The Sun. — London, England, 1819-09-23 00:00:00

'der. tVbet WA'S its pinposei is— to expels a u edherence to the priecinles of Retorts with that 'effect which combined numbers - might give. meteines, comprising similarutimbers, had been held in various parts of the countty ; neither tumult nor riot appeared Olt any occasion ; the 111)1t.et was uniformly the same expression oHnion. What had the people of Manchester—, • what cool(' they have, in view beyond this fleet-: ings of 10,000 or 20.000 men do not usually keep secrets : they profess all they mean, and that ii s u ay with a momentary vehentence, which lather exceeds than tails short of their real senti ments. In 792 and the following years, the public Placards, Meetings, Speeches, &c. went far beyond what was now seen. Every portion of our Established Authorities was then in turn at tacked. If the views of the present day were the same with those of that day, their conduct and ex pressions would also.be the. same. But that they Were not tl_•t: same, even those who did, against all probability, believe in the existence of designs hostile to the Governmeot, were reluctantly oblie ed to confess ; not a sin ;le tramaction at any one Public Meeting bad shown the People to be proceeding in.any such wicked or pernicious de signs ; they debated and resolved ; they attempt ed nothing further indeed, they were wholly nn prepared for eny.further attempt. On these prin ciples and these facts. the inference WHS clear that the interruption of the Meeting of the 16th was illegal, uneonstitntional,aml inhuman.—(Cheers.) Jutleed, he could tint for a moment doubt on. the particulars of this business of blood, which was too deeply iefixed in the minds and memories of all who hearl him, ever to be obliterated from thens.—((cheering•)—He was not at all surpris ed at their cheering. becau , :e no man could .regard the transactions of the 16tit without horror : this e'rcumstance,•however, rendered the calm deli berate approbation of his .Majesty's Ministers' a business of a still deeper dye, and a more extend ed es rl. It showed the principle on which this kingdom was meant in future to be governed—he meaut by military violence ; and, in that point of view, the mischief of the approbation a thousand fold exceeded the -mischief of the fact itself. If that lamentable business had stood alone, it might in time have passed away and been forgotten; but it was now no single insulated fact ; it was a pre-.. cedent by which florae meetings were to be dis persed, and liberty in future abridged. . The in ference he thew from the conduct of his Majesty's Ministers on this occasion, and on-every other occasion connected with the meetings of the people, was, that they were unworthy of the con fidence of the Prince Regent and of-the nation. He did not speak of their general conduct or ordinary principles of Government ; he confined himself avholly to their treatment of that. body of men de nominated the Reformers. It was asserted by many, that the principles of Reform were held °illy by cer tain trading districts, and by them merely when suf fering from the state of ;rade: in fact ,that there was no sock principle; that it was a pretext, a mere mode of exhibiting dissatisfactifm at.th,e present state of things. If this were so, which he believed it was not, when large bodies of men were in a state of suffering and deprivation, when, in consequence of -the pressure of•their feelings, they became dis satified and vehement, what was the course of a wise -and humane •Goeeroment. towards such a body'of its subjects ? To execute-against ahem all the existing laws in full seserity ? To enact new laws for their punishment ? To persecute and injure them beyond all law ? Clearly not. It was the duty of the Government to take the earliest and the most vigorous measures for restoring the comforts of those suffering classes. , fle did, however, most &Oily believe the principle of Par liamentary Reform to be spread among the people far beyond those districts—that it existed wholly independent of the depression of trade-s—that it [vas daily• extending, and that it was deeply root in the people's heart. The real state of the pub lic mind on the question of Reform was, perhaps, the most important one that was ev-er.conneeted with the Government of this kingdom : he had long felt it to be so : he had long taken every means in..his•power to ascertain how the fact ac tually stood : the result was