Star. — London, England, 1821-01-02 00:00:00

MEETING OF THE COUNTY OF FIFE. Thursday last a Meeting of the freeholders, Jus-!! Res of the Peace, and Coninii:sioners of Supply of t h e enmity of File, was heid in the County Rooms, a t Cupar, e ursuant to a Requisition, very respect ably signed, for the purpose of considering of the propriety of votin g a Lo y al Addres, to his M-waesyr, o n t he present state of the country. By half-past tw elve, the most numerous assemblage had collected ever witnessed In the County Rooms, except on elec. lion occasions. Mr. CLEFIIANE. Sheriff-Depute for the County, moved that the Bari of Kellie be requested to take the Chair. which was carried unanimously. The Earl of KEI.LIE on taking the Chair, briefly stated the objec• s of the Meeting, which he said were, to consider of declaring their loyalty to the Thrctne, hnd attachment to the Constitution, and afterwards to esnres•their sentiments on the state of the country. General Dtritnata then rose and said My Lord, I bez leave to move, that the following Address be adopie tby this Meeting. • The Address was handed to the Sheriff Depute, and r ead by him to the Meeting. It professed loyalty a nd attachment to the Throne and Constitution, com plained if disaffection and sedition, and pledged the country to resist their attacks. The Address having - been read, Mr. Taos. BRUCE, of Grangemnii, rose and said—" My Lord, I beg leave to second the Address which has been just read," and sat down—( Hear ! from Me Opposition). Mr. Avrous, of Inchdairnie, in rising to propose an amendment on the Addiess which had just been prop o s ed, •Asserved, he was quite aware of the im portance and advantage of addresses ; he was fully convinced cf the value 'attached to them; and for 6" very mas on, he should object to any Address being forwarded to his Majesty, with the professed object of the present Address, without the sentiments of the People, II egai ding the acts of his Majesty's Mi nisters, being fully and freely embodied in it. On a laze occa,ion he did not feel quite certain re specting the merits of !Ministers, and then he gave them the advantage of that doubt ; but he no longer hesitated on that subject, when he beheld the disas trous tendency of the late conduct of Government; and he was confirmed in his confidence when he looked :ound and beheld the presence of so many persons who were unaccustomed to attend Political Mcangs, but who had been impelled forward on the present oco.sion by a similar conviction respecting the conduct of conviction that was actually felt and loudly expressed from every end of the coun try. He, therefore, was convinced that he should not discharge his duty as a freeholder unless he came for ward in that capacity, and protested against the adop tion of a .y measure at that Meeting which might be construed into an approval of their general conduct. Mr. Ayteun. after stating briefly his reasons for dis approving of the proposed Address, then proceeded to read his Amendment. It represented the loyalty d the Meeting in spirit and terms as strongly as in the original Address ; it expressed a regret for disaf fectioa, it any existed, and for the licentiousness of the Press on both sides of the question, and recom mended an alteration in the measures of his Majesty's Government. The Address was much applauded. A pause here ensued, no one appearing willing to rise to answer Mr. ATTAIN'S speech. The Noble Chirman then proposed to put the question, to which Sir JOHN OSWALD assented. _ _ Mr. CUNNINGHAM, of Donloch, now rose, and in animated terms called on the supporters of the ori ginal Address to say . something, if they could, in its farour. It was in vain, he said, to suppose that any material point could be gained on such an occasion br mere numerical strength. They might as well 41l a Meeting and determine by vote, that the Co pernican, or any other system of philosophy, is false, as attempt to put down political opinions by vote.