Star. — London, England, 1810-10-23 00:00:00

IP RE6ORM IN PARLI4iVENT. MUTING OF THE INHABITANTS OF RENT. Yesterday, pursuant to the order of the High She riff, in consequence of the requisition of a number of • gentlemen, a respectable, though not very numerous . meeting of the inhabitants of the county took place at Maidstone. The Huai Sneerer arrived at one o'clock, and in opening the business, addressed the meeting to the following effect 11 Gentlemen, I had the honour to call this meeting of the inhabitants in consequence of a requisition de livered to me by Sir William Geary, which the Sob-, . Sheriff will read to you. I trust, that, for the ho.' nour of the county, you will give an impartial hear-. log to every Gentle Man who may think it necessary SO address you upon this occasion." The Sua•Suzeter having read the requisition, • The HIGH SHERIFF again rose, and said that he had further to inform the meeting, that he had re ceived a letter from their worthy representative, Mr. floneywood, to this effect, that when he had signed the requisition he had hoped to be able to attend the meeting, as it was his duty to do ; but that, from the effect of repeated attacks of the gout recently, he felt himself unable to attend. He trusted, therefore, that his Constituents would accept this as an apology for liisbbsence; and begged at the same time to state, that,. in or out of Parliament, he should ever be a friend to Reform. Mr. Homes then came forward, and said, that he believed the opinion to be now universally entertain ad, that Nmething beyond the common, the mere ordinary change of Ministers, was indispensably ne cessary for the salvation of the State. That expe dient, of changing the Administration, had been tried over and over again, during the present reign ; and • yet, for a considerable number of years, the condi tion of the empire had been uniformly on the decline. Moreover, it was perfectly obvious that the great body of the people was indifferent as to the question, who were Ministers ? To what cause, then, was this in difference, respecting the persons composing the Ad ministration—this want of confidence in public men, to le ascribed ? It was, unquestionably, not owing to any want of talents ; because within the last fifty years there had been frequently in the Administra tion persons of the highest talents and the most ac complished minds. Not to any want of talents, then, but to the lamentable want of public honesty, was I ~ this indifference of the people to be attributed. What that great Statesman, Lord. Camden. had said of his time, snore peculiarly applied to the present period : that constitutional authority declared; " that tech was the want of confidence in public men, that the - Ministers of the day might pursue whatever measures they pleased, withott restraint, and thenceforth defy all opposition." The country was now suffering the ,consequences which that great man had so long since predicted. If they were without any lawful remedy for the evils they complained of, they might well de spair. But they were not without a remedy, legal and constitutional—a remedy all-sufficient f lew their object, and' of true English growth. He conjured them, therefore, not to cease to employ the means given them by the constitution and the law, till they should obtain such a reform as would emancipate Par liament from Ministerial bondage, and place the re presentation of the people on such a footing as would prevent the recurrence of the degraded and dangerous situation to which the country had already been un fortunately reduced—(Loud applause.) The object for which they had been that day convened, was to promote a reform such as he had described. To such a reform, however, some objected, as unnecessary— whilst others considered it as a dangerous novelty. As to this objection, that it was a dangerous novelty, he begged of the meeting to call to mind what had been t he sentiments of many great men at different periods upon this subject. The immortal Chatham had ut tered a prediction " that the northern boroughs would . net survive the last century, and that if the House of 1 Commons should not reform itself within, it would be, reformed with a vengeance from without." In addition to this authority, they had the statement of the son of that great man, (the late Mr. Pitt) in 178.5, " that avithout a parliamentary reform, the na- . tioe would be involved in new wars—that without a reform in Pailiament.the country would not be safe against bad ministers, nor could good ministers be of any use." The events of the last twenty years fur• niched the best commentary on that prediction. But . what had Sir William Blackstone, whom no person could accuse of entertaining democratic sentiments, said upon the subject ? That learned authority had stated, that the spirit of the British Constitution re. quired a more extended representation of the pette nin Parliament. But what was &till more, aau thy no way inferior to any he had quoted, a man, who for powers of mind and force Of genius was not inferior to tiny (Sir William Jones), had declared himself decidedly in favour of a reform in Parßankent and hrque.uhed to his country one of th 4 most. excel lent of his works in support of this national . question. He could not suppose, therefore, after the authorities he had referred to,' that any question could be made as to the necessity of reform. if he were to go into this part of the subject, however, a boundless field would be presented to him ; but it wits not his wish unnecessarily to occupy the time of the Meeting, and therefore he should Dot trespass upon their patience . longer than was indispensable in order to make them acquainted with his sentiments on this important sub ject. One observation, however, he could not forbear to meke, and that was, to ask those who heard him; 'whether they could consider their property or liberties wine, whilst the Minister of the day had a revenue of seventy millions at his absolute disposal, and 'Without any of those actual and ealcient checks which "'were lielierto erroneously siipp . stif to exist ? • As to the question of reform, however,'r many persons as serted, that aninstitution, which had existed for so many ages ought not to be altered.; but for his own part, he considered the constitutitg As composed, like the human frame, of two principits—of the spirit, Sadao{ the form. The spirit was unqufstonably tilted sod unalterable, tut the diversities. c f ferm might be assoooitat ; and what the hand of time may have • hand of wisdom ought to correct. When urdett had brought forward his plan of Reform, it had beep objected to as and not at all su4.etf flit, the circurnstano times. Mr. Brand'', proposition, which Was so enerd or extensive, ba,d been 4 Sir cha A e tt.l l : Eu h farlittmentary , Apo general. ar . cob ...Utile time \ by 4 ,picasu IA • . jeeted by the House of Commons : ytt, the great complaint of the people ieas not that this plan, or that plan of Reform had beedrejeeted, but that the House of Commons altogether refused to enter into the discus sion of the question. But he trusted, that not only the county of Kent, but every other county of the kingdom, would call on the House of Commons, to adopt such measures as may be necessary for the effectual Re form of all existing abuses. It was his own firm opi nion, that no plan of reform which had been proposed since that of Mr. Fitt could have been adopted with out producing great public benefit. For himself, he could say, that in the part he took upon this occasion, he was not actfiated by any private motive ; and he had only to lament that the task had not fallen into much abler hands. If they should be gratified in the grant of what they sought upon this occasion, nothing more would be wanted to insure the prosperity of the country; end he could not put this matter in a stronger light, than by quoting the concluding part of an ad dress of the House of Com Mons, in the year 1783 ; " that the King of Great Britain can have no more perfect security for his Crown, than the support of an Independent and uninfluenced House of Commons. He concluded by moving the petition. Mr. Honors then read the following petition, amidst the most marked demonstrations of applause : " We the Inhabitants of the County of Kent, In full County Meeting assembled, conscious of the rights we possess, of ad dressing and petitioning your Honourable House upon all public affairs, and impelled by a high sense of the duty we owe to our selves and to our country, beg leave to lay before you our opi nions and sentiments on the present defective state of the Repre sentation of the People. " To the wisdom and justice of the original design of eonven ing in Parliament the Representatives of the People, to deliberate and co-operate with the Sovereign and the Peers upon every question of National Concern, we give our unqualified appro bation ; but when we take into our consideration the decay of sonic Boroughs. once proverous and well peopled, the rise and flourishing condition of others. formerly of little note; when we reflect upon the effects of the heavy and insupportable expence of Elections, which closes the doors of your Honourable House to many of the best friends of their country, and roLs it of their faithful service; when we chink of three things, we are of epi. nion that your House is at this time, by no means a fair Representation of the People • and from the manner in which a large portion of the inditidual Members Obtain and secure their seats in your Honourable House, we cannot but infer, that that re high and sacred office, intended for the public service, is frequent ly sought for and procured by unconstitutional means, and is too often perverted from its original design, and rende:ed subservient to private ends. To this cause we ascribe the greatest part of the