The Statesman. — London, England, 1809-07-03 00:00:00

f I I ha _ . ESYEX COUNTY 3 iIIIING. am— Cilt.l.llSFOELD.—SxtvaatY, JULY i s 1809. • A numerous and respectable Meeting .of the Freeholders of the County of Essex was held within the County Hall, at Chelmsfurd, this day, fur the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of returning Thanks to G. L. 'Waning, Esq. for his spirited and upright conduct in the ' House of Commons, and to the Members who supported him during the late Inquiry ; and also for the purpose of expressing their sentiments on 1 the corrupt practices and gross abuses which had bees brought to light by evidence given in that Rouse daring the late Session of Parliament. This Meeting was held in consequence of a Re.. quisition addressed to the Nobility, Clergy, Free holders, and Itthabitants of the County of Essex, by a number of respectable Freeholders of the County, who, owing to the refusal of the High Sheriff to call a Meeting, after two several Requi sition made to him on the subject by up y ards of one hundred Freeholders, felt themselves dispelled to make a direct application to the County iu ge neral to assemble and assert their rights. Oa the motion of Colonel Burgoyne, Sir H. St. John Mildmay was unanimously called to the Chair. The first ten Resolutions (see the first page) which were proposed to be pet, having been handed to the Cu t IRttlA t, he stated that he should not take up the time of the Meeting with any ob. servations on the subjects on which they were now assembled.—The Resolutions fully expressed his opinion; and after thanking, as he now,did, the Meeting, for the honour they had done him in milling him td the Chair, he should read the Re solutions for their adoption. These H4olutions were all received with ap plause'. The whole being read— Mr. Hoer WRITE said, that as there was no Resolution on Parliamentary Reform, he should us the freedom to move one on that subject ; be accordingly moved the eleventh Resolution. This Resolution was also received with arch'. mations. Colonel BURGOYNE wished that the original Resolutions should be disposed of befoce the ques tion of Parliamentary Reform was gone into.— There was no man more friendly to the cause of Parliamentary Reform than he was, yet he had cogent reasons for objecting to its forming a part of the original business of this day. There was no mention of that subject in the Reqnisition, in consequence of which they were now assembled. There was nothing so necessary as, that the Meeting shoold ex press their sense of the conduct of the High Sheriff, in attempting t. deprive the co. of Essex of their right, to meet and declare their sentiments on important concerns. This, and the avowed object of the Meeting, he wished first to see disposed of. The present respectable Meeting, and the charac ter of the promising young in whom he was happy to see in the Chair, would prevent the usual charge of mob and rabble, with which Meetings for popular purposes were in general branded, if their conduct, as he was convinced ft would be, was consistent with their professed object. However much, therefore, he approved of Parliamentary Reform, and that be did approve of it he has given woof. by acting as one of the Stewards at the Crown and Anchor Meeting, he most oppose it now, because be had stated to many persons that such was not the object he had iu view in calling the Meeting. He hoped, therefore, the Honourable Gentleman would withdraw 'his Mo tion for tba present. [Cries of No r fio!] He did not mean that it should be withdrawn entirely, but only till the other Resolutions had been agreed to. He was jealous for his own word and honout, and if persevered in at this moment, he must, though be should stand single, oppose the Resolution. He did not object to it in its proper place, he only hoped that it would not be put as one of the ori ginal string of Resolutions. Mr. HOLY WHITE. said, he had no objection to this, it being understood that his Resolution should be put after the original owes were agreed to. Colonel Boneoesz.---" I shall then have no objection to second it." Mr. FLowita was of opinion, that the subject of the Resolution now proposed was as much en titled to consideration as the other. He therefore could not allow it to be set aside. The Meeting was unquestionably under great obligations to the Hon. Gent. who had just sat down, for the zeal with which he had brought about the present Meeting ; but at the same time, it was not proper that his declarations as to the nature of the pro positions to be submitted to them, should bind the Meeting. He contended, however, that the Reso. lotion now proposed was not only necessary, but essential, to theattainment of the objects fur which they were assembled ; and ho trusted the Meeting would not separate till they came to Resolutions on this subject ; among others, that by Parliamentary Reform they meant a reformation of abuses, which it alone could completely effect ; and that seeing, as they