Star. — London, England, 1812-04-08 00:00:00

NAVAL INTBLLIGENCE. COMMON HALL. FALMOUTH, APRIL 5. Yesterdays Very numerous meeting of the tree! . Arrived the Lord Hobart packet, HAMILTON, With ; of London was held at Guildhall, for the purpose milfrom Cadiz, in ten days : the Dispatch packet of receiving the R e p ort o f t h e Sh eriffs on their pro s ceedings in regard t o t h e mo d e i n which the late Pe had arrived out , landed her mail, and p roce eded on tition from the Livery s h ou ld b e presented to the for Gibraltar and Malta. Also arrived the American Prince Regent. s hips Archimedes, NEAL, from Philadelphia, in 45 The Loan MAYOR shortly stated the nature of the d a y s ; and Merchant, HOPKINS, from Baltimore, in I business on which they were now met. It was his duty to tell the Livery, that t h e P r i nce R egent h a d aa days, with flour for a market; the former spoke, thought proper, in conformity to the usage of his shout 20 days since, the American ship Horace, (on Royal Father, since 1., 75, to decline receiving their t h e Banks of Nesvfoundland) from Stockholm, bound petition on the throne; and they were now assembled New-York ; and, about ten days since, the English to cons id er w h at steps were proper to be taken under to .hip Aberine, from Demerara for London, all well : the circumstances of that refusal. His Lordship then proceeded to decla re , t h at hi s utmost w i sh was to h ner sailed in company with the Archimed e s %se 00 preserve impartiality on the present occasion ; he for L'Orient.—Sailed his Majesty's brig PELORU S , of trusted that the sacred claims of the people on the 18 guns, with about 30 sail to join his Majesty's ship one hand, and the rights of the Prince on the other, s a wn, off the harbour with about ten sail for For- would not be called in question; and that the Livery thgal, Spain, and the Mediterranean. Also sailed would remember that the Ministers alone were re the Marlborough packet, BULL, with mails for Lis sponsible for thi s re f usa l on the part of th e P r i nce .— - He (the Lord Mayo r ) did not profes s t o b e a poli ate ; and Chesterfield packet, with mails for Ja- tician ; it was enough for him t o p er f orm t h e hi g h m i ca , The Montagu packet, with mails for Cadiz, duties of the effice to which he had been chosen, and is detained till Tuesday next. he had only to recommend that both sides of the ques- PLYMOUTH, APRIL 5.- tion might obtain a patient hearing.—(Applause.) A rr i v ed the POICTIERS man of war, from the east- Tht Common Crier then r ea d . t h e R eport of the Sheriffs, which has been already before the Public, so ward; Acoas sloop of war from tha Mediterranean far as respects their audience of the Prince. In this FERVENT gun-brig, with a fleet of transports from Report they farther state, that they had since recei- Lisbon, and the SPEEDY gun-brig,from Falmouth._ vied a letter from Mr. Ryder, dated Whitehall, April 2 'n which he sa rs that he had it in comand from Sailed the ALERT sloop of war, with a convoy for , his Royal Highne ) Highn e ss to i nform them, th a t m the Address Newfoundland; WHITING, BRAMBLE, MACKREL, an d would be received in the usual way, at the next Le , ALPHEa schooners, on a cruize. Arrived the INTEL- vee, on the 9th inst. and that no number of persons LR.ENTgun•brig from a cruize. beyond ten could be admitted, except the Lord PORTSMOUTH, APRIL 7. Mayor, Aldermen, She r iff s , an d Offi cers o f t h e Ci ty . Mr. WAITIIMAN then came forward, an d b egan b y Arrived his Majesty's ship SPRIGHT LY , f r o m a • requesting t he Livery to give every Gentlem a n w h o cruize; and the LEYDEN frigate, with t h e f o ll ow i ng addressed - them a full and patient hearing. In all transports fromthe Mediterranean, as per numbers and public matters of this kind nothing was so advan letter, theirnames we have not been :able to ascertain : tageous to the cause of truth and its advocates, as a —Nos. 310, 71, 56, 28, 174, 208, 392, 164, 351, 424, decorous attention on the part of the Livery ; and, indeed, from all that h e h a d seen o f l ate , h e was con- US, 199, 27; Letters EA. FH. BF. CB NM. DK. vinced that • • had been • any Interruption experienced, BM. IT. 0. CF. and BS.