Star.
London, England, 1809-09-16 00:00:00

man), feeling a: he al .eays did on such subjects, to
be silent. He. had marked the contest betweenahe
Worthy Barcnc' and the Honourable' Gentleman on
the floor (Mr. S. Dixon), for the honour of bringing,
forward the present proposition, and for the character
for loyalty thence resulting. He had no doubt they
were the two most loyal men in the country ; but
though he had often observed how lamely the Hon:
Gentleman had supported any measure which he
thought proper to intrude on the Court, he really
thought it would have been better for the worthy Al-
derman to have yielded to him on the present occa.
sion, for, lame as that Honourable Gentleman had
often been, he ( Mr. Waithman) thought it impossible.
for him to have been so lame as the worthy Alder-
man had been. The worthy Alderman had told the
Court in what state these countries were at the time
his present Majesty ascended the Throne, but he had
omitted to favour them with a view of their present
situation. He would therefore permit him (Mr.l
Waldman) to supply this deficiency. He was con-
&lent that lie possessed more loyalty than either the
Worthy Baronet or the Honourable Gentleman op-
posite ; but he was also satisfied that the best way to
'sinew it, was to point out to his Majesty how he might
with greater certainty preserve, or rather return to
those principles by which he and his family were sea-
ted on the Throne. When the country was brought
to such a situation that no man could contemplate it
without dread and dismay, was it not the greatest
proof we could adduce of love and loyalty, to ap-.
proach the Throne, and point out the Councillors by
whom it had been brought into such a situation ? He
should take a cursory view of the reign of his Ma-
jesty, for the purpose of trying, whether it really
afforded those grounds for joy and gratulation Which
the worthy Alderman would have us suppose. In
I his Majesty's speech to Parliament on his accession,
be took a view of America, the East Indies, and the
Continent of Europe, and congratulated us on our
situation in respect to each, while, at the same time,
perfect union and harmony prevailed at home.—
Then Earl Chatham was at the helm of public affairs
—and then, at the end of a most expensive war, our
expenditure' was only seven millions, one million of
which went to constitute a sinking fund ; yet we had
now to Contrast with this an expenditure of seventy mil-
liens. The debt, even as it existed at the Accession
of his Majesty, was esteemed by Blackstone to be so
enormous, that he esteemed the continuance of it as
almost inconsistent with a free Constitution ; what,
however, were we to think of it now, when it was
increased in a tenfold degree, subject to a correspond-
ing number of tax-gatherers, extortioners, and all
such ? After his Majesty's Accession to the Throne
only a single Sunday was suffered to intervene, when
the Earl of Bute was sworn into the Privy Council.—
Earl Chatham was then dismissed, and Bute became
the great adviser and ruler in all things. From that
moment there was erected, as had been justly stated
by Lord Chatham, a power behind the Throne
greater than the Throne itself ; and from that mo-
ment Lord Bute and Charles Jenkinson, had recom-
mended those measures which had disgraced the pre-
sent reign. The Worthy Alderman had talked of an
act of grace and favour by his Majesty, in rendering
the Judges independent of the Crown, by making their
appointments for life. He understood that the King
could do no wrong, therefore, it followed, that any pro-
per a cts were not to be esteemed as matters of grace from
his Majesty. We did not depend on the private virtues
of the Sovereign for the preservation of our liberties ;
and, if the instance alluded to were to be regarded
as a special act of royal grace, the portion of good
to be produced by it might be collected from what
soon after occurred, when that Court found itself
called on to Address his Majesty, in the year 1770,
to state that their applications for redress of sufferings
yet remained unanswered ; and that the only Judge
removeable by his Majesty had been dismissed for
defending the Constitution, and the rights of the peo-
ple in Parliament. The Judge he alluded to, was
the great Lord Camden, to whom, on the occasion,
that Court presented the freedom of the Corporation
in a gold box. There was another poi 1t to which the
Worthy Alderman referred—though, whether to ap-
prove or disapprove of it he did not know. That ge-
neral warrants had been rendered illegal by his pre-
sent Majesty. Did the Worthy Baronet really mean
to make this an act of his Majesty ? That his Minis-
ters did issue them was a fact ; that they were used
with a view of crushing an individual, who whatever
his character was of little consequence, had the merit
of opposing them and doing them away. In crush-
ing this individual, Ministers also crushed the liberties
of the country. He brought his action, and under
the sanction of the same -Earl Camden, then Chief
Justice Pratt, and of a Jury, general warrants were
declared illegal. The Worthy Alderman, surely,
was not incapable of distinguishing between the act
of the Jury, and of the King. The Hon. Gentleman
proceeded to read extracts from different Addresses
of the Common Council to the King. In one Ad-
dress, dated in the year 1769, they state that after
having insulted and defeated the law, the Parliament
had now completed it by wresting from the people
their last right—the right of election ; and that the
people had now no resource left but in his Majesty.
