The Statesman.
London, England, 1819-08-20 00:00:00

TO TIIK EDITOR OF THE STATESMAN.

&b. Emon,--The remarks of your able Corte.
spoodeut, " A RADICAL," in fear PAM of Tues-
day last, deserve the serious consideration of every
Friend to the Cause of Reform ; and I feel convinced,
that if the excellent plan be recommends were gene.
rally adopted, corruption most soon bide its dial-
niched sod disgusting bead, and the People regale
their long.lost rights. I feel also entitles that the
sensible observation', in yesterday's Paper, of T. T.
(mhich I presume inaleste the initials of your fuel.
lent Correspondent " TIMOTHY TRI:INAN"), Should
be extensively circulated, is order to convince the
most incredelutas of the direful consequences arising
from the too cornetist' sins of bribery and perjury ;
indeed, no believer in Divine Revelation ten for a
neernent doubt but such practices are abhorrent to
• Being of infinite Purity and Justice; for He bath
not ouly said, "that he will destroy the tabernacle
of hritorry," but bath denounced '• woe unto them
that call evil gond, and good evil ; that pot darkness
for light, and light for darkness ; that pet bitter for
sweet, and sweet for bitter ; which justify the wick-
ed for reward, and take away the righteousness of
the righteous from him." Ile bath also said, " What
mean ye, that ye beat my people to pieces, and
grind the faces of the poor ?"—" The calling of
assemblies 1 cannot away with ; it is iniquity, even
the solemn me hing."—" Thy Princes (or greet men)
are rebellious, mod companions of thieves: every one
loveth gifts and folloseth after rewards: they judge
not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of cite wi-
dow come unto them." And can any blinisters, who
are not hardened to the last degree, read the follow.
ing awful
.1164m/rots proclaimed against sicked and
corrupt Governors without fear and dismay ?
" When ye spread forth your hands I will bide mine
eyes from yne : yea, when ye make many prayers,
I will not hear : your hands are full of blood
And in another place GOD smith, " Hot ye have set
at nought all my cermet, and would none of my
reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will
mock when your fear conseth ; when your fear corn-
eth as desolation, and your destruction cosseth as a
whirlwind; when distress end anguish cometh upon
yea." If unjust and corrupt Ministers join with
iniquitous and covetous Horoughmongers, they must
cap set the righteous Governor of the Universe will
frustrate their base designs, as well as punish their
evil courses ; for it is written its His word, " Woe
into them that join house to house, that lay field to
held, till there he no place ; that they may be placed
alone in the midst of the earth. They covet fields,
lred take them by violence ; and houses, and take
them away ; so they oppress a moo and his house,
even a man and his heritage. They build up Zion
with blood, end J lea with Iniquity. The heads
thereof judge for reward ; sod the priests thereof
teach for hire; and the prophets thereof divine for
money. They ate corrupt, and speak wickedly con-
cerning oppression." Thus we see the practices of
bribery, corruption, and Hustlers are condemned in
repress 'erect in Holy Writ ; and, therefore; when a
few years since certain tren.scrions respecting the
sale of seats in an liessoorable House, were brought
to light, we need not wonder that the Speaker should
say, that our meows would hest startled with hor-
ror on waking such a discovery; or that the People
manifest such " impatience" in submitting to laws
eructed, or to reset imposed, by • Horses. constitut-
ed ; for, cars it be doubted that the Booooghoonger,s
ate the lel@ support of the present Ministers, as well ,

