Star. — London, England, 1821-02-23 00:00:00

THE ARMY. ANY Regiment in want of a MASTER TAILOR, may meet with a Person who has filled that situation both in Cavalry and Infantry, and can give undeniable reference. Letters, post paid, directed S. J. No. 9, George-street, Commercial-ro ad , India Docks, will meet attention. TO COMMERCIAL GENTLEMEN. WANTED, an active, intelligent, and formed TRAVELLER., who has travelled for re spectable Wholesale House in London not less than twelve or eighteen months, and has been accustomed to do business with Druggists, Inionsnongers, Urushmakers, Perfumers, and Root- Makers. To prevent unnecessary trouble, the expenses are Twenty-four Shillings per day, and Salary One Hundred Gui neas a-year. Security will be required. Apply by letter only (post-pail) to RICHARD TURNER, ' • Mack's* Manufactory, 114, Loudon-road, Southwark. PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OF LORDS, FEBRUARY 22. On the motion of the Earl of LIVERPOOL, the Queen's Annuity Bill was read a third time, and passed.—Tbe Bill was then taken to the House of Commons by Mr. Justice &Yaw. Lord HOLLAND gave notice, that on Monday next he should bring in a Bill to extend the provisions of the Treason Act to that part of the United Kingdom called Ireland. The Malt Duties, a!id Transfer Grants "Bills, were read a third time, and passed. Lord SI DMOUTH laid upon the tabli certain Papers, ss HA had been moved for by Lord Cat.rnoarr., relative to the lame Lame Lord HO,LLANY presented a Petition from Neath, in South Wales, and another from the Corporation and Shoe. makers of Perth, praying that the Queen might be restored to all her - - • The *Slarquis of LANSDOWN moved, that a Message be Pent to the House of Commons, requesting them to let their Lordships have a 'Report of their Committee on Foreign Trade. Ordered. The Marquis of LANSDOWN observed, that after what had already passed on the selsject of Naples, - • he could not aban don the hope that some of the great calamities by which that country had been threatened, in consequence of the late trans actions at Treppan, might be avested., He therefore gave , notice, that he should feel it his duty, on Tuesday neat, to move an Address to his Majesty on this subject • and he moved, that the Lotds be summoned for that day.— O rdered.—Adjourned. lIOUSE OF CIS)3I3IONS. This day the SPIAKES took the Chair at the usual hour. AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS., Sir' E. KNATCIIBULI, presented Petitions of a similar nature from Feversham and other parts of Kent.—Ordered to lie on the table. Sir H. kNATCIIBU•LL presented a Petition to the tame effect front Ashford, in the County of Kent, and took occasion• to urge upon the house the necessity of an inuuediate alteration in the Corn Laws. Mr. CUBWIN said; that nothing could exceed the distress experienced by the agriculturistsin every quarter, and when such manifest demonstrations of ia were exhibited by the Petitions from the once flou rishing County of Kent, he begged the House to consider what must be the situation of the rest of the country. 3lr. ELLICE was fully persuaded that, unless the Chancellor of the Exchequer had resorted to extra ordinary means in the year 1816, matters would have then been brought to that fearful crisis to which they were now fast approaching. The Right Hon'. Gets-. tleinam, however, had discovered an extraordinary : remedy, which was to putn guinea into the pocket' of every man who wanted one; and for that purpote he caused the country to be inundated with a new issue of paper, to the amount of £12,000,000. The Han. Gentleman then stated the unfavourable effect Which this measure had on the foreign exchanges, and entered into a detail of the debt due to the Bank, which from £30,000,000 had been.reduced to 6,000,000 at the time the new issue of paper-money took place. There was then more specie in the Bank titan had been for many years before; and it was thought advisable to correct the unfavourable state of the exchanges which the extensive issue of paper had caused. 'For that purpose an issue of £9,000,000 or £lO,OOO 000 of specie was ordered, and this had tht desired effect for the time. NVlien a Committee of that House had been appointed in 1819, to in quire into the expediency of resuming cash pay cuts, the market for gold was of a factitious cha racter, which kept up the price at 41.25. per ounce.