Star.
London, England, 1821-05-16 00:00:00

bad been butchered. Yet the letter of Lord Sid-
mouth, which he held in his hand, chewed the coun-
tenance which they gave to the affair. But it was
ridiculous to separate the case of one from the other,
sad say that one was blameable, but that the con-
dOct of the other could be justified.. This was a
wrqng way of arguing. If the conduct of the Ma-
,
gisurates was praiseworthy, then ought the Ministers
'wins directed them to come in for a share of praise,
but if both were wrong, -they ought to stand their
trial together, at the Bar of Paliament—(Hear, hear).
Hii lion. Friend had been charged with want of can-
dour, in not bringing forward his Motion before; but
bow could he have done so ? Last Session a strong
interest was newly awakened on another subject of
importance. When inquiry was proposed, it was
urged that such an inquiry could not be conveniently
purlued in that House, that the forms of the House
were ill adapted for the examination of witdesses, and
that it never attempted to proceed into an inquiry by
evidence without involving itself in disgrace; and at
what period was it that this opinion was urged ? It
was at the very time when those who used it were
willing to subject an injured woman to such an in-
quiry ; it was when they were sweeping the hotels
of Garmany and Italy of pimps and bawds-to swear
their foul and perjured calumnies against the cha-
racter of a lone and defenceless Female ;—it was
when they had determined, through such an ordeal,
to drag the Queen of this Country to that fate
from which she had been rescued by the People
of England !—r( Long sad vehement cheering).
The sincerity of their protestations against the keep.
ing no of the fermentation of the public mind on this
question,' he contended, was wholly disproved by
prosecution perseverance in the prosecuon and punishment
of Sir Francis Burdett, although one of the Judges
bad delivered a sound and well-reasoned opinion that
the conviction had been obtained where there was no
jurisdiction. In refusing the inquiry now moved for,
the House would be playing the game of those who
wished to degrade it. If it was desirous of keeping
the hold it still had of the good opinion of the people
of this country, it would not refuse to inquire into a
case of public grievance, so well founded, and so
sieaely e,tablidied as this, which had been brought
forward in a new shape, and was therefore not pre-
cluded by any former decision.—(Hear, Hear, Hear.)
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL was induced to rise,
in consequence of the taunt thrown out by his Learned
Friend upon the silence of all connected with Admi-
nistration. He had said that Ministers were aware
of the steps which were to be taken for dispersing ;
the Meeting at Manchester. This he denied. Though
Ministers were bound to support the Magistracy of
the country, yet they were not responsible for their
acts. He charged the Learned Gentleman with in- i
troducing irrelevant topics into his speech fot the
purpose of working upon the passions of the House
and of the country. It would be desirable that the
melancholy transaction now under debate should be i
for ever buried in oblivion—( Loud cries of " Hear, 1
hear," front the Opposition).—Ministers need not be
ashamed of the part which they took in this affair— '
(Hear).—The Learned Gentleman had attacked him
and his Learned Friend (the Attorney-General) for
opposing Mr. Hunt's application for a trial in the
County of York. The cause of their opposition was
simply :his:—He and his Learned Friend were un-
willing to cast an imputation on so respectable and so
large a county as Lancaster, which would be the case if
the trial had been removed to another coun ty—(Hear).
The Hon. Baronet alluded to him ; but if the allu-
sion was meant in courtesy, he (the Solicitor-General)
was willing to take it so. He did not see the reason
of the ailusiod. He had the honour of his acquaint-
ance, arid he had never used any disrespectful lan-
guage towards him, as a public man. The Hon.
Baronet might have brought this subject before un-
der the consideration of the House. The inquiry
which he now proposed would never have an end—
(Hear, hear).--In the debates on this subject in the
House, it was asserted, generally, that the Meeting
was illegal. This was not controverted. The sub-
sequent trial had proved the Meeting to have been
illegal. At the trial the defendant had advantages
which few in his situation were wont to have. The
Court of King's Bench not only acceded to his mo.
lion for a •change of place for the trial, but they
gave Mr. Hunt his choice of a county to be tried in.
Mr. Hunt chose the county of York, and very pro-
perly, for there was no county in England more '
proper for administering justice with an even hand. '
The Jury, on that occasion, were not the followers
of Government ; on the contrary, many of them
were in opposition to -Government. Yet this Jury
found the Meeting illegal—was it to be said then
that the Magistrates were not justified in arresting
Mr. Hunt at the Meeting?.-{Hear, hear, hear),
He admitted that there were cases where the exercise
of a duty might be attended with improper conduct,)
but who that looked at the character of this Meeting
could say that the conduct of the Magistrates was im-
proper? To judge of this Meeting, the House should
go back to the Meeting at Smithfield, which was
clearly got up in connection with the Reformers in
the North of England. The Resolutions passed at
Smithfield-were nothing short of Treason—{Hear).—
The Meeting of Spa-fields was also a part of the plan,
but it was not then matured enough for an explosion.
The connection between these Meetings and that at
Manchester, justified the Magistrates there in the
alarm which they felt. There was also another cir-
cumstance calculated to cause alarm ; namely, the
training which was going on in the neighbourhood.
It was true that there was no evidence to shew these
people had arms ; but it was very clear they were pre-
paring for a rising. The Magistrates, on the day in
question, only took up a station where they could
watch the operations of the Meeting, and counteract
the designs of the disaffected—(Hear, hear, hear).—
They we.e not the aggressors. Nadia could not exe-
cute the warrant put into his hands, and the Magis-
tracy were justified in calling in the Military to aid
the Civil Power. The Yeomanry were not selected,
but tailed in by chance, for the regular troops could
not come up in time. The Hon. and Learned Mem-
ber then insisted that the statements made by Mr.
Hunt, with respect tothe proceedings at Manchester,
were false and groundless. He next referred to the
occurrences at Oldham, and maintained that a Court
of Law was the proper Tribunal before which the
question ought to be brought by the persons who
felt themselves aggrieved. It was a question with
which Parliament had no business whatever to biter-