The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1809-11-04 00:00:00

COLOM WARDLL

Mr. Kronur declared, that be was not induced,
by any (tarty motive, tp IVO" the question he had
now to submit to their attention, betiding he was
entirely actuated by atoovictiou that
.what he had
to propose would tend to.the honour sod character
of the ConsiumiCouncil. He acted from binnulf,,
and had consulted uo one on the subject. A Gans
demon hitting given notice of a motion. that goes.
lion was brought to a discussion in his abstescr , and
as an amendment to it, a very long resolution was
proposed and carried. Ile 'would helve been con-
tent to let the origamil motion of thanks to Mr..
Wardle stand, and simply to have negatived ilia.
motion for its repeul But his adonishment was
raised, at seeing (gentlemen go further than this,.
and resolving nu a strong address, as a substitute
for the rejected motion. This, too, without any
previous notice to the Court ; thong,' these (Setitk.-
men took the precaution of supporting thenioelves•
by a very active carivirs of their friends, whom they
I brought to bear them out in their proposition. ,Ht
conoide-red this as unworthy of a great city, Gado
' stood up for the honour and. dirtily of the Court,
that they might osier hereafter Le taken by ear—
Prise, troll committed to such important resolutions..
If this kind of ronduct mere permitted. it wool&
open the door fur any party to secure Nippon, by ts.
private VatIVSIP, and conic to the Court, • ioiltleti,
thereby to carry any point they those. Its con--
chided by reading the Resolution of the Court ad
the lit of August, declaring, that Mr. Waidle.
had done nothing to forfeit the honours bestowed on.
him ; and moving .4 That it should be etipiregid
from their Journals." He had no ohjsetion to or y•
Centlsturits giving a now mNire, and discussing
the qurstiou agent, with proper previous eousr
deratinn.

Mr. iloz spoke shortly io opposition to the mo-
tion.

Mr. Alderman GooDatrisaa thought the C.rn-
Orman oho inotell this question eery unfortunate.
in the nand, Iw mesh to al:stain the honour and dia-
meter of the Court. The remerft he prtipored. fur •
%hat he considered as erroneous. orut as f4r
es to key, that whenever brand his orre out
of taunt. ihe Court was Dot to ClPrliriat il• CM:1411.41i
acknowledged function. They were not to
cir.lllll,l/11101*11 as they were hrtare than.. oho I"
notice tircurtrners as they IleeMe. They mere no:
to consider• ell the bearings of question.' submitted
to them. and rotor to such the...ions es the natiast
of the C4IINN at the time weinrit to require. lii'
woul♦ ask that Gentkurato. if• Ms I:resent tuotroil

was agreed to, wonid it not go to extinguish the
additional Instre thrown on Mr. Wardle by the re-
solution against which it was tiorected ? He was
afritial. from wissot he now woe, that, either in the
country. or since his retiirri to town, the principles
of the worthy Deputy had been somehow eonta.
whirled. He had hoped when that Gentleman
gave his vote in favour of Mr. Wardle, that he
had enlisted under the banners of freedom and re-

Form. and had for once become a patriot., From
his known iiiileinisitisce, he had supposed him
in-
capable of having say thing to view. He wanted
sothing ; and it might ix said of hum, as of a per-
son of another No Baron, or Squire,
•or linight of the Shire," lived hall. o well an be dud.
The Gentleman talked of ennvaesing.; Isis owls in-
dustry in that way was well known ; his old friends
had got hold of him, arid, for his patriotic conduct
oil the occasion of the vote liclore alluded to. hail
prevailed on him to come with his present motion,
li% way of making the enteede honorabl. He
hen, convinced the Coiirt would not at:cor.l with

