Star. — London, England, 1819-10-18 00:00:00

II I . i - 1 t. I' , `<, „ , CtMBERLAND COUNTY MEETING, 0(1.13. The Sheriff; T. SALKELD, Esq. opened the busi ness by stating, that the Meeting would hear the Re quisition read, by which it was called together. He trusted that every Gentleman would receive a patient hearing, however his opinions might differ from those of others; and that Gentlemen would confine them ,. selves closely to the object of the Meeting. The Under Sheriff then read the Requisition. WILFRID LAWSON, Esq. moved the Resolutions, which he prefaced with a short speech, in which he stated that care had been taken not to imitate that conduct which we blamed in others. The Resolu tions demanded only a Parliamentary inquiry into the conduct of Ministers. C. S. F ET HERSTONHAUGH, Esq. in seconding the motion, expressed his satisfaction that the Resolu tions were drawn up with moderation, and the re quisite attention in not prejudging a subject proper for l'arliamentary inquiry. " RESOLUTIONS. It was unanimously resolved—" Ist. That it is the undoubted right of the subject to hold Meetings for the purpose of consi dering any matter of public concernment, and of adopting such Resolutions thereon as to those assembled may seem meet, con sistently with the Constitution of the realm. " 2d. That the interference of the Executive Government (more especially by a military force) with this right, while it is exercised in a legal manner, is a gross violation of the Constitu tion, and an invasion of the most sacred privileges of the people. " 3d. That while we are resolved steadily to discountenance all acts of popular violence, as both criminal in themselves, and peculiarly mischievous to the interests of the people, we feel it one duty to maintain our right by law established, being firmly determined to oppose all encroachments upon the Constitution, by whomsoever they may be attempted, as alike destructive to the freedom, the peace, and the welfare of the country. " 4th. 1 hat the right of the subject to meet and deliberate upon public affairs, appears to Lave been violated in the late transactions at Manchester, as far 73 they have hitherto been made known to us, and that it is the more especially incumbent upon us to direct our attention towards %Pose evenu, inasmuch as they were also attended with the loss of life, and other grievous injury to a number of his N. ajesty's subjects. " .sth. That we have seen, with astonishment and deep regret, the approbation which his Royal Highness the Prince Regent has, to the manifest obstruction of the administration of justice, been advised by his Ministers to express, at a time when it was imposiible that the circumstances connected with those lament able transactions could hive been fully brought under his Royal Highness's consideration; and that we regard with equal concern, the extraordinary Answer which his Royal Highness has since been advised to returg to the representations of the first Corpo rate Body in the United Kingdom. " 6th. That, without pronouncing any opinion upon the ob jects of the Meeting at Manchester, or the manner in which it WAS assembled, we hold, that the circumstances attending its dispersion demand an immediate and ample investigation; and we therefore feel it our duty humbly to petition his R,oyal High ness the Prince Regent to a:.senible Parliament with as little de lay as possible, that a full, strict, and solemn inquiry may be in stituted into the whole matter, and that the wisdom of the Le gislature may be specially directed to consider the present di-tressed and alarming state of the Country. " 7th. That the Address, after it is signed, shall be transmitted to the Karl of Thanet, to be by him presented to his Royal Highness the Irince Regent. " sth. That the Members for the County of Cumberland be earnestly requested to support every measure in Parliament con nected with the above Resolutions." Mr. CURWEN—Of all the eventful transactions of a period the most eventful, the most important, is the late infringement of the right of Petition—a right co-existent with the very basis of the English Constitution. What, are the six Members sent to Parliament •by the County of Cumberland without the aid and assistance cf the People? I am positive, and I have closely observed the transactions of the last 25 years, that nothing but the increase of know ledge could have prevented the democratical pars of the commonwealth being borne down by the aris tocratical—the People, by increasing knowledge, have prevented despotism :—I say, then, it is but for the People to declare that the Constitution shall be ex ercised for the advantage of the People, and that .esseptial point will be effectually obtained. The eventful transaction