The Sun.
London, England, 1821-05-16 00:00:00

7:i717; .CHESTER MEETING.-PETITIONS.

Mx. RENNET presented a Petition from James Lees, of
Oldham, the brother of one of the unfortunatcpersons who were
killed:at:Manchester on the 16th August, 1819, complaining
that owing to an alleged informality, the Coroner's Jury'had
never:re-on-led a verdict on the body of his brother, and that
there had been no trial in any shape on the subject, and praying
for ',Ordered to be printed.
Mr. .BENNET also presentid a Petition from William
Grieve: who was severely wounded on the same occasion, pray-
ing for inquiry and similar Petitions from Ealwhall Jones and
J. Atkiinam.2Mr. CREED EY preSented similar Petitions from
James .Walstonecraft, Wm. Schofield; Win. Wrightwain, and
James Tomlinson; and Alderman WOOD presented similar Pe-
titions from Mary Black, Margaret Gocuwid, John Shields,
James Berwick, Wm. Hibbert, and Dan. Mellor.—They were
all ordered .to be printed.
Mr, 110BHOUSE begged leave also to present a Petition on
the subject which was about to be brought before the House
that night. He would not enter at large into the subject, but
simply state, that it was from an unfortunate individual, Thos..
Kelly, who had been wounded, assaulted,. trampled
.upon,;
sabred, drt the 13th of August, and then confined in gaol for
eleven weeks, whence he had been liberated without any charge'
being brought against him. The case of this individual was
unhappily the case of many others- and he trusted that after:
the discussion which was about to take place, and the numerous
Petitions Which had been and would be presented; they srrould
hear no more naistatements. It was many months since the
monstrous fictions, propagated, as he feared, to deeeive Parlia-
ment, had disappeared. He would not, however, anticipate
his Honourable Friend, but merely move that the Petition be
brought up.—The Petition was accordingly brought up, read,
end ordered to be
_printed..
Mr. HOBHOU SE presented similar Petitions from William
Thompson, complaining of the wholly unprovoked 'attack on
the part of the Yeomanry; from W. Barnes, who was as-
saulted, not at the Meeting, :but so. latgefhaertine,o'Clauk eiarthe
evening, when the YeomattfreVerdTioping about the streets
'cutting every body down, to that the people were obliged to fly
fate the shops for shelter; from James Lees; a relation of .the
Lees who was killed, stating that he also had been attacked by
the yeomanry, without the slightest provocation ; from Thos.
.Ashton, who had received 'a severe cut from a sabre ; .feom
Elizabeth Neale, the whole of whose ribs on one side of the
body had been broken in, in consequer.ec of which sic had been
confined to her bed for five months ; from Joseph Coates, who
had been so severely wounded as to be confined for 24 days ;•
,from David Dawson, the father of Edward Dawson, who had
o,iedlof his Wounds, trusting that Parliament would grant him.
:rasticele had,in vain looked for elsewhere ; from that in-
dividual of melancholy notoriety, Win. Ogden, who having re-
ceived two sabre cuts and a number of dreadful bruises, had
been long confined to his bed without hope of life; from Mary
Horrocks, who had been sabred and trampled 'on by the cavalry,
witie such dreadful oathg and imprecations, us showed they
w.:re net masters of themselveS ; from Biddy Marks, who had
been sabred and trampled on, had one of her shoulders dislo
sated, and her legs lacerated; from William Pole, who had
beer. kruek down five times by oee ycon:an, and received a
sabre would in the head ; from Ll'immas Orimstone, who had
had both his arms broken, and his head dreadfully ei:t, .and
who was now a pauper in' the workhouse, although before his
roisfortune-capable of earning his livelihood with credit ; from
Catherine Coltman, who was thrown down, and had three of
her ribs broken, and was 'saved only brthe crowd of people who
fell over her, and at whom the yeomanry cut with-the utmost
fury, regardless of their cries for mercy; ; from William Stewart,
who had been sabred in. the head, and trampled almost to
death ; from James Chisweil, who had received a severe sabre
cut, and whO had never heard that any of the perpetratars of
the outrage had been brought to justice ; andlastly, from Simon
hl ellor' who had been sabred himself, and who saw woman
and who expressed" his belief that the attack was precon-
certed, otherwise juatiee•would have been obtained either in
a superior or an inferior Court. •
On theyetition from .David Dawson being presented,

