The Sun.
London, England, 1821-05-17 00:00:00

a Noble D-uke in another House, as to the extent
of conspiracies and confederacies throughout the
Country, which were stated to amount to
sip-
wards of 100,000 persons between the river Tyne
and the' Wear. The Noble Duke, when asked
to state where those persons were to be found;
admitted that they were not above ground, but
might be found below ground in the. collieries.—
(A laugh.)—With respect to thP statement of the
Member for Dover, of there being but- few pa--
tients in the hospital, there were many reasons
to suppose
.they were but a small portion of the
wounded. Why, upon the trial at York, there
were 119 who swore to have been injured. •It
was clear enough, by the evidence there adduced,
that the Riot-Act was not read. As to the
transactions of that tragical day, the narra-
tive of Mr. Stanley gave a painful detail.—
An Honourable Member last night (Mr. Wil-
mot) had talked of narrowing the question
instead of which he had extended it,- and had
introduced many expressions of opprobrium that
the people did not merit. He had also spoken
of the exhibition of five caps of liberty. Had he
ever seen an old half-penny--had he ever heard
of the cap of liberty in the ancient pageantry of
the country—of its introduction at the times of
the Coronation of the Kings of England ? But,
perhaps, upon the next occasion it might be re-
jected, because it was a symbol of rebellion, and
therefore unworthy to be acknowledged by the
free Monarch of a free people. He defended his
Hon. Colleague from the blame that had been
cast upon him for not having brought forward his
motion earlier; he hoped, however, he was not
to be punished-for that. In the words of Dryden,
" To die to‘r treason, was a common evil,"
But to be hang!d for nonsense is the devil."
The
,Solicitor General had denied that *the
Government was a 'party to the proceedings at
Manchester. This was not quite fair towards
the Manchester Magistrates. The Learned Gen-
tleman had endeavoured to mix up a great deal
of odium by. pointing out ,certain
One lion. Member sail, losk at Mr. Hunt ; ano,
tlier said; look at Mr. Carlile ; and now the
Learned Gentleman said,
.look at Mr: Pearson.
Mr. Pearson had nothing to do with collecting
or transmitting them an account of the truth or
falsehood of statements. An Hon. Member had
said it was liberty to speak.upon such a subject
in that House. He knew the value of that liberty,-
and' he was resolved to enjoy that privilege as
-long as he could.. For many years every means
had been exerted to put down Reform ; nothing
but military violence was wanting, and that has
at last been given. •
• The Marquis of LONDONDERRY said,. after
the extent to which this discdssion had gone
during two nights, upon a question not new either
to Parliament or to the country, he certainly was
not disposed to occupy much of the time of the
House, yet he was sure Gentlemen would feel,
after the many allusions made to him in the
course of debate, that, independent of tlte. re

sponsible situation he held, he should not stand
justified if he withheld some explanation. In
the first view of the subject, he collected from
the Hon. Baronet, that it was not simply the
Manchester business that was brought under
consideration, but the conduct of the Executive
Government. The Noble Marquis was prepared
to defend the course the Magistrates took in that
transaction, and he expressed a " hope that the
House would allow him to state the course they,
did take." He wished first to recal to the re-
collection of the House what portion the Govern-
ment had in this question. He was bound to
oppose the accuracy of the statement made by
the Hon. Baronet, who had asserted, that the me-
lancholy transactions at Manchester were con-
certed by his Majesty's Ministers. He should. not
shrink from those transactions, yet he could de-
clare that Government was entirely clear of all that
happened, and that none of the cirCunastanceswould
be controuled by his Majesty's Government. It
was not until the transaction was reported and
received in letters from Mr. Hay, that they
had any cognizance of it. Certainly, it was with
pain and feelings of distress that the Government
heard of the blood shed that day.' No honour-
able man could believe—not even the enemies of
Government could be base enough to believe, that
Ministers took measures to shed the blood of his
Majesty's subjects. The lion. Baronet had said
Government'had travelled Out of its course in af-
fording the parties protection; he did not know,
perhaps, that they never presumed to ,try those
serving under them. They left them to ..the,
laws of the country. Satisfaction with respect
to the conduct of the. Magistrates was ex-
pressed, but it was not that blood had been
shed. If the Circular of Lord Sidmouth could
have had the effect of saving them from trial, it
might have occasioned the indignation of the
country ; but it was nothing more than an ex-
pression of approbation, on finding the public had
received that protection which, the law provided.
It was unjust to say, it was a bloody interposition.
With respect to what the Hon. Baronet had said
'of the share he (Lord Londonderry) took in the
transaction, the House would allow him to offer
a fevibbservations. Although he had not the
honour to address the same Parliament before
which he endeavoured to justify himself and
Colleagues in the Manchester transaction, yet
still he was before the Parliament. He Could
state, that the propositions against him were
rejected by the largest majority ever known
within those walls. The numbers were. 381 to
151 votes. Why was. this' painful subject to he
brought forward again ? Why was the Hon. Ba-
ronet silent on the subject during the whole of
1820 ? When the Hpn..Baronet gave notice in
June why did he suffer, it to drop? If his rea-
son for not bringing it forward was, that he wait-
ed for the trial of Mr. Hunt, that was over in the
Spring, Assizes: Why was it that the Hon. Ba-
ronet thought he could now bring it on ? Was it
to revive those feelings, which' happily for the
conntry were dormant ? They were to look at all
the circumstances. There was a great deal of
dissatisfaction among the manufacturing classes,
and the individual who was to preside at Man-
chester in Augtst, had previously presided at
the Meeting in Smithfield, so that the Manches- 1
ter -Meeting wa! to be considered a branch of
that systematic treason 'which led to open.rebel-