Star.
London, England, 1821-06-04 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL

A Court of Common Council was held on Satur-
day. A Petition fiom Mr. Beckwith, for compensa-
tion for the losses occasioned by the Spa-fields rioters,
was referred to a Committee.

' A Petition was presented from the Inhabitants of
Cripplegate Without, praying for a more;..,odequate
representation .in the Common Council, ..ori /or a
unction of their Ward with that of Cripplegate
ithin. The latter, with only two hundred Inha-
bitant Freemen, had eight Representatives, whilst
Cripplegate Without, though its Inhabitant Freemen
were five hundred, had only four Members. A
counter-petition was presented from Cripplegate
Within. Both Petitions were, after some debate,
referred to a Committee.
Mr. FAVELL then informed the Court that Dr.
LUSHINGTON, and Messrs. BROUGHAM and DENMAN,
were in attendance to receive their presentations of
the Freedom of the City, pursuant to a vote of the
Court.

The Learned Counsel were immediately after in-
troduced by Aldermen WOOD and WAITHMAN, Mr.
Minions, and Mr. OLDHAM, preceded by the Cham-
berlain and Marshals. _ _

TheCitastseataita then proceeded to read to them
the vote, and to administer the Freeman's Oath, after
which he addressed them to the following effect :
" GENTLEMEN—You have been selected from the
body of a learned profession to perform a duty the
most arduous and important; and when we consider
the exalted rank of the individual more immediately
concerned in the result—the splendid talents of those
by whom the great cause was conducted—the august
Ti ibunal before which it was pleaded—and the inte-
rest and anxiety with which not only this country,
hut the whole civilized world looked forward to the
issue, I am not aware that the annals of mankind
can afford its parallel. This was a cause which re-
quired the genius and eloquence of a Demosthenes,
a Cicero, and a Mansfield ; and I can venture to
assert, without fear of contradiction, that these great
qualities were exhibited in the fullest extent by those
whom I have now the honour to address. The great
Orator of Greece, by that manly force of unaffected
eloquence, which (in the language of an elegant
writer of our own country), tushed like a torrent
too impetuous to be withstood,' astonished and de-
-1 lighted the most polished Assembly then in existence;
and the father of Latin eloquence commanded ap-
plause, and influenced the determination of a Roman
18enate ; but, Gentlemen, the fame of your eloquence
has already extended to countries wholly unknown
to those great characters; and already in realms
which never witnessed the triumphs of Alexander,
nor the progress of the Roman Eagles, are recorded
the transcendent talents and eloquence of a Brougham,
a Denman, and a Lushington."
The Learned Gentlemen were then conducted to
the LORD MAYOR, and were severally introduced.—
After sitting down for a moment by his side,
Mr. BROUGHAM rose, and first addressed the Court.
He said—" MY LORD AND GENTLEMEN—I find it
difficult to express my feelings for the honour you
have just conferred upon me—to say how sensible I
am of that honour, and how deep is my gratitude.
Those who have to follow me, my Learned Col-
leagues, will be far better able to tell you the sensa-
tions which we in common feel for this distinguished
and unprecedented honour which it has pleased the
first Corporation of the greatest Metropolis in the
world to confer upon us. For myself, I feel pecu-
liarly proud of being deemed worthy your approba-
tion. My acquaintance and connection with this City,
is of a more ancient date than that event which has
given rise to the signal honour conferred upon me
to-day. It was my fortune, in 1808 and 1809, to
advocate the cause of the Merchants of London at
the Bar of that very Tribunal before which the re-
cent proceedings took place. It is therefore with
more than ordinary satisfaction I view their selection
of an Advocate on that day, now ratified by your
approval. Yet, it vas not my advocacy, nor yet the
more powerful advocacy of my Learned Colleagues,
which brought to a triumphant conclusion the late
proceedings. It was the circumstances in which we
were placed—the People by whom we were sur-
rounded. We felt ourselves advocating the cause of
the first subject in the Realm, before a British House
of Peers, appealing. to British justice, supported by
British law, and in the face of a British People. If
we had only to rely upon the strength of our own
exertions, we might have failed ; but, on the con-
trary, supported by the voice of the People, we felt
certain of victory. Our task was that of staying the
progress of violence—a violence which the People
shewed themselves determined not to suffer. I re-
joice that the heats and passions which were then ex-
cited are fast subsiding ; but they did good, since
probably the cause which provoked them, will never
again be renewed. As an Advocate, I shall only
observe, that whatever exertions were used in behalf
of her, who was the most illustrious subject in the
Realm, it would have been our duty equally to have
exercised in behalf of the humblest."
Mr. Ditivstax.—" My Lord and Gentlemen, my
Learned Colleague, who has just addressed you, has
said he could with difficulty expresshis feelings for
the distinguished honour you have conferred upon
him. How much more difficult then is my task to
render thanks, whose service has been more humble?
I believe all who hear me, this City, the People
throughout this great Empire, all of the present time
and latest posterity, will think with me, that my
Learned Friend was the great and prominent feature
in the late extraordinary cause. For myself, I felt
the dignity of such an association; I felt for the dig-
nity of the English Bar, which he raised—for the
character of the English People, which he illustrated
by the powerful advocacy of our august Client. He
has told you most truly, that the Bar knows no dis-
tinction of persons, and that it would have been our
duty to have equally exerted ourselves for the meanest.
But we felt, in common with the English People,
the importance of that cause in which we were en-
gaged—with that People, who indignantly beheld
die persecution of the first subject in the Realm,
who felt their liberties identified with her cause, and
that law compromised, in which all were so deeply!
interested. It was impossible, too, that I, or my
Learned Colleagues, could behold the Illustrious
Personage who was the object of that persecution,
assailed, without feeling for the derogation of that
respect which every honest man must wish should be
preserved towards high rank, illustrious birth, and

the Constituted Authorities of the land. But I cannot
forget how, in that struggle, we were borne out by
public opinion—an opinion, not the result of momen-
tary feeling, but springing from the most holy and
deepest seated principles of the mind—principles, the
growth of that Constitution which has given birth to
the spirit of freedom. For the favour you have con-
ferred upon me, I feel most grateful; while I am
humbled by the consciousness of my inadequate title
to so high an honour. Permit me to add, however,
that such expressions of public approbation, are in
themselves pledges by which men are bound to future
desert. He who has been honoured as I have this
day, will never allow that public opinion which has
approved him, to be risked by his future conduct.—
But he will do his best to merit its continuance, while
PROVIDENCE permits him to all a station where he
may serve his country. In this spirit I receive the
gift you have conferred upon me. I receive it as a
pledge which binds me, as long as I exist, to perse-
vere in that conduct which you have thought praise-
worthy, nor while I have existence can I ever for-
get this day."
Dr. LUSHINGTON." I cannot express my sense
of the high honour you have done me—my feelings
deprive me of the power—it has exceeded the highest
hope of my ambition. My Learned Faiend, who has
just addressed you, has alluded to the powerful in-
fluence of public opinion in that direful contest in
which we have been engaged ; but, it was the City
of London which set the example. It was to that
example, more than to the talent with which the
cause was advocated, more than to the justice of it,
more than to the justice of that Tribunal which tried
it, we owe our signal triumph. It was to the Free-
dom of the Press, which raised its voice in our
behalf, and circulated the influence of that example.
Had it been otherwise, our exertions would have
been fruitless."

Dr. Luso INGTON then retired a. m the front of the
platform, shortly after which the Court broke up, and
the Learned Gentlemen retired with the LORD MAYO a
to partake of the hospitalities of the Mansion-house.