The Statesman. — London, England, 1810-05-05 00:00:00

He continued. GantlentenY if . these Resolu tious should meet with your concutrence, I shall then propose that a Petition. be presented to the House of Commons, which Petition you will have read to you.—[Loud acclamations. Many ex claimed, 44 what is the use of presenting Peti tions 7—they gill only be rejected." The first Resolution was then read by the Crier. Mr. WAITIIMAN. Gentlemen of the Li very, I come before you for the purpose of sir : conding the Resolution which has just been read to you, and I regret, that from some particular cir-' cuinstances, it has been deprived of the support which would fuse been given to it by an excellent friend of mine who has before addressed you with considerable effect.---I mean Mr. Jotres..[A rhea . pause ensued.)—l am told,. Gentlemen, that Mr. Junes is here ; but it is only necessary for me to state, I did expect he would have come forward hi' second the Resolution,. but-that fearful he would not be able to . attend,' ke - hal requested me to Se- tuna it in his stead. I shall, therefore, Gentle men, beg leave to offer a few observations in Ott.. tion to what you have heard from my worthy` friend, Mr. Favell.-- . -Gantlitmen, was this a 'sub ject entirely unknown to yetui it might have been necessary in that cue for those who had to ad. dress you, tuhave been furnished with much in formatiou, and to have produced some ingenious arguments, in order to have made you perfectly acquainted with the facts • and circumstaticee be. longing to the case; but, fortunately for the People of England, the matter has undergone so large and such able disculion; add All the public prints 'have treated the subject in a• manner that 1111 S done so much honour to theage and nation, that I think I may presume there is hardly s man present who is nut perfectly welt qualified to give an opinion on the Resolution which has just been read. However, is lam colt aware of the arts which ale made use of by your enemies on Ow casiuns, and ; may be resorted to upon the present unreason, iu order to throw some odium on the in dividuals who are contending for your rights, and to impress 'upon the public mind that they are ac. , bated by motives which they tto not entertain or profess, it may be necessary to take a short re. • view of the history of the country fur a few xears past, in erder to thew you that our opinions atenot new opinions; that they are doctrines not brought !vowel by individuals who have any selfish mo tiveslltutupon principles which have everbeen main. tanned by the greatest, ablest, and most virtuous characters that ever adorned this country. In the. first place, Gentlemen, it is necessary to consider+ what is the nature and institutions of Parlialuents : I believe it will not be disputed with me, that the use of a House of Commons is to protect the Peo: pie in the enjoyment of their lives, liberty, and property ; and therefore I cannot express it better than in the language of Mr. Burke, twenty years Igo, when he was speaking of the corruption of Parliament, though he was not a friend of Reform:' He made use of in one of his speeches, and after s-Yards in a pamphlet which he published, an obser vatitin, which, iu my iiiitid, contained;onio of• the strongest arguments which could be oroduced in favour of Reform. Ile said, that it was owing to the corruption of Parliament that that which was. inteuded as a balatace in ,favour of the. Pea* against the Crown,. was made accessary to •the power of the Crown. _Gentlemen, I shalt trouble you..for slow moments,. in stating what a Hogue of Commons Ought to be, by reading to you the °pi., uion of a character, who must be venerated long as the page of history • shall -remain, I mean Lord Somers. He says," " the House of Coti llions are, by the Constitution of England, the great inquest of the kingdom, to' search •into all the oppressions of unjust Kings' Ministers, and that nothing but the neglect of their ditty, an not making signal examples of justice among the Mi . nisterial dispensers of the law, and the Officers of the Kiug, u our ancestors used to do, had been the encouragement and cause of so many usurps.. tions and invasions of the laws, the immunities, the rights and privileges of the people." There. fore, Gentlemen, at this period, it appears there had been a laxity in the House of Commons with respect to the performance of. its duties ; and tord Somers, after stating what was the use of Parliaments, expresses his regret that they had not exercised their duty with so much fidelity as the Constitution required of them. If it be the duty of Parliament to protect the people in the enjoy ment of their rights—if it be, _according to the BM of Rights, their duty to redress all grievances, for the words of the Bill of Rights are, that for the redress of all grievances Parliameuts ought to be held frequently—if, instead of 'amending and strengthening the laws, they have overstepped the laws, and violated them—if, instead-of redressing' public grievances, they have been inflicting them themselves, then, I ask, how has the House of Commons answered the purpose'of its institution? I would ask you, whether there is any right be.