Star.
London, England, 1819-12-07 00:00:00

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1,-...,;;,,

ARMY CONTRACTS.
TREASURY CHAMBERS,
Commissariat Department, December 1, 1919. •
)TICE is hereby given, That the Agent fbr
Commissariat Supplies, is ready to receive Proposals for
riti• g such of Ills 'Majesty's Troops as may be
with
e ccinity of Sandhurst, in,
the County of' Berta, with
51EA1', FORAGE, STRAW, COALS,and CAN-
for One Year, from the 25th DeceMber instant; such
Itals to be sent in on or before Wednesday the 15th Deceth-
,„,,nt ; (but none will be received after twelve o'clOck on
13.`, 308, if tent by Post, the Postage must be paid.
vosais mustbe made for the whole of the Articles ; and each
sal must have the Letter which is annexed to the Tender
rfir filled up, by two persons of known property engagini
orse bound with the party tendering in the amount stated
printed Particulars, for the due performance of the Coo-
; and no Proposal will be noticed unless made on a printed
kr, and the prices expressed, in words at lengtk.—=Particto
01 the Contracts
hour bt had upon application at these
Oils, between the sof eleven and five.

Noble Lord, who, possessing the same attainments
and experience, would bare ever thought of submits
HOUSE OF LORDS, DECEMBER 6. ting such arguments op such a question—a(Hear,
Immediately after the Loan CHAU:IMMIX entered the House, hear l) It would appear feat the Noble Lord thought,
Captain Edward Fox Fitzgerald. and the Nitsbes Navels SO4 there were no shades of difference in blasphemous li.
Lacy Fitzgerald, the son and daughters of the late Lord Ed- be.
Kind Fitzgerald, took the oaths of allegiance and fidelity to tho is, but that they were all of the same black enota
King, in consequence of the Act passed last Session, removing mity. This, however, was not the .case, for them
the attainder from the family. They were accompanied to the satire shades of difference in the grossness and turpi-
Bar by a Lady and Gentleman, as also by Lord H•iland. tude of some of these publications ; while the chu-
rl* Earl of CAItNARVON presented Petitions from cer.,
unshed accordingly.
alio places in Devonshire, praying fora subdivision of the die- ratter' and degree of each was, by this Bill, left to
asters in which licences are granted to publie.houses. the Court to be estimated, and p
Lord ROLLE observed, that the application bad already It was.-strenuously objected, however, by the No-
bete rejected three times by the Quarter Seseions; yet hem` ble Lord (Erskine), that the existing law was not
not object is the Petitions being received.—Ordered tope on minted to, but the great complaint against that law
the table.
Lord strossouni presented certain rapers which bad woo that it did not afford a remedy commensurate
been moved for on a- previous night by the Marquis of La. with the nature of the eeil.a.(Hear, *hear; hear). The
'kr", containing Itectens Of all caws of Blasphemous and Bedi• Noble Lord also adverted to the laudable efforts
tams Libels, during tlse.fears 1818 And 1819, and the proceed..
made by a Society, Supported by private subscrip-
bags taken theroon.—*'LlßEL Ordered to lie on the table.
PREVENTION BILL. • tion, for suppressing- immoralpublications; and said,
that the Attorney Gaseral might, in the same eras-
Lord SIDMOUTH rose to inoie the second efts& net. put down the abominable stuff which now issued
ing of the Bill for more effectually preventing *is- from thelisees„ Thiswee not tnisearniecsed issamtht
pelts and Seditious Libels In dfmisilff . su4lieoperatioti of the law el libel as it now stood ; yet the
.suave as appeaied best calculated to put dovrothese able Lord said, that to increase the number of pro-
libels, which were now become the pest of society, secutions would only be to encontage.. the publica-
while they threatened to sap the very-foundation of tion of blasphemous works-o(Crier of No no,
social order, care was taken that nothing should be the Noble Lords en the Opposition Benches). CZ,
done, which was not, as much as possible, in unison at least, was the inference which he (Lord Harrowbyl
with the spirit of the British Constitution.. It was drew from the Noble Lord's arguments. Nor could
only upon a .repetition of the offence, that the party the assertion be supported that this Bill would sub-
became subject to an aggravated punishment. and ject booksellers to any severe hardships. It was
this was to be banishment or transportation. Ile did wrong to suppose that they would incur any aggra.
