The Sun. — London, England, 1821-05-16 00:00:00

PARLIA MEND, HOUSE OF LORDS, MAY 15. The Earl of DERBY • presented a Petition from the Journeymen Rope-makers of Liverpool, against the use of machinery.—Laid on the table. li,iscount MELYILLE gave notice that he should move to-morrow the Scotch Court of Sessions and Scotch Court of Admiralty Bills be read a second time. - - - - The Consolidated Fund Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed to-morrow. — Adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS. At four o'clock the House proceeded to ballot' for two Committees to try the merits of the .13k titi9ns complaining of undue Returns for Bo roughbridge and Limerick. USURY LAWS. M. MARRYAT presented a petition from the Bankers of Gloucester, and Mr. Serjeant ONSLOW petitions from the Bankers of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and the Bankers of Swindon, in Wiltshire, praying fbr the Repeal of the Usury Laws.—Ordered to be printed. Mr. CALCRAFT"requested the Honourable and Learned Member would state on what day it was likaly the sc.;.ond rcading of the Bill for the Repeal of the Usury Laws would: tome ? Mr. Serjeant ONSLOW expressed his wish that it might exile on on a -day when it would have the precedence of other public business ; but said he could not at that moment fix the day. BOROUGHBRIDGE. Mr. Dyson, the Clerk, appeared at the Bar With the Reduced List of. the Ccmntittee ballot:Al for to try the merits of the Pe tition complaining of an undue Return for BOroughbridge.— The Members were as follows : Lord Viscount Duncannon, the Hon. Stephen Mahon, IV.' A. Johnstone, Esq., Sir C. Cole, S. Cranstoun, ES+, J. H. Allan, Esq., Sir J. F. Boughey, Bart. R. Wilbraham , Esq., John Fleet - tying, Esq., C. E. Rumbold , Esq., James Grattan, En ! , John Calcraft, Esq., W. RiCkford, Esq., E. ELlice,Esq., R. J..lVihnot, Esq. CURWEN presented a Petition from the Growers of Flax in in the East Riding of Yorkshire, pray ing. for protection against foreign compentiOn.—Ordered to be printed. • • Sir C. COCKBURN presented a petition from the Inhabi tants of,Paddington against the Metropolis Road Bill.—Laid _e.n_ the tabl,'. 7 :i717; . CHESTER MEETING.-PETITIONS. Mx. RENNET presented a Petition from James Lees, of Oldham, the brother of one of the unfortunatcpersons who were killed:at:Manchester on the 16th August, 1819, complaining that owing to an alleged informality, the Coroner's Jury'had never : re-on - led a verdict on the body of his brother, and that there had been no trial in any shape on the subject, and praying for ',Ordered to be printed. Mr. .BENNET also presentid a Petition from William Grieve: who was severely wounded on the same occasion, pray ing for inquiry and similar Petitions from Ealwhall Jones and J. Atkiinam.2Mr. CREED EY preSented s i milar Petitions from James .Walstonecraft, Wm. Schofield; Win. Wrightwain, and James Tomlinson; and Alderman WOOD presented similar Pe titions from Mary Black, Margaret Gocuwid, John Shields, James Berwick, Wm. Hibbert, and Dan. Mellor.—They were all ordered .to be printed. Mr, 110BHOUSE begged leave also to present a Petition on the subject which was about to be brought before the House that night. He would not enter at large into the subject, but simply state, that it was from an unfortunate individual, Thos.. Kelly, who had been wounded, assaulted,. trampled .upon,; sabred, drt the 13th of August, and then con fi ned in gaol for eleven weeks, whence he had been liberated without any charge' being brought against him. The case of this individual was unhappily the case of many others- and he trusted that after: the discussion which was about to take place, and the numerous Petitions Which had been and would be presented; they srrould hear no more naistatements. It was many months since the monstrous fictions, propagated, as he feared, to deeeive Parlia ment, had disappeared. He would not, however, anticipate his Honourable Friend, but merely move that the Petition be brought up.—The Petition was accordingly brought up, read, end ordered to be _printed.. Mr. HOBHOU SE presented similar Petitions from William Thompson, complaining of the wholly unprovoked 'attack on the part of the Yeomanry; from W. Barnes, who was as saulted, not at the Meeting, : but so. latg e f h a e r t ine,o'Clauk eiarthe evening, when the YeomattfreVerdTioping about the streets 'cutting every body down, to that the people were obliged to fly fate the shops for shelter; from James Lees ; a relation of .the Lees who was killed, stating that he also had been attacked by the yeomanry, without the slightest provocation ; from Thos. .Ashton, who had received 'a severe cut from a sabre ; .feom Elizabeth Neale, the whole of whose ribs on one side of the body had been broken in, in consequer.ec of which sic had been confined to her bed for five months ; from Joseph Coates, who had been so severely wounded as to be confined for 24 days ;• ,from David Dawson, the father of Edward Dawson, who had o,iedlof his Wounds, trusting that Parliament would grant him. :rasticele had,in vain looked for elsewhere ; from that in dividual of melancholy notoriety, Win. Ogden, who having re ceived two sabre cuts and a number of dreadful bruises, had been long con fi ned to his bed without hope of life; from Mary Horrocks, who had been sabred and trampled 'on by the cavalry, witie such dreadful oathg and imprecations, us showed they