FOOTNOTES

“Here is, even from the mouths of the Government themselves, an acknowledgment that it is a good thing to make the practice of flogging less general. This they have now distinctly avowed, that it is desirable to narrow this practice; and they boast of having, in some degree, succeeded by the means of a clause in the last year’s Mutiny Act. Now then, said Mr. Brougham, if this be the case, or as far as the good has gone, it is to be attributed to the press; and that, while those who were honest and bold enough to begin this battle in the cause of humanity; while those who fought the good fight and won an inestimable victory in that great cause; while Mr. Drakard and I were shut up in a prison, the Government were boasting of the success of a measure founded upon our principles. He added, that ‘the legislature had been obliged, with respect to this question, to act upon the very principles of Mr. Cobbett, who was now in jail for his unseasonable declaration of them.’ This seems to have given great offence to several members of the honourable House, who observed that the soldiers ought to be taught toTHANK THEIR OFFICERSfor the measure, andnot Mr. Cobbett! Oh, dear, no! That would be a sad thing! It would be a sad thing if the soldiers were to look toMEfor redress; especially after my being sent to a felon’s jail, which, of course, was to mark me out for a man to be shunned, rather than looked up to. The truth is, that this merit of having been the beginner of the battle in the cause of the soldiers does not belong to me. It belongs to Sir Francis Burdett.…“Sir George Warrender describes Mr. Brougham as bidding the army look to me for redress instead of looking to their own officers. Why, really, I do not see why this should hurt the gentleman’s feelings so much. What harm could it do? What could the public or the soldiers learn from any speech of Mr. Brougham more about me than they know already? They all know very well what I am in jail for.… The newspapers were kept full of me and mycrimefor the best part of a month; from the newspapers I and my crime got into the caricature shops; and, in short, while in jail myself, all those (and very numerous they were), who were in hopes that I was gone to my last home, used every means in their power toblacken my character.…“Surely Sir George Warrender might have trusted, in such a case, to theunderstandingof the army! He might surely have confided in theirtastenot to look up to me instead of their officers, especially after the repeated assurances of Sir Vicary Gibbs, that the armydespisedsuch writings as mine, and held their authors in abhorrence. After this, I think Sir George Warrender might have spared any expression of the wound given to his feelings at hearing language that tended to induce the army tolook up to meinstead of looking up to their own officers for redress. ‘Indiscreet language!’ As if the subject had been alltinder: as if there had been imminent danger in even warning me, lest the soldiers should hear, or see, my name! Really, though sitting here in a jail, I can hardly help laughing at the idea.”“When it was known in America, that so heavy, so dreadful a sentence, had been passed upon me, a sentence which no man could regard as much short of death; a sentence surpassing in severity those for nineteen-twentieths of thefelonies; when this sentence was heard of in America, where every creature was well acquainted with what I had there suffered from my devotion to my country, every one naturally felt eager to knowwhat I could have doneto merit such a sentence? And, when the people of that country came to see what it was; when they came to read the article, for the writing of which I was to be so heavily punished; when they came to consider the subject-matter of that publication, and to reflect on how they themselves might become interested in it, there naturally came forth through the press an expression of some sentiments which have finally had their effect in producing the Act of Congress above inserted; and thus has the hateful practice of flogging men been abolished by law in a great and rising, and wonderfully-increasing nation. I do not pretend to say that the American Government would have had any desire to continue the practice of flogging, though the discussions on the subject had never taken place in England. On the contrary, I am of opinion that that Government was glad of an opportunity of getting rid of it; but I am of opinion that the thing would not have been thought of, had it not been for the discussions in England. Sir Vicary Gibbs was little apprehensive of these effects when he was prosecuting me; he could scarcely have hoped that his labours would be productive of consequences so important, so beneficial, and honourable to mankind; he hardly, I dare say, flattered himself that he was ensuring the extension of his renown through a whole continent of readers.”

“Here is, even from the mouths of the Government themselves, an acknowledgment that it is a good thing to make the practice of flogging less general. This they have now distinctly avowed, that it is desirable to narrow this practice; and they boast of having, in some degree, succeeded by the means of a clause in the last year’s Mutiny Act. Now then, said Mr. Brougham, if this be the case, or as far as the good has gone, it is to be attributed to the press; and that, while those who were honest and bold enough to begin this battle in the cause of humanity; while those who fought the good fight and won an inestimable victory in that great cause; while Mr. Drakard and I were shut up in a prison, the Government were boasting of the success of a measure founded upon our principles. He added, that ‘the legislature had been obliged, with respect to this question, to act upon the very principles of Mr. Cobbett, who was now in jail for his unseasonable declaration of them.’ This seems to have given great offence to several members of the honourable House, who observed that the soldiers ought to be taught toTHANK THEIR OFFICERSfor the measure, andnot Mr. Cobbett! Oh, dear, no! That would be a sad thing! It would be a sad thing if the soldiers were to look toMEfor redress; especially after my being sent to a felon’s jail, which, of course, was to mark me out for a man to be shunned, rather than looked up to. The truth is, that this merit of having been the beginner of the battle in the cause of the soldiers does not belong to me. It belongs to Sir Francis Burdett.…

“Sir George Warrender describes Mr. Brougham as bidding the army look to me for redress instead of looking to their own officers. Why, really, I do not see why this should hurt the gentleman’s feelings so much. What harm could it do? What could the public or the soldiers learn from any speech of Mr. Brougham more about me than they know already? They all know very well what I am in jail for.… The newspapers were kept full of me and mycrimefor the best part of a month; from the newspapers I and my crime got into the caricature shops; and, in short, while in jail myself, all those (and very numerous they were), who were in hopes that I was gone to my last home, used every means in their power toblacken my character.…

“Surely Sir George Warrender might have trusted, in such a case, to theunderstandingof the army! He might surely have confided in theirtastenot to look up to me instead of their officers, especially after the repeated assurances of Sir Vicary Gibbs, that the armydespisedsuch writings as mine, and held their authors in abhorrence. After this, I think Sir George Warrender might have spared any expression of the wound given to his feelings at hearing language that tended to induce the army tolook up to meinstead of looking up to their own officers for redress. ‘Indiscreet language!’ As if the subject had been alltinder: as if there had been imminent danger in even warning me, lest the soldiers should hear, or see, my name! Really, though sitting here in a jail, I can hardly help laughing at the idea.”

“When it was known in America, that so heavy, so dreadful a sentence, had been passed upon me, a sentence which no man could regard as much short of death; a sentence surpassing in severity those for nineteen-twentieths of thefelonies; when this sentence was heard of in America, where every creature was well acquainted with what I had there suffered from my devotion to my country, every one naturally felt eager to knowwhat I could have doneto merit such a sentence? And, when the people of that country came to see what it was; when they came to read the article, for the writing of which I was to be so heavily punished; when they came to consider the subject-matter of that publication, and to reflect on how they themselves might become interested in it, there naturally came forth through the press an expression of some sentiments which have finally had their effect in producing the Act of Congress above inserted; and thus has the hateful practice of flogging men been abolished by law in a great and rising, and wonderfully-increasing nation. I do not pretend to say that the American Government would have had any desire to continue the practice of flogging, though the discussions on the subject had never taken place in England. On the contrary, I am of opinion that that Government was glad of an opportunity of getting rid of it; but I am of opinion that the thing would not have been thought of, had it not been for the discussions in England. Sir Vicary Gibbs was little apprehensive of these effects when he was prosecuting me; he could scarcely have hoped that his labours would be productive of consequences so important, so beneficial, and honourable to mankind; he hardly, I dare say, flattered himself that he was ensuring the extension of his renown through a whole continent of readers.”

