Star. — London, England, 1820-12-07 00:00:00

-• • , wPwr .!tor! lie hoped, preserve a just spirit of revenge ; for the existence of that spirit was necessary to excite theiel endeavours for the attainment of proper redress. Mi. sisters might calculate upon the forgiving disposition; of Englishmen, and if they did not so calculate, it was scarcely possible that they could have so long persevered in their system of misrule—in their stub born hostility to the principles of liberty and justice. But Englishmen could never forgive or forget the horrible atrocity, for condemning which it was now sought to punish Sr Francis Burdett. Such punish ment, therefore, if it were inflicted, must only serve to heighten the public indignation, which the recol lection of that atrocity could never fail to excite. Toe motion was put and carried with enthusiastic shouts of unanimity. Sir FRANCIS BURDETT here stood forward, and was saluted with loud and long continued cheers. Upon silence being obtained, the Honourable Baronet said, that he attended there in conformity with his duty, as a Representative of the People whom he had the ha tour to address, in order to carry into effect, by all the means in his power, whatever decision they Might think proper to pronounce upon the subjects to which the Requisition referred ; and upon such an eccasion, he should have thought it necessary to say only a few words, if it were not for the very flattering man ner in which the worthy Gentleman who had spoken last had thought proper to mention his name. It was quite unnecessary for him, at this time of day, to declare, that he was always proud of being one of the People of England—that, in his mind, indeed, that was a much higher distinction than any title within the reach of any human power to bestow— (Applause). But, if proud of this distinction at other times, if he were gratified in the reflection, that he belonged to a country always anxious for liberty, and ever ready ardently to struggle for that muse, his gratification must be heightened by the patriotic and public-spirited exhibition which his countrymen had recently presented, when the Queen had gone to. St. Paul's, for the purpose of returning thanks for the triumph which she had obtained over her enemies. And a complete triumph her Majesty had obtained, through the constitutional and manly exertions of the People of England. The People had, indeed, rescued this country from the disgrace which the Government, or the Ministers and their tools, had sought to eatail upon it, by the folly and wickedness of :heir measures; for when all the means, both con stitutional and unconstitutional, which were of late years generally supposed necessary, for the preserva tion of the public peace, were totally withdrawn, the late procession of the Queen presented the im posing spect.,cie of a People who could enjoy all the triumph .if success, and all the exultation of vic tory, without any ex?ression of violence or symp tom of disorder, who were capable of good govern ment, and incapable of bad conduct--(Applause). —But it ha, pity appeared, that such was "the cha racteristic f all the people in Europe, who had of late manifested their solicitude for l'inrty and justice, r i md iu whose movements the people of England very -7-naturally felt an anxious interest ; for, wherever the .. •stirridarcl of liberty was raised, the people of Eng lAncl could not be disinterested spectators.. They , .-, . ~, tiaerekote, must -. view, with peculiar pleasure, the :,,f)tmertions which were makin r ; in different quarters of *trop*, and especially in Spain, Portugal, arid : `)NaPlefp itiiitiabhsh the principles of freedom. Tht•se , . , principlei had, indeed, made such progress, that a 11; ~ Ithe tricks made use of at the outset of the French Re : • volution, must now be resorted to in vain ; for the 'time hid come , *hen it was obvious, that for the ..:1 taA. FeOple to be free,' it was sufficient ;ALA they willed .. it—(toad apilause).—With respect to time case of , the Queen, his seatiinents upon that subject were so • 'Well known, that he felt it unnecessary to repeat them ; it was not necessary for him to repeat what belied urged at the outset, against the proceedings which Ministers thought proper to institute with re gard to . the Queen ; nor could it be necessary for him to state to that Meeting, that her Majesty had come out of those proceedingi, in despite of all their rigour and their rancour, most completely acquitted. It was not necessary for him to say to that Meetihg, - .tfiat all the proofs adduced upon the recent investi • gation had failed in establishing anything with res- Tett to her Majesty, but that she was in the constant practice of benevolence, and that she was a woman - orinestintable virtues--( Great applause).—lt was not ciril.y, that her extraordinary magnanimity was proved " % lon this extraordinary trial, but that her hand was . , . • always " open as the day to melting charity." 01 ' ' Otis Character, indeed, her Majesty had presented • . '..intpie testimony , in every quarter of the world that she hfad visited. Still it was her fate to have her very good qualities perverted by her enemies..." ""`lren her virtues proved " holy traitorsio her."