second of December, that Report would so far have been perfectly

correct.

But here again their scheme was marred, and the blows, which they intended principally for Mr. Hunt, have finally fallen upon their own heads. The Honourable Mr. Castles and Mr. Dowling have done the Boroughmongers, the Spenceans, and Mr. Hunt, and even young Watson, ample justice. We see Dowling prepared with his book of notes, dogging the rioters from place to place, and we hear him confess, and we see it proved by another witness, that he expected ample remuneration for his trouble, not only for himself, but for his brothers; a remuneration to come out of the sweat of the people. We see the "Honourable" Mr. CASTLES exciting a senseless and thoughtless rabble to acts of fury. It was he, the "honourable gentleman," who met Mr. Hunt in Cheapside, and told him to turn about and go with them, for that the Tower was in their hands. This fact Mr. Hunt declared upon his oath at the trial; and I am ready to declare upon my oath, that Mr. Hunt told me the same thing on the third of December. He did not then know the name of Castles; but his words were, "that it was a damn'd scoundrel who had been guilty of conveying French prisoners out of the country." After this, Mr. Hunt repeated the same story in the presence of my son William; and we all agreed that there could be no doubt, that the chief instigators of this riot had been employed for the express purpose of obtaining the grounds for taking away his life; and, with the facts which have now come to light, I believe, that there is not an unprejudiced man in England or in America, who will not come to the same conclusion. To strike him down was a great object with the Boroughmongers. His talents are not of that sort which are calculated for sowing the seeds of conviction in the mind. But admirably calculated for the time of the harvest. He has no pretensions to any thing further than great presence of mind in difficult and perilous circumstances; undaunted personal courage; and a perseverance that no discouragement can check. He commits errors enough, he is frequently carried away by his ardour, and is by no means deficient in point of ambition and selfsufficiency. But, who is the man to say that he is without spot or blemish; and that there is nothing in him that might not be mended? There is no such man who has any virtue or any energy in him; and if he has neither, he is of no more importance than a log. I have never been able to discover any base selfish motive in Mr. Hunt. I know that as to overt acts, he has shown more zeal in the cause of the country than any man I ever met with, Major Cartwright excepted. Nor, should the public sten at all, to those base tools of the Boroughmongers who have so large a portion of the press at their command, with regard to the talents of Mr. HUNT. I believe that, upon five or six different occasions, he has pleaded his own cause, in civil matters, or matters of trespass, and that in all these he has been triumphant. Twice before Mr. Baron Graham, he not only triumphed, but the lawyers were reproved by the Judge for attempting to act foully against him. In one case, though the evidence produced in an action of trespass against him, under the Game-laws, led to a verdict against him, the Judge refused to certify upon the back of the record; so fully convinced was he by the speech and by the evidence produced by the defendant, that the action, and not the trespass, was malicious. These are facts, which are more than sufficient to answer all that the hirelings of the Boroughmongers have written

about Mr. Hunt's want of talents. Still, however, his main talent is wonderful quickness and presence of mind in difficult and dangerous circumstances. After the last election at Bristol, where Sir Samuel Romilly was a candidate against him, the latter gentleman, in a speech publicly made, sought an occasion for declaring, that, through the whole of that boisterous contest, Mr. Hunt had conducted himself in every respect as became a gentleman and a man of honour. At that contest Mr. Hunt had no lawyer; and those who witnessed the quickness and ability with which he managed the law part of the election, were utterly astonished.

I mention these particulars in order to show that Mr. Hunt was a man worth the powder and shot of the Boroughmongers. They knew all about him; for they know all about everybody, either through their taxgatherers, their post-office or their spies; and the second of December was, I really believe, destined to be the last day of his liberty. Mr. Wetherell said, during his speech, that he made no doubt that Castles meant to have taken the life of Mr. Hunt, who, he said, had providentially escaped the trap; and, so fully was I convinced of this before I left England, that I told Mr. BRYANT," Hunt owes his life to your happening "to dine with him at the Bouverie-street Hotel, and to his own prudence "in going to WANSTEAD on the first of December, instead of remaining "in town."

I might here close my observations upon the origin and progress of this conspiracy against the liberties of the country. But, the infamous Boroughmonger Press, particularly the atrocious and sanguinary wretches, who own the Times, the Courier and the Sun, must never be forgotten. While "the Honourable" Mr. Castles was at work organizing the riot; while GREEN, Mr. GURNEY'S clerk, and his associate, Mr. DoWLING, were stitching their note-books together and sharpening their pencils, as the butchers sharpen their knives, the conspirators of the press were not idle. They were preparing their paragraphs, which were to confirm, or, at least, corroborate the testimony of the former. The Courier, who had acted so infamous a part, with regard to the first Meeting, had now his paragraphs ready to send all over the country, charging Mr. Hunt with being the cause of the riot. The Times stated distinctly, that, on the Sunday previous to the riot, Mr. Hunt and myself were in consultation at the King's Bench with my Lord Cochrane; though I never saw Mr. Hunt during the whole of that day, and though he spent the whole of that day in Essex, and I spent the whole of that day at Peckham in Surrey. The Sun newspaper asserted, that I had come up from Botley expressly to assist in organizing the insurrection, and that the moment it was over, I drove off home again. Though I had been in London from an early part of the month of November, and though I never left it, except to go to Peckham and back again, until the middle of the month of February after. But, these atrocious miscreants, knew well that we should stand no chance against them in any appeal to the law; and, besides, they made so sure of their prey, that they had not the least idea of any danger to themselves from anything that they might do against us.

