The Statesman. — London, England, 1810-04-18 00:00:00

.Milat:.rc farce, selxingsyour person, and conveying you by a Loge body of troops to the rower. Yo s ir distinction between pi is iteee and power remairi unaltered; the privileges of the Hnu,e of Commons are for the protection, not for the de st;tution of the People. We base resolved to remonstrate with the linu , e of Commons no the outriges committed un der their order, nad to call upon them to restore yea to your seat in Parliament, which the present state of the country renders more than ever necessary fir the furthirauce of your :sod rue object, a Reform in the Represcoiation in that jTnu•e. ,o many Members are collected together by weans, " which it is lint necessary for us to describe," we ca.mot but entertain the greatest apprehensinms for the re mainder of our liberties; aid the employment of a Military twee against one of their own body, is but a sadpcesage of what nisi he expected by those who might, like you, have the courage tts stand fora ird in defence of the Rights of the People. When see reflect on your generous eixertioas to de rroy the horrors of secret and solitary confinernent, to miti gate the severil; of punishment in the .4rmg, to prevent the eashiee'ng of its Officers without cause as.igaed, to restore for the comfort of the resorts-out soldier the public property conveyed by a job to a private individual, to prevent the ex teatiou of the barrack system, the obvious effect of lehieh is so separate the soldier from the citizen, to prevent the introduction of foreign troop, to bring to light an atro cious act of tyranny by which a British sailor was left to perish on a baron rock; and. above all, your Imre rotted exertions ro obtain a full, fair, and fres Representa tion of the People in Pnrliainent—when we reflect on the firmness, the unshaken constancy, which yaw have invariably " in evil report andgond report," we art eager to ex press the sentiarents of gratitude and attachment to you with which as are impresce ; and we are convinced those tenti nolo, are not only felt by the inhabitants of this City,. but by every person throughout the land who is not interested in toe continuance of public abases. ‘ " Signed at the request," &c. PETITION AND REMONSTRANCE. " TO THE HONOURABLE THE COMMONS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLKD. " The Petition and Remonstrance of the Inhabitant Householders, Electors of the City and Liberties of Wesainicster, tbsembled in New Palace-yard, the Fith day of April, 1810, by the appointment of Arthur Morris, Esq. the High Bailiff; in pursuance of a Re qnisitiou for that purpnse. " We, the lshabitnnt Householders, Electors of the City and Liberties of Westminster, feel most sensibly the indignity offered to this City in the pet so of our beloved Representa tive, whose Letter to us has fallen under the censure of your Ilmasurable House, but which, so far, from deserving that censure, ought, in our opinion, to have led your Honourable Moose to re-consider the subject, which he had so ably, le gally, and constitutionally discussed. " We are convinced that no one ought to be Prosecutor and Juror, Judge or Executioner, in his own cause, much lees to assume, accumulate, and exercise all those offices is his, own per3ou. " We are An convinced, that the refusal of your Honour able House to inquire into the conduct of Lord Castlereagh and Mr. flerceval (then two of his Majesty's Ministers), when distinctly charged with the sale of a seat in your Um . . ' eouroble House, evidence of which was offered at the Bar r by a Member of ' , Our Honourable florae, and the avowal io your, flotiourable House, that such practices were as noto rious as the sun at man-days' practices, st the bare mention of which the Speaker of your Honourable House declared, that our ancestors would have startled. with indigontione and the committal of Sir Francis Burdett to prima. endorsed by military power ;—are circumstances which ruder evident the imperious newes.ity of an immediate Refores«ht the Re presentation of the People, " We therefore most earnestly Jcall sPitra your Ho. ;mumble house to restore to wont Representatives. "us! nccording to the notice has given, to take the. state of the Representation of the People into your wines consideration, a Reform in which is, in our opinion, the only means of preserving the country from military despotism." Upen the motion of Thanks to Lord CtIC/t: KANE, being adopted, the Noble Lord stood forward, and after the acclamations