Star.
London, England, 1818-03-06 00:00:00

fessed a, great regard for religion. ,Unfortstnit4y, it
so.happened for the.characenr of napless Ai*as ,
convicted .of perjury, in NA% safoin to an ;
order to procute-the accfuittil of a man nessiedSlater,
charged; with the crime: of shooting at a man Who
attempted, to arrest him for frame-breaking. Next As-
sizes Slater pleaded Gailtrof the frame-breaking; thus
falsifying the testimony of Haynes given on the first
trial--(hear, hear). Of a similar description were the
whole of the Petitioners, lie did not think that the
Honourable Gentleman had laid down any grounds.,
for agreeing to the motion. On behalf of s calum-
niated Government, and a caluAniatect Magistracy,
he should object to the motion. . .
Mr. F. DOUGLAS supported -the motion. With
respect to the man Loma/nit is trite that he was ap-
prehended ; but was it not also true, that he alone
was liberated out of the twentyssix apprehended with
him ? The inference was plain, that he at least was
in favour with the Government ; or would they have
dismissed him?—(hear, hear.) The motion was made
with a view of giving the flonoutable Gentleman,
the Member for Bramber (Mr. sWilberforce) an op-
portunity of supporting the enquiry, for that Ho-
nourable Member had pledged himself so to do. With
reTect to I laynes, of whom the Right Hon. Gentle-
man had spoken, he had nothing to do with the pre-
sent motion. It would be recollected that the House
wereon the eve of parting with all chance of enquiry,
the Indemnity Bill was before the House. .The Ho-
nourable Genteman contended, that for the sake of
Ministers, the House ought to go into the inquiry,
they were responsible, and an enquiry would shew.
whether the confidence reposed in them by the "rouse
was well or ill placed. If, however, Ministers were
determined, instead of punishing, to protect, these
Spies, then let the mischief of such protection fall on
their own heads. Let the I 1 use recollect, if they did
not afford inquiry, they would sanction every species
of vice under the mask of-Spics and Informers. The
House must be aware of the manner in which these
persons were fitted out by the Government for the
purpose—they were sent out to entrap and deceive
men who possibly would not have thought of crime
without the temptation of the veriest scum of the
earth. Was this fitting for a moral Secretary of
State ? Was it proper for him to prostitute his high
character to such unworthy purposes—to become die
associate of hired Spies—them, who went about
seeking for blood, to cram their own mercenary
pockets, and who when found out, recognizei in
their high coadjutors protectors and friends--(hear.)
He commented in glowing terms Of disgust on the
immoral tendency of such associations and such pro-
tectors. What would be the consequence ? \That
effect would it have en Police Officers ? Why, they
would have their Olivers and their Spies.' They
would imitate the Secretary of State, and shelter•their
evil condcct under his wings. ( Hear.) Bait Mi-
nisters would say, all that they had done was by way
of prevention. Let them, however, see to whateffeet
it led. He accused them of casting a firebrand among
the public—of hearing piftial evidence—of calling
that treason and rebellion.; which, in fact, wasnothing
more than sedition or riot. He. charged them wit
suppressing letters) and readiig others which suited ,
their own purpose. •
Mr. BLACKBURN rose to say, that he was au,i
thorised by his Constituents •to state to the House,
that the Petition which had been alluded to bore nn
proportion in respect to numbers to those who were I
of opinion that they owed all the comforts and quiet
to which the country is indebted,-to the conduct of,
the Magistracy. The Hon. Gentleman read a letter
to this effect, which generally stated, that Requisi-
tions had been issued for a public Meeting by Ogden,
and Benbow, two of the Petitioners, and refused ;
that the Hon. Member (NI:. Phillips) had printed
his speech in all the Manchester Papers, -and circula-
ted it in sheets, at a price to meet the wishes cf the
lowest person ; and that, in fact, every means had
been resorted to to impress the House with ar. idea
of the inhabitants being disposed to be friendly to the
Petitions, which was not the case. _

.Mr. T. COURTNEY said, for some time he was
at a loss to know what was the object of the present
motion ; but at length he discovered the object sof the
Hon. Mover ; it became apparent on the Hon. Mem-
ber's own statement. His object was, to put this
ten-times told tale of calumny in such a shape as
should obtain for it the support of the Honourable
and respected Member for Bramber. In this, how-
ever, he (Mr. Courtney) trusted the Hon. Member
would be disappointed ; since he must be allowed to
say, that in his opinion the feeling of the country at
large, and even of the majority of those inhabiting
the place from which the Hon. Member had drawn
his conclusions was different to what the Hon. Member
had represented. He (Mr. Courtney) had as great an
antipathy to spies and informers as the Hon. Gentle-
man had ; and if it was proved that the charge now
brought against his Majesty's Goverrnsent was well
founded, the present motion should have his support.
The Hon. Gentleman had set out with a high eulogium
on the Noble Lord who presided over the Home De-
partment ; yet in the same breath he had talked of
Spies and Informers fitted out and dispatched from
London. In what part of the evidence laid before
the House, ho would ask, was the proof of this fact
to be found ? Would any Gentleman say that 01;ver,
whose name had been so often mentioned, had been
fitted out from London--(her, hear). He did not',
perfectly understand the meaning of that cheer.-1
Would the Gentlemen who cheered give any proof
that he was ?—(Louder cheering.) If Gentlemen had
any such proof, he challenged them to produce it.
The contrary had appeared all through the proceed-,
ings during the trials at Derby. Mr. Denman once
put the question, but he received such an answer as
he did. not like. and never thought fit to put it a"
second time. With respect tc. the present motion for,
inquiry, he thought it should not be adopted in its
present shape, unless upon the strongest proof of ne-
cessity ;no such necessity had yet beer. shewn. The
evidence of the Magistracy was such as decidedly
proi,ed the necessity of the measures which had been
adopted, and he trusted it would not again be said,
or be !aid serioasly, that the Magistracy of the coun-
try were not credible evidence on this subject. He
could not agree to this motion, which had for its ob-
ject to go into inquiry again on every particular case.
This was not necessary, since it appeared, from the
Report of the Secret Committee, which it was no de-
reliction of duty on the part of the House to believe,
that not a single person had been arrested except on
deposition upon oath. He was one of those who voted