Star.
London, England, 1819-08-19 00:00:00

party is charged with violating the laws of England,
the opposite party may be able to prove that they
have respected them."
From Tztz MORNING CHRONICLE.—" This dreadful
tragedy on Monday last, must fill all who have the
peace and character of the country at h eart with the
most profound grief. It has hitherto been the pecu-
liar boast of this country that its inhabitants were
distinguished above those of every other by the hor-
ror in which they held the effusion of human blood.
The transactions of Manchester constitute a new fea-
ture in our history. All the accounts which we have
yet seen concur in stating the conduct of the im-
mense multitude assembled together to have been
marked by no outrage whatever. We are quite at a
loss then to conceive on what grounds cavalry could
Ibe ordered to charge people conducting themselves
in a peaceful manner. We are unwilling to prejudge
the cause of any class of men, and till we hear the
statement which the Magistrates will put forth, we
shall abstain from any positive opinion. We must,
To the ample details which we yesterday laid be- however, observe in the mean time, that if any re-
fore our Readers, respecting the Manchester Tragedy, liance is to be placed in the accounts hitherto re-
we this day add some further particulars, from letters ceived, there does appear to us, in this business, a
received by this day's Mail from that scene of mourn- singular indifference on the part of the Magistrates of
ing, and from Provincial Newspapers published Manchester to the safety of the people placed under
in the neighbouring districts. From the accounts
their charge. Good Heavens ! To order regiments
now before us it will be seen that the first state- of cavalry to charge an unarmed and peaceable mul-
titude, to hew down and trample on all who stood
:tents which we yesterday communicated were to
wey exaggerated. On the contrary, it appears that before them ! Can this be possible ? 'The whole coun-
the wounded who were carried to the Manchester In- try must be filled with honor at the very idea. The
firmary bear but a small proportion to the numbers Magistrates of Manchester have indeed a serious ac-
who, in spite of their hurts and bruises, attempted to count to render to their countrymen. tie wait with
cripple their way home to their habitations in the impatience for their defence."
country ; many of whom have been unable to effect From THE PCBLIC Lity;;.-..n" We trust the autlso-
the journey, and have been laid up by the way. rities will be found to have acted with prudence, and
We yesterday stated our opinion, so far as we were without straining to the utmost 'point, the powers
enabled by the facts that had reached us, respecting vested in them by law. If not, their responsibility is
the conduct of the Magistrates and the Yeomanry ; fearful—it is awful—they will have to account for
that we could not but feel a kind of conviction that it, not only to their country, hut to their GOD ! We
they had displayed more zeal than prudence on this admire (we had almost said we adore) the laws of our
lamentable occasion. No new facts have reached country as much as any who have experienced their
us that induce us to alter the opinion we had formed. general wisdom and efficacy in protecting all (from
It is no slight responsibility that men incur, when, the highest to the lowest
the best of livell human their beneath thir
in guarding over the public peace they have recourse guardian inflirence ; but
to measures which endanger the lives of their fellow- may be stretched, without absolutely exceeding
creatures. It is self-evident, and the spirit of our their utmost limits, to a point which temperance
whole municipal laws maintains that recourse must and becoming firmness might render unnecessary.
never be had to the military and to violence and Let it not be thought that we are by these reflec-
blood, till after the Civil Power shall have, in vain, tions casting any unnecessary odium on the con.
employed all its force, increased, if necessary, by duct of the Magistracy in this fatal affray—they
special constables, and, in a word, by the aid of every arise from that, which we have no doubt that Body
man-who may be called upon, in the King's name to possesses as strongly as ourselves-,-a horror at the
lend his aid, in suppressing actual riot. Nor has the idea of dipping our bands in the blood of our tel-
Magistrate, by law, any right to conclude that the low-countrymen ! It will be seen that the mili-
force at his disposal is not sufficient for the occasion, tary principally employed to disperse the :Nlee;ing,
till tho:e whom he may have so called upon shall were the Yeomanry and other Local Corps of the
hive refused to submit to the mandate. neighbourhood. The Magistrates may have sup-
It is high time, when men can be found in the posed that they would .act with more mildness to-
country so miserably ignorant of the laws, as to wards those who were in a manner their fellow.
cause such scenes to be transacted, that the Public townsmen—and that might be one reason why they
