The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-04-27 00:00:00

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LONDON, FRIDefl, 4PRIL 27 IMO.-

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if
_they wished to give the death Vole to thence.
sies of 'Englishmen, they endeavoured to get the
excise into private families, in which, if they hid
succeeded, they would have given Ministers an vi-
ew,. for breaking open doors, and we should
then' have- had no occasion to have tried' the
legality' of 4. the_ Speaker's warrant. --••••r it must
be matter of surprise that these TALENTS'
should not only have deserted Sir Fran& Burdett'
when he stood in need of their aid and interests.
but that instead of describing him at an "Angel
ever bright and fair," they should endeavour tar
shew him forth as the blackest devil. • These h."'
Bas's, who kiss bet to betray, and who wanted
hand him over to Pontius Pilate, hew a 64?
defend him in the Haulm ,of Gatemotts rl/4.041'
plead** the purity eta his insesSiolit by'
urging his veneration foe 'the law* orate' kW,'
which they keen he would not lefriugii—bat by
insinuating that his Majesty's Ministers would add
to the popularity Of Sir Francis Burdett by
sending him to the Tower. Genthen'en, it, will
add to his popularity ; for the day •ui his
deliverance from captivity will be the bright.
cst day of his life. It will be !wiled with set.
timents of heartfelt satisfaction by Jvery man'
who loves his country, from J.ohn O'Groats to the
Land's End. [elcclavecttions, and shouts of ap-
probation.] It wilt, indeed,' be a day of general
congratulation. Why did the Tar.aNts load Mi.
nistevs with invective fur sending' Sir Francis Bur. 4,
dett to.the Tower ? It was the language of disap..
pointaseet t they thought to hive made Sir. Fran.
cis' Burdett guilty of a kind of filo de se'nn his.
own character—they vainly thuught to make him
by his coedepeestabliali the legality of the Speak.
tlei Warrant, which, when they returned to
polver and office, might be their own
they thought to make Sir. Francis Burdett the
means of tricking themselves out in the trappings,
of loyalty ; for they would have said, if lie hail sur.
reoderal, that he had himself delivered the loon.
est upluiun in favour of the Speaker's Warrant
they would have said that Sir P. Burdett was nuk
a man who would have receded from his opinion,'•
'unless he had felt and be4n conscious of the omni.
potence of the Speaker's. Warrant. This would'
have been sounded in the people's ears, and a
question, the greatest tat has ever been agitated.
since Magna Charts and the Bill of Rights, would
nut have gone, as I trust it will now gti, before
that palladium of our liberties, a JU-
RY. Gentlemen, Sir Francis Burdett's case,
thliugh strong, lies in a nut.shell. -It is simply
, this : Sir Francis Burdett was tint in the House
at the time of Mr. John Gale Junes's committal ;
but as son as he heard of it, and his health would
' permit him,, he in an able and argumentative
'speech moved for Maliberation ; he kicked against
the pricks, and his efforts were in vain ; then, ac.
reording to a good old custom' in this country, he
.appealed to his constituents, in order to 13y betties)•
them the ground upon which he had proceeded,
rend to shew them it was the best of all grounds he
OW have taken, namely Magna Charta. and the
' Bill of Rights. Sir Francis Burdett's Letter and.
his Argument, as it is propCrly called, contained.
such incontrovertible truths, that, according to
the doctrine which was sonic years ago laid down
by lord Mansfield, it was of coarse Voted a scut.
iritous libel. Gentlemen, what is the Liberty of
the Subject and the Freedom of the Press, !tidos
they arc the means of affording the people security
front punishment by any authority except the re.
Infer sentence of the law ? Do awry these, rights,
Out the doors of the House of Commons against
the people, and you then convert that House into
La secret tribunal ; the Serjeant at Arms may then
rem:lute his office like the gunner of. a Bow.st rem
Magistrate, and, armeilwith the Speaker's War.,
tart, may bear off innocent persons. to distant
prisons, never to be heard'of more ! Sir Francis
Burdett, however, has, by what has been .called
his weak and feeble production, accumplished the
-whole object he had 'in view; he *has turned the
Sage of power from the weaker to the stronger
party—from John Gale Junes to himself ; he has
grappled with Brierius and his• hundred hands.
The contest may be severe, but I are persuaded he
wilt at last catch the strung fellow by the legs, and
give a death.blowle corruption. [The air rang
with shouts of applause.] The Day of Freedom
will then be at hand, and the efforts of Sir Francis
Burdett will procurefor the people-tif this coml.!
try that which is so necessary to their interest,'
welfare, and political existence—a Parliamentary
Reform. I will now, Gentlemen, read the Reso.
