Star. — London, England, 1820-12-13 00:00:00

.71 Ali I MARY-L.4-BONNE MEETING. Yesterday a very numerous and respectable Meet ing of the Parish of Mary-la-bonne, was held at Mr. Coils Coach Manufactory, Great Portland -street, for the purpose of taking into consideration the pro priety of presenting an Address of Congratulation to her MAJESTY ; as also for the purpose of presenting a Petition to the KING, CO dismiss his present Ministers. About half-past one o'clock, Mr. BERNAL, M.P. Mr. JOSEPH Hums, M.P. and Mr. P. MOORE, M.P. and several Gentlemen who composed the Parochial Committee, appeared on the hustings, and were loudly cheered. On the motion of Mr. PETER Moons, Mr. BERNAL was called to the Chair.—The Honourable Gentle man, on taking the Chair, shortly addressed the Meeting. It was but lately that the large and re irectable Palish of Mary-la-bonne had begun to hold Political Meetings ; since, however, they had begun, they acted with the decorum, spirit, and in dependence, which was worthy their character. He had no doubt but that the same admirable qualities would mark the proceedings of that day; by firm ness and moderation they would give effect and dig nitr to their decisi He had only to say, that as Chairman, he was ready to hear the opinions of every Gentleman who might be dispose i tO a I Iress the Meeting. As it was, however, but a Parish Meet ing, he hoped that none but Par ishioners would pre seat themselves. The Honourable Chairman then read the Requisition for calling the Meeting, signed by about three hundred Inhabitant Householders, which had been pre•ented to Lord Kenyon, the Churchwarden. His Lordship, on receiving the Re quisition, addressed a letter in answer thereto to Sir Gerard Noel, Bart. which contained the following patsage :—" For my own part, as a Peer, having had much gratification in opposing the Bill of Pains and Penalties against her Majesty, which, under all the circurnstaiece , I considered odious, unjust, and 11;.christia.i. I should think that I must overlook my own duty, if I took any part on the subject out of 11-rijament. Had the consent of the Churchwardens necess.ii y, to enable the Parish of St. Mary-la. I- , r•ne to hold the Meeting, I should not have sent p:.d to give my consent.—l am," Stc.—(Applause). Mr. Hume next came forward to move the first Pnoitition. The Resolution was one against which, 11:: hoped, no fair objection could be made; it cares t;ly excluded every harsh expression against the (7onstitiited Authorities of the country. For his own ran t. 'mid say, and be thought he might say the same to .iie Gentlemen who surrounded him, that they a .is free from factious principles—as much oppose. - dangerous innovations--sas perfectly loyal, ,se who met in secret, and who claimed to ti . yes exclusive loyalty—(ypplause). He t a loyal man might still look the situation of h:s country in the face, and might, without dan ger, proclaim her wrongs to the world. What was the state of that country? He would not observe upon the manner in which the late war was con ducted—he would confine his observations to the time since the war ended. Since that period, the Ad visers of the Crown did everything to destroy the rights of the People; he would not go through the whole of their disastrous measures, but there were some circumstances which were so peculiarly atro cious as to claim particular attention. In the years 1815 and 1816, evils of the most heart-rending kind pressed upon the country ; there were, in those years, no less than from four to five hundred persons, in that very Parish, who claimed and received relief for a period of four months; that was a wretched state f'r the People to be reduced to:; he did not blame the Ministers for being the immediate cause of that great distress, but he did blame them for not making greater efforts to afford relief; he did blame them for not making efforts to prevent the retrograde movements which both trade and commerce were unfortunately making. Ministers, instead of calming the public mind by acts of kindness and conciliation, did everything they could to inflame it—instead of relieving the enormous burthens of the Public, they only heaped an addition of three millions of taxes upon them—instead of removing the shameful re strictions that had been placed upon the public li berty, they introduced new Acts of Parliament, and unfortunately carried them through the Legislature, wl.ich aimed a new and dangerous blow at the Con stitution of the country. They did everything they could to irritate one part of the people and to alarm another. They then introduced their Green Bag and suTended the Habeas Corpus Act (Applause)—they cared spies and informers about them—they had the aid of a Castles—an Oliver—afterwards of an Ed wards—finally of a Franklin—(Applause). This last spy the People were able to trace out, and every thing was done to bring him to justice—to justice he would have been brought, had it not been for the Ma gistrates, who let him escape through their hands. When it was recollected that that miscreant had been fur three years framing the most inflammatory papers—that it was he who had written and distri t ated the celebrated Smithfield hand-bill ; a docu ment, which no doubt had been put into the Green Pag as evidence against the People—when it was re collected that Franklin and Co. did everything they caAld to rouse and to inflame the People, was it not much to be lamented that he had been allowed t' escape from the justice of the country ? (Applause). 