Today is February 27 and on this day (some years and then some more!) my mother was delivered of me and some 203 years earlier Lord Byron delivered his maiden speech in the House of Lords and by some account; 'the best speech by a Lord since the "Lord knows when".
"I have traversed the seat of war in the Peninsula; I have been in some of the most oppressed provinces of Turkey; but never, under the most despotic of infidel governments, did I behold such squalid wretchedness as I have seen since my return, in the very heart of a Christian country.
And what are your remedies?
After months of inaction, and months of action worse than inactivity, at length comes forth the grand specific....
Setting aside the palpable injustice and the certain inefficiency of the bill, are there not capital punishments sufficient on your statutes?
Is there not blood enough upon your penal code, that more must be poured forth to ascend to heaven and testify against you?
How will you carry this bill into effect?
Can you commit a whole county to their own prisons?
Will you erect a gibbet in every field, and hang up men like scare-crows?
Or will you proceed (as you must to bring this measure into effect) by decimation; place the county under martial law; depopulate and lay waste all around you, and restore Sherwood Forest as an acceptable gift to the crown in its former condition of a royal chase, and an asylum for outlaws?
Are these the remedies for a starving and desperate populace?"
Thursday February 27 1812
Yes, indeed on this very day our Poet spoke out in "A Rage Against the Machine"....
Not unlike the US group of the same name who sang Killing in the Name of... which became an unlikely Christmas hit song some years ago!
Byron was addressing his fellow Peers and "raging" against the Framebreaking Bill that would introduce the death penalty for anyone found guilty of machine-breaking for Nottingham at that time was in the throes of crisis.
In the infancy of the industrial revolution, manufacturers in the stocking-weaving business exploited the advances in technology to employ greater uses for new machinery, the looms would deliver goods at a faster and cheaper rate to the detriment of the workers.
As the stocking-weavers found themselves surplus to requirements with wages falling and with 50,000 families reduced to starvation; organised gangs of desperate and hungry men began breaking the manufacturers' looms led by the mythical "King Ludd".
Troops were sent to Nottingham to quell the industrial unrest and rebellion and in the light of this revolt by the Luddites, the Tory cabinet proposed the Framebreaker's Bill.
Byron identified with the Luddite cause and claiming to be as penniless as those he supported, he sought the support of Lord Holland as the leader of the Whigs to address the House and to voice his opposition to the introduction of the death penalty.
My Lord, -
My own motive for opposing ye. bill is founded on it's palpable injustice, & it's certain inefficacy... I have seen the state of these miserable men, & it is a disgrace to a civilized country.
Their excesses may be condemned, but cannot be subject of wonder. The effect of ye. present bill would be to drive them into actual rebellion...
My Lord, -
My own motive for opposing ye. bill is founded on it's palpable injustice, & it's certain inefficacy... I have seen the state of these miserable men, & it is a disgrace to a civilized country.
Their excesses may be condemned, but cannot be subject of wonder. The effect of ye. present bill would be to drive them into actual rebellion...
P.S. - I am a little apprehensive that your Lordship will think me too lenient towards these men, & half a framebreaker myself.
Although his speech was well received, Byron was to find that he was not suited to the slow daily business of Parliament, the "Parlimentary mummeries" as he was soon to call them, his temperament too volatile and easily distracted and besides the tale of a certain "Childe Harold" would soon to be unleashed upon London society as he was to write to Francis Hodgson in early March:
....of them I shall mention Sir F. Burdetts. - He says it is the best speech by a Lord since the "Lord knows when" probably from a fellow feeling in ye. sentiments. - ....
....of them I shall mention Sir F. Burdetts. - He says it is the best speech by a Lord since the "Lord knows when" probably from a fellow feeling in ye. sentiments. - ....
And so much for vanity. - - I spoke very violent sentences with a sort of modest impudence, abused every thing & every body, & put the Ld. Chancellor very much out of humour, & if I may believe what I hear, have not lost any character by the experiment. - As to my delivery, loud and fluent enough, perhaps a little theatrical. - - I could not recognise myself or any one else in the Newspapers.... & my poem comes out on Saturday.
Hobhouse is here, I shall tell him to write. - My Stone is gone for the present, but I fear is part of my habit - - We all talk of a visit to Cambridge...
yrs. ever
B.
If your curiosity has been piqued by the history of the Luddite Movement and Byron's 'rage against the machine', why not enjoy a read of the historical novel by my fellow Byronian Christy Fearn published by Open Books in 2013...
As French émigré Roman Catholics, Lizette Molyneux and her brother Robert are used to an existence on the edge of their Regency Nottingham community. But when Robert is arrested for a crime he insists he did not commit, Lizzie must draw on all her strength and courage to help him. Overcoming poverty, prejudice and the unwanted advances of her employer’s son, she unites with the frame-breaking Luddites to free her brother and to rectify social injustice.
With all the excitement of Sharpe (Bernard Cornwell), as well as the social commentary of Elizabeth Gaskell and Victor Hugo, Framed dramatises the issues of a turbulent time and champions the resistance of poverty-stricken workers. If you liked Les Miserables, then you’ll love Framed!
The young man sighed as his carriage drew to a halt in the courtyard.
Catching sight of his reflection in the coach window, he saw how his cheeks had already lost their suntanned glow. His dark hair now felt too long. He stepped down and gazed around him.
The lake was the same leaden grey, and the gaping arch of the empty abbey window yawned a greeting to him. Two years. Two years since he had been home. How much was the same, but how much had changed. He shivered. The English summer weather would be winter in the countries from which he had just returned; the places he had described in his poetry.
His thoughts ran to what John Murray had said in London: 'You have found your own voice.'
His musings on his travels were appreciated, his writing was approved, ready for publication, ready for an audience.
A loud clatter broke his reverie as his stout servant heaved luggage from the coach.
'Careful, Fletcher, there are fragile jars in there.'
'Sorry, m'lord.'
Fletcher slowly dragged the case towards the abbey steps....
Framed
A Historical Novel about the Revolt of the Luddites
Sources Used:
Byron's Letters & Journals Vol 2 1810-1812, Ed: Leslie A. Marchand (London: John Murray 1973)
Byron The Making of a Myth, Stephen Coote (London: The Bodley Head 1988)
Framed. An Historical Novel about the Revolt of the Luddites, Christy Fearn (UK: Open Books 2013)
