Star.
London, England, 1817-03-26 00:00:00

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PRICE S EVE N7-I'l7.Ni

that the Crown and certain Memle..reof the Hoes,
of Lords aetuelly returned a caajer.ty of the Mem.
ben of the House of Commons:'-flow _could the
sentiments of these who met to petition for a Reform
in the aepresentatien of the House of Commons b 4
stated hi more rn rderate or temperate language, yet
weat might this be &meet but an endeavour to
bring the House cf Commons into coitte.rot.; and
how could a percent in the. Home of 0)1111111:5 be
'advocated without the charge of ende.seeuriegto
bring it i:.:o contempt, applying in this sense? See
then what might-8,11 or :—Stirin,,3e ten 2,l4gistrates
reesere, nine of them thought mil I ;id of laiignage
perfectly proper, w:tli a view t the te•gitimate obeet
for which the meeting had asscrnbl,;(', but the ot: er
Magistrate chose to consider vv.!: 'anguage as teed. •
ing to bri ig the House of Commons into contemedi
Singie M •giAiate, armed wits the powen Rives'''
by this Bill, and in opposition to the opinions of the.
other nine Magistrates, takes into custody the indivi.;
dual using suet language; same of those present.
say, " for Gob's sake do not take him iteo cestedy.
I let him be heard reit, kt him explain
What was the power with *lnch that single Magi:
'straw was intested by this Bill ? He might say to
the individuAls rhos imploring him not to take away
the person he toed seized, " you are guilty of felony
Wieeest benefit of Clergy." Sncli wee tits provisions
of the under which, if any person obstructed the
Magistrate in taking an indivional into custody, ct
in proceeding with him through the Meeting, they
were to be deemed guilty of felony without benef:t
of Clergy. He implored their Lordfhlps to considet
the consequences of passing such ■ measure as the
present ; let them recollect what was said •by that
;peat and eminent man, Mr. Burke, " that the lore
of the people was the only safeguard for our instite-
tions, and that without it all the terrors with which
the late could be armed availed nothing." Let them
recollect, that though these measures were onty in-
tended to operate, as it was said, upon the lower
class of society, they deceived themselves it they st:n.
posed that theligher classes would be sasiified wi,h
them. It was in the very nature of freedom te run
into excesses, but hot i. not be maieteired, that b.:-
cause there had been a little excess, there should,
therefore, be a total eclipse of the liberty of the sub.
ject. It might be necessary, be altnitte.l, to curb
treedem to a certain extent, but there were t;tres and
seasons for doing this ; let the necessity be
&hewn, and let not the liberties of ti:e whree pee•pte
of England be eritinguislied because a few
had abused treedons. What was it ether wise 1;t
driving the people to despair, and fearing them into
that very state of discoutent which -it was t! .e pro.
teased object of these measures to guard against, or
destroying that spirit, to which alone we were in-
debted for our superiority ? What was it that vivified
all our institutions but a spirit of attachment to the.
Constitution'aisd the Government which actuated-the
people of England in all the branches of the public
service ? What was it that filled the ranks And-mein-
mined the character of our •as my ? What was it to
which we wise indebted fur the superiority of our
navy, but this spii it on the part et the people,
1 induced them to submit to the toles of eiscieline era
Blond order? Wab it Bills of Supply—aas it e
Mutiny Act—wits it ray—was it any tnetives of
mere interest ? N. It was this spirit of attachment
to the Constitution and Government cf theconutry
—it was this spirit, arising nut of freedom and main•
tained by freedom, that animated •every branch of
the public service ; without it II e flinty would be a
lawless rAbbie, the Navy a sct of mere marauders,
Ant every branch cf the public service inert and pa.
rAlyzed. Let item look well then to the COlllO.
pleisCeS of the freedom of the people. It
might be cony etaent to keep fire within bt:uuds—it
'eight be said that it was a good servant, bora bad
master—that it was useful in the kitchen and pleasant
is the chamber, hot that when it came down' from
Heaven and dearoyed their doelli igs inctthemselves,
or whets it struck churches and endang,•red the'cou-
gtegattr•ns, it ought to he regulated IA prevent its
doing mischief. They might wish to regulate the
water, that it nright ripple only in brooks and rivu-
lets, and that it should
rents, sweeping hefete them the Hocks and their
owners. They might desire to regulate ;he At., so
that it should only sport in zephyrs and Inetzeei Altd
should nut by allowed to congregate in great masses
of clouds without the permission of sevenlararra
and graziers. But what it they could seleenetY its
establishing these regulations ? What hhtlat gerferal
magnatioo of air, the covering of the Wates.. with a
ieutresceta vegetation, and through 'that :.taLnetitei
general pestilence and cuntagion ? Just so gilt it
with meaaurm for keeping dawn freedoM,—iothe
stagnation of public sentiment, in the de:ertietion of
its vivifying principles -Yon encounteted :janitor
more danger than hom its exceees. hoe did nit t
now hold the opinions that he did when he fumed).
signed a paper slime the subject of Parliamentary
Refotm—he did not now hold these opinions to the
OM extent; and to those who raid he ought to be
consistent, he would sty, he mat bound to nothing
bet a faithful discharge of his duties as a Member Of
enroyt aa tn I rheaevdeo trihi et). kgdsnith a cflClee'd-
Parliament. But letleevt
dom of opinions, and
by unnecessary tetteis. He thought this Bill preg-
Inant with danger to the liberty of the subject, trod
the powers given by it to a single Magistrate to pre-
vent at his discretion the right of petitiiniing 'horn
being exercised, and that Magistrate appointed by the a
Crown; fie thoui-:, he had the utmost cenidence in
the honour aud integrity of his Noble and' Learned
Friend new et, the ‘Youlsack, yet he must look with
regard to the appoilautent of Magistrates to the suc-
cessors of his Noble and Learned Friend—he muse
look gesetelly to die powers which might at a future
period be exercised. With these views of the subject,
And censititning this measure as calculated to ezette
dricontent instead of allaying it, by the obstacles it
threw in the way of the fair and proper express:tin et*
ptehlie opinion by means_ of Petition, by its leacag

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