Star. — London, England, 1820-11-15 00:00:00

b , i i I t; . , E ~'~:, ~~;:` i~ i.' , 1 il . k I ,i ) 1 1,.1 P 1 ;1 P, I , . ; ".;„, • A l ir I ; i [ 1t ,4 il 1 1 1 .' I WARD OF BISHOPSGATE. Yesterday, a Meeting of the Inhabitants of the abose Ward was held in the London Workhouse, Bi shopsgate-street (the church being now undergoing repair), for the purpose of addressing the QUEEN on the abandonment of the Bill of Pains and Penalties by IVlinisters. Mr. Deputy GREENAWAY and Sir W. ItAwurrs were in the Chair. . Mr. LIEBIAITRE opened the business of the day ; and highly censured the proposed adoption of an ex post facto law, as unconstitutional, and leading to arbitrary power. He had himself been in Italy, in the very places that the Queen had visited ; and be , could assure the Meeting, that the Queen's character had been totally misunderstood. They ought to take into account the difference between Italian and Eng-1 lish manners. No man, even of rank, in Italy, ever thought of giving dinners ; but if you gave him one, you bound him to you for ever. Colonel Brown was enabled, with the money of this country, to give fre quent dinners at Milan and its neighbourhood; and it was there only that her Majesty was spoken ill of ; 'whereas, tar and wide in the other parts of Italy, he I had •beard nothing but the highest praises of the Queen. lie might himself have dined with Colonel Brown; but knowing the infamous inquiry that than person was then engaged in, he (Mr. Lemaitre) had refused to the Gentleman who invited him (a Mr.' Calthurpe) to sit at table with Colonel Brown. He 'was at Venice when the account of the late King's death reached her Majesty, and he saw a letter which she herself wrote soon after to the Countess Benzoni, -whom he was in the habit of visiting, in which she stated, that finding she was called try the voice of the People, she was determined to go and shame her enemies —(Great appl.244e).—She had refused a large bribe to induce her to stay abroad; she had spurned the thi eats , f her enemies, which she could not have done but ;corn a t letning-of conscious innocence, and siothing else—(!lear, hear !)—The firmness and con stancy of h !: Majesty deserved their highest conside ration and praise, and he trusted they would come up to the spire.ed language of ber Majesty's Answers to the Addresses ptesented to her, in the language of the Resolutions and Address, which they would that day adopt. Mr. WHITE rose. to move certain Resolutions for the consideration of use isleeting. lie believed that there no longer remained any doubt as to •her Majesty's innocence ; and as to her manners, there was no tribunal which could inquire into 'ltem. It any one thought there hal been levity in her Ma jesty's ‘ondact, let him recollect that she came from a Court where great latiiude was allowed ; and that -she lial come to a person, who, instead of correcting her IllAllael s, had introduced her to the society of one 1 who WAS generally believed to be his own mistress.' It was impossible to mistake the person to whom he had just. lluded ; and if any man else ha.l so acted, I woald he not have been senate] from society?—; (Meru, hear ! )—The Resolutions which he had to' submi. to their consideration, dean ea that they were fully convinced of her innocence; and that, under any ci a urnstances, they wet e prepared to defend her. In our Government, he admitted, there were many excellencies, and great abuses; but there was; in the Constitution a sufficient force to correct the' latter. If, however, they considered the circum-; stances of the times, that the firms of law, and the I bulwarks of the Constitution were about to have been • destroyed, they could find that circumstances might :wise, which would require their strong defence of the Constitution and Laws. lie firmly believed, that if the Bill of Pains and Penalties had passed, the put frig his Majeay's signature to it would have been the signal f ,r :he destruction of himself and his Gevern- ' 'meat.. aie i f the persons engaged in the bringing of cis B;li o: . P•iins and Pena:ties before Parliament, v as asked wnat they would do if the Bill %vete ! passed.? an 1 his anis: e was —E Do pm pass the Bil , an 1 I will undertake ''tat in twelve hours after, she shall no longer be an inhabitant of this country:— Would Englishmen have borne that? No; such a cou"se would have been the signal for a sti uggle ; aed if that had been Cle case, he had no hesitation as to the part he would have taken. Old as he was, he would yet rise up against oppression and tyranny.— l ne whole of these proceedings hod originated in an infamous conspirney, to get rid of this female by any means, just or unjust. When they found Lein! Stewart, the brother of Lord Castlereagh, and lilt' on Ompteda, at work, they could not doubt but that these persons had the approbation and confidence of their employer. No Hanoverian Minister would have dared to have acted as Baron Ontpteda had done, if he had not been fully authorize.l by his So vereign and his Government !