our ardent thanks, as a part of that community which you have so eminently be nefited. Resolved, that a copy of this Address, signed by the Chairman, be transmitted by him to G. L. Wardle, esq. TOWN AND COUNTY OF POOLE. At a Meeting of the Inhabitants of the Town and County of Poole, pursuant to Public Notice, held at the Town Hall, on Friday, the 21st of April, 1809, Thomas Parr, in the Chair. 1. Resolved unanimously, That the late Inquiry by the House of Commons into the Conduct of his Royal Highness the Duke of York, as Commander-in-Chief, has exposed the most flagrant abuses in the Administration of Public Affairs, which tend to stain the honour of the British character and endanger the security of the Empire. 2. Unanimously, That impressed with a deep sense of the service he has rendered his country, the Thanks of this Meeting be given to G. L. Wardle, esq. for that diligent perseverance and temperate, but manly spirit, with which, undismayed by the menaces of power, or unsupported by the intrigues of party, he has brought into public view a system of corruption, equal Resolved, That the exposure of many transactions in the several Departments of the State, and the conduct of many perons connected therewith, are so many melancholy proofs that the Constitution of the Country has been endangered by gressly dangerous to the Liberties of the Peoand scandalous corruption. That it is the indispensible duty of every Member of the House of Commons, to guard with a watchful eye the expenditure of the public money; and as the faithful guardian of the People's rights, to exert every endeavour to detect, and bring to condign punishment, the Agents of Corruption in every Department of the State. That it is to the true petriotism and undannte: zeal of G. L. Wardle, esq. that the Country is indebted for the exposure of many flagrant abases in the Military Department; and to his anexampled courage and perseverance, (assisted by the virtuous and independent Members of the House of Commons) we look with confidence to the completion of the great work of Refor Deeply impressed with these Sentiments, we cannot but consider G. L. esq. intitled not only to our warmest Thanks, but also to the gratitude of his Wardle, country. That the Thanks of this Meeting be conveyed to G. L. Wardle, esq. accordingly. That the Thanks of this Meeting be given to B. Lester Lester, esq. the worthy Representative of this Town and County; to the Member for the County of Dorset, and to all other the Members of the House of Commons who voted in the different Minorities on the late important questions. TOWN OF MAIDSTONE. ple, and the Safety of the Crown. 3. Unanimously, That the Thanks of this Meeting be given to sir F. Burdett, bart. for having seconded Mr. Wardle's Motion. 4. Unanimously, That the Thanks of this Meeting be presented to Geo. Longman, esq. our worthy Representative, for the faithful discharge of his public trust, in opposing abuse and corruption by dividing in favour of Mr. Wardle's Motion. 5.Unanimously, That the Thanks of this Meeting be given to lord Folkestone, W. Honywood, esq. S. Whitbread, esq. sir S. Romilly, knt. gen. Ferguson, J. Calcraft, esq. J. Jackson, esq. and the rest of the 125 Honest Members, who voted for Mr. Wardle's Motion. 6. Unanimously, That the decision of the Majority of the House of Commons on the Abuses brought to light in the course of the late Inquiry, is a subject of deep regret and concern to the People of England, and must impress conviction on the mind of every Friend to his King and Country that a radical Reform in the Representation of the People presents the only effectual means of putting a stop to those corrupt practices which undermine and threaten to destroy our envied Constitution. 7. With three dissentient voices, That this Hall is gratified to hear that the res pectable names of sir Wm. Geary, bart. T. Law Hodges, esq. and T. Rider, esq. are given to a Meeting, called for the express purpose of digesting a plan of a Reform in Parliament, and we trust that their efforts will conduce to the satisfaction of the People, and the welfare of the Country. BOROUGH OF PLYMOUTII. as respectably and numerously attended as any Public Meeting ever witnessed in that Hall.-Samuel Whitwell, esq. in the Chair. After some preliminary observations, from several Gentlemen, explanatory of the nature and design of the Meeting, the following Resolutions were passed without one dissenting voice: At a very numerous and respectable Meeting of the Inhabitants of the Borough of Plymouth, convened at the Guildhall thereof this 24th day of April, 1809, by public Advertisement, by the Worshipful the Mayor, to consider the propriety of a Vote of Thanks to Mr. Wardle,, for his exemplary and judicious arrangements, in a recent Investigation before Parliament 1. That it is the opinion of this Meetrespecting the Conduct of the late Com-ing, that corrupt abuses appear to have mander in Chief of the Army.