It was, then, no idle boast, that imprisonment need not kill, nor even seriously injure, a man: that a jail was “as good a place for study as any other.” But, really, although the temporary loss of liberty is an unpleasant thing, considered in the abstract, there can be no possible objection to a man putting as good a face as he can on the matter. Life itself is nothing but a life-long struggle of a kindred character: to try and get an optimist view of bad circumstances. And, if one must needs take his daily exercise upon the leads of Newgate prison, instead of through his coppices and cornfields: if he must get his “violets and primroses, and cowslips and harebells,” sent up bythe carrier, because of their extreme rarity in the street below; let him thank a propitious Heaven for so much!

In point of fact, few prisoners were ever so blessed as Cobbett. The reader is familiar enough (from the pages of “Advice,” &c.) with the current of domestic joy that kept flowing. But, besides having one or other of his family continually with him, there were always sympathizing visitors: personal friends, business acquaintances, deputations from clubs and societies all over the kingdom. And, what was of no little importance, Matthew Wood was sheriff, who attended, in every possible way, to the comfort of his prisoner. Baron Maseres[4]came frequently, and “always in his wig and gown, in order, as he said, to show his abhorrence of the sentence.”

“I was hardly arrived when the brave old Major Cartwright came.… You [Peter Walker, of Worth, Sussex] were the next to arrive; and when, by dint of money, I had obtained the favour to be put into a room by myself, you hurried home, and brought me bedstead, chairs, tables, bedding, and everything; and I think I see you now, stripped in your shirt, putting the bedstead together and making up my bed. During the whole of the two years you never suffered me to be lonely; and your kindness was such, that when you found me engaged—when any one arrived—you instantly departed, unless pressed to stay. Thus proving that your visits arose solely from your desire to alleviate the sufferings of confinement. And, at the close of the period, though the sum was so enormous, and the period so long, you, with my excellent friendBrown, voluntarily became my bail, and spoke of it, as he did, as an honour done to yourself.”

“I was hardly arrived when the brave old Major Cartwright came.… You [Peter Walker, of Worth, Sussex] were the next to arrive; and when, by dint of money, I had obtained the favour to be put into a room by myself, you hurried home, and brought me bedstead, chairs, tables, bedding, and everything; and I think I see you now, stripped in your shirt, putting the bedstead together and making up my bed. During the whole of the two years you never suffered me to be lonely; and your kindness was such, that when you found me engaged—when any one arrived—you instantly departed, unless pressed to stay. Thus proving that your visits arose solely from your desire to alleviate the sufferings of confinement. And, at the close of the period, though the sum was so enormous, and the period so long, you, with my excellent friendBrown, voluntarily became my bail, and spoke of it, as he did, as an honour done to yourself.”

And, as to his health, Cobbett would boast in after years that he never had even a headache for a moment; never enjoyed better health or spirits; never had hopes more lively, or thoughts more gay, than in that prison.

But that which, above all other matters, appeared to be the great solace of his prison-life, was the production of his famous work on the Currency, under the title of “Paper against Gold.”[5]The tricks and contrivances by which paper-money had been, along with the funding system, made the means ofplacing unwieldy fortunes in the hands of speculators, was his utter abhorrence. The glory wasdeparted from England, in his eyes, if public credit were to hang upon the prosperity of the few, as against the multitude. And, regarding a fictitious currency, shifting in value from day to day, sometimes even from hour to hour, as a leading cause of the debt which was accumulating to such a terrible figure,—he resolved to devote a part of his newly-found leisure to the systematizing of his thought upon the subject.

Accordingly, upon the 1st of September, he commenced a series of papers, founded upon the recent report of the Bullion Committee; tracing the history of the National Debt, and of the schemes for raising money which had been in vogue during the war.

Here is his story (told in 1822) of the first conception of the plan, and his notion of its value:—

“The next day after Gibbs, Ellenborough, and their associates, had got me safe in Newgate, an American friend of mine, who had the clearest and soundest head of almost any man I ever knew in my life, and for whom I had and still have a very great personal regard, came to see me in a very miserable hole, though better than that to which I had been sentenced, and from which I finally ransomed myself at the expense, forlodgingalone, of 1200l.Being seated, one of us on each side of a little bit of a table, he said, looking up into my face, with his arms folded upon the edge of the table, ‘Well! they havegot youat last. And now, what will you do?’ After a moment or two I answered, ‘What do you think I ought to do?’He then gave me his opinion, and entered pretty much into a sort of plan of proceedings. I heard him out, and then I spoke to him in much about these words: ‘No, Dickins, that will never do. This nation is drunk, it is mad as a March hare, and mad it will be till this beastly frolic (the war) is over. The only mode of proceeding, to get satisfaction, requires great patience. The nation must suffer at last, and greatly and dreadfully suffer, and in that suffering it will come to its reason, and to that justice of sentiment, which are now wholly banished. I shall make no immediate impression by tracing the paper-system to its deadly root. The common people will stare at me, and the rich ruffians will swear; but the time must come when all will listen; and my plan is to write thatnowwhich I can hold up to the teeth of my insolent enemies, and taunt them with in the hour of their distress.…’ I then described to him the outline of what I intended to do with regard to the paper-system; and after passing a very pleasant afternoon, during which we selected and rejected several titles, we at last fixed upon that ofPaper against Gold, which I began to write and to publish in a few weeks afterwards, and which, at the end of thirteen years, I hold up to the noses of the insolent foes who then exulted over me, and tell them, ‘This is what you got by my having been sentenced to Newgate: this was the produce of that deed by which it was hoped and believed, that I was pressed down never to be able to stir again.…’ This was a new epoch in the progress of my mind. I now bent my whole force to one object, regarding everything else as of no consequence at all. The pursuits of agriculture and gardening filled up the moments of mere leisure and relaxation. Other topics than that of paper-money came now and then tomake a variety; but this was the main thing. I never had any hope in anything else; and nothing else was an object of my care.”

“The next day after Gibbs, Ellenborough, and their associates, had got me safe in Newgate, an American friend of mine, who had the clearest and soundest head of almost any man I ever knew in my life, and for whom I had and still have a very great personal regard, came to see me in a very miserable hole, though better than that to which I had been sentenced, and from which I finally ransomed myself at the expense, forlodgingalone, of 1200l.Being seated, one of us on each side of a little bit of a table, he said, looking up into my face, with his arms folded upon the edge of the table, ‘Well! they havegot youat last. And now, what will you do?’ After a moment or two I answered, ‘What do you think I ought to do?’He then gave me his opinion, and entered pretty much into a sort of plan of proceedings. I heard him out, and then I spoke to him in much about these words: ‘No, Dickins, that will never do. This nation is drunk, it is mad as a March hare, and mad it will be till this beastly frolic (the war) is over. The only mode of proceeding, to get satisfaction, requires great patience. The nation must suffer at last, and greatly and dreadfully suffer, and in that suffering it will come to its reason, and to that justice of sentiment, which are now wholly banished. I shall make no immediate impression by tracing the paper-system to its deadly root. The common people will stare at me, and the rich ruffians will swear; but the time must come when all will listen; and my plan is to write thatnowwhich I can hold up to the teeth of my insolent enemies, and taunt them with in the hour of their distress.…’ I then described to him the outline of what I intended to do with regard to the paper-system; and after passing a very pleasant afternoon, during which we selected and rejected several titles, we at last fixed upon that ofPaper against Gold, which I began to write and to publish in a few weeks afterwards, and which, at the end of thirteen years, I hold up to the noses of the insolent foes who then exulted over me, and tell them, ‘This is what you got by my having been sentenced to Newgate: this was the produce of that deed by which it was hoped and believed, that I was pressed down never to be able to stir again.…’ This was a new epoch in the progress of my mind. I now bent my whole force to one object, regarding everything else as of no consequence at all. The pursuits of agriculture and gardening filled up the moments of mere leisure and relaxation. Other topics than that of paper-money came now and then tomake a variety; but this was the main thing. I never had any hope in anything else; and nothing else was an object of my care.”

