Towards the end of last week, the misguided agitators, by way of drumming up their forces, sent round with his placard and bell the self-same individual who acted under similar circumstances under the Anti-Church-Rate party, at the time that question was in agitation. By his aid, and "sundry and divers" other gathering means, the circumstances we are about to record were the result.
On Monday night, about seven o'clock (the time appointed for the meeting), the neighbourhood of the large room at Calvert's dye-house, in the Ward's-end, as might be expected, was in a state of excitement and commotion attendant upon the expectation of the meeting. By the time the business began, we should say there were not less than 300 or 400 present, and before its conclusion, we judge they had increased to nearly 600. The "room", so called, in which they assembled, is one of the most extraordinary results of the combination of bricks and mortar we ever remember to have seen. The floor of "mother earth" was miserably damp, and in the interior were quantities of bricks strewed in chaotic confusion about the sides of it. These, in some instances, were piled up in order to form seats for such as, from over-exertion in advocating their principles, or from other causes, rendered rest necessary. In some places, also quantities of straw had been scattered, so that, altogether, it formed a coup d'Ïil of a very singular nature, the place assuming very much the appearance of an extensive hog-stye. Fortunately for those whose nasal organs might be of a delicate nature, it was pretty well fumigated with the clouds of smoke that here and there ascended from the short pipes of those who were enjoying the Nicotian weed. This place, calculated to hold from 400 to 500 people, was illuminated by some half dozen "dips", distributed to the best possible advantage about its roof and sides. At the further extremity from the entrance was raised a kind of platform, on which were elevated the orators of the evening. Immediately beneath this, a humble table presented itself on which reared its head a solitary candle. Near this we were accommodated with a seat raised on brick pillars, having occupied which, and officiating as our own candle-snuffer, we entered upon our duty as reporter of the proceedings.
Mr Hicklin having proposed, and Mr Parsons seconded, that Mr J Skevington take the chair, - that question was magnanimously carried, and Mr S. accordingly mounted the elevation assigned to the speakers. He said, Fellow-men, I cannot but feel honoured by the frequent calls made upon me to fill a situation like that I now occupy. At the same time, it would afford me much more gratification to see one holding it who would be much more calculated than I am both to inform you and to assist you in getting information relative to those matters which are most calculated to benefit you in your present station in life. Many of those who are opposed to us revile us, and ridicule us, and say, What do the working classes want? And when we assemble, they say, "Oh! it's only a meeting of the ragamuffins - the unwashed!" Any why is it that those so assembling, and you who are now here, are found with your coats out at the elbows, and without stockings to your feet? Many of you who are the makers of stockings and who wholely produce them, - I know it must go to your hearts core to think that, whilst you are making the article, yourselves and your families are going without them - when you consider that you are the producers of all wealth, and are the makers of every thing, and at the same time that you are the very parties that lack every thing. It strikes me that our governors have acted unwise in the steps they have taken in having paid attention to the glossing over the top of the building in order to make a fine show - in making a gilded steeple in order to make a display of beauty - and in having neglected the foundation. When the foundation of a building is neglected, what is the consequence? It is well known to you. And what is the foundation of society but the working classes? When they are in prosperity, all above them are in prosperity. Let them be shorn of their strength, and let them be poor, and tradesmen cry out. In order to obviate that, then, let them look to the foundation by seeing that the working classes are remunerated for the labour they bestow. Let the working classes look after their own interests; if they do not, they will get worse and worse; and why? Because the difficulties in the case would increase gradually. Since the peace, those who are acquainted with the history of the country are aware that the condition of the working classes has been getting worse. And why? Because we have to compete with heavy taxation, and with the untaxed work of other countries.
[Mr S. then went on at some length to contrast the face and condition of the country in time of peace with it in time of war, and concluded that part of his speech with the sober bit of truth that, "When peace was made there was quietness!"]
We have borne the taxes, he then went on to say, which were imposed upon us at that period, and the untaxed foreigner now turns his attention particularly to manufactures. And how can we go into market with him, notwithstanding our industry and ingenuity, so long as we remain taxed and they untaxed? If you, I mean the working classes, would only turn your attention to these things instead of dog and cock fights - pastimes calculated only to satiate the brutal passions - and look after the improvement in the condition of yourselves and your families: - if you would only do this, and show by your actions that you do not, as your opponents say, want to be levellers, and to have a regular scramble for the result, but that you only want to be fairly remunerated on the principle of "live and let live," and not in the state of starvation you are now enduring: - if you only do this, I say, and convince them that such is the case, and be sober and act with firmness, and the battle is won. There is no need for arms. The man that would direct you to use them without using your exertions to the utmost previously, will perhaps be the first to flee from you in time of need. Convince, then, your masters and those around you that it is by peaceable means you want to better your condition. And by what means? Why, by the concentration that there now is in the country of the forces and energies of the working millions, aided by the help of many in the higher ranks of life, who are also assisting them by their energies. You are seeking for yourselves a choice in your representatives. Bricks and mortar, and money, you know, have been represented long enough. Your rulers can make laws to protect it, but labour is left to take its own shift; to sink beneath the weight of the burdens heaped upon it. My heart bleeds to see the pallid countenances of those who labour for the scanty pittance they receive, - I wish it were in my power to relieve them. But I have no doubt the rich also see it, and at times feel it; and yet they are too often like the lady in a tale I have read.