Press should instruct them ; and we know that it were called into action in preference to the King's
will. Every man who loves his country and its con- troops. We dislike Standing Armies as much as any
stitution, must feel alarmed %%hen he sees the peace of our Contemporaries; but we have not the least
of the or:e, and the permanence of the other, eadan- hesitation in saying, that in cases of public tumult,
gered by acts of violence, calculated only to inflame, where military force is necessary, we should rather
to irritate, and render discontented all who look to see a well disciplined and orderly corps employed
the gutvdianship of the laws for their safety and pro- than bodies unaccustomed to military subord;nation,
tection. But we will not enlarge with any farther —The expression in The Manchester Meicury about
remarks of our own. It will be seen from the sub- the ' necessary ardour of the troops,' as air apparent
joined observations, extracted from the labours of palliation of the scene which followed, we do not
our brother Journalists, that we are not singular in well comprehend ; but if it be meant, as we under-
the opinions which we feel ourselves called upon to stand it, it isa doctrine too horrible and too unconsti-
promulgate at the present moment. It is a duty tutional for us to subscribe to. This ardour, accord-
which our free press owes to our common country— ing to one narrative, was such, that had it not been
a duty which every honest mind connected with that for the interference of Mr. NADIN, ' HUNT would
Press will, we doubt not, faithfully discharge, what- not now have been alive, for the military were deter-
ever sycophants may attempt to counteract them. mined to cut him to pieces 1' h
It
made appe
laittle distinction
between friends and foes, for the Special Constables
not absolutely affirm that they cannot be defended,
stationed about the Hustings, were charged through
but we are still to seek their justification, not indeed
as well as the Reformers ; and one of them, Mr.
in the newspaper descriptions of certain mottos in.
scribed on nags, (however foolish and inflamma. .Asitwonrit, was rode over and mortally wounded. It
will, no doubt, be one of the subjects of future. loves-
tory)—nor in the display of a Cap of Liberty, the mo-
tigation, whether this iadiscriminating ardour was
del of which is borne before the Sovereign of Great
. really necessary to the execution of the orders of the
Britain, when he meets his Parliament—No, the ad
vocate of the measures resorted to at Manchester, by Civil Power.'
the assembled Magistrates and the armed force, From the BRITISH PRESS—" The employment of
must rest their defence on some legal principle ; for Military Force in this country to suppress even ale.
if the justification should fail in law, we suppose is gal Meetings, is not sanctioned by our Constitution;
will not be attempted or. grounds of good feeling or except in cases of very serious difficulty, when the"
humanity. The Riot Act, and. the Act against sedi • Civil Power has been exerted and proved unequal to
flocs Meetings, both limit the Magistrate's right of the task. It is an extraordinary remedy, and ought
interference, to 6 unlawful assemblies,' and no other. not to be used but in extreme cases. On this princi-
Was that at Manchester an , unlawful assembly ?' ple acted the Magistrates of London, when the des-
Was the notice of it unlawful? We believe not. Was perate experiment was made of arresting HARRISON
the subject proposed for discussion (a Reform in the in the midst of the mob in Smithfield ; on this princi-
House of Commons) an unlawful subject? Assuredly ple also acted the Magistrates at Leigh, when CLURE
not. Was any thing done at this Meeting before the was seized upon the hustings. Why then, we would
cavalry rode in upon it, either contrary to law or in ask, was not the Civil Power tried in the first in-
breach of the peace ? No such circumstance is re- stance at Manchester, if it were thought necessary
corded is any of the statements which have yet , to seize upon HUNT and his colleagues ?
1 Whaeap-
reached our hands. Having said thus much as to
prehension could the Magistrates entertain that the
the legality of the cause of interfering, let us pro- Civil Power would have been insufficient? The ex-
ceed to the legality of the mode. The Riot Act, some, ample of Smithfield and Leigh might confirm their
say, was read ; some say otherwise—but all are
' hopes, and they had the assurance of HUNT that 'lie
agreed, that before an hour had elapsed from the I would, on any occasion, willingly submit himself to
the soldiers attacked, and the people , the authority of the laws, represented in the person
reading of it,
were cut down. Yet we pronounce not a final opi- :of even the meanest constable. He had surrendered
nion upOn this momentous proceeding. We have himself to them on the Saturday preceding, which
begged for information rather than uttered a deci- shewed no disposition to resist their mandates. A
sion,; and happy shll we be to find, that while one : communication was maintained between the Council
it