not, upon this occasion, feel it necessary to revert to vated penalty for publishing two offensive works, as
those reasons which he had before urged, in justifi- the principle would.not apiily unless such works fol-
cation of some such restrictive measures as those lowed in succession, which must always be supposed
proposed, contenting himself with stating the ob- to happen with the consciousness of•the publisher.—
jects of this Bill; yet there was, however, one obser- He should now state what the real groand of this
vatibn which he could not help submitting to their measure was ; it was to be found in the nature and
Lordships, before he sat down. They were about to extent of that monstrous evil, which, acting with
pass other measures of necessary coercion ; but these subtle venom, pervaded the whole system of the body
would all prove ineffectual and abortive, if the linen- politic, and poisoned the current of sociallife=d Hear).
tiousness of the Press was not corrected by some_ It was this most aggravated offence that called for
more severe punishment than the existing law al- aravated punishment; nor ought it to be with-
lowed. With this impression fully upon his mind, heldgg, if it was determined that the State should not
he should now add nothing further, than that tiie sink beneath the foul inundation which now threat-
Bill be read a second time. ened to overwhelm it. But the .Noble Lord said,
Lord ERSKINE, after some preparatory observa- that works of greater magnitude, filch as The Ago
Lions, said, it appeared to him most extraordinary, of &titan, were not prosecuted at a time when eito-
that the Noble Viscount, upon introducing this Bill, ceedings were instituted against the smaller ones.—
had not thouoltt proper to advance any other reasons Let it, however, be recollected, that the smaller
for its necessity than those set forth in the mere alle- publications were more general in their diffusion,
gation of the preamble. There was in that preamble and more calculated to come within the immediate
an assumption that seditious publications were disse- comprehension of those to whom. they were ad-
minated to an alarming extent ; yet no facts were dressed, which gave a more powerful as well as a
offered to prove enat they could not be suppressed Ity more extended influence to their pernicious effects.,--
the existing laws ; and their Lordships were called It was impossible for the poorman to sit down either
upon to pass this Bill, because; forsooth, the preamble to his tea. or his pot of porter without taking in 'the
contained the bare allegation that seditious and bias- poison that was ministered 'to him at tbeaame time
phemous libels were circulated through the country. .in twopenny pamphlets. He (Lord Hai rowby) should
The Noble Lord then proceeded to observe,that these oak how it was possible to put doWn the dreadful
was a marked difference between publications which system of wickedness which had too long prevaled;
were of a blasphemous, and those merely of a sedi- : i
wanout measures .of at least equal severity with those
tious nature. The former bed but one broad and proposed? It was because he was the
film and de-
unmitigated character of wickedness : while the latter ceded friend of the Liberty of the Press that he, de-
admitted of various degrees of criminality, and many sired to see those wretches put down who would rob
of these might be put forth by men who were other- us of its legitimate freedom, the best safeguard of the
wise characters of good repute. Ile could not con- country. He, and those who acted with him, would,
naive a more heinous degree of enormity, than that by checking the abuses of the Press, provide for its
of robbing the poor man, while 'asking for bread, of eternity.-.(llear, hear!)—If they should quietly sit
that consolation which alone could reconcile him to down while reptiles were eating into the timbers of
the want of-it—the hope of having his reward in an- the ship, that ship must inevitably perish, and with
other and a better world. And he (Lord Erskine) her every tl.s.,g valuable which she contained. No ;
should be most ready to go as far as the Noble Via- it was now their duty, in spite of any arguments that
count in punishing, by a new hactmeut, the wretch might be urged against them, to adopt not only
Who could be guilty of such wickedness,. if he were these measures, but also those which were yet o
not convinced that the law already provided was come before their Lordships from another quartetr,
amply sufficient for the purpose. In the next place, if they :Ippeared equally well calculated to counter-
the Noble Lord adverted to the prevalence of obscene act the terrible evil which.called for them.
