QUESTION R REPREHENSIBLE conduct of the Lancashire Grand Jury Real motives for the Adjournment of the Oldham Inquest of the Representative System, with an opinion of some Radical Powder SOVEREIGNTY of the People -State of Public feeling in Lancashire 225 the Nation, with a definition of Whigs, Tories, Burdet- tites, and Radicals Sentence of Mr. Carlile Smithfield Public Meeting T 88 148 THE Prince Regent's Answer to the Petition of the Lord Mayor The most effectual Method of obtaining a Reform in the existing 35 69 274 275 3 201 POETRY. TRIBUTARY Lines to Major Cartwright Manchester Heroes Address to the Prince Regent The Devils that stirred up the Storm An old Observation, "There's nothing like Leather " The Catholic's Address to the illiberal part of the Protestant On the Bible Societies Clergy On reading Paine's Works The Measures of Ministers The Grave of Russell It is now eighteen weeks since the CAP OF LIBERTY was first offered to the British Public, since which period we are proud to say, it has received a share of patronage and support far beyond our most sanguine expectations, and such as we believe, has rarely been obtained by any other Political Publication within such a limited space of time; yet, however limited that time has been, what changes of the most serious and vital importance have taken place in the Constitution of England, which has been so repeatedly held up as an object worthy of the envy and admiration of the world, by the very miscreants who now come forward to tell us, that it is necessary that it should be altered to support their purposes of indiscriminate spoilation and inhuman massacre of all who are opposed to their villainous intentions. Short as has been our career hitherto, we have not escaped the attacks of some of the pretended friends of Freedom denominated Whigs, who have attempted to hold us up to the scorn of society, and to the vindictive proceedings of the Attorney-General. Their feeble attempts have, however, recoiled upon themselves; we have ever avowed our readiness to defend any sentiment which may have proceeded from our pen, and consequently the vapouring of the Whigs and the blustering of the Tories, failed to deter us from performing the duty which we had voluntarily imposed upon ourselves, of advocating at every hazard, the Rights and Privileges of Englishmen. Those Privileges and those Rights were invaded, and we joined our efforts to those of other patriotic and independent writers, to repel the unauthorised invasion of all that is dear and valuable to Freemen. Our united exertions awakened the torpid energies of the nation, and roused the Prople to a sense of what they owed their country, but it also alarmed the minions of despotic authority, and they perceived the necessity of making one last effort to retain their ill-used power, together with the money wrung from the starving population of the kingdom, by the griping hand of oppression and overwhelming taxation. Their whole strength was mustered, and they have partially succeeded in silencing the loud complaints and murmurings of the People. Our shafts however have been shot too well, and the more silent henceforth are the People, the more certain shall we be of their rooted hatred to aristocratical tyranny, and firm adherence to LIBERTY, EQUALITY, and the RIGHTS OF MAN. We have been abused and calumniated; in one instance even by a cotemporary writer in the cause of Reform; but Truth has been our shield as well as it has been our weapon, and we can proudly lay our hands upon our heart, and declare to the world that we never put our pen to paper, to register a falsehood. We have hitherto fearlessly given our opinions, unbiassed by the prejudice of party, to the Public; though when those opinions were acted upon by any party, that party we supported from an internal conviction of their rectitude. It may be necessary to notice oue particular mode of action which we strenuously pointed out to the Reformers, and which would have, we believe, succeeded, had it been unanimously persevered in. The Gentlemen, however, who proceeded to call simultaneous meetings, (which was the method of procedure to which we have just alluded) were written down by the Press, ours being almost the only publication which supported them. Their every movement, their every speech was grossly misrepresented, even by Journals which take the greatest pains to make the world believe that their columns are open to a plain unvarnished statement of occurrences as they transpire. Foremost amongst these Journals ranks The Times,-aye, the Old Times; this Journal had been for some time previous to the Meeting in Finsbury Market Place, abusing The Courier, and vice versa, for not telling truth; and we confess we were at first more inclined to give credit to the statements in The Times, than to those of its rival. Experience, however, has proved to us most satisfactorily, that truth has fled from the columns of the Old Times that it has evaporated in the steam that works their press, éver again to be therein condensed, until, from repeated falsehood, it shall become useless and unprofitable. "Give by devil his due," is an old saying, and we will in this