Star. — London, England, 1821-03-16 00:00:00

• • . ••' . - - TV; I.A4f ..MR. SCOTT. t i. lig SCO , whose recent death has in , 31 4: 0 1C r d ia Xable fortiomonhoe was unable f the Public, has By dististraisimi tams, las by tatoasplary residence and industry, he bad on just readied the point where he had a near prospect entering the comfort of those who were dear to Wm. Some of his Friends bare thought themselves authorised, in such circommances, to Appeal to the general Benevolence of the Fittic, en behalf of the helpiess Family of a Imo of ability and virtue. The following Gentlemen base sensed to Act u a Com. miner, to laperintend the apeikadon of the Subscription t Sir him Muammar. Monaca Sena, Rog. Faunas CRANIUM, Req. R.A. Joan BICRILAT, Esq. Rev. A. Wagon, D.D. ROOM lILLDWIS, Esq. i G. Dawns, M.D. S. W. Rarnmas, Ent. Subecrifeinns aril be received at Messrs Couto and Co. Strand;. Messrs. Smith, Payne, and Smith, Mansion House unmet; .Measrs. Herrin, Farqubar, and Co. St. Janseesatteet ; Mr. Murray. Albensatie.atteet ; and Messrs. Baldwin, Czadodt, sad Jay, Paternester-row. 1 ' - PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OF LORDS, MARCH is . Mr. Err;fa,frimi tDe Custom-}k'use, presented as Account of the Amnia e Goods inyorted into Oren Liritain front die United States of America and Canton. Mr. ilia., front the Penitentiary at Milbank, promoted a Report of the State strain Establishment, and anis a Copy '4 the Roles And Regulations of the place. The ticooral inclosure MI was read a third thine and passed. . . -- The saris SHAFTESBURY presented a Petition frau the Corporation of Colchester, In Essex, praying that ao altera tion might take place la the laws affecting Itorsastetholics. Sir. Baoopra brought op fees tie Meese of CbRIMOIIII the Cochineal Importation Bill, the Silk Manufacturers' WI, and the Glass Duties Bill, which were read a lest dose. kir. S. Wiroariar and Dlr. Ccarns brought sip tone Private' Dilis.-41djourned nou38 OF COMMON& - - - Sir T. LETHB R 106 E. brought at a DM to enable the Trus tees of Ulm - kale Fonodatiosts to alienate Lands, Houses, and other Tenements by way of molting, kr others of equal value. —Read a lint time, and to be rend second time on Monday. Mr. CROKRa is taineel imago to bring in an Annual BillfOr , *the revelation of his Majesty's Marine Forces whilst on shore, without any alteration from that of last year. He then brought li► the Dill, whirls was read a Arst time, and ordered to be read a second time to morrow. Mr- CR,OKKA, observing that the eery important question on the Bills for the relief of Roman Catholics suiod for to-mor- COM *night, took this opportunity of giving notice diet if it WAS the pleasure of the House to adopt the first Bill, and it was read a brat and second tune, and went into a Committee, of which in deed he bad no doubt, be would move that instructions be given the Committee to insert a Clause in the Bill, by which the King would be enabled to make provision for the Roman Catholic Cergy—(ifear, Ater). COMPLAINT AGAINST A NEWSPAPER. Sir R. FERGUSON rose to call the attention of the House to a paragraph in the Morning Post Newspaper, in which his Hon. Friend, the Member for Appleby (alr. Creevey), and the other Members who voted on the same side with him the other night, in the House, were most grossly libelled, and Made.', with the names of Jacobius, men pursuing private views, and, in fact, with every gross appellation that the ingenuity of the writer, or his malice, could suggest —( Hear, bear).—This paragraph his friends treated with the profound contempt which it merited; and it would have been for ever passed over in silence, but that in the same Paper, of this day, there was a fresh attack made—an attack, too, of a differ ent and mdre aggravated complexion from the former, as, unlike that, it struck not at the political conduct of his Hew. Friend, but at his private and personal character—(Hear).