Star.
London, England, 1821-02-08 00:00:00

COUNTY OF ORKNEY ADDRESS.

At the Meeting at Kirkwall, on the 10th ult. of the
Freeholders, Justices of Peace, Commissioners of Sup-
ply, and Inhabitants of the County of Orkney, assem-
bled in consequence of a Requisition to the Convener
of the County, for the purpose of voting a Loyal Ad-
dress to his MAJESTY—JAMES BAIKIE, EMI. of Tan-
kerness, in the Chair—the same was moved by Mr.
UttounA RT, of Elsness, and seconded by Mr.TRAILL,
of Woodwick ; when an Address, disapproving of the
conduct of his MAJESTY'S Ministers, was moved by
the Rev. Mr. TRAILL, of Westove, and seconded by
Mr. THOMAS TRAM', jun. thereof; 3nd afterwards
an Ultra-Loyal Address was moved by Mr. PETER-
Els, Sheriff-Substitute of the County, and seconded.
Ia consequence of the opposite principles supported
by the several Addresses, the Meeting became a scene
of confusion, and immediately broke up. It was re-
solved, however, that the several Addresses should be
allowed to lie for signatures for a week. At the close
of this period, upwards of forty signatures had been
received to the Loyal Address, eighty to the Whig,
and five to the Ultra-Loyal.

AYLESBURY MEETING.

A very numerous and highly respectable Meeting
of the Inhabitants of Aylesbury was held on Monday
se'nnight, at the King's Head, pursuant to public ad-
v erti :e meat, for the purpose ofconsidering the propriety
of petitioning the House of Commons on the grievances
of the country. The Members for the Borough, Lord
NUGENT and W. RICKFORD, Esq. came purposely
from London to meet their Constituents.
Thomas DELL, Esq. was unanimously voted to the,
Chair, and, upon the Requisition being read, he stated
that he felt happy at all times in meeting his towns-
men, but particularly on this occasion. They had
heard a great deal about County Meetings being
called a Farce !—perhaps this, in the same spirit,
would be called a Borough Farce! But, however that
might be, they had assembled as Englishmen to ex-
press their opinions, and he hoped that all parties
would have a fair hearing.
The Resolutions were then severally moved, se-
conded, and carried unanimously. Upon the sixth
Resolution being adopted,
Lord Nucaar rose and addressed the Meeting :-
44 Gentlemen—l assure you, for my own part, that I
will support your Petition, and every part and iota
of it, to the utmost of my power. At all times I con-
sider it my duty to present any Petitions from my
Constituents, whether I agree with them or not. If
1 ever do differ from them, I hope .you will do justice
t,) my candour in expressing that difference—(Hear,
hear)—but on this occasion I have the greatest plea-
sure in saying that I most cordially and fully agree
aids you —(Ckeers). Until Mr. Rickford and myself
arrived in Aylesbury, we were both unacquainted
with the Resolutions just adopted by the Meeting,
and knew nothing of the Meeting itself, excepting
through the *medium of an Advertisement in the
County Paper. The Paper was received by me on
Saturday, as I left the House of Commons, under
feelings of regret and disappointment at the course
that had been then adopted. The House had ad-
journed its proceedings till' Wednesday, and I con-'
ceived it to be my duty to meet my Constituents—
(Cheers). A dreadful crisis, I fear, is now approach-
ing ; and I feel that a sense of duty, as well as love
to my country (and I know that every honest man
will feel with me), compels me to check, by firm and
manly efforts, the arbitrary measures of the present
Government; and we must arrest the evils that
threaten us by closing strenuously and firmly for mu-
tual support. In times like these, a Representative has
but two occupations—u hen released from his Parlia-
mentary duties, to meet his Constituents, and learn
their sentiments; and when in his seat in Parliament,
to do his utmost to support and express them.—
With respect to the late wicked charges against her
Majesty—with respect to the infamy and perjury of"
the witnesses—with respect to the unconstitutional
mode of trying the charges, you have heard enough
of them ; to one part of those proceedings, however,
I cannot help adverting—it is to the conduct and
expressions of a Noble Lord. I highly value the pri-
vileges of Parliament, and no one is a greater stickler
. for them than myself ; but when the speech of the
Noble and Learned Lord on that occasion was laid
before the Public in the shape of a pamphlet, this
work instantly became the proptrty, and subject to
the criticism, of the world. I must say, then, that it
grieves me beyond expression, that a person of his
high legal character, the head of the law, and the
source of justice, in fact, the Chancellor of England,
should have so far forgotten himself as to give his
rancorous animosity to the world. We find this per-
son exerting every faculty he has to aid the destruc-
tion of an injured and friendless woman, unprotected,
except by the voice of her Country, which is strength
indeed—holding forth the Bill of Pains and Penalties
as a benefit to her cause—pertinaciously refusing her,'
by his vote, a list of witnesses previous to her trial,
and then, by way of palliation, 'Slating that some-
thing must be given to her as an equivalent—again
asserting when Ilastelli was sent away, that some
a Ivantage must necessarily be given her on that ac-
count—and then, in a spirit of shameless injustice, de-
nouncing her a harlot and a prostitute in the face of
the people. The aspects of the times are gloomy.--
On the question of Parliamentary Refinn, my opi-