—Sailed his Majesty's ships it in'general proceeded from those wi; called them- BRUTE, FREYA, and RosiuLus, for Lisbon ; and the selves exclusively theSfriends of social order. (Aft- NORTH STAR and SPITFIRE, on a cruize. The LEY. iliqUie•) He would not detain them long on the pre sent occasion, because th e r i g h t c l a i me d by the City ars is under quarantine. His Majesty' s s hip s B RUNE , of London, to address their petitions and remon- Romutus, and FREYA, have taken the 42.1 Regiment strances to the Sovereign on the Throne, was a out to Lisbon. His Majesty's ship PORCUPINE, for right which had been trequently discussed of late Quebec ; VULTURE, for Guernsey ; and the SPITFIRE, years, in consequence of their having been refused, in for the Downs, have hauled down their signals, and several instances, the exercise of this undoubted pri his Majesty's ship Pncee E i s a pp o i nte d i n t h e room of vilege, which they h a d p cssesse d f rom t i me imme mortal. After the City o f L on d on h a d b een i n the the PORCUPINE. No oth er convoy is appointed at constant practice of exercising this right for ages, it present. • was first refused to them in the year 1775 ; and on that occasion they came to a variety of Resolutions, which were in substance similar to those which he should conclude with proposing. The field of argu ment was, therefore, narrowed on the present occa sion ; and he should confine himself to a very few ob servations only, as he flattered himself that the prin. cipstl points were contained in the Resolutions which he bad to propose. Every person who heard him must be thoroughly convinced, that the privilege of carrying their•complaints and remonstrances to the ear of the Sovereign, was one of the most important which they could exercise as subjects, and a privi lege which was peculiarly characteristic of the Bri tish Constitution. (Applause.). For some years previously to the Revolution, when England was cursed by one of the most detestable Governments that ever disgraced a civilized nation, the right of petitioning was wholly subverted—the Citizens of London were denied access to the Throne, and even deprived of their charter for endeavouring to exercise their inherent right of petitioning. These acts of despotic power produced a sullen calm for a dine, but it was only that sort;of calm which is the usual pre lude of a storm ; and the family which then reigned was soon swept tor ever from the Throne of these kingdoms. At the Revolution—io accomplishing which, the Citizens of London, to their eternal ho nour, took such a prominent part—the right of peti tioning was claimed anew as the undoubted and in. valuable right of every subject ; and closets to the year 1775 there was no Minister so abandoned as to call in question the right of the City of London to pour their complaints into the ear of the Sovereign. It was most extraordinary to him, that there should be kind any Members of the Corporation prepared to barter away this privilege, or to overlook its in fringement. The interruption which it had expe rienced of late years only reminded him of the bad times which preceded the Revolution ; and the con tinuance of that interruption was a bail omen for the commencement of this new era. (4Mlause.) During the sway of the Stewarts, and their worthless Mini sters, there were some men so base as to express their abhorrence of petitioning--whence they were justly stigmatised as " Abhorrers ;" and so now, also some were to be found who would give up this inesti mable privilege, er, what was as bad, make it merely the medium of flattering and hypocritical Addresses to the Throne. Since 1775, this right of the City of London had again been evaded on several occasions, particularly in 1793, when the Livery protested against the commencement of that war which had now lasted for twenty years, and which had produced such incalculable mischiefs. Let those, then, who are in the habit of calling the assembled Livery of London an indiscriminate mob, incapable of judging correctly, whose opinions are entitled to no atten tion—let such men spew stay one instance in which they were wrong, and where it would not have been happy for the country if their Addresses had beea listened 'to. If the prayers of the City of London had received due attention, the American war would never have taken place ; and all the calamities of this war, of twenty years' duration, would have been prevented. instead, then, of this sort of rail lery or abuse, which was cast upon the Livery, he would call upon any man to amid up and state his reasons why the