Star. — London, England, 1817-01-20 00:00:00

DUBLIN MEETING. A Meetir.7., cnnver.ed st Requisition cnuched in the following trims, and s‘hich had been made pub lic in the usual way, tng,lc place on Wttday, the 13th instant, at the Green Harold's-Crnss: " CONS II 'U 1 .1*.i.F. I ING. We, the undersigned, request a meeting of such persons as feel themselves interested in using all legal means to procure relief for the suffering Inhabitants of the C.ty of Dublin and its vici•iity, abd particu larly of the Manufacturing and Wot king Classes, at Twelve o'clock out ►Monday nett:, the 13 h instant, at the Green of Harold's• Cross, ,for the purp•ise of con sidering the pr , priety i t Petitionirg Government and the Legislature for the redress of existing grievances. The attendance of the Right Honour-' able the Lord Mayor, Slit rill's, Magisttatcs, and other Pithiic Officers, is earnestly recpiesit d; as well for the p arpose of giving their countenance to those Constitutional proceedings, as to assist in preserving the Public peace, should any person date to violate it." There was a capacious platform erected in the centre of the Green, for the accommodation of Speakers; and a few minutes after the appointed hour, Mr. Noun's, of Sackville-street, was called to the Chair. The CHAIRMAN thanked the Meeting (consisting of no less than HP or l 2 perstins) for the honour conferred upon him. He wished to have an oppor tunity of serving his Country in a Constitutional manner, but regretted his inability to clf.) it with effi ciency. As to the objects for which the Meeting wa, convened, they were too notorious to requite expla nation. As to the order of the immense multitude he saw around Mini, he felt no solicitude on that score. It required no argument to skew, that the slightest violation of the public peace must be the parent of the very worst injury which could be in flicted on the Country under present circumstances. ;mere/ cries of Hear, hear.) Mr. HAGAN, of Abbey-street, rose and said, that he held some Resolutions in his hand, which he would take the liberty of submitting to the Assembly. They sought to obtain a Constitutional object ; and if they did not, lie would not be the proposer of them. The person who was an enemy to the King and the Constitution was an enemy to him.—(hear, hear). —They sought to obtain a necessary, or per hvs more properly speaking, an indispensable mea sure of public relief ; and if they did not, he would be the first to condemn them, for he saw neither po licy nor propriety in advancing complaints upon fri volous grounds. or embarrassing Government with projects calculated merely to indulge a discontented and factious spirit. After many rational observa lions. this Gentleman read a strios of Resolutions, nine in number. They declare that public distress has arrived at its acme ; that Reform is a sine goo Noe of National contentment and prosperity; that it is imperative on Ministers to use all possible wades by which Retrenchments and Economy can be effect ed ; that it is expedient to entreat the Prince Regent to give his countenance to Reform ; that General Mathews is a tit person to lay the sentiments of the Meeting before Parliament ; that it is the bounden duty ot all classes to protect the Manufacture of their native Country ; and that the example held forth to the Country by the present Meeting should be imitated by die Counties in general. The unanimity which pre vailed on the question of Reform left him little to say on the subject. Its necessity was to be seen in the ge neral condition of the Country—lathe accumulation of taxes, the decay of trade, and the wretchedness and rags which covered the face of the entire country. As for Ireland, he thought the condition of it truly deplo rable. Some people estimated the population of its Capital at 200,000. It has been lately stated, in documents prepared by persons who have been em ployed to inquire into the condition of the poor, that there are not less than 74,D00 of these absolute beg gars, and living upon the bounty of the charitable. --(Hear, hear). —lf the eye is directed to other quar ters of the Kingdom, a similar, and perhaps worse, condition of things will be seen. Nor is distress con fined to those who are called the lower order. There is nothing now so common in our streets as persons begging. whom the highest amongst us would not at one tie be ashamed to recognize as acquaintances and friends. In 14C4, he, tor his part, had it for some time in contemplation to quit the country altogether, and seek in another those rewards of industry which are no longer to be found in his own. This, to be sure, was more a personal concern than any thing else; but as his prejeet, in regard to emigration, grew out of the condition of the Country, and as multitudes had views similar to his from similar causes, he thought be was not going too far out of his proper line in thus speaking of his intentions.