Star. — London, England, 1821-01-26 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OF LORDS, JANUARY 2S. The Duke of MAI took the oaths and his seat. The LORD CHANCELLOR informed their Lordships, that the House had waited nn his Majesty with the Address; and that his Majesty returned a most gracious Answer, which his Lordship read. The Answer was ordered to be entered on the Journals. PETITIONS IN FAVOUR OF THE QUEEN. Lord ERSKINE presented Petitions from the fol lowing places :—the Boroughs of Banff, Dumfries, Montrose, Selkirk, Aberdeen, Arbroath, Brechin,. Crieff, and other places in Scotland, praying that the Queen might be restored to her legal and consti tutional rights.—Ordered to lie on the table. Lord EItSKINE also presented a similar Petition from the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons of the City of London.—Ordered to lie on the table. Ldrd DARNLEY said, he held in his band a Pe tition from a numerous body of Freeholders of the County of Kent. agreed to at a very large Meeting, which had been called by a great number of indivi duals, in consequence of the Sheriff of the County having refused to convene a Meeting after a Requi sition had been sent to him for the purpose--a Re quisition more numerously signed than any ever be fore sent to the Sheriff of that County. It was signed Ly himself, by his 'Noble Friend near him, and about two hundred other Freeholders of the first respect ability in the county ; yet the High Sheriff of Kent refused to pay any attention to it. The present was not a proper time to discuss this question ; but he conceived it highly necessary to consider how far a Sheriff was authorised in refusing to comply with a Requisition coming from a large and respectable body of Freeholders, upon a question of great na tional importance. Indeed, it was a subject well worthy the attention of Parliament, for if the Execu tive Government should select none but its own ad herents to be Sheriffs of Counties, and if such per sons conceived themselves bound to act up to the wishes of their employers, the Counties of the king dom might at last be prevented from assembling in a legal and constitutional manner, and be thus de prived of all means of expressing their sentiments on great public questions. By that means all those provisions, which, during the discussions upon the Bills of last year, were said to have secured the right of meeting and petitioning, would be nugatory. . The Earl of LIVERPOOL said, he wished to make some remarks upon what had just fallen from the Noble Lord. lie could declare upon his honour, that no appointments were more regular and consti tutional than those of the Sheriffs of Counties—they were appointments strictly judicial. Three persons were first named by.the advice of the Judges ; and then one of these was selected by the King in Coun cil : and he assured the Noble Lord, that, in such se lection, there was no kind of partiality, nor any refer ence to the political opinions which the individual chosen might be supposed to entertain. This much he felt it necessary to assert generally ; but as to the individual point referred to by the Noble Lord, he had no opinion whatever to give. The Earl of DARNLEY replied, that the Act of last Session prohibited Meetings from being held in the open air ; and be wished to know how the Free holders of a County were to meet, if the Sheriff re fused to convene in a legal manner? The point he alluded to, was the possibility of having Sheriffs ap pointed in a different manner from what they now were, so that the great abuse which now existed might be prevented. Earl GROSVENOR felt it necessary to declare, that the abuse alluded to by his Noble Friend had been carried to a most dangerous extent, not only in the refusal on the part of these Officers to convene 'Meetings when required to do so, but by their illegal and unwarrantable conduct at Public Meetings, atter the same were called. Conduct of this kind had recently taken place at a Meeting of the Freeholders of the County of Chester, at which he happe n ed t o be present. The Mecting had been convened for the purpose of presenting what was called a Loyal Ad dress to his Majesty. On that occasion, he thought it his deny to move an Amendment, fully agreeing in all the loyal sentiments contained in the Address, but disapproving of the conduct of Ministers. As soon as this Amendment was moved, the Sheriff objected to put it: be then objected to it as being irrelevant to the object of the Meeting—decided that it should not be put— and, without consulting the opinions of the Freeholders present, took upon himself, of his own authority, to say, that the Address had keen carried, although he had previously said he would divide the Freeholders to ascertain their opi nions ; instead of which, he refused to do so, and suddenly broke up the Hall, without coming to any determination. This circumstance proved the irre gular conduct of Sheriffs, and their unwarrantable assumption of authority. The Sheriff of Cheshire' took upon himself to declare an Amendment to be ir relevant, without taking the sense of the Meeting on that point ; and by this, and his subsequent conduct, a great part of the Freeholders were deprived of their right of voting. The Sheriff was a mine ministerial officer, and he had no right to deeideip the wiy he did, and therefore he was guilty of a gross violation of his duty. This gross violation of the