[INTRODUCTION.*]

[THE object of this publication is, to afford authentic information on a subject which has been greatly, and it is to be feared purposely, misrepresented; namely, the real state of the manufacturing districts of the North of England, in regard to the disturbances which have lately prevailed there. With the view of correcting the misconceptions which have existed on this subject, it appeared that nothing could be so unexceptionable and so satisfactory, as an authentic report of what was proved upon oath before the learned judges, who, under the authority of a Special Commission, lately sat at York, for the trial of the crimes committed in the West Riding of that county; and, in a great measure, by witnesses who were more or less implicated in the outrages which were perpetrated.

At the same time it seemed desirable to record the valuable legal doctrines pronounced by the learned judges who presided at the trials, and which therefore have been preserved entire; although some of them convey more instruction to the lawyer than to the general reader. It may not be amiss here to observe, that as both the judges rehearsed the whole of the evidence in summing up the cases to the jury, it appeared to be unnecessary to swell the volume by giving it also in the form of question and answer. Although it is conceived that the very clear statements, by which the several cases were developed to the jury, will sufficiently explain to the reader the state of the immediate neighbourhood in which the unhappy scenes were acted, yet it may neither be useless nor uninteresting to give a concise account of the circumstances and causes which led to a crisis, such as has seldom been exhibited, and never can be long suffered to subsist in a civilized country; a crisis little short of open rebellion.

From the original report of these proceedings, printed at the time, under the authority of government, but not sold.

In the spring of the year 1811, disputes arose between the masters and journeymen employed in the trade of weaving stockings and lace, which is carried on in the south-western part of Nottinghamshire, and the adjacent parts of Derbyshire and Leicestershire; and without entering into the particulars of those disputes, which would be beside the present design, suffice it to state, that in the month of November 1811, the discontents had arisen to such a height, that a mob, consisting of several hundred persons, assembled at Sutton in Ashfield in open day, and broke the stocking and lace frames of various obnoxious manufacturers. Before this mob was separated, some of the ringleaders were taken into custody by a party of yeomanry cavalry, and were afterwards committed by the magistrates to Nottingham gaol. From this disaster the malcontents learnt caution; and as the frames used in this manufacture are of a very delicate texture, and rendered useless by a single blow from a heavy instrument, they seldom, from this time, carried on the work of destruction openly, or in large bodies, but watched the opportunity o feffecting their purpose individually, or, in small parties, undercover of the night, and in spots where the machinery was least protected. This purpose was aided by the circumstances in which the manufacture is carried on in the vicinity of Nottingham. The frames, which are of considerable value, commonly belong, not to the persons by whom they are worked, but either to the master manufacturers, or to individuals unconnected with the trade, who let them to the artisans at a weekly rent; and thus the frames are scattered in detached houses about the country, and are usually in the custody of persons who have no interest in protecting them from violence.

In the neighbourhood of Nottingham, which was the focus of turbulence, the malcontents organized themselves into regular bodies, and held nocturnal meetings, at which their future plans were arranged. And, probably with the view of inspiring their adherents with confidence, they gave out, that they were under the command of

one leader, whom they designated by the fictitious name of Ned Ludd, or general Ludd, calling themselves Ludds, Ludders, or Luddites. There is no reason to believe that there was, in truth, any one leader. In each district where the disaffection prevailed, the most aspiring man assumed the local superiority, and became the general Ludd of his own district. These petty tyrants, doubtless, took their tone from the centre of the operations, but not (so far as has been traced) from any individual. Under this system the Luddites, in the winter months, destroyed a very considerable number of stocking and lace frames, and infused such a terror into the owners of all, as to drive them to the precaution of removing them from the villages and lone houses, and placing them for security in warehouses, where they could be protected from injury., The evils, which the misguided journeymen proposed to remedy by their measures, were, of necessity, much aggravated by throwing a greater number of hands out of work. Although detection was difficult, from the mode in which the offences were committed, yet it did in some instances take place; and in the calendar of prisoners for trial at the Nottingham Spring Assizes, there were 18 committed for offences connected with the existing disturbances in that county.

