The Sun.
London, England, 1823-01-24 00:00:00

CITY THURSDAY EVENING•

No Mails have been received this day from
any part of the Continent at Lombard-street, but several private
expresses have come to hand from Paris, which bring advice*
from that capital till Tuesday evening. The Remelt on Tues-
day morning fell to 82, and afterwards declined to 81k, finally
closing at 82. 10. It was, however, a close holiday, and busi-
ness was not generally attended to.

The Consols for the February settlement opened this morn-
ing at 774 advanced at one time to 77k, but afterwards de-
dined to the opening price, and finally dosed at 77/ being

dearer than yesterday.

All descriptions of European Securities are Ewer this day.—
The French Rcntes are at least 1 per cent. cheaper.—Prussian
Bonds are front]. to 13 per cent. lower.
The Bonds of the magnanimous ALEXANDER are also
lower, and very little business is done in them. The Scrip of
the Spanish, and the Bonds of 1821, continue to approach that
period when the same figures will denote their value. Many
transactions have been done in them. In Paris, on Tuesday,
tiler were sold at 42, a 42.
Colombian Bonds have this day undergone great fluctuations.
They opened at 55, advanced to 59, and gradually fell again to
55. It is reported that plenty of Colombian Securities can be
got in the West Indies, much under the London prices ; but it
is not said whether they be a new issue by the present (lovern-
meat, or a part of Mr. ZEA'S contract.

The continuation of severe weather almost puts an end to
commercial purstiits for the present. few speculative pur.
chasers of hemp have advanced du.: value of this article about
«Os. per ton. It is partly occasioned by an idea that cordage may
be in demand for various purposes, should Europe be again in-
volved in war. The severe weather, added to the prospect of
war, makes the holders of tallow also more confident, and this
article has the appearance of being` dearer, as the speculators
are sanguine that their opponents do not hold a quantity equal
to their time sales.

The publiesalesof Indigo at the gist India House ate not
commanding such high prices as were expected. l'he frost has
put an end to the Continental trade, and it is at present too
valuable to tempt monied speculaturs•—( Alorning

From the great reduction in the price of salt,
the public have just expectation of a fair reduc-
tion in the price-of cheese, butter, breed,
( Liverpool .Idvertiser.)
Petitions to Parliament against the New Mar.
riage Act have been adopted in the several
Kwishes of this City Bath Chronicle.)

.

YORK REFORM MEETING.

