The National Register. — London, England, 1812-07-05 00:00:00

MMIIMIIIII IIIIIMIIIIII THE NATIONAL Cur 'Xing, Cantlturion, am) taboo. P WILLS LIED A. r NO. 357, STRAND, CORNER OF EXETER 'CHANGE. No. 236. a f 1 SUNDAY, JULY 5. 1812. POLITICAL DIS2UISMON. DISTURBED SI:111: oF THE E3IIIIIE. Pufsuant to the message from the Prince Regent, Liven in our last, communications respecting the late disturbances have been laid before Parliament. These papers, which NVYte sealed when presented, were ordered to remain un opened till Secret Committees should be appointed. The latter have in consequence been ballotted for in etch House, arni the important documents referred to their consideiation. Of the contents of communications necessarily so myste riously made, it would become us, even were we in possession of the fullest intelligence, to say little. Rumour, however, as inconsiderate as it is ignorant, circulates a variety o( tales which have no foundation in truth. Without, there fore, pretending to have dived into official sources for our information, we think ourselves authorised, and deem it our duty, to call the attention of every loyal mind to a few extraordinary ,facts connected with the late and still con tinuing outrages. The form of an oath, found in the pocket of a wretch who lately lost his life whilst attacking the house of as indi vidual who had by some means made himself obnoxious to the rioters, showed in the first instance that the recent dis turbances were not merely the effects of momentary irrita tion arising from temporary distress. It proved that some thing like organized rebellion and systematic murder was in progress. The daring violations of she law which have since occurred, have but too amply supplied corroborative evidence of the fact. The depredations which have been committed have been marked by one distinguishing feature, inasmuch as to obtain arms rather than indiscriminate plunder has been the object of the robbers. We have heard, and the information we have reason to fear is correct, that those who take the oath, and join the lawless band, are not only immediately supplied with bounty money, but have their guilt rewarded with a weekly stipend, sufficient to maintain then without work. To this we have to add, that which has appeared in the public journals without contradiction, that a body of the Luddites (as they are called,) have been seen breaking up on a moor, having apparently been exercising themselves in the use of arms, at a very early hour in the morning. Allowing for the falsehoods atid exaggerations which frequently occur in provincial intelligence, we received these accounts with a feeling of incredulity which it was not easy to overcome. Too many concurring circumstauees Dave unhappily come to our knowledge to allow us any longer to repose in tranquil unbelief. That the whelk Of these statements are not false, has been most une quivocally ascertained, and greatly indeed muse they r. No. ccxxxn It. PRICE pd. have been inisieprentect, it tri;.ped of all exaggeration, the bare facts are not suffieent to justify considerable alarm. If the wipers pre-entefl to Parliament should prove the clanger as izreat as it has been described, whether these corn motions have been stirre,l up by foreign emissaries or by domestic traitors, it must be felt by the nation at large that they call for a prompt and striking example. The blood of the wretches it may be necessary to sacrifice to the security of the empire, be on the heads of those who have se duced them from their duty—•on them nray vengeance Srst descend t At a crisis like the present, every honest man of common sense, possessing any stake at a!lrn the country, must feel it equally his interest and his duty to guard against whatever might tend to call forth an intemperate display of popular feeling, to set one party in hostile array against another, or to embroil those whose union alone can save the country. At a period so momentous, when the splendour of onr triumphs abroad leas es undispelled the glom which gathers on our horizon at home; when speeches, not actions, command popularity; and profe,sions, a hundred times proved false, continue to deceive, it is necessary to fix a watchful eye on the conduct of those pretended patriots who with reform on their lips, and sedition, if not rebellion, in their hearts, contribute to encrease, itFtead of allowing the troubles and perils of the tunes. If they weresincere in the regard they profess for the people would not all their exertions be bent on enlightening, the mind, reviving the loyalty, and disarming the revolutionary fury of those mis taken men, who now threaten to stab the bosom of their native land ? The conciliatory spirit displayed by Govern ment in the total repeal of the Orders to which the distressea and disorders of the people were wrongly ascribed, has beets met with augmented insolence and outrage on their part. But is this to be wondered at when we consider the colduct which the popular leaders of the blind have held? Is not at this very moment one of those .oi-disant pat, lots distut Bing, daily and uselessly disturbing, the tranquility of a large and populous district ? Is not he become the cause of riots and contentions in defiance of all law, in mockery of all social order? Has not this man, Mr. Hunt, a staunch reformer, the same we believe who su greatly distinguished himself last November at the Reformers dinner by intimating a wish that Sir Vicary Gibbs's head might be exhibited on a limp post, has not this man, who beholds the effects of his ovrta conduct in the destruction of property, and the tumults around him, the effrontery to tall - upon his fellow country— men to send him to Barliament as their representative. to guard their constitutional tights and protect their property r Has he not the extraordinary impudence,—impud.•uce as mischievous is its consequences as it is ridiculous iu to tell those wise are "mkt:mu& to ham to him, that if