at Manchester, the cause of our meeting here to-day, has forced itself on the general attention of the People; but where was the voice of the People when I, and the Honourable Gentlemen with whom I acted, forewarned you of the conse• quence of Ministerial profligacy? Why, then, that voice was silent, or only raised to brand us, the op posers of a wicked and unnecessary war, with the opprobrious term of Jacobin. Had the voice of the People been as powerfully and distinctly raised against that war, as it has been to prevent us being plunged into a war with Spain, we should have escaped our present perilous situation.. On that occasion the voice of the People, and I rejoice at it, stopped the career of the Minister. To come more immediately to the business of the day, I offer my tribute of approba tion to the Gentleman who has moved the Resolu tions, for the moderation of them. It ill becomes Britons to condemn any people without being heard in their defence. For. my part, had the subject re solved itself into a legal contest between the Magis trates of Manchester and the subject, I would have said—let the point at issue quietly await the determi nation of the law; but unfortunately it happens that the Ministers, interposing between those Magistrates and the People, prejudge the question, and not only give those Magistrates an acquittal, but the meed of praise. From the bottom of my soul, I hope that the horrors of the 16th of August have been exaggerated—that no Briton has been found so base as to Plunge his sword into the bosom of woman, or to slay the inno cent child! I pray to GOD this may be found to be an exaggeration; but lives have been lost, and an in quiry must be demanded. It is attempted to be said, for indeed it is scarcely credibly asserted, that the Riot Act was read previously to the slaughter. Be it so. What then ?—the Riot Act was intended for a very different purpose. That Act was the cape diegt of a time of great danger to the succession, and never meant to justify the use of military force, except when the civil power had been exerted and found inefficient for the protection of the public peace. But 0., this occasion, in the first instance, a military force is let loose on a mixed multitude of both sexes and of every age. These circumstances must have been known to Ministers, and whether the Manchester Magistrates acted with or without the connivance of Ministers, is almost immaterial, as the Ministers have iven them the sanction of their approbation? To form a proper estimate of these Ministers, we must connect these horrors with their green bag. Have ye forgot the bag full of plots?—plots conjured into the bag to destroy the liberties of the country. There Vas then an honest voice in the country. To stifle that voice was the bag filled with plots, and the li berties of the country suspended. Magna Charta, was put in abeyance---(Great applawe.) The late Speaker of the House of Commons has declared " that an avowal of the sale of seats in that Honourable House being as common as the sun at noon-day, would have made our ancestors' hair stand on end I" The People, encouraged in their constitutional exer tions by this honest avowal, began to raise their voice aloud against corruption ; to stifle that voice the Bag was filled, and all the bitter consequences of the suspension of the Constitution risked. However, an honest Jury negatived the Ministerial assertion of plots, and the Green Bag fell into contempt. I avow myself a Friend to the People,'and that I am for Re form—a Constitutional Reform ; not such a Reform as is preached to the People by designing men. The sufferings of the People have gained their attention to what otherwise they would not have listened.— Annual Parliaments, from the institution of which the People have been endeavoured to be taught to expect so much, would tend to make the Representa tive corrupt, by inducing him always to keep his eye on pleasing for the moment, instead of attending to the real interests of his country. For my part, - I have always been an enemy to corruption, and I as sert that it is a libel on the people of England to say that they can only be governed by corruption. To re turn to the Administration ; I say that they were either weak or wicked in suspending the Constitution. I saw the six men who were tried for plotting to overturn the Constitution of Great Britain—it was really laughable to think that a poor wretched man, who probably never had sixpence in his pocket, was charged with attempting to bribe the garrison of the Tower. I hope, however, that the people of England will defeat every other attempt at the suspension of the Constitution. I blame not the people for the apathy which they have latterly shewn to