Star.
London, England, 1817-02-20 00:00:00

IMPORT.

By the Lords Committees appOinted a Secret Comtaittee to in-
quire into certain Meetings and Combinations enZangering
the public tranquiVity, and to report to the House as they
stall see oteasiun.
OUDZKED TO 14 EPIRT,

That the Committee have met, and have proceed-
ed to the examination of the papers referred to r4iern.

. .
Their attention was in the first inst.-owe dirt ved to
thole which relate to the tvltnropolis ; and they have
found therein such evidence as leav,!s 'no doubt in
their minds that a traitorous conspiracy Iris been
formed in the metropolis for the purpose of over-
throwing, by means of a general insurrection, the
established Government, LAWS, and Constituti.nr of
this Kingdom, and ot, effecting a general gluildel
and division of propel t y.
In the last autumn various consultat:ons were lola
by perm* in the metrlsolis engaged in ttti. cot api-
racy. Different tit '3i.urrs, of the mt•st extra:ivy anti
dangerous nature, were resolved upon ; partial pre.
partitions were made for their execution, and various
plans were discussed for collect;ng a f ace stiai:ient
for that perp:ae. But at a subsequent 4;14).AL:141.41
another plan WAS Adapted, WhiCl WoS, to get a gre.st
number of men togettier to see what force could be
raised ; and it was agreed, that the best way to.get
them together would be to cad a public meeting.—
Spa-fields was fixed upon as the place affording tLe
greatest facilities for entering the town, and attatkiag,
the most important points in the city. In pursuance
of this design, and in order to Assemble in the neigh-
bourhood of London a great number of the poorer
classes of the community, and particularly of those ;
in whose minds the fissure of the times might be ,
supposed to have exci • isaffection and discontent, I
advertisements were in in Newspapers,• and
handbills Were industrious • tributcd, inviting the
distressed manufacturers, mainers, artisans, ,and
others, to assemble at that place on the 15:h of No-
vember. A large body of people accordingly assem-
bled at the time and place prescribed. The most
inflammatory language was there held to Cie multi-
tude, having a direct tendency to excite then to out-
rage and violence ; and the meeting was in fact fol-
lowed by some acts of plunder and riot. A Petition
to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent was agreed
to at that meeting, and an adjournment to Palace-
yard on the first day alter the meeting of Parliament
was proposed : but the 2d of December WAS subse-
quently fixed upon (on the proposition of one of th.-
persons concerned in the plans already &scribed) fro
anther meeting in Spa•fields ; and that d.ty sq:peats
to have been determined upon fur die ex:coiner of
their design.
Various schemes were formed for this purpose:—
amongst them was a general and forcible liberation
of all rrsons confined to the different prisons in the
metropolis; into some of which, in order to facilitate
l its execution, an address to the prisoners was intro.
ducee, assuring them, that their liberty would be
restored uachT a new Government; announcing the
intended attack upon all the prisons fur that day ;
apprising the prisoners that arms would be ready for
them; 'exhorting them to be prepared with the na-
tional tricolour cockade, and to co-operate by the
most violent and sanguinary means to ensure success.
It was also proposed to set fire to various barracks,
and steps were taken to ascertain and prepare the
twans of effecting this purpose. Ap attack upon
the Tower and the Bank, and other points of impor-
tance, was, after previous consultations, finally de-
termined upon. Pikes and arms to a certain extent
were actually provided, and leaders were named,
among whom the points of attack were distributed.
It further appears, that the interval between the two
meetings was employed with unremitting assiduity
by some of the most active agitators in taking regu-
lar circuits through different quarters of the town.—
In these they either resorted to the established Clubs
or Societies, or laboured in conversations, apparently
'casual, at public-houses, to work up the minds ot
those with whom they conversed into such a state ot
ferment and irritation as to render them, when 44-