• longing to - the House of Commons, which his Ma jesty himself does not enjoy ? When the peo ple have a right to approach his . Majesty to ex press 'their grievances, is it to bo said that they cannot approach the House of Commons to ex press them ? Are not the people to be at liberty to express their disapprobation of the proceedings and conduct of tho.Huuse of Commons, without - , by so doing, endangering their lives. and liberties ? But yet such appears to be the fact. .It appears that certain individuals had taken the liberty of animadverting upon the proceedings of the House of Commons, and it also appears that Honourable House, under the pretence of preserving its 'dig. nity, has thought proper, eontrary to law, to de prive those persons of their liberty. If this' is to be the case, we are left without any remedy. My worthy Friend, who at firat addressed you, has observed, it had been the opinion of an eminent Statesman, that England would nut be ruined but by its Parliament. I have only to observe, that Sir Win. Blackstone has several passages,' in cor. roboration of the opinion of Lord Barleigh. It is not necessary for me to go over the chide ground of argument which presents itself upon this sub- ject. I need only state to you the words of Chief Justice Hale. He says, that if there should be, at any time, a misgovernment in Parliament, the•peo• ple would be without remedy. It does appear that "T~ ~. .... if we can approach thtS;7trown, and Oro v, grievances, but if we cannot approach Abettitase of Commons to state, them, we are in,that - -4.4.- perste situation that we are without Lippe, and then it becomes necessary fur the people to exert: themselves to obtain redress; supposing I haw; stated correctly that the nature and institutions of Parliament, rather the particular ends and pew pgses of Parliament, are to protect the people tipsiest the encroachments of power, and against the violation of the Constitution.' It is hardly' 'necessary to go over the history of the country for .the last forty years,,, to show that Parliament has. never exerted its powers (or the redress or public 'wrongs; but, 'on the contrary, that all subjecti of complaint have arisen from the corruption of , Parliament itself. There is another thing that' dray be Stated to sheor that the House of Commons His not altogether infallible, for in the celebrates) . Aylesbury business, when they imprisoned five of. the tneetors, they were afterwards obliged toe make their retreat, and it was a retreat as scan.- dalons as some of the late retreats of Ministers. Here, then, was en instance of their not Win: Witli respect to Mr. Alderman Wilkes,' I %teed not appeal: to von to state what Parliament did. Although they did imprison an individuate for. a libel on the House of Commons, yet some of their votes in more recent Parliaments wore de clared to have been subversive of-the rightatiff the whole body of the electors of Great Britain. — Here, thee, is another instance of Parliament having proceeded .to acts 'of violence—of having infringed the tights of the people of Great, Bri. Aoki, and of subsequent Parliaments having de dared seat acts to 'have bden illegal. The fact stands so retooled upon theiroan Journals. This having been the case, and as the Parliament can not prefentrto ittfallibility, I should think they ought nut to pretend to impenity—at least nut so far as to deny 'the people with whom they take great liberties, in: the shape of loading them with taxes, the right of investigating their conduct whenever they think proper. [Loud applause.] iVith respect-to that part of the subject' which re. rani* the dignity' of Parliament, I own it does 1 , seim to,nto 61 be an odd and curious mode they hove 'adboted.- for all the former proceedings to sail& ['have eluded,' *ere thought necessary to Oilect the same• purpose—newly, to support the honour and dignity of the Nettie ; and yet you see bow disgraceful those very acts, which tend .to rapport their !mobile and dignity, were made to appear by 'the Votes of subsequent Parliaments. It strikes me that it-would nut be necessary for the House of Commoris to take any measures to vin dicate themselves, if they *ould confine their pro ceedings to those acts for the promotion of which the House of Commons was instituted. I need 'not say I mean the redress of public grievances. [rßursts of applause.] Let them act as Lord SO *len says they' Ought 'to act. Let them correct abuses in the naval and military departments. Let 'them do justice on the heads of public Ministers, .who violate their duty. Let them punish with severity the:pablic defaulters, instead of protect. 1:4 theM ; and then the House of Commons may leave tho.POOple at . full liberty to discuss their pro. ,reeding,, without any apprehension of their chit.. 'ratter taut dignity being in the least impaired by 'the consideration of the subject., It does seem an teatraordinfry thing indeed, 'that the very House (11 Commons which refused to punish a Minister of the Ceovin for offering his official patronage in exchange : fur a'Writerehip in the East India Corn. : party's service, - and thereby of corrupting .the House of 'Conimons, should not only suffer that Minister CO isattpe with impunity, hut should al. ton ItIM to 'remain a Minister of the Crown, and 'even give him their confidence and support. But after such conduct, it . is still more extraordinary that the House should have taken the step it has with a view to support its dignity and character. Where, I would ask, was the dignity of the lion. House upon the particular occasion to which I have referred . ?