— •''''' icon such. testimony a s had been adduced by the 1 ,, t . • y reiecutOrs of, her Majesty , he would not hang a : . • • .410 g,. Put it had been alleged by some of these wit - 'nesses, that 'she was very affable and kind to her ser . vaeta, and by some it was observed, that she carried •" this affability too 'far, He, however, very widely dif ' ' reietd Worn such ohservers ; for in proportion as any `indivicinal vies exalted in rank or station, just in the same degree 'should he or she manifest kindness and Consideration towards those in dependent or humble condition—(Applause-This course was indeed the best mode of securing real respect for high station, and thus insuring its own stability. Such, therefore, he was glad to see, was the principle or feeling of the Queen; for it appeared that her solicitude for those about her • was such, that her Majesty on one occasion visited one of her servants who was afflicted with the plague. Now, if it so happened that she manifested this generous, perhaps thoughtless , mag . nanimity towards Bergami ' with regard to whom 1 she was falsely accesed—if the visit had been to him', instead of being to another member of her suite, • -what, he would ask, was the inference likely to be drawn from such a circumstance by the Attorney- General in the course of his speech 7--(Applause).— But would not such a visit be construed by some base and malignant minds into a conclusive evidence of the Queen's guilt ?—(.Applause).--The decision of such Minds could not, however, have any influence With the People, who so well understood by whom the 'King's mind had been abused, the Queen's cha racter slandered, and the public judgment imposed upon. The Ministers with whom this abominable system originated were now thoroughly compre hended, and the People felt, that if they were not peculiarly careful ) they would not only have to la- • • went the imposture practised upon diem, but to t bear the burthens which such imposture :threatened to bring in its - train. As to the King, no one could doubt the mischief that might be done to theism minds by the industry of what were called tale bearers, and that about a Court especially, such tale carriers were always to be found active wherever they could meet with willing . ears. No one could tell what injury such incendiaries might occasion— how they might aggravate dislike or inflame passion —or how far the King's feelings might be ahenited from the Queen, or his judgment misled, by the arti fice of these incendiaries. Many extenuation: might, indeed, be supposed for the King's conduct in the transaction which gave rise to this. Meeting ) bur all that had transpired upon the subject served to prase that his Ministers Ought to be hanged ! —(Applauss).— Whatever palliatives there might be for the King's conduct, there were none whatever for that of his advisers, as they had no passions to mislead them. They were bound by their official duty to consult, in a peculiar degree, the character of the Royal Family, the morality of the people, and the honour as well as the peace of the country, and therefore they could have avoided any proceeding inconsistent with those important objects. He was aware that Ministers professed to have brought forward this proceeding with great reluctance, and if so, the Public had their own verdict against themselves : for it was incum bent upon them to withstand such a measure for the honour of the Crown and for the satisfaction of the People ; and if unwilling agents in the transaction, no Ministers, since the Revolution, had done any thing more loudly calling for impeachment ! —(Ap please). If, on the other hand, it was an act of their own ; if Ministers were the advisers and willing agents of this prosecution, they had committed an excess of folly and of wickedness, for which they in curred the most serious responsibility. But whether these Ministers were willing or unwilling agents in the case, the country would, he feared, be called upon to pay the expense belonging to it. For his own part, however, he should protest against the pay ment of one single shilling from the nearly•exhausted pockets of' the people, to defray any expense incur red by such foolish and mischievous proceedings. Of the Address and Petition which had been adopted by the Meeting, he fully approved, from a hope that they would effect some practical step towards a prac tical remedy for the great evils of which the country had reason to complain. For chile the present Mi nisters remained in power, it was quite obvious that no remedy could be obtained for the various mis chiefs which their counsels had created; but the feel ing-was 'universal, except amongst their own crea tures, Or amongst those who collected or fed upon the taxes, that those Ministers were not worthy to guide the counsels of Government. The voice of the country should then be loudly raised for the expres sion of this feeling, and for the ptoductlon.of a change of system, to which the removal of these Ministers, who had disturbed the peace of the country, and risked the stability of the Throne, was a most essential' preliminary --(Loa d applause)--Flaring lived much of late in the country, he was ena bled to say, that such was the general impression of the People. He had lately attended, by invi tation, at a popular dinner at . I..eicester; where he had never been at a popular assembly before, and there he had had an opportunity of judging of the senti ments of the people; and there, where political meet ings or ex nessioas of public opinion had' seldom taken place before, he witnessed such an enthusiasm of public spirit as could scarcely be exceeded, even in this great and public-spirited city. But the pub lic feeling was the same in every quarter that he c.,utu tie.tr of, the people being universally, unani mott,ly, and Ardently anxious for the removal of Mi nisters, fur the redress of grievances, and for the Reform of Parliameat. The friends of liberty and the enemies of corruption had, therefore, only to make a long pull for the attainment of a complete Reform, and he hoped the example of this day would , serve to give an impulse to the country. Mr. Honnouse came forward amidst the applause of the Meeting, to return thanks for the honour which they had conferred upon him. He trusted that, since he had the honour of representing the City of %Westminster, he had not failed, to the ut most of his humble abilities, to make good the pledge which he had first given them when he of fered himself as a candidate for their suffrages.