So the attempt to crush him was a failure. Rather, they read defiance in every page; and, as time wore on, it was seen that the silence of defeat was on the side of Mr. Cobbett’s foes. The Press ignored him; that Press which had, from envy at his superior talents and his unexampled success, ransacked the vocabulary of Billingsgate in order to abuse a man they could not answer; which had so goaded and inflamed the persecuting spirit of the time, that none dared speak or write who were not sheltered by privilege, or who had not bartered independence for the favour of those in power. Not for several years after this date was there much desire shown, on the part of a ministerial writer, to attract the glance of this rampant lion.

And they might well be quiet. If this imprisonment had neither killed nor cured him, Mr. Cobbett came out of Newgate an altered man. He was now fifty years of age, and a few grey hairs were just appearing. The enormous expenses which he had been put to (amounting, from first to last, to more than six thousand pounds), and the discovery that his business affairs were hopelessly involved, made up a bundle of difficulties which began to tell upon his temper. Good-natured sarcasms made place for bitter ones; and an air of spitefulness would come over his writings when there was more than ordinary cause for resentment. His essays were, albeit brilliant as ever, sometimes marred by the introduction of coarse epithets; and, during the remainder of his career, this cause alone sufficed to estrange many of his friends, and to put a stone into the hand of opponents.

Mr. Cobbett’s writing must be considered as at its very best during the years 1810-12. He probably gave some time to revision; a point which he had been inclined to neglect, and a matter concerning which he seemed utterly heedless in later years; the exclusive devotion to his pen, now so far removed from rural distractions, necessarily produced better work.

But it cannot be said that there was any deterioration in Cobbett’s literary style, beyond the warmth of expression engendered by fiercer animosity. The best known works of William Cobbett belong to the last twenty years of his life; and if they are painfully full of personal hatreds, it must be recollected that those were, indeed, times to try men’s souls; the oppressor and the oppressed had seldom been, in England, in such close conflict; and a leader and guider of men, on the side of the latter, had need to be fierce and uncompromising. The soldier, foremost of your storming-party, has little time to spare for consideration of the personal merits of the foe, whose gunstock is swinging o’er his head.

The more serious result, personally, of the sentence pronounced upon Mr. Cobbett, was the utter collapse of his pecuniary fortunes. The enormous profit derived from the publication of theRegistermight have been sufficient to cover even the profuse expenditure of Botley House, with its hospitality and its planting experiments, but Mr. Cobbett was eminently a person who (as the Hebrew poet has it) earned money to put it into a bag with holes.

This matter, however, might be passed over with light notice, but for its interference with Cobbett’s public services. His is not a solitary instance of a useful life being marred, and its efficiency hindered, by an ignorance of the value of money; and there could hardly be a more decisive evidence of the disastrous results of such ignorance than is presented by this man’s career.Plutusis the most exacting of deities; his votaries must be whole-hearted; letFortunacome and cast off her shoes as she may.…

It was never Cobbett’s aim to get rich. He had, indeed, hoped to provide a snug competence for his children; but for plans of amassing wealth he had supreme contempt. To earn by labour, and to circulate the proceeds, was his economy; and it cannot be denied that, with proper prudence, that is the right economy. The greatest enemy to national prosperity is the plutocrat; and the next greatest is he who can afford, in the prime of life, to live without labour, through the mistaken munificence or benevolence of another.

It would appear, then, that upon accounts being looked into, in the autumn of 1810, money affairs were found to be almost hopelessly entangled. The three great serial works,—the “Debates,” “Parliamentary History,” and “State Trials,” were being produced at a ruinous loss; while the accommodation-paper, chiefly in the hands of Mr. Swann, amounted to thousands of pounds. Cobbett had not looked at his balance for six years! His practice was to ask Mr. Wright to send him ten, twenty, or forty pounds as he wanted it; and to leave the rest of the matter implicitly to him. Wright was, himself, not very clever in the management of money; and, between the two, there came at last the profoundest muddle. It ended in an arbitration, held in the prison; the result being a heavy award against Wright, and a total and irremediable rupture of their friendship. Mr. Budd bought up a large portion of the publications in stock; while Mr. Hansard took into his own hands the three serials which he had been printing for Cobbett.

The quarrel with Mr. Wright is the most painful episode in Cobbett’s life. There can be no doubt that Wright had been a reckless agent, and had been trusted far too much; and his conduct, some years after, in producing an old, long-forgotten, private letter of Cobbett’s, to serve electioneering purposes, was so infamous a breach of confidence, that it may well be believed that his employer’s imputation of dishonesty had foundation in actual fact. Of this matter we shall unhappily hear more in the sequel.[6]The following letter to Mr. Swann (dated Newgate, January 26, 1811) may be selected as best illustrating the existing condition of affairs:—

“I find, from Mr. Bagshaw, that one of the notes, given by him to you, or at least accepted by him, at our settlement and renewal of bills, under the auspices of Wright, is coming due on Tuesday (I believe it is), and we have no money to pay it. You remember that he told me that all these notes were given for books bought by Budd and Bagshaw. As it happens, the former was nearly true; but, as to the latter, not a shilling was due on that account. The whole was a fraud upon me, in order to make me believe that the works had sold to this extent; and his view was to get an assignment of the stock, and leave me to pay myself as I could. I have now an abundance ofbonâ fidenotes, but no money; every sixpence being swallowed by the notes left unpaid and unrenewed at the time you were here. A series of such unprincipled conductI never either knew or heard of; but I am aware that my having been a dupe is no justification for me with you. Within these five weeks I have not had an hour’s peace; but I have obtained forbearance from those whom I could not pay, and have avoided, except with you, putting my name to any new bill. My wife knows all about the matter; and plenty of vexation it has given her. I imagine I can pay this first note in about a fortnight; but I am sure the others will come too fast upon me. If you could come to town in ten days, I think we could so settle the matter, as for it not to be at all, or at least but very little inconvenient to you, and to relieve my mind from a load of vexation and anxiety that is really intolerable.“The works are all going on well. I have made a revolution here at any rate. I have not seen Wright this fortnight; but I make him send every word of copy tome. I have dismissed his journeyman-authors and bottle-companions, and have set him to work for his bread. And work he shall, or I will dismiss him. Considerable as my property is, I had been well-nigh ruined, if I had not come to jail. Let me have a line from you. Mrs. Cobbett joins me in kindest regards to Mrs. Swann and your dear children. We thank you very much for the pig; but I thank you still more for your last kind and affectionate letter, the words of which, and the whole of your conduct, have made an impression upon my heart that never will be effaced. Amongst the other acts of this man was an attempt to put an end toourconnexion, when once he had got you to take the notes; but he was silenced by an indignant rejection of the hint on my part. The best way will be to say little about the matter anywhere; for the shame of being so duped is mine.“God bless you, and give you health, and the like to your family.”

