Star. — London, England, 1810-01-16 00:00:00

4 17 , ! 7 '•.7 cot/Jar MEETING, BERKSHIRE. , Yesterday a very numerous Meeting took ptice of the - Freeholders, Clergy, and lahabitants, of the County of Berk:, in the Town-hali of Abingdon, pur suant to a requisition signed by a respect:dile body of Freeholders.' As early as twelve o'clock the Hall was corn-1 pletely crowded in every part, and about halt-past one the High Sheriff, Sir T. M ETCALFE, having taken the Chair, proceeded to re.ld the requisition. He stat ed that the meeting was called to consider of the pro priety of addressing his Majesty on the present alarm mg crisis of public affairs. The objects that would present themselves would prObably be two:.-Ist, Whether they should agree to address his Majesty at all, anti 2dly, wbut the nature of the address should be ? He hoped that every fiteeholder would be heard with attention, and reminded them that the humblest among them was as much entitled to that attention, as the richest individual in the county. Lord Foucesfoivz then rose. Before proceeding to the business open which they, were c?tlled together, be thought it right to say a few words in conscsinepoe of what fell from the High Sheriff respecting the pri vileges of the freeholders to be heard for themselves. He agreed with that Gentleman, as he supposed every individual nbw present did also, that a forty-shilling freeholder was entitled to as much attention as any individual in the county ; but he could wish to hear why the votes on all public occasions should be con fined to a freeholder of forty shillings a year, or why it should not be extended to every individual' land holder? It was his wish originally not to have a meet ing of freeholders only, but of the whole county : , the High Sheriff, however, had• thought differently, and convened the Meeting in its present form. _ In behalf of the freeholders under forty shillings, he claimed the privilege of voting, and he touched on this point thus early, that any freeholdersinesent, if so disposed. might challenge the sight of voting which be now claimed. desultory conversation here ensued, and it seemed to be the sense of the meeting; that freehol ders, of every description, should have the privilege of voting. Lord FOLKESTONE then continued: he congratulated the meeting on the unusual circumstance of their being assembled at Abingdon—he could not help consider ing this as a triumph, since frOm the erection of a certain building at Reading, gentlemen had been ac customed to represent that town as a more convenient place for public meetings. He had heard it insinuated that the Sheriff's object in preferring Abingdon was, that popular objects were more likely to be obstructed there than at Reading. For his part he rather thought the reason was, that Reading being nearer town, made the people there better acqnainted With the corrupt transactions which were carried on at the seat of Government. Here the High Sheriff i n terrupted his Lordship by saying, that he would have preferred Reading as the place of. meeting, but he could not• command the Town Hall, and he would not condescend to ask a favour of an; Corporation.—(ifftialauser ) Lord*FoutesroNE then proceeded : he conceived it Impossible for any man, whether at Abingdon or at Reading, to object to the Address he meant to pro pose. When they considered the present state of Europe and of Great Britain, he did not think they would consider the epithet of ala-ming as objection able, when- they reflected in what bands the dif ferent branches of the Administration of the Empire were placed, and how peisoos in power conducted themselves, Gentlemen could not but feel dismay and alarm. The recent annexation of Holland to France was sufficient to render the present moment alarming, but when we turned towards Spain and saw how little hope there was of the people in that country doing any thing for themselves—when we looked to the state of disaffection in which Ireland was placed by the im politic and imprudent conduct of Ministers towards that country, we could not but regard the present state of the empire as perilous in the extreme, There was, another circumstance which added to the dangers of the country, and which he hoped would not be lost ~sight of ; he meant the introduction into these realms of nutherous bodies of foreign troops. He hoped the meeting recollected the noble stand that was made by our ancestors in the reign of King William, when they opposed the introduction even of two or. three Dutch regiments, whereas at this moment there were twenty battalions of foreign soldiers nourished in the country. (Lard