As the intimidation of the master manufacturers and owners of frames was found to render them extremely averse to prosecution, and it was therefore little likely that any prosecution would in their hands be carried on with effect, it was deemed, by the government, to be absolutely necessary for the public good, that the course of justice should be opened, by taking the indictments out of the hands of the nominal prosecutors. And accordingly :: the whole of the causes were conducted

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by the counsel for the crown. It must be admitted that great lenity was shown in these prosecutions. None of the prisoners were capitally convicted; and in many of the cases, where they were found guilty of felonies within the benefit of clergy, the punishment awarded fell far short of that which the law would have authorized. How far this lenity was misplaced, will be seen in the sequel.

Whether the Luddites were encouraged by the mildness of the punishments which > their confederates received at Nottingham, or by doctrines which were broached about the same period, casting doubts on the moral guilt of destroying machinery, or from any other causes; certain it is, that immediately after the Nottingham Assizes in March 1812, a spirit of discontent, which had for some weeks been brooding in other manufacturing districts of the North of England, was ripened into VOL. XXXI.

acts of open outrage; and we find that the south-western part of Yorkshire, and the contiguous parts of Lancashire, and Cheshire, in which the principal manufactories of woollen and cotton are established, immediately caught the flame of Luddism. Not only did the disaffected assume the appellation of the same supposed leader, but they followed the example of their Nottinghamshire brethren, in holding nocturnal meetings, dividing themselves into societies which communicated with each other by delegates, exacting a tribute from all manufacturers in the same trade within their district, requiring obedience from their adherents in any scheme which should be resolved upon by their self-constituted rulers, and, above all, ensuring that obedience by the administration of an oath, binding the party sworn to keep secret their designs, and to punish even with death any one who should betray their counsels. After securing, as they vainly imagined, a considerable number of partizans, by means of these illegal oaths, they proceeded to the execution of those purposes which they had primarily in view, namely, the destruction of the improved machinery, which is vitally necessary to the woollen and cotton manufactures, but which these deluded men, in their folly, imagined to be prejudicial to their interests. This idea is proved to have been carried from Nottinghamshire into Yorkshire. But in the latter county, and in Lancashire, the principle was acted upon to a greater degree, and with much greater boldness, than it had been among the stocking manufacturers. Two greater outrages never were witnessed in a civilized country, than the attack made on the 11th of April upon the mill of Mr. Cartwright (which is the subject of one of the succeeding trials), and the burning of Messrs. Wroe and Duncuft's manufactory at West Houghton in Lancashire, on the 24th of the same month, for which several culprits were executed at Lancaster. Yet the spirit of outrage did not stop here: for the Luddites at length did not scruple to avow, that the breaking of the machinery was of no use, while the masters of that machinery were alive; and from thence they persuaded themselves that they should render a service to the public by the destruction of those masters, of whom several were personally attacked, and in one instance (which will be detailed hereafter) with fatal success.

About the same period the high price of provisions caused some riots in the markets at Sheffield, Manchester, Macclesfield, and a few other places, where the venders of provisions were either plundered of them, or compelled to sell their articles far below the market price. 3 Q

upon representations from thence, it was determined to send down, without delay, commissions into each of those counties, for the trial of such prisoners. Those commissions were accordingly issued, and were opened at Lancaster on the 23rd, and at Chester on the 25th of May. Under each of those commissions numerous convictions took place for every gradation of offence and of the capital convicts, eight at Lancaster, and two at Chester, suffered the penalty of the law.