“I find, from Mr. Bagshaw, that one of the notes, given by him to you, or at least accepted by him, at our settlement and renewal of bills, under the auspices of Wright, is coming due on Tuesday (I believe it is), and we have no money to pay it. You remember that he told me that all these notes were given for books bought by Budd and Bagshaw. As it happens, the former was nearly true; but, as to the latter, not a shilling was due on that account. The whole was a fraud upon me, in order to make me believe that the works had sold to this extent; and his view was to get an assignment of the stock, and leave me to pay myself as I could. I have now an abundance ofbonâ fidenotes, but no money; every sixpence being swallowed by the notes left unpaid and unrenewed at the time you were here. A series of such unprincipled conductI never either knew or heard of; but I am aware that my having been a dupe is no justification for me with you. Within these five weeks I have not had an hour’s peace; but I have obtained forbearance from those whom I could not pay, and have avoided, except with you, putting my name to any new bill. My wife knows all about the matter; and plenty of vexation it has given her. I imagine I can pay this first note in about a fortnight; but I am sure the others will come too fast upon me. If you could come to town in ten days, I think we could so settle the matter, as for it not to be at all, or at least but very little inconvenient to you, and to relieve my mind from a load of vexation and anxiety that is really intolerable.

“The works are all going on well. I have made a revolution here at any rate. I have not seen Wright this fortnight; but I make him send every word of copy tome. I have dismissed his journeyman-authors and bottle-companions, and have set him to work for his bread. And work he shall, or I will dismiss him. Considerable as my property is, I had been well-nigh ruined, if I had not come to jail. Let me have a line from you. Mrs. Cobbett joins me in kindest regards to Mrs. Swann and your dear children. We thank you very much for the pig; but I thank you still more for your last kind and affectionate letter, the words of which, and the whole of your conduct, have made an impression upon my heart that never will be effaced. Amongst the other acts of this man was an attempt to put an end toourconnexion, when once he had got you to take the notes; but he was silenced by an indignant rejection of the hint on my part. The best way will be to say little about the matter anywhere; for the shame of being so duped is mine.

“God bless you, and give you health, and the like to your family.”

It was all too late, however. Years of prosperity, with concurrent retrenchment, might have staved off ruin. But, as the ensuing period in the history of England was one of continued disaster to most persons who were not paid out of the taxes, Mr. Cobbett shared the fate of all persons who were not prepared for the storm; and his pecuniary affairs only got from bad to worse. As for the 6500l.due from Wright under the arbitration, there was not the ghost of a chance of that ever being paid.

Under the circumstances, then, it is not surprising to learn that he had already accepted the proffered assistance of his political friends. Colonel Bosville gave him 1000l.as a set-off against some electioneering expenses he had been put to over Mr. Paull; Burdett advanced a large sum chiefly for the purpose of settling with Mr. Swann; and, at last, when the fine had to be paid, it would appear that Cobbett owed the ability to do so to the generosity of another. This disposition to support him and his cause showed itself, however, from the very first, and from all quarters. Even his opponents could not fail to admit the severity of the sentence;[7]while his friends not only offered their sympathy, but proposed a public subscription on his behalf—a proposal, however, which Cobbettdeclined, at the same time suggesting that those who wished to assist him could not do better than buy theRegister.

The end came at last. In compliment to Mr. Cobbett’s untiring industry, and the abundant material provided for its exercise, Old Time had worn his fleetest pair of wings. And on the 8th July, 1812, his last paper in Newgate announced that he had “just paid a thousand pounds to the king: and much good may it do his majesty!”

On the following day, being released, a grand dinner was given at the “Crown and Anchor,” in order to celebrate the occasion; and, as though Fate were determined that he should have no interval of peace, as soon as he had regained his liberty, the opportunity must needs be taken to remind Mr. Cobbett that his opinions had changed from time to time. Burdett took the chair, presiding over some six hundred guests, and the thing was fairly successful, notwithstanding an attempt made to create discord between Cobbett and the chairman of the evening. There was no blinking the fact, however, that Cobbett had lost some friends over the vacillation which he had displayed while within the grasp of Vicary Gibbs; but the ungenerous mortal, whobrought the matter forward at the dinner, had no support from his audience; and, indeed, all the leaders among the Reformists[8]had condoned the momentary weakness.

Mr. Cobbett’s release was celebrated, in several places in England, by a public meeting of one kind or other. And as he journeyed homeward, his reception was well-calculated to add to the felicities of the day. At Alton, the bells were set ringing; at Winchester he was stopped to be again entertained at dinner; and, on nearing home, he found the people of Botley had come out in goodly assemblage to meet him, and to listen to his story.

[1]Alderman Sir William Curtis, Member for the City of London. He had amassed great wealth as a war contractor, and was now a staunch supporter of the ministry.

[1]Alderman Sir William Curtis, Member for the City of London. He had amassed great wealth as a war contractor, and was now a staunch supporter of the ministry.

[2]TheExaminercopied this paragraph, and the proprietors were prosecuted, but the jury acquitted them.

[2]TheExaminercopied this paragraph, and the proprietors were prosecuted, but the jury acquitted them.

[3]Take, as a specimen, the following proposal:—The Spilsby Poor Bill was a measure brought before Parliament, early in 1811, for the purpose of enabling the directors of the union to compel the poor, whether asking relief or not, to go into the workhouse. They were to be allowed to enter houses at their discretion to search for vagrants. They might commit to solitary imprisonment, without limit, the poor whom they collected, andadminister moderate correctionfor misbehaviour! (VideParliamentary Debates, March 26, 1811.) This brutal idea was soon snuffed out, at the instance of Sir Samuel Romilly; but what a picture does it not present, of the combination of imbecility and cruelty which could rule the minds of some of the potential classes of society!

[3]Take, as a specimen, the following proposal:—The Spilsby Poor Bill was a measure brought before Parliament, early in 1811, for the purpose of enabling the directors of the union to compel the poor, whether asking relief or not, to go into the workhouse. They were to be allowed to enter houses at their discretion to search for vagrants. They might commit to solitary imprisonment, without limit, the poor whom they collected, andadminister moderate correctionfor misbehaviour! (VideParliamentary Debates, March 26, 1811.) This brutal idea was soon snuffed out, at the instance of Sir Samuel Romilly; but what a picture does it not present, of the combination of imbecility and cruelty which could rule the minds of some of the potential classes of society!

[4]Francis Maseres (1731-1824), Cursitor Baron of the Exchequer, came of a Huguenot family, and was a man of high cultivation, being especially distinguished for his mathematical attainments and his knowledge of English constitutional history. Although his name is now almost forgotten, he produced a number of short essays and treatises on his favourite subjects, many of which, however, are buried away in the newspapers of his time, Cobbett’sPorcupinebeing one to which he contributed. Maseres was a moderate Reformer, and what opinions he had were rather allowed to filtrate through his own select circle of friends than pushed forward into naked notoriety. He pursued a quiet, intellectual life, and devoted a large portion of his means to charitable and liberal purposes. Cobbett never mentions his name without affectionate reverence.

