Star.
London, England, 1819-11-01 00:00:00

BOLTON.

The idea of a Meeting at Bolton is abandoned,
for the reasons which appear in the following
documents :

" Bolton, October 11, 1819.
" To THE MAGISTRATES Or TEE DIVISION Or WARRINGTON, woo

VIUALLY ASSEMBLE AT LEIGH, AND TO THOIE WHOM THEE

MAY CHOOSE TO CONSULT.

" thurnastis—lt may be know;itesoit;e of you that the in-
habitants of the towns of Great and Little Bolton, and neigh-
bourhoesa, intend to exercise a legal and constitutional right, by
meeting publicly to address the Prince Regent, on the late pro-
ceedings at Manchester, on the 16th of August.
" That, in consequence of the measures pursued on that much
to be lamented occasion, by some of the Nlagistrates of this Dl-
vision, and their subsequent conduct in trampling upon the
rights of the people, we, the undersigned, request your attend-
ance, to protect the people whilst in the exercise of their Consti-
tutional rights, being convinced that it is unsafe to assemble
without yoi.r protection."
signed by the Boroughreeve, and twenty-eight other Free-
holders or Householders.
" To 'rue Boeornuar eve OT GREAT BOLTON, &c. &c.
" Gtsussii.x—ln answer to the Requisition which, as Se-
nior Magistrate of the Bench at Leigh, you did me the honour
to forward to me, to afford you such legal protection as might
be in our power, whilst in the intended exercise of the Consti-
tutional right of addressing the Prince Regent on the late occur-
rences at Manchester, I beg leave to allude to what I then said
to the Gentlemen who waited upon me, viz. that it was an
affair of that delicate nature, so far as it regarded the Magistrates
•in your own vicinity, that, unless the apprehensions you seamed
to express should appear to be well-founded, a circumstance I
should be extremely unwilling to admit. any interference on my
part would be highly indecorous and improper; but that, on an
occasion of such importance, after consulting my colleague at
Leigh (who declined the matter altogether), I should most likely
lay the subject before the Lord Lieutenant, who was considered
by Lord Sidmouth as the head of the Civil Authorities of the
County, and who had apprised the Magistrates, by Circular, of
his readiness to afford them every assistance in his power—a line
of conduct, on my part, of which the Gentlemen above men-
tioned most entirely approved.
" I beg leave to say I lost no time in doing so, and this day
I have the honour of his reply, which I beg leave to lay before
you; In which you will observe he fully recognises That the
subject had a constitutional and legal right to assemble, for the
purpose of stating to the Crown or Parliament, or expressing
publicly their opinion upon any public question or supposed
grievance ; and that, as long as they conducted themselves peace-
ably, and without any infringement of the laws of the realm, they
could not be legally interrupted by any authority whatsoever.'
" As his Lordship has communicated these sentiments to the
Magistrates of the Bolton Division, it is quite needless for me
to observe, they must be attended with every degree of weight
and influence. But at the same time, I cannot avoid saying,
that though I consider the exercise of such a right undoubtedly
legal and constitutional, yet, in the present irritated state of the
public mind, it might be attended with very dangerous conse-
quences. " I rentals Gentlemen,
" Your most obedient humble servant,
" Woolden, 90th Oct. 1519. J. A. BORRON."

•
(COPY.)
Sta—l am this moment honoured by the receipt of your
letter iaclodng a Petition to the Magistrates of the Warrington
Division, who usually assemble at Leigh, calling upon them for
their attendance upon a Public Meeting to be shortly assembled
at Bolton, for the purpose of addressing the Prince Regent on
the occurrences that took place in Manchester on the 16th of
August, and to protect them in the exercise of this right, against
any interruption, being convinced that it would be unsafe for
them to assemble without such protection.
" As you have laid this business before me, expressing in some
degree a wish that I should interfere in it, I have thought it my
duty to lay the business before the Magistrates specially acting
for the liolton Division—only stating that it confirmed me in
the opinion which I had before ventured to express to them—
That the Subject had a Constitutional and legal right to assemble
for the purpose of stating to the Crown or Parliament, or ex-
pressing publicly their opinion upon any public question or sup-
posed grievance, and that as long as they conducted themselves
peaceably, and without any infringement of die laws of the
Realm, they could not be legally interrupted in this exercise by
any authority whatsoever. I can have no objection to thes..•
sentiments being communicated to the Gentlemen who have ap-
plied to you ; but at the same time, I can give no sort of pledge
that their intended Meeting shall not be interrupted by the Ma-
gistrates, with whom I can never think myself called upon, or
justified to interfere in the discretionary exercise of the power
and authority entrusted to them by law.
" I have the honour to be, Sir,

