The Statesman. — London, England, 1815-10-20 00:00:00

PARLUVENTARY - REFORM. icosTir!turn FROM Ouit PAPER OF rrtnAlc LAST.] Previens to entering upon the ininsetliate conside r:eon of the civil branch of our Constitution, legi ela live representatinn, the Major Ihnught it expedient to make a few preliminary observations, of which the feline ing is the substance:—That the wisdom and beeeficence of a legislature ere snore conspicuous when it leest interferes with the business of the Eve cteive Government. That in much statute-making there is a symptom of anmething unsound, a , levity and officieusneia net congenial with the sobriety arid dignity of grave and epright legislation ; but imply ing nit unacquaintance with the Constitution, a su perficialness in the principles; of law, and indeed something even less to be respected. That Beccari exclaimed. " miserable is the condition of that Ils. tion in which the wis a science;" what then must e the condition of England, where the law is a con geries of mountainous magnitude, and the Lawyers in number are equal tow large army ! where each se parate branch of the law is in itself an intricate science, anti no Mir of its professors presuniptobus enough to pretend that he can grasp a knowledge of the nitrite F—('bat in this boundless wilderness, this intricate labyrinth of law, grow up endless per plexities and innumerable oppressions, deadening the seetiment of affectien to the Stare, alienating the mind from a Government which cannot protect, and under which justice is the most cnstly of all commis. when such a mass of complicated evil is but a super-addition to a violation of fe e damen. talc, w hirh enables the Rulers to tear up by the roots all natiatial liberty, must not such a condition of a political commenity be pregnant either with con vulsien or dissolution, untres the Constitution being . eater - 411y vigorous, it lead to one of those critical re coveries, by which life is not merely preserved, but heath restored and confirmed. " The history of this country," says the Earl of Lirerpred, " abounds with more of those critical periods than that of any other ; and it is to the pro per use our ancestors made of them, that our Go vernment has long been advancing by various steps towastis perfection they withstood e.e repeated at• tempts but of plea! innovation and regal oppression • and though their struggles frequently produce d violent fevers in the hate, yet the Constitution ahrays came forth in more pfifrcl health, and some new se curity was obtained fur our frr edom." "If such beeefita (said Meier C.) were derived from Magee Charts and the Bill of Rights, which did little more than merely declare our birth-right liberties, cer tainly did not restore them, how greatly must those boasted statutes be surpassed. by that whets shall ahortly, I trust, put those inestimable birth-right liberties Poo our actual possession. 44 But if all the other European nations, originally Of the same stock with ourselves, sooner or later lost their liberties, white those of England alone were preserved by critical Itetesrm, partiealarly at Runnimede and the Revolution, it may be asked, wby after a Magna Charts, a Bull of Rights became neressary 2—as well as why, after a Bill of Rights, we are now again, as much as ever, in need of a cri tical Reform?—To both these questions, we answer, that although each of these cri.ical Reforms did good service, and peed the eae tor better things, yet neither of teem earl sir:mina for duration, because neither of them wvs radical. Although each, in a manly tone, declared the people's rights and liberties, end this spirit produced, for a while, beneficial ef fects, yet on neeher occasion was there, on the car dinal ; rents of ripe Goverment, a proper militia and Legislative Representation, any thing whatever actually dune. Our Saxon and proper militia, the only these that ever deserved the name, was see " restored to full vigour and energy ;" a free Par liament, with annual election, was NOT coattlislied ; the nation, consequently, was NOT put its possession rf its riehts and liberties, with the means of self. siefence, eiteer military or civil. llow, then, are MP to wonder at the present condition of cur country 2 The wonder rather is, that it has not been completely ruined in half the time that has elapsed since the Revelation. That it has required more than a century to bring it su near