Star.
London, England, 1812-04-18 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL.

Yesterday a Special Court, which was numerously
attended, was held, for the purpose of taking into
consideration the propriety of addressing the Prince
Regent upon the present situation of the country.
Mr. Qum, in addressing the Court, premised, that,
in calling its attention to the subject which they were
convened to consider, he had not the most remote
idea of favouring any political party, which, he be-
lieved, every individual present would believe, when
they heard the names of those respectable Members
who, along with him, signed the requisition to call
the Court. In the list, which was highly respectable,
would be found the names of men who were well
known to entertain not only different, but opposite
political principles. His wish, therefore, was, that
a full and free discussion should take place, with the
utmost moderation on all sides, and that they would
convey their sentiments to the Throne in language
becoming a free Nation. (Hear, hear.) In opening
the subject, he was aware that he stood in a very de-
licate, and, perhaps, peculiar situation. He happened
to be under certain obligations to the Prince Regent,
but he felt it his duty to consider that illustrious per-
sonage as acting for his Royal and venerable father,
and that all the evils which the people now endured
were to be attributed to the measures of the respon-
sible Ministers of the Crown. He knew it to be usual
for certain Members of that Court, who supported the
present system of Government, to compare the situa-
tion of this country with that of tither Countries, and
conclude that we had no grievances to redress, because
we were not so degraded and impoverished as others.
He well knew that this country possessed more poli-
tical freedom than any other in the world, but horn
what did that arise?---trom the liberal principles of
our Constitution, which it was the duty of every Bri-
ton to maintain. It was also objected to him and to
others who proposed to address the Throne on public
affairs, that their efforts could produce no good
effect, but merely inflame the public mind without
suggesting any remedy. To that accusation he had
to answer, that where a disease was known to exist,
a remedy must be found, or the patient must perish.
Every man of common sense must be struck with
the absurdity of a physician who would delay the
application of a remedy until he should knoW the
result of the disease. Equally absurd would the
conduct of a trader appear who, on the verge of
bankruptcy, declined an examination of his affairs
until the event happened. That the people of this
country at present suffered the greatest privations,
was a fact too well known to every one present for
Mtn to describe. The riots which had lately occurred
in various parts of the country were characterised by
intemperate proceedings which disgraced the name
of Britons ; but, at the same time, every thinking
Man must lament their causes, and he was persuaded
none could lament them more than the Prince
Regent. Scarcity had been alledged to be the prin-
cipal, bit he would contend that it was only a
proximate cause. A general decay of trade, the
necessary consequence of our Orders in Council, was
the radical cause. In the warehouses of Liverpool,
be was credibly informed, there were at present ma-
nufactured goods to the value of seven millions of
money:_(l-har, he'ir.)—The consequence cf such a
restxiction being laid upon our export trade, was ruin
to the manufacturers; but, in addition to that evil,
the present scarcity of provisions actually precluded
the working class of people from adequate means of
:supporting themselves and families. In the midst of
our domestic calamities, however, we had to con-
template the brilliant achievements of our fleets and
armies with exultation. In all parts of the world
they were gloriously triumphant, and acquired us an
astonishing extent of mph e ; but, he was sorry to
say, that true greatness did not consist in extent of
empire. Our successes on the Peninsula had un-
doubtedly thrown a lustre upon our arms ; but he
lamented, that Cadiz alone cost us at present from
six In seven millions a-year to defend. The posses-
sion of Sicily likewise could be of no benefit to us,
although we preserved it for years frcm the enemy
by British blood and British treasure. Such being
the state of our foreign connections, our situation at
home was daily becoming worse, by the obrinate
opposition of Ministers to the public voice. That
Court had often complained of peculators escaping
With impunity, but they complained in vain ; and the
rult was, that only a few days ago, a peculator was
discovered in the wry heart of the 1 reasury.—( Hear.)
A Noble Lord, whose incapacity was avowed by his
colleague, resigned his office in consequence, but now
the people had again the mortification to see him in
the Cabinet Council. Were not these facts sufficiently
demonstrative of evils resulting from a disregard of
public opinion. The principles of the Orders in
Council he would not then analize, but merely state
_thel consequences resulting from their enactments.—
W len they were issued, France and her Allies pos-
sessed many colonies; and America, as a neutral, car-
ried the produce to Europe : big now all the colo-
rs were in our possession, the Americans were
deprived of the trade, and cur Orders in Council
could only restrict our remaining comdstree, To