w.:re net masters of themselveS ; from Biddy Marks, who had been sabred and trampled on, had one of her shoulders dislo sated, and her legs lacerated; from William Pole, who had beer. kruek down five times by oee ycon:an, and received a sabre would in the head ; from Ll'immas Orimstone, who had had both his arms broken, and his head dreadfully ei:t, .and who was now a pauper in' the workhouse, although before his roisfortune - capable of earning his livelihood with credit ; from Catherine Coltman, who was thrown down, and had three of her ribs broken, and was 'saved only brthe crowd of people who fell over her, and at whom the yeomanry cut with-the utmost fury, regardless of their cries for mercy; ; from William Stewart, who had been sabred in . the head, and trampled almost to death ; from James Chisweil, who had received a severe sabre cut, and whO had never heard that any of the perpetratars of the outrage had been brought to justice ; andlastly, from Simon hl ellor ' who had been sabred himself, and who saw woman and who expressed" his belief that the attack was precon certed, otherwise juatiee•would have been obtained either in a superior or an inferior Court. • On theyetition from .David Dawson being presented, Lord MILTON observed, that he had s(.in the Petition, and cOulel assure the House that it did not arpcar to be -got up: as many' Petitions presented- to that House were, but 'was couched in the most simple and artless langii , eee, so as evidently to have proceeded from the aftlieredfather himself. Mr. I,IOIIIIOIISE confirmed • the stateilent of the Noble Lord as-to the artlessness.of this Petition. Ile begged also to remark, that none • of the other Petitions had the air of having been got up. They were sent to him: by the post, and he had no douht, that in the course of 'a few days he should receive many More. • Tao whole of the Petitions' were ordered to be printed. Mr, JAMES presented a Petition oa 'the same suhject from. W. Broadhurst, now a prisoner. in Lancaster CaStle. lt also prayed for • Parliamentary Reform.—Ordered to be printed. Mr. ILiaßOßD'said, he had also a Petition to present from a very poor, but he believed a, very honest man, of the name of Butterworth, a weaver, who had received a cut in his riebt arm, which incapacitated him from following his occuritkiii; so that, having a wife and three small -children, be. had been re duced to great distress; he prayed for justice, and, that. the per petrators of. the..outrages of the 16th of August might be brought to justice.. Before he (Mi. Harbord) moved that the Petition be brotight' up, he .begged leave to make a few obser vations on the transaction in question. Perhaps, in courtesy to the Hon. Baronet, who was.aboul to tiring the subjett under the consideration of thiHonse, he ought to abstain from any thing like an anttcipation of the debate. Yet, knowing as he did., the store of information which that Honourable Baronet possessed, the ardency of his feelings, and the extent of his abilities, he confessed that he did not feel any great reluctance or delicacy on that score. He had not the h 0... nour of a seat in that Lousy when. the transactions at Man.: cheater took place, but he felt it' his duty to 'take the first opportunity of expressing his. opinions upon `them. The distresses which arose in the year 1819 produced meetings ia different parts of the country and among others notice was given of a meeting to be held Manchester. The Object of that meeting having been held by the Magistrates to 1)e i oral, it was abandoned, and a meeting of a different nature was ca ed for the 16th of August. No efficient steps were taken to prevent this meeting ; the civil force were" not called into action ; the military were placed in ambush, and the -Magistrates overlooked the whole proceedings from an . adjacent house. The Magis trates issued warrants for the apprehension of certain' petsons, and why those warrants were not executed by the civil power, he could never ascertain. The warrants were brought back, and it was said that the civil' power could not execute them, but he contended that the effort to do so had never been fairly made. What was next done ? The troops were, ordered to advance. Now he wo'uld ask any man what was likely to be the effect of an advance of cavalry upon a closely wedged mid- - titude? But was it the regular cavalry that was thus employed? —no, but a political soldiery.—(Hear,hear,liCat !)--The havock which ensued beggared description. The 'Honourable Member. went on to - at:Ste, that doubts having arisen as to the legality of the conduct pursued by the Magistrates, one of that body post-, ed to London, to inform the Secretary . 'of State of what oc curred, and upon this information from bne side, and without giving time for the slightest inquiry, their. conduct was ap prOVed of, and they received the thanks of their. Sovereign.— (Hear, hear !).—The chief actor in this scene Was a Clergyman of that Religion which preaches - good-will and charity to all mankind ; that Gentleman, on this occasion, discharged that duty which at any period was the most severe that could de volve upon a Magistrate. How far those duties were consistent with the service of the Church of Christ, it was for the Reve rend Gentleman himself to consider ; he (_?,lr. Harbord) would oiler no opinion upon the subject. It was a little remarkable, however, that shortly after the 16th of Aug-ast;for some reason or another, perhaps as a reward for that meekness, humility, and temperance for which he was so remarkable—that Reve rend Gentleman had been advanced to a living of from 15001. to 20001. a ) , ear.