The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-24 00:00:00

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MONUMENT TO THE SCOTTISH i form with which these men identified themselves
POLITICAL MARTYRS. triumphz,nt. It is not the names or the individuals
that we advocate and admire, but it is those prin- !
(From the Caledonian Mercury of Thursday.)
ciples :For which they suffered—and it is for the
A site for a monument to Thomas Muir, Thomas maintenance of those principles—it is in the cause
F. Palmer, William Skirving, Joseph Gerrald, and of liberty, that lam anxious to lay the foundation of
Maurice Margarot, who in 1793-94 suffered banish- this monument.—(Cheers.)
ment on a charge of "sedition," having, after much Mr. Hu.mn then deposited in a.cvity prepared, for
difficulty, been obtained in the Old Calton Burying-
the occasion, ablassjacontaanmaimilcdo,splAesimotthe
anack
n e w
spa p e rso
of
the day—Oliver
ground, yesterday was appointed for formally laying _ Tait's Magazine, containing a report of the trial of
the foundation of the obelisk, to be erected as a tri- 1 the martyrs—a list of the Scotch subscribers to the

monument, and a few coins of the present reign.
The covering stone having been deposited, Mr.
HUNIE said—Gentlemen, as there is no clergyman
present, you will perhaps allow me to officiate, and in
doing so, I shall read the following remarkable prayer
of Mr. Gerald, which he offered up by permission of
the sheriff at the last meeting of the British Con-
vention in Edinburgh.—(Here Mr. Hume read the
prayer, the company uncovering.)
Mr. HUME expressed his great satisfaction at
having, after the lapse of fifty years, the pleasure of
seeing a monument about to be raised, which he
hoped, together with the one to be erected in London,
would prove a beacon to warn the statesmen of the
day against persecution, and encourage men to sup-
port the cause of liberty.
Three hearty cheers were then given, and the com-
pany left the ground.
MEETING ON THE CALTON-HILL.
As comparatively few could be accommodated
within the burying-ground, it was resolved that a
meeting should be got up on the Calton-hill, to hear
addresses on the subject of the martyrs, and to enforce
the principles for which they suffered. At least 3,000
persons were congregated on the hill ; a platform was
erected at the eastern wall of the Observatory, for the
Chairman and those who were along with him.
Councillor STOTT having been called to the chair,
said that, as Scotchmen, they must regard this occa-
sion with mingled feelings of solemnity and of joy.
Could they look back on the sufferings of the honoured
men who had stood forward for the defence of the
rights of the people, and to whose memory they were
that day met to do honour, without feelings bordering
on sorrow ? And when they reflected on the manly
way in which they had conducted themselves under
their heavy trials, and, more especially, on the pro-
gress of the principles and opinions for which
they had been called to suffer, the meeting had rea-
son to rejoice. In meeting to honour the memory of
these men, they only acknowledged the debt of grati-
tude under which Scotland lay to them—(Cheers)—a
debt they never could repay. They might erect
a monument to their memory—monuments were the
order of the day—but he was sure that if these men
were now present, and could give them advice, that
advice would be to take up the work for which they
suffered—(Cheers)—and thus raise the noblest monu-
ment to their memory, and pay the highest tribute of
admiration to the principles for which they struggled.
—(Cheers.) Let them all then devote themselves
more decided to the promotion of the great cause of
liberty, and never rest satisfied till they had made the
representation of the people in Parliament full, fair,
and free.—(Cheers.)
Rev. P. BREWSTER, of Paisley, on rising to address
the meeting, was received with loud cheers. He said
he had come to this meeting to show his regard for
the incorruptible patriots who had laid the foundations
of liberty of opinion and free discussion. He con-
trasted the present time, when men had full liberty to
give expression to their sentiments in all political
questions, with the despotism and terror which per-
vaded men's minds at the end of last century, when
the people were cowards and afraid to utter the senti-
ments of their hearts against the tyrants and oppressors
of their country. If ever a lesson had been taught
the people of this country by these trials it was this
—that slavery was the curse of God upon cowardice.
The Government which depended on an aristocracy
never could stand. The history of this country
abundantly proved that the nobility al ways
looked to their personal interests in preference to
those of the nation. They had deserted their coun-
try on all occasions of difficulty and danger—the Go-
vernment which did not rely on the affection and
confidence of the people, and which had not its source
in the popular control, could not be safe or permanent.
