Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. — Volume 2

by Henry Hunt

Mr. Paull not having the slightest idea of the working of the green-eyed monster, jealousy, in the Baronet's breast, a dinner meeting of Mr. Paull's friends was advertised for the next day, at the Crown and Anchor, Sir Francis Burdett in the chair. The time arrived, the party assembled, but Sir Francis Burdett did not appear; a circumstance which threw a damp upon the meeting. Mr. Jones Burdett, however, attended, and read a letter from his brother, Sir Francis, addressed to the meeting, censuring in strong language the use that, without his consent, had been made of his name, and reflecting upon Mr. Paull. This caused a very unpleasant sensation in the meeting, and an elucidation of the business was demanded by some of the party. It appeared that Mr. Paull and his friends had announced the name of Sir Francis to be in the chair, as they had frequently done on a former occasion, without previously consulting the Baronet. Following the generous and undisguised impulse of his heart, and acting upon the principle of "do as you would be done unto;" Mr. Paull had used the Baronet's name, under the firm conviction that his friend Sir Francis would hurry to his post at a moment's notice to assist him, as he, Mr. Paull, would have done, at any hour of the day or night, to have served Sir Francis. But Mr. Paull was deceived; and some of his friends, who knew Sir F. Burdett better than he did, saw that the apple of discord had been thrown down by the implacable fiend jealousy, they anticipated what would follow, and they retired from the contest in disgust.

Mr. Paull, having had such a gross insult offered to him by a man whom he had hitherto esteemed his friend, and being wounded at such a moment in the most sensitive part, called upon Sir Francis Burdett for an explanation; and this being refused, he demanded satisfaction in the field, as a dernier resort, when he found that no terms of conciliation were likely to be acceded to by the Baronet. They met, and on the first fire both were wounded. Sir Francis Burdett received his antagonist's ball in his thigh, and Mr. Paull had the top of his shin bone shot away. They were both severely wounded. This caused a great sensation, not only throughout the metropolis but also throughout the kingdom. The public press, which was hostile to both the parties, made the worst of the affair; but they leaned to the Baronet, and affected to pity him, as having been stung by a viper of his own fostering. The truth was, that the press upon this occasion, as upon all others, had a leaning to the Aristocracy, and Sir Francis Burdett was no mean part of the Aristocracy. He was an old Baronet, with very large landed property, although he was supposed to have spent nearly a hundred thousand pounds, four years of his income, in his contests for the county of Middlesex. Sir Francis Burdett had besides endeared himself to the friends of Liberty all over the kingdom, by his public spirited exertions in and out of Parliament; and no man was a more warm and zealous admirer of the Baronet than I was. Like the great majority of his friends, I was enraged with Mr. Paull, and condemned his hasty, and, as I considered it, ungrateful attack upon the life of his patron, Sir Francis. This feeling was propagated with great assiduity by that part of the public press which was called liberal; and, taking advantage of this feeling, together with the pity excited by the severe and dangerous wound he was supposed to have received, the friends of the Baronet immediately came to a determination to propose him as a candidate for Westminster. Mr. Clayton Jennings, a barrister, took the lead, and during the contest appeared every day on the hustings as the Baronet's "locum tenens." However, few, if any of those who assembled as a Committee, were electors, and it was with the greatest difficulty that they could get the promise of two householders, to propose and second the nomination of Sir Francis Burdett. The great fear was, that the proposer and seconder would make themselves liable for the expenses of the hustings; and, as they had no reliance on the Baronet to indemnify them, this difficulty increased almost up to the hour appointed for the nomination. At length a Mr. GLOSSOP, a tallow-chandler, volunteered to propose the Baronet, if any one would second him; which, after a great deal of persuasion, one ADAMS, a currier and leather-dresser in Drury-lane, agreed to do. But, such was the dread of the expense, and so little acquainted was this person with the rights and duty of an elector, that, when it came to the pinch, as I am credibly informed, he actually run from his agreement, and refused to do it; so that the Baronet, when proposed, would have been left without a seconder, had not a young man, of the name of COWLAM, stepped forward and performed the office. I have heard poor COWLAM laugh most heartily at the timidity and meanness of this ADAMS, who, when the danger was over, claimed the merit of having seconded the Baronet at the nomination; which claim he has repeated ever since, and, on the merit of this he bravely swaggers and struts about at all the Rump dinners, he being one of the most conspicuous and notorious members of that August body. COWLAM, who was much too honest and sincere a lover of liberty to remain long either a dupe or a tool of this gang, let me into almost all the intrigues, tricks, and gambols of the junta of Westminster patriots, which I shall expose and lay bare to public view, as I proceed with my Memoirs.