—(Hear, hear !)—The Manchester Magistrates had stated that training had been going on for some time before the 16th of August. If so, why was it not put a stop to ? They next said that much alarm was created in the town by the tremendous multitude assembled. Very true, he knw nothing more_imposing than the appearance of such a multitude, but why were they suffered to enter the town ? 'Why was not the civil power em ployed to block up the principal avenues to the town before those persons entered it ? This would have prevented the fatal events which took place. Next it was said that the Riot Act had been read. He was fully convinced that it was read, as he . had it from a Gentleman of the highest respectability who Was present, but then it was read in such a manner as not to be heard by the croWd.--(llear, hear !)—His opinions then were, first, that if such a Meeting was illegal it ought to have been 'vrevented ; secondly, that proper means had not been taken to disnerse it, lint that the means used were most unjustifiable -- anti, finally, that the avenues of justice had been obstructed in such a manner, that only one means of redress was left, namely, an. application to that House. But, when that application was made, the reply was, that the Courts of Justice were open-- t!lough were it was known that indictment after indictment had been thrown out by the Grand Juries before whom bills. were pre ferred. Though heavas not in the habit of saying any flung offensive to any quarter, he' could not help stating, in conclusion, that, co-existent with the recollection of those transactions, Caere would remain on his mind an apprehen sion of personal danger from that Government who could, without giving time for inquiry, pass a vote of approba tion upon the men who had teen the perpetrators of such ' deeds.—(Hear, hear 1) - _ - Mr. Serjeant ONSLOW expressed his surprise at hearing, for the first time, the yeomanry of this country called a political soldiery (H ear, hear !)—He had always thought the yeomanry of England the most constitutional force that could exist in any country.—(Hear, hear !)—lndeed thee I was not any country, except Great Britain and Ireland, which could create and sup port such a force. The Honourable and Learned Gentleman next entered into a defence of the Rev. Mr. hay, and observed, that he (Mr. Hay) being a Magistrate, was bound to act, and could have been punished had he declined to do so on the 16th of August.—(Hear, bear !).—lle next adverted to the prefer ment of that Reverend Gentleman, and observed, that so far from its haying been given to him by Government, it had been given by a distingiished Prelate, in whose gift it was, and by whom it had been promised so far back as two years before the circumstances at Manchester took place.—(Cheers.) . Lord MILTON said, that he was most ready to support' the character of the yeonianry of England ; but the Learned Gen tleman had mistaken his Honourable Friend. lie (Mr: Har liord) did not speak of the yeomanry of England—(Hear, hear!) —but of the yeomanry of Manchester. Ile would ask any man connected with Manchester, to say whether the yeomanry cavalry of that town were like the yeomanry of Surrey or Sus s...x,latiners residing on their own hinds, or whether they were not persons entertaining strong personal and party feeling ?--2 (Hear, hear!)—With respect to the living given to Mr. Hay, he had heard, and he should like to hear it contradicted, that an arrangement had taken place by which the Rev. Prelate who gave up that living, was to have in return the disposal of one of those livings Ivhieli are more immediately in the patronage of Gfivernmeut. Mr. B. BATHURST said, he had no hesitation in contra dicting that assertion.—(Cheers.) Lord MILTON expressed his satisfaction at hearing the re port contradicted. Mr. B. BATHURST said, he was happy the Noble Lord had given him arr opportunity of contradicting it. On the question, that the Petition be printed— Mr. HARBORD thanked his Noble Friend (Lord Milton) for having given the explanation with respect to the Yeomanry; it was precisely the distinction which he meant to draw, but he did not think it would be strictly in order to do so. With re spect to Mr. Hay, if what he (Mr. II.) said was wrong, it was not his mistake, but that of a friend cif_ OP Reverend' Gentle man, from - •whom he' (Mr. Harbord) heard it. The Honour able Member then presented another Petition of a similar na:. tore, from a person named Thomas Gladstone.—Ordered to be printed. PALMER presented a similar Petition from D. Ellis. —Ordered to be printed. Mr. CORE (of Norfolk) presented a similar Petition from Alice Bircb.—Ori:2red to be printed. Mr. S. WHITBREAD presented two Petitions of a similar nature, from William Gartey and James Bootliby.Ordered to be printed. Mr. LENNARD presented three Petitions of a similar na ture; the first from Elizabeth Gaunt, the second from John Cavanagh, and the third from William Bromley.