The National Register.
London, England, 1815-06-18 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

"DO

WESTMINSTER MEETING.

A Meeting was held on Thursday in New Palace Yard, in come-
q: cute of the rejection by the House of Commons of the late Yeti-
tom, to consider of another Petition in support of the people's right
of petitioning for a redress of grievances, tic.
Sir F. Buenurr presided, and having taken the Chair, he ad-
dressed the Meeting upon the object for which they had been called
together. He began by observing, that in consequence of the High
Bailiff not having complied with a requisition which was signed by
118 respectable individuals, it had fallen upon him to take upon
himself a duty s‘hich would better have become that Gentleman.
He did not wish to reflect upon the High Bailiff, with whom, up to
that period, they had so much reason to be satisfied ; he was the
hest judge of his own conduct; but at the same time it should he
understood, that the meeting of the citizens of Westminster did not
depend upon the decision of the High Bailiff: it was not even
necessary that he should preside. In former, and he might say
better times, it was not customary to call upon the High Bailiff to
preside • in the time of Mr. Fox, he himself always used to preside
at the Westminster Meetings; and the only reason why it became a
practice to convene those Meetings under the authority of the
Iligh Bailiff was out of compliment to the individual who might
happen to hold that office. In the present case, indeed, the High
Bailiff had disqualified himself, for he confessed that he was not
capable of acting upon his own judgment and discretion, and that
before he could answer the requisition he must take the opinion of
Counsel ; but it was hardly possible to go to a worse source for
*deice in all matters of popular rights, than to Gentlemen of the
long robe.
lie would uow proceed to open shortly the object of the Meeting.
When last he had the honour of addressing them, a Petition to the
House of Comment; was unanimonsly agreed to by the Meeting,
complaing of various grievances, protesting against the new war
into which the country was about to be plunged, and asking that
redress which was necessary for their security against the notorious
corruptions of that assembly who rejected that petition, because not
palatable to their false notions of dignity, As the business of this
day, therefore, was to assert their right of petitioning, he should only
require their attention to the observations of Gentlemen who in
tended to speak, and to the Resolutions which they had prepared
tor their consideration.
Major CARTWRIGHT then came forward and said, that from the
delay which had taken place with regard to the Petition that had
Leen rejected, it might perhaps be imagined by some that they had
shrunk before the rebuke of the House of Commons' teem a con-
scious sense of their own impropriety : and lie would therefore ex-
plain the reasons of that delay. The Petition was rejected on
• Ihursday the 25th of May; but the fact could net be known till
•the next day (Friday), and on that very day a new Requisition was
drawn up. To obtain the signatures of 118 persons, however, was
Lot the work of five minutes, and it was not till the Monday follow-
.sing that he transmitted a copy to the High Bailiff, at his country
seat near Colnbrouke, who returned no answer. He was not sorry,
however; that it had come to this issue, as it would effectually set
-the question at rest, and it would now be demonstrated that a High
Bailiff had no power to prevent the citizens of Westminster from
sneeting to Petition Parliement ; still less that an impudent and
insolent Jack in Office, the High Hailifl's Deputy, should assume to
himself the right of dictating the terms of the Requisition. He
should not detain them any longer, but conclude with reading the
following Resolutions, which it was intended to propose for their
approbation :
Resolved, I—That a Committee of Thirty-one be appointed, for
watching over the political rights and interests of the Citizens of
Vestimileter and the Liberties thereof; as well as for convening
General Meetings whenever the said Committee may judge it
uccesSary.
2. That in addition to Sir Francis' Burdett, Bart. as permanent
Chairman, the said Committee consist of the following Gentlemen
ewe next column), and that five be a qnornm for business.
3. That the said Committee nominate persons to fill np vacancies
as they may occur, so that the number of Thirty-one may be kept
up, but that the persons so nominated be subject to the approbation
of the next General Meeting ; amid that they elect a Treasmer for
receiving Subscriptions towards defraying the necessary expences.
4 That a new election of the Committee shall take place at the

iiext General Meeting after the expiration °lone year:
5. 'that the late petitioning experience of the people of Great
Britain and Ireland ought to convince them that the whole force of
their, energies onllit, with all possible unanimity, to be concentrated
au.retitious of Right, fur the one thing Atedful) a Constitutional

JUNE 18,

Representation ; and that to this end, if every Petition to ti►e
Commons House for remedy of any wrong whatever, where to state,
that the House ought truly to represent thh People, such constant
recur►ence to the sultject would, in the opinion of this Meeting
greatly accelerate the Reform we seek.
6. That the petition in support of the sacred Right of Petitioning
and for promoting a radical Reform in the Co►mnons House of
Parliament, which has been read, is adopted, and that the same be
presented to the House of Commons by our Representative, Sir F.
Burdett, Bart.

