Star. — London, England, 1809-09-16 00:00:00

GENERrIL JUBILEE. COMMON COUNCIL, SEP!•EMBER IS. • This day, in conseeteence of a Requisition addres sed to the Lord Mayor, sigued by a number of Al dermen and Common Councilmen of the City of London, a Special Court of Common Council was held in their H4l, to consider the propriety of holding a Jubilee in honour of his Majesty, on the day on which he enters into the 50th year of his reign. The LORD MAYOR stated, that Resolutions hav ing been agreed to by the principal merchants of the City of London, and by many of the public bodies throughout the kingdom, to celebrate with more than usual demonstrations of joy, the ensuing Anni versary of the Accession of his Majesty to the throne of these lingdoms, it had been thought proper, by many respectable Members of that Corporation, to address a Requisition to the Lord Mayor, for calling a Meeting of the Common Council to consider in what manner they should celebrate that happy event. Agreeably to a Requisition so addressed to him he had called the present Court. After some altercations, in which Mr. Sam. Dixon and Sir Wm. Curtis seemed to contest with each other the merit of bringing forward the proposition, Sir WM. CURTIS addressed the Lord Mayor. He was satisfied, that in rising to propose the celebration of the day on which his Majesty entered into the 50th year of his reign over these happy kingdoms, he did nothing that could be ungratifying to a single man in that Court. Whether of Whig or of Tory, he was convinced-there was not a man in this kingdom who would deny that his present Majesty's reign had been equally prosperous, if not more prosperous, than that of any other Sovereign who had ever reigned over us. In point of length, too, it was equalled only by the reigns of two of our Sovereigns for the last thou sand years. It must be gratifying to the people of this country to reflect, that one of these Sovereigns was Henry 111. justly denominated the Great, be cause he had restored to the people their liberties and laws ; and it must prove equally gratifying, that our present Sovereign had administered those laws with equal honour to himself, and advantage to the peo ple. The first act of his present Majesty's reign had been to declare the Judges independent, their ap pointments being for life, instead, as formerly, of de pending on the will of the Sovereign. This was an act of grace, becoming a great man, and a worthy and beloved King. In the time of Wilkes, too, how had he behaved ? He had put an end to General Warrants. That, too, was an act becoming a great Sovereign, solicitous only for his people's good. The battles of the Nile, of Trafalgar, of St. Vincent, our victories even in Spain, were sufficient proofs, that even in a military point of view, we could boast of as great achievements during the present reign, as during any which had preceded it. In such circum..• stances, he could not conceive, how it was possible for the first Corporation in the kingdom to forbear from evincing those feelings of joy and gratulation, which not only the length of the reign, but the auspicious consequences of it to these kingdoms seemed so eminently to call forth. It was, he con ceived, indispensible in them, on these accounts, to have a jubilee, and day of public rejoicing. Impres sed with these sentiments he had signed the requisi tion ; and his name standing first, he had now come forward to submit the proposition to that Court. He was sure every Gentleman in that Court, and in the country, would feel a disposition to gratify their So vereign ; and when they saw all the other countries in the world ruined, and their Sovereigns brought down, while our Sovereign alone boldly maintained himself, and, not only so, but reigned in the hearts of his people, they were naturally led to inquire what other Sovereign did so ? Their Sovereign, therefore, became the admiration not of themselves alone, but of every country in the world. He hoped that the Court and those Gentlemen who now heard him, would give him credit when he asserted, that in a question of this kind he felt no leaning to one side or to the other. He did not value it a farthing who was in or who %I/AS out, but it had always been his wish, and he should, he hoped, always continue so to honour his King. His bringing forward the present proposition therefore, he did assure them, did not pro ceed from anv political motive,but from what he felt to be an incumbent duty, and from a gratification of his own feelings, it being the impression on his mind that where the venerable 'character, who was the subject of the present motion, came under consideration, he could not do less. He was satisfied that the Court, and the great body of the people of this country, would agree in the propriety of his motion, and would girt to it the fullest effect. He should at present content himself with moving, " That this Court will celebrate the Anniversary of his Majesty's Accession to tl , e Throne, on the 25th of October next, at which time he commences the fiftieth year of his Reign over these Kingdoms." And he should then move that a Committee be appointed to consider of the best means of celebrating that event, and should report the same to the Court. Mr. Alderman SCIIOLEY seconded the first Reso tion, Mr. DIXON still endeavouring to press himself forward. The RECORDER having put the Resolution, and de manded a shew of hands, Mr. WAITMIAN expressed his surprise at the un usual hurry manifested on this occasion. It had hardly been his intention to have troubled the Court at all ; unquestionably he did not mean to have done so at the early hour at which he now addressed them, being anxious to have heard some arguments in support of the proposition now made to the Court. No argu ments, however, had been submitted in support of it, and though he knew that in opposing such a mo tion he should not only be liable to misrepresentation, hut should be certain to encounter it, he must dis charge his duty by declaring the reasons which pre., ven:ed him from concurring in the present motion.