Star. — London, England, 1810-04-20 00:00:00

r I ‘7t- ent‘V.shei!, in 2 vol 3. Svo. price £1 Is. boards, 1 1 051TICAL WORKS OF PERCEVAL .1 S I'OCK DALE. " Tilpe travels en, nor leaves us when we die."—Port. Printed for ..,o• g.qao, Hurst, Rees, and Or e, Pater:ister'. ; W. Clark,. JS, New Bond-street. Of waonl 1,,v be i•ad, Meintoirs of the Life and Writings of S:oclid . d.f, in 1; v.as. /Ivo. with a Portrait of the Author, p: ic• .CI Is. beards. " These volumes my he read with that degree of interest avltici, s fai-hinl repre:eutation of the varied life of an intelligent .ys in,pires, and with that degree of instruction i , to be trout reth-rting on the virtues or the vices, the industry or the idleness, thr rig'm or the wrong courses of our f:ilow-crea.urcs."—Crit. Rev. Aug. 1 This day was published, with Plates, the Third Edition, l2mo. price ss. hoards, IVIATERNAT, INSTRUCTION ; or FAMILY CONVERSATIONS on Moral and Entertaining Subjects, hters;s-rsed with I li.tory, ri,; ; raphy, and original Stories. De ` &vet! for the perusal of y n • v h. Ey ELIZABETH HELM. • l' , inted to: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, r aterre.ter-mw. "'There somethit.g in the plan of the present little Work rtrtierlaily pleasing. It is with gaat pleasure that we recom werti a work, the design of w'.lcli is co sensihle, and the exert,- riot so sa•i- Ctitic. As atm% e may he had, uy the same Autho'r, 1. Ins•ructive Rambles throogh Loot don and its envitont ; the sth Eliiion ; 12mo. 4s. Gil. hound. '2. 'lli • His , ory of E-,21..nd, rilate3 in timiliar Conversations I.y a Father to his Cly:dren. Interspersed with mon] and in tit tenive Remarks and Olcservations on the most leading and in- Sti*.cts. In two vols. 12mo. Bs. boards. - - LIVL-RI OF LONDON. A most numerous and highly respectable Meeting of the Livery dined together yesterday, at the City of London Tavern. So early as three o'clock the great d'•iincz-room was filled, and from the increasing num ,rs ;t was found necessary to make arrangements in adjoii:ing, ronm.—About five.o'clock Mr. WAITiI MIS, the Chairman. entered, accompanied by the tewards, and the lionourabl , Gentlemen invited. Atnnitgq d sue we recognized Mr. Whitbread, Lord co , 7)irarie, Mr. Jones ;,Inrdl•tt, General Mathew, Mr. CT sev-v, Colcrel Wardle, Lo-d C;lsttlstone, Colonel !NIT. Madocks, Mr. Byng, Alderman Co.i.oe, Soo A ;ter ell clo:11 was rernoved, the toasts of the King —the weee dank with three times three. Me Ye ITU !•1 N Strat'd, that beta re he proposed a t-noo., whirls he WAS wetild receive their ful le ceneon'eree, lie was most desirous to offer a few orelireinary obsery ations. He had to meal to their atten , on that, sauce they had met last roar, many eircumstarces oreat public importance ltaa in the d r +r>,!. :Vniong these, none was Inoue im portant in its consequences, an .1 so calculated to arouse the serietis concern of every man in the country, than the or , ceediags iecently adopted by the House of Commens, aganst the distinguished and patriotic in dividual who -,e health be then rose to propose—he, eneant Sir Fratici..; Burdett-4 Ry-i4.raved tries of hear, Tear.) it was by no means his intention to di s eucc at that meeting, the extent of the Privileges of the House of Commons, or the propriety of their exer cise ; but he did feel, that it was rather extraordinary to select the present moment for potting them into execution, and aoainet such an individnal. It was ever understood, as the right .of Englishmen, not etlone to canvass public measures, hut also to com ment and animadvert upon the particular actions of their leepresentatives—( Woe, hear.)—it the exercise of Privilege, now pot in force, be justiliahle, there was an .end to that right. Whilst set h a power ex ited, the discussion of the proceedings of that House out of doors was denied to the people of these realms, save at the risque of personal liberty. Then it was, -contended that such power, hostile as it was to the, just rights of the people, was, however, necessary to support the character and dignity of the House of Commons. It was rather extraordinary that the House should teed its character so lowered, and its dignity sa tarnished in the estimation of the country, as to be compelled to resort to the exercise of such a privi lege in order to retrieve them—( Hear, hear.) Was i: not folly, the most unparalleled, to say the least of it, in any public body to apply to such means, to pre serve a character with the people—(Hear, hear.)