Star.
London, England, 1817-05-02 00:00:00

Etrl SPENCER .cited, that he had a Petition to
present from a S,.ciety calted the Academical So.
eie:y, which he belioNd to be .4 very respectabis
tirtAy, and which WAS siAricd by sever.ll very rerircc.
table Hama. The Society in quest: nit .clt Vicrniettret
acgrievediry a pro ceeding. be not ell! it de.

cision, ot the Magistrates at ate Old Balky S.,ssiona,
founded upon an i‘ct pass:3 in the present Session •
of Parliamunt, of %hie!' he did know the czar title,
but the ob'rct ot which 9/1% the prever.:'..lti
tioaz Meetnip,s. Their lArd.h:ps wc31,1 hear from
the Petition Itself in what ti pert :lie Pe,;tiiii.,ers had
been aggrieiel ; but tliou3h they e:ot:ti!aly had iea..
son to complain, he did not 'know that lie c nl.l d
any thing farther its the ma:ter than to more that the
Petition be laid on the table ; nor did he msatt nu*
to enter at all into 11::: dice rssion of the 8,!,..;ti0as
Meetings Ati—r-.r Ip.calie the q•icstion, whether
any such measure w..s at, all call;s1 for by ti.: situ t-
Lion of the. country, or w;:coier, sump)st.l4 some
measure to italic beta, called h r, the Act witiat was
pass:d WAS the most priyer nizasure, was ry.t now'
Cpp ; as their Lordsinps had, by passing the Act,
deci2ed upon thew points : and, secondly, because
he understund that a itil6.e htirud .4 Lis. 11'W/ pre.
tent, had alteady called th:ir Lordsitio' at entii.a
to the su'oject. When the Pt titinsi sliould be laid on

.tla table, ant other Noble Load would have an op-
portunity of proposing cane I:l,..:e,Jerik trprin .it if
he thought poti.er r but thotyli he (Earl Spericei)
did not ii.terl to propose any farther proceedinE,
•intt rather believed that no redrets could. be given,
;et at the Petition had been put into his !taits. and
leas couched lii vet,' rtspectful languege,•he had •
Ciought it his duty to (street it.
eetieOn was then read, and stated that ti e S •-
ciety in question, whose rneetiags wtie held At N.). 10,
Chaucery.lane, had Originated at Oxford in some
.year between 1770 :Ind 17h0;.that in 17 roost of
tie Members residing in L .•ndon, the Sot tty had
been established there, and had continael its meet*
togs ever since; that none were admitted to Le Mem.
loos except those who were tornstito., of some of the
Universities of .the Uoittolliinp,dom, of the loos of
(Court in Eagland, of the laettlty or Advocates sit
Scotland, or of the King's lons, GI College of iq tr.
nooth in Ireland; and that esory Nlttriber admitting
a strang: r as a heater anti, which he was cooled to
do, was responsibh: for the respect..lility of the per-
son admitted s that the discussions of the Society
were cooGued to Philosophical, Literary, :and iiista
ical subjects; to the escludan of controversial Pol.
rtes, though subjects of Political Science were Rot ex-
ensiled : that when Seditious Mtooings` Acts had
been passed on former occasions, the Society had al.
ways bten licenoM i but that, on applying tor a
licence under the last Seditious Meeting Act to the
Magistrates at the Old Sessioos, a license had
brut :elutes', on the ground that the object 'of Ile
Act was to prevent all Pont:cal discussions whatever:
that the Mcnebcrs of the Society either actually walk
or iiiencled to be, Members of the Learned Peale*.
.ions ; and that the discussions at the Society wets
to them an object of great importance: that the Acko
gave no appeal from tite Sessions; and that the Pc.
titioners were compelled to prti:iou their Lordthipi,
and prayed such relief as their Loriships noglit think
tit to grant.
Earl of DA RNLEY.—Thoutalt he concurred
se jig his Noble Friend iu the opiti:on that the +loos!
could sot redress the grievance of which the Pe&
tiouers complained, yet he could not hero slyinp,o
that they had very serious caote of complaint; arol
it had been admitted on all hands, and even he the
Noble Secretary of State for the Home Departeneet.
himself, that it sever was intended by that Act to
prevent all political discussion whateser. lhat when
their Lordships were employed iu the enaconeot
laws restraining the liberty of the subject, the trice!
ante of W:ltCh the PeCtinoer: complained, it shrived
how careful their Lordships ought to be to frame
siach Acts such a mariner that it would S. inspio-
sibie to misconstrue diem. 'Dote WAS nothing in
the Act that could :rally bear the construction tiolt
had been ptt upon it; but when their Lordships saw
that Magiorates for the County of Mishit:sea had so
misconstrued the Act, they would consider bjw
liable it was to be misconsoued by Magistrates 7•Jr
other places. who might be pi-emoted to be less en-
lighte,ted. It was well worth while, thrtflore, to
consiler, for the sake of the politic. whether some
steps ought not to be taken with a view to amend
the Act, so as to preveot the Fusibility of ruise,,ao
struction ; th tugh he did nut pledge hieste.ll to pro.
pose such :t measure.
The Petition was laid on the Teble.--Adicarnej.