The Sun.
London, England, 1812-07-11 00:00:00

trial at. the Quarter Sestions 'for a maliadeineanoine
The 4)1.-an of the bill was, to eitibrace and to meet
ell throe. proceedings of the rioters as far as possible.
.Now, ..With respect to the third point, he haeh to:
observe, that in many parts there were dot a
cient number of Magietrates to enfoece the law
with all the rigour that anay. die desieed, and on the
borders of the disturbed counties, by escaping in-
to an adjoining county, the law might be defeat,
ed for want of sufficieut jurisdiction. He would
therefore propose, that for the time the Magistrates
Of the disturbed counties, and of the counties ad-
jacent, should have a concterrent jurisdiction.- lie
' thought the House would see the measure weuld
he likely to be much more effectual if the limits of
a county were not suffered to form a boundary to
the jurisdiction of a' Magistrate in those parts for
the present. This the noose would feel NV-fl :S
small a departure as could be possibly made from
the established law of the land to meet an extra-
ordinary'caseaand the measure proposed would
be limited in its operation as much as possible.—•
It these measures were adopted, he hoped the
present disturbances would rapidly subside. It was.
actingon a Parliamentary feeling, and on a feeling
which every benevolent mind must approve, not
to overstep the necessity of the case. Ile hoped
much good would result from the attention
of Parliament .heing given to this subject—
He had never witnessed at any time- an in-
stance in which respect for the. decision of
Parliament had not produces a beneficial s'elect.—
He hoped, in the present instance, it would have
a-propee effect on the unfortunate and deluded'
amen whose
,conduct rendered some proceeding.ne-
cessary.
_He called them unfortuaate, because he
believed many of them bad been dree-n into this
association, ignorant of the consequences .to which
it would lead : and many, he believe!, having
engaged, were afraid to detach- them Selves front
' the confederacy on account of the oath they had
taken, and from a dread of the vengeance of their,
companions. - When, however, they-saw that the-
attention of Parliament was directed to the sub-
ject, anxious to deal leniently by them, yet firm
in their proceedings, to their decision he thought
they would bow. Disappointed in this expects-•
tion, Parliament Woulde be called together under
circumstances the moat inconvenient, to take such
measures as might become necessary ; but even
this, unpleasant as it, Might be, was thought pre-
ferable to anticipating that- necessity, and calling,
'for stronger measures than appeared to be at pree
Sent required. He concluded by TA 3 V TIT; " for
leave to bring in .a Bill for preserving the public
peace in tho disturbed' counties, andfor giving
additional power to the'Magistrates in -those dis-
tricts fora limited time for that purnos4."
Me. WetrenaEaD adverted to what the Noble
' Liied had stated, respecting the call of the House,.
which it now appeared, from the deetaration of the .
Noble-Lord,, was postponed, in consevenee of
the expectation entertained by his Majesty's Go-.
vernment that they should be in possession of some
trews from the disturbed districts. lithe expecta- 1
Lion of news was a sufiicient reason for postpona
ing the call, how much greater was 'the necessity
now for enforcing it, when the, question for dis-
cussion this evening was of the greatest national
importance ? when new measures were to be in-
troduced into Parliament for the better preserva-
tion of the public peace, and for putting down
those disturbanceS, which had been known and
suffered long to continue ? The Noble Lord, in
stating the outline of his measures, did not cleeni
it expedient to look to the original source of these
disturbances. In that opinion' he differed with
the -Noble-Lord. -He thought it highly, expe-
dient, for, being a Member of the Committee,
he knew that all the information was not coin-
munieated which might have been. The Coma
mittee'had made their report from the documents -
furnished by the Noble Lord, up to the 23d June.
They had not any information further, though
they might have had up to the Bth July. It wasimpossible,
imposSible, therefore, for many Members of the.
