Common Council.
The Times, 1824-04-01T00:00:00

Yesterday, in pursuance of a requisition received by the Lord lUayor, a Court of Common Council was held at Guildhall, for the puirDose of considering the propriety of petitioning Parliament against the renewal of the Alien Act. The Lord Mayor of Dublin. Sir Edward Stanley, and two other gentlenmen of the corporation of that citY, were, at the instance of the LoitD MAYOR, introduced,and took scats on the Aldermen's bench. THE ALIES ACT. The requisition having been read by order of the Lord Mayor, Mr. TAYL.0io rose, and after a few preliminary observations, proceeded to state that the question whicl he was about to bring tbr- ward derived no advantage from the circumstances under which it was introduced. It was no party question, for at present thete was no party in the country there existed a general feeling that mne present Government evinced a disposition to attend to the wishes of the people. Neither did the question arise from popular effer- vescence. He brought it forward rnerly on its own merits, fromi a corscentious conviction of the importance of the subject. Indeed, it waas a matter of regret to him, that the subject had not excited a popular feeling, in order that it nmighit not appear that the people of this country, who were so ready to petition the Legislature against any measure wvhich aff'ected their own rights or interests, were cold and indifferent to what regarded the interests of others. It was said by sonic persons that there was no use in petitioning Parliament on this subject, tbr their (the Court's) petition would have no effect ; but he contended thiat the petition ot' this corporation was to be taken only as a contribution to thegeneral public fceling; and ifithe:\tnisters were the enlightened and well-disposed individuals they were repre- sented to be,thbey would beglad torcceiveeevery manifestation of public opinion,whiclitheyhadplc(lgedthemselves.toattendto.TheAlien A.ct, from iLs first introduction into this country,had always been regarded as an oppression, in rendering a iman liableto be sent out of thecountry at the wvill of a Minister, after lie had accumulated wealth,or established himself in business here : and one of the Ministers themselves had expressed his objection to the mneasure, without a sufficient cause to justifv it. Nov. the ground upon which it was adopted was the supposition that danger was tlireatene(l to the constituri n of this country, from the machinations of foreigners, at a time when the country wasin a 4isaffected state: but there was no disaffection in the country at present; and thc cause of its original adoption having ceased to exist, why not discontinue a measure which was an infringement of the constitution ? It was now about to expire; and therefore this was the fittest moment for the Court to raise their voices, and call upon illinisters to discontinue a measure which they seemed alreadtv half disposed to give np of themselves. The corporation of Not- tinghan, a most enlightened and respectable body, had been before- hand ivith them in petitioniing against it; the second read- ing of the bill had been twicc postponed-in fact, they wotild come forward under a variety of auspicious circumstances at this particular period. As the Chancellor of tbe Excle- quer had givein satisfaction to the countrg by endeavouri,g to restore its finances, so, he hoped, the other linistLrs of the Crown would give equal satistaction by mending thc breaches of the constitution. It was said that the power vested in Ministers bv this act was but sparingly exercised ; but that, so far fronii being an argument in its favour, only went to prove that it was unnecessary. Without making any theep researches into the listory of the country, every person who heard him woul<l be aware of the great advantiges which it had dlerived from the reception of foreigners, who had brought with tiem many useful -arts and manufactures. The silk manufacture, for instance, whichi at present engaged so much atten- tion, was introduced amongst us by thiose foreigners who sought re- fuge here, when flying from the blootly persecttions of the Bour- bons upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The woollen manu.. f.tcture was also introduced into this country by fbreigners, natives of the Low Countries, who had fled iere from thepersecutions of theSpa- niards. They settled atNorwich,Cante-bury,and otherplaces;antl some of the most respectable inhabitants of liondon were descended from thetii. There were inanyv 'ames whlich the mernbers of this Court woul-l recollect as shedding lustrc and conferring blessings on this countrv-Jortin, Dollond, Romilly, and others; and they were all deseendants of refugees woio woul(d llhtve fallen victims to despotism had it not been for the frecinstitutions of tilis cotuntry which ff'orded them protection. The Alien Bill, Mr. Taylor continued, had been tise(I as an argtiment to justify the oppression of Englishmen by Foreign Governments, us in the cae of Mr. Bowring who was released froun prison in France by the spiritedi interference of M r. Canning. But it was argued, tlat it wyas necessary to give tle MIinisters of the Crown the power efcomplving with tne wishes of Foreign Powers. This was, Alr. Taylor considered, its greatest contemnation ; and he hoped that the Court would feel, instead of thinking that it ought to subscrve to the purposes ot' the fHoly Alliance, that that would be the strongest argument against it. Be would not trust himself to speak of that confederation of sovereigns against the liberties of mankind; tior, indeed, had he words to express his abhorrence and detestation of them, some of whom had been restored to t':eir thrones by the people of this countrY, and afterwards disappointed al1 their hopes. Hc (Mr. Taylor) knew several foreigners from Italv and various other countries, weho expressed continual tears, that if thev utteredt a feeling of the slightest syiimpathy for the suflerinu-s of their counitry, they would be sent out of the kingdom, anid left at the mercy of those tyrants front whom they had sought refuge here. Switzerland had formerly afibrded them protection from persecution: they were lately driven from that. Let thens not now be driven from this last asylum of liberty. There were matny ibreigners who were deterred by this bill from cominglhere; they dreaded that thepower it afford- ed would be executed against them, and therefbre they remained ex- posed to the fanigs of despotism; and the consequence was, that some of them were now rottinig in loathsome dungeons. There were at present under the G.