The public mind was very much agitated by the duel of Sir Francis Burdett and Mr. Paull, but the newspaper editors all appeared to throw the blame upon the latter; and even those who at the former election had warmly supported him, with very few exceptions, abandoned him. The cry was raised against him, and he was basely deserted by those who, even at the risk of their lives, ought to have supported him. In justice to a much lamented deceased individual, the late Abraham Hewlings, Esq., I must state that he stood firmly and honestly by his friend Paull, to the last moment; but the cry was for Burdett, and his friends gathered those laurels which poor Paull had so deservedly won at the former election. If Sir F. Burdett had only stood neuter, nothing could have prevented the return of Mr. Paull; but with the support of Sir F. Burdett, similar to what he had received from him at the former contest, his election would have been sure.

The friends of the Baronet carried his election with a high hand, and he was returned at the head of the poll, by an immense majority; there having been polled for him 5,134 electors. Lord Cochrane polled 3,708; so that Sir Francis bad a majority of 1,426 votes above Lord Cochrane, the other successful candidate; Mr. Sheridan polled only 2,615, so that the votes of Sir Francis nearly doubled those of Mr. Sheridan, the late member; Mr. Paull polled no more than 269 votes.

The friends of freedom, throughout the whole country, were delighted with the success of Sir Francis and Lord Cochrane; or rather with the triumph of the electors of Westminster, in having thus rescued the representation of their city out of the hands of the two great factions of the country, which had always divided the representation of that city between them; the Whigs and Tories having each returned a member. This was, therefore, considered as a great triumph for the friends of reform; for neither Sir F. Burdett nor Lord Cochrane was considered as being a Whig or a Tory, but as a friend to the liberties of the people. Lord Cochrane was certainly an officer of his Majesty's navy, but he had on various occasions, during the last Parliament, expressed himself as a friend to an inquiry into the abuses of Government, and particularly into the abuses of the navy, with which he was intimately acquainted, and to expose which he had proved himself to be both able and willing. To some of the electors of Westminster he had likewise pledged himself to support the cause of Reform in the House of Commons. He was consequently considered a more eligible member for the electors of Westminster than the brilliant Mr. Sheridan; and he was accordingly elected with Sir F. Burdett.

I was at this time residing in Belle Vue, at Clifton, winding up the brewing concern, in which I had unfortunately embarked. I had returned home out of Wiltshire, late at night, and had lain longer in bed than usual, when the servant came to my room, and informed me that an opposition was anticipated for the election at the city of Bristol, as a new candidate had offered. This new candidate was Sir John Jarvis, an Irishman, who was the Commander of the Bristol Rifle Corps of Volunteers. I knew something of the politics of Bristol, but I could not fathom the drift of this opposition, as I could not make out what claim Sir John Jarvis had to be a more popular character than the late members, Colonel Baillie and Mr. Bragge Bathurst. To be sure Mr. Bathurst was a ministerial man, a brother-in-law of the Addingtons, and therefore very unpopular; but as Sir John Jarvis was also a ministerial man, there appeared something mysterious in the business. However, the servant informed me that the populace were drawing him round the city in his carriage, and that he was evidently the popular candidate. After all, it ought to be no great wonder that any one should have been popular that was opposed to Mr. Bragge Bathurst.

