The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-10-21 00:00:00

N\l 'N.OV
• 441AV'N. S N.. 1" •

.•
\yr of the 31ith.- lie irsiMissUred of izeingleineit* 'aineeting of the inlishitaati of St. George's parish,
the whole kingdom advatiCest. His army, I,eapreesing their disapprobation of the conduct of
both British and Natives, had supported the march ' the 'Governor, Min followed alroost immediately by
(odiously. another meeting at Bridgetown. of persons of an
":I have seen also a dmpatch from General Peek, opposite opinion. The Chair on this occasion was
detailing a bloody action at Pueblo de la Crue, on • taken by the Hon. J. K. BEST, who is charged I
the 17th July. It is dated the 2 lat. Prez says it with having received personal favours from his Lord-
does greater honour to the arms of the Republic. I
whip. He made • long address, in the course of
than any yet fought. The enemy's force consisted which he stated the advantages the Colony had re-
or 350 infantry, and a body of mounted carbineere. I ceived from the presence of Lord Couseastees,
After a severe and obstinate defence in the square, and concluded by moving a series of Resolutions to
they retreated to a block-house, and repulsed the that effect.
first attack ; but Prez making • false attack in The Clergy of the Island presented a similar
front, stormed it the same night in the rear, and Address. and the following extract from the Answer
pot every TORO to the sword but thirty, who elicits- of the Governor /hews the general nature of the
ed with the Commanding Officer, badly wounded. disputes. and the universal interest taken in
and he hod sent in pursuit of those. He had only them :
ca%alry and mounted corbineers; he got 200. mus- " I have the more siacerely to lastest with you, the on.
kris, tall their ammunition, &c. The Patriots lost happy differences now prevailing sinonpl the whole ints,_
bi'"'s of this "401.
five officers sod twenty men killed, and eleven
" For the due and impartial exercise of the prerogative
officers and eighty men wounded. The Spaniards
vested in ine by my Royal Master, 1 am accountable to him,
had just occupied the town, with the intention of and to him smut ;
and thus much Ins assure you, Wee.
burning it, destroying the plantations, and carrying read Friends, that, although it will always be more agreeable
off the inhahitants to Nutria.. to my feelings to reward good titan pettish evil, Isbell
" Commodore Perry, who unfortunately died in shrish bum *halt to the best of my own imbisssedjudg-
this Gulf, on his return from Angostura, soon I"`"'' appear` to be my delY' however uniiiessant it imay. be.
after reaching his ship the John Adam', on the 29f1 641
tiolfiiiihkeitrorioghtite,miess juts:civet to
ofsid rn yhoseolfi,oheugtivmeoorme pea:ot: -
advice
instant, brought copies of those dispatches, Loge- epee a late occasion, to declare, ilms publicly and solemnly,
thee with a copy of the Constitution finished and that 1 dill not consult or receive advice from them. The cir-
signed. The Commodore's ship had sailed for the curnstances wear too public and glaring • nature to render
United States, and the schooner Nonnseh, in which it neceiniary far me to consult any body; and if I bad wanted
he went on his mission to Guyana, has proceeded to confidence in my owe judgment upon that occasion, I should
not (for very obvious reasons) have consulted any person
Buenos Ayres. Of his mission, I can only soy, that
connected with this community."
the Government of Angostura and the Commo-
dore were equally satisfied, and Don Forsyth has
proceeded, on the part of the Venezuelan Govern-
ment, to IVashington, in the John Adams.
" Four hundred and fifty of General Devereux's
brigade had arrived at Margarita by the hist ac-
counts; the rest will have followed no doubt close
at their heels. Elitism is safe arrived at Angostura.
" I enclose you the latest account (received yes-
terday) of the siege of Commie ; that is, that Ge-
neral Urdemoa and Admiral Brion were before it."