Mr. Brewster concluded by inculcating the sentiment
of the chairman, that they should complete the work
begun by the early friends of reform, who had been
punished for their boldness. That work had yet to
be completed, and no monument to the merits of the
martyrs of 1794 would deserve the name which did
not include the realisation of those just and equitable
principles of popular government for which Muir and
his associates had endured-the scorn and obloquy of a
prejudiced age ; and this was only to he done by each
section of reformers waiving their little differences,
and uniting for the great common objects which they
had in view.
The Chairman intimated that several of the rela-
tions of William Skirving, one of the martyrs, were
present on the platform.
After a few admonitory observations by Mr. Dunlop,
of Brockloch, the meeting separated.
THE DINNER.
The Edinburgh Committee of Management, and
the subscribers to the monument, entertained Mr.
Hume to dinner in Gibb's Royal Hotel, Prince's-
street. Sir James Gibson Craig, Bart., of Riccarton,
occupied the chair, supported on the right by the
Honourable Guest, Bailie Gray, Councillor Mac-
farlan, Mr. Philip Leith, Mr. Duncan M'Laren, &c. ;
on the left, by the Right Hon. the Lord Provost, J.
M. Bell, Esq., Advocate, Mr. Andrew Millar, Mr.
Veitch, of Woodside, &c. Mr. Tait, publisher, dis-
chargedr the duties of croupier.
The cloth having been removed, and the customary
loyal toasts given from the chair,
Sir J. G. CRAIG, the Chairman, said, I had many
reasons for wishing to decline the honour of presid-
ing at this meeting ; but although with great re•
luctance, I have been induced to undertake it at
the request of many persons for whom I have a very
high respect, who have assured me that you will
kindly forgive the very imperfect manner in which,
I cannot doubt, I shall conduct myself.—(Hear,
hear.) One inducement to undertake the duty has
been my desire to place before you the grounds on
which many persons subscribed to the monument ;
for great pains have been taken to hold us up as th e
friends of annual parliaments and universal suf-
frage, and that the monument is to be consecrated
to these principles. Now, I think it due to the me-
mory of Lord Holland and to the Duke of
Norfolk, the Duke of Bedford, and many
other subscribers, to say, that we never
entertained them—we have always disclaimed them—
having been convinced that the Constitution could not
survive many months after their adoption.—(Hear.)
No one who was not personally engaged in the occur-
rences which gave rise to the trials of Muir and the
other martyrs, can form the most distant conception
of the state of the country at that fearful crisis. The
French Revolution had convulsed the civilised world,
and had excited the most lively interest throughout
Great Britain. On the one hand, the most enthusiastic
hopes were entertained that it would be productive of
the greatest blessings, and secure the greatest pos-
sible liberty to mankind ; and notwithstanding the
horrors which accompanied that revolution, these hopes
have been in a great degree realised—and on the other
hand, there was the utmost alarm, that it would be
productive of the most dreadful consequences—that it
would overthrow the Constitution, and produce every
misery to which man can be subject. The who le
kingdom was distracted into parties, who acted with
the most determined opposition to each other. Society
was, in a great degree, dissolved—the dearest friend-
ships severed—the nearest relations separated—the
most bitter hostility prevailed, and every one acted
as if those who entertained opposite opinions were
his deadliest enemies.—(Hear.) All that then passed
has now become almost matter of history, and I,
recollecting and calmly reviewing the occurrences of
that eventful period, have in a great degree ceased to
wonder at many of the acts then done, which at the
time we most severely condemned, believing that the
alarms which prevailed had deprived the actors of
them of the power of sober judgment, and that they
were committed under the conviction that they were
struggling for their lives, their liberties, and all that
was dear to them. Thus, that they were led
to act on what was termed by their advocates a
" wholesome vigour beyond the law."—(llear, hear.)
Under the unhappy circumstances I have men-
tioned, the trials of Muir and the other martyrs took
place,. and sentences pronounced upon them. The
injustice of all these sentences is, I believe, univer-
sally acknowledged. But I particularly allude to the
case of Muir ; and I would put into the hands of any
man, be his principles what they may, the report of
this trial, and defy him to point out any crime he had
committed which could justify the punishment in-
flicted on him.—(Hear, hear.) One crime lie com-
mitted against himself. He conducted his own de-
fence instead of availing himself of the splendid ta-
lents of Henry Erskine, who, at the solicitation of
some friends of Muir, cheerfully agreed to be his
counsel. Had he trusted to Mr. Erskine, the sentence
which was passed on him never could have been pro-
nounced. I know, that one at least of the jury, vin-
dicated the verdict, not on the charge made against
him, but on the speech he made in his defence.