--"k• -

"°,•••;

Won, may perhips not be so strolls u t •ose of Many
who now- hear me; but if I ever had a doubt upon
the subject, the proceedings of Friday evening must
have removed it for ever : strong as was my convic-
tion before, what I witnessed -on that memorable
night has Convinced me more than ever of the abso-
lute necessity of it. Inclination, as well as duty, would
induce me to speak respectfully of the Parliament. I
-consider the House of Commons so' connected with
the liberties of the country, that they must stand or
fall together ; but the present is the mere symbol and
type of Parliament Representation ; or how could
they so far disagree with the feelings of their consti-
tuents and the country at large, as, on a division re-
specting the insertion of the Queen's name in the Li-
turgy, to make up it number of a majority of 310 in
favour of a measure that has been extcrated by every
good man in the country? It might as well be said,
that the sentiments of the People of England were
expressed by the Privy Council as by the 1-louse of
Commons, or the voice of Europe by the Despots
of Laybach"--(Loud and repeated cheers).—The No-
ble Lord proceeded :—Parliamentary Reform must
be effected by firmness and moderation ; the voice of
the people cannot, and will not, ultimately be re-
sisted. In spite of the discouraging prospects before
them, there was something within him that told
him the voice of the people will still be heard.—
To return to the subject which was at present para-
mount to all others—a Minister of the Crown, in a
weak and laboured defence of a bad affair, had re•