The opinion expressed by the Marquis of Buck.
INGHAM in his letter to the Earl of CARN•IVOII, 1
coinciding with that avowed by Mr. STU•ItIr ' 1
WORTISY at the great York Meeting, has gives I
high spirits to the Tories, as it holds out the assur-
ance, that in the ensuing Session of Parliament the
Minister, will be upheld on the Manchester goes.
Lion by those Noblemen and Gentlemen who
usually vote and set with the Noble Marquis and
Lord Gaestvit.t.e. The Noble Marquis and Mr.
STUART WORTLEY agree in thinking, that the
transactions at Mauchtsier require investigation,
but that Parliament is not the proper place for con.
ducting it. We beg leave, however, to remark,
that the tribunal must be selected with reference
to the -, 'ore of the offence imputed, and that in
all cases %hereon a defect of justice is felt or sppre.
heeded, there it is the duty of Parliament to inter-
fere, and remove all impediments to a fair and
free inquiry into the circumstance. The affair of
the Magistrates and yeomanry at Manchester may
be regarded in three points of view :—as a civil iii-
jury—as a criatisof offence—and as a political
offesit e. The individuals wounded, or insulted on
the lilth of August, may bring actions of trespass,
ri et arena, against the aggressors—indictments
may he prefetred before Grand Jories—or those
who think that the transaction bore the character
rather of political aggression than of private wrong,
may complain to their Representatives in Perlis-
mem for the outrage offered to the Constitution,
of which they are the guardians and avengers. In
the last rant of view, the mass of the people have
for the most part considered it, and naturally, for
it is nut in the heart of man, when he suffers •
grievous and crying injury, voluntarily to diminish
the character of the outrage, and to estimate its
importance at the lowest rate. There are few meo
in this country who would consent to barter the
blood of any portion of the people for shillings and
' pence, especially when shed by the wanton arm of
power, and in defiance of the sacred principles of
our Constitution; yet it is by this action of Uri..
pass against one of the constables of Manchester,
that the faction of the Ministers and Magistrates
seriously propose that the great constitutional
right of the people to meet in public for the
discussion of grievances should lie determined! It
is by bringing an action for damages, forsooth,
that we are to try a right, the existence of which
should "'ever be suffered to he brought in question.
The right of 'meeting in public is one not to be
determined before soy Jury, nor before any earthly
trilmisal ; it is inherent in the Constitution, and,
es an essence of it, must exist so long, as the Con-
stitution itself is permitted to dispeuse its blessings
over this country—as well might the right of the
Monarch to his sceptre be tried by a legal fiction.
Should the necessity ever arise of determining a
question of such appalling magnitude, not to the
Court should the suitors repair, but to the camp,
there by en appeal to arms to try the controversy; '
and by suds a trial only can the right of the people
of this empire to assemble peaceably in public fur
the discussion of their grievances and the inter-
change of sentiment he ultimately decided.
Bet though some of the mutilated sufferers at
Manchester should think proper to proceed by
civil action for the re "'very of some compensation
for their personal wrongs, shall no retribution be
exacted for the persons actually !filled on the fatal
Kith of August ? Several persons lust their lives
oil that dreadful occusion, and yet hitherto, with
the exception of' the partial inquiry at Oldham,
there has been iici-investigiition to satisfy the Krum
rrepectiug the aline of his people'sdrath, nor the
I public trspe r eting the luso 0 so' insily fellow-
' Subjects. We would ark the Matqui•of Ikea=
VOW'S sod .Mr. STVART WoRTI.EY, whether the
examination of set lee/ constables. and a verdict of
• Accidekial Drath; 'do 'hut of tri*threhree shoed
atrial% pressissoptiqo dist there Web do 'air ilospint

THE BRITISH PRESS.

LONDON.
THURSDAY, Ocrome 41, ism

The Paris Papers of the 17th arrived last night.
Saturday heing the anniversary of the death of the
late Queen, AlstltA ANTOINETTE, a funeral ser-
vice wilt celebrated in the Castle Chapel, which

wu attended by his MAJESTY. A like solemnity
was observed in the great church of St. Denis, at
esFilch were present their Royal Highnesses MON.
stiuit, the Doke of ANGOULEME, the Duchess of
BERRY, sad their Highnesses the Dukes of Oa.
LEANS and BOURBON, the Duchess and Duchess
Dowager of ORLEANS, and the Duchess of Book-
BON. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of AN.
GOULLNE sat, as on the preceding years, itt
a veil-
ed pew. The Ladies were all in Court mourn-
ing, and the Gentlemen in uniform or mourning.
After the Gospel. the Bishop of Smaz read the
letter of the late Queen, which was listened to with
profound respect. The Count of the Royal
Chapter of St. Denis, and sevens! Prelates, a great
number of the Peers of France. severs! of the D►-
puties, General and Superior Officers, Magistrates,
&c. were
.present at this august ceremony.—All
the other churches of every sect in the capital
paid like homage to the anniverssry of this me-
lancholy day. Tiny were all crowded with pro.,
pie. The theatres were all shut. The attention
of the Parisians appears to have been entirely occu.
pied with this ceremony ott Saturday. It was ob-
served as a strict holiday. No business was done
in tire Funds. of the price of winch there is no

S,

A

holden on their bodies ? The Noble Marquis, and 1
those ilho share his sentiments, must have seen
some' among of the inquest at Oldham on the
body of Jon* Lets, and must, with their senti-
ments respecting the necessity of ample inquiry,
have felt some indignation at the impediments
which the public Magistrate for the Crown on that
occasion attempted to throw in the way of inquiry,
and at his conduct in eventually adjourning the
inquest, until, in his opinion, those Gentlemen who
were capable of eliciting the truth of the circum-
stances might be unable to attend. flail the
Coroner's Clerk been permitted by any circum-
stances to pass over the inquest on ICES in the
same manner as he hnd parsed over the others,
would the Noble Marquis have felt satisfied that
the causes of the deaths of so many persons as
perished at Manchester had been investigated with
sufficient care and attention?

