The Sun.
London, England, 1805-04-19 00:00:00

COMITON HALL

A Common Hall was held yesterday at Gut. ant
by summons from die LoRD MAYOR, pursuant to a
requisition' from certain Liverymen of the City of
London, to cansider of certain Resolutions relative
to the matter of the Tenth Report of Naval In.
quiry, and to the expenditure of public money i as
else of the. propriety of petitioning Parliament oa
-,
that subject. Soon after one o'clock the Loan
MAYOR ascended the hustings, and the business w as .
opened with the usual forms. The requisition and"
precepts being read,
Mr. WAITHMAN came forward end addressed ~''
himself to the Livery to the following purpott see
He said, that it had been thought highly necessary
by a very considerable number of respenahle Lie
verymen, that a Common Hall should' he assembled
for the purpose of taking into consideration the soh•
je( of this day's discussion, previously to the recce,
decision of the House of Commons ; but he believed
it would be allowed that there was no CAM to
re"
gret the defay, because it had given an opportunity
to the House of Commons to express lied,' ,'
fully their sentiments upon the business, artin.
It Ming
enced otherwise than by a sense of duty,
afford the utmost satisfedion to find that
all',gil.
Representatives 9f the City, on that oreasiontl •
their duty towards the People and their Country.;
it vas, however, not less necessary that the Ott.;
*ens of London should assemble as they hi!,
done, to support their Representatives Odle";
House of Commons; and the more sot le,"Entl
at;uses of an enormous kind still eXiSfelf wasi
were to be investigated, in public cfficele .tbat
not for the sake of punishing an 1001640 W,,
they were met, but to prevent the commissiOn to
miler crimes in others. He deemed it untieesOULtd
the Tenth Report,
enter into a long detail of the charges sgoir3L•u;ad
Melville : he had no doubt the Livery had a.loos
for themselves ;
but he was convinced, that
ba' 10
House of Commons come to a dilfereat &eider!, I
opinion and were qualified io 11 trlo
he 106
of the Public would have been I kw,
We must not (continneti Mr. I.,Vaithatate) '41104,
or what we have dune would epeeist Per oht
Every person found to have violated the law.01;17,
..
to be punished accordingly, Two ni "blue elk
which he was addressing had been ennvi nesv*
committing a loreach of the law, aed wel:g,,e
in Newgate ;. but they were placed •in S,: iglitOf
sive and arduous situation, which was ,11P.`,4 and'
choice, but of compulsion. If they fore n
had been punished, how much Moro
_,";,it.
to puqish Lord Me:ville, under all the 3gge7bsen:
ed circumstances of his ' case ? fiee111,780)110:
found, notwithstanding all his patronee?.o4
benefits conferred upon his family, ire bile •
great crimes. Vas he, who was so detedt.,, 4to '
self, fit to watch over the condud.of °theft P. , ?
a fiso
dent necessity for promoting
see that they did their duty honestly' 10 s .016.
inquiry' I "the pube •
Mr. WAITHMAN asked if there was 1401
of Commons ought to be the guardians ®f
a agr
sentatives,
lic purse : what would be thought of I IWeloteinf
on the, to op . •
who had been for tenor IsienlY isolostO,
of
voting away the public money
of the Ministers, without any ieqoiry int° Ivi do; .
diture ? It shewed, that where the Houle AO'
marts did its duty, it was the bob ifiLdi ili
no party
the Constitution; and the vote which it rtee '
the case of Lord Melville did mote trestr7
the Constitution than all the Bills if ev; irc
money
forlc suspending the Habeas Corpus - 4 oil 0
'AITHMAti declared, that they, Pere $1 010,4
' had pace hi 0
question ; that great patrol -:, the paw.lof
to split and divide their interests, vill"°! /Os
