marlborough troop, an incident which indicates that Hunt was straining against the obeisance and servility demanded of the farmer class by their social superiors. He had already caused bad feeling between himself and the captain of the troop of which he had previously been a member, and his brief career in the Yeoman Corps which he now joined was no less tumultuous. He was given to speaking freely in the presence of his superior, Lord Bruce; since most of the members of the troops were tenants of Lord Bruce, he expected and got considerably more deference than Hunt was willing to accord.

A quarrel over Hunt's activities as a sportsman

led to the break.

Bruce claimed that Hunt was hunting

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on his game preserves and -without giving good cause dismissed him from service.

Hunt’s hotheadedness

led him to issue a challenge which was taken to court. The eventual upshot was a £l00 fine and six weeks in King’s Bench prison which Hunt served, 1800-1801. This sentence was to have effects which were a second sowing of a mind which up to this time had proven politically barren.

Once again Hunt was

brought into contact with the ideas and ideals of the Radicals, ideas and ideals which revolved around the philosophy of Tom Paine and the Rights of Man. This time the seeds found more fertile ground, for Hunt’s dis grunt lenient at his treatment in the Yeoman Corps had tempered his loyalism.

He had

lost most of his illusions about the patriotism of the rural middle class, and all that remained now to complete his new political sophistication was the unveiling of the corruption and profligacy of the central government and the court.

It was the latter

which was accomplished by his six weeks stay at King’s Bench.

This is not to say that Hunt experienced

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72

a quick conversion to Radicalism; on the contrary his loyalism flashed up once again after he returned home where he made strenuous efforts to organize the yeomen into an efficient body of troops.

But

he was- on the brink; a personal crisis and he had stepped into the rushing waters of nineteenthcentury politics. During his first day at King's Bench, Hunt became acquainted with a Me. Waddington through whom he later came to know Henry Clifford.

"Waddington

was ostensibly in jail for the forestalling of hops, but in fact, he claimed, it was a political job. Be that as it may, he was a London Radical, a man of the political world who knew well the sins of Pitt's Tory government.

Hunt held many conversations

with him, and he was able to give.Hunt an insight into the workings of national corruption. More important, however, to the formation of Hunt's ideas was Henry Clifford, barrister, consul for Waddington and Colonel Despard, and brother-in-law of Sir Charles Wolsely with whom Hunt was later to

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.

have intimate contact.

Clifford was a Roman Catholic

lawyer of Staffordshire and an acquaintance of Home Tooke.

He had been converted to Radicalism ty

Catholic disabilities and the influence of Tooke; he was something of a firebrand, taking a prominent part in the O.P. riots at Covent Garden Theater in 13. 1810.

He eventually drank himself to death in 1813. Clifford dined with Hunt and Waddington regularly,

and until he reached the point of incoherence from overdrinking he was an informative and amusing talker. He was a convinced and convincing democrat; the English Constitution would be the backbone of English liberties if it were administered in ’’its purity". He had little respect for the Whig opposition who were simply part of the system and who were far from representing the interests of the people.

He talked

of "rational liberty, of freedom as the natural rights of man, and as the law of God and nature" and informed Hunt that his professions of loyalty needed only

13. M.W. Patterson, Sir Francis Burdett and His Times (London, 1931)> I* 166 n.2.

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growth and maturity to produce useful fruit.

The

young farmer was told that the principles of genuine patriotism which he had absorbed would one day convert him to the struggle for English liberties.

Clifford

made a bridge of loyalty for Hunt across which he could travel from Toryism to Radicalism. found him a receptive listener.

Clifford

"When Hunt was to

finally step forward as a champion of liberty and the working classes, it was as a champion of the dogma of Paine and the eighteenth-century ideal of Natural Right. Other individuals enlivened Hunt's stay at King's Bench, not the least of whom was Col. Despard. He visited the prisoner in his cell at the Tower, and it proved to be a great object lesson in the tyranny of the government for Hunt was convinced then and remained convinced that Despard was innocent. A Dr. Gabriel provided Hunt with lurid tales of the Church; his conduct was even more lurid and confirmed Hunt in his father's prejudices against the clergy. He also met a woman who claimed to have been the cast

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off mistress of Henry Dundas.

True or not it

•was a good story and touched the heart of the Wiltshire fanner as well as providing him with quantities of court scandal.

Hunt seems to have had a fondness for

cast off mistresses, for we find him in 1832 trying to obtain justice for a woman who had a similar complaint against one of the members of Parliament. All in all it was an exciting time and opened new worlds to the eager mind of Hunt.

He had had contact

with men who knew their way around the political sewers of London and who, in fact, had indulged in some of the sinning which they portrayed with such vividness.

He learned many new facts to bolster up

a democratic point of view.

Upon his return to the

haven of loyalism Hunt enjoyed shocking his friends by such toasts as "'Plaintiffs in prison, and defendants at liberty"1. Hunt may have been evolving at this time toward Radicalism, but he still had a long way to go; his loyalism was still that of the county squire and- the re-newal of war between France and England brought it

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surging to the fore once again.

More than that -

the financial and social delights of rural life smothered any tendencies he may have had toward active Jacobinism.

As the war began again the farmers

of Britain experienced the delights of an enormous boom, and Hunt participated in the good fortunes of his class.

His farms were well managed, for he

practiced the newest techniques of farming.

His

sheep produced high quality wool and brought fancy prices in the market, and his oats sold for three times the value of his land. Under such circumstances Hunt was not prone to allow a body of ideas to get the better of him. Upon the revival of the invasion threat he made every effort to take the lead in organizing means of possible resistance, only to find that his enthusiastic patriotism was not appreciated by those in higher circles.

He urged the farmers to do all that the

government asked of them and even offered to have himself and three servants equipped as horsemen in case of invasion.

He wrote the lord-lieutenant of

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Wiltshire to ask what special services he could give. When a volunteer group was formed at Enford, Hunt accepted the position which was offered to him as Captain of the group.

Unfortunately the lord-

lieutenant was not quite as anxious to have Hunt serve as he was to serve, and he refused to accept the troop as a regular part of the government's lit. defenses. It was after his return from prison that a series of events occurred which were to lead to the breakup of his marriage in 1802 and eventually to help bring Hunt to a completely new way of living. As a rich farmer and a well-known sportsman whether the game be pheasant or Frenchmen - in the parish of Enford, Hunt was leading at this time a gay and fast social life participating in all the revels of the country area.

Hunt was strong; he

slept well, but could manage to be active with

lii. Pembroke to Hunt, August 20, 1802, August 1803; Hunt to Pembroke (draft) n. d.; Pembroke to Sir J.M. Poore, September 11, 1803; Hunt MSS.

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little sleep and was fully capable of working all day and dancing most of the night.

The increase in

his income which has been mentioned was largely spent on his establishment and treating company in truly regal fashion.

His wife did not question these

activities and enjoyed the whole round of events to the full.

There was hunting, shooting, or fishing

everyday, along with large parties, balls, drinking bouts, and card parties.

Hunt in his Memoirs, when

writing about this period of his life, warns the reader that he must expect to hear of "some thumping faults".

The reader does; Hunt as usual did nothing

by half-measures. In the midst of this exciting life Hunt was of course often thrown into "female society" which he found not unpleasant.

He was fond of the ladies, and

his usual enthusiasm carried him beyond the bounds which Mrs. Hunt considered proper.

Hunt simply could

not allow himself, it seems, to pay only moderate attention to a woman; he must allow no one to better him in the game of polite flirtation.

In no case,

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Hunt claims, was this ever carried to the limit of offering improper advances, but nevertheless it did cause family quarrels, and the more suspicious Mrs. Hunt grew the more assiduous he became in his flirtations.

There may have been no liberties taken,

but it became increasingly more difficult to convince Mrs. Hunt of this.

There was a background of family

jealousy, distrust, and bickering even before Hunt met the woman with whom he was to live for the rest of his. life. Hunt was thrown by accident into the company of an 11elegant and beautiful" woman during the course of his social life.

She was a Mrs. Vince, and was

already married to a man who offered her a life of fashionable society but who gave her little personal attention.

A close friendship and understanding grew

up between Hunt and Mrs. Vince despite the complaints of her husband, who was indecisive in his actions or threats of action.

After two years of a hide-and-seek

courtship, the two lovers realized that a final step must be taken in one direction or another. Since the

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prospect of permanent separation was intolerably painful to both, Hunt took the lady to London where they began their life together despite the efforts of the friends of Mrs. Vince to bring her back to her husband.

No legal action was ever taken against

either Mrs. Vince or Hunt, and since no divorce was ever obtained from either side, they continued to live until the death of Hunt as mistress and paramour.

Hunt made a settlement with his wife;

]£300 and the care of their daughter was given to Mrs. Hunt while Henry Hunt was to have the care of theirtwo sons.

Furniture was also given to the -wronged

lady. This affair of the heart represents the beginning of Hunt's transition from Toryism to Radicalism.

It is

probable that Hunt had found his social position in Enford parish, already somewhat tenuous, considerably weakened by this escapade.

This latest adventure of

Hunt must have been difficult for the conservative farmers and their wives to accept, especially in view of his brag and boast, and his scrape with Lord Bruce.

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Without doubt he found many doors closed to him which had previously been open wide.

The social whirl

which made life on the farm such a pleasant existence was closing down, and furthermore it would have been difficult to introduce Mrs. Vince into the society of Hunt’s former companions, especially since Mrs. Hunt continued to live in Enford parish.

There is

no reason to believe that Hunt found this social ostracism a very great blow.

He had already had

visions of more cosmopolitan fields lying beyond the confines of Wiltshire, and there were other areas in which the pheasant could be slaughtered by Hunt's never failing aim.

Hunt's spirit of enterprise did

not allow him to be unduly depressed by his loss of social position.

His energy and enthusiasm could

now be displayed on wider fields. Hunt had also found the woman with whom his real marriage now began.

He remained faithful to his

mistress to the end of his life and lived with her in contentment and harmony.

There seems to have been deep

affection between the two partners in this romantic

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match - something that could not be said of Hunt's hasty and adolescent marriage.

His satisfaction with

the irregular relationship he maintained with Mrs. Vince is a tribute to the woman herself as well as to the ties that bound them together, for it must have required a large fund of patience to live with Hunt. Hunt's life took on considerably more dignity and maturity after he began to live with Mrs. Vince. (-i'one were the old "pot-companions" and carrousels and feasts.

His friends were few but select, and he

and Mrs. Vince lived in comparative retirement; his salad days were over and a closely knit family life developed.

His home was now in Bath, although

he continued to visit and manage his farms.

While

he still enjoyed the chase and never gave up hunting, his activities along this line dropped off after 1810 due in large part to his increase in weight. More important to his future as a Radical, Hunt became financially interested soon after 1803 in a brewing concern located near Bristol.

Through this

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business interest he was brought into the life of one of the largest cities in England with all its opportunities for an energetic and ambitious man. At first Hunt simply loaned the money for the concern to a friend of his who managed the brewery, but finding that he was being cheated, he was forced to run the concern himself or see all his money disappear which in fact was its ultimate fate.

An increasing

amount of his time was thus spent away from his farms; and an increasingly wider field of action was opening itself to his eyes.

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CHAPTER I V

THE REVIVAL OF RADICALISM, 1807-15

After the repression by Pitt of eighteenthcentury Radicalism, the years of silence followed. There were few men who even cherished hopes of reform and even fewer who dared express such hopes. To all intents and purposes the Radicals had been squashed by the heavy fist of government action and public disapproval or apathy.

Radicalism had

disappeared as a force, effective or otherwise, in English life. The snake had been scotched, however, not killed. The exigencies of war and the fever of patriotism had brought about the attack on English Radicalism. The war changed and feelings with it so that by 1815 it was once more possible to speak of a Radical Movement.

The revival of Radicalism took place at

Westminster in the years 1506-7 with Burdett,

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Cobbett, and Cartwright playing the leading roles. With the election of Burdett from Westminster in 1807 a Radical party was born which made possible once again propaganda and action in favor of reform. This revived Radical Movement was a many hued coat.

Burdett and Cartwright bridged the gap

between eighteenth - and nineteenth-century Radi­ calism;

Cobbett, and later Hunt, were Tories only

recently converted to their new faith, a faith in the main similar to that of the other two men. Radicalism after 1807 was something different from the Radicalism which had preceeded it, but it nevertheless was a legitimate offspring of the older movement. It was this very fact of legitimacy which gave the revived movement its peculiar character. Burdett, Cobbett, and Cartwright"faced new political problems with the concepts of an age since past. No new ways of thinking, no new schemework of ideas were developed which told their followers and themselves where they were standing or where they

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were going.

Burdett, Cobbett, and Cartwright re­

stored Radicalism to its place in the political life of Britain.

But they failed to add the new

elements of strength which would be needed when the working class sought their aid.

Instead they

merely appropriated the maxims which had been passed on to them and which they now passed on to their own times.

I The Political Foundations of the New Radical Movement The way was prepared for the revival of Radi­ calism by political changes within Britain and within Europe.

After the resumption of the war in

1803, the old issue of Jacobin vs. anti-Jacobin was dead; Napoleon had appropriated the French Revo­ lution for his own ends, and those ends in English eyes were national aggrandizement rather than the spreading of a faith dangerous to the British

1

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Constitution.

Napoleon was now the main object

of hatred, not the fanatic Jacobin.

The disappear­

ance of Jacobinism as a major issue in the war allowed an indigenous Radicalism at least to come to life again, if not to flourish, in England without the taint of treason about it.

Liberals

could once again put forth their doctrines with­ out the fear of being identified with dislovalty 1. to King and country. Radicalism was freed of the greatest restraint on its activities, popular and emotional disapproval springing from patriotism. Going along with and as part of this development were changes within the political life of Britain which also brought a respite from persecution.

The

Addington administration eased the situation, and while no real revival of Radicalism was as yet possible in 1801, there was less fear of imprisonment. The death of Pitt and the coming to power of the Ministry of All the Talents also took some of the

1. Leslie Stephen, The English Utilitarians (London, 1900, 3 volsT), I, 210-13.

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harshness out of political life; the '‘Talents'* did nothing in a Radical way but at least they 2 were more tolerant of liberal views. Persecution

.

and sensitiveness to criticism on the part of the government did not cease after 1800, but certain rights at least in part were restored to the English people.

Restrictions on public meetings were

quietly put aside.

After 1802 the government

stopped suspending the Habeas Corpus Act, and the •Seditious Meeting Act of 1766, which had expired in 1199) was renewed for only a short period in .1800.

Although an act of 1799 prevented the

federation of clubs and oaths not recognized by law, public meetings were at least no longer at 3. the prey of the will of the local magistrates. .

2. G.M. Trevelyan, Lord Grey of the Reform Bil1 (London, 1920,) pp. 125-6; G.D.H. Cole and Raymond Postgate, The British People, 17lt6-19^6 (2nd edition. New York, 19hi)3 pp. 15U-5. 3. H.W.C. Davis, The Age of Grey and Peel (Oxford, 1929), p« 167; Elie Halevy, A History of the English People in the Nineteenth Century (New York, 192a-7; 3 vols. j translated by E.I. Watkins and D.A. Barker), I, 135-6.

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The resurgence of political agitation after 1807 showed that the right of public meeting was in effect restored. Furthermore the right of petition had continued

5. unimpaired during the worst of the repression, and it was a means of agitation of which the Radicals were to make the most.

With the petition those

who did not possess the franchise could make them­ selves heard.

It could also be effectively used

by a small and well-organized group to force legislation through Parliamentj the slave trade agitation of 1806 and the agitation organized by Brougham in 1812 over the Orders in Council were

6.

both in large part victories of the petition. The press too was comparitively free although attempts were certainly made to silence it when it became too noisy in its clamor against the government.

it. Ibid., pp. 136-8. 5. Ibid., p. 139 6. Ibid., pp. 138-iiO. 7. Ibid., pp. lHl-2.

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Both Cobbett and Leigh Hunt "were thrown into jail before l8l£ although both continued to publish diiring their imprisonment.

The British despotism

of which the Radicals complained may have been vicious in intent, but it was often clumsy and ineffective in execution.

Not only did these

persecutions fail to silence publishers and writers, but it became increasingly uncertain as to whether or not the British jury would convict.

After

1811 the government desisted from its camoaign 8. against newspapers. Radicalism had before l8lf> tools with which to work in building up the revived movement.

It

also had the raw material of agitation, namely, scandal.

The Melville, Duke of York, and Castlereagh

exposures all provided lusty texts for Radical preachers.

There was little agitation on political

questions, Radical or otherwise, before 1805, but the Melville case brought to light a condition which all could understand, corruption, and it pointed up the need for Parliamentary Reform.

8. Ibid., pp. ll}3-lu

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The agitation over this question -was not a Radical agitation; "Whigs, gentry, and clergy all took part in the denunciation of corruption - a favorite topic with the "Whigs out of power as they were.

It did,

however, give the Radicals a chance to fish in political waters, and they were able to join the cry against Melville and the Tories without attracting the unwelcome attention of the government. It also brought to the notice of the Radicals the possibilities of public meetings on questions of the day, for from this time the practice of holding 9. meetings was once again restored. The political life of England was being revived on the rich diet of scandals, and the Radical Movement took part in this development. Finally there was the Ministry of All the Talents.

Halevy points out the temporary discredit

into which the House of Commons, the two parties,

9. H. Jephson, The Platforms Its Rise and Progress (2nd edition, London, 1892, 2 vols.),i, 297; 301; 305-6; 309-11*; 32l*-5.

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and the leaders of the nation had fallen after 10 1807 with the death of both Fox and Pitt.

.

This disgust with the game of “Ins-and-Outs" reached a peak with Radicals or those moving towards Radicalism, in 1806-7 when the "Talents11 failed to realize the high hopes held for them by such 11. men as Cobbett, Burdett, and Hunt. The belief which permeated the nation as a whole, that neither the House of Commons or the "Whigs and Tories stood for principle, found its most extreme and violent expression with the formation of a Radical group in Westminster.

The revulsion of feeling on the

part of the Radicals against the "Talents” was the decisive event which finally brought together after 1807 the various individuals who had already been evolving towards this end.

The road to Radicalism

was strewn with the broken promises of the "Whigs.

10. Halevy, A History of the English People, I, 150-3j 160-1. 11. Trevelyan, Grey, p. 169.

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Working Class Unrest after 1800 At the same time that political changes inside England were making possible a revival of Radicalism in 1806-7 the workers themselves were moving towards a position in which they would be receptive to messages of dissatisfaction.

During the French wars, economic

developments brought so much misery and social unrest to the lower classes that the ties of patriotism began to give way.

The food riots were a far cry

from the Church and King mobs.

There was not only

degradation and poverty attendant upon the changes 12. accompanying the Industrial Revolution} there was also the impact of war upon the economic life of the nation} as the export industries suffered from dislocations, hardship was brought to the working class.

Business became a gamble with markets opening

and closing as the fortunes of war dictated.

The

12. During the French wars, the growth of city and factory life continued at a faster pace than ever before} immigration to industrial districts was especially marked. G.M. Trevelyan, English Social History (New York, 19hh), p. h7$

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economic distress caused by both the South American speculation of 1808-11 and the uncertain supply of American cotton after 1812 are examples 13. of boom and bust. The wartime financial policy of the govern­ ment also caused social distress.

The suspension

of cash payments in 1797 removed a check on inflationary influences.

Currency derangement

became one of the most important causes of increased

1U. prices.

Added to this was the taxation imposed

by the government which became especially severe after 1799 due to the tardiness with which the government resorted to taxation to pay the costs of the war.

The income tax which hit the rich was

one resort.

Most of the revenue, however, came not

from this tax but from indirect taxes on food, 15. manufactures, and raw materials, taxes which could

13* Ibid., pp.lj.6l4.-5 ; J. I*« and B. Hammond, The Town Labourer, 1760-1832 (London, 1917), pp. 100-103; A.' Bedford, The Economic History of England, 1760-1860 (London, 193l)j PP* 79-^ 4. II4. Ibid., pp. 90-1. 15. Ibid., pp. 92-3*

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easily be passed on to the consumer.

There were

taxes on everything which the workman used: salt, 16. soap, candles, leather, malt, sugar, tea. What happened to those indicators of welfare, the cost of living index and wages, during the French Wars of 1789—l8l5?

Wages among the skilled

artisans in London rose with the cost of living. But outside of London, in the provinces, the rise in wages was seldom enough to keep pace with the rise in prices.

The handloom weavers were in the

worst condition} they experienced a sharp decline in wages after 1805 and by 1815 were reduced to starvation level.

The wages of agricultural workers

rose until 1806 at which time they levelled off 17. while the cost of living continued upward. Conditions on the over-all were bad, but in the famine years of 1800-1801, 1810, and 1812, they became crushing.

The price of wheat, the

16. J. L. and B. Hammond, The Town Labourer, p. 102 17. Cole and Postgate, British People, pp. 120-122} Clapham, Economic Historv of Modern Britain, I, 127-31; 561} 601-2.

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staple food of the poor and of the -workers, rose to fantastic heights; in 1800 wheat sold for 113s. lOd. a quarter; in 1812, the worst year, for 126s 6d. a quarter.

This compares with a five year 18. average for 1786-90 of 26s 2d. a quarter. More than from irregularity of employment or wage reductions the outbreaks of social unrest in the first years of the nineteenth century were caused by high prices.

By the end of the eighteenth century

the general rise of wages in England which had previously occurred had been wiped out by the rise in prices; the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars with their currency troubles, grain shortages due to harvest failures, and the shutting out of foreign supplies which could have steadied prices, 19. swung the balance even further against the worker. Riots and machine breaking by the lower orders

18. Cole and Postgate, British People, p. 103 19. Redford, Economic History, pp. 61-2; 8S', Trevelyan, English Social History, p. 1*65

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were the results of the privation caused by these high prices.

Food riots occurred over al 1 of 20 England in 1812, the worst year for rioting.

.

It was also in 1812 when wheat rose to the highest price it had yet reached that there took place the first widespread and greatest outbreak of Luddism. Although machine breaking was again more a

result

of high nrices rather than of the lack of employment 21. caused by new machinery, the efforts of the workers were directed against machines, new and old. Outbursts of machine breaking were not new to England at this time, for they had spasmodically occurred before; the workers had a prejudice against the use of machinery which they thought took bread

20. London Times, January 2, 1812; April 11, 1812; April lli, 1812; April 17, 1812; April 21, 1812; April 23, 1812; and passim; Political Register, April 18, 1812; April 25,1812; and passim; London Chronicle, April 10, 1812; April 11, 1812; May 7,1812; and passim. In Bristol a mob intervened to stop the farmers from raising the price of their potatoes. There were riots over food in many other towns; a general uprising was feared in Manchester. J. L. and B. Hammond, Skilled Labourer, pp. 289-91. 21. Redford, Economic History, p. 57.

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out of; the mouths of the poor. 22 attack on a larger scale.

.

But this was an

Luddism was not a mass movement, for it was the work of picked bands of men who took action 23. into their own hands. Nor were the food rioters or the Luddites revolutionaries politically minded. It was believed by the upper classes at the time that a general revolt was planned which would put Burdett at the head of a new government.

But in fact,

"There is no evidence whatever of any political motives on the part of the Luddites. There is not one single in­ stance in which it can be proved that a Luddite attack was directed toward anything deeper than disputes between masters and men, between workmen and their employers." 2I4. This was no agitation for the general change in the

22. Cole and Postgate, British People, pp. 157-61; F.O. Darvall, Popular Disturbances and Public Order in Regency England (London, 193k) , passim; the best account of Luddism. 23. Cole and Postgate, British People, p. 157 2h» Darvall, Disturbances, pp. 173-5; Jephson, Platform, I, 3h2-5«

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political or even economic life of the nation.

25.

It was simply the expression of blind rage and hunger, the raw material for a revolutionary movement. Luddism died out in the year 1813 and remained quiescent until l8l6 when it flared up once again and for the last time.

After 1813 the workers in

the areas of the Luddite riots turned either to the Reform Movement or trade unionism as a means of improving their condition.

The last appearance of

machine breaking on a large scale was in 1816, the year when Radicalism began to attract seriously 26. the attention of the workers. ■During the war years and while Luddism was spreading throughout northern England, other groups of workers were taking part in more peaceful action

25. Darvall, Disturbances, pp. 173-5; Halevy, A History of the English People. I, 137; 290j Trevelyan, English Social History, pip. It82-3. 26. Darvall, Disturbances, pp. I3I4; 136-7; liiU; 165; 152.

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to improve their condition* was one such action.

Recourse to Parliament

This took the form of an

appeal for the enforcement of wage fixing legislation, or the passage of such legislation, based on the principles of Elizabethan statues.

Although the

assessment of wages had been discontinued for a generation, it was hoped that Parliament would 27. revive this means of protection, but in 1813-11; Parliament settled the question of wage fixing once and for all by repealing existing Elizabethan statues which gave magistrates the right to enforce a minimum wage.

The failure of Parliament to act

favorably to the workers marks the point at which the Parliamentary Reform issue and Radicalism began 28. to attract certain groups of northern workers. The workers were left now with two alternatives, the Reform Movement or trade unionism.

27. Redford, Economic History, pp. 87-8; J. L. and B. Hammond, Skilled Labourer, pp. 72-85; Cole and Postgate, British People, pp. 152-3. 28. Ibid., pp. Ili9-50j J. L. and B. Hammond, Skilled Labourer, pp. 228-9.

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The latter was, however, becoming increasingly difficult, for the Combination Acts of 1800 prohibited working men from joining together to gain an increase in wages or a decrease in hours.

That the same Act

prohibited combinations of employers meant nothing since this part of the law was not enforced. Although the execution of those parts of the act affecting workers’ organizations was not itself uniform and many strong unions remained in existence, the Act did prevent widespread organization for • strike action#

It also stopped the organization of

labor in the new factory industries, especially in 29. the textile trades. The net result of the legis­ lation was defeat for the workers’ efforts during the war years to better their condition by industrial action. The lower classes after 1800 were seeking for a way out of the misery into which they had been plunged by the French War.

At the same time political

conditions made it possible for Burdett and Cobbett

29. Bedford, Economic History, pp. 86-7.

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to bring about a renewal of Radical agitation.

The

amalgamation of these two movements for the purpose of attempting effective working-class action was to take place after l8l5.

The extent to which the

combination would realize this aim, however, would depend in large measure on the nature of the revived Radical Movement.

Discontent among the workers of

England with the state of things certainly existed. Radicalism, after 180? and especially after 1815, was faced with the problem of encompassing this dissatisfaction and of developing it into a workingclass movement.

II Burdett Leads the Revived Radical Movement Burdett’s political life began in 1796 when his father-in-law, a rich banker, purchased a seat in Parliament for him.

This was an inauspicious begin­

ning for a reformer, it might be thought, but it

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provided the necessary stage from which the wealthy baronet could establish himself as an exponent of Radicalism.

From his first days in Parliament he

was distinguished by his liberal and free outlook and by his independent stand on questions at a time when such opinions were becoming increasingly dangerous. It must be said at the outset, that he did not lack courage in the face of forces which could be understood by his eighteenth-century aristocratic point of view. It was only when brought into contact with the new problems of a new age that he first hesitated and then turned his back on Radicalism. In these early years in Parliament he attacked the government on various abuses, especially on the condition of the Cold Bath prison.

He was however

irregular in attendance, so much so, that Wilberforce, ever suspicious of subversive actions, accused him of using Parliament merely as a hustings by which to 1. speak to the people out-of-doors. His most notable

1. J.S. Jackson, The Public Career of Sir Ifrancis Burdetts The Years of Radicalism, 1796 - l6lj^ (Philadelphia, 1932), ch. I, passim.

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effort besides his attacks on prison conditions .was his speech in favor of Grev’s motion in 1797 2 for reform. Thus early in his career he took his

.

stand on the issue of Parliamentary Reform.

Grey

along with the rest of the "Whigs was to let it slide off the Whig agenda; Burdett, however, continued to hold it up as a prime affair of English­ men.

At this time he acted to all intents and

purposes with the Foxite Whigs, and in 1800 Grey clearly indicated him as a quasi-member of the "Whig party.

But it was also admitted by Grev that 3.

he was a Radical who merely worked with the Whigs. He soon indulged himself in the. out-of-door politics of which Wilberforce had accused him.

With

the expiration of the legal contract by which he held his seat it became necessary to find another and his increasing reputation as a Radical made it possible for him to appeal to the popular freehold

2. Ibid., pp. 3-5» Patterson, Burdett and His Times

I, W T

3. Jackson, Burdett, pp. 18; 19-20; 29.

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h.

constituency of Middlesex.

Burdett fought for

and sat for - at various intervals - Middlesex from 1802 to 1806. . It was an expensive and somewhat discouraging experience.

Each election

was contested by the loser in the House of Commons and Burdett was consequently seated and unseated during these years.

In the first two elections

Burdett had had the backing of prominent "Whigs* the Duke of Bedford giving ^1000 to the campaign, and he had also received the approval of Cobbett in l80lt.

The latter had continued his support

in 1806-7, but by then the "Whigs had turned their 5. collective backs on Burdett. Burdett had spent much time and effort on Middlesex.

The total cost wasi£ 56,000, part of

which had been spent on contesting the elections

6.

before the House of Commons and part on bribes.

h. Ibid.,pp. 32—3; Patterson, Burdett and His Times,

1,132-3. 5. Jackson, Burdett, pp. 33-h» 37; 39; b5-9', 5l; 53-63 59; Patterson, Burdett and His Times, I, II83 137; 182-5.

6. Jackson, Burdett, p. 55; Hunt, Memoirs, II, 139; llil.

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Middlesex may have been a popular constituency but it sold its soul dearly.

For all this expense and

trouble Burdett had failed to achieve anything substantial. He had kept Radicalism alive as an issue of the hustings and that was a great deal - but he had failed for all his speechmaking to build a core of Radicalism, a Radical party.

When Burdett left Middlesex, Radicalism

was still a creed of individuals, not an agitation. There was as yet no enthusiasm or popular feeling and no way to spread zeal for the cause beyond a small group of the faithful. talents.

That was to take additional

It was to be achieved in Westminster in 1807

with Burdett acting as the centerpiece, the popular idol. It was the Whigs which brought together such disparte personalities as Cobbett, Hunt, and Burdett and helped form a Radical group whose center was in Westminster and which was capable of a powerful agitation.

During the year 1806, Burdett, Cobbett,

and Cartwright all followed a similiar path, repudiation of the Whigs.

It was from their disappointment with

the Ministry of All the Talents that Radicalism was to

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find the will-power to raise its head once again. Radicalism, what there was of it at this time, had held tenaciously to its own articles of faith while cooperating whenever possible with the liberal Foxite "Whigs - an uneasy alliance but the only source of strength for the repressed movement.

Fox

was held in great esteem for his principles and Grey for his reform motion of 1797•

Burdett had

put it well in I8OI4.when he stated that he was not a "Whig, but he had always been their steady sup7. . porter. About 1806 Cobbett was even more closely allied with the "Whigs, and Major Cartwright had worked with them from the beginning of his career. Hunt, under the influence of Cobbett*s writings,-was also at this time in the "Whig camp.

Only Tooke and

Place of the active or soon to be active Radicals held aloof. There was therefore great expectations as to what the "Whigs would achieve once they were able to

7. Patterson, Burdett and His Times, X, lli7-8.

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come into power.

It was to be nothing less than a

complete political

revolution,a total change

of j

system, an end to corruption and some measure at least of Parliamentary Reform.

It was to be no

mere change of men but a change of measures in the best eighteenth century manner.

The borough-mongering

was to go and a purified political life to take its place.

In the rhetoric of Burdetts

"I must confess that, when he [ FoxJ came into power, I did look tosome of those great schemes of National Reform, which his great mind was well calculated to produce. I did so, as eagerly as the traveler in passing the thirsty desert looks for the moistening drops of Heaven. "8. The disappointment which the Radicals felt with the "Talents" was great.

It was the result of naivete

but none the less discouraging.

The Radicals had

held a standard impossible for' the "Whigs to achieve, and one which in any case they had no intention of achieving.

The small band of Radicals who had hung

to their faith during the repression of Pitt had

8. Ibid., pp. 18£-6.

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idealized the "Whig party as the repository of all the virtues of 1688; their hopes were high but their history was bad.

The "Whigs had too long been a

part of the system to overthrow it or even carry through the most moderate reforms; they enjoyed the fruits of their sin, and Parliamentary Reform had not been taken seriously since the motion of Grey and their proud if futile secession.

Furthermore

the Whig party in 1806 was no longer a pure Foxite blend; mingled with it were the coarser variety of Whig, the Grenville group, not to mention Sidmouth and his Tory supporters.

It was a coalition with

few ideals in common beyond the simple desire for 9. ' office. Such a ministry might be an admirable instrument for administration and war, but it could not be expected to carry through large reforms, and it did not.

Parliamentary Reform was put to one

side at the outset since only the Foxite Whigs were

9, Trevelyan, Grey, pp. 131-59; Halevy, A History

of the English People, I, l5ii-5.

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10. even willing to consider it. come.

But worse was to

Lord Grenville, now receiving^6000 a year

as First Lord of the Treasure, kept his sinecure office of Auditor of the Exchequer at the salary of£ 1*000 a year; this was corruption on a colossal scale since the good Lord would audit his own 11 accounts. The Radicals long remembered this

.

example of Whig perfidy.

The Chief Justice was

also given a double appointmenti

The income tax

was raised while the Royal family was given more money.

Nothing was done for Catholic Emancipation.

Not all of these omissions and commissions were the fault of the Whigs; but the face of the record was bad enough to disgust sincere if not realistic 12.' Radicals. The shock of recognition was bound to come with the turn of the political wheel.

It had the

10. Trevelyan, Grey, p. 11*2 11. Patterson, Burdett and His Times, I, 17l*-!?. This was not nearly as bad as the Radicals made it out to be for a deputy was appointed to the position of auditor. 12. Ibid., pp. 17lt-5«

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111

effect of forcing the Radicals to divorce themselves from the party system politically as well as intel­ lectually; the Radicals now considered themselves as an independent group with a program and position of its own which distinguished them from the ’’Ins and Outs”. In their recoil against the "Whigs they were freed to agitate and organize as they saw fit and on a basis which took no cognizance of their former allies.

The Ministry of All the Talents is

the starting point of the revival of Radicalism. It brought to a pitch dissatisfactions, the end result of which was the joining together of Radicals new and old.

The "Talents” acted as a catalyst in

the formation of a Radical center of agitation. The first sign of a public break between Burdett and the "Whigs came in the 1807 Middlesex election when he damned the union of "Talents" as a conspiracy 13. against the people. Burdett then moved the scene

13. Ibid., pp.185-9; Jackson, Burdett, pp.59-60; 72; Henry Clifford, Observations on Some Doctrines Advanced During the Late ELections in a Letter to Sam. Whitbread from Henry Clifford (London, 1807), passim.

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.

of his activities to Westminster where he worked with other men to build a Radical electoral machine which could be used against the Whigs. The events of 1807 brought together various individuals to work in the cause of Radicalism, each in his own way, and gave them an enthusiasm and hope for its victory which began to permeate beyond a handful of people.

Radicalism increasingly became,

after 1807, a popular cause. Westminster was a scot and lot borough which gave the vote to all ratepayers.

Of the 150,000

people in the borough, 10,000 to lh,000 were able to vote - a number difficult to control solely by bribery.

The voters were mostly small shopkeepers

and artisans independent enough to cast votes which were their own.

Since the House of Parliament were

within the bounds of the constituency, it became a center from which "out—of—doors” pressure could be exerted.

Westminster had never elected a Radical to

Parliament up to 1807, but Tooke had contested it in 1790 and 1796.

He had, however, been unable to

overcome the Whig-Tory agreement to divide the two

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seats between them; the former party had won its position in 1780 with the aid of the famous kisses Hi.

of the Duchess of Devonshire. The radical efforts in Westminster got under way in the fall of 1806 with Cobbett1s "Letters to the Electors of Westminster", an important step in his movement away from the Whigs.

In his new found

antipathy to his former supporters Cobbett appealed to the journeymen of Westminster to use their votes as independent men.

At the same time he attacked

the borough-mongering system and explained the need for a change in the system of representation, a doctrine which marks Cobbett's conversion to Parlia15. mehiary Reform. That these were more than mere words is shown by the cooperation of Burdett, Cobett, Place, and

11+• Patterson, Burdett and His Times, I, 177-8; G. Wallas, The Life of Francis Place, 1771-1851+ (London, 1925), pp. 39-1+0; M.C. Yarborough, John Horne Tooke (New York, 1926), pp. 11+6-7 j 179-82 15. G.D.H. Cole, The Life of William Cobbett (3rd edition, London, 191+777 PP* 120-21.

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Cartwright in an attempt during the latter part of 1806 to elect a Radical M. P. from Westminster. Burdett himself had been suggested as' the candidate but he was already committed to Middlesex, and thus Pauli was chosen, a returned Indian Merchant who was dissatisfied with the treatment he had received from the govenor-general and thus desired a position from which to attack the government.

However,

Sheridan, Hood, Whig and Tory respectively, were elected but the good showing made by Pauli encouraged the small Radical group to stick together in 16. preparation for the next election. In the meantime Burdett had gone down to defeat at Middlesex.

He was free of obligation to that

ungrateful constituency - although he was nursing a deflated pocketbook and a wounded pride.

Place, not

satisfied with the organization displayed by the Radicals in the election in Westminster, had set

16. Patterson, Burdett and His Times, I, 177-8; l8l; Jackson, Burdett, pp. 62-3; Wallas, Place, p.itij; Cole, Cobbett, pp. 122-5.

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about to marshal the vote more effectively.

He

had decided, •'not that the people had the power to do themselves justice as electors, but that no more was necessary in the first instance than that a few men of business and spirit, no one of whom had any 17. sinister interest, should act together...11 These men of business met and decided to run Burdett and Pauli in the next election.

Pauli was happy to

accept, but Burdett was less eager to agree.

He

was in low spirits and had committed himself after his defeat in Middlesex not to run again in any constituency.

However, he assented to his candidacy

with the understanding that it would cost him no effort.

A quarrel over a matter of amour propre

between Burdett and Pauli eliminated the latter and the whole force of the Radical organization was !8 . thrown behind the Baronet. The election went well.

Place's committee of

some thirty obscure men canvassed Westminster,

17. Wallas, Place, p.Wi, quoting Place. 18. Patterson, Burdett and His Times, I, 193—208.

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organized parades, published ballads and posters, inspired newspaper articles, and provided constables most useful at English elections.

They received

neither financial nor oratorical help from Burdett, who played the part of the unhappy warrior.

After

the third day the outcome was no longer in doubt. 19. The other victor was also a Radical, Lord Cochrane. The election was cheap according to the standards of the day.

The expenditure up to the close of the

poll was^T 780.

The post-election celebration however,

chairing, processions, etc., brought the total to 20. £ 1296. Place may have been disgusted with the bread and cheese thrown to a hungry crowd during a previous 21 . election, But he was not above spending £ U&S for

19. Ibid., pp. 208-12; Wallas, Place, pp. US-7 ; Jackson, Burdett, pp. 67-71;; C. Lloyd, Lord Cochrane; Seaman Radical - Liberator (London, 19U7), p. 89. The final poll was; Burdett, 5l3lt; Cochrane, 3708; Elliott, 2137; Sheridan, 26US; Pauli, 269. 20. Westminster Committee, An Exposition of the Circum­ stances which Gave Rise to the Election of Sir Francis Burdett, Bart, for the City of Westminster, and of the Principles which Governed the Committee who Conducted that Election (London, lBo?), pp. 27-8. 21. Wallas, Place, p.i;2.

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a good show after the election.

Nevertheless the

election had been parried without wholesale bribery; earlier elections in Westminster had cost as high asjJoOjOOO.

22#

The Westminster Committee had secured

control of its constituency, and it was not to relinquish it until, ironically, the Reform Bill did away with the working class vote in Westminster and other scot and lot boroughs.

More important, it was from this point

that the Radical Movement began to assure the proportions of an agitation. A word should be said about Cochrane.

He was

a conceited and proud Navy captain, born of an impoverished Scotch noble family.

In 1807 he was

in the midst of a most successful career in the Navy as a commander of frigates.

He became a popular hero

in 1809 for his attack on the French at Aix Roads, but his attempt to bring his superior officer before court martial for inaction during that battle brought his downfall; after 1810 he was not again used by the

22. Patterson, Burdett and His Times, I, 208.

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23.

Navy until very late in life.

In the meantime

during his time on land, he had become interested in politics.

He was full of vague ideas concerning

the abuses he had seen in the Navy, and thus he contested Honiton in early 1806 as an independent candidate.

The

experience of large scale briberv in that election 2h.

converted him to Radicalism.

Cochrane entered the

Westminster election on his own initiative receiving no support from Place and being snubbed by Burdett. His victory was that of an ebullient personality as 2^. much as of a "long purse". Radicalism in 1806 had been at low ebb.

The

reformers had had few followers, and what few they 26 had were not from the working class. But the

.

election of 1807 had not only brought an effective Radical organization into being; it had also instigated the beginnings of a Radical agitation resting on

23. Lloyd, Cochrane, Part I, passim. 21;. Ibid., pp. 82-6; 89. 25. Ibid., pp. 87-91; 9li* 26. Halevy, A History of the English People, I, 1^0; Cole, Cobbett, p. 120

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the support of the lower classes.

Radicalism up

to 1806 had been the tightly held creed of a few aristocrats or outlandish gentlemen working in obscurity.

After 1807 it became transformed into

a movement whose energies were increasingly directed toward rousing the people in general and the working class in particular to an awareness of the wrongs committed against them and to possible remedies. In the years 1807 and 1808 Burdett strengthened his position as a Parliamentary advocate of Parlia­ mentary Reform.

His motion in 1809 proposing the

franchise for all ratepayers although voted down by a large majority brought the matter of Parliamentary 27. Reform before the House of Commons. Burdett also helped to lead attacks against the fortresses of corruption in the Duke of York case and other various cases of scandal.

He was successful with

the aid of Cobbett, Cartwright, and meetings at the

27. Jackson, Burdett, pp. 96-83 Jephson, Platform,

I, 331-5.

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Crown and Anchor in keeping "the reform issue before 28 the nationj his eloquence on the subject was

.

seemingly inexhaustable. It was Burdett's arrest in 1810 and all the proceedings connected with it which brought the greatest notoriety to himself and Radicalism.

The

publication of an address which had been made in the House of Commons in the Political Register caused Burdett's committal to the Tower for breach of privilege.

Burdett treated the dedision with the

greatest disdain refusing to go to prison and barricading himself in his house.

The storm broke

when attempts were made to serve the warrant. Crowds gathered in the narrow streets of London and attacked the houses of the most unpopular ministers, Castlereagh and Perceval among them. retaliated by calling out troops.

The government

After several

more days of rioting, Burdett finally had the papers served on him.

28. Jackson, Burdett, p. 99*

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The whole affair was grist for the Radical mill.

Petitions and addresses were drawn up over

most of England.

