Star.
London, England, 1811-03-19 00:00:00

. .
v015r.-.7-,„%. .- . .
.--400440.4-s-vro-- 1 IVEST2fINSTIR MUTING. -
1117ENING STAR. i A General Meeting of the Inhabitants of the City
- _ . and Libaties of Westminster was held yesterday in
Palace-yard,' ursdant to a.Requisition. ,
Major CARTWRIGHT addressed the multitude.—
Having lately become a householder in the City of
Westminster, he took that as the earliest opportunity
of assuring the people, whether they met for the purpose
ofpromotingaParliarnentary Reform, or the liberty of
their country,although he was old and infirm, yet
i would always find him at his post.—(Loud Hzetzthatel
,
Notwithstanding the tinfavonrable impressions which . He thought the primary question for their considers.
were raised in the public mind by the reports of yes. tion was, whether they should or should not address 1
the Regent upon his appointment to the Regency of
terday respecting his MAJESTY'S renewedindisposition,
the kingdom? When they considered that they inha.
we are happy to find that the accounts from Windsor . bited the same city in which the residence of his Royal I
are still of the most favourable nature. 1 Highness was situate, he thought it was but meet that
The disagreeable report alluded to was stated with they should pay him that tribute of their respect. It '
so much confidence by a Morning Paper of yesterday, was not possible, however, to congratulate him on
. his appointment, for, whether the manner of his being 1
that we were led to notice it ha common with our co-
appointed to the office, the treatment he had received,
temporal ips. We have now the satisfaction of stating, ,
or the state of the country were the topics of comment,
however, that the object of the In --RD 6HANCELLOR'S there was no ground for congratulation. (Cherri.)—
vis:ts to the PRINCE REGENT, on Sunday, was en- 1 The People might, indeed, congratulate themselves
tirely official, and 'merely to intimate the result of the upon one subject, namely, that a door of access was
, ope ned to the and that they had lenth
deliberations of the Quenh's Colancil on Saturday. So
i an opportunity of Throne,
stating their grievances,at g with the
far from it being thought advisable to stop all inter- 1 prospect of relief. That there had been no mode'
course between the Roa-m. FAMILY and his MAJESTY, 1 of reaching the royal ear for a long time, he well
there can-be no doubt that his Royal Highness the I knew; now, however, they might congratulate them.
PRINCE REGENT had an interview with his Royal Pa- selves upon the certainty that when his Majestrre-
, lumed the exercise of his Royal functiotfs, kis,
rent on Sunday, which lasted for an hour ; and on '
' would make a faithful report of the state of the cons-,
the same day the Duke of YORK walked on the Ter- `m,, and the condition of the people. There was one
race with his MAJESTY for a considerable time. By 1 other argument in favour of an Address : that was to
subsequent accounts from Windsor, we learn, that ! say, the opportunity which would be afforded of re-
his
his MAJESTY walked yesterday, for half an hour before Peating those arguments which had so often beets
dinner, on the Terrace, accompanied by two of his' urged by such factious men, as they were called, as
Sir F. Burdett, and others in favour of a Parliamen-
Family, their Royal Highnesses the Dukes of YORK t R f (net ) \NT
tart' e orm.— r.r. ere they to neglect to
and - - resumed his walk after - - that ' .- so '--- -, to every friend of li-

LONDON.
TUESDAY, MARCII 19.
PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK.
Consols, money, 6411.—f0r account, 64i.
Reduced, shut-4 per Cent. shut—Navy 5 par C. 9611
Exch. Buis, ss. Is. prep.—Bond ?..3s. prem._

son I

press that topic, interesting ,
berty, they would be only giving a handle to their
and leav their principles to zitalig-

