OnerepresentativeoftheChurchwasdistinguishedfrommostofthecountry
gentlemenandclergymenofthetimebyhistreatmentofoneofthesewandering
mobs。Cobbett’slettertotheHampshireparsons，publishedinthePolitical
Register，15thJanuary1831，containsanaccountoftheconductofBishop
Sumner，theBishopofWinchester。’Ihave，atlast，foundaBishopofthe
LawChurchtopraise。Thefactsarethese：theBishop，incomingfromWinchester
tohispalaceatFarnham，wasmetaboutamilebeforehegottothelatter
place，byabandofsturdybeggars，whomsomecallrobbers。Theystopped
hiscarriage，andaskedforsomemoney，whichhegavethem。Buthedidnot
prosecutethem：hehadnotamanofthemcalledtoaccountforhisconduct，
but，thenextday，settwenty-fourlabourerstoconstantwork，openedhis
Castletothedistressedofallages，andsuppliedallwithfoodandother
necessarieswhostoodinneedofthem。ThiswasbecomingaChristianteacher。’
PerhapsthebishoprememberedthelinesfromDryden’sTalesfromChaucer，
describingthespiritinwhichthegoodparsonregardedthepoor：
’Who，shouldtheystealforwantofhisrelief，Hejudgedhimselfaccomplicewiththethief。’
TherewasanexhibitionoffreespeakingatHungerford，wherethemagistrates
satintheTownHalltoreceivedeputationsfromvariousmobs，inconnection
withthedemandforhigherwages。Themagistrateshadmadetheirpeacewith
theHungerfordmob，whenadeputationfromtheKintburymobarrived，led
byWilliamOakley，ayoungcarpenteroftwenty-five。Oakleyaddressedthe
magistratesinlanguagewhichtheyhadneverheardbeforeintheirlives
andwereneverlikelytohearagain。’Youhavenotsuchddflatstodeal
withnow，asyouhadbefore；wewillhave2s。adaytillLadyday，and2s。
6d。afterwardsforlabourersand3s。6d。fortradesmen。Andaswearehere
wewillhave£；5beforeweleavetheplaceorwewillsmashit……You
gentlemenhavebeenlivinglongenoughonthegoodthings，nowisourtime
andwewillhavethem。Yougentlemenwouldnotspeaktousnow，onlyyou
areafraidandintimidated。’Themagistratesaccededtothedemandsofthe
Kintburymobandalsogavethemthe£；5，afterwhichtheygavetheHungerford
mob£；5，becausetheyhadbehavedwell，anditwouldbeunjusttotreat
themworsethantheirKintburyneighbours。Mr。Page，Deputy-Lieutenantfor
Berks，sentLordMelbournesometalesaboutthissameKintburymob，which
wasdescribedbyMr。Pearse，M。P。，asasetof’desperatesavages。’’Ibeg
toaddsomeanecdotesofthemobyesterdaytoillustratethenatureofits
componentparts。Theytook£；2fromMr。Cherryamagistrateandbroke
hisMachine。AfterwardsanotherpartycameanddemandedOnePoundwhenthe
twopartieshadagainformedintoone，theypassedbyMr。Cherry’sdoorand
saidtheyhadtakenonepoundtoomuch，whichtheyofferedtoreturntohim
whichitissaidherefused-theyhadbeforeunderstoodthatMrs。Cherrywas
unwellandthereforecameonlyinsmallparties。Apoorwomanpassedthem
sellingrabbitts，somefewofthemobtooksomebyforce，theringleader
orderedthemtoberestored。Atafarmer’swheretheyhadbeenregaledwith
breadcheeseandbeeroneofthemstoleanumbrella：theringleaderhearing
ofit，astheywerepassingthecanalthrewhimintoitandgavehimagood
ducking。’(22*)
IntheearlydaysoftherisinginHampshire，WiltshireandBerkshire，
therewasagooddealofsympathywiththelabourers。Thefarmersinmany
casesmadenoobjectiontothedestructionoftheirthreshingmachines。One
gentlemanofMarketLavingtonwentsofarastosaythat’nearlyallthe
WiltshireFarmerswerewillingtodestroyorsetasidetheirmachines。’’My
Lord，’wroteMr。Williams，J。P。，fromMarlborough，’youwillperhapsbesurprised
tohearthatthegreatestnumberofthethreshingmachinesdestroyedhave
beenputoutforthePurposebytheOwnersthemselves。’ThedukeofBuckingham
complainedthatinthedistrictroundAvington’thefarmershavenotthe
SpiritandinsomeinstancesnottheWishtoputdown’disturbances。(23*)
AtameetinginWinchester，convenedbytheMayortopreservethepeace(reported
intheHampshireChronicleof22ndNovember)，Dr。Newbolt，aclergymanand
