Star.
London, England, 1817-05-30 00:00:00

COAI)fON C( UXCIL.

A Cron of Commits Council of the City of Lon-
don was yesterday held at Guildhall, in consequ‘insp
of a requi.ition signed by several Members of the
Court, for the purpose of taking into consideration
the intimation of his blajesty's blinisters of their in.
tention to pri•proe the further Suspensioa Of the Ka.
bras Corpus ,‘ct.
The ifequisiti or hiving been reed—.
Mr. Walruslas regreni•el his te-lag under the ne.
cessity ot so frequently addiessing the Criiirt, and
hnnging furward Prenns;titinPs the .cbject of which
was Redress of Public Grievances, and Complaint •
against Inroads on the Itigh.s of the People. It was
not in his anticipation before theSnSpension Bill was
passed, nor was it, be believed. in the antics anion of
any Members of the Court, that his Majesty's Mini. I
',ters would brier forward a measure far suspending
the great hula i: of the Constitution, at a moment I
when the Tables of both Houses of Parliament were
loaded with Petitions, statine the grievances under
which the People were :wife:init. Lo- kiog at the
sitnation of the country and the oppression coder
which it was groaning, and looking at the peace asd
tranqnillity manifested under that oppression by all
classes of people, he could not have supposed that
Ministers would again pr pose to Pariiiment the
Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. it was hardly
necessary for him to make any observations for the
purpose of shewing the Members of that Court that
this was a most invaluable right-2 right of which
the people of this country Might never to be deprived,
or if deprives; ,by any temporary measures the cis..
ettlisStllltCeS 011.Whieh such measstre was grirunded
ought to be so clear, and to starry such conviction
home to the miro, that rn reasonable map e,stld
have two opinions on the sabj!sct. On a former oc-
casion he had brought forward a number of quota-
tions, with the view of proving that this right was
one which the people of this country had either en-
joyed, or ought to have enjoyed, for a period as far
back as the Constitution of the country could be
traced. There were many people who supposed that
at the time the Habeas Corpus Act passed iteme new
privileges were conferred oi, the peop:e; hut it could
not be too often tepeoed that this was an old right—
it was secured to the people by Magna Charta, con.
'armed by snore than forty subsequent Statutes, and
afterwards asserted by our ancestors in the Petition
of Rig:•ts ; and when that right Vas notwithstanding
violated, and when all the existing S: :totes enacted
for its protection were tound insur.cient, then our
anc stars obtained the Habeas Cci pits Act, as a re-
medy for the grievances under which they suffered.
It was passed in the reign of Charles the Second,
during a period fruitful in plots and cortinteal alarmsl
of disaffection and insurrection. Zut our ancestote,_
so far from thinking they plots and alarms a kutli7
Clint cause for suspending the liberties of the peopie,
cbi.se that very period for asserting ther rights; and
it our aticesters, notwithrtanding ti thew abruts of
plots and insurrections. then asserted tins itivaluable
right, he could hardly conceive a caw so riming ac
to induce any one, who bad a particle of veneration
for the Constitution. to consent to a measure for its
suspension. The laws ought at all times to be ad:.
quate for the putte/mien of the peace and order of
the country ; and if they were not ash (late fur that
purpose, then, for Goues Like: I. itcr them in at' to
make them adequate. When he last addressed Viral,
he mentioned a circumstance. which, coopled with'
other acts ot oppression, led to the passieg of this
Act. A humble Citizen of London, exercising :!le
privileges of a Briton, and proposing its C ,mm •tt
Hall a Petition fur Redress ot Orley ma% was :sr
tratily deprived of his liberty ; and Parliament, tak.,
ing this case, and others of a like nature, into their
consideration, thought proper to erect thus barrier for
the protection of the liberties of the siiliect. He ate.
aware that this Act had more than once bee's already
ttopentlud ; but the emergencies, when such suspen-
sions took place, were of a very difftnert nature from
the ~resent. He himself did Lot thank that it could
ever be necessary to suspend this rigi.t ; but there
were times when it might be a matter of doubt with
marry well meaning persons, whether or not it otoo:t
to b.: Stlspetitit'd I The great mischief was the pre-
cedent. It, when a rebel' raged in the country, a
suspensitni of our liberties were allowed, this afforded
precedent for other Ministers to propoze a sospeo-
stall on light and frivolous circumstances. At the
commencement of the Revolutior.ary War, there was
'certainly little foundation in truth to many r.t the
alarms which prevailed in this country. He believed
iliac those alarms were artfully disseminated, with
the view of inducing the people to consent to the
arbittary measures which were resorted to ; for it
wotlitibitvc bren•found impuss;ble to drag sac