—The paragraph to which he alluded appeared in a ra..ter, signed " An English man," but whether the author was an Englishman or not, he (Sir R. Ferguson) would not say; all he knew was, that if he bote the name of an Englishman, he had neither a spark of his generous feelings, nor in deed of any feelings of a gentleman—(Near, hear). In that letter the Hon. Member for Appleby was, by a sort of blue/trio, accused of cowardice in an affair of honour which he had, some time ago, with an Hon. Baronet, a Member of this House, but whom he did not see in his place. New, as it happened that he (Sir R. Ferguson) was on that occasion' con• stilted by, and acted as the friend of the Hon. Mem ber for Appleby, he was enabled to say that this in. sinuation was utterly false and unfounded; and, in deed, .as the circumstances occurred, if there was any dereliction of honourable manliness in any quarter,.it must have been attributable to him (Sir lt. Ferguson), who managed the whole affair, and not to the Hon. Meniber for Appleby. He called upon a Noble Lord opposite (Binning), who acted as the friend of the Hon. Baronet in question, to verify his statement. When, in consequence of something which fell from the Hon. Member for Appleby, in that House, an explanation was demanded by the Him. Baronet, he (Sir It. Ferguson) waited upon the Noble Lord, and an explanation took place—an ex • planation satisfactory to all parties, and which he (Sir . It. Ferguson) now asserted was consistent' with the most strictly honourable feelings in our nature— (Hear). —As he said before, he was then friend to the Member for Appleby, and he felt it due to himself (who was indirectly attacked), as well as to the Hon. Member, to state the case as it occurred in fact, and he believed few Gentlemen in that House, who knew him (Sir It. Ferguson) would think that, on an occa sion‘of this sort, he was one to compromise either his own honour or that of his friend( Hear, hear). —He had seen something like this before in a Sunday production, which he believed was called John Bull, and which said production was one of the greatest stains on the Press of this country ; for a more ma lignant—more base—more cowardly—or more ras .eally—(Herd-)--publication, never reared its head!— So long as the Press confined itself to the fair sup port of one party or another, it was all very well; and he would go as far as any man to protect it ;' but when a wretched libeller set out with an avowed intention of diving into private character—( Hear); —when he flung away all respect for private feeling —( Hear )—when, not content with attacking the virtuous living—(Hear)--he raked up the ashes of the virtuous dead, then was it time lbr every man to cry shame, and pronounce the work a scandal to the j country !--( Hear, hear, hear).—The gallant General' raid, he did not mean to follow np h i s o b servat i ons by any motion, in imitationtsf the Hon. Member for Yorkshire, of calling the printer to the bar, but he thought it was a duty incumbent on him to expose him to the Public, and in so doing to save his own honour, and -vindicate that of his friend. He con-, eluded by expressing a hope that the Noble Lord opposite (Binning) would givehis sanction to the stale-' Meat he had made. Lord BINNING rose with great readiness to an swer the call of the gallant General, and he agreed with him, that when matters of this sort were settled to the satisfaction of the parties concerned, they ought not to be ripped up again, as they could tend to no other good than to perpe tuate unpleasant feel- ings. ' The gallant General had asked, whether he (Sir R. Ferguson) had not properly characterized the paragraph in question? and he (Lord Binning) thought he had ; for he would now say, that on the occasion alluded to, nothing occurred which was not in the highest degree honourable to all parties. The gallant General and he (Lord Binning) were quite satisfied as to the manner in which the whole was concluded ; and he thought after that, it was most indecorous and criminal in a third party to revive any recollection of the transaction. With regard to the part taken by the gallant General, no man could have acted more properly; and he was sure, he was the last man in the world who would do anything to forfeit his own character as a man, a' compromise that of his friend as a Gentleman—(Hear, hear). Mr. BEItNAL bore testimony to the libellous character of the paragraph; but he thought it was properly treated, by - being passed by in silent con tempt. He was sure the Honourable Member for Yorkshire would at least confess that the conduct of the Opposition was in this respect perfectly con sistent with itself. _ Lord BINNING begged to add one word to the statement he had already made. He wished it to be understood that the revival of the recollection of the transaction alluded to by the gallant General, was most painful as-well to his (Lord Binning's) feelings, AS to those of the Honourable Baronet who was more ' immediately concerned. Nothing could distress the Honourable Baronet more than any recurrence to a transaction of this sort, which, when once over, ought to be for ever buried in oblivion. Sir It. FERGUSON was convinced of the sincerity of the declaration made by the Noble Lord, and he would now assure him, chat this revival was a sub ject of pain to himself and his friend. Mr. S. WORTLEY being alluded to, for the part which lie took the other night against the Morning Chronicle, was bound, in justice to that Paper, now to say, that the next day there appeared a paragral h highly honourable to the Editor—(lJear, hear). 