Star.
London, England, 1819-10-09 00:00:00

RICHMOND MEETING.

A Meeting was• called of tht Inhabitants of this
town, by a Requiiition•nf several of the most re-
9ftuble Tradesmen, net Thursday, at one o'clock•
The GentleMeewhO:b,ad taken .the lead in the busi-
-

ncss assembled at the house citigtAVBION COOTER,
whenc7they: whe:e a 'platform
was leo • 'lortlitiktuipstarts together, .with
boards lititritrokle"M.r:this..petty oppressions and!
tricks whireTrAiWitietstify fesiirted'.to were played 'off
s thin thelittendkike:xtrdattre thb leaders. Trades-

tacn TeceTiedtbreatg-from then: customers, and jour-
tieyguen were cautioned Mit to attendby their masters:
Mr..Cooraa • `received'various orders to discontinue

,supplies; an alien who lives in the neighbourhood
had the inideneetii threaten several-tradesmen With
the loss of businisirthey attended.' - • •
Mr. COOPER was 'called to the Chair. - %Med,
that the absence of a Gentleman of ability; st-ho-stas'
to.have presided, induced him, notwithstanding.his
own incompetency to accept He.stated•the olio;
•
pet of the Meeting, and. caused the Requisition-to-
be read. He begged a patierit'and atientiveheartfig
for all parties.
. . . ,
Mr. STRICKLAND opened the Business, and more
.fully expatiated on the objects 'of_ -the Meeting, the
style of the Address which had proVoked, and the
stratagems which had obstructed it. He proceeded
to move the following Resolutions:
Tharit is the undoubted right of Englishmen peaceably to
assemble to Petition the Legislature for a Reform of Parliament
and a redress of grievances, and freely and openly to express.
their opinions upon all matters connected either with their inte-
rests or the Government of the country.
2. That to interrupt and disperse such Assemblies of the Peo-
, pie by force and violence is unwise, unjust, and unconstitutional,
and destructive of the first principles of liberty.
3. That the Public Meeting held by the People of Manches-
ter on the 16th of August last was a peaceable and legal Meet-
, ing ; and we are satisfied, from the accounts which have since
transpired, that the disgraceful and cowardly attack made upon
that Assembly by the Yeomanry Cavalry, under the orders of
the Magistrates, was the sole cause of the death and injuries sus-
tained by numerous persons at that Meeting.
4. That this Meeting do abhor and protest against the conduct
of the Local Authorities of Manchester, In their endeavours to
stifle every attempt to investigate the conduct of the perpetrators
of the outrage, and bring them to justice.
5. Th.t thh. metiins has observed witn grief and indignation
the conduct of his Majesty's Ministers, in advising his Royal.
Highness the Prince Regent so prematurely to approve and pre-
judge the Conduct of those rash men who have violated the pub-
lic peace, and shed the blood of innocent people.. .•
6. That this Meeting has learnt with the must acute anktain-
ful feelings, that among the prominent authors of those unhappy
and disgraceful outrages are to be found twd Ministers of the
Church of England;. and we are of opinion, dist it is incoin-
patlble with the sacred duties of Clergymen to act as Magis-
trates, such Civil Appointments necessarily tending to diVert
their attention from the functions of their holy office, and to in-
.volve them in disputes and contention) which operate to die in-
jury of true religion.
7. That an humble and dutiful Address be presented to his
Royal Highness the Prince Regent, praying him to dismiss his
present Ministers, and call other persons to his Couccils, who
will respect the rights of the People.
& That the Address be now read, and, if approved of, that
W. J. Denison, Esq. Member of Parliament for this County, be
requested to present the..stme to his Royal Highness.
9. That this Meeting do consider it to be their indispensible
duty to institute a Subscription in aid of the General Fund now
raising in London, for the relief of the numerous Sufferers by
the outrage at Manchester.
10. Thats Messrs. Albion Cooper, ;en. Zion Strickland, and
'James Over, be a Committee, with power to add to theii num-
ber, to starry the above Resolutions into effect.
11. That although this Meeting feel it to be the duty of the
People in every.part of England to express their sentiments on
the present state of public affairs; yet this Parish would not have
intruded their sentiments, had it not been artfully attempted by
certain • persons in this Parish to countenance and justify indi-
rectly the sanguinary proceedings at Manchester, which are now
so universally and deservedly abhorred.
12. That the 'Thanks of this Meeting are due, and are hereby
given, to Messrs. Harmer, Pearson, and Denison, for their pro-
fessional and patriotic efforts, in endeavouring to bring to con-
viction and punishment the perpetrators of those outrages.
13. That the Thanks of this Meeting are due, and are hereby
given, to those Gentlemen who have so laudably steppcd for-
ward and called tkis Meeting, and thereby saved the inhabitants
of this Parish from the disgrace of being considered as approvers
of the infamous proceeding; at Manchester.
Mr. Bowtz, happening, as he observed, to be on
a visit in the neighbourhood, seconded the Resolu-
tions. He commented on the dreary transactions
which had then brought them together. It became
the duty of every man, under such circumstances,
to step in between the Constitution and the incursion
of a Military Despotism. Here was obvious proof of
the tendency of our Administrative System to Mili-
tary Domination. In a certain sense, he thought
that the blame could not be attached to the Prince
Regent ; but no expression of public opinion was too
reproachful for the despicable oligarchical faction
by which he was surrounded. What less than the
worst horrors of Such a despotism were the shocking
transactions which had taken place at Manchester ?
What evils greater than those which now oppressed
the labouring people of Lancashire? He was in a
great degree concerned with the Manufacturers of
that county ; he was connec:ed with one branch of
their commerce ; be therefore knew them and their
condition, from observation. His own reason, and
the assistance of many excellent writings which he
consulted, had taught him to consider the subject
philosophically and politically, and he was convinced
that their condition was so shocking, as to prove that
the Constitution was not administered with any re-
gard to its just and free principles. There must be
something wrong in the practice of the Constitution,