[4]Francis Maseres (1731-1824), Cursitor Baron of the Exchequer, came of a Huguenot family, and was a man of high cultivation, being especially distinguished for his mathematical attainments and his knowledge of English constitutional history. Although his name is now almost forgotten, he produced a number of short essays and treatises on his favourite subjects, many of which, however, are buried away in the newspapers of his time, Cobbett’sPorcupinebeing one to which he contributed. Maseres was a moderate Reformer, and what opinions he had were rather allowed to filtrate through his own select circle of friends than pushed forward into naked notoriety. He pursued a quiet, intellectual life, and devoted a large portion of his means to charitable and liberal purposes. Cobbett never mentions his name without affectionate reverence.

[5]This work was begun shortly after Cobbett’s arrival in Newgate. His contention was that the Bank could never again pay in specie or in paper at par, unless the interest on the Funds was reduced. The loans having been contracted to a large extent in paper, this seemed reasonable enough; and the idea was generally accepted among the classes who suffered so severely from monetary pressure during subsequent years, although others thought it was “sapping the foundations of public morality,” and so on.The first letter appeared in theRegisterof Sept. 1, 1810, under the title of “Paper against Gold; being an Examination of the Report of the Bullion Committee; in a Series of Letters to the Tradesmen and Farmers in and near Salisbury.” It was afterwards reprinted in full, with additions, under the title of “Paper against Gold, and Glory against Prosperity” (retail price, twenty shillings, in paper money).During the remainder of Cobbett’s life, he was always at battledore and shuttlecock over the Currency question. A passage from one of his AmericanRegisterswas one that he was especially fond of sending up, in which he declared that it would be impossible to carry Peel’s Bill of 1819 into full effect, and wound up with an offer to Castlereagh to have leave “to lay me on a gridiron and broil me alive, while Sidmouth may stir the coals, and Canning stand by and laugh at my groans.” The Bill did take effect, after a fashion, but with tremendous difficulties in its train; and the feast of the gridiron came off at last, on the 9th of April, 1826, not in the style that was originally proposed, but in the shape of a dinner at the London Tavern. For a full account of it see theMorning Heraldof the following day.Another bit of humour was an attempt in verse:—“Of paper coin how vast the pow’r!It breaks or makes us in an hour.And thus, perhaps, a beggar’s shirt,When finely ground and clear’d of dirt,Then recompress’d by hand or hopper,And printed on by sheet of copper,May raise ten beggars to renown,And tumble fifty nobles down!”When Cobbett took the house at 183, Fleet Street, he prepared a big gridiron as a shop-sign, and also headed his journal with a woodcut of that utensil.

[5]This work was begun shortly after Cobbett’s arrival in Newgate. His contention was that the Bank could never again pay in specie or in paper at par, unless the interest on the Funds was reduced. The loans having been contracted to a large extent in paper, this seemed reasonable enough; and the idea was generally accepted among the classes who suffered so severely from monetary pressure during subsequent years, although others thought it was “sapping the foundations of public morality,” and so on.

The first letter appeared in theRegisterof Sept. 1, 1810, under the title of “Paper against Gold; being an Examination of the Report of the Bullion Committee; in a Series of Letters to the Tradesmen and Farmers in and near Salisbury.” It was afterwards reprinted in full, with additions, under the title of “Paper against Gold, and Glory against Prosperity” (retail price, twenty shillings, in paper money).

During the remainder of Cobbett’s life, he was always at battledore and shuttlecock over the Currency question. A passage from one of his AmericanRegisterswas one that he was especially fond of sending up, in which he declared that it would be impossible to carry Peel’s Bill of 1819 into full effect, and wound up with an offer to Castlereagh to have leave “to lay me on a gridiron and broil me alive, while Sidmouth may stir the coals, and Canning stand by and laugh at my groans.” The Bill did take effect, after a fashion, but with tremendous difficulties in its train; and the feast of the gridiron came off at last, on the 9th of April, 1826, not in the style that was originally proposed, but in the shape of a dinner at the London Tavern. For a full account of it see theMorning Heraldof the following day.

Another bit of humour was an attempt in verse:—

“Of paper coin how vast the pow’r!It breaks or makes us in an hour.And thus, perhaps, a beggar’s shirt,When finely ground and clear’d of dirt,Then recompress’d by hand or hopper,And printed on by sheet of copper,May raise ten beggars to renown,And tumble fifty nobles down!”

“Of paper coin how vast the pow’r!It breaks or makes us in an hour.And thus, perhaps, a beggar’s shirt,When finely ground and clear’d of dirt,Then recompress’d by hand or hopper,And printed on by sheet of copper,May raise ten beggars to renown,And tumble fifty nobles down!”

“Of paper coin how vast the pow’r!

It breaks or makes us in an hour.

And thus, perhaps, a beggar’s shirt,

When finely ground and clear’d of dirt,

Then recompress’d by hand or hopper,

And printed on by sheet of copper,

May raise ten beggars to renown,

And tumble fifty nobles down!”

When Cobbett took the house at 183, Fleet Street, he prepared a big gridiron as a shop-sign, and also headed his journal with a woodcut of that utensil.

[6]Mr. Wright employed his later years in miscellaneous literary work, and died in the year 1844. For a notice of him,vide Gentleman’s Magazineof that year.

[6]Mr. Wright employed his later years in miscellaneous literary work, and died in the year 1844. For a notice of him,vide Gentleman’s Magazineof that year.

[7]“You will readily imagine that the sentence of our friend was very grievous indeed to me. Everybody that I have seen, even Mr. C.’s enemies, declare it to be too severe. I hope and trust it will not, however, damp his ardour.… I was very glad to see, by the lastRegister, that Mr. Cobbett’s spirit is by no means cowed.”—J. Swann to J. Wright, July 13 and 20, 1810.

[7]“You will readily imagine that the sentence of our friend was very grievous indeed to me. Everybody that I have seen, even Mr. C.’s enemies, declare it to be too severe. I hope and trust it will not, however, damp his ardour.… I was very glad to see, by the lastRegister, that Mr. Cobbett’s spirit is by no means cowed.”—J. Swann to J. Wright, July 13 and 20, 1810.

[8]Excepting Mr. Leigh Hunt. TheExamineragain took up its tale about Mr. Cobbett’s “dastardly spirit,” which, it was quite clear, still existed, for the latter had not dared to whisper a syllable against the pernicious habits of the Prince of Wales, nor against the reappointment of the Duke of York. Cobbett was at the same time charged, by the same writer, with “almost holding up the murderer of Perceval to applause and imitation”—a statement which was theexact oppositeto the truth. A further insinuation, that Lord Cochrane held guineas up to the electors, was of similar malignity and worthlessness. A pamphlet appeared, about this time, upbraiding those who had been latterly seizing upon the opportunity to vilify Cobbett’s character: “An Examination of the Attacks upon the Political Character of Mr. Cobbett,” by George Buckler (London, 1812).

[8]Excepting Mr. Leigh Hunt. TheExamineragain took up its tale about Mr. Cobbett’s “dastardly spirit,” which, it was quite clear, still existed, for the latter had not dared to whisper a syllable against the pernicious habits of the Prince of Wales, nor against the reappointment of the Duke of York. Cobbett was at the same time charged, by the same writer, with “almost holding up the murderer of Perceval to applause and imitation”—a statement which was theexact oppositeto the truth. A further insinuation, that Lord Cochrane held guineas up to the electors, was of similar malignity and worthlessness. A pamphlet appeared, about this time, upbraiding those who had been latterly seizing upon the opportunity to vilify Cobbett’s character: “An Examination of the Attacks upon the Political Character of Mr. Cobbett,” by George Buckler (London, 1812).