national calamities we now have to deplore. The mean princi ples, and narrow views which have too long governed the Coun cils of the Cabinet, the false ambition and little intrigues of its Members, the continuance of a system of Expenditure lavishbe yend example, the many disgraceful expeditions, in which the blood and treasure of the country have been too pr odigally wasted, the decisions of your Honourable House in direct opposition to the general sentiments of the nation, the unwillingness hitherto evinced by your Honourable House to promote inquiry into, or correct abuses in the Representation—an unwillingness which cannot fail to excite our distrust and to diminish the respect we* owe to the name and functions of your Honourable House. And we deplore particularly one instance of this unwillingness, of which we complain, in your rejection of a motion made in the last Ses sions of Parliament, by one of the Members of the County of Herts—as that motion, had it been adopted by your Honourable House, must necessarily have brought before your Committee a full inquiry into the present deft( tive state of the Representatios of the People, and thereby hare led to a substantial Reform m the Conununs House of Parliament, so essential to the salvation of the State, by restoring to us a tree Constitution, that inestimable inheritance, transmitted to us by the wisdom and Intrepidity of ear ancestors. " The times demand this open avowal of our sentiments, and In the language employed to convey them we intend no disre spect; though we are persuaded that no words can be too strong to express our feelings upon this occasion. Therefore, we most earntstly entreat your Honourable House to undertake, before it is too late, In a true and cordial spirit, the measure of Reform, upon principle. which, by conciliating the affections of the People and tong restoring to your Honourable Hous e its due w e ight a n d character, may rescue our country from domestic discord, and secure it from the foreign foe, give stability to the Throne, and perpetuate the Constitution." Mr. Foot then rose and addressed the Meeting. Atter the very able manner in which this business has been opened to you, little remains ft r me but to go through the customary form of strenuously and hear tily, seconding the Address which has just been pro- I posed. But even in the performance of this d u ty, I feel it necessary to throw myself on your indulgence, arid to solicit with all the diffidence of a man unused to public speaking, a candid and partial bearing.— " Were we met together to discuss some abstract ques ti,in of policy—some difficult theory in the art and mystery of Government, I shculd not presume to in trude myself upon your notice ; but the subject of our Address is a simple one. The grievances we com plain of are common to us all—the remedy we seek is obvious and infallible. We are anxious for nothing new—it is the Constitution that we seek for—the I Constitution, as established by the wisdom of our an-; cestors; the Constitution of King, Lords, and Corn.; mons—the Constitution of the Statute Books. It is with no common anxiety we request, that Parliament ivill in its wh.dom adopt some measure calculated to support its own honour and vindicate its own purity. We wish that some effectual method may be resorted to, to prevent the recurrence of scenes oo disgraceful as those which have during the two or three last ses. sions, been exhibited to the eyes of an astonished and insulted pi!ople. We wish to see the time when car , ruption shall no longer be avowed • and advocated, and when ministerial imbecility shall cease to be pro . I tested by ministerial majorities ( Loud cries of Hear) ! We wish to see the time when the guardians of the public purse shall disburse with wisdom, what they grant with caution, and when the great machine cf the state shall be worked, not for the ambition or in terest of the Governors, but for the happiness of the governed. It is from an extension of the right of vot- I ing from freehold. to copyhold property—it is from increasing the number of members in a due p r op or _ tion to the population of boroughs and of counties— it is from e ffi cacious measures for the reduction of the enormous expence attendant upon the present system of election, that we shall obtain this object, so con genial 1, to the principles of Englishmen. Gentlemen, I presume, ;:nd I think I , presume fairly, that this is the sum and substance of our wishes, and to wishes so reasonable, it would at first sight seem difficult to suppose an opposition ; but, Gentlemen, the creatures of administration, the minions of office, the expect‘ts of emolument, are embodied in firm phalanx against us. The contest in which we are engaged is arduous. Self-interest is dead to the voice of reason and of truth, and to talk to the borough-monger of reform, and to the hireling of retrenchment, were, indeed, es. to bluster to the ocean, and to whistle to the wind." V 144 hair.) Against this, mercenary host of toes we havitorbisiaie the unanswerable argument of ,common :case, supported in the first instance by the, countenatste of this, most •respeetable meeting ; and, in the neat, by the uhanirneusetteetkerihr independent explanadan, on which •.