Resolutions he had to propose should not be adopted, and why they were not entitled to carry their petitions to the foot of the Throne, ia stead of being conveyed through the medium of a Minister, which left them no security that their com plaints bad ever reached the ear of the Sovereign. —CHere a voice from the crowd made some perso. nal .attack ;Ton Mr. Waithman, - which produced a , violent outcry of " turd him tat, tarn him out,' v - . DEAL, APRIL 7. Arrived his Majesty's ships Mmtsfrom Portsmouth, sad Coanzuvand Ftmous from a cruise. Came down from the River the General Wellesley, Baowst, for the East Indies. BALTIMORE, FEBRUARY Arrived the Sparrow, Staples, Irom Campeachy, n days : off the coast of Gucatar was boarded by Thatarengo French privateer, and off the Dry For inias was boarded by another French privateer. In the Bay spoke the ship William, Dunkin, from Eng land, and six brigs, bound up. Yesterday the sloop Betsey of Still Pond, was found below the rocks in the river, on her beam ends, with four persons, three whites, and a mulatto, on her side, who had perished rib cold. She sailed from this for Stillj Pond the evening before,and it is supposed she upset in a squall. There were three more, two whites and a mulatto, on board, whose bodies have not been found. Yesterday a Court of Directors was held at the 'East India-House, when NEIL BENJAMIN EDMON.• STONE and ARCHIBALD SETON, Esqrs. were appointed Members of Council at Fort William. Five sail pf French line , of-battle ships are said to have dropped down the Scheldt to Flushing, ready for a start. His Majesty's schooner Joust Butt sent into Dover, on Monday morning, a small boat with seven French prisoners, which she on Monday picked up near Beachy Head. The Frenchmen state, they made their escape from Portsmouth, had been two days and nights at sea, without any provisions, and, not having a compass, bad mistaken Beachy Head for the French land. We copy the following from the Connecticut Gazette of February 25 The ship Georgia, Capt. Stokes, from Lisbon to Savannah, on the ill st of November tut, in lat. 30. N. long. 23. W. about three P. M. then distant from the nearest land, the Canary Islands, at kat two hundred miles, while sailing with a fine breeze from the south east, about eight knots, a black cloud arose front the West, and the ship was all at once becalmed ; a light air afterwards sprung up from the north-east, at which time Clete fell from the cloud an innumerable quantity of large grasshoppers (locusts), so as to cover the deck, the tons, and every panda* ship they could light upo: they did not appear in the least exhausted, on the contr..ry, when an a ttempt was made to take hold of them, they in stantly jumped and endeavoured to elude being taken. The calm or very light air lasted full an Imut, and during the whole of the time these insects coatinued to fall upon the ship and around her, such as were within reach of the vessel alighted upon her, hat immense numbers fell into the sea, and were seen ficating in masses by the sides. During the next day many still remai ne d a b out the rigging and decks, and a ete seen in quantities jumping and flying from one ' , lace to another. " Two bottles filled with some of the grasshoppers preserved in spirits are kept for the inspection of the c u . nt have nr i°o B , and for, the information of those who may an °PPortunity of seeing them, the following ei rseriPtion is given :—The insect is of a reddish hue ;with red and grey speckled wings, eyes black, two " t ns , Six leFs (four long and two short, which last aid t hem in pimping) two wings on each side, length of the body two inches, and including the wings when ! n the two inches and seven eighu. Land birds of mferent kinds have frequently been found it a much g'rettier distance at sea after heavy gales, but it is not easy to account how such a number of grasshoppers sot into the air, at so gr eat a distance frame land, as Mei are not calculated to By far." which lasted for teme Minutes.] Order being at laif t restored, Mr. V l / 4 faithman observed, that he'should be very ready to hear any personalities againa and should only beg a fair opportunity of replying. to them.—(4/0/aute).