, .
ratted), this evil, however, reeourti was had td the
licensing s} stem, which procured us an unprofitable
and confined commerce, by encouraging the
fraud and perjury.. These were evils whicretersy
friend of the country must lament, and he knew Of no
remedy more effectual than what he should propose— :
a Reform in Parliament. The country must have a
virtuous Patliantent, and patriot Ministers, or our
affairs can never prosper at home and abroad.—
From the want of these, commerce, the nursery of
our navy, and the great source of our revenue, has
been crippled and destroyed, our merchants became
bankrupts, and our manufacturers starved. (Hear,
Isear.)—These were melancholy considerations, but
no relief could be expected so long as the present Mi-
nisters were suffered to hold their situations. That I
they should remain in office so long excited his asto-
nishment, knowing as he did, that none of them pos- ,
ses.ed talents or wisdom. Was there any thing in
them ssi captivating that the country should feel par-
ticularly
attached to to them ? Were there not many
men in the country of known rectitude and indepen-
dence, capable and willing to undertake these duties ;
which the present party slowed themselves so unwor-
thy of exercising ? He begged pardon for having
so long trespassed on the attention of the Court, and
he therefore would conclude by reading part of the
Addres which be intended to submit for their ap- I
probation.
[The Address contained an assurance of loyalty to the Prince
Regent, and deprecated the severities the people endured from
the present oppressive mode of collecting the taxes, the number
of foreign mercenaries introduced into the kingdom, the restric-
tions upon the liberty of the press and foreign commerce. It
stated the hardships which the people in all parts of the country
endured from our foreign and domestic policy; and concluded
by beseeching the Prince Regent to dismiss from his Councils
men who by their conduct had proved themselves unworthy of
the confidence of the country, and to call to his Royal Highness's
Councils men of known talents and tried integrity, who would
support a Reform in Parliament.]
Mr. Qum having read the Address, begged leave
to propose the Resolution for addressing the Prince
Regent.—( See ildvertisement.)
Mr. BLUNDELL seconded the Motion.

Mr. HEARN said, that while the Restrictions re-
mained upon the Prince Regent, no Gentleman in
that Court found fault with his foreign or domestic
policy; but when he was at liberty, to act for himself,
and determined to retain his Father's Ministers, all
his acts were founded in error.—(Hear, hear.)—Mi-
nisters, from some cause or another, had become very
obnoxious to some Gentlemen, as well as to Bona-
parte, and in respect of political talents, they were
inferior to almost every body. The Livery of Lon-
don regretted that their advice had been rejected at
the commencement of the American-war, because it
would have saved us our Colonies, and he thought it
a great pity that men of such splendid talents were
not now in possession of the Administration of the
Country.—(4 laugh.)—He himself saw no reason
for removing the present Ministry, or presenting the
Address.

