^ vJ CIHM MicfQfiche Series (Monographs) ti. \ : ■■// ■ •' ■■ - ■ :' ' ^ idMH Collection de microfiche^ (mbnographies) jt ' '«*■.,. ..-.* ■ #..' Canadian I nstitut* for Historical Micforaproductions / Iristitut Canadian' da microra0ro^iH!tions hiftoriquas ^?*- ■ I Ttchnicjl and Bibliographic Nota* / Nptai tachniquas et bibliographiquat The Institute hat attempted to obtain the bast original copy a^ailablf for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically uniqU*, which may altar an^^ of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. L'Institut a microfilm* le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a M possible de sa procurer. Les details da cet excmplaire.i|ui sont paut-4tre uniques du point de vua bibliographj|<|0$( qui pauvant modifier una image- raproduife.~^'^ui pauvant exigar una m^ification dans la mithbda normale da f ilmaga sont irtdiqu^ ci-dassout.. ^;-^ a D n Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagte . Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurie et/ou pellicula DJ: Cover title missing/ titre de couverture manque □ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur -yt' - Q Pages damaged/ PagayiHidommagAas, _ □ Pages restored and/or laminatfd/ Pages restaurias et/oU pe|licul*es Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages dteolor^s, tacheties ou piquies riques □ D Coloured maps/ Cartes giographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couieiir (i.e. autre que bleu« ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ , Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Relie avec d'^autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reliure serr^ peut causer de-l'ombre ou de la distorsion le long de la marge interieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutto lors d'une restauration ai^araissent dans le texte, mais, Idrsque cela etait possible, ces pages n'ont pas ete filmees. □ Pages detached/ 'Pages ditachtes Show through/ Transparence ■ n n □ n Quality of print varies/ Qualite in^gale de I'impression^ Continuous pagination/ Pagination cojitinu^ Include:! index(es)/ Comprend uh (des) index title on header taken from:/ Le titre de I'en-tCte provient: Title page of issue/ Page de titre de la livraison Caption of issue/ Titre de depart de la livraison Masthead/ Generique (periodiques) de la livraison D Additional comments:^ Commentaires supplementaires: This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filme au tauxde reduction indique ci-dessous. ;iOX 5*- 14X 18X ■ ' 22X .12X 16X .20X tr 26 X 30X 24X 28X 32 X Th« oopy filmed hvrt hat bMn reproduced thanks to the ganerosity of : Metrbpolltan Toronto Reference Library Baldwin Boom • t 'S r' ' ■ • ■ ' The Imaget.appeering here are the beat quality poaalble o.^jidering the condition and legibility of the orlgfial copy and In keeping with the filn>lng oor>|ract apeolfloatlons. Original copiea In printed paper covers ere filmed beginriing with the front cover and ending on the laat page with a printed or illustrated impras- elon, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginnlhg on the first page with a printed or illustratsd impres* slon, end ending on the last page with a printed or Illustrated Imprfssion. The last recorded frame on eech microfiche shell contein the symbol — ^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Mapa, plates, charts, etp., may be filmed at different reduction retiafb. Those too large to be entirely Included In one exposure ere filmed beginning In the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the L'exemplelrVfilmA fut reproduit grioe A la g«n«roslt« de: •*■■ Metropolitan Toronto Referer>ce Library Baldwin Room - \ ^--:^ Les Images sdlvantee ont 4t« reprodultes evec le plus grend soin, compte tenu de la condition at de le nettet* de I'eMempleIre film*, et en . confQrmIt* avec lea conditions du contret de fiimage. Les exemplaires orjglneux dont la couverture en papier est imprim«e sont fllm«s en commen9ent par le premier plat et en t^fminant solt par la dernlArf pege qui comporte une emprelnte d'impresslon ou d'illustratldn. soit par le second plat, selon le ces. Tous les autres exemplaires orlglnaux sont fiimds en commenpent par la preml*re page qui comporte une emprelnte d'impresslon ou d'illustration at en'termlhant par la dernl^re page qui comporte une telle emprelnte. Un des symbolee sulvants apparaftra sur la derni*re Image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le sym'boie — ^ Signifle "A 8UIVRE" Je symbols V signifle "FIN". T Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre flim*s k des teux de reduction diffirents. Lorsque le document est trop grend pour «tre reproduK en un seul clich*, II est film* A partir de I'angle supdrieur geuche, de gauche 6 droite. /' method: ■ 7. / / ■ t •» uo naui BR DBS, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les dlagrammes aulvants iliustrent la mdthode. ■. ' ■. ■■) 1 2 3 ;:■ .-- • \ ; -i ,; .' ■ ; f - » ■ \ 2 ' %.■ 3 ~*^€ V " • 1 2 3 * • ■ * ■ . • ■ ■ > " 4» 4 5 6 0- • .■ \ "' ■ / ...... -'-■--■^— '- - : ■#■ , ; ■. ■ .■ ■. . •; \.-- ' ■ ■',-■«■;: '\ ■V':- ■^/■■ ■■'^;'-'' ;"■ -'- ■•' V MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST QHART No. 2) K «!«. 1.0 1.25 ■ 45 |5« US u ■ 23 ■ 4.0 1.4 2.5 12.2 2.0 1.8 1.6 ^ xjPPLIED IIVMGE Inc ■~— ■ 1653 East Main Street Br.a Rochester, New York U609 USA ~..i^ - (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone ^S (716) 288-5989 -Fax ?? 'V .» \ '■- f I 1 , ■ -. -• / \ 'ti\. 1' >' ' ', ' .^"^ • * . • ■- - k r „ : r- « "/ v ■ - . '{ • \ ,.. * I c ■ ■ ■ /* ■ >-.^ ■ ■• \ ■ ■ ^ • . " ,- -X i . - 1 ■,""■■ ■ ■ ' " v '/■ 1 \ \ :' / • < . - . f ■ / ",■■■• \ \ ■ i i \ 'v \ J ■ !^ • ;. . ■ \ ' y ■ ■\ ,1 \ ■. " . \ \ . ■■■ \ \ ; .' • ■ , . '.■■--.'.. '-\ ■ \ n * 7 ' ■ \ ■ ■■- - .;,:::„.; .■■■■ f I 'Si.. / ^ NARRATIVE \ OK •■%> M mi'mi LIFE: A CONTRIBUTION TO THR ■ '^ ^■ '>■ A! ¥ < ^ 1^ J 1 1 CONSERVATIVE SCIENCE OF NATIONS. in ALKXAxXDKU SOMERVIIXK^ KNOWN IX KNtlLAND A» •Onk who has VVH18TLK1? AT THE Pl.OUOH." * .Some, ^ iKj vas a inan of o.eat ability aiul talent. He wrote i«ijia. kabi y w.-lL and 111 ayei- life raised liimselft.. a good social position."— J?iV//// //«„. Suh,/» Unl»,f, S,;VHarin>f State for War— House of^Commom \f^Q. ■r. HAMILTON, CANADA WEST. a: ■ I- .. ■ ■* .a- 1863. ( . . \ X i\:i\' V ^^ . \ W J V V 5..1!ENT8. ^A lit OHAPTBft I. • Q«n«r«l. Perpetuftl Tonth of Nations. Logic of R«TolntioBa in FranM and Britain. Independenoo of the United Statea not a Reroiution. OonserratiTe Science. Grand Destiny of tlie Britisli Aristocracy io the Hous^ of Lords as Leaders oif Hutnattity and Social Progress : their lead How in the diteotion of a complete derelopment of the Right* of Man........ CHAPTER n. General— continued. A Grateftil Record, tot the uM of Emigrants yet to arrive in Canada, if, by God's dispensation, they need medical tAiptment at Quebec. A Letter to the Quebec CkronkU, June 18S9, oivMLOfiBiB of 1832. Letter to the QAebu Mereary on what are the Ainowi^B of Oonservatism *••>.» 1 .kk^... %...!.... 18 Qeheral— cdhtinued. Military l^estim^nlals fardm "dpaln. Tifktetj before the enemy a common quality ^'i6MA4ii\ kindness to comrades and efaeerfikL obedience to superiors, my. highest praise. Episode with Mr. Oobden. Peace Society's seditious placards, 1^62-3. A delightful recollection of Mr. Bright. Tlie Contrary. Freedom of the press. . . . 25 .... ' • ■- * «• CHAPTER IV. General niktteti ednilntiea. Extmcts flr6i(il«ttehi«n^ rtfvlewiifti t«9tiittbfay of u«eftil work. Wlfat T did in Britain Ml VSe expected « rising " i^hlch was to-wipplement and ctlpisttiauiiiiitft ihe tirblible* Of Oiiiada iii 188T-88. The Bristol riots, and crisis at Bjhrmiagham, glanced at. Prescient Conservatism educates itself from the facts of the j^uU 86 OHAPTERV. ' ^ ; QenendMsontitmed. First of the series of Sark liBtaages in .^pvlAr agit*. tion, leading to that in which the author saved the country. The 8pa> Fields Leaders of the People in 1816. Thistlewood, the Watsoixs, • Prehtdft, Hooper, Hftblry Hunt, Richkrd darttle, fearin*lr of tie '"♦v'dekly Dispatch. Plans to revUlutk>nii^6 lic/ndOb. Plunder of gunsmiths' s h o p s. The T o wer of London summon e d. — Th e tri a l s for Tre as on. — The Biz Black Acts.... 47 ^ OONTINTf. OBAPTSR VI. G«nerftl--o(l|^no«d. OertlfloaUa from lf«ncheiter teitifying to fldellty to h«rd wwk in Literatim. Of etertion «nd pecuniftrj tacrlfloei in dlAit- Ing ft Ilumftnised Bjttem of Political Economy. Function! of Politicftl Economy, ^merirille'i NfttionftUlK^ftlth Trftcta. Political Bconoraj Umm Protectir« Tariflb to be detcrminufjl by Local Wanta and Legii* IfttlTn Wiidom 67 • CHAPTER .VII. Quarterly Review of J^ly 18S». AooouBt of Edinburgh Riots of 1831, by .MlBfl Fraser Tytler. Author's account of the same in a former work. His potltlon aa a working man in 1831. Ah Incident of the previous year in a stone quarry. ' His vindication of the rights of labotirers against ttie tyranny tH stem masons. He meets Ua fellow •tene-heww «^ 1880 oit tke laiw of CdldloghoH Priory, IMt ^. 63 CHAPTER VIII. The Biarjr of «r BoliatiiMnt in the Scots Qreyi. Edinbnurgh to Brig^toa. . 72 CHAPTER IX. The Daily L'ifo of a Young Dragooa... . . . . < .^ 87 CHAPTER X. The Political Ortrta of 188!l. . . i 96 CHAPTER XL The Military Crime 106 OHAPTBR XII. The OooFt-Martial : Sentance, Two Hundred Lashes. 117 \ OHAPTBB XIH. / Discharged fhnu Boepital. The pubfio irst hew of tiiy panisbneirt. tha niMation .\. .......;. 132 * CHAPTER XIV. . At this momentous crisis, singlilar M^appearance of a long-lost brother. TbiB chapter, though it doeb not treat of Scottish Peasant li& as ita main object, affords a (^mpse of the author's parent% and of the intimity and piety of bomble life in Scotland..... 143 OBAFTER XV. ^he Court of Inqotfy. Discharge purchased........ 162 .(IfHA^llHl XTI. From >1««nieBy Home ^ and from. Home to London. 1832, isaa^ and 18M. U6 /^ CHAPTER XVn. Political Diaaoatent, Flots^ and Conspiracies, in 1834...,. 173 /* OHAFrBR xvni. ThoWbt >ntftrt(tB«.... *.., IM ■% :\ \. H; 01lBpM»€ll7n<«nrltt«Bm«Vory. l)flMMnni«BM«»«r tlMlMtl»l)<}a¥«Mtn«iH k imycmktg m hlRk^rtocd mwtftipm ituap^ fNMiUtti tlMmbj 9(m« ■»ur«Jiljr And raiifiiunv Mariytdnm Dot i« 1i||f HMM lSTideno« of • good o»uu. Ahtagunlim of PhyiicAL And Mornl Porcei .'t la U a neeoiiltjr in Fhyilcal and lfor»I Progreiii 7 PolftkAl A««aftoBiMn. OI«am (it a f waftt* prnJ«atMl ftj th« AnttKrr m* iifttV^Otk mfMM, LoAdon. Dmah of • NiMoMt Bmk. WorkMg ^Mhi'i ^ttiOTt AgalMt th» AtjMitM Aa Lm^mm of «Im Ptoplo. LU^- Blutch of n. R. of BdinbuEgh. 8*wilAria«aoa of 0un4ky. Wim u« tlie lien of Gloom T / 194 OHAPTER XX; win fbr « OonatltutlonAl Llbftrly." The Expedition to SpAfn In 1835. to whAt Account I turned A-knowledge of the Accuraed effocta of Inteatine WAr iQ SpAin, on my return to BritAln. , The " Phya/cAl-Force " Ohar- tiata. WhAt Sir John Coleridge, An eminent EngliahAudge, haa in 1800 fAid of aottie of them. .' , /...., 307 A CHAPTER XXI, The ChArtlat ^And Scheme, And Land and Labour conilBcatlon of all landed eatatoa in Britain ita poaition In expoaing i\if Economic Fallacioa. progreaa «volV< lank. The ultimate yect. The Author'a Its dimenalona and 219 French Reroliitloa of 1848. -\ LPTER XXII. FrAnce At Enmity wi^ OHAPTER XXIII. PoUtioAl Economy. . . 236 Visit to (JAhermbyle *i^d Mr. Smith O'Brien's diatrict of Limerick county in Mar^h 1847. Famine. Relief Worka. Siniilarity of Cahermoyle' to — . Whitefield Farm in Olouceatershlre, Englai/d. Earl of Ducie, a PoMtl- cal Economlat, and Mr. Smith O'Brien, an/ Anti-Political Economist. The culture of their land contrAsted / .^ 249 OHAPTER XXiV. French RevolutionAry Oriaia continued. Apli^oach of the " Tenth of April " in Britain. Doctor HcDowAll's diacour^ at Nottingham on the " British Revolution.". CHAPTEBt XXV. Sent from London to attMd Kilkenny Jj/saheB, July 1843, to discOTer why the district was "di8turbed"'and under military occupation. What Sir Robert Peel, as Prime Minister, said and did on reading the author's Report. What Lord John Russell said. What Daniel O'Connell said. Facts of a " disturbed district." A R oyal Commiasion df Inquiry in to 3S6 the Law of Landlord and Tenant in Ireland issued . 263 .- ■»*■ ,.! A. fi " OOMTIIITI. OBAPTIRZZTI. ▲otbM HP^ 1> IrtlMd. ladottflAl RMouro«i. WAter Po.wtr, BhMnon Rlr«r. OUior ObtU«let to InduitrUI Program thuii Had Landlord!. Uiurjr. LlUgatloB. Model LMdlord*. M«rqali of DowulOrt. larl of Ao«M./ 4 ^..... 2at OHAPTBR XXVn. RMMueliM la MagasiUm. AUrMtion of HtAdUadi aad Islaadt. Bw«rT< lag of IroB Shipi ftrom th«ir eoan«. Author pnftirt to Uro la Boot- Uad, to laraatigAta MAgnetlo Fhflnomeaa. ^oioatiflo Btudloa lotor- rapted. Tb* UUaoge ttam Auilr«lU i . . . ^ . 801 ,f ' . . / ■ - ■ / • ■. • * ■ < ■ / ■ ■ ■ ?' / ■ ■ / ■ ■ ■ • „ « ■ ■ \ .-., • ' / ^ ■ ; _ . _ i - , p. ■: ,■ ^ , : ■ . "* ■ " ' » •■ ■■■•■.. • ■ , •_' ' ^'^ ' ■ > \ ' t y ' \ PREFACE. •V- >-^. Sinoe the introdaotry ohaptor of thii ▼olumo itM printed, th« Author hm iliought it btiit to tvoid topiM, which, if brought under diflouwdon 1^ A itrABger in OadmU, might hATe led to ooBtroveri^rwitboui adj good result. Of theee, the question of s Public Bank is one, • Mint another. In May 1844, he, as a writer on ooromeroial subjects, was stot fVom London to LiTerpool to hold a eonfvreuoc with the head of th«^uuunent American firm of Brown, Shipley, ft Go. ; Mr. Brown and his political friendH feeling it necessary to lay before the oleoloM df South Lancashti^ an account of the oircumstanoes which induced the British QoTcrii- ment, in Noromber 1837, to negotiate for Brown, Shipley, & (Jo- a loan of two milliona sterling with the Bank of England. By that loai^, the borrowers, having taken advantage of it to the extent of one million, were enabled to stand and flourish, while many mercantile ooncoms of less magnitude fell, and were extinguished in the ruin of that year's pABie. The firm which was thus endowed with a giant's strengUi, used their power with instincts attributed to giants. Their own bankruptcy might, in its temporary consequences, have been a greater disaster to the manufacturers who held their American bills, or who had passed them to the smaller banks; but, weighed against higher prineiples-of oom- meraal morality and of policy, the incident, with all its correlatives, stood out, as it yet stands, a proclamation that a lofty and comprehen- sive i^stem of Conservative Economy has yet to be applied to Commer- cial Finance in Britain. It suggested a course of investigation to the Author, the evidetioe collected in which will be systematised in some other volume. The Author has also avoided most of the dogmas of !Politioal Economy. They would have been useless without many ohoptero ,of ilkistrative argument. In previous literary productions, he has written the history of Trade-Guilds, Chartered Gonimeroial Companies, and brought out of past time the old controversies about Balance of Trade, Reciprocity, Free Trade, and Protection. tf istory h»a no evidenoe, nor J- logic any^dwolute law, to decide between Free Trade and Protection. t^v» Tin PRKfAOE. ■■^i^-. It would be alike prerainptaous and fbtile to urge abstract principles on all communities alike. If the Lancashire masters of to-day were situaftea as their manufaoturiiig predeoessors were in 1785 and in 1787, they would agun pay fees to some great barrister to plead at the bar of the House of Commons, as Erskine then did with a success which defeated the free-trac(e policy of the young/ Prime Minister Pitt ; ^^y would again, in proteo- tioniat joy, mike holiday for a week, and burn Pj(t in effigy in St. Ann's Square in Manchester, and break the window^ of Pitt's adherents, for proposing, as he and the Tories did ,in 17ft7, torelax the Tariff under which French manufactures were excluded from Britain, and from British colonial markets. The Author takes leave to ref^ in this {daee io hh Agrioultaial writ- ings, which are but briefly hinted at in ilhiB volume,>H8nb}eets mon l^ireotly personal forming the theme of its pages. Slaving been bnd is Ae toils ftnd joys of agricultural and rund 'Kfe, its tssodafions have for him a chann beyond all other subjcets of Iheorature. XkuHnees departs from his pen when homesteads, harvest ^elds, ploughmen afud ploughs, earts, horses, lovrii^ cuttle, dairy pac^res, and weU*8tored bams, stand in his wsiy fbr description. Over a space of ten yeaars, between 1840 and 1851, he examined and described the various soils «nd customs of British agriculture iji qhuost every parish of England, and in portions of Scotland and Ireland. Many thousands of readers followed him in his travels to enjoy the grassy meadow, the fooit^path through the woods; the songs of birds, ithe fields of growing wheat, the wayside flowers, the village incidents and the quaint ohureh-^ards ; the parks mnd mansittus of the landed gentry ; the oottage dwellii^ and fiunnery buildings of the tillers of the-soil; theic roat, tenure, wages, /food, and customs of work; their vernacular tongue, wise sayings, rugged ballad-songs; tiieir cricket matches on the common, and their bell-dyoging,-^— the musts of ^le bells rising over the breesy uplands to die away in flhspherds' eaxtL The Author hopes to gather friendly readers finr his travels in Canada. While introdtteipg himself with this book through city, town, imd township, he will endeavour to become aequaauted with the varying soils, modes of culture, relations of culture to climate, to markets, to natural resourcesiof the district, and to the ameliorative changes already effected or likely to be aocomplished. When he has become familiar vritbT Upper and Lower Canada, he may — other eireumstanees being &vonr- able — originate and edit a Canadian AjpiBicuLTUBiKr, which will invite to its pages intelligent and experiaiced farmers, to intei[«diange facts with Dne another, and which will at the same time convey to the Old Country such exact information as may induce thrifty ftmiliea possessed of capital, ^ seek this noble Province as their fiiture home. rr-: » SOMERVI BEE'S BOOK or A DILIGENT^ LIFE. ^■" '^•: 1- CHAPTER I^ General. Perpetual Yowth of Nation?. Logic of Revolutions in Prance and firitain. Independence of the United States not a Revolution. Conserva- tive Science. Grand Destiny of the British Aristocracy in the House of Lords af Leaders of Humanity and Social Progress : their lead now in the direction ofa complete development of the Bights of Jkf an. ,^ .. Youth, beauty, vitality, Btrerigth, are ever preaent with the human felaily. Nations nev€ir decay but by waste of the elements of publio wealth, nor submit to extinction but by human fault. The instinct of self-preservation, natural to individuals, should give ^ birth to a vital political economy in nations, worthy of being called Oonaervative Science, a^his volnme is intended to answer the purpose of a First Book of Reading in the Study of Conservative Science. It will treat of ;the logic of revolutions, ai^ insist that, m nations where the displaoeci roots and branches of political power ^emab, and must of nooesedty remain, after a revolution, as in France and ia Britain, they retain vitality and may return to their plaee |y the force of laws abundantly dispersed through human natare, and accomplish a result inexorable as destiny. That result is mimary despotism. A wuahed monarchy and aristocracy, with aU the (sympathies and adherenoes of their misfortnae, can only be suppressed by a vehement »nd iglowny IgETMi^ And if they arise out of the trodden road-way of rebellion, as r^tjMAy ikej ^ may from the poMJar abhorrenee which .8^ in against Oie .power that is 4anoing or piwM^ng on their grave, they in turn, by the bgio of iiM^ i,i*> i!. ■.» fi to somirvillk's book Bity, cut down, hack, crush, and grind into the offended earth that rebel- lion which, for a while, wafl uppermost; and which, by the pressure now above it, may possibly spring to life again. The independence of the United States affords no contradiction to this dogma of Conservative Science. Those great colonial provinces separated themselves from a monarchy and government seated four thou- sand miles away. The rejected servants of the distant monarchy packed their apparel and goods and travelled to Canada, or returned to England, or fled and left their all. This book will exemplify the expansivevitality of British institutions; guarding the Examples, however, by the assertion, that 'the aristocratic element in thbse institutions seems to be only workable in the nation where it is a natural growth out of old feudalism. But a voluntary sur- render of some portion of personal liberty, as in Britain, is the true sign and substance of freedom anywhere. The races and nations who surrender no imjpulse of personal freedom for the common advantage, have a poli- tical horizon always contracted to their short sight ; revolt or revolution lying just beyond it; a central despotism pressing them outward and over that line of vision into the darkness of chaos and chance. This book asserts that the human being is prime constituent of pub- iio wealth; and that the guardianship of human happiness is the true function of any Political Economy, worthy of being called a Conserva- tive Science. And in the examples of the expansive vitality of British institutions, the pleasing, grand, yet to many readers the paradoxical and doubtful faot, will be established, that the hereditary House of Legisla- tion and highest Court of Justice in Britain, the House of Lords, is now the most vigilant guardfan of human rights and progressive leader of populafieedom existing in the world; and more, whUe it is further removid from the frictiott of sordid conflict and electoral collusion than ■the House of Commons in Britain, or the elected Legislatures of the Britbh Colonies and the United States, it is more severely, though not so imibediately, responsible to public opinion than any of them. - The can- didate for a seat in a representative assembly may, by interchange 'qf cotruption, or by exercise of virtue and honour, lose his election, or he mi secure it. His responsibility to public opinion is comprised in love of Solitical life and chances of reflection. The Representative Assem- bly> an aggregation of poh]bioal atoms like himself. No other; kind of repi&entative legislature 4 practicable in new communities. To endoW a new assembly of'new nobles with large territory, titles, and hen- ditari functions of privilege, to legislate for a new country, would be a # farce Wtaking so largely of insanity, tliat no practical people have pro- 'poaed^ Yet sueh a house of legislature would be more submissive to A 17 «•' OP A DIUQINT LIFK. 11 tbe public which made it, and which, by revolt, might at any hour destroy it, than is any assembly subject to dissolution and re-election. The poli- tical representative may miss his re-election, but he looks forward to the next vacancy to be restored to the lost position. The new house of here- ditaries would lo8$ territory, title, and power. Hence to retain power, they would be degraded to despicable servitude. Without as much independence as might protect their honour, they would be devoid of influence and every trseful adjunct of authority. The Monarchy and fiouse of Lords in Britain are portions of one institution. They inherit together the traditions of chivalry and prive- leges of honour, which all mankind admire in some form, either aa tomahawks and human scalps, as blue ribbonds and stars, as buttonless ■coats and broad-brimmed hats, as crusaders in Europe, or pilgrim fathers in America, British monapchy and aristocracy have antecedents of dignity which are a heritage of independence. * Yet, having inexpres- 49ibly more to lose, if extinguished in revolution, than the members of a representative assembly can lose by missing re-election for a year or term of years j they are obedient +6 the logic of history and contemporary «vent8. Since a few ^f their number^ leading a majority of the rest perilled^the existence of the whole order, the trembling throne, all the relations of Society, and constitutional liberty itselfj in 1832, they do not prolong resistance to such consolidated public opinion as assumes the force and dimensions of national will. They are responsible in the heaviest bonds ever conceded to public opinion. Their revenues are larger, their estates more fruitful of future wealth, their traditions grander, their functions more exalted, their present enjoyments more luxurious and refined than .^ere ever before inherited by aristocracy. Those are their bonds of responsibility to the people. No House of B^presentatives in all this world shares such a reciprocity of confidence with democracy. But the British Lords possess, as a legislative house, a moral attribute which the elected representatives' of democracy cannot collectively exer- cise^ however amiable and generous they may be, as individual men. Thus: Industrial progression being the life of new communities and of the democracy in old ones, capital is the life of industrial and mercantile enterprise. Capital, though its achievements lie in the direction of civilization and a higher human destiny, is in its immediate influences «ruel and cowardly ; always trembling for its own safety, frequently in a panic, ever selfish and sordid, if any sentiment of humanity bar its way. Democracy is led in politics by its industrial progression, by the instincts and panics of Ci^ital. It iis so in Britain. It is so everywhere. T\f.e House of Lords ajre not wholly detached from those influeyoes, / 12 BOMMiytLLli'B BOOK but they are far wiottgh ireittOVed from the Utaed«t« vengeance of offended capital to make tema for humanity. /They have ooiiBtTained railway companies to give the pttblic a eheap train twiee a day, and exacted oompeniMition for accident* to life or Mmb which occur in the , pursuit of gMn. They have protected the otherwise helpless workers m factories by compulsory regulations of hours of work, and by defences, against machinery. A catalogue of the enactments which they have initiated, and which the House of Commons have in Iheir democratic or capitalist sections resisted, would be out of place in thw incidental glanpe at their relative positions. The legal decisiops of the House of Lords, as the court of last appeal, have a dignity peculiarly their own j the option of justice alwa^ conferring on humanity and weakness the benefit of a doubt, or any item of unappropriated liberty discovered to lie in the course of new decisions. They have ceased to be conservative by resistance. They are conservative by prescienoe,— the guides and guard- ians of progress. Many concurring events, products of a progressive •age, have given to their legislation an impetus, and that impetus has taken a bias which is their own, and which may at no distant time carry the age with it. That l)ia8 is torhumanity, to the extension of the rights of man, and the rights of man's labour. What if they bring to a close the black, devastating, gigantic series of commercial panics and the bar. tests of fraud ? ivhat if they enfranchise all the people, to include every rural labourer ? What, if, under their prescience, and itt opposition to moneyocracy and mediocracy, the national debt of Britain be converted to a National Bank, every man, woman, aud child in town and country being itivited to become contributaries to its capital by their largest deposits and smallest savings ? When the grandeur and philanthropy of sudi progress towards the rights of man, as these, are popularly understood, they wiirbe conceded to the people, but only if the ]p[ouse of Lords, through their territorial influence in thfe Houte of Commons, take the initiative. All functions of money vrhich require it to be kept together in masses of cash to Bustaih the credit of its portions and its whole, point to the entire nation of Britain, or whole Federal Uni^n of America, as the true contri- itaries of cre^t. vTwo events, more tJian any other in the hi8t<*y of the ip^ettge, have InSified the legislative action of the House of Lords, 'and both have red within the last thirty years. The tefflStance to the »efonn oco Bill aM latoMet of accepting it in May, 1832, is one event ; the surren- der of th^ Gorn Laws in 184« is the other. In the latt», the author of •this book eieroifeed a considerable infltten<5e; for the promotion of hWmony, more than bdftdmes him to Wite here, if the testimony of his cbn- temporaries and of eminent statesmen be aamitt«/d. In the first, the m .. " — ■. of ■ ed nd he 1 in Be». » ive tal ■^ Of ▲ PILIOIITF UtB. 18 M orisU of 1832, it was he, and hfi alone, who gave the gathered etona that direction which conducted it to peaceful serenity, and saved the unwilling autocracy from the odium of a conflict of blood, perchance from the swift vengeance of a sWord-smitton nation and tl^e irretrievable disaster of revolution. Is it a small matter if a considerable portion of this book be occupied with the narrative of those events, and the rest with the development of that conservative science, to^e practical solution . of which the author has devoted an intensely diligent life? He vindi- cates the genius of matter of fact, the conquest of labour and capitiJ over rude matter, the acquisition of private pitoperty, the spirit of honest com- merce, and the aeoiunulation of profit as conustent alike with generous sympathies, a refining ideality, and an exalted futh In things not seen. The book el^ms for Conservative Science, the high function to teach, not alone as Political Economy, in its heartless d\voroement from human sympathies, has taught how to firoduce. and accumulate iqsensate matter as public wealth, but hoW to diffuse as well as produce in oompletest abundance the stores of that wealth among the producers ; a^d how,^ among all the people of a nation to dispense the elements of human The book presents the reader with incidents of life sufficiently remark- able to relieve it from dullness ; yet the author fears, indeed he is paiqir fully sensible, that in too many pages of the personal chapters he djisturbs or wholly dispels that charm of modesty which literary art so easily attaches to personal narrative, if the writer^s theme be other than his own vindicatidn,^the vindication less than to assert that be has been, though not a prominent, yet one of the most efficient and persistent actors in beh(Uf of public safety in times of exigency and peril, a teacher of Conservative Science to statesmen and people, the unpaid worker for his country always. But offensive as the fi-equent^ recurring image of Ego cannot fail to be, it seems unavoidable. This, t3;iough more than a personal narrative, is yet the first complete record, of the incidents whicb connected the writer with the service of public safety in Britain about the Reform Era, 183.2-34, and which gave him sufficient influence with the leaders of popular commotion in subsequent years to save the soil of his native land from that direst calamity of nations, a war between social and political classes. It is his present object to relate the occasions of exigency and the measure of his influence, mth as much (^ his Wnservative economy and dissuauve argument asimay seem to remain appliof^le t9 other times^ other "eountries, and more espeipiaUy to Canada. Taking up what the title-page initiate this is a " Book of ^ Diligent Man's L^e" ; a life persistently devoted to public weU-being, to the removal of antagonism between the extremes 6f society ; a life of trust in f ;) \ u SOHERVIIiLE^B BOOK the good wTiicli reeicles in everyboc^*, in all social claMes, all political initf- ~ tutions; a life of fidelity to an early inheritance of toil, sometimeB of prteBcient impulse, always of action and enthnHiasm; a life of cuffs, rebuffs, cold thanks, of results lesa than thanks; but of high faith, unr» ^ wavering in trouble or in joy, that the yupreme Ood knows the man was, and still is, working honestly for a purpose recogniseijift Heaven as- a necesBrty on ej^th,— the purposo, a triumph^of thefulure. And what is that purpose? It is to retriwe Political Economy from- a chaos of crudities, in its austere materialfcra, as hitherto expounded;, to exalt it to a new vitality; endow it with new functions; to demand,, that as guardian of public wealth, JjTpbey the absolute logic of its posi- tion, and ttdM cognisance of the prime element of wealth, the human being ; that thenitb« guardian of the elements of human happiness ; conserva- tor of the conditions which determine a perpetuity of life#nd power to nations ; and, iW God's permission, to discover where Ueth the begin- ning of that sublime harmony, which now issuing out of the opposing forces and seeming diwtords of all physical, moral, and sph-itual. nature^ arises before the eye of faith in present glory to the Supreme, indicating, by the law of progression, a grander future to the human family on earths The highest achievement of knowledge is to discover how little i» known. Ignorance lives contentedly without a boundary to its vision. The want of scholastic education is a blank indeed. The author laboured fot bread when eight years old, and was but seldom at any \Bchool withm doors; though in one sense all his life has been a school, 'he possessed as large a measure of presumption as, by a deficiency of what is called self-esteem, he- is unprovided with, it would not carry him, fbr\ny useful object, farther than that threshold of society ,. where naked- ness^/scholaatio attainments now leaves him. The classically learned are'nc^ lofty in their own estimation as they are ift his. They read in the «rfiginal when he must use a translation. But he has read man- kind in thesoriginal. He has read the inner heart of national life and well-being iVite language of actujgilities.. He thinks it probable that a forecast of the^iences, now in>rocess of development, was given to the., ancients and may> disinterred in the mythologies, such as the affinities of planetary systems, their repulsion and attraction, the vast orbits^ upon whiph families omins and planets travel through the universe, the embracing of our parentWth with comets which |ave written the date and order of their oontaoi in the great epochs which geologists are groping in the dark to read. If jihe mythologies da not contain some such hid- den lore, it is difficult to Reconcile the labour lost on their study with any utile object of educatior^ tVugh the literature in which they are preserved ■\. «i M ^ ^i "'sl^]^ ^ or ▲ DIL10INT Lira. 16' \ -■■^;^ •nd Rome were applicable to modern polities, and therefore educational for modern statoBmen, their hiatory might usefully occupy the years of youth ; but the present writer takes leave to assert, that the events about to be related antl the inferences to be drawn in this book, — the perils of ■ ; Britain during eight-and-twenty years, — are, beyond all comparison, more instructive to statesmen, merohaMs, philosophers, and miniflt«r8 of reli- gion, than any pagan lore. l^^ilF he reveres the' erudite sbholars who "~ bring to light the poetry and life of antiquity. He admires their sub* mission to that mental discipline which such learning involves, and he rejoices to behold the sports, whether gay or grito, of the university, — sports which, modifying the intellectual austerities, give vigour of body and mind to upper-class manhood. Wifl they add to- their university education such instruction, so grave, so urgent, &8 ^is First Book of Reading in Conservative Science offerS' them ? '~~' The author's antecedents are indicated in the following summary : though not the extent, depth, width, and intensity of his application to know the actualities of men and things ; nor the incessant effort, the delightful hope, frequently the lofty ecstasy, of his speculative inquiry into the laws of physical nature in relation to moral discords and the one transcendant universal harmony. • He has been Ploughman, Quarryman, Private Dragoon, Sergeant of Fighting- Highlanders ; Author of Histories, Biographies^, Narratives, Tales (many of these, unfortunately for his present reputation, published anonymously) ; Collector of Facts for L^islators ; Commissioner to ; discover the cause of English Incendiary Fires ; from London and other newflpapers to trace causes of agrarian offences and social suffering ii^ r Ireland, 1843, 1840, 1847, 1848; Inquirer into the condition of Agri- culture and Farm Tenure in England; Joint Inquirer into the effects of Potatoe Blight on the Food of the People, 1845-6 ; Occasional Arbi- trator between Employers and Workmen ; Historian' of Trade Strikes, of Wonderful Workshops, and of -Remarkable Farms; Biographer of the gk^ater Pioneers of Commercial Adventure and Industr1aJ»*Civilization in recent centuries and present time ; Historian of " Free Sea " ; Poli- tical. Economist; Analysist of Disputed -Problems in Social Mercantile and Financial Science ; Aiialysist of the Philosophy and .Practice of ^ Banking in relation to the CauseSyCurrents, and Prevention of Commer- cial Panics ; Expounder of the relative forces of conflicting elements in Rent as affecting the general Store\of Public Wealth; Historian of Fiscal Systems and Romantic Incidents in Schemes of Finance; Writer -on Military Strategy, and on a Militai<7 Educaition of the "People as < - indispensable to the defence of Britain ; Accusing Witness of evil done by Atheistic and Infidel leaders of the working classes iu Britain;. \ r \ 16 BOMCBVILLB'rf BOOK Inqtiirar inUt the kgund rolationf of BonM intelleotittl tfuigents in Soep- tioism. An obitusry notice written by the author at Qnebeo in an hour of anguiah, ia reprodueed here, because it haa been a aubject o£ ani- madveraion, and ia yet true in letter and ipirit. It em only in this, that the writer's imputation of a country's ingratitude refort to hia well-known services to public safety in the years of commotion and peril subsequent to 1832; and to his nuinifold literary works and large ezpendituie of time and money, all directed to give stability US hia country's institutions, and to exalt the disaflFocted olasaes to a practical acquaintance with a true Conservative Economy : , " DiB^.^Aii Quebec, at 10 A. M., on Sunday, 29th May, Emma, wife of Alexander Somerville (formerly in the Scots Greys, and known in the literature of political utility as the " Whistler at the Plough"). The 29th of May is the anniversary pf Mr. Somerville's punishment in 1832, when he was flogged for saving thd people of Birmingham from massacre, and^for refusing to disclose the names of other implicated soldiers, thou^ offered pardon if he would do so; by which act he and they saved the throne and anti-reform Lords of Parliament from the ourses of a sword-smitten nation, and caused the Eeform Bill of 1832 to pass without bloodshed, except his own. Making allowance for longi- tude, his wife died at the hour when he was tied up to receive two hundred lashes, — an hour at which she annually suffered extreme pain ever since they were married, and since she became aware of what her husband had undergone for an ungrateful country; the memory of which has been all the more poignant to her and to him, that ho, as a political man of the people, has made many sacrifices in the cause of order and public safety since, when a less conscientious course would have been more profitable. She was born in London^ 4th April, 1825 ; was daughter of the late Francis Binks, of Greta Bridge, Yorkshire, many years a Freeman of the city of London, and of Hannah Story, his wife, now of Foots Gray, Melbourne, Australia. Mrs. Somerville was taken ill on leaving Liverpool for Canada, 2nd July, 1858 ; had a pre- mature birth at the end of September, and soon after sank into consump- tion, which proved irresistible to. medical science, though she was under the constant care of the eminent physicians of the Quebec Marine and Emigrant Hospital She has left six young children to mourn, with their father, for a loss which can never be repaired to him or to them on this earth." An extract from a prospectus of the present volume is alw presented here for the object which it explains : V *. Of A BIUOBMT Lin. 17 " Mr. Somenrillo io recent years booame involved with insolvent pub- liflherB and their publioationB, which stripped him of lit«Ta»y and other property, to retrieve which ho toiled until his health for a time gave way. In July, 1868, having been in the previous May and Juno an inpatient of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, suffering from a sudden and severe mental shook, arising out of a deceptive agreement to go to Aus- tralia, he came to Canada with his wife and six children, their passage taken to Toronto. His wife quitted Kngland in the good health which she all her life enjoyed ; but, though of a cheerful temperament and jSiH of hopo>at, under God, she would see her troop of little boys grow up to be^^ben of Canada, she sickened in the ship, and could travel no farther than Quebec. That sickness, and a painful childbirth, were foUowed by consumption, which resisted all medical science. On the 29th of May, 1869, eleven months from the day of quitting her native city of London, she died, — hSr death the saddest calamity of her bus. band's life. " From Uie near approodi of her death, which during nine months Bdemed no more distant than the morrow, Mr. Somerville could «ot leave Quebec to pursue employment elsewhere. He lectured on several occa^ons, and, though solaced by the presence of some whose kindness defied the inolementy of storms, he failed to augment his limited for- tunes. So long as he 90uld conceal his proverty, it was concealed. Hf preferred the early dawn to bury a still-born infant, his band of litlli» children the sole funeral company, that he might hide from Quebee^ which he did not then know, the fact, that the poor rude coffin was made from a board gathered from the waifs floa^ng on the river tide. " He now discloses the adverse oiroumstanses of his emigration, to explain why he sdlicits subscriptions to the volume which this sheet announces for early publioation." 18 BOMiaVILLl'f BOOK CHAPTER II. Qenerftl— oontinued. A grateftil Record, for the uie of Einl|rr«ntt jet to arrive in Canada, if, hj Ood'i dlapenaatlon, they need medloal treatment at Qaebec. A letter to tha Qu^ Of ▲ DILIOlirr LIVB. 1» ft( iny time would or oould writ« a line to a newBpaper in Mknowlcdfi^ m«nt of ^wh»t they did. Conicquently their kindneM Wm th«t which Bwait« any afflicted family of atrangem. Dr. Jackspn, Dr. Painehaod, Dr. Landry, and Dr. Bowand, attended her, an vinitinK Phy«ioianit of the HoHpital, in the order in which I place thoir nainoa; each gonUouian luoro Holioitoua if poiwiblo than another to give hor relief and arreat con- sumption in its progroM. And Dr. F. E. Roy, roaidont Physioian and IIouM Hurgeon, always there, always vigiUnt, and ever oourtcoua ; I would offend my own BonHO of juMtioe a» long aa I live were hia name omitted in this memorial of gratitude. It ia the roopo nocoMiary that I, a flootchman,— my wife having been an Knglishwoman, and my children 1^1 English-bom,— make thia record, seeing that all the physicians named here, except Dr. Sewoll and Dr. Jackion, are Franco-Canadians. I believe in their high attainments, I know their kindness, and saw it manife^cd to all patients alike. I know what hospitals are in London and Edinburgh and elsewhere ;— that at Quebec is equal to any of thom. Also, let me add, that to the Reverend Charles Hamilton, B.A., incum- bent of St. Peter's parish church, and the other clergymen who, in absence of the regular chaplain, ministered the saving truths of our (Christian religion for so long a time of suffering, I record her thanka and my own, in obedience to her dying request. Will you oorrect an error of the press which obscures the meaning of a sentence in the obituary notice of Tuesday : " Anti-reform lawn of parliament " should have been printed " anti-reform Lorda of parlia- ment," the Reform Bill of 1832 having been repeatedly thrown out by the House of Lords. It was on the last defeat that the perilous crisis of May, 1832, occurred, when The THmiRs newspaper threatened the army, on which the anti-reform Lords relied, with a street war of hrickhat$ from the roofs of houses, a popular incitement equally criminal, and unpractical as that for which the Editors of the Nation and other Irish- meh were transported in 1848. I name this to show what the state of excitement was in Britain in May 1832, when the great Timea, which always represents the sentiment of the day, be it right, wrong, or wicked, took to the dootyine of brickbats. Five years after, when I had become practically acquaintedjwith war in the field, in the street, and in every forih of devastation, with Sir De Lacy Evans in Spain, whose high testimonials to my share in it, are now with me, I published my Dismasive Waminga to the People on Street War/are, exposing the impossibility of mobs warring with regular soldiers, po long as the Holdifira are faithful to orders, /^hat they may be always faithful to orders^ such perilous hazards sl/ould never be incurred by minorities ^^ .Mr :% %. ^ flOJlBlTILUi'f MOK ■0 divpropnrtlonntely riiiaU oonixurml to th« Mtinn m wero tacurreil by th« nnti n«ronii minority io Kritwin in 1833. The lettert of Wiirniiig to Ihe Lordb, written by me in 1H:)2, oonUined th^ following quoUtidn, M nipruMtTc of tko loyalty of tk« SooUi Ontyt, in wbitb I Mnrtd : " Tb« Klng't oftint It • tow«r of tUQngth, Which thflj upon tho wlvaria fkctloa w»ni.'* We <^ ia in e«sh of the garriaon librariea of the Brkisb service. Thoao evettil^ gave mo influenoc in aubaetiuont yean, which I uaod in favotir of law 1||^ order, and peaceable legialation in favour of the people. My pen, whether in Canada or olaewbere, belongs to that cauae whosQ dsjoot ia Obriatian civilization and avrndanoo of war ;. but it ia not the aorvico of those who would take peace at anjfi|rioe. Six years I ineurfsd the unforgiving hostility of tho Mancboater party of po any price, by a publica^ibn wbicb Warned Britain aa to the alliance then believed tot|ka, '«8 I pray, it |nay be, perpetual between Britain and \ ^Ite.'foUowing Unea from Shokspeare : France. My •' For peace (Though But that de; Should Ibe tlull fi^klngdom, quarriK were in question,) rs, prepai^mM^' Bsembled/Smd colleeted." In 1834, time of .trades unions and the conspiraoiod wbicb they con> oealed, add in 1837, 1S39, 1842, and 1848, years of dangerous agitation in Britain, I voluntarily incurred 'expense of money and time, and literary effort, to, save the people from a disastrova eoiiflioi irith the ainuy, and to shield the conservative plasses from iw lasting odium, if not it# instant danger- I never reoeived a sixpence, not aix-penny we r ih, in g etnrn, except in a copsoientious beli e f that I had doqo right. X \uAf in my miurfied U&, my happy-minded wife to give her pheerfiil ■r% ! l§^' ,'■■* x.-r i^'"^'- B.ir , Of 4 DiUOM^M'*- •r\ ..* m if oo«eun«no«. Wh«ii Bio hmxi of grw»t Looil«»ii pulpiutod i« (W on lk« ^^akM.% AprU, 1848, iih« wiw m« H^nd of«r £20 b printod w»r»inK» loni tt the dr«ttd«)d day, »«.» ap>r«»v.'4 what I did. OUier iw fi>r pHhIic nulety wutt iiw miTwral huudred ponodii. Wlwn p_» wM mriokou with hor r«t«l iUw^iw, »nd I • Rtrtofter ii Q«el>M, in Mto tkoe of winter, with • fwuily then iu dannor of p«(riBbin^ Vrtw want, 1 moroorlalb«d on« or two per«)n«ia» in England, rattmntiun tbimi 'flkotfl and utating our oirounintttnctMi. My eld«iit Iwy pn«iaiiiiiiat«d that nr(>»t oala- mity at the lionr of Uio annivorwiry of tho d|ky in 1832 on w)iio)lI had yakod dekth and aooopted torture in behalf of the ihternal peace •!' my country. I do not now miawndenitand why I waa driven to Anaerioa againat n^y doatre and contrary to all my plana and effort*. Looking baok on the people for whoao political oxalUtion I liad U»iled tijl my b»»in traa worn, and on a country Vhioh I had aervod for tho sake of ita douicBtio tranquillity, too consoientiouiily for nty own proaperity, I toe day forgot Ood, who had boon my stay in tho hour of torture, wm^ in the deadly forlorn hope of bloody war, and in tho still darker houF^f conflict with tho Mancheater political " liberolB," who wounded m« w^ a aUng «oro eniel and dwidly than tho laah, and, giving way to dgeoti^S, oontompUtod all ftitnra usofolnoaa with despair. But lo, an inwa«A light, a flaah of hope and a vlaion of tho future, were unfolded in m instant of time! Tbdy oame nnaaked by mo, and have not departed ; but they remain only on conditions. Those conditions, by Ood'a help^ IwiOfuiftl. ALXXANDKa S0MKEVir.LB. I AT IS 00N8ERYATISM ? To the JSditor of the Qwsbec Mercury. Jraa 6, 1869. Bat,— Yaw oommenta of Satardby on ihe obituary notice of my Wife, mtd on an opiaode in my pefsonal Watory, induce me to rejoin a ftw temarka about Conaervativea, of wfeiA I aeiwrt myself one, aeoond in Idvc of na!live country and ita inatitirtiona to no man in Quebec or out of ft, in Canada or in Britain, whether he be bound to hia Queen «Bd «)untry by pay, or, tf T have beon^ h y the undetachable oorda of patHotic .. principle But if Conuemrtivii have no stronget bond of eohfiaion, no ''* ■mm , ^ ,f-/, - '. I^i o . *■■■ s "T- 22 bohkbville's book ■ -»■'■. I i:' loftier principle, than fear of the unenfranchised people one (day, and a greater dread of some external enemy another day, I am not in that jjense a Conservative. If they, when called Tories, never erred in policy, mot even in bringing on the perilous crisis of May, 1832,^en may government by military despotism be'righf, and France and Austria Ik( worthy of imitation in Britain. But I assert, that Conservatism has a higher ptinbiple of action than to be afraid and to obstruct. Its duty is to be prescient of rth^ future as well as vigilant over the present. Above all, its duty is to deduce a logical education for its own benefit from the history of the past. r Of difficulties in governing Canada, on which you remark with etfl- phasis, I do not, as ji stranger, presume to ispeak beyond this, that the unenfranchised working class of Britain does not inherit an enmity of race, language, and religion, against the throne, church, laws, and consti- tution. If you see no difference between the French Canadians who .are enfranchised here and the unenfranchised men of Britain, I do. You date the difficulty of Canadian government from the advent of the Whigs to power at the Beform era 1830, 1831, 1832, and rail at me for being their ally while I call myself a Conservative. Sir, the difficulty in governing Canada dates from the 13th of Septem- her, 1759. Difficulty*of government is a penalty of conquest everywhere. Not all the wisest or sternest Tories ever born to the inheritance of power, could govern Canada by a compulsory sword and proscription of race, as you seem to desire, in presence of the United States and of free institutions in Britain. As for Radicals, Whigs, Tories, and any such party alliances, I never was of them. Mine has not been a life of small politics. Much of my literary life has been spent and my brain worn even to incapacity for literary labour, in rescuing the science of Political Economy from the sou%s8 materialism which had made it, in mouths of Whigs and Radi- cals, l||^^^ the People. It has been my self-impoeed task to huma- nize and c&istianize Political Economy. I assert mikn to be the primary element in national wealth. It has been part of my task to urge, that the British people should be educated in the use of arms, to be ready at any time foi^national defence. '9^e objection of conservatism to educate the people in the use of arms, haslbitherto been a dread of^tfae arms being used to extort political en- franchisement. To this I urged, let the people be enfranchised and yon remove that cause of fear. What happens in this year 1869 ? British conservatictm, which, with ita many excellencies, has a basis of perturba- tion, with a very frequent absence of prescience, is now panic-stricken and arms the people, still denying them political enfranchisement \ « ' * 'K'.'. or A DILIOIMT tin. Besides oontcnding fr a military education to the youth of Britain, and teaching a humanized system of Political Economy and a harmonious reliance of social classes, I have analysed the cause of commercial panics, and logically deduced simple and safe means for their avoidtince, by which communities may. be saved from a periodicity of devastation, second only to the scourge of fire and sword. Who are they that oppose such a reform of the laws of banking and of commerce in Britain ? Not the conservatives of the peerage, but ponservatives of the sordid instincts, to whom even the territorial Peers are in many cases bondmen and victims. I will not fatigue you, nor occupy space, with a summary of Ithe many times, before my mental health broke down by excessive labour, when, in years of dangerous agitation, I have used a very considerable political influence in behalf of law and order ; and the peaceful discussion of questions which have ripened to acts of parliament, sanctioned by Queen, Lords, and Commons. I hope soon to publish such a narrative in Canada, with letters from eminent persons, statesmen, generals, and magistrates, living and deceased, such as the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Panmure, late; Sir Robert Pqel, late Earl of EUesmere, Duke of Suther- land, Mr. Drummond, M.!Pji Sir John Pakington, now first Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Fitzroy Kelly, now Attorney-General, and others to whom these names may serve as indexes pf opinion, all voluntarily testifying to the utility of my publications. •' •• You being Editor, I have assumed, aecording to the custom of the press, that you penned the article of Saturday, which referred to i^e, though in fact I know you did not. The writer must have read the book which relates the Scots Greys case in detail, for the notice of my wife's death, which is his text, says nothing about "rough-sharpening swords." That book would tell him and you that I hold no such opinion as that sol- diers may determine what they shall do or n«lB0 whatever credit, and accept in sorrow whatever blame, may attach to this other series of facts, — that, as in^ar I never levelled *my fusil at an enemy and drew the trigger, but with the intent to kill him, so I never wrote a sentence on political subjects; nor spoke one in a ^^ating society or elsewhere, that I did not believe to be true, and demanded at the time by the interests of-truth.. But I will carry to my dying hour ^ deep sorrow for having treated Richard Cobden with the bitterness of an enemy in a pamphlet publishedin 1853. I had cause of difference with him. W^ differed as to the policy of national armaments sufficient to defend British territory and ^Pritish interests at home and abroad. The Peace Society in 1852, without leave asked of me, had issued S^tibroughout the kingdom a million of^ndbills and placards bearing my name in connection frith a rude woodcitt representing a soldier under- going^ the punishmcfnt of the lash. Those placards were intended to deter recruits from entering the militia which was then in process of organization. I held that the militia was necessaiy. A gentleman who 'ifl now, September 18^9, (Mie«f Her Mijesty's cabinet ministers, asked 'BM in 1852, when the militiii bill Iras under disonsBion, to assist him by be disappointed abouWthat jCKT I promised you : John Bright is suspected to be wrong about the head. As yet it is not published, but I fear it is too true." " It is a niercy, Sandy," replied my wife, " that the manuscript is not out of your hands." "It is a mercy," I rejoined. " May my hand wither rather than that anything written by me should further afflict or disturb, Kim." In th^t season of his eclipse, 1855-56, a similar dimness too truly approaching me, and from a like cause, .overwork, I prayed G9d4br his recovery ; and as I breathed that desire of the soul, the sweet memory of an hour of prayer which I once had with him aqd his household came over me like a holy vision. I had been one of the platform strangers at an annual social party in the People's Institute at Rochdale in 'the winter of 1849, at which Mr. Bright was chairman. Other strangers, who like me came from a distance, were carried to other houses of the local gen try ,> while the chairman pressed me to his house. We talked pleasantly ^bout books and children, no words of political acri- mony disturbing Mr. Bright's inner circle. In the morning at fir^ daylight, his household,* comprising wife, one child, and five female servants, were in the usual manner assembled to worship, domestic work in kitchen or elsewhere being suspended for about an hour. W6 sat in silence for a brief space, which was broken by Mr. Bright opening the scriptures, from which he read, two or three chapters from the Gospels, mtJcing some remarks, but not many; after which, he spoke a few words of admonition, applicable to^ all hearers. When he ceased reading and left to p r i v ate communion w ith God, in pe rfe ct Baking, each of us was silebee, for a space of ten or fifteen minutes i All remained seated w |fi / ./ V .'/ ^ \ OV A DILIOIMT Lit 1. 81 Iw, by oloBing the bible, indioatod that the MrvanUi might rise and leave. Soon af^er, they brought in breakfast, and the ploaaant convemation of the previoas evening was resumed. During tlie.day we visited the Roohdalo schools, of which Mr. Bright is a liberal and careful guardian. Ah a farther proof of the tenderness I observed towards him in his illness, I may namo^an article which I furnished to the Illustrated LondoH/Newt describing Wensleydale. I stretched a point to connect Mr. Bright's recreations in youth, and at that time as an invalid, with the district, and to pay a compliment to his intellectual power, in the hope that such tenderness from one whom he and his political fVionds hod grievously wounded in spirit, and injured before the world, might be a medicine. How differently did they treat me, in addition to what they had done about the Militia, when, on the 18th of August, 1856, Lord Kinnaird published my illness and its consequent poverty in the LondoA Time$. I had no thousand hands, nor any hands, to spin fo^ me and my ohilQren when my brain was worn and the maohinei^ of mind had become unworkable. Lord Kinnaird, wholly unknown to me until I saw the newspaper, reminded the wealthy men of commerce and manufactures how much they owed to me, and asked them to give a little from the large benefits of free trade for my relief and comfort. The whole of the money placed in his lordship's hands in answer to that appeal, was less than I paid for the painting of ten thousand copies of Some^ville's National Wealth Tract, No. 2, which was deveted sohely to the defence of the aristocracy on philosophic and practical grounds, and distributed at my expense, by post and parcel, amongst political leaders of the disaffected people from Cornwall to Inverness, in presence of the revolutions of Europe then (1848) in progress. (See Mr. Cobden's letter on the Siege of Paris in next chapter, referring to thai ..Tract No. 2.) Ti^ie whole amount received by Lord Kinnaird inmy day of darkness was lesd than the tenth part of the cost of " Somerville's Dissuasive Warnings to the People on Street Warfare," distributed by me, and at my expense translated into Welsh, in 1839, 1840, and 1842. It was less than ^^^h part of my expenses directly out of pocket in bringing the Kilkenny " outrages " so conspicuously before the late Sir Robert Peel when he was prime minister in 1843,- as to cause him to issue the commission of inquiry into the Law of Landlord and Tenant, with the Earl of Devon at its head, and defend his action in that matter by quoting my work, A Cryfnm. Ireland, in the House of Commons February 14, 1844, with ihese words of, comment amongst others : " Sir, I have read that work [which Lord Johii Kussell had quoted the same evening], and I should think it impossible for any man whatever to read it without being shocked with the manner in which some landlords have perverted theii' 'ff^ \ 8t ■OmsriLLl'f BOOK power, -And tha pi>irer of tho Uw, to hanih purponoii." TUm monoj eoi»> tribiiled was lem than • twelfth part of what the pri^ng and diilri- bution of that work ooflt me in the winter of 184d-44 ; eaoh member ti ' the FIouBo of ComKona, peer of parliamflnt, bishop of the ehqreh, and ncvmpapnr editor of the kingdom receiving a oopj flree by poet or parcel ur delivory, not & handrod oopiee being mid in tho trade. It was equal within twenty ehillingB to the ainuant paid by mo for " Warn- ings to the People" in preeenoe of the dreaded " Tenth of April/' 1848 ; money paid, with my wife's ehuorful ooiicorronoe, she believing in my mission befofo tho world ; paid oat of my literary earnings to oonifort the pelpitating heart of Wost-End fashion and of London city wealth, on tliat d«y when even Prinoe, Loais Napoleon took a baton to help England to keep tho peaoo and the Queen hor throne. It wo^i loss than a twelfth pavt of the money whidi» I paid for tiavelliilg tBZpenseft alone, to say notkitsg of lost time, and the cost of witnoHses bKM|b,t to London at my okpense,. in .1848, to save the working elSsses fll«in' .the disastroae oonseqtten^es of the great Chartist Land Soheme and Labour Bank absurdity. (8eb Chartist letters in next chapter.) It was only about double the amount which I had expended in that oanse of th^i'---'^-^ people up to the time when tho Society of Amalgajnatod Engineers with- drew from the bank £620, al my instance, they being about to risk twenty-six thousand pounds in the sehame. My friend Mt>. Crookett, an engineer, now of Quebec and then of Manchester, thought me the enemy of the working man at that time, as did many more ; but he admits now that the Land Sdieme and Bank were based ota fallooiee destined, by the force of soand jmnoipje in all the seqnenoesof money, to collapse in disaster sooner or later. The amount was equal to about * half of thatwhioh an arbitrator, chosen by the late Anti-Com-Law League, awarded me for Work done fo^ them at the personal instance of Mr. Cobden, the arbitrator telling me privately that he was surprised they had ever resisted payment of such a claim. Finally Lord Kinnaird was admonished by Mr. John Bright,. M .P., who for his health was at the time enjoying the mountain breezes of my native Scotland, while I, by illness and by taking bills in payment for literary work, — the bills dishonoured, — was driven firom my comparative comfort at tho foot of Haverstodk Hill, London, into poor lodgings in a crowded street of Islington, my children almoiit without bread to eat. Birmingham, which I had Saved from the sword in 1832, made Mr. John Bright ite member of parliament at this time, while still an invalid, his recommend^ ation b^g eloquent declamation against the aristocracy, and it did not coutribuie a sixpence fur my comfort, probably Jsecause it was one of ~ the aristocracy who asked for aid in my behalf. But neither did that fi. Of ▲ DiLtaiNT tam. Qpp«r Motion of aoetctjr mvpond to th« appeal. True, I did lurthinft to lake advMitaf;* of Lord Kinnaird's lult«r in th« TVftuM. B««iu|s ^a ooldnofui of th« country, I Mmimud an attitude of dbdain. Mr. Bright'* MnM of propriety will appear more dearly in the &oC that hill personal hontility to me datea fVom about a quarter to ten o'olook on tho ovening of 2lBt Pnbruary 1863. At twenty-five minuten to ten he repeated, in part, his eulogy of a previoua ovening when he extolled . me in the House of CommouH aa an amiable peraop ; a man who had rendorud my country eminent aertioea ; a man who was an honour to literature. Whon ho oeaaed that eulogy, Lord Palmenton rose, replied to his Btatementa aboiit the aeditiona anti-militia plaoarda, and, reading a document written by me in whioh I diiwvowed thone plaoardM in itpirit and in object, concluded by saying, " That letter does Mr. Houierville much credit" ; at which, said the reporters, (the l^mta printert omitting to Insert the remark,) both sidOh of the Houae ohcored. The offence thus given by me to Mr. Bright and the peaee partjy, because I presumed to differ from them about the military defences of tho kingdom, remained a fact with life in it when I wa« writing for an Kdioburgh daily newspaper in 1857. An advertising liiion*dr»per of t^ city had paid some pounds a week for advertiBoments in that paper, but withdrew thorn, giving, through his foreman, a reason to the out-door clerk, that I, the temporary editor, having a grudge against Mr. John Bright, had assailed this linen-draper, our patron. Up to ' that time I was not aware that one of Mr. Bright's sisters was this man's wife, or, if I ever heard of their alliance, had Forgotten it. But the two were thus related. What can this, the very ^warf of small incidents, have to do with a book in Canada ? This : Since I began writing the. present work in my Patmos near Quebec, Mr. M. Davidson, of St. C'eyei, has brought, at the trouble of sereral miles of travel to himself, a copy of the Liverpool Mercuty, containing a paragr8|^ quoted from the Edin- burgh Scottman, noticing the deaUi of my wife. All that portion of the obituary paragraph referring to my public servioes is omitted, and a heartless sneer substituted to the effect that " ehange of place with Mr. SomeFville does not seen to have led to change of circumstances." The article whioh informed the Scotsman of my fife's death wad published here on the day she was buried, and it stated that, owing to herlUlness of nine months and the presence of death at her chamber-door oU Nmt . time, I had been unable to proceed to our original destination, ancT"" could not leave Quebec in pursuit of employment elsewhere. But there remains to be tofd something more, which concerns Scotsmen in general, and all persons who profess an interest in freedom of the press and integrity in its writers. ~\ ai. 4 fOMIRVILLl'l BOOK Tho fUnttman h»d callad thiit Unendrapnr, hi* nait-door neJglibottr, A " wmko in tho gra«i." And on pnjwwutiun for «l*migi», • jury twardoil no Kmm » ium than four hundrfld poundi. Ai their n«ighboar| I took no notice of tho uncouth oontroycmj, " make or no make," nntil after the Sfntttnuin hml piiid hin fine of i'400. Tho HJM?IIed draper Aindmi that money, ita interest to provide copica of tlie New Tmtanmnt and the Pmihna of I)avid in metre, to hvi niven in annual prin« U) tho ohildron who attend certain of the public whoola in .Fl«|linburgh, " for- erer." While tho city council had tho gift under prolonged diaouanion, I deemed it a duty to iwiy, in my editorial diacretloiv, that the perpetuation of an^'unaeemly foud between t#o citiiena Waa an impnipt^r gift to posterity; that to connect itsWmory with annual priaea to children, darkened the windom of the city ; and that to wmnoct tho nicmoriul of (he " anake " slander with the Goapcl of .JeauH Christ and the Divine Songs of our ^wonihip, waa a scandal to. the religious reputation of Hcot- land. The soandtt waa consummated. The city council accepted the gift. The draper's foreman declared they would not continue U) odvertiao in a papef in which the opponent of his master %nd of Mr. John Bright was a writer. I loft; tho employment; taking care, however, to obtain a certificate that I Jeft in consequence of " other edi^ftl arrangements being made," and from no other cause. The Scotteman might have known froi* his own career, and from the lo^c of all human afTiyflrs, that a public writer who is ever guided by a cense of right and wrbng, is very likely to fall into adverse ciroumstaiioes. ' 'Knowing this as he did, he might have saved his sneer at change of place bringing to mo no improvement of fortune. This chapter of cloud 'may scare the reader with tho foarvthat he is t^ have nothing but sadness and murmurs of sorrow in the rest of the book. Not^so. Mine has been a cheerful life. Even when residing in Manchester land bufieted by reverses such as break hearts, leaching Poli- tical Economy to those who would not heai^; I reached a high level of intellectual joy, extending over years. I wish my pen, by some witchery of words, couW communicate the after-^ow of the joy to such readers as may hang with expectation on my story at this distant time, and in this distant land. ^ / i or A DILIQINT i.m. CHAPTER IV. Genaral ni*tt«rt contlnn«d. Bitrftcta Arom lattera «nd rtvUiri In Uitinony of dMfiil work. Whftt I did Id BriUln At tb« aipvctcd " ritlng" which wm to ■upploment und ooniumin»ta th« troublai of Cftnad* lo t83t-38. A cotiMellor ftt Uw In Quebec, 16A0 ; hii mUlnfurtnAtlon about the R«rorin oritU of 183], «nd refuMl to permit bit readera to know the truth. He cbargei Lord John Ruiielt and General 8lr Oharlea Napier with a complicity for rerolutlonary object!. The absurd accuiialinn r«butt<>d. Pacta about the rerolutioniate of 1816-30, and their counael, HIr Charles W^therallflind Hi. Goplj^y, aftcrwarda . Lord Ljn^hurat. The Briitol Hots, aodl orlili at Blrmlogham, glanced tt. Preioieot Oooierratiim educatea Itaelf firoin the facta of the paai. Whilo proporing thcao introduotorir ohaptera, and questioning if it b■ ' n;' I I ' :|. A r rf •/ 40 80MERyZLLB*8 BOOK f London EconomUt, 1848. 24. " The well-known author of this work, who has Btteao*«d^ much puWio attention, and has acquired a weU-merited reputation, has done the public a great service by publishing his Autobiography. It adds one, in the first part, to the many genuine and affecting pictures we now posiess of the difficulties with which the virtuous poor manfully struggle in orde'r to bring up a family decently; and it is full of rich instruotioit on the manner in which those difficulties that all share, knifthe hearts of the young apd the old in one common bond of affection an^ virtuous help The rich who pretend to pity such i)eople, should study the book, and learn fwm it how superior in dignity, how far above them elevated in manhood's best virtues, are such cheerful, strolling, virtuous, God- foaring families." _ '• There were also testimonials «f military service in Spain b evidence of » severe, almost terrible fidelity to duty as a soldier Uie reader may have found in Chapter III ; and the following, re. m ang to my'r^um from Spain at the end of 1837, describing the purpose to . which I turned my military experience and knowledge of civU war. The year 1837 was one of American and British commercial panic; 'of compulsory short time in factories, of trade combinations, andof politi. oal conspiracies in England. In the West of Scotland combustibles aud- explosivS were thrown into factories and dashed through windows flf private dwellings of th'e master class. Arson was the result in several -instances ; a^aults to the danger of Kfe in many ; and assassination m jopen day in at least one. Canada was- eitWsr in rebeUion or m that : dondition of disquiet which some oaUed seditions commotion^ and whieh ' required little more to b^ civil war. The British Government beheld the perturbation of Canada with apprehension, and despatched trbops to repress the incipient revoU. English revolutionists beheld the distraction -. of Canada with dismal joy"; so did the leaders of the formidable oombi- nations at Glasgow. The foUowing was forwarded to the Quebec repre- sentative of tlie upper-cla?8 English in the second week of Jniie, 1859, ' in proof of what I did for public Safety in 1837. It was cut from one of4/books, ^hich bears thB title of " WnalEnemjes of England, but, like all the foregoing testimonials and '<|ttotations, save .the least useful one, it remained unnotioed. * ■ 'I A|«XAMDKa30M*ttVILWWX837, TSAROFDirtricyLITpBWWW 25. V 1837, 1 had just oom0-firom a oottqjfcry devastded hy.injasluie irar. tieard the factoiy-peop^e of Glasgo w U >ld.j ) y the English del e ga t e ?•* T » OT A DltilOKNT tTW%} 41 who represented the disafieotion of Lanoashiroy Nottingham, London, and other great hives of deranged industry, of the * glorious revolution' they might effect with armif, though they knew not the use of any arm nor power of discipline beyond their practice of marching in double files - to their cotton-mills an4 from the mills home. I heard them urged to the trial of physical force, and inflamed into a belief in Buccess by Feargus O'Conner, by the Rev. J. S., by Mr. Beaumont, a gentleman of territorial fortune in Northumberland, by Dr. John Taylor, of Glasgow, and others, all as ignorant of arms as they, I had seen the fertile soil of Spain laid waste by the contending armies of civil war ; the corn-fields a desert; vineyards blasted and forsaken ; commerce scared from Spanish cities; industry diligent only in destruction ; roadways trenched tip and barricaded; bridges thrown down; villages unroofed; streets battered to rubbish-heaps; the combatants firing tipstairs, down stairs, out of windows, in at windows, the houses afire on their families of wives, mothers, children ; the houses blown into the air by shells, and fulling in crashes of wjeck on laying and dead; I had seen churches desecrated ; property of. non-poli^cal as well as of political partizans confiscated ; neighbour slain by neighbour, brother by brother ; allth^it was good in Spaiiish nature burned out by civil war, the diablerie of the Spaniard only, remaining. And I had wistfully said or sighed in hours of thought- frinesw, '<0h, h^appy Mother Country of s mine, where men, if not , ^rfect and angelic, havje yet a nature and conductfar above the devils ! blessed soil of Britain, nOt forgotten of God and given ^ver to that worst f curse, a ttd;tion gone mad against itself, but long delivered from this distraction I May Providence cover you. with ever-enduring indus^ and peace ! May the God of our fathers be guardiail of your freedom, and give your sons, and daughters a perpetuity of their reason !'' The weekly number '.of my Narrative ^f the British Legion in Spain was widely circulated in- the gretit factories, and other aggrega- tions of industry, as well as in lesser workshops^. Many of the work- jteople had relatives slain or whne gnly toi throw it at ^e head of a stranger whom he deemed too weak and too hopelessly depressedto vindicate himself and the public interests of truth, how muoh^ of his political assertRTns, his literaiy and historical isffusions, may the public admit or doubt ? ~~~~?~7~~~~~T- ^ •■ . ,-3 ■,■. _ ■''; v , [f I ^ ' f 11 : ^ f r .; 44 gOMlRVILLl'S BOOK But this is a book of the good which reaideu in everyhbdy. Oood'^will be found in this counBcllor-at-law. In the course of the dcveK, opments of political and legal life, he will be a judge, possibly enough ohiof-justice, dispensing final doom upon the transgrcssorB of two races, two Iwngunges, and the several creeds of Canada.firom his exalted seat on the rook of Quebec. Sir Charles Wetherall did not reach the higher judicial benches: he was only Recorder of Bristol. But Mr. Copley, who yras with him in the defence of Arthur ThiBtlewood, gentleman, Jauies WatBOii the elder, -surgeon, James Preston, Bhoemaker, and Thomas. Hooper, Hhoemuker, arraigned at Westminster Hall on a charge of high treason, June 9, 1817, became Lord Chancellor ,and a very, eminent peer. He iI^^ow the venerable and venerated Lord Lyndhurst. Our Quebec counsellor-at-law, when amusing a diiU hour about the small agitators at thirty shillings a week, about Mr. Richardson's visit to Woolwich Arsenal in 1839, and my " Dissuasive Warnings to the . People on Street Warfare " of that year, which General Nupier approved, went on to say that the affair reminded him of an incident reported in some trial of a man who went at the head of a mob and summoned the Tower of London to surrender. The Quebec counsellor-at-law here blundered by chance upon the first event of a scries the most profound in modern constitutional history. The man who summoned the Tower to surrender was Thistlewood, afterwards hanged for treason. In my Working Man's Witness of Evil done- hij Atheists and InfideU, aa Leaders of the People, this event is described in the series of " Dark Passages in the Popula. Agitation of 1816" ; one of the least reputable paasa^s being the conduct of Mr. Charles Wetherall and Mr. John Copley through license of their fees, in bespattering Tory Mmisters with false acfeusatious which history can hardly wash away, to the effect that they themselves made the traitors whom they sought to punish. The high treason of 1816 did not consist in the mere summoning ol the T:ower by a man at the head of a mob. .It was comprised in the previous subversion of certain soldiers of the garrison by actual gifts and ^ further promises to them and to all the army in London. The summons of Thistlewood was the announcement that the insurrection had begun. Subordinate men were hanged for their smaller share iii *hat day's work i the leaders escaped through being axraigne^ the charge of high treason, and through the ingenuity and reckless denunciation of the , government prosecution by Mr. Wetherall and Mr. Copley In this, Lae barristers and counselloTS-at.hiW exceeded even the wide license of counsel • they imputed the deepest baseness to Lord Liverpool's govern- ^1 and i l l Attorney Genera l ; a n d a gi tators of that day-pop^l^ ^ters such as Mr. Cobbettr-took up those aecusations and intensified \ ' on muamwr livi. 46 pnblio indifipiatton to suph a foroo of vehemence, that fuihem eorpu» was BuspenifiiteL ; the " Six Acta**' of Sidmouth and CoHtleroagh were pamed to gag |he freflii, and to prohibit public meetings. Thiatlewood and other aBflooiatep ri»turned to iubvert the army. 