publications : when be first came to London they had The Marquis of LANSDOWN said, that a sense
been effectually put down by the Society for the Su- 'of duty obliged him to agree in such an altemion of
pression of Vice, whose representative he was in the the existing laws as.would most effectually put down
Court of King's Bench. Had the Attorney-General the flagitious system which had assumed so alarming
acted with the same promptitude as this Society, in a character to the peace:and good order of society :
conjunction with the late Bishop of London, Doctor yet, he would ask, was the necessity for such an alter-
Porteous, blasphemous and seditious libels might ation distinctly expressed in the preamble of the
easily be checked : but why had he not done so ? Bill? No such thing ;it was only stated. that the
Why had no libels been prosecuted with the exception law, in its present shape, was not sufficient. The
of Hones Parodies, the .Age of Reason, and two Noble Marquis deprecated the principle of men beo
others? The great cause of the dissemination of such ing led away by a vulgar error in apportioning
libels was, he contended, that they were not prose- punishments with vindictive severity, as .consonant
cuted when they ought, or only selected from int- with the maxims of abund legislation, and quoted
proper subjects. Thus, for instance, llone's Parodies the opinion of Blackstone to prove that it was the
were prosecuted at the very time that the Age of peculiar. excellence of the law of libel in England,
Reason was published all over the country without that it was analogous .to the later Roman law*,
any interference on the part of the Attorney-General. which were the result of learning and rnatured wis-
After some other arguments, in which the Noble
Lows( cited a passage from one of the Parodies, with dom. lie advanced this. argument, to prove that
transportation to Botany Bay, a punishment now in-
s View of drawing the distinction between biasphe-' flitted only in Lases of felony, was incompatible with
mous and seditious libels, he wept on to chew the the spirit of the law of libel, the contravention of
hardships which this Bill, if passed into a law, would which was in itself only a roisdemeat)our. It was
occasion to Booksellers, by subjecting them to prose- possible for a man, though guilty of a libel, to make
cutions for works which they might not know were such compensation to society' as would atone for his
of a criminal tendency. It was quite preposterous, offence: and he therefore-thought it not only an un-
he maintained, to confound in one common offence, necessary severity, but an inhuman want of precau-
works which were blasphemous, and those to which tion in legislation, to adopt such-a .punishment as
the term seditious might be applied: In conclusion, that provided in the Bill. He then urged the Mi-
llis Lordship expressed his opinion that the proposed culty there would be in getting. Juries to give ver-
measures would not be passively acquiesced in by the dicta of conviction under the new law ; .aod observed,
People, and instanced a fact during the Protectorate, that the man wl:o so lately swayed the destinies of
to prove that even Cromwell despaired of establish- Europe, and to whom no individual Would deny the
ing his power by the seizure of works that were not merit of being a great master in legislation, did not
in accordance with his views. The due enforcement resort to transportation, a punishment unknown in
of the existing law, in case of 3 repetition of the France, when he wished to put down his most for-
offence, could not fail, he thought, to aggravate the midable enemy, the Press, but only to fine and im-
punishment sufficiently tot the ends of justice. prisonment. The effect of the law, by providing 10
The Earl of HARROWBY had listened with the
greatest attention to the Noble and Learned Lord unequal a punishmeet,- would be, to defeat the pur-
pose for which it was enacted ;. and the difficulty
who had just satdown, because bethought him better which Juries iota,' find in gimg verdicts fir,the
qualified
dom, to discuss the points now under consideration. prosecution, would rise in proportion to the •
character of the person accused. As a
Yet he (Lord. Harrowby) was, however, at a loss to fact, it would only be necessary for him
conceive how the NOW Lord could possibly justify thit were the Honourable Baronet, the ,
the vote he had resolved upon giving Is. y the er- Watminstet, against whom there was. a
gement: which he advanced in support of st--(//eisri fa: a libel now pending. brought to. trial
hear). In his opinion there were few men besides the new enactment, for the second offense,

PARLIAMSNTARY PROCEEDING&

BRIDGES, MAYOR.