applause.) Another circumstance which add. •-, , ed to the alarming state of affairs was the dissentions stow prevalent in India : he woulcinot entn at much length into this subject, because he did not as yet know whether to regard these disturbances as a sub ject of grief or congratulation—if we attempted to retain possession of India by arms, he could not help regarding it as a great calamity ; but if we saw that the resources of the hostile powers were sufficiently great to forbid any attempt of th it kind, he would consider it as a haitpy event. We had been told that our Indian teiritory was a great arm of the Empire ; but, in his opinion, it was an arm of weakness. It was false to suppose that the wealth we derived from it was at all to be compared with what we lost by it : it was a perpetual drain upon our population, and rrinct produce the most ruinous effects. It was extremely probable that the saying of Lord Chatham would speedily be made good, that Indian banners would he the ruin of the • Country.—Another topic on whkh it would be ne cessary to dwell was our Expedition to thC Scheldt. ' No armament had ever cost so much money to the Country: The number of men 'employed in the-dif ferent departments amoitotel to above 100,000. Over all these was set the name of Chatham —a name dear to the Country. All this mighty project ended, Itowever, in battering down the walls c,f the inolrm sive ;own of Flushing, and in the taking of Middle burgh, Winch had po walls at all. The Expedition sailed in the month of August; in twenty-four bouts it reached its destinatiou—jt could have accom-. plisbed its object in a few days, but it was kept for months in bogs a;id marshes, subject to all the diseases of the country. He trusted that something would be done to fiad out where the blc,r.te. lay ; if in the plailnete. he hoped they would be punished; and if in the Commanders, they ought not to escape with impunity. But there was another still more disgrace calamitous expedition, namely, that to Spain !lder Sir Arthur Wellesley. All present Must re. nembes the spirit of liberty that broke g in that . • country, and how by the influence of zeal and love of liberty, the Spaniards had succeeded in driving th i s French out of their country ; they then introduced local Governments, and sent to this country for sup- 1 plies - here their misfortunes began—the Ministers of this country did all they coula to crush the rising spirit of freedom that was rapidly pervading Spain. Their first act of impolicy was to create one central Government, instead of those local Governments which the people were bent upon establishing, and, what was more surpriting, they compelled the Spa niards to proclaim Ferdinand VII. the very man who had betrayed his country to France. The spirits of the people soon began to flag, and' then external assistance was resorted to. NVhen our armies arrived in Spain, the people were as jealous of them as of the armies of France. This had been witnessed in the case of Sir John Moore, and one would naturally sup pose that this was a lesson to Ministers. Another army, however, under Sir Arthur Wellesley, was driven into the same snare by his bold but rash con duct—he obtained a victory, but it was followed by all the consequences of a defeat ; the army was left in an unwholesome cli'mate, and were now about to return without having accomplished any thing. It was no wonder that these things should happen, when it was found that. the men who had the conduct of affairs were quarrelling with each other, and yet were still pci nutted to send out expeditions. What remedy is left for the conetry, under these alarming circumstances, but to Address his Majesty? If the answer from the Throne resembled that given re cently to the Common Council of London, namely that no enquiry was necessary, he must suppose that Ministers had wilfully concealed the circumstances from his Majesty ; for if he knew the ruin and con tempt which they brought upon the country, he could not but be alive to their misconduct and to the complaints of his people. it was the duty of the meeting to tell his Majesty the truth—he reminded them, that every speech from the King was to be considered as the speech of Ministers, and theiefore might be freely discussed. There was no doubt that some persons would advise the people to wait until Parliament met, and then lay their grievances before it, but what bad experience taught us on the subject of Parliamentary enquiry ? It was a notoriou i lfag e that some how or ether, Ministers bad the powl/of commanding majorities in both Houses of Parliament. Heconceived, therefore, that