would secure success, mind,) what ple of England will afford them might you have from me! I have the means. offered myself for the City of Coventry, and have pledged myself to stand the election, let who will have the impudence to oppose us; and if such there be, difficult shall be his task. But, though I shall do

my best, I cannot do all myself. The people of Coventry are a public-spirited people, and always have been. But they are not all of them on the spot; and it will be necessary to raise the means to carry down the voters from London. They have been so worn down by corruption that great numbers of them are left almost destitute; besides, it would be unjust to expect them to go at their own expence. They will do their parts by going to Coventry to vote for me if the peo

I therefore do urge the Reformers to bestir themselves. I am anxious upon this subject because there is no time to be lost. It is suggested to me by some of the Electors in Town who have formed themselves into a committee, to recommend to you, in Town and Country, to form little sub-committees of six, or a dozen of friends, as it may happen, to make collections; and then the sums which you collect you should send without loss of time, directed to me, at the office of Cobbett's Evening Post, London, or to be left for the Committee (by those who are in the neighbourhood) at the Jacob's": Wells Tavern, Barbican, where the Committee meet.

Wм. COBBETT.

Entered at Stationers' ball.

Printed by H. HAY, 11, Newcastle-street, Strand, and published by WM. COBBETT, Jun.

No. 269, Straud.

COBBETT'S WEEKLY POLITICAL REGISTER.

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LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 1820.

HISTORY

OF THE

COVENTRY ELECTION, Which began on the 8th, and ended on the 16th, of March, 1820.

ΤΟ

Mr. JAMES PAUL COBBETT,
AT NEW YORK.

Botley, 23 March, 1890.

MY DEAR JAMES,

[82

This election, as far as I had any part in it, must be considered as immediately connected with my return to England; for, bad it not been with a hope of getting into parliament, I should not have returned, foreseeing and foretelling, as I did, that measures for stifling the press would certainly be adopted before the end of last year. Before I sailed, we had the news of the Manchester tragedy, The recent Election at Coventry and of Sidmouth's letter to the will form an important epoch, not Magistrates. It was easy to see only in my political career, but in what was to follow. Indeed, we that of this corrupting, corroding, all saw it; and it was, at New and destroying system of sway. York, a coinmon observation, that Therefore, I shall endeavour to the Parliament would be sitting to give a full and clear account of receive me with new laws against the matter from the beginning to the press! My uncommonly short the end; and, if this account con- passage prevented this prediction tain but too many proofs of the from being fulfilled to the very corrupt state of the people general-letter. The Parliament met the ly; of the base and slavish pro-day after that on which I landed; pensity of many; of the coward- and, the press-stiflers were be ice and ferocity of a considerable fore it in forty-eight hours after. proportion of those engaged in wards. elections: if this be the picture I have to draw, the fault will be found to be in the subject, and not in the painter. I must speak the truth, whatever be the pain it may give me.

But, I calculated on the King's death, and upon the chance of getting into Parliament when that should happen. If I succeeded in this, I knew, that I should very quickly produce a great effect of

Printed by H. HAY, 11, Newcastle Street, Strand; and published by WM. COBBETT, jun.

269, Strand.

one sort or another. My desire was to produce a healing effect; to produce a change within, and to prevent it from being produced from without; to propose measures, calculated to restore the country to prosperity and peace; in short, to do great things for the country, without any view to self-if any thing could, make me forinterest.

atrocious acts, which some part, of the mass committed, while l was at Coventry; but, 1, nevertheless, do most sincerely regret, that I have not the power of alleviating their sufferings. Many of them were so good, so true, so faithful, that their conduct would,,

get the ruffians, who were hired to stab and tear my friends.

Therefore, the moment the king's death was announced, I announced my intention to stand for Coventry, which is a city containing about twenty thousand souls, and the business in which is, principally, Watch-making and Ribbon-weav-to one and the same trade in the

The right of voting at Coventry is solely in the Freemen, as they are called. That is, all those who have, by regular indenture of ap prenticeship, served seven years

City or Suburbs of Coventry. There are about three thousand of these Freemen. So that this would appear to be a very just thing, seeing that it gives to these men, who are, for the far greater part, poor men, the power of sending two men to parliament. But, you will by-and-by see, that this power is really no power at all; and that, in every case the will of these Freemen (as they are called) is nothing; but that they are compelled, or, at least, a nia

ing. It is in the County of Warwick, and is within a few miles of the centre of England. The land all around it, for many many miles, is very rich indeed. It is like garden ground. Much of it is in grass; and the cattle and sheep are generally very fine and fat. Nature and art appear to have exhausted their joint stock upon the land and cattle in this part of England; and yet, good God! what a miserable race of human beings! what a ragged, squalid, woe-worn assem-jority of them, to obey the will of blage of creatures! The poor wretches toil for their masters and for the Tax-eaters. Enough is left them, and barely enough, to sustain life, and thus debility becomes a habit with them. My

