The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1820-10-18 00:00:00

SEDITIOUS PLACARDS.

Mr. Hum E ruse andante!, lie should venture tonal
the attention of the House to a subject which sit-
'seared to himself, and to many others to whom he
had mentioned it, to be woe of very considerable
importance. Ile wished to expose a practie e which
had been attended with mischief* great, indeed in-
calculable. He proposed making a tout 000 to cell
the Chief Magistrate of Bow.street, Sir Robert
Baker, to the her. to answer for his conduct in a
case which was How become in some measure matter
of notoriety. The system of circulating seditious
placards and hood-bills, the practice to which he
had alluded, had been carried to an extent Pearce-
If credible to those who had not bestowed some
pains its investigating it.—(lleue, law, htur.)—
It had been going on for a smasher r.l years,
but at prevent he should only ;.(41 back to the
year 1818, since which time lie had the means
of proving that • manufactory or trio-usable pia.
cards had been constantly carrying on by an null-
'ulna', who pa.sed under the satious 'lames of
Fletcher. Forbes, and Franklin; but the n one
' under which lie had been 'wrested, after this of'.
fence had been clearly traced I. limn, wars Williams
Franklin. He considered the discovery of the
prom's who had acted is confederacy with this
man, as a thing of very great consequence. He
could out think otherwise, when lie recollected the
language of the Noble Lod in ininalocing the sex
Bills, which had abridged, accordilig to his opt-
ohm, the liberties of the coutitry.—alear.i—
Every our recollected what sires% had been laid by
the Noble Lord, us' that occasion, on she dan-
gerous language of the placards at that time circu-
lated through different parts of the country.—
( hear, hear.)—lo the last meeting also of the
House but one, the Noble Lord had complained
that the Queen's friends had placarded the streets
with inflammatory Addresses.—(Hear, hear.)—
He (11r. Hume) who hid heard all this langi.age
could 1111 i help thinking that the detecting acid es:-
post:lg the source of all these and a thousand similar
productions was a matter of high consequence
indeed, for he would lily, that 'somber* of lives
had been sacrificed to such hirimous arts. The
let of April, 1818, a plaeard hail appeared in Glas-
gow, calling on all artisans ant their masters to
give up work. mid shut up their shops, till they had
off•cied parhatnentary reform, if not by peaceable,
by any means. '(he consequence was, that it reward
was offered by the local Magistrates for the detec-
tion mill apprehension of the persons concerned it
the transaction, and another of SOUL by his Ma-
jesty's Government, wi!lo the Caine object, to any
Re/1111/1 whatever except the authors. The 1t0...
Gentleman then described the severities and hind-
slims il/ which twenty or thirty faindses had heroes-
posed at Glasgow on suspicion of being connected
with the transaction. This was the first installer
lie jot, allied to mention, and it was his belief that
the posting up there bills at Glallow aind i'msley
had led to the Nulirequent riots in the former than
and at Bonny_ m Ujr. slid ill the blood shed in eon.
sequ• nee. Ile described the :rely,- part which NI r.
C. Pearson had taken in tracing the hills. a•trilint-
ed to the Queets'a Plate Committee to Franklm,
and trusted that all the iIidIVIIIIIiik l'ollett 114.11 lil t'7.e
plot would be brought to jusitce. lie believed it
would be shewn that this coospirile) had been carried
on whit the kiloaledge and under the sanc'inis of his
Aliqesty's Governmeot. Ile had traced the trans-
action to the person who hid received the bills Gent
Franklin, the compositor who !Muted them, end
the bill-sticker, whom he accumpani,ll at s,igld
through all parts of Loudon. Nlr. Hume then de-
tailed the circumstauces of the discharge mid 'me-
son of Franklin. as they have appeured tit the news.
papers, and animadverted in severe terms on the
rooduct or Sir It. Baker. From the uustser of the
II Office to the applications triode thereat, he
also argued that they must have b. en well acquaint-
ed with all the circumstances of the plot there.
The last hand-bill in his possession was dated the
hitli September, and there were fifteen tithe's. tie
'clewed to the Royal Proclatnation, and reward
offered of one hundred guineas, when the Duke of
Nutt:mil was at the head of the Ad - *. triitinti, in
Frh. 1796, for the detection of the individuals cote-
crowd in posting up seditiOUS iriiirril at Denbigh,
and to rewards for a similar purpose offered since.
When he said that the author of the inflammatory
paper*, distributed so assiduously for the last two
years, held the rank of a gentleman, anti was in thee
habit or lilting with u Minister of the CUIWII, lie
hoped that the thing would be probed to the bottom.
Mr. litime then read the affidavit of a printer. tr-
ending, we believe, to the neighbourhood of Poet.
land-road, which stated, that at the cud of June,
or the begitioing of July, 1818, a geode-Man
called at 111.4 office with the manuscript of a trdi-
Illita baud-Lill, and asked linn (deponent) if lie
would engage to print sonic front ii, observing that
it would he a very beneficial employment, and that
lie should waist a great number more, aid that the
deponent might out he afraid, as lie should be pro-
tected and simply repaid ; that lie struck ell' SUO
cupier.which were paid for mid taken away. The u 4
davit proceeded todescribentidret forth a great many
other papers of a similar description, !Milted at the.
office of the deponent, at the request of the same
iudividuol, inautliug the letter seta to the .48
Jurors at Warwick previous to the trial of: Ste-F.
Burdett; a planed of the thilt July tin% srirritfrifti.
the people to procure Parliamentary Reforirrista.4ll
hazarepp ;" four placards out the subject cif the.Quertes
Vhatetud many other popery eta WOWS/ Sitaarltb4.ll.
' pasei4 further stood, that :he Waged, the
I person who' employed him from Hew Ini+itrett Itt

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