1!e was to whom the prosecution at Dei by, and d4raceful and shocking scene which followed 71.:(r):t be attributed. He was the author of the Pro clarnation at Glasgow, which led to the movements (I a few men, and which was called a rebellion. Pe saw, the country saw, that man—that vile and v.tio:ious miscreant — fai rly bunted down, taken into c :vady, and deliveredinto the hands of a Magistrate. et the country also saw the agents of the Govern liberate that man, as if no charge of any mo neat had been preferred against him, and they saw that the Government, - when called upon, refused to i-teifere. If those facts did not afford clear evi d,r,ce against Ministers, they certainly contained evi d:itce of a very serious description—(Applause).-1 The Ilanourable Gentleman next proceeded to take a very enlarged view of the politics of the country for the last three years. He did not, however, men ti any facts with which the Public are not already acquainted. When the Habeas Corpus Act had been I..st suspended, there were, he said, not less than sixty persons taken from their homes, confined in dungeons without having been even as much as made acquainted uith the charges against them, or the nate or names . . of their accusers: and afterwards, those -who had suspended the protecting laws of the Constitution, and who hid inflicted so much injury upon the King's subjects, not daring to face the consequences, had re course to a Bill of Indemnity. At Manchester, too, when the people had been legally and peaceably as sembled, they were dispersed by military force, cut down, and many of them killed, under the direction of persons who called themselves Magistrates. It might not, perhaps, be fair to say, that the Ministers encouraged, that foul transactipn ; but it was perfectly fair to say, that they betrayed their duty to the King and to the country, when they refused to let any inquiry take place upon it. They not only refused all inquiry, but in order to shew their disregard for the public feel ing, they promoted Mr. Hay, a Clergyman, and one of the foremost of the Magistrates on that memorable day, to one-of the richest benefices in England—he meant the Rectory of Rochdale—(Loud cries of " Shame !"). They next passed five or six Acts of Parliament pre venting Meetings, save in Parishes; and such was the law, as it stood, that if any individual calling himself a Magistrate, thought fit to interrupt a Pub lic Meeting, no matter on what occasion it might have been called—no matter how urgent its object— no matter how peaceful, how regular, and how de corous its proceedings—if any one Magistrate de sired them to be gone, they could not say one word more. They should desist, or if they persevered, they should do so at their peril, and subject themselves to all the severities and penalties of the law. The People of England were not to suppose, that they had the right to meet to consider of their grievances, and to vindicate their rights. That right, indeed, their fathers possessed—they once possessed it them selves, but they had it no more. They met only by permission. To such a point, at length, was the , boasted liberty of Englishmen reduced—(Loud tnur-' murs). The Press, also, had new shackles put on it. Any person who might make a statement of perfect truth, yet if it were construed to be dis respectfil to certain individuals, might be fined and im?risoned for the first offence, and trans ported for the second—(Cries of " Shame, shame"). The Honourable Gentleman next observed with much animation on the late triumphant efforts of Spain, Portugal, and Naples, and said that it was disgrace ful to Ministers not to have tendered their assistance, at least to the two latter States, which were more immediately within their reach. He next contrasted the present Military Establishments with those of 1792. At present the Military Establishment cost eleven millions ; in 1792, it amounted to sixteen hundred thousand pounds. The Navy, in 1792, cost two millions two hundred thousand pounds; at pre sent it cost six millions and a half ; ,lthougli there were but fifteen thousand sailors, a smaller number than was ever known in England since the American war. The fact was, that the public money was not expended on the brave tars of England, but it was expended on Admiralty Courts, useless Boards, and Commissioners. The People could not be surprised that some impotent attempts had been made to up hold the odious power of Ministers—no one could be surprised at that, when it was considered that there were no less than two millions and a half paid in pensions, four millions and a half paid to tax gatherers, and three millions and a half paid to half pay Officers (the last class, who deserved well of their country, he did not object to receiving a recom pense from their country, but he thought dint many of them, unfortunately, praised the hand that paid, and not the People that supplied the money). There was also another class, a class too important to be overlooked, ha meant the Clergy—the Clergy re ceived of the public money about five millions and a half. There were, in fact, not less than nine hun dred thousand Parsons who received annually the money of the People from the hands of the Govern ment—( Shame) !