Star. — London, England, 1821-05-31 00:00:00

say that it was illegal to prosecute persons ply of the crime of libel—(Cheers front the Opposition).— lie was surprised how any Honourable Member could for a moment assert that such a Society was an illegal one; but he would not say anything as to its policy. It had been said tlett his Honourable and Learned Friend (the Attorney‘General) might, if lie pleased, enter a mill prostlai to the indictments of the Society. Ile (the S:olicitor-Generalj did not profess to be in the secrets of tire Society ; but he had been int'ormecl, by a Learned Fr iend who sat near him in the Court the other day, that there were two cases of the most atrocious libels against the So vereign of the country, in which the Society alluded to were the pro s ecutors ; and he would ask whether those were cases in which a flail Aosequi ought to have been entered by the Attorney-General ?—(Loud and co,- fi,3?.. , d cries of Hear! front the Opposition).— He very well understood the meaning of those cheers; but he would ask whether his Hon. and Learned Friend the Attorney-General was to make it his bu siness to go into every print and pamphlet shop in the Metropolis, in order to hunt out for libellous carica tures and publications ?—(Hear, hear, front the Op position).-It. the Society discovered such, and se ected them for prosecution, it was by no means an imputation upon the vigilance of his Honourable and Learned Friend. He felt satisfied ti , it his Learned Friend is. old use his discretion in cases of ex ojicio informations; but it was hardly necessary for him to observe, that there were cases where it would not be proper to prosecute—( Hear, hear, from the Opposi tion).—The Hon. and Learned Gentleman concluded by repeating, that the prosecutions instituted by the Society could not be considered as any reproach to the Attorney-General, and that the Society was not an illegal one, though he again begged to be understood as not giving any opinion as to its policy. Lord MILTON said, that noJudge or Court could, or ought to give any opinion as to the legality or ille gality of a prosecution on which they might be called to determine. With the Association in question they bad nothing to do. They had only to decide upon the point of law, without at all considering who were the prosecutors. As to the two atrocious cases of libel which the Hon. and Learned Gentleman had mentioned as having been prosecuted by the Society, he thought that mention of the fact was rather a se sere philippic against his (the Solicitor-General's) col league'; for if they were of the nature described, the Attorney-General ought to have prosecuted them him self—( Cheers from the Opposition).—lt had been said, that there were some CaS s of libel which it might not be proper for the Attorney-General to prosecute, and he (Lord Milton) admitted the fact; but this was one of his objections to the " A -sociation," that they would not make such distinctions—(Hear, hear). The SOLICITOR-6 EN EItAL, in explanation, ob serve,: :ilia at the time he had been informed of the two .I..es to which he had alluded, the Grand Jury had found Bills respecting them, and that, he need not say, would not have been the proper time for the interference of the Attorney-General. Mr. C. W. WYNN objected to the existence of ir responsible prosecaturs ; and cautioned the House against giving encouragement to such Societies, by alluding to the consequences of the Orange Lodges established in Ireland. The motion for bringing up the Report of the Com mittee of Supply was then put and agreed to. Mr. BROGDEN brought up the Report; and on the question that the first Resolution be agreed to, Mr. SCARLETT rose and said, that the observa. tions of the Hollow-able :till Learned Gentleman (the Solicitor-General) called for a few remarks from him. If the House were to judge by the confident and dic tatorial manner of that Learned Gentleman they might, indeed, come to a very different conclusion from what the real state of the question would warrant. He had not been unaccustomed to the confident tone of his Honourable and Learned Friend (the Solicitor-Gene ral); but he was not prep:it ed to expect such an ad dress as he had heard him deliver that night; and he was satisfied that, however bold and confident was the tone which he had assumed in that House, in a pri- Tate conference he would not maintain the same mode of carrying on his argument. The dictatorial tone of the Honourable and Learned Gentleman reminded him (Mr. Scarlett) of a Quarter Sessions Barrister, Itlio usually supported his opinion of what was law, by offering to bet £5 that such was the law—( Hear). Now he (Mr. Scarlett) would say, though without the loud tone and confident manner of his Honour able and Learned Friend, that the Constitutional As sociation was illegal; without adopting the tone of the Honourable and Learned Gentleman, he would contend that it was unconstitutional, on the grounds stated by his Learned Friend (Mr. Brougham); and that