—(llear, !sear, hear!) The petty despots of the Continent, ton, were joined in this conspiracy ; and the Ministers at home had been induced, by a base thirst for power, to lend themselves to the base passions of an individual. Ile had long been anxious to find exenses for the Minis ters, because he himself believed many of them to be most worthy men in private life—good fathers, hus bands, and friends ; but he was now convinced, that under the present system no man could be honest.— There was no excuse for Ministers now. They might have been deceived by the Milan Commission ; and they might have retired with honour before the se cond reading of the Bill, after having confessed that they had no case against her Majesty, and after hay ing heard her complete defence. They might then have abandoned the Bill; and though, by so doing, they would have offended their King, yet .could they have established such a character, as would have led them, in a very short space of time, to power again. from the late proceedings in the House of Lords, the religion of the Church of England, and the morality of the country, had received a stab, from which they -would never recover! The Dignitaries of the Church of England had been pitted against each other, and had nut been able to agree uu the expounding of a few texts of Scripture. Ilow could they, after that, complain of the differences among the Dissenters on religious points? The bishop of London, who was as tbuder a man as had ever lived, had made a strange assertion, that, because the King politically could do no wrong, he could do no wrong in a moral point of view! They had heard of the Emperor of Morocco, who amused himself by cutting off, with his own hand, 30 or 40 of the heads of his subjects before breakfast ; and that they were anxious for the honour, as by that they were made sure of admission into I'*radjse. In the suite simper, according to the 'Reverend Prelate's doctrine, might his Majesty take off the heads of his subjects, debauch* their wives and daughters, and yeticlo no wrong, according to the Bishop's motions! The Nike of. Montrose, a country man of his (Mr. W .'s), who had for 30 years been re ceiving thousands of pounds ayear for being Master 'of the Horse, that is, head hostler to the King—(A laugh)—that pauper, who had better retire to his , estates in Scotland, and let some one else look after the coach-horses—(A laugh)—had said, in the House of Lords, that, notwithstanding • the Bill of Pains and Penalties had been withdrawn, he would never acknowledge her Majesty as his Queen, though every one else should. The impudence of this man was only equalled by his folly. Suppose he (Mr.\V.) was to say he would not acknowledge the Noble Lord to be Duke of Montrose ; why, he would still be Duke of Montrose, in spite of him (Mr. W.); and he (Mr. White) would be a fool, like the Noble Duke, for having said so. He alluded to a most scandalous story, said to have been propagated by a person of very high rank, respecting the late King and her Majesty, and he trusted it would be contradicted.— He concluded by reading and moving a series of Re solutions, upon which the Address was to be founded. Mr. CORDELL seconded the Resolutions, and said, that the only offence which the Queen had conamiL ted, was, that she had come to this country. In re ference to the history of her Majesty's father and brother, he quoted the following lines from the intro duction to one of the Cantos of MarMion, in which Sir Walter Scott thus alludes to the Duke of Bruns-1 wick, fitter of her present Majesty: " 111 had it seem'd thy silver hair, Toe last the bitterest pang to share ; For princedoms reft and scutcheons riven, And birthrights to usurpers given, Thy lands, thy children's wrongs to feel, And witness woes thou could'st not heal ; And when revolves, in time's sure change, The hour of Germany's revenge, When breathing fury for her sake, Some rew Artnkius shall awake, The hero, ere he strike, shall come, And whet his sxord on Mit' Ni% SC ieS tomb He then read an estract from the late letter of her Majesty to the King, which speaks of the peculiar severity with which she has been treated. He main tained that her Majesty had done acts for which anti• other woman than herself would have been highly extolled. She was taunted with having instituted an Order, though had any other woman done so, it would, under the circumstances, have been considered as an act of the greatest devotion—(Applause). , She had opened the prison doors to the debtors at Athens, and released the English captives she found at Tunis. It was the misfortune of her Majesty, that her very best acts were construed into climes. Upon this subject he found a most apposite quotation in The Abbot, a work lately published. It was as follows, and referred to the case of Mary Queen of Scots: " Thou knowrst, my friend, whether to make those who have served me happy, was not ever Mary's favourite pastime. When I have hen rebuked by the stern preaching of the Calvi nistic heresy, when I have seen the fierce countenances of my Noblts averted from me, has it not been because I mixed is the harmless pleasur.s of the young and gay, and rather far the sake of their happinesa than my own, have mingled in the masque, the song, or the dancv, with the youth of my household ! 