Byron’s maiden speech

I have been reading a book about Byron (Frederick Raphael’s, really good) and he quotes the maiden speech made by the poet to the
House of Lords in 1812. He spoke against the Bill proposing savage penalties against the Nottingham weavers who had employed Luddite tactics in breaking mechanical frames which were threatening their livelihoods. He said:

“Are there not capital punishments enough in your statutes? Is there not blood enough upon your penal code that more must be poured forth…? Are these the remedies for a starving and desperate populace? Will the famished wretch who has braved your bayonets be appalled by your gibbets? When death is a relief, and the only relief, it appears, you will afford him, will he be dragooned into tranquillity?”

I love that last phrase. I have never met anyone who could be dragooned into tranquillity. This speech should be read to all political leaders and sentencers.

Dreadful man, though, Byron, and a tricksy mediocre poet.