did, abuses proved and even acknowledged, and the decisions which, notwithittanding, ensued, they expected Parliamentary Reform to follow, so as to be a preventive of similar abuses in fn. tune. That bargaining and traffic* ie Seats in Parliament, as in any Commodity in a fair, was in general practice in this country, the Meet. ing could not doubt, when the Speaker of the House of Commons had warned them of the existence of practices, at the bare men tion of which their ancestors would have startled : he asked then, was that Meeting to se parate without 'hewing that they were startled at the certainty of the actual existence of such prac tices, coming, as the information did, from so highly respectable a quarter ? We had seeu several measures passed within these few years, the ob jects of which were professed to be the remedying of abases, but they were uniformly declared to have no connection with Parliamentary Reform. The Bill lately introduced by Mr. Curwen, from which he expected little good, was agreed to by ninny on the express declaration that it was not at all connected with Parliamentary Reform ; and a NbbleLord in Opposition (Lord Temple) had even espressed an opinion that it would supersede it. We were told in that Bill too that it was uot meant to prevent implied, but only express contracts for cor rupt Sales of Seats in Parliament. He was taut ac quainted with the arcane of state affairs, but he found the difference between implied and corrupt contracts pointed out in the Diary of the late Bubb Do&lington, who stated, that in soliciting a place, he promised to the Minister six scats in Par. liamentfor xothirtg at all, and that this was not an express but an implied contract. Was it prol:er that this system of corruption shoeld remain ? It was owing to such practices that we had within the last 20 I•years been pilfered of millions of money, and of I our best rights; and but fur the existence of the same systom we should not hare to bear the load of taxes under which we now groaned. As to the assurances of any Gentleman, as to the extent of • the propositions to be brought forward, the Meeting had nothing to do with these. He con. tended, that the Resolution last moved easel:pally ' entitled to be disposed of as those which had pre. ceded it. He hoped that such a respectable Meet. ing as that now assembled would follow the ex. ample of other Meetings on the same saject.-- He was satisfied that they would not de their work by the one tenth part, if they did not de clarc those to be their opinions. Without dictat ing, he could have wished that the weeds of Sir F. Burdett in the motion last made by him on the subject of Parliamentary Reform hi the House of Commons, had been adopted ; whatever lan.. guage they used, however, he was satisfied that a Reform in Parliament was the only mode of re storing the Constitution...-the only safe, radical, and easy remedy for those abuses which they were now assembled to consider. He trusted they would all feel themselves called on to exercise a fair opi nion on the subject, and that there was no time improper for the declaration of this opinion. He called on the Hon. Gentlemau (Burgoyne) to join him in this declaration of sentiment; all he asked of him was to repeat the same line of conduct to-day as he had observed at the Crown and An chor Tavern this day two Months. Sir H. Sr. J. MILDMA Y reminded Gentle:nen that the Resolutions were not seconded. Mr. JOYNER seconded them. The ltesul , ttions were then pet successively, when the first and second Resolutions were agreed to unaniniousty. On putting the third Resolution— Colonel Buttnirrat entered Int• a narrative of the conduct of the Sheriff, and of the steps taken to procure thecalling of the present Meeting. With the first requisition the Sheriff had refused com pliance, on the ground that the persons signing it, to the number of one hundred, were not designated as freeholders, although they were well known to be so. To render the measure palatable, though the freeholders probably yielder) too far in doing so, this objection was removed. The Sheriff then took a new ground, a n d refused comPliance, al. leging, that he had received a counter requisition, with a greater number of names attached to it. Co. lone' Burgoyne, on inquiry, found that the original refusal had proceeded from a Letter to the Sheriff from Mr. Conyers, Mr. Brimstone, and others, on the ground that the meeting was unnecessary and inexpedient. The names to the counter-requisi tion, too ; lie found to be, in many instances, false, In others improperly obtained ; some by the abuse of tie clarion' character to poiitleal purposes—that, too, even in the church or vestry;. others by re presenting the matter as gone by, and interpreting an implied acquiescence in the artful observations on this subject of the person making them, into a disapprobation of the principle of the meeting. On finding these to be the facts of the case, the present meeting was called, on the conviction