Star. — London, England, 1817-06-25 00:00:00

PARLIJAIRA74Rr PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE or JeNr. 24. The LORD CHANCELLOR intimated that it was hit in tention, loans diately alter the regent . 1 erns, to Live several - Judgments, a..d particularly nirntioned ;•.e t?sieensberry Causes. The Arun"C anal Bill was, oil the 010400 of the Earl of EGREs MONT, read a seemed time, and committed fur Friday. rbe Anneal Accounts from the Phut Depart mem, at Greens wis h College,were presemed by Mr. It it, and laid on the table. The Seats Officers Regulltim dill, t:.e Clerks of the Signet, • the Pot Horse Dutie., the Militia kegulatiou, aud out or two ether bills of roi:r , r hops-ranee. were brought up (ruin the Cons. irons by Mr. IfstooLii Lord Gaiti:v:m.c Sotir....t . r, and others, and segeeally read the fir , o The Earl 01 I.AUDNIRDALE cal'ed th• attention of the Hoe.* to a 'lame which lie metzmt to propose for iturodue thin into the Col en.' Wages Conran non; the rOrCt of Width Wollhl be to extend certain of it,. pr , oriAions to Manufictures iu Cutlery, and other Iron zed Steel Vs'uiks.-1 he. Bill s:auds for a third reading to morrow. Viscount SIUMOU presented an Acrounr of the number, &c. of the Individuals &tamed 41 co;.finement, under the proei. Mons of the Habeas Corpus %aspens on Act, pursuant to a recent Addiesi of their Lordships,---1.01 upon the table. .1 he WI of DONOUGH MORE nitival for a Copy of the Ccu.:nui,ica:i s, it any, which took place between his Majeley's hi:fosters aod met Leod Lit moused ar:.l the Lord Chancellor of Ire and, or either o. them, respecting the appointotsot of the High Sheriff of the County of 'lmperary.--Os deed. The Royal Commissmas Continua:tee, and the.Millbank Paul. Winery Road Bills, were read a th.rd time and passed. Ihe Copper rubella' bill passed throtszh a Committee of the whole House, and was reported ; and the remaining bill. upon the table being respec.Verly Ituwardtd, their Lordships adjourned till tu•oio: row. HOLT iE or COMMONS. The Transfer of Stock Bill was read it tldr.l time anti raqted. ' *lke Paper Drawback Bill was real a second lute, and erilered to lie co:urnittel to-morrow. Mr. LUSHING FON brought in a Bill to prevent the ineppr. trion ut corn, for a limited tinw, front any country, in any ves sel, to I.e warehoused here, for the purpose of et ortation.—Reati a fn.! time, and ordered for a second reading to nun row. Mr. BROODEN brought up the Report to the Committee on the Uual and (Vim Acts. Ihe itesolutsons were agreed tn, rod a Bill ord red accordingly. Aerogram of the Unfunded Debt in Exchequer Bills now standini utprov:deti fur, we re laid on the table. Mr. I.DSIAIN6rUN moved fur an account of all Spirits ex petted (ruin :midland to the Continent, for the years ending the Ist of October 1815, and the Is( October 1816.—Agreed to. 1 he Army Prtze•Monry Bill watt through a Comunttre.—i r poi t tO• morrow. bit. J MACKINTOSH presented a Petition from persons sof N e tap frun the colification of their property in Denmark In 1507. It s:sted, that iu consequence of our attack 011 that country,and of our bombardment of a friend's cooks'', the Danish Govern-. tit had cniifi+cated the properi yof &deb mereliants,'Which at shat tttt e amounted to It had been since rei:uccd to 65100,000, and the sufferers had hoped relief front the British , thmeventent, as, in cuti;tquenee of the war, a great number Of .Danish •vessels had been se zed, and had produe,:il a suns of et:A 0(4(40 in Dro•ts of the Admiralty. Their claims, amounting , only to reloo,txx), would not have drawn more titan S per cent. from those Darns, which had always been considered as a fund kept for the relief of those who suffered from the effec:s of a sud den war. A lung negneistion bad been opened with the trea sury on that subject front 1803 to 1814, but had led to no result satistutory to the parties interested. Yet a compensation of sC5OO.OliO had been given to the persons who bad suffered from the oar w th Spain, and therefore the arguments employed by thed reasury, that to comply with the wishes, of the, claimants would be so acknowledge the right of Denmark to confiscate British property, and create an improper precedent, were totally unfounded, for a precedent already existed. He concluded by sztoying, that the Petition be brought Ilf. • Lord .LASCELLBS stated, that for several years it had been his duty to represent thus casein memorials to Uovernment, and be bad done 44 because be thought justice was in favour of the Claimants. He opposed the general princple of sueh applica tions) but he supported this on account of the peculiar case of the Petitioners, who had had no possibility of saving their pro perty. Ilse Petition was then react, and orditred to be printed. Greeral GASCOiGNE presented a Petition from 'create lan . sees in Liverpool, compleiumg of the hardships which they had differed front the imposition of the late laz on the stuck in hand, and playing fur remuneration for pan of it.