The Statesman. — London, England, 1809-12-14 00:00:00

low r i TN STATF,S VAN. these sentiments he trusted the Court would ben, Mm out, by giving their votes unanimously lot the Address. Sir CHARLES PRICE, although he differed with the general sentiments of the Address, and al. though it was carried only by a majority of one voice, would nut on tte present occasion, oppose. its being sent up to hi s IWajesty ; and he was led to this decision from a respect for the dignity' of the Court. He was Wild to say, that there was' not a more loyal man in his Majesty's dominions than himself, nor no man more anxious for the public welfare ; yet he could not help now assert. tag the same opinion of the Addessr which he had given ou a former day. It .was such. an eine at could not elicit from hint one tittleof approbation; in fact it was as disrespectfal an Address as could possibly be sent to his Mtiesty ; bat if it woe the desire of the Court that is should go, he would not oppose their incliliations. He trusted, hoives ver, that if it was presented, it would receive the same efoct, and be attended with the same cons*. quences to its promoters, as the verdict in the Corer, of Ring's Bench on Monday last. (Some eeurevers here took place 'below Nye Bar.) Ile 'cared not, he said, what might be the feelings be. low the bar, and hoped what be had said fright go forth to dee country, in order that a proper con. ception of the feelings and proceedings of that Court might be universally disseminated, and condemnation, if deserved, be, placed where it ought. • Mr. LUCAS said, there had been a vast deal of !natter crammed into the Address, wholly irrele vant to the subject towards which it was more par ticularly avowed to be directed ; namely, the late Expedition to Walcheren. Ile alluded to the con. denotation, and calling in question the conduct of brave General without due inquiry. He would &pixel to the Court, whether the part he adverted to wee not inconsistent with a proper regard for justice and impartiality, and inconsistent with that liberality which had been at all times professed and maintained by the _Corporation of London. There was no difference of opinion, he said, at the last Court, as to the expediency of inquiry ; the only object for contention was, as to the mode and time of inquiry. It was urged them, that the Address should be in a ore respectful laiguage, if presented at all ; bat it was still more strongly contended, that it would be more prudent, as well as more consistent with the dignity of the city of London, to wait for the op sting of Parliament ; hod it proper measures for the relief of the come. try were not then adopted, every one was ready to coincide its the necessity for an Address. Those were still his.septiments, pad ouder .tbese impees. iioni ho had attached his name to the requisition. Re concluded by expressing an ardent wish that the Address might undergo a re-consideration, prior to its being sent up to his Majesty. Mr. MAWMAN said, [(there was a precedent for the reconsideration of an Addriss under such circumstances as the present, be was must deci dedly of opinion that the Address in qu..stion tetptired reconsideration. Ile b.lieved there did exist such a precedent, and he hoped before the Address was presented it would undergo a close is.isies. He was led to this wish triple per. cowing that the Address, instead of beisg con_ breed to its avowed object., that of inqiiry, it went on, •in the most anqualifiol manner, to find fault with Ministers, mid also wit!' one of our most admired Commanders. He submitted, there. fore, that there was something extremely incon sistent and unjust in giving judgment before in. cpiry ; and 'toiler these circumstances he thought it his duty to move Per the reconsideration of the Address. Mr. WAITIIMAN was of the same opinion with the Gentleman who sat near him, and who had given the most convincing reasons in favour of the Amendment. Ile saw that there was a par. ticularly pointed opposition to every measure •iri ginatin4 with lii , nself, met that iron a particular G r otl e snan. According to his off n feelings, he was conseioes of his attachment to toe House of Brunswick ; but that h no Gentlemen should im. pute In hill illative,' .if disloyalty was not to be wondesed at. It was of far greater cotisequence, how. 