Westminster* now deprived of a

representative* made the most of its situation by a Parliamentary petition and by public meetings. The petition was not sent in the hope of achieving its stated aimj its real purpose was to keep the matter before the public eye.

Most of the petitions

sent to Parliament, some of which were not phrased in the usual humble and modest fashion, demanded Parliamentary Reform. However, beyond speeches on the hustings and some speeches in Parliament itself, the popular party could do little at this time.

The Ministry

was too powerful to be brought down, and if it had, Radicalism would have been no further.

The war

was still the major concern, and it soon obscured all other issues.

Speeches and petitions were excellent

forms of propaganda, but they achieved nothing in the way of action.

No provincial, or even an

extension of the London, Radical organization grew

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from this affair.

It had been exhilarating but 29. produced no lasting effect. As an agitation, however, in the sense of creating a favorable public opinion no matter how ephemeral, it had been a success.

Although there

had been no rioting outside of London, Radical ideas had spread to such places as Southwark, Coventry, Liverpool, Nottingham, Sheffield, and Hull.

The excitement over the arrest had extended

Radical ideas into the provinces where sympathy for Burdett and his nrogram was shown in a way which was 30. unique since the revival of the Movement. England was, at any rate becoming aware that it contained a group of highly vocal Radical Reformers. Furthermore Burdett had made himself a hero in the best Wilkite sense. It was a Wilkite affair 31. all over with an embattled and persecuted hero

29. Ibid., pp. 116-7; 119; 127; 135-9; Jephson, Platform, I, 338-I4I; Hunt, Memoirs, II, 1*11-12; Wallas, Place, pp. 1*8-53. 30. Jackson, Burdett. pp. 133-5. 31. Cole and Postgate, British People, pp. 155-56; Jackson, Burdett, p. 100.

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standing fearlessly for the people's rights before the tyranny of a corrupt House of Commons. good theater and the crowd loved it.

It was

The difference

was that this time a new class would soon learn, and in fact was learning, what a corrupt Parliament meant in terms of a standard of living.

In addition

to that the London crowd had shown itself once again 32. to be a real menace. There was nothing new in that; the Gordon riots of 1780 had almost demolished the town.

But this time the London rioters were

allying themselves with a small political group; it was this alliance which became the terror of the better sort. Burdett returned to the House of Commons at the next session to carry on his work.

The unopposed

election of Burdett and Cochrane at Westminster in

1812 had revived his mandate, but his attention until the coming of peace was focused more on Army and 33. Navy reform than on Parliamentary Reform.

32. Cole, Cobbett, p. l55j Wallas, Place, pp. 51-2. 33• Jackson, Burdett, pp. 13>6—633 180-81.

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Cochrane too worked, as might have been expected, in the field of Naval reform, although he took an active part during the Burdett arrest affair by presenting petitions to Parliament.

Xn I8II4 he too

was implicated in an arrest by the government.

This

case was the famous Stock Exchange trial in which he was charged with spreading false rumors of peace in 3k. order to benefit from stock manipulation. Again the shades of Wilkes arose from the grave for the conviction of Cochrane was judged at the time to be a victory of the government over the Radicals, a challenge which the Radicals flung back when they elected Cochrane to Parliament despite his expulsion. 35. Eventually he served his sentence. Cochrane's career as a politician was not conspicuously successful despite the appeal to the crowd which he made as a frigate captain.

"He never had the temperment of a 36. successful political leader." He was too impulsive,

3k. See Lloyd, Cochrane, Part II, ch. Ill, for an account of this affair.

3£. Lloyd, Cochrane, pp. 127-35* 36. Ibid., p. 139*

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too much concerned with his own wrongs, and he was no great Parliamentarian.

In l8l8 he left the

political arena to return to the job for which he was best fitted and in which he could combine his zeal for freedom and reform with his skill as a frigate captain.

Chile, Brazil, and Greece

welcomed him as their liberator. The Political Outlook of Burdett The ideas and opinions which Burdett represented are those of eighteenth-century Radicalism.

Although

he first entered Parliament as an M. P. for a rotten borough, from the start he acted independently - the realization of the eighteenth-century ideal of a man aloof from a party.

Even before his entrance'

into Parliament Burdett had felt the impact of the hopeful outlook of the French Revolution, and this impulse had been strengthened by the liberal opinions 37. of his father-in-law. Burdett in his first days

37. Patterson, Burdett and His Timas., I, 39; L2; 52-3; 56; 58-63; 65; 67; 96-7 .

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in politics was an aristocratic, liberal "Whig, who finding himself free from the trammels of party politics, travelled further than most to the logical conclusions of his basic concepts. Of great importance in molding Burdett’s thought was Horne Tooke. A relationship of master and disciple 38. soon developed between them. They studied the Latin classics together, and Burdett took the place of honor at Tooke’s famous dinners. Tooke as ’’of great use to Burdett. 39. . degree of intellectuality.”

Benfcham described He gave him some

Tooke confirmed most of Burdett’s political views and thereby strengthened him in his antagonism to borough-mongers.

Tooke was a firm supporter of the

ancient British constitution he believed in the established government simply because it was established. I40

Tooke was a practical rather than a visionary reformer.

38. Yarborough, Tooke, p. 210 j Patterson, Burdett and His Times, I, 108. 39. Yarborough, Tooke, p. 211. JU°. Ibid., p. 192.

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127

and he had no sympathy with the advanced reformers of his later days.

Neither Tooke nor Burdett

believed in universal suffrage or the wisdom of the mob.

Neither believed in the abstract reasonings

of Rousseau or Paine. Both believed in the House of Commons in its pure state, i.e., freed from the grasping power of those who traded in boroughs. Their veneration for the English constitution and all its parts resulted from a reading of history which held up the Magna Carta and Bill of Rights as twin pillars of freedom.

Reform was to be a return

to the principles of these two documents.

Tooke

represented no democratic principlej he represented

.

111

no desire for revolution, physical or constitutional. Tooke's Radicalism was a type which led to Utili­ tarianism, and it was with these tenets of reform that Burdett was indoctrinated.

Parliament arjr Reform in

these terms meant a restoration of political freedom, not the emancipation of a class of exploited and

1+1. Ibid., pp. 191-£; Patterson, Burdett and His Times, I, 117-20.

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.

politically disenfranchised workers.

Burdett*s

Radical ideas were eighteenth-century ideas centering about the slogan of Parliamentary Reform and a concept of oppression which concerned itself with flogging in the Army as well as gagging acts. With this outlook Burdett was an easy prey for Benthamism.

After the peace, Burdett, disgusted k2.

with Cobbett and Hunt,

came under the personal

influence of Bentham, who used him as a useful Parliamentary mouthpiece.

The meeting of Bentham

and Burdett in the words of one admirer was to be a union of philosophy and popularity.

However that

may be Bentham found Burdett a willing subordinate; proposals for law reform as well as motions for Parliamentary Reform came forth from the mouth of Burdett though the words were Bentham*s.

The

resolutions set before the House of Commons by U3. Burdett in l8l8 were the result of this collaboration.

1*2# Ibid., II, 1*62. h3- Ibid., I462-72.

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Just as Burdett was susceptible to the in­ fluence of philosophical gentlemen so was he susceptible to political pressure.

Thus in 1809

he talked of household suffrage, while in 1817 and 1818 he advocated in Parliament universal suffrage but not with enthusiasm.

He would support it but 1*1*. would accept something less. Burdett was constantly trying, especially after l8l5, to move to a more conservative position on the question of suffrage, and he ultimately ended with the "Whigs. His friendship with Radical Reformers reached the breaking point under the stress of the -post-war 1*5. years. Burdett was liberal in his approach to legis­ lative questions which concerned the worker when he thought of them.

He opposed the Millwrights

Combination Act of 1799 > the prelude to the general Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800.

But in 1818 he

Mi. Ibid., I and II, 235; 1*13S 1*17; 1*19; 1*57. 2*5'. Jackson, Burdett, pp. 200-1.

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saw no need for an agricultural minimum wage, swallowing whole the good Benthamite dogma that enlightened selfishness on the part of the employer 1*6 . would see to it that a decent wage was paid and forgetting that most employers were not enlightened even though they were usually selfish.

Burdett’s

aristocratic Whiggism was overlaid now with the veneer of a business man's philosophy.

The world

of the working class was beyond his view; he would spring to the defense of their constitutional liberties but would not notice their grievances or condition.

Although in 1812 he attacked the govern­

ment for the report of the secret committee which called for repressive measures, there is no mention of the Luddite riots in his speeches.

There is a

contrast here with the effect of Luddism on Cobbett's point of view.

In his case the riots opened his

eyes to the economic situation of the workers.

Burdett

saw no economic problems but only a threat to personal A

1*6. J. L. and B. Hammond, Town Labourer, pp. 118; 200.

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liberty on the part of a corrupt ministry and a 147 subservient Parliament. In similar fashion

.

Burdett was not interested in the Corn Bill of l8l£.

He urged the people not to waste their

efforts on it for it was only an insignificant part of the system.

In this he was correct

only he

failed to understand the system of which it was a 1* 8.

part. Although Burdett became the focal point of the Radical revival, he had within him elements of a "Whig conservatism which would go ill with the workingclass agitation into which Radicalism was to broaden after l8l£.

This basic lack of sympathy with the

new forces of his time would deepen with the years and finally lead to estrangement with Cobbett and Hunt and other Radical Reformers.

Regardless of this

change Burdett had performed an important service in the years 1807-10 as the individual who stood forth as the foremost representative of Radicalism.

He became

2j7. Jackson, Burdett, pp. 168-9. ij8. Ibid., pp. 189-90.

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a popular heroj his election from Westminster "gave the reformers what they most needed - a fearless spokesman in the House of Commons, a leader around whom advanced reformers might

U9. gather outside the walls of Parliament."

His

failure to maintain that position is a key to the England of the early nineteenth century.

Ill Cobbett Moves from Toryism to Radicalism At the same time that Burdett was drawing together in his person the forces of Radicalism Cobbett entered into the fold.

He too took a

major part in the revival of the Radical Movement, 1806-7, but in his case Radicalism was to burn deeper.

Burdett began his political life as a

Radical but gradually, after 1815, drifted toward

U9. G.S. Veitch, The Genesis of Parliamentary Reform (London, 1913)s P* 3^3-

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alliance and refuge -with the Whigs.

Cobbett, on

the other hand, started his political career as the most patriotic of patriotic Tories, experienced a seemingly sudden conversion about 1806 or 1807, and continued to move towards a more extreme position, eventually broadening his scope of thinking and appeal until it included the new industrial working classes, a group which at first was out of his ken. Cobbett became to his own generation and later generations the Radical par excellence, the individual most representative of the movement without whom Radicalism would have lost much of its particular character and most of its color.

It is difficult to

conceive of early nineteenth-century Radicalism without Cobbett, so central was he to the movement.

Yet for

all this Cobbett remained to the end a Tory in spirit as well as a Radical, and he stands today not only as a symbol of Radicalism but also as the personification of John Bull - as a distinctive combination of English virtues and prejudices.

Cobbett was always

1. "something less or something more than a true Radical."

1. Davis, Age of Grey and Peel, pp. 193-5.

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Like Hunt, Cobbett was country born.

And

like Hunt his earliest political ideas were those of “High Toryism".

To him the successful defense

of country was an end so overwhelming that no man or movement which threatened it could be tolerated. There was also an important element of rural conser­ vatism in this Tory outlook; both men were country yeomen-farmers from the beginning and remained that, despite their later changes of scene, to the end. The Toryism of their earlier periods of life was largely defensive, an effort

to protect the soil

of old England against violation by the French and their new doctrines of revolution - double horror. This rural background, however, was to be useful/_in one way at least in their careers as Radicals. Possessed of the independent self-confidence of the yeoman-farmer class, conscious of the tradition of stability and strength they embodied, both men could stand before the newly uprooted peasants as a respected member of a class which was still familiar to them. Cobbett and Hunt had the breath of the country about

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them; they had not been cowed by impact with the Industrial Revolution in its most brutal forms. They spoke in arrogant accents claiming rights before the rulers of England and were unafraid of the consequences.

Such magnificent self-assertion was

a 'preogative of a country-man, sure of his position in his country, a man not yet morally disenfranchised. Such is the picture of country-bred strength and stability which these two men create even at this distance of time. Cobbett was born in the Jolly Farmer Inn, which his father owned, along with a small farm in Surrey.

He worked in the fields as a youth, but k

at the age •of nineteen ran away to join the Army in which he served for six years in New Brunswick. This was the beginning of his education for he taught himself grammar during these years as well as coming into contact with a new way of life. After his discharge he tilted at the windmills of corruption which he had witnessed in the Army but with no success. His first reasoning on political affairs came,

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however, not from attacks on the corrupt politics of Britain but from a defense of the British foreign policy.

Leaving England for America in 1792, he soon

found himself immersed in American politics and the controversy between the Federalists and Democrats. Incensed by the cordial reception given to Priestly by the latter party, he began to write panphlets under the name of Peter Porcupine, attacking those who took a pro-French view of things.

English

democrats, American democrats, Tom Paine, and the French Revolution drew his fire.

This was the

instinctive defense of a patriot, but in the process Cobbett was hammering out the technique of style 2. which wras to make him such an effective writer. Cobbett also acquired a reputation.

Finding

opportunities offered in England to carry on his crusade against the new liberal forces, Cobbett returned there in 1800.

He became a friend of

Windham, who was Secretary at War in Pitt's cabinet,

2. Cole, Cobbett, chs. II-V, passim.

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and of other members of the government.

Neverthe­

less he was no hack writer at the beck and call of the Tory party.

Refusing to accept a government

newspaper offered to him he started the Porcupine in order to have complete freedom of expression. Without adequate financial resources he soon fell into bankruptcy, and he was therefore obliged to accept money from Windham for the establishment of the Political Register. He asked for and received, however, a promise of complete freedom from Windham no idle pledge it proved to be.

With a financially

secure newspaper Cobbett was now launched on his career as an anti-Jacobin. But the whirlpool of British politics caught Cobbett up and turned him about so that eventually he faced another direction.

The breakup of Pitt's

coalition on the question of peace with France brought Cobbett into the position of a supporter of the Whig opposition.

He found himself supporting the men he

had previously damned as traitors.

Although Cobbett

took great pleasure in the resumption of war, the

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fact that his political friends were excluded from the government brought his pen to the support of *3. the "New Opposition'* formed against Pitt. The year 1803 was thus the beginning of Cobbett's hdrift to new fields of thought. Not only did the •

political situation put Cobbett into opposition to the government,.but the renewal of the war and the gradual decay and disappearance of the issue of Anti-Jacobinism with the rise to power of Napoleon allowed him to turn his attention to questions other than a blind defense of war policies.

Cobbett

began to scrutinize the internal affairs of England more closely and with an increasingly critical spirit. Furthermore the brief administration of Addington had lightened persecution and allowed reform ideas to appear once more.

English political life was again

on the move after a long night of fear, and Cobbett began to move with it.

He began to sharpen his

3. Ibid., chs. VI—VII, passim; Trevelyan, Grey, pp. 133-3? Halevy, A History of the English People, 1, 15U. lu Cole, Cobbett, pp. 8J4-5.

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political analysis3 Irish and financial problems began to occupy the columns of the Political Register. Cobbett read Paine's Decline and Fall of the English System of Finance at this time and drew upon it for ammunition in his attacks on stock-jobbers and paper inflation especially as the system related to the welfare of the English farmer. The failure of the Tflfhig Ministry of All the Talents in 1806 was the political event which deposited Cobbett on the side of the Radicals.

Before the "Talents"

had come into power Cobbett had had a clear insight into the political corruption in- which the Pitt govern­ ment wallowed.

The "Whigs, he had hoped, would bring

about a complete change of system by abolishing all abuses in the sphere of public lifes corruption, financial policy, pensions, the Army, all were to be subjects for action and house-cleaning.

He expected a regeneration

of the political life of the nation from a "Whig government, failing to realize that the system was

6.

not just Tory but "Whig as well. £

Ibid., ch. VII, passim.

6. Ibid., p.111.

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If it was the shock of the "Whig failure which finally made Cobbett into a Radical, it was his experience as a candidate for Parliament at Honiton in May 1806, which symbolized his break with the "Whigs and which further confirmed him in his new approach to politics.

Running against a government

candidate (although Cobbett later withdrew in favor of Cochrane), he saw at first hand what electoral corruption meant, namely, voting for ’'Mister Most". It was Westminster politics which made him a full member of the new Radical Movement.

The elections

of 1806 and 1807 brought him into working contact with the center of Radical agitation.

The "Letters

to the Electors of Westminster", which began to appear in the fall of 1806, his support of Pauli in the november election and Burdett and Cochrane in the 1807 election committed him to the Radical cause as well as proving to be a stimulus to the revival of the move­ ment.

Cobbett had moved by 1807 from one extreme 7. position to another.

7. Ibid., ch. IX, passim.

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The Duke of York case in 1809 brought forth the issue of corruption in public office, an issue ■which agitated the country and which Cobbett tried to use to full advantage.

The Duke was charged with

conniving with his mistress Mrs. Clarke to sell promotions in the Army.

The charge was taken up in

the House of Commons by Colonel Wardle.

Although

the Duke was acquitted, the public exposure of such a scandal gave the newly organized Radicals a handle with which to belabor the government.

The Westminster

Radicals held a meeting of 10,000 persons which called for reform in all the departments of government. Some fifty towns and counties passed resolutions, addresses of thanks, etc. between March and May, some of which resolutions asked for a reform of Parliament. Cobbett not only printed accounts of and publicized these meetings but also spoke in Hampshire while 8

Cartwright organized a dinner at the Crown and Anchor.

8. Ibid., pp. llt9-50; Hunt, Memoirs, II, 352-8; Jephson, Platform, I, 327-9; Jackson, Burdett, pp. 88-9

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This was not* however, an upsurge of Radical opinion^ it was partly "Whig, partly a general expression of public abhorrence.

The Radical group was too small

and too weak to seize such a movement and make it their own although they did their best to make it a vehicle for Radical ideals.

But the outburst does

indicate a lessening of political tension within Britain which made possible the resurgence of Radicalism and which at the same time strengthened the belief of the Radicals in the iniquity of the system of government. The independent and critical line which the Political Register was taking in these first years of Radicalism drew the unfavorable attention of the administration.

The first opportunity was seized to

prosecute Cobbett in an attempt to silence him.

An

article which castigated the use of German mercenaries for flogging British soldiers provided the occasion. Cobbett found himself in 1810 in Newgate for two years with a heavy fine to pay which* added to other debts* necessitated Burdett’s financial help.

The imprisonment

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failed to silence Cobbett, for he continued to publish the Political Register from his prison 11cell” (actually a comfortable apartment), and he was able to receive his Radical friends as well as his family in jail while his release acted as an occasion for another Radical celebration.

There

was some attempt to stir an agitation over the issue of the press; Cobbett wrote articles on the subject, while Lord Folkstone in the House of Commons and Lord Holland in the House of Lords attempted without success to bring about an inquiry into government 9. proceedings against writers and publishers. Cobbett*5 Radical Ideas Cobbettrs conversion to the Radical cause brought a corresponding change in the scope and range of his thought on the political and economic life of early nineteenth-century England; his concepts were re-formed in the Radical mold.

Even before his disavowl

of "Whigs and Tories Cobbett was beginning to look beyond the confines of a foreign policy dedicated to a

9. Cole, Cobbett, pp. 1E>0 ff.; Jackson, Burdett, pp. l£2-li.

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life and death struggle with France.

After 1810

he carried his attack on the financial system further in his famous Paper Against Gold written at Newgate. In this he struck at what he thought was the heart of the matter, the relationship of money to the welfare of the people, showing a proportionate rise in paper money, the National Debt, and pauperism.

His remedy

was repudiation of the debt failing to realize that most of the fundholders at whom he railed with such vigor were many insignificant holders rather than a 10 . few large holders. The whole argument, however, was well calculated to appeal to the small farmers of England burdened as they were with rising rents and poor rates. Cobbett's social vision was expanding beyond the fundholders too.

Increasingly for him the "condition

of England question" which became of such paramount importance to nineteenth-century England was the central problem of the day.

And the "condition of

10. Trevelyan, English Social History, pp. k91-2. Large holders did exist, of course.

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England" meant the condition of the laboring people. Cobbett1s eyes were opened to the misery and heart­ break of the neiv industrial civilization by the Luddite riots.

He saw the central truths

that the

low wages of the day did not provide a decent standard of living.

He did not approve of machine

breaking, but neither did he approve of judicial murder.

It was not enough to repress; the problem

demanded a redress of grievances, an improvement in working conditions and wages.

As a result of these

ideas, charity - the favorite evangelical solution for a problem they did not wish to solve - drew his bitter denunciation.

Wages should be high enough to

enable men to do without help from their "betters". In the same vein Cobbett attacked the export trade, and here we can see his loyalty to the agricultural, self-sufficient England of older days.

Exports

brought prosperity to the exporters only, not to the people.

Thus the general picture of England which

Cobbett built week after week in his writings was that of a nation controlled and run by and for the

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11. few to the exclusion of the many. It has often been stated that Cobbett was part Tory, part Radical.

The Toryism in Cobbett came from.

his desire to return to what had been taken away by the fundholders and cotton lords - the forces of the new England.

Cobbett was for everything old; he

was for a return to an agricultural England which perhaps never existed except in his own mind but which he nevertheless made a touchstone of his opinions. This was not to be a dream of Cobbett alone; Carlyle, Ruskin, Morris among others were to react in horror , at nineteenth-century England and call for a reversal 12 . of history. More important, Cobbett's Radicalism, as a result of this Tory outlook, was a type hostile to everything for which the middle class stood, particularly as 13. expressed by the new religion of Utilitarianism.

11. Cole, Cobbett, ch. X, passim. 12. D.C. Somervell, English Thought in the Nineteenth* Century (New York, 191*0), pp. 35-6; 39; Cole, Cobbett, pp. 10—12. 13. Stephen, Utilitarians, I, 217.

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The pamphlet Paper Against Gold was in fact whether Cobbett realized it or not a slashing, though sometimes clumsy, attack on the very foundations of the new class thrown up by the Industrial Revolution, the capitalists, as well as on the system of finance which made the Industrial Revolution possible. Tory dreamer or not, Cobbett was sufficiently intelligent and alive to be able to come to terms with reality and thereby helo build a working-class moveliu ment. He did this through the slogan of Parliamentary Reform; it was on this issue that he called upon the workers to fight for their rights and a better way of life.

But although universal stiffrage had within

it the seeds of Socialism, Cobbett did not think of 15. it in those terms.

For Cobbett was no revolutionary;

he did not think in terms of class warfare but in terms of class misery.

He did not want to carry out an

overthrow of the state or to assure the dominance of

liu Cole, Cobbett, p. 13 15. Somervell, English Thought, p. 38

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one class over other classes.

He was but trying

to re-assert a hierarchy which had vanished in the midst of economic changes, a hierarchy in which the lower orders had their rights as well as their place.

To Cobbett Parliamentary Reform was a means

of achieving those right.

IV Cartwright Attempts to Organize Radicalism Major John Cartwright has long had, and has well deserved, the reputation as the most steadfast and stalwart of the nineteenth-century reformers. War and revolutions, coalitions and economic change, passes him by without ruffling his single-minded conviction that England's only needs were universal suffrage, annual parliaments, and equal constituencies. It was with this simple and logical Radical outlook that Cartwright played an honorable part in the revival of the Reform Movement after 1806, especially in the

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years 1812-13 when he organized clubs and missionary tours which were soon to become vehicles of propaganda for working-class Radicalism. Just as important was the service he performed, along with Tooke and Burdett, of carrying Radicalism through the spiritual vacuum and legal oppression which existed between the eighteenth-centurv Radical Movement and the nineteenth-century movement.

Cartwright acted

as one of the connecting links between the two centuries, and in so doing he provided the post-Waterloo movement with elements of both strength and weakness. Cartwright and the other Radicals of the eighteenth century brought with them the ways of thinking, attitudes and dogmas of an era which was vastly different from the age which was to take up anew these doctrines. His Radical ideas were a cross between the Natural Rights outlook of the American Revolution, and the piece-meal reform concepts which later helped make up the creed of Utilitarianism.

In his mind the Natural Rights of

man philosophy cohabited with a non-revolutionary doctrine of specific and limited reform.

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The G.O.M. of Radicalism tried in similiar fashion to compromise differences between reformers which appeared in the everyday world of politics. The gap between Radical Reformers and Moderate Reformers was one which ultimately was to reveal a class fission in English society.

Yet the Major* ever

optimistic* tried valiently and vainly to bring the two sides together for concerted action by virtue of their common agreement on the single aim of reform regardless of differences over the specific amount deemed necessary. Cartwright* described by a modern writer as an "eccentric old bore"* was born in 171*0 on a small estate in Nottinghamshire with the famous Edward Cartwright* inventor of the power loom as his brother. One would never know from his outlook that Cartwright was so close to the basic economic forces of his day. As with Cobbett and Hiint he became dissatisfied and ran away* in this case to the Navy.

Here he had a

worthy career serving in the Seven Years War and performing feats of exploration in Newfoundland.

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His interest in politics was first aroused by the controversy which preceeded the American Revolution. ■ His "Letter on American Independence" (177^4) suggested a union of Britain and America but under seperate legislatures and with the provision that Britain give up her claims to sovereignty; liberty was a gift of God, not a grudging present from the King of England.

In the meantime he had

been appointed Major in the Nottingham militia and had refused to accept employment under Howe to fight the Americans since the War was in conflict with his political principles. In 1776 his first work on Parliamentary Reform launched him into the stomy seas of Radicalism. "Take Your Choice" set out the principles from which Cartwright was never to swerve, universal suffrage 1. and annual Parliaments. At the same time he began to experience the difficult task of maintaining

1 . F.D. Cartwright, The Life and Correspondence of Major Cartwright (London, 1826", 2 vols.), I, pp. 1-82, passim.

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influence /with the leading politicians of the day ■while espousing extreme doctrines.

He managed to

keep himself politically alive by compromising on his beliefs in public statements "which were signed jointly with others while arguing all the time in 2. pamphlet and letter for his basic ideas. Cartwright's life now resolved into the pattern it was to follow until the end of his days.

He

corresponded as an advocate of Radicalism with all those who would read his letters and many who would not.

He arranged meetings, wrote pamphlets and

made futile efforts to be elected to Parliament. He also began his long career of organizing Reform Societies, the first of which was the Society for Constitutional Information (1780).

Here Cartwright's

talent for working with those who did not share his fundamental beliefs found full expression.

Some in

the new society were in favor of universal suffrage and annual parliaments, but most would have settled

2. Ibid., pp. 131-U.

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3. for less.

One such person was Horne Tooke; others

were Pitt, Fox, Sheridan, and Lord John Russell.

h.

Cartwright managed to navigate the moral crises of the French Revolution without damage to his Radical principles.

Although his early enthusiasm

for the great event was later tarnished.by its excesses, this did not prevent him from carrying on with his Radicalism, and in 1792 he organized the Society of 5. the Friends of the People. The political situation, however, was proving difficult for even the doughty Major, and his efforts at reform met increasingly

.

6 cold refusals.

The years (1800-1807) were lean years;

pamphlets continued to flow from Cartwright1s pen but with little effect.

The "Whigs in particular 7. refused to have anything to do with his schemes.

3. Ibid., pp. 211H p. 1;. Yorborough, Tooke, pp. 108;l5l. 5. Cartwright, Life of Major Cartwright, I, 131-290, passim. 6. Ibid., pp. 295-97. 7. Ibid., pp. 323; 327.

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The "Whig alliance -was growing irksome, especially after the Ministry of All the Talents had brought disillusionment to

Cartwright as it had to others.

It became plain that there was no good to be done, nby coalitions or by ministries in which the Whigs are to have a share. We have had them both, and what was the benefit? Reformation, and a restored constitution we have not had.” 8. Yet despite this belief, Cartwright in contradistinction to some other Radicals continued to try to work with Whigs in an effort to form a party of those who agreed on the necessity of reform if not on its extent.

Thus

in 1811 a Reform dinner organized by Cartwright attemoted to bring Whigs and Radicals together, an 9. effort which failed in this particular instance. Cartwright played only a small part in the revival of Radicalism which took place in Westminster in the years 1806-7.

But he was in close contact

with the new and old leaders of Radicalism at this time

8. Ibid., pp. 357-8. 9. Ibid., II, 10.

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and had been a reader of Cobbett's Political Register since l80f?.

His main activity in Westminster was in

connection with the arrangement of dinners; in 1809 a meeting of 1,200 was held at the Crown and Anchor in support of Parliamentary Reform and in connection 10 . with the Duke of York case. Cartwright's most important activity after 1807 was, however, his organization of the Union and Hampden clubs, and his tours of 1812-13.

With the

former he developed a n ;organization which later became a focal point of working-class agitation.

With the

latter he developed a technique which was later used by Hunt in his efforts to stimulate working-class agitation. The Union Society was the least important of the two clubs.

Established in 1816 mainly as a result of

the efforts of Cartwright, it included such old Reformers as Wyvill and Burdett and such new Radicals as Hunt, Cobbett, and Cochrane.

There were 300

10. Ibid., I, 381-88; 392; Jackson, Burdett, pp. 89-92.

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members and while it was open to all, improper persons were kept out by the use of the ballot.

It was a

moderate group although the "Whigs found it too strong when it declared itself in favor of annual elections and representation for' all who paid direct taxes.

It

accomplished little and by I8l5> was tottering into 11 oblivion.

.

The Hampden Club proved to be made of sterner stuff3 it ultimately became a terror to a government con­ vinced, in 1817, that it was a secret revolutionary conspiracy.

This evil fame, however, did not come

until a complete metamorphosis had taken place.

The

original Hampden Club, founded in 1812, was an organization of the very wealthy which was strictly centered in London.

To become a member one had to

hold, or be an heir to,£ 300 a year in land, and pay the annual subscription of^ 2 as well as the cost of dinners.

This was hardly an open invitation to the

working class.

In fact the real intention of the Club

11. Veitch, Genesis of Parliamentary Reform, pp.3lt3-5>j Cartwright, Life of Major Cartwright, II, 10-11.

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■was to bring together any potential or actual Parliamentarians who might have an interest in reform. Peers, baronets, and 'M*;P..’s were among the early supporters of the Club; of the 100 members Burdett, Cochrane, Cartwright, and Clifford were included while Cobbett and Hunt were not.

The prounouncements of the Club on

reform were vague; it declared itself in favor of Parliamentary Reform, but the amount and nature of the intended reform was left unspecified in order not to excite alarm.

So sensitive was the Club to a possible

mistep that Cartwright left it for a year hoping in that way to attract even more respectable members. The failure of such persons to flock to the standard caused the Club to take the bit in its teeth and pull for annual parliaments and the vote for direct taxpayers. After 1815, due to the efforts of Cartwright, the basis of the Hampden Club changed; it became a working man’s society with provincial branches over most of England and especially in the north.

Its branches were open to

12. Veitch, Genesis of Parliamentary Reform, pp.3Wi-5; Cartwright, Life of Major Cartwright, II, 25-30; 380-382.

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12 .

all who were willing to pay one penny a week eloquent witness to the changes in Radicalism which occured after l8l5. As an organization of aristocratic gentlemen, the Hampden Club was an ineffective instrument of Radicalism.

The members were too conservative to

take the lead in great agitations and too bound by party realities to attempt the conversion of Parliament itself to the ideal of reform.

Cartwright

had hoped that the society would act as a meeting place of an elite (all of whom fulfilled the necessary requirements for sitting in Parliament) who would then undertake to act as the vanguard of the masses.

"The

people of England were always ready," according to the Major, "to declare in favour of reform when . . . Gentlemen in whom they could place confidence led the 13. way, and called upon them for their voices." Cartwright’s tour of 1813 was preceeded by a smaller tour in 1812 in which Manchester, Liverpool,

13. London Times, August 6, 1812.

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lit.

Sheffield, and Nottingham were covered.

The

occasion for the trip was the arrest of some poor men in Manchester for petitioning for Parliamentary Reform, and Cartwright, ever alert to attacks on reform activities, wait North to investigate.

15.

It was a provocative move to make, for the North during 1812 was experiencing its first wave of Luddism.

The Major, however, kept far away from

Luddite activities. In his longer tour of 1813 Cartwright covered nine hundred miles in twenty-nine days 3 this at the age of seventy-two.

He travelled as far north as

Newcastle-on-Tyne and spoke in twenty-five.towns, large and small, and including some of the major 16 cities of the industrial north. Cartwright’s

.

justification for this extraordinary exploit, in the face of efforts made to prevent him from going,

111. Cartwright, Life of Major Cartwright, II, 39-h2 15. Ibid., pp. 37-8. 16. Ibid., p. 1}7«

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has a certain grim humor about it: “English gentlemen are perpetuallytravelling. In the thing itself there is nothing extraordinary. Some go to see lakes and mountains. Were it not as allowable to travel for seeing the actual condition of a starving people? Some make journeys to examine the ruins of abbeys and castles, that they may publish drawings and dissertations. Would it not be as laudable to visit the ruins of the constitution, of national prosperity and happiness, that by the very act they may do much towards repairing that con­ stitution, and recovering that prosperity and happiness?"17. Cartwright was not afraid of people sneering at him as an "itinerant apostle."

But at the same time

he was not sure that he would suggest such a tour to "low men" or to men of neither "consideration nor

. 18. character." Cartwright found in his tour a great sense of misery among both working and middle classes and a "general disposition" to petition for their correction, a disposition which he did his best to foster.

The

17. Ibid., pp. lfh-6 18. Ibid., pp. ijii-6

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' 19. lower classes especially received the Major well. As a result of his reception Cartwright came home with numerous petitions most of which had developed 20 from his visits. The tour of Cartwright and his

.

petitioning activity was offensive enough to local authorites so that he was threatened with a jail sentence.

Magistrates also interfered with petitioners 21. in various towns. Nevertheless for Cartwright petitioning was to become a favorite means of political pressure and in the post-war period he was to influence Hunt in this as well as on the issue of universal suffrage and the practice of making speeches throughout the country. Cartwrights Political Creed and Tactical Plan The ideas which Cartwright put forth in pamphlets, speeches, and petitions were a curious mixture, of historical lore, Rousseauean dogma, and the concepts

19. Ibid., pp. bk-7. 20. Ibid., pp. 5>l-2; Veitch, Genesis of Parliamentary Reform, pp. 3^6—75 Jackson, Burdett, pp. 178-80. 21. Cartwright, Life of Major Cartwright, II, 2*8—95

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of eighteenth-century English Radicalism.

Cartwright

believed firmly in the Anglo-Saxon constitutions his study of Anglo-Saxon institutions had convinced him it was the fundamental and democratic constitution of Britain, and that it could be restored by the simple expediency of granting universal suffrage and annual parliaments.

In this way the Major cloaked

his reform efforts with legality, doubtful though it may have been and also presented his program as a basically conservative one.

It was a returns a

return to a more simple, pure, and honest age when every man counted for one and no more than one.

Part

of this pseudo-historical outlook included an English militia revived on Anglo-Saxon lines.

False history

or not, in his attempted backward leap in time 22 Cartwright carried many reformers with him.

.

As we have seen, it was the controversy of the American Revolution which first aroused Cartwright to political thought.

It was the pro-American

22. Davis, Age of Grey and Peel, p. 61|.

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arguments which set the mold into which his mind rapidly stiffened,

like Jefferson the pursuit of happiness

did not mean the enthronement of property, and the philosophy of the Declaration of Independence finds full expression in his pamphlet of 1775, Take Your Choice; (the] ’’title to the liberty of mankind is ... . the immediate gift of God ...... It is not derived from any one, but it is original in every one5 it is inherent and unalienable . . . . The all-wise Creator hath likewise made men equal, as well as free . . . . There are, there­ fore, no distinctions to be made among men, as just causes for the elevation of some above the rest, prior to mutual agree­ ment . . . . Personality is the sole foundation of the right of being repre­ sented ; . . . property, has’, in reality, nothing to do with the case . . . . It is a very fit object of the attention of a representative in parliament, but it contributes nothing to the right of having . . . representation.” 23. Hence universal suffrage.

However, universal suffrage

would not result in mob democracy which so many feared. Cartwright did not foresee the lowest persons in society being seated Parliament for he believed that these persons

23. Cartwright, Life of Major Cartwright, I, 65; 89-92.

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preferred confiding their interests to persons of 2l*.

11consideration” rather than their fellows. He had no sympathy with mob rule.

In 1791 he

helped put down by armed force and by cooperation

25.

with local magistrates a rising of farm laborers, and he admonished them with '‘Plain Truths for Plain Men".

"Riots, my friends, are a disgrace to any

country inhabited by civilized men, originating in the folly and wickedness of a few lawless persons. . . . Cartwright was no revolutionary despite the implications of the Natural Rights of Man philosophy as stated by the less conservative Tom Paine.

The

hereditary monarchy and House of Lords were parts of the British constitution with which he had no intention of tampering5 after all, he was simply trying to restore the constitution to its pristine glory rather than modernize it.

Thus a simple change in representation,

21*. Ibid., pp. 81*-5. 25* Ibid., pp. 186-7•

26. Ibid., p. 187.

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the establishment of equal electoral districts, and annual parliaments would achieve all that was .necessary. This is the eighteenth-century ideal of piece-meal, specific reform in the manner of Horne Tooke.

In the

above goals he had a "three-fold object of extreme simplicity, containing, as I must say, the constitution, the whole constitution, and nothing but the constitution. It was Cartwright’s various attempts at organi­ zation during these years which provided examples of organizations which the workers in England were to 28. use for their own purposes after l8l5« But to the mind of the Major what was to be the end of all this organization? formed?

To what purpose were societies to be

Cartwright hoped that they would be able to

spread "political knowledge" and thus instruct the 29. people in their rights and duties. He had realized as early as 1805 that the people themselves must be

27. Ibid., II, 30-31. 28. Veitch, Genesis of Parliamentary Reform, pp. 3k5-6 • 29. Cartwright, Life of Major Cartwright, I, 2l*5.

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brought into meetings and be told of the need for reform,

"I must confess I have seen too much, not

to be thoroughly sick of the old dull road of

30.

meetings of freeholders convened by the aristocracy.” Cartv/right had given the problem of how to achieve reform considerable thought, and in a letter of 1811 to "Wyvil he develops his ideas on the subject in a way which gives an insight into the methods which he felt 31. should be used to achieve Radical aims. Cartwright starts his diagnosis of Radical tactics from the existence of a borough faction, the M.P.'s who have bought their way into the House of Commons and who dominate its actions, or lack of action.

Although there are various groupings within

the borough faction, such as "Whig and Tory, they come together to defend the system once it is -under attack.

This corruption of Parliament by borough-

mongers is not merely an aberration, it is a despotism,

30. Ibid., p. 327. 31. Ibid., II, 7-10. from this letter.

The following quotations are

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nothing less; a despotism directed against the rights and liberties of the people. "How is a despotism to be reformed?11 Cartwright asks.

Since the evil despot in this case is legisla­

tive, it must itself be the agent of its own reformation. Thus revolution is ruled out.

But how is the House

of Commons to be forced to change itself? Would Frederick the Great or Napoleon have consented to the patriots1 plea to restore liberty?

No, death would have put

a quick end to such quixotic adventures. English despotism works differently.

But the

It doe's not

put Burdett to death; it simply outvotes him.

In

the final analysis, however, this is only a surface differentiation for Napoleon and the House of Commons have essentially the same character of despotism. The Major turns now to history to give him an answer to his problem.

Does history tell of an

instance in which a despotism voluntarily reformed itself?

Yes, and the example can be found in the

history of England itself.

The securing of the two

great milestones of English liberty, were both the

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result of a great national effort.

It was this

I?

national effort, headed by the Barons, which subdued John and forced him to grant the Magna Charta.

It was the same national effort which caused

James to fly and which brought the blessings of the Bill of Rights.

It was the fear felt by John and

James which brought them to yield to the desires of the nation, and it is this same rough remedy which must be applied to the despotism of the House of Commons. "And just so it is fear alone, that, from the borough-faction can ever extort a PARIJAMENTARY REFORM^ or, in other words, a RESTORATION OF THE CONSTITUTION." Many persons felt the truth of this analysis, but according to the Major, they are afraid that the use of such pressure will make the despot angiy and cause him to turn on his would be assassins.

It is

these timid people who hold back from Radical reformj "without reflection, they have deprecated radical reform as tending to civil war, and to the hazard of losing everything by convulsion.

No: here is radical

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error."

The use of fear ■would not lead to revolution

and war for the same national effort which made John and James quail and then yield would be used again with similar effect. "Nothing can be done but by public opinion. When that shall be suf­ ficiently powerful, the boroughfaction, put in fear, will vote for radical reform with as much peaceable acquiescence as John signed the Magna Charta." All depends therefore on a national surge of public opinion putting fear into the souls of the borough-mongers who make up the House of Commons. That achieved they will voluntarily reform themselves. But what program is it that will bring about this powerful current of public opinion?

"In respect of

raising up a sufficient strength in PUBLIC OPINION, the radical reformers hold up to the nation the constitution itself, in all its simplicity of excellence."

Moderate

reformers, those who themselves fear the torrential effects of public opinion, hold up to the people a "fabrication", a false article, which could never inspire the genuine enthusiasm necessary for an effective

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conversion of the people to reform. •'The qualities of truth and justice, as emanations from the divine mind, as well as the constitution of human nature and reason, forbid, in mgr humble judgement, the possibility of ever calling forth any­ thing like national unanimity on the . . . ground of moderate reform , or inspiring that animation and enthusiasm in the public necessary for a parliamentary reform; or, in other words, putting down the despotism of the borough-faction, and restoring the constitution. The fact that moderate reformers are incompetitent imposters does not lead, however, to the conclusion that there should be no cooperation with this group. Let there be discussion and cooperation wherever possible.

And if,

'•They, in public meetings of the people, cannot agree to the plans and measures we think must be finally adopted in Parliament, to restore our liberties; nor we, in such meetings, can concur in plans and measures we disapprove; we still can agree in the great great prin­ ciple, that reform is necessary for salvation of the state . . . . Let time bring us and the nation, in all points, to one mind!11 It is in the last step in his chain of reasoning that Cartwright most noticeably falls down.

The fact

of the matter was that he did not here, nor in the

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political arena itself, solve the problem, or even see the problem, of class conflict over the issue of Parliamentary Reform$ it "was this conflict which was to make his fervent prayer for cooperation futile and even disasterous.

In the struggle between the

middle and lower classes power was on the side of the former, a fact the Major did not sense.

Cartwright

and the other men considered here had no intellectual means of analyzing the nineteenth century in terms of the realities of the day, and because he did not have a proper means of analysis he did not have a program which could appeal to the new industrial working class of his time.

He had no future to offer to them

beyond a change in the make-up of Parliament.

All

Cartwright could offer to the workers was the outlook and goals of eighteenth-century Radicalism developed in the spirit of an hierarchical society.

It was a

program of reform in the strictest sense, not a plan for the victory, economic, political and social, of a class impoverished by new economic forces.