with which he was received had concluded, the Tobin Lord ad. dressed the Meeting as follows : Electors of Westminster, I offer myself to your. notice at this most important moment, although not embarrassed in sentiment, yet struggling with' feelings, in the expression of which I almost find mysel4 overpowered. I can, and do most freely sympathite with you in reflecting upon the serious stihject which has this day convened us together. in reflecting how, by the iron hand of power, stretched to its utmost bound, a fellow subject has been dragged from the bosom of his family, and subjected to undefined imprisonment, In the absence not alone of the substantial process of that which constitutes a fair trial, but even with. out the ordinary forms of the law of the land. [hear, hear!] Such a hardship inflicted upon any , subject, must under any circiimstrsces be a ques tion for serious alarm, but how much more aggro.. vated in its consequences—how much more to be' regretted by the. people of this great City, when we consider it has been inflicted udon him who so* deservedly stands high in our estimation ? Upon that man, of shots it may be truly spoken, that he dares to be honest is the worst of times.... pear,. hear, hear , have to hope that the constitutional protest of the people of this em pire against such a stretch of power, will present its being tonsidered as a precedent for future ap plication by any succeeding Parliament.• I trust it will not be deemed Unreasonable in me to advert to a circumstance, upon which I wartiniritention. ally misrepresented. It did appear from the re- ! port of some observations of Mine upon the letter and argtimeats of Sir Francis Burdett, that I ven tured to condemn some of them u irrelevant andj oniteeesssry, tool I of course was concluded t!' have reprobated it, so far as such terms applie4go a partirelar part of these documents. What 1, dia say, I now repeat. I did think that some of these expressions would be not only unappli. cable, but ill deserved, if they were directed to the proceedings of a house of Commons, wheel" had more consulted the conscientious discharget its duties, than the idle affectation of supporting , sligoity by the exercise of a severe ountroul against the •people. But how was it possible, that I couli thuds there existed,in.the present in. stance the regard which.suottsau assembly should!! feel fur its character ? Was it possible for any un prejudiced maw to think tints ofthat House, which upon the decision of the lute Inquiry into the Ex. peditiun to Walcheren i could plaint itself to tote . !. • that policy of such Expedition was and that the Mend& of it a'fier the;dd of so many thousands of gallant muff, alone wholly free from 'blame, but was acteelly justifiable [hear! hear !]? When I reviewed such a decision, and was .engaged in considering its exercise of privilege in the ',resent case did I not think instlys when I statedjhat the Ha:use of .Chmeslens would !lest coat& Its dignity by •eon. seientinusly discharging its detiesete the country, rather than by au ettempt to sustain by strung acts or assumed privilege the popular communica tion upon its actions. 'there are privi!eges which that House most secessarilyought ty possess, fee the full and tree performance of its trust ; amongst these the power of commitment oug4t in some cases to be allowed, het such power should of all others be limited and defined. I. do think it right ' that that House should be vested with in' autho. ! rity of committing fur off ices affecting its pri. I vileges, where such offences arc not punishable! by the law of the land. lint where the law can take cognizance of such offences, I du hold it as uneonstitutiossal that the trial and punishment of them should be taken from those courts of com. petent jurisdiction, where the Rrocess is calcu lated be correct guilt and to protect inaocence—, [hear, hear,] by the mere stretch of arbitrary power.. I 'hold it thistle is impossible Ter ally !tribunal to decide justly upon the presumed cri ' sninality of the accused, where the Party who accuses has a power to pronounce judgment, where there is no oath admihistered either to the court or witnesses, end where to the individual arraigned, the power and oppoetthilty of being heard in his defence is denied. [loud cries of hear, hear!] Such a stretch of power was not only its defiance of the positive enactments of our law, but was hostile to those fundamental principles which are ibe basis of all contracts by which comtnu. nides