'ter, that the proceedings, the solemnly de cided proceedings of this Court, should nut be trifled with. The Gentleman was not satisfied with personal vilification, but sought to bring dishonour on the whole body to %%hick he tr.!. i longed. When the subject of the Address was debated on the list Court day, he (Mr. Waith. man) had gone at large into the subject. lie entered fully into -the question; 'flier° was no part of the Address that did not pass through the most rigorous ordeal of discussion ; and after so mature a considerotion of the whole merits of the subject, ba did nut think it necessary now to resume it. A Gentleman bad made a par ticular refection on the manner in which a certaiu General Officer had besot spokes of. He would still persist in his former laugtme concerning that Officer. llts would still think that a General, who rashly and inconsiderately, without provisions and all the other requisites fur the support and equipment of an army, phauld run headlong into the heart of an almost hostile country, and with the certainty of meeting a powerful enemy ; yes, be would still think, that such a general was guilty of the most gross mis conduct. He had the same Opinion of the Inca pacity of Lord Chatham ; and so loudly did events proclaim this incapaCith that he was con.. vinced, no possible circumstance ,yet untold or • unknown to the country, could alter this opinion. After discessint the subkct so variously end so maturely . , (continued Mr. Waithman), after sifting the question with the most assiduous and arduous attention, from twelve o'clock in the day tiil siz at night, after votithz an Address to his Majesty, iii the name of the Common Conned of tbu Ciky of London, are a host of opponents, who, after ' a regular summons, did nut think h worth while to attend, who thought a piestion of au meth nsualeist too paltry in consequunce to arrest their atteniimi, tied to command their preiscrice....are 'ewe men now, for what purpose and throligh what yes we ail know, to comedown to the Common mei', with a retpiisitiou iu their hands and t o . on you to rescind times resolutions, and to ~per.. - - T -- - - ~.' --~ abllndon that Address, which you in pia wis d.nn and your patriotism thiluglit fit' to .adopt I I have been, my Lord Mayor, fur the last fifteen years in an honourable minority—this is stalest thn first time I have.succeeitert in pergola ling the inajorit, of this Court to agree with me in pond. Eat liodusehts, I to open tlii.ir eyes to the ruin that WAWA, and stall continees to fall' on 6iir un liappy conntry.; and yet, even its this solitary in. stance °rumens, am 1 to he opposed by an bi de...tint, an angels. riles hostility ? This has never been my' practice—When beaten, I have been silent; contented with having deserved success if I could not ensure it. I remember to !Me brought the question of Pitt's moneioent before you, because I thought it a disgraceful business ; and. I fought the battle of the people against the dentraCtors, but the eontracters were too strong, I was beaten.-. 1 was silent... I retired...l had d re. spect for the solvent decisions, and fur the dig. city of this Court, which my seese of duty would not soff..r me todisturb or to insiolt. If decisions of 1 this Court are to be thus trilled with, it would be better not to meet at all. E telt day that we as. seuble, the same ground is to- be walked over again—the sane arguments used ; in fact, there never could be a decision of any stability.— ' And why all thib trouble? To accommodate a set of Gentlemen, who will not by attenance endeavour to do their duty. Daring the lut discussion there was no opposition to the Address on the broad ground of its merits. Every Gen. denten seemed to feel the disgrace which it de scribed, and the disasters which it recited. Bet there was opposition on one point, and that an essential one indeed, which went to overturn the very right of petition itself. In the usual cry we were called en not to petitions- 4 Inquiry would come—it was an insult to his 31fdesty to petition.' For fifteen yeah' have 1 been in this Court ; I have witnessed the failure of twenty expeditions. I have called, repeatedly called for petitions , for inquiry, but 'twat is says an insult to his : Ha. jelly!, After