The Statesman.
London, England, 1820-12-29 00:00:00

rIE STATESMAN

Mr. Muices .a;.l that votes of thanks were Kens-
rally passe,' and e,,n-,idered as mere matters of form,
and wilbed that thi, meeting should eapress, in a par-
licalar manner, that the rote was not a mere =atter of
form.

Mr. SWIM,. said, that whatever difference of opinion)
might exist between Lord Huntly and bitnself, on any)
points, he was satisfied nothing would ever occur to
alter his esteem for his Lordship.
Lord ilusru returned thanks, and the meeting
dispersed.
His Lordship did not appear to feel at all easy in
the chair ; and we are sorry to add, that as he retired
to the inn, some marks of disapprobation were shown
by persons at the door of the Court-house. This is
the more to he regretted, considering the popularity he
once enjoyed in this town.
In rorrolioration of what was so emphatically ex-
pressed by the convener of the rounty, that " so far
from wishing to approve of the conduct of Allsninis-
tration, directly the reverse was the case," it is re.
markalde that, in a meeting containing the must furious
snpporter. of ministers, not a single individual had
the hardihood to offer one sentiment in their favour:
In a Scotch county, this hare circumstance speak.
volumes.

ST. I'M-YAWS. SHOREDITCH.

- ~--

Public Nleetine of the Inhabitants of St. !Ar-
naud's, Slia.reditch, was held last night in the Parish
Church, to rasn,ider, as the licapiisition to the Church-
wardens :Oalett, the propriety of signing a Declaration
expressive of their sentimews at the present alarming
crisis; anal also, to (she into consideration the 'Merl-
sity of presenting a loyal tk:iini to his
to a.lopt ?olds other mew U reit ac should
he deemed rimptitiai to Bice publicity to tha'ir !arid-
ciples of attachment I') the Constitution, as by law
established.

The Chair h: Tint beCII taLco by Mr. I'Lacsc, the
junior I:hucelowarden,
Mr. SII It I. came forward to move the Itesolutiunt,
on Which the Address was founded. They had azscia-
bled, he said, to dilirtlSP the propriety of presenting
a loyal and dutiful Address to their !•.tivereign, and in
so doing, to rescue themselves (tom the unjustifiable
aspersions which were indirectly cast upon them in
the mock ultra-loyal Address, which had been clan.
destinely got up, and whirls was intended to be
relined upon the Sovereign as an Address, expressing
the sentiments of their large and populous parish.
The persons who had got up that Address were evi-
dently actuated by a desire to deceive the Sovereign,
and to disguise the state of public affairs. These,
however. %tyre not titnes to trifle; such was the alarm-
ing conoliti:Ao to which a lung course of wicked and
unconstitu.inal measures had reduced this country,
that no reflecting man could contemplate it without,
horror, and without feeling that the present system
of government presented nothing but a scents of
wretchedness, lie% astation, and ruin. Was it not an
insult to the !-overeign to address him in the language
of the fictitious Address, at a time when disgust mitt
indignation at the conduct of Ministers pervaded the
Whole country, and When our dungeons were crowded
with the victim. of political vengeance—with *men
sacrificed to the arbitrary power of a selfish and de-
testable faction ? Such %vas the deplorable state of,
public affairs, that he dill not think them capable mill
being ameliorated by a change of Ministers, without
an entire change of measures. lie concluded by
moving the first Resolution:

