Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. — Volume 2

by Henry Hunt

Between the time of adjourning the poll to that of meeting again the next morning, I received no less than half a score anonymous letters, threatening my life, if I appeared at the Hall the next day. This had, of course, no weight with me; but it shows by what a gang of desperadoes I was surrounded. I had not the least doubt of their good will to put this threat into effect; it was the fear of a dreadful retribution that alone deterred them from hiring some of the numerous assassins, who, it was said, had volunteered for a good round sum to become my butchers. All sorts of schemes and plans were devised to get rid of me; but nothing was thought likely to answer. At length it was proposed, by certain members of the White Lion Club, to bribe me with the offer of a sum sufficient to purchase a seat from one of the Boroughmongers, if I wished to be in Parliament. This was believed to be the only plan, and every one appeared to think that it would be much better to give me 5000_l_. to withdraw, than it would be for them to pay 20,000_l_., which was the least the contest would be likely to cost, besides all the trouble to boot. But just as this was apparently unanimously agreed upon, one of the sapient attorneys, who happened to know me a little personally, put this very natural question, "Pray, Gentlemen, who is the man that is to offer Mr. Hunt this bribe?" This, as I was informed, put an end at once to the scheme; there being no one who would undertake to be the messenger to bear such a proposition to me. The task would indeed have been an absurd as well as a hazardous one; for I offered myself to the people of Bristol upon the Constitutional principle that I would not spend one shilling, neither would I canvass the electors; and I further tendered an affidavit, which I offered to swear before the Mayor, that I never would accept of a place of profit or a pension under the Crown, either directly or indirectly, either for myself or any one of my family. It was, therefore, not very likely that I would consent to creep into Parliament by corrupt means.

Well, the election was fairly begun, two candidates were regularly proposed, it had been put to the vote, the shew of hands had been declared by the Sheriffs to be in my favour, a poll had been demanded by Mr. Davis, the poll was open and votes on each side had been taken, and the poll been adjourned till nine o'clock the next morning. One thing was made obvious, on the first day, to my opponents. It was clearly ascertained that I could not be put off my guard; and that in the midst of this terrible struggle and hurlyburly, I was perhaps the calmest and most collected man in the whole assemblage. All hopes of putting an end to the election were consequently quite banished from the mind even of the arch-trickster, Mr. Arthur Palmer, and there was nothing left for them but to endure the fifteen days contest, or try to bring it by force to a sudden conclusion. It was then, as I have before stated, that the bludgeon-men were let loose to accomplish the plan, and glut the vengeance of their enraged and mortified employers; and, after I was retired to bed at my inn, to recruit my strength, that I might be able, on the next day, to commence single-handed, the task of keeping in order these said forty limbs of the law, and dreadful was the struggle. Mr. Davis had all the power of authority and wealth thrown into his scale; and finding that I had all the popularity, his supporters set to work the engines of intimidation, corrupt influence, and bribery. All day long my voters had to submit to insults and assaults, committed upon them by the bludgeon-men, who had increased their numbers to eight hundred. These fellows, together with the whole of the City police, conducted themselves in the most outrageous manner, by maltreating the people. Their gangs had absolutely blocked up the whole of Broad-street, and every avenue leading to the hustings. Information was frequently brought to me, that these ruffians were assaulting and beating back my votes; and I frequently left the hustings and went into the streets to rescue those who were so unmercifully attacked, which I always effected whenever I went forth.

When the evening came, and the poll was adjourned to the next day, I retired, mounted my horse, which was waiting for me at the Hall door, and rode to the Exchange, to give the multitude a history of the proceedings of the day in the Guildhall. After giving them a correct detail of the business of the day, and the state of the poll, I urged every man to get as well armed as he could, and by all means resist the illegal violence of the hired bludgeon-men; but on no account to strike first. It behoved them, I said, to stand up manfully for their rights, and not be driven off the field, particularly out of their own city, by hired ruffians. I told them that, after I had been home to my inn and taken my dinner, it was my intention to ride round the city for a little fresh air, and that I should, if they wished it, have no objection to my friends accompanying me, to make a sort of general canvass. This communication was received with universal approbation, all declaring that they would attend me; and I promised to start from my inn, the Talbot, precisely at seven o'clock, to ride an hour or an hour and a half.

