CHAPTER XIX THE PERIOD OF REFORM, 1815-1852 I. CONTESTS BETWEEN CONSERVATIVES AND RADICALS The discord and conflict of classes at home became even more intense when peace was attained abroad, after the long period of war. This fact is well exemplified in the democratic sentiments expressed in the following passages from Cobbett's Weekly Register. in Cobbett's Weekly Reg A letter to the journeymen and laborers of England, 405. An article Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, on the cause of their present miseries; on the measures which have produced that cause; ister on the remedies which some foolish and some cruel and insolent men have proposed; and on the line of conduct which journeymen and laborers ought to pursue, in order to obtain effectual relief, and to assist in promoting the tranquillity and restoring the happiness of their country. Friends and Fellow-Countrymen : wealth Whatever the pride of rank, of riches, or of scholarship may Labor the have induced some men to believe, the real strength and all source of all the resources of a country ever have sprung and ever must spring from the labor of its people; and hence it is that this nation, which is so small in numbers and so poor in climate and soil compared with many others, has, for many ages, been the most powerful nation in the world: it is the most industrious, the most laborious, and, therefore, the most powerful. Elegant dresses, superb furniture, stately buildings, fine roads and canals, fleet horses and carriages, numerous and stout ships, warehouses teeming with goods,-all these, and many other objects that fall under our view, are so many marks of The common people form the military strength of the nation national wealth and resources. But all these spring from labor. Without the journeyman and the laborer none of them could exist; without the assistance of their hands the country would be a wilderness, hardly worth the notice of an invader. As it is the labor of those who toil which makes a country abound in resources, so it is the same class of men, who must, by their arms, secure its safety and uphold its fame. Titles and immense sums of money have been bestowed upon numerous naval and military commanders. Without calling the justice of these in question, we may assert that the victories were obtained by you and your fathers and brothers and sons, in coöperation with those commanders, who, with your aid, have done great and wonderful things; but who, without that aid, would have been as impotent as children at the breast. With this correct idea of your own worth in your minds, with what indignation must you hear yourselves called "the populace," "the rabble," "the mob," "the swinish multitude"; and with what greater indignation, if possible, must you hear the projects of those cool and cruel and insolent men, who, now that you have been, without any fault of yours, brought into a state of misery, propose to narrow the limit of parish relief, to prevent you from marrying in the days of your youth, or to thrust you out to seek your bread in foreign lands, never more to behold your parents or friends? But suppress your indignation until we return to this topic, after we have considered the cause of your present misery, and the measures which have produced that cause. The times in which we live are full of peril. The nation, as described by the very creatures of government, is fast advancing to that period when an important change must take place. It is the lot of mankind that some shall labor with their limbs and others with their minds; and, on all occasions, more especially on an occasion like the present, it is the duty of the latter to come to the assistance of the former. We are all equally interested in the peace and happiness of our common country. It is of the utmost importance that, in seeking to obtain these objects, our endeavors should be uniform, and tend all to the same point. Such an uniformity cannot exist without an uniformity of sentiment as to public matters, and to produce this latter uniformity amongst you is the object of this address. As to the cause of our present miseries, it is the enormous amount of the taxes which the government compels us to pay for the support of its army, its place-men, its pensioners, etc., and for the payment of the interest of its debt. . . . The "bread riots" of 1812, one incident of which is recounted in the following letter, were a part of the general antagonism between classes which was so characteristic of the period between 1812 and 1832, even though they were not political in their character. Colonel Lord Yesterday, being market day, an immense mob, principally 406. Colonel women, assembled; and by a sudden rush emptied the market Lamy to in a few minutes of all it contained. They next proceeded to Rolle, (Shefall the shops where flour was sold, demanding flour at 35. per field, June stone, which had been selling, during the last fortnight, for 19, 1812) 7 s.; and, with only five or six exceptions, succeeded, by intimidation, in obtaining all they contained at that price. The 15th hussars and ourselves have