destruction, we must attribute to the inherent vigour of the Consti tution, mutilated as it was ; to the love of liberty in the English character; to the remembrance of Ilunnimetle, of Whitehall, and of the Revolution ; and to the awe in which tyranny has stood of the; gond seine and courage of the nation. " After each of the two critical Reforms we have mentioned, despotism, scotched only, not slain, lay quiet for a short season ; but, as the claims and re seutments which had elicited to patriotic exertion • subsided, the serpent again crawled forth, and never ceesed to attempt the destruction of liberty, whether by encircling her frail champions widths the fatal folds i of her corruption ; whether by retaining the poison shedding tongues of lea reed slavesen help packed Juries to pretended laws ; or by openly shedding freemen's blood in modes eel y known to arbitrary government.' Put, itideed, w Hee er be the forms of legislation," of mrs e istracy, ur .ulunitvistration, a goverement is in fact ere/land Jr. e. or military and despotic, ac cording to its lira resort for carrying its law into . execution. Fur deciding that question, this is the sure criterion. if it be a Civil Government, its Hail' power (as we see in the constitutional county power of Ercitho will be resistless; .but a hen the civil poser t.f a government, once free, has, by treachery, been undermined and brought We decay, so as to have lost Ps force and energy for ultimately soppert leg the law, and a last resort to military forte is be come necessary, then it is assuredly become a Xili- Mr" Gov erement. " in the g reat work uedertakcn at the Rerolua tine, are we to attribute oversights and omreissions which to us appear palpable, to the slowness et . hu man iteellect in arrivisig at perfection in the forbid. den science of civil government ? —to the long expe rienced and LeuuMbing effects of feadal violence, of of ex-ofre in tyranny, and s t ar -chamber information, the terrors of incarceration in tar distant jails, for free speech or wsitiog In ass age illustrious her in tellect, in an age illumined by the geniis of a Milton, a Locke, a Coke, a Seiden, or Newton, are we thus .to account Ins the disappointment of the• hopes as cited in the nation by the Prince of Crion ge t e Decla ration, ind the Parliament'e Bill of Rights? In part we no , . 'lie few. indeed were highly gifted and eminently I. enell, but they floarished toreearly after ‘... L` , ~~ TILE STATESMAN. the revival of learning to be perfect in all points of • Government; while the mass of the people had for ages here kept in a state of ignorance and depres sion, and had not been taught the principles of their Government by the annual exercise of their rights and their d.ities, under instructive arrangements to that end. The old serpent, therefore, was but too succes , fol in preventing the good seed sown in the Convention Parliament from producing its natural fruit—a restored Constitution. That Parliament, after brief; its lawful period, not exceeding one year, expired, and a new one was born. Into this, unhap pity, a new spirit was infused ; so that when we con sider what was done by these two Parliaments as the work of one set of men, we perceive incongruities that give us no small surprise; and that in fact, next to nothing was done of that which was promised.— In short, in looking back to what is generally in cluded within the period of the Revolution, we see 44 rights and liberties declared, claimed, demanded, and insisted on," which were NOT recovered, and principles proclaimed as fundamental, which were NOT embodied in any restored and reformed institu tions for producing their proper effects. 66 The Convention House of Common•, while the best manner of restoring and settling the Constitution, employed their thoughts, after much consideration, after committing and re-committing certain heads of matters ' absolutely necessary' to wards the accomplishing of their object; and after distinguishing such as were to be introduced into the Statutes then immediately in contemplation, as ' de claratory of ancient rights,' from such as were to make the matter of new laws' for putting the na tion in possession of those ancient rights, ' drew the same into form,' and proceeded to pass the Bill of Rights. 