The Sun. — London, England, 1819-11-26 00:00:00

THE RIGHT OF POSSESSING ARMS. The privilege of possessing Arms, as saticiinned by the Bill of Rights, is mainly relied on by the Radicals.—That the privilege exists, 1 am very far from denying :—but I do contend, that it is a modified privilege only; and to be considered Avid, reference to the time and the occasion, and the circumstances of its enactment.—We cannot, in a state of Society, insist Upon abstract or va toral tights. The security of the Commonwealth is the principal, nay, the sole object of the Legis lature: in every insecure crisis, individual fran el.ises must be postponed—such postponement is the implied condition of their creation and con tinuance. Here I reitera e the axiom.—To sAvit THE CONSTITUTION, ALL ACTS ARE CON-STITU- TIONAL. The Bill of Rights—which is in fact, the Na- tional accusation against King James—states as its gravamen, that he had endeavoured to subvert and extirpate the "Protestant Religion and the Laws and Liberties of ibis Kingdon►"—by (among other means) " causing several subjects, being good Protestants, to be disarmed, at the same time ".when Papists were both armed and employed, " contrary to law." It is almost superfluous to observe, that no HU.: stract right of carrying arms is here either recog nized or inferred ; that the only right existed in Protestants: and in them , !t not any other 'time than when Papists were illegally armed. I defy the most thoroughpaced Radical to extrAct from this clause a general right of carrying arms, in persons who are not Protestants, or while Papists are not• sanctioned iu their illegal possession. Whatever may be the language of the Statute wnich iticormi ; ated the Declaration of Rights it:to the Law of the Land, it must be interpreted N%ith'reftrence to the Declaration itself, and the circumstances which produced it. Let us now examine the proceedings of the Convention-Padiatnent, and its understanding of this claim of possessing arms. On the 2d February 1689, the Committee ap pointed by the House of Commons reported the following Resolution : " It is necessary tor the Public safety, that the '' subjects, which are Protestants, should provide " and keep arms for their common defence ; and " that the arms which have been taken from them " be restored. " On the 7th Febrnaty, the repott was again brought up ; wherein the above Resolution stands tout--" That the subjects, which Protestants, " may provide and keep arms fur their common " dvfence.•' When these Resolutions were sent up to the House of Lords, they proposed the following ai teration—" That the subjects, which are Pro " testants, may have 14 rm s for their defence, suit " able to their condition and as allowed by Law." This was agreed to by the Commons. I pause to observe, not only tlie'ev.c_lusive-clia rawer of Protestantism, which conditioned ,he right of having arms, and the apprehension of Popery, which chimed the object of using that ril►t ; but the extteme caution of the Legislature in preventing its use for any general purpose, or under any general privilege. Itle Lords expung ed the word " common from the declared pur. pose of " defence," and limited the right to " the " allowance of the Law." And to this the Cont i mons agieed, How little this private privilege was suffered to stand in the hindrance of the public safety,—let the following' extracts from the Lords' Journals, March 5, 1689.—Upon report by the Lord PAGET from the Committee concerning rapists, This Home bring informed that there are di- " errs arms in the house of one FiLKINS, in the " of Saint Giles ; it is thereupon ordered " by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parha " went assembled, thm the doors of the rooms wheie those aims are, be broken open by the " Writ:cis of the Ordnance, in the presence of a " Constable ; and that the arms thtie found be " taken, and sent to the Tower of London:' " This House being informed that there a!'