Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. — Volume 3 by Henry Hunt

Author:Henry Hunt [Hunt, Henry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783842433670
Google: qPyhpwAACAAJ
Publisher: Bod Third Party Titles
Published: 2011-11-15T03:15:53+00:00

"The Petition of the distressed Inhabitants of the Metropolis,

held in Spa-fields, the 15th day of November, 1816,

"HUMBLY SHOWETH—That this kingdom is in a state of unparalleled distress and misery, and that the principal immediate cause of this calamity, which has fallen upon all classes of persons (except that class which derive their incomes from the taxes), is that enormous load of taxation which has taken, and which still takes, from the farmer, the manufacturer, and the tradesman, the means of maintaining their families, and of paying their debts, and of affording, in the shape of wages, a sufficiency to employ and support their labourers and journeymen.

"That the causes of this intolerable burden are—First, The amount of a debt, contracted by Borough-mongers and their agents, for the purpose of carrying on a long, unnecessary, and unjust war, the object of which now appears to have been to stifle civil, political, and religious liberty, and to restore despotism and persecution. Second, The maintenance of an English Protestant Army in France, in order to uphold the restored Despots and Priesthood, whom we have been taught to hold in abhorrence. Third, The keeping up in these kingdoms of an enormous Standing Army, with all its colleges, barracks, and arsenals, with a view of overawing the people, and compelling them to submit to War Taxes in time of Peace. Fourth, A lavish and profligate expenditure of the public money on innumerable men and women, who are holders of sinecures, pensions, grants, and emoluments of various descriptions, without having ever performed the smallest service to the country.

"That the sole cause of these desolating measures and practices is, the want of the people being represented in their own House of Parliament, and the return of Members to that House by those base and corrupt means, which means were, by the Members themselves, shamelessly confessed 'to be as notorious as the sun at noonday.'

"Upon the ground of these facts, the existence of which must be familiar to the mind, and painful to the heart of your Royal Highness, we earnestly beseech your Royal Highness to take into your gracious consideration the sufferings of this industrious, patient, and starving people; and we earnestly pray,

"That your Royal Highness will be pleased to cause the Parliament to be assembled immediately, and, as the friend of your Royal Father's people, to urge the two Houses to reduce the Army, to remove those barracks, military colleges, and all those menacing parades so hateful to our eyes and so hostile to that Constitution which your Royal House were placed on the Throne to defend; to abolish all sinecures and all pensions, grants, and emoluments not merited by public services, and to apply the amount of the same to feed the hungry and clothe the naked; and, above all, to listen, before it be TOO LATE, to those repeated prayers of the people for being restored to their undoubted right of annually choosing their own Representatives. In the mean time we implore your Royal Highness

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