The Sun. — London, England, 1819-12-16 00:00:00

FOR THE SUN. Thad suspended the answer which I was about to give the DISSENTER, until the promised repli cation of PERTINAX should come forth. With all the matters I have in hand, it suited my con venience to kill two birds with one stone ; espe cially, as though PERTINAX affects to build in the belts y, I cannot help suspecting them both to hatch in the same schismatical nest. A professed " Dissenter" may be allowed to think the Established Church less orthodox the!, his own' society ; though I scarcely-admit the decency of his saying it, in return for the soffei ance which has been .accordcd him of differing from her ritual. That he is friendly to Tolera tion, because Toleration has been friendly to him, is 'a conclusion somewhat too non sequiturist for my intellect, hut which 1 shall not at present stop to discuss. Between the Sectary and the Churchman, I am finely off. The one will not allow me to he either Christian or Gentleman ; I thank his lihc• rality, and admire his-politeness. The other de nies me Christianity too, and moreover, suspects me for a Papist ; I leave him to settle with those gentry. the concurrent imputation; and %% ii! merely tell him, that I have contended against Popery with more diligence, and perhaps snore effect than all his Churclimanship can ever arrive at. ‘Vhat is the '' place" of this If it be in the Church, I cannot 'seek it : for alas ! I am a Layman. Yet I cannot help wishing that his ecclesiastical post were occupied by some clerical person, less disposed toward the prefer able piety of the Sectarians, and less involved in the confidence of their o pinioni, Flis senti ments, however, are of more importance its our present question than is his office. If PERTINAX means to approve of eirApeling on the Thames, becouge there is no szjicient church, room on shore, and really desires none other doe. trines to be taught !here, .and none other forms to bet used than those of the Established Chnreh; his zeal shall remain uninlyugued by me. But, if he be a half-way Churchman, oscillating toward Sect a rism, and squinting Off trout his original crerd—l must tell him, as 1 told his comrade AntsTinns, that the ESTABLISHED Cuunctr bath an ASCPNDANT and EXCLUSIVE CLAIM ON TUE STATE, both by her purity and her legality ; that if her barriers had never been opened, her Indic , had never been endangered; and that the ortho. - doxy which prohibited dissent, wonld, a fortiori, have prevcorA infidelity. God tovh;tl that I should not dist ingui,h between the lesser :tml the greater evil ; I merely 'insist, that if the proper authority hod been used to keep down the le!ser, the greater could never have arisen. The " DISSENTER " 10110WS the customary as sumptions of his Sect, which centeri in itself all Because I have blamed the style of Brother INNYS, and exclaimed against his " light ness," his " flippancy," and his " irreverence," I am accused of the very faults which I objected to the smug seceder. While vindicating the ma jesty of the Christian Religion, I am herded with its revilers; and PAINE and CARLILE, who decried the Saviour, are not more atheistical than I 'am, who merely questioned the decency of a Dissent ing Preacher. It I revolt from' the saucy fami liarity which ''throws out a rope" to our blessed Redeemer; if I think its " flippancy " dangerous, as affording a pretext to the scoffer, and an of fence to the humble believer ; I must be denoun ced for a Radical, an Infidel—nay, for " Papist "—because I presume to handle Mr. IN NYS with almost as much " irreverence " as he handles the most sacred attributes. If leannot comprehend the Oriental term " Bethel," to be more edifying than the English expressiouw God's Honse," I nnist he set down for a " Foreigner." An Englishman a Foreigner because he does nut un derstand Hebrew ! Were I to refer PERTINAX to the " flippant " RABELAIS, for his description of the Island of Cu Ers APH, the worthy Churchman would be rather puzzled, perhaps. But wilco, he is told that CIIENAPII is Hebrew for Hypocrisy, he will find hintstlf not so far from home in the plait) English. Sectarians, I know, cannot abide establish ments, whether of things or of words ; and long past antiquity carries with them the charm of in novation. What nobody remembers, is almost as good as ►chat nobody has seen. I wonder how they condescend to pray in English nt all I and why they do not make their " Pilgrim's Progress" back into Mesopotamia, and insist upon calling the Church—KANAL-41t olICe were as rea sonable, surely, a s the Bakis, and Zoars, and Ebcneters, which the " Anti-Cathedralist " is so fond of. Sail I not rightly, that there is more Pointy in this outlandish nou►cnclature than care less people. are aware of ?