Star.
London, England, 1819-09-10 00:00:00

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1819.

mistaken the remedy ; nevertheless, he thought it
would better become those in power to be kind to
people whom they thought were deluded, to alter
their opinions with mildness and considerate for-
bearance, than to exasperate their passions, and out-
rage their feelings, by meeting them with •open
etvekvred hostility, and dispersing them by violence
and bloodshed. That could never have the effect cf
biingiag about the work of peace ; it must create
evil, it never could effect good—(Hear, hear.)
The worthy Alderman then read the Resolutions
which he was about to submit to the Court.--See
Advertisement.

As soon as he had finished the reading of the Re-
solutions, he added, that he had neglected to allude
to the period when the Riot Act had been read at
Manchester ; he thought that of very little compara-
tive importance at this moment; for the Meeting, so
far as it had gone, appeared by every account to have
been conducted peaceably, so that there appeared no
justification at all for reading that Act. If, however,
the Riot Act was read at all, it must have been read
by the Magistrate at or near his own door ; so that,
according to every account, a man standing by could
not hear what the Magistrate was reading from his
paper. But even if it had been read as it ought, so
as to have made the Meeting sensible of what was
going on, still there could be no justification for the
military execution that was subsequently done upon
an unarmed and defenceless multitude. If the Riot
Act had been read in the most open manner, these
atrocities would not change their character ; they
would be still fillet al, and revolting to humanity and
justice.—(Cheers.)
Mr. HURCOMBS said, he rose to second the Reso-
lutions.

At this moment Mr. EICKIE rose, supposing that
Mr. flurcombe had finished, but on finding his mis-
take, he immediately gave way to the seconder.

Mr. HURCOMBE said, that he had little to add to
the energetic and effective manner in which the wor-
thy Alderman (Waithman) had proposed the Resolu-
tions, who had done his duty this day, as he had on
all former occasions, with honour to himself, and
fidelity to his constituents. Though he could add
nothing to the able manner in which the Resolutions
had been proposed, yet he could not satisfy his feel-
ings by giving a silent vote—(Hear, hear.) He la-
mented to see a smile on the faces of the Gentlemen
opposite (Messrs. Dixon, Jacks, and Browne.) He
was shocked at observing on the face of any Gentle-
man any expression which indicated levity, on an oc-
casion so serious and important to humanity and law.
(Mr. Dixon—" lam not smiling.") If ever one ques-
tion could be more serious than another, it was that
where an unoffending people had fallen under military
execution by the order of a Magistracy, who were
sworn to protect them.—(Hear, Hear.) He hoped
that all who heard him, would concur in expressing-
their abhorrence at the commission of unnecessary
violence upon a mingled multitude publicly assem-
bled, as was usual on occasions of this kind. He
hoped that all would concur in the necessity of in-
quiring into the transactions of the 16th of August,
of which Manchester was the bloody scene. He
hoped that the majority of that Court would as
strongly express their abhorrence at this outrage, as
they would their readiness to support law, reason,
and humanity. The worthy Gentleman then advert-
ed to Mr. Pearson's letter, which described the evi-
dence given before the Grand Jury at Manchester,
and said, that unless it were true, he did not think
any respectable profess'onal man would have affixed
his name to it. With such information, then, before
the Grand Jury, he was utterly at a loss to know how
they could have ignored the hills against the Yeo-
manry ; he might be wrong in his opinion, but he'
thought, so placed, he should have pursued a dif-
ferent course of conduct. (A voice said, " They ad-
ed so, because they did not believe Me inibmation.")'
Mr. Hurcombe, on hearing this, seemed to address
himself to Mr. Dixon, and said, "What ! do you call
this information not to be believed ?" (*lr. Dixon—
" I did not say any such thing.") Mr. Hurcombu
concluded, by expressing his cordial support of the
Resolutions he seconded, and his hope that they
would meet the approbation of the great majority of
the Court—(Hear.)
The COMMON SERJEANT then read the Resolutions,
and was about to put them, when
Mr. BUMSTEAD addressed the Court. The subject
before the Court, wa's, in his opinion, one of the most
important which had ever engaged its attention.
Scenes had taken place which it was almost impos:.i.
ble to think of, much more to describe, without feel-
ings of horror. Those acts of cruelty had been per-
petrated on the people by the authority of those, to
whom, of all others, they should look for pro.
tectiun—by the authority of the Civil Magistrates—
(Hear, hear.) To their Magistrates and Judges, the
people of this country had, on all occasions, looked
for protection, and a due administration of the laws;
but he regretted to find, that a great deal of the peo-
ple's respect for those Authorities was lost by the rip-
pointment of Stipendiary and Police Magistrates. It
was most certainly contrary to the ancient spirit of our
Constitution, and its effects were every day becoming
more and more apparent. How was it possible for the
great body of persons assembled on such occasions as'
the Public Meeting alluded to, to respect those Ma-
gistrates, some of whom they saw interrupting them
by most sanguinary means, in the exercise of a pub-
lic right? When the Magistrates attack an unof-
fending crowd, what security was there that they
would not by the adoption of similar arbitrary pro-
ceedings attack and disperse pr ivate Clubs and AssoN
ciations? They might disperse Societies of Free-
' masons, and even the workmen enjoying their bean-
feasts, on the same alleged grounds ; for certainly
there was as little of riot and tomult at the recent
Meeting as might often be found on some of the oe-i
casions he had mentioned. 1f 'this arbitrary system,
were suffered to pass without notice, or without an
L effort to arrest its progress, the right of Petition, that