Peoples rights, was a fit subject for some future discussion in Parliament. Much as he had heard of the conduct of Sheriffs in different parts of England, this act of the Cheshire Sheriff appeared to him to be the most outrageous and monstrous of all. The Petition of the Freeholders of Kea was then read by the Clerk : the prayer of it was, that the Queen might be restored to all her rights. The Earl of DARNLEY observed, that in moving that this Petition do lie on the table, he had a few words to say 'on the latter part of it—that which' prayed for the restoration of her Majesty to all her rights. It would be recollected, that at the com mencement of the late proceedings against the Queen, the case of her Majesty had come before the other House of Parliament; and their Lordships must be aware of the solemn resolution by which that House had expressed its disapprobation of those proceedings. He, therefore, hoped their Lordships would follow up that resolution, and restore the Queen to those rights of which an attempt had been made to deprive her by his Majesty's Advisers; and he also hoped that every thing would be done which might tend to promote the tranquillity of the country, by calming the agita tion which had so universally and unhappily pre vailed. When the proceedings in question first came before that House, he asserted, that the act of erasing her Majesty's name from the Liturgy, was the foun dation of all that agitation. It was at once an act of impolicy and injustice, and this he had already de dared to be his opinion. If this act of injustice was not done away, he now declared that he would take another opportunity of calling the attention of the House to this subject, and endeavour, by a separate motion, to dissuade his Majesty' Ministers from a course, which, if persevered in, would lead to irre parable mischief. The Marquis of LANSDOWN said, that in the ab sence of a Noble Friend of his, he should present a Petition which bad been agreed to at a most nume rous Meeting of the Freeholders of the County where he resided, convened by the Sheriff of that County. The Petitioners declared their attachment to the Go vernment of the country, and accompanied that de claration by strictures, most respectfully worded, upon the late proceedings before that House. The Petition, indeed, did not contain any expressions of horror against sedition or blasphemy ; if it had been necessary, such expressions would have been most readily introduced. But he had the satisfaction to say, that after having informed himself as fully as possible on this subject, throughout the county in question, where he had the honour to reside, there prevailed an universal spirit of religious and correct moral feeling, and that no part of the kiagdom was more free from the circulation of licentious and sedi tious publications. He thought it necessary to say this much, on account of the declarations which were sent forth by certain classes of people on this subject, and of the delusions that appeared to pre vail in some parts of the empire relative to licentious and seditious writings. The Petition was then lead ; it was from the Free holders of the County of Wilts, in which they re gretted the late unconstitutional proceedings against the Queen; prayed that her Majesty's name might be restored to the Liturgy ; and that all the obstacles to the enjoyment of her rights might be removed.— Ordered to lie on the table. The Marquis of LANSDOWN presented a si milar Petition from the Town of Devizes. Earl GROSVENOR presented a similar Petition from the County of Perth. Lord HOLLAND presented a similar Petition from the Coi poration of Nottingham, but afterwards with drew it in consequence of an informality. His Lord ship next presented a like Petition from the Corpo ration of Hammermcn, in the Town of Perth ; and another from the Churchwardens, Overseers, and Pa rishioners of the ,Parish of St. Saviour's, Southwark. Lord ELLENBOROUGH observed that all these Petitioners seemed to labour under a great error; they all spoke as if they considered the Queen to have been deprived of her rights and privileges; which was not the fact. Lord HOLLAND replied that the Petitioners did not positively say so; but many persons of high au thority in the law were of opinion that the Queen was deprived of her rights, and that she ought to be prayed for as other Queens of England had been!— What the Petitioners then prayed for was, that she should be restored to those rights which belonged to the Queen-Consort of England ; that she should have a palace ; and an income, which she did not now pos sess, should be granted by Parliament. No one could say that she was now in the situation which any Queen-Consort had ever been in before, for she had been a considerable time without any fixed establish ment, or the means of having one. The object of the Petitioners then was, that she should enjoy those rights that were withheld from her, and that an ex tinguisher should for ever be put on all unhappy dis-1 cussions respecting her Majesty. Earl GREY presented a Petition from Perth against the present Ministers. He also presented Pe titions from other parts of Scotland, and one from the Alderman and Inhabitants of the Ward of Bi shopsgate, in the City of London. The Earl of CARNARVON said he held in his hand a Petition from the County of Hants, which had been agreed to at a most numerous Meeting of the Freeholders, convened by