a &in persuasion that this principle was neither local nor tem porary—that no measures, that no Ministers could extinguish it—and that a continuation of that mode of opposing it which the Ministers had for some years 'adopted would deluge the nation in blood, and_ -overturn every existing establishment. A whole people was not to be persecuted, insulted, overawed—Oro, no it cannot)—a nation could neither be,. arrested, nor imprisoned, nor. tried, nor executed. Two years and a. half ogo, meet ings similar to these now held took place its seve ral districts.; the Habeas Corpus Act was suss. trended ; several_ hundred persons were imprison-. ed ; a momentary check of public declarations. fol. lowed ; but was the principle checked ? By. no means—it was invigorated (for persecution aLways invigorated what it,atracked), and thus was ena bled to break out•again with a firmness and una nimity far exceeding that which had been exhi bited in.ISI7. The Habeas Corpris Act, was now most wisely left untouched ; the Parliament sepa rated; and next to some acts of positive conces sion to the Reformers, this was. clearly the wisest mode to pursue ; unfortunately, it was too. wise to be continued. The scenes of blood witnessed at Manchester followed- shortly after, and redou bled the zeal and ardour of the RetormerS,— At the same time that their numbers were in creased, and their injuries commiserated, the Government voluntarily held itself forth as the mark of public hatred and execration.— The inference .was decisive ; it was .not in the hands that thus wielded them that the powers of GOvernment ought to remain in times so perilous. 11 might be.asked, if Parliamentaty Reform was the sole, object of the Reformers, where was the danger of the country ? He would tell them : the danger was this—tens of thousands and hun dreds of thousands of disappointed and irritated citizens would meet in every part of the kingdom; a strict union would be fortved amongst them, 'a union in object and in plan ; their numbers would be fullwascertained, - and their confidence in cootie-. ouence increased. Firmly as he believed the Reform ers to be now unconnected with hostile views to the Covet - to:tent, could it be hoped that, if treated. as they now were treated, they would long continue so Gould any man acquainted tiff ith, history be.. li eve sul4nit 'to intuit, eett;al, and persecution ? They were not now inclined— they woold hereafter be driven to courses incon sistent with the established institutions: it was not in human nature to be persecuted, and not, with or with,, o t kW, to rise against their pet se cutors How was this to be avoided ? By placing the government in other hands, in the bands of Alinistcrs who would listen to the people, hear their complaints, attend to their wishes, conciliate their feelings, and redress their grievances. This was not . the proper place for suggesting any particular plan of pi oceeding ; what he insisted on was a temper, a disposition on the part of _those in power, wholly dissonant from that which we have for years known, which was wholly dissonant from from that mild and lenient disposition, which at no distant period was able to soot!) the irritated state of the country, and secure its future tranquil lity. The Learned Gntleman, in conclusion, re prated, that he did not address them either as Whigs or Tories, friends or enemies to Reform, hot as men who would juin in the Resolutions of that day, from a firm conviction that they were the sure and only source of the future tranquillity of the country. NicoLL then read the following Resoln tions, which be told the meeting would after- Wal (IS he put one by one . _ Resolved." 1. That it.is the Constitutional right of the People of this Kingdom publicly to consult on all matters of State, mid to express their sentiments in the form of Resolu tions, Petitions, or Remonstrances, as circumstances may seem to them to require. R. That the Meeting held at Manchester on the IGth of August last, was in correspondence witltt he above• Constit utional Right of the People; and that neither in the Notice which preceded that Meeting, nor in the conduct of the Peo ple in approaching it, nor in their demeanour when actually assembled, was any unconstitutional act committed, or any act amounting to a breach of the peace, or to a just source of alarm to any of his Majesty'ssubjects. 