the holiness of tb. Heller, it was on /*sat. After all our other disasters and des. grams, it was still an insult to the Throne, to petition. What is this, my Lail Mayor, but wilfully and basely fore4uing our inherited right ; our best right, that of proclaiming our wrones, end seeking for redress ? It is yielding villtnously and with a smile too, one of the greatest Lulwarks of our Constitution—the nth/ of petitioning alto gether. I was, indeed, extremely astonished by the lamentable want of information ovine eel by a Guntleinan opposite (order) in his reflections on the eonduct of Parlia.nents with respect to the right of petition. I would ask that Gentleman, who established this very right ? Were they not the tithers of our Constitution, the promoters of the Revolution, the men nit° altered the sucres. 'ion of the Crown from the House of Stewart to ILI llouse of Brunswick ? What did Parliament think of tile right of potititm-in the reign of James 11. I in whose reign, and not in that of George IL wu might, without any force or fancy, ima. sine ourselves to live, if we were to juke by the vile language, which some Genileinen hold. Tile language which we hear hum the opposers of pc. Idiots now, is precisely the same which was used by the opposers of petition in the thee of James 11. There is a hapoy coincidence of sentiment amongst the friends of arbitrary power in both pe. nods; but there is this grand difference between 'he two epochs, that thou they petitioned fur Par. !lament to meet, and now tat: mee ing of Portia. meat only renders our evils the greater. But to return. What did the Parliament in the time of hates 11. think of the right of petition ? Did they express any abhorrence at the exercise of this right ? Did they, like Gentlemen of the pre. sent day, declare that i , would subvert the Con. dilation? No, my Lord Mayor, it was their opinion that the exercise of this right, instead of tending to destroy, gave new strength to the Con titution, and trey accordingly decreed that whocr, r questioned the undoubted right of the People of England to peti.iim the Throne, was as enemy to his King and Country. 'They west farther, my Lord, and I wish Gentlemen would never lose sight of this circumstance. It was the custom fur the Douse of Commons at this period not to (sitter their votes to be printed. But what did they on this occasion? They or. dersd that this vote should be printed as an eternal testimony of their opinion of. so interest. ing a right. At the. Revolution this right was cf. factually established, and instead of declaring it a violation of the Cooosti:ution (as some Gentle. sea would seem to think it nuts), it wu on the contrary declared, that as hoever should oppose it, would violate the Constitution itself. No point in our Constitution ur history can he clearer (luau this. lam ashamed of the degeneracy which in practice or language could now be base I enough to deny it." Mr. iVaithman nest adverted ! to the objection made agsinst the supposed disre.. i spect con‘ained in the Address. But he challenged I Gentlemen to produce auy Address recorded in this Court more respectful to his Majesty. Ile erred them to bring forward any. He would .apiii take the liberty of adverting to the bolsi- i11'6% of Minorca, when an Address was presented to George 11. Lord Chathatu was then Minis. ter (and it might be presumed, that he at least was at great a Minister as Mr. Perceval), and Lord Chatham advised his Sovereign to declare in his Speech, the great satisfaction he derived from this instance of regard from the city of London, ito declare how deeply he felt the anxiety of the people fur the honour of the Crown. Iliad Gen-' limes any fair ground of opposition at all tens. We. One Gentleman said there was precedent fur this peueecding.