In Yorkshire, the course of justice was slower; and although the tide of Luddism appears to have been checked by the executions in Lancashire and Cheshire, and by the acts passed by parliament relative to this subject, yet no very important discovery of the perpetrators of the more atrocious crimes committed in the county of York, was made earlier than the month of July. In that month some commitments took place, and information was obtained, which gradually led to the detection of the parties to the nefarious scenes recorded in the following pages. And it is but justice to say, that these discoveries have been in a great measure owing to the unremitting zeal and persevering courage of one magistrate residing in the very hotbed of disaffection, near the town of Iluddersfield.

Early in the present winter, the gaol of York having become thronged with prisoners, and some of them committed for very heinous offences, it was resolved by government to issue commissions for bringing them to an immediate trial; and those commissions having been directed to Mr. Baron Thompson and Mr. Justice Le Blanc, they appointed the 2nd of January for opening them at the Castle of York.

The cases which will be detailed in the following pages, will exhibit a melancholy portrait of the depravity of human nature. We see young men, capable of gaining an ample livelihood by honest industry, led to the commission of the most heinous crimes, without any adequate, it may almost be said, without any, motive. They fancy themselves aggrieved by the improvement of machinery. They take redress into their own hands. To secure their object, they form societies, linked together by illegal oaths of secrecy. They thus fancy that they have secured to themselves impunity, and they proceed to the perpetration of the most horrible outrages on the property and persons of individuals, against whom

52 Geo. 3rd c. 17, 104, 130, 162.

they are actuated by no personal malice; and do not even stop short of shedding the innocent blood of men who have given no other cause of offence, than by firmly pursuing their lawful callings, not only in a harmless manner, but in that best calculated to promote the interests of the community.

We see, in several instances, that the disaffected had experienced such success as to make them speculate on oversetting even the government of the kingdom; and it is to be feared, that the embers of revolutionary principles, which had been smouldering for several years, were revived in the country where these scenes were acted, by the fancied grievance of improved machinery, and the temporary success which its destroyers met with in the vicinity of Nottingham. Encouragement was given by the doubts cast on the moral turpitude of these crimes; and the evil was raised to its height by the religious fanaticism which unhappily exists in an excessive degree in those populous districts.

The supposed grievance of which these deluded men complain, arising from the improvement of machinery, has been denominated a fancied grievance. It would be wasting time to argue upon the undoubted right of every subject of this kingdom to conduct his trade in such manner as he may deem most conducive to his own interests, unless where the wisdom of parliament has controlled him by regulations. But the events of the last year prove that it may not be altogether superfluous to show how it is, that the improvement of machinery is beneficial, instead of being detrimental, to the interest of the labouring manufacturer, as well as to the community at large. It is obvious, that the demand for any commodity increases with its cheapness, and that the purchaser will resort to the market at which it is sold at the lowest rate; and, therefore, that every thing which contri butes to the cheapness increases the demand, and gives an advantage to the market, where such cheapness exists, over all other markets, where from local causes, the commodity cannot be sold at so low a price. Where the demand increases the number of hands employed will increase also. But nothing has been ever found to contribute so much to the cheapness of a manufactured article as the use of machinery, which enables the same work to be done, not only in less time and with fewer hands, but by persons of earlier age and of less robust constitutions, than can render themselves useful while all the operations are to be performed by bodily strength. Hence all the members of a family are now enabled to contribute towards its support, instead of relying (as

formerly was the case) altogether upon the exertions of the husband and father, who still has many parts of the manufacture to which he may apply his vigour, and earn ample wages. What then would be the consequence, if the endeavours of the disaffected could succeed in the expulsion of machinery? The wife and the young children would be thrown out of employ: the husband and the father must support them entirely by his own labour; the price of the manufactured goods would be raised, the purchaser would resort to a cheaper market, where the use of machinery was encouraged; the trade would decay; the manufacturer would gradually discard his journeymen or reduce their wages; while their families would become more and more burthensome; and finally, nothing but poverty and misery would prevail. A notion has been entertained by some, that the disturbances have been in a great degree ascribable to poverty and distress, arising from the want of foreign markets for our manufactures. It has been already stated, that at a few towns, in the spring of the last year, there were some riots arising from the high price of provisions; but in the neighbourhood of Huddersfield, which was the metropolis of discontent, not the least symptom is to be discovered of Luddism having arisen from these causes. On the contrary, many of the prisoners tried at York rested their defence on stories which depended for their credibility on the fact, that work was superabundant.]