— (Hear, hear). Had there been a Reform five and twenty years ago, or even at a later period than that time, no man of honesty or egertion need leave the laud of his nativity in search of bread.—(Hear, hear).—He could offer no better argument than this in favour of the Reso lutions that hid been proposed to the Meeting. Mr. Mac, a Law Student, spar next. He would not take up the time of the Meeting by talking of his want of abilities. " The course we have to pur 'sue (said Mr. Brie) is ; the cause we advocate irresistible 1" In seeking Reform (he continued), the people sought no new privileges ; they merely claimed those rights which the principles of the Con. stitution expressly recognized. The time was at length arrived when ,it was necessary to assert those principles And reclaim those rights. He did not fear that. this position could be controverted.— Ask the man of sound head and cold heart, if a state of dlings could ever arise that could justify the peo ple in demanding reform ? He must admit that such a case was possible, then Maw a slight sketch of the, preserit deplorable situation of this country, And ask him whether it was not time to ask for reform, when our great landed proprietors were living abroad, spending the produce of the labour of those who re mained at home, in another country; when ourhigher orders were embarrassed; our. middle orders in a state of bankruptcy, and our lower orders starving ? wheu v with t'ie aid of a taxation enormous beyond all hunter example, our whole revenue WAS unable to pay tie interest of our debt ; When a Lord Camden, and litany other Lords, received their 5£40,000 a-year for doing nothing ; when we had a large standing arm y . is a time of peace; when the numbers around him were perishing fp want of food, in a country gifted with n A ture'cchoicest blessing ?-•-isten all , this and iJk much more was the case, would it be denied that a time for reformation had arrived?? There 'most be a cause for all this accumulation of grievances. There was a cause, and it was to be found in the de parture from the principles of the Constitution..-. Thous principles were plain in their nature, and easier ly understood. The Crown had its ample preroga tives, the Aristocracy their extensive privileges, and the People should have their just rights. According to the aocieut system of representation, and that sys tem which was in conformity to the Bill of Rights, it was impossible that Corruption could creep into the House of Commons ; but since the passing of the Septennial Act, it was almost impossible that it cotild be kept out. That Act was the pares of all the national afflictions; and he trusted ti..at it would not be suffered to remain much longer on those statute books which it disgraced ; because until it was re pealed the people's grievance, could nut be redressed. Mr. Brie continued to impeach the present system of representation upon a variety of grounds.—" I do hope," said he, in conclusion, " that the present ag gravated afflictions wcll generate their own relict. I think that the efforts of the people must be success- i tul, and that we will see a Parliament called accord ing to the ancient forms of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I know but one obstacle whi:h can arrest the progress of the great cease, and that is tur bulence, or any violation of the public peace, how• ever slight, on the part of the people themselves. I entettaia no-apprehensions for your conduct ; but I ►would nevertheless entreat you to remember that the ephemeral riots in London have done more injury to the cause of recut m than can he repaired by the be nefits resulting from halt a dozm meetings. Consi der every man you see round you as a constable, whose duty it is to preserve tile