—He hoped he had stated enough to induce the Meeting to think with him, that men who had brought so much misfortune upon the coun try, ought no longer to continue in the public coun cils—they would, therefore, Petition the King for their dismissal--(Applause).—But they should not stop there, they should demand that salutary and necessary Reform which alone would strike at the root of the evil—(Great applause).—lf the People had a reformed Parliament, no one would say that the country would have so much to deplore; the People would not have to witness such an increase to their burthens—such daring attacks on their re maining liberties—and such an heartless indifference to the public misfortunes. The Resolution was then put and carried. Mr. PETER MOORE next came forward to move the Address to his Majesty for the dismissal of his Minis ters. He was received in a very flattering manner. He regretted that a more nuftierous assemblage of Ladies was not present; the Ladies, throughout the contest, had done their duty—the men would conti nue to do theirs—(Applause). His Honourable Friend had turned Ministers inside out ; there was another out to be accomplished, which could only be accom plished by the People. Whilst the Ministers re mained in power, there was no hope—no security for the People. He would say to them, in the language of the Imperial General when he took Genoa, in 1746, " if you do not get rid of them, they will leave you nothing but your eyes to behold your miseries." (Applause). The Honourable Gentleman, after ad verting, in the strongest terms of reprobation, to the Corn Bill, which he called an infamous law to starve the country, proceeded to say, that the late proceed ings against her Majesty were, in fact, intended as an indemnity for Ministers ; they had convicted themselves by leaving her Majesty's name out of the Liturgy ; they saw the consequences of their own act when it was too late to remedy it—hence the necessity of a Parliamentary indemnity, hence the trial, which was falsely called the trial of her Majesty—(Applause). The People, throughout the struggle, had remained faithful to the Queen, and, he might add, to them selves. Without the People, he would give little credit to her Majesty's Counsel, or to the ninety-five Noble Lords : without the powerful voice of the People, their efforts would have been unavailing, and her Majesty would have been sacrificed —(Appuse). After dwelling on many of the faults of Ministers, he compared them to a celebrated General, who once declared that he would spare the people nothing but their tears. Those Ministers had brought the country down to the lowest pitch of national distress ; they answered the public complaints by fresh burthens— they surrounded the Throne, and kept from the , knowledge of his Majesty the real state of his subjects. • • " !, • Kings were genirally disliked, b ut they Were often' themselves the victims of falsehood and deception: King James the First, on his arrival in England, w,as surrounded by the different . powerful parties in thi State; he entertained, however, a great distrust of them all, and perhaps in that he was very right--(A laugh).—One leader propoied one line of acting, an other proposed a different course: They offered a speech to his Majesty, to deliver before the Parlia ment.—" No," said the King, " I shall deliver one of my own." He did so, and after making some observations on the state of the country, he added these memorable words But, alvve all, preserve to me the affections of the People—(Great applause). Let me be on good terms with the People—let me live in their hearts—(Loud applause)--for I know full well that the People can do without a King, but a King cannot do without the People !"—(Applause). This, said the Honourable Gentleman, was.language worthy of a King ; and it was to be lamented that Kings of England did not always, like James the First, speak their own sentiments and judge for them selves. But the object of bad Ministers was to cut off all communication between the Sovereign and his People, the better to carry on measures which were often injurious to both ; they had gone on from one step to another to impoverish and enslave the People of England, who, if properly treated, would have been the richest as well as the happiest and the freest people on earth. The purest and most inde pendent public men were selected out as the victims of oppression. Such was the case of that illustrious patriot, Sir Francis Burdett—(Great cheers).—Did the Powers that ruled care for his body ? No ; but they wished to withdraw his mind from the public cause ; they wished, by placing him in a prison, to deprive the cause of Liberty of the aid of his splendid talents, his high character, his bold, manly, unas sailable independence—(Applause).—After some other observations, the Honourable Gentleman con cluded by moving a Petition to his Majesty, praying, that he would be pleased to dismiss his present Mi nisters from his presence and counsels for ever, which was read, and unanimously agreed to. It was next moved by Mr. CHURCHMAN, seconded by Mr. NEWMAN, and cordially agreed to by the whole Meeting, that a loyal and affectionate Address of Congratulation be presented to her Majesty. Mr. POTTER moved a Resolution of Thanks to the independent Press, for its powerful exertions in the cause of her Majesty. Mr. CHURCHMAN seconded the Resolution, and quoted a passage from a speech of the late Mr. She dan, viz.