Star. — London, England, 1817-02-25 00:00:00

• wNch t!'' Committee would experience in bring deprived of the talents of the Hon. Baronet, the Diaiioa was agreed to. PaOPIRTY TAX. Mr. GOOCH wished to put a question to an Hs earable Friend of his now in his place. fa rme r A /lad been passed last Session to give relief to By it, those whose farms did nut exceed £2OO a year, were exempted from the duty paid on the Property 'La. It pealed that the Collectors of that impost tad added the compens.ition paid for tithes to the re value of the farmers, and thus included many within the operitko cf the Property Tax, who otherwise would have been exer.•.pted by the effect-hi the Act in question. What he wished to knot► Was, whether in spirit, fur certainly not' is letter, that Act could be interpreted in the manner that had been done. If so, 'T,e hoped Ministers would correct their own measure. Mr. LUSHINGTON said, the case bad been sub. 'flitted to the Lords of the Treasury, hut that no de. termination bad yet been taken upon the subject. _ rAVLMENT Olf Tisa XIETROPOLII. - Mr. M. A. TAYLOR moved for leave to bring i i a Bill for better repairing the Pavement of the l!etropolis. According to the eiisting laws, thy only r,zaxs which could be resoitell to by individuals to rive the pavement mended, was that of indictment. The object of his Bill would be to give a summary rissiiction. in certain cases, to order the pavement ',be mended in three or four days, when it shoirld b: deemed necessary from its dangerous state, and to i nvent its being broken np to supply houses with scree. Mr. CALVERT hoped that the new specimen of raring, which had been tried on the other side of 2lacktriars bridge, would be adopted—(Hear, hear.) ...It had been laid down many months, and he had passed it often, but did not see the least appeararce, of its bring spoiled —(Heor, hear). Mr. M. A. TAYLOR. thanked the Honourable Gentleman for his suggestion. His Bill coulJ not compel any parish to adopt a p irticuldr pavement. They must be allowed to do the best for themselves, but he would ceitaitily recommend that which had beta alluded to.—Leave was then given. CATHOLIC QUIISTIOI. Mr. SHAW wished to know whether the notice stich an Honourable and Learned Gentleman had given for an Honourable Friend of his, - respecting a Committee to considei of the disabilities of the Ca tholics, was intended to apply to the whole of the C..a. , svic question ? If so, many Gentlemen Avoul44 be unavoidably detained by the Assizes in Ireland, whose presence would have:been desiiiSfilei - 1 Mr. BROUGHAM replied that the iiotion Obis. Honourable Friend would not invoke the general Catholic question. He intended may to propose the appointment of a Select Committee to examine the penal laws still in force against the Catholics in the tree kingdoms.' He should not bring forward the teat question itself, till there could be a full attend ance of all the Members likely to enter into its dis cusiion. He then suggested•tlie propriety of filling tip the vacancy left in the Finance Committee by the Icaigsation of his Honourable Friend (Sir J. New. port) and proposed Mr. Robert Smith in his stead, as . aGentlemaa whose abilities and experience entitled., lin to fill so important a place in the pending evi l ] iElation. The motion was agreed,to, and Mr Ho, • bort Smith's name inserted on the Comm;ttee.• thtermons Po* ULTONU.. Sir F. Buitorer said, that before the House should enter on the discussion of that widely extended coos' i acy, which had excited so much alarm'on the opposite aide (Larietecr), he had a few more Petitions for Parliamentry Reform to prewar. He then pre 'Meted p.titions to that effect from the borough of 'faddMgbam had its vicinity, the tome of Ludlow,. rad thelmeughe of Blackburn, Driffizld;Atewarten,, Carmanagh, ICechaber, and several others.—Ordered talk on the table. General FERGUSSON presented a petition from the inhabitants of the City and Royal Borough of Perifi, in Perthshire, in favour of Parliamentry Re-, fort - He stated that it was a moat groundless libel oaths mass of she people, to say that they were dfeni roes of Reeoletion under the .&me of Reform. In Scotland, ahhcagh the people Were ilous re formers, noise were more l o y a l, er,Yrectifo be more ready to stand by the Constitution of themountry.