-vermnent of the Emperor of Austria, who had been styled " a good sort of man," a number of noble- men and others in dungeons, where they had been immured for years; and he (;r. 'raylor) knew one Elan in particular, who was thrown into one of those dungeons for mercly sending a renmittance to his son here. The worthy member, af'ter apologizing for the time lhe had taken up, coiscluded by moving resolutions, drawn up in the spirit of his speech.-(Sce advertisement.) MIr. FAVELL seconded the resolutions. After complimenting the worthy mover on the talent he had displayed, he proceeded to argue, that we ought tooper. our arims to toreigners, instead efpursuing that system of espionnage and surveillance which was a disgrace to the ontitient; and a degradation to every Englishman who visited it. He trusted therel wool be -a united teeling against this odious act; andtconrdnded t _ati. iud be unwise, now that we were taking offes thoduties of 4oLeO- merchandise, to retain a measure so ofigensive to foreign emculd not anticipate any reason for hesi- tating a mbment to petIion 'Parlianeut against it. On the question beingpnt,' MrL XVE_ .Cs proposemi to read a few verses which he himselfliad composed. (Hear.) s. JAM FS spoke to order. Mlr. WELCH knew many men of ability to b*equotedilheverses of bthers in this court; and did not see, thesinbre, .wwhy he should not be at liberty to read his own. The LonD MAYOR said it would b- quite'unusual. Even a young micmber would not 13e allowed to read a writiehi speech, still less w?tcen verses. The next. thinkc that a member' might claim would be the right of singing a song to the Court. ( H-ear.) Ar. IVELCIe said. thd foreigki depots were. fishing with a long line: -they were ttyisg to catch John Bull by the gills, and if they succeeded they wrould throw him oxerboard. - AIr. JA.HES'censUred the strong ltanguage ttat had been appliedlo the allied soveleigns,'which wan v holly unwarranted. The invasion of Spain by tbe Frenich was the nseais of preventing the dissenii- namon of pernicious principles (laughter), and was productive of much good. (,Laughter.) He denied that the pablic feelingwas adversc to tbe*bll. 'The only true arid legitimate mode of asner- taining the opiniton of the people of England was tlhrough the House of Commons. (Great l*ogliter.) One of the itgumentii -urged against the measure-namely, that there were agents of those 'despots who' wvere. hosuile to the libetries of the ceuntry-amongst us, was the strongest reason why this measure.should be continued., in order that they might be removed from this country. - The worthy. member proceeded to reply to the various o ections. raised 8 agailst the bill,> ana codhlded by opposing the resolutidon. -. - Mr. PATTEN saw no necessity fbr 'he mueasure, Our laws were sufficient to protect ns from the machination8 of foreigners. MIr. SLADE reprobated the conduct of the Holy Alliance, and of the Bourbons in particular, who, havIng been laid prostrate by Buo- naparte, recovered by appeping to this people, whlom they had trWed tulitiiysth..the blackest ingrattud? .'tf . meitiiers jouta the eve .of. a generiFe ceio tlsat(h ig ntue tsikt ii9t 'frget-#._~ I'r. u'!jLTTRWI i'io repe ird Tllarf y of spealsin r-;t e*h rexp!ir, v'3Jie'a>iv'nM ber,to prdoce&j Aevsshed,o exjilSp his redson fot vots aganae the resolutioun. This measuf lehab&ipIaced iinthfe a~nds 'of his 1l1ajeset"sministers 'for wise' pUtrpOseS,.and- @s -the'1 had';net abeusned their trust, we~t. O.Y6t ifto.Wiehd6u oudelc; ftir thMr.Alera VES'ABLES said thiat thse encitet that'th'eo er had not.been,abussed wrould go to support 3eexistence of i Star hmer. MIr. P?RWt'ES5 said a few w.ordsin support of theruolu'tions. They were then put, and cairied without a divisitot, On the question being put, that a petition, founded on tse;resolu.- tions, be presented to Parliament, DIr. Alderman Txompsom, after tome discussion on the irrega.. larity of re-opening the debate, made a few observations against the motion: which, howevel, was caried. A petition was then read, which' it was moved should be adopted by the Court as their petition. Several MIembers expressed their opinion on the question. The LoRnDMAYostcomplained of the irregularity of thus re-open- ing the debate of the oriirnal question. nr. CnocE5ER was proceeding to argue against the motion, when The LORD MAYoR again rose, and stated that the worthy mem- ber was out of order. If therules of the Court were to be violated in this way, it would breed endless confusion. He certainly did not now blame the conduct of those who had preceded him in that chair; for the easiest way to go through the office, and perhaps to sec.re a vote of thanks at the end of the .year, was to allow members te. take their own course. However, he would do his duty, fearless of the consequences. If the Court wished their proceedings to have any weight, they would abide by their own tules, and the rules that governed debates everywhere. The petition was at length suffered to be put, and its adoption agseed to. It was ordered to be presented to beth houses of Parliament, and the resolutioDs whiah had passed were directed to be published in the usual papers. SPANISH VOTE. MIr.-JAMES g;ve noticeof a notion, calling upn the committee' to state more particularly, how the 1,0001., voted in aid of the Spa- niards, had been applied. CITY LIBRARY. Notice was albe given of' A. mQtion to erect a library fot the recep- tion of all documents connected with the city. - COillil O-N COUNCIL.