Lord MILTON observed, that he had s(.in the Petition,
and cOulel assure the House that it did not arpcar to be -got up:
as many' Petitions presented- to that House were, but 'was
couched in the most simple and artless langii,eee, so as evidently
to have proceeded from the aftlieredfather himself.
Mr. I,IOIIIIOIISE confirmed • the stateilent of the Noble
Lord as-to the artlessness.of this Petition. Ile begged also to
remark, that none • of the other Petitions had the air of having
been got up. They were sent to him: by the post, and he had
no douht, that in the course of 'a few days he should receive
many More. •
Tao whole of the Petitions' were ordered to be printed.
Mr, JAMES presented a Petition oa 'the same suhject from.
W. Broadhurst, now a prisoner. in Lancaster CaStle. lt also
prayed for• Parliamentary Reform.—Ordered to be printed.
Mr. ILiaßOßD'said, he had also a Petition to present from
a very poor, but he believed a, very honest man, of the name of
Butterworth, a weaver, who had received a cut in his riebt arm,
which incapacitated him from following his occuritkiii; so
that, having a wife and three small -children, be. had been re-
duced to great distress; he prayed for justice, and, that. the per-
petrators of. the..outrages of the 16th of August might be
brought to justice.. Before he (Mi. Harbord) moved that the
Petition be brotight' up, he .begged leave to make a few obser-
vations on the transaction in question. Perhaps, in courtesy
to the Hon. Baronet, who was.aboul to tiring the subjett under
the consideration of thiHonse, he ought to abstain from any
thing like an anttcipation of the debate. Yet, knowing as he
did., the store of information which that Honourable Baronet
possessed, the ardency of his feelings, and the extent of
his abilities, he confessed that he did not feel any great
reluctance or delicacy on that score. He had not the h 0...
nour of a seat in that Lousy when. the transactions at Man.:
cheater took place, but he felt it' his duty to 'take the first
opportunity of expressing his. opinions upon `them. The
distresses which arose in the year 1819 produced meetings ia
different parts of the country and among others notice was
given of a meeting to be held Manchester. The Object of
that meeting having been held by the Magistrates to 1)e i oral,
it was abandoned, and a meeting of a different nature was ca ed
for the 16th of August. No efficient steps were taken to prevent
this meeting ; the civil force were" not called into action ; the
military were placed in ambush, and the -Magistrates overlooked
the whole proceedings from an . adjacent house. The Magis-
trates issued warrants for the apprehension of certain' petsons,
and why those warrants were not executed by the civil power,
he could never ascertain. The warrants were brought back,
and it was said that the civil' power could not execute them,
but he contended that the effort to do so had never been fairly
made. What was next done ? The troops were, ordered to
advance. Now he wo'uld ask any man what was likely to be
the effect of an advance of cavalry upon a closely wedged mid--
titude? But was it the regular cavalry that was thus employed?

—no, but a political soldiery.—(Hear,hear,liCat !)--The havock
which ensued beggared description. The 'Honourable Member.
went on to-at:Ste, that doubts having arisen as to the legality of
the conduct pursued by the Magistrates, one of that body post-,
ed to London, to inform the Secretary
.'of State of what oc-
curred, and upon this information from bne side, and without
giving time for the slightest inquiry, their. conduct was ap-
prOVed of, and they received the thanks of their. Sovereign.—
(Hear, hear !).—The chief actor in this scene Was a Clergyman
of that Religion which preaches -good-will and charity to all
mankind ; that Gentleman, on this occasion, discharged that
duty which at any period was the most severe that could de-
volve upon a Magistrate. How far those duties were consistent
with the service of the Church of Christ, it was for the Reve-
rend Gentleman himself to consider ; he (_?,lr. Harbord) would
oiler no opinion upon the subject. It was a little remarkable,
however, that shortly after the 16th of Aug-ast;for some reason
or another, perhaps as a reward for that meekness, humility,
and temperance for which he was so remarkable—that Reve-
rend Gentleman had been advanced to a living of from 15001. to
20001. a ),ear.—(Hear, hear !)—The Manchester Magistrates had
stated that training had been going on for some time before the
16th of August. If so, why was it not put a stop to ? They next
said that much alarm was created in the town by the tremendous
multitude assembled. Very true, he knw nothing more_imposing
than the appearance of such a multitude, but why were they
suffered to enter the town ? 'Why was not the civil power em-
ployed to block up the principal avenues to the town before
those persons entered it ? This would have prevented the fatal
events which took place. Next it was said that the Riot Act
had been read. He was fully convinced that it was read, as he .
had it from a Gentleman of the highest respectability who Was
present, but then it was read in such a manner as not to be
heard by the croWd.--(llear, hear !)—His opinions then were,
first, that if such a Meeting was illegal it ought to have been
'vrevented ; secondly, that proper means had not been taken to
disnerse it, lint that the means used were most unjustifiable --
anti, finally, that the avenues of justice had been obstructed in
such a manner, that only one means of redress was left, namely,
an. application to that House. But, when that application was
made, the reply was, that the Courts of Justice were open--
t!loughwere it was known that indictment after indictment had been
thrown out by the Grand Juries before whom bills. were pre-
ferred. Though heavas not in the habit of saying any flung
offensive to any quarter, he' could not help stating, in
conclusion, that, co-existent with the recollection of those
transactions, Caere would remain on his mind an apprehen-
sion of personal danger from that Government who could,
without giving time for inquiry, pass a vote of approba-
tion upon the men who had teen the perpetrators of such '
deeds.—(Hear, hear 1) - _ -

Mr. Serjeant ONSLOW expressed his surprise at hearing,
for the first time, the yeomanry of this country called a political
soldiery (H ear, hear !)—He had always thought the yeomanry
of England the most constitutional force that could exist in any
country.—(Hear, hear !)—lndeed thee I was not any country,
except Great Britain and Ireland, which could create and sup-
port such a force. The Honourable and Learned Gentleman
next entered into a defence of the Rev. Mr. hay, and observed,
that he (Mr. Hay) being a Magistrate, was bound to act, and
could have been punished had he declined to do so on the 16th
of August.—(Hear, bear !).—lle next adverted to the prefer-
ment of that Reverend Gentleman, and observed, that so far
from its haying been given to him by Government, it had been
given by a distingiished Prelate, in whose gift it was, and by
whom it had been promised so far back as two years before the-
circumstances at Manchester took place.—(Cheers.) .
Lord MILTON said, that he was most ready to support' the
character of the yeonianry of England ; but the Learned Gen-
tleman had mistaken his Honourable Friend. lie (Mr: Har-
liord) did not speak of the yeomanry of England—(Hear, hear!)
—but of the yeomanry of Manchester. Ile would ask any man
connected with Manchester, to say whether the yeomanry
cavalry of that town were like the yeomanry of Surrey or Sus-
s...x,latiners residing on their own hinds, or whether they were
not persons entertaining strong personal and party feeling ?--2
(Hear, hear!)—With respect to the living given to Mr. Hay,
he had heard, and he should like to hear it contradicted, that
an arrangement had taken place by which the Rev. Prelate who
gave up that living, was to have in return the disposal of one of
those livings Ivhieli are more immediately in the patronage of
Gfivernmeut.

