The Sun.
London, England, 1819-11-25 00:00:00

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nies;l cenfess that he could not see the
'11""' of those who were content to vote for the
4
I.ess, and at-the salve time to tack to it the
etilendment which had been proposed. The
YeB of the whole country were on the House
Of r,
‘-ornmons that night, and with what just
leielings of ridicule might it not be expected
t4'eY would receive its decisions, were they
go forth in the shape of
,the present Address,
'lilted with such an Amendment. What,indeed,
"I have a more ridiculous appearance, than
tlrlt the very men—those Whigs, who had stood
it,' the same hustings with the Radical leaders,
"K log to them for protection, and trembling
p)r 4 hearing, which they obtained only through
eir interosition, should now pledge theft
t
e.4es in the manner they do in their Address.—
1„lie Hoe. Beronet opposi'e recommends that we
s "'ll(' conciliate with these white-hatted gentry:
Deal kindly with the people," says he, " they
eft'--theyli will listen to your expostela:ions."—
Qt" Caine the Whigs to let slip the golden op-
-4.°ltuoity which offered itself when they met their
tew allies in friendly converse at York ?—(A
iaugh.)—Was it to convince them of their iire-
Ineble error that those great minded persons
:14`eo employed their time ?—No ; they debate
i" on the necessity of an Address to the
rhroue, to convene the Parliament six weeks
errne its present period, at that time having
knowledge that its mt-eting was determined
f°"•—(Cries of " No.")—lf such wee not the
et, it must have been owing to the failure of the
rithlie Newspapers thqt contained that intelli-
4enee iu reaching York in due course. Alholing
to the Manchester business, he said that he was
-Rtstified to find, that during two nighte. debates
on the bi•
t.Ct., no la %!r -oef - yet been fount! who
'
"'I denied that the meeting was illegal. If any
15
t:Vyer, then, were holding, and at the same time
such an opinion, he could only say
jj,l hitt, as he had said of the Whigs at York, that
he heti lost a golden opportunity.—(A latigh.)-
41tIore the meeting of Parliament, it was flatly ex-
trlordieery whet. vaeror. misiutormatlCMS had
et"ne it had heppened to him to receive
:°lon,h or 6 weeks of newspapers up to the pie-
rnt dete, contaiiiing the daily diatribes which
been witted on the subject (hiring that pe-
lb"1; anti never did he peruse such a tissue of ta-
bricathses.—(ile.r!)—The first thine he inet with
43 a hroad assertioe the all the Manchester Ma-
•-orates were Master Menufacturers. it hap-
itned that he had some connexion with that part
the Country, which enabled him to affirm that
`itlrever .poesible it might be to find in other
t
f'imties Master Manufacturers in the Commission
of
the Peace, that was a thing never to be met
with Lancashire; and so notorious was this,
that be „won answer for it there was not a Len-
e4sltire roan to be found in any pert of the king-
t"ll typo did not know that it was a rule not
1,,11 put in the Commissien of the Peace any
"`ter Menutactiner, This, to be sure, had
i!eeked- a tardy ackitowle:lvnent; but the pub-
c
at the same tulle were called upon to
!qtnowledge that " the argument founded on
`▪ vas, at least, very good." A' the York
Z.Leeting, a respectable Gentleman came forward
411(4 a statement, that the sabres of the Yeo-
Wenry had been sharpened prior to the Meeting.
- atlinioed that he did node the a•sertion as
1)(41as possible ;
isle.meaim the York Reso-
iljticlus had-been p All who voted then for
Cl"itv, did so tiuder the idea of au infuriated
cutting down his tenant with a sharpened
Many other stories of a similarly unfound-
• nature were recapitulated by the Right Hon.
;ntirman, and it was under the influence of such
aorteat,„,,s, which, when pushed home and
trte! hy the tests of name and date, were found
411'tritiog, that most of the Resolntions through-
I." the country had passed. Undoubtedly
41ves. hail been lost, and he yielded to none in
ploring ell (het had °m are(' on the 16th of
-;:tigest, at Manchester . He knew that if it were
-teled on one side of the House that one hundred
°then and children lad been slain on any one
:reasion, and that lie should rectify the statement,
'"1 say, that there were only six, it would he re-
un hint. The barbarian, only six ! &e.
"ese tricks, he could assure Gentlemen, had
•,(1)14.; ben brought to light. G,ntlenten had learnt
blt'it. lessons -well ; they were the tricks of 11'93
I794—the tricks of Robespierre and of Me-
al ! The men we.were called upon to conciliate
i, were then who created mischief for mischief
1,11.1"---teen who aimed at agitating society with
il'oens which they had no hope of governing, and
midst of which they did not even expect to
l'e at liberty. 'Die most whimsiCal of all rea
s
ref's had been set forth respecting the propriety of
:dt House making an inquiry into the nches-
, P,if-iirs. Previous to the speech of an Hon. 8ar0,;,"
,;," (vp.site; it' was argued that it was on account
its ;;rest importance, that the Courts of Law
t*ere.
nOt competent to their examinatien; bait after
th
lioti Baronet's speech it was argued that it
s extraordinary minuteness which demanded
e!oquisitorial interference of Parliament. Thus,
that House was expected to be like an de-
p:lnt's proboscis, expanding for the purpose of
t,asl'ing large objects, and contracting in order
tee on smaller ones. He admitted, and even
:ntended that -justice ought to be strictly ad-
enet
.•stered between man and man. In former
I(4es and in other.comitries, favour and affection
mere shown to the higher, in preference to the
I)F4'cr classes of society ; now, however, by one
those oscillations Of the human mind so fre-
t 11"11 no other subjects, the presumption seemed
tZilltevail in favour of the lower, over the higher
in,:s's• He hv. no means blamed . this feel-
s'4 but it ought not to be. allowed to ope-
t„e When' the case of any of the higher- classes
1v413 -brought directly under judicial. consideration.
tot'4t would be the kind of even justice shown to
h•
parties if the proposed Amendment were
.itl ? Those who. wished to set the country
irit-a blaze would be allowed to traverse, to be
rah at their own time; to be tried on evidence
en oath. Those who endeavoured' to ex-
alg:iish the flame must .take their trial immedi-
), wit h no challenge, and on evidence-unsanc-
4te- ie,(l by uatli.—(Hear, bear, hear !)—Suppose
j'ailagistrates were acquitted -by the House,
j. 1.81 they he saved from a prosecution in a Court
ty 41' nee? o. Suppose they were fonnd guilty
e Uouse, would they tbo. be saved fpin