public tranquillity. peace and unanimity be year motto: recollect that a divided people are like a shattered and riven nick, the ft agments of which every hand may cast away qui commit to any rurpose ; but that an uni ted nation may be compared to that rock, cemented and unbroken, which !nesr•nts an image of strength' and a spectacle tit sublimity. May the Goo of peace and of mercy give you patience, my countrymen, to endure your present afitctions ; and, if you be des tined to encounter danger, fortitede to meet it I" • Mr. MACOONNELL said, that though there was much misery to complain of, much of abuse to rectilp. and much corruption to remove, yet, he did think there was in the spectacle b e fore him strong reason to change the tone from complaint to congratulation. ' It was a source of gratification to consider that the advantages to be expected from this meeting, and the ultimate success of the measure of relief now sought for, depended entirely on the conduct and the will of the people themselves ; for if they confined themselves to legal and constitutional means of redress, there could exist no doubt of its ultimate triumph. Mr. Macdonnell spoke at considerable length upon the subscriptions for the relief of the poor, which he cha racterized as • a delusion attempted to be practised upon the people by an affectation of charity," and , dwelt particularly on the gift of £2OOO madh: to the' poor of this city by a distinguished individual, con trasting it with other applications of the public money. Mr. O'CONNELL rose, and said be rejoiced at hav ing an opportunity of addressing a meeting which did not belong to any sect or party—which could not be called a meeting of Protestants or Catholics, or Pres byterians, ►ut which owned a better name than any of these—the name of Irishmen; and as his country ' had been depressed for centuries, and at length al most destroyed by the dissentions of her sons, he hoped the hour had now arrived when their united efforts, under the great denomination of Irishmen, would achieve her restoration. He trustedthat every other object and every other pursuit would give way to the great cause of reform; and he asserted, that the opinions of the humblest classes of society were entitled to. as much consideration on this subject as those of the highest. —(44lolause.) The lower orders, as they were, impudently, but the People, as they should properly be called, coat, ibuted their blood and their money for the defence and support of the State, as well as those who affected to look down upon upon them. They felt in their persons and purses the baneful effects at a defective system of represen. ration and why should they not be permitted to raise their voices against it ? Did the higher powers, when they be it their recruiting strums, or sent out their press-gang, object to a man because he had not an estate ? No. They willingly accepted his ser vices, without inquiring whether he was rich or poor; but now, if he ventured to express opinions upon a matter vitally interesting to him, he was asked for his qualiticatious. The people of Ireland had fought their battles, and gained their victories; and every man, however humble his rank in life might be, con tributed in one shape or other to their exigencies ; witness the tax upon salt, upon sugar, upon leather. The tea which the poor man's wife consumes, and the spirits which he might'be blockhead enough to drink himself, pay a duty which greatly enhances the price upon him. These facts not only proved the people's right to express their opinion, but their posi tive interest in a reform in the representation of their country. To give one modern and familiar instance of the consequences to the people of the present sys tem, he would reeal to the recollection of the Meet ing, that the salary of the Lord Lieutenant of Ire land, who had to perform the laborious and difficult' duties of driving from the Park to the Castle, hold ing an occasional levee, and signing now and then a proclamation, was raised from at2U,OOO to 030,000. But how was the additional £lO,OOO a year to be made up ? Why, M►. Vesey I:itzgerald, who rounds netasionally in Parliament some very good periods on the beauty of Ireland, Laid A tax of '3d. per pound upuu tea, which exactly made up the £10,000; so that every poor family which consumes a pound of tea in a