— in short, if this Address were successful, it was im possible, on any future occasion, to expect that any opposition, however reasonable, could prevail, orthat any misconduct of Ministers, however flagrant, could procure their conslenmation. The SHERIFF-DEPUTE said, that as one who was requested to assert his reasons for supporting the pro posed Address, he was willing to gratify the Gen tlemen who had called on him by ail the means in his power. His round for supporting the Address was, the manner in which the Government, during and since the progress of that me.; :Ire, had been treated by a class of the people. The Queen was de clared triumphant"—such was their expression: and it had been boldly asserted, that it was not the cause of justice which had prevailed, but the influ ence of the people. Such a doctrine, he maintained, was dangerous, and he appealed to history for con irmation of his opinion. The same was the notion propagated in France previous to the Revolution ; and France proved such language could not be held with safety to the State. The power of the people vas flattered and extolled, till, filled with the idea of their own greatness, they were tempted to exert it. The consequence was, the King bled on the scaffold: Did the people then surround the Throne, and at tempt to staunch its wounds? No, they had become so patriotic, that they could see the blood of their Soveieign besprinkle the scaffold without remorse, without one exertion in his defence. The conviction that it was only by rallying round the Throne that they could now prevent the occurrence of a similar catas trophe to that of France—Weer, front :he (ppositiln) compelled him to support the present Loyal Declara tion of their principles, and not on account of the late measuies of Ministers. And if such was the drift of the Honourable Gentlemen who had pressed for his opinion, he would tell them plainly, in the words of a former Monarch of this country, that he would not consent to put out this set of Ministers to make room for another to come in. Colonel WzmYss said, he was one of the Requisi- Conists ; but although he had spoken to 5/JOO men itt the field, he had never addressed a County Meet kg before. His principles were those of the Revo lution of King Wiliam, of glorious memory. If he NO been King at this time, to use a homely phrase, )1' would have played h—lt with the present Minis ten—(Cheers and vehement applause).—The gallant' Colonel, before he sat down, shook hands cordially Vith Mr. Stuart acioss the table, and said, with %itch feeling. he ished him and all his Whig friends he11—.01,4,T applause). Captain Ayrousr, Royal Artillery, said, when he abject oFwirich was evidently to approve his Majesty's 'Ministers, he felt it his imperative duty to protest against it. After a spirited refutation of the observations of Mr. Sheriff- Depute on the influence of the People, Captain Ay toun adterted particularly to the disregard to justice in the case of the Queen; and contended that it was impossible for the country not to be alarmed at such proceedings, even though the accused had been a murderer. And yet they were now called on by , those who thought so lightly of these stretches : power, to express to Ministers an alarm for the safety of the Constitution, when the Constitution was only threatened by Ministers themselves—(Hear, hear!). He concluded by supporting the Amendment, for it was only by the change of measures which it recom mended, that this country can again enjoy its for• mer blessings. Mr. STUART, younger, of Dunearn, said, that being so much indisposed as to be hardly able to attend the Meeting, nothing would have roused him to speak, but to bear testimony to the gallantry of his Honour able friend (Colonel Wemyss) who, though deserted by hi; friends, his Co-requisitionists, had with the bravery characteristic of his family, come forward and frankly declared himself attached to the prin ciples of the Revolution—( Cheers).—He must ob serve, once for all, that it was most singular that not one of the remaining Requisitionists had come for ward to state the grounds on account of which they had called the county together. It was for them tri consider whether they were treating the county with the respect to which it was entitled—but most of ail he alluded to the Mover and Seconder, who had not said one word more, the one than that he presented, and the other that he seconded it— ( Hear, hear ! ). . He conjured the Meeting not to follow the example set in such times, but to address his Majbsty in the language of truth, to beseech him to adopt a conci liating line of measures, and to save the country from revolution, to which the ,measures of Ministers are headlong carrying as—(Cheeral. Sir JOHN OSWALD having been called upon, and personally marked out, in the course of this debate, could not resist the opportunity of addressing a few words. He was always prepared to defend the prin ciples he asserted, but he deprecated the attempted innovation of bringing down the Meetings of coun try gentlenien to the standard of a debating forum