Committee to satisfy their reminds with the real
slate of the disturbed districts ;
,and the je-
june report in that respect was incorrect. He
- had been one among many who wished for
further evidence, but that wish was overa
ruled in the Committee. He. had desired evidence
as to faas, and had moved for such evidenee, in
which motion he was supported by seven out of
seventeen Members. All that remained for. him
to do was, to content himself with the documents
afforded by Government. The Noble Lord had
made assertions which he was not justified in
making from the evidence; where, for instance,
in the Report did he find any evidence to autho-
rise the assertion, "that there was an army are
rayed in the cciuntry, and that it was necessary to
put a stop to its progress?' He must deny the
assertion to be founded- in fact ; there was no
proof on the face of the Report that any thing-
like an army was in existence. There was not a re-
. giment, a company, or even half a company, trained
, to arms. The Noble Lord would therefore excuse
him, if, in discussing the necessity for propOSing
a measure of the nature just now stated, he
should go back to the source of the mischief; that
source was to be traced to the -cononencement of
the war, which had so materially distressed the .
thanufacturimag, districts for the last twenty years.
Out, of that distreas grew the disturbances which
so unfortunately had endangered the peace of the.
counties of York, Lancaster, Nottmngham, and
Cheshire. But for the Noble Lord to say that
the rioters had assumed stile appearance of an
an army, was not true ; there was no leader-to be
found: the persons .assembled were a disjointed,•
disunited set, committing great- excesses, but in
no respect, as it appeared to him, with a view to
turn into a species of disaffection to the
.G.)vermi-
ment and State. How did these disturbances com-
mence ? Why, they began in 'Nottingham is dia.....
putes between masters'and Workmen ; but those
disputes were settled, and Nottinehom was now
quiet ; and . though there were distorbances and
atrocities in other parts of the k'ingdom, still these
were'confined to a tew individuals, and. in some
instance the-principals ' had been brought to trial,
were convicted and executed. In some particular
districts, to be sure, Magistrates hid not done their
duty; the. Watch and Ward P.:et uad wit been
carried into effect. Eviaence had been- given
before the Conealltee, that such was the fact.
Compleint been 'made that -the inhabitants
of certain Qistriets would not execute the

drovisions of it. That measure, tLerefere, -er eg
not of 'may benefit. He was justified in co is
tending that the le*s already in existence hal
'not beers exerted for the purposes fut Which they
were passed, as he was firmly of opinion;. thatif
they had been duly executed, they would have
been eoinpetent to the preservation of the PubliC
peace. Under these circumstances, he could not
.agree to the introduction 'of any one of the yr°.
positions now brought. for'svard by the Noble
Lord. The Noble Lord bad talked of depots of
arrris would he point out any place where 50'
stand could be found ? It was stated before the
Committees. that there was 200 stand at Stocks
port, including those deposited by the Rioters;
What that inforitiation meant he could not -Cone'
ceive. How many had the Rioters then clenc'
sited ? , Did they deposit any ?—lt was 'AO
stated that 'there was a depot of Ardis at Hays,
wood ; if that was true, he should like theM to
remain there, for in depositing arms in a wOodi,
the di affected could not fancy them safe for their
purposes. Bet the Nuohs Lord, as an.induce-.
meat for the House to adopt his measure, had de=
dared that the-Magistraci called for Ind
more extended powers. UndouYcedly tney
He knew that some of the AT.-:,istrAtes possessed
heated and ind!nned imigi'llt:ons to the degree of
dinger”appy:l,cuael -the ,country. ' Thev sues-
nested the propriety of suspendina the Habeas
Corpus Aet---u( nroclaimhisaa Msrthil Is:awe-he-
cause insurrectain wos abroad, and tht: Jaco:)i,is
Were at AVOrk.; .this they had secret deliherations
for the porlioge of destroying the property of the
manufneturerS. Wish respect to the Mal Ineu
tioned by the Noble Lord, they met to horn it,•
and the militare had notice of their intentions,'
and went to protect the. mill, _bat found no rriob
assembled. Basing foll: their guard, in conse-
quence of the no-a
-appearance of The rioter',
•they left it, and soon after the, mob astived.
and burnt the mill. ThOse teea, however, it
was well knoWn, had -for their crimes txsi
the forfeit of their lives. They were, tried at •
Lancaster. The' law then was seffisteet for poe • .
nishiag offenders .of thii • descrption. What
more would his Majesty's Government have ?
