This is an item worthy to be recorded in every publication relating to the city of Bristol, Lord Bateman was Col. Commandant of the Herefordshire Militia, at the time when they fired upon, and massacred the citizens of Bristol, at the memorable slaughter at the Bridge, in the year 1793. Was this hundred guineas the price of that slaughter? This curious fact would never have been known, had it not been for our famous all-powerful Speaker's warrant. I understand that many of the Corporation were astonished, when this fact was published; they never having heard of it, or dreamed that 105_l_. of the citizens own money was paid to this Lord, for ordering his troops to fire upon them!
1793. £. s. d.
Oct.—Paid George Daubeny, Esq. for rais-
ing Bristol volunteers……….. 300 0 0
1801.—Paid expenses during the Market
Riots, &c. on account of the dear-
ness of Provisions, in the month
of April, 1801……………… 117 7 4
N. B. The Chamberlain's Salary was
this year raised from 62_l_. 10s. per
quarter, to 125_l_. per quarter,
making the annual amount…… 500 0 0
1806.—Paid GEORGE WEBB HALL, at sun-
dry times, towards passing the
Bristol Paving Bill……….. 1,000 0 0
1810.—Paid commemorating the National
Jubilee on the 25th October, 1809 337 11 4
1811.—Paid John Noble, Esq. for Wine sent
to the Lord High Steward, the
Recorder, and the two Members
of Parliament……………….. 315 0 0
N. B. This is an annual gift from
the freemen.
1811.—Paid on account of the expenses of
the invitation and the visit of
Lord Grenville, to an entertainment £. s. d.
given him by the Citizens,
as High Steward, in May, 1811… 1,393 11 0
1812.
July 14.—Paid John H. Wilcocks, Mayor, the
monies expended by him in entertaining
the MILITARY, viz. (the
East Middlesex Militia and Scots
Greys) at the Mayoralty House;
and for Beer for GUARDS MOUNTED
IN THE CITY DURING THE
ELECTION, VIZ……………….. 437 O 4
1812.
Sept.—Paid J. M. Gutch, for printing
Advertisements for calling a
Public Meeting of the Citizens
to address the Prince Regent on
the Death of the Right Hon.
Spencer Perceval, Chancellor of
the Exchequer………………… 52 18 0
Only let the reader cast his eye over the foregoing items, extracted from amongst some thousands of a similar nature; few as they are, they will serve as a specimen of the manner in which the Corporation of the city of Bristol spend the monies of the citizens; for whom, be it remembered, they only act as trustees. Lord Bateman was the Colonel of the Herefordshire Militia, who fired upon the citizens, and slaughtered a number of them; and his Lordship received one hundred guineas for this valiant and humane feat!! The Chamberlain's salary is raised, is doubled, in the year 1801, in consequence of the high price of provisions. Quere, has it been lowered again, now that the price of provisions is fallen? The item of July the 14th, 1812, is such as I do not believe disgraces the books of any other Corporation in England; between four and five hundred pounds paid to the military, by the civil power, for services performed during the election, some of which services I have before noticed. Four hundred and thirty-seven pounds paid to the military, for preventing the election of HENRY HUNT for the city of Bristol, in the year 1812. The item of 52_l_. 18_s_. for advertising a public meeting of the citizens of Bristol, to address the Prince Regent on the death of Spencer Perceval, is another precious proof of shameful, or rather shameless, expenditure. Why, five pounds would have been ample, to have informed every inhabitant of the city of it. But here, however, is 52_l_. 18_s_. paid to one corrupt knave of an editor, merely for calling a meeting! No wonder these caitiff editors are such time-serving tools, when they can get so profusely paid for their mercenary loyalty. This is a pretty bill of goggle-eyed Gutch, and for a pretty purpose too. This shews the expense of getting up a loyal meeting! During the whole time that I was taking the above extracts, and all those which have been published by Mr. John Cranidge, not only the Chamberlain, but the whole Corporation, were in a state of fever and the greatest agitation. This, however, did not prevent my steadily persevering in my purpose. These impudent fellows of Bristol city, who were the greatest tyrants in Christendom over those whose fate it is to be placed in their power, were quite tame, were civil, and even polite for Bristol chaps! So it is always; a subdued tyrant is the most tame, time-serving, abject slave in the world.
