of direct taxes_; that is, except they were payers of church and poor
rates, and King's taxes. This was the conduct of the volunteer delegate
from Bath, although he had received written instructions, from the
committee of Reformers of that city, to support _Universal Suffrage_.

As soon as Mr. Allen was seated, I rose to move an amendment to my
friend Cobbett's motion, and, in my address to the delegates, I
combatted and successfully controverted the _doctrine of exclusion_
which had been so forcibly urged by the chairman, and so ingeniously
supported by Mr. Cobbett. I modestly and with great deference called to
their recollection the language, the irresistible arguments, in favour
of Universal Suffrage, which, in his Register, Mr. Cobbett himself
had published, within one short fortnight of the time in which I was
addressing them. Almost every sentence that I uttered in favour of
Universal Suffrage was hailed by the enthusiastic cheers of the great
body of the delegates. Mr. Cobbett rose to order, and protested in
strong language against my quoting his own words, or any thing he had
previously published, in order to controvert his present proposition.
I therefore forbore to do so again; not from any conviction of its
impropriety or unfairness, but because I wished to conciliate, and
because I was quite clear that my amendment would be carried. I
concluded by asserting the right of every freeman to be represented in
the Commons' House of Parliament, which could only be done by Universal
Suffrage; and on this ground I moved that the word _universal_ should be
substituted for _householder_.

Mr. Hulme seconded the motion, and Mr. Bamford was about to support him,
by refuting Mr. Cobbett's arguments with respect to Universal Suffrage
being impracticable; but before he had concluded his sentence, Mr.
Cobbett rose and said, that what Mr. Bamford had stated had convinced