'Pnoy wore hanged and beheaded. The liljafiohoBtor Massacre' of 1.819, not yeftlbrgotten or forgiven, tJceur- red. Mr. Wetherall and Mr. Copley, as if to repair in some degree the damage they had done the government and public safety by the unne- cessary course taken at the elder Watson's trial, June 9, 1817, (Thistlo- wood and the rest at the bar, but not then tried,) became more imbued with Toryism than all other Tories. Mr. Wetherall, bettor known as Sir Charles Wetherall, when the Reform agitation, oalipe to a head at the advent of the Whigs to power in November, 1830, was ^Lecorder of Bristol. His name had become odious to the people. Being accustomed to enter Bristol as Recorder in high judicial parade, and to harangue the grand jury, and incidentally the ordinary jury and auditors, against the Reform agitation, tihe new Whig government desired him, in October 1831, to refrain from a public entry, as the authorities of Bristol had appealed to the Home Secretary of State to prevent it. On the 20th of >that month the King prorogued Parliament, and, being favourable to Refonn, was applauded as seldom a Sovereign of Britain had been before (the popularity and charming courtesy' which surrounds Queen Victoria dways, being a new and tnbsequeni attribute of monarchy ). At the King's approach, many of tt»e anti-reform members of the House of Commons apd the greater portion of the anti-reform Lords, rushed in disorder through the lobbies, fleeing the King's presence. The report of that discourtesy, to give it a mild name, added to the excitement of the country. Nine days afterwards tliAt most unteachable of obstinate Tories, Sir Charles Wetherall, entered Bristol, in defiance of the govern- ment, because it was Whig, in defiance of th^ King's Secretary of State, and of the popular sentiment. His presence initiated a succession of riota, " Radical mobs and their excesses" with a vengeance. They began on Saturday, continued all Sunday, and were suppre^ied only on' Monday!" The Mansion House, Excise Office, Bishop's Palace,\and some other buildings, were plundered and set on fire. Toll-gates \ere destroyed ; prisons broken open with sledge hammers, and felons set at liberty among the mad populace. The mob increased in madfaess as It grew in magnitude, and as the fuel on which its fury fed i^creaaed in quantity. That fuel was plunder in shops, liquor in vaults and cellars. On^ hun- dred and ten persons were injured less' or more in life or limb, sixt^n fatally before the riot waa suppressed. Of the sixteen found dead, thr6« had fallen by the military. The remaijider died of apoplexy by excessive drinking in the Bishop's cellars and mother houses which they plundered. *• .'■■\. "rV--. ,;•!->< f i- 1 1 / <' 1^ k ■■-■! ■vri ' f 1 46 •OMIBVII.L]i ■ BOOK Coigplaint iro« ni»d«, mm! «ro«tain«d by proof, that the mlHtfery had jKs^n roiiiiHH \n the flnit Inatanoo. The colonel coniiiuinding cumuutt«r»- . ottutionB nniong niilltary oonimandorH everywhere, and e«p«(ciaUy at Uimiingb^m, to have awordi* Hhafp, and men aure. Lord Lyndii^rnt, by hia hostile motion U the house of Lorda on May 7th, 1832, brought op the oriaia. That treason wliioh ho Iwid ridiculed to. the great damage lof' all ejtecutive. government in 1817, and of which htf had repented in his intensified Toryiam, namely ijolitical an^ pecuniary tumpt^ring with the .fofdicry,-r^thftt treason which occurred within and around the Tower of ,^ Londod wheii Ihistlewood was alive in 1 81 (i-1 8 19, "and upon which the Quebec Tory journalist blunders»by chance in 1859, as sofnetljingyhioh ■ was once a jeat at Wome trial that he had at sometime read g( 80«newh*re, — that sternest fact and darkest incident in the approach of resolution and ihteatine -WJir recurred at; BirHiiBgham. in 183^, under birouTusttfrces of " national commotion vaetly tttoro dangerous. It was I, the man who, writes these words, that then arrested its progress and Its jperil. It was 1, who, in-a moment of prescient impulse, opposed by vehement argument tlie soldiers Who took tlae pay of the Birminghan»„PoUtical Union ; itwtta I who did that on one haijd„ and Qili. the other s^nt letters to the Kii»g • and <^ the commai^der of the forces in London, waj^aing then» that the garrison of Birmingham oOiAI ndl be relied on. The King's letter to > the Anti-Reform Lords, ftnd their oeseation of hostility to ^be national will, was the direet result; and the new ^j^na Chaxta became, bnr without bloodshed,--^the blood from my devoted *ack excepted. I have been told by a^ntleman who knows Lord Lyndhurst intimate- ly that he looks back with soljfOW^ on the extreme course he -pursued ia urging on that crisis of peril in 1834. Be that as it may, hie lordship, during most of the intervening years, has been a practical ooiK'servative of . distinction, if the definition of conservatism be the right one Which I h^ve already given in this book : That it be prescient of the future as well as vigilant over the present ; above all, thit it derive fpr itself, lessontf of education out of the facta of the past. . Tlie' best illuBtration of thj»,' in Canada, is the practical reproof which the. futu»B chief-justice reoeivwr from the present Govemor-GeneriM. That distinguished oonseryatiYG dbcB not attempt to govern by penal Uiws, .by 'proscription of rao^ and ereed, and by a tw^Hidged sword; '\,-' ' v . ] *xr- .JI.X-. ■■ r - — T-7*-; •\ 'v.' . Y .- . ■ :v ot ▲ DU.K1I1IV uwm. «sr ouai^tbb v. V ^) Owierftl— ««mll«u««. Fir«4of,t»Hi wrl^hof d«rk p#w«gei In popular •f»<«»*o»»t iMdint totii.t In whlch„ai» Author umyd the eooniryK tU flp*-Fl«ldi le»d. «nDr th« people In 18l«.'Thl«tlewoo«l, the W«Uo««,Pn'«lon, Hooper, Henry Hunt; Rkh*rd Crllle, Hwrner of the Weekljr Diapntcli. VUm to rcvolutlonUe tdndon. Plunder of gunnmlth*' shopi.. The Tower of I^ondon mtnmoned. The trtalf for treiwon. The ill Black AcU. , r... t" ' *' . "' '• ■ • i» TfiiB ohaptA presentfl one of the dark paafeagca in Engliith dorticBtio Wfitory wbichled nmny pcrsonB JesB or more guilty to the scaffold between 1816 a6d 1820; which led to the nwpenulonof the HibeaB Corpus Act, to mtich governmental odium not yet washed away, and ■ ta legal defilement flung in the face of the Tory Government bybarristcm of their own parity. It is the ehaptet of English politioal historylyhioh first brought Mi*. James Harder a»d "Iho" Weekti/ I>Upatch prominently before" the world, and in which the event of summoning the Tower' of London occurred. It is .reproduced from Somorvi^e's "Working Man's Witness against Hie LondoA LiWary Infidels," /t»UbH8hod 1867. Tkk Spti-Fiem Lmden af tU Peojfh '4nj ■( , Lot us looklnto the durk passages of political oaminotion' among the W0rking>ultitudc8 of the British iriands, matoWesa jn i^ world of workers fohheirindustrral genius and for loyjakyto hard tqiL Let usohsehe thcnj in years of bad harvests and scanty food, and in seaaons of cjfaimeroial panic, depressed wages, and closed workshops. Wc ma^ in. this inquiry perceive why the working producers, so in timatelf related to national wfealth; paralysed by frequent derangemontfl of copiWwje,.eontinue tb*e devoid" of influence over its laws and poUtlcs; We sh^l^ako dlsoover prppf ofthi&di?e^ of humai calamities,- (may % knowledge of its past and present magnitude redress it in the futwte,) thai while infidel an^ , Ajbeistical uflurpers of popular; leadership have rendered all movement! for a comprehensive political eafrspchisement impOaoble, by aUenating,^ .'<:jhriiS»iiity ft6m popular olaiM ^J »»^ iwoceeded in disfranchwing • ftn ippallipg pKjpo^ou J the people in Hbwf ii^i^Bt privUflgeB,--thiar hope ai^ triist in eternal salvation. , • , • Uh^ummer of 1816 was' xeet, the harvest late, glrain damaged, pruj^ ' "■ .. : : s — : i : : — i m i „ ^1n^ tt^i^ " Wt i mlii i mi »^ ■ i high, wages depressed, trade prostrated. There was also the tevulaiuu t { ft _2: ji^.. ■Wi t ', \ lL_ _:__.__. _ _■ 16 ■omrrvillb'i book +h from fi?e-tnd-twenty yocn of wmt to new oonditioni of peftco. Tn thai quarter of a oviitury thu applicutitm of iiiaoliin»ry to Ibo dii*|>lii(H>iuunt (^ manual labour had hmn largely oxtondod. Many thoupaiida of'Moldieri, . lailora, iKiiana, and lulmurora, l^toly »niployod by the eiigttnoieaof w«r^ ' wore thuii diMohttrKud. AKrioulturUUi Wore in griuf about tho hatrroat, muiiufiivturvra about Hivir uniu)ld gtMulM and oxtinguiwlMMl pro^a, tho {Mtoplq, alHitt't tboir aoanty foo|m oon- •Aainin|u;f(Mid. "■ In Loprfon tho " 8poi«(oan* " psM«^ feiolutloni. agalnat • pitf ate pm- |)orty in land, n^ainat largo furnia, and aguinatniauhinory. Mr. WataOD, Bonior, Hurgoon by profcaaion, beoonio a diaolple of Uiio Utvrary infidels of the time, and curried hia aon, aged twenty, with hiui to the tavern parlourH,p&- tient of tho surgery and drug-ahop in Hyde Btredt^ looked fofward to * , higher fortune, — that of a general of vevolutiou. Mr. John Coatle having attended sonio of tho Biwnoean debal««.&t tho " Cock " in Qrafton Street, and indicated himaelf to be « '■' 80un4 infidel " by giving as a toaat, " May tim \us^ of king* be atrangled in the of the last of priesla," he was iMJcopted by Watao^ senior, and Preston, as on aoauisition, and intr^iduoed first to tho Spenceuna assembling at the "Mulberry Tree," Moorfields, and aoon after to their, - secret oommitjtoe, in liouse'-No. 9 Oreystuke Ploee, In " popular " history, it has been usual to refer to Castle as morelj a spy,'instigakNr, and betrayer of those with whom he assoeiatod at Qsty- stoko Place ; the hired and trained servant of the Tory Government, as was asserted arid insisted on by Mr, Wetherall and Mr. Copley .(Sir Charles Wetherall and Lord Lyndhurst). He was doubtless as bad a viUain as ever turned up in political turmoil, but ho was not the origin- ator of the plans and plot of revolution. The Watsons, with John Harrison, a discharged artillerynaQ, Thistlewood, and Preston, had devised their, plans befme they kn.ow Castle. They admitted hihi to . assist in the execution of their |)rojeot, — 'not to aid in its device. .^ Watson, f^nior, having ascertained that Castle was a i' sound infidel/— / ind therefore trustworthy, proceeded t^ confide to him. the pl^ns of revolution. On the. 26th of October he submitted the plans of a . machine for disabling oavalry ; it had projecting s cythes at tho sid o ^ and was to be pushed against them on wheels. He also showed a plaa 'W Of A DILIOBNT Lffl. 49 '#■ of the Tower of I>ondon, denoriblnK how it might bo taken ; tlm » plan of the tt|>pr(Hwh«« to the different mctropoHUn barraekii, the init intend- •d fi)r attack being that near lUigent'i Park, then oeoupied by artillerj. The gunii were to be captured and brought Into Oxford Street, ^Pio^ oadiUy, and 8t. Jnneii'n IWk, under oomniand of John Uarriiion, guneral of batterioit and heavy gun». ThintlowcHMl won U) be conunander- in-chief i the elder Wataon iteoond, Harriaon third, Caatle fourth, young 'Wataon fifth, »nd I'roaton the «ixth and, laat general, •• beoauwi ho wu ■ ^nio in one leg.'* A committee of pirt)lio Holbty wiw ulao nketohed out, .being the lAlniHtry inUmded to nucooed the government then exiating. Printed piipeTii. wore diitributiid among HoldierM, offering them n hun- dre-J gulnenn down, or «t6«blo pay for l|^fe, if they Uwk Hide with the iDBurgontii. T4»e money won U) be obtaimwl froin the " Old Lady" (Bank of Kngluftd), aa noon oa Uie " Old Man" (the Tower) won in their ' poHHeMHion.' A oprpa of gaily-drewHjd fomuJeii wuh to be pained to oppear before the noldiOn, with the double purpone of faneinating by their ^ blandiBhmenta, aftd preventing ^^, with the appeal of ** Xou would nofr* kill women, " fr(|»ia »hootinf me insurgent malOs fanned behind tl» female lino. Thl» part iratora sat in oounoil on ft ohest, a form for a table^ at No. 9 Qreystoke Place, Fetter. Lane, Lon- don, from 11 A.M. to 6 p.m., qn the 3d of November, 1816, (Sunday). They were, Arthur Thietlewood, gentleman, in tightly fitting pantaloons, .Hessian boots, blue dress ooat, and white oravat; Thomas Preston, shoemaker, in his leather apron, poor and lame; the Watsons, father and son, well-drei^6d surgeons, but poor in pocket, vehement and eloquent ii^ spewh ; John Harrison, labourer, a discharged artillery- man, wil^^grievanoe ; and John Castle, a jobbing smith. Being asked What tK^ said relating to the barracks, Castle replied :— We, Watson, senior, and I, said we had been to look at the avenues, and thoroughly investigate both the Portman Street and King Street barracks. Thistlewood and young Watson told me they had been to the barracks b^re. ~^— — — — '-- — — ~^- -^ _^-^^_^ What passed as to the object of your inspecting the avi»nue8 ? It was done to get a r^nlar oaloulation made as to the quantity of oombustibleii that would be needed to set fire to the barracks. We appointed a general meeting of the committee for Sunday, to arrange the whole pkn; apd we met aocoi;dingly, all six. Detail what passed. First, a large box was brought down stairs to sit on. We had no chairs. We had something like a public-house stool li^r a table. Before we began to converse, all the house was searched to see that there was nobody in it who might overl^ear us. ThiStlewood produced a map of London ; and the beet roada for collecting the men and attacking the barracks were marked out, and every man was appoint- ed to his station. What were you to do ? I was to set fire to the King Street barracks ; I was to stop £here, either to take prisoners or to kill all that might attempt to escape. We were to be armed with pikes and different weapons such as we could get. The elder Wateon was to set. fire to the Portman Street barracks ; the materials were to be piteh, tar, rosin, tuipentine, and spirits I of wine. We were to make the different attacks together at a given hour, •—one 'O'clock in the mqming. Saturday night was thought a good time, as many people would be in the streete, and many drunk. We were to > stop all persons we met, atid make them join us ; to stop all gentlemen's oarrii^es, and carts, and take out the horses ; to mount the horses and form a eavaliy with them. After I had set fire to the King Stareet bar- Miokd, «nd had seen the whole in flames, I was to meet the elder Watson at the top o/ Oxford Street, and Harrison was to join us with the artillery from the Prince Rent's Park, As soon as he had joined, a volley was lb be fired, to let the others know we had got possession of the artillery -4*. •' > OV A srUOBRT LIfB. M liyiiatwiiB to be done ^th tihe artillery? Two pieoeTwere to be taken into ihe Park to fire on the cavalry if any of them ehonld attompt to come across. They were to be protected by a party of pikemen 1^ there for that purpose. All the avenuee on the way ftom Portman Street were to be barricaded, to prevent the assembling of any cavalry that miglit be ont of quarters. From Oxford Street we were to go dovm Park Lane and bsirricade the di£ferent entrances to the Park. The turnpike gate ^t Hyde Park comer was to be barricaded and chained. A party was to be left there to fire upon the soldiers if any advanced that way. We were then to proceed to Charing Gross and barricade Westminster Bridge^. When Thistlewood and young Watson had token the two pieces of artSt- lery in Gray's Inn Lane, (Bunhill Row,) they were, in coming tdong, to attack all oil-shops, gunsmiths' shops, and all other shops where they eould find either combustibles or arms. They were to blockade all the passages from Oray's Inn Lane to Great St. Giles's. There Thistlewood was to make his grand stand, with the two guns pointed in difi^rent dir rections. Young Watson was to leave him at St. Giles's, and proceed up Oxford Street, barricading the avenues on the right, and then they would have been barricaded on both sides. Where were the combustibles to be deposited ? Young Watson and'I . Hrere directed to lookjmt next morning for a house fit to lodge the com-° bustibles in, between King Street and Portman Street barracks, so that ^here might be a ready ^Communication to each. We were to take the house for an oil and colour shop, in order that there might be no suspicion in putting in the combustibles. Thistlewood said, " Never mind the price of the house ; take one at any price, as we never intend to pay for it." Was anything said about who else were to be appointed besides the six generals you have named ? Yes, it was agreed that we should appoint a committee of public, safety. Thistlewood proposed that this should be done, in order that there might be a, government ready to act after we got the better of the soldiers, or they joined us. The greater part of the names were proposed by the elder Watson and Thistlewood. Thistlewood desired the elder Watson to calculate how much it would come to, pro* tided the soldiers should choose to accept of the hundred guineas eaoK rather than the double pay. He did so, and said itwOuld come to about two millions ; but that he said would be nothing, as the national debt would be thien wiped off. In answer to questions from the bench, on a subsequent day, relating to this part of the plot. Castle said : The money was to be paid when we got posiiession of the Bank; that was settled at a consultation between Harrison, the two Watsons, Thistlewood, and myself. The whole note$ m circulation were to be destroyed, and all paymentt were to be paid in I • 52 SOMKRVILlJi's BOOK ■A' ' I. eash. It WM agreed upon that we could find plenty of plate in the noble- men's houses, and we- were taooin money, with the impression of a cap of lihorty. The generals were to give an order for the value on Thistlewood. If the order waw" not accepted, the things were to be taken by force. Somerset House was to be our head-quarters. ..... Leaving the pikes,, the conspirators, and plans of revolution, letua endeavour to catch a glimpse of Henry Hunt, who is to be chief orator at the Spa-Fields meeting. To reach him we should first find Richard Carlile, who hits not yet become the celebrated atheist. He is a journey- man tinsmith, working in Union Court, Holborn Hill. Here he is, in the shop of Metiers Mathews and Mastorman. In person, Carlile is shorter than the height called middle stature ; he k broad in body, rotund in head, robust in health, florid in complexion, his speech the dialect of Devonshire ; the purport of his talk, the Wd times, and injustice inflicted . On working men by kings of nations and masters of workshops. While ;i;hammering and soldering' his tins, he composes a complimentary acrostic on the name o^ Henry Hunt, and sends it to William Cbbbfttt for insertion in the I Political Register. Mr. Cobbett resents the indiscretion of a working man preferring to praise Hunt as a patriot instead of himself, ^by exposing the bad grammar of the effusion. The tinman writes again, this time a letter, not in praise of any one, but of bitterness against all ruling powers, froin the Prince Regent and Earl of Liverpool, down to tlie foreman of the tinsmiths in Union Coigrt. This he carries to the Independent WHiff, a popular journal of the time, whose editor rejects it with the remark, " a half-employed mechanic is too violent." He pens another letter, and carries it to Covenf' Garden, with the purpose of presenting it to Mr. Hunt in person, at the Bedford Hotel. Henry Hunt, gentleman patriot to the working classes, arrayed in blu6 dress- coat, white waistcoat, and elegant top-boots, proud of his small feet and handsome figure, fluent in speech, narrow in intellect, needy in pocket, cunning in expedient, the engaged lion of the forthcoming Spa-Fields meeting, id within the hotel, sipping his Wine after a gentlemanly dinner. In a humour of hau^ty pride he sits, talking of " the starving people of England," and holding that people in 'greater contempt than perhaps any other man within Jow-water mark of the British IslaniJs. The operative tinsmith outside, now aged twenty^-seven all but a few days, who within the next three years will publicly and repeatedly blaspheme Almighty God, will publish and sell the blasphemy, and defy the Attorney-General of England and tiie judges of the Bang's Bench to their face, stops flow and doubjts if he may take cpUrage and enter this presence. For two hours he walks in Covent Garden Market, as he subsequently relates, doubting^ if he may presume to intrude on this idol of the working classes, the prouij '"W- ■ '-^v- '■/.••! or A- biLtoiNT Lire. 68 triba&e Henry Hunt. When he has hesitated two hours, he enters, and is affronted for his presumption. . . ' / In this sketch I have followed Mr.Carlile's own description, given me about 1833-34. At that time also I learned from other sources than Castle's own evid^nee, that he had spoken truth at Watson's trial in 1817, about the conspiracy to subvert the army. If you would discover the rc^qn of Spa-Fields, go jiortherly through Clerkenwell, locality of shoemakers, watchmakers, working jewellers, and fajj^cy cabinetmakers. On the western slopes between Sadler's Wells, Reservoir above, and Bagnigge Wells Road below, you find an intricacy of squares, crooked streets, and laneSj* now densely peopled, and occupy- ing the groun4 which was Spa-Fields, olden locality of archery butts, '^milk cows, bM|lti^pB and dusies, dances on the green, working men's assemblies, a|H9kaed rural tavern called ''Merlin's Cave." A thin corner publifPfp^pinched for want of space, between two narrow streets, is tha " l&erlins Cave " of this day. , On a chilly Thursday, 16th" of November, 181 6, many thousands of working and out-of'Work men assembled in front of the " Old Merlin." That meeting being a success in respect of numbers, another, to be held on the 2d of December, was then designed, to give birth to the insurreo- ^tion. Harrison ceased to attend the secret committee. Hooper, a shoe-' maker, and Eearns, a tailor, took his plape. The latter made great- doats to each of the conspirators, to hide their weapons. Friday, 29th November, the guns and sabres of Exeter 'Change, andlarge knives in the ^ops of the Strand, Fleet'Street, and Cheapside, were estimated. Pistols and ammunition were purchased. On Sunday, 1st December ' the elder Watson said his son James . had brought great news : he had diiscoyered that he could himself bring Ji/teen thousand men to join them and that he knew where there vi&cq fifty thousand stand of ftrms belong- . ing to the East India Company. Thistlewood remarked that they must alter their plans; and it was settied that Preston should collect as many thousands as possible- in the morning, by going round to the public houses, giving intructions to their confidential friends, and appointing them captains. Young Watson said, " All^the old soldiers who are With us will want commissions : what are we to do with them ? " Thistlewood replied, " They must ^ght hard till they get the best of it." Castle was directed to go to Lctadon Bridge to meet the smiths, as being best knoWh to that class of workmen ; and then to proceed to Tower Hill, where he was to meet young Watson aiad his party, then to attack the Tower. The pistols were then loaded, and the cockades prepared. A piece of white calico was patched upon t^ir ensign, and this inscription written for it by Watson the elder, " The braVe soldiers are our friends : treat them kindly." '- '-. ^— ^ u ■.7- ■*' ... Ir. . r- .» ::. I ■ > , ■f V f M The puWlA meeti<|Rf M iidtertiled forone o'clock "on OT Decetnborf " but to avoid the presence of Hunt, the oortpiratore resolved to begin aft twelve. Old Watwn addressed the : assembly in language not to be mistaken ; such afl, '^ This day we are called upon to iake other mfeasurej than to sign petitions, j^nd England expfcots every man will do his duty." Young Watson, it must be conceded, though a fool was not a knave and a oiward, who, like certoiB leaders of the Pbysioal-Forofe ChaEtists— , London and provmcial-;-in 1848, exasperated the ingnorantly di^fiFect- ' ed mobs io violence, mhUe they skulked out of danger themselves. ..He , had resolved to-challenge the hazards of insurrectioi^ in his own person. " Succeeding>his father , in the Vaggon, he iqflamed the people by talking *of Wat Tyler, jWhjrtKXord ^ajror Walworth did'to Tyler, and what Lord: . Mayor Wood ihould not do to him, Wat Tyler the yotnger. He came . Ito a dimax thlis :■ — " .' . ** If our old idiot Sover^- I^'^tl *^« ^Pg» "*^ ^*^ ministers, will not give us what we want, what then ? shalf we not take it ? (cries of Yes.) Are you willing to; take it? (We , are.) Will you gO and take it? (Yes.)' if I jump down among yopjwill^du follow me^" (Cries of we will/Wd vehement cheering.) > ^ Thereupon- ha leaped from the waggon; his father, Thistlewood, and Hooper following; lame Thomas Preston getting down by another man'i Msistance.' Cadtle, as previously arranged, was in the vicinity of. the Tower. " Seizing a tri-colour ^ag, (evidence of Dowling, reporter for Observer newi^per,) youpg Watfion went out of the field at the head of the mob." After some pollisiW with ponstableft, the current of the mob rolled through ClerkenweU to Smi€kfield. Fwm thence one portion of if followed TWstlew^od and the- elder Watson, .by. Little Britain, direct for the Tower j "the other portion following young Watson through Cow Cross t9 plunder Beckwith's gun-shop* in Skinner Street, Snow Hill. > Arrived theye. Hooper halted the mob two doors from Beckwith's house, and, pointing to it, said, "That is it : now, boys, do your duty." Inside were Edward Hone, shopman, John Robertp, apprentice, and Richard Plfttt, a young man. thef-l on ))usines-^,. With a pistol in his hand, young Watson entered, and, stamping twice with his feet, exclaimed, « ArmS I we . want arms.''' Piatt laid hold of him with both hands, and demanded to know who he was. - ' . " He looked first at Mr. Beckwith's. shopmafa, (Piatt's evidence,) f^ then at me. He cocked his pistol and raised it, and was in the act of directing it against my breaat, as I supposed. 1 remarked, from the turn of his haiid, the direction it was to take^, I tJierefore struck out my left * hand, wishing to catch the muzele. Upon my ^in^ so, he drew back the pistol from m o ; then bringing it down to h i fl side, shot me in the belly, f^ 'il&^A w or ▲ DiuaiNT ura. M -H the ball dntering aboat fonr inohea from the n»yel. HovFao towai:^ me i^n, and I, suppoAiog the pistol might be douUe-borrelM, elosed with , , Urn, and endeaybured to oaloh the pistol a soootfd time. I pressed him up in a corner against the bench, and He endeavoufed to strike me with .the butttend of the^ pistof . I said to him, ' You have shot me. Why do you diQoVme ?, I am one of yipu;' I then ezolaimed, ' Send fona surgeon.'-^ The ydung. dban sofd,' I am a surgeon myself. ' " . • • • ^ -' In Cornhill, Lord ]|Iayor Wood, Alderman Shaw, and a youijg n|an named White,, seiied Hooper, and locked him and themselves within the • ' area of the Boyal Exchange^ Thej sent to Gray's Inn Lane for a troop of hussars stationed there. \The mob continued to plunder all the gun- smith^ ^hops in the way dqwii the Minori^, the^incidents of attack npV greatly disamilar fronti those in dinner SItceet. Thistlewo^ advanced •. to the railings on Tower Hill, and summoned a sentinel, at tpagireat a^ui^ " tanoe to hear what he Said, to surrender; but Thongs "EdmiindSj-private in ihe Ooldstream Guards, being on the ramparts, heard^fiu i^y, '^^1- ' dief^, open the gatee ; jwe will give /ou each two hundred guiujeas.'^ Being oal]ed to parade, he heard no more. Thomas Darlington, a private, heard 1 these words, and in addition^/' double pay^fpr life. - "^edp not take. |hci, ' soldiers for enemies, but friends. Youhavcbeen^ghtiogforther^isof jour country and^JDii have no rights yoursely^^^"^ J(^n i^aywood, a stbck- ' jol(ber, 'saw ThistJewooH al the failings.- ' He wore a great-coat aiid top- boots.' He flourished his sword, iinci stSlI' to th^ soldiers on the ramparts tihat he would make the .privates captaini^ ajiid double their ^, in oase .tiiey'vwul^ cpm^ out and join the m^b. * ?. - • ; ', *• ' An alarm of dj-agoons charging down .the 'Minorieil, «nd the heiter- i&elter^ ru^ df the mob/caused Thistlew^ to yah^. At half-ptuNi^ six in the evening, he, with'the two Watdons, Preston, and Cfustle, were in Watson's rqittt, 1 Dea^ :Sti:^t) Eetter.Lahe. Thistlewood said they w^re going into the cottntry. He was now satisfied that the people wej'e not ripe enough 'to act. , At eleven o'clock; that night, Chufles Meyell, one of the hoxse-patroles, was on the road near Highgate, four miles from London ; he saw three men i^proaching, apd/having heafd of a robbery pommitted by footpads, in Essex, said to them^ " Gentlemen^ % beg your pardon, where are you travelling to ?" On which one replied ^' To J^orth- ampto.n^" The patrole remarked that it ^as a late hour^o start for JNorth- innpt(^n. He who had spoken held up a bundUe )k> show that ^St^ wero travellers; in doing which, he exposed the bijtt-end (if a pistol which he ; carried injihe breast of his coat. The patitle, seized it, and also th6 man, who proved to *be the elder Watson, and. called to soma watchmen for assistance. - Thistlewood and, you% Watson; .the twoNfStopanions, pre- ^ sented and snapped their pistols at MeyfeU, but both missed fire. They '■\ -• '- —7 ^ — : — '-^^-* — ^ — r^ — 7 ^r-- — — ■ » i^ »yir- > -f '' — T" -rrr" 4 A 4 ' ■ r ■1 :l f # *", J ^,„,... 66 8OMiaVILLB*0 BOOK / ran away, the patrole aOer them, leaving Wat«o» in charge of two men. Hearing a scuffle, he returned and found ail on the ground, one of the men trying to wrench from Wataon the blade of a sword with which ho had attacked them. ' ' • On Moncky, June 9, «B17, the elder Watson (his soil not captured) was arrainged, with Thistlewood, Preston, and Hooper, on a charge of high treason. Watson's trial was t^ken first. He was vigorously do- fended by ^T. Wetheralland Sergeant Copley, as has already been stated. At the close of a trial which lasted e'ight days, Watson was rfcquitted, and the rest discharged from "custody. The verdict acquitting Watson, and the discharge of the Other prisoners, is reported to have been raptur- ously applauded by the multitude aasembled in Palace Yard. The Uberatod men were conveyed to the house of a notorious enemy of .the Bible and Christianity, in Wyeh Street, and there joined by Harmer, attorney for the defence,— who on that success founded the Weekli/ />Mpu:■ . '•■■■,- ■ ■■ .: ■ - '■■ . - ■ ir ■ ■ ■ ' '■ ■ . <« ' ■^- I U=-.,.i-.-. / i,> ■ •/ \ ',-.m A. Js Of'il BIIIOINT LIVl. 5t v CHAPTER VI. . General— contUiaed. Oflrtfflcates from Manchester testifying to fidelity to hard iirork In Literature. 6f exertion and pecuniary sacriflces in dimislng a Hamanixed System of Poiltical Economy. Functions of Political Economy. SomerTille'B National Wealth Tracts. Politloal Economy leaves Protectlre Tarlift to be dptarmlned by Local WanU and Leglslatlye Wisdom. ■*;■ . ': ' ■ ' . • ' ." .■ • Still I miwt prolong thit introdti6tiqn, in at land where I am a stranger, that Others may bear testimony to the Quality of labour which I have voluntarily perfonmed in the service pf public safety; and to' the character which I earned in years of intense application, before my h$5a|th gave way. This relates to industry, and fidelityjto employers. , , ^"- Literary dERTiFiOAtE,, No. 1. *' Examiner Ofi^icse, 22 Itfarket St., '^1 .. ^^ ./\ Mancliester, 18th February, 1849. " MyT)ear Sir, — I loseno^; a moment in replying fo your letter just revived. I can honestly say, and Mr. Ballantyne (chief editor) cordi* •ally joins with' me, that you never diffappointed us in any Work you. undertook to perform for our paper. I was ri^ther surprised ' that you^ was able to furnish us with the * Letters from Lreland ' [during the^ famine of 1846-47] in the undeviating, regular- way in which we received them, considering, your distance from homCj and the outnof-the-way districts into which you penetrated, aud all the chance of remote posbi; no^ a \ letter but cj^e to our offifle with unfailing punctualityi And thisis trua with regard to all the work done fdr us. Your oouduct was always ' strictly honourable, punctual,, manly, ami straightforward, and we^feel at all times pleased to see you and converee^ with .youi , We often admired the power of application and fertility of ideas which the large amount of work you were in the habit of doing jproved you to be master o£ Xi gives us the utmost pleasure to bea;r this testimony to the. industry and abilities of one whose wrjtings will; we are sure, survive ^en much ihat' is contemporaneous with Uiem will have been swept iiato oblivion. ,, . ■—: — — ^- , (Si g ne d j) — A TiEJ CiiinyBR I bb lanp . !' — -- — •f- ■ ' .■ .E t . . ■ . ■ f — I ;-<■ -" ■■•r ■^FV't \ i I /- I ! SS i'l I ; I ■■• ! BONBRVILLB'S BOOK LiTBRART CbRTI?IOATB, No. 2. ' ' Circular (if Alexander Ireland, E«i., co-proprietor and tnanafeor of tht Winchester Examiner and Times, 18B0. 4 Extract. «« I need not occupy your time in recounting' the serviceB which Mr. SomerviUe, in his various writings, has rendered tf the public on quos- tions of financial science, commercial reform, and in disseminating sound views on other social questions; nor in reminding you of the great personal exertions and sacrifices he has made in combatting the doctrines ot the Physioal-Poroe ChitrVists, and in exposing the delusive , Land Scheme of Fergus O'Connor. Suffice it to say, that a good deal of the embarrassment under which he now/labours has had its- origin Mn his effort to spread in this district sound politico-economic views by ' means of National Wealth Tracts and otherUblioations, through which he has lost much valuable time, which to him,V8 a literary man, iscapital, besides contracting an amount of obligations>hioh threatens to over- < whelm him- ' ''For your satisfaction, I may state, that during the last thr^ years I have been intimately acquainted with Mr. Somorville, and can voueh for his untiring industi^, perfect sobriety, and general frugal habits of life." This being si^ed by i' Alexander Ireland," was endorsed by the following:' % ' •, , 1 4, "We «re acquainted with the . circumstances detfiiled above, and tbeUeve the statement to be a correct one." Signed, John Bright, M.P. ; George Wilson (chairman ot the late Anti-Corn-Law League), Robert Hyie Greg (manufacturer, formerly M.P, for Manchester), William ^lon' (now dec6^d, treiiBurer of the late Anti-Corn-Law League), Sch^abe (Manchester, German merchant, now deceased), Henry rorth: and Edward Ashworth (manufacturers of Turton, near JU- A sum of about £60 warf obtained by Mr. Ireland through wSroular, and paid by him. to. one ofmy printers, a Quaker, who also'^ retained the entire impression of the woirk' Vrhich he had printed. _ - Sonie influential .manufacturers objected to my system of Econo- nric Science. They asked, " What has Political Ecotiomy to do with human happiness? Why>8ubfeCribe money to assist our enemy ? Mr. Somerville tells our workets that the human being is the primary elc; ment in national wealth ; that ! the ministrations which exalt man s spiritual nature and purify his life are elements in the sum of pnbho wealth.' This is a system of pubUo ^bnsense. We should extinguish it »hile yet in the bud, rather than give Somerville funds to exteftd ^it" ^ And they acted accordingly. The traota wew commenced thuB iu 1848 :. -i -1 — l.s »■ f , Oir A plLlOBlfT Ilf 1, Bd To Setinert in Pblittml i^conomy. — Somervilli'b . National Wealth Tracts are an effoi^t, by (hip vAo htu WkittUd ftl the Phughy. to render Political Economy intelligible and agreiablo to those claBBOH of aooiety who know loa«t of it, — thcwe who produce much and consunie little, and those who cgnsome much and prodaoe little. - Though bocccb* will - fathers grown too big to bo admitted (owork — have boon stapoflod in brain and oramped in.linib in iWr onnd-life to survive to adi^U ago; or, if Hurviving to Be fathers and J htothors of a goneration fliU jower in the deiwent of decrepitude, have ^ died 6f old ago at thirty 6ve, of o|li)romo senilitj|r at forty. Too vast in . mikgnitude WM this foifttory ^ofifiee of human life in the ninety ycar^ of ■ cotton mills, for the Manchester political "liboraly," tip they call them- " BoWftr, (coonomiBtf! I dan not call them,) to admit the huannn being to bo ' " tin clement In public, wealth. But Political Bconomy, elevated ton Conservative Science, is severely logical. It rebukes the Manohosteir "liberals," who, in the presence of graveyards gorged, with' the factory dead, have remorselessly contended against legislation fbr protection of life and limb in factories and mines. Political iCconomy, severely logical, . rebukes them, aad rocngWiscs both the human being and the clcmenta of huVnan happiness as oonstituent« and objeoto of public wealth. Political economy vitalized to a Conservative ^ionce, teaches that Public Wealth - eompolses personal numbers, health, food, clothing, housing, furniture, induftrial education, books, aAd all accessories to intellectual vigour and enjoyment; the ministrations which purify and exalt moral and spiritual life ; the instruments and agencies of pro- duction, as tools, machinery, locomotion, exchanges, money, and credit. The latter ao intimately related to the ministrations which purify and ■,g exalt moral nature, that evjpn the trade-mark on a bale of goods, the value of a bill of exchange, or of a bank-note, and the credit of a whole nation ' may be affected through conformity or neglect of those purifying ministrt^ tions. Security from. enemies is another element in Public wealth, and i ; - security includes freedom to produce, to possess, to buy, to sell ; freedom from the foreign invader, froitrthe domestic monopolist. A nation's domestic production may be affected to temporary / derangen)|nt, even to extinction, by the importation of commodities from i ^ foreign sources. Political Economy does not, under all or any dircum- ^ stances, teach the admission of foreign goods to the subversion of domestic production ; nor does it fofbid it. It consigns to th^ wisdom of %r government and l^slatidn, the task of judging whethert|||il(^reign import |^ will be a benefit or a disadvantage. If an articU'iln common use be ^ impo r ted, society may de r i v e a benefit th ro ugh that article becoming mo r e ^bundo^ntly supplied; but if a portion of the population be consigned to % .'ff- . ■■-! m '...nmu^W penury »nd to toeb daturioreaon or Mtinotion m not to bt •T»iltbl« for nttiotiai defo»oo or olhw «niF««n« w^noy, PoliUo.! Eoonomy rtjtuiod. tbo luRiiUtor Ui»l the huin«o being ii the primary element in n.tiona wealth. But the mnugK>«r modific all fl-oal wiiidom. ProUwtion to aon.eeti6 manufaoturo enda aoon after the prt.fita of the au.U|«ler begin. '■ I'jolitical Koonoiiiy.ia t^at oonae#V»tive aoienee which teaohea b«w to tdto leaaona friwn mattwa of faol ; iuoh an the depopulation of the High- Unda of Scotland, thepiyttW depopulation of IreUnd, and the det«riorar tion of the oottOB-woriing population of BriUin below the physical atandard of hoalthf\il life, the atandard •! which men can bear aruia for poblio defence. It taiea cognlaanoe of the atartling fiwt, that the anta. goniam between the Lmm of Uie working population and the ownejra of accumulated capital/in Britain ha* been iO peatilont, that the worker* could not, in aome/o^ their yeara of auffering, hare Mn aafely tniated with arma, nor triincd to their' uae for puhlio dofenop. Hut Political Economy at onoeAffera redceaa by teaching, not alone bow wealth may bo produced and aijumulated, but how diffuaed in abundance to all who produce and oJn it. It will be my duty and delight in some ehapter near the cIob/ of thia volume to show How wealth ia to be diffuaed Without offend to equity, and how harmony w to be eaUbliabed and suatained boTweeo capital and Uiourj therefore by what proceaa tho working muititudea of such a country aa Britain m'ay be aafely entruatfl* with arras Znd bonefioially trained for national defence^ 'w \ . \ V - \ '"M^' ^m ^ t :^ * «%■ M \ CHAl^TKR Vir. dinburgh riots of 1831, bjr MiM • formar work. |ltf potltio* ▼ioni year In ft itoni) quarrj. th« tjttnnj of itoAs mMoni. th« rulna of GoliUnghmn Priory, 1867. < ? ■/ Qurltrty RctUw of /uly, 1809. Fr«Mr.T}>tl«i'. Aulhor'i Moeount D«-h« war of 1880 ' Id a prerioiii oh»pt«r, thi^ 0uarterfy Hemeu) of Jnly,18ft§, mm allied to u having Huggtetod au iium«diaU) diH{M)Mal of the Qnobeo ohargtw of ayupathjr or oumplioitjr with " Radical mob* and their exoeiMes." The vUole "Invasion of Kngknd" bad led my hungry ■pirit to tho old. . Quarterly, ^ '■ ., , ■ ^ '_ \.,, ■ -" - - V'^^'.^ '\^ . ; --^n-. Being than, iti iVa^ientii firmn a biography of Patrick ^raier Tytler, Scottish hiHtorian, pro«onted a subject to which thiA book 'in related. Miw Ann Fraaer Tytler, »i«tor of ^he historian, haa deaoribed the political rioti of April 4, 1831, which ooourrud at Edinburgh. I depicted tho same twelve years ago in the Autobiography of a Woi^m^ Man, aa the first popular tumults which I had witnessed, aod whicl^^rring shortly before I entered the Scots Oreys as a recruit, had given a tone to my thoughts by which I have been ever since governed. Tho account written by Miss Fraser Tytler mfff be wad with mine, The two opening sentences of the Quarterly Reviewer, and some remarbi of the Lady-writer, point to the political riot* of that time as to indexes of convulsion which were not far removed froitk revolution, — a fact that I also assort of the whole Reform era, 1831 apd 1832- I assert^ how^ ever, that in May, 1832, Revolution with all ita appalling sequences had arrived, and that I, under God, alone averted its luurrid presence. . Of the historian, the Reviewer says : — -' •-^'' " He returned to Edinburgh to find troublous times. J^ere is a little bit of history as important in its way to us, and as pregnant with conse- quenc«i, if we could see them all, as events of higher dignity and antiquity. The painter is Miss Ann Fraser Tj;^ :—' " — «In December, 1830, there wa^ change of Ministry, IBrougham being nqade Lord Chancellor, and Lord Grey, Premier. All the Whigs came in. My brother lost his office, and in consequence was obliged to ' " — let his house. — It was fo r tunate he was beginning to gain by his wo r ks. He had then just completed in ten weeks his fint volume of the Scottish ^V ■Xi -^ *M , ' ihie second readirife Of the Bill for Parliamentary Befonn having been^carried by a majority of only one in the House of Commons, the friends pf this measure instigated the people to illuminate. The .magistrates at first refused/ but afterwards weakly yielded to the solici- tations of the inob ; and the consequence was that the Tories had scarcely »pand' of glass left in their windoiws. Ours were completely smashed. The yelling was tremendous, and the erashing of th*! windows was so great, that we thought every moment tha^t it was tbe street-door they were forcing. Then, as they moved on, the shout from a thousand voices of " Now for the other Tytlers," carried dismay to our hearts ; and the houses of both niy brothers, and sJso of my uncle, Colonel Ty tier, shared tl^e same fate. ' Such a spirit of disorder was abroad that even the ' ' houses of the other party were not respected. Joseph Bell had 102 panes of glass broken. Their fury at all of the name of Dundas was unbound- ed. Mr. James DundiS, St. Andrew's Square, was dying at the time. '' His daughters had bark laid before the door, the bell tied up, and even . the House illuminated'; but ali wpuld not do. In vain the man stationed y at the door warned the mob iJiat a dying person Was in the house. They only shouted the louder, and battered every pane of glass in their ftipy, even in the -sick man's diamber. The^ame scene was acted in Melville ^' Stteet also. Mr. William Bonar lay in the same state of danger. With both the agitation was so great as to produce delirium, and both died "* the following night. Many said we were on the brink of a revolution. • Nothing was talked, read, or thdnght of, but those subjects.' • Somerville's account of the same occurrences. Auto., p. 118, ed. 1854: -^ i< The i^ajority of one for the second reading of the Beform-Bill was •feeleUrated throughout the kingdom by a mixture of illumination iind darkness, lighted windows and broken glass, bell-ringing and prohibition - of bell-ringing, by rejoicing and rioting strange to behold and -atill more . strange to think lipon. There abounded in %ll extravagance the Liberal jo;^v/|\ant, auooifited with the most reaolnte o tyrjBiiiW to compel AntiTRefonners tp put OD eigps of r^oioiog vhep "^ 4«y fwt no joy* - . .In Edinburgh the Lord Pjovost, as hea4 of the.city magistr^ijy, an^ the rest of the Anti-Refoim corjporation, were 8oli<«tted by the inhabitant* <_- ,.!• *■.-'-<■ OF A mmBtmn Lin. 66 to prooUim a g«n«rftl itlundtitiatlon. th«j l^if^Md ; bttt ciMing, tis titdniiig ftpproaohcd^ the general prcparationB for a display of light, and obBerving the threatening aspect of the street multitude, they assented, and proolaiti^ ed accordingly. To many householders, willing to be guided by them and by them only, the published authority came too late. Th<^ knew nothing of it and remained in darkness. Others deenmn poHti their hotiees in gloom and to nt within and mourn. Unfortunately for those of darkness and sorrow who lived in Heriot Row and Aberoromby Place (spacious lines of firslk class houses fronting the maoadamited roadway newly laid With loose stones and the Queen Street Gardens with their iron railings), the Lord ProYost lived there. Stones were thrown. His glass was broken. The sound^ of crashing glass and facility of obtaining missiles to throw whetted the appetite of the ^n-(housand-headed mob; a little taste of window- breaking to it being not unlike a little taste of worrying to Hie wild beasll. Ai^dso to the work.of destruction the mob rolled like a.sea^ and roared like storms upon rocks ancl seas. It proclaimed itself the enemy of Anti-Reformers and of glass. Like tides about Ca]>e ly^rath where contrary winds meet conflicting currents, this human s^a, storm risen,^ rounded the Royal Circus, Moray Place, Queeh Street, Charlotte Square, St. Andrew's Square, through the prolonged streets which uftite the western and eastern boundaries of the New ToWn ; and, with wrath where it flowed and wreck where it ebbed, bore upon its surf the seaweed that knew not whither it was carried. ' I was a piece of the seaweed.' I was' now fbr the flrst time tossed upon the waves of a popular commotion. At the beginning there was a {deasing sensation of newness. Even the first sound of breaking glasili ^was not unmusical. Combativeness and destruetiv6ne8s|pkre charmed. But as the stones went daidi and the glass fell smash ; while crash came tihe window-frames; dash, smash, crash, from. nine o'clock to near mid- night, reflection arose and asked serioftsly, severely, what this meant. Was it Reform ? was it popular liberty ? Many tnousands there may have asked themselves such questions as , I addressed to myself; yet still the cry was. Up with Reform light p down with Tory darkness. And unilluminated Tories, master and servants, male and female, aged and yoting, even infant Tories in their ' mothers' arms, came to the windows with' lighted oatodles, all th^ had itt /^«r houses, twinkling feebly on the fttoe of night to let the inob (Mei that Toryism could smile, was jbyful; Uappy,tei^ happy, at the adtetti of Reform' and the majority of o««. B\^ those signs of truce came too late. Befctfttt would hold litf truce until Anti->Reform windows were broken." , ■^, }*, '.'.' '~ ■•^'^'' 0'"^- l<> ■ « ^•^ W^. . "--y? 66 ,' ■' * SOMKBVILLX'S BOOK / Such was my aooount of the first " Radioal «nob and its ezoesaes" ' wl-.ioh I had seen ; a desoription written and published twelve years ago. Does it ipdioate sympathy with the excesses of that mob ? The next paragraph of that book,^ shows that if I did not sympathise with " Radioal mobs and their excesses," I had not the same motives for jjontical grief which the^dinburgh Tories had ; ^driven out of place, as they wereT'in 1830, by T^igs who had not tasted ptoblio emolument for the space of forty-seyen years, the brief l^ite of the year 1806 ' excepted. " As the wages of six shillings a week (in Inverleith Nursery Gardens) gave me nothing to buy clothes after victualling myself for seven days %nd procuring books, stationery, and other things which were neces- sary for the tasks of study which I had set myself, I asked leave to go from the Nursery at the tx^nning of August to the Berwickshire hiuvest, obtained leave for a month, and with six other men left Edin- burgh on the 3d of August to go to St. James's fkir at Kelso, forty miles distant, to b^hired as shearers." Of that nursery ground which I had entered as a labour^;^^^ ' months before, but with the hope of leaarhing arboriculture as a jiroJii^ . it was written in another paragraph of the Autobiography, when indeed I had no forecast of a necessity to give proofs of my personal character among ^ngers in Quebec in the year 1859, p. 117: "To me individually the employers, father and sons, were just and even kind. When I' was about to leave them finally (the end of harvest and my return to Edinburgh giving no hope that I could struggle longer on six shillings a week), the elder Mr. Dickson gave ifie a written testimonial of character, whicbf considering what other men said of him, surprised me. He was accused of saying less in favour of his gard«aerp than they deserved i of me he wrote that I was steady, indefatigable in study, dways at hand when wanted, and ever willing and obedient. I knew he could say nothing to the contrary, yet hardly racpected him to say so much." And another paragraph describing my jipanner of life- at that very time when reflectiott was shocked with " Radical mobs and their excesses," m as follows: /^ i* ■* 4# " We lived meagrely, in the bothy ; oroneal porridge, of small measure and strengtl^inthe mornings, with'Bour dook, a kin^^of rank butter- milk peculiar to Edinburgh ; potatoes and salt, occasionally a herring, for dinner; sour dook and oatmeal:'for supper. We never had butcher's meat, and seldom any bread, To have enjoyed even enough of this food would have required^ my wages. But I confined myself to four shillings, occasionally to three and sixpence per week for food : the :on, J-^ [i: "1^ or ▲ DIUGKNT Liri. ^ 67 Excesses, is mpainder^X c^^iicl^ 01^ ^^> Btationery, newspapers, and poRta^ of letters. Postage was a heavy tax at that time to persons who like me took pleasure in writing. My washing was sent to Thriepland Hill to my motjier and sister, thirty miles distant, by the carrier. 1 havenoT- for so many months at any time of my life suffered so much from hunger and philosophy ks then. I devoted much time, frequently sitting up half the night, or r^iqg at daybreak in the summer mornings, to reading, writing, arithmetic, and other studies." I had before thMi read Plutarch^ and most Englii^ translations of the classics, from which I derived a proper horror of individual tyrants and of the mobs of ancient times. It may be a pardonable offence, if one at all, should I here state, that the natural impulse to serve other people, or vindicate a principle affect- ing general interests, irrespective of personal consequences, Was as strong in my younger life of rude- labour, as subsequently in the literature of Political Economy, and in the seasons of national peril, or intermediately in my military enthusiasm to maintain order and be a leader of oomrades in the deadly conflict of baAtle. For the space of a year and a half before going to that Edinbui^h nursery, I ht^ been earning the wages of a labourer in stone quarries. The locality was the seacoast where Berwickshire and East Lothian verge, Thhk^mssage from the Autobiogra- phy of a Working Man may also be read in connection with that from the Quarterly Review which told h6w Mf. Tytler wm affeeted by the advent of Grey, Bfoi^ham, and the Whigs to power.— Attto;, p. 110. " One bleakday in November, 1830, the wind strong from the north and the sea rolling heavily on the rocks at tbe Pandoocot quarry, where twenty or more of us were wedging out blocks 6f stone to be conveyed to the Cove, two miles distant, by sea, a small boy was observed standing behind us shivering in the cold. As he di* no% speak, one of the men, after a time, inquired what he wanted. He replied that, * Mary Lowe had sent him to Sandy Somerville with a newspaper, but he 4id not know which was him; anid he was to take it back whe^ We had read it. They had read it at Mary Lowe's at. Linkheads,,.an1I were nearly a'.fda already, they were so glad of the news.' " - Hearing which, thequarrymen and masons agreed to get under shelter and see what the news might be liHuch the visitors at Mrs. Lowe's roadside 'public' were getting *fou' about. On^pening the paper, we saw in bold letters some such heading as this : * Tories driven from power at last! Glorious triumph for the people I Henry Brougham, Lord High Chancellor v ,yf > '^ 6l A DILiaiRT LITB. 69 diQnounoing ifiwU, l^d tyranny, and crying ' Pown widi them foreyer/ -bne of thorn took an instrument of his, work, a wo«deii Mraight^i^, and gtr^ok a labpsrer with it Qver the shoulders. Throwing^ dowti my pi«k, I turned ttpffn tl^tt mason ; tol4'<^im that so long^as I was about those works I would not see a labourer struck. in ifCLeh manner without que»> tioning the mason's pretended right to domineer ovef his assistant. ' Yon exclaim a^nst tyranny,' I continued : ' you are yourselves tyrants, if any , class or order of men be.' The Saason w]|iom I addressed replied that I had no business tp. iiiterfere,fa8 he hjid n^t struck me. < No,' said I, or yoU would have been in the se&.by this time. But I have 'seen laborers w};io dared not speak for themselves, knocked about by .you or by <^er8. ^By every mason at these works, here and at the Cove, I have seen labourers ordered to do things, and compelled to do them, which no wording man should' order another to do, iarless have power to compel him, to^o. ^nd I t«»ll you it flhall not be^ — v__— ^ „ „ ^ ^ The laboureirti gathered aroui^d me; t^e masons conferred together. One, speaking for th^j^st, said he must put a stop to this : the privili^s and trade-usages of masons were not to be questioned by labourers. Further, that I must submit to suc^ reproof or punishment as they might tbink ptoper to inflict, or leave the works; if not, they wpuld leave the works. The punishment hinted at was to be held over a block o^ stone, head and arms ke{)t down on one side, feet on the other, while' tKe mason apprentices should, ^ith aprons knotted hard, whac^. the offender. I said, that, so far from submitting to reproof or punishment, .'Im)uld carry any opposition much further. 'You have all tSlked'abouWprlia- • wentary reform^' I sSld. ',Wepkve denounced the exeljtsive piml^s of the anti-reformers. I shall begin reform where we tftand.' I demanded that, when a mason required to have l^s block turned over an4 called labourers to do it, they should not put~||p^s to it unless he assisted. The masofi hewers laughed. That Turther, if one of jjjjfci struck a labourer at his work, the^'j^bourer^jas a body sfiould do no^ng for that mason afterwards. They again laughed derisively. And further^ when we went to a public house to be paid, the maspns sbo^d not l^e entitled to any .room they preferred, or to the one foom of the house, while the iaGourers were left outside the door. In/everything we should be their equals except in wages ; that we have no right to expect. The masons continued their derision. It was against the laws of theif body to haye iheir- privileges discussed "by a labourer: They could not snflEierit. I must instantly submit to punishment for my presumpti<5|g|, I . rejoined that I was a quarryman, not a'mason's labourer ; thatito sucfa'their trade-rules gave thep no power Qverme. They scouted that argument, > tai^ng it a» an^dioation of fear. They asserted that wherever masons ♦. \, !' iv ^- > ir 'Mm^ -#r^- 4 ,? \\ ■> \: n i Mrs JK)MKBVILLB'S iiipenor llelfl were at woirt they ^ be (|ue8t^ed. I aslced M'l'^e ^^^^^lil ^^ <^ mlaonstrikt o^eif.'}Tbey| replied thmt m ^e labourer ;_ but tkeir priv||cge8>||ero ni f ;Jabou|% W ^ ly it l|^V ;: ' ^1 jMo«,iH»d,thi|^r^adaHt?*.t,^ ,^; ibboicild ^ono^^jAlo nigue the,queBtioit, ancMNn T ut ■J . 4 1 J i /.f' ««Li jmcnt tj^t^mif^ht ^hoosp tl|^iifl||t^ iye attitude, aDci<)nl^|'' ^approaching, I con^ii^qiMl : the ^ifcu^ions And ouy I' «i^d «( Mi'right moment. ,W0 hilve^^^^ f tfi I '^il ' ■■I I I Iri ^■i nit' . z. f not to^be upon oom; Dsolent « demand before it Upon hj^'niiij^, "^ * Let me aoo Wqfi^ 'Wehlvebe^J for refon^^ and ^J^liia day eK!en ^ji the'|^i»f>afk!^^'warning to the ariBtooraoy ai)d the i ^Mifor)iic1^( thjit ufi^tMr'dohn OHiu^>))den may arise. Come (in'|)9 vlj ,dM|||£j <%'% 0hall \te B^JkLpdcn td tf^ tyran^ of stone masons, f^; ^ '' ^ ■ ''^^^^iffi^''"^^ ^ l&y^Wi'ids on me, ^ One said they had better let tlij {aff>li^r^W|^^i^r(><,it was "^ others a^wntih^, ve resumed w '> H ' ]Uad^^|^''tSkin^mer, when b^ildintr Vas bris^^ the masoni Woui^ either hftve^leaiiBAed' me from d^ployteent oic HaVe declined io ^oik t^emsalteiyi. \s'9t waa January, 'i^ipd dci^p wiotQt.': they^cqAld only ' threaten; ' '^'^' . •' 'V ' ' . -'Ut*' W)ii»bufDiDg'Wprk wi4^ Alick Fon^thfat his itone, he «ndi I disoupiwl ^ tlie'|^bj6ct^' privately. , He admitted thai fo^ a masoii to chastise llii' la^ouj|;«r Vas ^rongjf but insisted that stone masons |iaving trade r^^|t>fii ' tio6s^ wei;i^lp%i)d to mtiiil tain, (hem without submission tp have them^diil' | oussed by ^nydl^er bodyof^^men, ncit even by labourers who might be snbieot€^o the iniuatice of those rules. He refused to^see an analogy! , between tlR questions of labourers protesting against 'the exolusiyisin of ^^tone^aaons and that^^f the unenfranchised cla8E;es copaplaining of ^clu^Ve privil^efi of the biffoughmongers. I inijIiiBted that stone mai '•t least, had i^o e;cc,use for demanduu^ reform of exclusive' priv,*' '"' w ))y the aristocracy and gentiy of ijIBlose boroughs, until the; their own tirade system." ^(Pip Seyenteeh ybars passed betweeii the occurrence of that inci its publication in ttt book already namted. Ten years after cation, nafnely in me summer of 1857, I, having returned to Scot in the previous autumn, discovered my former friend, Alexandfr F6 at Coldingham in Berwickshire. I had not seen him sipoe we hewfd together in the quarry. Though both were twenty-seven years older and^ * ' advanced beyond ike half-way house of life, we became young again, sitting Irhere my moth e r'g a no es tor a , th e D e Orkn e y s , a r a ce of Se a l H ^g|| l ay li^ ~\.— z or A DILIOINT LIVK. 71 fcHlti the roina of Colijingham Priory. Therfi I found him lat work mallet and chisel, — a new reproduction of Old Mortality. He "brought up the incident I have just related, and told nie that since it had >iiiwaared in print, people sometimes inquired of him " What sort of chap :K:M^ that Sandy Somerville before he took to making hooka." And to own inquiry of what had I done in soven-and-twenty years, I repeated (Iwhat ho partly knetr,'that my whole life in that space of time had been sla repetition of my defence of the labourer in the Pandoooot quarry. I had always 'somebody's cause in hand, and, as a natural result, was not richer, though," upon the whole, it was a life of satisfaction, at times of tj exalted joy. I had saved Birmingham from massacre in 1832, and took the punishment of others on myself. If I did not save the thpne-^nd House of Lords from' the vengeance of a sword-smitten people, I saved both from a heavy and abiding curse. By the influence thus obtained, I had saved a cabinet minister from assassination, and London from convulsion, in 1834. I had'saved the excited Chartists from destruction, and executive power from the ill fame of destroying them, in 1837, 1839, 1842, and 1848. I had disarmed a thousand angry mutineers in Spaiu. The effect of my vindication of certain wronged farmers in Ireland was perhaps more remarkable than any of these, as we shall see hereafter. i have said the Orkneys, descendants of Sea kings, my maternal ances- tors, lie in that ruin of Coldingham Priory. I know little of their history, except by tradition. .|Jy |^t}ier was a native of the parish of Muckart in Perthshire!^ born to field labour ; my mother of Aytob in Berwickshire, born to a like fortune. J was'' their eleventh child. Heavy care and ceaseless work brought permatuxe' decay "on my father. His wages in all my recollection were never above seven shillings a week. When I grew to manhood I found myself ©Id aa a worker, — I hardly knew when I did not work, ^sigl^^!^ii^-^^iMl^^^J education defective, no trade acquired, and ^i^PlrongTiaP t^ lay M^ of mine. The reader has Seen iae IJf the Kdinburgh garden'-hlKtieri^s. Vexed at my poor prospects, I enlisted inlhe army. ^ t :":♦■,•> •* t « •/•' % m. «v* 'W t ' ,,;. \ ^\, ^ ^ *t ^"4 '^. *«"(»., %K*. '.■*'^.> ^^';^a^- -' .^ n 80MiaVII.LB'« 900K: 'i'iij ^ CHAPTER Vm. \ Th« Story of my enllitmant Iii the Bctfta Oreyt. Kdtflbufgh to Brighton. I know not whetKor to call it a obanoe of good or evil for rayaelf, but a'ohanoe of grave import to th« Britiflh nation it turned out to bo, whiob, on a day late. in the autuiinnof 1831, brought me in pontact with William ^ Niven, a Dublin Irishman. ' '''^ I Bought not him ; nor sought he me. We met in the vicinity of Edinburgh. His friends, who sent a small monthly remittance of ^mH from Dublin to maintain him in the bothy of the" Inverleith Nursery, V in addition to the wages- he received , there, bad refused his request to augment the allowance, and he resolved to stay no longer in the nursery. This resolution arose chiefly froma suspicion, well founded, as it turned, • out,'th»the had been deceived as to his parents ; and that they were in » condition flur superior to confining him to the allowance of twenty shiK^ lings a month to help his six shillings a week in a nursery, or even to C^ enforoo upon him the humblo profession of a gardener. Ho now resolved to be a soldier. He told me his trouble8,'and I tc4d him mine. We ro'^, mained together several days, and much to his satisfaction.! at last agreed ' to go with him to haye " just a conversation, if nothing more," witb Cor- poral Anderson of th% recruiting party of the Zftdyor Bqyal North British Drt^oons, the repment popularly known as the Soots Greys. I had, however, made up my mind to more than a conversation with the cor- poral. Indeed, the only hesitation I felt about enlisting as a soldier was as to the regiment I shotdd choose. In Scotland, young men smitten with military ambition, and gifted with not less than five feet ten inches of . upri^t bulk, talk vauntirigty of the "Greys"; of the horsestwith long tails; f of scarlet coats, and long swords, the high bewskin caps and the plumes of white feathers encircling them in front, the blue over-alls with. the broad yellow stripes on the outside, the boots and spurs, the carbines slung at the ^ saddle side, the holster pipes and the pistols, the shoulderbelts and the . pouches with ammunition, and, in the wet or in the wint^ wind, the long- \ scarletdoaks flowing from the rider's necks to their knees and backward on the grey chargers, whose white tails wave with them behind,— of theses they talk pfoudly , and depicture in their inward vision the figures of them;- selves thus accoutered and mounted, the grey chai^rs pawing th« earth 'A >1 . i'" ... tfcff In . ■ if beneath battle f r om afar,^ the trumpets sounding, the OV A DILIOiMT LIfl. T8 ' •qoadronii charging, Napoleon's columnR broken by tho obarge, tMir ohargo, with. Napoleon exHed, and Europe at peace I. TcH tho jonng Scotsman who recitea tho gltfrioaof hia favourite Ord^ra while he reatt on tho horveat field with liatening shoarcre arourtd, or when he linlcna in the charmed croWd in tho village ami.thy to the veteran who ia th6 vil- lage smith now, but whoVas > farrier in tho regiment once, that tho Qreya did no/ do the whole of Waterloo; that they dicl^fio( win all nor any of "Lord Wallinton'a" battles in the Pcninpvlar war, in ao niu^h as they wefe not in .the Peninsula; that the Highland regiments were not the T^im(?Htfl " altoaya in iVont of Wallinton's battles " : tell the young Sootfluion, or the old one either, the .hiBtorioal truth, that the 42nd Highlanders were not slain at Quatre Braa, on the lUth of June, through their impetuoVB bravery, but through the irregukrity of their movembnta, whereby, in forming h(\\xaxe to receive cavalry, two compftniea were shut out anAikweted by Marshal Ney and tho Frcncli dragoons : toll him that more report»„were circulated in the great war tjrith iTance, setting forth the superior achievements of the Scotch rj^im^nts — those reports still ex- l iating in tpdition—^through the Scotch soldier being ntarty dWffble.to * li»ri|pJPral ; au(| having inquir^dMfejfound him in his todgi^j^up ft-' ■ .'f ■ - J i'^' ' 5 ^.. ■■ "i • ♦ _..;: many i ' *4i .'.■"I ;M1I m t- I . i ii ^H- [f ' m (irtk ''s><» atain 1 Jo not know iiOW miiny, rtretohed on hb mlUtary olcwk, on hb bed ' 11^ «a>d h« ^M kM to m)« tliybcHly up Htaim in hil little plwe, now th«t th« n^gimeutol order hud com. out mmamm'^'};^ \. •inoe he hnd been ordircd to ihairo hh off, hft^^wTre^liad imf mdpifcK af" the fircHide reIn8iug'«ll*on»ohitit)n I., he^tdf and all |ieac« to him. " I ha'o had a w«ary l«b\" he -aid plaintivoTy, " .inco the ord6t came out to Hhavo the uppci*: She grat there,-rm furc «he grat aa i« hct heart would ha'«^«l|un, whcli the aaw n.o the first day withoot tlw mouHtachioH." .T*^ ' • ", . ^ ., , i i Having liBtenid to thia, and heard it» confirmation' from the bdyhcr- aelf UH alao aTiint that tiia^coriM)rul hud been lying in bed half the^, "^ 'j when ho hhoufd have bcen%)oki|ig out tor recmitH, for each of whom he ^ had a payment qf !(»»., w^old hint we had come t| offer oumelvea aa re. i cruitH lie looked inqui»itively, and said if wo "meant it "ho Haw nothing about ua to objeet jto ; «nd as neither 8«emed to have any board frx)m which nwSiBtachioB u^gbt grow, he could only congratulate ua on the order that'had come out afiinat them, as we should not have to bo atthe oxpeuBe of burpt cork toi blncl^n our upper lips, to be uniiorm with those who wore hair. The order, ho|^c% Wuh Boon aj't^r re«cmdcd ; rind hair upon the upper Up for those who had^it, feurncd c^tk up «»a|«»«^';;; ,f «J '"« ^\^^ would not have the enlistment done in that W^ S|f said,-^" That would riot be law; «|»d 8i l«»nny thing ifr w^uld b^p ^thout it be«ig law. Na na'iiy continued, " it maun be dono^ the law directa. Ihe corioral«d^.a movement as i he would take us with him to some DlacTwftre he could got Wther shilling ; but she thought it possible that anotherTf the recruiting party might share the prize and take one of us- or both ; so she detained him', shut the door on us, locked it, took the key with her, &d went in search of the requisite lang'spoin. Mean- whil&« ^iven was^impatient, I aUowed hiiSa to take precedemSe and have 4he ceremony performed with the shiUing then present. On the return. . of the corporal's w^, who, though younger than h^inyeare, seemed an; « older soldier," f also became the king's man. - ; ^ ,' • , , Next day we were taken before the garrison surgeon m Edinburgh CasUe I wai called in fir s t, st r ipp e d, and exmnined a a i a. s nu n dne s B of th^' internal syetm, limhs, and eyesight; was ordered towalk.faat 4 *'* " . -;3^ '^W' ""W- '"W # f 4# Of k 6TL101MT UTl. ♦ n 4- mk llow, and to pnt my InMiy into different pwiitioiui C^ (Bfficulty. result wiw a oortifioate doelaring mo fit fur sorvioQ. Nivon foUbwod, w*d wiw «imilftrly eiwninwl; but came out deol unfit for wrvioo. He wan greatly ohagrfned, and 4id not recovwr hit wirita ho long ait I saw him. In the courn© of a few dayn ho wept to Orluigow, and enlintod fi>r one of the njgimimtii of itwt guarda. There the medical inapector pawed him "withmit difficulty. He joined hin r«. \ giment in London, waa drilled, pr(mi(i(f| to bo a corporal, and aoon afW i discovered that, through one of thowt remarkable incidontu which mak« " triJlh Ktrange,— ttranger than fiction," hia nearest, if not deareit relnt- tivo, whom ho hud never known, and whoao rt^ condition in life ho had never been corrtKJtly told of, commanded that regiment of guarda ! He r^s at once dihchw^'d from it, and provided witli a good outfit to Canad^ ftill^the prom IM irf' patronage if he remained there and did not re- tui^^umu. Bwftlie ahip he sailed in never reached Canada. It was "VriMlRdon the jyostern coast of Ireland, and he, with some of the creW und pidkH*'''" reached Cork, the others being lost. Money was sent to Cork CWliiin out again. Ho took the money, but declined the Atlantic voyage, and fl|J|pHHl to Scotland. I saw him several years ago, and heard all thcabiW otll|r parficulurs from him; but know little of his sub- quent history j; nor is it within my present design to digress far into the memoirs of second parties. Within a few^thours of being certified fit for service by the medical in- spector, I was attested before one of the city mj^strates. ment was quartered at Brighton, thocowse of journey, to which Edinburgh to Lcith Harbour ; from that, five hundred miles London, and fr&m London fifty miles, through Surrey and Suwex, to Brighton, ^^(jf al recruits were proceeding to their respective rtqjinients by way of Londpn, but only another and myself to the"^ Scots Greys. This other was Andrew Ireland, a cabinet maker, from |ldinburgh. A youth from the labour of the plough and the spado, in the parish of Gar- vald Kirk, in my native county, named William Tait, enlisted with the Greys a few days after me, but was rejected forbeing half an inch "n^er the standard of that time, five fe6t ten inches. He was young and pr# mised to grow an inch or two more, still they would not have him : a succession of years of low wages and little employment had given them as many men as they required. feHe enlisted into the Royal Artillery, joined the 4th battalion, and became one of the best non-commissionedL officers of the service. A staff-sergeant from Edinburgh took chaise of all the party to London. Wo emba^k q d in a s ailing s m a ck c o lled the E a gle . — Dnrin|{irine or ten 'days and nights, the aelteing moderate, I stood in the forecastle and had % # re iWUlTU-l-f'** BOOK ; 1 r^i„« dream, or Uy wimig the florm-iiiin. In the g.lfey, -nd hnj oil»«r th«.n. Hl,v.rHl i«nK« or farewell- w«re b^n, and two or thre. a kind of ttnUb. On« tbat Uwk the lead ot the reat U^KMr- 4 •♦ 0, ip*'*! th«i«, •p««rt thM, K«f*« iWp, And bear m« fMl away I . f or," *0., *••• *•• But the Nngl. carried u« into %.. an4 next Into contrary windn and i:..V J^.lheL and roll, untiUhe headed alHl^poe^^^ Z rolled Houl and body into the bottom of the galley, with the un.k. Liz" lookera, and othf ^ r.W recruit." ; they Hon.etnncH above «? I "mcLcH aWethem; oecaatonally the aea pcur.ng down he rihwa7ovni and all of ua at <,nce (lounderinK in the wate. of the Ltrwrh drowned out the Area, and left no dry apot toHte upn interior, wnicn u afterwarda captain cif a Leith r I rid Z^P^ IZtJ^^l Th«„e. .. London, ..... .-... TT °A tht3^«lor «nd ol.,o, «.i.or. who M Bible, W™«d. fT. 'Z? NotoXpl^"-i t..at w.. ver, d.n«erou.. Nothing .. f„, h. WO"'. ^ jS„„Tt...ir eonduot on Iho d., .fter th« .lorn,, Xrl^cd »" tZ uU of U.e Tha„>e., U,e, threw off the Biblo. :„r.L!rnl™hie6 th.* tied .h.n,, dr.„k mor, whi.key ..u. .«or. „.!» th.n thoy h«l dono daring «,« prciou. ten day. which U.. "Tihl o" *e de«nth d.y of the ^m, « »-• <« -h" »« At MgM, »» „™,i«uicd by cuBlom-houM officer.. Next d.j, *L .f^rnoon The sergeant landed uB there, and marched ub to wt ^jnLnteightlle8,moBt of the way through street., by way tr^ rLits procJing to their regiments by way of Loudon ^ .. n^l^W^»--^r. Vhenwe had been there twoboarsrataja- hl^^e door of the office in the street, we got billets on p^lio- JT'^l TnXrhlito go in search of the publie-houses. I .tid my '' Wl itllnd b^ buL upon tl^Gray'B Inn Coff c . hou s e . On comrade, Ireiana, an" __*^_:_J|, .^A it&A. PerhaDB the biUet» m comrade, Ireland, nm ou..«. -*~". Jjr"^ , ^^ p,rtapB the biUeto presenting them, the clerk scrutmise^s, and »d, rernapB ?-:n;^ '■■■■* ■« Of A OILIOIKT Ufl. Zy pi hJ.n«n billeted on th^u U> «« .nd .U.p «l«whcr,^ W. ^ d>.rn.K,n. n« r^ni„«d that th«y had nu a«co.„„.K|«i.«n for ^ "^^ ^ «^ tut h. would Kivo li, 6d. ench to g,) «lNJwh«r«. W« h«d b««n «oUoi od 'rX. WonginK to tho 8hlp, the Robin Hajd. .«d oth.r pubj.0. ZL in Charlo. «tr««t, W,«tmin.U,r. which ^-J^ ""fl^;jH -' - m«.n W- .t 4d. e«oh, t« return th«n. if we «h.h»ld have th« g««rt fortune .Ign of th« Ship. wi.cr« «.»dier. n.ruiting, .n^ ««king ^^'^^^^ nZ to U made ..Idiorn, m.nnU. U. p«rfi)rm bu«ne«. •««» « « J» "^^ Wo«.K,n di«)«verod that no •• Johnny R.w." were ,«n,..ttcd to refill. IpTofU 3d. per day.nor the U. 64. c«,h r^^^^^^'^^.^^ whichL wo haa been'-illy enough to niention. Nbr c<,uid wo Kp*nd rt M we cl»o«o. The rookleM and abandoned of the reoru.tn, who had nold almost every mg of covering fVon. their bodies, fastened tipon u. to pay. for their drinit, and to sell our clothes or exchange them for '«««. " *h«y had done. Dealers in old elothea, one aft«r another, came to ua : but aa 1 l,ad lea Edinburgh in my beat droaa, with which to have a reapectable appearance on joining the n^ment, I waa re«>lute and no persuaMon ^Llery, nor threaU, would induce me to a change of garmenta ; nor would T drink with them. Some mischief that had befallen me on a previoa. oocaaion waa a« yet too freah in my memory. The dctern.mat.on. a^^ to l>eameritorioua «oldior, and by good conduct riae above the ranks, wo- too^Lg in me to be overcome hy the persupaiou of aaaoc.atos ao brutish rdTX^ally blank as moa^.of them were. We were detained two Zv, \n London, for the want of an eacort to take u.to the regiment at Brighton. I offered one day. at rt|e office in Duke «treet, to go w. h my comrade to Brighton, ^^^.j^the authorities there that I would Je «mtw.ncZ of myself an Jl(iV^i deliver ourselves safely ove^ tbey ordered ^e to hddmy tongue. Ttbgught, muooently enough, that bv so doing I would save his Majesty's service the expense and trouble, . L ourselves the delay of an escort, n^only saw in th.s an attempt to get a fair opportunity to de«ert. Such a thought waa contrary to all LughtapaXg within me. At that time, having fairly left home and gone so far, I would not have accepted my freedom had it been offered. And we were anxious beyond expression to reach the regiment. Of all tbat reckless gang of recruits, numbering from fifty to a hundred, aaaeinbled there, Ireland and I were the only two who were to be m the ^.valry service. We had Is. 3d. per day. while they had Is ; the full pay of cavalry and infantry being Is. 4d. and ^^'^\'!T"^'^^^.n!^Zl wi a penny added to each, caHed beer-money, which, as recruits, wo f A ■ f r ■> •;-^' V -> ^' • ,- 78 SOMERVILLX^S BOOK did iiot' receive. We were troubled mori by hUvijB%/3d. -per c(,ay aboT* * tUp others than it was worth tons; and all the /iaore apnoyed .pefcaufie we sought, anrong that disorderly ^t, to relate our owh ooftduct, and ipond our o%Yl money. We had to go out nmopg theiuj ptjpry aiiterno<)*| at Ihp heeU of a Btaff-sergcant, to get fresh billets, jaXmt eolnnjflftly in, the suburban parishes ; to Chelsea one. day, CaiD:(ber«!;ell the next day. Poplaf the next day, Hainpstead the'neit, andfeoon. To go through the streets with sucli u disorderly and ragged gang, wae iDezprt^singly anno^ingto • both of us. . , '* * ■ ' '•". V - „ ;V or ^ At last, one nibrbing,'a private of the 7th Dragoon Guards, wKo ^as on recruiting duty in London, goj oiitjrs andu " rout-";to mareh iis to Srightop. It "was a moi-ning of hard frost, with the suffshiBiiig brightly on the Surrey Downfl ; an'd m we wtilkcd snjartly along, I felt a lightfiess^ of spirit which I haS not.^ijoyed- for weeks before; I'hat ,|ay, atid the next, I built upoxr fancy, and castellated the buildings of hope in visitma of what l-'would have attained to, when leaving the regiment ; I might be a captain, possibly a colonel, but certainly pot less than r^iiaental '^ sorgeaftt-major. . ^ -'I :■ •* ' ' On approaching the barrdcksj more than <)ne dealer in cast^ff clothe*, offered? to buy ours befote we ■entered the gotea ; for, they said, w6 should have to give theDj up to be butnedj, and Bubmit to be funiigatfed in the ^ hospital ourselves, ind be shut up in quarantine, to save the regiment jfrom the infection of cholera,. Symptom^ of cholera had appeared in the northof England^ in Scotlaud, and in tondon, Ahough we knew nothing of thfeict/ The^ilarpa about it was exceSBiVe in Brighton. Nobody except, soldiers wete allowed to eiater the barracks, and all foot travellers " fronilLoadon, who could be. prevented, were proldbHed fyom entering the town. ' I would not sell my elothes, being resolyed now, Ibore than ever, to go into the regimetit wi*h a respectable appearance. We acoordingly, by consent of our escort, wasued and brushed ourselves before approttehlng * quite .near, both of us expecting to meet men whom we kneWi^ At' the gate thp sentry asked us, hurriedly in a whisper, if we were the recruits they had heard of, who had bagpipes with them ; " for ii'you be, '^ he said, " don't bring them in : everything you bring in will be burned.'