Constitu tional Reform ; but the Whigs, and myself amongst the rest, for not coming forward to head them ; we have no interest distinct from that of the People, and I trust that this Meeting will bring the People for ward in the line of their duty. I rejoice that the subject of our Meeting this day has been brought forward. It has been said that we are anticipating a verdict. No; if the voice of the People had not been expressed, the Ministers would not have been put on their trial ; a precedent would have been established, and the liberties of England destroyed. Now let me observe, that I do not approve of such large Meetings as that of Manchester; a single ebulli tion might have endangered the lives and properties of many individuals. GOD forbid that any difficulties should be thrown in the way of Public Meetings. Every man should raise his voice in his own district. This communication of thought is even prudent ; it gives an opportunity of relievingthe mind or thoughts which, when restrained by outward force, hurry men to acts of violence. I have again to observe, that it will be said, the object of the Meeting is to prejudge the question. But did not the haste with which the Prince Regent approved the conduct of the Man chester Magistrates skew a want of feeling for the People? I apply nothing to his Royal Highness, but to the Ministers, his advisers; I respect the Crown, and the office of the person who wears it ; hut when ,we pay .deference to the Crown, it is not a servile deference, but to a creature made for our use.— Had the Ministers paid a due deference to the dig nity of the Royal Family, would they have granted £lO,OOO a year to the Duke of York, for doing that which the greatest wretch in the kingdom would gladly do fur nothing? If the proceedings of this day have the effect of turning out such Ministers, I shall rejoice. But if a change of Administration take place, and the Whigs come into power, it is to be hoped that they will act for the People, and not, like the Ministers in power, create three millions of taxes, when, by economy, they might save half that sum in the collection of the taxes in existence. During 35 years I have acted with the Whigs, and if they do not disappoint the opinion which I have formed of them, I shall continue so to do while I am sent to Parliament. I support the Resolutions without any more blue, Gentlemen, than you should all have. The Ministers have no feeling for the People, and the sooner we get quit of them the better ; and if the Whigs, when in power, do not keep their promises with the People, the latter have my consent to drive them from power, and I will afford my assistance.— The distresses caused by the war are unexampled ; and I hesitate not to affirm, that he who supports them with patience is a greater hero than the Duke of Wellington. I exhort such among you as are suf fering under the privations occasioned by distress, to weigh well, when you retire, what you hear at this Meeting ; to then contrast it with the doctrines of yesterday (Monday, it is presumed); 'and if then you seriously prefer those doctrines, I shall be content to believe that there is some truth in them. The Gentry of England have been calumniously asserted to have no feeling for the People ; but I fear their situation can only be amended in the slow progress of time. The miseries of war have destroyed the markets for industry. All the nations of Europe suffer with us. They may'quickly emerge ; but we must long con tinue to suffer. I trust that nothing in the power of Parliament will be left undone to remove the distress under which the country groans. Mr. GRAHAM, the Member for Hull—After the eloquent and able Address of the tried friend of the People, my Honourable Friend, it is almost presump tion in me to offer an argument in defence of the Re solutions, but I am unwilling to give a silent assent, especially when I consider that this is the first oppor tunity which I have had of meeting the inhabitants of my native County. It is a delightful sight to see this County, hitherto bereft of all political importance, re suming its rank, and taking even the lead, in the in quiry Into the dreadful and portentous transactions' at Manchester ; this circumstance is even an allevia- don of these shocking transactions. Let us hope from this display of rising spirit, that all is not yet lost. The consideration which it is at present necessary to take of those transactions, is short and simple—it is merely, were the proceedings of the Manchester Meeting quiet?—and, if quiet, do they demand in quiry ? That the People have an undoubted right to meet, resolve, and remonstrate, will scarcely be dis puted ; and the only conditions with which they have to comply are these two .