- 1 lead, and ordered tole on the - tale. Mr. STANN/FORTH presented a Petition in farrier of Reform and economy, from the inhabitants of ILiortori-npon-Hull. sr. BROUGHAM could assure the House, from the communications which he had received from pence' present at the Meeting, that although attend ed by large numbers, nothing could have been more, orderly or dispassionate, either in the conduct of the people cr she language - of the speakers. But this , was nat an extraordinary instance. With one solitary esceptiou, every thing which had passed proved, that although numerous beyond all -precedent, all the Meetings in the country had been carried on with a degree of tranquillity and decorum , which would doilioneur to the best cause.—iffear, /wars eir.) However Misrepresented. peace and good conduct still formed the characteristics of the people.—The petition war then read, and ordered to lie on the table. Mt. HUNT'S PITITZOW. Lora COCHRANE stated, that be held a Peti tion, whi:h had been put into his liana only ten misutes before. It was ftom an individuals Mr. Henry Hunt, who declaied that he was ready to ap pear at the bar of flit House, and to disprove by " h l'nee, certain allegations made in a Report of a 4 0 , iet Committee of that House, which he had read 'd i the public papers. He thoug ht that the Petition el.ht to it taken into consideration by the House it should proceed, not indeed to vote away, tutu) suspend the liberties of the nation. That pa-' t '''" 'Weil, that the petitioner, while in the country,' Le received a letter last November from Preston, re !rotting him to attend a Meeting of the dikuesscd t y.abitants of L on d on an d i ts vicinity. That be had, viteosequence, written to Preston to lt,Ofr thlobjerdtl of meeting, and had received pyglx,4l,ltaim " The Independent Whig," .*cWasminia n n ''eltisernent calling .wpwo tit* inhabh"ks of o Westminster, and 3ontbwailt, to asnimble and ' lion the Prince Regent, in favour Of Reform sad That he hedgerows le lenndone and found ready of wkirelt he Hutt dhow at well aool the of rill its a body to ''''"nt it Ili Carlsomieenso. . That be' had Poled 'etnietiOna, which bid bon dY I adapted Med presented ru the Prince Rient. That the adjournment of the Meeting in Spa-fit:WS t i the 2d of December, was not theeffect of any previotis concert, but merely the result of ignorance as to the time when P•rliarnent would meet. That when he had seen Lord'Sidmontli, previous to the qd of De cember, his Lordship had not asked him to witithold from attending the Spa-fields Meeting, but had told him that his - presence and his conduct there appeared to have prevented great mischief (Near. hear.) —That the rioters who had - committed excesses in the City. did not belong to the Meeting, but had been met by the petitioner on his way to it, where he had propo. sect acresolution against eiotioe, which had been una• nimously ad4pted. That the third and last Spa-fields Meeting had bs'en still more numerous than either of the former. and bad passs-cl without the least dis turbance. That as to the pike- h eads, he had received an anonymous letter whilst at the last Meeting. in. forming him that a person dressed as a game keeper, had called on a man of the name of Ben cliffe, a r. iith, residing in Covent-garden, and had employed him to make spikes for a —That some had been made, which he bad t ken away, and ordered more ; and that a Police Offi:er had since called on Bencliffe, and had a similar one made, to be laid before the Secret Committee; and that he conceived the letter might prove an important clue. As to the plan for an attack nit the Tower or the Bank, that the adjournment to . Patite-yaid prov ed that no such intention was formed, and if the Meeting had not after all taken place there, it was to prevent any inconvenience which might arise from its vicinity to Parliament. In fine, that the Petition proposed by the Petitioners, and adopted at the diffe rent Meetings, had been received by that House, the House of Peers, and his Royal Highness the Prince Regent himself. He (Lord Cochrane) could in no degree be considered responsible for the truth of thes.! statements. - In his opinion, however, they ought to he submitted. to a Committee of that House, or the Petitioner ought to be examined at the Bar. If they were found to be untrue, then let the Petitioner be punished in an exemplary manner, for attempting to impose on the House. The present was not the time for entering on the general question. But be must say, that to him it appeared a very eetraordinary cir cumstance, that the whole peciple of England should have been condemned—he would not say by a pack ed, but by a chosen and selected Committee —with out any opportunity having been afforded them of rebutting the accusation. This was, in his opinion, so extraordinary and so iniquitods a proceeding, that he must take the earliest opportunity of protesting most strongly against the adoption of any - such melt. ewes as it appeared likely mould be proposed on' the Report.