[Mr S. here related a long anecdote, the gist of which was, that a lady happening to be in or near some of the abodes of wrechedness in the most inclement season of the year, and finding the inmates half-starved for want of fuel, ordered her footman to supply them with some coal; but on her arrival at home, and after sitting by her own fireside for some time, she began to think it was not so cold as it was, and accordingly rescinded the order. - The tale told very well upon the audience, but we really could not see any aptness in the illustration.]
I am afraid this is too much the feeling amongst those in better circumstances than the working classes. If they were to go and look at some of the miserable cottages, and find the poor stockingers toiling hard for 16 hours a day and earning only about 7s. a week for the support of their wives and families, how would they feel?
[We might also ask how they would feel when they knew that some, if not a considerable, portion of that scanty pittance was spent either in the ale-house; or in the support of members of the canine race, kept for the purpose of being engaged in the brutal, unmanly sport of badger-baiting; or in paying the "fees" to the owner of the badger at the rate of 6d. per dog? We merely put these suggestions in order, if possible, to keep pace with the superabundance of matter put forth by the opposing party in order to lower the higher classes in the estimation of those beneath them. As to the badger-baiting part of our suggestion, we speak advisedly, having been an eye-witness to a scene of that nature to a considerable extent not many weeks ago.]
If they had hearts of stone, continued the speaker, would it not touch them? And this 7s. per week, be it remembered, is taxed money. The working man's bread, tea, and every thing is taxed; and if he should be enabled to get any clothes they are taxed also. No facilities comparatively are afforded to him for gaining instruction.
[What are the Mechanics' Institutes so much boasted of by their party?]
Is it to be wondered, then that the working classes begin to feel? But, I hope they do not feel so as to turn their attention to brute force and endeavour to gain their rights by rioting. No; I hope we live in wiser days; and that the working classes will look out for good and cheap government by fair and proper means. After that is accomplished, the rest will follow. Do not use harsh words towards your opponents. Calling names is no argument; it only tends to irritate. Let kindness mark your steps; let a feeling of affection towards all reign amongst you, particularly towards those who have treated you ill, and be sorry for them that they have been so. I should be sorry for the working classes to act with feelings of anger for the oppression they have been made to suffer. Let us not retaliate. Remember that "the merciful man shall obtain mercy". Under these feelings, then let us persevere, and seek by every proper means, to support those who will lead us on to the accomplishment of the things of better days. Our object in calling this meeting is only to see how far the working classes of Loughborough and its neighbourhood are disposed to make an effort to better their condition. You have nobly responded to that call. It is not because a few agitators have caught an infection, as it has been termed.
[How peculiarly sensitive these worthies are! We did not suppose that idea, expressed in our last report of their proceedings, had been worthy their notice.]
No; it has been in your breasts for years. You have felt it when at your tables before your scanty meal, and again on your beds of straw. In days spent in care and anxiety, and in sleepless nights, you have felt its effects. Will you not, then, make an effort? Yes, we will, we have made the effort, and let us persevere. I shall now leave it to other hands to address you in proceeding with the business of the evening.
[The remainder of Mr S.'s observations were of no moment, being merely relative to some arrangements with respect to the Committee. - It is scarcely necessary to add that this harangue throughout was attended with all the usual noisy demonstrations of approbation - the principal feature in these Meetings.]
Mr Smart then mounted the elevation, and said, such of them as were present at the last meeting were aware, and those who were not he said it for their information, that the committee then appointed were to draw up preliminary resolutions. That had been done accordingly, and the result would be laid before them. - Mr S. here read the following resolutions, which were unanimously carried in the course of the evening's entertainment:-
1. That the title of the Society be the Loughborough District Branch National Association, of which Birmingham is the centre.
2. That the qualification for membership shall be a pledge to co-operate, to the best of his power, in furtherance of the objects of the Society; that he shall be of the age of18 years or upwards; and shall pay at the time of his entry one penny, and afterwards one halfpenny per week, if required.
3. That the future government of the Society be vested in the hands of a Committee, to be chosen by the General Meeting; that the number of such Committee be not less than twenty-one, with the Secretary and Treasurer; and that five be a quorum to transact business.
