with the Dissenters; all were at work them was most deeply interested. enlightening the people. Meetings This light they had derived chiefly and Dinners and Speeches without from experience. And, indeed, if the end Reports, Subscriptions, Lists, Proofs of the good effects. In vain did I say, that it would be better to give the poor bread, or, rather, to let them eat it when they had earned it, and leave them to enlighten themselves out of their own means. I was abused for this, and represented as a man who wished to keep the "Lower Orders" in ignorance. Nothing was thought of but enlightening the people; and, their improvement at home had, at last, brought them to so perfect a state of light, that the projectors began to cast their eyes abroad, and there was actually founded a "British and Fo"reign School-society," with one of the Royal Dukes at its head.

picture that their country presented at the close of a war, which they had been told was for religion and liberty, and which had restored the Pope, the Inquisition, and the Jesuits; if that picture, which, instead of promised plenty and happiness, was a picture of such misery as was never before beheld in the world; if that picture had not enlightened them, their capacities must have been dull beyond that of any of the natives of Africa, not excepting the monkeys and baboons, or, our less-enlightened fellow subjects of the Cape of Good Hope. To the aid of this great teacher, experience, was, however, added that of the press, and especially the "Two-penny Trash" publications, which, as I before observed, were the great object of the Boroughmongers' dread:

One would have expected, therefore, that ignorance in the people would have been amongst the last things to be alleged upon this occasion. But, To this it came at last; and, whatwhen the people in Lancashire began ever shifts were resorted to in order to meet, and to discuss the great ques- to disguise the fact, this, and this only, tions of national interest, it was dis-was the cause of that celebrated covered all at once, that they were a set of ignorant Weaver-Boys! And this was absolutely necessary, too, or else the charge of seducers must have died of itself. In short, it was necessary to say that the people were ignorant, or to acknowledge that their petitions ought to be attended to.

The truth is, that the great mass of the Labouring Classes had become really enlightened as to matters that were not only within their full comprehension, but in which every man of

GREEN BAG, of the contents of which, of the manner of examining those contents, and of the mode of acting upon that examination, I shall treat of in my next; and, in the meanwhile, in good health, and in the midst of an abundance of cherries, and with pine-apples to eat at 2s. English, each, I remain, my worthy and beloved friends,

Your faithful friend,

WM. COBBETT.

Cntered at Stationers' Hall.

Printed and Published by WM. JACKSON, No. 11, Newcastle Street, Strand, London.

COBBETT'S WEEKLY POLITICAL PAMPHLET.

641]

LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 1817.

[642

The publication of the Political | hood and impudence has been emPamphlet was resumed on the 12th ployed in this emergency; but, as of July, and has since been continued, these extraordinary exertions may be and will be continued, weekly. The fairly ascribed to their fears of the six Numbers, preceding this, may be people, and, as the existence of those had at No. 11, Newcastle-street, fears are the highest possible compliStrand. ment to your good sense, public spirit and resolution, we ought to enter into an examination of these exertions with a mixed feeling of contempt and compassion rather than with feelings of anger and indignation. True, all they

TO THE

LABOURING CLASSES

IN

ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND. have said is false. True, they have

ON THE

Report of the Finance Committee, relative to Sinecure Places, which Committee was appointed at the beginning of the Session in January, 1817, and which Report is dated on the 28th of March, 1817.-And also on the Loan to the Parishes.

lied sufficiently to put even the Devil, or, what is worse, the Doctor, to the blush; but, it must be confessed, that the sin has, in this case, been extorted by the fears which they have of the people. It is an offering at the shrine of public-spirit and virtuous perseverance; and let us receive it without anger, as the Virgin Mary, at Loretto,

North Hampstead, Long Island, receives the offerings, extorted by the fears of robbers and murderers.

to

By "Sons of Corruption" you will, of course, know that I cannot possibly allude, in the most distant manner, any of the persons, who have made the Report, or who have ordered it to be printed, or with whom the Committee who have made it originated. You will, of course, perceive, already, that I cannot possibly allude to any of those persons. The persons whom I have immediately in my eye are those,'