Cartwright,

and the others who espoused his ideas, never went beyond

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the ideal of achieving a reform of Parliament to tell the -workers that they were to become the new rulers, that they could be the new rulers, of their destiny.

A reform of Parliament meant lower taxes5

beyond this the vision failed and insofar as it failed the workers were not spurred to believe in themselves as a force capable and assured of a totally new and better future.

They were told that with a reform in

Parliament they would have a chance to vote for the men already sitting in Parliament5 they were not told they would inherit the earth.

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CHAPTER V HUNT BECOMES A RADICAL POLITICIAN

During the years of the revival of Radicalism, Hunt came into increasing contact with the groups and individuals which made up the re-newed movement. Stimulated by these new personalities, he gradually turned between 1802-12 from his former country squire Toryism to the faith of the political dissenters. Seizing the opportunities afforded by court scandal and corruption and by increasing discontent, he began to take an active part in the politics of the time, first in the country political meetings and then in the politics of .the second city of the kingdom. It was during the Bristol elections of 1812 that Hunt first appears in such a light that he can be classified as a Radical.

Here he found a situation

ready made for the demogogue working outside the party system.

Bristol was Hunt’s opportunity. An established

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political rule was being threatened by an aggressive middle class in a manner which was to become more and more familiar.

Hunt slipped into this fracas to call

attention to the chicanery practiced by both the Tories and Whigs.

The vigor with which he presented his

case won such widespread attention that he became known beyond Radical circles.

Hunt took up the position

of the political outcast crying in the wilderness for justice against the powers of England - a fitting complement to his new social position - and in so doing rapidly became less of a farmer and more of an orator. Gradually he began after 1807 to move in new orbits; eventually he found himself in a distinctive and some­ what uncomfortable position in the national political life of England.

I Hunt and the Whigs; First Steps in Politics, 1802-6 During the years of change — years which must have

fJ

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been stimulating to a mind previously steeped in the most stolid conservatism - Hunt continued to farm and manage his estates.

At the same time his spare time

was more and more spent elsewhere than in Enford parish. Bath and Bristol both held inducements, the first as a place of pleasure and residence, the latter as a place of business.

Not only Bath but other pleasure resorts

were frequented by Hunt and his newly won mistress, and it was at one of these that he first met Fox. At Cheltenham in 1803 Hunt watched Fox promenade with his mistress, Mrs. Armstead, and eventually became acquainted with the unorthodox couple - a couple, which it may be presumed, helped Hunt to justify his own conduct with Mrs. Vince'.

Hunt now became and continued

to be until 1806 an avid follower of Fox and the brand of Whiggism which he represented despite Clifford’s earlier warnings about the treachery of the “Whigs and their part in the system of corruption which composed the government of England.

During the Middlesex election

of l80it which Burdett contested and lost, Hunt made up the party around F0x which came together to receive

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election news daily from the post.

Susceptible to

personal influence and charm, Hunt found this an easy way-station on the road to Radicalism. The awakened interest in matters political brought forth its first fruit in an election of I8OJ4. At this election Hunt for the first time assumed the role of a hustings-heckler.

Despite opposition Hunt

asked inconvenient questions of the nominees standing for Parliament from Wilts.

But the questions were

certainly no more than inconvenient and display Hunt’s sympathies with his own class interests rather than with Radical ideas. The Melville scandal of 1806 over Lord Melville’s misuse of Admiralty funds provided another opportunity for the budding politician to exhibit his powers. Hunt took an active part in calling a county meeting and made his first appearance on the platform.

It was

this meeting which led to the first contact between Cobbett and Hunt, the latter by now a faithful reader of the Political Register. Hunt sent the particulars of the meeting to Cobbett and followed this with a

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visit to his office soon afterwards.

Hunt was not

much impressed with the personality of Cobbett, for he spoke to Hunt in the formal phrases of Radicalism preaching to him of the necessity of reform.

Perhaps

Hunt felt as Victoria had when she complained that Gladstone addressed her as though she were a public meeting.

The lack of personal warmth disgusted the

enthusiastic spirit of Hunt and no immediate friendship resulted.

He continued, however, to follow the productions

of Cobbett1s "powerful mind." The election of 1806 saw Hunt take more decisive action against the M. P. ’s of Wiltshire with an address to the "Independent Freeholders" of the county.

It

raised no issue of Parliamentary Reform, nor did it raise opposition to the M. P.’s, but it was an effective piece of propaganda of a type familiar to the eighteenth century. Hunt was soon to take the next step toward full­ blown Radicalism, for the Ministry of All the Talents brought his disillusionment with Fox and all of those around him. ■

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178

Cobbett led the way and Hunt* still new at the game, followed in his master’s footsteps:

"The "Whigs A

had professed every thing and performed nothing. . . ." The "Whigs may have .justly ended slavery abroad, but they had closed their eyes to the slavery at home.

Thus it

was that Hunt found himself carried with the wave of Radical disgust to a position far from his old moorings.

Casting off from the last recognizable

position, Hunt now turned against the "Whigs as he had already turned against the Tories and entered the un­ chartered waters of Radicalism.

II Bristol Politics in the Early Years of the Nineteenth Century The ferment of the rejection of Fox by the Radicals was the backdrop against which Hunt made his appearance in Bristol politics and then in national politics.

Few

towns or areas were more appropriate than Bristol for the spawning of .a popular agitator.

The ingredients for

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such a man to work were there in abundancej they had only to be kneaded to make a yeasty dough.

In the

eighteenth century Bristol had been a busy metropolis, second only to London in size and importance and similar to it in many respects.

Bristol would be a good

proving ground for the more significant arena of London.

The politics of Bristol were rough, uninhibited

and without scruples.

The town was independent of the

control of any individual or small groupj it was a popular constituency in the sense that the crowd of workers and lower class artisans were most vocal at election time and could at least in theory control an election since the town was a freeman borough.

Dema-

goguery reigned before Hunt came upon the scene, for the bawling election mobs at the hustings made their presence felt in no uncertain manner.

Bristol was one

of the constituencies of England which attracted national attention during an election because it was an '•open'* borough.

Many factions could display their wares before

the crowd, and although no one believed that gold was not the ultimate arbiter, it was distinctly a prize

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worth organizing and contesting.

Bristol was open to

all who wished to woo her, and if money of necessity won over passion in the final analysis the flirtation itself was worth the while. The Bristol franchise belonged to the freemen_ of' the borough along with iiO shilling freeholders. One of the various types of franchise existing in England before the Reform Bill the freemen were those members of guilds and companies of a city as defined by the municipal constitution; there was therefore no property qualification, and in many cases the poorest of the poor had the vote in exclusion to the rich, an irony of history which resulted in a delightfully lucrative position for the "lower orders."

In some

cities this franchise was very wide and even today gives the appearance of a democratic or semi-democratic political system..

The oligarchy which ruled England had,

however, adjusted itself to the situation by taking advantage of quirks in the franchise as well as human nature. Hereditary freemen did not have to live within

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the city to be able to votej thus at election time a scouring of the country took place to find and bring to the city these “plumpers."

This was expensive,

however,'for the freemen knew their value: j£l5 for traveling and maintenance expenses was the cost of 1

.

bringing a freeman from London to Bristol for one day. Thus, the factor of money could swing an election on this point alone.

Furthermore, the members of the

corporation had it within their power to create honorary freemen, and since the City fathers were not immune to lure of gold, elections could again be swung by those with a fat purse dangling at their belt.

Finally, a

wide electorate would include many poor freemen whose sensibilities to the responsibilities of voting was dulled by an ache for money and the pleas tire and sustenance it could bring.

An honest choice of representatives in

Bristol was a rare thing.

Outright bribery, impersonation

of the sons of freemen (who inherited their fathers* electoral rights), and the marriage of freemen's daughters

1. Halevy, A History of the English People, I, 125.

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(•which qualified the husband for the vote) for the period of the election were common methods of 2. acquiring electoral victory. A wide franchise might well mean the negation of Radical plans. Thus the bright hopes of today’s democrat for pure elections in the freemen borough vanishes before the facts of electoral life in unreformed England. Bribery at election time was not only common; it was a tradition and an income. The freemen borough and other boroughs with a wide franchise did, however, often provide a forum for debate.

The three largest of such boroughs in

the early years of the nineteenth century,

Westminster

Liverpool, and Bristol, havebecome famous as the scenes of important elections where programs and ideals were thrown to the people of England.

Canning and Brougham

in Liverpool, Burdett and the Westminster Radicals in London, and Burke, Romilly, and Hunt at Bristol all met with varying electoral success, but all were able to use the hustings as a means of communication with

2. T.H.B. Oldfield, The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland (London, lbl6, 6 vols.), Iv, I4I6-I7

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the rest of England.

The freemen may have been

greedy, but they were able to force election contests in the best English tradition; there was at least someone to address in these boroughs, for Bristol had an electorate of 6,000, the City of 3. London of 17,000. The political life of Bristol was not, however, always in turmoil, for at times a well regulated compromise between the Whigs and Tories brought political stability to the city.

Up to 1?5U Bristol

had regularly returned two Tories to Parliament. After that date Whigs and Tories agreed that they should each have one seat for the next three Parliaments thus removing the possibility of expensive campaigns. The breakdown in this friendly rivalry with no harm done to either side came in 177h when Bristol revolted against the pro-government and anti-American stand of their Tory representative, which was natural enough, and the undue subservience of the Whig member to the

3. Halevy, A History of the English People, I, 122-5; 126.

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court party •which was decidedly unnatural to the eyes of Bristol merchants'with interests in America. Two "Whigs, among them Burke, brought a lively election contest to Bristol and both Whigs were sent to Parliament.

The hold of the Whigs was broken, however, in

1780 in reaction to the Whig victory of 177ll and as a result of quarrels on policy between Burke and his constituents.

Two Tories were returned to Parliament

and then the "normal" state of things was resumed with h.

Whigs and Tories sharing the honors. Bristol's representation was thus governed by two political clubs each of which controlled one of its seats.

The political life of Bristol was notoriously

corrupt, but it was not the result of government bribery or the control of the town by a wealthy boroughmonger; rather it was corruption by that modern instrument of political knavery, the party caucus. It was an oligarchic group of Tories and Whigs who

I4. E. Barker, Essays on Government (Oxford, 19lt5)» pp.179-81 185-6j Hunt, Memoirs, II, 530; Oldfield, Representative History, IV, lfl6 . 5. Hunt, Memoirs, II, 530*

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bribed bountifully the freemen when they fought and bribed poorly when they agreed to divide and rule. Bristol, was a city of demogogues and catch phrases 6. long before modern democracy came into beings the appeal through purse and mouth was an art well perfected there. Bristol in 1807 was especially fertile ground for a Radical politician.

The electorate had for

some years been financially frustrated for the party truce had continued too long for the economic 7. well being of the poorer class of freemen. This group was looking for a savior to bring about a party fight which would thaw the now frozen river of gold.

The freemen of Bristol were ready to accept any

one with cheers who would threaten to break t he election truce.

By using such a candidate to pry the

lid off the money box of the city oligarchs the freemen could exact large sums from the two clubs as the

6 . Halevy, A History of the English People, X, 126. 7 . John Latimer, The Annals of Bristol in the Eighteenth Century (Bristol, 1887), P . If91*

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price of keeping "Whigs and Tories in Parliament. A mob for Hunt, and a vote for the clubs m s the formulaj it was the process of election which

mattered not the outcome.

Ill Hunt in Bristol Politics, 1807 In 1807 Hunt found or made an opportunity to enter into the political struggle in full earnest. With the general election of 1807 Hunt's new-born allegiance to the Radicals found in Bristol its first chance for the belligerent expression which only an election can provide.

Hunt's Radicalism,

such as it was at this'time, and the political situation of corruption and compromise which existed in Bristol allowed Hunt to stand forth as a defender of the freemen of Bristol against the political clubs already entrenched in power.

Hunt's break with

the Whigs became even more decisive than beforej

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having no connections with the Whig or Tory parties of Bristol, he saw that he, as their opponent, could make political capital of their obvious control of Bristol's votes.

This was an opportunity

calculated to develop his Radicalism as well as his oratorical powers and to strip him of any vestiges of pro-Whig feeling which may have remained with the landowner Radical.

Political expediency as well as

conviction riveted him more firmly than ever to the growing Radical Movementj here in caucus-ridden Bristol he would speak for the dispossessed, the freemen who had been cheated of the right to vote as they pleased by a conniving group of wealthy politicians. Not only did Hunt become more firmly wredded to Radicalism with his election maneuvers of 1807, the Radical groups began to notice Hunt and to take him for the first time seriously as a Radical politician. In seeking support for his position of antagonism to the dominant political parties of the time Hunt could turn only to the Radical Movement already under way.

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Thus he came into contact with the center of the Radical agitation, a contact which was to ultimately lead him to the more fertile fields of London.

Hunt

worked his apprenticeship in the provinces before he was called to perform on the stage of the capital. The election of 1807* which drew Hunt into the whirlpool of Bristol politics* was typical of the mani•pulation practiced by the two electoral clubs of Bristol*

The freemen of the city* it was hoped* would

be placated by an appearance of opposition.

Hence a

false show of competition with the two regular candidates now running for the third time was obtained by running a third candidate* one Sir John Jarvi% who would make a campaign for popularity if not for votes. Since Sir John Jarvis was supposed to represent opposition, this procedure would allow the two clubs to keep their monopoly of seats without an expensive campaign and prevent the freemen from putting forward a candidate of their own. Hunt* living at that time in Clifton, upon hearing that there was to be a contested election in Bristol

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■went to witness this strange phenomenon.

He

listened to Sir John promise an enthusiastic crowd that he would keep the polls open until the end of the election rather than withdraw if defeat was in sight.

Hunt asked an obvious but seemingly-

overlooked question: the candidate?

who was to propose and second

Receiving no answer, Hunt offered to

propose and followed the crowd to the Guildhall where the elections took place.

The two regular

candidates Baillie and Bathurst were duly proposed and seconded although not without considerable expression of disapproval from the crowd.

With no one

to propose Sir John Jarvis the Sheriff was about to announce the two men elected while Sir John stood helplessly, "looking as wild as a newly taken Irishman, fresh from the bogs of that country".

Hunt stepped up

at that point and in a speech proposing the candidate attacked the Whigs and Tories for holding the freemen of Bristol in chains.

Sir John.Jarvis, however, showed

little enthusiasm for this address and Hunt saw now that the whole thing was a sham front put up- to distract the

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freemen from putting forward an opposition candidate of their own. ^he election was over, but Hunt addressed the angry crowd assembled promising that at the next election he would run himself or put forward a candidate who would be independent in the real sense of the word.

Nevertheless the Bristol mob was not

happy with the deception practiced by the Whigs and Tories, for during the chairing of the men elected they pelted the victors viciously with mud and sticks; earlier they had broken the windows of the White Lion Hotel.

A mob riot against one of the successful

candidates was stopped when Hunt offered the crowd free beer from his brewery and announced that he would form a plan to enable the freemen of Bristol to take up their freedoms by weekly, voluntary subscriptions among 1. themselves. If Radicalism in the person of Henry Hunt had been made a fool in Bristol, it had been more successful in

1. Hunt, Memoirs, U , 2314-52; J. Latimer, The Annals of Bristol in the Nineteenth Century (Bristol, 1867), p. 30.

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Westminster.

The "victory of Burdett gave Hunt

the means to carry further the slight disturbance he had made at the Bristol election and to convert what was little more than a scene into an organized movement.

The election of Burdett was to be celebrated

in Bristol in good Radical style with a dinner for 100 which Hunt organized.

The dinner was held without

incident but with ,the disapproval of the magistrates of Bristol.

Various threats were made by posters

distributed throughout the city and efforts were made to keep people from attending, all of which only helped draw a crowd outside the Trout Tavern.

Hunt

sensed the dangerous possibilities in such a crowd and, not for the last time in his career as a firebrand agitator, pleaded with the mob not to fall into the trap set by the authorities and. to disperse quietly, 2. which they did. The next step in the development of a Radical coterie in Bristol was to capitalize on the enthusiasm and

2. Hunt, Memoirs, II, 2f?2-6; 263.

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interest aroused by the formation of the freemen’s club promised by Hunt.

This club was to enable

those who were entitled to their freedoms to pay their fee to the Chamberlain of the city without being dependent upon the "Whig or Tory candidate for payment of these fees.

The members of the organization

were freemen who paid a weekly subscription.

By this

means a fund would eventually accumulate which would be sufficient for the freemen to buy independently their freedoms, provided their Radical sympathies were strong enough to withstand the seductive bribes of the “Whigs and Tories.

The group belonging to

this society consecrated their devotion to Radicalism by weekly meetings at the Lamb and Lark for discussion and good fellowship. The whole affair underwent attack especially by the two newspapers of the city the Bristol Journal, which supported the Tory “White Lion Club, and the Bristol Gazette, which supported the “Whig Loyal and Constitutional Club.

According to the newspapers,

the interference of Hunt’s club with the electoral

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rights of "Whigs and Tories was not only outrageous, it was seditious and treasonable.

The real object

of the group was not to take- up their freedoms but rather to overturn the government by subverting the constitution of the country.

Pressure was also

brought on the owner of the Lamb and Lark by threatening 3. to deprive him of his operating license. This group of freemen provided a nucleus for the official organization of a Radical club dedicated to propaganda and victory in the next election.

A

large meeting was held at the Lamb and Lark in July, 1807, with Hunt in the chair.

Consisting of the free­

holders, freemen, and inhabitants of Bristol, its object was to examine the state of the franchise and to proclaim the founding of a competitor of the two political, clubs already flourishing.

"With only two

seats available in Bristol such an ambition could be and was intended to be embarrassing to the older clubs. Resolutions were adopted which attacked the noticeable

3* Ibid., pp. 260-l|.

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lack of electoral freedom in the "rottenest of rotton (sic) Boroughs" and which called for a free exercise of the franchise.

The principles of the

British Constitution must be restored by a return to open elections which would at the same time end the packed House of Commons,

the greatest danger to

Britain except for invasion.

Placemen and pensioners

in the House of Commons were brought under fire and the meeting decided that it could do no better than to emulate the example of the Westminster Committee lately so successful in political matters.

Out of

this meeting came the Bristol Patriotic and Constitutional Association which was to recover the liberties of the freemen of Bristol.

h.

A public

subscription was opened. There was no question o f suffrage or class struggle raised in these resolutions.

It was a matter

of asserting the already existing rights of the free­ men of the city, rights which they had lost through

!|. Ibid., pp. 275-813 Political Register, August 8, 1807.

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negligence, corruption, and poverty.

It was a

struggle for those aLready privileged by possession of the franchise, for a return to the virgin Constitution - as if a return to virginity is possible. Hunt was following closely in the footsteps of the Westminster Committee and confining himself to the organization of those who already had the vote rather than championing those without it. corruption, not privilege.

The villain was

The task was to gather

together those who were politically in the land of the living to protest this corruption.

It was not

long, however, before Hunt found that the unfranchesed masses were also capable of protest. Although Hunt was modeling himself on the Westminster Committee, it is doubtful whether or not he could have been successful at such a task of organization. Hunt was not a politician, nor were the freemen of Bristol as financially capable of withstanding the shock of ready money as the more prosperous shopkeepers of Westminster.

Nor did he have the necessary financial

backing so important to Place and his group. rate Hunt did not stick with it.

At any

He was bora for

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■wider fields and more exciting work than wirepulling. The organization of the Bristol Patriotic and Constitutional Association did, however, serve to commit him to the Radical cause even though he found it necessary to step warily along the road for the authorities had their eyes on him$

but henceforth

he was earmarked as a Radical. During the year 1807, Hunt came into personal contact with the Westminster group as a result of his activities in Bristol.

He had progressed far

enough along the road of Radicalism to lay himself at the feet of his hero, Burdett.

"I was one of his

most enthusiastic.worshippers, one who would have

6.

risked ray life to have saved his. . .'i

Hunt did

not meet Burdett at this time, but he was able to hold written correspondence with him on the affairs of Westminster and Bristol.

Burdett gave him verbal

encouragement and urged him to continue his efforts

f>. Hunt, Memoirs, II, 309. 6. Hunt, Memoirs, II, 27k; Patterson, Burdett and His Times, I, 217.

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in Bristol and prepare for further struggle in the cause while the Westminster Committee as a group 7. gave its approval to the activities of Hunt. He also travelled to London where he met some members of the Committee through his old friend Henry Clifford, who now claimed Hunt as his disciple.

He had his

health drunk at a public meeting at the Cr0wn and Anchor and met the doughty Major Cartwright, who showed him a pike he had invented for "national defense" and also demonstrated how it should be used in attack 8 and rebutal.

.

Hunt had by 1807 attained a position of notoriety in the Radical Movement5 his name and efforts in Bristol were known to the leaders of the Movement. However, he was not as yet universally accepted by these men - perhaps he was too bombastic already f or the committeemen on the one hand and the gentlemen on the other.

Although he had paid the Westminster group the

7. Hunt, Memoirs, II, 281-2.

8 . Ibid., pp. 270-lj 282j-5.

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high compliment of following their tactics and advertising their victories in Bristol, there was already at this early stage a divergence between. Hunt on the one hand and Place and Burdett on the other.

Cobbett, too, had a personal dislike for

Hunt; Mrs. Vince evidently disturbed his yeoman morals, for in the spring of 1808 he wrotes "We should not mix with men of bad character. There is one Hunt, the Bristol man. Beware of him! He rides about the country with a whore, the wife of another man, having deserted his own. A sad fellow! Nothing to do with him." 9 • Cobbett was soon to have much to do with the "sad fellow", and these hasty words written at a time when he barely knew Hunt personally were to rebound to his embarrassment and confusion.

9. L. Melville, The Life and Letters of William Cobbett in England and America (London, 1913, 2 vols.), II, 13-lUj Patterson, Burdett and His Times, I, 212-13.

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199

IV Hunt Attends County Meetings Despite his beginning as a Bristol politician, Hunt spent little time between 1807 and 1812 in Bristol.

His country instincts and business interests

brought him back to the ways of farming in Wilts and later in Surry; his ambitious and gregarious nature took him to London to mingle with the leaders of the Radical Movement.

Hunt lost an opportunity to

build up in Bristol during these years an organization similar to that of Place in Westminster.

Such a

group would have required close application to the task in Bristol itself.

Faithful followers and a

source of income would have called for considerable effort over a period of years.

Whether or not the

salvation of Radicalism lay at t his time in such tactics was a question to which Hunt made his own answer: he did not choose this path but preferred to work his way - unconsciously, certainly, at this time - toward methods which were distinctive and at the opposite end of the pole from those of Place.

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The Duke of York Case, 1808-9, concerning the sale of Army appointments by the Duke's mistress, brought forth a further burst of Radicalism from Hunt.

Inspired by a meeting held at Winchester at

which Cobbett spoke on the subject, Hunt arranged a meeting at Salisbury for the purpose of beating the dog corruption.

This was a meeting of Wilts free­

holders which Cobbett attended at Hunt's invitation. The resolutions drawn up by Hunt were duly passed in the absence of "persons of consequence" who refused to appear at the meeting.

While these resolutions

contained the usual attack on Place men they also went further than Hunt had previously allowed himself to go, for they included a vaguely worded but unmistakeable demand for Parliamentary Reform.

What

was meant by Parliamentary Reform was not stated, and in such watered down terms the demand was far from dangerous or unduly Radical.

Nevertheless this

was a beginning of a slogan and cry which Hunt was to carry from the English yeomen to the dispossed

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working classes in Manchester. During the years from 1807-1812* Hunt found himself involved in money troubles and law suits as well as in Radicalism.

The “cursed11 brewery

at Clifton was proving to be a drain on his pocketbook* and about 1807 Hunt got rid of his first 2 commercial venture. Another blow at the income

.

of Hunt was a series of lawsuits in these years the final result of which was three months in Kings Bench Prison.

In large part these suits* brought by

the tenants of the squires in and around Enford* were the outgrowth of grudges which were a vestige of the days of the Volunteer Troop.' It is not strange that Hunt* after his release from prison in

1810* sought another county in which to carry on his farming and hunting pursuits; in 1810* he accepted the verdict of social ostracism and pulled up his roots. His last tie with his previous conservatism - his

1. Hunt* Memoirs* II* 30k} Register* May 20, 1809.

359-69; Political

2. Hunt, Memoirs* H * l8l; 2624-5.

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ancestral land - was thus snapped, and he was more free-than ever before to pursue a new way of life and thought. Once again in Kings Bench Prison for a brief period Hunt’s political contacts were renewed and strengthened, for during these three months he became part of the Radical group centering in London and Westminster.

Hunt met Burdett at this time under

circumstances similar to those in which he had met Despard earlier.

Burdett was in the Tower, and under

the lax rules of prison administration Hunt was able to visit the Baronet at his will.

Another famous

Radical in prison during these months was Cobbett who was sent to Kings Bench for a few days before being moved to Newgate Prison to serve his prison term for treasonable publications.

During his brief

period in Kings Bench Prison, he lived with Hunt in his apartments. Having served his sentence, Hunt continued to visit Cobbett at Newgate.

Here he met an active

political group composed of Burdett, Wardle,

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Lord Cochrane, and Cart-wright all of them leaders in the Radical renaissance.

The problems and hopes of

the movement were discussed as late as visiting hours would permit with the problem of Parliamentary Reform foremost in their minds.

The rules of prison life.

helped make Tories into Radicals and Radicals more 3. radical. After his release from prison, Hunt left his Enford farms for another estate.

Up to this time

and since his separation from his wife, he had been living at Bath in the winter and in "Wilts during the summer and autumn.

Rowfont, which was leased by

Hunt in 1810, was located near East Grinstead on the eastern extremity of the Weald.

It included a good manor

house, one thousand acres of land as well as manorial rights over the whole parish of Worth (twenty thousand

2*. acres).

It was not a paying proposition, however, in

3♦ Ibid.. pp. 2*05-2*11; 2*13; 2*12*; 2*20; 2*21; 2*25$ 2*26$ h3Sf hlhi k7?s'HI, 26-8; Patterson, Burdett and His Times, I, 28%; Melville, Life and Letters of Cobbett,

TTTJ8-

"

2*. Hunt, Memoirs, II, 2*28; 2*33$ h3h $ 2*2*6; 2*73$ 2*85-95; Agreement between Henry Hunt and James Target, February 20, 1811, Hunt MSS.

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large part because of Hunt's increasing occupation •with political matters.

Hunt, the farmer, was

gradually becoming the famous Orator Hunt) agriculture and the chase long remained interests of Hunt, but Radicalism absorbed more and more of his time and energy. The spring of 1811 saw Hunt's greatest effort in Radicalism up to this time, an effort which backfired but which nevertheless gained him fame among his fellow Radicals as well as amongst the countrymen of the west.

A rowdy and noisy meeting at Wells in

Somersetshire was the result of a suggestion by Burdett to Hunt that country meetings petitioning for Parliamentary Reform would be a useful addition to the Radical Movement.

The failure of the Radicals to

dominate their own meeting and the ease with which the Whig and Tory landholders overrode their reform petition and substituted their own petition indicates why the Radical Movement found it best to concentrate its agitation on the towns, old or new.

Hunt put much

effort into gathering the signatures of freeholders to his requisition, but the magnates gathered their

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forces and. descended upon the meeting with their tenants in train, all of them instructed to vote against the proposed petition. well.

The fanners performed

They tried their best to howl Hunt down, but they

reckoned without his "most powerful" voice. was heard although not in silence.

Hunt

Appealing to the

farmers against their landlords, he told them that their interest lay in the lowering of rent and of tithes and in the attainment of Parliamentary Reform. The proposed petition, seconded by the brother of Sir Francis Burdett, Jones Burdett, contained nothing here which an advanced "Whig could not swallow, but the country squires, advanced "Whigs or no, resented an attempt, especially by„a stranger to set the farmers t

r.

as a class against their landlords.

The leaders of

the local squirearchy appealed to the farmers to support their magistrates, the farmers' best friend. They pleaded with the farmers not to lose their valuable and priceless reputation as steady yeomenj the good days would return if they would be patient.

There was

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5. never any question as to the outcome of the vote. Hunt in his Memoirs claims that he had exposed the "Whigs and had forced them to nail their true colors to the mast as adherents to the Pitt-Tory system of corruption.

This shriveled fruit was all that

remained to the Radicals, and small satisfaction it was in view of the fact that the farmers were unwilling or unable to rise in indignation against the exposure of Whig iniquities.

Hunt had gotten good practice

in bawling out a message, but the farmers were not

6.

tinder for the Radical fire. By 1812 Hunt was ready for the Bristol elections which were to come in that year.

He had appeared

before large and angry crowds5 he had absorbed the doctrines of the Radicals, and was moving in the best Radical circles.

In 1812 he was a member of the

"Friends of Liberty of Press and Freedom of Discussion" along with his mentors Burdett and Clifford and

5. Political Register, March 16, 1811.

6. Ibid., March 9, I8H 5 March 16, 1811; Hunt, Memoirs, II, h35-65.

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participated in welcoming Cobbett back from prison. In Bristol he was to show his dogged strength and determination and to display his abilities as a popular orator which were ultimately to create a new force in English politics.

V Romilly and the Middle Glass of Bristol Since the entrance of Hunt into the political life of Bristol in 1807, the town had led a quiet political existence under the aegis of the "SShig-Tory combination. scenes

A few currents of unrest ruffled the

namely, food riots and demonstrations for

Burdett in 1810. But these were only temporary interruptions which did nothing to shake the rule of oligarchy.

Hunt paid little attention to Bristol 1' in these years, and discontent and opposition to the

state of things was therefore allowed to run off 1 7. London Times, July 6, 1812.

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before it could do damage. In 1812, however, Bristol found itself in the midst of an election carnival.

Two elections were

held during the yearj both of vrhich were contested. In each election the regular "Whigs of Bristol found themselves under attack, in the first election byHunt alone, in the second by both Hunt and Romilly. The first election held in July, 1812, was a contest between Hunt and the Tory picked to succeed a retiring Tory Member of Parliament; this "by-election” was to have been a mere formality, but Hunt's opposition made it a hard fought and turbulent struggle. The second election came as a result of the fall general election of 1812.

At this time Romilly

was presented as the official candidate of the "Whig group in Bristol, but opposition within the party to such a candidate brought forth a rival Whig.

With

Hunt sniping away at the flanks of both Tories and "Whigs, there were, thus, three candidates for the one Whig seat.

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The. pressure of national politics and social change was beginning to have its effect on the genial and comfortable party compromise of eighteenthcentury Bristol.

The disrespectful Hunt represented

the new force of Radicalism, a force ultimately to find its proper level among the new industrial working classes, and a force which was based on discontent flowing from the impact of the new economy of England on the ’’lower orders".

The respectable Romilly

represented the new creed of Benthamism,- a creed which was soon to be expropriated by the middle class as the slogan of their political needs and demands. Both men brought new outlooks and concepts to the Bristol electorate.

The Bristol elections of 1812 show

in

microcosm the forces of the nineteenth century struggling | with the eighteenth century for the prize of political leadership.

The outcome of this early meeting of forces

was a victory for the older way of life.

The political

machinery and money of the established oligarchy of Bristol made possible the continued control of the city by the more conservative Whigs and Tories, and in fact

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Bristol was to be one of the last strongholds of eighteenth-century political ideals.

The assault

by Hunt and Romilly failed to break the solid front of entrenched interests.

But the struggle

forecast the struggle soon to take place in the national life of Britain; this time with differentresults. Benthamite liberalism as the creed of an increasingly powerful middle class would not be pushed aside so easily in other towns as it could in Bristol.

-A-nd Radicalism as a creed of the lower class

was■to make itself heard if not felt in the halls and chamb^S/Of Parliament.

Not only were the 1812

elections in Bristol a foretaste of what was to come in Britain as a whole, it portrayed the essential features of similar struggles in other important towns, especially in the industrial North.

Here

success was achieved by the middle class sooner than in Bristol, but the triple collision was the same as occurred in Bristol in 1812.

New classes were struggling

toward political birth; the eighteenth-century way of

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doing things did not suffice, and these classes found it necessary to t ake or try to take matters into 1. their own hands. The new business class spoke of new trade concepts, town service, and political rights. The new working class spoke of justice, food, and the vote.

Each of the major towns of Britain represented

centers from which these agitations were ultimately to converge to form.a powerful stream of ideas foreign to old-fashioned Whiggism and Toryism. The 1812 Bristol elections thus had something of national importance in them, despite their surface appearance of mere factionalism and buffonery.

They

also provided Hunt with a problem of tactics which he was bound to face sooner or later and which ultimately he had to solve if he was to be a successful leader of the workers.

Hunt had left the Foxite camp along with Cobbett

and had already gone on record as an antagonist of the "Whigs. Yet faced with the prospect of running against a "Whig known to be one of the most liberal of the party

1. See L.S. Marshall, The Development of Public Opinion in Manchester, 1780-1820 (Syracuse, 1.9h6) for an account of the political transition of Manchester from an eighteenthcentury village to a nineteenth-century industrial town.

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212

and one in favor of Parliamentary Reform, the problem of a Radical-"Whig grouping came to the front in practical form.

It was all very well to

damn the "Whigs in the abstract or even in the flesh as of the same family as Pittite corruption when the issue was one of huzzas.

But would it not be better

to have Romilly in Parliament than a ministerial tool such as previous "Whigs had shown themselves to be?

Should one cooperate with this liberal lawyer

by throwing whatever support he had to him and leaving the race?

Or alternatively, was it wiser to run

and at the same time support him?

A third possibility

was to fight him as the same enemy of the people that other "Whigs had proven themselves to be.

In

actual fact Hunt chose all three of these tactics, vacillating between first one and then another, but coming finally to rest on the last - outright opposition.

However, the question of the proper

attitude toward the middle-class Benthamite group remained one of the greatest problems of Radicalism in general, and of Hunt in particular, a problem which

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in a slightly different form continues to plague the working class in England to the present day. In the early nineteenth century the problem was never satisfactorily solved, and it caused a split in the movement which did grievous harm to any semblence of unity the working class may have had. Hunt became aware of the implications and meaning of the middle-class Benthamism of his day if not of its contents during the elections of 1812, both as it reflected on his position and as it reflected on the Radical Movement.

Tempermentally unfit for

cooperation with Whigs and Utilitarians, he soon moved to a position of fiery- antagonism to both groups calling upon their heads the curses of the gods with fine impartiality.

His acute sense of grievance

against Whigs - Foxite or otherwise - and Tories alike helped set the stage for a potential class conflict which in its most intense sense never arrived, but which haunted the minds of the town bourgeosie as well as the country gentlemen.

By taking this stand,

Hunt not only anticipated the most virulent doctrines

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of later "working-class.agitators^ but actuallyhelped create the class conflict of which he spoke.

It must not be imagined that Hunt had any

clear cut and formulated idea of class struggle or antagonism in his mind.

Hunt was seldom clear cut

in his concepts as distinguished from his slogans. But the political necessities of the time and his position did force him into a position of conflict with the middle-class movement of his day. Romilly, the representative of this movement with whom Hunt came into political contact in 1812, was a Whig lawyer of considerable means; at one time 2. his annual income amounted to £ 15,000 to £ 16,000. He was born of a lower middle-class French Huguenot family which had settled in England during the first part of the eighteenth century.

Endowed with a quick

intelligence, he stepped rapidly up the ladder of the legal profession; admitted to the bar in 1783, he entered the House of Commons in 1806. Already a well-

2. Halevy, A History of the English People, I, 22.

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known figure in "Whig circles he became the SolicitorGeneral in the Ministry of All the Talents and was knighted the same year.

His most noteworthy activity

in the Whig ministry was the part he took in the abolition of the slave trade. Romilly was not a complete Benthamite.

Romilly

and Bentham were close friends, and the latter had such great influence on Romilly's ideas on law reform that in this field it is proper to call him a disciple.

But Romilly was never a victim of the 3. whole philosophical framework of Benthamism. Never­ theless Romilly is an example of a type of politician and a type of thinking which Hunt and other Radicals were to meet and were to find their greatest problem. The Tory as an enemy was plain to see; he suppressed the Radicals; he fought Parliamentary Reform with all the fervor of a last ditch stand.

But Whigs and Benth­

amites, what pose to assume before this incipient and sometimes realized middle-class aristocratic party?

3- Davis, Age of Grey and Peel, pp. 129-30.

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Reformers of varying shades they were, but could their ideas be reconciled to the ideals of Radical Reform? Romilly was a difficult man to face with this question in mind.

He was a liberal, humane lawyer

whose mind was banked on the one side by Whiggism, on the other by Benthamism.

He was no politician

but a reformer who found his greatest creativeness in the law and its improvement.

But along with the

natural flow of a warm and humane spirit, a spirit which most of the Radicals sensed, went a vision of terror which dammed up the expression of his most generous ideals.

The scenes of the French Revolution

acted as a line drawn across his sympathies, thus far and no further, for beyond lay chaos.

This fear

of the people and their leaders alienated him from those who were striving, in ignorance all too frequently, to achieve the same ends as Romilly, the betterment of » England and its people. Those who were not for them

!i. Halevy, A History of the English People, I, l5l.

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■were against them; Romilly was to become a target

for Radical abuse. Romilly1s proposal for the Whig seat in Bristol represents an attempted intra-party revolt on the part of Bristolians which failed despite the support of some of the leading Whig liberals in the House of Commons.

Upon the announcement in the fall of

l8ll that Bailie, then Whig M.P. for Bristol, was to resign at the next general election because of ill health, the wheels were set into motion to procure the seat for Romilly.

But first it was

necessary to procure Romilly' for the seat, a difficult task, for he was stiff-necked about the conditions 5'. surrounding his place in Parliament. Eventually, however, his acceptance was received. The effort to elect Romilly soon struck a snag which eventually cost him his victory.

The Whigs

were divided, for there was another candidate for

5. S. Romilly, Memoirs of the Life of Sir Samuel Romilly Written by Himself; With a Selection from His Correspondence (London, lHIjO, 3 vols. ) , EE, lHr-29 1 131-32; 201; 237-38.

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the seat who entered into the. scene at the nomination meeting; not all Bristol Whigs were ready to swallow Romilly.

Protheroe represented the more normal

tradition of Whiggism in Bristol.

Nominally a Whig

he had backed the King in 1807 in his rejection of the Whig party, an action which marked him as a ministerial man rather than a true Whig.

A banker who lived in

London he represented the ruling oligarchy of Bristol. Protheroe did not obtain the official support of the Whig club, however, despite his wealth, and Romilly was accordingly nominated on the condition that he have time to give to the affairs of Bristol, a condition which he accepted.

This did not end the internal

division within the party, for Protheroe refused to accept his defeat.

Rather the opposite:

he disregarded

the decision of the club and announced himself as running for Parliament at the next general election.

Protheroe

would be Romilly’s most dangerous opponent, for he had money, the support of many of the Regular Whigs in town,

.

6 and the tacit support of the Tory candidate.

6. Romilly, Memoirs, February 8, 1812.

in, 1-3;

55; London Times,

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This quarrel between "Whig and Whig which took place in Bristol in 1812 represented more than a mere struggle of factions for party control.

Rather

it resulted from the efforts of some of the leading and advanced Whigs in London, Baring, Whitbread and Folkstone, to re-assert Whig control over a seat which was theirs by prescription but which had been lost to men who called themselves Whigs but voted as Tories. Further the middle class of Bristol was attacking the party compromise which had ruled their city in an effort to assert their political rights and economic interests, as well as to gain a share in the control of Bristol and national affairs.

The renaissance of

the Whig party and the rise of the middle class came together here in an effort to wrest a seat from the hands of a group which prevented an important part of the community from fruitful and effective participation in politics.

Hunt makes the extravagant claim in his

Memoirs that Romilly was put forward not to elect a candidate but only to divide his popularity and absorb

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as much of it as possible into the "^hig camp. This generous estimate of Hunt's importance cannot be accepted, for certain it is that the supporters of Romilly were out to win; a campaign fund of 8. j£8,000 was not collected merely to share the huzzas of the husting with Hunt.

There were more

urgent reasons for st*ch an expenditure, namely the desire by the middle class of Bristol to gain a voice in national affairs from which they had been excluded by the political monopoly of a small group 9. of rich merchants. The nomination of Romilly was then an attempt to elect a member to Parliament who would be free from the control of the small group of wealthy who for some years had controlled the political life of Bristol and also to elect a member who was liberal enough in his views to consider "something like reform."

7. Hunt, Memoirs, II, 1*96-8. 8. Political Register, July 1*, 1812; London Times, June 22, 1812. 9. Romilly, Memoirs, III, hb-5i London Times, June 27, 1812; Political Register, July 1*, 1812.

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Romilly was put forth by a group of middle class citizens of Bristol who were citizens in name only. The middle class in Bristol was to all intents and purposes voteless and without an effective vote they were unable to control either the men selected for Parliament or the local affairs of the city. "Many men of capital, paying large rentals, employing many workmen, and being in every sense entitled to rank as leading citizens, were not ’freemen’ according to corporate technology; they had consequently no votes at parliamentary elections, and their influence in local government could not have been less if they had been Hottentots." 10. The lower class without the economic independence to resist the lure of money made much more desirable freemen according to the thinking of the city fathers than bourgeosie with money and minds of their own. Romilly was to be the arrow which was to slay the dragon of corruption.

This stirring on the part

of the middle class of Bristol was not, however, a Reform Movement.

The men behind Romilly were not

10. Latimer, Bristol in the Nineteenth Century, p. 2.

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thinking in terms of acquiring the vote in the immediate future.

But they were looking for a

liberal minded representative who would see to their day-to-day interests and at the same time who would be free of control by the men who had excluded "many men of capital" from their proper sphere of action. Hunt, it was clear, did not fill such specifications despite the fact that he was an announced candidate. He was tainted with Radical doctrines of Burdett and Cobbett; he had no party nor Parliamentary group behind him and hence no influence in the House of Commons; he was a demogogue intent on stirring up the passions of the lower class freemen of Bristol.

He was more

concerned with the assertion of the rights of these freemen than he was with the wrongs of the middle class.

The latter had recovered enough from their

fright of the French Revolution to nibble at a modicum of reform, but a Radical Reformer was much too strong for them to stomach. Romilly had announced repeatedly that he would not make a contest for the Bristol seat.

It is in this

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223

different attitude toward electioneering that the Whig tradition as represented by Romilly and the newer Radical technique- as represented by Hunt stands in sharp relief.

Nevertheless the Whig lawyer

despite his dislike of speech making and parades soon found it necessary, after the announcement of his candidacy, to steep himself in the muddy waters of electioneering.

With Hunt and Protheroe running

for the same seat he found himself pressed to take 11 an active part in the contest.

.

The people of Bristol were anxious for a personal visit from Romilly, and the first week of April brought what he had hoped to avoid, a trip to the city in the grand style with parades and speeches. The address which Romilly gave in the evening was well received, but as he himself said in his Memoirs, it was noteworthy more for what it did not say than for what it did say.

Following his principle of "no

canvass'*, he avoided the mention of all topics

11. Romilly, Memoirs, III, 3-9 •

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calculated to court popular favor.

