ページの画像
PDF
ePub

VOL. XXII. No. 1.1

LONDON, SATURDAY, JULY 4, 1812.

[Price 1s.

1]

"That the Election of Members of Parliament ought to be free."- -BILL OF RIGHTS.

[2

TO THE INDEPENDENT ELECTORS Sir Samuel Romilly. sions of Mr. Hunt compared with those of

Gentlemen,

OF BRISTOL.

LETTER I.

Your City, the third in England in point of population, and, for the bravery and public-spirit of its inhabitants the first in the world, is now become, with all those who take an interest in the public welfare, an object of anxious attention. You, as the Electors of Westminster were, have long been the sport of the two artful factions, who have divided between them the profits arising from the obtaining of your votes. One of each faction has always been elected; and, as one of them always belonged to the faction out of place, you, whose intentions and views were honest, consoled yourselves with the reflection, that, if one of your members was in place, or belonged to the IN party, your other member, who belonged to the OUT party, was always in the House to watch him. But, now, I think, experience must have convinced you, that the OUT as well as the IN member was always seeking his own gain at your expense and that of the nation; and that the two factions, though openly hostile to each other, have always been perfectly well agreed as to the main point; namely, the perpetuating of those sinecure places and all those other means by which the public money is put into the pockets of individuals.

With this conviction in your minds, it is not to be wondered at that you are now be ginning to make a stand for the remnant of your liberties; and, as I am firmly persuaded, that your success would be of infinite benefit to the cause of freedom in general, and, of course, to our country, now groaning under a compilation of calamities, I cannot longer withhold a public expression of the sentiments which I entertain respecting the struggle in which you are engaged; and especially respecting the election now going on, the proceedings of a recent meeting in London, and the preten

As to the first, you will bear in mind, Gentlemen, how often we, who wish for a reform of the parliament, have contended, that no member of the House of Commons ought to be a placeman or a pensioner. We have said, and we have shown, that in that Act of Parliament by virtue of which the present family was exalted to the throne of this kingdom; we have shown, that, by that Act, it was provided that no man having a pension or place of emolument under the Crown should be capable of being a member of the House of Commons. It is, indeed, true, that this provision has since been repealed; but, it having been enacted, and that, too, on so important an occasion, shows clearly how jealous our ancestors were upon the subject.

-When we ask for a revival of this law, we are told that it cannot be wanted; because, if a man be a placeman or a pensioner before he be chosen at all, those who choose him know it, and if they like a placeman or a pensioner, who else has any thing to do with the matter? And, if a man be made a placeman or pensioner after he be chosen, he must vacate his seat, and return to his constituents to be re-elected before he can sit again; if they reject him he cannot sit, and, if they re-choose him, who else has any thing to do with the matter?

To be sure it is pretty impudent for these people to talk to us about choice and about re-choosing and about rejecting and the like, when they know that we are well informed of the nature of choosings and rechoosings at Old Sarum, at Gatton, at Queenborough, at Bodmin, at Penrynn, at Honiton, at Oakhampton, and at more than a hundred other places; it is pretty impudent to talk to us about members going back to their constituents at such places as those here mentioned; but, what will even the impudence of these people find to say in the case of those members, who, upon having grasped places or pensions, do go back to their constituents, and upon being rejected by them, go to

Α

rough where the people have no voice; or who, not relishing the prospect, do not go to face their former constituents, but go, at once, to some borough, and there take a seat, which, by cogent arguments, no doubt, some one has been prevailed on to go out of to make way for them? What will even the impudence of the most prostituted knaves of hired writers find to say in cases like these?

Of the former MR. GEORGE TIERNEY presents a memorable instance. He was formerly a member for Southwark, chosen on account of his professions in favour of freedom, by a numerous body of independent electors. But, having taken a fancy to a place which put some thousands a year of the public money into his own individual pocket, having had the assurance to go back to his constituents, and having been by them rejected with scorn, he was immediately chosen by some borough where a seat had been emptied in order to receive him, and now he is a representative of the people of a place called Bandon Bridge in Ireland, a place which, in all probability, he never saw, and the inhabitants of which are, I dare say, wholly unconscious of having the honour to be represented by so famous a person. Your late representative, Mr. BRAGGE BATHURST, has acted a more modest, or, at least, a more prudent part. He has got a fat place, a place the profits of which would find some hundreds of Englishmen's families in provisions all the year round; he has been made what is called Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, which will give him immense patronage, and, of course, afford him ample means of enriching his family, friends, and dependents, besides his having held places of great salary for many years before. Thus loaded with riches arising from the public means, he does not, I perceive, intend to face you; he cannot, it seems, screw himself up to that pitch. We shall, in all likelihood, see, in a few days, what borough opens its chaste arms to receive him; but, as a matter of much greater consequence, I now beg to offer you some remarks upon the measures that have been taken to supply his place.