—Ordered to be printed. Sir R. WILSON said he held in his hand thirteen Petitions —(a laugh),—six from men and seven from women,. who had been cut down and wounded at Manchester, and wno, to the prejudice of all good Government, had remained to the present day without any redress. The petitions were froth Joshua Jones (of Oldham), Joseph Hingle, Edward Johnson; William Cheatham (this petitioner said he was endeavouring to escape, when he was Attacked byy. Meagher, who said, d—n your eyes I'll cut yoUr head off—he th cut witness across the neck with his sabre.) Petitioner went On to state, that he went before the Grand Jury, of which Lord Stanley (in whose regiment he was) was Chairman, and that they threw out the Bill. 'That Lord Stanley asked petitioner to what regiment he belonged ? to whit's he answered, the 7th Lancashire Militia ; • that 11;s Lordship jocosely expressed his regret that any one belonging to his regiment, should have placed himself in such a situation. Petitioner offered to shew hip wounds, but Lord Stanley would not allow him to do so, and bid him f, , 0. • - . Sir R. WILSON said, that as this petition alluded particu larly to the Noble'Lord (Stanley), he wished to have it read at length. • The petition having been read, • Lord STANLEY hoped he might be allowed to say a few Words in explanation of the charge made against him—(Hear, hear !).-It was true that he was foreman of. the Grand Jury on the occasion alluded to, and- it was also true that the Bill was thrown out. The Gallant General having bad the kindness to let hiM see the petition , yesterday, he had endeavoured to strengthen his recollection of the facts, of which he had but a vague recollection, by applying to• other Gentlemen who were on the Grand Jury at the time. ; He remembered, that having had some re.collection'of the person in question, he asked him to what regiment he belonged ? and finding that he belonged to his (Lord Stanley'a) regiment, he expressed his regret that he should have placed himself in such a situation. This, it was very natural be should do, even if the man had been entirely , a 'stranger to him. He might also have felt regret that the indi vidual. had engaged in such proccedings„without at all im pugning the motives which induced him (Petitioner) to attend the Meeting'; but if it was intended to be conveyed that be had laughed or sneered at the sufferings of this or any 'other he begged most distinctly to contradict the assertion.— (Hear, hear!)—Petitioner had offered to shew his Wounds, but he, as Foreman of the Grand Jury, told him it was unneces sary, as his •statement was sufficient, and here the matter ended., - Sir R. WILSON assured the Noble Lord that he had not the siinhtest intention of casting such an imputation upon him, nor did he conceive that any thing in the Petition had that ten dency.—The Petition was ozdered to be printed. • Sir R. WILSON proceeded to present the other - Petitions ; they were from' Jos. Buerly, Mr..7aret Booth, Anne Whitaker, three sisters named Elizabeth, Ellen and Isabella Hardy, Mary Fines, Robert Taylor (this person complained of having been arrested on a charge of high treason, and afterwards committed for a conspiracy, and of having been ultimately tried and ac quitted at Writ), and John Bryerly. They were read and or dered to be printed. Sir R. WILSON said that the next Petition was from.a per son who had been considered as the leader of the - Manchester Meeting; it was from Mr. Henry Hunt, whose conviction at York was, in his (Sir R. Wilson's) opinion, produced .by a violent straining of the law, and whose punishment was most oppressive, vindictive and unjust, in a country where justice was administered in mercy.(Hear !) Lori MILTON said, that the case of Mr. Hunt was totally different from that of- the other Petitioners. - Their case stood noon an entirely different ground, and ought not to be tried by the same test. .Mr. SCARLETT said, that he felt that it was but an act of justice, on his part, to state that the subject of the Petition had been before the Court of King's Bench, and that the charges of it were answered upon affidavit ; that the Counsel of Mr. Hunt, after having heard the affidavit read, consented to have the conditional rule, obtained, in. the first instance, on the part of Mr. Hunt, discharged with costs. 'the Petition was then read by the Clerk. It stated, that 12 out of the 36 months of his imprisonment had expired ; that he was confined in a filthy and pestilential prison, under a cruel and remorseless keeper; that the Judges d the Court of King's Bench, as he believed, deliberately and intentionally - sentenced him to be confined in that unwholesome and immoral prison.— The Petition went on to state that ope of the Judges, when that sentence was pronounced ; displayed,oz: the . Bench a malignant pleasure.. . On the question bein.3. prtt, that the Petition do lie on the table, Mr. BRIGHT said, that he felt himself called upon indig :nantly to notice the vile, base, and atrocious imputations which the Petitioner threw upon 'the Judges of the King's Bench. How was it possible that those reverenclpti learned persons could have known whether the gaol not; or whether the gaoler was base or cruel, as he was de scribed to be ? The very Magistrates of the County were asto nished (himself amongst the number) at the statements that had been lately made with respect to the state of Ilcheste.r Gaol ; if it should turn out to be true, that the gaol was badly regulated—that prisoners were harshly and cruelly treated, most certainly the Magistrates were ignorant of those things. 