— The`market, however, ought to have been regulated, not upon any such factitious principle, but on a scale which presumed no extraordinary means to have been resorted to on the part of the Bank. He thought it perfectly useless for Honourable Members to be wasting their time in sitting on Committees up stairs, with the view of alleviating the general distress, un less the whole state of our finances were taken into consideration. He was not opposed to the principle of the Committee of 1819, and he should have rather approved of it, had he thought it could produce any practical advantage. He had always said, that the . principle of a discretionary standard, particularly in the Bank, must produce ruin to the country, unless it was put an end to in time; but he also knew, that at the period in question, it was quite impassible to revert to the ancient standard.. His anticipations bad since been realized. He Would ask if there was any ofte Merchant engaged in foreign trade, who-had not lost almost the half of his capital, in consequence of the sudden change that had taken place?—(Hear.) A great part of the distress Which now prevailed, was attributable to the system of. vascillation, by which the currency had been left in an unsettled state. Hopes had. been continually held out of bet ter times and better prospects. In 1817, the Chan ' ceilor of. the Exchequer gave the farmer reason to hope • that matters would improve; and he did not deteive him, for he caused an immense quantity of .ink-notes to be issued for the general acUntmoda us:in. There was no interest in the country which did ot stkerely feel the effect of this- state of things. The sltipink trade suffered the greatest depression. Ships were building, but without any. prospect of remunera *inn to the owners.. Those who bad been accustomed to the events of the last twenty years, flattered them selves with the hope, that the same high prices must invariably continue, aid Merchants, farmers, trades . men, and.all were glad-to indulgethis delusion. But -the House would see how widely altered was the of-things;Mate orie instance would be sufficient for ptirpoie; 'A Gentleman who, in 1813, had an estate of 4:640p,a-year, owed perhaps 4,p00 a-year Ar dower .an •,proyision for yonnger children. After .4iaving . paid 42,000 to. his creditors, he bad still 1:4,000 to spend, and be looked to the high price of vadlOtikerlit*lttCefOr the regular payment of . it. 184)114,.piAt.4.;t1,je: 'f . yerage priceOf corn, sliket Willbt ,4 o4- 1 214t inti;l:649oo -ar.yeat was reduced 'to £3,000 a-year. When he had £6,000 a-year, he had £4,000 to spend ; but now,, with only £,3000 a year, he owed £2,000 out of If to his creditors, and he had remaining but £1,O) a-year to spend -4-, (Hear). Unless the prices could be got up, all that could be done would not avail individuals so circum stanced. In hie opinion, a Committee on Agricultu ral Distress, will ot a better system with respect to our finances, ..was only a. base deluslon,,which ought not to be practised. Mr. GRENFELL defended the Report of the Bul lion Committee. He regretted that his Hon. Friend should have brought forward this important subject at so unseasonable a time. He would confine him self to one observation, that was, that the Banks of . England andireland should be left at liberty to pay' , in cash whenever they thought proper, and that.the measure should not be an imperative one. Mr. HUSKISSON deprecated the discussion of this important subject thus unexpectedly, and with out regular notice. Mr. BARING was not desirous of . entering into an extended debate on this subject. It was not on a grand debate that this question could be best and most advantageously considered. In his opinion, it was by often recurring to the subject, and by opinions shortly and frequently delivered, that the question would come to be best understood. He was decidedly of opinion with his two Hon. Friends, that thefoun dation of our difficulties was the state of our cur rency. He also agreed in the recommendation that the Bank should be released from restriction ; and that the sooner they called in their £1 Notes, and issued Sovereigns inttead, the better for the country. Mr. D. GILBERT agreed in the opinion given by the Hon. Member (51r. Baring) as to the present state of the currency. He hoped our present diffi culties would operate as a warning to ourselves and to posterity. Sir It. *ILSON wished to know if there was any objection to allow a lteturn to be made of the number of Acres in the kingdom under cultivation for Hops? Mr. lIUSKISSON said, he had none.