• •
A Meeting,' to consider of • petitioning Parlia-
ment for a Reform in the House deo:unions was held on Wei-
needay, for the county of York, in the Castle-yard. Froni the
inclemency of the. weather it. was supposed by some that there
would be but a thin attendance. It was in consequence sug-
gested that it might be advisable to hold the Meeting in the
County Hall. At eleven o'clock the attendance was far from
numerous, but after the hour had struck it rapidly increased,
and the idea of adjourning to the Hail was necessarily aban-
doned. The High Sheriff, with the Under Sheriff, were on the
hustings by eleven, and a few minutes afterwards Lord Min-
TON, Mr. S. WORTLEY, Sir C. WORTLEY, the LORD
MAYOR of,York, Mr. SnEYennn, Mr. W. FAR ICES, Mr. Ps: st-
TIEnTON, Mr. .f. W. CLOUGH, Mr. RAMADEN, and many
other Gentlemen, accustomed to interest themselves in the ttf.
fairs of the County made their.appearance.
At a quarter past eleven the Under Sheriff opened the busis
ness of the day by reading the Requisition.
The Ikon Sue:lure said he had considered it his duty
to give then, the curliest opportunity of exercising their un-
doubted riht of discussing the subject of the Requisition.
He strongly exhorted them to act with fairness and moder-
ation, and to give to every onin,who might address them an
impartial bearing. Taking the:Course, they, would do honour
to tnemselves and give additional force to the proceeding& of
• the day.
Mr. FawitEs then addressed thti Meetingon the import-
ance of the object which they had in view on the present oc-
casion. It was one which lifted theni above all narrow views,
private prejudices, and party feelings. He praised the zeal
which they manifested in thus coming forward, notwithstand.
ing the inclemency of the weather, to contribute all in their
power towards saving a sinking nation from the destruction
with which it was threatened from perseverance in a fatal
and ruinous system. • They were there seriously to denounce
principles which had enabled a set of men, under a name
which had hardly been known till the commencement of the
last century, to manage the affairs of the country as they
pleased, almost without any controul, for nearly half a cen-
tury. The consequence of this was, the nation had been loaded
with a debt, the amount of which would be incredible if it were
not pmveable. The system they had established had occasioned
a general spread of' venality. It had led to the maintenance of
a standing army (which our ancestors always considered to he
unnecessary and dang,erous) in a time of profound peace ; and '
in a word it had produced a state of things which must tinge
every true Englishman's cheek with the blush of shame, when
he reflected that this, the country of Elizabeth and William,
was in the slightest degree connected with those who had dared
to say, that the deseemtlanto of the men who fought at Ma-
rathon, and who had so heroically defended their Thermopylae,
were rebels, because they had risen against the infamous sys-
tem of oppression, imposed upon them by the insolence of Mus-
sulmen. The system acted on, had enabled A body of placemen
to wallow in wealth, while thousands of their countrymen
were steeped lb poverty up to their very lips. The effects of
it were (nether seen In the oppressive restrictions which had
been laid on the Press, and in the proceedings which had taken
Nice against the friends of liberty in Westminster Hall. By
the Bill of Rights Englishmen were entitled to be represented
in a free Parliament; but the privilege which that Act had
been Intended to secure was withdrawn, and the conse-
quences of this would better appear from the .statement
of a few stubborn facts, than from the most brilliant era-
torical flourishes. It 'would perhaps surprise some who
heard him to be told, that tinder the present spteen thrice the
expenditure had been actually Incurred in the reign of one
King, extending over fifty-nine years, than had been sustained
through the reigns of the thirty-one Kings who had preceded
him, which hall occupied a period of seven hundred years.
At the end of the reign of George the Second, the exnendi.
ture for the long period he . had last named amounted to
795,060,34n/a and the public debt to 129,1132,0001 At th;
end of the reign of George the Third the sums expended
since his accession to the Throne, anionted to 2,357,431,262/.
It was computed that 50,000 guineas would cover about a mile
of ground. The money expended in the late reign, if pro.
duced in guineas, would' go four times round toe whole planet,
and thus, accordir.g to calculation, cover about 46,000 miles.—
(Applause.}--During; the late reign every article of food and
clothing had been raised in price, so that what formerly cost
100,000.0001. per annum, had been brought up to t?.0t1,000,000/.
This extra 100,000,0091 e added to the tastes, made a total of
150,000,4/001. per annum, which was taken front the people;
over and above what they formerly pain, a sum which was
equal to five times the rental of all the land of the country.
itras this burden borne by the higher classes alone ? No ; snob
was not the case. \Who paid the duties on beer, porter, to-
baceo, tea, and all articles of Excise Jr. was miculateil, that
of the seventeen millions of persons forming the population of
this Kingdom, about three millions were heads of families,
with five or six. individuals depending on each of them. The
higher classes amounted to one-fifth of that number, so that
the suns paid by the great bulk of the population in the taxa&
was about in the proportion of 145 to 5. Ile proceeded to
state the manner in which the preeent'llonse of Commons was
formed. In the petition presented by Earl (hey in 1789,
which had never yet been answered, it was stated that a ma-
jority was returned to the House by fewer than fifteen thou-
sand persons out of 17 millions. It appeared that 280 members
were returned on the nomination of 07 Peers ; that 21 Peers for
Scotland nominated 31 members;
,that were. nominated he
thirty-sia Irish Peers, matting the total number thus nominated
to exceed 300. Of the remainder, 16 were pat in by Govern-
ment, and only 171 were fairly returned by the people. Ile ;
then shewed, nom what had lately occurred, that three Mem- '
bers who came from places where the electors did not amount
to one thousand in each, had been less friendly to retrench.,
ment than, those who were returned front places were the
voters in each were not fewer than ten thou and. The
Act of Settlement had been framed to exclude those holding
places of profit under the Crown from sitting in Parliament.
But at present there were in the. House of Commons 89 mem.:
bets holding places, the profits of which amounted annually to
179,3144 He would not speak of those Members d who derive.
emoluments from being in the Army, but he must not omit to
state that the money *hared by the relations of those who were
in the House of Common, had been calculated to amount to
not leas than 1,000,0001. If those headdressed were " made of
penetrable muff," he thought these facto would produce an im.
prmsion which must last beyond that day. If such ware net
the case, he knew not what would move them, and should
judge that they would continue insensible to the merits of
the case, even though one should rise from the dead. Be
would now (as Mr. Canning had done him the honour to
mention him in his celebrated oration at Liverpool), with the
permission of the meeting, offer a few words in reply. From Mr.
Canning he had always differed in politics, but there were few
to whose speeches he. had been acettstoined to listen with more
admiration and delight, He considered that Right Honoura-
ble Gentleman to be. possessed of talent, wit, eloquence,
and learning, and was only sorry that powers like those which
he might claim were not exerted in a better cause. Prom as
MAR so /iiited, commendation was always acceptable, and lie
wished r. Canning to believe that he was not ineensitile to
the very flattering mention which hail been made of him. He
hoped that nothing . which he might now say would be viewed
as proceeding from personal hostility. Such was not the
case with respect to Mr. Canning or any other person whom
he had ever known. Mr. Canning had said, in opposition
to the Friends a Reforiz, that the Government of England
was a limited Monarchy, and considered that an independent
House of Commons would be incompatible with the existence
of such a Government. He (Mr. Fawkes) would say, the Go-
vernment of England was not exactly a limited Monarchy, but
a Government consisting of 'three ;states, namely, a limited
Monarchy, a limited Aristocracy, and a limited Demneracy.
He was at a loss to know why, in a Government (=stating of
Three a:elates,' it was necessary filet one of the three should
be corrupt. If this argument were good, and if Peers eug•ht
to be allowed to noinunne Members of the Lower Range, he
did not see why, on the same principle, a hundred Cnmmoners
might not be introduced info the House cif Lords, or why an
associate neight not be provided for the King himself, on the
gtr ,and that power lodged in the hand, of tiny one of the three
Latates might be dangerous if the interference of 'another
were not secured. Mr. Canning had contended that the iafhi.
ence es the clown, as now exercised in the House of Com-
ne.ns, was necessary. To contend (or this was to contend for
tyranny in disguise. It might not be injurious in a particular