— In the last great question which had occupied so much of the public attention, and in which her Ma jesty and the People had obtained so glorious a triumph, be had felt it his duty to take a prominent part, for he did not consider it to be merely the cause of the Queea for which they were contending, but more peculiarly the cause of the People—(Ap ylaust)—the cause of those with whom ha was con nected, and in his connexion with whom he felt, in common with his Honourable colleague, a prouder satisfaction than in any honour and dignity which it was in the power of the Crown to bestow--(Cheers). The Electors of Westminster.had congratulated her Majesty on her return to this country, and since that period her Majesty had shewn with what justice they ' congratulated her upon having taken that decisive step. In spite of every effort which had been made i . not only by the Powers of one great Empire, but by , that conspiracy of Monarchs, of which the apparent Object was to condemn the whole civilized world to slavery, in spite of all the influence which had been exerted against her, the support of the People, aided by her own unconquered mind, had enabled her to triumph over her persecutors, and they were now met to congratulate her upon her triumph over that tremendous engine, which had been employed to crush 'the lives, liberty, and property of Englishmen —(Load cheering).—Parliament was the engine *hid) the Ministers of the Crown, for the sake of preserving their places, and saving themselves, had always brought forward, when a work of peculiar atrocity was to be performed. They were assembled here to convince her Majesty of the gratitude which they felt towards her, for the glorious part which she had taken in the late proceedings ; to convince the world that she was indee - d a Queen, not only of grace and favour, as she had been styled in the House of Commons, but of the affections of the People of England--(Loog aid continued applause), It was not has intention to occupy the time of the Meeting, as he was aware that there were many other Gentlemen who were desirous of addressing them.— He would only say; theiefore, that unless the people of England came forward to demand, rot only th dismissal, but the impeachment-moot only_the im peachment, but the pun i s hment of those who ba d heaped such multifariolisevils upon them, work would be but half done—{Load oAeert).--Letnot the I people deceive themselves ; let them not believe, that if they waited till Parliament meet two Months hence, some means would not be found of tricking the peo ple out of their justdemands, for the punishment of those whom the united voice of the people of England pronounced to be the only malefactors. Let them recollect the conduct of Parliament upon the occa sion of the atrocious massacre, which took place some what more than a year ago. After Meetings had been held in every County and Parish theoughout the Kingdom ; after the table of the House of Commons had been loaded with Petitions, and the King addressed from every place of any conside ration in the Country, what did Parliament do?— Did they redress any one of the wrongs? did they remedy any one of the grievances of the People?— (Cries of " No, no, they did not.") All that Parlia ment did was as much as in them lay to confirm every grievance, to silence every complaint, and punish, not those who were the cause of our suffer ings, but those who ventured to complain—(Ap plattse, and cries of indignation). Not only did they refuse to listen to the complaints of the People, but, as his Honourable Friend near him (Mr. Bennet) re minded him, instead of inquiring into those griev ances—initeacrof inquiring in what manner the lives of the People had been sacrificed, and their liberties infringed, they proceeded to burthen them with six more restrictions upon their liberties, and to take away every possible chance of future complaint. These events were of so recent a date, that they could not but feel convinced, that if Parliament met again under the sanction of the present Administration, not only nothing would be done for the People, but everything would be attempted against them. His own conviction was, that the assembling of Parlis ment would give another death blow to their rights and liberties. The short time he had been in Parlia ment had confirmed all the previous opinions which he had formed of the character and conduct of that Assembly; and he. trusted they would never forget, that the sum of all their prayers and petitions should be to obtain that Reform which could alone give in demnity for the past, and security for the future. Mr. GARDINIER moved, That the Address by this Meeting be signed by the High -Bailiff, on behalf of the Meeting, and presented by him to her Majesty. The motion was carried unanimously. The Thanks of the Meeting were then voted to the Hon. H. G. Bennet, R. Gordon, Esq. E. Ellice, Esq. , and Sir Gerard Noel. - The Hon. H. G. BENNET, in returning thanks, said he was at all times most anxious to meet the People, and never more so than on the present occasion, which afforded him an