was opened by a speech from the prince regent in person; in which, after alluding to the continued indisposition of the king; the amicable state of our relations with foreign powers: the splendid achievements of the fleet sent against Algiers, with the result of its success, so interesting to humanity; and the happy issue of the Nepaul war; he states, that the estimates for the current year have been formed with an anxious desire to make every reduction in our establishments which sound policy will allow, and he recommends the state of the public revenue to the early attention of parliament. The deficiency in the produce of the revenue in the last year, he trusts, may be ascribed to temporary causes; and he has the consolation of believing that the services of the year may be provided for without adding to the public burdens, or adopting any measure injurious to the established system by which the public credit has been hitherto sustained. The new silver coinage having been completed will speedily be issued, and he trusts will be productive of advantage. The speech then adverts to the distresses which the termination of a war of such extent and duration has brought on all the nations of Europe, and which have been aggravated by the unfavourable state of the season. The prince regent deeply laments the pressure of these evils on this country, but observes with peculiar satisfaction the fortitude with which privations have been borne, and the active benevolence employed to mitigate them; and he is persuaded that the great sources of national prosperity are unimpaired, and that the energy of the country will soon surmount all our difficulties. He lastly directs the attention of parliament to the attempts which have been made to take advantage of the distresses of the country for the purpose of exciting sedition and violence. Though well convinced of the loyalty and good sense of the great body of the people, he is determined to omit no precautions for preserving the publie peace and counteracting the designs of the disaffected, and he relies on the cordial support of parliament in upholding a system of law and government, productive of inestimable advantages, and which has been felt by our selves, and acknowledged by other nations, to be the most perfect that has ever fallen to the lot of any people.

The debates on the address, proposed

in answer to the speech, in both houses, were interrupted by the formal annunciation of an attempt having been made on the person of the prince regent, as he was passing through the park on his return from the house of lords. From

the evidence, it appeared that an immense crowd had followed and surrounded the state carriage, uttering the most seditions and even ferocions and sanguinary expressions against his royal highness and his guards. Many stones were thrown at the carriage, and one of the windows of it was broken in pieces. A bullet was supposed to have previously penetrated it; but the bullet not having been found, this point is not equally certain. It required the utmost exertions of the guards, and of the magistrates and constables who were present, to prevent the populace from perpetrating still more fatal outrages, and to conduct the prince safely to St. James's palace. These proceedings justly excited a strong feeling of indignation and horror both in and out of parlia ment; and although it has not been found possible to fix on the actual perpetrators of the outrage, yet so strong an impression was produced on the public mind of its directly emanating from the doctrines lately promulgated at public meetings, and circulated in inflammatory tracts and handbills, that a general desire was excited of seeing some legislative measures adopted for guarding the public peace, and obviat ing the recurrence of similar atrocities. Few persons, indeed, entertained any idea of the extent to which the evil was afterwards found to have proceeded, or of the formidable nature of the designs subsequently developed in the reports of the secret committees of both houses of parliament; but still enough was known to render all who were concerned for the peace and well-being of the country, anxious for the adoption of vigorous measures to repress tumult and disorder, and to prevent the fatal consequences to be apprehended from the unwearied and persevering efforts of certain demagogues to disturb and agitate the minds of the labouring classes. The whole subject was judiciously referred to the consideration of a secret committee of each house of parliament, composed of members taken from all parties, who, after a protracted investigation of evidence, have unanimously concurred in reports certainly of very fearful import, and deeply affecting

every individual in the community. The committee of the house of lords consisted of Lords Liverpool, Sidmouth, Fitzwilliam, Grenville, Harrowby, Eldon, Holland, &c. &c.; and that of the house of commons, of Lords Milton, Lascelles, and Castlereagh, Sirs John Nicholl, W. Curtis, and A. Pigott, the Attorney and Solicitor-General, Messrs. Ponsonby, Egerton, W. Elliott, B. Bathurst, Lamb, Robinson, Canning, Yorke, Wilbraham, Wilberforce, Dundas, Rose, and Frank. It is difficult to conceive that the persons whom we have named could have been induced to pronounce a clear opinion on any but adequate grounds: and exercised, as their minds have been for years, in the discussion of great questions, and in the examination of evideuce, and especially accustomed, as some of them have been, to regard with a wakeful jealousy the purposes of the existing government, it cannot be admitted, for a moment, that they would have joined, without a dissenting voice, in a statement of facts such as we have now to detail, or in the expression of the general opinion, of which these facts are made the basis, unless the evidence had been decisive.