for angry discussions, and to the level of Meetings such as disgrace the Metropolis. He deprecated any such idea. But when so urgently called upon, it might be as well if the invitations were occasionally accepted, if it were only to convince the Talents, that they are as little capable of intimidating as of engaging the minds of those who are the friends ~ f the present Administration. He would not presume to compare, though, as they appear to challenge it, 1 1 it might be worth while briefly to contrast the short administration of the Talents with that of the -pre sent Government. He had served under the Talents, and a most miserable set of masters he found them. He saw the wretched army they sent into Egypt; lie recollected the ill-equipped fleet they sent to Con stantinople. But, more that. all, he had not forgot ten their treatment of the present Queen, that Illus trious Lady. He knew her to be the daughter of a hero and a statesman, whose name will last as long as the memory of the virtuous is regarded. He knew her to be the sister of a hero, who aided, by his exertions, in crushing the power of the great tyrant. He could not but recollect that Lady, and touched with the utmost delicacy on whatever re garded that Lady. Might he venture to compare the conduct of the two Administrations towards that Lady? He recollected the treatment of this Illus trious Lady by the Administration of the Talents. By their secret tribunal—a Court of Inquiry lie would have called it, after his professional voca bulary, but by a Court of Inquiry the appeals of the accused are heard, and exculpatory proof received —before the secret tribunal of the Talents, this 117 lustrious Lady was tried without being once heard in her own defence; by their secret tribunal she was banished from Court, and afterwards restored with an admonition, than which he could not conceive anything more humiliating to her dignity and honour, unless it be the libellous and slanderous Ad dresses with• which her Majesty is from time to time insulted. The reign of the Talents, fortunately, only lasted eight months, during which the parallel, if it be any at all, was certainly very much to the advan tage of the present Government. Sir John concluded by complaining of the popular clamour which had been excited against the present Administration. The Earl of Itosstxu felt quite sure that the Gentlemen who listened to the last speech must be satisfied that when the gallant Officer was challenged to come forward, he was done a kindness, and no great hardship; and they must conclude, not from the talents, but from the oratorical and declamatory tone and taunting which the gallant Officer dis played, that he required but little to induce him to come forward. The Gentlemen, he congratulated the Meeting, had at last thought proper to assign two grounds for'proposing their Address. The first reason given them by one Gentleman, was a pane gyric on the revolution of our own country ; and the other reason was a lamentation, by another Gentle man, over the revolution of another country—(Loud laughter). But seriously he did conceive they were bound to assign some rational cause for the present Address. If it was necessary to pronounce a Decla ration to support the Constitution, what occasion was there to call the County together for that purpose ? Why not as effectually proclaim their intention to suppo* the Constitution every market day at Cupar, when a number of people are assembled ? (Laughter). From stating any marked necessity for the; measure they had forborne. He regretted to perceive an at tempt by such Addresses as this to support Minis ters—to combine and unite them, and even to iden tify them with the King. His Lordship proceeded to assert his ova and the People's right to express their opinioastim all public matters. He afterwards replied to the opinion of the gallant General (Sir J. Oswald) on the comparative merits of the two Ad-. ministrations (Whig and Tory). The gallant Gene- 1 rays representation, however, happened to be any thing but like the true account of the ca:e. The statements regaroing the• Queen were made by au thority of her husband to that Administration► so dis respectfully alluded to by the gallant General, and the charges consAei not merely of misconduct, but of having endangered tl*succession to the Throne— ' pl eat heat), by having endeavoured to impose on is spurious issue. It was an inquiry by four of his Majesty's *elected Ministers, with a vier: to inform the King whether there existed any grounds