-

PRICE SEVEN-PENCF.

great privilege which vas secured to Englishrntsn by
the Bill of Rights, might indeed be spoken of as a
thing which once existed, or might, perhaps, be pre-
served in the dw tv Records of the Tower, but it
would be lost hi eifect to those whose ancestors had
so bravely exerted themselves to maintain it. It was
from a conviction that such would be the effect of
passing the late scenes at Manchester unnoticed, that
he gave his hearty assent to the Resolutions.
Mr. Alderman ROTHWELL said, he • would follow
the example of the Gentleman who last spoke, and
he as brief as possible in the delivery of his senti.
meats. He admitted with him that the question was
one of the greatest importance, and he therefore
thought it ought to be weighed maturely and cau-
tiously. The Gentlemen who preceded him had ex-
pressed their hopes that the Resolutions would meet
general concurrence—he, on the contrary, hoped
they would meet with quite a different reception--
(Hear, hear).—On what were the Resolutions ground-
ed?—on what intelligence was the Court called to
act ? He knew of no intelligence which could jus-
tify the Court 'to proceed, but that disclosed in the
judicial proceedings which had occurred ; and how
the Magistrates could be 'exposed to censure upon
the information that had in this manner transpired,
he was totally at a loss to guess—(Hear, hear).—
The. NewspaFers, so far from affording authentic
facts on which right conclusions could be drawn,
were not at all agreed. among theniselves as to the
occurrences—they detailed them in different forms
and shapes. How then, he would ask, was that
Court, upon such vague and contradictory informa-
tion, to found a vote of censure upon Magistrates,
and that, too, conveyed in terms so strong as the Re•
solutions contained—a length of invective which, he
thought, might on this occasion have been spared
by the worthy Mover ?—( Cries of " No, no !")—lf
he were called upon to decide on the evidence before
him, he certainly could by no means bring his mind
to a sentence of condemnation on the Magistrates;
as an honest man, he could not, and he should ra-
ther, were he empannelled to decide, withdraw from
the Jury box, than pronounce a hasty opinion affect-
ing the characters of men upon imperfect informa-
tion. Situated in this manner, he thought the better
course would be to get rid of the Resolutions alto-
gether, without entering upon a subject unaided by
clear and satisfactory jnformation, on which they
would be justified in coming to proper and right
conclusions; he hoped some Member of the Court
would adopt a course calculated to get rid of the
Resolutions in this manner, without prejudging or
pronouncing upon the question--(Hear, hear).—His
wish was, that the Resolutions should be done away -
with altogether.
Mr. BRQWNE felt as seriously as any Member could
the great importance of the subject before the Courts
It was, he admitted, as worthy of deep consideratiOn
as any which could occupy their attention ; and
though some Gentlemen had accused him and his
friends of treating the matter with levity, he could
assure them, that Weir fine-drawn humanity could
not teach them to look at the subject with more seri-
ousness than he did. He had been accused of smiling;
but when he heard of all this sympathy for those
persons, most of whom had brought the calamity,
in some degree, upon themselves—(Cries of .No, no);
when he found such sympathy on this and other
oc-
casions,
and when he saw that no sympathy was ex-
cited for the unfortunate men who, having gone to
look at the nine:), drilling of large bodies of men,
et-ere so dreadfully abused as to be left almost dead
on the field ; when he found that no feeling of com-
miseration was expressed for the individual Whose
life was attempted for the active discharge of his
dray ; when he found that the Gentlemen on the
other side expressed no pity on these occasions, he
!cuuls! not repress a smile at that ingenuity by which •
their sympathies were so very confined—(Hear, hear).
.He hoped the Court would not be led away by the
ati t descriptions which they had heard, but would
p ic
discharge their duty as became men who wished to
view matters on both sides before they gave their de-
cision—( Hear, hear).—He would most freely avow
his opinion, that if the Magistrates of Manchester,
or the Yeomanry Cavalry, had acted in the manner
which had been described, they ought to be punished
for it in the most exemplary manner ; but then, on
what authority did those accounts rest i On the au-
thority of Newspapers; no two of which agrfed as
to the circumstances which they detailed—( Hear,
hear).—Would the Court then, upon such conflict-
ing evidence, sit in judgment over men, and con-
demn them unheard ? Would they judge his Ma-
jesty's Ministers, and pass a censure on.all, from the
evidence which was before them ? It should also be
observed, that from all the evidence which could yet
be collected, a conclusion might be drawn quite the
reverse of that which the Resolutions had adopted.
A Grand Jury of a County had ignored Bills pre-
ferred against some of the Yeomanry Cavalry, for
some of the acts for which they were here condemn-
ed ; and however respectable the individual whose
letter was alluded to (Mr. Pearson) might be, he
could not let it outweigh in his mind the credit
which was due to a Grand Jury on their Oaths.—
Was it to be suppo td that chat individual could
know with accuracy what passed before a tribunal
where no audience was admitted ? He could only
depend on the words of others that they had sworn
to such and such facts; but he could not know all
that had taken place. His authority then, was not,
he conceived, entitled to that weight which same
wished to attach to it. Even if all the witnesses
ho had been examined before the Grand Jury'
were to be brought to the bar of the Court and exa-
mined, and to state the same facts, he should still
-be bound to believe that a large and most respectable
body of Gentlemen, acting on their oaths, had dis.
charged their duty correctly. It was astonishing to
observe how Gentlemen turned round in their opi-
nions when circumstances changed. If a Juty of
the country were to acquit a popular man, they are
then extolled as most intelligent and upright; but, if

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