.. I.

PRICE SEVE:NPEINCIL

reign, but this was not to be calculated' upon. It had been
said of -Augustus diet he ought never to have lived, or diet
he ought never to have died; and he vsoultl ask if that
which had occurred in the time of Tiberius, of Caligula" tutti
of Nero, had not more than outweighed all the benefits en-
joyed under the away of Augustus. -Mr. La' unintes sup.
position was, that It would be an act of. glaring to justice
to the proprietors of boroughs now to ,disfrattelinte than—.
Before he admitted that such property ought to he respeeted,
he must desire to see the law by which one iedividual wee
to poems as much power as the people in Yorkshire, is
Westatinster, or other places had altogi.her. If the „safetyof the country were to be sacrificed .to vested rights, *het
were they to think of the depoeition of Jannta the Second?
he no vetted rights to be respected ? • That Menatchs however,
was expelled, and without compensation was. sent Away to begah-
-0 ! St. Helene ! (Mr. Fawkes exclaimed)ewith all thynaturitl
and added horrors, what a bed of roses were thou to thy late
inhabitant, .compared with that exile to which the unhappy
James was doomed! Mr. Canning hail 'Aim spoken of t.,..,
danger which must attend such changes as the Ileformere hed
contemplated. But it was well know,} to thetn all, that
changes of inech greater importance than the extinetion of a
e
nfeant'io. rotten borough;
ic
s hstlbcee,n effected' without injury to the
should they hay to tea •Inefer.
niation and thei fo
Itevolution, and to the two Unioni whieh
had taken place (orea-in our ,tenne time), by whia, ir. ettch
ease, au independent Parliaraent bad been done away with
altogether, it But Mr. Canning had no.oNection to. see .4timees
barn, Crteklade, and firampound, disfranohieed. Whsn they
were proved to have abused their privilege. Ile wits will.
ing to sacrifice (Untropound and Old Sarum, but his'conditct
in that was merely throwing a tub to die whale. lir. Cantiihg
would not consent to a general reform in the House of Com-
mons. He said—" You had once a popular Donee Of Com.
mons, and what did it effect ? Why it overturned the Con-
stitution, and decapitated the King." But their was one thing
he had forgot to mention, which would malts the argument
of the Right Honourable Gentlemau little at. a fetiches, end
give just weight to that of his o_pponeute ; end this was the
desermtion of men by whom that Parliament was conkteed.—
He had referred to the Resolution of the dih of January, 1648,
by which the House of Lords had been tleclared useless and
the authority of law given to the votes of tht House of i.'ont-
mons. But it ought to bo remembered, inet in January, 1643,
fifty Members of the House of Commons had been expelled
for deserting their duty. On the 29th June, 1644, 200 Mem-
bers were expelled for fathering to the (king; 143 Members
were secluded or imprisoned in 1648, under the Act; called
" Pride's Purge ;" and it was•those who remained, 80 in num-
ber, who arrogated to themselves the right of governing the
country, that the resolutions read by Mr. Canning, had been
passed, and of these 81 persona, it was worthy of remark, fiat
no fewer than 67 were rotten borough Members. Ile did-not
know that it was impossible for a shinier scene to be acted now.
lie could not forget the decision which hall been come te en the
India Bill, in opposition to the King, told the wiehes of a large
portion of the people. If the King were to co.operete with
such a body, what evils might not follow. Ile knew of nothing
that could effectually protect the country against these but the
measure which he now came forward to recommend. He was
afraid he had detained them too long;.---(.to, no !)--lle heti
done all in his power to oppose that system, against which he
now called on that Meeting to raise its powerful voice. Ile
invited them to get rid not merely of the men who had deluded.
them, by telling them that the sun of their prosperity was in-
deed clouded, but that it would soon burst forth again with all
its former splendour, while they had found the nlttotre continue
to increase around them.. Ile hoped a change of system winthi
be adopted which would remove those of whom he had spoken,
which would
" Scatter plenty o'er a smiling land,"
by confiding the direction of their affairs to those who. wtntld
only seek to read their history in the joyful eyes of a gretefal
and an admiring nation. When James the Second was about
leaving France to attempt to regain his lost kingdom, the
French King, Louis had the best thing he could
wish him was, that Ile might never, see him agaiu. lie would
say now, that the beat thing ice could wish that Meeting was,
that he might never see them again on such an ocralion as the
present, and he therefore assured them that witching the prayer
of their Petition might be grtuited, he should be rejoiced if on
this subject he should never have an opportunity of addreeeire
