The National Register. — London, England, 1817-01-27 00:00:00

r~~sLZ~~I:,UsE LI VSIN;. From tae Report oa o! the Met-or:oils, which was presented to tile :Morse ot' Cora-rms last .ession, it abundantly appeared, that great and 4 .lsgrant partiality was oftea exercised, is the licznsing of puit de houses. In a cfmntry MC% as thhi, Nvhere the law recognizes no d's , ioetiou of perwm, and throws its shield equally overall, it in a matter of ....2rlot concera to the public, whether Each abuses shall be /Inger suf fered to exist. The question is, shall the Ma... ; .i.itrates be allowed to give or re.i . tse licznses at the nem° will and pleasure ? Shall they have it in their power to build or to overthrew the forttmes of individuais, with out any other controul than that of their awn personal dispositions ? We firmly reply that t'tey ought not, and we arc much gratified to find that this highly important subject has at lersth bren taken up by a very respectable magistrate. We trust that the iltea sity and perseverance of the public. atteatiou on the cme.stion will be coinmeasurate with its magnitude. fit be, we arc c ilident that the resnitssvill ECEOIII - their cautious. With these hopes we present this day to their waice some interesting extracts from a Lever, just published, addressed to Lord Sidmouth, .by J T. BARBER BEAUMONT, Fsq. one of his Majesty's .!nstices of the Peace thr Middlesex and IVestininster. It contains a luminous esposition of the evils to which we have all: led, and concludes with proposing their constituti(mol remedies. I am q lite convinced, from observations which I have made on pub.te-honse management iu ditierent countries on the , antinent, as well as ::t England, that the. system pursued here is the very worst whielt 1..a11'4 evil groins could have devised. It commit s the property of the subject to an interested judg. ment, a id a•t tinconstitotional disposal, without yielding any good to the state. in return : the system Is all-powerful for the purposes of r.ttifying individual aviwier and made': ; but sill gillarly inellitient for any one good 11111/111' 1/Wet. The dele gation of an toleontrolable and inset-amble power to local jus tices over victuallers, event.) the extinction of their means of esistence, has cast that useful ettss of tradesmen out of the pale and protection of the laws—generally speaking, they are the slaves of pat tinlity, or the victims of oppression. Unlike tither men, they cannot reckon upon good eaniltuct as the means of success, or even of satety front proscription—whence it is that they throw themselves into the arms of great brewers mid distillers for security, and become dependent 011 trades men, of whom, for the public good, they ought to be tree. I have attended the normal licensing for two years in the divisions of the Tosser hamlets and of Kensingtou. (hi these occasions we have had deputations from parishes, also from magistrates, parishaacer, un:l individuals out of smother, co oplai JJ ii aZithISE certain house-, as being the r esort o• thieves and prostitnti s by day aunt night ; %%here drunkenness. obscenity and riots were practised continually, insomuch that decent per►ons avoided the streets. Shopkeepers were rhos injured in their business, and others in their feelings and mo rals. It was stated, that owing to the closeness together of these public-houses (every -seventh or eighth house being a public house), that they could only be supported by :melt )practices. Public:sus of orderly dispositions, it was stated, had their customers drawn from them, by the licentiens pro. vocatis es allowed at certain houses. Not one of these li censes was taken awa► i—l■ the course of the two years, the renewal of nearly two thousand fora• Int mire , ' licenses was ap plied for. Of the notorious tlaslwhouses. cock and hen chub houses, and gin-shops, not one was put doss n; but the unimoiony of this complaisance was broken in one iu•t:utce—and the cir cumstances of that solitary exception deserve particular no tice. A constable bring called on to state what irregalarities be had •bserved among the public-Wows in his district titscribcd set end, among others the tolloß•iuG : On a certain night. between ten and eleven, he had entered the Castle public house, at Breinford, kept hy Joseph Har ding ; the 'anise was shut up, but within it he saw four or live women drinking, whom Ise knew to be of indifferent charai7- ter. It aid nut appear that they were drunken, noisy, ob scene, or in any way disorderly. The high constable and the parish constable were both examined—they deposed that they had never seen any thing exceptionable in the conducting of she house either !rebore or since ; and acknowledged that the latillord was a very discreet, sober person. On the adjourned tiny se% eral respectable neighbours attending, described Har... ding to be a superior man to the generality of publicans: a man %flat was always industrious, sober, and correct in his own conduct, and who took care that his inmates should behave in a similar manner. 