'hon. fur fob circionstence hail occurred to impeach
the character of Mr. IVarille. Tile country owed
as nisch to him as to any than; and therefore he
was deserting of every honour. Let them not, by
despoiling ham of any, damp and extinguish the
lire of patriotism, whirl, stnnnlated men to exert
themselves for the 'oolitic good. Mr. Wardle was
moth calm ttttt ated, but, lie bed come through the
tiers ordeal, pure mud untouched. Every circum-
stance. since the trial of the Duke of York. an far
from injuring, gave new !mitre to his fame. Neither
the trial with Wright, nor the excursion to the coast.
were iueonsisterst with his honour rad diameter.—
Ilis virtues, his integrity of heart, his private pia-
lines, were too well established to he shaken. As
a gendemate a husbaud, and a father, enjoying
red bestowing every domestic happiness, no one
could deny his claim to lank emote; the most
einieent. With regard to the visit to the cane. it
ought to be knoti a what were his motives. He
was to bra by Messrs. Dodd.and Glen.
see, and knowing the slippery character of Mrs.
Clarke, and fearing he 4 she might get into the
miemy's ea op, he revolved to give her a place with
them in the post-coach. The next attempt to
throw Will al 01:011 Mr. Wardle was. from his being
said to have deplore; from his pledge to the public
to roe-cane for oerjus.y. But, wile,. it was see,. that
he had lost no tone in bringing these witnesses
to justice—that 1w bad got a hill against them
for conspinicy, the proof of with+ rested Oa
the perjury ; it would not be thought, that
any thing. etc his part. su'ijecteil lion to re-
proach. Hr was, iaileed, well entitled to their sup-
port, as lie had only been retarded by the arts of
hiropporients, who dishonoureoly neglected to give
him the common notice* to which he was by
law entitled, awl behaved in, sires a manner,
that the Judge was a doubt whether they were
entitled to move the action by the writ they
desired. Mr. IVsolle had done his ditty. wit,.
respell in the Duke of York, to the satisfaction of
every limiest loan, and deserved all the support they
could give hirer. Ad advisrates fOrrecaral Mild re-
trenchioent, had malty enemies; and those who
were bold enough to steed forward, it was the duty
of every good subject to cur-mirage. Mr. Wardle
bad rendered his country sumo important services
than-Oily thiagdoni, by see ottaiitl.during the war.
The mover would he doing much miscidef, there-
' fbre, were fie successful in carrying his point. Butt
it was not coieoisient with theireliaracter to expteige
this resolution. The atnewhiseet had been made,
and the whole business condor tea, io the most re-
gular way. and according to order. As well mtglit
it be required to give notice of any speech intended
to be ma le, as of any sonendnient to a motion whieh
might, in the course of discussing' it, be proposed.
Mr. IYarille had file same cumin. upon them that
ever he had ; owl the reasons assigned, in point of
form, by the mover, WCra iiistAcient grounds for
their coming to the conclusinn he wished.—He
therefore moved the previous ipiestton.
Mr. JACKI observed, that the question did ant
relate to the merits or demerits of Mr. Wardle,
but as to the order of the proceeding ou the Ist
of August.
Mr. Keesix explained.
Mr. SAUL! said, he wee, some hundred miles from
London, when the revolution envied to was
passed. The question appeared to him to he whe-
ther this resolution might tw considered as a pro-
per aineudineut to the question for the discussiou
of the Court ? To ascertain whether it was so or
not, he would go through it, paragraph by para-
graph. and offer such remarks as occurred to him
as he proceeded. Ile wooed not detract from Mr.
Wardle's merits, nor slid be see any thing in the
trial with Wright, to alter the previous opinion of
the Court. Gut there were other paragraphs iu
the resolution. which required more serious and
deliberate consideration. Mr. Jacks then Went
into these paragraphs, and argued from them, that
there were many parts of the resoliition unfound-
ed; false and mistaken. The first paragraph as-
serted. that church patronage had been sold.—
Now, not a single instance of any such thing had
been proved though it was seen attempts had been
made by O'Meara, Brescia'', and the unfortunate
man, who had so recently put ti period to his renit-
ence. Ile then animadverted on Mr. Warble's
charging the Ministry with haviug an office fur the
wile of places, in Tweed ateedle-street. sod ridiculed
she idea of belr.viug hlinisters hail any knowledge
of that nest of swindlers. lie agreed with the
third paragraph, respecting Lord Castlereagli'e
al:sposial of the writership. This was evidently
misconduct ; hut the former they could never sup-
pose to heat all founded ;and, consequently, ought
soot to have declared it to be well-founded by their
resolution. With respect to the finirth para-
graph, charging Parliament, broadly and generally.
with berate returned by corrupt influelas.e. and
continuing. to wet under it, nothing could be more
false. It was true that corrupt influence might
sway particular Boroughs. &c.; but could it for t
moment he maintained, that the Members for coun-
ties ore-sea, etch, for instance, as Middlesex, and
West 'Muster, were rewriteel in this manner. The
allegation was. therefore, unjust, marl might net to
have doused a place in their Resolution. As for the
assertion following, that they exercised their 11111 C..
tioa/ under corrupt influence, that also appeared
to him to be a tabel on the House of Common',
which, in former times, would have been heavily
visited. Tie Stls paragraph, impute which he coat-