—" Give me the Liberty of the Press, and I will give you a venal House of Peers, and a corrupt majority in the House of Commons ; I will give you all the places and pensions that you can demand ; I will give you any Ministers the Crown may appoint; give me, I say, the Liberty of the Press, and I will batter down those walls which you have erected in your defence, and bury you in the ruins !"—The Re solution was carried amid loud acclamations. A Resolution of Thanks to the Chairman having been voted, the Meeting broke up at four o'clock. DINNER AT MAIDENHEAD. A numerous and respectable party of upwards of one hundred Gentlemen, sat down to dinner at the Town-hall, Maidenhead, on Friday last, to comme morate the Triumph of the People, on the issue of the late Bill of Pains and Penalties, THOMAS GROOM, Esq. the Mayor of the town, in the Chair, supported by the other Members of the Corporation. After dinner, ". Non nobis Domine,"—when the first toast given was, " The King; and may he ever bear in mind the principles which placed the Bruns wick family upon the Throne,"—followed with the National song of " GOD save Me King:" then fol lowed " The Queen ; and may the innocent ever be protected by the People." This was drank standing, and with rapturous applause : the acclamation was caught by the multitude in the street, and the whole town rang with huzzas from one extremity to the other, until it returned again to the banquet, and the thunders of applause resumed were answered by the multitude without, aided by the discharge of musketry, returned again, and the three times three had an effect never before felt within these walls. " No jocund health, that Denmark drinks today, But the great cannon to the clouds shall tell; And the King's rouse the Heav'ns shall bruit again, Bespeaking earthly thunder !" The Independent Branches of the Royal Family, Sussex and Gloucester."—" The most Reverend the Archbishop of York, and the Church."—" The Navy, our constitutional Bulwark."—" The Army, and may it never be employed to subvert our Constitution." On proposing the toast, " Lord Folkstone and the Independent Interest of the County of Berks," a Gentleman present urged the attendance of as many as could make it convenient to do so, at the ap proaching County Meeting, which was answered, by many assurances of the intention; after which, Mr. Stunt produced the following letter from PAS• COE GRENFELL, Taplow House, Tuesday Morning, Dec. 5. " To the Committee for conducting the Public Dinner at the Town-hall, in Maidenhead, on Friday, Dec. 8. " Gerririars—l am much obliged by your attention iu in viting me to the public dinner which is to take place at Maiden head, on Friday next, for celebrating the result of the late pro. ceedings against her Majesty the Queen ; and I am flattered that the opinions which I hold upon that subject should be sanctioned by your approbation. I shall never shrink from the public avowal of those opinions. I have always considered the pro ceedings which were instituted against her Majesty, to have been as unconstitutional as they were unjust and uncalled for ; and I participate most cordially In the feelings of satisfaction which have manifested themselves sn generally throughout the whole kingdom, in consequence of those proceedings having been so triumphantly defeated. " But I am prevented from accepting your friendly invitation to the dinner, on Friday, by a previous engagement, which obliges me to be in Hertfordshire on that day. I beg, there fore, to wish you a pleasant and convivial Meeting, which, I have no doubt, will be conducted with that good order, modera tion, and decorum, which become the professed friends and staunch supporters of the King. Queen, and Constitution. " I am, Gentlemen, your most obedient humble servant " PASCOE GRENFELL" - Mr. GRENFELL'S health was then drank, coupled with the independence of Maidenhead, and received with marked applause. A Requisition, signed by upwards of 100 most respectable citizens, has been presented to the LORD PROVOST of Edinburgh, requesting his Lordship to call a Meeting of the Inhabitants, to consider of the propriety of addressing his MAJESTY to dismiss his Ministers and to re-4ssemble Parliament ....... ••• e• •• •• , 11.4 t,. tie ,I r , ' lt.. •)•..y TO THE EDITOR OF THE SrA ken Avis in Terra.. . Newark, II th Dttenibet. MR. EDITORWISdOM in Bodies Corporate beinr a qualiii yarely to be met with, every instance of it • ought to be treasured up with the utmost care, and preserved amongst the most valuable muniments of the Corporation. It is with infinite satisfaction to myself, that I am able to rescue from unme riled ob scurity the ancient Corporation of Newark-upon- Trent, and to record a few such acts of its wisdom in political matters as are worthy of imitation by all others. It is unnecessary to remind you of the dis sentions and endless animosities which the struggles of independence against political power, unduly exer cised, occasions in various places ; from these the town of Newark- has been long a stranger, by the sage and judicious conduct of its worthy Body Cot-. porate. They are, however, under manifold obliga tions to a Noble Duke who so eminently distinguished himself on a late occasion, in the House of Lords ; and it is, perhaps, in some measure, to his Lind and superintending care, that the tranquillity of this Bo rough may be attributed. his Glace, possessing con siderable estates of hit own, and being lessee front the Crown, of others in the town and neighbourhood (which latter might