The Chartist movement in its social and economic aspects

Part I Submitted In Partial Fulfilment Of The Requirements

FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

IN THE

Faculty of Political Science Columbia University

NEW YORK 1916

In Its Social and Economic Aspects

FRANK F. ROSENBLATT, A. M.

PART I

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

IN THE

Faculty of Political Science Columbia University

NEW YORK 1916

Copyright, 1916

bv

FRANK F. ROSENBLATT

NOV 2 WIS

KATHERINE GOLDING ROSENBLATT

in appreciation of true comradeship

this work is dedicated

by her husband

The Author

Preface

Society, like every individual, has a bias of its own: while frequently ready to make a lasting sensation of one social event, it is just as prone to ignore other phenomena of no less historical importance. The study of the nature and the causes of the social bias, in the broad sense of the word, would be an interesting and grateful task for the sociologist, while the analysis of the particular social event must be confined, according to the nature of the latter, to a distinct branch of the so-called Social Sciences.

The Chartist Movement is one of the tacitly ignored factors of the social evolution of the nineteenth century. People have always spoken of the personal characteristics of John Russell, Disraeli, or Gladstone, far more than of the aspirations of several million men who believed in, strove and suffered for the cause known as Chartism. By far, more has been written of individuals like Robert Owen and Richard Cobden than of the whole revolutionary movement which embraced a period of more than a decade. The student, indeed, knows from his history that Chartism was a political movement ; that the Chartists fought for " six 7] 7

8 PREFACE [8

points " which were embodied in the People's Charter. He undoubtedly knows also the funny side of the story, and, together with the writer of his history, mocks those fraudulent fellows, the Chartists, who affixed the signatures of Queen Victoria and a few other high dignitaries to the petition of almost one-fifth of the English nation. Incidentally, one meets some attestation of Chartism as " the only genuine, earnest, serious, popular movement in England since the days of the commonwealth," 1 and hears that "the story of the great social movement which is comprised in the history of Chartism is of greater importance than the disputes of the Whigs and Tories." 2 But it is a rather curious fact that, excepting Gammage's History of the Chartist Movement, which lays no claim to any scientific analysis of the movement and its causes, there is not a single work in the English language devoted to the subject which might satisfy the more earnest student.

The aim of this work is not only to give a fair and impartial presentation of the facts, but also to make an attempt at their interpretation and to show their interrelation. The social life of England during the first half of the last century in all its important aspects will have to be brought into the limelight. The political situation must, of course, serve as a background for the picture of a movement carried on ostensibly for political reform. But the study of none of the social and political conditions can be compared in weight with the analysis of the strictly economic state of that period. Indeed, whatever we may think of the Materialistic Conception of History as a general philosophy, there can hardly be any doubt that in all the struggles of labor, the " bread

1 William Clarke, Political Science Quarterly, vol. iii, i888, p. 555.

2 Spencer Walpole, History of England from the Conclusion of the Great War in 1815, London, 1886, vol. iii, p. 5<x>.

PREFACE and fork question " is the very seed of historical causation. Regarding the Chartist Movement primarily as a labor movement and as the first compact form of class struggle, the author, therefore, deemed it necessary, after a succinct survey of the political situation, to devote the first part of his work to a careful examination of the economic condition in general and the labor condition in particular which prevailed in " Merry England " immediately before and during the period of the Chartist Movement.

The present monograph comprises only the first stages of the movement. The original intention to publish an extensive study covering the whole period could have been carried out only by going to England for the purpose of collecting additional material. This design was frustrated by the present war. It has therefore become necessary to divide the work into' two volumes, the second of which, the author hopes, will appear at a later date.

In the preparation of this work, it was considered essential to guard against personal predilections and sympathies. The material was collected with care from first-hand sources ; the facts were presented without any design to fit a pet theory ; and the heroes of the story were allowed to introduce themselves and to play their roles without any stagemanaging on the part of the historian. It is, perhaps, on account of this impartiality and lack of prejudice that some portraits vary materially from those which have been hitherto drawn.

