The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1808-01-21 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMAPCOUNC/L, JAIt.

After the disposal of a variety of previous mat.
ter, this Court proceeded to consider the report or.
the Committee, appointed to investie the pro-.
priety and policy of assimilatim; the Militia Act a
the city of London, to tNg provisions of an Act
last Sesiion, for allbiving militiamen to vo,
Ft: r into the limo and for suppling the vacan-
cies by bollot.
BALLOT IN THE CITY OF LONDON.

Sir Joßw RIVER presented the report. lie felt
it his duty to sign it, from the eirciunstaner of his,
=the Chairman of the Committee at their list
g ; although jie war, in his own nuud, fully
csonvineed, that it recommended a sneosure not mil-
(sedated to render any effectnal benefit to the rema-
ke service., whilst it directly operated to render the
militia of the metropolis useless. It would be itn-
Apoissfhle to fill up the ravasicies created, for a length
of time, as, by the returns of the last year, the in-
uhifity to procnre reeruits for the Loath regiments
was perfectly risible. 'Lim result of the present
measure would reduce them to skeletons, under
peculiar circumstances of difficulty in recruiting,
them. llowever, it was his duty to present the te-
port Sarah. consideration of the Corporation.
The report was then read. It upprored of the
lunteering for'
Kt of a I
Wine.

. , .
measure of volunteering for the line, but recom- s
mended the adoption of a rate, in place of the oh- s
jectioaanle mode of ballot. s
' Mr. Bennet. Amami observed, that the worthy
.dissent bed certainly disanpointeel himself in con- e
chants; se abruptly; He wits at first inclined to I
fro a little deeper, fur, if report was tree, the worthy
Alder-man had marching farther Coating in his t
.mad. ae hactheard °f .'s recommendation of the
Vellot for the City of London. in order to supply I
the chasms occasioned by the that part of the re- t
aolation. Slneerely inclined to the measure of toliiti- I
leeeille• Ire was still too lunch attached to the Kiri- t
lieges of the city of Loadoch to allow of such a 1
enemas innovation upon them as the ballot must I
occasion. He was aware, that a number of peo- •
ple had changed their residences into .she city, 1
with a view of evading the operatiou of that system I
in other places—still he could not consider such t
effects as sufficient inducements for the citizen' of i
London ias forego their privileges. That they t
ought to join with the country at large in every c
loyal etideavour to meet the exigencies of the I
mate arid support the Government, he was con- t
Ideal was the feeling of hie fellow-eitiseas at large, I
and, therefore, he ho?ed, the principle would be t
&cussed in that Council, without any reference to
party views or feeliugs. He first conceived, that I
the rennet of the Committee recommended the 1
mode of ballot, and, therefore, he had determined
to oppose that part of it. As he was now con-
'rimed that it had recommended the preferable 1
mode of a rate, the report of the Committee had 4
his decided suppert. I
Mr. KNIHHT SPENCER said, that he was a Mem- I
her of the Committee, and could hear witness to I
the divt.sity of opinion which prevailed amongst I
them. Each succeeding meeting rescinded the I
decision of the weeding; and as for the last one, I
when the present report was signed, he could not, I
*filen the mestere and secrecy observed, both as to I
the time and manner of culbug it, consider it as a I
fair esgaroof the Committee's opinion, or designate I
the present report in any other terms than a ,
- emit 'geed one.
• Mr. HAInEY COMBe declared himself much I
Anatided that some member of that Committee 1
lel effered his opiniou irevions to the observations '
which he had felt it his duty to make. From all I
he bad heard of the proceedings of that Committee, I
• he was the more strongly convinced of the neces-
sity of receiving, with enation and distrust, aey al- 1
legied report from it. If his information was cor- 1
rect, it first came to a decision to recommend die
cpply of the vacancies occasioned by the drafts s
tAW line, by a ballot of the non-freemen alone, i
within the city of London ; a measure, certainly i
enjustin its untrue, end iseest difficult in its opera- 1
time In the interval of h short period, a second c
1 me...tiug was held. and it was then determined, by t
this same Committee, to extend the monstrous 1
IWIHNH of ballot to all the residents of the city of s
London, whether livery-men, freemen, or non- t
freemen. Whet. he v. euld ask, would the citizens s
of London think of a measure, trenching upon s
their iaost earned esieileges, subverting the proud f
burrierse.f their chartered rights, and tutroducing s
one of the most serious inroads upon the aeknow- in
'edged distinctions of the citizens of London, that (
huusau iugeuuity could devise ? For his pert, f
' , uniformly and undeviatingly, he world pursue, (
with undaunted step, the proud duty of opposing, v
with vigilance and energy, every encroachment on p
the liberties and privileges of his constituents, from ti
whatever source proceeding, or however decked p
out with the glare of loyalty, and the insidious re- e
. commendations of a temporary policy. He con- p
eluded with a wish, that the report should be re- 1
ferred to the re-consideration of the Committee. li
Mr. Alderman SHAW expressed an anxiety to lay c
1 before the Common Council a clear and perspicu- si
sins statement of his conduct, as contiectedwith the b
proceedings of the Committee. In the regulation h
' - of that condnrt, he had endeavoured to comport el
himself with reference to his duty wheat its Chair- 0
nem, without at all attempting to deliver his own ft
• individual opinion. Ile had selected such a w
mode of procedure, because, tot one of the oi
~• Representatives of the Cite of London, he at
i • felt it his duty to follow, and not to influence re
' the voice and decision of his Constituents, or of as
their Corporate Representeives. Upon the Bret az
decision, viz. to limit the ballot to the non-free- ca
men, he had considered it proper to hold a eon- di
feretree with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for di
: - the purposeof ascertaining the opinion of Ilia lia- ill
jesty'm Ministers upon that subject, and to learn th
from them, whether, if the City of London should di
deem it prudent to prefer a Bill to the Legislature, su
with that object, it could be manin of the support th
a Ilia Majesty's Government? That Bight lion. of
(ientlerrian (Hr. Perrevat) with his characteristic ,
sincerity, deprecated the measure as unjust; at th
the mine t :: that his estimated his coneictinse, .pr
that tie City of London would not press ' a as
taffiasare - manifestly founded on injnetiee...— an
Vter tach a communication, the Committee had lii,
ageolike ceti.4, consisting of a iptst4 majority of fin
is g, i_platt awn that occamapessis &tow cal
mined to recommend the aparh• of 4 ishistsit wn
. _ .
:... . •