enemies, , open
nant and unfounded imputations. Parliamentary
Reform, in fact, ought to be the great burthen of
their address, and on that solid foundation should
they rest their hopes of a radical remedy for all
the evils with which the State was encumbered.
The next object for the attention of the Meeting was,
the gross violation of the Constitution which had re-
cently been witnessed in the conduct of Ministers,
who for two months had carried on the Government,
when there was neither King nor Regent upon the
Throne, thus assuming the Regal Power them-
selves by usurpation.—(aisert.)—Besides this, the
Regent, on being nominated to his Office, was so
trammelled and restricted, that had he. the will, he
was deprived of the power of consulting the welfare
of the nation.—(Loud Cheers.)—The grand mischief;
was, when the King became incapable of perform-i
ing his duties, when he fell from the Throne, aast,
no longer existed in the capacity of a King, that
the two Houses of Parliament took upon thew-
selves an authority to which they had no right.—
The moment that Parliament lost its head, it be-
came only a Convention, and was incompetent to
pass a law even for the guidance of a broomstick!—
They attempted to justify themselves upon the max-
im that the King never dies. Their application of
that principle was however completely erroneous. It
was true in case of the King's death, that, politically
speaking, he never died, because his heir immediately
stepped. into his place ; but when he merely became
incompetent to the discharge of his functions from his
insanity, when he fell from the Throne and the
Sceptre fell from his hand, from his natural debilities,
the case was widely different ; there the heir could
not step into his place, and consequently the office of
Monarch became vacant. Something therefore ought
to be done ; but what that something ought to be
was a question for consideration. The Speaker of the
House of Commons had declared that Parliament was
called upon to fill a chasm in the State. What, then,
was not a chasm a vacancy ? But even allowing
them the full scope of their arguments, by whom was
this defect to be supplied ? Not surely by the Legis-
lature, because they were merely the Trustees on be-
half of the Nation. Then by whom was the chasm
to be filled ? The answer was manifest, by the Na-
tion. It was a vital principle of the Constitution, that
no part of it should be violated except by those by ,
whom it was created, namely, the nation at large.—
The nation at large, therefore, should have been called
on for their sanction to the adoption of any new or
extraordinary measure, The two Houses should have
framed Resolutions indicating the course they inten-
ded to pursue, and meetings of .the people should be
called, to whom those Resolutions should have been
refer,-ed. The worthy Major concluded by taking an
animated survey of the dangers with which the coun-
try was threatened, and by proposing the following
resolution :
Resolved—That this Meeting think it right to make known to
the Prince Regent their sentiments on public affairs, particularly
on the absolute necessity of a Parliamentary Reform, not only for
his Royal Highness's own consideration, but in a hope also, that,
in case of surrendering his charge, he may report the same to his
Majesty ; evil Counsellors having, for many years past, deprived
the People of this Realm of access to the Throne. (Lad Atm.)
Mr. Wavicaa..came forward and seconded the mo-
tion. It was sufficiently recommended in coming from
Major Cartwright, whose character for public spirit
and attachment to freedom, for a manly mind and a
sound judgment, had been rewarded by their uniform
approbation. If they saw their liberties invaded, or
their property squandered, they had a right to state
their grievances to the supreme head of the Govern-
ment ; and although the Prince Regent was too much
shackled, yet lie ought to be made acquainted with
the expectations of redress. The obvious cause of their

long
oefdre-itcoldrit tgligent
of their duty, and to listen to the allurements of self-
interest. The Electhrs of Westminster, in their choice,
bad set an example highly to their honour, and con-
sistent with their interest and dignity. Such conduct
as Sir FRANCIS Bunorrr had pufsued, might lead
many cities and counties to return patriotic represen-
tatives. But if Parliament were reduced to its origi-
nal annual duration, and interest to yield to merit;
the national mass of intellectual ability would be
brought into action. Towards the end of next year
or at the beginning of the following, Parliament,
which was now in its fifth session, would-be dissolved;
mid it would behove the people to bear in recollection
those persons who had opposed reform, or warded it
lby saying, this was not a fit time The present Mi-
nisters had been content to revive the frantic cry of
popular delusion, No Popery," although they dis-
regarded the sober, persevering, and steady call
for Reform. We had been told to look at the state
of our Finances now compared with the year 1788.
lit was a strange cause of comfort, that our taxes had
!increased. Finance (said Mr. W.) means taxation ;
and whet the imposts are so heavy that they can
scarcely be endured, we are to be consoled by the In-
'come Tax schedules. These burthens formed one
ticnuse of the increasing number of bankrupts. Public
ciptnion was not allowed a free vent by the press. The
patriotic writes (said Mr. W.) finds his way to a
prison, without the advantage of that great bulwark,
a Grand Jury. Our ancestors made it unlawful for
.a Special Jury to try, in any case, for life. If not for
.life, why for liberty ? Without liberty, life is a bur-
den. He then reminded the Meeting, that the old-
fashioned, circuitous proceeding by indictment, in
case of libel, had been superseded by the short cut, the
-formation ex officio. The man, continued he, who
- •

