The National Register. — London, England, 1817-06-16 00:00:00

386 ject of his testimony yesterday ; all of which interrogations he answered in the negative. 'The erose•examinntion. Which .oeetipied two honrs, embraced all inquiry into the whole life .and oectipatioes of the witness, who stated himself to be a Yorkdareman, and a sykiiesmith by trade. The following.radtheines were this day e•antineil : Ann Wright, publican, East Sinithlield; Zacchens Bennis- , ter, Hyde Street, Bloomsbury, eanewm ker ; John Vickery, of.. St. John•street, Clerkemv. 11, constable belontivie to Bow street Office; Thomas Hiltingworth, set vant to John Leach, Esq. Chancellor to the Pi ince Re gent; Thomas Mains; John Sheffield, late landlord of the Carlisle Arnie; William nilth BlibilrtleAtirry, Norterd of the Union pnlvlic.house, - Unionsstreet,tffinreddeha James Skinner; Thomas-Osborne, .labotreri; Thothas Wood, landlord of the house, Na. 9, 0 pry. ; Mary Udell ; Walter Cosner, of NI illiraiik- st ref I, Westminster, timber nirreiontit; Margaret Mails Voulkes, servant t Eleanor Corhordit, owner of the home, 29. Smith aniptinvbiuddin,es, Chatreerybnie; Barbara Swede, landlord of the Conotiintioti public home, Paddington ; Tl•notris Wingfield, latidlard.of the s tilne vaults, at the corm rof I.eg- Long.acre; Thomas Cos, sersatit in Parks and Co. ironmongers, Greek-street; John Dynll, *lime name was affixed, as chairman. to the placard e,ltibited previous to the first Spa Fields meeting, and who films out to be the net snit who was known by the name of the " Green-coated Oro:nr," 4inring the Westasinatereleetion, a few years since.; nod Isaac Bentley, who was employed to niakti the piles, or rather, as be termed them, the Via; with which the people were In lie armed. ,Niany of these instruments were exhibited in Corset. They are about eleven inches in length, ola sentare form, and printed at each end. At half past sitc, the Court rose, and the redeemers were con veyed back in the usual form. They it ere loudly cheered as they passed through the the multitude awes. bled in Palage.yard, Bridge.streel, And on West • ster bridge, received them with acclamations. The crowd on Ibis occasion was much greater than on any previous day. The Jur., availing themselves of the tettuission of the Court, granted yesterday, took the bentin of a walk this morning. from six to seven o'clock, up and down Palace y•ri .!, cars. , to the river. They were accompanied by eon sta:M•,, • :•revent any communication with them. The rain coutirq; us oravily at seven o'clock, they withdrew into the KiiWs Aims, palace yard, where accommodations have been provided tor them during the iris'. There are six hod rooms. Two Jurors sleep in each room, which is locked up. with a constable at the door. They dine and spend thedeeniag together. and retire to bed at twelve With night. FIFTH DAY, FRIDAY, JUNE 13. The prisoners were, at a quarter past eight, brought into Court, accompanied as usual. Watson and I'hiatlewood conversed together for some time in great earnestness. Ate quarter past nine, the Judges took their seats on the Reach— a t this time the Court was uncommonly crowded. In The throng were Earls Grey, Groseessor, and Cassihs; Lords Holland sad Moatford, Sir James Shaw, Sir James MachAnamb, Sir Robert Wilson, Mr. Tierney, Mr. Gordon, ?Ir. Brstee. Mr. Macdonald (son of Sir Archibald), Mr. Hunt, and several other gentkusen, who have bees constant attend ants throughout the trial. Before half past nine o'clock the examination of the wit wises for the Crown was resumed. William Tull. Clerk of the Works in theOrdoance De partment, sad James Browne. a soldier in the Id Coldstream fitmsds, were, in the course atilt morning, examined by the Attorney General. William Onion, St. Luke's Head public house, Chancery Lane; Charles Naylor, VS. Old Pye Street, Westminster , and John Buchanan, a soldier in the Coldstream Guards, ...reexamined by the Solicitor General. Mary Kinsley, Dean Sheet, Fetter Lane, by Mr. Gurney. John Giding, a soldier in the 3d Regiment of Guards, by Mr. Richardson. _ _ James Chopple, of Long Acre, victualler, was examined ; William Hillyer; senior, victualler, of the Tower Tap, Wvt• soinster Road ; and other witnesses. About halfpast twelve the case for the Crown closed. Mr. Wethetall then commenced stating the prisoner's cue, and did not terminate his address until six iu the evening.