6 6 With reference to the proposed new laws that were to accomplish what the Bill of Rights declared, it is not at present necessary to notice any other than a resolution for preventing the too long continusnce of the same Parliament.' Now what possible cri terion can we base for ascertaining what is 'too long,' unless we measure by the mete wand of the Constitution, by some principle of free Government, or by some rule of law ? Too long is an expres►ion that has reference to some standard. It cannot re• late to expediency or policy, which is one thing to. day, another to-morrow ; one thing in the imagiva. lion of Richard, another in the fancy of Robert.— Those who at that time used this phrase, doubtless acted on the same reason as those in our day who have laid it down that Parliaments ought to be brought back to a constitutional duration,' perfectly know ing what that duration is ; but thereby averting pre mature objections founded in faction or ignorance. " Looki:ig back, then, to the progress made in that work of generations' by which the English na. lion have had to redeem themselves into that state of liberty to which by nature and the Constitution they wete entitled ; and remarking in particular how much of this work was effected by the critical reforms of 1215 and 1689, not forgetting to Time how much of the work at the latest of tne:,e periods wits left undone, and remain; yet to be ac,mmulisheil, we ,h3ll be enabled ' not nist to -ea our way,' bdt to under wand what we are about, in labniiring to complete the " restoration of that ancient Constitution where of our Saxon ancestors were unjust I) depraved, partly by the policy, and partly by the force of the Nor twin." After noticing that the above observation may serve to correct an error of those who have mistaken the work of re-building for original building, Sic. he continued— " Thin contemplating our subject, we observe that it has brew eaer%ed for the nresent race of Eng lishmen to crown the patriotic labours of six centu tie:, and put the finishing hand to this work of generations ;' and how delightful the thought, that b 5 acwrting our natural right, and by restoring the tlef2ncei of our liberty, the inundation shall be stayed, and the virtuous heart of England be glad dened by a golden harvest of freedom waving through the land ! '• Although, on the grounds we have explained, tae arc full of hope and confidence in a happy re. stilt, yet we forget not, that in place of benefiting from the soundness of the Constitution, we are suf. feting from its decay ; ' in place of experiencing na tional security from a faithful adherence to this cri terion of right government, unfaithful deviations have brought us into the extremity of danger.' In this situation, the wide extent of our foreign pos sessions affords no consolation ; the capture of island after island adds nothing to our strength; vas sals brought under our yoke by millions, promise no support ; nor can the occasional flashes of glory from naval and military heroism dissipate the gloom: hundreds of millions wrung from industry by taxa tion without representation, have been spent, and profusely on every soil has the blood of England been shed ; hut still deeper and deeper we sink in difficulty, danger, and despondence ! The sole secret of this mockery of our madness, of this desertion of our duty, of this bitter fruit of our folly, is, that legislative authority is transferred from legitimate responsible trustees, to usurpers of the seats of legislation, whose wealth increases with national dis tress, whose aggrandisement keeps pace with national degradation, and vs hoselainfol corruptions, blind. ing the eyes and hsrdening•the heart, cause an infa. tuation as inveterate as that of Pharaoh, which ended not until he, his chariots, his horsemen, and his whole host, were overwhelmed in destruction." EQUESTRIAN FEAT EXTRAORDINARY.