as of the present system of misrule ? is there a Go.
verneneet hireling oho has the face to deny that the
corrupt and tyrannical faction not rearely " jolts
hone to house," but " borough to borough," and
thereby oppress " men anti their houses, even men
and their linkage ;" for what mars bar any 'irritates
qua( to his Cleft Bights ! of which if he is deprived
he is reduced to the rank of the " beasts that perish."
It is notorious, and has been offered to be proved at
the bar of the Hone, that 154 individuals returned •
majority of Members Is that Hone, and thus claim.
id it'd exercised the right of disposing, by their
agents, of the liars, liberty, sod property of the taw
tiros of inhabitants who compose Ilse subjects of this
kingdom°. Thu do the Reroughmongers effectually
(wind the Crown, and keep both the King and the
People in bondage, destroy the Cqnstitu.ion, and
usurp to themselves the prireeatives of Royalty, to
less than the privileges of the Comment.
Notwithstanding it has beet se deerly proved
that the Representation of the People is thus, by la.
aeration, blibery, end corroptien, become worse
;than nominal, It seems to be taken for granted that
the People are liable to pay whatever tens oar
rulers may think proper to impose, and that they
may be recovered by distress or Exchequer pre.
i ens. It is admitted, that fetes constitutionally im.
posed may be recovered; but the question is, have alt
our chiming fates been thus constitutionally imposed,
I believe it is generally allowed to be a fact, that
Mr. Hones Tooze, that tried friend of kis country,
and great constitutional lawyer (though not by pro.
fusion), stood oat the Commissioners of the Income
Ts:, sod never paid one farthing towards that unjust
impost; sod Mr. Humus Rust else assures es, Meth
be has defied the Tat office, sod that he has not fee
some time past paid the lases charged on him : net
I , r.
• woes uovernesent appear willing to try the questiot
iwith that singular and courageous Reformer. I at
1 altogether ignorant as to what may have bees ail
1 reasons of those two Gentlemen for resisting the
payment of lases, though I am bold to N 7, I
think that several substantial ones might be agape&
Independent of the question of Reform in the election
of Members of Parliament, and the validity of taste
imposed by a House so formed as the present House
of Commons is poi Ily admitted to be; onetime
question has arisen, and that is, whether any Elms..
of Commons, reformed or unreformed, can grant th.
People's money for a longer time than that for
which its Alembirs arc ekded P This latter question,
therefore, demands serious consideration, and beim
totally distinct from the one respecting Annual Par.
liaments and General or Uni I Seiner, is alike
interesting to those Friends of Reform who edvocele
the least, as well as to those wine advocate the grestests
estension of the elective franchise. Ido not preload
myself to have powers eqeal to establish the regally*
of the proposition, which I shall leave to be discussed
by some more learned Correspondent; at the same
time I beg leave to offer a few preliminary !markt,
and to pot some queries to your legal Readers, I*
order that this importact subject may be thoroughly
discussed through the medium of your columns. I
would remark, that prior to 37 Hsu. VI. the let et
tonnage and poyedsg• was generally granted for on*
year, sometimes for two or three years, seldom for es
longer term, and in that year (37 lIEN. VI.) is the
first grant for life+. These precedents, at first
sight, may seem to favour the Parliamentary pewee
claimed by the Houses of Commons so called; bat
if they are csrefolly essinfortd, mod we compare IDs
periods when these grants were made, with the two
opposite insertions of the existence of MAIM et
Long Parliaments in those days, we shall find that
they do not prove what those Gentlemen, who arges
for this eitensive authority, assume. For if the aye
cient Parliaments were not annual, bat held by pro.
rogation from Session to Session, as the enemies of
' Reform Contend, then there being no ether limita.
' lido to their duration thin the will of the Monarch,
I they had power to grant supplies for a longer period
than one year, although they were generally cautious
' in voting sway their constituents' money for an el.
tended term; and if this assumption be correct, theft
1 it accounts for their afterwards making a grant for
the life of HENRY VI., being to the very Went et
their own possible existence. If, on the other hand.
new Representatives of the Commons were elected
' annually,
mapseeoytphbleee i fairlyfriendsotthe presumed roneft sheuepßi ore:Pc:dome rnilimlthataincte:::::, let: Yodonf
thefii nJalt :n
insist,
s' Session,
" urgencye lif
oi thec
I
I ww1:: ohnehewCri.eceacquiescee
ell:tadmittedotle n
founded
I;ie nedttnori:ogehbelaat roarer;Vl imeeterhotrcetewyih eibettlohe dal otherwiseietojdhl
r.oe:tv hereear lye
these induced
ei
shortken an if
el' e I
ehhpottei eorts
principles
nill) pewee
ec"isimp:nfl armoseoi I I,:

• See powi...t floe I. fiv.4lll at the People, 17/..; and Mg
Fuottl. B•rdett's Spen h ea Reform,. blay o, 1817.
1` 9•r Kr. it. J.ID.'• rognetrill is Ilaiepdci.'s Tr s 1

than that undefined authority claimed at present ;
far we Sr, ant t, that win all the ancient summons of
Parlament. :then aid war demanded, the particular
cause of defence, and against what enemy in spacial•
teas mentionede." tin that the People could not be
taken by surpri‘o, bsl their Members fn► a
fitirpoiii. and Ail sou uhat alone ought to
render th 4 Erant binding on them ; though I strongly
suspect that those prolonged grants were abuses which
gradually crept iota the ancient Constitution, before
their conrequenres were at all apprehended by nor
"nee tn.a—for in little %MO 11 • evils which might
aria. from an onlimited or undefined privilege in the
Ceintrions the subject of debate in Mr. Hattroves
amuse, that 1 do not find either the question of the de-
rattan of Parliamentary grants, or the necessity of fre-
quent Parliament,. once advert►d to by the Counselor
.Ic,tgra 114. nserpationt of the Long Patliamettts of
the two Cu tummy, or of the existence of a Na-
tional Debt at the period of the Revolution being
then quite enformeen.

• See Mr. St. John'. argument in she rat. of .6 Ship 110.,ey."
[To be contintte,ll

ACCOUNTS FROM M.INCHESTER.

Little more tan be added in the way ef fact!, to
that whirls the Public are already possessed ef. The
news i• nob merely commentarioas ; the test is
fulls event but there sic copious and larnentsble
annotation. to secreetl. We are now fully and
awfully confirmed in the knowledge and certainly
tht a conspiracy has bre:. for soma time en foot

twiny 11. e lives of it•sv King's ',Nees ; and that on
oortain duo of this mond.' it ripened into a real mas-
sacre W. ern remember now the blondy and gotten-

409. meini g r.f the threat which IS implied in that
atrocious hint of the corny. Proge,whoo, competing the
Smithfield Mooting wish the probible mutts of the

itlenchester one, it vas insinuated that there were no
Ahletmen Won,' end Waithenan in the Manchester

Co►poration. It is indeed a most disgusting truth.
Before WP proceed to quote the documents of Cor-
reepondents, it is proper to develops the machinery
and the engineers engaged in manufacturing this mit.
chief.

The main agencies would miter lo be

the 11l inistry, the Magistncy, sod the Yeomanry. It is
bare justice to say, that the massacre yes not instigated
nor enroorsaed in sny degree by the King's Ministers,
nor has it received any coentessnce from them since,

•
If report is to be et all trusted. The espnering of the
courier, and the black guarding; of the Putt and

New Tunes hay.. as us hare sow good tenon for
krone ina. no other barking than Is afforded them by
the shamelessness of habitual prostitution. It is not on.

likely that the Ministers may have coincided in the plot
pip for es the taking and Irk leg the leaders dills Meet-
ing, bet nothing further. This, though it is a litre
lesion of the Constitution, is not at ell connected with
down right practical butchery. As to the Yeomen,