—He then proceeded to allude to another occasion in which the right of petitioning had been refused. It was in 1800, when the Livery prayed that the Got ern:tient would not reject the ' overtures for peace, then made by Bonaparte. He j would appeal to any man, whether the greatest beneel fits weuld not have accrued to this country and to Europe, had that rejection not taken place ; and this was another among a thousand proofs, that the sen timents of the Livery of London deserved at least some consideration. Mr. Waithman then proceeded to read the Resolutions. He observed, that it was a most extraordinary fact, that while the petitions of the Livery were refused to be received on the throne, the petitions of the Court of Lieutenancy of London, 1 , a much inferior body, had been received that way, in two several instances. It was said that this assemble did not constitute the 3ody Corporate of the City of London. True, but the Common Hall, composed of the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty, did ; essentially form the great Body Corporate of the City of London. The Common Council could neither sue nor be sued ; they could do no official act, but in the name of the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Commo nalty, of which they were the representatives. The truth was, that in ancient times, before the Common Council was kmawn as a body, the Common Hall performed all corporate acts, though it was after wards found more convenient to delegate the greater part of that business to the Common Council, com posed of deputies from their number. The Citizens assembled in Common-hall were, therefore, funda mentally the Body Corporate of the City of London; and who would have thought, that after one race of Kings had lost their Crown for denial of the right of petitioning, any Minister would have had the auda city to advise his Sovereign to follow in any respect such an example? The man who dared to give such advice deserved the execration, not only of the Sove reign, but. of the people at large. He would c:111 upon the Livery to act with becoming resolution on the present occasion. Before the Revolution, the ci tizens of London swore to stand by their Represen- , tatives in Parliament ; but he did not know that their present Representatives would support the privileges of the Livery, and thus merit a similar testimony et approbation. He had seen it asserted in some Mini sterial papers, that whatever might be the resolutions of the Livery, yet they were led at an election by the merchants and banker s. Now this was the very mis chievous influence which he had to complain of ; and he trusted, that at the next election, the Commonalty would have the independence to exercise their rights, even though beggary should next day be the conse quence of it to some of them. At this great crisis, every man should be ready, not only to sacrifice his property, but his life, for the liberties of his country. Mr. Waithman retired amidst great applause. Mr. FAVELL seconded the Resolutions in a speech of considerable length. It had been hinted, he ob served, in some of the Ministerial prints, that if the . , citizens of London were desirous that their wishes' should reach the Throne, then their petitions should be of a different complexion from that which they had lately voted. Here the whole truth came out.! If the Livery thought proper to send up flattering and sycophantic addresses, then their path to Sr. James's or Carlton-House would be strewed with roses, and they were likely to meet with no rebuff.— I But he trusted that he addressed high-spirited and in dependent men, whom no consideration would in duce to belie their real sentiments. He could men tion the instance of an independent Liveryman, who, though poor, when asked some time ago to sign one of the tavern addresses, declared he would rather cut his hand off, than hold it up in the Common Hall for one set of resolutions, and sign another set at a tavern.—(4olaure.)