conducttotheincitementatCobbett’s’lacture。’Cobbettdestroyedanyeffect
thatGoodman’schargemighthavehadbyproducingadeclarationsignedby
onehundredandthreepersonspresentatthelecture——farmers。tradesmen，
labourers，carpenters，andshoemakers——denyingthatCobbetthadmadethe
statementascribedtohiminGoodman’sconfession，oneofthesignatories
beingthefarmerwhosebarnGoodmanhadburnt。Hethenproceededtocontrast
thetreatmentGoodmanhadreceivedwiththetreatmentreceivedbyothers
convictedofincendiarism，andpiecingtogetheralltheevidenceofthemachinations
ofthemagistrates，constructedaveryformidableindictmenttowhichDenman
couldonlyreplythatheknewnothingofthematter，andthatCobbettwas
capableofentertainingthemostabsurdsuspicions。OnanotherquestionDenman
foundhimselfthrownonthedefensive，forhewasnowconfrontedwithhis
ownmisstatementsinParliamentaboutCook，andtheaffidavitsofCook’s
fatherpresentincourt。Denmancouldonlyanswerthattillthatdaynoone
hadcontradictedhim，thoughhecouldscarcelyhavebeenunawarethatthe
HouseofCommonswasnottheplaceinwhichaMinister’sstatementabout
theage，occupation，pay，andconductofanobscureboywasmostlikelyto
bechallenged。Denmanmadeachastenedreply，andthejury，afterspending
thenightattheGuildhall，disagreed，sixvotingeachway。Cobbettwasa
freeman，fortheWhigs，overwhelmedbytheinvectivetheyhadfoolishly
provoked，remembered，whentoolate，thewisesayingofMauriceofSaxony
aboutCharlesV：’Ihavenocagebigenoughforsuchabird，’andresisted
alltheKing’sinvitationstorepeattheirrashadventure。Tothosewhohave
madetheirmelancholywaythroughthetrialsatWinchesterandSalisbury，
atwhichrudeboysfromtheHampshirevillagesandtheWiltshiredowns，about
tobetossedacrossthesea，stoodshelterlessintheunpityingstormof
questionandinsinuationandabuse，thereisacertaingrimsatisfaction
inreadingthislastchapterandwatchingDenmanfacetoface，notwiththe
brokenexcusesandappealsofignorantandhelplesspeasants，butwitha
volleyedthunderthatsweptintospaceallhislawyer’sartificeandskill。
Justiceplaysstrangetricksuponmankind，butwhowillsaythatshehas
notherinspirations？
Onemoreincidenthastoberecordedinthetaleofsuppression。Theriots
wereover，butthefirescontinued。Intheautumnof1831Melbourne，ina
shamefulmoment，proposedaremedyborrowedfromtheevilpracticeswhich
aToryParliamenthadconsentedatlasttoforbid。Thesettingofspring
gunsandman-traps，thecommondeviceofgamepreservers，hadbeenmadea
misdemeanourin1826byanActofwhichSuffieldwastheauthor。Melbourne
nowproposedtoallowpersonswhoobtainedalicensefromtwomagistrates
toprotecttheirpropertybythesemeans。TheBillpassedtheHouseofLords，
andtheJournalsrecordthatitwasintroducedintheHouseofCommons，
butthere，letushopefromveryhorroratthethoughtofthismoralrelapse，
silentlyitdisappears。
WhenGreymetParliamentasPrimeMinisterhesaidthattheGovernment
recognisedtwoduties：thedutyoffindingaremedyforthedistressofthe
labourers，andthedutyofrepressingtheriotswithseverityandfirmness。
Wehaveseenhowtheriotsweresuppressed；wehavenowtoseewhatwasdone
towardsprovidingaremedy。Thissideofthepictureisscarcelylessmelancholy
thantheother；forwhenweturntothedebatesinParliamentweseeclearly
howhopelessitwastoexpectanysolutionofaneconomicproblemfromthe
legislatorsofthetime。Now，ifever，circumstanceshadforcedtheproblem
onthemindofParliament，andinsuchanemergencyasthismenmightbe
trustedtosayseriouslyandsincerelywhattheyhadtosuggest。Yetthe
debatesareamê；lé；eoffutilegeneralisations，overshadowed
bythedoctrinewhichGreyhimselflaiddownthat’allmattersrespecting
theamountofrentandtheextentoffarmswouldbemuchbetterregulated
bytheindividualswhowereimmediatelyinterestedthanbyanyCommittee
oftheirLordships。’Onepeergotintotroubleforblurtingoutthetruth
thattheriotshadraisedwages；anotherwouldcursemachineryasvigorously
asanylabourer；manyblamedthepastinattentionoftheHouseofLordsto
thelabourers’misery；andoneconsideredthefirstnecessityofthemoment
wastheimpeachmentofWellington。Twomenhadactualandseriousproposals
