The Sun.
London, England, 1827-04-12 00:00:00

PETITIONS AGAINST THE CORN LAWS.

Lord KING stated, that he had to present to
their Lordships a petition against the Corn Laws—a
petition very numerously signed, and corning from
persons who had very severely felt the distresses of
the times. It came from the inhabitants of Old-
ham, in the county of Lancaster, and perhaps would
not be thought by their Lordships worthy of much
attention. It was the petition of the poorer sort,
who were not growers, but only consumers of corn,
but was to be presented to an assembly which was
well known to be exceedingly disinterested and
liberal on this subject. The petition prayed for a
repeal of the Corn Laws, and for a metallic currency.
Their Lordships were aware that Ministers had, on a
certain occasion, procured a Resolution to be passed in
another Assembly, to the effect that a 1/. note in
paper was equal to 1/. in specie, at a time when
the paper had notoriously suffered a very consider-
able depreciation. They had by this means wrought
a sort of transubstantiation, and this new doctrine
of transubstantiation might be added to the 39
Church articles, as a 40th article to the creed
of national fait*. A certain Statesman had also
found out, that although a man worth nothing should
awake some morning and find a guinea in his
pocket, it would be of no use to him : but such was
the grinding effect of taxation, that although a man
should go to sleep with a guinea in his pocket, he
was very likely when he awoke to find nothing
there. Then the Ministers came with their Corn
Laws, thinking that by this means they could faci-
litate the payment of taxes, and the law was enacted
by persons, who, in this manner, taxed others for
their own benefit. What would they think in
France, of the circumstance of one class of persons
so far domineering over others, as to make them pay
taxes for the peculiar benefit of that class ? Even
before the revolution, there was nothing more than
an attempt to preserve old abuses ; but our Minis-
ters and Legislators, not content with old abuses,
had recourse to those Corn Laws, and thereby in-
troduced more abuses. The old French Nobles
thought and acted upon the opinion, that the lower
orders were made for the sole purpose of being
worked and taxed for the benefit of their betters;
and the nobles and gentry of this country appeared
to think, that the lower orders were made only to
starve for their advantage. But nobles, and, he was
apprehensive, princes also, were rather an indocile
race, and had gained but very little, in point of wis-
dom or knowledge, from the example of the French
Revolution. The only country in Europe where
torn was as dear as it was in this country was the
country of King Ferdinand, and it was to be pre-
sumed that he too had his Corn Laws for the pur-
pose of keeping up prices. Ferdinand was, indeed,
a king every inch of him, and had learned nothing
from the French Revolution ; and when he wanted
to make a change in his Ministry, he took care to
advise on the subject with some cunning old Jesuit,
so that the new Government was, in effect, the
same as the old ; and thus nothing was gained. -To
be sure, King Ferdinand was said to be rather a
flimsy kind of gentleman, and much interested about
petticoats and such matters, and besides a man of
very royal bearing, as Cardinal Wolsey said of his
aligx,_l3l.oreover 1-4 izAurar.,4 k ,iiscAm.
o whose advice, no doubt,

sciarETTO whose advice, no doubt, lie paid a proper
deference. But with respect to these petitioners,
they prayed for retrenchment in the public expendi-
ture, as we-: -is for a repeal of the Corn Laws.
The Earl of LAUDERDALE objected to the
receiving the petition, which he said was irregular,
inasmuch as the petition and the signatures were
written in different patches. It had been the prac-
tice of their Lordships to reject such petitions, un-
less the party who presented them chose to with-
draw them.

Lord KING said that the prayer of the petition
was written on the Fame piece with the signatures.

Lord CLIFDEN asked them what was to be
done in case a petition should be too long to allow
of the signatures being attached to the same piece of
paper, or parchment ?
Lord KING understood that a little pasting
would cure the defect, and he withdrew the petition
for the time, in order to put it in regular shape.
The LORD CHANCELLOR observed, if we
heard right, that the petition had at least afforded
the Noble Lord an opportunity of making one of his
pretty speeches.
Lord KING then presented a petition from the
Weavers of Perth, praying for a repeal of the Corn
Laws, which was received and laid on the tahle.—
Adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, APRIL 11.
EMIGRATION.

Mr. MAXWELL, seeing the Hon. Secretary for
the Colonies in his place, was anxious to ask him a
question as to the intention of Government upon the
subject of Emigration. The Hon. Member was
proceeding to detail the offers made by the Relief
Committee to co-operate with the Emigration Com-
mittee, in assisting distressed manufacturers to emi-
grate from Scotland (as we understood), when
The SPEAKER asked if the Hon. Member
meant to conclude with a motion ?

AfAXWELL said, his present object was to
Ht an answer from the Hon. Secretary (Mr. W.
orton) upon this point.