111 r. HARBORD was about to make some obser vations, but The SPEAKER interposed, and suggested, that as those who were more immediately concerned had given up the idea of prosecuting this m•itter further, any prolongation of the discussion could answer no purpose whatever.—The matter then dropped. • MILITARY OUTRAGR AT CARLISI.F.. Mr. JAMES said, the subject which he was about to bring under the consideration of the House was important, not because the right of his constituents alone were at stake, but as it affected the rights of 'the British People generally. His motion would de. tide whether, at contested Elections for Members to sit in that House, Magistrates could call in the mili tary? and whether, in flue, these Elections were to be decided at the point of the bayonet? Dining last Session, his constituents pre s ented a Petition to the House, in which they complained of the illegal conduct of three Magistrates of the county of Cum berland, who, at a time when they were peaceably assembled in order to carry on the election of a Member for the tits• of Carlisle, introduced two companies of soldiers, against law, and against the rights of the Electors. The Petitioners prayed the House to be protected against a repetition of such attacks, but owing to the painful subjec► upon which thehouse was then engaged, it was not taken into consideration during that Session. A Noble Lord (the Member for Westmoreland), after wards asserted that the allegations in this Petition were untrue; but that assertion must have been made from hearsay, the Noble Lord not being on the spot, and he (Mr. James) having taken great pains to ascertain the truth of all the allegations in the Petition. The facts of the case were shortly these :—Previous to the last Election for Carlisle, on account of some circum stances which it was not necessary to explain, the canvass was unusually long. Party feeling prevailed then, as it ever will in such places as Carlisle; but, on this occasion, it rose rather higher than before. Sir Philip Musgrave (now Me nber for Petersfield) and he (Mr. James) were the Candidates. The Elec tion was opened at the Town-hall, and on the 24th of My, at noun, polling commenced. As the first 'tally was coming up to the poll, some scuffle ensued (not unusual in these cases), and Sir Philip Mus grave's agents immediately made this a pretence for going to the Mayor, and requiring the interference of the military. Now, it Might be asked, why the military were there at all? He himself was sur prised at it ; for he found in Blackstone, that during an Election, the military ought to be removed from the place one day preceding the Election, and not suffered to return until one day after it was over. However, the military were there, but the Mayor re fused to employ them, telling the agents of Sir Philip Musgrave, that if they apprehended any impediment at all in their way to the hustings, he himself would go at their head. There was, however, no occasion for the interference of the Mayor. lie (Mr. James) contended, therefore, that the Magistrates were not justified in calling in the military ; for as a riot, if it happened, - would void the Election, so there was no occasion for having recourse to this unconstitutional mode of suppressing it. Things continued in this way until half-past two o'clock, and then, without a shadow of pretence, )pr. Lowry, a Magistrate and Doctor in Divinity, caused the Riot Act to be read, without giving the Mayor any intimation of the step which he was going to take. The Magistrate re ceived no interruption whilst he was reading the Act. In three-quarters of an hour after the streets were cleared—not by military, but by a heavy shower of rain ; but, re-assembling in a quarter of an hour af terwards, Mr. Foster, the other Magistrate, under pretence that he apprehended a riot, called out two companies of soldiers. He was sure the Officer, whose duty it was to attend, must have felt his situa tion most painful; and he asked, could anything be more degrading to the character of the soldier, or insulting to the people than such wanton conduct? and he was sure, if the House passed it over, it