tomake。TheywereLordKingandLordSuffield。
Bothofthesemenarestrikingfigures。King1776-1833wasaneconomist
whohadstartledtheGovernmentin1811bycallingforthepaymentsofhis
rentsinthelawfulcoinoftherealm。Thisdramaticmanoeuvrefordiscrediting
papermoneyhadbeenthwartedbyLordStanhope，who，thoughinagreement
withKingonmanysubjects，stronglyapprovedofpapermoneyinEnglandas
hehadapprovedofassignatsinFrance。LordHollandtellsastoryofhow
hetwittedStanhopewithwantingtoseehistoryrepeatitself，andhowStanhope
answeredwithachuckle：’Andiftheytakepropertyfromthedronesandgive
ittothebees，where，mydearCitoyen，isthegreatharmofthat？’King
wasalwaysinasmallminorityandhissignaturewasgiven，togetherwith
thoseofAlbemarle，Thanet，andHolland，totheprotestagainstestablishing
maritallawinIrelandin1801，whichwaswrittenwithsuchwoundingdirectness
thatitwasafterwardsblackenedoutoftherecordsoftheHouseofLords，
onthemotionoftheinfamousLordClare。Buthewasneverinasmallerminority
thanhewasonthisoccasionwhenhetoldhisfellowlandlordsthattheonly
remedyforthepublicdistresswastheabolitionoftheCornLaws。Sucha
proposalstoodnochanceintheHouseofLordsorntheHouseofCommons。
GreydeclaredthattheabolitionoftheCornLawswouldleadtothedestruction
ofthecountry，andthoughtherewereFreeTradersamongtheWhigs，even
nineyearsafterthisMelbournedescribedsuchapolicyas’thewildestand
maddestschemethathaseverenteredintotheimaginationofmantoconceive。’
Suffield1781-1835，theonlyotherpoliticianwitharemedy，isaninteresting
andattractivecharacter。OriginallyaTory，andthesonofSirHarbordHarbord，
whowasnotamanofverytendersensbilities，Suffieldgraduallyfelthis
waytowardsLiberalism。Hewastoolarge-mindedamantobehappyandat
easeinanatmospherewheretherulingclassflewinstinctivelyinevery
crisistomeasuresoftyrannyandrepression。Peterloocompletedhisconversion。
Fromthattimehebecameachampionofthepoor，afiercecriticoftheGame
Laws，andastrongadvocateofprisonreform。Heisrevealedinhisdiary
andallthetraditionsofhislifeasamanofindependenceandgreatsincerity。
Suffield’spolicyinthiscrisiswasthepolicyofhomecolonisation，and
itsfatecanbestbedescribedbymeansofextractsfromamemoirprepared
byR。M。Bacon，aNorwichjournalistandpublicistofimportance，andprinted
privatelyin1838，threeyearsafterSuffieldhadbeenkilledbyafallfrom
hishorse。Theygiveafarmoreintimateandgraphicpictureofthemind
oftheGovernmentthanthebestreporteddebatesintherecordsofParliament。
Wehaveseeninapreviouschapterthattherehadbeenatthistimea
revivalofthemovementforrestoringthelandtothelabourers。Oneofthe
chiefsupportersofthispolicywasR。M。Bacon，who，aseditoroftheNorwich
Mercury，wasinclosetouchwithSuffield。Baconsetoutanelaborate
schemeofhomecolonisation，resemblinginitsmainideastheplansketched
byArthurYoungthirtyyearsearlier，andthisschemeSuffieldtookupwith
greatenthusiasm。Itschiefrecommendationinhiseyeswasthatitapplied
publicmoneytoestablishinglabourerswithapropertyoftheirown，sothat
whereas，undertheexistingsystem，publicmoneywasused，intheformof
subsidiesfromtherates，todepresswages，publicmoneywouldbeusedunder
thisschemetoraisethem。Foritwastheobjectoftheplantomakethe
labourersindependentofthefarmers，andtosubstitutethecompetitionof
employersforthecompetitionofemployed。Nootherscheme，Suffieldused
tomaintain，promisedanyrealrelief。Ifrentsandtaxeswerereducedthe
farmerwouldbeable，butwouldnotbecompelled，togivebetterwages：if
taxesonthelabourers’necessarieswerereduced，thelabourerswouldbe
abletoliveonasmallerwage，andaslongastheywerescramblingforemployment
theywerecertaintobegrounddowntotheminimumofsubsistence。Theonly
waytorescuethemfromthisplightwastoplacethemagaininsuchaposition
thattheywerenotabsolutelydependentonthefarmers。Thisthegovernment
coulddobypurchasingland，atpresentwaste，andcompellingparishes，with
thehelpofapublicloan，tosetuplabourersuponit，andtobuildcottages
withafixedallotmentofland。
Suffield’seffortstopersuadethegovernmenttotakeupthisconstructive
