Star.
London, England, 1819-11-16 00:00:00

If they looked at the Red Book, they vrotild perceive' .
that 'thousands were blasphemers in this sense or the
word. In the end of their Declaration, these Gen-1
tlemen stated, that they were determined to defend'
the altar of their Goy, the throne of their King, and
those constitutional bulwarks under which they de.:
rived so many blessings—inignare pro aria et focis. I
These were certainly valiant heroes ; but,' if they '
wanted to fight, they must advertise for enemies.—
They might, indeed, make a crusade against the
Turks for the purpose of recovering a Jerusalem !
(A laugh ).—lle should go to Spithead, and when
he once fairly saw these Declarers on board, he would
gladly give them three hearty cheers. Sir N. Den-
field might make as good an Inspecting Field Crfficer
at Jerusalem, as in Berkshire ; and as there were so
many Clergymen amongst the Declarers, they could
turn Missionaries, and convert the infidels!.-(Laugh-
ter).—Besides, he saw a number of Gentlemen, At-
tornies, had affixed their signatures to the Declara-
tion, for whom also le: could find employment, and
he believed the country could spare many of them !---
Let them go and make oht a title to the Holy Land,
and bring an action of ejectment against the Turks !
The Honourable Gentleman then proceeded, at great
length, to prove, that from the earliest period, the
people of England possessed an inherent 'NM' tope;
tition the Sovereign. This branch 'of his argument
he supported by copious extracts from a smell pant;
phlet, the work .of Timothy Trueman, in which the
opinions of Lord Somers, Mr. Justice Dodderkige,
and Knighton, on this subject, are quoted ; and also
the sth, Bth, and 13th Articles of the Bill of Rights.
The Mnourable Gentleman -then briefly adverted
to the circumstances under which the Meeting-took
place .at . Manchester ; and condemned, in strong
terms, the conduct of Ministers, wisp, five.ilays. after
that melancholy catastrophe, identified them=
selves with the'Migistrates and Yeortranry, when it
was quite impossible that they conk! 'have been als
prised of the real facts of the case.• .He concluded by
reading a series of Resolutions, similar to those agreed
to at former Meetings, and an Addressfoundecton
them.
Dr. MITFORD had great pleastrie fit secoltdin file
Resolutions which had just been prispasecrio
litia.
by his-worthy friend Mr. Halktt. -He should -
have detained them a single mo.ment,iefter7the .el.
qisent and manly addiess of that Gentletunt had it
not appeared to him that he (Mr, HalletWiad 'omit-
ted, in his compiehensive view ,of thesetrinSactions;
one point by far tooimportant to be wilftillyomittetk,
He alluded to the conduct of the Magistrates, during
the examination of the witnesses who were produced,
to make out the charge of treaion'against Mr. Hunt,
as pc that period the angry passions, which might
have been excited in their bosoms by the events of the
16th of August, had had time to ool.; their con-
duct, during that examination, was much worse than
their conduct during what had preceded it. Instead
of refusing, as they did, to allow Mr. Hunt to put
the questions which he suggested to the witnesses,
.and of protecting them, as they did, in their subsequent
reluctance to answer them, he would have committed
them at once to prison, had he been placed on the
Bench at Manchester, as he had the honour to be
placed in Berkshire, and had similar circumstances
occurred before him. As this was the only poiflt
which had been omitted by his honourable friend, he
should conclude the few remarks which he had to
make to them upon it, by giving his most cordial
assent and approbation to the Address which had
[ been just read to them.
Mr. Rtntv attended at the present Meeting with
the very strongest sentiments in favour of the Consti-
tution as by law established. Indeed, he did not know
whether lie should have been present at all, had not
a Afr.oting or such a nature as that which he now
beheld been essential to the preservation of a right,
from which all our other rights emanated, and upon
which, indeed, they all depended—he Meant the 1
right of meeting to petition the Throne and the two
Houses of Parliament. That right had been SQ fully,
ably, and learnedly discussed, by the Mover of the.
Resolutions, that it was quite superfluous for him to
say a word upon the subject : this, however, be would.
state to them, that it was a right which the People
of England ought to observe; and the King of Eng-
land to protect, as equally necessary for the safety of
them both—(Cheers). The Meetings of the People
of England were of essential importance for various
accounts. They might be of essential importance to
the sovereign himself; for if any Faction was ever
to become so powerful as to hold him in thraldom, to
whom could he resort for assistance but the People?
—(Cheers). If a military force were to seize the Go-
vernment, to bind the Sovereign in chains, and to
commit him gas had been done in former times) to
close, imprisonment, to whom could he fly for refuge,
to whom could he appeal for protection, ,except the,
People? Was it, then,' either wise, prudent, or politic,
to infringe upon ,a right of such great utility? Should
it be suffered to be invaded, even for a moment, with_
i mpttnity? ,Onght it not, on the contrary, to be protected
by every legal measure against all who would assail it?
Those.who advocated the propriety of impairing its
validity must, .certaialy, be most mistaken in opi-
nion i whilit those who went further, and advised the
Prince ltegerit to award his approbation to those who.
actually vrolated it, could not be considered-as his
' real friends. He 'would not say any thing of a ques-
tionable nature to them, because, as they generally
thoUght UM he had some kigiwledge of the law, it
would be shattleful on him to 'impose upon them as
correct any sentiments which were at all erroneous.
He therefore entreated them not to suppose that he
had alluded to the present Isfinistiy, when he talked of
a faction lording it over the Chown; nor yet to ima-
gine, when he mentioned military violence, that he
meant' any disrespect to that gallant body of men
who had Wig the country to the highest pinnacle
of glory, and had rendered it celebrated to the world
as-the habitation of men free as they were valiant.
Stich astidea was the farthest from his heart ; for he
could never suppose, that those who had delivered
Europe from thraldom, would condescend to turn their
swords against the liberties of their native land. ( Cheers.)
He had merely put the cases which he had mentioned:
as possibilities, and having thus guarded them from
misinterpretation, he should conclude his observations
on this point, by recalling to their recollection what
had 'been said by that sound Lawyer, Lord ltosslyn,
in his charge to the Grand Jury on the trials 'arising
[ out of the Riots in 1780 :—" You are to recollect,
. that the right of meeting to consider the necessity of
I obtaining the rei.:ll, of the enactment of any law, is