Star. — London, England, 1819-10-20 00:00:00

51NG, BERKS, P PROCEEDINGS AT 'ER. N of Reading was yes f that Borough, for the ation the late proceed nvened in consequence igned and presented to inst respectable inhabi 'dye o'clock, S(X) per whom were observed Aldermen STEPHENS r Members of the Cur pre.,ent, Mr. ryseti sn, Colonel Islawstunv, FYNEs, LETCHWORTH, (ri r espectability. Mr. I the Meeting. , commenced by calling !t- which speech of considerable .nted upon the state of t.:11 the Country was at of be denied, that there thousands, who were, ng hazardous, and he le plans of Political Re lied, that there was ano unerous one, which, go :ed by timidity, or what by self interest, seemed down, by all and every Forts that might be made is present system of Ga tely contended for keep eevcr notoriousl7 nncon corrupt. At this critical imperious duty of every attachment to the Laws untry, but, at the same Iderate, practicable, and ivledged existing abuses, r his sentiments, and in not be difficult to devise) band equally determine d cts, if carried into effect, iarchy and confusion, and mmon sense and common Ito uphold and perpetuate ;acy and corruption. No tering unction to his soul, ig concealment of his opi itrality, he would be able n safety : no, even though Iflict to go on, the issue ruin and desolation on one other. But if, upon some at, the real filends of the rf King, Lords, and Com. the same time, to see the is original purity, would renly shew themselves, he umber would be so appal- ' h there were, who had evil iopeless of success; those fanciful theories would be e views, and the advocates ion would be compelled to :e and of Truth. Such an ctive of another good effect :rrence of any such attacks ose which had been recently .eal of an intemperate Magi e both them and those who ded their measures, that the submit to such illegal ac erpetrated at Manchester , ht him to the business of the low the present opportunity making some remarks on d interesting subject. The .ered into a detail of what August, asserted the lega sition of the Meeting ; and vcia of sarcasm upon the he Reformers were said to ground. Be also described e Yeomanry on the People, c Magistrates ought to have led to do, on the supposition tumultuous and riotous. It Mr. Ethelstone had read the I read the Riot Act, he mum in his closet; and instead of Devotion into his hand, he ley all knew the manner in I the Riot Act to be read.— : forward and say, that Mr. in the manner prescribed by son to believe that there was ted him from reading it even sere was a range of Constables rye a communication between ouse in which the Magistrates is religious and his magisterial save warned the People of the were exposed ; but did he do ce it ? No, be retired into a toyed himself in laying snares d Heavens ! had the religious entirely on that day all the be that Gospel, which breathes in oodwill to all mankind? Had joins a man, if he be smitten the other ; if he be asked to go' ; if his coat be taken, to offer all these principles of brotherly from his mind, and only one his recollection, and that sen not to bring peace on the world, initencs . he recollected in order e it in its most strict and literal touching upon several other ; to touch upon others from a entiments of the Gentlemen pre saitl he would read the ltesolu mended to propose to them.— .s . ould second them, and if, when rson should wish to speak in op implored them to listen to that could put him Own by argu do it; but they ought not to de .adeavciering to put him down Nally Gentleman then read the following Resolutions, amid the most loud and gene ral cheering:— " 1. That it is the indubitable legal right of the iehebi tsnb d these realms to assemble publicly to discuss alleged gt en lett and to consider of the legal and constitutional means of obtain- an . I lag redress. " 2. That the Meeting at Manchester, on the 16th of August last being convened for the declared purptent • of considering of the propriety of adopting the most legal and effectual me ans of obtaining a Reform in the Commons House of Parliamen t; t ' a perfectly legal and constitutional Meeting; and as such, ent itled , so lung as it was peaceably conducted, to the sanction and p r tection of the Magistracy and other the Civil Authorities of the place. " 3. That there appears to us to be abundant evidence tha t, considering the immense multitu le of people assembled ' the Manchester Meeting was conducted with a most exemplary de grey, of peace, order, and decorum, until an armed force f '- (Dusty rode in among them, seized certain persons against whom warrants had been issued, and with the most wanton, unp yoked, and barbarous ferocity, dispersed the Meeting by indis. eriminately cutting, maiming, and trampling under foot, men, women, and children, so that sundry persons have since died from the injuries they received. " 4. That however greatly we may differ in opinion witk the persons who are instrumental in assembling such multitudes, as well upon the policy or propriety of so doing, as upon their avowed sentiments in regard to the extent to which they