—He hoped that, at the next election, the same principles of independence would be generally Acted upon by the Livery, who should consider that the approbation of their own minds would Cohipensate every sacrifice. ""More Joy Maecellus, even In exile, feels, " Than Cz4ar, with a senate it his heels." Standing so near the statue of ch141.211A11, he could not help recollecting his words in the House of Lords: " I thought," said he, " whett mentioned the City of London, I saw a sneer in Tour Lordships' faces : but they are such men as I am proud to associate with. Let it be remembered, that a Lord Mayor of London was amongst those individuals who ob tained from a tyrant King that bulwark of British liberty—Magna Charta.' —Thls was the opinion which Lord Chatham entertained of the Livery ; yet of late years we had been accustomed to see them driven from the royal presence, their Petitions re jected, 'and thcmse:ves severely reptimanded. The Resolutions were then proclaimed by the Mace Bearer, and all consented to with loud and continued acclamations. . . , (birWai.Ctietis) stha spnite after hiel. awl uocatreJ& as he raid, hontady, th.it lie required no instructions whaterer, fife be possessed a eonecienet free MA id' shackled of his own, which he was net prepared to • bend. Let him therefore come forward and define the sitnatgut of his conscience wh en h e re f ute d io Irote for the Walcheren Co Aye, let h m 'explain, let him explain," was the cry araund the Hall.)--Conscience, he was afraid, was a very fickle bond for performance of public trust, and he should love to behold some better security for their integrity. In the long continuation of a Septennial Parliament, were there not danger of the throbbings of a good , conscience being palsied by the shackles of corny ' don, or made to beat in a more tree:aisle merinef hy Mioisterial grants ?—(Lstuf applatu . e.).Anocher of their Worthy Representatives (Alderman Shaw) also declared, that on a particular .ceadon in the Home of Commons he beheld a fortnieeble faction prevails ing, therefore he left the Hines., and refused to vote at all. 'These were wioolerful words indeed, and plainly :hewed to the Hall that the Worthy Menthe believed a Parliamentary majority was a faction.— '‘ (Lord upplatue.)—lint onrnedidtely another Hon. Baronet came nimbly skipping at the other's heels, 'and declared his belief that the House of Commons was the parer: body of men in existence. How these Honourable personages were prepared to extricate themselves he was not aware ; but he hoped they might be induced to attempt it immediately, peril cularly, should one of them endeavOurto clear biro. self by his conscience, he must have, as Lassa& Gobbo said, a very hard kind of conseiinee.oefZeddk acclatnntitit.) • . . Sir Wit. CURTIS then tame forward, and said, he had always voted, and always should vote, as his conscience directed him. There were many in that ' Hall, who, a year ago, were for 'addressing the ' Prince, to state their wisheoth ahe should hareem. l: iced power ; but now that'he has chosen Miniseers, who are not to their fancy, they seemed to wishidlni he had no power at all: This was not his opinion,..— As to the particular case of Colonel M•Mahon, he iwas not in the House at the division ; and therefire he had neither voted on one side or the other. As to his general ccnduct, his constituents world soon have an opportunity of expressing their opinion, as a genes. tail election would probably soon take place. (Cr*: of—you'll nal be returned again) At the next election, it would be seen whether the Livery disapproved of his public conduct, or whether they did not; but of this he was perfectly sure, that whether the Parliaa ment sat for seven years or for three, that circum stance slerildnot have ar.y effect upon his public top s duct, which was always directed by his conscience. Alderman Comas then appeared, amidstgresenps • plause. He said it was the duty of Representa tives to obey the i nstruct i ons of their - coestitnente and that he felt pecularlyt happy in hit ovdppinion coinciding with, those instructions, on every impala cant subject, Sir C. Fame repeated that he was prevented • fro,n voting on the question of Colonel M.Mahlaiet sine s cure, by perceiving that there *as a faction ay_ work upon that subject. He should never be the sappora ter cif faction ; and he lamented that for near twenty year, factious doctrines had been disseminated. in speeches, in that Hall.—(The remainder of the Ho -Inourable Baronet's speech was received with loud tie ' pressions of disapprobation). Sir JAHR% SHAW then came forward amidst a ttlit mull of disapprobation. He said, if lie had not voted (against this sinecure of Colonel M.Mahoe's, it was merely because he thought that the object of the mo tion was more to give the Prince Regent el slap in the pre, than to abolish the office. A great deal had been said about the right of Englishmen' to petition the Throne. Who denied this right ? The only /rest tion now between the Prince Regent and the Livery, was, in what manner the,isetition should be, 'received. —Whether it should be r eceived like other petitions, at the Levee, or whether it should be received upon the Throne ; —(r hos the throne, from nantberz).