The following is the substance of the report of the committee of secrecy of the house of commons:- From the documents referred to them, it appears that attempts have been made, both in the metropolis and various parts of the country, to take advantage of the existing distress to induce the labouring classes to look for rellef, not only from annual parliaments and universal suffrage, but from the overthrow of existing establishments, the extinction of the public funds, and the division of land. The active promoters of these views of spoliation have been societies, called Spencean; a name derived from a visionary writer of the name of Spence, who published a tract on the subject about twenty years ago. In the discussions which took place in these societies, it was maintained that even parliamentary reform was a half measure, and that nothing short of the land of the country would avail them; and that both landholders and fundholders were monsters to be hunted down; and that the latter especially were rapacious wretches, who took 15d. out of every quartern loaf. The most blasphemous doctrines were advanced and the most blasphemous language used: songs of the most treasonable kind, as well as pro,

fane and indecent parodies of the liturgy and the Scriptures, were also sung. The operations of these societies appear to have been directed by a conservative committee, and their doctrines have been systematically and industriously diffused among discharged soldiers, and sailors, and labourers of all descriptions, by inflammatory speeches, and by cheap or gratuitous publications circulated with incredible assiduity. An executive committee of these societies planned and endeavoured to effect an insurrection, so formidable from its numbers as to overpower all resistance. With this view the members of the committee endeavoured to foment the prevailing discontent in the metropolis, and to frame lists of those who might be relied on for daring enterprize. The design, was, by a sudden rising in the dead of the night, to overpower the soldiers in the different barracks, which were to be set on fire; to seize the artillery, seize or destroy the bridges, and take possession of the Bank and the Tower; and a machine was projected for clearing the streets of cavalry, This design was, however, relinquished shortly before the time fixed for its execution. It was determined first to ascertain their force, by means of meetings convened ostensibly for legal objects. Spa-fields was selected for these meetings, on account of its vicinity to the Bank and the Tower. Accordingly, inflammatary placards were circulated, calling on the people to arm, and to break open gunsmiths' shops in order to procure arms : run," they add," all constables who touch a man of us; nó rise of bread, no Regent, no Castlereagh

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off with their heads! no placemen, tithes, or enclosures; no taxes; no bishops, only useless lumber! Stand true, or be slaves for ever." A committee of public safety was now agreed upon after the manner of the French Revolution; and a tri-coloured flag and cockades were prepared and even displayed at the first meeting on the 15th November. Acts of violence, though a few were committed, were discouraged on that day; and the meeting was adjourned to the 2d of December, when it was hoped the meaus of insurrection would be matured. The meeting was industriously advertised throughout the country, means used to obtain subscrip tions; the expense of emissaries, &c. having hitherto been defrayed chiefly by one individual; and active measures

were adopted for seducing the soldiers. The barracks were again reconnoitred with a view to attack; the manufacture of tri-coloured ribbon was encou raged; the distressed districts were assiduously visited; warehouses containing arms, combustibles, and clothing, were marked; and pains taken to engage the sailors on the river on their side. Arms were provided for some of the more active insurgents; and they trusted soon to procure an adequate supply from the gunsmiths' shops. A large quantity of pike-heads was ordered, and 250 were actually made and delivered. The prisoners in the gaols were to be liberated and armed; and they were previously apprised of this intention, and invited to rally round the tri-coloured standard, which would be erected on the 2d December. A waggon was hired, in which the flags and some ammunition were conveyed to the place of meeting. From this waggon the most infiammatory speeches were made, concluding with a call to redress their own grievances. The tri-coloured cockades were then assumed, and a tri-coloured flag was displayed, which a number of persons followed out of the field. A body proceeded to the Tower, and tried to induce the soldiers to open the gates; but their numbers did not appear sufficiently strong to force them. An attack was made on the city magistrates in the Royal Exchange, which failed. In the way to these places, the gunsmiths' shops were broken open and plundered of arms. The committee are fully persuaded that, however improbable might be the success of such a plan, it was not the ebulition of the moment, but the result of a deliberate plan of men who calculated on the defection of the soldiery, and the general support of the distressed; and that notwithstanding the failure of these expectations on the 2d of December, the same designs are still pursued with sanguine hopes of success. In various parts of the country there is a widely diffused and increasing ramification of clubs, called Hampden Clubs, connected with one of the same name in London, which have associated professedly for parliamentary reform, on the basis of universal suffrage and annual elections. These clubs, intended to include every village in the kingdom, are active in circulating publications to promote their object, and procuring signatures to petitions sent from London. Delegates from the country clubs CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 182.