instance keep up to it, by declaring that, whatever might have been their comments, Dr Slop, of The New Times, and Mr. Stewart, of The Courier, gave the most faithful and correct report of the proceedings of that Meeting; and we conceive it to be the paramount duty of the proprietors of a Newspaper, to give their readers a fair statement of facts, unswayed by prejudice or by interest. There is, however, on the part of the gentlemen connected with the Press, a certain aristocratical feeling by which they measure the worth of a speech, rather than by its intrinsic merit; for instance, if such a stupid oaf as Mr. Money, or as Lord Ellenborough, make a long rhodomontading speech, full of nonsensical impudence from the first line to the last,-why The Times would give such a speech verbatim: but, if an honest tradesman comes forward and delivers his sentiments to his countrymen," Pshaw! let him mind his counter, and not dabble in politics; his speech is not worthy of a place in our columns-it would contaminate our Paper to give insertion to the sentiments of any person beneath the rank of a Baronet, at the very least." Simultaneous Meetings were crushed in consequence, and the good which, from their operation, might have resulted to the nation, was forfeited, and that Nation has been reduced to slavery. We We have now drawn our first volume to a close ; and we must commence a new career under still greater difficulties than those with which we have hitherto had to combat: be our's the duty to encounter and to overcome them. are not niggards of our person; it shall always be at the service of our country. We will write still as if no new laws nor penalties had been imposed; and, if we are presented with ex-officios, we shall confidently appeal to a Jury of our Peers for an acquittal. A Jury is now the last paladium of British independence, while that remains, we shall baffle the storm, and fearlessly oppose every infringement upon the privileges of our fellow-citizens throughout the empire. BANISHMENT is held up in terrorem, to keep us within a measure of restraint in our language while canvassing the atrocities of our oppressors; but to the heart of a true patriot, banishment, or even death, are nullities when placed in competition with his country's independence. There is yet another consideration, which has this week struck us in a most forcible manner; Wedderburn, a person whom we have never seen, and of whom we know but very little, is now in Newgate for having written a letter to the High-Priest of the Jews, which the Attorney-General deemed libellous, or blasphemous, we know not which, perhaps both. He accordingly issued an ex-officio information, upon which Wedderburn was arrested, and in default of bail, to the amount of £200. was committed to prison. All this may at first view appear very right, correct, and proper; but let us reflect a little ere we thus far concede to the conduct of the Attorney-General, or to the laws which empower him to exercise an arbitrary power. The Attorney-General has the power of suspending the term of trial during pleasure, and thus, if Wedderburn cannot find bail, he is effectually imprisoned for life, without a trial, at the option of the AttorneyGeneral. This is truly an alarming consideration! What better, if this power be vested in any man, is an "ex-officio Information" then a "Lettre de Cachet." With the rich the former may be preferable, for they in general can easily procure bail, but to the poor man and the friendless, or to him whose friends are poor, it is not one whit more lenient, nor less revolting to every feeling of independence and humanity. It is strange! exceeding strange! how such a system should be tolerated in a land of freedom and amongst the sons of Freemen; but, alas! were we to search the boasted system to the bottom, we should find it not one degree better than that of France, prior to her glorious revolution, from which she has derived such beneficial and lasting advantages. We have often viewed the practices of the Consistory Court as being equally atrocious, and intended several times to lay before our readers some account of their arbitrary proceedings; but events of more immediate and momentous importance followed each other in such rapid succession, subsequent to the massacre at Manchester, that we had no time to notice others. In our next volume, however, every number of which is to contain upwards of two sheets, we shall have more room to canvas every ramification of the abuses of the Government, and also of the Clergy, both of which have conspired against the pockets of the People. We are aware that a strict eye will scrutinize our every sentence, to distort it into blasphemy and sedition; but adhering steadfastly to truth, we shall fearlessly place ourselves before a Jury of our Countrymen, and relying upon their patriotism, we will tell the tyrants what we think, even though the "cap of pitch" was to be placed by the tenderhearted and merciful Irish Lord upon our hapless cranium, as a blazing substitute for the BADGE which we have been proud to wear for the badge of our NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE, THE CAP OF LIBERTY. |
