GEORGE III. 1791-1792
STATE OF PUBLIC OPINION IN ENGLAND, ETC.
As every day manifested more and more that the principles of the revolution in France were fraught with mischief, and as great exertions were made by Burke and others to enlighten the public mind on their evil tendency, it might have been expected that Englishmen, who enjoyed a free constitution, although they had generously sympathised with the French people at the outset of their work of regeneration, from a conviction that it would tend to their benefit and happiness, would, by this year, have seen that they were in error, and would, therefore, have somewhat abated in their admiration of that work. This might have been the case to a certain extent; but, nevertheless, those who professed republican principles in England were still very numerous, and had become bolder in their advocacy of such principles. A fierce war was carried on by the newspapers of the day against Burke’s “Reflections,” and pamphlets and volumes of all sizes were published, in order to show that it was a mere flimsy piece of rhetoric and fine writing. The most conspicuous of these volumes were the “Vindictæ Gallicæ;” or “Defence of the French Revolution,” written by Sir James Mackintosh; the “Rights of Man,” written by that fierce democrat, Tom Paine; and “Letters to the Right Honourable Mr. Burke, on his Reflections on the Revolution of France,” written by the celebrated Unitarian preacher, Dr. Priestley. Perhaps, the most popular of these books was the “Rights of Man,” which, crude and undigested as the arguments it contained were, was extolled by the republican party in England as a master-piece of human intelligence and genius, and as a complete refutation of all the arguments of Burke’s “Reflections.” This may have arisen from the fact that Paine’s doctrine was much more plain and intelligible to the common people: it was operatical and proposed immediate excision; that is, it advocated the total overthrow of monarchy, and the establishment of republicanism. To the honour of Sir James Mackintosh it must be mentioned, that he, subsequently, when he read of the massacres and atrocities committed in Paris, retracted the bold assertions he had made in the Vindicio Gallico, and, finally, declared that democracy was “the most monstrous of all governments, because it is impossible at once to act and to control; and, consequently, the sovereign power in such a constitution must be left without any check whatsoever.” Sir James Mackintosh, indeed, lived to regret that he had written his essay; nor does it appear that when he wrote he had any idea of the fatal consequences that would result from the principles he defended: like many others he indulged the hope that the revolution would correct its own vices. His essay, like those of Paine’s and Priestley’s, however, had an evil tendency at this period of public excitement. At the same time the Vindicio Gallicio was not calculated to work such mischief as the “Rights of Man,” and the “Letters to the Right Honourable Mr. Burke,” since the one was addressed to the educated, and the others to the uneducated classes of the public. Cheap editions of the two latter works were, in truth, industriously circulated throughout the country, by the various clubs which abounded on every hand. But notwithstanding the exertions of the press to promulgate revolutionary principles, there was still a sound conservative principle abroad: the main body of the people were loyal to their king, and few comparatively among the upper ranks were found to countenance the efforts of sedition. This was manifested in an unequivocal manner at Birmingham, where Dr. Priestley acted as a Socinian or Unitarian minister: a manner, indeed, which must be condemned, inasmuch as it was unworthy of the friends of order, and as it set an example of ungovernable fury to those who were represented as the foes of all established institutions. In most of the large towns of England associations were formed for the celebration of the French revolution on the 14th of July, the anniversary of the taking of the Bastille. Such an association was formed at Birmingham, and a few days before the appointed feast a printed handbill was circulated throughout the town, which seemed to be intended as a direct challenge and defiance to the anti-revolutionists; to those who were advocates for church and state. This hand-bill was without signature, and it read thus:—“My countrymen, the second year of Gallic liberty is nearly expired. At the commencement of the third, on the 14th of this month, it is devoutly to be wished that every enemy to civil and religious despotism, would give his sanction to the majestic common cause by a public celebration of the anniversary. Remember that on the 14th of July the Bastille, that ‘High Altar and Castle of Despotism,’ fell! Remember the enthusaism peculiar to the cause of liberty with which it was attacked! Remember that generous humanity that taught the oppressed, groaning