^ And tlipn, in a tone of duty,"aa if he had been questioning us also in^ifl* charge of dUty, he said — " Recruits are you? Pjss on." It had b^% rumoured tlxat recruits were coming with bagpipes, and pipes not b|in|j egimentally allowed, the men on guard had secretly agreed to wari , recruits bejpre they came within the gates, to save their bagpipes ? f the wives of thib soldiers were hovesing about for the purpose of ' gllng the pipes. But We were not the pipers. \' ' Instead of the men rushing out of the rodms as tjiey usually do wEcq H^-l •<^J; » ff^^^:^' '\ i i ;■ or A DiLicnsNT Lira. 79 "v \- 9 J:V frenh recnxite enter the* bajiraolE^ard, to look at them, inqjiire who they axe, and where they coni6 irom, no one canlenear: they were ordered not to spoak toUs^ Th^ looked over the windows, and one or twQ called " Where do.yeoomelVomSt" and" What do they ca' ye?" but nothing mpre; nor were we jwriiiJttewl t6 ahs^er^^ The' repojrted appearance of Asiatio cholera in Britain was new to us ; fbr we did i^ot know what the newspap^M had publiiihed ootfcerning it And besides the reports in newspapers, a case of sudden illness, pronounced to be one of cholera in its worst form, had occurred'- in the barracks th but no one else entered the room save the orderly, and he as seldom as possible. %lring the second week Miller was able to get up.' We found him an agreeable companion. He was grateful to us for nursing him as we had done, His master, a rich youth, son of the late (|eneral ftlacquarrie, of New South^ Wales, allowed him the use of much money-; more, possibly, than did liim good. He did hot fail 'to remem- ber "US when all were out of hospital. I occasionally assisted him, when I had a spare hour, in his stable, and received from him each time a sixpence, which, to a hungry recruit, -'with heavy stdppages on his pay for his new outfit', were sixpences not to be despised. , Cornet Macquarrie was a very young officer, being then in his eighteenth year only* His friends had suggested that an 61d and experienced ^oldiet should be appointed a« his servant, and, the choice fell 0n private James Miller. This* was the officer^to Whom I objected sitting as a member of . my court-martial, as will be seep presently. Hfe was an amiable young gentleman, but eccentric. I objected to him oh grounds ■ su^ested by older soldiers, arid not from anything 1° knew of him. ^ There were no more cholera cases iiHil^ regiment; and -we, at the end of fourteen days, having ho sign upon us, w^e visited by the regimental tsdlor, who measured us for over-all8,-^tabie jao^ts, tind regimental dresft- • .coats. The master bootmaker, igho had soldiers under him as Journey- men, but was himself a civilian, came next,. and measuredv us for stable shoes aijd regimental dress-boots. " The.regimental hairdresser came next, and trimmed our locks to the' prescribed J«aagth. Then the tailor came — — " ; ^ — *- — ^ — ^-^ — ^ — -^ m ii. ^I^V-^v -„^. / or A DILIOIRT Liri. 81 .V /■ with the jackets and over-alla. Next the bootmaker came with the boota ; ■ and though he was a civilian and not a jgwldier, he deemed it to be his duty \Jb seem lofty and severe, almost terrible, in his manner of command- ing U8 how to put a foot into a new boot,- — how to' draw the boot pn ; and telling us, heroically, how we required to" Jtje drilled fqurteen hours a day, to break our stubborn knee-joints into pliability; and how he could assure us, that before we required another pair^ boot* we would have * learned how to draw them on. . ^ The troop serjeant^major, to whom I was allotted, broi^ht me a forage cap, a leather stock, four linen shirts, two flanYiel waistcoats, two pairs of - flannel drawers, four pairs of Tjorsted socks, Iwo pairs of gloves, a pair of gauntlets (gloves reaching to the elbows), a curry comb and brushes, a m)rs^'s maneKsottibV spon^, soap, bath-brick, save-all, with knife, spoon, . razor, comb, shaving tackle, two towels, tUm-sprew, picker (for hprses' feet), button stick, button^ brush, roi«toi\e to clean buttDns, boot brushes, blacking, clothes brush, brtiph bag, horse's nose-bag, com 'saok,~hQ5Be cloth (the'«over for the stable), aedount book with printed r^lations,^]^dle bags, military cloak, and two< pairs of straps of overalls (trowsers), which ' he prodt^ded to shew me how to affix to the buttons. Hie manner was quite different from the civilian bootmaker. "Now, my man," .Be pro- • deeded to say, " one of th^;56r8t things a young soldie^ must learn ii^ the proper manner of dressing himself, and he must do ^ quickly. You will dccasionally find that every article of your clothii^t^nd ai^outr^nients must be put on in a minute of time, and your horse accq^itred, turned out, and mounted ill another, minUte. I am seripill withiyou : such a thinjg wiff lie requjifed to be done, though * not. «l#j|(y8, • ButtobeablW to do, it at any time, you must practise yq^sel^ to put everything on and oflf in the.proper wayrin the bri^&st ipfMfe' of^'time,_ J'or tn8taivBe|ltepi( straps; there is a right way and wrbtfg "t(^ tif fMt|^ingijithem, and yon are proceeding in thetvrong way. *Here, turn the Qutpidoof your foot upward; buttoiu|)he strap to that side first. Turn the inside of your foot np next, and now bfing it un4er your sole and fasten <« it to the inside. Nowypu do right. The other one do in the same way. That' 9 right ; you witi^ a soldier in no time. Now the stock about ypur neck ; — why, you. ; ;have J)UckM it behind alrei^dy. Ah I I see you'll get ©n. Button- up ypur cofftee ; hook the collar ; draw down the skjrts ; ^row but your • , oheet, — no, npt youi* stomach, draw that in ;«thfoW back your shoulders \ up your head,*— up yet. Don't thi«w youi; head back ; stretch it upright. Don't bend your knees. Put.-i^e forage cap a little to the right side ; bring it a little over the right § yeb'Mwt-TW)* quite so much. Now the s^p^^ '. down Upon your chin ; let it come' just under your lip. Now^look.at . yourself iu a glass. Don't be a&aiii to look at youxself in a gla^. < I MSi» ' % s i h ^ -V. .r Ul , 80M«aYIUJ»'8 BOOK a *[)ldier who looks at hiroaelf in a glass : he is never a dirty soldier. D^'t laugh at yourself. What do you see in the gfiiss to laugh at ? you only see youtself, and you 'will get used to yourself. But I lasjike yoTi : I laughed too wheji-l saw myself in regimentals first."" And tp this effect He continuid ^explain my duty, in a inanner exceedingly kind and .encouraging:^ * .. . , This was ^jjeantrMajft Simpson, of B trtwp. There were six troops, extendinjg to the letter F. Ireland had been allotted to A. troop, and 1 was destined as a present to E troop; but as it was not at head quarters _ I was attached at first to the Bs, subsequesitly to the -Ds, with Troop Serjeant-Major Gardener. He was equally lynd and encouraging in his manner towards reontits, at least to me, as Simpson yas. Gardened was one of the very few Waterloo men remaining in the regiment. I felt much interest In listening .to him, when I ^ould induce him to tell about Waterloo, what he ^d and what he thoughfc^when in battle. He soon . became familiar with me, and used to invite me to his room,— an unusual thing/or a sergeant-major to do with a private, particujarly a recruit. HftN^as originally a lad driving a jpl^bing cart in the streets of Perth, had received almost no education, learned . to write and keep accounts after he had joined the regimient, wa^ promoted to beji corporal when coming out of Waterloo, and had gradually, risen to be troop sergeantr m^jor. . . '...,, I received nominally a bounty of £2 128. 6d. ; but only'lOs. of it m cash,— the remainder went to help to' furnish my outfit." A cavaliy" soldier. requires two pairs of cloth Qveralls in a year, and'he is only . allowed by gqvernment one pair'. He is afloweaes. a year for boots; . all his shoes and repairs, and an extra "pair of boots, probably every third year. Every article which I have named, including saddle bags and corn. Backs, must be paid for by stoppages from his pay, with the foUowing exqeptions : one pair of cloth overalls, one stable jacket, and one dTCSs ■ oi»at annually ; six shillings a yeas: for boots, one ^ir to last three y^rs, and three ^hillings for gloves, and a new, cloak every six years. Besides the sum of £28. 2s. 6d., which was Appropriated for the bounty, ^ I Was indebted to the regiment about £2 10s; for this.outfit. All othw recruitft were the same. The rations, costing frpm 6d. to 8d. pey-ia;^, according to tW contracts for provisions, and Id., per day for veget:\ble8, wei^ fif»t paid for % 0toppag^ We g(^ -24. as daily ^uy, and* all remaining went to pay off the defet These stoppages, during the flr*t year of a recruit's service, together with the endless di-Uling on foot and on horsebacic, and the hard stable-work, generally -give young mdn an Unfa- vourable opinion of soldiering. But the beginning is not so di^eartening i>nw ^ Aln<«> the period of enlistment is shortened. The repfuit keeps up ■'V u W or A DILIOBMT Lin'. >-i^' his fipirit wJben he seL it Umited time b«lbre'hiiii, at the end of , which he will be a yoUng man, and may leave the iervioe if he dislike it, or j^main^f he does not ehoose to leave. '' > \ , - ;/ Having, received the route for Birmingham, the precise date I do not now remember, we were all astir by the sound of early trumpets one morning, and marched out of the barrack^gatesj the bond playing, horses prancing, crowds accompaiiing, with baggage pifed upon waggons, followed by' thQ hospital sergeant, orderlies, convalescents, tailors, shoemakers, saddlers, women and children, dismounted invalids, The dinners provided for us each day at the inns or public houses on, which we we^lf«:W roast bo^ and apple puddings for dinner at the ^oxm where 1 ^^artered ; the ftrs^ roart beef which I had tasted during my life, and tlOi fiwt^ apple puddingsof which i 1»ad any recoUeetion. ' At ^ildfoid, mi Windsor, the fare was English, but I do not remember whether it was entirely new, to me, ' At ' .Thame,in Oxfordshire, where we stoppted on the Saturday nkht, Sunday, ■ and Sanday night, I was billeted on i house wher^'We Md roast goort ; .for dinner.op^e &uflday, -that was my ffipitintroduotto^rOastgqQSe. ■ -^^ Bioe8ter,%anbury, ibd Warwick, wew otiF^iext ' that - i-aot — \ - iuffioient payn/ent. it is oharaoteriBtio of tho innkeopew of England to , give BoWiers a good dinner, irrespective of tb« price at which they are bound by law to furniBh it. ^ From Warwick wo marched to Birmingham, antl^ u is the custom on going into barracjw, got no allowadoe of marching money for that day. Every soldier in the service has at some time complained of this. Going into cold, empty .barracks, where no one has preceded them to prepare fire or food, they do not receive the extra allowance, where, of all places, it is i^ost requisite. fortunate is the young soldier who passes through his Johnny Raw state, and does not get his " eye opened." Eye-opening means to steal something from him. It is a crime resented by all, soldiers who are beyond the condition jaf recruits, to steal from one another ; but to " o^en a recruit's eye "is hardly deemed an offence; it is jwoimnted a greater offence for one soldier to divulge that he knows another to have don6 It. StiU a recruit of brdinary ability and nerve may take a position among his comrade*', and lot thoui feel that he cannot bo seduced ol subdued... Such A man will be respected by the woi-at of them, though for a tinie they profess to denpise him. As foir the officer!, if a soldier keeps out of the guard-hotti©, by returning to barracks in time when he hasjiuiwri^to go out, by being aiyrays ready fw duty when requivod, aud iKr^B«lean, ho may be a soldier for yejurs without an officer sp^^aking to him penoually. The danger that a.wait8 him Arom his officew shews itself when he does something to make them mark him, or to go before t ^urt-martialv For myself, I hav« confidence that I eould have proceeded up to this day ais a soldiery, without committing any moral offence or breach of .military dtsoipline \that would have brought me ' tthder the censure of the officers; alBo,!thlit I could have continued iobo on friendly terms with aU the non-oomraissioned officera ; and" furtVor, thftt I.should long betbre thistime (184'r>have been anoi^-commiasioned <>ffioer DQiyflelC had not an extraordini«y series <)f events afisea dose upon . one another, whiob eould pot have hftppened at any period of time before or since, and wifoh may never again occur to any soldier. But I have not yet arrived at the point of my narative where they b^in. An uld cavalry soldier in Edinburgh, Alexander White, a pensioner from 1st Royal Dragoons, gave me some words °of counsel, to bfe observed in the stable Mid the barrack-room. I rcsfer to^em ttow because I have . found them, or similar rules, useftil elsewere thaii^ in a steble or barrack- room. One was^ to observe when the soldier's wife, who might be in the same room with me, Was„about to go for Wa|«r to the pump, or was in Tyant of w*ter. " I was to take her pail and pay, " Nay, mistress, let me ga ' \ 4» the pump for you," and go iaBtan%. AnoUier rule of conduct wa« <« 7TS- ^ |1 '■; ill ■^., O .^ .^9 tOMiaVaLB't BOOK to anticipate a coa^mdo who might require his clothe. bmh«a, and rl«e. «d do it for him before ho had tih.e to a«k the favour. And so m the ,t.ble, if I had charge of a eomrado'a horae in hi. ^^^^^n^^L ^^^^ twrha™ to he a« Itind to his horse a8 to n.y own ; and at any time, if 1 Tad Ihing to do myself, U, put forward n.y hand and help some one who had. The same readineaa to oblige may be pructined .n a workHhop I a literary office, or any other office, andis as necessary to be observed ihere as in a stu>>lo. But I fear that if there k> not a natural .nehnatjon to be ol^iging, the desire .,f aeciuiring the good-will of associates, wU fail to muke one always agreeable. Alu.ost all nten, proU.bly aU. who have risen above the social level upon which thoy were born, or who have crT ..r^^: t , 'i ^Of AlmipiOT LIW. 87 CHAPTER IXf- : ~ « ■ :,. ■ . ■ •'■ - ■ ' '....■ •' \ The Dftily Lift of » Younf :i:(ragooii. Lei luo introduce you to 4ho daily life of a younp; dragoon. At a Huartor to five oV six o'clock- in the morning, according to the leawni of the year, the Warning tfunipet Bounds. All Boldiera must got «(Ut ofbod then ; but the rocruite muHt spring out, an they have more to do, 'and less time in which to do it, tUijm tlic otheim. They muAt dress, lOll their bedding 6n *e iron bedstead, fold ilte^mnfce^the two Hheet#, and the rug, so fcha't the colors ofrttwrug shall ap|)car throuj^iout the foWs of the sliftcts like streaks of uuirblc. They must take the folnt of a knife, and lay the, edges of the folds straight, until they look artistioil \Q the eye. This must be finished by the time the^" warning " is oVer, which is a quarttr of an hour afUtr it sounds. At th^fc, time thb stable trumpet sounds, and all must hasten down to stables.' 'liKHter must bo shaken out; all that wWoh is dry is tied up, the other iSwRienrca away, and the stable swept by two men who take the swecpin|ff\)r one morning, while . two others take it another morning, there being twelve oV- fourteen men in each stable. The' dry litter is tied up thus : tbur neatly plaited bands are laid out on the stones behind the liorfies; a few handfuls of ckan straw, combed and carefully preserved by each fi^^n for his own use, are spread upon the four bands. The litter is Jai4iffl|^this straw, and the bands brought round and fastened. The bundle is then set on end a^inst the post, at the horse's hind quarter. One of the bands ia carried round the post to keep it steadyV The top oj^ bundle is neatly plaited, and the comb used for the horse's mane dpd tail is taken, and tiie outside straw is combed. If tbp recruit has not been active in getting downstairs, to have his turn on |he limited space tp do this, others will be before him. Yet if he be ip ^d favour with the other "men, they allow him to get his straw putiJ|flM||per, knowing that he is going in an early oImb to the riding »k,-biitl»n.,ig ).» jaok«t WtmB M. o.p T^t^ !l»»o .nd Bottilg . oauo in hand. Thu. o.,uipi»d, ho goo. : thl X J «-•"-!« hL whoro ho loft hhn, bridled and .Undn^ LI, od wit. hi. h.^d->utward, hi-.taU .tallward. Johnny load. h.n. 0,1, • J^to'ba kward,rhand at oaoh »ido of the W. .nouth, and ho m„rt :i L" no'.pot frota the anhnaV. n,oVh got. upon «.gWv« .nd „1». thatth. h„r«, d,«. not roar np in plaj.r -^ff^^^l^ fore foot over hi. «».rlet jdcket, or .t,iV« one ol' hi. teoth o«t Wo l»d . 1 hoi whioh .tmck up hi, lore feet and killed a roeru.t, when bomg IaiI throuirh the stable door. . ,-, ; - • I do "o^now fbH«w, wi.h 'to .nnoy hi,„, they proWy take hi. p.,t„l d^ ^er da, and fire it. Tho> require a pi..«l to flro .uddenly bohmd th. t. of L young ho,BO., and oee».ionally behind the oar. of the yo^mg ^" — \. ^ : ■ ;. ji — TT.. . ..1..^.. niatftl ha a been nm^ l must -./»'- He whose pistol ha a men to use thcin to the report. Itcrwn ^ . • Z:rWbarrelandlock;o„hi,return.» thebar«ok roon>. Onroturmng '^^ 1/ f I!: - -• ■ A 1 '« .-»•- '8 »n ^ line, Bdcd , are rder. iving word 'hose their islike day ' 1 the or A to t)M ^K bo tnuii rtiih ut) italra, And bootn, and put on hU itabla •h OpffcQ «nd bread ready,— but not yet, no* broakfuut yei • Ho mu»t Mura to bru»h, and cloth to hii honw for at lo«iit h«U ftwt, iJpongo it* hoofii and ItM noitrtli, drew i ho may go to the room to look after hii coffoo., if ho doOH not iiomotitnoi, or otUin, be a party to iket, oop, iitock, bruakfaat of CAQ have >w wiip, A It pick iU it; then tiiiiuto youth ►Hoquy an Ihii :— Holdior A : " What if the matter with thut recruit ? What ii he talking about?" ;:■■•• •.■'' ■■■'?' ■ • . ' , * Soldier B ; "He aayi they .haw taken eUtho thiek of the coffoo, and left him tl»e Mm; he saya ho likea the thick boat. Isn't U»at what you like, Johnny?" Johnny Raw '. " No, it ti not, and you know If } you have left me no. coffoo to drink ; nothing but the tluck ground!. I ahont liavo It." goldier iJ: "Why, have you not told ub that you prefer the thick? Nothing wem» to aatiify you, Johnny." > / And Joljttny must ittbmit to oat his dry broad. If a non*o6mmiMl6ncd, officer come and aak,' ** What ia tho matter with that recruit?" jtho men nnawor before he can,' " The matter with him 1 ho is ojily grumbling nn usual," Tho non-oommiHaionod officer moHt probably replica, " You must not grumble,, yOung man ; , we muat liavo no grumbling;' If ho liolda his tongue aijd suffers all gently, Or if hetmitatoa the other monj-and ' bullies and flwoars at them, ho may have easier trials ; but if he reports them, tells \m superior what his comrades have dohe, woe be to tho life of young .John Haw I , Ho has ho timo to waste upon a dispute nbout his coffee. Ho must once more bruHh' his boots and stable shoes, have everything spotless which is upon him, and. which ho leaves in the room behind him. If it be summer j he must put off his cloth overalls which he wore in the stable, and put on his \rhite ones, and a pair of clean gloves, and be out at ten or eleven o'clock, as the case may be, to foot drill. Ho is driUed on foot until within a few minutes of twelve o'clock. When dismissed, |»e puts off his white trousers and gbvcs, resumes his cloth overalls, and runs to tho twolto o'clock stable-hour. Ho rubs down and feeds his horsA, He * comes up to the room with the rest to dinner ; they all button up their j'ackeUj and stand at attention, while the orderly officer and sergeant come th6ir rounds to inspect the dinners, which is done by a glance, and occar sionally tho question hastily asked, " Have you 8n;r complaints ?" The dinners are then cut out, each man's allowance laid upon a plate. One turns his back towards the table, and another touches a p^jite with a knife, aud caUs, " Who.-shall have this ?" Ho who s e b ac k i s to th e f / 4--',- ^■*Mi: I ~r''^ 4 ■ t ' •• I ;■ ; .„ ':? 1,. '/ « ■•f- • ■•*■ ^ •**'•» 4t"^ »■ / ' * 1 • \"- «. - ' I* ^^^H ^^^^ • ?■ ■ ^^^^^^^^^^^r^ . ''. ' / - „. '- , i ^^ t ^^ '■■■■, >/ / - V / ft > ■ • ^1 / ■• . i» • •■■%: ■ . ■ /- ;■_ _ V ;■ \. ' . ■ • . "> • • . y ■ ' . ■■ * ' . V > '■: .(^ ^ ■ • ■ » . ■ . • " 1 ■ - • ' " Tl p« *. • ,■ •*' ■ ■ 1. "'" ■ ■^J-.v'^ MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No, 2) 1.0 a.. I.I ^ I tUUU 12.8 ■ 4.0 2.5 2.2 1.8 . t^ -■ ' 1.25 1.4 1.6 ^ APPLIED INA^BE Ine ^Sr 1653 East Main Street r-S Rochester, New York 14609 USA ^S (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone ^S (716) 288 - 5989 - Fax so B0Hrt!BVILL»'8 BOOK ■*i'. table names one; and so on they proceed until all tlie plates aretonched, and all the men in that room named. If Johnny Kaw is to be once more vexed or victimised, abone withont meat, or almost without it, is laid upon a plate. He whose back is turned has'^bcen secretly told that this plate will be touched, weC^hnll say, the sixth in turn. Accordingly, when the . man who touches 4he plates with his knife says tor the sixth time, " Who shall have this ?" the reply is, " Johnny," or " Cruity," or what- ever they may call him. The recruit proceeds to pick his bone, or to turn it over and over to " examine its nakedness ; upon which some one says, "Johnny, what is the matter, lad? You do not get on with your dinner,— what is the , matter, lad ?" If he says they have given him a bone with no meat on it,, they reply that W is always grumbling. If he complains to the officer who comes to enquire if there be complaints, he will not improve his circumstances. A corporal may thgn be ordered to see that the men deal fairly with the recruit; but the men will vex him quite as grievously, in some other way. If he can swear horribly, and introduce an oath never heard before in the regiment, or if he find means of getting drink to some of them, he may escape farther persecution. If not, some of his brushes, or his sijissors, or soap, or bathbrick, or blacking disappears. He hears a soldier say, " Who has lost a brush ?" And be replies, " I have." The soldier goes on.: " What is it like ?" Poor Johnny proceeds to describe it. The soldier asks, " Would you know it if yop saw it ?" Johnny says, " Yes." " Well, then," says the other, "go and look at it, and tell us if you know it." " But where is it ?"- asks Johnny. "iWhere is it ?" rejoins the other, " how do I know ? go and find it." The proba- bility is, that Johnny never sees his brush again. It has been sold for three pence f6r a pint of beer, and he is supplied with a new one at a shilling, which adds to his debt with the troop sergeant-major. Pinner over,^ the recruit prepares for afternoon foot-drill ?ind sword , exercise. This lasts two hours ; and when it isdone, and he is« dismissed, if he be not too tired, he may walk outside th^rracks and see the town until six o'clock. Then is the stable roll-call, at which every man must be present, if not on duty or absent with leave. The regimental orders are read for next day, stating if it be "watering order first thing," or » field day. The horses are rubbed down, fed, littered, and the bands witb the handfuls of fancy straw are put carefully away wntil the morning. The recruit may now go to his room and fold down bis'bed, and stretch > himself upon it to rest ; or he may go into the town until eight o'clock or nine. If be^be a wise lad, he will stay in, and brighten his sword, scabbard, and his buckles, and whiten his belts and gloves for the scho<^ in the morning. There is no help for him but to persevere. Once or r - ■ -1 i ■I ./ . \ i t '^. : / •1 OP A DILI^KNT LWE. 91 twice I almost despaired ; but seeing there was no alternative', I^rcsolved to do my best. I wafl fortunate in having fevi tricks played upon mo, and no persecution in any shape in the hurrack-rOora. With a few other recruits, I fell first for foot drill into the hands of Sergeant Stephenson, of whom I have little to say except that he was a smarHooking lipd well-conducted soldier. From him, after learning our " facings," we joined, an advance squad of recruits, under Drill-Sergount * Keith. This was a remarkable man. While he gave the words ofcom- mandwith a tone of authority, his voice was as mild and ki^dH^" every recruit as the voice of an affectionate brother. He never on aity occasion . swore oaths, nevet shewed himself out of temper, tliough more than once' I have known him turn away his face for half a minute, to hide the vexation which some of the very awkward men, who would not or could not understand what he had explained to them, impelled him to feel. ;' To drill fresh recruits year^ter year might be allotted as' a punisLnent 9. - to bad men. But it requires the best of men to be good drill-sergeants. Keith was one of these. He Was a philosoplier. At the sword exercise he was one of the. most dexterous and perfect.. The wrist of his right hand seemedi^to have a universaljoint,and, with my more stubborn wrist ^ I -often envied him. Keith succeeded some years ago as go ^ SOMKRVII.I.b'8 BOOK «K,d aoMwance, rt»I*otable behaviour, iW deep Bagaoity-Farrict IL^^'Xr.e. The farrier, are not often on hOr=cb,ck, except wbon Sn'lordingly their hor=e. an, allo^ to -™;!'^ ^™^ rroLn luKl a strong regard for the Btately <^V^ »po» "1. oh I «, to kS" monnt " -rdtaionnt," "moont," (f^ tbe«> mountmg. and d,»- ^rJL repeated n.any u time, nntil the reeruit >. perfce m h s monntings or y^ ^^ _^ j ,, "mllop," " draw Bwords," " leap the, style,) " march trot """.f'' „ =,, ..^^ .,,. .,ft„„t" "makemueh bar "cut at "heads and posts, "turn, circle, iroi , _ TborZ " " dUmount," "front horses," ," stand to your horses, mount, "'" "t^t," "c»ter," "gallop," "load," "fire," "dr"™°'^' "I^e " and a hundred other things which wpuld not be ,nlelhg.ble .f i^prtsTd upon m«*he duty of taking kmdly care of hm,. HcnecdoJ „6t to have dom so ; I- had as much natural, regard for a horse as he could Zibly have had^iu addition to which there soon sprung «P n MmarStween this' on, an* me, which was more than was usually "Sw^n arcoruitand his school-horse. In Borne oases heseammals . when witained themselves, evioj^contcmpt for recru.ts, of wluch a d« oil r Of equi^nature cJ^stako the eauBe,-tbc « he it^nc 'of L rider, comiTwith, the, learning and conBC,ouB rteiXcks and sympathise with them. Minewasoneof these, Ifawo d iJ^mntnd-wcre suddenly gi"" "ken trotting or gallopmg, bo won d not only ellethot Shad Ln listening for it, b, instantly oi>ey.ng the ^Ir w'ing if it were " halt," turning if it were " turn," wheehng .f order, hjtingu ^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ,^„^, .! s^t if ltd midc rmistale, or' had not heard distinctly what tho ^rr nd «s, and he would yield a. far as he could eons,s.enty w.h Urrtions of duty to bring me to tfie true knowledge of my duty. He ■ did not "ike some horses, take a pleasure in halting from a gallop w,th^a ■trktekltd, to throw ihe rider over his head, should that r.dor not be CpfegWs ea^ open for the word of command. He »meUmeB « by hrmouth that I had not heard the word of command or, ,f hearing ,, Wnt— icatcd to bim the intimation by the bridle rem, or pr<«- Bu^of the knee to obey it; upon which,.if it were "!»"•'-' O*^' brbore bis sboulders forward, to sive me gcnUy from the shock. The Brl too in turning : if it were a sharp, indistinct command, given jhen Twetlt the c^ter or the gallop, he threw bis body round with a - Iweep though k^ping his feet to the proper turning distance, to bring me round with him, if he felt that I was not on the dor . _ deaming the kindly nature and excellent educational abilities of tb i , h.^. it was natural for me to hm.WM-m regard ibr ban. If he <^ or A DlilOKNT Lirx. 93 P had been a biped with the gift of speech, and not a dumb quadruped, ho would have been a philosophorof the best order,^ — teaching the world the truths of nature in, language of iJenevolence and love, — subduing th Farrier "Simpson and I became acquainted auti respectful of each other, through our mutual respect for this 'tio*ble animal. Afe a recruit, I had little time to be in the farrier's pcrson^jjA|Bompany, yet we met occasionally. The forge was from two to three htindred yards from my stable. I sometimes told the hors6 that he might g OF A DILIOBNT LIVl. 97 arose; and tumalta, irach m have Boldom been witncwMMi within the wnlln of parliament, ensued. In the midHt of the most undignified arid nngry discuHi^ion known to the British legislature, his umjosty, WillittMi IV., orrivcd at the IIouHe of Lords, and summoned the angry Conunons to meet him among the angry peers. Few of the anti-reformers were com- poseA onpugh to onswer the summons. ThoHo who did appear, heard flmthiH Majesty's mouth that parliament ^as prorogued, and would ho dissolved, in order that the sense of the eountry might be taken on the question of a change in the repreiwntation. London and every town and almost every village in the kin the 29th, Sir Charles Wetherall, rccbrder of Bristol, and one ot the -most resolute opponents of the Reform Bill, proceeded to that city, and made a public entry as recorder. Riots ensued, beginning on Satur-/ day continuing the whole of Sunday, and suppressed only on Monday* The Mansion House, Excise Office, and Bishop's Palace, were plundered and set on fire ; the toll-gates pulled down ; the prisons burst open with sledgehammers, and the prisoners set at liberty among the mad populace. The mob increased in madness as it increased in magnitude, and as the fuel upon which its fury fed increased in quantity,— plunder in shops and houses, and liquor in vaults and cellars. One hundred and *«« F^ons were injured less or more in life or limb. Sixteen were found deaftf ^f these three died froi^ the wounds inflicted by the mUitary ; -the remain- der died of apoplexy, inflicted gn themselves by excessive drinking in the bishop's palace and in other houses which they plundered. On the 31st, the political union of London met in ^e CruWp, and Anchor, and, by adjournment, in Lincoln's Inn Fields; Sir Ibrancis. Burdett in the chair. It was agreed to form a national uwon, with branch societies, each having a delegate at the central boafd; At subs^ quent meetings, resolutions for universal suffrage were proposed, and led #*■ i^.'-'. I'' '* too iOMlEVILLU'i BOOK tftiHo brflftklng up of th« union ; ill the menibor* not being fuv,..urablo U) iiuoh a in«»wir« on principle, and nmny wbo were favourable to It on , prinoipl«, opponinK it aa lmpo«-lblo at that time. " If iho modorato reform of t,ho bill, wbloh hod been twloo rejcotod by the logi«lalur^ waa «). difficult to obtain," tb«y ai.k«d, " wbat' muHt unlvomal MuffrnK« bo ? " Tho working oliuinoa of liOndon, bowovor, l«d by pcraonii not ominont for di«cr«ti, cauHcd it to be pHtponcd. Thia and Himilar conduct on the part of largo bodiea of tho people, led by pcrHonn who Could oxjKiund their wrongH but could not practically guide them io the acqtiiHition of tbeir rights, gave the anti-roforfuora new Htrongth and seal in their oppoHition to all reform. l"l tUarmed the king, and tho more timid of the aristocracy who had declared for the lleform Bill. And when thO lleform Bill bi.d become law,. tho recollection of that and aimilar declarationH, and all tho oxccHses of tho turbulent and indiscreet con.ipitt^d at that time, led to a re-action in public feeling in favour of conservatiBm, which rendcrcd^tho reform ministry almost powerless. On the Gtb of December, 1831, parliament was opened by tho King. The royal speech recommended the settlement of the Reform question. On the 12th, Lord John Russell introduced tho Reform Bill to tho House of Commons a third time. It passed by a triumphant n.ajority as before. , *. i> • u* On tho Uth'of April, 1832, after an arduous debate of four nights, tho second reading of the bill was carried by tt majority of nine, at seven o'clock in the morniiig, in the Itouse of Lords. The numbers were,— /or tho bill 184, against it 175. An accession of fifty votes had boon obtained for tho bill since October, when it was rejected. Several bishops had joined tho ministers, and voted for the bill." A new party among fcb- / N or A DtUOMfT Liri. 101 namb«rn i^lnn ISlto UB.- Uponthw, Karl On^y movini the ndjoum- n,«at of lh« comimtteo until th« 10th. On tl.o Ol|i, th« reform i...«Ulr,y reilgncd; lh«y Using unable to curry audi a niciiaun) of rclorw ua they held to Iki indinpnaable. . , , . . • tip to tWa time, it woa Konornlly believed that Knrl (Iny bad obtuiniKi the kin^a aaaent to the orotttion ..f new peera to enrry the bill, if ncoea- «ry, The fuct wiiii now publiabed, that thia extreme nienauro hud neither be«n.' granted by the king, m.r unked for by the minister. The aovereign aununoned and eonaulgd Lord Lyndh»\rat, the Duke of • WelUnKtou, and Hir U.»bert Peel. iWprociHe nature of the c.n.ulla. tiona did not trunapire, though explanationa wfcre auhnciuently made, whieh led to the belief that Sir }lobert Peel refu^-d to bo phnlgod to tho king U. carry, or pft)l>oae, any meaaure of reform, having ao recently oppoHcd tho bitb of Lord John lluaaell ; and he did not see l«forehtm a poHHihUitjcif carrying on an-«hti-relbrm government, with tho majohty of the HouHO of (.'ouimona pWlged to reform, aa iVtheu waa. ^ ' The Duke of WelUngU)n, it ia rciwrted, declared himaelf willing t.) bo- nne of an anti-refortti cabinet, though nV.t holding any Fx^liticul ..ffiee. Dur- ing nine dayn his grace was in conatant conmiunication with the king ; and all that time no governm(«ot. was formed. The Houm) of C.mimonH met, and, on tho motion of Lord l.brington, paHHod, by a krgo majority, a ronolution of «ndin,ini»hed conlidene^ m the lale cabinet. In Lond..n, public mcetinga were held every day declaring, by unanimoua rcHolutiona, that no taxcH ahould \h^ paid until tho bill pa«fled into law. Meetinga of tho moat formidably magnitude were hold in all tho provincial towna, at whieh peti^n.H to die II..U8e of Coiu- mouH to withhold RupplicH of money for the public Her ico, were adopted. The constitutional power of tho couimonH to 'control tho i)eerH and th^ crown by refuhing to vote Bupplica, and the unoonatituitional power of the crow,., or of any aubjcct under favour of tho croinj to overawe tho commons and tho country with tho army, were tho topics of eager d.s- cuaaion at every mooting, club, dinner-table, and tfreaide. Nearly rill mercantile transactions were suspended. Intimation of an encampment of all tho political unions in tlio kingdom in tho vicinity of London, w.uT seriously mado,-to remain there until tho bill was carried 1 The anti- reform nowspayors dared thdhi to make tho attempt, and spoke of tho army The reform ncwspapcis, includinc the leadingjournals of London, spoke of resistance to the army. Tho Times, faithful to its mission of de- serting the" weak in the hour of need, prepared to turn tail on trembling Monaro^iy and Aristocracy, and mumbled, in its idiotio «nc«;*f '"♦O^; something about " briokbata." eonstitutional lawyers of the highest . cmiucnco, the Lord Chancellor Brougham, one, atid a gentleman after- r ♦ ■^. ^ ti f/ II . ■■;•• /, ■J 102 BOMERVILLS'S BOOK wards a distingviifthed judge, another, (still a judge 1859,) \^Sfo reported to have spoken at public meetings, within four hundred yards of the palace, of kings haying trusted in am^ies against their people, and the " royal heads rolling in the dust." , .^ At Birmingham, two hundred thowanll persons, under the guidance of Thomas Attwood, a banker, the ftithef 'and hero of political unions, met on Newhall Hill (where now stands ihe Town Hall), petitioned against supplies, resolved to pay no king's taxes until the bill passed, an(f, if need were, to remove bodily the whole two hundred thousand of them, and encamp, will other political unions, on Hampstead Heath, to be near parliament. Every day, for months previously, hundreds of people walked into the cavalry barrack-yard of Birmingham to see the Greys. On the Sunday before the meeting on Newhall Hill, there were upwards of five thousand people within the gates, most of whom were well-dressed artizans, all wearing ribbons of light blue knotted in their breasts, Indicating, that they ^ere members of the political union. Next Sunday, the barrack gates were closed. No civilians were admitted. We were marched to this riding school, to prayers, in the qflernoon, and, during the remaining part of the day, or most of it, were employed in rough-sharpening swords on the grindstone. I was one of the ** fatigue "■ men, who turned the stone to the armourer and his assistants. It was rumoured that the Birmingham political union was to march for London that nigHt ; and that we were to stop it on the road. The troops had beien daily and nightly booted and saddled, for three days, with ball cartridge served out, ready to mouitit and turn out at a moment's notice. But until this day we had rough-sharpened no swords. Not since before the battle of Waterloo had the swords of th© Greys undergone the same process. Old soldiftrs spoke of it, and told young ones. Few words were spoken. We had had more* noise, and probably looked less solemn, at prayers in the morning than we did now grinding swords. The commanding officer was asked by the army /authorities in London if the men could be relied on, and answered, so he afterwads said, " They are firm as rocks ! " The negotiations then pending between the king and the anti-reformers were unknown to the country, and in their details still are. Most of the transactions beyond the town of Birmingham were unknown to us, thoiigh, from general rumour, we knew, unfortunately for our profession, that the country was alarmingly unanimous. When closed within barracks, we had no Qommunication with the townspeople night nor day, and knew nothing of their movements. We did not apprehend an immediate col- lision until the day of the sword-sharpening. The danger now seemed imminent. Some, who had held private and earnest oonversations on OF A DILIOKNT Llfl. 103 the subject, had agreed that the best means of preventing a oollison with the reform moyement and the national will, as expressed by the House of Commons, was to give circulation to a report that we were not to be depended upon to put down public meetings, or prevent (he p^ple of Birmingham from journeying to London, to present| their petitions and support the House of Commons by their presence, if i.hey chose to under- take the journey. We caused letters to be written and sent to various parties in Birmingham and London to that e£fcct. Some were addressed to the Duke of Wellington, some to the king, some to the War Office, to Lord Hill, and some were dropped in the streets. Those letters were neces- 8aiJnh[inonymous, but they containedvno violent threats. They firmly and respectfully urged, that while the Greys would do, their duty if riots and outrages on property were committed,ithey would not draw swords pr trig- gers lipon a deliberative public meeting, or kill thepeople of Birmingham for attempting to leave their own town on a journey to London. In the letters dropped in Birmingham streets, or sent to paraes resident in that town, we implored the people, as thejr V^ued success to reform and friend- ship with the army, not to allow rioting, windoi#breaking, or any outrage on' property ; else, if refusing to fire or d)PAW swor4iB on them, in the event of our being brought before a court-martial for suofe disobedience we should have no justification,— we should be condemned and shot. " If you do nothing but make speeches, sign petitions, and go peaceably to present them, though you go in tens of thousands, the Greys will not pre- vent you." One of the letters contained that passage, and concluded iBi^r-" The king's name is a tower of strength; which they upon the "Adverse faction want." The belief with the public, however, was that the king bad turned anti-reformer ; and, possibly, he wavered. There is too much reason to fear that the queen-consort was influenced' by the anti-reform ladies of the aristocracy and operated on her royal husband. But these are se^ crets of the royal household, not to be soon revealed, perhaps never. ■ As to what might have been done in, the event of an armed movement of the people, as discussed or suggested by many of the leading London newspapers, it is not for me to speculate upon now, — at least not here. Such probabilities were speculated upon then. Happily the nine days of a .nation without a govemlnent — all classes fervently excited, and nearer unanimity than was ever known of the Bri- tish nation — came to an end. Sir Herbert Taylor, private secretary to the king, communicated the following letter to Earl Grey :— _ ^ "St. James's Palace, May 17, 1832. "My Dear Lord, — I am honoured with his majesty's commands to « ■Jii 104 bqmerville's boos; n licquaint your lordship that all difficulties to tlio arrangements in progresB will he obviated by a declaration in the House to-night from a sufficient number of peers, that, in consequence of ihe present state of affairs, they have come to the resolution of dropping their further opposition to the Reform Bill, so that it may pass without delay, and as nearly as possible in its present shape.— I have the honour to be yours sincerely, ^ . Herber'? Taylor." ■• •.: -y ■/ ■# ■• ■■■ ■ The bill went through committee accordingly, and on the 4th of June ally passed the House of Lords, on the motion of Earl Grey; the libers being 106 /or, and 22 a^ai««Mt. troubles of our regiment about reform, and particularly my own troubles, did not end with the circumstances in which they began. The fate oMo bill was settled by that letter from the king, annoiuioing that it was ^in ''consequence of the present state of affairs.'' The news- papers co\tinued to discuss the constitutional question warmly. On the 21st or 22(1 1 was on guard. When off sentry I found myself, early in the mominA, alone in the guard-house, the other men, save those on sen- try, being a deep. I had read during the night, in an anti-reform paper, a vehement denial of the Duke of Wellington having yielded to reform from a distiust in the army ; also that the rumours of the Scots Greys at Birmingham having expressed Or held any political opinions, were fabrication J of certain of the reform papers. I took the opportunity of Jaeing alori6, to write a letter to the pa^er which had affirmed that the soldiers had expressed political, opinions, to corroborate what it had said.^ A passage from the letter was published. As it led to all the subsequent' proceedings before a court-martial and court of enquiry, which I am about to relate, I give it here : , "As a private in that regiment, I have the means of knowing fully the opinioas which pervade the ranks in whicK I serve. It was true that a few gave their names to the roll of the political union. But let no one think that those- who refrained from doing so, cared less for the interests of their country. I, ftf one, made no such public avowal of my opinions, for I knew it to be an infringement of military law ; but I was one who watched with trembling anticipation the movements of the people of Birmingham. For while we ventured to hope that any collision between the civil and military forces would be prevented by the moral energies of the former, we could not help having a fear that the unprinr cipled and lawless, who are everywhere more or less to be found, might take the opportunity of that turn in the national affairs to commit out- rages on property; in which instance we should certainly have considered ourselves, as soldiers, hound to put down such disorderly conduct. This, r< ^ Or*A DILIOINT LlfR. 105 r< / I Bay, we sbould have certainly felt to be ouf duty ; but against the liberties of our oountry we would have never, never rained an arm. > The Scots Greys have honorably secured a high character in the service of their country, and they would be the last to degrade themselves below the dignity of British soldiers by acting as the tools of a despotism. The Duke of "Wellington, if he sees or hears of this, may assure himself that military government shall never again be set up in this country." This was .published on the 27th of May, 1832. The words printed in italifz shew that the opinion relative to the duty of soldiers to protect property and suppress riots expressed then, has been the opinion which I have ever since expressed. To write, or say, or think (a soldier has no business to think, they tell him), that in any case we were not to do what we were ordered, was a grave offence, nothing short of mutiny. I was aware of that fact, I remonstrated with the soldiers who had joined the political union, and succeeded in persuading them to recall their adhesion to it. With the same regard for my own safety, I did not go near the political union. Had. the time and the cireumstances come for us to act not according to orders, it would have been an occasion great enough to risk all that we were risking. It must have been a national necessity. We should have either been shot while crying, « For the king, the con- stitution, and the people I " or triumphant with a nation's thanks upon our heads. It ended, however, in the less dignified visitation of a flogging. But that I hav« not yet looked upon as a disgrace. I might have felt dis- graced had I dlowed it t© fall upon oth^ backs than my own. [The reader of 1859 will please to observe that this is an exact reprint of a narrative given to the world twelve years ago,] 1 » ' ' . ' . i 1 •• 106 . BOMEBVIIXK'g BOOK 1 » \ ■ -.- 1 ' .' ■ -.1 . .^ - ^: ■ ■■'■• } 1 CHAPTER XT. ' Th« Military Crime.' . ■ • ■ ■ I may hero direct attention to some nsages of the cavalry Betriee, that yon may the more clearly understand the first oceurrenees trhie^ befel me in coascquence of the publication o Ahe„extract of a letter rea^ in the last chapter. ^ A large number of men hare two horsen, with their aecoutrementB, to keep clean and to feed. The bU troops of a regiment eoniist of fifty- five men each. The commissioned officers select ea<* a servant from the ranks : some, two. Those servants leave their horses behind them in the troop stables,aadattendonly to the horses of their masters. Therc},Mm regular troop-duty, though it, had been three years in training. It was not then trained, and never was. It was given first to one man, then to another, and again to a third, and so on to others, as punishment. For mere riding it^was not unmanageable; but it had been used in the riding-schpcTSb often by men who had committed some fault, and were riding for punishment, that its temper, naturally bad, instead of being sweetened or subdued by them, was soured and aggravated. I had once or twice, after returning from the riding-school with my own horse, been sent thither with this J?r af civilian and one of the rough- riders to ride upon. This only happened wheu no one else was at hand to accoutre atfd take it from the stable to the school. ' On the morning of Monday, the 28tli, on being ordered to accoutre this horse and take it there, I did so, under the impression that I was so ordered because no other person was at hand to take it but me. I therefore went inordinary stable-dre», not in boots and spurs, but in shoes, and without a oane«or switch, having no expectation that I wafi to ride. ' Up to this day the riding-master had never b^n otherwise than kind to me; From the time of joining the regiment I had not com- mitttd a single fault of the most trivial nature. I had not received so much as one reproof or severe word from any officer or non-cominiss^oned officer. In showing the " tackle" once a week, which was done by taking every part of the h I could not do ad) but'^I did my best. To mftke the matter worse, because I did not do BO, the riding-master, as I thought, whipped the horse. There was after- wards some doubt about this f and probably he only cracked the whip. The effect, however, was to make the animal plunge, dash backward on the boards, and be unmanageable in circling, turning, and wheeling. At first we were to move slowly ; but my horse was in such a state of irritar tion that it would not go slowly. We then trotted and cantered, circled, wheeled, turned, and many other things ; the horse sometimei halting and rearing when it should have been trotting, until it disOr* dered the whole ride. The riding-master vociferated that it was my fault ; and, as if to make me manage the horse better, ordered me to ride without stirrups The stirrups were thrown across in firont of the saddle. I now saw that he was determined, for some purpose or other which I could not even suspect, to give me a tumble. This I was determined should not happen. It may do in the amphitheatre to ride fantastically ; but it is more than play in a military riding-school to ride without stirrups, on a saddle, with a horse foaming and enraged as mine then was, the riding-master now worse-tempered than the horse, and the rider now thinking that he had most cause of the three to be out of good humou^^ 1 rode without stirrups, and kept my seat ;^ though more than once, with sudden rearing and swerving, I felt myself unsteady. We got the word "halt," and formed in a line up the centre. 'U|ion which, I being the file No. 2, the riding-maater spoke thus : " Number two by himself, the remainder steady, a horse's length to the front -f march!" This I obeyed as well as I could make the horse do it, by taking three yards (a " horse's length ") to the front. Then by myself t was dismouted and mounted some half-dozen times at least; which being done without gtim^r", T hftd in hretiRt thft Rftddle each time. • It exhausted my breath. / and .almost my patience. ■\v Of ▲ DILtOMT Lira. HI / Tim ride went on again; mj horae fleemingly more resolute in rearing aad Kwerving oat of th« ride than eror. It made a spring fVnui the aide of the Nchool t4>wardH tim eontro ; and in the v^sntion of tho moment I rob»hiy a niinuUt whnn I iwnt for him. Li«ut«nant Hick«M»%toif|ilVto vooiu, and tho aerjeantrm^r braught him in by my or«lt)M> I 'f|ili>id§|Ml the ' orime ' to him and aaid, ' ThiM ia your orimo l?I jMiLry ><^ Hhirttld h«ve appearnd.' That wna the ormimnnoement of tlQrflWrerHatitmC I mid I did not oxp4wt it of m youiig a noldior. *llo kwkcd at me* atid I think the worda ho aaid were, ' lam utrry -fbr it.' I do not think he ■aid anything more, except that ho muntioned mmiething about hia hnrm being unmly. I think tie aaid he 'eoutd not manaf4^Kt.hor$e' ; thoao were hia worda. I Mid, '\t b highly improper conduct, a high diw>bo- dience of ordera, and I re^;ret it very inwjh.' / mat torr^ to we he did not tXfyrfM atrn^ ctmtritxtm : I th<)ught a aoldinr would have naid Dior^|. Mj/ object itif^lts A**» •^"*> »/^ htidipoktn well for Kimtel/ to have reUuued AimrMlo did not aay that wliioli I expected. I mid it waa an •ot of inaubordination, and, as near aa I can reooUeot, I said, ' it cannot bo overlooked.' He laid ndthing more. ^ " The jiewapaper wna lying on the tablo : I took it up and aaid, " I am afniid, my lud,' I think that waa the expreMion, * you are fond of writing in the newapapere.' He aeemed Hurpriacd. 1 ,then Huid, • la ^ia letter fVom you? Ho then atoppod a abort time and aaid it waa; that he had written the letter. I then road thf letter, or extraota from it; and" I think I commented on t|M|||p^ta|^ ""^ying, I was aorry to aee a young aoldior Anting in a noW8pA^M|^y|Aticularly^^K)litiBiltoub- jocta, whiqh I ootiaiderod waa not jHHHpHl^y- uS^ma aaid, ho did not know : he thought he had a r^nTto wnta in tho ncwapaporB, I aaid, ' You have no right to commont upon^ the conduct of yoiA- regiment, land aay what is not the fact: you harlr wnttra a libel on the regiment.' I aaid, * Th«t is not tho buainesH of a soldier.'^^ " I r^ some more lines, and came to a passage about what tho Soots •yaMpuld do in oaso they were called out to act. It is a long time since ^p$iAnoi recollect the words, but they were to this effect, — that to quell a moh they would do «o, but would not lift up arm$ against the people. I said, ' This is strong convortafion,' and aske^ him what he meant by it. I said, ' You ought tc^ know your'^ty bettor tlian to express any such libel on tho regiment,' and I asked'him what ho meant by it. Then I said, ' Do you recollbet, my good fellow, that you^^ave Bwom allegiance to the king, and you are paid by the king ?' 'Tlien that b<^n a conversation, the words of which I do not recollect, except having s een thei^ in the p a per, — s omething about his being paid by the 7 t »^- 7 w M OP I MtMnrr un, 111 QueHion, by Um pr«8l«i«nt< '*U Ihil your ow|^ wiiiMmIIjiu, kMRg . refroiihod in ftny manner, thai ht) ^id om ttuMo word* in |Mi4ildv ?" Amtwtr: " Yd: k« Maid he wm bttunU to the kit« m bntf Mi^M ir«ol with tha people, or wonJi t^ thai efcot. I thiw told |^ tA I ynm* ■orry to neo no young • iiotdi«r ootntnunoe in that wtanner. a %ga)n I «i«id it wuM not the buaineag of any aoldier to nifNidl* with Mltea.-Mid I roKTutttHi very inu«h that he bad Iibt4l«d the whoHl r«KimSt 'JlWt, I thinic, ended' the oonfflraatiim. I then desired the ii»)Fp^>aai«u\pP^|f toko him badi to the giiard-bn«fin, whioh waa inatMltly duno.' Thia ia the direct atatenient of Major Wyndlnuu. On on tion, ho aaid further : " I waa stfJ^iriaed ; I tiud been tw«nty rogimont and never heard of a wildier uaingauch knguage. |i| tho oonvorMtion tUinjuf^oat thw wkot^ of t^ie barfaok-yard Sunday ; no one oould mako out who it waa. Varioua poo] euggoatod; one man in partioular, and '^velrybody tneliovod it but niyaelf. .... Wo were hUH in doubt aa to tho until tlio man confessed ho waa tlie writor in my room. My idaa waa that it waa too well written hr a addier. One part, I thought, wgbt have been written by a aoldier: tha reat, I aaid, could not have written by a aoldier. That waa the Bmi remark I made." " Did yoo, in eomraeriting on tlit letter, apply to it tho epil * ieditioua ' and ' treasonable,' or oithflt of them ?" " No : I uaed tho word < libel,' and, J think, oiUrwarda in tho aohool, when I spoke to the men/' V ** For anything you oould say, you nright have used the words ' sec^ MouB ' and ' troaaonable,' or either of thm ?" ^ # ''No: I think I said ' libel upon tho whole regiment,'^^ It had been oommontod on throughout tho yard, and a great deal of vozation caused by the letter. The U^n was in a atato of oonfueion, tho barruok-yard kept constantly shut. We itfera $poken of as Unioni»t$, One report waa that I was dismissed ; that tbe commandor was ooming down, and that, at one plaoo, they had,>nearly pulled him ont of his carriage. Altogether I was excited, and I believe every man in tho regiment was excited. Banners were flying and drums beating (outside); the gates pf the barracks were looked; and, what with the gates being looked and tho other circumstances that oeoarred, one cannot be surprisodX at there being angry feeling about the letter being written." ^ 7~ At a subsequent part of the major's statement, wherein ho relates what took place in tl^ riding-school in the afternoon after the sentence ^of the court-martial had been carricfl into effect, he adds to his dcBorip- ^ tion of the state of Birmingham and the regiment, that he had been written to from London to know if the Greys. could be depended t|j)on, N- .^ '*,! r -t 116 SOMIRVILLX'S BOOK II ■1" I t *• V I for that reports had reached the highest quarters that they could not. This is corroborative of the statement made by me in the preceding chapter as to the part which " we " had acted in producing that " state of affairs " which caused the King to write, by his secretary, to Earl Grey, that the further opposition of the Peers would be withdrawn and the Beform Bill allowed to pass. 1: As that statement of the commanding officer refers to what occurred after the court-martial, on the 29th of May, I do not now quote it. His 3 statements already quoted in this chapter, refer to the proceedings bcfonr *^. a coDrt-martial was ordered, or even thought of. The major says, honestly, (it would have been well if every other witness had told »11 which they" knew as honestly,) " My object in seeing him was, if he aJumld have spoken well for himself to have released him, but he did not say that which I expected." „ '■ ' ** " ^L_ ' : I could not, with punishment impending over other men, do otherwise than tell him that I was the writer of the letter for which they were suspected. For this confession, if his words have any meaning at all, I was setit back to the guard-house with the sergeant-major. In about ten minutes after leaving me there, the sergeant-major returned, with a slip of paper upon which was written my " crime," or indictment,, and said, " You will prepare for a courtrmartial immediately; that is your crime." He went out ; but agjun returned in a few minutes, and told me that if I had any witaesses to call, to name them, and he would order their attendance. My thoughts instantly turned to the persons who had been in the riding-school the day before and had witnessed the extraordinary conduct of the riding-master; but I could not recall all the circumstances in a moment, and the probable evidence of the different men, — some of whom saw one thing, some another, according to the part of the ride the;^ were in. I therefore said that I would require a few minutes to consider who might be of use to me ; to which the sergeant-major replied, angrily, " We have no time to lose in that way," and left me abruptly. He did not return. I was taken before the court-martial at eleven o'clock, and had no witnesses. ^ « This person's conduct was very different, wTien, on a subsequent occaaion, I demanded his presence as a witness before the Court of Inquiry. OV A DILIGKMT LIFI. H7 3 ^ CHAPTER XU. , The OourHIartial : Sentence, Two Hundred Lashes. The following is a copy of the ordert upon which the oouFt-martial was ibnned: — ^V^ " Morning Reoimental Orders BY Major Wyndham. Birming- HAM Barracks, 29th May, 1832.— A regimental court-martial will assemble in the mess-room, for the trial of such prisoners as may be brought before it. President : Captain Fawcett. Members : Captain Clarke, Lieutenant Somerville, Cornet Furlong, Cornet Maoquarrie. The troops to parade in stable dress, witb side arms, at half-past four o'clock," " A true copy from the regimental order-book of tte 2nd Bra- ^ goons. (Signed,) St. Vincent William Ricketts, lieutenant and adjutant, j®''?? 2nd Bragoons." It was stated on behalf of Major Wyndham, in the Court of Inquiry, to be customary in the Scots Greys to order a parade of the men * in side-arnis, to hear the proceedings of court-martials, at the same time that the court was ordered to assemble; ai^d that consequently by doing so, on this occasion, it was not to be inferred that he antici- pated the finding and sentence of the oou^. Lmight have proved by the oldest soldiers in the raiment, whotai f had summoned to the inquiry, that the custom was otherwise, and that in no case within their recollect tion had a regimental court-martial been assembled immediately, by orders issued during the day ; the custom being to issue the orders on the pre- vious evening. Mj purpose in summoning witnesses to prove those cus- toms, was to show, that, though I had be«fn in confinement for. the crime in the riding-school from Monday morning until Tuesday forenoon, no court-martial was ordered, nor intended to be ordered for me, until dftet I had confessed myself the writer of the extract. And it will presently appear that Adjutant St. Vincent Ricketts admitted the irregularity to be greater than this. I had also witnesses to prove, that, though nominally tried and punished for the riding-school offence, the major, by - Vhis address to the regiment after I was punished, showed that it was for - the letter-writing, and not for the piker offence, that I had been punis^^. But it became unnecessary to call those witnesses after the major had made his statement : he had made the case against himself as clearly as I could have proved it. ' " ' . f ■ ■* ■ *1W somervillb'8 book 118 Much time was wasted in the Court 0f Inquiry upon the question of the hour at which the regimental court-martial assemhled. It had been reported in the newspapers that it assembled at eleven o'clock, or at half- past eleven. This was a point of little importance ; but Major-General Sir Tholbs Bradford, and the other field-officers forming the Court of Inquiry, made it one of my charges against my commanding officer which was " not proved." They took a variety of newspaper reports, without questioning me ajg 'to their correctness, or whether I had authorised them to be published, and, forming those into a series of charges after the Court of Inquiry closed, reported upon them to the c^otnander of the forces. Lord Hill, and to Parliament, that they were ,'*j|tfei)roved." The only charges which I in reality made, were two^Jjrft^hat I had Jjeen entrapped and almost compelled into an act of c^^S^ilnce in the ridin^-sojiool, in order to get me into trouble about another offence of which I waS-x^nly suspected ; and second, that I was tried and sentenced for the disobedi'eince of orders which I could hardly have avoided, while I was punished for thb offisnce of writing the letter. - The petty crime for whfeh I was tried wais thus worded : — " For highly unsoldier-like conSuqt on the morning of the 28th instant, in dismounting without leave, when 'ta^^ing his lessons in the riding, school, and absolutely refusing to remoufll his horse when ordered to do so." ^ '''., "'* ■ When the officers had assembled, I was sent for. TKe corporal of the guard placed me between two privates.' We marched in that position to the officers' mess-room. A table stood in tlie centre of the room. The president sat at one end, the four officers sat two on each side, dressed in full regimentals; and I waB placed and stood at the other end. The corporal and one of the guard withdrew. The other man stood, with his carbine (a shortgun) at the position of "carry," by my side, as sentry over me. His name was Thomas Scott. I summoned him to the Court of Inquiry to prove that the official minutes of the court did not report all the proceedings. He was an unwilling witness. It was dangerous for him, or for any of my witnesses, to give evidence in my favour f but he established most of my allegations of un&irness on the part of the officers who interfered with my questions to the witnesses for the prosecution, — the questions to Sergeant Glen, the rough-rider, in par- ticular. Thomas Scott's evidence also proved that the official minutes of the court were only a partial report of the proceedings before it. The Court of Inquiry, in its report to Parliament, overlooked this important fact. It censured the conduct of Major Wyndham, and he was repri^ manded accordingly ; but it should have censured the officers composing ... ,f. OF A DILiaXifT LIfK. }]» the oourt-inartial. Here is tlieir official report. The order upon which it was formed, the names of the officers, and the crime, are ahready quoted: — " The prisoner having been asked by the president whether he objects to any member of the court ? answers : " That' he objects to Cornet Macquarrie, as being a mindr. [The word minor not correctly reported : see the remarks.] " The objection of the prisoner is overruled by the members of the court., " The prisoner pleads ^ilty to the charge. • " First evidence. " Lieutenant and riding-master Gillies, being duly sworn, states to the court, — ~ r "" '• That the prisoner, on themorningof the 26th inst.,when taking his lesson in the riding-school, turned in out of the ride and threw himself from his horse. Evidence asked him his reason for so doing. He, pri- soner, told evidence, * Because he could not ride the horse.' He, evidence, told him it was his duty to teach him to ride his ho^ge; and he, evidence, ordered him to mount the horse againj which the prisoner refused to do. Evidence then sent for the corporal and* a file of the guard to take the prisoner to confinement ; and, on their arrival, evidence again ordered the prisoner to remount his horse, which he again refused. . " Second evidence. " Sergeant John Glen, beipg duly swcu-n, states to the court, — ".That on the morning of the 28th inst. he was in the riding-school, in the same ride with the prisoner. Evidence saw the prisoner ^urn out of the ride and dismount his horse, without receiving any order from the riding-niaster to do so. The riding-master went up and asked him why he did so. But^ evidence did not hear the reply. The riding-master then ordered him to mount again, which he did not do." " Question hy the prisoner : Did you or did you not hear my answer ? ~ ' Answer : I did not hear it. " Was youi' impression, when you sa>, me dismount, that of thinking mo disobeying orders, or because I could not ride the horse ? V " Answer : I did not Ibrm an opinion, being in front of the ride. [See Scott's evidence."] • , " Question % % court : Upon hearing tlie riding-master order vthe prisoner to remount, what then was your impression as to the prisoner's conduct? — " Amwer: I t h ought he wag disob e ying order s . — ^ 120 soinmviLLx's book I " Queatton by the court: Did you ever before see a soldier refuse to ramount when ordered f <■ % "Answer : Yes I have; but the man was punished for it. '* Third evidence. ** Corporal Adam MoClure, being duly sworn, states to the court,— " That on .the 28th inst. he was corporal of the barrack guard, when one of the men came to the guard-room and -desired evidence to take a- file of the guard to the riding-school, which he did. Evidence, upon going to the riding-school, saw the prisoner standing near his horse. The riding-master said, in presence of evidence, that he would give him (the prison.er) another chance, and asked him to mount the horse. The pri- soner said, ' No ' ; evidence then took him to the gUard-house. " Question by the court: Did the man appear to have been drinking ? " Answer : No." ■ ■ t Defmoe, " The prosecution being here closed, the prisoner b put upon his de- fence, who states to the court that the horse which he was riding was one upon which he never was before; and being unqualified to sitsteady upon the horse, the prisoner found it to give way to the reins frequently, which he could not keep easy." > Opinion,' " The court, having duly considered the evidence against the prisoner, are ipf opinion that he is guilty of the crime laid to his charge." Character, " The prisoner calls upon Lieutenant Gillies, who, being duly sworn, states, in answer' to the prisoner's question as to his general character in the riding-school, that until the present time he has considered the pri- soner attentive to his drills. " The prisoner further calls upon Sergeant (Jlen to speak to his general « character, who, being duly sworn, states that he never before saw him refuse to obey any orders. " Question hy the prisoner : Do you consider that I was as attentive in the riding-school as the other recruits ? ' " Answer: I consider you to have been so." SenteMX, " The court' having found the prisoner guilty of the crime laid to his charge, the same being in breach of the Articles of War, do, by virtue thereof, sentence him, the prisoner, Alexander Somerville, to receive two hundred la s he s , in the usu a l manner of the r e giment, at such time a nd — \' ^ ft or A DiLiaiNT Lira. 121 ^ place as the commanding oflBcer may think fit.— M. J. Fawcett, president. Approved, C. Wyndham, M^or, opmmamling Second Dragoons." These are the official minutes. They do not set forth all the prooeed- iigs of the court. I here offer a few remarks upon what they omit. My dbjection to Cornet Macquarrie was not that he was a " minor "; but fhatiie was " too young," being under eighteen years of age, as I and mbst of :the men in the regiment at that time believed ; and because he was only learning to ride in Uio school himself; also, that this was the first court-martial that he had been upon, and he could have no expe- rience. Much sensation and unhappy feeling had prevailed in the regi- ment before I entered it, and still prevailed, ariwng from an order, issued by the Duke of Wellington, which cut off all the years and months from the service of those who had entered the regjment at any age below eigh- teen. In the time of the war many youths of sixteen entered the service ; some of whom where now old soldiers, and found, by the Duke's ordej-, that two years were to be subtrajcted from that period of service which entitled them to pensions. The order had declared it illegal for any man to be a soldier under the age of eighteen. The Duke had more disrespect- ful words spoken. of him in the regiment for this capricious regulation, than I had heard spoken against him in civil life for his declaration against reform in all its shapes. The men used to point to Cornet lijao- quarrie and say, " There is a boy who gets into the regiment because he is the son of a general, and exercises all the privileges of an officer, though under the age declared to be legal " ; and several of them had said in my hearing, in the guard-house, on the day the court was held, that if they were in my place, and about to go before a court martial, they would object to him sitting upon it. ,-'' But I r^etted having made the objection, almost as soon as it was made. He was not likely to be friendly to me, or even fair, in the court, aft« I had objected to him. Nor was it of any importance to me whether he was above oir under eighteen years of age : that question warf not in- volved in my case, as it might have been in the case of an old soldier who had lost some years of service by having entered the raiment too young. , ' The question to Sergeant Glen, "Did you, or did you not, hear my answer ?" is reported as the first question put by me to him. If it had been the first, the form of it would have indicated a presumptuous style of examination on niy part, which not even the officers accused me of. It was a question several times repeated. I knew that Sergeant Glen did hear my answer, which was, " I cannot manage the horse." He made no i ..■ isa reply before the courtrmartial, until I repeated the question several times, .\ ■' ■ ' -I ■■ ' ■. ■ 122 iOMERVILLl'fl BOOK ■eemin^y beoanso he did not know whether any reply ahoiftd be made to a question of mine, or, if any, what reply would bo aooeptable to th« court. [Note in 1859.— Sergeant Glen, after reading this account in my Atitobiography, stated it was correct. He hesitated to say anything favourable before the oourt-mjartial.] Again, when I put this question, *' Was your impression, when you i|Kwr me dismount, that of thinking me disobeying orders, or because I -could not ride the horse?" the* sergeant stood silent for a oonsidcrable time. He l(new well that I had been tieated as no Boldier,,^ung or old, hkd been ; and that the horse had been driven \/o madness. Conscion- / tiously he could not answer th&t question agai nst me ; - but he had twenf^y^sis years of service and was about to be discharged upon a pension, and cottld not afford to give an answer in my favour. I put several other questions to him, to elicit evidence upon the extraordinary conduct of the riding- master, but he did not answer them. The president, Captain Fawcett, interfered, and, addressing me angrily, said he could not sit there to hear such questions asked by a prisoner^ 1 Captain Clarke said he thought the prisoner had a right to put any questions to the witness which he might think useful to his defence. Lieutenant Somerville, perhaps because he thought I was a discredit to the^ name, sneered, and, mocking my broad Scotch dialect, repeated the questions after me, and, without giving the sergeant titde to.affswer them, said, in the same sneering tone, '|What a" mighty lawyer you are !" (he was an Irishman) ; and then resuming his natural voice, with a seyere tone of military dignity in it, said, "But you will find it is of no use to "be a lawyer here." The youthful Comet Mac- quarrie kughed, and had his sneer also. The only dignified officers, who behaved as such, and as gentlemen, were Capl^n Clarke and Cornet Furlong. Sergeant Glen at last answered my question in these words : " I did not fonnjin opinion, -being in front of the ride." Whereupon Captain Fawcett said, pettishly, " You have made a great deal by that question I " Non«Cof these remarks appeared in the minutes of the proceedings of the eourt-mai^tial. Here is an extract from the minutes of the Court of inquiry referring to this : — " Weedon Barracks, July 26th, 1832.— Private Thomas Soott" examined. • . • . . . " By Trivate Somerville : Were you present at the court-martial held 6n me, on tl^e 29th of May last, in the barracks at Birmingham ? I was. * " Do you remember that Captain Fawcett was president of that oourt- martiaT? Yes, he was. *' "- • * " By th e Judge Advocat e : How c a me it that you were pres e nt at that eouTi . ?€ *-_ or A DniGINT LIf 1. Its / I .Mjf Private Somtrvilh :'^ Do you remember Captain Fawoett having made any obseryation on any question put by me to the witnosa ? Yea. " State what it wu. (This was repeated by the*court, to whom Sooti answered) : ' When Somerville asked Sergeant Glen what impression it made upon him when he turned out of the ride, I cannot tell what Sergeant Glen said ; he was some time before he answered it. The ques- tion was answered. Captain Fawoett saiil, * You have madeagregt deal by that question I "' ' This answer ocoasioned looks of surprise in the Court of Inquiry. The looks seemed to interfere with Thomaa Scott's memory ; though they might not" have been so intended. His answer caused a sensation on ono aide of the table, where it was not expoctoB j and he seemed ai'terwards to bo afraid of renewing the sensation, for he took a long while to answer the subsequent questions. He answered some of them, however, and I q^uote a' few more. The answers printed in italictaxQ worth notice. " What else passed? I cannoi exactly recollect : it is a long time sincq. I cannot say whether it was, * You have made,' or, 'you have not made ' ; I cannot say which was the expression. " Do you remember Captain Fawcett saying that he did not sit ther* to hear such questions put ? No ; / cannot any that I do. "Do you remember Captain Clarke making any observation on the questions put by me to any witness ? Yes ; he told the prisoner he wa» allowed to put any questions he thought proper, through the court. *^ " What occasioned Captain Clarke Ao tell me I had a right to put vnj questions I thought proper ? That is a question I cannot answer. " Was it an observation of Captain Fawcett that occasioned the re- mark of Captain Clarke ? Yes, it was at the time that Captain Fmcett told you that you had made a "great deal by that question, that Captain Clarke spoke to you.' ' ^ ** Did Lieutenant Somerville make any observation on any question I put to the witness ? I cannot say ; if he. did, I do not remember it. f " Cross-examined by Major Wywdham: Had Sergeant Glen com- pleted his evidence previoiui to Private Sometville putting the questioa / which produced the observation of Captain Fawoett ? He had answered the que|||bion. c. " By the Court : Hai^ Sergeant (Jlin said all he had to say before thi» question was put ?. I cannot exactly say whether he had or not. " Was he done speaking ? Be was done speaking. ■"''.' The object of these questions put to Thomas Scott Was to make it appear that I bad interrupted Sergeant Glen in his evidence before thg oourtr-martial, and t^t therefore the president interfered with me. Thi» r #1 124 \ •OMlEVILLl'l BOOK was not the case. I put no qnestion to Sergeant Qlen until I wa« told by the president, that if I had a question to put to the witness I might then do so. Thomas Soott excused himself from reoolleoting some of the answers which he should have given on the inquiry, by saying that so many things were said "at the court-martial he could not remember them all ; that " Somerville was talking to them almost all the time he was in.". Whereupon there came the following questions ; — y " % Major Wyndham : How did ho conduct himself during the trial ? I cannot answer that question ; I do not undeil^tand it. " By the Court ■: How did he behave in the room ? Was he proper and respectful, as a soldier should be under the oircumstanoca of being before a court-martial ? I never was in any oourt-martial before this. " By Private Somerville: Did Captain Clarke say that I had a right U> put what questions I thought proper, immediately after the observa- tion of Captain Fawoett ? He did. " By the Court : You have said that Somerville spoke nearly the Whole time of his trial. To whom did ho speak ? and was it in,B loud tone, or otherwise ? He spoke to the members of the court. " Was it in a loud tone, or what manner, or respectful ? Fea, / think . respectful. " Do you reraejnber any-of the remarks he made to the court ? I do not remember thetchdow." / The manner was respectful,- ;»:> ^^ ■?: IM lOMBlTILLl'l BOOK thtt, though it WM oonkwry to ordtn, th«y w«w not to Me what Charley Huntfir did. AooordinKly, Hunter got the key of the UaAk-holo, opened the door, entered, and, Uking a bottki^hich waa hidden about hia olothoa, told mo that it oonUined half-a-pint of rum, andjto drink it all : I should probably huvo need of it at the parade in the riding-aohool. I, aaked what ho mount? He aaid aome of the meh in my room had put penc« together to buy the rum for me. " But wh»l^do you mean by offering me rum ? You have not seen me drink fiow. of any kind : why do you aak mo to drink that rum ?" " I do not k|j#"^that you may require it," he replied ; " but I adviao you to drink it. i'aaw old Owen (the acrgeant of the band) go aoroHB tlie barraok-yard a short while ainoo to the riding- school, with the green Intg in his hand. Perhapa th6y only want to frighten you ; I daro nay they won't do more than tie you up; but you know the green hfig means something.'' . " What doea it meap ?" I asked* " Do you infer from seeing it that.