At the appointed time they were all as good as their words, and the Talbot was surrounded by perhaps not less than from ten to fifteen thousand people. I also was as good as my word, for as soon as the clock struck seven I mounted my horse, and rode out of the inn yard amongst them. I was of course hailed with such shouts as made the whole city ring again. Unaccompanied by any human being whom I knew, I threw myself amongst them, and made my way through a passage that was opened, over the bridge and down by the quay, gently following the course of the river from Bristol-bridge even till I came round by the Broad-quay to the draw-bridge. The whole of this quay is covered with all sorts of timber, wood, poles, faggot piles, and other rough merchandise, principally brought. from Wales. The people eyed these faggot piles very wishfully; at length one drew out a stick, another followed, till, as we passed along, the whole male part of the multitude became armed with bludgeons and sticks as well as Mr. Davis's bludgeon-men. Though I could have wished that the weapons had been otherwise obtained, yet I must confess that I was not very sorry to see what had happened, as the White Lion hirelings had become so outrageously brutal that it was absolutely necessary to put them down, or the next day we should not have been enabled to bring up a single vote. Eight hundred ruffians, collected from the collieries at Kingswood and from Cock-road, the haunt of every species of desperadoes; such a gang as this, well paid and well filled with ale, and knowing that, do what they would, they should be protected by the authorities, was a sort of force that was not to be trifled with. I therefore gave the word, let none of my friends strike first, but let no one upon such an occasion as that for which we are contending, which is for the freedom of election, let no one be insulted or assaulted with impunity by the hired bludgeon-men. If they once begin to knock down the people, let them without ceremony be driven out of the city.

Such a body of men as were with me, armed each of them with a good thick stick, made rather a formidable appearance, and I saw that the countenances of the citizens, shopkeepers, and merchants, as I passed, evidently betrayed the greatest alarm. As soon as they had attended me to my inn, and given me three cheers at parting, the cry was, "to Broad-street! to Broad-street!" which was the rendezvous for Davis's bludgeon-men, who had got complete possession of that street, and remained opposite the White Lion the whole of the day, stopping up all access to the Guildhall, which is in the same street. Every one who was not of the Blue party, and who had attempted to pass, had been not only insulted but assaulted, and sometimes knocked down and half murdered. One man had been killed the night before. Every one now affected to dread Hunt's mob; but I replied "depend upon it they only want their rights, and their rights they shall have, as far as maintaining the freedom of election, or they shall fight for it." In less than a quarter of an hour after they quitted the Talbot, and before I had finished my tea, I heard a tremendous shouting, and upon inquiring the cause, I found that the bludgeon-men had all fled at the approach of my men. On the evening before, when the people had no weapons, the bludgeon gentry had received a specimen of what they could do in resisting unjust and usurped power; and now that the people had bludgeons as well as their enemies, the hirelings took to their heels, and the volunteers were victorious, without striking scarcely a blow. The timid and cowardly race that had employed these bludgeon-men, in whom they placed great confidence to save them from Hunt's mob, began to quake for fear; but their fears were groundless. Having by their victory gained that to which they were entitled, a free and unmolested passage through the streets of their city, they were content; and, instead of acting in the same way, that, under similar circumstances, their dastardly oppressors would have done, instead of committing the slightest depredations upon any body or any thing, they returned to communicate their triumph to me, which they announced by three cheers, and then quietly and peaceably dispersed, and retired each man to his home, without even having broken a single pane of glass, that ever came to my knowledge. The very idea of having a free election was, however, quite out of the question with my opponents. They sent off for the military, as it was reported, without further delay, though there did not exist the least riot, or probability of one; in fact, all rioting and bloodshed had been put an end to by driving the hireling bludgeon-men to quarters, and clearing the streets of them.

