Star. — London, England, 1809-05-02 00:00:00

•i';ie Resolution of the Hon. Gentleman was i n effect as JO; iow s ‘• ArraNed, That the Commisßioner‘ of Dutch Prizes appoin ted the re ar 1;95, taking advantiig e . of the neglect If Govern -; in: 0 : :I;iving irterfrrid by investigating their conduct, Lave their use, ard appropriated to their own purposes, several I "'‘ t • . n ev which from time to time they should hav e l o d fT d pariC of Ergland, and that thereby they have-been guilty lit/la:ion of pubic duty." STEPHENS defended the previous question. 0. 1 .(»iel ELLISON gave his support to the \-;cn.lment proposed by his Honourable Friend Nl, Thornton.) ORD made a few observations in reply. He ti; ,i t he Nvould persevere in taking the sense o f t h e Mouse cr. the Resolutions he had the honour to pro- t ' The House then divided, when, the motion for the question having been withdrawn, the origi ; iZsolution Avai negatived : Ayes 77.—Noes 10'2. Th e House again divided, the. word " omission" proposed instead of " neglect," as an amend r,r,°, can Mr. Thornton's amendment (as we under . ..d) when the numbers were : Ayes 98—Noes 78. .: - he Gallery being opened, the other Orders of the Da were disposed of, anti the House adjourned at half pat twelve. REFORM OF PARLIAMEAT. CROWN AND ANCHOR DINNER. Yesterday the Meeting of the Friends of Reform vs attended by above a thousand Gentlemen, who cited together. five the doors of the Great Room were thrown e ven, and the room was full in a very few minutes. Sverzl other Rooms were also thrown open for the reeepticn of the company who could not get admis sion into the Great Room. Sir FI:ANCIS BURDETT, Lord COCHRANE, Mr. WAR mr, and several of the Stewards, entered together, aad were received with very loud applauses. The first toast which was given after dinner was, The King, and the principles which seated his family on the throne." This toast was premised by the Chairman (Sir F. ButoErr) with an observation that the Sovereign was the person who was most deeply interested in the promotion of those measures, which they then assembled to promulgate. The toast eras drank witn loud applauses. _ _ The second toast was, " The People," and the " The Progress of Public Opinion," which were Liso drank with loud -applause. Sir FRANCIS BURDET 7 I then rose, and addressed the kering to the following effect : Gmtlemen—," Since I have had the honour of ' chosen Chairman to the very respectable meet l i - i.a; I now see assembled, it becomes my duty to open the business for which we are now met. It is impos saile that any subject of greater magnitnde or impor titae can be offered to your attention. It is of equal heportance for the security of the Throne, as for the ',elution of your liberties. The importance, the ab s law necessity of Parliamentary Reform, seems now to be so generally understood, by the enlightened part (4 the community, that I fear that it would. be an idle waste of your time, to endeavour, by any words of mine, to make that plainer to your view, which I am sure you see distinctly now, and which kis been the cause of your meeting here this day. If I feel any sort of didiculty in speaking on the subjitct et Parliamentary Reform, it is only from the awk wardness of endeavouring to prove by reasoning, t!!it which appears generally known and allowed. It is like endeavouring to prove by reasoning that day day, and night is night, to endeavour to prove !!.it the interests of the people would be best attended vt by Representatives of their own chusing. I liave however heard many gentlemen of large estates ex ;less doubts about the propriety of reform—it appears t me that this is particularly surprising, as they them would never be content that their own estates s:laild be managed by agents of any other person's selection. If a Committee of Stewards were to get together in London, and lay down laws to determine hew their estates w ere to be let out, the gentlemen would soon perceive the impropriety and absurdity o strangers managing their estates ; and yet they did tot sec the impropriety and absurdity of persons ma eaginie, not only the properties, but the liberties of engliind at their pleasure, who were not the chosen ,gents of the people, but persons appointed to that si tuation from corrupt influence. 