propose to carry Parliamentary Reform, still we view the dispersion of the Meeting at Manchester, by an armed force, with horror and indignation, not only on account of the wanton cruelties exer cised on the occasion, but as we look upon all attempts to sup press peaceable Meetings, legally convened to consider of grievances, as a high crime, a violation of the fundamental pri vileges of Englishmen, and treason against the Constitution. " 5. That the Ministers of the Crown, having with most in decent precipitation, advised• the Prince Regent to express his approbation of the sanguinary proceedings at Manchester; have thereby abused the trust reposed in them, and forfeited all claim to the confidence of the nation : and that their conduct 'warrants hope on our part, that his Royal Highness will speedily dis miss them from his Councils. " 6. That it is with mingled feelings of grief and dissatislith: tion, that we venture to express our apprehensions that the ordinary tribunals of this country are not open to afford redress against those who committed the violent outrages at Manchester, inasmuch as it appears to us that in certain proceedings which have taken place regarding those outrages before legal constituted authorities in the county of Lancaster, a disposition has been evinced to stifle inquiry, to reject proofs, and to screen the alleged culprits. " 7. That from the recent events at Manchester, from circum stances which occurred some short time since at a Public Meet ing in Smithfield; from the conduct of certain • Magistrates at Paisley, in Scotland ; and from other similar transactions, we feel ourselves fully justified in expressinr our suspicions and appre hensions, that a plan is systematically acted upon to irritate and provoke the People to be guilty of violence and outrage, in order to afford Ministers a pretence for the renewal of the Sedition Bills, the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, or some other , equally despotic and unconstitutional measures, and which, if I attempted, we hope and trust will be universally resisted by all legal ways and means whatever. " a. That a Petition, in conformity with the foregoing Rem. lotions, to be signed by such of the Electors of Reading as may agree thereto, shall be presented at the earliest opportunity by the Members of the Borough, to the Honourable the House of Commons, praying that a solemn, serious, and efficient inquiry may be instituted by the Honourable House, into the lamentable events which took place on the 16th of August last ; and we rely with the most perfect confidence that our Members will use their utmost endeavours to support the payer of such Petition." Colonel NEWBURY seconded the Resolutions. The wanton attack made by the Yeomanry Cavalry of Manchester, at the instigation of the Magistrates of Manchester, on a Meeting quietly assembled under the protection of the law, appeared to him to deserve reprobation, not merely as an act of cruelty, causing the maiming of some and the death of others, but as a dangerous wound on the liberty of the subject, and a violent inroad on the Constitution of the country. Nothing but a rigorous investigation into the cir cumstances which had provoked it could restore the country to tranquillity, or the Constitution to its purity. It was their duty, both as men and as Chris tians, to express their sorrow at the late melancholy transactions ; and in order to get an explanation of them, be trusted that they would Petition the House of Commons, and not the Crown, as recent events had fully proved that such Petitions never reached the Prince Regent's ear. The gallant Colonel con cluded by denouncing Ministers, if they were not the visers, as the alders and abettors of the late san guinary outrage—(Loud cheering). Mr. HENRY MARSH then came forward. He ob served, that from the earliest dawn of his reason he had always been accustomed to consider it to be an inalienable and an indisputable right of the People to meet for redress of grievances, and that, too, with out any restriction in point of numbers. There were, indeed, some who might object to Public Meetings, 'on the ground that they were calculated to impede the every-day business of life, and to counteract by their very violence the cause which they were in tended to support. This was not, however, the opi • nion of our ancestors ; if it had been so, where should we have been now ? In a state similar to that in which the subjects of the mantua-making Ferdinand of Spain are now unfortunately plunged—that Mo narch who had been restored by English money and English valour to a Throne, which he had not him selt courage to defend, in order that he might stain it with the blood of the most honourable and virtu ous of his subjects--(Cheers).