By this time I had received a considerable accession to my forces at the inn. My committee, or rather the committee of the free men, mustered very strong. Mr. Williams, a very respectable shoemaker, together with Mr. Cranidge, a schoolmaster, had now joined the standard of Liberty, and added their names to my committee. Every one who entered the committee subscribed his name to act as a volunteer, without the slightest pecuniary remuneration. There were the two Pimms, Lyddiard, Mr. Bright, in the Old Market, Mr. Brownjohn, Mr. Wright, the famous pedestrian, who has lately accomplished such feats in Yorkshire, such as no one but a real Radical could perform; a Mr. Webb, a sort of an attorney, a very active man, who was generally in the chair at most of the committee meetings, and who used to be very particular that every one who joined the committee should pledge himself to act as a volunteer, &c. without fee or reward. There was also a Mr. Hornbrook, who, together with Webb, took a very prominent part in the talking department. There were several more, but these determined Radicals managed every thing, and carried all my plans into effect. I seldom saw any thing of the committee in a body, except that every evening I paid them a mere visit of form for a few minutes. It was real purity of election; not one shilling was to be spent or given away, every one was to do his best, and to pay his own share of any little expense they were at; and so well understood was it, that it was an election of principle, that scarcely ten persons ever asked for any thing; not even so much as a draught of porter was ever given away to a voter or any one else. There was a daily subscription for printing, and that was all the money that was ever required, and printing was the only thing on which money was spent. Yet even this was a heavy expense. I have since learned that there was a rich Quaker, and two or three rich men, that, under the rose, furnished my committee, or at least some of the members of it, with liberal sums. There was also a lady at Clifton who did the same; and, in truth, I have reason to think that money to a considerable amount was subscribed in this way, which never came to my knowledge, or to the knowledge of the great body of the committee.

I have, I dare say, missed the names of some who made up this committee. Indeed, I at this moment remember some additional names. There was Mr. Thomas, and Mr. Lutherel, a sort of a journeyman attorney, and a Mr. W. Weech, of all the men in the world one that I ought not to have forgotten, he was a most worthy elector of Bristol, who, together with Brownjohn, never flinched for a moment. There were also Mr. Haines and Mr. Farr, and a brave and worthy elector of the name of Stokes, a shoemaker. In fact, they were altogether as brave and as staunch a little band of patriots as ever met to struggle for the rights of Englishmen—and this was indeed a mighty struggle, the force, the power, the wealth, and the corrupt influence that we had to contend with, being beyond all description.

I very soon discovered that there was not the slightest chance of carrying the election; there being a complete coalition between the Whigs and the Tories. The whole enormous influence of both the factions was thrown into the scale against me. The most violent menaces were used by them to deter my friends from coming forward in my favour. Hundreds upon hundreds came to say, that they were anxious to vote for me, but if they did do so they would lose their bread, and they and their families would be ruined. All the merchants, tradesmen, and masters of every denomination, openly vowed vengeance against all their dependants and connexions, if they voted for me. I believe there was never any thing equal to the threats and intimidation that took place in that city during that election. As, therefore, there was no chance of contending against all this with any prospect of success, the only course which was left for me to pursue, was to make the enemy purchase his victory as dearly as possible; and, with this view, all my efforts were directed to impress on the minds of my Committee the necessity of husbanding our resources, by keeping back all the staunch votes, so as to protract the poll to the very last hour which was allowed by law. We did accomplish this; yet how, under such adverse circumstances, we contrived to carry on the contest for fifteen days, has often been a matter of astonishment to me.