their enemies in future, he advised 1hi1i12,,, it OP
firm and united, not to look at met L'" teteot
(AO° ho
was squandered ; but to ,defeat theto rola
sures, and to rally round the Hon!! wireletilei
and to defend the Constitution. Ile 1;40 CO"'o
Livery of the great influence they had 0000,111
against, and of the small msjetity in ghcec 01 Pi
exhorted them to follow up the advantto/o,hishl°,l
gained. The Resolutions which he hell' 1 elan tv
. . pen ~A
if agreed to, would be followed up 0 -, ~,occorw°
the House of Commons. But before he viten becl,
Hado At
,he had one point snore to urge: suit of the 1
in the habit of reprobating the WO soot loco':
presentative' of,the City, it gave hint so their Vot
atrie in being able to bear testiineng`tiop, So ,
dud in the case of Mr. Whitbreads i'''°. it'
to the ,
resped to Representatives adhering lough( I°llo
lions of their Constituents, he ttiought:_stiotio
.6
the case on all rand and important oe oftil,
questions ; but common matters trig hr rod!"
e then Aft
their discretion. Mr. WereleMA k Wet
a
Resolutions, which we inseri, as l'4l - ' ge
wards carried :
the law, and a stetsontiliftliq
I. Resolved unanimously, '‘That it spry,,that tio ,o, 0,
ports or the Commissioners for Naval !nclujltti lut;00 of
Hon. Henry Dandas, Viscount Melville, 1,00 so 000
His !Majesty's Navy, has been guilty of ae„ entroAl4,o en,';
of the public money have been pot to .14 andal.bremi
of hdelity in men holding
played in aim:lll4lmM for pn yate ciao' Ulll-",,Avatet,,,.. 0 0 tiiii
hign breach virility, whicre,dra by roF),Lit,
I l. Resolved, a"4 That suCh gross ah,...taisi 011 0 eIL,
State, render it peculiarly oc,cssy anu.a:lo„ics 000,00,
possible etteet snout(' be lien, te the te..disepil
010,
nigh and c°l.l°l..filiortant I vil Itgilli
Parliament respecting tne so that "1" $ ;
may follow convided criminality" .IS highlY‘oliga
111. Resolved unanimously, " That 'the.' ~,,,optL coodoill
for the purpose of fully inquiring
,htto t" ; aitti tTalififajo
ment, and expenditure ot the public inoneiv inessegoe ~
at the public offices, and for counPletc4sion(o,Aofit4 II
abuses, that the powers of the said Cohltn__,ioresa%g attA
prolonged and extended, and such other In'uoistiOrostt,ll
of viAl e el '°'
appeia necessary for the detection dlitt; ,
offenders, and for establishing such a Yst_ veartatc ‘ .6
economy as may actually guard agairtSt tng !, . to Of'
flagrant Abuses." . That a petitilo f." ;iii
\ lea be presented to the Hon.
IV. Resolved unanimously, " fcintln ILI r
And tile draft of a Petition being I" i bop
lien
read and approved. oid Pooll, ,
v. Resolved unanimously, " That thenice, 611 010 tlo
gr"sed, aud.lett at the Town (jerk's 0 coot Suodet,
the 'louse 0 .vcoor r ,
the signatures of the Livery, everY.,d,ailVoine4.lY ~ wilt°
twech the hours of ten ant.l tWD, liw• tit•
IP 00
aoli inst." ..,., t tits siii,e lie'.
VI. Resolved unanimously, " i'_..„l3-,.„001 v'' -et
presented to the Hon. House of Colni"` ,010,011
„ • utyi- iiill ~o
wives of this City in Parlialgent.
, That ow; , 0 'irgy PI
Vi J . Resolved UrtabirhoWLY , 1 •00 • ell e
in Parliament be, and they are herebY 11 $$ yerlia uoil '
the said Petition, and to give their 010.001‘14,000?1/01.
sistance in promoting and prosecottnkiptioo o'o4oo
also their strenuous support to such il .001 Jiltift et„ it
May have for their object the reirt9o,_., houotir,,,,o(Pr" ,
Councils, or any place of trust, profit, I), yoipin so!
the Government, all persons who r
est'" virpoiliso,
have connived at,' such flagrant abusethss the $ 00,40,
vitt. ROCA irtti unan,soy, le oo° sioPi•
independent decision of the House o,..fibie to
nefarious traouctions, is highly h0n0...
1