For offences, for which, if they had been committed
in England only a few weeks or months' im-
prisonment could have been inflicted, the martyrs,
who had been guilty of no outrage or violence, who
were men in most respectable stations in life, one an
advocate, one a clergyman, and one a favourite pupil
of Dr. Parr, and a friend of the celebrated Sir Wil-
liam Jones, and who were all of irreproachable
pri-
vate character, were sent to the hulks, doomed to
confinement with the greatest miscreants—to pains
and tortures worse than death, and were transported
to Botany Bay. All but one perished miserably in
foreign lands.—(Hear, hear.) The sentence against
Skirving was pronounced within a few days of the
Court of Justiciary sentencing two men found guilty

bute to their memory and sympathy for their fate.
Joseph Hume, Esq., the Member for Montrose, and
the originator of the movement for erecting monre-
ments to the political sufferers of their period, both in
London and in Edinburgh, having agreed to be pre-
sent at the ceremony, every exertion was made by sub-
scribers and others professing liberal opinions to render
the occasion as imposing as possible. The Complete
Suffrage Association, to the number of about four
hundred, assembled in the Meadow-walk at three
o'clock in the afternoon, for the most part dressed in
black clothes, and marched in procession down the
High-street, through Parliament-square, passing the
courts of justice, to the Waterloo Hotel, where they
were met by Mr. Hume, several members of town
council, and many respectable citizens. Among those
present on the ground, we observed, beside the Hon.
Member for Montrose, a son of one of the martyrs,
Mr. Skirving, who, we understand, is a manufacturer
in Kirkaldy, and Mr. William Moffat, who acted as
agent for Mr. Muir at his trial, and in both of whom
the proceedings of yesterday seemed to awake the
most lively interest.
When the company had all assembled,
Mr. HUME addressed them as follows :—Gentle-
men, I am happy at meeting with you here to-day,
ready to perform an act of justice, and of respect to
the memory of those who were the pioneers of the
cause in which we are all engaged.—(Cheers.) I
have been long anxious to see this day, having from
a very early period of my life formed opinions
highly condemnatory of those proceedings which took
place towards the close of last century.—(Cheers.)
I am one of those who, in 1792, 1793, while attend-
ing the University of this city, was witness to the
proceedings which then took place, and though I
have had occasion to be in different parts of the
world, I never failed to recollect the enormities of
that time. It has been a happy—a very happy—
reflection to me, that I have been instrumental
in making amends, in some degree at least, for the
sacrifices those men made. You are all aware how
disgraceful to Scotland those proceedings were—how
the judges demeaned themselves by becoming instru-
ments in the hands of, I will not say the Ministers of
the day, but of' the man who, but a few years before,
professed the same principles which afterwards he
persecuted.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") Many may
not perhaps be aware that the thing for which these
unfortunate individuals were tried was for advocating
the same cause, and contending for the same object
which, in 1782, Mr. Pitt and the Duke of Richmond
supported.—(Hear.) When in 1784 Mr. Pitt suc-
ceeded to office, he immediately became a persecutor
of those very doctrines by the profession of which he
obtained office, and, like many others who desert from
their party, be showed an increased zeal in persecuting
individuals who continued to maintain those prin-
ciples. The French Revolution alarmed those who
held the reins of Government, and they wielded their
power on the principles of despotism. I have said des-
potism, for I consider that wherever the people are not
fully represented, despotism is almost sure to exist.
Whatever privileges the Crown may have, and the
aristocracy, I am ready and willing to concede all
that is due, but still the people have their right and
title to share in the Government. Mr. Pitt and the
Duke of Richmond at one time introduced a Bill
into l'arliament, to obtain universal suffrage and
annual parliaments, and they laboured gloriously to
procure those benefits to the country, but soon after-
wards they deserted those principles and became
zealous persecutors of what they had formerly pro-
fessed. Those men whom we are now met to com-
memorate saw that those who then possessed office
had no right to appropriate the country funds—to
fatten at the public expense—raised the alarm and
brought upon themselves the persecution which we so
deeply deplore.—(Cheers.) It is to the disgrace of
Scotland, that it was through the labour and per-
severance of Mr. Dundas that those persons were con-
demned. Their condemnation was contrary to all law—
a mockery of justice, and sufficient in itself to dis-
grace any country.—(Hear, hear.) I am one of
those who deeply regret and sympathise with the
manner in which the people were then treated, and
the insults which they received, and I cannot but
think that we, who profess to be advocates of reform,
have been very backward in not having, many years
ago, raised a monument to men who have -done so
much for our common cause. We see in our streets
monuments erected to the memory of the persecutors
of those men—to those who had no right, on the part
of the people, to receive that respect. You are per-
fectly aware that great and repeated attempts have
been made to calumniate those men as having been
desirous to promote disturbances in the country—
as having been men whose sole object was to create
dissension and commotion. Nothing can be more
false or inconsistent with their life and character.