that, without the right of meeting aed petitioning, the Constitution was at an end, and liberty was a mere shadow. Mr. WII.LIAM SMITH (Member for Norwich) asserted the propriety of every man's maintaining his own principles. If the decision of the Sheriff in this case had been acquiesced in, the right of the people to assemble must bare been waved for ever. It was plain the object of the Requi sition was not to assert the claim of those who signed it to be the majority of the Freeholders of the County, but only to call on the Sheriff to assemble the Freeholders, that it might be sten if they were or were not the :majority. Tho ques. tion was, if he was to be entitled to take on him self, from partial representation, without call. ing a Meeting, to decide bow the majority ac tually stood. No position could be more absurd than this. The Resolution was than put and carried una. nitnously. The 4th, sth, 6th, 7th, Bth, and 9th Resolutions were also put and carried unanimously. Mr. 110 LT WHITE, on his Resolution being 'nosed, observed that the present Resolution e as peculiarly called for in consequence o( the Remo lution which bad just been passed. To prevent us from talking about Parliamentary Reform, and to divert the attention of the public to another subject, it would be the object of the proprieleora of rotten boroughs to talk of economy. Mr. Burke had formerly set the example ou this sub ject, and even took credit to himself for the de_ ception. He even esteemed it of such import. lace, that, enumerating his services to Mi. Dieters, he arrogated to himself more merit from this one circumstance, than from all his other services. In like manner, at the present mo ment, Earl Selkirk was endeavouring to divert the public attention from Parliamentary Reform, by directing it to the inferior, and, comparatively speaking, trifling advantages to be derived, iu the present state of our representation, from political or national economy. It was therefore essential, if the meeting felt, oho was sure they did, that Parliamentary Reform was necessary, that they should not allow even the possibility of having it in, ferred, particularly from their own resolutions, that they were willing to he satisfied with the mockery of economy...for mockery any species of economy would prove, where the peoplewere nut represented. When Sir F. Bnrdett brought forward, in the last Session, his Motion on the subject of a Reform in I Parliament, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was kind enough to say, that the people of this country did not want Parliamentary Reform. If the present Meeting, after the Resolutions they had already come to, were to onsit all notice of Parliamentary Ituform, what would be the effect ? The Chan cellor of the Exchequer would feel himself war ranted next Session, in arguing on the proceedings I of this day, as a confirmation of the assertion for merly made by him. Bo would say—" In the county of Essex the urgency of Parliamentary Reform, nay, idea of the necessity, or even of the propriety of it, passed by unnoticed at a Meeting called for the special purpose of considering of corruption and alitiies, and that too at a time when you had called their attention, and the attention of this House and of the country, to the sobject, within the preceding furtnight."—Thus, instead of doing good by the present Meeting, or of contributing to a diminu tion of the abuses felt and acknowledged to exist, their assembling together to-day would only tend to strengthen and to increase the mischief. Being himself a non-resident freeholder, Mr. Holt IVhite felt ftituself under the necessity of apologizing fur the time he had consumed, and fur the seemingly officious part he had acted,in bringing forward a Re solution of so much importance. He was afraid they would think him too forward. [Cries of No,' No, from every part of the Hall.] He assured the Meeting, he never would have come sixty miles I but for the special purpose mentioned in his Rest,_ lotion. lie had worded it in the mildest manner i possible, his object being to preclude all objection . to it. He had applied to several Gentlemen, re. sident in the county, to bring forward the motion, but they had declined doing so. If there were any I other Members besides those he had particularised, who, in the present Pirliameut, had given any as. surance of their determination to support P41114_ i mentary Reform, he should with cheerfulness in clude their names in his Resolution. The names of Mr. Brand and Lord Cochrane were suggested as being in this situation. - Colonel BURGOYYE said, he rejoirei to see a Naval hero who was likewise a Reformer of Abuses. The propriety of omitting all names being sug gested, Mr. lIOLT 'Winne said, he highly disapproved of this suggestion. Iu canvassing, which he had often done, it had bmit his uniftum practice to inquire if the Caintulate whom he suppnited was or was not frieudly to Parlianstintary Reform. It was necessary that we should know who were for us, and