Читать книгу When William IV. Was King - John Ashton - Страница 8

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Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway — Death of Mr. Huskisson — Agricultural lawlessness — Captain Swing — Executions for riot — Riots throughout the country — Special Commissions — Prayer to be used in churches and chapels.

About this time a melancholy but all-absorbing topic of conversation was the death of Mr. Wm. Huskisson, one of the M.P.'s for Liverpool; and the most succinct account I can find of this sad accident is in the Annual Register. It happened on September 15th, at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.

"On Wednesday morning, as early as seven o'clock, the people of Liverpool were seen flocking in crowds to the tunnel in order to secure good places for a view of the procession. The whole line of road, for the distance of seven or eight miles out of Liverpool, was lined by dense crowds; and several stands, to which the public had been admitted at half a crown a head, were completely filled. Eight of the Company's locomotive engines were brought down to the mouth of the tunnel at about half-past nine. The Duke of Wellington arrived about ten o'clock, and was greeted with enthusiasm by the immense crowd. The splendid state carriage, which had been prepared for his Grace, was taken down the tunnel; the military band played 'See the Conquering Hero comes;' and, in a few minutes, the Duke was drawn from the tunnel, amid the loud cheers of the spectators.

"The procession left Liverpool twenty minutes before eleven o'clock, drawn by eight locomotive engines, in the following order: Northumbrian, with the directors and numerous distinguished visitors, including the Duke of Wellington; Phœnix, green flag; North Star, yellow; Rocket,[7] light blue; Dart, purple; Comet, deep red; Arrow, pink; Meteor, brown; with visitors and proprietors. On issuing from the smaller tunnel at Liverpool, the Northumbrian took the south, or right-hand line of railway, and drew three carriages, the first containing the band, the second the Duke of Wellington and a number of other persons, of distinction, and the third the directors of the railway. The other engines proceeded along the north line.... The total number of persons conveyed was stated to be 772. The procession did not proceed at a pace of more than fifteen or sixteen miles an hour.

"In the course of the journey, the Northumbrian accelerated or retarded its speed occasionally, to give the Duke of Wellington an opportunity of inspecting the most remarkable parts of the work.

"Before starting from Liverpool, the company were particularly requested not to leave the carriages, and the same caution was repeated in the printed directions describing the order of the procession. Notwithstanding this regulation, Mr. Huskisson, Mr. William Holmes, M.P., and other gentlemen, alighted when the Northumbrian stopped at Parkside. On the stoppage of the Northumbrian at Parkside Bridge, Mr. Huskisson, as well as many others, got out, and Mr. Holmes, for the purpose of bringing Mr. Huskisson and the Duke together, and of producing a renewed good feeling between them, led Mr. Huskisson round to that part of the car where the Duke was stationed, who, perceiving the advance of the right hon. gentleman, immediately held out his hand to him, which was shaken in a very cordial manner. It was almost at this moment that the Rocket was perceived to be on the advance, and a general move took place to get out of its way, several persons calling out, 'Get in! get in!'

"Some followed this advice, scrambling up as best they might in the absence of the steps. Others made their way round to the end of the car, and Mr. Huskisson appeared to be acting under the idea of crossing the Rocket's railway before the engine came up; from this, however, he was deterred by the steepness of the bank beyond.

"Mr. Holmes, who was standing in the same situation as the right hon. gentleman, took his resolution on the instant, and drew himself up as closely as he could against the side of the ducal car. The intervening space between the railways is exactly four feet, but as the ducal car overhung it about two feet, and the Rocket engine about six inches, there was only a clear space of eighteen inches left—sufficient, however, to enable a person to stand without injury or damage.

"Mr. Holmes, whilst thus affixing himself in this manner to the ducal car, had time to perceive the irresolution of the right hon. gentleman, and he called out to him, 'For God's sake, be firm, Mr. Huskisson.' Mr. Huskisson grasped hold of the door of the ducal carriage the moment before the Rocket passed; this door, when open, projected so far over the neighbouring railway, that it was struck by the Rocket; the consequence was, that it swung rapidly round, overbalanced Mr. Huskisson, and caused him to fall on the railway of the Rocket, when his right leg instantly came in contact with the wheel of the engine, and was crushed.