—Read and or dered to be'printeti. Mr.ltYNO presented a Petition from the County of Middle ' sea. aping the continued Suspension of the Habeas Curt us. Petition was read, sad ordered to lie on the Table, and to -- lse Owed. Mr. CAI-CRAFT presented a Petition front the Clergy, Free ho dire, said luhabitains of the County of Kent against the Ses , pension of the Habeas Corpus.—Read, and orderted to be printed. CALCRAF r tutored for a Copy of Minutes of Written Zeistence taken by a Coen of Trade in an inquiry lately made re • Wye so thesepposed operatiooot the Salt Duties on the yisheeise, the Aviculture, and the Manufacture* of the Kingdom. Ordered. if IN *ISOM Mr. TIERNEY said, that as the Report on the . Budget would probably be brought up at slate hour, • it it were brought up at all this night, he would give notice that on Thursday next, he should move some Resolutions for the purpose of exciting a discussion on the subject of Finances. He then enquired, in consequence of the returns which had been made to a mutton of his-respecting outstanding Exchequer bills, and distinguishing those that were provided or unprovidedafor, what was meant by the state ment that 1,700,0 1 i0 of those Bills had been pro vided for on the Aids of 1816. Wilat ere those Aids There was also another sum of £3,942,000, in outstanding Exchquer Bills charged on the Sup plies of the present year. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER replied, that the sum of X 11,700,000, said to be provided for on the Aids of 1816, bad been voted in supplies in the early part of this year, and was' therefore provided for by a vote of Parliament, though nct yet in a substantial manner. As to the 5fr3,942,1101) they would come on the general Ways and Means of the present year, with any anti cipation of the next. Mr. TIERNEY soh!, that all be now understood of the matter was, that an Exchequer Bill was called provided for when it was provided for by a new Ex chequer BilL In fact, with the exception of £570,000 t.• 'tie repaid by the Malt Tax, there still was a total rat A5•2,b97,000 in Exchequer Bills unprovided for, • and to be made good. Here the conversation dropped., SUSPENnIrIN OP TIM ilAßiki CARPUS. • Lord CASTLEREAGH moved that the Habeas • Corpus Suspension Bill be read a second time. Mr. F. DOUGLAS contended that the measure was 9ot calculated, to produce the effects for which hi s Majesty's Ministers professed to introduce it.— existence of a general conspiracy had been dis proved by-the feeling of thii country, by the verdict of a Jory at Norwich, and by the verdict of another J u ry in Westminster Hall. He ridiculed the march of ten thousand conspirators from Manchester, of whom not• fifty remained collected together when they reached their first resting glace. The evil was partial, let then the remedy be partial too. He would prefer the adoption of Marital law in the di g . tiabed districts, to the Suspension of so important a right as the ktabeas Corpus.- The idea that the io ta of ineurrection had been excited by the informers • of Government; took away half the strength of the . itepOrt• of the Secret Committee— (New, haw). It _A Was t`lat idea, he was convinced, which had pro duced the verdict of acquittal in Westminster ; and was the evidence .Which had been found instil. ticient to convict four guilty men, though not guilty to the extent charged, to be admitted to punish the whole people of England ? The only things required would be a change in (,ur municipal laws, the care• ful and energetic execution of those laser, and the pre servation of the rights of those, by br the greatest port ion ti thecommunity, whose principlrs and loyalty remaine.l unshaken. Mr. LOCKHART defended the necessity of the measure, as the present dangers rose from an offence rather new in our code, and untang'ble by the exist ing laws. It was not an offence confined to particu lar districts, bat endeavoured to be spread through the whole cruntry by a system of rltlegates. agree as to the reality of danger, but those who opposed the present measure, did not propose any other in its stead. Mr. CUR WEN could not, consistently with his dirty, give a silent vote against this bid. What had occurred on the recent trial proved, that actually there was no danger, and that the whole conspiracy was confined to six individuals, who might do much mischief, but who could not overturn the Govern ment. His objection to this measure arose from his opinion of the bad judgment of Government on this subject—(!Weer, hear.) He