There is reason to believe that Mr. Cobbett now began seriously to entertain the idea of getting into Parliament. Beyond, however, an address to the electors of Hampshire, in the autumn of 1812, no active step was yet taken. Mr. George Rose was all-powerful in the county, the constituency being thus practically in ministerial hands. One appearance on the nomination-day was enough to satisfy Mr. Cobbett of the hopelessness of a contest.

His return to Botley revealed one great change in sentiment; the parsons were dead against him. This was undeserved, as Cobbett had always been a good, quiet churchman; had written vigorously in support of tithes, and the prior claim to them of the clergy and the poor, as against the Howards, the Russells, and the Greys; and had had many friends amongst the clergy. This new alienation may, however, be due to a circumstance whichoccurred just before Cobbett’s release;—it was certainly so in one case.

Mr. Daniel Eaton, a small bookseller, and an old offender against established opinion, had recently stood in the pillory for an hour,—that being part of his punishment for selling Paine’s “Age of Reason.” There was much public sympathy with him, the populace actually trying to serve him with “refreshments.” Cobbett had formed pretty strong opinions concerning this degrading punishment, but very much stronger ones concerning the Attorney-General as a prosecutor; and that learned gentleman having foreboded the “consequences, dreadful in the extreme,” which must follow if Paine’s religious principles were suffered to take root, Mr. Cobbett suggested that there would be no better way of averting these consequences than by an answer to the book. “And have we 20,000 clergymen, and will no one of them attempt to give us this answer?” he said. He would call upon his own spiritual pastor, the Rector of Botley, the Rev. Richard Baker.

Mr. Baker consented to undertake the task, but almost immediately withdrew the offer; upon which, Mr. Cobbett reminded him of his ordination vows, and generally played with him, in his own manner, making the poor parson look rather ridiculous.

So, upon his return home, Mr. Cobbett was notwelcomed by his spiritual adviser; who even went so far as to refuse the keys of the belfry to those persons who, just then, were so desirous of adding all they could to the clamour of rejoicing.

The Rev. Mr. Baker is a character, in his way. There are some sad stories of him in Cobbett’sRegister, which the reader may discover, if his tastes lie in that direction. How he was horsewhipped in the public street,—how he actually professed disbelief in Revelation, while declining to meet the consequences of a public admission of the same,—how he cheated at market, and so on.[1]

There were many such characters in the Church in those deadened days, who, when they entered into the lively election contests of the time, would lead the way of violence. Your political parson could be a famous “rough,” when opportunity served.

So Mr. Cobbett had made another set of enemies—thevery set, too, who, if they had given themselves a moment’s opportunity for consideration, would have discovered that he, of all public men, was the one who could serve their cause the best. Instead of that, numbers of the clergy started up as anti-Cobbettites, writing useless tracts on “disaffection,” or meeting him at public gatherings, and trying to shout him down. And this sort of thing lasted as long as Cobbett lived; the clergy never made friends with him again; there were far too many idle shepherds, who thought their interest must suffer if a misguided populace had all that it asked; and who, consequently, resisted Reform with all their might and main.

The country squires were dreading, too, the possible effects of Mr. Cobbett’s vigorous writings.

His influence amongst the middle-classes was increasing; and the artisans and labourers were beginning to club together to buy theRegister; readers were more numerous than ever.[2]But the landed interest could not, or would not, understand him. The farmer could not see the identity ofinterest which properly existed between himself and his labourers; and the man who preached this theme was, of course, not to be trusted when dealing with other topics. He told them that ruin was impending; that, immediately upon a cessation of the war, prices would go down, and the consequences would be disastrous. There was no chance of escape, but by immediate Reform, by which means there should be a searching reduction in the public expenditure. The poor-rates were now nearly eight millions. Government annuitants were swelling their numbers with every year of war; dignitaries of state had higher salaries, and courtiers larger pensions; army-contractors and stock-jobbers were swallowing up the wealth of the country, and elbowing out the squires.

So, when the Corn Bill was proposed, Mr. Cobbett was standing alone again, or very nearly alone.[3]In vain did he point out that it would tend to keep up the high price of food, which was already driving the able-bodied out of the country; that the principal reason for keeping up high prices was, that the land might continue to pay the exorbitant taxes, and so continue to support a multitude of idlers. The Corn Bill becamelaw; peace was signed, but plenty came not along with it; and the farmers straightway fell to pieces, dragging all the industry of the country along with them.

During these three or four years (1812-1816), there was more revolution in personal property in England, than there had been seen, in the same space of time, since the Restoration. The terrible load which weighed upon the people may be judged of by the fact that Cobbett was paying, the year after the war, several hundred pounds in direct and indirect taxes. It is not difficult, then, to understand how intolerable would be the burden upon the land, for people whose only resource was the land; and all the more so, that inflated prosperity had engendered improvidence. Tea, coffee, wine, spirits, and other exciseable articles had taken the place of beer on the tables of the farmers; their wives and daughters had found sofas, carpets, and parlour-bells necessary to existence. A generation had grown up which must needssendits butter and eggs to market, instead of carrying them; silk stockings had usurped those of worsted; the fashions were finding their way into the farm-houses. So, in a little while, the poor farmers were breaking stones on the highway by hundreds.

But, if theLANDdid not, as yet, understand Mr. Cobbett, theWorkshopdid. Very soon after he came out of prison, he drew the attention of his readers to the ominous disturbance at Nottingham, on the part of the Luddites. The change which had come over the people—that they should break machinery, disturb the peace, and refuse to sing “God save the King”—was ominous indeed. But how did this come to pass? Not all at once: these things (he pointed out) had been growing up by degrees. Disloyalty and misgovernment ever went hand in hand. The people were beginning to see that the governing classes were occupied, as much as any traders, in looking exclusively after their own interests, and the interests of their adherents.

For an effectual remedy, then, there could only be a reform in the Representation of the people. No innovation: but Reform. No republicanism: but the ancient Constitution. “The nation never can be itself again without a Reform,” was Cobbett’s repeated cry,—echoed, at last, by millions of people.[4]

The brave,the undaunted Lord Cochrane was one of Mr. Cobbett’s coadjutors. They had been near neighbours for many years past; and when the gallant sailor was ashore, many had been the sports which they had seen together. Cochrane’s candidature for Westminster always had the valuable support of theRegister; and, when the foul charge was got up against him (purely from political motives) which hung like a nightmare over the rest of his long life, there was no support of his cause equal to the pages of that intrepid journal. So the two men kept together—had long and earnest conferences over the miserable and degraded condition of their country; and worked and waited for the day that must surely come after all this suffering. The nation was now entering upon the most disgraceful period of its history: with a disreputable “first gent” in the chief seat; the pretenders to statesmanship divided into two rival factions, concerning which it can only be said that one was in place and had control over the country’s resources, and the other was out of place; and the mass of the people in a condition, comparable only to that presented by the inhabitants of a hive of bees, in autumn, when theirwinter store passes into the hands of other than the providers.

One day, in September, 1816, after a spring and summer of much trial, during which the country was kept alarmed by acts of violence; mills, frames, and threshing-machines being destroyed, and ricks of corn laid hands on, either by fire or thieves; Cobbett had been talking to his neighbour on these burning topics. They both agreed that, if the people could but be enabled to see the matter in its true light, there would be “an end to all such acts of violence, at once; and of course, to the ignominious deaths of fathers and sons, and the miseries of wives, children, and parents, produced in the end by these acts of violence.” Lord Cochrane’s suggestion was, that it was in the power of Mr. Cobbett to effect this purpose, by writing an essay upon the subject; and, if the price of theRegistercould for that occasion be reduced to twopence, the desired object would be obtained.