it was impolitic, he would maintain, on the au thority of the Honourable and Learned Gentleman (the Solicitor-General) himself ; for he had been so much afraid of the question on that point, that there his confidence forsook him, and he had more than once guarded himself with the House against being 'understood to say a word on the question of policy. On that:question, " dum tacet clamat." He would not challenge the Honourable and Learned Gentleman's opinion of the law; but he would humbly give his own, that the hiw was, on this subject, not as it had been laid down by that Learned Gentleman. As to the Society hunting out for seditious publications, he (Mr. Scarlett) would not object to their becoming the jackalls of the Attorney-General, and going before him to procure his game, provided they left it to his judgment what ..hould be selected for prosecution.— If they confined themselves within such bounds, he should be satisfied; hut the Association did' not so confine themselves. He would not say that it might not be very difficult for the Attorney-General to stop prosecutions which had been commenced by the 44 Association ;" but, at the same time, there might be many cases which they would be disposed to pro. tecute, which he (the Attorney-General), in his better judgment, would pass unnoticed. With respect to the opinion of the Court of King's Bench, he would state that, whatever was expressed was contrary to what the Solicitor-General had mentioned. It was rather against than for the " Association." He (Mr. &Arlen) was in Court at the time, and his recollec tion of the case was this :—The Counsel of a defend ant whom the Society had indicted, prayed for a list of his prosecutors, with a view of guarding against the chance of any of them becoming his Jurors. The Court, seeing the difficulty, wished to afford help, and th 4 stated, that if a Special Jury were named, it would then be the time to apply ; but the Court could not, and did not, give any opinion as to the legality of the " Association"—(Hear).—The Hon. acid Learned Gentleman, in condi ion, Act rved, that if this " Association" were legal, it v►ould be also legal for the twelve Judges to subscribe for :he pro secution of offences. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY, in explana- 1 tion, said he was in the recollection of the House, and 1 , had not spoken of the legality or constitutionality of the Association ; but had only expressed his surprise that some constitutional learning had not been shewn by Hon. and Learned Members on another occasion, when an Association was formed for the prosecution of another kind of offence. The question on the first item of the Report was again put, when Mr. HUME objected to going, at that late hour. into the Re port of Supply. He therefore moved, ab an Amendment, that the Report be received to-morrow. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY said, if the object of the Hon. Member was to adjourn the consideration of the Re port till to-morrow, he should have no objection. The Report was then ordered to be considered to-morrow. The Committee on the Metropolis Police Bill was postponed till Tuesday next. Mr. J A M ES moved that the House be counted. Mr. J. SM 1111 reque.ted that his Bill might be suffered to pass through the present stage, as it must Otherwise be delayed till next Session. The Bill was then ordered to be engrossed and read a third time on Monday next. After a few other Orders had been postponed, Mr. JAMES said he could not sit there, and see public busi ness opposed of by so few Members; he therefore moved that the ilou-e be counted. There being fewer than 40 Members present, the House adjourned at a Quarter to One o'clock. 7 11 - 1 E EVEN' ‘ti--;/%111. LONDON. THURSDAY, MAY 91, 1821. ASCENSION DAY.—lioliday at the Bank.. The Grampoi s ind Disfranchisement Bill was again discussed in the House of Commons last night ; and w•e are happy to state, that the Lords Amendment to it, giving the right of electing tw•o additional Knights of the Slaire to the County of York, was agreed to. On the Report of the Committee of Supply being brought up, Mr. BROUGHAM took that opportunity of adverting to the Constitutional Association, and to a certain Circular which they have presumed to ad dress to the Mngistracy of the kingdom. The Him. and Learned Gentleman commented in stron g ; lan guage on the unconstitutional nature of this Associa lion, reprobated their proceedings as illegal, and as tending to poison the sources of Justice, by destroying the impartiality of Juries. Mr. SCARLET? and Mr, WARRE agreed in the opinion delivered by Mr. BROUGHAM, whilst the SOLICITOR-GENERAL con tended for the legality of the proceedings adopted by this Society; but, as Mr. SCARLET? well observed, the Learned Gentleman was " so loud on its legality" only because he had not a word to say in defence of its policy. The Prince Ernest Packet has arrived with a Mail from the Leeward Islands: she left Barbadoes the sth of Apia, and St. Thomas's the '2oth