-The Wor-existed to an alarming extent, in different shipful the Mayor in the Chair. departments of the State, and particularly in that of the Army, as clearly substantiated by the evidence produced before the House of Commons, in the Investigation of the Conduct of his Royal Highness the Duke of York, the late Commander in Chief. Resolved, That circumstances of public notoriety place beyond all doubt the long existence of nefarious and scandalous Abuses in various Branches of the Government of the Country, and that minute Investigation is absolutely necessary into several Public Departments, Resolved, That G. L. Wardle, esq. has faithfully discharged the duties of a conscientious Member of Parliament, and is eminently entitled to the approbation and thanks of the Inhabitants of this Town, for the firm and manly manner and distin guished abilities evinced by him on the Inquiry into the Conduct of the late Commander in Chief of the Army; and also that great praise is due to all those who supported him in his arduous and difficult undertaking. 2. That the Thanks of this Meeting be given to G. L. Wardle, esq. M. P. for his intrepid and patriotic conduct in bring ing forward the Charges before the House of Commons, and for his laudable and persevering exertions, in the face of the most powerful opposition, during the progress of this arduous business. 3. That the Thanks of this Meeting be also given to our worthy Representatives, Peter Moore, esq. and William Mills, esq. for their independent conduct during this important Investigation, and for which they are justly entitled to the additional approbation and confidence of their Constituents. 4. That the Thanks of this Meeting be also given to sir Francis Burdett, bart. M.P. Resolved, That the Inhabitants of this Town regret that a much greater number of independent and unbiased Members were not to be found in the House of Com-lord visc. Folkestone, M. P. Samuel Whitmons anxious to promote such measures as might tend to annihilate Corruption, which if not corrected must endanger the welfare of our inestimable and happy Con stitution. Resolved, That the Mayor be requested to communicate to G. L. Wardle, esq. the Sentiments and Resolutions of this Meeting. CITY OF COVENTRY. At a Meeting of the Inhabitants of this City, held at the County Hall, the 25th day of April, 1809, pursuant to notice given by Basil Goode, esq. Mayor, in consequence of a Requisition sent to him, for the purpose of expressing their sentiments upon the late Investigation of the Conduct of his Royal Highness the Duke of York, before the House of Commons; which was bread, esq. M. P. sir Samuel Romilly, knt. M. P. major-general Ferguson, M. P. Harvey Christian Combe, esq. M. P. and all the rest of the virtuous and honourable Minorities, who nobly stood forth at this important crisis as the enemies of corruption and the friends of their country, by supporting Mr. Wardle upon, this occa sion. LONDON :-Printed by T. C. HANSARD, Peterborough - Court, Fleet - Street; Published by R. BAGSHAW, Brydges-Street, Covent - Garden :-Sold also by J. BUDD, Pall-Mall. VOL. XV. No. 20.] 86 LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 20, 1809. [Price Is. "MY fords, I think it is due to the age and country in which we live, to state whot, indeed, is universally believed, that there never was a period in the history of this country, or of any other, in "which the characters of persons, in an exalted station of publ life, were so free from all suspicion "of this species of offence (corruption as at the present moment-MR. PERCEVAL'S Speech on the Trial of Philip Hamlin, 22nd Nov. 1802. 737] -[739 MR. MADOCKS'S MOTION.thing to a point; indeed to an issue; aye to a clear and unequiTHE Debate upon Mr. Wardle's vocal decision.- This Debate, introduction of his Charges I therefore, is, beyond all comparithought so very important, so son, the most important that I necessary to be read by every one. have ever had any knowledge of. and to be speedily put into a si- It will, I hope, be read by every tuation, where it might be easily man that can read, in this whole referred to, that I deviated from kingdom. Those who take in my usual practice, and inserted the papers containing it, should lend whole of the Report of it in the them to their neighbours who Register, as that report stood in do not. It should, if possible, be the news-papers.If there was got by heart; and repeated once good reason for doing so, upon every week, in every family in that occasion, how much stronger the kingdom. Boys at