Every thing, they also state, is procured by money,
and by the prostitution of honours and employments.
In another address, in the year 1770, to which he
had already referred, they state their grievances to be
such a; they had never been even under Charles 1. or
the dispensing power of James 11. There was a time
when men ceased to be representatives, and that time
they state to be now arrived. It had been complained
of James the H. that the sittings of Parliament were
interrupted because they were not subservient to his
designs ; they had to complain that the sittings of their
Parliament were not suspended because they were
completely subservient. There had for years past
been men who wished to monopolize a greater share
of loyalty than belonged to them, and to allow none
of it to others. They had lately had Mr. Chairman
Reeves—now they had Mr. Bowles. Their loyalty,
however, was built only on gratitude ; it amounted to
nothing unless it was paid for—their object was a
pension or emolument, no matter of what kind—a
place for thertiselves, or their sons or brothers. It
was therefore no matter of surprise to any man that
they stepped forward, because their motives were
seen. But the surprise was, that a set of honest men
such as he saw around him should be deceived by
persons of the kind he had, pointed out. If they wish-
ed to shew their loyalty, they would go to his Ma-
jesty with wholesome advice—they would advise him

-

to get better men, to follow better measures, and to 1
change this Forte system. It was the duty of the
Csarrt to beware of such men, and to shew that the
best way.to protect the King was to protect the prin-
ciples which seated his family on the Throne. He
never saw a man of this description whom he did not '
find to be rotten at the core, and to have something
selfish about him. Alluding to the Spanish patriots,
to Holland, &c. he chewed that it had been the
principle of onr Government to endeavour to bolster
up the tyrannies of the ancient Governments of
these countries, in consequence of which theirs and
our efforts had failed, whereas had we given the
people something to fight for, the result would have
been very different. It appeared from a late state-
ment that a dear friend of the worthy Baronet's,
Lord Castlereagh and his family, had in places and
pensions from this country £36,000 per annum,
while the people of the country were screwed to
the utmost to pay the income and other taxes :
and, by a calculation made, it appeared that the sum
drawn by this man, who had been disgracing the
country, and by his friends, since the year 1766,
amounted at compound interest to upwards of three
millions, being as much as would have carried on one
of Queen Anne's wars. Yet the friends of Admini-
strations which had so abused the public resources,
now came and asked us to make a jubilee in honour
of the period during which these events had occur-
red. Could there be a greater insult than this, when
by the American war we had been stripped of our
territory, and now spent as much in one year as dur-
ing the whole of the war 1756 ? He should have
thought that every. thing 'was going on well. Was
it all a trick when the worthy Baronet and others
told us, that Hanover, that Spain, &c. were all es-
sential to our very existence ? Or do they now think
when all these are gone, that we can be secure with
any peace we may be able to procure ? He had al-
ways been a friend to peace; but not to such a peace
as at present, br for years might have been obtained.
Any peace we could now expect must be a peace to
be maintained at the expence of war. At the com-
mencement of this reign France was reduced ; we
were in possession of America ; and though the war
then concluded had been expensive, there was no
grumbling. Now our territories were dismembered,
and by a foolish war, with which we had no busi-
ness, we had seen France raised step by step to such
a situation as never State before enjoyed. To cele-
brate such a reign, he contended, was not due to the
Crown or to posterity, where there were nothing but
the private virtues of the Sovereign to counterbalance
the disasters which had been sustained. If the lives
of our subjects were nothing ; if their relatives were
not to be considered, let us look to the expence. Out
of the 50 years of the present reign, 30 of them had
been years of war and carnage ; and was this matter
of rejoicing ? Gentlemen might have contracts—
they might have loans, and it was fair they should
enjoy them : But were others to be led away from
consideration to this dreadful traffic ? These Gen-
tlemen were with every Administration, and deserted
even Mr. Pitt when out of place. Parliament had
not produced the resignation of the Duke of York,
nor any other desirable object; these were only caus-
ed by apprehension of the clamours of the people.—
Where was the man so constituted who could enjoy
a day of mirth after the picture he had drawn ?
What, however, did the Worthy Baronet propose T
Did he wish for illuminations, when the people could
not pay their assessed taxes ?—when in one parish
alone 300 applications had been made to be excused
paying them—when even in many instances the tax.
gatherers themselves had been unable to carry 0n...