4,lause. ) The whole case respecting Parliamentary Reform had been sated in 1793, by the society of " the Friedds of the iple," so plainly, so clearly, and simply, that it Was impossible to add much to that statement. It weared at that time, that one hundred and fifty three individuals returned an absolute majority of the Ifease of Commons. Nothing could be more evi due than the impropriety of committing all the great ;:terests of the nation to agents not chosen by them e..'ves, but by lob individuals. From this great im peipriety had proceeded the many evils with which tie nation was now afflicted. Many people, how ever, have now grown somewhat wiser from experi re and joined in our opinion,,,who were originally d astray by misrepresebtation and unfounded alarm. Tile corruption which had been brought to light by '.!.e persevering exertions of an individual (Colonel .adle) wlea now honours this company with his : , :e , ..nce—(l,outi applause)) had made a great change I:. ;he kyieions of some Gentlemen. The undaunted and persevering exertions of that Gentleman had brought to light matters which were of great import eece to be known, and have given him that weight and character in the country which he so well de- I . ves (4pidater6.--lie was not to be deterred from honourable pursuit either by numbers or by power; he first undertook the business, alone and unsupport ed. Many who before that time had been led away by false alarm, are now undeceived and convinced that they mistook the real ground of alarm. It was nO: a wholesome reform that they should have been larmed at, but those abuses to which they clung. It isenpossible tD retrace the history of the later years, vehout seeing how the ancient liberties of the people 0 this country had been infringed, and by the Parlia .nt, as it is now constituted. If we go back to did ee_hte which is now almost obsolete, Magna Charm, the Petition of Rights, which was only a deve • : - Prrwy.t of those principles which had been always in this country by our ancestors, we • .1d %:!e how oppotite the conduct of Parliament has in later years to all the principles which had el held dear by Englishmen, from the obtaining of Gr. at Charter down to the time of the Revolukon. A If we look at the Revolution, at the petition of Rights, and all those measures which placed the present Fa mily on the Throne, we find that the system which has been pursued in later times is as contrary to the principles which placed the present family on the throne, as it has been contrary to the best interests and genuinefeeling of the British nation. At the time of the Revolution, it was stipulated on the part of the people with William 111. (who accepted the Crown under this stipulation) that none of those grievances should exist of which the people now so justly com plain. Among the many abuses which our ancestors could not endure, they reckoned the standing army which was kept up by James 11. and which was one et the abuses, that led immediately to drive that unhappy Prince from the throne. Although I do consider our standing army as a force most dan gerous to the liberties of the people, and most weak and ineffectual as a means of defending the country from invasion, yet it has been so long interwoven with the system of our Government, that I feel al most ashamed to condemn it as an abuse, although it appeared to our forefathers as an abuse of such enormity as was sufficient to justify them in driving' King James and his family from the throne. The violation of the freedom of election was an offence' that appeared to our ancestors of great magnitude ; and yet we have now every day proofs of the free dom of election being so violated. We have seen lately a Minister of State (Lord Castlereagh) guilty of the shameful abase of his official patronage to in_ fluence the election of a Member of Parliament, and yet the House of Commons protected that criminal. If there was not any other argument necessary to use in favour of Parliamentary Reform, that single in stance would be sufficient (Certainly, certainly and Ica applause). All the evils we endure, all the grievances we suffer, and the oppressions which we are bound to witness, proceed from the want of a fair representa tion. It has been the perpetual practice of every Mi nister for many pars past to force his tools into the House as substitutes for the real representatives of the people (applause.) At the time that Lord Castle reagh's conduct was under consideratim of the House there were many persons who unblushingly said, that it would be a great hardship to punish a man for an offence that he committed by accident. These gentle men wished to describe Lord Castlereagh as an inno cent young man, who had accidentally become a dupe to an impostor. Others had represented, that it was a great mitigation of his offence, that the crime was not absolutely completed. This put him in mind of an epitaph that was written on old Chartres, a man notorious for his infamy as well as for his wealth and the high situations which he had filled. This man was at a very advanced period of his 1 ife tried and con demned for a rape. The point of the epitaph was, thathaving every day, of his life deserved to