Star. — London, England, 1821-01-09 00:00:00

• , BERKSHIRE COUNTY MEETING. • A Meeting of the Nobility, Gentry, Clergy, Free holders, and other Inhabitants of the County of, Berk:, was held yesterday at Reading, to " consider of the propriety of presenting an Address to the KING on the subject of the treatment which the Quint, his Consort, has experienced, and is experi encing, on' the part of his MAJESTY'S Ministers, and of passing such Resolutions as may then and there appear desirable, on the present state of the country." At half-past twelve o'clock the spacious place in which the Meeting was held was crowded by respect able Gentlemen of the County, notwithstanding the unfavourable state of the weather for travelling. Mr. J. 13. Mouca, M.P. was called to the Chair, in obedience to the general wish of the Meeting. The CHAIRMAN then opened the business by read ing the original Requisition presented to the High Sheriff, with which that Officer refused to comply: the consequence was, that the present Meeting was called by a number f Magistrates, according to the provision in one of the late Acts. The Honourable Member, in calling upon the Meeting to pro ceed to the business of the day, expressed his sa tisfaction at seeing so large and respectable a Aleeting of the County. He should not detain them long from the real business of the day ; but could not refrain from making two requests, more for form's sake than from any real apprehension that in point of fact there was any actual necessity for his pressing either. The first was, that they would hear with p itience and temper whatever might, in the heat of debate, fall from any Gentleman who might think proper to address them in the course of the day—.. (Hear, hear)—and the other was, that by all means, they would give a full and fair hearing to every speaker without reference to his opinions ; fot they must he aware that nothing was more necessary to the proper appreciation of their own station and cha racter than that they should afford no possible pre text to their enemies, or tc the hireling portion of the Public Press, to misrepresent them by any insinua tion of partiality or clamour—(Hear, hear). Having said thus much, he should beg leave to read to them a letter which he had received from Charles Dun dos, Esq. one of their County Members, which was accompanied by a physician's certificate, setting forth the indisposition of that Gentleman. The letter was as follows : " Barton-Court, near Newbury, January 8. " SIR-T regret that lam prevented by indisposition from being present at the Meeting of the County of Berks, at Read ing, on Monday next, as- I consider it a duty which I owe to my Constitstents to attend on every occasion when they publicly express their sentiments on the proceedings in Parliament or the business of the country. " On the subject of the present County Meeting, without in terfering with the consideration of the conduct of her Majesty, or the treatment she has received, I beg to state that I am de cidedly of opinion that the mode of prosecution by a Bill of Pains and Penalties was Impolitic and unconstitutional, and that a retrospective act tsf the Legislature can never be justified, even by the plea of necessity, when the necessity may probably exist only in the minds of those who are influenced by the. Ali ;Asters of the day. If such proceedings are to be sanctioned by former prectdents, or established by the present, farewell to that protection irbich every British subject is entitled to while he acts in obedience to the just and established laws of his country. I have the honour to be, &e. "CHARLES DUNDAS. " To the Chairman of the Meeting of the County of Berks." This letter was received with several marks of ap probation ; and a person in the crowd asked the Chairman whether he had recaved any letter from their other Member, Mr. Neville? The Chairman replied in the negative. Lord FOLKSTONE came forward to propose the Resolutions, and was received with loud. and reite rated cheers. The Noble Lord cum menced by saying, that it became his duty to offer to that large and re spectable Meeting some observations upon the object of their assembling, and to propose to them certain Resolutions for their consideration, which he trusted would be unanimously adopted. He would endea vour, as shortly as he could, to state his opinions upon the present crisis of public affairs ; but, from the ex tended nature of the topic, comprehending as it did so many points of momentous interest, he feared he should have to trespass longer upon their attention than, tinier any other circumstances, he should feel himself justified in doing—(hear). He confessed, that when he reflected upon the present agitated and calamitous state of the country—when he considered in particular the late