have assembled in London, and are expected again to assemble in March. If not in all, yet in far the greater number of these clubs, and especially in those of Lancashire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire, the committee are satisfied that nothing short of a revolution is the object expected and avowed. The doctrines of the Spencean Societies have also been widely diffused throughout the country, by the formation of similar societies; or by missionaries employed to propagate them, who are paid by means of a small weekly subscription of the members, which also serves to buy seditious tracts. Some of these tracts inculcate, in an artful manner, the necessity of overturning the privileged class, as distinguished from the people, declare a new order of things to be the will of the people, justify rebellion, and disavow all religion as well as loyalty. In answer to the question, "Would you live without gods or kings?" They answer, "We abjure tyranny of every kind." In short, a part of the system is to undermine, not only the habits of subordination, but the principles of morality and religion. The proceedings and speeches in the societies are generally pointed to actual insurrection; and an idea seems to prevail that some early day is to be fixed for a general rising. London is looked to for the signal; and it is a proof of the existing connection, that in Manchester and other places the greatest hopes were entertained from the meeting of the 2d of December, and the seizure of the Bank and Tower were confidently anticipated. The news of the result was impatiently expected; crowds waited on the roads during the night for the arrival of the mail coach; and the disappointment was manifest when the failure of the plot was known. The disaffected represent the numbers enrolled as amounting to several hundred thousand, and still increasing. They also keep a "black book," with a list of those who refuse to join, and who are marked for vengeance. In one county, where almost every village has its Hampden Club, they profess to regard themselves as of no use but to be ready to act when called upon. The secret card of admission contains the words, "Be ready; be steady." The habits of these persons seem changed. They already calculate on the division of the land, and the destruction of the churches. Preparations are making for procuring

S

arms: all depôts of arms are noted, and the facility of converting implements of husbandry into weapons of offence has been suggested. Similar associations have been extended to the manufacturing population of Glasgow and other towns of Scotland, which act in concert with those in England, and have even made some provision of weapons. The committee, however, observe, that not withstanding the alarming progress of this system of disaffection, its success has hitherto been confined to the principal manufacturing districts, where the distress is more prevalent, and numbers are more easily collected; that even in many of these privations have been borne with exemplary patience, and the attempts of the disaffected frustrated; and that few, if any, of the higher and middle classes, and scarcely any of the agricultural population, have lent themselves to the more violent of these projects. Great allowance must be made for those who, under the pressure of distress, have been led to listen to demagogues holding out the expectation of immediate relief; and it is to be hoped that many of them, whose moral principles have not been extinguished or perverted, would withdraw themselves before those projects were pushed to actual insurrection. But, with all these allowances, the committee cannot contemplate the activity and arts of the leaders; the numbers already seduced; the oaths by which many are bound; the means suggested and prepared for forcibly attaining their ends, which are the overthrow of all the political institutions of the kingdom, and such a subversion of the rights of property as must lead to general pillage and bloodshed; without submitting to the serious attention of the house the dangers of the crisis, and which the utmost vigilance of the government, under the existing laws, has been found ina dequate to prevent.

The report of the secret committee of the house of lords agrees substantially with that of the house of commons. It states, that had the riot of the 2d of December been more successful, it would have been the signal for a more general rising in other parts of the country; but that now it appears the prevailing impression among the leading malcontents, that it is expedient to wait till the whole kingdom shall be com pletely organized and ripe for action, Intimidation is stated to be a powerful

means of augmenting their numbers; and to secure secresy, besides the use of atrocious oaths, care is taken to communicate as little as possible by writing, but chiefly by delegates. The late attack on the prince regent appears, to the lords' committee, to have resulted from the systematic efforts that have been made to destroy all reverence for authority, and all sense of moral obligation. This report closes also with an opinion, that further provisions are ne cessary for preserving the public peace, and protecting the interests and happiness of every class of the community alike.