On hearing this intelligence I put on my clothes, and having taken a hasty breakfast, I proceeded towards Bristol, determined to be an eye-witness of the proceedings of the election. When I got upon the Exchange all was confusion, Sir John Jarvis was addressing the people in an incoherent, unintelligible speech, in which, however, he professed great patriotism, and vowed that he would oppose Mr. Bathurst to the last moment, and keep the poll open as long as there was a freeman unpolled. He then alighted from his carriage, and retired into the large room in the Bush tavern, where he was followed by a great number of the electors, and others; and amongst that number I made one. He was attended by a noisy blustering person, who I found was an attorney, of the name of Cornish, who also was professing what he would do, and how he would support his friend Sir John Jarvis. Hundreds of freemen pressed forward, and offered their copies of their freedom, as an earnest that they would voluntarily give him their votes; but it struck me that all was talk, and no one appeared to take any efficient steps to promote or secure the election of Sir John Jarvis, who himself appeared to be all bluster, and to be acting without the least system or arrangement, calculated to secure even the first requisites to commence an election.

I now took the liberty to ask the candidate whether he was prepared with any one to propose and second his nomination; to which he gave me a vague and unmeaning answer, apparently as if he did not understand what I meant by a person to propose and second him. I then appealed to Mr. Cornish, the worthy attorney, who answered me in a similar manner; and he evidently appeared not to be in the secret any more than myself. I next addressed the multitude, to inquire which of them was prepared to propose Sir John Jarvis, and which to second the proposition? All said they were ready to powl for Sir John, but no one was engaged to perform the necessary part of the ceremony to which I had alluded, and it likewise seemed very plain that neither Sir John nor his attorney took any pains to secure any one to do this. At this critical moment intimation was given, that the Sheriffs were proceeding with the other Candidates to the Guildhall, to commence the election. Sir John and his agent were about to move very deliberately towards the scene of action, when I addressed him as follows:—"I see that you are either unaware of the forms to be observed, or you are unprepared, Sir John. If, however, when it comes to the proper time, no one else proposes you, I will: though I am no freeman of Bristol, yet I will undertake to do this, as it will give your friends an opportunity of coming forward, and it will prevent the Sheriffs from hastily closing the election, which they are very likely to do if you are not prepared with some friends to propose and second your nomination." He answered, as we went along together, "Very well, Sir." In this way we proceeded to, and entered, the Guildhall, and mounted the hustings together. The usual proclamation being read by the Under-Sheriff, an old mumbling fellow, of the name of Palmer, some one proposed Colonel Baillie, the late member, as a fit and proper person to represent the city again. Colonel Baillie was a Whig member, and Colonel of the Bristol Volunteers, being a Whig, or Low-party-man, as they called him. This proposition was received with very general cheers and approbation. The next person proposed was Mr. Bragge Batburst. He being a ministerial man, the speaker was repeatedly interrupted with loud shouts of disapprobation, which continued without intermission till the conclusion of the speeches of those who proposed and seconded him. The Sheriffs were now about to proclaim these two candidates duly elected. There stood Sir John, looking as wild as a newly taken Irishman, fresh from the bogs of that country; and there stood the electors, bawling Sir John Jarvis for ever! while the Sheriff was very deliberately proceeding to declare the proposed candidates duly elected. As I had narrowly watched their motions, I now stepped forward, and addressed the electors in at least an animated speech, in which I proposed Sir John Jarvis as the most eligible person to represent them in Parliament. During the time that I was thus addressing them, the most dinning uproar arose. I was loudly and enthusiastically applauded by the multitude, the great body of the electors; and as loudly and earnestly opposed and hooted by the well-dressed rabble upon the hustings and its vicinity, consisting of the whole of the Corporation, the Clergy, the Attorneys, and their myrmidons; but I persisted and delivered some wholesome truths as to the state of thraldom in which the electors had hitherto been bound and held by the two factions of Whigs and Tories, who had always in Bristol divided the representation and the loaves and fishes between them, leaving the electors nothing but the empty name of freemen. The people were in an ecstacy of joy to hear this language, which so completely corresponded with their feelings, which was so very different from that which they had been accustomed to hear from the candidates of the contending factions, and which language of truth also enraged the agents of those factions almost to a state of madness. The violence and threats of those despicable agents were open and undisguised, and exceeded all bounds; nay, some of them actually proceeded to personal violence, and began to lay hands upon me, to pull me down. As, however, I was no chicken, I easily repelled those who ventured too near, and threatened them, if they did not keep at a distance, that I would call in the aid of those who would soon make a clearance of the hustings, if they were disposed to try their hands at an experiment of that sort. The people immediately took the hint, and rushed forward to support me, and to punish those who had assailed me; but I told them there was then no occasion for their interference, as the gentry were peaceable.