—He knew that formerly the petition.; from the Livery bad been received upon the Throne ; but this was refused in 1775, when, as he must say, the proceedings of the City were of such a nature as very much sunk their character. (No, no, from way ',acre). Since that time, too, very improper conduct hadibeen .pursued, and very improper doctrines promulgated at the Com mon Halls, and addressed to the Soeereign.• (Di n o ? probation.' His Honourable Friend (Sir C. Price) had used the word factiOn)e which might be applied to much of those proceedings:—rThe latter part of the Honourable Baronet's speech was received with great disapprobation and loud hisses.] Mr. Duettist opposed the resolutions, as disgrace. tut to any, body of men. (Loud disappr.hation.) The resolutions of Mr. WAITHMAN were then put, and carried; not more than four or five hands being held up against them. A considerable cry was then raised in the Hall-. Alderman Wood 1 Aldermen Wood Alderman Woos then -came forward, and said, that understanding an opinion was prevalent through. out the City of his intention to submit a motion for a Petition to her Royal Highness of Wales, he ap. aproached them simply to state the reasons which in• duced him to postpone his motion. He had, as in duty bound, submitted the sketch of the Pet:tion to the Lord Mayor and others, who were of opinion, that it was highly improper to propose so serious a motion without giving the accustomed and necessary intimation. He begged leave, however, to give them a short outline of tee Petition, which he had with him. in his pocket, and which, at some future period, it was his desire to lay before them. As an intro. duc:ion to his subject, he expressed a wish to be to lerated to read to the meeting a portion of that Peti ton which the People of London had presented to the Prince of Wales on the consummation of his nuptials. Mr. Arrows interrupted him and said, that after having submitted fur some time to a conversation al together unparalleled to proceed, in hopes of the inter. ference of the assembly to prevent, hs now arose simply to call to order. Mr. WAITED/AN was of opinion that the Worthy Alderman had acted very indiscreetly in persevering in his motion when he knew the accustomed rules or the Court. Mr. Alderman WOOD immediately abstained from persistmg to address the Livery. Thanks we: e then voted to the mover and seconder of the Resolutions (Mr. Waitbman and Mr. Farrell)- , The Meeting.. which was exceedingly then dispersed. Mt. WAITIIMAN then came forward, and said, thst, consonant to the adopted Resolutions, he should move, Tbat those persons representing the Livery of London in Parliament should be incructed by their Constituenti to use all their power and eloquence in supporting all Petitions whose bene ficial aims were for the reformation of absses, the abolition of pernicious sinecure places, and a re-opening of the channels of commerce, and above all, fot a tree and equal representation of the People in Parliament." He next proposed a Resolution empowering and ordering the Sheriffs, accompanied by the Deputy Remernirancer, to deliver into the hands of his Royal Highness a fair copy of the above Resolutions, in the name of the Lord Mayor, and Aldermen, and Com mon Councilmen of the City of London. Mr. WAITI MAN then remarked, that he was afraid the advice which he had ventured to propose, should it be given to the Representatives ot the Livery of London, would not be attended with any good effect. Oa a former and well-remembered occasion, he had , called upon those persons to come forward and explain ' their motives for not most decidedly voting for the ex pulsion of Colonel MdMahon, whose situation was contemplated as constitutionally untenable by the ma jority ot Parliament. He hoped, that should those persons be again permitted to come forward to justify their conduct, the Hon. the . Livery assembled would leag a favourable oar to them, for they world certainly have to speak against themselves—(Mith applaure.) One of their Representatives (Alderman Conine) was a Gentleman so favourably inclined to perform the desire of bis Constituents that any Counsel to him yould be unnecessary is but the Honourable Baronet 1 r