7. That our Representative Sir F. Burdett, Bart. is, it possible,
doubly endeared to us, by the alacrity with which lie consented to
to take the Chair, when delays and difficulties were thrown iu the
way of this our constitutional meeting, and fur his dignified conduct
therein.

Mr. Walker seconded them, and insisted, at some length, upon
the sacred right which the people possessed, of petitioning Parli.
ament ; observing that the principle was consecrated not only by
long practice and the statutes of the realm, but that it had been
clenched by that masterpiece of eloquence, which spoke more loudly
than all statutes—a Revolution (Applause.) He had yet to learn,
also, that the people of England or of Ireland were to creep, fawn
and cringe when they approach the House of Commons ; they were
egregiously mistaken if they expected such conduct from the people
of Westminster, who were determined to demand a fair representa-
tion in the Commons House of Parliament (Applause).
Major Cartwright then came forward and read the Petition.
Mr. Hunt seconded it, and said that it did not contain a single
line or expression but what he believed spoke the truth ; and them
fore it had his decided support. The Electors of Westminster were
called upon that day to exercise a right which ought to be dearer
to them than their lives ; and if ever that right was denied, there
would be an end of all their privileges.e.(Applause) Mr. Hunt
then stated what would be the object of the Committe, and proceded
to discuss the impolicy of the war, which he contended, was a war
against liberty all over the world.
Hr. Hunt proposed Sir Francis Burdett u Chairman of the Com•
mit tee. Approved of.
Sir Francis Burdett then proposed the following Gentlemen as
Members of the Committee, viz, Mr. Adam, Mr. Bro,ke . Mr.
Butcher, Major Cartwright, Mr. Cleary, Mr. Dale, Mr. Dickenson,
Mr. Edwards, Mr. Giles, Mr. Harding, Mr. Harding, jun. Mr. Hunt,
Mr. Knight, Mr. Locke, Mr. Long, Mr Mill, Mr. Miller, Mr. Sam
Miller', Mr. Morrell Mr. Prince, Mr. Silver, Mr. Sturcb, Mr George
Roger, Mr. Turner,Mr. Walker, Mr. Wilsou, Mr. Wishart, and Mr.
Alderman Wood, who were severally approved of.
Mr. Hunt proposed the thnnks of the Meeting to Sir Francis
Burdett,
Sir Francis Burdett said, that after the ample manner in which the
subject before the Meeting had been discussed, it would neither be
necesssry nor fit for him to take up a great deal of their time at the
conclusion of the bushics. At the same time he should not think
that he did his dot), or slimed a proper respect to the Electors of
Westminster, it lie did not advert to some of the leading topics of
discussion in his usual manner, speaking as shortly, but as explicitly
as he possibly could, those sentiments which he considered it his
duty to avow and express. He concurred in opinion with Mr. Hunt
respecting the Petition which had been submitted to them—almost
every part of that Petition was becoming the dignity of the peo-
ple of England to offer ; and in his opinion, it was the duty of the
House of Commons to receive that Petitifi, and not from any false
pride or dignity to wave the consideration of the impm taut topics
which it contained. That such, however. would be its reception
within the walls of that falsely denominated Hotise of Commons, he
was not too sangne in expecting (applause). It was certainly, how-
ever, far from his expectation that the Petition he bad lately pre-
sented to that Assembly would have been rejected as it was : and he
was even yet unable to conceive the grounds on which it was m
jeered. Some general statements were made of the Petition being
deficient in.respect ; it contained, it was said, some strong expres-
sions that the House had robbed the people of their rights • bat these
expressions did not appear to Win strong, compared with Ate infamy
of the facts which they referred to (applause). A great many things
had been stated by Mr. Hunt, of which he firefes•ed he had oo
knowledge. At the same time as Mr. Hunt pleoged his life to the
truth of what he had stated, it had not failed to affect his mind deep-
ly, as well as it must have done others. That Gentleman had hit
the right nail on the head, when he stated that all the pretences OA
forward fur going to war with France were all sham pretences; and
that in all the debates in Parliament the real cause of the war had
never once been hinted at—the real cause was the apprehension of the
Borough. mongering faction which had obtained a domioiou over