laws, and of satisfying the insulted authority of the state. The justification of this measure rested on the notorious fact as to the disturbed state of some populous counties, the difficulty which had been felt in suppressing the riots, the progress of the malcontents since the last measure for checking them had been adopted by the legislature, and the important truth, which was known not only to the government, but to every member of the legislature, that the system of organisation which had given that conspiracy its most alarming aspect, was derived chiefly, if not solely, from the administration of the oath taken by the conspirators. It had been suggested by some persons, that milder measures ought to have been tried before resorting to the punishment of death; but this was well answered by asking, whether the legislature should have proceeded with experiments from week to week, and from month to month, to see how much property might be destroyed, or how many persons assassinated? The information which government was daily receiving from all parts of the country of the increasing danger, precluded any delay for the trial of experiments which could not be made but by risking the lives of peaceable persons who had no protection for their property, no security from being murdered even on the highways, but in the vigorous interference of the legislature. That it was easy to talk of delay and enquiry in the House of Commons; but if gentlemen were living in the disturbed districts, and were daily or nightly threatened or attacked by a band of ruffians, they would soon be convinced that this was not a moment for procrastination. That it was right in this case to make the punishment for the conspiracy equal to that for the offence when actually committed, because something more than the crime of

conspiracy alone was committed when a number of persons went from place to place administering, by compulsion, oaths which bound the individual taking them to perpetrate the most atrocious crimes, which could not be exceeded in malice or depravity, and which, indeed, scarcely fell short of high-treason. That the opinions disseminated by some persons who attributed the mischiefs complained of to ministers, might, at the present awful crisis, be attended with the most mischievous effects; that the assertions thus made were wholly unfounded, and that in the districts where the riots were most serious, it had been discovered that those who had been most active were not in want of work, but were anima. ted to their lawless proceedings by other motives than distress. That it was absurd to talk of the law proposed as offering an inducement to those who had already taken the oath to pursue their course of iniquity, since the act was not to have a retrospective operation; and contained, moreover, a clause of indemnity by which persons who should take the oath of allegiance might be secured. To those who maintained that the law was too sanguinary to have any good effect, it was answered, that experience had decided against their opinion, that a measure somewhat similar, which had been adopted to prevent the seduction of soldiers from their allegiance, had been attended with the best consequences, although in that case only one individual had been apprehended two days after passing the act, and even, when capitally convicted, had been reprieved. The example, however, such as it was, put a stop to the commission of the offence; and there was every reason to believe that the same effect would follow the execution of the present measure.

A strong opposition was made to the bill. It was asserted that the

proposed law would violate every maxim of English jurisprudence,-that the intention to commit a crime, and the actual commission of it, had in all cases, except that of high-treason, been distinguished from each other; but it was now proposed to make the conspiring to commit a murder an of. fence of the same magnitude with the actual perpetration of that crime. That by the law as it now stood, persons administering unlawful oaths were liable to seven years transportation, a sufficient punishment for the offence; but if the administering or taking the oath were to be pronounced a capital crime, the offender would naturally argue, that he might as well commit the crime which he had sworn to attempt, as refrain from it, since the punishment would in either case be the same. That the provision for exempting from punishment those who confessed their guilt, and consented to take the oath of allegiance, would be of no use, since the public could have very little security for the good conduct of such persons. It was the business of ministers, before proposing such a law as this, to have tried the effect of those already in existence; a special commission ought to have been sent down for trying the rioters, and when time had been allowed for ascertaining the effect of such measures, ministers, if they had found them ineffectual, might, with some propriety, have come forward with the present bill, which, so long as no experiment had been made, could not, with due regard to the principles of the constitution, be sanctioned by the legislature. That it was highly inexpedient to resort to the ultimum supplicium for slight offences; such a system of legislation renders it impossible to punish the highest crimes with that peculiar and marked severity which they deserve. The measure, however, notwithstanding these objections, was

considered indispensable to the safety of the country, and accordingly received the sanction of the legislature.