school is the reason for it in the present should have it to read, in preferinstance! The charge then was, ence to every other thing. It in every point of view, of trifling should be printed in all shapes. consequence; indeed of no con- and sizes; and be perpetuated in sequence at all; of a sort not all the ways in which any act, worthy of a moment's attention, or event, can be perpetuated. A compared to the Charge brought concise statement of the charge forward by MR. MADOCKS, on and the decision should have a the 11th of this month; and the place in all the Almanacks; all Debate upon which is infinitely the printed Memorandum Books; more interesting to us, than the in Court Kalendars; Books of fate of any, or of all the nations Roads; and, I see no harm in its upon the continent of Europe, having a place upon a spare leaf and of all the colonial possessions in the Books of Common Prayer. and commerce in the whole world. It should be framed and glazed; In short, after years and years of and hung up in Inns, Town-Halls, disputation, relative to the means Courts of Justice, Market-Places, by which men get to be Mem-and, in short, the eye of every bers of Parliament; after hun-human creature should be, if posdreds of prosecutions against sible, constantly fixed upon it. those, who have, at different--I mean merely the naked times, written and published re-fact: The bare record, unaccomlative to those means; at last, panied with any comment whatMR. MADOCKS has brought the ever.Nor shall I, upon this pre occasion, or any other, that I can, sued upon this, the question was taken upon a motion FOR AN INQUIRY into the matter; there appears, from the report, to have been 395 members sent; and, out of the 395, 85 voted for the motion, which, of course, was lost, there being three hundred and ten out of three hundred and ninety five, who voted against the inquiry Such was the charge, and such the result: and now the reader has nothing to do, but carefully to peruse, and tenaciously to keep in mind, what was said upon both sides of this question: this interesting, this great, this all-important question; this question, which involves in it consequences of ten million times more importance to England, than the fate of all the expeditions, all the armies, and all the fleets in the world. at present foresee, offer any comment, or opinion, upon any part of this Debate, as far, at least, as it relates to the Charge. I shall take it, word for word, and letter for letter, as I find it reported in the MORNING CHRONICLE newspaper of the 12th instant, and shall leave the reader to form his own opinion. He will, indeed, need no opinion of mine. The thing will speak for itself. It is plain matter of fact, unencumbered with any thing that can give rise to a difference to be settled by reasoning. The Charge, as will be seen below, in Mr. Madocks own words, was this: "I affirm, then, that MR. DICK purchased a seat in the House of "Commons for the borough of "Cashel, through the agency of "the Honourable Henry Welles"ley, who acted for, and on be"half of, the Treasury; that, upon 66 REPORT OF COMMONS, On the 11th of May, 1809, MADOCKS, against Mr. PERCEupon the Charge made by MR. VAL and Lord CASTLEREAGH, relative to the selling of a Seat in Parliament to MR. DICK, and to the influence exercised with MR. DICK, as to his voting upon the recent important question. "a recent question of the last OF THE DEBATE, IN THE HOUSE importance, when Mr. Dick "had determined to vote according to his conscience, the noble Lord, CASTLEREAGH, did intimate to that gentleman the necessity of either his voting with "the government, or resigning his "seat in that House; and that "Mr. Dick, sooner than vote against principle, did make "choice of the latter alternative, "and vacate his seat accordingly. that the Resolution of that House on the MR. MADOCKS began by moving "To this transaction I charge the 10th Dec. 1779, be then read-it was read Right Honourable Gentleman, accordingly, and stated in substance, that "MR. PERCEVAL, as being pricy it is "Highly criminal for any Minister or Ministers, or any other Servant of the "and having connived at it. This "Crown in Great Britain, directly or in"I will ENGAGE TO PROVE directly, to make use of the power of "BY WITNESSES AT YOUR" his office, in order to influence the elec "BAR, if the House will give "me leave to call them."