there was little to hope for from .Parliameht, and the only resource left to the people, was to address hi s Majesty and tell him their real sentiments. His Lord ship concluded by reading the following Address: " We your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal sub jects, the Nobility, Clergy, Gentlemen, and Freehol ders of the County of Berks, beg leave to approach your Majesty's throne with feelings of sincere attach ment and devotion to your Royal Perscw, of anxious solicitude for the honour of your crown and the safety of your dominions, and at the same time with senti ments of the deepest affliction at the perilous situation of the public affairs of these.kingdoms. " It is unnecessary to remind your Ma . iesty of the enormous burdens imposed on your people for sup porting the war in which we are engaged ; of the species of taxation it has given rise to, novel in its prin ciple, offensive and invidious in its collection, and op pressive beyond all example in its magnitude.. Your Majesty has nevertheless seen that your subjects have patiently and even cheerfully submitted to sacrifices as unexampled in the history of this coun try, as they have been injurious to numerous' classes of its inhabitants, in the hope and confidence that the councils of your Majesty being directed by wisdom, by prudence and fidelity, the privations of your sub jects would be hut temporary, and that their zeal and sacrifices would be ultimately rewarded by the secu rity of your 'Majesty's throne, the prosperity of your dominions, and the confirmation of their own liberties and independence. It is, however, our duty and our misfortune to halm it to state to your Majesty, that we discover neither wisJom, prudence, nor fidelity, in your Majesty's advisers ; that their acts are marked by every appear - ince cE rashness, incapacity and f )11y; and that under the government of persons so appa rently inadequate to avert the dangers and difficulties of the country, we see no ea.i to our misfortunes. 44 We humbly crave hay: p:.rticularly to call your • Majesty's attention to the f : witless efforts of your gal lant army during the last year. Your Mi.jPsty's.ad visers and commanders had for their guidance and instruction, its the last campaign in Spain and Portu gal, the melancholy experience of the fate of the ever to-be lamented Sir John Moore, mid the sufferings of his brave followers ; and yet a second British army, superior in numbers maim first, and alike conspicuous 'for its gallantry and zeal, was sent there, and hurried on into the heart of Spain for no other purpose than that of making a useless display of valour, and meeting its own destruction. We crave your Majesty's gracious attention likewise to the fatal expedition to the Scheldt; when the flower of your troops, without the oppor tunity of performing any exploit worthy of them, were permitted for months to perish by diseases pecu liar to the climate, and which your Ministers must have known to be prevalent there at the time when they thus doomed your Majesty's troops to destruc tion. At the same time we participate in the satis faction which no doubt must be felt by you' Majesty, when, in contemplating these national disaiters, you observe that the character of your army was never more exalted, and that its undaunted valour has al airays risen in proportion to the difficulties which it has had to encounter ; a consideration, however, which must increase the regret, and aggravate the disap pointment which these disasters have occasioned. " It is with equal grief and shame we are com pelled further to submit to your Majesty's attention, that whilst the armies of your empire were perishing by famine and the sword in Spain, and by disease in Walcheren. your Majesty's Ministers, regardless alike of the honour of their Sovertign and the dangers of the Country, have consumed the time (which ought 'to have heen exclusively devoted to the public ser vice) in the must d:sgraceful sqnabbles, intrigues. and cabals ; and have not hesitated, by publishing these transactions to the world, to expose your Ma jesty's Councils, and the character of your Govern !new.. to the ridicule and contempt of surrounding nations ; and to prove themselves the faithless and unworthy servants of your Majesty and of the public. We humbly, therefore, supplicate your Majesty, that you will be pleased to institute a most rigid enquiry into the causes cf the calamitous issue of the two ex 111:ditions to Stain and tl Sclsel4; and we us; • . 