Star. — London, England, 1819-11-16 00:00:00

t -ef ii t 1 it t s 1 :e e Ji 'or 11 CC 0 Cl- ;e. to 4• Z It:, 1] etc b r len t, he V 3 it lit ni It r; IC c. 'pti k sh bo oc• bi r • las y e I c.t t . asst CCM tear I If 2 !re tha Prc hat. "ru et o y. ine• cte ant Cl no was !stet was : and t am- nty • ;en- aces I ten , 51e1 i of • ker. the ' tnd er.) . the the - ; of et I I. ga , • 1* y i : a? :r cuttin tl:roats. The High gl.e -,g . p r oceeded to observe, " that the necessity of 1 6e 'Meeting was removed, as the parties it4l;cus:lbe..brought before a Court of Justice, when yc e mit or innocence would be ascertained." He 3:uld'aot j surelyaccuse the High Sheriff with having wil .l:llthar which was not true ; but surely he s tated }:awe known that bilk of indictment were pre aasa ). 1 at Lancaster, by Elizabeth Farreu and William Goore , against Edward Tebbett, for editing and ima •-•i n a, and thrown out by the Grand Jury, ""l tough the prosecutors swore that the wounds they ached on the 16th of August were inflicted by aaaas, who was one of the Manchester Yeomanry. c a w at. after this, be contended that those injured aople were likely to have justice admihistered to ; a i l s Another eitraordinary fact was, that aCo • r oller's Inquest had been adjourned for six weeks—a fag entirely unprecedented. By law, the Inquest s hould be called immediately; and the township was :able to be amerced, if the Coroner were not speedily a pprised of any instance of suspicious or violent death. ;i such adjournments were allowed, the necessary eriJeace might leave the country. If this precedent tea followed, where would be the use or necessity (fa Coroner at all ? Why not prefer the complaint before a Magistrate, and then proceed' o the Grand ;ay? He rished the advocates of the Magistrates al:r epresent to explain why, in several instances, the Pagistrates had refused to receive evidence. Cer a:r. cases brought before them stele rejected, be theY bad already been under the considera sin of the Graed Jury. In those instances, some cacise of discretion - might have been allowed.— ra a question was artfully put to the Justices, by si:ich they were completely caught. If, it was asked, ;hese cases had net been • before this Grand 'Jury, sould you then have attended to them? .The ms.scr was, " Must certainly." " then," it was thaaryed by the querist, " we have got some new tam fur you." The Magistrates, however, refused to investigate them; and he hoped a motion would be rade for criminal information against those persons alto had thus misconducted themselvesa-(Applause.) How, dicta:could the High Sheriff and the Declarers, sib the conduct of the Coroner and the Magistrates heroic their eyes, dare.to say that those proceedings sac likely, us a short time, to undergo judicial us latigation ? He hoped -they erred through igno ni:ce ; but the facts were too extensive and too no uci3os to warrant any rational being entertaining such a hope. The High Sheriff thought the Meet ing would be attended with no benefit to the cause, and that it would increase the irritation of the public rind, which certainly was not the best means of rainvaing the ends of justice. He thcaght, for saah ; and therefore he had done that which no She ri; he believed, ever did before—set up his indi -1,•:al opinion against that of a most respectable illy of freeholders—(dppleacte.)---BEt this, it seems, vas not the best mode of obtaining justice. He should think, from thk tenour of his letter, that the High Sheriff imagined the best mode of obtaining jaece was by embracing the doctrine of passive obedience. Was it likely that Ministers would bring Irward the business themselves? They mi g ht as well expect a murderer to bring into Court his own la Of indictment—(Leughter.)—The course they rest pursuing, was, he contended, the best calculated t 3 obtain justice. To arrive at that desirable object, tie country ought to by in that state of .irritation rhich the High Sheriff so much deprecated. If it were improper irritation, why was he not present to inntroul it, and to direct them to keep their passion rcol? Would they, ever, have enjoyed one of the plitical benefits which they now possesied, without f No, they all emanated from the, honest iriution of their ancestors ; and public' justice, in many cases, could not be obtained without public rritation. He had now disposed of the. High She riff', and he would proceed to notice some of his Mends, some of the roaring, rampant Royalists. Why don't they spew their .faces?" was. bawled' ea: by one of the auditors.) Why don't they ? for tr same reason that prevents some other persons from dewing their faces—because they were ashamed of thenaselves—(Leachter.)