Mr. B. BATHURST said, he had no hesitation in contra-
dicting that assertion.—(Cheers.)
Lord MILTON expressed his satisfaction at hearing the re-
port contradicted.
Mr. B. BATHURST said, he was happy the Noble Lord
had given him arr opportunity of contradicting it.
On the question, that the Petition be printed—
Mr. HARBORD thanked his Noble Friend (Lord Milton)
for having given the explanation with respect to the Yeomanry;
it was precisely the distinction which he meant to draw, but he
did not think it would be strictly in order to do so. With re-
spect to Mr. Hay, if what he (Mr. II.) said was wrong, it was
not his mistake, but that of a friend cif_ OP Reverend' Gentle-
man, from- •whom he' (Mr. Harbord) heard it. The Honour-
able Member then presented another Petition of a similar na:.
tore, from a person named Thomas Gladstone.—Ordered to
be printed.
PALMER presented a similar Petition from D. Ellis.
—Ordered to be printed.
Mr. CORE (of Norfolk) presented a similar Petition from
Alice Bircb.—Ori:2red to be printed.
Mr. S. WHITBREAD presented two Petitions of a similar
nature, from William Gartey and James Bootliby.Ordered
to be printed.
Mr. LENNARD presented three Petitions of a similar na-
ture; the first from Elizabeth Gaunt, the second from John
Cavanagh, and the third from William Bromley.—Ordered to
be printed.

Sir R. WILSON said he held in his hand thirteen Petitions
—(a laugh),—six from men and seven from women,. who had
been cut down and wounded at Manchester, and wno, to the
prejudice of all good Government, had remained to the present
day without any redress. The petitions were froth Joshua
Jones (of Oldham), Joseph Hingle, Edward Johnson; William
Cheatham (this petitioner said he was endeavouring to escape,
when he was Attacked byy. Meagher, who said, d—n your eyes
I'll cut yoUr head off—he th cut witness across the neck with
his sabre.) Petitioner went On to state, that he went before the
Grand Jury, of which Lord Stanley (in whose regiment he
was) was Chairman, and that they threw out the Bill. 'That
Lord Stanley asked petitioner to what regiment he belonged ?
to whit's he answered, the 7th Lancashire Militia ; • that 11;s
Lordship jocosely expressed his regret that any one belonging
to his regiment, should have placed himself in such a situation.
Petitioner offered to shew hip wounds, but Lord Stanley would
not allow him to do so, and bid him f,,0. • - .
Sir R. WILSON said, that as this petition alluded particu-
larly to the Noble'Lord (Stanley), he wished to have it read at
length. • The petition having been read,
• Lord STANLEY hoped he might be allowed to say a few
Words in explanation of the charge made against him—(Hear,
hear !).-It was true that he was foreman of. the Grand Jury
on the occasion alluded to, and- it was also true that the Bill
was thrown out. The Gallant General having bad the kindness
to let hiM see the petition , yesterday, he had endeavoured to
strengthen his recollection of the facts, of which he had but a
vague recollection, by applying to• other Gentlemen who were
on the Grand Jury at the time. ;He remembered, that having
had some re.collection'of the person in question, he asked him
to what regiment he belonged ? and finding that he belonged to
his (Lord Stanley'a) regiment, he expressed his regret that he
should have placed himself in such a situation. This, it was
very natural be should do, even if the man had been entirely, a
'stranger to him. He might also have felt regret that the indi-
vidual. had engaged in such proccedings„without at all im-
pugning the motives which induced him (Petitioner) to attend
the Meeting'; but if it was intended to be conveyed that be had
laughed or sneered at the sufferings of this or any 'other
he begged most distinctly to contradict the assertion.—
(Hear, hear!)—Petitioner had offered to shew his Wounds, but
he, as Foreman of the Grand Jury, told him it was unneces-
sary, as his •statement was sufficient, and here the matter
ended., -
Sir R. WILSON assured the Noble Lord that he had not
the siinhtest intention of casting such an imputation upon him,
nor did he conceive that any thing in the Petition had that ten-
dency.—The Petition was ozdered to be printed. •
Sir R. WILSON proceeded to present the other -Petitions ;
they were from' Jos. Buerly, Mr..7aret Booth, Anne Whitaker,
three sisters named Elizabeth, Ellen and Isabella Hardy, Mary
Fines, Robert Taylor (this person complained of having been
arrested on a charge of high treason, and afterwards committed
for a conspiracy, and of having been ultimately tried and ac-
quitted at Writ), and John Bryerly. They were read and or-
dered to be printed.
Sir R. WILSON said that the next Petition was from.a per-
son who had been considered as the leader of the -Manchester
Meeting; it was from Mr. Henry Hunt, whose conviction at
York was, in his (Sir R. Wilson's) opinion, produced .by a
violent straining of the law, and whose punishment was most
oppressive, vindictive and unjust, in a country where justice
was administered in mercy.(Hear !)
Lori MILTON said, that the case of Mr. Hunt was totally
different from that of- the other Petitioners. - Their case stood
noon an entirely different ground, and ought not to be tried by
the same test.