" Your obedient bumble servant,
a Knowsley, Oct. 19, 1819. " DERBY."

At a general Meeting of the Requisitionists for calling a Pub-
lic Meeting, held on Monday eveniug, the Stith inst. the Com-
mittee laid before the Requisitionists the above correspondence,
and stated generally their proceedings since the List Meeting.—
After some deliberation it was at length agreed to further post-
pone the I'ublic Meeting, for the following reasons :
" That, as several of the Magistrates in this immediate neigh-
bourhood were deeply implicated in the unjust arid barbarous
conduct of the 16th of August, no reliance therefore could be
placed on their exertions to preserve the peace, more especially
' when their conduct on that occasion would necessarily form the
!principal subject before the Meeting.
" That this place is the ♦ery centre of the Spy.system, recently
extended to an unknown degree.
" That these wicked Agents would use every method to goad
on the poor and distressed to acts of outrage; and if not success-
ful, would foment the appearance of riot among themselves, to
furnish a pretext for the exertion of that discretionary power,
alluded to in the Earl of D:rby's Letter.
" That the perpetrators of the foul deed on the 16th August,
are at present disgraced in the eyes of the Nation, and can only
hope to recover themselves from this degradation, by the com-
mission of some exces,es on the part of the People.
" That, en these accounts, it is highly expedient to forego
the Meeting a little longer, rather than be at all instrumental in
the getting up of a plot, so much desired by the delinquents,
previous to the assembling of Parliament.
" Bolton, Oct. 28, ism
" N. B. Books will be opened for Subscriptions to relieve the
Sufferers so the 16th August."

Orator Brayshate, one of the champions of radicalism,
lately went to Strathaven, where the weavers are par-
ticularly distinguished for their shrewdness and in-
telligence. The people allowed him a patient hear-
ing. When his harangue was ended, they told him
they were satisfied his schemes were impracticable
and absurd ; that they knew the subject themselves
much better than be could teach it to them ; and he
failed in his object of making converts at Sitrathaven.
Would that the same good seas! had been shewn
every where else I

MEETING IN FINSBUIZi,

THIS DAY,

In consequettee of the determination of Mem!.
Thistletrood and Co. to hold a Public Meeting this
day in Finsbury. New Market-Place, all the Parish.
Officers of St. Luke's, Spitalfields, Shoreditch,
ney, /cc. were in attendance at an early hour this
morning, to act with, and under the direction of the
Magistrates, assembled at the Police Office, Wm ship-
street. The City Light Horse are assembled at their
barracks in Gray's Inn-lane ; t troop of the Horse
Guards parade the City-road, and the rest of the
corps are understood to be stationed, read) mounted,
somewhere in the vicinity, though not in sight ; the
Artillery are also prepared to remove, on the receipt
of orders, from the Artillery-ground, ~ear Finsbury-
square. In the mean time, the Tower gates are
closed, and neither egress nor ingress is to he allowed'
till the Meeting is over.
About twelve o'clock WADDINGTON took posses-
sion of the place of Meeting, by planting the Radi-
cal Union Flag, which he never quitted.
At one o'clock a hackney coach drove up with
WATSON, THISTLEWOOD, PRESTON, and WALKER ;
and shortly after an empty waggon for the Hustings.
WATSON and his party waited in the coach until the
arrival of their Committee, who, preceded by an
itinerant musieian, beating an old drum, entered the
field at half-past one.

