2nd January 1818: Francis Ward publishes an account of his arrest and imprisonment on grounds of High Treason

The 31st December 1817 edition of the Black Dwarf contained this letter from the Nottingham framework-knitter and political activist Francis Ward, who had been detained on charges of High Treason for several months in 1817. The letter is his response to an article from the (London) Observer newspaper, which stated that the government spy William Oliver had met with him and Gravenor Henson and others prior to the Pentrich Rising. The Nottingham Review of Friday 2nd January 1818 published it in full.

ARBITRARY ARRESTS!

[From a London Paper.]

TO THE EDITOR,

SIR―In a number of your paper for November, your correspondent, signed M.P., solicits a particular account of the arrest, treatment &c of those persons who have been confined under the suspension act—In compliance with that request, I beg leave to lay before you the following remarks.

I reside in Hollow stone, parish of St. Mary's, Nottingham. At the time of my being arrested, was employed in the fancy-work manufactured here. Have a wife and four children; and a mother of ninety years of age, all dependent on me for support. On the 10th of June last, twelve or thirteen police officers entered my house, one of them (Mr. Lawson) said, "Mr. Ward, we are come to search your house." I asked by what authority they came to do so, some of them said, "you may be sure we are not come without authority;" I replied, shew me it, or you shall not search my house; immediately Mr. Lawson held up in his hand a paper, and said, "here it is." I requested him to read it; he said, "the law would not justify him in reading it until we got before a magistrate"—While this conversation was passing between me and Lawson, all the rest of the constables went into different parts of my house, and I, perceiving there was no alternative, suffered them to search without seeing or hearing the warrant read, after a long and fruitless effort. When they had reached down a CANISTER, and even peeped into a THIMBLE, they frankly acknowledged "there was nothing to be found which they were looking for." I asked what they were looking for; one of them observed, "you have THAT to find out," and then they all went away! Not being satisfied with such unreasonable, and, as I thought, unlawful proceedings, I went and consulted an attorney; he advised me to make application for a copy of the warrant by which my house was searched, and the names of the constables it was delivered to. I applied accordingly to the Town Clerk, but he observed, "you have no right to a copy," this he repeated, and added, with considerable emphasis, "you may make application, but, know what advice I shall give." I went directly to the police office, what I saw Mr. Alderman Soars, and acquainted him with my business, he said, "go backwards," and immediately ordered a Constable to take me into custody. After being in this situation more than an hour, Mr. Alderman Barber, a near neighbour, came to me, and said, "I am sorry for you, as I believe you to be an honest industrious man, but I would advise you to withdraw your application," (this he repeated several times,) "it is a dangerous case to press; however, you will not by any means consider me as talking to you as a Magistrate, but as a friend." I told that the treatment I had already received was unmerited; at all events, I was determined to press my application for that which I had a right to demand: he then left me. Not more than an hour had expired after this interview, when I was taken before a Bench of Magistrates that was then sitting. Mr. Enfield then inquired me what my application was; I informed him, it was a copy of the warrant issued for the searching of my house, and the names of the Constables it was delivered to; he ordered me to be taken away for some time, until the Magistrates had consulted how they might dispose of my case. In half an hour, I was again introduced to the Magistrates, when Mr. Enfield informed me that they have agreed NOT to grant my request, and that I was still detained for being concerned in the Loughborough Outrage. Here he (the Town Clerk) alluded to the framebreaking which took place in Loughborough, on the 28th or 29th of June, 1816. I was taken to the town jail, where I remained in one of the dampest holes that none was ever combined in; and although it is more than six months ago, I at this time experience upon my lungs the bad effects of lying in that damp cell. I continued in that wretched place until the 14th, having nothing allowed me but bread and water for sustenance, with a bed such as felons lay upon, and not only damp, but smelling so strong of brimstone, that it was almost intolerable. On that day, Mr. Alderman Barber, Mr. Enfield, a King's Messenger, and a Bow-street Officer, came to the jail, and informed me I must prepare for a journey, as there was a warrant from the Secretary of State; Mr. Alderman Barber then observed, "the Loughborough business must stand over, (and I have heard no more of it since.) They then went away, and in the course of an hour after the King's messenger and a Bow-street officer, came again and chained me hand and foot to a man of the name of Haynes; before I got into the chaise, he (the Bow-street officer) said, "if I heaved my hand to let the chains be seen, I should be the first that should fail," at the same time holding a pistol in his hand. On the road to London the fetters round my hand gave me such pain, which caused me to comment upon the inherited unmerited punishment I was suffering; the officer observed "you wish to make it appear that you are not a disaffected person; the town clerk informed me that you are much respected* by the mechanics of Loughborough, and Leicester, and the working people in general, so that you are dangerous man to be a large." On the 15th we arrived in London and were taken to the Coold-bath-fields prison. On the 21st I was taken before Lord Sidmouth; his lordship asked me how old I was, I informed him; he told me I was apprehended under a warrant from him, on suspicion of high treason, and that he would commit to close confinement until delivered by due course of law, and added if you have any thing to say, you are at liberty to speak. To this I replied, if every action of my life was painted your lordship in its proper colour, you would say I merited reward, rather than punishment. In vain did I declare my innocence, and challenge proof of my guilt; he observed I was not just unjustly punished, for his information was from a respectable source, and that I should have a list of the evidence against me, and proper notice of my trial before it commenced. I was then conveyed to Cold-bath-fields prison: and on the 24th was with William Cliff, (a young man from Derby,) removed or Oxford Castle: at my arrival at that place, I was confined by myself in a dismal dungeon, (or cell for condemned criminals,) about nine feet square, and when I had a fire in it, I was nearly suffocated with smoke; here I continued for near three months, without being permitted to see any person except the governor or turnkey. Reflect, Sir, for a moment, how I must feel in such a situation, and of so long continuance, when you are told that I had never been within the walls were of a prison before the 10th of June last. In September the number of criminal prisoners were so much increased, that it was found necessary to admit Cliff, and myself into one of the turnkey’s lodges, where I was far more comfortable, enjoying the company of an innocent fellow-sufferer (William Cliff). We had three shillings each per day are allowed for our maintenance. While in solitary confinement the turnkey boarded me for seventeen shillings and sixpence per week. After joining my companion we received our weekly allowance and provided our own food, until the 13th of November, when we were liberated on our own recognizance, to appear in the Court of King's Bench on the first day of next term, and to continue from day to day, and not depart that Court without leave. In the last five or six weeks we had more liberty and better accommodation. The facts, Sir, which I have stated, after to the best of my knowledge correct, and I shall not, if called upon, hesitate to confirm on oath before any magistrate. It is a generally received opinion, self-praise is no recommendation, I shall therefore decline saying any thing of my own character; but as I have been resident in Nottingham between twenty and thirty years, several respectable manufacturers here, who are well acquainted with me as a husband, father, servant, and neighbour, are ready to give every satisfaction which may be required with respect to character but of many I will only select the following: Mr. G. Bradley, lace-manufacturer; Mr. H. Levers, lace-manufacturer; Mr. T. Goodburn, hosier; and Mr. Alderman Barber (at this time Mayor) beforementioned. The above persons may be referred to at any time. I do most solemnly declare, that I never was any way concerned in breaking frames at Loughborough, or joined to the Luddites. Nor was I ever on a political Committee, or attended any such Committee, either secretly or openly; nor have I been a member of any political club whatever. I have been an advocate for Parliamentary Reform, for more than thirty years,—if that is High Treason, I am guilty. But notwithstanding my character stands unimpeached, as numbers can testify, a detestable attempt has been made to ruin it, as the sequel will prove. On the 10th of November, a writer in the Observer has, with all the malignity of an ________, endeavoured to traduce my character to the last degree in his publication of that day: and to make the business more certain, he published that number gratuitously in Nottingham and Derby, (and how much further I cannot say) to both public and private families, to subscribers and non-subscribers,―in fact, after a diligent search with much trouble, I can only find one subscriber to that paper in Nottingham. For the particulars of that diabolical attempt I refer you to the work itself. Now, Sir, after losing my seat of work, being torn away from an affectionate wife, from beloved children, and a poor helpless aged mother, all dependent upon me for support, after being deprived of my liberty, shut up in a dungeon, my health impaired, and on the 10th of November, (three days before my liberation) my character traduced, by a vile wretch, a hireling journalist, I ask in the name of reason, and common honestly, is there no redress for such a complication of grievances? is there not a shadow of justice to be obtained for multiplied injuries? Is a bill of indemnity obtained by corrupt majority, all the satisfaction I and my suffering family are to receive, for unmerited, unheard of persecutions, and losses we have hereby sustained? These remarks, my persecuted friend, I send you, if you, or any of your patriotically acquaintance can turn them to good account in our own, or country’s cause, they are your service―I am, dear Sir,

