1816, 1817.

LETTERS AND REFLECTIONS.

73

He closed the year 1817 with the following reflections in his diary :

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"This year has been chequered with events of deep interest, some joyful, and some dressed in the darkest sable. But how encouraging is it to be able to recognize in all, and especially in the mournful circumstances of the year, the hand of a merciful Providence! This day last year I spent with my beloved brother; together we went to our usual place of worship, to hear our (especially his) beloved minister*, and together we wandered through the future.

'But God has hid from human eyes

The dark decrees of Fate.'

"Soon after my return from Weymouth began the heaviest affliction of my life—the illness, the gradual and perceptible decay, alas! the death, of my dearest brother. No day passes in which something or other does not recall his beloved image, his lively manners, his unity of heart. I trust that few days pass in which I forget to thank God for this dispensation, and to rejoice that he has, as I doubt not he has, for this corruptible put on incorruption.'

"His widow and her three children have been staying with us for some time, much to my comfort, and, I hope, somewhat to hers. I have read and heard of acts of faithful affection; but I never heard, or read, or saw anything to compare with the affection, kindness, attention, and generosity displayed by S. Hoare to her.

"On Saturday last, in consequence of an almost obsolete promise to sleep in town when all the other partners were absent, I slept at Brick Lane. S. Hoare had complained to me that several of our men were employed on the Sunday. To inquire into this, in the morning I went into the brewhouse, and was led to the examination of a vat containing 170 ton-weight of beer. I found it in what I considered a dangerous situation, and I intended to have it repaired the

next morning. I did not anticipate any immediate danger, as it had stood so long. When I got to Wheeler Street Chapel, I did as I usually do in cases of difficulty,-I craved the direction of my heavenly Friend, who will give rest to the burthened, and instruction to the ignorant.

"From that moment I became very uneasy, and instead of proceeding to Hampstead, as I had intended, I returned to Brick Lane. On examination I saw, or thought I saw, a still further declension of the iron pillars which supported this immense weight; so I sent for a surveyor; but before he came, I became apprehensive of immediate danger, and ordered the beer, though in a state of fermentation, to be let out. When he arrived, he gave it as his decided opinion that the vat was actually sinking, that it was not secure for five minutes, and that if we had not emptied it, it would probably have fallen. Its fall would have knocked down our steam-engine, coppers, roof, with two great iron reservoirs full of water, — in fact the whole brewery..

"How the new year may pass, who can tell? I may not see the end of it; but these are the active objects I propose for myself:

To write a pamphlet on Prison Discipline.

To establish a Savings Bank in Spitalfields.

To recommence the sale of salt fish in Spitalfields.

To attend to the London Hospital, and to endeavour to make the clergyman perform his duties, or to get him superseded.

To establish a new Bible Association.

"May the grace of God assist me in these objects; may He sanctify my motives, and guard me from pride, and may I use my utmost exertions, making His will mine."

In February of the ensuing year he published his work entitled "An Inquiry whether Crime be produced or prevented by our present System of Prison Discipline." It was received with a degree of attention to which he had never aspired, running through

1816, 1817. WORK ON PRISON DISCIPLINE.

75

six editions in the course of the first year; and a very considerable impulse was given to general feeling upon the subject of which it treated. The work was thus alluded to in the House of Commons by Sir James Mackintosh.

"The question of our penal code, as relating to prison abuses, has been lately brought home to the feelings of every man in the country by a work so full of profound information, of such great ability, of such chaste and commanding eloquence, as to give that House and the country a firm assurance that its author could not embark in any undertaking which would not reflect equal credit upon himself and upon the object of his labours."

Mr. Wilberforce wrote to him on the same subject, and, after warmly congratulating him on the weight it appeared to carry, he adds,

66

May it please God to continue to animate you with as much benevolent zeal, and to direct it to worthy objects. I hope you will come soon into Parliament, and be able to contend in person, as well as with your pen, for the rights and happiness of the oppressed and the friendless. I claim you as an ally in this blessed league."

The good effects of this book were not confined to England: it was translated into French, and distributed on the Continent. It even reached Turkey; and in India, a gentleman of the name of Blair, having chanced to read it, was induced to examine into the state of the Madras jails. He found them in a wretched condition, and did not rest till a complete reformation had been effected.

ELECTION, 1818.

ON

RIOT.

CHAPTER VI.

1818, 1819.

LETTER FROM MR. J. J. GURNEY. THOUGHTS PARLIAMENT. DEBATE ON THE PETERLO0

ENTERING

WILBERFORCE.-LETTER TO MR. CHARLES BUXTON OF BELLFIELD. FIRST SPEECH, ON CRIMINAL LAW.COMMITTEES ON CRIMINAL LAW AND PRISON DISCIPLINE. LETTERS.

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In the spring of 1818, a dissolution of Parliament took place, and Mr. Buxton now offered himself as a candidate for Weymouth. While upon his canvass, he thus writes from Bellfield :

"I am easy in my mind, leaving the event to Him who knows whether the busy engagements of a public life will draw me nearer to, or separate me further from Him; and who also knows whether He chooses me as an instrument of good; and if He does, He will bring the means used to a successful issue. * * I have passed a very leisure time since I came here. The Bible and Hudibras have been my chief subjects of study."

Elections at this time presented very different scenes from what they now afford; and, very frequently, the voters were anxious to decide the matter, as Irish counsel used to decide their causes, by fighting it out. This was so much the case at Wey

1818, 1819.

ELECTION OF 1818.

77

mouth, that Mr. Buxton was obliged to entreat his friends to use moderation towards their opponents. "Beat them," said he, "in vigour, beat them in the generous exercise of high principle, beat them in disdain of corruption, and the display of pure integrity; but do not beat them with bludgeons."

Four days before the election terminated, he writes:

"June 26. 1818.

"I am very nearly sick of the bustle, and my expectations of success are considerably diminished this morning; but this is only my own opinion. I am exceedingly popular with my party, except as to one point. We (that is the party, for I have had nothing to do with it) have made some most bitter attacks upon Sir for his conduct in Spain. But when I heard from a private friend of his, that he was quite sunk and wretched, I expressed in my speech yesterday the disdain I felt at promoting my cause by slander, and said, that as he had been acquitted by a competent tribunal, he must be considered as innocent. The violence of my party could hardly bear this, and for the first time they gave some indications of disapprobation. I told them plainly that I would do what I considered an act of public justice, though it offended every friend I had in the town."

To Mrs. Buxton.

"June 29. 1818.

"The election is over. I am now going to the Hall to return thanks to my constituents. And so I am a member of Parliament. Well, I have not yet wished to decide the matter myself. My only feeling has been, if it is right, I trust it will take place; and if not, I equally trust it will be prevented. I wish you were here to see me chaired. The town is in an uproar. The bugle horn is at this moment playing, and hundreds of persons are collected on the Espla