—["' Disgraceful I disgraceful !" exclaimed myriads of the Livery.] Where was the , dignity of that Honourable • House, when the hope. and wishes of the whole Nation look. *I to it for inquiry respecting the lamentable Convention of Cintra, and that House passed the subject over without , aoy inquiry whatever ? [flm., hear.] Where was tho' dignity of the Mouse when Mr, Percent and Lord Castlereagh were charged with selling seats in that Assembly ? The Howse took no notice of these measures, either by a vote of censure or* expulsion. ' It expressed Oo disapprobation of public Ministers, who had do grossly 'betrayed thointerests of - their country. Gentlemen, you will have to consider, and you have a right to consider whether du:snare national -grievatteefor not.L-I"ifterrree grietstiltteh" - re. sounded from every part of the Ilatl.3—ls it sot, I ask you, a remarkable thing, that Mr. Perceval and Lord Castlereagh should, after •such an ex. posure, have been suffered to continue to direct the 1 House of Commune at the head of their hundreds of piecemea l pensioners, and reversionists.—[ « 4 1 disgrace lode Country," said many voices.] Is it not still merceatraordinary, that at the moment an Inquiry was carrying on respecting the most dis. graceful and afflicting transaction that ever disho. noured the character of the Country,- I mean the Walcheren Expedition—is it not, I say, even more extraordinary than any thing else, that these men, the authors' of such a calamity, should, in order to screen themselves, hare retained the power of voting in their own defence ? Arc these the men who, after such &grant acts, ought to be permitted to turn round upon the people of Eng. land, and by the exertion of an arbitrary power be permitted to say that they are supporting the dignity of the ROM of Commons ? Is it not dreadful to reflect that these base Ministers should have had it in their power, at such a season, to close the doors of the House`of Commons against the public--a delicacy not shewn even to the son 'of the Sovereign ? 'ls it to 'be endured that when the subject of inquiry was their own disgraceful conduct, they should have been permitted to debar the people' of the country from hearing it .1 above all, are those men to talk of the dignity of the House of Commons, who, begged of punish. iug the particular individual .who we* patty, of such an outrage againstpublic feeling, have had the 7.77: THE STATESMAN. . ~~ ' audacity to reward hint with a place of public trust ? At the very time when the individual to whom I allude was thus insulting the people of England, :the Ministers of the country, who are talking of :the dignity of the House of Commons, were re .warding hint with a situation of high official trust.l Jan universal burst of indignation.] Is it, I lutit you, to be sutkred that: Ministers should bu Waiting the people of this country by recoil'. mending a man to hist Sovereign's confidence, after he had been indignantly, and with every possible =mark of contempt and reprobation, spurned and rejected by his uwu Constituents ? [lt may be said, with a strict adherence to truth, 'that there never was an occasion on any numerous ;popular-meaning, io which there was so marked an expression of patine indignation and resent ment. It was nut one emanation of general disap probation, but it was continued after having re peatedly subsided. There was a general cey of ," Shame I Shame !" and ,it was nearly tun mi nutes before- the torment raised by the allusion to Mr. Yorke's appointment subsided. At length silence was obtained, and the Orator proceeded.] . Gentlemen of the Livery—and yet this Gentle man, Mr. Yorke, apd•the House of Commons, tell us that it appears the people of this country are trying .experiments, and that we arc wishing to see how Limey insults that Honourable House will suffer. - Let us rather ask them, Gentlemen, how many insults they mean to throw upon the .people, and how many insults we are to bear with patience. I would ask them what it is they would have the people of• this country do ? I would like to know what those individuals and some ,of those who are around me mean ? They have been frequently 'called upon on different oc casions to state their opinions. Sometimes they. have said, a For Gud's sake look at the situation of the country. Look to the enemy we have to encounter. Let us be unanimous." I Would ask these honest Gentlemen to come for ward, and I hope you will give them a patient hearing in order that they way inform us of any public measure upon which it is possible that we can be unanimous. I would ask them whe ther we could be unanimous if we were to come here to pass a vote of approbation in favour of Mr. Perceval and Lord Castlereagh for their con. duct with regard to the Waleheren Expedition. Can we be unanimous in a vote of approbation of, the conduct of Ministers for the armies they have sacrificed lin Spain ? [Dreadful, dreadfuln I would askwhether, after all the multiplied errors and crimes of these Ministers, we could be unanimous in a vote which should imply they still have our confidence ? [No, never, neverl] I know how I shall be answered ; I shall be told by those who may oppose me, " We do nut desire you to give Ministers your confidence, on the contrary, we will go with yOu to his Majesty and entreat him to dismiss them from his cuunsels." To this I answer," oh! why dismiss them; have not theythe confidence of Parliament ?"