Mr. JACKS said, the distresses of the country had
been ascribed to two causes—the decay of commerce,
in consequence of the Orders in Council—and a
scarcity of provisions. He admitted both causes, in
same degree, to exist ; but, before presenting any
Address upon the subject, he would wish the Court
to consider whether such a measure was not more
calculated to inflame the public mind than to provide
a remedy ? A Reform in Parliament was considered
the grand panacea of all our distresses ; but he would
not like to see such a remedy applied till the nature
of the evil was better ascertained. Much had been
said at different times of the increase of corruption ;
but the fact was, that corruption did not now exist
more than it had in former times, or would in all pro-
bability hereafter—(Hear, hear.) He had no doubt
of the sincerity of the Gentleman opposite him, but
he must tell him, that he was informed by very credi-
ble authority, that our manufacturing trade was not
in any respect so dull as had been represented. In the
West of England, and in Yorkshire, the manufactu-
rers were still busy—and the trade of Birmingham
was in a prosperous state, although signatures had
been procured there to a Petition against the Orders
in Council, at the rate of ss. a hundred—(A laugh.)
—With respect to corruption and public defaulters,
they were less now than they were in our best times.
In 1711, the great Duke of Marlborough was proved
to have received six thousand pounds from the con-
tractors who had furnished his army with bread ;
the Hon. Mr. Walpole was impeached for corrup-
tion, and sent to the Tower. The Earl of Maccles-
field, who was Lord Chancellor, was fined £BO,OOO,
for applying the moneys of infant suitors in his Court
to his own purposes. The great King William was sup-
posed to have received a bribe from the East-India
Company, and the Lord President of his Council ac-
tually received £lO,OOO. He stated these instances
merely to shew, that public men in our times were
not worse than their predecessors—(Hear, hear.)
Alderman CHRISTOPHER SMITH, in a short speech,
opposed the Address.
Mr. WAITIINIAN entirely concurred in the tribute
of applause which his Friend had paid the Army and
Navy, but he was sorry that he must also concur
with him in his description of the internal policy of
the Country. It was absolutely necessary for the
people to speak their minds freely to the 1 hrone, as..
the only means of averting the fate of Spain and
other states, which had, by their own supineness and
indifference, lost their independence. It was the duty
of the People in this Country to send independent
Members to Parliament, who ought, and always
could be a sufficient check on the Executive Govern-
ment, then he should not have to care whether Mr.-
; Perceval and Lord Castlereagh, or Lords Grenville
and Grey, were Ministers. The Hon. Gentleman
opposite him, who advocated the cause of corruption,
was rather unhappy in his examples when he intro-
, dated the case of Mr. Walpole, because the Country
wou d wish to see public defaulters of the preseneday
impeached and sent to the Tower. (Hear, hear.) He
wished the authors of the Wakheren Expedition to
have been so treated. Until the people, by remon•
strance to the Throne and Parliamentary Reform, ob-
tained a change of measures, the Country never could
be benefitted.—A few families, who possess influence
in the House of Commons at present, wallowed in
luxury, provided by the produce of the people's
taxes, and rather than diminish, their numbers must
increase, without a Parliamentary Reform. The
present Address, he was persuaded, had the hearty
concurrence of his fellow Citizen!; bu,t many Mem-
bers of the Court were afraid to put their name to
the Requisition to call she Court, lest they should be

harassed by &sit anativrers, He wished them to
declare their minds freely and fully, and they would
have nothing to fear from any Minister;. but, if they
acted otherwise; they were fit only for slavery:
Mr. DIXON strenuously oppposed the motion.
Mr. Brow ( deemed it highly inipolitic to hold the
Administration up to the contempt of the people. The
nation appeared to him in flourishing circumstances,
and he hoped we would transmit unpolluted to pos-
terity the blessings we enjoyed.
Mr. FAVELL supported the Address, and contend-
ed, that the present was the proper time for the people
to disclose their minds to avoid political ruin, which,
through their own negligence, had befallen other
nations.

Sir WILLIAM CußTis, Sir CHARLES PRICE, and Sir
JAMES SHAW, opposed the Address, and expressed
their approbation of the present Ministers.
Alderman Comne supported it.
Mr. ORD and Mr. WHEBLE opposed it, because
they considered it to be a political manoeuvre to en-
able the Early Friends" of the Prince to supplant
the present Ministers.
The question was then called for, and a division
took place, when there appeared—
Far the Motion-1 Aldermen, 92 Commoners, 2 Tellers-98.
Against It-1 Lord Mayor, 10 Aldermen, 79 Commoners, 2
Tellers-92.—Making a Majority of 6 in favour of the Address.

THE EVEN! ``C STAR.

LONDON.

SATURDAY, APRIL 18.
PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY Al ONE O'CLOCK:
S per Ct. Reducul 59-4 per Cent. 73; 74
S per Ct. Cons. fi r money 59160—D0 for ace. 64
Spec Ct. 9014—Scrip j. pry —Long Alms. 15 5-16te6
Exch. Bills tar 24. pre.—!loads be. is, pre.—Onua.

Every friend to his country must rejoice to be in.
formed, that the afar m;ng appearances which lately
manifested themselves in ‘,:rious districts, have very
much subsided. We cannot believe that the sudden
bursts of popular ferment arising from the high price
of provisions in various quarters were in any instance
the result of organized disaffection. They betray
great ignorance of the motives of human action mho
would ascribe the derangements of distress and
hunger to any thing connected with political con-
siderations. Under such circumstances, when politics
are at all mentioned, it is only the deranged gropings
of ill-informed men, who feel but cannot trace the
causes of their sufferings.
• To the same ignorance must be ascribed the mad.
ness of the workmen, in destroying the very machi-
nery that first created the demand for labourers, in
the counties and cities in which our manufactures are
carried on by the powers of mechanism. Wherever
machines have been introduced, to lower the price of
manufactured goods, the number of hands required
to prepare for the machinery, to attend its operations,
and to finish its products, has always been much
greater than the number before required in the same
district.