them again.
He then read the following Resolutions for the adoption of
the Meeting s--
" Resolved, 1. That the Constitution of this Country is a
Government consisting of Three Independent states, a Legetee
,Monarchy, a Limited Aristocracy, and a Limited Democesicy.
That each has its dietinct and peculiar functions end privileges,
and that one of these estates cannot unduly influence the func-
tions of either of the others, without disturbing that balance
which is essential to secure and perpetunto the various Wean.
tages white] may be derived to the people from a tlovernmeet
so eonatituted.
" 2. That the House of Commons, as at present eompesed,
does not express the national will ; nn the contratv, it has too
generally proved its readins to compl with tsc dietateedef
whetsoever Alteister rutty hesave dispensey d the favours of the
Crown.
Co4:n;tl;itiTnahalitavtiele beets tt3hoefivtahleati,l73aeintdv state
protli tpitlfteth cexlpeit)tititrinerl of the public money, and the unprincipled
..erection aed con.
tinuance ofuseless places and ueurierneti pensone, iir
hence of the loud and general expresaion of the public feeling.
" 4. That the heavy preseure or load of nines imponed, for
the purpose of supporting an extrevagant Civil Lien and of
maintaining a ruinously large Military and Colonial itstannees
ment, is totally incompatible with a state of profound peace.
and acknowledged security.
" 5. That the only measure which can remedy these evils,
and preserve the country froth the dangers that may be ;Miele
pitted from a continuance of them, is a speedy and effectual
Refortn in the Commons House of Parliament.
" 6. That a. Petition, founded on the above Rnsolutions, he
prepared and presented to the )louse of Commune."
The Hon. r.. PETRE seconded the motion, and confessed
himself a recent convert to this measure. He hail heretofore
conscientiously fought under different banners from dose un
der which he was now enlisted, but when he saw the present
state of, this country, anti considered the principles on which
the Sovereigns of Europe had recently acted, he felt that some
change of system was necessary, and in his opinion the only
remedy for the evils now complained of, and the onlyesafe-
guard against their recurrence was to be found in Perlienien-
tary_Reform.
• Mr. S. WORTLEY felt duct he should :nand in need of s
great deal of indulgenee from the Meeting, as he had to ex-
press sentiments entirely diffnient from those of his two, li,.n.
Friends who preceded him.--1 Here the disapprobation was $e
loud that the Ilon. Gentleman could not be heert!.
Mr. W. FAWKES begged as ft partkidar theoar to hint that
tho Meeting would act the part of candid Englishmen, lint do
their duty as Electors of a great County, by payieg every et-
tendon to his Bon. Friend (Mr. S. Woitley).
Mr. S. WORTLEY repeated it, he should stand in need of
much indulgence, as his opinions on politics were adverse tel
those of many of the persons he addressed, and ilixtvi4lly on
this subject. He, however, had a duty to perfont amine hr
never entertained an opinion which, at a proper time, he whs
not ready to support, it they would favour him with their at-
tention, he would point out what he thought the fataeY of
those argument* which had been addressed to-diem. He
it would not be thought ill In him to say this, and he wished- -
not to irritate them, when he said they, as it appeerest to him,
took a wrong view of this matter altogether, and were in a
situation which exposed them to be duped.—(Disapprobation.)
—He begged again to assure them that he lucent not to etletel.
but he must speak boldly, if he spoke at all. his lion. Friend
-who opened this business hail put the hagtlteellt as fettle' es lie
had ever heard any argument put in his life. Ile would admit
that if innovations had been made on the Constitution to bring
it to its present state, that that they had Algitr gtoulad on
which they ought to petition Parliament to Wform
But he denied the premises of his Honourable. Friend,. and
would shew them that he had taken a wrong view of the Cone
stitution, and that fur the last four hunched years the influence
of the Aristocracy and of the Crown in the Hemet of Voni.
mons hail been the soiree as they wexe at this tiny.--{Hisses.)
He old they that the present state of rite Houle of Commune
proved no usurpation en the part of the Aristoseacy, or.on the
part of the Crown; anti be would appeal to them if tho court.
try, governed as it had been, had not reason tr. (tie grateful -for
many blender. Whatever the Conetituden of Parliament might
have been onginally, front the time of Henry VIII. sold ()Amen
Elizabeth, forward the influence of the etrietecracy and °fettle
Crown, had always beets felt in the }louse tit Commons. Meny _
of the Boroughs which were new under the influence of the
A equally *0 then. It wets said in the celehrated
ptritisireeThel:elv
ntowwhich his Hon. Friend had referted, thet an act of