• - - . men nf all descriptions and af la Illitim w o i st . I ask M ed r. if it . h rD e al wou teg ld present the sam Peti e ti nicest are dictated by reflection, a 7. - are inthe judgments they have formed. Let us then been voted ? keep the grand specific of Reform constantly in view , Sir EDWARD KNATCHBULL replied. th., —let us not be lulled by hope, or dispirited 6y disape . .. ,. feel it Its duty to present the petition t h at pointments. Our sober voices may at fi rst be stifled idopted by the Meeting. He had befor t e by the yell of corruption, and our requests may at former occasions, supported in Parliame nt first be denied by prejudice and by power. (Loud cries ject's right of petition, where the m o d e of Hear.) Let as, however; be true to ourselves. Let was not in itself objecticetobie. He felt us never swerve even for a moment, and our final proud in saying that the wording of the success must be the insolt. The march of justice Lion did not appear to him to be urn may be slow, it is nevertheless sure. gurs is the great county which petitioned, or the high cause of justice, and it *ill, believe me, ultimately to which it was constitutionally appealing triumph. (Hear, hear.) It isly those means we hope, He thought it respectfully worded, add at no distant period, to see a Houseof_Commons so would willingly present. it.—(ifeoslawee s , constituted, that whilst they honour the Crown, they spect to another point. he would give the m ' shall protect the people—who shall attend to our real rents with that frankness which their e an oi interests, not lording over our rights, but helpers of tion was *aided to. Upon any question our joy. It is by these means we hope, at no distant general importance, or more immediately peridd, to see the weak, divided, incapable adherents the interests of the county in particular, h e ' lof the present Minister turned out of office—the ma- it to be his duty, in the first instance, t o nagement of the British Cabinet placed in the hands self acquainted with the sentimenteof his of those who will once more open to us a free career and then, from an honest and conscientious for the restoration of our honour, our liberty and our of his own judgment upon the matter in iss ue , !happiness : for nothing tends further to promote the his own conclusions, and firmly to act nation's safety and the people's comfort, than to see conclusions. This had been the principle i men of talons, loyalty, probity, and honour, direct ' hitherto guided his public conduct, and the public touncils (Loud approbation). I am de. himself, he would continue to be actuated lighted with these unequivocal marks of your acqui- . had nothing to reproach himself with. escence, and shall conclude with seconding the mo.' along acted upon the dictates, and rewarded tion now proposed. I approbation of an honest heart.—(Here there Mr. Cox called upon the Freeholders to unite heart : murmurs.) He might have erred, but they , and hand in the great cause of Reform ; the system , the errors of judgment, and not of intention of venality had so far prevailed, as to require steady the murmur: increased.) Gentlemen, said ' and uniform exertions to resist it. It was a system Ido not shrink from telling you, that the which had hitherto triumphed over all law, and bid I which you have committed to my hands ' defiance to every public principle. It had succeeded betrayed. I have dischaiged my duty i *in concealing from their beloved King the real semi. fidelity and integrity—(Here there was menu of his faithful people. He trusted that the re. of no !no !) suit of that meeting would set the example to Eng. Mr. LARKIN'S . next addressed the M. : land, and that their gracious Monarch would at length asked if the Honourable Baronet, in the be undeceived ; hitherto petitions intended for the professions, had said any thing bearing Royal ear were consigned to the office of some State sent question ? He wished to know if the Secretary, and then transferred unopened to the but. Baronet would now pledge himself to ter shop: (laughkr) ; the present Ministers had abused the House of Commons the Petition, a, the confidence they had, by a trick, gained from the there approved, or at least had not opposed ' public delusion, and how had they rewarded that con- In tact, all that hod been yet said by the ' fidence ? Mr. Perceval, whose brother, Lord A r d en , Baronet amounted to little more than took yearly 21,000. pounds out of the pockets of the the subject then before them. The Freellohlers people ; this Mr. Perceval, the Clerk of the Irons, or quite in the dark as to the intentions of the Clerk of the Mint, he did not know which to call able Baronet with respect to the Petition him, had told that people upon whose hard eerningi agreed to. He was bound t o state f ran kl• lie and itis,family ntaintaioed themselves—he had told constituents how he would act—whether ' the people that Mr. Hunt's pillage of £200,000 of of, or in opposition to their sentiments, their money was but a inisapplying of that money ; lardy so in consequence of his antecedent but he would ask them if it was any thing else than since, if the Freeholders were to judge of . public robbery ?