The Sun. — London, England, 1819-09-10 00:00:00

ter ; they would be still illegal and revolting to fininanity and justice.—(Cheers.) Mr. llu►:comae seconded the Resolutions. — Ile had little to add to the energetic and effec tive manner in which th e itorthy .Alderman (Waitl►man) had done his duty this day. Though lie could acid nothing to the able mat►ner in which the Resolutions had been proposed, yet he could not sati - sfy his feeling.: by giving a silent vote. He lamented to see a smile ou the faces of Gentlemen opposite (Messrs: Dixon, Jacks, and Browne.) He was shocked at observing on the face of any Gentleman any expression which in dicated levity on -au occasion so seriol'N and im portant to humanity and Dixon—" am not smiling")—lf ever one question could be more serious than another, it was that where an nnoffending people had fallen under military exe cution by order of -a Magistracy who were sworn to have protected them. He hoped that all would concur in the necessity of 'inquiring into the trans actions of the 16th of August, of which Manches ter was the bloody scene.. He hoped that the majority of that Court would as strongly express their abhorrence at this outrage, as they would their readiness to support law, reason, and hu manity. The worthy Gentleman then adverted to Mr. Pearson's letter, which described the evi dence given before the Grand JOry at Manches ter, and said, that, unless it was true, he did not think any respectable professional man would have affixed his signature to it. With such in formation, then, before the Grand Jury, he was utterly at a loss to know how they could have ignored the bills against the yeomanry : he might be wrong in his opinion, but he thought,so placed, he should have pursued a different course of conduct.—(A voice said " They acted so, be -cause they did not believe the information.") Mr, HURCOMBE, on hearing this, seemed to address himself to Mr. Dixon, and said, " What ! do you call this information not to be believed ?" (Mr. Dixon, " I did not say any such thing.") Mr. Hurcombe concluded'by expressing his cot dial support of the Resolutions he seconded, and his hope that they would meet the approbation of the great majority of the Con r. Mr. BUMPSTEAD IllOnglit the present question so important, that all that lad beer► dn , cussed within those walls for years, compared with this, were trifles light as air. If such proceedings were to be justified, a Society of Freemasons, or a club of journeymen going to their bean-feast, were liable to be dealt with in the same w a y. He :.upported the Resolutions, and 'contended, that if the right of petitioning, which had been fought for by our forefathers, were not defended on ttte present occasion—though the dill of Rights might continue to exist on pat ehmtnt—though the in strument itself might remain in the Tower, yet, to all intents and purposes, it would become a dead letter. Mr. Altkrman ROTHWFLL remarked, a worthy Tsfember had hoped the Resolutions would be car ried by a very large majority. He hoped and trusted the result would he the very reverse of that which bad thus been anticipated. At present they bad little information on which they could de pend, es the accounts given in the different News papers were so materiaily at variance with each other, that he thought on these statements no honest 01,111 could take upon,himself to say that the Magistrates had been wanting in their duty. If he, as a• Juror, were called upon to give a verdict out these accounts, he declared that he should he much inclined to retire from the Jury Box. He hoped some other Member would sub suit a motion to the Court, the object of which would be to do away these Resolutions alto gether. Mr. BROWN remarked on the observation which bad been made on a smile which had been charg ed- oe some of the Members of the Court, and thought there was something very curious in that fiuesthawn humanity, which sympathized with those who had got injured at time meeting, and who were in some degree blameable for attending' it, but felt nothing for those who had received %crwds in exerting themselves in defence of the Cate. They heard nothin4 of this sympathy for th e offi cer w h o h a d b een trotorded, as it had been supposed mortally, in the net fortnaoce of his duty, while seeming a person (he would nut say a de linquent, as he had not yet been tried), who was charged with a serious offence. While such con duct was pursued by the'Gentlemen opposite; be thought it was not to - be wondered at if a smile should be excited, at the confined sympathy of • some Gentlemen. He hoped the conduct of that Court on this occasion would be such as should sestain - its dignity, and avoid appearing to be eiders and abetters to'the discontented Out of &rota. He . did not hesitate to say, that if the military had committed the excesses inapeted to them, they ought to be brought to punishment. At present, however, they ought to wait for evi dence, as they were not jest illed in supposing that the -thanks - of Government had beets given on slight grounds. They simeeld also remember that the hills of indictment preferred against the Yen weer!: had'been ignored by the Grand Jury. But then ;t Alas said a statemenr had been put forth by a vet y respectable Gentleman, cs hich went to prove, that the bills ought not to be thrown out. He svoeld not believe any such statement, how o'er respectable the party from whom it might 0111 C. There were no auditors admitted to the sittinge of the Grand Jury ; and bicanse a re spectable Gentleman bed been told-so and so, it did not satisfy him that what he had heard was correct. It was strange how soon pub lie opinion could be turned for or against any Jury. Let a man be tried for High Treason and acquitted, -and the Jury were applauded as having rendered an important public service to their cout - at ; but let a UCand Jury throw ant certain bills preferred against those who had be come uopopular, and !mobile indignation was roused, and it was e matter of aqonistament cn what grounds they could venture to act such a part. Other bills, he observed, might be pre ferred against the party heteatter ; and he would ask, if at a time like the present', when persons bad been murdered for ioseecting the meet hags of the diseffected, that they (eight to pronounce an opinion on .hose proceediogs which were to be come the senjeet ut legal pluctediimes elsewhere What would be said it such a step were proposed k— ~Qt ~.a ...•Lav;itatul 1.1/11,1 111411 1111 fre- erently figurer! away in yonder Hall, and WllO was now under prosecution ? Would it not be said that this proceeding would be unfair, while legal proceedings were pending ? He would not now go into the circumstances of the case, but for the reasons he hatrgiven, he hoped the resolutions would not he cat ried. Mr. PATTEN considered the different statements contaioed in the several Newspapers to afford the strongest proof of the correctness of the stroement of the main facts. Had they been ail alike, it might have been presumed, that all had been Oh tablet] through the medium of one Reporter. The conduct of the Magistrates appeared to him most imjustiliable. He was filled with horror when he first heard of what had taken place ; but be had received en additional shock when he found that the Prince Regent bad been prevailed Oil to sanction the acts which had been committed. lo this instance, he complained of the conduct of Ministers, and would ask why should they support the merciless tveers who had acted such a pat t, and deny protection to the helpless people ? Un der all circumstances he should be proud to join those who had brought forward the Resolutions, and be hoped the whole Court would do the same. He contrasted the conduct of the Magistrates of Manchester with that of the Lord Mayor of Lon don in 1768, on , the occasion of a riot iu Saint George's•thlds, and showed the latter to be cha racterized by mercy _ and forbearance. On the present occasion, he felt that he spoke the voice of the People, when he asserted the Manchester Magistrates to have been guilty of a gross viola tion of the law of homanity, as well as tAr the law Of the latiO, for which they ought to be brought to.condign prm4lonent Mr. JAC.N,S, having 'been - mit of town for the last five weeks, had endeavoured to make himself master of both sides of the cation by reading the various accounts that had been published ; but these Ire found differed so materially from each other that lie was at a loss how to make up his rnhol on the merits of t i tle case. Was it then right in this state of things co bring charges against men who might be . fts honourable and as. reapeetable 24 themselves, and to stigmatize th, , m, as murderers, who had wilfully slaughtered theid tellow.conotrymen, and shed the blood of a peaceable anti defenceless multitude The last Resolution called on the Prince Regent to institute an inquiry, and to bring the " guilty perpetrators to condign punishment." The. framer of the Resolutions, it would be seen, assumed those whose conduct was to be the subject of inquiry to be guilty. This he must regard as most unfair. He proceeded to show that the meeting had been originally called for an illegal purpose, and that the business on which it was subsequently convened was not strictly legal, as in point of fact it was intended to call, not for the redress of particular griev ances, but for the total subversion of the House of Commons.