magistrate，describedhisowndealingswithoneofthemobs。Themobsaid
theywanted12s。aweekwages：thishesaidwasareasonabledemand。Heacted
asmediatorbetweenthelabourersandfarmers，andasaresultofhisefforts
thefarmersagreedtotheseterms，andthelabourersreturnedtowork，abandoning
theirprojectofadescentonWinchester。TheMayorofWinchesteralsodeclared
thatthewagesdemandedwerenotunreasonable，andhelaidstressonthe
factthattheobjectofthemeetingwasnottoappointspecialconstables
tocomeintoconflictwiththepeople，butmerelytopreservethepeace。
NextweekDr。NewboltputanadvertisementintotheHampshireChronicle，
acknowledgingthevoteofthanksthathadbeenpassedtohim，andreaffirming
hisbeliefthatconciliationwastherightpolicy。(24*)AtOverton，inHampshire，
HenryHuntactedasmediatorbetweenthefarmersandahungryandmenacing
mob。Suchwasthefearofthefarmersthattheygavehimunlimitedpower
tomakepromisesontheirbehalf：hepromisedthelabourersthattheirwages
shouldberaisedfrom9s。to12s。，withhouserentinaddition，andthey
dispersedindelight。
Fortunehadsofarsmiledupontherising，andtherewassomehopeof
success。Ifthespiritthatanimatedthefarmers，andinKentmanyofthe
landowners，hadlasted，thewinterof1830mighthaveendedinanimprovement
ofwagesandareductionofrentsandtithesthroughoutthesouthofEngland。
Inplaceswherethedeclineofthelabourerhadbeenwatchedforyearswithout
pityordismay，magistrateswerenowcallingmeetingstoconsiderhiscircumstances，
andtheHomeOfficePapersshowthatsome，atanyrate，ofthecountrygentlemen
wereawareofthedesperateconditionofthepoor。Unhappilythedayofconciliatory
measureswasabriefone。Twofactsfrightenedtheupperclassesintobrutality：
onewasthespreadoftherising，theotherthescarcityoftroops。(25*)
Asthemovementspread，thealarmoftheauthoritiesinspiredadifferent
policy，andeventhoselandownerswhorecognisedthatthelabourerswere
miserable，thoughtthattheywereinthepresenceofarisingthatwould
sweepthemawayunlesstheycouldsuppressitatoncebydrasticmeans。They
picturedthelabourersasHunsandthemysteriousSwingasasecondAttila，
andthispanictheycontrivedtocommunicatetotheotherclassesofsociety。
Conciliatorymethodsconsequentlyceased；theupperclassessubstituted
actionfordiplomacy，andthemovementrapidlycollapsed。Littleresistance
wasoffered，andtheterriblehostsofarmedanddesperatemenmelteddown
intogroupsofweakandill-fedlabourers，armedwithsticksandstones。
On26thNovembertheTimescouldreportthatseventypersonshadbeen
apprehendednearNewbury，andthat’about60ofthemostforwardhalf-starved
fellows，hadbeentakenintocustodysometwomilesfromSouthampton。Already
thehousingoftheBerkshireprisonerswasbecomingaproblem，thegaols
atReadingandAbingdonbeingovercrowded：bytheendofthemonththeNewbury
MansionHouseandWorkhousehadbeenconvertedintoprisons。Thisenergy
hadbeenstimulatedbyacircularletterissuedon24thNovember，inwhich
LordMelbourneurgedthelord-lieutenantsandthemagistratestousefirmness
andvigourinquellingdisturbances，andvirtuallypromisedthemimmunity
forillegalactsdoneindischargeoftheirduty。Avillagehereandthere
continuedtogivethemagistratessomeuneasiness，forexample，Broughton
inHants，’anopenvillageinanopencountry……wherethereisnoGentleman
tooverawethem，’(26*)butthesewereexceptions。Thedayofrisingswas
over，andfromthistimeforward，arsonwastheonlyweaponofdiscontent。
AtCharltoninWilts，where’themagistrateshadtalkedof12s。andthefarmers
hadgiven10s。，’acertainMr。Polhill，whohadloweredthewagesoneSaturday
to9s。，foundhispremisesinflame。’Thepoor，’remarkedaneighbouring
magistrate，’naturallyconsiderthattheywillbebeatendownagainto7s。’(27*)
By4thDecembertheTimescorrespondentinWiltshireandHampshirecould
reportthatquietwasrestored，thatthepeasantrywerecowed，andthatmen
whohadbeenprominentinthemobswerebeingpickedoutandarrestedevery
day。Hegaveanamusingaccountofthetrialsofaspecialcorrespondent，
