Columbia BniUeroJil;? mtljf(!rttj)of;HftoP0rk LI B RARY mn"’ THE SELIGMAN LIBRARY OF ECONOMICS PURCHASED BY THE UNIVERSITY n=\o £ 3 \i 1 1 1*3 > THE FIDDLE OF CORRUPTION PLAYING THE TUNE OF MISERr TO THE POOR: O K ANINQUIRY I N T O T H E PRESENT HIGH PRICE OF CORN, AFTER SUCH A PLENTIFUL AND FINE HARVESTj AND OTHER GRIEVANCES. In a letter addressed to the FREE BURGESSES of BOSTON in LINCOLNSHIRE, Nero Fiddled while Rome was burning. LONDON: Prikted in the Year M.DCC.XC. £ Price S I X P E N C e! ] ~ V ' To the worthy, free, and independent EleSiors of the Borough of Boston, in the County of Lincoln. Gentlemen, N othing but the grofs and unprovoked infult offered to my friend. General Richard Smith, and the violence attempted on feme of his friends on Monday Evening the iith Inftant, could have forced me to take up my pen againft any of the gentlemen of your Corporation, or any one who may be a candidate for your fa¬ vors. 1 have for near thirty years been in habits of friendfhip with many of the Eledors of that refpedable Borough, and with men of different parties. And though feveral oppofitions for members, to ferve in Parliament have happened in my memory, yet they have been carried on with great temper, and in general with great civi¬ lity, by the contending, parties. But the out¬ rageous manner in which one of the leaders of Mr. ******’s party behaved, affifled by his menial fervants, and fuch perfons as they could colled together, and the infamous hand bill circulated previous to that tranfadion, is almoft fufficient to induce every fober thinking man to conclude, that they mean to depend on a Club-Law Elec¬ tion. You are then no longer to give your vote? a 2 freely. V t 4 ] freely, as your inclinations lead, but you are to have them extorted from you by the hand of violence. You are no longer to be freemen, but the moft abjed; flaves. You muft either bow your necks to the iron yoke of Corruption, or be cudgelled like fo many Negroes, and that too by the fervants and hirelings of the very man whofe efpecial duty it was to ufe all means in his power to preferve peace and good order amongft you. If your right of voting for members to ferve in parliament, is to depend on the Ikill of men ex- ercifing clubs and ftaves, your freedom on fome future day may be in danger. On the prefent oeca- Jion I iruji the enemies ^to a civil and free Elediion ivill not win by playing that game ; we fhall be fully pre^ pared to ad on the defenfive, and the firft ag- grelTor is made anfwerable for all the confequen- ces which may follow. It muft appear very extraordinary that in the morning a flaming hand bill was circulated, re- quefting the freemen to unite with all the /pint of Englijhmen, and nobly fupport ihetr freedom. Now, gentlemen, you fee the bell-weathers of that Cor¬ ruption which hath fo long reigned in Boftoh, and whofe mafters have for a long time paft made a property of your votes, bawling out for free¬ dom and liberty in the morning, and in the even¬ ing endeavouring to cut up all freedom and liberty by the root. The tools to that monftrous Cor¬ ruption which has fo long borne down all before it, raifed the moft hideous yells and cries againft fuch as had purchafed their freedom, voting at Eledions for members to ferve in Parliament: and fay if they are permitted to vote, it will ruin all the fervitude freedoms. It is natural for a drowning f 5 ] drowning man to catch at a ftraw; but that fuch language fhould be held by men who pretend to be fupporting the rights and liberties of the peo^ pie, appears at jirji view a little extraordinary. Now, gentlemen, if it Ihould turn out that the Corporation have fold thefe freedoms exadly on the fame terms-as thofe gained by fervitude / and granted them the fame titles which are granted to the others ; if they have obliged them to take the fame oaths to preferve the liberties and fran- chifes of the Borough j if they have at different times fingled out fuch perfons from among the purchafed freedoms, as they thought would be docile, and fuit their purpofe, to be members of their Corporation, and have afterwards brought them forward to vote at Eleclions, it is believed that the law will proted; the others in the fame rights and privileges ; for the flipping on a black gown can make no difference in the right of free¬ dom. If the purchafed freedoms give a right by law to vote, what man is there among: Mr. ****"^*’8 friends that would be fo bafe as to rob them of that right ? If they have not that right, it cannot he given to them. Do not the laws proted: Mr. ****** in his houfes, lands, and property ? And would not the villain who is bafe enough to attempt to rob his neighbour of his freedom which is fecured to him by law, as foon roh a man of his property, if the fear of his neck did not prevent him ? If the Corporation have fold fuch privileges, and the law entitles the purchafers to their bargains, and that is likely to injure the freedoms by fervitude, it is the Corporation who