But still every thing which had been done was found ineffectual; the riots increased; the discipline and or ganisation of the insurgents assumed a more formidable aspect; the quantity of arms which they collected was every day becoming greater, and more vigorous measures still were imperiously demanded. Lord Castlereagh accordingly brought in a bill for the preservation of the public peace in the disturbed counties, and to give additional power to the justices for a limited time for that purpose. His lordship, on introducing this bill, expressed the deep regret of himself and his colleagues that they were once more compelled to apply to parliament to aid the executive with new powers for preserving the public tranquillity, as they had at one time earnestly hoped that by the ordinary course of law the disturbances might have been effectually put down. The delay in propo sing the present law had originated in a great measure in the above consider ations, and in the hopes which had been indulged that as several of the disturbed districts (the town of Nottingham in particular) had been restored to a state of comparative tranquillity, no farther measures would be required. But the disturbances had of late assumed a new character, they more nearly resembled military associations; and a strong desire to get possession of arms had been manifested through the whole of the disturbed counties. The danger thus became more alarming; and the communications which had been lately received from the lieutenant of the west ri ding of Yorkshire, and several other magistrates, not only stated the further and alarming progress of the spirit of disaffection, but asserted that unless some additional powers were grant

ed in aid of the law as it at present stood, they should find themselves unable to meet the difficulty ;—that it was of more importance to look at the present aspect of the evil than at the causes which may have produced it ;-that a temporary failure of employment, and the high price of provisions, had, in the first instance, united the mechanics against their masters, but on discovering their strength in this state of union, they had ventured to carry their projects much farther than they originally intended ;—that they had at last assumed a military character so marked by conduct and deliberation, that it became impossible any longer to postpone measures of severity ;That the oath administered, and the purposes for which it was taken, proved that the conspiracy was of a most diabolical nature; and that although the committee which had been appointed to enquire into the state of the disturbed counties, had not thought it necessary to enter into a minute detail of the crimes committed, enough had been disclosed by them to justify an immediate interferance. That as to the existence and extent of the riots, no doubt could be entertained either by those who read the report of the committee, or even by persons who had access only to the ordinary sources of information.-That no addition should be sought to the power of the magistrates unless a case of necessity were made out; but that every man acquainted with the state of the disturb. ed counties, and the transactions which had lately taken place, agreed in opinion that the powers which the present laws gave the magistrates, were totally inadequate to the purpose of repressing the disturbances;-That a great military force had been sent down ;-that the magistrates had done every thing in their power, but that even the military and civil authorities united, were, as the law stood, unable to act with that

promptitude and vigour which the exigency required.Government had thus done every thing in its power; and, in addition to the direct aid which it had afforded the peaceable inhabitants, it had given every encouragement to voluntary associations among themselves for the protection of their lives and property. The law to be now proposed was to be limited to the disturbed counties; and in point of duration, was not to extend beyond the period at which it was probable parliament might be reassembled.That there were three points which the new law ought particularly to embrace :-First, a more effectual provision to keep the rioters from possessing themselves of fire-arms; secondly, a suitable provision to guard against the effects of tumultuary meetings; thirdly, a clause to give more effectual power and more extensive jurisdiction to the magistrates of disturbed districts. That as it seemed to be the great object of the rioters to get possession of arms, the bill should provide, that the magistrates be allowed to make a search in suspected places, without previously taking a deposition on the subject, as they were now bound to do. As many well-disposed persons would chearfully have given up the arms in their possession but for the fear which they entertained of being visited with the vengeance of the rioters, the act should also give the magistrates the power of calling on the inhabitants to surrender the arms in their possession, receipts being given for the same; an exception, however, being made of those persons who might require arms for the defence of their property. The next object was to disperse the rioters who might assemble for the purposes of training and discipline; and there could be no doubt that as these bodies of men assumed the appearance of an army not under the controul of the ei

vil power, it was the imperious duty of the legislature to provide for putting them down. But the magistrates, as the law stood, could only read the riot-act, and order them to disperse within an hour; and before that hour had expired, the rioters might probably have accomplished their purposes. It was of importance, therefore, that the bill should enable the magistrates instantly to disperse all dangerous assemblies held either by night or by day; to arrest those who might refuse to give obedience, and to bring them to trial at the next quarter sessions for a misdemeanour. The next point for consideration was, the limited jurisdiction of the magistrates; for, as the law stood, the insurgents could, by stepping from one county to another, defeat the ends of justice; it would be proper, therefore, to bestow on the magistrates of the adjacent counties, a concurrent jurisdiction. The proceedings of the rioters would thus be met in all the different shapes which they might assume, and the deluded persons who had engaged in this atrocious conspiracy, and who might otherwise be deterred from violating their unlawful engagements, might return to a sense of duty when they found themselves thus protected by the legislature.