have occasioned endless disputes amongst the inhabitants, if his Grace had not fortu nately got Them himself), condescends to present the Corporation with a person to represent them in Par liament, and they deem themselves too much ho noured in being permitted to return such nominee as their Member. Here then it is that the Corporation displays its first and brightest beam of wisdom ; for if, from any paltry and unprofitable consideration of independence, they undertook to choose a Member for themselves, the odds are much in favour of their disagreeing about it, whence would arise those cavils and disputes which every quiet individual must de precate; while, as things are now managed, their own good sense, and the dread—the horrible dread— of offending their great and noble patron, keeps this Corporation in one mind, and they go nn smoothly doing his will without a murmur ; and thus preserve that happy tranquillity which those men geneially enjoy who sacrifice their independence to their indi vidual interest. The same admirable, enviable, unity of opinion on all political questions, invariably pre vails amongst them. And how does it happen ? Why, from their being too wise to judge, to presume to judoe for themselves, in such cases. If they, or any • of them, were to arrogate or exercise a right of form ing their own opinions upon political matters, that precious bond of unity which prevails in their coun cils, would be daily, nay, hourly broken ; while, by invariably adopting the opinions of his Grace, they pre serve their peace of mind, their prices of land, their absolute sway over their humbler neighbours, and are relieved from endless trouble and anxiety. If ever they venture to anticipate (as they sometimes do) his Grace's opinion, they are sure, if they do err, to err on the right side. In the Queen's case, for instance, they pronounced her Majesty guilty, without a syllable of evidence, while his Grace, with that high sense of impartial justice, honour, and modesty, which would have been unbecoming in any one of lower rank, condescended to hear the criminatory evidence before hr pronounced his verdict. But as insubordination will occasionally manifest itself in, and interrupt the peace and happiness of, the best regulated families, so it has produced its baneful influence in this hitherto peaceful Borough. The middle and lower classes have had the hardihood to weigh the proceedings against their Queen by a different balance to that used by his Grace and the Corporation, which has produced the most opposite conviction. The independent inhabitants have dared to place the conduct of the Noble Duke and his ser vile imitators in one scale, and the conduct of her Majesty in the other, and have found the former ter ribly wanting. An Address of Congratulation to the Queen has, therefore, been framed, which is already numerously signed, and is daily acquiring fresh sig natures. The Corporation (fearing, perhaps, lest his Grace should suppose they had presumed upon this measure), have determined upon a counter-Address to the King, expressive of their loyalty, &c. I am an inhabitant of Newark, and have (as you must perceive) a very high opinion of the wisdom of its Corporation, but I an: bound to confess mvstdf totally at a loss to conceive the necessity for such an Address at this moment, never having heard the loyalty of the Corporation or inhabitants so much as doubted. The Corporation cannot, surely, be so stupid as to insinuate that those who address the Queen are dis affected to the Crown, and those only loyal who sign the counter-Address: if that were really the case, his Majesty's person and Government and their professed supporters, would shrink into insignificance before the vast—the numberless host who have declared, and feel the utmost abhorrence at the late diabolical proceedings against the Queen and Constitution. The fact is, however, that those who address the Queen, are the real friends, the staunchest supporters of the King and the honour and dignity of his Crown. I will stand second to no man in loyalty, and 1 shall certainly sign the Address to her Majesty. The coun ter-Address I shall not sign—for no one has dared to question my loyalty, and till accused I shall make no defence. This, Sir, I conceive to be the ground upon which every honest man should rest who is similarly situa ted, for one may fairly doubt the honesty of a man who volunteers a defence before he is accused: upon this principle, therefore, I think the loyalty of those who are so eager to profess it, may be doubted ; and that it is from the consciousness of a want of loyalty that Addresses to his Majesty, at this moment, origi nate: I shall be glad to see any better reason as signed, and perhaps some of your Readers who are able, will rescue the few who have or may joiniirs such Addresses, from so serious an imputation. I am, Sit your obedient servant, Cams Eacmarcz, DECIDXIEIt 13.—We have h:d no fro& arrivals of any Grain since Monday, and what Wheat remained over from that day's supply, met very heavy sale this morning, when, from 'the smallness of the demand, very few sales could be effected, and prices must be quoted the same as on Monday.—There was no Fine Barley at Market, in conse quence of adverse winds, Which have prevented our having any supply from the Norfolk coast.—The Oat trade was exceedingly heavy, at a decline of Is. per quartet.—ln Beans and Peas there is no alteration. 4 'I •