-011 Tues. day se'iinight, T. Poole, Eici. of Illodshrove, undertook, for a wager of 30 guineas, to ride down the steepest putt of the Devil's Dyke, near Du ighton, on horseback, a descent at least of three hundred ards, and, in many places, almost vertical ! Mr. P ,, 01e is not only one, of the most daring, but one of the best riders in this county, and the frightful task a b ove na med he performed on Tuesday, with the greatest ease, in the presence of a field of nearly one hundred sportsmen ! In the descent he was al lowed to diverge ten yards only to the right or left of the 'starting point, but so nearly straight was his progress, that he did not deviate more than three feet at most from the line. H e ro d e an age d mare of his own, who rapidly executed her task, galloping with her fore feet, and sliding upon her hocks, no less to the astonishment than gratification of all present. WESTMINSTER SESSIONS. Yesterday the General Quarter Sessions for the City and Liberties of Westminster, commenced be fore William Watson, Esq. Deputy Chairman, and a full Bench of hiagistrates. After the Proclamation against vice and immora lity, and the Act against riotously aßsembling, were read, the Deputy Chairman informed the Grand Jury that he had looked through the Callender, and though there were a good number of offences, they were all of them of a trivial nature, nut callii.g for any observation from him ; they would therefore re tire to their room, and give the business that dispatch to which it was entitled. RIOT AT THE HON. F. ROBINSON'S. John Bristow was indicted for a riot, in throwing stones, and assembling with others in a riotous man ner in the front of the lion. Frederick John Robin. son's house, on the night of Tuesday the 7th of March last, in the parish of St. James, Westminster, and there with a brickbat or stone, driving open the window shutters of the said house, to the great dan ger of the said Frederick Jelin Robinson, and to the disturbance of the public peace. Ripley, servant to Mr. Robinson, said, that he was in his service in the month of March last. On Tuesday the 7111, about ROO people had assembled right and left in front of the house, throwing stones; they forced the window-shutters open; the windows were broken the day before; the mob demanded Mr. Robinson to come out, that they might hang him on the lamp-post. On the Monday they got into the house, and took away the chairs and tables belonging to the hall ; they returned on the Tuesday night, af ter the witness had placed the house under the pro tection of the soldiers; some person threw a stone or brick-bat, which forced the window-shutters; it was then the mob demanded Mr. Robinson to come eut, and they would tie him to the lamp-post; they stood till half-past ten o'clock, when' the military dispersed them. -- Herne, a constable belonging to the parish of St. Saviour's, said he went into the mob in question along with Harris, Holmes, and Popham; Mr. Ito• binson's house was situated in Burlington-gardetta ; on Tuesday night he saw the Prisoner there exactly iu front of the house, standing on the pavement ; rz boy with a basket came up to the Defendant, and gave him a stone or hrick-hat, he could not say whirl' ; he took it in his left hand, and immediately let fly at Mr. Robinson's window, upon which the witness instantly laid hold of him ; while they were conveying him away, he slipped something out of his hand, which Hohnes tried to pick up, hut could net; he is quite sure the Defendant is the person. Cross-examined for the Defendant by Mr. A LLSY. —Did not know of any reward—newer heard of any —nor did he expect ail. The boy had a basket ()srr his arm; he picked up the stone, and gave it to the Defendant. Mr. At.t.cy here remarked, that from the way in whica the witTiesF cave his examiostiog in chief, hot was conv:need mere as not a peis ,, n Couit who did not Suppose that the boy was i;ning about sYriing out sionPs In thrice who WCfP so wicked as to throw them. 1k asked the witness would he swear that he had not given a different account of this at the Pah- Office, llow , dreet ?-11e would not undertake to swear he had not. an extra constable of Ilatton-garden Office, was with last witness at Mr. Robinson's house, on the night in question : there were 150 persons present, and among that number was the Defendant. Ile saw the Defendant step forward, pick up some thing from the ground, and pitch it under handed at Mr. Itubinsun's house, crying at the same time, " here goes." The people made way for him, and it had the effect of bursting open the shutters •f Mr. Robinson's window. When he stooped down to get the missile which he threw, and while he was in the act of preparing to throw it, the witness could not have prevented him. Ile was never given to sup pose there would be any reward of 1001. lie has seen bills offering a reward, but be had been in the country since. Does not know that the rewind was 3001. Daniel Harris did not see the Defendant till he was in custody. Mr. ALLEY made a long defence for the Prisoner, principally dwelling