Your obedient Servant 

FRANCIS WARD 

P.S.—I take the liberty of saying, that I have not received one shilling, either from a subscription or otherwise, as an indemnity for pecuniary damage sustained, neither do I require it. If I am favored with health and strength, and employment to exercise it, and the blessing of heaven upon my industry, I hope to maintain myself and family with credit and respectability as heretofore. If you think it would answer any good purpose to petition the House of Commons, I should esteem it a great favor to receive the form of a petition from you.

*The Editor has taken no liberty with the style of this letter, but to print a few words in italic characters. This part of the statement is an excellent exposition of the system of the Ministers, As they are not respected, every one who is, is a dangerous character.

30th November 1816: Another correspondent writes to the Leeds Mercury in the debate about shearing frames vs hand-cropping

MR PRINTER,—In your paper of the 23d inst. I observed a comparison between the dressing of cloth by manual labour and machinery. Now, though I cannot doubt the veracity of your correspondent, who asserts that more men are employed in the latter mode of dressing it; yet, being an old man, whose ideas perhaps may have been narrowed and contracted by age, I cannot give full credit to this assertion without some explanation, and such an explanation as may be comprehended by other old men, whose intellectual powers may be rendered equally callous and obtuse. I have, for more than forty-five years, had the government of trading concerns, have viewed improvements with pleasure, and have, in some degree, shared in the benefits thereof; and experience has convinced me, that the use of a certain degree of Machinery has benefited the labouring classes; but I am free to knowledge that I am not able to see, to my satisfaction, that dressing cloth by Machinery can produce to the poor shear-men any real advantage, because when in the dressing-mills I have seen that one man can well manage four pair of shears. If your correspondent, who has made the assertion, will be so good as give the A. B. C. thereof, in your paper, he will oblige me with many more of your readers.

It has been hinted to me, that if the croppers would lower their wages, say, be content to earn 20s. a week, instead of 30s.—that then the dressing-mill would not be employed. This may be worthy the consideration of the shear-men; but I admit that it is difficult to persuade men, that 20s. a week constant, is better for them than 30s. though liable to interruptions.

23rd November 1816: Correspondents argue about shearing frames in the Leeds Mercury

In addition to the above paper, on the general subject, the following observations on the use of Machinery in the Dressing of Woollen Cloth, have been handed to us for insertion:

"The finishing of woollens by machinery," says one of our correspondents, "does not diminish manual labour. In proof of which assertion, I beg leave to state, that I am acquainted with a manufacturer in the neighbourhood of Leeds, who finishes about twenty-two pieces of cloth weekly, and if this cloth was finished by hand labour, the journeymen's wages would amount to about 26l. Fourteen or fifteen workmen would be required in that way to perform this work, whereas, by machinery, twenty workmen are required, twelve of whom have from 20 to 40 shillings per week, four of them 15 to 20 shillings weekly, and the other four a less sum. Instead of a decrease, there is therefore, as I have asserted, an increase of manual labour. A journeyman cropper would finish at 5 cuts, that work on which machinery bestows 8, 9, or 10, and two men would raise in half a day as much cloth as can be raised by machinery in nearly double that time. These are not mere vague notions, but facts founded on experience. The principal use of machinery in this department of the woollen trade, consists in the superior style of finishing. Cloth dressed in this way is more valuable than that finished by hand, that is, if it be properly prepared, for if not, machine dressing injures the fabric."

Another correspondent, writing on the same subject, says, "The usual payment made by cloth dressers to their workmen, for cloth dressed by hand labour, is 5 percent. upon the cost price of cloth; while the average wages paid for the last four years, by a house in this neighbourhood, pretty extensively engaged in the dressing of cloth by machinery, has been found on an accurate examination, to amount only to three and a half per cent.; so that the sum paid for labour is thirty shillings less in every five pounds. Or the matter may be put in another light: The men who work the machinery, being under no restrictions, and requiring less skill, are content to work for 18s a week each; but the regular cloth dresser working by hand, will own 30s. From which it would appear, that as many hands are required, but the labour employed in the new, is less expensive than that used in the old mode of dressing."

23rd November 1816: 'A Manufacturer' replies to 'Observator' in the argument about technology in the Leeds Mercury

MR. EDITOR,—I would not have troubled you with this, had I not felt much disappointment, on perusing your paper of Saturday last, to find but one reply to OBSERVATOR, on taxing Machinery, and that one so very leading lenient and mild. I am not in the habit of writing for the press; I am but a manufacturer, at the head of a considerable number of workmen, and therefore I must crave indulgence from the Critic, both for my grammar and composition. I should answer Observator, first, by stating a few facts which cannot be controverted, and secondly, by asking him a few plain questions.

First, then, a demand for goods has created all the manufactories in this country, and immense sums have been invested in building, machinery, and the capital necessary to make them answer.

Secondly, this property is rateable to the poor and to every other parochial tax, and pays a far greater proportion according to its real value, than the property of the gentleman of landed interest.

Thirdly, pauperism has not increased with Machinery.

Fourthly, the wages, arising from labour without Machinery, will not enable the population to purchase the produce of the land, and other articles of support, which yield a tax, besides relieving the landed interest.

Fifthly, neither the number nor the industry of the inhabitants of this country have diminished, and they never will to any great extent, either starvation or emigration

Sixthly, the morals of the population employed in manufactories are improved in a far greater degree than in any other class of labourers in the country.