! " arms in the custody of -- MoLiNcex, " pawnbroker : it is ordercd by the Louis, Spiri " hied and Temporal in Parliament assembled, " that what arms or belts sliouldbe found in his " enstody, with the King's mark on them, be " taken and sent to the 'tower of London : and " that such whet arms as shall be found in his " cus , ody be inventoried and secured until further •' oriirr:' valou3 as the Whigs always were in their maintenance of popular freedotn, that jealousy mast be supposed to have been most wakeful in the very infancy of the Revolution. Yet we see, tiidt the grtaf and wise feadets of that party, the tu..a who tr , ,lned the Bill of Rights, and de- Itiv , :tieti ao arbitrary Sunreign, were the first to postpone the privileges of that Bill, and to adopt measures to the full as decisive as any which King JAMES had ventured. No man can charge them with inconsistency. The proceedings of Jamms were only bad, in proportion to the bad\kess of their object : the sante proceedings WILLIAM and his Whig, Senators were good, as theit 0 1 .jeCt wasgood, in the earliest part of his reign, a dangerous conspiracy against his person obliged WILLIAM to throw the tfai!ors jut° prison. To liberate them upon bAil, or to bring them to trial, was equally inconvenient : the Parliament avoided both difficulties, by suspending 'the Habeas Corpus Act. Thus, a revolutionary Sovereign infringed the main bulwark of the liberty of his subjects, hilt! a revolutionaly raltarnent confirmed and conti nued the infraction ;—proving, beyond all ques tiou, this indisputable position-,--that, to save the Constitution, no act can be unconstitutional. And this was done by the Revolutionists them selves. Ar►d who were the clamourers against it ? Who were the accusers of \VILLIAM, as having more deeply infringed the Constitution than ever CHARLES or JAMES had (Omitted to infringe it The enemies of the Revolution, and the tricnds of the exiled Tyranny. The Nation, however, was satisfied that the temporary suspension of the Constitution's principal franchises was in perfect accordance with the Constitution's real spirit; that while nothing was legal for its injury, every_ thing . was legal for its benefit ; that the conse quence of a measure, and the purpose of its agent, were rather to be regarded than the abstract qua lity of the measure itself. Even so will the Nation argue now. The wis dom of,our Ancestots suspended a part of the Constitution for the sake' of its whole ; and their descendants willotot hesitate to whew equal wisdom in equal danger. It is worse than puerile, to ar gue upon abstract rights of doing aught, or pos sessing aught, which can endanger the Common wealth. It cannot he predicated of tl►e Consti tution, thaf it contains in itself any one principle of its own destruction ; or that it does not con ;sin in itself any one principle of its own pre servation. If an act, the most apparently con stitutional which can be imagined . , were danger ous to the State, it is unconstitutional ; while the most apparently utsconssitntiossal_act, if neces sary to the State, is co►►stitutional. The very formalities of our Legislature, the process which they roust go through, the time • which they must occupy before a Law can be en acted, or altered, or repealed, speak trumpet tongued to the tact--that the trainers of the Cons stitution reposed in its Administrators the power of suspending any or all its franchises in the mo ment of their abuse. And this trust is especially consonant to the genuine, spirit of freedom : be caose unrestraine - tie freedom would destroy itself; while its perpetual restraint would be equally de structive. Easy as tile Radicals find it to preptre treason svi:hout one fleet t act on which the Law Can lay hold—who shall contend that they may provide arms muter the Bill of Rights, and walk at large under the Habeas Corpus Act, while conspiring the destruction of that Constitution to which that Bill of Rights and that Habeas Corpus Act .owe their existence ?—Who shall contend, that they are privileged, under the Riot Act, to subvert the King's Throne, provided they can ef fect its subversion within fitly-nine minutes ? No—nei, her the forms nor the spirit of the Con stitution were made for its enemies. The Parlia ment which suspends the privilege of i►aving arms, and of bail or.trial in State offences, will prove its teal regard for that Constitution, which can not be saved without the suspension of its own rights. I will insist farther—that the Minister who, while the Parliament was not sitting, bad for such a purpose suspended those dangerous and perrertible privileges, of his own mere authority, would have deserved not only the 'indemnity of the Parliament but the gratitude of the Nation, What !