|M|^oaU wore in it, and that I am to bo flogged?" "Mot flogged, pAps;;' he replied; "but they will try to frighten you. Drink this, and he plucky." " Not a drop," aaid I. " If they flog me for that ohargp of diitobedience in the riding-school, I need no rum to stistain me: I shall have 8tE(^)gth cne^ugh to bear it." "But do ; como, drink : it is a common thing. All soldiers try to .tlo th^is for one another. I have known men to drink i pint of rum, and go and take their punishment like men." " Not one drop for. me," said I firmly, " But you will require it when you can't get it," " I sbalj not require it.'" " But I have known mon to ring out dreadfully when punished. If they had got enough of rum, it would have supported them, and they would not have sung out." " Not one drop for mo, Charley Hunter. I shall not sing out, I promise you, if they cut me to pieces ; but if they do lay a lash on my back, they will hear of it again. Take away that rum: I shall not drink it; no, nor the half of it, nor a drop of it; I shall not touch it. | .. Charley replied to this, " Well, there's no use losing it : if you won't drink it, I know who will." He took some himself, and gave the remainder to one of the men on guard standing by, and who had promised not to see what was done. ' I heard the warning trumpet sound ; and soon after the trumpet for parade sounded the "turn out." A few streaks of light entered by the •chinks in the door of the black hole : I could see nothing more of the outward world. | heard the band play, and knew by the sound tha^ the troops were marching. By the music of the march, I knew when they reached the riding-sohool. When the music ceased, I wait- ed anxiously for the door of the black-hole to open. The key rattled lia tlie lock ; it opene4. Two b£ the guard entered, laid hold of me, one on or A »ILiaiJIT LIVB. xti «Mk ride, end led me ovt. I told them they need not Ujr lK>ld of me : I would go quictlj. All the men of (he guard mvo Uioae on mmirj were formed at the blnok-holo door. I win {)1hc<>(1 in the cttntroof thrm. The regiuiontul MirKuunt-iiiigor gavu thu ooniniiuid " Quick niaruh," and we ■teppitd off. The largo fotding-doora of the riding-iwhool woro thrown open, and, when wo entered, were oloaed behind ua. The regiment wui formed four deep round tite wallM, fuoing inwarda. We prooeodcd to one end of tlie achooL The oommamiing offieer then gave the command to then^imont," Attention," and immediately after " Draw Hworda," t^pon whioh the regiment drew Hwordti, bringing them to the poaition of " carry," each man'a aword upright a few inolteff in fWmt of hb ahouldcr. The ofiiciirH hUmmI in an oblong Rpoce within the linea of men. Thu rt^gimen* tal aurgeon wad alao there, the hoapital iiergeant, and two hoi{>ltal orderliei. The sergeant of the band.atood with the grttn btig, and Kiurt-ier HimpHon and a trumpeter each atoiHl with a nine-tailed whip, vulgarly calleibvr, gave the command^ 1^" Farrier Hiinpaon, you will do your duty." The manner of doing that duty ia to«wing the {^cat" twice round the head, give a atroke, draw the taila of the "cat" through the fingera of the left hand, U) rid them of akin, or fleah, or blood ; again awing the inatrumeut twice round the head alowly, aiid oome on, and ao forth. Simplon took the " cat " aa ordered,— at leaat I believe ao: I did not see him, but I f^lt an aatounding aenaation between the ahouldera, under my neck, which went to my toe-nails in one diroetiotr, my fiogor-nuila in another, and atung mo to the heart aa if a knife had gone through my body. The aergeant-major called in a loud voice, " One." I felt aa if it would be kind of Simpson not to atfike mo on the aame place(again. He came on a aecond time a few inehca lower, and then I thought the former stroke woa sweet and agreeable compared with that one. The aergeantrmajor . counts " Two." Again the " out " wa« awung twice round the furrier's head, and he came on somewhere about tho right shouldcr-blude, arid the loud voice of the reckoner said " Three." The shoulder-^lade waa as sensitive os any other part of tlie body ; and when he came again on the left shoulder, and the voice cried " Four" I felt my flesh quiver in every nerve from the scalp of my head to the end of my toess. The time between each stroko seemed so long as to be agonising, and yet the next caate too soon. It was lower down, and felt to be the severest. The word " Five " made me betake myself to mental arithmetic : this, thought I, is only tho fortieth part oi^what I am to g e t. — "Six" follo w ed; and so on, up to " tweniy-Jixc" The sergcant-mnjor then said " Halt I " ' or A DlUaiMT UWM. in Rimpiion ■tood baok, and • young truiiipnttfr, who h»4»>i»gK«I befora, took bin onl and l)«|n">- He bad praotiaed oft«n at a atablivpuat^ or at a aaok of iiawduat, and could bandin tho inatnUnnnt a« aoinntifloally aa any one. llo guva mo aomo drnadt'ul outa about tbo riba, finit on on« aidfl and tbun on th« otb«r. Home on»—I do not know whom — bade bim hit bigber up. He then gavo tbom upon tbo bliatornd and awollen plaooa, whore Himpaon bad boon praotiaing. Tbo |)ain in my lunga waa now more novoro, I thought, than on my baok. I folt aa if I would bunit in tbo inturnal |>arta of my body. I oould have oriod out ; and, I doubt not, would have takun Iokh barm from tbo puniabuiunt bad that J\rmne$» which pbronologiittM miy ia atrongly dovoJopod in my oraniam, permitted ma to Imak my reaolution. t bad roaotvod that I wimld^ die boforo I would utter a tiomplaint or a groan. I dotootod myitolf onoo giving anmo- thing like a groan, and, Ui provmit ita uttentnoe again, I put nty txingue botwuon my tootli, bold it tburo, and bit it ijnioat in two pivooa. What with the blood from my tonguo, and my lipH,'wbiob I had alao bitten, and tho blood from my lunga or aonte other internal part ruptured by the writlfhig agony, I wum ulmoHt oliokod, and boeamo black in tbo fhoo. , Tbo boapitttl-florgoant, aoeing thiH, brought tho baain of water and p^t , it to my lipi^. I indignantly withdrew my head ; and thcf rovulnion, or change of fooling, Homuwbut rcliovcd mo. It now booamo SimpHon'a aeoond turn to'givo twonty-fivo. Only fifty; had boon infliotod^ and tho time ainco they b^an waa liko a long period of life : I folt aa if I had lived all tho time of my real life in pain and torture, and that tho time when exiatonoo had a ploaauro in it waa • dream, long, long gone by, Simpaon got up among tbo old aorea. Thik Btrokea wore not so abaiirp aa at firnt : thoy wore liko blowa of heavy Woighta, but wore more painful than tho frcHb ones. It was now thot be-^ probably more inolincd to remember that ho waa my friend than a farridr —Waa commanded, in a loud voioo, in thoHo words, formerly quoted : " Farrier 8impaon, do your duty I" He travelled downwards, and came on heavier than before, but, aa I thought, alowor. -It soemod a weary slowness for the sorgeant-major to bo only counting tho fifteenth and Biztcenth of the third iwenty-five. I then uttered the only words whicn I spoko during the whole time, namely, '^ Come quicker on, Simpson, and let it be done : you are very slow." The poor fellow was, slow from aversion to tho task. I do not know if lie gavo tho strokes more quickly : they all seemed to last too long. When the youngster had reached, or nearly, his second twenty-five, I felt as if I could yield, and bog forgiveness ; but the next moment the coward thought was rebuked within me, and banished. " Not from them," said I, mentally, '' shall I b^ forgiveness, " but I prayed to God 1! » ' . Ms;, ,J.;dtt.'- / €'i 180 SOMUlVILLB'a «00K (0 fiiit it into their minds to stop^ and pardon me the remainder. When this five-and-twenty was completed, whioh made a hundred, the command- ing officer said, " Stop I take him down : he is a young soldier." I was then unbound. One of the wet towels was spread upon my back, my.jfioket laid loosely over the towel, and I was led to the hospital between two men. There, a cloth, dipped in a Itftion of some kind, was putoverr my skin, and I was laid down on my back. It soon became so stiff, that to rise seemed as impossible as to rise with the weight of a ton fastened to me. I felt as if dragged down by tons of heaviness. When f]f§|h lotjpos were put to my back, two orderlies came, one on each sidej^ asli^, lifted^ me by the arms. ■ " iJhe 6nly remark I niade about the punishment, was on entering the ward where I was to lie. Some of the patients expressed sympathy for me ; and I said, " This shall be heard of yet : I shall make it as public over Britain as newspapers can make it." I said no more ; but the patients were carried to the Court of Inquiry, fifty miles, to prove that I had^ " used threats " on entering the hospital. You ^ill remember the crime for which I was tried, which referred to the riding-school, and that only. Here is Major Wyndham's own state-^ ment of what he said to the regiment, as soon as I was removed':— " As far as I can recollect, I said — ' Men, you are here assembled ; I have a circumstance to mention to you, relating to us all.' I think, I - said — M have discovered at last the man who wrote the letter,' I think I said — * I j^m happy for it, because the odium cannot faU on any other person.' I think I went on to say — * I rcgMted it very much, And I am sorry to see anybody write in the newspapers, or publish a libel iOn the regiment, and particularly so young a soldier as the man just ypunidied.' ' " rthen went on to say, that I had b€^ written to on the subject pf the state of the r^ment, as mhch had been said about the political unions, and our having joined them ; and I wrote babk in return, that they would ever find the Greys steady and firm like rocks; and I remember bringing back to their recollection, two winters ago, when I had them in London, when we were up ihree nights in the riding-shod ; I brought back to their recollection a circumstance that was asked me there, and I said, * the Greys would be ever firm and would do their duty,' and so forth." ; X The report of soldiers who took special notice of what the major said, some of whom I summoned to the inquiry, was, that the major b^n with the word: " Men, I am happy to inform you that I have found out the writer of the letter, and you have just seen him, punished." After the major's own statement, it was not deemed desirable to subject these \f^ s. or A BiLiacMT tm. 18t ■^ ^ Ki;^ witnesses to the hazard of giving evidence in my behalf: he had admitted "^ nearly all whioh I sought to prove. ' - Bnmy here add the testimony which Major Wyndham'bore, both to J my general character and riding qualities, before^ the Court of Inquiry :— " He had not been complained of before this circumstance. He had been well spoken of before this." Apd again : " I always heard from the ridingi-master that he was doing very well." And again, to the court ; " Had you seen him ride before the 28th ?'* " Several times." , " What did you think of his riding ?" " I thought he rode very well 4br a man of his figure, for the short time he had been learning." • [The passages from Major Wyndham's statement are extracted from the official Beport of the Court^of Inquiry, made to the Horse Guards, and presented to Parliament by order "of His Majesty William IV.; a copy of» which may be seen in the Library of the British Museum, in London, under the head of Parliamentary Papers, 1832.3 '-r 132 SOMKBVILLiB'g BOOK CHAPTER XIII. Discharged from Hospital. The sensation. The public first hear of my punishment. From the evidence of the hospital-sergeant tefote the Court of In- quiry, which I shall here quote, it will be seen that I was only six days in the hospital ; that I went out as cured, and fitibr duty ; and that he endeavoured to make it appear that I had been but very slightly punished. I had a purpose to serve by escaping from the hospital as soon as possi- ble. While there, I could not communicate with the public or with any friend, being closely watched ; ftnd I had resolved that my punishment should be made known as soon as I could publish it. At the same time, it wa» desirable, on the part of those who had caused its infliction, that ; I should be as short a time in the hospital as possible, that it might seem j j^ to be a light punishment ; for already, though^unknown to me, ther^.' were disagreeable rumours about it circulating in Birmingham. But I was neither cured nor sent to duty. I was not ordered or permitted to mount a horse, ^he evidence of the sergeant was given on the 26th of ' July, when the punishment, inflicted on me on the 29tli of May, had become the subject of Parliamentary discussion on more than one occasion, and of newspaper discussion every- day in all parts of the kingdom. It now assumed a serious aspect for the credit of the regi- mental commanding-officer, and the court-martial. This may account for the hospital-sergeant end'eavj^ring to make it appear to have beefa a light punishment. I was not Iso much cut and mangled as some soldiers have been by the same number of lashes. But six knots on each tail nine tails to the " c&t," give fifty-four wounds at each stroke, which, again multiplied by one hundred strokes, give five thousand four hundred ' wounds, produced by the sharp blows of hard kn6ts. -The persons who , wield the instrument of punishment are tayght by long practice, at inammate substances, to wield it so that each knot shall " tell." I be- lief it is quite correct to say, that those who bjeed freely suffer least pain, and run the least danger of losing their lives. Here is the witness •from the hospital, produced by Major Wyndham and cross-examined by me. 26th July, 1832. Sergeant William" Sykes, hospital-sergeant of the Scots Greys, was called in^ and after the usual caution from the Judge- Vj ^ t' OP A DILIOKNT LITX. 133 ) Advocate, wall examined as follows." ,(The caution was not to divtilge anything which occurred in the court.) r~ *^ By the Court : How long have yon been in the service ? About twenty-six years. N^ , " By Major Wyndham : Did you receive Private Somerville into the hospital, on the 29th May, after be had received his punishment ? Yes. ** Describe the appearance of his back. I considered- that he was . very slightly punished. , " Was there much laceration, and did he bleed ? He bled a little in one place; but there was very little laceration to what I have seen. " Did you dress his back ; and with what ? I dressed it with goulard water: that was the first cloth put on his back when he oame into the hospital. " Waa there; or not, any blood to be seen, exoept from the first cloth? None that I saw. ^•* " When was he discharged from the hospital as fit for his duty ? On the 4th of June, about two o'clock in the day. "How many days was that after he oame in ? He was six days in the hospital; because he came in on the 29th, between foUr and five o'clock, and was discharged on the 4th of June. " Has he since been in the hospital at Birmingham ? Noi at Birming^ ^ ham: at Coventry he was, as I have heard. " Cross-examined by Private Somerville .• Have you been medically educated ? and have you had opportunities of frequently witnessing the consequence of military flogging ? No, I have not been medic^y edu- . 'cated : I have seen several instances of military flbgging. " Is it not g^inerally expected that the parties who are appointed to administer the lash in such cases, will do their du^y ? Yes, certainly, "Do you believe that the parties appointed to that duty in my case, failed at all in the el^ution of the duty they^ had to perform? I could ^4 not answer that. " Was there any indication, fi:om the appearance of the back" that one hundred lashes had been inflicted ? By the apjpearance of the back, I would suppose it had not been 80. " Then can you undertake to say, from the Appearance of the back, that one hundred lashes were not inflicted ? No, I could not say that. "From your experience in sndh oases, how jnany ordinary military' lashds would have prodced the effects you saw ? I have seen fifty pro> duce such an effect. — ** If yon have soon fifty produce gncli an e ff c ot,^ do yot i ^ *M a militory T -e^^ \ J -'If til : '-'4 I '■■|i }U BOMBRVULl'a BOOK man, believe that the persons appointed to punish mtf did their duty ? loouldnot say. - ■ " " If you have seen fifty lashes produce the effects which, in my case, i»ere produced by one hundred, do you believe that the persons adminis- tering the fifty lashes, which produced the same effect, exceeded their duty? I could not say. ^ " Do. you know or believe that the persons who punished me have been accused of neglecting, their duty V No. ' /, " Describe the width and depth of the effects (Jf the punishment which I received ? 1 could npt exactly describe that. It was on both of the shoulders. I could not exactly describe the width. " Describe it as near as you can. Ten or twelve inches, frofli one ' side to the other. ' It was on the shoulders chiefly. " How often did you remove the cloth from my back, yourself? Once or twice myself,— I could not exactly say the number of times. When the doctor came round in the morning, I generally moved it off, and put Another on. " ^hen why did you say there was blood only 6n the first cloth ? Be- cause the first lotion which vraa made, I emptied it from the vessel it wbs in, and there was no stain pf blood in the vessel. ^ " By the Judge- Advocate : JCan you tell whether the same amount of, punishment produces different effects upon different subjeots 7. 1 hs(ve seen one man get the same juupunt as another, and not appoar'to be so much hurt. Some men's skins are n\ore tender than others' : to the best of my judgment, that is the cause. " Po you mean% say, that If a given number of lashes be inflicted in different instances, with the same severity, yet in some cases the effect may be moi^e perceptible than in otherfi? That isVhat I mean. ' " Is it possible, from the appearano^'of the back, to judge with any ^ d^ee of .precision how many lashes ibay have been inflicted ? I could not judge myself. / , ''Have ^ou seen many cases iA wttich the infliction of ,one hundred . lashes has produced more visible effeets than in this instance ? I do not remember any case in which one hundred. wei% given. ^ "How long Have yo^ V^a. hospital-sergeant? Six years hospital- sergeapt; five years corporal in the hospital, before that. (The nfttness. was directed to withdraw*) _^^ " It was here stated^to the court by Private Somerville, 'that it was his H wish that it should be recorded on the "minutes of this Inquiry, that he did not go into tbe- hospital at Coventry in consequence of the effects of his foilitary punie^ent at Birmingham; neither had he. ever said to , ani^pe^eon, that his going into 4 Of A DaiacNT ttn. 136 ■s.. ^ " My object in stating this to the court, was to free mysel:^ from the imputation of being the author of all the reports which appeared in the newspapers about me. The assistant surgeon, attended by some of- the prinoipal medical gentlemen (^ Coventry, came and looked at me, and asked some questions while I was in the hospital there, for the purpose of disproving the newspaper reports. As several days of the sittings of the court had been occupied in re- ceiving evidence to rebut newspaper rumours which I had not authorised nor originated, but for which I wa»held liable, and which were continually renewed and repeated, though I b^od and implored the conductors of those papers to refrain from making such statements, I was desirous- of freeing myself from the responsilibity of them, aa far as I could. More- over, at that time I did iiot believe that my ailments in the Coventry hospital were a consequence of the punishment; but I have since had good reason for changing that opinion. I find the following evidence, on this point of the case, in the minutes of the Court of Inquiry : — " 26th July, 1832. Alexander Stewart, assistant-surgeon to the Scots Greys, was then called in, arid, hnvlng received a similar caution to the other witnesses by the judge- advocate, was exaniiued, as follows, by Major Wyndhaiu : — "How long have you been absistant-burgeon to tHe Scots Greys? About elevep yearis. ' , "Are y6u npw in the hospital at Coventry? Yes, I am stationed at- Coventry. < .' " Have you been so during the last twcr months ? Yes. > " Was Private Somerville admitted' into the hospital at Coventry at 'any time since the 4th of June ? Yes, he was, — on the 28t'h of June. " Was he admitted into the hospital at Coventry with any complaint conneoted with any corporal punishment he had received ? No. • " When Was he discharged from thehospital ? He was discharged the 8th of July ; and he was seen on the 10th, 'an^ was excused from a certain duty, — ^riding duty, for instance". - " You ar¥quite sure it was not at all connected with his punishment ? Certainly not. " What wftf the matter with Private Somerville? , Boils." , I did not then believe thai m^ j^ness — an «ruption~of very extraordi- nary boils on my back, beneatU' the place punished — arose from the punishihent ; uid Mr. Stewart, I doubt ^ot, gave .his opinion conscien- tiously. But, since the year 1832, 1 have had opportunities of fltudyimg the question,' ^particularly m Spain, and now btelieve, that, in almost ^ 136 BOMlRVIbLl'l BOOK / 4 ^ Hhg) violence to the mtiBovlar or nervous system, or to both^ or to oome ■ quality of the body whic^ ia a mystery to an unprofessional person like me, and probably so to the pf^fessliOn, causes* a disjeased^ state of the fluids of the body ; which diseas^ takes an inward direction, in somencases settling on the lungs, or bther internal ofgan, enfeebling, and ultimately, destroying the life of, the patient \ or it takes an outward direbtion, as in my ease, breaking through the skin in boils, thereby saving the life of 'the patient ' '' " I was discharged from the hospital at Birmingham on the 4th o^ Jun6, at two o'clock; I felt excessively weak in body, and somewhat agitated in .mind. I proceeded to the troop sergeant-major, and obtained the arrearof pay which h(^d accumulated^ while I was a prisoner and a patient; and from him went to the regimental sei^eantrmajor and obtained leave to go out of barracks. I walked up ColeshiH Street, towards the Bull 'Ring. In a narrow passage oppoi^te the end of New Street there' was a quietrlooking tavern, which I entered, and,' sitting down, asked the land- lord to be allowed to write a Ifetler. There Vere several people seated over their pipes, ale, and politics ; and tliey, observing that I did not cjdl for any liquor, offered their pcrts, with that frankness which is so peculiarly a characteristic of the inhabitants of Birmingham. " Come, soldier, drink 1 " said one ; " Drink with me,*' said another. I declined ; told them I had been ill,"" was not entirely recovered, and must not pai' take of strong liquo'rs. They allowed me to finish the letter wjthounfbrittier remark. While I folded it) the landlord said, "What about that^ldier that was flogged a week agD?" I replied that I could hardly tell Nvhat about him. "That is a strange thing," said he, addressing the people who sat aroun^,: . " I have inquired of several of the dragoons about this. case. of flogging, and not one will give an answer. T^iere is something about it they don't wish to be known. .1 cannot even learn what the crime was thstt the man committed. [Addressing me.] CajmOt you tell what, the man was * flogged for ? " I replied, " No : I believ? there will be some diflficulty in knowing what he was flowed for." I rose to get a light to Bealiny letter, from a candle which stood on the mantel-shelf for lighting pipes. While alioujb to apply the wax to the candle, I observed a small piece of printed paper placed in a glared frame. Jt w^s the passage of my letter, cut from the newspaper in which it had been inserted. " Aye ! "exclaim- ed one of the parsons present, *' read that, there is a soldier for you I - That man would not be afraid to tell us about his comrade that hds been flogged. The half of you soWiers are such mean-«pirited tools of your offioftrs, yon are afraid to speak." "Perhaps yotf would not speak so 1- z'. offioftrs, yon are atraifl to gpeafc. " " rernaps you woum not ttyv^^ wi fast," said I, "were you a sOldie^, and subject to the consequences of .' • / - V or A DILIOINT Liri. 137 1 /*. speaking.'* '« Would I not ? " he returned : " were I a soldier, no com- rade of miiie should be flog^d. I would run my swOrd through the first man, no matter what his rank, who offered to lay a lash on any comrade of mine." . " But what if they laid it on yourtelf ? " ". .The man is' not born who dare lay a lash on me," 4ie replied ; and to the same effect the others joihed with him. I had not sealed the letter while this oonyersation proceeded, as I wished to see what turn it would take. The speakers were all too vehe- mient and boisterous about their heroism for me to trust them with my secret, except the landlord, who seemed more reasonake and calm.. I called him aside, went to another apartment, and, unfolding the letter, asked him to read it. H'e took it; started with astonishment, trembled,' M he read ; took me by the band, and said, «< I see it all \ Great heavens, is it possible ! My dear fellow, sit down ; pray sit down. You will have justicerdone to you in Birmifighan). By the just God of heaven, I do not know the people of Birmingham if you do not get speedy and ample redress I Sitdown, my poor, unfortunate men. Tell me the first thing that I can do for you : everything, anything, is at your service ! ". I was overpowered by this outgushing of kindness. The firmness with which I had taken the punishment, and the sense of wrong which had sustained that, firmness, had not left me at any time, night or day, until now. I gave way, sat down, and was a child, trithout the power of speech. He sat down with me, and was like myself. a There is no tavern now at that place, nor do I now remember his'name, I had no opportunity of calling there after that day, the 4th of June until the month of October. Unfortunate in business, he had left tke house before that time, and I have never been able to find him. [After the first edition, 1 discovered his brother in Manchester. The name wa& Cooper.] ■' '' . ^ ■ He saw from the letter that it was to go to London, to the newspaper in which the extract had appeared which led io the punishment. He Suggested that it should be shownto the editor of the Birmingham Jmr- nal He carried it to Mr. Lewis, who "stopped the press," and gave a brief notice of the case ; and then forwarded the letter to London. The notice of it, from the Birmingham Journal, was reprinted in the Edin- burgh paper, in which my brother James saw it first; and I believe his eyes were troubled when it came before him. The late Mr. Samuel Smith, of London, editor of the pape^ to which I addressed the letter, caused the matter to be brought befoi* the House of Commons, by Mr. Joseph Hume. Through those. chVnnels, it soon led to an amount of excitement, exceedingly disagreeable and danRerouH in its r 1B8 BOMIRTILLX'S BOOK ^ officers when they a-ppoarcd in puhlio; and the newspapers, fVom theij BirfJiingham corrcspondontB, publwhed report*, few of them authori»^v by uio ; most of them exaggerated, some of them unfounded, but Ml them thai I waa stiU a soldier, with d*ily duty to perform, and not pow«esed of an office and an assistant clerk, tp reply to twenty, forty, ,w4 sometimes fifty letters^ woejved in a day. I had comparatively few letters from gtoot l and, wh i c h prob a bly led me to tak e th e more notic e of \ one Of two wfeioh came from strangers there. One of ttiese, from a {wratw 140 gOMIRVlLLt'S '- BOOK named Craig, in the vicinity ^f Airdrio, «t«t«d, that it wa« written on behalf of himBclf and a nuniUr of frfcndti, who were deairoua of Imowitig all the facta of my cane ; that I need not fear to give him every particular, .^ a« no improper use would Vmj made of the communication.l^Being in the hospital when I got that letter, I had time to answer it in deUil. I aUted some matters which, though all true, I would not have .written had I known the difficulty thcy were ultimately to place.me in. I made a apccial request that the letter should be considered private. Mr. Craig, It lurned out, was tl^e Airdrie correspondent of the Olaigow Chronicle. Ho sent my letter at once to his paper, for publication, omitting only tliat part of it in which I requested that the whole might be kept private. It was published in that paper, was copied into the Timet and other London daily papers, and was made part of the groundwork of the Court of Inquiry ; the statements in it being taken as the charges made by me against Major Wyndham. Most of these were a relation of private conversations with the major, and with soldiers who told me what the major had said, which I could not prove ; and which I should not have dreamt of pteferring as public charges for the CourJ^of Inquiry. Yet this gentleman thoiight himself ill-used, like some others, when I com- plained of his putting me in that position. <«0h," said hfe and they, " have we not caused the Court of Inquiry to be held, by publishing these statements 1" "Yes," said I, "but the court has declared the greater part of them t6* be not proved. Private conversations, to which there were no witnesiSs, were not intended as public charges to be proved before the Court of Inquiry. I was not personally known in Coventry/or a considerable time, save to a very few persons. It was amusing to hear the remarks that were made^and the questions asked of me^about myself, by those to whom I " was linknown. I usually, made a joke of the subject. More than once this liearly ended in mischief, by those whp thought that I treated a better man than myself with contempt,— that better man being myself. » Soldier, sup with me ; come take my glass," one would say. " Take my pot " another would say, " and tell us how Somerville gets on. How is it they don't let ttm out of barracks, eh? You don't knew ? You do know • you are one of those who are ashamed of him, I suppose. Dnnk histealthl You won't drink his health? Here, Jim, hold my pipe^ let m'e pass you; I'll make this soldier drink SomerviUe's health. Youwon't drink it ? By ihe pot in my hand, yon shall have tWs potful to UslieaWi, either in you or on you. Will you drink long life to Somerville tlie sol^r, ,tnd freedom of opinion?" "Nol" « Then you shall have it about ^ wmn; to take until to- morrow to conaider. I con«id«r«d until the iii«rrow ; but it wm to tell him th»t ho murt go: I could not p^mnihly neuKc him. Ho »^M ho could givo no evideneo that would d«> ui« K«K>d- I w'd, m t" tl«*» I Hhould run.th« riHk of it: hiii niium*iiiUBt be on the lUt. 1 \mkviA forward t« the proof of the fket by him, th»t through hlw 1 h»d not boon •llowod to oall witncHWW on th« court-martiul ; and ho know that thllhftf -my puriH>«ie. He tried- eajoUory again, bmt I would not be cajoled: " You ahall bo ooo of ifty witneww*," aaid I. Having given in t^o lint of thow! whom I requirod on the Monday morning, my horno /waa p^iparod for ni« by the man to whom it wa» given on tho prcvioi^B evening ; I mounted, and rode to Coventry. All were to bo at Wecdoh BiuruckH, in Northiunptonahiro, on tho following day. Oonvoyaneca woVo provided ft»r the men going a« witnowwu, none being mounted. I wiw at liberty to travel in any way I chone. 1 wont by tho London mail-ooaoh, with tho kto Mr. Richard Marriott, of Coven- try. Wo loft that city about ten, a.m. I got a nuinber of letter* just before we let o«t, whidh I road on the eoaeh., One of them wuaof pe(f«liftr intoroHt. Ite obrival at that time, and tho arrival of the writer iu Knglani, after being long loit, waa ho romarkablfe aa to prove moat truly tibat *' Truth ia atrange,— fltrangor than fiction," aa will appear in another obaplw. i ■'■%• ^ % ^■ Mr i... • -^ "/— ^ \ :1 \- ./ Of A DniOMT LIFI. 1^ it WM , All ^ ■%• M CHAPTER XrV. . 4 At thii momtntotii erlali ilnRuUr riHipp««r«ne« of a long-lo«t brother. Thli chapter, though It ionou. Ho and I— ho with a trade, I only a labourer— were unlike our other two brothora ; for that one of the two who hud learned no trade, ruiHud hiniHelf ftvm hedging and ditching aa a labourer, by aelf-inatruotion und tthoer peraeverance, to offiooa c^ trust and good emolument in England, and the other, with a trade, mode a good use of it. Pot«r and I, oirevm- stanced like them, did leas than either. Our father won very poor during the timo of Peter'a apprenticeship. Hia wages aa a labourer, now that he w,a8 decaying in itrength — literally worn down with hard work — did not average above seven Bhillinga per week ; in a year atter, he waa redueed to six riiillimgs a week, Thtis, having aeen the atnigglcs in the family to purchase joiners' tools for Peter when going to his trade und to find him in olothcs, I gave up all thought of going to any trade as an apprentice ; though my poor father said many a time, seeing that^I had a natural bent to construotiveness (for I was continually making some- thing, constructing and rigging ships, making water-wheels with machiu^P- ery attaohod, making new gun-stocks for old gun-barrels, and so forth)#i- my father nsed to say, that if I had set my heart upon any trade, he would pinch himself down & little lower in living (heaven knowH he lived lowly enough 1) to get me throu;2,h my apprenticeship ; that it woild bo unfair, because Peter had ^rokpi his indenture, to think that I would 7 do BO tpo. Then he would proceed thus: "And, anaybe, WuU £William] may help, though he has done a great deal for us already, and it would be hard to ask him to do more ; yet, with the Lord's blessing, we might warsel [wrestlej through, and get you a trade j and, I dare say, ^ you wadna be unmindfu' ol your auld mitb^r and mo, when we are y^ / JSfc I ■ttk ,*■ 144 sohebvillk's book » worn out." " No," I used to reply, " I'll work at ' my ain hand,' at ^Mging, ditching, breaking stones, or be a ploughman, or whatever comes readiest : I have no desiire to go to any trade." I hope tliis reply to my father, which was not the truth, Is not indeli- bly recorded against me. My personal desire was different; but I saw to carry dt into operation was impossible. He was so very desirous to know if I inclined to go to a trade, was so incapable of maintaining me though an apprenticeship, yet so willing and ready to " pinch himself still lower " to do so, that I withheld my secret inclination. Peter, as • an apprentice, was similarly affected. He saw our father struggling to ..provide clothes for him,* our mother to have them at all times in good order, and that, with those struggles, only the very humblest kind could be provided. Nothing of this nature can justify a young man in breaking his apprenticeship. But he did so, and caused hote unhappiness to' our parents than all their stru^les to provide tools and clothes for him had done. My father, with his keen sense of right , and wrong, felt it a dishonour to have a son who had broken a contract. Peter, knowing the family sorrow which he had ihus occasioned, refrained " from visiting us a^ usual. * I did not see him again, as my out field-work in the day and groonjing. of my'maater's riding-horses, morning and Evening, kept me at home. Nor would I have known much, or anything, of his mechanical talents, until years after, when I had an opportunity of seeing them, had it not been for an accidental meeting with Mr. Weatherson, millwright, of Chirnside, Berwickshire, some time in the the year 1829. I was then cutting timber with old David Whitehead at Benton. David had no great pretensions to excellence as a joiner and cartwright. Most people who saw me working with him, thought I was a journeyman ; and not knowing that I made sparred gates and doors, and mended carts and ploughs, sawed the trees into deals, and so forth, without having learned the trade, they thought that master and journeyman were much alike. »And truth to tell, our handiwork was not greatly different. We put timber enough in it, and gave it strength ; but for elegance and finish, it was somewhat behind the age we lived in. One day I was at Tammy ' Grant's [" Bank-House Station "««f the great railway from London to ^Edinburgh now a days] , and found Mr. Weatherson. Somebody named me as I entered, pronouncing my name, as it is usually done in that part of Scotland, Simerel. "WhatSimerel are ye?" said Weatherston. " One o' my father's Simereb," I replied. " Onybody could tell that," said he ; " but what ^xt ye, what do ye do ?" Some one present said I was David Whitehead's man,— that I was a joiner. " Bawvit's man /" he exclaimed ; " ye are a queer jomer, I' s e be bou n d . " — He mused a few r A or A DILIQINT Lira. 145 minutes, as if searohing in the lumber of memory for a reoolleetion that had not been in use for a long time ; and getting hold of the recollection said, " Simerel I there have, been men of that name that could work. I had one Pate Simerel jome years synte with m« [Pate is a familiar substitute for Peter]. Pate was a laa\that could handle his tools. That Pate Simerel [addressing some third parties] was one of the best millwrights I ever had in my shop, and that is saying a great deal. He could .put his hand to anything. I could send him to ioaend an auld mill, or put up a new mill ; and, though he was one of the youiigest hands I had, he would make it go like clockwork, and get over all difficulties, though I was not there myself." Then turning to me, "Aye, lad, Pate was a chield that could work wi' his tools, and design work for ithers. He was none o' Dawvit's sort o' joiners. You I you are liker a ploughman than a tradesman, — and yet, when I look at you, there is some likeness in the face ; but he was a tall, thin lad, and didna look so like as if he suppit brose three times' a day, as you do." " What becamis of that Pate Simerel ?" I asked. " Became of him ! he gaed to be asedger, — that's what became -of him. He and some mair lads like him, got among the 'tillery sodgers at Chirsit fair, and listed,— that's what became of him." o ■ ■ ■ " He was my brother," said J. " Ydur bother J Pate Simerel your brother!" "Yes." " An* you a joiner, working with -D»tcvt« /" "1 am not a joiner : I have only been a labourer, breaking stones on roads, or di^ng ditches; and! have been two or threes months a sawyer; and now 4&m helping Datpvit, but that does not make me a joiner." " No, lad, it does not, and never will. Come to me, and I'll make ye a mill- wright." " No," said I, " it will not do now : I amotoo old,— I liave grown past the right time." With more convention of a similar kind, we parted. . ' Peter,' after being in. the Royal Artillery about three years, part of which time was passed in the Island of Barbadoes, signified a desire to leave the service, and return to the trade of a millwright. We got inti- mation of it at^ home through a letter from William, generous then as always, saying he would provide the funds to purchase his discharge, and to defray the attendant expenses, amounting to something over £21 ; but stating that Peter would also require tools, and some stocks of clothes to start, with. Our father and mother, two sisters, and myself, all who were at home, set joyfully and anxiously to work, to do what we could. We wrote to Peter for a list of the tools he required ; with which, when received, our father went to Dunbar, to Mr. Miller's ironmongery shop, with all the money he could get together, I engaging to go without new articles of clothing I was to have had, that there might be the more ..r~ ••■^il \- ■I: ■• i! 146 bomkrtillx'b book money. Both my eii^n, after oat-field work in the day^ went to work with my mother, got ,Wt the linen web of shirting which the latter an- nually provided by her own spinning, and, sitting late at night, made a , ftook of shirts to he sent to Peter ; also worsted BtQCikings. My father eat by the fire, with his glaeecs on his venerable face, his, eyes almost too ' , old to see to knit stockings, yet persevering, taking several hours from rest at night; after his out-ddor work, betaking himself to them dt every dinner hour,^ that he might hasten them to a finish, and, as he plied the wires, he would now and again make such observations as these: — . ' , " He will surely settle himself now. I will send him a volume of Toutiff's iS>ermon«, in the box with the things ; and the JIfdrrtnr o/* ilfoc^ern ZH'vtmfy ; it should do him good. I'll send hii^ that volume that has the 6ennon|[^ on the" Prodigal Son. * He tobk his journey into a far country,' is, heiiiinned, and wandered from righteousness. They sent him to fee^ , Bwine; 'and he fhin would have filled his belly with the husks that the ewine did eat.' He broke his apprenticeship, and ran away, and was & sodger, and lived among the sin in which they lived, and ikin would have , 'satisfied his soul with it; but sin will not satisfy. ' And when he came iq. himself, he said, I will arise and go unto my father and say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee. And he arose and came to his father ; and when he was yet a grea;t; way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell upon bis n^k, and kissed him. Aiid the father said. Bring forth the best robe, and put- it on him,' that is, clothe him in the Gospel, — there is4 great seimon of Young's on that text,— 3«nd ' put a ring on his haiid,1 that is, give him the sign and out- Ward mark of the kingdom of grace.! And put ' shoes on his feet,' that he may be sustained in the fa^th, and fail not tp journey to the end. ^ " These are all great texts in Yoting's hands ; and if I send them to our poor prodigal Peter, they may /take effect upon him. But even if \ - not, it is our duty to do all in oyr power to bring back him who has gone.^tray. A parent will do qiorefor one bairn that errs and goes I . astray, than for all the rest. Wh^t a high and glorious example have we \ pooj* mortals to do this ! The faithless unbeliever looks abroad upon the ' , universe, and sees worlds after Worlds greater than this globe of earth, and many in number ; and he reasons, as he has grounds to do, that they are inhabited by other races of/the Lord's creatures ; and then he says, in IMs unbelief, WHaF reason h4ve we to believe that 6<)d gave his only Son as the Saviour of this fiingle world, almost the least of the worlds ? But these worlds CMne frofli the one Almighty, the one Parent and Cre- |: * *tor ; and if one world hds sinned, while all the rest have been sinless, might not the F^^ther hate given mdre to redeem that one lost world than TT * to all tiie rest? Will hot a mere mo r tal give more to b r ing back hifl OV A DlLIQlMT LIVB. U7 bairn that goes astray, than to all his family? Would -we not give tJl, Ihat we possess to bring back Peter ? Yes ; I's^ send hiju Young'a Ser- mons, and a volume of Jamieson's of Edinburgh, and the Marrow. If he make a good use of them, they will bHng him to the best robe, th^ robe of graoe ; and to the ring for his'hand, the mark of a Christiap ; and to the shoes for his feet, the Gospel. '^ But we shall also put the clothing of this world upon him, and give him tools to work with to get his bread ; and if we dinna send shoon to his feet, we'll send stockings. Dinna ' mak' the feet ower short, for Fe^r has a long foot. The last shoon that Johstone Steel made him before he ran ao^a' frae his 'prentioeship, silly^ dyted thing, were the longest pair o' shoon that Johnstone had made for some years, he told me, except Oeordy Ha's shoOn." When the stockings and shirts were made, they were, with the tools, amounting to several pounds in value, and the books, put in a box, which I carried three miles, to a plabe wH^e the Berwick carrier called, who took it to a Berwick smack trading to London. It was addressed to Eltham, in Kent, at which place Peter was to find work as a millwright, with an old shopmate. It reached its destination safely. But Peter's wanderings were not brought to an end by having obtained his discharge from the artillery, and tools to go to work with at his traded: comparatively they were only beginning. y After working for a few months at ElUiam, and in London, Peter heard, as everybody else did at that time, that the gold mines of South ' America were to produce wealth for England, such as England never knew before, if Englishmen would only advance a little cash to tak> »V * 148 { SOmBRVILLl'S BOOI^ '\. Ite tl^n took servioe as an explorer with the Brazilian government. Twiee he crossed the Andes, and traversed t^ioie vast mountains seotion- ally, exploring ib tiieir highest altitudes and deepest abysses for gold of silver ore. About tW years in the far interior were thus oocupied.* On returning to Hio, and being liberally and honourably remjin^rated, his wealth exceeded all that he had dared to dream about. Besides eihgineep- ing and machinery, . Vetting foot on Briti^ soil, for thife first time after so long an '^ absence, y^' turned with eager curiosity to the newspapers. The first got hold of was ;tiie Morning Herald. He had not glanced at it five minutes, when he saw an account:of " SomferVille, the Scots Grey," in which it was sttfted > - ■ that he wis a nativ^ of. Berwickshire. This was not quite correct, my ■ , native county being],Haddingtonsl|irej but it was near enough to sug- gest to Peter that this must be his brother Swidy, whom he had left at^ home herding the ws thirieen years before. He wrote oh the instant, inquiring if I Were his brother, telling me who he was, and that he was Just kmd^din England after a-iong absence. I'his letter w;ent'to Bir- mingham, was sent after me, to Coventry, and I got' it at the very minute '^ of starting with the mail-cqach to attend the ^ourt'of Inqhiry at Weedon *' «. Baitacks^ I optj^the tetter after being s^ted on the coach, and read ' ' it,ag^n'and again. I neither jaw Peeping Tom on passing' his coriier, ■ * \^ nor any street of Coventry, nor garden, nor meadow beyond : I continued t ■" '■ ','"■■. .. "■ ' ■ V _ , vsif^''- ■^- ■I' J, 150 / 80M«RTILLK*8 BOOK to read this letter, and to qnefltion its iubject on all sidoi, to aasure myself that it was- not, Cke some letters I received about my Scots' Greys case, a hoax. It ,wa8 not. The Tyne, it was expected, would be paid oflf ; instead of which, she was ordered to be refitted for sea immediately. A squadron of shiytf was then fitting out under Sir Pulteney B(Jalcolm, foi what purpose was not jpublidy known.' They^ut to sea; Peter once , more on board without our meeting, al he and I fondly hoped to do. I hrfve quoted the foregoing from a former work, as affording a glimpse • of my venerated pafenfs, whose piety and stern integrity are oharaoter- istie of the peasantry of Scotland. My deviously. varied life has, I fear, been unfavourable to a continuous fidelity to vital piety. But before God I dare affirm, that the more worldly sentiments, a severe int^ty . and acute sense of honour, implanted in me by the example of my parent*, have been ruling principles throughout all varieties of my fortune ^ and contact with the world. I am poor in pocket, and worn in mind by struggles to maintain my int^ty, by struggles to .pay debts incurred in the service of acquiring ancl transfprring to my fellow countrymen a, practical knowledge of an Econ«mic Science which possesses the prinoii- pies of life, humanity, beneficence, conservative prescience. . I may here reprint an extract from my iVttrking MdjiCa Witneas against^ the Infidels, printed at Edii burgh in 186,7. It refers to that old book of Oxford University, the Marrow 0/ Modem Divinity, mentioned in this chapter as sent by my father in 1823 or 1824 to Peter in England^ " During the last five-and-twenty years I- hav«? looked at book-stanBtoF a certain work; but in all th<^ years, neither in Loridon, Liverpool, nor Manchester, places'of my residence, could I find it. One day in the ^ year 1867 f walked in the streets of Edinburgh, lost to all persons and- things around, carried away in » train of thought about God, the nature of the soul, and the way of salvation, I felt troubled about the insuflSr ciency of my own faith, and prayed that God would open t» me Bome^ source of knowledge which still remained unknown. After a t|me I found myself at the east corner of Nicolson Square, in which direction I had no business to have walked, yet there I stood, near to a stall on which were spread old books and pamphlet* apparently of small value.?' One that seemed very old and much worn I lifted, and, opening at page 302, read the head-lines, ' The Efficacy of Faith for Holiness of Life.' Turning to the title-page, what did I behold but the book which had bee» ao often looked for and not before found. - - r- V [Eeferring to the return of my brother.] «* After a time w& met in Scotland, and journeyed to the old thatohed eo ttag o at Tri e pkndhill, pari a h of hi nerwiok , where our parentg live4, and filled their hearts ynHa gladnees. About the end of 1^« firsl \mf ' :\ / \ I .\- 'M\ I myself ys case, lid o£f: 3ly. A olm, fox er onoe ) do. araoter- , I fear, b before ^ ategntj . of my fortune nind by nourred ymen a apinoi* against^ Id book oned in Inglan^ itaT )ool, nor r in the ^ ons and. e nature i tnsuffi- se some" , time I lireoti^n stall on ill value. ; at page )f Life.' ladbeeo or A DIUOBVT LIFB. Jit of oonversation, Petor having rapidly indicated his South Ameriean tny. vels and imprisonment, our father said, " How wonderfully and merci- .^ftilly God has preserved you I But what did you do, Poter^ with the booki WQ sent you? Oh, man, the Marraw' 0/ MMem IHvinity would have been a saving spiritual companion to you in those wanderings." Peter admitted that it was not his companion. Ho had left the books in^ London in 1824. It'Was a copy of that work whi^h. I had not wholly forgotten to look for at old book-stalls in London and elsewhere for fivo- and-twenty years, which I at hist found in 1867, as already related. This copy bears the date of 1769. The work was published at Oxford in 1646, and probably some years earlier. Its author was Mr. Edward iTiflher, a scholar of Oxford University. '• Bid I by chance go to the corner where lay that, book ? I would rather belieVo in the efficacy of earnest prayer. Let the atheist rail, and call this self-delusion: Iknovo/\i is not delusion; / knoto that a new hatred, a deepfer loathbg of sins whic h once were not odious, follows every new effort'of faith and prayer."" y-.- X ' \ S- v i^ tliatehed ta lived. >\-- '» - 4 1 152 ' SOMiaVlLLl'f BOOK ■* CHAPTER ;8:v. «' The Xlonrt of Inquiry. DUeh*rge Parohaaed. I"! Jil I return to July 1832. . In the county of Northamjiton, near the geo-. graphical centre of Englafad,.at the bottom of a gently elevated hill, stands Weedon, too large to be called a village, too smidl to be called a ^ town. O^the elevated ground overlooking Weedon, there are extensive , barracks, m which one or more regiments of infantry are usually stationed.* On the south-east side of the elevated ground, towards the little town, there are stores containing shot, shells, rockets, arms of all, kinds, and gunpowder psand underneath the hiils-^where none but a few person^, possessed of seclrets know — there are other st6res of gunpowder and arms, and places which may be victualled for emergencies. . , At the Bull Inn, outside of Weedon, the coach iipon which 1 was a| passenger halted, and Mr. Marriot and I got down. H^re we met Mr. , Wooler, from London. Here also were general officers and theic dtfend-' ants. All the house was in a bustle, — business had come like a flood; ' and I, who Was the chief cause of that business, was flooded into the back-kitchen, among boote and shoes, brushes, blacking, brooms, and men brushing the boots of generals and aide-de-camps, -who were about tO' dress to go in grand military form to open the Court of Inquiry upon me. Mr. Marript was in possession of my case, and was closeted wither. Wooler. Some of the servants seeing a soldier standing in the way, ini not knowing what I was there for, called to me tb lend a hand-; and as itjwas more agreeable to be doing something than nothing, I stripped off miy regimental coat, tjimed up my shirt-sleeves, ai;id proceeded to pplish t^e shoots of two or three colonels or generals who were about io polish me in the Court of Inquiiy. [Note of 1869.— Of the boots I pol- ished, one pair belonged to an officer named ^ainpbell, aid-de-camp to Sir .Archibald C(ampbell, a iriember of the Courl;, J have Jaeen told that the aid-do<;amp wias the Sir Colin Campbell of subtoquei^^ years, now Lord Clyde. It would do my heart gbod if I thought it qt^itjp a fact that I * h£d done even that humble service to^such a true soldier jand true man.] When I had lent a hand to brush their boots, I ph)ceed|pd to my own. And then we went to the barracks, about half a mile \dutant, and the court was constituted. But no &rther business was done^t d^ KQB a few of. the particulars not aii^icipated in a former chapter. Here f ' V, . -#' f>f k brLioRNT Lira. US V • • VWnitTOtlOMH FOR THE AMmBUlfa.OW Till COtTET. "V , '•HorwOwrdi, latb July, 1833. ** 3lB, — By deaire of the Qonoral Coqimanding-in-Chief, I have th« honour to notify toyou, that it Hm been dooid«d thct « Court of Inquiry, ■t^pnipoHed of tha offloora nauuHl in the margin (pronident, Lieutenant. ■General Sir Thomas Bradford,. K.C.B, ; niomberH, Majo^Ooneral Sir Jaeper Nicholla, K.C.B., Major-Oenoral Sir Archibald Campbell, K.C.B,, Colonel Burrey, 18th Regiment, Lieujt.-Colonol Towuaend, 14th Light U.ragoons), Bhall be daaerabled at Weedon, Northamptonshire, to iayesU- giite.tho ojuse of Private Alexander Somervillo, of the Royal Nort^ Bri- tish Dragoons, Who ha9 lately been tried by a, regimental oourt-martial, «nd corporally punishej^by the awaj^l of the said oourt, and on whose ^^behalf a petition haflbeen'pre8eja|^to the House of Commons &r redress in oonsequenee of the said trial and punishment ''A printed copy of that petition, and a newspaper (the rim«), oon- taining an\extraot of a letter from Alexander JSomervillo to a ' gentleman in Oluagow,' are herewith transmitted,' iand Lord Hill undoretands that those statements contain the principal, if not the whole, of Somerville's allegations /against his commanding-officer, upon this occasion. Lord Hill desires that the court, of which you are- thus appointed president, may deliberately proceed to the investigation of all the biroumstances of ■oouiplainfc set forth in the petition and letter alluded to, as weH as of any further Sircumstances, though not stated therein, which the complainant may be desirous to sabaut tor ii^vestigatioii, &Dd whkth shall relajte to hjs IBresent oomplauNP' -i - ', K<./* The nature of the c|use will at once ^ntisfy the court that Major Wyndhani, of the Nortii British Drugoons, is, upon his part, entitled to » full hearing in support of the m^sui^ which he thought fit to adopt towarda Alexander Somerville; in' other words, that whilst, on the one hand, Somerville is to be allowec^, et*ery legitimate means of establishing his case, Migor Wyndham is, on the other hand, entitled to the same privilege. • . ■ " Lord Hill understiMMls, that, in consequence of the importance which has been jittaohed to this case in Parliament, the Judge Advocate General 18 to officiate in person at the iensuing iavestijg«kion. Mr,' Grant's' pnitence cannot fhil to rcignlato and fhoilitato the prcigress of the inquiry; and Lord HiU can have no hesitation in yequiring that the oourt riudl^ ' Qpon any and every question not of a pprdly military nature, and upon i»hioh>r (Signed,) "John MACvonAhD, ,.,, ;„ „ Adjutant-Oenoral. ' "Lt«ttt«aant-aift«ral Sir Tbomaa Bradford, K.O.B." ^ Extract from the minute* of the jnt dj^ "$ proeetdihgt of the murt. " Profient — The oifiooni named in the foregoing momorandum : and the Right Hon. Robert Grant, Judge Advocate General. ^" -m "Major Wyndham and Private Somervillo appeared with their P> ■pective adviaem. Adviser for M»jor Wyndham, Mr. J. W. Whately, Bolicitor, Bennett's Hill, Birmingham. Adyinor for Private Somerville, Mr. Thomas J. Wooler, 61, Neluon Square, London. " The advisers of Major Wyndham and Private Somerville having been apprised, that, uncfor the instructions of the Oonerol Contraanding- in-Chiof, the court thought it noocssary to require that,. if they thought it neoeflsary tb attend the court, they should give a pledge, for themselves and their clients, not to publish any part of the procoedings of the CQ»rt~ until the case should again become a subject of discussion in ParliM^ent, after the court had made its report, and also until the Judge Aimoate General should notify to them that the case was not to undergo any ftirther investigation. i . i " Pledges were accordingly given. " After a brief address firoi| the president, explaining the grounds on which the court was assembled, the Judge Advocate General read the instructions before referred to. y . " Also a petition to Parliament ft-om Richard Smith [Samuel Smith], of 139, Fleet Street, London, praying the House to cause inquiry to be made into the case of the said Alexander Somerville; and a portion of the Times newspaper, dated the 10th of July, containing an extract of a letter from Alexander Somerville, Jto * a gentleman in Glasgow ' rCraiir ofAirdrie]. ■- 3- - " Private Alexander Somervillcwas then called upon for a statement of his allegations against Major Wyndham, and for a list of the witnesses he proposed to call to support them ; but Somerville not being prepared with a written statement, and he hcmng preferred thtU mode of ground- ing hit case, to makina a verbal statement o/it, the court yielded to his request, for timeto^pare it; and, two hours having been mentioned, the court gavg*^ the option of appearing before them agai;ij>t the U ■m expiration of that time, or at ten o'clock to-morrow ; which latter alter native being aooepted, the court adjourned till ten o'clock to-morrow. 4 ..*>'' ^ •vm. M..- •1^ f i# ■ I *' ■ tiH \M t ■oMunnuji'i locMt fm>. ..jffcfay, 19 was not proved to the court that Private Bomervllifl waa a party to Ithe documenta before the court, and that Souierville ought not to bo burdened with the petition of Mr. Smith to the House of Oommona, nor with the letter to Mr. Craig which appeared in the Tima ; that he, Mr. Wooler, conceived that it was for the court itself 4o take up the in ^ The minuterprooeed thus :-4<- " After a short time, the court re-opened, when the Judge Advocate General again explained to Private Somerville, that tho court having adjourned yesterday for the purpose of giving him time to prepare .hia statement^ it was hecossuty for him to state distinctly whether lie .had prepared sueh statement " Private Sowerville then said, that Mr. Wooler had M\y stated what he intended to say; that he had thought that he was eoming here only as a witness, and no^ tho accuser of Major Wyndham ; and that if he had thought otherwise, he should not have named any witne^es." (This was written by Mr. Wooler, placed in my hands by him, and read by me ^^a^my reply, with Uie additional caution not to be induced, by any othar question^ to add'to it) ' " The Judge Advocate Oeneral then, by. desire of thQ court, stated that, as Private Somerville had declined to appear as a complainant, It WiS the dpinion of the court that their instnictions did not give them the jpowerof proceeding with the investigation; but as Private Somerville, on •?^. A w ^ ^' t V- V i 9 V . f K\% 1B#^ somibvillx'b book />, ^re^Oonflidering the piatter, and consulting thereon with his adviser, might change the intention he had expressed, the court wottld adjourn for two „ hours, to give him time to come to a final determination. " Mr. Woolcr then begged leave to ask one question ; and leave being given, he requested to know, whether, in the event of Private Somerville still declining, as before, to proceed as an accuser, the court would dissblve itself? . ^ " The^udge Advocate Gkmeratntated, Chat, in the event alluded to, the court had no other course to take than that of adjouriiing its sittings, and referring to the authority upder which it acted, for further instruc- tions. " The court then adjourned till two o'clock. v, " The court having re-assembled, and the parties having been called in, ^the pi^^sident addressed Private Somerville as follows :^— " I desire to apprise you, Alexander SomerviUe, that the question I am Tibout to .put, is addressed to you, and you m»st, yourself, reply to it." The court had seen, by this time, tjiat I was acting under an adviser . whose opinions differed from mine; but, aB he threatened to abandon me and the case, and return to London, if I did not act upon his counsel, I assented. The question of the president was, — " Are you prepared to proceed . as complainant in ibis case, according to the instructions which this court has received, and which have been read to you ? " Private Somerville thereupon delivered a paper, headed, ' The Protest of Alexander Somerville, Private in the Second or Royal North British Dragoons,' which was read to the court by the Judge Advocate General, and-^which is annexed :— • ** To the Right Honourable Sir Thomas Bradford, an^ the members of the Military Court of Inquiry assembled at Weedon on the 18th day of July, 1832, the protest of "—(etc.^ etc.) " I have been informed, and understand, that the said Court of Inquiry was ordered on the question, whetjier I was punished for disobeying the 'orders of Lieutenant Gillies,"of the said raiment, or for writing a letter • to the TTeefc^y IKspa^cA, on political subjects. , ' ^ ; " I attended at the said- Court of Inquiry, expecting to be called a? a witness, on the aforesaid ijuestion, as I have been informed, and believe, under the Right Honourable the Secretary at War, Sir John Cam Hob- house; and although disclaiming the expensive and onerous situation of ' public accuser, I am ready and willing to give testimony to the treatment I have received j and witnesses are in attendance to prove the fact< "in the fun and fearless<«hallenge which 'I am prepared to ^ve my oppressors, the €ourt of Inquiry has declined to ex&nine me ai)d thfi\ Of A DIUOXNT LIVX. 169 ~s: witnesses in attendance, and I have no means of obtaining justice, under the order of the commander-in-chief, exo^ in protesting against any adjournment of the court until the e^ds^^Dfustioe are fully answered. ^ '."A. SOMKBVILLE. " Weedon, 19th July, 1832." .-" " The preudent thai announced, t^ai the further sittings of the court would be adjourned until Monday the 23rd instant, at eleven o'oIooIf ^ and the court adjourned accordingly until that day and hour." My only />ro^e«< was to my legal advisers, against being compelled to sign that which was in direct opposition to my wishes. I wished to put^ in a written statement of my case, and withdraw the newspaper rumours of it which contained all the strong and somewhat vague assertions ; but I was overruled, and compelled, under a threat of being left alone at Weedon to conduct the case myself, to.sign that " protest " of which I did not write one wdtd ; fi-om which I vainly tried, finding that it must e signed, to expunge the bravado-like "full and fearless challenge to my oppressors," which I did not think necessary or well-timed. But I bad no alternMive : J must sign it, or take Uie case entirely into my own hands. '^- ' o ' We walked to the Bull Inn, a3 before, amid people attracted to the roadside to look at the " Scots Grey as wtS making all the noise in the country," who was, on the contrary, doing all within his power to keep the noise within bounds. • . -'■ " r '- ' ; " Monday, July 23, 1832. '(Extract.) — " The court having assembled at eleven o'clock, the Judge Advocate General read the additional instructions from the general com- manding-in-ohief, d^d Horse Guards, July 20th. " Major WyndlflvB^^d Private Somerville were then called upon to ^ furnish lists of the witnesses they respectively proposed to call." Tho court sat until half-past four o'clock, chiefly engaged in my ez- HAiination and cross-examination ; also in hearing part of the evidence of Lieutenant Gillies, one of &y wjtnesses. ;. On' Tuesday, 24tb July, the examination of Mr. Gillies was resumed at ten o'clock, Mr. Henry Simmons, a civilian, who took lessons in the riding-school, was also examined that day, on behalf of the other side, as it was necessary that he should return to his business at Birmingham. When that was done, Mr. G^ies was again examined by the court. Sergeant John Glen was' also called by me on, that day. Also Privates Bobert Brown and Thomas Darling. . ^ On the 25thj at ten o'clock, the evidence of Darling was resumed ; and ihe day was occupied with it and diat of R^imental Sergeant-Major Nelson, and Adjutant Bicketts. ' , «>. i;^ ^*^ *■'. • •• ' ■ S"'" • 160 fOMXRYILLl'iB BOOK r^ .. 1^ ■tf iji On the 26th, Private Thomas Soottwas examined by me; Mr. Dafid Cope was examined by Major Wyndham ; also Troop Beifeeant-Major Aitkinj Hospital-Sergeant Sykes, Assistant-Surgeon Stewart, Privates Hobert Robertson and Charles Buist. The last two were patients ifa the hospital when I was taken there. On the 27th, Troop^ Sergeant-Major Gardiner and Corporal M'Lure were examined on behalf of Major Wyndham ; and the major tendered himself as a witeess. This was unexpected by the court and by me. The minutes introduce his evidence thus t — " Major Charles Wyndham^ Boyal North British Dragoons, then tendered him^lf as a witness ; and, ' having been rcininded by the Judge- Advocate of thejextreme responsibility under which he was placed in regard to the answers he might give to such I questions as were put to him, was examined by the Judge- Advocate." He was also oroos-examined by me. I have already given the most important parte ol' his evidence. He admitted nearly all that I wanted to prove. On the 28th, Adjutant Ricl^j^ was re-examined. On the 30th and 31st of July, and Ist of Aftgi^^e court deliberated, and made up a lengthened series of charges from the newspapers, and from jiiiy verbal statements, under a long and harassing examination, which, in the absence «f the written an4 concise statement, they were obliged to do; upon the greater part of which charges no evidence was offered. They accordingly " «t them down as " not proved." The foUovring are the principal paragraphs of the report, after disposing "' of those several charges selected by them : — |k " The court is of opinion, that Major Wyndham acted injudiciously in entering into conversation with, or making inquiry of; Private Somerville^ on the subject of the letter in the newspaper, while Private Somerville was before him, as a prisoner, charged with a military offence ; and that this was especially inconsiderate at a period, when, from the excitement which prevailed in the neighbourhood, and from the nature of the contents of that letter, the object and purpose of such conversation and inquiries were pe#liarly liable to be misintecpreted. " That Major Wyndham, when he heard ,a recruit offer the highly objeot|«Qable o^nions, which are reotfflred to have been expressed to him by Private Somerville, respecting the duty and all^ianoe of a soldier^ . acted injudiciously im not suspending all proceedings against Private ^Somerville in relation to the military offence wherewith he was charged^ and laying before the general of the district a full statement of the case of Private Somerville, and of the opinions so expressed by him, in order to obtain, from the general oommanding the district, instruotiona appU- cable to the occasion. ^ or A DtLiomrr Lira. 161 '^iW " That the method of propedore whieh Major Wyndham folded hi bringing Private Somerville to a trial, — ^the effect of "which was, that Pri- vate SomerviUe "Was warned-fbt^al, tried, and punished within the compass of a very few hours ; and especially that he was brought to trial only an hour and a half after he received notice of it,— were unduly pre- cipitate, and, in that respect, not justified by the general usage of the f service, though in accordance with the practice of the Scots Greys [No], and, as the court believes, of other regiments of cavalry." The remainder of the court's opinion is embodied in the concluding pifragraph of the memorandum referi>ing to the approval of his majesty the King, which is the last quotation I shall majce : ** "H0R8K OuAEDS, 9th August, 1832. " The report of the Court of Inquiry held at Weedon Barracka od the 18th day of July, 1832, and continued by adjournments to the 28ih .. of the same month, for the investigation of the complaints made by *Pri- vate Alexander Somerville, of the Second or Rqyal North British !&rar gapns, against Major Wyndham of that corps, together with the minutes or its proceedings^ having been submitted to the' King, his majesty has been pleased to signify his approbation o^ the mode in which the court ' has executed its functions, and his entire concurrence in the observations ,/ and Ppinions contained in its reporti ., " His ml^esty has farther been pleased to exprGfMiy^is deep regret that an officer of the rank and distinguished service ^^^ S^S f^ Wyndham, and who had ever maintained a character so free fri^^l^roach, should, on the occasion and in the instances mentioned in the report, h^ve evinced £ deficiency in the care, discretioli, and judgmei||) required of him b6 an officej; in the temporary command of a r^ment. " His Majesty has, however, been pleased, at the stmetime, to express his satisfaction that nothing has appeared in the^urse of the inquiry to authorise any conclusion which %ould reflect discredit oU the purposes, feelings, or motives of Major Wyndham, or which would subject his honour to just impeachment. (Signed,) " FiTZROT Somerset." [The lamented Lord Haglah, who sunk under duty in the Crimea, 1855.3 Otk returning to l^e barracks at Coven^, I continued to do duty, up to the 24th of August. Several parties came to see me, attracted by the celebrity which the case had now attained. But I declined tp see all who' ^ere public or political personages. One of tiiese^was the late Henry flunt.^ -•. /^•'■■' ■-' \-;',;;,:'7 '■"> - ^^'■:- ■*■ .■; ■';- " . y-- Most people hiite heard oT the annual -procession through Coventry ctf ft lady on horseWI^, to Tepresent 'Lady . i ;,. fft- :!ll :' I , !.S 162 BOMKBVILLX'S. BOOK ..»lv oitisens from ft grievoufl impbit BOUgU to Tie inflicted by h« lord. When the real lady rode through the streetB, the male inhabitants were command-^ ed to remain strictly within doors ; none but females being allowed to ^. what a sacrifice the Lady Godiva was pompelled to make for their city. There was, however, one Tom who opened his window to peep as the bdy passed ; which so greatly offende4 the'^itizens that they placed his effigy in the window, where it stands t« this day/ known as Peeping Tom of Coventry. ' In 1832, it was resolved to hold the festival in celebration of the passing of the Reform Bill oil the same day as the anniversary of Lady Godiva^s procession. Pt^m Nuneaton, Hinokly, Leamington, KeSHwort^i, , and other places, prooessiona, long, dense, and noisy, with shouts and music, caife and joined the political union of Coventry. It occurred that ^ i was on sentry at the firont barra^-gate when the procession passed.. Not one of the many thousands knew me personally, but each bahd?Sfcsed :. J» play^as it came near the barrack gate ; each trade or section of a poli- tical union halted in front of the gate, as pre-arranged by a master of ceremonies, and three cheers, loud and long, were given for " Somerville for ever /" Theyhad not the remotest suspioion that I was the sentry, with my carbine on my arm, standing in t^e gateway looking at them. " For ever /" they shoutfsd in connection with my name. I had not b^en many months shouted fornn that manner, when I was scouted, sneered at, maligned, libelled, ^and foully lied upotf by some of those who, at that time, led the multitude to set u^wTTdol one year, and knock it down and • trample on it the next; and all because I would not lend myself to the • literature of sedition, of political antagpnism to the army and higher ' classes, nor to any set of ^persons, or purposes, that did not accord with my own sense of rigtft and propriety. [Note of 185Q.— I allude here to. • violent Radioftl newspapers, as the London Weekly Dispatch; an^ I ; think the English of Quebec shotlld acquit me of the charge that I was a partizaif of "mobs and their excesses." I was offered payment for the use of my name, and peremptorily refiised it again and again.] in one of Cohbett's Registers it was announced, about this time, that he WM comiug to Coventry, on a journey to the iiorth bf England, and , to Scotland, to'lectUre ; and that he Hoped to see me and talk with me. When he came, Mr. HorsfSll, of the'Hilf Moon, took me to Mr. Oobbett'a. lodgings, at one of the hotels. , Ho had been overwhelmed with calls, and had given orders not to, be interrupted, as he had writing to do; but on hearing who it was that now caUed, he set the orders and the ; ,. writing aside. On approaching him, he shook me warmly by the hand, - ^ looked at me a few seconds, and said, « You have, at the least, an honest- booking Scotch face in you r fa v our." I sat down with him, and he i U 5^ •^* ' '"w^ !if~ie^'i ^^^1 ^-s^^ '^ ■ ■'^. ji> ' ■•"-■ OF A MLIOINT UWM. 168 -^ t^ proceeded >htui r " No^, yott are going to Lopdon : let me give you a-ftw words of advice. There »re tliieves in London who steal money ; there are Bwii^l^ in X^ndon who make victims of the ii^wary; but there we wdve people in London than thieves and swindlers : there are editor! of newspapei%,— take care of yourself if you fall amongst editors.. Yon are property for them. Each will try to get you exclusively to himself. They will traffic upon you. If one gets you in his cfen, and you>do not ^always after go to that den, he will rush upon you some day and teur • you to pieces. Take care of the editors : I know them well. Go to Mr. "Ro^n^of St. Giles's ; Mr. Nicholson of Fencliurch Street; Mr. Williams • ^ ' of Watling Street; Mr. Swain, the tailor, of Fleet Street; and (another, whose name I have forgotten). And. takd this paper, (he wrote their names and addresses); it is signed with my name, Williani Cobbett; anynof them will give you good advice." ^ — » --^ About the 22nd of August, I was summoned to the officers' barracks at dbventry. Lord Arthur Hill, the lieuteiiant-colonel of the raiment, whom I had not before seen, was present. This offiSoer, though the name and title sound similarly, was in no way connected with Lord Rill, the , general commanding-in-chief. The latter was the celebrated general of division Sir Rowland Hill, second in command to Wellington in the Peninsular war ; the former was one of the sons of the Marquis of BowBshire. Lord Arthur put several questiolis to me, in a kind manner ; to one of which, whether ^I was desirous of obtaining my discharge from • the regiment, I answere(^f several peted for the " honour "of equippiilg me, had made. I gave mental boots and shoes to' my old schoolfellow,. Jaihes Grieve, an^ several other articles of my "kit." To? most of my other -comrade gave something. They all- shook me affectionately by the hand, looked after me until I wa8[ out of the b^^rrack gate. jj |k Mrs. Shettle, of the Thre^uns, a house near the back ^te of thejUP^ racks (how one of the nearestlicensedhquse^to the railway station), who had evinced much kindness, I may almost say-motlierly r^ard, for me, was, , with her husband, kind enough to request that f ^w<^uld leave some artide " ?s& i*/ -h ,-«?.'' .#/" \ -^ \^ is " 1^ ^df my tti fsngeoa 1 ' eve oft tomttyrtu iry oquijiineiltp wiflf th^mj 'ourto^ Mune Jeat, it^^kjui'telUg K^gflt I Ine; finest a glasBMjMt'ale, rose et (JMvlittl not call io ^^ .;a»d^^o«n* il^'thwei^^tter taken •e«ewe1t%. AfWr thaMa;!)^©*'*!!!) I called -^ .1.-". Ji£-»*— „«- i^^^^frosa that remarkabU kificlown, talked; itIBhcttle good- ly ha4 befoVe known me. _|k, ieaid, " I must ii^ocluoe myself: I find you do not • " ' Bilt that proUtainar]^|l)8ervation was enough : both reoog- il stranger; und th^ theiS^^as shaking of hands, and generous ,_,bioce8. And I ^ns tolft l^Athe forage cap had been treasured ; '♦ ^bw I bad beenoftenspokeMf in » family circle, and so forth. I had 4li^ 1882 disclosed more of «ny Vjnwpenta, and more of the facts of my ^>ll», to jthis la^y and her husband,^ thi§t ^ 1 '-^^:--.:- -^ 1^^ ■ . ■ . *■ If - -i , ■ . - '. '( ■ ■ »■■ ■•?^' ..■■■" "'■.: ■' « ff • ' ' >'-■ '^\..- R ' ' ■ A'', • ^. ■^ ■:■;■'■-■ ' ^•■- , ".■'■■: m-;A,- 1 OiP A DltlOINT Uf«. \ CHAPTER XVr. Ftom London, Home ; and trim Hone to London. 1883, 1^88, Aod 1834, ■ ' ' ' / Th«ro were two orders of mind With which I came in eontaot, at the time when I was discharged from, the Scote Greys, that ^ foand anwilliDg to understand me, or inoapable of comprehending my motives in any- thing 1 had done," or refused lo do, or then did, or tiien propospd to do. One of these mental orders oomprised several kind, weU-meuning friends. They had before them the faota, that I, Itworiung man, with little school oducation, had become a soldier, impr()ved my^ education, had oooupied a dangerous eminence in the public view, under perilous oiroumstanoea ; defended myself before a oouri>martial, in the absence \of all earthly friends, when every word of defence uttered was an agj^vation of my alleged disinclination to pay obedience; that I had svffored one of the most excruciating punishments which can be inflicted on a human body with a firmness and propriety of bearing which etet^ the oommuud^ng officer bore r€»dy testimony to, at a- time when not inclined to say much in my favour. Those and other things led them to believe that I must have eelf-«onfidence, forwardness, and " &ce " for any public exhi- bition of myself. They could not comprehend how a person" who had been in the newspapers so much," should have any objection to go to public meetings of the political unions to receive vqtes of thanks, canrted by aoolamation, "for having helped to carry the Reforia Bill " ; which aoolamation was in their ears, and clapping of hands in their eyes, the 2:mo8t {^reeable of sounds andvsights. '% The other order of minds comprised those who could assign to. me no oth^m«tive, Bin|5^the public had subscribed money to purchase my di»- ^1^, ant^ t^ add^1||it a gift, thin that I had, from the beginning of i^e case, beftfre fW ptt^ishedj.and when I was punished, designed to. limlte it' a m«inf obtaining mpney. Some of these persons could not why Biihguld endeavour to atop thcTitolleotion of money on my behalf, it by any means thiough whkh it'oould be obtained. • Others of ti^ oilier of mm4j# downi my remonsiaraiiQes against the oolleotiodi- o^ii^Q^#mv4M|Mf to of vietlmuisg Hm inAlk . One «^ oi^i^/^^^^^^ oonduotora «f iha Weekljf Ditpatck, pubiished*%t I had rc^monstnited with th«m» and, with others agMMl tbtfproMmtioQS to. gi'te m^ iiioffi»y^', but that I wa« welX entitled, to it ; ihtfc it WW tto ipontauBiwii^i t il l i erf Uwr p i iWift} thai liw lhw> puMM ^^i^ \''--- ' 1 ■::\ ■■[ \-\\/ —-'rp/i- " 166 ■OMlAYILLl'B BOOK I I t I it i '; 1 L ..ould bo done if ft liberftl robsoription were not inade ; and that it WM . not for me to interfere in the matter,— that I must leave this part of th« oaae to those who believed I had done a public service. Yet that same let of persons published, in the some paper, at no distant time, when they knew nothing more of ,my motives except that I would not allow thm to make traffldof me, that I was an " impostor," » " victimiser of the public," and so fbrthi i » '■ The expenses were £30 for my discharge, and £40 for laWyers' fees incurred at the Court of Inquiry, and paid to Mr. Marriot. Mr, Harmer, \who sent hi» partner Mr. ^Wooler from London, waU amply paid as pro- (rietor of the Wixkly DUpatch, which attained an enormous ciroulation _jugh my case. After other expenses incidental to the business wert [efrayed, I received about £200. The only remarks which came to my uvon the subject of money at that period wore to the effect, that people 'ondered why I should be resolute in not allowing those who were will- ing to carry the public subscription further, to go on.