andofthedifficultiesofobtaininginformation。’ThecircularofLordMelbourne
whichencouragesthemagistratestoseizesuspectedpersons，andpromises
themimpunityifthemotivesaregood(suchistheconstructionofthecircular
intheseparts)，andwhichthemagistratesaredeterminedtoactupon，renders
inquiriesunsafe，andIhavereceivedafewgoodnaturedhintsonthishead。
Gentlemeningigsandpostchaisesarepeculiarobjectsofjealousy。Acigar，
whichisnoslightcomfortinthishumidatmosphere，isregardedontheroad
asaspeciesofpyrotechnicaltube；andevenaneyeglassisindangerof
beingmetamorphosedintoanewlyinventedairgun，withwhichthesegentlemen
ignitestacksandbarnsastheypass。Aninnocentenquiryofwhosehouse
orfarmisthat？is，underexistingcircumstances，anovertactofincendiarism。’
Insuchastateoffeeling，itwasnotsurprisingthatlabourerswere
bundledintoprisonforsourlooksordiscontentedconversation。Azealous
magistratewrotetotheHomeOfficeon13thDecemberafterafirenearMaidenhead，
tosaythathehadcommittedacertainGreenawaytoprisononthefollowing
evidence：’Dr。Vansittart，RectorofShottesbrook，gaveasermonashort
timebeforethefiretookplace，recommendingaquietconducttohisParishioners。
Greenawaysaidopenlyinthechurchyard，wehavebeenquiettoolong。His
temperisbad，alwaysdiscontentedandchurlish，frequentlychanginghis
Masterfromfindinggreatdifficultyinmaintainingalargefamilyfromthe
Wagesoflabour。’
MeanwhiletherisinghadspreadwestwardtoDorsetandGloucestershire，
andnorthwardtoBucks。InDorsetshireandGloucestershire，thedisturbances
weremuchlikethoseinWiltshire。InBucks，inadditiontotheusualagricultural
rising，withthebreakingofthreshingmachinesandthedemandforhigher
wages，therewereriotsinHighWycombe，andconsiderabledestructionof
paper-makingmachinerybytheunemployed。Wherespecialgrievancesexisted
inavillage，thelabourerstookadvantageoftherisingtoseekredress
forthem。ThusatWaldeninBucks，inadditiontodemanding2s。adaywages
with6d。foreachchildandareductionoftithes，theymadeaspecialpoint
oftheimproperdistributionofparishgifts。’Anotherpersonsaidthatbuns
usedtobethrownfromthechurchsteepleandbeergivenawayinthechurchyard，
andasermonpreachedonthebunday。Witness(theparson)toldthemthat
thecustomhadceasedbeforehecametotheparish，butthathealwayspreached
asermononSt。George’sday，andtwoonSundays，oneofwhichwasavolunteer。
HetoldthemthathehadconsultedtheArchdeaconontheclaimsetupfor
thedistributionofbuns，andthattheArchdeaconwasofopinionthatno
suchclaimcouldbemaintained。’
AtBensonorBensington，inOxfordshire，thelabourers，afterdestroying
somethreshingmachines，madeademonstrationagainstaproposalforenclosure。
Mr。Newton，alargeproprietor，hadjustmadeoneofmanyunsuccessfulattempts
toobtainanEnclosureActfortheparish。Somethousandpersonsassembled
inthechurchyardexpectingthatMr。Newtonwouldtrytofixthenoticeon
thechurchdoor，butashedidnotventuretoappear，theyproceededtohis
house，andmadehimpromiseneveragaintoattempttoobtainanEnclosure
Themovementforobtaininghigherwagesbythisrudecollectivebargaining
wasextinguishedinthecountiesalreadymentionedbythebeginningofDecember，
butdisturbancesnowdevelopedoveralargerarea。A’daringriot’tookplace
atStotfoldinBedfordshire。Thelabourersmettogethertodemandexemption
fromtaxes，dismissaloftheassistantoverseer，andtheraisingofwages
to2s。aday。Thelastdemandwasrefused，onwhichthelabourerssetsome
strawalightinafieldtoalarmthefarmers。Mr。Whitbread，J。P。，brought
ahundredspecialconstables，andarrestedtenringleaders，afterwhichthe
riotceased。ThereweredisturbancesinNorfolk，Suffolk，andEssex；and
inmanyothercountiesthepropertiedclasseswereterrifiedfromtimeto
timebythenewsoffires。InCambridgeshirethereweremeetingsoflabourers
todemandhigherwages，insomeplaceswithimmediatesuccess，andonemagistrate