—the Meeting must be le gally convened, and kept in the peace. And these two conditions complied with, I hold the right of the People to meet in public to petition, address, resolve, and remonstrate, to belong to them by the Common Law of England, as well as to be assured to them by the Bill of Rights, and by the Act of Settlement. At Iteyolution our mecums claimed, demanded, land insisted upon certain privileges as their un doubted rights and privileges ; and king William ' (a patriot King) declared the privileges so claimed to be the ancient and undoubted rights of the People.— 'And in the Act of Settlement those privileges are again declared to be the birth-right of the people of England. Among those privileges so solemnly as shred are, Trial by Jury, the right of Petition, and the possession of arms for self-defence. Of these pri vileges it behoves us to be jealous of their being with drawn from us, aad zealous of their defence ; if we be bereft of one, the rest will be of no avail. Apply these observations to the assembly of the People at Manchester. The Meeting . was legally convened, and its object was legal—it was to Petition. The People afforded the strongest proof of their wish not to infringe on the law, by their having abandoned their intention of holding a prior Meeung when ad vised of its being convokFd for an illegal purpose.— And as the Meeting was legal,. so it was peaceable; not even a stone was thrown, not a window was broken. Whatever were the intentions of their leaders, wicked and artful men, there was no intention appa rent in the people to break the law. When they were peaceably met, they peaceably proceeded to the bu siness of the day ; and when thus employed under the protection of the law—a protection which if it be in the power of the Magistrate to withdraw, our liberties are extinguished for ever—the act of vio lence, into which we are now met to demand an inquiry, was committed. If there be any sufficient defence of this transaction, • I am ignorant of it ; I have seen none yet. I have, indeed, heard it con tended, that circumstances preceding the Meeting gave it a tincture of illegality ; these circumstances were the martial array in which the multitude came to the place of meeting, the banners which they carried, and, above all,-the secret training to arms.— Nothing has been shewn of the former two circum i stances in any degree illegal : the latter practice clearly is so ; but the identifying the people of the Manchester Meeting as those guilty of that illegal practice, has not been attempted, much less made out ; and we must all be aware, that if Magistrates are allowed to executesummary punishment for sup positious crimes, we permit the establishment of des potism. Had the apprehension of the ring-leader been the real object in view, that might easily have been executed before the Meeting took place. A Parliamentary inquiry is imperiously demanded into the fact of the sword of the Yeomanry being pre ferred to the staff of the Constable. The Courts be low are open to the redress of individual wrongs, but it is in Parliament that a National inquiry must be instituted into the National injury. The Minister of Police, for, Gentlemen, we have a Minister of Police, has.said no occasion for Inquicy eiists,And only five days after the transaction, when it was scarcely pos sible to have taken a view of the subject, he bestows on it his full approbation. Then let us demand Parliamentary Inquiry. I have always observed, that when people are unwilling to comply with your demand, the prOper time can never be found. The time is always either too soon or too late. Par liament will meet, but it will not be to enlarge the bondage of your liberties, but still closer to contract them. I believe it to be the intention of his Majesty's Ministers still farther to restrain the right of Peti tion, and the Liberty of the Press. It becomes the People of England to say the laws of England shall not be changed. If a sufficient case be made, out to ,suspend our Liberties, do not allow them to be de stroyed. Shall it be said we have received our Liber ties from our ancestors and have not handed them to. our children? May we remember' how these Liber ties were attained ;—by exertions in life and in death, in good report and evil report ; and shall, then, their degenerate children retire in the first moment of danger? A few words followed, which were rendered partly inaudible by the thunders of applause extorted from a then breathless audience. W. LANVSON, Esq. moved the following Address to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent : " we nts sweat nrcitxxss ozonce PRINCE OT WALL'S, 120TH? OF TIII UWIFLD SINGDOX, Tin 111,11131 X ADDILSIT OF THE NOBILITT, WINTRY, CLEILOY, AND