spoke with abhorrence of the system of not merely rewarding spies but con torting honours on them; yet he admitted that it might be proper, in some cases, to use spies, and when used they must be rewarded, but certainly not ' honours. He deplored that tire House should be DOW Occupied, at this period, in forging chains for the people, instead of occupying itself in relieving them (tom those burdens which bore them down, and in reforming the representation. As to this Bill, it was not calculated' to attain the end professed. Mr. BARNEWALL could not think that this question had any thing to do with economy or re form. The question was one of expediency; the object was the preservation of the Constitution.— However much might be said in abese of this mea sure, however loud the outcry against it, he would not consent to cringe before the tyranny of clamour. (Hear, hear.) Our Constitution was not so weakly fixed as to depend on any one law.. The LORD MAYOR said, that though he could not flatter himself that he should make any impres sion after the excellent speeches which had been made against the measure on the former night, yet he felt that duty to the situation he filled, and the situation which he represented, would not allow him to give a silent vote. He should have, in the statement which he had to make, to speak of himself, and he concyived he had not been treated, in the course of the trans. actions referred to, with that respect which was due to the office he held, from some persons in other official situations. At the time of the first meeting at Spa fields, he had sumnioned all the power rf constables at his command, and made arrangements for; pre serving tranquillity. Tht meeting separated with. out any act of outrage, except some petty attempts on bakers' shops. Atter that time he had received a variety of letters from various persons, many threa. tening his own life, and naming several days on which he was to be shot. Those which related to himself he disregarded—the others he sent to the Se. ' cretary of State. From the examination of these pa pers, he was convinced that they chit fly came from persons who were not engaged in treasonable designs; but who for their own purposes wished to create an alarm of treason. The paper which led to the col lection of the greatest number of persons on the ied De cember originated in a person who was one of the most taithtul to his Majesty's Administration— (Hear, hear, hear,)—it was the, advertisement of a work which was printed at an expense of three pence halfpence a copy, and which was sold at one peony, the difference of the expense being made up , by the Administrating. The work had their appro. bation, though the paacard had not been submitted to them. The placard was-44 Spatields Row— 'Truth for a Penny—Go it, my Boys !" There could be no doubt that this paper, which was put upon the 2J of December, Rad tended to collect and to excite the people. Though the body of people collected in Spalields on that day had been watched by Magis trates immediately connected with the Government, and had been heard to make use of the words—"" To the Tower, to the Lard Mayor," no notice had been sent to him of their proceedings. The City Consta bles, who had been on duty at an execution which took place early in the morning,.were not at the Mansion House when the rioters entered the City. !He went out with his brother Aldermen, and saw many hundred persons, some of them with arms, fir ing in the air, and giving other demonstrations of I joy ; the whole body was speedily dispersed, and were not seen till an hour after, when some assembled in the Minories, and one person, it was said, went to the Tower (not, it should be recollected, to the Tower I Gate). The whole were dispersed without a singl e i soldier. Was not the law strong enough to meet riots like this ? That afternoon, he met perhaps eight or ten thousand persons returning from Spa fields, in Holborn; and on the appearance of the Constables, they wade way for him immediatde.— When he was led to arrest Preston, he found him in a garret, with scarcely a bed to lie on. His two daughters were lying on the floor. Only a single paper was found in his apartment, and he was not possessed of a shilling. It had been now proved that there was not a single association for political pur poses in the whole metropolis ; he had never been able to and any on inquiry, and Oliver, the spy, had admitted to the Committee of Secrecy that lie knew of none. There were thousands and tens-of thou sands in many parts of England bearing the utmost misery with patience. There were in Cornwall many persons living on ten, twelve, or fourteen ounces of barley bread, yet no place could be more tranquil than that county. London