Harriet Martineau's Writing on British History and Military Reform, vol 3 by Deborah Logan Kathryn Sklar

Author:Deborah Logan, Kathryn Sklar [Deborah Logan, Kathryn Sklar]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General, Military, Religion, Judaism, Reform
ISBN: 9781000161731
Google: WujyDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-07-26T01:38:57+00:00

* Annual Register, 1830, p. 165.

† Hansard, i. p. 676.

‡ Annual Register, Chron. p. 209.

§ Hansard, i. p. 932.

* Annual Register, 1830, Chron. pp. 208?213.

† Annual Register, 1830, Chron. p. 160.

CHAPTER III.

THE year 1831 opened gloomily. Those who believed that revolution was at hand, feared to wish one another a happy new year; and the anxiety about revolution was by no means confined to anti-reformers. Society was already in a discontented and tumultuous state, – its most ignorant portion being acted upon at once by hardship at home, and example from abroad; and there was every reason to expect a deadly struggle before parliamentary reform could be carried. The ignorant and misled among the peasantry and artisans looked upon the French and other revolutions as showing that men had only to take affairs into their own hands, in order to obtain whatever they wanted; and, in their small way, they took matters into their own hands. Machine-breaking went on to such an extent, that men were tried for the offence in groups of twelve or twenty at a time; and the January nights were lighted up by burning barns and ricks, as the preceding months had been. On the 3rd of January, a Manchester manufacturer was murdered in a manner which gave a shock to the whole kingdom. He left his father’s house to go to the mill, in the evening, when it was dark; he was brought home dead within ten minutes, shot through the heart, in the lane, by one of three men who were lying in wait for him. The significance of the case lay in the circumstance that it was a murder from revenge, occasioned by a quarrel about the trade-union. There was fear lest the practice should spread; lest every manufacturer who refused to employ men belonging to a trade-union – and there were many such – should be liable to be picked off by an assassin, appointed by lot to be the instrument of the vengeance of his union.* A reward of £1000. for the detection of the murderer was offered by the Secretary of State, and another £1000. by the father and family of the victim; but no clue was obtained at the time, nor for some years afterwards.

As for the dangers which might follow upon the action of government on the great question, the coolest heads had the strongest sense of them. The apprehensions of the anti-reformers were all about the consequences of the Reform Bill, if carried. The apprehensions of the most thoughtful reformers were of the perils attending its passage. On a superficial view it might appear that the result was so certain, that the way could not be much embarrassed; but there was not only the anti-reforming aristocracy to be encountered on the one hand, but large masses of malcontents on the other. In the estimate of the anti-reform forces might be included, possibly, under certain circumstances, – the sovereign; certainly, the House of Peers, – almost a whole

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.