‘ The Reader has hy.this time understood, that I offer not any objection to prayers on the water•, or to floating places of worship. I only desire, that the prayers may be such as the Establiih. ment prescribes, and the place of worship fairly ►n►d at once a Church. The Churchman PERTItTAX will—of course—join me it► this wish. I have no local objections. 1 like regular worship any where, and irregular fanaticism nowhere. If the " DISSENTER" resists this opinion, I shall not call him an hypocrite. Both my anta gonists, however, must bear to be told, that cant is not religion, nor rudeness argument. lam not to be Hebuniztd out of the Establishment, nor snuffled into Sectarianism. As little am I to be scolded into silence, or metphored into convic tion. Dec. 7, 1819. TENAX. FUR TilZ SUN. MR. EDITOR—AIter the Meeting at Manchester has been pronounced illegal by the highest Legal Authorities in the Kingdo►n, and by men of both parties innthe HOUse of Commons, distinguished for Ivaininv, anti talents, it seems strange that Member of that lIG blintild still boldly assert its leg!ility, anti trintopl.awly incuire " Where is :1;e page of the Statute Book that limits the num ber of tile 1 1 ,0ple who may meet for a letlress of grievance,: I should, indeed, have thought that the Hon. Gentleman, •a Magistrate, a Statesman, and an Orator, might have been better acquainted with the Corvititution of his Country which he has sworn tom , tintain, bust I must beg leave to icier hitn_to s pai,tage or" Blackstone's Commentaries" (on the flights of Persons, chap. 1. 4.), in - which that great Authority states : " The restrictions—for some there are which are !aid upon petitioning in England, while they promote the spirit of peace, are no check on that of liberty. Care only must be taken, lest, under the pretence of petitioning, thi subject be guilty of any riot or tumult, and, to prevent this, it is pro vided by the statute, 13 Car. 11. st. I. c. .5. that no Petition to the King, or either House of Par liament, for any alteration in Church or State, ;Shall be signed by above t,enty persons, unless the matter thereof be approved by three Justices of the Peace, - or the major part of the Grand Jury, if in the country, and in London by the Mayor, Aldermen, andiCommon Council." • .it,lbcritore, appears that this Statute was spe cially enacted, in older to Prevent a riotous or tumultuous meeting, and since, not having the sanction of the above-named Magistrates, It was illegal for more than twenty of the Reformers at Manchester even to sign a petition ; it wa% also obviously illegal for as many thousands of them to hold such a meeting at all, mtich more to march into the town in martial orde,r, armed wits► staves, bludgeons, and brick-bats, - and hearing caps of liberty, and black banners with threaten ing inscriptions. Such a meeting did not only infringe - the letter of the law, hut its spit it, and I would call upon any unprejudiced man to say, upon his conscience, whether he did nos think it a turbulent, seditious, and dangerous assemblage —not a legal or .p, , aceful one It: object was to obrain " Annual Pariiaments," " Universal SA :rage," and " Equal Representa tion or Da-t111," accordipg to the inscriptions On their banners ; and will any man contend that this is not Revolution ? Does not common sense !kit point out that St meeting, whose avowed ob ject was to ovt-rturn the Constitution, must be itself tuicimstitutional ? . Such was the law in the days of Judge BL ACK ST• NE, such I believe it to be now. But if ally later Statute cal*" be produced, enacting such meetings to be legal, I would then say that the Convitution is endangerednot by the Rights of the People having been infringed, of which we have heard such complaints, but by their hav ing been tearfully enlarg,ed,—uot by the want, hut the excess of that 'Liberty fur which they call. We hare all :the ItightS 'and Liberties which our Forefathers possessed,—Rights and Liberties which it is our birth-right to enjoy, and our duty to' maintain. .! 