upon the differences in the testi mony of the witnesses, not two of them agreeing in the same story ; hut one of them insisting that he re ceived the stone from a boys, and the other that he himself picked it up. The fact is, that being en ap prentice to a laceman of resp+ctability, whom he had here to his character, and skishing to get out of the crowd into which idle curiosity had led him, he made an effort to digengsge himsraf, and that effort was construed by the officers into the assault in question. There was here, however, no associating together for any of the unlawful purposes mentioned, proved ; nor any thing that at all amounted to such an offcmce, should go . to deprive the young man at the bar of his fair fame. The DEPUTY Ca ‘TRNIANT having recapitulated the evidence, told the Jury that if they believed the wit nesses, the Prisoner was gailty. It was his duty to lay, that in point of law, upon the same supposition, the Prisoner was guilty. The Jury, after deliberating about a quarter of an hour, found the Prisoner Not Guilty. The Commission of Lunacy, which has been sitting at the Castle of Exeter for sitteen days past, closed its investigation in Court on Tuesday last. Wed nesday morning, we understand, the Grand Jury would see the object of their investigation, Mr. Illh.srny B. BAKER. himself, previous to giving their verdict. This is one of the most extraordinary in vestigations ever gone through in Exeter. The num ber of witnesses brought forward to prove the in. sanity amounted to tifty-twn; the number on the other side was scarcely less numerous. Mr. DAtiNCEY spoke for upwards of six hours. Mr. Greruno oc. cupied four hours in his closing speech. The ex pellees attending the trial are estimated at not less than A ri 2 i °°° ngu l lerly heautifel sheep, of the true Leices ter hreed, from his . Gram:4l4k ijojta of Brop oßD ' i Woburn flock, was killed on Monday last ill Clare. market, the carcase of which weighed 2 stone. POLICE, Bow-STREET.—On the 13th of lost month, Mri Fawcett, a laud surveyor, of the rieighbourito :s l o f Bedford-square, lost, or was robbed of a 201. 'l in k .4 England notes, but supposed the former. Mr. Fawcett being iu possession of the elates and num. hers of the notes, gave information at the Ltl!,tt. but uo tidings were heard of them till .sithi„ th „ si ; few days, when the 201. note was paid into the Binh, and traced to Mr. Waterhouse, the coach -toaster of the Swan with Two Necks Inn, in Lad-lane, where it was taken of a passenger going by one of the stages from that inn. From them it was traced to the daughter of Mrs. Creevey, a milk-woma n i n Tottenham-court-road, and from her to her mother, who stated that she received it from Mary Sheen, a woman carried milk for her, who acknowledged to the finding of it near Russell-square, and who had requested her mistress to take care of it for her, but Mrs. Creevey had paid the 201. Bank note away, in. tending to pay Mary Sbeen the amount whenever called upon for it, and the latter had actually re. ceived it from Mrs. Creevey at the time of herinter. rogated. _ _ On Mary Sheen being examined before Mr. Birnie on Wednesday, she acknowledged to Wine th e sum Mr. Fawcett had lost, but no language or argil. ments could convince her that she had no right to it, and she would not agree to any thing but %list Mi chael Hearn, a man who resides in St. Giles's, told her was right, who has great influence over the lower order of the Irish in that part. On young Donald. son searching her for duplicates, he found in her bo. som Houk notes to the amount of 191. which no doubt was part of what Mrs. Creevey had given her. She fought desperately to destroy them. Tee was given to Mr. Fawcett, there being no doubt of i's being the change of the property which he had lost, and declined prosecuting. On the night of the I Ith 4iist. the warehouses of Messrs. Stubbs and Co. packers, of 01,1 Fish-street hill, D'ctors' Commons, were broke open, and rob. bed of Irish linens, kerseymeies, end other pro perty, to the amount of several hundred pounds.— On Monday John Upton and John Avery, belonging to the Office, from circumstances, were induced to search the house of Joseph Ilaarcard, in Cock and Castle-lane, where they found a great variety of va luable property, which they took possession of.