ABSTRACT
The first period of the Chartist movement was marked by a state of ominous excitement in all parts of the country. Regarding the movement as purely political, Thomas Attwood warned the people that they had against them “the whole of the aristocracy, nine-tenths of the gentry, the great body of the clergy, and all the pensioners, sinecurists, and bloodsuckers that feed on the vitals of the people.” The Whig rule was contrasted with the honeyed promises made by the party before it came into power. The people yearned for a strong word, and he knew how to please them. The people of the West were agitated by their favorite orator, Henry Vincent. The people, in their indignation, defied the government and publicly trampled under foot the royal proclamation of the middle of December which, on penalty of imprisonment, enjoined all persons to desist from participating in torch-light meetings.