I would now ask—has not the gentleman of landed interest had a hand in the increase of Machinery? Has he ever complained until now, that he too begins to feel the pressure of the times? Has he not been the principal supporter of unjust and unnecessary wars? Has not all his influence been directed to their promotion, in order that he might increase his rent-roll? Have not pauperism and the poor-rates risen and fallen exactly with the price of provisions? And has not the price of provisions been enhanced by the wars of the Ministers of the gentleman of landed interest, the paper-money system, and that horrible and engulphing system of corruption which pervades every department in the State? Is it not this which has left the mechant without orders, the manufactories without employ, and the operative class without bread? And lastly, has not the gentleman of landed interest been, for the last twenty-five years, enriching himself by supporting war, which, he says, has increased trade, and machinery, and population, to eat his dear corn?

I would now observe, that Observator must be very ill informed indeed, if he thinks that the present population will go back to the dressing, scribbling, carding and spinning of wool, by hand-labour, as they did forty years ago. Let him but propose such a thing to the few there are yet left, and they would laugh in his face.

He must be equally ignorant of the present state of information which the operative classes have attained, to suppose they will either starve or emigrate—no, they are too numerous and too enlightened to suffer or to do this, and he may depend upon it, that if employment be not found in the usual way, they will still find the means to live. Yes, the inhabitants born upon the soil will not leave it, and they will live upon it too. God in nature teach them this, and congregated in factories they have learned to feel themselves men, and are no longer the same ignorant and stupid beings they were previous to the introductions of Machinery. The light of truth is diffused over the land, and the hand-maid of truth is virtue, and its offspring is liberty. Factories have proved schools in which inquiry has been awakened, and the social feelings improved, by which the mists of delusion have melted before the rising sun of truth, and the midnight hags of ignorance and superstition can no longer bind the people by their spells.

Here this Observator, and read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest, before it is too late. It is the voice of a Manufacturer, who considers himself as only a foreman to several hundreds of human beings, his brethren in calamity, and in the eyes of God and nature—equal.

A MANUFACTURER

16th October 1816: 'Investigator' writes to the Leeds Mercury in defence of Machinery

Mr. EDITOR—I do not all agree with "Observator," in your last week’s Mercury, in the recommendation of a Tax on Machinery, neither do I think many of his arguments and conclusions are good ones. His remarks appear to have arisen from a desire to relieve his country from the difficulties under which it labours. But I conceive that, as well as many others, he has mistaken the legitimate objects that occasion our distress, and of course failed in pointing out where we are to look for remedies. Though pauperism may have increased with the extension of machinery, it does not follow that they should be cause and effect, nor even that there should be any connection between them. I believe there has not been any general scarcity of work for these many years past, until the present, nor while our trade flourished, did many apply to their parishes for want of work. Though they might be displaced by machinery yet they found employ in some other department, and I believe seldom had occasion to apply to their parishes. The great increase of pauperism may be accounted for by the lax state of the morals of the lowest class, and the decay of those principles of honour, which, from considering it shameful to become chargeable to their parish, taught them to provide for themselves against a time of need. What ought to have been laid up for the winter has been too often spent in the false sunshine of dissipation. There are still townships where this honour is preserved, when the labourer, like the industrious ant, provides against a day of scarcity, and I wish this were more general; but improvidence is one of the marked characteristics of our manufacturing poor. I agree with "Observator" that the factory system has had a great share in sapping the morals of the poor, and I lament it extremely with him.

His idea of a tax on machinery is so extremely speculative and impolitic, that I think very few words needful on that subject. For it is plain to be seen that such a tax on machinery as would create an expensive demand for manual labour, must be extremely high; machinery being so much cheaper a power, not to say any thing of the superior manner in which it performs many of the operations of the manufacturing process. Whatever tax might be laid on machinery would ultimately fall on the manufactured article, and would raise the price so much, that there is little doubt it would extinguish our export trade. If this is to be extinguished, as seems to be threatened from all more quarters than one, it is time for the British merchants, whose cheif trade is in the export of manufactured goods, to be looking around for some other country, where they may employ their capital unrestrainedly.

Instead of pressing remedies that would be worse than the evil they seek to cure, it is the duty of every Briton, quietly to wait a little longer for the amendment of the times. There is already in many places a considerable improvement, and I have no doubt the evil will work its own cure. We are not alone in our difficulties; so far from this, I know few countries where the people are in a better situation than in our own. If the disposition that is shown to relieve distresses by those are able to give, be met with equal readiness by the poor to submit to their deprivations for a time, I have no doubt but the sun, which has for a season been covered with spots, will again shine with increased splendour on the people of Great Britain.

INVESTIGATOR.

Leeds, November 11th, 1816.

18th October 1816: 'A.B.' writes to the Evening Mail with more information about Luddite Committees in Nottingham

Nottingham, October 14.

In my last I pointed out to you the existence of a committee, whose orders were promptly and regularly executed. I will now give you an instance with what decision the mandates of this committee are performed. On Saturday last night last, it ordered 100 men to enter the village of Lambley, about 6 miles this place, and destroy 36 frames belonging to two men in partnership, for having made use of expressions which this committee deemed improper. These men took military possession of the village, and in the course of a very short time completed the destruction they were sent on. Yet nothing is done to bring these daring rascals to justice. Placards are up in this town, inviting the inhabitants to prepare fire-arms, as they will shortly be called upon "to fight the tyrants who now oppress them."

A.B.

31st July 1816: A pseudonymous writer replies to the Courier about the Ely prisoners affair

The 31st July 1816 edition of the Bury & Norwich Post carried a letter from a pseudonymous writer 'Eliensis' (latin for 'Ely'), which tackled the Courier about their recent editorial about the Ely prisoners. 

TO THE EDITOR OF THE COURIER.

Ely, July 27th, 1816.

SIR,—Being one of the Inhabitants of Ely charged by you with a desire to excite a clamour against Government, I think it necessary to notice some of your observations. 

You deny that the unfortunate men just removed to the Hulks had any expectation held out to them by the Judges that their punishment would be limited to 12 months’ imprisonment.—Now, Sir, I beg to inform you, that a Calendar of the Prisoners, with their respective sentences, was signed by all the Judges, and left at the Gaol; and that it expressly states that they are reprieved for 12 months’ imprisonment:—the words are, "Reprieved, Goal 12 months." This, Sir, you are aware, is an official document for the Gaoler, and is open to the inspection the Public. For further satisfaction, I will refer you to a short statement of some of the proceedings during the Assizes, published here (as it is understood) by the Magistrates themselves; and which also states that these men were reprieved, on condition of being imprisoned 12 months. 

As to publicly having been given to the resolutions, it was done solely with a view to satisfy the lower classes here, and the public, that the suspicions which were entertained of the inhabitants of Ely having been instrumental in obtaining an extension of punishment, were wholly groundless. 

Your statement insinuates that these men have misconducted themselves in prison, and that it was necessary to have them removed; this, Sir, I flatly contradict, and I challenge enquiry into the facts. 

You ask, whether the Bishop has not a Palace at Ely?—Yes, Sir, he has, and he is sometimes a resident here; but without any disrespect to his Lordship, I may venture to state, that the Inhabitants present at the Meeting possess better information as to the temper and disposition of the lower classes that his Lordship. They are in the habits of employing the poor, and mixing with them; they know their sufferings, and they contribute to their necessities. Mr. Page himself employs upwards of 150 labourers daily in agriculture. 

The only Magistrates here (now that the Rev. Mr. Metcalfe has retired) are the Rev. Sir H.B. Dudley, Bart. and the Rev. Mr Jenyns, both of whom being Prebendaries of the Cathedral, are only occasionally resident. 