Mr.lll.scanruse. seconded the Resolution. Ile
disclaimed all intention of itit.ifering with the right
of private judgment, and he thought the rondurt of
the persons who had signed the fictitious Address, was
only blameable, in so far as they assumed a character
which did not belong to them. They had a right to
express their opinions, whatever tho,e opinions might
be, hut they bad no tight to call their AililreNs the
Address of the Inhabitants of the Parish of St. Leo-
nard's. At the head of the signatures appeared the
names of the citrate of the parish, one of the church-
wardens, and four overseers ; and the official designa-
tions of these persons were carefully annexed to their
names, that the Address might appear to be that of
the Inhabitants of the Parish, legally assembled in
Vestry. Ile emu Amara with touch severity upon the
conduct of clergymen, %%Ito came forward to take the
lead in polities. It was impossible that parochial
clergymen could hr independent men. They must of
necessity be subservient to the ruling powers ; and the
late Act of Parliament, which made them removeable
at the pleasure of the Bishop of the Diocese. made
them, if possible, still more dependent. The clergy
had, on all occasions, been hostile to the liberties of
the people, and their rtfoserviency in these days fell
very little short of that of the Bishop, who, bring
asked by James the First whether he could tax the
people without an Act of Parliament, replied, " Most
certainly, my liege ; for we are but the breath of your
nostrils." With respect to the moek Address, it nsa
really of that milk and water description, that though
there was little to object to, there was at the same
time nothing to approve. It complained of abounding
in sedition anti blasphemy, evils which no i!oulat to a
certain extent existed, but which mould long since
have ceased to exist, if the laws had been properly en-
forced against them. The people of England were
dissatisfied with the measures of Ministers, and that
dissatisfsction hail been falsely termed disloyalty. The
mock Address was an attempt to b,,lster up an Admi-
nistration which had rendered itself contemptible. to
deceive the King, and at the sante time to procure
certain benefits to the persons who had been must ac-
tive in promoting it. The present Meeting was ii-
dispensahly necessary to rescue this large and pope-
, lons parish front the implied imputation, that they
were not ready to agree to a loyal and dutiful Address
to the Sovereign,
Mr. Lawnenee supported the next resolution. It
was evident that the persons who got op the fictitious
Address were afraid or ashamed to meet their fellow
parishioners They felt that the sentiments which
they exp d were nut the sentiments of the great
body of the parish, and they were obliged, therefore,
to meet in holes and corners. The Clergy bad in this.
as in other parishes. 'beton great activity in 'promoting
clandestine Addresses. That body of men had always
been most zealous in promoting every measure which
was calculated to destroy the happiness and abridge
the liberties of the people.—Whether they retired to,

I holes and corners to get up fictitious Addresses, or
reared their mitred heads in Parliament, their conduct
was equally marked by cringing subserviency and po.
lilies! prostration. Every thing, in short, charac-
terised them but the religion they professed (applause.)
How was it possible that the people of this country,
could look up to the hierarchy with Trivet, *hen it
had been declared by one of the heads of the Church
that the King could do no wrong—even in a moral
sense, thus distorting a mere political maxim, °linos
ions and inconsistent perhaps even in its technical ap.'
plication, for the purpose of pa. 'lig an obsequious
homage to power? The interference of the clergy in
the case of the Queen bad done more to destroy eccle-
siastical influence than any thing which had happened
in this country for centuries ; in many places the peo-
ple were already quitting the churches in disgust, and
he believed there would be no occasion for increasing
the number of churches, if the clergy persisted in pro-
moting measures which were calculated to alienate the
people from the religious institut ona of the country,
by renewing the perserution of the Queen. He con-
cluded by expressing his entire concurrence in the sen-
timents contained in the resolution.

The neat resolution was moved by Mr. ASHUPST.
This Gentleman dwelt at some length on the unwise
and injudicious conduct of Ministers. It was. be
sail, by opposing the just claims of the American peo-
ple, who wklied to be represented in Parliament—it
was by conduct at once arbitrary, insulting, and op-
pressive, that the Ministers of the late King lost Ame-
rica. The fate of the unfortunate Louis the 16th
might he traced to the same cause. After dwelling at
some length on the state of publie affairs, he said,
that the people of England were now by far too en-
lightened to he deceived by the arts of power, and too
firm to ne intimidated by its threats. The people
wished fur a reform of abuses ; they wished for civil
and religious liberty, for the removal of great public
burthens ; these were their just, rational, and Consti-
tutional objects, and they would persevere until these
objects were attained.
The Resolution WAS put and carried unanimously.

Mr. Jscoasox moved the next resolution. lie
said, that Ministers had done every thing to oppose
the wishes of the people; the whole country called
fur Reform ; Ministers and the House of Commons
resisted that call ; lie hoped they would yet yield to
the voice of the nation, lest the thing should be car-
ded by more violent means.
This Resolution basing been also agreed to,
An Address to the King was then mo►ed and carried.

Mr. SIIANP next rose and said, that some persons
having agreed to an Address, which they very impro-
perly called an Address from the parish of St. Leo-
nard's, Shoreditch, it was rigid for the inhabitants,
assembled, as they were, in public Vestry, to disclaim
in the mpg marked manner a document, to which
they were most impudently made parties, without their
knowledge—a document too, which they could not
approve of; he therehre moved, that the " Ultra
Address" should be excluded from the Vestry Room.
IFTere it 11441 been left for signatures.
After some conversation this Resolution was agreed
t., and the Meeting adjourned.

NORTIIU.IIBERLAND cOUNTY MEETING.