—Certain Gentlemen who disapproved of this proceeding,. insteld'of meeting it in a manly way, went privately about to procure ignatures, by , using the influence of their names, and even threatening to deprive individuals of their cus tom, who refused to sign the Loyal Declaration, as it vas called. At the head of those by whom it was signed were, Sir. N. Duckenfield, Lord Harcourt, and Lord flraybrook, all of whom derived great emolu ments from their connexion with Government, .and. therefore, their arguments must be considered won derfully cogent against the right of the people to pe tition—(breghtera—The Hon. Gentleman then pits teeded to comment at length on the, lanai Declara` non, which he placed in a very ridiculous point of *ay. The Declarers expressed their firm attachment to the King and Constitution ; but - was there any' maul in the country who was not attached to 'those titred objects ? For what were they now met, but to protect those rights which the present family were brought over to maintain ? They deplored what lad taken place at Manchester, which was rather ex traordinary, since on that point they differed from Ministers, who were very much gratified when they !lard of it—(Las tg ht er .)—They then went on to ob- 1 ?ere, that those proceedings were in a train of legal avestigation. But all the country knew that this was not the fact. The Declarers next observed, that tray looked forward with confidence to the wisdoiß sir Parliament, which was shortly to assemble; for e adoption of salutary measures to prevent the' ~eidler horrid inroads of sedition and blasphemy. 45 '1 what was understood by the wisdom of Par avneat? The wisdom of Parliament was.the tiers' immense majority, obtained by borough a cagering corruption; and the salutary measures 7e:e the suspe ns i on o f t h e Habeas CorpateAtt, and •atrothiction of Qagging Bills !—(Tribe; :an tar e t h e sa l utary measures they might expect; tOr his own part, he believed the men who support such measures would also support Holy Inquisition, if the petticoag King could it over from Spain f a —Mareghler.)—These Gen. "en taiked of sedition and blasphemy ; their oh r•-ron was evidently levelled at those who called ratllded popular meetings. He had, for Many looked Into public affairs, and he never yet t!ie Ministry *to be hard pushed that °they did ;.ise the c r y o f " Th e Church is in danger; " for apcie'tf playing upon the feelings of religious If they looked at the Red Book, they vrotild perceive' . that 'thousands were blasphemers in this sense or the word. In the end of their Declaration, these Gen-1 tlemen stated, that they were determined to defend' the altar of their Goy, the throne of their King, and those constitutional bulwarks under which they de.: rived so many blessings—inignare pro aria et focis. I These were certainly valiant heroes ; but,' if they ' wanted to fight, they must advertise for enemies.— They might, indeed, make a crusade against the Turks for the purpose of recovering a Jerusalem ! (A laugh ).—lle should go to Spithead, and when he once fairly saw these Declarers on board, he would gladly give them three hearty cheers. Sir N. Den field might make as good an Inspecting Field Crfficer at Jerusalem, as in Berkshire ; and as there were so many Clergymen amongst the Declarers, they could turn Missionaries, and convert the infidels!.-(Laugh ter).—Besides, he saw a number of Gentlemen, At tornies, had affixed their signatures to the Declara tion, for whom also le: could find employment, and he believed the country could spare many of them !--- Let them go and make oht a title to the Holy Land, and bring an action of ejectment against the Turks ! The Honourable Gentleman then proceeded, at great length, to prove, that from the earliest period, the people of England possessed an inherent 'NM' tope; tition the Sovereign. This branch 'of his argument he supported by copious extracts from a smell pant; phlet, the work .of Timothy Trueman, in which the opinions of Lord Somers, Mr. Justice Dodderkige, and Knighton, on this subject, are quoted ; and also the sth, Bth, and 13th Articles of the Bill of Rights. The Mnourable Gentleman -then b riefly adverted to the circumstances under which the Meeting-took place .at . Manchester ; and condemned, in strong terms, the conduct of Ministers, wisp, five . ilays. after that melancholy catastrophe, identified them= selves with the'Migistrates and Yeortranry, when it was quite impossible that they conk! 'have been als prised of the real facts of the case.