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THE ORIGIN AND USE
OF
THE ROYSTON CAVE.
BY THE LATE
JOSEPH BELDAM, ESQ.,
ROYSTON:
PUBLISHED BY WARREN BROTHERS.
JUNE, 1904.
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ROYSTON:
PRINTED BY WARREN BROS.
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From the “Royston Crow,” August, 1866.
Mr. Joseph Beldam was born in 1795, at Royston, in Herts., where his family have been long settled. He entered as an undergraduate at St. Peter’s College, Cambridge, in 1818, and at his first annual examination was elected a Scholar on the Foundation. Amongst those who were his contemporaries at the University, are many whose names have since become eminent: amongst them, we need only mention those of Lord Macaulay, the Hon. Charles Villiers, Lord Belper, the Romillys, and Mr. Charles Austen, with most of whom he was either personally intimate or associated in the Cambridge Debating Society, in which Society he took an active part, as he afterwards did (upon entering on his legal career) in the London Academical Society, whose meetings at that time had attained considerable note, and of which he ultimately became the President.
Upon leaving the University he entered his name as a student of the Middle Temple and then devoted a year to travelling on the continent, visiting France, Italy, Germany, and Spain, thereby laying the foundation for that knowledge of art and good taste which he afterwards cultivated.
About this time (1821) he wrote a poem called Pompeii, which he afterwards (in 1825) published, together with others of his poems, in a small volume dedicated to his friend Mr. Wiffen, the translator of Tasso’s Jerusalem Liberata, who had accompanied him in some of his tours. On his return to England Mr. Beldam commenced his legal studies as a pupil in the chambers of Mr. Justice Wightman, with whom he always afterwards maintained feelings of friendship. After practising for several years as a Special Pleader below the bar, Mr. Beldam was called at the Middle Temple in May, 1825, and chose the Norfolk circuit and sessions, travelling with Mr. (now Sir) Fitzroy Kelly, with whom as well as with other leading members of his circuit he was {iv} intimate, and in the course of a few years became known as a rising junior. In consequence of ill health, however, he was obliged to leave the fatigue of circuit, and devoted his attention to his practice in the Palace Court, which he had purchased, Mr. Frederick Thessiger (now Lord Chelmsford) and Mr. Justice Erle having preceded him in that court by a few years. The Palace Court (as is well known) was a short time subsequently thrown open to general practice by an Act introduced by Lord Brougham, who omitted to compensate or pension those gentlemen who had acquired the right to practise there at a very considerable outlay, the court being in fact included in the arrangements of the royal household. Under these circumstances Mr. Beldam resigned his practice in the Palace Court, where Mr. Serjeant Wallenger and he then had the principal part of the special pleading.
Descended as he was from a French Huguenot family who had resigned their position in Picardy to carry out the right of private judgment in religion, Mr. Beldam felt strongly on the subject of the laws then affecting Protestant Dissenters, many of which (still unrepealed though partially disused) were very oppressive. Accordingly, in 1827, he published his first edition of The Laws affecting Protestant Dissenters. The want of such a work had been then long felt by Dissenters generally: Mr. Park of the Norfolk circuit had commenced writing on the subject, but died before his book was completed; and Mr. Justice Talfourd, who had been engaged by the dissenting deputies to elucidate the subject, had from some cause or other been prevented from accomplishing the object. Mr. Beldam’s work, though published independently of any professional sanction, was received by the profession at once as a standard work, and underwent a second edition; he was subsequently requested to publish a third edition of the work, the former editions being then out of print, but the general progress of public feeling on the subject of religious freedom having in his opinion rendered the book less necessary, he declined doing so. About this time he addressed a letter to Lord Dacre on the slavery question, which was published and met with general approbation; it was spoken of in terms of commendation by Mr. Canning in one of his best speeches in Parliament, and led to Mr. Beldam forming the acquaintance and friendship of the late Mr. Zachary Macaulay, one of the fathers of negro emancipation, and also to his becoming first connected with the Anti-slavery movement, of which he continued to be ever an active supporter. He at once joined the Anti-slavery Committee in Aldermanbury, of which his friend, Mr. Serjeant Matthews, was then secretary, and for many years devoted the chief part of his time and attention to obtaining the emancipation of the negroes in the British Colonies. After the passing of the British Slave Emancipation Act, it soon became apparent that from some cause or other it was systematically violated. At this time Mr. Wilberforce had retired from parliamentary life, and the late Sir Fowell Buxton was the acknowledged chief of the Anti-slavery Committee. The