fortnight contributes its 3J. in that time, to give the Lord Lieutenant his increase of £lO,OOO a year. Now, he asserted, that a reformed Parlia ment would leave the Lord Lieutenant upon his for mer 020,000 a year, and by taking away the extra 410,000 allow the 3d. duty to remain in the pocr van's pocket. Nay more, would save him 9d. on every-pound of tea used in his family ; for it was well known, that when a new impost was laid upon any article, the consumer was usually charged three times its amount, by the retailer,especially if he was poor, and obliged to buy in very small qoantitivs. It *as not too much theta to assert, that the people, even the humblest of them, had an interest in the Referm at Parliament, and he did assert it.—. But though a complete and radial Reform in the mode of electing members tor epresent the country in the House of Commons was die only effectual re medy for the numerous grievances which the people were at present enduring. Mr. O'Connell thought that those benevolent perteos with had come forward with charitable contributions for an immediate, though but temporary alleviatiion of the distresses of their afflicted tellow•-creatures,, were deserving of praises and tbanki. Though :0 the great and Listing • evils which oppressed the people must be traced to their want of faithful representatives in PAT-h.:meet, it was but fair to admit that their present accumu lated sufferings were increased by the severity of the late seasons. Those seasons had proanced a seal city, and the humanity of the individuals who sought to relieve the poor from the full weight of i!, pressure should not bt unappreciated—(//m/eare.) While he was willing to give fill credit to many of the charitable sithscrihers, he could not help observ ing, that the Noble Lord, to make up whose addi tional relo,ooo a-year, the poor consumers of every pound of tea had contributed their threepences, ought to hive been ashamed to return hack se2oo of that sum, by way of relieving the diaresse. of ;•I•,tHllf men. The object of the present Meeting was to put an end to the necessity of such eleemosynai y dona tions; and that was to be done by reforming the representative system, which, by enabling the Mi. nester of the day to act exactly as he chose, gene rated all the evils under which the nation now groaned. Mr. O'Connell concluded by again re commending unanimous and constitutional pursuit of Reform, from which he anticipated many blessings. Mr. MAC Dosser-1. moved, that as an Address to the Prince Regent had been resolved upon, the Meet ing should, at its rising, adjourn to Thursday, the ISth day of February nest, then to be made acquaint. ed with the reception which their Address should experience from his Royal Highness, which was agreed to. The greatest order prevailed aU through. Large ' batiks of military and police officers were stationed in the neighbourhood of the Green from an early hour, but there was not the slightest occasion for their interference. MEETING OF TIIE JWIPDEN CLUB. Saturday a Meeting of several of the Members composing the Hampden Club was held at the Freemasons' Tavern, Great Queen-street, for the purpose of taking into consideration the form of a Bill on the subject of Parliamentary Reform, to he submitted in February next, ior the approbation of a general Meeting ; in the event of its receiving which, it will be presented to Parliament forthwith by Sir F. BURDETT. The draft of this Bill embraces the whole of the popular topics connected with the ques tion of reform in the most detailed arrangement. The meeting being merely of a preliminary nature. and for the put pose of preparing the bill, was open only to the Members of the Club. .DUTCH AND FLANDERS MAIL. Mr. Lamb, English Envoy at the Court of Ba varia. was expected at Frankfort on the 7:h instant, for the purpose ot succeeding Lord Clancarty at the German Diet, his Lordship being to resume his post as Minister at the Court ot the Netherlands. The weather in Holland, and in most of the northern parts of Europe, continues unusually mild and moist for the season. At Brussels, iu the buildings of an old Convent, 1,2(X) poor p. ople are daily bed with bread and soup. An article frcm Ghent, of the Bth, states, on the authority of a private letter. that the Embassy of Louis XVIII. to the Court of the Brazils had totally failed in its