'as it to be believed then, that the Judges of the King's Bench could be better acquainted with the mternal.regolations of that gaol*than the Magistrates of the County ? The imptta tions which the Petitioner cast upon those learned persons, he was Convinced, were false, unprincipled and atrocious. lie could not refrain from exrressing the indignation which they excited in his breast. The Marquess of LONDONDERRY said, that he would leave it to every impartial man to say whether the Petition which had been read was intended to inflame the public mind, or to seekier justice and redress of injuries. In his opinion, it was impossible that the House could suffer to lie upon the Table a Petition full of such false charges and such monstrous aspersions cast upon the venerable Judges of the land. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said, that he attended when the sentence of the Court of King's Bench had been pro— nounced upon the Petitioner. He could safely assert , that upon that occasion no expression in words or by gesture was made by ,any of the Learned Judges such as described by the Petitioner. He believed in his conscience that the Gaol of ilchester had been"selected because it was supposed to have been the best re gulated, The Honourable and I. , mrried Gentleman concluded by eayrcssing his indignation at the f'al'se and odious charges contained in the Petition. Mr. SCARLBTT said, that when he first rose, he thought the Petition related merely to the conduct of the gaoler. The Petition, as it related to Ihe Judges of the King's Bench, he looked upon as base, false, and slanderous. He objected to the terms of the Petition, they were scandalous and base in the ex treme ;' if such language as the Petition contained was to be tolerated in that Houie, then it would be better to give tp all re spect for the administiation of justice. The Learned Judges, throughout the whole case of the Petitioner, had conducted themselves with a cautious and fearful anxiety; they were anxi ous throughout to do what was equitable and just. They gave to the defendant advantages and opportunities which few par ties had ever possthed before ' they gave him their assistance when he had no counsel, and bore with the utmost patience, language and conduct from the petitioner which Courts of Jus tice were not accustomed to hear. He agreed with the Noble Lord that the petition ought not to be permitted to lie upon the table. Doctor LUSHINGTON said, that he vote that. the petition be rejected, becauSe, instead of facts, it stated the mere opinion of the petitioner. With - respect to the state of the ;aol - , it was now five weeks since a motion had been made for a Corry_ mission to inquire into the state of Ilchester Gaol, yet that Commission had not bpenyet issued ; at least no inquiries had been made under it. if it were true that the Keeper of the pri son conducted himself in a cruel and barbarous manner, the sooner he was removed. the" better ; 'it was not fit that 150 of his Majesty's subjects shquid be under the hands of a person, against whom such he ivy charges had been brought, without the Government proceledirW to an immediate inquiry as to the truth of those charges Of the 'truth or falsehood of those charges he kneW nothing, he only called for investigation. • The SOLICITOIt.GENERAL • said that the Commission had been signed ; that no delay had taken place that could be possibly avoided. - After • a fevi wordi between Dr. LUSIIINGTONT and the SOLICITOR-GENERAL, the Petition was rejected. Mr. HumE presented' five petitions from persons who com plained of the injury they sustained by the affray at Manchester on the 10th of Augnst, all praying for inquiry : one was from Martha Neale ; from Mary Ann M'Kenna ; both of whose hus bands lost thar lives ; from James Kemble and John Thomson, both of whom were severely wounded ; the tenor of the fifth petition we did not hear. Ordered to be printed. Dr. LLTSHINGTOX presented a similar petition from a person who was dreadfully wounded, but who was still more fortunate than others who met with instant death. He felt it his thity.to s go through the mockery of presenting this petition, although he anticipated the prayer of the petitioner for inquiry would be tre j ltetras t4fore.lvhen the , subjeet of the 'Man chester massacre was before the House. Ordered to be printed. Mr. LAM BTON presented a Petition from Samuel Jackson. He stated, that whilst, walking n the streets of Manchester, in company with his brother-M-law and sister, on the day of the meeting, and the time When.he saw no disnirbance whatever, he was fired at by. one of the soldiers, was wounded, conveyed to an hospita4 and before nine-o'clock on the same evening, one of his legs was amputated. The next petition was from John Kershaw. It. stated he was attacked and knocked down by the cavalry, that his collar belie was broken, and that in conseqnence he lay for three months on one side, in a miserable condition. . . _ The next petition was from James Smith ; it stated that whilst standing at the meeting, an attack was made by some. of the, cavalry ; ,that they cut and wounded a young'wornan, who was standing next to him, and that her blood s - pouted out upon him ; that they also attacked the petitioner, and that he received one blow of a sabre, which split his elbow in the joint. The n - xt...Petition was from Owen M'Cabe. The Petitioner stated, that whilst attending the meeting a furious charge was made by the Cavalry ; that he attempted to escape, but that lie was pursue:l and tianapled upon ; that his head was crushed, and all his ribs broken ; that in consequence of the severe Wounds which lie received, he was disabled from earning a live lihood, and was still attended by a surgeon. Mr. WHARTON presented a Petition from another suf ferer, whose flame or case we were not able to collect. Sir W. DE CRESPIGNY presented four Petitions to a si milar effect. One from a peril of the name of Bruce ;, one from Edward Dwyer ; one from James Neil ; and one from John Brook. The lion. Member observing some laughter from behind the Treasury Bench, said,tit was highly improper, on so serious a subject, thaf.Hon'. Members could be heard to indulge in laughter.