In conclusion, the author wishes to acknowledge his profound gratitude to Professor Edwin R. A. Seligman both for the interest he has always taken in this work and for the privilege of using his invaluable collection of Chartist literature and documents.

Contents

PAGE

Preface - 7-9

CHAPTER I Chartism and the " six points " 21

Distinct labor movement . 21

Expression of class consciousness 21

The Levellers and Cromwell 22

Society of the Supporters of the Bill of Rights 22

Pitt, the Earl of Chatham 22

Reform bills introduced by William Pitt 22

Stanhope and Major Cartwright. . . 23

The Whigs and aristocratic clubs 23

Reform bills introduced by the Duke of Richmond and Fox . . . 23-4

Society for Constitutional Information 24

Government coalition in 1783 24

Metamorphosis caused by the French Revolution 24

The Duke of Richmond's letter on equality 25

Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution 25

Thomas Paine's Rights of Man 26

The London Corresponding Society 26

Government policy of oppression 27

Suspension of Habeas Corpus act . 27

Radicalism revived after the Napoleonic war 27

The Corn Laws of 1815 . 27

William Cobbett and the Hampden Clubs 28-30

Society of Spencean Philanthropists 3 1

Riots and new suspension of Habeas Corpus act 31

Benefit Societies and Botanical Meetings 3 2

The Manchester Massacre 3 2

The struggle for freedom 33

The Reform Bill and the National Political Union 33

CHAPTER II Hopes inspired by the Reform Bill of 1832 34

Ricardo's theory of rent 34

11] 11

12 CONTENTS r I2

PAGE

Burden of taxes 34-5

Selfish motives of manufacturers 34

Reform Bill condemned by "Orator" Hunt and others 35

Lord John Russell, the hero of the Reform Bill 36

Thomas Attwood and the Birmingham Political Union 36-7

Political corruption and inactivity 37-9

Notorious Bedchamber Plot 40

Old Poor Laws 40

Competition between workingmen and paupers 41-2

New Poor Law of 1834 42

The "workhouse test" 42

Poor Law Bastiles 42

Opposition to the New Poor Law • 43-5

Bill passed under protest 45

Stringency of administration 45-6

CHAPTER III Philosophy of the new law . 47

Negligence of children on the part of officers ...«„.. 48

Cruelties perpetrated in workhouses 49

Lord Brougham's frankness. 50

Cobbett's opinion of the new law 50

Bronterre's tribute to the " Money-monsters " . 50-1

Feargus O'Connor on excessive use of machinery 51

Brougham's hatred of charity 52-3

' ' Stepping stone ' ' to total abolition of relief 53

Carlyle's comments 54-5

Effects disguised for some time 55

The Irish famine , 55

Distress in the Highlands and Islands 55

Emigration to industrial centres 56

Dwelling conditions in cities 57-8

CHAPTER IV General unemployment 59-60

Weavers first victims 60

Birmingham deputation b 61

Laissez faire policy 61

I3 ] CONTENTS 13

PAOK

Condition in agricultural districts 61-2

"Not the time " plea against repeal of Corn Laws 63

Rise of prices of wheat - . . 63

Distress among the workingmen 64

Scourge of industrial cities 65

Variation of mortality 65

Progress of crime 66-7

Proportion of commitments to population 67

Persons in receipt of outdoor relief 68

Workhouse inmates 68

Petitions for repeal disregarded 69

CHAPTER V Whigs hostile towards labor legislation 7°

Campaign against evils of factory system led by ultra-Tories . . . 70-1

Freedom of contract and laissez faire doctrine 71

Ten Hour Movement 7 1

Nassau Senior's "last hour" argument 72

Government reports 7 2

Ashley and his followers 73

Employment of women and children 73~4

Attempts at trade unionism in the beginning of factory system . . 75

The Six Acts of 1810 75

Francis Place and his victory 76-7

New stratagem of labor leaders 77

Influence of Ricardian socialists <■ ■ 77

Owenism and Trade Unionism 7§

The manufacturers and the Government 79

Nassau Senior's view on combinations and strikes 79

Grand National Consolidated Trades' Union crushed 80

New fight for freedom 81

Apotheosis of political power 81

Bronterre's call for z grand national movement 82

CHAPTER VI The London Working Men's Association and its objects 84-5

Exclusiveness of the Association 86

Source of social evil 87

" The Rotten House of Commons " 88-9 j 4 CONTENTS [i 4

PAGE

Missionaries on tour 89