would be one of the worst omens of the times in which we live. .As he (Mr. James) and his friends were pre paring to leave the Town-hall, they saw the soldiers loading their muskets with ball-cartridges, which, he contended, was also against law; for though the Riot Act sancticuted making arrests, it never would sanc tion that the soldiers were to slay the people—(Hear, heart. It' was a base trick to set aside by intimida tion and'elolence his (Mr. James's) election, which they coutd not do by fair means. The Honourable Member then mentioned that a joiner, named Criss bie, was taken up by Mr. Foster, for a pretended as sault on Dr. Hesham, the other Magistrate, and that this man lay in prison from the 24th of May to the 24th of August, when he was at length liberated, without any process being commenced against him —(Hear): The Honourable Member, after some more remarks in reprobation of the conduct of the Magistrates in calling in the military, in conse quence, he contended, of the new system growing up of governing by the sword, disclaimed anything like personal feelings on the subject. He had no animosity to the Magistrates because they supported his opponent, and it was as a Member of Parlia ment he brought this subject before the House. He concluded by moving, that the Petition of certain Freemen of the City of Carlislto,, signed in May last, and presented to this House on the 28th of June, complaining of the interference of the Military at an Election, should be now entered as read, and that the same should be referred to a Committee of Pri vileges, to report their opinions thereon to the House. Sir PHILIP MUSGIIAVE, in a very indistinct tone of voice, addressed the House at some length. He apologized for the interference of the military, by assuring the House that it came within his own knowledge, that the Civil Power, during part of the Election, were inadequate to preserve the peace in the Town Hall, and that the authority of the Mayor was treated with total contempt. When the tallies of voters were going out of the Hall, they were most violently assaulted, knocked down, and ill-used by the opposite patty ; so that it became absolutely ne cessary to procure the Civil Power some aid. His voters, in fact, became indisposed to come up, and avowed they were afraid to come up to the poll.— Under such circumstances, there was no mom to he sitate as to the conduct he %Vas obliged to pursue to obtain a clear approach to the hustings. SirJAMES 'MACKINTOSH said, that whether it was owing to the disadvantageous situation in which he was seated, or to his sense of hearing not being sufficiently acute, much of the able and luminous statement of the Honourable. Baronet had been lost upon . him. He had heard enough, however, to in form him, that if the mode which the Hon. Baronet advocated in the case of the Carlisle Election were to be adopted in all cases, we must in future introduce the military upon those occasions, and repeal the law prohibiting their exclusion—(!-tear).—The doctrine of the lion. Baronet went to transfer the protection 'of Elections from the Civil Power to the Military ; and it was for the House to consider whether such an iinprovement as this was desirable. The introduction of a body of soldiers was not only hostile to the prin ciples of the Constitution, but in direct opposition to the clause which made an exception in favour of cas tles and fortresses. He thought, from the case which had been submitted to the House in so clear and cir cumstantial a manner, that they were bound to in quire whether the Magistrates, by their conduct, had not been guilty of a violent outrage upon the free dom of election?—(C'lseers). Lord CASTI.EItEA6II was at a loss to know what the direct object of the motion was, but he sup posed it was to have the parties brought to be exa mined at the Bar, and then to deal with them as cir cumstances might require. From all he could collect on-the subject, General Byng had given exiet orders to the troops not to appear in Carlisle during the Election, except in aid of the Civil Power; and the Officer in command had strictly obeyed those orders. The House, however, would bear in mind, that the British law authorized the calling in of a military force when the Civil Power was found insufficient to ,keep the peace. Upon the occasion in question, the military had been called in only on the requisition of three Magistrates; and when they afterwards wished to have the Cavalry brought back into the town, the Officer refused to comply, unless with the consent of the Mayor, who, no doubt, from proper considera tions, declined giving it. It appeared that, after the whole of the polling was over, two companies of foot had been brought in to quell a riot, which he un derstood was attended with great violence.