—W bat sort of precedent ? What was the usage of the Common Council in such proceedings ? They hutructed their Sheriffs to Irsit on his Majesty, to know whets he would be pixieish plAsed to receive their Address. Thu Sheller always waited on his Majesty after the Ad. dress Was voted. Was it right then that one Address *build be 'outland another be s .10 Thu King Gees allay for reiraiwing.them ; hut, in the meautinie, an other Address is substituted for the one which he allowed the Sheriffs to deliver. Would it not be better even to do wrung sometimes, than to per. sit such a dangerous precedent ? Gentlemen 1;;SMolim: wished to sneak in with a milk and water Ad dress, instead of the dignified one which was sot ! ed. lie was not querulous. lie stood solely on the broad grtitend of his public duty. He guar. ruled with no-tess. He pursued n,, man with an voivenerseed, dirty senneity. This was nut, hover. Ter, the case with his Particular °meow:its. They tri•ated him unfairly. Their conduct now towards him was the same as when he first moved an Ad dress, which was on the accession to office of the late Administration. These Geotlemen never act with dignity, either in prosperity or adversity. In prosperity they give way to unmanly triumph ; in adversity they are sire to desert their post,— I When beaten they run away, hoping " to fight I another day." 1 his ii their coiedect now ; they I left one Gentleman to watch the progress of the ' Committee, who were appointed to draw up the Address. When any expression annoyed the de. licacy of this Gentleman's nerves, he was to make a report of the violence and the turbulence or the Committee, and this report was to serve the bet. ten few with a pretext for rallying again after their retreat, and producing a new requisition for thereschseling of the Address which they themselves had deserted. • It was laughable, hots ever, to hestr the particular part of the Address to which the tealchmen had elejecfeel. Iles objection was to the words at crisis, which lee moved should be left out! This was negatived, and the Gentleman then thought it Jewett to declare, that he would make no more obser vations, as he was sure they would- scot be at. tended to. He (Mr. W.) called on the Con. mon Council to protect their Committee from this slander. To protect their own dignity, which was involved ies that of the Coinnsittee which they appointed; and be himself beggi-d their pro. tection, fur be too, among the* . eest, conceived himself insulted. He wookl not thank a certain Alderman (Price) for the sentiments he lead utter. eel; they were net only degrading but mischievates. He was astonished that Gentlemen who plead •el ies firmity and old age es an excuse for not calling IVarit Meetingt; whom he had not seem in that Court C for more than twelve !Holub% (Order). — Ile was astonished, fie said, to 5... e settle a 14 hir.v of the old and the infirm (Order); such a show• of Aldermen on this occasion. llc was afraid that it was not to the violence of their patriotism, that the Court owed their presence. An Honourable Baronet had accused him of making round and broad assertions. He did make round assertions' —lilt they were tree. ll.' ensile round asser tions concerning Christ's Hospital --hut were they proved to be fthe ? He was toll to be sure that they were false by the Hun. Baronet, but what was the judgment of the country now re. sieving the lion. Baronet's assertions, and his 2 it was - Ccroplaineil, that he indulge:l in !WM. i •nality ; but had he no right to complain of those who imputed impure motives to his public con_ I dust ? iill was personal to G:•ietleinen as pub. Ilie men, and not (Aber wise. Ifte invaded the !sanctuary of no maa's priva.e. character, he envied no man his contract, beet he ft-genteel that sontracturs should nut boast of indt:peodence. Let the contractor bare the wages of his bartered integrity ; but let him not dare, unbluseiingly, to vaunt of independence !Afore honest mee. He ! would still he the determined pu!elicen say cefsuch men --clever wetted 'he find an ass in a lions'. l skin, that he should not tear him out of it.— (Hera Sir Charles Price smiled eanlemptnoasty.) —There was one point more which lee would urge. Did all the property, ell the character, and all the understanding belong to Geed:lnce opposite ? If they thought so, he was prepared lo deny it. Had they nicer feelings ? Had the) 2 greater respect fur his Majesty, aced for the Constitution ? He would tell them that, though he might be inferior In property, he was nut in honest independence to any man. And, perhaps, he would that. day he joined in sentiment by a maj,rity of the property and talent of that assent ,bly. Mr.lVaithman these produced a book, dgcla. ratory of tlee rights of the commute Council, conceived