arc bound. But ill time present case there was a most unconstitutional aggravation. I allude to the calling out a military 'force to support the Serjeant at Arms in breaking into the house of Sir Francis Burdett. Why were the military so un necessarily paraded through the streets ? %Vhy was the house of my Hon. Colleague so beset ? It could be for no other purpose, hot intimidation. As for any violence that could justify such a pro. ceeding, I having been an eye witness, can pets', tieely state that therewas not any improper con. duct, more than must be expected from a crowd of people upon any ordinary occasion [licar! hear!] But I most particularly object to the man. ter in which that warrant was executed. Such execution in my belief was a violation of the rights of the individual, and of the dignity of the House of Commons. it forced the house of the lion. Baronet lu. a snauneetlte most extraordinary, and called to the exercise of its own authority the as. sistance of a military force. It hail been stated by the systematic opposeri of Ministers in Parka. ment, that they were entatibleist not calling iy the military force for the execution of that warrant at a muds earlier period. That remissness Constitutes, in my opinion, as far as it goes, the claim•of Mi nisters to our thanks. Be it then their praise, that for two days they reseected the constitutional rights of the people, while it must twits the recol lection of the country far ever, that their oppo. sers, the champions of public freedomoveuld.ttet, if they had power, have respected them even for an hour. [ikar,hear, hear,!] The cundemnatiou of Ministers upon this point is, that they had not persevered in their original resolutions, that open the third day they resorted to that . which was ' most truly illegal. After some other observations upon the duty which the People owed themselves, the Noble Lord proceeded to state the pews liar State of danger to which the country, by the progress of the undue and unconstitutional system, ' was so likely to be reduced. It had to struggle with asystetn of taxation,, whites, in its pressure, weighed down upon the very necessary wants of the people—a taxation carried to this almost insupportable extreme by the continuance of an unnecessary War Expenditure. Such taxation must have its limits, and the misfortune was, that the security of the country in place of being ad. Hvanced, was rendered much more precarious not withstanding all the public exactions. lin my conscience (said the Noble Lord) believe; thist this country cannot rely for its security upon the Navy, from the circumstances in which that branch of our defence is . uow from many causes placed. The fact was, the country now was without the means of repairing—that, at this moment, there were not for the repairs of our present shipping six eecks materials in Plymouth-Dock, ; that near half the artificers had been discharged; end that we were abwlntcly without the means of building the one half of a 74-gun ship. The Meeting was aware that these difficulties were likely to continue. We: were cut off from all eviritmnoleadoe with the Continent, unless by a contraband trade, at least all beneficial intercourse with the Continent was interrupted. Besides, by the last Returns muse to the House of Commosste it was evident that whilst the number of British sailers engaged Info. reign trade amoustted to MOOG, that'ef foellitnene engaged in the same pursuit exceeded 19,000,.. The same comparative decrease was observable in our, shipping ; the .n amber of British ships engaged thbs • was 2000, while that of foreigners amoneted to 4000. It was true, that this comas,' secei‘ed naval materials from Canada and Nova Seidl's, but the Meeting must see that the esstitineanctiair a supply depended upon the precarious tebatildf the wisdom of our public couneeflurs. The Noble Lord concluded with expressing his most ardent hopes•that the friends to that ParliateentarY Re form. whit( must be attained at last,' antrseitheut which there was neither security or .1140 3 4W0u1kl sett the necessity of preserving that 'ordeletieside:: conies which would illustrate the purityldlt th motives, and give the best refill - addict° tblell nies of their esseniites. He hell oody lie that' thatil foe she-grateful manner is whichlitilly Sttlid4 their !honks. . . ~•14 v4li -9V.! vote The loudest approbation thellowed this 1 and'cries of ` 4 Burdett and thoehrane," retiitZ • , through the whole assembly. at a Mr. %YAKIM' nest presented