"The Earl of Wilton, Mr. Holmes, and Mr. Parkes, solicitor of Birmingham, raised Mr. Huskisson from the ground. The only words he uttered at the time were to this effect, 'I have met my death. God forgive me.' The first thing that was done was to twist a handkerchief (in the manner of a tourniquet) tightly round the wounded parts of the limb, for the purpose of stopping the effusion of blood; and, the Northumbrian being detached from the carriages, it was sent forward, with the greatest possible speed, to Eccles, with Mr. Huskisson, the Earl of Wilton, Mr. Stephenson, and two medical gentlemen. A consultation was next held by the party at Newton, as to the course best to be adopted under these melancholy circumstances.

"The Duke of Wellington was very desirous that the procession should be stopped and return to Liverpool. After some consultation, however, this proposal was relinquished, and it was finally agreed to proceed with the ceremony of opening the railway, to prevent, in some degree, the alarm and disappointment which must otherwise have been occasioned to the vast multitudes who thronged this end of the railway. The carriages of the Duke and the directors were consequently attached to those which accompanied the Phœnix engine, and in this manner the whole proceeded at a slow pace to Eccles, where a stoppage took place, while the Duke and his friends made inquiry respecting the condition of Mr. Huskisson. The Northumbrian, which had, by this time, arrived from Manchester with Mr. Ransome and other surgeons, was then re-attached to the Duke's carriage, etc., and the whole proceeded in the order originally agreed upon, to Manchester. The Northumbrian, with the Duke and directors, arrived in front of the warehouses about a quarter before three, but the other engines and carriages, did not arrive till some time afterwards.

"Mr. Huskisson and the party who accompanied him, arrived at the Vicarage of Eccles about half-past one o'clock. A couch was carried to the railway, upon which he was placed, and in a reclining position, he was removed into the drawing-room of the Vicarage. A bed was immediately prepared for his accommodation; but the pain which he endured was so severe, that he could not be carried to it, and he remained upon the couch until the moment of his death.

"On arriving at the Vicarage, the surgeon found Mr. Huskisson in a state of extreme suffering, but remarkably composed, and exhibiting extraordinary firmness of mind. The bones of the leg were broken into small pieces, and a considerable wound was visible on the skin and muscles. The thigh bone, above the middle part, was also broken into several fragments, and the muscles were laid bare high up the thigh, exposing the principal nerves and blood-vessels. The professional gentlemen decided that it was impossible to adventure upon the amputation of the limb. The sufferings of the patient, during the few hours he survived, were most acute. Every now and then groans of the deepest agony were extorted from him by the intensity of the pain which he was enduring; there were, however, no screams, no murmurings against the dispensations of Providence; but every symptom of the most manly courage, the most unshrinking fortitude, and the most Christian resignation.

"In the course of the evening, when Mr. Blackburne, the Vicar, in reading the Lord's Prayer to him, came to the clause, 'forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us,' Mr. Huskisson said, in a firm and distinct tone of voice, 'That I do, most heartily; and I declare to God that I have not the slightest feeling of ill-will to any human being.' The Sacrament was, subsequently, administered to him and Mrs. Huskisson. He did not make any allusion, or send any remembrance, to his political friends. He showed a natural anxiety for the preservation of his character as a Statesman. 'The country,' said he, 'has had the best of me. I trust that it will do justice to my public character. I regret not the few years which might have remained to me, except for those dear ones,' added he, grasping Mrs. Huskisson's hand, and looking with affectionate regret upon her dejected countenance, 'whom I leave behind me.' He dictated a codicil to his will, which was drawn up by Mr. Wainwright, his secretary, and witnessed by the Earl of Wilton, and Lords Granville and Colvill. On the day following his death, an inquest was held on his body, the verdict of which was, 'Accidental death.'"

He was buried at Liverpool on September 24th, receiving a magnificent funeral, in the presence of about twenty thousand people.

Now began a reign of agricultural lawlessness, and first at Otmoor in Oxfordshire, which arose from the draining and enclosing of some two thousand acres, over which seven neighbouring townships had right of common. The land was of little value, being very marshy, and a proper Act of Parliament had been obtained for its reclamation, which was partially effected, when the commoners rose, and set about destroying fences, embankments, etc. Two regiments of yeomanry were sent to put down the uprising, and, after the Riot Act was read, some sixty prisoners were made. These were put into waggons and carts, and taken to Oxford, there to be lodged in gaol. But St. Giles's fair happened to be on at Oxford, and the country folk there assembled fell upon the yeomanry and rescued the captives; only temporarily, however, for a detachment of soldiers was afterwards sent down by Government, and many of the rioters were apprehended.