.Mr. SCARLETT said, that he felt that it was but an act of
justice, on his part, to state that the subject of the Petition had
been before the Court of King's Bench, and that the charges of
it were answered upon affidavit ; that the Counsel of Mr. Hunt,
after having heard the affidavit read, consented to have the
conditional rule, obtained, in. the first instance, on the part of
Mr. Hunt, discharged with costs.
'the Petition was then read by the Clerk. It stated, that 12
out of the 36 months of his imprisonment had expired ; that he
was confined in a filthy and pestilential prison, under a cruel

and remorseless keeper; that the Judges d the Court of King's
Bench, as he believed, deliberately and intentionally -sentenced
him to be confined in that unwholesome and immoral prison.—
The Petition went on to state that ope of the Judges, when that
sentence was pronounced; displayed,oz: the. Bench a malignant
pleasure.. .
On the question bein.3. prtt, that the Petition do lie on the
table,
Mr. BRIGHT said, that he felt himself called upon indig-
:nantly to notice the vile, base, and atrocious imputations which
the Petitioner threw upon 'the Judges of the King's Bench. How
was it possible that those reverenclpti learned persons could
have known whether the gaol
not; or whether the gaoler was base or cruel, as he was de-
scribed to be ? The very Magistrates of the County were asto-
nished (himself amongst the number) at the statements that
had been lately made with respect to the state of Ilcheste.r
Gaol ; if it should turn out to be true, that the gaol was badly
regulated—that prisoners were harshly and cruelly treated,
most certainly the Magistrates were ignorant of those things.
'as it to be believed then, that the Judges of the King's
Bench could be better acquainted with the mternal.regolations
of that gaol*than the Magistrates of the County ? The imptta-
tions which the Petitioner cast upon those learned persons, he
was Convinced, were false, unprincipled and atrocious. lie
could not refrain from exrressing the indignation which they
excited in his breast.

The Marquess of LONDONDERRY said, that he would
leave it to every impartial man to say whether the Petition
which had been read was intended to inflame the public mind,
or to seekier justice and redress of injuries. In his opinion, it
was impossible that the House could suffer to lie upon the
Table a Petition full of such false charges and such monstrous
aspersions cast upon the venerable Judges of the land.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said, that he attended
when the sentence of the Court of King's Bench had been pro—
nounced upon the Petitioner. He could safely assert, that upon
that occasion no expression in words or by gesture was made by
,any of the Learned Judges such as described by the Petitioner.
He believed in his conscience that the Gaol of ilchester had
been"selected because it was supposed to have been the best re-
gulated, The Honourable and I.,mrried Gentleman concluded
by eayrcssing his indignation at the f'al'se and odious charges
contained in the Petition.

Mr. SCARLBTT said, that when he first rose, he thought
the Petition related merely to the conduct of the gaoler. The
Petition, as it related to Ihe Judges of the King's Bench, he
looked upon as base, false, and slanderous. He objected to the
terms of the Petition, they were scandalous and base in the ex-
treme ;' if such language as the Petition contained was to be
tolerated in that Houie, then it would be better to give tp all re-
spect for the administiation of justice. The Learned Judges,
throughout the whole case of the Petitioner, had conducted
themselves with a cautious and fearful anxiety; they were anxi-
ous throughout to do what was equitable and just. They gave
to the defendant advantages and opportunities which few par-
ties had ever possthed before ' they gave him their assistance
when he had no counsel, and bore with the utmost patience,
language and conduct from the petitioner which Courts of Jus-
tice were not accustomed to hear. He agreed with the Noble
Lord that the petition ought not to be permitted to lie upon the
table.

Doctor LUSHINGTON said, that he vote that. the
petition be rejected, becauSe, instead of facts, it stated the mere
opinion of the petitioner. With-respect to the state of the ;aol-,
it was now five weeks since a motion had been made for a Corry_
mission to inquire into the state of Ilchester Gaol, yet that
Commission had not bpenyet issued ; at least no inquiries had
been made under it. if it were true that the Keeper of the pri-
son conducted himself in a cruel and barbarous manner, the
sooner he was removed. the" better ; 'it was not fit that 150 of his
Majesty's subjects shquid be under the hands of a person,
against whom such he ivy charges had been brought, without
the Government proceledirW to an immediate inquiry as to the
truth of those charges Of the 'truth or falsehood of those
charges he kneW nothing, he only called for investigation.
• The SOLICITOIt.GENERAL • said that the Commission
had been signed ; that no delay had taken place that could be
possibly avoided.-
After • a fevi wordi between Dr. LUSIIINGTONT and the
SOLICITOR-GENERAL, the Petition was rejected.