of April. Among the passengers on board are Sir RA LPII WOOD' oRD, and Mr. and Master GURNEY. The Mail is detained for quarantine, and will not be in town till to-morrow. We understand that sickness pre vails on board the packet. We have received this forenoon Spanish Papers to the 17th of May. They are filled with distressing details of the proscriptive measures which continue to be followed by an agitated populace. The fol lowing are extracts : CORUNNA, MAY 9. As soon as the persons art zsted in different parts of the Province began to arrive here, an extraordi nary fermentation was observed among certain per sons, who would not have these individuals remain in the City. _ In the night of the Sd inst. there was much violent declamation in the Patriotic Club, when it was pro posed to send them all away, nay, even to transport them to distant climates, and a representation to this effect was made to the Political Chief. This step did not cairn the impatience of the Club ; and on the morning of the 4th, many groups assembled in the Plaza of the Constitution, and on all sides cries were heard of « Away with the traitors tv - lso plot against the System." The Captain-General calmed this tumult, by promising to accede to their desires ; and in the night more persons we e arrested. On the night of the bth, the Canon of Mondonedo-Baquerina, with another person of the same town, was brought in prisoner, and embarked for the Castle of St. Anthony, to pre serve him, it is said, from the rage of some persons who would have attempted his life. Meantime, the agitation among the Members of the Political Club, and some others, continued, and the re moval of the prisoners was insisted upon, so that there was reason to fear that the public tranquillity would be disturbed. This state of things continued until the night of the Bth, when the following persons were embarked on board the brigantine Hermosa Rita, as II it is reported, for the Canaries.--[Here follows the list of above forty names; among these are above twenty Canons and other Ecclesiastics, some mer chants, a late Governor of Ferrol, and the last name inserted is that of the Marquis de Villaverde.]— Amorlg these persons are bad, indifferent, and good : the first should be punished, for which nothing was necessary but to put them on their trial; it was sufficient to watch the second; the third were entitled to protection ; and all had a right to demand that the law, and not arbitrary will, should decide on their cases. Let it not be said, that they sheaved inl their countenances a ferocious joy at the successes of 1 , Merino, and that they plotted the ruin of the system. If this were certain, the Judge would have sent them to the scaffold, or to the Philippines and if not, no one had a right to molest them. How lamentable, how fatal will the oblivion of the first elements of the Act of Government soon become! Woe to our country unless these deplorable proceedings are stopped, which, beginning with the heads of the Ser viles, will not fail to extend to those of the Liberals! Ile who proscribes shall be proscribed, is an oracle of wisdom and expe: ience. The Universal, of the 15th and 16th, gives very long accounts of the events in Gallicia, with lists of persons arrested at Corunna, Santiago, Betanzos, and Lugo. There are lists in circulation of arrests in other places, but their authenticity is not certain.— After the embarkation of the persons sent away in the above-mentioned brigantine, there still remained thirty prisoners, and more continued to arrive. CADIZ, MAY 7. The persons lately arrested in consequence of a commotion, and according to a list signed by certain individuals, who yielding, it seems, to imperious ne cessity, doubtless purposed to check the popular dis order, have been set at liberty, not the smallest charge being substantiated against them. The Consular Agent of his Britannic Majesty at Alg,esiras has transmitted to the Political Chief of that District, by order of the Governor of Gibraltar, an Edict which has been published in that place, re lative to the admission into that port of vessels coming from Barbary, by virtue of which, from the 12th of next month, vessels coming from the ports of the Empire of Morocco will be admitted after twenty-one_ days quarantine, provided they bring none of the goods mentioned in the Sanistary laws. The per sonal effects of the crew and passengers shall be sub merged 48 hours before the vessel is allowed to enter. The Pat is Papers of Monday arrived this forenoon. They furnish us with some new details respecting the Greek insurrection, which, if authentic, are highly alportant. • • An article from Trieste, of the 12th May, states, that according to advices from Patras, of the 22d April, almost the whole of the Morea had freed it self from the Tui;osli yoke. TIE; citadels and cas tles, it is said, wery surrendered to the Greeks and Mainotes on the 19th of April, and the whole popu lation had taken arms. Prince MICHAEL YPSILANTI, the brother of the Liberator