easarpation had been committed as,,i the !art of tbe ATlStOettey
in c9asequence of the Borougbs in question having, fallen to
r decay. kle could wish to knew at whatperioti Old SaruM was
any thing better than it was now ? The night Hon. Gentle-
.man to whom allusion had been made, who bad mentioned his
(lend near bim, but mentioned him with honour on a late occa-
sion, had proved when Lord .J. Russell brought forward his
motion on the subject of a Reform fte Parliament, that in .the
Mit century the Earl of Essex not only nominated two Mem-
bers for the borough of Stafford, but wrote to the Sheriff to
nominate Members for every borough in the County. It Was
the same in the lairougii of Maiden ; and for some centuries
tack, he found in various other instances the Constitution had
teen the sane in these respects as it was at this day. There
was a 13(1'01110 in the Isle of Wight. called Newton, nd he
found that in the first year of Queen Elizabeth, a Member of
Parliament had been nominated for it by the Stewart of
the Lord of the Barony of :Newton. The influence which
was now exercised was not greater than had been common lit

that time.
Were the cries of disapprobation again drowned the voice of
the Speaker.]
• The it lOU Suram called oh the Meeting to give the Bon.

'Gentleman a hearing.
Mr. S. Won Toter challenged his Hon. Friend to prove that
-the Constitution of the country, with respect to the influences
of the Aristrocracy, was different now from what it had been
during the last 100 years. Such being the case, he would as if
a number of important blessings had not grown out of the ac-
tual system ? Ile 'yielded to none in adnuration of the wisdom,
moderation, and patience of those who brought about the Re.
volution oflollB ; but that Revolution, he contended, would
never have been effected in a Reformed Parliament, as that
great work was completed against the general feelings of the
-people. He did not mean to say that the Representatives of
the people ought not generally to speak the sentiments of
their Constituents, but this he contended was done on almost
all great occasions in the House of Commons as at present
• coustituted. The two great occasions whieh" had loaded
us with debt were, the American war, and the late war with
France. Both these, he maintained, had been exceedingly
popular in their commencement: Of this lie gave several
Do fs , and among others referred to a speech made by Mr.
Burke at Bristol, and to his subsequently•looting
.his elec-
tion at that place through having opposed the American Wit:
He admitted that it subsequently became unpopular, and would
have terminated sooner than it did had the wishes,of the people
been completely consulted. He thought the American war.
unwise, but when once entered upon none could judge so Well
as those engaged in the management'of it, when it could be
advantageously or safely'terminated. In Parliament he had
• expressed himself anxiously opposed to any thing that might
unnenesearily plunge the country in a new war for foreign ob.
ieeta, and would pledge himself to continue to do so. He ea-
pressed strong abhorrence of the principles recently avowed and
acted upon by the Continental Sovereigns. 'lle chewed that
the late war with France bad been called fur by the people.—
The House of Commons then ought not to bear all the blame
far imposing those burdens of which the country now com-
plained. fled as the present systerii was said to be, he appealed
to the Meeting, if the country had not risen under it to great.
nest and glory, and if England had not been resounded through
ell other nations as the nurse and cradle of liberty. The House
of Commons afforded an arena in which all political questions
might be contested, and in which all matters of importance were
debated with the most distinguished ability. Some persons
who called for Reform openly declared themselves friendly to
the adoption of measures which he would resist to the last hohr
ofhis life, and to the last drop of his blood. The measures he
;alluded to he would stamp, if he could with the opprobrium of
public disgrace, as they called for nothing less than a national
bankruptcy, and a breach of faith with the public creditor.—
This he held to be in violation of common honesty—
Here the Hon. Gentleman was again overpowered by the op.
poeition he met with.
Lord zi,T no entreated the meeting to hear his Honour-
able Friend and Colleague.
Mr. S. Wasp t.z ir repeated some of his former arguments.
—He could not vote for resolutions calling for a general Re-
form, but offering no specific plan. At the Same tame lie was
far from saving the law with respect to the elections ought not
tae intprovid. On account of a few defects that might exist,
which he wished to be altered, he could not complain .of the
House of Commons as at present constituted. he influence
`cf the Crown he chewed to• have considerably diMinished, by
eating off its direct.revenues, as well as by the increased cir-
culation end importance of newspapers. That which was most
e,omplained of had been familiar to the Constitution through the
btu 4to Yeats. klia former opinions on the subject were not
ithelten, by any thing he had heard. He concluded, thanking
the tweeting for the attention with,which, notwithstanding some
ettatial interrupt;nns, he had been honoured.
Lord MI ter on had implored the meeting to attend to his Hon
Friend who had just apoken, as they had done to those who.
bad preceded him, because the object of the meeting was to
