CARTWRIGHT, John, English reformer, brother of Edmund Cartwright (q.v.) : b. Marnham, Nottinghamshire, 17 Sept. 1740; d. London, 23 Sept. 1824. He entered the navy in 1758, and became a first lieutenant in 1766. In 1774 his attention was turned to politics. In his 'Letters on American Independence) (In dependence of America considered as supremely useful and glorious to Great Britain), written in this year, he advocated a union between the colonies and the mother state, under separate legislatures, and argued this great question on the foundation of natural, inherent right ; main taining °that the liberty of man is not derived from charters, but from God, and that it is original in every one." In 1775 he was appointed major of the Nottinghamshire militia, and after several ineffectual attempts on the part of government to remove him from that post, his dismissal was finally accomplished in 1792, in consequence of an act of Parliament. In the American war Lord Howe was desirous of having with him in America; but Major Cartwright, although always eager for pro motion in the navy, refused the proposal, alleg ing that he could not fight in a cause which he disapproved. From this time he devoted him self to the favorite objects of annual parlia ments and universal suffrage. He was the
author of a Declaration of Rights, distributed by the Society for Constitutional Information. The French Revolution was warmly welcomed by Cartwright. In the trials of Tooke, Hardy, Thelwall and other reformers, Cartwright was present as a witness, and displayed much firm ness and fearlessness. By his writings, public addresses, etc., he continued to promote the work of reform and constitutional liberty; and as late as 1820 was tried for conspiracy and sedition, for advising the inhabitants of Birm ingham, which had then no parliamentary representative, to send what he called their "legislatorial attorney" to the house; but he escaped with a fine of f100. Major Cartwright was not a political reformer only. The plan of making the slave-trade piracy is said to have been first developed in his 'Letters on the Slave Trade.' A statue has been erected in London to his memory. A list of his writings has been edited by his niece, F. D. Cartwright, 'The Life and Correspondence of Major Cartwright) (2 vols., London 1826).