Star.
London, England, 1820-04-07 00:00:00

ing to inflame the pnbretnisid, and fittig it was thar
the public mind should be. inflamed, when acts of
the most oppressive injustice were allowed to fake ,
place, with a positive denial of any' remedy.—He
proceeded to a pointed reply, in a serlei.of animad-
versions, on the speech delivered by Mr, Canning at
the dinner at Liverpool. The speech was said to be
revised and corrected with the utmost precision. It
was, however, a tissue of sophistries, oft refuted ; of
arguments tediously quoted and disproved, and al-
together unfit for the reflection of any reasonable
man. The first topic was the immense numbers
which formed the Northern Reform Meeting. He
remembered, that when he first moved fora consi-
deration of Reform, the cry was, " There are no
numerous Meetings—the people do not want Reform
—they do not ask for it." His reply was, so much
'the better; it would be more respectable for the
Government to do that which was right without
being solicited. Indeed, perhaps, he and that excel-
lent man, Major Cartwright, were in this point of
view the most culpable persons in the country. For
aught he knew, they had sown the seeds which had
produced those numerous Meetings, and he felt no
cause, upon the whole, to be displeased with the fruit.
The cry was now altered, and the complaintagainst
the Reformers was, that their Meetings were too
large. Public opinion had, however, sufficiently ex-
pressed itself, if no more of such Meetings should
take place. Mr. Canting had called it a happy de-
cision of the Magistrates to disperse the Manchester
Meeting as they had done. He (Sir Fiancis) called
it a feat sealed with the blood of innocent persons,
for which retributive justice was still wanting. Mr.
Canning hid found cut that the spirit of the laws
_was what he, in most whimsical phraseology, called
a corporate spirit ; that there was no man who could
not point to the portion of civil society to which he
corporately belonged, and that if he suffered injury,
he was intitled to come upon the Hundred to which
he belonged for remedy. This was true, and was
proper enough when England was an armed country,
and it was not treasonable for men to possess the
means of defence ; when ari Englishman might boast
that the country was, %as Justice Blackstone bad. de-
clared it ought to be, without a standing soldier,
and yet every one was enabled to defend himself, and
to assist others. But what would be more unjust
than to make a community responsible for excesses,
for repelling which they were deprived of the means?.
The action ought in future to lie against the Govern-
ment instead of the Parish. Mr. Canning said, that
"irresponsible" was tyrinny, whether enjoyed by a
despot or the rabble. •He seemed to forget that it
was equally tyrannous, if engaged by an odious and
contemptible oligarchy. The People had been suf-
fering, because they had been governed by an irre-
sponsible power. If Mr. Canning had said I,' in-
stead of We,' when he alluded to " the blessings
enjoyed tinder our present system of Government,"
his mistake would not have been so greats To him,
beyond all doubt, -the system had proved eminently
advantageous, and- it was natural that he should in-
dulge himself in its praise:
" For Nis their duty, all the learned think,
" T' uphold the cause by which they eat and drink 1"
As to. Mr. Canning's query, which he proposed to
Reformers, to. know whether they wished • for a re-
storation or a re-construction of the House of Com.-

mons? -and the requiring them, in the first case, to
point Out the period when that HMO had been con-
stituted as they wished it to be, the reply was—th 4
.tbe House had once been what it ought to be. That
might be a matter of historical dispute; but it would
be easy enough to point oat when it was more fairly
constituted, and perhaps the farther back they looked
the better it would be found to have been. It was
Plain enough, that it must have been more an organ
of the people's mind, in the periods before the Revo-
lution, than in these subsequent, when the meanest
sources of corruption had so greatly augmented.
But whether or not, the Reformers were not contend-
ing for any- new principles, but for carrying old
principles into more complete effect. It would be
idle to answer such, an argument. But if the answer
were necessary, it would be easy to reply, by refer-
ring to the Parliaments holden before the contentions
of the-Houses of York and Lancaster, when the most
salutary laws were passed in favour of the people's
rights, and when the House of Commons had no
power of taxing the people. But the object ;ought
by the Reformers was such a modification of the
powers of the State as she happiness of the people
and the security of the Constitution required. Mr.
Canning had compared a House of Commons, popu-
larly elected, to Aaron's rod, which must swallow all
the other serpents, as it would absorb all the other
powers of Government. Very ingeniously urged ;
and it was, moreover, the very thing complained of.
—The Reformers complained that the House of
Commons had swallowed up both the Rights of the
People and the Privileges of the Crown. " GOD
knows !" there was no: complaint that the House of
Commons did not possess power enough. Mr. Can-
ning asked for information (how humble!) as to when
nomination had not been attended to in Elections ?
Every body must know that the close Boroughs were-
, once open, and that they had been Chartered on ac-
count of their having been populous ancrfiourishing
towns, from which state they had gradually fallen
away to what they were at present. Kings did-not
enfranchise close Boroughs ; they were not too
anxious to gather the opinions of the People—and
Parliamentary service was not. only dangerous to the
Member, but expensive to his constituents, so that it
was avoided as much as possible by both. The Hon.
Baronet pursued the logic of Mr. Canning's speech-
with a strain of equal eloquence and argument to its
conclusion. He concluded,, being afterwards fol-
lowed by loud and long cheers, by giving
" The only remedy for our grievances---a full, fair, and free
Representation of the People in the Commons House of Parlia.
ment."—Tune, Brietnis strike Urns.
At the request of the CHAIRMAN, Mr. MURPHY
sang an appropriate song, written for the occasion, in
praise of Sir FRANCIS BURDETT and Mr. HOB/lOUSIL,
which was loudly and generally encored.
The Coantaux next gave—i, The able advocate of
me/nary Reform, and victim of arbitrary impt isonment, without
trial, and even without citation, our new Representative, JAR
Cam 'tollhouse, Esq."
Mr. Hoonouse rose, but was prevented by the ap-
plause which followed, from proceeding for a consi-
derable time.' Though not introduced, he said, as a
new person to the h.lectors of Westminster, yet he
was innoduced in a new and glorious character—he
was introduced as the Representative of the City of
Westtninstc r—(Great applause). He was introduced