diefor what he did, he was at length condemned to death for what lie could not do. This case seemed to him strongly to apply to the case of Lord Castlereagh (4 laugh. ) After the variety of transactions of this sort in which he was engaged, he was at length brought to his trial and condemned by the public opinion, for a corrupt job which he was not able to complete. I felt considerable indignation at Ministers setting up this defence fief- a colleague, when I recollected that the poor Cornish tinman (Hamlin) was prosecuted and absolutely ruined for ofiering a bribe to Mr. Addington. The offence of offering a bribe was then reckoned most serious in an humble individual, but in a Minister of State it was said to be absolutely nothing, unless the bribe was taken and the transaction completed. If I were really to express my whole feeling upon the protection which Lord Castlereagh has met, I should be obliged to use words which would not be fit or pru dent for me to use in such an essembly. The House' of Commons, however, now stands in this aukward predicament ; they have in their records a Resolu tion of the year 1779 against those practices, and pledging the House to punish them when detected, and another of the present year declaring that they would not punish in a case where the guilt was con- • fessed. There is another grievance of which we have a right to complain. By the words of the Act of Settlement, " No person holding places, pensions, or emoluments under the Crown, should nave seats in the House of Commons." The reason of this was manifest, and if this provision in the Act of Settle-1 ment had been adhered to, most of the evils would have been avoided, of which the cottntry now com plained. It was also expressly stated and stipulated at'the Revolution, that this country should never go to war for the defence of his Majesty's foreign pos. seesions ; and yet the war in which we are at present , engaged, was principally with the view of saving his Majesty's foreign possessions, and the late Ninisters ; had even made the recovery of those possessions a I sine qua non isf peace. If you will take the trouble' of inquiring into the history of this &rough-monger faction (for I will not dignify it with the name of Government), you will find that they have brought back upon this country all those grievances and; abuses which our forefathers so manfully resisted.— It is no answer to the people to say, that it is their Parliament that has done all this. This makes the matter worse ; it is like that crime which was mentioned in the Bible, of seething the Lid in its mother's miM. This was turning to death that which was given to nourish and support liter It was the worst of poisons that was thus extracted from that' which was given as a remedy. (Loud zipplause). l We cannot forget the sacrifices which the country has made, and is now making ; we cannot forget, cr at least I cannot forget, the long, cruel, and oppressive imprisonments which innocent individuals have suf fered in this country front the iron hand of despotic power. How many innocent men have been immur ed for years in prisons, and never allowed the oppor- • tunity ufjostifyiseg their innocence by being brought to trial ! We have seen the seas covered with exiles from their country, and the shores polluted by blood in one part el the United Kingdom ( I mean Ireland), and when we turn our eyes at home, what has been our situation for many years? Have se not seen innocent men immured for many years in solitary dungeons, and afterwards deprived of redress at law against those who inflicted this cruel injury ? Have we not seen a Boroughtnon:7,cr Parliament giving indemnity to the persons who thus deprived their countrymen of their liberty ?—lt is now no question who were the guilty men, for the Ministers confessed their guilt in asking an • indemnity for them se lve s , whet. no indemnity was given to the unfortunate suf ferers. ( Loud applause.) Gentlemen, when I men tion these things, I must add, that 1 should not be in _ the least surprised If a similar sera was now commenc ed. I should not be in the least surprised if some alarm were now to be raised, and similar measures at tempted. The cause in which we are embarked is sufficient to alarm the Borough-mongers; and they will doubtless endeavour, by every misrepresentation, to excite a cry against the Friends of Reform. I firmly believe, that these persecuted persons of whom I have been speaking had no other object but .a fair Parlia mentary Reform, (app/auses), and the Borough mongers have the same interest and the same motives to persecute the Friends of Reform as they had then. It is enough, however, for the nation to be once duped by their artifices ; and if they attempt to play over again