—(oloninsurr). He concluded by be his conduct from what had been, they calling on the Freeholders to be at once steady and elude him to be on the side which was hostik temperate. In the present crisis the advice of no man, sentiments—(a/lA/aunt). What had been however huinble was to be scorned. He would con- duct of that Honour a ble Baronet upon every te chide by telling them, in the language of the Poet, that respecting a Reform in Parliament ? H e h a d i When dangers call and delegates are met, every occasion proved himself a bitter enemy • Sage counsel should not come with tardy feet; form. He would ask the Honourable For in the crisis of our country's fate, had ever given one vote for entertaining I He merits death who gives advice too late. was then put by the Sheriff, that the discussion of the qoestion ? There neve r The question '- a question affecting the people's liberties Petition, as read by Mr. Hodges, be presented to the Edward Knatchbull was not found to be House of Commons.—lt was carried in the affirma- opponent, or to evade his public duty byabsenting, tive unanimously. self from the discussion altogether. In stating this, A Freeholder then proposed three cheers for the (Mr. Larkins) made no vague charges. He might High Sheriff, which proposition was immediately ac. cite some of the cases to which he alluded if it would. ceded to, and carried into effect. not lead him into too tedious a detail—(N*, es, p .s. • Mr. RYDER then rose, and moved that the Petition go on)—He would ask then, what was the vote of the be left for signatures in the different towns of the Honourable Baronet upon the Investigation of the county of Kent ; and that a Committee be appointed Duke of York's public conduct ? ( Rear, Hear.) to carry into execution the objects of this meeting ; Was not the delinquency of the accused party proved and that the persons whose names are to the requisi- so clearly, that if the same proofs had been laid before :don do constitute said Committee, with the power of a Jury, aed that they bad returned so iniquitous a enlarging the number of said Committee. verdict they would have been scouted from the Hall Mr. Foot, before the question was put by the She- of Justice with indignation ! (oloe/aeser.) In that riff, said, that he was anxious to remind the Free- county, he affirmed, holders, that one of their Representatives, Sir Ed- that ninety-nine, out of one bun ward Knatchbull, (then in his eye) had not held u deed of the inhabitants were upon that occasion of P an opinion opposite to the vote of the Honourable his hand in favour of the Petitinn which they hid so recently adopted. He, on the contrary, had opposed Baronet. Another momentous questioa was that of the• Walcheren Expedition—never had there been as that Petition ; and he (Mr. Foot) was not at all stir- Prised that the Honourable Baronet bad opposed it expedition planned with more imbeci li ty, or =dm ; ted with more ignorance. It had been the fruitful indeed, he sheuld have been surprised if he had not ; source of triumph to the enemy, and disgrace and such an opposition was only consistent with die gene ral public conduct of that Honourable Baroneowhich discomfiture to England. He would ask the Hon. Baronet how he had voted upon that question, and had been, be was sorry to say, uniformly in opposition to the sentiments of his constituents—(4ydawer.) what were the feelings of political honesty which influenced hie vote upon that memorable occasion?— Sir EDWARD KNATCIIBULL replied with consider- (Appian:el.) In tact, he had never proved himself able warmth. He said that when he first saw the ad- a friend to reform. He had never yet been found at vertisemeet, leg illy convening a meeting of the F r ee- t h e s id e o f t h e peop l e, i n oppos i t i on to corru ption. lit holders of the County, be, as one of their Representa his duty to attend. He did attend ; his speech that day, he had said nothing to the p..r tives, had felt itpose ; his promise to present their petition was trifling and since he came his conduct was before the eyes of with th e Freeholders, because no Member of Polio his Constituents. The petition proposed had bee n ment wou ld h ave t h e b o ld ness to d ec li ne discharging read, and when put by the Sheriff it had b ee n un . so important a part of his duty to his constituen ts ; ani ftioady