—(Cries " No, no !'")—He would maintain that this was, in point of fact, what was called for. Were Annual Parliaments and Uni versal Suffrage conceded, what, he would ask, would be the state of the property of the country ? The flags used by the crowd, on one of whiCh was inscribed " Equal Re'presentation or Death," went to justify strong measures. On such occa sions the military were necessary. What, 'he would ad:, would have become of the Metropolis in 1780, if recourse had not been had to the mili tary ? He on that occasion had lost a schoolfellow, who, though quite innocent, was unfortunately shot, as - many other persons were at that tinw,- who had tie concern with the rioters. For this. there was o help. When the Spa-fields Riot took place, the Lord Mayor of that trty, though a great friend to'Liherty, was glad to call in the aid of the military. The , assembling of sixty. thousand persOns at Manchester, malty of - whom were armed with bludgeons, appeared to justify a si milar precautTori on the Part of the 'Magistrates of - that neighbourhood. He condemned the object of their meeting. Election 'by ballot would be ail infamous system. In answer to what bad been said on the reading of the Riot Act, he contended that it appeared the Magis-' tr,ates had complied with the provisions of the Act, by coming SS near as they could to read it ; but, he asked, who could read it so loud that a crowd . of 60,000 people should hear ? lrhe verdicts of the Coroners' inquests, and the recent decisions of the Grand Jury, all tended to justify the Ma gistrates. The latter basing found trite bills against Hunt and Co., he did riot see how they could have been expected to find those preferred against the Yeomanry Cavalry. In this stage of the business to decide against the Magistrates, it appeared to him, would be most unfair, and he therefOre hoped ) for the honour and dignity of. that Court, that a majority would appear against tie Resolutions. p vROOK WAS surprised to hear the Lord Mayor, at the commencement of the business of the slay, give a most deeidedOpinion on the goes lion about to be discussed.' That opinion would have no influence on hint, and be hoped that it- would have none on the Court, but he thought the attempt on the part of his Lordship a highly improper and indeemons act. From what lie. hFid 'read on both sides of the question, lie thought it was most clear that the conduct of, the Magis trates of 'Manchester, and of the Yeomanry Ca valry, was disgraceful in the extreme. The peo ple had a right to meet, and their conduct had been peaceable. The people had also been peace able in Smithfield, where Harrison was arrested, which act he was of opinion was highly impro per, and one that was very likely to lead to tumult and bloodshed. He commented with some severity on the conduct of the Yeomanry at Man chester. \lieu they attacked the defenceless crowd, the sufferers' appealed for mercy in vain ;, and, in one instance, a woman, while clasping her child with one hands-had her breast cut off by a blow from a sabre. He had seen seven peo ple and 100 letters front Manchester, and all agreed that the conduct of the Yeomanry Ca valry had been grossly improper. The people had been placed in such a situation that they could only run from the edge of the sabre to the point of the bayonet. It was said by s:-toe that only five had been killed and but twenty-live wounded, but this stat,ment fell far short of the troth. as it was ituowo that more thou live littodred had been ountieu. Ile hdid heard nothing that day that 'at all went to mitigate honest inApired by those Orocredings which were the subject ot complaint. Mr. J.