—(Hear, hear.) He trusted the House would not sanction any such proposition by its vote, when It must be evident to every one who heard him that there had been (so far as Came to his keowkdge) no serious riot cii disturbance in the whole He had heard of no disturbers of the public peace— of none who wished to make any radical change in the form of Government, except, perhaps, those per. eons under the name of Spenceans, who, he under stood, did net amoont to aboge a hundred in number. 'That there might be a few wicked and-daring men in the country who wished for confusion war very . possible; but that the Constitution was.therefore danger, it was most absurd to assert. But, this subject, every kirialpf i tetificseand.misrepureente* von had been tenoned to. As one proof of this, he: we.nalti merely state the fact, that in X4e Courier, the Resolutions which emanated lions those infatuatedin dividuals, the Spenceaus, were published as the Re aolUtions agreed to by•the Meeting, when, in reality, they were rejected in ma; and the Petitions which were_ subsequently presented to the Priace Regent and to Parliament, were substituted. The Petition was then read, and ordered to tie on the table. REPORT OF THE SECRET COMMITTEE. The Order of the Day fox taking int') vuisideration the Report of the Seiret Committee having been read, Lord CASTLE EAGH assured the House, that he had never come forward, in the whole course of his Parliamentary career, with more real pain thn atpte present moment. It had been a duty oft intpties4 upon him in these latter times, • to provide extraordinary measures to meet extraordinary dan geri. But severe asked been that ditty, it was still more 'painful and grievous at.a period, not of war, when foreign hostility might be connected with do mestic treason ; but of peace, when every appear altie of external danger had disappeared. (Hear, hear,) to call the attention of Parliament to civil di visions. He had bope4 that alter the dreadful re cords of the sufferings of mankind which the last twenty.five years had presented...after the m:nforable lesson given to those disposed to embark in desperate enterprises, that the calamities which they occasion• ed. fell back upon their own held', and upon their country, and affected all classes of the community; he had hoped, that aftCr the close of a war, in which the country had been rescued from the greatest perils both at home and abroad, it would have been diffi cult, if not impossible, to fine-found individeals so dead to every sense Of public virtue and private in terest—so prone tobe acted upon by wicked and designing counsellors, as to s'ender it necessary for Perham:lt to Come to the grave Considerations to which it was his duty to call the House.-- rlowever unlikely that ought to have ben, no one who had read of, or looked at the 'Ririe of audacity and pride which , bad grown out of the French-Revo lution, in which persons without natuial pretensioas had not only risen to ibe first °Sees of the State, but had rendered thetpselvei masters of the whole property of the country—no one who had studied the history of the times could be surprised that inliivi duals should be Found amongst us so inletgated as to try, by a bold effort, to effect similar obj e c ts and to attain equal Iteration. As Tong as a period of cala mity would enabie them to. direct the passions of the pock. it was not astonishing that such persona should risk even their own lives to turn 'those passions to their own purposes. There were many *cum however, which threw a ray of *contolation 'Wille_pictOre. Tf we had not yet traversed the whole period of revolution sod of danger, we bad at last seen tbeigenest when thay had passed their -acme and won't* their - decline. It was a. subject of congratulation to. the - country, more real thin that width might be derived from the endeavours of the Noble Lord who had Omuta tha petition . Lewd (leebrktut), to dePitilate• the. peril, ._chid tieing had so far beano, Vas dangerons, becaus it • had 'now deseenieSl ti ate barest or le r' of soc'ky. Which were mare liable to ieduc:ior. "L'hc ten,'e of their revoliitionary dangers haJ been to p and to separate the other classes. The poison no .