hissed? Meeting, and watt received with hand ontstekiati'd acclamalioge. lie begat' tr ionuto4B6. thectt ,r • .r• t •t>a LI *(. h4t lftit t rissi 6 ,10 "I WI'ATESMAN. IfinitalMo - 4 unnecessary for' jtim to say, that he asereettke hes sentiments ex pressed •by his Noble rilerid, and-heartily concurred in the truth and isiopriety of the Resolutions they had just tweed [..lpplateses.] lie joined with them in all titeir feelings towards their honest aadleeroliggt Representative, Sir Francis Burdett, antitlee ff we4 •tahat he aiteennal it the glorytA his life to ho AIL • bled to call that honourable man his fridend.4.lF plause.] He had read with all the attention th tM was due to it; the letter addressed by Sir Fraticis to his Constituents, and upon the matittest delite ratioe, he could look upon it in no other light than that of an able 'and fair discussion . elms a great constitutional question ; it appeared to , him Ito be any thing rather than a libel. Ili that fetter there was one expression that had been much in. shited upon in the course of the discussions upsiii ' it, as most-offensive and libellous—it was that passage in which the Speaker's warrant was tie. scribed as a thing sal geßeris; . new, In order to thew that this assertion was not altogether so un fouedsal as had been pretended, and as nothing , had as yet been said upon that part of the subject, except its the Resolutions, he would take the li. berty of trespassiug upon their attention for a few moments, while he proceeded to trace the pro. grcss of this warrant front the time of its being issued by the Sleeker, to that of its being carried into effect. [Near, hear!] It appeared then that the Speaker after having drawn up his war, rant, presented it to the Serjeaut, who proceeded to execute it, but on his arrival at the House of Sir Francis Burdett, he stumbles npon the unforsecn obstacle of a closed hall-door [a . laugh.] How was this formidable barrier to be disposed of? The Serjeant looked at his warrant, and then at the door, and could make nothing of either ; he found Meisel( at a loss, neither more nor less than what they called puzzled, and as its such cases sage advice is desirable, he turns away from tho ball-door and proceeds to co ns u lt th e Speaker—and what does the Speaker ? Why, he refers to the warrant, 'and after due deliberation, finds himself just as much puzzled as the Serjeant had been [a laugh]; but there was to lie another puzzle—the Speak 4 r having advised the Serjeant to consult the Magistrates, away goes the Serjeant to the. Bow-street Officers, but they understood too yell the nature of a legal warrant to be 'able to make any thing of an iustrnment with which they were so wholly unacquainted [upplaasesl w ' and so the Bow-street Officers being as mach :la, as either the Scrjeant or the Speaker hips self, refused to give any advice at all upon' ( the subject [a laugh]; they understood the laws . of the land, but they did rwt Airetenti to „the knowledge of . a Speaker's Warrant. --But there was to .be yet another puzzle—[A laugh] --and it was fated that this all-potent . and undisputed butte:neat of power, that had pui. zled the Serjeatit, the:Speaker, and the Bow-street Magistrates, was to puzzle no Ices than a Cabinet Council. (Laughter) The Serjeant in his distress turns from Bow-street • to the grave collected wis dom of the Government, where all the first men of the St ite, the learned, the mighty, and the wise, were assembled together in Cutincil, the Lord High Chancellor himself, and, to crown all, the unheard of talents of the wise emit of the East'. (Bursts of laughter, *ith cries of we know hins well.") With all this accession nf . wii. dom, what did this great Commit of State in °Wee to solve the puzzle? Why, they resolved upon calling iii the Attorney General to help them.— (laughter) As soon as the Cabinet Council had, resolved themselves puzzled, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, hioiself a lawyer, advises the Serjeant to ask advice of the Attorney General—.-just s all the others hid, after - geave deliberations, hat, sid. vised him to take advice of somebody else (Le:tigh ter). Weil thee, the unfortunate "per, sifter travelling so far to no purpose, nowthat it was before toe 'Attorney Goners!, might 'be thought to be in sight of land (leughter)e—aeeordingly the. Attorney General bears• down upon it with the whole weight of his legal knowledge, and after studying, and deliberating, and revolt. this great Law. Officer gives it is hi* opinion and advice, that the Serjeant should—lay a state of the case before him, the Attorney General.