question of negro apprenticeship then occupied the attention of the public, and conflicting opinions were strongly entertained on the subject, not {v} only by the public at large, but scarcely less by the members of the Anti-slavery Committee. It was indeed universally agreed amongst them that the system of apprenticeship worked badly and ought to be abolished; but as to the means of remedying the evil there was far less unanimity. Mr. Zachary Macaulay was then residing in Paris, where Mr. Beldam visited him, in order to consult his views of what steps should be taken in the emergency. The affair had now passed into a legal phase, and Mr. Zachary Macaulay strongly advised Mr. Beldam to take up the matter “professionally and perseveringly;” and though the latter was at that time much out of health, he consented to do so; and from that time until the final abolition of slavery gave the whole of his time to the subject, being (though gratuitously on his part) not only the Editor of most of the Society’s publications, but also the accredited Counsel of the party, which involved labours of a very onerous kind, including the collection and examination of all Colonial Acts, Ordinances and Public Documents. It became necessary that these should be constantly referred to and examined, and a communication having been made to the Colonial Office, Lord Glenelg, at that time Secretary for the Colonies, with his usual courtesy assigned an apartment in the Colonial Office for the prosecution of this enquiry, and liberally permitted Mr. Beldam to have access to all colonial documents then bearing upon the subject. He was now invited to accept a professional stipend, but this he positively declined, as he subsequently did two colonial appointments which were offered him by the Government in recognition of his services in the cause of emancipation.
At length, after great labour, 19 resolutions were carefully prepared by him in which the Committee of the Anti-slavery Society pledged themselves to prove the existence of a system of gross abuses of the law, as it then stood, fully justifying a parliamentary enquiry. These were brought forward by Sir Fowell Buxton in the House of Commons in 1835, and a Committee, of which Mr. H. Labouchere was chairman, was appointed by the House to investigate the subject, Sir Fowell Buxton being the promoter on the side of abolition, Mr. Wm. Gladstone watching on behalf of the colonists, who appointed Mr. Burge, Q.C., their counsel, Sir George Stephen attending as the solicitor to the Anti-slavery Society. Mr. Beldam and his friend, the late Mr. Serjeant Matthews, were deputed to represent the Committee and the Society, although their knowledge of the alleged abuses under examination was necessarily founded not upon their actual experience, but upon the careful study of authentic documents. It appeared doubtful, however, whether in a matter involving interests so important, the House would be willing to dispense with personal and actual experience.
At this important crisis circumstances occurred, which led to the return to this country from the Mauritius of Sir John Jeremie, whose thorough knowledge of the practical working of slavery in all the colonies, and whose remarkable courage and perseverance in the cause of its abolition had been already fully tested. He was at once installed {vi} as leader, and Mr. Beldam and Mr. Serjeant Matthews associated with him, and the result of the investigation was conclusive; ample proof, not only of legislative but also of practical abuses, was established: and the colonists, seeing their cause was hopeless, agreed to the abolition of the apprenticeship system.
During the whole of these proceedings Mr. Beldam’s friendship with Sir F. Buxton, Dr. Lushington, and other leading members of the Society continued uninterrupted, and when Sir F. Buxton’s scheme for the civilization of Central Africa was brought out, he took an active part in it; being on the committee of the Society formed for that purpose, and assiduous in his attendance there. He was engaged in preparing or settling some of the most important documents connected with the expedition; and such was the confidence reposed in him by Sir F. Buxton, its promoter, that it was his wish that Mr. Beldam should be offered the appointment of first Commissioner of the expedition; but in reply he was informed by the Government that a military or naval officer alone would be eligible for that appointment. The African climate and other causes, for the most part altogether beyond the control of the promoters of the first Niger expedition, resulted (as is well known) in its lamentable failure, at least for the time, and in the sudden dispersion of the Society which had commenced its operations with hopes so confident of success. On this occasion Mr. Beldam, as one of the guarantees who had undertaken if necessary, to supplement the government grant for shipbuilding purposes of the expedition, contributed his quota to the expenses of the Society, and at that period, when most of the friends of the cause felt too much dismayed to venture on a public explanation of the event, Mr. Beldam was one of those who strenuously recommended it, and volunteered to prepare the report, which he did, and it was afterwards read by his friend, the late Sir Robert Inglis, at the last public meeting of the Society.