-- T tlit House was invested with privileges for the pur yise of mere effectually fulfilling its trust, as the Lint guard' in of the rights and liberties of the peo ple. It was invested wilt them, to be exerted not arainst, but for the people. Indeed a lamentable chalge had, for the last period of our history, takea place in heracter of that House. He had the auth,rity of Mr. Fox to say, that although there was a rime when the people did rejoice at the meeting of that body, but cal unities had so rapidly fallen upon teem to consequence of its proceedings, that the ce tey In ikeil with iiporeherion at its being con vened, taught by sad experience to expect no other consequence but a grievous addition to the ptiblic burdens—(Hiar, ir.) When then Mr. Fox spoke thus of . that Honourable House—When, in language etronocr Li its ceiootre, Mr. Borke, before him, re-' probated iLs cooduct—how came it that such men were no: called to accouot f it those direct ;ere:ores and attacks up , n its ehararter and its eh e ;eitor ? Why then adopt a contr y and houile course ite-oinst 3ar-!ett ? the House feel that its non .ad so oleic it in the regard and considera- Conotry, that it could only uphold its ice and antherity by a stretch of arbitrary under the pretext of Parliamentary privi ow came it th Mr. Yee ke, the new Teller :hequer, and Mr. Perceval, could refer to' Rights to give to its enactments meaning never nifMllt, and altogether overlook p-s -eat great statute which uneqnlyocally called nt P.erliaments, for the purpose of corroct tedressing popular gricvances, and ting the known laws of the land ? if they ;ht proper, or it it sttio'd their objects to , ich provisions, they would heve naturally whether the House lac' fulfilled that part y—whether it had reformei any constitu-o Ise—redressed any pub is grievance, or in ipiied with those mandatory dances in one tstance—(Hear, hear.) The country knew ise had pursued no such cnurse, and there. tust see A ith astonishmeet the attempt it had to set itself above lava—above fVfaena Indeed above all those fundamental princi tie which were considered immutable in `c. that had the slightest pretensions to the of freedom. What said the great Alai , whose opinion all seasonable men looked with revereneC, upon such assumptions of power by any of the co-ordinate estates of the Constitution ? Did not Lord Somers, that great friend to British Liberty, positively deny the power of any of them to dispense with the laws of the land ? What then, he would ask, was the act against Mr. Gale Jones and Sir [ Francis Burdett, but dispensing with the positive in junctions of the laws'of the land ? After some far ther observations upon the perpetuation of notorious abuses in the State, the worthy Chairman concluded with giving— That honest and inflexible friend to his country—Sir Francis Burdett. Never did we, on any former occasion, observe such enthusiastic feelings of applause as were excited throughout the whole room on the annunciation of that toast. The shouts of applause continued for many minutes. Mr. JoNEs BURnETT, in a most engaging manner, returned his thanks for the honourable testimony that respectable meeting bore to the conduct of Hs bro ther, Sir Francis Burdett. It was, he could assure them, the greatest happiness of his brother, to feel proudly conscious that he had, tinder every possi ble circumstance, discharged a great public duty.— (1/..ar, hear.) That happiness must be considerably increased, by finding his conduct supported and ap proved by such men as he then addressed. Such ac cordance, combined with the grateful reflection that the independent Constituents who sent his brother to Parliament, fully coincided in all his principles and actions, must continue to hint a never-failing source of heartfelt satisfaction. For himself he must say, that language could faintly describe the feelings by which he was at that moment actuated. It would ill become him to trespass longer on their attention ; but as he knew the communication would impart pleasure to all who he,ad him, he begged to say, that Sir Francis Burdett never enjoyed better health (Hear, hear.) than he did then—never was in better , :pirits—(crirs of hear,) —and never was more deter mined boldly to struggle in defence of the laws of the land, and for the recovery of the rights and libcr ties of the people (Conlieueleptilauses). The Chairman then proposed the following toast— May all Housebrerkers and their Abettors by analogy be lircugin to .speedy and condign punibbnient. ( Drank with enthusiasm.) Next followed the health of Mr. Whitbread, the warm Friend and powerful Advocate Of the Constitutional Rights of the People. This toast was recdved with the most marked de