74 The laws of our country," says the great Authbrity I'have already quoted, " lay us under some necessary restraints—restraints its themselves so gentle and moderate, that no man of sense or probity would wish to see them slackened. 'For all of us have it in our choice to t:o every thitig ; that a good man would desire to do, and are restrained front nothing but what would be pernicious to ourselves or our fellow citizens." We have all the liberty that is con sistent with security. I shall only add, that I was a sincere friend to the cause of prudent and rational Reform ; but now that the object of these pretended Reformers is almost avowedly the tmbversion of the Consti tution, of Civil Older, Liberty, Property, and Religion--I abjure them, and think it behoves every true Briton of every party, in this eventful crisis, to rally round theStanclard of his Country, and defend her ancient UAW's, Rights, Liberties, and Religion, to his latest breath. tt ith the truly great and enlightened man, whose'invalu able observations have been the subject of this Lett. r, !Plat: now conclude, with the fervent wish for the glotions Constitution under which we live.—" Esto Perpetua A BRITON t. * Vide Mr. Hunte r s Speeds in the House of Commons, Wednesday,.Nov. 24. . . t This is nut thit COrrespozident who annexes the same siviature to a series of Letters on the importance of Rdi gion. ROMAN CATHOLIC MEETING. DUBLIN, DEC. S.--Yesterday, pursuant to Re quisitioo, a highly re@pectable 11leetingr of the Catholic Inhabitants 'of the United Polishes of St. Mary, St. Thomas, and 'Si. George, assem bled in the Committee-loom of the New Chapel, Marlborough-street, to take into consideration the propriety of petitioning Parliament for a Re peal of the Penal Laws afiecting the Catholic Body:—ANTHONY O'BRIEN, Esq. ill tie Chair. Several Resolutions were unanim'ons!y adopted, and a draft of a Petition read and approved of A lettrr from Dan. O'Connell, Eig. was teed, ex• pressing regret at his unavoidable absence, and recommending the immediate preparation of their Petitions, as he had reason to knOw it was the wish of some of those who usually advocated t he Ca tholic Claims in Padiament, to postpone the qpee tion after the present S e ssion—a proceeding which he (Mr. O'C.) dit•approved of. A Sob-Com. „,i, ree were t h e n named to carry into cinct the Resolutions of the Aleeting. NEW LMV OF LIBEL RESOLUTIONS OF THE BOOKSELLERS AND PRINTERS RESIDENT IN THE METROPOLIS. At a Meeting of Booksellers and Printers resident in the City of London and the neighbourhood thereof, held at the London Coffee-house, Ludgate-hill, on the 15th of Decem ber. 1819, to consider the Provisions of a Bill now before Parliament, for the more effectual prevention and punish ment of Blasphemous and Seditious Libels ; JOSEXII BUTTULWOItTU, Esq. in the Chair; It was Unanimously Resolved, 1. That we have observed with concern the increased and extensive circulation of certain Seditious and Blasphemes Libels which have of lath been printed and published, and are anxious that such remedy may be provided as to the Wis dom of Parliament shall seem fit; but that we nevertheless view with great apprehension and alarm the Provisions of a Bill now under the consideration of the House of Commons, entitled " An Act fin-the more effectual Prevention and Pu oishment of Blasphemous and Seditious Libels," so far as it is proposed that. it shuttle! be thereby enacted, that if any per son shall, after the passing of that Act, be legally convicted of having eimarposed, printed, or published any Blasphemous Libel, or :toy such Seditious Libel as therein mentioned, and shall, after being so convicted, offend a second time, and be thereof legally convicted, such person [nay, on a second con viction, be adjudged, at the discretion of the Court, either to suffer such punishment as may now by law he inflicted in cases of high misdemeanours,or to be banished from the United King dom and all other parts of his Majesty's dominions, for such term as the Court in which such conviction shall take place shall