Hunt, Henry, 1773-1835; Social reformers -- Great Britain -- Biography
At this period, 1794, the whole country was greatly agitated with
political discussions; every one having an eye upon the bloody and
ferocious proceedings committed under the tyranny of Robespierre in Paris.
This caused great alarm in England, for fear of the progress of French
principles, and all the alarmists rallied round the Pitt administration,
and war, war, eternal war against French principles, was the watch-word of
the day. The parliament met in January, and the enormous supplies were
granted almost without any opposition. Eighty thousand men were voted for
the sea, forty thousand for the land-service, and likewise one hundred
thousand militia, and FORTY THOUSAND SUBSIDISED GERMANS. The estimates for
this service amounted to NINETEEN MILLIONS. In order to keep the people in
good humour, and to make them submit to pay the enormous increase of
taxation, the threat of INVASION was held out, and described with all its
horrors as being about to be realised. This set the John Bulls half-mad;
and, like men half-mad, half-drunk, they were ready to swallow any thing
that the minister of the day prescribed. Voluntary contributions, and
volunteer corps were raised all over the country. In the mean time Mr.
Pitt, who had deserted the cause of reform, of which, previous to his
coming into power, he had been one of the warmest and most zealous
advocates, true, _apostate-like_, took care to presecute all his former
associates, who were too honest to abandon that cause which he had
betrayed. In Scotland, that excellent and worthy man, Mr. Maurice
Margarot, and others were transported for fourteen years for having been
members of the British Convention. Mr. Thos. Walker, of Manchester, was
tried on a false accusation of high treason, at Lancaster; but was
honourably acquitted. Messrs Hardy, Tooke, Joyce, and Thelwall, were also
indicted and tried upon a pretended charge of high treason, at the Old
Bailey in London; but this premeditated cold-blooded attempt of the
ministers to destroy these innocent men, their political opponents, by
setting on the plea of constructive treason, was frustrated by the verdict
of an honest London jury. Messrs. Tooke and Thelwall were very able, and
perhaps the most powerful, advocates of liberty in England at that time;
and the ministers of the day might, with some men, have justified the
attempt to destroy such enemies upon the score of STATE POLICY; but their
attempt upon poor HARDY, who was a simple, inoffensive, harmless, plodding
shoemaker, possessing neither talent, influence, nor the smallest power to
do them any harm whatever, this was a proof of the vindictive and bloody
intentions of the men in office; and it caused a great sensation
throughout the country, and the verdicts of the jury were hailed with
pleasure by every honest thinking man in the kingdom, who was not under
the influence of an unjust prejudice. The reign of terror was now
proclaimed, and a great number of worthy men were imprisoned in dungeons,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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