FILIZUOLIOELS OF THE counts . or et:m isstates. " May it please your Royal Highness, " We, his Majesty s dutiful subjects, the Nobility, Gentry, Clergy, and Freeholders of the County of Cumberland, beg lenVt to approach your Royal Highness with feelings of unalterahht attachment to the free and happy Constitution of these reahni,' and of unshaken affection to the illustrious Family under whose reign it has so long been preserved unimpaired. " While we assure your Royal Highness of our steadiest re solution to discountenance, by every means in our power, ail proceedings which may endanrer the peace of the State; and while we repose the fullest confidence in the efficacy of the exist ing laws, if duly administered, to frustrate any designs that may be entertained of seeking a redress of grievances by Illegal courses, we feel ourselves compelled humbly to represent, that we have witnessed, with serious alarm, the late transactions at Manches ter, whereby. as far as at present appears, the most invaluable and the most unquestionable rights of the People have been brought into jeopardy, and the blood of many persons has been shed. " Abhorrert to all such proceedings, as your Royal High ness's nature must be, we have seen, with astonishment, the sen timents respecting therm which the Advisers of the Crown have conveyed through your Royal Hichness's sacred person • and we humbly pray that your Royal Highness may be graciously-pleased to asstmble the Parliament, for the purpose of instituting a full, I strict, and solemn inquiry into all that has pasted, and into the present distress. and alarming state of the Country. To this course alone we look for effectually presetving the peace of the Nation, and vindicating the purity of its happy Constitution." The Reverend EDWARD STANLEY seconded ,the Address, and supported the business of the d a y, in a speech f some length, and of great energy. The Reverend Gentleman stated, that when the Address was first proposed in Carlisle, it received his warm approbation, conceiving that so gross an act of via lence as that which was committed at Manchester on the 16th of August, if suffered to pass without Parliamentary inquiry, would be drawn into a pre cedent, and hand us down to ages yet unborn, as a degraded and degenerated race. But Mr. Stanley was happy to find, that substantial justice was likely to be obtained through the means of the Inquest at Oldham, and that, in despite of every legal and vexatious subterfuge thrown in the way of inquiry, enough has already transpired to shew the impro priety of the approbation given by the Ministers of the Crown to the transactions of that day, and of the rebuke to the Corporation of the first City in the Empire, put by these Ministers into the mouth of the Crown. Some people think that from this lamentable case some good may follow ; they hope for the dis , mission of his Majesty's Ministers. Mr. Stanley said, i that for his part he did not look so much to a change of men as of measures; at present, the Constitution is marching in double quick time to desPOtiao• Mr. Stanley next drew the attention of the NI to the men called Radical Reformers, unfu led on by blind guides to excessive demands. men do not consider that that Itefarm is th e which is the most practicable. 11, ma i d rot look with suspicion on their congregating fr uth t in such numbers. They might be compared t u crew sailing on a wrong tack, and if they d u nez about, he feared they would make a shipwreck • of the nation or of themselves. Mr. Stanley s would now return to the third party, more nu that either of the others—the body of tilt. whi He trusted this body would again give tu lle to public voice, and that they would practically enk what they had recommended in _ 4 , edur of every unnecessary expenditure ; and they m ust forget to reduce the Manchester Yeomanry.... 4 iterated shouts 9fapplause).—Mr. Stanley r e , u The Sovereign Power must be made as respecta: possible ; and something more than a chaage c r nisters must be effected. He certainly had not learned how the Address was to meet the l;, al Bence. Mr. Stanley then observed, that one 0 Members for the County was not be expected zt Meeting, but he had hoped for the presence Morpeth, had it been only to do the cafas able impression made at the last County Men Mr, Stanley concluded by moving, that the AO I be confided to the care of the Member for cathi the Member for l A'inchelsea, and the nctr'-lri Hull, now present (Messrs. Curwen, Broughzmo Graham). Mr. Cuewee rose again, and observed, that Stanley, in making his motion, had not, perhaps, his consideration that the Prince Regent wua 04i be approached by Commoners at a Levee, which . not likely to be held for a considerable time; but must desire that not a day—rot an Lour •houll necessarily intervene: this objection did not app'. Peers, as every Peer had a right to demand an ence. Mr. Curwen said he would propose a h who would have been lucre if he had not thought his presence might be construed into party motives, meant Lord Thanet, who, having a right to dea' an audience, and to offer his advice, Mr. Curl hoped that he would make known to the Prince] gent how much he was injuiing his chAracte.