unjustifiable proceedings in Par liament of Isis Majesty's Ministers—when he was so forcibly impressed with the fatal tendency of these proceedings upon the peace and tranquillity of the country—when, he repeated, he felt the weight of all these reflections and considerations, he approached the great business of their Meeting with fear and ap prehension—fear, that he was unable to do justice to the subject; and apprehension, that he might expose himself to misinterpretation upon so momentous an occasion. But the present crisis overpowered all feelings of personal forbearance, and called upon every man who had the good of his country at heart to come forward and boldly state his opinions upon the prospective dangers and calamities which im pended over the country—(Hear, hear). It was in cumbent upon the People of the country to step for ward, and endeavour, by the unequivocal declaration of their opinions, to ward eff the evils which threat ened them, and to make their best effort to produce an alteration in a system of misgovernment so fatal in its consequences, and which could only be amelio rated by the firm and general voice of the Peoele at large—(Applause). The terms of the Requisition were as general as the subject to which they referred ; they comprehended the whole state of the country, and opened a wide field of discussion—into the mi nute details of which, however, it was not his linen. tion to carry the Meeting on this occasion. The state of the country was, indeed, widely appalling—(Hear, hear). Turn to whatever quarter they would, they only -met distress and dissatisfaction. If they looked at Agriculture, they found it suffering in all its brancbes—(Hear). Manufactures and Commerce were alike weighed down with the heaviest impediments. The country was in a state which called for the se rious attention of every honest man. Such was the universal pressure of distress and calamity, that the Public had reason deeply to regret that the united attention.of Parliament, during its late Sitting, had been withdrawn from the consideration of a state of things so alarming in every point of view, to any other consideration, whatever might ha v e been its charactep--(Hear, hear!). In the course of the last and the recedin i g year.. Petitio ns ~ b ad been pawed into Parliament from eve: y interest and every quar. ter in the counts*, complaining of general distress and most pressing difficulties, and praying the atten tion of Parliament m a consideration of the several interests of the State ; yet no attentiop was paid by Ministers to these pressing Petitions ; no measure was originated by them which had either inquiry or redress for its object. The evil was seen, but no at tempt was made to investigate its cause, or the ex tent of its operation. It would be detaining this Meeting too long to enter at large into the numerous and complicated details of the grievances affecting the country. They knew all the heavy distress which prevailed during the last five or six years: they had felt it, and were still feeling it, in all its progressive action. The war had ceased, without bringing Fhb the peace any adequate reduction of the public burdens— ( Hear, hear ! )—and by leaving a wide-spreading evil, which was not to be accounted for by any sud den transition from a state of war to a state of peace —( Hear, hear!).—These evils had gone on pro gressively increasing, until they had now become almost insupportable. From such a series of facts, the country , had a right to infer that their distresses were not temporary, but more deeply rooted; that they were not deducible from the change of a period of war to one of peace; that they were not lightly caused, or to be remedied by self-action ; that they were not to be left as Ministers seemed 'disposed to leave them—that is, dependent upon accidental or casual recovery ; but chat, on the contrary, they called far serious and immediate investigation, as, evils, which were as deep-seated as they were gene. ral, and respecting which not a moment's time should be lost by the Administration of the country—(Loud cries of hear!)—At a period of so much public and general difficulty, it was imperatively necessary that' the Administration of the country should be placed in the hands of persons willing to face the difficulty, and avow their sense. of its arduous nature, bold enough to grapple with it as became men—not only ready and prepared to encounter the difficulty in all its bearings, but also able to apply some prospective remedy—(Load cheers).