The SPEAKER said, that the Hon. Member
must be aware that the course he was taking was
irregular, inasmuch as it could only lead to a debate,
when there was no motion before the House.

Mr. MAXWELL begged pardon, and repeated
his question, as to whether it was the intention of
Government to co-operate with the Emigration Com-
mittee and Relief Committee, in aiding distressed
manufacturers to emigrate ?
Mr. W. HORTON said, the Hon. Member must
be aware that it was impossible for him to state, at
that moment, what Government or that House
should ultimately resolve to do. Some time must
necessarily elapse before the Report of the Com-
mittee could be made, and the discussion of the ques-
tion could not be brought on until after the holidays.
But this delay would in no way prejudice the parties
alluded to, neither would their late arrival in the Co-
lony injure them, inasmuch as they would be pro-
vided with rations on their arrival. The Hon.
Member was proceeding, when—
Mr. SPEAKER called him to order, there being
no Motion before the House.

Mr. W. HORTON said he was anxious to pre-
rent any misrepresentation from going forth upon
the subject. There was no fear that the persons
about to emigrate would be prejudiced by delay, as
no doubt the authorities in Scotland, and the gentry
there, would use their endeavours to prevent indi-
viduals from suffering any injury by the delay, which
must necessarily take place before a decision was
come to.

WELLS.
reported at the Bar that
Mr. C. GRANT having
the Wells' Election Committee had adjourned till
to-morrow, upon having received a letter, announc-
ing the illness of Sir Charles Hastings, Dr. Beau-
tnont, the Hon. Baronet's medical attendant, was
-.alled to the Bar and examined, as to his (Sir C.
T s) illness. The Medical Gentleman stated, that
`nr alaa. Hastings was ill, but would, he hoped,he

able to attend the Committee by Saturday. The
Hon. Baronet was accordingly excused.
COUNTY GALWAY ELECTION.

Lord FORBES appeared at the Bar with the
Report of the Committee appointed to try the va-
lidity of the Election for the County of Galway.
The Report was brought up and read. It stated
that Richard Martin, Esq. was not duly elected, and
that. J. C. Lambert, Esq. was duly elected, and that
the petitions on either side were not frivolous or
vexatious. The Committee further specially called
the attention of the House to the scenes of riot and
disorder which took place in Galway during the
Election—houses were burnt, lives were lost, and
many persons on both sides maimed and bruised.
They regretted to add, that the proper authorities
appeared to have neglected to give sufficient protec-
tion to the witnesses who went to vote, although
there W,.:5 sufficient force, both civil and military,
who were ready to act if called upon. The Com-
mittee recommended that the evidence taken before
them should be laid before the House, in order, if
necessary, to found some measure upon it. They
concluded by recommending, that. the House should
take the necessary measures to prevent the recur-
rence of such outrages in future.
The Clerk of the Crown was ordered to attend
to-morrow, to amend the writ; and the evidence
taken before the Committee was ordered to be laid
before the House.
ORANGE PROCESSIONS, IRELAND.

Mr. HUME rose to present a petition from cer-
tain inhabitants of Newtown-Limavaddy, upon the
subject of Orange Processions. The Hon. Member
proceeded to read several extracts from the petition,
from which it appeared, that the neighbourhood was
annoyed by repeated Orange processions, at which
the yeomanry were in the habit of attending, fre-
quently with their arms, to the great terror and
alarm, and often to the serious injury, of those who
differed in opinion from the Orange body. The
Hon. Member complained that these outrages, in-
stead of being discouraged and put down, were fos-
tered and encouraged by the Magistracy and Gentry,
whose duty it was to preserve the public peace, and
deal out impartial justice to all classes of society.
He hoped the petition would receive the serious at-
tention of the House, as he felt convinced, from in-
formation he had received from other quarters, that
the statements it contained were perfectly true.
Upon the question diet the petition be brought up,
_ - .

Mr. DAWSON said, that as a Magistrate of the
County of Derry, he felt called upon to make a few
observations upon this petition. He agreed per-
fectly with those who thought all associations and
processions of the description alluded to were of the
most dangerous description, as they were frequently
attended with bloodshed, and almost always with
riot and disorder; besides, no matter which side
commenced, the other was sure to retaliate. But in
Derry the Orangemen were willing to give up their
processions, if those to whom they were opposed
gave up theirs. It was said that Magistrates and
Country Gentlemen had declined to interfere ; but
this he altogether denied. On the contrary, be-
fore last 12th of July, an Address was put forth,
signed by the Magistrates, and himself amongst the
number, prohibiting Protestants from joining in
Orange processions; but, unfortunately, the order
was not attended to. What was done next ? The
Magistrates subscribed, and an indictment was pre-
ferred against the offenders. The most able lawyers
were employed in framing that indictment with a
view to bring the offence within the operation of the
late Bill; but the Judge directed the Jury to acquit
the parties, as the Bill did not reach the alleged of-
fence ; so that the law was clearly defective. Now,
as to what had been said about the persons attending
these processions carrying arms, he could only say,
that he had witnessed many of them, and the only
arms he observed was an old sword, carried by a
person called a sword-bearer, to add to his dignity.
Mr. S. RICE gave the Hon. Gentleman credit
for his efforts, both there rrd elsewhere„ to suppress
Orange processions. But he (Mr. Rice) would
state one fact as to the Yeomanry taking their arms
to Oran e Processions. A militar friend of his,