June 22, 1817. FRIENDS AND FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN, To the honour of the fair sex be it acknowledged, that they are always ready to pardon those indiscretions, even if they amount to little crimes, which have been produced by the irresistible power of their own charms; in which spirit of lenity as well as of justice we, my friends, shall, I trust, proceed upon this occasion. 'Tis true, the sons of Corruption have, as to the Report relative to Sinecures,ho have published remarks, lied exceedingly. More than their taries, and illustrations on this famous usual proportion of hypocrisy, false- Report, which Report, I venture to

Printed by W. Jackson, 11, Newcastle Street, Strand.

commen

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66 my life," I know not what answer "Mr. Attorney" (by way of eminence) might give him; but, this doctrine shews, at any rate, that our forefathers meant by Commons, the whole body of the people, and that they never made any attempts to divide the people into upper and lower orders. Now-a-days every Paper-Money fel

predict, will become hereafter, a docu-" is founded upon this principle, that ment of much greater account, than," the law by which they suffer, was I dare say, the extreme modesty of its "made by their own consent." If the authors will suffer them to anticipate. trespasser were to reply, and say, I address myself to the Labouring" it is unlawful to make me suffer, Classes, in which I include, all trades- "then, in this case, who never was men and farmers; for, they all labour" suffered to vote at an election in all in their several ways; they all pay taxes and receive nothing out of the taxes; and they all contribute towards the luxuries which are enjoyel by Sinecurists, Pensioners, and Grantees. It is the fashion amongst the sons and daughters of Corruption, to speak of you all as being "The Lower Orders." There were formerly only three Orders in England: King, Lords, and Com-low, from the highest of them to the mons, in which last were included the lowest, talks of the "Lower Orders," whole body of the people. For that is in which he never thinks of including the meaning of the word commons. his sharping, greedy, worthless, and But, of late years, this word has been ignorant self, while his novel-reading interpreted to mean nothing but those wife and daughters turn up their noses select gentlemen, who get (in what and bend their skinny and smoky way you know very well) seats in the necks on one side, while they talk of Lower House of Parliament, where, ac the ignorance of the "peasantry." cording to the Constitution and the Laws of England every man in the kingdom is supposed to be present. Ignorance of the law is no plea in defence of any man accused of a breach of it. Suppose, for instance, a trespasser, who should have been taken up under the recent game-act, had pleaded, that he had no knowledge of such a law having been passed. The ATTORNEY GENERAL, or his worthy associate, would instantly turn to Judge Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, and there he would have found it written, Book I. Chap. 2. Every man "is, in judgment of law, party to mak-recommends. It is perfectly notori"ing an act of parliament, being pre- ous, then, that all the Petitions for "sent thereat by his representative." Reform, stated the existence of SineAnd, again, in Book IV. Chap. 1. eures, Pensions and Grants, as one of "The lawfulness of punishing criminals the evils, which had been produced

66

Leaving the tax-eaters to enjoy their fancied superiority as long as they can, let us now proceed to our examination of what has been written on this Sinecure Report, and, as far as prudence will permit, on the Report itself.

But, first of all, how came there to be any report upon the subject? This is of consequence; because, in the examination of any document, a knowledge of circumstances that gave rise to it is generally necessary in order to enable us to form a just estimate of its contents, or of the measures that it

66

by a want of such Reform. This "and Grants, not fully merited by subject of complaint had been dis-"well-known public services, your cussed at all the public meetings." Petitioners do hope, that, at a time And, though the Fundholders and "like the present, your honourable other Paper-Money people would "House will not suppose it possible not join in those meetings, and even "that they can be endured, especially approved of the measures adopted to "when your honourable House sees, suppress them, and to take away the on the one hand, the poor-houses personal safety of the people, still" crowded with paupers who have they also looked at these Sinecures seen better days, the jails swarms and Pensions and Grants with a dis- ing with debtors whom no degree approving eye. They grudged them "of care and industry has been able to the holders, and the more especi- "to save from ruin, whole millions of ally as those holders belonged chiefly" starving creatures, who, when they to the Noble families, whom the Paper open their eyes in the morning, Nobility mortally hate, though they pull along with them against the people," of breaking their fast; and, when upon the same principle that different- your honourable House, turning to orders of Monks, or, indeed, of Priests "the other hand, sees the Sinecurists, of any sort (those of the established" Pensioners, and Grantees, shining Churches of England and Scotland" with all the brilliancy of wealth, always excepted!) closely combine" and indulging in all the enjoyments against all the rest of the world, while "of luxury, each individual of some they detest each other, and mutually" of whom having, as your Petitiondevote their rivals to everlasting perdition.

