ABSTRACT
The years 1838 and 1839 were the most auspicious for the Chartist Movement. Instigated by the acute economic distress, the people were in the mood to follow almost anybody who could stimulate their indignation to activity. The leaders seemed to have realized this and vied with each other in their endeavors to gain the confidence of the working class. Charter contained, indeed, only political reforms, but the people knew from the leaders that such reforms were the only instrument for the extermination of all evils. The leaders merely buried their hatchets for a while, with the understanding that they would be picked up again at the opportune time after the Charter should have become an accomplished fact. The small coterie of leaders, who during the first period stamped their personalities on the movement and directed the destinies of millions of people, included men of exceptional character and mentality, who gave themselves like martyrs to the cause.