THE EVENING STAR.

LONDON.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1819.
THE FUNDS.

Taws Or STOCKS THIS DAT AT Ott O'CLOCK
5 periCent. Reduced-72M
8 r. Cent. Collinls 71th
3i per Cent: .81i4-4. per Cent. 91ii
5 pez Cent. Navy 104 ii
Bank Long Annuities 19 3.16
India Stock '2191 218 219} -
India Bonds 16 pre.
Exchequer Bills (21) 2 pit. par
Omnium 411 pre.
Cons. for Acct. 71 ti.

MANCHESTER MEETING:

Chamber of the Magistrates and the hustings, so that
if the Civil Power were resisted, the Military Force
might instantly be applied to support it. We do not
believe that this necessity would have occurred, and
we should now be spared the melancholy and heart-
sickening task of detailing a scene of carnage and
horror, which is a disgrace to our country. We
think, too, that the Magistrates, had they acted with
more sense and temper, might have retired. to their
pillows on Monday night with consciences as quiet,
with hearts as much at ease, and minds as happily
composed, as if they bad not obtained the triumph
of being enabled to count the numbers of their killed,
wounded, and prisoners 1"
From BILIPIGE7S LIVERPOOL ADVERTISER.-" The
above melancholy transactions will be read with the
deepest interest, not only in this town and county,
but by the whole body of the British people; as in-1
volving a question of the utmost importance to the
preservation of their liberties, and the security of their
lives. The circumstances which occurred, and which
demand universal attention, are briefly these :—a
large number of persons meet together openly, as by
our Constitution they are entitled to do ; they con-
duct themselves in an orderly manner, and profess
an earnest desire to avoid any breach of the laws ; a
person addresses them without a seditious or exciting
word; and—the civil Magistrate orders a body of
cavalry to disperse them without a minute's warn-
ing ; in which act some persons are killed, and large
numbers desperately wounded, by the swords and
trampling of the military. Where is the Act in the
British Statete book to justify this interference ? If
we were to speak the language, not of our feelings,
but of our judgment and reason, on this occasion,
to its full extent, we should be forced to use
stronger terms than at this time might be expedient.
We will, thererore, endeavour, with coolness, to con•.
sider, what circumstances there were in the transac-
tion to render the conduct pursued necessary, justifi-
able, or excusable. Was the person of Mr. l-linlx
only sought to be secured ? Why then these armed
thousands 7—why this very time ?—why the measures
pursued previous and subsequent to the effecting of
this purpose? It surely was not the course humanity
or sense would have dictated, that, to secure the per-
son of one man,' multitudes should have their lives
taken or endangered. This could rot be the cause.—
Was it that there was a probability of the meeting
terminating in riot? When every tongue and hand
were still, or only employed in recommending and
producing order, who will say that riot was probable?
But admitting that the temper of the meeting had
been the reverse of what it actually was, surely the
presence of the Police with their numerous assistants,
or at the worst the display of so strong a military
force, would have most effectually secured order in
a much larger meeting, composed of unarmed and
unembodied individuals. Nay, if even these had been'.
' insnflicient, does not the law of the land declare that
the Riot Act must be read before military force is
used ? We have exhausted our attempts at pallia-
tion, and have only confirmed ourselves more deci-
df..dly in our first belief."

PRIVATE LETTERS.

" 241ANCIIESTER, TUESDAY, AUGUST 17,

" I wrote you last night in great haste, and gave
you as full an account as I then could of the pro-
ceedings of yesterday ; indeed, I am not now able
to add much to my account of them. However,
after my letter of yesterday was dosed, the windows
of a grocer named TATE, at whose shop one of the
flags captured from the Reformers had been waved
over their heads as they returned from the Meeting,
were broken, and the Riot Act was read. It is said
also, that a Cheshire yeomanry man was killed by
the people in the evening, and that a publican, who
was yesterday active as a Special Constable, has been
killed this s►orning at Miles Platting, on the Oldham
road. Whether these circumstances are true, I know
not; however, they ate as good as true, because they
were believed.

,4 But now, after the Tragedy comes the Farce.
About half-past ten o'clock this forenoon, a report
was circulated that the Reformers were coming by
thousands, armed with pikes, from Oldham, Royton,
&c. This obtained no credit. However, about eleven,
Mr. JOHN MOORE, jun. one of the Constables, made
his appearance on the Exchange, in the utmost agi-
tation, and addressed the astonished Merchants as-
sembled there to the following effect Gentlemen,
I am sorry to inform you that circumstances have
occurred which render it necessary that this building
should be instantly closed. All who are members
of the Military Corps or of the Civil Power must in-
stantly repair to their respective rendezvous ; and
other Gentlemen are requested to close their ware-
houses, and look to the protection of their own pro-
perty, as tue are now obliged to declare the town in
a state of OPEN R EBELLION !!!'-In consequence of
this address, the Exchange was instantly deserted—
all the, shops and warehouses were shut up—and the
most fearful alarm was visible on every countenance.
After waiting a while, and finding no pikemen made
, their appearance, I proceeded towards the Oldham-
, road, where I found every thing quiet. I met seve-
ral country tradesmen from that quarter, whom I
knew, and from their information was assured every
thing was perfectly quiet, and that there was not the
slightest foundation for the alarm which had been
created. On my return homewards, I found the.fol•