it necessary to prohibit Orangemen from taking
their arms to Orange Processions within the district
which he commanded. This was felt to be a loss of
a kind of prerogative which they had previously en-
joyed, and to mark their indignation at being so
treated, they burnt the Colonel in effigy.—(Hear,
hear.)—lt was said that the law was defective ; ad-
mitting that it was so, it might be amended so as to
reach these processions. But why was it defective?
It was because the evil against which it was directed
was not to be reached by law. If they wanted to sup-
press the evils which existed in Ireland, they must
remove the causes of those evils, otherwise anarchy
and disunion must continue to exist.
Sir G. HILL trusted that the Honourable Mem-
ber who presented the petition, would do the Ma-
' gistrates of the county of Londonderry the justice to
retract, with regard to them at least, the opinion he
had stated, that justice was not equally administered
in Ireland. Now the truth was, that they were all
most anxious to perform their duties impartially, and
that they all endeavoured to keep themselves un-
biassed, for in the county of Derry not one of them
belonged to any of the Orange Lodges; and from
personal experience of their conduct, and recollec-
tion of his own, he could assert, that it was their in-
variable practice, as indeed it was their duty, to dis-
courage any Orange processions. He :4 egged to as-
sure the Honourable Gentleman, that there was net
the slightest foundation for the report, that a part of
the magistrates countenanced these processions,
though the other part objected to and discouraged
them. He declared that the magistrates left no en-
deavour untried; but the truth was, that the efforts
of the magistrates were sometimes counteracted by
the opinions of the Judges, who had declared at the
Assizes that Orange processions were legal.

Sir J. NEWPORT observed, it was impossible
to doubt that penal enactments alone would not put
down the practices of which this petition complained.
The only course the Government ought to adopt, if
they really intended to prevent these processions,
was, to put an end to the armed yeomanry of the
country. Why were these yeomanry allowed still
to receive pay from the Crown, and why were they
maintained under pretence of preserving the-public
peace, when it was universally admitted that they
always disturbed the peace 't Above all, why were
they allowed, at all times, to have arms in their
hands Whatever the Hon. Baronet might declare
as to the intentions and wishes of the Magistrates
of Derry, the fact was as he (Sir John Newport)
had now stated it. If legal proceedings were taken
against those Orange disturbers of the public peace,
they were generally unavailing; the accused were
generally acquitted by their brother Orangemen, and
were then turned out again to break the public peace
in the same manner as before. Now, the course the
Government ought to take was this :—All persons
concerned in these disturbances, from the highest to
the lowest, ought to be punished for their miscon-
duct, and ought no longer to be allowed the means
of violating the public peace with the very arms that
were given to preserve it. Unless this course was
pursued, declarations such as that of the Hon. Baronet
opposite would effect nothing.
Mr. PLUNKETT thought, that after the recent
conduct of the Magistracy of the county of Derry,
the declarations made by the Hon. Baronet (Sir O.
Hill) though not useless, as the Hon. Member for
Waterford seemed to suppose, were certainly unne-
cessary. He (Mr. Plunkett) merely rose for the
purpose of preventing an error in point of law from
going abroad with regard to what had fallen from
the Hon. Member for Derry. That Hon. Baronet
had stated, that the intentions of the Magistracy
were sometimes frustrated by the opinions of the
Judges, who had declared Orange processions to be
legal. He thought that in making that statement
the Hon. Baronet must have been in error. Orange
processions were decidedly illegal. It was true that
the word procession was not to be found in the Sta-
tute, but any Association of the kind was declared
to be illegal; and the Association itself being illegal,
l any procession or emanation from it was equally so.

He did not wish to be understood as stating that the
law was perfect in every respect; but he was pre-
pared to declare, that it was sufficient with respect
to these processions, at least, if it was properly
administered.