Parliamentary

Reform, pensions and sinecures, the issue of. govern­ mental economy, peace, all were shunned - a miraculous feat when one stops to consider it. the height of reticience.

This was indeed

More important, it was the

almost perfect realization of a Whig principle of freedom of commitment and election on the basis of personal talent alone.

Rather than tying his hands

with statements on matters of policy Romilly was contented with merely defending himself against the accusations of other candidates.

His most important

statement was his proud claim to be a Whig and a 12* follower of Grey and Grenville. Romilly1s first descent into the work-a-day world of Bristol oolitics had been in the best 13.* Burkean style. He had made the point ad nauseam that he was going to stand on his principles, that he would be flattered to be a representative of the

12. London Times, April 7, 1812; Romillv. Memoirs. Ill, 23-7. " -----13. It is interesting to note that Romilly in 1781; resented the rejection of Burke by what Romilly called the "sordid traders" of Bristol. Romilly, Memoirs, I, 135-6.

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people but not at the expense of acting as a vehicle for their ideals.

His obstinate refusal to mention

all the major issues of the day in his speeches indicates that he was not going to stand as the popular candidate, a step beyond Burke.

He made it

abundantly clear that he was not a leader of the people, nor would he take the part in an agitation no matter how good the cause.

There would be no

expression of popular discontentj no appeal to popular passionsj no slogans.

So much was all this anathema

to Romilly that he found the very existence of the 111 . crowds in Bristol upon his arrival displeasing. There would be no effort to express the hopes and fears of the people in the manner of Burdett. The actual contest was to force him into a more realistic position, but the expression of his concept and election tactics is significant for its striking contrast with the methods of Hunt during the same contest a contrast which was in this case sharpened by the

111. Ibid., Ill, 22.

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personalities of the individuals involved but one ■which was ultimately to act as a barrier between Whigs and Radicals.

The attempt to seize popular

issues and discontent was nothing new in English politics; Protheroe in this election was to play on this tune as well as Hunt.

But with Hunt and

others like him the role of the agitator of the people assumed the position of a creed, not a mere electioneering device.

The people viere to be heard,

if not through Parliament then through their popular orators.

The issue of Parliamentary Reform and mass

agitation became inseparably tied when the demand for it was voiced by such men as Hunt. Through their leaders a political change was demanded by the masses and in that way became identified with agitation.

This creed

of Hunt's was strong medicine; it not only separated Whig from Radical but also Radical from Radical.

But

it was a belief which was to satisfy the desires of the new class spawned by the industrial age. Early in his career and early in the history of the re-born Radical Movement Hunt represented a principle

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which was an extension of what had previously been the political practice of Britain.

It was this

concept of leading the masses in demanding their rights and expressing their discontents which was to make Hunt's a distinctive - and feared - personality after Waterloo, and it was this concept which was first set forth by Hunt’s actions in the Bristol election of 1812.

VI The Bristol Election of June-July, 1812 The Romilly-Rro theroe dispute over the nomination for the Whig seat of Bristol had come about in antici­ pation of a general election which was expected to take.place sometime in 1812.

Before that occurred,

however, there was an earlier contest in which Hunt was able to take a greater part than would have been possible in a four-cornered race.

The Bristol election

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of the latter part of June. 1812* resulted from a vacancy in the Tory seat; since no other candidate except Hunt opposed the man chosen to fill that vacancy, the field was his alone.

Later in the year

attention 'would be focused on Romilly, but in June and early July Hunt was' able to dominate the scene as the lone contender against the ruling clique.

It was a valuable opportunity for a new­

comer to Radical politics, and he rose to the occasion with all the vigor and impetuousness of his character. In June 1812, it was announced that the Tory M. P% for Bristol, Bragge Bathurst, had been appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and would therefore resign his seat.

The Bristol Tory party now showed

a burst of speed which was designed to bring about the election of a new member with the minimum trouble and cost, i.e., without a contest.

The election writs for

June 29 were moved in the House of Commons as quickly as possible.

Soon after the issuance of the writs it

became clear that there was to be no opposition from either Romilly or Protheroe.

Richard Hart Davis,

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banker and. merchant of Bristol, was to be the lone candidate. The canny politicians of Bristol had reckoned without the heroics of Hunt, who now came rushing on stage to save the purity of English elections from the foul embrace of corruption.

Hunt made it

a point of honor and propaganda to keep this election open, and it was his proud boast that but for him there would have been no election, which was certainly true enough.

This claim deserves to be taken

seriously, for his effort to force an election was an essential part of his program, and the strategy of other Radicals; it was an attempt to realize the rights of Englishmen, to thrust open the closed jaws of oligarchy and make it disgorge its victim. a fine thought, but it overlooked one thing.

It was No

matter how many candidates there were the right of election was illusory in Bristol and in most of England. It was the realization of this truth which soon led Hunt to further and" more e:-rtensive agitation for Parliamentary Reform.

The mere fact of causing an

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election to run its full course was not enough to achieve the hopes of Radicalism.

Opposition in itself

did not bring effective suffrage even to those who had the vote.

Of course at this time Hunt had the

precedent of Burdett before his eyes although at no time was he naive enough to b elieve that victory was 1. a possibility. ^he Bristol elections of 1812 cured him, however, of Quixotic tilts against political machines, with the exception of the machine of Francis Place. Hunt did not learn of the Bristol election until Thursdajr, four days before the election was to be held.

As soon as he heard the news through a Bristol

newspaper, he hurried off to London to catch the Bath Mail to Bristol.

He found time in London to consult

with Cobbett at Newgate on a plan of action and to receive Cobbett's wholehearted support in this campaign even to the extent of defending in print Hunt's 2. liaison with the wife of another man, which he had

1. Hunt, Memoirs, III, 90. Political Register, August 1, 1812.

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so viciously attacked in the private letter of 1807. Arriving at Bath, Hunt was met by a group of friends ■1;

who sent word ahead to Bristol that he was arriving to contest the election with Davis.

Thus his

entrance into Bristol on Saturday, June 28, was in the usual style.

His post-chaise was drawn into the

city by his ’’numerous and respectable body of . . . friends”; the line of carriages in the procession 3. was over a mile in length. He was taken by this parade immediately to the Exchange where the working classes of the city were gathered to hear him talk from his chaise on which was fixed a long perpendicular pole with a loaf of bread on too and the motto "Hunt

u.

and Peace”.

This ingenious device provided the

burden of his speech.

If elected, he would bring

down the price of bread and would secure peace.

"Whether

elected or not, he promised to keep the poll open and foil the attempt to select a representative for Bristol without consulting the people.

3. London, Times, June 30* 1812. lu Ibid.

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Earlier in the same day, Davis had arrived in town, but if we may believe the account of Cobbett, there were stones waiting for him rather than acclaim.

Cheers or no cheers, his backers were

confident enough of victory on the day the election opened to order a chairing and public dinner for Monday evening.

The Bristol correspondent of the

Times was a trifle more cautious; he admitted that Hunt's

. . opposition may create much confusion

in our city" although he had no doubts as to Davis1 ultimate victory.

"Much confusion" was to be an apt

though mild description of the election. As has been already mentioned, Romilly had decided not to enter the contest of June-July, 1812, restricting his efforts to the lf?hig seat in the expected general election.

Cobbett took great glee

in pointing out this refusal to trespass as part of the game of "Ins and Outs" in which all agreed on the main point of the system, the perpetuation of sinecures

5. Ibid.; Hunt, Memoirs, II, $09-12 j III, 31j Political Register, July b, 1812.

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and pensions.

This "revelation11 of the system and

tacit agreement between parties became a central point in the campaign of Hunt and gave a truly Radical flavor to his pronouncements.

Romilly, it

was claimed, although opposed to the ministers of the Crown, had failed to s eize the occasion of Bathurst’s withdrawl to attack a ministerial candidate. Surely there could be no better proof of the culpability of “Whigs, no matter how advanced, as well as Tories. To add insult to injury, those newspapers in Bristol which supported Romilly attacked Hunt throughout 6 this election. This incident points up the essential

.

difference between the liberal “Whigs and Radical Reformers, a difference great enough to bring to nought any agreement which might come about on issues.

The

one worked within the party and political system accepting it and hoping to reform it by working within it.

The other increasingly rejected the political

realities of the day and insisted on bringing pressure to bear from without.

The Radicals were more and more

6. London Times, June 30, l8l2j Political Register, July li, 1812 5 July 11, 1812. “

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being driven to the appearance of revolt if not to the fact. The election opened in an atmosphere•of force and intimidation.

Before the election began Davis

and his backers* the “White Lion Club* acted in conjunction with the corporation to form a squad of extra police pledged to the cause of Davis.

Four

hundred constables were sworn in and armed with Tory blue staves.

These men were chosen from the rough­

neck class of the town and could be relied upon to 7. ply their trade well. To all intents and purposes this was a private force intended to ensure safety for Davis’ electors and harm, or at least the threat of harm* to Hunt’s supporters.

Hunt himself received

letters menacing him with injury if he appeared at the Guildhall.

He claimed that he received information

that he was to be shot in case of riot.

His opponents

at one point in the melee went so far as to forge a

8. letter informing Hunt's family that he had been killed.

7* Ibid.* July 2j* 1812$ Hunt* Memoirs, II* 513$ 529$ 536$ 539 J London Times, July 2* 1812. 8. Hunt* Memoirs, II* 533$. 557-62$ III* 5-6.

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Such were election maneuvers in the days of the unreformed Parliament. Hunt took no immediate steps to counteract the efforts of Davis to overawe the electors.

But that

Hunt was not adopting an attitude of passive acceptance toward these measures is shown by his words to the crowd on Tuesday, after rioting had already taken place and after the constables had blocked off the streets leading to Guildhall.

"It behoved them, I

said, to stand up manfully for their rights, and not be driven off the field, oarticularly out of their own 9. city, by hired ruffians." His admonition not to attack first had little meaning in the circumstances of restless mob movements.

Bristol was preparing itself

for a little Peterloo. The opening of the election on Monday morning presented scenes of confusion and pushing but proceeded without incident or damage to life or property.

Hunt

arrived at the Guildhall before it opened and announced with his usual bravado that he would be the first to

9. Ibid., H , 536-7.

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enter and the last to leave.

This was defiance of

the constables who had already surrounded the hall and who, upon the opening of the doors, had attempted to keep out as many of Hunt’s supporters as possible. Scuffling and minor riots occurred during the tremendous rush into the Guildhall as the partisans of each side tried to squeeze their way into the building^ the resulting confusion held up proceedings for several hours.

Eventually both Davis and Hunt were proposed

and seconded, the former try members of the corporation and the latter by two journeymen. the jammed audience.

Both men addressed

Hunt announced himself as an

advocate of Radical Reform, the exact dosage not specified, and promised if elected to move for the abolution of sinecures and pensions.

During his speech,

Hunt was interrupted by an embarrassingly personal question thrown out from the crowd on the floors

”Do

you or do you not, live with another man’s wife?” He was able to parry the query try attacking the character of his opponent.

After a show of hands, which

both sides claimed as in their favor, the poll—taking

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started.

But late as it was, only a few votes were

counted before the election was adjourned for the day. During that evening and the next Bristol was given over to rioting, stonings, assaults, and other forms of mob terrorism.

The vicious riots which

welled up in Bristol on Monday evening (June 29) were the result of no one act by either side but were rather the result of hostility on both sides. During the day the wearers of a blue cockade had been subject to attack; with the coming of night, and aided by Bristol’s poor lighting system, which provided an effective anonymity, the opposing forces met in full impact about 8 r00 p.m.

In the streets of

the dark city the mobs of Hunt’s followers appeared well supplied with stones and sticks and on the lookout F“ for trouble. The home of the local Tory party and the symbol of their power, the White Lion Inn, was the center of attention.

Located on Broad Street^ one

of the narrow streets in Bristol, and surrounded by Davis' constables it became the prize to fight for or defend.

The struggle was intense.

The attacking crowd

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■was frequently thrown back, but the constables were eventually forced to give ground leaving the Inn exposed to the destructive instincts of the mob. Every window was broken; window frames were torn out; the furniture and chandeliers were destroyed.

The

Inn was a complete and gutted wreck and only the walls remained after the energy of the crowd had dissipated itself.

There were many broken heads 10. and bruised bodies in Bristol that night. The next day the polling began in earnest.

Again

the hustings were a scene of comparative tranquillity. Other than Hunt's offer to Davis to settle a disputed vote by fists which Davis rejected to cries of "shame, shame", there was only the routine of taking votes. At the end of the day Davis had a comfortable lead with 163 votes to Hunt's 78 .

But the latter had 11. destroyed the Tory plan of a one-day election. Bristol was still nervous from the violence of

the previous evening.

Despite the calm of Guildhall,

10. Ibid., 5>lli-19; London Times, July 2, 1812; Political Register, July 1*, l8l2.

11. London Times, July 2, 1812.

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the city was apprehensive over what the evening would bring.

It was rumored that the magistrates

had taken effective action to prevent a renewal of Monday night's devastation.

But there was little

information as to what this action was and there was even less faith as to the effectiveness of the 12 magistrates in dealing with such a situation.

.

The people of Bristol had reason for alarm, for Tuesday night brought a repetition of the riots of the preceeding night despite the "precautions" of the magistrates.

Hunt began the second evening of

mob destruction with a typical flourish of the type which helped later to make him a nation-wide figure and the leader of the workers of England.

In the

early evening, after the polls were closed Hunt told his audience at the Exchange that he would ride around the city on his horse for some fresh air; if they wished, they could accompany him.

He also informed them

that if they would only act with firmness victory would

12. Ibid., July 3> 1812.

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be theirs.

After the triumph of Monday evening,

the crowd was quite in accord with him on this point.

With his followers assembled behind him

Hunt rode past a quay covered with timber, wood and poles.

The power of suggestion working strongly on

their imagination the crowd armed themselves with staves. Hunt regrettedthe mode of acquisition, but felt it was necessary if he was to keep the polls open in the face of the force of constables controlled by Davis. The uneasy feelings of the shopkeepers and merchants were evident as this group passed, and arriving back at t he Inn, Hunt bade his companions a discreet farewell while the cry "To Broad Street" went up.

Broad Street,

the scene of the previous night's attack, was still tinder the control of the constables who had made itdifficult for Hunt's voters to arrive at the Guildhall. The constables put up little resistance here, partly because they were.needed elsewhere, and little damage was done.

not all of the rioters had left for

Broad Street.

Others of the mob had gone to other parts

of the city to await nightfall.

When sufficient darkness

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fell, several battles broke out simultaneously. At Davis’ house the mob attacked and tried to enter although they failed to do so.

It was well for them

that they did not succeed, for the household was armed and had orders to shoot if the mob entered. But every window in the front of the house was smashed and shrubs were uprooted.

Only the arrival

of the Scotch Greys and q^ounter-mob saved the house. Meanwhile in the city the Council House was under a furious attack of stones and brick-bats.

Darkness

added to the terror of the scene; among the milling crowd the word "blood" was heard.

The constables

were once again unable to fight the mob away from their would-be prey. beat to arms.

The Riot Act. was read; drums

But not for long; the rioters seized

the drummers to gain time while they battered in the windows and doors of the Council House.

Again the

arrival of troops was necessary before quiet could 13. be restored.

13. Ibid.; Hunt, Memoirs, II, 537- 2*0.

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Thus action led to counter-action.

After the

destructive rioting of the first two nights of the election, the corporation and Davis were only too happy to call on the Scotch Greys and West Middlesex Militia to protect their electoral efforts as well as their property.

Horse and foot, some volunteer,

made up the troops which had been stationed around Bristol and which were now marched into the city. Never daunted, Hunt, addressed the soldiers stationed at the Guildhall on Wednesday morning in the name of fraternity^ brothers would not shoot their brothers because of the different colors of their coats.

If,

however, the election must be decided by military force, "'Here am III' said he, laying bare his breast, 'ready to receive the first ball.'" At least so 111Gobbett reports, and it was probably true, for Hunt could never resist a gesture.

The soldiers

were lined in double rows on both sides of Broad Street when the poILs opened on Wednesday morning, but

llu Political Register, July I4, 1812; London Times, July 3, 1812.

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Hunt, who showed his usual good humor, and his followers gave the men three cheers as he rode past them on his way to the Guildhall.

The soldiers did not

guard the hustings after Wednesday morning, but they were quartered ovepthe city thereby providing an effective force %vhich by its presence prevented further rioting even though Hunt continued to ride about the city followed by his supporters.

They

were also effective in frightening the supporters of Hunt away from the polls, a factor which was hardly decisive in Hunt's defeat despite Cobbett's screams of rage about an election held under the "'protection* 15. of soldiers". Although the polling continued, there were various efforts made by Davis to close the election as soon as possible.

But Hunt, continuing far behind

his opponent, polled a few men every day in order to keep the polls open. at the Exchange.

He also continued his speeches

Some of his antics rather shocked the

staid citizens of Bristol^ on one of his rides about

15* Ibid., July 7S 1812; Political Register, July 11, 1812 July 25, 1812 3 August 1, 1812 j Hunt, Memoirs, II, 51(1j 51*8-95 551|—63 557j 5625 567-8.

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the city, Hunt was preceeded by a man bearing the

16.

French cap of liberty,

a most provocative symbol.

His platform style also caught attention; •'What would you think of a Gentleman, who, whilst publicly addressing the electors of the second city in the empire, should pull aside the skirts of his coat, and slap his open hand on his seat of honour, repeating this act of indecency, as a token of de­ fiance to his antagonists?" 17. •*his gesture of disdain by Hunt no doubt pleased his audience mightily.

Despite his dangerous performance

the high spirigs with which Hunt pursued his campaign won a certain respect from'the Times correspondent. "Mr. Hunt| s exertions during the week have had a visible effect on his health; but X must do him the justice to say, that he keeps his temper wonderfully,

18.

although he keeps it at the expense of his dignity." It was all to no avail.

The final vote gave Davis a 19. poll of 1,729 to Hunt's 212. The victor was duly chaired although not without the protection of his faithful constables.

\

16. London Times, July 9, 1812. 17. Ibid., July 7, 1812.

1

18. Ibid. 19. Ibid., July lij, 1812.

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Further precautions were taken since they had not proven to be noticeably successful in preventing or quelling disorder, and the streets were blocked with heavy planks to prevent rioting.

As Davis passed

along hoots and hisses greeted him from the people 20. gathered to watch the procession. Hunt, though the loser, had the pleasure of a dinner given in his honor at which he promised to present a petition against the conduct of the Bristol election,

^he petition, when it was presented to

the House of Commons, charged bribery, intimidation, and the use of military force contrary to the law of the land.

Hunt was getting ready for the case to

come before a committee of the House of Commons when Parliament was dissolved.

This ended the act in as

far as Hunt was concerned.

He did not have the long

purse which allowed Burdett to carry his Middlesex 21. case to the House of Commons time after time.

20. Hunt, Memoirs, III, 6-7. 21. Ibid., 57: 67J Bxaminer, August 2, 1812.

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There is little doubt that Hunt enjoyed the strife and audiences of the Bristol election; his energetic enthusiasm for any cause or labor in which he was engaged, his delight in perforipng before a crowd provided the motivating force behind his career as a Radical agitator.

His personality found its

most complete expression and realization on the platform.

Here he could be the center of attention;

here he could strut, shout, live the energetic part which was his passion.

Hunt's magnificent ego found

full vent as an agitator. But what purpose beyond the zest of enjoyment was this election to have? Radical scheme of things?

How did it fit into the Hunt realized from the

beginning that he had no chance of election: he knew 221 Bristol for the corrupt city that it was. Cobbett also saw the hopelessness of any effort to elect Hunt or any other Radical.

His experience at Honiton had

22. Hunt, Memoirs, XII, 90.

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made painfully clear to him the forces operating in ‘ 23. the English electoral system. Nevertheless both worked hard during the days of the election.

"What

was it they hoped to achieve? Most often stressed by both men was the very fact of an opposition to the Vi/hite Lion Club.

Hunt

told his audiences that, "At the very least you will have some days of liberty to speak your minds; to tell Mr. Davis what you think of him and his predecessor; to declare aloud your grievances and your indignation; and even for this liberty you will be indebted to Mr. Hunt and solely to Dir. Hunt." 2i|. If the liberty to speak was only the liberty to hear Hunt speak, that in Radical eyes did not vitiate the argument.

Presumably Hunt was speaking for the

people who had had so long to bear their burdens in silence.

The re—establishment of the normal processes

of election made possible the recital of political truths not often heard, especially when the speaker did not belong to the factions with a stake in the status quo.

23. Political Register, July I4, 1812.

2lu ibid.

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These were Radical truths: the deadly grip of sine­ cures and pensions on the people's purse, the need for Parliamentary Reform, the alliance between "Whig and Tory in fact if not in theory, the sufferings from war, and the price of bread. contemptuously to this aim; "He

Romilly pointed Hunt

polls very

few votes, but he has an opportunity, which appears to be all he wishes, of making speeches every 25. day. • . •" Speech-making was one of the important resources of the Radicals. The aim of forcing corruption into daylight ran into the problem of keeping the polls open.

It

was a problem set by the economic necessities of those who would vote for Hunt if they could.

There

were few among the lower classes who dared to undergo the scrutiny of the open ballot to .vote for the ~-u demagogic Radical who was, it seemed, bent on the destruction of Bristol.

The very essentials of life

could be snatched from them if they voted for Hunt,

25. Romilly, Memoirs, III, 2j6.

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not'to mention the loss of bribes which could always be wangled from the White Lion Club. As a result t of this situation Hunt had to husband the few votes he was able to obtain in order-to stretch the election. It was necessary to keep back his most reliable voters and let them trickle to the hustings in a carefully regulated stream.

At the same time it was

important not to use those men whose bread was dependent upon "the good will of his opponent.

This

was a real lesson in the exigencies of mustering a 26. lower class vote. Only a portion of the election proceedings took place in the Guildhall.

What part did Hunt’s

rides, his obvious incitements to riot, and the riots themselves have in the conduct of the Radical campaign? As a P. G. Wodehouse character remarks, ”It seemed like a good thing at the time.”

Faced with the crowd

26. Hunt, Memoirs, II, 512; $3h’ , 5hh-5; 556-7; III, 16-17; 90; Political Register, July- h, 1812; July 2^, 1812; August l5, lSl2. The backers of the Tory candidate spent £ 1000 a day as long as the polls were open; floods of beer were dispensed. Latimer, Bristol in the Nineteenth Century, pp. 50-3.

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■which always swarmed around an English hustings, Hunt found it easy to give way to his demagogic powers.

The mob riots, however, were more than the

result of Hunt's urge for self-expression.

They

were to be both a defensive and an offensive action. It was the only weapon he had against his wealthy and powerful opponents, and it was necessary to the existence of an electoral opposition even if it did not bring victory.

As a fighting tactic, it gave

the appearance of support for Hunt and helped make it possible to hold the few votes he was able to acquire.

As a defensive action, it literally

cleared the way to the Guildhall.

It was a reaction

against the constables of Davis, for without a riotous force at his command Hunt, if not run out of town, would certainly have been unable to maintain his position in Bristol for as long as he did.

He

pitted the mob against the blue staves of Davis' constables. However, the riots and speeches of Hunt on the Exchange have a wider meaning than this. The crowd

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which moved through the streets seeking out owners of blue cockades was not a Radical crowdj there was certainly enthusiasm of one sort or another among these people, but it was not directed towards the end of a Radical agitation.

It was simply directed

towards the ruin of the White Lion Inn.

The power

of the people was given ample display, but did it mean nothing more than the most elemental destruction? The demonstration of the power of the masses — physical in t his case, political in others - in conjunction with, and supposedly under the leadership of, a Radical was a fact of new political significance to the England of the early nineteenth century.

Mob

action was certainly nothing new to the Englishj especially at election time,the lower classes considered a riot to be a sort of right which was theirs by prescription.

But at Bristol in 1812 and earlier with

other Radical agitations, we have a mob increasingly identified with the Radical party.

In the hands of a

Radical, whether or not he actually had control over the actions and motivations of the crowd, the mob

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became a demand for recognition of those ■who composed it.

This was a result of the combination of

an English mob with the comparatively new slogan of Parliamentary Reform.

The conjunction of Radi­

calism and mass action, a union which was to be largely the work of Hunt, gave new political meaning to a traditional aspect of English life. Over the years this combination was to grow in potency and meaning for British subjects.

The

Radicals were demanding an extension of suffrage, in some cases universal suffrage.

There was no better

embodiment .of their demand than the people themselves. Nor was there a better "way to achieve their demands, some Radicals thought, than by directing them to demand their rights and instructing them in their wrongs. Radical agitation did not always take place on the level of mob rioting, but it was this form of political pressure from which the later and better organized meetings developed.

The Radicals were to carry their

agitation for Parliamentary Reform to the people whom it most closely concerned, and one manifestation

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of ’’the people” was the crowd gathered around a hustings or platform.

It was Hunt who was to make

the most of this particular aspect of Radical pressure. At Bristol in 1812 this development is seen only in its most primitive stage.

The crowd here was more

concerned with revenge than with reform.

Nor was Hunt,

if we may judge by his later actions, altogether pleas.ed with the damage wreaked by the Bristol freemen and lower class.

He refined his methods as he developed

his own technique of agitation.

Never again did he

deliberately foster the destructive passions of his listeners.

Often in his oratory he took them to the

edge of this precipice, but he never led them over. But whether refined or not, to take the traditional hustings mob of an English election and to make a political instrument out of it - this is what caused Hunt's name to stand for revolution among the upper and middle classes. Hunt had the assistance in this election of a group of freemen who acted as his committee.

Most

of these men were artisans and journeymen of Bristol^

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some, however, were of lower middle class professional 27. ■background. Just as Hunt1s committee drew upon the lower classes for its membership, so did his electoral support come from the lower class of Bristol. There was later no doubt in his mind as to the class 28. character of the election. It was a contest between the rich and the poor: "I had no allies but the people; of them, indeed, I had the great mass with me; but, though I had well-wishers in all the richer classes, there was scarcely a single man beyond the rank of a journeyman, who had the courage openly to give me any countenance or support . . . . I had. . . to contend, single-handed, against all the power, wealth, and influence of all parties and factions in the city." 29. Other observers agree with this judgment of his support. Romilly saw the populace as very greatly excited by Hunt*s exertions although most of the freemen were not 30. with him. The Times was quite sure that all men of

27. London Times, July 2, 1812. 28. Hunt, Memoirs, II, 01h-19» 29. Ibid., p. 528. 30. Romilly, Memoirs, III, 1*5-6.

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respectability were against Hunt and that only the

31. lower orders backed him for the sake of opposition. Cabinet-makers, plasterers, shipwrights, tailors, cordwainers, masons, carpenters, glassmakers dominate the list of his voters which is given by Hunt in his 32. Memoirs. The lower classes were happy to see Hunt contest this election although less because of his principles and promises than because of the fact of opposition itself.

Hunt’s first venture into an

English election was not a success as such although it was a success from his own point of view, that of forcing an election. worth the effort.

In that sense it was well

While he seldom worked in the

barren fields of election contests after 1812, save for those at Westminster, he had experienced at first hand in the Bristol election of July the realities and forces of English politics and had gained a certain notoriety, especially in Radical circles, as a result

31. London Times, July 3, 1812; July 7, 1812. 32. Hunt, Memoirs, H I , 7—12.

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of the fiery propaganda of the Political Register. He had also learned what a mob would do - and what he could do before a mob.

VII The Bristol Election of October, 1812 "When Parliament was dissolved in the fall of

1812, Hunt was at his Rowfont estate tending to the business of farming.

In common with other candidates

he hurried to Bristol to make ready for the coming contest by pre-election speeches and organization. In Bristol itself great preparations were going for­ ward; four candidates for -two seats was an unusual event in the recent life of the city, and there was considerable activity-on the part of those hoping to win the favor of Bristol citizens.

Romilly and

Protheroe represented the split Whig party, Davis the Tory group with Hunt standing as an avowed Radical. All the candidates were busily engaged in canvassing

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the city, whose voters now found themselves to be the center of the utmost solicitude, Hunt's allies placarded Bristol with announcements of the 1. time of his arrival. Romilly arrived in Bristol early on September 30, only a few hours after the news of the dissolution itself reached the city.

He found his adherents most

hopeful of success although Romilly himself realized

the difficulty of his position between the Tories and 2. Hunt, the "unprincipled demagogue." Romilly's supporters had worked hard at organizing Bristol, for they had formed committees in all the parishes of the town.

They had, at the time of Romilly's arrival,

more than three thousand votes promised.

Romilly

himself agreed "reluctantly" to visit the freemen in person but with his high-minded approach to politics it was an odd type of electioneering^ "I consented to wait on the electors, not to ask their votes, but to

1 . London Times, October, 6, 1812. 2. Romilly, Memoirs, III, 55.

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thank those -who had promised to vote for me, and merely to show myself to the others." nothing if not morally impressive.

Romilly was

The job turned

out to be menial laborj he walked from house to house 3. for four days from 10:00 a.m. to h -30 p.m., and it

must have been mentally painful as well as physically painful to the shy and dignified lawyer to pay court to the voters of Bristol.

He learned the meaning of

democratic politics the hard way. Hunt arrived on the day before the election amidst the enthusiasm usually shown to candidates. He took up his stand at his previous speaking place, the pedestal before the Exchange.

Since the various

inns of the town had already been contracted by other candidates, Hunt was having difficulty in getting accommodations.

This was, of course, in his eyes

a Tory-Whig trick, but Hunt was not to be put off so easily, for he threatened to take up residence at the Exchange itself.

Eventually he found an inn.

3. Ibid., pp. $k-5. Ii. Hunt, Memoirs, H I , 9h-5*

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Once again the military element was evident although it was not garrisoned on duty inside Bristol.

The Middlesex Militia was stationed within

two miles of the citv, and cannon ready for use were placed on the Exchange.

These precautions were one

reason why there were no riots at this election. Although the election was peacefully conducted, the Guildhall on the opening day, October 6, presented the usual crowded, jostling, and chaotic scene.

The

Sheriffs had barricaded the galleries for the occasion so as to keep out spectators and those who had no real need to be at the hallj this meant that much of Hunt's vocal support was to be kept from the proceedings. Since they were not prone to accept the situation and since the space in the already too small Guildhall was curtailed one-fourth by the barricades, the pressure of the crowd within the hall became intense.

Eventually

the Sheriffs had to kick in the Gothic windows to let fresh and cool air into the almost suffocating atmosphere.

5. Ibid., 120.

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The yelling and crowded mob astounded Romilly, who

was on the hustings with the other candidates waiting

6.

for the election to open.

Despite the noisy crowd

the candidates were eventually nominated and seconded. Both Davis and Protheroe tried to talk, but both were 7. hooted down. Romilly was heard and gave a speech in his usual vein.

He would make no professions of

his political views since his public life was already before them, nor would he promise anything.

He

would, however, give his ,idea of what should be looked for in a representative.

He ought to be firmly attached

to the principles of 1688, a friend of Parliamentary Reform (the extent not defined by Romilly), an advocate of economy, and the supporter of the liberty of the press and trial by jurv.

He should not be seduced by 8

temptations of power, money, or popular favor.

*

Hunt

6. Ibid., 96-103.

7. London Times, October 10, 1812.

8. Romilly, Memoirs, III, 56-85 London Times., October 10, 1812.

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spent most of his speech on the issue of Radical Parliamentary Reform and in gently chiding Romilly 9.

for his profession as a lawyer.

The Sheriff then

called for a show of hands, and Romilly and Hunt were 10. declared "elected by a decided majority . . . ." The poll demanded by Protheroe and Davis was begun, and the meeting was adjourned -until the next day. On the second and third days of the election Davis and Protheroe managed by quibbling over techni­ calities to hold up the election so that only a few persons could poll.

This had the effect of cutting

down Romilly's vote, for his supporters could not afford to waste a third day without being able to cast %■ this means Davis was able to get 60 11. votes ahead of Romilly on the fourth day. Hunt was a ballot.

jogging comfortably behind with 202 votes to Romilly's 602, Protheroe's 667 and Davis' 690.

The final figures

9. Hunt, Memoirs, III, 105-7•

10. London Times, October 10, l8l2j Romilly, Memoirs, III, 58J Hunt, Memoirs, III, 103. 11. Romilly, Memoirs, III, 58-9j London Times, October 10 s 1812j October 12, 1812.

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after the close of the election on October lU Davis, 2926; Protheroe, 2b37j Romilly, 1669; 12 . Hunt, J432. During the election, Hunt tried

were:

successfully again to keep the poll open to its 13. legal length by spacing his votes at one per hour. Wot only Hunt but Romilly too was defeated in this election by the regular teamwork of the Bristol clubs.

Davis and Protheroe formed an open coalition;

the voters of the latter wearing the combined colors of both men.

There was, however, no counter-coalition

formed between Romilly and Hunt despite the fact that Hunt bore Romilly no animosity.

On the contrary, both

he and Cobbett expressed the greatest respect for Sir Samuel for although Hunt disliked lawyers as a class, as did Cobbett, he gave Romilly credit for being "one lli. of the very best of the gown arid wig gentry."

12. Ibid., October 17, 1812.

13. Ibid. Bribery was extensive in this election. The July and October elections together cost the Tories • j£29,lj29. In the October contest Protheroe and Davis spent '£2,500 alone to buy up freedoms. Latimer, Bristol in the Nineteenth Century, pp. 50-53* Ik. Ibid., 107.

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Cobbett admitted that although Hunt would be a better representative for Bristol since he was willing to fight an election, Romilly was a very fine gentleman and an honest and humane man who could not be tempted 15. to do a dishonest act. Hunt therefore at the actual time of the election made no complaint against Romilly except the fact that he was willing to accept office a cardinal sin in Radical eyes and one which Romilly 16. found it necessary to defend himself against. But while Hunt would have liked to cooperate with Romilly if he could have in order to combat the weight of the Bavis-Protheroe coalition,

Romilly's

committee, however, had no desire to work with a Radical demagogue, and they consistently snubbed Hunt and did all they could to prevent their voters from polling for Hunt.

According to Hunt, "the Romillites

in Bristol were not a rush better or more liberal than 1

the friends of Davis."

7

‘

Even if Romilly had been

15. Political Register, July h, 1812. 16. Romilly, Memoirs, III, 57-8y 62. 17. Hunt, Memoirs, II, 599-509m , III, 107-85 109-10j 115-16.

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prone before the election to work with Hunt, which he was not, Hunt’s procedure in the opening day of election would have destroyed any such possibility. In his address at Guildhall Hunt put it to Romilly to declare whether or not he would support a real reform in Parliament, a reform such as Burdett was urging at that time (household suffrage). He repeated the offer made as early as July of 1812 to resign and work for Romilly's election if he would answer in the affirmative.

Romilly replied, in his usual candid way, that he would always vote for the reform of abuses and would always vote for moderate reform, but he could not with consistency 18. favor the kind of reform Burdett was then advocating. "Whether or not Hunt was sincere in his offer to resign from the race, the offer served to delimit more clearly than ever Hunt ’s position as a member of the Radical Reform group then established in Westminster.

The failure to

form a coalition with Romilly in Bristol is also one further mark of the early rift between Radicalism and the middle-

18. Hunt, Memoirs, II, h98-995 ITI, 10f?-7j Political Register, July it/ l8l2j July 11, 1812.

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class reformers which was to widen after l8l£ when the Radicals increasingly took the part of the workers.

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CHAPTER VI HUNT MAKES HIS NAME l8l£-17

Working-class Radicalism in nineteenth-century England began in 1816, a year of hardship for the masses of England,

^he outburst of riots and political

demands by the lower class which marked the year was the result of a combination of economic circumstances$ trade depression and a poor harvest resulted in a British "scissors" in reverse and led in consequence to mob action and protests.

These manifestations of

unrest gave birth to working-class Radicalism and underlay the movement as the source of its ultimate strength.

The Radicals took hold of the discontent

and attempted to turn it from machine breaking to politics. To some extent this mingling of Radicalism and working-class action in l8l6 was planned and deliberate5 to some extent it was accidental and unpremeditated. The latter was especially true of the men who became

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the political leaders of the workers at this time, Hunt and Cobbett, for they found themselves at the head of the movement less as a result of an active desire to establish such a movement than as the out­ come of political divisions "within Radicalism.

Without

doubt Hunt and Cobbett were not only sympathetic toward the workers but wanted to include them within the Radical party.

But they did not think of such

working-class Radicalism as a movement existing in its own right and resting on its own strength until they found themselves at the head of it.

Even then

their conceptions of their position and of the movement were hazy, nostalgic, and undecisive.

Radicalism in

l8l6 was forced by the economic facts of the time to emerge from its cloister at Westminster into the light of day and to face the realities of British life.

It

emerged blinking and still s omewhat drowsy; when it was fully awake and looked around, surprise and in some cases profound and pained shock was its reaction.

Some

members of the group shuddered and turned away; others

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grew angry and rushed headlong into the scene of action. Hunt and Cobbett

cooperated during l8l5, a

boom year, against the Corn Lav/.

This policy of

attacking a specific abuse while advocating Parliamentary Reform was a continuation of the Radical policies developed after 1 8 0 7 respectable county and Westminster meetings were still the vehicles of the agitation.

The year l8l6, however,

brought a new turn: a working-class program, a working-class organization, and an agitation directed specifically to the workers were all created.

Hunt

and Cobbett both became concerned with the fortunes of this class, and both developed special techniques of agitation.

Rut Hunt went further.

He became the

advocate of universal suffrage, annual parliaments and the ballot.

These were political aims which were

distinctively working class in character.

Some men in

the Radical Movement, Burdett in particular, could not and would not accept them.

In this rejection

of a

working-class program can be seen the essence of class

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conflict over political interests.

By January 1817,

the issue was clear-cut; Hunt had decisively taken the side of the workers and in so doing had in large part created a working-class political movement.

I Post-War Economic Problems The impact of war on British economic life did not end with Waterloo.

Economic conditions from l8l5>-19

were in large part the results of economic war policies pursued by government and business from 1793 to l8l5>. There would have been economic turmoil and misery in any event,

but the boom-slump-boom-slump rhythm of

the years immediately following l8l5> was caused by and intensified to a great extent by the previous years of blockade, fluctuating markets, and food shortages. These had already brought hardship to the English worker before 1815; the end of hostilities did little to bring his afflictions to an end.

Economic adversity-

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followed him to the year of Peterloo. The downfall of Napoleon brought about an abrupt shift from a war economy to a peace economy, a shift which Britain was unable to make without the purging effects of depression.

Bering the war the

government had purchased goods, especially food, ironware, and clothing, on a large scale.

With peace

this demand was suddenly and quickly stopped; there was a large vacuum created in place of the market on which many manufacturers had been dependent for over a decade.

This vacuum had to be filled if the English

manufacturing plant was to be occupied and if English working men were to be employed. The problem of demobilization also struck Britain after l8l5.

At a time when British business life was

grinding to a stop, the large scale and sudden shrinking of the armed forces threw upon the labor market a flood of workers unable to find employment.

The number of

men in service during the French war had been three to five per cent of the total population of the nation and

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of course a larger percentage of the working force. By 1817 three hundred thousand soldiers and sailors 1. had been discharged. Agricultural distress after 1815 threw an especially heavy burden upon one section of the nation.

The

agriculturalists, however, were not prone to accept the load, and they tried successfully to pass it on to the workers and industry.

The landlords and farmers

in their enthusiasm during the war had sunk much capital 2.

in inferior land going well beyond the limit of safety. With the steady decline in wheat prices from August 1812, 3. to January l8l6, the situation for agriculture became increasingly serious and difficult.

Loud were the

complaints of the agricultural interest in Farliament, so loud that eventually the Corn Law of l8l5 was passed. In fact it gave little real relief to the farmers and landlords, for agricultural prices fluctuated widely despite the law and often reached such low figures as

1. J.L. and B. Hammond, Town Labourer, pp. 10li-5j Bedford, Economic History, pp. 117-B; "W.W. Rostow, British Economy of the Nineteenth Century (Oxford, 1 9 pp. 13-lli. 2. Redford, Economic History, p. 97 j Trevelyan, English Social History, p. 1^65.

3. Annual Register, l8l£, p. VI5 Rostow, British Economy, pp. 110-111; Cole and Postgate, British People, p. 1^3•

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to be ruinous even though there -was a prohibition on imports.

Nevertheless it did keep the prices of

agricultural produce higher on the average than they would have been if there had been no Corn Law in effect. There were also politico-economic factors which helped contribute to the economic maladjustment which Britain experienced after Waterloo. Debt had reached jf860,000,000.

By 1816 the National

With the fall in prices

which took place the burden of this debt was increasingly oppressive^ the country was well able to carry it since the wealth of Britain was increasing at a faster rate than the debt, but nevertheless it did make heavy taxation necessary.

And this taxation was carried more than ever

by the lower classes.

With the repeal of the income tax

(property tax) as soon as the war was over the debt had to be serviced by indirect taxes which hit the workers more than other classestaxes on tea, sugar, tobacco, beer, soap, candles, and custom duties on raw materials going into consumer goods were not repealed with the

lj. Redford, Economic History, p. 9 8.

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same greedy haste that took the income tax burden off the upper and middle classes.

Slumps and Booms All of the above conditions combined to make Britain's economic life from 1815 - 1819 erratic. The trade cycle reached a peak in 1815, hit a low in 1816, rose again in 181? - 1818 and then slumped down to another low in 1819.

After 1819 it rose slowly

but- steadily to another peak in 182£. The post-war prosperity of the year l8l£ was a result of the opening of the American and European market with the coming of peace.

Urgent orders in

Europe and America had to be filled and British 7. industry benefited from this need. The boom of l8l£, however, did not last long, for after the American market had been supplied with its first needs, trade 8 began to fall off and numerous.failures took place.

.

5>. Cole and Postgate, British People, pp. I62;'l69; 178. 6. Rostow, British Economy, p. 33; 1?5. 7. Cole and Postgate, British People, p. 162.

8. Annual Register, l8l£, p. li4.I1. (History) j Redford, Economic History, p. 120j Cole and Postgate, British People, p. 163; Rostow, British Economy, p. 131

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The year 1816 therefore brought bitter depression and a severe economic crisis to Britain.

The Annual

Register commented gloomily on the scene presented at the end of l8l|?t "... . There has rarely been a time of more widely diffused complaint than the close of the current year3 and all the triumphant sensations of national glory seem almost obliterated by general depression. Peace, although a consumation long anxiously looked for, was scarcely welcomed3 and the deficiencies in the usual employments and demands in war, were more perceptible than the diminution of its expenses."9 . Unemployment spread as a consequence of business difficulties. In the metal and mining industries there were large scale dismissals3 in the textile trades where there was any work to•be had at all short time It was a 3rear of widespread unemployment 10. in almost all fields of trade and industry. At the

became the rule.

same time that prices were falling and heavy unemployment was setting in, the price of wheat began to go up due to an increased demand from Europe caused by their bad

9. Annual Register, l8l£, p. VI.

10. Cole and Postgate, British People, pp. 1783 186.

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harvests.