'Try said, they never saw or heard of a single disorderly occur ence in the house. His appearance continued their testimony. He accounted for the women beirg. iu his house, by saying, that his wife was at the time ill in bed : that he had ;one up stairs to her, leaving her mother, an aged woman unused to their business, in chit rek of the bar ; she al lowed the wanien to enter and have some beer. Upon these facts a majority of the licensers decided to shan't the house. Harding was called in, and told simply' that hi., license was refilsed. Upon the intelligence, lie appeared ready to sink into the eat th. He r.tcl.tisned, in unresisting an g ui s h, " I have a wife and children—they must go to tile work home! —What can Ido ?" The appeal was heard with mute hid& ference, and the next license was taken up. I felt interesteii iu the hard fate of this ruined Mindy : I could nut discovra any faidt iu the maws conduct, nor Caen in the coo-hurt of the aged woman left in charge of the bar ; for as lieenstal elect. atlas they w-re bound by law to furnish refreshment to any persons, whether pate or impure, who . orderly manner demanded it. The landlord would have been liable to an action had this beer been refused—there was mailing in on% mind that wore the semblance of a reason for thus &lids in.: Mr. Harding and hi • lamily of thr it means of subsistence. :\ hint that wits thrown out that the house was unnecessary , because it was directly opposite to a house of Alr.Thomp sm e, ( 6o• b r ewer's at Chisw iek appeared to use to he no reason, 1 Theo efore wrote to a respeetahle inhabitant at Mention!, requesting hint to make diligent inquiry into foe general con duct awl character of Harding. His rlply was, that he Hid vernally bare ant xecllent eharacter, :tad that his house was conducted with greater decorum thin the generality of poli tic houses at Brentford. I have tat" ly written again to kilo whether the ;nod opinion of the aeighltourhood remained ea. i,ated. or, %shether any thing had transpired to the disail aratirage of his diameter. FM: answer says," The (Onion uf 411,allationtitOtttl w umultaed; llardiug aui THE NATIONAL REGISTER. stet! living in the house. A small subscription has been o•'ened for their relief ; the;► ere very Hanle depresved." B:ich was the solitary Cafe oat of two thousand four !ton do-en, which was chosen for the extinguishing of a public !toast:. 117:rT!YG OF DELEG.ITES FOR REFORM. A Mt!etina of Delesates front various Petitioning 'lollies in treat Britain, for Itr farm in Parliament, was on Wednes day It: Id e i the Crown and Anchor. 'file Assembly collected at IN ti'el.tek, a:,.1 the coils portion of the time was employed in receiAng Ow testimonial of delegation. Mr. linnt and Vir‘Nsls.. s :wing, with Mr. Cobbett, the I)clegates flout 1i •r aiwili r, receie tal the son N of the Count re Delegate-. ::•••.jor t ar:ght. oa the motion of Mr. Itunt,being called to chair, it wits stated that Mr. Jones llurd , •tt was in at tentii;!ce no Cleft Commit , ce with a communication from Le Hanstr.!..m Chili. A deputation of two members introduced Mr. J. Bartlett, Nho briefly stated, that he and the Major were dirtied at a meeting of the Hampden Club, on the nth of tit!! present. month, to lay before the assembled delegates at . the telitiatting bodies of the country in favour of reform, the heads of it bill for that measre, whieli it was intended in March next to I.ty before the whole body of that society. picvtonsly to its being to Parliament. The pro jected bill had recognized three material principles—tat, That the Moose of Commons should be elected he house holders, that the comities and Citit a should be divided into electoral ilistrict4, each district returning one member, ac cording to its population; and that the elections should be a iiiii pal. Major Cartwright &mowed, his own personal opinion was, that being a man suhiected to 101111111”04 or to misery, accord ing to the system of Government under which he lived, ought to he the only qualification for the election of the represen. tative. Practicability had still its merits; acil the term householder, in the aetail of the hill, would 1).