7 1 . , assured that your Isfiety ell do all that rietin_yotte power • to prevent th , :.. eerence of similar disasters, by bringing to cclkdie;: , ueishment the authors of our misfortunes. We c.e.. at conclude this oer humble Petition to your Majasty, without alluding to your Majesty's gracious answer to a similar Petition from the Mayor and Common Council of the City of Din don, in which your Majesty is pleased to refer the Petitioners to the wisdom of Parliament. We pre sume to state to your Majesty, that we have seen for years past, with the deepest concern, that attempts to procure Parliamentary Enquiry upon the subject of our National Misfortunes, have in all eases been unsuccessful ; and in the course of the last Sessions we witnessed, with not less astonishment than indig nation, that a system was adopted, and almost pro claimed, of protecting public men from public en quiry ; a system which is in direct defiance of the uniform practice of the best periods of our history,i , and the most undoubted andenvaluable principles of our Constitution. It is on this account that we pre. sume to prefer this our Petition to your Majesty, in doing which, we have the happiness to exercise tint great and constitutional privilege, which was at tempted to be taken from our ancestors by the arbi. trary and unprincipled advisers of the House of Stuart, but which was for ever secured to us by that glorious revolution which produced the happy succes sion of your Majesty Family to the Throne of these Realms." . Mr. BLANDY seconded the motion for the Address. Mr. MATHEW MoNeeoue then rose. He rejoiced in the opportunity now given him of expressing his most cordial approbation of the important privileges given by the constitution to the people, of thus meet ing together and publicly discussing the affairs of the State. He recognised, in its fullest extent, the right of the subject to petition the King, and he also ap• proved of that Resolution of the Meeting which gave every freeholder, great or small, the privileg e of de livering his sentiments. He considered such meetings as calculated to check and contrail ti:e Ki:tg and Parliament, if either was disposed ;o trench on the liberties of the people. But while he recognised these true and undoubted English principles, he could not conscientiously say that it was judicious at present to discuss the state of public affairs in so full a meeting. (Hear, hear !) He thought that if the Meeting had been confined to a smaller number of individcals, every pur pose might have been answered. As it was, however,he hoped that Englishmen when addressed would con sult their reasons as well as their passions. He would thus early say that he by no means came to the same conclusions with the Noble Lord as to the present state of public affairs, and he begged that the Meet ing would hear him patiently if what he said had rea son in it. (Much laugher.) There was a sort of slur cast on Gentlemen who opposed popular addresses, and on this account he thought it necessary to profess that he had no selfish or sinister object to serve ; his wish was to speak honestly and independently. When the Noble Lord spoke of the alarming state of public i affairs,he perfectly agreed with him that they were alarming ; but if affairs were alarming, let us beware I of trusting to the representations of any set of men 1 whatever ; let us beware lest in the Lseat of the moment we awaken against each other feelings which should only be excited against the common enemy. One great cause of our alarm, was the unity, vigour and capacity which dlected the Government of 1 France ; ought we not then to beware of throw ing difficulties and dissentions in the way of those , whose business it was to meet the mighty arm I of France ? With respect to Ireland, he saw no I grounds for arty alarm on that score ; he con- I sidered that country as more tranquil at present than : it had been in former times. As to the introduction I of foreign troops, he did not think it fair to call to 1 i the recollection of the Meeting the antipathies of our 1 ancese rs to Dutch troops, particularly at a time when our own standing army was so small, that the'King might have overturned the constitution and destroyed the libertie's of his subjects, by means of a handful of foreign soldiers. With respect to the other causes of' complaint against Ministers, the grounds generally taken, and indeed the broadest of all was the failure of oar foreign expeditions. He had no doubt, how ever, that when these expeditions carpe to be dis cussed in the proper place, namely, in Partament, the people would be enabled coolly to judge for them selves : it was impossible, at a public meeting like the present, to enter into all the various views of policy which actuated Ministers in fitting out these expe6::- ditions. He would not attempt to enter into so wide a field. He did not flinch from the subject, because he dreaded to meet the subject ; but he challenged the Noble Lord to say, whether in subjects of such importance we ought to lose that spirit of good fellow. ship and unanimity so necessary to carry us through .our difficulties, on account of Ministers ? He thanked GOD that it was not of any importance to the public at large who were Ministers—(a loud laugh.)