Star.
London, England, 1819-09-24 00:00:00

Into the facts which tooth pace at 'tanctaester
would not enter, as he observed a respectable Gen-
tleman present who had been on the spot, and would
doubtless be able to give them ampl information:
Though the Ministryhad, by the mouth of the Re-
gent, told the Gammon Council of London that they
were unacquainted with the facts which took place,
yet this much was known by them, that a peaceable
body of persons assembled to petition the Sovereign
for redress of grievances, and in vindication of their
rights, had been attacked by a body of Yeomanry,
in a manner the most repugnant to the feelings of
humanity and public juitice. The right of petition •
ing was not granted by the law, but was inherent,
founded in reason and the nature of things, and was
recognized by all the Statutes ever made on the
subject. Our ancestors had straggled for it---it
was our duty to transmit it to our posterity invio-
late. Judge Blackstone said the subjects of Eng-
land were entitled to a regular and impartial ad-
ministration of justice; next to Petition, if they
fancy they labour under any grievance ; and, lastly,
to have and use arms for self-preservatinn ; and all
these rights and liberties are the birthright of every
Englishman, which he is entitlei to enjoy inviolate
—(Loud applause). And were the people then to be
told, that they had no right to meet and Petition ?
Were they to be deprived of one of the earliest bless-
ings ever enjoyed by the country ? He trusted not ;
but, at the same time, it was their bounden duty
carefully to watch every thing, with a vigilant eye,
which might seem directly, or indirectly, attempted
to lessen that right. The worthy Gentleman then,
concluded by reading the following Resolutions :
" 1. That it is the bounden duty of a free People. to guard
with jealousy and vigilance, the rights and liberties for which
their ancestors struggled, and which are recognized by the Laws
and Constitution of their Country.
" 2. That one of the most valuable and sacred of those pri-
vileges is the indisputable right of the Subject to Petition the
Throne and either House of Parliament on all subjects of real
or supposed grievance—a right inherent in the people, founded
on reason, sanctioned by the common law of th. land, and esta-
blished by the Bill of nights, which enacts, That it is the right
of the Subject to Petition the King, and all commitments and
prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal.'
" 3. That the Meeting convened at Manchcs:er on the 16th
of August, To consider the propriety of adopting the most
legal and constitutional means of obtaining a Reform in the
Commons House of Parliament,' was a strictly legal Meeting,
and the deportment of the people then assembled peaceable and
orderly.
" 4. That the dispersion of the multitude thus lawfully as-
sembled, by the Yeomanry Cavalry, acting under the direction
of the local Magistrates, whereby some persons were killed, and
many men, women, and children, wantonly trodden down, apil
inhumanly wounded, was an atrocious outrage upon an ;Me
armed and unresisting People, contrary to Law and Justice, and
a daring attempt to destroy by the sword the unalienable rights
of British Subjects, and to introduce in their stead a military
despotism.
" .5. That the subsequent conduct of the Magistrates and Ca
rimers, in refusing to grant warrant against the persons accused
of murder; in abstaining from taking depositions, and from
proceeding to hold Inquests on the Bodies of the Slain, amount,
in the opihion of this Meeting, to an actual denial of justice, and
an evident refusal of the only legal means of obtaining redress
possessed I:oy thr People.
" 6. That we forbear to express any opinion upon the con-
duct of the Grand Jury in throwing out Bills, which appear t
have been supported by the strongest depositions; we lova wit
venerate, and would cherish above all things the establhaillili
of the Trial by Jury, as our grand safeguard in these peruses
times ; and we contemplate this conduct in silent anguish.
Mr. LEMAITRE then seconded the Resolutions. Hsi
confessed, when he heard of the melancholy eveoU
first, he could not credit them, having been kt that
time on the Continent, and seeing them related in a,
foreign paper. It harrowed up Ins feelings, when he
thought of such scenes being perpetrated, and he was
anxious to ascertain the truth, and see what excuse
could be made in justification of excesses such as
these, which were unparalleled in the history of the
country. In Italy he had seen a lawless armed ban-
ditti tolerated by the Government of that country,
and little did he think, when he reached the shores
of England, he should have seen the same tolerated
here, but under different circumstances. The Go.
vernment of Italy was imbecile and corrupt, without
the means of repressing such hired bands, and they
therefore tolerated them of necessity. But Govern-
ment here had no such excuse, it had the means of
preventing such outrages taking place, and of amply
punishing the offenders yet horrid as it may appear,
the persons who perpetrated such crimes were not'
only tolerated, not only exempt from punishment,
but even employed and applauded by the Adminis-
tration of the day. He had long contemplated the
system which was pursued, in Suspension Acts and
other deeds of a similar kind, and had uniformly con-
sidered them as intended to prepare the way for aj
total annihilation of the Constitution, and the intro,-
duction of a military despotism. It was therefore tiniei
for the people to assume a high tone, and to repel thel
attacks which were made on them by their opponents.
How deeply the country was indebted, in the present
crisis, as well as on former occasions, to the Press,
was a truth too well known to require any observer
lions. By it the efforts of oppression had repeatedly I
been baffled, and all those proceedings exposed, which
were intended to militate against the public liberty.
But while much was thus due to the independent,,
Press for its exertions on the present occasion, it was
impossible not to thank those also who had !Air-.
rously gone down to the fatal spot, as well for thar.
purpose of informing the Public through the Public
Journals, as for instituting inquiry into facts which had
taken place. Their duty, as assembled today, was,
therefore, obvious. They were bound to petition the
Throne on the subject, to remind his Royal Highness
that while he holds his exalted station, he ought to
recollect his own declaration, that the Family on the
Throne held it solely in trust for the People, The
acts which were daily committed were sufficient to
drive the People to acts of madness, and, therefore, it
was their duty at once to express their opinion. He
concluded by giving his support most cordially to the
Resolutions.
Mr. PEARSON said, he now rose pursuant to the
wish of the inhabitants, and the impulse of his own
feelings to lay before them a short detail of the 0c.,,
curreaces which bad taken place.
'He was the more
inclined to do this in consequence of what took place
ip Carlton House, when she 'etiuon of the City was
fresented. He had the honour to be une of the pe-
putatiou from the Court of Common Council, apd he
ow=ted he was prepared for every thing
.except such'
as ,nswet was addressed to the Petitioners, He:
thought, that however much the L'riuce Begens might
feel g his duty to approve of the conduct of Mints,
tern, he would have nevertheless shewo some corn-
miseration for the sufferings ofthosewho fill
day, and that should such loss of lives have
been
that
a
occasioned even by unsle3satichecl loyalty, as it was