Ket t tin truth, which could only be obtained by hearing the
argumenta on both sides of the question. Hee for thie reason,
thought they bad done right to give the Honourable Gentle.
mon a hettetnin He (Lord Milton) had, for a long period,
concurred with his Hon. Friend in oppoaing Parliamentary
Refonn.. If there was any value in consistency, it was now
his duty to state what had induced him to change his'opinion.
He had been led to suspect, that the sentiments which he once
peiterteined, were erroneous. Ile consulted those nearest to
hint On this inhject, but his constituents were the last to
Whom he thought it his duty to state the doubts which had oc-
etirred to him, and he had therefore, when last elected, gieren
rift pledge on this Subject, as it' he made himself subserVient
• to tai in it might be thought he would be subservient to others.
He would now tell them that his conduct had been much in-
tuenced by the, proceedings of the Government in 1817, when
the people had been excited to outrage by spies, to furnish a
pretext for depriving than of their liberties. The imposition
of Lew taxes to the amount of 3,000,0001., whenahe whole
cm:try rang with calls for retrenchment, had strengthened his
tattaPiolow.that the system was not what it ought to be. It
wee further strengthened by the proceedings of the metnorable
ltti:f; August in that year. The celebrated Six Acts con.
atirmcd the opinion he Itad thus been led to adopt, as those Acts
• went, in his judgment, to take away some of the most mate.
rial pare) of the Constitution ; and the manner in which the
case of the Queen was treated, when Mr. John Smith brought
forward a motion for restoring her late Majesty's name to
the Liturgy, convinced him that the people were not pro-
perly. represented in that House. Ile read Mr. Burke's
deecriptton of what. a House of Commons ought to be, and ap-
pealed to -the Meeting if, in various instances to which he
referred, the conduct of the existing House of Commons an.
Ofertal to such deacription ? He felt that it did not, and there.
• fore he considered the present to be a monstrous and unnatural
:hoe of things. With this feeling, why ought he not to state
that conviction which had come over his mind, and own that
-prejudices which be had once cherished were no more. lie
aieemed it his duty t 3 come forward as he had done—(Applause)
—and he was persuaded that without waiting for the plan which
it; I'f en. Friend desired to see produced, they ought to endeavour
o impress on the House their feeling that the 'latent was defec-
tive. It hail been said-Vette Right Hon Gentlenan that the
influence of the Crown was necessary in the House of Commons
to counteract the voice of the people. When lie heard this
etated, and by the brother ,of Lord Grantham, lie thought it
high time to leek about him, to see in what respeet such coon.
remotion could be necessary. Then his Hon. Friend spoke of
the infhiencc of the press en aontrouling that of the Crown.—
Vrty there wore two tides with the press. lie would ask the
:fleeting if bad ever heard of a Paper called efoitti Bell.
Isugli.)—Why should it not be assumed that the
iniiu-
ence ttf the prim was as great on one side as it was said to be
on the other, 'Having exisialted the circumstances which had
induced him to join the friends of Parliamentary Refomi, and
reolasked on some of the statements of his Hon. Friend, he'
not detain them longer. • His Hon. Friend referred to
ienen when, tint. Sheriff of .Staffordshire was written to by-the
Patron of the Borough to nOlYiitiat4 Members t. serve in Pare
lisMett, he (Mr.-Stuart ‘Vortley) ought to have, proved that
the reign of Queen rlizebeth was one of 'great-liberty to make
good bia argument.
,Jt was doubtless one of greet external
',tory, but it certainly was not distinguished for civil liberty.
he cautioned them against violence, as tumult and anarchy in-
variably ended in tyeanny, this had been in the case of the
Long Parliame.nts, succeeded as it had been by the dorninite
tion of the Army, and the tyranny of Cromwell. It had been
alto seen in our own times in a neighbouring country, and they
might depend upon it that sitniliw disorders would always pro-
duce the same results. He therefore exhorted theta to ,temper
their ardour with moderation. This he particularly retool.
mended : but at the same time he wished them to mime the
object in view, as he would do, with persevering resolution, and
unceasing
Mr. Wvvinr. contended that if, as the lion. Gentleman
(Mr. A. Wortley) had told them, the BorougYaysteen had Ml-
tinued through four centuries, that wax no reason for uphold-
int; it still. Ho denied that Parliament, as at present cons&
uned, spoke the sense of the people. This he thought had
Won proved by the Noble Lord. The American war he con-
sidered to have been produced by taxation without representa-
tion, and he did not Ficanate to say that the war against France
in 1792 was merely undertaken to prevent the accomplishment
of Parliamentary Reform.
Mr. Br VEittair supported the Reaolutions, and commented
with some severity on the arguments which had been applied to
them. The Hen. Gentleman had said the Revolution would
never have been brought about had a reformed Parliament than
exieted. But be would ask if -the Parliament had been re-
fowled'? Coots those abuses which made the Revolution ne.
cetetry ever have been known ? Ile insisted, that if the war
With France-hati• been popular at its commencement, it would
lover. intro beat 0011,tintlell as it was, if the people had been