objects. the chief of which was to obtain the restoration of that p tit of Guiana which tell to the share of Portugal during the late war. The standing army of Wirtemberg is to be dirni nkhed to the amount of 211,000 men. The number of the vessels which entered the port of Islamburgh, in the coarse of last year, amounted to 1,615 ; of these 702 were from England ; 84 from France, three from the East Indies, 37 from the West Indies, 4.0 from North America, nine from South America, &c. The number of ships which passed the Sound during the same period was 3,871: or these 1,848 were British : the Swedish were swat in point of numbers ; the French only 16, the Ame ricans 168. BRUSSELS, JANUARY is. They write from Cambray, that the English supe rior Officers, who bad deferred their departure for Paris, are now gone thither, which nukes it imagined that the absence of the Duke will be longer than was expected. The Officers of all the corps of the right wing of the army of occupation distinguish themselves by the subscriptions fortheir relief of the pooe inhabi tants of the country. The recruiting for the French army still continues. Many of and privates, against whose conduct no particular objection can be made, are engaged. It happens, indeed, from time to time, that individual soldiers shew their attachment to the former Govern ment, but those occurrences ate more and more rare foroome time past. The exchange of couriers has been remarkably frequent. It is confidently believed that negotiations are on toot between France and the Allied Powers. • JANUARY IC-Darin the absence of the Duke of Wellington from Cambria, (where his Grace is, how ever, expected in a few days), the English army is commanded by Lieutenant• General Lord 'Hill, the companion of his glory in the immortal campaigns in Portugal and Spain. The letters from Cambray speak of a meeting of several Generals of the allied troop► in that town. SECOND CHAMBER OF THE STA TES-GENERAL. After the public business of the day was ended, the Prrsident announced, that he had a communica tion to make, which was of a nature to be discussed in a Secret Committee, in conseqbence of which the galleries were cleared. 1 1 N.B. It is believed that the communication made in the Secret Committee is a proposition of the highest importance, presented by some Members, tending to the general prohibition of the exportation of corn from the southern provinces of the kingdom, by extending as tar as the Scheldt, including what was formerly Dutch Brabant, the regulation of the prohibitory law, and the establishing a cordon of observation between the northerrpand the southern pro vinces, that the latter may enjoy the produce of their soil, and the former the unlinfted freedom of The local authorities will, it is said, be char*, watching over the execution of this measure-. of 'Attire, half of the corn so seiv.ll shag lick• the Door ot the Commune where the s:izure is if the agents of the convoys end kences as.; : ., shall enjoy a fourth. BRUSSELS, JANUARY Jr. The proposition made in the 3ecrst yesterday, was referred to the Sscrirm. . that the Central S:ction, which nieNs n•-m ,, tro•s-, make its Report on rtiday, aid that the will take place in a Secret Committee the cin ic , Major-General Baron Vanden 11 , •egar,t, pointed Military Governor of Sony a/IL it e Belgian by birth, and it is with pleas.ne we se the first General belonging to the Southern Pinti who is sent to one of the Dutch Colonies, is ati cer of such high reputation, tc , :tdiy cf pointed by our august Sovereign to canimin: important settlement. FRk,NCII PAPI.Rc. CHAMBER OF DEPITIIE*;. SITTING OF TUE 15111 of IA NI:ARV. The discussion respecting the liberty of these! WAS resumed. M. de Chaumom.t. thought th4t circa t ; were changed, And voted ag4inst the M. ltavez would vote fur the 14w u 1 he wouli not have voted for tl,At of Isls, w.l amendments. M. CORBIERE was of opinion, that the pm; law would substitute the arbitrary goveraturia 0 police for the regular government of the law, short examination would shew that the alleged liorations of the law of 1815 were only chirm i He concluded by voting fur the rejection of the M• DELASIALLE, Commissary of the King, surprised that a law, recommended by its pea, and moderation, should meet with in much 9 tion ; and proceeded to examine and to refui principal