—The Peti tion was then received. Mr. LA MIITON presented a similar Petition from certain Trades in the County of Durham. The Hon. Member took this opportunity of stating, that his opinion on the subject of the Corn LaWs remained unchanged : he did not consider that any protecting Duties would benefit the Farmer. MILITARY OUTRAGE. AT THE DUBLIN COUNTY MEETING, Lord JOHN RUSSELL said, he held in his hand a Petition, signed by certain of the Nobility, Gentry, ancLFreeholders of the County of Dublin, complain ing of the conduct of the High Sheriff of that county, in having grossly misconducted himself in his office. In bringing the subject before the House, he hoped he might be a ll owed, in justice to the parties, to de tail minutely the circumstances with which it was connected. It was not without some regret and sur prise he had seen, that, among so wady able Mem bers from the Sister Kingdom, no ,One had under taken to present the Petition, but that it was entrusted Ito him. However incompetent ht felt himself to the task of doing justice to the facts of the case, yet he 'was ready to attribute this to that generous feeling for which the people of Ireland were so distinguished. They wished to sbew that the grievance of which they had to complain was not one which affected Ire land only, but the whole United Kingdom—(Hear, hear).—lt .appeared from this Petition, that on the 27th December a Requisition was presented to the High Sheriff orthe County of Dublin, calling upon him to_convene a Meeting, for the purpose of Con sidering the propriety of voting a Loyal Address to the King. He (Lord John Russell) knew- very well that the Noble Lord opposite (Lord Castlereagh) af fected to say, that County Meetings did not express the, sense of the Country ; but wheh Those who sup ported Ministers had found themselves defeated in every quarter, then they thought proper to call County Meetings, for the purpose of expressing their loyalty to the King, however unnecessary a decla ration was at the time. It was not, however, till they found themselves baffled completely that Ministers cried out sour grapes, and asserted that County Meet itris did not express the public sentiment. The Meeting being called, pursuant to the Requisition, several persons, favourable to its object, were admitted pri vately, and the place crowded with Police Officers. One should have thought that the presence of so many Police Officers would have prevented the very unconstitutional proceeding to which the Sheriff sub sequently resorted. A motion for a loyal. Address was made by Lord Ilowth, and seconded -by Lord Frankfort de Montmorency. Upon that motion the Sheriff never put the question—(Hear, hear)-1:14 proceeded at once to name a Committee to prepare the Address. A most respectable Freeholder, who opposed the Address, wished to take the tense of the Meeting upon it; but the Sheriff refused,' in the most peremptory terms, to put• the question, and named the Committee without farther delay. He would ask Honourable Gentlemen what would be the feeling of that House if the Right Honourable Gentleman in the Chair had proceeded to name a Committee, be fore the House bad decided whether these should be a Committee or not?—(Hear, hear.)—The Gentle-, man whose constitutional demand had been spurned by the Sheriff, attempted to remonstrate; but le was told, if he said another word he should be turned out !—The Address being brought in, the quiption was put for adopting it; upon which Mr. Byrft*, a respectable Barrister, after expressing his loyalty to the Sovereign, said he disapproved• highly of thecon duct of Ministers, and the High Sheriff would not suffer him to offer another observation on the subject! (Hear, hear).—He would put it to the Noble Lord opposite, whether thii was not altogether a most un constitutional proceeding ? They were told that the sole object of the Meeting was to vote an Address el Loyalty to the Throne ; the People knew of no loyalty, in ordinary times, but obedience to the laws, and to act in accordance with the principles of the Consti tution, which, of course, presumed fidelity to the King. There ought to be some peculiar circumstance to call forth a distinct expression of personal regard for the Sovereign, but no circumstance of that descrip tion had occurred. But then it was said, that the machinations of seditious persons were the cause of the numerous Loyal Addresses which had been pre sented ; and those machinations were alluded to in the London Gazette, where the Addresses were to be found. Now, he thought. it competent for any one to. 6 say, " I agree in your declaration of loyaky to the King, bet I don't approve of the con deterorhis Mi nisters, nor do I conceive the Throne endangered"—, (Hear, hear).