opportunity of congratulating his countrymen upon the noble and manly stand they had made, not only in defence of a woman, and that woman a Queen, but in defence of their own riglits and privileges, which would have received a fatal Ile* if the Bill of Pains and - Penalties had been suf fered to pass. He said, if it had been suffered to pass, for he.believed that if Ministers bad had the temerity to press the measure through Parliament, the People of this country would not, have permitted it to be carried into effect, and the attempt would have raised such a convulsion as would have defeated-the unjust designs of Ministers, and secured the liberties of the. People. As to his own opinion of the conduct of the Queen, he trusted that the part he had taken from the very outset of the proceedings against her Majesty, was in the recollection of the Meeting. He was the first to raise his voice in Parliament against the bribe which had been offered to her on the one hand, and the menace which had been held out to her on the other. He was the first to protest against a proceeding which was, not only an insult to the Queen, but an in sult and indignity to the People of England—(Cheers). What was the dilemma in which those scourges of the country, his Majesty's present Ministers, had placed themselves ? If they believed one thousandth part of the evidence which the legal advisers of the Crown, to their own disgrace, and to the disgust and indignation of the country, bad vomited forth against her Majesty—if, believing this, they dared to com promise the dignity of the Crown, and waste tbe pub lic resources by offering to recognise her as Queen, and to purchase her absence by a bribe of £50,000 a-year, then they deserved to be impeached ; if, on the other hand, they did not believe the charges, how dared they bring forward such a measure?- 7 -(Cheers). He defied them to get out of this dilemma ; it was this dilemma which weighed them down and op pressed them, not, indeed, with a svnse of shame, but with that guilty consciousness which profligacy feels at its own detection. Looking at the calamities of which these men were the authors, when confusion, distress, and dismay pervaded every part of the em pire, and recollecting, as the people had teo much cause to remember, that their administration had been a series of continued aggressions against the freedom, the commercial prosperity, and the domes tic happiness of Englishmen, it was the duty of every man who valued his country, and who had any re rd for his own family and his own home , to come forward and rescue the nation from the hands of men, who, by abusing the confidence which had been reposed in them, had acted as traitors both to the Crown and the Country—(Continued applause). Having said thus much, he was confident that so far from incurring the censure of the Meeting, he should receive their applause when he declared boldly and broadly on this occasion, as he had done on all others, that there were some passages in the Address to the Queen to which he could not assent. He had said enough, however, to convince them that there was no part of the Petition, which Went to arraign the conduct of the present Ministers, which did not meet with his entire concurrence. Of their conduct, no man who reflected upon the proud state of England twenty years ago, and the state to which they had reduced it now, could entertain a doubt. Melan *holy, indeed, were the reflections which such a - corn parison was calculated to excite, and we Might well say to Ministersi—this is your work ; these calami- Aies you and your subservient tool,- the Parliiment, have brought upon the country ; congratulate_your selves upon the ruin you have made, for. it is all the labour of your heads, and the sweat. of your brow, and you have succeeded to your heart% content in reducing this once flourishing country to such a state, that those who knew it twenty years ago can scarcely believe it to be the same country 'With respect to that Oft of the Petition which prayed his Majesty t o dismiss hit Ministers, he wished to say a few wc r ., He was aware that it was commonly impu:ed to men in public stations, that they were only x:ous to het rid of one set of Ministers, in order that they migh t themselves ..ccupy their places. He stout, Oily ob• serve, with reference to such an imputation, Ilia! i n the present state of the country, he did not chit kit possible to inflict a greater calamity up , any ma : ,- ('than to make him Minister. He would supp e t h e Man so elevated to be a man of laudable and ju , t ambition, anxious to do all the good that c effected for his country, of pure and h. 1.- titirbie i n . • tendons, of inflexible integrity, aua t.f j t, s e d, constitutional views; and yet, with all thee able circumstances, such was the piesent state f country, that his bitterest enenly could scarcely wi•h him a worse . sitnation. His would be no b.-sr of rrwls, as Lord -Castlereagh had said, to repair an OA wrongs, to remedy all the grievances, of which ;re present Ministers were the anchors—to restore co:1- fidence where all confidence hal been destroyed, to bring back tranquillity an,' domestic security, wlere the bonds of social happiaess had been torn asun.'er, to re-establish content wher e the seeds of dist-01 - 2:A had been sown, and sutfe;ed to 3 ii:Cll to 73 WAD this was a tas:c. in which it was scarcely pr for any new Admin- 1.4 io t to c..cceed, and ! e feared that more wont] be expected from their than it was pose le for human ablit , . to pert(); in.