§ Mr. Bennetsaid, he rose for the purpose of presenting a petition signed by a large body of merchants, manufacturers, tradesmen, and other inhabitants of the town of Manchester, praying the House to institute an inquiry into the fatal trans- 358 actions of the 16th of August. The signatures of between 6,000 and 7,000 persons were affixed to this petition, which bore the names of many eminent merchants, manufacturers, and tradesmen. It was, indeed, signed most respectably, and he thought that it spoke, in the moderation of its tone, and the propriety of its prayer, the sentiments of the great majority of the inhabitants of Manchester. It set forth, that which was unfortunately too well known to the House and to the country—that very great distresses had long prevailed in Manchester and its neighbourhood. Those distresses, which for some years past had weighed heavily on the lower classes, induced them to apply to parliament for relief; but their prayer not having been attended to, the consequence was, that a very general opinion had been entertained in that quarter in favour of parliamentary reform, as the only mode by which their situation could be ameliorated. In that opinion, he entirely concurred. He conceived that reform was necessary; but to what extent, or by what means it ought to be carried into effect, he did not at that moment presume to determine. The petition went on to state, that various meetings were held in that neighbourhood on the subject of reform, and at length one was called in the month of August last, which, in consequence of an illegality in the notice, did not take place. Another was convened for the 16th of that month. The result of that meeting, and the calamity which fell on many of the persons who were present at it, the House and the country were so well aware of, that he would not trouble them with any remarks on the subject. Notwith-standing what fell from the noble lord the other night, who thought fit to declare, that the whole case which had been made out on the part of the people, was founded in calumny—that it did not rest on the slightest evidence, he must say that he had read, and read most attentively, all the details of the transaction; and he pledged himself it would appear, that no less than eight or ten merchants and manufacturers, whose credit was perfectly unimpeached, had distinctly sworn to the truth of those allegations which the noble lord had attempted to disprove. When those statements, which were now only partially known, were laid before the public, containing, as they did, verbatim, the evidence of most respectable people, they would be found to corroborate much of 359 what had been said relative to the trans- actions of the 16th of August. He did not mean to assert, that they would establish completely the truth of all that had been advanced; but he was bound to declare, that, in his opinion at least, those eight or ten persons had spoken nothing but what was strictly true. If it was necessary to sum up the evidence, he believed it would be found that all those points which appeared to be contradictory, might be so united together, as to make out one clear, distinct, plain tale, that would not impeach the testimony of any man of honour, acting in the capacity of a witness, but would fully establish this truth—that the conduct of the military on that occasion was cruel in the extreme. The petitioners stated, that they, as well as the persons injured, had endeavoured, as far as lay in their power, to appeal for justice to the ordinary tribunals of their country. In the first instance, certain cases were selected, and sent before the grand jury, but unsuccessfully. It would be highly unbecoming in him to cast any reflection on the decision of that body, because independent of the respect which was due to an institution of that kind, and leaving out of consideration the conviction which he felt that twenty-four gentlemen, acting on their oath, would proceed cautiously, he might be permitted to say, that there were individuals on that grand jury, with whom he had been connected in ties of intimacy and friendship during the whole course of his life, even from his childhood, who, he was convinced, would perform their duty most conscientiously. Amongst these was his noble friend below him (lord Stanley), who acted as foreman of the grand jury, than whom no man possessed a more ho-nest head or heart. He was incapable of doing an unworthy action. Having tried the grand jury, and failed, the petitioners applied to the magistrates, and were in- formed by them, that they could not interfere, since it would ill become them to act as judges in their own cause. They next laid their complaint before the magistrates at Warrington, who stated, that they did not approve of the transactions at Manchester, but declined to take any cognizance of the business. Thus situated, they deemed it necessary to address that House, as the grand inquest of the nation; they prayed for their interference, and besought parliament to cause an investigation to be set on foot with respect 360 to the whole of the proceeding. They entreated the House to inquire, whether the magistrates had exercised a sound or a mischievous discretion; and, above all, whether his majesty's government, in giving thanks to the magistrates for their conduct during these proceedings, had not afforded the sanction of the Prince Regent's authority to an act which was viewed throughout the country with universal abhorrence. He most anxiously called on the House to receive this petition, and to attend to its prayer; because, from all he could learn, he believed there did exist a general distrust in the proceedings of parliament, which he wished, as much as possible, to remove. The tone and temper of the popular mind was much soured by those recent transactions. He believed one great feature of the English character to be, the love of impartial justice. It had "grown with their growth, and strengthened with their strength;" and the little attention which of late years had been paid to the petitions of the people, appeared to him to be one of the greatest calamities that had ever befallen the country, because it had tended to widen the differences which unfortunately existed between the Commons of England and the Commons House of Parliament—a difference which no man could perceive without deep regret, and which all who wished well to their country would endeavour to remove. The hon. member concluded by moving, "That the petition be brought up."