3. That the conduct of the persons who took the lead in the business of the Meeting on the at`ove occasion, considering them independent of any political party question, as British subjects, firmly asserting their rights, is highly prai:!eworthr, and merits the approbation of every friend to freedom and his country: and that the thanks of - this Meeting ate here given to them for the forbearance they exhibited, and their un willingness to disturb the public peace. 4. That the interruption of the proceedings of the above Meeting by the Yeomanry Cavalry, under the direction of the Magistrates, was illegal and unconstitutional, and un worthy of the citizens of a free country, and of a Magistracy, byitsotlice the protectors of the People's rights. 5. That the subsequent approbation of the proceedings of the above day, issued in the name of the Prince Regent, but on the.responsibilityof his Majesty's Mini,tets, has a lament able tendency to create disunion in this kingdom; to fix in the minds of the people an apprehension that their safety is not duly regarded by the high Authoriiies of the realm, and that their rights arc objects of jealousy, suspicion, and at tack. 6. That the Ministers, whose views and principles have led them thus to misuse his Royal Highness's name, are wholly unworthy of his confidence and of the confidence of the Na tiun ; and that it is our determination humbly to address his Royal Highness to remove them from his counsels and pre sence. 7—That a subscription he immediately entered into for the purpose of affording relief to the suflet ers under the late on lawful attack; and for the purpose of inflicting that justice on the authors and perpetrators thereof ...filch the laws of our country are lead) , to afford. S. That a Committee, Treasurer, and Secretary to the sub scription, be appointed ; and that a Committee of eight Gen tlemen he appointed to carry the same into effect. 9. That the Address now read is adopted as the act of this Meeting, and shall be immediately transmitted t o his Royal Highness. [Here an Address, fondded on the foregoing resolutions, was read to the Meeting; . ] Mr. Alderman DINSLAY rose to second the Re . solutions. After commenting On the politeness wit,l ) which the Lord -Mayor had received their requisition, and on the readiness with which he had attended to it, be proceeded to say, that be had little doubt but .peace•and order would he ob served, although, as the Meeting had heard, there were no speCial constables in attendance, nor had he or any of his brother Magistrates put the RiOt Act in their pockets. The late Meeting' at Man.; chesler was strictly constitutional, and the con duct of the- people assembled at it highly deco.., rous. if it had been improper, it was the duty of the Magistrates to have gone among the people, 'and ordered them to be peaceable ; if after this they still acted wrongfully, •it was then the duty, of the Magistrates to read - the Riot Act, and to give the multitude an hour to disperse in. But .was this, or aught like this done ?—No ; instead 'of it, the dreadful work of havoc was begun ; the cavalry—not the soldiery, for they would have disdained to act thus-=-theYeomanry Cavalry,a new name unknown toour Constitution, was let loose up on a peaceable,unoffending,and unarmed mu!t itude, many of whom they put to the sword, regardless both of age and sex. Immediately after this dreadful carnage, the Magistrates of Manchester sent two Delegates to London, who told their own tale, and received the thanks of his Majesty's Ministers, in the name of the Prince Regent. The people of England had been.charged with prejudging the Magistrates of Manchester, by thus meeting to gether ; but this could not be a just ground of accusation, after the vote of thanks which bad been passed on them for their conduct. The Al derman then contrasted the vote of thanks pre sented to the Magistrates, with the declaration of certain inhabitants- of Manchester against their barbarity, which has long since appeared in all the public Journals, and concluded by saying, that all he asked was that their conduct should be submitted to inquiry, and that they should have a fair trial by a Jory of their Countrymen. if they were found guilty, they ought to suffer the punishment which the law awards to crime like theirs ; but if they were innocent, their deeds ought to be recorded in the temple of fame, and they themselves not pointed out as objects of hatred to the great mass of their fellow citizens. The Hon. L. Donnas, M. P. for