Thus the manufacturing poor were 11. caught in a two-way squeeze in 1816. "What this economic malady meant in terms of

human suffering is indicated by the condition of some of the iron workers in Staffordshire in l8l6 . Here statistics become reduced to reality. When the principle iron works of the area failed, the workers were forced to spend all of the little money they had saved$ when that had vanished they were forced to go into debt and finally to pawn all of their goods.

These measures failed to

carry them through the depression and begging was the next resort, for parish relief was overwhelmed: it could do little in the face of such complete adversity.

Companies of from five to twelve men went

from door to door asking for bread and usually getting none.

They tramped the country requesting

work, not for wages, but for food to feed their wives and children.

The rows of cottages in which the

11. Annual Register, l8l6, pp. IV - V; 91-2 (History).

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workers lived were quiet; the usual bustle of prosperity slowed down to a pace of despondency. Factories which had employed the men were also silent as their owners waited for the trade cvcle to 12 . exhaust itself. The depressionwhich had started towards the close of l8l5 gradually came to an end in the summer of 1817.

At the same time food prices began to come slowly down. A trade boom set in which reached its peak in 1818 and which was accompanied by a slight slump in wheat prices and a slight rise in the general cost of

living.

But once again collapse came and by 1819

depression was once again upon the land.

Business

was at as low an ebb as in 1816; unemployment was an inevitable consequence.

Again this was doubly crushing

to the worker, for even though the cost of living and food prices had fallen to some degree they were still 13. abnormally high.

12. Annual Register, 1816, pp. 110-11 (Chronicle). 13. Rostow, British Economy, pp. 37; 39-10-j k£>> E. Hal^vy, A History of the English People, II, 28-9; Cole and Postgate, British People, p. 190.

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The year 1820 can be taken as initiating the end of the economic disturbances which followed the war. After that date there was a fairly continuous increase in output and employment ; furthermore the years 1820-21;' saw a sagging price level in which wheat prices participated.

As compared with the l8l5>-19 period, the

1820’s were a time of what Clapham calls "relative comfort".

This is a large part of the explanation

of the passive attitude of British labor in the four lit. years following Peterloo. Wages and Working Conditions We have traced the course of business in the years l8lf?-19 and the economic crisises which held the working class in their grip during those years. Low wages after Waterloo added to the misery experienced by the workers, for wages in general followed a down­ ward trend between 1815-19.

Agricultural workers felt

a reduction in wages from l8llt-21 due to a redundant labor supply.

15.

Wage rates for factory workers, miners,

lit. Clapham, Economic History, I, 126; 602; Rostow, British Economy, p. 116>I 15. Clapham, Economic History, I, 121?; 127-31; Halevy, A History of the English People, II, 9-10; Cole and Postgate, British People, pp. 121-2; 173-ii*

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and other industrial -workers show a rise from 1800 to 1810 and then a steady- fall until the years 1821-2U. of 1790.

But wages never again fell to the level

16.

Furthermore from 1810 to 1820 wages fell

10.7$ and the cost of living 2%%.

However, unemploy­

ment and periodic rises of the cost of living while wage rates ivere depressed made these years more grim for the average industrial worker than these figures suggest.

This, of course, would be especially true

of the depression years, l8l6 and 1819, for in those years unemployment or oart-time work along with wage 17. reductions if employment was continued was the rule. There are two groups of workers whose experience during this period was sufficiently unique to merit special consideration.

The greatest exception to the

misery brought to the lower classes by reduced wages and

16. G,H» Tfood, "The Course of Average Wages Between 1790 and i860", Economic Journal, IX, (1899), pp. 588-92; Cole and.Postgate, British People, pp. 121; 173-Si 177-8; Clapham, Economic History, I, 125; 127-31? 550-5515 561; 5J485 Redford, Economic History, p. 125» 17. Annual Register, 1816, pp. IV-V.

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279.

the trade cycle was the skilled artisan, especially if located in London.

Wages in various skilled trades,

building, breeches making, and printing for example, show a rise during the war years with little drop after l8l 5> when the cost of living fell.

The maintenance

of his standard of living by the skilled artisan was due to the increase in national wealth and a consequent demand for goods which had not yet felt the competition of machinery.

Furthermore most of these trades had

been able to preserve their monopoly of labor and control 18. over the apprenticeship system. At the other end of the scale is the handloom weaver.

Here the situation was one of gloom and degradation

it is the classic example of the human cost of economic change.

The handloom weaver, especially the cotton weaver,

suffered more than any other section of the working class from the expansion and contraction of the British economy. When business was slack, the power-loom would be run if at

18. Clapham, Economic History, I, BhQ-9; cole and Postgate, British People, pp. 175-6$ Rostow, British Economy, p. 8.

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all possible.

As a piece of capital equipment, it

could not be left idle, and thus manufacturers installed just enough power-looms to meet the minimum demand.

Anything over the minimum went to the handloom

weaver.

In that way he became a marginal worker, one

who got only the residue of work and who therefore bore the brunt of depression and the movements of trade. Even when work was plentiful, wages were at the starvation level. labor in the trade.

There was an excessive amount of Many persons, especially the Irish,

had come into it during the prosperous early years of the war.

Furthermore the increase in the supply of

yarn due to the mechanization of spinning before the mechanization of weaving had also encouraged workers to take up this type of work.

Finally, the technique of

handloom weaving was fatally easy to learn.

A n Qf

these factors explain the steadv and rapid fall of wages 19. after 18lit.

19. Clapham, Economic History, I, j Cole and Postgate, British People, pp. 121; I6I4; 172+3 l8l.

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A factor of sociological importance ought finally to be considered in connection with a description of the economic conditions affecting the working class after l8l5.

Due to the growth of large towns and the

factory system, meaning,

poorness and poverty took on new

The condition of the poor became more obvious

and more disturbing not only to the wealthy who could not avoid seeing mass misery but ’also to the poor themselves.

The destitute were no longer scattered

throughout the country but were bunched together in ugly splotches.

There were large areas of want,

blighted areas, where poorness was no longer an affair 20 . of the individual but a "group grievance". This increased the political impact of depression and low wages.

The people suffering from the trade cycle were

brought together, and their action as a group for their betterment or for the expression of their wrongs was thus facilitated.

They became an aggrieved class

ready to listen to those who would lead them out of

20. Trevelyan, English Social History, p. I[66.

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the wilderness. The individual suffering from economic maladies realized that there were others who were caught in the same distress.

Here was the

group grievance which a demogogue could use to bring to birth a mass working-class movement and among which he could spread his doctrines.

"Misery

loves company" and after l8l5 misery found plenty of company. Economics and Politics Although the factory area made easier the organization of a working-class agitation, economic fluctuations provided the occasion.

The unrest of

1811-12, I8I0, and 1819 can be explained in large 21. part by unemployment due to the trade cycle. For this purpose a "social tension index," has been 22 . drawn up by Rostow. It combines wheat prices and the business cycle in an effort to portray the social situation of the industrial workers in any one year as

21. Rostow, British Economy, p. 121. 22. Ibid., pp. 123-5.

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it resulted from the economic development of that year. '‘Social Tension11, 1812 - 1822 Year

1812 1813 lBlit 1815 1816 1817 laid 1819 1820 1821 1822

Trade Cycle Pattern 1

ITheat Price Pattern (Inverse) 0 1 -1? 3 .. 2f .. . 3 i 0 3 0 3 1 5 2 0 1 1 3

"Social Tension"

1 2i 8 3 3 5^ l ... M*

h

2

7

O^A year of high wheat prices and a year of deep depression.

5tA year of low wheat prices and a year of high business prosperity. Low "social tension" is indicated by high figures in the index. This is of course the roughest of indicators and at best only points to potential political and social dissatisfaction which may or may not be realized.

Conversely, social

outbreaks may occur in a year of low "social tension", for example, the riots of l8l£ over the passage of the Corn Law.

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The index does, however, point up the general relationship between specific economic developments and political events.

The Radical Movement in the

years after Waterloo was a particular victim of this relationship.

The industrial workers reacted to

Radicalism in close accordance with the state of business and the price of wheat5 when unemployment spread they became ardent followers of Radicalism, but when prosperity returned the agitators were hard put to find an audience.

This was true both

in 1816 and 1819* In 1816 the textile workers of the North especially were reduced to a pitiful existence by the trade depression.

With its end

in the latter part of 1817 their oarticipation in the 23. Radical Movement came to a finish for a time. In similar fashion the Radical tide of 1819 was due to specific, economic developmentsj again it was the industrial worker of the textile areas who was 2lu especially hard hit. Samuel Bamford took this

23. Hal^vy, A History of the English People, II, 28-9. 2JU. Davis, Age of Grey and Peel, p. 210j R.F. Wearmouth, Methodism and the Working Class Movements of England, l800-l850 "(London, 19377, p. I6lt and ff.

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same viewpoint towards these agitations when he stated that the poor would be content if only they could secure the common necessities of life, which they

- 25.

could not in 1819.

Privation and Riots, 1816 The economic upset of the post-Waterloo years brought widespread rioting for the first time in 1816. The centers of discontent were the eastern agricultural areas and the industrial districts of northern England and southern Wales.

Early in the year there were

strikes and turmoil among the workers in the Stafford­ shire and Cardiganshire coal and iron region.

During

the month of January a strike also took place in Birmingham where the hardware trade had been hard hit by a fall in demand; wage reductions brought a walk­ out of those who remained employed.

Not only were

the iron workers in distress, but the coal workers dependent upon the iron trade also suffered. brought no relaxation of the tension.

Spring

Agricultural

25. Samuel Bamford, Passages in the Life of a Radical (London and Manchester, ltS59) 3 P*

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riots broke out in Suffolk where hungry mobs roamed with the slogan "Blood or Bread" on their banners while bread riots took place in Norfolk and potato riots near Exeter .in an effort to prevent food from being shipped out of the county.

It was not only the

agricultural workers of these areas who rioted^ the spinners and weavers also protested against unemployment and the use of such machines as spinning jennies and the new looms. In the spring and fall of 1816 the virus continued to spread until it attacked northern Britain.

In

May the coal workers of the Wear were on strike against low wages.

At the same time the coal workers of the

central area adopted what they hoped would be more effective action^ they dragged wagons of coal to London begging as they went. They were not, however, allowed to enter the city for fear of spreading the contagion of protest.

This was a well-advised precaution from

the point of view of the magistrates, for parades of the unemployed were held at Coventry, Birmingham, Chester, Liverpool, and even London.

Staffordshire

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was still the scene of unrest in October when the iron mills were plundered and when troops had to be called to restore order.

Scotland also felt the

pinch5 Glasgow witnessed a severe riot in August which lasted for several days and which required troops to put it down.

The riot was a cry of resentment against the

ubiquitous soup kitchen. a scene of unrest.

In October Scotland was again

This time the workers protested

against the withholding of wages and the consequent arrests of poor for debt. troops were called.

There were mob scenes and

December brought another food

riot at Dundee. In the meantime Lancashire was stirring.

At

Preston in August cotton workers rioted and destroyed shuttles because of a reduction in wages: as a result some regular troops were sent to the town.

August and

September brought requests from the Mayors of Stockport, Wigan, and Bolton for regular troops in view of parades of unemployed and of the threatening language heard about the towns.

South Wales had its troubles too.

A

reduction of the wages of the iron workers of that area

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due to a 60% fall in the price of iron resulted in a strike of twelve thousand men in October. Although there was no definite purpose in view, workers from the whole iron-working area gathered at Merthyr Tydvil while parties of workers marched through the countryside drumming up support for their cause.

There

was no damage done, but the situation was sufficiently serious to call for the use of the military and special constables as well as the yeoman troops.

Finally, in

Leicester and Nottinghamshire there occurred a revival of Luddism; organized machine-breaking societies came back into existence and in one case attacked a mill where machinery was used. As in Cambridgeshire, 26 . executions took place. In this way economic forces brought a storny year to England.

Food prices were one basic factor in

26. Annual Register, 1816, pp. 13; 51-2; 60-1; 67-8 ; 69-73; ll5-8; 16U-8; 173-h; 192 (Chronicle); Political Register, July 13, 1816; July 6, l8l6; and passim; Hal§vy, A History of the English People, II, 9-10; Jephson, Platform, I, 373; bavis, Age of Grey and Peel, pp. 169-73; Bamford, Passages in the Life of a Radical, p. 6.

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the riots.

They were low in January 1816, but rose

steadily thereafter to a level of 76s. Ijd. per quarter in May and 103s in December.

The cause of the rise

was the bad harvest which struck both England and 27. continental Europe in l8l6 . But that the unrest was due to more than food prices is indicated by t he part played by complaints of wage reductions and unemployment in the riots as well as by evidence of an industrial slumpj in some of the industrial areas the rioters demanded public relief for the unemployed. 23. The iron-making area was especially hard hit by the impact of unemployment, but the handloom weavers 29. suffered equally. In and around ManChester they were reported to be destitute and were forced to apply for aid to the "Association for the Relief of Manufacturing 30. and Labouring Poor."

27. Hal^vy, A History of the English People, II, 9; H.G. Schenk, The Aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars (New York, 192177, pp. 67; 86,* 129. 28. Annual Register, 1816, pp. 93~h (History). 29. Halevy, A History of the English People, II, 9-10; lij. 30. Davis, Age of Grey and Peel, p. 170

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290*

II Preparations for a Working-Class Agitation, l8l6 The angry, hungry workers of 1816 were the people with whom the Radicals had to deal in their efforts to build up working-class support for their ideas.

As a result of these efforts, the unorganized,

spontaneous, and potentially revolutionary movement of the lower classes formed a coalition with a political movement which had originally been designed as a means of political reconstruction rather than as an instrument of class protest.

It was largely

due to this combination that the riots of 1816 became more than a resurgence of Luddism. It was Cobbett, Cartwright, and Hunt who tried to organize working-class unrest as a political force. Burdett at first gave his timid support but soon turned to the more congenial fellowship of V7higgism.

The

other three men, especially Cobbett and Hunt, responded to the dissatisfaction of the workers; they went into the task as Radicals of the old stripe and came out as working-class agitators.

They did not have a fixed

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concept of working-class action beforehand but rather had to improvise their ideas as they felt their way towards the rather vague ends which they had in mind.

It was like Alice in Wonderland wandering

along the tunnel into which she had tumbled in her curiosity.

Inevitably these men formed their conduct

on the lines of the eighteenth-century agitations which they had known and were therefore faced with a task for whichthey were poorly equipped; all criticism must be tempered with that thought.

Further, they had

the strength and sympathy to attempt the job of organ­ izing ' the workers and leading them - more than can be said of Burdett and Place.

Cobbett, Cartwright,

and Hunt are among the earliest leaders of the working class.

They thought of the end of their leadership as

the achievement of Parliamentary Reform, not as the total social and economic emancipation of a class. Nor did they think in terms of class conflict.

But

by their attention to the working class they helped to create without meaning to do so a class movement, class

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consciousness, and class conflict.

And while they

thought of the methods of the job in terms of the older techniques of corresponding clubs and petitions they added newer elements of mass agitation, namely mass meetings, and mass newspapers. Hunt’s Political Activities, I8l5-l6 During the year 1815 and up to the fall of lSl6 Hunt indulged increasingly in Radical activities. He seldom took the lead during this time, nor did he figure as one of the central figures of the movement as he did later, but he was sufficiently active to make his name well-known to those interested in Radical politics.

Although he was usually referred to by

newspapers as Mr. Hunt of Bristol, he had broken all his connections with the city and instead concentrated his efforts on county meetings in the west and London meetings at Westminster.

It was during this time too

that he first crossed swords with the Westminster politicians and stood strongly in opposition to their Whiggish - Benthamite ideas.

As yet, however, he held

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no distinctive position within the Radical Movement in regard to either ideas or methods.

He was following

close to the line laid down by Cobbett and Burdett and so far had not deviated to make his own creative contribution.

This was to be the work of late 1816

when he stood for universal suffrage and developed the use of mass oratory. In the first part of l8l£ Hunt became involved in the Corn Bill controversy.

The active part taken by

him against the Bill indicates the extent to which Radicalism had permeated Hunt's outlook.

His farming

activities had been curtailed of late, but nevertheless it was the only way of life he had ever known and one to which he was deeply attached.

Even in opposition to

the Bill Hunt could not bring himself to follow the conspiracy theory which stated that the farmers had joined together in a deliberate plot against the middle and lower classes.

Hunt publicly denied this assertion and

in fact claimed that many farmers besides himself were against the Bill. 1. landlords .

The blame lay instead with the grasping

1. London Times, February 2I4, l8l£.

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Despite his defense of his class, Hunt's opposition to the Bill was sincere and forthright. He attended a pro-Corn Law meeting at Warminster (Wiltshire) in January l8l5, for the purpose of creating opposition in the meeting.

The principal address by Benett,

one of the biggest landlords in the county, stressed the point that the" lower classes would benefit from the pros­ perous agriculture which would be assured by a Corn Law. Hunt attacked this proposition in his speech claiming that the saw "would prove ruinous to the little tradesmen, the mechanic, and the labourer."

He also gave figures to

show how bread and rent had risen during the war out of proportion to the small rises in wages in the parish of 2

Enford.

.

Although Hunt did hot obtain victory in his

opposition it is plain he was developing a town man's 3. point of view, one which he continued to expound in 2. The figures given by Hunt ares the rise in the wages of labor over the last thirty years, 33$; in the same period bread and rents had risen 105$ and 212$ respectively. Hunt, Memoirs, I H , 226-35* 3. H. Hunt, C o m Laws. The Evidence of John Benett [sic] Esq. of fiyt House. Given before the Committee of the House of Lords, on the Corn Bill. An Impartial Report of the Meeting of Landholders at Warminster. Mr. Benett's Letter, in Answer to that Report. Mr. Bleeck's Letter in Reply. Together with an inedited Letter from Mr. Hunt on the Subject; and a Copy of the Petition Signed by the Farmers at the Several Market Towns ~in the County of Wilts. for a Corn Bill (Salisbury, 1815), passim.

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h»

other meetings on the Corn Law. Hunt also attended county meetings during I8l5 and early l8l6, which were concerned with the income tax issue.

All the Radicals, from Burdett to

Cobbett, saw this as an unjust tax and spent no little energy in condemning it.

They differed from the Whigs,

however, in their approach to this question by attacking the tax as simply part of a heavy burden of taxation all of which should be lifted from the shoulders of the people.

To the Radicals the income tax was part

of a system which included not only other taxes but also a corrupt Parliament.

Hunt did not miss the

opportunity of getting a "kick" at the Whigs when he 5. took part in their, meetings on this issue. It was during l8l6 that Hunt began his struggle with the Westminster "Rump" (Place's committee) and the Whig influence which was attempting to gain a seat

h. Hunt, Memoirs, H I , 236-39; 2I1O-I43; Political Register,

March 11, 1815. 3. Hunt, Memoirs, III, 21(6-50; 305-8; 311-19; Political Register, February h, l8l5; February 2ii, I8165 August 31, 1816; London Times, January 25, l8l5; Examiner, August 26, 1816.

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in the constituency.

Hunt’s quarrel was ostensibly

with Brougham but actually -with Place who was backing the efforts of the 'Whigs.

Xt had been proposed to

elect Brougham instead of Cochrane after the Stock '6 .

Exchange trial.

Hunt strongly opposed such a scheme,

and at the meeting held at Palace Yard on February 23, l8l6, forced Brougham to back down publicly.

Brougham,

Lambton, and Brand attended the meeting at which there was to be a vote of thanks to the Whigs for their actions in Parliament.

After the resolution had been

seconded and while Brougham was ’’smirking, and bowing, and smiling,” Hunt rose, to a shout from the crowd, to speak.

He launched a general assault upon the Whig re­

cord, especially during the administration of Fox, now a byword of infairy to the Radicals; he raked over as many old coals as he could find.

The castigation was

so effective that before he ended his speech Brougham and the other two Whigs were seen to leave the husting, much to the great amusement of the crowd. hisses followed them.

Shouts and

The resolution in praise of the

6. Hunt, Memoirs, III, 283-95; ULoyd, Cochrane, pp. 130-1.

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Whigs was lost by a large majority in consequence of this speech. 7. face.

Not only that, but Brougham had lost

The introduction of Brougham to the electors of Westminster at this meeting was part of a scheme of Place to acouire support from the moneyed and influential 8 Whig Radicals. The incident reveals the wide gulf

.

already in existence between Hunt and Place.

An

interview of Place with Hunt in the fall of 1816 also indicates the differences in temperment and outlook of the two men.

The object of the meeting was to patch

up the quarrel of Burdett and Hunt with Place, both of whom had accused Place of being a government spy, in order to present a united front against the Whigs. Hunt evidently did not realize the part taken by Place in putting forward 3rougham nor did he understand the extent to which Place was a supporter of the dogma of such men.

r ^he latter, in a letter to Mill giving the

substance of the interview, describes Hunt as "a pretty

7. Hunt, Memoirs, III, 2 8 3 - 9 Political Register, March 2, 1816

.

8. Wallas, Place, pp. 117-195 Lloyd, Cochrane, p. 131.

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sample of an ignorant, turbulent, mischief^making fellow, a highly dangerous one in turbulent times". Hunt perhaps annoyed Place when he spoke slightingly of Mill and of the Edinburgh Review as a "damned rascally review;" when Place said he hoped it had done some good Hunt was forced to admit that he never saw the magazine.

After Place’s suggestion that Hunt

and his political friends cooperate a little more closely, Hunt put forth his way of public life; " . . . his mode of acting is to dash at good points, and to care for no one;. . . he will mix with no committee, or any party; he will act by himself;. . . he does not intend to affront an:/ one tnrt cares not who is offended." 9« Place was in fundamental antagonism to a workingclass agitation which was organized with the purpose of bettering the conditions of life of that class by their own action or as a movement designed for independent existence.

He did not favor political action by the

workers except in so far as they were led by right-thinking Benthamites - such as himself.

Those who tried to build

9. Wallas, Place, pp. 119-20.

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299 i

up a working-class movement not dominated by the middle class met only with his scorn and bitter disapproval.

The agitation carried on by Hunt and

Cobbett aimed, Place thought and correctly, at separating the workers from well-to-do politicians.

As for

Cobbett, he was "too ignorant to see that the common people must ever be imbecile . . . when not encouraged and supported by others who have money and influence."10. Despite Place's dislike of Hunt and his disappro­ bation of his conduct,

Hunt in the fall of l8l6 was

in close cooperation with the reformers of Westrainster. At a meeting in Palace Yard (September 11, 1816) Hunt took a coextensive part with that of Burdett and Cochrane. Unfortunately, the good humor of the occasion was slightly soured by someone shouting, "A country clown, just come to town, Yvho lives in a cottage not gay - -"

11.

The speaker was at that point abruptly silenced.

10. Ibid., p. 117. 11. Examiner, September 16, 1816; Political Register, September 21, 1816.

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Cobbett and the Working Class, Fall 1816. "While Hunt was learning the qualities of an effective platform style and something of the nature of political forces, Cobbett was also developing a technique of mass agitation.

In the fall of l8l6

Cobbett contributed the cheap.newspaper to the Radical Movement and in so doing he laid the groundwork for a widely circulated propaganda publication.

The

"Twopenny Trash" was the prototype of later workingciass newspapers. With the coming of peace Cobbett had seen the possibility of a revived Radical Movement.

He still,

however, thought in terms of an appeal to all classes, the Church, Squires, and even to fundholders.

The

workers entered into his view.of things simply as the 12 group suffering from the misdeeds of the government.

.

During l8l6, the great change took place in Cobbett's outlook which brought him to direct his message to the workers in exclusion to other classes in society.

12. Cole, Cobbett, p. l86j 197-201.

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His increasing despair of the upper class, its obvious unwillingness to be converted to goodness, led him to turn to those ivho suffered most and who were more responsive.

This shift took place in the months of 13. October and November, the months during which the

workers of the North were forming Hampden Clubs as the basis for a political agitation.

In November he

published his famous "Address to the Journeymen and Labourers" and the twopenny Political Register. The workers were already buying the Register at its high price of Is. O^d. through the means of group subscription, but this was not yet a mass audience.

It was Cochrane

who solved the problem of how to get the Register into as many hands as possible t»y suggesting the cheap Register which would be devoid of news and simply contain Cobbett’s statement of the case for Reform.

The cheap

edition soon became a permanent feature which continued along with the old Political Register. The circulation of the twopenny edition was high; forty to fifty thousand

13. Davis, Age of Grey and Peel, p. 1?5»

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copies were sold per week, more than any other periodical of that time.

By the end of 181? two

hundred thousand copies of the "Address” had been sold. During these months Cobbett constantly emphasized to the workers the paramount necessity of achieving reform and of putting their full strength behind a campaign for it.

There could be no redress of evils,

economic or otherwise, without itj if nothing else it would'make nossible a raising of wages by the lowering Ilf. of taxes. However, Cobbett never stressed the amount of reform which was desirable.

Although Hunt

converted him to universal suffrage in November 1816,

.

15

Cobbett always considered the issue of Reform as more important than the extent to be demanded, a stand which weakened his position as a leader of the workers.

111. Political Register, October 12, l8l6. 15. So Halivy thinks. See A History of the English People, II, 15. Cole in his CobbettJ p. 20ij, claims that it was Cartwright who influenced Cobbett to make this change. But Cartwright at this time was committed to a compromise with Burdett and in fact was distributing printed petitions asking for household suffrage. It is also worthy of note that Cobbett declared for universal suffrage- on November 23 on November 29 Hunt advocated it at Common Hall and at Spa Fields on December 2.

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•The Founding of the Provincial Hampden Clubs, Fall I8l6. It was also in late 1816 that the workers were taking matters into their own hands.

The Hampden Club in

London which had been fojnded by Cartwright had long been stagnant despite the Major's efforts to stir it into action.

At this time, however, northern England

took up the name Hampden Club and gave it meaning and life.

It is in the North that the endeavors of various

Radicals come together in the fall of 1816 to establish a working-class movement. The organization of the Clubs began in October I8l6. In large measure it was a spontaneous expression of the discontent of the lower classes of the North.

After

Cartwright's tour of 1813, none of the Radicals had ventured into the region.

The Major's recommendation

in the summer of 1816 that popular societies with nominal 16. fees be established was more in the nature of an exhortation made from London than a personal effort to organize such clubs.

Even the Palace Yard meeting of

16. H.W.C. Davis, "Lancashire Reformers," John Rylands Libraxy Bulletin, X, (1926), p. £l.

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September 11, 1816, -which proved to be the moving force in bringing about the formation of the Clubs, impresses one as advice and a promise shouted from a distance.

This meeting did, however, give the

necessary nudge, for Cochrane and Burdett both asked that each county and unrepresented area prepare petitions to be sent to Parliament upon its convocation in early 1817.

Each group of petitioners should appoint 17. deputies to bring these petitions to London. It

was from these suggestions that the implications of organization were derived, for clubs were necessary to organize petitioning activity and to help present the petitions to Parliament.

The plan was also backed by

Hunt at the first Spa Fields meeting and in that way '18. received increased impetus. Burdett as the official head of the parent Hampden Club in London at first tried to achieve control of the movement in the North by his November .2 proposal for a mock reform bill which would be discussed by a London convention of the Hampden Clubs.

In fact,

17. Political Register, September 21, 1816. 18. Davis, “Lancashire Reformers," p. 66*

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however, he was rapidly losing what influence he had 19. with the workers. Cobbett and Hunt were at this time becoming the heroes of the North and it was the support given by the latter at the second Spa Fields meetirrg that made Burdett's ■proposal of November 2 20. popular in that area. Both men vrere now directing their efforts specifically at the working class and were putting forth a working-class program.

Burdett

at this time, November-December, was also directing himself to the workers but with a different resultj he emerged from the struggle for control disgusted by what he had seen and by what he thought the future of the movement was to be.

By January 1817, he was

moving rapidly towards a more conservative, safe, middle-class position. The appeal of

Burdett

and Cochrane for a campaign

of petitioning brought an immediate response in the North although other areas also took part in the movement.

Hampden Clubs were organized not only in

19. Hal^vy, A History of the English People, II, 15$ Davis, "Lancashire Reformers," p. . 20. Ibid.

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large cities but also in the small factory towns where local groups of workers put whatever spare time they had to a political purpose.

The fees

2l.

were Id. per week,

within the reach of almost all

of the working class. Lancashire led the way in the formation of these clubs.

The first to be founded was at Oldham on

September 23, 1816, at a public meeting.

Other laborers

in other parts of the industrial North soon followed this example.

The Middleton Union Society, with the

literary Samuel Bamford as its secretary and leading spirit, was organized on October 19: the Manchester Constitutional Society on October 28.

This Club rapidly

became the leading organization of the area and attracted the most attention not only from the local authorities but from the workers themselves.

The purpose of the

club was declared to be the political education of the people, and for that purpose the Id. subscription fee was to be used to print and purchase political literature.

21. Halevy, A History of the English People, II, 13$ London Times, October 31, l8l6j November 1, l8l6.

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In this way the function of propaganda was added to that of petitioning^ action and education, were to be joined.

Most of the clubs found their efforts at

propaganda restricted, however, by their lack of funds, a constant source of weakness in other fields as well. All.of the clubs, including the Manchester Constitutional Society, considered themselves committed to the advice of the parent Hampden Club in London.

Furthermore in order to make possible

common action between the clubs of Lancashire frequent conventions were held on matters of policy and tactics. In this way a measure of unity was achieved. October was a busy month not only in Lancashire, for outside that county public meetings were held to establish other Hampden Clubs.

Sheffield, Birmingham,

Leicester, Nottingham were the other main centers of activity^ from these organizations political missionaries were sent to establish other clubs.

The group organized

at Birmingham presents an interesting case of evolution towards an increasingly Radical position.

At first it

was dominated and run by the middle-class elements of

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the town, but it soon came under the more Radical sway of the working class. At Leeds the same type of 22 development occurred. In general the activity to

.

establish Hampden Clubs in the North had little relationship with earlier reform movements in the area, such as that which brought about the .Manchester Constitutional Society of 1790-93.

This was a

workers effort; there was no connection with the middle class which held aloof from the whole proceeding. The type of worker most often represented in the movement were cotton manufacturers (factory workers), painters, shoemakers, stone cutters, weavers, hatters, tailors, drapers and especially the weaver and journey 23. > machine worker. Most of those taking part in the activities of the clubs were hand workers, the men who suffered most from industrial depression and also the best educated group among the lower classes.

2k.

They came mostly from the countryside; this was

22. Davis, Age of Grey and Peel, pp.177-80; Davis, "Lancash Reformers,11 pp.fj2;67-8; London Times, October 28, 1816; October 30, I8l6; November 1 , l8l6. 23. Bamford, Passages in the Life of a Radical, p.8; Davis, "Lancashire Reformers", p.6BT 2k. Ibid., p.68.

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especially true of the weavers in Lancashire who lived in villages close to but distinct from the new industrial sections of Manchester.

At the meeting of

the Manchester Constitutional Society mentioned above most of the crowd had gathered from the country areas to hear the speeches.

This is not to say that the

factory classes of the North did not support the clubs for the meeting of the Manchester Constitutional Society held in the debating room which they hired attracted many of the unemployed and those factory workers still at work, the latter coming to hear the talk after their day's work was done.

The Cotton Unions and

the Luddites also participated in the clubs, the former 26. not as a corporate body but as individuals. Many of the meetings of these clubs were public debates at which such questions would be discussed as "TShat is Meant by a Constitutional Reform in the Commons House of Parliament and Uhat are the Benefits

25. Ibid., p. 1|9; 67-8. 26. Ibid., pp. I485 52-31 7 h ‘ , ^’earmouth, Methodism and the ^forking Classes, p. 33.

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27.

Likely to Result Therefrom?”

The scene at such a

debate is well described by Bamford.

The meetings

. . would generally be found in a large room, an elevated seat being placed for the chairman. On first opening the door, the place seemed dimmed by a suffocating vapour of .... tobacco, curling from the cups of long pipes, and issuing from the mouths of the smokers, in clouds of abominable odour . . . . Every man would have his half-pint of porter before him; many would be speaking at once, and the hum and confusion would be such as gave an idea of there being more talkers than thinkers -— more speakers than listeners. Presently ‘order1 would be called, and comparative silence would ensue; a speaker, stranger or citizen, would be announced with much courtesy and compli­ ment. 'Hear, hear, hear' would follow, with clapping of hands, and knocking of knuckles on the tables till the half­ pints danced; then a speech; with compliments to some brother orator or popular statesman; next a resolution in favour of parliamentary reform, and a speech to second it; an amendment on some minor point would follow; a seconding of that; a breach of order by some indi­ vidual of warm temperament; half a dozen would rise to set him right; a dozen to put them down; and the vociferation and gesticulation would become loud and confounding.” 28.

27. Davis, "Lancashire Reformers”, p. 66. 28. Bamford, Passages in the Life of a Radical, p. 20.

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Some of the more affluent clubs rented buildings,, in . which to meet; the Middleton Club hired for this purpose a disused Methodist chapel which they then threw open to religious worship of all denominations and where the club held its meeting on Monday and 29. Saturday of each week. A Delegate Meeting of the Clubs held on January 1,

1817, took a decisive stand on the question of reform, and especially suffrage, in opposition to that which Burdett, 30. Cartwright and the parent Hampden Club were taking. Cartwright had been supplying the clubs of the North with copies of a petition which were to be signed by all the members.

It prayed for the extension of suffrage to

all who paid direct taxes and was the form often used by the clubs in drawing up the petitions which they were to 31. take to London. Hunt’s Spa Fields meeting, however, had held up before the workers a new standard and a new goal, universal S'affrage.

The Delegate Meeting of January

29. Ibid.. p. 7. 30. Halevy, A History of the English People, II, 31. Hunt, Memoirs, III, 2409-10.

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312.

passed resolutions declaring for universal suffrage, (the right to vote to be extended to all those of eighteen years of age), annual parliaments and equal 32. constituencies. The ballot was omitted. It was this expression of opinion which set the stage for the conflict which later emerged.at the Hampden Club conference held at London in January 1817. While the organization of the clubs had been taking place and discussions were being held on issues, public meetings were not neglected.

In the fall of 1816

there were meetings held in the Worth at Bolton, which was attended by seven to eight thousand, Nottingham, Paisley, Wigan, and Liverpool.

The largest meeting,

however, was t hat which took place at Glasgow where forty thousand met to hear demands for retrenchment, 33. annual parliaments, and Radical Reform.

32. Bamford, Passages in the Life of a Radical, pp. 9-10. 33. Jephson, Platform, I, 377-82$ London Times, November I 8l 6.

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313 I,

111

The First Spa Fields Meeting; November l£, 1816 The first and second Spa Fields meetings grew out of an attempt by a group of Spenceans to spread their propaganda among the poor and unemployed of London.

Hunt was asked to speak at their meeting, but

by his refusal to adopt their program and resolutions

he converted the meetings into Radical assemblies, not, however, without riotous countermeasures by the leaders of the Spencean group. Thomas Spence, the father of this group of extreme radical thinkers, has been called the first British 1. Socialist for his doctrines of land nationalization. His first pamphlet appeared in 1775*

^he ideas which

he advocated, including republicanism, brought about his imprisonment by the government.

Cantankerous, 2

.

naive, fanatic, sincere, .and single-minded, he thoroughly believed in the eighteenth-century doctrine of the perfectablity of mankind.

1 . Somervell, English Thought in the Nineteenth Century, p. 203; M. Beer, A History of British Socialism (London, 19^0), Part H , ch. II. 2 . "Wallas, Place, pp. 61-2.

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Spence died in lSlit but a small group of disciples carried on his work of conversion with the Society of Spencean Philanthropists.

It was the members of this

group which later became responsible for the Cato Street conspiracy aimed at the lives of His Majesty’s Government.

In I8l 6 the Society was under the leadership

of Arthur Thistlewood, Dr. Watson and his son, and Thomas Preston.

The elder Watson had at one time been

a 11surgeon" and had had some measure of financial success.

He and Thistlewood both were a type of one

time genteel individual.

Preston, the secretary of

the Society, belonged to the working class. In the fall of 1816 the Spenceans decided to call a meeting of the distressed artisans and manufacturers of iondon to petition the Prince.Regent for relief. Hunt's rise in London Radical politics made it natural for them to pick him as well as other Radicals for their speakers-.

bringing them to the meeting it was hoped

to make the meeting more respectable and less dangerous in the eyes of the government.

Early in September Hunt

received a letter from Thistlewood asking him to call when he came to London, but inquiries about the writer

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were unfavorable to his character, and Hunt did nothing about the invitation.

In the beginning of

November Hunt received another letter this time from Preston asking him to speak at the meeting which was to be held on Monday, November 15*

Not knowing the

connection between the two men and after satisfying himself that the object of the meeting was simply to petition the Prince Regent, Hunt accepted the offer. Cartwright, Burdett, and Cobbett had also been asked to speak and had refused; Cobbett warned Hunt against appearing but in such vague terms that Hunt was not deterred.

Cobbett did agree to help Hunt draw up the

resolutions to be presented. . Arriving in London on the Saturday before the meeting was to be held, Hunt sought out Preston and found instead Thistlewood and Watson who introduced themselves as the real leaders of the committee which had called the meeting.

Up to this time Hunt had not

realized what group it.was he was dealing with. He was soon enlightened.

Asking to see the reso­

lutions prepared by Thistlewood and Watson, he found

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that they contained not only statements of Spencean principles hut enough treasonable matter to put them all in jail.

Hunt told the two men that nothing more

than the ’’holding of the meeting, to carry the scheme into execution, was required to make all that were concerned in it liable at least to be indicted for high treason.”

Xn addition to expressing their extreme

views the two men had planned to march the meeting in a body" to Carlton House and force an audience with the Prince. Regent. with Hunt as to

After some discussion they agreed

the treasonable aspects and accepted

his resolutions pointing out the distress of the 3. country and declaring the necessity for reform. Once the arrangements had been agreed upon between Hunt and the Spenceans placards were distributed throughout Eondon to announce the meeting.

It was

advertised as a "meeting of manufacturers, artisans, etc.” to consider a petition to the Prince Regent on the distressed state of the country.

The poster was

3. Hunt, Memoirs, III, 327-3b •

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effective, for five to six thousand persons appeared who were ready to stand in a cold wind to hear denounced the wrongs done them. At 12:30 on Monday, November l£, a hackney coach was driven into Spa Fields from the windows of which the Reverend Mr. Parkes, a Radical from la. ‘ Westminster and a friend of Cartwright, spoke to the crowd.

He asked them tobe tranojiil but also,

in the contradictory style so often assumed "“by Radicals, warned them to be bold.

In the meantime Watson had

come to Hunt's lodgings to copy the resolutions agreed upon by Cobbett and Hunt,

This occasioned some delay

but a message that the crowd was becoming impatient brought a quick end to the business.

The Doctor and

Hunt immediately drove to the meeting place where they were greeted with loud shouts.

The Spenceans let

fly from Hunt's carriage the tri-color flag topped by a cap of liberty as their part of the demonstration. Hunt found no hustings set up from which to speakj he tried to talk from the top of his carriage, but the

1|* -Examiner, September 16, l8l 6; November 18, 1816.

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wind was too strong and the party therefore adjourned to Merlin's Cave, a nearby-‘‘'public house.

Here he

found numerous reporters, policemen, and politicians gathered to watch his performance.

A window was

opened, and he presented himself to the crowd. Hunt spoke for over an hour; except for a brief introductory speech and seconding speeches he had the meeting to himself. There was no one else of any standing whom the crowd recognized.

This was an

opportunity for eloquence and showmanship such as he dearly loved.

It can be said with no exaggeration

that most of London and much of England were waiting for this speech, for the newspapers had been telling their readers for several days previously about the meeting and had been predicting dire effects from it. Among some perhaps the spectacle offered amusement, but there were also stronger currents of feeling at work.

Pear and hope, hate and admiration, were the

emotions which centered on the figure standing in the open window.

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Hunt opened his speech with a bitter attack on the Whigs who absented themselves from such meetings and who preferred to meet only with themselves rather than the people.

The Whigs, especially those of

London, were wolves in sheep's clothing.

They tried

to persuade the people that they were their friends, but where were they? "On the present occasion where were all {their] pretended friends? What had • become of ’all the .great . . . patriots, that the distressed population of the metropolis had been obliged to send 100 miles for him to preside at their delib­ erations?" The Whig party, he told his listeners in no uncertain terms, had failed the people.

As part of this casti­

gation, he charged the London Hampden Club with having done nothing to further the cause of reform besides having Burdett and Cartwright as ..members. on to point the

But he went

out that there was agroup ready to lead

people; Cartwright, Burdett, and Cobbett all

deserved confidence, and he specifically recommended a reading of Cobbett1s Address to Journeymen and Labourers,

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320.

Hunt spent most of his time, however, orf the distresses of the people and the remedy.

He cataloged

the sums spent on the Civil List, the Church, and Arn^y, and read a list of those who held some of the 5. largest sinecures. Here was the cause of distress, for distress was not due to the indolence of the people but to want of employment.

And,

'•what was the cause of want of employ­ ment? — Taxation. "What was the cause of taxation? - Corruption." It was as simple as that. Corruption was the enemy, and it was not only the poor who suffered from it; all the ranks of society felt its crushing-burden, those who wore good coats as well as those without coats.

That being the case these

two classes, the middle class and the workers, "ought to be the support of each other$ but how could [the man "with the good coat] find employment for the poor, if all his means were exhausted by taxation?" It did no good to blame and steal from the tradesmen, the baker, the butcherj they were only victims just as 5. It was later falsely said that included in this list was the sinecure held by Lady Oxford, Burdett’s mistress. Patterson, Burdett and His Times, II, Ifllw

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the poor were* What could be done to remove the weight pressing upon the uncorrupted part of the nation?

The answer

lay in the reform of Parliament, for none oJTthe miseries of taxation would have occurred if the people had been represented properly.

"It was the duty of

every Englishman to petition for a reform in Parliament." However, the process of petitioning should be peaceful: Hunt spent a good part of his speech urging the superiority of mental over physical force.

It would be an act

of injustice as well as folly to resort to the latter while the people still had the power of the former. Order is the only means of obtaining a redress of grievances.

There were two enemies of Reform;

"One class who preferred open hostility, because they were the immediate offspring of corruption; another, more insidious, who called themselves friends, and came there to the meeting for the purpose of creating some ridiculous disturbance, which might serve as a pretence for calling out the military." Cental force must be the only resort of the people.

If

it ever proved Ineffective, Hunt would not be found

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holding back but that time was not yet.

This meeting

was called for a constitutional purpose3 it would not end in a riot. Hunt concluded his speech by moving the resolutions which were seconded by Dr. Watson.

These stated that

the country was in a state of unparalleled distress, the cause of which was taxation which took away from the farmer, manufacturer, and tradesmen the means of maintaining their families and affording decent wages and employment.

The cause of this taxation was a corrupt

Parliament spending money on an unjust war, the Army, and sinecures, and the sole cause of the corrupt Parlia-. ment was the lack of representation for the people.

It

was also resolved that a petition be sent to the Prince Regent asking him to call Parliament immediately in order that it might under his direction abolish sinecures and other expenditures and reform Parliament.