I proceeded with my haranguing, and those who were not in the secret actually began to be alarmed, for fear there should be a contested election, which they had by no means expected. I eulogised Sir John Jarvis, cried his patriotic virtues up to the skies, and descanted upon his talent, his resolution, and his invincible love of religious and civil liberty. I saw that those around me were astonished at my language, and, what was rather surprising to me, I perceived that Sir John looked as much astonished as any of my hearers; and the reader will also be astonished when I inform him, that I had never seen Sir John Jarvis before in my life, to speak to him, and in fact that I knew nothing about him. I only spoke of him that which my imagination suggested to me an honest candidate ought to be; and, what is more extraordinary, as I was a stranger in Bristol, so the people were strangers to me, for I saw scarcely a single person amongst the whole assemblage whom I could call by name. I recollect there was one old Alderman, of the name of Bengough, who was almost frantic during my speech, and some of his friends were obliged to hold him down by mere force. The cry was, who is he? What is his name? Is he a freeman or a freeholder of the county? At the intervals when the multitude gained silence for me, by overwhelming and drowning the clamour of my opponents with their shouts of hear him! he shall be heard!! Bravo, Bravo!!! &c. I went on with my speech. The Right Honourable Bragge Bathurst, the White Lion, or Ministerial Candidate, stood near me in great agony, which I did not fail to heighten, by giving him a well-merited castigation for his time-serving devotion to the Ministers, his never-failing vote for war, and for every tax which was proposed to be laid upon the people. I urged the absolute necessity of the Electors of Bristol returning a member the exact reverse of Mr. Bragge, which I described Sir John to be. But these compliments to the popular Candidate, appeared to be received by no one less graciously than by Sir John himself; and instead of his giving me, by nods or gestures of assent, any encouragement to pursue my theme when I met his eye, which at first I frequently sought, I received the most chilling frowns and discouraging shakes of the head. Though I had no doubt now but I had mistaken my man, I, nevertheless, concluded by proposing him as a Candidate to represent the city of Bristol in the ensuing Parliament which proposition was received by nine distinct and tremendous cheers.

Silence being restored, the Sheriff demanded, in a very respectful tone, if I was either a freeman or a freeholder? I replied that I was a stranger in Bristol, I was neither as yet; but that I hoped soon to become both. This caused immense clamour, and Alderman Bengough and his supporters, some of the well-dressed rabble of the city of Bristol, roared out lustily, "turn him out, turn him out." My friends, however, or rather supporters, who were as to numbers and physical strength more than twenty to one, reiterated, "touch him if you dare!" I contended that it was not at all necessary for a Candidate to be proposed either by a freeman or a freeholder; that Sir John was entitled to offer himself without any such formality, and that if one man polled for him that made him a legal Candidate; and I urged him to do so, but he stood mute and shuffled from the point. Now, for the first time, I began to discover that it was all a hoax, and that the patriotic Irishman was nothing more nor less than a scape-goat, a mere tool in the hands of the White Lion club, or ministerial faction; a mere scarecrow, whom they had set up to deter any other person from offering himself, or rather to prevent the freemen from seeking another Candidate; and it must be confessed that their plan succeeded to a miracle. In the midst of this squabbling the Sheriffs very coolly declared that Colonel Baillie and the Right Honourable Bragge Bathurst were duly elected, without any opposition, and the return was made accordingly.