634. 



little."- 4 

 place r '^ 



he Life of William Hutton, of Birmingham. 



rent, washing, lodginj;, 

 tary year rolled round, 

 is men of elevated cha- 



took notice of me. I 



/ twenty pounds, and was 



I'conciled to my situation, 



took a fancy to me was 



J?amuei ^....,,* a mercers apprentice, 



■who, five years after, resided in London, 



where he acquired 100,000/. He died 



in 1797. Our intimate friendship lasted 



his life. 



In this first opening of prosperity, an 

 unfortunate circumstance occurred, which 

 gave me great uneasiness, as it tlireateii- 

 ed totally to eclipse the small prospect 

 before me. The overseers, fearful I 

 should become chargeable to the parish, 

 examined me with regard to my settle- 

 ment; and, with the voice of authority, 

 ordered ine to procure a certificate, or 

 they would remove me. Terrified, I 

 wrote to my father, who returned for 

 answer, " That All-Saints, in Derby, 

 never granted certificates." 



I was hunted by ill nature two years. 

 I repeatedly offered to pay the levies, 

 which was refused. A succeeding over- 

 seer, a draper, of whom I had purchased 

 two suits of clothes, value 10/. consented 

 to take tlieiii. The scruple exhibited a 

 short sight, a narrow principle, and tlie 

 exultations of power over the defenceless. 



KISFNC FOKTUNES. 



1756. — Robert Bage, an old and inti- 

 mate friend, and a paper-maker, took 

 me to his inn, where we spent the even- 

 ing, lie proposed that 1 should sell 

 paper for him, which I might either buy 

 on my own account, or sell on his by coni- 

 miaSMn. As I could spare one or two 

 hundred pounds, I chose to purchase ; 

 therefore appropriated a room for the 

 reception of goods, and hung out a sign, 



THE PAPER WAREHOUSE. FrOm tllis 



small liint I followed the stroke forty 

 years, and acquired an ample fortune. 



THE RIOTS OF BfRMIKGUAM IN 1791. 



Birmingham, though nearly without a 

 government, had continued in harmony 

 during the forty years of my residence. 

 Relig,ious and political disputes were ex- 

 piring, when, like a smo'hered fire, they 

 burst forth with amazing fury. I have, 

 in the history of this phice, celebrated 

 the mild and peaceable demeanour of 

 the inhabitants, their industry and hos- 

 pitality ; but I am extremely concerned 



• This worthy man was the son of a poor 

 widow, of Meashani, and tended cows in 

 a gfeen lane ; but was put ont apprentice 

 by the late venerable Mr. Abnev, for a pre- 

 Iftium of bl. — Ew. 



1 



that I am obliged to soil the fair page^ 

 with the black cinders of their burnt 

 buildings. A stranger would be tempted 

 to inquire, whether a few Bonners were 

 not risen from the dead to establish re- 

 ligion by the faggot? or, whether the 

 church was composed of the dregs of the 

 universe, formed into a crusade ? or, 

 whether the friends of the king were the 

 destroyers of men ? In the dark ages pa- 

 pist went against protestant, but in this 

 enlightened one it is protestant against 

 protestant. But why should I degrade 

 the word religion? He who either 

 prompts or acts such horrid scenes, can 

 have no religion of liisown. 



The delightful harmony of this popu- 

 lous place seems to have been disturbed 

 by FIVE occurrences. 



A public library having been instituted 

 upon an extensive plan, some of the 

 members attempted to vote in Dr. 

 Priestley's polemical works, to which the 

 clergy were averse. This produced two 

 parties, and its natural consequence, 

 animosity inboth. VVhether the gentle- 

 men of the black gown acted with policy 

 is doubtful, for truth never suffers by 

 investigation. 



The next was an attempt to procure a 

 repeal of the Test Act, in which the dis- 

 senters took an active but a modest part. 

 Ever well-wishers to their country, the 

 dissenters were foremost in their quarrel 

 with Charles the First, but they only 

 meant a reform of abuses. Matters, 

 however, were soon carried beyond their 

 intention, and they lost their power. 

 They who brought him into trouble, tried 

 to bring him out. They were alterwards 

 the first to place his son, Charles the 

 Second, upon the throne, who requited 

 them evil for good. Alter suffering vari- 

 ous insults from the house of Stuart, the 

 dissenters were n)ateri.illy instrumental 

 in promoting the revolution, and upon 

 this depended the introduction of the 

 Hanoverian line, which, to a man, they 

 favoured. In a thousand mobs, in 17 14, 

 to oppose the new government, coulti 

 have betn found no more presbyterians 

 than in the Birmingham jury who tried 

 the rioters. Nor was their one presby- 

 terian in the rebellion the following year, 

 nor in that of 1745. In both periods 

 they armed in favour of the house of 

 Brunswick. Their loyalty has continued 

 unshaken to ilie present day, without 

 their ever having been disturbers of their 

 country. They concluded, therefore, 

 that they had a right to the privileges of 

 other subjects. They meant no more. 

 Those who charge thern with designs 

 either ajainac church or state, do not 



know 