Other

resolutions were added calling upon Durdett and Hunt together to take the petition of the meeting to the Prince Regent and calling upon Burdett with the aid of Cartwright to prepare a reform bill which should then be

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presented to Parliament.

It was also decided that

the meeting should adjourn for a fortnight and a

reassemble at the same hour to hear the answer of the Prince Regent.

Finally it was resolved that

when the second meeting met the agitation for reform should be carried on all through England. "Resolved 10th, That our fellowcountrymen of Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Leicester, Glasgow, Paisley, and of every city, Town, and populous place in the United Kingdom, are hereby invited, and requested by 'this meeting to assemble and meet on the same day, at the same hour, and for the SAME PURPOSE."" * The petition finally drawn up embodied the above requests with the additional plea that the Prince Regent contribute funds from the Civil List to be used for

6.

immediate relief. This was Hunt’s greatest effort up to this period of his Radical career and the beginning of his nation wide fame as an orator.

A description by

Bamford of Hunt at about this time gives an excellent

6 . This account of the meeting has been drawn from Hunt, Memoirs, III, 33h-h3; Examiner, November 18, l8l6; London Times, November 16, l8l6.

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picture of him as a person and speaker. '•Of Mr. Hunt I had imbibed a high opinion; and his first appearance did not diminish my expectations. He was gentlemanly in his manner and attire5 six feet and better in height, and extremely well formed. He was. dressed in a blue lapelled coat, light waist­ coat and kerseys, and topped boots; his leg and foot were about the firmest and neatest I ewer saw. He wore his own hair; it was in moderate quantity, and a little grey. His features were regular, and there was a kind of youthful blandness about them, which, in amicable discussion, gave his face a most agree­ able expression. His lips were delicately thin, and receding; but there was a dumb utterance about them "which in all the portraits I have seen in him was never truly copied. His eyes were blue or light grey - not very clear, nor quick, but rather heavy; except as I afterwards had opportunities for observing, when he was excited in speaking; at which times they seemed to distend and protrude; and if he worked himself furious, as he sometimes would, they became blood-streaked, and almost started from their sockets. Then it was that the expression of lip was to be observed — the kind smile was exchanged for the curl of scorn, or the curse of indignation. His voice was bellowing; his face swollen and flushed; his griped hand beat as if it were to pulverize; and his whole manner gave token of a painful energy, struggling for utterance.” 7.

7. Bamford, Fassages in the Life of a Radical, pp. 13-lIt.

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Despite Hunt’s plea for mental force and his expectation that this meeting would not end in a riot, the meeting did result in petty mob action. The audience had conducted themselves in good order and as darkness fell most of them quietly went their way, some drawing Hunt's carriage to his inn.

But

others, young men and boys mostly, collected together and putting a loaf of bread on the top of a pole proceeded to the west end of town.

Passing up the

Strand, they began to take bread from the shops of bakers and meat from butchersi broken windows marked their path.

Bow Street officers soon arrived and a

melee resulted in which some of the officers got themselves badly bruised.

But the police soon managed

to get the upper hand and the mob eventually was dispersedj by 9:00 p.m. all was quiet although the military was in attendance in various parts of the 8 town.

.

This could hardly be termed revolutionary activity even by the then ruling powers of England.

Yet the

8. Examiner, November 18, 1816.

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government had in fact been prepared for an uprising. On the Friday before the meeting several troops of the regular Army had been brought into the city and through­ out the day of the meeting every magistrate was at his post in readiness for trouble.

The Bow Street patrol

in considerable strength had been alerted for the occasion and were ready for any call. All the city officers and constables tinder the Lord Mayor were -warned 9*. of the possible need for their services. Provincial unrest had brought the authorities to a pitch of expectation and dread, and they were determined that London at least would be ready for a crises of disaffection. Hunt and Burdett Split over Spa Fields Hunt now was faced with the responsibility of presenting the petition to the Prince Regent with the aid of Burdett.

The failure of the Baronet to join

Hunt in this act brought at this t ime a break between the two men which was never healed and which was the prelude to a breaking up of the hitherto solid Westminster Radical party into two distinct factions, the one

9. Ibid.

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representing -working-class Radicalism led by Cobbett and Hunt; the other middle-class Radicalism led, in Westminster at least, by Burdett and Place. Cartwright moved uneasily between the two, his heart with the one and his sense of expediency with the other.

The one centers increasingly on northern

England; the other in London.

The conflict between the

two is bitter and intense and at times degenerates into mere name calling or factionalism in the true eighteenth-century meaning of the word.

But the stuff

of class conflict is there,.even though at times unperceived by the participants in the quarrel and at best only dimly seen by both sides.

The Westminster

Radical alliance had always been tempermentally fragile; hotheaded Cobbett and Hunt did not mix easily with the cool minds of Burdett and Place.

But the alliance was

now broken on ideological grounds which in turn represented the Two Nations of Disraeli and the economic and social facts of early nineteenth-century Britain. It was the new factory class of workers with its insistent call for help which made this split.

Hunt and Cobbett

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328.

turned their eyes to this group while Burdett and Place went to the aid of the middle class now calling at the gates of privilege.

Burdett*s

scorn for Spa Fields and other manifestation of working-class unrest marks the beginnings of a working-class political movement in England distinct from other political movements; it is his rejection of the working class which turns Cobbett and Hunt against the middle class and throws them into the arms of the laborers. Hunt wrote to Burdett, who was staying at Brighton, soon after the meeting telling him of the meeting and enclosing the petition which the two men were asked to present to the Prince Regent.

He received a curt reply;

"Sir, I have not received any authentic account of the petition which you mention. I therefore can come to no determination respecting it. But this I am determined, not to

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be made a cat’s-paw of, and not to insult the Prince Regent. I remain, Sir, Your most obedient humble servent Francis Burdett.” 10. Hunt immediately flared up in anger upon reading this communication; he considered it to be a direct insult and was disposed to resent it as such. saner counsel prevailed.

However,

Cobbett and Cartwright, to

both of whom Hunt showed the letter, calmed him and got him to "pocket the insult".

They also tried to

patch the quarrel by making efforts to bring Burdett back to London to present the petition.

Cartwright

even travelled to Brighton in an effort to get Burdett to cooperate but with no success.

The Baronet would

i;

have nothing to do with Hunt because he had privately ■ avowed universal suffrage; Burdett would not go beyond household suffrage.

Efforts were then made to have

Hunt give up his stand on universal suffrage, but this

10. H. Hunt, The Green Bag Plot; being a Detailed Account of Some of the Transactions Which~^ook Place Previous and “Which Ultimately Led to the Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act; Including an Extract from the Green Bag Purporting to be A Memorandum Relative to the Origin of the Conspiracy at Pentridge in Derbyshire “Which Ended in a Special Commission and the Execution of Brandreth, Turner, and Ludlam (Lbndon, 1819),pTTjT

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11. he refused to do.

Despite this clear cut though

private break between Burdett and Hunt, Cobbett and Cartwright refused to take sides at this time.

They

needed Burdett1s support for their petitioning .scheme and could not bring themselves to forego it.

It

would not be long, however, before Cobbett would 12 publicly denounce Burdett.

.

In the matter of the Spa Fields petition then Hunt had to go it alone.

After he received Burdett*s

_refusal, Hunt went to the residence of the Prince Regent where he was told that the next levee, the first opportunity of being introduced to the Prince Regent and of putting the petition into his hands, was three weeks away.

Since that was too long to wait,

the second Spa Fields meeting having been called for two weeks after the first, Hunt had to present the petition through Sidmouth, who promised to send it on to the Prince Regent.

The Home Secretary was evidently

11. Ibid., pp. h~S. 12. Hunt, Memoirs, III, 35li-5j Patterson, Burdett and His Times, II, iq5«

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relieved by Hunt's part in the meetings, for he had received a copy of the original proposals of Watson and company and had expected something worse than merely a denunciation of corruption. Hunt received no reply from the Prince Regent which he could take back to the meeting, for he was informed by Sidmouth that the Prince never replied to petitions.

However, a four thousand pound contribution

by the Prince to the Spitalfield's Soup Committee resulted from the petition's plea for immediate relief and a regular campaign was started to bring in further contributions from the wealthy as insurance against' riot and revolt.

Hunt naively considers this accomplish­

ment as doing "infinite good", for until this meeting had been held "the general overwhelming distress was 1;

little known, and less regarded, by the opulent : and powerful, who alone had the means of relieving it." It would be more to the point to say that the meeting shocked the upper classes into a sense of the social dangers which would threaten their position unless

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332,

13. distress was eased. Hunt Debates Universal Suffrage Between the first and second Spa Fields meetings Hunt attended a meeting of the Common Hall (November 29, l8l6) at which he stood forward as a resolute champion of universal suffrage in. opposition to those advocating a less complete change.

Here we have the distinction

between Radical Reformers and Moderate Reformers clearly defined.

The first believed that reform should

embrace all the people in order that their burdens 'I,

might be eased $ the latter that reform was simplyia means of ensuring the restoration of the proper balance between Parliament and the Government.

Inis

would be achieved ty the end of corruption; no sweeping changes were necessary.

This meeting shows Hunt moving

into more decided opposition to middle-class and 'Whig reformers. The meeting had been called originally by Liverymen favorable to Hunt's cause and resolutions proposing universal^ suffrage as the proper basis for reform were

13- Hunt5 Memoirs, III, 3^6-8 ; '357-63; ii52; London Times, November 22, 1816.

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put forward by one of his supporters.

Hunt rose to

speak amidst considerable applause when he seconded the proposed resolutions.

In his speech he lashed at

those who advocated moderate reform and claimed that it was now necessary to. draw a sharp line between the real and sham friends of reform. It was Waithman, the leader of the Whig-Radical faction in the City, who answered Hunt.

He considered

that the question of the extent of suffrage was one of the "minor and less essential details" of the reform program.

Men should not vilify each other over such

petty details but rather cooperate in the same cause. Such sweet reasonableness, however, did not prevent "Waithman from defending Moderate Reformers.

They, he

claimed, were the people who care not about the extent of 'suffrage or the length of Parliaments but only about the need to establish a constitutional check on the government by a change in representation. Hunt's resolutions were eventually voted down in the midst of great turmoil. 'But the debate is the thing. It is important for its lucid expression of the difference

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between the two groups of Reformers, between workinglit. class and middle-class Radicalism. The Second Spa Fields Meeting;. December 10, 1816. The first Spa Fields meeting had gone well 5 the crowd was large and there had been no incident of suf­ ficient importance to justify the fears of the govern­ ment.

The second meeting, through no fault of Hunt,

was destined to go down in history as an attempt at revolution and as the first of a series of incidents which frightened the government into repression.

It was also

this meeting which turned the middle class against Cobbett and Hunt and their brand of Radicalism.

Hunt

may have not had any responsibility for the riots which occurred before the meeting took place, but in the minds of Englishmen he was the principal speaker at the meeting arranged by those who attempted the revolt, and he was making himself the spokesman for the lower classes; he was therefore^ identified with the forces undermining property and the constitution.

lit. London Times. November 30, 1816.

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More than that, as a working-class agitator he was to his own day responsible to some: degree for riots by the workers even if he could not be held strictly accountable for specific actions.

Hunt might speak

honeyed words about the men in "good coats”, but he .15 . could no longer catch their ear. By the public reaction against this meeting Hunt found himself, along with Cobbett, cast willy-niily into the role of a working-class leader. In actual fact Hunt's part in the second Spa Fields meeting varied but little from the firsts the riots were solely the work of the little group of Spenceans.

Hunt avoided Watson and Thistlewood

during the days previous to the meeting although they tried to see him.. He even left London, where he was staying at the time, for the purpose of keeping out of their way.

Although he certainly knew the type

of person they were and the general trend of their ideas, he was ignorant of any specific plans they

15. Halevy, A History of the English People, II, 18-19.

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may have had.

His anxiety to elude their company

also suggests that he may have had suspicions and preferred to remain ignorant about their schemes, hoping to escape implication in them by refusing contact with the group.

At any rate he drove into

London alone in his tandem about noon of the day of the meeting.

As he was passing down Cheapside, he

saw a crowd moving away from the meeting place.

In-

quiring as to what was happening, he heard that young Batson had gotten control of the Tower of 16. London and that the crowd was going there. What actually happened was this.

xhe Watsons

and thistlewood had gone to Spa Fields about 11:00 a.m. where they spoke to part of the crowd already gathered from one corner of the field.

Waving tri-colored

flags, they told their small audience that the Prince Hegent had failed to come to their aid and asked those who were ready to take action to follow them.

About

forty persons took up the challenge and marched off to

16. Hunt, Memoirs, III, 365-67.

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the City behind their leaders.

This little band

was soon augmented by a crowd of distressed sailors. Reaching a gunsmith's shop, the group began to plunder it and when a bystander protested, he was seriously wounded by a shot fired evidently by the younger Watson. The crowd then moved on the City firing their guns in good holiday style as they passed along the streets.

Coining to the Royal Exchange which they

entered, a large part of the group was taken captive by the simple procedure of closing the gates; here several men were seized by the police.

That part of

the mob outside the gates tried to break in to rescue their comrades and failing that shot over and under the gates until the arrival of troops sent them scattering.

Another part of the mob had more ambitious

plans; they had marched to the Tower where Thistlewood demanded its surrender by the soldiers guarding it. In the evening Dr. Watson and Thistlewood were both captured as they were trying to escape into the country.

The younger Watson was at large for several

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months while the newspapers provided the British public with many chilling rumors as to his where17. abouts. Eventually >ie too was captured. It is obvioiis that the mob was never in control of the Gitv and that their attempted revolt, if it can be dignified with such a term, never threatened to be successful; it was a riot of hungry men led by a few fanatics.

But once again London was prepared

for something much worse.

There had been regular

soldiers of horse and foot in readiness; after the riots, the horses paraded the city all night to ensure quiet.

The Bank and East India House had been

specially provided with forces large enough to repel attacks while the City Militia kept watch on the Exchange.

Special constables had also been sworn

into service, in one ward more than half the house­ holders.

Throughout the City several thousand special

constables were created, including all the members of 18. Lloyds and the Stock Exchange.

17. Ibid., pp.369-7h> 396', Annual Register, I8l6, pp.190-191; 200 (Chronicle); London Times, December 3» 1816, December 1}, l8l6, December 3, l8l6 . 18. Ibid., December 3, l8l6 .

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In the meantime Hunt was talking to the crowd

•

at Spa Fields most of whom had stayed and which numbered over ten thousand.

Again he spoke from the

window of Merlin’s Cave, a sinister sounding name which, smacking as it did of the forces of black magic, was enough in itself to strike terror in the hearts of the wellborn.

Hunt first told of his

efforts to see the Prince Regent$ he was very kind about Burdett and only mentioned the obvious fact that he had been unable to come to town.

He also

informed his audience that no answer could be expected from the Prince Regent since he never answered petitions.

What should be done now?

give 'up their efforts?

No.

Should they

Hunt’s suggestion for

further action was more resolutions and a petition to the House of Commons. Before he came to the resolutions, however, he attacked the idea that charity would solve the workers troubles.

He was proud that the last meeting had

resulted in a four thousand pound contribution from

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the Prince Regent, (although Hunt felt; that he certainly could have given more), and the campaign for funds for the Spitalfield's Soup Committee. But Englishmen did not want charity; they wanted to work for what they got; they wanted not soup but their rights. of violence.

But once again he condemned the use The only way for the workers to g et

their rights was by the workers’ petition. The resolutions included this condemnation of charity as an insulting and ineffective attempt to remedy distress as wrell as a statement that general reform was necessary.

Such reform should give every

man of full age the vote and should include provisions for annual parliaments and "perhaps” the ballot. The resolutions also stated that there was no hope except in a\ general reform.

All of these points were

to be put into the form of a petitiomnhich was to be presented to the House of Commons. After the passing of these resolutions, the question arose as to who was to present the petition in the House of Commons-

Hunt suggested Cochrane, who

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would soon be out of prison.

But someone in the

crowd brought forward the name of Burdett.

?his

must have rankled Hunt although he showed no evidence of displeasurej there was some opposition to the plan of including Burdett, but Hunt took no part in the discussion.

Eventually it was voted that Burdett

was to present the petition along with Cochrane, and Hunt declared that the decision gave him sincere satisfaction.

He was no doubt glad to have the

prestige of Burdett1s name linked with the meeting whether the Baronet wanted it so or not. The meeting then adjourned until the second Monday after the meeting of Parliament\

Burdett and

Cochrane were both to be invited to attend this meeting,

^he crowd broke up peacefully, part of it

following Hunt as he rode his favorite horse, Bob, to his inn.

When they arrived, Hunt stood in his stirrups

and asked the.people about him to do him one favor, disperse immediately and return to their homes. 19. they did. /

n

Which

-

19. Hunt, Memoirs, III, 367—9j London Times, December 3. 1816

.

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Spa Fields and the North In the north of England great expectations had been aroused among the-workers by these meetings. The working class of that area saw in Spa Fields a great event, -a meeting of their brethern led by one of the members of the group to which they were increasingly giving allegiance.

The importance of

the Spa Fields meetings to the North was threefold. First, they increased the hold of London Radicals on the northern Reform Movement, already strong by reason of the Hampden Clubs.

In this connection it

must be remembered that although Burdett. had privately disclaimed any connection with the meetings he was nevertheless publicly identified with them.

The

meetings also aroused hopes, and fears, that "something" was going to happen as a result; some event, some kind of action, it was thought would occur.

Just

what it. would be no one seemed to know, but there was the excitement of anticipation in the air.

Finally

Hunt's stand for universal suffrage at the second Spa Fields meeting increased the demand for that particular pancea.

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Hunt's attendance at Spa Fields made it the first of the great mass meetings held by the Radicals since the end of the war.

It was not a Westminster

meeting, but rather a gathering for all the workers of London held for the purpose of communicating directly with them and which attempted to draw them actively into the Radical Movement.

Although it

was not Westminster sponsored, Hunt nevertheless by his laudatory references to Cobbett, Cartwright, and Burdett brought this group into the agitation he was leading.

The North, in fact, supposed that these 2

men were all behind‘the meetings.

°.

Spa Fields

represented the voice of Radicalism, and the workers 21. of the North were eager to hear what it had to say,■ for provincial Radicalism willingly tagged along behind the coat tails of London Radicalism.

Lord

Fitzwilliam reports from West Riding about this time. "All the mischievous in the county have considered themselves as sub­ ordinate members of a great leading body of Revolutionists in London." 22.

20. Davis, Age of Grey and Peel, pp. 176-7* 21. Ibid., p. 208. 22. Ibid.

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He saw the Radicals in his area as dependent for advice upon the men of Londonj the same denendent 23.

attitude of the workers is reported from Staffordshire. Most of the magistrates of the North were convinced that the tie between their local Radicals and London Radicals was very close, and they set their informers on the trail to find evidence of such cooperation. Nothing was definitely turned up.

There was, however,

correspondence, especially between Cartwright and the local societies, and a "general understanding that 21*.

the country was to take its tone from the Metropolis." Spa Fields was one of the means by which the workers took their "tone."

Those men from the -North who came

to London to attend the meeting corresponded with their friends in the country and gave them information

25. as to what had happened in London. Among some of the working-class agitators in the North more than words were expected from Spa Fields.

23. Davis, Age of Grey and Peel, p. 208. 2ij. Davis, "Lancashire Reformers", pp. 665 68-70. 25. Ibid., pp. 69-70.

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After the second meeting it was confidentally assumed by many that February 2, the date for the third meeting, would witness an extraordinary 26. occurrence. In the fall of 1816 there was much talk in Manchester of revolutionary hopes and ideas. Numerous meetings to discuss Radical ideas had been held during October in great secrecy.

Expectations

of some sort of forceful demonstration by the Radicals were prevalent among the workers, many of whom thought that they would have to defend themselves against savage blows by the government and by Parlia27. ment. Some of the Lancashire Reformers were in touch with the Spencean Club itself and several actually made the trip to Spa Fields.

They left

behind them in the North hints of an impending revolt. While they were away the leaders at home were "resting 28. on their oars" waiting for further instructions. In the minds of the more violent northern Reformers

26. Davis, A.ge of Grey and Peel, pp. 176-7 . 27. Davis, "Lancashire Reformers", pp. 65; 67» 28. Ibid., pp. 68-9.

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Spa- Fields and threats of force were assuming a greater place than the more orderly Hampden Club. Fitzwilliam regarded the Radicals in his county as motivated not by grievances but rather by ideas of revolution^ the Radicals in West Riding wanted simply 29 to overturn the constitution.

.

Despite the fact that Hunt insisted on the use of legal means of agitation, namely the petition, Spa Fields with its Spencean heritage was thought to " be a first step toward the use of physical force. Two days after the second Spa Fields meeting wild rumors were speeding through Manchester that the Tower had been taken by the people; the Bank of England was destroyed, and five pound notes were not worth twopence in the capitol.

Crowds gathered in the

streets of Manchester to discuss the gossip and to learn from the mail as it came what had been the actual outcome of the meeting.

Many of those waiting

for news were known members of the local Hampden Clubs.

29. Davis, Age of Grey and Peel, pp. l81t-p; 208.

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■When the stories of revolt were not confirmed, great disappointment was expressed.

In Sheffield there

were other manifestations of interest in London pro­ ceedings ; a political procession roamed through the town on December 3 followed .several days later by a riot.

The military commander of the district was

convinced that uprisings by the workers had been planned in connection with the second Spa Fields meeting. "From all I have heard I am lead to believe and jiy opinion coincides with some excellent magistrates, who I have conversed with, that there was some attempt to excite a general rising on Monday last [December 2} . It was however ill understood and worse arranged." 30. In some places, Sheffield for one, the arrival of the mail on the second of December was to be the signal for the uprising; in other places the Reformers were to await the results of the Spa Fields meeting.

Nothing

happened; one reason for the quiet was the arrival of troops in Manchester and the constant changing of the quarters of the few troops on hand; in that way an

30. Davis, "Lancashire Reformers", p. 70.

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31. appearance of a large force was created.

Not

only did Spa Fields in itself stimulate the hopes and fears of the workers, but the precautionary military movements of the government brought with 32. them a sense of impending events. Finally, Hunt's avowal of universal suffrage at the second Spa Fields meeting set the stage for the conversion of the North to this principle of reform.

It also brought about a conflict within the

Hampden Club which broke forth several weeks later in the London Delegates Meeting of January l8l?. Up to this time the North had been working within the Radical Movement mainly as a result of the efforts of Cartwright, Burdett, and the Hampden Clubs.

They

had presented the workers ■with direct taxpayer suffrage as the only possible course of action.

Burdett had 33. reached that agreement with Cartwright and the workers had had no alternative suggested to them. The printed petitions for reform supplied by Cartwright

31. Ibid. '32. Davis, Age of Grey and Peel, pp. l8Ij-6. 33. Hal^vy, A History of the English People, II, 11.

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3k.

were usually accepted as they stood.

With Spa

Fields another, and to the working class, more congenial reform measure ivas substituted.

For the

first time in the post-war agitation a London Radical announced publicly the need for universal suffrage,

35.

and the cry was taken up by the workers of the Worth. Hunt did not originate the concept of universal suffrage as a Radical goal; that was the task of Cartwright. But it was Hunt, and not Cartwright, who made it a popular slogan among the workers and who dared speak for it. With the situation in the North after the second Spa Fields meeting as it has been pictured here, what should Hunt1s next move have been?

His prestige and

influence in the new factory areas of England had suddenly risen; he had it within his power to become a leader such as this group of workers had never before possessed.

It is likely that if he had gone i

North at this time for a speaking tour of the region

3h> Hunt, Memoirs, III, 1(09-10.

35. Ibid., I, pp. VIII-IX; III, 2|09-10; Davis, Age of Grey and Peel, p. 176; Bamford, Passages in the Life of a Radical, pp. 9-10.

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he could have tightened his leadership over the ■workers and have taken control of the •workingclass movement at least for a period of time. But Hunt did not go North. At this point in his career Hunt journeyed back to the area from 'which he had come.

He went west to Bristol and Bath, to

the older England of small shopkeepers and journeymen laborers rather than to the new England of factories, wage earners, and workers suffering from the terrible f

effects of technological displacement. After the Spa Fields meeting of December 2, Hunt received invitations to meetings in Bath and Bristol. Despite the fact that the'mayors of both cities refused to call the meetings and thus supply facilities, the reauisitionists went ahead with their plans.

At

Bristol a large crowd assembled despite rain, troops, and a threat by at least one parish to dismiss any workers attending the meeting.

Hunt’s gig made a

fine hustings and resolutions and a petition were passed praying for "universal suffrage, annual parliaments,

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351.

36. and the ballot. A few days after this meeting Hunt attended the Bath meeting.

Again troops were in the city and

_

special constables of the gentlemen and tradesmen of the city had been called into service.

However as

it turned out, there was little need for them.

The

meeting went well and resolutions were passed condemning sinecurists and advocating the 'trio of 37. universal suffrage, annual parliaments, and the ballot. The Importance of Spa Fields Spa Fields is a turning point not only in Hunt's career but also in the Radical Movement.

We have

already seen the seeds of divergence in Hunt's quarrel with Place over the nomination of Brougham for Westminster. We now have a more distinct division - not public as yet - with Burdett as the protagonist.

Hunt had had

nothing but kind words for the Baronet at the first Spa Field meeting, although his sneer at the London Hampden Club may have stung Burdett1s social consciousness. Furthermore, Hunt had given wholehearted support to the

36. Hunt, Memoirs, i n , 397-l|01. 37. Ibid., ljOl-9.

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Burdett-Cartwright scheme of provincial petitioning. Yet despite this Burdett had refused to have anything to do with the meeting. Why was this?

In part of course it was personal

antipathy, a clash of temperments.

But obviously

this was not the sole or even the most important factor; Burdett had willingly cooperated with Hunt earlier. Nor was the split at this particular time over the issue of universal suffrage even though Burdett was bitterly antagonistic to it and refused to countenance the idea when the Hampden Clubs adopted it in January 1817, as part of their official program.

On this occasion

there was no need to shun the slogan.

Universal suffrage

was not mentioned in the petition which Burdett was asked to present to the Prince Regent.

Whatever Hunt’s

private opinions on the question, he was not yet an apostle of the creed; he was in fact offering to Burdett in November 1816, the same compromise on principle that Cartwright had previously made and which Burdett had accepted.

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The basic reason for the break between Hunt and Burdett at the time of Spa Fields was the character of the meeting of Y/hich Burdett was asked to be the representative.

Hunt by this- meeting and the others

to folloYr had struck out on a nev/ type of agitation. Up to this time the Radicals had confined themselves to meetings in Westminster or to country meetings. With Spa Fields there was not only a mass meeting divorced from the more regular modes of procedure but a meeting held for the benefit of the workers alone.

The Spenceans had called this affair and no

Radical, according to the Westminster view of things, should have associated with such an attempt to reach the workers - even though the attempt had been divested of all its trappings of revolution and socialism. Hunt was simply falling into the trap set by the Spenceans and in so doing sinking to their level, a level composed in part of subversive doctrine but also of methods of agitation repugnant to Burdett's way of thinking. that

According to this view Hunt may have thought

he was in control of the situation, but in fact

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he either was or was rapidly becoming the victim of a force which he could not guide.

And Burdett was

not going to become another such puppet of workingclass discontent as Hunt was doing; i.e., he would not be made a cat’s-paw to insult the Prince Regent.Burdett may have been thinking specifically of the foul reputation of the Spenceans when he rejected Hunt’s offer of cooperation, but it was also a quick reaction against the very nature of the Soa Fields 38. meeting. He had willingly fostered the Hampden Clubs of the North but with the intent of creating support for the Radical program as laid down by the London Radicals, of which group he was the foremost member.

But unwittingly the result had been to

endow the workers with the power of expressing their own ideas; Spa Fields was simply the first step

38. It is noted by Halevy that Burdett at- this time was "not merely supported but swept headlong by the current of popular feeling" and that Burdett was no longer in control of the Radical Movement. Kal'evy, A History of the English People, II, 12; l£. Patterson also sees Burdett as drawing away from the working class due to their exasperated feeling and the dangerous incendiaries among them. Patterson, Burdett and His Times, II, iil6.

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towards the use of this power.

If such methods were

continued and broadened they might well raise a competitor to Westminster and their plans. Hunt in November l8l6, was rousing the working class, and even without the slogan of universal • suffrage it was too much for Burdett to accept. Cobbett and Cartwright at first tried to patch this quarrel.but in January 1817, at the Hampden Club Delegate Meeting the issue of universal suffrage provided the additional point of difference which brought Cobbett over to the side of Hunt.

However, the

meaning of the schism of November 1816, was the divergence between Hunt and Burdett over a question of methods of Radical agitation, not ideas.

This was a divergence

which helped bring to birth working-class Radicalism. Spa Fields was also important as an expression of working-class discontent in terms of political hopes. It. was one of the meetings which, along with Cobbett*s writings and the Hampden Clubs, was to crystallize the feelings of the workers into a demand for parliamentary

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39. reform.

The conversion of the workers to political

action took place .in part through the medium of such mass meetings. ' This effort to channel the workers anger into political efforts was essentially conser­ vative insofar as it acted as a bulwark against machine breaking on the one hand and attempted revolution on the other.

Furthermore the dogma

preached to the workers by the Radicals was not intended to undermine the state.

Hunt's speech at

the November meeting could hardly have been more innocuous and still have been reformist in intent? he talked of mental force, backed Burdett and Cartwright, advocated cooperation with the middle class, and left the extent of reform undefined.

In the second meeting

Hunt moved forward in his proposals, and here too the appeal to the middle class was missing.

But there

was still nothing new; it had all been said by the Major long ago. Yet there was an element of innovation, of daring. This lay in the direct appeal to the workers which

39. Wallas, Place, p. 116.

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„Hunt with these meetings and Cobbett through his writings were making to the workers; it was Spa Fields, and the riots of December which accompanied it, which opened the eyes of the English upper classes to the new methods of agitation which these Radicals were adopting.

Spa Fields marks the point

at which the middle class begins to take fright at a Reform Movement which begins at this time to threaten property and the unleashing of workingclass passions. ,rWhen . . . the lower classes, irritated by their distresses, . . . began to take a conspicuous part in [reform] assemblies, the superior orders, alarmed with the dread of popular commotion, found it expedient in general to stand aside, and await the result of lessons already given, of the necessity of conciliating the people at large, by further sacrifices of personal interests [i.e., charity] .MU0. The middle class did not like the present government, but they liked even less the prospect of uprisings, successful or not, under the leadership by Cobbett

hO. Annual Register, 1816, p. 95 (History).

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la.

'

and Hunt. It has already been stated that Hunt when he advocated universal suffrage, annual parliaments, and the ballot was simply repeating the slogans long put forth by Cartwright.

Yet the fact that he

advocated these beliefs added a new element to the movement, for he thereby gave the workers a program around which they could rally as a class and which could belong to them alone as a class.

Up to this time

the workers had found themselves the champions of a creed in which they had little if any direct class interest, namely household suffrage.

Hunt by his

call for what was to become the holy trinity of English working-class politics made working-class Radicalism into a movement directed towards workingclass ends rather than using the energy of the workers for ends essentially alien to their welfare. He set before them an ideal, a goal, which was a working-class ideal and in so doing converted Radicalism

ill. Hal£vy, A History of the English People. II, 18-19.

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into an instrument of class aggrandizement.

The

workers now had an end for which to fight that appealed to their interests; they had their own program, inadequate though it was, with the simple slogan of universal suffrage, annual parliaments, and the ballot. By the same token Hunt became a working-class leader with Spa Fields.

Only Hunt among the Radicals

recognized the meeting which became an attempt to rally the workers as a class and a center of their interest.

This fact and his espousal of universal

suffrage made Hunt stand out, along with Cobbett, as the man who represented the workers1 aspirations. As Davis puts it; "To the country clubs (Hampden Clubs of north England] regarding him from a distance, he seemed to be a lion-hearted philanthropist, and the one militant leader that the popular cause had yet produced.” 1(2. Thus the blunder of December l8l6.

Hunt's trip

to the West took him into an area far different from

1*2. Davis, Age of Grey and Peel, p. 176.

t

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the industrialized North.

There were grievances in

the older towns of the "West, but there was not the factory town which made possible by its concentration of misery and its rapid fluctuations of employment a working-class movement.

Roads in the North were

bad in December, but this journey to Bristol and Bath indicates Hunt’s failure at this time to realize the importance of the North as the center of workingclass agitation. a

We have seen the expectations aroused in the North by the two meetings at Spa Fields.

The failure

of these hopes to materialize brought low spirits to the men.

One magistrate describes the situation in

and about Manchester on December 5 in these terms; "I have been out in the country in all directions all day . . . .The People are all settled to work and the leaders much chop-fallen.” Ij3* This decline in enthusiasm continued throughout December for again it was reported on December 29 that the cause

hit. was declining although the leaders were persevering.

Ii3. Davis, "Lancashire Reformers”, pp. 69-70. l>lt. Ibid., p. 73.

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The amount of -wishful thinking on the part of the magistrates in these estimates is difficult to determine, but the fact remains that there was no great effort from London, no immediate continuation of the ’’national council” as Spa Fields was referred to in the North. Hunt was speaking but not from the home of the movement, the city of London.

If, however, he had gone North,

he would not only have been able to increase his personal influence but also to have kept alive it's sense of accomplishment.

Hunt had struck a blow, but he was

still, as he boasted to his audiences, in large part a man from the countryj unacquainted with the nature of his material he did not have the insight to shape his work while the metal was hot and malleable.

IV The Hampden Clubs Meeting; London, January 1817. The first reaction of the government to the workers’agitation for political rights came in

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January 1817, along with the.-culmination of the endeavors of the Hampden Clubs.

The convention

of the delegates of the Clubs was held under a threat which implied the forcible ending of all such action in the future. involved in the Preston,

Spa

The arrest of the Spenceans

Field riots, the elder

W a t s o n , and

resulted in a charge of high treason.

They

mere then sent to the Tower to wait for their trial

in June.

The younger Watson at first eluded the police

but eventually was captured and put into prison on 1. the same charge. This was not the only warning of strong government action against the Radicals.

On

January 11, Sidmouth sent a circular to all Lords Lieuten­ ants of several counties asking that they encourage the householders of various towns to act as constables for a period of not less than three months.

They Were

also to warn the Yeoman Corps to be in readiness in case the local magistrates should find it necessary to 2. call upon them.

1. Romilly, Memoirs, i l l , 297-3J Annual Register, 1817, pp. 12-13. (Chronicle) . 2. Ibid., p. 5 (Chronicle).

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The Issue of Universal Suffrage On the twenty-ninth of January the Radical ,newspaper, the Black Dwarf displayed the following nev/s item: Lr* "POLITICALhpRICES CURRENT"

\

4

.

"Expedients. Very much in request at present, and very plentiful. The holders of them have however puffed them so much, that there is a great caution observed in making purchases. Few sales are effected; and none have yet given any satisfaction. Those of Mr. Hunt, and Mr. Cobbett sell the bests but thejr are not much used at present, from an appre­ hension of some dangerous qualities, not yet discovered in their composition. The ministers are said to be busily em­ ployed in chemical researches after new ones.'* 3*

>

This description of the situation in which working-class Radicalism found itself after the Hampden Club convention could hardly be bettered.

Hunt and

Cobbett, especially the former, "had heightened their influence as leaders of the working class through the convention, but at the same time a feeling of uncertainty and fear lay over the movement.

An impasse had been

reached in which further action along the same lines

3. Black Dwarf, January 29, 1817*

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seemed futile and useless, yet new and more effective steps to be revolutionary and dangerous.

It was fine

to hold a meeting and to discuss the best mode of reform; but what should be done to carry on the efforts was left to the inspiration of the moment.

The

immediate result of the convention was a quandry. We have already seen how the London Hampden Club had set- forth a program for the clubs of the North calling for a meeting in London about the time that Parliament was to convene.

This plan, which had if. been presented under the name of Burdett, was designed to create a sort of mock parliament which would debate the provisions of a reform bill embodying the aims of the Radicals and the working classes. During December and January, the encouragement of the clubs of the North to persevere in this plan continued to come from London in the form of letters from Burdett and Cartwright.

For working-class Radicals,

i*. Patterson, Burdett and His Times, H , )pQ. 5* Davis, Age of Grey and Peel, p. 186; Davis, ''Lancashire Reformers", p. 7It. 6. Ibid., p. 73.

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however, it was not as easy to come south as it was for a letter from Burdett to go north; the funds of the club were low with two clubs in such bad straits A— that it was doubtful if they could send one man between them.

However, about sixty men were eventually 7. sent to the convention, most of them from the North. Cartwright and Jones Burdett were delegates from the

London Hampden Club, but the latterfe brother, Sir Francis, was absent, a fact which did not pass unnoticed by the workers.

Hunt represented both the Bath and Bristol

Clubs, two of the few clubs which had been formed out­ side of the North. The convention met at the Crown and Anchor Tavern in London several days before Parliament came together (January 28).

At the meetings the main discussion

revolved around the extent of the suffrage which should be demanded by the group.

Hunt played the leading part

in these discussions and established more firmly than ever his pre-eminence as a leader of the northern

7. Ibid., pp. 73; 7li.

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■working classes.

He "went into the convention as a

determined and avowed advocate of universal suffragej it was he who took the initiative and who forced the idea of universal suffrage upon other Radicals and who led;the workers in expressing their desires on this subject.

Hunt knew that he had the support of the

Horth, for the Delegate Meeting at Middleton on January 15 had voted for universal suffrage.

It is

at this time that Hunt's break with Burdett, which had already occurred privately in December, became open and decisive, and- assumes even greater importance than before as the sign of a distinctively workingclass stand on the issue of reform.

Cobbett anc*

Cartwright were committed to the Baronet while Hunt was notj he was able therefore to strike ahead and to direct the movement of the northern workers.

The

split in the Radical party is driven deeper and made permanent by Hunt, a result not unlooked for by the Radical who claimed to "dash at all good points, caring for no one."

Hunt saw in the situation which

came to a head in January an opportunity for personal

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advancement* for the issue of universal suffrage if taken up would enable him to pose as the chosen leader of the workers and to get behind himself the support of the rank and file of the Hampden Club movement.

He had made the decision which Spa Fields

and Burdett's refusal to cooperate had required of him* whether to go ahead on the course which he had laid down in the December meeting or whether to remain a member of Westminster Radicalism in a subordinate position to Burdett and Place.

Further*

he had had. to decide what place a working-class movement should have in the Radical scheme of things. His actions in the convention show him to be resolved that it was legitimate and worthy of standing on its own feet. In the days immediately preceding the convention there were maneuvers by the group representing Burdett to bring Hunt within the fold.

Hunt was doubly

committed by this time to universal suffrage* for the petitions brought to London by the Bristol and Bath Clubs called for universal suffrage* annual parliaments*

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and the ballot.

In view of the certainty that

Hunt would stand for this dangerous three-pronged aim Cartwright again tried to persuade Burdett to support universal suffrage.

The answer was a positive

refusal; only household suffrage would be tolerated. The Ife-jor, ever hopeful of compromise, turned to Hunt in an attempt to resolve the situation, but Hunt would not give up his opinions.

In this refusal

Hunt was backed try the support of the delegate from Liverpool, Hulme, who stood behind Hunt consistently throughout the convention.

Cobbett was then called

upon to use his prestige with the delegates, and as a result, he was hastily appointed as a delegate from the now almost defunct Union Club. At the first meeting of the convention this conflict between Cobbett and Cartwright on the one side and Hunt and the workers from the North on the other took the center of the stage.

Cartwright acted as

chairman and recommended that the convention support household suffrage in view of Burdett's refusal to go beyond this, an honest and forthright statement of the

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situation.

Cobbett introduced, a resolution embodying

this demand for household suffrage in the form of a petition which would be presented to Parliament by Burdett but Hunt, in the midst of cheers, moved an amendment to substitute universal suffrage for household suffrage; in his speech he took special delight in sarcastic flings at Burdett.

Other delegates,

surprised that' so much attention should be given to the opinions of one individual, Baronet or no, backed Hunt in his opposition to Cobbett1s proposal.

Cobbett

continued to argue for his resolution, although with increasing weakness, on the basis that universal suffrage was impracticable. "When Bamford spoke to that point and demonstrated that names of voters could be taken from militia lists, Cobbett without waiting to hear the whole speech out, announced his conversion and willingness to accept Hunt’s amendment which was thereupon passed by a very large majority.

Resolutions

calling for annual parliaments and the ballot were passed by smaller majorities.

With this main action having

been taken the meeting was adjourned until the ne:, l 8l 8.

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e x t r e m e p o s i t i o n , B u r d e t t s t o l e m u c h o f H u n t ’s 10 thunder. T h e Baronet, however, obstinately refused

.

to c a rr y the campaign t o t he electors i n person, and c o n t e n t e d h i m s e l f w i t h s t a y i n g a t home. Hunt was quick off the mark w h e h it was known t h a t t h e r e w o u l d b e a g e n e r a l e l ec t i o n .

He entered

t h e scene b e a r i n g his colors, a compendium o f the various symbols u s ed i n earlier meetings - a scarlet f l a g w i t h t h e m o t t o o f ’’U n i v e r s a l S u f f r a g e ” s u r m o u n t e d b y a Cap of Liberty and surrounded b y a n inscription /

”H u n t a n d L i b e r t y ” .

This somewhat grandiose but

eloquent and provocative symbol f l e w on the hustings t h r o u g h o u t t h e e n t i r e e l e c t i o n d e s p i t e t h e e f fo r t s o f H u n t ’s o p p o n e n t s to t e a r i t d o wn .

Cobbett supported

Hunt f r o m A m erica w i t h his usual gusto and tearing a t ta c k s . The election was a rough one i n the best English tradition.

A f te r several days polling, Burdett was

w e l l behind b o t h R o m i l l y a nd Maxwell.

Kinnaird was

10. P a r l i a m e n t a r y D e b a t e s ; X X X V I I I (1818), 1 1 1 8 - 1 # .

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endangering th e re-e l e c t io n o f the Baronet, a nd as a r e s u l t h e w a s p u l l e d o u t o f t h e r a c e b y Place. Burdett rapidly went ahead and finally achieved s e c o n d p l a c e , a c r u s h i n g b l o w t o h i s ego.

Cartwright

also withdrew rather t h an threaten the return o f the B a r o n e t w h i l e H u n t w a s a s k e d t o d o t h e same. refused.

He

Although Hunt had polled the majority of

the votes along with Ro mi l l y at t h e show of hands w h i c h w a s h e l d o n t h e f i r s t d a y o f t h e e l ec t i o n , h e d id b adly in the balloting. Romilly,

£$ 38;

The final results w ere

B u r d e t t , 5 2 3 9 j M a x w e l l , 1^808; H u n t , 8It.

Hunt could not make headway against the machine established b y Place but he at least h ad h ad the s a t i s f a c t i o n , w h a t e v e r t h e r e w a s o f it, o f t h r e a t e n i n g the reign of Burdett i n Westminster and of helping t o h o l d h i m b a c k f r o m t h e h e a d o f t h e p o ll .