Perhaps there never before was such a mass of fraud and chicanery discovered and exposed. There might be seen charities upon charities, vast estates left for charitable purposes, producing a large annual income, and which, if fairly let, would produce an enormous increase, at least three times the sum; but one and all of these, with their immense revenue and patronage, were misapplied and perverted to corrupt electioneering purposes! In fact, whenever I could come at the truth, there did not appear to be a single charity in the whole city, whether vested in the Corporation or not, and great numbers there are, but what was perverted to electioneering purposes. Hospitals, schools, alms-houses, charities for apprenticeing freemen's sons—charities for setting up young freemen in business—charities for lying-in women—charities for widows—charities for orphans, in fact, all sorts of charities, all were rendered subservient to the accursed purpose of rivetting the fetters of the people, by being made instruments of bribery. In the first place, the original property is in most instances granted out upon long leases, or upon lives, for a mere nominal premium and nominal rent, to the tools and dependents of the Corporation. In truth, almost all the Corporation, all their dirty instruments, and the major part of the parsons and lawyers, are tenants. Large sums of money are lent by the Corporation, to the members of the Corporation, at mere nominal interest. Almost all the merchants and tradesmen of the city hold something under the Corporation, and at the time of the elections are their abject tools;—but to give a full and faithful account of these, would be to write the history of Bristol, and, as that is not my purpose, I shall proceed to other matters, not, however, till I have strongly recommended to every one, who is in any way connected with that city, to read the book published by John Cranidge, A.M. in the year 1818, entitled, "A Mirror for the Burgesses and Commonalty of the City of Bristol; in which is exhibited to their view, a part of the great and many interesting benefactions and endowments, of which the city has to boast, and for which the CORPORATION are responsible, as the stewards and trustees thereof: correctly transcribed from authentic documents, by John Cranidge, A.M."
It is very true, as Mr. Cranidge asserts, that the Corporation are the trustees for the freemen and burgesses, to whom they are, or rather ought to be, responsible. Having made myself complete master of this subject, I had resolved in my own mind, in case I had been elected the member for the city of Bristol, to make these worthies, the Corporation, really and not nominally responsible; and, with the blessing of God, I would have made them account for and refund those enormous sums and immense funds which they had so disgracefully, so infamously, misapplied. The charities are so numerous and so ample, that I firmly believe, if the property belonging to them were fairly let and made the most of, there would not be a citizen of Bristol that would not be handsomely provided for out of these funds. No city in the world ever produced more philanthropists, or more misanthropists, than the city of Bristol. No city of its size in the world can boast more charitable institutions—no city is more degraded by poverty and wretchedness amongst its inhabitants, mainly created by the corrupt misapplication of those very charities.
On the 24th or the 25th of February, 1813, the Committee was ballotted for in the House of Commons; the petitioners and the sitting members each striking out a certain number till they were reduced to thirteen, which, together with the nominee for each party, made fifteen, as follows——
Michael Angelo Taylor, Esq. Member for Poole, Chairman.
P. Grenfell, Esq. Great Marlow.
Philip Gell, Esq. Penryn.
Hon. R. Neville, Berkshire.
H. Pierce, Esq. Northampton.
Abel Smith. Esq. Wendover.
Lord G. Russell, Bedford.
C. Harvey, Esq. Norwich.
T. Whitmore, Esq. Bridgenorth.
G. Shiffner, Esq. Lewes.
D.S. Dugdale, Esq. Warwick.
J. Daley, Esq. Galway.
B. Lester Lester, Esq. Poole.