• .He concluded by reading a series of Resolutions, similar to those agreed to at former Meetings, and an Addressfoundecton them. Dr. MITFORD had great pleastrie fit secoltdin file Resolutions which had just been prispasecrio l itia. by his-worthy friend Mr. Halktt. - He should - have detained them a single mo.ment,iefter7the .el. qisent and manly addiess of that Gentletun t had it not appeared to him that he (Mr, HalletWiad 'omit ted, in his compiehensive view , of thesetrinSactions; one point by far tooimportant to be wilftillyomittetk, He alluded to the conduct of the Magistrates, during the examination of the witnesses who were produced, to make out the charge of treaion'against Mr. Hunt, as pc that period the angry passions, which might have been excited in their bosoms by the events of the 16th of August, had had time to ool.; their con duct, during that examination, was much worse than their conduct during what had preceded it. Instead of refusing, as they did, to allow Mr. Hunt to put the questions which he suggested to the witnesses, .and of protecting them, as they did, in their subsequent reluctance to answer them, he would have committed them at once to prison, had he been placed on the Bench at Manchester, as he had the honour to be placed in Berkshire, and had similar circumstances occurred before him. As this was the only poiflt which had been omitted by his honourable friend, he should conclude the few remarks which he had to make to them upon it, by giving his most cordial assent and approbation to the Address which had [ been just read to them. Mr. Rtntv attended at the present Meeting with the very strongest sentiments in favour of the Consti tution as by law established. Indeed, he did not know whether lie should have been present at all, had not a Afr.oting or such a nature as that which he now beheld been essential to the preservation of a right, from which all our other rights emanated, and upon which, indeed, they all depended—he Meant the 1 right of meeting to petition the Throne and the two Houses of Parliament. That right had been SQ fully, ably, and learnedly discussed, by the Mover of the. Resolutions, that it was quite superfluous for him to say a word upon the subject : this, however, be would. state to them, that it was a right which the People of England ought to observe; and the King of Eng land to protect, as equally necessary for the safety of them both—(Cheers). The Meetings of the People of England were of essential importance for various accounts. They might be of essential importance to the sovereign himself; for if any Faction was ever to become so powerful as to hold him in thraldom, to whom could he resort for assistance but the People? —(Cheers). If a military force were to seize the Go vernment, to bind the Sovereign in chains, and to commit him gas had been done in former times) to close, imprisonment, to whom could he fly for refuge, to whom could he appeal for protection, ,except the, People? Was it, then,' either wise, prudent, or politic, to infringe upon ,a right of such great utility? Should it be suffered to be invaded, even for a moment, with_ i mpttnity? ,Onght it not, on the contrary, to be protected by every legal measure against all who would assail it? Those.who advocated the propriety of impairing its validity must, .certaialy, be most mistaken in opi nion i whilit those who went further, and advised the Prince ltegerit to award his approbation to those who. actually vrolated it, could not be considered - as his ' real friends. He 'would not say any thing of a ques tionable nature to them, because, as they generally thoUght UM he had some kigiwledge of the law, it would be shattleful on him to 'impose upon them as correct any sentiments which were at all erroneous. He therefore entreated them not to suppose that he had alluded to the present Isfinistiy, when he talked of a faction lording it over the Chown; nor yet to ima gine, when he mentioned military violence, that he meant' any disrespect to that gallant body of men who had Wig the country to the highest pinnacle of glory, and had rendered it celebrated to the world as - the habitation of men free as they were valiant. Stich astidea was the farthest from his heart ; for he could never suppose, that those who had delivered Europe from thraldom, would condescend to turn their swords against the liberties of their native land. ( Cheers.) He had merely put the cases which he had mentioned: as possibilities, and having thus guarded them from misinterpretation, he should conclude his observations on this point, by recalling to their recollection what had 'been said by that sound Lawyer, Lord ltosslyn, in his charge to the Grand Jury on the trials 'arising [ out of the Riots in 1780 :—" You are to recollect, . that the right of meeting to