prosecution ia <^ loam of ? No. He di not
attribute to the Right Hon. Gentleman any such
intention, butif the whiteahatted'geatry had pro-
posed the Amendment, he should suspect they had
a double game in view. If they surprised the
House into a decision against the Magistrates,
they would indulge their vengeance. If, on the
contrary, the majority acquitted the Magistrates,
they would have a new fund of clamour against
the House .of Commons—(Hear, hear !)—They
would either crush their enemies, or undermine
the Constitution. The Hon. BarOnet, who .was
the only person who hail not spoken of the atro-
cities of the individuals in qaestion as they deserved,
4,ad talked of the flags, Btca as mere matter of pa-
rade. But who was so blind as not to know
that ribbons and devices teed ently indicated
a purpose as unequivocally as words ? Some
years ago, it was a matter of complaint that
in Ireland orange cockades were worn as
adistinction of party. Would it have been
any answer to say, " What signiFsi a yel-
low ribbon ?" Did any rational man
that the flags of the Manchester Meeting meant
defiance ? The inscription of " Universal Suf-
frage or Death" distinctly meant that those dis-
playing it were determined to have-a Reform in-
Compatible with the spirit of the Constitution,
even should they purchase it with their blood:
Coalrl that be called a legal meeting ? Was it
common sense to call it so ? He would appeal to
the Whigs on the subject. He would appeal
even to Whiggissimus.—(A langh.)—He would
ask him, whether if, in 17;5, 100,000 men bad
assembled with white roses in their hats, and
with flags bearing the inscription " Legitimate
Monarchy" ; and if any unfortunate Tory haul
stood up in Parliament, and had protested that all
that meant nothing, that white Was not a colour—
(a laugh,)—and that " Legitimate Monarchy" re-
ferred to the family which hail been just established
on the Throne, he would not have been scooted,
and the Whigs of that day would not have passed a
law at least as strong as the Riot Act.—(Hear !)
He would abstain from entering into the details
of what had passed at Manchester, first, because
they had hen often stated to ihe House ; se-
condly, because he could only relate that which
he derived horn other sources ; and, thirdly, be-
cause the suniect was 3 :,kit to und,rgo an laves-
tigation in a Co'urt of Law. But he could OM
help adverting to what 11.,i1 talleat from. an Hon.
Gentleman, who had .availed himself of a short-