—ln fact, Ministers themselvos.counte nanced the opinion of Mr. Byrne; for in the Speech from the Throne, there was not a single word about blaspheme or sedition, and they were reducing the army in the face of the danger which, by their parti sans, -was alleged to exist. The Noble Lord then read the Amendment on the original Address, which was proposed by Mr. Byrne, and which has been already before the Public. He proceeded to observe, that the Amendment was drawn up in . a manner.which every man, who was faithful to the King and the Constitution, must admire. That Amendment Mr. Byrne was about to propose, when the High Sheriff interfered, and told him, that if he did not immedi ately desist, lie would call in the military I—(llear.) A detachment of military was in the neighbourhood, prepared to be called in. The Sheriff refused to hear the Amendment read, and he put the question on the original Address, but only in the affirmative. He then left the Chair. A great majority of the free holders of the County, Who disapproved of the ori ginal Address ' remained in the Hall, and when it was proposed that Lord Cloncurry should take the Chair, they voteli it unanimously... The Meeting was held in a room, : according to the provisions of •the new Acts ; Lord Cloncurry was in the Chair; and yet the High Sheriff - declared the Meeting illegal.— Mr. Byrne was proceeding to move the Address, when several soldiers rushed iii with muskets loaded and drawn bayonets, and by threats and force, which they applied to the person of Lord Cloncurry, they com pelled him to retire—(Hear, hear).—After this state ment, which he took from the. Petition, he thought it would be impossible for any man to deny that it justified a demand for a Committee of Inquiry. At the time when the military were introduced, the Meet ing was conducting itself with every possible degree of decorum. if there had been any symptom of dis order, there was a large body' of Policepresent, who were fully able to repress it. But the Sheriff did not make use of the civil power ; he at once resorted to the last extremity, of calling in the soldiery. Lie would think it unbecoming in him to say one word with a view to persuade the Ilouse of the illegality of this proceeding. He would not apply any argument to shew, that all that jealousy which our ancestors felt at the interference of the military, must be extin-1 guished in this House, if it refused an investigation into this outrage upon. the Constitution—( Ilear Such conduct shewed an utter disrespect ter the Ccu stitution of England, and one would have imagined, ' that when an application was made to the Irish' Go vernment to institute an inquiry into it, such an ap plication would not have been met by the answer, which the Lord Lieutenant gave it—namely, that if the applicants thought themselves aggrieved, the! Courts of Law were open to theml—(Hcar ; )—Why should it be imposed upon them to go into the Courts of Law, without the aid of the Government, and with the certainty of incurring no inconsiderable ex pense? Besides, it was very justly to be apprehended, that if . they , took that course, there waca faction in Dublin who were concerned as parties in the transac tion, and who would use all their influence, which was very great, to prevent law ptnceetlings from going an. It was well known, that u,nitss they were prepared to prove corr upt motives on the part of sheriff, the Courts of Law would he slow to interfere. This was made pretty clear by the proceedings on the Manchester question; and ',it , was conformable to the opinions of several distinguished Lawyers.— But it was the duty of this House.to permit no public ofscer, even though he acted without malicious or corrupt motives, to overstep the bounds of discretion. Many Magistrates of high character were also..ais missed or censured by the Government, for violating the Constitution; and- if the Government.did not do it, it behoved the House to take the matter into their serious and solemn consideratio n —(Near, liedr4, Such a doctrine as this had been recognised in the cele brated Protestation of 1621; which declared, that " the arduous duty of defending' the Realm •and Church of England, and of winking, and defending and altering Laws, was . a 'Proper subject serf debate in Parliament." The Bill of Rights also stated; that " the redress of ptiblic grievances, the maintenance; preservation, and alteration of laws, belonged to Par liament." If the Rouse acted on the same spirit. which dictated these declarations, they could not but look upon the present with great jealotrsy; The Noble Lord concluded with mot ing,t hat the etition be brought up. The