34] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1817. 



cieties was read, the Earl of Lau- 

 derdale observed, that the excep- 

 tions from the operation of this 

 clause did not extend far enough, 

 and that there could be no objec- 

 tion to include among the excep- 

 tions lectures merely on physical 

 science. He then moved a clause 

 to exempt from the operation of 

 the licencing enactments, lectures 

 on anatomy, astronomy, chemis- 

 try, or other branches of physical 

 science. The Earl of Liverpool 

 opposed the clause, on the ground 

 that it was not to be supposed that 

 magistrates, from, any private 

 motives, would prevent the de- 

 livery of such lectures. The 

 clause was put and negatived. 



An amendment j)roposed by 

 Earl Grosvenor to limit the du- 

 ration of. the bill to the first of 

 July 1817 was negatived. 



Lord Sidniouth proposed a clause 

 to prohibit public meetings within 

 a mile of the t^^o houses of par- 

 liament when sitting, or of the 

 courts of justice when sitting at 

 Westminster. After some discus- 

 sion, this clause Avas agreed to ; 

 and all the amendn:ients being 

 gone through, the bill was ordered 

 to be read a third time to-morrow. 



On the "ZSth of March, the or- 

 der of the day standing for the 

 third reading of this bill. Lord 

 Erskine rose, and began with the 

 consideration, first, what evidence 

 the House had of impending dan- 

 gers which justified the passing of 

 an act of the kind now before 

 them ; and secondly, whether ad- 

 mitting all the facts collected by 

 the report, the bill was either a 

 necessary or a proper remedy. 



It is evident t.iat this was the 

 natural line of argument which 



such a question required, and 

 which was anticipated in the 

 House of Commons. We shall 

 therefore refer to the proceedings 

 of the latter House for all that we 

 have thought necessary to extract 

 upon the general ground of discus- 

 sion, from the field of debate. 



It was mentioned on the pre- 

 ceding day that Lord Sidniouth had 

 introduced a clause into the bill 

 for the prevention of meetings 

 within a mile of Westminster-hall. 

 He had since considered that the 

 place for holding elections for 

 Westminster was within its pre- 

 cincts ; and also that the borough 

 of Southwark did not form any of 

 the usual avenues to parliament. 

 He therefore proposed to with- 

 draw the clause, and add as an 

 amendment, " saving and except- 

 ing in St. Paul's Covent-garden, 

 and tlie borough of Southwark." 

 This clause was adopted without 

 a division. 



The Earl of Liverpool then 

 moved that the bill do pass ; on 

 which the House divided : Con- 

 tents, HI; Non-contents, 23: 

 Majority, 88. 



The following protest of eight 

 peers was entered on the Journals. 

 " Dissentient. Because it appears 

 to lis that this statute, in inflicting 

 the penalty of death, is unjustly 

 severe ; that it gives to magis- 

 trates a formidable and unneces- 

 sary power, improperly controlling 

 the general expression of opinion, 

 and interfering both with the pub- 

 lic and private meetings of the 

 people, in times of which we 

 consider the danger to be much 

 exaggerated, and which we think 

 call for measures of conciliation 

 and relief, and not for coercion." 



CHAP- 