^ The first act of kine which that order of m^nds last spoken of oonld not comprehend, was my reply to an applicatiob made on behalf of Madaipe Tu88aud,.to have a wax-figure modelled and placed in the exhibition then forming. I was offered £60 in oasli to allow therajb' place in the exhibition " Somer- ville the soldier." I said, "It must not be done." I was told that it might possibly be done without my consent ; to which I replied, that if done it would be without my consent", and that whoever did it might rely upon my taking measures to prevent its exhibition. (See also nay protest against the ]?eaoe Society's misuse of my case in their seditiovs placards in 1853.) ~ The next affair which some of those parties could not comprehend, was my answer to a proposal that I should have a benefit ftt one or more of the London theatres. Several of the performers engftged at the New Sixand Theatre, amongst whom I remember Mrs. Waylett, Mrs. Honey, Mrs. Chapman (sister of Miss Ellen T$e),.tJ»e late Leman Rede, and Mr. Chapman, more particularly, offered? tWbir gratuitous performances (so Mr. Rede informed me) for a nigh|*'^ ^r. Rede off^^.to write an address. I was assured that probably^t less than £100 would accrue tome. But I gave a firm " No 1" to Se proposal. * Another waa, to lend my name to a literary speculation of some kind. I was ambitious to be connected with literature ; biit as- the parties pro- posed to write in my name, I declined their offer of payment in teirms which they, looking on me as ani adventurer getting money wherever I oould get it, could not underetand. ^ There was at l e ast on e more prbpos a l, t ha t T wnn l d a l low my name to '^M be used in a newspaper, which I firmly declined, somewhat to the annoy- f^W.T:mw • - mj-'^^^ * y 09 A DIUOINT LCri. 167 iBoe;^ I'belldYe, of UuMe who miA« the Offer; respeettng irhioh, I ihaD noi now do mor^ than rnnke this allusion to^ it. [Note of IB&9. — ^ I Mid when that pamago' w^i written in 1847; but, fn justice to myself and for the honour of newspaper literature, I feel bound to name- the •Weekly Diapatch.'] < * , Another, was, to allow certain parti^is to organise a systetn of collecting subscriptions for me throughout the mcttropolis and the Kingdom; to which I also gave an instant add positive negative. It was not BO easy, however, to put a stop to some of those who took np that business on their own account, and put the money in their own pocket*. : I hod not, np to this timeVMen any great public dinner or festiyal, nor heard great men make speeches. During my stay of sii weeks in London, one of these dinners, at whi6h between two and three thouMnd people were pre>)ent, occurred at Hnpieyy to celebrate the legislative for- mation of tl^e Tower Hamlets into a boi^gh; Dr. Lushington, now judge of the High Conr^j[{f Admiralty .SpFilUam Clay, Colonel Stan- hope, n^w Earl of HarringtbQL' Thomas CaniSpbell the poet, and others, were speaikera. I had expr^sed a desire to be present at such a fes- tival as that. Certain parties were as desirous that I should accept a ticket at their iexjp^se, and allow them to take me there to be introduced or exhibited. I declipe tfiyfp> on those eonditions. I went quietly alone ; sat in a place as little exposed as I could fitj4 ; listened to the Speecheft,-^with intense interest to the poet, of whom I had heard much, but had not before seen ; and wb^M^l^^^i^^*^ ^7 those who would, with or without my consent', drag milP»4|hblic vie#, to be " introduced " to the meeting, I left them and thet meeting^ much to their surprise, as I have been subsequently told. They could not comprehend my motives ; and yet it seems to me a< natural consequence that a person of my limited educati^n^^and knowledge should shrink from such a publio appearance. ' i^ So also at a meeting of the London Political Union, in the publio room in Theobald's Boad. I was attracted to it to hear the speeches of Mr. John Lawless fr(Hn Dublin, and (other cracl^ men of the day at that time in London from the provincesl I was observed ; some one called me loudly by name ; tjiere was shouting and clapping of Ji^ds, and • cry ffl^nie to go to the platform,^ I at onoie left the body o^mfiaH,*9a someV tkabght to^lfo on the platform. ^ Those who came P|||||ort me thither ^ndmflln the passage, forcing my way tj^|be door.' t left the plac€||[^Ktbdl|^'at4p^|te to detain me; and it was li<^ ' found m8K sioSfe^jp »wf>^°^ I ifttottltd no'imblio meetiogg tn Londos »t tlut time; tod in ao£«l»e wlmtevar did I acctipt an iuvilttUoa to *ny privnUJ h..ui||i^*iliWih»B#tW"P«JH>'« tut I Uv«d in Londca in th# bouwH of prifitu flri«md»,.at the oxpenw ol' private perBOoa, at Uii^ Um^ I not only uiy ^ thf tiui*. ivute, x«qU > bill! tiers ; lUflOB, 119 of They , ahlf killud m.^ 'L ■* m tab oy>-* inni'v ich cf y saw f pro- autea, whom entire mm eively Dew»- news> red to aon io it me. owing «don; s not . h»w in my I may ♦ # .fi: / i # # Of A Ditto tNt LIVI. 109 trough omdO} <(Nft(rdi« mllHon and thalf of {wnplt in MiddtefiMt and flnntiy, tn whom I Qould oonfino my thoughtM. The fuw to whom I madu an advance, Utomed to look upon me with fiM^linga of diaappointmont, aa a man ap dif- ferent from the ideal " Soniflrville th« aoMier," whofn their newrpopera and their own imaginationa had miidw, that I folt diaappointment too, «od ahrank fVoni them. §()no day I g(>t n kjttiv boM^fig a well-known poHt-mork In Scotland. My roaolution wna iit onco tukon to leave London. (}«>ing hy way of fiirroingham, I was thora aoHoited anxioualy, and wait preaaed until it wna pniniy to rofban, yet I did refuHe, to go to Ae |K)littoal union for «ne nigfil even. I folt that I could not make a fvthVtfi appearance, nnd did not. I waa not at any mecH^ing of| the Birmingham political union, oithcr while in th« nrmy or nft«r,fH!l their at (he unuul place of meeting nor «t any other. I have read in uewHpnpera that I wua ; and have even read a speech attributed to me, which oiroumttance is the only excuse I have now for taking notice of this topic. When I TOHohed Glasgow, I was as anxloun to avoid a public appearmice «s at Birmingham and London, but was n6t an suoccnsfHil. One morning, when the factory workers were out of tl>e mills at the breakfaat hour, I . was in a stationer's shop, the door of which they passed in h&ndrods. The fact of the " Scots Grey that got his licks" being there, became known, and a crowd of people gathered aronnd-the door. I. was obliged 4o go out and take off ny^t to them. They shouted with an enthu- «iasm which made me blu^^|||d wish I was beneath the stones of the sitreet ; yet, upon reflecti<|^jWw such a hearty good-will about them, that I felt, what must noir^^lEonfessedj a gratified vanity. Within an hour I was seated under the hands of a hairdresser. He was full of what he had seen when the crowd was at the stationer's shop, and described that " chield Somcrville." He told what he thought of him ; and eaph customer waiting to be shaved told what he thought Taking the average of what they said, I had no reason to feel flattered. I had been detained fourteen days for the meeting of the political unions. When the night came, the place was not only crowded, but the streets leading to it alsa I had again and again b^^ to be allowed to write my thanks to the public of Glasgow, who had assisted lo buy my discharge, and publish the writing, so that I might be saved the humiliation which I dreaded, of going before a great public mejeting, to exhibit myself as a «oward, aftaid to look the people in the /aoe. Mr. , in whoso hands I waa, would take do denial As the hour approached I felt my- self more incompetent to the task than ever, and evinced signs of a deter- — mination not to go with him. „ H e urg e d the injusti ce it would b e to ium, who had announced me in his paper, and at last asked " What did ■ . M lit MMBinriLtl'f BOOK ^ Kir«~< il I think ho biul hep* «« in hi. houw fV>r d«iig • forthtlgUt Thb KUDK m« U» lh« h«rt. I mAH, " Oo on : Uk« mo whor. you Uko. Wo wont through tho crowdi, m, knoo. InoUning U> nuuio .ooh othor; yel Ihowoakn.).. «.iinU,r««U,U by • fcoling whieh inoliii^d wc to wlto my h„uH«a und fod for the oihlbition for a fortnight, »nd the tornw boiog,a» It now «pi)o«nme feeble verse, of mine, and .all thorn " worthy of Byron, ; and hail me, before he had Bern me, a. "another Byron, another Bums " and aU that fudge ; with the same reekleMuea., he began to write me down a« soon as the exhibition was over, and never altowed an oppor- tunity to slip to do so from that time forward. ^ I left Glasgow next day. When the late Mr. Thomas Atkinson, of excellent memory, Mr. Hedderwick, and other friendly genUemen, diaoo. vered that I had loft that city without odUing updn them, they wrote tj me at Edinburgh, regretting the circumstance. I had not been allowed to go out without my keeper. Mr. Atkimion said that be wa. sorry I h _ placed myself in the hands of an ipdivi^i*^, and expressed a fear that If might have reason to be sorry fbr it, as he had once been befriended by . - that personage.;, - -•;.:■• ■-:.'^: •p-';^--- '^' '^ !:.':'.''. :■ , At Edinburgh, my mo^ heing in¥^ah1c, I heiame » wood-sawyer, Kving on my wages and saving a^ portion of them". I had been used to rlmighin g, hedtfinn. ditohing^ draining, gardening, stone-qnarnring,road> makii,andw(i»d^wing. The Utter was the best paid. 1 chose ii now because I cQull choose nothing better. In London I had been advued i-f. ■ ! '"»■ \^ DftlOtKT ixWM. ITl 4- ta> Invent th« money, and th« um of mj mtm, in a pablie houiu!. I did not approvo of that proj«ct, for vartoui reasonii : partly broatiM I aaw Dolhing «ntioinj( in th« aooial lift) of a publican ; part^ b<><>auM> I kntw nothing of th« baidn«aii; butohi«»fly b«oauM I had no fkith in thoa«wbo •dviawl rn«. In anothor town in England, I bad an »«m of an opfmiag In a malting buainemi: that I alm> deolincd. In (Haagow or Kdinburgfa nothing hotter than b«oooiing landlord oi'apublio-houaowaa imnu>diat«!y open lo mo; and I ohoM to atrip to the ihirt and go into the Mwpit, from ill in the morning (with candle-light) to aeven at night (with oandl«-light), for aovoral montha daring the wlntw, rath At last, during the spring of 1833, I became connected with parties who were to open an extensive coffee-honsft, jointly with me. After a of time and some expense, I discovered donbtiul oircumBtanoes t them, an4 withdrew. Otbera proposed, about the" some time, » mrfcnershipof amore agreeable nature. This was, to start a literary / journa3; and as they all had, or prol'cHsed^ to have, money in their own; / haflds, or obtainable from connections, I Sid not hesitate to furnish the ^ preliminary suppUes. Typo and other necessaries for printing were! ordered. As my name was best known, I undertook to write to, several literary men for contributions. Ebenezer EUiott sent a poem.' Tl^ev late Thomas Campbell sent a letter promising a poem;' Professor Tpn- nant, of St. Andrew's, sent a poem; Thomas Atkinson, of Glasgow,, lamented that ho was on the vei:ge of the grave, and that he had not seen me in ^Glasgow. Others contributed. The j)ubli(yion never made its appearance. I found none of the partners bringing contributions in money : one brought verBOH ; on e. ' - 0g a treatise on banking; a third, a -%- story ; all of them brought talc8,~tale8 in manuscript to bo printed, and •^ri- >" ' A I'i 'i '• \ jiyjj. . " bomkAvilli'b book ■ . tjM told i^w»rf-9f mou*. to «tiriy m...b«»t U>. «P«bb« thej h-d • Hd t«i -reBned for to Having Wtl. m-Be pt my partaen..; .od lu. , ll%!0 of «..«Viad and of b».ii.^. oxteided «, much further tb«. .SrWdA« "-derei him .».pi«io«. of ,U,em. . Meaowh.!., ono ,r»rwi,o,/h,sly, porfer.-ale, and othar«,mmoditi»of atrado pooulmr ^Mt^C^J:-^'* ?-»'• wW' merchant «r ^«rn-keeper ■■b«rruttleof o«>h, and aB-ltow;|ho»ght. that, mth euoh profe,.»nd . wluno. «.™ offered, «■« peounidy support » ™ J»™»..«J, I St^ite-ah .greeaBle employment to a p«.fitaUe one ; I aba^don^ The CpirandreBaw, toot aihop;.ndiArfx montb.l»db«t ave^y *^K.\?;u;'rrm^e m. l6oi^my1i the eye. of peopU_-iouai.me*- •■' tobueme^ traneaetion. from ehadhwd. I """"yr"*?.","^"!" rye,, «ben I look b«.k to 1833. But facto «« the eul^eet of the nreaent narrative, and Omte are the facta. . i •_ ' - _ - , j, ■ ^ ' l^ter urged r; to accpmpa.y him to Cinada whij, ^ «^ -n^- Hrcame t^ this Queen of Colonies without me, ^d'^^oderioh, . "^^ O^ieSvi^Edinburgh in 1833, 1 felt more atease wiU. J|de woiW . before me, than at any t%^ since J h4d enlisted as a soldier I M Zm an4 strength^and c^ld work, and -- ^^^ *^^ jf ^;::;^' Going to London I i^iade the acquaintance of the parent* of he darling partner t>f my Carried life, whom I baye .buried on^the.cold. rock of Queb« in 1859. She waa t^en a child Sightjfears ol#, tenderly dutifd ■ to her family,,aBshe\a8Wa^-hearted to every human being. V * if*' ■» 3 till V °c} ■■^v , I ^'i^; ■ -'-ii ■■■■•; # 4 »>> / I ■ ■;^Hr"'.^''^ ■ * '' ::M ^ had ' ' ' .■; m"* -■.:.-: •:^'t loh a . lious, d his than 3, one 5 ton, ouliar ecper, tsional sedy I [doned a ye siomedr ly own of the money, )derich, e world I had 3 world.- darling rock of '.dutiful « ■A :.$i^-- i>' .«5! # or ▲ DtLIOXNT Lifl. 178 c CHAPTER ,;xvn. Q PolHical Dii^ntent, Plota, and Oontpiraeiet, In 1884. «.. Beford proceeding to relate what I kqow of tl^ political conspiracy . itrhioh was fbrmpd under cover of the trad*' niiYo^s of 1834, it is leoew- sary that I should glance thackwatxl to the reformed pi^rliament which was elected in JQeoember X^^, after the passing of the Reform Act^ and ^to the reform ^inistry ; and trace the sources und iho operation of the unpopularity iq which the ministry and Uieir parUamentaiy supporters'^^ Uved, jnoved, and acted in 1834. The expedition and simplicity of the new elections, finished in «ne or < two days, oOinpared with the rioting, drunkenness, and expense of the elections which lasted fifteen days, oonvinoed even the jgfophets of evil ' that a reform had b^n efieoted. The elections were numerically in fay^r of the reform ministry, to an extent Kardly anticipated. Of the 658 m^hers, 406 were minisieirial^BtB ; and only 150 were "ji^truo- tives." The Irish repealers, nltra-liberalB, and radicals, who could not ' be classified by anticipation, numbered over 100. By another ana^sia, the re/orniers nuiQbered 509, and the antire/ofmerB 149. Experience proved this estimate to be incorrect, though probably it |ccorded with the intentions or professions of the members when elected. The meaihires brought before Parliament by the government were too liberal for manjr of the professing Reformers, who thenceforward allied themselve^ with the Tories under a new designation, that of " Con8crvati;ires," and were too stringent or illiberal for others, who, in consequence, voted against ministers, or absented themselves on occasions important to the minifliy. In no previous pa^ament had such an amount of business been transacted aa in this. Thd previous sittings of tne House of Commons Bveraged five hours each: in this :C88ion they averaged above nine hours. More thun 11,000 speeches were delivered, The leading subjects were: t . ,' First, — A measure to rcfcpu'thei Irisii -ohnirch [I use the word- as th»all other parties hi Scotland, but not Appreciated as a popular measure by the'^neral b ^^- . Fifth,— Twenty millions steritiig were voted as Moment to the oWner» of negro slaves in the West Indies, and a bill enacted lor the liberatiMt-: of t^e slaves acoordipgl^. A majority of pvliament, a majority of i^e r8ligtousf>hilantliropi8t8 and ]dulo8ophioal liberals, were in favour of^this bargain for humanity. With the millions ojr working men and Women in Great Britain, all so highly tai:ed, man^ of whom did not eat a^ drink so well, nor work bo little, as.the A^o slaves, this free gift ^f twenty millions stcorling to the slave-ownots, who, while they received it, and long after, had a monopoly of the sAgar markej/^tbey, in most part, iiviAg in luxurious ease . in England, /and never attending, as business -!men should attend, to the profitable ciiltivatibn of their |ugar plantations — ^with the millions of our own working population, wBo paid dearly for sugar and coffee, and wwe abl^ to oonsume but little of'either, this grani.. out of the taxes was ezoecdinglV unpopular. In the next year, wheo the government prosecuted and transported six poor Dorsetshire labotuv . ■eifl "for combining to raise the /agricultural wa^es of their district,—, upon which wages they could npt prooure suoh good nor such full meals .as w^re allowed to negro alavM, — this was remembered against them >^ by the. formidable trades' anions^ which ^ve.Bi^itaa: such a year of dibquict and perU. .• ' :■■■''■'':■.■/-■■' ':l . '^:y-;^^/-'" ' \ sixth,— A stories of measbes refonning, w i^^lt^ altering, tfa« government of India, renewing the Company's eharter for twenty -years, throwing open the- trade to China, were passed.. The last, though |> mcashrc of great nat^^al importance, did not add^to ^e popularity of the niinistors with the genei'sj body of the people, who did not 'under- stand, or (mH.to understand the grea^ {frineiple involved in the ikbolition of monopoly. ^••:^,^_i_.^,„,:; : ■ ;;■,.■'■..■.. .■:'' Seventh,— The ehartei- w the Bank of England was renewed, , after several discussions on -the cu^enoy, whioh, though of natioqalimportanoe, not attract ^^ ■/ J^of J.. in ' ■■ * in .4 11 oti- .» bui i /• \ '■i^' Of A bnniifr ttnu m vlnlsters wonld neither hnve gidned hot lout popnlaritj by that question, had they idlowed each member to qpeftk and vote in tihe uinal way. Bnt « ipeeeh of Mr. Cobbett, and a rote of the hon8e4aken upon that speech, were^ on the motion of the Ohaneelbr of the Ezohcquer (Lord Althorp), 4»zpunged fVom the minntefl of the proc^edinga of the Houae. Out of •doora, people who neither believed, with Mr. Cobbett, nor oared to under- stand the^urmney question, understood that a veteran political writer bad been morally ehftatiild by a union of miniirterial whigs and oppoeitioii tories, fbi hia refleotiona upon Sir Eobert Peel, the leader of the tofioi. This ooaiH»d on the 16th of May, while a jury waraitting to inquire into the cause of the d«ath of 'a policeman, named Robert Colly, Itilled in Coldboth Fields, on "the 13th, in an afH^y, in which the twlioe, by ihe order of Lord Melbourne, the Home Secretary, Irere oaployed^tn -^isperaittf^ a jpc^tiea) meeting. M^h violence Vaa cwnmiCted by the police, as w«ll jds bytheu.miib', whom they attacked. The policeman was wtabbei toith a daggetf and the juiy, aftet sitting twelve days upon the inquest, retnmedf a tK^pdlot ef justifiable htmidde. On the 90th, thli ^verdict, on the znoUon <^ the Solioitor-<3eneral , was set'aside by .the Court of King's Beneh. T^b added to the public excitement. With the inultitu(ie,.and tbaon^rs wiio led |t in its public meetings, smoki'ng- parlonrs, tap-rM«»s, or woilcsho^, th^ Home Secretary was. the most aoouraod of mit^^rs orpf. public, men. This the reader should carry in mind to the aid of tiriai^and hext chapter, as a key to the personal danger in which that e^lesmq|^. was placed. In the pcribus excitement of April ' 1834, t^e daggfn^whioh killed the polieeman had not ceased to be reS^ired to'in ^^eetiotf with his name. " 'l|||^||^iihat jury was ^tting i^y^fdtjhorpe Street^ in 1833, attrtMting the ja«tio|p'sjeyes''t|>4tsd/r and tolR meeting whi<^ the police had been ^Quwi^ly employed to disperse, 'public meetings were held in tlie large ton^tts to menioralise ih& king to dismiss his ministers. Mr. O'Connell and Mr. Attwood ^ere conspicuous at a Vast aseoml^ held for that purpote, on the ISthof M^y, at Birminja^an^. AikH^o anti-reformers were also agitators now, though not '^openly. They operated upon the working classes, urging them to ro8i||t |hc tyranioy of the whis^ reformers, jminting to Coldbii^ Fields and to the Irish Owrcion gBiU, Tfaeb purpose was to ^t tM whigs out of offiee. * '^' £ight1i,-^The Irish Coercion Bill wais the ^fifM^ of the unpopular, tatmr cures '«!f 1838/ in t«gaid of time; buty esDoejpt in Jbelaad, it was not « ijutantiy deeried. But It ^pon became the popular ^emo of aoeusation , against t|ie' reform ministry amdng al| the unrepir^nted people of ^^ngland'and amon^ the mt^mby ^ Uie^bersl eleotors. '/. '^S J :*• ^►* \ 17© BOMIRTILLX a BOOK '■i* ^■ - Ninih,— A nabordlnate member of the government, Mr. Robert Oruiftr brought in a bill to remove the Jewish dieabilitieB. It was defeated, and an outory raised «gain»t ibe ministry, by churchmen and others, whieh did them more haim with the religious electors than the disperaion of the Ooklbath Fields meeting had done. ' Tenth,— The, Cdttrt of Chancery was disturbed by sone alterations called reforms } by which mdr© than a proportionate alarm was raised among the iegai ftinctlonaries, affected, or afraid of being affected, by change^ Irhoy add.ed to the up^ EleVdiith—Tteital" repeal of ibe duty^n tiles; the repeal of two ihiBings'stamp^uty on advertisements; the reduction of assessed taxes on shops; the yetiuotion of duty «n marine insurances ; the repeal of the ■tami^^uty on receipts under £5; the repeal pf the dttty (additionallaid ifllft in 1821) on raw cotton ; the reduetion of half the duty on toap ; and ivAriety of other good measures, were owrried. But it is questionable if all th% gdod afjts of the ministry in the session of 1833 added to theit populwity, or wiurded off aby odium, except among the philosophic few, . dr the moderate thinkers. To the' general body of the people the reduction of taxes gave offence, because it did ubt go far enough ; and th6 amen4ment8 of the odminiBtratioti of justice gave offenee to tho lawyeps, the\only parties who felt personal int«aest in the measure, by ' ^ii^^toq. fw ■ / ■ /■[..^■.'•'-'■'' '' . Fitially;--(There was the subsidence of entUtisiaiito on the part of th« nation to render the ^reform ministry unpopular. It came into power amid- acclamation.' The excitement of the natioii ^as strained beyond the power of nature to end^ro. From the fall of tbb Wellington admin- istration, in October 1830, to the end pf the deotion of the first reformed parliament, in December 1832, the ^iticmi drama deepened in interest at edoh act; and the changing scenes had l^n so crowded upon one another,, that the stirring poUtios of 1833 bebiame a sleepy after-' pieee, a dull play, whidi the ioutworn auditory woul^ not be please^ with. This was no &ult of the politu)al aotors who had done so much t» please : it was their misfortune. The fact' of its being their misfoirtdne beoame moi^ ipata^ifest in 1^^ That year opened wi^ th« electoral elasses making large demands for more tteform, and with the non-electoral classes comphdoinf^ loudly that they were betrayed, and markecJ as a slave-class by the Refotin Bill, and that the whigs were the most treacherous of all statesmen. Before the year ended, the king dismissed the miaiMry from his councils for being too liberal, though their measures (of which the new poOr-kw w^i the chief) were more unpopular' in England. than anything which iJiey ^id in the pjrevious session. \ r-V -. V-' .■ " _-"*■;. ,.jy4 . y ■ » •. or A.i»EiasNT unp. 177 This narratire do«i not lead me farther into the parliamentary hiatoij of thoie times. I am only justified in relating this much of parliament- Kfy history, because I have good cause to believe, and no cause to doubt, that, in the judnth of April 1834, I saved one or more of the cabinet minislera from the assassin's dagger, and the government offices from insucreotiquary occupation; and because, in relating' how they were endangered, how they were td have been surprised and overcome, ho;w the palace and the king and queen were to have been taken, how the •oldieit, were to have been outiritted, how the Bank of England was to have been captured, and all London held by the insurgents (all Britain and' Ireland to yield in the}i\ turn to the insurrection), it is necessary that I should show the peHtioal circumstances by which the ministry was then Bonrounded, and . the popular ientiments then entertained ^r or dgainat : tfMm.' . — — — 7— — 77— -- rrr^-— :v-:'v -r--—-zr- -^ - ."--- ;- ■,::;;- To make this rebtion of ministerial oircumstaiioes complete, I also refer to the trades' unions, premising that the political conspiracy, though concocted uttdei^ver of the unions, was probably known to but fbw of the pii)viuoial leaden^of those bodicNir, certainly not t6 the general members. * The object of most of the iinions, if not of all^ formed by the trades, previous to the' years 1833 and 1834, was ti^e ft<||^ment of trade ad van* . tsges ; their policy, to support one another by tilrfiR, Qntfue tnules were .0 work while others were on fitril^e; those working, to support those not working, the object of qot working b^ii^ to enforce a higher rate o^ wages. When that higher rate of wages was obtained, they were to resuihe work, and allow another trade to stilike.- This arrangement was broken by the tailors (^ Itondon,>¥ho struck woi;k without the ^nsent of many of the trades ^ftrnii^g lo^ei^^ages than they, and which, called upon to contribute to tjj|eir Support^ did not respond* to the ^|1. * ' It was then that some labouring men ^ere tried ^t Doro^mhr„at the ipring assist of 1834', for being miembierB of a union, and aoHlffitHtering Illegal oaths. iDhev were, indicted upon an obsolete statute enactevv^ ' the s'uppresfllofi of mutiny in the navy, and sentenced to Sdven yean^ transportation; , A strong feeling airose' throughout the oounti^l^, from th^ first report of their cOnYiotiod, that they had been harsl%rdealt with, as • examples. to o^er upionista rathet than as crimioals. This foeling^' deepened when they were hurried out 0^ England, as soon as itVaa found that pelitions to the gpvemmont in their favottr were preparing in 4]n<|pet eyery town jn the kingdom.* 1 never signed petitions with • ttroiiger impression^n my miiid that, I Was performing a bare duty to unfortunate fellovi^n) than tHe |>ctition8 I signed in favour of those laliuttfent." The 1 poor nr grappled giant's streiq^ 'xh ,/.«' * \ » . ■ ■ ^■\' ,'* - m ■OMIBTILLl'S BOOK npMi the^^ftel^Mt And nost innocent of all the i^i^ists ; while tkM th»t weH^ formidable, epmprising the well-paid tradta, l«d by men neither ignorant nor hungry, like the Dorsetihire labonreni, were Wt untouched* The government aeeihed too weak to proaeoute the great unions ; ai leaflt, ihe uhiona thought ao. Preparations were made for a grand aasemblage of all the trades in London, to meet in Oopenhagen Ii*ieldB, on the morning of the 2l8tof April, and maroh throu)^ London to the Home Office, at Whitehall^ to present a petition, praying for the release oi|^^M^rM^i>^, convicts, and then proceed ojlirer Westminster Bridge^^to Kennington Common. ^ No one who listened to^e vehement and- reckless speeches of the Li^don leaders, or reflecting on their p^lly of viptending to overawe the govem- nient on that day by a show of vast numbers, could h&ve any other opinion than this, that they cared less for the fate of the poor labourers of Dorset tha% they oared few a display of their own leadership, that kind of reasoning whidi is caHed common sense Would have suggested, that the more reserved in a display of ]|)hysioal strength, and the more 'nild in words the petitioners were in soliciting the pardon of the Dorset nnionistfl (since the members of all unions were so much dreaded), the more likely they were to succeed. The preparations for thfe grand display proceeded; deputations^isame from the provincial unions; the union parliainent at the H— — P— — held ita nightly sitting, and had its daily and nightly eommittees; secr^ deputations proceeded from it to secret oomm\^tees sitting elsewhere. When the time between the preparations and the event was only eight days, news from France told how the trades' unions of Lyons had risen Igainrt the law,-r-had rescued a member from trial, — had resisted the militiqr who wwe ordered to recapture him, — had reoMved the military bttUet^lBdal^bayoi|ets bravely, — had returned the fire of battle upon the gurison, hai^ defeated it, and ihen held the town and the -authorities at „ " SUivee, thai, we pn r\oried the leaders in England ; " knaves, let otit temes for ever be, if we suffer our brothers of union to be transported I SiMth to the tynn^ ^^ugs I death to ourselves! destruction to London ttnd all that it oontaaii4^e be not amply revenged for their wrongs, and •tt our own 1" Sudi were some of Ihe interchanged sentiments and im- promptu resolutions at the meetings of the sacred fraternal committees. . Ihftj»ewB from Paris, under date of the 12th, conveyed the intimation i ^ -%ymifm was lubd«ed, and that law and order had resumed their reign. This was not beliciwi: It was alleged 16 be forged- nCws, to deter Paris firom nfcmng. Tha next mafl, giving the fact thai ihe t^nilitary were r *<'' Mibdtted in Ljoa% ittd 1k» populaee triumphant, ooafinued the sui^ieioftK lit " r X or A DIUaiNT LOM. 17t of forged news »t Ptiifl, and led (o the Botioi^iation of a Ptritiaa inauiw Motion. Privftte information arrived that the "alon of LecdB"wcfe preparing to att(|ok the mille; and that at Oldham two nnioniata appre- hended by thepoliee bad been reaoued, a factory demolished, life aaorifioed, and the authorities aet at defianoe. At the same time, the secret committee received infovtiation that Bir- mingham, Manchester, Derby, and Nottingham Wore " ready to rise," all being prepared ; that they waited only for I^ondon to lead ; and, afanost at the same tia»d, the news came thfit " Paris had risen." Another poet fVom France brought the intelligence that Paris had not ftaooeeded, — the insurrection being only a riot, speedily suppressed bj the military; and that, after four days of atare^t Warfare in Lyons, on* thousand seven hundised of the military and five thousand of Uiu inhabi> tantfi slain, and nearly one half of tl^e housea and property of the town destroyed, the jnilitary power was triumphant, and martial law wag. establiahed in LyouK \ Those foilorea an X '/•■> 180 •OMiaVILLl'l BOOK and Wly under, would nth into the barrtclcB, wblch would by tbat time have few Boldlew in them ; overpower the barrack guard, Ukc their arms and accoutrementi, and also thoee of sick men, miliUry eervant*, and^ othem, and at once fidl upon the palace guard, capture the king and queen, the lord* in waiting, and the maida of honour; hold them in captivity until the military capitulated and laid down their arms; then arm a People' $ Guard, when the military ircre dinarmcd, and continuo to hold the royal family and as many of the nobility and directors of the Bank of England as it might be convenient to retain in hand as securities against such regiments of the army as might not be disarmed. The Bank of England was to be taken ninoh in the same way as the palaoe; but if it was not surrendered readily, the People' $ Guard was to see that none of the gold vras carried out, and so let it remain until the more nrgent business was settled at the west end. All the other banks in London were to be similarly held, by similar guards, until the people's government ordered the money in the banks to bdv brought forth and ' used for the benefit of the people. The East India house was to be attended to in like manner. And on the signal going throughout the kingdom of the great stroke being given, of tho treasury, the palaoe, and the banks being taken ; of the ki*kg and queen, the lords in waiting, and the maids of honour, being prisoners ; some of the ministers being dead, and others held captive as security to the people with the king ; a people's government formed under the protecticmof a people's guard; — those news going forth through the kingdona, would make it the people's own, and bring the " tyrant" masters everywhere to sue for peace, and for protection from their injured working men and women. Everywhere they would have to disgorge the ill-gotten wealth of ".tyranny," ^d yield it to those whose labour had earned itT " ^ '^^ - Those who planned this great scheme of operations saw ^o difficulty in its alB^omplishment, if they hatil bold men enough to strike the firft blows. - These they felt sure of obtaining. But they were not certain of getting oocess to Lord Melbourne and the government offices. At last, as the tiipe approached, that difficulty was removed. An intimation was con- f^yeclto^them that Lord Melbourne would, on the 2lst of April, receive ^deputation and the petition. This vraa f^tisfaotory. He was set ^down'uld say) through tlM affair in the Soots Greys, ^ "one who was supposed not likely to stick «rtrifles," turned their attentioii upon me. One of them bad a good deal of conversation with m, before ho made any propo s it i on s lOwut joining % secret committee. I bad signed the petition in favour of t.^; A' or A DILIQIMT Liri. 181 the Doraotshiro lobourorf j »nd did not withhold my opinioti*o1f their ■entenoe, — that it wm excewive. for their crime, and that there was a meannejw about the manner of their proieoution unworthy of tlie dignity of jUHticO.' * ' • Nj» i wa« -urged to join the union. I replied that I belonged to no trade ; to which Jt wa« rejoined that I might enter the general union,--!it not being neccwary to belong to a trade society. They required two or three hundred'mon like my8elf,^B0 the intimation gradually proceeded,— strong, • encrgotio, not afraid of trifles, ready on nnj/ omergcncy^ with a weapon " or without one, to act or direct others to aotf.- They had some good men already ; and if I joined, they thought I might bring some more; They had the great elementa of necessity ready and in abundance, — money, ' ■hna, andafflttiunitici. And then followed a great deal about bl8*liopB, ^--tho House of Lords, the throne, the landed gentry, and the "tyrants,"* who lived on the profits of lab«ar; that none of them could be endured longer; that as I had suffered in ^e army from " tyrants," I should bo readj, they thought, to avenge myself, and serve my country, now that an oppdrturiity was about to present itself. I inqufrod^lu'n that opportunity was to come ; in what shape it was to come, aSB^hat they expected two or three hundred, men to do. They said J«i\imld know if I joined the union, and became one of th^ secret committee. I said, the Uilora* union, which took the lead in London, was managed entirely by tailors^ that the general committee of the trades waft composed of ddegated members from ^ each, trade. They replied thafrjmch was the case ; and that so far as the trades' societies, simply as s^l^ere concerned in the present movement, no other com- mittees were Squired. But that other things, not of trade importance, but of national importance, m^st now be done; for now was the time to do them. The country was never so well organised as regarded working men (whicfffes quite true) as then. More noise had been made ' about the politioal unions at the time of the Reform Bill, and, no doubt, rich " tyrants " belonged to them, who did not belong to the trades' unions; but thif fitot was all the better. This was supposed by the to be exclusively a trade movement. The " tyrants " would ^ ^HHir guard as regarded any national effort to obtain freedom at one^^Nbd that one blow would be struck under cover' of the trades' if they would tell me what the two or three hundred were supposed to be able toMo, I should judge more irobability of my taking a shareyin the enterprise. "" i before I jrejfilie men tiny oorr this, one who had spokei tiouB." "I have not always been oautious," I replied; "but I think always K':ff Jwj *■ / V'V 182 ^■ - .-- , ^ H' iOllllVtItlii'l BOOK r3 •istloii !a 4«dral>1e in any raeh jmrpoM m that which jwx hav« fbr«> ■hftdowed to mn." " We do not think the wome of you/' Mid one of the fint apeaicon, " for your oaution ; but we maat alao be oautioua,' a)id « Wore wo can go farther you must join our body." I said, I had no objection to buoopie a member; and accordingly I wai made a member. ' Thia Wft'on % Saturday night Wo ware to meet in a houao near Hlpry Luie on tho Sunday night, when I was to be introduced to the fbiternal oommittco. The interval I apont in anzioua cogitation, ami oailod to mind wordii whioh^had fullcn from the talliative unionist who first oonveraed with me. |Ie had spoken of the ease with which potMOB- ■ion might be taken of all the government offices, fVom Downing,Str«et to ti^ Uorst Guardi; hem easy it was to get aocd^ to, and oatcli the " tyrants " in their bifioes, and hold thorn tho/^; how easily Xhe guards uld bo disarmed; how easily,- if this wero done on a day when all the rking men of London were on tho streets ready to asaist, the palace' id be taken, King William and Queen Adobide made captive, and, th the " tyrants," held as hostages until the army capitulated and gave . p their arms to the people. I had treated such supposed possibilitiea aa the ravings of a political lunatic ; bat^now I oalled those sayings and others to mind, and pondered deeply an^ intensely upon thorn, and supposed that tho person, whoin I had believed to be a mere utterer of idle words, had really been trying to sound me for an opinion upon suoh a project. ^■ I hesitated t^^ to Drury Lane on the Sunday night, and' yet the desire to know ftnoro of that secret committee, of which they sought to mo^e me a member, was irroeietiblet I went ; and reached, soon afler dark, the wall of that mean grave-yard in Djrury Lane, tho very earth of which smells of death. I stood there for a time, uncertain whether to go into the house appointed, which was not far disUnt. Tho thoughts of treason,— of Thistlewood's oom^iraey, — of conspiri^rs hanged, beheaded, drawn, and quartered, — come into my mind, and, as the cold wind of March searched through iuy clothes, rose op in my fuco, and went over my head into the grave yard, and came bdck with tho emell of death, it gave conviction that I shoukl bo bettor to die at once, and go to such a mead, but not dishonoured grave, as that foul yard afforded, ra^r than into the house to join conspirators. Then I said to "my- self, I had no intention of joining them : I did not e;^en know if they \ were conspirators. Again, I said, if I go amongst tiffem, even to know what they are, and the offioer^ of justice oome upon us ^alid finij prooft on them of treason, would ftbf the ofikiere, all LpndBf^all the world, believe, that the worst man there was myself, my political and military obaraoter being marked. No, sud J, it must not be; I ^all not g^.- , \ii,. ':; m^ " -,;»",-«.-,. •■.. ^^^ , * A # ■ of tid t no ar. / *'^W \ii,. / Of A DiuaiN* Lira. Qiytdf, « psrnon took me by Um •nn and Mid, ijr don't y«u ooiue on? I WM.looJ kraliaiting for jov*" M JOVL a <• Wh»i " To pixHi«AiHpPr in the hadnflM ffpoken of Iwt night. '^^' "Oh I oonitiamg: you don't know wkal lh« butiuoM ii< Her* •!• many fVienda of yours waiting to ■•• yoa." " Whparethoy?" • '^ Many ; aoniu yon know and Home yon don't know ; exoellont fellowt all of t))«ni ; tb« beat men in Kngland;^ you nay rely on them." I oonnidcred u few minutcD, and felt that the ohief danger would be the ohanee of tho polioo ooming and taking us dl priaonera, and tluiV4)f their finding anything ireaaonable in the house. I thought tho firat ohanoe, upon which the last depended, was Tei^ remote, owing to the open way in which the trades' unionists mot everywhere in London ; and, M I determined not be sworn to the performance of any act until I knew explicitly what it was to be, ai\d that if it were treason or any political adventure whatever I would have nothing to do with it, I assented and entered. In the private room anxious words passed as to the deputation and the " glorious band " being admitted to the preeenee of the cabinet minifltera. I was hailed as a brother. At that time, I Was thin of iesh, and my tall and btoud body uf skin, muscle, and bone, arrayed in clothes which did not bespeak me to have much stake in the property of the country, together with that energy of action which was known, and those opinions which I was Huppoood to possesSj made me, no doubt, seem a very likely person to join in a very desperate adventure. They probably, like every other person who knew me only through the fictions of the Weekly Ditpatch, gave me no credit for being a thinking man ; nor were any (^ them^ so far as I had opportunity to judge, of the Uiinking order, Or likely to give a man credit fo| his superior powers of reflection. Nor were they liberal enough — demooruts thdugh they were— to tolerate any one's spoken thoughts that were not in accordance with their thoughts. It was proposed that I should bo sworn, as tho preliminary act to any other business. I said, some persons in the private room, and two or three more in the room outside, were professed unbelievers, who glgried in unbelief, and ridiculed me and others who held^ to the faith of otir fathers : were they to be sworn ? or, if not sworn, how were they to be bound ? or, if they were sworn, what dependence was to be placed upon them, if they did not believe in tbft sanctity of an oath? — To which it was rejoined, that they \iere aH good men and true: they bdiered in >) ^ i-.;i MICROCOfY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) L25 1.4 1.6 ^ APPLIED llyHBE Inc —T". 1653 East Main Street r^ Rochester. New York 14609 USA JS (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone = (716) 280 - 5989 - Fox 184 bohervillk's book the moral obligation, if not in the eanctity, of oaths ; that, without any personal imputation upon myeeH^ it was thought that the word of a good democrat, he being a conscientious unbelieifer, was as good ns the oath of any Christian or other conBcientious believer. It was a sense of virtue, in the one, that made him k6ep his word ; it was a fear of pun- ishment, in the other, which made him kee;p*hi8oath. I replied, that I must know more of some of the unbelieversTthan I had been accustomed to see of them, before I could put any trust in their sense of virtue ; at all events, if the business to be performed by me was such as I must be sworn to the performance of, I would not engage in it with others who were not sworn ; nor would I swear to the performance of it until I knew what it was to be. It was fortunate that the subject of oaths had come up before going farther : I saw in it a means of escape. I had resolved to retreat, and this way opened unexpectedly. Desirous, however, to know more of the purposes of the conspiracy, I pressed to know what the bijjiiness to be done might be, before I engaged upon oatb to do it. Upon which, as much was told as confirmed the opinion I had formed, of the design being to take the cabinet ministers and government offices by surprise, when the deputation and the "glorious band " wcntjnto the presence of the ministers with the great memorial. I was to ba one of the leaders, if I would accept the dignity and the danger. I expressed unwillingness to be engaged in any enterprise of that kind, with persons whom I did not know. It was rejoined, that I need not distrust them: some of the best men in England were present in this house, and others were coming to take the lead. There would be some of the boldest and best of the democrats from Birmingham, and there were already some present from Sheffield and Nottingham; all were in the secret, and they only wanted a few more such as myself There were also, they said, some glorious fellows who had been in Paris during the " three days," and who knew what fighting was, and how to conduct street warfare ; and there were Poles also, the best men in the wor for a gallant enterprise. Once more I urged that I would not be sworn to take share in such business until I knew who were to be engaged in it, and until I had maturely considered it. And having said this, I moved to go aWay ; but they refused to let me go until I had engaged farther. It was urged tha,t I should swear to hold within myself whatever secrets were learned there. To which I replied, ** That I may not inform against you?'' They rejoined, " Yes, that is it." Then said I, " My word of honour I hold to be as good as the word of any one" of you, and I give my word of honoulr that I will not divulge your designs or your names," " That ■1. -■•T . \ t)l A DILlOlWr LIFB. 186 wilVHCa«ely do," said one: "you sJiould join now, heart and hand, 'body and soul, before you leave us, and then we shall have no doubt of y6A." Said another, " It is all right with Sonieryille, don't fear : ho has given too many proofs of bis devotion to the people, for us to" mistrust him. Lest him take bra own way : wo shall soon have him with us." Infatuated creatures I They did more in that half hour, by tlie reve- lation of their crimes and foUy, to shake my faith in the wisdom of an ignorant democracy, than any amount of philosophic teaching couRhav© . "done, I left them,*went to my lodgings, and t»imbled into ibcd ; lay awake all night, and got out again in the- mqi-ning unslept, restless, unhappy, and loaded to the earth with the weight of the horrible secret ' . that had been ecmfided to me. Had ly^been able in give it back, to throw off the burden, and bid them keep it, — able to foiget it, and to l)elieve that the secret committee of the grgat trades' tmions was as inno- cent in its purpose as I had believed it to be, I should have felt myself to be a happy man. Several Jaj;s j^assed, and I was again and again applied to; but I pleads illness. Indeed, I was ill, though not so sick but I might have gone out. I tried to read and think. I could think, but could not read. I felt that I was taking the right course in staying within doors. But, •again I asked myself, waff I doing my duty in only saving my own neck from the gallows and my reputation from ignominj ? Was it not my duty to save those who would bevictimsof 'the conspiracy, if it succeeded, the ministers of government, the sovereign, the royal f^ly, eveiybody who _ was not of the order of democracy ? and the uni^ists themselvies (most •of them innocent of the conspiracy), who w■■.■ ■ ■ "" word That -:,.v; » - » ■' ■ ■ c • , ■ • / ♦ '• W . ' ■" . ' ■ ■ ) i iL, ■, ' . <■•■,.,■. * ■ ' ,, '■ • ■'• '■,"'»' . . ■ . ...... .* .* • "-.• • ..- A 186 ;•♦• }. ,^ ^. • >• ^^: ■'>:^' \i^ iBOMKBVUiLK'B BOOK f cha\pter x.viti. V ** The P16't Frustrftt^d. V The morning of Monday, SJlst of AprH 1834, came, and with it an MSembU^ of thirty thouBand tnioniBts on Copenhagen Fields^ — aeeries of meadows on the northern Biddof London, where in after years the New Smithfield J[arket was constructlfed. The trades present were thirty-three in numbp^someof them consislii^ of a few hundreds of persons only j others ofjpore*than,.one tjfe^ousanl the tailors alone being about five thou- sand. The. oti-lopket%. who' crowded to the fieldto see ^he^ades arranged in columns, under their respcctiviS colours, amounted to twenty thousand before eight o'clock in the momingA During the day the numbers attracted to look on as the procession moved through the streets, amounted probably to more than one hftndred thousan ^^^ From what I had been unwillingly compelled to kn.ojj9H|^e designs of the conspirators (only a few of whom were in the pro^l^^), I wrote private letters to the daily newspaiiers, requesting tlk4*n to caution the innocent members of the unions agaiUt appearing in the streets on that day, hinting, at a reason why ; but, al^ that^ution might be futile (the infatuated democrats seldom listening to counsel that did not come from theirown chiefs, and hardly ever to newspapers which habitually opposed, or by turns cajoled and betrayed theW), the mere sight-seers, and all women, persons in charge of childyeii land heads of families who could control their servant^^ were implored not *<> expose themselves in the streets. The newspapers were ferventlin their warning ; and the eflfect was, that probably more than half the sWht-seers who would have been out, stayed within doors. Many unioriists also took the caution, and remained "away ; for, in addition to the Warnings of newspapers not to join the procession, they heard the secret injunctions of some leaders, and saw suspicious preparations of many fellow-workmen, to be prepared, for what they called resistance, and they repained at home. " The killing of CoUey the constable, whif? the police were employejl to disperse ^ political meeting in Coldbath i^ields, in the previous year, by a stab of an instrument which was alleged ipTiave been a dagger, and the impunity of the assassin, together with the verdict of justifiable homi- cide by the coroner's jury, was frequently~referred to now. ' That ver- dict, and the applause with which the public received it, proved that /•' "* or A DILIOBNT LIIK. 187 the public (so it waa reasoned) were favourable tq resistance, should the ^ government use force against the unionists. And further, it was suggested and reasoned, that working men could oot be' blamed for carrying their worlr-tools, or any part of them. A dagger had been effectiw^ it Coldbath Fields ; but they need not inctar the expenfle or" danger, nor excite the suspicion of the government " tyrants," by each man providing himself with a dagger. The' carpenters could carry a chisel; the tailors, a pair of shears, with a keeper to hold the shears close above the joint; the coal-heavers^ if they had no 'particular instrument by which they earned their bread, had good knives to cut their bread, or, if they had them not, they might have them. No one could blurae them for carrying each a knife. Any man of any other trade miglrt have a knife. The tailors, accordingly, about five thousand in number, appear- ed y^n the ground under their banners, and formed their columns, most of them having a pair of shears in their pockets fastened with a keeper of leather or jjtiag; to leave their points bare and make both blades one. JVj|d many, in addition to the shears, carried a bare bodkin, that they might make the quietus of all or sundry who took arms against them. The carpenters carried chisels ; the shoemakers, their knives and hammers ; and most of the other trades, something. Those members of the trades who were Be|i9U8ly alarmed at hearing the injunctions to carry such instruments, remained away. Fewer than half of the tailors in London were present. « <;" But of those who carried their shop-tools. Or other instruments, a small proportion only, knew of the design, and certainly not of the details, of the conspiracy, and the preparations for assassinating the cabinet ministers. The members of unions with shop-tools, carried them under the advice of leadnSfe, vho alleged tha't an attack of the police or military, or of both might be made upon them, a^ in Coldbath Fields. Those who were to execute the business at Whitehall, k^ppt their secret, and were only to reveal it with the commission of the first act of the conspiracy. To do their work, tiiey had more formidable weapons than shears, awls, l^ives, - or chisels. Besides writing to newspapers, stath^ that I knew there was'imaunent danger, and urging editors to caut^ mere sight-seers from going near the line of procession, I wrote a letter, signed with my name and, address, to Lord Melbourne, in which ^related the personal danger he would be in, as well as the political danger to the state, if h6 admitted any deputation '' of unionists to an interview on that day, and especially a deputation accom|||iriied by what might appear to be promiscuous followers. As I kept no copy of my letter (having good reasons, delating to personal safety, for not doing so), I cannot now repeat the precise infonnation conveyed .> -m %■ X' 188 SOHiaVILLX'^ BOOK % but as the letter is still (e^ I have reason to believe) in the archiTCS of the/ Home Office, those who have the privilege of obtaining a sight of goverilment papers may see it. Such pnpors are considered sacred, and, are no|t made public without the writcr'u consent. In this case the writer does iot keep tHe matter secret himself.*' In the hope of teaching work- ing i^en a lesson which they may never learn from other tfeachers, — of gifing them a solemn warning of the danger their mad-headed lead- ers liay place them in, while they blindly follow,— the writer of this ♦' stat^ paper" runs the risk of publishing whit, he now does, and has no objection to the publication of that letter, sfeuld any of those whose^ criminal ihtents were frustrated by it, thooso in parliament to move for it, or tho^ whose lives were saved by it, think fit to produce it. *^ ^ At wh^^ particular time Lord Melbourne changed his interttion, and resolved not to admit the unionists, as he had intimated he would do, I have no means of knowing. At what particular time the govern- ment and the commander-in-chief changed their preparations, I cannot tell ; but I know they did chai^ their preparations, and that V«ry mate- rially. During the Sunday night, detachments of cavalry marched into London from HounsloW apd Croydon ; several regiments of infantry wer^ brought from Chatham, Woolwich, Windsor, and more distant places j and, most formidable of all. while London was still asleep and in dark- ness, and the. dreaming madmen of politics saw visions of the deeds to be done with tailors' shears, shoemakers' foifct, Carpenters' chisels, thoir own pistojsj and their own daggers, itb less ^n twenty-nin6 pieces of artillery, with shells and sh»<^ were brought from Woolwich, and (juietly placed within the barracks in Birdcage Walk, in the palace of St. James's, on the paraderground of St. James's Park, and within the closed gates of -^e Horse Guards. On the roofs of^ihe government offices were placed light " mountain guns," to throw shells into the streets commanding the thoroughfare at Charih^ Cross, on o^ie pide, apdPa^rliapient Street and Westminster Bridge oo/the other. Th0 parkgates were closed against bie public. No sentries were mounted in the ordinary way outeide the Horse Guards. The military guard at the Bank of England waa largely Strengthened, and at all the military stations in the metropolis the troops were under arms. The metropolitan police were armed, and retained in quarters, or in positions out of public view. The police magibtrateswere early attheir respective offices. General officers on duty sent out thiir aide-de-oamps ini plain clothes, to' reconnoitre in the streets and at Copen- hagfln Fields. The militai^ forces drawn to the metropolis for the emer- gency, in addition to the usnal compliment of Life Gaards and Foot GrMrds, were detaolAnents of the 12th and 17th Laneers, two troop* of GnardB. and th e Irt RoVal Dyagooiii g , eight batt a liong Dragooi y of infantry, and twenty-nine pieces of field ordnance, M '><; f V ^ t i>* OV A DILIQINT LIVB. 1B9 On the morning of Monday, the lord mayor, in obedience to a oommu. nioation from Lord .Melbourne oalling on him to make pre{>arationi to preserve the peaee of the city, aa there were reasons to apprehend a breach of the peace, summoned a court of aldennon, which met at an unsually early hour. ^Sumjnonses were also sent to the members of the common council, aill of whom, then in London, attended with alacrity. After a brief deliberation, iQessengera were sent to. the householders, reqUMting their attendance at Ouildhall, to take upon themselves, by oath, the duty of special constables. The aldermen retired to their several wards, to order preparations thme, except those who remained to swear in the constables. At GniMhall, the avenues of the court, in a brief period of timtt|^yrere crowded witli householders, and five thousand were tiworn in. - The alder- men then re-assemlbled, with the, lord mayor, at the Mansion House, receiving reports ev^ry half-hour, or oftener, from the numerous messen- gers employed to observe the unionists at different points of procession. Some persons were with the deputation whoee absence would have better satisfied the conspirators than their presence. One of these was the Kev. Dr., Wade, Bector of Warwick, a clergyman of the church, who had mdre pleasure in listening to that applause ^hioh his speeches of extreme and eceentrio politics ministered to his gratified ears in London, than in ministering to his parishioners in Warwick, in return for the liberal income which the .endoi^mentfi of the church brought to his non-resident pockets. Another was Mr. Bobert Owen. Another was liMr. John , more distinguished for making his* liberal politics conducive to a liberal sale of gin, beer, and tobacco, than most other radical publicans in London. Another was the Rev. J. £. Smith, who, of all men known to me*, had the greatest superabundance of inetaphysical intellect to his 'email animal or matter-of-fact nature. Another was Mr. B. D. Cousins, the printer of the organ of tlie trade's' unions (an unstamped paper),' As a printer of unstamped |)aper8, Mr. Cousins Was brought in to- collision . with the government, as otiher smugglers Ka^ been be^re a reduction of stamp-duty or custom-house duty rendered illegal pin ting or other smug. ^^g unprofitable. Through the fame of that collision with the govem- ytaient, he was selected by the unionists of Birmingham, acting for other / towns, to be their London printer and publisher. But no man within the British shores was more innocent of the designs of the conspirators of the 21st of April than he, though he printed for them apd walked in the procession. There were others, whom I^peed not particularise, in the for^nost places of the management, who were pdt welcome there. The Key. J. £. Smith had gone into the idealism of mataphysics until he was a long yaj past the borders of orthodoxy. That was a qualification for h\vi\ 1 \r ,\: ■^ 190 BOSBBVILLl'S BOOK rjA. t to be admitted where he was ; jutt as ihe printer waa qualified beoaano he had refused to pay-taxes ; or as the reverend rector of Warwick waa qualified because he railed at the church, of which, however, he was a non-residont sinecurist; or as the apostle of socialism was qualified, be- cuueo, in propounding new theories, he found fault with every institution *on the face of the earth, — political, social, and religious ; or as the political publican was qualified, because^ to sell beer 'inA gin, he drew largo custom to his house by preaching to the customers who d^ank and paid, and grumbled at the government and the country, that he was not satis- fied with any party or creed, — tones, whips, radicals, republicans, church- men, or dissenters ; that he was not satisfied with the borough of Mary- lebone, nor with London, nor with England, nor with the world, nor with heaven, nor with hell, — that neither God, devil, nor man could satisfy him. The travels of the Rev. Mr. Smith, since he had been a church of Scotland minister, up to his being in later years writer of the quaint metaphysics of the Family Herald, had led him across the Tweed of his country, as his wandefhigs in metaphysics had led him beyond the Tweed of his religion ; and, being far from satisfied with some existing institutions, he was thereby qualified to be an associate of the leaders. But he was a philosopher, and had proved, not to the conviction of the leaders but to the conviction of most thinkers, that mankind are by nature monarchists ; that there never was, and cannot be, a republic » that thouph the designation of the sovereign, and duration of the reign, and descent of the sovereignty, may be changed in the nominal republics, still they »are monarchies. Such opinions in favour of the principle of monarchy, and of the limited monarchy of Britain, drew ar^nd him their disfavour. But their were causes of wider difference. The spiri- tuality of his nature, ideal and metaphysical, gave him no feeling in common with the gross sensuality of some of them. They had put off religious belief, torn the garment, oast it away, followed after it, trampled on it, gloried in their nakedness, and they hoped before long to cast off political restraint. . So far, metaphysical and speculative political phi- •losophy might have contemplated them as interesting objects of abstract study. But they had gone farther than to strip themselves of religion and glory in the nakedness of their unbelief. Morals of the most ordinary quality, the mere social courtesies of life, were thrown aside. The reverend philosopher was constrained to tell some of them one day, that, though it might b^denied that the state had any legitimate right to define and enforce a system of religion or a code of morals, there were moral usages upon which all men were agreed, upon the observance of which society could only be held to'get^^^rpffnd that they, by wilfully, openly, and vauntingly rending those moral observances from their conduct, pro- _ Klfvy 1 ^ or 4,DILIQINT Iiin^ /. in «}«ime l^Mmlf^ I He and those wlfbdilhaWbaiued, and other political !cadera of note, were present at the arrangoni^nta on Cofpnhagen Fields. Dr. Wade wai arrayed in «anonioa)R, as an Oxford doefor in divinity. He intended to open the business by prayer ; but a ahoutj df derision, ledby Mt. ' ' ,')prt- vented him. Mr. , in his turn, — thi proposition having been made to go to the hmises of parliament, — was shouted down by derisive cries, when "^ he reminded them that a law existed dcotiring the presence of an armed or hostile multitude at the doors of parliimont to bo treason. No prayers were said ; no legal advice about treason listened to. At nine o'clock, when the massive columns were formed, colours and horse^ men at their heads, and they had become impatient to be led off, a rocket was fited as a signal of advance. They wheeled of^ in sections of sixes towdrds Battle Bridge ; proceeding through Gray's-Inn Lane, Guildford Street, Russell Square, Keppel Street, Tottenham-Court Road, Oxford Street, Regent Street, the Quadrant, Waterl(X) Place, Pall-mall, Charing Cross, to Whitehall. Mr. Robert Owen, who started with the procession from the field, and who had sought to have the honour of being the head of the deputation, and spokesman at the Home Oi3po*>— an honour not conceded, — left the procession inTottcnham-CourtrlMi, and, taking anear out by St. Giles's to the Home Office, presented n™self as one of the deputation sent forward to arrange for the reception of the rest. On th€f arrival of the rest, Mr. PhWlipe, the under- secretary in the home depart^ ment of government, gave them audience, and Mr. Owen proceeded to 6peak. The rest denied his authority, and Mr. Phillips declined to hear hlpi. He retired. Mr. Phillips then informed them that the petition, though respectfully worded, could not be received accompanied by such an assemblage of people;' nor could Lord Melbourne consent to' give them audience. The petition, he said, would be accepted, and presented to the throne, if left at UieJ^ome Office in an ordinary manner. The deputation retired. • , The petition, which had been carried in a triumphal oar on a platform guarded by twelve men, waa placed in a hackney coach, and carried away, while the procession moved onward, by Westminster Bridge and St. Oeorge's Road, to Kennington. As it approached the oommon, a squadron of cavalry «tationed there moved out of aight. Those were the only sol- diers which, at any time during the day, were visible to the public. I reckoned the unionists at the Lambeth side of Westminster Bridge, and found that they marched past at tiie rate of about two hundred a minute. The whole passed any given point in about two hours and a — half, which diowed the nttmber in proce ssi on t o be thirty thou sa nd . o1 M -."SIP'; :;? If 192 ■OKUTn.t.V'^l BOOK I \\: 80D10 of the v^nionut leailerii pnbllfihod tb« iivtt)b«r in proocMfon »t tw* hundred thouHnnd ; none of thnui would uduiit the nuiubor to bo ondor ^•no huudrud thousand. Some of tht> uowHpuperseMtiniuted them at uighl n ton thouftand. The Times stiittid tho number at thirtj thouuad, and gave u reoiwn fbr that ei^mate. Tho mode of rcekoniug udoptod by the roportera of that jouraul wum the aumo aa mioe, and the result waa the wuue. ' At h\x o'clock in the etening, the aldconeu of London dined with the- lord mayor in pcaoo ; tho five thouHund Mpoeiul eonatMblos wont to their homes; the military retired to their country quolrteri, or, remaining in. town, took off tlieir aeooutrcmcnts, " cased spridkgs," and put their arm* in the raok. The unionists dispersed to their homes, or to the lodges in the publio-honscs, all tired, the uninitiated satisfied with the procession^ though not with the home minister, tho rest bitterly expressing their vexation. How fUr the wai;ping of danger eonveyed to the secretary of stato^ had contributed to his safety, and that of the country, it is not for me t» ' say. Each reader of these fuets must judge; some believing more of their effect, some believing less. The ministers were neither assassinated nor assaulted. The king, the queen, the royal family, the lords in waiting, and the maids of honour, were not captives to be held until thft army wduld disband itself. The nation was not enveloped in revolution and ruin ; the Bank of Eugkind stood upon its coffers of gold undisturbed^ and, though the augmented military guard ^remained during the ifight^ the directors, with their government, like the aldermen with the lord mayor, went to dinner in peaee ; noi/^n the absence of a successful revo- lution of the highest magnitude, as designed, were there the smaller erimes of foiled attempts at treason, with the trial and execution of stata oriminals. Next morning, about the time of breakfast, I was told that a gentle- man was at the door who wanted to see me. I went to him. He said ^te came from Bow Street ; that Sir Frederick Roe, tho poliee magistrate, had sent for me. I went with him. I was taken into a private room, where Sir Frederick Hoe eame and seated himself, and bade me be seated. He said he had received a communication from Lord Melbourne, direct- ing him to obtain from me the particulars of that danger to the govern- ment, of which I had written in my letter. I said that the danger wa» now past; that, as the government had acted on my suggestion, and th& home secretory had not received the deputation as he had intimated to ihem he would do, there was no necessity for me to do or say more: I had done all which my duty as a citizen required. Sir Frederick Roe said, that no doi^bt Lord Melbourne vaa obliged to me for the BeniiHk ■* OP A DILIOKHT LIWM. m I had (Inno ; i tiU it wai dangeroaii that auoh p«nKi^i and dMigna aa I wariiud him to bowaro of, (thould Im allowod to rrinain undiHoovered. IIo inquired if I woro awori\ to ncorcoy. I replied that I man not; but it waa not my intention to Huy moru u{h>n the aubjeot. He aaid ho abould like to HOC mo again ; and in reply to an objection I made to oouitng again to Bow Htroet, aa I might poitHibly b« watched, ho appointed, aa tho plaou of interview, hia own houHu, in Langham Place, Uegent Htreet. I prooeedod there on tho ovoninjg of tho next day, ua appointed ; but in the meanwhile had firmly ^nowod not to make any diHoloHuroa upon tho political lunatioaof theoAi\||^ffkey, beyond what I had already done; namely, that I had considered it my duty to put the cabinet miniatora on their guard against a coruipirafsy, to which I had been solicited, but in which I bad refused to taico a ^art ; and that having fulfilled Ihai duty, I should not be prevailed Upon to do more. Sir Frederick put manyaearching questions to me at this interview, and urged that the danger might bo as great now as before, for aught I knew, if I did not know what the conspirators were now doing. I replied, that I did not know what they were now doing, but they had been disappointed in having an opportunity to do that which they had intended. On parting, be remarked, that I might possibly change my mind, and return and say more; that J shpuld'find him at his house, in Lvigham I'lace, at six o'clock any e^mng. Lagain, and finally, replied, that nothing in fear or favour wotMUfduoe mo to say more than I had said. I was not sent for again ^ ni^lfd I return. From that day in April, 1834, until this present day of writing (21st January, 1847, at Dublin), my know- ledge of those matters here related, l|a8 remained within myself. The forcing chapter of the Autobiography waa first written in DulM lin, on the^lst January, 1847, sealed up, and sent to the careful keep- ing of friends in London. Famine, fever, and the worst ills of the worst times of poor Ireland, word then at their crisis. I was sent to travel through that country to examine into its actual condition, without regard to political or religious parties, and to report what I saw. The task I fulfilled. But upon my first arrival in Dublin from England, I was taken suddenly and severely ill while visiting some of. tho deplorable abodes of poverty and disease in that city. When I recovered suffi- ciently to be abl&to write, I reflected on the chances of recurring illness and death while travelling in the fevered, famine-stricken districta of the south and west of Ireland ; and that if I did not write this chapter then, I might pass from the world without the facts being known, — with- out the lesson to working men contained in the facts being written. ^ UM^ ' t •OMIftVUOa't BOOK s* CHAPTER XIX. "^ OllmpHi of unwritten hlitorj. Economic error of tlie Briliili goTernment la imposing « high-priced newip«p«r itamp. Premium thereby offered to anitampcd Journ«if. The great conflict of the " unit«mpcd " with government. DiiMtruui result! to moralitx And religion. Martyrdom not in all oatei •▼idenoe of a good oauM. Antagonism of Physical and Moral Forces : Is It a necessity in Physical and Moral Progress 7 Political Antagonism. Dream of a Tempip projected by the author at Ouapei Uaii Fields, Loutiun. Dream of a National Bank. Worliing Man's' Witness against th« atheists as leaders of the people. Life sketch of H. R. of Edinburgh. Secularisation of Sunday. Who are the men of gloom 7 During a space of fifteon yean or thereabout previoua to the oloso of 1833, B oonfliot was maintained by tho different Tory Qovernmentu and by their Whigsuooeeflora, abetted or prompted, perhaps impelled, by high- prioed nowspapera, high-olaiw literature, by uppor-elam and middle-eloM Booioty, against a Bmoll number of London printers and a large number of their provincial agents, and other vendors of unstamped newspapers tind almanacks. The proseoutions varied in shokness or intensity, but over •11 those years thoy were in progress ; and in the end, government, which should never be in the wrong if possible to be in the right, was beaten. This unique contest left behind it results which survive as living in- fluences which have given a mould and form, not always of moral lovli- ness, to the body of the age we live in. Its complete history may neyer be written. Authors who did not know it cannot write it. It was not the reduction of the stamp on newspapers from fourp^nce to a penny and their removal from almanacks in 1833, which brought forth inferior and seditious literature; though this has been alleged recently in Blackwood's.Magazine, It was the wide margin of profit offered to printers who evaded the stamp law, whichj in the first instance attracted them to adventure in journalism without a stitqi^p. Prosecu- tions followed. Those smugglers, when they had gained celebrity in the ill^al trade, raised their battleKsry of a free press, which, with some of them though not all, meant freedom in blasphemy and obscenity, as wet afl in political sedition. Richard Carlile, Henry Hetherington, John Cleave, B. P. Comdns, William Benbow, Henry Dugdale, William Duncombe, and jevergf more ■4. N Of A OILIUINT Uri. IH Mid prMMi ooliflfMMktad, thoir iihnpii oUtMd, yet thtj printed and mid tea or twnnU tim«fl morfl aftilr ««ch proMoutinn than th«j had donn b«for«. High priofld journaliHm approvnd what Kovoritnumt did, booauHM thcNM men wore in the n«wMpii|)or world «(|uivalont to rr««boot«ni and auiug- glen. Upper-otiM literaturo approved what goTemment did, beoauiw thoae men iiwuud fVom thoir unoonquerable intsHMM IowoUm literature. High Charoh olergymen and prelatea approved the proaeoutiona, beoauae the churchy bj the niultiTarioua agnnoioa of thoae London infidola, waa deelared'^a nuiiian«o, while hiahope and olurgy where oaricatur^jtnd ex- poeed to oourau ridicule. UcliKioiia diaaentera approved thu proPoutioni, beeuuao all religion waa ridiculed i^ the literaturo which the unataniped ahoeta carried forth upon the world. The proaoouted printers aenl young men to provincial towns as agents; tlfo local booksellers declining to sell their bod paper, bad prini, bwd morality, and infidelity. Those young men wore, one after ,«fLutl)«r, Qvo, ten, twont^ at a time, and, on at least one occasion, two hundri>d at a time, crowded into the county^ gaolA. When their^ondon masters were themaelves in giol, wives and daughters carried on the business. When wives and daughWa wont to prison, their neighbours, who had not before thought of turning printers and diatribuiors of cheap literature, abandoned thoir pianos upon the bench, tlM)ir hammors on the anvil, thoir shuttles and ihoir looms, and rushe^^ yos, rushed in crowds, to supply the vacant places. A sense of unf^ play laid hold of the popular mind. By persisting in proseou- tip^ those new men, government conferred still a higher fame upon lite* i^ary rubbish. Fresh men from joiner's bench and tailor's board, fr^ anvil and fVom loom, still flocked to the trade, and wore in the end too numerous to be imprisoned. Oovernment and the Jupiters of high-prioed 'journalism succumbed. The four-penny stomp was reduced to a penny. With that reduction the unstamped newspapers broke^own. Not so the vendors. The printers betook themselves to worse literature than politics, forking men and women in every considerable town in England, and in some larger cities of Scotland, had become accustomed to the pro- secuted and proscribed shops of the ** unstamped," and of London atheism.' They continued their custom. Those new men, all energetic and enterprising, rose to be the chief dealers, ultimately the wholesale merchants, of popular literature in their respective towns. The clergy of all denominations, and most persons who breathed an^ atmosphere of gentility, held aloof from their shops. So much the worse. The work- ing multitudes purchased such literature aa they found on the shelves of these distributors ; and they beoaxpe wealthy men, — in not a few oases, town councillors and aldermen. They gave the peculiar tone of thought ^ .-•^ .