Star.
London, England, 1820-09-12 00:00:00

PUBLIC MEETING Al' PLYMOUTH.

A Nleeting, convened by advertisement, was held
at the London Inn Assembly Boom, in this town, on
Fri;lav se'nnight, " to consider and determine on the
proptiety of pre.enting a Petition to the Honourable.
House of Commons, praying that the Bill of Pains
and Penalties, now before the House of Lords, may,
it ever brought down to that Ilonourable House, he
thrown telt, as being a dangerous violation of the
Constitution of this kingdom,' &c. By twelve o'clock
(the hour of assembling) the room was completely
filled, and a number of most respectable iuhabitants
were present. As the Gentlemen whose names were
attached to the Requisition severally entered, they
were loudly and universally cheered. About half=
past twelve o'clock, Mr. SAUNDERS was called to
the Chair by acclamation.
Mr. BIRD then rose, and addressed the Meeting
nearly in the following terms:—The Learned Gentle-
man described the Queen 66 as a long and deeply in-
jured woman. We are not (he said) called upon to
decide her guilt or innocence, but to consider if the
highest subject in the Realm is to he beat down by a
measure which can only be described as a breach of
tile Constitution. To effect this purpose, the aristo-
cracy and hierarchy have gone hand in hand: but
still she has intrepid defenders and upright judges
in the breast of every honest Briton. Let us advert
to the time when this ill-fated won.an was first
brought to our shores, to give an heir to the British
Throne; she was then treated with some degree of
kindness; but no sooner were these hopes realized,
than, as a wife, she was abandoned by him who had
vowed to love'and protect her; as a mother, she was
outraged by every possible cruelty; and, finally, was'
exiled from the land which, in brighter expectations,
she had visited, It is not then our present task, I
repeat (said Mr. Bird), to pronounce whether the
Queen be I.;pilty or innocent, but whether the mode
of trial w inch has been adopted against her be not a
breach of the Con-titution, and whether she has that
justice awarded to her, which the lowest subject in the
Realm is entitled to claim. The meanest of you all,
if accused of a crime, may challenge any nf the Jury
who sit upon the case ; and if it is proved that any
of that Jury are interested in the question, the pro-
cess is vitiated, and the whole proceeding is null and
void, whether in a criminal or a civil case. But in
the instance of the Queen, her Jury form her ac-
cusers. And wha are her accusers? The Ministers
in both Houses of Pat liament—the men v ho are con-
stantly employed in turning the tide of corruption
against your liberties, and who will not hesitate a
moment to turn it against a woman they wish to sa-
crifice. These, Gentlemen, are my opinions ;' but I
ask no man to acquiesce in them, neither do I solicit
any man to sign the Requisition which brings us
here..l called on some, who readily assented ; others
boldly refused ; and they stood high in my estima-
tion, because they had courage-to be free. Yet, on
the whole, I look with some confidence to the tone
of the public mind in favour of this Illustrious Indi-
vidual, with a hope that she will ultimately have jus-
tice done to her. But still it is impossible to regard
her case without bringing to our recollection the con-
duct pursued towards the ilhistrious Russell. He bad
the misfortune to offend his Monarch by bringing up
a Bill for excluding him from the Throne. The of-
fence was never forgiven, and in due time he was
tried for Treason. On appealing to his Judges for
only one day's delay to produce a material witness,
it was most cruelly refused, with the most contume-
lious language, as was also a list of the witnesses to
be produced against him. lie was tried and exe-
cuted; but in the subsequent reign the attainder was
reversed, and his execution is now recorded in our
Statute book as a judicial murder. I now leave you,
Gentlemen, to GOD and your own consciences. Ex-
ercise the privilege of thinking as freemen, and of
resolVing, as Britons ought to do on all occasions ;'
and who can complain of your decision ? Before
concluding, it may be right to allude to the objec-
tion that this Petition is premature. Recollect, the
House of Commons is not now sitting, but it is pos-
iible that the Members may be suddenly called to-
gether, and pass this or any other favourite measure
before a Petition could be transmitted by mail from
hence to London. The House is now adjourned to
the 18th instant, and, at all events, it seldom hap-
pens that a good action is done too soon ; and I am
confident you will agree that it cannot be the casein
the present instance.' The Learned Gentleman con-
cluded by reading a Petition he had prepared for
the occasion.

This Petition was seconded, and appeared to meet'
with general approbation, when
Dr. llzi.r.amy rose, and, after a few explanatory
remarks, thus proceeded :—" The question whe-
ther, in the course followed against the Queen, she
has received that measure ofiestice to which she is
entitled ? I am prepared to say the proceeding is a
direct violation of the Constitution, and I am equally
prepared to chew that this is the case. The Consti-
tution has provided for the equal rights of all i•n this
counwriv.tether tligy be high or low, or rich or,