• made to em. hrace cottager, occupiers of lionsem, whether thee paid rates or 1101 j the itatabitaats of Hats, us they were styled in Eilita• lough, and chaniaers iu the 11111% of Cott S nod Colleges. The division of an 'election into two period had, in his Mind, great grounds of reemunicailetion. The day of nomination would afford constituents ample opportunity of sifting the character and talents, and former conduct of the represents-, Live: but the Accood period for voting in districts wool(' ilk- . sipatc those charges of immorality, drunkenness, and confu sion, 110 W so frequ.mtly exemplified in septennial t Icetions.. A body of resolutions were then read, the first related to thanks to the !latupilen Club for their communication. Mr. Coblimt said, that as the resolution then stood, lie could not give it his assmit, Ile was at the same time most willing to support or to propose the thanks of that meeting to the gentlemen mopOsing the 110101:11,11011 that waited mum them from that e' üb. t)f the cleft itself, with some most re• speetable r‘ceptions. lie would say, Chet it consisted of de termined enemies of reform, who had already given a proof of their treason to that cause by heating up for disunion ( hear , h,•ar). _ _ . , \lr. Hunt seconder' the requisition, as amended by Mr. CiMbett, it was carried Olt the second rc•nlutinn, fin• ree..iving the otitiiite of the proposed bill rutin the ilsaipilett Club, on the stiggestion ot fir. Cobbett, all reference to the dicta+ hot Or proposal of any other institution was omitted. The iesolotion embracing the three main principles of reform lie would propose ! omitting :ittogether all reference to the Hampden Club. There was not, if it were possible to collect them, a hotly of ►he dirtiest scavenge!. in Lugland th it he ruald more sincerely despise than that very society ill its collective capacity. There were amongst them Well fur whom, in private and public life, he mast ever entertain the highest regard—they had the honour certainly of having Sir Francis Burdett, Mr. June.• Burdett, that sound patriot Mr. Hallett, of tterkshire, and mid Major Cartwright; and from that pure source, though tiquette called it the rtrommentlation of the club generally, the projected heads of the Rubins Bill sprung. Were lie to consult hi' own personal •pinion, and coill,; that opinion hose the certainty of soccess, the exercise of elective rights to Englishmen should have no limit, from rank in life or acci dental possession of house or occupancy. term univer sal suffrage was a figure of rlietoitc—it was similar to phrase• so often used in °Mill:try CMS vel•Sation. The moldier in householders in I.:riglaild was calculated at two in.liions. Surely it was impossible to thiak that such a pottion of the population could be bribed. Fathers, occupiers of hous-s, may have a son or two without Votes, but their interests would he safe in the elective right of the parent, in other eases of the near relative. Let the meeting next consider against whom the limit world most probably operate. 1 , would operate piiticipally against the immediate dependent, against farmers servants, livery servants, soldiers and pall• pers residing in parish wswlehomes. second proposition in the liesolutiou re ferret' 4o annual elections. Mr. limit felt considerable reluctance in differing on the point of the electit rt extension from worthy friend iC Mimi°, but Jton ever the majority shoold decide, to that opinion lie would submit. 11e must t'evl it his duty to inov.., as au amendment, that the limit of voting at der tion. should ae•extendail to all lonsaeholders uu 1 men oho e 21 years or age, who had lodge,! three months in the parish. The Amendment \I r. Hunt then put, and approved by a majorit% —it being the expressed opinion of a number of Comm) Delegates, that they %tore instructed to vote fur iteprisentation cmckistent with tax.:tioil. (in the itocoltition respecting the ballot, which was op posed by Alf. 4;obbett, as tendit.; to render the peopie of England sneaking, -cowardly, and hypocrites, Mr. limit de oared his dclermivation , to press it. 'f he motion iii 1 . 