=- [Laughter.] So much, for this plain and expli. cit piece of paper, so permission, intelligible, and indisputable, though it puzzled the Serjeant *rho was to execute it, the Speaker, who issued it, the Civil authority , flat was to enforce it, the Privy Council that cnictiened it, and the Attor. , ney General that was to ekplain it. [..lpplauses] I But after puzzling so pion there was, one party yet to be puzzled, and that a •British Jury.—[Here Mr. Wardlie•wes interrupted by the repeated acclamations of the Electors.] ' It perhaps remained for a British'Jury to skew, if tetsti what it was, for that, slight beimpessible,.. what it was not. [4pplwases.J And yet, though itbild puzzled the knowledge and the wisdom of itsigtite, it was a libel to call it " a thing sui ge.l iiirr4V,l" In the name of common sense, what *all It ?, lie would not:quarrel about words, but was it, or was it not, - a thing that no betty could uit. I deritandl [Loud applause]. If it was usage, Why had it been stated upon all hands that their was, no precedent fur breaking open outer doors to enforee)o, And if it law, why were ffll the Lawyers at such a stand ? .Wilsjialstosld it prove sheb a stumbling block to, a (Sloolsannesiat Of Lawyers.? lle would slow beg learegeteeuble them evith one r two ofiscreittions on 4 case nut yet adverted in. When this ease of Mr. (hale Junta was first before the Rouse of Commons, how. high and pompous *is the litigaage of certain Gentletrem upon the prffileges of Parliamen t—privilege, and toothiest !but privilege, great because undefined, its' olsseessl 'thy was pleaded as proof of ita authority. The' 'ouse was the judge et its .awn privaters; shit no•other power whatever had a right to ge l : illindrate, or to circutnseribe them—the House r ilbee ciiuld best knew and deride upon theltown reilegtv. But how was thin high tone teetered the subsequent title of Sir Fiances Medea I.ms at;it those mighty privatise, of width shy thas, alone mild Jedge, shifted their grimed, 1 and instead of rusting ;spun the ussMsed discretion of the noose itself, , a question •said•to involve avian, is tsAtissely referred to the decision 01 • jrcii I . ityst,e• k I ar alp soy fr 4 an picatthtiroae ncile muawilieussisiw,g'neilitgflo: rev:hib:ciastit fit Mag is t ra t es. It ilohull:uwg;t:ist:lltrcrkyiladiditeglohlk7l::rdloirEag)trrch"LheeeitSalleitilif!hlthithrteth°dtertirialoitergtll444l::iiritnlit;l::‘eii--14t:11.°::l'i13:.;t of that paper, trout sc the fi rst affirmed' in his its privilqe to provide k remedy wher e tit o btrude site land had ptoVideil one already. r e d e : r l -What was the language of Littletoe'-h e e ; "lead. great !Adams. [4 laugh.] "lead. laid it down, 'that the dominion or ky r 0 , dominion of liburty-hut thedominien f • 41) , H '' 0 mow indefittitekt• • 1 j1"1.11111.11.111414.4e r in ib el & cis &, -- r - , as the worst qf (mimics, ip Whateve r I I v , r i . it might be plicod, was that whicreiight ot e a ri u t - ' its sonsequenoes , .;thetr liberties, to be pot o a t -- a *" niscusaion• because it Was nut to be understood, Were the.libetAies of Englishmen to depend qua ' a mystery, or to fluctuate betweeu the sof' „, interpretations' . rho invaders of thoso pe r : - thought proper to put open tahlaistismityarsyterturrfet fr it:: ho must say one word mire upon the ceeth et of one of the two parties that divide that'llomo.: Whets the house of their Representative e brukco open, and he tors by the bosom of his family and Co n veyed to the Tower, and when he, in a subsequ en t l etter to 14 Speaker, firmly adhered to the declaration o r those opinions he had all along professed, v im came forth that party, uhether better hu 0 ,, 0 h . thoname of The Whigs, The Talent s , or T h ' e Gruts.....