This party, contemptible in numbers and appear-
ance, bore among them a bundle of sticks en a pitch-
fork—ore suppose an emblem of Radical Uuity ; and
The same flags as were used in Mr. Hunt's procession.
We suppose the Exchequer of the Radicals is as low
as their character, since none of the additional flags
(announced in a programme in some of the Morning
Papers) made their appearance.

WATSON and his friends now mounted the waggon,
and we understood the Doctor was to take the Chair.

The numbers assembled appear to be about 1,500
or 2,000, of a wretched appearance; but the most of
whom look on the scene with contempt and indif-
ference. The arrival of the heroes of the day was
not welcomed by a single cheer.
What motive induced the selection of Finsbury
Market-place for the Meeting, we know not, but there
could not have been a worse, the rain having ren-
dered it excessively dirty.
We understand that a pile of 30,000 bricks, which
were on the ground ou Saturday, were removed
last night.

Saturday se'nnight, a Meeting of Radical Reform-
ers was held at Galston, in Ayrshire. About twelve
o'clock, a number arrived from Kilmarnock, march-
ing four deep, with music and flags On one, that
floated most grac.fully in the air, was inscribed, in
large characters, " Liberty and the Rights of Man."
On another, " Liberty, Civil and Religious." One of
the columns had a fardel of rods, tied on a long pole
with this legend :
The more that ye bind us,
The firmer yell find us !
—During the proceedings, the Female Reformers
from Galston, accompanied by a band of music,
arrived. When they came within about twenty
yards of the hustings, a vocal band sung Scots who
hde sue Wallace bled, and moving on " solemn and
slow," to the music, a Deputation of Female Reform-
ers mounted the hustings, when one of them placed a
splendid Cap of Liberty on the head of the Chairman,
another presented a flag inscribed " Annual Par-
liaments, Universal Suffrage, Election by Ballot,"
reverse " Rise, Britons, and assert your Rights!" and
a third presented an Address from the Galstcm Fe-
male Reform Society, consisting of 279 Members.—
When the Cap of Liberty was placed upon the head
of the Chairman, the Meeting gave three cheers.—
Sveches of the usual kind were delivered. The
people dispersed in an orderly manner.
The Leeds Mercury of Saturday, contains the fol.
bowing article :
" We have heard rumours, from several quarters,
of the arrival of pikes in this neighbourhood, and, ia
one instance, a Gentleman, on whose veracity we can
implicity rely, has told us that he has seen one of
those instruments, which. was shewn to him by a Re-
former. The description given-of them is, that they
consist of a pike, about six inches in length, placed at
the top of a socket, which may be fixed upon a stick,
and from each side of the hilt of which proceeds a
curved piece of iron, made sharp to cut a bridle or in-
flict a wound. With such evidence before us, it would
be disingenuous and base not to admit, that some
of these instruments have found their way into this
neighbourhood ; but to what extent they have been',
introduced—by whom they are fabricated—or at
whose instigation they are placed in the hands of
their possessors, we are wholly at a loss to pronounce.
The inquiry, however, is an important one, and we
should be glad to have a Committee instituted, con-
sisting of persons of different parties, including two
. Magistrates, whose duty it should be to investigate
the matter thoroughly, and to ascertain, with pre-
cision, whether the object of the persons, at whose in-!
stance they ate made and distributed, is insurrection
or fraud—to subvert the Government, or to afford
materials for a Green-Bag ? We have spoken with
several of the Reform leaders upon this subject, and
they have all, with one accord, deprecated the clan-
destine collection of arms, and disavowed all parti-
cipation in, or connexion with the parties by whom
they are introduced, As a matter of policy, they
know that nothing can be se fatal to their cause as
such measures ; and we hope and, believe that not a
man among them is, directly or indirectly, concerned
in an act that will, if persisted in, endanger the lives
of the persons in whose posse.:sion the pikes may be
discovered, and strengthen the hands of those who
wish to perpetuate abuses, even at the point of the
bayonet."
, A few days ago two men, who ate said to have
, murdered Mr, ST UA Er WO ft TL EY'S game-keeper, were
conveyed, chained and handcuffed, to York Castle.