—When our ancestors felt themselves aggrieved, they petitioned, addressed, remonstrated, fought, bled, and died for their fiber ties ; and dying bequeathed us this right of meeting together on all public matter s a s an heir-loom, to be preserved to our latest posterity, uncontaminated and unimpaired. But, say so me of our alarmists, the Meeting at Manchester assembled in . martial array, and wore a martial appearance. To bins it appeared . that these Manchester Magistrates had a very curious tactical eye. It was not many months ago, that the inhabitants of Reading had a similar Meeting with I l that at Manchester: the re were drums beating, coe - 11ours flying, and men in ranks; and yet, had th 'highly respectable Magistrate who then acted asthe Mayor of the Boroug h, followed the example of Manchester Magistrates, they would all have been surprised, though not agreeably. The Woolley Yeo manry, for whom, individually.and collectively, all of them had a respect, might some have come gallop-. in along the bridge, others down this street, and others down that street, till they had surrounded all the procession ; they might then have dashed into the midst of it, but after all they would soon have found that they had acted illegally—(Cheers and laughter). All of them, if not acquainted personally, at doughty least nd w ere acquainted by name, with the _ e renowne d Alderman Atkins, who deserved to b e.. k n ighted, or else baronighkid, on t o ry nerves, Which could smell fi re woac.chuenret of nobody bis olfadse Sala mantle: see smoke! Wheth er he was most of a sar mantle: or a phcanix ? whe ther he could endure re more easily than he could rise from his own ashes? was a point which he could not determin, and re- t ing which he did not m uch care. His thewith point to which he wished to sail the attention of the Meeting. There were two modes of doing every thing, and hit Lordship, who, even in the opinion cir his admirers, was not quite so wise as Solomon, nil• fortunately, generally chose the worst. At all very large Meetings of a mixed nature, some knights of the post, and knights of the pocket, must necessarily be present, and the least spark would naturally be blown into a flame sufficient to consume the City, by these worthy characters, in order to serve their own private purposes. The Meeting at Smithfield was a gsort of the which he had just described : a kw Military force was stationed in the neighbour hood of it; Mr. Harrison was arrested in the midst of it ; this was suspicious; he would not say that it was a trap ; but if it was, the Radicals had too much good sense to fall into it. The. ; -same game was to be played at Manchester; but there, Mr. Hunt had nearly spoiled all, by waiting on the Magistracy, and offering to surrender himself to their custody, if they had any charge against him—(Clieering).— The Magistrates, however, were not to be turned from their purpose ; they had determined upon hav ing a grand military spectacle ; there was to be a grand coup de main, followed by a grand coup de sabre, to amuse the Radicals. Every person knew of the disputes which exist in the manufacturing dis tricts between the masters and their men, and how naturally they must tend to stir up ill blood between them. Was it, then, either wise or humane to hound on the masters with fresh sharpened swords against their men, in order that they might imbue their hands in blood? With regard to this point, there could only be one opinion throughout the country : the Magistrates and Ministers might applaud them, but nobody else could. They did not even act with the courage of men, or the order of soldiers: it was ' proved at the Inquest, that their looks were pale ; dfis paleness of visage was a proof of their cowardice; it was also proved by the testimony of a man who had been at Waterloo, that they sat on their horses' like monkeys—this was no great proof of their ex cellence as cavaliers. Though the country viewed ikt standing army with the utmost jealousy, it was onlyjust to those who had defended the liberties and enhanced the glories of our country, to observe that these men had shewn themselves not only brave but generous. An officer of the Dragoons had repeat edly knocked up the swords of the Yeomanry, and exclaimed shame at their brutal ferocity. If his name were known at the Horse Guards, it might, indeed, impede his promotion, but it would remain hallowed in the respect and veneration of his countrymen. — After attributing the Prince Regent's applause of these outrages to his ignorance of the real state of the case, the worthy Gentleman proceeded to observe, that if his Majesty's Ministers intended this atrocity to serve as a prelude to the establishment of a mili tary police in this country—if they meant it as a de claration of their resolution to dragoon its inhabitants into slavery—if Lord Castlereagh was so infatuated with his friends of the Holy Alliance, as to wish to introduce their system of Government into this happy land, they must have perceived by this time that the blood spilt at Manchester is not one-hundredth part of what is necessary for their purpose; they must have seen that they will have to wade through the best blood of England to effect it; and must have reflected that, after all, they might be covered themselves with dismay, confusion, and destruction. It was an observation, he said, of the great Lord Bnrleigh, that England could never be ruined except by her