York, then came forgard, and was loudly cheered by the Meeting. After the very excellent speech of his Learned Friend, who had brought forward these resolutions, and also that of the worthy Alderman who had succeeded him, it was totally unneces sary for him to say -much. The present was a question of a very novel and extraordinary nature ; it was this—is there a Constitution. or is there not ? If the people had not a right to meet, the Bill of Rights was. nothing more than a dead let ter : if the right of assembling was to be limited at the will of the Magistracy, the Bill of Rights was nothing ; for then any timid person, by making a ° timid affidavit before a timid ►Magi strate, might have. the most legal Meeting im mediately dispersed ; and yet it was upon this very ground that an attempt was made to justify the Magistrates of Manchester. lie maintained, that the people had a right to meet as they ()id., if they choose. To h.c.re a little music give,weight to their meeting could not he. pro rye Of any danger to the community ; nor yet court! it be injurious to it that the country men should walk together in ranks, or, as it was now termed, martial at ray ; for what harm could possibly, result front the playing of a rife or the beating of a drum He would fairly own, that if_there was any danger from martial array, it was from the martial art ay of those who were sent in to attack the people. Though he fully agreed with the general spirit of the Resolations,• he could not help .observing, that he was rather in favour of an Address demanding inquiry, than of a Declaration expressing their opinions on the late unfortunate circumstances. He objected to the latter plan, because he did not wish to imitate his Majesty's Ministers in any thing. He did not wish to prejudge the question, as they had first done themselves, and as they had afterwards forced their Royal Master to do ; for that he too had prejudged, it was evident from a comparison of dates. The melancholy events took place on the 16th, and the Prince Regent's thanks were dated the 21st. He said thus much to them, his Constituents, because be was now, and had been from his earliest youth upwards, a friend to the libtriy of the people ; he trusted that he should be so to the day of his death, and that, dying, he might 'bequeath that sentiment to his son. It was said that this was a party question ; this he positively denied : it was a question between tl►e lovers of the Constitution and its enemies ; and if it ever became a party question, it would be ow ing; to the Government leaguing itself openly with the Magistrates. After pledging hiruselt to sup port an inquiry into this dark business, both in the House and out of it, the Member retired Irony tine ►ront of the hustings amid a volley of alt lan•e. Colonel Comte, of Wheatley, as be could not rest sa - titfied with himself, it he gave merely a silent vote upon so extraordinary, so novel, and so important 'an occasion as the present, begged the indulgence of the meeting for a few moments, to express his sentiments very briefly. The pre sent discussion had arisen from a most violent attack having been made upon the Constitution, and from the liberties of the subject having been invaded in the most extraordinary and idarmiug manner. In the preservation of those liberties and that Constitution every individual was, and must be interested, without reference to any party or any set of men whatsoever; and it was, therefore, their bounden duty to call for a full inqeiry, and to prevent such an alarm ing attack upon the ,rights and privileges of Englishmen either from passing unnoticed, or from being drawn into a precedent. From all the intelligence, that had hitherto reached the public, three facts appeared to be established—namely, that the Meeting was legally convened, peaceably conducted, and violently dispersed. These three facts being establisher!,.. and doubts still existing,, from the suppression of circusostances which might and ought to have been communicated to the public by those who were partic3 to them, and who knew accurately all that had pssed, surely it was their duty to insist upon a thorough investigation of all that preceded and passed upon that melancholy occasion, especially after his Royal Highness the Prince Regent had been graciously pleased to in form the Lot d Mayor and Corporation of London, that with respect to the meeting of Man chester, they had not been correctly