that wicked game, I hope that the good sense of this country will resist them with firmness and moderation. I am convinces that unless we have a Reform in Parliament, there will be nothing existing in the country which will deserve the name of free. dom. lam certain that this measure will be no less beneficial to the King upon his throne, than to the liberty and prosperity of the country. (App/auses.) His Majesty is now b oun d d own b y this faction of Borough-mongers—he cannot carry on his fair share of the Government without employing them as inter ' mediaries—he is thereby prevented from that first honour which the Conititution intended to repose in him. The profligate waste of the public money must also affect him in another manner. There is certainly no sum which he or his family could reasonably de mand from the nation that would not cheerfully be F iven, if it were not that the national wealth is wasted In consequence of the prevailing system of corruption. As to the foibles or follies of some of his family, we should be well disposed to shin our eyes against them, if we were but allowed our Constitution and our liber ties. We certainly cannot expect Princes to be all per fection, and we should be very ready to shew every in . dulgence to them, if we on the other hand were to be in dulged with our liberties and rights. There is one cir cumstance that I can mention with pleasure; the Prnice in whom the nation has thegreatest interest, has not been subject to the slightest suspicion in consequence of any of the late disclosures. If I were asked which of the fa mily I believed to possess most of the true spirit of an Englishman, I would say that prince (the Prince of Wales). Ido therefore really suppose, that it is not impossible but that persons in his situation may feel ; a common interest, and make a common cause with the people of the country. (L.ud Applauses.) We, • want no speculative plans, no new systems or novelties of any kind ; we only want to be put back again in the situation that the country was formerly placed with respect to its rights. We want to have some security in future against the recurrence of the abuses of which we now complain. This is the whole extent of my wishes. (290/auses.) I never wish to call ' forth the full vengeance of the country against any detected individn it ; for it is not with individuals, but with a corrupt system that lam at war. In the House of Commons it was alledged in favour of Lord Castle reagh, that if those who were to be his judges were J asked, if they were not themselves conscious of offen ces of this description ? they could not deny it. Now " I firmly believe that this is the case generally ; and it being the case, what hope can the country have, I except in.,representatives chosen in another manner, I and who shall be the real agents of the people ? (Loud Applauses.) As to what is called partial reform, I con-, I sider that as doing no manner of good. For example, Ithe Chancellor of the Exchequer is bringing in a Bill to prevent the trafficking in places (and these are the kind of things which are calledpartial reforms) ; and yet that same Minister, at the same time, was protecting Lord Castlereagh for the worst species of trafficking in places ; namely, the applying, not his own money, but his official patronage, for the purpose of corrupt, ing and polluting the national representation. —(41:- I plaus.•.)—l firmly believe. that none of those measures called partial reforms, would be of the slightest ser vice ; but that, on the contrary, they might remove us to a greater distance from the attainment of our wishes, a fair and just government. I remember to I have read a story of a noble Genoese of great wealth, who seeing that his country was burthened with an oppressive tax on salt, conceived the idea of accumu lating so much wealth as would purchase up this tax, and relieve his countrymen from the pressure of it. Having formed this resolution, be was content to pass his life in misery and privations of every sort ; he was content to live despised as a niggardly wretch ; but when he died, he left sufficient wealth to buy up from the Government those salt duties. It would be sup posed, that by this patriotism he had rendered great service to his country : but it was not so. The in j famous Government of that country soon renewed ' those taxes which he hadso bought up; and I ant firmly convinced,that the Government of this country would not act a whit better in similar circumstances. Against the system of a fair representation, a kind of sentiment had been expressed in the Upper House of Parliament, about temperate, rational, and moderate reforms. If this meant any thing short of giving the people their fair constitutional rights, he