poor ; and I clearly think, if this Bill be proceeded
I.witla, and the-Queen be found:l344V; that an juit in-
ference can be drawn from her condemnation by
such a mode of procedure, because she is therebytle•
priced of those privileges which -she ought to enjo
in common with every British subject. 'I hey are
flied by persons Who are judges of the law as well
as of the facts ; besides which, the Judge .as well as
the Jury have a natural leaning towards the priso-
ner. Is it so in the Queen's case? Who are her
Judges? Persons who are seemingly bent on perse-
vering at all hazards, and who combine in themselves
the incongruous offices of 'Judge, Juruevidence, and
who, I fear, would tejoicelti --be&mhig the execu-
tioners. And what, Gentlemen, is 'a Bill of 'Pains
and Penalties? It is not recognized by .the law; it
has crept in by precedent, which,, in certain cases,
but not, however, in the present
,tine, I admit may
become law. It assumes that an itidividual has com-
mitted a crime not recognized by law, •and then
frames a law to meet the case. But, in the present
instance, whit is the•motive ? Is it the public good ?
Is it for the protiction of morals? Is it called for by
state necessity ?' (Yr' is the succession to the 'throne
endangered? • If thii tan 'be shewn to be the case,
then will I • go hand in *and with the promoters of
the measure. But it cannot be shewu, and' therefore
I cannot help thinking; that there are neither clean
hands nor clean hearts in these proceedings, which
directly interfere with the. Throne, which is, or ought
to be, the fountain iif mercy. You are all aware
that the Legislature of this kingdom consists of three
estates—King, Lords, and Commons. One of these
branches has opened a source of impurity that will
not only taint the whole of the kingdom, but eter-
nally disgrace itself. Of the other two branches, the
House of Commons only remains to be consulted ;
for I need not tell you what will he the feelings of
the other, should these proceedings be urged to their
completion. I do not come here to support the
Queen, but the Cowaitution. I do not object to her
being tried, if it be done according to the Constitu-
tion, for it is through the Constitution that I to
the Queen. I glory in the rights and privileges to
%%bid], as a Briton, I may lay claim; and would to
Gen they may be preserved inviolate, and that my
last wordslo my-children May be—' Follow in the
footsteps of your forefathers." He concluded, amidst
loud applause, by reading a se: ies of Resolutions he
had drawn up for the api.robation of the Meeting.
The Rev. J.WonsLay rose, and said—" lam anxious
to state to the company here assembled the reasons
which induced me to lend my name, first to the Re-
quisition
which was addressed to the Mayor, and
then to the paper which invited you, Gentlemen, to.,
assemble at this place to-day. I lent my name under,
the impression that we might contribute to put a flop
to that filthy deluge Which has been pouring of late
through the land, and has been defiling our break-
fast-tables, our tea-tables, our pot-houses, and even
our schools; exciting ideas, and moving inquiries,'
which never ought to enter the minds of yoking'
people, and which cannot fail of producing a demo-
ralizing efrect ; and thus far I thought I should stand
in my proper character as a Minister of Religion.—
I desire to be distinctly understood as disclaiming all
consideration of _innocent or guilty in this great in
quiry. It is too soon for us to form an opinion about'
it, and we ought to suspend our judgments till the
case has been gone through. But it is impossible for
us to shut our eyes against the baseness of those cha- '
meters which ale brought forward to disgraCe and
to ruin our Queen. It is well known that Italy stands
in the very los' est point of moral character in Europe.
We are told by travellers, and by those who have
lived among the people of Italy, that no country is
so deep sunk in vice of every kind ; and yet who are-
the persons of this detested country that are brought
forward, at a monstrous expense, to criminate the
Queen ? I hesitate not to say they are the very scum
of Italy, the very lowest characters of that immoral
State ; and the very leader of the gang has already
convinced us what is the sort of evidence_ we may
expect from wretches brought as these are, for you
must have perceived that to every question put to
him by the Attorney-General he had dot an answer
pat, as if it had been ready cut and dried for the oc-
casion ; but when Mr. Brougham came to question
him, he could not give an answer to one in ten of his
inquiries; and, moreover, he is already doubly con-
victed of perjury. I do sincerely lament the in-,
fluence which this measure has actually had, and
is likely to have, on the general feelings and on
the general morals. The Newspapers cannot be
read without exciting unchaste thoughts in young
minds, from which they ought to hi altogether free.
This . unfortunate affair has done art evil to morals
which can never be repaired. It has'made one moral-
law for the man, and another for his wife. We have
one law of Goa against adultery, sehiCh is addressed
to the one as well as-to the other sea: butt to Attor.
ney-General has been compelled, by.the awkward si-
tuation in which he has been placed; to draw a line
of distinction between the crime of adultery in man
and the same crime in woman, and to offer an apo-
logy, in the very face of GOD'S law, for the iniquity
of the man. In this way he hal'•held out encou-
ragement to the practice of a vice which but too
extensively. prevails in the higher 'circles. It has
been said, that a woman of so loose a character as
the Queen is net a fit person-to hold the highest rank
in the female society of Great Britain. It is much
to be wished that those who take the lead in all the
higher circles, whether men or women, were of clean
hands and undefiled characters ; but, Gentlemen, is
it not true that the measure which has been had re-
course to in order to persecute this woman, and the
publicity which the disgusting tales have obtained,
have, in truth, done a thousand times more injury to
society at large than she could possibly have done if
she had been placed in her proper rank as Queen ?
I put it to you, whether .more moral evil has not
arisen, and will not
.yet aris4from this exposure,
than her example, even suppOsing it were bad, could
produce in the circle of the Court ? And now we are
told that at all events the evil is done, and that there
can be no advantage derived to morals from stop-
ping the progress of the measure. I am of a differ-
ent opinion. The longer we continue to throw about
mud, the more of it will- stick ; and I do regatcLit as
my duty as a minister of religion, and therefore as a
guardian of the public morals, to:lift up my voice
against the measure altogether, and. endeavour • to
put a stop to it as soon as possible; and that can only I
now be done by presenting our petition upon its i
being sent down to the House of Commons. The ...1

Rev...GenalmaNspnclmtled,rserrakaiinz, the Re :o-
-1
lutiene-preliosed- b)- Or: VillPfa*: '
The Resolutiontiarrte -then Rit, and, usw nim44slY,
...agreed to; as was also the Pettt4og ; and a Coiitee
irpointed to prepar4'a Pitition.founded on the' Re-
solutions, and embodying so much of the 4)10: of
Mr. Bird's Petition as they might think proper.