••• Operated only on the tower ones where it I;ad Asstutar.l a cli.iracter, not only of treason, but n• crime, which would lead more easily to its detection anti repres sion. Tic cliff:rent Tribes of disturbers, the Luddite% and 'the Spenceans, had committed open violations of the 'laws, besitl-s the assumption of doctrines so absurd, as, aiming!' Odle: wise intended !By desiAtting men, to offend 01e te:rie . ut all who were able to judge. The character of the treason hid wok on. the lowest classes, and disgraced itself with crimes, calculated to counteract the purposes of the traitinis, themselves. (Hear, hear.) This Was certeinly a, consolation, but the Goveromeat would ahandert its. duty if it slept on the existing dangers. Whilst he concurred with the view rectiaanvila be ta k en by _e_ to the Secret Committee, that the peril. of if.e pre,ent times should he co-or .stel with Close of the eather pit tsof the It 'volution, lie wished the H inse not to imagine that there WAS troy absence of t.ilent or in geeuity among the conspirators of the day. Let the House look at the document in which their -wild doctrines were explained, and it would see that it would be difficult to find more talent or ingenuity. There certainly was no lack of atsuities among .the individuals engaged in the desperate enterprise. •Let the libels with which they attempted to degrole the authorities of the State be examined—no trace of a vulgar turn of mind would be marked in them. They were men of educatioa, but of Fr vetted etucatiou, and of great talents. He appealed to his Lean .41 and Hon. Friend (the Attorney-General) as to th e difficulty which he had found in dealing with ihcs": disloyal and immoral libels. But this was not all— there were many men distinguished in s: sti. , n and abilities, who, if they were not coneected meetings, conducted themselves in such o ni.tiiner as to counteuaece their principles and their pr. ceectirigk (Hear, hear, hear, from Me whole of Me Opp t4 Li an .)— They were recognized by the Conspirators as their fillies—( Hear, hear, hear,) —as embarked in a Ci3IW mon cause—(/tear, heJr, hear,)—and, though they_ did not rendc themselves liable to the operation of the laws, yet, in the deliberations of the Conspirators, they were referred to, and named familiarly amongst themselves as thole who should compose their Com- . mittees of Public S ifety—( Loud and repealed cries of Hear, bear, hear, and Name, name, from the whole of Me dieleosition.) He did not feel it his duty to name any one (Hear, hear, hear,) but the Conspirators consi dered that such persons so effectually aided and abetted their purposes, as to be persuade! that as soon as an insurrection should have overturned the I State, those individuals would be ready t' declare themselves, and to put themselves at their head (mar, hear, hear.) Though they could not be char ged at the bar nt their country, yet in the eyes Of GoD and man (Hear, hear, hear, from the Oftposition,) they stood responsible for the calamities which might upon the land (Hear, hear, hear,) and for the fives which deluded individuals might pay for the treason which they had thus_ encouraged—(4%4e, hear.) 'Hi should now give the House a fair, and not exaggerated descrip:ion of the nature and extent of the dangers which menaced the country, and di rect its attention to the remedy which his Majesty's Ministers thoagbt..,fit to recommend to Parliament. The Report ut 'the Secset,Committee bad not been drawn b: and elass of men alone. It did nut go he yottd . the state' of the cell! 4' and. *ben st Committee o composed*Xid 'that i conspiracy existed which ea.' dangered the existence of. she Constimtion and the dearest interests of the country, it might_ well be ere difed that it only weft as far as it' lAS supported by evidence. If the basis of the information before the House amounted to this, that a conspiracy of so ex tensive a nature and so dangerous a tendency existed, he apprehended ttiot he was justified in assuming that -it was a conspiracy not remotely looked to as likely to be carried into execution under future circum stances; but one of a desperate character on the point ot exploding, and which in fact had- exploded.