hand report of an unfinished law proceeding, to
malie some observations on that proceeding which
in his (Mr. Canning's) opinion %vete wholly un-
warrantable. He! was as warm a friend to liberty
as any man ;- but he always deemed one of the
first elements of liberty to be the careful se-
paration of the administrative and the judicial
functions. - He could not but conceive that
it must strike foreigners with astonishment to
observe, that we allowed the wide and the sate-
gnard of our Constitntion,the invaluable insti-
tutions of Juries and an unpaid. Magistracy,—to
be degraded wills impunity ; and that, as if re-
/ion:icing the high station we had long held in
Europe, we warned those who had followed us in
viccoly not to imitate its in our civil establish-
ments. From the moment that peace was/con-
cluded we had been busy in decrying
.our popular
Legislature. and we were now preparing to cast
an odium on our Magistracy and lOyal Tribunals..
It had been well said by Goldsmith—

" Princes and Lords may flourish or may fade,
A breath can make them as a breath has made;
But a timid peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied."

So, said he, of that invaluable part of our Munici-
pal Institution, the unpaid Magistracy. He did
not dread the inroads which the Reformers
threatened to make on the House of Commons
with half the horror that he did the tendency to
disparage that voluntary sacrifice of time and at-
tention ; that homage of wealth and power, to the
interests of the humble and the needy ; that tribute
to the general good which could in no other way
be so effectually paid. A new House of Commons
might be elected—the Sovereign might create
new Peers—new Statesmen be educated, but once
destroy the voluntary Magistracy of the country,
by making their burden too heavy, and their
duties too odious to be borne ; and by that single
act more would be done ta destroy the very foun-
dations of society than could be effected by all the
declarations of the Reformers, and their pikes
into the 4argain. The Hon. Baronet opposite
had adjured the House to consider the necessity
of conciliatin!, the people. If by conciliation was
merely meant a sympathy with their distresses,
he could asenre rile Hon. Baronet that no mail
could feel more deeply for ,those distresses than
his colleagues and himself. But by conciliation
he apprehended that the Hon. Baronet meant
concession on the subject of Parliamentary Re-
form. On that subject the Hon. Baronet warned
hint to re-consider his opinion ; and the. Right
Hop. Gentleman represented him as the very con-
verse of the Radicals in sentiment. He was not
so blind end higotted a supporter of existing
establishments as to maintain that they were
the best of all possible institutions. But he
was one who thought that the present machi-
nery of the House of Commons, with all its
imperfections on its head, performed most be-
neficially for the country ; and that any change
which was not very limited and very well con-
sidered, would be attended with great ha-
zard. He was not so absurd as to believe that
some heaven-born Radical might not devise some
plan of a plausible nature. But without know-
ing precisely what that plan was, he would object
to any approach to Reform; because that would
have the effect of weakening what existed, with-
out the previous provision of any effective substi-
tute. The advocates for Parliamentary Reform
must mean either to restore or to re-construct.
If to restore,• it was not unreasonable to ask
to what golden period of our history they look-
ed for the form to' which they would return ? If
to re-construct, it was not unreasonable to ask,
on what, principles that operation was to be found-
riL? When he was told the time or the principles,
he should then, and not till then, be qualified to
give an opinion on the merits of any proposed
plan. Even then he should be at liberty to com-
pare the dangers of a change with the advantages
of the change. But he altogether differed from
the Hon. Baronet• in supposing that Parliamen-
tary Reform was generally demanded by the peo.