-- lie could not forbear from seeing that it was meant as a mere trick and deception ---as a manoeuvre to cover the errors of Administration, and the losses which the country bad lately encountered. This, in. deed, was the only rational ground he could figu re for submitting such a p ro p os i t i on. I f he submtted to the Court his reasons of dissent from the Jubilee purposed, it was not from any disinclination to do honour to his Sovereign, but becauie he was dragge d sward by the Honourable Baronet, in consequence a t he way in which he had introduced the business, . 0 4 which rendered it impossible for him (Mr. wai t h.. . • I man), feeling a: he al .eays did on such subjects, to be silent. He. had marked the contest betweenahe Worthy Barcnc' and the Honourable' Gentleman on the floor (Mr. S. Dixon), for the honour of bringing, forward the present proposition, and for the character for loyalty thence resulting. He had no doubt they were the two most loyal men in the country ; but though he had often observed how lamely the Hon: Gentleman had supported any measure which he thought proper to intrude on the Court, he really thought it would have been better for the worthy Al derman to have yielded to him on the present occa. sion, for, lame as that Honourable Gentleman had often been, he ( Mr. Waithman) thought it impossible. for him to have been so lame as the worthy Alder man had been. The worthy Alderman had told the Court in what state these countries were at the time his present Majesty ascended the Throne, but he had omitted to favour them with a view of their present situation. He would therefore permit him (Mr.l Waldman) to supply this deficiency. He was con &lent that lie possessed more loyalty than either the Worthy Baronet or the Honourable Gentleman op posite ; but he was also satisfied that the best way to 'sinew it, was to point out to his Majesty how he might with greater certainty preserve, or rather return to those principles by which he and his family were sea ted on the Throne. When the country was brought to such a situation that no man could contemplate it without dread and dismay, was it not the greatest proof we could adduce of love and loyalty, to ap- . proach the Throne, and point out the Councillors by whom it had been brought into such a situation ? He should take a cursory view of the reign of his Ma jesty, for the purpose of trying, whether it really afforded those grounds for joy and gratulation Which the worthy Alderman would have us suppose. In I his Majesty's speech to Parliament on his accession, be took a view of America, the East Indies, and the Continent of Europe, and congratulated us on our situation in respect to each, while, at the same time, perfect union and harmony prevailed at home.— Then Earl Chatham was at the helm of public affairs —and then, at the end of a most expensive war, our expenditure' was only seven millions, one million of which went to constitute a sinking fund ; yet we had now to Contrast with this an expenditure of seventy mil liens. The debt, even as it existed at the Accession of his Majesty, was esteemed by Blackstone to be so enormous, that he esteemed the continuance of it as almost inconsistent with a free Constitution ; what, however, were we to think of it now, when it was increased in a tenfold degree, subject to a correspond ing number of tax-gatherers, extortioners, and all such ? After his Majesty's Accession to the Throne only a single Sunday was suffered to intervene, when the Earl of Bute was sworn into the Privy Council.— Earl Chatham was then dismissed, and Bute became the great adviser and ruler in all things. From that moment there was erected, as had been justly stated by Lord Chatham, a power behind the Throne greater than the Throne itself ; and from that mo ment Lord Bute and Charles Jenkinson, had recom mended those measures which had disgraced the pre sent reign. The Worthy Alderman had talked of an act of grace and favour by his Majesty, in rendering the Judges independent of the Crown, by making their appointments for life. He understood that the King could do no wrong, therefore, it followed, that any pro per a cts were not to be esteemed as matters of grace from his Majesty. We did not depend on the private virtues of the Sovereign for the preservation of our liberties ; and, if the instance alluded to were to be regarded as a special act of royal grace, the portion of good to be produced by it might be collected from what soon after occurred, when that Court found itself called on to Address his Majesty, in the year 1770, to state that their applications for redress of sufferings yet remained unanswered ; and that the only Judge removeable by his Majesty had been dismissed for defending the Constitution, and the rights of the peo ple in Parliament. The Judge he alluded to, was the great Lord