the High Sheriff. On this occasion he thought it necessary to take notice of an attempt that had been made by several of high rank in the county, to prevent this Meeting from being assembled. These persons, among whom was a Noble Duke whom he then saw in his place, stated as the grounds for objecting to this Meeting, that the sense of the freeholders had already been taken in a Loyal Address to the King, which had been signed by a numerous body of freeholders: and on that ground they declared their opinion that it would be improper to assemble the county. In answer to that objection, he would undertake to say, that a more numerous or respectable assembly never was collected together in any county than in that in which the present Petition had been agreed to: and it would appear that the signatures to that Petition amounted to several thousands; and that there was not a single name in it but that of a freeholder, or a respectable landholder. The number of signatures amounted to between sewn and eight thousand.— This Petition spoke the general sentiments of all the l independent men in the county ; their Prover was, that their Lordshiptwould not permit any new pro ceedings to be instituted against her Mesty, and , that her name might be restored to the Liturgy- They hoped that no more detestable proceedings would take place, awl that Ministers would not at tempt such an act of madness as that of trying to place the House of Commons in opposition to the general sense of the Pyblic out of doors. If any such attempt were made, he hoped that it would fail. The Petition contained the names of many persons who had heretofore been the firmest sup porters of Government. The Duke of WELLINGTON said, that as Lord Lieutenant of the county of Hants, he had conceived that it was not right that those who had previously sent a loyal Address to his Majesty—an Address that had been signed by nine thousand persons, should sanction the Meeting that was afterwards called by the High Sheriff. After the sense of the freeholders had already been taken, and when he knew in what manner the Meeting called by the Sheriff was c. in ducted, he could not consider it in any other light than that of a mere farce—(Loud cries of lkar, hear).--At that Meeting, the Members for the county were present, and one of them was treated in such a manner as to feel it necessary to be pro tected by the Noble Lord. Surely such a Meeting as this could not be considered as one that spoke the sense of the county ? 'The Earl of CARNARVON rose, and in an im passioned tone of voice declared, that it was with astonishment and dismay he heard the Noble Duke, who held so high a situation in his Majesty's Coun cils, and who bore so high a character in the coun try, say that a Meeting regularly convened by the Sheriff of a county, was a mere farce. If such a sentiment as this was to be allowed to go forth from high authority, it would soon follow that the people out of doors would be inclined to sly, that the pro ceedings of that House were nothing more than a farce. Indeed, he bad reason to suspect that this was only a part of the unconstitutional system long pursued by his Majesty's Ministers, and which had already produced so many evils in the country.— Was this.to go on at a time when the People were anxiously expecting a system of conciliation, and a removal of their grievances ? The Noble Duke had conceived it unnecessary that the farce of a County Meeting, legally convened, should take place, be cause many persons had signed a Petition, got up in a private, and of course in an unconstitutional man ner. 'Was it not str2nge to say, that because so many, say nine thousand, had signed a loyal Ad dress to the King, the other freeholders of the county were to be denied the right of holding a Meeting, in order to express their sentiments? When the Noble Duke expressed his wish to support the King and the Constitution, how much of the Constitution was he willing to retain? Did he mean to deny those rights Which the People had exercised from time im memorial ? Surely, if any one thing was more dear than another to the Constitution of England, it must be the right of freeholders to meet in their counties in this way. But the Noble Duke thought this right a matter of no consequence. How, he would ask, had this Hampsh;re loyal Address been got up, and fi,av were the signatures obtained? He would tell heir Lordships : it was proposed at a private Meet ing, and was afterwards accompanied by Pastoral letters, sent round most indecorously for signatures, to the several Ministers of religion, whose situation in life ought to have withheld them from every inter ference of this kind. It was avowed by the Under Sheriff of the county, that this circular letter had been tent round by a person who acted as Secretary to the Pitt Club. It was said that the Member for the county could not obtain a hearing; and the Meet ing must be condemned and called a farce on that account. But he would ask, how often did it hap pen that certain Members of the House of Commons, who spoke things obnoxious to others, or who car ried their speeches to a tedious length, found it diffi cult to obtain a hearing even in that Assembly ? The fact, however, was not such as had been stated ; for the County Members did obtain a Fearing : and had the Noble Duke been present at the time, and wished to speak, he also would have been heard. The Marquis of LANSDOWN said, he