Star.
London, England, 1819-08-24 00:00:00

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THE EVENING STAR.

LONDON.

TOESDAY. AUGUST 24, 1419.
ST. BAlngotourtwo.—lioliday at the Bank, Exchequer, and
South-Sea Muse.

An account, which may be considered as Official',
ofi,he proceedings at Manchester, on Monday, has at
length appeared in a Manchester Paper—Wheeler's
Chronicle. It is the only statement that has yet ap-
peared, which, from beginning to end, has been ma-
nifestly written for the purpose of vindicating the
conduct of the Magistrates and Yeomanry. We do
not like to trespass on the patience of our Readers by
any new narrative of circumstances with which they
are already so well acquainted ; but in justice to the
Civil Authorities and Yeomanry, we think it right
to subjoin such passages of the present statement in
their behalf, as it may reasonably be supposed they
would choose most to rely upon for their• defence :
" The whole assemblage had every appearance of
military array; and was quite unlike thitt of a body
of people met for deliberation."
" Several persons addressed the assemblage, at
different times, desiring them to form in close order
round the hustings, and to lock their arms fast• toge-
ther, in order to prevent their enemies from-penetrat-
ing among them."
" The cheers (of Hunt and his party) were instantly
returned by the Cavalry, and the whole of the Peace
Officers, the former brandishing their sabres whilst,'
huzzaiag."
" The rebellious nature of the Meeting ; its numbers
and threatening aspect; the warlike insignia displayed;
the order of march and military arrangement, many
of the Reformers having shouldered large sticks and
bludgeons, as representatives o.f' muskets ; coupled
with the depositions on oath of very many respecta-
ble inhabitants, as to the consequences that must,
in their opinion, unavoidably Bow ro Lives and
property from such an immense-Meeting, assembled
under such influences; and the Magistrates' own view
of the whole of this tremendous scene—rendered it im-
peratire to interfere."
" The Riot Act had been twice read, once by the
Rev. Mr. Ethelston, and once ly John Sylvester, Esq."
" The Cavalry had not advanced many yards be-
fore they were assailed with heavy volleys of stones,
shouts of defiance, and the most coarse and insulting
language. Till thus' assailed, no Yeomanry-man
used his sword. Each man ha% ing confined himself
to waving it acse- his head. Novi the duty of self-
presemation obliged them to strike. but in very few
. instances to cut."

" On every side the soldiery were attaaial with
the most determined resolution ; many of the Ca-
valry were struck to the ground ; and the Reformers
attempted to k‘nock.out their brains with large stones,
(previously provided), and sticks, whilst lying on the
fp aunt!:

" Near the Quaker's Meeting-house afiriatts batik
sage!. In the burying-ground many persons com-
mitted murderous work from the enclosed walls, till
the gates were burst open by a private soldier, With
the butt end of his musket. Many innocent specta-
tors had also been there, during the whole of the day,
at's plats esecurits.. At length it was, necessarily,
cleared by force." •
" Not a sine, shot was fired by any of the Mili-
tary, although they were fired upon, mired times, by
the Reformers and their abettors."
" It was scarcely to be anttipated that great num-
bers of the Reformers would come to the Meeting
prepared with offensive weapons ; but it was the case.
A class of them were dressed as brewers' servants
usually are, with long brats that contain, pockets.—
These pockets were all filled with stones. Therefore,
it is manifest, that if the Law found occasion to in-
terpose, a regular system of prevention had been ar-
ranged to defeat its object."
They (the multitude) were from all quarters,
and from considerable distances, and must, in many
instances, have sacrificed three whole days in expenses
in coming to, being at, and returning from this, the
last Meeting before a Revolution was to break out, aqua!
etty were to divide the property of the Country among
them I"

‘‘ They were all elated at their numbers, which
svmed to make them feel conscious of strength.—
They declared on the ground, thatthis was the proudest'
day England ever saw, and that it would live in Me
pages of history to the latest generi. ;ions."
Such are the points on which the justification' of
the Magistrates and of the Yeomanry at Manchester
are made to rest, in. a long article published in the
ft--,CII/ r Chronicle. We have neither room nor
lyse at present the gratuitous as-
colouring attempted to be ire-
/31311c. We content ourselves with
'don on this singular production, and
iewed as the Manifesto of those who
1 (how truly time will anew) with
'their authority—namely that, had
enemy to draw up their culogium,
more effectually endeavoured to
Laded the charges are which have
them—,and we remark in the
advocate has put into the mouths
'ould calumniate, that the sky will
liaory to the kited generations !'

TO THE EDITOR OF TILE STIR.

SOUTHAMPTON READING ROOM. .
. AUGUST 23, 1839.

Stn—You will oblige 39 out of 42 of your constant
Readers by inserting in the next STAR the subjoined
Letter to the Editor of the Conrier.. I.avail myself
with pleasure of tl.is opportunity to express out un-
qualified approbation of the rnanner in which you
have spoken of the disgraceful weir that was exhi-
bited at Manchester on Monday last. Your sentiments
are those of every person who has not only. the welfare
but the honour of the country at heart. remain,
Sir, with unfeigned respect, -your's, truly,

RICHARD DAVIS,
Secretary to the Reading Room.