Mr. HumE presented' five petitions from persons who com-
plained of the injury they sustained by the affray at Manchester
on the 10th of Augnst, all praying for inquiry : one was from
Martha Neale ; from Mary Ann M'Kenna ; both of whose hus-
bands lost thar lives ; from James Kemble and John Thomson,
both of whom were severely wounded ; the tenor of the fifth
petition we did not hear. Ordered to be printed.
Dr. LLTSHINGTOX presented a similar petition from a
person who was dreadfully wounded, but who was still more
fortunate than others who met with instant death. He felt it
his thity.tosgo through the mockery of presenting this petition,
although he anticipated the prayer of the petitioner for inquiry
would be trejltetras t4fore.lvhen the,subjeet of the 'Man-
chester massacre was before the House. Ordered to be printed.
Mr. LAM BTON presented a Petition from Samuel Jackson.
He stated, that whilst, walking n the streets of Manchester, in
company with his brother-M-law and sister, on the day of the
meeting, and the time When.he saw no disnirbance whatever,
he was fired at by. one of the soldiers, was wounded, conveyed
to an hospita4 and before nine-o'clock on the same evening,
one of his legs was amputated.
The next petition was from John Kershaw. It. stated he
was attacked and knocked down by the cavalry, that his collar-
belie was broken, and that in conseqnence he lay for three
months on one side, in a miserable condition.
. . _

The next petition was from James Smith ; it stated that
whilst standing at the meeting, an attack was made by some. of
the, cavalry ; ,that they cut and wounded a young'wornan, who
was standing next to him, and that her blood s-pouted out upon
him ; that they also attacked the petitioner, and that he received
one blow of a sabre, which split his elbow in the joint.
The n-xt...Petition was from Owen M'Cabe. The Petitioner
stated, that whilst attending the meeting a furious charge was
made by the Cavalry ; that he attempted to escape, but that lie
was pursue:l and tianapled upon ; that his head was crushed,
and all his ribs broken ; that in consequence of the severe
Wounds which lie received, he was disabled from earning a live-
lihood, and was still attended by a surgeon.
Mr. WHARTON presented a Petition from another suf-
ferer, whose flame or case we were not able to collect.
Sir W. DE CRESPIGNY presented four Petitions to a si-
milar effect. One from a peril of the name of Bruce ;, one
from Edward Dwyer ; one from James Neil ; and one from
John Brook. The lion. Member observing some laughter
from behind the Treasury Bench, said,tit was highly improper,
on so serious a subject, thaf.Hon'. Members could be heard to
indulge in laughter.—Ordered to be printed. ,
Mr. IVIONCK presented two similar Petitions. One from
an old woman; aged 72; who was attacked by a trumpeter of
the name:of -Meagher. This old woman sought to bring thi
Man to justice, but in vain. Even the Magistrates at Warring-
ton refused her all redress. The second was from a person of
the name of Ogle, who was wounded with a sabre over the left
eye. The Hon. Member observed, on presenting these petitions,
that he agreed with the people who denominated the atrocities
of the 'l6th of August, as <c the Manchester massacre." He
never read, or heard of a case, where human blood was shed,
more unnecessarily, or more wantonly and unsparingly. He
hoped the result of this night wotild show that all inquiry into
such atrocities would not be refused, not only to the prayers of
the sufferers, but to the voice of insulted justice and an offended
nation.—Ordered to be printed.

MOTION FOR AN INQUIRY INTO THE TRANS-
ACTIONS AT MANCHESTER.

Sir FRANCIS BURDEiT —After the numerous
Petitions which had. been presented, stating, in
most incontrovertible?' as well as simple, unaf-
fected, yet affecting language, the manner in
which the unoffending people constitutionally
met, and the mode also of their dispersion, the
object of his ►motion was inquiry. Whether it
was to the Manchester Magistrates, or the Yeo-
manry, who had so gallantly distinguished them-
selves, blame ought to be imputed, or to the laws,
he could not tell ; but he was convinced of the
urgent necessity for inquiry. To him it belonged
to allude to those actions which had taken place.
Speaking of which, the. Noble Secretary at War
had said, that although war had ceased for six
years upon the Continent, we were now o►►ly in
the first year of peace in England : the meaning
of which he (Sir Francis) could not understand.
The question, under every point of view, was
one of extreme importance ; yet, in bringing it
forward, he felt that his principal merit consisted
in his zeal more than any other quality. lie
was but attempting to institute an inquiry into
_transactions which he conceived it was a disgrace
to the Government not to haVe investigated.—
(Hear, hear !)--In bringing the subject before
the House, it would be necessary for him to refer
to what had been said upon it,' in this House, On
former occasions. lie recollected that the Noble
Lord, Member for the County of Lancaster, had
stated, 'that it was not until the Yeomanry had