when so large and industrious a population were con-
demned to the endurance of such inhuman sufferings;
labouring daily with might and assiduity through
long and unnatural periods, and receiving no rtward,
but living in constant danger of the swords and dun- ;
geons of their oppressors. He then tnrned to the
Manchester Meeting. It was peaceable, orcarly, le-
gal, constitutional—conducted, in short, in a man-
ner resembling, and every way worthy of their fore-
fathers, who had by their valour purchased the right
of meeting publicly. He remarked on the manli-
ness and candour whiclt had been used on one side,
and the trick, cruel connivance, and fraudulent stra-
tagem on the other: He pointed out the openness
of the behaviour observed by the Reformers on that
occasion, particularly by. Mr. Hunt, who, on heat-
ing that a warrant or summons was about to be issued
against him, repaired to. the office and offered to sur-
render himself; be was told there was no such war-

rant. What a horrid charge arose out of this cir-
cumstance when joined with the conduct of the parties
the next day but one ! Was it not evident that a dark
and murderous conspiracy had been preparing, which
the perpetrators were most tenacious in observing to
execute, and that they refused to take any step ex-
cept that one of violenCe and bloodshed, which they
had determined on ? He could prove that the Meet-
ing was lawful, and that every thing done by the
Reformersb or their leaders, was also lawful, for
. .