order, of to be transported to such place as shall be ap pointed by his Majesty for the transportation of offenders for any term not exceeding years ; and that it shouldbe further enacted, that if any offender who shall he so ordered by any such Court as aforesaid, to be banished or transported in manner aforesaid, shall he afterwards at large within any part of the United Kingdom, or any other part of his Majesty's dominions, without some lawful cause, before the expiration of the term fur which such offender shall have been so or dered to he banished or transported as aforesaid, every such offender tieing so at large as aforesaid, being thereof lawfully convicted, shall suffer death as in cases of felony without be nefit of Clergy. 2. That the punishment of transportation and of death are pnnishments applicable only to felonies, and offences so spe-. cific and certain in their nature, as to exclude the commission thereof through ignorance and inadvertence, and necessarily to include the evil intent in the felonious or illegal act. hut that the offence of libel is not specific and certain, and is in capable of being rendered previously certain by any specific definition; anti that libels may be, and frequently are, pub lished by persons having no com.imunity of intention with the authors or composers thereof; and being, from the nature of their business, necessarily unacquainted with the contents or probable effect of the same. 3. That questions of libel, both in law and fact, are deter miner' by a jury on the prosecution thereof, and that the ver dict of the jury upon a trial. is the sole criterion of judgment, rr.s to the legal or illegal oat ore and effect of a publicatinoi, and that such verdicts, depending upon individual opinion, are always uncertain and frequently contradictory, in so far, that the authors, and composers, and first publishers of poli tical and other publications have, in some instances, beers acquitted upon prosecutions for libel : and subsequent vend ers,• no way concerned in the printing or first publishing thereof, have been convicted by different juries for the pub lication of the same libels, and punished upon such convic tion by fine and imprisonment. 4. That a tetdiet of acquittal, On a prosecution for libel, whereby the publication complained of is declared in the opi nion of the jury b., he innoxirmus, does not legitimate the con tinual sale thereof, but that the same defendant is subject to prosecution for each sobsequent act of publication of the same work, and in doubtful cases is liable to-probable even foal conviction nod punishment ; and that. a prosecution for libel, even in cases of 'acquittal, does therefore generally ope rate to restrain the continued circulation of the offensive work; and in some cases to suppress the same altogether. 5. That as e•eneral Booksellers and Publishers, we are more especially affected by the proposed act, and that the more extensive - and eeSpectahle the trade carried on is, the more probable it becomes that we may. innocently and with good intention's, fall under the censure and puoishment of the pro posed law. G. That instances are not wantioss in which Booksellers have been convicted, and have suffered ptinishment, fur the sale of libellous works, by servantswitheut their privity, and, it may be, even contrary to their command ; and that, as 1.10 circumspection can guard against the malice of an offended, or the negligence of a careless servant, we shall he liable to incur the ultimate penalty .of the proposed law for acts of which we have no cognizance, and against which prudence would he unavailing. 7. That from the nature of our trade, we are daily eta played to execute orders from customers as intermediate hands, in the distribution of new worlls, of the contents and nature whereof we are unavoidably ignorant, and that for each copy. of such works so distributed by us, we are now re sponsible upon an indictment or information, and are liable, notwithstanding the perfect integrity of our intentions, to punishment, as in case of a misdemeanour; and that if the proposed Bill should pass into aslaw, we may in s such cases become liable to transportation for seven years, and to the punishment of death in case of return from transportation. 