—Such were the men noW wanted by the country. Were the present Ministers of such a character? (Cries of No ! ) Were they willing to meet the difficulty —or, if willing, were they able? —( Cries of No ! )—They had not even manifested a disposition to face the danger, much less to com bat the evils attendant upon it—(Hear, hear, Mar!) It was true, that a Committee had been instituted into the Poor Laws, the source of much evil, and of serious consideration. The Committee had made an able Report, setting forth both the cause and the ex tent of the grievance ; but they had not the courage to meet the evil, and they left the remedy to chance, contenting themselves with the useless expression of hope—(Hear, hear). Was that the course which either the Administration or Parliament ought to pursue ?--(Hear, hear). Was that what ought to be the conduct of statesmen, in times of great public emergency ? Surely not !—(Chcers). There was ano ther subject, into the consideration of which Parlia ment had entered ; and it was one, he apprehended, not a little connected with the interests of the Pub lic—he alluded to the Resumption of Cash Payments by the Bank. That was a subject not well adapted 'for detailed consideration at a General Political Meeting; but it was one which had its operation upon the public distresses. Payment in specie, with out lowering the standard of gold, was a great de sideratum ; it was one which must in its operation affect every class in society—inasmuch as cash pay ments were the medium of transacting every sort of general business, and the Bill passed three years ago was one which had a more close connexion, accord ing to his opinion, with the existing distresses, than was observable at first view by an ordinary observer. Under these circumstances, which pressed in every point of view upon the country, it was melancholy to have seen the attention of Parliament, of the Mi nisters, and of the whole Country, called from such weighty considerations, and at such a moment, to a matter totally needless in itself, and necessarily pro ductive of the greatest agitation in the public mind. 'khat the matter respecting the Queen was needless for discussion, lie thought must be admitted. It could only be necessary in a case of its having an in evitable operation upon the public interest. That ought to have been clear before the country was called upon to embark in the consideration—(Hear, hear). There were two circumstances which ought, how erer, to have prevented Ministers from committing the country in such a question. In the first place, such a proceeding was very inconsistent with that re spect for the Monarchical form of Government in this country, which ought always to be inculcated in the mindi of the People. It was utterly inconsistent with that feeling to open an inquisition into the pri vate life or domestic conduct of one so near the Throne, unless the succession was in danger, or tll2- less some other equally powerful public cause called for the proceeding. But in the case of her Majesty, no such justificatory cause existed—(Hear, hear). — There was no disputed succession; nothing of the kind could have possibly been contemplated ; there was nothing in the subject, as even Ministers them selves put it, which could call for Parliamentlry in terposition, on the ground of affecting the righ s and liberties of the country, which Parliament were b to protect and uphold—(Hear, hear). None of these public reasons called for the agitation of such a question ; while, on the contrary, every public inte rest of the country called for the serious and undi vided attention of Parliament. The whole proceed ing of Ministers was, therefore, unjustifiable in every way in which it could be presented to the minds of statesmen—(Hear, hear). Ministers, indeed, entirely failed, according even to their own shewing, in jus tifying the perilous step which they had taken against the Queen. But they said that her conduct abroad was calculated to bring disgrace upon this country. Well, how did.they propose to abate that grievance? Why, by augmenting the means of her Majesty, that is, according to - Ministers, supposing her to be guilty of the acts they imputed to her—(Hear! and a laus )—to commit all those moral offence s whi c h Administration thought were calculated to produce so baneful an example !—(Hear, hear). Every act of Ministers stigmatized them still more with inca pacity. Besides complaining of her Majesty's con duct abroad, they said her example at home could never be tolerated; and yet by striking her Majesty's name out of the Liturgy, they compelled her to take the step which they, considered pregnant with da n . gerous example to-tbe country, that is, to tape up her residence here without dalay. — Nothing Wald Tequal the inipolicy of their conduct towards t he . i Q t. tliell Ha ' v h in u g t dtheteerumn n a e i r d e f a u i t: o n t p to r w e e h d i c i u h g t h a g e y a c u astm her e d Majesty, they took care that their judicial proceedings should correspond with their previous acts--(Hear). They proceeded