• These Gentlemen, Who would have Ministry dismissed, tell us that • the minority speak the sense - of the country, and I firmly believe it has done so fur the last fo r ty years. They say we will ask for the dismissal of :these Ministers. .Why should we ask fur their .dismissal, when-the late Mr. Pitt has told us that without a Reform in Parliament no exchange of Mi. sisters can be of the least advantage to the coon. try: We have besides the declaration of Mr. Fut to the same effect,. when, being in opposi tion, hesaid he would not accept any office without an expression on the part of those with whom he was 'to • act in favour of a radical Re form, both for the People and the Parlia ment. lie said, that no good could be done without it. Let us take these Statesmen at their word—Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox have told tit, we must have Reform ; Lord. Chatham has said the same thing—then why suffer ourselves to be de luded by a mere exchange of men without an ex change of tnessures ?-Far be it from me to cry •downpublic men, fur the evil is not in public men, it is in- the system. If you employ .stewards in your own private affairs, you will cheek and con trout them ; you will look into and examine their accounts, and if you find they are defrauding you, of course you will dismiss and punish them ; but not so with the House of Commons—the House of , Commons will never reform itself. If you have a House of Commons returned by a Borough faction, how can yen expect they - will reform abuses in the advantages of which they partici. , .pate ? It is impossible there can be any reforma ..tion in the House of Commons, unless it it pro duced by an unequivocal expression of the deter mination on the part of the people to have it effected. But, Gentlemen, I may assure yen ) that without such reform in our representation, -there neither is nor can be any chance fur the sal vation of our country. A great deal may be said, ,Gentlemen, about the indecorous language which has been supposed to be used with regard to the j House of Common. I might -detain you upon this theme for upwards of three hours, if I was only to read to you a book Which was published under , the authority of the Corporation of this City, and contains Addresses much stronger than any lan guage that harbeen lately adopted. ,It has been Declared in the Addresses of this City, that the. House of Commons was a corrupt House, and that it dienot truly represent the People of England ; and therefore upon the score of libelling the House of Commons by what has recently been said, I think no imputation ought to be cast on any in. , 'dividuals, who have been only enforcing the same arguments which have berge been stated in much stronger language. Gentlemen, lam afraid of trespassing upon your time (No, no, no! go on, *proceed). Well then, Gentlemen, I ought to mention another circumstance. — On looking into the records of this city, about , 20 years ago, I find there were Committees ap pointed by the Common Council and Livery fur the purpose of obtaining Parliamentary Reform — I And that Mr. Pitt was. one of the Delegates upon that subject, and that there arc addresses to him in that character, and to which addresses he returned answers. In one of his answers to the Livery of London„ he pledges himself to , promote 4 Worm- in Parliament % and states that the eon. summation of drat f(ctiam islessentiid to the ea- --~„ I perfect! istence of the coutiti.Y. I know y well that if I wao Jo venture to express sentime nts ils E miter to Pion 'which are contained i n the Ad. si dressetrof the City of London, or in the Answers of Pi tt i strioutliir' e charged with lie or in the Speeches u "ord Chat publics • and !acobiuisn. I am perfectly sensibl e it is .neci.Xsary - for me to impress upon yo ur minds Or necessity of that Reform, of which the City the London and the persons I have mentioned ha ve been the promoters and advocates. I on ly w i s h e d shew you what t !seat authorities we h ave follow. During eft s e disputes in Mr. Wilkes's the e :c Lord Chatham said, that the privileges of t h e . greatdt and the meanest subject stood upon thu puns foundation, and it was thereforeiheir into. 'rest, as well as their duty, to watch o eee the rights of every class of the people. --11 e lle observed, that the liberty of the pee. pie had nut only been invaded in distant pm. winces, but at home; ,that they loudly demanded redress of their wrongs, and that till they wer e redressed, they would never return to a state of tranquillity. He added, that it would be better for the People to perish in a glorious contest for their. Tights than to prolong their existence at the expence of their liberty. This great Statesman upon a memorable occasion, when he was answer. ing Lord Mansfield in the House of Lords, o h. served, " The Noble Lord has said that the House has no law but its discretion, that its discretion is law, and that if it is wrong in the exercise of i ts discretion, the public have no appeal. What then," said be, " are the results of all th e gl orious contests of our ancestors reduced to this , i that n. stead of suffering under the arbitrary power of King, we must submit to the arbitrary power o s it Parliament ?" 