fairlyteprefientea, as they would sooner have preferred a little 1
par:oniony and a little safety to all the chatter which they had
heard about glory. The Hon. Member had spoken of the in-
crease of Newspapers, as counteracting the influence of the
Crown. 'the Pekin Gazette was published every, ti .y; for the,
edification of the 1itti1,(105,906 of Chinese subjects, but coald.
a more rascally and vilianDtis system of tyranny exist than
was established in China. It was said that all subjects were
discussed in the Mourn Cornroo/18 with elstpience not to be
surpassed ; but be knew of nothing very• extraottlinary in
that way, and the best eloquence heard there, was but as a
farthing candle to the -sun, compared with that of Ci,..cro
anti Demosthenes. If grievances 'were with
it was seen, as
in the Manchester case, mat redress was not easily obtained
in the Courts of law, and when a petition.-was presented to
the house of Commons, if the language were strong, it was
rejected as scandalous and ieditions, with a loud cry of—
" Hears hear, hear !"—lie knew of no remedy. fur the evils
complained of, but that which would be found in a thorough
anti Radical Reform.
Mr. WoosEn./alled on the Meeting to come to an unani-
mous decision in favour of Parliamentary Reform.. The lion.
Gentleman (Mr. S. Wortley) had declared that he would oppose
the opinion which had been pro.-oulgisted by- some who called
for R.eform to the last moment of his life, and to the last drop
of his blood. He hoped the Hon. Oentlemati himself would
regret having used these words, as it should seem be contetn-
plates the use of force and bloodshed to oppose the progress of
opinions; and thus countenanced that violence himself which
be was net slow to condemn in others. The Honourable Gen-
tleman had defended the abuses of which that Meeting com-
plained, because they had existed through the last four bun.
tired years. If a Bill were brought into P.-.rlitontiit to' pro-
hibit murders and robberies on certain highways, the Ho.
nourable (lentleinan might with equal reason contend that
such a measure ought not to pass, as niorders and rob.
belies had been committed on those spots four centuries ago.—
He proceeded at considerable length to animadvert on the
other arguments of the Honourable Gentleman, and strongly
supported the. resolutions. They were not exactly couched in
the terms which he would have preferred, but they embodied
all for which he thought it necessary to contend, though he
could have wished to call for the deeired Reform in stronger
language. The real traitors to the State, he maintained., were
those- who had involved both King anti People in one common-
chain to support the interests Of die existing Oligarchy. lie
asserted the right of the people to be free; and to those who
maintained a different opinion he would.ever give this answer,
" When you can chew me. a man on whose brow God has
stamped the name of slave, I will own it reasonable that that
man should be so considered but till then I will not allow any
Boroughmonger to place his tioven foot on the head of a free-
man and call him slave." , 7 •
, Mr. S. 'Won't LEY in explanation said, he had declared he
would oppose to the last hour of his life, and with the last drop
of his blood, not opinions, but measures which went to pro-
duce a national bankruptcy, and to defraud the public creditor.
Such measures, he repeated it, he ever would oppose, while lie
was capable of resistance.
The Resolutions were then severally put and carried almost
unanimously, not more than five or six hands being held up
against them.
Sir FrtAxcis Lis LEY Woon read a Petition foundedon the
Resolutions. He bad one observation to snake on what had
fallen from his Hon. Friend Mr- S. Wortley (from whom he
had never differed but in politics), in contending that the House
of Commons ought to be suffered to remain corrupt because it
had long been so, lie by proving too much had proved nothing.—
He briefly enforced the right of the People to a Parliamen-
tary Reform, and was convinced that if • they persevered
their efforts must -eventually be crowned with success. A
quotation from Mr. Burke had been made; lie would give an-
other from that most eloquent of men, which he thought apli-
cable to the present occasion. Mr. Burke had said, " the will
of the people of England, if not opposed to the eternal laws
of reason and justice, which are above us anti about them,
ought to be a law to the Houseof Commons.'-'• Lie only wished
the will of the people to be a law to the House of Commons,
when, as in the present instance, it was conformable to justice
and reason. The British Constitution was not to he regarded
as a picture which must he )sung tip to receive its finishing
.touch from the mellowing hand of time • but rather as an edifice
u-Inch ought occasionally to be improved and repaired for the
benefit and accommodation of those to whom it belonged.
Mr. G. ST RI C KLAND seconded the Petition, and advocated,
at some length, the cause of Reform.
Mr..BAY NES spoke from the Yard in praise of the indepen-
dent conduct of both their Representatives of the County that
day. He was interrupted by calls from the crowd that he
should ascend the hustings. Having done so, he repeated his
eulogium on the Members, -but remarked, from the situation in
which he had stood, he saw but one hand held up against the
general feeling of the meeting, and that, unfortunately forthem,„
was the hand of one of their Representatives. The County of
York had been invited to attend there, and as that ' lion.
Gentleman had found himself thus unsupported, he hoped the
circumstance would set him thinking,' and trusted that they
should. soon have to boast of two Members converted to the
cause of Reform. lie sincerely desired to see it supported by
the noble-minded man who had that day sustained with such
! calmness the batterings ,of public indignation. Theie was no
want of Tories in York, but if it should be asked .where the
spirit of Toryism had been on the occasion of this meeting, the
answer must of necessity be, non est inventus: lieltoped those
he addressed would persevere, and if they did so, the day of
Reform was not far distant.
The question on the Petition was then put, and carried una-
nimously.
Mr. ()Hot MRLY moved the appointment of &Committee to
superintend the signing of the Petition ; itio Committee to
consist of :he first 72 Gentlemen who signed the Requisition,
with power to add to their numbers, -to form Sub-Commit-
tees, &c.
Lord MILTON moved, that the thanks of the Meeting should
be given to the High Sheriff. .
Mr. S. WORTLEY seconded the motion.
The motion being carried, the lIIFIf SHERIFF returned
thanks for the honour he had received, and dissolved the
Meeting. •