The proceedings of the Meeting, so far from occasioning any irritation, have had the effect of allaying the ferment which had arisen in the public mind in consequence of this unpleasant business.—The poor are now well satisfied that their neighbours take an interest in their welfare; many of them have waited upon the Inhabitants who attended the Meeting, and have expressed their gratitude with tears in their eyes.—There was no intention on the part of the Meeting to excited a clamour against Government.—His Majesty's Ministers were believed to have acted from the purest motives, and with the best intentions. 

Your observations lead me to conclude that they were advised this quarter—it was so suspected. 

ELIENSIS.

15th June 1816: 'On the Impolicy of Using Thrashing Machines'

THRASHING MACHINES.

To the Printers of the Norfolk Chronicle.

GENTLEMEN,—In the Farmers’ Journal of this week is a letter "ON THE IMPOLICY OF USING THRASHING MACHINES," which I earnestly recommend to your notice, for insertion in the Norfolk Chronicle. As I have, through the whole of the late winter, endeavoured to discourage the use of these machines in this neighbourhood, letter may by some persons be attributed to me. I beg leave to state that I do not know who is the author of it; that I entirely agree with him in the sentiments he has expressed, and thank him having made them public.

I am, Gentlemen, your’s, &c.

JEHOS. POSTLE.

Colney, June 12, 1816.

Norfolk, May 17, 1816.

SIR,—On reading a Letter in your Journal for last Monday, from your Correspondent S. requesting a more explicit explanation of the construction of the Cradle Churn, and the portable Thrashing Machine, exhibited at an Agricultural meeting at Otley, Yorkshire, I was so much surprised at the purport of it, I must beg of you to allow me to make a few remarks thereon.

It is not my intention to enter into the merits or demerits of the two implements; I have no doubt but the machinery itself is worthy of notice; my object is to endeavour to point out as far as I am able the glaring impropriety of introducing, at this time, new models of Thrashing Machines, on which implement I mean to confine my remarks. A few years since, Machines, upon the improved construction, might have been of real utility, inasmuch as they supplied the deficiency of labourers, but no further, even at that time; but at the present crisis, I conceive, indeed I am fully convinced, they tend to increase the farmers’ burdens. In this county, and from what I observe in your Journals, it is universal complaint, that the poor rates are considerably increased, and at a time when they are less easily paid. What is the cause of such an increase? The primary cause is, I conceive, want of employment. I have known instances last winter, and even this spring, of strong men who have been set to such work as not to be enabled to earn sufficient, by considerable, to maintain their families; at the end of the week these men were, and I think I do not err if I say still are, authorised by the Magistrates of the Hundred in which I live, to demand of the overseer of their respective parishes, the money they had earned to be made up 2s. for each individual in the family, by which means a desire of maintaining that independent spirit, which it is desirable a poor man should have, by endeavouring to bring up his family without parochial assistance, is entirely lost sight of:—whereas, if the old custom of thrashing corn were universally adopted, work would be more plentiful, the labourer could be better paid, and he would have the heartfelt satisfaction of gaining his livelihood by his own industry and labour. If every expence is fairly estimated, it will be found corn may be thrashed as cheap by hand as by a machine; I am confident it is the most regular and therefore the most desirable plan. All agricultural improvements are at a stand, except what are absolutely necessary; and having a great quantity of men spread in the country more than a few years since, such a change must ultimately take place.

There is another objection, and not a trifling one, to Thrashing Machines, which I cannot omit mentioning: the barn in which one is placed is the nursery of vice, and in that may be considered a national nuisance. Girls of different ages are the persons generally employed; on such an occasion, their morals are degraded, they become unfit for service, they have a dislike to any sort of confinement, and may be considered as useless members of society.

The number of accidents is also a most serious objection, which ought to have great weight in favour of the abolition of Machines: during the past winter, into neighbouring parishes here, two most dreadful accidents have happened—one person killed on the spot, the other a limb literally torn off and otherwise much hurt, and we are repeatedly hearing of something of the kind in different parts of the country.—Such facts as these will surely have some weight with farmers in general.

I am, Sir, your’s respectfully,
MAGISTER.

12th June 1816: A Brandon magistrates responds to John Moseley's letter to the press the previous week

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BURY POST.

SIR,

AS the resident Magistrate in Brandon, I feel myself called upon to express my concern, that reports are not only industriously spread, but accredited, to fix the origin and existence of all the riots in this neighbourhood, and even in the more distant parts of Suffolk and the Isle of Ely, upon the inhabitants of this town, because they impute a neglect of duty to the Magistrate residing here.

I believe the Assize Calendars will not shew more crimes to have been committed in the town of Brandon of late, than in any other parishes in the county.—But the strongest refutation of those reports, injurious to the Magistrate and the principal Inhabitants of the parish, is, that although charges are brought generally against the inhabitants of Brandon, for instigating and abetting the pre-existing and subsequent riots, and although I have used every means in my power to investigate and ascertain the truth of the reports, no proof has yet been substantiated before me, or information yet laid, against any individual of this town, which might on conviction of such offender, have led to the suppression of the riots in other places, and the prevention of them in the town of Brandon, by the immediate application and exercise of the Civil Authorities.

I am, Sir, your obedient humble Servant,

J. R. BURCH.

Brandon, June 7th, 1816.

5th June 1816: A Norfolk magistrate writes to the press about his role in suppressing disturbances at Brandon

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BURY POST.

SIR,

Tofts Hall, June 2d, 1816.

AS the conduct of the Magistrates at Brandon has been censured by some of the public Newspapers, you will much oblige me by inserting in your next paper my letter to the Lord Lieutenant of the County of Suffolk; wherein are narrated all the transactions at Brandon, so far as they implicate the conduct of your obedient servant,

J. MOSELEY.

MY LORD DUKE,

Mr. Borton yesterday shewed your Grace’s Letter to me; and, as it refers to the reported conduct of the Magistrates, acting for Brandon, where my assistance, as a Magistrate for the county of Suffolk, is occasionally required; I here state all that was done by me towards suppressing the riot there on Thursday the 16th instant, till five o'clock on the following morning.—On Thursday evening, between 8 and 9 o'clock, a constable of Brandon arrived in a chaise at Tofts, in order to convey Mr. Burch to the former place, to suppress a riot: which the constables were unable to subdue. I accompanied Mr. Burch to Brandon: on our arrival we swore in all the inhabitants, that we could collect, special constables; they (to the amount of about 25) reported themselves quite insufficient to quell the tumult, or to detain any rioter in custody. We went into the mob; read the King’s Proclamation, and explained the penalty; upon which the people dispersed.—At 10 o'clock we sent an express to Thetford for military aid; a Cornet and 11 men arrived about 5 or 6 hours afterwards. The town remained quiet; and between 5 and 6 o'clock of the morning I left it to return home, and to act for my own Hundred of Grimshoe, in which I am the only resident Magistrate; and where various disturbances have prevented my offering any further assistance to Mr. Burch; except by signing a letter, which Mr. Burch wrote on Saturday evening (18th inst.) at Tofts (by desire of the inhabitants of Brandon) to request that Lord Sidmouth would afford immediately a military force to support the Magistrates in Brandon and its vicinity. As the Hundred, which is peculiarly under my direction, is in Norfolk, it is unnecessary to trouble your Grace with the transactions therein; however it may be agreeable to you to learn, that with the assistance of the Yeomanry, tumult is for the present suppressed.