The "Six Points" . 90

Crown and Anchor meeting. . 90

Roebuck and other radical members of Parliament 90-1

Committee of twelve 91

Prorogation of Parliament 91

Birmingham Political Union enters campaign 92

Correspondence between William Lovett and Lord John Russell . 92

Address to Queen Victoria 93

Address to American workingmen 94

Preparation of bill by Lovett and Roebuck 95

Publication of " People's Charter " 95

Address on principles of Charter 9S - 7

CHAPTER VII The Leaders

Most auspicious period 98

Two parties in Chartist ranks 98

Policy of moral force 99

Advocates of physical force welcomed 100

Class legislation condemned 100

Discord suppressed for a time 101

William Lovett and his early career 102

First London Cooperative Trading Association 102

Follower of Robert Owen 103

Metropolitan Political Union 103

National Union of the working classes 103-4

Founder of London Working Men's Association 104

Personal characteristics 104-5

Feargus O'Connor's early career 105

Quarrel with Daniel O'Connell 106

Personal characteristics • 107-8

Opposed to Communism 109

Machinery the source of all evil no

Inclined towards revolutionary policy no

Founder of London Democratic Association no-ill

Repudiated terrorists in

Bronterre's early career 112

His account of himself 1 12-13

Literary activities 113

Admirer of Robespierre and Babeuf 113

Personal characteristics 114

I5 ] CONTENTS I5

FA*M

His view on the franchise 114

Theory of nationalization of land 115

His view on private property 117-118

Failed to recognize laws of social evolution and role of the working

Thomas Attwood an advocate of moral force 120

Founder of Birmingham Political Union 120

Leader of Birmingham Currency School 120

Advocate of paper money and inflation of currency 120

Henry Hetherington, martyr for free-press cause 121

Poor Alan's Guardian and Twopenny Despatch 121

Missionary of the London Working Men's Association 121

CHAPTER VIII The Gospel of Revolt Lovett, the apostle of moral force 122

O'Connor and Bronterre yielded to the inevitable 123

J. R. Stephens, the apostle of revolt . . . .> 123

His early career 123

His oratory 124

Preached class consciousness and urged insurrection 124

Resistance to bad laws a virtue 125

His sermon at Newcastle 126-7

Opposition to the New Poor Law 129

His allegiance to the Charter 129

Emphasized economic aspects of the movement 129

Attitude of the London Working Men's Association 129

His warning against abortive demonstrations 130-2

Lost his influence 132

C. J. Harney, agitator of physical force 132

Hailed the spirit of Marat . 133-4

Henry Vincent, the English Demosthenes 135

His early career 135

Missionary of the London Working Men's Association 135

His popularity ." 135

John Frost and his early career 136

His imprisonment 136

Adherent of Cobbett 137

Advocate of municipal reform 137

Member of Newport town council 137

Mayor of Newport 137 j6 contents [16

PASS

Appointed borough magistrate ... 137

Poor Law Guardian 137

Member of Newport Workingmen's Association 137

Chartist leader 137

His relations with people 137

CHAPTER IX The People

State of ominous excitement 138

Underground societies 138

" Foreign Affairs Committee " at Birmingham 138

Demonstration at Glasgow 139

Thomas Attwood 139

Suggestion of a " sacred strike " 139

Provincial Scotch merchants and manufacturers . • ■ 139

Newcastle manifestation 140

Defiant speeches 14°

Feargus O'Connor 141

Reference to Brougham 141

Appearance of troops causes indignation 14 1

Meetings at Sunderland and Northampton 142

Addresses by Vincent and others 14 2

Birmingham demonstration 14 2

O'Connor and Attwood 14 2

Physical force notions introduced 14 2

Resolutions for National Petition and General Convention . . . 143

Anxiety among leaders of the London Working Men's Association 143

Palace Yard demonstration in London 143

Allusions to physical force 144

Birmingham call endorsed 145

Address of the London Working Men's Association to the Irish

Manchester demonstration 146

Threats of vengeance 146

O'Connor, Stephens and Fielden 146-7

Peep Green demonstration • 147

Henry Vincent in the West 147

His supremacy in Welsh territory 147

Torch-light processions 148