fully agreed with everything which had been said by his Noble Friend on this subject. With respect to what had fallen from the Noble Duke, it was but courtesy towards him to suppose that with his wonted gallan try, he had resolved to defend the Counter-requisi tionists of I fampshire, without having made himself acquainted with the subject on which they had re monstrated. The complaint of those who sent their Requisition to the Sheriff was, that the County had not been called at all. A certain Address, got up no one knew where, and which no person had the power to alter or modify, was privately submitted to the people of Hampshire; and, after it obtained a certain number of signatures, it was represented as conveying the sense of the County. An assertion was made, that the sense of the County had been sufficiently taken by this private mode of proceeding, and that therefore the County should be precluded from meeting in a constitutional manner. It was with great regret he heard the Noble Duke apply an epi thet of derision to this exercise of one of the most valuable rights of Englishmen, by which alone men could give their opinions on, and canvass, the state of public affairs. This farce, as it had been called, was one which had long constituted the most valu able rights of the People, and to which many Lords Lieutenant of Counties had given their sanction, by convening County Meetings. It was only a year ago that such Meetings were convened in almost every County of England, when such farces were resorted to, as a constitutional mode of approaching the Throne !—(Hear). The Duke of WELLINGTON said, it never was his meaning that County Meetings ought not to be held, and that people were not to give their opinions in them; but when the County was called by a mob, when that mob, after being assembled, allowed none to be heard but those who were on their own side of the question, and when those who differed from that mot were obliged to seek protection against its vio lence, then he would say that such a Meeting was nothing but alone. He never objected to any con stitutional mode of meeting; but he ever would ob ject to a Meeting that consisted of a mob, wherenone but those on one side were allowed to be heard. Lori HOLLAND asked, it the Noble Duke's ot- jection rested at! the circurhstance of sotle the Meeting not being allowed to speak, r he say to those who carried eve r ythi ng with closed doors, and in places where r could be heard? Was it to be understood other Meeting, except stich a Meeting a, farce? Then - if Addresses drawn up at ings should obtain a certain number of they, forsooth, sufficiently expressed the Counties!—As to one person applyin 7 tt protection at such Meetings, an instance occurred at the Oxford Meeting thect!, ( he himself did endeavour to protect a who was at last heard; and he deoied th, any unwillingness, either at the Redfot Meeting, to hear those who spoke even sense of the persons assembled there. Noble Duke's view of this question wx t unconstitutional ; and it were to be tai. would extend to all who either spoke or wt on political subjects, the same mercy wilt Holland) extended to his Grace. Indee, sons, acting on the same principle Witj Duke, might say, that the Constitution try was a mere farce. He could not su man of his great military characte, was the Constitution, yet he charactelizt!d on, parts of it by the tremendous epithet of ; The Earl of LIVERPOOL conceiver Friend's meaning to be, that if a Cow however lawfully convened, was to be ci a mob, not of freeholders, but of others it on purpose to effect a certain object violence, such a Meeting must be a faro Meetings could be in practice what theory, they would be among the rot rights of the Constitution—and partici they could be held legally in the Count , stead of the open air. At present, howev' not the Meetings in which fair and rat sion could take place. Ile would not say whether this was the character of the shire Meeting. As to the objection made ing about the Address for signatures, he in what other mode could the 9,000 that Address be obtained ? %Vas it post to be all present at one County Meetin ) such occasions, the respectability of th was to be looked to as the most materi: belonging to the Address. The value of Meeting must depend on the circumstance parties having a fair hearing. Earl GREY said, he did not expect , the Noble Lord any reflections upon Count , ings, after what he had said in praise year, when he was defending the Seditii ,Bill. On that occasion, the Noble Lor, of the Treasury had observed, that then to prevent the -Freeholders of Counties cising their constitutional rights in Meeti convened by the Sheriffs. He had, In to defend the expression of the Noble however, he ought to live rescued trom 'tion of having depreciated so valuable constitutional rights as County Meeting , . objection could be urged to the Meeti shire? WAS it not proper ly formed ? called in the manner in which every 1 ing ought to be called ? Was it not m( and respectable? And did not the pets°, against it obtain a hearing? In all str there would be collisions and different., and much noise; and did not such thin, happen in Parliament ? Now, he WOW ther County Meetings, convened for tin addressing the Crown, were the most Could anything equal the disorderly con, loyal Gentlemen who attended the " Meeting? But of this sort of conduct recent example much nearer home. He the