i 1

dh,

iii

11,

~~:

and -grateful to the Country at Luz: while the ',hong and
general impression produced upon thei public milli, otrec-
, tually evinces that the Inglis}, Constitution can never cease
to he the pride and veneration of Britons, Si) long as Utl r Re-
presentatives continue to be the faithful guardians of the
People."
IX. Resolved unanimously, " That we do highly approve
the very able and ind4ati.z ible exertion; of the Coinnii;:tlioners
for Navallnquiry,in the investigation of the Public Accounts,
and tie tirm and inflexible integrity with which they have
exposed the unprincipled perversion of public money to pri-
vate emolument."

• Mr. Gooria Rime, in seconding the Motion,
felt it unnecessary to make many observations.
hisl-ie
felt, however, some gratification •in ex
"flit.e
warmeat approbation of the concind of the
of Commons. He trusted that this event would
l,
have the happiest results, by increasing the c 3 fi
denee oldie People in Parliament, and by insuring the
jolt sod necessary vigilance of the Commons*
W House
e
i over the public expenditure.e should also be
the better able to present a bold and firm front
to
the enemy.
The Resolutions being put,
Mr. WADDINGTON thought that some Allowance
ought to be mode for men who had posses,ed extra-.
• ordinary powers, and that in case of an abuse_ of s
them the punishment should not be vindiffive. He
i wished it to be understood that he did not mean to
'Wend the guilt of any great man. Every one
knew that the guilt way in proportion to the rank
of the cull'tit. But it should be considered what
had been the situation of the unfortunate Nobleman
bride(' his culpability. It was nnt
one nor two in_
divlll"iss he contended, that were guilty. The
teens of guilt, peculation, and criminality, •wa
s
was v exteided. Mr. but ke has, stated, that there
Aia' d"fiCit of twenty millions in the Navy expen-
d"" in 'he American War.—He then read a pas-
g
tie from the specch of the President of the United
ti" 1-its, which announced the repeal
of some inter.
presnon
...4es, ia einseglence of a saving by the sup.
of useless ofilceN, and
maintained, that i
e": thrre had been a libel ( meaning, it erktiPia a
tt"ill' e)
nn the British Spicery, it was this. After,
'verlifi to' the weight of taxes to which this
• n-:tunt'Y is sulajeCted, Mr. W. observed, that human
nature Wil4 capable of resiatance only to a certain
degree of temptation, and asked, whether' the Li.
'llery of London and the People of England had
wine their diity in remaining silent during the t 8
Years in which these peculationa had been gains
rabu'l
an ?`"`
TII
, nigh° the Resolutions should pass unans.
in
evermost respetlable Hall of any he had
their ddr aested, whilst removing the mote from
neighbour's eye, they should not forget the
beam in their own. Wag there nothing wrong in
the City i4.,..4-10 congratulated the Livery, that
-4it"' could never be made slaves whilst they
should have the privilege of assembling in that Hall
3,4 I"ng as ir should be the pleasure of the Lord
swayer to
as an errorgrant them a Hall. /le then instanced,
in the City Accounts, an item of al loan
el 10,0001. from o the Right Hon. John Wilkes to
;te City of London, for which 5001. were paid
,I:"very Year, insisting at the same time, that so far
In having such a sum to lend, John Wilkes had
Mr, a Mita beggar, and died 50,0001. in debt.
. W. concluded by recommending the revision of
1
theCitY Accounts,
she Resolutions were then severally put, and
tinsoimonsly agreed to. After the Resolution for
tnisenting a Petition to Parliament grounded on the
Aesolutions,
,
stun Mt. WAITIMAN introduced a draft of the Peti.
,s by stating, what he conceived to he aggrava-
h4,4l ni the guilt of land Melville. First, that
II etltne had been committed during a period of
unexampled A:n.
e ulroculty, when the very existence of the
,bitted Wag y stake ; next, that it had been coin.
-`itted immediately filet ,the passing of the Bill for
regWating the Office of Treasurer of the Navy in
.1.78511c1 Which he and the Minister had been active,
'et:it Acquired thereby considerable popularity in the
Bead "trY ; and lastly, for having continued at the
kof the Admiralty after the loth Report was
Silted i ,
d rI Cake, nr been reinstated, up to the very
de of the House of Commona ; which decision,
jury had been different, would have done more in_
j,(ll'!' t° the Constitution that, all its secret or avow.
.14 Enemies could in'a number of years. He hoped
;4'ltheir Representatives had done well, they
not begin to be sorry for it, and that they
4tiOttlid take an opportunity of informing their Con-
-I,_
.ue.rits what course they meant to pursue. The
ctltion was then read, and unanimously agreed to,
and order d
till ‘,,, e to be left at the Town Clerle•
- Office
vednesclay next for signatures each day, from
)
ten till tw.
On the
sent at.
e unanimous Vote of Thanks to the Repre.
of the 01 the City for supporting the Resolutions
le Ho c e.
Sir Ny .usen
- 01 k..o:•nr.lons on the Bth inst.
• ‘alicris came forward, amidst loud ap.
Plaeses, and
,t,,, . declared he had never experienced more
th'i_l_Aratification than by receiving the thanks of
" respeefable Meeting. No man valued their
sPproba •
4h_ tion more than he did ; and though many of
htl 'tight not h
, - ..ave agreed with him in souse votes
never°, given, he could assure them, that he had
se hiat'sen any one vote that was not satisfactory
hette conscience. lie agreed perfeiftly, that it was
ei,tis! thisclence. Meeting had been deferred till after the
t-
or__ton of the House of Commons, became their Re.
itt'entatives had gone to the discussiow unfettered.
veal ah„,,, _
Ili their "Y 3 happy when he could vnteaccording
hay. wishes ; but he was convinced he ought to
v, %,..., .
"4 to
allegercise, a free will. He was a decided
1 ern), to
tilt rink culation and fraud ; and the higher
tian n„,,," 'Ace of the individual, the more atten-
-4,.41, --&itt to be paid to his cenduel (traw.
it,i ' If ever he should swerve i tom his public
Yi he
4 beendf tidied upon them to do to him as had
tr . 'lle to Lurd Melville, to disgrace him. He
listed, that as they had - their in-
tele" i. .4
evert, 1/I}lll, they would find him equally su in
Sitinner instance.
I
must,
of "IolII:14 Attnea ts so said, he should, to the ()t-
-ypist,
ea. s Power, accommodate his vote to their
He had ' '
louse
(.4(.4,itty never given a vote in the 1
ilivtr devi
ions' but conscientioualy, and he should
if,,„10 f ate fr:lin that principle. 1-1,,t thanked
w„14141 o 4: this mark of their approbation, which it
merle.
. e ever his pride and constant endeavour to
Ald
his rcuowerman c C4lO R returned his sincere, thanks to
sitd- vitizens fur
l pro}; this rna:l.: of their confidence
s'ation of i
its Parliamentary condo& It