O'Connor, Stephens and Harney chief speakers 148

People making arms 149

Stephens at the Hyde meeting 149

17] CONTENTS 17

PAGE

Lord John Russell's letter declaring torch-light meetings illegal . 149

His address at Liverpool 149

Royal proclamation trampled under foot 150

Chasm between workingmen and middle class 150

Vincent and female organizations 150

People invoked to prepare arms 151

Military instructions - 151

" Science of killing " extolled 151

Agitation among soldiers 152

CHAPTER X The Petition, The Convention and The Government

Proposals emanated from the moral force group. . 153

Equal representation omitted 153

Petition lacking in vigor of expression and definiteness 153

Influence of Thomas Attwood 153

Generous response of men and women. 154

Opening of Convention . . 154

Objects of Convention . . 154-5

Presentation of National Petition postponed 155

Variety of problems discussed j^g

Addresses on the general distress distributed broadcast ...... 156

First collision between opposing factions 156

Lovett elected secretary !^6

Missionaries of the Convention ^7

The London Democratic Association and Harney ........ 157

Resolutions submitted to Convention 157

" Crown and Anchor " meeting cause of hostile criticism 158

Resignation of three Birmingham delegates 158-9

The " million of men " idea 160

Vincent's exhortations to be prepared 160

Resolution of Convention on the right to use arms . 161

Government spies 161

Lord Russell and John Frost 162

Frost's defiant letter 162-4

Open hostility between the Government and the Chartists .... 164

Frost's name. struck from the roll of magistrates 165

Indictment of Stephens 165

Convention declared an illegal body 165

Arrest of Vincent 165

National Petition and Attwood 165

Convention adjourned to Birmingham 166

1 8 CONTENTS [ x g

PAGE

Lord Russell's letter to magistrates 166

The Manifesto of the Convention 166-8

Simultaneous meetings and " ulterior measures " 168-9

Advocacy of terror and insurrection 170

London police in Birmingham 171

Recommendations of the Convention to the simultaneous meetings. 172

Success of the simultaneous meetings > 172

Reasons for the removal of the Convention to London ...... 173

Resolutions on the sacred month and other measures adopted. . 173-4

CHAPTER XI The Wrestling Forces The Bull Ring attack in Birmingham 175

The spirit of vengeance and terror 176

The resolutions of the General Convention 177

The arrest of Lovett and Collins 177

Prisoners subjected to indignities 178

Proclamation of martial law and wholesale arrests 178

The daily meetings at Holloway Head and other places 178

The Bull Ring riot '. 178

Public meetings and resolutions 179

The National Petition in Parliament 179

Attwood's speech 180

Lord Russell's reply 180-2

Disraeli's interpretation of the Chartist movement 182

The division on Attwood's motion 183

The effect of the defeat on the Convention 183

The sacred month resolution passed and rescinded 183

Bronterre's resolution on the sacred month 184

The recommendation of the committee of five 185

The national holiday a complete failure 186

The dissolution of the Convention 186

Arrests and trials for sedition 186

The theory of the Attorney-General 186

The trial of Lovett and Collins 186

The resolution of the Birmingham Town Council 186

The jury 187

Sergeant Goulburn's " opportunity " 187

Lovett's address to the jury . 187

Comments of the Morning Chronicle on the defence 188

Conviction of Lovett and Collins 188

Convictions of Stephens and other Chartists 189

1 9] CONTENTS jg

PAGE

Public meetings and demonstrations 189

Lovett and Collins subjected to rigorous discipline 189

Petitions in their favor 189

Henry Vincent and his imprisonment 190

The jury ipo

Remonstrances and protests by Welsh Chartists 190

The Newport Riot 190

CHAPTER^XII The Newport Riot

The role of Frost 191

The plot to release Vincent by force 191

The plan of a rising in Yorkshire and Lancashire 191

O'Connor's late warning 152

Frost's last public letter 192-4

The plan of the Welsh Chartists 194-5

Frost, Williams and Jones the chief commanders 195-6

Steps taken by the mayor ig7

The progress of the rebels impeded by bad weather 197

The fight at the Westgate Hotel 197-8