hoped the nation would reject such a system. (Applause.) Lord Grey, who was the person that was reported to have used this language, was said to have passed his censure on many of the friends of reform, a nd by hi s ra ti ona l and temperate, or moderate reform, be appeared to imply that other people were not rational, or temperate, or moderate. Lord Grey was once the great champion of reform ; certainly, we must hope he will not now be an enemy to it. The people of England have how ever shewn so much patience under their burdens, and I so much moderation, that I think Gentlemen that are disposed to pronounce lectures on moderation would do much better to address them to the oppressors of the people. It was proposed to Parliament some years ago, that a badge of honour should be given to those men who had brought up large families with out taking alms of the parish ; now 1 wish that some badge of infamy should be worn on the bosoms of those great men, who by direct and indirect means! not only ask but extort alms from every labourer in the country. (Loud applause.) Another abuse of which the country has a right to complain, is the in troduction of foreign soldiers for the defence of this • country. As to our regular army, I consider it a very weak and ineffectual defence against any inva der. I Should wish to see all classes of the commu nity, the gentry, the merchants, the tradesmen, and the labourers, organized and armed in the defence of the country. I should wish to see the 'plough and' the sword in the same hands (Loud applause.) This was the mode in which nations used to be formerly defended, and I am convinced Qur standing armies _. ~ {t . are both enormously expensive, and have a tendencr to enslave the country ; but that they are too weak to defend it. It was however beneath the heart and spi rit of Englishmen to seek defence from for.Ugn mer cenaries It was degrading and insulting to every British feeling to hear a German officer, a Baron sonr:tody or oilier, appointed to the cnmmsni of an English district. (It is shameful, from many per- sons.) When I look at the Noble DIM, my colleague BLord Cochrane) I am convinced th at t h e s pi r i t o f ritons is now as high as at any former period of our history. ( Very loud and long continual applaurer.)—lf I say no more of him, it is because I kauw him well, and that he is afraid of nothing but of hearing his own praises. (Applause:.) I therefore will not hurt his feelings by expressing those sentiments which I would otherwise be very happy to have an opportunity of expressing. He concluded by explaining what he had said at Westminster Hall respecting the Country Gentlemen, and declaring that he considered agri cultural pursuits highly becoming to the Gentry of the Country, but that they should always feel that it was of secondary importance, and that their great paramount duty was that which they owed to their country. After recapitulating many of the senti ments he had delivered in his speech, he concluded by giving the next toast, _ _ _ " — A speedy Reform in the Representation of tile People." Major CARTWRIGHT said he rose for the purpose or moving the Resolutions of the worthy Baronet, and the support of which was the great object of the Meet ing. It was not his intention to dilate upon their.me rits ; they must speak for themselves. They were in tended by hina who drew them up to constitute a continued chain of reasoning, appealing not to the passions but to the reason of the Assembly, and to the judgment of the Country Gentlemen. The Hon. Gentleman here read the Resolutions ; he wished to have them put, one by one—(A loud cry of No, no— all together—do'nt separate them.)—According to the unanimous desire of the Meeting, the Resolutions were then put all together, and carried nem. con. Resolved, I. That it is" the grand principle of the Constitutiert that the people shall have a share in the Government, by a just representation iu Parliament." 2. That the long duration of Parliaments greatly facilitates the corruption of the Mcmhers, and removes that wholesome check or controul on their conduct, a frequent recurrence to the opinions of their Constituents. 3. That in a Petition presented to the House of Commons on the 9th May 1793, it was offered.to be proved at the Bar," that 154 individuals did, by thttir own authority, appoint or prccure the return of 307 Members of that House," (exclusive of those from Scotland,) " who were thus enabled to decide all questions in thenanie of the whole people of Great Britain." 4. That in the Act (commonly called the Act of Settlement,) which placed the House of Brunswick on tho Throne of these Realms, it was asserted and recognised as the constitutional prin ciple, that no person who " has an office or place of profit under the King, or receives a pension from the Crown, shall be capable of se: ving as a Member of the House of Cotnmons." 