They were men of respectable station in life—in
nowise desirous to excite any disturbance or popular
commotion whatever, and therefore we ought to use
every means in our power to confute those calumnies
which have been raised against them.—(Hear, hear.)
I look upon them as individuals sacrificed to the great
cause of reform, and it becomes us as supporters of
reform to erect a monument to those who have led
the way in the path of justice and right, in order that
in after times those who advocate the same cause
may be encouraged, and that those in power may
learn to beware of trampling upon the rights and
privileges of the people.—(Cheers.) I trust this
monument will prove a precursor of that which we all
so ardently desire, for I am confident, as we are
claiming what is right and just, that sooner or later—
it may be in my day and may not—the people of this
land will have a fair and full representation in the
Commons House of Parliament.—(Loud cheers.)
Without that it is impossible that this country
can go on and maintain that position in the
world which its wealth, influence, and character
entitle it to hold, and which we all desire to see it
maintain. Many of you are better acquainted with
the history of the times I have alluded to than I am.
I have myself been an attentive observer in the cause
of reform, and I would just recommend to every.
Reformer to read the history of those times of per-
secution. I find a very concise and correct history
of these men has been published by Mr. Tait, which
I would recommend to all who wish to be informed
of what they suffered in the cause of reform. If
there is anything about which I am more anxious
than another, it is to relieve the characters of these
men from the charges made against them of being
desirous to excite dissension and commotion among
the people, and with that view I shall read one single
paragraph from the speech of M Muir himself t,
the jury, which shows the real motives by which lie
and his compatriots were actuated.—(Mr. Hume here
read extracts from Mr. Muir's speech to the jury,
and to the Court after receiving sentence, in the lat-
ter of which he said—" I have engaged in a good, a
just, and a glorious cause—a cause which, sooner or
later, must and will prevail, and by timely reform,
save this country from destruction.") And (conti-
nued the Hon. Gentleman) so say I—(Hear, hear)
—for it is only time that is required to secure the
reform which we so much require. I entirely con-
cur in the sentiments of Mr. Muir which I have read.
I am sure when it is known to any one that a person
has been sacrificed for the principles which he holds,
the fate of that person will stir him up to sym-
pathise with his misfortune. And in such a spirit
will he regard those five men who were treated
as felons, compelled to work as such, and who,
though every effort was made in the House of Com-
mons, received no redress, but were shipped off to a fo-
reign land to associate with criminals, and to be sub-
jected to the most ignominious punishment. After
spending eighteen months in banishment, an Ameri-
can vessel succeeded in rescuing Mr. Muir from ba-
nishment, but unfortunately, in consequence of hav-
ing touched at Nootka Sound, he was exposed to
great peril and hardships. Mr. Hume here related
some of the particulars connected with Mr. Muir's
arrival at Cadiz, when it was supposed he was killed
in the action with the English frigate in the harbour
at the dine, and also as to his death at Paris, eighteen
months thereafter. He (Mr. Hume) had been
anxious to obtain possession of any papers which Mr.
Muir had left, and had sent a person to the Conti-
nent with that view, but unfortunately none
bad been found. Such was the fate of one of the
victims of Mr. Pitt's apostacy.—(Hear, hear.) Mr.
Palmer was punished on account of an article, written
not by himself, but by another man, and like Mr.
Muir he was subjected to similar atrocious procedure.
The others were all arrested in December 1793. Let
any man read the trials, and he will rise from the
perusal with feelings of the most intense shame that
they should ever have taken place.--(Hear, bear.) I
may state that I appear here in consequence of a
public meeting held in London in February last, in
the Crown and Anchor Tavern, and which was one of
the largest I ever saw in that place. At that meeting
it was resolved to join together the two funds raised
in London and in Edinburgh, for the purpose of
erecting monuments to the martyrs in these two
cities, and in the terms of the other resolutions then
agreed to, I shall, with your permission, proceed to
deposit such documents as have been prepared, and
which, though of no value in themselves, yet,,Zorrn
part of the ceremony observed on such occasions.
Allow me to hope, that we shall live to see that re-