—[Mr. JAL ES...—" I can assure the Noble Lord there was no rioting whatever"—Cheers].—There might, perhaps, be in this case a question of privilege, but he did not see how a question of law could be raised upon it.— The Magistrates might have acted under an errone ous judgment, but certainly not with an evil inten tion. If their object was to interfere with the freedom of election, why had they called in the military after the polling was over ?—(Cries of No, no, it was not over).— He did not see that there existed any suffi cient grounds for bringing persons all the way from Carlisle to the Bar of that House ; and he certainly thought the House was not the best Jury in the world to try all the facts of the case. Lord LOWTHER maintained that there never had been a more violent riot at any Election than that which took place at Carlisle. The Noble Lord concluded by moving the previous question as an amendment. Mr. CURWEN supported the original motion, and commended the motives which had actuated his Vonourable Friend in bringing it forward. There was not even the semblance of a riot to warrant the interference of the military. The only circumstance that could countenance the idea of a riot, was, that an individual had the boldness to ask one of the MA., gistrates if the Riot Act had been read? For this offence he was committed, and when it was found that no proceedings could be taken against him, he was told to walk out of prison. Mr. WYNN observed, that the House could not be too jealous of the constitutional freedom of Elec tion. The mere appearance of a body of soldiers during an Election was a violation of law, which could not be tolerated, unless where urgent necessity required it. Air. BECKET insisted that the military bad not appeared till the poll was closed. Mr. JAMES.—" I can assure the Right Honour able Gentleman that the poll was not closed." Mr. BECKET proceeded.—The Petition stated, that the military appeared at four o'clock. If the Magistrates acted wrong, they acted on their own responsibility, and could be made accountable for their conduct. He was surprised to hear it asserted. i that there were no appeara*e of a riot. He con tended that there were the strongest aplea raer , The Magistrates read the Riot Act thre e se „,. --- ; times; and if the rioters did not afterwards di 5, ,. how could it be thought culpable that the tr:l' ; had been called in ? The proper way would i i, !„ the present case, if it was taken up by the H ie „; : have the particulars detailed in a Petition, th e ;,;",: of which should be examined in a Select Committer up stairs. With respect to the Magistrate s , h e ,-‘'," Becket) thought the Court of King's B enc h „, • : - r r . only place where their conduct ought to be ( 0 ,,..7 gated. The subject of this m ot i on was somp„,,c7 stale, and he saw no advantagi i n brinr.i -‘ 6 ng it egati forward—( Hear). Mr. CALCRAFT, with much warmth, depre earg the sentiments he had heard from the Ri g h t I' m -- Gentleman who had just sat down. He was ememdr sorry to find that there was in that House any one* lost to a due sense of the freedom of Election, vs l ee to a proper regard for the best principle s op,hec o,, stitution, as to deliver such sentiments. 'tom Rid Hon. Gentleman called the subje c t stale —yes, si:•' because, forsooth, it, was not very ple as i ng to his eil —( Cheers ).—What did the Right Hon. Ga ns k et • mean by talking of common law and the Court r King's Bench ? Was that the proper way foe th e House to redress an injury done to its 4earest ri g h t , by the interference of the Military at Election;_ (Loud cheers).—He regretted exceedingly th at at man holding the sentiments of the Ri g h t Hon. Gen , . tleman should have a place in that House, a n d l e still more regretted that he should have an offici a l situation in the country—(Repeated cheers). He roily believed, that if the Right Hon. Gentl eman had (1,, dared those sentiments beforehand, he never m e ad have got a seat in the B:itish House of Co mmons; nor would he have got the office he no w held—(ll, 4 ,. Rear).