policybeganassoonasGreycameintooffice。HisfirstletterstoBacon
onthesubjectarewritteninNovember。Theopposition，hesays，isvery
strong，andSturgesBourneandLansdownearebothhostile。On17thNovember
hewritesthatapeerhadtoldhimthathehadsatonanearliercommittee
onthissubjectwithSturgesBourne，aschairman，andthat’thosewhounderstood
thesubjectbestagreedwithMalthusthatviceandmiseryalonecouldcure
theevil。’On19thNovemberhewritesthathehashadaconferencewithBrougham，
withaboutthesamesuccessashisconferencewithLansdowneandSturges
Bourne。Onthe23rdhewritesthathehasbeenpromisedaninterviewatthe
HomeOffice；onthe25th’noinvitationfromLordMelbourne——thetruth
ishecannotfindonemomentofleisure。TheHomeOfficeisdistractedby
thenumerousrepresentationsofimminentdangertoproperty，ifnottolife，
andapplicationsforprotection。’Laterinthesamedayhewritesthathe
hasseenbothGreyandMelbourne：’IatonceattackedGrey。Ifoundhimdisposed
togiveeverypossibleconsiderationtothematter。HehimselfhasinNorthumberland
seenuponhisownpropertythebeneficenteffectsofmyplan，namelyofapportioning
landtocottagers，butheforesawinnumerabledifficulties。’AHouseofLords
CommitteehadbeenappointedonthePoorLawsattheinstanceofLordSalisbury，
andSuffieldhopedtopersuadethiscommitteetoreportinfavourofhis
scheme。HethereforepressedGreytomakeapublicstatementofsympathy。
Greysaid’hewouldintimatethatGovernmentwouldbedisposedtocarryinto
effectanymeasureofreliefrecommendedbytheCommittee；verypressedbut
wouldcallCabinettogetherto-morrow。’TheinterviewwithMelbournewas
verydifferent。’NextIsawLordMelbourne。“Oppressedasyouare。”
saidI，“Iamwillingtorelieveyoufromaconference，butyoumust
saysomethingonMondaynextandIfearyouhavenotdevotedmuchattention
tothesubject。”“Iunderstanditperfectly。”hereplied，
“andthatisthereasonformysayingnothingaboutit。”“How
isthistobeexplained？”“BecauseIconsiderithopeless。”
“Oh，youthinkwithMalthusthatviceandmiseryaretheonlycure？”
“No。”saidLordMelbourne，“buttheevilisinnumbersand
thesortofcompetitionthatensues。”“WellthenIhavemeasures
toproposewhichmaymeetthisdifficulty。”“Ofthese。”said
LordMelbourne，“Iknownothing。”andheturnedawayfrommeto
afriendtoenquirerespectingoutrages。’Suffieldconcludesonamelancholy
note：’Thefactis，withtheexceptionofafewindividuals，thesubject
isdeemedbytheworldabore：everyonewhotouchesonitisabore，and
nothingbutthestrongestconvictionofitsimportancetothecountrywould
inducemetosubjectmyselftotheindifferencethatIdailyexperiencewhen
Iventuretointrudethematterontheattentionoflegislators。’
AfortnightlaterSuffieldwasverysanguine：’Mostsatisfactoryinterview
withMelbourne：thinksLordGreywilldothejobintherecess。’Butthe
skysoondarkensagain，andonthe27thSuffieldwritesstronglytoMelbourne
onthenecessityofaction，andheadds：’Tranquillitybeingnowrestored，
allthefarmersareofcoursereducingtheirwagestothatmiserablerate
thatledtotherecentdisturbances。’Unhappilythelastsentencehadasignificance
whichperhapsescapedSuffield。Believingashedidinhisscheme，hethought
thatitsnecessitywasprovedbytherelapseofwagesontherestoration
oftranquillity，butviceandmisery-riddenpoliticiansmightregardthe
restorationoftranquillityasanargumentfordroppingthescheme。After
thisthefirsthopesfadeaway。ThereisstrongoppositionontheSelect
CommitteetoSuffield’sviews，andheisdisappointedofthepromptreport
infavourofactionwhichhehadexpectedfromit。TheGovernmentareindisposed
totakeaction，andSuffield，growingsickandimpatientoftheirslowclock，
warnsMelbourneinJunethathecannotdefendthem。Melbournerepliesthat
suchameasurecouldnotbematurelyconsideredorpassedduringtheagitation
overtheReformBill。LaterinthemonththerewasameetingbetweenSuffield
andMelbourne，ofwhichunfortunatelynorecordispreservedintheMemoir，
withtheresultthatSuffielddeclaredinParliamentthattheGovernment
hadaplan。Intheautumnof1831anActwasplacedontheStatuteBookwhich
wasthemerestmockeryofallSuffield’shopes，empoweringchurchwardens