had always been distin guished for - the attachment her citizens spewed to the established and glorious Constitution of the Country, and certainly on the recent occasion she had not in the slightest degree forfeited that character. This was to him clear proof that the suspension was not required. But the advocates of the measure say that the law was not sufficient. The law, indeed, was not sufficient to punish where there was no offence, there fore.this suspension of law is necessary in order to imprison upon mere suspicion—(!fear, bear.) These were his views and feelings on this question; he was sensible that be could net, particularly sifter the able discussion, that had taken place, odd atiy-thing tesie ; but.in fife circumstances in which he was placed, he could not give a silent vote—( Year, hear.) Sir WILLIAM CUR rIS allowed all credit to the conduct of his Right Honourable Friend (the Lord Mayor) for his conduct on the occasion to which the greatest part of ).is sreech referred; but he. denied that the effect of the present measure, which he op posed, would be to deprive the people of England of their liberties (roar, hear.) nor did he think it true that his exertions had been the only obstacle to the success of the traitors who would have dthiged the City in bkeid. Good and loyal men would not have remained• inactive while their property and their lives were in danger—(Hear, and a lestre...) The Spa fields riot should not, however, have been treated in the manner it was treated by his Hon. Friend, and considered a little disorderly disturbance. His Ho nourable Friend himself allowed that the multitude had arms—that they had fired their guns in the air to skew how formidable - they were; and in his (Sir William Calais's) opinion, a mob so disposed and so prepared should be considered rather lib engaged in treason and rebellion alum in a common tumult.— (Hear, fear, hear.) ,Those people said they ;met for the purpose of petitioning for reform : he did not be lieve a word of the statement—(.l laugh.) Ot what use was their arms if they meant peaceable petition- ins ? Were muskets and military implements the instruments of quiet reform —Nis ; they wanted no reform ; they headed rebellion, and intended plunder. The Right Honourable Gentleman (the Lord Mayor) had spoken of facing tire snub unarmed, and allowed his courage to be interred from the hazards of the enterprize ; but lie would remind his i lei. Friend that prudence made a part of courage—(4 laugh ) He remembered a meeting of delegates that was held at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, where there was a disclaimer of physical force; but these men used every means of inflaming the minds of the people, and after they had excited them to those disturbances which they pretended to deprecate, or . exposed them to' be attacked and put down by the military, they would turn about and say to them, " Go along, you ignorant mob; you have neglected our advice, and exposed yourselves to danger by your precipitation and folly."—(4 laugh.) Lord I)EERHURST observed, that in intru ding, for a few moments, upon the attention of the House, he did so under considerable pain and alarm, known only to young speakers in Parliament; but which 1 i alarm was counteracted by an alarm still more to be dreaded, if he conceived that be could forego his public duty I From a sense, then, of that imperious duty alone, was he induced to trespass upon tire in dulgence of the House. (Bear, hear.) His vi t-t (1. this night would be in direct opposition to that given upon a former occasion, when the question was ori ginally proposed to the House, and he could not give it in silence. He gave his assent At that time with the greatest possible reluctance, to the Suspen sion of the Habeas Corpus Act, not so much with a view to past dangers, as from the anxions desire of pteventing future evil, as when a house has hen on fire, its inhabitants are not contented with putting out the flames, but engines are stationed on the spot to prevent further and future conflagration. - (Hear, hear.) But now, upon mature reflection, he thought the great engine of the Suspension Act might be withdrawn, and that the laws, as they stood, (with the Sedition Act in force) were sufficient to counter. act the present difficulties, and he could not consent to thefurther Suspensionof an Act, so hateful to the spirit of an -Englishman, of an Act that struck so vitally at the true rights and liberties of the subject— (Hear, hear, from the Opposition.) As was henbane and the deadly nightshade to the human, so was this measure to the great constitution of the country. It should never be tesorted to but in a case of extreme neces sity, (which necessity lie did not see now existing,) nor