who against us. There was an addi tional rea'on which he begged to suggest in fa vour of his motion : Mr. Whitbread, Sir F. Bur dett, &c. were the friends of the public cause in the House of Commons. If the people did not adhere to them, and support them, at least with public sanction and approbation, had they not a right, and was it not natural, that they in their turn should desert the cause of the people, in which even the people themselves did out afford I them sufficient countenance ? Cul. BuaouYsia was afraid it might be esteemed an affront if any name friendly to the cause of Reform should be omitted. Mr. 11. Witi-re said, he had introduced the words any other Member in either House of Par. liament, to prevent any offence, and also to comprehend Peers, who, like Lord Grosvenor, had made declarations on this subject. Sir it. Sr. J. MicomAy observed, that the lion. Mover of this Resolution had said that all those to whom he had applied to bring forward the Resolution, had declined doing so. Ile begged to , assure the Meeting that had the Ilon. Gentleman applied to him, he should not have declined the office. (Applause:.] Mr. %Punic said, 1: he had seen Sir 11. Mild. may before he had taken Oe Chair, which he had not, he should assuredly nave applied to him to bring forward the Resolution. Colonel BURGOYNE, the other Resolutions hav ing been agreed to, now found himself at liberty to second the present motion. lie proceeded to state, as matters of fact in favour of the Resolution, the case of Lord Castlereagh, and the decision of the House upon it, on the ground that the transaction had not been per. fected. Also the case of Lord Castlereagh and Mr. Perceval, in which evidence had been rejectA which would have been received in any suit or criminal action in the lower orders of life. Ills (Colonel Burgoyne's) principles were those of King, Lords, and Commons. The system was equally bad if one preponderated more than ano ther. It was only the nice and equal poise of these that constituted the excellence of our Con. stitutiou. This Resolution was then pat, and carried una. talotously. Mr. HARVEY then rose.—After having dope so much to the satisfaction of themselves, it must naturally arise in the minds of all meu.to inquire —Having acted properly to those who had done right, what should be said to those who had done wroug ?—For his own part, he should be deci. dedly for the naming of ail persons against whom' any Resolution was meant to be passed. When he considered, however, who were the objects of censure—men whom, (ruin their deficiency of ta lent and of virtue, the Meeting muststauip with a degree of greatness which they did not merit-- instead of calling them forward into public no tice, he thought the best way of punishing them, was to consign them to silent contempt. If they were, at any future period, awakened to a sense of recollection, they would then be enabled to contem. plate the estimation in which worth and virtue were held. The Hon. Freeholder proceeded to enter into some private disputes between himself and Mr. Western, Member for Malden ; and concluJed by moving, that C. C. Western, Esq. the only Mem ber for Essex who had supported Colonel Wardle in the late inquiry, had, by his uniform conduct in Parliament, merited the thanks of that meeting. He was not the author of this moliao, because he could find no other person anxious to make it. ale found every person whom he had consulted agreed in the propriety of it. Mr. W. SMITH said the present - motion had not been communicated to him, because, probably, the lion. Mover knew, from his affection to the object of it, that lie might reckon on his support. That the Hon. Geotleman alluded to in the motion had always actcl right, and had made one in those lists which stood fur -the constitutional rights ved liberties of his country, was true ; and be prestouvnl to think, there could be no better pledge for lii, sin.. verity than that lie had uniformly done so. It would have been indecorous in him (Mr. Smith) to have said any thing on the former Resolution ; but as it was now carried, he might nithout any ' impropriety deliver his sentiments urn% it. lie should, iii doing so, simply allude to some of the excuses made in support of the system as it ii.tw existed. We were told that under the mask of Reform, revolution and subversion of the ex. iiting Government was meant. Every man, who, as lie did, knew the present Meeting, must be satisfied that they were the real supporters of the Constitution, nut the subvertcn of it. The latter were to be found in another class, who wished to strengthen the Constitution by retaining, not as they . did, by taking away the rotten part. What would be said of two persons, who having a near and dear friend in a dangerous disorder, while the one prescribed a Physician to endeavour to restore to him his health, the other should say, " I like him iwell enough as he is, I admire him, with his dis. order, eveu as he stands. Ile Is the object of my