No care of murder was submitted to the Grand
Jury of Lancaster. no doubt from the impossibi-
lity, among the large military force assembled at
Peter's-placr on the 16th of August, of identify-
ing any individual who actually struck a blow that
caused death ; an equal difficulty prevailed with
regard to the bills for cutting and maiming ; and
on a deficiency of evidence alone, leaving untouch-
ed the policy or legality of the conduct pursued by
the Magistrates and yeomanry, must the Gentle.
men of the Grand Jury of Lancaster have thrown
out the bills of indictment.

Thus then stands the question :—A civil actiot
may give some compensation to the mutilated and
ntaitned survivor, of the fatal day, and no doubt
happy would the Magistrates and yeomanry be to
compromise the matter with the sacrifice of a few
pounds, shillings, and pence; but what atonement
will be made to the violated majesty of the laws for
the lives destroyed, or to the outraged Constitu-
tion for the violation of a sacred right? In a civil
process, the character of the meeting and the con-
duct of /he Magistrates can never be satisfactorily
ascertained, and a bar seems to be opposed to every
attempt at obtaining redress for the criminal of-
fence. A defect of justice, therefore, in this par-
ticular, semi be reasonably apprehended.
With the civil process, however, and even the
criminal proceedings instituted before the Grand
Inquest of the County or the Coroner's Inquest,
we do not choose that Parliament should interfere.
To it belongs a higher and more solemn duty,
namely, to ascertain the nature and extent of what-
ever political offence may have been committed,
and to apportion the punishment to the enormity
of the guilt. Parliament is emphatically the con-
stituted guardian of the political rights of the
people, as our civil rights ate intrusted to the
judicial authority ; and to Parliament it belongs to
notice every exertion of violence, particularly by mi-
litary force, against the constitutional privileges of
the people. To those, however, who may still think
that Parliament ought not to interfere in this mat-
ter, we beg leave to urge one other point, which
to our • d appears conclusive upon the subject.
It cannot be denied that to Parliament it belongs
exclusively to supervise the conduct of the Mini-
sters of the Crown, and to censure every deviation
from the line of constitutional propriety of which
they may chance to be guilty. The circumstance
of their having used the name of their Sovereign
to sanction a proceeding which, prima facie,
moored of cruelty and illegality, is one that re-
quires a satisfactory explanation. But how will it
be possible to understand the Minister.' defence,
unless the entire subject be investigated ? The
Servants of the Crown cannot justify the en:Oil-
men' of their Master's name, unless they can
not only chew that the conduct of the Magistrates
of Manchester was perfectly legul, and warranted
by all the tircusistances of the case. but also that
they load taken sufficient steps to ascertain this
primary point, before they ventured publicly to
sanction such measures by using the revered name
of the Sovereign. The conduct of the Magistrates
then. as it affects their fellow-subjects, may be
left so the ordinary Tribunals of the country ; but
before Parliament alone can the justification of the
Ministers be legally pleaded, and the outrage of-
fered to the Constitution be satisfactorily redressed.

The following is ass extract from a private letter,
doted Halifax. the 15th September :-
1. On Sunday the 12th instant, Ensign Ross, of the 76th
regiment, ar►ived express from Quebec, with the melso.
(holy intelligence of the death of Captain-General his Glace
the Duke of Richmond. At Montreal, waiting his return,
were assembled, with the members of his Grace's family,
all the fashion of the country, aud r very kind of amuse-
meht and gaiety, halls, plays, races, &e. were prepared.
Their distress may he imagined, when the carriage which
IHA litres Fat to meet him, came hock with his dead body.
Tlw Ladle. Lennox return to Enghmil inintediafely, and
Lord Frederick Lennox, mow doing duty will. his regiment
(tbr 62d) in this garrison, goes home by this packet. Lord
Dalhousie, the Curnisander of the Forms, bas directed the
()Ricers of this command to go into deep ameraing nnfil
further orders."

The accounts received from *Jamaica. respectiog
the state of our troops there, are extremely dietres.
sing. The 50th and 9-..!d regiments have 'tottered
severely, by the insalubrity of the climate. anal are
reduced to mere skeletons. We trove brutal the
names of several Officers who have fallen victims
so it ; among them, we lament to say. are those of
Colonel HILL. Captain MONTGOMERY. the pay:
master of the 50111. and his soil, and seises ul others.
liattataost has not yet pleaded to the indictment.
before which he Callitai renseare the proceedior. It is
probable that Isq will appear,and plead et the mewl.
lug *Seesaw.. mid inverse the indictment to the
&minus fallinvihg.erhielt will give him an opportu.
idly of afterwahtit rewtodug the proceediar. mid
taking his trial at the.Assites.-,—(Chester Castrate./