He (Mr. Waithman) had no objection to an address
oCcongratulation to his Majesty as full of loyalty as
the Worthy Baronet could wish. But if the Worthy
Baronet thought that nothing but turtle and venison
would do, let him and his friends go to the Londow
Tavern, and feast at their pleasure ; or let his Lord.'
ship invite the Corporation to partake of the hospital'•
lity of the Mansion-house. The expence of entertain.
ing his Majesty at Guildhall on his accession, when
wine might he las. or 16s. per dozen, he stated to
be £6898. He also objected to the mode in which
the Court had been called. The Corporation was
the first body in the Metropolis, and should not have
been dictated to by any one. He concluded by reading
an amendment, which, however, he should not press.
It went to congratulate his Majesty, but at the same
time to warn him of the bad advice lie had been in
the use of receiving.
Mr. Draw( said, the motion before the Court did
not bear the construction which the worthy Member
(Mr. Waithman) had put upon it. The Motion
merely was, that the Court would celebrate the ensu-
ing anniversary of his Majesty's accession ; and so far
from pointing out how this ought to be done, it went
on to refer it to a Committee of all the Aldermen and
a Commoner from each ward present, to consider of
the best means of doing it, and to report those means
to the Court. The intentions of those who proposed
the measure were simply to shew their loyalty and
attachment to (notwithstanding all the frightful pic-
tures that had been drawn) the best Sovereign that
ever sat on the throne of England. Shortly would
arrive the fiftieth year of the reign of a Monarch who
had not, in a single instance, deviated from the pro-
fessions with which he commenced that reign. He
reminded the Court, in answer to some statements of
the last Speaker, that if the National Debt had in-
creased in his Majesty's reign, the means of extin-
guishtng the debt had increased along with it ; and
that the sum of no less than eight millions was an-
nually devoted to this purpose. He called upon every
man, to contemplate the mighty events that convuls-
ed Europe to its centre; and when our situation was
contrasted with the situation of our neighbours, was
there no event to make them comfortable ? Could it
do any good to depress the spirits of Englishmen ?
If there was a country to be envied on earth, it was
ours. It had been complained, that the King had
removed a Lord Chancellor. Had not every Lord
Chancellor that had ever existed, gone out and conic
in as a matter of course ? The Judges were as free as
men could possibly be. He thought the Court ought
first to thank GOD, on the approaching anniversary,
and next to congratulate the King. What besides
they did, he cared nut. Mitch had been said about
the expences of a dinner given by the City, at the
King's accession. At this dinner, many Ladies and
other visitors were present ? but these things were not-
at present before the Court. The question was, .will
you celebrate the d ty?
Mr, Jacirs thought t'ie mild and amiable virtues

Ammo"
' • -
lof our Sovereign would excite in the City sz.rne deiir!
of testifying the lave it bore him. He had never ur..,
duly exerted his prerogative, as the Tudors and
Stewarts did, under The names of 11;p.rrioney, a,l,i
various other imposts. The Constitution 1.V.:: •::
. pure as when he4rst commenced his reign.— lic
was the patron of the arts and sciences; he 1141
d;
established an academy for the encouragement oftte
former. All history proved, that it was in the
the arts most flourislie in
mtoste
prosperous time* Oi*
such reigns as 'Augustus Crsar, Louis XIV. and
George 111. It was not only as the patron GE the fine
arts that the King had distinguished himself ; he
had
equally encouraged astronomy, chemistry, an,( ma.
thematics, and was himself allowed to be one of
the
best theoretical farmers that ever existed. The Kiag
might be better contemplated as a man, a Christian.
a kusband, and a father; in neither of Which rela.
dons, had the breath of calumny ever touched him.
—George the Third was an excellent private ci.
ratter ; and he thought, that on this occasion, an
party considerations should be waved, and some.
, thing should be done, to evince respect for ptl,,tz
virtue.

gi
dermaonulCd.
meetSbllT li
widtihd expect the
:pr,h;
any pre,
sent Mr. A
motionl w
thought that no man could be insensible to the mild
laws which had distinguished his Majesty's
When we heard of revolutions and subiu arteiiogrns.;
other countries, we had abundant cause to offer i)
.ur thanks to GOD, that it was not so with us. sour
prosperity might be estimated, by the character our
metropolis bore on the Continent. The languaze
there was, " give me a bill upon London, and there's
your money."