•DrtoN having been this day accused of levity, as if he had warit.el the common feelings of a man, would tell the individual from whom the charge proceeded, that lie had in his bosom as much of the mi!k of human kindness as any man in that Court, and he was as-unwilling as any man to sanction cruelty or bloodshed. Long before Hunt went to Manchester, and God knew what he had to do there, for be was -not a native of the place, nor was be in any way cteenected with it, he (Mr. Dixon) was well inforthed that the minds ot the people were well prepared for the inflammatory harangues which he had to address to them. Whateverenight have (neared in that place, he begged to remark, was as open to he pneished by lee, as any man could wish, but he strongly insisted that the Gentlemen of Manchester did not deserve the language which had been used with respect to them. The reproach of cowardice and inhumanity did not 'belong to them. .They merited no such epithets as had been applied to them. The Grand Jury were composed of men of some of the most respectable families in the King's Dominions ; but what base and villainous characters most they be if they threw out the Bills which had been preferred, be lieving that the -enormities charged .had really been perpetrated. Was it to be supposed that they could act such a part as to throw out a Bill believing that a woman's breast had been wan tonly cut off. No. For his pert he did not be lieve one word of it. The distress experienced among the lower classes be showed to ,he the na tural consequence of a return to peace after a war like the last. It is not to be expected but that among-these 'unfortunate persons much bitterness and indignation would be felt, when an indi vidual Went, like the des't coying angel, and toll them that all the, distress which they felt, • s, grew out of the Boroughmougering system, and that this removed, thelr . griev.auces would be no more. Such language mieht,„he expected to make them desperate ; and it was keen that it made such an impression on their minds, diat even wo men were associated to further the interests of Parliamentary Re torn. For his part, he wished (bet any thing that was amiss to be reformed ;- front the differences that existed even emong Re formers themselves, as to what was proper to he done, he meet confess that he was taught to shriuk from innervation. lie was determined to divide against the Resolutions ; and alter animad verting on the conduct of certain Prints, he de clared that lie would never depart from the duty he ow td to the Sovereign and the Constituted Authorities of the Country' and to the last mo ments of his life he would never lend his hand to pull down the pillars of religion, or to place the professors of it in a ridiculous situation. 'Mr. !Jestes thought the Magistrates .had' been unfairly dealt with. Though he concurred with the first Resolution, he could not vote for those which followed. To him it appeared that the mi- litary lied not used the sabre but in the way of retaliation ; and the conduct of the mob bad been most disgraceful, as they had first assailed the. Yeomanry, assuming, front their forbearance, that they might do so with impunity. The Bills found by the Grand Jury proved the meeting to he considered an illegal one by them. .Upon the whole e disapproving of the Resolutions as be_did, in voting against, them, differ .front whom he might, he should enjoy the. applause, of his own conscience, by .opposing RestilutionS which he held to he pregnant with mischief. , . • . Mr. EICKU thought it a question, ,Whether the conduct of the Magistrates was not intended to take away the right of petitioning. He thought the conduct of the Magistrates had been marked !by servility, and complained of their . having acted, mot on an affidavit declating the towtt z. to he in danger, but on one meiely giving art op inion that it would be endangered. He insisted on the of the people to meet to petition for,Reform,,and be contended that the Magistrates, if the Riot Act had been read, had not waited, (as by law they were bound to do) an hour after the reading, before they called in the aid of the military. Their conduct in incarcerating those who were taken on .a charge of High' Treason next underwent Iris censure. Sir W. Cytms thought that as yet no man.had a tight to say that the Magistrates of Manchester had acted improperly. -They had a tight to do what. they did—they were men of character, bound ro keep the Peace, and what •they had done he doubted not was with a' view• to keep the Peace. He lamented that which had taken place ; he re gretted that the Yeomanry should, have been em ployed. He was satisfied that they meant well, but they had not the temper of the regular troops. They however were liable to be indicted for any fault they might fall into, .but the bills pre ferred against them having been (blown out by the Grand Jury, he did..not .see any reason for supposing that any well-founded charge could be preferred against.them. He did not say they had not acted wrong ; he saw no reason for saying they had; .but it they had, as English-' men they could be made to answer for it. It was said the mob was