1 repent not of it, though Knox termed it sin, and Mor ton degradation. I was happy, breath: I saw haplliness around me, and woe bt tide the wretched jealousy that eau extract guilt out of the overflowings of an unguarded platy !" After some further observation, is vindieati.m o her Nlaivsty, the worth) Gentleman concluded, and the lies ,itaion, were all carried in the affirmative. Nis-. Um:turn E then read the Address, and it pledged themselves to become a guard for her Ma jesty, ii necessary, and that a million of swords would ft from their scabbards in her jefence. &c. &c. &c. Mr. Peacock, in seconding the Aliress, did not wonder that, while the Addressers in all parts of the kingdom talked to he, Majesty of her father, her bi other, and others of net. family whom she had lost, she, in her A nsv. els, or:Iv talked of Russell and Hampden, .c .f Bruce :md Wallace; because she well knew, that airy of those names e: ere more dear to the friends of Liberty than the %thole race of Brunswick laugh, and applause). Mr. PEARSON' was glad to see (as Lord Castle reagh would call it) the " amiable dAusion" of the Ward of BishopigAte on the occasion—(Langhter).— Tha People cf England ought, he thought„ now to shcw the Ministers their detern:ination to assert their own rights, while they did justice to the calumniated character oftheir Queen. He expressed the pleasure he felt at the abandonment of this Bill, for he was convinced that had the matter gone on, it would have led to an open conflict between the People and the Ministers. It was well that such zi struggle had not been pressed', for he should rather see the liber ties of the country restored by a less violent process ( Hear, hear!).—lie thervalludea to the proceeding, which had taken place in the House of Lords. He disliked crying philosophers, and their solemn pledges of their consc►ences for their veracity ; he feared, In deed, they were too heavily mortgaged to be worth , much for the equity of redemption !—(Laughter and applause). He then animadverted with much seve r►ty upon the proceedings lately carried on in the House of Lords, and said that her Majesty was de prived by the mode adopted of all the benefit of chal lenging her jurors. S:►e would have had many pe remptory challenges, and whatever number besides s►he could shew cause for. The relatives of the ac cuser would be declared improper jurors; his ser vants, dependants, and pensioners would-also have to quit the jury-box. If these interested parties had been struck out of the list of those who had voted for the Bill, what would become of the remainder? (Hear.) Besides, jurors should always be on oath—the Peers were only upon honour, and, as Hudibras said, , " }lonour's like a glassy bubble, . " That costs philosophers much trouble, " The least that cracks, the whole doth 9y, " Aud wits are crack'd to find out why !" Ile then reviewed the conduct of the Milan Commis. sign. and censured it in terms of the strongest indig.. nation. Nothing couti.l be more singular than the selection of persons fur that Commission. 'Mr. Cook was appointed to examine witnesses, without under standing a word in the Italian, German, or French languages. He appointed Vilmacarti to prepare the depositions, who, in his turn, knew nothing of Eng lish !_(illi:ch laughter.)—He then observed, that, in i their congratulations upon this occasion, they ought not to overlook the strong claims of Lady Anne Ha milton, whose steady attachment to her Royal Mis tress, under her persecutions, be warmly eulogised. He concluded by proposing a vote of thanks toLacly Anne Hamilton, which was carried by acclamation. Mr. LICHAITRE then proposed an Address to the King; but it was withdrawn, at 'the desire of several Gentlemen, who thought irony inapplicable to;the subject, and who inferred, from the form of the Ad dress, that nothing seriolts was intended. After passing some Resolutions of form, the Meet ing adjourned. CRIPPLEGATE WARD. A numerous Meeting of the Inhabitants' of this Ward took place yesterday, for the purpose of pre ing an Address of Congrawlation to her MAJESTY. Mr. Alderman WOOO having taken the Chair, he stated that he had called the Meeting in pursuance of a Requisition presented to him for