!Wiens I mean to propose; but first f have a ques.
Hon to ask, and I am prepared witti an answer to
it. What arc become of the Whigs? They ere
like corn surrounded by the chaff, Only to be dis.
cerned by blowing the chaff aside; but Sir Frau.
Alt Burdett will sift the wheat, and then the
_Whigs uniting under him, as they did under the
Marquis of Rockingliaiu, will emerge from the
duughill that now covers them, mid present a
giorions prospect of plenty to the land.—lCotiti-
Wised bars' of applause, bravo! bravo OJ-Thi,
Speech was accompanied and followed by reitera.
fed acclamations.
The first Resolution was read.

The folloWing Resolutions Were then read :
Resolved, That the Petition • now read Ire adopted, sad
that it be presented to the House of Comesties,ky oar -
sentafives, George Brag 'fad William, Melilds; .Esqrs. who
are hereby instructed*. 'appal, the same. • ,
• That we highly approve of the promeilags of the Electors
et Westminster at their late Meeting, and Mad ,Iteartily Com-
, car in ihe sentiments contained la. their Letter to lir Preach
' Deeded, and io hi, Answer.
That the Thanks of this • Meetiog are Abe, and are hereby'
given to Sir Francis Burdett, Batt. for his truly patriotic cow, '
I dart is Parlininent s; for his penaswered, mad smaaswentide
itrivineat in the ease of /oho Gale Jaws, vindicattag the
rights of the midget, mod den** the power of _Ow Masse of
Cmostnii M imprisoo," without Mild. mad, Udall Pinson,
**Pei* .of &WOW $ far #Airsolatier, to the riAtz
,tiskuractiessvap-pr•se4p thrilling, '0 Aim
prises,. le Shemmaser, nos of the iliefikeeiAto layber W-
rote Mt Constitseats a faithful across* of ilioliaalset is Pao.
gamest; and for his eonstitatiossal residuum lathe eptakkee
Warrant, whereby he has given a practical illastratisa of its
inellciency,'aod has shewu that it could mot he pot is Seem
without military aid, a violation of 04f emelt* laws, and a
bleach of the rights of Englisttmea.
That these Resolstinos be fairly trameribed, and presented
to Sir Francis Burdett by the Sheriffs, accempanied by (eo.
Byes and William Mellish, Fairs. oar Representatives.
The Petition referred to in the Resolutions was
now read, and is as follows :
That the Petitioners hare observed with concern, la the
,cases of Johp Gale Jotterand Sir F. Burdett, Bart. that, the

Home had moused nod exercised a power aoknowe to the
Law, and opwarranted by the Conssitutime i alleging, that
the Speaker's Warrant has heti executed by military forte;
an F.antlisliman's bane, his sanctuary, has been violated; and
the blood it, inoffeedime citizens has bee, shed ie the tercets.
—Against the existeecis. es will as theexerelm of this power,
they intensely protesA —a protest which tbeydlledge in be
more necmierv, because their voles in its sopped are mitered
on the Journals i but not so the Letter of Sir Francis Burdett
to the Speaker, denying the Hou,e such jurisdiction.
' It then observes, that, in the early pad of this Reign, in
the case of Mr. Wilkes, the rights of thts county, opt of
the nation, were repeatedly and grossly. violated
.10 die
House of -Commons—next proceeding to observe, 0104 at
length, the Law triumphed.—After a struggle oftlthitly 20
years, the House abandoned the -.pretentious they bed arre•
gated, and expunged from their Joustals all their declare.
Lions, orders, and resolutions, as being sidivettive of the rights
of the whole body of Electors of this Bipeds... Further-
alleging, that the Hume uf.Comemes, during, its planiare,
deprived the Citizens of West/luster of-their Anne in the •
Represeetatithi, and the public et laige Of theexerthilla.af a
i faithful servant, in whose ability, drone*, .Mig kiliNh
glit
! they pre-eminently trade. •• T •..0410POSter.
I The Petitienen say, they view with lestoosy eal seipicion
the shutting up of Si. Francis Barden is prison, is hen the
attention of the nation is directed, with anxiety, to his in.