411, out Or the ballot was carried by a majo rity of ten. Mr. Mitchell, delegate for Manchester, sopporten by Hie Country Delegates, in opposition to many observation', that it were best not to press it, urged a resolution—That pro :surly ouglit to form no part of a Member of Parliaments ipialifications; virtue and tateuts were sufficient. A propo sition to this effect was also carried by it considerable na.jority. The l'hanks were then tow il to major Cartwright. COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL. A Court of Common Council, enlivened NI millet to n requi slum' :•igned by a Mr i ,.,e ntonly2r of tetombors, %%tir, hem m, Thursday a! OuiMutt, fr the purpti-e , , of eott , itlering " lli prebeitt alarming stilt.; of the conittr. •tml pkitioinng Parlia ment for a reform and rotre:nt hm, lit in the public e‘pentli tate, a redaction of the enornatnet and haeunblitntional wile Wry eitanti.lottent, and abolition 011411 nselesh plarei and uta• merited pensions, :And a Ullbtitiational r..fornt in the rep re. bentatiOg tif the people is pArliiunetit, alone our JANUARY 27. national grievances can be effectually redressed, imil as adequate security attorded against future encroachments." Presion4 to the discussion of the principal ipiestion, Mr. Alderman Cox [destined a memorial front the bankers mid merchants of London, praying for the use of the Guildhall, for the purpose of' eaehasiging the old silver coin for the new, dm Mg the fourteen days limited by lb.: Act of Parlia ment. PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. observed, that w lieu they recently petitioned the throne to assemble Parliament earlier titan was intended, It was necessarily in their contemplation to petition Parlia ment itself whenever it should be actually assembled. The objects for which they had desired the meeting of Parlia ment were of the highest and comprehensive nature. They involt ed considerations which it was impossible fully to em brace in the course of a single speech. To attempt to prove that the existing system of revers , 'dation was inadequate to its end, would be to prove a truth so manifest, as almost to insult the moderstautlings of his hearer•. It would be equally needless in him to aim by any arguments to convince the court of the reality of those gritaances, anal the weight of those soitieriugs under which the people now laboui ed. Let them consider for a moment attentively the l ure sent state ut the repo emanation. t'eorawall alone sent It members, whilst fifteen other counties only Brut .10. Three counties might lie named which returned 101 representativ es, a larger aggregate number than was returned by 20 others. Wes thia a system of representation adapted to the character and circumstances of Englishmen Ile would i,ive them the highest authorities in support of the principles lie was main taming; bait es en if there were no authorities, he would say, it was the dictate Of COIIII4IOII souse and humanity, that ea body ohne!' laid a right to di , hie among themselves sinecure places, and enormous emoluments, when the nation at large was borne down by tears, and suffering by every saecies of want. The Bill of Rights had deckle :I that it was an un doubted right, and the preamble stated, •• that frequent Par liament, ought to be tidal , and that frequent new Parliaments tend much to the happy union ut' king and people." it nen the Septennial Act was passed, it was passed as .1 temporary measiire, in pretence of the rebellion and the muscatel state of the Nation. It was carried, upon representations that it Was designed only to provide aga.ast a particular emergency, in the s; manner as the Ilabeas Corpus Act was oecasioa ally suspended. nut although various eflorts had been sub sequently 'mole to obtain a repeal of it; they had always failed; and their failure wre., in his opinion, one great cause of the present national calamities. Ile would not go so far in the existing artificial butte of society as to say, that annual Parliaments were desirable: but though he Roost/Olt triennial Parliaments would be productive of the same gaud, yet, is theory, the principal of an annual Parliament was incontro vertilde. lilac reierred to Illackstum., an authority generally pretty fasouralde to the Crown., he found that even he ad mitted, that " In a free state, every man who is supposed a free agent, imeht, measure, to be his own governer and, therefore, a branch at least of the legislative power should reside in the whole body of the people. If any change were desired, it were in favour of a more equal rept esenta. tion nt the people in Parliament.” Why, then, were they, or