monstrations of attachment and respect. Mr. Wurrnilt: AD, in a most eloquent speech, of which we presume to give but a mere sketch, ex pressed the diffidence wider which he, though ac customed to public discussion, rose to return thanks for the flattering proof the meeting had evinced of their respect for his public character. That was the second time, when his fellow-citizens so assembled, had thought proper to express decidedly their appro bation of his political life. The whole of that life had been employed it measures of struggle and re sistance—of struggles, he trusted, not wholly ineffec teal --of resistance, he would hope, not without its fruits. Mc felt that such a course he would nude viatingly persevere ; from it no influence should warp him, because within him he felt that which would ever urge him to resist any approach against the peo ple's rights, whatever shape of arbitrary power it should assume. (Thar, hear.) Without taking a particular view of all the precedents of the dis astrous history since the last Session of Parliament down to the hour he addressed them, he still looked with construe honcsv to cottrse. The deeds were ail before the c:utduct of the actors in those scenes were known to them. Every measure that he had resisted, every proposition that he had offered, that meeting were acqnairetel with, and there fore highly 'proud must he feel that they had that night sealed his conduct with their approbation— (Hear, hear.) To suppose that in the agitation of such mighty questions, he or any man never deviated front the strictly wise path, was too much to expect from the infirmity of our common nature. (Hear, hear.) But that lie intended right he felt within him the fullest conviction. And if in the tempestuous sea the pilot steered his little bark to the hoped-for port of public freedom, nothing could induce him in tentionally to depart from his proper course, surely he could not be chargeable with those slight aberra tions which might delay, but did not prevent his arrival at his destination. To all the toasts propose 4 lie gave his full assent—to the King as a most necessary and integral part of the Constitution—to the People, who ought to have their sovereignty. From the people lie had sprung—to them he had been repiettedly sent back, and was gratified with the rertition of their `confidence. To Sir Francis Burdett he wished well, because when any public man feels that a great pub lic duty develves won him, and that he neinfully and honestly fulfils that duty, he established for himself an undoubted title to the public confidence and po pular esteem. (Mee, hear.) The other toes: rner;ted t;le reception it received. He could not be supp.'sed friendly to such a description (hense breakers)' as was referred to ; but he must say, that it was incum bent upon those who lead determined to decide upon analogy, to ascertain, in the first place, where their analogies were to be found. (Hear, hear.) It was incumbent upon them fully to weigh the effects of their weakness, to say the least of it, before they dressed it in the garb of ar:ettrary power. (Hear, hear) They ought to have contemplated the consequence be fore they put themseleen into the situation of being compelled to proceed. The Honourable Isrember next adverted to the privileges of the House of Commons: Had that House, legitimately constituted, no pri vilege!, the people would have no power. It was the pessessien of privilege that enabled the Commons of England, in former periods of our historT, to contend successfully against the arbitrary encroachments of 'tile Crown. Privilege was given to that House for the people's protection, and it ceased to be applied beneficially whenever it WAS exerted ageinst them— ( Hear, hear.) It was necessary for the just protection of their Representatives ; he would recel them to the events of the lest Session foi'l an illustration of his doctrine. He would refer them to thet great inquiry, conducted so ably by an Honourable I'i-tend near him (Mr. Wardle), an iaquiry.whieh, he must say, was partly successful—successfill not by the vote of the House of Commons, , but by the voice of the peo ple—Wear, Hear.) Sliceessfill, because though the House said No, the People of England exclaimed Aye ! ("fear, Hear.) Ye, without its lust privileges, it would have been impossible to ha're brnaght forth re luctant witnesses, persons encouraged by the most powerful interests to evade, if possible, the Inquisito rial power of that House. It was incumbent to dis tinguish and to guard, lest on arguing from abuse against use, the people might destroy those very mo