^ SOMKRYILW'g BOOK church of England, to church efltablishmento everywhere, and, in most oaaes, to churches of all kinds, and to. all the political and social relations of churches, to ministers of religion, and religion itaelf, soon became a plant of pestilent growth, which quickened, deepened, extended, and branched out with irresistible vitality. iThe obstinate persistence* of upper-oIa^ newspapers in urging government to vindicate the retention o^a hi^h-priced stamp, was the unhappy cause of that sowing of Britain broad-c^st with the agencies of political and religious disaffection. ,Do these facts preach no serwon? Yes: they tell all churches and opposirig sets of opinions, that martyrdom does not in itself prove its cause to be the only true one. And more : those facts, with an unlimited numbe^ of antecedent incidents of 4 like kind lying in the grave of past time i^nappropriated by religious philosophy, prove that an immutable law of Qod overrules man's law of repression in all cases. What does belief in that immutable law suggest? This, — that out of human antagonisms and discords there arises a sublime harmony in present glory to the Supi^eme ; giving promise of a higher moraT and spiritual destiny to the whole family of man, than mortal vision can yet descry iin the deep future. Those facts and that belief impel the unsatisfied mind to an earnest, leverent^ inquiry into the physical laws of the universe ; the sublime inque^ quickened and facilitated by many recent conquests of science,' — ^by discoveries made in chemistry on earth and by astronomy in the heavens, — ^by agency of the electric forces, the repelling and attracting relations of magnetism, and by the affinities of light. And the inquirer^ discovers analogies between Physical and Moral Nature, so remarkable, that ho accepts them all as phenomena of one series of Eternal and Immutable Laws. Tho conclusion is irresistible, that revelation was. made to man, in liis night of ignorance, sufficient, and no more, to direct him, by force of the reason planted in him byGod, ^nd by the conquests of reason through successive steps of scientific discovery, to deduce, by logical inferences, a pathway of knowledge out of the profound past into the profound iPuture. Had Ood revealed all knowledge at once, man's condition would have ceased to be probationary. Sufficient was revealed for salvation through faith and mo^al obedience. All the rest was left for the conquest of reason. But that rest is so grandly stupenduous as to include the phenomena of geological epochs, these marking probably the intercourse of comets with the earth in vastly remote periods of the eternal journey through the infinity of space ; and -inoluding in that series of epochs not yet ended, the most glorious of them all, — the future resurrection of the dead. The physical laws, when exa- nuned in a spirit of reverent allegiance to the Almighty, and in faith J ' \ •v. "'V^B or A sniGKNT Lint. 197 ^at redemption is offered through revelation, satisfy the mind engaged on the sublime inquest, that God has ever manifested will and yower by exact natural forces, and never by a reversal of any law, physical or moral. Bven the miracle of resurrection of the deai^^ explicable by a major overruling a minor law. All . conceivable miracles resolve themselves into one, and that one is God. Admit divine power, and there is no other miracle remaining: all the rest is exact law. This assumption of exact laws being God's agencies, operating through all physical and moral government, leads to the solution of many difficul- ties at which believers in revelation have stumbled, and behind which the infidel and atheist hqj^^entr^nched themselves in pestilent hostility to faith and its holy influences. Conservative science, in treating of the conditions of perpetual youth in nations, and of a Political {Economy which shall or may become guar- dian of the elements of human happiness, reposes absolutely on-a belief in exact physical and moral law. The history of extinguished nations ■supports this assumption. Conservative science discovers analogies, apd traces them back to facts. By whatever grotesque appellative man nSty designate his political circles and antiagonisms, — -however fooKsh; or wisft may be their various aims and operations, as ^ories, WhigS; Ra,dic!al8, in Britaip ; Democrats, Republicans, Know-Nothings, Hard^Shelj^, Sofb- Shells, in the United States ; Blues, Rouges, Clear-Grits, in Canada,— they are all logical products of moral nature, all cohering, repelling, and attracting by laws as true as the operating forces of the planetary bodies in their circles and orbits in the universe ; and all indispensable to ' pr(^ression and moral vitality. Conservative jcience rises above them all, and appropriates their antagonisms, their impelling and vitalizing forces, and makes use of all as common property. Geological phenomena, with their traces of lower, higher, and still higher organized life, seem to have relations of intimacy with the pro- found journey of the sun and his family of planets, and of all other suns and their planetary families, through the universe, and possibly into an infinity of universes, as is now almost a demonstration of astronomy ; and these assumptions, with the other indications of sotentifio discovery, draw the mind of the reverent inquirer irresistibly to this conclusion,^ — that present hitman life is only probationary ; that all nature is progress- ive ; that man is endow«d with reason and all its assistant faeultiei^, io stUToufid his race with thd dements of earthly happiness. In the cases of the Londoii atheist prints now mider review, the imnuitaUe law of Ood bvermling man's law of repression, was (Seen in oper- ation thus. The men who, humanfy speaking, were the only orders of persons in BHtain«apable'of breaking throKgh'thebdndageof the news- 198 BOMKBV ILLl'S- BOOK paper monopoly, oarried with them a free press, whioh, for years bygone and now, is correcting its own errors and moral impurities. If atheism be not yet extinguished in the light of religion, open obscenity is. Cheap literature both in Britain and America is its own alembic : it refines . itself Holding in my hand a pen whioh intense application, in the pursuit of the actualities of men and things, had endowed to some extent with power, — the intensity of application lasting through the twenty years succeeding my return from the battle-fields and civil broils of Spain, — I beheld the dry and bitter ashes of unbebelief scattered over densely peopled London, and throughout earnest hard-working Lancashire, and in many hives of industry elsewhere. To have recommended as a correc- tive the tenets and forms of Scottish Presbyterianism in which I was educated, green and flourishing though they be in Scotland, would have been fruitless in England. They could not, by human estimate, take root among people who resisted, actively or passively, all religion. There a church variously proportioned, and expansive in all its part*, already fisted. Its extension and adaptability to English popular wants were memes which employed my pen. By this leverage, powerful only because persistently applied, I aided in the erection and endowment of many a church in districts of industry remotely situated from one another; and that when none but Qod, in whom I trusted for direction, knew who the enthusiast was that arrested the reading eye of contented opulence, and, tuning its conscience and benevolence to harmony, inspired the opening of its treasury to build churches for those who could not, or would not themselves, build and endow them. In Saint Pmicras parish, where it joins with Hampst^ad, I once hoped to see, on the elevated ground in the fields of the " Gospel Oak," a gratad Temple of God, surpassing all other structural works of man, in which every Christian denomination might have a church and its missionary offices, all worshipping in their several chapels in one transcendant hair- mony under one roof, — the temple, a local memorial of the place to which tradition points the finger of reverence, and tells that there .the earliest Christian missionary to Pagan London first preached the Gospel. I urged that such a temple of temples was a work for the Prince whose ex- alted station had secured for the Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations in 1851, an instant vigour and popularity. No one. responded to that dream of faith. On returning to London after an absence of some months in Lancashire in 1853, the Gospel Oak Fields were re-visited to indulge in my dream, but a speculative builder had meanwhile occupied a portion of the ground with the " Gospel Oak Tavern." In 1845, 1 had been with the late Dr. Cooke Taylor, the joint projectof J*-- » or A DILIOINT LITI. 199 -% and literary '^ apostle of a permanent exhibition of the industry of all nations, and with him surveyed Prinsirose Hill and the Chaloott Fields, lying towards Hampstead, as a site for a'Palace, its roof to be of glass (see my papers written during^ the great Anti-Com-Law League Basaar in Coyent Garden Theatre, May 1845) : and having seen those projects realized within a few ye,ars, by the influence of the Prince Consort and the applicative genius of Sir Joseph Paxton, I do not yet despair of hearing tl|iat a temple of God far transcending any ever erected on earth, has become an object of princely and universal solicitude, its foundations to be laid on the higher section of the ** Gospel Oak Fields " at London. To speak with due humility, I, as a writer for the people, accept the Church of JBngland for the English working classes, because it exists. So also, in nay attempts to endow political economy with the vitality and functions of a conservative science, I accept the British monarchy and House of Lords as oivilicing and humanizing agencies of progress, because they exist. I assert them to be requisite in the newer supremacy and des< potisp of the sordid instincts. They exist, and are therefore accepted. I seek to develope thdr utility. Mr. Cobden rails at the " barbaric pomp of the court, and at men making Guys of themselves " to go to court. I assert that the human being, whether a subject in monarchies or a citizen in republics, loves pomp, and delights in the dresses of a "Guy." Con- servative science commands our acceptance of all natural sentiments and all existing institutions, in whatever country they be, as facts to be expanded and adapted to public wants and common enjoyments, The Bank of , England exists ; an appalling system of British taxation exists ; and there , is ^ national debt' which cannot be extinguished. I accept these as facts, and Would turn them all into one national institution, uniting with the common functions of banking and minting, the business of life insurances in union with a greatly extended savings-bank system, in which almost every individual or family would become political conservatives, the whole sustained by national'credit, as the credit of the public debt is sustained now. That effected, commercial panics would never again arise. And this other fact exists : panics aboiit invasion are in the British public mind a chronic disease. I accept both the, panic and the danger as facts to be met by policy.^ Conservative science directs the endowment of the whole • population with a higher interest in national defences than personal fear. All who are ^pable of bearing arms should be taught their use. The internal safety of Britain must finally repose on an equality of political rights ; not so much' for any absteaot virtue residing in a popular fran- chise, but that the people, liberated from the endless agitation for political enfranchisement, which agitation is in itself the seed and fruit of cTisaffection and internal danger, would aspire to lead and be led to a Idigher social and moral ii&. ■ ■ ' ■ ■ 200 80UKBVILLS*8 BOOK jfe - ■ 1 » I ofwmot quit the story of the Rreat conflict of government vJth the untJtoniped prew, without some farther ilhistratioa of the law of rcprefl. gion The nature of the subject almost fbrbide reference to personal instances in which fine and imprisonment called men from the workshop and the factory to print and distribute sedition and infidelity. Yet there is one who may bo particularired, as he r^oices in publicity ; that is, ' H. R., of Edinbui=gh, formerly of Glasgow, before that of Derby, and still previously of London, He is a native of London, and was by trade a house-carpenter. . ■, > rw. \ When Richard Carlilo the tin-plate worker, who is depicted m thaptefj, „ V had emerged from the tinsmith's bench, and been raised to fame by the Attorn^-General, though a series of prosecutions for blasphemy, until Richard Carlile and blasphemy had become jointly a power, almost an institution,— a power which nine years of imprisonment only strength- ened his sons in prison, his wife i« prison, his shopmen in prison, yet hiB shop'kept opeh by a succession of volunteers,— when that celebrity was in process of attainment, H. R. called at the shop in Fleet street one evening when going home from work, a basket of carpenters' tools in his hand. A female attendant remarked that a email job in carpentery was required in the shop, and asked if he would do it: „ She had observed him to call for his paper during a time sufficiently long to suggest that he was friendly to the establishment. This woman, in addition to all tiie rest, expected to be prosecuted by the Attorney-General, and required to have ft screen Blade in such a way that customers could be served without exposing to view the person who served them. . H. R. did the work, and, the female being taken to prison, he volunteered to be shopman. He continued to serve there until sent to Derby as one of their coupti^ agents. He had been a Sunday-echool pupil of the chureh, bad a WArm regard, so he has told me, for the parish ^ergyman who taught him ; but the "oto. tiety of the prosecution which consigned .Richard Carlile and his family and assistants one after another to prison, had awakened a sympatiiy and acombativeness that led him to reason, fallaciously enough, yet after the maimer of Englishmen who cry for fair play, that there must be some- thing not so bad in that cause of the " unstamped " for which so mftny p^ns were risking personal Uberty, even though it» literature waa odled" blasphemy" and "aedition." He in turn w«B imprisoned at Derby, and, on liberatfon, came out advertised hy government as auagent - of athei«n. He veiy quickly bebame apropogan^st The work WW comparatively eaay in Bnglaud. BobiiiBoii oourted diffioultiee, Bfetedked to Sootland-^ai^ - hadLed toopen adiopfor the unitodliletatiire^f mM«»ity «d ae^^^ Heb<>heldftlalt^ w l^mafo,aa a ome aa vot ee ofalK>hermtf»ott^b^^ iu tha mind's eye ^^ supposed cannibals of the »e^ ^Oaads. ^e ■n ©» A DILIOINT im. 2^1 J[e yenetrated to his ^'Iwnighted" field, «nd encountered prosccutionB and impriaoninent. Those blown ffom the am of thie law. only ftilfiUed his visionB of duty and destiny. His trade became a triumph. He advanced ta Edinburgh, the metropolis of Scottish divinity, to dety it to its beard. A youth from a cotton-mill, too feeble for work, was placed, by his advice and aspistance, as his Glasgow suooessor. For years past, and at thg^ea- «nt time, tiiis latter person is at the h^ of the largest neWg|)a|iJrind <5heap literature agency out of London, those of Manchcstcrflrfy Bir- mingham only excepted. The great tjoncems of Liverpool, Bristol, Hull, Leeds, Newcastle, and TSdinburgh, are all off-shoots of the London ^' unstamped " prosecutions. In general literature, or even in religious publications, those whole- sale agents are tradesmen, and trade as such. But they are faithftil to their ^rst mission. Here is an instance. Mr. of Glasgow had sold «omeof my works puWishedin England previous to 1867, In thatyear I issued a little work in numbers bearing the following title : *' The Working Man's Witness against the London Literary Infidels. " Firat.'-In relation to injury suffered by the Working Cla8se8,tluJ)ugh leadership m their ameliorative movements having been generally uskrped ^ 4 hj bold and boisterous unbelievers; Christians of influence being thereby deterred from assisting or sympathising, " Second.— In relation to tiie wreck of myriads of men and women, <5hiefiy young persons, out adrift from Christian restraint by literary and lecturing infidels, left helpless castaways among the shallows of unbelief there miserably perishing, the Gospel of grace, mercy, and peace wiUiin sight " By Alexander Somerville, * Oue who has Whistled at the Plough.' " It bore the name of the person spoken of, as i^entfor its distribu- ^' lion to the retaU trade in the West of Sootiand, When Nos. 1 and 2 were printed, but not sold, he wrote what he c&lled a repudiation, thus : " Glaso^vt, <* Ma. SoMKBViLLE,— Sir, as I entirely disapprove and repudiate the contents of Nos. 1 and 2 l^orkw^an'a Witness, I beg you withdraw mj name as agent, and am, Sir, yours.^' His name had^been priiited on five thousand copies, causing no sma]l - l^KW and difficulty, as no other agent would take them ^th his name. Mr. Robinson of Edinburgh was more discreet, and said he thought " ^ Ms friend of Glasgow, as a supporter of liberty of speech aiid liberty of the press, should not haw oppoBfed the oironlatiori of this work. " '^:s.-::' -r- 202 80mbbvillb'b book The " Dark V^g« in Popular Agitation " (Sp^Fidd. L^'" «f ISIC-T formed the prinoipJ portion, of th. two number. " rep«d..t«l ZZIm eitj. Mine ™ not . religion, jonm J in . doetrinJ or eon- ZS «nl ItV« U. be pnbli.hed onl, for . limited tin,e to oonvej S^ faetorie., .nd worLhop., where my " Di«u..tv. W.m.ng, on 8^ WMfare" had been nrfnl in te»,hi»g the worbng men of wtll-U".* to revolt .g.in.t their dangeron. guide, to ^.oo Id rebellion, and into whioh a religion, penodieal, »' / J»''""^ ^in^ fri Ae religion, periodieal trade of England, would have h«l X .Cote eh«>ee of ending. A ei«ulation wa. the^for. fo^U for it through the nraalehannel. of McularAeet.. j ji„ . ' Yd n"t refer to .hi. poor incident » .*rie™nee to be "«"f J » Jk My heart .ioken. at Ih. very .hadow of gnr"'*'- J."™™ Ser dwell on the memory of delightful year, .pent '» g«"""°6 7. r 1. of matter-of-faol about men and thing., and on the memory of Safdll^nl effort, direeted to the ..«.rtment of the faet. and .Xo trewingofthemonth. path, of .tate.men «ad people^Some ^W cCrmay review tho«, effort.. Thi. eoodnde. with a f pa^ Other Chapter m»3f, r«* rpnuiliated bv the wholesale gages from the vork which was in 1858 repudiated Dy uie w agent of cheap literatiire in Glas gow. From -SoMERViLLE's Working Man's Witness. .. Corporal John SWAIN.-Previous to 1854 you were a plonihman Tn 1855 YOU were a militiamen. Now you are a corporal in the grenadier nv of aTI^hnent of the line, under.orders for India. I addressed Sr^;': ^leyear last naied, and announced their puW cation w ra^diC, under the tiUeof " Fallacies abouV the Anny and he irstrra«5y." Such, however, was the state of pubhc sentiment at the 7^ l^S nubUshers whom I consulted said, » Such a work will not • J; p:y." Thttr Earl of EUesmere having seen the prospectus, wrote thus:— < Hatchford, Cobbam, Surrbt, April2, 1855. VsiR,-I can conceive no better sul>iect than the one you ha.e ^^^^^^^ ' . * o T rin fiftt know anv one more likely to treat it w ktTr/ITaJl. th' ariatoo^tie element in our army a, the e««e !f ™v Selt miUtary mirfortune. Kem. to me «n.ele». If your book <»ne«outyo ^ /^ , ^ ^ . g ;, y„^ „i ; ^i„t «,rvMit, * or A DILIOINT Liri. 203 ' Poblishera, however, had pronounced such a work to be an unsafe opposition to popular fallacies, and I found that its object was liable to misapprehension with others than booksellers, a Manchester friend having wrttton, " Tl^e aristocracy don't need your help : they can take care of themselves. I wish you well, but will not buy that book "; whereas, in Becking to dissipate a cloud of popular mistakes, my purpose was the well-being of the soldier and the service of the public. Ill health also inter- fering, — the effect of wounds in the h^d received in action long ago, — the work was abandoned. One part of the pMwpeotus, however, I intend to. illustrate in the present series of lettors;^' koldier$ not the las cheerful that they pay respect to religious duties :] instances." I may also touch incidentally on some of the tbpios indioatipd utid«r another head of the prospectti* of 1866. These : ' Divided authority only one of the causes of tuffering in the present war. The incorrigible tendency of the contractors for clqtfiing, boots, shoes, tools, other stores, and even in transport ship- ping, to overreach all authorities; and de/raud the soldier, a cause of present suffering in the Crimea.' Also th^ topics suggested by another hea^,— ' Popular fallacies about sotdiers distinguishing themselves in battle. Good 'soldiers remain in their places and are not individually distinguished: exctptions to this rule.' " But the chief object of this series of letters in the WorkIno Man's •Witness against the Literary Infidels„ Corporal Swain, is to show you the perilous conflict which the soul has occasionally with itself in hours of solitary ' sentry go ' near the enemy's lines, or in battle, if the transeendant questions of belief or unbelief have not been already settled. A soldier, particularly an officer or non-commis8ioned|»fl5cer in chai^ of other men, cannot do his military duty and debate with himself between doubt and belief. Nor can he, in every exigency, pray. As colour-sergeant of a company exposed on many, occasions to deadly fire —once, especially, separated from the rest of the regiment and army, all present officers slain or wounded, the men, dropping down with faint cries of '.Oh !' and gone to eternity before they couU^^jRJbplete the words *I am wounded,' the duty instantly devolving on the colour-sergeant to devise means of defence in an -almost untenable position,— his head cijt with a bullet whibh glanced off, yet momentarily stunned, woilnded elsewhere by other three, — was that a time and circumstance for debate' between doubt and belief, or even for prayer? Corporal Sw:ain, it was not until half an hour after this crisis, when lying on my back faint from loss jof blood, a tailor (no surgeon present) stitching a wound in a part of my body where any deviation from 'slight' would have been 'mortal,' that I recalled my thoughts sufficiently from the exigencies of military duty to t hi n k wh a t the con s equenc e s might bo were I ^— w ru ng, \ r'^ t 204 BOlllRVILLl'i BOOK M my wul had been by the literary bfideli of London-^to enter tb, presence of God, .. many hundred! had done within the honr, and, jndg- ing from the thundering confliot heard clow by but not ««n, a» many hundroda more were atili dobg. /„ „ .. Being named by the general of brigade, Godfrey, for a oomm.aau>n, I declined it ; first, beoauBe of the excuse and ^y con»eque..t »ndebtne« for an officer's outfit. Second, beeauae a subaltern offioer baving only hiB pay to rely on, could not awooiate on terms of "HU^bty^lth thojie who enjoyed a private income; nor was he as t.ell c.rcumstanocd as I>e sergeant holding the colour rank and payment of the company. Third, because officers advanced fVom the ranks, left behind them many oUier men, sergeant*, corporals, and ^ivates, a. fit to be promoted as they who in the envy arising out of a consciousness of that quahfijuvtion, ag^a. vated the nat^rral want of esteem in which the private soldier holds the I^perior advanced from his own level. It accords with Britirfi human nature -the genius of the British nation, developed m artuans, shopkeep- ' e«. and all grades of civil Ufe,-that the soldier should prefer t« be com- maiided by the gentleman of high connection, rather than by a person selected from his side, whom he estimates as no more than his social and professional equal, possibly less. Such were my reasons for dec^ini^a Amission, when General Godfrey, formerly my colonel, offered to obtain ""'nI'Io the foregoing. It is not on a supposition of their posseting Buperioi; faculties that I prefer the aristocracy as office™. If every officer in a British regiment were selected from the rank and file,-^say, forty out of a thousand,- there would remain nine hundred and sixty disappointed xaen, one third of whom, at least, would be aa weU quaUfied by neural abiUty to command, as any of the forty. I prefer the aristocracy as officers on these two grounds: first, they exist, and should be utilized; second, they bring into tbe service high social influences and fortune, which the officer raised from the ranks to live in their society, feels, if he be a man of independent spirit, to be a shadow upon his life, imposing on him a daUy ml^yrdom. True, a man of smaU fortune but independent mind if living with tbe moneyocracy of Manchester, finds himself stranded amongst associates more haughty and heartless than military officers; but 1^ may, like me, flea ftom tbem t« the wildemesB, or t» a garwt, ^ «T^» ' SuNDATLsAauB.'— Eeligiousobligation, and theaeoularinier- esU of man, alike demand the observance of the Sabbath as ft day of wor- ship and of rest. Who are thi^ tfcat have organised the 'Sunday League wi1 ^ aieob1ectofsecylyisingth.L^d.^^^^^ .^^1^^.^: arethi^ diitinguishei from their neigliboup? Only in ibis, ihat iStss^ r*. 0» k DltftmiT LIW. 205 harMhor iind more nordid dogmaa of tlho high and dry eeonomiHtfl hvm their Hpooial approraL The working mtn, working womnn, and working child, ar^; in their Hyntom of politlool economy, exolndcd ftroin ooniitd«r»- tion aa elemonta in nutional wealth. Many of them being mcrohanta and manufiwturoni, they hare, as a rule, (the Owenite Bocialintii and a y«ry few of thomselven excepted,) oppoHcd all legiHlation for rentrioting honra of factory labour, for preventing acoidentu to life and limb, and Aur applying an oduoationai teat to children before admifmion to wt)rk in the mills. Such are they with whom the Sunday League originated ; let them prevail, and, humanly speaking, the Lord's Day in blotted out fVom among the exiHting privilcgcn of the working man." " TiiK Hahbatii and ' Thk Mbn of Gloom.'— The men who strive to ReoulariE^ the Lord's Day in London, write in newspapers und speak on platforms as if they were the peculiarly happy and cheerful people of our land ; as if devotional and meditative men and women were oppressed with cheerless and unhealthfVil gloom. A long and intimate familiarity with social and political life in England, has taught me that the reverse of this is true. The mental idiosynorosios which call for 8unday amuse- ments, form an order of unhappy beings, not confined to any social class, but which comprises most if not the whole of the men and wbtnen of shallow thoughfr and of morose humour in town and country, i% villa and cottage, in socid club, workshop, and family circle, — the order ol^ Abnor- mal Discontent. Tjiey have their newspapers, conducted and Written to by kindred spirits of gloom and gi'owl. No system of politics ever devised by human wisdom eolild satisfy tj^ose mental idiosyncrasies of unrest No existing institution, nor law, nor possible act of legislation, nor change in the personality of government, gives them satisfaction. Everything that is, is wrong ; all earthly government an offence ; and they only M^gnise the authority of Heaven to enjoy their dismal revolt against it." "Society of Materialists, and thb Loed's Day.— This society, founded in August, 1857, declares its objects in a first report, dated 6th December. Of the Sabbath they say t — ' Could we succeed in getting museums and other eoUoctions of ft scientific and artistic nature opened on Sundays, and lectures delivered explanatory of their conte^L and also amusements of a moral character for that day, w&^shoi^d d^^iPbh for improviD||^ people intellectually and morally.' " What is this society in ita other objects ? Listen, Christian world : ' The necessity for a systematic propogandism is self-evident. We live in the midst of a most energetic organization for spiritualistic purposes. The state church, with its rich endowments, fine buildings, and other imposing appliances for services; its ooUeges £or^ education; its bible . *^ r 206 ■OMBEVILLl'a BOOE I ►^ .1 . iooloii«i tnd home tnd fbwign mlwrioni; wd the Tariooii bodiei of DiiMntcn, with mwhinery pretty similar, til-orthodox or heterodox— h»vo an active, lealotti., 'and well wpported organliation for the oc«i« or k Diuoiirr hin. 207 CHAPTER XX. Wan for ** OonttUation«l Liberty." The espedltion to Spain In 1835. To what account I turned a Icnowledge of the accuried effiscte of Intestine War In Spain, on 017 return to KriUln. The " Phyilcal Force " Ohartitte. What Sir lohtk Oolerfclge, ao eminent Bnglieh Judge, hai laid of lome of tliem In 1859. If I had no objoot in thin book but ielf-laudation, it might bo lurgolj extend«} f InditL on Uio Britinh aruiy, and of wanU which may arino in tho ooloniea,— wanU which m»y bo urgent enough and not oaaily aupplicd,— all thoao oonaiderationa impel me to Uie oxprewion of k*.wl8h,— a prayer disturbed by approhenaion,— that Britain may never be ^% a worse position than with a sufiBoienoy of such men wid offioere aa formed tho calumniated British Auxiliary Legion **Jx&*^ ''*/**?'^^ 1836, 1837. j^ _j^yd^ " That the reader may soe that filu not writing of MHSP' '' of my lifo to suit the atmosphere of Canada in 1 869)»IWPW) f^oHsage ' i ftpxaa wview of Lord Palmereton's foreign policy, which was puWiHhed ^ )ijiSb»iervilVt School of PoliUcal Economy," July 1860. My object ^K^^fUpose tho instabiUty of popular opinion, and the danger to n^mBMlei^^wayeCby 'pupular cries passing over the surface of Hsient*^ |reew,— the breeze fanned into a gale by the '^ Lord Palmerston in his great speech of 26th June, sai^ : <"We had no interest in the abstract whether the Queen of Spwn should remain on the throne or whether Don Carlos should succeed to it. If nothing else was at stake, that was a question with which the govern- ment of England would not have thought proper to interfere. Questions of suooossion We been matters in which aU other countries have con- oerned themselves, but only when it was their interest to do so. But it » was in Spain a question between a despotic government.' oonatitutiuual (^ver^uiuent and «. ii ''~^ Of A i:^' act " Lord John HoMeit mU in mmo a«b«t«, Jom 88 : ' W« inlnfibred in l'ortug»I, ftud Uia om« of 8|min Moon^ rellowMl ; and T BAjt obMrr* ^t1i»l lh« inUrforanot in B{»in wm HUKx<«t«d by » vtrjr ««iiiMuit it«tMh nun, I'rinoe Tklloynnd, who fcilt thai tli«t mioctMi oC Hob CvIm would be dungnrtiiM U> th«) liouiw of Orl«»na m ¥mam.' '* , On whioh tba author reinarknd, thw: / " Ther« in no douU tbnt Iho quoiitioii of ' omiaUtutiioiid (fiTVornaiMiA ' in thono thruo oountrtM, Fnuioi), Portugal, and Hpatn, waa Hm objwt of Britiflb interforonoo. And throe mniarkable phrwoa of ^blio opinion io t •■ Britain hav«t ariiMtn thonui|)on. Fimt, tho pubiio «athuaiaaiu whiefar •tnotiouod, applauded, ahoutud to men upon ttio •««, ' Uod upood I ' aa iboy loll Um Britiab ahoroa, to interfere, in obodieneo to the popular eiy, frith force of arma, for oooatitatiooal goYRmment. 8eeoitd, that phMe of iodifferonoe, contompt, even aoorn, of the forcea who had gRllanl;!; fougfaA and aooouipllKhud tlio popular policy,— yea, indifft^renoe nn«d ooutanijit, if not Hcoru, for that poliuy itaulf when aucoewd'uUy aouompliah«d, freely and geutirally expreaaod by the aauo pubiio writera and apeakeni who at ftral were so enthuaiietie in ita favour. Thia laated for more than ten yean. Then came the t]|>ird pbaae, — an eothnaiaaiQ for Lord PalnMHraton'a gen- eral policy of foreign intorferonoe, and {NurtiouUrly in the ailiuni of Grocoe, evinced in a kind of political phrenxy, even in Miuiohoater, bf men who had but a few niontha beforo^ea|xid frotu ihoir aoata in the Vree Trade TllaU to wave their. hats aad\applaud Mr. Gobden and Mr. Bright Car their Bomowbat warm advoeaoyW a contrary line of foreign pel^y. *' It ha« always beol^ in auoh times of pubiio oxdtement and non* i«leotivenell that the substantial iptorests of nations hmvie been wrrongod." [Hero followed an account of how Manohostor, in its proteotioniat d»ys, had burned William Pitt in effigy for attempting to earry out free trade with Ireland and with France.] / Of tbe expedition it^lf, I offer a summary, extracted from a iisquisi- '^.am on ikfi fickleness of popular sympathies and antagonisms in mattera of Hbeferenoe in ihe affiurs of foreign nations. The work quoted in , " Internal Enemies of England," 1854. " Had our aervioe in Spain Afforded no lesson on the deplorable effeota of intestine war, it is yet full of instruction. It is fruitful of sngge». > tions to men of urdent minds, and especially to young men^ generous in temperament, enthnsiastio, and inexperienced. " Wind, rain, and sooMhine, are unstable. Not more reliable is thai . 'impulsive popular opinion whioh takes cognisance of foreign revolutions, and is so apt to rush, or talk of rusliing, between * literalism' and < despotism,' or the opposing forces, so flailed. Thfi Iftfwon I dedvwe from experience in Spain oomea thus. I -,0. 1 .... ' i; i «> 1 . -It iil 210 bomirvillk's book " Before the intervention of Britain began in the question of succession to the Spanish crown (the dispute occasioned by the death of Ferdinand IV., father of Queen Isabella II., in 1833), a loudly-expressed cry III ; resounded through all British liberalism for an active military domon- stration in favour of the ' constitution and liberty,' as the Queen's cause was colled, and against ' despotism,' as the cause of Don Carlos, the Queen s uncle, was called. When the. British and Foreign Enlistment Act was suspended for two years, to jallow British subjects to take mili- tary service under the Queen of Spain, their enlistment was still approved and applauded by British liberalism. "But, without reason, and in the mere wanton fickleness of the ' popular voice,' and popular ignorance, the military force, which performed the duty it was sent to do, was, on and before its return, treated with scorn and contumely. " We left our homes applauded by political liberalism. We landed in Spain in August and September, 1835, were accoutred, drilled, inured to fi&tigue and hardship ; were sifted and sorted by disease, temporary famine, death, and discipline, until a highly efficient fighting corps occupied the field, in front of the enemy, in May, 1836. " We, attacked — 5th May, 1836 — an army of mountaineers on a three- fold range of fortified hilb ; stormed and took those positions one after the other; our casualties, compared with numbers engaged, equal to the hardest-fought battle of history. On the 6th of June following we were attacked by the same enemy, repulsed and drove him "in turn from his new positions. W years of servio^nded, though ' popular opinion ' it home preferred to believe the more picturesque report, that the men who sold their clothes, spent, or were robBed by comrades of their money, and came home beggars, had received no pay. The reward at home, which we had a right to expect, was the approval of that ' popula^i^ voice,' which so loudly applauded an armed intervention against Don Carlos and his cause, called by it the 'Interests of despotism,' the 'Holy alliance,' the * Inquisition,' and other like names. Without knowing more of our .^ military merit or demerit than it knew of the two conflicting causes before ^; we engaged in the service of ' liberty,' our ' popular opinion ' beheld ui return with indifference, contempt, scorn, and calumny. "Had we dethroned a crowned head, instead of enthroning one, or chopped it off, or done our best to uncrown or chop it off,— Bad we pulled down some established government and initiated revolution and intestine war, instead of retrieving a crown and constitutional government from a chaos of faction, treason, and mutual butchery,— we might have been met at disembarkation in England by the Oobdens of the time, nightcap on head ; or by three hundfed Quakers and as many thousand Man- chester men of peace, as they met certain revolutionists who escaped in 1848. ..... "*0h Liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name!' and, oh Peace Society, what absurdities in thine 1 " But in advancing to another subject, let me say that the government and present statesmen then its members, whose policy we fulfilled, have consistently approved our services and defended our military reputation. Nor do these remarks reflect on that wholesome public opinion recognised in the British constitution and protected by our laws. They refer only to the whimsical * popular voice,' unstable as the wind, but equally "certain as the wind to return to the same quarter with returning causes of change, —the * popular voice ' of ' war ' and ' peace ' demagogues, with the re- ' eponses of their unthinking crowds,— the * popular voice ' of demagogues, whether professing peace, or more honestly announcing sympathy with revolutbn ; all approving and applauding European rebellion white it is new and raw ; all of them embracing fugitive insurgents while fresh from intestine war, and smelUng of treason and gunpowder; but despising revolutions when they subside to settled government ; neglecting fugitive rebels when thfey become stale,— unless, indeed, they be suspected or detected i^ plotting new rebellions, and in acquiring new stores of ammtt- Bition. it is that 'popular voice' of which I write." — J I Of 1 tflLIOSRT I,nPE. 213 Chapter IV. of this volume rektfss what I did for peace in the year 1838, on arrir^ from Spain at Glaagow. Let me give a glimpee of what followed: In the snmmer of 1839, a Chartist Convention assembled in London ; its members representing the extreme demooraoj of all the principal, and most of the inferior towns in- the kingdom. The Convention comprised two parties, — the moral-force and the physical-force Chartists. The latter held private conference of their own, apart from the rest. I visited the Convention, once aa a spectator, and no more; but know- ing some of the members personally, held occasional conversation witb tiiem at theijr lodgings and places of resort, such as the Arundel Coffee- House, Strand, where they had private committee rooms. The sittings of the Convention, and its debates, took place at the Doctor Johnson Tavern, in Fleet Street. ^__.. Dissenting earnestly from many of their projects, I was not entrusted with \ ■ '.'/•. 214 SOHBRVILLl'S BOOK 4 fi implements of war recommended in the hook of In$truction$ byMacerone, the hand-grenades and pikes of O'Connor; allowed them the benefit of courageous and faithful leaders, and enthusiasm imong themselves ; then showed how artillery could act almost without exposure upon their posi- tions • traced, s^p by step, their discomfiture, until they were shot down by musketry, cut down by sabres, blown up by sheUs, or hung up by the *]Sde8 t^e wide circulation of those " Amative Warnings to the FeopU on Street War/are," as printed by me, they were in part reprinted and almost universally circulated in the provincial newspapers. They were translated into Welsh, and in Welsh and English reprinted at Mon- mouth, and sent among the iron and coal workers of South Wales. They did not prevent all attempts at insurrection, as was proved by that which involved John Frost, ex-mayor of Newport, and his co-traitors, convicted of high treason and sentenced to death by a Special Commission in 1840, But they doubtless had an efiect in deterring others from join- ing that insurrection, and in arresting its outbreak elsewhere. I was told by Mr. Henry Hetherington, a Chartist bookseller of London,— a man of extreme opinions, personally intimate with FrOst,— shortly after the latter, with WiUiams and Jones, were convicted, that Frost had told him before the outbreak, that, " but for those mischievous tracts of that SomervUle, called ' Warnings on Street Warfare,' an appeal to arms would have occurred six months sooner; that it was quite understood, when the Convention dispersed in 1839, at least by him and delegates from South Wales, Birmingham, and the North, that the insurrection was to begin in July or August." It was^to have been commenced by the Welsh multitudes of iron-workers rising (as they did rise subse- quently), marching to Bristol and Gloucester, and their seizing the mail- coaches ;' the non-'arrival of the mails to be a signal to Birmingham and London! At Biifcingham, and York, and Manchester, the mails were in like manner to be arrested as a signal to Scotland. The earnestness of tone and broad descriptiveness of sketch which the most ignorant who could read might understand, together with pictorial Ulustrations of Shrapnell-shells exploding among a crowd, made not a few of the thoughtful Chartist leaders change their mind about a physical revolutioii. . j t i. When danger is over, people forget that it ever existed. I have found many grave persons, some Quakers in the number, who, in cahner years, doubted if an insurrection were ever seriously contemplated in 1839. I had occasion to refer to this in a Manchester newspaper in 1847, and to Dr. McDowall, who was a member of the ^Q"^^°*\ Q^> "^^ one of its war committee. It was denied on his behalf that the Con- Of A DUIGKNT Lira. 316 vention of 1839 plotted Frost's insuireotion, or any other suob movfr- mont. On reading this, Mr. R. J. Richardson, of Salford, came Tolun- tarily and informed me, that,' not only had the members of Convention, in their private committees, though not openly in their discussions, under- taken to levy w«r against the crown and government in 1839, but that this person, with Dr. John Taylor, a political leader of Olasgow, and himself (he being membei- (. ■. -ii. 21Q i01IMlVlLLl*B BOOK ud to inspirit the flagging or the doubtfyil by his bold presence (?), be returned to Leeds, and intimated to Mr. Hobson and others that he wai nrjrently required for A day, only a day, on his IriaheatateB. lu reality he never posscsecd an lore of Irish estate in his life, though much of his success in England wai sustained by the pretence ofbeing an Irish land- owner. He went, not to Ireland, but to a retreat in the Isle of Man, and there stood hf^ mat the firing of the tnuns he had laid, and the working of the plota hd had concocted in England, "Jeady to re^appear and Bhare the success, or hk out of harm's way, as the result mig^t be. The premature explosion of the grenades at Dewsbury, the eificient thw^ quiet precautions of govomment, together with the difficulty of the scheme, the empty-headedness of some of its conductbrs, the vehement impatienee of its main body, and the unaccountable absence of its chief , instigator,— all those elements of defeat brought about its appropriate termination. '\ , ^My concern, on the side of pubKc morality, peao^ law, order, and industrial humanHy, as opposed to the great Land.Bcheme fraud of O'Connor ; the dalliance of the Peacist press with revolutionary politics ; remain to be briefly narrated. Briefly, I say, and yet that pifolonged conflict in which I triumphed over the Land Bjink firatad^was ahnost sufficient to have alone ruined me and broken my heart. ■ ' Note on Chabtibt Liadbbs.— While this chapter is in the pnnter^s hands at Montreal, I have seen an English newspaper bearing date Oct. 9, 1859 containing an abbreviated report of. a lecture entitled "BeminiB- oenci of Circuit," by that hi^ly esteemed judge and estimable gentleman, Sir John Coleridge. I extract a paragraph for the beneflt of those who ' are not acquainted with the quaUty of men who were, in theirjseveral localities, leaders of Chartism:— « The right honourable gentleman, in referring to the trials at which he presided «s judge, observed that the^ Chartist body at that time inte- rested him a good deal. For the most part, its members appear^ to have been hbnest, btkt^isguided persons. He had no doubt, if tiie movement had not been suppressed, tiiat it would have led^on to plunder and havoc, and that blood would- haye flowed Uke water ; for the oocupa- « tioiyW habits of those men made them a hard-handed and stem raoe. • The way' in which some of tiiem defended themiselves was remarkable. Although speaking with a Lancashire pronounoiation which was v^ difficulttounderBtand,theynevertheleB8sporepUre Engh8h,and qttotad, ^ not the wSSs of Tome Pa|ne and other infldel writers, but such wnters as Akemoh Sidney, Sir William Jones, Johti Locke, and John MUtgp. nvH^ were men among them, who,- after working ^-V<>f^^^f ? .^"^,^ • day" had been diligent readers, an*Were better JUnghsh sehokm ii^ many of the jurymen who tried them." I ■-V--. OT A DILIOSNT Lit*. 217 The novfipapor docs not give tho date to which tlio judge refers, but cither 1839 or 1842 was tho period. I distinguish between 'Mocal " leaders and "national " leaders of Chartism. It is to the local men that the judge rofors. The national loaders were a species of " gentlemen " agitators, in most oases like Feargus O'Connor, fluent in speech, weakly reflective, 4»hallow in knowledge, 'cunning, and vindictive. When, the local loaders presumed to criticise and dissent from the plans of the chiefs, they were denounced as " traitors to the people," and as remorso- Jessly placed under popular malediction, as Robespierre, Danton, and Marat thrust better men than themselves under the guillotine in tho first French revolution. Had Mr. Feargus O'Connor commanded the use of the French instrument, Brontorre O'Brien would not have lived to extol Robespierre and the " wondrous instrument of silence," as he has done in some of his latest eccentricities of genius. It was the policy of O'Connor to hold controul over the Chartist newspaper and Chartist funds. Through that paper and with his fluency of coarse speech and his pecu- liar aptitude for plot and countor-plot, ho denounced all his confreres in turn} Bronierre O'Brien, and Joshua Hob8on,hi8 printer and co-editor, among othei^. I never elchanged words with O'Connor, and saw him only three times, — onoe in 1834, once in 1839, and once in 1848. I have spoken with Bronterre O'Brien, though not then knowing who he was, and have read his politico-poetical maledictions. I know nothing in literature like them. If Milton's enthroned Satan had been a reality, and a Chartist with a pen dipped in molten brimstone, he, and only he, might have written, besides him who did write, the scorching apath^mas addressed to Louis Napoleon, and to some of our British statesmen. In these unique productions, all the dictionaries have been ransacked and exhausted for rhymes that follow in jangling succession, ten, fifteen, or twenty lines rhyming together, comically for a time, until the danging words became fiery bolts which strike and make the heart quiver as shocks ,of electricity,' They who have not read Bronterre O'Brien, have yet to become acquainted with literary genius in one of its most weird and eccentric forms. Sir John Coleridge, though naming. the trials of Feargus O'Connor and Bronterre O'Brien, does not refer to those metropolitan leaders, but to the provincial ^Chartists, as the men^of deep reading, strong thijiking, and fervid vernacular Utterance. Every town and district of country through- out the kingdom had aome of those men, the manufacturing districts many of them. It was amongst those thinking Chartists that I disse- minated the various, publications in seasons of peril, to which reference -^almost tiresome reference, I fear — ^has been already made. I did not wait until they were distributed by sale, but, iff addition to private hands; Iff t * I v<. tl: ,- 1 ;ii 1-i.i !■ 218 ■OIIlKVniL«'« BOOK uMd the postK)ffioo and railway parooU without .tint.-my hteraij earn in« being in thoHe years large and auffioient for such outlay. Many of tho»e strongly-thinking, deeply-reading men, ea«h of them central figure, in small circles, were dissuaded by my influence. But for that influeu«», Sir John Coleridge would have known many more of them at the asB»« "■ He had no doubt," says the report of his lecture, -if the movement had not been suppressed, that it would have led to plunder and havoo , and that blood would have flowed like water; for the occupation and habita of those men made them a hard-handed and stern race." That is the testimony of one of the acute intellects of the l^nglish judi- cial bench, not now speaking under apprehension of the fact but drawing calm philosophy out of past disquietude. If they who hold the heritage of power in Britain, and all below them who repoae this day contentedly under security of the laws, would allow themselves to be told how much they owe to my enthusiastic devotion to the service of public safety, not as vet related in this volume, but as remaining to blTtold, let them carry in their mind that judicial and historical a^rtion of Sir John Coleridge - that there would have been plunder and havoc," and that " blood would have flowed l(fewat«r," had not the greater -part of the central men of the innumerable small circles of Chartism been detaphed from the leader- Bhip of those who inflamed the excited multitude*: Sir John Coleridge savs " suppressed." Th'^ is the correct phrase fjiora his point of view ; but the suppression topk place without physical collision between army and armed people. From this fact I claim a right to draw other inferences, and to add, that if the coUision had occurred and the army had been su<^ cessful as I never doubted and always urged on the Chajrtists that it would be —must be,— the blood of multitudes slain in so many towns as threatr en'ed to rise, would have sunk into the ground, the seeds of "dragon's teeth " and grown until now > series of poisonous cankers reauinng the Tesence of overawing armies always. Peaceable government would hav^ Lome impossible. Political blood-spUUng is not forgotten nor forgiven so soon iimong our stern Saxon races as among the vivacious French, who dethrone dynasties, kill one another in thousands, and danc^next day. What then would have been done wi^ the Jndian revolt, tlft army being required at every point at homer ^ J-irst in order, let me as briefly as possibly relate the history of the Chartist Land and Labour Bank. ■ ^ Of A DtLIOINT LIfl. 219 CHAPTER XXI. .-'. ' ' The Ohartiit Land Scheme, and Land and Labour Bank. The ultimate con- llication of all landed estates in Britain iti object. The Author's poiition in exposing its Economic Patiacies. lU dimensions and ^irogress. If British and IriBh landowaera, whether of largo or flmull CBtatea, think it a matter of no oonoorn to have eaoupod with their title-deed« and rent-rolls from the nchemo of confiscation which was in process of rapid growth in 1846, 1847, and 1848, towards a magnitude which might long ore noy have been irresistibly destructive of all present territorial families, they ^ill glance at this impatiently, ns they may at an old dog who watched while they slept, and say, "Ah I yes, ho was faithful to what he believed right. But his day is gone by. Take him to the backwoods ; let him die where we cannot see or hear of what he suffers I Ti'ue, Homer- ville spent, in money and time and effort, from two to throe liundred pounds of his literary earnings in saving us and our estates from im- pending confiscation, and, in doing so, lost opportunities of earning other money and of making himself popular with the multitude, who alone can niake an author wealthy. True, the Land Scheme of O'Connor was directed at the ultimate subversion^ of all the territorial property of Britain and Ireland, and Somerville, by his exposures of the Economic Fallacies of the Land and Labour Bank, in connection with the Land Scheme, subverted both and saved us. The greater fool he I Why should a man who had no land himself, have cared for us ? He cared also for the people of his own order; did he? What call had he to care for anybody but himself? When a man deceives himself into a conviction that he is a missionary in the servicd of public Bafety, spending two or three hundred pounds of previous literary earnings, and n^lecting profit- able pursuits to replace that expenditure, let him take the conseqtiences ; let him become 'dejected in mind, and sink to cheerless poverty with his femily ; or let them go to Canada and perish out of our sight. What have we to do with him ? He did us good service, but we are done with him : let him die Uie death of our other dogs I " —--. I say^ if it be now a matter of no concern to British and Irish territo- rialists to have escaped confiscation of their properties, they will pass over this a nd the next ch a pt e r, a nd continue to talk thus, as practi c ally the y hire already done. If they think, on tlM contrary, that qniet prasessioD 220 •omkrvillb'i booc of territorial rovonuon, with all the privilo«oB »nd onjoyinont*i of viwt wealth, arc not inoidontii and attributw %( life to b« lightly mteomod, thoy will road this, the next, and probably iwvoral aucooodinK ohaptora, and loam to ooinprohcnd the magnitude of the danger #hich thoy mia\xA by the coUapno of the Chartiat Land Sohenio. What HayH Jonhua Hobuon, who wan O'Connor's printer and co^niitor seven yeora at Leeds ? " ^ " Mr. O'Connor, of all men I ever know, was the most o^^l to conceal a real meaning under clouds of seemingly meaningless Wo^^h." What, then, did O'Connor moan in the manifestos which containfl dtho following passage? «' I tell the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Robert Peel, and all the bailiffs, land-agents, formers, landlords, .and even the directors of tij>o Land Company, that no man does comprehend tt^v Land Plan »« «*«^ entirety but myself."— Fea»v7ui O'Connor, Esq., A^t.-in Northern Staf^ October 2%, 18^1. That and similar declarations was made tor induce inquiry among the working claHses uh to what ho did mean. He dared not publish uHiyiato plans, but they were whispered by agent to ftgent and spre^JeverywKcre. Mr. Hobson knew' them to mean future confiscation of all landed pro- perty. Within two months of the date of the declaration that " no man knows the Land Plan in its entirety but myself," the new subscriberB which came into the scheme represented £40,000 ; these being in addi- tion to former subscribers for £80,000. The managers of Benefit Societies, of Trades Union Societies, of Burial Societies, and of many other associations of working men and women, when a majority happened to be Chartists, transferred or proposed to transfer their funds to O'Con- nor's Land and Labour Bank, an establishment occupying a prominent building in New Oxford Street, London. It was to arrest the influx of deposits to this bank that I addressed myself. The Machine Makers Society at Manchester had placed £626, an instalment 6f their " cash in hand," in the Land Bank, and were about to risk their whole capital fund of £26,000 "in it. Some time afterwards they sent a deputation of their body offering me a handsome box filled with sovereigns, as an acknowledgment of my timely interposition. I declined t<) accept the present, stating, that while the oonfliot lasted between the Land Bank directorate and me, the acceptance of such a gift would weaken my influence. Moreover, I waa not then poor. Work, pursued with almost a fanaticism, fifteen to eighteen hours out of the twenty-four, I writing on and on incessantly, for newspapers and literary periodicals, and for one or more of my iarger works, afterwards publised in several volumes, such as the Biographic Historj/ of the in Of A mnoiirr un. 221 x^ Pionain of Oommf.rtm, FrffiUm of Opinion and Cimlitatum, and Imhtt- trial Wonder$ o/ Laneoihire, thono Uboari kept my pecuniary renouroea in a condition of yitallty. I won paid fi)r tho artiolea in the Manohca- UiT f^nminrr troatlnj^ of the Land Hchonio, a auin which might have remunerated mo had thoy cent nothing but literary effort. Hut tho whole amount received fVom that paper did not luifico to dcfVay railway farea between Manohcatcr and London^ and travelling oxponaca fVora thoBO oitiea roapectively to the several Chartiat catatea, in purault of information. Mr. Ireland's circular quoted in Chapter VT. indioatca, though by no means fully, what I did in this terrible conflict with an unaoruputoufl demagogue ; — ho HUHtainer prt»f««iuig to U> a popular organ would have been then «xUogiibh«d like a taper in • night of atorui, had it not approvad of that event. Th« " liberal " jou^ naU of that oity vied with oioh other in publiNhing extra editions up to •oveiith and eighth, — influniiug tlio Chartiat mind with revolutionary nowi from Franoe mid the other con vulwni kingdouiH of KuroiH). Iperumih, torily rofuiwd to write a aontenoe in approval of thoae oonvulaiona, but, on the contrary, laboured to prove that all revolutiouH muMt, by logiod . ncooMiity, end in military deapotiioii. Iluving iMjen driven out <»f Man- Dhestor by ChartiMt moba, I waa then in London, and aent'down artiolet of earnoat appeal for publication at Manohoater. They remained unpub- liahod, until roaoucd by mo from a wunte-piiiwr oupl)oard in the Kxauii- ncr office two yoani allerwardH. I obtained apaoe for aix lettora of a ■imilar kind in the Sheffield ImU^tmijUnt ; but there alw the Ohartiat oppoHition in the spring moivtha of 18^8 waa too formidabkj for the pro- prietor of the paper to continue to admit my expoaitiona of a Coiuwrva- tive Political Economy. My book the Autobu)gKtiphif had just puaaod through tlio presH in LondoJi when newa of the French revolution arrived. I delayed it in tho binder'a handa to add appendioea of ourucatwaru' ing to working, men. It wii thoee ohaptora which reviewers quoted and circulated widely, and apoko of in auoh terms as I have cited in ^ Chapter IV. It waa of these that my Quaker pubUaher warned me thus : " Thee will injure the sale of thy book by writing i^i;ainBt tlio revolution in Franco. Dost thoe not think the republic is a good thing in France I " ^ The prediction of an injured sale ho took care on a future occasion to prove to have been well founded.. It waa then too that I brought out^ the "National Wealth Tracts,^ and reprinted some of my ** Letters from Ireland " which had attracted wide notice in the previous year. Some "^of the influential Catholic priests assisted to circulate the Irish traota; for a reason which I will make plain enough in another ohapter^by which it will be seen that the peasantry of Tipporary and county of Lim^riok had good reasons for detaching themselves from Mr. Smith O'Brien wnen he assumed the leadership of insurreotion in August 1848. Let mo first dispose of the sad story of the Chartist Land scheme in England. It is possible that Sir "William Hayter, M.P., may be displeased at my publicatioicof what was perhaps once a private note, though the writ- ing is not so marked; but how am I to prove my puJ^c^ aervices and / Of A DlUOm LIfl. % jaiitify thfi OAUflOM of mj poTcrtj Iwfora the world, if all tiioh lottcni tre ' to h* h«ld •! all timiM too MeriHl to b« naniMi or ■dtluocd in ovidflnOQ ? I wnii nwuiilml in nil ({UftrUiri, hj litoritry rrttiflu, in 1K&4, for publiiiHiRg A mrim of l««lt«ni writUm to ttw by Mr. Itiolmrd ('olidon, M. 1*., during th« yoam 1H42-1H4H inniuMKu, houio of which danmgi^d him in pablio cHtiination. I g»Te -thtni piiblioitj portly to prove how miitdi of hi* itto- eamn lui a publio ukan waa owin(( lir ■onau of jutttiou during a apaco of five yeara. He wim the principal pUrty - hahod, or that which ia huro printed, the altemativo (U>cm8 to be that audh a literary worker aa I muat prefer to pcriah, all prfH)f or trace Df n>y aerviooa to Uritiah public aafoty to perish witli me. I shall not acco^pt that alternative. It ia enough that I never croHatxl tho path of Sir Wil- liam Huyter during the ton yeara aubacqucnt io June 184H, ipoatlof whioh -time he waa " patronage " aooretai'y to the Treasury, or what| is ▼uigaily termed " Qovernment whipper-in " of the House of Oomm6ns. I doubt if there be many other men conoeeted with political literature, who, having been in my position, would have omitted to renew, or ^ee^ to prolong, their ocquointanoo with a gentleman who for so ninny years had tho disposal of nearly all crown and government patrmiiige, and for the same reoaonfr whieh restrained me ; namely, that so long as I could earn broad to eut bynn independent poii, I Would not impair its Influence by Boeking connection with gorornment. There came a timo that I could neither earn broad nor eat it, though my children required it, when I A' ^ had none to give them. At that time a friend 'introduced my name to Sir William Hayter, but found from the rebuff ho met that the poisop of the " Manehoster party " wae doing .ita work.. Of this hereafter. In June 1848, Mr. Hayter (ho was- not then a baronet) was Judge Advocate General t need hardly say, that he is iiji, every sense a gen- tleman, affable, polished, courteous, and'iudependcnt in fortune. Wfthout mieh qualifications, he would not have been (and he a lawyer taken from practice at the bur) appointed to the oilerous office of patronage- secretary to the treasury. . The post brought me the folloving letter on the morning after date ^< •i-i r1I(i^ 224 bomervillk's book Hi p "36 Gebat GBORaB Strbet, Wbstminstik, ^ - ' Friday evening, June 2, 1848. i« Sir,— I understand from' my friend Mr. Cobden, who has kindly permitted me to use his name, that you could^give the committee who have been appointed to inquire into Mr. O'Connor's Land Stheme, gome useful inforpation. The xsommittee have been pleased to appoint me their chairman, and I should .feel greatly obliged tp you if you would have the goodness to furnish me with any information in your power, and you would be examined or not as you wish. ^' The committee meet on Tuesday next at twelve o'clock. Should y^u wish to be present, I will take care that the. opportunity shall be given you. Upon that occasion Mr. O'Connor is to state his case and hi& plan. / " In the interval I should be glad to see you. ' I shall be at my office, 35 Great George Street, from eleven o'clock on Monday until half-past three. ' If during that .time it' would be convenient for you to call upon me, I should be glad to see you and to confer with you on the matter. " I am very truly yours, «W. G Hayter. " A. Somcrville, Esq., 11 Hoxton Square." go far as the assistance I may have ^ven to this gentleman aa an • individual member was concerned, he more than paid me. But unfortu* nately my printer delayed the work which I had prepared for the com- mittee and the othir members of parliament. When it came out, the committee had adfVanced beyond any, need of it. I had two thousand copies printed, e^cting to sell some of them through the celebrity of the case, but they remained dead stock. As the subject was subsequently named in the House of Commons by Mr. O'Connor, alleging falsely that I was paid " secret^rvice money" for the work, I now place on record the f«i3cise facts. Sir William Hayter gave me a check on his banker for £^5, in payment for putting him individually as chairman in possession of particulars of the Land Scheme and Land and Labour Bank, so far as I knew them. Of that sum I paid my printers. Ward & GrifiSths, of ,Bear Alley, London, £24 on account of printing my National Wealth Tract No. 2, giving my wife £1. That one pound in twenty-five does not quite represent the proportion of my earnings, which, in those years of revolutionary peril, procured my family domestic comforts; but if I say that a fifth of my earnings was the proportion, I say truly. The rest wa« devoted to those " Expositions of Political Economy " and " Street Warfare Warnings to the People," already spoken of, and other publiea- - tions not yet named, none of which ever yielded me a shilling's worth of profit. or A DILIQEMT LITE. 225 But anticipating, as I do, what the reader is about to say in reproach, — that I evinced a want of ordintt^ prudence in expending time, intellec- tual yigour, and money thus, I have to add, that I looked forward to success and fame, — to a time when I might be acknowledged as a true » expounder of Economic Science, — a time when my works would sell largely and profitably, and both the rich and the poor would recognise the man who had harmonized their seemingly adverse interests. Mr. O'Connor had attained his highes^ point of success with the Land Scheme in the spring of 1848, a time whipn royal dynasties trembled in the balance and were in some instances overthrown. The Chartists had then become formidable in a new development of strength : they had acquired the following properties : — \ " Herringsgate (surnamed O'Connorvillle), seven miles from Watford, in Hertfordshire, 104 acres, cost £1,900; Minster Lovel, two miles from Whitney, in Oxfordshire, 505 acrosi, cost £9,952 ; Snig's End, situated four miles from the city ftf Gloucester, ^70 aotes, cost £8,100 ; Mathon, situated in the neighbourhood of (^reat I^alvern, in Worcester- shire, 500 acres, cost £20,000 ; Bamford|s Faria, in Worcestershire, near Bromsgrove, 300 acres, cost £10,000 j Lowb^nds, also in Worces- tershire, situated near the village of Red Majrley, 16^ acres, cost £5,576 ; Filkin's Hall, near Burford, in Oxfordshire^ 511 acJes, cost £21,000." My book intended for the committee of tile House W Commons bega,n '■ thus: \ i ,- ■ . " "At-the first of June 184&^he sum of £80,000 has been collected in fuljy-paid shares, and £40,0^U4s in process of colheetion for shares not paid up ; all obtained in small ^s^ms frpm persons chiefly of the working class. If the subscribers shpuld^ve to receive the benefits pro- mised, namely, a comfortable cottage, and two,^ three, or four acw^ of land (say three as an average), the sum of money\equired to procure those advantages and locate thei!n according to Mr. O'Connor's 'plan,' so far as that plan can be undersiK)pd,.wiU be little short of £4,000,000 (/our millions sterling). § ' " The charm in this land scheme, which draws so moBj subscribers, is, first, the natural desire of all persons to improve their condition in life; second, the pleasing hope of having a cottage, a. small farm, and farm ,^tock, which they can call their own for ever; and third, the excitement ^ of being ballotted for and placed in the immediate enjoyment of this cot- '^tage and farm, as soon as each of them has paid the sum of fifty shillings. " Mr. O'Connor has set forth the rules and principles of his land plan variously, at different timeS, within two years. But the following is probably as true a statement as any of them : (See his newspaper, Northern Star, Oot,23Td,lS4!J,) - . , r / Mr. m^ 226 sohkbviiLiLk's book ' I tell the Cianoellot of the Exchequer, Sir Robert Peel, and all the bailiffs, land-agenta, fanners, landlords, and directors of the Land Com- pany, and alUbther companies, that no man does comprehend this Land ' Plan in its entirety but myself.- " , The directors were persons who yielded all pecuniary management to O'Connors They were expelled and denounced as traitors if they did not. They knew, as did all the Physical-Force Chartists, that the real attractj6n of that Land Scheme was the early prospect of Ihe body becom- ing so formidable aa to confiscate from present owners all the land of Oreat Britain and Ireland. When O'Connor inspirited the flawing subscribers in October 1847, arid doubled their number within two or three months with the public , declaration, private^ conveyed all over the kingdom, 4v Somerviite tathe '^Manchester Examiner i" in reply to Dr. McDowell, ■ ^ X published dctoher 9, IS^T.' Mr. Editor,— You will be good enough to reprint ii) the Examiner Saturday, if possiWiB, the letter of Dr. McDowall, which appeared in the Chartist organ. Northern Star, last week, addressed te '< The Whistlfer." I write this lettei: in the hope, — small hope, I confess it to be, — that the editors of "the Chartist organ will allow a letter of "The Whistler " to ome before the eyes of their readers.'' ,, ,^ ' ' ' ■ There have been many " GhaHengM to 'The Whistle?,'" Both in London and on the dead watls of Man4ester. " The-Whistler " is chal- lenged to discuss the merits of -the Land Scheme. The doctor sets out with a7repetition«of the challenge, and, in "his letter, ends^with it. One \ would suppose that I had' never gone, to see the Chartist property ; had" \not gone to the Chartist' Land-offic^ in Londoh ; had not gone to 'the " What wrong can I have been doing to deserve this? " — On the Manch e st e r Examin e r r ea ching Mr. O'Connor, |t brpught hi m home. / Of A DILIOINT Ura. 233 Ik i I record a few pafisagoB from his defeaoe referring to me. He addremed itia Board of Direction thua:-~, / > " Gentlemen,— Iinmcdiatclylupon my return, I shall proceed to Man- ,^ ^Chester, on Tuesday, the 26th If October ; and, having thus given my ^ accuser ample time to prepare his case, and the benefit of my absence to circulate the slander, I shaJl face hi^ in the Hall of Science, single-handed and alone, to answer ahy charge tbikt he or imy other man may bring •gainst mo. All I require is, that notice may be given him, and proper arrangements for the public invostigatlan may bo made; and, if the evidence of Mn^Mannix [the Irish soJjeitor already referred to], or any other lawyer, is necessary, I will pay their oxpenseH. " Gentlemen,— Permit me now to offer a few comments upon the nature of the charge, the circumstances under which it is made, gpd the character of my accuser. When I had demolished the rubbish of this base fellow in December and January last, he was sent to thejCounty of Cork by John Bright, his employer, to see what evidence of my baseness he could gl^an in my native county. He tells you, distinclly, that he has been upon this reputable mission ; that he has seen the Chancery barrister, Mannix, the solicitor of my family, and my nearest relatives; and although a volunteer in this honourable mission, and after being ijijabor for now some moiiths, behold the abortion he has brought forth.- ^I said nothing pf the kind.] " Gentlemen— Englishmen— Working Men— here was an honourable mission, a creditable commissioner, and a virtuous employer ; and yet, though thus importantly charged, behold the weak, the slender produc- tion I Oh I gentlemen, if I were assailable, what a rack, what a torture, what an inquisition, what a secret conspiracy, to be snbjected to I Gentle- men, in ancient or modern times haa this baseness, this perfidy, been Vailed?" . . . -. ' ^ , In the work intended foi» the committee of the House of Conimons, » I gave O'Connor's and McDowall's letters and expositions at full Umgth, but tpan only cull a very few passages here. I The following is a specimen of the style of th« man who was tf/have 'Jbeen first President of the British Republic, after tie 10th ofApril, ,1848, according to the publidied programme in th« last week of Maroh.*^ He nami)d Mr. Cobden tie his probable prim^ minister ; but, in justice to (he latt^, I record an opbion, that the allusion to his name, in rekttion to suck a ijOntSngency, was alike offensive imd unwarrantable, Mr. Cob- den, however, Mlmnself to blamei^ by gloiing and flattering O'Connor when face to face; jllr, John BrigWL on the contrary, had at all times the blunt hontety to speak to O'ConVr before hia faoe as behind big bade X. a iiiiiii 284 ROMBRVILLV'S BOOK Literary iityle of the intefiaing Prwident of tho Britwh Ilopublio, Northern Star, October 9, 1«47 :— " My Friondu, — I now addreiw you from the frontier town of tho 8wi»i ropublie ; and my location, and what, I have H«on on my journey hero, inspire mo, If posniblo, with greater *ml and confidence in your coubo. Gentlemen, not one of my rehitivea would hold oonverso with thin dis- roputablo boaat [Somerville]. Now, you unbluHhinK ruaoal, you hir^^d prostitute, you wilful and corrupt liar, wan over exposure to your every lieetjual to what I have given you? I W a rock, you bruto; I am invulnerable, you lavage : and all the tiumey of the Lmgue being freely spent to frighten me from the pcrformunco of my duty in rarliumcnt, will but nerve me for the good fight. . . ^"^^"8 ^"^^ bnlanoo-Bhcot, you beast, an4 write to all whoso names appear there, and ask them if they received the same. Mind, no flinchiiy? ; meet me and expose mo, you unfortunate victim. It'would appear a» if tho Lord had doomed you!" This was O'Connor's challenge to me, in addition to that of MoDowall, to meet thorn at the place called the Hall of. Science. They wore there true to time, and with them the monster. cabbages, carrots, and leeks, gathered from ihe London market-gardens, as evidence of tho fertility of the Chartist allotments at O'Connorville. I dared not remain in Manchester at\«r the repeated aseaults to which I was subjected by O'Connor's agents of violence. I should have pre- ' ferred to lead th^deadliest forlorn hop©-in war (and I had passed through aoni© deadly enough in Spain), where the place and weapons of an enemy >ild at least be guessed at, rather than be liable to bo pounced upon at ^mes the most unexpected, in lanes and lonely streets in Mancliester. iat was more than I felt, disposed to risk daily and nightly, I left that place, and returned to London. A sentence from the following letter was quoted in ChaptecIV. I now give iti all, as a proper ooucluBion to this ,«ad narrative. It came from the shareholders located at Red Marley. The original I have with me in Canadiu,.^^ « Committee on the Lowhandg Estates of the National Liftid Company, >< \ . « Hbd Marmt, near Ledbury, 6th Aug., 1860. u Pear Sie,— That vie should address you may appear, strange; but convinced as we are that your great eiertions prevfented many hundreds of our countrymen from suffering, as-we have suffered, through the machinations of Mr. Feargus O'Connor, though many thousands have be?n Hypp ? by him in their share-money, this is a mere nothing cotopared A to bur sufferings. ; ■ ■ " Sincerely do we regret the course we pursued towards you, who - /- Of A DILTOKNT'Lirl. 28ft Ubourod to oonvinoe xu of the ftitlllty of Mr. O'Oonnor'n rcproncntatlom. Doar-boi^ght expori«iioe hiui tttught thut you wore right a« to what Mr. O'Oonn^r in. It will b«.well not togivo an opinion juat now ; but oarnoHtly do wo hope that enS long tho country will imo hiii ohioanory and worao, M we ao. Doar Sir, JUn conduct towardn uh haa boda the moat hoartlcas ▼illany. Would to God that wo could liavo yx)u for a fow daya auiongat ua I Such taloa would be unfolded aa would make thoae who already believe him to bo a rogue, wonder how auch a fellow ia permitted to ait in the Houae of Oommona. It la hero that hia trickery, liea, and decep- tion can be. uncovered. Hoping to hear from you, or aoe you ahortly, If •aaible, we are, dear Sir, " Youra roapeotAUly, *' To Mr. Alexander Someryille:" "W. A.ITow, A " H. T. AskarX " P. J. O'Bbikn, Schoolmaster. A A.... . ^ -A \ / /- _a^ .W 'f / / 236 /■ •OMtftVlLLl'l BOOK f\' V ~Tr ; lUl i] TIM -J ;ti.i cnAPTKR xxrt. ^ FrtBcb ItovolaUon of 1848. Fruo* •( Bnmlljr wii)i P^llUtal BVonbmjr. " ■ ■ ■ /' ^f" ■ .■ '■' > , *. », , • The French refolution of 1848, began <»n the 22<1 of Fobnu^ry. A political banquet tiad been announood for the 21it, at which bold apeaking waH expected from opiKwition inendiem of the Logialativo Chambers. King Louia l*hilip|K3 and hia niiniiitoni thought it prudent to forbid thoiw inerobera of opposition to mMt, dine, and talk. The tttompt to prevent them gave vitality to the sluinburing diaaffeotion of Paril. It woa sections of tlio up|)er and middle strata of society who were forbidden to hold the politicid banquet ; and their disappointment and chagrin were aoized by the lower, deeper, and wider understratum of society, the Parisian multitude of mingled industry md destitution. That multitude took to arhis. The "' Citiaen King," aa Louis Philippe was called, hesitated to permit the tt«e of artillery against his subjects ; for which humanity and forbearance he, hia thron«, and family fell. He camo to England, and soon after died. ^ A pWisional government was formed, ohtfefly ot pirsons holding commui^tio ideas. They proclaimed a Republic. Prussia, Austria, and minor states of Germany, and ahio Italy, were convulsed. Britain Mid Ireland fell the contagion. Meetings were held daily for a time in Trafalgar Square, London, and inflamed by men such ai 0; W. M. Beynolda, who thus cheaply advertised their newspapers Ihto profitable •celebrity. In all large towns and many small ones throughout firitain, mobs resorted to violence. At Gla*^w the forces of insurrection were met by the military at a point exactly described as the point of collision in •" Somerville's Dissiuurive Warnings to the People on Street Warfare," published nine years before. So precisely did all the incidents of attack and counter-cltaok happen on the 6th, 7th, a^d 8th of March 1848, as I hud desoribedl them in an imaginary Glasgow street-baitle in 1839, that the mob armed itself with the iron railings of London Street as I said it wonld, was driven liaok by the military intp the gullet of streets formed by the union of Qallowgate, Saltmarket^ Trongate, and High Streets, ■• I said it would, and there Jielplessly wedged in. The only thing which I had depicted in 1839, and which did not happen in 1848, was the fire •of artillery from a position op Glasgow Green, throwing shells over the JiottMS to fall, amongst that uuntigent crowd and iMtroy them in the '\ Of A ottranfT Liri. 187 hoar of their holplomnoM, the trtillflrj ttMlf anhamiiHl by thorn. Th« GiMgow inrarreotlon of 1848 aubiiidfid Iwforo'thftt Mtremo applianoo o^^^ miUt«ry rmourooinHiflMno noocMtry. — — -"^ I noQil not doHoribo tho oollliiionf in othor townn. Doctor McDowall honrlod the " Youthii of Nottinghftm." Nflwiipiip«ni whioh nhnuld h»T« takttn another oourao, — their oonduotom probably afVaid of afler oonmv quonooa, nhould Britain fall under a " proviaional" government, — inflamed the elemeiita of diaaffeetion in the EngliMh manufaoturing towni hf approving everything moiiHtroua in the inoidentii of revolution on the ' oontinoni of Europe, and by picking out of hiiitory or current events any Item whioh oould be exaggerated and urged againat Britiflh monarchy and •titttooraoy. AmongHt many tliinga written and oiroulatod by me at that time, and read by the thinking men of the Chartiata, I Tonturo to reprint the following: ' ^ Z. FldUi^X A7 £NMITr WITH POLITICAJU EOONOMY. To rerfiMaff fhe politioal and Rpoiat phanei of France, lot me state that the baala of ^arguijuent is that laid down in a previous Tract under hoftd of Nallmal Weidth and t'oli(ioal Economy, namely:' *' The wealth of • oommun|ty or nation is oom][M)iM)d of personal numbers; health, food, ' ololhing, housing, furnitupo, induHtrial eduoatiotn, books, and the other aoceasories of intelleotual enjoyment; the ministrations whioh exalt mao'i fpirituol being; the instruinenti of production, toolj^, machinery,; locomotion, exohango(^ money ; security from enemies, which includes freedom to produce, to possess, to enjoy, fco buy, to sell ; freedom from io invader, from tlie monopolist, iVom unfair taxation. Those elements of National Wealth form the material elements of human happiness.^ Politioal Economy is the science which teaches individuals, communities, or nations, how to expand the elements of human happiness. Politioal Economy, in teaoning how to expand and diffuse happiness, demands an mnvarying adherence to this rule, — "that indtviduala^ fdmxUu, commu- nities, nations, must bring more wealth into existence than thev put out o/ ejeisteitce'* ». '•# V. . > This is the ground on which we stand to review the changing phases of military , Franco. First ^^se. — The hunters of the forest clothed in the skins of their • prey; their arma, clubs, spears, arrows; their ocoupaition hunting and', warring upon one another ; swiftest foremost, strongest uppermost. Their idea of wealth, subjugation of captives, and the personal prowess to- subjugate or slay. , Second Phase.— The strong and the swift ; the stibjugaJWro of oapiiroii! \% .f '■ 111 238 BOMKBYIIiLS'S BOOK ' are now obiofs in feudal society ; lords paramount some ; a monarch one, but tbat one subject to the turbulent will of the others ; knights of chivalry and men-aUrms. Tillers of the soil and herdsmen held as personal chattfils. • No accumulation of the savings of labour to lay the foundation of productive capital, except where fugitives from bondage have taken. sanc- tuary before the altar, and are retained as freedmen around the church, or in the wsjled towns to work as handicraftamen under the uncertain protection of some lord superior who grants- a charter, which he breaks as often as he sees them accumulating productive capital. Third Phase. — The monarchy is consolidated by the power of theo- cratic feudalism. The aristocratic yields to the tJieocratic; both have below them many degrees of dependency ; all are fed, clothed, furnished, adorned, by their bondmen. No higher idea is yet h^ld of national wealth than what is suggested by the expensiveness of tjie grand mon-. archy ; the prodigiousne^s of the number of its privileged dependents ; the completeness of the subjugation of the serf producers, who must yield all their wealth to their puperiors, their lives also, if demanded. Fourth Phase, 1790-92.