But the

i rony of this negative feat l a y in the fact that Burdett at last had swung over to the v e r y principles f o r w h i c h H u n t h a d s t o o d s i n c e 1816 a n d C a r t w r i g h t f o r

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11. even longer. The Westminster election of 1819 took place as the result of the suicide of Romilly, who ended his life f r o m despondency caused b y his wife's d e at h .

A g a i n i t w a s a c o m p l i c a t e d ra ce ; t h r e e m e n

c o n t e s t e d t h e o n e v a c a n t seat.

This time the W h ig

c a n d i d a t e w o n d e s p i t e t h e v a l i a n t e f f o r t s o f Plac e . The Westminster Committee's nominee was John C a m H o b h o u s e , a t t h i s t i m e a n e ' r do w e l l s o c i a l i t e a n d a tepid Radical.

A middle-class politician he was

b a c k e d b y B e n t h a m as w e l l as b y B u r d e t t .

During

t h i s e l e c t i o n , h e c o q u e t t e d w i t h u n i v e r s a l suff r a g e , b u t b e c a m e n e r v o u s a b o u t t h e p o s s i b l e i s s u e o f his i n d i s c r e t i o n a n d t h e r e f o r e h u r r i e d l y w i th d r e w ' m u m b l i n g i n c o h e r e n t excuses. The other two candidates w ere the W h ig George L a m b an d t he Ra di c a l Cartwright.

Lamb was also

11. T h i s a c c o u n t o f t h e e l e c t i o n h a s b e e n d r a w n f r o m t h e f o l l o w i n g m a t e r i a l : Hu nt , M e m o i r s , II I, 2 9 6- 6 0 ; 280; 529-14). 51*7-8; 5 5 2 — U; T h o m a s C l ea r y , A L e t t e r t o Ma.jor C a r t w r i ght p a s s i m ; J a ck s o n , B u r d e t t , pp. 202- 3 ; P a t t e r s o n , iBurdett a n d H i s T i me s , II, U 5 7 - 9 ; C o le , C o b b e t t , pp. 223-1;; 2l*3; C a r t w r i g h t , l i f e , I I , ll;5-7s 11*9-52; l 5 l ^ 5 j W a l l a s , Place, pp. 1 2 8 - 3 2 ; R o m i l l y , M e m o i r s , II I, 3 5 6- 6 7 .

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b a c k e d b y t h e T o r i e s u n o f f i c i a l l y a s w e l l as b y t h e e n e r g e t i c e f f o r t s o f L a d y C a r o l i n e L a mb , w h o a t t e m p t e d to repeat the earlier success of the Duchess of Devonshire.

Cartwright was t h e nominee of Hunt who

single-handedly attempted to achieve his election. B e f o r e s e t t l i n g o n C a r t w r i g h t , H u n t h a d t r i e d t o p ut Cobbett into nomination, absent though he was, but he f ound there was no support f o r such a proposal a n d t h e r e f o r e t u r n e d t o t h e M a j o r as a " c o c k t o f i g h t ” . Hunt was the m a i n director of Cartwright's last electoral effort5 he spoke daily on the hustings despite the dangers f r o m sticks an d stones, t he inter­ ruptions of hissing and the ever present question, "Hunt, w h e r e ' s y o u r w i f e ? "

H u n t t r i e d h a r d to c o n v i n c e

h i s l i s t e n e r s t h a t B u r d e t t h a d d e s e r t e d r e f o r m i n 1816 w h e n he refused to present the petition of the Spa Fields meeting. D u r i n g t h e e l e c t i o n , H o b h o u s e b l e w h o t a n d cold. H e w a s , to b e b l u n t a b o u t it, a f r a i d o f d e t a c h i n g h i m s e l f f r o m h i s p o t c o m p a n i o n s , t h e "Whigs. '

The thought

is- .

rr -1 -"

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of this was "disagreeable” to the ambitious, young 12 dandy. At the outset o f the election h e attempted

.

t o s t a n d o n a n extr e m e R a d i c a l p r o g r a m .

I n early

February he publicly boasted of himself as a n "extra­ v a g a n t ” r e f o r m e r a n d p l e d g e d h i m s e l f t o v o t e f o r "P ar ­ l i a m e n t s o f s h o r t d u r a t i o n " a n d a "full, f r ee , a n d equal share" f or all in t h e choosing of representatives. L a t e r h e s u f f e r e d f r o m w h a t W a l l a s d e s c r i b e s as a "severe and untimely attack of conscientiousness." H e m a d e v a g u e s t at e m e n t s - so v a g u e t h a t t h e W h i g s o f f e r e d a p r i z e to t h o s e w h o c o u l d e x p l a i n w h a t t h e y m e a n t - w h i c h s h o w e d t h a t w h a t h e really w a n t e d w a s n o t universal suffrage but rather a uniform suffrage and a n improvement in t h e existing injustices f or boroughs. Later still he partially recovered from his attack w h e n L a m b s a i d t h a t h e w o u l d go f u r t h e r t h a n th at , but he continued to refuse to give his support to

12. L a d y D o r c h e s t e r , ed., R e c o l l e c t i o n s o f a L o n g L i f e b y L o r d B r o u g h t o n (J o h n C a m H o b h o u s e ) w i t h A d d i t i o n a l M a t e r i a l fronL His. P r i v a t e d i a r i e s ( L o n d o n , 1 9 10 . k vols . ) . H , 105.

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13. universal suffrage.

The extent of the suffrage _

w a s a q u e s t i o n o f t h i r d r a t e i m p o r t a n c e i n h i s eyes. H obhouse also w e nt to great efforts to disassociate himself from the group of Radicals represented by Hunt and Cobbett and t h e i r supporters. ’•Your L o r d s h i p d o e s n o t a c t f a i r l y i n mixing u p the Westminster and other radical Reformers w i t h those who were d r i v e n to; e x c e s s e s b y t h e d i s t r e s s o f t h e time s . Y o u m u s t s u r e l y be awar e , that the manufacturers did not rise in order to obta i n Parliamentary Reform, a n d that t h e d i s c o u r a g e m e n t g i v e n b y t he W e s t m i n s t e r R e f o r m e r s , a n d b y S i r F. B u r d e t t to t h e p r o c e e d i n g s o f t h e a c t o r s at S p a F i e l d s a n d e l se w h e r e, h a s b e e n m a d e a m a t t e r o f c h a r g e a g a i n s t t h e m b y Mr. C o b b e t t a n d Mr. H u n t . . . . • ’ lii. [L_

-

The net result of this was the election of Lamb w i t h i|l|65 v o t e s .

Hobhouse r a n h i m a close second w i th

3861 votes w h il e Cartwright lagged far behind with o nly

1 3. J o h n C a m H o b h o u s e ( L o r d B r o u g h t o n ) , A D e f e n c e o f t h e P e o p l e i n R e p l y t o L o r d E r s k i n e •s ’’T w o D e f e n s e s o f t h e W h i g s ’* ( L on d o n , 1819), pp. 63-5. Hi. I b i d . , p. 81.

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15. 38 votes. H u n t *s P o s i t i o n a t W e s t m i n s t e r Hunt in his Memoirs makes the boastful claim t h a t nf o r t h i s d e f e a t o f t h e R u m p t h e y £ t h e W h i g s J h a v e s o l e l y to t h a n k m e u . p e rversely inaccurate.

T h i s is s t u p i d l y a n d

X t does, h o w e v e r , t h r o w

light o n w h e r e Hunt was aiming i n t h ese two elections. I n both Hunt supported the W h i g and T o ry candidates b y v irtue of his electioneering.

It had become

p a i n f u l l y o b v i o u s b y t h i s t i m e t h a t t h e r e w a s to b e o p e n w a r b e tween Hunt and Cobbett o n the one hand a nd Place a nd Burdett on the other.

I n the second

e l e c t i o n t h i s a l l i a n c e o f H u n t w i t h t h e W h i g s is e s p e c i a l l y clear.

He was in correspondence w i th them

a n d e n c o u r a g e d t h e m a l t h o u g h h e c o n t i n u e d to p u t

15. H u nt , M e m o i r s a H I , 551- 2 ; 556- 9 $ 5 6 2 - 8 6 ; H o b h o u s e , A Deferice o f t h e P e op l e , p a s s i m ; D o r c h e s t e r , ed., R e c o l l e c t i o n s b y L o r d B r o u g h t o n , I I, 1 0 3 - 6 ; 1 1 3 - 5 ; 137; C o l c h e s t e r , D i a r y , II I, 52; 68- 70; W a l l a s , P l a c e , pp. 132- 9 ; llj6; J o h n C a m H o b h o u s e ( L or d B r o u g h t o n ) , A T r i f l i n g M i s t a k e i n T h o m a s L o r d B r s k i n e 1s R e c e n t P r e f a c e ( L on d o n , 1819), p. 37 5 W e s t m i n s t e r C o m m i t t e e , R e p o r t ( L on d o n , F e b r u a r y 9, 1819), pass i m ; Cleary, L e t t e r to Cartwright, pp. 2 8 -3 3 J Patterson, Burdett a n d H i s T i m e s , II, 5 6 0- 3 ; C a r t w r i g h t , L i f e , H , 1 5 5 - 7 ; 1 6 0-61; R. E d g c o m b e , ed., D i a r y o f F r a n c i s L a d y S h e l l e y ( N e w Y o rk , 1 9 1 3 , 2 v o l s •), I, 28-31.

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forward a p rogram o f universal suffrage.

Insofar

as Hunt w o r k e d w ith th e Wh ig s th e Radi c a l cause w a s split.

B u t t h e r e w e r e d e e p e r c a u s e s at w o r k

which ma de the tacit cooperation against Burdett a n d Pl ac e intelligent and rational, for this was simply a taste of the position in which Hunt would find himself during the

Reform

B i l l crisis.

Fighting

the ideas of the Rump in their own constituency w i t h o u t a n y w e l l o r g a n i z e d su pp o r t , H u n t c o u l d o n l y t u r n f o r h e l p to a n y o n e o p p o s e d to h i s o p po n e n t s. I f h e d i d n o t d o so, i t w o u l d m e a n c o m p l e t e i n s i g n i ­ f i c a n c e o r a s c u t t l i n g of h i s i d e a s t h r o u g h u n i o n with Place and Burdett.

The alternative to cooperation

w i t h t h e "Whigs at t h i s p a r t i c u l a r t i m e w a s e xtinction. H u n t w a s c a u g h t i n a p o s i t i o n i n w h i c h it w a s d i f f i c u l t for h i m to ma in t a i n his integrity.

H e h a d t w o enemies,

h u t n o t t h e p o w e r t o o v e r c o m e e i t h e r one* T h e alliance despite its rational basis was an u n h e a l t h y one.

N o r could it result over a period of

t i m e i n f r u i t f u l w o r k i n g - c l a s s a c tion.

O n c e again, a a

w i t h t h e earlier agitation in the North, Hunt's weakness

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414.

as a w o r k i n g - c l a s s l e a d e r i s m a d e clear.

Hunt did

not realize that he had no place in Westminster; he did not realize that the following he had was not th e r e .

The working-class movement wh ic h he led in

t h e y e a r s 1816-17 a n d w h i c h h e b r o u g h t i n t o a c t i v e existence was not to be strengthened b y his electoral shenanigans i n Westminster.

These were simply a

d i v e r s i o n f r o m t h e r e a l t a s k a t hand, t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n a n d i n s p i r a t i o n o f t h e w o r k e r s o f t h e N orth, t h e w e l d i n g of a submerged and dispossessed group into a c o h e r e n t p o l i t i c a l fo rc e .

The fact of the matter

is t h a t d u r i n g t h e s e e l e c t i o n s H u n t a b r o g a t e d h i s p o l i t i o n a s a w o r k i n g - c l a s s l e ad e r ; h e t u r n e d h i s attention f r o m t h e m e n w h o had given h i m his significance a n d p o w e r t o s e e k a g o a l h e c o u l d n o t h o p e t o ac hi e v e . Hunt's efforts at Westminster represent a temporary w i th d r a w al f r o m direct working-class agitation. H u n t h a d s e e n t h e z e st w i t h w h i c h t h e N o r t h h a d g r a s p e d h i s p r o g r a m o f 1816, a n d y e t h e f a i l e d t o c a p i t a l i z e o n it.

The working-class movement to Hunt

p a r t o o k o f R a d i c a l i s m as i t h a d b e e n d e v e l o p e d i n t h e

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y e a r s a f t e r 1807; i t w a s a p a r t o f t h a t m o v e m e n t a n d t h e cause c ould b e fought for i n Westminster a s w e l l as i n t h e f a c t o r y t o w n s o f t h e N o r t h .

The

t r a d i t i o n s o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y m o v e m e n t as carried into the n e w century b y Cartwright and B u r d e t t s t i l l h a d a h o l d o n H u nt , f o r h e c o n t i n u e d t o t h i n k i n l a r g e p a r t o f a n a g i t a t i o n as j u s t t h a t a n o i s y f u s s o r a n a t t e m p t t o g et a f e w R a d i c a l m e n into Parliament.

T o h i s m i n d it w a s n o t t h e c r e a t i o n

o f a st ro n g and compact m o vement o f a class outside the walls of Parliament.

He did not yet fully perceive

w h a t it w a s w h i c h h a d sprung u p i n the N orth in response to economic distress and his— leadership. M o re disasterous, he did not have a conception of what he wanted the working-class movement to be and w h a t i t could become.

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CHAPTER VIII PETERLOO

W i t h the coming once more of economic adversity i n t h e f a l l o f 1818 w o r k i n g - c l a s s R a d i c a l i s m a g a i n took hold of the workers o f t h e North.

T h i s t i m e it

came to a b l oody climax w i t h t h e massacre at Manchester o n A u g u s t 16, 1819.

Hunt had taken a n active part in

the revived movement and as the leader of the workers w as the main speaker at this disasterous meeting.

The

largest gathering of the northern w orking classes yet h e l d b r o u g h t a c t i o n b y t h e g o v e r n m e n t a n d H u n t as their main spokesman found himself on trial for the s u b v e r s i o n o f t h e l a w s o f t h e realm. H i s c o n v i c t i o n d i d not, h o w e v e r , s a t i s f y t h e government and the infamous S i x Acts w e re rapidly passed through a Parliament spellbound b y a fear of revolution.

No helping hand was offered to the workers

a t t h i s m o m e n t b y o t h e r p o l i t i c a l groups.

The Whigs

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found themselves enmeshed in the toils of their material interests while the middle-class R a d i c a l s c o n t i n u e d to l o o k u p o n w o r k i n g - c l a s s R a di c a l i sm w i t h disdain.

There was much concern

b y these two parties for the constitution but none f o r the workers.

The government m a y have b e e n

u n p o p u l a r w i t h b o t h t h e "Whigs a n d t h e m i d d l e class but it w a s overwhelmingly successful not only in pushing through restrictions on liberty but in propagating a vision of revolution.

I The Radical Agitation of 1818-19 W i t h t h e end of pr os p e r i ty i n t h e last months of 1818 and the beginning of a depression which c o n t i n u e d t h r o u g h 1819, t h e e c o n o m i c m o t i v a t i o n f o r a renewal of the Radical working-class movement in t h e N o r t h w a s o n c e a g a i n se t i n t o m o t i o n .

The

i n v e n t o r y c y c l e a g a i n t o o k i t s e c o n o m i c t o ll ; t h e

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glutting o f markets thro u g h overproduction in times of good business was be in g wo rk e d out b y the n a t u r a l l a w s s o b e l o v e d b y R i c a r d o a n d o t h e r s o f hi s stripe.

This crisis took, however, a somewhat

d i f f e r e n t s h a p e thanifae f i r s t p o s t - w a r e c o n o m i c crisis of 1816.

This time some parts of the country

felt the pinch more severely than others; nor did t h e s p a s m o f d i s c o m f o r t l a s t a s l o n g a s i n 1816- 17, f o r i n some industries recovery was apparent b y July 1. a nd A u gu s t of 1819. T h i s w a s n o t t r ue , h o w e v e r , of the industries of the North, especially the cotton factory industry.

Here the depression was felt i n

its f u l l severity.

Textiles bore the brunt of the 2. slump i n overseas demand, and the revival was longer i n coming to this area.

Business here was not fully

restored t o its previous condition of good times until 1820.

T h e p o l i t i c a l i m p l i c a t i o n o f t h i s c o n d i t i o n is

r e v e a l e d b y a r e p o r t f r o m t h e N o r t h i n S e p t e m b e r 1 8 19 .

l^L-Halevy, A H i s t o r y o f t h e E n g l i s h P e o p l e , II, £ii-5. 2. I b i d . ; W . L . T h o r p , B u s i n e s s A n n a l s ( N e w Y o r k , 19 26 ) , p. 1£6,

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irW e r e a l l y a r e i n a n a w k w a r d s i t u a t i o n i n t h i s m a n u f a c t u r i n g d i s t r i c t , f o r t r a d e i s v e r y l o w , so a s to a d m i t o f v e r y l o w w a g e s t o t h e w o r k m e n , w h o a r e t h e r e f o r e m o r e inclined, t o l e n d a w i l l i n g e ar 3. to the doctrines of the Radical Reformers. . . At the same time that employment and wages were decreasing wheat prices maintained a steady high level.

These w e r e not famine prices, but t h e y w e r e

high for t hose w h o h a d jobs and n e ar disaster f o r t h os e without o r living o n a reduced income.

The

a v e r a g e p r i c e f o r w h e a t i n 1 8 X 9 "was 73 s. Od. p e r quarter; t h e r e w a s no w i d e fluctuations f r o m this k.

a v e r a g e a n d a f t e r S e p t e m b e r a s l i g h t f a l l s e t in. T h e y e a r c a n t h e r e f o r e b e c o n s i d e r e d as o n e o f h i g h wheat prices

which taken in conjunction w i t h the

p r i c e s o f o t h e r g o o d s b r o u g h t t h e cost o f l i v i n g t o a l e v e l h i g h e r t h a n t h a t o f 1816 t h o u g h n o t as h i g h

3. C o l c h e s t e r , D i a r y . I l l , 83. 1*. A n n u a l R e g i s t e r . 1 8 1 9 , p. 3 0 7 { C h r o n i c l e ) . 5. R o s t o w , B r i t i s h E c o n o m y , p. 12f>.

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6.

as i n t h e f i r s t m o n t h s o f 1 8 1 7 .

This was the

economic situation w h ic h brought another year o f riots and meetings and w h ic h culminated in Peterloo. Economic Action b y the Workers The political agitation of 1818-19 w a s preceded b y a n a g i t a t i o n b y t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s e s i n 1818 f o r e c o n o m i c gains.

T h e f a i l u r e o f t h i s m o v e m e n t se t

u p currents o f dissatisfaction w i t h that m e t h o d of action w h i c h provided m u c h o f the impetus for the political movement of the next year.

During the

s u m m e r o f 1818, t h e s p i n n e r s o f L a n c a s h i r e w e n t o n a two-month strike for higher wages. the North also struck.

The weavers of

Neither effort w as successful.

There w e re no Radical demands made b y the workers duri n g t h e s e strikes, b u t there w e r e nevertheless s o m e R a d i c a l s a c t i v e i n t h e f i el d .

F u rt h e r , R a d i c a l

ideas did have an indirect effect insofar as their a t t a c k s o n t h e g o v e r n m e n t i n t h e m o v e m e n t o f 1816-17

6. C l a p h a m , A n E c o n o m i c H i s t o r y o f M o d e r n B r i t a i n , I, 602.

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g a v e tfee w o r k e r s a d d i t i o n a l c a u s e f o r t r u c u l e n c e . W i t h this general point of view in their minds and the failure of the strike movement the time had come i n the fall of 1818 once m o re for a political

8 effort.

.

But while the Radical Movement w a s being

brought to a climax i n 1819 strikes continued; the weavers wa lk e d a w ay f r o m their w o r k in Carlisle d u ri n g June and the framework knitters of Leicester d u r i n g J u ly .

Other groups of weavers and spinners 9. also m a d e economic demands. J — The Revival of Radical Organization in the North The organization of the workers for Radical p u r p o s e s b e g a n i n t h e N o r t h t o w a r d t h e e n d o f 18 18 . I n t h e f a l l a n d w i n t e r o f th at y e a r v a r i a t i o n s o f t h e H a m p d e n C l u b s w e r e f o r m e d i n H u ll , Yo rk , a n d N e wc a s t l e . These were modelled after the n o w defunct Hampden Clubs insofar as t h e y had the same purposes a n d used the same methods of re ad i n g rooms, agitations, a n d p o l i t i c a l t a lk .

T h ey were, however, call e d Political

7. J.L. a n d B. H a m m o n d , S k i l l e d L a b o u r e r , p p.1 0 0 - 1 ; L o n d o n T i m e s , S e p t e m b e r 11, l8 l8 . 8. H a l e v y , A H i s t o r y o f t h e E n g l i s h P e o p l e , II, 56-7. 9. J.L. a n d B. H a m m o n d , S k i l l e d L a b o u r e r , p p . 9l4.-i2i; A n n u a l R e g i s t e r , 1 8 1 9 , p p . 31; 3 6 -7; I4I; 5 U - 5 ( C h r o n i c le ) .

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P r o t e s t a n t s s i n c e t h e i r o b j e c t w a s th e '‘p r o t e s t i n g against the infringement of our indisputable right 10 t o r e a l r e pr e s e n ta t i o n. ' * Other Radical societies

.

were confined mostly to Lancashire and were developed along the same lines except that they were called Unions after the organization at one time established 11 by Cartwright. The Major seems to have had a hand

.

in the encouragement of the formation of these groups if not in their actual founding.

There was also a

new type of club brought into Radicalism at t his time, for it was during this agitation that the "female reformers" made their first appearance; societies formed for this purpose came into being at Stockport and Blackburn near Manchester in the latter part of 1818.

The object was to organize wives and daughters

of the workers for cooperation with their Radical husbands and fathers as well as to instill into the minds of their children the principles of Radical

1 0 . Q u o t e d i n H a l e v y , A H i s t o r y o f t h e E n g l i s h P e ople, H , 58.. 1 1 . S e e a b o v e p.

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Reform.

Deputations of these societies often 12. attended the mass meetings held by Radicals.

These clubs were developed in imitation of Methodist organization; there were classes of twelve held each week and led by a chosen leader; in each town these classes were grouped into sections, and the sections in 13. turn united by elected committees. This at least was the elaborate system set down on paper. While the Radical club was getting back on its feet, mass meetings were also being revived as a means of agitation.

During the 1819 agitation, this

type of stimulation and action was used in the North on a greater scale than in the 1816-17 movement; Hunt's technique spread to the industrial districts and was used by working-class agitators in the cities

lit. of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Warwick, and Leicestershire. This method of pounding home the Radical lesson began

12. Annual Register, 1819* pp. 103-it (History).

13. Halevy, A History of the English People, II, 39-60. lit. Annual' Register, 1819, pp. IH-IV.

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i n t h e s u m m e r o f 1819 -with l a r g e m e e t i n g s a t Glasgow, Leeds, Ashton-under-Line, and Stockport.

A t Leeds

a s e r i e s o f w e e k l y m e e t i n g s w e r e h e l d d u r i n g June a n d J u l y i n .w h i c h a n u m b e r o f R a d i c a l s i m p r i s o n e d u n d e r t h e G a g g i n g A c t s o f 1 8 1 ? t o o k t h e l e a d i n g part. Excessive taxation, places, pensions, a n d i n general t h e u s u r p t i o n s o f t h e r i c h w e r e s t r e s s e d as caus e s of the present distresses of the workers; the r e m e d i e s e n u n c i a t e d w e r e a n n u a l p a r l i a m e n t s and universal suffrage.

Although t h e speakers spoke

no words of revolution and r iot and counselled the w o rkers to o b e y the laws, the speeches w e r e neverthe-

.

15 l e s s o f t e n i n f l a m m a t o r y i n t h e i r c u m u l a t i v e effect. T h e o b j e c t o f t h e s e m e e t i n g s w a s u s u a l l y to p e tition for the r e f o r m o f Parliament, but t h e demand

.

16 f o r t h e r e p e a l o f t h e C o r n L a w s b e g a n to a p p e a r .

W i t h t h e l a t t e r s l o g a n a n e w n o t e is i n j e c t e d i n t o t h e agitation for although there had been anti-Corn Law

1 5 . I b i d . , p p. 103-1} ( H is t o r y ) . 1 6 . H a l e v y , A H i s t o r y o f t h e E n g l i s h P e o p l e , II, 61.

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riots i n 1 8 1 5 the C o m B i ll had played no part in t h e R a d i c a l a g i t a t i o n o f 1816-17 •

H a l e v y explains

t h e a d o p t i o n o f t h i s p o s i t i o n i n 1819 b y t h e f a c t o f "wheat p r i c e s h a v i n g r e m a i n e d s t e a d y a t 80s. s i n c e 1817*

T h i s w a s t h e p r i c e e s t a b l i s h e d as d e s i r e a b l e

b y t h e A c t o f 1 8 1 5 , a n d i t "was a p p a r e n t t o R a d i c a l s that the C o m Bill was achieving the object set for

it b y t h e c o u n t r y g e n t l e m e n a n d f a r m e r s w h o h a d 17. f a t h e r e d it. “W h i l e t h i s is w i t h o u t d o u b t t h e m o s t important factor i n t he appearance of the demand on t h e b a n n e r s o f t h e w o r k i n g c l as s , s e v e r a l o t h e r aspects should b e noted.

It was not a new position

f o r t h e R a d i c a l s t o t a k e j i n l 8l £ b o t h C o b b e t t a n d H u n t as w e h a v e s e e n a d o p t e d a s t r o n g s t a n d a g a i n s t the B i ll although at that t i me t h e y d i d not carry their agitation to the workers but tried w i t h typical n a i v e t e a n d h o p e f u l n e s s .t o c o n v e r t t h e f a r m e r s to t h e i r si de .

Hunt could and did speak therefore with

authority on this question, for h e had already seen

17. Ibid., p. 60.

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18.

i t s i m p l i c a t i o n f o r t h e -working c l as s e s . Farther, although the anti-Cora L a w cry did pl ay a p a r t i n t h e 1819 a g i t a t i o n i t w a s b y n o m e a n s as p r o m i n e n t a p a r t as th at t a k e n b y t h e w o r k i n g - c l a s s i d ea l o f u n iv e r s a l suffrage.

T h e r e is, i n a l l t h e

talk of the Radicals d u ring this period, little said about t h e C o r a L a w compared to t h e sins o f the government and t h e n e ed f o r parl i a m e nt a r y reform. I t i s t h e n e e d f o r a p o l i t i c a l c h a n g e t h a t is s t re s s e d . I n part the anti-Cora Law movement among the w o r k e r s i n t h e s e y e a r s r e p r e s e n t s a n e f f o r t b y the middle classes to come to terms with the workers and to make their reform agitation w o rk for their own 19 . purposes. T h i s a t t e m p t at u n i o n o n t h e p a r t o f t h e b o u r g e o i s i e a n d i t s c o n s e q u e n t l a c k o f s u c c e s s is shown i n m i c r o c o s m at Leeds w h e r e Baines, editor of t h e m i d d l e - c l a s s L e e d s M e r c u r y , at f i r s t l o o k e d u p o n the Radical meetings of the area with an indulgent eye.

B u t w h e n h e a p p e a r e d a t a m e e t i n g to w a r n t h e

18. S e e a b o v e p. 19. H a l e v y , A H i s t o r y o f t h e E n g l i s h P e o p l e . H ,

60-1.

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•workers a g a i n s t e x t r e m e m e a s u r e s , hie w a s f o r c e d t o admit his opposition to universal suffrage, annual parliaments, and a series of R a d i c a l meetings i n the style of Spa Fields.

Again not only the working-class

program but also working-class tactics as laid down b y Hunt at Spa Fields stuck in the throat of the r e s p e c t a b l e m i d d l e class.

T h e L o n d o n T i m e s ? too,

regarded these efforts w i th distaste and i n the form of a leading article sent f o r t h a s t e m w a rn i n g to t h e urorkers. aroused.

T h e ire of the m i dd l e class was b eing

Admitting that t h e cause of t h e meetings

w a s d i s t r e s s , t h e n e w s p a p e r p o i n t e d ou t t h a t s u c h political activity w o u l d not cure t h e t r ad e depression; t h e o n l y r e s u l t w o u l d be t h e c r e a t i o n o f o p p o s i t i o n to t h e w o r k e r s o n t h e p a r t o f m e n a s b r a v e as t h e y w e r e . S u c h t h r e a t s b y t h e m i d d l e c l a s s to b a c k t h e o p p o s i t i o n to working-class activities reflects the increasing

^_

t e n s i o n b e t w e e n t h e t wo classes; Peterloo Massacre was t h e resu l t o f this tension, not of the desire o f a b l oo dy-minded government to sabre the w orkers into obedience. 20. L o n d o n T i me s , J u n e 22, 1 8 1 9 .

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Radical Meetings in the North, Summer of 1819 Meetings w e r e h e ld during t h e late summer of 1 8 1 9 i n t h e c o u n t i e s o f York, L a n c a s t e r , C h e s t e r , 21 Nottingham, and Leicester* A t some of these,

.

wild and unguarded language was heard j not a few of th e w o r k e r s w e r e i n a n u g l y mood.

A n assembly of

two thousand at Blackburn heard the main speaker explain carefully th at force w o ul d not b e necessary f o r t h e a t t a i n m e n t o f w o r k i n g - c l a s s endsj t h e p e o p l e could resist w i t h o u t arms asthe soldiers w o u l d come o v e r t o t h e i r s i de .

But anot h e r speaker w a s not so

sanguine j petitioning had proven t o be useless, he c l a i m e d , a n d i t w a s n o w t i m e to a p p r o a c h t h e t h r o n e to demand th ei r rights.

This line of thought was

f ollowed to its l o gical conclusion b y a t h ir d agitator w ho claimed that nothing but physical force and the 22 s t r o n g a r m o f t h e p e o p l e w o u l d do.

.

The most famous meeting before Peterloo was that h e l d a t B i r m i n g h a m o n J u l y 1 2 t o e l ec t a m e m b e r o f 21. A n nu a l R e g i s t e r * 1 8 19 , p. 10i* ( H i s t o r y ) • 22. L o n d o n T i m e s , J u l y 9, 1 819*

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P a r l i a m e n t ; i f t h e w o r k e r s d i d n o t h a v e th e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e to w h i c h t h e y w e r e entitled, t h e y w o u l d take it upon t h e m s e l v e s t o s e l e c t on e, f o r , a c c o r d i n g t o t h e i r logi c , t h e privilege cons t i t u ti o n a ll y belonged t o them, and t h e y w e r e s i m p l y e x e r c i s i n g t h e i r d u t i e s as citi z e n s . A g r e a t cr ow d , v a r i o u s l y e s t i m a t e d a t t w e n t y t o f i f t y thousand, gathered to witness this historic assertion o f a right.

A f t e r the usual n u mber of speeches, Sir

Charles Wolseley, a Radical country gentlemen with the w e a l t h t o i n d u l g e h i s p l e a s u r e a n d t h e s i n c e r i t y to b e l o y a l t o t h e c a us e , w a s e l e c t e d a s th e “l e g i s l a t o r i a l attorney”.

T h e B a r o n e t w a s c h o s e n b y a show' o f h a nd s ,

t h e r e g u l a r p r o c e d u r e a t E n g l i s h e l ec t i o n s , a n d p r o m i s e d 23. to claim his seat w h e n Parliament convened. Cartwright, w h o w a s o n t h e h u s t i n g s , c o n s i d e r e d t h i s as “s e n d i n g a 2k.

pe ti t i o n i n t h e f o r m of a l i vi n g man...." however, s a w it differently.

S i dm o u t h ,

Acting quickly he had

t he m e n involved i n the meeting, including W o ls e l e y and

23. A n n u a l R e g i s t e r , 1819, pp. 10l H ? ( H i s t o r y ) ; Halevy, A H i s t o r y o f t h e E n g l i s h P e o p l e , II, 12-1 3 . 2k.

C a r t w r i g h t , L i f e , I I, l6l;-7.

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25. C a r t w r i g h t , a r r e s t e d a n d b r o u g h t to trial. S e veral weeks l ater a n attempt on the life of a police officer brought further efforts b y the g o v e r n m e n t t o s t a m p o u t t h e R a d i c a l a g it a t i o n ; t he p r o c l a m a t i o n o f t h e P r i n c e R e g e n t o f J u l y 30 w a r n e d t h e p e o p l e o f E n g l a n d a g a i n s t a t t e m p t s to u p s e t t h e l a w a n d a s k e d t h e m a g i s t r a t e s t o b r i n g to j u s t i c e a l l i n v o l v e d i n u n l a w f u l a s s e m b l i e s as w e l l as the 26. authors of seditious writings. This action had to do i n place of n e w acts of Parliament w h ic h had 27. ju st b e e n a d j o u r n e d . .Nor was this the only action taken b y t he government.

W o l s e l e y al so h a d to f a c e

c h a r g e s f o r a s e d i t i o u s s p e e c h d e l i v e r e d at S t o c k p o r t w h il e a n o t h e r speaker of increasing prominence, H a r r i s o n , w a s seiz e d .

Even before t h e Birmingham

m e e t i n g S i d m o u t h h a d i s s u e d a c i r c u l a r ( J u l y 7) t o t h e l o r d l i e u t e n a n t s o f t h e d i s t u r b e d coun t i e s recommending prompt action to preserve public peace

2f>. L o n d o n T i m e s . J u l y 19, 1819; H a le v y , A H i s t o r y o f t h e E n g l i s h People. I I, 63. 26. A n n u a l R e g i s t e r , 1 8 1 9 , pp. 123-1; ( C hronicle). 2?. H a l e v y , A H i s t o r y o f t h e E n g l i s h People, II, 63.

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■while t h e y e o m a n t r o o p s w e r e g i v e n d i r e c t i o n s t o b e ready for a ny demands made upon them by the 28 magistrates. A l l t h i s h a d i ts e f f e c t . L e e d s a n d

.

Manchester had planned to have meetings similar to that o f B i rm i n g h am i n o rder to elect a "legislatorial attorney" t o Parliament, b u t these plans were now 29. given u p as hopeless. Hunt at Palace Yard, M a nchester a nd Smithfield, 1818-19 11111116 t h e N o r t h w a s o r g a n i z i n g , -Hunt w a s a l s o active.

H e h a d s p o k e n f o r t he w o r k e r s e a r l i e r a n d h a d

in fact b e e n t h e instigator o f their first attempts to formulate a p r og r a m and a movement; he therefore e a s i l y a s s u m e d a p o s i t i o n o f l e a d e r s h i p i n 1819. F u r t h e r m o r e t h e N o r t h ’s w i d e s p r e a d a c c e p t a n c e of universal suffrage gave his three pre-Peterloo meetings importance not h e ld b y other meetings.

N o t o n l y to

t h e w o r k e r s b u t a l s o t o t h e m i d d l e cl as s , it w a s H u n t w h o perso n i f ie d t he attempts b y the workers to assert themselves.

H u n t c a n o n c e a g a i n b e c r i t i c i z e d f o r not

28. I b i d .j A n n u a l R e g i s t e r , 1819, p. 1 0 5 ( History). 29. I b i d . ; H a l e v y , A H i s t o r y o f t h e E n g l i s h People, II,

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g o i n g t o t h e N o r t h a n d s t a y i n g t h e r e to d i r e c t t h e m ovement i n person, but at least this time he did travel to Ma nc h e s t er to address a m e e t i n g (January 1819)*

His three meetings can hardly be considered

strenuous efforts i n the cause o f Reform, but none­ theless his appearances on the stage attracted a t t e n t i o n as t h e k e y p e r f o r m a n c e s . T h e P a l a c e Y a r d m e e t i n g o f S e p t e m b e r 7* 1818,. h e l p e d s e t t h e m o r e _ e x t r e m e t o n e •which b e g a n to p e r m e a t e t h e •working-class a g i t a t i o n "which "was b e g u n i n t h e fall.

The meeting was organized b y the

Spenceans, Watson, T h is t l e w oo d and Preston; the hand o f t h e s e w o u l d - b e r e v o l u t i o n i s t s c a n b e s e e n i n H u n t ’s s t a t e m e n t t h a t t h e p u r p o s e o f t h e m e e t i n g w a s n o t to pe ti t i o n the Prince Regent but rather to remonstrate w i t h him. The petitions of the people had been neglected so a stronger line w o u l d be taken.

The Remonstrance

a d o p t e d at t h e m e e t i n g w a s f o r m t h o u g h r e s p e c t f u l ; a f t e r r e c i t i n g t h e a t t a c k s m a d e o n t h e righ t s , l i b e r t i e s and lives o f the people, it demanded that the ministers

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b e surrendered t o justice.

A fter this was passed

and W a t s o n had described the miseries o f the workers o f t h e North, the resolutions condemning the Corn L a w a n d c a l l i n g f o r u n i v e r s a l s u f f r a g e w e r e passed. Hunt t o o k t h e Remonstrance to Sidmouth, who told h i m that h e w o u l d present it to the Prince Regent if t h e r e w a s n o t h i n g o b j e c t i o n a b l e i n it.

It was con30. s i d e r e d o b j e c t i o n a b l e a n d it w a s n o t p r es e n t e d .

T h e R e m o n s t r a n c e as a n a b j u r a t i o n o f t h e w e a k e r procedure, the h u mble petition, was nevertheless adopted at the o t h e r two meetings w h i c h Hunt attended i n 1818. W i t h t h e M a n c h e s t e r m e e t i n g h e l d i n J a n u a r y 1819, Hunt f i n a l l y recognized the necessity o f his presence i n t h e N o r t h a n d a l s o t h e f a c t t h a t t h e c e nt e r o f t h e agitation had moved out of the precincts of Westminster a nd London.

This meeting and Peterloo were in part a

realization by the workers of the North of their earlier d ream that the Radical Movement be directed

30. L o n d o n T i m e s , S e p t e m b e r 8, 1818; Hu nt , M e m o i r s , III, 51U-17.

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31. and advanced from their region* The January Manchester meeting was originally c a l l e d i n o r d e r to c o n s i d e r a p e t i t i o n to r e p e a l t h e C o r n Laws and a request was m a d e to the boroughr e ev e f o r a publ i c gathering f or that purpose.

The

city officials, however, h a d s e e n enough of Radical a g i t a t i o n s t o s u s p e c t t h a t s o m e t h i n g m o r e t h a n .that w a s intended. "The municipal authorities, aware that something more was meant than met their ears, a n d t h a t t h e d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e corn laws was solicited, to furnish a pretence for the discussion of other o b j e c t s , d e c l i n e d t h e m e a s u r e . " 32. Despite this disapproval t h e meeting was advertised and h e l d i n S t. P e t e r ’s f i e l d s , l a t e r t h e s c e n e o f Pete r l o o . Hunt was invited to attend by t h e local working-class l eaders o f Radicalism, some of w h o m h a d b e en involved i n t h e 1816-17 a g i t a t i o n a n d w h o h a d b e e n d e l e g a t e s to t h e Hampden Club Convention i n London.

H e s p en t t h e

night before the meeting outside Manchester and made an 31. S e e a b o v e p . job. 32.' London Times, January 21, 1819.

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i m p r e s s i v e e n t r a n c e i n t o t h e c i t y t h e n e x t da y, h is carriage being d raw n to the hustings b y a crowd w h i c h h a d m e t h i m o n t h e o u t s k i r t s o f t h e to wn .

It

was a colorful parade w i t h bands and flags b e aring t h e s l o g a n s , ’’U n i v e r s a l S u f f r a g e ” , ’’H u n t a n d l i b e r t y ”, ”N o C o r n L a w s ”, a n d ’’R i g h t s o f M a n ” as w e l l as t h e Cap o f Liberty.

I t w a s a w i n d y da y, a n d o n l y H u n t ' s

voice of those w ho spoke could b e heard at all b y the audience of t e n thousand.

Most of the workers were

f r o m t h e s u r r o u n d i n g c o u n t r y s i d e , f o r t h e o w n e r s of cotton mills had locked their m e n i n during the lunch h o u r w h e n t h e m e e t i n g w a s to t a k e p l a c e .

Hunt once

again b i tt e r l y spurned the use o f the petition.

The

Times repo r t e d this passage of Hunt's speech thuss ’" S o m e g e n t l e m e n h a d p r o p o s e d a p e t i t i o n — a p e t i t i o n t o t h a t H o u s e o f C o m m o n s , which,, w h e n last assembled, h a d kicked their prayers a n d p e t i t i o n s o u t o f d o or s . W o u l d t h e y s u b ­ m i t a g a i n t o p e t i t i o n t h a t H o u s e ? — or 1. . . d e m a n d t h e i r r i g h t s ? ( H er e t h e w o r d R e m o n ­ strance, f r o m the assembled thousands, d r o w n e d t h e v o i c e o f t h e o r a t o r . . . . ) ” 33* T h u s t h e P a l a c e Y a r d R e m o n s t r a n c e w a s o n c e a g a i n a d op t e d .

33. I b id .

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Hunt also m a de the u sual d e mand f o r a change i n P a r l i a m e n t a n d c a l l e d f o r a ’'prompt a n d e f f i c i e n t muster" of the friends of Reform.

He expressed his

detestation of the C o rn L a w and joked about t h e H u s s a r s w a t c h i n g t h e m e e t i n g as t h e p e r s o n a l b o d y guard w h i c h the government w a s always k i n d enough t o s u p p l y hi m.

After the meeting, he was given a

p u blic dinner at the Spread Eagle I n n i n Hanging Ditch, a n inappropriate place, one w o u l d think, for Radicals to h a ve a party.

During his short s t ay

i n a n d a r o u n d M a n c h e s t e r , H u n t w a s a b l e to b e c o m e b e t t e r acquainted w i t h t he Radicals o f t h e North, 3U. w h o m h e f o u n d o n t h e w h o l e t o b e w o r t h y me n. The Smithfield meeting of July 21 carried on Hunt's campaign but after an unconscionable long p e ri o d o f silence; s i x months b e tw e e n public meetings h a r d l y seems to be dynamic leadership.

The pleasures

o f domestic life a n d fanning continued to compete w i th the delights o f the platform.

This meeting was again

31*. I b i d ; H u n t , M e m o i r s , I I I , 5 9 8 — 600; A n n u a l R e g i s t e r , 1 8 1 9 , p. 103 ( H i s t o r y ) .

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o r g a n i z e d b y t h e S p e n c e a n grou p , a n d a g a i n a l t h o u g h Hunt did not hesitate to accept t heir invitation, he gave the resolutions w h ic h had b e en prepared careful scrutiny.

Nevertheless the meeting w a s a dangerous

one, f o r L o n d o n a u t h o r i t i e s w e r e o n t h e a l e r t f o r a n y possibility o f disorder.

Several weeks before the

35. m e e t i n g t o o k p l a c e i t had' o c c u p i e d t h e p u b l i c m i n d 5 civil an d military forces were mustered b y the government to prepare for t h e worst, a n d extra 36. constables w e r e added. That the mood of t h e meeting w a s a n i n f l a m a t o r y o n e is i n d i c a t e d b y a p l a c a r d w h i c h was posted there.