informed:— The Colonel then proceeded to observe, :hat Sir IVilliatn Blackstone, who'had never been charged with subjecting the prerogative of the Crown to popular clamour, had, in his Commentary on the Laws of England, recognized the Statute of Wil liam and Mary, which declared, " that the subject hail a right to petition, and that all commitment% and prosecutions for such petitioning were illegal." Still, in sayiog this, he wished ro be distinctly Un derstood : he did not by these observations endea vour to 'prejudge the real conduct of the Magii trates, but to place them only on the same footing on which every Englishman ?ight to be placed who had been acceparyin producing such fatal results as they all kne iv had occurred at Manchester,atid to re quest that they might a nswer for and explain such conduct. He wished to God that others had been equally cautious in not prejudging a case so impor tent,and in not holding out the approbation of the Executive Power, before it could be known that such conduct had deserved it. Though he could not give more than a qualified assent to all the Resolutions, yet he most cordially concurred in the general object of the Meeting, and heartily joined them in resolving to preserve the most va luable of all rights an Englishman can enjoy—of meeting to consider the real state of the Country, and to suggest any legal, means of correcting any evils which, upon due inquiry, may be disco vered. He was astonished by the modera tion and temperance with which their proceedings had been conducted : probably, the discussioa of that day might give a tone to other country Meer ings ; and lie trusted might induce men of honesty, who were anxious to remedy defects, but to pre serve every thing that was valuable, to rally round and uphold the Constitution : " for ail of us," to quote again the words of Sir W. Blackstone, " have it in our choice to do every thing that n good man would desire to do, and are restrained from nothing lent what would be pernicious either to ourselves or our fellow-citizens ; and in so doing we should best perform our duty to our uitary." The gallant Colonel, who at the last election was the unsuccessful candidate for the Representation of York, then retired amid the loud and enthusiastic Shouts of the surrounding multitude. A Person, Darned WALKER, then addressed the Meeting, but his speech consisted of such furious a nd foul, as well as hackneyed, abuse of the Yeo manry Cavalry, and the Magistrates of Manches ter, that we shall not pollute our colionsis by the insertion of such a mass of libellous prejodica tioo. lie is said to have been a Printer, but by his poetical spouting, we should rather suppose that be had worn the tragic buskin. Mr. HAEQEOVE, the Editor of the York 17trald, being, then loudly called for by the noilti y ole, came forward to address them. lie said, that though he had already declared to. the public his abhorrence of the proceedings of the Magistrates and Yeomanry Cavalry, he was again ready to declare; to them his detestation of the hypocrisy,ol the ltagistraleS prior to the meeting, and of their horrid violotion of both law and justice at thaw time ; he - :was again -ready to declare to them tl►e abhorrence with which he viewed the cowardice of the Yeomanry, in attacking the defenceless fe. , male ,and the helpless infant, and the savage liar bstity which they afterwards exhibited in the cold-blooded murders which they perpetrated. For the country, therefore, to be silent after such atrocities would be highly criminal, and would constitute a direct invitation. He also concluded his speech by expressing his agreement to the R" solutions proposed. Mr. Flower, Mr. Gill, and Mr. Walls, after wards followed on the same side. The Loan Alivon then put the Resolution% above stated to the Meeting, and declared theta carried without a d , ssentient voice. Another Resolution was then moved, secondc4 and carried, that it is the desire of this M e eting that the Committee already appointed do adopt such measures as are requisite to carry the pre . ceding Resolutions into effect. It vva, - ; then moved by Mr. NICOLL, and SeCOO , I‘ ed by the Hon. L. DuNDAs, that the Thanks Of the Meeting be given to the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor, for his ready -attentinn to the bights of the-- People, by calling this Meeting, and for his m ost independent and exemplary opinion in the Chair. After it had been s earr;ed, the LORD M A yott returned thanks in a short speech. The multitudd• then dispersed. MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCE.—Sunday, sth in stair, a melancholy occurrence took place at' Carumoney, seven miles front this town. Mr.• William Btyson, fat nier, was found - drowned in a draw- wril, near his house, and - his wife erase at` the same time, found dead in the house with her throat cut. When the Coroner's Inquest was held, it appeared by the testimony of a SerVant .. Mall, that about I 1 o'clock forenoon, when be went out, he left his toaster in the house, read: 4 keg the Bible, -and his wife also engaged in read ing a religious book. About three o'clock, when he returned, he observed his master's hat lying on the ground before the door ; and, on goin; into the house, he perreived the wile lying in front of the kitchen fire, with her throat cute - - and a great deal of blood on the floor. He im mediately got the assistance of some neighbours, who, after a search, fouud the body of Mr, Bry.o . son in the well quite dead. A servant girl gays similar testito , my. No person could be found, who had witnessed the perpetration of this direful catastrophe ; but, from the evidence adduced, it appeared that for twelve months intSe . Mt. Bryson , had manifested much perplexi-ty of tnind respect• ing his affairs, although they knew he had no oc.. casino to do so ; that he had often appeared in a disturbed state, and spoke very incoherently.--• From all these circumstances, the Jury returned a verdict, finding that Mr. Bryson had:destroyed his wife, and afterwards thrown himself into th,, being in a state of derangement of mind at the time. They were a vet y respectable coupleo' much esteemed by all who knew them.—(Befost. News Letter.) SHOCKING ACCSDENT.—Mr. Meredith!, of Green-lane Farm, near Nit lebtd, was passing through his meadows on Suotky . eveninglasti ashen be was attacked by a ferocious bull, and so dreadfully gmed about the body, that he _can , not possibly recover. He was twice tossed 1 1 7 the ferocious animal, which - at length left biro prostrate upon the ground. ATTEMPT AT RoßßEßY.—Tuesdny night, about eleven o'clock, the house of (2 tail' nurton Crescent, watt broken into, but tbe.Calj' tail' hearing a noise, got out of bed and discharg'''' ed a pi,tol„ which the robberi hearing, decamped , without any booty. This nzkes the sixth at' tempt of the kind in Burton Crescent. Sunday between eleven and .one o'clock,: wbile• the fatnily were at prayers, some thievu. l , by mean'" of false keys, entered the dwelling-I;onse of i‘Jr. James Hall, No, 14, Bow-lane, robbed it of linen, wearing apparel and plate U) considerable amount. COURS& OF EXCHANGE, TuLsoAz, SEPT. 21. Atustid;un . l2 1 C. F. Ditto, at Sight Rotterdam 12 2 2 US. • Antwerp l2 sEx.Motie/ Hanthurgh AttOtla Park, 3 Day's sight 25 35 0 Us. Ditto liourdeaux, ditto Franhfort on the Main Madrid Cadiz - 36 Effective' Bilboa 354 ElfeetiVe . . Seville . 35} Gibraltar Bateclona 3i, Leghorn Genoa... 4 , 1 -Venice, Ital. Liv 27 20 Malta... ...:Sf -Naples' 39 Palerino . ll7d. per Ox. Lisbon Oporto .3.1 . .t Rio Janeiro Ditlllll l Agio of the Bank on Holland.... '2 per Cent, BULL;OS. Oortugal Gold, in Coi:: .0 0 0 per 0 0 ' Foreign Gold, in Bars 3 17 10i Nvw 1)011ars :;firer in Bari, Standard 0 5 liIRTil. On Tnesdar , the 34th inst., in Upper Gower-street, t he lady of i,l,ailes therii, Esq., of a sun. 111ATILUE,1). On Monday, Sept. 20, at .Lamb e i h., Mr. John Richards. fa th e Bank of England, to Frances, daughter of the late 1111 ' . Burton, of E.eunington,latte,, Esq. DIET). Tuesday Sept. it, at his son's house at Proreoder, after very short illness, in the 013t`year of his - au.e, sir ,E4wh Bart., rd tin etc hhull, for many y e ars 011 C of th e R e p res entativ e , hauient for the County of Kent. esterday, at i,er li,use, Charles-street, Berke!ey-sclu 9 '„ - f Mis. Caldwell, wife of Admiral CaLlwell, in the year -- her a , ..;e. On Saturday last, Miss Bryan, of Yorli-place, Porttno' square, of water on the chest. Un tlie (Ith ihl t., at his seat, IVhitehaugh„-lherdeenshiiriei; Theodore Foll ie s Leith, Es q ., M. 1)., in the 74111 year of ' age. : „ g • LONDON: Printed by J. B. CARSTAIRS, - of No. 29, Orimuid-strut, Queen-sg s uare; and s published hr...5k•.::,, f . SCRIPPS, of No. 7, South Molr.9n-street at 'fug 011ite, No. 11% Strand ; where Adrotisiuieks, O ft ” Letters, &C. (post-paid* It he ath.l, mus 4essrd. , 1 v y' ~.