have done the injury, and not thofe who muff naturally conclude they have a right to what they have bought, and paid a valuable confideration ^ 3 for. [ 6 ] for. If any of the True Blues fhould defert their colours, becaufe their neighbours are likely to get their lawful right, it will be pretty evident that they only wanted an excufe for turning their coats. The gentlemen who have purchafed their free¬ dom, are refpeiftable Tradefmen; they refide m the town; they pay the poor rates, and all otl^r taxes and duties, in common with the freemen by Servitude, and contribute as much to make trade and commerce flourifli as the others. But be¬ caufe they are independent meny and above being purchafed as flaves to aid and affift in the aborm- nable, fcenes of corruption pradifed by the lead¬ ing men in the Borough, they are to be robbed of their freedom; and if this robbery cannot be cffeded by fraud and impofition, it is to be lo by Club Law. It might reafpnably be expeded that a loud cry would be raifed againft admitting fuch a re- fpedable body of freemen to vote, who are totally independent, and above the reach of bribery and corruption. It would overfet the Boroi^ mongers, and they could never more expert to make a property of the freemen, by Jelling Jeats in parliament to fuch as would purchafe them. —When you goad the ox in a tender part, he will bellow out; and when you once l^gin an enquiry into the rights of the freemen in a cor¬ rupt Corporation, it is touching the very vitals of corruption. There is no faying where fuch an enquiry may end. It may lead to help the poor men to what they may be lawfully entitled [ 7 ] to, as was the cafe fome years fince at Newark*, and may entirely break the magic fpells of a few jugglers who have raifed fortunes by the arts made ufe of to gull the poor freemen. One enquiry as naturally leads to another, as a father begets a fon; and it was therefore natural that fuch as were confcious of their own guilt, fhould endeavour to alarm the freemen, and make them believe that their liberty and rights were in dan¬ ger. But I truft the good fenfe of the eledors Avill fee through their fchemes, and be convinced that their rights will not be taken away by their neighbours obtaining theirs. Nor can I conceive it will injure any independent freeman, by his neighbour being made as free as himfelf: but if it was even otherwife, fo long as the laws protect thofe men in their freedom, fuch laws ought to be peaceably fubmitted to. If felling freedoms be likely to prove prejudicial to thofe obtained by fervitude, let the Corporation fell them for the future on different conditions. Let them exprefs in the agreement that they fhall not have a right to vote for members to ferve in Parliament. Or if it is thought more proper, let them raife the price equal to the value of fuch a privilege. But for God’s fake, do not attempt to rob one man of the freedom which he is already entitled to. If Club Law is to deprive fuch a refpedable body of tradefmen of their right of voting, why may not the fame law deprive every freeman of that right, except the Corporate Body, and leave the whole power in their hands ? But alas ! the flaves of Corruption have fold their own free¬ dom, and are now, like all other flaves, ready ^ See pr. Wilfon's proceedings at Newark. a 4 to [ ,8 ] to join in any fcheme to make flaves of their fellow-fubjedls. I lhall now beg leave to alk the freemen a few queftions, and then leave it to their own judgment where their choice ought to fall. Has not one of the candidates for your favors been at work ever fince the laft Eledion, fapping the very foundation ©f all freedom ? Has not he ever fince his laft defeat been fpreading drunken- nefs and diflipation among the lower clafs of free¬ men ; to induce them to neglecft their work, ftarve their families, get into the tradefmen’s debt, and by thefe means increafe their wants ? Has not he then fifty taken the advantage of their poverty which he himfelf has been the author of, and giv¬ en or lent them money in order to get a mortgage on their votes at the next Eledlion ? Are there forty freemen to be found, whom he has not tak¬ en fuch advantage of, that will freely come for¬ ward and give him a vote ? Are there any gen¬ tlemen in the body who will ferve a man guilty of fuch bafe prad:ices except they are to be fharers in the loaves and fifties ? Have not he and his pre- deceflbrs pradifed the fame fcenes of corruption for many years back ? Is not it notorioufly known that a few leading men have long made a property of the Borough, by firft increafing the poverty of the Eleftors, and then giving or lending them money under pretence of relieving their neceflities, by which they fecure their votes, and then fell the Borough to the beft bidder?. Can the freemen then wonder that fuch a loud ^ cry has been raifed againft fuch a refpecftable body of tradefmen as thole who have purchafed theii* freedom. C 9 J freedom, in order to prevent their voting ? Can¬ not you fee, gentlemen, that this is ftriking at the very root of Corruption: and preventing thofe Borough-mongers from felling you in future? Have not the afles long borne the burthen, vrhile their drivers in the room of doing real good to their families, ufed every art to increafe their po¬ verty to make them docile ? Among the various fchemes to ftarve the poor, was there ever one hit upon fo deftrudive and ruinous as the engroffing the corn and flour, and fratiggling it off to France ? This projed while it Itarved the wives and children at home, increafed the wants and ne- ceflities of the freemen, and made them more ea¬ gerly hawk their votes for a few guineas to relieve their prefent neceflities, while French gold pour¬ ed in for our corn and flour, filled the pockets of Corruption. It is confidently aflerted, that fix counties have been cleared of the furplus corn and flour by the agents of one member o,f your Cor¬ poration. If that is true, let the freemen enquire who that is. Let them examine the oaths taken at the cuftom houfe in order to evade the laws made againfl: the exportation of corn and flour: let them fully inform themfelves what the average price of corn was in all the neighbouring market towns at the time thofe oaths were taken. Let; the cries of the ftarving poor in thofe extenfive counties rouze the freemen from a ftate of intoxi¬ cation, and confider the miferies which have been occafioned by this fecond Atkinfon of Mark Lane memory. The kingdom calls aloud for juftice on the guilty heads of fuch as have broke down all our laws to feed our natural enemies, and fpread mifery and famine arnongft their neighbours and countrymen. Oh gold ! thou curfe of freedom, thou [ lO ] thou bane of liberty! what is it that men who co¬ vet thee will not do ? They will rob their friends and feed their enemies, to lay up ftore of that cor¬ rupting metal. Go to Lynn, Wilbeach, Peterborough, Spald¬ ing, Sleaford, Lincoln, Lowth, Alford, Horn- callle, Spillby, and all the neighbouring market towns, and hear the cries of the widows, orphans, and poor in general, and if thefe joined to the miferies of your own wives and children are not fufficient to rouze the freemen to a fenfe of their duty at this important crifis, they muft be loft to all fenfe of humanity and feeling. Would not it be more for the honour of fuch a refpedlable Corporation as Bofton to petition for a parliamentary inquiry concerning the prefent high price of corn and flour, after fuch aplentiful harveft, and into the nature of the oaths and frauds prac- tifed in the out ports to evade thofe falutary laws made againft the'exportation of thofe neceflary ar¬ ticles of life, than to print hand bills to infult any gentleman who may offer himfelf a candidate for your favors ? To contraft General Smith’s charader againft theleaderof the Corporation, Corruption, would be highly degrading to the honour of fuch fupcri- or worth : I fhall therefore only fay for my friend, that when he nobly ftood forward and was ap¬ pointed chairman of the fecret committee for bringing thofe monftrous Eaft India criminals to juftice, it is evident that if there had been a Angle blot to have been found in his charader, thofe very [ ‘‘ ] very criminals or their coadjutors would have been fure to blazon it. It is well known that the fmuggling of the corn to France is not the only grievance ex¬ plained of in the neighbourhood of Bold on. The engroffing a.11 the lands and farms which could be come at for many miles round, has done infinite mifehief. It has had a direft tendency to raife all the fai'ms in the adjoihing towns, has deprived the market of that abundance of poultry, eggs, butter, cheefe, pork, and other neceflaries of life which had been conftantly brought to it, and which were ever railed and broughr there for lale by the little, and not by the great overgtown far¬ mers. Enquire the prices of thofe neceffanes be¬ fore Corruption turned grazier, and you will fed they are now nearly double. Befides, the occupiers of thofe farms ufed to be in want of Ihoes, coats, o-owns, and all kinds of wearing apparel, and while they fed the mechanic and tradefman on one hand, promoted his bufinefs on the other. But alas ! thefe fources of riches are now no more, the houfes are defolate or knocked down, field laid to field, and farm to farm, to enable one man to put up for member of Parliament. The next grievance is the letting the Corpora¬ tion efiates bv auction; this has been the princi¬ pal caufe of'all the landlords, for many miles round, raifing their efiates till the tenants can fcarce get a living on them. Few landlords who have efiates in thofe levels, but have heard of the enormbus price which the Corporation let their lands for, and mofi of them have made a handle of it. As to a butcher, a baker, or a freeman of any [ 12 j any bufinefs whatever, attempting to get a piece of the Corporation land at a fair valuation, as they ufed formerly to do, it is now almofl: impoffible: yet if a freeman will adiually give more than any fool or madman in the county, he is at full liber- ty to ruin himfelf and family to feed that corrup- tion which is ready to fwallow up all before it. I fhall now make bold to addrefs a few words to the young rifing men in the Body Corporate, many of whom have hitherto had no hand in thofe mifehiefs. I make no doubt but feveral of you gentlemen can fee the extreme danger of throwing all the weight and influence of the Corporation into the hands of one of your own members, and of courfe rendering all the other members mere puppets or cyphers. Will not all the loaves and fifhes foon be engrolTed by this common engroffer ? can any man expedt to get a place either in the cufloms, excife, under the Corporation, or other- wife, whilft there are fo many fons, brothers, and relations, ready to grafp at every thing? If you once place a mafter over yourfelves, can you tell when you fhall regain your liberty ? Remember, gentle¬ men, it is a hard matter to ftruggle againfl the lead¬ er of a powerful Corporation, when once you rnake him mafter, efpecially when backed by mi- ^uifterial influence. Keep your liberty whilft you have it, and truft no common engroffer with what you ought to keep in your own power. If you vote with that member for a common friend, you can afk a favor from fuch a friend as well as himfelf; but if you once place a mafter over yourfelves. Corruption will trample you under foot as it has done the poor freemen for fo many years back. I am [ 13 ]■ I am now come to a veiy delicate point, where the facred honour of gentlemen is called in queftion. Surely the freemen have not forgot how they were impofed on at the laft Eledlion. Were not hand-bills printed and circulated with the name of a certain gentleman in Quality- Square ; and fome others affixed theteto pledging their facred honours that a Mr. Phipps would come down and ftand the Poll? Did fuch a gen¬ tleman ever come down at all ? Was not the honor and promifes of thofe gentlemen forfeited, and the poor freemen whom they had thus deceived, all turned adrift like beads to find for themfelves, without a dinner or a pint of ale ? When a man has once pledged his facred honor, and deceived his friends by fo doing, can any man believe a word he fays afterwards, efpecially when done in fo public a manner? Is not this gentleman as likely to deceive his friends now as he did before? Are the promifes which have been artfully ob¬ tained from men when in a date of intoxication to be held more facred than the honor of this gentleman ? Surely the freemen who have been fwindled out of fuch promifes, have more good fenfe than to think them binding in all cafes which could poffibly occur ? Suppofe for indance the noted Mr, Atkinfon of Mark-Lane memory had come dowm and deceived the freemen, by tel¬ ling them that he was of a different family, and did not know where Mark-Lane w'as, and by fuch deceptions obtain many promifes from them to vote in his favour at the next Eleclion; and they ffiould afterwards find they w'ere impofed on, would not they think it more honorable to with¬ draw their promifes, than to difgrace themfelves. [ 14 ] the Borough, and their pofterity, by returning fuch a perfon to reprefent them in parliament ? If any of the candidates for your favors fhould be found on enquiry to have been equally guilty of ingroffing the corn and flour, and fmuggling it olF to feed the natural enemies of thefe kingdoms ; and of other bafe praftices, to break down all the falutary laws made againfl: exporting corn and flour; will not every man carefs you for with¬ drawing all your fupport from fuch an unfeeling perfon, who could behold thoufands famifhing for bread, whilft he was filling his pockets at the expence of their mifery ? It is more honourable to break a promife than to keep it, when the fal- vation offo many thoufands of our fuffering fellow fubjeds depends on fo doing. But, gentlemen, let me afk you if the intereft was not pofitively made for Mr. John ; and moft of the promifes given to ferve that gentleman, whom I believe to be a very honeft and upright man? But alas! no fooner was a party made to ferve Mr. John, than themalk of deceit was pul¬ led off, and the promifes all turned over to bro¬ ther Tom ; and fo, gentlemen, you are to be made transferable and fold from one to another like cat¬ tle at a fair ? I fliall now leave this fmuggler of corn, this common engrolfer of farms, houfes, and warehou- fes; this grazier, banker, merchant, and Parlia¬ ment man that would be ; and not trouble my head any more about him, till he or fome of his party ihall again attempt to infult any gentlemen which may have the honor to be introd^wed to you ; and Ihould [ >5 ] fliould they ever be again guilty of fuch a breach of «od manners, lihall think it my duty to let you^hear from me i^ain. Till then 1 am, gentle- men, with the moft profound refpect. Your moft obedient, devoted, and humble Servant, JAMES CREASSY. the end.