It is right and at the same time most gratifying here to observe, that although the sad disasters of the first Niger expedition occasioned such discouragement as for a time indisposed even its friends to defend very vigorously the principles on which it was originated, those principles are now fully recognized, and, aided by subsequent experience, are successfully and actively applied in various parts of the African continent.
The special object which had led to the formation of the London Anti-slavery Society having now been attained, and the efforts of the African Civilization Society being so unfortunately suspended, it was thought right that a rigid examination of the colonial laws should be made, with a view to the establishment of principles on which the future freemen of the colonies should be governed, and oppressive enactments prevented. For this purpose Sir Fowell Buxton was anxious that Mr. Beldam should be appointed a Commissioner. Under the circumstances resulting from this application, Mr. Beldam published a pamphlet making his own suggestions on the principles which he {vii} considered should regulate future colonial legislation: much yet remained to be done in prosecuting our legislative provisions for the prevention of the slave trade, and with his usual energy he took up the subject. Having obtained the permission of Lord Brougham and Dr. Lushington to try his hand at a new enactment which should comprise regulations to meet every probable case, the Act so prepared by him was introduced in the House of Lords by Lord Brougham, who took occasion to pass the highest eulogy on its author. With some alterations the Bill successfully passed the House of Lords, but on its arrival in the Commons met with the expected opposition from the commercial interests, and some of its most stringent provisions were cancelled; though even in its mutilated state Lord Brougham’s Slave Trade Act of 1839 has added much to the security against the inhuman traffic in slaves.
Except indirectly Mr. Beldam was never actively engaged in political life, though (as on the Anti-slavery question) he was deeply interested in various subjects on which he published his opinions; but even in so doing he always avoided rather than courted personal observation. He spoke well in public, and some of his speeches gained him much reputation, but it was only when he felt himself compelled to advocate principles on which he felt strongly that he willingly entered the arena of debate.
He was early associated with the British and Foreign School Society, and was for many years an active member of the committee, as he was also with other philanthropic societies. Amongst his publications are two or three pamphlets on education.
After the success of the Anti-slavery cause the state of his health rendered it advisable for him to retire from professional life. In 1845 he accompanied some members of his family to Italy, and from thence went on to Egypt and Syria, visiting many of the principal spots in the East, which he afterwards described in a work entitled Recollections of Travels in Italy and the East, published in 1850, and dedicated to his friend the late Sir Robert Inglis.
It was on his return from this tour that Mr. Beldam brought to England the water from the River Jordan which, at Her Majesty’s special desire, was afterwards used at the baptism of H.R.H. the Princess Helena.
For several years after his return from Palestine he devoted himself to the British and Foreign Bible Society as an active member of their committee. And having taken up his residence at Royston he acted in the Commission of the Peace as a Magistrate for the counties of Herts. and Cambs., where his legal knowledge rendered him a valuable acquisition. He became chairman of the Royston Bench, and was active in many local objects tending to the general good of society. As a member of the Royal Geographical and Antiquarian Societies and the Archasological Institute he contributed several papers to those learned bodies, some of them serving to elucidate the {viii} antiquities in the neighbourhood of Royston, where at his leisure moments he had carried on some very interesting investigations: amongst the papers so contributed were—
In addition to these, Mr. Beldam has left numerous Manuscripts on various subjects, including a short account of Bassingbourne in the Olden time.
With the exception of several visits to France and Switzerland with his
family, and a winter (1856) spent in Rome, Mr. Beldam continued to
reside at Royston until his death. His health, never robust, had for the
last few years become much more susceptible to atmospheric changes than
previously; his activity of mind and body, however, and his usefulness,
continued unimpaired to the last. An attack of bronchitis, brought on by
cold and over fatigue, caused him gradually to sink, and after a few
days’ illness he died at Royston, on the 6th of June, 1866, in the
71st year of his age; and he was buried in his family vault at Royston.
His desire through life (to use his own words) was to increase the
reverence for God’s Holy Word, and deepen the conviction of a wise
and overruling Providence. In the true sense of the word he was a
Christian Philanthropist, and as such and as a true-hearted friend his
loss will be widely felt.
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