George Shell's letter to his parents igg

The arrests of the rebel leaders igg

The mayor and constables rewarded 200

The Chartist Convention in London and the defence committees . 200

The Special Commission 200

The trials of Frost, Williams, Jones and others 201

The sentence 201

The decision of the Court of Exchequer 202

The anguish of the Attorney General 203

Death sentence commuted to transportation for life 204

Decoration of the graves of the Westgatefvictims 204

Imprisonment of Bronterre, O'Connor, and others 205

The distribution of Chartist prisoners 205-6

The government victory 206

The new recruits 207

Appendix A Petition agreed to at the "Crown and Anchor " meeting, February

28, 1837 • 208

20 CONTENTS [ 2 o

PAGE

Appendix C The National Petition 234

Dialogue on war, between a moral force Whig and a Chartist, by Bronterre 239

Index 245

Chapter I

Chartism means the bitter discontent grown fierce and mad. ... It is a new name for a thing which has had manynames, which will yet have many. — Carlyle.

The term Chartism was coined in 1837 to designate a set of principles which were subsequently embodied in the famous " People's Charter ". Universal suffrage, equal representation, annual parliaments, no property qualifications, vote by ballot, and payment to members — these formed the " six points " which for a number of years eclipsed all other political and social creeds. At its inauguration the movement attracted a number of recruits from the ranks of the middle class. In time, however, Chartism became ever more crystallized as a distinct labor struggle for the reconstruction of society. The form of the demands were purely political, but the object was strictly economic. Political equality was proclaimed as the only weapon to secure equality of condition and the abolition of class privilege. The concomitant social equality would then pull down the mountains of wealth and fill up the valleys of want. The task could be effected by the workingmen only. Cooperation of the middle class was generally tabooed as spelling imminent treason and danger to the people's cause. It was this expression of class consciousness and realization of class interests that distinguished Chartism both from Utopian socialism and from previous democratic movements in England.

Long before the Chartist demands were framed in the 21] 2I

People's Charter, political reform, of one kind or another, had been urged by the friends of the people. The spirit of democracy, which had been quelled by Cromwell's defeat of the Levellers, revived a century later. Indeed, some of the Chartist " points " were promulgated as early as 1769 by the " Society of the Supporters of the Bill of Rights," which, among other parliamentary reforms, demanded equal representation and annual parliaments. Petitions were for the first time presented to Parliament, protesting that its members were not self-representing individuals, but trusted delegates whose authority ceased the very moment they disregarded the wishes and interests of their constituents. Pitt, the Earl of Chatham, soon pronounced himself a convert and professed that " the constitution intended that there should be a permanent relation between the constituents and representative body of the people." On the first of May, 1 77 1, he asserted that "the act of constituting septennial parliaments must be repealed. . . . Our whole constitution is giving way, and, therefore, with the most deliberate and solemn conviction, I declare myself a convert to triennial parliaments." x His son, William Pitt, went even further, declaring that " the restoration of the House of Commons to freedom and independency, by the interposition of the collective body of the nation, was essentially necessary to our existence as a free people " ; that an equal representation of the people by annual elections and the universal right of suffrage appeared to him " so reasonable to the natural feelings of mankind, that no sophistry could elude the force of the arguments which were urged in their favor." The bills which he introduced in 1782, 1783 and 1785 provided for the extension of the franchise to householders, and for the gradual extinction of all rotten boroughs. William Pitt was far from being an extremist among his