— He tru.ted, however, that, un er the preseut stances of the country, no public man would tin.ler• take to repair, as far as was practicable, the lavagy: which the present Ministers had made, without he would not say, a pledge of his intentions to early intoefFect a Reform in Parliament, but without makio , ' a clear and distinct statement of what he could, ar.:l what he was willing to effect. Unless he did 'hat, t!:.. People of England would not give him their support. (Appiause).-All the inflilence aribi. , efrom Church patronage, the support of State paupers rat ,i.e Cu: side, and of pensioners on tlic other—the immense in fluence arising flO3l the Taxes, the bate collection of which cost as much as I.IIC whole 3311411.111 t to ti.e Re venue at the beginning of die late reign—all this enor moui, influence would avail him nothing, unless he were backed and supp,rted by :he confidence of tile People. That confidence could only be oht.ti•ied by the honest discharge of his public duty, and by a sir.. cere desire for the amelioration of public morals which might prevent the recurrence of those heart rending exhibitions which every month outraged the feelings of 1: Imanity, and reflected disgrace upon the character of the country. He again expret:sei his conviction, that no man could obtain the confidence of the People without giving a distinct pledge of his intention to redress the grievances under which the country labottred, and concluded by thanking the . Meeting for the attention with ss Inch .they had heard him.. He retired amidst the applauses of the Meeting. Mr. BENBOW moved the I.llow in:!, Resolution : " That this Meeting has heard with pectoi.!: . satisfaction the declarations-of Sir Francis Burdett, Bart. oral John Cam Hob house, Eiir of he propriety and necessity - of impeacning his Majesty's Ministers, for their unconstir utioilal and illegA pro ceedings against the Queen, and 'also for the atrocious of the constitutional rigb,s of the subject, wh::h has long th&- ractetised their counsirls and measures ; and that this Mertir./, feeling the greatest confidence in the zeal, pt..rceverstice,ilkiti•try and talents of their Representatives, do hereby ,r hat Sir Francis. Burdett, Bart. and John Cam II :bh-use, Esq. un dertake, in the name and on behalf of the Peoele or to move and conduct an impeachment of the Ministers of Crown, and that the other Members of Parliament now presect be requested to support the same." Sir FRANCIB BURDETT trusted that the Meetint: would not adopt such Resolution as this upon the spur of the moment. The promiry of impeaching his Majesty's Ministers was one thin z ; the necessity of doing so was another. There was another cons deration of great importance, which the persons with whom this Resolution had originated appeared to have overlooked—namely, the propriety of doing the thing effectually. They had not considered the means lof the present Meeting to carry the Resolution into effect, or the means and powers of the pet-sons who were instructed to propose such a measure. This was not time and place for such a Resolution. He sup posed no man would doubt his (Sir F. Burdett's) rea diness to lend all his assistance to obtain justice for the country, and an inquiry into that long course cf maladministration under which the people had la boured. He trusted the people of Westminster wou:d give him credit for being at all times ready to use his best exertions in' the public cause; and, at the same time, be felt persuaded that they would text adopt a Resolution of this kind at such a tithe wi:h out reflection, and call upon him to undertake a great and important measure, which it would be uttey l out of his power to carry intq effect. • The great body of the Meeting expressed.a with that the proposition should be withdrawn : a very few persons declared in favour of it. ' Mr. BENBOW said, he had ndt been convinced, by the arguments of the Honourable Baronet, and that he should still feel it his duty to press his motion. The llenourable Baronet had talked of the inade quacy of their means and forces, but surely they had force enough to make the attempt ; they had at least force enough to endeavour to chain the iron hand of despotism, and let the result be what it mighty it would teach Ministers an important lesson. Mr.lloauousr. said, there could be no doubt of his Honourable Colleague's desire to chain the iron hand of despotism, and to co-operate cordially in are measure which could lead to such a result; but the question now was, whether the Resolution which had 'been proposed was calculated to effect the object it had in view ? If they thought the passing of such a Resolution was the best way of effecting that ob ject, undoubtedly he should feel it his duty to he bound by their decision, and to endeavour, as far 2 he was able, to give effect to it. They had elected him as their servant, and as their servant he cow sidered himself bound to obey their iirstructions. the same time he begged them to consider whether the passing of this Resolution was likely to lcad t the object which they had in view. He entirely Ce . il curred with his Honourable Colleague, that in present state of Parliament , the punishment of in ters was not likely to be effected in this way. would recollect, that in the last Session of Pai . lit ment, when a motion was made for - an inquiry the State of the Nation, only 170 Members of that F.' liament voted even for an inquiry into the grieranc of the People. That same Parliament had suppol the present Miniiters throughout the whole of the l: nefarious proceedings. In au assembly sits COStilntC`ll - ray— -- Tr". 1,1 7..R9.7 1 .00 1 .- 777V71.7...1.917: •-. . . - _.,.-ever* i ARI imp then