had tier been Lis forturn; to vote 41 unison with
their wb;hei„ It was unnecessary in them to enter
into any consideration of the right of Constituents
to instiuta their Representatives. There had been
a tinie when such a course would have been vain,
when a vote of the Hall would have been unavail.
ing ; it was !.atisfatiory, however, to him, to heAr
his Colleagues speaking in the same tone. He was
opinion that the abuses should be sifted to the bot-
tom, and he would ass'are them, that when the.
guilty should be tletear.d, he would not be the per.
sun not to vote for their punishment.
Sir CHAk LES PRICE felt it highly gratifying to
meet thy: Assembly in such an agreeiWle. manner. It
was a great satisladinn to him to find that his Par-
liamentary conduel had met with their approbation,
which it was his highest a:nbition to obtain. He
hoped he should ever maintain, in the opinion of his
fellow-citizens, the charader of an honest man.—
When returned by their independent voice, he had
declared, and now repeated, that he should always
regulate his conduct, both with respett to men and
measures, with the most scrupulous attention to the
Constitutional Rights of his fcllow.citizens. No
gratification could be higher than he felt on this oc-
casion ; and he pledged himself that his vote in the
House of Commons should never be guided by Mi-
nisterial influence, or governed by motives of pri-
vate interest.

On the Vote of Thanks to the other individuals
of the Livery, Members of Parliament, who sup.
ported the Resolutions,
Alderman PRINCE? addressed the Meeting, for
the first time, in his public character, and felt satin.
faction on the occasion. Though not one of their
immediate Representatives, he should pay as much
attention to their Rights as to those of his own
Constituents. He thanked them for their flattering
approbation ; and should be always happy to receive
their advice, approbation, or even rebuke.
On the Thanks of the Hall being unanimously
voted to the LOkD MAYO*, for his fair and impar.
tial conduet this day,
The Loco MAYOIt expressed his satisfaCtion at
his conduti having met their approbation, which
it had been, and always should be, his endeavour to
merit.

Mr. 1./AV ERS then observed, that the business
of the day would be impelled if they did not
vote their Thanks to Lord St. Vincent ; which he
then proposed ; and the Motion was unanimously
agreed to.
The Resolutions were ordered to be published in
the usual Morning and Evening Papers; after which
the ?toper Office/ dismi,seti the assembly.