milted, was that ethic,' imputed general corrup-
tion to the Ailuviiistration. Qu this point, ne took
a chinprehetisire view of our history since the ftevo-
lutiosi--arud, from the Nets therein recorded, OM.
tended, that, in former periods, theft existed mole
corruption than in the present day. lie, lastly, in
this pert of his subject, took a view of slr. %Val dle's
pl al for the reduction of the Army, which he repro-
bated as idle, impolitic, and unwise; mid therefore
uffileservitig of ceininendatiou by the Coui t in their
resolutions.---lie then went into a discussion of the
expeinency of the question. It was. he said, the
fashion, of late, to decry every description of public
men ; butt he would advise the friends of rational
liberty to reflect. before they would subscribe to au
monstroui LI proposition. Withoot such men, how
could the public bunnies, be conducted ?—..00 bet-
ter than the business, of that Court could be con-
ducted without Aiderineu. If touch an opinion was
to be adopted, in its full extent, it would g., to all
extremity, which, he was persuaded, uoae of theta
would he inehued to wish—that of taking the Go-
vernment oe t of the Intuits of the preliesit rulers. to
put. ot tutu the hands of the people. Corruption
was a topic much masted on—but was corrupti ~,,,
et the present slay, more prevalent than at any
former period was persuaded it was not. As
to cosideinimig men, fur supporting different opt-
nisies,at different periods of there lives, he did not
see how it could be done. if they resorted to allt1101"I•
ty, Mr. Pitt was at one time the advocate of reform,
at another, its opponent. Mr. Fox was at one time
the enemy of Lord Bute. at another. his coalesced
friend ; Air. Burke too, in the early pert of his ca-
reer, avowed pro iscipirs, chiefs, in the latter part, lie
had abandoned. All these were instances of that
difference of opinion, in the rune men ; which
would `go to prove, that if they rejected public cha-
racters, solely on account of their being ineonsistent
cub themselves, they must reject voice of the most
able and ealighteiwri characters that ever nitre ned
the country. The fact was, that all great 'ten hail
thought ditferently of tile saner subject. and under
different circumstances. As to any change in t:w
Constitution, which eiedt doctrines would lad to,
he felt himself nerfettly satisfied with it as it exist-
ed at present; he was a frigid to that Commit: ion,
he lied lived under it wt h liberty, lied soluicett
purperty under it, and enjoyed it, and did not re-
quire tile interference of Committees upon public
grievances, now that Bonaparte was briiiging his
forces into afoesis, so that the most firm and ulna-
titmoue rest:Awn* was necessary, to order to render
I it effectual.