I have the honour to subscribe myself,
Your Grace’s most obedient and very humble servant,
JOHN MOSELEY.

To His Grace the Duke of Grafton, Lord
Lieutenant of the county of Suffolk, &c.

29th May 1816: Letter to the Bury & Norwich Post laments the automation of the Wool-spinning industry in the County

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BURY POST.

Sir,—Through the channel of your useful Paper, I beg leave to make a few observations on the state of the Wool-trade in this County, and to suggest some hints whereby that which is at present nearly lost, may, in the course of a few months be probably recovered. The great disadvantage to the extensive Spinning-trade appears to have arisen from the use of Machinery; to meet this, therefore, I should wish to recommend it to every parish throughout the County to have certain quantity of Wool combed, proportioned to the population of the Parish; that each should supply its own Poor with Spinning, and to pay such wages as will encourage them to keep from the weekly pay-table. Let them not say, “We have no employment;” it is good to keep them employed, and to have their minds as well as their hands occupied. By such measures, and at the same time selling the Yarn made under the price of Machine Yarn, a stop may be put to the use of Machinery; the Trade of the County may return to its own channel; and the Poor be enabled to live by their labour. Embrace, therefore, the present opportunity, or the Trade will be lost past recovery, and thus the landed, as well as every other interest, will be greatly and inevitably injured. I am happy to say, that several Parishes have already adopted the plan now proposed, and that the Poor are well satisfied; and I entertain a hope that it will be immediately attended to in every Parish throughout the County, as I feel no doubt, that at a moderate calculation, it will be the means of employing 1000 combers.

I am, Sir, your obedient Servant.

A Friend to the County of Suffolk.

26th April 1816: The Secretary of the Leeds Cloth Dressers' Union outlines their distress to the Leeds Mercury

To the editor of the Leeds Mercury.

Sir,

Who is the true Friend of his Country? This Question strikes me more forcibly at a Time like the present, when it is acknowledged by all, that general Embarrassment and Want of Employment pervades the whole Nation. The Man, (at such a critical time,) that does every thing in his power to give employment to the lesser class of the community, must be acknowledged to be a friend truly to his Country, and if he should make a small sacrifice, so much the more. Now, Sir, it is a well known fact to every one that properly understands it, that the Machinery for the making of Cloth in the Town and Neighbourhood of Leeds throws Two to Three Hundred [Men] out of Employment, with very little benefit to the Owner, if any, and the Work, to say the least of it, no better done. If this be true, and it is too true, what will be the feeling of those brave Men returning from the Army and Navy to find all their hopes blasted, and their former employment [taken] by Machinery?

Likewise, the Cloth-workers, who have borne the weight of heavy Taxes and dear Provisions during the War, at the return of peace to [have] every thing turn from them that would Support them and their Families. The Person that gives Employment to the Working Classes encourages Consumption and helps the Revenue, and is worthy the gratitude of all good Men. It is unnecessary to say any thing more, the following statement will say sufficient:

The Quarterly Report of the Clothworkers’ Brief Institution, taken from the 1st of January, 1816, to the 31st of March.

In January there were out of Employ…… 317
In February…….D………...D………….. 378
In March ………..D……….D…….…… [389]

In this Number are included the lately returned from his Majesty’s Service.

The Number of Children dependent on these Individuals or Support is, 1134.

In the course of the last Quarter the Institution has paid to the Relief of their own Sick and Funerals 61l. 6s.

JOHN SUNDERLAND, Secretary.
April 26th 1816.

N.B. There are at present not less than Six Hundred Pairs of Sheers going by Machinery.

7th March 1816: Suffolk Yarn makers lament the automation of their trade to local MPs

The letter below was published in the Bury & Norwich Post of 27th March 1816:

Yarn-makers.—A Copy of the following letter was last week transmitted to the Members of Parliament for this county —

"GENTLEMEN.—While the Freeholders of the county are petitioning against Income and Property Tax, permit the Suffolk Yarn-makers to lay before you the state of spinning of fine worsted yarn, and the bad consequence of encouraging machines for spinning of wool, which has been in part the cause of parish rates getting up to their present height, and now threatens a total annihilation of all hand spinning. The coarse spinning by hand has already been done away, to the injury of many thousands of women and children, and about 800 journeymen combers in the said county; and there are about 400 more likely to share the same fate, if a stop is not put to mill-spinning, principally manufactured in Yorkshire. The number of spinners in this county amounts to about 40,000, and their earnings on an average 3d. each per day, amounting to the sum of 156,000l. per annum; this sum must, of course, fall principally on the occupiers of land, and if a stop is not put to so growing an evil, it must in the end be the ruin of the Agricultural interest, as well as the Yarn-makers of this county. Although the ingenuity of man is patronised and encouraged, still when it becomes a national grievance, surely it then behoves the Legislature to stop, or remedy, the evil. It must be allowed the Wool-growers in some counties find a readier and higher market, owing to a less sum being required to manufacture the raw material; yet if it is considered the large sum it takes for the maintenance of the labouring poor, still increasing, how is the landed interest to support the expences, or find employment for so greater a number of women and children? Besides, all selfish considerations must be extinguished, or give way to a public good. It has been observed, that the machine spinning enables our manufacturers to undersell the Foreign Markets; the contrary will be proved to a demonstration in times of Peace, from the raw materials having advanced triple during the War, the consequence of which will be, the manufacturers will have a quantity of goods on hand, their journeymen unemployed, thousands of females and children out of employment, pauperism rapidly increasing, and a  general distress among the lower orders of the people; nor will the Farming Interest be able to live with moderate rents, even if Wheat should get up to 40s. per coomb, from the enormous sums they will have to pay rates. If it be asked, are the goods equal to hand spinning? the answer is, they are made to sell; perhaps some will say, 'Can no other employment be substituted?' I answer, I know of none that will give labour to two millions of people in this kingdom. Must they not be brought up in idleness and vice? and will it not be the ruin of the morals of the people? That you, Gentlemen, will take this into your serious consideration, is the wish of the Yarn-makers of the County of Suffolk.

7th March, 1816.

"R.S."

30th December 1815: Leeds Cloth Dressers' Union Secretary writes a corrective letter to the Leeds Mercury

Following the report of his arrest in the 23rd December 1815 edition of the Leeds Mercury, John Sunderland - the Secretary of the Cloth Dressers' Union (or 'Brief Institution') - wrote to the paper, who published the letter on Saturday 30th December 1815:

TO the EDITOR of the LEEDS MERCURY.

SIR,— I beg that you will correct a Paragraph in your last Paper, by the Insertion the following Statement:—On Monday Night, the Eighteenth Inst. John Sunderland, Clerk to the Cloth Workers’ Brief Institution, was apprehended in the Act of reading a Letter, paying the Sick, &c. and himself and Twenty-Four other Persons searched, along with Five Women, who were applying for Relief for their Sick Husbands. At the same Time the Books and Papers were seized, and all taken away. John Sunderland and others were immediately conveyed to the Black Lion, Mill-Hill, at Nine o'Clock, and there remained till Two the next Day in the Afternoon, without being examined by any Magistrate. The said John Sunderland, Joseph Tillotson, William Anderson, William Hampshire, and Samuel Wheatley, after being examined, were held to Bail, for persuading Thomas Marshall, (the Informant,) to leave his Employers, Messrs. Oates and Hardisty, contrary to the Statute in that Case made and provided.