OLD BAILEY, JAN.

SENTENCES.

The whole of the trials having been gone
through, the CORDER proceeded this morning to pass sen-
tence on. the prisoners convicted during the Session.
The following . twelve unfortunate individuals received sen-
tence of Death, viz :
John Buckley, George Marshall, Thomas Beswiek, James
Tlionibs, and John Robinson, for burglary.--Williatri Pearce,
Neil Moran, Ann Williams, Mary Tickton, James Cross,
Hannah Ford, and Elizabeth Ford, for stealing in a dwelling-
house.

The RECORDER, previously to passing the awittl sentence
of death on these unhappy convicts addressed them in a very'
impressive manner, during which the wretched females and the
lad Buckley wept bitterly.
To be Transported for Life.—lienry Wheatley and William
Smith.
___

For Fourteen &Watt and. William Bar.
nard Colin.

Years.—John Reed, John Connor., -John Barnes,
George Seabrook, George Clay, John Smith, Thomas Moore,
William Turlock, Mary Meredith, James Kemp, Richard'
Humphreys, John Battle Maria Rix, Thomas Neviman,
Martha Eales, Henry Smith, Thomas NVestent. Mark Noble,
Martha; Williams, Elizabeth Price, Robert Beddoes, WilliaM
Haines, James Cooper, Sarah Freeman, William Brown, John
Siberi, 0. ' Lloyd, George Brown, William Adams, George
Bartley, and two others.
Jeremiah Harragan was sentenced to two years imprison-
'trent in the House of Correction, and the REconnEß intnnated
to the prisoner, who is a very old offender, that if, after that
time, he was again convicted of felony, -he would receive sen-
tence, of death without benefit of clergy. '
The following were sentenced to imprisonment and hard
labour in the House of Correction for one year :
Thomas Allen, Abraham Veil, William Jones. (and to be
publicly whipped); 'William Jones, alias oibletto, Jane Moore,
Timothy White, and Dennis , Haines. • ••--
William Adams was also adjudged to one year, but was im.
madiately recalled by the ktECORDER, who observed, that in
consequence of the enquiries which had been made respecting
his character, the Court ordered him to pay a fine of one shl.
ling, and then to be discharged.
Seven were ordered to be imprisoned for six months, end se-
veral others to lesser terms of confinement. A number were
directed to be publicly and privately whipped, and the judg-
ment on others was respited.
The Court then adjourned, by proclamation, to Wednesday,
the 19th Febrinery.

STATE OF THE THERMOMETER.—On Wed riPS.
day, at eight o clock, 25 deg. ; at one, 26 deg. ; at eleven at
night, 22 deg. ; yesterday morning, at eight, 22 deg. ; at one,
24 deg. •

A-Baronet, who must be nameless, proposed to
visit Rome, and previously to learn the language ;
hut by some strange mistake or imposition, en•
gaged a German, who taught only his own lan-
guage, and proceeded in the study of it vigoronsly
for three months before lie discovered his error.
—(Brighton Gazette.)