pie. Lie very much doubted whether it was re-
quired by any of the classes above the lowest, ex-
cept, perhaps, by some timid aid quietly dis-
posed persons, who were uotaught by expe-
rience, -that coocession to art invading enemy
was not the ,way ro conclude peace with him.
With the turbulent description of Reformers there
ought to be no dallying or compromise. TO con-
ciliate them would he utterly hopeless. But, he
repeated, he did not think the sound pdrt of the
contort:tilt), infected by the love of change, for in
the laoguage•of Burke, he would not take the
chirping crickets in the field for the lordly
oxen that strayed over its surface. lie must say,
however, that if he admitted the premises of the
Honourable Baronet, he must admit that his
conclusion was more logical than that of the mo-
derate Reformers. The latter stated the exist-
ence of corruption as broadly as the Honourable
Baronet. But the Honourable Baronet advised a
new constitution of the House,, while the mode-
tame Bdormers were satisfied witb a small reme-
dy. If, however. he admitted the disease, he
could not be satisfied with a small remedy. For
his part, could by no means allow that the
corruption was SllOl as it was represented by
any class of Reformers. He said this disin-
terestedly ; for he was not aware that Go-
vernment would benefit were the Borough Re-
preseotation entirely abolished. It the Bo-
roughs of Knaresboroogh, of Tavistock, of Hors-
ham, of Winchelsea, of -Peterborough, were
abolished, and the elective franchise were trans-
ferred to more populous places—to Birming-
ham, to Mauchrster, to Sheffitild, to Leeds—
he did not believe that his Majesty's Ministers
would lose any friends in that How e.—(A laugh.)
—On the contrary, he hJieved that they %vilin
receive more support than .at present. He should
also regret very much if by such a measure the
House were to be suddenly deprived of some of
the great lights opposite to him —(A laugh.)—
He argued this question without prejudice, with-
out passion, without personal interest. He thought
now, as he always had thOoght, that the Consti-
tution of the House of Commons was pi actically
beneficial to the Public. If, hoivever, he were
asked to defend that opinion by showing why G5B
was a better number than 659, or by any similar
proposition, he confessed that he should be at a
loss. It was the general character of the House
which he regarded; and he maintained that it
faithfully represented tine country, and kept pace
in its measures, not precipitately, but deliberately,
with the real wishes, opinions, and feelings of
the nation; The Hon. Baronet bad alluded to
other countries tvliieh had witnessed terrible ca-
tastrophes, and called upon tire Horse to be
warned by these, not to refuse to conciliate the
people. The French Revolution taught two les-
sons, the danger, of withholding concession too
long, and the danger on the other baud of court-
ing a temporary popularity by tattering the pas-
sions of the people at the expeoce of their best
interests. He called upon the House to perform
the important duty which devolved on them at a
crisis like the present by attending to the wishes
of the loyal millions who nosy looked op to them
for protection, and called upon them by the vi-
gour and derision of their Council's to save the
Constitutiom.

Mr. Bnotrunam strongly insisted on the neces-
sity of an inquiry, even for the vindicating of the
Magistrates. He defended at great length the
conduct of the Whig- Leaders and Earl Fitz'.vil-
ham. fie condemned the atteMpts recently made
to spread impiety, and considered the result of the
late trials for blasphemy to reflect immortal. 110 -
nour on the Judge before whom they. took phce,
on the Juries, and on the laws. The result was
a triumph to the country. To him the present
laws appeared sufficient to punish and repress such
offences, but he complainer!, that for neatly three
years a mass of matter had been puhiished with
impunity, as disgusting and mischievous as the
Genius of Treason, of Discoid, and of 'Crime,
had ever .sent among a peaceable community.—
Assassination, forgery, resistance to the tiovero-
ment, and treason, had been openly advocated,
and punishment bad not followed. Fie cited some
passages from a Catechism, in which n right to
put the King to death was claimed. The first
publications of this character ought to have been
proceeded against, and this might have stopped
tire pestiferous venom in its course. He wished
the House might be oftener seen in a more amia-
ble light than it appeared in, when imposing bur-
dt-ins on the people. That it might be so was the
last Wish of one who would rather fall the vic-
tim of anarchy, than live the survivor of tire
Constitution.

Mr. GLADSTONR attempted to speak, hut could
not he heard for the cries of " Question," which
resounded from all parts of the House.
Mr. S. WORTLEY, Mr. BROUGHAM, and Mr.
CANNING severally explained.

The Honse then divided,
For the Amendment ' 150 •
Against it
Majority in faveur of NliniLitet s ...-231.

The Address, as.originally moved, was then
agreed to, and the [louse adjourned at Five
O'CLOCK THIS MORNING.