I had been two days now without any friend to assist me, and whether it was on the third or whether it was on the fourth day, I am not quite clear; but, to my great joy, a gentleman from London, whom I had only met once or twice before, came down, as he said, when he introduced himself upon the hustings, expressly to assist me in the glorious struggle. My pleasure was equal to my surprise, when Mr. Davenport, a gentleman well known in the literary world, walked up on the hustings and shook me by the hand, at the time that he communicated this gratifying intelligence. Mr. Davenport was just the very man of whom I stood in need. If I had taken the choice of the whole world, knowing him, as I now do, I would have selected Mr. Davenport. He is rather a little man, but he is as brave as a lion, with an eye as quick as a hawk's, decisive and rapid in executing any thing that was to be undertaken, and with wit and talent as brilliant as the sun at noon-day. I had all along felt myself more than a match for the forty attorneys and all their myrmidons; but with such a man as Mr. Davenport by my side, I held them cheap indeed. This was such an accession to my forces as I had not at all calculated upon. To Mr. Cobbett and to Sir Francis Burdett was I indebted for the able assistance of such a man. Before he arrived, I had not a friend that I could communicate with; all the Bristol men were tradesmen, and they had to attend to their business, when they were not at work either in the Committee-room or in the field; but in Mr. Davenport I found at once a delightful companion, and an indefatigable, able, assistant. When he sees this it will recal to his recollection many and many a hearty laugh which we had together, in talking over the blunders and stupidities that had been committed by the Bristolians during the labours and fatigues o£ the day, and how we enjoyed the mischief that we were making amongst the agents of The Boroughmongers. It was calculated that Mr. Davis and his friends did not spend less than two thousand pounds a day, while we fared sumptuously, and partook of every delicacy of the season, at an expense not exceeding twenty-five shillings a day between us; this being the extent of my expenses, when I came to pay my bill at the end of the sixteen days that I was at the Talbot. I shall never forget how he used to laugh and enjoy the fun; and it almost makes me laugh now, even in my solitary dungeon, when I recollect the way in which Snuffy Jerry tuned up the first song that Mr. Davenport wrote, beginning—"Tallow Dick! Tallow Dick! you are cursedly sick of being baited at Bristol election." Tallow Dick, be it observed, was the name by which the Tory champion was known. After being eighteen days and nights in solitary confinement, in my gloomy, dark, damp, dungeon, without having been once cheered by the voice of a friend, I can smile at the recollection of these scenes that afforded us so much mirth. Ah! my dear and much respected friend, when you read this, and think of my situation, I know that the tear will for a moment glisten in your eye, your whole soul will sympathise with your friend. But again, when you think of the cruel sufferings and persecutions of those that I love more than my life, I can almost see you jump out of your seat, and, as you brush the tear indignantly from your eye, I can fancy I hear you shower down maledictions upon the unnatural monsters who can thus delight to inflict wanton misery upon a captive and his unoffending family.

The next morning very early, one of my friends came to my bed-room door to inform me that a regiment of soldiers had been marched into the city during the night, and that some of them had actually taken up their quarters and slept in the Guildhall, the very seat of the election. I immediately rose, and while I was dressing myself, I ordered my horse, being determined to go and witness this novel scene, of a regiment of soldiers taking possession of the Guildhall and the hustings, during the time of an election; still, however, expecting that as soon as the authorities were in motion in the morning, they would remove them at least from the immediate neighbourhood where the election was going on; but I afterwards found that my haste was unnecessary. I mounted my horse, and accompanied by a few friends, I rode down to the door of the Guildhall, which was surrounded by soldiers with bayonets fixed. Upon hearing that I was coming, for my approach was always announced by the people, those who had slept in the Hall come flocking down the steps, to have a peep at this tremendous candidate who had created such a popular feeling that the election could not be carried on without the intervention of the military, both horse and foot—two troops of the Scots Greys and the West Middlesex Militia. Upon one of the officers coming to the spot, I addressed them as I sat on my horse. But, as what I said was published at the time, in an account given of the transactions as they occurred, as well as in the details which were put forth by the London press, and collected by Mr. Cobbett, who reprinted them in the 22d volume of the Register, I shall insert his account of it, as follows:—