8. That a very great • number of historisasl, political, and religions works, are written, and composed, and published,in London at stated periods, and that most of such works are of temporary and immediate public interest, and that such works issue from the press, and pass through the hands of several different Booksellers, and many thousands thereof are delivered to the Public within a very few hours after their first publieation;.aod that a previous perusal or consi deration of such works, by such venders of the same as are not the original or first publishers of the same, is impracti cable. ft.• That many standard works upon historical, philosophi cal, and political subjects, which have now obtained a classical reputation s and are daily sold by respectable Booksellers, under the license of a loug prescription, may be reasonably considered to be liable to question as libellous by analogy to more recent works which have been subjected to prosecution ; and that such standard warts therefore, do out present any criterion for judgment as to the effect of [sew publications ; but limy themselves be the subjeceof toture prosecution, and may subject the venders thereof to the punishments proposed by the said Bill. 10: That the ignominy of a punishment which it is proposed to m: he. common to authors, printers, booksellers, and felons, while it operates to deter keened nod respectable writers of the most virtuous principles, from treating on political or re ligious subjects at ail, will especially preveut them trout en gagini; in the coniposition of Reviews, Magazines, and other vehicles of periodical discussion, to the areal and peseta tient detriment of !canting; and.will seriously injure the trade of Booksellers and printers, in which they have large capitals embarked ; especially in that extensive branch of it which embraces the most respectable periodical works in the count try, and will trod to throw them into the bands of reckless and desperate men. 11. That, although we haul; the greatest confidence in the wisdom and integrity of the present Judges of his Majesty's Courts of Law; yet that the power to expatriate arid trans port for a crime not specific but indefinite iii its nature, which exposes ignorance and inadvertence, equally • with intentional guilt, is of too extensive and dangerous a nature to he con fided to tiny authority whatever, to be exercised at discretion; and that, in !elation to a crime whose turpitude is heiklitened or diminished by the political aspect of the tithes, such a power, especially if rendered permanent, might become the engine of great injustice and (Tin ession, against which, no character, however perfect, would he a protect tots. les That from the eircmnstances stated, our trade and means of lining, if not totally destroyed by time intendNl Bill, wouli , l be carried on under a state •f hazard arid insecurity, productive of constant mental inquietude, ;sod destructive of the comfort. of ourselves and our families. !3. That a Petition be therefore presented to the House of Commons, praying that the same Bill, so far as respects the punishments of Tr:importation and Death for vending such Blasphemous or Seditious Libels as in the said Bill are men fiance!, may not. pass into a UM. 14. Thikt, the Petition now read be adopted and signed. .10S. BUTTERWORTH, Chairman. The Petition presented to the House embodied these Resolution 3, except the two last, and con chided as follows : " Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray, " That the said Ildi, so far as respects the pun?shments of transportation and death for composing r printing, or fuck blasphemous or seditious libels as in the said mentioned, may nut pass into a low. And that your Peti tiuners may be heard by their Counsel and Agents at the bar °f-your Honimrable !louse against the same. And your retitivners shall ever vray,"&c. THEATRICAL REGISTER. Perfornaed Last N;R•ht. MEAIRE ROYAL, DRIIRY-LANE.—Macbeth : Macbeth, g J r' Kean; Lady Macbeth, Mrs. Glover. After which, P a r Ten &Clock aild a Rainy Night. MEATRE RovAt„ COVENT-GA KDE.K.