4, TO THE EDITOR OF THE COURIER.

Sin—l have been commissioned, by 39 out of 42
Subscribers to out Reading Room, to apprize you,
through the medium of the STAR, of our unqualified
disapprobation of your justificatory comments on the
atrocious conduct of the Military at Manchester, on
Monday last—and also to acquaint you with an oc-
currenoe that took place in consequence of that dis-
approbation. What! not only justify but eulogize a
conduct, that every humane person and well-wisher
to his country will consider as one of the foulest blots
in our historic page and an indelible stain on our
national character ! Would you wish that the ener-
getic line of Loons, in sue rictrici conversa viscera
dextra,' should be England's fatal motto. at this por-
tentous crisis ? To the honour of your Brether4our-
ua'ists, be it spoken, they have, almost to a man,
reprobated, in the strongest terms, the atrocities of
that disgraceful day. Their language bespeaks real
patrichism a:ld genuine British feeling—it vibrates in
unison with the chords of sensibility from one extre-
mity of the realm to the other. Let not the Editor'
of the Courier suppose that myself and co-subscribers
are Jacobins or Radicals :—No V we admire the ve-
nerable fabric of the British Constitution as much as
he does—and because we prize the rights that we
enjoy under its.protection, thrrefora are we the more
indignant at their violation. We. want no vigour
'beyond the law.
" As my feeble powers are inadequate to the task:
of depicting, in their true colours, our indignant
feelings, I leave you to writhe under the tontaltisrks
and scalping-knives of your cotemporaries, as you
Messrs. Journalists, term each oti.er. I do not mean,
by the bye, to insinuate that the persons into wl.ose
hands I have put those Indian weapons are by any
means barbarians; so far from it, that here the terse
and classical language of the Star, the Times, and
111 o? ming Chronid is considered such as would do ho-
nour to the best pet iods of English litcrtture.—Now,
Sir, I crave your attention a minute or, two longer,
I state the consequence of our disapprcbation cf your
sentimerts on the Manchester massacre. We, i.e. the
Members of our Reading-room, after rzcovt ring from
Idle consternation into which the appalling itaeli igence
from Manchester had thrown us, burst cflzt into in-
' eectives against the Courier, as an abettor of these
atrocities. We waited two or three days to see if the.
Editor would either retract or qualify his approba-
tion. No such thing—the more we saw to coirdemn
in this sanguinary proceeding, the more clamorous
were you, Sir, to justify it, as a vigorous effort of pa-
triotic heroism ! Finding that you still persisted in
justifying a line of ccnduct which the friends of hu-
manity mu- t reprobate, we convened a Me•aing of the
Subscribers, and came to the following Resolutions.
there being only three dissentient voices out of 42 :.

" Ist, Resolved, That the Cviirier, in consequence of its reite-
rated attempts to justify shedding the innecent blood of our
countrymen, be discontinued—to mark, In u forcible a manner
as possible, our utter abhorrence of these disgraceful attempts
on the part of the Courier !
" Resolved, 2dly, That the tour )lumbers of the Cberier, con-
taining the accounts from ninchester of the transactions of
Monday lau, and subsequent accounts from the same quarter,
togither with•tbe Editor's execrable remarks thereon, be made
up into a packet and kicked, by the S►bscribers present, out of
this Ronea.".

The Paris Papers of Saturday arrived this fore-
noon. We are again, obliged, by the pressure of do-
mestic matter, to defer availing ourselves of their
contents. Count ADISDAL has been replaced in the
command of the remnant of the troops at Cadiz, by
General Don FELIX CALLEJA, Count De CALDERON,
who was Vice-Ili yof Mexico, in 11113.--Fize per
Cents. Friday, 71 fr. 40 c.

We have this d.&y received Philadelphia Papers to
the 24th ultimo, but their contents are not of a na-
ture to call for our sacrificing any of the room occu-
pied by our ow•n domestic affairs, to make room for
them.

The Duke of DEVONSHIRE gave a grand Dinner,
yesterday, to Lady MORPETU, Lady GRANVILLE,
and a Select Party, at Devonshire House.
The Duke of NORFOLK and a Select Party of Dix:.
Unction dined yesterday with Lady PE T RE, at her
house, Grosvenor-square.
The Duke of PORTLAND, the Earl of FIFE, and
Lord ANCRAIII were among the 'numerous persons
of Rank who passed through Durham, in the course
of last week.

The Duke and Duchess of Nc KTHUMBERLA ND ar-
rived in Newcastle on Monday se'nnight They ho-
noured the Assembly with their presence in the even-
ing—it was most brilhantly attended ; upwards of
five hundred Ladies and Gentlemen, comprising the
Beauty and Fashion of the neighbourhood, bbing
present.. Their Graces patronised the performances
at the Theatre on Tuesday evening—the House was
crowded in every part.
Duar,ix, Attu 18.—Monday evening Mr. GRANT,
.the Chief Secretary for Ireland, landed at Howth.
He came over in the Talbot Eteam-Paoid.