peaceable, but the object for which, they were assembled was unconstitutional, wicked, rebellious, revolutionary. He .had no doubt that they were called together for a wicked and damnable purpose, and not for constitutional objects. For aught that appeared tor he contrary, the proceedings of the Magistrates and the Yeo meta,/ might be perfectly justified. He hoped the. Resolutions would be rejected, as under ex isting circumstances he'did not think such propo sitions ought to be agitated. Mr. PEARSON, though an enemy to Radical Reform, though-t the Magistrates had beets too precipitate in directing a charge to be made on unarmed men. He would not censure the Grand Juries for throwing out the Bills which had been preferred ; but if it should appear that this had taken place in consequence of an opinion on their part that the Military.svere not amenable to the law, -it would then become a question whether they should not in4roper language call upon the Prince Regent to order some inquiry into all the circumstances. It was said that they had not suf. ficient infortnation before them to decide on the merits of•the case ; but as the Prince Regent had been able to decide on them in three days, he thJught it stiange tha;ithey thonld be t.ld that Court could not sir, so after 24 days had e:aiisj• Be hoped the Resolution, would be carried. Mr. TAYLOR thought it neeesia - sey that "they should call tor an inquiry, and doing this ,he dui_ flOt see .that they would prejudice the question : Cr' be decided hereafter. He thought that they hod. every reason to pass the'Resoltations. • Mr. Alderman SCEOLEY thought no facts: were ascertained on which they could safely touu4 an opinion. Some were convinced that the MagiSa traces had done too much—others maintained that they had done too link. Under these eiretint stances it appeared to him, that -further inform*" tiou was necessary to "enable client to protiounco on the proceedingS which had taken place. Mr. Alderman ROTFINTRLL, in explanation, said: the Cavalry had not made an attack till it Wol s found that the Civil Power could not bred through to the hustings. • Mr. DAYIS doubted the correctness of many-to' the statements whieh'had been received. He WI heard that the attack was not made wholly by the Yeomanry, but by some regiment of Dragoons• • Mr. WILLIAMS thought it would be almost pO 4 'jury in him to give a silent vote on .this occasinn• Ele, did not think they could fairly be accused,of prejudging the question by agreei4 to the Rest)" lotions betore them. He did not see that the Meeting was proved to be illegal. It was lament" able and terrific to see sixty thousand persons as' sembled in such a manner, but to this they we re almost driven by the Magistrates, who refused - to ' allow the people to assemble in their ancient Halis.. He thought it clear that the persons who attend ed the Meeting had come unarmed. This thOf might take for granted, as they had offered'uo re sistance. The Magistrates' he blamed, not out! for what they had done, but for what they had not done. It the Riot Act was read (and he did not Mean to say that it was net) they ought to. have made this generally known. A great placard .' might.have been displayed, stating the Riot Ac' to have been reed at twelve Wclock, kind warning the crowd of the peril to which they would be er posed if they did not disperse. Upon the wholes , he thought the Court would disgrace itself if, O", der all the circumstances, it did not call for 4 0 inquiry ;• and with these feelings he should sue' port the Resolutions. • Mr. WAITH HAN replied, and contended that the. statements which had appeared in the Ministerial Papers were sufficient to justify his Resolutions , and to prove the necessity of calling for inquiry' He described the distress which had existed? " nu demanded if men and women, suffering front hug ger and nakedness, and surrounded by s tarving children, when driven to assemble with a view " , petitioning for the redress of grievances, wercl ° be run down and sabred, as they had been by d ie Yeomanry at Manchester, acting under the order. of the Magistrates. He alluded to the staterde° made by the Lord Mayor of a deposition that ; conspiracy had been formed to fire the city a r murder the inbaJaitants, and wished to know 5/4 attempts were not made to bring.the conspiracy!! to justice. He gave it as his opinion, that P r the monied and the landed interests and the G 0 vernment came forward, and endeavoured by CO ciliatory means to diminish the fitisery complaioe of, that doing this, all disaffection would be P° down at once. He abstained front going into old and hackneyed arguments on Reform on tO 0 occasion, as lie was ready at any otter time, i t come forward and express his sentiments on th* subject. He concluded by again advocatiugl adoption of conciliating measures, in place . . those of coercion. . ' The Question being put, the Lord Mayor dal cl• ed, front the show of hands, that it was earried. i° the affirmative. A diviSiou was then called W . ° when the numbers were as follow : ii For the Resointionc—Aldermen 2, Cr.comoneri 6.a 7...