GENERAL HISTORY. 



[23 



his majesty's faithful subjects, to 

 consider wlietlier it be not pos- 

 sible that your secret committee 

 may have been misled, by what 

 they may have deemed good evi- 

 dence, as to other parts of their 

 recent report ; and, at the least, 

 your petitioner humbly prays that 

 your lordships will, in your great 

 condescension, be pleased to per- 

 mit your petitioner to pioduce all 

 the books and papers of the Lon- 

 don Union Society at the bar of 

 your right honourable House, 

 where yoiu' petitioner confidently 

 assures your lordsliips that he is 

 ready to prove all and singular 

 the allegations, contained in this 

 his most humble petition. 



" And your ])etitioner will ever 

 pray. " Thomas Cleary." 



Some words applied by the Eavl 

 after he had read the petition, 

 pioduced a warm attack upon 

 him for the violation of order, in 

 which other speakers defended 

 him. At length, upon his motion, 

 that it should lie tipon the table, 

 a debate ensued, when Earl Grey 

 moved for an adjournment to the 

 following Fi iday. This was dis- 

 posed of by Contents, IS; Non- 

 Contents, b'4. The motion for 

 laying the petition on the table, 

 was tlien put and negatived. 



On February ^-ith, Earl Gros- 

 venor appeared again with Mr. 

 Cleary's petition, res])ecting which 

 he said, that the learned Lord on 

 the Woolsack had declared, that 

 the petition could not be received, 

 becau?e it alluded to the rcpr^rt of 

 the House, of which the ])etitioiier 

 could not be cognizant, neither 

 had it as yet been bi ought before 

 the House. It was now tcndei-ed 

 in .such a shape as, he trusted, 

 would remove any objection, all 



notice of the secret committee 

 being omitted. No opposition was 

 accoidiiigly made to its reception; 

 though not till several lords had 

 taken the opjjortunity of discuss- 

 ing the conduct of the connnittee, 

 by way of attack and defence. 



BILL FOR SUSPENSION OF 

 HABEAS CORPUS. 



On February 24th, a bill for the 

 suspension of the Habeas Corpus 

 act was moved in the House of 

 Lords. It was introduced by 

 Lord Sidmouth, whp began his 

 speech by an eulogy upon tlie 

 manner in which the secret com- 

 mittee had laid its discoveries 

 before the House. There were 

 three principal features to which 

 he would advert: 1. That no 

 doubt was left in the minds of 

 the committee, tliat a traitorous 

 correspondence existed in the me- 

 tropolis, for the purpose of over- 

 throwing the established govern- 

 ment : 1. That the committee are 

 deeply conceiiied to re])ort their 

 full conviction, that designs of 

 this nature have not been confined 

 to the capital, but are extending 

 widely through tlie iuost jjopulous 

 and manufacturing districts : 3. 

 That such a state of things cannot 

 be suiTored to continiie v. ithout 

 hazarding the ino-.t imminent and 

 dreadful evils. After descanting 

 upon tliese points, his lordship 

 proceeiU'd to set in a strong light 

 the actual danger into wiiich tlie 

 public welfare w:is brought ; and 

 he touched upon the riot in the 

 capital on December 2(1, and upon 

 his own active services in sup- 

 pressing it He was thence led to 

 take into consideration certain 

 provisions yf former legislatures, 

 to guard against public evils ; and 



he 