— The Learned Counsel's speech was full of legal argument, and displayed the strongest (moneys of reksoniug. He contended that, if the case of the prisoner were made out, it came vrithia the provisions of the law for punishing tnmultuar,y riots, and net within the statutes of treason. It was impos sible, lie said, to bringit within the latter, without breaking down these great boundaries which marked oat the dis tinctive classifscation of criminal offence. He also took an historical review of the different riots which took !rime for the last century—the tamults is the reigns of Queen Anne and George 1. Lord George Gordon's riots in 1780, and others, down to the late period of the Corn Bill, and said, that if the law of treason could have been at all applied, the Attorney Generals of those times would Stave called it into operation. At considerable length lie combated the princi loe of constructive and iuterpretattve treason. At six o'clock the evid•nce fur the prisoner woe about to ate entered into, and ,the name of George l'hilpot was called, The Court interposed, end sserjeaut Copley coincided in the props iety of adjourning the commencement of the evi sienee for the prisoner until the morning. The greeter part of the Jury Wltlked in Palace Yard thin summing, accompanied ►y the e(xistables who attend them.— They pay the most particular attention to the trial. Aataea'p Lumbar, from Liweakishire, war iii Court, and tat next the pfesosieeletsulicitor, Mr. Harmer. on the removal of the prisoners through N estminster Hall, y were loudly cheered fry the popnklue. IMPERIAL PARLIAME r. HOUSE OF LORDS. MONDAY, .11,Ne 9. The Rock Salt Bill was read a second time. Ihe Poona Eng)lo)rnent Bill went throu t ,4l a Omnil,tec without oppositioa.—Adjourned. ' TUESDAY, JUNE 10. Thr Earlettatinttitosi.s: mowed the second reading of a Fill for extending the propixiees of an Aot of Parliament, prohibiting the parysent al wage* el workmen employed in certain Maisufartones, in goodly er lekros, iastead snoopy. mi l Lordship stifled, that where the payload, titre made in ,gbods or tokens, for goods, the workmen were neverpro ft e-• I paid.-he Bill was read a second dais, • The Metropolis Pawing Bill was read aJd (him slid passed. 71„. r:.bra..qiier Bills - Grant BO was read a th ird tiinc and pit at} red. THE TIONAL REGISTER. TtItTIODAY, Jcnr 12. TRAITOROUS PRACTtetS. The Earl or I.tyrn pont.. about one e'r:,.e1,.14.! on tita tr. ble a crceo baz, contaioiti:: farther inform/Mon on the %tibjeet o r traito•ne< prdetiee2.. The pope's were referred to the Secret Committee. Rr.powr OF Tlll SECRET COMMITTEE. . . . The furl of I.lxiatetiot. e resented the Report. "'By the Lords' Committee appointed to tyke into conei diVistion several papers, sealed up in a bag, &c. and to report to the House, &c. "The Report beeins by stating, that the Committee, after in exios a i s i li c i i of the papers referred to them, felt it their painfid duly to des-laic, that thee sec but too many proofs of a it antis (els entispitaey to overdo ow the Coseriiene nt and thcConstitetion, and to sobvert the existing order of NBC lily. " The Report then praises the active exertioes of the Go verionem, and parsicolioly of the Magist I HIC3 111 the execu tion of the Izeocrai law s. and o s t . the special post irs intrusted to them by the new Acts of Parliament ; but the Committee assert, that though the plan's of the eonspirttors have been thus frustrated, yet, in spite of all this, the tame wicked and desperate d.oimis are still pursued. The information on which this entsekisieti is folmdett, is said 10 be collected from sonices frequently unconfirmed and mik now n to curls' whet ; but the recent is said to be uniform, and is also corroborated by a striking imincidenev in many minnte partimilars. " The Committee the II observe, that their intelligence rests, in Many or its parts, upon the testimony of persons who are either themselves illiplic:lttli in these climbed transactions, or who hese apparently engaged in them foe the purpose of obtaining information, and imparting it to the magistrates or the Secretary of State. , " The. Cou 111 l ittee allow that surd' testimony must he very questionable; and state, that they have reams) to