第44章

trustthisiswhatweshallnotbeunderthepainfulnecessityofdemanding。’

WhiletheVestrydeliberatedthelabourersremainedquietlyintheyard

ofthepoorhouse。Oneofthem，aveteranfromthePeninsularWarwhohad

lostalimb，contrastedhissituationon9d。adaywiththatoftheDuke

ofWellingtonwhose’skinwaswhole’andwhosepensionwas£；60，000a

year。Aftertheyhadwaitedsometime，theywereinformedthattheirdemands

weregranted，andtheydispersedtotheirhomeswithhuzzasandtearsof

joy，andasasignofthenewandauspiciouseratheybrokeuptheparish

grindstone，amemoryoftheevilpast。(9*)

AnimportantfeatureoftheproceedingsinKentandSussexwasthesympathy

ofotherclasseswiththedemandsofthelabourers。Thesuccessofthemovement

inKentandSussex，andespeciallyoftherisingthatbeganatBrede，was

duepartly，nodoubt，tothefactthatsmugglingwasstillacommonpractice

inthosecounties，andthattheagriculturallabourersthusfoundtheirnatural

leadersamongmenwhohadlearntaudacity，resourcefulness，andahabitof

commonactioninthatschoolofdanger。Butthemovementcouldnothavemade

suchheadwaywithoutanyseriousattempttosuppressitiftheotherclasses

hadbeenhostile。Therewasageneralsensethattherisingsweredueto

theneglectoftheGovernment。Mr。Hodges，oneoftheMembersforKent，declared

intheSouseofCommonson10thDecemberthatifthedukeofWellingtonhad

attendedtoapetitionreceivedfromtheentireGrandJuryofKentthere

wouldhavebeennodisturbances。(10*)

ThesamespiritisdisplayedinaletterwrittenbyamagistrateatBattle，

namedCollingwood。’Ihaveseenthreeorfourofourparochialinsurrections，

andbeenwiththePeopleforhoursaloneanddiscussingtheirmatterswith

themwhichtheydowithatemperandrespectfulbehaviourandanintelligence

whichmustinteresteveryoneintheirfavor。ThepoorintheParishesin

theSouthofEngland，andinSussexandKentgreatly，havebeengroundto

thedustinmanyinstancesbythePoorLaws。Insteadofhappypeasantsthey

aremademiserableandsourtemperedpaupers。EveryParishhasitsownpeculiar

system，directedmorestrictly，andexecutedwithmoreorlessseverityor

harshness。AprincipaltradesmaninSalehurst(Sussex)inonepartofwhich，

Robertsbridge，wehadourrowtheothernight，saidtomethesewords“

Youattendedourmeetingtheotherdayandvotedwithmeagainstthetwo

principalRatepayersinthisparish，twoMillers，payingthepeopleintwo

gallonsofbadflourinsteadofmoney。Youheardhowsaucytheyweretotheir

betters，canyouwonderiftheyaremoreviolenttotheirinferiors？They

nevercallamanTom，Dicketc。butyoud——drascaletc。，ateveryword，

andforcethemtotaketheirflour。Shouldyouwonderthattheyaredissatisfied？

“ThesewordsheusedtomeaweekbeforeourRobertsbridgeRow。Each

oftheseParochialRowsdiffersincharacterasthemanwhomtheyselect

asleaderdiffersinimpudenceorcourageoraudacityorwhateveryoumay

callit。Iftheyareopposedatthemoment，theirresistanceshowsitself

inmoreorlessviolentoutrages；personallyIwitnessedbutone，thatof

RobertsbridgeputtingMr。Johnsonintothecart，andthatwashalfanaccident。

Iwasastrangertothem，wentamongthemandwastoldbyhundredsafter

thatmostunjustifiableassaultthatIwassafeamongthemasinmybed，

andIneverthoughtotherwise。Oneortwodesperatecharacters，andsuch

thereare，mayatanymomentmakethecontestofParishAdifferfromthat

ofParishB，buttheirspirit，asfarasregardsloyaltyandloveforthe

KingandLaws，is，Ibelieve，onmyconscience，sound。Ifeelconvincedthat

allthecavalryintheworld，ifsentintoSussex，andallthespiritedacts

ofSirGodfreyWebster，who，however，isinvaluableherewill(not？)stop

thisspiritfromrunningthroughHampshire，Wiltshire，Somersetshire，where

Mr。Hobhouse，yourpredecessor，toldmetheotherdaythattheyhavegot

thewagesforsinglemendownto6s。perweek(onwhichtheycannotlive)

throughmanyothercounties。InaweekyouwillhaveDemandsforcavalry

fromHampshireunderthesamefeelingofalarmasIandallhereentertained：

thenextweekfromWiltshire，Dorsetshire，andallthecountiesinwhich

thepoorRateshavebeenraisedforthepaymentofthepooruptoEssexand

theveryneighbourhoodofLondon，whereMr。Geo。Palmer，amagistrate，told

melatelythatthepoorsinglemanisgotdownto6s。Ishallbeoverto-morrow

probablyatBenendenwheretheyarere

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