COMMON COUNCIL, holden in the Chambir
of the Guildhall of the City of London, on Sosaktv,
56 day et December, 181 P,
pear, That Petitions be predate& to busk Homo of '
lenient, representing, that this Court has learnt, with appre-
son and regret, that measures subversive of mar free Conni-
e have been submitted to Parliament, by the Moine» of
Crown, On the pretext of Conspiracy for the destruction of
kission, Government, and Property within the Realln.
3: the defeat of so monstrous a design, did we believe in its
tiy, we should be most anxious to employ all the means that
possess; but, while such an alarm rests merely upon noun.
:cleated or anonymous statements, which have been sub -
tot to no investigation (however countenanced by the mho_
conduct and inflammatory writings of some misguided or
4ftinded men), we cannot perceive the necessity of any
trivalent of our Liberties.
Deeply lamenting the prevalence of discontent, w humbly
scuuend to Parliament, as its only proper cure, a sincere and
nest endeavour to remove all just ground of complaint ; and,
Bible of the inconveniencies arising from frequent large
coablages, and from the want of respect and affection between
Magistracy and the People, we respectfully submit that's.
niitutional Remedy might be found in the establishment of
be Representation, and liberal Municipal Constitutions,
toddy to the ancient usage and analogy of our Government,
those places in which population bas extensively accumuitted,
:which do not yet enjoy them.
We fully participate in the disgust excited by some late pub-
rt3ns hostile to the Christian Religion and the public peace;
t, as they immediately became the objects of general detests-
a, and could have been at once submitted to the judgment of
C.:Avs, and as they bear an infinitely small proportion to those
+atolls which are favourable to knowledge, virtue, and re-
.. 7., they seem to us to afford no reason for subjecting the Pre
th
ss
ractments calculated to harass all who are connected wi
-io destroy its freedom—and to prohibit some of As most
labours.
re trust, therefore, that at a time when we anxiously ex-
e....ed an investigation into transactions which have recently
id forth an eipression of general disapprobation;and hoped
reach $ Redress of Grievances, and Reform et Ahura, at
ht allay the irritated feelings of the People, Pirliamernt will
Khalil!, and without inquiry, during the prvalence of an up-
naded or exaggerated alarm, pass law-, on account of a partial
ad temporary evil, tending permanently and universally to
den the liberty of the subject, and to produce increased irrita-
tion, while they are inefficient as to the purposes for which they
ire designed.
Should, however, some measures be thought necessary for.the
reservation of the public peace, we earnestly entreat that Par-
lament will adopt such only as shall be limited in their extant
s 4 duration ; and that Its next care may be, to reject the der
dente counsels of those who would refuse all concession, to apply
its& to the effectual correction of those abuses and defects
sta:li have given rise to the prevailing discontent.
WOODTIIORPE.

CHARTER-HOUSE.
THE FOUNDER'S DAY will be cdebratecl, as
usual, at Charter-House, on blasnar, I/genuses 13.
Preacher, Rev. Gaoling Pzassos.
Orator, WILLIAM SAGO.
STEWARDS,
Ilto Rev. ArCbtIMICORTI4O3II4 Suntan Tocesa, Esq.
Joan! &tom, EBq. -FILANCIS W ALPOLI,
DLNCAI CAMPBELL, Esq. Jaunt Cuarsaaw, Esq.
Divine Service will begin at Half-past Four.
Dinner will be on Table at Six precisely.

•
ONCE MORE!