Meeting at the Mansion-house on day, where those, professing themselves loyal Bankers and Merchants of London, western disorderly and outrageous in their conduct. Ire regard to the Hampshire Meeting, what•was thew duct of those who sent about a Loyal Address? I little junto prepared the Address in secret, and 110 1 in a scandalous manner, caused it to be hawked Am for signatures by the Ministers of Christianity. k when the parties opposed to them required to convene an open Public Meeting, where freely express their sentiments, they were junto, that the sense of the County had • sufficiently expressed. Could anything decent than an act of this kind, by which of the County were to be prevented from their constitutional rights? The Duke of LEINSTER complained duct of the High Sheriff for the County in suppressing the deliberations of a Put there, and causing a body of armed soli the Freeholders out of their Court-house. The Earl of CARNARVON vindic; spectability of the Meeting from which emanated. Lord ELLENBOROUGH had heard the expression made use of by the Noble did not, however, understand the Noble ply the epithet of mob to all County It lo merely meant, by using the obnoxious pl scribe the state of confusion which ex, particular Meeting. He (Lord Ellenborot__ with great pain the manner in which the proceedings of Meetings were recently conducted ; he did tict mean that his regret p rocee d e d so m uch from tr conduct of those present, as from that of those wt's „ chose to absent them se l ves f rom P u bli c Meetings. !ri for instance, the 9,000 persons Who, it was 04 signed the Counter-Address in the County of atn s4 had attended the Meeting where a Petition agreed to, signed only by 8,000, the former wok have outvoted the latter, a n d given a degree , weight and interest to their Declaration, which Der ther could expect to possess. The Petition was read and laid on the table. NAPLES. Earl GREY rose to call the attention of the Na Lord Lord opposite (Liverpool) to a subject c onnected . witb our foreign policy. He h a d b een unsuccessful i n ba attempt to obtain answers to the questions which . 7 had put to the Noble L or d on a f or mer night, wh o led him to fear that he w ou ld o bt a in no informal' s on the present occasion. The Noble Lord must ,bei aware that a circular letter h a d lately been addresa l l to different Continental States, and, among (WWII /tte per so . L te :/ Wolla oneift g nn .' of Kid that er. of v. 4, tim at such %et: in sF s i ritiza r! sense 4f 6. .I'2 to anotherf $. ce of ,er d ay , 14 t o that en there N - d or 0 le! 1 ‘ against rd Ins!e e ,t , ~. 4r,z;etts „ ; . • t 'shed !!te hie!! h e ti / i t l u !,1, twi n y pt ltr th the ,' tee I of this 'be uPPose due Ls an enem y sal nne of t h e : if a farce! ell tiny contr,,n!ei s brolgh t i r i, by lu t e a ,..! • * Ito trce, tf soil ve they vele i , no.t v . tlua si , icularly Imy Hall s , !ver, they a 1 31 ational ei srt tit undertake Pr be late It dt Ale to the he would ask signature s L fa ssible for tl x4 tit ng ? And cc :be signata ses rial ingrethem tta every Corny to Lance of peek IS •1 tto hear Eros 1111 County Mee. eof them last do ious Nleetiegs' rd at the bad Pr le was nothig till cs from en v ui nings lawfully fee lowever, triel ci Duke, win al m the Unpin'. e a vart of fir. list wbat a° toig rn Ilea? ' Was it tit • County M•• E nost nurr.er , dr son V6lO Llp dl 'Alettnit :e, 0f opi d. so nss s ould AA of the purpose lit Ist orderly? to induct nt a late Ch.,* let they had so -le alluded tai the precedieg .21 ves to be the hi ed the Sheri ;i f re they migit f ot e told by de ad already ben . 1r; be more i Sp :h the people rn exerciat we Jai d of the eo yof Dahlia Tc iblie .Nleetig Idiers to ton till th :ated the re• he the Peti6o %al d with rers se le Duke; bt of Duke to ip• in leetings, ard phsrdase,attOthdci: P Lite .v ough)vivrei HISTORY OF THE ROYAL FAMILY. This day was published, in One Vol 4to. price At. 10s. painted, by permission, to his Ilansarr, A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE HOUSE OF GUELPH; or, Royal Family of Great Britain, from tisk earliest period in which the name appears upon record, to the Accession of his Majesty King George the First to the Throne. With= Appmdtx of authentic and original Documents. By ANDREW HALLIDAY, M.D. Domestic Physician to his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence. Printed for Thomas and George Underwood, Booksellers to her Royal Highness the Duchess of Clarence, 32, Fleet-street. MISS APLEOD'S TALES OF TON. • This day was published, In Four large Volumes, price LI 4s. TALES OF TON—(First Series), —containing FASHIONABLE CHARACTERS; or, A Search after a Woman of Principle. is Sure one would not be frightful when one's dead ; ' • So, Betty, give this cheek a little red!" POPS'S aurora PASSION. Printed for A. K. Newman and Co. Leadenhall-street. The following will appear this Winter : Tales of Ton (Second Series), containing the Beautiful Conn-' toss Rosamond and the Miser's Daughter, and Florabelle, In four vols. Society and Solitude, a Novel, by Innes bode, Esq. three volumes. Rolando, a Romance, by Alexander Henry, Esq. two vols. Astonishment'. ! ! a Romance of a Century ago, by Francis Lathom, three vols. Second Edition. The Fatalists; or, Records of 1814 and 1815, a Novel, by Mrs. Kelly, live vols. The slatron of Erin, an Irish Tale, by the same Author, in three vols. Second Edition.