Such was the exposition of the state of the country, and of the nature of the measures proposed, which was given by Lord Castlereagh. In the course of the debate, Mr Wilberforce spoke with contempt of the declamations which had been poured forth as to the causes of the riots, which, of course, in the opinion of some persons, were to be sought only in the conduct of the administration, and in the commercial distress which their measures had occasioned. Mr Wilberforce declared, that the disease was in his opinion of a political nature; and wished it were possible for him to believe that

the disorder was owing to temporary or accidental causes. It was true, said he, that the state of the country, from the high price of provisions, and the want of employment for labour, was such as to increase the discontents. Under such circumstances, popular disorders must always increase; they grow up and flourish in a rank soil; but the diseases, for which a remedy was now demanded, arose from causes of a more general nature. They might be ascribed to the efforts made in certain mischievous publications, calculated to alienate the affections of the people from the laws and government of the country, and to stir them up to measures injurious to the community, and ruinous to themselves.-Mr Canning, who had been a member of the committee, upon whose report the bill

was founded, declared his concurrence in the sentiments of Mr Wilberforce; expressed his opinion, that the report rather underrated than exaggerated the extent of the disturbances, and intimated, that he would have proposed still stronger measures than those to which the government had thought fit to resort, had it not been for the pledge given by ministers, that if other measures should be found necessary, parliament should be reassembled without delay. Sir Francis Burdett treated with ridicule the opinion delivered by Mr Wilberforce respecting the abuses of the liberty of the press, and the dangerous nature of the publications which had been circulated in the country; and expatiated at great length on the perils to which the ruffians, who had already perpetrated every sort of crime, were to be exposed by the measure under consideration, Mr Canning made some excellent ob. servations on this subject. "The honourable baronet had said, that if the root of all those evils lay in the press and free discussion, there could be no remedy but stopping the press

and free discussion altogether. Now he had imagined that there was no principle upon which people were more perfectly agreed, than that it was often necessary to compromise among evils, in order to produce the greatest good. The liberty of the press and of free discussion should certainly be fostered and encouraged by every wise government, as the sources from which the greatest benefits to mankind flow. But, at the same time, if they were pushed to an extreme by had men, from wicked motives, the law had power to correct the evils which might be derived from this perversion of a principle from which the greatest good ought to be expected. As to the sympathy which might be felt by some for the individuals who suffered for their conduct in the recent disturbances if the attention were exclusively directed to the individual at the moment he was expiating his crime, and not at the time of his committing it, hard indeed must be the materials of his heart who would not allow the contemplation of such a wretch's sufferings to efface for a moment the recollection of his guilt; but the measures proposed were not for the purpose of punishing, but for the purpose of saving. It was to save the great mass of the community from the evils produced by those disturbances; it was to save even the great mass of the poor deluded people themselves, that those measures were proposed. The evidence proved, that arms had been stolen, and that men were seen drilling at nights. Now, although it was not proved that the men so drilled were armed with the arms so stolen, yet there could be very little doubt, that in time those arms would come into their hands. It could hardly be supposed, that two such operations should be going on in precisely the same part of the country, and yet that

VOL. V. PART I.

it was never intended the arms and the rioters should meet together. Upon the whole, he was prepared to approve of the measures which were proposed; and he expressed his hope that they would be found sufficient for the purpose."

The arguments which were urged against the bill may be understood from the following summary :-That the supporters of the bill had looked merely to the surface of the evil-that they wished to explain to the House only the present state of the disturbed counties, without affording any information as to the causes of so unexampled a conspiracy that there was no occasion for the precipitation with which it was intended to carry through the present measure, since it was known that for some time past the riots had neither increased in extent nor violence

that the report which had been laid before the House was, from the want of parole evidence, quite unsatisfactory, and by no means such as to warrant the serious innovations on the law and constitution which were contemplated-that no such thing existed as a disciplined army in the disturbed counties-that not a regiment, not even a company, such as the ministers described, could be found in any part of the country-that the whole of the distress in Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cheshire, originated in the impolicy of government, which had annihilated the commerce of the country-that no appearance of combination existed among the rioters-that, on the contrary, they were all disunited, and without any appearance of a settled purposethat no projects were entertained against the constituted authorities or the government-that the controversy existed entirely betwixt the workmen and their masters-that at Nottingham, by the ordinary operation of the

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