Parlia ment; in which Sir Matthew Hale seemed to concur, as his words were—" As Parliament is the highest Court of the Nation, and one from which there is no appeal, if ever misgovernment falls upon it, the People will be left without any remedy whatsoever: — Was not this the case at present? Were they not ground down to the earth by an immoderate taxa tion ? Were they not so far degenerated from the purity of the Constitution as to see a seat in Parlia ment brought into the market and exposed to sale with the same publicity as any other vendible cora -1 modity ? Did their ancestors ever suppose that such a practice would be defended by a Minister of the Crown, on the principle that it was " as clear as the r sun at noon-day?" Was not this a misgovernment? He maintained that it was; and when he looked at the rotten Boroughs, he found the root of all the evil. There every person was loyal and. obedient to the powers that be ; there existed a close and disracefi union between the Parson and the Civic Magistracy. Was it not, indeed, shameful that men who took a solemn oath, that they were called by the Holy Ghost to the care of souls, should rise to the highest dignities in the Church by doing the dirty work of the Boroughmonger, whilst honour, and talent, and integrity, which disdained to stoop to such ignominy, were left to wither in the shade ? The Boroughmon- - Luring system shakes the Throne, pollutes the Altar, demoralizes the People, and destroys all those gene rous sentiments without which liberty is a mere name—(Loud cheering). Mr. TELFORD followed on the same side in an elo quent and argumentative speech. A discussion then took place in which it was pro posed to modify some terms in ace, Resolutions which we have inserted above, in order that die Petition `which was to be found ed on them might be signed by as many Electors as possible. The alterations, which were merely verbal, and did not affect the principles of the Resolutions, were agreed to without hesitation by Mr. Greene, the mover. In this discus sion, the Rev. Mr. Douglas, Mr. Fynes, and Mr. Greene, took part. The Resolutiobs were then put, seriatim, and each carried unanimously.. A Committee was then appointed -to draw up a .Petition to the House of Commons on the above Re solution, and Messrs. Greene, Marsh, Fynes, and Douglas, wer e appointed Members of it. Mr. Wastaii read a Petition to the Prince Resent, i which he proposed should be adopted as the Petition of that Meeting. Mr. MARSH seconded the proposal. It was then put and carried, that this Petition should be the Petition of the Meeting , and p resented to kis Royal_ Highness the Prince Regent, by Lord I Mr. FYSHZ PALMER.-.-AftET the of reason ing which had beep adduced that cl, after the elo quence which had been displayed, he confessed that 'he stood before them with greater hesitation than he had ever , felt before in their presence. The Bth anti' th Resolutions made, ft requisite for him to come forward in discharge of the duty which he owed his . constituents. lie could assure them of his readiness ►_ ~ ~ '• , • • - to present their Petition and to (lather their views on this important subject. In the absence of his ctds league, Mr. Shaw Ldevre, he thought himself jus tified in telling them, that from what he knew of that Gentleman, he also would use every eitertion to for , ward their cause. As far as he was personally concerned in it, he thought it more important than any which had ever been previously agitated within those walls ; it was of the most vital importance to the welfare of the Constitution, and the liberty of the subject. He agreed with them in the Res solu s tions which they had passed, because he was convinced that there was the very strongest necessity for supporting the Laws of England in all their dignity; for to what other cause, except our existing laws, could we attrib ute the peace and tranquillity which we had enjoyd for the last fifty years ?-- If we turned our eyes to the Continent, and to the despotic Governments, which were there established, we should find that every one of them, in turn, had been shaken to its centre, and had almost ceased to exist ; whereas we, during the same period, had suf fered no convulsion, and had scarcely had two occa sions to read the Riot Act—(Cheers). Was he not to attribute this to the respect which the whole of our population felt for the laws—to that confidence which all possessed of justice being done to them , when ever justice was their due--,to their knowledge that the seat of justice was uncontaminated, and that the same measure would be meted out to the poorest wretch and the most opulent Nobleman ?