“I said, before we parted, that this should be done. But, as it was impossible for me to prove to the people what wasnotthe cause of their misery, without proving to them whatwasthe cause … without pointing out theremedy: as the remedy, at last, came to a Reform of Parliament; and, as I still feared that the best time was not come for urging on this great question, I delayed, from time to time, the fulfilment of my promise to myneighbour, who, on his part, never saw me without pressing me hard upon the subject; and on the 2nd of November, I wrote the No. 18, being an ‘Address to the Journeymen and Labourers’ on the aforementioned subjects.”

“I said, before we parted, that this should be done. But, as it was impossible for me to prove to the people what wasnotthe cause of their misery, without proving to them whatwasthe cause … without pointing out theremedy: as the remedy, at last, came to a Reform of Parliament; and, as I still feared that the best time was not come for urging on this great question, I delayed, from time to time, the fulfilment of my promise to myneighbour, who, on his part, never saw me without pressing me hard upon the subject; and on the 2nd of November, I wrote the No. 18, being an ‘Address to the Journeymen and Labourers’ on the aforementioned subjects.”

There were misgivings as to the probable success of this effort: that there would be serious loss in its production, and that it would be premature; irresolution went so far as to countermand the instructions to the printer. Futile misgivings these! Before the end of the month, forty-four thousand copies had been sold of the first cheapRegister.

And, reader, if you glance at some portions of this splendid essay, you will not wonder at the uproar that ensued; the enthusiastic reception on the part of the “lower orders;” the terror on the part of officialism and prescription; the renewed malignity of the envious press. The effect of this popularizing of thePolitical Registerwas prodigious, as we shall see; and as you will understand, if all the numbers were anything like this first one.

“To the Journeymen and Labourers of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, on the cause of their present miseries; on the measures which have produced that cause; on the remedies which some foolish and some cruel and insolent men have proposed; and on the line of conduct which journeymen and labourers ought to pursue, in order to obtain effectual relief, and to assist in promoting the tranquillity, and restoring the happiness of their country.“Friends and Fellow-Countrymen,—“Whatever the pride of rank, of riches, or of scholarship, may have induced some men to believe, or to affect to believe, the real strength and all the resources of a country ever have sprung, and ever must spring, from thelabourof its people, and hence it is, that this nation, which is so small in numbers, and so poor in climate and soil compared with many others, has, for many ages, been the most powerful nation in the world: it is the most industrious, the most laborious, and, therefore, the most powerful. Elegant dresses, superb furniture, stately buildings, fine roads and canals, fleet horses and carriages, numerous and stout ships, warehouses teeming with goods; all these, and many other objects that fall under our view, are so many works of national wealth and resources. But all these spring fromlabour. Without the journeyman and the labourer none of them could exist; without the assistance of their hands, the country would be a wilderness, hardly worth the notice of an invader.“As it is the labour of those who toil which makes a country abound in resources, so it is the same class of men who must, by their arms, secure its safety, and uphold its fame. Titles and immense sums of money have been bestowed upon numerous naval and military commanders. Without calling the justice of these in question, we may assert that the victories were obtained by you and your fathers, and brothers and sons, in co-operation with those commanders, who, withyouraid, have done great and wonderful things; but who, without that aid, would have been as impotent as children at the breast.“With this correct idea of your own worth in your minds, with what indignation must you hear yourselves called the populace, the rabble, the mob, the swinish multitude; and with what greater indignation, if possible, must you hear the projects of these cool, and cruel, and insolent men, who, now that you have been, without any fault of yours, brought into a state of misery, propose to narrow the limits of parish relief, to prevent you from marrying in the days of your youth, or to thrust you out to seek your bread in foreign lands, never more to behold your parents or friends? But, suppress your indignation, until we return to this topic, after we have considered thecauseof your present misery, and the measures which have produced that cause.“The times in which we live are full of peril. The nation, as described by the very creatures of the Government, is fast advancing to that period when an important change must take place. It is the lot of mankind, that some shall labour with their limbs, and others with their minds; and, on all occasions, more especially on an occasion like the present, it is the duty of the latter to come to the assistance of the former. We are all equally interested in the peace and happiness of our common country. It is of the utmost importance, that in the seeking to obtain those objects, our endeavours should be uniform, and tend all to the same point. Such an uniformity cannot exist without an uniformity of sentiment as to public matters, and to produce this uniformity is the object of this address.“As to the cause of our present miseries, it isthe enormous amount of the taxes, which the Government compels us to pay for the support of its army, its placemen, its pensioners, &c., and for the payment of the interest ofits debt. That this is the real cause has been a thousand times proved; and it is now so acknowledged by the creatures of the Government themselves. Two hundred and five of the correspondents of the Board of Agriculture ascribe the ruin of the country totaxation. Numerous writers, formerly the friends of the Pitt system, now declare, that taxation has been the cause of our distress. Indeed, when we compare our present state to the state of the country previous to the wars against France, we must see that our present misery is owing to no other cause. The taxes then annually raised amounted to about fifteen millions: they amounted last year to seventy millions. The nation was then happy: it is now miserable.“It has been attempted to puzzle you with this sort of question: ‘If taxes be the cause of the people’s misery, how comes it that they were not so miserable before the taxes were reduced as they are now?’ Here is a fallacy, which you will be careful to detect. I know that the taxes have been reduced, that is to say,nominallyreduced, but not so in fact; on the contrary, they have in reality been greatly augmented. This has been done bythe sleight of handof paper-money. Suppose, for instance, that four years ago I had 100 pounds to pay in taxes, then 130 bushels of wheat would have paid my share. If I havenowseventy-five pounds to pay in taxes, it will require 190 bushels of wheat to pay my share of taxes. Consequently, though my taxes are nominally reduced, they are, in reality, greatly augmented. This has been done by the legerdemain of paper-money. In 1812, the pound note was worth only thirteen shillings in silver. It is now worth twenty shillings. Therefore, when we now pay a pound note to the tax-gatherer, we really pay him twenty shillings, where we before paid him thirteen shillings; and the fund-holders who lent pound notes worth thirteen shillings each, are now paid their interest in pounds worth twenty shillings each. And the thing is come to what Sir Francis Burdett told the parliament it would come to. He told them, in 1811, that if they ever attempted to pay the interest of their debt in gold and silver, or in paper-money equal in value to gold and silver, the farmers and tradesmen must be ruined, and the journeymen and labourers reduced to the last stage of misery.“Thus, then, it is clear that it is the weight of the taxes, under which you are sinking, which has already pressed so many of you down into the state of paupers, and which now threatens to deprive many of you of your existence. We next come to consider what have beenthe causesof this weight of taxes. Here we must go back a little in our history; and you will soon see that this intolerable weight has all proceeded fromthe want of a parliamentary Reform.“In the year 1764, soon after the present king came to the throne, the annual interest of the debt amounted to about five millions, and the whole of the taxes to about nine millions. But, soon after this, a war was entered on to compel the Americans to submit to be taxed by the parliament,without being represented in that parliament. The Americans triumphed, and, after the war was over, the annual interest of the debt amounted to about nine millions, and the whole of the taxes to about fifteen millions. This was our situation when the French people began their Revolution. The French people had so long been the slaves of a despotic Government, that the friends of freedom in England rejoiced at their emancipation. The cause ofreform, which had never ceased to have supporters in England for a great many years, now acquired new life, and the Reformers urged the parliament togrant reform, instead of going to war against the people of France. The Reformers said: ‘Give the nationreform, and you need fear norevolution.’ The parliament, instead of listening to the Reformers, crushed them, and went to war against the people of France; and the consequence of these wars is, that the annual interest of the debt now amounts to forty-five millions, and the whole of the taxes, during each of the last several years, to seventy millions. So that these wars have added thirty-six millions a year to the interest of the debt, and fifty-five millions a year to the amount of the whole of the taxes! This is the price that we have paid for having checked (for it is onlychecked) the progress of liberty in France; for having forced upon that people the family of Bourbon, and for having enabled another branch of that same family to restore the bloody Inquisition which Napoleon had put down.”