Let our young artisans only inquire of the aged,
what were the numbers fed by our different branches
of manufacture, before our machinery had acquired
such perfection (for in most districts it is yet within
the recollection of many), and they will soon be sa-
tisfied that the accumulation cf goods in our ware-
houses is to be ascribed to the present deranged state
cf commerce throughout Europe, and not to the
multiplying power of machinery.

But the more the free circulation of our commodi.
ties is interrupted by the machinations of the tyrant
who afflicts Europe, the more imperative is the duty
imposed upon our rulers to counteract the mischief
by every regulation within the range of their own
controul. We have more than once endeavoured to
impress upon the minds of Ministers the impolicy of
suffering British cotton yarns to be exported to the
Continent. NAPOLEON winks at this trade, which fur.
nishes bread to French and German weavers. Re-
fuse them the yarn, and he must permit the piece.
goods to be imported—for the plainest of all reasons :
they cannot do without them—they cannot go naked.
To stop at once the exportation of cotton-yarn would
not be judicious : begin by laying a duty on exporta-
tion, and let the duty be gradually increased till it
amount to a prohibition.

" SHEFFIELD, APRIL le.

" Wednesday night all twat tranquil here, the 15th Light Dra.
goons parading the meets, and, we are happy to state that the
town remained perfectly quiet at S o'clock this day (Thursday).
" The greater part of the persons taken up fur bring concerned
in the riot, appear to be quite young lads.
" Theo&lmlay, Rotherham, and Riverton troops of Cavalry,
were called out; and the Sbafforth arid Tickhill Local Militia
are on duty at Rotherham."

In Dumfries the price ef every article of provisions
is very much advanced ; and even- at an advanced
price, the markets are ill supplied ; the farmers, hoping
that the prices will be higher, will not bring out the
meal and potatoes, which renders it very difficult for
the poor to obtain these humble, but necessary ar-
ticles of food, insomuch that an artificial scarcity,
for there is plenty in the country, is thus created to
the great prejudice ef the community.

I Yesterday the Duke of YORK held a Military
Levee at the Horse Guards.
Yesterday morning a Board of the Lords of the
Treasury was held.
We had the pleasure to see a Petition presented
yesterday, by Mr. WHITBREAD, to the House of
Commons, from every description of Christians, pray-
ing with one consent for the Repeal of every politi•
cal disability .n account of Religious Persuasion. It
came to Mr. WHITER ICAD from the hands of the vene-
rable Advocate for Civil and Religious Liberty, the
Rey. Mr. WirVILL: It was signed by above 9000
Mmes. Such a Petition is worthy the enlightened
period in %Aida we live.

tut Aitit

. .
Major-deneral Sir WILLIAIe AYLITT, (I to Tn.
specting Field Officer of the Ipswich recruiting Dit-
to ict) is appointed to the Staff in Ireland.

Colonel Emma!) has resigneLLthe command f the
Plymouth-Dock Regiment of Local Militia.

At the inslsection of the Bungay Loy .1 Volunteers
on Saturday last, Colonel M.Lattont, the Inspecting
Field Officer, desired that his high opinion of their
steadiness and military appearance might be thus pub.
licly manifested.
Yesterday and to-day the Edinburgh Regiment f
Militia marched from Colchester Barracks on their
route to Norman Cross.

The town of Bury is appointed to be the depot for
the reception of Volunteers from the Militias into the
Line, instead of Stowmarket, to commence from the
4th of May next.

Tuesday last, the Gloucester and Cheshire Regi-
ments had severally a field-day, before the Govern-
ment House, Plymouth. •
At Chelmsford Quarter Sessions. last *ter, there
was much business before the Court. The King w.
Fuller and others, on an indictment for assaults of a
most aggravated nature, committed on four privates
of the Clare Militi3, quartered for a night at Braintree.
(on their march from Liverpool to Ipswich) but where
they were detained for many weeks, from the wounds
which they received, and of which the defendants
were all clearly convicted,. and received sentence of •
12 months (each) imprisonment. Joseph Fuller and
Jos •ph Taylor in gaol. and Charles Fuller in Chelms-
ford House of Correction.