course to his usual method of misrepresenting what
had been said by his opponents. The Member for
Oxford (Mr. Wetherell), a man of profound ability,
and of the legal profession, was said by Ministers to
have stated, in the course of debate, that the People
owed allegiance to the Queen. if he had so said, he
would have undoubtedly been wrong. They owe
her no allegiance; she was a subject (though the first)
as well as themselves : they only owe allegiance to
those feelings which led them to protect the oppressed.
" Allegiance and loyalty," said his Lordship, " are
mouthed out in the present day by persons who, per-
haps, do not know the meaning of the 'expressions
they utter : my allegiance is attachment to my King,
conformably to our glorious Constitution, whose Mi-
nister he is—attachment to those sacred laws .which
afford him protection"—(Cheers).—With respect to
the dismissal of his Majesty's Ministers, he, for one,
would cheerfully exert his. humble efforts to that end,
not because he had any personal animosity to those
now in office, or friendship to those who might suc-
ceed them, but hecause he believed in his conscience
that their conduct would end in the ruin and de-
struction of their country. He had watched their con-
duct narrowly through the whole of his Parliamentary
duties, and upon no occasion had anything occurred
to induce him to alter the opinion he had just expressed.
Ist. Their arbitrarily enforcing the taxes, amidst the
unexampled privations under which the country now
laboured, for the purpose of supporting that shame-
; ful profusion which was so disgraceful to the coun-
, try. 2dly. Their suspending the Habeas Corpus
Act without necessity, and in violation of the Con-
stitution—depriving Englishmen of the glorious li-
berties our ancestors have fought for, without notice
and without examination ; and lastly, as the consum-
mation of all, their base and unmanly attack on an
unhappy woman, unsupported, except by the feelingi
and voice of a virtuous People. That People had
borne her triumphantly through her persecutions,
and hailed her victory not in bloodshed and rapine,
but with the feelings of liberty and peace. If the
expression might be allowed, that they deserve the
blessings of PROVIDENCE, surely the manly and open
firmness with which they have stood forward in de-
fence of injured innocence will shower it down on
them, notwithstanding the base and unprincipled
conduct of their rulers. Glad would he be to drop
the subject for ever. It was commonly said that
a change of Administration was merely a jostle
between the ins and the outs—(Loud applause).—
For himself, whatever might happen, he had no
personal interest, though there were those who were
near and dear to him who probably might be included
in a change. " I solemnly promise," said his Lord-
ship, " in the face of my constituents, never to lend
my feeble efforts to support any Administration, of
whomsoever it may be formed, which will not pledge
itself to the following stipulations : though I do not
myself expect a change, I wish you, before whom I
stand to-day, to know my sentiments, and bear them
in mind : mark me, remember what I am saying to
you, and tell me of it if I ever deviate from the
principles I profess—the only principles which I con-
ceive will save my Country.'—(Cheers).—The sti-
pulations were-Ist. Economical Reform; a speedy,
and, as far as way be practicable, an immedia:e re-
duction of Taxes—Taxes, which were raised to sup-
port the profligacy and luxury of the Court ;—a
Commercial system abroad that would enable the
starving Manufacturer to live, without being obliged
to hawk from door to door the produce of his in-
dustry, and petitioning the Legislature, in vain,
for the alleviation of his sufferings. 2dly, Par-
liamentary Reform. By Parliamentary Reform
(he wished .not to be misunderstood) he meant
that a succession of measures should be early begun
and persevered in, to purify the Representation in
Parliament, and keep up the relative situation between
the Representative and his Constituents—to shorten
the duration of Parliaments, and exclude all place-
men and pensioners from the House, who were de.
pendent on the Crown. Idly, An effectual reduction
in the army : they would see by the King's Speech
that a reduction was to take place; but what was a ?
If report was to be believed, it was only 5,000 men
out of 95,000, and that from the Veteran Battalions,
which were raised only two yeats ago, and amounted
to ten thousand, and was stated at the time to be the
cheapest force that could be levied ; consequently that
' being the cheapest, the less effectual was the reduction.
It was absolutely necessary, not only-that all useless
pensions and sinecures should be abolished, but that
such a reduction in the Army should be instantly
effected as would afford security to the People in
peace, without being felt as an intolerable burden,
and without placing them by an unconstitutional and
Military force at the mercy of an arbitrary Govern-
ment. He believed he had touched on every point
alluded to in the Resolutions which had just passed,
and he sincerely hoped to meet them on a future day
under better auspices. His Lordship concluded
amidst the enthusiastic cheers of the Meeting.
Mr. Iticaronn said, that he felt extremely happy
that the adjournment of the House allowed him to

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receive in person the commands of his Constituent,
and he seized the opportunity with joy, as upon all
other occasions, to lot ward the purposes of their
Petition—Peers).
'' The whole of the Resolutions were unanimonsly
agreed to, and the Thanks of the Meeting given to
the worthy Chairman
,for his impartial conduct in
the Chair.—The CUAIRAIAN assured the Meeting
that his humble endeavours would always be at the
service of his townsmen„—The Meeting then dis-
persed, and the Petition received in the course of
the following day 517 signatures.

TH II.: EVE NING SM IL

LONDON.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1821.