numents, which, under other circumstances, and in due times, would be wanting to defend even the bles sings of a reformed and pure Representation. He was confident that he would suffer no diminution of , their esteem by fully stating. his opinion. • A candid declaration of his feelings had, ho trusted, been the characteristic of his public life. He was only anxi ous that at a futnre period, when that House would speak the sentiments and defend the interests of the people, it should not be in the power of bad men to contend that the people had abrogated those essential privileges—to say, that you had made for yourselves a hard bed, and therefore you must lie in it. But at - the same time, let me be understood as conten ding for no unnecessary scope. If there has been an illegal exercise, let it be detected, punished, and the recurrence prevented for ever. At all events, let it not be - exercised wantonly—let it not be exercised so as to destroy that palladium of our freedom, the Trial by Jury—(Hear, hear.) If even the right existed in the Commons House, and that from the revolutions of time and circumstances it can be proved, such ex ercise must be fatal to the object for which it was be stowed originally, let it be reduced by statute. He should say then, that in the instance it was now exer cised, there was not even palliation for such folly.— No man, with pretensions to a competent understan ding would have ever thought of noticing it. It was undoubtedly the right of every subject in this country high or low, to canvass public measures. Such was ever his opinion, decidedly attached as he was to the general diffusion of knowledge. Political knowledge had, thank GOD ! spread, and was rapidly spreading through the country, and he would never consent to shut the months of men which Nature opens, because their minds west free and enlightened (Hear, Hear.) That was his opinion, strengthened by the example of that great servant of the people, (Mr. Fox,) that man to whom he ever looked up with profound ye n-ration—in whose steps it would be his pride to triad, but who, pet! aps, was too near our times to have by us his merits duly appreciated ( Hear, hear.) —The Honourable Member supposed a case, where mobs were hired to insult and obstruct, and where placards were affixed to point out individual Mem bers to violence—there, in his opinion, the House should summarily assert its privileges. He had himself when in a small minority in that House, been thus at tacked: After a Iltron7 recommendation in favour of Parliamentary Rec;:rm, which must arrive, and the benefits of hoped to live long etiozo) o. experience, he , _oncitried with repeating his sincere gratitude for t.,e rr. rks he had received of their es teem and confiden , c.—After the Chairman had given The Health of Sir Samuel Romilly, whom he descril d as the steady supporter of the laws and liberty of England, which wai l received with the warmest marks of esteem and approbation, he proposed The Health of Mr. Wardle, the steady opposer of corruption and abuse; and may every man wan, like him, has the courage and honesty to encounter difficulty, danger, and calumny, in the cause of the People, be ever sure of their support. As soon as Mr. WARDLE. mounted the table, the room rung with acclamation-when it had subsided, that Honourable Member addressed the Meeting.— Reverting to what he had s'iid in the House of COTO.. ITIOIS last year, WII . Ch he had no hesitation in sta tiag to be most disgracefully corrupt, the Honour able Member begged the assembly to recollect, that although he was much abused for stating, that with proper economy the who amount of the income tax might be saved to the nation, yet, that, very lately, one of the very men acquainted with the areana of the subject (Mr. Hnskissou) stated still more. He conceived, and offered to prove the practicability of saving ten millions to the nation, but the Honourable Gentleman he alluded to distinctly declared, that un less twenty mi!lions were saved—unless the expendi ture was brought within the income, the country had not the means of going on. All he could speak to was with regard to 1.1.1 money unnecessarily taken nut of the pockets of tile people ; but this Honourable Gentleman was well enabled to speak as to the money unnecessarily expended. Yet with this statement be fore the House and the connt - cy, not a single retrench ment was proposed, appeared to be in contempla tion. What then w.is to be expected from such a Go vernment, and the House of Curnmon4 by which it was sanctioned ? With respect to•the calumnies by which he had been assailed, he