It was announced to his supporters at Bristol, about three months ago, that he did not mean to offer himself for that city again, and MR. RICHARD HART DAVIS, of whom you will hear enough, came forward as his successor; openly avowing all his principles, and expressly saying, that he would tread in his steps. What those

steps are, you have seen; and what those principles are the miserable people of England feel in the effects of war and taxation. But, I beg your attention to some circumstances connected with the election, which ought to be known and long borne in mind. The WRIT for electing a member for Bristol in the room of Bragge Bathurst was moved for, in the House of Commons, on Tuesday evening, the 23d of June, and, at the same moment, a writ for electing a member for Colchester, in the room of Richard Hart Davis, was moved for. So, you see, they both vacate at the same instant; your man not liking to go down to Bristol, the other vacates a seat for another place, in order to go down to face you in his stead. Observe, too, with what quickness the thing is managed. Nobody knows, or, at least, none of you know, that Bragge is going to vacate his seat. Davis apparently knew it, because we see him vacaling at the same moment. The WRIT is sent off the same night; it gets to Bristol on Wednesday morning the 24th; the law requires four days notice on the part of the Sheriffs; they give it, and the election comes on the next Monday. So, you see, if Mr. HUNT had been living in Ireland or Scotland, or even in the Northern counties of England, or in some parts of Cornwall, the election might have been over, before there would have been a POSSIBILITY of his getting to Bristol. And though his place of residence was within thirty miles of London, he who was at home on his farm, had but just time to reach you soon enough to give you an opportunity of exercising your rights upon this occasion. Mr. Hunt could not know that the writ was moved for till Wednesday evening, living, as he does, at a distance from a post town; and, as it happened, he did not know of it, I believe, till Thursday night; so that, it was next to impossible for him to come to London (which, I suppose, was necessary) and to reach Bristol before Saturday. While, on the other hand, Mr. Davis had chosen his time, and, of course, had made all his preparations.

Such, Gentlemen, have been the means used preparatory to the election. Let us now see what a scene your city exhibits at this moment; first, however, taking a look at the under-plot going on in London in favour of Sir Samuel Romilly.

It is stated in the London news-papers, and particularly in the Times of Saturday last, that there was a meeting, on Friday, at the Crown and Anchor in the Strand,

the object of which meeting was, "to raise "money" by subscription for "supporting "the election of Sir Samuel Romilly at "Bristol;" and it is added, that a large sum was accordingly raised. This meeting appears to me to have for its object the deceiving of the electors of Bristol; an object, however, which I am satisfied will not be accomplished to any great extent. I do

not mean to say, that Sir Samuel Romilly would use deceit; but, I am quite sure, that there are those who would use it upon this occasion. The truth is, that the raising of these large sums of money (amounting already, they say, to £8,000) proves that Sir Samuel Romilly does not put his trust in the FREE VOICE of the people of Bristol. At this meeting MR. BARING, one of the persons who makes the loans to the government, was in the chair. This alone is a circumstance sufficient to enable you to judge not only of the character of the meeting, but also of what sort of conduct is expected from Sir Samuel Romilly if he were placed in parliament by the means of this subscription. Mr. WHITBREAD was also at the meeting, and spoke in favour of the subscription. But, we must not be carried away by names. Mr. Whitbread does many good things; but Mr. Whitbread is not always right. Mr. Whitbread subscribed to bring Mr. Sheridan in for Westminster, and was, indeed, the man who caused him to obtain the appearance of a majority; Mr. Whitbread supported that same Sheridan afterwards against Lord Cochrane; and though Mr. Whitbread is so ready to subscribe now, The refused to subscribe to the election of Sir Francis Burdett, notwithstanding the election was in a city of which he was an inhabitant and an Elector. These, Gentlemen, are facts, of which you should be apprized; otherwise names might deceive

you.

I beg to observe also, that, at this meeting, there was nothing said about a parliamentary reform, without which you must be satisfied no good of any consequence can be done. There was, indeed, a MR. MILLS, who said he came from Bristol, who observed that "the great majority of the in"habitants of Bristol felt perfectly con"vinced of the necessity of SOMETHING "LIKE Reform." And is this all? Does your conviction go no farther than this? I remember, that, when a little boy, I was crying to my mother for a bit of bread and cheese, and that a journeyman carpenter, who was at work hard by, compassionately