been attacked, and, Us he Said, wounds had been
inflicted upon them, that they turned round.
With every possible respect for that Noble Lord,
he would assert, that statement was not founded
in fact.
_He disclaimed all intention of personal
imputation ; and should he feel himself obliged
to use a ;very coarse word—falsehood, in charac-
terising certain statements, he. begged it to be
understood as having no personal reference what-
ever. The Hon. Member. for Dover had said,
it was not until the Y eomanry had been at-
tacked with stones, which had been placed there
for the purpose, that they had turned against
the people. The Honourable the Solicitor-Gene-
ral had stated not only that an attack had been
made upon the Yeomanry, but that many of
' them had been literally unhorsed. He would
here disclaim all idea of imputing to that Hon.
"Gentleman any intention or wish mislead the
House, particularly as he (Sir Francis) had mo-
tives for refraining from any imputation against
the Hen. Gentleman ; which, although that Hon.
Gentleman might have forgotten, were still very
powerful with him (Sir Francis.) The Hon.
Gentleman, it was true, might have found himself
justified in the professional reservation of having
only stalled from his brief. After these came,
naturally, the Noble Marquis opposite, who
mounts and soars into the regions of fancy and
delusion, so far above all his compeers, who de-
clared that the accounts of attacks made Upon the.
people by the military were false and groundless;
that on the contrary, the people h iad attacked
the military with showers of stones, brickbats,
and even tire-arms; but that the military used
none ; that although care had been taken to re-
move those missiles, the Noble Lord had found
that, on that same spot, thousands of stones had
fallen upon the unoffending heads of the Yeo-
manry ; and therefore supposed that the people
had come prepared with them in their pockets.
He (Sir Francis Burdett) did not believe that
inference to be a just one, and would rather sus-
pect it bad been a meteoric shower by, which
those heroes had been assailed, which he thought
a much more rational conclusion than that they
had come from the pockets of the people.—(Hear
and a laugh.) That the Magistrates were, even
after that attack, so anxious to act according to
law, that one of them read the Riot Act from
the window of the house in which they had as-
sembled. One scrupulous Magistrate fearing it
had not been heard, like another Decius, de-
voted himself for his country, plunged into the
crowd, and was trodden down by, the people.
Two having been disposed of, another presented
himself, (for, like Falstaff's men in buckram,
they continued to increase) and fearing the peo-
ple were still ignorant that the Riot Act had
been read, he also read it. All the assertions
which charged the people with havltig been the
first aggressors had been proved to be false, by
the most irrefragible testimony, for, with the
exception of three, all the witnesses who had been
examined on the inquiry at York gave evidence
of the good and peaceable conduct of the people
previous to the attack by the cavalry, two of
those three, Mr. Hulton and Mr. Entwistle. Mr.
'Holton was the only person who spoke of the
attack, and of the showers of stones described by
the Noble Lord. He (Sir Francis) hoped these
stones had been preserved, as they would form
an appropriate monument to the Noble Lord.—
But even Mr. Hulton could not to this day
tell how the attack on the people com-
menced, or from what motive, or by whose
order this spilling of the blood of the people
happened, which called so loudly for inquiry.—
But Mr. Helton says, that seeing the cavalry
beaten, he ordered Col. PEstrange and the 15th
Dragoons to support them ; and yet, to this mo-
ment, not even the Rev. Mr. Hay, nor indeed any
other mortal, could be found to bear out the
statement of Mr., Hulton ; and all the remaining
evidence taken at York sufficiently proved the
peaceable conduct of the people on that fatal
day. Whether that meeting was legal or illegal
was no reason for dispersing it by violence, and
which violence, he contended, was a sufficicnt
ground for instituting an inquiry. For a long
time previous to the meeting the Magistrates had
been aware of the intention of the people to march
with banners, of the drilling, &c., and yet they
took no steps to pievent those thinas. In the
papers on the table would be found a letter,
signed by a Mr. Morris (we believe) to a Noble-
man, who performed the functions of an officer
well known in France, but happily until now
never heard of in England, he meant Lieutenant
of Police. In that letter he says, that " although
anxious to preserve the peace, yet he had no
power to prevent the intended meeting." From
this be (Sir Francis) would deduce that the Ma-
gistrates were not aware that the meeting would
be illegal. There was another letter from a Mr.
Spooner, of sth July, 1819, in which hedescri bed
his fears that, at an intended meeting to be held
at Birmingham, for the purpose of electing a Le-
gislatorial Attorney, much violence would take
place ; but on the 13th of same month he wrote
to say that the meeting of the 12th had, con-
trary to his expectations, passed off without
any outrage having been commited by the
people. From which he (Sir Francis Burdett)
would infer, that the people could not be
acted upon in the manner, the anticipation
of which had so alarmed him. It ought to be
recollected, too, that that was one of the greatest'
meetings that had been held. On the ground of
similar anticipations, the Lord Mayor of London
wished to prevent the great Smithfield meeting,
and'wrote for advice to the Lieutenant of Police :
but that Noble Lord did not feel himself war-
ranted in preventing it. From this also he would
deduce, that these meetings were not then held
to be contrary to his'. At the Smithfield meet-
ing Mr. Harrison presided. Yet, although ar-
rested in the chair, and in the heart of that im-
mense meeting, no attempt was made at resist-
ance ; and therefore the Manchester Magistrates
were not justified in their anticipation of violence
on the part of the people, nor in their conduct
at the meeting. He could conceive no motive
for that conduct, but a wish to instigate,the peo-
ple to an attempt at revolution ; for it had been
proved that one of the most inflammatory of the
handbills which had been distributed at the
Smithfield meeting, had been previously seen and

