Star.
London, England, 1817-02-26 00:00:00

WESTMINSTER MEETING.

Yesterday a Meeting was held in Palace.yard, for
the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety
or petitioning Parliament against the •uspentt.'n of the
Habeas Corpus Act. Soon after one o'clock, the
thou BAILIV/ came forward and read the Adul-
ation. •

Mr. &tonal then said. that qe. was always glad to
meet the Electors of Westminster upon important oc.
casions lit e the present. He lamented that Its was
io iii prepared to address them ; but thi; was not a
subject requiring much ability. He recollected, eta
tormei occasions, when a profligate Ministry? (wanted
twining honest men to the gallows, they made the
Most strenuous efforts, because those very mess op..
posed the late ruinous and extravagant War. The
Attorney-General of that day made every possible
exertion to obtain their conviction—he made a speech
of nine :touts length—yet not one of the Jury could
be induced to Rid them guilty. He felt that it diJ
not require any ability to explain the difference be.
tweets Liberty and Slavery. It required no extraor-
dinary talents to mate Englishmen teel and under.
stand such a subject ; and" that, he said, is precisely
the subject now before us. He did nut know ,whether
or-not wry were likely to succeed in the objectol this
-Meeting—(Cries of We will, we will) He feared that
they would tail in their atteiripts to prevent a sunsets.
spn of the Habeas. Corpus Act; but still it was their
duty topetition, although the majority which Minis-
ters could command might defeat them. He then
moved a Resolution to the following effect, which
passed unanimously s
.14 itesolva, That this Meeting. views whit surprise and re-
gret that a Bit has beeu inteutinced foto Pubentent for the pu-
pae of ou4pending that buts. ark of kegli•lt Liberty, the Habeas
Carpus Act ; sods+ perfectly conviccedi by the peaceable and or
denly.dein Wogs of the !Topic, Meetings have been
in different pate et the dim, to petition far a
tram their didresscs, a redrew of their emotes and a mow,
of their Cunstkutlunal RON and Liberia, and a Reformation
of divltopresentation in the Canunons tinges of Parliament,
that any bright novasitts of consign Ilan IWss aletady by tars
established ate wheal vanscessery.anitsigipme. tots.
ef • '
Mr. Wautaa seconded th 4*k e ava
_ .
carried aosnintous:y.
.A Petition to the House of CoMmonst foooded on
the Resolution, was then read, and achipted by the
'Meeting, and Sir Faaacte Buaziarr and bud Co.
failAtill were requeited to precut it to the Hotist and
• limpet the prayer of it. . •
INi/sap/iv spoke against the suspension of the Ha-
lbeas Corpus Act. He read the Amendment moved
by Lied Cochrane on the Address, in answer to the
_ - figorolvirom the Throne, which bad been la a great
,isseaseee kept horn the Public through its having
• wasted a seconder. Had that Motion, every word
of which was true, (mind me Member to ascend it, a
debate alight have been raised on it, and he was satis-
, led she consequence that would have been, the sea-
•Anrea now resorted to by Ministers would never have
- been vettured upon. tie' concluded by moving a
:Recitation tit fivoar of Annual Parliaments and
Uni-
. venal Suffrage.
Major CARTWRIGHT, though favoorable to Annual
Partaments and Universal Suffrage, declined 'scald-
ing/the;present Resolution.
Muth opposition was here called forth. Several
Clendeaencomplained that the Resolution was
to The ;business of the day. Mr. HUNT defended boa
Resolution. His right to take a part in the business.
of the day was denied.' He was asked, whether or
cot he was an Elector? At first he refused to an-
awarihe question; but contended be had a right le
speak, as he -was an inhabitant of Westminster.
{Cow "No, so—Cf, of,) and had been fifteen months.,
,ago chosen a Manner of the Westminster Commit-
tee : he turdner.maintakted his right on the ground
of precedent, as• Mr. Fox bad frequently addressed
them at ink Meetings, when his.(lsir. Fox). was not
• an, Eloctpr,•orsven au Inhabitant of Weatminster.—
(Ma awl • • .
gasn.inseist Baitier declares the'Resoluticasicrhich
had been moved, as it hall asim seiongedi mum;
to the ground. x
• Mr. WALE= denied thae•MrAltnietad any ettir
to eke a part is their proceedings, and stated Sir
-Francis Burdett to have given his opinion *pin' the
right which had that day been claimed. He moved
ghat tha Thanks of the Meeting should be given to
Sir Esepcis Burdett and Lord Cochrane.
The Motion was carried by acclamation. •
Arc Fawns' BwastrzT,remembeged, what he first