offered to chalk me out a big piece upon a board. I forget the way in which I vented my rage against him; but, the offer has never quitted my memory. Yet, really, this seeins to come up to the notion of Mr. Mills: the carpenter offered me SOMETHING LIKE a big piece of bread and cheese. Oh! no, Gentlemen, it is not this something like that you want you want the thing itself; and, if Sir Samuel Romilly meant that you should have it, do you believe, that neither he, nor any one for him, would have made any specific promise upon the subject? Even after Mr. Mills had said that you wanted something like Reform, there was nobody who ventured to say, that Sir Samuel Romilly would endeavour to procure even that for you, His friends were told, that, if he would distinctly pledge himself to reform, whether in place or out of place, Mr. Hunt, who only wished to see that measure accomplished, would himself assist in his election; but, this Sir Samuel Romilly has not done, and, therefore, he is not the man whom you ought to choose, though he is beyond all comparison better than hundreds of other public men, and though he is, in many respects, a most excellent member of parliament. Gentlemen, these friends of Sir Samuel Romilly call upon you to choose him, because he is, they tell you, a decided enemy of the measures of the present ministers. Now, they must very well know, that all those measures have had the decided support of the parliament. Well, then, do these his friends allow, that the parliament are the real representatives of the people, and that they speak the people's voice? If Sir Samuel's friends do allow this, then they do, in fact, say, that he is an enemy to all those measures which the people's voice approves of; and, if they do not allow this; if they say that the parliament do not speak the people's voice and are not their real representatives, how can they hope that any man will do you any good who is not decidedly for a reform of that parliament? Let the meeting at the Crown and Anchor answer these questions, or, in the name of decency, I conjure them to hold their tongues, and to put their subscriptions back again into their pockets.

To say the truth (and this is not a time to disguise it from you) this subscription is a subscription against, and not for, the freedom of election. If Sir Samuel Romilly's friends were willing to put their trust in the free good will of the people of Bristol, why raise money in such large

1

a little, snug, rotten-borough-like election,
was, at that moment, getting up in that
very city, for the interest and honour of
which they were affecting so much con-
cern! And, can you, then, believe them
sincere? Can you believe, that they have
any other view than merely that of securing
a seat for the party in Bristol?
Can you
doubt, that the contest, on their part, is
not for the principle but for the seat?

quantities, and especially why resort to party men and to loan makers for this purpose? They will say, perhaps, that the money is intended for the purpose of carrying down the London voters and for that of fetching voters from elsewhere; but, why are they afraid to put their trust in the resident voters of Bristol? The object of this subscription is very far indeed from resembling the object of that which was set on foot in Westminster, which was not to gain votes by dint of money, but merely to pay the expenses of printing, of clerks, and other little matters inseparable from an election at Westminster, and the whole of which did not amount to more than about eight hundred pounds; whereas as many thousands are stated to be already subscribed for procuring the election of Sir Samuel Romilly. In short, this attempt of the friends of Sir Samuel Romilly is like many others that have been made before, It is purse against purse. Mr. PROTHERO has shaken his purse at Sir Samuel; and, as the latter does not choose to engage with his own purse, his friends, with a loan maker at their head, came forward to make up a purse for him; and the free and un-trial. These, Gentlemen, are marks of bought voice of the electors of Bristol is evidently intended by neither party to have any weight at all in the decision.

Having pointed out this circumstance to your attention, it is hardly necessary for me to advert to the conduct of Mr. Hunt, which, in this case in particular, forms a contrast with that of the other parties too striking not to have produced a lasting impression upon your minds. He does not content himself with talking about defending your liberties. He acts as well as talks. He hears that the enemy is in your camp, and he flies to rescue you from his grasp. He does not waste his time in a taVern in London, drawing up flourishing resolutions about "public spirit." He hastens amongst you; he looks your and his adversary in the face; he shows you that you may depend upon him in the hour of

such a character in a representative as the times demand. Sir Samuel Romilly is a very worthy gentleman; an honest man; a humane man; a man that could not, in my opinion, be, by any means, tempted to do a cruel or dishonest act; and he is, too, a man of great talents. But, I have uo scruple to say, that I should prefer, and greatly prefer, Mr. Hunt to Sir Samuel Romilly, as a member of parliament; for, while I do not know, and do not believe, that the latter excels the former in honesty or humanity, I am convinced that his talents, though superior, perhaps, in their kind, are not equal, in value to the public, to the talents possessed by Mr. Hunt, who is, at this moment, giving you a specimen of the effect of those talents.