4. That, as the object of this Society is to obtain the five fundamental principles of Radicalism, every one shall do his endeavours to procure subscriptions to the National Petition - to diffuse those principles at home and abroad, by meetings and delegations - and to attend as much as possible to the times and places for discussion, and the reception and dissemination of sound political knowledge.
The concluding part of Mr S.'s observations was only descriptive of the business that fell to the share of the Committee to transact.
Mr Skevington then again engrossed the attention of the meeting, saying that it had been suggested that, in order to facilitate the business of the evening, Mr Smart should go to the other end of the "room," and there attend to the enrollment of the names of those who chose to join the Association.
Hereupon Mr Smart did corkscrew his way through the mazy labyrinth of would-be politicians, to the other end of the assembly, and then and there, by and with the assistance of those then and there being present, did accordingly take down the names of those whose infatuation led them to agree to such a proceeding; and did also receive the divers penny-pieces paid by the new members towards the expenses incurred by the calling of the said meeting: - to wit, the "dips" and the standard-bearers fees. - The members, we found, are to contribute one half penny per week towards the same desirable end; and it was to these monetary matters that part of Mr Skevington's future observations apply.
Mr S. having been called upon to "enlighten" the meeting on the "five great points of Radicalism", as they call them, proceeded to do so, first observing, by way of comforting his hearers, that those individuals who were not prepared to pay the requisite "one penny each" to-night, need not do so. It was necessary that there should be a subscription, because of the expenses of the "room", and the crying, could not be paid without. The contributions, however, were to be as small as possible, and those only so far as the incidental expenses actually incurred, went. - Many of them might be aware that a very large meeting had been held in Birmingham. The working classes had been up and doing for some time in order to procure for themselves the rights which had so long been withheld. These rights were as follow: -
First, Universal Suffrage; that is that every man of the age of 21, of sound mind, uncontaminated by crime - that is, against the laws of his country, the civil laws - shall be eligible to vote for his representative in Parliament; for those who made the laws that governed him.
Next, Annual Parliaments; that is that the Members should be chosen every year, and either re-elected or turned out; thus they might keep in the good ones, and turn out the bad ones, and thus not be subjected to the evil of having men who would do nothing in Parliament for, it might be, seven years. And in order that such voters might not be coerced to vote as others liked, they wanted the votes to be taken by Ballot.
Another point was that No Property Qualification should be required of those made choice of as Members of Parliament. And instead of the present indirect way in which members of Parliament were benefited, there should be a fixed salary; that thus the people might know what they were paid for their services, and be able to judge whether they were fairly remunerated for such services.
These were the five fundamental Radical points, to be embodied in a Charter to be presented in a national petition to which it was calculated there would not be less than two millions signatures. [One of the audience, brimfull, no doubt, of the essential oil of Radicalism, cried out "there will be five millions!" - Don't they wish they may get them?] It was also proposed that, whilst this was being presented, 49 delegates should be sitting in London, to watch its progress, and adopt such measures as they deemed necessary for furthering it, and as the circumstances attending its presentation might require. The object, therefore, of this meeting was to enrol themselves in order to aid, and assist, and co-operate with, their fellow-countrymen in their exertions. Now, said, Mr S., in conclusion, you have it all as plain as it is possible for language to make it.
Although this collection of flowery sentences emanated from the speaker in order to the enlightenment of the meeting, we cannot help thinking but the addition of a dozen more "dips" would have had a more beneficial tendency in that point of view.
Mr S. then announced the presence of what he termed "a veteran reformer", who would be as glad to read something from a paper which he had with him for their advantage, as they would be glad to hear it.
After a considerable number of "hear, hears", interlarded with faint cheers, we heard an unusual rustling and scuffling behind where we sat, and on looking round, found it proceeding from the strenuous exertions that were being made to hoist an elderly looking individual on the platform. This feat at last being performed, and as much silence as possible having been obtained, the "veteran reformer" commenced reading something from the Nottingham Review, but he had not read much before the audience audible expressed their dissatisfaction at not being able to hear; the result of which was, the relinquishment of the task in favour of the Chairman, who standing as a Dutchman would say, "on his binder footer", and holding in one hand the important document, and in the other a "dip" with its lower extremity encased in a quantity of paper, ˆ la candlestick, proceeded to read it. Having at length waded through that portion of the Radical matter before him, which had been pretty well greeted with such outbursts of approbation and determination, as "We'll go on with the Birmingham lads", &c., &c., the assembly grew impatient, and strongly expressed their conviction that there was no necessity for reading it throughout, which the reader seemed to agree with, for he desisted. He then proposed a vote of thanks to Mr Chapman, the "veteran reformer". For what reason did not appear to us sufficiently and satisfactorily clear. However, whilst this matter was under consideration, a person named North, of a different "kidney" to those who surrounded him, called out "Fudge", and loudly expressed himself to the effect that the principles they were advocating were all very well in theory, but they would never do in practice"; and, with reference to the "veteran reformer", his opinion was, that "he had got very thin with his principles". This gave rise to a regular hubbub and disturbance, some being for turning North out and others for him remaining. He was also told that they would hear him fairly, without his so interrupting the meeting. To which he replied, that there was more meaning in the few words he had said than in all they had said, or could say, during the night.