vents his free opinion, is pursued as a criminal. New.
Northampton, Cold-Bath-fields, Lincoln, and

gate,
Dorchester jails, are the repositories -of some of our
ablest writers !(Loud laughter. J—The Meeting (con-
tinued Mr. W.) may judge of Major Cartwright by
the advocates of freedom who have, all his lite-time,
been his associates. He wished to impress on the
country, that it might be saved by a timely and radi-
cal reform in the Commons House of Parliament.
[A long Address to the Prince Regent, being an
echo of the two preceding speeches, was then read
amidst great applause. Tt embraced two prominent
points : the first, respecting the pernicious effects
likely to result from a supension of the Royal
Authority ; and secondly, the absolute necessity of a
Parliamentary Reform. This Address was agreed to
unanimously, anti was much cheered]
Mr. WISHART moved the thanks of the Meeting to
Sir Francis Burdett ; and concluded by saying, that
Ithe House of Commons did not represent the PeOple
of the Kingdom.
This motion was also carried with acclamation.
Sir FRANCIS BURDETT said he could not but feel the
utmost satisfaction and gratitude for the free, unsoli-
cited, and unbiassed approbation of his conduct, which
was manifested on the present occasion. He did, in-
deed, feel that approbation more strongly at present than
on any former ordinary,or evenextraordinary occasion;
for that approbation was freed from every thing per-
sonal, and bestowed on account of the principles which
he had hitherto maintained, and which, he trusted,lie
should always maintain. (Apidatue.) It was not ne-
cessary for him at present to enter upon these princi-
ples at any great length, as they were so amply dis-
cussed by the Gentleman who seconded the motion
for an Address with so great ability, and in the Ad-
dress itself which was so ably penned. It was impos-
sible for mortal man to represent these principles in
juster or stronger terms than they were represented.
(Alsfrlause.) He wished to advert for a moment to
the question of Libel, which was soon to come under
discussion in the House of Commons. When
the question should come under discussion there, he
would state his sentiments fully and explicitly on it,
in the manner in which he conceived he was imperi-
ously called on by his duty, as well asby every tie of
gratitude, to do on every occasion ; for if it was his
duty not to state in that. House what he conceived to
ke false, it was equally his duty never to withhold
'what he conceived to be true. It was notorious that
the gaols were at present full of our most eminent
public writers ; and there was scarcely a writer of any
eminence who had not either been or was not at pre-
sent under confinement. While countenance was
given to every species of delinquency—while connte-
unce was given to eve: y species of oppression, every
expression of independence was jealously watched,
mad visited with severe punishment. It was alone
sufficient to prove to the people of England, whose
feelings are so keenly alive to whatever regards their
kts and liberties, that they are not duly represented,
a they see themselves precluded from expressing
ilkeir just sentiments. With respect to ex officio infor-
eations, he had always stated, and should continue to
Mate till he was better informed than he was at pre.
lent, that they were destructive of all the fundamental
laws of the land. Perhaps he would be told that the
laws to which he referred were obsolete—but he would
be bold to say that it was to these laws they must look,
if ever they wished to recover their liberties. It was
singular enough, he said, that all the former oppres-
sions which the people of this country suffered, were
exercised in opposition to Parliament, but that all the
grievances which were now experienced, were sanc-
tioned by Parliament. Sometimes, indeed, these
grievances were such, that those in possession of
power were forced to yield from a sense of shame,
and it was then they would come forward and pre-
- - pallia-

thimiattehiTh idia !hire of ngti;e"....-- (iferlarsafion:.).
Illoy c IA expect affairs to go on well, under the
City prallest long aration of Parliament. According to
\
yin Jefutosninrgeranesedntonatievesofofattloi:enCommtm. onssuhchadaslioany;airns.
e.— terval before account emboldened men to be negligent