Petition having beeu brought up, on the ques tion that it be read, Colonel TALBOT begged permission, as one of the Representatives of the County of Dublin, . to say a few words on this subject. He had not been pre-, sent at the outrage complained of by the Petitioners, but he had reason to believe that the Petition Con tained . a true and very moderate account of. what happened on that occasion. A numerous Meeting,, assembled by the invitation of the High Sheriff, in the expectation that they were to .he allowed the power . of free discussion, had been dispersed by a nsilitary force, while in the exercise of their constitu tional rights: A-Meeting for the purpose of petition ing Parliament for redress had, in eonsec i ttence, taken place, not at Kilmainham, but in the City of Dublin, out of the reach of that power which had violated their rights and outraged their liberties ; and at that Meeting the present Petition had been agreed to.— He begged leave to read .an extract of a letter from Mr. Byrne, on the subject of this military outrage.' 'That Gentleman wrote as follows :---a When I was in the act of proposing.the amended Addre s s, the tary were called in and dispersed the Meeting. I had a copl of the Amendment in my hand at the time, which dropped on the Boor, and in stooping down to pick it up,. ; a soldier thrust his musket With violence in under the seat, and, had it.come in contact with my head, it would have brekewit, 'hard as it is."— (Loughter).—ff . the 'Jodie allowed se . ch 4 proceeding as this to pass unpunished, County Meetings would deserve no other name than that ofPolitical Farces! (Hear, hear. — His 'countrymen were .a. generous people ; and if any of them were discontented, let Government remove the causes of discontent by re dressing their wrongs, removing the religious restries tionsimposed upon them, andosbove all, by removing the tax on the light of HEAVEN I=.(llcar, hear), •‘ The Petition was then read... The names attached wep those of Lord CLONCUILRY and S C. MOIWAN. Lord*JOHN - RUSSELL ttioved-:-.4 Thatu elect Committee be appointed to take Tutu conbideration ale to the Ho matter use. or this Petii;on, and to t•Pl3rt tb • e. 4 °Ptak' " Mr. C. GRANT said, he trusted the give him credit when he said the Irish were in no way connected with this transaction. knew nothing of the High Sherifexc ept - detstood him to be a Gentleman of hir 'able character. Ile (Mr. Grant) de'e l strongly as any man could do, the ems • /Unitary but under the strongest - was the opinion of the Irish Governmei opinion that Government had invariabl Governinent had, throughout this bash to interfere ; it was but justice to the however, to state, that he and several spectable individuals, denied positivel• gations contained in the Petition. Il e Gentleman then read a letter from the in which he denied that he had threat( the or that he named Nye C, that he refused to put the question i! on the Address. It was not till after was dissolved that the military appearei was only the customary prison-guard prison adjoining the Court-house, in w ing was held. There was also the letter of the guard, deaying tile allegations il entered with loaded muskets and fixed such fact. existed ;„ neither did the guar( lence towards Lord ClOncurry. Upon dictorystateneeets could the Irish Gc teed to censure or. .supersede the Sheri tended they .would nut have been justi so, especially as the Co:ninon Courts of, open, and the pertieseemplaitiing were affluence, and teal talenn and had no encounter in 'instituting such legal imp deed, lor•did understand that such imp in progress; and he contended that on principles the Executive 'Government backward to interfere in such a questit ip Ireland iii particular. to take any step the most distant appearancb of influencir There was a perpetual' call on the Erecir merit to interfere, though the Courts ch open. The principle of non-interference strictly adhered:to ethat was'ehe priesir' ference wiss.the•erce:stion. By acting ciple he was ierare that Government time, be exposed to much obloquy, the good effects of the principle the EribunalS' or'the country afforded was the recognized Merlin, and had been by the House r thet the. Executive Gov , not interfere: From a Court of Law , nesses were examined on oath, a satisfactory could only.,be *ained. Ile could not Petitioners, who were. so confident as tc the case, Should decline an appeal to the bunal. He•mttst, therefore, oppose thr Mr. M. FITZGERALD entirely concurred general- principles which-had been laid Right Hon. Gentleman, which, however. strangely misapplied. He could only would