by an es post Ado Bill—that is, a Bill creating the offence and imposing the penalty— (Hear, hear). —They then refused her Majesty a list of witnesses—(Hear, hear). —They adapted all their details to their previous conduct, in defiance to the feelings of the People and the ordinary principles which regulated the administration of common justice. Much as the People had reason to complain of the conduct of Ministers in the first instance, they had still more reason to complain of Ministers having embarked subsequentlyin charges against the Queen, which they had precluded themselves from making matter of judicial investigation by the steps they had taken to promote them, if they even had the tendency which they ascribed to them—(Hear). — Reverting first to the abandonment by Ministers of the considerations which the state of the country re quired, and secondly to the needless and impolitic introduction of the Queen's case, he thought the country was called upon to pronounce a sentence of condemnation upon them for their want of ability, and departure from that public duty which they owed both to their Sovereign and Parliament. They were, therefore, utterly unworthy of confidence, and the country ought not to lose a moment in laying that opinion berore the Sovereign, whose dignity these Ministers had so unhappily compromised—(Hear, hear).—lt was not the duty of a Meeting like the present to recommend successors to such an Admi nistration; it was enottgh to shew that the present were unworthy of the situations which they filled, to authorise that Meeting to call for a change of Minis ters as well as a change of system—(Hear).—Having said so much upon the incapacity of those Ministers, he would now advert to the state of the Represen tation in Parliament; for unless the House of Com mons were made to act in unison with the general feeling of the People, it were vain for the country to look for a redress of grievances by any change which merely embraced the substitution of one set of men for another in the affairs of the conntry—( Hear).— A Reform in the Representation of the People was, therefore, indispensable—(Load cheers). No good could be effected by any set of men, however well disposed, without. If this healing remedy were not applied, the country most go on from bad to worse— (Elear, hear). And even were it applied, the country must see that much of patience would still remain to be endured under any alteration of political senti ments in the Government. The People would still have to call in all their patience; for no change could work an immediate remedy. But if he knew the People of England well, they would submit with pa tience, if they saw a chance in the ability or conduct of Ministers of obtaining any eventual relief—(Hear). They would, he had no doubt, place their fullest confidence in an Administration which they felt identified with themselves in promoting one common object, namely, the general prosperity of the country —(Loud cheers). The topics to which he had now alluded were those comprised in the Resolutions he had to submit to the Meeting. There was only one other matter to which he felt it necessary now to al lude, and that was the conduct of those persons who designated themselves " Loyal Addressers"—( Near, and much laughter). He feared that that Meeting was not likely to have the assistance of such men ; but if they were here, he would call upon them to point out one word either in the Resolutions or the Addresses which could bear any other construction than that of the most perfect duty and loyalty to all the Constituted Authorities. If there were in ;hem any such word, he was willing to have it immediately altered—(Hear). The Noble Lord concluded by moving a series of Resolutions condemning the whole conduct of Ministers, and by afterwards proposing an Address to the King for their dismissal, and a Pe tition to the House of Commons for a Reform of Par liament. There was also a Congratulatory Address to the Queen upon her triumph over her enemies. Mr. JASIRS Wusaut seconded all the motions, ex cept that which prayed the immediate restoration of the Queen's name to the Liturgy, that being a subject in which he felt a delicacy to embark. Not that he dissented from the necessity of doing her Majesty that justice, for he entirely and heartily concurred in every syllable contained in the motions already so ably enforced upon the Meeting by the Noble Lord who had preceded , him. He deplored the lamentable situation of the affairs of this once happy country, and joined his voice with that of the thousands of his fellow-countrymen who now came forward to call for the dismissal of Ministers, as an indispensable preliminary to any change of system which might afford the country some chance of relief—(Hear). Mr. ADAM BLANDY rose