4.ted in sufficient 'imntheis, for v hateeer t strati. is
psirpase, the fit and ready instruments for the ezecu.
'4l) of sny project, however rash and desperate.*.
In the course ci; V.ese circuits one of their chief of.
jectsilppe,ts to hie, beta I 3 1:11:3 ever, oppottenity
of atziono:it.g to seduce !min their aliegisnce the
the -inf.: rent guards and at the barracks....
Tne princiiril rxnr.nt C..!1( tied in this plan actually
proceed; ti to 31:,.. fields no Vas `Jd of December. Prot*
of them ..,tit csincv.led arras, and with arnanunition
previuusly prepared: they had also provided them-
selves with tticoiour Haas, and with a standard hew-
ing the fol:niving inscription a The brave rold4rs
are our bri•tilers : treat them kindly"—And also
with taicoloar cot {cider, evidently adopted as the
signal of rtvoloCrii.
At ter much Phil minatory languages a direct hod-
tition was by :me of these persons addie.red to the
multitude to pr.:erect imtnediattly to actual insurrec-
tion and it appears quite certain, mat the acts of
p:under volkich were pervetra:,..d for the purpose of
procuring arms, and the o:her measures of open in.
surrecike which followed, were not accident 1 •
unpremeditated. but bad been deliberately precis.).
certed, as parts of a general plan of tebellicn and
revolution. There appears-also strong 'vacua to be-
lieve that the execution of those projects at that par-
molar time was expected by-some of the assnciations
lin distant pasts or the country. The conspirators'
seem to have had the full st confidence .of ',meets;
and a persuasion has subsequently beets exptested•
amongst them, that their plans could have been de-
Iv.itcd only by casual aid unexpected-circumstances. -
even after the failure oft!..is attempt, the same plans
appear not to have been abandoned.

Your Conimi:tee are deeply concerned to be eons.
peliei, in further executi:•tT of their dnty,-to report
their lull conviction that designs of this nature have
not been confined to the capita), but have been ex-
tended, and are still extending, widely in minty other
parts of Great Britain, pat ocularly in some of the
most populous and manuftcturing d stricts.
At the Meeting of the ld of December in Spa.
fields, that part of the assembly which had not tn.
gaged in the acts of plunder and insurrection before-
mentioned, came to a resolution to adjourn the meet-
ing to the second Monday after the meeting of Par-
liament ; imincly, the 10th of nary : and it ap-
pears by the papers referred to the Committee, that
meetings in various pants of the country, conforma-
bly to a plan settled by the leading persons in Lon-
dun at an early intiod, were ihteridcd to be held ou
the sari C Jay.

le appeal; manifest, that the persons engaged in
various path both ut I..igland at,d Scotland, in fur.
weeding the piths of tt v diniul, have convai.ily
waited for the exanipie ut ti .e Intefii-
genre of the 'vent of the meeting ti eie un the 21
of December was anxiously expected; and as the
of ilk.--beginesng of the disturbance ex-
cited id a high degree the spirits of the disaffected,
so its speedy suppieesiiei f to,Lited the exprtsti.n of
atrisig ieeliogs of clisapvnintment. 1-1 t,.1 it tteli
tiAly suceei.ded, there seems much reason to believe
that it would liEve been the sigisai fur a inoreznieral
iising in enher parts of the kingdom. bince that
time it :Appeals to be the prevailing impsessinn
amongst the leading malcontents in the country. that
it is expedient fur them to wait till the whose king.
dom shall (according to their expression) be more
complJ organized, and more ripe for action.
What is meaut by completely organizieg the coon.
y is but too evident irom the papers before the
Committee. It appears clearly that the ebject is,
by means of soci• ties ur clubs, established, or to.be
estaulished in all parts of Great Britain, under pre-
tence of Parliamentary Reform, to infect the minds
of all classes of the community, and particularly of
those whose situation most exposes them to such im-
pressions, with a spirit of discontent and disaffection,
of insubordination, and contempt of all law, religion,
and morality ; and to hold out to them the plunder
and division of all property, as the main object of
their efforts, and toe restoration of their natural
tights; and no endeavours are omitted to prepare
them to take up arms on the first signal fur accom-
p:ishing these designs.
It is on these giotinds that your Committee have
been led to look with particular anxiety to the forma-
non, principles, and conduct of those societies or
clubs by which the ends of the disaffected have been
hitherto so much forwarded, and ate expected by
them to be finally accomplished. bleny of these
societies p tss Hilder the denomination of Ha inp tea
Clubs. Udder this title, societies of very vatii us
desciiptivas appear to have been formed, :ill profes-
sing their objet to be Parliamentary Reform. ibis
name and their professions may have induced many
persi,iis to become members of such societies w.ho
may beet be aware of the ultimate intentions ot many
ut tit, leaders; and the Committee would by no
meats _:.tribe to all these societies the same practices
and des bees which they have found to be but too
prevalent amongst a large number of them ; but they
find that, particularly among the manufacturing and
labouring classes, societies ut this denomination have
been most widely extended, and appear to have be.
come some of the chief instruments of disseminating
doctrines,
most
and of preparing for the execution of plans
th stdangerous to the public security and peace.
Others of these societies are called Lliiien Clubs,
professing the same object of Parliamentary Reform,
but under these wordy understanding universal stn.
(rage and annual Parliaments. -projects which eei.
dent:), involve not any qualified or partial change,
1 but a total subversion of the British Constitute n.