—(Cheers). It was true, that there were many timid persons in the country. He called upon them more particularly I to come forward in support of those Laws and that Constitution which had produced them so many blessings. The language which many of them held was this—" Things are bad, but still they will last my time, and I will not trouble myself to alter them." He could not approve the generosity of this senti ment: it was language highly improper for the pre sent period, when the sword had been drawn , and t he scabbard thrown away. The question was —Ar e we to have those laws by which we have been hith erto governed, or are we not ? Whichever way the qnestion was to be decided, an inquiry was necess a ry , and the sooner it was instituted the better : for it was alone that could appease the fermento( the country. The present struggle had been c alled a, dispute between the intellect and the sab re: he trusted, that as the intellect of the country had in creased so much of late years, that 'intellect would • prove more than a match for the sabre. S ome per ; sous seemed to doubt the power of Parliament to redress this grievance. What ! had they not the power to levy three millions of taxes , wh en the country was labouring under an almost intolerab le load of taxation ? Had they not the power to g rant ten thousand pounds a:year to the Duke of Yor k ; though, as an honest man, he must confes s his con viction, that but for Ministers, his Royal High ness would have refused to receive any salary for per forming a filial duty? Had they not t he p ower of 1 enacting the Foreign Enlistment Bill, against which the Nation petitioned? Had they power to ,do all this, and shall any person say that they ha ve not the power to redress our grievances, and to call t o j ustice the aggressors of the people's rights ? — (C heers. ) — If they had not this power , that misg overnment to which allusion had been made had already come u p on , them. Should they pass a Bill of' Indemity to pro iect the Magistrates of Manchester, and to hush up 1 all that had been said against them , then , too, he would willingly agree that there was misgo vernment 1 (Cheers.) He firmly believed that Parliam ent would redress the wrongs which had been inflicted —that they cwd impa rt ialo o rdernobdoultwdldeNvd J u r y ,' itby reverence. o ty complimentingthe wh caseo swho se decision e t o c i Ts b i ho e en Honourabletbroughththee wholemayboert foro mieunentmarony; employing a single constable, and for not having stationed a single dragoon in the neighbourhood.— ,He was happy to say, that the Mayor of Newcastle had acted in the same laudable way. He then moved the Thanks of the Meeting to the Mayor; and the Motion being seconded by Mr. Marsh, was passed unanimously. The MAYOR made his acknowledgments, and dis solved the Meeting. The.proceedings lasted from twelve till half-past four. Every thing was peaceabl e and orderl y . tul I A considerable number of the Inhabitants of the Parish of St. Martin in the Fields having had, their attention called to the present State of Public Affairs, by a printed paper left at their houses, purporting to be " The Declaration of the Vicar, Churchwardens, Vestrymen, and other Inhabitants of the Parish of St. Martin in the Fields, in the County of Middlesex," have considered, that upon such an occasion, it would have been but decorous in the Vicar, Churchwardens, and Vestrymen, previous to the adoption of that De claration, to have submitted the opinions contained in it to the consideration of the Inhabitants at large, and have therefore invited their fellow-parishioners to meet at Wigley's Rooms, Spring Gardens, to. morrow,.at twelve o'clock at noon, in order that they may. fully and fairly investigate the subject. The Reformers, it is asserted, are straining every nerve to bring about their long-meditated scheme of Simultaneous Meetings, throughout the Country be fore the meeting of Parliament. Delegates and Mis sionaries for this purpose have lately been in London from Glasgow, Paisley, Carlisle, Newcastle, Hull, Leeds, Halifax, Macc?esfield, Oldham, Preston, Black. burn, Leek (Potteries), Derby, Sheffield, Nottingham, Leicester, Coventry, Manchr tol, Norwich, Exeter, and fixed upon for the first attemi of November; after which, gularly once a fortnight, tmi of grievances. CORN-EXCHANGE, MARK have had very few arrivals 0 day, but a large quantity of mains over from that day% title was dull sale this mornin) except for that of the finest Monday's prices. Fine Barley but not on better terms than a r e scarcely any buyers for +' Fine fresh Oats and Beans In other articles they is no • Acclamm—Setarday evening ftwouth Wails at full speed, a n ;rose the street from the door of , knocked slows by the leaders, and A be was killed almost instantaneous', l ItMI I , i i IL~I 11 i• Vt .1 ,I ,;., , ..,. j; „ 1 ~ . ii, . 1. i . 1 4 1..4 .. -, ~.. , .: 1% 1 , „ i a ... j . 4 11 4 4 e • 4 If 1 3 Iti ~~ I s i I tester, Birmingham Bris- il- i Portsmouth. The day •1 / mpt of this kind is the Ist they propose . to meet re. ..1 mil they obtain a redress i i • ' 4 • K-LANE, OCT. 20.—W0 of any Grain since Mon- )f Wheat and Barley re- ' 1 y's sepply : the former 2r- .• ning, having no demand - I quality, w rich obtaieed Ley sold rather more freely, to on Monday ; and there 11 • the middling descriptior s. , ! 1 s support Monday's prices. • 1 ) alteration. as the Bath Mail was puska man imprudently attempted to . . , of the Bed Lion' when he was o and the coach pas ting over him, , ausly. it „1 .4 tf • - • 1~ 11 '~