—lf a gang of Robbers are setting out to plunder, and to shed blood—are they to keep their weapons drawn, and their persons uncon ;incd, until the intent of their expedition is loured; which most probably can only be proved by its execution ? If a desperate Qaack is about to vend arsenic—shall not his shop '►e shut up and his phials broken, until the (heath of his vic tims has proved the mischief of his commodity ? If a needy Bookseller is about to vend the moral poison of his blssphernies and treasons—shall not his corruption be stayed until the tedious process of law has given time enough for its dissemina tion ?—But, why argue a question so evident ! We act upon this principle every (Icy, whets we pull down a house to stop the progress of a con. Bagration. Yet it is as illegal to poll down "an Et,glishmat►'9 Castle," as to send his pistol into the Tower, or his person into Newsate. In reference to the privilege of polessing arms —The Lords, with much prosper ive wisdom, qoaLfied it in the very outset of thclicvolutioo We are still without any arrival of Paris Papers. Three days' Journals are now ►lue. Halifax Papers arrived this morning to the 22d ult.—They state from Bermuda, that the Fever had greatly subsided in the Island, and that but few deaths had taken place. The number of the Minority in the House of Commons, " on an Amendment to the Address on the first day of a Session, is unexampled in the Annals of Parliament," says The Morning Chro nicle of this day; and it proceeds to assert that this Minority " proves, beyond contradiction, the strong sense which THR COUNTRY entertains of the system of Ministers, in• their hasty approba tion of proceedings which have filled the breasts of all good men with alarm and dismay." This reasoning, and the conclusion drawn from it, are exactly what might be expected from the logical acumen of The Morning Chronicle. Other Writers, less enlightened, might rather draw an inference from the large majority, as more likely to express the sense of the people in favour of the conduct of Government. There is an old paradox, which says, that the " half is more than the whole," but The Chronicle seams to have improved upon this problem, and would perhaps attempt to prove, that much less than ball exceeds the greater num ber. Such is the reasoning of The Chronicle, but it cannot conquer its prejudice and malevolence, notwithstanding the decided Majorities in favour of Ministers an the Manchester Question, from which the approbation of the Country might more justly be inferred than from a ,Minority.-- That the proceedings at Manchester may have " filled the breasts of all, good men with alarm and dismay," is highly probable, because all good men must view with deep concern and apprehen sion the lamentable change in the minds of the lower orders of People ; but the energy of Go vernment, and the firmness of the Manchester Magistrates, however they have been defamed by Fa'ction, are calculated to raise the spirits of " all good men," in the full confidence that the Consti tution will be resolutely supported and finally pre served,—l3ut " all good men" may still be alarmed at the audacity of the democratical Newspapers, which openly or insidiously prop the cause of Rebellion. When the WooLaas, the WaTsoNs, the CARLILES, COBBETTS, &c. &c. are endeavour ing, to bring the Government into disrepute, they are oily labouring in their vocation ; but The Chronicle and The (Old) Times, which would themselves be ruined by the uuiVersal partition of p: nperty which the former desperate is retches have in view, might be expected to check, instead of stimulating the cause of the Radicals, who would laugh at them as soon as they acquired that ascendency Which it seems to be the intention of those degenerate Papers to promote. We bear no ill-will towards any of our Competitors, arid only oppose thou *km we MAI them Adopting principles, and supporting measures, tending t ° the destruction of the Country, and shook' be truly glad to see them repent of their errors, and' for their own safety, endeavour to uphold th e security tilAtie Empire. , v tl irream!..