It appeals that thert is a Landon SoLiety,
and branch Unions corresponding with it, and af-
filiated to it. Others of these Societies have adoEted
the name of Spencean P:filatithiopists ; and it washy
members of a club et this disctiptiou that the plans
of the conspirators in Loudon were discussed and
pleiotred for execution.
The principles ut these last Associations seem to
be spreading rapid!), among the other Socscues which

)tive been formed, and are daily forming, under that.
;Ind other denominations in the country. Among
the persons adepting these principles it is common to
disclaim Parliamentary Reform AS unworthy of their
atterrion. Their objects are avowed in a hand-bill
dispersrd by the Society ot that description in Lon-
don, and it numerous other publicatiOns. These ob.:
iecfs are, ft A parochial -partnership in land, on the
priticip;z that toe landholders are not proprietors in
chief; that they are hut the stewardi of the public ;
that the lard is the people's farm; that landed mono-
poly is. cortrary to the spirit of Christianity. and
sissti active of the independeuce and morality of
niankiiii."
The Societies under these different names are so
numerous, and so various, that it has beets difficult
to obtain a complete view of all of them, or to com-
prehend them under any general description.
The country Societies are principally to be found
in and near the neighbouthood of Leicester. Lough.
borough, Nottingham, Mansfield, Detby, Chester-
field, lilackburne. Manchester, Binning-
hani, aid Norwich, and in Glasgow and its vicinity ;
but they extend and are spreading, in some parts of
the country, to almost every village. In addition to
all the arts of seduction, resort is also had to a system
of intimidation, and threats are head out to those who
refuse to join. Their combinations are artfully con-
trived to secure secrecy in their proceedings, and to
give to the leading members undisputed authority
over the rest. Oaths of secrecy have been liequently
administered, some ot which are of the must Atrocious
and dreadful import.
They do not, however, trust to this security alone
to prevent discovery; their proceedings are seldom
reduced to writing ; they pass and are communicated
by wcrd of mouth. The more numerous meetings
delegate all authority to a managing Committee;
and by that Committee, and by meetings of dele-
gates from the Committees of different Societies,
every thing of importance is transacted.
The Committees themaelves are also cautious of
reducing any of their proceedings to writing, com-
municating with each other only by delegates and
'Missionaries, _ _