Mr. WAITHM4/1 said, that he did net imagine it
would have been necessary for 'ono to oder wore
than • few weds upon the present occasion, after
the speech which the worthy Gentleman had deli-
vered that day. Ile (Mr. W) wa.. punted to
think upon what grounds he could have moved for
the resciuding of a resolution, so soesintaaly delibe-
rated ; Ire was, however, relieved from this moiety,
when be heard that the objeettott was not to the
substance of the case. hut only to the regularity
of the proceedieg. With respect to that proceed-
ing, he would state, that unthing could he more
regular. The Court was called upon. for what
purpose? To colieuler a Resulntion which ha . tweet
before agreed to. A certain Gentleman.. came for-
ward then to prove, that certain circumstances hail
since trans.ared, to call • for the rescinding of such
Itteralutien ; ii was therefore necessary to cotasider
what the cievaistauces were. Even allowiiig that
Mr. Ward e was 1101 such a char icier as his worth.
friend had deserialed him to be ; on the contrive,
supposing him the very revere?, would it be consi-
dered an indispeemele part rifiiiity. if drowning, to
reuse his a...lst:ince, merely because there were
some objections to his morality? (lie.,! hear 1
',ley sire cail.d upon, he coticeived, to pistil)
their awn rot realiugs, anal prevent a character
from being basely trampled on ; the conduct of
which. in the ouly instance which came under their
inspection, they had lately approved. For what rea-
son, he would ask, could they he called upon to re•
aciatal a inetirm, fur the purpose of discussing it at a
future day? l'he arguments that had heel, edvene-
ed, he could not hell) considering as altogether r.
As to the Gent. who had just sat thaws+.
notwithstanding, that, in all hisepeeclies„ he had gr.
iv:rally surrounded himself with dust .aid coverings,
aril was ismit sagacious in discovering the path be-
tween right and wrong ;extreordinary as was the dis-
play which he was in the habit of nuking. yet his ex-
ertions upon the present occasiou were &cid& ed to
excite his particular surprise. He had objected to
the paragraph concerniug Church Prefermeats.
He had quibbled upon it, as that arch,quibbler,
Mr. Canning, had dune before. But there was
fact to oppose to it. There was the case of
Doctor-O'Meara. who was brought before His
Majesty; Air the purpose of edvaucing his corrupt
views; could any quibble or equivocation do away
the charge of disposing of church preferments, in
opposition to this fact ? He had also quibbled I
the disposal of seats in the Legislature, because the
Speaker's epeecle did not apply to them ; but the
SpeaLer's speech. dial apply; as did also, perhaps.
in a stronger sense, the speech of Lord Liverpool,
who had said, drat the disposal of seat* was never
broadly and openly avowed in Parliament, until
that moment. The Speaker had observed, that it
was necessary to pot an end to such a traffic in the
Legislature. or that seats would be publicly sold,
which would bring upon that House, and country,
a greater scandal than either had ever before ex-
perienced. With respect to the paragraph that
implicated Lord Castlereagh, the serenity Gentle-
man had elated, that reflections were thrown oat
against the greatest character+ in the country ; hut
was Lord Castlereagh to be ranked amongst its
greatest characters? If an, he must say. that the
country was lost ; with such men, for great chantey
ten, there could be no hope for them as a nation.—
II worthy Gentleman had talked a great deal,
which he did not pretend to understand ; he hail
talked of being a lover of virtue, and a detester of
vice; iu the ale:tract, what WWI meant by such a
declaration, he (Mr. W.) could not comprehend.
It would require ell the metaphysical talents of the
worthy Gentleman himself tes tw plants it. With
respect to the corruptioua comphaiued of. at the
present day, it was objer:ed that they were not
greater than those of former slays; hut could that
he any reason why they should not make a perpetual
war against them ? (4pplerses.) It was thane that
Mr. Canning had ?twisted the charge ; it was upon
I this principle that both pates bad wade • atsud

to oppose it. He regretted mach, that the worthy
Gentleman should 1110 t bare' applied his talents
to other more congenial pursuits, rattler than by
perverting them to the lint iu which he had tilrown
them su completely away. He would ask the
worthy Gentleman whether he had ever ItittiAn a
government to he nve•titrowm, unless by somedread-
lul faults existing in itself? Tne. filly Gentle-
man had elated, that there was more corruption in
free states than in any other. Perhaps that was
the case. In free states there was a perpetual Com-
petition between the government and the people;
the encroaching native of the tine rendered a resist-
ance on the part of the other indispensable. There
were many men in Parliament, he was persuaded,
who would have matte efficient and aide \Limiters,
►f they had only to deal with u vigilant Parliament.
lie world ask, what wotild their own situation he,
ill what manner would the bueiness of the City be
conducted, if they lied out a strict eye over their
officers ?