to second the motion for r o es io t t o io ri o ng lir h . e w r M he a b je le st w y' a s s n p a r m ov e e t o o te t d he th L ro it u u g rg h y d . eli Th cac a y t from seconding, as he was of the Catholic persuasion, and could not therefore suggest any alteration in the Protestant Liturgy—(Hear, hear). Before the question was put upon these motions, Sir MeetingF n N j u e st l S be il f U o rßeDtahTeT, Chairw o was had ta karriveda was a lo t ud th ly e called for. Sir FRA NEM BURDETT came forward amid the loudest cheers. He would have been well content to have joined his suffrage to the general suffrages of the Meeting, by holding up his hand in support of the Resolutions, Petitions, and Addresses which had been read ; but since they were deiirous of hearing his opinions, he would not fail more than on other occa sions to declare, when so called on, his sentiments and most decided opinions--(Applause).—He would not have intruded any observations of his if he had not been particularly called on, because the able and eloquent speech of the Noble Lord, so plain and easy, and so level to the understancfing •of all, made any observation from him, if not intrusive, perfectly un necessary. He entirely concurred in all that the Noble Lord had said, and he heartily agreed with a Gentleman near him, that they were all under the 'greatest obligations to the Noble Lord for calling the Meeting ; and he would add, that they were much indebted to the independent Magistrates who sanctioned this County Meeting, in spite of the un constitutional and, be thought, insulting conduct of the Sheriff, who attempted to set up a barrier against the constitutional expression of their sentiment, with out any coloUr or pretence for . such conduct:— With respect to the Queen, there was tlo occasioa for saying anything. Not only were on that subject well known, but all • had been so much discussed in various liament and out of Parliament, that noth• left to be said. Earl Grey, the Mar , down, Lords Holland, Erskine, and distinguished themselves so much by , to the late prosecution, and who, as f; lilies and integrity could contribute to held the estimation of the House of which they belonged, not only exhat jest, but set every part of it in the cl view—(Applause).—At the same time, do justice to his own feelings, if he dii never were such means used to truth means that were bate, disreputable, a i means which disgraced the country Europe and of the whole world —(Great Yet these means, unetampled as they not the Queen, but exposed her prow, selves, and the power by which alone tors were kept in office— ( Great applal situation of the Illustrious Lady, ar tunes which had overwhelmed her, softened the severest heart, even if she all the crimes laid to her charge; bt nocence. was established as clearly made, and when her enemies themsel drawn with shame and disgrace from tion, it was too much to see her treated, who called themselves the loyal, as if proved guilty of worse offences than I alleged against her—(Grcat applause) they in fact proved against the Queen proved that she was in the constant practice of many Virtues which the el known, and for which the Queen had credit—(ta/tense applause). Her vi I had been made kno‘sn, not by herself. friends—they had been dragged into the malignity of her enemies —(Great a humane attention to those about her was singularly generous and magnani been proved against her that she Imo vant supposed to be infected with Greater humanity—greater magnant philanthropy could not be found in of any man or woman.—(Great applai put it to the feelings and good sense sent to suppose that this had happened • that individual, with respect to whom accusations had been brought forward , vidual had been supposed to be infect plague, and if her Majesty, in the con innocence, and following the impul, benevolence, had visited him as she hat servant, with what forcewould that circ been urged against her by the Attornei Was it not enough to establish, bey( versy, the perfect innocence of the Queen withstanding so many years were inch charge—notwithstanding that six y( period stated at the commencement of tion—not one act was mentioned with; years, to which even a suspicion could .—What would any person of common that circumstance ? No man alive woi it was not enough to knock up any Court in the world. Was it ever km man or woman, after a long course of price, all at once ceased from that cou came perfectly innocent in their subseqt The evidence, in short, was not evidence any man in England would hang a dog. stronger and much more gratifying was t innocence afforded by the Queen herself. —those who ought to be the best judges of England—had evidently entertained the . Queen would have been so strenum by the People. The Queen herself couli have any other reason for expecting the People of England but her own cot innocence. The support which the Q• ceived, he would say, was not more than it was unexpected. Yet the Queen, pearances against her, knowing that the. of the State was armed against her, seek sible danger opposed to her, relied upon of the People, because she was conscious' —(Great applause).