I am, Yours, &c. 

J.S.

5th November 1814: Joanna Southcott writes to the press to decry a hoax letter

JOANNA SOUTHCOTT.

The following letter appeared in the Observer of Sunday last, and made a considerable impression on the believers of Joanna's mission. It is however clear from the subsequent letters of Mrs. Southcott, which we also subjoin, that the letter purporting to be signed J. Towzer, is a complete forgery.

"Having been requested by Joanna to acknowledge her former wicked errors,—I have therefore, on the part of Joanna, respectfully and with sincere contrition to state, that for some considerable time past she has been in a state of delirium, but at length having become, as it were, herself again, being now calm and collected, and fearing that she is approaching to her latter end, hereby renounces all the wicked incantations of her former distempered brain; and she hopes that a generous public will forget the impositions and errors that she has of late endeavoured to impose upon their understanding. And she further hopes, that all good christians will not only forgive, but will fervently join in her prayers to the Almighty, for a forgiveness of her late blasphemous doctrines, and past sins.

J. TOWZER."

To the Editor of the Morning Chronicle.

SIR,―As a point of common honesty I desire that you will insert this from me as a reparation for the injury intended against my character, by the infamous forgery which you suffered to be copied from The Observer into your paper of this day, signed "J. Towzer." the purport of which was, that I had authorized it to be drawn up, to acknowledge my having imposed upon the public, and that I now renounced the whole of my visitation. In all what I have done and published to the world my conscience accuses me of nothing to renounce, and therefore leaving my cause to God, who hath directed me in the course I have hitherto pursued, I shall persevere in that course, to the confusion of my enemies, who falsely accuse me of imposture and incantations, whereby they themselves become imposters and deceivers, to mislead the unwary.

As you, Mr Editor, were so ready to exult in the insertion of the article above mentioned, supposing, no doubt, that it was genuine, I rely upon your candour, with the same readiness to announce to the public how you were imposed upon by that vile forgery.

JOANNA SOUTHCOTT.

From the Leeds Mercury of Saturday 5th November 1814

5th October 1814: Letter from 'General Ludd' to 'the Editor of the Nottingham Review'

GENERAL LUDD

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NOTTINGHAM REVIEW

Sir—I take the liberty of dropping you a few lines to inform you of the good fortune of one of my sons, who is come to very high honor. You must know that some time ago, owing to a little imprudent conduct, my eldest son, NED, decamped, and enlisted into his Majesty’s service, and as he was notorious for heroism and honorable enterprize, he was entrusted with a commission to exercise his prowess against the Americans, and I am happy to say he has acquitted himself in a way which will establish his fame to generations yet unborn.

I assure you, Mr. Editor, I scarcely know how to keep my feeling within bounds, for while all our former and united efforts in breaking frames, &c, were commented upon with some severity, and in a way which cast an odium upon my character and that of my family, I now find the scales are turned, and our enemies are converted into friends; they sing a new tune to an old song, and the mighty deeds of my son are trumpeted forth in every loyal paper in the kingdom. My son is not now confined to the breaking of a few frames, having the sanction of government, he can now not only wield his great hammer to break printing presses and types, but he has a licence to set fire to places and property which he deems obnoxious, and now and then even a little private pillage is winked at. Even the GAZETTE EDITOR at Mr. Tupman's who was formerly one of my greatest enemies, and threatened to pursue both me and my family to the uttermost, is now in my favor, and is to become a patron, and an admirer of my son, on account of his achievements in Washington. There is one thing though in the conduct of this Gentleman which has created me some little uneasiness; a few weeks ago he strongly recommended to the magistrates to offer a very large reward, to any person who would disclose our secret system of operation in this neighbourhood: he went so far as to say 5000l. ought to be offered; enough he said to enable the informer to live independent in another country, intimating such a character would not be considered as a proper person for the society of this country, and therefore he would emigrate to seek other associates. I hope it is not true that this notorious Editor has any secrets to disclose about me and my family, and that he is waiting for this large reward to be offered, that he may avail himself of such an opportunity of making his fortune, and fleeing his country. Now, I really think, as my son has become truly loyal, and is working for his country's good, and all under the sanction of the Crown, and as his achievements have been of the first rate, "old grievances ought not to be repeated;" though, bye the bye, I am of opinion that all which I and my son have done in Nottingham and neighbourhood, is not half so bad as what my son has done in America; but then you know he has supreme orders, from indisputable authority, for his operations in America, and that makes all the difference.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

GENERAL LUDD

Ludd Hall, October 5, 1814.

10th September 1814: Letters to the press about Joanna Southcott's 'pregnancy'

Both of these letters appeared in the Leeds Mercury of Saturday 10th September 1814, in a column entitled 'Extracted from the Courier':

JOANNA SOUTHCOTT.

TO THE EDITOR.—SIR,—Several persons having expressed a wish that I should visit Joanna Southcott, that they might be better satisfied what foundation there was for a report that she was pregnant, I consented to accompany one of her friends, a surgeon and accoucheur of experience, for that purpose, on the 18th of August. He informed me on my way thither, that the most satisfactory examination would not be permitted, but that it was not at all necessary, as no professional man could have any doubt of her situation, upon seeing the state of her breasts.

Their appearance gave no reason to doubt the truth of her statement, that she was in her 65th year, and that certain natural effects had ceased since she was 48; circumstances under which her pregnancy was naturally incredible, and were it real, might well enough have induced a belief that it was supernatural.

I endeavoured, however, not to prejudge the case, but to form and my opinion of her situation from the symptoms alone, as I should have done had she been only 45 years of age, and therefore within the period of probable pregnancy.

After a minute statement of particulars of his examination of the woman, the writer concludes thus:—

Considering all the above appearances, I did not hesitate to declare it to be my opinion, that Joanna Southcott was not pregnant, but I was told that I was the first medical man that had seen her, who was not perfectly satisfied of the contrary.

I believe that her uterine organs are diseased, and that the breasts, as is usual, sympathising with those parts, have an increased quantity of blood determined to them. Had I thought the external appearances such as ought to lead to a belief in her pregnancy, I should have urged the propriety of submitting to a more satisfactory examination; but feeding, as I did, a perfect conviction that she was not with child, it seemed to me unnecessary to insist upon any further enquiry.

Having observed in the newspapers, that assertions are repeatedly made, the eminent accoucheurs have declared this woman to be pregnant, I am desirous not to be reckoned of that number. Yet, before I conclude, I feel right to say that I am convinced that this poor woman is no imposter, but that she labours under a strong mental delusion.

JOHN SIMS,

Sept. 3, 1814.


TO THE EDITOR.