[laughter s j:-they would call them whi r l, they pleased, but in that moment did those:lunch Vhigs come forward and pronounce that t o 1 4 the time foe rallying round the Government that Government which for in long a time, and ,„ recently, those very men had been loading wi t h .keen and ceaseless vituperation ; that Government whiett they had denounced as incapable and cup rupt ; as divided among themselves and distrusted by the country ; as the authors of the Scheldt lit. peslition...Of all our disasters and disgrace s; n i g very Government the same Whigs rally round whca they shew themselves at the head of an army in their gratitude for this one act was'forgotten all the crimes of that Atlnsisiiitratiun- r ilia C o p e o c , ken rubbery ; the Scheldt Expedition; all, all oat forgotten In their common ttlemph .over the mso who had the firmness to withstand the torrent of their joint corruption [rrporte:uses] ; of him he libmild., only say, that with such at honed eit ro . cute inOtidit Ito honest cause, it would be criminal, in them to despair of ultimate success. Sir Fran, cis Burdett in the discharge of his public duty had displayed a calm fortitude, and unaffected woo. ty, that his enendet.thight envy but mustadmire. [Applauses.] Ile had proved how formidable use tionest man might be to a host of Place. hunters; . therefore did they unite ia perseets„, ing the object of" their common - dread-thy acted for ittoniselves and their respectiv e . par t ties, and their object was place and•prott;lli Francis acted for the people, and his object was their fair, oncorrupt, and adequate &prem. tation in the Commons 'louse of Parliament. [Applauses.] When he considered the inhereet weakness- of . corruptiort„ and the pretreat" Strength of good efforts in the pragmatism Of ,a good object, be could not hesitate to think tad'. Isuccess as eertain....the game was in their area hands, and they had only to pursue it with podiaom% firmness and perseverance ; the false, tri el .. unrestrained power might instruct, but . to irritate them [applause]; they world lair" , it to despise the imputence of outrage, and . . be prepared to answer with that. temper of ration , that breams a cause In itself too stn •• Cf to need 4he aid 'of violence. f Applauses.) then; their enemidoenjoy their triumph; At-. 64 !dragged theiti honest 'Representative from the'ennettiary of hiekitrn house, and ki (lei* • :;• -- they flattered thetelielves thee they had dragged him from the hearts of his Constituents. f 0 . crier of Na ! .no ! never !. never !] Such whit _ their expectations, but hoW miserably had thej. been disappointed [loud npplausts]; it was none the limits-of the vaiinted privilege of that Himis to erase from their hearts the memory of their Es. presentative's Services. Re concluded with sit: . hurting .the .Electors to avoid every thing that • could afford a handle to their enemies, to silent. niate their constitutioaalactforts in favour of Re. form as Inninltitnltg and disorderly. Cifisplonresi The MGR LIA.ILIFF having returned, his as. knoWledgmente for ,the honour oentferred on hint, retired from the Hustings, attended by Lord Cochrane, Colonel Wardle, Mr, Starch, nod Mr. Wishavt. After which, a loud- cry took place for Mr. JENNINGS to come forward, who, tithe'so reluctance, obeyed the order. He said, that bay • attending tbereAle had no intention qf , obtroirime • any observitioittlirkit OrnnnOn than, bat ilrilt; • • icalled upon bi ulosity he could not Welkin from I saying a few words.. When he hadibe hammer el 1 nistwaring before them on a former occasion, when • • 1 they did themselves so much honour 'as to elect Sir Francis Uordett fur their Representative, hi ' : was not without great hopes that their disinterested example would be followed throbkhout at.kliagw. i gum, and he now trusted that : recent itecetreentm - ' wottht operate strongly in rayons , of these hopes. (4pplauses) Ile very much deplored that Ow • •Mitttary had been employed, as they were lately, l ie the streets of the metropolii, without any mk., Onto reason. They; *ere only calcnlatrd to exeite . - . 1 tumult in the Empire, where no dingeresisted iit .-- their absemee,and he trusted he should never see a re. • . .• petition of it. Theori l tin of all the trattsaetlent ..r -1 which hid talan plice (height never to hive hen „ .s . -... t • ntitieed in the manner it had. Sir Francis Bet. • ,r -- ,.,, •drtt did no•mbre than he was legally entitled to "-:. do, to lay theeenrguments before hi; Constituruts .. •which ' Ild had. advanced- in the !louse of Come witieWillitinst.witot lie deemed an tItiLIN fill stretch bf kethiiiiiy. :Willis language will Cuffed in the • . rtliouse,it could not become ass offence to commit : ..v ‘ . his opinions to , • paper, and lay them before the •-• ~. Patine. One foosisre of the case he *viatica strongly - ": : to imprisa upon - their minds, which was, that when .. .. Ministers had. auy doubt of the 'flaky of their. : • • 4Vrytertlittga, they emleavoured by every want in their power to support them ; hut from what had sil s,c ts,u taliptt place, he trusted that they weak" cut sh bl is 14 '4 tl t; t; t • 1 • . , K. • , • . ~-