1 Chatham Correspondence, edited by W. S. Taylor, Esq., and Captain John Henry Pringle, London, 1840, vol. iv, p. 174.

colleagues. The writings of Stanhope and of Major John Cartwright appeared as early as 1774 and 1776, respectively, and demanded universal suffrage as a natural right. In his Legislative Rights of the Commonalty Vindicated, Cartwright argued that " freedom is the immediate gift of God to all the human species," and that the franchise is a prerequisite of freedom. " The very scavenger in the streets has a better right to his vote than any peer to his coronet, or the king himself to his crown ; for the right of the peer and of the king are derived from the laws of men, but the scavenger's from the laws of God ". This idea became so popular that the Whigs began to consider it advantageous to identify themselves with the reformers. Aristocratic clubs, such as the " Constitutional Society ", the " Whig Club ", and the " Society of the Friends of the People ", vied with each other in radicalism and in their emulation of the idealistic maxims of Rousseau and the French Encyclopedists. In 1780 the Duke of Richmond introduced a bill for universal suffrage and annual parliaments. The preamble contended that since the life, liberty and property of "every man is or may be affected by the law of the land in which he lives, no man is, or can be, actually represented if he has no vote in the election of the representative whose consent to the making of laws binds the whole community. The state of election of members of the House of Commons was declared as a gross deviation from the " simple and natural principle of representation and equality." In several places members were returned by the property of one man while the number of persons who were suffered to vote did not amount to one-sixth of the whole community. The great majority of the commoners were thus governed by laws to which they had not consented either by themselves or by their representatives. 1 Triennial and septen-

1 Compare this with the preamble of the "People's Charter". See Appendix B.

nial Parliaments were described as tending " to make the representatives less dependent on their constituents than they always ought to be ". The same year Charles James Fox, the Whig leader and Chairman of the Committee of Westminster Electors, recommended the very same " six points " which were later embodied in the " People's Charter ". The " six points " were also urged by the " Society for Constitutional Information ", which included among its leaders a number of the most distinguished members of the English nobility, such as the Duke of Richmond, the Duke of Bedford, the Earl of Derby, the Earl of Effingham, the Earl of Selkirk, Lord Mountnorris, and others.

The bright prospects of Major Cartwright and his adherents, however, soon came to an end. The germs of radical ideas, which had infected the nobility, began to spread also among the lower strata. The alarmed government found itself in a lurch, and its peace of mind had to be bought at the price of coalition in 1783 between Lord North, the representative of the government, and Mr. Fox, the spokesman of the Whigs. This coalition brought about a complete metamorphosis in the attitude of the Whigs, which became the more intense during the French Revolution. A feeling of abhorrence swayed the professed reformers against all societies which were suspected of revolutionary ideas. All attempts at parliamentary reform were doomed to crushing defeat. The former illustrious advocate of reform, Edmund Burke, agreed in this matter with his rival Pitt. In his great zeal he stigmatized the people as a " swinish multitude ", and led the Whigs in their support of the government policy of oppression.

The adhesion to the government on the part of the aristocracy was the natural reaction of their optimistic idealism which evaporated when brought under pressure of active life. They had believed that the doctrine of " natural, unalienable and equal rights " could be disseminated among the people with perfect safety to their own class and traditions. Some even went so far as to contend that "equality" was a safeguard against "levellers". This view was elucidated by the Duke of Richmond in the following extract of his letter to Lieutenant-Colonel Sharman :