— (Lardzider.) For although the Conspirators had not been Joined to the extent: which they expected, yet they had conceived that the general means which they h.td provided were sufficient to enable them to make the attempt with a rational prospect of success. There was now, therefore, a degree of proof which had never before been possessed when Parliament hid been called upon to adopt precautionary measures. In no instance, except, perhaps, in Ireland, had conspiracy proceeded so tar as to levy war, and by the force of arms to attempt to seize on the executive power of the State. From this, however, he thew the omen, that the period was approaching when the evil might be entirely extinguished. It bore a character of des peration which it had not assumed in former days. The fact of a conspiracy was therefore established, with the fact of an attempt and effort in arms. It would be confining the extent of the peril within too narrow limits to consider that it sprung from the meeting of the 2d Deceotb..r alone. It the fact of a Conspiracy rested only on the events of that day, and he saw nothing in the other parts of the colliery in. 'tended to support that effort, he might have thoth l lit with the Gentlemen opposite, that it was contemp tible ht itself, and that the State was not Linda the necessity of resorting to extraordinary measures ; but it would be disguising the truth from the House to nar row the danger to that single effort, or to separate it .from others going on et this very moment under the 'pretence of seeking for Parlianieutary Reform. He would not deny that many individuals throughout ate country had a Reform ill Parliament really in view but most of them looked at it merely as a halt measure, or as a veil to the carrying on of their de signs. All these various societies intended to co-ope rate together, in order to controul the Constituted Authorities ofthe State, and impose upon the nation that change,• whatever it Might be, which they con sidered necessary. It was not requisite to follow the Spencean Clubs through all their tarnitications, or to bring legal evidence before the House how they ac ted in all their secret proceedings ; but would any man in she country, or any Member in that House, deny that those societiel existed, and acted on a pr in ciplo of extension, and that the greater mass of them, ;bough under the name of Reform, and particularly the Hampden Clubs , served only at vehicles to collie municate revolutionary principles: Some were •doubtediy sincere in their wish fur Reform; but it stray . in eVidence before the Committee, that even these admitted individuals professing the Spenceao doitrlnta to become their monhrr. had been clearly made out that A wicked consp tacy existkal in the country for thesubversion of the Constitution,arel the State. It had been proved that strong effort had been made in arm; to alum the object in vklff anJ it appeared that the indivieloals v•ho were deeply implcated in the crime of treason had been th.t mist active 'to prozure.meetingsfo. the apparent purl:rue , :f Parliamentary Refru to, partieola ly Au of the ‘2‘l of Lecemb-r. The P a titi .n of no • individual was booirethe Hoist.. He did Mg pre end to say with what.sentiments he (Mr. Hunt) had gone to th4t Meeting; but yeleniving the who'e of what he had Atated, yet the:Meeting would appear to have been made to feel the,petlse of the people. The House had now to deal with treason. the existence of w!tich Wis aeknowbaloed in the ccunti y. For while the Conspirators had rt ,, t even yet a's indoned the hope of fi tding an occasion, by a desperateetfort, to take pot. session of it.o ruing power, they d;d not neglect other oreoas, hot atitieJ at the attain:iv nt of their objects by the prosr‘nsive corruption of the minds of toe people. 'll4i. arts were chiefly directed to pervert the morals and loyalty of the manufacturing classes; those very daises which had always suffered. and would always wirer, most, from dime/ haute' and civil broiis in the State — (l/ear, hear, hear.)--- But thee availed themselves otsthe facility with which they ,could be found and assembled to impress their doctrine* upon their minds and lead them to acts of des;:elatiost. He had explained the nature of the &roger, and should now calf the attention of the td .use to the tueaseres svh:ch his Majesty's Minis. .ers ahould foci it their da ;y to recommend. First of all; though he should not have. a motion to pm. pose on the subject, he should open the whule sys tem of measures which were deemed necessary to strengtheu the hands of Governmentot this invert. taut juncture. 