44 Tyranny," lie says, "is never so formidable as when it is exercised by a number of tyrants. It is the first principle of the Consti tution that the subject shall nut be governed by the arbitrium of the King, or any one branch of the legislature, but by the laws which are framed by the whole." . Such was the language used by Loki' Chathatn, When one branch of the' le. gislature claimed rights which did not be. long to it; :'att'dis it 'to be said that ihe House of Commons of _the . present 'day are to be allowed to • send a man to prison for asking the question...« Whether shutting the doors of the !louse, %lieu a subject of national importance was to he agitated, was not an outrage against the pub. lie feeling ?" [4 general exclamution " it mu an outrage, a shameful outrage."] Gentlemen, I could, by reading similar extracts from the speeches of eminent men, occupy yotitsn ttention till this time to-morrow ;. bat it is not my purpose to de. taro yon much longer. Having token a very short review of the proceedings of the House of Com. mans in former times, .1 certainly think it be. comes us most seriously to reflect on all theie past measure's. We were called upon sixteea years ago, when I first had the honour of shaking my appearance among you, to give •ur support ' to one of the most ruinous expensive wars in which the country was ever before engaged. All the conseetuences of that war did the Livery of London foretel. They said, that the objects for which it was entered into were nen attainable: they spoke the truth; for all the objects of it have been defeated, and yet you ,are still asked to re. pose confidence in public men, and to repose .cbafidence in Parliament. Yon arc told that you are nut to profit by experience; and are not to advert to the consequences •of past errors. Thu Government will not allow us to revert to these things, but still they have the face to call for unanimity, and desire us still to afford them our confidence and support. I have,. Geo. tleman, a declaration of Mr. Fox in my pocket, but having already ocenpied so much of your time, I will not trouble you to read it, in which that Statesman expresses his opinion that nothing but a Reform in Parliament can save the country. am persuaded that desirable object will never be attained till the nation at large expresses the same opinion. Such is my firm persuasion. I trust that opinion' will be expressed temperately, but at the same time nobly and firmly.—.l am satisfied that it is only by a firm . and des termiued appeal to the house of Commons, that we have the means of saving the coun try from the horrors of military despotism [long and continued plaudits] ; of saving it from foreign subjugation [most vehement acclama tions]; of rescuing it from an infamous and op pressive system of taxation, and the miseries of an unheard-of inquisition in this country. 'Gentle men, we have seen a variety of great public di. hullers, from Lord Melville, down to Mr. !lout and Mr..Villiers, and we do not know of any no Ilia of jostles whicli has been performed by the House of Commons, with a view to redress the 'wrongs of the Public. We have seen the failures of our impotent and imbecile Ministers, in twenty or thirty of their expeditions, . and Ito inquiry in ktituted, either .to ascertain the cause of their failures, or to punish the authors of ovr ' Whoa! diagram. Then how can we expect that Parlia. nent will ever institute any inquiry, either the abuses of office, or the waste of public money ? Do you expect that your House of Commons can ever have stronger cases brought be• fore them than theme which have lately called fur their interference? Can any events, or calamities, arise, more calculated to Mill them to a sense of their duty, than those which the country ha* lately experienced ?—[" No, no," exclaimed many hundreds of the Livery; " It is impossible; we' have no confidence in the House of Gonsmons.'4 —Gentlemen of the 'Liver , I cannot leave you without cautioning you agpat those arts W hich I ' know, and am confided' arc, and will be em ployed, to cry down and defeat the cause of the People. Our enemies dare not me et us openly, 6 but` hey will attempt to counteract u s by esivat machinations. That such arts are insidiously those carrying on I am well convinced, and who are the authors of them, want nothing but a pretence to carry their designs inn; execution. I should think it by no ma. wonderful if your enemies should sen d some o_s, their agents amm °, your, for the purpo se of . f _ fording'a ground for imputing improper ace nfe l to your aeta. Gen/Tommy, yeti bare wavi • ;,_-. the It loans givelii f 'cwil o :d humn 1 Yeatesl4: lime disgr • oreri ing sh;: Con midi siva )443 w of t a I peel he 1. tell thei thai the Wli Ito VOI Mal rug rail law had iru a k] the Mu the •ti tar • Nir 1 • si ip tiqL, F 411 r-• mg -: s i" ti "re ins Ct 0 st d 1 1