that purpose, and signed by upwards of one hundred Inhabitant Householders. It was right for that Ward to ad dress her Majesty as early as possible. They would be nearly the first body which would be introduced to the presence of the Queen. The inhabitants of the town of Dover would have the honour in taking the lead ; as they were the first to address her on the shores of England, when she had been threatened by persecution, so would they be the first to congra tulate her on her triumph ; the triumph of truth and innocence over falsehood and oppression. Mr. HAIYEs came forward to move two Resolu tions. It was right, he said, now that the innocence of the Queen had been established, and her enemies had been driven back in confusion and defeat, it was right for the Ward to congratulate her on her signal triumph over those who aimed a blow against her happiness and honour. The mode of proceeding against her Majesty was most unconstitutional, an d' the means of following up that proceeding most dis graceful. Foreign countries had been ransacked to rind wretches to swear against her. He concluded by moving two Resolutions, which were carried unanimously. Me. STEVENS said, - that Gentlemen were now ready to go up to congratulate the Queen, who had kept back their support and encouragement when she was expo,ed to oppression. The present was not the time when the friends of the Queen and of public freedom should allow such men to press forward in the rank and seiz.! that laurel which really did not belong to them. As to the Queen, he would say, in the hrst place, that the proceedings against her Majesty were against the spirit of the Constitution—a Bill of Pains and Penalties had been brought in against her, to make that an offence which was not an offence before. The whole of the proceedings originated in the Green Bag, accompanied by that 'Message which was 'tent down by the King—by that man who should have been her protector ! —Wear, hear, /rear).—Whenever Green Bags arid Secret Committees were brought tbrxard, the people could not expect justice, intc ty, or honour. Green Bags deprived the eeople of their rights and privileges; it was by means alGreen Bags that the five laws which sapped the Constitu tion had been enacted. Green Bags and Secret Committees had been always got up where the mea sures of Ministers could rot be openly defended, and where the evidence could not bear the light. The same set of men who had oppressed the country ops pressed her Majesty. They did so, nut by the law, but through the destruction of the law—by fettering toe Press—by obstructing the current of public opi nion, lest the People should see their measures in their true light. He next went into the history of the man iage of the King with her Majesty. The Nation, he said, bad on that occasion, paid his Ma , jesty's debts ; but no sooner were those debts paid, than he parted with the Queen, declaring that he could not controul his inclinations! and after her Majesty bad been obliged to leave her home, she was not allowed to remain undisturbed : she was pursued by agents and servants ; her actions were watched, and her conduct misrepresented. One of those servants, Lord Castlereagh, had instituted a new Order of Knighthood—not like the Knights of old, it ho protected the innocent and helpless, but 'those who were anxious to trample upon a woman and a Queen in distress. The motto of this famous Order, he understood, was to be non trsi ricordo ! ( A laugh).—As for the Ministers, their conduct throughout was unworthy; they persevered in the disgraceful measure as long as they could, and when at length defeated, they reored,.like wounded bears, growling to their den !—( A laugh ).—One Noble Lord\ieclared that the Queen was guilty! A Noble Duke said he never would look upon her as his Queen —(A laugh).—Another Noble Lord, learned as well as noble, declared on his conscience, the i tears at the same time rolling down his venerable cheeks, he declared, and he regretted much, that he l was obliged to declare the Queen was guilty! i(A laugh). —But notwithstanding all the arts of these men—notwithstanding their active canvass—notwith standing that all their friends had been pressed to vote for the Bill, the business could not be done, no, not even with the assistance of Bishops, one of whom declared, on his honour, that the King could do no wrong !—(A laugh).—Certainly, as long as his Ma jesty could prefer Churchmen, they would declare in return that his Majesty could do no wrong—(A laugh).—lle would now look for a moment to the witnesses who had been brought forward to swear against her Majesty. What were they ? Discarded servants. Poor and ignorant as they were, who would say that a large bribe on such then would not have a great effect? Against their evidence, it was asked, why was not Bergami, why was nOt the Countess Oldi, why was not young Austin produced? But what would be said if they had been produced? Why, these are partial witnesses, their evidence is of no use—( Hear, hear).