The meeting then broke up in a very orderly manner.
On the 2nd of December another meeting was convened at Spa Fields to hear Hunt's account of his stewardship. He duly arrived, and went into "The Merlin's Cave." Addressing the Mob, he said that having found that Sir Francis Burdett was at Brighton, he determined to do their will by himself. "I went, then, first of all, to Carlton House, where, being admitted, I inquired if I could have an audience of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, for the purpose of presenting your Petition to him. I was told, there was no way of presenting that Petition, unless at the Prince's Levée, or by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, that is, Lord Sidmouth, you know. I then inquired when a Levée would take place, and was told it was quite uncertain, at least none would be for some time."
He then thought he was entitled to use his own discretion, and waited upon Lord Sidmouth, which he did, having first written his lordship a letter, and enclosing the Petition. He was received by Lord Sidmouth most courteously, and afterwards spoke of his reception in terms of eulogy. His lordship assured him that what had been told him at Carlton House was perfectly true, and that he would present the petition to his Royal Highness without delay; adding (to quote Hunt's speech), "that since the present family had come to the throne, no answer had ever been given to any Petition, unless presented by the Corporation of London, or by the two Universities, that, when he, himself, as Secretary of State, presented a Petition, he made his bow, and went on, and if I went to the Levée, I could only do the same.—Ah! Gentlemen, this is the Court Fashion. I told you I did not wish to go there."
But, either the fact of his going to Court, or his subsequent knowledge of popular feeling, made him far quieter in his after speech; and, although the Resolutions proposed were far too advanced to be accepted by the moderate Reformers, there was not the same rancour in his speech, or the Resolutions, as in his previous speeches, and the meeting, as a whole, was very orderly.
But, as we have the unfortunate example in our own times—not so very long ago, in Trafalgar Square—the calling together of a Mass meeting does not always guarantee that the gathering shall consist entirely of persons interested in the object of the meeting—the thing is impossible. The gathering of a crowd is the rough's opportunity, and the greater the Crowd, the greater his chance. If, to this, are added the thousands of fools who go to look on, get mixed up in the mob, and occasionally get a cracked head, broken arm, or are trampled on, as reward for their folly, we have the same mob to-day as there was in 1816.
I cannot believe that Hunt, or any of those who were absolutely around him, ever for a moment foresaw, or could have conceived, the outcome of this Meeting. The former one, on November 15th, was marked by its order; their petition had been courteously received, and presented to the Regent; but the roughs only want a Cry and a Crowd, and both were afforded them; hence the subsequent riot.
In fact, it was before the business commenced that a waggon drove up bedecked with tricolor flags and mottoes—the same sort of thing that we could, if we were foolish enough to go and look, see two or three Sundays in the year in Hyde Park—where the leather-lunged patriots belch forth their opinions—and in it was the typical Mob-orator, "a young man," named Watson. He was something in the Medical profession, and not being successful in that branch of industry, tried, as needy patriots will do, to turn instructor of the people. He is reported to have made a very inflammatory speech, and "at the close he asked them if they would accompany him? There was a Cry on the part of some that they would, to any place. 'And, will you protect me?' he said.—They replied, 'As long as life remained.'
"He jumped off the waggon, and headed the Mob, which went from Spa Fields to Skinner Street, and whose disgraceful conduct is detailed below; but who appeared to have had no other connection with the Meeting in Spa Fields than being on the spot where it was held. There is, indeed, no doubt, from the circumstances that occurred, that the greater number of those men who behaved so outrageously in the City, came to Spa Fields with a premeditated design not to take any part in the business of the Meeting, but to commit riot, as it appears that about two hundred men, chiefly dressed like sailors, had no sooner arrived there, than they found the man above mentioned ready to lead them, and they immediately followed him. These formed the chief part of the Mob in the City. It is evident, therefore, that all this was the result of some previously concerted plan, but it is equally evident that the plan had no connection with the Spa Fields meeting, the people who came to attend it remaining perfectly quiet, and taking no part in these outrageous proceedings....
"The Lord Mayor, as on the former day of meeting at Spa Fields, took every precaution for the purpose of preserving the public peace; but, serious apprehensions being entertained that on the present occasion mischief and outrage were contemplated by the misguided populace, additional measures were adopted. The Ward Constables, who had been considerably augmented, assembled at an early hour, and the following notice was posted on large boards, and not only fixed in conspicuous places, but carried about various parts of the City, by order of his Lordship:—
"'Our Sovereign Lord the King