—A man of the name of Thomas Henry bad been previs out:ly taken into custody. Yesterday they all underwent an examination. Mr. Richard Stubbs, ono of the partners in the house, attended, and identified all the property found by the patrole in the possession of Hayward and Henry, at the Thatched House public-house. is Islington, where they had been followed by the Offiii cers, and also the property found in Hayward's house ; with the names of the manufacturers of the kerseymeres cut off the ends of the pieces. —They were ordered for re-examination. Gort.on.kt.x.—Benjamin O'Shea, head ;inter at lbp Old A-II tun, }Whom, was. an Than...tax, charred with (he non delivery of a p,reel, directed to Mr. Aikinan, of filar kfri road, which arrived un Friday Bast. but was I:01 delif.led ill Sunday no m: tie was convicted. and fiord in tile millcltled penalty of Ins. mid coats. UM lON •H A 14..—John Roberta was, on Thtmday, blamed op by Collitighourn, chartted wi.h stealing a pair at wind. , w .lie property of Mr. Level, of Valentine.plue, Mart. ft i .1- . -road. Mr. Love! slated, that she we , siting io h pin •IJI 1111 Wednesday ofterono.!, when sate thon.ht .Ite heard n coi-e in the front mum, and going to..k what it was, -he w lire Prikiinee gotieg tall of the win low ii.e •!r. et c lb a boodle under Ma ono ; she run put at the slow and Wen. vonred to stop him. bite he knocked her done, at the tt.ra time running forward but Ipo!xii.g behind him. he ran some poling and fell, Lod Mr. Lovel etonag tip at the time he nag secured. %Viten he telt lie , hrew :I bundle trout him, %hick on h 'mg examined, was found to COlllitlit t.ro window earthini, the pro' el ty of Mr. Lovel.—He was full) connuitted for trial at the As-in- , . _ At.the time he was apprehended, Colliughourn /tend eon. ecaled upon him a counterpane, which, oil enquiry, yawed to he the property of Mr. Stevenson, 14-n-draper, of Totter street, who stated that it had been hung up in the front of his shop for sale in the morning, and stolen eurining the e was fully committed fur trial on this charge also at ;be Assizer. Saturday evening last a most destructive firebroie out on part of the premises at ilowick-Farm, belong ing to William Curre, Esq. of Itton, near Chepstow. About midnight, one of the buildings, in which est erected, at a great Pa pence, a powerful thrashing ma. chine, and the straw-house adjoining thereto acre discovered to be in flames ; and a poor man who ble; , t in' the latter building unhappily perished. The litntJ of light on the dwelling-house disturbed the set'. i! , t , 7, who seeing that :Inv effort of theirs to extinguish the fire would be utial-tiiiag, hastened to their master's residence, about i'!f a mile from the firm, where, to their great astmlishinmit, they found that a buil.ling that contained another thrasl.ing machine Iv:ls:di - 3os fire. The family at Lunn being summoned to assist in extinguishing the filmes, they used suchjudi.tovi methods in cutting off the communication of the Are with the numerous ricks of cern, bay, &c. Oho air being most providentially very still) that as further damage was sustained than the loss of the building la which the fire first appeared, and the machine. Mr .qurre having introduced a variety of machinery for the imProvemerrt . of agricultute, is supposed r° 1 "" occasioned the villainous act. On Sunday afternoon, as Mr. !Lazo!, belono l l to the Dock-yard, at Drptford, was emlo*ouring to cross the Surrey Canal, by aid of a plank. his foot slipped, and he was prcklpitated into the water, which must inevitably have proved fatal to him, but for the timely assistance or Mr. Mort, of the Customs, who was attracted to the spot by Cie cries of a lad, and with a promptitude and intre pidity which reflect the hlgliest credit upon him, plunged in just time enough to effect Mr. Miters rescue before the vital spark was extinct. This should operate as a caution to pls3ongels a hn, udh a view of saving a trifling d'.itance, expose their lives to imminent danger. niEn. On Sunday, Mary, the ont% Jutt i .;liter of Mr. J. Bantirrj o3, Commrell.,lnret.rona. • On the I 7 Ii inst. Mn. Merton, wife of S. B. 34urton, &At of Brook green, Hammer...rash. Oct. 17, on hoard the Eamt Imola ship th e Anna. on him ,en*" from liornhxy., Mr. G. S. tt,,relov, sm. wi the late Mr. '!• clay. of Okt ‘rxr. On the t In-t. at 1::;tst Sheen, Burley, J. V. Gandolg , 14 1• iu his itith year. tONOON Prieint isvd Potonsbed As efrvgit. s' ST&TE111111* Orrice, Seel :cwt. P i ~~ '• "wo .1 I. I. :?'