objections to it. M. d'A aGENsurt demanded that the question iti be put ; but the President thought titre was sufficient number of that opinion, and the Spi closed a discourse of some length by swing I, rejection of the law, as iiSCICSS and pernicious. M. Coußvorsisa defended the Pro . st of th e in a speech, during which he was repeatedly, to order. M. BENOIST thought that irrelevant and inti rate invectives should be omitted. M. Counvoisten wished to proceed at once question. - After some further observations from weevil bers, the Chamber decided that the Reporter s. be heard tomorrow, and the Sitting ciosed. PARIS, JANUARY 15. Yesterday the King heard mass in his own ments, and to day his Majesty presided at a Ci of Ministers, which sat tilt a very late hour. Mr. Brougham,orie of the Opposition Men+ the British Parliament, has arrived in Paris return from Italy. He was present at the dist, of the Chamber of Deputies ou the law rev' individual liberty. The Procnreur.General has appealed agx jndgmenr of the Colo t of Assizes, which dernmd to live years imprisiinmerit Michael HI for attempting to asslsiiiate his wife and thing The republic of Geneva has decreed the rig citivem,hip to the Count L:apo d'Ltria, the R. hinfister to the Helvetic. Republic. The decti presented in a superb gold box. • It is .rain contirmed that the King of Pi , ! I is expected at Lisboa on a visit to his Em territories in May nest. The Kin! and Queeit Spain. the Infant Don Culus, and tit , : Pinu', Princess, his wife, will proceed with the whi lc tr t 3 Badajoz, and the two Sovereigns will Lave au terview beyond the Guadiana. The packet boat from &venue, near L'Orient was sunk nn the sth instant. by the violence of wind and waves, and all an board, except a ycuth 14, perished. In the circles in which the sublimer degrees of !hies are discussed, they speak much of a letter It Citizen Jefferson to Mad.ime de Sue!. The day before yesterday el brilliant ball was by Sir Charles Stuart, the English Ambassach r, his How) in the Faubourg St. Honore. Tl►e co pany was numerous, and composed of many tunas personages. H►s Grace the Doke of Wain; ton was present, and retired at one o'clo►ck. MADRID, JANUARY 2. M. de Cevallos, whose departure has been for EIE time suspended by order of his Majesty, has at It 11;t. set out on his Embassy to Naples. The convocation of the Cortes map be now lock: for with every certainty. of t& , 1 . . l ac , heir IC Ke r si rrnik . iffse,! , ad 17 e 0 . tri SC: ell s a • Ist r, 11 it • It SUB . ; •ct ' . 7l stanc - s rf n i pmpcetl re,' of tto law. .1 get' ar.m. lon;I:c21. the L.'. .ing, was psndcuce g :h refutc ion shoal& I Pt% floe a Speaks g for Ile the Law (fly c.i1 1 4 intemit nce to 11, !est Mer:- tee :hod 1. wn t r.s.s • s a Comic' • iernher.t If Is t • • tgain.t bs .0:- • it!,t!•, laughter. e Ifos'a Po:ni .t! Ens Queea 'sltup,l .- 11 Li ut; arr au us. L'Orient, :nee of the a youth of rtes of po. letter Irons was given issasit r, it The coos- tasty i4us. f W • n for Elme is at 1, n ,ul ' • ow lot ktd ,zi sni-A hos .lien Ofh- , , ,:atenao!. id Cfpoia en int-Ge- l-L.ls, cnn• • tress at ,la COPENHAGEN, DECEMBER v. The Supreme Tribunal of War of C!.!i,zi fu given judgment on the affair of the N,,cmeglai, Ofit cers relative to the campaign of L.matenant General Haxtbkmarn, Major S h Gruner, have been acquetted ; and Lteutrn neral Staffeldt and Lieutenant• Colonel Hals, demned to death. PARISIAN FASHIONS. The Dandies of Paris have adopted fitr dress tit "r elegant balls, which are now the chief arutistrnwv. pantaloons buttoned to the instep, instead of breech , ' and stockings ; and on their black 4lk K ri:itcces they wear gold buttons, or olives of gold, ta.tent .3 with a gold chain. The Ladies who boast of giving, instead of follow. ing the established ton, have abandoned their lain .t /nullities, to adopt fans of vellum ornamented rel rich drawings. Some of these tans go to the titic: • ten, fifteen, and twenty, louis each. 'Formerly, a pretty woman would have blush-d, it a gallant bad offered to conduct her to St. Clinnl or Versailles in the sort of yuiture called asain,:dte. present ladies withishones :Ind in their twat chourat arc! 1 1 not ashamed to travel in a 041/f . /. rt• MIS last is tu mitation of the English stage-e aches. Enormous muffs liar:: wade their al:pi:ay.% : 1 t he . Thuillerics.