244 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1818. 



sons assembjetl at tliat meeting 

 were surprised by the magistrates, 

 assisted by a military force, and 

 some were taken into custody. 

 This arrest deranged the plans of 

 the disaffected ; and the greater 

 part of the districts in that part 

 of Yorkshire, in which a general 

 rising had been proposed, re- 

 mained quiet. But in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Huddersfield, in the 

 night of the 8th of June, a con- 

 siderable body assembled, some 

 with fire arms, and others with 

 scythes fixed on poles, and pro- 

 ceeded to various outrages, plun- 

 dering Houses for arms, and 

 firing on the head-constable of 

 Huddersfield, and upon a person 

 of the Yeomanry cavalry, wlio 

 went out of the town to learn 

 their objects. Indictments were 

 preferred both for the felonies 

 and the burglaries at the assizes 

 at York in the month of July. 

 The facts of the outrages there 

 committed appears to have been 

 established by the finding of the 

 bills by the grand jury ; but suffi- 

 cient evidence was not produced 

 on the trial to bring the crimes 

 home to any individuals. 



From the evidence given at the 

 trials at Derby, it appeared that 

 the Derbyshire insurgents had 

 expected a considerable rein- 

 forcement from this part of York- 

 shire, believing that a general 

 rising would take place at the 

 time to be fixed for that purpose ; 

 and it appears likewise, that in 

 Yorkshire, as well as in all the 

 other districts where these de- 

 signs were carrying on, great 

 reliance has uniformly been 

 placed upon the hope of pow- 

 erful support and co-operation 

 from London, however erroneous 



such an e^tpectation may have 

 been, with respect to the extent 

 to which it was supposed to have 

 existed. 



The committee have the satis- 

 faction of delivering it as their 

 decided opinion, that not only in. 

 the country in general, but in 

 those districts where the designs 

 of the disaffected were most ac- 

 tively and unremittingly pursued, 

 the great body of the people have 

 remained untainted, even during 

 the periods of the greatest internal 

 difficulty and distress. 



The arrests and trials which 

 have taken place, and the deve- 

 lopement of the designs of the 

 leaders of the disaffected, toge- 

 ther with the continued activity 

 and vigilance of the magistrates 

 and of the government, must 

 have had the salutary effect of 

 checking the progress of disaffec- 

 tion, where it existed: and the 

 improved state of the country, 

 and the increased employment 

 now afforded to the labouring 

 classes, have contributed to 

 render those who were most open 

 to seduction, less disposed to 

 embrace the desperate measures 

 which the pressure of distress 

 might have led them to hazard. 



Some of the persons engaged 

 in these projects, particularly in 

 London, are still active, and 

 appear determined to persevere, 

 though with decreasing numbers 

 and resources. It appears, there- 

 fore, to the committee, that the 

 continued vigilance of govern- 

 ment, and of the magistrates in 

 the several districts which have 

 been most disturbed, will be ne- 

 cessary. 



Having thus taken a view of 

 the state of the country in the 



disturbed 