PITON has again the pleasure of congratulating
his best patrons, the Public, on their having gained Forty
Ilicasand Pounds in Two Prizes of £20,000 draws first day
of present Lottery. Six Prises of £20,000 are yet undrawn,
Iwo of which must be drawn Next Day, 9th DF.CEMI3F.R,
t4B EYTOT hopes to have the pleasure of dividing them
amongst his Friends, at his fortunate Office, 2, Cornhill; where
gaminess in the Public Funds is transacted with fidelity and
tiyiltby obedient Se"al
The following is a List of some of the Capital
Prizes that have been lately sold by G. CARROLL:
2,357 Prize of £30,000
,7;5 5130,000
6,345 £30,000
9,481 £20,000
5,645 £lO,OOO
706 ,E2OOOO
4,489 AIO,OOO
1,345 £20,000.
7005 25,000, &c. &c.
Ne. 1,31,5, was the last Prize of £40,000 Sterling ever
Drawn, and was Sold in Shares by CARROLL, at his
fortunate Offices, No. 19, Cornhill, ancl'26, Oxford.'
'::net. Near THURSDAY will be the Second Day of
likawiNg. The Scheme contains Six. Prizes of
1-100)0! Two of which MUST RR DRAWN is the First
Fire Minutes.
k is a curious circumstance, that, independesi of
Itis oith Capitals, BISH should sell those of other
Oice-leepers ; but, strange as it may appear, it is
Nevertheless true. Mr. KAYS, his Agent at Livza-
Poot, being short of Shares, and the time too limited
ID send to London for a fresh supply, bought some
rf Mr. Wi.ny's Agent, one of which was a Prize of
t'-'O,OOO, on the Fifst Day in the present Lottery;
,i
141. SIVEWRIGHT, his Agent at EDINPURGI', under
similar circumstances, bought a few Shares, and one
sf them, also, was a £20,000 Prize the same Day.—
This clearly demonstrates that good fortune attends
bun's Agents, as well as his Town Offices. It is to
12 Loped lie will give a good account of the Si:
P:iaes of £20,000 now in the Wheel, two of which'
be drawn in the First Five Minutes, num
I,IJRSDAY, tl.e 9th of this Iklanth.—We recollect
11: trite there were (as now) Six Prizes of £20,000,
I.! •.I !DILI three of them, all its Shares, and they were
by Lis agents all over the United Kingdom.

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which the Jury would undertake todeeide upon, was,
not whether he had published ano:her libel, but whe-
ther a person of his station in the country should be
sent to Botany Bay for it ? The NehleMarquis sat
down, pmtcsting against this clause, and -also against
the one for limiting the time allowed to persons to
prepare for trial, which he contended cught to be
six, instead of three months, as proposed in the Bill.
Tb the principle of the measure, however, he was
very ready to assent, and expressed his hope that thd
clauses mentioned would be altered in the Committee.
Lord ELLEN BO ItOUG H, in a maiden speech, '
combated the arguments of the Noble Marquis who
had last spoken. He trusted that the effects of the
seditious Press had not yet so far perverted the minds
of a British Jury, as to make them forget what thq
owed to themselves, as well as to the country--(fienr,
I heir). The term sedition, in his opinion; had. no re-
whatever so those political differences '.which
t arise between opposite parties, and 'ally, im-
plied a direct offence against the State. Ide Could '
[net help supporting _this Bill when he looked tit the
mauves by •whefi those 'mimes wear hilmliatel.
against whom its provisions were directedtsto-
noes of base lucre and dark malignity— ( Hise, -
hear). It Mutt appear evident to. every mean who
witnesped the occurrences of late years, that sonic
new punishment was called for. Libelers, so far
from dread;ng a prosecution, looked to it, on the
contrary, as the best means to excite an interest with
the Public, and thereby put money in their pocket..
He could not possibly contemplate a more atrocious
crime, than to take from the poor man his last soy
in this world, and his best hope in'the next. Nor
was it less wicked to assail that Constitution, which
was the glory cf England, while it rendered It the
admiration of the world—(Hear, hear). After ateor
ether observations to the same effect, the Noble Lord
concluded with expressing his unqualified concurrence
in the measure before their Lordships.