apprt bend that the latimiagc and conduct of sonic of the latter descrip tion of %Vl:tresses has had the effect of encouraging those de. siens which it was intended they should only be the means of detecting. But allotting for these circumstances, the Com• mince are still of opinion, that the statement which they pro- Cecil to give, is by no means exageerated, but perfectly %sar ranted be Me papers submitted to their inspection. " It proceeds to state, that the papers relate, almost midmost exception, to the manufacturing dist; jet% in the midland and northern comities; and although the disaffected stilt look to the metropolis with the hope of assistance and direction, yet to the districts ffins referred to, the more recent projects of insurrection were to have ()erne milked. "The Committee then state, that although in many of these districts distress has operated to expose the minds of the la bouring classes to irritation and perversion, yet this distress, in their - opinion, has been rather the instrument than the cause of the disaffection. In some of the disaffected districts they believed that distress had been less felt than ia many other parts of the kingdom ; while in other places, where the distress has been mo-t gries out, it has been sustained with such patience, Inyaky, and good conduct, as cannot he too highly commended ; and the Cotnmittee thiuk that it is chiefly by the means mentioned its the Report of' the former Com mittee, namely, by the estensive circulation of stalitionx and blasphemous publications, and by the continual repetition of inflarametotv discourses, that this spirit of disaffection has been excited and diffused. These have gradually weakened among the lower order the attachment to our Government and CraStitotion, and the respectior law, morality, and reli gion; and their minds have thus been prepared for the adoption of' measures mo less injurious to their interests and happiness, than to those of every other class of leis Majesty's subjects. " Since the former Report, Manchester and its neighbour hood are stated to be the only pieces where meetings have been held in such numbers as to excite alarm. At a meeting there on the 3d of March, for the purpose of petitioning against the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, on which occasion several thousand persons were assembled, it was resolved, that another meeting was to he held on the 10th, with the intention that ten out of every twenty ',moons should proceed to London with a petition to the Prince Regent. 't he interval was employed in repeated and numerous meet ings, when the designs of the leaders were developed in speeches of the most undisgteished violence. (tee man avow ed himself a republican and a leveller, and would never give up the cease till a republican form of government was estab lished; others stated, that if their petition was rejected, they must force it; that the large towns its Yorkshire were acting on the same plan, and would meet them on the road, or at least march to London at the same time- that the Scotch were em their march, and that they slifttliti be one hundred thousand strong when joined by die people of the menufac testing districts on the mad ; and that it would be iiitpossi. ble for else army, or any thing else, to resist them. 'l' he :peahen were sometimes checked by some of their associ ates, hut were generally received with strong marks of applanee and concurrence. Arrangements for the march were pointed out s and the people were told to provit'e them selves with blankets, shoes, hal knapsacks, and wills money and food. Those who renuthied behind were to assist with subscriptions. Every ten men were to choose a leader, and one was to be placed over every hundred. Strong intima tions were also gleca of the ,propriety and necessity of pro viding themselves w ith arms, hat those do not appear to have been acted upon, esempt in a few instances. " (In the 10th of March the meetii g took place, consist big of from 10 to 12,000 persons; and although some of the leaders IA been previously arrested, and some were seized on the spot, the l u whbow was not Abandoned, and large nuna hers of the deluded people marched off towards London. " It goes out to Mate, that a considerable body was stopped on their stay to Stockport, while great numbers