who commands in Wal lachia, had arrived in the Morea in a Greek ship, and put himself at the head of the insurrection along with Bishop NICOLAS, of Tripoliza, the brother of the Patriarch lately executed at Constantinople, who possesses great influence with the people. A ship which arrived at Trieste on the 11th, from Zante, had spread another report, which was, how ever, much doubted—namely, that MICHAEL YPSI LANTI had marched with his Insurgents and the Su liots, against the Turkish Army, which has been for eight mouths besieging the Castle of ALI PACIIA, and had beaten and dispersed it. Besides these ac counts there are others of no less interest from the original theatre of the insurrection. The PACH Aof Widdin is stated to have commenced operations against TiIEODORE WLA n iNIEEESCO on the 28th April by crossing the Danube at the head of 8000 men. On the Ist May, THEODORE gave him battle near Krajowa, and completely defeated him. The Turks suffered great loss, and were obliged to recross the Danube. The Greeks at Vienna speak of this affair as one of the greatest importance. Letters from Semlin, of the 7th May, state at the same time, that the Servians had raised the standard of revolt. Two Bostandjis had it seems arrived at Belgrade from Constantinople, with an order to the Pacha to summon to Belgrade all the Chiefs of the Districts of Servia. The Chiefs suspecting that there was a design against their lives, refused to obey the summons, and have called upon all Servians to arm in the cause of independence.— They have, it is added, sent a deputation to Prince .ALEXANDER YPSILANTI. A Mail from Flanders has brought us, this fore noon, Papers to the 29th May. They contain the following article on the late commotions at Constan tinople, from which, we regret to learn, that the Lady of our Ambassador has, in the confusion at tendant on the excesses of the Turkish populace, re ceived a serious injury : BRUSSELS, MAY 26. The last letters from Constantinople give a fright ful picture of the state of that Capital. Many hun dred Christians have been murdered by the Mus sulmen, and, it is added, that whole streets of Para, where the foreign Ministers reside, have been burnt, and all the inhabitants, without distinction of age or sex, sacrificed to the fury of the Turks—many perished under the sabres of the barbarians, and others in the flames. All the Christian Ambassadors had barricadoed their hotels: the Diplomatic Body, according to these accounts, were in the utmost alarm, dreading every moment the rage of these san guinary men., Lady Strangford, the wife of the British Ambassador, was wounded in the head as she I was going to take refuge in a neighbouring house. Yesterday the Duke of YORE visited the KING. Yesterday the Dukes of YORK And CLARENCE dined with Mr. COOT rs. THE -ARM F. Wednesday ftenniebt the 19th Lancers embarbed at Liver pool for Ireland. The 49th Reginiont will shortly embark at Waterford, for the Cape of Good Hope. A Detachment of the Rifle Brigade, under the command of Lieutenact•Colonel GEOLGE Alii.Lrit. has replaced the 541 Vete. ran Battalion at Tralee, where a Scrjeant and twa‘e Dragoon* are also to stationed. urday, a soldier's wife and child, of the 40th Itvginient, on their way to Limerick, fell from a baggage-cr, on the road near• Bunratty ; the child was killed on the fptit, and the mother very much bruised. _ _ RowAi. MARtNeK.—Froni a /ietu►n•to the House of Com mons, it appears that the total expen=e of the Marine Estab meat is at present X 340.666 16*. NAVAL lATELLIGENCE. Ro.stouitt, MAr 28.—Wind N.W.A-Arrived the Prince Er nest packet, with Mails from the Leeward Idands, sailed from St. Thomas's the 20th of April; and the Diomede, Ilvioirt, . . from Charleston in 42 days. The packet is put tinth r quarantine, in consequence of two of the crew having died by fever, and one being now ill on board. Arrived off this port the Enighe den, PkuEitses, from Galipoli, and sailed for Poctsburgh. PLYMOUTH, MAY 29.—Wind S.—The 1341 e-eyes: Maid, from Waterford for Portsmouth, upset on Sunday morning, off Dead- . . man; the crew left her and got safe to share, when - he Aevivit cutter went in pursuit of the vessel, which she picked up yes terday morning, and, with the assistance of the Hibernia and Brothers, sloops, succeeded in righting her : site WAS Off the port this morning in tow of the ACTIVE, but not hy ing able to wea ther the Deadman, was making for Mevagissey 13ay. Ile Mis ter of the Blue•eyed klaid ha. arrived here. PORTSMOUTH, MAV JO.- Wind B.— Arrivedthe Fame, EAST. . . GATE, from the Downs for :Madras, &c. Sailed his ?'.Majesty's ship IrmurNlA, for Plymouth; and Amity, BAKI.A, for Cowes. • DKAI, MAY :A).—Wind F.N.E.—Arrived and sailed again, . . the Calypso, flrTelliviox, from Trie,te for Hamburgh ; Friends, WATSON, and Prince Lopokl, SMITH, from Almeria; Asir, IlAnivioN, from Jamaica ; and Favourite, linAvinnest, from Port-au-Prince, all for London. Sailed the Sophia, Itcraotios, for Madras, &c. lIA RW1(1, MAY :M.