Lord HOLLAND entered into a detailed examina-
tion of the provisions of the Bill, and said their in all
the hideous code which had been introduced, or was
yet to be introduced, in the course of the present
I Session,there was no one measure of greater deformity
than that under consideration. In the course of sun. e
arguments, urged with considerable animatiop, he
said, that there was, on the part of the Ministr-,.
either a direct omission or a malicious connivance,
otherwise they would have resorted to the existing
laws, and not framed new ones, which were only
calculated to increase the evil which they professed
to remedy. He vindicated the character of de
'People of tngland from the imputation of being
'breligiout, and maintained, that infidelity was n4t
The leer by which any public man in England had
`ever risen to eminence. The Noble Lord continued
to argue igaittstthenew3aw, as furnishing Ministers
. with an MatiMailt of oppressioi *wig Weak,
thoiigh upright Men, inatenneh ark would be easy to
convert a libel on the Ministers themselves into, ore
against the Government. From the time •that 'Mr.
Semen published his Tracts, in- leftS, up to Mr.
Btu ke's time, all that public men had written might
he construed into libels. Added to this, -the new
laws made no discrimination between those Who ii ete
'really guilty of a bad intention in writing and pub-
lishing, and those who from mere accident• became.
venders of them. Such were the poor nesOs- .
venders, who, with thbir horns, sold' the 'vilest trash
in favour of Government, as well as the most violent
effusions of the Radical Reformers. With regard to
the discretion which; it was proposed to vest in the
Judges, from the great respect he had- for these
elevated individuals, he was net afraid that it would
be abused, but with regard to *themselves, he Mt Aar •
the delicate situation in which they would he d
_(Hear). Yet with all the security which ta:as ,
inclined to feel from this discretion being placed'in
the hands of such men, he nevertheless trenibled'at
being prostrated at the discretion of any man. Hare- •
ing said thus much in reference to the peculiar opera-
tion of the Bill, he would new say, that it was the
spirit which made it necessary, in such times as the
present, to propose a measure of this sort, that gave .
him the greatest uneasiness. When be saw the Ism
altered on insufficient grounds, and a venial *fleece
put on a footing with more serious crimes, he. was
inclined to fear for the consequences. VlOlll4 it not,
he•would ask their Lordships, justify desiring men
in persuading the multitude, that that Home Mt tie
identity of interest with them ? Was this the-wayto
recover that confidence which the 14ohk Lards; on
both .sides of the Howe, complained bad Iteisklest ?
He assured their Lordships it was not. And, in con-
clusion, he entreated them to passe, before they
adopted a measure which made so much against the
Liberty of the Press ; and that, for consideration
of a measure calculated to be permaneat, this wik not,
in justice. the Most fit time. . •
' The LORD CHANCELLOR rose to reply to a
few of the'observations of the Noble Lord who had
ust sat down. The Noble Dud seemed to him to
have entirely forgotten the history of the law of f
li-
bel when he complained that, by the new enact-
ments, it was made more severe than at any past
time. It surely could not have escaped the reto lec-
don of the Noble Lord, that, antecedent to the time
when that excellent person (Sir Samuel Romilly)
brought the Bill into Parliament, for doingsway the
putriDonent ef the pillory in all cases except perjury,
that a- person convicted of a seditious libel was ex-
`posed not only to fine and imprisonment, but also to
the pilltiry—(flear, hear).—In that respect, therefore,
' the new law would not be so severe as the old sine.
Thd Noble Lord seemed to have been mistakes in
another point also,, namely, with regard to the tßs-
- vested in the Judges, for in the law spas that

MIMI) W 6,43.. .
the rookoodtcrenon vested in the Judges, tor in me Law stew ii...%
proof of thc• . subjcCt .no change was made at all. At the present
day it was entirely at the discretion d 1116 COOK to
Member iiir 4 "I" what
1 to nr ntioerl
portion of Aso or ispriowness dioy
a prosecoijoo thought fit opon at defealloot corrritted off *UK—
ial under the (Heart hier, hear).--1110 'woad the
the question Punishment of the PilleCT ‘4ll-11/10144013iithe
' . . .
. -
' .itt •
A