Let us now return and take a view of the political picture which Bristol at this moment presents. And, here, the first observation that strikes one, is, that neither the friends of Sir Samuel Romilly nor the friends of Mr. Prothero say one word in opposition to Mr. HART DAVIS, though he avowedly stands upon the principles of Mr. Bragge and the present ministers; though he quitted his canvass about ten weeks ago, to come express to London to vote in favour of the Orders in Council; and though he now says, that he will tread in the steps of Mr. Bragge. Though they have all this before their eyes, not one single syllable does any one of them utter against the pre- Gentlemen, the predominance of Lawtensions or the movements of Mr. Davis;yers, in this country, has produced amongst and, though the meeting at the Crown and us a very erroneous way of thinking with Anchor took place several days after the respect to the talents of public men; and, Bristol and Colchester writs were moved contrary to the notions of the world in for, and though the parties at the meeting general, we are apt to think a man great in must necessarily have been well acquainted mind in proportion to the glibness of his with all that I have above stated to you tongue. With us, to be a great talker is upon the subject of those writs, not one to be a greal man; but, perhaps, a falser word did they utter against the pretensions rule of judging never was adopted. It is of Mr. Davis, nor did they (according to so far from being true as a general maxim, the printed report of their proceedings) that it is generally the contrary of the even mention his name, or take the smallest truth; and, if you look back through the notice of the circumstance, that an election, list of our own public men, you will find,

that, in general, they have been shallow and mischievous in proportion to their gift of talking. We have been brought to our present miserable state by a lawyer-like policy, defended in lawyer-like debates. Plain good sense has been brow-beaten out of countenance; has been talked down, by the politicians from the bar; haranguing and special pleading and quibbling have usurped the place of frank and explicit statement and unsophistical reasoning. In Mr. Hunt you have no lawyer, but you have a man who is not to be brow-beaten into silence. You have a man not to be intimidated by the frowns or the threats of wealth or of rank; a man not to be induced to abandon his duty towards you from any considerations of danger to himself; and, I venture to foretel (begging that my words may be remembered) that, if you elect him, the whole country will soon acknowledge the benefit conferred on it by the city of Bristol.

THE LUDDITES.

No. I.

Message of the Prince Regent to the two Houses of Parliament.-Sealed Papers and Secret Committee.-Nature of the Ballot for a Commillee.—Publications in the TIMES and COURIER news-papers for the purpose of feeling the public pulse.

"Englishmen, now is your time to watch the WHIGS!"

This is the title which I intend to give to the several articles, which I shall necessarily have to write upon the subject of the measures now about to be adopted by the government, with regard to the counties of England, which have, for some time past, been in a state of disturbance.-It is well known, that the frame-breakers in Nottingham took the name of Luddites; that this name has since spread into the neighbouring counties; and that several counties have, for many months, been in a state of great trouble.

Gentlemen, this letter will, in all likelihood, find you engaged in the bustle of an On Saturday, the 27th election. With all the advantages on the of June, the following Message was deliside of your adversary, you may not, per- vered to the two Houses of Parliament, to haps, upon the present occasion, be able to the Lords by VISCOUNT SIDMOUTH and to defeat him. But, you will have a chance; the Commons by LORD CASTLEREAGH.you will have an opportunity of trying;" GEORGE P. R.-His Royal Highness you will have an election; and this you "the Prince Regent, in the name and on would not have had if it had not been for "behalf of his Majesty, has given orders Mr. Hunt, for the whole affair would have" that there be laid before the House of been over before you had scarcely heard of" Commons, Copies of Information reit. At the very least you will have some "ceived by his Majesty's Government, redays of liberty to speak your minds; to tell "lative to certain violent and dangerous Mr. Davis what you think of him and of" proceedings, in defiance of the laws, his predecessor; to declare aloud your "which have taken place, and which congrievances and your indignation; and event "tinue to take place, in certain counties of for this liberty you will be indebted to Mr." the kingdom.-His Royal Highness conHunt, and solely to Mr. Hunt. You are "fidently relies on the wisdom of the told of the zeal of Mr. Prothero and Sir "House of Commons that they will adopt Samuel Romilly in your service; you are "such measures as are necessary to secure told of their desire to promote your interest "the lives and property of the peaceable and your honour; but, where are they" and loyal inhabitants of the disturbed now? Where are they when the enemy is "districts, and to restore order and tranin your city, when you were to have been "quillity." -The first remark that prehanded over from Bragge Bathurst to Hart sents itself here is, that, so long as three Davis as quietly as if you had been a cargo weeks ago, Lord Castlereagh assured the of tallow or of corn? It is now, it is in House of Commons, that the accounts this moinent of real need, that Mr. Hunt which were received by government from comes to your aid; and, if he fail in de- the disturbed counties were very satisfacfeating, he will, at the least, harass your tory, more and more so every day. enemy, make his victory over you cost him Either, therefore, he was misinformed, or dear, and by exposing the sources and the people have relapsed. On Monday means of his success, lay the foundation of the 29th of June, both Houses voted, withhis future defeat and disgrace. out a division, an Address to the Regent, promising to take the subject into their consideration, and to adopt such measures as might be necessary to ensure the end pointed out in the latter part of the Message.

I am, your friend,

WM. COBBETT.

State Prison, Newgate, Monday, 29th June, 1812.

« 前へ次へ »