Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. — Volume 1

Name: Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. — Volume 1
Author: Hunt, Henry

Hunt, Henry

Hunt, Henry, 1773-1835; Social reformers -- Great Britain -- Biography

I am writing this account in my dungeon, at eleven o'clock at night, on
the 20th of September, 1820, and it is impossible for any one who reads it
not to draw a comparison between my conduct and that of my persecutors. I
would not part with the sweet delightful reflection which the remembrance
of this ONE act of my life conveys to my mind, for all the wealth in the
possession of those who have been concerned in consigning me to be
incarcerated _without mercy_ in this dungeon for TWO YEARS and SIX MONTHS;
according to common calculation _full one quarter of the remaining part of
my natural life_. Let the reader only consider the spirit in which I acted
towards those who had violated the laws of their country, by resisting
with force the warrant of a magistrate, and who had violently assaulted
the peace officer in his duty in executing that warrant, and then contrast
it with the vindictive proceedings against me, for having attended a
public meeting, legally and constitutionally assembled, to remonstrate
with the throne against the cruel privations and sufferings of the people,
where no breach of the peace was committed, where not even the slightest
resistance was made or even premeditated against the civil power. "Look at
this picture, and look at that." I have had the consolation of being
repeatedly thanked in the most earnest manner by these poor fellows, for
my humanity in interposing with the court to spare them from punishment;
but I have felt still a much higher pleasure when they have offered up
their thanks to me for having ventured my life "to snatch them from the
jaws of the gallows," when they were incautiously about to rush into them,
by pulling down mills, and burning wheat ricks. These might well have been
called poor deluded creatures. These men were literally deluded, and those
who urged them on were _deluded_ by what was then called the liberal part
of the press. In fact, almost the whole daily press of that period united
in a conspiracy to delude the people, by railing at and exciting the
multitude against BUTCHERS, BAKERS, and FARMERS, to whom not only the
fools, but the knaves of the daily press attributed the high price of
provisions.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. — Volume 1Hunt, Henry

History

Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. — Volume 1

Hunt, Henry

Hunt, Henry, 1773-1835; Social reformers -- Great Britain -- Biography

I am writing this account in my dungeon, at eleven o'clock at night, on
the 20th of September, 1820, and it is impossible for any one who reads it
not to draw a comparison between my conduct and that of my persecutors. I
would not part with the sweet delightful reflection which the remembrance
of this ONE act of my life conveys to my mind, for all the wealth in the
possession of those who have been concerned in consigning me to be
incarcerated _without mercy_ in this dungeon for TWO YEARS and SIX MONTHS;
according to common calculation _full one quarter of the remaining part of
my natural life_. Let the reader only consider the spirit in which I acted
towards those who had violated the laws of their country, by resisting
with force the warrant of a magistrate, and who had violently assaulted
the peace officer in his duty in executing that warrant, and then contrast
it with the vindictive proceedings against me, for having attended a
public meeting, legally and constitutionally assembled, to remonstrate
with the throne against the cruel privations and sufferings of the people,
where no breach of the peace was committed, where not even the slightest
resistance was made or even premeditated against the civil power. "Look at
this picture, and look at that." I have had the consolation of being
repeatedly thanked in the most earnest manner by these poor fellows, for
my humanity in interposing with the court to spare them from punishment;
but I have felt still a much higher pleasure when they have offered up
their thanks to me for having ventured my life "to snatch them from the
jaws of the gallows," when they were incautiously about to rush into them,
by pulling down mills, and burning wheat ricks. These might well have been
called poor deluded creatures. These men were literally deluded, and those
who urged them on were _deluded_ by what was then called the liberal part
of the press. In fact, almost the whole daily press of that period united
in a conspiracy to delude the people, by railing at and exciting the
multitude against BUTCHERS, BAKERS, and FARMERS, to whom not only the
fools, but the knaves of the daily press attributed the high price of
provisions.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. — Volume 1

Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. — Volume 1

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