been constantly on duty since yesterday morning. I am sorry to say these lawless proceedings continue to-day; and parties are gone into the country to attack the mills, but are followed by dragoons. Not a mechanic has been at work yesterday or to-day, though there is no want of employment. The riot act has just been read to at least 5000, and Lord Fitzwilliam gave them five minutes to disperse, when, as they did not obey, the hussars charged down the street and cleared it immediately. We now have orders to fire if we meet with the least resistance. Thousands were added to-day to their numbers from the country. Lord Milton was here yesterday ; he is very unpopular, and stones were flung at him. Nine o'clock. Lord Fitzwilliam, who appears very determined, left this place an hour ago; and I hope this troublesome business may end without our having recourse to fire. No lives have, as yet, been lost. 407. The ington to Lord Sid The riots of 1819, which were far more serious than those just described, called out, among other correspondence, the following letter from the duke of Wellington to the secretary of state, to both of whom the dissatisfied workingmen and reformers were merely "insurgents.' My dear Lord : I had not an opportunity of speaking to you last night on the subject of your operations at Carlisle and Newcastle. I mouth (De- strongly recommend to you to order the magistrates at those places to carry into execution, without loss of time, the law against training, and to furnish them with the means of doing so. Do not let us be reproached again with having omitted to carry the laws into execution. . . . cember II, 1829) By sending to each of these towns about 700 or 800 men, cavalry and infantry, and two pieces of cannon, the force would be more than sufficient to do all that can be required. Rely upon it that, in the circumstances in which we are placed, impression on either side is everything. If, upon the passing of the training law, you prevent training either by the use of force or by the appearance of force in the two places above mentioned, you will put a stop at once to all the proceedings of the insurgents. . . . Observe, also, that if training is continued after the passing of the law, which it will be unless you send a force to prevent it, the insurgents will gain a very important victory. Ever, my dear lord, yours most sincerely, WELLINGTON. The famous conflict between the military forces and the agitators that took place in 1819, in St. Peter's Square, Manchester, hence often spoken of as the "Battle of Peterloo," is described as follows by one of the lieutenants in the 15th hussars, who was present. Our regiment paraded in field-exercise order at about half past eight, or, it might be, nine o'clock A.M. Two squadrons of it were marched into the town about 10 o'clock. They account of were formed up and dismounted in a wide street, the name 408. A conof which I forget, to the north of St. Peter's Field (the place temporary appointed for the meeting), and at the distance of nearly a the Manchesquarter of a mile from it. The Cheshire yeomanry were ter massacre formed on our left in the same street. One troop of our regiment was attached to the artillery, which took up a position between the cavalry barracks and the town; and one troop remained in charge of the barracks. The two squadrons with which I was stationed must have remained dismounted nearly two hours. During the greater portion of that period a solid mass of people continued moving along a street about a hundred yards to our front, on their way to the place of meeting. Other officers, as well as myself, occasionally rode to the front, to the end of a street to see them pass. They marched at a brisk pace, in ranks well closed up, five or six bands of music being interspersed; and there appeared to be but few women with them. meeting Mr. Hunt, with two or three other men, and, I think, two Mr. Hunt, the women dressed in light blue and white, were in an open carriage, orator of the drawn by the people. This carriage was adorned with blue and white flags, and the day was fine and hot. As soon as the great bulk of the procession had passed we were ordered to stand to our horses. In a very short time afterwards the four troops of the 15th mounted, and at once moved off by the right, at a trot which was increased to a canter. Some one who had been sent from the place of meeting to bring us up led the way through a number of narrow streets and by a circuitous route to the southwest corner of St. Peter's Field. We advanced along the south side of this space of ground without a halt or pause even ; the words "Front!" and "Forward!" were given, and the trumpet sounded the charge at the very moment the threes wheeled up. When fronted, our line extended across the ground, which, in all parts, was so filled with people that their hats seemed to touch. It was then, for the first time, that I saw the Manchester troop of yeomanry. They were scattered singly or in small groups over the greater part of the field, literally hemmed up and hedged into the mob, so that they were powerless either |