consider the necessity of I obtaining the rei.:ll, of the enactment of any law, is . . • individuals. This was the common trick, but the' people were daily growing more enlightened, and had generally discovered the cheat. The existing law, as was seen in the case of Carlile, was sufficient to punish sedition and blasphemy; and there was therefore no necessity for those salutary measures at which the Gentlemen who signed the Declaration hinted pretty broadly. They complained that blas phemous works had been read : but had they not taken great pains to have children taught to read their Bible, and when they had received that portion of education, was it to be supposed that they would read nothing else but the Scriptures? These Gentle-' men spoke in strong terms of sedition and blasphemy; but during the many years he had attended public meetings, he never heard any seditious doctrines pro mulgated ; and as to blasphemy, he begged of the Meeting to bear in mind the definition which the great Mr. Pope gave of a blasphemer. He described the man who lived.on the labour of the people, who rioted on the fruits of peculation and public robbery, as a real blasphemer. The lines were these:— " Those who from your labour heap their board, " Blaspheme their feeder, and forget their LOAD l" a right inherent and indefeasible in the of ' England."—(Cleera),The right of' ineetinglifing thus clearly. established, the next qu'estion which came under their consideration was this—Was the Meeting rightly ,convened, or was it hatched in a corner, at a meeting of conspirators, amidst repeated whispers of " Hush, don't let Zile Magistrates hear ; any thing about it?" No suchthing, itwas publicly called ; it wasadvettised in the ditfirent Newspapers, The Meethig was Was it held peaceably ? All the accounts stile that it Was Oerfectly quiet-and tram- Till up to the ilatolthriite moment when a band ,of armed men•attaniteit the liberties Ord the Rerstons,of their count!rymen W a•inanner which had 'Cr i cked the, indignation of•every honest man in :the rolintry.- That attaelt * had been.well described.bythelr Worthy Chairman, and had brought from him a,4etter; which would 'be engraven for ever in all their hearts-. ( Cries qf Read if ; reed' it;" from . :the crowd " I have not got a copy oft," said Mr. Itigby,, I have it allAere,"-. beating . his heart—(Loud cheer' s). was Written in sucha spirit of genuine patriotism, ttliat; i'verie:aahe - Was in general to . praising parties to chit* (ices, he must for once'overconse his relict, ntierand ettlogise the author of it whilst he was prqseut t .. It was identified completely with the busi neis.of the. Meeting, - and he trusted that it would go down to posterity hand in hatid with the'Bill of Rights, and be enrolled and transcribed in the an nals of history for the use of future generations.— The speaker then proceeded to ,comment at some' length on the conduct of the Loyal Declarators .of the County of Berks :•and expressed his itirprise at their assertion, that the transactions at Manchester were already before the tribunals of the country. He maintained that they were riot. To- morrow was the 16th of November, and then three full months, would have elapsed since the perpetration of those, offences, and yet no inquiry'Was instituted into thein. The island was resoundingliom one end of if to the, other with the cry of " Justice for the murders (he must so call them) committed at Manchester," What had been done to- forward it ? A Coronet's Inquest bad commenced its sittings. What then?', After pursuing an erratic indescribable course for some time, it was adjourned. Then came the Term ; ten days at' it have . elapsed, and'not a word from either the Solicitor or the Attorney-General, both very intelligent men, eager in the cause of improve ment before they became Crown Lawyers, for a cri urinal information against the Magistrates. Why not? They are waiting for orders which he would' make bold to say they would nevef receive. The Judges had informed one of the complainants,and they had informed him truly, that they could not institute proceedings. But could not his Majesty's Ministers do this? Certainly; but they had declined. to do it, though they were well acquainted with the blood which had been shed, and the atrocities which had been com mitted. But then Hunt was on his trial! That, however, had nothing to dot with the sobject •in dis pot*: for if the liberties of England were to be made to dePend upon one man—if, because he was bear ing a bag of treason, all those surrounding him, being innocent and unoffending individuals were to be immolated along kith him—if this were to be al lowed to be sound constitutional