The Statesman.
London, England, 1821-01-11 00:00:00

no disaffection to the constitution : but he called
on the Learned Judge for some specific and tangible
proof of so scrimps an allegation. Read the second
paragraph of the Ministerial Address. It dearly
charged an indictable offences against the people. It
charged the press with attempts to eradicate from the
miodsof the people all principles of religion and loy-
alty. It that be sot a heniuns crime, he did not
know what was. Now was any ground for
burly a charge to be found in soy recent proceeding
in tl►e supreme Criminal Court of which the Learned
Judge *as a member ? None.—(Hear).—Was there
any trial, or ryes any warrant issued in the Local
Vault ? The Sheriff Substitutes were in the room, and
by 'their silence answered i■ the negative.—(Hear.)
But, said the Learned Judge, the licentiousness of the
press was manifested in the addresses to the Queen,
and in the answers to them. If so, why not confine
the complaint to these documents, and not libel and
vilify the great body of the people ? But further, he
would beg to ask, lithe Learn:ll Judge was acquainted
with any address to the Quern from this !aunty, couch-
ed in language either licentious or unbecoming r He
had never heard of any. The object of the present
address then seemed to be, to condemn the people of
England for the manner in which they had addressed
the Queen. If the question, however, rime to this,
wotild the Learned Judge, or any assemblage of ho-
nourable and candid men, pronounce an opinion on
*se addresses, without looking to the great question
4 which they related, and without examining the
treatment of her Majesty, which had given rise to
those addresses ? If they did so, their conduct would
he sajust, and revolting in the extreme. This led
necessarily and unavoidably to the case of her Ma-
jesty, upon the question of the Queen. Is there, said
the Learned Gentleman, a member prepared to assert
that she has been treated with bare justice ?—Loud
shouts of " hear, hear," followed by cries from some
persons that they had nothing to do with the question
6f the Queen.) Sir, I must be allowed to say, t!•at
this interruption is both suspicious and disgraceful.
He would, he said, be justified, bat's by the speech on
the opposite side, and by the very terms of the requisi-
nut), (to consider an address on the present state of
tl e country), in entering upon the whole rase of the
Queen ; hot lie had no wish to undertake any such
task. It was enough for bins to say. that whether the
Queen were polity oo innocent, la considered that the
whole proceedings against her were marked with a
degree of partiality, oppression, and injustice, that
ens a disgrace to the Government that brought them
forward ; and it was singuisrly absurd to condetnn
t!.e people of England fur any ardour they displayed,
or any license they took in expressing their feelings
e:asn sus Is an unexampled i tie esti gation --(Hear,
.ar.) If, however, any stattavent was to be sent to
t' se throne, regarding the licentiousness of the press,
certainly the Learned Judg► could not in justice Con-
s, nt to limit his cunsiemtration just to one side of the
press. That was done in this address proposes) by
the Vice-Lieutenant. lint the Learned Judge must
I."w, that the Ministerial not only took as great a
Ferns* as the pia., s on the tither side, hut it was cha-
racterised by a*ss intemperance and pitiful scurrility
a hick betray, d at once the badness and weakness of
their cauge. Yet there was no acknowledgment of
I.:" In el' address of the Gentlemen on the other
fide : P lifi it was such partial and calumnious conduct
'as Oa' s that was calculated to disgust and irritate the
Pet, pie of this country. No wonder they assembled
t►' al expressed their opinion on pisbl4. men and public
affairs.—They were as well entitled so do so as this
meeting, and he was surprised that the Learned
judge, knowing the constitation and undoubted rights
of the people, had let fall any expressions to intimate,
'Lit disorderly or inflammatory addresses were to I►e
repeated at such meetings. The recent great meet-
ings in Edinburgh and Glasgow well evinced that
such anticipations were unmerited. In truth, if the
ualerly and decorous conduct of the meetings in spin-
ng's were sanstrasted with that of the present assem-
blage, he feared the contrast would not be in favour
of the present meeting !—(.l laugh, and loud cries of
bear, hear.) The Learned Judge had formally said,
that Pee address proposed by the Tice Lieutenant re-
cornmended conciliation and economy, and this he
said was all that any Geutleman could want. But
the Learned Judge must perceive, that the very fault
of the Vire Lieutenant's address was, that while it
lu►ittesl the propriety and necessity of a change of
useasu'es, it substantially advised }cis Majesty to
countenance the very system which had excited uni-
versal discuntent Giro ;h the nation ; for ail that
it said was, that as his Majesty had declared, that,
" he held the crown in trust for his Ie•ople," there-
fore the Meeting relied on a system of retrenchment
and conciliation being adoptesl.—But when was this
declaration mask ? It was in his Majesty's first speech
from the 'throne, and the country knew and saw how
his advisers hall been since employed. Not one step
had been taken to manifest a desire either to coati-
Bite or Tetreash. Could the_ meeting then rely on a
declaration of Ministry made a vear ago, whits That
whole condset in the iaterieuing period showed that
•their professions were hollow and insincere. If the
meeting adopted any sash address, it was a direct
encouragement to Ministers to repeat and follow bp
tile same measures which they hail pursued seise-
gamily to Isis Majesty's speech last year ; bat Is
supposed that no tuan in the county would Pe be:
. betray his duty as to meats that any such advice if
gives, should be acted on. On these grounds he sup-
ported the amended address in preference to the rot-
gival one. But lie begged to thank the promoters
of.this address, fur the opportunity it afforded (even
in the wretched room in a lei- Is they were assembled)
for discussion. This would be of infinite use, what-

ever might be the state of the rote ; and he was not
. aware of any evil. that could result from it, as,lruni
the tarn that the debate had taken, he did not think
there was one person who would leave the meeting
with an uneasr feeling to himself, as an individual,
from any thing that had been said.
Lord Succoxn in explanation, said, that *Wine;
he had not, when formerly addressing the meeting,
expressly read that paragraph in the original address
to which his learned friend had allnded as having
been omitted, the meeting would allow, that he 1.4 d
particularly adverted to the statement contained in
that paragraph, which he founded on the disaffection
lurking in the country having been excited by the