It appears that, in some parts of the country, arms
have been lately procured by individual members of
these Societies in considerable quantities, which can
only have been done with•a view to the use of force.
Subscriptions are also generally required, which, al-
though the amount paid by each individual may be
very ;small, may produce, trom the large numbers of
the contributors, ao inconsiderable fund.
' The destructive objects which the leading mem-
bers of these Societies have in view are demonstrated
by their publications and by their proceedings, all
equally calculated to inflame the minds of the mem-
bers, and in general of the poorer classes of the com-
munity. At the ordinary meetings of these Societies,
which are often continued to a late hour, their time
is principally employed in listening to speeches tend-
ing to the destruction of social order, recommending
a general equalization of property, and at the same
time endeavouring to corrupt the morals of the
hearers, and to destroy all reverence for religion.
The lanuh.ilder has been represented as a monster
who must be hunted down, and the fundholder as
a still greater evil ; and both have been described as
rapacious creatures, who take from the people 1.5 d out
of every quartern loaf. They have been told that'
Parliamentary Reform is no mole then a halt mea-
sure, changing only one set of thieves for another ;
and that they must go to the land, as nothing short
of that would avail them. Another principal employ-
ment of their time is to listen to publications of the
same description as the speeches, containing the same
docti fines, and leading to the same purposes ; and the
meetings ale hefluently terminated, particularly in
London, by profane and seditious songs and parodies
of parts of the liturgy, in which the responses are
chauoted by the whole company. By such means,
and by tle profession of open infidelity, in which some
of the usembers.indidge in their speeches, the mind,
of those who attend their meetings are tainted and
depraved ; they are taught contempt for all decency,
all law, all religion and morality, and are thus pre.
par .d fur the most.atratioas scenes of outrage and
violence.

Among the most effectual means of furthering
these dangerous designs, the Committee think it their•
duty particularly to call the attention of the House
to the unremitting activity which has been employed
throughout the kingdom in circulating to an unpre-
cedented extent, at the lowest prices or gratuitously,
publications of the most seditious and inflammatory
nature, marked with a peculiar character of irreligion
and blasphemy, and tending not only to ovetturn the
existing form of Government and order of Society,
but to root out those principles upon which alone auy
Government or any Society can be supported.
The Committee cannot but consider the late attack
upon his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, on his
way from opening the present Session of Parliament,
as an additional and melancholy proof of the efficacy
of this system, to destroy all reverence for authority,
and all sense of duty, and to expose. to insult, rndig.l
and hazard, the person of the immediate repre-'
srntative of the Sovereign, even in the exercise of one
of the most important parts of his Royal functions.
It appears to be an essential part of the system to
take advantage of the opportunities afforded by pub-
lic meetings, convoked either by the kadors of these
Societies, or by others, in the metropolis, and in
populous places and districts, to address the multi•
tulle in terms of unprecedented lkenle and ♦iolence,
amounting even in some instances to an open decla
ration that, in case of non-compliance with their
petitions, the Sovereign will have forfeited his claim
to their allegiance. These proceedings are subse-
quently printed and circulated, and thus become a
fresh vehicle for sedition and treason.
By the frequency of these Meetings, and by the
new practice of continuing them (under various pre-
texts) by frequent adjournment!, the minds of his
Majesty's well-disposed and peaceable subjects are.
held in a state of perpetual agitasion and alarm. The
appointment of such public Meetings in a variety of
damn places on the same Ay-appears to'be coati-
dered as the most effectual means of accompli.hing
the designs of the disaffected, and must evidently, in
a high degree• embarrass and impede the exertions
of all civil powers applicable• to the suppression of
disturbances, distract the attention of Government,
and oblige them so to subdivide and harass the mili-
tory. Mice which it may be accessary to call in for the

issistance of the civil poste, is to rand& it war.
quote to the maintenance of public tranquillity.
Such a state of things cannot he suffered to cont►-
sue without hazarding the-most imminent and dread-
ful evils; and although the C ,mmittee do not pre-
sume to anticipate the decision of Parliament as to
the particular measures to he adopted in the present
emergency. they feel it to he their duty to express
their decided opinion. that further provisions are ne-
cessary for the preservation of the public peace, and
for the protection of interests in which the happiness
of every class of the community is deeply and equally
involved.