doctrine, the people of this country would indeed be badly off—(Cheers). —ll Hunt should be brought in guilty of as foUl a treason as ever disgraced a British subject, it would be no justification of the conduct of the Magistracy ; and it he was on the Jury to try the grand constitu tional question between them and the People of Eng land, on his word, on his honour, on his conscience, on his oath, he should not consider it as such. For he would ask them, whether., if a Wretch, who like a 'Castles or an Oliver, would sacrifice his conscience and his GOD, should be present hatching treason in one pocket, and bearing a pardon for doing it in the other —nay, if those who were mean enough to employ such nefarious agents to transact such nefarious purposes, Were to stand on those hustings with them;—he would ask them, he repeated, whether that would sanction an attack being made upon those who were now pre sent in the peaceable discharge of their constitutional rights ?—(Leud cries of No, no.) The worthy Speaker, atter condemning in strong terms the blasphemous productions of the day, and asserting, in spite of all the- obloquy which had lately been pouted upon them, that the People c,f England were a loyal, a constitutional, and a peaceable People, took leave of the Meeting, by reminding thein, in the words of Blackstone, that " the.protection of the Liberties of Britain, was a duty which they owed to themselves, who enjoy it, to their ancestors who transmitted it down, and to their posterity, who would claim at their hand:, this, the best birthright and noblest inherit ance of mankind."—(Appla:fsc.) Mr. FYsHE PALMER, M.P. cornrnontcd at some length on the whole series of events which have lately occurred at Manchester, and particularly upon the efforts which he said that the Coroner obstruct the course of justice, In maki servations on the conduct of the Coroner. afraid of those prosecutions with which *threatened if he dared to make them ; the conduct of that Officer would be . brought forward in another place by al friend of his—(Cheers.) The Honor then concluded a very able speech, by follow i:lg ltcsolution :— '° this - .Niceties views with difz::s: .: . , . . . glisters. in having dismissed 'ATI 41016151 i Lrieti Lieutenancy of the West Ridinruf tae Count% af t er it for is other cause than his independent trappik - t of the.' • Rights of the People." Mr. H. MARSH, in a speech of cOnsictiiibie and eloquence, seconded the motion: Sir FRANCIS BURDETT then put the• who're or thi Resolutions, at once, to the Meeting, which were carried with only two dissentient voices. iff.s . `sodnai the two dissidents were discovered by the mnltitude; they expressed their discOntent by . it long'ind loud hiss, winch caused the two Gentlemen hi take them= •selves, with great rapidity, out of the Meeting. A part of the mob followed them ; and it appeared as if they were going to treat them rather rud Iy, Ain Mr. MARSH said a few words, which recalled them to their former station. The Resolutions were then again put and carried, but no dissentient voices were this time heard. .• • • • Mr. HALLETT moved, and the 'iniatien being Se conded by Dr. Mrreoamovas carried in the affirma tive, " That Sir Francis Burdett, be'Arieed to put into the hand of any Peer to whom he may think fit to apply, the Address of the Meeting to• the Prbace Regent, and to request him to present the said Ad: dress to his Royal Highness ie person, and to read it over to him when presented.. Mr. H. Mallen then proposedl Vote of Thanks CO !Sir Francis Burdett, for his ma years exertions in favour of the Rights of the People, for his -invaluable Letter to the Electors of Westminster on the events of the 16th of August, for, his }west and manly avowal of it to Lord Sidmouth, and fer his conduct in the Chair, that day., ' This Motion was serried,. amid .acclamations of three times three. - • . Sir .Fstaticis ButvciArr then ro t e to return thanks.: In taking leave of than, he could...not avoid expresse ing his gratificaiien• at teceiviag the approbation of so enlightened-a body cf melees those, inhabit:rats of Berkshire, whom)* then saw befor.e him. It would be. uppecessary, *ed he might add impolitic, after the ample mutable discuseion, which they ha., that day . heard, for him to detaiii them by attempting to.agid any thing 'of his Own ;tp •the 'afguttents which had 'been advanced, Cr• by attempting to illustrate those - 'points ,which had received sucb great elucidetion already. In all the sentiments contained in she Reso lutions and, in the Address, in every opinion ex- - pressed that day. by the Gentlemen who had ad. • dressed 'item, he full/ ind entirely concutred.