MANCIIW3TLIt.

PR IV ITE I.IMTER.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAR.

46 MA NCIIISTE!t, AbaVIT

" Sin-1 am obliged by your favt,ur of the 20th,
and am amply repaid for the liberty I took in ad-
Jressing you, by the assurance that my communica-
tions have been of value. I shall indeed be happy
if they conduce to promckte a knowledge of the real
character of events which are, and I mist will long
remain, without a parallel, in modern British or ra-
ther English History. My letters shall be occa-
sionally continued as any thing of ioterest occurs.
" r think it might be well to challenge the. Courier
to publish the statement of its own Reporter. It is
a fact, which has scarcely yet been noticed by the
London Papers, that he was very seriously wounded
by salve.cuts in two places, and by some severe con-
tusions, and, unless I am egregiously misitafornted
and deceived, his opinion has been most decidedly
expressed-here both as to the peaceable character of
the Meeting and to the wanton violence by which
he (as well as others) was himself a sufferer. The
14iburier of Friday quibbles about the number which
the Rots bad mentioned as being sabred, forgetting,
or rather feigning to forget, that apse who are tram-
plea to death are' equally the victims of military
violence as if they were cot to pieces; but the ac-
counts I hear from all parts of the neighbourhood
convince me that 200 will be an understatement of
the wounded, and nearly all of them are sabred...,
You will, no doubt see, in Wheeler's Manche:lt?l,
Chronicle, what may be considered the Magistratts'
official statement, argi their thanks and compliments
m the various bodies cf. military for their humane
conduct on Monday. The county; will not be jug-
gled into appaation of it by seeing that those who
got up the dreadful tragedy should praise those who
performed it ; and the truth of the question, as to the
humanity or inhumanity of the mode in which the
dispersion was effected, may be estimated and con-
clusively settled by the fact,. that the Blanket Meet-
ing in nisch, 1817, was nearly as numerous as this
(at least it was thought to consist of more than
40,000 people)--ghat the Speakers on the Lostings
were then also taken into cu.stody—that the Meeting
was then also di•persed from the very same place by
military force, but with very different results: One'
w,c.nian was trampled to death at some distance from
the scene of action ; but as br as I knew, or have ever
heard, and hvhieve, act oat sabre wound was given.
Then, as well as now, it was quite problematical w]te-
ther tl.c Rict Act was alai I am told ~v
friend, who took some pains in time inquiry, that t!“.•
mystery was never solved ; nor will it bL nov., un-
less at, piasv, et- is for, ed frotn the Magistrates by t!
voice (..f the country..
o We still ccntinue appr.-4...nt1y tranquil, and I fit.
vently lic,me we may remaia so, but it is quite impu:;-
sible to say. A dreadful• bitterness of feeling has
been created by the events of Monday. If we lead
been dogs,' said a poor man to a friend of mine, in
speal.lng of the subject, 4 If we had been dogs they
would not hare used us so ills they Might have driven
us away, but they would not have taken swords to us.'
And this is the general feeling. The people think
they have not been treated as fellow-creatures ought
to be, and it is innossible that any feelings of disaf-
fection can be rooted out, or of reliance upon the
equality and protection of the laws encouraged, by
'the treatment they have experienced.

t. In the notice they circulated before the :Meeting,
(but whether for that of the 9th, or this of the 16th,
I will not be quite surejs the Reformers invited
the presence of the• Municipal Officers and Magis
trates upon the hustings, and assured them of respect-
ful treatment, that they might preserve the peace;
but although the Magistrates might have thought it,
and, judging from their conduct, did think it, beneath
their dignity sa to prevent the utterance of seditious
language or the adoption of violent Resolutions, I
cannot but think, and the Country will agree in the
opinion, that it would been much more to their
credit, than the means which they took for dispers-
ing the Aleeting,
" Of the rower the Boroughreere and Constables
are assuming, you may judge by the following, in
some of its parts, infamous hand-bill, which they call
a' Friendly Catiticn:—EThe Circular alluded to ap-
peared in the Sri\ R of yesterday, and therefore need
not be given here.j
" I have given a harciname to some parts of this
placard, because its evident purpose is nothing but
punishment aad revenge: for the founer I an nut
recognize the military as legal instruments; and
about the impropriety of their being allowed to dis•
play any thing like the latter passion, there can be
but one opinion. In plain terms, if I attempt to
preserve the life of a fellow-creature, who as far as
I may know is guiltless, or at least who has com-
mitted no capital crime, I am to be snor in ,4 own
house, and not only myself, but pet haps 'all my fa
may, for my house " NEAT BE FIRED INTO." Or if
some wretch, unknown to me, should take post on
.my roof, and throw a stone fi tun thence upon the mi-
litary, I am, if it seem meet to tlia said military, to
be MURDERED; for I kns)w not what other :mailing
is to be attached to the phrase " responsible for al
the consequences." Fortunately for myself, where 1
live there •is little danger of any thing of this sort ;
but I protest against our Municipal Officers, who
'have uo jurisdiction or authority above that of petty

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14 44 lire ix the pages VA