My compassion towards the mass must necessarily be blunted by the

others. That, in fact, these poor fellows bear the name of Freemen, and are, all the while, real slaves; aye, as completely slaves as are the negroes in Jamaica. Generally these facts are not made to appear so plainly. But, upon this occasion, the feelings of men were

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rouzed. Conscience had to try its as I ever set eyes on. I told some

strength openly against direct force of various kinds; and therefore, now the poor, wretched Freemen stand exposed in all their degradation.

of them at Coventry, that I really was sorry, that the Coventry men were not as base as they; for that then, I should go home happy in the reflection, that the govern, ment of CASTLEREAGH and SID MOUTH was just such a govern! ment as they deserved. pos

However, the main part of the people at Coventry, were very different from those London Spe! culators in corruption, and had not brutal force been employed, I should have been elected by a very

You will observe, that all the Freemen have a right to vote; and, as some hundreds live in London, and some hundreds more at Birmingham, and at other towns, in different parts of the Kingdom, the expence is always considerable; for, these out-living Freemen require not only to be taken to Coventry, but to be enter-large majority; for, though seduc. tained there and on the road, and tion of every kind was made use to be paid for their time into the of, still the conviction in my favour bargain! This, to begin with. was so strong and so general, that this a pretty complete stab at the a majority would have decided for chance of fair play; for, it is evi- me, had not beating and stabbing dent, that, as to these out-livers, been resorted to.. the heaviest purse is pretty sure to have the greater part of them. My first step was to meet the London voters, to address them, and to explain my motives to them as fully as was necessary. You would have been charmed with their enthusiasm! You would have thought, that they would have gone barefooted and fasting in Coventry to vote for me. They did not, however, forget to grasp as much money as they could, and while I am happy to have to say, night (the coldest of the winter) that some of them acted a most in a post chaise; breakfasted at honourable and patriotic part, DAVENTRY twenty miles from others of them appeared to be as Coventry, on the Tuesday morirselfish and greedy and base a crew Ling, and then proceeded on

I had been at Coventry a fortnight before the election, and, by writing and speaking, had produced great effect upon the minds of the people, who appeared to consider this as no common case. Having seen the Freemen in London again, and arranged matters in town, I set off for Coventry, with your sister, on the night of Monday, the 28th of February; the election being to come on the We went all the next week.

towards DUNCHURCH, which their banners, staved in their is eleven miles from Coventry. drums, dispersed them in all diHere we were met by messengers, rections, and set off on their march who brought accounts, that I to meet me. should certainly be murdered, if I attempted to enter the city. The band of rich ruffians, who had leagued together against me, thought and said, that, if I enter, ed, and remained, talking to the people, until the day of election, I should be sure to be elected. They, therefore, got together, on the morning of Tuesday the 29th of February, a parcel of men, whom they made partly drunk, and whom they gave orders to go out, meet me at a bridge, about a mile from the City, and if I refused to return to London, fling me over the bridge.

Of course, it now became necessary for me to get on as fast as possible; but, the two landlords at Dunchurch (who had, doubtless, been prepared) refused to let me have a chaise! In this difficulty, your sister and I got into a gig, which had been brought out by a friend, and went on as fast as we could. At about four miles from Coventry we met with some small advanced parties of young men, with leaves of laurel in their hats and boughs in their hands. Some friends soon after met us with a post-chaise, into which we got. The groups of persons, assembled on the road, grew more frequent and larger as we approached the City. All the villages, to five or six miles distance, on each side of the road, had poured out their population; and, by the time that we arrived at Coventry, the number could be little short of twenty thousand.

I could hardly bring myself to believe this; but, I should have been less incredulous if (as I afterwards saw) I had supposed these rich ruffians capable of hiring men to carry knives for the purpose of cutting and stabbing their opponents. While we were deliberating on what course to pursue, a gentleman arrived with intelligence, that the enemy had drawn up, rank and file, in the City; that they were marching off with fourteen banners waving over their heads, and with drams and music in their front; and that, they had not reached the outside of the City, when our friends sal-with my hat off. The effect of lied forth upon them, took away this, added to that of a cold, qught

The people had drawn the chaise from the distance of about three miles from the City, and before we actually got into the streets, the curiosity to see me was so strongly expressed, that I was obliged to get out of the chaise and stand upon the foot-board