Star.
London, England, 1821-02-15 00:00:00

any Meeting at pleasure, as a power highly uncon-
stitutional, *slid &serious breach of the People's right
of petitioning. The Act of Parliament, he was con-
vinced, never intended to give the Sheriff this power ;
a power which rendered the right of petitioning a
dead letter on the Statute Book. It was under the
conviction that the Act never intended to give this
power to the Sheriff, that he acted, in bringing for.;
ward this motion. It, on referring -the Act to the
consideration of a Committee, it should appear upon
their Report, that they agreed with him, he trusted
the House would then allow a Bill to be brought in
to amend the Act. and to define more correctly. the
power of. tile Sheriff. He concluded by moving,
that the Petition from Chester should be referred to
a Select 'Committee. •
Mr. CREEVEY was not aware that his Honour-
able Friend would have shaped his motion to meet
the Chester Petition. He understood his motion
would have gone to the conduct of Sheriffs gene-
rally ; and, under that impression, he gave his no.
tice last night, for inquiry, into the circumstances
connected with the Chester Petition; but his Hon.
Friend's motion, as it now stood, appeared to embrace
every object he had in view.
Lord CASTLEREAGH considered both motions
the same in substance, and as going to an investiga-
tion of the conduct of an individual. If the mo-
tion was agreed to, it would call on-the individual in
question to bring up witnesses at a great expense,
and from a considerable distance; and before the
hlouse would impose such a hardship on any indivi-
dual, he was persuaded they would see the case in
some measure made out. It was not enough that
they had a Petition on their table, stating certain
charges against the Sheriff, but he thought they
should have a full statement of facts from the Ho-
nourable Member for Northumberland, and ,others,
before the House came to any decision. He there-
fore,suggested the propriety of this discussion stand-
ing over to a luture day.
Mr. BEAUMONT expressed his readiness' to ac-
cede to this suggestion.
Mr. DENM AN
.said, it was proper he should state,
that he had a Petition to present from certain per:.
sons, complaining of the Sheriffs of Middlesex, for'
refusing to call a Meeting in Middlesex, on an ob-
jection to the Requisition. He had seen Mr. Sheriff
Waithman, who expressed his conviction that he
should be able to justify his conduct on' this point,
by the production of certain papers to the House.
On the pre;ent subject, he thought the law was so
well known no new enactment would be required ;
and, indeed, he should be most unwilling to make
a Select Committee judges of the rights of the Peo-
ple on this subject. He was happy to hear from
the Noble Lord that his Majesty's Ministers had no
wish to throw any impediments in the way of these,
Meetings, though, he must confess, it was hard to re-
concile their declaration with the conduct of some of
them at the late Hampshire Meeting, where a Requi-
sition for a Public Meeting having been pre,ented to
the Sheriff, they presented a counter-Requisition that
no Meeting should be called—(/Wear, hear).
The motion was then, with the consent of the
.house, t,ithdrawn.