Camden, to whom, on the occasion, that Court presented the freedom of the Corporation in a gold box. There was another poi 1t to which the Worthy Alderman referred—though, whether to ap prove or disapprove of it he did not know. That ge neral warrants had been rendered illegal by his pre sent Majesty. Did the Worthy Baronet really mean to make this an act of his Majesty ? That his Minis ters did issue them was a fact ; that they were used with a view of crushing an individual, who whatever his character was of little consequence, had the merit of opposing them and doing them away. In crush ing this individual, Ministers also crushed the liberties of the country. He brought his action, and under the sanction of the same - Earl Camden, then Chief Justice Pratt, and of a Jury, general warrants were declared illegal. The Worthy Alderman, surely, was not incapable of distinguishing between the act of the Jury, and of the King. The Hon. Gentleman proceeded to read extracts from different Addresses of the Common Council to the King. In one Ad dress, dated in the year 1769, they state that after having insulted and defeated the law, the Parliament had now completed it by wresting from the people their last right—the right of election ; and that the people had now no resource left but in his Majesty. Every thing, they also state, is procured by money, and by the prostitution of honours and employments. In another address, in the year 1770, to which he had already referred, they state their grievances to be such a; they had never been even under Charles 1. or the dispensing power of James 11. There was a time when men ceased to be representatives, and that time they state to be now arrived. It had been complained of James the H. that the sittings of Parliament were interrupted because they were not subservient to his designs ; they had to complain that the sittings of their Parliament were not suspended because they were completely subservient. There had for years past been men who wished to monopolize a greater share of loyalty than belonged to them, and to allow none of it to others. They had lately had Mr. Chairman Reeves—now they had Mr. Bowles. Their loyalty, however, was built only on gratitude ; it amounted to nothing unless it was paid for—their object was a pension or emolument, no matter of what kind—a place for thertiselves, or their sons or brothers. It was therefore no matter of surprise to any man that they stepped forward, because their motives were seen. But the surprise was, that a set of honest men such as he saw around him should be deceived by persons of the kind he had, pointed out. If they wish ed to shew their loyalty, they would go to his Ma jesty with wholesome advice—they would advise him - to get better men, to follow better measures, and to 1 change this Forte system. It was the duty of the Csarrt to beware of such men, and to shew that the best way.to protect the King was to protect the prin ciples which seated his family on the Throne. He never saw a man of this description whom he did not ' find to be rotten at the core, and to have something selfish about him. Alluding to the Spanish patriots, to Holland, &c. he chewed that it had been the principle of onr Government to endeavour to bolster up the tyrannies of the ancient Governments of these countries, in consequence of which theirs and our efforts had failed, whereas had we given the people something to fight for, the result would have been very different. It appeared from a late state ment that a dear friend of the worthy Baronet's, Lord Castlereagh and his family, had in places and pensions from this country £36,000 per annum, while the people of the country were screwed to the utmost to pay the income and other taxes : and, by a calculation made, it appeared that the sum drawn by this man, who had been disgracing the country, and by his friends, since the year 1766, amounted at compound interest to upwards of three millions, being as much as would have carried on one of Queen Anne's wars. Yet the friends of Admini strations which had so abused the public resources, now came and asked us to make a jubilee in honour of the period during which these events had occur red. Could there be a greater insult than this, when by the American war we had been stripped of our territory, and now spent as much in one year as dur ing the whole of the war 1756 ? He should have thought that every. thing 'was going on well. Was it all a trick when the worthy Baronet and others told us, that Hanover, that Spain, &c. were all es sential to our very existence ? Or do they now think when all these are gone, that we can be secure with any peace we may be able to procure ? He had al ways been a friend to peace; but not to such a peace as at present, br for years might have been obtained. Any peace we could now expect must be a peace to be maintained at the expence of war. At the com mencement of this reign France was reduced ; we were in possession of America ; and though the war then concluded had been expensive, there was no grumbling. Now our territories were dismembered, and by a foolish war, with which we had no busi ness, we had seen France raised step by step to such a situation as never State before enjoyed. To cele brate such a reign, he contended, was not due to the Crown or to posterity, where there were nothing but the private virtues of the Sovereign to counterbalance the disasters which had been sustained. If the lives of our subjects were nothing ; if their relatives were not to be considered, let us look to the expence. Out of the 50 years of the present reign, 30 of them had been years of war and carnage ; and was this matter of rejoicing ? Gentlemen might have contracts— they might have loans, and it was fair they should enjoy them : But were others to be led away from consideration to this dreadful traffic ? These Gen tlemen were with every Administration, and deserted even Mr. Pitt when out of place. Parliament had not produced the resignation of the Duke of York, nor any other desirable object; these were only caus ed by apprehension of the clamours of the people.