-.. that of the Crown, by the continuation of his Mr. STANLEY withdrew his motion, and sec, that of Mr. Curren. Mr. SAUL came forward, and made some oSsei tions on the absence of the County Mem; er, he moved, should be instructed to support a Pri mentary inquiry into the transactions at lai.cl;e:l Mr. GRAHAM came forward again, and r%::1 the absence of the County Members, whose du:: conceived it to be to attend to the call of ther stituents, and fully agreed with Mr. Saul's •, .1 tion.—Canied unanimously. Mr. BROUGHAM having moved the Thanks Meeting to the High Sheriff, for his calling ti!e ing, and for his conduct in the Chair, said, could not retire without addressing aver: - le: , on the subject of the Meeting.—The Learned b:-1 man said, that he would not occupy much C;:tt'd of the Meeting, but it was necessary to n06. - .:i! representation which had gone abroad of ::is placeman, and an enemy to Parliamentary lh in every shape. As for Reform, he had suri , every proposition Made in Parliament but the which he could not •honestly, and which he would, unless the convictions operating on should undergo such a change as would of his doing it without violence to his judiv,lll:n*, And as for his Pension, the pro.:ecds of he gave to the Penny Subscription, and that he Li‘l.7l out violence to his conscience, as the donatior. x: not increase the mischievous agency of that !..Ir.; Mr. Brougham referred his traducers to his N: mentary conduct, and added, that it was he either was, or ever had been a Plocema:!. Brougham then dwelt with much pleasure ea: native county taking the lead of all the cowles England in a business of such importance—it vz right fit to fill a Cumberland man with honest fdik If any man a few weeks ago bad been asked of the counties of England would first meet to n cuss a question likely to lead to the dismissal 01 Majesty's Ministers, would he have guessed CO land? Mr. Brougham having recommended to Meeting an attention to strictly legal measures in: prosecution of their objects, concluded with thz . ing the Meeting for the attention with which he:, been heard. Mr. CURWEN requested the attention of the. ing for a moment ; an arrant falsehood h.•l been tempted to be fastened on him, that he had beet negotiation with the Radicals to induce thus attend the County Meeting. The Honourable tieman alluded to some imprudent strictures in Tie Patriot of last week. It was necessary that he should notice invention, or else the author of it, who, for aught he knelt, on the hustings, might go home and circulate an Adr. falsehood. He would explain to the Meeting the minor transaction. He had been applied to to attend the ?fret' the Radicals, and stated to the Agent, through whom the cation was made, that if .Ite did attend, it would be for the pose of correcting their errors; but he advised that the 31- should not be held; it was held, and eventually Mr. Curs -I not attend. Mr. Curwen said, that he called Radial ft! Revolution, and he was glad the Meeting bad been ha 1 contemptibility skewed, that where there was one M3ll to the Constitution, there were ten friendly to it. The R.:,*l stated, that they would have no communion with the W sow, if their vows were those of honest men, they atcdtd have receded from an invitation which was given them f$ purpose of explaining the nature of their demands. No other Gentleman presenting himself, the Rice Sol declared that the Meeting was dissolved. A Requisition was presented to the 13oreash, - of Manchester, on Thursday last, requesting call a Public Meeting, to be held on the I.!d of • vember. This he refused, but it is fully eqectNi the Meeting.will nevertheless take place. The County of Durham has hastened to fo!!e,,. example of the Counties of York, Cuinbeihr,'• • ' Westmoreland. A Requisition, signed by t‘\ the most respectable Gentlemen in the CouiT•, last week presented to the SHERIFF, reqlli•-ti • to call a Meeting of the Nobility, Gent! the purpose of expressing their conviction tot t!c. cessity of a full enquiry taking place intoe of the late melancholy events at Manclie.yr,;., the Constitution and the Laws may be supported against whoever may have inv.: , ! The.SnEitsre has acceded to the requ:st, •;cl' Pointed the Meeting to be he ld ou Thur)Li.i, • • ow t 7