—Ordered to be printed. , Mr. IVIONCK presented two similar Petitions. One from an old woman; aged 72; who was attacked by a trumpeter of the name:of -Meagher. This old woman sought to bring thi Man to justice, but in vain. Even the Magistrates at Warring ton refused her all redress. The second was from a person of the name of Ogle, who was wounded with a sabre over the left eye. The Hon. Member observed, on presenting these petitions, that he agreed with the people who denominated the atrocities of the 'l6th of August, as <c the Manchester massacre." He never read, or heard of a case, where human blood was shed, more unnecessarily, or more wantonly and unsparingly. He hoped the result of this night wotild show that all inquiry into such atrocities would not be refused, not only to the prayers of the sufferers, but to the voice of insulted justice and an offended nation.—Ordered to be printed. MOTION FOR AN INQUIRY INTO THE TRANS ACTIONS AT MANCHESTER. Sir FRANCIS BURDEiT —After the numerous Petitions which had. been presented, stating, in most incontrovertible?' as well as simple, unaf fected, yet affecting language, the manner in which the unoffending people constitutionally met, and the mode also of their dispersion, the object of his ►motion was inquiry. Whether it was to the Manchester Magistrates, or the Yeo manry, who had so gallantly distinguished them selves, blame ought to be imputed, or to the laws, he could not tell ; but he was convinced of the urgent necessity for inquiry. To him it belonged to allude to those actions which had taken place. Speaking of which, the. Noble Secretary at War had said, that although war had ceased for six years upon the Continent, we were now o►►ly in the first year of peace in England : the meaning of which he (Sir Francis) could not understand. The question, under every point of view, was one of extreme importance ; yet, in bringing it forward, he felt that his principal merit consisted in his zeal more than any other quality. lie was but attempting to institute an inquiry into _transactions which he conceived it was a disgrace to the Government not to haVe investigated.— (Hear, hear !)--In bringing the subject before the House, it would be necessary for him to refer to what had been said upon it,' in this House, On former occasions. lie recollected that the Noble Lord, Member for the County of Lancaster, had stated, 'that it was not until the Yeomanry had been attacked, and, Us he Said, wounds had been inflicted upon them, that they turned round. With every possible respect for that Noble Lord, he would assert, that statement was not founded in fact. _He disclaimed all intention of personal imputation ; and should he feel himself obliged to use a ;very coarse word—falsehood, in charac terising certain statements, he. begged it to be understood as having no personal reference what ever. The Hon. Member. for Dover had said, it was not until the Y eomanry had been at tacked with stones, which had been placed there for the purpose, that they had turned against the people. The Honourable the Solicitor-Gene ral had stated not only that an attack had been made upon the Yeomanry, but that many of ' them had been literally unhorsed. He would here disclaim all idea of imputing to that Hon. "Gentleman any intention or wish mislead the House, particularly as he (Sir Francis) had mo tives for refraining from any imputation against the Hen. Gentleman ; which, although that Hon. Gentleman might have forgotten, were still very powerful with him (Sir Francis.) The Hon. Gentleman, it was true, might have found himself justified in the professional reservation of having only stalled from his brief. After these came, naturally, the Noble Marquis opposite, who mounts and soars into the regions of fancy and delusion, so far above all his compeers, who de clared that the accounts of attacks made Upon the. people by the military were false and groundless; that on the contrary, the people h i ad attacked the military with showers of stones, brickbats, and even tire-arms; but that the military used none ; that although care had been taken to re move those missiles, the Noble Lord had found that, on that same spot, thousands of stones had fallen upon the unoffending heads of the Yeo manry ; and therefore supposed that the people had come prepared with them in their pockets. He (Sir Francis Burdett) did not believe that inference to be a just one, and would rather sus pect it bad been a meteoric shower by, which those heroes had been assailed, which he thought a much more rational conclusion than that they had come from the pockets of the people.