I beg you to turn back to my Register of the 14th of December last, which consists of a Letter addressed to Mr Hunt upon the subject of the Plots. You will there see what I then said of the danger he was in from false-swearing; and how anxious I was to impress upon his mind, that these newspaper-people were the most base and bloody of the tools of the

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Boroughmongers. One paragraph of that Letter I cannot help inserting here. After stating what I have above stated as to the conduct of the COURIER, the TIMES and the SUN, I thus warn him of his danger: "You, conscious of your honourable motives, and listening only to "your courage, have always been deaf to the entreaties of those who cautioned you against the danger of spies and false-witnesses. But, do "you think, that the wretches who could be base enough to publish "falsehoods such as I have enumerated above: who could coolly represent you as having been sent first to jail and then to Bedlam; and who, in order to deter me from my duty, could exhibit my son as being "in danger of his life, and thereby cause alarm in his mother and sisters: "do you think that men so lost to all sense of shame, and so devoted to "everything that is corrupt; do you think they would hesitate one mo"ment to bribe villains to swear falsely against you or against me or "against any man, whom they thought it their interest to destroy? Nay, "do you think, that they would hesitate one single half-moment to be guilty, for such a purpose, of the blackest perjury themselves? Be you assured, that there is nothing of which such men are not capable; in"timidation, promises, bribes, perjury, anything such men are capable "of recommending to others, or of doing themselves. Your country life, your sober habits, your dislike of feastings and carousings; these "are great securities; but, while you follow the impulses of your public spirit and your valour, I hope you will always bear in mind, that there are such things as false-swearing in the world, and that a defeated "coward has never been known to be otherwise than inexorably cruel. The proprietor of the MORNING POST, in his Paper of last Monday, says, "that COBBETT and HUNT ought at least to lose their lives; and the "author of the ANTIGALLICAN has, I am told, put the drawing of a gal"lows in his Paper, with a rope ready for use, having my name on it,

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or very near it. And, you may be well assured, that, if the false oaths "of these men could do the job, those oaths would be very much at our "service. Therefore, though I am quite sure, that these menaces "will not deter you from doing anything, which you would have "done if the menaces had never been made; yet, as being proofs "of the shameless, the remorseless, the desperate villany of these "tools, their present conduct ought to impress on your mind the "necessity of being on your guard, so far, at least, as not unne"cessarily to expose yourself to the consequences of false-swearing. "These men and their associates call the younger Mr. WATSON (whom "they, without proof, charge with shooting Mr. PLATT) an assassin, "though they themselves state, that the shot arose from the seizure of "Watson by Platt, and that the former, like a wild enthusiast as he "appears to have been, expressed his sorrow on the instant, and "actually went to work to save the life of the wounded man. No"body justifies, or attempts to justify, the shooter; but, if he were an "assassin, what are these men who, while they kept their names hidden, are endeavouring to produce persecution and ruin and death in every "direction? The man who shot Mr. PLATT, though highly criminal, is "not a thousandth part so criminal as these men, who to premeditated "bloody-mindedness add a degree of cowardice such as was never before “heard of."

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I was very certain that the riot had been caused by the Boroughmongers, and that Mr. Hunt's prudence, joined to my advice, had defeated their

grand object. I remember well, and he will remember too, that when he came up from the country to go to the second Spa-fields Meeting, I took infinite pains to convince him of the existence of a conspiracy against his life; and he will remember my concluding words: "Hunt, your life "is not safe for a month, unless you are in a situation to prove an alibi, "for every moment of that life." He clenched his fist and swore, that a man had better be hanged at once than to live such a life. However, I luckily prevailed upon him to go into the country, and to drive directly. from the country to the Meeting in Spa-fields; and now, I believe, the whole nation will be convinced, as he long ago has been, that this advice and this alone has saved him and all the unfortunate men, who have lately been put upon their trial, from the fangs of the blood-hounds of the Boroughmongers.