to the meeting on Dean Moor, of which ineetie;
the Committee had no evidence, unlawful oaths
had been a•.bninistered. That meeting consisted
of a':),31.1 4ti.persons, and they assembled on 'the
19th of April. Of whom did they consist ? Why
it caine out in evidence on the trial, from the tea',
timony of the Adjutant and Colonel of the Bolton
Local Militia, that ten of those Meetings were
Local Militia men, that they were sent there as
spies, and that. those whose faces were blackened
and disguised; were th'e ten militia spy men. So it
came out before ',the Jury at Lancaster, and one .
of them said, they were so disguised " that the
devil himself could not know them." They passed
in review before
.the General, whose name was
Hurst, who also had been taken, tried, convicted,
and was now in London, under sentence of trans-
portation for life. The General was disguised in
'appearance ; his face, however, instead of being
,blackened, was whitened; he had in his posses':' •
sion a pitol and assort Of halbert broken in two-
it turned out, 'therefore, on investigation, that
this meeting, upon which so much had been re-
lied, consisted in part of spies.' He deprecated
the'practice of pushing the system of spies.toot
far. From the evidence sent up to him, it ape
,pearei4 that one of those spy persons was so
warm in the business; that he proposed not
merely to destroy the manufactories, but t/
burn down the poor or workhouse. Well I but,
said the man to whom he made the propostal--
" Don't you know you would by so doing born the%
poor people."—" Oh' !" said the Spy, " the de:
vii seize that—=never mind—don't you min ft that. !
It was also true-that one, of those executed tt
Chester was, in 1797, employed in carrying
this system of spies, and he was therefore cad'
titans in trusting to any intelligence furnished 1
such persons.. Now, with respect to the search'
,ing fur arms, which the Noble Lord proposed a'
his new:Measure ; it would be in the recollection
of the4louse, that some of the Members of tile
present Administration formed part of a previous,
Administration in another country—they wont*.
recollect that they were persons practised in meet'
sores of the kind now attempted to'be intro• eced'
It -7,-ould not, be forgotten that those things a-sere
alone when my Lord Camden was the Losel Lief
tenant of Ireland.' It woeld not be forgot, that.
the Noble Lord (Lord. Castlereagh.)' was also
that time aMeraher of the Government of Ireland'
(No, no.) Was it not so then ? sea§ the assestioil
not true ? Was the History of Ireland so socii
forgotten t Were the men in power when the
system of searching for arms in Ireland was par"
sued, not in power' now ? But why search for
arms ? Would you be likely by it to produce
.01
'practical good ?. Was not such a measure more
calculated to produce disaffection ? Was the prge'
tine of demanding anus likely to subside ? If no,.'
did the Noble Lord expect to get-at arms by suc".
means ?. Was it a Constitutional mode of proceed-
ing, to disarm the whole population of the noun'
try ? Had they not the. undoubted right of usinta
aritis in defence of their dwellings and propertY;
against the attacks of lawless depredators ? What
Would have become of Mr. Cartwright and his •
property, had he been deprived of the means 13£ ;
making that gallant stand he did against til
rioters, who assembled before his dwelling '3t
Rawford To give such , great power into.
the hands of the -Magistracy was very dangerous'
not that he meant to impugn the character of aq.
Magistrate.; ail lie wanted was to guard against
the possibility of abuse. The House would rel.
collect that the system was followed' in Ireland
with all those horrors .which were afterwards s°
much condemned. Thel-lon. Gentleman for tits
reason was disposed t oppose tlw vote ; he
would' much rather that the 'Noble Lord had pro-
posed to give to'theMagistrates a concurrent ju-.
risdiction, and then he, should not object
With respect to the dangers from these ' disturuo-
ances, was it proved the rioters 'had any funds t
carry on. their depredations.--they were called oil
to contribute their miserable twopences and tech-
pc,
enes to support, the system air
Manchester, a
,viten they were not able to pay up their arrears ,thq
tell out among themselves. sir was alsO
proved thae:
a' person who pretended he had • great :secretsdisclose, and the means of 'Obtaining much vaius,
able information, isas to receive a salaryeof 3u