Lord J. RUSSELL concurred with the observa-
tions of the, Hon. Member for Aberdeen.
Mr. G. DAWSON said, that he believed he
could give the House a statement, which would in
some measure support what had been said by his
Hon. Friend the Member for Derry. He was in
that county on the 12th of July last, and on the ap-
proach of that day, he, in conjunction with other
Magistrates, published a declaration of their opinion
upon the illegality of such processions. That opi-
nion was distributed nearly one fortnight before the
day arrived; but, lie was sorry to say, it produced
little or no effect. Upon the morning in question,
he and other Magistrates rode up to a hill, e well-
known place in the county, and there he saw some
thousands assembled. When they '
saw the Magi-
strates, they chose that very moment to pass before
them. He immediately addressed these persons upon
the illegality of their conduct, in assembling there
and decorating themselves with Orange colours, and
marching in regular army ; on which one of ;hem
stepped up to him, and said that they denied their
conduct to be illegal ; on which he (Mr. Dawson)
repeated his former opinion, that it was. That per-
son then said, that when a man was brought
before the magistrates at the Sessions, for any offence,
they told him what part of the Common Law, or
what particular Statute he had offended. Now,
they denied that they were offending against the
Common Law, because they were committing no
breach of the peace, although they were decorated
with Orange eclours, and did happen to be walk-
ing in a kind of regular order. He (Mr. D.) told
them they were offending against the 6th Geo.
IV., which was passed for the purpose of put-
ting down such Associations. The man denied
that that statute extended to their processions, and
offered to try the question in a legal manner, for
which purpose he gave his name, and said he and
some others would appear the next day and give
sureties to answer at the Assizes. They did so,
, and at the Assizes they appeared as Orangemen,
and avowed their connection with the Orange Asso-
' ciation. They were tried before Mr. Justice Jebb,
and he (Mr. Dawson) was examined as a witness.
When the case had been gone through, the Judge
turned round to the Jury, and said, " Gentlemen,
there is no case to go to you—there must be an ac-
quittal." That trial created a great sensation
throughout the country, and the people were now
convinced, under the authority of that Judge, that
such proceedings were not illegal. Under these
circumstances, it did seem to him that it re-
quired more than the mere doctrine of any one man,
however high his authority, to disabuse them of
their error. If the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr.
Plunkett) really entertained the opinion he had ex-
pressed, he, (Mr. Dawson) trusted that he would
adopt some step to bring the matter to trial, and
would draw the indictment himself; but till that
was done, and as long as the opinion of Mr. Justice
Jebb was uncontradicted, he (Mr. Dawson) did not
expect that the deluded people of the country would
give up their idea of the law.
Mr. H. GRATTAN said, that certainly all the
Judges were not of the same opinion as Mr. Justice
Jebb; as an instance of which he might mertion,
that, at the last assizes at Armagh, 31 men were in-
dicted under the Act in question. They relied on
the strength of their case as Orangemen ; they knew
they were going before an Orange Jury, and they
were sure they should be acquitted. The result was
just what the Orangemen anticipated. The Jury
pronounced a verdict of acquittal. The Judges said
—" Gentlemen, you hare acquitted them, but they
are guilty." At least, therefore, there was a va-
riance of opinion about the matter. He wished to tell
the English gentlemen, that that question would not
be settled until the great and paramount question
of Catholic Emancipation was settled. Letters
from that country were received, day after day, an-
nouncing the terrible state of Ireland. Society there

lIVIL cut up by the, roots, Auld time, must 'decide
whether that country should go on in peace and
harmony, or whether it should be re.hteed to a do-
sert. At present its state was such, that it was im-
possible any gentleman, either Protestant or Ca-
tholic, could remain there.

Colonel O'NEILL begged to deny the imputa-
tion which the Hon. Member (Mr. H. Grattan)
had cast upon twelve Irish Jurymen, in saying that
the Orange defendants went into Court convinced
they should be acquitted, because they had to ap-
pear before an Orange Jury. He thought also he
saw, in one part of this House, an intention to put
down the processions of one party, while all the il-
legality of the other was suffered to pass unnoticed.
These Orange processions were made the subject of
loud complaints, while nothing was said against that
Association which existed in defiance of law. lie
thought these were but the insidious measures of
party, and he trusted they would not be successful.
The petition was then brought up. On the
question that the petition do lie upon the table,
Mr. HUME said he could not retract the opinion
he had set out with. If he were one of the Mem-
bers of the Catholic Association, he would not be
gaiet under existing circumstances, but would un-
ceasingly seek for redress for those injuries which
were inflicted on the body of which he was a mem-
ber, and on his country.
Mr. H. GRATTAN, in explanation, denied that
he had cast any imputation on the Irish Jurymen.—
He had merely related what had really occurred,
and on the table of that House itself there was a
statement that a verdict, similar to that which he
had mentioned, had been given, and the Judge had
said, " Thank God that is your verdict, acrd not
mine."