I tended Motion for a Recite in the Representacion" of the
People in thut Horaserable Douse—that House, in which
. they assert, the traffic in Senn has been avowed in the case of
1 the Right Hon. Speaker Perceval nod Lord Castlereagh, to
be as notorious as the sui at noon—a practice, sit the mention
1 of which, in the emphatic lanmage of the Speaker, 6t our
I ancestors would have started with iodighation"
They there" re pray the House of Commons to follow the
example of their predecessors—and to " Expunge all their
Declarations, Orders, and Itesnlntions on the subject, as
tending to the subversion of our Liberties, and the introduc-
tion of a Military Despotism ; and to recal Sir Francis Mo-
de• to the service of the country in Parliament, that he may
there improve that plan of Reim, which, last Session, he
so powerfully 'recommended, nod which, in the opinion of the
Petitioners. is absolutely necessary for the stability and ho-
nour of the Throne, and the safety and well-being of the
People."
[lt is hardly possible to express the joy with
which it was heard; some exclaimed, when the
passage in praise of Sir Franc.'s Burdett was
announced, ruins is :tor
.111 S EQUAL IN THE
rrogtz rest°. Others said, IT oUGIIT TO BE
ar.io- IN AL; CHURCUES 41• D CHAPELS
TJIIIOUGEIO4IT ENOLAND.3 . •
rive SMITH, Under Sheriff. Gentlemen, H
is moved as a Resolution by. Mr. Townsend, and
'seconded by Mr. Holden, that the Petition now
read, should be presented to tilt'. House of Corn.
mons, by your Representatives, George Byng,
Esq. and Win. Mellish, Esq.
A Freeholder in the crowd desired, that'before
that question was put, the Petition might be read
again.
The Petition was accordingly read a second
time.
• Mr. BENTLEY then thus delivered himself
t •
Gentletnea Freeholders.—l assure you it was
not my intention to obtrude myself on xitur no-
lice, with a view to counteract or find fault with
any thing that hr.s been introduced by the worthy
Gentleman who hac just addressed you ; but it was
ifs furtherance of his sentiments that 1 %vas anxi.itis
to claim your attention, and particularly with re.
gard to one in which I thought be fell r.;ther short
of what he might hale said. I meats the cry
which he has stated to have been raised by persons
I will presently name, amain purposil I will also
nuti •e, in order to libel the whole People of Eng.
land, by declaring it was necessary to call in nut
merely a military force, but a whole army,. to.
preserve the public peace. Gentlemen, it was a
gross libel to say lhat it was ifeceisary to call into
the Metropolis of the Empire an iriny of military
melt. For what was that army called ? No( to-
enforce the execution of the law; but to keen in
rilibioctioti men whom they said were going
to overturn the law. A fouler libel-never was
tattered aguinst the People of this country..7[4'lM,
exclaimed mang]...and, Gentleme.u,'ltad you bents
witnesses to the bustle that was in the War QlUcit 1
on Hie morning the Speaker's Warrant wits signed,
you and every man would save thought that the

. Mr. HENRY HAILE TOWN SEND.—Gen.
tlemen, It is thought right to read all the Resole._.
lions before they are put separately. You will,
therefore, hear them read, and judge of them af-
terw.trtls. They will be afterwards put distinctly,
and voted, if you should approve of them. It is
thought best to adopt this eburse, in order that
you may know what they are, and that. 'in uoe
may say he was taken by surprise.

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enemy hid liadid,Wid Wessini osiridess(4 r Who • ':
ware the military slaps tomato fail' What, •
.bot .to sanction a seeesote whilli Ana: neitistere
kuiw to be illegal. They have the loyalty -of
the People of Eaglaad...theY hawer.lfseir weepers.
tiiin for, their King* sad• their attilintilaik thl the . •
Coastitution...they kneel that these coiniideradona .
would prevent the People. free) tameltabmillisil :. • •
to an act which was Wok to. dill atlttlistil of .
the King, talwrsediel Ilstr.Lawe of the country, .
and will as 6friarSistlitr.•l* SO Britieh Coustitu.
tion...that was OF tswel,,rimeas for calling forth
the unitary. 1 wsitihNie4r. hid Majesty's Minis.
tees whetner, if it bed leen:netteseary to lave
tr,!! d flat: litOm.l4aVkleAlt the reelats dhow
Sit fin aemiZie:eenikni. Mt it wiiinary root.
.1I woad ash, 'w , If a Mitikatie we *wed
Isy a Magistrate against hay re of the present
PlOnlaters, a military power would be requisite to
prevent It. affectation? . Nu: there would be SO
obstacle to each an act of jestioe...tien, -why veil
those. People who only oppose what is illegall'int.
ibical to their country ? Who are these libellers
of the People of England? I will tell you. I
have traced them with minute eyes from the be.
giunieg of the present reigq. Yes, Gentlemen, I
.have lived long enough to have seen the begin.
sing of this . reign...l have seen the desceedants
of those men who sprang from the Star Chub.
bar. still tyre:Dieing over the country—l re.