for fur ! ther proceedings. This Committee received affitla : vits in exculpation, one from d principal accused in • the conspiracy, and ntit evidence on one side only— (Hear, hear), but much of her Majesty's exculpatory proof—( Hear, hear). The late proceedingi of his present Majesty's Ministers, he humbly conceived, were of a very different character. They had their previous Court of Inquiry, the Milan Commission, but what evidence for the Queen was examined by them ? —.He had gone a little out of the way, for the pur pose of adjusting the comparison of the gallant Ge neral: He had now to come more directly to the question before the Meeting. He thought they had a right to be told what were the grounds of that ne cessity for the present Address which had been spoken of so repeatedly by Gentlemen on the other side.— His Lordship proceeded to defend the People from the slander they had incurred by presenting Ad -1 dresses to her Majesty. Those Addresses proceeded not from the lower orders of the People, and were not mere clamour, as they had been interpreted to be by some Gentlemen, but the unresisted and un resistible voice of the Country, pronouncing its con demnation, in the first place, on the proceedings against her Majesty, and afterwards on the evidence. He submitted that it was the expression of all, ex cept a few of the higher order, who thought that the friends of the present Government were the only friends of the Constitution. A Learned Gentleman had stated, as it were, a charge against the Ilouse of Lords and the People. the former for having abandoned, and the latter for having disapproved cfl the Bill of Pains and Penalties. That it was a judg ment. influenced by the People he would deny. lit the House of Lords, much difference of honest opi nion no doubt existed—he and others were prepared to give her Majesty a complete verdict of Not Guilty —( Loud cheers) ;—but it was not strictly a question of " Guilty or Not Guilty," but whether the inquiry was advantageous or necessary ? On the question of that expediency, he for one, must contend, the People had a right to express their opinions, and to exert that intellectual influence which they always must possess over every tribunal in the country. .If it had been an ordinary case of indictment or impeachment, the People would have had too much good sense and prudence to have interfered ; but it was a legislative proceeding, and they had a right to express their opinion on a measure affecting their interests and rights. He protested, in the abstract, against such a stretch Sovereign power as Bills of Pains and Penalties are, and only justifiable on extraordinary and urgent occasions ; and they ought, before they became laws, to go through eight stages in the Lords and Commons (the first question being as to the pro priety of their adoption), and had received the Royal Assent. He would submit, that if the ground of charge against the People was their expression in fa vour of the Queen, he could only say, that lie was prepared to have given a vote of Not Guilty ; but on the question of expediency, he would have voted against the proceedings ; for he thought no measure for a series of years so mischievous or fatal in its ten dency, as the one which brought into discussion the private vices of one branch of Royalty, and drew asunder the veil, in order to seek out the private vices of their Monarch, instead of beholding him only in that resplendent character of the fountain of grace, honour, and mercy--(Hear, hear).. He had but one other remark to make; and it was, that these proceedings, with whomsoever and how ever they originated, were abandoned by those who brought them in, after voting both for and against them, under the conviction, in which the whole of the House of Lords, except eight or nine individuals, the whole of the Commons, and the People, concur red—sthat the measure was disadvantageous to the country. It was well known that the Radicals had looked with anxious hope for the passing of that Bill, and his Lordship believed that Mr. Cobbett was the first "man to regret its abandonment. Had the Bill passed, besides the obvious charges that her Ma jesty's Judges, Jury, and Prosecutoria consisted of the same persons, the gadicals could have relied much on the general imputation of Court influence and expectancy; and they could have adverted, he hoped not disrespectfully, to the representative part of the Peerage, who are very generally believed to hold their places at the breath and will of the Ministers. The