---Sailed the flenry Reeling packet, for Holland; and Lady Nepean ditto for Cuxhaven, each with a t;RAVECrNn, MAY 30.—Arrived the Marchioness of My, Ilex; Buckinghamshire, )3CLI.EY • ' and General Hewitt, Puss; sox, from China; David Scott, W.shairs..ton, from Bengal; and 3lary Amu, YOUNG, from Batavia. Sailed the Mabel - tons, I'IifICEVA I, for M..dras. CU 410M410131, MAY 30. —Ships Entered Inwards: Singleton, and Iliihard and Ann, from Stangate Creek • Agen stin, from Ilamhurgh; Speculation, from Lisbon ; Etnulous, from Berbice ; Eienfaisant, from I loidieur ; Flying Fish, from Ostend , Lisbon l'azket, from Lisbon ; Aurora, front Odessa ; Eagle, from Lisbon; Dove, from Gt:ern.ey; Sprightly, from the South Seas; Industrie, front Cho ti ; Archibald, front Jamaica; Harrier, front Ilainburgli ; Jane, from Limerick; Felicity, front Waterford ; and %Vellinyton, trom St. Vincent's. —Cleared Outwards: The Deception, 'ar Boulogne ; &alouc, for Ihnibuigh; birth -it, for Dunkirk; Martha, kir Gibraltar • Wellinztun, for the Cape of Good Hope ; George the 'laird for Antigua; and Jean, for )liramic!i. Yesterday the Duchess cf CLAnestes called tovisit the P, incess .AUGUSTA And Princess SOPHIA. Princess AUGUSTA and the Duchess of Gt.ouers- TER Went to Kew yesterday: her Royal Highness the Princess AUGUSTA dined afterwards with the Duke of GLOUCESTER. Countess L;EVEN had an audience of hii MAJESTY yesterday, for the purpose of taking leave previous to going abroad, as did his Excellency Count LIEVEN on Tue,day, for a similar purpose. " Almost every day (says a Dublin Paper) the let ters of our private friends in and about the Court, corn. municate some circumstance tending to confirm our expectations the stronger, of seeing his most gracious MAJESTY in the metropolis of his Kingdom of Ireland. A letter from a friend in high situation states, that his MAJESTY, upon hearing from Mr. FREDERICK PONSONBY that he had intended setting out for the Continent, was pleased to express his commands, that Mr. PONSONBY should relinquish his Conti nental excursion, and confider himself as one of his MAJESTY'S suite, on his intended visit to Ireland:— His MAJESTY was pleased to add, that his inters. Lion of proceeding to Ireland had been the subject of much remark ; and that, let rumour dispose of the matter as it may, or the Public Journals discuss the subject as they may think proper, it was his firm resolution to see Ireland before the termination of the summer.'" SOLI ETY OF A nTs.One of the most numerous and respectable Meetings lately witnessed, took place yes terday at Freemasons' Hall, Great Queen-street, for the' purpose of hearing the Annual Report of this Society, and witnessing the distribution of honorary medals to the successful candidates in the seve ral branches of the Fine Arts, Manufactures, &c.— The room was decorated with the productions of the various Artists, which had a very interesting effect. Temporary galleries were erected on each side, which, together with those intended for the music, were thronged with elegantly dreised females. A Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manu facture:, and Commerce, upon a plan nearly similar to that in the Adelphi, has been established in Ire land, for the Counties of Derry, Donegal, and Tyrone. Soon after the departure of the Galway mail coach from the General Post Office, Dublin, on the evening of the Ztli ult. it was di-covered that a large square aperture, of sufficient magnitude to admit the mail bags through, had been made in the bottom of the boot in which they were deposited, which, there is no doubt, was made for the purpose of purloining the mail bags, as the continued motion of the body of the coach would have shaken them through. COVENT-GARDEN.—The new Tragedy of D 127110 ft and Pythias was repeated last night, with, if possible, increased success. The House was well attended. lIAYSIARKET THEATRE.—The beauties of the front of the new Summer Theatre, in the Haymai ket, now mote than begin to develope themselves. The hand some portico, which rises above the windows of the lobby of the first tier of boxes, is highly creditable to the classical taste of the Artist ; and the six Corin thian columns certainly vie in just proportions with any work in that line of att. Lady MOROAN's long-expected Work on Italy, the result of two years travel, and ten months subsequent study, will appear in the course of a few days. It must undoubtedly be considered as the most interest ing and important literary production of the present season. GEYERAL REDUCTION OX TAX/IL—The necesviry and expediency of striking off a portion of the NA TIONAL DEBT is very ably argued in the pamphleteer, No. 36, just published—by which it is proved that the injury to the public Creditor will be very little felt. The subject is expected to be brought under consideration during this Session of Parliament. In !the same No. are published Bowles' Letters to Lord Byron ; B. Beaumont on the Criminal Code; Coma° lon Longevity; with several other intire pamphiets.