should it ever be administered but by the hand of the most skilfel physician ! This was a measure that required the gravest, the deepest reflection—it was a measure not lightly to be dealt with ; and after all the consideration he could give it, he did not con ceive that, for the misconduct of a few misguided but suffering individuals, . the great mass, the great , population of the country should still writhe under its further extended thraldom (Heir, hear, hear, from the Oppositioil) He thought it the great fabric, the noble structure of the Constitution, had, in the opi• nion of his Majesty's Ministers, in tire oisinit n of the majority of the House, been in arty way defaced—if one stone had been put out of place, by the miscon duct latterly exhibited on the part of certain people— now was the moment of all others to adjust it with the cement of mutual conciliation and forgiveness, rather than to bind it by the iron clamp of overbear. ing, oppressive, and intolerant power (Hear, hear, from the Oppositicn.) Conceiving that this was the moment that ct,nciliation and lenity could be best Ishewn with effect towards the suffering and discon i tented, and that by such means their tears would be Idried to the advantage of the country, he should decidedly oppose the present measure. (Ilear, (sear, hear, front the Opposition.) Mr. GRENFELL was sorry to differ from the Honourable Members with whom he usually voted ; but he owed it to the independence with which he always acted to support the second reading of tire Bill, because he thought it necessary to the well being of the country—(lfrar.) He knew it was argued that the treason was confined to persons of low condition i' but when he considered the dreadful 1 proceedings of the lower orders in tire French Revo- ' lotion, when he reflected that Robespierre and others were of that class, he could not think the danger beneath the dignity of the Legislature, nor unworthy of its serious and anxious consideration. Lord COCHRANE had nothing to nay in the way of new argument, nor did he see any necessity for new arguments, as none of the reasoning on t h e of the Hothe where he sat had been answered. V.t:iat was the House called to do ?--to suspend the whole benefits of the constitution. On what grounds :--on the grounds of a report to which he was not allot cd on a former night to apply the epithet, which he then thought, and which he still thought it deserved. Was . the whole kingdom to suffer for the errors of. a few? Minireers called upon the House to rally round the Constitution, but how absurd was this call in the face of a measure which destroyed the Constitution? It had been remarked by a member of the Royal fa mily in another House, that *hen the seittiments of men were suppressed by 'a de s potic measure i Minis. tett' rather increased thau diminished thuirMangce. tie rettiat lc *.s well fottnileci, file *tithing tai , untying of their notice. Look to the state of Its where the public yoke was ompressed—eonsid e t t . murders and malignant crime! that pct trailed degraded and enslaved country. Let Minister s Lt.. wise look totlie conditinn of Pnrotgal, w bete the steel theassassin superseth d the exercise to la*, and r. v.: • ed wrongs her seltich Coorts of Justire afford, d s• rc - dress. Did Ministers consider, that by stispend so ini i liberties, arid c.aimirg the powers of arhiti :try pu n i,i, ment a pretence of justice, or any o f the 1 tot ms of trial. they were doing nil that they could e , change the c;:aracter of the people of England, bring then to a level with Ole most degraded riskier : . and . to renter them malignant, murderous, and te• vengeful? lie ( Lord Co:fluor) never felt p a i n on a n y ()cession as now. when he obsetved the treaset es in pronttess. and contemplated them C4)1,1. SillAi.tst'S. The l2ortimittee had yone tryond its strt:ctiors ; is was ordered to report ;nfohn4tion: and not to recommend specific acts :t deinotism it nas constituted in a way that it caul.' be expected tc ite nothing else but the tocsl ot Minister , . At first 1 4 ,e names of the Members were pretended to be chore • by ballot ; but an Hon. Member (Mr. Brougham) read the list before it was announced. Was not On s a mockery, a palpable deceit, a delusion ? Was it no; like the packing of a Government Jury ? He (Leet Cochrane) pledged himself to bring torward a nee.. sure to correct the present made ot balloting, and :a obtain a more unbiassed clestion ? Then the Kepi:: of this Committee concluded by recommending a measure for the suspension of the people's rights.