PROCEEDINGS at the Session of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol Delivery, for the County of York, held at the Castle of York, in January 1813.

ON Saturday, January the 2nd, the honourable Mr. Baron Thompson [afterwards Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer], and the honourable Mr. Justice Le Blanc, opened the

Commission.

Monday, 4th January 1813.

After the usual forms, the grand jury panel was called over; and the following gentlemen

were sworn:

The Hon. Henry Lascelles [afterwards second
Earl of Harewood], foreman;
The Hon. William Gordon,

Sir Bellingham Reginald Graham, baronet,
Sir Henry Carr Ibbetson, baronet,
Sir Mark Masterman Sykes, baronet,
Sir John Lister Kaye, baronet,

Robert Frankland, esq.
John Robinson Foulis, esq.

James Archibald Stuart Wortley, esq.
Thomas Davison Bland, esq.
Joseph Radcliffe, esq.
Thomas Norcliffe, osq.

John Bell, esq.
Ralph Creyke, esq.
Hall Plumer, esq.
Thomas Duncombe, esq.
John York, esq.
Richard Bethell, esq.
Richard Stainforth, esq.
Robert Harvey, esq.
John Wilmer Field, esq.
Henry Willoughby, esq., and
Richard York, esq.

Mr. Baron Thompson, then delivered the following charge :

Gentlemen of the grand Inquest; - We are assembled, by virtue of his majesty's commission, to exercise the criminal judicature in this county, at this unusual season of the year for the occurrence of such solemnities. None of us, however, can be insensible of the necessity which exists for a speedy investigation of the charges against the very numerous class of prisoners in your calendar. You will perceive I allude to those persons, whe are accused of having participated (and several of them in repeated instances) in those daring acts of tumultuous outrage, violence, and rapine, by which the public tranquillity has been disturbed throughout the great manufacturing district in the West Riding of this county, for a period comprising, with little intermission, almost the whole of the year which has just elapsed.

Those mischievous associations, dangerous to the public peace, as well as destructive of the property of individual subjects, and in some instances of their lives seem to have originated in a neighbouring county, and at first to have had for their object merely the destruction of machinery invented for the purpose of saving manual labour in manufactures: a notion, probably suggested by evil designing persons, to captivate the working manufacturer, and engage him in tumult and crimes, by persuading him that the use of for personal labour, and a consequent decrease machinery occasions a decrease of the demand of wages, or total want of work. A more fallacious and unfounded argument cannot be made use of. It is to the excellence of our machinery that the existence probably, certainly the excellence and flourishing state of our manufactures are owing. Whatever diminishes expense increases consumption, and the demand for the article both in the home and foreign market; and were the use of machinery entirely to be abolished, the cessation of the manufacture itself would soon follow, inasmuch as other countries, to which the machinery would be banished, would be enabled to undersell us.

The spirit of insubordination and tumult, thus originating, has spread itself into other manufacturing districts; and when large bodies of men are once assembled to act against law, the transition unhappily is too easy from one irregular act to another, even to

the highest of crimes against society. And thus we find that the destruction of tools has been succeeded by destroying the houses and the workshops of the manufacturers; it has led to the violent robbery of arms, to protect the tumultuous in their illegal practices, and to enable them to resist or to attack successfully; and from the robbery of arms they have proceeded to the general plunder of property of every description, and even to the murder, the deliberate assassination, of such as were supposed to be hostile to their measures. A temporary impunity (for the law, though sure, is slow) has led on these deluded persons from one atrocious act to another; from the breaking of shears to the stealing of arms, to nightly robberies, to the destruction of property, and of life itself.