“To the Journeymen and Labourers of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, on the cause of their present miseries; on the measures which have produced that cause; on the remedies which some foolish and some cruel and insolent men have proposed; and on the line of conduct which journeymen and labourers ought to pursue, in order to obtain effectual relief, and to assist in promoting the tranquillity, and restoring the happiness of their country.

“Friends and Fellow-Countrymen,—

“Whatever the pride of rank, of riches, or of scholarship, may have induced some men to believe, or to affect to believe, the real strength and all the resources of a country ever have sprung, and ever must spring, from thelabourof its people, and hence it is, that this nation, which is so small in numbers, and so poor in climate and soil compared with many others, has, for many ages, been the most powerful nation in the world: it is the most industrious, the most laborious, and, therefore, the most powerful. Elegant dresses, superb furniture, stately buildings, fine roads and canals, fleet horses and carriages, numerous and stout ships, warehouses teeming with goods; all these, and many other objects that fall under our view, are so many works of national wealth and resources. But all these spring fromlabour. Without the journeyman and the labourer none of them could exist; without the assistance of their hands, the country would be a wilderness, hardly worth the notice of an invader.

“As it is the labour of those who toil which makes a country abound in resources, so it is the same class of men who must, by their arms, secure its safety, and uphold its fame. Titles and immense sums of money have been bestowed upon numerous naval and military commanders. Without calling the justice of these in question, we may assert that the victories were obtained by you and your fathers, and brothers and sons, in co-operation with those commanders, who, withyouraid, have done great and wonderful things; but who, without that aid, would have been as impotent as children at the breast.

“With this correct idea of your own worth in your minds, with what indignation must you hear yourselves called the populace, the rabble, the mob, the swinish multitude; and with what greater indignation, if possible, must you hear the projects of these cool, and cruel, and insolent men, who, now that you have been, without any fault of yours, brought into a state of misery, propose to narrow the limits of parish relief, to prevent you from marrying in the days of your youth, or to thrust you out to seek your bread in foreign lands, never more to behold your parents or friends? But, suppress your indignation, until we return to this topic, after we have considered thecauseof your present misery, and the measures which have produced that cause.

“The times in which we live are full of peril. The nation, as described by the very creatures of the Government, is fast advancing to that period when an important change must take place. It is the lot of mankind, that some shall labour with their limbs, and others with their minds; and, on all occasions, more especially on an occasion like the present, it is the duty of the latter to come to the assistance of the former. We are all equally interested in the peace and happiness of our common country. It is of the utmost importance, that in the seeking to obtain those objects, our endeavours should be uniform, and tend all to the same point. Such an uniformity cannot exist without an uniformity of sentiment as to public matters, and to produce this uniformity is the object of this address.

“As to the cause of our present miseries, it isthe enormous amount of the taxes, which the Government compels us to pay for the support of its army, its placemen, its pensioners, &c., and for the payment of the interest ofits debt. That this is the real cause has been a thousand times proved; and it is now so acknowledged by the creatures of the Government themselves. Two hundred and five of the correspondents of the Board of Agriculture ascribe the ruin of the country totaxation. Numerous writers, formerly the friends of the Pitt system, now declare, that taxation has been the cause of our distress. Indeed, when we compare our present state to the state of the country previous to the wars against France, we must see that our present misery is owing to no other cause. The taxes then annually raised amounted to about fifteen millions: they amounted last year to seventy millions. The nation was then happy: it is now miserable.

“It has been attempted to puzzle you with this sort of question: ‘If taxes be the cause of the people’s misery, how comes it that they were not so miserable before the taxes were reduced as they are now?’ Here is a fallacy, which you will be careful to detect. I know that the taxes have been reduced, that is to say,nominallyreduced, but not so in fact; on the contrary, they have in reality been greatly augmented. This has been done bythe sleight of handof paper-money. Suppose, for instance, that four years ago I had 100 pounds to pay in taxes, then 130 bushels of wheat would have paid my share. If I havenowseventy-five pounds to pay in taxes, it will require 190 bushels of wheat to pay my share of taxes. Consequently, though my taxes are nominally reduced, they are, in reality, greatly augmented. This has been done by the legerdemain of paper-money. In 1812, the pound note was worth only thirteen shillings in silver. It is now worth twenty shillings. Therefore, when we now pay a pound note to the tax-gatherer, we really pay him twenty shillings, where we before paid him thirteen shillings; and the fund-holders who lent pound notes worth thirteen shillings each, are now paid their interest in pounds worth twenty shillings each. And the thing is come to what Sir Francis Burdett told the parliament it would come to. He told them, in 1811, that if they ever attempted to pay the interest of their debt in gold and silver, or in paper-money equal in value to gold and silver, the farmers and tradesmen must be ruined, and the journeymen and labourers reduced to the last stage of misery.

“Thus, then, it is clear that it is the weight of the taxes, under which you are sinking, which has already pressed so many of you down into the state of paupers, and which now threatens to deprive many of you of your existence. We next come to consider what have beenthe causesof this weight of taxes. Here we must go back a little in our history; and you will soon see that this intolerable weight has all proceeded fromthe want of a parliamentary Reform.

“In the year 1764, soon after the present king came to the throne, the annual interest of the debt amounted to about five millions, and the whole of the taxes to about nine millions. But, soon after this, a war was entered on to compel the Americans to submit to be taxed by the parliament,without being represented in that parliament. The Americans triumphed, and, after the war was over, the annual interest of the debt amounted to about nine millions, and the whole of the taxes to about fifteen millions. This was our situation when the French people began their Revolution. The French people had so long been the slaves of a despotic Government, that the friends of freedom in England rejoiced at their emancipation. The cause ofreform, which had never ceased to have supporters in England for a great many years, now acquired new life, and the Reformers urged the parliament togrant reform, instead of going to war against the people of France. The Reformers said: ‘Give the nationreform, and you need fear norevolution.’ The parliament, instead of listening to the Reformers, crushed them, and went to war against the people of France; and the consequence of these wars is, that the annual interest of the debt now amounts to forty-five millions, and the whole of the taxes, during each of the last several years, to seventy millions. So that these wars have added thirty-six millions a year to the interest of the debt, and fifty-five millions a year to the amount of the whole of the taxes! This is the price that we have paid for having checked (for it is onlychecked) the progress of liberty in France; for having forced upon that people the family of Bourbon, and for having enabled another branch of that same family to restore the bloody Inquisition which Napoleon had put down.”

After a graphic sketch of the oppressions and the struggles, which obtained in France, and which produced the great Revolution, the writer proceeds:—

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