§ Sir Robert Wilson, in seconding the motion, said, he concurred most cordially in all that had been offered by his hon. friend. Having read the whole of the evidence, as well as the papers that had been laid before the House, and which might be said to be a bill of indictment against the people of Manchester, he would plainly declare, it was is conscientious conviction, that the only offence committed by the people was, not a resistance vi et armis, against the civil power, but that sort of unintentional resistance which a dense crowd of persons could not avoid giving to those who endeavoured to force their way through them. He believed that no resistance was offered to prevent the party from approaching the hustings; and it appeared to him, that no attempt was made to apprise the people that the civil power wished to approach, for a particular purpose. If such 361 an intention had been made known to Mr. Hunt, he had declared that he would himself have made way, and submitted at once to the civil authority. This was proved by what occurred when Mr. Hunt was apprehended. He immediately asked, "Have you a warrant? I will yield to the civil power; but I will not recognize military authority." The magistrates did, most unconstitutionally, order an armed body to advance against an unoffending multitude, composed of reformers and non-reformers, of spectators as well as actors. This was undeniable. But whether the military conducted themselves with temper—whether they exercised that sound discretion which they ought—whether they advanced with due caution—whether they were accompanied by a civil officer—and whether, having flourished their swords about their heads, they advanced rapidly, killing a constable and an unfortunate woman and her child, overturning and trampling on a feeble old man, who was supported by a crutch, and maiming in their course 400 or 500 persons— these things had not been inquired into, and they were matters of too serious a nature not to demand investigation. However the encomiums that had been pronounced on captain Birley by his hon. friend, and by the noble chairman of the grand jury, might have been deserved, still nothing appeared in that gentleman's evidence which controverted the statements that had been made relative to the conduct of the cavalry. He wished to say nothing to prejudge that in dividual's case, but he was certainly charged on oath with being one of the party who, on that occasion, cut down a man near the hustings, which man was supposed to be John Lees, and he was therefore implicated in the business which was now pending before the coroner. Another point of importance was the fact that the swords of the yeomanry were sharpened. Notwithstanding all that had been said within the walls of that House, nothing had been adduced that could contradict this statement, which was fully borne out by the evidence given before the coroner. [Coughing, and other marks of impatience.] If gentlemen would have a little patience, he could substantiate his statement. Daniel Kennedy, who was the cutler employed on the occasion, gave the following evidence: —" In the week ending the 17th of July, I had done 63 swords. Previously to the 16th of August I was told to sharpen those 362 that remained very well." He was asked "Did you make them very sharp?" The answer was, "Yes." It was next demanded, "Were the swords ever brought to you to be sharpened before?" He answered, "From time to time they were brought to me to be cleaned, but not to be sharpened." "Did any of those swords want repairing?" "Some of them," said Kennedy, "might, but they were sent to be sharpened." He was then asked, "Did they want sharpening?" He answered, "They were as sharp as swords usually are." If this evidence could be disproved, it must be done by information not yet before the House. As no judicial inquiry was likely to be obtained under existing circumstances—as there was no chance that justice would be done to the parties injured, in the county of Lancaster, and inquiry ought to be instituted in that House. When, in the first instance, the coroner's officer refused to proceed with the inquest—when one coroner had manifested a degree of indecency which he would not state to the House—when they saw another acting most improperly, as he had done—when they knew that 27 persons were kept in custody for eleven weeks, and then discharged without any offence being proved against them, and without being held to bail, it was impossible not to conclude that the county of Lancaster, under the present circumstances, was out of the pale of the law. He therefore hoped, in common with his hon. friends around him (to whom he was bound by no party ties, whom he supported, because he thought they had the best interests of the country at heart), that the whole of the case would be minutely investigated. He trusted his hon. friends would persevere in the course they had adopted, that they would place themselves in "the imminent deadly breach," and defend to the last the laws and constitution of the country. He hoped they would not allow any bill to go through that House which was calculated to trench on the liberty of the subject, until a full, fair, and impartial inquiry was conceded.
