ABSTRACT
In political matters the dominance of the landed classes was clear. Although there were exceptions, most landlords considered it their right to direct tenants how they should vote on polling day. Political agitation among the working classes of rural England thus offered little real threat to the established order in village society. The severity of the punishments and the way the law had been stretched to deal with the case aroused anger in trade union and radical circles, and petitions began to pour in to Parliament appealing for the sentences to be remitted. In Parliament the announcement of the proposed tariff revisions was at first accepted quietly by a wide section of the Tory Party and by certain of the major landowners, but among farmers a very different spirit prevailed. To protectionist farmers the first session of Peel's Conservative government was a grievous disappointment, and they did not hesitate to express their anger to the county Members.