r•Eedadwabryds. L oindeSnidetouathnoend I d
tloacil\bire.enntarayc,seiltnisb.
patch, which stated that it was not the intention
of the Magistrates to stop the columns of the peo-
ple on their Way to the hustings, and described
the Military preparations made—the line of con-
stables
ettendieg from the hustings to the house
in Which the Magistrates had assembled. Even
Mr. Nadin had Walked. through the people with-
, out having been offended, and therefore any war;
rant could have been executed without danger
from resistance. He then went on to state, that
there were no pikes (although a Noble Lord in
another place had said that there were pikes), but
that there were plenty of sticks and staves. It
'appeared, by Mr. Nalin's own testimony, that
so far from his preceding the Yeomanry *.y.
had preceded him. The letter then all ted
the colours and other matters taken fr the
hustings. Mr.'Saxton's case was a lam' e one.
A Yeoman said to another, " There is' hat vii=
lain Saxton ; run your sword throufit him."—
" No," said the other, " I will leave that to
you." He made the attempt accordingly, and it
was only by stooping that Mr. Saxton had es-
caped death ; and that was one of the persons
whom the'Crown had refused to prosecute. The
law of England was founded upon the law of
' God. The first command of the Almighty to
him who was the ancestor of all the present race
of mankind, was, that " whosoever sheds the
blood of Mtn, by man shall his blood be shed.!'
Murder was a crime for which no satisfaction
could be given, nor reparation made ; and until
this blood be expiated, the land will remain de-
filed. It would be found in that sacred volume,
in which we all profess to believe, that• even in
the case of a man killing another by accident, the
homicide should fly to the City of Refuge, from
which he could not depart until purified by the
High Priest. Even if a man be attacked himself,
he must not raise his hand against his brother's
life, until he himself shall have been driven to
the wall. Although the Riot Act had been
read, still that was no justification of the slaugh-
ter of the people, as there was no evidence to
prove that the people had been made, acquainted
with that circumstance. A few days ago a lad
had been executed at Shrewsbury, for having
continued rioting one hour after the Riot Act
had•been read ; it was said, that although that
person- was of respectable . connexions, and
that much interest had been used to save
him, yet that an example was necessary.
—But it could not be necessary to let
loose mounted soldiers, to rides over and cot
down even defenceless women. One poor woman
with a child in her arms had been rode over, and
the child killed, yet the Coroner's inquest had
found that the child died of a fall from its mo
titer's arms ! The lion. Baronet here read from
a paper an account of the •transactions which
took place, which he described as more strongly
resembling a town taken by storm than any thing
~,i.
else. He might well ask, was this a Chri= sti . •
land ? was this a land of liberty ? He hoped the :-
lit
House would prove that it was still a Christian
land—and that we still. had some liberty remain- 4,
ing—and that, whatever became of the people's t::
money, still their liVes should not be sported
with.—(Cheers.)—The people had not only beat,
cut down by the Yeomanry, but bruised by the •
peace-officers. On the inquiry, when one persee
was asked how he knew them to be peace-efb.--
' cers, he replied he did not know them to be such
until he saw them knock down the people with
bludgeOns.—(A laugh.)--The bruises were, in
many instances, as fatal as the cuts and stabs ;
lie mentioned the case of Lees, which he felt
reluctance to describe in the words of a cen.rti
witness, that he looked exactly like a soldief
who had been flogged. Mr. hay went on to scat!
that Hunt was made prisoner, and that a few per'
sons were hurt. The Magistrates-haying committed
all these outrages, assembled together to ascera
Win what crimes had been committed.—(Cheers)
—After that dreadful example had been made,
and that. Ministers imagined they had terria ~
fled the people from proceeding further in the
another,
business of Reform, and lie was quit"
sure, as large a meeting, took place at Westrnin-
ster, at which he ' had the honour to preside, II
order to enter into subscriptions fer the relief of the
sufferers, and he had the pleasure •to say that
with that subscription six hundred persons had
been relieved, amongat whom were seven police
constables, one man who was suspected of .being, ;,
a spy, and 120 women.—(Hear, hear.)---Mr,,'
Hutton himself had seen one woman down Id°
her breast cut open. We have the higheSt au-
thority perhaps on the Bench (Justice BayleY)
to say that it was not the number, but the:intetv
tions of the parties, which rendered a meetiag
illegal. The Learned Judge was anold Lawyer'
he had read the old books and knew, no doubt'
that voluntas et pro positum distingunt maleficiagf'
The people met numerously, because they kne'f
that numbers only gave, respectability to their •
proceedings. On this occasion, knowing their
enemies only wanted an opportunity to attaci‘
them, they had been particularly cautiousin their
conduct. The people had only done that whicis
the Magistrates themselves had sanctioned. Wileis
the Meeting was announced for electing a Legit'
latorial Attorney at Birmingham, the 'Magistrate
there did that which they ought to have donec,,
they ,gave the people warning.. Sir Francis 1.
diculech the chimerical fears of those who ii)Pre.,,,
hended danger front the meetings of the peoPie;
who listened to the tales of the intended seior
and confiscation of property, and the asstoq;
Lion of titles by them. If any person Nt":
be found so weak as to credit those stories, t"e/A
awe
ought to be taught to believe that Atlas 1", to
resign his load, and that the world won id fall
~t
Mr. I"'
pieces. It was never communicated to . . e
in any one way that the meeting about to `),e
held was illegal ; and from this circumstance':;,.,
had a right to conclude that the meeting: to is.
place under the sanction of the 11.1,1„eistratesrow
(Hear !)—lt appeared. further that a rttee:el7. ,
was held at Wigan, after the Manchester r11,',',.. 1
ing, and a still larger one at York, yet the ll'ailL'i, i
gistrates did not think proper to -interpose
violence ; and,what was the consequence ? ''
r.l.:d
that they pasaed away in the, greatest orderti'i,' i
tranquillity, as was the Case in all the u1e.",1,,,,
that took place throughout the Country Ir's".'