It is impossible to peruse these reports without a feeling of lively grati tude to the Giver of all good, whose providential interference has averted the tremendous calamities which were about to burst over our heads, and afforded us an opportunity of thus tranquillytaking a retrospect of our perils, in all their magnitude and extent, and also of deliberating on the measures which it may be expedient to pursue, with a view to obviate the still existing dangers. With respect to these measures, we would rely on the wisdom and firmness of parliament; being well persuaded that no restraint, which the public safety may evidently require to be imposed on seditious meetings, nor any fresh power with which it may prove necessary for a time to arm the executive government, will not be hailed by the respectable and loyal part of the nation as a benefit, inasmuch as it will afford an additional security against the extravagances of jacobinical reform, and the evils of proscription, pillage, and blood, with which we have been, or still are, threatened. We need hardly observe how incumbent an obligation the cir cumstances of the times impose on all Christians to exert themselves in oppo. sition to the mischievous arts of those enemies, both of our present peace and future happiness, who are employing themselves with such activity, by their emissaries and their writings, not only in inflaming the public mind to acts of treason and violence, but in undermin ing all those great and sacred principles of religion and morals, and all those social and civil charities, by which the very frame and structure of society are up held, the corruptions of mankind are rectified, and their miseries alleviated, We rejoice to perceive that this call has been anticipated. The governing body

of the Wesleyan Methodists have come forward with a prompt and manly declaration of their abhorrence of the late proceedings, and with the most pointed injunctions to all under their influence to maintain their loyalty une impaired. We anticipate the best effects from this step, which, we trust, will be imitated by other religious bodies. A spirited tract has also appeared from the pen of the Rev. Melville Horne, entitled "A Word for my Country," (published by Mr. Hatchard), which cannot be too extensively circulated. It is sold for 5s. a dozen. A paper, entitled Anti-Cobbett, extracted from the pages of the newspaper, called "The Day or New Times," has also been widely disseminated, and similar efforts will doubtless be made in other quarters. And while such efforts are unremittingly made to counteract the spirit of revolt and insurrection, let our attention to the wants of the poor be increased, and no labours nor sacrifices be omitted which may contribute to their temporal relief, or to the diffusion among them of scriptural knowledge and sound religious principles. It is on these we must mainly rely for the maintenance of the throne and the altar-and we may read, in the inveterate hostility of our demagogues to religion, its best and highest com mendation as the safeguard of all that is sacred among us-of our public institutions, of our private rights, of our domestic comforts, of our present security, rity, and of our future hopes.

In consequence of the light which has been thrown on the designs of the disaffected, various individuals (six or seven) have been arrested, and have undergone examinations before the privy council. Four or five of these have been committed to the Tower, on a charge of high treason; and among them Watson and Hooper, who had been already tried at the Old Bailey, for taking part in the riot on the 2d of December, and acquitted; and Preston the Secretary of the Spencean Society who had been previously discharged for want of proof.

The table of the house of commons has been loaded with petitions for parliamentary reform, most of them claiming, as the right of the people, annual elections and the universal extension of the elective franchise. Many petitions, having been drawn up in terms of studied insult towards the house of commons, were rejected; but of those which have been received the signatures are said to

exceed a million. They are the fruit of the great exertions made by the Hampden Clubs already spoken of. The dis cussions to which these petitions have given birth have served to develop the views entertained on this important sub, ject, by many of the leading characters in parliament,and have produced schisms among those who have been in the habit of advocating the cause of reform. It was indeed to have been expected, that the extravagances and absurdities of many of the petitioners, and of those who, either from the press or in parlia ment, supported similar views, combined with the disorderly and seditious spirit which had been manifested at some public meetings, would not only alarm timid men, but would tend to moderate the ardonr of all, however bold and fearless, who preferred our present state of en joyment and security, with its ano. malies and imperfections, to the disso lution of all the bonds of society, which must follow the adoption of the wild and anarchical principles of late become so popular. Lord Grey, with that manliness of character which belongs to him, and which does him so much honour, has avowed a great change in his views of this subject, since he brought it before parliament in 1793; and though still decidedly favourable to measures of reform, he is by no means disposed to go the same lengths he would have done at an age when his hope was more sanguine, and innovation was less dreaded, Mr. Brougham, Mr. Brand, and others, in the house of commons likewise disclaimed any participation in the wild and visionary projects which form the main burden of the late petitions-annual parliaments, and universal suffrage; and are disposed to limit their views to the correction of palpable abuses, and not to extend them to the dan gerous expedient of recasting the very frame of parliament. The subject is likely soon to undergo a very full discussion; but it is to be presumed that, in the state of feeling naturally excited by recent occurrences, there will be a prevalent disinclination to entertain any propositions for parliamentary reform, however modified.

In consequence of the recommendation on the subject of retrenchment, contained in the speech from the throne, a committee has been appointed by the house of commons, to consider the public income and expenditure, and the reductions of which the latter is suscep