went to Parliament, Mr. Pitt protested, and (to tree 1
vulgar language) swore till he was black in the face,
in answer to those who opposed the late war, that
there was no intention to re-establish the Bourbons—.
that there was no design on the part of Ministers to
act against the liberties of mankind, but that the con-
test was really carried on for the preservation of the
Constitution. of England. The results proved how
sincere Mr. Pitt and his friends were in those proles
lions; and the Bills now about to be passed shewed
for what we had been at war. It a plot againit the
Government had been carried on in Spa6elds, he main-
tained
Lord Ski mouth, who had countenanced the pre-
ceedings, was a fellow-conspirator with Mr. Hunt.
The Honourable Baronet then commented on the
*unnecessary restraints about to be laid on the Nation,
which, however, he was sure would not suffice to ac-
complish the wishes of the Ministers, by making the
people silent, nor would any thing short of plucking
out their eyes and cutting out their tongues. The
distinction made between the Governors and the go-
verned he could not hut condemn, and he would say,
in the words of a great countriman of our OWP,
Sydney, who had lost his life in the cause of the
people, that he would never believe in the Divine
right which it was pretended one set of men bad to
rule another, till it should be shewn that the one
came into the world with the mark of a saddle on
their backt, and that the other were horn with boots
a J spurs to ride on thena."—(Applaere).—He wish-
ed to know how long Societies and Associations had
been discproved of by the Government, as-they had
countenanced Meetings of those who professed to sup.'
port the landed interest—of the Brunswick Knights,
\who united to oppose the principles which seated the
Brunswick:Family on the -Throne, and of the Pitt
Clubs all over the country. He accounted for his
nut having seconded the amendment moved by Lord
Cochrane to the Address voted by the House of Com.
mons, in answer to the Speech from the Throne, at
the wetting of the present Sess,en, by saying, he had
advised the Noble Lord not to bring it forward in
the first instance, and when it was submitted to the
House he was not there. Mr. Hunt, be observed,
bad called in question his coeduct. He had only to
say, while he possessed the confidence of his consti- '
tuents,he should act according to his own conscience..,
and, if when doing this, be could not take the same
view of any question that they might take, his seat
should be at their dispotal: But Mr. Hunt had not
,only called in question the conduct of the Members'
for Westminster, but he undertrook to tell them what
they ought to say. He, to be sure, was to prompt
them I This was really outrageous. He, for hie
part, would rather be the tool of a Court, than a
puppet, such as-Mr. Hurst would make him,- to be
told when to speak, and when to hold his tongue.—
He, however, was of opinion, though Mr. Hunt was
not an elector, he had a right, as an Englishman? to
come on an occasion like the present to deliver his
sentiments. He declared his readiness to support the
Petition jest-voted, and assured the Meeting, that
he would venture to tell Ministers that, let them pass
what lases they might, be would continue to meet his
constituents, and even though they should hang men
by votes of the House of Commons, instead of send-
ing them to trial, he' would still persevere in this
resolution ; for when Magna China and the Bill of
Rights expiied, he should think that be bad lived
long enough.
Lord Commutes said, that if the Bill for suspend-
ing the Habeas Corpus Act should pass, there would
be an end of our liberties ; and a military despotism
would hi established over us. He trusted no Eng-
lishman, however, that had .a heart in his bosom,
would fear to meet, and deliver his sentiments in la-
, vOur of the cause, notwithstanding the rigorous mea-
sures about to be introduced. He would support
their Petition to the best of his ability.
The Thanks of the Meetiag having been voted to
Major Cartwright, the worthy Major impressed his
satisfaction at bearing Sir F. -Burdett say he would
attend all Meetings foe Parliamentary Reform; as it
was his (the Major's) intention to do the same as long
us-ht hid breath in his body. •
The Thanks of the Meeting baying been voted to
Abe High Bailiff, the Meeting was adjourned.

OLD BAILIAY.MODday, W. HAM was indicted for
forging and counterfeiting a transfer for the sum of
4'200, with intent to defraud the. Governor 'sad Cow
palsy of the Book of England.

,

of the vase were sae
prisoner, in connelion. with a Mr. Crisp, invested
it 2650 in the Navy 8 per cent. Annuities, and made
it joint stock. Oa the 27th of May, 1814, without
the consent of Mr. Crisp, he sold .atoo out of this'
stock, eat imbeequently £6OO, obtaining a person to
forge the aneas and handwriting of Mr. Crisp. The
cue was rendered peculiarly interesting by the.exa-
minatioo of the Broker who sold the stock, swearing,
that the person who. on May 27, 1814, signed the
new of Crisp, was the same person, to the best of
bislseliO, who appeared in Court and contradicted.
tim assertion by positively stating, that he was not is
London at the time. It further appeared, that the
prisoner lied three different times attempted, and in
one instance succeeded in escaping from the eligibles
of the officers who came to apprehend bim.
The case for the prosecution being closed, Mr.
CUIRWOOD, for the prosper, took an objection, that as
Mr. Holmes and Mr. Crisp were joint proprietors in
this stock, the law authorised one of them to receive
the stock as well as both. The custom of Lie Bank
was otherwise, but that was not the law of the land.
The point was -reserved for the- decision of the
Judges. 'I he Jury found .a verdict—Guilty.
The only other trial of iaterest was that of Mary
Swain, who was convicted of -forging a transfer for
£lB Navy 5 per tent. Annuities, being the joint pro-
perty of Mary M'Quire and Bridget Mulhum.
Yesterday John Clara and George Wall were indired
for assaulting Robert Jones on the King's highway,
and forcibly taking from his person three gold seals,
two gold keys. and a watch ring, his property, The
prosecutor was going al.mg the Curtain-road, Shine-
, ditch, about seven in the evening of the 30th ult.
_whin be was knOcked down, robbed, and left _in a
most deplorable condition. Mary Trigger wee walk-
ing behind Mr. Jones otithe above evening, and saw
three persons run from a pent.bouse, and,knock him
down. The- prisoner Clark looked like one of them
—she could not swear to Well. The Jury found
Wall not Guilty ; Clarke Guilty—aeeth. Aged 18.
Maws Hollard sod G. Wand?, were found guilty of
a burglary in the house of Eleanor Bright. Deed&

The oil