Mr. MAWMANT urged, that there had been but nil
instances for a thousand years in which a Monarch
had reigned 50 years ; and that as there was a prece.
dent for the celebration of the 50th year of a Sove-
reign's reign, it would be invidious to pass over ti:e
present occasion. He regretted that a variety of ar-
guments had been made use of which did not pres,.
upon the subject before the Court. The Vs'in-thv
Member thought the people of England more contes.
a.io.
tious for wars than the Ministers, and he was wry
for the spirit of his countrymen. He thought it to't
reply, er
said
aei d
t there
cyc
l's
uena ss.hould net
Mr. y
right to throw a general odium on the measures of a
wholecon)
lr with
we
lao usagenT dAs.s
, ao‘i vnn
theno reasonpn w
dual who did not wish to misunderstand him, v,1:0
could suppose that he meant to reflect upon his ?h.
jesty's conduct. The gentleman opposite (Mr.llixor)
always connected his Majesty with his acts. The v-r
-r-
-thy Member (Mr. W.) believed that never was there a
better sovereign possessed of worse Ministers. He Fad
no objection to a jubilee, if it were confined to the ceie.
bratiou of his Majesty's accession by a dinner a: the
Mansion-house ; but he did consider the present mtion
to be intended as a public act to cover the disgraces
of Ministers, whereas an address should be peesented
from this Court, praying his Majesty to dismiss them,
The worthy Member had it in contemplation to bring
forward a statement of all public grievances, and he
trusted he should express himself so as to convey no
disloyally to his Sovereign, The public had seen what
had been thrown out in other placer on this subject ;
and he' could not doubt that the measure came from
Government. Although Mr. Waithman could not
.be surprised 'at any thing from the worthy Alderman
opposite (C. Sniitli), who generally sided with the
opposition, and supported Mr. Waithman's measures,
yet he could not help noticing what had fallen from
that Alderman to-day. If there was any one evil in
the country, it was the increase of paper, which he
thought such a blessing. The increase of our debt,
and the increase of our paper, had been complained
of by Hume, by Adam Smith, and by the best wri-
ters on the subject. Another worthy Member, (Mr.
Dixon) had said, that if we had debts and taxes, we
had also a sinking fund of eight millions per annum.
Why—this of itself was an evil. Mr. Waithman
thought the worthy Member was about to disclose a
spriag or a mine, by which to pay the National Debt,
and net these eight millions. We were taxed to the
rate of 70 millions, and what consolation was it to be
taxed eight millions more to liquidate our debt ? Mr.
Waithman, among other observations, quoted the say-
ing of Lord Camden, that it was an opinion to which he
should adhere to his dying day, that to tax America was
tyranny. When the people were talked of, what could
the people do ? Was it not the complaint of every
Statesman, that the corruption of Ministers was the
evil. Where the people depended upon a corrupt
'Parliament, it was the worst tyranny. Had the people
any choice in their representatives ? Any Member et
the Court, notwithstanding Mr. Curwen's Bill, could
obtain a seat in Parliament for money. When Lori!
North talked of the freedom of Parliament, and said
that Birmingham or Manchester had as great a right
to complain as America, Mr. Burke replied, that i;
*as the worst way of defending his cause to shear
the disgraceful parts of the Constitution. Parliame't
bid, upon every occasion, supported every measure
ti the Administration ; and, if the whole counui
were to go up with addresses, they could not effect
leatitutitin. If an idea were wished to be formed of
the health of the State,' M. Waithman directed the
eyes of the people to the work-houses. The nation
was florid in the face, but sick at heart; or, as
Mr.
.Hume had expressed it, its head was too
for its Body: The gentry of the country we;c L
stroyed ; and a new monied aristocracy create;
—He had known instances et great mercanti-
houses, who had been insolvent for years, paying th 2:
money to Government which they owed to their crz-
ditors. Men in trade must conceal their losses, and
put a good face upon things ; and then we were told
we must give up a part to save the whole. Was :Lis
no grievance ? The worthy Member concluded,
by
asking how we could compliment the Sovereign upon
the security of the Throne to his Family ? Things
might last his time, but who could insure them longer.
I In what situation, too, were his Majesty's relatives on
the Continent ? The worthy Member saw much mat-
ter for condolence, but none for congratulation.
The Address of the City of London to his Majesty,
on his accession, was then read by Mr. Waitlnan's
desire.
Mr. DIXON objected to reading such Addresses,
without knowing for what purpose it was done.
Mr. WAITIISIAN replied, that there were docu-
ments in the Court's books, which would strengtl!en
his arguments; and he wished them read for Oms
purpose,i%
which
Alderman COATIS objected to the perusal,