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"know not where to find the means

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ers are able to prove at the bar of your honourable House, received, annually, more money out of the

public taxes than would be sufficient "to maintain a thousand of the families who largely contribute towards "the paying of those taxes; nor need

"able House that there are some of "those individuals, each of whom has,

But, it was the voice of those hundreds of thousands, who petitioned for a Reform, that produced this Report, notwithstanding the fact, as we shall presently see, has been attempted to be disguised; lest, I suppose," your Petitioners remind your honorit should be inferred, that the yielding (in appearance, at least) to one of the prayers of the people, should" within the last thirty years, received encourage them to hope for a yield- "from the aforesaid source much ing, in the end, to the whole of their more than half a million of principal prayers in reality. At any rate, it is" money, and if your Petitioners were always to be kept in mind that an abo- "to say nearly a million of money, lition of Sinecures, &c. was prayed their statement would only approach for; and, in proof of this fact, suffer nearer to the truth." me here to refer to the Hampshire Petition, which complained of these things in the following words :

Such was the nature of our com. plaint. We shall see, by-and-by, how it has been attended to; but, the mos ment the REFORT came out, the hire

་

ling press set to work to endeavour to make it a ground for calumniating our petitions. "HERE," said the hire lings, here, after all the exag"gerated statements, made to delude "the poor ignorant people; here is the "proof, that the whole of these places, "amounted to only one hundred thou-dered it unsafe to do before the recent

not permit me to publish in England. I am, by no rule of morality, bound to forbear thus; but, I am resolved, that no one shall have a colour of complaint of my taking any advantage of my safety here to do against our enemies what the law would have ren

Acts. I have published nothing here which I have not forwarded to be published in England; and, if any of those writings be the subject of trial before a Common Jury, or even before a Special Jury, upon which there shall be no man who lives on the taxes, and if a verdict of guilty be found and recorded, I will acknowledge myself to be a guilty man, and will pledge myself never to write for the press again. No man's conduct can be fairer than this. But, when I know whether the Powerof-Imprisonment Act be kept in force after the stipulated time, namely, the month of July, then I shall, with my two sons, petition the Prince Regent; and, if that petition produce not the desired effect, we shall then resort to all the means that we have in our power, consistent with the allegiance we owe to the king, and the duty which we owe to our country.

"sand pounds a year." On the 7th of April the COURIER published the Report, and, in the very same paper, it published the following remarks, which, I verily believe, it would not have published, if it had not been well assured, as it thought, that my observations on it never would see the light in England. And here, my friends and fellow countrymen, let me congratulate myself on the step I took to secure my personal freedom. I defy the Attorney General, I defy even the keen Mr. SHEPHERD, whom I shall mever forget, to find any thing in this Number to prosecute according to law, tight and severe as that law is; I defy the magistrates to discover any thing contrary even to the rules of the Circular of Lord Sidmouth; but, I could not have defied, for one single moment, the Warrants of Lord SID MOUTH and of his worthy colleagues, CASTLEREAGH and BATHURST, which The remarks of the COURIER, as latter has particular charge of the alluded to above, were in these words: Island of St. Helena. No: I could "This day we insert the first Renot have set those warrants at defiance," port of the Parliamentary Comif I had remained in England; but," mittee of Retrenchment, which renow I can; and I can safely discuss" commends, a very sweeping and exthis important subject, without passing" tensive abolition of sinecure places the line drawn even by the libel law in "throughout the three Kingdoms. England, as it now stands. I said to "We know of no other sinecures beyou and to my countrymen in general," sides these, and consequently the before my departure, that it was not “abolition is as complete as the most my intention, nor was it my wish, to" zealous Reformer can desire. And publish libels; and that I would pub-" to what would the saving amount lish here nothing which the law would even if we could at present enjoy