—The night Hon. Gentleman needed not to have told the House that the Magi rates act e d as their own responsibility : the House was awa re e fi r, and knew also that they must be answerable at the Bar for the events that had taken place. He (Mc Calcraft) did not stand there to say whethop th e o i , gistrates were or were not justified by the necessity isf the case in having recourse to the military power ; but this he would say, that the house was Windt, inquire into all the circumstances. Did the light Hon. Gentleman, when he spoke as he had done,beu t the words of that revered man Mr. Speaker Oasloe, as referred to by an Hon. Member ? The fair pre. sumption was in the first instance, that the M ag i c trates had acted contrary to law, however they might afterwards stand acquitted from particelar circum stances. He thought that a Committee of Priviege i was the correct mode, but if a Select Committee war I thought preferable, then let it be adopted. At any. rate, he trusted that when it was seen that the Mili tary had been introduced at an Election, no sophistry or common-law pleading of a Judge-Advocate would induce the House of Commons to relinquish tae of their dearest privileges— ( Hear, hear, hear). Mr. BEN N Etfaitaid, that the Noble Lord opposite had declared that be had never known a mama lignant riot. He (Mr. Bennett) had. It was at the election of the Noble Lord himself, when the Noble Lord, or his advocates, thought fit to introduce th e Captain of a slave ship from Liverpool, at the head of a band of bludgeon-men ! The same set wee afterwards at Carlisle, so that it woald appear they were in the constant pay of the Noble Lord. They had, however, been soundly drubbed, and he (Mr. Bennett) had seen the spolia opima, consisting of a number of great cudgels. Lord LO s% THE It begged to be allowed to sty a few words, in consequence of what had fallen frog the Hon. Gentleman. He allowed that there was a riot on the occasion alluded to ; but it was occasiood by an attack made on the persons whom his (Lai Lowther's) friends provided for the purpose of keep ing the peace, and who were sworn in as special coo. stables. He did not see why any objection should la made to the presence of an individual at that Elec tion, because he had formerly been the Captaia of a merchant—perhaps of a slave ship. The Honourable Gentleman might as well say, that the descadans of slave dealers had no right to sit in that Hoak a which event, the discussion that had just ocoural would have lost one of those Honourable Gentlest* who had taken a part in it--(Cries (If" Orskr,ordar " Spoke, spoke !" 44 Chair, chair 0. The SPEAK ER interposed, observing, tbattiank it was irregular that such a discussion should belga' longed, still it was but fair that the Hats Asia allow the Noble Lord a full opportunity of mho tion, as they had permitted the Hon. Memberie Shrewsbury (Mr. Bennett) to advert to a salilst which had no reference to the case before the Holz Lord LOWTHER then said, that the Militaryisa come within a few miles of Appleby at the last West• moreland Election ; and as to the circumcises which had occurred, they were not of a nature Alia his opponent (Mr. Brougham) thought wadi being brought before the House. Lord CASTLEREAGH said, that as there . appeared to be a doubt whether the Military be been called on before or after the poll was ores, g ,_ should acquiesce in the proposition for inquiry Fa himself, he had understood that the soldiers mg their appearance in the evening ; but as a doubt es: isted, it ought to go in favour of investigatioa Sir JAMES GRAHAM rose, amidst load flit " Question!" and stated, that there were no tour seven affidavits, to shew that the most daring 111 ° had taken place for some days, and that, in cf" . m . ; quence, it was found imperatively necessary t°, n, in the Military. The th r ee Magistrates were t oot ' anxious to have the subject investigated, in "d u coo l vindicate their conduct. The circumstances plained of took place on the nth of May,-yer had been said before respecting it, though the, It was sitting at the time. As to the Petition, nr . ,., been credibly informed, that many who had pa! g`" __. names to it did not know what they were sisning - The motion was then agreed to, and a Coma ang appointed accordingly. PRICE AND WEIGHT OF BREAD. cal The Honourable E. HARBORD, in rising t : the attention of the House to the present state ftb,. law for regulating the manufacture and Plea: cf ' regretted that the subject had not fallen ant..., and more experienced hands. It must be well to all who heard him, that two-thirds of the buy 2 .7 population lived entirely upon bread; they eaosigr, of course , of the labouring classes, and wets tat s to the special care and protection of the Leg' sgw Parliament was, in his opinion, bot ad to gitbklh.- 1 •