Cognize the descendants of the same men who
rebelled against the country in 1710 and
174b...1 observe the same men, who were the ad.
vocates for, and the prosectitorsof, the America*
war...l contemplate the descendants and followers
of those men, who have entailed on the country
all the dreadful calamities it endures—who plunged'
the country into the unfortunate French war, by
squatty interfering with a people who were strug..
alit% to throw off the iron yoke of despotism.
These are the persons who have libelled the People
of England, and have thrown a stigma on their
loyalty.' These we the people who have abetted
etwermeallure that has oppressed them, who have
wasted the resuerces of the country, .who have in.
creased its debt to an amount -that would hate re..
!milt every town, city, village, hamlet, end cot...
tags in the empire.. They are tits same men who,
when public delinquents have been brought before
. them, have sereened them from Inquiry and punisha
rent. They.are the Walcheresites, the apologists
of the Ono* Coneention, the advocates of every •
'eteitestre of Which yealtarese much reason to con.
plain. Nay, they are not merely the advocates of
those measures, they are not only parsons who are
ever ready to impair your Constitution and destroy
your Rights, but they are the uniform opposers
of every attempt_ to renovate your Constitution,
and restore those rights of which you have been
so wrongfullydeprived...they- are unceasingly ac.
tire to present your having the benefit of a Par.
liamentary Reform. These are the men who have
dared to libel and stigmatize the People of Eng.
land. Genteemen,• when the present Monarch,
who reigns in the, affections of his people,' ascend.
ed the Throne, he carried with him the hearts and
hands of all his subjects ; and I think I may truly
say, that if he had been surrounded by honest
Ministers, be would have still retained the hands
and heart of every man, as I trust he will do
.when he is guided by better connsels....[Much ap.
-please followed-this observdtion.) Gentlemen, I
will not :ire you. I thought it my duty to state
thus much in vindication of your libelled hotiour,
and, to repel the disgrace attempted to be cast uplift
you.
Major 'CARTWRIGIIT....GentIemen, I am
not going to detain you one moment : I wish
tnerely to apprise you, that after the RAtolntiona
and Petition have been voted, I shall offer to you
an Address to our Friend, Sir Francis Burdett,
now a prisoner in the Tower; which an Hon.
Friend of tnine will Deemed. . •
Mr. Silteritt WOOD....Gentiemen, you .have
hoard the Resolutions ;.I think you have peewee('
me, that you will hear every Gentleman patient.
ly, and I hope you will keep your weird. , ‘,
Mr. MELLISH...OIdr. Sheriff and Gentlemen'
Fre-holtlers, I wilVdetain you a very short time
indeed,; hut 'I hop,: you will be so obliging as to
hear the few words I.have to say. It is partite.
larly to the latter part of the Resolution that I
have to address you. With regard to the first part, •
I mean that of prusentilig.ihe Petition to Portia.'
meat, as,you have de,eired me to do so by your
, Resolution made at this County Meeting, legally
I calkd by a requisition of Freeholders, I believe
it to he my duty to present your Petition to the
[louse of Commons; but with respect to the lat.
ter pail of the Resolution, which requires that I
should support the Petition—[l7te Freeholders
anticipated what he, was about to say, and 'ex.
pressed themselves by a general burst of indig.•
1
nation.—[/isles, murmurs, and every token of
popular disapprobation, prevented hit proceed-
ing fur a considerable lime. At length tile'. cc
was obtained, and he added}—Gepilunicu, as• you
recibir* me to support this Petition, I must be ei.
lowed to say, that I think I should insult you
and the other, Freeholders who are not here, if I
was to permit myself to lose that independent si-
turition. [Off, off, off! hear no more ! a Ire.
mendoushooting pat aitop to the Urator's Fri:.
seceding.] .
. ,
Mr. HENRY HARE TOWNS'END.—Gen.
;Janice, •let me request Of you'to be silent whit*
Ur. Mellish is 'speaking, in order thiat Mr. Clif.
ford. may 'fear what lie says.
a
Mr. . Slitfriff WOODe—Gesitlemon9 You de.
. 1 prive yourl. ember of deliver:•ig his sentiments, •
and yourser front hearing him. It ii in vain
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