adopted ; and yet, notwithstanding that undis- i s o t h at t hi s was t h e mere common place of those Re. puted expression of unanimity, th e p erson who spoke . pr esentative: could 'not refuse to do. He therefore now call with who wished to make much of the little last ( Mr. Foot) had had the assurance of c h arg i ng him with having opposed that p ro p os i t i on . H e h a d dared e d upon that Honourable Baronet to state distinCyr th to charge him (Sir Edward) with having opposed whether he would support their petition, or not? what he 'had supported. H e h a d on l y to say, that lf tie would not support it—if he refused to obey the the charge was false— that that Gentleman had been ? voice of his Constituents, he was then bound, as a guilty of asserting an untruth of one of their Mem- I man of honour, to resign the situation he bets, and in the face of th a t M em b er ' s C onst i tuents . ' potent to fill, and cease to be the Represeetative of He called upon him (M r . F o n t ) to retract i t . H e was incom: Constituents whose political wishes he uniform!! op ( Sir Edward) o•ould no proceed further, till he called • Pow — Applause). He concluded by exhorting his upon him io retract jt. , s s ; but S e f ore thei• c ould succeed, it was first abso ' brother Freeholders to a perseverance worthy of 112 Mr. Foor admitted his as s e r ti on , an d conten d e d '1 for the truth of it on this groun d— t h e quest i on be- . good a cause ;he was con fi dent of their ultim ate suc fore the Meeting had been in su b stance this---" Those ' lutely necessary that men professing the public Pj 2l . - who are for the P et i t i on h o ld r i p t h e i r h an d s — t h ose i eiptes, and pursuing the pol i t i ca l con d cr t at Sir L . 4 ce who are against it keep them down." H e had his eye , werdsKnatchbull, should be prevented frorn finding on the Hon. Baronet, and he affirmed that that s et t Hon.i their way into the House of Commons --(Mi i Baronet kept his hand d own . —(L aug h ter an d ap- Sir W. Ggtar thought it unticessary , alt er whet lea• Amer.) ' subscril. Sir Eowein KNATCHBULL, with unabated warmth , • ing ;the paper to which his name • had been repeated his former assertion, and said, that if the Gentleman would not retract his assertion, he would before had been said, to trespass upon the time of the met ed; contained his sentiments upon the question . leave to that Gentleman all the private satisfaction vocate for that reform which he there saw to be so that could be derived from the consciousness of hav ing uttered in the face of the county an untruth of them. He had been in Parliament an uniform ad necessary (optic:uses.) Their ancestors had distin one of its members. they bad - heroic resistance to a foreign toe. The foe Sir WILLIAM GEARY thought it not a little extra- . now to contend with was Corruption —a do nestic ordinary, that one of their Members who had just more formideute uished . theniielves, and the county of Keno by their enemy ; and beyond all comparison spoken had not said a word in the course of his warm be In such speech upon the great question that had brought them a contest he trusted that the men of Kent would together. (Applause:.) The Hon. Baronet had not conveyed to his constituents any one.opinion upon than any foreign one cauld possibly • .. act worthy of their ancestors, and take no mean s h are . is 'the great question of Reform. He now. called line illausei). 110 :erproved* of the proposition now be k" of the tthe I•l9.baronet, a5.011e of the Representatives of the them, of placirg the Petition in different parts county, to state his sentiment: frankly and decidedly. the support of England against her enemies isle county conveniently for signatures; and hoped 1134 the lanatenn, and rhich had jus t hat he woull that had bee t e k upon many ment the sub, le of petitio n elt happy AM z• present peti. lbecoming tb, tigh authoriq ng for redress nd as such la 's.) With re. • hem his semi. candid oaten. tion of great • ttely afeco ng he always felt to make If constituenu, nticrus exercise issue, to draw : -up to dote pie which La nd if he itrew :ed by it. • He ha.h l yarded by there were Met they had beo ention— (lime Sir Edwar. he great trus. Is has not . to yo t with r a general tr,g Wetinr, aoi e crowd of his upon the pre. le Honourable to suppo r t i s uhich he hJ (afttintra; e lionouri silence as to *boilers were f the Honour. tion they had frankly to his ter in support ti and portico- !dent conduct, o f what would ley must eon' hostile to their been the con. every question He had upon enemy of Re- Baronet if be l ing the mere r yet had beta in which Sir be either their tbsenting stating this he s. He might led if it would. ( N., so, tile vote dine igation of the Ihdr.)— e p arryid befed laProvote o iniquitous a from the Hall nes. ) In that at of one bun- rat occasion of le Honourable )14 was that of there been n NmemiMlNiiilllS