§ Mr. Mansfieldsaid, he had no opportunity, more than the gallant general who had just sat down, of forming an opinion on this subject; but, having read the papers that were submitted to the House, he was free to confess, that they had led him to form a conclusion very different from that which the gallant general had adopted. The gallant general had spoken 363 of the yeomanry carrying their swords to be sharpened; but he must say, that he was far from being convinced by any thing that had fallen from him, that their swords were improperly sharpened. He admitted that they were sharpened; but it struck him that it would have been a more extraordinary circumstance if they were not sharpened. Because, if he rightly understood the papers in his hand, it appeared, not merely from the statement of the magistrates, and from the evidence given before them, but from the declaration of the grand jury of Chester, that meetings were held at which persons attended armed with pikes and pistols—weapons no doubt proper for the purposes of reform [Hear, hear!]. Could it be supposed that an immense multitude would assemble, armed, for any good purpose? When men met together to petition for their rights, was it necessary that they should carry a pike and a pistol? Was it wonderful that the commander of a military force, when called on to attend such a meeting, should ask his men, "In what state are your arms?" and should direct them to come properly prepared? The gallant general had laid a great deal of stress on what was said at the inquest at Oldham. He must, however, tell the gallant general, that he was very much disposed to disbelieve many of the persons who gave evidence, even on their oath, because several of them were present at the meeting, and had partaken largely of that stream of sedition, impiety and blasphemy, which flowed through the country, and which taught men to treat our Saviour as an impostor. Would men who propagated or who cherished such doctrines be bound by the obligation of an oath? Assuredly not. Men who avowed a hatred to the magistrates, who were opposed to all order, who were desirous to pull down the constitution—such men had an interest in giving evidence of the description to which the gallant general had alluded. Without this explanation, it would be extraordinary if he refused to give credit to the evidence of many of those persons, on oath. In the last session an hon. gentleman (Mr. Bennet), whose philanthropy no man could doubt, brought a case of grievance before the House, which was very proper for inquiry. It was answered by his majesty's ministers; and in the course of the discussion the hon. gentleman said, Dr. John- 364 son had somewhere observed, "that cases might arise where even powerful circumstances would not carry the weight of conviction against the strong course of probability." In this instance, he conceived the strong course of probability was opposed to many of the statements that had been made. The yeomanry were said to have cut down women and children. He did not believe it. He would not believe that a yeoman or any other man-no, not even the infamous Carlile himself —could be guilty of such an act.
The petition was then brought up and read. It sat forth:
"That for several years past a great proportion of the labouring classes in the district where the petitioners reside have been suffering very severe privations, arising partly from the want of employment, and partly from the inadequacy of their wages to afford them a comfortable subsistence, evils which they have attributed in a principal degree to the great pressure of taxation consequent upon the inadequate representation of the Commons of Great Britain and Ireland in the House; that the same classes have therefore an earnest desire that a reform in the representation of the people may speedily take place; that the political bias of the labouring classes having, as it appears to the petitioners, been rendered more decisive by their personal sufferings, they have, to a great extent, publicly expressed their opinion, that annual parliaments and universal suffrage are necessary, in order sufficiently to guarantee the purity, the independence, and the integrity of the House of Commons; that into the consideration of this point the petitioners do not enter, but they state to the House, that within the last two or three years numerous public meetings, having in view the forwarding of this object, have been held in Manchester and the neighbouring towns, all of which, except where an interference by, or by order of, the magistracy has taken place, have been conducted from their commencement to their termination in an orderly and peaceable manner; that in the latter part of the month of July last, a meeting was announced, by public advertisement, to be held on the 9th day of August, 'to take into consideration the most speedy and effectual mode of obtaining radical re-form in the Commons House of Parliament, and also, to consider the propriety of the unrepresented inhabitants of Man- 365 chester electing a person to represent them in parliament, and the adopting Major Cartwright's bill;' which meeting having, in consequence of the purpose for which it was called together, been publicly declared by the magistrates acting in and for the division of Manchester to be illegal, was immediately given up by its projectors, and a new notice issued for a meeting to be held on the 16th of August, ' in order to consider of the propriety of adopting the most legal and effectual means of obtaining a reform in the Commons House of Parliament;' that for several days before the 16th of August this notice was publicly and widely circulated; that as no intimation whatever was given, or, as the petitioners presumed, could legally be given by the magistrates, that the intended meeting was contrary to law, on the day appointed very numerous bodies of persons from most of the circumjacent towns and villages entered Manchester, walking with considerable regularity in parties of from three to six or eight abreast, accompanied by many women and children, and having along with them bands of music, and also various flags bearing different mottoes or inscriptions, and some of them surmounted with caps of liberty; that all these parties proceeded peaceably by