Silence having at length been restored, Mr Skevington again pressed the vote of thanks he had proposed, accompanying his tenacity with observations descriptive of the "veteran reformer", as to his being 84.5 years of age, and very well worth their attention, &c., forcibly reminding us of the language of an auctioneers hand-bill. The vote of thanks, however, was at length acceded to and passed, and the ceremony of lowering the "veteran reformer" from the platform to terra firma having been gone through.
Mr Krouse occupied the station which Mr Chapman had vacated, and addressed the meeting. He said (with reference to what had taken place), they must not allow personalities to disturb them; if they did, all they were about to do would drop through. He was sorry that the meeting should have been disturbed, but it showed either that he had very little sense or they had very little patience. [We flatter ourselves that we have correctly reported this sentence, though the strange nature of it would almost lead us to think otherwise. By the words "he had very little sense", as we have given the speaker's address in the third person, it would seem that Mr Krouse was alluding to himself, but we have every reason to believe he did not mean so.] At the last meeting when he addressed them, he certainly did advise the people to provide themselves with arms; but he did not advise them to use them. The bloody field of Manchester had not had justice done to it. An aged man at the Manchester affray had had his head split open; that had not been avenged yet. The same tragedy might be acted over again for ought he knew. There were many in the land now who would crimson every valley in it with the gore of its inhabitants in order to further their own ends. They had called for fourteen years for justice on the murderers of Peterloo. If they had arms they could do so. He did not wish blood to be spilt but he wanted them to be prepared. A similar tragedy might be acted in Loughborough; they could not say that it would not. The spark was not dead; it only slumbered. They dare not touch the united millions now. At Newcastle on the occasion of a large meeting there, the military came out and barked, but they dared not bite. They knew that the working classes were the stronger, and they (the military) the weaker party. He trusted the military would not oppose them; yet, let those beware who thought to cut them down again. The working classes were nearly all armed in the North, but they would never come forward to use them unless on the direst necessity. They must have the knowledge how to use them at the proper time. We talked of revolution. He wanted one - a moral revolution, without bloodshed. There was a moral force now in England capable of taking away both the Lords and the Throne, without one drop of blood being shed. Let that only be put in force, and the country would soon see who were the stronger party. He hoped he had not alarmed any at the last meeting in talking so strenuously in favour of their being armed; if he had, he had not done so intentionally. He did now again advise them to be provided with arms, but he hoped they would not have occasion to use them.
After this precious specimen of the ideas harboured in the breasts of these deluded worshippers at the shrine of anarchy and rebellion was concluded, Mr Skevington, at the request of the parties, whose thirst for revolutionary nonsense had not yet been satiated, read a large mass of (to us) uninteresting matter from that precious gem in the diadem of agitation - the Northern Star. Of course we did not think it necessary to insert the mass of nonsense read, and therefore we declined taking it down, at which one of these gentry seemed particularly concerned, and in an authoritative tone asked "why we did not put that in?" Our only reply was, that we hoped he would leave that to our option. What ideas some people have about newspapers! Whilst this reading was going on, it of course met with the usual noisy accompaniments from the meeting about "the Birmingham lads", &c., and it was eventually wound up by a sentence to the effect that "England was the land of the Whig and Tory". We could not help thinking, in looking round, but it was also the land of Radicals. However, when this part of the proceedings was concluded, a little more "business" in the way of resolutions, committees, &c., was gone through with quite in the Secretary-of-State-for-the-Home-Department-like manner.
The meeting having then been adjourned until Monday evening next, a vote of thanks was moved and carried to the standing Chairman, for his able services in "the cause", to which that patriotic individual answered with a loud voice and said, "You are quite welcome, my lads, and I shall be at all times glad to render you any assistance".
The evening's amusement having thus drawn to an end, the parties who brought their own candlesticks secured them; and the "dips" which had faintly glimmered, star-like above the heads of the assembly, were "dowsed", one by one, until at length "the large room at Mr Calvert's dye-house" resumed its pristine darkness -- its wonted stillness, until the Members of the Loughborough Radical Association shall again cause its walls to re-echo with their revolutionary jargon.
Loughborough, 8th Sept 1838
Last updated March 1999