— Where was the man so constituted who could enjoy a day of mirth after the picture he had drawn ? What, however, did the Worthy Baronet propose T Did he wish for illuminations, when the people could not pay their assessed taxes ?—when in one parish alone 300 applications had been made to be excused paying them—when even in many instances the tax. gatherers themselves had been unable to carry 0n... He (Mr. Waithman) had no objection to an address oCcongratulation to his Majesty as full of loyalty as the Worthy Baronet could wish. But if the Worthy Baronet thought that nothing but turtle and venison would do, let him and his friends go to the Londow Tavern, and feast at their pleasure ; or let his Lord.' ship invite the Corporation to partake of the hospital'• lity of the Mansion-house. The expence of entertain. ing his Majesty at Guildhall on his accession, when wine might he las. or 16s. per dozen, he stated to be £6898. He also objected to the mode in which the Court had been called. The Corporation was the first body in the Metropolis, and should not have been dictated to by any one. He concluded by reading an amendment, which, however, he should not press. It went to congratulate his Majesty, but at the same time to warn him of the bad advice lie had been in the use of receiving. Mr. Draw( said, the motion before the Court did not bear the construction which the worthy Member (Mr. Waithman) had put upon it. The Motion merely was, that the Court would celebrate the ensu ing anniversary of his Majesty's accession ; and so far from pointing out how this ought to be done, it went on to refer it to a Committee of all the Aldermen and a Commoner from each ward present, to consider of the best means of doing it, and to report those means to the Court. The intentions of those who proposed the measure were simply to shew their loyalty and attachment to (notwithstanding all the frightful pic tures that had been drawn) the best Sovereign that ever sat on the throne of England. Shortly would arrive the fiftieth year of the reign of a Monarch who had not, in a single instance, deviated from the pro fessions with which he commenced that reign. He reminded the Court, in answer to some statements of the last Speaker, that if the National Debt had in creased in his Majesty's reign, the means of extin guishtng the debt had increased along with it ; and that the sum of no less than eight millions was an nually devoted to this purpose. He called upon every man, to contemplate the mighty events that convuls ed Europe to its centre; and when our situation was contrasted with the situation of our neighbours, was there no event to make them comfortable ? Could it do any good to depress the spirits of Englishmen ? If there was a country to be envied on earth, it was ours. It had been complained, that the King had removed a Lord Chancellor. Had not every Lord Chancellor that had ever existed, gone out and conic in as a matter of course ? The Judges were as free as men could possibly be. He thought the Court ought first to thank GOD, on the approaching anniversary, and next to congratulate the King. What besides they did, he cared nut. Mitch had been said about the expences of a dinner given by the City, at the King's accession. At this dinner, many Ladies and other visitors were present ? but these things were not at present before the Court. The question was, .will you celebrate the d ty? Mr, Jacirs thought t'ie mild and amiable virtues Ammo" ' • - lof our Sovereign would excite in the City sz.rne deiir ! of testifying the lave it bore him. He had nev er ur. ., duly exerted his prerogative, as the Tudors and Stewarts did, under The names of 11;p.rr ioney , a , l,i various other imposts. The Constitution 1 . V.:: •:: . pure as when he4rst commenced his reign.— li c was the patron of the arts and sciences; he 1141 d ; established an academy for the encouragement oftte former. All history proved, that i t was i n the the arts mo s t flourislie in m t ost e prosperous time* Oi* such reigns as 'Augustus Crsar, L ou i s X IV. and George 111. It was not only as the p atron G E the fine arts that the King had distinguish e d himself ; he had equally encouraged astronomy, chemistry, an,( ma. thematics, and was himself allowed to b e one of the best theoretical farmers that ever existed. The Kiag might be better contemplated as a man, a Christian. a kusband, and a father; in neither of Which rela. dons, had the breath of calumny ever touched hi m . —George the Third was an excellent private ci. ratter ; and he thought, that on this occasion, a n party considerations should be waved, and some. , thing should be done, to evince respect for p t l,, tz virtue. gi dermaonulCd. meetSbllT li wi d t i h d expect the : pr, h; any pre, sent Mr . A motion l w thought that no man could be inse ns ibl e to