—(Hear and a laugh.) That the Magistrates were, even after that attack, so anxious to act according to law, that one of them read the Riot Act from the window of the house in which they had as sembled. One scrupulous Magistrate fearing it had not been heard, like another Decius, de voted himself for his country, plunged into the crowd, and was trodden down by, the people. Two having been disposed of, another presented himself, (for, like Falstaff's men in buckram, they continued to increase) and fearing the peo ple were still ignorant that the Riot Act had been read, he also read it. All the assertions which charged the people with havltig been the first aggressors had been proved to be false, by the most irrefragible testimony, for, with the exception of three, all the witnesses who had been examined on the inquiry at York gave evidence of the good and peaceable conduct of the people previous to the attack by the cavalry, two of those three, Mr. Hulton and Mr. Entwistle. Mr. 'Holton was the only person who spoke of the attack, and of the showers of stones described by the Noble Lord. He (Sir Francis) hoped these stones had been preserved, as they would form an appropriate monument to the Noble Lord.— But even Mr. Hulton could not to this day tell how the attack on the people com menced, or from what motive, or by whose order this spilling of the blood of the people happened, which called so loudly for inquiry.— But Mr. Helton says, that seeing the cavalry beaten, he ordered Col. PEstrange and the 15th Dragoons to support them ; and yet, to this mo ment, not even the Rev. Mr. Hay, nor indeed any other mortal, could be found to bear out the statement of Mr., Hulton ; and all the remaining evidence taken at York sufficiently proved the peaceable conduct of the people on that fatal day. Whether that meeting was legal or illegal was no reason for dispersing it by violence, and which violence, he contended, was a sufficicnt ground for instituting an inquiry. For a long time previous to the meeting the Magistrates had been aware of the intention of the people to march with banners, of the drilling, &c., and yet they took no steps to pievent those thinas. In the papers on the table would be found a letter, signed by a Mr. Morris (we believe) to a Noble man, who performed the functions of an officer well known in France, but happily until now never heard of in England, he meant Lieutenant of Police. In that letter he says, that " although anxious to preserve the peace, yet he had no power to prevent the intended meeting." From this be (Sir Francis) would deduce that the Ma gistrates were not aware that the meeting would be illegal. There was another letter from a Mr. Spooner, of sth July, 1819, in which hedescri bed his fears that, at an intended meeting to be held at Birmingham, for the purpose of electing a Le gislatorial Attorney, much violence would take place ; but on the 13th of same month he wrote to say that the meeting of the 12th had, con trary to his expectations, passed off without any outrage having been commited by the people. From which he (Sir Francis Burdett) would infer, that the people could not be acted upon in the manner, the anticipation of which had so alarmed him. It ought to be recollected, too, that that was one of the greatest' meetings that had been held. On the ground of similar anticipations, the Lord Mayor of London wished to prevent the great Smithfield meeting, and'wrote for advice to the Lieutenant of Police : but that Noble Lord did not feel himself war ranted in preventing it. From this also he would deduce, that these meetings were not then held to be contrary to his'. At the Smithfield meet ing Mr. Harrison presided. Yet, although ar rested in the chair, and in the heart of that im mense meeting, no attempt was made at resist ance ; and therefore the Manchester Magistrates were not justified in their anticipation of violence on the part of the people, nor in their conduct at the meeting. He could conceive no motive for that conduct, but a wish to instigate,the peo ple to an attempt at revolution ; for it had been proved that one of the most inflammatory of the handbills which had been distributed at the Smithfield meeting, had been previously seen and r • E e d ad wa b r y ds. L oi n d e S n id e tou a th n o e n d I d t l o aci l\ b ir e . en n t a ra y c ,s eil tn i s b . patch, which stated that it was not the intention of the Magistrates to stop the columns of the peo ple on their Way to the hustings, and described the Military preparations made—the line of con stables ettendieg from the hustings to the house in Which the Magistrates had assembled. Even Mr. Nadin had Walked. through the people with , out having been offended, and therefore any war ; rant could have been executed without danger from resistance. He then went on to state, that there were no pikes (although a Noble Lord in another place had said that there were pikes), but that there were plenty of sticks and staves. It 'appeared, by Mr. Nalin's own testimony, that so far from his preceding the Yeomanry *.y . had preceded him. The letter then all ted the colours and other matters taken fr the hustings. Mr.'Saxton's cas e was a lam' e one. A Yeoman said to an o th er , " Th ere i s ' hat vii= lain Saxton ; run y our s wor d throufit him."