under the weight of insulted rights, to save the lives of oppressors! Extinguish the mean prejudices of nations, and let your numbers be collected and sent as a free-will offering to the national assembly! But is it possible to forget that your own parliament is venal? Your ministers hypocritical? Your clergy legal oppressors? The reigning family extravagant? The crown of a certain great personage becoming every day too weighty for the head that wears it? Too weighty for the people who gave it? Your taxes partial and excessive? Your representation a cruel insult upon the sacred rights of property, religion, and freedom? But on the 14th of this month prove to the political sycophants of the day that you reverence the Olive Branch; that you will sacrifice to public tranquillity till the majority shall exclaim ‘The peace of slavery is worse than the War of Freedom’! Of this moment let tyrants beware!” This paper occasioned a great ferment in the good town of Birmingham. It was considered generally by the people to have proceeded from the republicans that had appointed to feast at the tavern on the 14th of July; while, on the other hand, it was affirmed by the republicans that it had been written, printed, and distributed by the opposite party for the purpose of disturbing their convivial meeting. It was thought advisable to give up the feast, and notice was given to that effect; but mine host of the tavern represented that he had prepared the viands, and that they might feast without danger if they did not sit too long at the table, and so the company, to the number of eighty or ninety, met at the appointed time. One Keir, a man well known for his attainments in several branches of science, and a member of the Established Church, was in the chair; but the party had scarcely assembled, before the tavern was surrounded by a tumultous crowd, who shouted long and loudly, “Church and King!” “Church and King!” Strange rumours soon got abroad of the doings within the tavern. It was said that mine host had set three figures upon the table: one a medallion of the king encircled with glory; another an emblematical figure of British liberty; and a third an emblematical figure of Gallic slavery breaking its chains. It was likewise said, that the patriots within doors had cut off the king’s head and placed it on the table! Finally it was reported that the very first toast of the assembly was, “Destruction to the present government, and the king’s head upon a charger.” This was too much for the feelings of the loyal people of Birmingham to endure. No sooner had this toast been made known, than loyalty “swift as lightning shot through their minds, and a kind of electrical patriotism animated them to instant vengeance.” Before the second course was well on the table, they rushed into the tavern, broke windows and glasses, and compelled the carousers to take refuge in flight. So writes one authority; but another more authentic states, that it was some hours after, when most of the company had departed, that the mob broke in, and that the peculiar object of their search was Dr. Priestley, from whose wig they wanted to knock out the powder. Dr. Priestley had long been offensive to the townspeople of Birmingham for his bold advocacy of the principles of the French revolution; and now that their passions were excited, when they could not discover him at the tavern, and after they had smashed all the windows, they resolved to seek him elsewhere—at his dwelling-house on Fair Hill. Had they proceeded direct to his residence, they might have tried their skill in knocking the powder out of his wig, and, had they done nothing further, they would not have committed much mischief, inasmuch as the doctor could soon have had it re-powdered. A hint had been given them, however, that they had done sufficient mischief at the tavern, and that they had better go to the meetings. In a brief hour, therefore, the new meeting-house where Dr. Priestley preached was broken into, and set on fire; and in another brief hour the old meetinghouse sent up its flame towards heaven likewise. The mob now sought the doctor at his house on Fair Hill, but, timely warned, he and his family had taken refuge in flight. His house now shared the fate of the meeting-houses: together with the whole of his valuable library, his still more valuable apparatus for philosophical experiments, and the furniture; it was destroyed by fire. All this was done on the 14th of July, and it was hoped that the mob would go no further. But, unfortunately, they had in part been stimulated to these violences by strong drink, which had been given them by some of the more respectable loyalists of the town. On the morrow, therefore, the rabble of the town again sounded the cry of “Church and King,” and being joined by the rabble of the mining and foundery districts in the neighbourhood, they resumed their dreadful avocation. On that day the houses of Messrs. John Ryland, Taylor, and Hutton, were