---7-k '' ll o, l k • . - 7There has hardly bee'ira more brilliarit'speCif uen Of wit, combined with sound argument And c u r ported by solid fact, than characterized the Speec h of Mr. CANNING 011 Wednesday night in the Hout e of Commons. The Radical Baronet received whet may be styled a complete dressing 011 the occasion' and we may venture to predict, whatever sPir il he may display of the epistolary , kind, or on Radical Scafold, we do not mean of the putibuial description, that he will be little disposed towar d ! senatorial Oratory in the presence of Mr. COP and the Commons, as wisely, agreed in the qua, lification. This was, that the KING'S subjects, being Protestants, may have such arms as are suitable to their condition, and allowed by Law. — There is 'no.need to enquire, whether pikes and p Att oIV-Ttl , "'Mika reircoktritiv o f fellows like HUNT and WATSON, and the others of the fang ; while the " allowance of the law" is ne cessary to leave them at liberty for rapine, and assassination, and treason. A very few clays, I trust, will now extinguish their impudence. TENAX. . • THEATRICAL REGISTER. Performed Last Night. TO SAYRE ROYAL, DItulAY-LANE.—WiId Oats : Rover, Mr. Elliston; Lady Amaranth, Mrs. W. WeA. After which, The Sleeping Draught. THEATRE ROYAL, OWENT-GARDEN. — The Begg•ar's Opera: Captain Macheath, Mr. .1. Smith; Polly Peachnin, Miss Stephens. After which, A Short Reign and a Merry One; to which was added, A Roland fur an Oliver. TO CORRESPONDENTS. TCNAX is informed, that his Article, entitled " The RECENT and his CALUMNIATORS," shall appear To-morrow ; also his Answer to ARISTIDES, which has been unavoidably postponed.—A BRITON, and ANTIPAPA, shall have an early insertion. ".* For The HERMIT of MARY-LE-BONNE, see the First Page. For Proceedings in the COURT of COMMON CouN ciL, and PROVINCIAL Jouarga Ls, see the Fourth Page. RICE 0 F STOCKS wELvE O'CLOCK. FHIS DAY AT TV 3 per Cent. Red. ..... (17/ 67 1 3 I.erCent. Cues.... 681 677,-1 3i pyr Cent. 7,5i 4 per Cents. S 1 , er Ct. Navy Ann:.... IC4i 104 104 Bank Long Ann... 17 9-16ths Imp. 3 per Cent. Ann 651 India Stock Ditto Bonds 7s. bs. pr. Exch. Bills, 9d ... 2s. 3s. dis. Ditto Commercial ... 20s. slis. Cons. for Opening 66 -if it 6S AttatvEn-1 Dub' Guernsey and Jersey, i Flat ,ILS. tin, 1 Waterford. I Holland, 2 Lisbon, I France, tders. HIGH IVATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TO•MORItO1V. Morning, 20 minutes after 10. I Evening, 45 minutes after 10. T.EIJ • N 110 LEM QUIS DICERE FALSUM AUDEAT ? LONDON, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1819. NING. There is a silly attempt in The Morning Chron ia cle this day to throw ridicule upon Laird CAsrif REAGH'S speech, which it compares to " a V ule of Dine-pin;," observing that " one argot:oo knocks his neighbour down," because in bl ic place his Lordship said that the conduct of M ir niters had secured the confidence of the Publi c ' and, in another, that the Manchester Magistralej have not fared the better for any opinion ters expressed in their favour. And why shodl; the Manchester Magistrates have fated better 1 % such opinions? Because Ministers have lef t tij l conduct of the Magistrates to the investigatiob el° the proper Tribunals, and have thereby incr eei public confidence in themselves. Such is Ole ° deduction, and not the illogical inference of f." 4' tious malevolence. o tr The East India Company's ships Charles Gls to and Lowther Castle, arrived at Bntnbay on I 28th, and the Inglis on the 29th May last. THE PRINCE REGENT'S COURT. St Yesterday the PRINCE REGENT held a Cour. e Carlton-house for the impose of receivit/ Address of the University of Oxford. The rtie o bers assembled at the house of Mr. ItivingOs the bookseller in Waterloo-place, and at 3 o'clac,o proceeded in grand procession, preceded by yeomen bedells and two squire bedells, headed 0 Lord Grenville in his Lull and splendid r obes , Chancellor ; and by Thomas Lee, D.D. !'ch ar of Trinity College, th e Vice-Cha nce 'd carrying the Address. The Delegates apP °i° ' for the occasion consisted of— C 1,. ; te The Proctors, Dr. ',orison, of Oriel