felt that t 11,7 were ut terly unavailing. Powerful, numerous, and inverate as his enemies were, the approbation of his honest and independent countrymen furnished an impene trable shield against their attacks. He must indeed be insensible if he did not feel that the esteem of that respectable Assembly, which bad just been so honour ! ably testified, was a complete antidote to all calumny —(aNdauses, mixed with a cry " ad honest public men are slandered.") —The Hon. Gentleman adverting to the observations of Mr. Whitbread as to the privileges of the House of Commons, emphatically remarked, that the privilege of committing for a libel should never belong to th.it House ; because it was one which could never be in favour of the people—which, in fact, if exercised at all, must be exercised against them (loud applauses.) He concluded with expressing his satisfaction, that his conduct since that day twelve month, when he had the honour of such a flattering reception in that room, met the approval of the Li very of London ; to prove himself a deserving Mem- Member of which, should ever be among the first objects of his ambition--(univerfal and long-continued yarn:Tits. The Leith of " Atr. Byng and the independent Electors of Middlesex" being toasted, Mr. BYNG rose, and after returning thanks, de clared, that the only honour to which he had ever aspired in his whole political life was that of de serving the approbation of his fellow-citizens. In deed, if was always his conviction, that had he sought any other honour—had he looked for any honours from the Crown, such a pursuit must have interfered. with his duty to his constituents. Feeling that his attention was never withdrawn from the people, he was proud to find on every occasion where he had the honour to meet them, that he had not attended to them in vain. To the character and condi:et'. of his Hon. Friend (Mr. Whitbread) he bore the same tes timony. 'With him he had acted for the last 20 years, and he was fully convinced that he was now the most eligible leader to follow. For himself be was ready to declare his disposition to follow him. Like him he would always endeavour to prove a strentLms ad vocate for the rights and liberties of the people, an.: a steady opponent to the corruptions and abuses of the State. Here Mr. WHernnean rese to propose the health of the Chairman, and took occasion to explain his meaning with regard to the right of the House Of Commons to commit for a libel. He stated, that there was a day, in the course of the French Revolu tion, when he and other Members, of a small mino rity in the House of Commons, struggling for the li. berty and best interest of the country, were often as. sailed by the grossest abuse on their passage to and from the House of Commons : But suppose in such a case as that of the inquiry relative to the Duke of York, two such men as Mr. Wardle and Mr. Waith man, (were he in that House, in which he hoped one day, for the public good, to see him,) were intenupt ed in their progress to the House of Commons in consequence of placards, or other means, wculd not the people allow the House of Commons to have the privilege of committing for a libel ? (Ay e , exclaim e d a multitude of voices, but that would be an o b s t rutt i on , not a libel.) Yes, rejoined the Honourable Gentle. man, an obstruction in consequence of a libel. But he meant not to discuss a question of this nature in that room, where nothing calculated to provoke dis cord should be encouraged. He would therefore con clude with submitting a proposition, which be w as , certain would secure harmony, namely, that of t h e health of their Worthy Chairman. Mr. WALTHMAN expressed his gratitude to the meeting. He felt the many distinguished marks of attention with which he had been favoured by his fel low citizens. But nothing could be more flatter ing than the high station in which they had that day placed him, and the honour they had just conferred upon him, The cause, however, to which he had to attribute this distinction, was still more grateful 1,1 his feelings. By pursuing that cause lie had no doub t of deserving a continuance of their esteem. But in or der to insure the triumphs of that cause, he eshottcd the Livery to persevere in this description of meeting —to repeat it annually. By such means the friends of public liberty would know each other, and become connected, They would be enabled to act in a more regular m anner aga i st the common enemy (amlauses.) They might succeed in securing an adequate repre sentation for the City of London, which, comparing the sentiments of the people with