Here Mr. DI xoe rose, and called upon the Court
to protect its officers front ahuse.—(A load laugh.)
• Mr. WAIIMMAN wished that the worthy Gehlle-
man would cuutLee 1111110AI' to his own defence, in
which subject he would probahly fired sufficieut
occupation. (4 laugh./ He was sure that none
of the officers would construe any this 4 then he had
said tutu a wish to give them offence. (ipplauses.)
—All he commuted for was. that vigilance was
necessary; tf Lord Chatham himself was at the
helm, a watchful House of Commons would
he a requisite to the security of their liberties.
—The Worthy Gentleman had stated, that the
mtelligeisce of the office, in Threadneedle-street,
was recriyed with &liths by the Ministry; but was
it not true, thal that, and other great abuses, had
been corrected, and great savings made, in coast%
greener of the suge,estitnis of Mr. Wardle? He (Mr.
Waithineti) recollected. that. at the latter rod of
the Administration of Lord 'North, Commie:loners of
inquiry were appointed ; and yet, not one single
oeuelit had resulted Irma such appoi-tments. he
!he year 1797. another Commission eras lasts.
tuted, hut notuisig of advantage accrued. in shunt,
the emoluments of the Commissioners themselves
exceeded the sums brought back to the public by
their efforts. lie had looked tato the repurts of
the late Committee with tare; they were as large
es Rapin's limos) ; and, as Mr. Woulhani had said
in the Home, they proved the eystem of reprerenta-
lion to he ratteii, from biotin's to top. It appeered,
that, Is Ilse War-011ie-c, there acre many account.
unisettleil ; there %sin a fee twirl established, en-
tirely at the committal of the Secretary of the Trea-
sury, srii!ustit any caller species of coutroui
set over u ; sit this office were many arrears; the
backwardness had been attributed to the want of a
Seffielest number of clerks; but the tact was, Ow
many were put into it, when too old to be of any
service ; and ahn employed then time, till three
&dock, in their offices. reading antijacouinicill pro.
dactiime, to instruct theta in (he knowledge of our
glorious Coustituttoti. OneGentleinuo, Mr. Charles
Hionntini, was Secretary to Mr. Winless, at 2001. *-
year ; he was also Be' rack-martyr, arid, aith other
situations, possessed of about 5001. a Year. Witt.
these, however. he wss appointed to the situation
of Assessor of the Pitiperty Tax, the duties of
which °recopied hilt aliout nice hours a-tia,
They might ju.lg* front this what time I e r ram
spare from his other occupations. But this airs rent
all. lie was secured 111 a Oviedo* of liol. per year.
when Mr. Duman, should retire from tiff ce ; •h,'
the Wily reason he could state Mr it to the Commis-
sioners was crosses seivieen winch he had renders.°
Mr. Umadas, when he was his Private Secretary.
"'here were also many domestics provided for in
this kind of way. One persou, a servant of the
famous Mr. Jeikinson, had 1501. a-year, of the
public mousy, though he had never (lone a day's
duty, and consequeutly, when ended upon h. the
Commissioners, could riot inform thein of Lira
nature of the thole. of his office. Ile did not
know aloft the Cpurt would think of such a trans-
ectiou ; but, for Ills part, lie 'till net hesitate to gay,
that any tree who laud 11.* servant, IA Charles Jim-
kiiition dui, out of the !while itintissought not to be
trusted. Lord Barrimvon had mted in the iqcoe
way. In short, there were scarcely twenty men in
the noose of Commons, who were net Interested.
There was at present a revenue of 70 millions per
annurn,w I licit must necessarily create a vast intliwiter.
Mr. Lewis had a peinisou ofeoool. per 411110frt. In the
time of Lord A ia Iterst, the entareoffice a as sopported
at 10001. per year ; but the expense at present was
70001.; and Colonel Gordon had lately 23001. per
*ninon. more than double the exptitee of the en-
tire office at that period.. He insisted strongly
upon the necessity of Parliamentary Reform,
quoted Mr. Justice Bayley'. opinion. in the rase
of Sir Christopher Hawkins, which stated. that the
sale of places rendered the Constitution worse than
a shadow. Tiie worthy Gentleman (he said) at-
tempted to shew that they should place their con-
fidence in public mere. by proving, in the issotances
of Pitt. •F ties Burke, &c. that they never were
worthy. of teeing trusted. The fact was, that they
had too much to attend to, in the arrangement of
titles, and in the prometion of pnrty views, to attend,
with any effect, to the business of the people.
The worthy Geutlentan seemed to forget some
parts of his former conduct; he teemed to for-
get the time when he had said that they ought
to gas up with an address every week, upon the
subject of Reform, instil it was oliblined.—
Another Geutleinen seemed to he equally forget-
ful. who had more lately stated. that his blood was
chilled at such doings: he now saw worse things
happen—a hue army destroyed—the resources of
the country isquaudered ; cud yet be was willing to
join in tile call for the rewinding of a vote. which
had done tlives more credit than any they had ever
come to. His excuse was the particular posture
of affairs, now that (according to his own ex-
pression) Boileparte was bringing his troops into
a feces, lie thought it right to resist Imo by
this means. As to bringing his troops into afheas,
it must he acknowledged that he hail adopted a
very singular wily. that of spreading them over the
rime 'of Europe—fit laugh) But, perhaps, this
some metaphysical refinement, which only the wcc-
thy Gentleman could understand. With the fate
of Sir John Moore's army before them, he would
ask, how any army could be well disposed under
such direotors ? Ile reprobated highly the conduct
of Mr. Cawing, a ho, though convinced of the in-
capacity of Lord Castlereagh, scald still sae the Si.

