Star.
London, England, 1819-11-25 00:00:00

any man in the House who is free roni such crimes,
throw the first stone, he Certainly should tint be that
first man"--tHear, hear, and ;loud He did.
not •wish to hurt a single hair on the Noble
head, but he thought the system by which such oh:.
equal justice was administered, neither more nor Zest
than a system of hypocrisy !—(Hear, hear, hear). If
was said the People had treasonable intentions—he
denied the imputation; but if it were true, those in-
tentions assuredly could not be extinguished by new
taxes, and new. legislative measures, hostile to their
character and freedom ; measures of vigour, indeed,
they were styled—he would call them measures of
oppression—(Hear, hear). The same course of tyranny
and blood was run in Ireland, and it eventually ter-
minated in the suicide of that Legislature by whose
fproval it was sanctioned—(Hear, hear). The People
were ready to submit to any sacrifice—independence,
commerce, any thing they wo ild surrender, provided
only they could get rid of such a Parliament--(Cheers).
Let Ministers, therefore, be cautious how they go on.
If they propose, and succeed in carrying through the
Legislature, Aets subversive of the Rights of the
People, instead of effecting a remedy for discontent,
they will goad the People to madness and despair !
The Hon. Baronet then proieeded to vindicate the
principles of Reform, from their supposed associa-
tion with doctrines of infidelity ; insisting that the
Christian Religion was a religion of liberty—that,
instead of being hostile to the principles of freedom,
it rather taught and encouraged them ; that religion
taught us to believe, that all men were nationally,
equal—it taught us to do justice, to she's'', charity toe
wards all men, to impute false motives to no indivi-
dual, and, in every act of life, to " do as ,you would
be done by !"—(Hear, hear, hear). There was, there-
fore, no ground for such an imputation. As to
loyalty, he believed the country to be perfectly loyal.
There never was„ he firmly believed, a more general,
or a more ardent feeling of attachment to the Con-
stittition, kiiciirn to animate the country, than at this
moment. The People loved the Constitution, .com-.
posed as it was of king, Lords, and Commons ; they
only say, that they cannot live under a Constitution
'of King and Lords only, and that the Common*
should not be, as it is, virtually taken away--(Hear,
hear). They had no wish to exchide from the Con-•
stitution the privileged orders. There was no people
in the world' who were more disposed tó look up
with respect and regard to men of talents, than
the People of England—(Cries of Hear, hear, hear).
Loyalty !—Why, were not the Ministers actually in
despair, because the people were so loyal? When
Harrison was imprudently apprehended in the midst.
of the people at Smithfield, did not the Treasury
Journals taunt the people for what they called their
cowardice, in submitting to such an insult ?—(Hear
—After vindicating the antiquity of Annual Parlia-
ments and; Univerial Suffrage by the authority of
Seldon, the lion:BaiOnet thouiht he might assure
the House, that the people would generally be sods-
, fled with a moderate Reform, with such a Reform as
would tend to establish a sufficient controul over the
executive part of the Government. It was unjust,
therefore, to charge the people with irreligious opi-
nions, because they desired a Reform of the Consti-
tution ; and, at all events, he' thought that opinion
should not ibe the subject of legislation. Acts, in-
deed, if criminal, ought to be restrained; but for
mere imputed theoretical doctrines, the people
were menaced with an torts of new infringements
of their ancient liberties. Did the House imagine
it could ever re-establish its character by such
measures as these? It was a subject of shame'
and regret, that for the last quarter of a century
the Parliament never met without taking away some
of those valuable fundamental rights which were
recognized and re-enacted at the Revolution. Ses-
sion after Session a new restriction of liberty is
adopted, or a new tax imposed. Last Session four
millions of taxes were agreed to be taken out of the
People's pockets.—[Here it was intimated to the
Honourable Baronet that the amount of these taxes
was three not four millions.}—True, said he, three
millions in the Exchequer, but four in the collections,
and the pockets of the People were now completely
exhausted. Allusions were made, and invitations
were given by some Honourable Members to an Li-
comerax, and it was often said that. such a tee
would lighten the pressure on the Poor. This was it
.fallacious view of the question. It was not true that
an Income Tax would have any such effect. On the
contrary, it would increase the privations and distress
already too prevalent among the lower aliases. The
rich man should be considered as the poor man's
banker, and every thing which tended to diminish
the fund in the rich man's possession, was so much
.taken from his means of employing the labourer
and artizan—(Loud and continued cheers). In fact
new taxes would require new military force ; and
thus by taxes and new battalions the Ministers
would create ten times the discontent they could con-
troul. The Hon. Baronet then alluded to the insult
given to Earl Fitzwilliam, a Nobleman, with whom
every Public Meeting held since his dismissal, sym-
pathized most sincerely. This proved the justice in-
herent in the character of Englishmen ; for though the
people composing those Meetings were in favour of
Reform, to which the Noble Earl was certainly no
friend, still they paid public and glowing tributes to
his public honour, integrity, and patriotism, and to
his private virtues—goad cheers). Such a people,
I if fairly treated, would heartily co-operate in ame-
liorating. their own condition, arid in regenerating
'the Constitution. He Concurred with the Hon.
Member for Shrewsbury, that it was difficult to see
'bow one could vote upon the present occasion. Whe-
ther he looked to the Addreis or Amendment, he
found noth'uig in Ilse prospect which either suggested,
that Was not *glocmr and disastrous. He regretted
that the Marithester affair was totally omitted in the
speech frona the Thtone and in the Address. Some
'compunction at least for the raelancholy_transactions
of that fiat Necting mighf bare been expressed.—
Against the new
measures intended he-strongly pro-
tested. This matter shouldlielagirnitted to a special
insuiry ; atter that wa.! ci OW-4 the House might
tben turn its attention to er tonstitutional subjects,
which it was high time e tOOnttY should now go
into..—(The AloApteraAie
efid
ro w , t&n sat down (7
tOull thews, whichmanor for ssvei# nsinutesi.
Mr. W. WItNNE could not agree with the Von,
Almoner., or those who had (*ca.
ed him in. the sem.
coarse of argument, that there..were mot sifficient,
grounds for asserting. that the Meet. ,ms• of the op,
of August was illegal. Ifie contended, that the ats-