different routes to the place of meeting, viz. the area near St. Peter's church, where, at about a quarter past one o'clock, the chair was taken by Mr. Hunt; that within ten or fifteen minutes after his arrival, and before he had entered upon the question for the consideration of which the meeting was called together, the corps of Manchester yeomanry, acting as the petitioners believe, under the order of the magistrates, or of some of them, rode impetuously into the immense crowd, many of whom were trampled upon by the horses, or cut by the sabres of the men, and surrounded the hustings, where eight or ten persons, including the chairman of the meeting, and several of those who were most active in calling it together, were, under a warrant issued immediately before by the magistrates, who were then assembled in an adjacent house, taken into the custody of the civil power; that the corps of Manchester yeomanry, together with the regiment of Cheshire yeomanry, and a body of the fifteenth hussars, both of which had by this time come upon the field, did then charge upon the people in all directions, and to 366 a great distance from the place of meeting, in consequence of which eight persons have lost their lives, and not less than four or five hundred of his majesty's loyal, though suffering subjects, including all ages, from old men and women of seventy-five to young boys and girls of fourteen, were grievously crushed, trampled upon, bruised, maimed, or sabred; that had the only object of the magistrates been to take into custody the persons against whom legal process had been issued for any real or supposed offence by them committed, such object might easily have been obtained without the intervention of any military force, and without injury to any of his majesty's subjects; that the petitioners understand! and believe, and indeed many of them are by personal observation enabled positively to assert, that no act whatever, giving to the meeting the character of a tumultuous and riotous assembly had at the period of this violent incursion of the cavalry been committed; that in the absence of any breach of the public peace, or of any act having a direct, manifest, and unquestionable tendency thereto, it does not appear to the petitioners that the large discretionary powers given to the magistrates by the statute of 1 Geo. 1, c. 5, commonly called the Riot act, can legally be called into action; that, admitting, however the right of the magistrates, in the exercise of their best discretion, to make proclamation commanding the meeting to disperse, the petitioners are induced to believe that at the meeting of the 16th of August no such proclamation was made; because they understand that at none of the inquests held on the bodies of persons who lost their lives upon the occasion was any proof of its being made given; and because neither themselves, nor any person with whom they have conversed upon the subject, ever heard it; that even if the rumour of the reading of the Riot act should turn out to be true, the petitioners have still no hesitation in asserting, that it was not read according to the spirit and intention of the statute, that means were not taken to give due publicity to the circumstance of its having been read, or to induce the people peaceably to depart without incurring its penalties; and further, that not one third of the time allowed by law for the dispersion of an assembly had elapsed between the opening of the business of the meeting and the period at 367 which it was forcibly dissolved by the cavalry; that the petitioners, in common with an immense majority of the country at large, and, as they fondly hope, of the House, are fully convinced that transactions evincing such a total disregard for the safety of an immense multitude of their fellow citizens, involving the infliction of so much severe personal injury, so much loss of life, and constituting such a complete infraction of the inalienable right of Englishmen to assemble, in order to petition for the redress of grievances, real or supposed, peremptorily and imperiously require the most rigid, extensive, and impartial investigation; that, accordingly, with a view thereto, and to obtain justice for the sufferers, at the last assizes for the county of Lancaster bills of indictment were presented against certain individuals, who were identified as having inflicted severe wounds upon the people in the course of the dispersion of the meeting; that, notwithstanding the positive testimony by which these indictments were supported, the grand jury did, for some reason unknown to the petitioners, and of which they can form no conception, think proper to return the said bills 'Ignoramus;' that application was afterwards made to the magistrates acting in and for the division of Manchester, by or on behalf of persons who were wounded on the 16th of August, for warrants against certain individuals on charges of cutting and maiming, such application comprehending not only those persons against whom indictments had been presented at Lancaster, but others whose cases had not previously come before any court of justice, and that the said magistrates positively refused to hear the evidence upon which this application was founded, or to grant the warrants, notwithstanding they were informed that the cases which had been presented at Lancaster were supported by additional evidence, whilst the testimony as to the others was distinct, positive, and complete; that on the 7th day of September, one of the persons who had been wounded on the 16th of August, named John Lees, died at Old-ham, and that in the course of the inquest held on the occasion, the reception of evidence necessary, as the petitioners conceive, to the full elucidation of the case, was repeatedly refused by the coroner, who did afterwards, in a manner totally unprecedented, and which was calculated, 368 as the petitioners believe, and intended to obstruct the course of public justice, adjourn the proceedings of the said in-quest (without assigning any reason for his conduct) to a distant period; that the petitioners regret the necessity which has obliged them to call the attention of the House to matters cognizable by the established courts of law, but that all the avenues of public justice having been hitherto