The Statesman. — 1821-09-10 (London, England)

BRISTOL MERCURY.) On the body of Francis, has been returned "wt Lr mynas& ;" but complaint is made, and justly, that every possible difficulty has been thrown in the way of identifying the persons of the guilty. From the accounts which have transpired, who, that has the proper feelings of humanity, but must shudder at their perusal ? who, that has a just regard for the charac• ter of his country, but must feel humiliated ? who, that considers that" by Justice Kings (oeght to) reign sad Judges decree judgment," but must be shocked as silerospi.ets which such horrible precedents unfold ? One thing is certain, and received as a sort of axiom in the geperal administration of justice,—that guilt ONLY seeks concealment. If, in the present case, the petpetrator of the bloody deed had been authorised to do what has been done, and if those who imparted that authority did so under the sanction of law, the inquiry would have been met opealy, and have been justified by law. Of the in. .stigators of this tragedy, may we set say, in the words of Lord Bolingbroke, " Laud and others endeavoured openly to lop the branches, and cut down the tree ; bat these men are privately poisoning the root of hefty.* Yet, amidst the grief and apprehension inspired by such acts, it is Some consolation to recognize the-justice of the sentiment of the Poet, when he soy,— " He, from whose hand alone all power proceeds, Ranks its abuse amongst the foulest deeds, Considers all injustice with a frown, But marks the man that treads his fellow down." It is not to be believed that the Life Guards would have acted as they did, either at the Queen's funeral, to the' witnesses who attempted to identify them, or on the day of the intermentof the unhappy vietintsof military execution, if they had not felt that they were acting agreeably to the wishes, or the orders, of their superiorr. There is a recorded verdict of " WILFUL MURDER" against a British soldier, on the oaths of fourteen respectable citizens ; and not only are the most anxious and disgraceful efforts made to screen the criminal from public justice, but the military are suffered to insult, threaten, and abuse the people who accompanied to the grave the remains of their slaughtered countrymen. after this verdict had been returned.--. ' With indignation and anguish we contemplate the fast ofi tbrsoldiers occcupying the feet path—itelke'retifte. of the people from Hammersmith,—these very soldiers, against one of whom a verdict of " Wilful Murder" had been retarned.—Thi, whole of the narrative of the interment we recommend:to the most attentive perusal' of our readers, as one peculiarly and deeply affecting, —as one which will be read by posterity as.'one of themost interesting pages recorded in history; but, motel than all the rest, we would point out to the notice an remembrance of all, the electrifying accounts which the' London Papers contain of the sunduct of the military, —their resistance to the repeated requests of the HighSheriff :—that offices's application tooled answer from. the commanding office, of the soldrrery ; and the subsequent *unravel:9 treatment to which, as High Sheriff of the County of Middlesex, engaged in the per. formica of his duty, in the vain attempt to maim the King's peace and to protect the people, he was sub. jected from a lawless military force. rushing like a tyger from kid**. To our then unheeding country. men we have said long ago, " Beware of military W., beware of an immense standing army, which is devotf. isg. at present, the hard-earned pittance of indels.. ' tigable industry, and wbkh threatens at SOAR future. but not distant period. to teaks a sure and ormolu wreck of your remaining liberties, unless the virtues of the citizen osmoses the esprit is corps of the soldier, or unless another miracle is wrought foe Yogi deliverance. Now, that we are beginning en reap the baleful harvest of Ministerial misrule, it will be men ,that our judgment was not perverted. our appreisen. sion unfounded, nor our exhortations to timely cantles unnecessary. • a •   lATES'  A:v.