t‘


petition to Walcheren, and other important mea-
,,irr,, directed uy that Nobleman, to the sum slid
disgrace of the country, and, at the same
Gbilid MAW no other reason for, his coati 'lusher in suds
a situation. than the fear, that. if he was
the country might have guessed at the true cause.
Nothing. he insisted, cools save the cotton'', hillefa
die national coutidritee was restored; and that
could only be restored loy,trustitig their affairs to
tnen who vmuld watch ever their nghts. bolt and
Pitt were bah capable of twinggreat and goad Mi-
nister*, if there was a vigilant and incoi rapt Par.
Influent to watch over them. He deprecated the
idea of hunting iuto private character for objec-
tions to public men ; and said, that if the same sera•
tiny was made into his faintly concerns, he would
theow the box in their faces, ratlwr thin submit to
it. He tru,ted that a Committee of enlightened
men would be appoilited for investigating the cos..
duct of their Representatives, in order CO guard
mg iinst a repetition of that conduct. by which they
were degraded, und, in conocqueisce of winch they
bad the mortification to land other bodies setting
themselves above them.

Mr. Dtige reprallat,nl the idea of calling the
art ofchartty canung. ll' thought. that. as Franee,
had now acquired an ',vent a po .er in the world, it
would become is to overlook tittle things, and mit
to censure every thing tout was amiss. Tne mo-
tion of his worthy Friend war not uteiultd to vilify
Mr. IVarille. but woo taken up on such grounds •
a 3 any body would be inelineit to take it. ifs
wished that the whole of the utotton altould be
struck off the books.

Alr. ltattssr.ti declared. that if the motion could
be conatrued into a reflectiou npoa Mr. tVarille, is
shout(' not have proposed it ; his only objection to
the motion he had nioved to rewind, was the manlier
of it. He still entertained the same opinions he
had avowed. He was vitllinir .0 tear up corruption.
root and branch, lint he would take care in what
comiiany he did it. •
After a few words from Mr. Alderman ATKIN'S.
in suppor• of the motion, and tmm i.r.
metitot it. the previous quaniou was itzrvel te,
without a theism's.