The peaceful and industrious inhabitants of the country where these enormous practices have been committed, have had the misfortune to suffer in their persons and property from the acts of men confederated against society, and executing the purposes of their association under circumstances carrying with them the utmost terror and dismay. Armed bodies of these men, in some instances several hundred in number, apparently organised under the command of leaders, and generally with their faces blacked or otherwise disguised, have attacked the mills, shops, and houses of manufacturers and others, by day as well as by night, destroyed tools worked by machinery, and in some instances shot at the persons whose property they have thus attacked. But the worst of these misdeeds is yet behind, a most foul assassination. While such outrages as those mentioned were carrying on in that part of the country, a person in a respectable station of life, returning from Huddersfield to his residence at Marsden, was fired at and shot from behind the wall of an inclosure near the road, receiving several wounds, of which he died shortly after. With this murder some of the prisoners in the calendar stand charged; and it will be your province to inquire into the foundation of that, as well as every other charge to be preferred before you against any of the prisoners, and to treat them as the evidence before you, in your judgment, shall require.

Probably it may be thought requisite, in order to substantiate the charges against the persons accused of being concerned in this murder, or other offences that may come before you, that the testimony of an accomplice should be produced; which is necessary, in many cases, in order to prevent the worst offences from escaping punishment. You will, however, attend to it with caution, taking into consideration all such circumstances as may be laid before you, tending to confirm his evidence, and to satisfy you, that in his narrative of the transaction, in which he would involve others with equal guilt with himself, he is worthy of credit. Such testimony (that is, of an accomplice) is undoubtedly competent,

and it is at all times to be received and acted upon, though with a sober degree of jealousy and caution; and with such caution, you, gentlemen, in the first instance, and more especially those who shall be charged with the determination of these important issues in their final resort, will consider them.

With regard to the guilt, which persons may incur by engaging in any riotous assembly, the statute of 1 Geo. I. commonly called the Riot act, has enacted, that if any persons, to the number of twelve or more, who shall be unlawfully, riotously, and tumultuously assembled together to the disturbance of the public peace, shall not disperse, but continue in that state for the space of an hour after such proclamation made as is directed in the act, they shall be guilty of felony without benefit of clergy. And by the same statute, if any persons, so unlawfully, riotously, and tumultuously assembled together, to the disturbance of the public peace, shall unlawfully and with force demolish or pull down any dwellinghouse or other buildings therein mentioned, they shall also be guilty of felony without benefit of clergy.

So also by the statute of 9 George III. it is made a capital felony, for persons, being riotously and tumultuously assembled, to pull down or demolish, or to begin to pull down or demolish any wind saw-mill or other windmill, or any watermill or other mill, or to set fire to the same. In addition to which, the act of 43 Geo. III. cap. 58, has provided against the maliciously setting fire (among other things) to any mill, warehouse or shop, with intent to injure or defraud any of the king's subjects, by subjecting the offenders, their counsellors, aiders and abettors, to a capital punishment.

I do not know whether the offences, of which any of the prisoners are accused, were committed under such circumstances as will bring them within any of the acts I have stated, so. that indictments may be framed upon them; but it seemed not unnecessary to state these statutes, in order to call your attention to them, in case any such indictment should be preferred.

But there is one statute, which appears to apply to the charges against the greater number of the prisoners: those who are accused of having destroyed shears employed in the woollen manufacture. By the statute of 22 Geo. III. cap. 40, if any person shall by day or night break into any house or shop, or enter by force into any house or shop, with intent to cut or destroy any serge or other woollen goods in the loom, or any tools employed in making thereof, or shall wilfully and maliciously cut or destroy any such serges or woollen goods in the loom or on the rack, or shall wilfully or maliciously break or destroy any tools used in the making any such serges or other woollen goods; every such offender shall be guilty of felony without benefit of clergy.

Several of the charges in the calendar, will