destroyed; the magistrates making no effectual preparations to stop the ravages. It does not appear that the mob had been furnished with any drink on this day by the loyalist magnates of the town; but they had extorted whole hogsheads of ale from Mr. Hutton to save his house—though they afterwards destroyed it—and had moreover found plenty of good wine in the cellars, and this incited them again to action. On the following day no less than eight houses within the town, and in its vicinity, wore destroyed, exclusive of the residence of Mr. Coates, a Unitarian minister, which was plundered and damaged, but not demolished. The following clay was Sunday, but it was no day of rest for the rioters, except those who were too drunk to move; they went into the country, it is true, but it was only to destroy chapels, and to plunder, and burn clown houses. On this day, however, their work of destruction was stopped. By the evening of the day, probably not finding sufficient drink in the cellars of the Dissenters, they had begun to break open and to destroy the houses of churchmen. They were busy in breaking open the house of Dr. Withering, at some distance from the town, when the words “light horse” sounded in their ears, and the whole mob melted away as if by magic; when the light-horse appeared, not a shadow of them could be found. In fact, the mob of Birmingham was the very counterpart of that which had been engaged in Lord George Gordon’s riots. Throughout their whole career they had not shown any disposition for fighting, except with fists and sticks, and on one occasion they fled when resisted by a single pistol. The riots had, doubtless, been raised by men of a better stamp than those engaged in it; but who, like the prime movers of the riots in London, kept in the back-ground. At the same time it manifested that the great body of the people of Birmingham had no fellow-feeling with those who advocated the principle of the French revolution. It was from this cause, perhaps, that government was backward in exhibiting sympathy for the sufferers, and a disposition for punishing the offenders. Troops were, indeed, sent to restore peace, but no proclamations were issued from the secretary of state’s office until some days elapsed, and then the reward offered for discovering and apprehending a chief rioter was a mere bagatelle. In the whole, seventeen were arrested and tried, five of whom only were found guilty; three were executed. The losses sustained by the sufferers were made good by the hundred, in the way which the law directs; and Dr. Priestley at least was a gainer in point of money, for in addition to the compensation awarded by law, his friends and admirers opened their purses freely on his behalf. He gained by the event, also, in point of popularity, and more especially in France and America. Testimonials, condolences, and flattering compliments were sent to him from all quarters, and he was even compared to Galileo and Socrates! The event, in truth, had the effect of making him more bold in his advocacy of revolutionary principles. Both from the pulpit and the press he loudly denounced the bigotry of England, and as loudly applauded the enlightened toleration of France. In this he was encouraged by those who entertained similar views to his own, and who in their addresses extolled him as a martyr. On the other hand, those who supported “church and state,” and various bodies of Dissenters, who could not tolerate either his extreme views of republicanism or his attacks on the mystery of the Trinity, assailed him in the most bitter manner. England, in fact, became too hot to hold him, for, in 1794, he expatriated to America. The national convention had nominated him a citizen of the French Republic, but by that time he had, doubtless, become convinced that there was no safety for him in France, whence he wisely forbore entering that wide arena of strife and bloodshed. So ended the Birmingham riot: it reflects no honour on our annals, but it shows that the mass of the population were satisfied with the English constitution, and it may serve as a warning to deter men from the exhibition of that malignant party-spirit which reflects disgrace on the best cause. “Let your moderation be known unto all men.”
CHAPTER XIX.
GEORGE III. 1792-1793
Meeting of Parliament..... Debates on the Russian Armament..... Debate on the Affairs of India..... Pitt’s Financial Statement..... The Slave-Trade Question..... London Police Act..... Act to relieve the Scotch Episcopalians, &c...... Sheridan’s motion respecting the Royal Burghs of Scotland..... Debates on Parliamentary Reform, &c..... Trial of Hastings, &e...... Bill respecting the New Forest and Timber for the Navy..... Prorogation of Parliament..... Changes in the Ministry..... East India Affairs..... Progress of the French Revolution..... Affairs of Poland..... State of the Public Mind in England..... Meeting of Parliament..... The Alien Bill, &c...... Execution of the French King.
A.D. 1792