proceeding, however, had been put an end to, and the, Radicals were deprived of that - pretext. They must now confess that the Houses of Parlia ment, without imputing to them an unworthy fear, have some feeling in common with the People. His Lordship, after a few other remarks, concluded amid the loud plaudits and cheers of the Meeting. Mr. Feaousoa, of Raith, then addressed the Meet ing ably in support of the amendment. Captain WEIIYSS, M.P. declared his approbation of the original Address. The Meeting then divided. For the Address 85; for the Amendment 55—Majority 50. an &Rims Froposed, the LIST OF THE MINORITY. The Earl of Ross lyn, Sir Charles Hackett, Bart. John Ay touts, Esq. C. M. Aytoun, Esq. R. Aytoun ' Esq. J. Aytoun, Esq. T. Arnot, Esq. of Chapel, IL Arnot, Esq, of Balcormo, George Aitken, Esq. younger, or Hill of Beath, David Black, Esq. of Bandrum, R. Ballingall, Esq. of Burnt urk, John Cuning- Same, Esq. William Douglas; Esq. of Pinkerton ' Ro. Ferguson, Esq. WiUiam Ferguson, Esq. of Kilrie, Walter Fergus, Esq. of Strathore, David Fleming, FAN. of Myreside, James Heriot,. F.sq. of Ramornie, H. Hay, Esq. George Johnstone, Esq. of Kidlock, James Kyd, EN. James Moodie, Esq. younger, of Cocklaw, David Millie, 23q, younger, of Cameron Bridge, George Paterson, Esq. f Cunoquhie, Jas. Stuart, Esq. Thomas Scotland, Esq. of Luscar, Jahn Scotland, Psq. younger, of ditto, James Stenhouse, Esq. of Nortlifod, Andiew Thomson, Esq. of Kinloch, Andrew Thomson, Esq. younger, of ditto, David Thomson, Esq. Reverend James Wernyss, Mt. Stenhouse, Chief Magistrate of Burntisland. One of the most remarkable proceedings took place, on Satut day last, at Carrickfergus, which has occurred side' the triumph of her MAJESTY. The Mayor of that town, in obedience to a Requkition presented to him, called a Meeting of the Corpora tion and Inhabitants of Carrickfergus, to consider the propriety of an Address to his MAJESTY. When the Address was proposed atid seconded, a freeman stood up, and made his objections. He insisted principally that the object of the Address was to insult the QUEEN, and to bolster up the Ministers. His ob. servat ions were manly, full of intellect and integrity: he was secondei by '2OO voices. The Chairman most respectfully remonstrated, but in vain—he retired ' from the Chair, and then returned, and made .an other experiment, but all in vain—unless the QUEEN was treated with proper respect, the Freemen of Car rick would 'tot agree to any Address 4 • kOzolodrii 3ißi7'i3t+th In consequence or ibe death.of a near }elation of onr Chief Magistrate, delicacy prevented a more early assembly of the inhabitants on the g:-eat question now before the Public, till Tuesday last ; wl,c), in compliance with a Requisition, signed by Potty-five Burgess's and other residents, a Nieeting was held id the Town Hall, to vote an Address - to her MAJESTY. on her recent triumph; also, to vote an Adds ess tO his MAJESTY, preying him, not only to restore her :MAJESTY S nail* to the Liturgy, but also to dismir.s his present Ministers; and, fin-the', to vote an Ad- I dress to Alderman Wool:, for the active assistance he had rendered her MAJEs-ry, during the whole course of her eventful trial. The MAyon, having txten his seat (supported by HENRY HUGIIES and JOSIAH HATTON, Esqrs. Bai;, Ws, and Roecai EVANS, Esq. Chamberlain), read the Requisition, and hoped that every per•,on who wished to deliver his sentiments, would receive an attentive hearing. Mr. Eletim rose, and said, it would be An insult on the good sense of those friends who surrounded• him, were he to take up their time in descanting ort the cause of their present Meeting. which was for the purpiite of expressing e those feelings of congra tulation and respect flu her Majesty which were echoed from one extremity of the kingdom to the other; he should therefore only request the Chief Magistrate to read the Address now vcpared for their approbation. This being complied with, and seconded by JAME:3 SrrANT, a shew of hands was called for. when The CHAIRMAN declared that it was voted unzni mously, with the exception Of only twe. An Address to the king, praying his Majesty to restore the Queen's name to the Liturgy, and to dis miss his present Minister s Iron his presence and Coun cils for ever, was,. after a few preliminary observz tions, moved by the forme,• speaket, and seconded by Mr. SWIFT; which was read by the MAYOR, and, on a shew of hands being demanded, tarried in the like unanimous manner. The Address to AldermatiWood was then intro