SIR,—In a Morning Paper the 30th ult. a Medical Gentleman, the signature of J. C. H., states, that "he should not be doing his duty to those poor deluded people, who are in the belief of John Southcott, and the public at large, were he not, after having an opportunity of seeing her, to state the result of such a visit." He then complains "of an imposition that was tried to be practised on him; or rather a trap, in which he had like to have been caught." This trap, it seems, was a request made by Joanna Southcott, that in giving his opinion, he should consider her a married woman of 24 years of age, and divest his mind of all prejudice respecting her inspiration. Now, Sir, I should suppose that a Medical Man employed on such an occasion, would pay no attention whatever to the statement of a woman, who was represented in all the Journals to be an impostor: one would suppose that he would have attended to those symptoms only, the existence of which he had an opportunity to ascertain. Mr. J. C. H. who I understand is Mr. Hobday, of Ratcliffe Highway, was allowed to make the same examination as was afforded to the other Medical Gentlemen who attended her, on which he has thought proper to be silent. Joanna Southcott, I find, was examined by nine medical practitioners of some eminence in London, six of whom pronounced her to be pregnant, and the other three declined to give a decided opinion, principally on account of her age. [Here the writer enters into some particulars which it is not necessary for us to repeat. He concludes thus:]

As the medical men who have attended Joanna Southcott, has to be apprised of her labour when it takes place, I hope they will all attend. Indeed, so far from being her wish to have it conducted privately, I know that applications have been made to the Archbishop of Canterbury, to appoint a person to attend her accouchment, and to procure for her a suitable apartment, which his Grace has refused to do, under the idea that such a measure would tend to confirm her followers in the belief of her inspiration. The pregnancy of a woman in the 65th year of her age, is in modern times a novel occurrence, and deserves to be recorded. With respect to the operation of the law, I consider it worthy of notice, causes having been determined in the House of Lords against claimants born in foreign countries, on the presumption that their mothers were at the time of their birth, too far advanced in life to bear children, although one (Lady Jane Grey) was about ten years younger than Joanna Southcott. If then, in this point of view, the case of Joanna Southcott be interesting, it is of great consequence that its authenticity should not be called in question at any future period. For the purpose of avoiding deception, and any ground for suspicion or misrepresentation, might not he Lord Chancellor with great propriety, take her under his protection, place her in decent apartments, and appoint accoucheurs of experience and respectability to attend her? Such an interference could not possibly be considered by her followers as in any degree countenancing the marvellous part of the business. Of this plan, I understand her followers, and I think I may say the public in general, would approve.

I am Sir, your obedient servant,

RICHARD REECE.

171, Picadilly, Sept. 2, 1814.

31st August 1814: Letter from 'A Priest' to the 'Editor of the Nottingham Gazette'

LOST MANUSCRIPT!

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NOTTINGHAM REVIEW.

SIR—Walking near the rock-holes in the park, early this morning, I picked up the inclosed manuscript, which, as it was "unwafered and unsealed," I had the curiosity to open; and must confess, that the reading of it had such an effect upon my risible faculties, as for a moment, to drive the morning devotional thoughts from my mind. I found it addressed to the Editor of the Gazette, and having heard that an advertisement had been posted up in different parts of Nottingham, offering a reward for the recovery of a "Lost Manuscript," I thought the Editor might have lost it there a night or two before. Reflecting on the oddity of the circumstance, the words amor mertricor, meretrix inusia lues venerea came forcibly into my head. I determined, however, to take the article to the office; but when I got there, the offered reward was refused, because the author, I was told, had furnished another copy; I therefore send it to you for the perusal of your readers.

Your’s, &c.
PETER COMIC

August 31, 1814.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NOTTINGHAM GAZETTE.

Sir—Having been a constant reader of your luminous publication, permit me to say, that I have perused the efforts of your transcending genius with ecstatic pleasure; and have viewed your matchless triumphs over the cold-water Tory and Jacobin factions, that is over the readers of the Journal and Review, with supreme delight. At a period when a Jacobinical war raged around the kingdom, and a not less cruel, and still more dangerous one raged within, which was carried on by mysterious gangs of depredators, called Luddites, at this period you commenced your arduous labours. Your laudable and professed object was, to crush the monster Bonaparte and his myrmydon follower, and all the Luddites, with the magic of your pen; and to convert the cold-water Tories and Jacobins, into ranting true-blue Royalists; whilst the incorrigible Burdett, Whitbread, Brougham, Cochrane, Cobbett, White, Hunt, Drakard, Lovell, Cartwright, Wood, and Waithman, along with John Smith, Lord Radcliffe, the Political Scribe, and the Rev. Editor, you were to muzzle or confine in strong holds. And, worthy Sir, have you not succeeded?—have you not driven Bonaparte to Elba, and his man-eating myrmydons into the mouths of the Cossacks?—have you not proved this wife, the daughter of the Apostolic Emperor, to be a prostitutum; and the wife of our immaculate Regent to belong to the Cyprian sisterhood?—nay, have you not driven her into exile, as too dangerous an animal to remain on British soil?—have you not laid every Luddites prostrate at your feet, and made them lick the dust in sorrow and anguish?—have you not driven the cold-water Tories into hiding places, with faces as long as a maypole?—have you not silenced the Burdetts, Whitbreads, Broughams, Cobbetts, Whites, Hunts, Drakards, Lovells, Woods, Waithmans, Smith, Rancliffes, Political Scribes, and Reverend Editors, and driven the troublesome Cochrane into a dungeon–have you not cleared the very Pig-styes of their filth, though you got a little soiled in the operation?—have you not rendered an essential service to society, by discovering and practising a new mode of chastisement in Sunday Schools for girls in their teens, for which a saucy cobler was silly enough to threaten you with the vengeance of this lap stone and strap?—have you not almost ruined the Review, by reducing its sale to Fifteen Hundred; while you have advanced the sale of your self-instructing paper to three hundred, besides what you generously give away?—and I need not say how fully and satisfactorily you have proved that the Review has been the occasion of the premature death of all those unfortunate men who have been hung at York, as well as of the rebellion in Ireland, for to the REVIEW may be attributed all that disaffection which now manifests itself; and there can be no doubt that you will be able to prove, that the differences between this country and America, have been owing to the filth of the Review; and were you properly to trace cause and effect, there can be no question but every moral and political evil will be found to have arisen from this source.

But my principal object for troubling you with this letter, is to inform you, that it is in the contemplation of the two Houses of Parliament, at the commencement of the next Session, to vote public thanks to you for the many and extraordinary services you have rendered this country and the world at large, by your not less extraordinary publication, and, I have heard it whispered too, in the higher circles, the Regent intends devoting ten thousand pounds out of his savings, to the erecting a statue to commemorate your virtues in Westminster Abbey, for having driven away his wife.

There are some evil disposed persons that say, that you were the cause of frame-breaking, by suggesting and putting in practice, a plan for reducing the workmen's prices, in your capacity as a hosier, in 1811.—This, I hope, is all sheer gammon and malice; otherwise the blood of a Horsefall, a Trentham, and the seventeen men hung at York, with a long catalogue of other crimes, you will have to expiate, either in this world, or the next. There are persons, likewise, who maintain that you wish to level all distinctions in society, and to create a national convulsion, by driving the working class in acts of desperation for want of food, hoping thereby to become Robespierre or a Marat. But this insinuation, also, I hope, you will be able to refute, or it shall be attempted to be done by

Your humble servant,
A PRIEST.