— This was of a piece with the ether measures of the House. lip did not recollect a single instanc e in which it attended to the Petitions or corm L e d with the wishes of the People—(Hear, Unless the House turned over a new leaf, unless it changed its system, it could not much longer pro. teed in its career. To suppose that Borough-mnu gering oligarchy could be long supported by a di s potic military force, was an ammo delusion. Tae British peor,le would not allow their Constitution is be so uestroyed, and that too by men Ike the present Ministers. He ls.td now expressed rather his tre!ines than his opinions or arguments, and he could in t help warning Ministers of their danger. A despotic. Government was always the most insecure, end a Revolution %vas rapid in proportion as the cppressicn of the people was severe. The Dey of Algiers gent. rally received the first intimations of di.e.onteat trr:at the rebels who surrounded his Palace to decide i.is fate, and who must either .lestroy him, or be them selves destroyed. He (Lord Cochrane) had him,elt been present when many heads were cut off fur at , tempts at insurrection in that State, and be had sera them piled along the wail of the city, like shut in de arsenal of Woolwich. It the present system was continued, the walls of the Tower would viol La covered with heads in a similar manner, or the heazs', of his Majesty's Ministers must be cut off—(.4 :au.; l).! Mr. HILEY ADDINGTON felt himself called upon to say a few words iu answer to the Right He nourable Gentleman (the Lord Mar et) who had complained that, the, executive had not treated him with sufficient respect. He was astonished to hear such a charge, because he knew that in the °lice with which the Right Honourable Gentleman was at the time in a constant intercourse, the highest on'. Mon was entertained of his intrepidity and pnbli: services. He bey g od to state, that Ann tue 'A of December a detachment of Life Guards was em ployed in dispersing the mob in Skinnersitreet, two of whom were wounded in the execution of their duty. He stated these things because he was afraid She Right Honourable Gentleman was disposed to attri blue a negligence of duty in the office of his Nobler. lotion. With respect to the paper which had been re. ferred to, he wished it to be clearly understood, that though the printer was acquitted of any criminai design, yet there was an expression of the disap• probation of the Government upon the tran , •actina. . With respect to the employment of Oliver, he stolid merely state that he came forward voluntarily with his information, gave most respectable references to his character, and had nut stipulated or received asy remuneration whatever (Ilear,hear).—He knew that the suspension of the Habeas Corpus was justly viewed as a desperate measure, and could only be justified by the most urgent Lccessity ; but he cont.idarvd tits necessity tiow existed, and he believed the country at large was of a similar opinion. The LORI) MAYOR explained. The r :fluty never appeared at Skinner-street at all, nor near the Tower. The first time they made their appearance was when the mob had reached Aldgate, after tie mob had dispersed, and when a few only remained picking up arms in the street. Mr. MACDONALD said, as the Unite tvas r anxious for the division, he should reserve lernte.; for another oppot tunny. The House then die•ded— Ayes, SO—Noes, JO—Majority, 50. The Bill was of course read a second time. Lord CAS FLEREAG H then said, he .... 4 sltesi to be committed to-morrow, and to be read a r; •-! time on Friday, when the amendment of the Ri . efit Hon. Bart. (Sir J. Newport) would be best briny:: forward, as the House would then be better attecete. in all probability, than upon the Committee. Sir J. NEWPORT expressed his detelminat.cr. oppose the Lill in every stage. ELECTIoN LAWS. Mr. C. W. WYNNE asked leave to bring in a ri to alter and amend the Law concernincr the E.:ect:c ., of Members to serve in Parliament. fits object was io shorten the duration of Polls, for at the last Eks tints for Devonshire, one person kept the poll or'l three days and only yolled IS votes in all. An, thr: n1;111.16(11 in the Bill would be, to prevent the &re ralion of the voters in the ribbons of the differet: Candidates, which sr; , a heavy expense, and produc tise of tnischiet. . - Mr. BUTTERWORTH had no o'_•;ection to shorteninp, the duration of Polls; but as he rern sented a plaCe now much distressed, and whose pr" • cipal mpinment .consisted im the mannfaciory e: ribbims, he trusted nothing would be done to iacrease the distress of Coventry. The LORD MAYO it s:id, he knew that therib bon weavers in SpitalF:elds a. d its neighbettrht o were in the greatest cf.tress, and he would j•iin tte Member for Coventry in any thing for t!leir rctief. • Mr.. BENNETT said,. an Honourable Frieud of his had paid no less that' set . :ooo for tiaix•• , s. Mr. W. W NINL theta bruni,tat up Uißtjis w°`ll'