passed 1111111 Tb Leek, andense party went as tar as Ashboorne : bet the activity *like imagietrates, in dispersing the meeting ;mil stopping these parties, prevented the eseectien of a design which probably woald have disturbed else peace, not only of the counties thrones which they passed, but might have led to consequences bights dangerous to the public trampsillity. " It observes ' dud the planters of the plot, instead of be ing discouraged by flus disconditore, pursmed their measures iminterropted*y. Fords meetings, thosigh in smaller num bers, were soon afterwards iseltt, consisting Mike& of dele gates lions Manchester, Derbyshire, and the sitatMtlecturine di s trict s of Yorke. At some of those meetings reports were mode et the 'tv of pike., firelocke, an d b o lt e r s ., wlnetlfesoold be pro for Elie intended risin g . Commie nighttime mete kept l ` h illottisethant, Shifts:4d, Will Ili r. ti ll, 'situates& in order to lifite thetpeople of those +lists:lets t • shaflaraiLlellAPla. Illtd te hadellein hie progress el their ... phoneme. In these meetings. Usk stated that the pre'em 'of Put I ilUlitili ta ry ',form nee aleast.t am deely disearde". .1 ' nothing less tbau revs/Ohm was meditated: and to sleek a dreadful Ilejfee were flit, istiuds of• many people at these Ji'NE •tiiigs corrupted and inflamed, that in public speeches ti.e , eiect..“itv of doing arm, bilk,' or disposing of. (ibis was tl: 'xlllo the persons most ohimAioits to ttsciit was mirescrvedly annomiced; and it is edited to have bean ((((( *to proposed to make Manclic , ter a MoScow, in eider to.stretegthen the cause by thoi% dug uro.it numbers out of work. " -- A general insurrection was to have continence cl at Man chester oti the ; magistrates were to hare boon seized, prisoners liberated, soldiers either to be surprised at the',l barracks, or to be drown gout of then, by oho burning tai . factories to lota set an tire, and while they were thus diver led from !heir posts, the hoicks were In be occupied by a party stationed for that purpose, and the' magazine was to It: seized. The tiring of a rocket, or rockets, WiVo to be lite .dual for this I ising. 'flue numbers sufficient for the intnie• diate 'lmpose mete estimated at 2 or 3,000 Men; but it %%list c:Weeteoi that tile insurgents would amount to 5,000 in the looming. " In some parts of these proceeding,' there are traces ofan intention to ib!;11e premlamillerms ' absolving the King's soh frets from their alegiance, and denouncing death against the iropponents. The Committee, however, allow flail they have not tonna any eridenee of the actual preparation of these proclanialionS. This atrocious conspiracy was detected anitdefeated by the ssagacito of the magistrates, who seized and confined some of the ringleaders before the period fixed for its es.ecution. This timely prevention appears to have checked very consi derably the piereeeelinga of the disaffected; and the subse quent intelligence front that platter is ?la more favourable kind. " During part of the month of April there appears to have been a general intermission, at least of the more open pro ceedings. Owing to the regulations of the new Act. public meetings have been less frequent, and societies have been less frequently couveded, • veil in public houses. Chiba have been elisolved, meetings suspended, or held so pri vately, nod so remotely as to•have escaped observation. "They have fewer commernicationa in writing : the names of leading persons have been recontrooststed to be concealed : few persons only are entrusted with the progress of their plans, and these men are to give notice to different delegates to have their partisans ready to art when and as required.