--At the end of the Debate, which en "tion of Members of Parliament, and that "an attempt to exercise that influence "was an attack upon the dignity, the ho"nour and the independence of Parlia "ment, an infringement of the rights and that if instances of corruption did exist, it "the liberties of the people, and an attempt was the duty of the House to hunt them 'to sap the basis of our free and happy Consti- out, and drag them to light. In that tution."Mr. Madocks next moved feeling he shared with those hon. gentlethe Resolution of that House on the 25th men, and trusted that the indignation April, 1809, be then read-it was read ac- they seemed to express at the theory of cordingly, and alledged in substance, corruption would not be allayed by an "That while it was the bounden duty of that exposition of the practice. He for his House to maintain at all times a jealous part, was no party man-he was bound to guard upon its purity, and not to suffer no man, or any set of men, except as far as any attempt upon its privileges to pass he agreed with those who were anxious for "unnoticed, the attempt in the present the extirpation of corruption and abuses of "instance (that of Lord Castlereagh and every kind, and the restoration, in their Mr. Reding), not having been carried original purity, of all the good and sound into effect, that House did not think it old principles of the Constitution. This "then necessary to proceed to any crimi- was what he looked for, and what, if the natory Resolutions respecting the same." House and the country were true to them-Mr. Madocks then said, that before selves, he did not yet despair of attaining. he proceeded to redeem the pledge he had It was favourite opinion with some of the given to the House of bringing forward rt. hon. gentlemen, that no times were less the Charges he had that day to adduce, he corrupt than the present-that this was, as thought it right to remind them of the it were, the age of purity. If such an opiopinion they had recorded of that crimi- nion was well founded, it would be rather nal conduct, of which he then rose to ac- inconsistent with such an opinion, and not cuse two of their own body. Before he very conformable to the spirit of such entered directly into the statement of his times, to resort to any party expedient, in Charge, he trusted that the indulgence of order to resist or to evade any direct the House would allow him to make a few charge of corruption against any indivipreliminary observations, arising out of dual whatever. Gentlemen, therefore, and bearing upon the subject. In his who thought so purely of present times, attempt at that time to discharge his and public men, would no doubt, with a duty, he hoped that he would discharge suitable jealousy, insist upon every charge it in a manner that became his sense of of corruption being directly met, minutely it; and in the first place, he was most examined into, and impartially decided anxious to abstain from every thing perso- upon. Upon a former night he had been nal, from any thing that could give pre- accused of having been guilty of a violatence for an imputation of the kind-fortion of the usual courtesy of that House, in he could in truth say, that no such charge could be justly imputed to him. He was influenced by no personal motives, it was to measures he looked, not to individuals. He entirely overlooked the Men in the System-a system which seemed to say, that corruption was necessary to govern Englishmen-a system, which seemed to say that the English Constitution was inadequate without the aid of corruption to the purposes of good government, was insufficient without corruption for social order, foreign relations, or self-defence. He denied, in the name of the Constitution, the necessity of such a system, and thought that any attempt to argue its necessity was one of the strongest proofs of its dangerous and fatal tendency. It was against such a system his hostility was directed, and when he stood forth in that House the avowed enemy of corruption, he felt he had a right to claim the alliance of the hon. gentlemen opposite in the same cause, who had recently stated not having given the customary notice to the hon. gentlemen particularly interested in the charges he had to bring forward. To this he could only reply, by reminding the House that two or three years ago, when a Member of that House (Mr. Asheton Smith) presented the Hampshire Petition, it was objected by the gentleman charged with undue interference in the Southampton election, (Mr. Freemantle), and complained of by his friends, that no notice whatever had been given that gent. of the charge to be preferred against himbut it was at the same time contended by those now composing his Majesty's Government, that the Petition should be received, and that the allegations contained in it should be brought under the special consideration of the house. In that opinion the House concurred; thinking then, as he hoped they would now, that where the charge was of so serious nature, involving the paramount question of their own privileges, it would not become their dignity |