— He begged their pardon ; there was one point men tioned by - the.Honourable Member for Reading, _with • which he could not altogether coincide; it was that pupposingady part Of ,those.trausactions which ' were deplored. by. the ..Meeting: were likely to be ' brought under the cognizAnce of a Jury, he would consent to withdraw the present Acldrest,• Ifey(gir Francis Burdett) would not do so; because there were points_ in the conduct of. Goveriarneet.far Itanseende ingin atrocity *those of their•inferior agents. There , were wounds inflicted on the Constitution, which could not be healed by the verdict of a Jury; there 'wes : in unprecedented use of the Royal nemea whicle could not be too loudly censured and deplored. They had made the Prince Regent .use language wleieli he never would have used Ontliis occasion, if left to the dictates of his own feelings; they bad made Rim lock with an unaltered eye on the blood of Englishmen, aye, and of Englishwomen .too, shed in a manner which, even if' it had been unavoidable, .would cer tainly have moved his sorrow and compassion. Viese were points which it was imposiible to alter or to mend by the verdict of a Jury, and the; efore for that:it:se it was requisite that sonic ulterior imibity-shoalti be instituted. Melancholy as the scene Of blood lite!Y transacted at Manchester was—melancholy too ax were the sufferings- of . the individuals maimed; ehounfird, and disfigured en that day, they all sunk into nothing when compared with thole of Constitution. Whieh . now lies bleeding at every pore, stabbed ro the-heart by those very Ministers who'ought to have defended' it from all wrong, and who, bx. failing to - do' Le; CM mitted, in Jiis opinion, treason to.their country.—.- How could he, whist on this subjeti;Totget that ce lebrated answer which they had advised the Prinee to make to the City 'of LOnden, and whichthat body _ (no ; he did not wish. to insult them, the Court of' Aldermen) had inserted on their Records as,a graci ous Answer? In that .Answer there were two re markable points . :-la. • The People were told, that they were quite ignorant of the steps which had been taken previous to the 16th of August: In his con science, he believed that such steps Had been'taken, and—it was a mere fancy of his own—,that commu nications had been made from, the Ministers to the . Magistrates. 'With those steps _he allowed that the, People were unacquainted, and to them he conceived' that allusion had been made. Then they were talc!, 'that regarding the matters with which they thought themselves acquainted, they laboured under great misapprehension.. They did sot for they thought that the Riot Act had been, read, but it . was not known that it had not ;, yet, though that circum stance would Make no difference in the guile of tite Magistrates, Ministers were so ignorant onthe sub-. ject, that they told their Prince it had been read.— As to the right of Petition, he fully agreed in what had fallen from a Learned Gentleman. It was'that on which thellirone rested ; it was as much the in terest of the Bing to support this inalienable right, as it was the interest of .the People that it should be Those were the most loyal whosaid the iaterests of the King and of the People were one ; whilst those were the disloyal Who would separate' and divide them by teaching one party to infringe' on the rights of the other. He said this as a mode rate man, though he, had been represented as a vio lent one— • 'ln mn.leration . placirg 01 his glory; • For Tut bias Whig, and Wltigs a Tory. • He cared not for these distiocz:ons ; he stood up for. the laws and he defied any man to say that he was mote loyal, or more attached to the Consthution, than he was. If he might appeal to 25 years of political life—if he might appeal to the same number. a t~ t • f IT • n iti h c i a s l 1 5 1 p . e u a l k a i i l l i g t — ha t t h i ou ie tl i ie sa c i o d u a ld t d n . ( t ) .. t , :... i r k . 11 lead t h m e a s d e ex . of f o s y si e b a l r; mer,tte was not fereta tim coal e r s rP , yo s il iall, he had no I:esitation, from the ich he had been knowledge whichlie had of the motives which had 1 ; especially as 'always actuated hint, to challenge any man to pro • .• • most certainly duce; he would not •say a single speech, but even r an honourable! a single sentiment, which did not designate a man • )urable Member who knew what was due to the King and to the , by moving the Laws. ~The riAbt of Petition was all-important:. it • - • was the only right which the Public at large cr. ta• cc:ldt:c: of Mt- eyed: Corporate Bodies, and men is the higher and . , - . ' • . • - • --,..:- . ---- . • - • .s. DA' A~ i~ '1 ~~ 11 r If I