duced by Mr. HEATH, seconded by Mr. HErRY HUGHES, and carried unanimously. The Meeting might be deemed unartimbue, for the two persons wi;o did nut hold up their hands, came • into the Hall only with the intention of t‘itnessing the passing scene. Mr. HEATH concluded by observing, that oh all public occasions it was usual to pass a 'Vote of Thanks to the Chairman; he therefore felt a pride and plea* sure in proposing their sincere and cordial thanks to their much.req)ected Chief • MAgistrate, Thomas Griffin Phillpotts, Esq. not only for his. readiness in convening the present Meeting, but also for the valua' ble assistance rendered by him to the Burgeszesi whenever they claimed his services. The several propo!,itions Made by Mr. REATH, were received with long and continued applause ; after which the Meeting adjourned, to add their names to the re.pective Addresses. " The principle which is now attempted to be esta blished, of its being the duty, or in the power, of a Sheriff to refuse a Meeting, when not agreeable to his wishes or consistent with his ideas of proptiety, is most monstrous, and cannot be too stiongly pro tested against; but when combined with the insult of declining to state a reason r refusing a c milli . ante, as in Northumberland, k deserving of ire verest reprehension. To est thlish this princip'e a would be to place the subject's :ight of pe nionirg !the Throne, and of expressing an opinion upon pub lic questions, in the hands of an Office! of the Crown, and to endow that Officer with powers and rights which belong to his Sovereign and the Pub lic. The only questions which a Sheriff otie•ht to az!: himself on receiving a Requij:ion, are, is ti:e. sition signed by such numbers, and are the signatures so respectable, as to justify him in calling the county together? Within these limits is his duty confined. A numerous and respectable Requisition is a sufficient authority and guarantee for hi m,and it is for the Itequi sitionists to justify themselves to the County for caliing the Meeting. In like manner it is not for the Sheriff to decide on the propriety or impropriety of the subject intended to be submitted to the proposed Meeting; that is the right of the 'County when assembled—it is their province to decide whether the subject is a proper one for discussion, and also what measures shall be adopted by the Meeting. The Sheriff', moreover, has no 'right to set up his own opinion, and say to the free holders of his county that they shall not be allowed an opportunity to petition the Throne, because the subject of their Petition is not agreeable to him. Such a course of proceeding is clearly to obstruct the subjects right of petition, and is a direct viola tion of his duty to his Sovereign, by depriving him of an opportunity of knowing the complaints and disk tresses of his people, and of exeraising his prerogative of deciding on their Petitions. The Sheriff is an Officer appointed by the Crown; and it is eviderit that nothing can 66 more unconstitutional than for such an Officer to say to the subject, that he shall, only when it suits his pleasure, be allowed to address a Petition to the Crown. Of what use is the subjects' right of holding a meeting, and how can the opinion of- the country be' expressed and known. if the Sheriff is - to be allowed the power cf refusing to afford an oppor tunity of expressing that opiniou, because, forseotb, it may not coincide with his opinions, or may be inimical to his party interests or feelings? To do so, is to substitute the opinion of the Sheriff in the place of that of the County. The opinion -to be ex pressed by the Codiny would be merely the °pintail,. of the Sheriff, and to ascertain what opinion might annually be expected hem each County, it would only be necessary to read over the list of Messieurs the Sheriffs, as it appe,ns in the Gazette every Fe.' br u ary."- 2 ( Nesecas:te icle). _ • Sunday, the •24th ult, .at Cour o'clock in the after• noon, a duel was fought in a field adjoining the North Wall, Dublin, between -- lsitowN, Esq. and Guest'Am, Eq. when the latter, on the first ti; e, was severely wounded in the thigh. Tho bad ti asimoie• diately extracted, end Mr. G. - is likely to recover. Saturday se . nnislit, the numeiou.'l', o: of Maher 'and Warne were amply supplied v, ith• beef, bread, and potatoes, by the heile'volence of the Ear& of Monsii- EDGECUNIBIC..In addition to this bounty, on Wedses., day last, seventy families received warm clothiag,"&e, and thirty are twice in each week served with soup.