No more need be said upon the subject of this conspiracy of the Boroughmongers against the liberties of the nation. They have at least resorted to open undisguised force; they have thrown off the mask, or rather, we have pulled it off from them; they have now found, that Juries will not lend them their assistance; and they must set Juries wholly aside, and trust simply to the sword, or they must give us our rights, and particularly our right of choosing our Representatives in Parliament. Even their spies are detected and exposed. Hundreds of thousands of those in the middle and higher ranks of life, who approved of the first adoption of the present terrible measures, now begin to look at them with dread. "Where is this to end?" every one now asks. And well may every one ask that question; for, if the people cannot be suffered to enjoy liberty now, when are they to be suffered to enjoy it? Cast your eyes which way you will, you see, that the only real reliance is upon the bayonet. The State Prisoners could not be tried at the Old Bailey as usual, because it was well known that the Lord Mayor, would not, without down-right force, have consented to the use of troops in the escorting of prisoners to and from a court of justice. Troops, we are told in these newspapers, were ready in great bodies, to come to Westminster Hall, in case of necessity. What a disgraceful fact! Many thousands of troops, these papers tell me, were present at the opening of the Waterloo Bridge! To see the toll paid, I suppose! But, troops to assist the Judges in the execution of their duty! Troops, too, in all the Assize Towns, during the circuit. What is now become of that famous principle of our laws which would suffer no troops to remain even near to an Assize Town, during the sitting of the Judges? What is now become of that justly-boasted omnipotence of the laws, which was once the chief glory of England, as it now is the glory of America, where the Sheriff's wand is more than sufficient to protect the Judges, and to insure the due execution of the law upon every offender? But, in America, there are no Boroughmongers; every man has a voice in choosing those who make the laws by which he is governed; and, therefore, every one but criminals entertains a reverence for the laws, and feels that he has an interest in upholding those by whom those laws are administered.

And, my friends, shall our beloved and renowned country never see such days again. If I thought so, I should little care how soon there was an end to my existence. Injustice such as now prevails in England, cannot be of long duration. It is a great struggle that is now going on, and when I look back into the history of my country, I can find the account of no great struggle, in which justice and liberty were not finally victo

rious. The Boroughmongers are beset with difficulties. The poor flimsy thing that prates about their finances, knows little more about the matter than a jackdaw. The whole fabric of their affairs is rotten. They have armed against them all the best feelings of mankind; and, for my part, I look for their overthrow with as much confidence as I look for to-morrow. Let the people be patient. They cannot be killed in any great numbers, unless they proceed to open warfare, which I by all means deprecate. Let all those who wish to see the liberties of the country restored, aim at the destruction of no ancient establishment. It is the usurpation of the Boroughmongers, and that usurpation alone, with which we are at war. It is that which has reduced our country to such unexampled misery; it is that which has been the cause of the miseries of Europe as well as of England; it is that which has hatched all the plots, all the conspiracies, and that has aimed its fangs at the lives of so many innocent men. It was the Boroughmongers who produced the long and bloody war in this country, where I now am. The ground of their present contest agains us is precisely the same ground, and I trust that the result of the contest, now as well as then, will prove that freedom is immortal.

Before I conclude, I cannot help expressing my hope, that some step will now be taken to put safely upon record, the name and conduct of every man, high and low, who may have taken a part, or, who may yet take a part, or, at least, a conspicuous part, in any of these transactions, whether the part he has acted be good or bad. A book might be made, and the names arranged alphabetically, and it might be called, The People's Memorandum-Book. Shepherd, Sidmouth, Castles, Dowling, Stewart, Walter, Street, Stoddart, Wm. Gifford, Southey, Garrow, Powis, Parson Baines, Lockhart the Brave, Wilberforce, Milton Lord, Elliot Wm., Castlereagh, Lambe, Ponsonby, Reynolds, Oliver, Cartwright Major, Hunt, Walker, Cobbett, Cochrane Lord; and so on. I would have all the names arranged, as I said before, alphabetically. And against each name I would have the prominent acts of the party mentioned. Every one who has made a speech for or against any of the Bills, should have his name introduced, the gist of his speech should be mentioned, very shortly, and the speech itself referred to. The names of all the persons in the lists of minorities and majorities upon any of the Bills should be introduced, and the circumstance mentioned. The names of those who were upon the Secret Committees in both Houses; the names of all persons all over the country, who have taken any active part, good or bad. The names of all magistrates and clergymen who have taken a part, whether good or bad. The names of all the judges that have been upon the bench when trials under any of these Acts have been going on. The names of all jurors who may have been upon juries where men have been tried at the prosecution of Shepherd, or any other subsequent Attorney-General, after the passing of these Bills. I would recommend the stating, very briefly, the simple facts, against each name, without any observation at all, and, consequently, without either praise or censure. All that we want is, something to refresh our memory. We are a people too apt to forget. All the lawyers should be mentioned, who have aided and abetted the parties on either side. I have just given such heads as have occurred to me offhand. Many others will suggest themselves to any gentleman of talent and industry who will undertake such a work. I would introduce the names of all the Boroughmongers, from Oldfield's book, and mention the