Another subject of apprehension is that the principle of allowing to every man an equal right to vote tends to equality in other respects, and to level property. To me it seems to have a direct contrary tendency. The equal rights of men to security from oppression, and to the enjoyments of life and liberty, strike me as perfectly compatible with their unequal shares of industry, labor and genius, which are the origin of inequality of fortunes. The equality and inequality of men are both founded in nature; and whilst we do not confound the two, and only support her establishments, we can not err. The protection of property appears to me one of the most essential ends of society; and so far from injuring it by this plan, I conceive it to be the only means of preserving it; for the present system is hastening with great strides to a perfect equality in universal poverty. 1

The French Revolution led some of the English aristocracy to realize that abstract ideas of equality and natural rights meant absolutely nothing to the common people, unless they went hand in hand with concrete equality in distribution of wealth. Moreover, they learned that the abstract idea of natural rights was the treacherous snake that goaded on the people to demand concrete equality, and they determined to avert this at any cost. Burke's Rejections on the French Revolution, published in 1790, preached a crusade against Republican France, as well as against French principles in England. The Re-flections exerted a

1 The Right of the People to Universal Suffrage and Annual Parliaments, August 15, 1783 (published in London, 1817).

deep influence on the men in power, but at the same time gave an impetus to the counter activities of the radicals. The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine, the exact antithesis of the Reflections, gained a wide circulation among the middle and lower classes. The arduous task of reform was taken up by the " London Corresponding Society ", which was founded by Thomas Hardy, a shoemaker. Counting but four members at its inauguration, the first meeting in 1792 was attended by nine individuals, all personally acquainted with each other. Encouraged by the endorsement of the Duke of Richmond, the Society jealously began to spread its tenets all over the United Kingdom and, within a short period, attained importance and celebrity as one of the largest radical organizations. The government, in its alarm, was led to believe that " there were evil-minded persons in the country, who, acting in concert with other persons in France, designed to overturn our happy constitution, and introduce a system of bloodshed and plunder." The war with France in 1793 was primarily a war against Jacobinism, and Pitt, who was always seeing visions of " thousands of bandits ", was logically compelled to combat the foe within the country. Numerous spies were employed to shadow the steps of every suspicious person, and on the testimony of these spies, many were subjected to severe penalties. A certain Mr. Frost, an attorney, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, to stand in the pillory and be struck off the roll, because he had dared once in a coffee-house to declare himself " for equality and no king ". A well-known Mr. Ridgway was sentenced to four years' imprisonment and £200 fine for selling Thomas Paine's Rights of Man. The former friends of the " London Corresponding Society" began to see treason in its activities. Two delegates sent by this society to Scotland in 1793 were arrested, tried, convicted, and transported for fourteen years. In its

27] PROTOTYPES OF CHARTISM 2 j

report of 1794, the Secret Committee of the House of Commons claimed to have discovered seditious practices. It was this report that was chiefly responsible for the suspension of the habeas corpus act. 1 Pitt declared the matter urgent, and the bill was passed at a special sitting the next day after its introduction by the government. Fox openly accused the ministers of a design to terrorize the people in order to shield themselves from the condemnation for involving the country in a disastrous war. The government became inexorable in its oppression of associations, as well as of individuals. Reform bills were introduced only to encounter ignominious defeat. All reform societies were disbanded, all public meetings prohibited, and reformers were rendered innocuous either through imprisonment or intimidation. For nearly two decades the English people lived, as it were, in a state of internal siege.

Radicalism had been crushed to revive again, however, with much greater force, after the war cloud, which hovered over Europe for almost a quarter of a century, was dispersed at Waterloo. The war made England a worldmonopolist. Foreign manufacturers, writhing under the sword of Damocles in their own countries, invested their capital in England which alone was safe from foreign invasion. By virtue of the complete monopoly of Great Britain as a water-carrier, English trade was carried on in the remotest parts of the world. All this changed with the end of the Napoleonic career. The demand for English manufactures suddenly shrank, capital was withdrawn, and labor thrown out of employment. The disbanded militia and discharged sailors greatly swelled the ranks of the unemployed. Symptoms of discontent which were local in the beginning, soon became universal and burst into violence after the passage of the Corn Laws in 181 5. Owing to the