-•, A Against them—Aldermen 6, Commoners 39 ......... '- 1"25 ' Majority An Address to the Prince Regent, tounde d° : the Resolutions, was thea agreed to, send 141 Court adjourned. . . THE RESOLUTIONS ALLUDED TO. rite "'That, tinder the free principles of the British C ods• vs tion, it is the undoubted Right of Englishmen to a55,,c 11 %.. together for the purpose of deliberating upon Public W . ' - antes, as well as on the Legal and Coustitutioaal Means - obtaining Redress. • bel l " " That, for the exercise of this Right, a Meeting sea‘,,... at Manchester on the 16th of August last, and, withdrlto--, tering into the policy or prudence of convening such -M s a g , s . bly, it appears to us, from ,the information which ha s tr it, hired, that thesaid Meeting was legally assembled --that ee proceedings were conducted in an orderly and peaCeable,l9o4 ner—and that the people composing it were therefoie runlet the sanction of the Laws, and entitled .to the P o '.. tion of the Magistrates. A ste " That we liave,-nevertheless, learnt witla grief an al a nishment, that while the Meeting was .so assemble" , 10' when no act of riot or tumult bad taken place, th e st rates issued their warrants for the apprehension of cert thrA persons then present, for the execution of Which, altho 0 , n no resistance was made on the partlthe People,•or d l f y against whom the warrants were issued, they incurew" resorted to the aid of the Military, when, Without an/ Poi. vions warning Esf their intention, the Manchester Ye' ou 'lei. Cavalry, suddenly rushing forward, opened a passage lino the multitude, furiously attacking, by force of artrtS4' P° of aide and unoffending Citizens, whereby grZat numberSie - men, women, and children, and even•PeaceAEMlCers, wer e tti a discriminately and wantonly rode over, and many iuhulli sabred and killed. tor " That' sve feel ouiselVes called' upon to express. to strongest indignation at these unprovoked'andlittet o P el e ol proceedings, which we cainut but view as• Itiglily•di+gtoo to the character of Englishmen, and a daring violation British Constitution. , S 1 0 " That from the known and declared attaebrueo- e'.o3 Royal Highness the Prince Regent to the Constituti on, al the Laws, we feel the most decided conviction that his Highness never could have been. induced to expCess'lll§.:l,'og 'O-oval at the conduct of the abettors and perpetratn!le these atrocities, had not his Royal confidence beeniabnratol interested misrepresented statements of these 4 0 • ► tr;insactions. • NA " That et a time when the- great body of his NA to r Subjects are suffering under the severest privotioio , ,, r ,„§ft ever erroneous may be their ideas as to the means of 1:N, i 5 a kind and conciliating attention to their conPlai equally called for by policy, and justice, and that (Kr 4 - 0 1tf them of the means of expressing their grievancesubilcorte and despotism, can only tend to incrdase the - present, * l e t tents, destroy public confidence int he pure and Wl' ote nistration of justice, excite disaffection, and lead. to , - open violence or secret revenge. , • . : to e " That, in order to avertthese calamities—tornio.,Tertiel authority of the Law—and to protect the Lives k ind L ,1 ... „- r yrev_, of the Subject—a humble and, dutiful Address be 1 11- .7i,er, by this Court to his Royal Highness the Prince.Regrltite ing his Royal Highness will be graciously pleased to 1° tio li o an immediate and effectual Inquiry into the Outrage:to) have been committed, and to -cause the guilty pee P e nt. thereof to be brought to signal and condign punishnle„,pso " wooDT.OOP LONDON: Printed by J. B. CARSTAIRS,' of No. 49 'W. Ormond-street, Queen-square: and published ' , V SE I SCRIPPS, of No. 7, South Molton-street, at. 11 4 0 00 No. 112, Strdnd ; Ater', Adveitiscrielltif Lelt,.;ra, (post-paid` nitlsoA aidrosseer „....,. h.. .. „ v :!, 111 i v ~ ~HI tti 4 ~~ 41, Lo„ 401 Th e , e i 1 .4 4 p rint mttd. tl 4v 44 : ; eiiph Z4Uli h ands 'r, Vit t , Ll„ ' try ~~C i ~~t~l A Is li ant u Late I to n SO; Pri t kh t urc I'4