This was only the outcome of an ignorant population, who fancied they were being deprived of their ancient rights, whereas it was really done for their benefit, and would hardly merit notice did it not show the uneasiness of the agricultural mind at this period. Captain Swing was abroad, and the red glow of rick-burning was spreading through the land, notably, at that time, in Kent. The very next paragraph in the Times of September 8th, to the account of the Otmoor riots, is about alarming incendiary fires at Orpington and its neighbourhood, in which barns and outhouses, stacks of corn and hay, were destroyed. Nay, the miscreants did not stop there. They attempted to terrorize by means of anonymous letters, in which not only the burning of more property was threatened, but the destruction of house, owner, and family.

Sometimes, but not often, the wretches were caught, and then little mercy was shown them, as in a case in Somersetshire, where the High Sheriff hanged three men convicted of this offence, on gallows erected on the spot where the crime had been committed, the gallows bearing an inscription in large letters, so that all might read: "For Firing Stacks." Over fifteen thousand people witnessed this execution.

Several men were arrested as being Captain Swing, whose signature was always attached to the threatening notices; but there is every reason to believe that no such entity existed. Here is his fancy portrait, drawn by Heath, entitled "Swing! taken from the life. Dedicated to Messrs. Cobbett, Carlisle and Co."

To show somewhat of the terrorism of this name at that time, I quote from the Kentish Gazette of October 9th—

"Anonymous letters, signed 'Swing,' have been received by post, by two individuals at Dover, threatening the destruction of their premises by fire, which has caused great alarm in their families. The dead walls, all through the town, and for some miles on the road to Canterbury, all bear the same significant word 'Swing,' written in chalk."

The newspapers of the day teem with notices of outrages, particularly during the last three months of the year. A very good and terse account of these agricultural riots is in the Annual Register, pp. 149, 150.

"The disturbances began in Kent. The rioters did not assume the character of disorderly mobs, nor did they profess to seek any political objects. They appeared, at first, as lurking incendiaries, and wreaked their vengeance on property, the destruction of which could only aggravate the causes of their misery. Night after night, new conflagrations were lighted up by bands of incendiaries; corn stacks, barns, farm buildings, live stock, were consumed indiscriminately. Bolder bands attacked mills, and demolished the machinery; and all threshing-machines, in particular, were condemned. Threatening letters were circulated, demanding the raising of wages, or the disuse of the machinery; and the nightly exploits of the writers insured attention to their demands. The first of the rioters who were seized, and tried before the County Magistrates, were treated with undue lenity. Commiseration for starving labourers was commendable; but it could not be want which induced men to destroy the materials of food. During October, November, and December, but more particularly the two former months, it made its way from Kent into the counties of Hants, Wilts, Bucks, Sussex, and Surrey. Throughout the whole of that district of the country, all protection for property seemed to be at an end. Bands of rioters pillaged and destroyed during the day; and, as soon as night fell, simultaneous conflagrations, starting up in different quarters, spread over the country havoc and dismay. The military force in the disturbed counties was increased, a proclamation was issued offering a reward of £500 for the conviction of any person engaged in the fire raisings; and a Special Commission was ordered to proceed into the Shires where the outrages were committed."

These Special Commissions were held in December, and many were the sentences of death recorded against the worst of the rioters, although but few were carried out. The first victims to the outraged majesty of the law were three men, found guilty at the Maidstone Assizes, who were hanged for arson on Penenden Heath. Nor was it only by the strong arm of the law that order was attempted to be restored, the help of the Almighty was also invoked in furtherance of that end. A supplement to the Gazette of the 24th of December, contained an Order in Council, that the Archbishop of Canterbury do prepare forms of prayer to Almighty God, on account of the troubled state of certain parts of the United Kingdom; and another for reading the same in all the Episcopal Churches and Chapels in England and Scotland. In consequence of this Order, a form of prayer was issued, which the curious in those things may read in the Times of December 28th, to be used immediately before the Litany, and when the Litany was not read, before the prayer for all conditions of men, in all cathedrals, collegiate and parochial churches and chapels in England and Ireland.