that had become necessary now, even in their most
trifling coheerns; they were surrounded with strata-
gemagf law, 'and that which was invented for secu-
rityhart:become a trap, full of peril and destructive
firtißce.:7-They (the Meeting) must know how open
sintlagetlobtri7hid been the conduct of "the Refor
niers,' and how dark and cruel that of the Magi-
strates and Yeom.tory. The deeis of their junta
Were, indeed, as the Scripture emphatically expressed
It, of darkness.: it suited them—it agreed with their
habits khd4ssoCiationsit was fit to serve the selfish
-and devouring purposes of the systern and all its
agents.' They never attempted to set the People right,
to convince them by argument, er offer any convic-
tion p tleiramderstandings. No—they were anxious
fof them'to do wrong. They were glad of any toils
which Apould lead the People to-. do mischief. They
instigatecrtKenr tn that purpose, in order to secure
their o:trriiißigotten power, and enjoy the saiage
kande tif ;revenge: The conduct of the People had,.
Weverrlii filed. them; nothing could be more de-
inreus, peaceable, 4or Constitutional ; they were only
anxious for -the-attainment of their rights, and nO-
thing but, their rights would satisfy thetia., He it:l7.
iierted ninre.particularly to 'the object of the Meet-
ing. They were met to exercise the right- of Peti-
tion,' in form and manner such as the law allowed.
Here was the usual contrast bet Ween the horieit bold-
ness of the People, who came for Ward and pro-
posed their Resoluti6ns in open day to congregated
thousands, and the shu ;; ing and obscurity of the
petty Authorities, who, even in that respectable
Parish, had recourse to designing secrecy and dis-
ingenuousness, fitted to their ungenerous views.—
The popular cause, however, would survive all such
projects. The history of Reform for the last twenty
years would prove, that its influence had increased,
in the face of mightier obstacles than those which it
now Lad to encounter. As it was.said in the Church.
History, and though a melancholy fact, it was true,
"• The blood of its Martyrs was the seed of the
Church ;" so he hoped that the blood of those politi-
cal Martyrs who bled on St. Peter's-field would
prove.like a swelling torrent to the machinations of
their oppressors, and sweep away every obstacle that
would oppose the benign influence of Reform and
-the Constitution.. There was nothing like that mas-
sacre throughout the whole. English history ; its
.cruelty all circumstances considered, was unequal-
led: What: a conspiracy among the conservators
of the' public peace to break it—to send in an armed
fbrce, assault, wound, and kill even women and chil-
dren ! And for what?. Were they not peaceable ?
(.17es.) Did not Mr. Hunt go the day before, and re-
'quest to betaken into custody, rather -.than that the
Meeting should be disturbed ?—(He did.) Was there
-not then clearly a conspiracy to disturb the Meeting
and kill the People ?—(There was, there was.) When-
ever a Prince had come, by the direction of retribu-
tive PROVIDICNCE, to suffer at the bar of Justice,
:there had never been other cause for it than the vio-
lation of the laws and established institutions, either
clone by himself, or suffered to be done by his ser-
vants. There were no other instances of judgment
merited by Public Justice on Princes in the history
of the world. He would say it in the face bf Lord
Sidmouth himself, that *another repetition of the
Manchester Massacre, or the neglect of enforcing the
judgment of the laws in that case, would, of necese
arty, erect a 'considerable alteration in the Constitu-
tion of the Government ; a considerable change, un-
der either of those circumstances, would be unavoid-
able. If any person was inclined to disclaim, or was
prepared to disprove, his assertions, he invited him
earnestly to come upon the hustings, and he would
do all he could to procure him a patient and a liberal
hearing. He would detain them two or three minutes
on the question of Reform, as it had affected the
proceedings at Manchester, as it then affected therb;
and as it was likely to influence their affairs in fu-
ture. He thought he could prove, from all history
and all law, that the right of Suffrage was a right to
which every subject of Great Britain was entitled.
He pointed out the danger to the peace arid security
of society by the exclusion of any class from this
right. The King had his peculiar privileges, which
the Constitution awarded him, but this gave him no
power over the Rights of the People. The Lords
had their prescribed advantages, but these by no.
means gave them any pretence to usurp the Rights
of the People; this implied prohibition was pecu-
liarly applicable to the other estate, which made up
the form of the Constitution, which was or ought to
be the essential choice of the People.. Was it possi-
ble then for them to suffer the prolongation of a Re-
presentative System, in which the' People had
choice? It was impossible; the darkness which per-
plexed public opinion had been withdrawn, thetwi=
light had passed, the dawn had arisen, and " upon
the People had the light of constitutional truth
shined." The time was rapidly approaching when
the People would be restored to those rights which
the Constitution allotted to them—(One of the
multiPtde asked, " Where is the Constitutionr)—
Mr. Etna ie explained it as a Government of King,
Lords. and Commons, acting under the supremacy of
established laws, and certain acknowledged princi-