heie reqUired no better aro i. pis own view of the case. As, to what about the tenderness whic)a the House: Test in-interfering in such a case as this, dismissal of a Sheriff was prayed for, le' . ienrbered that the best Sheriff that 'when hii situation was viewed with 7 vagrant breach of public right, must insignificance. The Sheriff had taken , the tranquillity, perhaps for the impartiality Meeting, by -the introduction of marry ' doors were opened. When the 'doors aoe a rush took pla,ce, the appointed seconder of the Address happened to b These Noblemen were wound up - by pi langkies)—and thus - conveyed into the ing. No motion was heard, and no two Reverend Lords were seen bowire and Doodle in the Court of Tom Thu. A Gentleman of-the highest respeetabilii Cotinsel.*happened to use the words Ministers?' The Sheriff objected that th the scope of the Requisition. This war regularity committed, and for any ' that the Sheriff was - accinintable. would be allowed, and, without an a, out an opportunity for expressing a di, 'nion, there could be no diszussion. The dared the Court then dissolved. A Nobleman. was afterwrirds called .to a state of tranquillity was then e oot existed before. The doors were I the military, detachments moved (Al* he and the Chair was taken possession of the best rules of military tactics. A to which he had alluded had t...ken;ilac( County, during the warm discussions *ofthe Union, when the Mern%er for the now Postmaster-General for Ireland, Ross, called a Meeting to Petition akin The Meeting was in . an open place, aa( were readily led to the spot, provided of grape-shot—( Hear ).—The Meet and the Union was suffered to pa s s wh, Lion from the King's County against it. Ai ham, the Commander was too good an . charge with the bayonet; but the sn!ders with their bayonets in their hands, and one to' point the bayonet to the breast of a This was the skilful mode of rising the ba: close attack. At the siege of Acre, the ba) applied in the same way. He did trust who suffered such an outrage would meet will ration in that. House—(ieer, hem.). Jn the: case to which he had referred, the F!lettf had called, to the Bar of the House of Conin;oi:. cheers). Although that House of Commons acted a part which shewed that they lation, yet they called that Sheriff before saver for such conduct- (Checis). Ireland e tranquil during. proceedings u hich . artrted, besom in Great Britain. • He lamented that had hero 'tranquil, not on aecouneof the which had . been „going on, but on act _ cause of Ireland's tranquillity . . Ireland ea , s° jetted with calamities as to be u nable . anythipg but its, ciwn misery-411ei:n 1 : 0) could .liiiieters_liave wished more than _ of Ireland on the stibjeet? But that was a", tient. They ievaeled Ireland with tiltraleqx, dresses, They found Ireland on this tn. casien, ever blundering, yet capable of di )°lthirbttrafci,ree,idshelliPlienlinctgtUPesiesi::harlclisnY,ticseattyiden:ldec°ll4o.*;: 4 ,.ll' e riably acted. the ni g h 8641 everal ively all t h e The Ri g h t the High Shed' neatened to rah E to Committee.. In in the or% I after the M >eared,.a n d Ltd on ditty a t g li J wh:ch tbc.. Iter of the • as that the Aed barons, ;nerd use ac, i Pon thew : • Govercu est Sheriff? H e justified in 4; 41 Is of Justice a m were men of id no di?tcultyr y r inquiry ; and, i g , inquiry sea; ra t :on constitr:: : a tl nent ousir s y a section Ib ly step 4 1 a uencing I h' 11 irts of Law ferencc ilia. a ting on • that pi. !I neat would, kr; ti y, but . F uld appear. rded a teak!, c d been 6 1 _ rovernmenisbotll aw where the wt. L o ' satisfactory nab b d not see why the to as to the miser 7 , J . to the proper " e the motion.. concurred is laid down by b xever, he t r only say that he s al L men ts support 1 chat had been ,* of ruse shoald m,,* as this, when '‘‘ for, let it be • th e:rust ti paprre e r t f i v i e k err cali e tt i o na l , 7 l6 6 , . i ... iy many before ors were opt lintel more to be shut' y;alleys—( st the plact. of • o wooding; • la ring, like N a ',uorb—( :tabilitr, a srds "the rge l a :i tliis idvr‘ci t viieiiean.gsearuiri : themenis i rn • lice rs e .ghtt ..tyaht .j, The Shag 31 . 1 o.the bl .ead ati ,Fby the i Ch ew re forced I la of aotortilt . A similar or is place in tbegal; against tale 1~. h and them' of led with a At leering d " Id s without a d'' and as Otsar' if id tru ► t that rd, he meant before them to !! Ireland b& ; ch agitated e ein , ' that I ' o f the proceeds' rri iicoont 4, , c -eland was so nable to at , 1 w'l nt i l le: at t ll t ,1 C hat I Ultra' L O P' _ i t Lis 0CC ,15 i 64 .