Star.
London, England, 1816-11-05 00:00:00

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ce the Empite, they would never ave -pposeki your
legal Meeting. They want to keep you in darkness'
and delusion, they are loth ao part with their assume
ed power. They are afraid of you speakine about
the con upt state of the representation in Parliament,
the useless plates and exorbitant pensions. But in
so critical a penal of our history, at such an alarm.
ing crisis of our count, y, and at a time of such un-
paralleled distress, it is of the utmost importance
that the free and honest opinion of this large and
populous City on the present state of the country
should he solemnly and publicly made known to the
Prince Regent and both Houses of Parliament. For
had the opinion of the nation been laiily taken and
listened to. in the days of Charles I. and James 11.
much persecution and bloodshed would have been
prevented, and in all probability the one would not
have lost his head, or the other been obliged to fly
from the kingdom. I must not detain you long, and
shall only shortly state, that to trace the causes of the
nationandistress, you must, as has been stated by a
formerepeaalie go as tar back as.the commencemeat
of the first American war, when the Borough Face
tion, no longer kept ineffective by a Wleg King,
began to operate, and the national debt, and conse-
quently the taxes, rapidly to accumu!ate. I puss
over intermediate transactions till you come to the
war against the French Revolution; and if the war
with America was bad, this was ten times worse,•
from the length of time it continued, and the enor-
mous waste of blood and tretsure it occasioned, and
the insupportable load of debt and harassing taxation
it entailed upon the country. Still the spirits of the
people here up with the promise of better times,
under the delusive idea that they were fighting for
the prescrva:ion of their religion and libaty, their
families and their fire-sides, and that our very exist-
ence as a nation was at stake. Now the wars were
over—which is one great blessing ; but then, alas I.
they have been prosecuted so l-ng, that our situation
is most deplorable. We are loaded with about nine
hundred millions of what they call .Natienal Debt,
and seventy millions annuallLof 'razes--we are in a
worse state than the Israelites of old were in Egypt.
We are grievously hat ressed and burnt down with
the Salt TAX, and the leather tax, the soap tar and
the candle tax, the sugar tax, the tea tax, the spirit
tax, the licenses, the window light and house duty
tax, the stamp tax, the man-servant tex, the cart tax,
the horse tax and the slog tax—(a lough)—and with'
such a tremendous list of other taxes, that the very
name of them is like to break our hearts and frighten
us in death. To give you some idea of the amount
of the Taxes, it may be necessary to state, that it
would take one year's whole tent of five Cities such
as Glasgow to produce one million, consequently it
world take the rent of three hundred and fifty •
such Cities to produce the seventy millions:.
(Lead grits of Bear, hear, leer, fr, several yektiil •
—But.what grieves us worst ail is to think of the
woelul result of all this waste of blood and treasures
—The restoration of the house of Bourbon tothe
Throne of France, seemingly contrary to the wishes
and will of at least nine tenths of the French people.
the restoration of the Pope and all his delesiv.e train •
of Priests, Monks, Nails, Friars,, and such stud', tote
whose downfal our Clergymen once used zealously
w pray—the restoration of the deceitful. Jesuits—the
restoration of the ungrateful and
.persecuting Ferdi-
nand, and the horrible torments of the Inquisition..
These, 0 cursed war ! thew are thy trusts I and
these have at leitst partly been accomplished by Brie
tish gold, British blood, and British valour Yes,.
partly by a people, the boast and pride of whose-An-
cestors was the glorious stand they made, and triumph,- •
they obtained over civil and religious tyranny amt.
arbitrary power.. Yet we, their degenerate and de..
ended sons, have once more, in the.neighbouring alas
tions, assisted to set up this system of tyranny and
mass of abominations. But think. not that such a
state of affairs can continue long—it is impossible:
The march of the human mind is progressive and
irresistible. The ALMIGHTY Tistum made mankind
that they should be happy, he blesses the land with
plenty,. and it is his will that all his creature; should
share of his bounty. The locusts, therefore, and the
caterpillars, the vultures and the drones.will one day
be shaken off with vengeance. I may therefore say
with your patriotic countryman Thomson:
See now the Male
Why unassuming worth in secret lived'
And died, neglected; why the good man's share
Is life was gall and bitterness of soul
Why the lone Wilow and her orphans pin'd •
In starving Solitude; while luxury,
la palaces, by straining her low thought,
To form unread wmts k why heav'mhern truth,
And Moderation fair, wore the red marks
Of superstition's scourge: why &coed pain,
That etuel spoiler, that elnbusom'd foe, •
Imbineed MI our Wu. Ye good Murat!
Ye noble few ! who here unbending stand
Beneath life's pressure, yet bear up a while,
And what your bounded view, which only saw
A little part, deem'd Bill, Is no morel . •
[Mr. Russell then stated the effecbdf the invasion
of the French people, and consequent bloody wars
over all Europe, on trade, manufactures, and agri:
culture.]
But Peace being restored, and the unnatural
mului withdrawn, .the market is left glutted with
goods, the 'People on the Continent resume the peace.
ful arts of-husbandry, trade, and commerce; our
demand declines, our ships are laid up; still the
landed propiietors keep up the price of their landi
and against the united Voices of the nation the Corn
Bill was lately passed, for fear provisions here should
become as low as on the Continent. In this state of
affairs, many of the tenams:could not pay their rents,
many of tilts' were roupcd to the door, an almost
general bankruptoy takes place among the merchants;
prices for seaving and winding, tambouring 'and
,sewing, fall so fnuchohat the operatives are brought
AO the very brink nt; starvation. • As a proof of this,
a 12" 44th pelmet, that an ordinary weaver can
work five ells of in &day, in good time, was paid
at 40. an eli, and three halfpence on the shilling
for loam rent and utensils; making the daily wake