23rd April 1814: Simon Orgill attacks the Nottingham Review's report about the raid on his factory

TO THE PRINTER OF THE NOTTINGHAM JOURNAL

SIR,

Not doubting but that you will give a much injured man the opportunity of defending his character against an attack made on it in a weekly publication, viz. the Nottingham Review of last week, I have presumed to solicit the admission of the following into your highly respectable paper. After having named the attack made upon me and my property, he tells his readers he was at Donington when this violent outrage was committed; he was, but why he was there is best known to himself, about this I make no enquiry. He then proceeds to narrate the particulars, which he has done with a tolerable degree of accuracy, except in one instance, where he says one machine is but slightly injured; in this he is much mistaken; the injury having been done with a broad, thin, and sharp instrument, was not so apparent. Not content with having done this, he proceeds by an hypothetical Inuendo to assign a reason why this dreadful Evil was inflicted on me, and which it is impossible to construe into any thing short of an apology for the perpetrators. He accuses me, or rather says I have been accused, of paying less wages than are paid at Nottingham. This is false; I assert, without fear of refutation, that for one kind of work I pay more by 10 per cent, than they do. He then goes on to say, that I justify myself by pleading superior speed in my machinery. I ask who has accused me, and to whom have I set up this justification; I owe obedience to none but to my country and its laws,―against them I am unconscious of having transgressed: I am accountable to no man nor set of men for the manner in which I conduct my own affairs, nor will I ever be called to an account by them. This writer proceeds to give a direct invitation to the persons now in my employment, and assures to them plenty of work elsewhere. How kind!!! It is not enough that my life must be attempted and my property destroyed, but this insidious attempt must be made to prevent me from repairing the damages; but on this score I trust he will now be satisfied.

The miscreants who have visited me with their vengeance, have added ingratitude to the black catalogue of their crimes. But perhaps they do not know it. I will tell them; and I believe I shall not be charged with vanity or Egotism when I say, that it is to me that they owe all the facilities of which the warp frames are now capable. After considerable study, and considerable expence too, I discovered the mode of applying wheels to the common horizontal warp frame; this discovery I gave up to the trade without reward, or hope of reward. For the truth of this statement I appeal to William Vickers, Broad-marsh, and to Mr. Smith, framesmith. How well I am recompensed, the Editor of the Review can tell.

Yours, most respectfully,
SIMON ORGILL.

19th April 1813: Hammond Roberson writes in praise of William Cartwright & Joseph Radcliffe

To the Printer of the Leeds Intelligencer.

SIR,—I beg the favour of you to permit your paper to the medium of a few observations on a subject in which, if I mistake not, the credit and the justice of this neighbourhood is considerably interested.

We cannot, I presume, have forgotten the state of the public mind, and the transactions which occurred during the spring months of the last year. We recollect the serious apprehensions which filled the minds of one part of the inhabitants; the disgraceful panic which seized others; the suspense in which a third sort were held, unable to form a judgment whether the disturbers of the public peace, or their opposers would prove to have taken the stronger side, and therefore afraid to commit themselves by venturing to express an opinion concerning transactions, which, by their novelty, their boldness, their ferocity, and general mischievous tendency, were becoming truly serious and alarming;—while, a lamentable proportion of the population of a great many of our towns and villages were in high and ardent expectation of some great change which they (foolishly enough, no doubt, but, which they) actually did imagine was about to take place in the persons should hold the power and property of the country.

At this time the idea of removing by violence such individuals as might seem likely to oppose any effectual obstacle to the system of destruction then in practice, was become perfectly familiar; the most atrocious acts were openly committed; murderous conversation was openly and undisguisedly held in workshops, at the market, in the public streets, and in public houses; while, whatever was offered in disapprobation of the then popular sentiments, and of the destructive practices, was generally spoken in retirement, under all the apparent emotions of apprehension, suspicion, and terror. There was an evident fear left what was said should be overheard and resented by the mischievous destruction of property of the speaker, or by his immediate assassination. Those who are first affected to scorn the expressions of alarm were themselves brought to dismay. Those who ignorantly imagined the business concerned such persons only as were connected with gig-mills and shearing-frames, were made to tremble for the safety of their own property and persons. The merchant, the farmer, the miller, the cottager, were alike assailed, terrified, plundered. The very atmosphere which surrounds us seemed contaminated, and the English character assumed for a season, the dark and baleful aspect of the malicious, relentless assassin.

A favourable change has taken place. The good sense of many of those who were incautiously led off to indulge unjustifiable wishes and expectations, is apparently returned; the momentary warmth of a perverted imagination has subsided, and given place to reflection, and a more just way of thinking. The silent and flow, but efficacious operation of our incomparable system of Laws, executed in that firm, manly, DISCRIMINATING CHRISTIAN spirit, so highly characteristic of our courts of justice, has had a powerful effect upon the public mind. The nature, the tendency, the absurdity, the madness of disorderly practices is more clearly discerned; the well-disposed are confirmed; the thoughtless are brought to some reflection; the guilty, we ardently hope, feel remorse; the vicious and abandoned have taken lessons of caution, and, it is reasonably to be expected, that the salutary pause that has been imposed upon them by the well grounded terror of the magistrate’s awful arm, will be succeeded by some general repentance and reformation of conduct, and of principle.

The extent to which the mischievous combination might have been carried is not to be ascertained. The nature and tendency of it, is pretty well known.

A full year has now passed over us. We have had time for reflection. And it remains for us to determine whether we will suffer the intelligent faithful historian of the times to enter the following record for the information of posterity:

That one of the most villainous, of the MOST DESPERATE; and, for its extent, one of the MOST ALARMING CONSPIRACIES AGAINST the Security of the persons and property of civil society, that ever disgraced a country professing Christianity, was checked and disconcerted by the manly firmness of ONE MAN, at great labour, and at great personal hazard to himself, as well as at great expence:—and, the detection and conviction of the parties to this nefarious scene, was, in a great measure, "owing to the unremitting zeal and persevering courage of ONE MAGISTRATE residing near the town of Huddersfield:" but, such was the cool indifference betrayed by the inhabitants of the neighbourhood more immediately benefited by the judicious intrepidity of these two men, that, finding themselves delivered from their present apprehensions, they were content to refer the remuneration of the expences incurred by the meritorious defence of Rawfolds Mill, to the bounty of Government; to the PRIVATE liberality of individuals; to an "HUMBLE PETITION" to the Quarter Sessions; to chance:—and the worthy Magistrate of Mills-Bridge House was allowed to enjoy the satisfaction arising to an independent mind like his, from his private reflections on his own conduct; or,—whether we will do ourselves the credit, and our country the service, to offer our united public thanks to Mr. Radcliffe for the benefit he has conferred upon society, by his prompt, decisive, and judicious conduct; and testify our approbation of William Cartwright's behaviour, in defence of his person and property, and our sense of the advantages derived to society thereby by an instant public subscription expressly designed as a kind of vote of thanks, and to be offered to him independent of any notice or reward which the wisdom of Government may judge proper to confer upon him.

A Thousand Guineas subscribed by that number of persons, and their names published, would be of greater importance to the public; and of more credit to the subscribers than any additional honour or advantage to the person for whom that sum ought to be so raised.

HAMMOND ROBERSON.
Healds Hall, April 15, 1813.