266 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 2794. 



punishment of seditious practiceu ; 

 and that some rigorous measures 

 ovight to be adopted. Mr. Adams's 

 m^'tion was then negatived by 77 

 against 24. 



iVlotions for an examination of 

 the triajs of IVIcssrs. Muir and Pal- 

 mer were also made in the Upper 

 House resptctively, by the Earl of 

 Lauderdale and the Eirl of Scan- 

 hope. These motionsbdng negativ- 

 ed by vast majorities, were follovi'ed 

 by another from the Lord Chan- 

 cellor, declaring th,.t there were 

 no grounds for interfering in the 

 criminal court"; of justice as now 

 established. This motion was car- 

 ried, and put an end to the discussi- 

 ons on these subjects ; the import- 

 ance of which hadj while they weic 

 in agitation, greatly excited the at- 

 tention of the public, and raised 

 the hopes and fears of numbers, 

 both in Scotland and England : 

 the former being extremely desi- 

 rous of an extension of the English 

 laws to that country in the cases un- 

 der debate j and the latter being no 

 IcKs apprehensive of the Scottish 

 laws obtaining an introd«ction to 

 England. 



There were at this time tvyo fa- 

 mous political societies in England : 

 the one styled the Society for Con- 

 stitutional Iriformatjon ; the other, 

 ■which was the most numerous, the 

 Corresponding Society. The avow- 

 ed object of each, was, a reform in 

 the parliamentary representation of 

 the people. But far deeper and 

 more dangerous designs were im- 

 puted to both, especially to the lat- 

 ter, which consisted of the middle 

 and lower classes. The commer- 

 cial and manufacturing towns w^ere 

 full of them. The members of this 

 society, in their meetings, were ex- 

 tremely free in their censures of 



administration, in reprobating the 

 war against France, and even in 

 explicicly wishiflg success to the 

 French. They did not seem to 

 entertain the least dread of ministe- 

 rial power. Publications frequently 

 appeared, notoriously patronized 

 and circulated through their irtcans, 

 the contents of which were of so 

 daring a nature, as equally to ex- 

 cite the astonishment of the pub- 

 lic and the anger of government. 

 They had organized theirassemblies 

 and proceedings with the utmost 

 regularity 5 and the various resolu- 

 tions and fcntiments adopted in 

 their meclings, wtie publi.shed to 

 the world by add. esses and adver.^ 

 tiiements in the newspapers. They 

 appeared resolutely determined to 

 shun concealment, and to Iftt all 

 people know their intentions. 

 Whatever these might ultimately 

 be, their ostensible aim» went no 

 further than to bring about such 

 changes in the system of electing 

 the representative body, at might 

 enlarge the number of electors, and 

 shorten the duration of parliament. 

 Put they were charged with viewa 

 of another kind : they were accused 

 of an enmity to the present con- 

 stitution, and of covering, under 

 the pretence of legal reform, a, 

 radical design to destroy it funda-* 

 nient lily, and to introduce a repub- 

 lican torm pf government. That 

 such designs were harboured by' 

 many of them, cannot be de. 

 nicd ] but that such an imputa, 

 tlon was applicable indiscriminate- 

 ly to all, caiipot with any \tuth be 

 asserted. 



The publication of IVIr. Byrkc'-^ 

 sentiments on the French revolu- 

 tion, and the subsequent answer ta 

 Mr. Paine in his celebrated per- 

 formance, stjle the R'ghts of Man, 



were 