the mild laws which had distinguished his Maj esty's When we heard of revolutions a n d s ubiu arteiiogrns.; other countries, we had abundant cause to offer i ) .ur thanks to GOD, that it was not so w i t h us. sour prosperity might be estimated, by the ch aracter ou r metropolis bore on the Contine n t. Th e languaze there was, " give me a bill upon Lo n d on , and there's your money. " Mr. MAWMANT urged, that there had been but nil instances for a thousand years in which a Monarch had reigned 50 years ; and that as there was a prece. dent for the celebration of the 50th year of a Sove reign's reign, it would be invidious to pass over ti:e present occasion. He regretted that a variety of ar guments had been made use of which did not pres , . upon the subject before the Court. The Vs'in-thv Member thought the people of England more contes. a . io . tious for wars than the Mi n i sters , an d he was w r y for the spirit of his countrym en . H e t h oug h t it to't reply, er said aei d t t h er e cyc l's uena ss.hould n et Mr. y right to throw a general odi um on t h e measures of a whole con) lr with w e lao us a genT d As. s , a o ‘ i v nn theno r easonpn w dual who did not wish to misunderstand him, v, 1 :0 could suppose that he meant to reflect upon his ?h. jesty's conduct. The gentleman opposite (Mr.llixor) always connected his Majesty with his acts. The v - r -r -thy Member (Mr. W.) believed that never was there a better sovereign possessed of worse Ministers. He Fad no objection to a jubilee, if it were confined to the ceie. bratiou of his Majesty's accession by a dinner a: the Mansion-house ; but he did consider the present mtion to be intended as a public act to cover the disgraces of Ministers, whereas an address should be peesented from this Court, praying his Majesty to dismiss them, The worthy Member had it in contemplation to bring forward a statement of all public grievances, and he trusted he should express himself so as to convey no disloyally to his Sovereign, The public had seen what had been thrown out in other placer on this subject ; and he' could not doubt that the measure came from Government. Although Mr. Waithman could not .be surprised 'at any thing from the worthy Alderman opposite (C. Sniitli), who generally sided with the opposition, and supported Mr. Waithman's measures, yet he could not help noticing what had fallen from that Alderman to-day. If there was any one evil in the country, it was the increase of paper, which he thought such a blessing. The increase of our debt, and the increase of our paper, had been complained of by Hume, by Adam Smith, and by the best wri ters on the subject. Another worthy Member, (Mr. Dixon) had said, that if we had debts and taxes, we had also a sinking fund of eight millions per annum. Why—this of itself was an evil. Mr. Waithman thought the worthy Member was about to disclose a spriag or a mine, by which to pay the National Debt, and net these eight millions. We were taxed to the rate of 70 millions, and what consolation was it to be taxed eight millions more to liquidate our debt ? Mr. Waithman, among other observations, quoted the say ing of Lord Camden, that it was an opinion to which he should adhere to his dying day, that to tax America was tyranny. When the people were talked of, what could the people do ? Was it not the complaint of every Statesman, that the corruption of Ministers was the evil. Where the people depended upon a corrupt 'Parliament, it was the worst tyranny. Had the people any choice in their representatives ? Any Member et the Court, notwithstanding Mr. Curwen's Bill, could obtain a seat in Parliament for money. When Lori! North talked of the freedom of Parliament, and said that Birmingham or Manchester had as great a right to complain as America, Mr. Burke replied, that i; *as the worst way of defending his cause to shear the disgraceful parts of the Constitution. Parliame't bid, upon every occasion, supported every measure ti the Administration ; and, if the whole counui were to go up with addresses, they could not effect leatitutitin. If an idea were wished to be formed of the health of the State,' M. Waithman directed the eyes of the people to the work-houses. The nation was florid in the face, but sick at heart; or, as Mr. .Hume had expressed it, its head was too for its Body: The gentry of the country we;c L stroyed ; and a new monied aristocracy create; —He had known instances et great mercanti houses, who had been insolvent for years, paying th 2: money to Government which they owed to their crz ditors. Men in trade must conceal their losses, and put a good face upon things ; and then we were told we must give up a part to save the whole. Was :Lis no grievance ? The worthy Member concluded, by asking how we could compliment the Sovereign upon the security of the Throne to his Family ? Things might last his time, but who could insure them longer. I In what situation, too, were his Majesty's relatives on the Continent ? The worthy Member saw much mat ter for condolence, but none for congratulation. The Address of the City of London to his Majesty, on his accession, was then read by Mr. Waitlnan's desire. Mr. DIXON objected to reading such Addresses, without knowing for what purpose it was done. Mr. WAITIISIAN replied, that there were docu ments in the Court's books, which would strengt l ! en his arguments; and he wished them read for Oms purpose, i % w hich Alderman COATIS objected to the perusal, ■ ■