College; Sir 1-- )y s pher Pegge, of Oriel College ; the Rev. Dr. John Kidd, N I of Christ-church ; Dr. Macbride, LL.D., Principal of 14sg, dalen-hall ; the Rev. George Gleed, M.A., Fellow 411 John's College; the Rev. John Clarke, M. A., r ell l l St. John's College ; Mr. W. Jackson, Pro Pr o ctor of cz - College; Win. Phillips, M. A., of Trinity Con ib ep I Y ; ps' Lee, President of Trinity College; Charles Henry 'app' Very Rev. the Dean of Christchurch; the Rev. Dv. 5 ' Op plestone, Provost of Oriel College; the Rev. P. 173 , 10 0 D.D., Warden of Merton College; the Rev. Dr. W po i' senior Proctor of Queen's College ; the Rev. Nathanie/ son, jun., Proctor of St. John's-College. vfe In addition to the Delegates, there vver,7 sent the following Members of the Mayer-sit% „ Their Royal Highnesses the Dukes of York and Cl are p - 0, Prince Leopold, the Bishop of Landaff, the Bishop of l ' a° s o( o Earl Delawar, the Dean of Westminster, Sir Joh n sfl(e- tb, (the Recorder of London), Earl of yar mouth, Mr. Vir il b ' o rs l Marquess of Buckingham, Mr. Peel, Sir W. Scott, gr'll,s-00° and Mr. Fane (the Members for the County), )4( ' f tl o Wright (the Member for the City), the Chancellor • Exchequer, the Earl of Guildford, Lord Kenyon, Lord bl7lO. zourh, Baron Hardenbrooke, besides a numerous a' 'roll of young Noblemen and other Members of the Vpive amounting to about two hundred and twenty. aY 1 , 1 11 Soon after the arrival of. the Learned — ° „d one of the State-rootns, they were c0nd0,7,-ber: the Lord Chamberlain and the Gentlerneo Kal to the Grand Council-Room, where hi' °' hi ) ; Highness the Prince Regent was seared .011 throne, surrounded by his Cabinet Nlinistersoo, the Great Officers of State, and the baud d tletnen Pensioners surrounding the tbriTe'Voie forming an avenue for the Members of tl e l igre f. versity to approach the Regent, when th&oe, —n e jOP was ably and distinctly read by Lo rd Chancellor, and an appropriate reply reca n t the Regent, who received the Members Ott e( university most graciously. o p i6 The Prince Regent aft erwards held ar 111 of the Order of the Garter, at which, °M,e previous ceremony of 'knighthood, th e P d li to 6 , Northumberland was admitted, and electe the stall vacant by the death of the Doke mood. o 0 , Irl'. 1' Yciterday, at one o'clock, the Doke (3'1,0'4', again held a Council at Lambeth Palace, of was attended by the Archbishop of Catli ß lO gi the Bishop of LONDON, the Duke of ; ‘1° a ,"s;fiti# the Marquess of CAMDEN, and the Earl c" sii CHILSEA. a t, e l' s q . CORBETT —Some Radicals of Lanca.--il to o/ presented a Congratulatory Address to lii i is i) t oo / gate demagogue on his arrival. T he Y (.'a e l o l a rs? over with disgusting panegyric, and eu d i t ioi n him to persist in his career of falsehood, s e • Wedges iliflii and blasphemy. ARREST OF DOCTOR WAT50N........00 iti d e• s ; immediately atter the Radical Meeti n g ' d for persed, Watson, their leader, wits "r,_ res r t : be °1 debt of 801. contracted at a Tavern w h e t 1 co tertained his associates, I r is Mo si t II Mr. VIOTTI, so well known for der, ' lll il' or „ o li o powers, which were of the very fi rgt , the v oi l been recently appointed Master °` be C i di Opera at' Paris. This appointme nt t r i os 64 , 8)) , ° : sidered as a proof that all the i ci to , P n i' t 'l e f ro lv oi t:;; - :;;;I'i the political .principles of that private chitrac , er is highly ell , eeo e i d ; l olo 9c. probable iQuilthation is envy end 0 • til t Xi This liir le o'c ca ses ; lloyb w :() Urt s Posed ( the au IV AITH: Nute. Aiderm 4 °lll t 1 4 had davit: ii his clic' 41 e, It I the Ruli hot? 1 le qUirs( (411Eg 14 Fficien bight a 10 near li kely tc Ilieidual "largei Ilerfecti tire sn) 'tilers 1 b rl obj 4 %Owlet d eguitoi , it, it 14 ged t ttVE fr, 431 the t ' t • Joh! 1. 1 r i ° F Selb PALNI ;tom i Ii Sena the PORT ! 4 'P oltves E AL 44 4 I he uood I] hirt.F e Q„, t qatg,; lialifax NOV - , !fie Ser Irtgton, Sc. JOl,l m akte 1 ,_‘•ovent r• Sri! bter o bi alitr / It °Per I 4( ease 1441 Mer • : * inees " e teiveli " act' elteittd •414, h, eXitibitt CORN i .011. Art•tyls 4 "ge qi sti ▪ dean tier gm , r v beat 1 4 5', bt ; 4 Y's pi '° 2s. 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