eaatinii.a.ci. as or scab the nation at large, to be i I di lions, because they adhered to the saute primiples, and thought it was no longer aafe to postpone the aiodivation of the ti Had not Mr. Pitt hionselt declared, that " Without a reformation fu Parliament, neither the liberty' of the subject can be rest r ved, nor can w e expect to has e a Wise, arr. WOWS, or disinterested mina." Al r.. Fox, iii aea ie brated speech in the year tibi a which ke would advise vim" , gentleman '0 read, had avowed his opinion in the following words I am fully persuaded, that iitilese there is an entire radical reform. not only in the House of COIIIIIIOIIS, but in every branch of the executive power.; in shoot, mileba there it an entire radical reform in the Whole system of Govern ment, there is no chance for this country to enjoy any bless ing long. It cannot remain happy or even safe long. 'flow. reform cite never he obtained unless there is a general and micipiivomd expression in ita favour by the people at large." The ',ca l m, had lune sunk under a galling wvight.of taxation, they labour louder a fluctuating, and decaying trade ; all this they sutler ill submission. were they now to be suspected as seditious or disaffected : They had a right to ask, what vim; the constitution good for. if what was called representation ‘vas ui fart, for tin' most part, ill the halide of the Govern ment itself. They had a right to ask why un express provi. sine of the Act of Settlement was eiwnly violated—that act g which, in its rare to prevent corrupt initience, had declared, that ini person holding an Other kW tie or reel:44lg a pcusinn from the crown, Shall be capable of sitting in the !Lome of Continuous. For his own part lie was convinced that triennial Parliaments and an extension of the t leetise fran chise to all householders, would produce a reform that ought to be satisfactory. '!'here was always a neutral influence aria. gio ing from property, industry, and talent, w kWh would has e tilt ir proper weight. 'Flie people would always be able to iiislnuinish between an honest Mall and a roger, a Mail Of talent from a fool, and a Wall Or property flout a litiogry grasper alter place and emolument. Mr. it'Ati n wiN then colicluileti w ith readilig certaili ipso lutioua, which embodied aloe leading doctrines of his speech. Mr. Davis seconded the resolutions. Mr. Jacks observed, that the queslion to determine is. whe filet we Abell maintain the old constitution, as descended to its from our fathers, or adopt new principles and new theories of improvement, the ultimate tad nt which we iambi net foresee The worthy mover had made 'Mae tillOrallolel rr•tn parliamentary speakers iii the debates it hbillt the Septeninal Act; bete again lie would say, much hail been bald ou Moth sides: the result however was, that after ;ilium 2 Yeats trial of triennial parliaments, they Were attend by a see, large too jority of both houses. prea.l.6:e to the Sepoulasial .let recites, that great tumults awl disorders had arisen fried the practice of frequent general elections : he however t aloe J.) draught possibly sonw. good might arise Atom to seminal parliaments: anal as the cattail of the possible es II ocelot be caleelated,he for one shoal(' have no ohjeetimi to the restora tion. Ile, Mr. J. would take alp( oi him to irasert, that 11 - 0143 the Ili-tory of England, traced from that period to the pre. sent, never did there publicly appear to be less corruption than at present.; no hislithre Of modern boos hail oven risl td iniiiisters charcoal V.itha reetiviog beil•es in the aye. coition of their office insianee had totem sd of Sus e i eigii himself beim: , !.It-peeteal of such a mine as h.-al been broadly stated in those flays. Cori iiption is had es ~,tad in free stab s -it es er would exist, like vice mid ral era; the great end, lie admitted, of good got mono ut. is to cheek Hod con uteiact such tendeiwy. 51114'C:111'J of the pi estate day were held up as instances of eurrooptioa : lie most depre cated the existeuce of inch evils in the cinistitutuni , bat there was wale cutendistani iii retlectime, that it' they cotilJ rut at OIICC be renuoved, an Aet of Pau filament had many yeats ago provided for their discuLtiocapice at the death of 14) me IllbiAil- t wry eit4oo.oo:nt, 4001 almlitlou 01 Irohtdge of Iris character. l ' au :111•WIT >ayg," Thu fyiaitra of merited puttsious, and a culaottati Smillosulkoed is maltaed; llardiug aui 4a4 tittuily a.c hentation tit* tLe ireeple is rArliaa