found so unaccountably closed, they can only look to the House for a full investigation of the affair; that the petitioners feel it necessary to remind the House, that on the 9th of February 1818, a petition from certain of the inhabitants of Manchester was presented to the then House of Commons, setting forth various arbitrary, illegal, and unconstitutional acts, which the petitioners pledged themselves (if so permitted) to prove by evidence at the bar, to have been exercised by the magistrates of that district in the early part of the preceding year; that the House of Commons not only refused to inquire into the truth of the allegations of the said petition, but in conjunction with the other branches of the legislature passed a bill, giving impunity, and even full indemnity to the persons by whom the illegal acts were stated to have been committed, although not one single statement contained in the said petition was ever disproved or shaken; that the impunity and protection then granted to acts contrary to the law of the land, and subversive of individual liberty, have, as the petitioners apprehend naturally emboldened the magistrates, or at least those amongst them by whom the proceedings of the 16th of August were conceived, advised, and directed, to commit that more flagrant violation of the rights and liberties of Englishmen, and that more alarming outrage on the lives of his majesty's subjects, of which the petitioners have now felt it their duty to complain; that the petitioners, appealing to their uniform respect and obedience to the constitutional laws under which they live, in proof of their own constant loyalty, are anxious that the dignified supremacy of the law should be fully and effectually maintained; that its protective powers should be extended equally to the poor as to the rich; and that any breach of it, by whomsoever, or under whatever pretence committed, should be duly yet temperately punished; that the petitioners deeply lament the fact too notorious to 369 admit of denial, that the labouring part of their fellow townsmen and neighbours have upon many recent occasions been treated by the magistrates of that district in a manner utterly unwarrantable and illegal; that, in proof of this statement, the petitioners would inform the House, that on or about the 16th of August last many persons were taken into custody on charges of a political complexion, and that for a period of nearly eleven weeks those persons were detained in prison, whilst they were ultimately discharged from custody on the 30th of October last, not only without trial, but without any bills of indictment, or even articles of the peace having ever been presented against them; that as the poverty of these unfortunate victims of capricious tyranny, prevents them from seeking legal redress, the petitioners conceive that unless the House interfere to procure them justice the protection of the law will be virtually withdrawn from them, whilst, to assert the practical equality of the enactments of law, its administration here remaining unchanged, will only be adding the cruelty of insult to the injustice of oppression; having therefore a deep sense of the importance of the circumstances which they have herein stated, knowing their momentous consequence with reference to the future liberties of Englishmen, anxious for the speedy rendering of strict and impartial justice, and that the magistrates and soldiery, if guilty, may be punished, if innocent absolved from blame, the petitioners do most earnestly request and intreat, that the House will be pleased to institute a prompt, public, impartial, and full inquiry into the transactions of the 16th of August, and those which have resulted therefrom."
§ On the motion, that it be laid on the table,
§ Mr. Bootle Wilbrahamsaid, he was desirous of expressing his firm conviction, that the statements made by the hon. gentleman and the gallant general were not at all likely to be proved. He was convinced that the statement he had made on a former evening was the just one. The speech of the hon. gentleman was calculated to make an impression on the House which the petition itself did not warrant. He here begged to make an observation respecting the sharpening of the swords. About the middle of July an order was given for sharpening them, and the swords which were sharpened in 370 the end of July and the beginning of August belonged to those members of the corps who had forgotten to send in their weapons originally, for no order was given subsequent to the first.
§ Mr. Bennet, in moving, that the petition be printed, said, the hon. gentleman who had recently spoken was rather too harsh in his censure on all the persons who had been examined before the coroner. Of the facts, he (Mr. B.) certainly had no personal knowledge; but he would pause much before he condemned all the persons who attended at the meeting of the 16th of August, as being tainted with the doctrines of Paine, and converted to the principles of infidelity and blasphemy. He, for one, thought those sweeping censures did a great deal of harm. They tended to widen the unfortunate breach which existed between parliament and the people. Whatever the opinions of gentlemen might be with respect to individual guilt, they ought not to cast a general slander on large bodies of men, about whom they knew nothing. He would tell the hon. gentleman who had uttered this censure, that there were amongst those who gave evidence, persons of sober, calm, and religious habits. One of them had come up to town on a journey of philanthropy, to propose to the House those measures for the protection of children in factories, which were carried last year. He knew that individual, and his object was, to protect not only him, but all those persons who had given evidence, from the charge that had been made against them; because it was most unfair to make those general accusations in the absence of all proof.
§ Mr. Mansfieldsaid, he had not meant to make so sweeping an assertion as was attributed to him. He felt, however, that he had a right to make a strong assertion, because one of those persons who gave evidence against the magistrates, admitted that he had himself marched a large party from Leeds to that meeting.
§ The petition was then ordered to be printed.