admiration, even with the c weer about him, and wby should you call in a Physician to destroy him, by eradicating the disease under which he labours." What principle could be more ridiculous in private life than this ? yet this was the amount of the ar. • gument which it would be incumbent on such per. ! sons to maintain. They were told too of the evils i • res ulting from the want of that subordination which uurvenal suffrage was likely to produce. The Re -1 form which those who thought with him wished was I not the abolition of the inequality of rank, het of the inequality of rights. Ranks were levelled on 'ly in those countries where one person was the • tyrant, and the others were all slaves. Subordi nation to laws was the duty of every man ; obe dience to illegal authority was the duty of no man. 1 While the yeomanry of this country, therefore, did their duty to every good man, be heartily wished to see the day when the people of Eng- I laud would he independent of all influence 1 arising from power, wealth, or rank oldie. An lion. Gent. had on a former day, in talking of the influence of the Martpuis of Buckingham in pro ! curing meetings of the county, deprecated the in terference of any Marquis whatever. Ile was hi- Alined to cstend this, when it went to undue in fluence, not to any Marquis merely, but to any man, unless to one of talent and integrity. In such hands the public sentiment would lint be ex erted to their own prejudice. Ile hoped to live to see the day when every unconstitutional iullu. 1 enee would be done away in this and every other country. When this motion should be agreed to, i ho should trouble the Meeting with only one more i observation. The motion was agreed to unanimonsly. Mr. %Vassal's expressed his gratitude for the honour which had been conferrixl on him, of which, indeed, he was scarcely worthy, haring only tilt_ charged an incumbent duty. lie should propose a Resolution on which he knew there would be no difference of opinion. The Thanks of the Meeting to the Chairman for the readiness with which ho had taken the Chair, and for his conduct in it. After a few words, in volvinga question, its which it was proposed to thank the Chairing'', Mr. Smith, Mi. Western, &c. to whom the calling of the pre sent Meeting was principally to be ascribed, the latter motion was withdrawn, and the former agreed to unanimously. Sir H. fir. Joan MaLuau begged leave onto more to reborn the Meeting his thanks for the ho nour they had again done him. He did not mean to enlarge on the object of their present MeetinF, but merely to entreat them not to stop here. It must be from themselves, not from the Rouse of Commons, that they were to expect relief. Was it to a parcel of butchers that they were to look for the cheapening of meat ? It was from the people themselves, and from them only, that It must all proceed. prpfauses.l The Meeting then a►ijourned, with nine cheers, to the County Room, where a handsome dinner was prepared. FROM TILE DUTCH PAPERS. P A ais, just 23..--According to letters from Corunna of the Bth instant, the Dukes of Dal matia, Elchingen, and Treviso (Soult, Ney, ants Wilier), have united in Gallicia, and aro march. ing together against the English army nhich has dared to approach the Northern frontier of Portu gal, under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley. We expect every day to hear important tidings. AMSTERDAM, JUNE 28....13y the privateer —, Captain Welfsen, an English gun.boat, carrying twolB.pounders, and 23 men with two officers, was taken near Lessee. Last week, were brought into Aalberg, a Pappenbarger, and an American schooner with fruit. Of the two Prus sian ships detained near Dragoe, one was destined in this direction, and the other to Norway. LEYDEN, JUNE 27.—The following (says the French Journal of this place), having been insurt ed in more than one French Journal of the lgth, is of too curious a description not to be inserted here.—(See the article in the Statesman of last Thursday). The Editor of the above-mentioned Journal then adds the following remarks: 66 ,When such articles are read in the public papers of a nation with which nor own is so dove. Iy connected, it is hard to suppress the quick feel ings they must excite in every upright breast %Vhat! aro there then persons who avail them , selves of the French papers to accuse us of being the circalaton of intelligence unfavourable to France, generated by rage and haired against that country.? Hut do nut these persons know, that of all the nations allied to France, them. f nut one which has made such great sacrili4n.s to the common- cause Holland ? Do they nit know, that while the other united people have too ierred at leant some of the sources of their pro sperity,HolLstme alone, which subsi , ts by merchan dise, has not retained one of her's ? Are they igno rant of the rigorous measures taken iu HoilanJ tto prevent contr.thand trade? Are they ignorant of the patience ; the reiignativn with which ILullartJ bas gi , V