—he very act of over to this country brought a conviction which a legion of Italians could not applause).--The Petition to the King he ticularly proper. He would call it a Loyal stitutional Petition : it was a Petition Englishmen to present, and worthy - King to receive—(Applause).—To present tition at the time when every trick and ; used to keep the King ignorant of the of his People; was particularly necessary, Lord Sidmouth would not present it appear in the Gazette ; the. attention . ship, as well as the columns of the Gazette, voted to other purposes. They were al., _ imposture and deceit, to the paltry pretence alty of the " Hole and Corner This practice of going in to holes and cc hoped, a good omen ; they knew that a dog's dying hole !—.(lmmense applause Francis) would not have been at this M• the hope that some of the " Hole and would have shewn themselves. He It; Public Prints some statements of facts to him - to be the prelusions to a battle; fore, come in order to see this class of hear what they had to say--(Great applause Chairman seemed to have been in a similar he had very prudently cautioned them much warmth in their debate; but it was that there should be any warmth on account opposition of." Hole and Corner Men," should fall into any error on that so most important part of the subject their Petition was the melancholy distress not long since happy and flourishing That distress was universal: it therefore no alleviation, for all classes being distressed. could spare anything to relieve another, tress was felt after six years of peace. _ of it had been a transition, as Lord Cistlereat lsged, it was a very long transition: t nearly as long as his Lordship's speeches, . to have no termination but in his Lordship tion from life to death !—(Great applause). causes of the &Stress were now known -- neat ; but, notwithstanding that the sulkily) J'e i : :) th ti te e s h ci . is r : s"* y tz iai. ths t nothi ng v ino * till klarqu is of a in ( Carnarvo n , o , 1111 iy their Op po i tr del al far a s 6,4. 4 . flat e to that en d , CH of Retliarnfix the chausted t h e r j ~. e cleare.e p o i nt W me, he sho u ld a . 111 ` e did not sty, , Inc aduce a f enul 'abl e, and it,f itnas chi :ry in th e eyes Na Great appl els4. the ey were, dep od , bb prosecutor s lone those , , ini applause),_ 1 it _ c ht and the rnid a " her, mi g h t ha , %dr' she were gu a t , ( he but wh en ab ly as it couldtra nselves had sue From the inst.; tie ated, and by 1116, In e. , tan had eve r I t ha 'use). What la at it, adtil U a s enrahn e rs eriedt)d e i itdo f int n af:ni ".a?1 notoriety Theybuwtb le e b P as th d :c a i e s e country had 0 , dc gut ha e on le • virtuous habit we animous. It Fa co had tanim appmi l l t f t u h Y tsi e th : ee: g h cta r ist eaut isenal. o tjaa. y i7n iide s ti e rifi t ecs : e s ss e toe doonffi her ofpr with tstot:i consciousness ci an r y c o u n m d s a t I n c c o e nt h a m .re n t C O n: had done anoth er . e :orney-General— ° Queen; that, we. included in the years was the t of the prosete ithin the laic three uld be attached? it non sense say to set would say that ny cause in any 44 known that any tO of vicious indul. w it course, and be. • Pr, sequent conduct? 'idence on which P e a dog. But still was the proof of Y. erself. Ministers Iges of the people th w ned no idea that UI mously supported ould not possibly . p e g cl th u e e consciou s ness e s n u h p a o d n *cid of pre extraordinary . teen, with all ap. the whole power 44 seeing every pos. 41 upon the support ous of innocence! of her comint ct shake—(Greet tion i to ( hism r ina t h u o l he thought par. iin a Loyal and Coo • •tition worthy of to ty of an Englisit resent such a Per f an th d e ar se ti n fi t c i e men w : th : ary—(Cheers) , • • it; it would act 1 1 . ! ion of his Lord - r, 3azetle, were do r ! appropriated to . pretence to for en"—(Applau4 51 , 1 comers was,he to it a corner wail " 'law). He (Sir dt Meeting but for nd Corner Men , ai had seen in the its which seemed "1 e; he bad, there. )f beings, and to 'PPlause)* Their , s ie im m ila a r g too the m," or that they ci accountit was error,na o i n t o s l t f i . 1 7 3 1 :: score. But the . :t embraced in distress of this tl sing country.— a fore admitted of j istressed, no one, r >cher. This dic- e. If the cause c Cistlereagh al- :it was prat) . c :hes, and seemed eordship's transi- applause). The sun to be rrinv • sufferings of the