After attacking Westminster

for giving Cartwright only thirty-eight votes i n the r e c e n t e l ec t i o n , t h e s t a t e m e n t w e n t o n t o a d v i s e forthright measures. ”I f t h e w o r k [ o f R e f o r m 3 c a n b e d o n e without fasting, praying, or peaceb r e a k i n g , good; b u t i f t h e u n s p e a k ­ able grievances of non-representation •c a n n o t b e r e d r e s s e d w i t h o u t v e n g e a n c e , *tis b e t t e r t o b r e a k o u r c h a i n s u p o n t h e h e a d o f o u r c o m m o n t y ra n t s , t h a n l o n g e r t o e n d u r e o u r s e r v i t u d e . ” 37. 35. L o n d o n T i m e s , J u l y 22, 1819. 36. I b i d ., J u l y 15, 1 8 1 9 . 37. I b i d . , J u l y 22, 1 8 1 9 .

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T h i s m e e t i n g w a s a g a i n a l a r g e one, w i t h t e n thousand attending.

Besides Hunt and the Spenceans,

the Rev. Joseph Harrison, a dissenting clergyman a n d a n energetic n o r t h e r n Radical, also attended and s p ok e .

He was, however, arrested during the proceedings

b y the police and t a k e n f r o m the platform; there w e re a n g r y m u t t e r i n g s f r o m t h e cr ow d , b u t H u n t a s k e d t h e m n o t t o i n t e r f e r e w i t h t h e w o r k i n g s o f t h e l a w, a passive behavior at strange variance with the heated language of the placard.

It was also at strange

variance w i t h one of the resolutions which teetered o n the edge of revolutionary verbiage w h e n it proclaimed t h a t a f t e r J a n u a r y 1, 1820, t h e p e o p l e w o u l d n o l o n g e r be bound b y the laws made b y a corrupt Parliament.

The

Remonstrance again w as adopted, a nd a letter f r om a Manchester Radical was read which dilated on the theme of the unity of the Reformers of the North and L o n d o n - a s h o w o f strength w h i c h did not exist o n any r eal level except t h a t o f feeling but w h i c h w a s enough t o g i v e f r i g h t t o t h e m i d d l e c lass.

There w a s also a n

attempt to join hands w i t h the Irish, one o f the

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resolutions calling for Catholic Emancipation. No m e n t i o n w a s m a d e o f t h e C o r n Laws, but t h e 38. u s u a l c a l l f o r u n i v e r s a l s u f f r a g e w a s m a de . New Methods of Agitation Several n e w features developed during the Radical working-class a g it a t i o n of 1819.

The failure of the

1816-17 m o v e m e n t t o a c c o m p l i s h a n y t h i n g o f v a l u e f o r the workers, in fact its positive disutility in the f o r m of a wrathful Parliament, led the workers and their leaders to cast about for different ways of agitation w h i c h w e r e more meaningful.

A sharper

t e m p e r o n t h e p a r t o f t h e w o r k e r s is n o t i c e a b l e j it h a d b e e n o n l y a s h o r t t i m e s i n c e t h e m e n o f t h e North h a d experienced the economic agony of the d e p r e s s i o n o f 1816-17, a n d i t s s u c c e s s o r o f 1819 f o un d t h e m m o re embittered. The n e w techniques of the 1819 agitation revolved around th e organization of the workers and ways of presenting their demands.

The first finds expression

i n t h e ti gh t e r f r am e w o r k w h i c h w o ul d have resulted, 38. I b i d .5 H u nt , M e m o i r s , I H , 1 8 19 , p. 1 0 5 ( H i s t o r y ) .

^92-85 A n n u a l R e g i s t e r ,

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if realized, from the use of the Methodist hierarchy of classes and committee.

T h e r e is l i t t l e e v i d e n c e

that t h is scheme m a te r i a l iz e d o n a large scale.

But

the adoption o f s u ch a n ideal o f organization reveals at l e a s t a s e n s e o f u r g e n c y a n d a d e s i r e f o r

a

workable u n io n of clubs w h i c h w o u l d at the same time retain a large measure of local and democratic freedom for the individual unit.

This urge toward widespread

^ o r g a n i z a t i o n is a l s o s h o w n i n t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t of t h e female r e fo r m societies 5 again a show o f unity in t h a t i t b r o u g h t t h e w o r k e r ’s f a m i l y i n t o t h e a g i t a t i o n t h u s t h e w h o l e c l a s s c o u l d b e r e p r e s e n t e d a n d a solid front b e presented.

I t s h o u l d b e n o t i c e d that,

although m a n y wo me n of these societies must have been f a c t o r y w o r k e r s themselves, t he a i m of the clubs was to b a ck u p t he demands m a d e b y the men, n ot to fight i

for t he poli t i c a l o r economic rights o f women. The more effective presentation of demands was the aim of the Remonstrance fathered b y Hunt and the “l e g i s l a t o r i a l attorney'-’: d e v e l o p e d a t B i r m i n g h a m . T h e s e w e r e attempts' t o e x e r t i n c r e a s e d p r e s s u r e o n

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P a r l i a m e n t a n d t h e P r i n c e R e g e n t -without r e s o r t i n g t o r e v o l u t i o n a n d p h y s i c a l f o rc e .

Since the humble

5 p r a y e r h a d f a i l e d t h e n e x t step, t h a t o f d e m a n d i n g their rights, w o ul d be taken.

‘W h e t h e r t h i s w a s a

f u r t h e r s t e p i n f a c t o r o n l y i n f a n c y w a s n o t asked; the f o r m covered u p t h e r e al i t y of impotence.

Eor

t h e s e i n s t r u m e n t s w e r e a m a t t e r o f playing, w i t h W o r d s and w e r e as ineffective as t h e p e t i t i o n had been. Despite the new methods the movement continued basically unchanged.

The essential tools w e re still those of

t h e m a s s m e e t i n g , t h e l o c a l club, a n d a f o r m o f petitioning the government.

The greatest achievement

of t h e 1 819 agitation w a s its centralization i n the North w i t h the consequent emphasis o n the northern workers as t h e dominant element i n the Radical agitation. Hunt took little part i n the development of these n e w t e c h n i q u e s of, a g i t a t i o n ; t h e R e m o n s t r a n c e w a s h i s only contribution.

His achievement l a y i n the support

h e gave t h e m ovement and t h e taking o ver o f leadership 39. when no other national Radical was willing to take 39. E x c e p t f o r C a r t w r i g h t , w h o w a s n o l o n g e r a n a c t i v e f o r c e a n d w h o c o n t r i b u t e d l i t t l e to t h e a g i t a t i o n . C a r t w r i g h t d i e d i n I 82J4.

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the responsibility.

H u n t ’s r e p u t a t i o n g a v e t h e

■workers m o v e m e n t a d d i t i o n a l f o r c e a n d m a d e it i n t o something mo re than simple disaffection.

But Hunt

s t i l l r e m a i n e d a l e a d e r "whose p e r s o n a l d i r e c t i o n ■was w e a k a n d f r a g i l e .

Not only was he not a m a n of

th e w o r k i n g class, h e w a s not a m a n o f t h e North and most of his political activity in these years was w asted at Westminster.

The workers i n the North

had to w o r k out their ow n destiny with only occasional e n co uragement f r o m Hunt.

The workers w e r e ready for

something better than the frustrated attempts of 1816-17 5 n o t o n l y w a s t h e r e m u c h i r r e s p o n s i b l e t a l k about force, but there w e r e a lso earnest attempts to f i nd a lawful yet effective solution to the problem of tactics, attempts w h ic h are revealed i n such c o n t r i v a n c e s a s t h e ’’l e g i s l a t o r i a l a t t o r n e y ” a n d t h e female r e f o r m societies.

H u n t ’s f a i l u r e l a y i n n o t

using his authority to find and preach a program w h i c h w o u l d fit the situation and w h i c h w o u l d make the best possible use of the interest and evergy which the workers w e r e ready to expend in the cause of

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Reform.

H e had. p l a y e d t h e r o l e o f t h e f a t h e r o f t h e

■working-class m o v e m e n t , b u t h e h a d n o t s u c c e e d e d i n g i vi n g it v i a b l e form.

II The Days Before the Peterloo Meeting T h e m e e t i n g w h i c h h a s b e c o m e f a m o u s as P e t e r l o o w a s p l a n n e d as o n e o f t h e s e r i e s o f w h i c h t h e S m i t h . field a n d B i rm i n g h am meetings were part.

The

Manchester meeting was an attempt o n the part of the w orking-class Radicals o f the N o rt h t o imitate the B i r m i n g h a m s c h e m e o f e l e c t i n g a ’’l e g i s l a t o r i a l attorney”.

H u n t w a s t o s p e a k at M a n c h e s t e r , a n d t h e

i n v i t a t i o n t o H u n t t o a t t e n d t h i s m e e t i n g as i t s c hairman w as accepted b y h i m without m u c h hesitation, despite t h e fears o f his family, since h e had already become acquainted with the m e n of the North and had considerable confidence i n them. originally to be held on the ninth

The meeting was o f A u g u s t at

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1.

St. P e t e r ' s f i e l d s ,

but the magistrates of

the t o wn squashed t h e affairj the fear of continued disturbances i n the North and t h e recent decisions o f S i d m o u t h l e d t h e m t o p r o c l a i m as i l l e g a l any,— m e e t i n g h e l d f o r the p u r p o s e o f e l e c t i n g a m e m b e r of Parliament.

After consulting lawyers,.the

R a d i c a l s t h e m s e l v e s h a d t o a g r e e w i t h t h i s d e ci s i o n . T h e p r o p o s e d m e e t i n g w a s t h e r e f o r e m o v e d t o A u g u s t 16, its a i m b e c o m i n g s i m p l y t h e c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f l e g a l a n d e f f e c t i v e m e a n s f o r f(o b t a i n i n g a r e f o r m i n P a r l i a ­ m e nt .

This meant i n fact that resolutions and the

Remo n s t r an c e w o u l d be passed a n d the crowd g iven the 2 p l e a s u r e s o f a h a r a n g u e b y Hunt.

.

W h i l e t h e s e decisions w e r e being made, Hunt was travelling North in his gig and had arrived within ten m i l e s o f M a n c h e s t e r o n -^ugust 8 b e f o r e h e f i n a l l y

1. F. A. B r u t o n , " T h e S t o r y o f P e t e r l o o " , B u l l e t i n o f t h e J o h n R y l a n d s L i b r a r y , M a n c h e s t e r , vo l. f>, n o s . 3 a n d ii ( A p r i l t o D e c e m b e r 1 9 1 9 ) , p. 266. T h i s is t h e b e s t a n d m o s t t h o r o u g h a c c o u n t o f P e t e r l o o ; Hu nt , M e m o i r s , I I I , 600. 2. B r u t o n , " P e t e r l o o " , p. 267; S e e a l s o t h e A n n u a l R e g i s t e r , 1 8 1 9 , pp. 105>-6 ( History).

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heard of the postponement which had taken place. "When i n f o r m e d , h e f l a m e d u p i n f i t t i n g a n d t e m p e r m e n t a l a n g e r , p l a y i n g t h e p r i m a d o n a t o t h e lo ca l , c o u n t r y weavers.

Even though his name had already been

a d v e r t i s e d as t h e c h a i r m a n f o r t h e m e e t i n g h e r e f u s e d at first to re ma i n i n t h e North u n ti l the sixteenth, but arguments, flattery, and a procession through Manchester changed his mind.

Accepting the accommodations

of one o f the R a d i c a l Leaders, he spent the days be fo r e the meeting making the acquaintance of many men of the 3. neighborhood. D u r i n g the days immediately preceding the meeting, t e n s i o n b e g a n t o g r o w w i t h i n M a n c h e s t e r o_yer w h a t mi gh t b e the p o ss i b l e o u tc o m e of t h e affair.

The

vacillating policies and worried announcements of the magistrates, d a ily drillings by the workers outside t h e city, a n d t h e a l r e a d y e x i s t i n g b a d f e e l i n g b e t w e e n the w o r k i n g class a n d the other classes of Manchester, especially betw e e n t he workers a n d the y e o m e n troops, 3. H u n t , M e m o i r s , H I ,

6 0 1- 8 .

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•were the factors creating the feeling of crisis. S u ch v a g u e apprehensions h a d h o vered over m o st of t h e l a r g e m e e t i n g s i n L o n d o n a s w e l l as t h e p r o v i n c i a l towns.

But it was i n Manchester that a set of bungling

c i ty officials m a d e t h e single improper m o ve w h i c h let l oose a n avalanche o f h a t e a nd conflict. The drillings b y the workers were held b y country reformers, mainly weavers, on moors outside of M a n c h e s t e r f o r t h e p r a c t i c e o f s q u a d f o r m a t i o n so t h a t t h e m a r c h t o t h e m e e t i n g w o u l d b e i n g o o d o r de r . T h e plan w a s to m a ke a solemn, yet festive parade i n t o St. P e t e r ' s f i e l d s a n d t o d i s p l a y t o t h e i r b e t t e r s the discipline, good behavior, and good order of the w o r k i n g classes.

These d r il l i n g practices w e r e secret,

b u t t h e r e w e r e no a n u s u s e d .

The fact that t h ey were

secret and therefore an unkown quantity caused their efforts to create results different f r o m those fo r which t h e w o rkers h a d hoped.

I n s t e a d of showing t h e peaceful

and lawful intent of these men the drillings and mardhes l e d to suspicions o f nefarious practices. especially w e r e worried.

The magistrates

The imposing sight w h i c h the

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workers presented w h e n t h e y swung onto the field On August 16 m a r c h i n g i n s t e p a n d i n r a n k a n d f i l e se nt

a shiver of alarm through th e loyal m e n watching

lu them.

It was a n expression of unity and organization

w h i c h w a s u n pa latable to t he u p pe r classes and w hich gave concrete realization to t heir fears of the working-class movement. Not o n ly w e r e t h e wo rk e r s w e l l organized f o r t h e da y; t h e y w e r e i n as e x c i t a b l e a m o o d as t h e r e s t o f t h e ar ea .

But t h e y d i ffered i n this respect, there

w a s no feeling o n their part of apprehension.

Howe v e r ,

t h e y w e r e resentful over t h e w a y t heir earlier plans 5. h a d b e e n -treated b y t h e m a g i s t r a t e s , a n d Hu nt f o u n d it n e c e s s a r y t o w a r n t h e m a g a i n s t g i v i n g w a y t o t h ei r emotions.

A l e t t e r f r o m H u n t o n A u g u s t lit,

w h i c h w a s p u b l i s h e d b y t h e M a n c h e s t e r O b se r v e r , u r g e d t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f t h e R e f o r m e r s s h o w i n g a ^ste a d y , firm, a n d t e m p e r a t e d e p o r t m e n t " ; t h e y s h o u l d h a v e "no o t h e r

6.

weapons than that of a n approving conscience."

Hunt

2|. B r u t o n , " P e t e r l o o " , p. 265-6. 5. H u nt , M e m o i r s , I I I , 606. 6. Q u o t e d b y B r u t o n , " P e t e r l o o " , p. 267.

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in this week of waiting - which in itself added to t h e t a u t f e e l i n g — ■i n s i s t e d t h a t n o a r m s b e b r o u g h t to the meeting a n d that no resistance be put up to a n y possible attack.

O t h e r l o c a l l e a d e r s w e r e n o t so c o n ­

v i nc e d that such a show of defenselessness wa s wise; B a m f o r d , f o r one, b e l i e v e d t h a t t h e w o r k e r s s h o u l d 7. give fight i f attacked. There w ere others who also w e r e o f l e s s p e a c e f u l m i n d t h a n Hunt; t h e m a n at w h o s e c o t t a g e h e w a s s t a y i n g h a d s u g g e s t e d at t h e time of the March of the Blanketeers that the petitioners 8 c a r r y a r m s o n t h e i r t r i p to L o n d o n .

.

B e l i e f o n ’C h a n g e w a s o p t o m i s t i c i n t h e d a y s i m m e d i a t e l y b e f o r e A u g u s t 16, f o r i t w a s t h o u g h t that the Magistrates had decided not to interfere with the meeting.

B u t S u n d a y , A u g u s t l£, b r o u g h t t h e

e a r l i e r a t m o s p h e r e o f c r i s i s b a c k w i t h r e n e w e d i m pact. A police spy trying to discover what the workers w e re d oing o n the moors w i t h their drilling sessions

7. B a m f o r d , P a s s a g e s i n t h e L i f e o f a R a d i c a l . pp. liUi-6; lH9l 8. D a v i s , ’’L a n c a s h i r e R e f o r m e r s ” , p. 73>.

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had the misfortune to be discovered; he was dragged b y the scuff of the neck and bodily removed from the scene.

H e s u st ained o n ly the o r di n a r y injuries o f a

beating, but the incident served to cause suspicion o n b o t h sides.

Hunt himself feared that the upper

classes w e re s i m p l y l o o k i n g f o r arguments to convert the m i n d o f those not already opposed to the workers a n d t h a t t h i s i n c i d e n t w o u l d b e s e i z e d u p o n w i t h g l ee 9. fo r that purpose. It was not o n ly public opinion that was i n a state of anxiety.

I n these days of incipient conflict

t h e magistrates themselves d i d not have either the s i t u a t i o n or themselves u n d e r control.

They were in

a state of quahdry u p to the time of the meeting it s e l f .

S i t t i n g u n t i l m i dnight o n Sunday, th ey we re

u n a b l e t o r e a c h a d e c i s i o n o f t h e p r o p e r s t ep s t o b e _._x,

taken; all t h e y could do w a s to w r i t e a frightened letter to the Home Office saying that they did not as y e t t h in k o f p r oh i b i t i n g the m e et i n g but that t hey 9. H u nt , M e m o i r s , H I ,

6 1 0; B r u t o n , '’P e t e r l o o ”, p. 266.

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w e r e n e v e r t h e l e s s a l a r m e d a n d i n a d r e a d f u l s t a t e of uncertainty.

The indecisiveness in which they

f l o u n d e r e d so m i s e r a b l y h a d b e e n m a d e a l l t h e m o r e p a i n f u l t h e d a y b e f o r e b y H u n t ' s o f f e r to g i v e h i m s e l f u p to t heir mercy.

H e had heard a report that he

was to be arrested o n the hustings; he therefore went to the magistrates o n Saturday and told t h e m that he w a s r e a d y t h e n to f a c e a n y charge.

They denied that

such a thought had crossed their minds and expressed 11 t h e i r s u r p r i s e a t s u c h a rumor.. They might well

.

b e * s u r p r i s e d f o r t h e d e c i s i o n t o a r r e s t H u n t w a s n ot a c t u a l l y m a d e u n t i l h e h a d b e g u n h is s p e e c h at St. 12 Peter's, f i e l d s .

.

The panic of the magistrates was spread t h r o u g h o u t t h e c i t y o n A u g u s t 16 b y t h e i r n o t i c e that all peac e f u l l a n d well-disposed persons s h o u l d s t a y i n t h e i r h o u s e s d u r i n g t h e d a y an d k e e p t h e c h i l d r e n a n d s e r v a n t s i n w i t h them.

As a

1 0 . I b i d . a pp. 26 7- 8 . 1 1. H u nt, M e m o i r s , H I ,

608- 10.

1 2. B r u t o n , " P e t e r l o o " , p. 276.

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result o f t h is seige order, schools w e r e closed and shop w indows boarded.

13.

.

A l l of t h e s e incidents w h i c h w e n t to m a ke u p the particular social situation i n w h ic h the Peterloo meeting was held were the expression o f a class conflict that h a d ra ge d i n t h e minds o f m e n before it found overt expression i n killing.

Not

o n ly had the cotton strike sown the tares of discord, but the disdain w i th which m a n y of the employers looked u p on the workers withered away whatever good­ w i l l m ight~have remained i n t h e town.

That the

workers w e r e no better than dogs and w e re o n ly to be controlled by the sword was the feeling expressed b y o n e y e o m a n - e m p l o y e r t o F r a n c i s P l a c e just p r e v i o u s to Peterloo.

U p o n P l a c e ’s e x p r e s s i o n o f d i s g u s t at

s u c h a n o u t l o o k h e w a s r e b u f f e d b y , ’’D a m n t h e i r eyes, w h at ne ed y o u care about them?

How could I sell y o u

IK.

g o o d s s o c h e a p i f I c a r e d a n y t h i n g a b o u t t h e m ? ’?

As 1

13. I b i d .. p. 2685 292. lit. W a l l a s , P l a c e a p. llfl.

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l o n g as t h e "workers w e r e a l iv e , they w e r e b e i n g

X$. paid enough w a g e s i n the estimation of these men. This degradation of the workers led to contempt on t he o n e side a n d h a te o n t he other; o f t he t wo contempt p r ov e d to b e m o r e violent. T h e concrete embodiment o f this distrust b e t w e e n the classes was the Manchester and Salford Yeoman

corps, t h e t r o o p s w h i c h l e d t h e a t t a c k o n t h e m e e t i n g . This b o d y of h o r s e m e n h a d b e e n formed i n l8l? i n response to the need by the governing powers of Manchester for a force to back up the magistrates of 16. t h e a r ea . The same consideration had prevented the disbandment of the Cheshire Yeomanry at t h e end of the war.

T h e t r o o p s o f yeomen, then, w e r e e x p r e s s l y

d e s i g n e d to p u t d o w n c i v i l d i s t u r b e r s o f t h e p e ac e ; i.e., t h e w o r k i n g - c l a s s R a d i c a l s o f t h e area.

The

Manchester and Salford corps was made u p mainly of untrained volunteers f r o m the Manchester lower

15. I b i d . 16 . B r u t o n , “P e t e r l o o 11, p. 263.

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m i d d l e c l as s ; t r a d e s m e n , i n n k e e p e r s , a n d s m a l l m a n u f a c t u r e r s o f t h e t y p e q u o t e d a b ov e .

Such troops

were necessary in view of the non-existent police force; t h e special constables which w e re sworn into service when an emergency threatened usually refused to do t h ei r w o r k unless b a ck e d b y these troops. Thus t h e y had b e e n o ften u s e d in the Manchester area a g a i n s t the w o r k e r s b e f o r e t h e t i m e o f P e t e r l o o a n d t heir reputation amongst t h e l ower classes was c o r r e s p o n d i n g l y a n e v i l one.

I n 1 8 1 2 , i n 1 8 17 , a n d

a g a i n i n 1818 a nd 1819 t h es e men, sometimes in conjunction w i t h t he r e g u l a r troops, h a d b e e n the instruments of the will of the magistrates; political e f f o r t s a n d s t ri k e e f f o r t s h a d b o t h f e l t t h e i r p o w e r a nd several k i llings w e r e to t h ei r credit.

The

M anchester Observer, a m o n t h before PeterlOo commented b i t t e r l y a n d s a r c a s t i c a l l y o n t h e s e me n. “T h e s t u p i d b o o b i e s o f y e o m a n r y c a v a l r y i n the neighborhood h a v e o n ly just m a de the discovery that the mi nd and muscle of th e country are at length united, and during the past week have been foaming and broiling themselves to death i n getting t heir swords ground and their

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p i s t o l s e x am i n e d . . . . T h e Y e o m a n r y are, generally speaking, t h e fa wn i n g dependents o f t h e great, w i t h a f e w f o o l s a n d a g r e a t e r proportion o f coxcombs, w h o imagine t h ey acquire considerable importance b y wearing r e g i m e n t a l s . " l7. Here w e have a class conflict between the lower middle class who fought the fight of their betters and the workers.

The very existence of such a force in

M a n c h e s t e r a t .the t i m e o f t h e m e e t i n g a t St. P e t e r ’s fields meant a heightening of b a d feelings.

N o r is

t h e i r much doubt that the Massacre of August 16 was the r e s u l t o f u s i n g s u c h u n t r a i n e d ■a n d v i c i o u s t r o o p s w h i c h 18. w e r e n a t i v e t o t h e area. It w a s n o t j u s t b u n g l i n g , however, w h i c h m a de the tragedy.

The crash of sabres

o n the heads of the w orkers was the result of a n employer-enrployee r e l a t i o n s h i p i n w h i c h b o t h s i d e s existed on a narrow margi n of economic safety and which w a s m a d e m o r e i r r i t a b l e b y t he s t r a i n o f t h e i n d u s t r i a l changes t h en i n progress about Manchester.

1 7 . I b i d ., p. 26ii. 1 8 . I b i d ., pp. 259; 262-85 J. L. a n d B. H a m m o n d , T o w n L a b o u r e r , p. 88.

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Peterloo Massacre August 1 6 dawned clear and f i n e 5 although it grew hot toward noon wh en the meeting was scheduled to begin, it was a fine d a y f o r t h e gala affair planned b y the workers.

Early i n the morning outside

o f M a nchester t here w a s great activity afoot and b u s y preparation.

Middleton, Royton, Chadderton, (

R o c h d a l e , S a d d l e w o r t h , O l d h a m , S t o c k p o r t , P e nd l e t o n , Ashton, Bury, Failsworth, a l l centers o f cotton manufacturing, w e r e the m a n y s mall towns f r o m w h i c h the p a r a d e s o f w o r k e r s c a m e t o S t. P e t e r ' s f i e l d s t o h e a r t h e h e r o o f t h e day, O r a t o r H u n t . much like a n outing.

It w a s all very

The m e n w e re dressed i n their

Sunday-best b l ac k fustians, the w o m e n i n t h ei r gayest colored dresses.

Each t o w n h a d its unit of marchers

organized in strict marching order3 the young men w e a r i n g laurel, the bands, t he older men, a nd t h e w o m e n - wives, sweethearts, and daughters, w h o sang a n d danced as t h e columns w o u n d t h ei r w a y into t h e city - were all placed in their proper positions -

according to plans p r eviously decided.

c.i/'

This scene o f >

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lightheartedness set into harsh relief the banners carried b y t h e men.

"Unity and Strength", "Liberty

and Fraternity", "Parliaments Annual", "Suffrage Universal", "Equal Representation or Death" - these w e r e some of the earnest slogans w hich indicated the serious p urpose b e hind the village parade.

Marching

briskly into Manchester to the sound of music and i n l o ng columns, the w o rk e r s an d their families w e re watched closely b y horsemen sent out b y the m a g i s t r a t e s t o spy.

T h ey brought back fearful

information of a great massing of workers who flaunted i n s o l e n t b a n n e r s i n t h e f a c e o f t h e la w. H u n t h a d h i s o w n p r o c e s s i o n i n t o t h e city.

As

u s u a l , h i s c a r r i a g e w a s d r a w n b y t h e p e o p l e ; h e r e too t h er e w e r e flags an d bands and a n orderly m a rc h although t h e c r o w d w a s s o g r e a t that s o m e o f t h e w o m e n w e r e i n d a ng e r o f b e i n g crushed.

O n the b o x seat o f the

carriage sat beside Hunt a w o ma n dressed in white and c a r r y i n g a w h i t e f l ag ; t h i s w a s Mrs. F i l d e s , t h e president of t he Manchester Female Reformers.

It was

Hunt's suggestion that she be given the seat of honor

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rather than be allowed to walk, for she was of remarkably good figure and perched beside the O rat o r added m u c h t o the setting.

Behind t he carriage

w a l k e d a c o m m i t t e e o f w o m e n , a l s o d r e s s e d i n whit e , w h o r e p r e s e n t e d t h e s a m e o r g a n i z a t i o n as Mr s. Fildes. A s t h i s p a r a d e a r r i v e d a t St. P e t e r ' s f i e l d s a b ou t V

I s O O p.m., a t r e m e n d o u s s h o u t o f w e l c o m e b r o k e f o r t h f r o m t he large crowd of sixty thousand w a iting for this entrance.

T h e c a r r i a g e , w i t h H u n t s t a n d i n g u p to

r e c e i v e t h e c h e e r s , w a s d r a w n s l o w l y t h r o u g h the. closely-packed and shouting m o b w hile the band played "S ee t h e C o n q u e r i n g H e r o C o m e s " ; t h e f l a g s , m a n y o f t h e m topp e d b y Caps o f Liberty, w e r e unfurled. w a s H u n t ' s g r e a t e s t m o m e n t o f glory.

Th is

W i t h t h e banners

w a v i n g above t h e heads of the crowd h e stood o n the c r u d e h u s t i n g s , . t w o c a rt s a n d s o m e b o a r d s , a n d f a c e d h is g r e a t e s t a u d i e n c e . I t w a s a g o o d h u m o r e d crowd, f u l l o f h o l i d a y spirit.

T h e y l a u g h e d at t h e q u e s t i o n s a s k e d o f t h e m

by casual observers about the possibility of revolution and fighting, for would they have brought their wives

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a nd children if t h e y intended to a t ta c k the city? I n the meantime the troops had begun their ominous task of surrounding the field keeping themselves w e l l h i dd e n i n the nearby side streets and r e a d y f o r a n y c a l l w h i c h m i g h t b e m a d e u p o n them. O ver s e ve n hundred men, including the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry, t h e Cheshire Yeomanry, the Fifteenth Hussars w h o h a d fought at Waterloo, the troop of the Royal Horse Artillery complete with two six-pound guns, a n d s e v e r a l d i v i s i o n s o f i n f a n t r y , w e r e p o i s e d for action.

The magistrates watched the proceedings

from the windows of a nearby house which faced the a rea of the meetings t h e y had strung a double line of constables between the hustings and this house in order to be able to communicate w i t h the speakers if necessary.

The country crowd was at the mercy of the

overwhelming force u n de r the control of the magistrates, w h o h a d t a k e n a l l t h e n e c e s s a r y s t e p s e x c e p t on es t h e d e c i s i o n a s t o w h a t t h e y w e r e g o i n g t o do. This was not long i n forthcoming.

W h i l e Hunt was

v o t e d i n t o t h e c h a i r a n d b e g a n h is s p e e c h , t h e s m a l l

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group of magistrates came to quick and hasty agree­ ment o n a p l a n of action,

^hey would bring the meeting

to a s u dd e n close b y arresting t h e m a i n speakers.

All

t h a t w a s n e c e s s a r y w a s to g et t h e s i g n a t u r e s o f a f e w m e n o f t h e t o w n t o a s t a t e m e n t t h a t the. t o w n w a s endangered b y the meeting, and t h e y w ould t h e n b e f r e e t o t a k e a c t i o n against. H u n t a n d t h e o t h e r lead e r s . This w a s s o on done.

Urgent messages were sent to the

troops a sking t h e m to come to t h e aid of the constables w h o r efused to act in such a crowd without armed f o r c e b e h i n d th em . W i th this acti o n the crisis of Peterloo began i t s s h a r p a s c e n t to a c l im a x .

The Manchester and

S a l f o r d t r o o p b e i n g p o s t e d c l o s e s t to t h e m e e t i n g w a s t h e f i r s t a r m e d f o r c e to a r r i v e .

Dashing excitedly

into t h e street b e hi n d t h e large crowd, and knocking a child out o f its mother's arms in their haste - the first death - t h e y reined t h e i r horses in pell-mell fashion^ unused to such rapid maneuvering neither the h o r s e s n o r m e n s h o w e d a n y s e m b l a n c e o f o r d e r as t h e y halted to consider the next move.

As the troops had

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come p o u n d i n g into t h e street, a current of a l a r m

J

and f e a r h a d rippled t h ro u g h t h e crowd bu il d i n g into a w a v e of terror.

S m a l l p o o l s o f c o mm o t i o n ,

of movement, communicated fright throughout the crowd5 s h o u t s o f " t h e s o l d i e r s , t h e s o l d i e r s ! " w e r e h e ar d . Hunt sensed t h e danger of panic a nd t r i e d to reassure t he crowd, t o h o ld t h e m b a c k f r om a sudden and c o n v u l s i v e a c t i o n a g a i n s t t h e as y e t s m a l l g r o u p of horsemen.

P o i n t i n g t o t h e y e o m e n , h e s h o u t e d to his

audience, "Stand f i r m m y friends. disorder already. cheers."

T h i s is a t r i c k .

Y o u see t h e y are in Give t h e m three

The crowd roared their cheers to the

s o l d i e r s ; t h e c a v a l r y a n d c o n s t a b l e s s h o u t e d b a ck . B u t t h e m o m e n t "was n o t t o b e a s s u a g e d b y s u c h a s h o w of goodwill.

There was a pause of indecision by

b o t h t h e y e o m e n a n d Hunt; t h e n t h e a d v a n c e o f t h e y e om e n into the b o dy o f the crowd began. "With t h e i r s a b r e s d r a w n t h e y s t e e r e d t h e i r h o r s e s directly t o wa r d the hustings pushing a path through the m a s s o f p e o p l e ; a t f i r s t t h e y m o v e d s l o w l y a n d i n order, t h e n more r a pi d l y and i n confusion as their line was

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broken b y the pressure of the m o b which shoved a n d h e a v e d to g et o u t o f t h e w a y o f t h e h o r s e s hooves and the n e w l y sharpened sabres.

It was no

l o n g e r a n o r g a n i z e d m a n e u v e r b y t h e Y e o m a n r y t o g et to the hustings; all was confusion w i t h the shouts of the crowd sounding above t h e strenuous efforts of the yeomen t o pierce into the heart of the meeting. As progress became more difficult and the horses b e ga n to press t h e people m o r e closely, t he hacking began.

S a b r e s w e r e r a i s e d a n d l o w e r e d o n t h e he ad s ,

s h ou l d e r s, a n d u p l i f t e d a r m s o f t h e m e n a n d w o m e n w h o cried for pity.

The blows were struck by men

w h o m the workers knew well and with whom they had r o u t i n e d e a l i n g s i n t h e i r e v e r y d a y life.

Those

f o r t u n a t e e n o u g h to b e o n t h e o u t s k i r t s o f t h e c r o w d b e g a n to r u n for safety f r o m the attack; others w e r e d e f e n d i n g t h e m s e l v e s as b e s t t h e y c o u l d w i t h t h e i r w a l k i n g s t i c k s , s t ones, a n d o d d p i e c e s o f l u m b e r f o u n d o n t h e g r ou n d .

B u b as y e t , t h e gr ea t c r o w d

w a s f r o z e n i n t o h o r r o r - s t r i c k e n i m m o b i l i t y b y its v e r y size.

A group of t h e y e o m e n reached the hustings;

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the speakers, Hunt included w e r e seen to tumble f r om th e boards and w e r e swallowed u p b y the mass of people.

Hunt w a s hustled along the cordon of con­

stables to the house o f the magistrates.

Clubbed

o n his head and shoulders by hot-tempered constables as h e r a n d o w n t h e d o u b l e l i n e o f me n, h e w a s s a v e d from serious injury only b y his white hat and dexterous movements of his body. W i t h t h e i r t e m p e r high, w i t h t h e i r p r e y i n ha nd , but w i t h t h ei r posi t i o n n o w a precarious one as t h e y w e r e p i n n e d w i t h i n t h e crow d , t h e c r y w e n t u p f r o m t h e f o r t y o r f i f t y y e o m e n t o ’’h a v e at t h e i r f l a g s I" C u t t i n g w i t h o u t d i s c r i m i n a t i o n b e g a n as t h e h e a v y horses plowed and plunged through the crowd in all directions.

Losing all control of themselves, t h e

y e o m e n l a s h e d a t t h e m e n a n d w o m e n b e n e a t h them; o n e m a n h o l d i n g a b a n n e r h a d h i s s h o u l d e r s l i c e d as t h e eager y e o m e n sought his trophy. The second charge of troops, the Fifteenth Hussars, w h i c h the magistrates n o w sent against the meeting, brought th e blow w h i c h dissolved the crowd

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i n t o f l e e i n g , s w ea r i n g , p a n i c - s t r i k e n f u g i t i v e s f r om destruction.

A s t h e troops dashed into the

f i e l d a n d as t h e y e o m e n b e c a m e i n c r e a s i n g l y v i c i o u s , t h e r e w e r e s h o u t s o f '‘b r e a k ! b r e a k ! T h ^ y a r e k i l l i n g t h e m in front.

B r ea k ! b r e a k ! "

"For a moment the

c r o w d h e l d b a c k as i n a p a u s e j t h e n t h e r e w a s a ru sh , h e a v y a n d r e s i s t l e s s as a h e a d l o n g sea, a n d a s o u n d l i k e l o w t h un d e r , w i t h s c r e a m s , p r a y e r s , a n d imprecations f r om the crowd-moiled, and sabre-doomed 19. w h o could not escape." Workers, yeomen, constables fought and r a n over each other in their headlong efforts to escape or to pursue.

Falling over friends

and enemies, borne down b y the horses, the routed an d t e r r i f i e d p e o p l e d a r t e d i n a l l d i r e c t i o n s to f i n d a w a y out of the death trap.

The yeomen continued to

p l y t h e i r t r a d e 5 d a s h i n g at e a c h o p e n s p a c e t o f o l l o w u p t h e i r a t ta c k , t h e y c u t a t a n y t h i n g h u ma n .

On the

edge of the field a Quaker meeting house was the center o f a b a t t l e as t h e w o r k e r s f o u g h t t o h o l d it as a 19. S e e B a m f o r d , P a s s a g e s i n t h e L i f e o f a Ra d i c a l . pp. 1142- 60j 1 6 5 - 1 6 9 , f o r a n e x c e l l e n t d e s c r i p t i o n o f Peterloo.

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p l a c e o f r e f u g e ; b u t t h e H u s s a r s b r o k e i n t o it a nd flushed their vi ct i m s into the open.

Others

b a r r i c a d e d t h e m s e l v e s b e h i n d a s t o n e -wall f r o m -which t h e y pelt e d t he h o rs e m e n w i t h stones; one y oung woman already injured and defending herself alone in a c o r n e r f e l l e d a H u s s a r w i t h a brickbat..

Several

other officials of the forces of law and order were injured either b y the defensive efforts of the mob o r b y their o w n side in the confusion. W i t h i n t e n minutes of t h e charge o f t h e Hussars St. P e t e r ' s f i e l d s w a s c l e a r e d o f t h e h u g e crowd. A l l that w a s left were the remains, h u ma n and otherwise, of the battle.

Groups o f silent or groaning men and

w o m e n l ay about; a few w o u n d e d victims crawled away o r l e a n e d o n o t h e r s f o r s u p p o r t as t h e y w e r e h e l p e d o f f the field.

Knots o f y e o m e n and Hussars stood b y their

h o r s e s w i p i n g t h e i r s a b r e s a n d l o o s e n i n g s a dd l e s .

The

a r e a w a s s t r e w n w i t h h a ts, s h o e s , a n d o t h e r a r t i c l e s o f c l o t h i n g as w e l l as t h e t o r n b a n n e r s w h i c h h a d on ce c a s u a l l y t h r o w n o u t t h e c h a l l e n g e o f e q u a l .representation o r d e at h .

T h e l a t t e r h a d b e e n f r e e l y given.

In the

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d i s t r i c t s u r r o u n d i n g the m e e t i n g p l ac e a noisy, f l e e i n g c r o w d p o u r e d t h r o u g h t h e n e a r b y s t re e t s , a h o rr i f y i ng sight w i t h t h e i r b l o o d streaked faces a n d t h e i r t u m b l i n g , f u d d l i n g e f f o r t s to s e e k safe t y . B u t a t S t. P e t e r * s f i e l d s t h e r e w a s s i l e n c e .

I n these days o f genocide Peterloo does not s e em like much.

E l e v e n persons, several of t h e m

w o m e n and children, w e re killed; be tw e e n five h u n d r e d and s i x hundred w e r e seriously wounded. Ma nc h e s t er s a w one more death that d a y from an 20 e v e n i n g r i o t a t N e w C r os s .

.

T he Trial of Hunt O n c e S t. P e t e r * s f i e l d s h a d b e e n c l e a r e d b y t h e y e o m e n a n d t h e Hussars, legal mach i n e r y b egan its process o f dragging Hunt and his comrades of the hustings toward their respective bastiles.

I n most

o f E n gland there w e r e d e e p a n d immediate divisions 2 0. T h e d e t a i l s o f t h i s a c c o u n t h a v e b e e n d r a w n f r o m Bruton, " P e t e r l o o 1*; H u n t , M e m o i r s , H I , 6 1 1 - 1 9 ; A n n u a l R e g i s t e r , 1819, p p . 1 0 6 - 7 ( H i s t o r y ) ; L o n d o n T i m e s , A u g u s t 1 9, 1& L9 ; Bamf o r d , P a s s a g e s i n t h e l i f e o f a R a d i c a l , Ch. X X V .

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o v e r t h e justice of t he m a ssacre o f Peterloo but t h e r e was no h e si t a t i on o n the part o f the Govern­ ment.

On August 1? the magistrates of Cheshire

a n d Lancashire thanked the officers and m e n who had taken part in the action for their forebearance when i n sulted b y t h e mob.

On August 21 the Prince Regent

c o n v e y e d h i s t h a n k s a n d a p p r o v a l o f t h e r e s u l t s to 21 t h e m a g i s t r a t e s c o nc e r n e d .

.

N e it h e r the T o r y Government nor the magistrates h a d a n y i n t e n t i o n o f a l l o w i n g t h e a c t i o n to r e m a i n o n the plane of mutual congratulations.

Decisive legal

action was to carry on where the soldiers had left o f f.

A f t e r Hunt and his group w ere taken f rom the

h u s t i n g s , t h e y w e r e i m m e d i a t e l y c o n f i n e d to N e w B a i l e y jail u p o n a charge of high treason.

Eleven

d a y s l a t e r t h e y were, b r o u g h t b e f o r e c o u r t w h e r e they we re informed that the charge had be en shifted on t h e a d v i c e o f t h e l a w o f f i c e r s o f t h e crown.

Now they

w e re accused o f conspiracy to overturn the Government

21 * A n n u a l R e g i s t e r , 1 8 1 9 , p. 1 0 7 (History) j p. 1 2 5 (Chronicle).

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a n d to change t h e laws of t h e l a nd b y force a n d threats* The m e n w e r e sent to Lancaster jail u n ti l the bail 22 w a s paid. This was soon accomplished mainly through

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the efforts of Sir Charles Wolseley; none of the m e n 23. c o u l d h a v e .raised t h i s a m o u n t o n t h e i r o w n cred i t . Because the L a nc a s t e r As si z e s w e r e just approaching, Hunt and the other m e n took advantage of the law and traversed to the next session in order to have time to p r e p a r e t h e i r c a s e a n d c o l l e c t w i t n e s s e s .

He

a n d t h e o t h e r s a l s o h a d t h e i r t r i a l m o v e d to t h e Y o r k A s s i z e s 5 it w a s i n Y o r k t h a t t h e m a s s a c r e h a d b e c o m e a p a r t y q u e s t i o n a n d w h e r e H u n t h o p e d to o b t a i n a 21*.

s y m p a t h e t i c jury.

T herefore the trial did not take

22. T h e m e n a c c u s e d w e r e H u n t , J o hn s o n , B a m f o r d , S a x t o n , M b o r h o u s e , H e a l y , K n ig h t , Jo ne s , S w i f t , a n d W y l d e . B a i l w a s s e t a t £ 1 , 0 0 0 a n d t w o s u r e t i e s o f