5. That it appears by a Report laid on the Table of the House of Commons in June last, that 78 of its Mensbers are in the re gular reeeipt under the Crown of £178,994 a year. 6. That in 1782 it was declared by Mr. Pitt in the House of Commons that " 7 or 8 Members of that House were sent there by the Nabob of Arcot; and that a foreign State, in enmity to this country, might procure a party to act for it under the mask and character of Members of that House." 7. That such a state of representation is a national grievance. 8. That in every department of the State into which inquir.y bas been made, scandalous corruptions and abuses have been detected. 9. That the exclusion of the public voice from all influence in, and the consequent corruption of, the Governments of the Conti nental States, have been the causes of their subjugation. - 10. That so long as the people shall not be fairly represented, corruption will increase-r-our debts and taxes will accumulate-- our resources will be dissipated—the native energy of the people will be depressed—and the country deprived of its best defence against foreign toes. That,ll. to remedy the great and glaring evils of which we complain, it is not necessary to have recourse to theoretical specu lations, or dangerous experiments in Govenirment, but to recur to the principles handed dowu to us by the wisdom and virtue of our forefathers. 12. That the remedy is to be found, and to be found only in a full and fair representation of the people in the Commons House of Parliament ; a remedy equally necessary to Jhe safety of the Throne, and the happiness and independence of the country. 13. 1 hat we therefore recommend to every Town, City, and County to take the state of the representation into consideration, and urgently, but temperately, to apply to Parliament to adopt such measures as shall secure to the nation the reality and uses of representation. _ _ _ - Mr. MADDOCKS seconded the resolutions, and with great pleasure ; for in his conscience he believed that they contained the truth, the whole truth; and nothing but the truth. Having pledged himself in his place in the House of Commons to bring forward the question of Parliamentary Reform, no consideration should induce him to abandon his purpose. The ca lamities, as well of the present, as of former times, were attributable solely to the defective representation of the people ; on which subject, after the able speech that had already been delivered, he should deem it presumptuous •to expatiate. He congratulated the Meeting on the rising sense of the country in favour of Reform, for which they were certainly indebted to the perseverance and ability of Colonel Wardle. He was happy that from his long habitudes of. ac quaintance with Colonel \Vai dle, he could bear tes timony to his great merit in the execution of his duties in the district in which be resided. As a magistrate, as a man, as a master, and as a landed proprietor, his conduct was most exemplary. But the great and striking .feature in his character was that of mode ration, which bad rarely been equalled, and certainly never excelled. And he was sure that he had acquired the confidence of the sober and rational part of the community. He had attempted this morning to Wake out a short abstract of the ;. - .,tte of the representation in the House of Commons, but u;as unwilling to take up the time of the Meeting with the detail. (.4 load cry of Read! Read!) If its vas the pleasurepfthe 1 I Meeting that he should read the stateme n t, be cer tainly should comply with their wishes. There • were 26 burgage tenures, that were private proper sr, which returned 52 members ; the r e were 51 boroughs, the voters in each of which did not, in the average, exceed 50 in number ; which boroughs returned 100 . members ; 23 boroughs, in each of which the number of voters did net exceed 100, returned 45 members ; . 25 boroughs, in each of which the voters did not ex ceed 200, returned 56 members. At the end of the `list there were two unfortunate boroughs, the voters of which did not exceed 300, who returned four mem . bers ;- 257 members being precisely a majority of the leading members of 'the House of Commons - cf England, were returned by 11,075 voters: They had thus taken a view of numbers, from which he begged to divert their attention to the subject . of influence. In the year 1793,' it was' stated, that 71 Peers And the Treasury returned 126 Members. In the calcu lation of the Friends of the People. in 1793, nocaleu. lation could be taken of subsects !fit eventr, which have greatly altered the state and extent of illialUlaga