—There were talents enough still in the country to supply the places of these now in power if they gave offence.— " Gentlemen," said Mr. Montague, , g let us despise those men who talk of any set of as fit to be Mi nisters—let us despise thsse persons, who, by appeal ing to the passions of the populace, thi n k to grat if y their ambition, if not their avarice. Gentlemen, do you suppose that Parliament will not institute a rigid enquiry into all the subjects of complaint that may be brought before it ? Has Parl ament ever been deficient in doing its duty ?—(Always, exclaimed a linndred voices). What ! Was Mr. Fox i (A. They never listened to him.) What do you . mean do you want to substitute yourselves for the Parliament ? What, is your ground of complaint ? (A. Its incompetency.) I can't help that—(Loud laughter). What, arc we better able to understand the various points connected with these expeditions than the Par liament ? Can we send for Lord Chatham or the Admiral of the fleet ? Has the Sheriff any power over them ? In short, I deny that it is in our poWer to in terfere except by overturning the State at once.— Is the Parliamrt to be put down, because certain Gentlemen are out of temper with it ? Do you believe, that, by endeavouring to destroy the bul warks of the Constitution, we shall be better able to be voted to put down Bonaparte ? Why is this violent and intemperatef , o n r e distrustingweek bbefore f Address d e ti d It r oh e se s es meetingu( o (groan: l will o" n f do Parliament a hints ) l a ia it m u en nt t il l'laralima uorebehleieivieasthcoant consulted K dp in ar giw ia i m ll e t; m th e in nt h rn is ee M ts. iniste 3 r2 be d ! . Is . h . e a stout-hearted Engli s h man if he does ?"—He --ed that the present Parliament was as honest a .. , , 1— . ----- ••••• 4 me as elves itt In Nista ft Introduced and eeti. blished many of those liberties which we now • (tiny and if , they are overturned, it must be by want of i: n , aniniity among ourselves. He would maintain, th at those who stood up to eicite dissentinns at the p re . sent moment, assisted the enemy. He did not thi a k , with a Noble Lord, that we should be bettered b y losing India. Perhaps the : Noble- Lord would tim e * away the West Indies on the same ground !—With respect to our Expeditions : was it to be said, that, b e . cause they were unsuccessful, the grounds were hapo litic or unwise ? With respect to Spain, he did tint thick that the Government could have acted otherwise t h an they did. They . could not know that the Spaniards were cowards until they were in the field with die m -- , 4 I next come to the dissentions among Minister themselves. I - admit that nothing could be m ot* disgraceful, but I see no bse in noticing them here.-- 1 / This I will say, however, that those who quaire!N with each other were no patriots, and, thank Cob, they are now out. Of cqurse nothing in the Al dress now proposed can apply to,Ministers on Qt.,. score ; and as for the Duke of Portland. we all kllo‘v that be is out, done, gone,. dead—(mud. If i l i : l k i „-) . _ Those who remain arc not the men who planned or executed the expeditions so much talked of ; but if any of them do remain in the Cabinet, let theta answer for it.• I can see no other object in this Address, than the dismissal of Ministers, with this addition, that its language tends to degrade and s u . persede Parliament. I see nothing but the advan, tape of the enemy in this Address. Happy and glorious will be the day to Bonaparte when he seesit. Leave the business to Parliament, and if. they (I.);ft take it up, let us meet again. And now, for the i n . formation of those who may vote with me, I must explain that Ido not as them to reject the Address, but only to hang it up until its objects can be more et fdctually attained. I never knew any Ministry so Ltt.le• supported by strength of party as the present. Wa a there any difficulty in punishing the King's son ! act s and perhaps his. favourite son too ?" (How did . 