— These delrTates have met in small numbers, and have kept up a general though verbal correspondence among the disaf fected. " Towards the end of April, and during the month r f May. this correspondence has been more active. On the sth of May a meeting was held in a town in the West Riding of Yorkshire, which was attended by delegates from other prin cipal towns of that district. and from Leicester, Mirtnio„cieam, and Nottingham. At this lemming reports were made by the delegates of the numbers which could be collected from the ditlia-cut districts: they were stated to be very large ; but the Conunittee states itself to be aware of the exaggeration probable in such a matter. About this time it was proposed that there should be another general meeting, for as early a clay as possible after the discussion of the question of reform in the House of Comnions. Thee insurgents were first to march to Nottingham, is here they were expected to be joined by other bodies; and on their way to London by still moue, all armed either before or to be armed by the robbery of private houses or of different barracks and depots, which were to be attacked. _ _ _ " At several subsequent meetings it was reported, that the increase of members was so :peat, that it was Raid at one of them, that it was necessary to extend their disisions daily, and enlarge their committee. • " Similar information front many quartets whence the de legates were deputed, confirms the expectation of a general rising about the time that has been mentioned, and states, that a postponement took place to the 9th or 10th of June, ('or various reasons. Hy the latest intelligence from these quartets it appears, that these designs were frustrated by the same causes that formerly existed, namely— the vigilance of Government, the activity and intelligence of the magistrates, and the assistance lent them in the exercise of their functions by the regular troops and yeomanry acting under their ditecticn, the efficient arrangements of the offiet rs intrusted with the service, the knowledge obtained of the plans of the disaffected, together uilk the arrest and impri. sonment of the leading agitators ; and that by these causes still farther postponement of their atrocious plans would be ncra , ioned. Subsequent intelligence leaves no doubt that the plan, in its full extent, has bccu frustrated ; but the cor. rectuess of former information has been confirmed by the late appearance of bodies of armed men at the period pre. vionsly fixed, and particularly in one of the districts which had bet n described as determined to rise, without waiting tOr a general co-operation. " The Committee think it important to state, that many of the most active magistrates nod persons whose civil and military situations suable them, upon the most extensise informaliml, to form the Most accurate opinion, concur in attributing the disappointment of the attempts already made, and of the hopes at continued tranquillity, to the exercise of the new powers whirls Parliament intrusted to the executive Govi rument, and to the influence produced by the knowledge that these powers would be called into action as soon as ne cessity should jfistify their employment. They concur like. wise in a oepresentatiou of the danger with which the expiry of there powers, at the present moment, would threaten the country ; mid the Committ, e feel, that they should ill dis charge the high trust reposed in them if they did not declare their unreserved assent to this Opilllo{l. 'limy, therefore, with the fullest confidence in thu loyalty and good disposi tions, not only of those classes of the community arid those portions of the kingdom which have generally hitherto re mained free from ditaffectien, but of the greatest part of those eely districts whielrare the chief scenes of discontent and of threatened tlistorbance, cannot 1'4141111 from declaring it,as the, esult ofall the ineormation which they have collected, that the time is not yet arrived when. the maintenance of public tranquillity, and the protection of the Fires and pro perty of his Majesty's subjects. cau be allowedto depend upon the ordinary powers of the hew." FRIDAY, JUNE IS. Several llills werebrought Narrate' the Commons, and read a first time; the Mutiny Bill was read a 6cGoud CHOC ; as was Toinkins's Picture Lottery Hill. RENEWAL OF TOE HABEAS rpart:s SIUSP/F660111 ACT. I.ord SIDMOUTO co.sr to pi opolir the Cast reading of a Bill similar to that wide:, their Lordships had already sanctioneB. one 00000 el. •• • the ite .geo or persons ho had conspil ell isgaiinot lkl•••e , . Covers meld; Ear' Ott shat Kinn ithstanding all be had heard, he saw t.c ind • -sal, •• neresaity for a ringlet- susi•ension of the ri • f •••e pie of England. He stionld, however, fol. lorri..g the e. mple I the Noble Lord, reser% e himself till Mond4; swiien the B is to be read a second time, and tut da/ the Lord+ itiy antumoned.—Adjourtbed. . .