GENERAL HISTORY. 



[25 



convinced him that the d£i..ger • 

 was so alarming as had been re- 

 presented. Great discontents un- 

 doubtedly existed ; seditious prac- 

 tices evidently prevailed ; yet he 

 was not satisfied, thit they existed 

 in that shape and character which 

 justified the suspension of the 

 Habeas Corpus. 



The Earl of Liverpool, in his 

 reply to the Marquis, began with 

 absolutely denying, that the dis- 

 content and distress under which 

 we laboured, were attiiliutable to 

 the lite peace ; and he believed it 

 never entered into the heads of 

 any one to imagine that ssuch was 

 the consequence. So far from the 

 fact being such as the Marquis 

 stated, our trade and manufac- 

 tures were never so extensive as 

 during the yeais 1814 and 1815. 

 The origin of our distress was to 

 be traced to a totally difiFerent 

 cause from that of foreign trade ; 

 in fact it might be oiiginally 

 traced to the distress of our agri- 

 cultural intere-it. The next topic 

 of the Marquis's complaint was 

 the meeting of parliament, and it 

 was asked, why it was not earlier 

 assembled, when ministei's must 

 have known the dangers of the 

 country : it did not however follow, 

 tliat because there were clubs, 

 meetings, and publications of a 

 dangerous nature, that therefore 

 there were distinct proofs of a 

 conspiracy upon which govern- 

 ment might proceed capitally. In 

 fact, it was not till within three 

 weeks of the actual meeting of 

 parliament, that ministers were 

 in possession of that knowledge. 



'J'lie Earl then proceeded to 

 touch ujion the question nioie im- 

 mediately before their lordships ; 

 and he said, that the real point to 



be considered was, whether a 

 sufficient cause now existed for 

 the suspension of the Habeas 

 Corpus? On the present occasion 

 government had the fullest proof 

 (if they were to believe the report) 

 of a treasonable conspiracy in the 

 metropolis to oveiHurn the consti- 

 tution, and that the same system 

 was spread over a great part of 

 the country. Was it then too 

 much to contend, that under such 

 circumstances it was proper to 

 recur to the course which our 

 ance^tl)rs had ])ursi(ied in similar 

 dangers ? He felt all the inipoi t- 

 ance of the measure that was now 

 proposed; but he w<-uld not allow 

 any imputations that might be in- 

 sinuated to preclude him from the 

 conscientious discharge of his 

 duty. What he asked of parlia- 

 ment was to entrust the Prince 

 Regent's ministers with that 

 power for a short time — a most 

 odious one, he agreed — and which 

 ought not to be confided to any 

 man. or any set of men, except in 

 such cases as now, he apprhended, 

 justified him in calling for it. 



Earl Grey, after various preli- 

 minary remarks against the pro- 

 posed motion, argued in the first 

 place, that anycoiiajjiracy attended 

 witli an utter improbability of 

 success, as the present was al- 

 lowed to be, was not a case that 

 called for a suspension of the 

 Habeas Corpus. Who were the 

 chief actors in this conspiracy ? 

 Were they persons of great con- 

 sequence and CO nexions in the 

 country ? No. They were mi~erai)le 

 wretches reduced to the li>west 

 poverty and distress. What was 

 their object? To produce insur- 

 rection by calling persons toge- 

 ther on the pretext of parUanien- 



taty 