— Productive capital eaten up by the royal taxes; the baronial and clerical exactions. All France contributing its best workmen to the Parisian population to be employed in furnishing, clothing, and adorning the privileged orders, and that population paid pnly out of the taxes and exactions levied on the unprivileged cultiva- tors of the soil. The serfs become more feeble the saore they are taxed, I and in their feebleness the less able (« sustain Paris in working only for metropolitan consumption, and not for commercial exchanges. Paris cries for bread. The monarchy calls for taxes to fill its empty treasury, , , to pay its armies, and to find Paris in work that Paris may have bread. But the producers of the grain from which bread is made, afe themselves naked and hungry, and cannot bring suflScient crops out of their fields : the taxes to feed non-producing Paris, all the garrisons, palaces, castles, and cathedrals, have consumed the fertility of their soil, their seed-corn, their implements, their own food^ and their own clothes. They can no longer feed' hungry Paris. It rebels; decapitates roplty; abolishes -) aristocracy, theocracy, and all privileges ; sequestrates all property thereto attached. But it only transfers the consuming power to a greater nuihber of non-producing persons than before. All industry is directed to the propagation of ideas by force of arms and invasion ; by civil war, plots, and counter-plots. Not in any case is the industrial power directed to the developxpent, of the national resources to feed, clothe, house, 'furnish, and elevate the French people. Pr(q)erty, liberty, security, ' and human life itself,— all is wr.eck, whirling, sinking, rising, driven back- ward, forward, shattered, and shattering, amid convulsions and crimes ■ f 'VS- 'SP- OT A mLIO INT I.IF1. 239 t such as wore never beibre written of on earth, such as were never imagined out of hell. Fifth Phase, Napoleoii I.— The iron foot of a military chief tramples convulsion into submission. But" France must be fed, else submission will be brief. He embodies its male population in warlike legions; leads them beyond the frontiers to feed themselves, to fight and con- quer, and carry food and treasure to the people left at home. These last are Ittrgely employed in making stores, clothes, arms, munitions of war, and warlike furnishings for their armies abroad, and are paid by the spoils of neighbouring nations. France is now living at the expense of Europe, as Paris lived at theWpense of France before the abolition of the monarchy and the privileged ordera At last, confined to her own waated resources and her own neglected corn-fields, she is powerless, and her military ruler falls ; a conviilsive effort to rise, and he falls again, and rises no more, , ^ Sixth Phase, 1815. — France \^ poor indeed. • Her fields are fertile, and her skies clear. But her o|d monarchy returns, learning nothing, forgetting nothing. Nor have Ijer people, or any of the people's teachers, learned more than the old moiVarchy. They differ as to the colour of the national flag, as to the form of the government. But all are as one in the error that luxurious, iLn-productive Paris should feed at tl^ expense gf frugal, rural France ; all are one in the error of thinking, that their own respective classes, by subsisting at the expense of some other class, are doing a service to those whose productions they consume, whose productive capital they subdni^ or annihilate. Seventh Phase, 1830.— The convulsion of three days; a dethrone- ment; a new king; the old errors ; enormous armies ; military colonies ; the governing mistakes of Britain imitated, her industrial successes and> virtues despised. Two millions of rural families, feeding themselves on the most meagre food produced from land of their own, valued at £2 per annum for each family ; " each with a bit of arable land for bread, a bit of garden for potatoes, a bit of pasture for the goat, and those bits hardly ever lying together : the vine must be on the hill, and the grass in the valley." (Mourner's French Agriculture, 1846.) In all, eleven mil- lions of persons rated for the land-tax; five millions of whom occupy holdings under five acres per family ; three millions, three hundred thou- sand of whom hold under ten acres per family. The average income of five and a half millions of proprietors, as indicated by the valuation for land-tax, is 287 francs (£11 10s. sterling). These proprietors, some with families, some without, form a majority of the rural population. Upon them, and upon the minority of proprietors and occupiers of land in a somewhat better condition, and upon other branches of productive s»- V 240 SOMCBTICLE'b 'BOOK 1 H industry, fall the taxes to maintain the annies and the hordes of adventurers of aU ranks and classes who put wealth but of existence, and latipg none, or no^ sufficient eqniTalent, into existence. iTiy^^APAo**, 1848.— Another revolution ; the king dethroned; no princes allonrad ; no aristoeraoy ; a repuhlio ; no privileged orders. Yet the first act oi' the republic is to add fifty per cen|!; to the taxes already levied dn those five-and-ft-balf millions of proprietors whose properties average ten acres ;. and on the minority, whose/properties aTerage but little oyer ten aores. One of the first acts of the republic is tO; ereate a nj9w privileged order, the order of Parisian worlamen, to be paid and fed at the expense of that fifty per oent of new taxation, and at the expense of new levies. And aeoincidcnt act is, to add one hundred and fifty thousi^nd men to the r^ular army, to bo fed, clothed^ armed, ^nd lodged, at the expense of the industrial classes; besides Iraising new l^ons of guards, in like' manner to eat, to be clothed, to be armed, to be paid. Op the 26th of March, a month and a day after this revolution of February, 1848, («A« i%A< A Phate,) I wrote in reference to the street mobs of London and Tllat^ow, which had committed excesses : " The moderation of th6 people of Paris is spokten' of in their \ late revolution,' when the excesses of English, or Scottish, or Irish mobs are referred to. When the ' late ' revolution in Paris is over, it wHl be time enough to ppeak of the moderation of the Parisian m\Utitude. The revo- lution of France in 1848 has only begun. Grievous^ as waa the taxationV in France to sustain the armies of royal ty"^ the provfiional republic goes beyond royalty in its numbeAif military men. Who are to pay them ? who but the «corAcr« f" And again, " Let us glance our eyes, and carry our»reflective faculties to the internal condition of France. One of the most momentous of its circumstances id that of its eontinual subdivision of land. France » requirek more of the necessaries of life. Neither the republican idea, as it is palled, which is the ph*aae of "iheienthusiasts who are at present uppermost in the' accidents of revolution^ nor any other idea, will make the divided fields fertile iHrhich are already e^austed by cropping, with- out capital or agricultural skill. The pplitical disease of France has been, and i», a semiis of economical error^ common to its royalty and it* » repuhlicanism. Fiiwn primf^niture, it preceded to a coi»pwZ«ory dtvigtow of property." " j With an industrial population too wealk to bear more taxes for the republic, by fifty per cent, than it contrlbijited to royalty; with 150,000 more soldieris than there were under T&j^ij; with the worldn^ population; of Paris to Ibe paid out of the ttoesf it' required no spi^t ofprophecy to write, a month after the revoluti^ of February, that it viras not ovfer, that S t/ ^r- or A DILIQXNt Lirt. 241 it was only beginning. - No one oan fl± the precise date of a future event ; but common sense, notprc^hecy, foretold new insurrections, street-battles, jlaughter, convulsion. Let me trace the process. And first, of the operation of taxes, and of thi funotionb or a goyernmknt or frjix MSN. 1st. Of taxes levied for government.^ All taxes levied on the producers of wealth (on the operative work- man, on the master employer, the shopkeeper, the merchant, the culti- vator of the fields, the banker or other capitalist who lends money for productive purposes) are an absjbraotion from their capital ; by t^e loss ^f which, they sxq less able to give a movement to labour to make it |uctive, than they would have been had the amount of the taxes been their possession, id again : the expenditure of those taxes sends into ^e markets . where national wealth is to be purchased for consumption, a number of ^ consumers with a power to make wealth scarce by putting it out of existence, equal to the amount of the taxes. ' v Thus, the levy of a tax operates against him who pays it in a two-fold degree; — it lessens his capital by which he produces wealth, so that less is produced, and less is by him enjoyed; and it enabled the person to whom it is paid to go into the market where wealth is stored up, and make that wealth still less. Exception. — That expenditure which is indispensable to the dignity and stability of the governing power, whereby the free operation of productive capital and of labour is secured, must be excepted : that is a* productive expenditure. • But as the expenditure of taxes is not productive except in so far as it is indispensable to the dignity and stability of the governing "power, it is clear that to prevent the producers of wealth from being unduly impoverished on the one hand, and the wealth produced by them from being unduly reduced in quantity on the other hand, the tax-payers and ill good rulers must see that the levy and the expenditure shoiild be restricted to the lowest amoijnt which will secure the free and safe operar tion of the nation's industry'; * " *' 2ndi. , Of taxes levied hy a government to establish national workshops. The act of levying a tax. to establish workshops, is a deolaration tha^" the political personages forming the government believe that they can put productive capital to a better use than can the owners of that capital. They cannot, for these reasons, selected- from many which might be adduced: -«^ . , The person who has aooiimulated'^his savings from personal labour, or his profits upon a oapitttl invited in raw n^aterial, tools, flhop-room , and --- y ;-v-* .■ ; »'■■•!.■•■'. if'l 1 1' 7 ^ ' H'' m * 242 ' '1^ 80M4^ILt.»'S BOOK wages for tKe employment oftoth^r men's labour, knows better bow to emplc^ bis capital, tban anjr. member or agentoftbe national goyern|Bfint can do. .,. \ . «- ' And again, it oafinot be collected from, bita, paid into tbe- treasury, disbursed to agents to buy raw materials and tools, to erect worfc-sbops,' hire Hforkmen, pay wages, 'and sell the product* ;of tbe workshops, but throu'gh.the hands of persons over whom 'there is no control 'equal to that which be- would have over his own agents and worknien . " And agait, the most industrious -or -most frugal, who ^ave accumu- lated some capital, are taied under such a Ifevy,— as that recently [1848] mAdein France,— while the least industrious, or least frugal, .who have ^ accuAulatedVnothing, escape its payment. '^ " '^ Apd again\ the tax is paid in wages alike to him who works'expe,di-. ' tiouply and skWuUy, as to him who is an idler! and a sloven. Its direct ^ tendency is tAmlOfetbe expeditici^s and skUful man an idler and a sloven, and prevW^him from ticcumulating^ savings, when he sees him- ^If liablb lo taxation which the idler escai)e8, and deceiving only^ihe , wages which the i^er receives/ Whereat the system which leaves pro- ductive capital under the management of its owner, and which pays the fworktnan accordiiig to the quality and quantity of his labour,^ tends to -^evate the idler, and the sloven, to the level of him who is expeditious and skilful. , ' , And again, a tax, collected, and ita payment enforced, by coUedtors accompanied by military escort, bullets, and bayonets, (as recently in France,) from 4he majotitvof'the population, who are,the peasant-owners and tillers of the soil, is not only a* transfer of their CM)ital from the culture of their land, already feebly cttltivated by reason oftheir povert>^, but the tax was paid to a smajl section of the whole population of the -^ rdpublic,— the workmen of Paris ; while, again, they were chieflv employed in manufacturing clothes, arms,^ and munitions of war, for the new levies of armed men, a labour wbich, instead of adding to the national wealth, still co^tiilued to diminish it. ' % The most degraded condition, physically and morally, in which men have' been plaqed was that condition of surrendering their own judgment, • 'foresight, and" enterprise to some lord superior, to be provided for in work,?ood, clothing, or lodging, accprding to the judgment, foresight, enterprise, mistake, misfortune, or self-interest of that superior. This "was the condition of serfjpm. It id still the .condition of the slave. It •jras the condition of Frakce through all hqr phases up to the revolution which first abolbh^ the monarchy. This, the worst principle in feu- dalism, has been aprimairy ideaV-Hi the leaders of both the French have it in 184-8; It la anta- j republics. — They had it inj>92 ; they gpnistic to the privileges of free men; ii is political Childhood, **"■ ■V'- ^-" \*, # i/ *> or A DILldXNT XVI. 243 The'prhilege of a free man ia to be his own wealth-maker ; to labour at w|ltfteye,r emptpyment he niay find -agreeable, or profitable, in whatever place .he oah findjt,; to exchange the products qf* his labour for such other commodity as he deems. to be the best return for that which he disposes of. Liberty to accumulate tiie'producta of hif labour, or-^e price of -thpse^roducts in shape of capital ; to possess it ; to. set in motion other labour with it.; or lend it on such security a» he akjfie thall ckan gmd, fpr others to set in motion labour with it ; liberty to receiva and possess the profit^ ^^Hseoured W his government, alike from the idler, the nionb- polist, and the inequality of taxation. " ' To rtile such a nation of -free men^ a government has no high«r dut^ than to allow them to ezerci§e their own industri^ entofpriae. ' « *^ But to make such a nation of free men, ob8ta they ar^ in prpe(»98 of reduction ; ■ and when their ineconomic operation is betMr understood, Britain will be. seen working ift her fields) in her ^workshops, factories, warehojcises, docks, ships, without the bondage upon her industrial limbs, which, by ages of error, she has wor£, and e0i i|Qars, in one shaj^^bf -other, in alinost every one of her productive operations. -^ - '■ In France the several ohan^pfcohstitutigns, and .the many changes- of ruling mep under' th&se constitution^, hdive ejected po reduction of the restrictions upon the-,^|lreqdom of indiistry;tn6 diminution of the. burthens whreh weigh it to the earth, no contraction of thcenofmously con- > suming power which eat^ its products ap fast asl^ey ftre made, whioh.! 'gnaws into fch6 heart of all national well-bejng, living .upon productive oapital,'7oprietot8 ojf the provinces, . as an expedient of sound policy. , To have prophecied the exact date and' nature of the events which • would ensue, was not within the compass of human Icnowledge. But the simplest exercise of reflection could foretel that .terrible consequences would ensue within ti brief period of 4ime \ that the provincial population, V vrhich had fifty per cent, add^dto' the taxes by a decree of the provisional government, would send up repreientativel^b'Jcee^ a jealdus eye on^e Parisian public workshops est^blidied by those taxp^; th^t the national trQaaury, converted^jo a fund fOr paying wa ges, must be exhausted, if 4 ait ■Si > >- o T if /. I i± iii: 11 244 SOMXRVILLl'S |f00K A ■> th* wages did not return a profit to the treairary equal to all the expenses incurred in the operation ; that if taxfes were still demanded to supply te treasury from" those' who had onee l^een employers, and Were pnoe in e receipt ofprofits, but were so no longer (the national workshops being their competitors), they must stop payment alike to their own creditors and to the tax-gatWer ; that abseneeof profit in the worksK^ would break them down.^nd expose the workmen to starvation, and the capital to revolt or a fresh revolution. ^ . And men were exposed to starvation ; and women and children, num- bered only by %ib of thousands. The " idea " of the republic appeased no appetite ; it added to the sharpness of want the sting of disappoint^ ment. To the sharpness of want and the disappointed' hopes of the working people, there were added the fermenting elements of ambitioi^s adventurers, who had not realized their hopes of high places in the state, and who, like the humblest artizan, woke in the morning without a breakfast. -,. .- . The state rose in the morning, kindled the fire, put on tllle kettle, and was willing enough to be housemaid and cook for all !Paris ; but it had ^t the means, without sending out for them day by day, often late In the day, the messengers sent being mounted cavalry ,Jying artillery, and at least a hundred thousand infantry of the line. « Imagination rises amaied, reason stands confounded, at the contem- plation of such a project. ~ ' . |, ^ The result— what was it ? The state failed to spread the table,' aB it undertook to do, and Paris, tired, waiting with an empty stomach, took its muskets and its bullets to go out and shoot a breakfast for itself. The state had little reason to wonder that hungry Paris did that. It had recognized the right, and hardly condemned the expedient. That overwhelming majority of the National Assembly sent up by the peas- antry, upon whom the mounted cavalry, flying artillery, and hundred thousand infantry levied the money to feed Paris, and who now gave unmistakeable signs that they held the opinion that the people of the capital should support themselves, as they and their constituents did at home,— that majority of the National Assembly were deemed to be the enemies of the state and of the unfed. :, ; ^ tJnable to reach them, the insurgent of the empty stomach saw his next-door neighbour, once his employer, the man with an empty work- shop, and- sent a bullet through his head. Strange fate ! fsrta| office, was that of this dead National Guard. The little capital which he possessed to buy materials for workmen to work upon, and to provide shop-room RT^i ^ ti^nls, wnal in part taken by the state to pay those workmen in the national shops, where they worked without profit ; the remainder is / . .1 ;Y\ . I or A DILIOINT Liri. 24ft Oomprised in bad debts and over-due bills, of which the otate decrreed that he should not enforoe payment. He was called upon to defend the state f(om the insurgent of the empty stomach, whom it had failed to satisfy with food, who^ it took out of his workshop away fVom his work, ana from which workshop it also extracted the employing capital, and now the insurgent slays Attn. And so they go on, life for life. Upon a lintf of three tniles, crossing the city from tight to left, and the Seine river in the midst of the city, and ihe island in the inidst of the Seine, defences of war are reared, trenches of defence ajre dug out and thrown up. We were in London, on a day iiji June, startled by a flash of lightning and a clap of thuqder from a low fiioud; on that summer! day in Paris, and the next day, the next, and the next^ and through all the intervening nights, there was one continued volLpf thunder; and flashes of tight jjever ceasing, and clouds of sulphur^* ons smpkfi wrapping the city in suffocation. Aoroas streets and st angles^ up streets, down streets, out of windows,, in at windows, flew the bullets, —the force of death in every on§,— et^h expected to decide,% the fall of a dead man, whether or jio the state sloll in perpetuity levy taxes to feed .Paris, to pay the idl^r alike wit^ the industrious workman, the sloven alike with the'expert worker. ^ ' All day and all night do they thunder bebjpd breastworks, on the roofs of h9use8, through windows, over the' barricadoB of stones, ud is tibe cry of men^»t— loiidec the curse of vengeancel - viv:'.-.- -,•. :•. ' ■n''..../-i-'' ■ ' '- ^^'' -^ ^-'^'.^ ■,■■'''-:::.'':■'■ "Blessed are the peace-makers, for theirs is the kingdom of hcaveii." From the day when those blessed words were spoken on the Mount, to this day, one of the blackest in the calendar of time, no minister oiP' peace has gone forth on a mission moro perilous— «nd perilous, more sublime— than does that priest with the uplifted crossed tlieflagof - truce I But what is the presence of the cross, what the flag pf true?, what the mission Of peace, when brother slays brother ? " Down with the cross!" "Kill that Ai^hbishopI" And he is kUW. Demods are uppermost Anything but merey, honour, or forbearanoe, this day! fS •1^/ '♦ ■"W" 246 BOUiRVILLt'8 BOOK And all those deepest ttrooitlei are oommitted, and twenty thotjiand human beingH lie dead, or dying, or maimed, thoir city ghatterod and^ crumbling, becauBo oitieen battles with oitiien, neighbour with nelghbotiT,' apprentice with journeyman, shopmate with Bhopmastfir, employer with employed. ^ ' v And they battle thus with one andlher because a govemmettt whidh can as well command the sun to shine when the day is cloudy, or the shower to fall when the earth is thirsty, as feed a nation when it demands feeding, find profitable employment for it, when^it cannot find it for itself, undertakes to execute .these impossibilities, and deceives those ^ho trust in it. ' -'' ■■ '■.■.. '::>•. • . : . , ., i' ' - They battle thus with one another, teariog down their city, uptutrting ^ their thoroughfares,' to be repaiited at ap expenditure-of heavicir taxation, which tliey must bear, and are Jubdued by armed men, whom, they vxMay pay; or are victorious over theft insurgent brothers by armed forces, , whom still they must pay ,— more an^ote force required to pr*erye order ; ' heavier and heavier taxes required to pay the force ; industry and knd, Bourcgs of all wealth,' less and less able to sustain thfe weight of Nation,— they battle thus, and incur those consequences, because the simple, economic principles Upon which all national well-being is founded, ' are not understood nor admitted to be right, by the olasseii who tor gene- ' rations have been the regulators of trade by inheritance, nor by those - > who aspii-e to relate it by a philo8oph|oaF adaptation of the old errors. Nor is the warfare in France ovpr. »The economic error is not cor- rected in the national ui>deretanding ; the demon spirit of social convul- 1 sion is not exorcised. , \ > ■ - u.. ■ — — ■ . ' '■ . ' ; '. , Such were the arguments suggested by the logic of a conservative^ ^ Political Economy while the revolution was in progress. But that por- tion of it relating to the fragmentary division- of land in France, demands that a modifying remark be attaohedL If the quarrels of nations %ere at ?in end, and armies could be safely neglected,' the process of " clearing " away the rural population of Britain and Ireland, in favour of large and still larger farms, or in Ireland in favour of vastT^raiing tracts instead of tillage, humanity also being kept f from consideration aB a worthless sentiment, — under such circumstances those clearances migjit be approved in a system of Materialistic Eco- nomic Science. . But war is not removed beyond the limits of probability. DefenMve forces cannot be safely neglected in Britain. Whence does , the Emperor of the French collect his formidable aitay ? By far its •^. /:■ greater proportion oomea from the rural districts, where th e minut e occupations of land itre favourable to the growth of the future chasteur- iirpied, and the bcid, agile, ubiquitous zouave. ^ •I )-- - •■:*/ . '■■'$ m:: "\ ' ■■> OV A DtLtaiNT Ltf I. 247 And, again, in what (]|uar(cr lies tlie dangor of war betwcon Britain^ and FranoQ ? Mr. Milncr Gibson imbvod and Mr. Jolin Briglit iepoiidud, in the spring of 1858, a hoHtlle uiotioir in the House of Commons directed against Lord Palmarston on personal, grounds, by which the Puhnerstoii government fell. The subjeot of that motion was a dofiahoe to France ; though the mover and teoonder had n6 othflr motive in reversing the whole of theft" ultra peace principles, than, lei avenge "the. loss of their scats OS members for Manchester in^^he previous :year. In Uiut previous • year, Ma^oh 1857, Mr^Gobden 6ov«d and carried a hostil9 Vote in the House of Coipmons agdinst Lord PalmQr8ton..(On the China question, making " political capital ^' on the ofioasion by attacking in bitterest rinvootive his former friend, Her Majesty's representative at Hong Kolag, -'■ Sii» John Bowring. (Vid'capanaphlet, ^'Motmnif, Coftden, and China," then published by Ml&nzies, Edinburgh, 1857,' and mttored througl out Englfmd during the contested eleotionsj Lord Palmerston Ad- x^vised Hejr Majesty to di^lve parlianlent, and- thereby appealed to the ! country. The verdict of the nation was emphatic, Cobdep, Br^ht, iflon, and others of their party, missed re election; The pamphlet jumt |rred to was anonymous ; but at very considerable expense, I^ its-author, But it in large^uan titles to election committees and sub-committees in all^towus and'oouUties where it was likely to be of use. 'When Sir John Bowring saw it in China, he wrote home to the publisher inquiring to Wfhotuhewas indebted for tha^' generous and vigorouii defenoe^^' against Mr. Cebden's spiteful attack. As a Uterary man, I had been entihist^d with certain matters by ^ John Bowiif^some years before he went to China, and now used them at the right moment. ' The anonimity of. ,the pamphlet was a mistake ; but I sent it out "ivithout iny name at the suggestion of a second party. Mr. Cobden may be pleased tp learn that' the labdur of writing and much of the cost of oiroulacing '' JUawrit^-, , Cobden, and China," among those who, with it in their hands, defeated his return for Huddersfield in 1857, resulted, like so niany things els^ of mine, in a dead pecuniary loss. But I, am pleased that he is restored to parliament, fle represents sentiments which had better be uttered in the House of Commons than on platforms of agitation pii^t of dpons. . s [^T^ie work may now be purchased with my name ^n a new. title-page, the title alt^d thus:—" Life of Sir John Bowring; Writings of Mr. ' Gobden ; A.True Narrative of the Rupture in China." Sold by- Robin- son, Edinlnurgh, to whom I ga,ve a large remainder, 760 copies, ^or the price of waste paper.] ' • ^' s , ." To avenge on Lord Palmerston in 1858, the loss of their seats in 1857 . the p a rty of " Pe a ce a t a ny pri c e," led by Gibson a nd Bright, and ' ^1 Supported by the Cdnservatives under guidance of DisraelL all taking .F-; n 148 tOMriRYILLB's BOOK |a, ftdyantage of a popular BritUh excitement tming out of the attempted fMiMioation of the French emperor by Oriini and the defiance of Britain in the addrcwea of the French ooloneli to Uliir aOTtreign, carried a hoetilo vote in temw of ^^ counter-d^»oo to France. So much for the peace miAn. ' - • v I do not pronounce that Tote„ to hav» been wholly wrong. I nflhoT the fact of its occurrence and the iiouroe whence it iwiued, aa flvidenoe Umt a defensive army in Britain cannot be aafoly neglected. Tqu tell me in Canada that you do not care about British political piMftioa. Would war with France be no concern of youra ? That being admittod, coniwrvative economy takes note of the fact, that France ia in ftill poBscHsion of a vigoroua rural people, available /or mili- tary aervice, while Ireland ia being oompulBorily laid down in grwa, out/ man and a boy only employed on three or four huildred acrea,. where not long ago waa « thickly-seated population. Also that the Highlands of Scotland are " cleared " of their people, and ddvoted to the sportamen of England, who hire the glens, moors, and forests for amusement. Also that in England the process of merging several small famiB in one large occuptflion, to reduce the number of rural families, in imitation of the >' impn^ed " culture of the Lowlands of Scotland, ia widely spreading; while in those " improved " Lowlandu of Scotland, say in my native county, Haddingtonshire, the population has been- gradually decreasing in all the strictly agricultural pariahes during the last forty, and especially the last twenty years. L:L-,.r;^ ' ,. ■./ <* ■ ' -• / 1' \ O I) or A Dlbl^SNT / 249 CHiI»T&B XXIII. '■# VliU to O«herraoyl« •nditr. Bmltli O'BrUn'i dlitrlct of Limerick county, In Murch 1847. Ftmln*. BfellefWorka. SImlkrItyof O»hennoyl« to Whltelleld Farm in OXonetttnhlr/ EnKldml. Hurl of Diicle, « I'oUticiil Econonilit, »nd Mr. HiniUi O'Brien, »A AntUPulilioal Kcuaomist. Tbo .culturo of Ui«hr hmi •ootrMta^. JPhe foUowUig aooountof Mr. SmltJi O'Brten'i Mtato woi first published in 1847. It wuB reprinted in wjvorul forms, «s part of an appendix to my Au^bictgraphy, and an National Wealth Tracts at the revolution- ary orisiHof 1848 in England. It vran ako widely circulated in Irelaud, and F(jcommended to the follower^ of Mr. Smith O'Brien by many Ca^olio prieits in Tipporary, Core than one ahilling a day. I waa told Uiat of five men cmployod in the demoane of Cahermoyle, four might be reckoned aa employed there in ofalKrity. If thoy be ao employed, the ohvity ia a fourth lem than tlie relief money paid by government in the locality [about which Jlr O'Brien waa then loudly declaiming in^ parliament aa inadequate J^^^ftit I deAiur to their em- ployment being called charity or relief ^^ey perform work neoe»- ary to be done, — draining ; work which, if done to the extent required on the Cahermoyle eatate, should employ jtwo hundred men aix months of the year, for five years; an estate which, if cultivated' ai^ it should be, to" yield the greatest amount of produce for ihe food markets, and of profit to the owner, should employ as many men per one hundred acres as the Earl of Ducie's Whitefield form, in Gloucestershire. The geology of Caher- moyle and Whitefield is the same. The pre8en,t state of Cahermoyle w simihur to the previous state of Whitefield. ilVe^ds, rushes, inferior grasses, inferior cattle ; utter waste of manure^' fro^ the cattle ; corn- growing portions of the farms over-cropped land iUhausted ; potatoes planted for the one or two tirorkmen on eack firmi to live upon, as the chief port of their wages ;— these are the c^araot^istics of ffie estate of Gahermoyle. These were the characteristics of Whitefield farm up to 1840, when therfiarl^tf^ucie's capital with Mr. I^ortonjs skill began to transform it. The likeness of the two places extends ftrther. Caheif- moyle, besides being on the same geological strata aa Wl^te^eld, is seven miles from the Shannon. Whitefield is about sevjenimilp from/, the Sev e rn. Cahermoyle ia t w enty mi|p from the city of L^eJick ', White- field is nearly the same distance from the city of Bristol. ■'# t* fi> -*. ., i- ■ : ! .- "'■I ■■' r'"»ST"'^*;'- 1 Mt ^m r .;' , !1, k ;,-: t. f,^. y 252 bomeevili^k's book But here the likeness ends. WWtcfield contains 240 acres; Caher- moylc, upwards of 1,000. The best land of the latter is superior to any of the land of tjie former, and constitutes more than a half of the whole j the best land— the alluvium— of Whiteficld is but a few acres; of Cahermoyle^ i| itf^O. , ' .The expenditure for drainage, buildings, and useful roads on White- field, was £7,828. Th? expenditure for drainage on the farm-land of Cahermoyle, i» nothingr'that on' the useful roads, for improvrng the value of the land, is nothing by landlords or tenants ; the Board of Works, with the publi(jjlnaoney, is improving the farm roftds. Besides the sura of £7,828 expended on permanent improvements on Whitefield fiirm by the landlord, Earlof Ducie, Mr. Morton, the tenant, has stock and working capital on it to the amount of £4,500. The rent before he took the farm in J840, and before the capital was expended on it,, was £200 per annum; tithe, £33; poor rate, £28; and road rate, £4. 'The rent is now ijugmented to the amount of five per cent, upon £7,828. The farmer (Calculates upon ten per cent on hi^ working capital of ^,500 ; on £200 per annum as' remuneration for his^rsonal services on the fann ; on wages for ten men, at twelve shillings a week each, and on all t£e payments to keep implements and roads in repair. What he ^btainiover all those returns, is profit. And he ha? had profit after all those returns. I apprehend that such a landlord aa the Earl of Ducie is the frue bene- factor of his country, and that if Mr. Smith O'Brien would turn his attention to his own property, to enrich himself by producing human food from that land so naturally rich, now lying waste, 4e would be a patriot. ,, ^ •■ 23d March, 1847. Sin«> writing the foregoing, I have been on ahother farm of Mr. O'Brien's, where the natural quality of the Soil far exceeds that of -. Gloucesterehire. Mr. Sheehy, one of his tenants, holding about 150 acres, at 24s. per acre, has only one lad in his employment, and not another person, not even of his own family, employed in cultivation. The land is just sloping enough to be of easy drainage ; a stream of water runs through it, fit for irrigation or machinery ; the Board of Works has just made a road through the farm. A fine, ricfe, loamy soil, all in grass and rushes, covers the whole surface; the limestone rock is everywhere on the farm, within" two, three,ibur, or six feet of the surface. An itiferior coal, available fgr burning lime, is found in the mountains, within one hour's walk, and roads ^ere raade to it by government ^ants of money several years ago, and more roads are being made tO-it by government now ; but no attempt is mWe, has been made, or seems likely to be made, ./ I '/■ of A/ I.^-'I-^X'^^V . *"-■ i; "•<(- or A DILIGENT LIFl. 263 by Mr. O'Brien, to manufacture lime, or bring lime, to his farmjand The farm-buildings are clay huts, the roofs fallen or falling in ; I fences are crooked mounds of earth, with crooked ditches besides thie all manure from cattle runs waste into the ditches; the cattle lie in con- tinual wetness, and are overtaken by periodical epidemics ; but when fattened (as fattened they are, despite all the \4feck and waste of the land, the soil is so rich) they go to the contractors for the navy in Cork, and to England, to be sold and consumed. Such is Mr. Sheehy's farm, with only one lad, at lOs. per quarter of wages, and his diet, employed. The other man, who has a family, and who used to be on the farm at 5d. per day jand his diet, is how on the public works at Is. 4d. per day. i '' Mr. Patrick Power has a farm of about 250 acres. ' Some of his fields have beenMn tillage, and are laid down to rest to recover their exhauBtion. They lie thus without grass or crop of any kind, but weeds that rise -^ spontaneously for, five or six years. Meanwhile, air his cattle nianure ruhs to waste; the cattle lie without straw or bedding to make manure ; the roofs are falling in jibove them ; epidemic diseases periodically destroy theni ; two women only are hired ii\ summer to make the butter ; only one lad, at lOs. per quartei-, h on the farm at present. The herdsman, Walsh, is on Xhe public roads, at Is. 4d. per day, with Mr. Power's con- sent, and Walsh's mothi^r, a widow, is doing the herdsman's WQrk, in payment of 30s. of house rent. * / - Cahermoyle demesne, consisting of 150 acres, is valued at £185 for rates, and rented, by Mr. Massey. for about £2 per acre, for grazing. Mr. O'Brien's house and garden, and 14 acres of plantation, are valued ibr poor-rate at £70 ; the rate, lOd. in the pou|||^ Mr, Condin's fariii, of 65 acres, belonging iWlr. O'Brien, is rated on . a rental of £06. This, and a quantity of other land not on Mr. O'Brien's estate, employs at present one youth at 10s. per quarter, and diet, as a herdsman. ^ Mr. Magner's ^arm of 150 acres, rated at £190, is connected with other land, not Mr. O'Brien's; It has two persons etaployed. Me: Robert O'Brien, brother to Smith O'Brien, gave evidence before the Devon Commission, The reader, will understand its force after reading the state of tliose grazing farms, and I have given a picture of them considerably within the truth. Mr. Robert O'Brien is sigcnt for his brother, Sir Luciias O'Brien, in Clare ; for his brother, William Smith ' O'Brien, Esq., M.P., of Cahermoyle; for their mother, Lady O'Brien; and for himself and other proprietors in Limerick and Clare. II o states (Devon Blue Book, Part II-, page 810) : " If a pasture farm is converted into tillage, it may be taken as a sign tbat the tenant is going down in !» 254 vy I >.'i '■ ,."-*??" r tv'' SOMfRYILLS'fl BQlQK the world." The explanation of this is, that the tillage fkim* are carried on without capital ; the gracing £kmiB must have some capital. White- field farm in GlouoeBtershire, England, barely afforded a living to ita tenant, and £200 of rent to its landlord, when the working capital was only £3 28. 7d. per «ot^, and the wage? of labour, part of it for a thresher, was 6nly £75 per ffinum. Now, exclusive of «11 wages for draining, building, and road-making, the sum of £312 pier annum is paid in wages, though there be machinery for threshing. ^ The Working capital is £19 per acre. ' - Mr. Morton, like l^s landlord Earl of Ducie, is a political economist, and as such pj^ys 12b. per week to his men, though the current w«ges of the district be 8s. and 9s. He gets better workmen and qheajaer labour by paying 1 28. This is political economy. Mr. Smith O'Brien is not a political economist. No portion of his estate, measuring ,240 acres (the size of Whitefield), pays more than £20 of wagesj^ lannum, and the capital per acre is under £3. Instead of trying Ito get better workmen or to make better workn^j^in order to have 'cheaper labour, hy paying } lighter wages than theiraS^**!® neigh- bourhood, as a sound economist would do, he pays one fotirth less for work than the government pays in charity. ^^ The Eari of pucie advocated the repeal of the corn-laws. Mr. Smith O'Brien used all the power he possessed to preserve the corn-laws. It was bne of the commonest arguments used on Mr. O'Brien-s side of the question, thskt land would go out of cultivation, .and become ,, pasture, if protection was taken away. In Limerick County and on his own estate, it is deenHd « sign of a " farmer going down in the worid," when he brings his farm into tillage.— iS^in^ April 4th, 1848. ' The loftiest patriotistn is that which is h^imblest in its pretftnsions, . abd most praticaUy useful. If WiUiam Smith O'Brien were a practical man, who wdlald set himself to the noble task of regenerating his country, by giving its itl-cultivated soil a productiveness worthy of its natural fertility ; by admitting the people to the' privilege of labouring, to enlarge (. \.ii .«■ ^(T^ m f ..'^■ rJI s 1 f" OF A 9ILiaiMT Liri< 256 \.t'' ihe supply of home-grown food ; by penniUing them to live in healthAil (^ houses, insteaclof the filthy, hungry, pestilential holes, into which, in Ard%h village, he, his relatives, and hii^ neighbours have~driven them ; he might become an honoured patriot, without revolution, without a republic, without repeal, without a riot. What I have described of him andvhis wretchedly mis-managed property, may be said of every on6 of his political brotherhood who possess property. ... And now to conclude, let us take a parting glance at the^ threatened .. " British Revolution." Thf republican constitution which is to be pro- claimed when the revolution is effected, has just been published in the Northern Star. Those who believe in Mr. O'Connor will know how ^ much of that docdlnent to bdieve. My present business is not with it, ; nor with him in relaUon to it. ' tn the first plac^, there is not at present a national desire jfor political enfranohisment. There is^im the contrary, a general aversion to it among id( persons possessed of property ; no matter what the property may be, < a mansion with a demesne aMjplnd it, or a huxter's shop With a glass win- " dow* , Ko set of men noi|r. .breathing ihe, April Avt of -1848, have done so *. - much to retard ,the cnfrapohisment of the people, as the Chartist leaders V / ' y : di the fast nine years. Their practice haiB been to ^zcite hatred between ' Classes,. Until there is a.ii alliaace between clasBeSi there cannot ^be in Britain- an act of univeraal enfranohisment. Attd, I fear, that until th6 Chartists withdraw their avowed hostility to the existence of private capital, moneyed or landed, and their avowed belief that they can do physical battle against the regularly armed milituy foric^, they are^ ne^ jlikely to obtain the sympathy of the people, interested in the'preservatioa of property. .» . f < p ribd^flr ;^- a '.*>' '!» 256 bojItbiivilib's book CHAPTER XXIV. French Revolutionary CrlslB continued. Approach of the " Tenth of April," In Britain. Doctor McDowall's discourse at Nottingham on the " British ReTO- lution." . ' [Extracts from the Atito](>iography of a Working Man.] London, March 25th, 1848. M In these times of change, remarks on the revolutionary occurenQps and accidents of the day written while the day is passing, to be read Ifereafter, • —written thus by me because the book is closing,— require to have a date upon their face. It is but a month and a day since France,' deprived of the freedom of political discuission, exploded in revolution, her political safety-i^ves closed.' Since then an empire, tw« or thrge kingdoms, and , a score of inferior states, which possessed no safety-jvalves, bilt which had u breathing, jiving, working, tax-burthencd, thinking mass of humftn beings screwed down and bolted,— these states, disturbed by the concus- sion of the French explosion, have also trembled, heaved, and blown up; '^nd Britain,- ^hich possesses and exercises freedom of thqjjght, freedom of utterance, freedom of the press ; which is in the daily, nightly, hourly practice of liberty,— ^but for those political safety-valves, would have had a revolution too ; and her practical people would be now abiding the accidents of convulsion. But she is saved from ^nvnlsion, because her people are practical. Britain has nothing to gain by revolution : she has great advantages, already gained, to lose. Let us glance at hef posi- tion. . ' She is not not beyond danger. She liis threatened with a revolution by persons who seem incapable of comprehending the simplest principles of liberty, or of national well-being, or of political progress, past, present, " or to come. She may also be fendangered by a party who would oppose by force of arms, any concfession to popular progress. ^ She w,as epdan- gered by such persons in 1832, when they threatened the military power against the national opinion, expressed repeatedly by the HOuse of Com- mons, and almost by the entire newspaper press of the Uliited Kingdom. But were the nation as nearly unanimous now as in 1832, there would be 1^8 danger now than there was then. Britain Can tfow reason a minp- rity into a majority. . She has reasoned away the corn monopoly which her landowners, land-occupiere, and many of her trading citizens, believed ' -A i-i:M f^^ .w or ▲'i><;LicaNV iiUPi,, 267 ■#-» to bethefoun<]atioD*stoneofherwen-being. By aif^ment she oonyinoed ;:«them that even, for tlieir own personal and olaas intereBts, they were :^;^in error. Other nSl^onB re«ort,tO«1bl^>^ irien were not created to work jand perish as the beast* of the field, but were endowed with faculties fitting them for' high moral enjoyments, so surely Will the old nations wd (he n6fr accomplish their destiny. Ail ^ ioaen, hy the suflFr^e of manhood, legislating ; all by virtue of their voice iuvgovernment, obeying; alljjy their capital, producing,— their oapitd of strei4^ capital of skill, capital of enterprise, capital of accumulated profits, capital of land, capital of intelligence.j» cultivate land; all pro- ducing ; hone i(Hy consuming ; all enjoying in every nation ; every nation exchanging products of use and offices of friendship, that all may the more perfectly enjoy I such is the future for all mankind- . •. . . . . _^x [Note of 1859.— Ppnce^Louis Napoleon was in London when this and* , similar works of mine were puTjlished. The j^rince was so courteous as to conf^ himself my pupil to some extent on readfn^iiis arid National i Wealth Tracts. Also the chapter on Mr. Smith (yBrieJKich follows tbis.l As su«py as meuHere not created to^workj eat, sleep, work again, and perish like the beasts of the field, but •'weife all endowed whh natures " only a little lower t^an th# angels," so surely will tkey accomplish their • destiny. Britain has achieve^^ freedwn of the permn, the freedom of . / opinion, the freedom of th6 press, and of discu^j|to. The hig^lest cq tion of free(J^ and true ^^n of civilisation iJKoluntary an JhaW_ surrender of some impulse and right of personal liberty. 'Such sign^f freedom is emphatically .British. , =i* Let Britain retain her placfi. She Will retain it, if she avpid those prodigious calamities- to mankind,— wars With national neighbours; and those more terrible cjdarfiities, revolutions and internal disorders, in which thfe young, the' vicious, the ignorant,, are alike armed with weapons of bloodshed, to menace the men of experience, virtue, and wisdom. Britain has hei; warlike politicians, who cry for revotjjii^n by fdfce of arms. Heaven help theui and her if she had a revoluti'on 'such as they desire 1 She has also those who, deprecating bloodshed and revohitidn in tlieir own country,^little regarding the accidents out.of which revolu-' JW^ tionsTlave aiiseu, or the accidents^which may arise from them,— liUla' A i-^'-i ^^ — ;-. ■ 4" If--' '•''■' — 1 258 ^{||. 1 «,^y». BOOK I ^■i i.,'-;' disaster M ^oivilizB |iWoh"iiil|m»l wwrlare, di80or|il|ptri '^' ' ■ irt^' ^|hre*t| of new o©nvu|p^, ttie ^^ inlBOurity of all propen^|ltti all rig^' enoeal^^hioh al Wpluiion,— they di I, aniioilnt th« ^Uti mff "* ■ . ieohly to the aoo}dei|^ mode- multitude, France iss^ deorfess iMltitttdlp * may revoke. Hpi decrees (laBtribTStjaod Britaip, in ^ch cijfcijeyolu- ^ ^^ ite*|||eHy|to do^^^^M^ say whaf no i)iti«eB^^r|Wftoe ,,,,j,^^;4,irfter^ oj^ei'ifevbhtions, evet dared do o^flajTyi— Bi^in, in |iJ^^yH^&i*ortid.lf(yM " illustrious examjjle,^ l^nd^ Wj h^ir^ooiiMfal slav«».^ Jft taW a A-evolution to do it, iwidtlibvare !/l4ipire., Brftain iilierate^i %/»*op»a^ ^Ifives by the j^er of Jvl^cewas nbf pei^^iW'toKby public meetingei i^ dis- ^.^^^^tii tJw' privUegC Was ob|ijiii^(i5f obtained it b6,:when only Diie^de^s prlvil^5^. to disquss) hf: a^riei'of accidents jpnding in street Wufaii^^And iil&tioiial conyuliion. *^rftain, in 'po^ssion of the liberty of ||e0jt|ji and discutNfion, 14 wVite* to imitate Francd, and hat« ^treet ^^t^'aritlr^ iiid national' c6nvulsion. "Thwie who do not quite intfilt«| her to ,V^e i#MiiS^n.' 6^ bidus look and admjre Franctt in her ^ttiggles . foifP^tbmi ^** ^^ ^^^ struggfe witliV irho keeps freedomTi^in her ? ' She iiitt^ Vi reivolutioitenoi^h'Uo be free, if she knew the prwitical uses dpl^rtyl She stru^t^, but it is with herself av^d her abortions., She is ifjain in convulsions, but they are the throfes of anotl^er .unnatural .ibirth. Libertyis'not borh of revolution! It com^ not in si ^ demop passions,— ^f distrust, jealousy, violence to private pt «ggres|iQti^ on personal rig^^ America) it is true, ol^ ' pendence by arms; but,4R|^nact of. independence, from a goverment alreadj^wPRtedcfrom her by four * • ocean ; ' alrfeady separated by "navigation laws and monoi to hjrby riSttience within her shores, or the ownership ll her soil. America is not an exception to the argument : si within its scope. A T ' ' J|HW.'^^v *■ ^* France his decreed that political offenders shall not suffer death ; ahd while the, armed mob is still in the streets, threatening death to the poli- tician who offends them, we are tojd to admire her clemency, and this at the very tim e th a t a noti ce of mot i on- is on the table^l^tbe House of. H r^ t,1s^- - / -f ,\ f Commons, having for its object the return from b»nishm«|j^Lthree ipen f 7 .■■< ' . - w«— > .t* ■ ' , ^^ Of A DILIOINT L < in. H o^en ;> r^ -f , :'^ 269 — thejtat three— oapiUlly convicted of the highest specits of political offeiice in Britain,— treason, and the levying of war agaitist the crown^ and government. That they were not capitally executed eigHt" year ago, but live now to be the objects of political friendship to some, and if ^ •: humaqa solicitude to others, is proof that those who bid us admire Prahoe for her clemency, may admire Britain for hen, which has re8uItefS)m her superior freedom,— the liberty of discussion. [Note, 1^69>-Thii referred to Mr. Frost of Newport, since returned to England a free man, and to his companions in the insurrection of 1840, Mr. Williams and Mr. Jones, now flourishing colonists in Tasmania.] . France, by her street warfare, and the impromptu decrees of a provi- sional government, which sees the loaded muskets of armed workmen beneath its windows, orders that Aose workmen shall only labour ten hours per day. By the privilege of free-discussion in Britain, an enact- ment reducing the working houre of the laigest class of operatives in the • kingdom to ten hours, was carried without any threat or fear of street warfare. '^ Ne^t to a revolution in an industrial nation likfe^ritain, is the evil of being threatened with one, or subjected to one in its incipient stages of riot. To-day, 25th Maroh, 1348, we read in the London daUy news- papers, that at Nottingham, "On Thursday evening a large number of ^ j)eopie Wire ^Miected ^to hw^ what Dr. MoDowall had to say about the charter, "?&o. ^ ; Dr. MoDmi^ll on thi British Rivolution. .." He said he woi^ never be engaged ita any riot, though it was probable the Chartisgiq^i ^ gy see him engaged in a revolution. Unless their J" j [ ^i > | y JINP^o^^^ :c<>°eeded, he would, if necessary, walk bare- ^fijd^m Lbn^n^ H|'"^^***^ng ponoliided, his auditors marched tiffoufih the streets .A \' i>:- - -'it \: «;.,.;-■.•• '■' • ■ •-*¥'*••■♦•,■,,,.,., '',' . . A. . , ^ 200 ui'i 1 BOIIIRVILUI'I BOOK of Nottingham, headed by pcrHon^ carrying bloaing torches^ singing, &o. The mob waa oonipoHcd, in moat /^Murt, of youtha from fourteen to twenty ^eara of ago. The magiatratea/the police, and the military were fully prepared to prevent a riot; but, fortunately, their aervioes were not required, though aomo alarm/waa excited amongHt the peaceable' house- keepers. The buaineaa was terminated by fresh MMranguea of the aame nature." / ' - " • Another account says, tiiat when the Doctor declared that he would i place reliance in their discipline, *' A procession waa formed, and the people marched six or eight deep, through the principal streetoof the town, headed by largo blazing torches. ArTt^natural conBoquenoe, the peaoeaful inhabitants wore much alarmed, oapcciully as, in the darknesa of the evening, the tramping of so many men in military order, headed by flambeaux, had a very imposing and alarming effect. To nmke matters worse, the mob was composed for the most part of youths; and although the military, magistracy, and police were fully on the alert, it was gene-' rally anticipated that if ohce the peace were broken, the mob — a Notting- ham mob, be it remembered — would observe no bounda in their excesses. Happily, however, they were allowed to proceed aj^in to the market- place without interruption, when the Doctor again delivered excilfng harangues; and having recommended his hearers to continue holding every night, such meetings as that he then witnessed, until the 10th of April, he concluded by proposing three cheers for the * British lievolur Hon,' which were heartily given." On which the author remarked thus, with a view, to detach the Nottiijg- ham youths from the Doctor's leadefship : < " The British people, who have nothing to hope for in reyblution^ but everything to fear,— a greater stake than any other nation on the fac*>; of the earth to lose, — need be under no apprehension about the Doctor head- ing the youths of from fourteen years of age to twenty, in a British revolution. It is for these youths to fear the Doctor, who says he wofih]: lead them. This person has had opportiinitiefs enough to revolt, aijid take up arms. His colleague in the War-Department of the Convent^pijf" of. 1839, who accompanied him to Woolwich Arsenal to see how the aj^ nal could be taken, and to learn the artillery drill by looking at the gunners on the common for two or three days, has informed me that, at Birmingham, that same year, when marching at the head of a ^and to make an attack on Hall, which, being set on fire, was to bo the signal for all Birmingham to beffin ; the leader and the led met a patrol of police, some half-dozen in number, on the road ;,vthat the leader, two loaded pistols with him, which h ^ brandished and '^:. / X thoug boastci inspirit his followers, shied at the sight of t^e police, ■*w* '^:. X r> Of A muniffT Lire. 261 'iiklrt«d,' Hed, iin4 returned to th/ hounc in -Moor Btrtot, wKero tho eol- Itoguo and another delate were/ thnt^ cn&if in brepthloM nnd exfhaust- ed ijritli rtijnniijg I told, like FiUntaflF, what a bntti? he had. been in ; luid ° his ptfloJa on the taWe, telHn/how ho would defend hitnsolf if the pollco camo t«^ ajjprohondod hinj ; fcenrd tho moaiiured tramp of a p,fitrol of nuli- tary or police approaching in tho atroct; hoard tho odnimand 'Haiti' l^ven nn^r the window ; turned J>ale a« death, and droiir tbcohargcB «ftbm the piatoilj layirtgj it>^ bo bent not to have them loaded when apprehended ; and re-loaddl them again, and resumed the coleur Of oon- fldenoe in hia face, impHdctioe lii hiw behaviour, — both natural,— when tho ipatrol went to/\tho j^lieo^fioe in Moor Street, and. did not enter that 'C^'JHy^e; AsMon, in^j «»* fl! Said mojikey to pusBoy, " Give me your paw, little pusaey, to draW the chestnuts from the fire ; for I am your friend, innocent little kitten." And t^e pussey-cat being im^cnt, and simple, gave the monkey her paw to ^fiMfechu^t- nuta froiil^e fire ; and her paw ikas burned. , ", ' ^P^^ Youthaof Nottingham from fourteen tb twenty I beware of the monkey who would make cata'-paws of youj Those who are so fond of a revolu- tion for its after-consequences, cannot ^ord to give their own lives for ' it. They must live until it bo accompiishod. ©What good would" dying "■" Bm7. V- ' ■. ' -Mi \-:-''^L:- ' '■'.'.■ \ wrong done by governments to their own people, and to-mankind, the ^ro'ateat wrong is the permanent withdrawal from industry of large numbers of the population, to eat food, wear clothes, and be [lodged and f\ at the expense of taxes paid by the rest. Internationiji jealousies, taxes; and armaments, oa th&p%rt of our neighboura across the seas, whom we should be peacelMy buying, . selling, shaking hands, con' fiding^more war-tales with thli^jj^nii m|b with u»; morp jedousies and less trade ; such are the j^silte 4 ~ unproductively at the expense eMH-edL ■But if^is be the greatest wron^ori^ and tut if this nd, can we 0^,i;ALig large numbers to live b e nt s to their people, chief argument in , < %#^. jr '■•• '■►.^f i0 .V *■ 262 /" * ^iftMtRVlUJl'i BOOI^ fkvour ofi lirgo BrilU trmy liefiig dintribated tWwHip;li t!ie1»»t!on, \»; . ^At It/U re<|mr«d to HuppoH the civil p«w«r i n preiwrv ing order, in pro- UmuZ the indiwtrtoiui man fron» bein^||||||llW|B||by Ojj) idlone* or viofenoe of othtefs ; thatioldiers ar« r«iuir«i topre^cve lifeand jfroperty. in I, M M ijtpbunder of Political Economy, rtnit to rebttke thoM puWio men whoee^tioal powtion has been won by roiteratfld compUint aK""^}; •zoemive ttiftry exp^diture, and who arc now, one aft«r another, nearly •11 of thtoL Wking on 'p'*''^""""" ^^ through the prewt in favour of the Fwnoh f^blio ? Cannot they aee that, logically, British military force* ' r, muat be •ugmented to prevent the oontagioo of/wrolutionfrom laying hold of Britidn? A fearful reaponaibility rout* n^n those Wour liberal politicians who are Byinpathi«ere with revolutions ibroad. The miKfora;^'' " V . ■ ' ■ Ptttriek Ring gave evidence before the Dc yon Commission, 4th Oct, 1844. See Devon Commiaaton Blue Books, Report to^hoth Hquaes of Parliament, Vol. IIL, p. 363. I quote a passage : — ' " Then fliere was a gentleman came over to Ireland of the name of Somerville. He had heard 0a o o pl oa of a " Ciyjrom Ire ta tid," giving every member of both Houses of Parliament o alrea^ stated. ^I^-- . - Of A DaiOINT LIfl. i6ft ■1 I V n 'It'' r*"" P"^*'"" "^ '^**' *"^' I do w ■• a pollUoid •donomU. To Cuthoho- I «jr notbii,,^ boyond what Daniel O'Connoll «id for me To YounK Ir^lj^r. " I «y, Uk .t thi. Cdtio Iri«hm.n who.n I am *bout to d«p.ot,-Uthc, lord of Be„„ef. Bridg,, who dn,vo the people of hui e«U»U, mad ,„ the year. 1841, 1842, 1843. In your projected Wr to expel the Sa*cH, and to give " Ireland U, the Iriah," you would hare boon burdened wUh the duty of retaining thi. notable pLe^utor of hi. tenantry ; h« waa dosoondod fVoni your oldeat Celtic chidk To I'rotea. Unto I aay, you should thank me for relieving Proteatantian. from the Odium of havmg -uch a man clinging to the akirt. of a ehuroh which he pt::r- "^ "'"^ ''^ '^•^ • ^""' ^"' -'^ ^^^^^ One day In July 1^3, a wealthy .tockbmker of London, Sir. John Laathope Baronet, M.P. for Lelceater, sent for me to meet him at th^ office of the Morning Chronicle, of which journal he wa. then the proprietor. I attended, and he .poko nearly aa follow. :- ■; Mr. SofteVvillc, your letter* from the rural diatricta of England pubhHhcd wUhm the laat two ydarn, have placed the Corn-Law quL.o^ on new ground,-entiroIy new ground. Every one with whon. I apeak T "^'u- Z !y!?"""''^ "'^'^ '" *'•" ^^""-«^'" Commons who the writer calling himaelf <' One who haa Whiatlod at the plough," ia. Of oourw I preaerve your incognito. v« wou™ x " Thoro in an absence of aaperrt, and a presence of oarneat re«,oning l„ your wntmgs bearing towards a harmony of classes. It is the Ld for a few months. What do you say ? We want somebody to travel in tM countiy ..^.^Mk^U.n doing in England, looking into and describing the mio^^^^^^ We want to know, for instance, what i. the cause of agrarian dist^rbunco in the county of Kilkenny. Within a fe^y^ the garrison there has been augmented over and overf „ow^ ^•« additional cavahy artillery, a,^d infantry as«,mbling, besides a gr^t increase of the Irish constabulary, which Is also an armed fo«H., The gaols are aaid to be full of prisoners, and the number -implicated in eha^ of murder or.as being accessory in some degm. to murder, u fnghtful,--quite frightful,-twenty or more persons to be tried at Ihe "^ ■ °"^ assizes on such charges. . \> ' ."Wkt^do you think of goi^g over quiethHrtd sitting is the AssW Court to hsten. You need not write openl|; You may take your wife with you and appear to be on a pleasure tour, and live about KUkenny for a timo . Send us r e ports of what - — ^ '^- - — '^^ ^— . . , ,. - yuu H«o and hear. Don't you mind whether wcpubhsh them aU or not. Get at the truth of thinw. • Send me faots. How muoh do jrou want for ezpenae. ?" . . ^ 1;.^ (fb \ --V- _f.::^.?^:^.. V w ' '\ :' i ; i 1 %■'■ I Vi 1. I , Bi ■ Jv k " - BOJIEByiLllS'S BOOK ' ' •' ■• * • ■' . "■. ■''" ■ - ■ ' ■ . The amouat of money was pufficiently liberal. I started ne^t day, iaking my WilbjWith me. . . • ,., , •. *' " 1 ^ranged with some non^political joijirnala on Vrliich I was a writer to ind contributions for them, and als* to opntlnue a private correspond, enco with Mr. Cobden, supplying him, s^ I had done for eighteen mopljis with facts at^d suggestions for his spoec-hes.-^thescless ormoro elaborate^ . by mo as they might seem to he' new and applicable. Thus I w^m ii^ reoeipt of antple income % * the confliet into which I plunged at Kilkenny. Sir John Easthope ^on tired of it, bo did the Manchester men; but^ r«»«inded ^ long a. I had « guinea left; , returned to England and.earned mor., and, with recruitt,d f-uuds, returned to the rescue of Iho Kilkerihy tenantry, and yielded not nn any possible effort until I foun^ the Prijne Mifaister and the Royal Commusign wovkitig "^ At^K^lkenny, I had not long to wait for an introduction to"'&ie *" caused * of disturbance:" Oh the morning after arrival, being in theJ>rovijeial Bank to get cash for a check, I there heafdLan altercation between ^two ' weulld men. ^One called the other .^vUlain," "liar,'' fim^ added ptofane oaths to the term "liar." /^be assailed party asked he.bank is t« remark what Imd been said, and bear w^n<,s. He al«(Usked „.e, as th* only other withess there, to oblige him by carrying ^le fae in ^reeollectioj, that he " the sheriff of the county, her Majesty s office 73Usti9e,hJ been called villain and .Uar by that person, who was fast driving^Uholeoounty of Kilkenny into a state of rebellion. SXwhat I oante from London to discover: ther<. stood the tur- buknt landloH before me. The.e stood the sheriff of the county, who had at last refuse'd to call out cavalry and infaatry to execute this man s vengeance on his tenantry. Pat Ri«g"wa« to have been evicted that da^ The sheriff urged forbearance on the'ground that Ring ^^ family were ill of feter The landlord rejoined that.it was all pretence, that a combi na- tion w*b formed against him. The sheriff again asserted that the f^ily trere iU of fever. Then tha landlord called him by the approbnous ferms alreadynamed. The sheriff, t^ secure himself in law, sent tv^o physicians fromie city to repdrt on the health of the family. As s^n^as I asc^ , ^aed the direction of the locality I foUowed. I\^^« "^^^t^^?;^^ Rmg Spoke in his evidence be&ire the "r^al commmon:^«;:^l> k^^ vaa a fenflemen came over to Ireland of the name of ff«'' kad heard of my ^sase airdhow I was persecuted, and h^^ went atit to Bennett's Bridge," &c. &c. ■ v ^ With this introduction, the- reader may now peruse. whL Sir Robert Peel a«ted in advisiAg. Her Majesiy to appoi"?re^mmiSj ; ^s to inquire into the wholelaws ant^^ages of landlord .nd^t^apt ... - .*^ * : / . ...■■' rative o^ ■':-*■ ■ ■■ ii , . ' ■ l>_ ■• ".*''" ^ ' .'*' " % ■' It -m- -'"'^ " , ' r k " ^ ■ '■ " ■.,■ i - 1 J %'■ -■-'"« : 'A "■ ^ . 1 OF A DILIGENT LIPB, 267 in Ireland, In parts tho original narrative is abridged, but in no part is anything ddded. t ' . ■ . Three of the rivers of Ireland, the Barrow, the Noro, and the Suirj after devious courses throu^^h valleys unsurpassed in beauty and fertility in nny^country whore summers are green and ifcarvests yellow; unite together, and form tho vast breadth of water that sweeps majestically to the sea nbreasj of Waterford. If advan<}ing to Tippcrary, we go west-- ward, taking the, river which bjranches on the loft, tho Suirj if going eastward or north-cast ioto tho bounty of Carlow, enjoyingby the way the borders Qf Wexford and Kilkenny, wejceep to. the right-hand riVer the Banrow ; ind if advancing into the heart of Kilkenny, we tSke the banks of tho Nore. The Nore is "a river of clear water, of a size similar to tlie Tweed at f Kelso, the Clyde at Glasgow, the, Thames at Oxford, the Trent at Newark. In conducting tho reader up tho Nore, I will not wast* his time farther than to let him see that he is in Ireland. If we look only at the noble trc<^ which overshadonv the road and occasionally Qonceal the river ; and^ again at the gentle ei^inences/ now wooded, now crowned with corn, luxuriant and greep,— eminences that give*be^uty and Variety to our journey, we see what iam^i with" in the rive^ valleys of Eqgliirid, and which, when seen in l^ngland, cuU forth so fliany praises an4 visitors. Lo6king narrowly at the -soil and its products^ we may still conclude we are in Britain;- save, indeed, that the fertilitj^of soil and the luxuriance of crops surpass what we have hitherto seeny except in the finest dis- tricts of Scotland or "England.. . . . . " It is already evident that -in beauty and variety of landscape, feriility . of soil, pt|d luxuriance of crops, there is everything to be pleased with. -But amid this -beau tyjiM fertility, there is what there never was in any other country of the world. How is it that we see^ field of eight 6r. ten ^&CTea, or sometimes three Jor four fields together of" as many acres each, lying without kotop save the r^nk weeds, while others -around are culti' ^vated and full of bountiful proiaise for the coming harvest ? How is it that we see houses in ruins, the substantial stone walls (for" here are no .mud-cabins, all are good siene-and-mortar houses)— how is it that these are roofless and deserted, while the stone and mortar of the^yjilis tell ihat decay had^ never taken hold of 'them, tjiat their agd was not more than from twelve to twenty years ? How is it that in somg nook of the road, ^.uader shelter of a tree or Ijeneath a hgdge, a family of six or seven or more persons, from the aged 'grandmo<|lier to the sucking infant, ar« sitting houseless and hopeless, and yet within half an hour's journey of m the spot^here they were born, and of land a lease of which*was their m * o ■/=*-- I: 268 BOBIWl^riMll's BOOK X -f: ^ ^- /■ ^l '.a 'I vr-: Walinheritanoij? Why do we Aeet on every mile of road, (wnstable. ^th ctbL, bayonet.: and balUartridge ? How ia t, that, wUh^ LoH mineral weJth, Kilkenny haa no trading communication wrth the ^a -neither by river, which is navigable half way between the town and Wjterf'^^>'-'^^'^Z''^:^^^^^ was born on the farm bo long held by her husband and son. Thus tee was a strong attachment to the place. Previous' to t^e accession of ^e ' present landlord, in 1839-40, they had been on the best qf terms with Lse to whom they t>aid their rent ; and having the land at a Moderate rate, they had never fallen into arrears. But the ejection of Patrick Ring and many more-Was resolved upon. . .*-,.' M he owed no rent, and no possible reason for getting nd of him a« a tenant could be assigned, nor Wa^ever offered until long after proceed- ings had begun: a bold stroke was requisite, and was struck^ The W Jcified alrtain day ih May and iii November as thdt oi^^^hich^*^ • hVlf-Yea^ly rent became due. Those dayS had been strictly adhered to ^tndnooneknewSisbetterthanthelandlord. But in 1841- h^ obtained, a warrant of distraint, and. seized on Ring'on the 26th otMarch for rent allec^ed io be due on the^. It might hAv« been a hard enough mis- fortune to be distrained on K^ay following' that of the rent being due . ' in any case, especially in spri^when the cattle and^ implements of labour, as also the«8eed-corn^n^Ftatoes, the articles distouned, were required for the duties of seed-time. But when sach a distraint was Jde on such articleTBo indispensable in their i^ even for a day to say nothing of weela^^^d^ ^^r6nt nor debt of any k»nd cming, the ^ •was peculiarly a ^ard one. . . ,_i__; !^^ ._._:: ■*i ■4i •.H ", .#•■ tables th so h the i\ and ay to ocou- n, has iroing ice, to Why lolice ? lards? )ntain, inition ighteen • Se Buo- on the eighty,; lis there 1 of the EDS with lodcrate Patriok ' hiopias proceed- 'he lease, liich fhe tiered to,, obtained I for rent ugh mis- ' ieing due meats of aed, were raint was ay, to say the 09Be .^ or A DiiioutV Lifi. 299 4:> Bing entered a replevin with the sherifF, thi^t is, gave seomritv'l.that h« woald pay the rent, if rent Were due, as soon as atrtid attjviarteiHMfwioiis. or assizies oould be had,om that time, sunyuer of 1842,^ up to the sum" mer assizes of 1843,^-;^& landlord proceeded in the courts foir a warrant of ejectment againstj Bi^hg nine* times. ^ On the firat' light cases he was defeated, but succeeded on the ninth. He had tliirtcen other lawsuits of various kinds with th^ same defendant, duiins which, he' soh) bis 7* ■ ■■■:;■■ i: ■■:.'■.■ J?» r^ \ 1 270 80HIRVILLK^8 BOOK • ' ,' ■ ■' I i" .'. y .// furniture five timea and his horse twice. In all, ho had twenty sales by auction previous to midsummer of that year. Part of the furniture ,wa8 in several instances bought back by the a^nt, Mr, James Coyne, who liflihaed money privately to Ring to pay for it. * , ; f yi* crop of 1842 was seized on and sold at seven different times. It wiliiuch more than suflBcient to pay the rent, even though the manure Wa6 carried away in the spring by the landlord ; bui those seven different 's.alcs, with a number of men receiving at each of the seven seizures 28. 4d.' a day as tcepers to watch the crop froni the day of distraint to the day of sale, — those seven seizures ion a crop which might have been all seized and sdld at one time, with only one sot of expen«e8,-^re8ulted, as they were intended to do, in nearly doubKi^ the rent. Moreover, the crop being distrained while growing was cut down by people whom the landlord employed, altliough tho tenant and his farnily were standing unemployed ; and to such work-people the landlord can give 'any' wages ho choose8,*to be deducted from the tenant, up to 28. 6d. a-day I oven though the harvest wages of the district be 8d. or 10d*arday 1 ev^n though the tenant, who is thy* not allowed to give his own labour to his own farm, may, to avoid starvation, be couipejled to work for another employer at the- fourth part, tb^ wit, T^d. a day, of what the law obliges him tc pay for workmen on his own farm. N^ ; ^ It may be, some -proof P^ thil exertibns made by the tenant to pay lis way, when l' state, that",' notwitistanding all the extraordinary expenses of the seizures, and of the jjrotracted and complicated litigation, the rent was paid by the autumn of 1842. There viras notliing owing by Ring save a sum of £1 and oddsj'connected with the expenses of a sum- mons which had been decided against him on some technical point law. - ■ ■ ■ ■■"■■>-;' •- : , '" ', ■-' For the recovery of this £1, a decree was obtained against Ring^ and orders, given by the landlord to arrest and put him in gaol. This Ring endeavoured to avoid by keeping out of the roach of the officers, which ho did successfully a month and some odd days. The reason why* he was averse to go to gaol, and why the landlord desired to Tiave him lodged there, is worth relating at length, as it is characteristic of certain customs in Ircjand altogether unknown ott the British side of the Channel. .It IS a rare tiling to find a- landlord in Ireland buildbg houses or fann-officds for a tenant : the tenant builds them hinjsolt Ilcncc so many moan houses exist in that country ; and hcijcc also' the doiiporate tenacity with which the Irish peasant or ftinncr ludlls to his-housc when an ejoctaient comch upon him. If his lease has expjred, or if he is to be ejected for the non-fulfijuicnt of some .condition of ,;his lease, ho mu«t leave the house and buru and staWc which he biiUt.'th^ doors and gates ' "A •l V ^ „ I) r It ' . » -* ..vf. Ring, This, fficCFS,, n why re him jcrtain ' lannel. , ises or noc so iporute J yrftch s to be rami •i t)# i biticntirt ttri: .1^!?, i^- m h« erected, without reooiving anything for them. To li|i^d in a house which we have ourselves built, or which pur father or grand&ther built at no expense to a landlord, is to live in a -house ^hioh we are naturally inclined to consider our owti, though in law it ihay not be ours. It is thus wo BOO 8(5 many houses in every part of Ireland in ruins ; that wo lee in the county of Kilkenny the walls of stone and lime, substantial «nd undeeaycd, but roofless and marked with violence, because the land- lords, not having built the houqiss, nor haying any fear of being obliged ' i» rebuild them, hesitate not to unroof a house in order to eject a tenant. It is a remarkable fact, exemplified on almost' every estate where the clearing away of a tenantry has been practised, tihiat wherever an eject- ment takes place the legality of which i» doublftd, the landlord, or the agent who acts tor him, levels the house and farm buildings with the ground the moment the holder is forced out, lest he should pome in again. This was done onthe Mtate whore the unfortunate Pat Ring held his farm ; and Rin^ had. seen that the landlord did not always wait for an ejectment of the tenant before he pulled ^wn the house." In one case, that of a tenant named Busho, the landloli resolved on ejectment; but Bushe owing no rent, he could only proceed as ho had d6ne against Ring, or by some other process of a like kind. Ho took a shorter one. Busho had paid bis rent in opder to kpep the house above his head,— a good' dwelling it had been, to judge from the size and worth of the substantial walls, which, in part, were still standing when I was there,— but he had not paid every man in the county to whona he w^ indebted. He owed one person, residing at a distance, money, more, as it soon appeared, than he could pay at once. This man the landjord found, through some of his agents apporhtcd for such purposes, aind purchased .i from him the debt whiclKBusihe owed. The afccount being legally opn- veyed, the landlord/procoedci^d against the debto/, threw him, into prison, and, as soon as l^had him there, took the roof oflF his house, turning put his wife and six young children Upon the open highway. There they remained without shelter and without food until people iii the adjoining village assisted them. The father was in prifton, and could neithcn resist the spoliation of the house which he hiuiself hsvd built, nor do anything, by work of 'Otherwise, for his family's .subsistence. In every respect, ■thd preceding was illegal on the part of the landlord ; but, though lawyers urged Busho to. prosecute, and assured him of ultimate su'ccdas, ho was too far gone to listen to theni. He .was hcart-brokem Ho had no confidence in law : he bad «een the landlord set law at defiance, and the rftib of his rooflc.«s house — every 'piece of timber fri)m which', and every handful' of thatch, also„the doors andrffwindows, had been carried away- by orders, of th^ lai|||dlord^ and^by-.thirassistance. of the armed ^ \f ^ .^ \t Ir f^ f ,•11 21% aOMIRVILLl'l BOOK eon8tabtlIai4y wbo arc located on the eitate at the exprew request of the hmdlotd and by mnotion of governdnent— the rain of hu roofless house, aiiM the utter beggary of himself and family oyenwiielnied Bushe : ho would trust nothing more to law. He watf heart-broken, and, rather than stay an)ong people who had known him happy in 'mind and oOknfortable in circimiteijioefl, he chose to leave the country, and be a beggar, now that he was Mhpqlled to be one, Where he was not known. A less soniMitive m^ might have done differently. There have been casesin Ireland, l^nnd In that county, even in that di^rict of the county, t^herd, h of families treated in that manner, have taken the law of vw^;^ feaikceikiqto. their own hands, and have afforded the newspapers ari<| the IpoiJIJII^Uue-and-Crjf th6 materials for publishing to the worl ^paragraphs and advertisements of offered rewards, headed " Ffigh^ul sti^e of Kilkenny I" ' ».; Such paragraphs a/o by no means rare ; and people in Dngland betier^ , that T^>perary and Kilkenny are filled i^th criminals who take.a savage delight in assaulting landlords and land-ugents without provocation^ Others, who do not believe that every assault is so entirely ■*'ttnpr0Vo|ed," ' have an opinion that the Irish do not allow the oppressor to eseape j^h impunity; but the case oflBushe is one of the many, of the vast majority of such* cases, that prove the contrary. We he^ of those tenaatsf%ho, feeling or fancying ti grievous wrong, avenge themselvetk aqd their starring families; but we do not hear of the many~-the far ' greater number — who submit to die in the ditches and highti^ys quieily } ■. or wl^o, like the spirit^stripken Bushe, wander away with the|r -wretohed families, to famish in the Irish towns, or lo Liverpool, Manchester •Xiondon, or Glasgow. -j ' : Now, it was the knowledge -which Ring had of such t^isea of 9|0we>' demolition by order of landlor«£| when . a tenant was out of the. jpay,— lodged safely in prisiHi, — that ma4^ Ei|t( fearful of the officers; who had • decree oo whioh to arrest him ibr tiM^jfon-payment of costs of ^I,,du* to the landlord by one of the<']BiiKpy> cases then pending, having bee^rj decided in the landlord's- favour. The amount was not great; but the freqifcnt in^zures^ with costs of btwsuits and rent, had r^iuoed himo> ' to less then his last penny. He had potato^, a jmrt of the feeble cro|» .. S^fi^^ 0^ ^^ ^'^^ whioh in the eqpii^ had been defipauded of its manusBj -and, though there were less of thcon in his possemion than would .keep ' his family over winter, even without feeding a pig, he might iiave sold some to pay this bill of co->t8 ra^ir than go to gaol, where he could do' nothing either for hi| family 'or yswfarm. But, though the potatoes %ere distrained uppn^ the object of the landlord was npt so much the .payment of the.wnall debt of co^tit ,m the confinement .of the tenant in •ft fv , ^kM \-l :Vl'- V- V.*;; ■ -ill t> i Y^' m:M m or ▲ filLIOBMT Liri. 278 For more than a month Ring avoided the offioera hy oroning walla .-•nd ditohea and fieldi whenever he got notioe of their approach. H« aleptin the fields aa well, and in the shelter of limekilna and mined, housen,— houuea ruined as he feared his would be, and aa he feared but too truly^ The ease came at last to a orisiB, thus : — Hfe waa seeta to enter hia hona«. The bailiOin followecl, but found the d^wr fastened, aiiid therefore oould not legally enter. They kept watch > oiitaide^to pwyjBnt h^^^ that, if he did not •urrender, they wi0n^W remain there n§hV day, add prevent the introducaop of wiy iffti^jle into the house, food joy water. - The potato- •tor^ ^liig »a the field, «nd no supply in the h^e, and theWater being •Iw ovt«% iiVw «iip^^ ftlid that Ring mwt rnpi^te^ III |bW |i^n|:«^ hyuie, the bklUfis, wight |U)tr^J^>tingW^ ihey wert ! •rting aocording to the !