The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-11-15 00:00:00

PRICES (IF-CORN.

Average Priers o'fCo----r: of England and Wales, by the
Qtbwrter of Eight %Vim-fit...ter rlnidtelv, Kati of Oatmeal p►i
bull of 1001bs. avoirdugniise, fr the return., received in the
vr,rk ended thr Silt of ,Novrmh►r, 1819.

4

;
2g e t
Z.o MI
a. d a. d a. 11 1. d.
4b I I 50 041 6

dui*. d
311 1 41 9

THE -iBl

IN AND stun rioN BILLS.

The following at•conn of the Trra•on end Sedi-
tion Hills, introduced into and passed by both
floosies of Parliament, in the Session of 1795. is
enameled from Be/shunt's History of the Iteige of
Cro►re the Third.
"• On the 6th November, 1795, Lord Grenville, at
the rinse of a long overt•h, presrialeti to the Noose,
a Bill for the safety and tweservation of his
Ma-
jesty's peri,on and Government mgaiiist treasonable
aad rierlitietis attempts.
•• Whatever variations there might be in this
Bill (for the safety and preservation of his Majesty's
Person and Government, agaiiint treasonable and
practices and attempts) from the prece-
dents of former times. he assured their Lordships
vial they *voids' be only found to deviate so far as
the peculiar forms of existing circumstances re-
roired. The precedents to which he referred, were
*owe in the relict's of Elizabeth and Charles IL
Acts passed in approved times. and he doubted not
but their Lordship' would agree with him in the
riecessity there was of applying a speedy remedy to
it/go-oat practices, which have endangered not only
slfcty of Me constitution but the life of the So-

tweign."
The Earl of Lauderdale observed, that by the
Bill then introduced a variety of new crimes and '
new treasons would be added to the Criminal Code
of this country, and it would effect a total altera-
ton of the laws respecting treason, and be " a
most dangerous innovation epos the Constitution."
tpon examination of this Bill, it was in fact found
to contain an amazing heap of wild and new-fangled
treasons, of which beyond comparison the most
dangerous was " malicious and advised speaking,"
hat this clause, upon debate, Lord Greoville con-
vented to omit, and the Bill was limited to the life
•f the reigning Sovereign.
Lord Thurlow, in the Committee, in which the
Iltil underwent some further softening., exerted his
tridents to prove it odious and suprie uous. The
language of the Bill this great lawyer asserted to
he vague, indefinite, and highly dangerous to the
bject—and he gave it as his decided opinion, that
tire present laws of the country were fully adequate
to the punishment of the crimes which the Bill was
professediy framed to embrace.
Toe Duke of Bedford expressed, in strong terms,
h.' abhorrence of the spirit and principle of the
He animadverted, in pointed terms, upon the
extraordinary declaration of the Bishop of Beetles-
ter (Horsley) in the coorse of the debate. " that
spet uletive and philosophical disquisitions upon. the
subject of Government, though they might be
allotted. did more harm than good, but that pub-
ii. discussions of such topics ought to be prevented,
and that he did not know in fact what the mass of
the people in soy country had to do with the laws
but to obey them." The Bill at length passed,
but in a state very different from that in which it
had been st first introduced, and with the appen-
th;;..tie of a protest, signed by the Duke of Bedford,
end tire Earls of Derby and Lauderdale.
A mmorure extremely analogous to this was,
shoot the same time, introduced into the Lower
1 lutist, by ltl r. Pitt ; who moved, ?iosember the 10th,
that leave be given to bring in a Bill for the more
effectually preventing seditious meetings and mem-
biles. • On this occasion, Mr. Pitt began by paint-
ing in glowing colours the criminal and outrageous
irr.alts committed upon the person of the King on
it e Arst tl. j of the Session. He said, hcwever, that
th,r purport of his motion was not to alter or enforce
ths laws for the King's safety, because the other
I loose had a Bill .before them to that effect, bit to
prevent those meetings to which all the mischiefs
1,, had mentioned might be attributed. If the
f 1 ruse meant that such enormities should be•totally
everted, they should adopt some meats of potting
at: end to those seditious assemblies, which served
vs vehicles to faction and disloyalty, which fanned
and kept alive the flame of disaffection, and filled
the militia of the people with discontent.
This 11111 met with au opposition, both within
end without doors, so vigorous and resolute as to
dr mosistrate that the Bone of liberty in England
war not yet extinguished. No sooner had tbe Miss

I a e
Z.
- -
s d it. d
37 11 23 1