Star.
London, England, 1817-06-19 00:00:00

KENT COUNTY MEETING.

Yesterday a Meeting took place at Maidstone, of
the inhabitants of the County of Kent, for the pur-
pose of petitioning Parliament against the renewal of
the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. The as-
sembly took place in the High•street of the town, and
waggons were placed in the open street for accommo-
dation of the principal persons.—The High Sheriff
W. FIRM MORLAND, Esq.) took the Chair, which
was an erection in oue of these waggons made for
the occasion.

The Earl of Tummy first addressed the Meeting,
and concluded with moving—That a Petition be
_presented to .the House of Commons, praying that
the HabeasCorpusAct might be nofurther impended.
Mr. RlDalt seconded the motion ; which was also
ably supported by Sir-ROBERT WiLsoN.
Mr. JuklN DAY opposed the petition, and moved a
Resolution, that the thanks of the Meeting be given
to his Majesty's Ministers for the manner in which
they had terminated a war so glorious to the British
Nation.

Upon this an Amendment was moved by Mr. RI-
DER, to leave out all the words after 4. that," and to
substitute in the place of them, .4 The Meeting ex-
press its detestation And abhorrence of the conduct of
his Majesty's Ministers."
Mr. DAY then withdrew his motion, and the amend.
ment was also dropped, as a matter of course.
The question on the petition was then put, and
,caniesi in the affirmative, witl,ottly owe (Mr. Drys)
dissentient voice.

Mr. RIDItt next moved two Resolutions ; the first
declaring tae opinion of the Meeting that the House
of Commons had shewn a marked neglect to-
wards the petitions of their constituents, and had
evinced a degree of haste uncalled for, and inconsis-
tent with the importance of the subject, in passing
the Habeas Corpus Suspension Bill. The 2d Reso-
lution proposed thanks to the Earl of Thanet, Lord
Sondes, Sir William Geary, Mr. Calcraft, Mr. Bar-
net, and Mr. Smith, for their earnest support of the
petitions of the people in Parliament. Thew Resolu-
tions were carried.

The thanks of the Meeting bsving been given to
the High Sheriff.-the Meeting was dissolved.
Tranquillity and good order were maintained da-
ring the whole time. and the people subsequently dis-
persed id as orderly a manner as they had listened to
the discussion of the question.

MEETING AT CHESTER.

Friday last a Meeting convened for the purpose of
petitioning against the tarthrr suspension of the Ha-
beas Corpus Act, was held at Chester, when Mr.
SWAN WICK moved a series of Resolutions to that ef-
fect, atid a Petition grounded thereon. He prefaced
his motion with a speech, concluding thus 1 have
good authority for stating, that persons have been
sent from Manchester to London, ironed as felons
usually are, and accompanied with neck irons, to be
put on at the discretion of the otlicers who escorted
them, and that upon examination by the Secretary
of State, these persons have been found guiltless of
any crime, and consequently d.scharged. Sir, lam
quite at a loss to conceive what arguments our oppo-
nents can adduce to justify them in opposing a peti-
tion against an enactment which exposes Englishmen
to such treatment as this. What is there in the state
of the country to require this,dreadf ul measure f We
have heard-of plots and rumours of plots, but the In
here, and lo there, of the day and the morrow, have
still proved to be no where at last I To be sure,
there was some time ago a number of men at Man.
chester, aimed with blankets, and some of our fel-
low citizens, 1 find, are of opinion, that a blanket is
a very formidable weapon—they dread a blanket as
much as .Santa Nam did, and perhaps for the same
reason I (I.aegltiez.) But our worthy neighbours
must be told that the Suspension Bill is nu detence
against a blanket ; the blanketeers might hive
brought their. woollen artillery into action, and
thrown up the Boroughreeves and Constables to
their hearts contents, il there had been nothing to
prevent them but a warrant lying till wanted at the
Secretary of State's Office, in London."
A:ter a long discussion, Colonel BARNSTON moved
a counter-Retool:1, which was seconded by the Rev.
Prebendary Mannocic.
ne noise and contusion which ensued, as each
petition was put, entirely prevented the Mayor from
deciding whose petition was most approved of. A
division was then called for, and a majority appeared
in favour of the petition against the far tLer suspension
of the Habeas Corpti4 Act.