«▼ *>f tho» lanrfldrd, whi approach the window when she earned it V 274 ■OMUlVlLtl'i BOOK Js. r V I I nothing, that «he might hoar Ihfi tafferlngt withlit, ud urgo hor brother^ to Burrefidor. She lintoncd to the BioUy waninga of the mother and ohlldron, and at laat, on the fourth day, heajrd the horrible fact fVom the mother, that the children, maddened by thirst, had drank their own urine. Then aho soljcd a dish which lay in th» yard, and, filling it quickly fVora a pool of stagnant water, broke the window before she could bo prevented by the officers, and gave the unwholesome water to the family, which they drank greedily. Porhapw she would have now done more, but was compoUea by the offioorH to desist. The landlord was Informed, and he promised that she would live to repent it. The crop of Dormer rotting in the field ia November, and potatoes poor and meagre for the want of i^anure, because he was not allowed a road to his field, ^of which more anon,) told whether the landlord forgot his promises. [Note, ISBf— This poor woman was in ManchcBt*5r in 1850, and nursed my wife at Vino Cottage, Cheot^ wood, when she gave birth to our fourth child, AlexanderiJ The suflferinga of tiio fiimily and of himself now worked on the fUlher until he cQuld hold out no longer. He opened the door, a pitchfi.rk iii his hand. He showed It to the Ntiflfe. He bade them keep off j said he would not touch them if thty did not touch him ; but that^thc hunger of himoU and family had made him desperate,— that ho had potatoes in his Btoro in the field, and potatoes he would Hve. Let them prevent him fttlheirpeHl. v - - They did not prevent him. they waited unttt they saw him take the potatoes, and then informed thp landlord. On that instant a criminal warrant was sent for from Kilkenny. It arrived; so did also a party of soldiers and armed constabulary who occupy the barwck buill by 4he landlord on the estate. The door was forced, and Pat King was taken to gaol on a charge of robbery accompanied with throats of violence. He had stolen his own.potataes,-they being under distraint, and he was in due course of time tried at Kilkenny for the (blony. Tho jury refused to convict for a crime committed under such circumstances, and ho w«| - acquitted. , The landlord by this time (winter of 1842 and spring of 1843) Was in a labyrinth of litigation with his tenants ; and It would seem, that, • impatient of the law, he look -another course. One tenant, the widow ©owling, owed 30&. and Ts. lid. costs. He had a decr(ie against her, and she, to avoid being taken to prison, shut herself Up in her house. The landlord sunt four bailifs to take her, with orders not tp. waste time- AS they had done with Pat Ring, but oarry hor off at once. They accordingly forced her 'dopr, and took- hor. For this they were prosecuted ftud found guilty. Otte of them waa sentenced to four months' impriaon- -■\ " ( ,1'.- " I ■^ Of A DILtdlNT tlfl.: tn ment, the othow to throo W)nlh«.' fho UftdtoVd, however, by iricm order* thojr broke into the houno, oadapcd punlnhraont : tho Inw oouUl not roooh him. The widow Howling, thougli iliua taken illegally to prison, wa« kept there. She had boon fivo.nionths inoorqcratod when I waa in th« eoontry, and there Wa« no hope at that time of hof Tibefation. By this deAjinoe of laW, and escape" fVoui tho oonMoiiuoncon, and by the ill-feoling now ruisod over many uMlce of country, tho landlord hwl few friends on tho oatJate, and many onomioB. On Sunday morninjlj^J. l^ih March 1843, between the hours of ten and eleven, when driving in his car to Kilkenny from his oWn rosidorioo, ho was shot at from behind the plllarofagato, but not inured. With the facility which tho law in Ireland gives a landlortl, boat onco tlirow those tenants into gaol, every one, with wk)m ho had been rnvolvodiji,litij^tl9n. ConHO(|uently, before they could jfrosooute (^Jlumnges, or before they oould bo witnesses in other ea^BSjihey Jiad thomHelves to bo tried for attemptwd niiirder I 0^ [iftittji iur^ the Wghtftil calender which Sir John Eusthope spoke of when flentllng me to Kilkenny.]-^- >^ , -^--^ — — ^*t- — 1 >atribk King was one "of those arrestod; and though hiindrods • At this time hit ivriBral we«ki. Th« woro ill. Tbti land. um ■ Umant, though \u' may r«4lo«tii within aix (Minding Bgninst the land- TlMre wu «lio a warrant for fiunily wore 111 of tjrphua fovfl*,^ aheriflT refbaed to oxeoute th« <*j< lord was deairoua to ejry of Daniel O'Connell to say, that he-contributed £40 of that money, but requested 910 to keep the fact secret. There was no dt^oulty in ohtaiaing the sum required, to make up what I had initiated, except the dilScuity of hiff being satisfied that no human being was to know that he paid any part of it. Th? obligation lo seoreoy need not/ / ""*,■, iiS \ / JlfS/'^ 161 ^■•nt fbnntff It in Ardagh meat twio« « j>n uioat ftt til, futobcr'n DMNil ■old and Mnl t>urarRj|[der Itvifd among ft liea thoro are ^ lotning farmiy, boalth, even Iniith O'Brien faiuilies, and be {>f,^ing no ■•;■•■» •'■ : Cahermoyh^ If thoy be ao . lonoy paid by la Uieuioudly m MICROCOPY RISOIUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 I.I ISO in US Li U u ■lUU ■ 2.6 1^ i^ t£ i^ 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 ^ ^PPLtED IIVHGE Inc ^^ 1653 Eost Main Street S^a Rochester, New York 14609 USA '"ga (716) 482 -0300- Phone ^= (716) 288'- 5989- Fa» ' 278 SOMBRViLLB 8 BOOK M. W i n i now, I think, prevent my saying that I believe Daniel O'Conncll disposed of a'great pjirt of his income in like manner. By what I did for Ring and others then, by printing and distributing i)ana?hlet8, I was out of pocket £80. Lost time and other -expenses made it fully £lOO. My wife gave them money and bedclothes, in place of such articles taken under distraintfthe amount, of which I never knew. William Ring, a leascholding tenant on the estate, was uncle to Patrick Ring. ' He was a man of substance, not known to owe any man a sixpence unreasonably. He hud a lime-kiln on his farm. On one occasion the landlord had lime from him to the amount of £9. William Ring sent in his account; but the landlord, through his steward, taunted him with having assisted Patrick Ring to plough and sow his land at a time whep the landlord had seized and carried off Patrick Ring's implements. The landlord refused to pay the £9 for the lime ; saying, through the stciyard; that as William Ring had thought fit to set himself against him by help- ing Patrick Ring to plough md sow his fields, he, the landord, would set himself against William Ring : he would not pay the £9 for the lime. William Ring might have let it regain to be deducted from rent, some one will say. That would not do in Ireland; at least with a landlord such as his, who hesitated not to distrain on tenants who ow^d nothing. He knew that an immediate seizure would be made on the daythe rent was due if the sum of £9 was deducted from it, because it had become common on this estate tb distrain on the day following term-day. Seiz- ures in some cases had been made at one o'clock for rent tiue at twelve ; and in one case, that of Matthew Dormer, brother-in-law of Patrick Ring, a distraint was made at ten o'clock of the rent-day: therefol-e William Ring did not let his claim for the price of his lime stand over to be deducted from the rent. He summoned the landlord, and in due course got a decree against him. The landlord had! to pay ; but on the same day he got a party* of the armed constabulary, who are located on the estate for the purpose of protecting him in carrying on the war, and with them and a carpenter and his steward h^roceeded to William Ring's ' farm. The farm-house and haggard (ga^en, &c.) were sheltered and ornamented by trees planted by the tenant and his forefathers, which were highly prized by the family. In law they were the property of the landlord. The carpenter, the steward, and the police cut them down,-and carried them to the landlord's residence. Mathew Dormer, whose wife, Patrick Ring's sister, relieved the family when besieged and famishing, is a leascholding tenant, but holds only a small field of about three acres. The other farms are from twenty to seventy acres. Dormer does not depend on his land farther than for potatoes to his family and for keep to his horse, with which and a cart -1 \ OF A DILIQENT LIFI. 279 -1 ^ he does jobbing work. He had aflsistcd Patrick King in time of trouble and thus incensed the enemy. His field can only bo approached by either of two roads through other farms from. the village. Having paid all rent, the landlord had no powec on him- but by shutting him out of his field. The tenants who occupied land through which Dormer had to pass wore served A^ith notice that if they allowed him ingress with a cart or horse they would be prosecuted. I saw the field, and was told by Dormer and his. neighbours the whole case. He had planted his potatoes " without manure, because not allowed" to carry it, of which ho had abun- daijce, to his land. He was told by the lawyers that ho had a good case and would be sure to gain a suit at law > but while" that is ponding, the potato season has passet^^ovcr with almost no crop, and winter has como without a potato for his family. Worst of all, his barley, which occupied I think, about two thirds of his ground, (I saw it when nearly ripe in August,) and from which he liopcd to pay his rent and get provender for his horse, was still in the field rotting at the middle of* November. Thus Mathew Dormer will be unable to pay his*November rent, and a process of ejectment will of course issue and take effect. On the 15th of November, Dormer piade a gap in a stone wall to get out his barley. For makiijg this gap, three actions were brought against him by the landlord, and two by persons whom the landlord put»forward aa prosecutors. At the petty sessions of the 18th November, at Kilkenny, out of ten cases which occupied the attention of the court, seven were cases in which this la^^kft-d was concerned ; of these, five were instituted by him against Dornai^^.iOiie, for"malicioai8 trespass, was thus reported : — The steward of thelan^ord called. "•Deposed that he saw the defendant leviellnig a wall, the property of the plaintiff; he was making a gap in it." Cross-examined : " The defendant said he would not be prevented till the law prevented him,, and that he must get a passage; and that if he gqt a passage, he lOould built up the ^a^ at his own expense. There was no other passage to his field tlian that. There was formerly a passage to the farm through a field' of another tenant; but Dorm^ was since "prevented." The attorney for the defence then addressed the bench; stated that • Matthew- Dormer o,wed nothing to the landlord, and had a legal right to a road to his farm. He had followed the way which had been formerly used, namely, through another tenantjs ground ; but,_ at the instance of the landlord, that tenant had been compelled to prosecute, and Dormer had been fined for trespass Jby this bench. He then atten^pted to make this gap and have a passage, as complained of to-day, through a field in the occupation of his landlord^ho was bound to give hiin a passage to that farm, the rent of which Dormer woi^ld be compelled to pav as soon ;"/■ '7 \i / 1,1 . His bomervillb'b book as it became due. What, th*erefore, could the poor man do ? corn was rottiflg in the field at that time. "' _ - To which the magistrate, in giving his decision, replied It ^as a hard case; but he thought Matthew Dormer had no right to break the wall or cominit the trespass. It certainly was not malicious, and if Mr. Quin (the defendant's attorney) insisted on it, the bench must dismiss the summons; but another summons might be brought for common trespass, and the case would have to be heard ik novo. Why did not Dormer bring his action ?" ^ The Attorney :" And so he wUl." ,. • .v '< The magistrate, after some farther discussion, agreed to dismiss the complaint; Mr. Quin undertaking to prove, should another summons be b^ou^t for common traspass, that Dormer had a right to break the gap. The point, of all others, which the British public should look at here, is the question of the magistrate, " Why does no^J)ormqr bring his action ? " The. magistrate knows well that in this lease Dormer would succeed in an action against the landlord; that is to say, ^f ^^e JU^ should not be entirely a landlord's jury. But the action cannot be tried before next spupg or sumj^sizes; and tJie landlord may as he has done in similar caaes alreaWke affidavit that he is not ready to go t« trial even then. And if #is^e ovei^ruled, and the case proceeded with and decided against hirii,.he may appeal to a higher court. Meantime, Dormer i« ruined. " Why does not Dormer bring his action? iho magistrate whfbas fined him for gping to his land without having first brought his aetlon, which would occupy probably one or two years, asks this question ^n the 18th of November, knowing that Dormer serop of barley, is still rotting on the field, or had been so as late as the 15th, three days before 1 No doubt the magistrate administers the law as it stands ; but it is the lawaait stands of which such men as Dormer complain. The object of the landlord is to render the payment of rent impossible, and a consequent ejectment, a higher rent, and a fine or premium for a new lease, certain. This is the policy by which a leasholder is overcome "" The^next case was brought by a man empioyed by the landlord, who ■ had stood by when Dormer made ^^e gap, putting himself into every possible situation where a stone was likely to fall on his toes I that a case of assault might be got up at the same time as malicious trespass. 1 his summons was dismissed, on the ground that the man was not hurt, and \tKat he put himself in the way of the stones, were it true that some did toucb him.ts . , , n jn „ The attorney : " On your solemn oath, did Mr. - (the landlord) my to woiJd give you any tiling in the world if you^ould transport Dormer ? His .1* / f «*■ 01* A DILIGENT LITB. 281 •* The ^tncss," says the KUkennif Journal, " was silent amidst the sen- sation of the court ; and the question was again and again repeated, and he was still silent. At length h^ muttered an evasive answer." Dormer was then, had been, and is now (in Manchester) a man of irreproachable chirracter. The phrase, ^* ri?" transport you," or, " I'fl hang you," is a oommon threat in those disputes about Irish land, and there is tJoo much reason to believe that the threats are sometimes carried * out. But into a consideration of those phases of law and morals it is not necessary to enter how. Another plaintiff againgt l^ornicr was the tenant of the ^nd on which the gap in the wall was made. The gap was made on the 15th ; a lease signed on the 16th was put in as evidence of plaintiff 's tenantcy and right to prosoonte, and Dormer was fined a shilling and costs. Next came plaints against him to recover costs. These costs are worthy of special notice. While the wages of a working man in the listrict is 8d. a day, with many not able to get employment even at that, / the expense of doing work for which tho law allows payment is fully as high, in some cases much higher, than similar work in England. The expense of building up the gap which Dormer made (not being allowed to build it himself) was lOs. It was only a dri/ stone wall, between- , three and, four feet high. Now, supposing the gap wide enough to admit a cart, any labouring man might have rebuilt it in three hours. In the matter of seizures the charges are similar. In England, a broker who distrains con put only one man in possession, and. charge for him 2s. 6d. a day. In Ireland, a land-owner puts any numb^flHuen he chooses in possession, and charges for them from 2s. to 2s. 6d. a (Hp^he landlord now spoken of, has, as law-papers proved when I inspected them, seized on a man's'potatocs who was working for 8d. a day, the current wages, and put two men on as " keepers" for a week, and charged for th0m (the kw allows him to do so) 2a 4d. a day each. I The folk)wing extract of a letter from Patrick Ring, who wrote t\e facts to me in October, 1843, exemplifies this point:- — " I got my crop valued by two farmers, and they valued it at £3l^. He [the landlord] then takes and^ute three keepers en it to run tip expenses, and canted it [sold it] for £17 10s., and out of that keeper^' fees and expenses were £6 10a" » ; It may also be stated, that a landlord in Ireland can call on any on 9 of his servants or labourers to act as auctioneer. If he want to buy % bargain himself or to ruin the tenant to have him ejected, he gives this domestic auctioneer orders to knock an a^rtiole down at a price far below its value. ■.■—;;■■ -.^ ' Oormer?' •Let me how write of John Ryan, contractor for tUe repair of th« T ? P ■1 ■.■"".- • ■ ' .-.'■■,■ • ■ V J ; } m It ■ i -1 282 ■OHIBVII.l.l'a BOOK \ \ 'M«nt, w»i. between Kilkenny .nd Themwlown. He WM . tenant o« rlnet'.Briagee.U..,e.cup,,n«the f.mM,f.Bany«,n;>„ ..nt^^^^^^^^^ "o'nelontirel, t hi. own ect, tra.ti„g f the ..hdUy of iu le»» \ Tie h«uJa.nt.i,iod «.ve„ room, and . dairy, i« r«,f wa. fomgn fmW \ .„d .l..e» brought fron. Waterford. Some of hi. fnend. wore h.. litae eontltor for the roada, and hU own hon«ty and known .ubstanee were looked on a. aatiafactory-aoounty to h.« friend. Z when the new landlord rnlod at Bcnnef, Bridge he detorm.ned to " break Ryan out of the land." Probably ho rcokoned on a pmrnunt ^Ji™ln augments r«.t, in fe-leti„g Ryan', laud. The landlord LTght an aoUon againat Ryan for an unreal debt, u.iug the name of an ,3 or«litor. The p*r«.n na,hed knowing nothing of4he matter, and Tpudiating the aotion, the landlord, through hi. attorney, prom..ed U, "ubdl L plaint. But he went on, got judgment agaui.t Byan, and rXd Un. in pri«.n. While there indignantly reteinfiTto pay, the °1?1 " the ro«l waa in «me resect neglected, and ^e workmen . rTnot duly paid. The per«»=»to. purohaaed from the workmen tb, £ to 1 Eyan for wage., got judgment again.t him and al», .ndueed Tclnty Treaeurer ti withhold payment to Ryau for .work done on . t SZ^on that heh«l not fulMled hU eontraet. To -- >■>. .uret,c Ryan P"ted with hU property to pay the pem.ltie. of an " MMW "»- .S !nd wa. then liberated from. pri«.n by judgment of he Insolvent Cot't. ° M that then remained ti him was the lease of Ballyeomm and ^ the building, on the farm erected by iinwelf.^'' On llifg the debtof B pri«,n, be brought an action aga.nrt the land- lord f«r fal« impriBonmeut. It .tood for trial at the July a«>xe. of , imh attend which I went from London, to watch the o.^ tn d 111. yieiw to .«>er.aiu why sueh large force, of infantry, oavalry artd- w irarmed constabulary were eoneentr.U=d at ^'k-y, " *» ZLL of the Britiah tax-payer. A. soon a. the kndlord found Ryan "^i^ a^inst him, he proceeded against Ryan ; swore, and found otber^ r.wL informations, that Eyan wa. engaged in a con.p«c, to mnrder Zr^L that tiln; Eyan was "leg-bolted" (ohained) andj^ed • t. criminal'. coU ; no -friend allowed to see him for three minth . ■ ThL Tremained untU placed in the dock for trial. I r.^^f."'' N6t"uule of evidence wa. adduced, and the jury .t»n» acqmtted h m^ ^WhaTa. atroeity I to have imprisoned the poor man for three months inTatoneeofLyevideneeof g«Utr Thu.I,a ^r^.^^ . ju»i;.m Booke to Bvan'. attorney. "Come t» the Civu l/Oun Undlorf^«m, ^ W »Jim'^,i,u,„ri„i^ charge wa. t:S^:^^t^''^" I "-^-' ""'-'^ to the trial of " Byan r n )i 3 and and \ ■•>^' r or i DILIGINT LITl. 283 Ti. Shea," tho action for fali^M impriiiohment. All the J^ots oame out. A verdict was given for Kyaii, daniagos £100. Loud applause followed, which the judge did not oheoK ; and in Which I, a stranger, a Scotchman, and not a Catholic, was very nearljr constrained by nynipathy to join. Did tho victorious Ryan obtain tho huhdred pcmnds and the costs ? No, not BO fast An Irish tenanjb already half ruthed, yet sUll retaining his lease of sixty-five acres oflajnd, thirty years Unexpired; his well-built house and homestead ; all which, including his ncok and leg-bolted body, were yesterday within the dutch of the hangman,-48uoh a tenant escapes not the gallows or the hulks tlj) enjoy the solace of £100 damages. This amount was wholly inadequate ; but luuinst even that the landlord entered an appeal, and carried the oai^ to Dublin to the higher court; In hopes that "the tenant might not havtii means to follow, or that meanwhile new incidents might send Ryan agatn to gaol on a criminal charge. What happened? This happened. These trials occurred^n July. The appeal cpuld not be heard in Dublin utitil sometime iii November. The half-year's gale of root fell di^e in September. Ryan could not meet it; and the result waa as told mo in a letter from another tenant : " At the hour the rent .was due he canted [sold by distraint] John\ Ryan to the potatoes, and did not leave his \family one bit that would e^t." At the criminal trial, it was proved by the Crown prosecutor, (as a reason why Ryan might have animosity and motive for killing his landlord,) tWt the latter had declared, — I quote th^xatet words of a witness,—" he Voftld: break Ryan out of the land ; he would put fifteen keepers on him ;\ and that by G — he would cant and re-can t\him, but he. would break him\>ut of the land." \ \ • Picture to yourself, reader, the audacity of a prosecutor sending witness into court to prove malice against the accused tenant, on the groun that he, the landlord, had thus threatened i^he tepant I Yet such wa» the effrontery of that Irish, landlord. , But what %aa the meaning df^puttingV* fifteen keepers on him ?" What are " keepers ?" In England,* if a diitraint be made on a tenant's property, the oflBcers can only charge for one iri^n left in possession, 28. 6d. per day. In Ireland the charge is 2s. 4d. % each of any number W men (generally two, three, or four) which may the propertjr. The lord of Bennett's Bridge fixed on fifUm as a number whose expenses of 28. 4d. a day foi* many weeks or\month8 together watching Ryan's corn and growing potatoes, would inghim out of the land." And he was broken out ^ himinily w*nt out of the land, " without a bit of potai Pat Ring said, an^' without oonsolation or hope. , I heard they reached America. I had n^y letters from Ryan and his firlends urging — / ^li': \ V It ii ; ««^» *7^^„ ^„^ „f f.^ningtho galcwh,a Cormackdidasordered; andwasinwiui*, ,. „ filu The man nding-whip. _ ^ „„« nrnfieouted at the sesBione, apd Vnr that aasault the landlord was proseouwa ai. . , , ' ., • ^,_newin ««»j;^ i;^ ^;^SSrntatdT.. dieided against ?\tSl°"T:e StSet Sen^t,W««n, in giving jndg- *° r^T^" .Zi h^Wted the SU «Bt«noe had not been Heavieri r 'f rtd Sr^dT^, confirmed it." He al«,, in dluding to th. for, if It had, he womq na. i»„dlold was prose- . ^ u> *. "f™^ ~^^' ^ ^.'ttme people had a .er, bad TOtor for an attempt npon to '*''""" ^ ^4 „perty Am ewmple set beJbre than when a genUeman ol rant Mia p i» j. miBOonduoted himself." . . j.^^ ; ^, matter of IM, ^ TfJ^" .< ^,„ ie irieked oo.se fhm tronbhng." _ history, and he ^m^ *«'-^ ™ ^^ „^ the m«.,-*e abuse «f °' " °°i;si;]r:r:o'i t::;^;riho.e g,o.t oppressions, ^ the lav,- ♦ OV ▲ DI^IOBtfT Lira. 28ft /'• Wes; could i him H Ihia ewUl mil I ogaT« ate when Fhe man fhich the idle of a oivB, apd sd at this Bentence. ed against ring judg- a l^jBavier ; ling to thfi was prose- a very bad perty thui tared in the I matters of troubling." the abuse df Bsions, thoee monitrous ooonomio crroni, which, under the ahurod term, '« the rightt of property;' hayft;?fnal!e^uoh -of Ireland a wildornoM, her people paupers, and have IWpd British industry with taxes to maintain an army of occupation in iJhii country. * Before 1840 the distriotof Kilkenny, was peaceable. At Bonnet's Bridge there was no constabulary, nor ijeod of them. In three years after coming to the osUto, that kndlocd had two hundred and 6fty and odd, lawsuits with the tenantry. Ho caused expense tp the general taxatidii of the kingdom by a constabulary barrack and a party of that armed force located on the estate ; also the exiHjnse of a permanent augmentation of mUitory, horse and foot [The following estimate wm made and published in 1850.] From 1840 to 1860 the eost of a permanently augmented force, th« law expenses falling on the public, the relief to'the poor who had been reduced to pauperism by this faian's violation of human rights and legal rights, he being aided in that by some of his neighbours, amounted for the district of Kilkenny to not less than £120,000, equal to the building, machinery, and fitting out of two Atlantic steam-ships, or two Lanca- shire cotton-factories. ' Of much correspon^giice. referring , to this subject, I can only occupy jjohn Easthopo, written when I sent the first space with a note fro reports to London :— - " London, Grafton Street. Wedneedwy. " Dear Sia, — After much consideration, we thought it best to give your letter to Sir James Graham [then Secretary of State, Home Depart- ment], who was very thankful. He has promised to inquire into tl^ ' atatemcnt. By the next session of pariiament something must be done '. with the law of landlord and tenant in Ireland. " Yours faithftUly, "John Easthom." , The. Devon Commission was issued. And, resulting from it, came the Act to sell irioumbered estates and give a parliamentary title. Other 'benefits have followed that. rt"} %\ ■m u\ ^ v./'- •» i i I 1 286 •OMMVILLl't BOOK CHAPTER XXVI. . Mloolion of the o««« m whioh I j™ oon . j^^ the weak w-in't ""' """K' *" "^"JT iflhero Jnxuly, U. rom.i« ttere. Tho o.«.reUU=d«. reproduced .n *» volam __^ «,.t three ,e«.,ftor their o«>»rre»ce^o-yj^'«™^I^^^^^^^ into the exunt of the f«»"»«. •»/ *» '^„ ' ~"^r. and Ja, elergy- ,hioh w« .i.ter to f»a.no "■'',.''°f ' ^""° ""^^rin Ireland e.me.tly and warmly. Mr. iSianconi, w - ^ f^^j^ conveyance "^: a- lr ■ "dirtSe' Zl Ction Co,„poy, *™ in all directions. So aiao oiu tu ftjndmg to England thei. river or e.nal ''-"''"""tTwerl^iXaUtreJd, benevolent „^ of village. o^d-.tneU^^W-J^^'^^^^^^^^ ^ „^^, „ rroTr'X^^o ^Z:^^ '^'^ -^" '"' *» *' "' " ^^:\hT^ear:f,u.erin.c»othei„™™e«^^ 1848. Through the influence f '«'"»* "''^^j*'^, i „Lned in in 1843-44, and to -«-" '"V^^^fbl™ ftr my E.poeition. of Ireland many^Uling .»d lufluenfj **"''"'""'" ^ ^^ f„„ Political Economy. I can only no, addu^ a ve^r J™ J^^ ^ those exposiUon, and their "'-'-'™ /"^^i^i^^^Vand recon.n.onded .„ert at this day, that those «P»"7''/'*~„ by the Catholic U. the Catholic peasantry and !^"»".';»™™tanS^t sympathies for - the people and the rights of mdustry, »»'« ° ^„„„„„t taken on my reading. I ^" »"« ^ "rge '!>»' *e »et on of ho gove™ „poru in 1843^4, proved a read, *»E»'""° » '°^™ ,^,„« „/«,„ ^^ into and redress pr^Ug gZZktr S o .ou, an ,o. . ^:::£,:^t;T^ ^=^ ^^-' ^-^ -- -\ %, I . I ■fi* ov A DiLioimr I'm. 287 hnnnoa Utury. ing the mi only lioating ve: the i romain aotoBay examine oHtilonoe ly olergy- earncBtly turnpike nveyance jy. where England (enevolcnt named as ief of ihe cements of p the weak btaincd in Kwitions of sages from, a right to jommended he Catholic apathies for tiearing or a taken on my authority to uence of the )evony amek - V- iorative leip^lnUtlon wai In prof^M, which the threotcnod inirarnwtlon might indoflnit«ly poHtpone. Kxtruotfrom SomorTtUo't National Wealth Traoto (Irish Serioa), 1848: Watbr Power or Ireland; River SiiANNON." r In all there are one h«ndro4 and MTeaty-two diatinot riven affording a wiitor-'powor, which, aftor doduoling: floods, and allowing for unavailable currentR, also for loM of time 'pa dnxfghUi, also for HundayH and holidaya, when all the water would run wa«te,'^are equal to oonitidtirubly more than three mUUon» of hone-power^V^^io groatoflt of thoM rivom we have not yot named. Like itome ortKi^^o^h^, it oombinea an cxpanaive power for navigation, with that for ihoving" JiaehinBry. This ia the Shannon, drainiag 4,B44 aquaro inifefi,' waahing the Hhorea of twelve countica. Whether to be opprcHHod by the audnoiw of rejection, or elated by th« -^ buoyancy of imagination, in aeoing thia gigantic atrooiu iaauo from the iQountaina of Cavan and Leitrim, where the earth burata with iron-ore and fuel, but whore ail ia aolitudo and deaolation, not a foot moving but that of the lonely traveller, or that of the starving, ahooloaa, ahirtleaa man, made aftor the imago of Qod, and the holoful of naked, fewrcd, hungered beings alao doaignod to be after God's own iumge, but help- lesa earth-worms all, in the dread season of want and woo. Whether , lo be elated with hope and fancy, in contemplating what treaaurea of iron- ore might come out of that mountain's side, what engines of production to clothe, comfort, and dignify men might be constructed there, or whether to be oppressed by sadness to see all a waste, and the noble river spreadinjj itaelf in Lough Allen, the broad mirror to a wilderness, I could not determine. When there, in the hunger of 184'i, T was depressed with gloom, and elated with hope, by turns. But the gloom prevailed. Attempts had been made to extract the iron from the mountain, and convert it into wealth ; but the combinations of workmen, and the aMaa- sinations and personal violence committed by them, when combined against the parties who had adventured to risk capital there, on (hg one hand, and the ruthless lawyers, who, seeing capital to fasten upon, go^vij) law- suits between parties who were taught to believe that they had intdrcsts in the minerals, oij the other hand, — through these persons, the iron works, like all other enterprises, which in Ireland require the application' of large capital and undoubted security for the capital, soon ceased tol move. %. The locality, which might soon have been a Wolverhampton, or a Merthyr, or an Airdrie, reverted to desolation ; the capitalists withdrew to England, the workmen returned to their earth-holes, to live as I saw them, or to, die of starvation, as they assured me some had done ; and the '1 »- * li i lil 288 ^ , ■QMpKVlLUi'a BOOK % '" Snnon «.. ^o,„ .h,, U«.™ "f -r-J-d, U«J. ^o^jh AH.-. uTlJl., 10 mU« U,n«, it b- rito-«J. . oour« of il4 m.l» U, ih. «. ooHcLlinK tl,« .lr«.o.. rf 0.y.», «!»., l-o.!"", I-"*'""'.. W""- *°if uih'Aii«. it » «»'y »« '■«* •'"'^ "»■ '"^ "' "" -/ "f": *i» i, Ulmor. th.n U »»IBoi.ut to »rr, iu w^l.. .t««» .lo-H f"' ■ ST-ex. 150 .uUc I., th.. .!«. it ^-.U, n,lU throuKb L«M,h B*-. 20 raUc k-w -tuddoJ with W«.d., .»d mocta th. »to.m-vo«»l. fro..> Kl^. S.1..H., wiach ,™«J. mi«ht bo ,»vv^t«l f. |h» in.u .ho™, r itLh Allo», wore th.^ .ny thiaK li« then" t» W «•' I- «-"^'' W 1 x^,»o. Oonttned to th. dia»,>.io«. of .river from Lou^h U«. • .ith L lovol >»o»k>.., r«o in fortuity, of W-to^* ""L^ ' Coanty o. tho «.uth^t, ..^i Bo«o»>o»« on th. """-.^t.Trt^ ^^ lIughDorg. Th«.fora6«.ilo.itwiJ.'»,»"'il.''"»-'''|K°'\'''"''n rfZ .teolr., you o.onot sl-y. ^ tho -hon... And thu. U n,"^^* . k«...o.,.-h.ro' ft .««n «.tb«. it. brood W.U-. "'» ^^'^ f^°°tV .nd prop.ro. for it. r.pid doM^nt to I,.".«nok. To urmd tho r.p.U,,| . 1 „1,i^tioo.4. »rri«d „. . o.„.l with' look. ^Tho tr.ffio ..^(ht M . ,„ro U.1 «»ough of it, betw«.,> KilW«. .»d L.mor>ok, o.r„od „. J "TrrWor U now unbridled, .»a duriDg U.0 next 15 mU™ .poDd. th. .eoLw powor of half . nOllion hor»o. ; .pond, that powor on nothing r uT« th. popuh.tio„ on iU Aoro. .pond tboir .trongh .0 ,«.„g " lth"-w.Wnw.voinlh.ri™r,nM>n^ponn..no„ hod-oro, . " ;lr ihid., if 1^ out in w.tor^ur«.. nagbt njovo n..^nnor, .» th. lount of «v. hundrod tho««nd hor»... If tl.« ■»"-«». *"j2v • ■ L Twood .ndtto Clyd. woro ombodiod^in on. voluni. of ""f'. ''»y ^IlCU h«ly oqL to tut volum. wUoh' rolU down ,ho WU of C J^loInoU upon'Zori*, .m»ing your oy» -th 'h. .Jght ^^ „a br<»ddng 1 of prUon, astounding your ««. with th. roar of an "^ ■ 'i::S:X"o«d..nd., su.h fortll. .11. unor^pod, .u* un.n.p^^^^^ - „„mbo« of m.n ii«tlng by tho way,ido to beg, or on thou land (when 1 :Xro in Mard. aWl 184T,) tho hJgho^ and tho bwo.t .n a^ Ll,d rank, standing borfdo lb. unoultlvated fidd., to«>a.< and »» wh^ rt^nu:o°t wonfd do, .av. tv oo. Uu« vigarou. fan a^r. a n d^- J l... N ^ >-v. lemployed nd, (when sent in the i Bee what L nd oMJllera \ ^ Of A OIUQBMT Un. •bout (jMtltiooonoU i^id 0' Orion'* Dridgo, otoh of whuni wm cmplojing niuro than tUa ftvoragu number uf wtu-kmvn, tt iuor« than tbo »v«ra(i^ WiKu*; «iMh of whoui bad nnidorud tho dMert h(^ff^ into g&rdvn -fluid* •nd luxuriant nidftdowg ; nono uf whom hod boen long onough runidonl in Limorick, or Clare, to entitle thom to be Hparvd in « wm «! " Ireland for the Iriiih "; more than one of whom hod already been Morifitwd by the oupidity of thu unoieut owner of Coatluoounull, an<^tOlitics. Two years ago, to secure' the best seed-corn, the best turnip, parsnip, carrot, and other seeds of root-crops, so that his -small tenantry might not be i^in subjected to the misfortunes of the uncertain potato, or the uncertainty of any single crop, the Marquis of Downshire expended/ £4,000 of private income. I have the fact from Mr. Skirving of LiverpooJ who supplied the seeds. Yet, let the rebellion which is now ripe, burs upon poor Ireland, and this real patriot, who would make it a ric Ireland, would be one of the first victims, because he is of Saxon linej Others of humbler social rank, but of mrtue similarly excellent in the north, might be named. * Earl of Rossb. — ThereTls in King's County, in the centre of Ire- land, the Earl of Rosse, who, while making.him8elf and Ireland jUusti/ious in science, penetrating farther into the boundless heavens than py bther mortal, is devoting 1ltsViLLll*i BOOK BOttiid Mttse of Britain to decide th*t a militia fowe and augmentation oC the coast defences weM adjunota to a discreet domestic policy. Tlie Legislature, in 1862, confirmed this national opinion, and enacted thit there should be a militia; to be recruited by voluntary enlistment, If possible,— by a compulsory ballot, if volunt«ers did not offer in sufficient You, Young Man of Britain, as a son of the workshop and the plough, read the invitation to volunteer. But you also read the publications of the Peace Seciety contemporaneously issued. You saw the pictures drawn by the men of peace, showing, by the figure of a soldier being flogged, the treatment which, they said, should one day, and many a day, be yours in the Militia, if you had the weakness or wiokfedness to join that service. - , -v j i^» Ten thousai* pounds, if they say truly, have been subscribed since the middle of 1862. Ten hundred thousand publications, tracts, or placards, with and without the figure of the flogged soldier, have been sold, posted up, or given away, to prevent the ranks of the mJhtia from being filled with volunteers,— to compel Government to resort to a com- pulsory ballot,— to incite the nation aj^inst the authority of Crown and Government by making the defensive service of the country seem to you odiot^ in any form. • j i» v * Ten hundred thousand and more papers, all especially printed for that end have been addressed to you, intended, if you were ignorant and of , weak judgment, to mislead you ; if moral, and inteUeotually educated, to shook you #Ith the assurance tha!^ brutal vic6 would be yoUr daily and nighUy associate ; if naturaUy amiable and trustful of human kind, thinking no eVil of your neighbour, to infuse into you distrust and enmity to all men connected with the military service ; if non-political, to incite you to be a sharer in political discord ; if religious, to adulterate your faith withadogma affirmative of the sin of armed national defences, dike unsoriptual and irrational ; if inditied to share in the duties of ,a patriot in defence of Christian civiUsation, peaceful canmerce, and a ioUtical constitution at once the freest, mo^t noble, most stable, and most ancient on earth, to teaeh you that your aspirations are prompted,^ not by the virtuous ambltioA which best beseenis the Christian .and the loyal citizen, but by the evU spirit of perdition ; if incUned to be dis- loyal, to give you a housefal of sedition, with enough to ferment among TOUT neighbours. „. , . - * xt You have seen those "peii*^*' placards; your father saW them did your mother and timid sistor. Your bolder brother, who lives from h6m^ and visited the fiunily six times iii six months, ^ them, on each jdurtifey, poBt^on the pillart of gateways' oil the stumps of waysid« UwJ, .\ ^'•l or A OILIOXNT LIfl. ••7 ./ / on tho bridj^o, on the iitilo, down the meadow, up the hill, on the comer hoiiHO of the village, and had them thrust into hia^and by th«\illage Poaoist, to take home for the apooial troublingof your own domoHtio cirole. Nay, you have heard this village man of peade, like hi8 brethren in cities and in country towns, doHoant in quarrelqonie argument ; quote Mr. Cobdon'a rain-stutemont of history, and his personal invective, affirming the folly of udo(juiito dofonsiveness^and the dishonourable -profeBsion of national defenders. f You have hoard him read the letter of f|opd Friend Fry from the newspapers, who, as chief secretary of the Peace Society, rushed to the press when^^ho first Militiaman fell iSflo the hands of the police; rejoicing over one man that^had fallen, rather than over the rectitude of fifty thousand who had committed no fault, ^^ I any unto you, thit joy hIuUI be in Heaven over one tinner that tepenteth, more than over ninety and nin^ just pertons which need no repentanee." — St. Lukb XV. 7. " .. Such are the. gracious words of the Saviour. But the disputatious men of peace — who, forsooth, are niore scriptural in spirit and outward life than ordinary men and women— shout for joy over the one Militiaman who goes wrong at Hammersmith, but are inute over Uie good behaviour of fifty thousand, there and elsewhere.' You Uave heard 4hat tho Government of the Earl of Derby ordered the placards to bd defaced by the county police throughout England, and the Society to be prosecuted for sedition. But you wei;e, perhaps for a time, in doubt if Government or the Society were in the right. The Peaeist told you, and quoted the Herald of Peace (odd name for one of the most snarling scraps ar paper known in periodical literature)^ that Government waa despotic, was afraid of free discussion ; that tiie prosecutions were withdrawn by Lord Aberdeen's Government, not, a» ^ord Palmerston intimated, because the good sense of the country had rendered the Society harmless, but that Government did not dare to prosecute ; that the litmtMf peace defied prosecution, and had not sought to avoid it; that they had been prepared with the first forensic talent at the bar to maintain the right of posting such placards, to maintain free- dom of discussion against tyrannical despotism. You have read^ or heard others read, idl- this. Yon are wholly unin- formed of the r^ponsibilities of statesmen in office, and not particu- , larly learned in the idiosyncrasy of the man of peaneiving such punishment. (Loud cries of ** Hear ! hear 1 ") «' 5. Because my consent to bavp my name published on those placard* was not asked. -^ -j w Ff ^ " 6. If it had, 1 should have emphatioally said No. On conclusion. Lord Palmerston was good enough toaay, "I think that letter does the wr iter g«>at credit," to which t h e House asBented by a cheer. Hi» lordship stoted that the prosecutions had Wen with^ "^ ' ■ ■ ■ .- ." .' ■ ■ ■-' -■■:-/- Of A omoiMT uwm. 301 chief dnMHi ; fcr, " whataver h«l bcon th« inlentioM of th« pftrtifli who hU «aua«d thoM plaoa^dii »nd piotorial raproMnUtions to bo printed, they had failed. The guod (Miim and patriotie feeling! of the liritiah peopit had induced them to treat thono invitationii to abandon the oauM of their country with oontetnpt." In oonolunion, hia lordahip o onaly on the '* pugnaoitj " of people " too amiable to be entru«ted with the defence of tho country, and auoh like poUtioai tXinctiona in thit wicked world." The Houae of Oommona laughed. Not ao the Peaoiat championa of freedom of opinion : they nitiditatod vengeance. , Tliia inoidont ooourre4 in WoHttuinater, on tho evening of tli« 2 1 at of February. At Mas- cheater, the niaila of the 22nd which left in the evening carried fortk printed miaaivea of s^^ytarian revenge, with white dgvei on the Hftla, dat« colIcotionH of rcoorda m other Kn^rliHh citiea. Occaaionally, I fi.und noblemen and hoacta of old county familicH willing to open their collcctionH; Huch «h the fiito Karl arK,noer at Althorpe l'ur^.)t^uvmptonHhirc, when I waa in purHiyt of oer^ curioua facta «»^l|JM|««««'i»;«^»^ IW ^'■'""*^" '" "'* . , town and county of NdBMMWWI' "^^ In the autumn of fH^lirLondon with my family to hyo m Edinburgh. I had in view the use of that rich treasury of unexplored criminal triala, unexplored in the direction of my atudicn, the Advoi«ites Library. Alao at Edinburgh I looked to the facility of viaiting . localitiea where meameric magnetiHm, and 'other phenomena of witeJ^ cmft, second sight, evil eye, and Hke manifeaUtiona, formerly i«iUoi^ ^^" supernatural," and, by the scientific scepticism of our age, maaaedW together as » imi)08ture," are said to be still developed. I knew that among the fishermen on the sea-coast of Lothian and Berwickshire, and shepherds of the Lammermuir Hills, with whom I associated in boyhood and in youth, some of the things attributed to superstition were believed by persons whose virtuous lives, earnest piety, and quick intelh- genoe denied that they wore either impostors or 'persons epsily deceived. I knew that in certain families a supposed second sight, and in others the magnetic influences, once called witchcraft, remained.-influences, which when remi^mbered in presence of manifestations of mesmeiism whioh'l saw in London and elsewhere, seemed to belong to the same f \ ■^ :k: > V ''^^m^. Ij^'^—Mik III it pi na by in ■were k intcUi- leceived. in others fluences, iHuie r ism — he same f Of A mtiamn un. «it«)j(nrj of iiiq[MrH$xfJio»bk) |ili(ifiM)iuana. But*! «)ao that thy iA 'Ireland. In Iruland, howov«r, I had Iom Iw^Mjaa, Y>l k^flk nuuter of thu vurnatnilur tonf^ao of the Iriah (H^aiiantry, Ky m)im% to Hbn their oonfldenon and hold familter oonvi^riMition. ^ If it Ih) ititkod " what uie" wiiuld a aolution of aiMh niitna Im at thiH day, t roj«wn by nuking *' what \n tha< gating anything around wMiioh w« obiiorvo olouda of ih •<%4)annioi' UHtiuiato thu valuo oFlhe knoi^edgo of natural lai lio>|pnooat«d, until they be dlNcovcred and disentangled ■uporHtition on thu one Hide, and from a Mtnii-wmontifio hoi<] other. A pfj^iao knowledge of the lawit of " aniuuil uiagnetiani " miflA>t pcrhapa dia-iuMiooiate hyateria and religien in the phenomena, of what .ure called " rovivala." A like knowledin of the electric curruntii, the ^m iind reflux of the electric tidM, aa th^ may bo termed, might enable ^p phy- sician to change the poaltion of hfn patient, giving eaao and ropoae where now there ia pain and exhauHtipm. I'oHHibly too we might aift the true front the falao in the niyHtori«H of #ld nntrology. The hour of death, in one large 4ilnHM of diHcaaoa, Hooma to havc> an inti- mate relation to tlie ebb and flow df the electric tides. Those tides have^ been guaged and timed at Kew Outduna, near Londqa, I have renaon to believe thai the Iron bcdatcada in the barracks of tho Foot Guarda, in tiera above one atiother, and tranavcrHcly aa well as longitudinally in the rooms, have an intimate relation, tlirough magnetic OP electric currents, to the rheumatia pains of the men sleeping in them. £vcry inhabitant of the eastern coaali of England and Scotland knqWB thai "cast winds" and the " rheuiiMBticft " are interchangeable' terms. So they Hcem to bo in Lower Canada. The men of the Foot Guards are not aflibctcd with their peculiar rheumatism in all ^.beds alike. This inquiry I submit to the medical profession. Had I not been too otlen in late years harassed by the cares of daily bread, I would have collected ■ facts over large areas of experience on those topics. Soldiers discloHO their - sensations to such as I more freely, than to the regimental physician. Indeed they generally avoid him. In Lpndon, soldiers are liable to a pecu- liar disease, which, with after-sympt^mis and mcdicine^with other matters «#. % • ^ I incidental — to — diilitary duty — and — barrack society, induces — ner v oua fUBceptibiliiy, — a bad condition of miliiai^ life. The electric currents,. V*-' N 3(^4 gOMlRtlLLl's BOOK atid the magnetlBin of their iron bedgteads, espeoidly the .podition of th« bedsteads, become important elements in military health and energy. In my researches in magnetism, I had in view a practical result lying in the direction of security to wealthy men's wealth as well as the safety of human life. While a solution of "witchcraft," "second sight," " evil eye," " clairvoyance," and kindred phenomena was sought in animal magnetism, I sought a solution in terrestrial magnetism, or rather in the magnetic relations manifested between the atmosphere and certain hills, headlands, islands, or insular rocks, to ascertain a cause for the frequent swerving of iron stfeamshipa from their proper courses. Th^ Birkenhead at thS Cape of Good Hope with her freight of heroes,— a regiment of British soldiers, who, with their noble officers, handed out the children, the women, and the feeble, and, immovably loyal to their obedience, sank into the waves themselves with the parting ship,— that was one suggestive case. The Great Britain going astray towards the headlands of Dundri^m Bay, was another. The alleged negligence of Captain Hoskins and his crew was only the after-thought of publi^i, bewilderment. The sudden swerving of the Orion at Port Partricfe #.,. while enveloped in a thin fog, (mark the words,) by which many passen- gers going from Liverpool to Glasgow were drowned, was another case. Accused of culpable " negligence," the mate atid some seamen were prose- cuted before a criminal court. That was the case which more especially led me to investigate the magnetic relations of headlands and the atmos- phere, the travelling " thin fog "bringing to my recollection the " haar " which I had watched as a strange mystery when a boy herding cattle near elevated ground were I had a full view of the sea, and of bold headlands and distant islands ; and afterwards on the sea-shore hills and ocean bays in the North of Spain. Many other cases of sudden swerving, or of unaccountable diversion fVom a proper course, have occurred since the misfortune of the Great Britain and the Orion. The Canadian in the St. Lawrence may be named ; also the Ava near Trincomalee, from Calcutta to Ceylon. In conversing with professionals like Mr. jGray of Liverpool, whose business is the adjustment of ship's compasses, or with literary . gentlemei^of the same place, as I did some years ago, I was only i«et by derision, or something like it. - When opportunity served, I moved from London to Scotland to pursue those investigations, and to worlc up a large amount of various materials relating directly or collaterally to'Econoinio and Social Science. My collection of matter about local agricultural customs in England, about trade strikes, tride wages, and history of wages, and also about banks and commercial panics^ was perhaps unique. In contributing some articles to an Edinburgh -daily newsp a per, T waa, greatly against my desire and _ OT A DILKmfT Lin. sot r,*:.'^- ,"(' mnoh to my diudvantage, drawn for a time into iis editorial diair. Iti' proprietor, whom I had never seen, waa abaent, but promised, from t im» to time, to oome and retrieve the establishment fVom the chaos in whiciH|^ found it. He did not come. It was not the first time ift my life, th«^ by extending a helping hand good-naturedly to persons in diflftoulties, I surrounded myself with animosities. Although a Scotchman, I wa« wholly ignorant of the petty local squabbles called "politics" in " Modem Athens " ; as also of the literary faotions of that city. Nor dw I seek to know them. I had not desired such uncongenial employment; yet soon found myself involved in performing a labour of from fifteen to twenty hours in the day and night of twenty-four, almost without an assistant for three or four months, and but poorly paid, and as poorly thanked, for the voluntary task of keeping an old, the oldest journal in Britain, alive, until some one turned up to take it oflF my hands. I made time, however, when other men slept, to write and publish the pamphlet before spoken of, — Bowring] Cobden, and China. Many news- papers re-printed it in England wholly or in part. At last, handing over my editorial charge to a successor, Mr. James Robie from Belfast, a gentleman, I take pleaslire in saying, who is qualified to preside over any of the greatest London newspapers, consequently my superior, out of all com- parison, in any and every part of the business of apolitical daily journal, — giving the burthen of my charge to him, I reverted to the more quiet literature and the studies in which I delighted. That occurred in June 1857. About the end of February, or cpi some day early in March 1868, la stranger came to my house in Edinburgh, saying he had been in CSaSl- fomia and Australia. He had read, he said, one of my books in ClM|e fornia ; that he had just seen my " Working Man's Witness " against the Infidels as Leaders of the People, and that, having heard that I had relatives in Australia, whence he had recently come, he felt a desire to make my acquaintance. My wife told him that her mother, three sisters, and a brother were resident in Victoria Province, besides other family connections of mine. He soon ascertained that we had intended to follow them in 1863, but were prevented through insufficiency of funds to move so large a family as ours. On another day he asked me to meet him at his lodgings to breakfast, and he would submit certain proposals to me. I met him. He proposed to engage me for two years to assist in agricultural experiment and to expound Political Economy in Australia; that he would fiiid us an immediate home on one of his landed estates, and place me in a position fer above anxiety about the subsistence of my family in the future I explained the circumstances in which I then stood at Edinburgh ; ! ->/■ 306 SOllSRVILLB S BOOK ■: \ the effect, that, during the previous twenty years of active investiga- an, I had collected a large amount of materials for books which remained be Worked up; that l was then engaged on one of the physical laws of lliur© relating to mental phenomena ; and also on the mysteries of the Dtrio currents, which I supposed to be at certain times manifested eeen headlands and islands and the atmosphere, as affecting iron-built that/in fact, I had come from London to live in Scotland chiefly the object of being constantly within sight of the friths (estuaries U sea), the headlands, islands, and hills, to pui;OT«. the investigation, and iha^ I was then inventing a means by which tjK^ctrio or magnetic ourrehts might be indicated, and their sudch^V^Jations, with local iances, be measured and determined,— feol^lf foreseen, and pro- gainst in practical navigation. — lis inquiry, how did I live meanwhile, I explained that I was I to lay Scientific and Political Economic subjects aside at times tales for periodicals, an& contributions to newspapers ; for which receivU payment, not large in amount, but sufficient for a family which •ugally 9» we. I added, that I was then engaged on a novel I had the promise, though not the certainty, of £200. \in none of these things a reason why I should not go to Aus- my remarking, that, if I abandoned all my literary works, scattered aA they were through many periodicals and desultory volumes tracts, during twenty years, and the far greater amount of materials istrial History" of Britain, and for a continuation of a listory of the Pioneers of Freedom of Opinion " still lying unused, I should d(j> myself great injustice ; that it would be like the sacrifice of half a life-time if I did not arrange these works, some for re-publication, others for printing the first time. The materials for a " History M Trade-Strikes and of ,Wagea "^ had alone cost a great deal of labour and research. So had my "Industrial Wonders of Lancashire." So also "Wonderful Workshops," and " Remarkable Farmsj" which were only partially Icnown to the public. Here I may introduce aa imperfect list of my published or partly published works; from which it will be seen that many of the subjects are, unfortunately, such as an author may beooriie poor upon, rather than popular and well remunerated : " The Whistler at the Plough " (selections of Rural Letters), " Tree^ Trade and the League," "Biographic History of the Pioneers of Free- dom of OpiiijB of Commerce and Civilisation " (three large vols, pub- blished, oth^S^^epared), " Autobiography of a Working Man," " Paid Swanston of Lammermoor," " Narrative of the British L^ion in Spain," " Industrial Wonders of Manchester and Forty Miles Around," " Somer- v ille's Sohuul of Political Economy," " History and Rom a nce of the f or A DILIQKNT LIFI. 307 Fiscal System and of the National Debt," " Liverpool Fiqanoial Reform Tracts" (of vol. 1 only, and notof Nos. 1 and 2 of that vol), " National , Wealth Tracts," " Safeguards against Commercial Panics," " Roger Mow- bray, Merchant Prince of England," '' Popular Fallacies about the Aristocracy of the Army ; the House of Commons falling into the occu- pation of Commercial Companies, the House of Lords Protecting the People, — Recent Instances'," "Free Sea; England on the Rock of Gibraltar Justified," " Cobdenio Policy, tlie Internal Enemy of Britain," " Bowering, Cobden, and China," " donfets and Earthquakes," an inquiry ; '* Edeiv Green, Garden of Dreams,'^ " The Whistler's 'Fairy Tales," " Enchanted Children of the Sylvan Groves, Ac," " Tom Robinson, the British Grenadier," "Fallacies of Feargus O'Connor," [ " Rural Life of England; Visits to Remarkable Farms," "Legend of \the London Penny-a-Liners," "Street Warfare ; a Warning to the Phy- . Isical-Force Chartists," " Memoir of William Pi^, in reference to Free Trade between England and Ireland," " Memoir of William Huskisson," " Poulett Thomson (Lord Sydenham) ; his Tarjfi" Reforms in England and Union of the Canadas," " Speculative Memoir of Saint Dunstan, as an Eminent English Blacksmith," " Apologue^ in Political Economy," " Problems in Military Strategy," " Operation of the Navigation iTdlwB, in reference to the Revolt of the American Colonies, now the United States," " Letter* from Ireland in the year of Famine," " A Cry from Ireland in 1843 " ; Tales, Essays, and Reviews, contributed to Literary Periodicals; also. Leading Articles for Newspapers, Speeches for Mem- bers of Parliament, "Temperance Tracts," " The Working Man's Wit- ness against the London Literary Atheists," &c. &c. ' j On ray wife hearing what the stranger had proposed, she urged my acceptance of the offCT. I at once announced that my " Working Man's Witness " would be concluded in twelve Numbers; adding that it was, " preparatory to the Author's departure for Australia, to be taken with him, and dlso left behind, a& a testimony in favour of the Christian insti- tutions of the beloved land he was about to leave forever." I next addressed myself to a small work on Political Economy to take to Australia with me. The introduction I reprint here from the proof- sheets sent to me by my Edinburgh printer, in whose hands the manuscript remains. It concerns my repujtation that this be carefully perused and borne in mind. A reference to the aristocracy of Britain, and to ah attempt to form a new aristocracy in Australia, which I print in Italics, will be seen to agree with the tone of the present volume, as with the whole tenor of my relations to British politics and publio safety. j- ' -il I -.v,j, <■■ 308 ■OMiaVILLl's BOOK '^\ '\ Author invited to Australia, March 1858. " Australians 1 Some of jou are digging and toiling, others planning and laying the foundation of now stat^ after the models of the old. They are at present colonies. At a future time, in the prudent economy of the parent country, they may be giveu away, set up in independence as a wedded princess is given away with a blessing, or they may separate from home in revott and convulsion. In either case, your colonies are destined to form parts of a great Australasian nation ; its language Bnto. Saxon, its religion Christian, its institutions and laws the best which the wisdom of a free people can devise. « But you may aspire or be impelled io seek independence too soon, and, breaking from the mother country, may tempt the cupidity of some less trustworthy European power, against whose invading forces your paucity of personal numbers will not, in the absence of a fleet and coast defences, protect you. What are the grounds for ^upposing a desire for a too early independence probable ? These:— . - " in the logical order of cause and eflfect, that territorial fraction of your population which now controls your legislative and governing majorities; which truststothe territorial sympathiesof the homegovemmenttosustain it in self-interested error ; which persists in laying your stato^foundations on the permanent degradation of industry,-planning the social fabric to accommodate a new order of territorial and money^mongering upper classes ; all labour and human rights to be subordinate to their domi- nating interests^-tbat mad mistake may soon involve you penloudy in alUhe old-coulitry calamities. You will not pay respect to this ans- tocracy: which has no chivalri^ antiquity, no historical public service, to rec6mmmd it t^ consideration. It and its money-mongering alliances will consign the mass of your population to chronic poverty; to the ,«riodical recurrence of commercial panics, with all the speoulatmg-class . fraud and working-class misery of the old country ; to polkical discon- tent and sedition ; ultimately to rebellion and revolution. They who, in the colony of Victoria, are blindly working in your institutional fouA,(lar tions to rear a spurious aristocracy, are unwittingly preparing a baptism of blood and fire for a young, a too young, Australian republic. . "Some of you, students of first principles, and logical reasoners^whcwe present property and future hopes are involved in the well-being, of the Victorian colony, have a.ked me, as a writer on Economic Science, to take my family to your country, to yoke tiie plough, whistle in the furrow, sow corn, and assist in teaching the Australian people the true prii^ipl^ of Political Econom y ; those logical and absolute axioms, which it violate(^ i we'see them in o'ld nations, involve wasted pubUo wealth, legalizea or A DILIOBIIT UM. 8t9 fraud, ootnmeroial panics, and all the pooial ills whoso appalling aspoots are so horridly familiar. I have aooepted the invitation ; and purpose to leave the port of Liverpool some time in the summer of 1868, or as soon as I can pay for a working-man's passage of self, wife, five boys, and one girl, all under fourteen years of age. Meanwhile, I reprint primary chap- ters of those politioo-economio and other writings which have attracted notice in Australia, though sufficiently neglected at home to have caused ^ much pecuniary loss and personal sorrow,— indeed, I may say popular odium, for odium is inseparable from an author whose National Wealth publications have yielded no profit, have eaten up other earnings, con- sumed his health, and all but deprived his children of bread." To comprehend more elearly the api^ication of the work to which the foregoing was the introduction, let me state, on the authority of the Stranger and of various printed papers which he laid before me, that the " digger" population are.said to entertain sentiments of hostility to the territorialists. The latter occupy districts of country many thousand acres each man, for a sheep or cattle " run "; while small parcels of land for investment or cultivation cannot be purchased at all, except in very limited districts. " Fifty voters " in some pastoral counties, the voters constrained by a still smaller number of the territorialists, termed, ip' Australian slang, " sheep kings," are said t6 send to the Victorian Parlia- ment as many representatives as do "thirty thousand" of the hard- handed and fiercely adventurous " diggers." The antagonism of the two orders of men is so deeply marked, and the lines of hostility so sharply drawn, as t6 leave no possible alternative in the future but sanguinary discord or an early change of system. The diners have recollections of bi^rness against the armed police and military dating from the time, in 1855, when some of their number were shot in the disputes about licenses to dig for gold. Secret societies were then originated, which have been extending ever since. The animosities of that year have been embittered by new grievances. Roving Oali- forniana and other Americans abound in the secret 'societies. £very man with a personal grievance becomes a propagandist of hostility to the British rule. The Stranger had his personal grievances, and they were of no ordinary kind. He had been ill-treated, if his account, published in a desultory pamphlet which he carried with him, might be wholly credited. It bore the semblance of truth. The burning hatred of the ipan against Australian executive power, which oocasion- ally broKO forth in conversation, confirmed its statement. Dr. L ■ ■ ■ , another leader of the British sections of discontent, had seen his son, a promising young man holding a confidential position in a bank, aeovaed of fraud w forg e ry, and consigned for five years to th e gyaga^of A>i | >0d {>■' Ir- f'.i- 'I 310 BOmSRVILtl'S BOOK i 1 *^= f felonfl working on the public roada. Truly or falsely, the father, who waa before that a violent opponent of British connection, had suoC^ded Ui taaking a large number of people believe th^t his son was wholly inno- cent, and a victim of executive power, — the son sacrificed for the fatlier's prominence as a political antagonist of government. These, and superficial matters like these, were talked of by the Stran- ger at our earlier interviews. .Very different disclosures followed at another time. » It was on such ground-work as 'the grievances ^f Itfr' gold-digging population, and traders, who, acquiring raonl^ by labour and luck in the gold fields or'in traffic, were debarred from purchasing small properties/ in land, that I proceeded to write the Economic Treatise. The Australian land-system, with its uninhabited masses of territor is the opposite of that of Canada. Sir Edward Bulwer Lytion, h Colonial Minister, spoke pointedly, so wo read in the newspapers last year, to some Australian dotonists with whom he publicly dined/ in London, of the great advantage which Australia derives by gentleman of birth and education settling in it and giving a tone of refinement/to its society. I can readily applaud thiVtr remark ; but it does not aplply to the great flockmasters as i/ body. From all quarters we have testimony, that many ofi'them live idle and dissolute lives, few of thpm being mar- ried ; iha^ they come, with exceptions of courscj from the tintery)r, when the whim leads them, to partake of the gambling excitemen't of tjde towns, and assist in spreading moral corruption and ruin among emigrants who arrive from the old country. When living on " runs," they assemble together and consume such quantities liquors, that they build towers of bottles'as land-marks and of debauch. Only a very few, if indeed any, of these men w^re " gentle- men of birth and education " in the mother country. But, apart firom their moral or social characteristics, bete stands the -fact with which Political Economy is concerned: they /are appropri- Srting the soil in masses of wilderness, and relying on a military forcerto be suBi)lied and augmented from Britain, which has sufficient occupation for her army elsewhere; the military and the law to restrain the vast majority of the people, the men of laborious and adventurous "lives, from acquiring landed property of that limited extent, which, with moderate capital, they might transform to homes of comfort and domestic virtue. The families pf such small proprietors would become ^e born gentlemen and gentlewomen of tjje province in the next generation. While writing my work in advocacy of sWsh a/ Foundation for the future prosperity, the presept, peaoft a nc } . contentment of Australia, and [le female eir cattle of bottledf (lonjiments in bringiBg my other publications to a premature conclusion, it was a (S V^' , L. or A DILIOKNT LIFI. 311 y^ olieerftil and happy time. My poor wife, at the prospect of joining her mother and aistere in Australia, we knowyjg that the fliatera were all married and comfortably settled, plied her needle in joyoua vivacity to prepare our children's outfit. When I took brief anatches of iwroation with my children, one was on my back, another on my head, and one on each ^shoiilder, with others pulling at my skirts,— all delighted at the happy fortune which had at lust come to us. We talked of Australia and of goingto their grandmother and aunts, first thing at dawn of day and at the latest hour at night. So often disappointed as we had been my wife did sometimes say, musingly, " Can this be all true, or is it only a dream I" ^ - To such observations I rejoined, " Yes, I think this is true. Our stran- ger is evidently a man of strong prejudices, but he seems truthful." " It looks so like romance," my wife continued, " that a stranger who knows nothing of us, should come with such offers of future ease and comfortabla-lndependence for us,— to you, who have toiled so thank- lessly; and: yet, as you say, he does look and speak like a truthtful man." Having put ray work in the printer's hands, I proceeded to London in the middle of April to dispose of others, printed and in manuscript, and to make final arrangements for a passage to Australia; leaving my family in Edinburgh. I was to return for them and settle all remaining affairs about my publications in Scotland ; I being then uncertain whether we might sail from Liverpool or from London. At the Stranger's request, I h^d given him a letter of introduction to General Perronet Thompson, M.P. He desired to become acquainted with some of the " liberal " members of pariiament. Let me anti- cipate in this place what General Thompson said to me, just g^,! quitted London to come to Canada, the Stranger having by that time developed his proportions. He said : — - ' .^ ■ ^ " Mr. Somerville, be thankful you have escaped : that Australian is either a lunatic or the most dangerously sane man that I ever met. Had you gone to Australia with that man or in complicity with him you would have run great risk of being hanged within your first fortnight." What -was this man, who had caused me to break up my hoine and all bn^ness connections ? ^^ He was the agent of the Australian secret societies. When I showed him the proof-sheets of the work prepared at Edinburgh to introduce me as a Political Economist, the opening paragraphs of which have just been given, he exclaimed " This will never do !" ' - What would not do ? Was it my deprecation of the new territdri- — • — n : ^"i : alism and the hazards of civil war attending it ? No : it was my depre- ' . V' ' 'i *••;• 612 ■OMKIVlLLl'8 BOOK k r if cation of »ny insurreotionary effort at Australian " i'DdependeDOe." The planH of revolt were all luid, I now diuooverod. Thoro wore unlimited fundH at couiiuand. The rank and flle of the soldiera were to be seoured by the unlimited funds. I was ozpected to become an afwiatant agent in disbursing it and seducing them. The officers wore allotted to usHussinB. Nor was assassination to be confined to them : any man, myself included, who might disclose the secrets of conspiracy, wore to be dcspHtclied. Revolvers, poison, murder, were distinctive elements and ngencics of the intended revolution. The executive governnrent at Melbourne bad already seizod arms which had been imported from the United States; but stores of arms existed in the colony, and more might bo obtained. They relied less, however, on arms than on the effect to be obtained by subverting the military, and surprising the officers by assassination. " In my indignation and vehemence of reproach, I cursed him. In the name of God, who knew how cruelly and monstrously he had deceived me, I covered him with the reproach of one distracted. He rushed to ' his revolvers to shdot me. (This occurred in thp house No. 30 Euston Road, London, wo being quite alone.) I was lame at the time, having injured my left leg by the rolling of luggage during the sea-passjJge from Scotland. ^ I flew at him to prevent his action, the bandages on my leg gave way, and, Soon after I received the letter in Quebec, a paragiteph of Australian .JL^ ■■■"■'Ifc-- ,«» A DIUOVfT Lnm. 81ft ••Wf-^fotiiilflllVII.Ul'| BOOK that ware to havn bmn Idkm m hp^^n^, w«r« trt h%VA »»l\^, mfght h«y« hflon oipoot«d to b« mmr AuHtritlia at th« onj oath to avenge tho disclosure of their schemes on mo. Had I said not a^ord in this book about tho affair, they would have known it, as indeod they „ already know it, al^ tho same. Aapassins have not the manliness to meet their victims taco to face. In that only lies my apprehension. My wife has been, indirectly, the victim of that most heartless and cruel Imposi- tion on me,— the engagement by which I sacrificed my all t£ go to Australia. To Canada I have given her wasted dust. The memoryW her Bweet life remains only to me. i ^ When I wrote to London asking tho Colonial Secretary to oertifl that I had no complicity with the Australian plot, it was not that such a report already " pr e vail e d in Canada," but that some persons to whom I had spoken of the disastrous results of the Australian engaa^ent. on w J w K or A BIUOWT Liri. m thfi pMM^ Mnmthfl AU»ntio, had, tflor Unding in 0»raid», niftnUon«rth nny ono'a wwt« of wOrdii to uooum nm. Th« hontlle ctritieiimi at Qoflb«o, tlhidfld to in fcnnor ohRptera, proved that tli« apprtihoiiNidn wu not untuundml. I nm Uild by private fH«ndH who hav* iwon the raforenM to that oriti- dim tinea th« «arlier ohapt^m of thin volnmo wore prititwd of, " thai I will bring the whole oewiipapor pram of Canada on ny ht*ad for attack- ing ono of thoir nambor an I haT« done." I do not bi)HovB it, though I admit that roy rofbranoc to him la a blemiah to thia beok. ' Tho raforonoc to hia work on the " Prmition of the Britiah Inhabitanta of Lower Canada " mi^ bo thought wheily impw- tinont. I noglooUMi to aay in the proper plaoo why I was affooted by that work. Mr. O. T. Gary, responsible editor and publisher of tho newiipnpcir in quontion, had kindly given mo a oopy to bo ased in a ooito- spondenoo which I was about to opon ^ith some English newspapers. tfcl extracted and sent to England portions of 4hat work, relying on their aoouraoy, Hololy btwaum they had first appeared as " leading ariidee " in Uie newspaper which profossod to bo the organ of the English Church and high oonservutivo party at Quebec. The Italian War filled the English journals, and delayed the publioati6n of my letters. When I found that the person on whose assumed aoouraoy I depended for statennnts affiBoting Canada, was capable of— I shall not say of an " inexact " infer- ence about Lord John Busselland General Sir Charles Napier, but of r leaving his readers to believe that I hud said— in the correspondence which ho did not publish— that those eminent persons' were in guilty complicity for revolutionary objects in 1832, when I had said -not a word, nor anything which could bear such a construction, —not having referred to Lord John Russell at all, nor to 1832 in connection with General Napier, but only to tho General/as having had command of the midland district of England during the Chartist crisis (tf 1839, when I circulated " Dmuanve Waminfft to the People on Street War/are,'' which publi- cations General Nopier had seen and '*j)provod ;— finding my (Juebeo critic so " inexact " as to add that to other insinuations about me, still more " inoxoot;" all written while his editor and publisher daily apolo- gized for their appearance in his paper, I wrote by the next mail tp - England, recalling my correspondence from the party who had i,^ ,iii charge. , . With puch prciensions as I have put forth in the volume, I must lay' "' my account to te sharply critioiaed. At home, a former aohiisatinn^ false in any of its part?, false in its whole— may possibly he reproduced: that I, one of the most frugal of men, am poor because of my expensive V' f^ 4 9t8 flOMKETXLLl'ft BOOS Wrft« ; that I, tAo in «ppUoation to woik liate bodii led m if work were a passion, am idle ; that I, who neyer took drink habitually, who for yns t<^thor have abstained from stimulants, not however proclaiming the fttet iff my abstinence to the worid, but in that respect despising out- ' ward pretenoes,*— that I am or have boen a drunkard. The nature of my inquiries into the condition of the people and of agriouhure, on which were founded papers which thousands of readers perused daily «nd weekly ovfer ten years,— many of the readers of all ranks professing to have been delighted and instruoted,-.tho8e inquiriee led me to take up quarters in the inns of villages and market towns, in preference to private houses, to which I was sometimes invited. When my pen was found asefol to any party, say the men of Manchester, I was an amiable person, « frugal, sober, an^iiiiustrious," as may be seen in Chapter VI. When I refiised to be tnuled through the dirt of their anti-national politics, I was (so I presume they must have told Sir William Hayterat iome time, and bq I know they wrote to Lord Kinnaird) a frequenter of fmblie houses. Three times, while living in London, did an impetuous ^titude at •erving others forgetful of personal consequences, lead to paragraphs in newspapers not complimentary to me. But in each of those oases I vindicated the weak against ruffian strength, or against fraud; and the "penny-a-line" fraternity, who distorted the facts, knew it. I have not at any time made pretoision to be endowed with all, or even with any large share, of the ezoellenoies and high attributes of humanity. On the contrary, though this volume may be oflfensively pretentious, few people ever heard me talk »s Ot A DtLfOllfV Lira, 8tf But the oonvenation with th« Oolonel, what of that ? yon atk. I aniwer this : That oonTonation mm fbroed upon mt* I was drawn into it, as the Oolonel hinmelf testified, while a prisoner before him on another charge. " I Was I wrong in withholding the names of the soldiers who had according to Oolonel Wyndham's own phrase, brought on the r^ment the reproach of being " Unionists "? I repeat, that, by disclosing their names and the names of the persons who corrupted them, 1 might ha?« escaped the lash, and have seen those soldiers flogged instead. I had given my word of honour not to disclose their names, and that Word of honour I adhered to at all risks. As to disolosnres made to government subsequently, I did not seek the secrets confided to me either in 1834 or in 1858 ; but neither have I sought to bring punishment. on guilty m^ for my private advantage. The celebrity of the case in the Scots Greys, and the published account of my subsequent military service, brought those persons to me. And there is this other fact : while that case gave me ar position of influence over the many thinking men who were provincial leaders of Ohartism I restraining through them the Physical-Force Chartists very materially, the fact of my having been yfo^^erf has been a bar to my rise in life. It prevented my going to India in 1849, as commissioner for the Man- chester Chamber of Commerce, at a salary of £2,000 a year. It has kept me out 0^ other public employment. It has been thrown in my face as a reproach by every demagogue and mountebank with whom I have come into conflict during twenty-seven intervening years. But the most heartless and cruel, and to me disastrous form of reproach in which that event has come up, waa my being associated in the public mind with the seditious placards of the Peace Society in 1852-3. The general public were offended by those placards, on the ojoe hand, and, on the other, the Peace-Society people turned on me almost with ferocity because I resented what they had done. The combined results— what were they ? That I could not sell my literary works, but at a great sacrifice. A Lon- don publisher, who was about to give me £200 for a manuscript, decUned to take it on the ground of those placards. He said that, after them, the book would not sell among his customers. What redress? None. The public is an entity that may be offended, but it is a nonentity in responsibilities. ^ Have I done weU to follow the instincts and logic of Conservatism in seasons of pubUc peril, or should I have cared all fer myself, md nothing for public interests? That alternative was impossible. With me, Con- servatism is a logical necessity. The natural bent, as weU as the acquired habit, of my mind, is to investigate deeper than the ruffled surfaces. Yet *. 320 ySOMxayiLLx's book of ▲ dilioxnt life. 'Mi I cannot be inflpnaible to the great pecuniary success of men who have flattered every folly of the multitude, and have taken advantage of every recurrence of public danger to enlarge their newspaper profits by inflam- , ing the populace against the higher classes and the revered institutionsV of Britain. * I refer to the Preface for an indication of the Canadian Agrioul- tur;8t;— its theme, the' agriculture, soils, scenery, market-towns, town- ships, local taxes, homesteads, rivers, canals, roads, forest, lands, and industrials enterprises o^' Canada; its object, to make this noble Pro- ice better known to persons seeking practical information. Any correspondence relating to the Canadian Aorioultubist, or on other subjects, may be addressed to the Author, care of Mr. Lovell, Publisher, Montreal. , \ NoTB.— Iron Ships Magnitized.— In the first portion of Chapter XXVU. the magnetizing of iron ships is briefly mentioned. I ^ve ascertained that a prominent headland, or such a hill as Arthur's Seat at Edinburgh, detaches a portipii from a travelling mass of "haar" distant ten miles, and attracts it ^ across the Firth of Forth at a right angle with the direction in which the mass"^ is travelling. I have no doubt that this fact being ascertained as I assert it to have been as . . ^ ■■■■ • "" ■■■•■ . ■ . . .V ,■ ;.: ■,.;■,• ■ . .' . ..• . . ;^ •. ; • V ■-■ . ' ■■■■ ■ ■■■■ '"•