— " No," said the other, " I will leave that to you." He made the attempt accordingly, and it was only by stooping that Mr. Saxton had es caped death ; and that was one of the persons whom the'Crown had refused to prosecute. The law of England was founded upon the law of ' God. The first command of the Almighty to him who was the ancestor of all the present race of mankind, was, that " whosoever sheds the blood of Mtn, by man shall his blood be shed.!' Murder was a crime for which no satisfaction could be given, nor reparation made ; and until this blood be expiated, the land will remain de filed. It would be found in that sacred volume, in which we all profess to believe, that• even in the case of a man killing another by accident, the homicide should fly to the City of Refuge, from which he could not depart until purified by the High Priest. Even if a man be attacked himself, he must not raise his hand against his brother's life, until he himself shall have been driven to the wall. Although the Riot Act had been read, still that was no justification of the slaugh ter of the people, as there was no evidence to prove that the people had been made, acquainted with that circumstance. A few days ago a lad had been executed at Shrewsbury, for having continued rioting one hour after the Riot Act had•been read ; it was said, that although that person- was of respectable . connexions, and that much interest had been used to save him, yet that an example was necessary. —But it could not be necessary to let loose mounted soldiers, to rides over and cot down even defenceless women. One poor woman with a child in her arms had been rode over, and the child killed, yet the Coroner's inquest had found that the child died of a fall from its mo titer's arms ! The lion. Baronet here read from a paper an account of the •transactions which took place, which he described as more strongly resembling a town taken by storm than any thing ~, i . else. He might well ask, was this a Chri= sti . • land ? was this a land of liberty ? He hoped the :- lit House would prove that it was still a Christian land—and that we still . had some liberty remain- 4, ing—and that, whatever became of the people's t:: money, still their liVes should not be sported with.—(Cheers.)—The people had not only beat , cut down by the Yeomanry, but bruised by the • peace-officers. On the inquiry, when one persee was asked how he knew them to be peace-efb.-- ' cers, he replied he did not know them to be such until he saw them knock down the people with bludgeOns.—(A laugh.)--The bruises were, in many instances, as fatal as the cuts and stabs ; lie mentioned the case of Lees, which he felt reluctance to describe in the words of a cen . rti witness, that he looked exactly like a soldief who had been flogged. Mr. hay went on to scat! that Hunt was made prisoner, and that a few per' sons were hurt. The Magistrates - haying committed all these outrages, assembled together to ascera Win what crimes had been committed.—(Cheers) —After that dreadful example had been made, and that. Ministers imagined they had terria ~ fled the people from proceeding furth er i n the another, business of Reform, and lie was quit" sure, as large a meeting, took place at Westrnin - ster, at which he ' had the honour to preside, II order to enter into subscriptions fer the relief of the sufferers, and he had the pleasure •to say that with that subscription six hundred persons had been relieved, amongat whom were seven polic e constables, one man who was suspected of .being , ;, a spy, and 120 women.—(Hear, hear.)---Mr,,' Hutton himself had s een one woman d own Id° her breast cut open. We have the higheSt au thority perhaps on the Bench (J us ti ce BayleY) to say that it was not the number, but the : intetv tions of the parties, which rendered a meetiag illegal. The Learned Judge was anold Lawyer' he had read the old books and knew, no doubt' that voluntas et pro positum distingunt maleficiagf' The people met numerously, because they kne' f that numbers only gave, respectability to thei r • proceedings. On this occasion, knowing their enemies only wanted an opportunity to attaci‘ them, they had been particularly cautiousin their conduct. The people had only done that whic is the Magistrates themselves had sanctioned. Wil eis the Meeting was announced for electing a Legi t ' latorial Attorney at Birmingham, the 'Magistrat e there did that which they ought to have donec , , they ,gave the people warning.. Sir Francis 1. diculech the chimerical fears of those who ii)Pre.,,, hended danger front the meetings of the peoP ie ; who listened to th e t a l e s o f th e i n t en d e d seio r and confiscation of property, and the asstoq; Lion of titles by them. If any person N t ": be found so weak as to credit those stories, t" e / A awe ought to be taught to believe that Atlas 1", to resign his load, and that the world won id fall ~t Mr. I"' pieces. It was never communicated to . . e in any one way that the meeting about to ` ) , e held was illegal ; and from this circumstanc e ':;,., had a right to conclude that th e meeting: to is. place under the sanction of the 11 . 1,1„eistrate s r ow (Hear !)—lt appeared. further that a rtte e : el 7. , was held at Wigan, after the Manchester r 11 ,',',.. 1 ing, and a still larger one at York, yet the ll ' a i l L ' i , i gistrates did not think proper to -interpose violence ; and,what was the consequence ? '' r. l . : d that they pasaed away in the, greatest order ti ' i, ' i tranquillity, as was the Case in all the u1e . " , 1,,,, that took place throughout the Country Ir's".' I 'u 4