3, , , 4 vote, Mr. Montague on that occasion I said a freeholder. —No answer.) He concluded by exhorting the free. holders to suspend the expression of their sentiment; until they saw what P.o liament would dn. Dr. BARRY said he agreed with the last speaker LI the propriety of withholding the declaration of their sentiments until after the meeting of Parliament. 1-1, did net see what business the County of Berks had to resent the indignity which the City of London 11:14 received from Ministers. He had a better opinion Parliament than the Noble Lord, and if Ministers had done wrong, he thought they should be brougl t to account in a constitutional manner. The Rev. Doctor pronounced a warm panegyric on Ministe r! . for their forbearance in not suspending the Habe2 g Corpus Act, and for permitting the undiminisheit exercise of the liberty of the press. With respect te these expeditions which had been called rash, it ought to be recollected that rash enterprizes were sometimes successful—Their system of taxation was very torsi. Berate. (1. oud laughter, mixed with kissing.) Mr. BALLET warmly supported the address t He declared it to be his firm conviction, that the country could not be saved witheut a reform in Parliament,.,. (Loud apjdauses).—Lord Castlereagh openly avowed that he had trafficked for a Seat in Parliament, ang yet they did not turn him out ; and although tha same Parliament was told that two of the King's Mi. nisters bad frightened a Member out of his seat, be. cause he had the boldness to tell them he would vot, in the Duke of York's business according to his cen• science, yet the offenders were not expelled. Ho concluded by assuring the meeting that he was nt party man—there was no title, no distinction, and nq gift, which he Would accept of at the hands of 1;s Majesty's Ministers, nor would he touch a farthing of the public money, however circuitously it nligh; be conveyed to him. • Mr. CROFT said a few words in support of the Address. Mr. IvLamm (of Reading) deprecated the line of policy pursued by Ministers towards the Citkholics of Ireland. He then animadverted successively on the expeditions to Copenhagen, Spain, the Mediterranean, and the Scheldt. The pur.y efforts made to create diversions in favonr cf Austria and Spain, resembled the demolition of a gingerbread giant by a school boy, who generally began by nibbling off his toe; and fingers. (A laugh). He thought the indignity ofrered by Ministers to the City of London, was a mean attempt to throw the hatred of the people from them selves upon the shoulders of ow. gracious Soverei:-,n, Such conduct would produce more Jacobins an 4 Whigs than all the Tom Paines that ever lived. — Their only care was to keep peace with a Borough monger. (Hear, hear)! " What (said Mr. Marsh) are we to sit down quietly and trust to the investigation of Parliament, after the specimen they gave us of their integrity in the Duke of York's business Did they not gravely tell us, that there was neither corruption nor connivance at corruption !—but dtdo the People believe them ? No ! He was certain that nine hundred and ninety-nine, in every thousand in. dividuals in the Country, were of a contrary opinion, He trusted that the Country would always be able to defend itself, both against foreign and domestic foes. The ancients had represented Liberty as a beautiful, nymph, and worshipped her as a goddess; and, lace most Ladies, she required a little watching (a Lush). Our ancestors celebra,ted her rites every three years ; but septennial Parliaments were soon introduced, an 4 the homage paid by Parliament to her shrine became less fervent. —lie concluded, by saying, that he had no doubt the Prince of Wales, who had not received a German education, but was an Englishman every inch of him, would tell his father, that the people of this country were not to be goaded too far without re. senting it." DCANE, of Waltham, supported the Address. He went into a long detail on the subject of the As. sessed Taxes, and was heard with much attention.-- In the course of his speech he stated, that the Sq• veyor under the Assessed Taxes had recently sat charged a gentleman who kept a Tax-cart, beu,usa he had the luxury of a cushion on the sent of it. 1 - i! supposed that if a man was to sit in a Taxed-cart .with stuffiag in his breeches, the Surveyor would tel; h i m, that under the Act he had no right to wear breoches in a Tax-cart. Mr. Deane concluded with a /potion, which was unanimously carried, to instruct the C c unty Members to apply to Parliament for a repea t ! o f to.at part of thsassessed Tax Act, which vested do: powers of deciding on Appeals in the hands of Cowl lisiio44 f 1 1 t I i t t a a a li ( tl I , A