in very strong terms, from which he read some extracts, sod cominentell on theta as tee read them. This book was printed by order of the Livery, but was now out of priest. He hoped the Common Council would not long suffer it to remain so. Ile then contended that it was a duty they owes) to the army and the country, to present the Address in the form in which it was first voted. lie teak occasion to pay a haaelsome tribute to the bravery of our troops, whose spirit would be brAten, and. whose . breasts would not be so cheerfully bared to the bayonet of the enemy, If the couutry did not show .a lively interest in their preservatioet from useless and inglorious slaughter. It was the, duty of the country not only to feel but also to proclaim their fexlings, now that they hail fallen frogs degradation to degradation, now that titer had become-the scoff of Europe. He hoped 11e7 would go up to the Throne iii the temperate but bold language of the Address. That they would call lousily fur inquiry into the conduct of his Msjesty's present advisers. That they might nut leave au opportunity of managing and dragooning the Parliament into an approbation of their es.:a. sures. If the Parliament was made of Imre Eng lish stud', it would nut be so dragooned ; and he indulged even a deirairin4 hope that Parliament would yet think of doing its duty. Mr. DIXON said, be would decline answer. ing the topics urged by the Gentleman who spoke last, almost all of whose observations, nine out of ten of the Members present heard repeatedly. over and over again. Fur his own part he dill not wish to cultivate popularity with persons of the description to whom the Honourable Mew. ber addressed himself, sad who would put every man on the back who uttered similar setitimeoto. The question before the Court lay in a nutshell ; it was comply this—whether or suit the Cuter' would wish to hear read shat Address, se hie!! was to go forth as the• drelaratioe of their sentiments to his likaaty. If the Address was, as the lion. Member had declared, jrerfecily respeetfill to his Majesty, and perfectly consistent with theel:coriem which the Court owed to itself"; if it was sack as na loyal man could object to in any part, hoes thou could the reading at it be opposed ? Manv ..~.,..R Member.' who were now present, and who 1W heard the Address rein!, acre of a di:fenet ',pinion ; an.l he thon4ht di it a gr , at many bolter., Mho were not pew nit ',pun the former urra.ion, and hail 11411 heart it read. 'plea at h ow to h ate an oftiortliaity of hearing that whirl! they *err eJII.II on hi subscribe. The thin 4 ter :Linty was out without perms:cut. Evo.-y Manlier of the Court e.biticitled in the propriety of ingiir y ; and the only 'Abjection Nat to 'some pit.s of the lati guage in which the Corporation ware airntit to citercise.their right of petition. to seine dee: bration, highly disrespectful to the lion.be of Con.oont, and to those censures conseyekl to bis M A j t ,r y upon the coin:net of his ateliers:, Lord 1 1%1;14:- ton, antecedent to the very iiigni,y ninth the Address implored, and which was to asc:ittai I whe ther that Noble Lord's conduct really ilatrve4 censure Or nut. Mr. JACKS contended that there were words in the Address that were bight,- improper, and that must be considered by any i-nnartial man as disrespectful to the Sovereign. There was in teed 1 a whole paragraph in thy Address that was derv. I gatory to the character of the Watts° of Comme::s, Anil such as they could ai•it be warranted ma annals'. ciple to send up to the Throne. 1 1 3 C worthy lien,. I ber had staled, that th, Address was such as wapiti do honour to the Court ; dud if so, why not lit 1 • them hear it ? That th e re slsould be an &hire's was now atlnsitted on all hands, and if the Address nes i 5 . 10 as it ought to be, he was sure that no °bk. turn would be made to it. Bait the Addresq, he was as;ureJ was very different, anal such as would re. lU:et ignominy and disKratee on the Court. Them was a pass.sge in•it that interfered with the pre. rogative of the Crown, and blamed his Mjesty fur conferring a peerage on LnrJ Wellington.