the votes of all their Representatives, except Mr. Harvey Combe, were, it was evident, totally misrepresented in Parliament. The Chairman concluded with proposing the health of a Member, the conduct of whose constituents was highly honourable to their character, and would, he I,6ped, be imitated by the country at large—he meant " The Health of Lord Cochrane." This proposition was peculiarly well received, as was Lord Cochrane himself, when he rose to return thanks. The Noble Lord, after some prefatory observations expressive of his gratitude to the Meeting for the ho nour conferred upon him, adverted to the privileges 'of the House of Commons. What those privileges precisely were he would not presume to say ; but he wouLd state his decided opinion, that it ought not be conwetent to such privileges to interfere with ...i act within the cognizance of the common law land (Apirlaver.) That tribunal was, in his judgth-:.:, irreconcileable with the principles of English law, L=, fore which the accusers were not examined on oath, and the Members composing se,hich were not them selves nn oath. Such having bees always his concep t tion, he thought h his duty, some )'ears ago, to resist the establishment of what was called a L;ourt of In quiry in the Navy, where no oath whatever was admi l tistered, and in consequence of that resistance to that dangerous innovation as he considered it, he was sent with his ship into the North Sea, to spend fo:tr months off the island of Iceland, where they could reader no service whatever to the country. This proceeding ap peared to him to have some analogy to the recent pre tensions of privilege. But what confidence could the people of England repose in, At: what disposition could they feel to concede to, that House, which claimeJ the Privilege alluded to ? Let the people look at its recent conduct. The Expedition to the Scheldt they ap , proved of, and so should he, if it were properly ar ranged. But here he begged leave to submit a re mark or two, which he had not heard in the. House of Commons. The fact was, that that expedition could not succeed, owing to the plan of the Minister at War (Lord Castlereagh), to whose arrangement its failure was wholly attributable. Nothing could be so absurd as the order to delay the progress of the army to take Flushing and oilier places. If it were meant by the enemy to capture or destroy a fleet lying off Rotherhithe, would not they be considered as blockheads if they stopped in their progress up the river, until they took Sheerness, Tilbury Fort, Graves. end, aye, and even the Tower ? Yet the order of pro ceeding .upon) the late Expedition was not less pre posterous. How then could it succeed ? What was to be thought of those who could order our men of war and frigates to proceed slowly up tile Scheldt, so liable to be attacked from the beach by the enemy, so much exposed to destruction from shells and car , casses, which properly employed, would have left nothing but their bottoms within the space of half an hour ? But the • whole contrivance was a system of blundering. The object of the expedition he thoi el.: perfectly attainable. • If othet wise conducted, he persuaded that that object might have been attaint with no larger military force than 10,000 men, anti he was equally persuaded that that object was still attainable with that amount of force under proper auspices. " The health of Mr. Harvey Comhe" bein g that Gentleman stated his resolution to su pp ort the course of popular freedom on all occasions. lie had some years ago had the honour of bein g a memd drank, t prleu ste mem ber of a society entitled the Friends of th ; P h from that society he learned lessons , he should never forget . Indeed he was encourag ed i to hope, that he should yet live' to see t h e p rincipe s . of that society reduced to practice by the establish , . meet of a complete Parliamentary Reform. filmy of the corrupt and unprinci • 'pled borough fac tion," being drank, e xpression Upon 4 , the Health of Mr: Wm. Madocks, the That Gentleman rose, and after a warm e called upon to pledge their lives and fortunes againstlthey a foreign enemy; but in these times he thoug _ of hii gratitude observed, that people were frequently ward to pledgetb ought to be equally if not more for Francis Bti conduct ha 'ion of the consequenc authority, lege ? Ho of the Excl the Bill of that n et- e r saves in tit; 0 for frequen ing abuses strengtheni had thougl refer to suc considered of its duty ti Jn.tl ab us died comp solitary ins coat HOUSE fore it 121115 • , ' , A made Charta, in 01 J,4 • ovcrr StOi character rates, to •