—The Comedy of Errors; Monti° of Eptiesn':, Mr. W. Farren: Adriatia, Ste" phens. After which, The Forty Thieves. TO CORRESPONDENTS. We have received the Second valuable Communication, signet .1. M., and we repeat our wish to be favoured with, a knowledge of the Author. IV For PARLIAMENTARY PRocEEDINOs, see the Fourth rage PRICE OF STOCKS THIS I/AT AT TwEt.vr o'cLoctt. Bank Stock.. • 214 9131 India Binds 2s. 4s. dit. 3 per Ceot. Red..... (;61 tisi Exch. Bills, 2tl. 34 per Cent • 7441 74 Ontnium 34 di`' 4 per Cents. 93,1,-ii Cons. for AcCount 674111 Banli Long Ann. 17 5-16ths -4 ______ MAILS. ARRIVED—I Dublin, I Waterford, I Guernsey and Jersey. DUE—I GOllellbUrgli o I France, 2 irawburgh. HIGH WATER A'(' LONDON BRIDGE TO-MORROW. Nlornirig, 20 minutes after 2. I Erening,4s minutes after I° THE SUN. SOLEM QUis DICERS FALsUM AUDEAT ? LONDON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, )819. The Paris Papers of Monday last, which veer. due this morning, have not arrived. 'rug Ftmos.—To-morrow, the 7th payment to be made upon Omnium, which is now at a Div count of 34 per cent. There are between 3 a►nd 4 millions to pay up. The immense Sales of Stock that have lately taken place have been principoilf for Foreign Houses.—Consols for Opening, 671 a 67. We have the pleasure to state, upon the indir potable authority of accounts received this dal' that, owing to the excellent precautions of the Officers commanding in the respective•Distrletsi and to the activity and vigilance of the Magi° crates, no meetings or tumults have taken pia° at Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, or Glai' gong, or at any of the other places where the dical Agitators had intended to assemble the ig insurgent brethren. The conciliating spirit of Government is ec i ' dent in their conformity to the• requisitions the Opposition, in many parts of the legal me ll ‘ sures proposed for the protection of the country'' The Petition and Resolutions of the Booksella v one of the most useful classes of the cornmuniq g are recommended by good sense and sound reasol li ing, as well as. urged with due respect, and lio sl made a strong impression upon Ministers. The ii33l portant ad vantages Of literature, when under prop er limitations, consistently with the welfare of th e State, need no recommendation, as t h e y casea tion contribute to the improvement of the human 0 1 ° _iu every specks of knowledge, and form t he brightest ornaments of Society. The respecta ble Booksellers and Printers who subscribed the re lion, and particularly the estimable Character presided as the Chairman of the Meeting b whom it was framed, it is needless to discrimi o3l : from those infamous wretches who disgrace I li profession of which they are unworthy mem ber;' and who are indeed only despicable Factor s Blasphemy and Sedition. Nllt. 1-10BHOUSE. This morning, pursuant to an advertisemen t ' ' Meeting was held at the Crown and Anc" fr f Strand, to express the sentiments of the pet' s° assembled on the Committal of JOHN CAM 14°15 ; HOUSE, Esq. to Newgate, by the of the SPEAKER of ,the House of Comm atig ; Shortly after one o'clock, about 400 persons ' let in the room, and at 20 minutes past, Sir FgA t4- fr , BURDETT, accompanied by Mr. Bgoom , PARR, and several other Members of the 05 1 minster Committee, proceeded to the in the large room. Sir FRANCIS 130" )° , 1 ,' having taken the Chair, proceeded t° it dress the Meeting ; he said, he consider° e, requisite to mike some apology for being 5° 1 4 what after his time, but it arose from his h3litio been obliged to see Mr. Hotanousa, whi 9o/ 0 0 had just left in Newgate, on business of 0, most essential importance to that Gentle rlifj oi He then proceeded to urge the usual argurne llt ! i v frequently brought for Ward by him, as to the r* tif of the House of ,Commons to commit - pal's ° t o' for what they (the House), considered 8re1"4.14 of Privilege. The Baronet was left sPe lO O l, when our Reporter came away. Thistles°;, Waddington, and several members of the e° , l 4 mittee of Two Hundred, and other vi present. a t Mrs. BEAuMONT, who, a few years ag ° %, o o / iliAtilignished as an Actress in the Nort" r ? r ` 1) 1( of our island, and has since acquired congiue'a A (r e / repot allot) • in America, has lately returned r that country. We reuurnber the appearonc;iie this Actress in Belcideru, at the fifir ni „lo ll i Theatte, and the impression which we r e ger sfe ' her talents indnees ns to think that she aLeoi a high and permanent station on the beards. • F 1 (