— : [The Honourable Member here rapt with some interruption, as wandering from the cpuesti.m.] Mr.WAITIIMAN said, he was rem!, fnr one to illit, of some latitude on a qu -slit), of this nature, nod thoeght the worthy Gentleman sheuld be hard. J:\ CKS in contineation contended that that Court hail no right to interfere with toe preroga. tire of the Crown. The Petitions that had be' n quitted, he wetted, were of no authority at the present inomeut. The periods at whit+ they had I).•en tent up, were marked by domestic dig. tractions, or or a partieuliarly gloomy aspect ; and because the Court had. (mee dome wrong. that was no reason why they slionld repeat it. This ar 4 u. went of the worthy Member put him mind of the pleading of a certain hottest Counsellor in the Cuer of King's Bench' ' , hehalf of therr.nter of a freckly news') iper (The Whig), who, in est..tiia tion of the offence of his client, Oilfired the A !- I dresses and Petitions of the Gil , of L•tiof in, as containing much more uneouvitetional I t411*!.2 than any thing advanced in that pap •r (A 1 . 'o r b) l He couteatteil tha the prece !..:it th it rt,d heen I alluded to was csact.y in point. The A J'lr. ss tia comi:ig. of ow la.:. A dminne r rim; wits reed before a 'lobe-pm' Meeting of th • Court, and taken into farmer cousiderati in, which feu all they etre:ended fur tot this 'occasion Ile !tweeted that the 11 monrible Gentle•win was alts lys so much disposed to finite a gloomy via of thu country. For his ewn part, he saw no occ.i_ sion for desprintleney. L q us look a: our late natal victories; let us look at the ioarttime riwer and greatne-s of the country; let es .it rho commerce and larounic iv lahonr of the country ; let them louk at the quill y of produce imp*. ted, at fie namber of the sanoloyed, and the prim p ivy and increase of the Colonies, sod they *ould be convinced that there never W.o. a peri id Ciai called more loudly for exultation and triumph. Wear ! heat !) Thu produce of last year was more than that of any two preeilloig years, and was it proper to say iu such eircentstances that the present crisis was awful, or that the country was hastening to its ruin? lie here pleaded the privilege of reading sonic quotations from a late publication, in which it was staled Nat the pro durtive labour of the country was greater, and that the tonimeree of the country was more rt. pensive than at any former peri id of ear ky. He admitted that we had heel' engaged in an es. pensive war, but 'notwithstanding that disadvaa ta4e, the country had increased in lipukaciN of which the present price of labour, of every des. cription, and the increased rent of houses, ems a convincing proof. The wars is which we had ea. gaged might be fruitless as to their immediate ob. ject,' bet every thing shewed that the prosperity of the country, and the trailing capital of the corn. merciel cummunity had be. in the mean time aug. twitted to an astonishing and isticsa.lilled degree. Mr. CllRlSTOtilt EH. toted fur. the reading of the Aild.ess at ad est lots : but it uoa quite impossible that he could uzrre (ii seen a re_ presentation to his M 'jest, as it contained, of tba, awful crisis, aoif calamitous situation of this country and its attain, in direct co n tradiction to another aJdress , rt.e , tilly votell to hey Majesty I. port the urea: ' o n of the J Nike cimgratylmisig Its Alajetty sipon the lilo , sings and prosperititi this country enjoyed ender his auspicious reign, and thankirig him fur tlie entities concerii he had •hewn for liappineas of his peop:e. Mr. CA UTIIOIIN siippored Adlress, and 9 4 W I big name had been psi blistqd a, utie of I ts lie hail opposed it on a former clay, although la was not preirot at its discussion. Mr. 1111F13T.E thuligA that to Rennie a nee,: discussion upon ain •tvoir.: airca.ly t oseel aud, . finally settled by the Cu.'.. t, would tic ei/111 I' art to all established order of proceeiliu4. ant .• daat for endless dewy ussions and tune ert tin If Member. though 4 after tine untie for the discussion of gues.illis, to ab,k tit ittesti:•••' from their duty, and wi . hhuld their vote had n u right vu come on a dowcorii. complain of th•ir lien ign o raii-•,• jects, and to est! for Ilt•W pole of rewinding and t' been killed by Alembws who ' their place Would such a moment tolerated in the Unitsu thon;h the rate err a nteasitre by a ntalurity of one, in thi ipenk-r ? Ccrtaioly isot. ',Uhl lead to eud:ess del. r 1 : .i