'He should 'there fore tit entitled to refer to a Bid now under the consideration of !mother House, for the temporary sospension of the Act of Habeas Corpus. There was no measure which.could inflict upon . hiM greater personal prin, or a heavier Lad efreirntibility. Althongh it was one which the Constitiwon had recognised whenever .a ;Ate of sufficient n , :cessity had been sttewn, there wa* none which he thoad,:it shouiJ be adopted with inure :Atte tancc ( Hear, hear, hear.) There was no law which so nobly and so proudly diringuished the tslt Constitution as the HabeAs Corps law—(gcar, hear.) But while he assevhed the whole w,ight 4.1 responsitility upon himself for suspending such a UM. he Insist say that the House would not duly protect - the liberties if tie country if it did not arm Minis• ters fur a time with that power, without which %lei ther the Constitution nor the State could be secured from the blow aimed at their overthrow. The rte-. r:Tbi:L7 of the present measure arose, perhaps, front the great tend ri..ess with which the crime of treason Was treated by the existing laws. It was required to be established by so many le al circumstances, as well as by the evidence of two a ii7.esses, that the si tuation of the cout.tiy might be such, that thought the State were iii rssession of evidence which any other ca..e would send an individual to his ttiat, yet unless armed woli the power now called t'or, ;t could not arrest a conspirator at the very eve of his • deluging hie country with blood, withoutrutn'ing the risk that for want of evil lice on that parto.ular crime, he should apply for.ait +bees Carpos.• and he at once restored to liberty. J3y the temporary suspensMn now proposed, the itaAidual might be 1 1 .claivered over to the regular lawn, ut the country.— Gentleman on the deers side of the House could feel more sen.ibly than lie did Id° the must Iset:ted suseeosion of the Ch irtar oh our liberties.' Nothing but a case of the most imperious necessity, I:ke , to,, pres,•nt, could jastity such a measure. His Ma josty's Goverrinient intended to private it with every possible guard, to shoo the reluctance with which they , adopted it, and their divesition to remit it At the earliest oppintunoy. 'He should not wish in the preamble to the Bill to fix a longer period for its du ration than the present Session, of Parliament ; so that it might naturally *spire with it, unless fresh circumstances should arise to render its contianation necessary. °He:livid also wish to render it a local measure. Nothing ftad appeared before the Corn. mitiee to require the-extension of the proposed ,sus. pension to other parts of the United Kingdom— (Hear, .hear:) The internal situation of Ireland was so tranquillized as to chew a noble example to the people of England, and to announce in that country a quick approach to that state of peace and loyalty which would do honour to the whole kingdom— ' ( Hear, hear, hear.) He should now proceed to ether measures, which, in consideration of existing circum stances, he should think it indispensible for Parlia ment to adopt. A law had been passed, he believed, in 1795, in consequence of an atrocious act then at tempted on the person of the Sovereign, as lie • was going to petforni mine of the must important functions of the Legislature. A similar attempt had • been made oil the person of the Illustrious Individual• now holding the highest authority in the State. A *inn'. lar law woold therefore be proposed to extend to his R o y a l Highness the Prince Regerit the protection which the former Act provided, for the Letter seen rity of Isis Majesty's Person. Oo this branch of the subject he was sure there would not be two opinions in the house, but that it would be determined to be wise to eetend to the Psiuce Regent the same legal protection in the discharge of the duties of his high office, which it had been thought prdper to provide for the person of the Sovereign in a similar situation. He should theretoie eropoo: to extend to the person the Prince Regent those p iris of the Act of the 35th of the present r.ign, which related to the pro tection of the person of the King. Another part of the plan which he would propose related to the at tempts which had been made to draw over the sol diery to a participation in the crimes which had been committed. 'lt had evidently been part of - the hopes of the disaffected to succeed by seducing the military force—and it was proved that systematic attempts had been mole to effect that purpose.— The House, he • w•isruire, would feel the necessity of protecting the inhaler against, such artifices as might tend to mac him break his allegiance, and join in die crimes of his seducers; and it would be erflOwed that the most effectual way to succeed in afferding this protection would be, to• enact that thostOwho should attempt to seduce soldier airmail should, for the future, be. considered greatest crime, wet punishable accordi On this part oh :Le .i..Lject he was sure G , • • ►, • • • • I Iheir4ileginaCe, 'ed• guikf et the (Hear.) , • sure there would