I

and after. Where then was the ground ftiiisn-
ptiting disloyalty to the people ? On- the Con-
trary, had they not uniformly shown the greatest
reverence for the laws ? He hardly knew a cir-
cumstance in all history, ancient or modern,
more calamitous, and.more to be deplored; than
the .fatal transaction of the 16th of August, at
Manchester,—a day that would never be forgot
in the history of this, country—' a day blackened
with a deed which never would be effaced from
the memory of Englishmen—i/lad fatale lethum
et nemquam sanabila minus. He had a right to
charge upon the Ministers the whole burden of
the accusation, and passing by Magistrates and
constables, he, on the part of the people of Eng-
land, demanded an investigation into the conduct
of- the Administration itself. It was a remark-
able circumstance, too, that the number of vic-
tims On that fatal day was double the number of
killed and wounded on • the glorious occasion of
the victory by Admiral Jarvis, in consequence
of which he received the title of Earl St. -V in-
cent.
When that gallant leader. obtained the
victory
of St. Vincent, with fifteen sail of the
line over twenty-seven sail of the enemy, the
return of killed and wounded did not exceed
three or four hundred. At Manchester the num7
ter of victims—men, women, and children, was
computed at upwards of 600. Was it possible,
then, that so fatal a daf should not be remem-
bered—and remembered, too, with a restless
• anxiety for the Parliamentary inquiry, of which
the unfortunate sufferers and their friends were
debarred in any other place ? Because, as to
Courts of Law, they knew very well that the
subject was too vast in its nature to be made
matter of investigation by them ; the Judges might
Indeed inquire into and perhaps redress the
wrongs of ,A, B, 'or C, but they could never
remedy the injury which had been inflicted on
the laws and constitution of the country. lie
had almost forgot to notice a document, which
Was a very short one; consisting of five or six lines,
but which-Was sufficiently long, according to that
classical .Iliaxim, which said that nothing was
long, from which nothing could be taken without
detriinent • and nothing was short from which
any thing could be abstracted with advantage.
4le referred to the letter of- Lord Sidmouth to
the Manchester,Magistrates.—(Cheers.)—A let-
.
ler which contained no feeling in which the King
of Englanthcould participate. What did it state'?
Immediately on the arrival of the dreadful news,
before even a decent defence could be patched,.
up for the occasion, the letter stated that " his
Majesty returns his great satisfaction" __a Word,
he could venture to assert, so objectionable, that
bad the Noble. Lord ransacked every dictionary
1' the English language, he could not have pulled
' out orie word which, as a rock, lie should have
More avoided.—(Cheers)—His Majesty was re-
Presented to have felt the highest satisfaction
when the news of the miserable massacre reached
him, and was pleased to bestow his highapproba-
N' lion on the Magistrates for their official conduct on
7i. that occasion. Ile - hardly knew a parallel in-
stance in all history for this event. The only
occurrence which resembled it at all, was that
Which was perpetrated by the debased Romans,
iii the period of their fall, in the Asiatic pro-
\lures. When that .base -people had determined
4011 the destruction of the Goths, the Master-
tig"Cral of the- troops, in pursuance of a discre-
cqu'rSorder, which he received from the Senate
at
Constantinople, of acting as he should judge
p-""t expedient for the good of the republic, con-
certed measures for the' execution of his bloody
siZn. He issued an order that the Gothic
d°llh should be assembled in the capital cities
Of their respective provinces, and upon an ap-
Pointed day, the youth' being' collected in the
squares, all the avenues carefully blocked up by
the Roman Soldiers, and at the same hour, the
signal being given throughout. the provinces; the
Eoldiers fell upon the defenceless multitude, and
.;
slaughtered' them indiscriminately. He would
..sc't do the 'King of England the injustice to sup.
ITse that he could approve Of 'the bloody act of
the 16th of August.' • Ile held it to be an act
Purely and exclusively ministerial. The atrociouS
massacre -to which he alluded, umparialleled as it
~..was history, was yet approved of ; and- this
was theqang:- uagein which that extraordinary up-
Piohation was expressed :—Efficacia exercitus
A,4_lli vetax t Salataris. Whether or not the NOble
rson. who • inditcd this singular epistle to the
b anchesterMagistrates might have been influenced
fly his classical recollections—or whether, in ap-
josr'virig of • bloody deeds,. some. devil prompted
11e mind, and guided the • pen into the adop-
-110" of the same phrases in all times and ages,
lie would not now stop to inquire, but he
ac,
Id ever regard it -as strange that men so far
.t,"'!ss as the historians of the Gothic war, and
"e Noble Lord (Sidmouth), should have up-
' 4treved of two transactions equally. bloody and
aocious in their nature, and recorded their
01,1)robation precisely in the same phrases. That
nO e deed was prompt, decisive, and -efficacious,
man could doubt who remembered the suds
"enness of the onset, the fury of the-attack, and
the number of victims who had fallen in conse-
ifluence. But that such an atrocious event should
esv,,
of excited unalloyed satisfaction in the heart
.the King,nothing on earth could make him
elfeve. No man-in England, much less the King
if even the blood that was spilt was a necessary
feeling
to the law—could be so devoid of
or common sense as to use so disgusting
Such
eXpressimn on such an occasion.—(Hear !)
deeds reflected disgrace and shame on the'
without
.of Englishmen; and if passed over
a rigid inquiry, that House would sink so
low that nothing hereafter could sink it lower.
thLet them not turn a deaf ear to the complaints,
e simple,- unexaggerated complaints of the un-
ato p sufferers ;. and let them remember, that up
that. moment their wrongs were unredressed.
t'is
was the first time since England was Eng-
land that a -Coroner had taken upon him to dis-
charge a T
then stated. • 'nrY.—(Hear!)—The Hon. Baronet
. the history of the conduct of the Co-
s dismissing the Jury, and the subsequent
Prot , '
istin;Thalsoit_hat were taken upon that act, in- p to this moment, justice had been.
• ru cud
of Atincholtueloyed, and denied to the people
11" the cas lie again repeated, -that it was
e of individual suffering which he no*