—lt should never be forgotten that the Queen was offered £50,000 a year if she would remain out of the country, if she would con sent not to be tried. Nay more, Ministers said, we will declare you innocent if you remain away—(Hear). If you keep out of the country, or, being in it, if you consent to leave it, we' will declare that you are innocent ; but, if you are determined to remain, we will declare you guilty—we will bring you to trial—we will degrade you—we will, if we can, de capitate you r-( tkar,hear).—He feared that efforts were still making to induce her Majesty to leave the i country—that false friends were anxious to betray her. He hoped most sincerely that she would never leave the country. Her lite would be endangered-- her hopes would be for ever destroyed by such a .step. lf, en the other hand, her Majesty should hap pily remain in the bosom of the Country that `her signal assistance, she would live protected..i honoured by the people—the people would sacr4i: c their lives for her, because they looked open her have been persecuted and oppressed ; her case ik- ls their case; her enemies would wish to deprive I. 1 Majesty of her rights, as they would wish to sz7i. the people of their libeities--(Arisiause).—As the worthy Alderman in the Chair, the part he ;,:11 taken was justly appreciated. What did he do ' He protected the wife of the King.—(Grent applausrl. —He placed her in a situation which, of al: oticr., must have been most pleasing to her Royal laugh).—She proved that the charges btor 4 ; ;! against her were false and vile, and 'ere sup i , ort:i by perjury and subornation. His Majesty, there!(.. , , would receive the worthy Alderman to his bo-cim his best friend—(A laugh),—tor to him was he debted for seeing the ht nour of his Queen vindicatt,i.- He (Mr. Stevens) was sorry that he had not an A q i: dress of Congratulation ready to move to his jesty ; but he hoped t h e Ward would be especiallY called on to do uy and that a Deputation would • named to present stkli an Address to the Kiag. was a duty they owed to the Throne, and he hoped that duty would be pelf:7)llnel Mr. Stevens con cluded by moving a Resolution, which, like the oth. Resolutions, was carried unanimously. ile then read an Address of Congratulation• to her Majesty, iiainded on the Resolutions, which was agieed On a Resolution having been proposeo, that ai many Inhabitants as might wish to do so shou;d EG up in procession with an Address to her Maje ty, Alderman WOOD %aid, that Le feat ed that it woul.:t he impossible for her Majesty !..) receive ;teat of persons with the ditlerent Addresses that likely to be presented to her. lier Majesty felt the greatest pleasure and gratification in receiving :he loyal and affectionate Addresses of the people, hut a. this season of the year it would be twist inconvtatient to the Addressers themselves to go up in large la,- dies. He was not con..ected . %illl Courts, and lever was likely to he so; hot with regard Jo the latter part of one of the Resolutions, which YI oke the probability of temptation and threats bei:::! employe.: to prevail on her Majesty to leave the cou.tr . , was sure that neither one nor the other ‘l u d :lave any effect on the mind other Majesty. Atteii. : ts of that description, however artfully made, woutd have no influence on her conduct. He knew that at:eirpts had been made to induce the people to believe dot her, Majesty was about to leave the country—it was even said that she had actually made preparations _fur that purpose, anal that her boxes had been parked up. He could assure the Meeting that those wports were false; so far front wishin to leave England. he could assure them, limn the highest audio, ity, that tier Majesty had shade an ap, lication to the Minis ters to give her an estab.ishment suitable to her rank, to enable her to live in he cotintry—(Loud appiernsel;. she called upon the Ministeis to grant her a Palau fit for the residence of the Queen Console of Eng land--(Entbusiaslic applause); and to, restore to her the dignity and privileges of her exalteJ rank—(.ly plause). Ile could assure the Meeting, that the Queen had not the smalle , t intention of leaving the country—(C'ouliewed cheers). Ever art mig hi i.e used, every step might he take', induce her to ll so, but he had no gars that the offers of the Goverr.