Cartwright
JOHN, the "Father of Reform," was born in Marnham, England, Sept. 17, 1740. At 18 he entered the navy, saw some service under Howe, and in 1766 was gazetted first-lieutenant of the "Guernsey" at the Newfoundland station. He returned in 1770, and was appointed in 1775 major to the Notts militia. He then began to think and write on political questions, and found himself unable to take service under Lord Howe in North America. From the beginning CARUSO he advocated annual parliaments, vote by ballot, and manhood suffrage, and throughout his busy life he advocated with equal ardor causes so different as reform in farming, abolition of slavery, the foundation of a Valhalla for English seamen, the improvement of national defenses, and the liberties of Spain and Greece. Cartwright was fined £100 for sedition in 1820. He died in London, Sept. 23, 1824.