son.

tion, Toleration of such opinions amounted to a toleration of the worst species of anarchy, sedition, and treaWith respect to the question of " Where are you to stop ?" it was not proper that the limit of their reme dies should ever be declared, or that they should pronounce this the last remedy to which they could recur. He would however say, that persecution ought not in any case to extend beyond what the real necessity of the case required, and the temporary remedy in the present bill might be supposed the best in the present case Respecting the necessity of the measure, the proofs for that necessity, and the nature of the remedy applied to the case, he conceived the house was perfectly satisfied; and he saw no reason why the right of the people to meet for legal purposes in a constitutional way, or their right to petition parliament for a reform, had been introduced, since those points had never been disputed, Such a meeting, however, he contended, bore no resemblance to the convention proposed by those societies; and in support of this opinion he read extracts from the proceedings of the societies, Mr. Pitt argued at much length on this subject to prove that the convention was intended to possess a power paramount to that of parliament, Whether or not the report contained any thing new, was little to the purpose, provided it was considered to substantiate the grounds of the alarm. The fact, however, was otherwise. Till the seizure of the papers, the correspondence with the club at Norwich was unknown; a very important fact, which brought to light the general design of assembling the jacobin convention. What was known two years ago was a link of the chain, which reached down to the present time. The remedy, he said, only amounted to put a legal restraint upon criminal actions; and the present crime amounted, in his opinion, to a conspiracy of that nature, which was perhaps a stronger reason for the suspen sion of the habeas corpus act, than the cases of invasion or rebellion so frequently alluded to. The persons who

composed these societies were of a very different opinion, he said, from those who thought the present measure ineffective ; for they had declared the suspension of the habeas corpus bill the very measure which should be the signal for them to assemble their convention; and therefore it became the more necessary to pass the bill quickly, to prevent their taking measures to evade its operation.

MR. SHERIDAN.

On the Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act.

He prefaced his motion for the repeal of the suspension act, by observing, that the preamble to that act stated the existence of a treasonable and traitorous conspiracy, and appealed to the house whether they believed its present existence, or indeed that it ever did exist. Both were necessary to warrant the continuance of the suspension. The plots, he averred, were the mere fabrication of ministers, which was evident from the verdict of juries. He further charged ministers, from a letter which he produced, and which was one of several sent round, with having made use of a degree of management in forming the grand jury, by whom the indictment had been found. The opinion delivered by the solicitorgeneral, and the phrase of acquitted felon, made use of by Mr. Windham, were much reprobated and ridiculed by Mr. Sheridan. It had been, he said, stated, that a person might be charged with murder, who had only been guilty of house-breaking; but could not certaimy be said to be innocent, because the first charge

was not proved. But did the men lately tried stand in this situation? On the contrary, if there was a case in which the verdict of a jury could establish the innocence of the accused, it was in cases of treason. Such a charge came from the highest authority, and with a weight and influence difficult for an individual to resist. In this crime the country was both party and judge. With respect to levying war, the evidence might be incompetent; but as to the charge of compassing and imagining the king's death, the intention constituted the crime. That no pains had been spared to bring home the charges in the late trials, was insisted upon by Mr. Sheridan, on a review of the whole proceedings. The fees to professional gentleman retained on the part of the crown, were stated by him at more than 8,000 pounds, independent of the solicitor to the treasury ; and that there was no hesitation in collecting witnesses, he inferred, from 207 being summoned in the case of Mr. Joyce, many of them at great expense and loss of time. He further stated the formidable forces of the accused party as consisting of one pike, a tee-totum in a window at Sheffield, a camp in a back garret, an arsenal provided with nine muskets, and an exchequer containing nine pounds and one bad shilling; all of which were to be employed against the armed force and established government of Great Britain. Mr. Sheridan strenuously argued against the suspension of the habeas corpus act, as suspending the whole British constitution; and urged the authorities of sir Edward Coke, and Judge Blackstone. Such a measure could only be justified by an emergency, which, he contended, did not exist. The evidence even of sedition appeared, he said, in so questionable a shape, as ought to excite suspicion; it was supported by a system of espionage, which had been carried to a greater extent under the present administration, than in any former period in this country. In animated terms he set forth the mischiefs arising to society from this detestable practice. He appealed to the

experience of the house, whether, as landlords, masters, or purchasers of different commodities, they perceived in the people any spirit of insubordination. That there was no danger existing at the present moment, he would not, he said, assert; but this danger arose from a contempt spreading amongst the people, of public men and public measures. To reform the conduct of government, and to correct abuses, would be the surest means of correcting discontent, and to render the further suspension of the habeas corpus act unnecessary. Again adverting to the late trials, Mr. Sheridan asserted, that the parties had only imitated what had been done in the societies in 1780." If then (added Mr S.) we boast of equal laws, and these men are to be considered as guilty of high treason, let us have some retrospective hanging; and whatever in that case may happen to me, his majesty will derive the benefit, since he will get rid at least of a majority of his present cabinet." It was, he said, re-echoed from every quarter,-look at the example of France; this, he thought, was a libel on the character of Great Britain. But were he to look to the example of France, he would look to the prodigality, the corruption, the detestable system of spies and informers, the insolence of the higher, and the oppression of the lower orders, which had distinguished the old government of France, and produced all the evils of the present system; and would thence be taught to avoid a system of terror and corruption, to give back to the people their rights and privileges, which rivetted their affection, and secured their obedience.

MR. PITT.

On the Consideration of his Majesty's Message respect. ing the Imperial Loan.

PROFESSED himself extremely happy at the oppor tunity afforded by his majesty's message, to dicuss the general principle of the imperial loan; the details of the measure could not, however, possibly be entered into till the negotiation was concluded. If the question now, was to decide whether it was proper for his majesty to guarantee a loan for a particular purpose, three points were to be considered,-the utility of the co-operation of Austria, the security for performance of the stipulations, and whether the risk was greater than the probable advantage. For the first, the general policy of the measure, he stated the impossibility of procuring peace, which had been admitted by a majority of the house; the powerful exertions which had been recommended even by those who advised negotiation with the enemy, powerful in men and resources, with whom we had never contended so successfully as when our maritime strength had been aided by a powerful land force on the continent. It was necessary to oppose to them the same means which they employed against us. Such was the proud situation of this country, that money, forces, and a navy, were to be found in Great Britain; if there was a deficiency, it was in the number of our land forces. For these we must look to some great power on the continent; and to whom could we look, but to the emperor, both from his extensive means, local situation, the mi