order be given. The exercise of free speech will sometimes be abused; but it would be folly to attempt to silence all speech on that account; that is the wrong way of meeting the evils of such abuse, and that was the line taken by the governing authorities of that day and time. We must ever discount their views, and those of many of their successors, on this somewhat thorny subject, with the reflection that they had the deepest interest in maintaining the existing order of things; and that in that existing order there were many things which could not bear discussion, or investigation, or exposure to the public gaze. We cannot, in fact, consider them impartial authorities in anything appertaining to the Platform or free discussion.

CHAPTER IV

THE ELECTION PLATFORM

MANY years were to elapse before another great outburst of Platform activity took place, and the progress of the Platform from this time down to the eve of that tremendous convulsion -the French Revolution-is to be traced in its action at the general elections of 1780, of 1784, in the incidents of the continuance of the movement set on foot, by the Yorkshire Association for economic reform, and in the movement which was now about to take more definite shape and cohesion in favour of Parliamentary reform.

The immediate effect of the Gordon riots had been to strengthen the position of the Government, for however miserable had been the incapacity exhibited by the Ministers in dealing with them, the scenes of horror which had been witnessed, and the enormities which had been perpetrated, inspired a greater dread of popular meetings than condemnation of the Ministry.1 This sudden antipathy to public demonstrations extended to the county meetings, petitions, and all forms of association, and consequently to all applications for redress of grievances, and schemes for a reform in the representation of the Commons House of Parliament.

Parliament was nearing the end of its septennial life. "There was every reason to expect," said the writer in The Annual Register, "that, in the present state of things, and disposition of the people, the elections would go greatly in favour of the Court. A dissolution was accordingly determined upon; but the design was kept concealed in the most profound secrecy. ... The Proclamation for dissolving the Parliament operated like a thunderclap, with respect to suddenness and surprise, . . . the shortness of the time allotted for the elections in1 See The Annual Register, 1781, p. 137.

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creased the difficulties and disadvantages to those who were at a distance from their boroughs or interests, and who had taken no previous measures of security. From these and from the other causes we have mentioned, the elections went much in favour of the Court, and several of the most popular members, whose public conduct seemed to receive the general approbation of their constituents were, notwithstanding, thrown out of their seats."

"One hundred and thirteen new men obtained seats in Parliament. The poverty of the times, operating along with the general hopelessness which now prevailed, that any opposition in Parliament would be capable of producing a beneficial alteration in the conduct of public affairs, had both together so powerful an effect, that candidates were not to be found who would support the usual expensive contests of the counties. No general election, perhaps for a century, produced so little expense in that respect. Several members of the late Parliament, who were tired of a constant fruitless attendance and opposition, either determined to retire entirely from public business, or grew very indifferent as to the event of their elections. The general venality which now appeared among the electors, and that contempt of their own declarations and resolutions, as well as of all past faithful service which it produced, could not fail highly to discuss many, and to render them still more hopeless of public affairs."1

Such is the account of this election given by The Annual Register.

The deep despondency which was felt by some of the popular party finds eloquent and pathetic expression in the written address issued by Sir George Savile to the electors of Yorkshire.2

"The satisfaction and honour of attending your business has ever overbalanced the labour; but my attendance during the last Parliament has been something worse than laborious; it has been discouraging, grievous, and painful. . . .

"I return to you, baffled and dispirited, and I am sorry that truth obliges me to add, with hardly a ray of hope

1 The Government itself spent £53,000 on this election.-See Correspondence between George III. and Lord North, vol. ii. pp. 421-427.

2 See The Leeds Intelligencer, 12th September 1780.

of seeing any change in the miserable course of public calamities.

"On this melancholy day of account, in rendering up to you my trust, I deliver to you your share of a country, maimed and weakened, its treasure lavished and misspent, its honours faded, and its conduct the laughing-stock of Europe; our nation in a manner without allies or friends, except such as we have hired to destroy our fellow-subjects, and to ravage a country, in which we once claimed an invaluable share. I return to you some of your principal privileges impeached and mangled. And, lastly, I leave you, as I conceive, at this hour and moment fully, effectually, and absolutely, under the discretion and power of a military force which is to act without waiting for the authority of the civil magistrate. . . . But under all these disheartening circumstances I could yet entertain a cheerful hope, and undertake again the commission with alacrity, as well as zeal, if I could see any effectual steps taken to remove the original cause of the mischief. Then would there be a hope. Till the purity of the constituent body, and thereby that of the representative, be restored, there is NONE."

It appears that there were contests in only three counties in the whole of England. In the boroughs, however, there was an increase-59 borough seats having been contested. The newspapers of the time supply some further details about the election which, from the Platform point of view, are interesting. The Gazetteer gives us a glimpse of Fox: "At a meeting under the portico of St. Paul's, Covent Garden, for the purpose of electing representatives to serve the city of Westminster in Parliament, Mr. C. Fox rose and depicted the losses and degeneracy of our affairs in the strongest colours; the knavery and the folly of the authors of our calamities with the most poignant satire. 'Who,' said he, 'are these Ministers that presume to impose a man upon you? If a Pitt in the height of the glory of his administration had deigned to make such an attempt, his conduct would have been unjustifiable; but for these men who have brought this country to ruin and bankruptcy to dare to make so impudent an attempt is to offer

1 See The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections, by H. S. Smith, 3 vols. 2 See The Gazetteer, 8th September 1780.

you the highest insult.' His great exertions made him hoarse, and he recruited himself by drinking once or twice, amidst the acclamations of the multitude."

It is also noteworthy that a larger number of speeches are reported at this election than at previous ones, and more elections are referred to at which peeches were stated to have been made. The speeches at the elections for London city, Westminster, Surrey, and Middlesex, are reported at some length, and there were a great many of them, owing to the length of time the polling lasted.

From a criticism in The Morning Chronicle it may safely be inferred that greater public attention was beginning to be paid to election speeches. The article is worth quoting some extracts from. "Mr. Burke's speech to the electors of Bristol was," says the critic, "a fine piece of eloquence, though it had a small tinge of the prédicateur in its colouring.

"Mr. Lascelles speaks to his late constituents (Yorkshire) with the bluntness and sincerity of an honest Englishman who, feeling in his own mind no wish to impose shackles on those who are to elect him, disdains to put on fetters himself, and fairly tells them he will go to Parliament free, or not at all.

"Mr. Sheridan uses the short phrase of a man determined to pursue a purpose upon which he has already formed his opinion. "Mr. Baker, with an honesty rarely exampled, after he is crowned with success, declares he is determined to obtain justice for his constituents in a matter which no longer refers to his interest; and Mr. Selwyn, without a pun, and contrary to his character, in a style très furieuse, tells the freemen of Gloucester his mind and the cause of his resentment.

"In London, Alderman Clarke has spoken a very decent, manly language, while Alderman Sawbridge has blubbered like a schoolboy."

2

A good deal of interest was evidently taken in some of the elections; thus at Epsom, the polling-place for Surrey, "the crowds were so great in all the avenues leading to the hustings by the different friends of the separate candidates who listed under their respective banners, colours, etc., that there was no possibility of passing the streets with safety."

1 See The Morning Chronicle, 21st September 1780.

2 The Gazetteer, 12th September 1780.