第57章

oroverseerstohireorlease，andundercertainconditionstoenclose，land

uptoalimitoffiftyacres，fortheemploymentofthepoor。Itisdifficult

toresistthebeliefthatiftheriotshadlastedlongertheymighthave

forcedtheGovernmenttoacceptthescheme，intheefficacyofwhichithad

nofaith，asthepriceofpeace，andthatthechangeintemperaturerecorded

inSuffield’sDiaryafterthemiddleofDecembermarktherestoration

ofconfidenceatWhitehall。

Soperishedthelasthopeofreformandreparationforthepoor。Thelabourers’

revoltwasended；andfourhundredandfiftymenhadspenttheirfreedom

invain。Oftheseexileswehaveonefinalglimpse；itisinaletterfrom

theGovernorofVanDiemen’sLandtoLordGoderich：’If，myLord，theevidence，

orconduct，ofparticularindividuals，canbereliedonasproofoftheefficiency

ornon-efficiencyoftransportation，Iamsurethatastrongcaseindeed

could，bemadeoutinitsfavour。Imightinstancetherioterswhoarrived

bytheEliza，severalofwhomdiedalmostimmediatelyfromdisease，

inducedapparentlybydespair。Agreatmanyofthemwentaboutdejectedand

stupefiedwithcareandgrief，andtheirsituationafterassignmentwasnot

foralongtimemuchlessunhappy。’(36*)

11。Times，January6，1831。Cf。letterofMrR。Pollen，J。P。，afterwards

onofWinchesterCommissioners，toHomeOffice，November26：’Itmaybeworth

consideringthelaw，whichexemptsallThreshingMachinesfromcapitalpunishment，

shouldmuchscenesastheseoccuragainamongsttheagriculturalclasses。

IconfessIviewwithgreatregretthattheyhavefoundthemodeofcombining，

whichIhadhopedwasconfinedtothemanufacturingclasses。’

17。TherearenostatisticsforWilts，Hants，Bucks，andDorshetshire

prisoners。AtReadingoutof138prisoners37couldread，and25ofthe37

couldalsowrite。AtAbingdon，outof47，17couldread，and6ofthemcould

alsowrite。InWiltsandHantstheproportionwasprobablysmaller，asthe

peopleweremoreneglected。

HenryBuncewastransportedforlifeto

NewSouthWales。Ibid。，January14。

Cobbett，PoliticalRegister，vol。lxxiii，p。535，andlocal

papers。

Fusell’ssentencewascommutedtoimprisonment。BoyswassenttoVan

Diemen’sLand。

Papers，MunicipalandProvincial。Hants。1831，March24。

AsearlyasNovember26，MrRichardPollen，ChairmanofQuarterSessions

andafterwardsacommissioneratWinchester，hadwrittentotheHomeOffice。

’IhavedirectedtheMagistrates’attentionverymuchtotheclassofPeople

foundintheMobsmanymilesfromtheirownhomes，Taylors，Shoemakersetc。，

whohavebeenfoundalwaysveryeloquent，theyareuniversallypoliticians：

theyshouldbe，Ithink，selected。’——H。O。Papers。

27。Forafullaccountoftheincident，includingthetextofthepetition

andlistofsignatures，seeCobbett’sTwo-pennyTrash，July1，1832。

28。February8，1831。

29。Times，January8，1831。TheTimesofthesamedaycontains

aninterestingpetitionfromtheBirminghamPoliticalUniononbehalfof

alltheprisonerstriedbeforetheSpecialCommissions。

30。Thesceneisstillvividlyrememberedbyanoldwomanoverninety

yearsofagewithwhomMrHudsonspoke。

31。H。O。Papers，DisturbanceEntry-Book，LetterofJanuary3，1831。

32。Threeboatscarriedtheconvicts，theElizaandtheProteustoVan

Diemen’sLand，theEleanortoNewSouthWales。Thelistoftheprisoners

onboardshowsthattheycamefromthefollowingcountries：——

Ifthisrepresentsthetotal，somesentencesoftransportationmusthave

bencommutedforimprisonment；possiblysomeriotersweresentlater，for

MrPotterMacQueen，ingivingevidencebeforetheCommitteeonSecondary

Punishments，spokeofthesixhundredable-bodiedmenwhohadbeentransported

toconsequenceofbeingconcernedintheSwingoffences——Reportof

Committee，p。95。Four

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