devoted himself wholly to the cause of the stockingers. He ran several newspapers in succession, conducted innumerable meetings, and rapidly acquired an immense following which he proceeded to organise. He took a large hall of meeting, and christened his flock the "Shaksperean Association of Leicester Chartists." By the summer of 1842 he claimed 2500 members.[1] He divided them up into classes, which went under such names as the "Andrew Marvell," "Algernon Sydney," "John Hampden" class. He devised a kind of uniform, gave to his adherents a pseudo-military organisation, and proudly bore the title of "Shaksperean General." Is it too far a cry to assume that Cooper was the originator of ideas afterwards developed by William Booth at Nottingham? By these means—the magic of uniform and badges—Cooper developed a really ferocious esprit de corps amongst his followers, who idolised him. But he was not content with demonstrations. He took pains to give his disciples education in an adult school, and amusement of the right sort. Cooper has preserved for us some Chartist hymns and songs of no little merit which were composed by himself and some of his Shakespereans. Through the comparatively prosperous days of 1841 (there was a temporary revival of trade) Cooper kept his following in hand. He kept their minds occupied, prevented them from brooding, interested them in recreative pursuits. A by-election provided excitement; visits from various noted Chartists afforded variety, and in general Cooper succeeded in brightening and cheering the lives of many who would otherwise have fallen victims to despair. He believed and taught his followers to believe in the vague and vain promises of O'Connor that the Charter would yet be carried.[2] Even this hope did not, however, remove the feeling of desperation which began to grow during the terrible months of 1842, when starvation knocked at every stockinger's door with greater insistence than ever. The poor folk gradually got out of hand; Cooper was equally carried away by the scenes of terror and suffering, and was hurried into the catastrophe which in August ruined Chartism for the second time.[3]
Thus the great movement got once more under weigh. With new men and new methods, Chartism made great progress during 1840 and 1841. The new organisation tended towards much greater efficiency. It separated the wheat from the chaff,