- ! Ment on this head would he listened to by her Ma ljesty—(Applause). With respect to the presentation cf the Address, he did not think that her Majesty would be enabled, at the present moment, to receive Deputations in great bodies, he would not speak po sit vely, though he certainly had a conversation with her Majesty on it that morning. Numerous Add► esers no doubt, would be presented ; he had that morning letters from all parts of the country where the news. of her triumph had reached, and in all those places Addresses of Congratulation were actually in prepa ration. From other places—from Cornwall, and the North, he had also received numerous letters. At the time when those letters were written, the people had only heard that the Bill had been read a second time. and in the apprehension that it would go to the other House, Petitions from all quarters were intended to be presented against the Bill. He thought that small Deputations only would be received. Mr. STEVIMS said, that that Ward, in having the. worthy Chairman for their Alderman, might expect a privilege which others could not receive. Mr. Alderman Woos) said, that the matter might be left open by inserting the words " and as many Ladies and Gentlemen as her Majesty might with to receive;" which was accordingly done. • It was next proposed that the Address should re. main open for signatures. Mr. PtJLLEN said, that the Clerk might sign the Address on behalf of the inhabitants of the parish. Mr. HAINES said, that it would be much better to have the Address left open for signatures; the greater number of signatures the better. Every fair means ought 'to be taken to encourage the People to express their sentiments in favour of the Queen. It was the People that saved her. Were it not for the struggle they made, and the manner in which their sentiments had been expressed, the Queen would never have been, able to meet her enemies; she would have fallen un der the first blow of power. Nothing could be mo:e unwise than to check the expression of public opinion in favour of her Majesty, for it washer great support. A Vote of Thanks was nest moved to Alderman WOOD. Mr. BRoODEN seconded the Resolution. No man, however he might differ from the worthy Alderman, no candid man could deny to him the praise of sin cerity, and of consistency of conduct—(sipplause).--. He was the most sincere and the most consistent of her Majesty's friends. For himself, he had always been jn the habit of supporting the Government. It was with pain that he ever opposed its measures. Ha loved the Government, because he considered Go vernment essential to the liberties and the security of the country ; but he was not a blind and bigotted ad herent of the Administration ; and, in the case of de Queen, he could not too strongly condemn its mea sures—he could not too strongly express his detests don of the conduct of Ministers. He would not con sider die question of guilt or innocence, but, reading the letter of licence which had been written to the' Queen by his present Majesty—considering that she • I had been turned out of (loots with her child in I at arms—considering that she had been afterwards fol.- lowed by spies and informers--and that a sudden I attempt had been made to crush her by the force of false witnesses—considering all these circumstances, la have the Queen had fore rejoiced at nothing induce the apprehensio subornation of fest. He did n at small majorit ping the procee the Engli%h Thi dethroned, and question of Lor of one. The r was, the fear tl been made mai Zangla and of fact of a cons lexistence of a cc to he did his cr, . bpinion of som grette4 panic's: spect to Lori I tired front publ tharacter woul iiery different fr The V.ne of • icclamations. Alderman SS he would alwa) low-citizens as thought, entitle interested part r. he was entitled be believeJ, pL have acted as lt< sion documents affidavils, whicl produce ; and, a clat ations of hei cent—f Applause received large titles or honour jesty. lle had was in Italy. It received lar,, ; e s; one knew; but and pubic plact lie could nAl.e atrocious iangu,, ever, that the cal tined to th..! rant the Royal Fara use of expres4ioi horror to the ht (Loud and iudi, had they fallen I tion—talling tic heard without. a of the servatiL:, fifty Napleons and answers put sired to sign—t: money. Such ready to be c; the knowledge ovt"atiitlyEttrigie l lisn in i done. No man, rupt or so infam if placed in the her Majesty had honour upon the equal to that of a He hoped and bt she had been sal (Cheers),—Not: her, but the lc country; she hal ple, and she nev After the wor ing was dissolve THE Our Corresponds s Cum of the Doan reach os not later tl would sKcaslon dou WEDNES MICE pp STI Bank Stoci 3 per Cent. S per Cent. 3i per Cone 5 per Cent. 'Long Annu India Bond! South Sea Exchequer Omnium IA Cons. for A Ever since the QUEEN, wfu mined to come witness such abt her enemies, th; much surprise. folly, would, in they do not app cover the reason nand pounds a 7 that she should but for their su this offer was ml the Bfinisters, th woman which th sUpposed to hay semi will, with ti a situation whit punishment. If avowal of our proofs of her gu her, if she shall same time shall casdiaion of her