1736-7.

Regulation made, which will not be inconfiftent with the Anno 1o. Geo. II.
private Intereft of fome Perfons, and if fuch Persons think
they may, they certainly will destroy that which is incon-
fiftent with their private Interest. -The Riots in Spittle-
fields were fo far from proceeding from Oppreffion in any
Magiftrate, that they proceeded from that which often oc-
cafions Oppreffion, I mean the unlawful and unjust Com-
bination of Journeymen and Labourers, to keep up or en-
hance their Wages.
The atrocious Riot and cruel Mur-
der in the City of Edinburgh, proceeded from the Crown's
Reprieving a Man, upon a Representation figned by a great
number of Noblemen and Gentlemen, that the Man was
unjustly condemned, or at least that the Sentence was too
rigorous; and this Reprieve was only for a few Weeks,
that the Crown might have time to enquire narrowly into
the Cafe, and to pardon or punish, according as the Circum-
ftances fhould appear. Then as to that Affair in Weft-
minfter-ball, I am forry, my Lords, to hear it fo flightly
paffed over; your Lordships may call it a Riot, Tumult,
Infult, or what you please; but it was certainly one of the
most audacious Affronts that was ever offered to an establish-
ed Government; and could not, I am fure, proceed from
any Oppreffion, unless the Acts of the whole Legislative
Power of the Kingdom are to be called Oppreffion. The
other Riots feemed to point only at private Men; but that
Riot or Infult, was levelled directly against the Government,
nay, not only against the Government, but against our pre-
fent happy Establishment. I do not mean, my Lords, the
Powder or Rockets then blown up; for I do not believe the
Perfons guilty, call them Mad-men, or what you will, had
a Defign to blow up the Hall, or to hurt any Perfon that
was in it; but I mean the fcandalous and feditious Libels
fpread about in the Hall by the Explosion, and afterwards dif-
perfed through every Part of this great City. Thofe Libels
not only reflected in the most scandalous Manner upon feve-
ral Acts of Parliament, but, by Infinuation, denied his Ma-
jefty's Right to the Crown, and in fome Manner, afferted
the Right of the Pretender. What might have been the
Aim of the Authors of this Infult, or whether they had any
Aim, I fhall not now enquire; but it is certain, if they
had not been discovered, and as feverely punished, as the
Lenity of our Laws, and the Mercifulness of our present
Government would would admit of, their Infult would at
leaft have answered this End, that it would have given Peo-
ple a mean Opinion of our Government, and might have
given rife to feditious Attempts, of a much more dangerous
Nature,
1736-7.

T

I am

1

2

Annoro. Geo. II. 1736-7.

I am furprized, my Lords, to hear it faid, that if the Military Force fhould now and then, upon extraordinary Occafions, be called to the Affiftance of the Civil Magiftrate, we should, upon that Account, become fubject to the military Sword, or that our Government fhould, by fuch Means, become a military Government. I hope it will be allowed, our Soldiers are the King's Subjects, as well as other Men; and it is well known that most of our Magiftrates, especially thofe concerned in the Execution of the Law, have a power to call any of the King's Subjects they can fee, to their Affistance, for preferving the Peace, or for enabling them to execute any of the King's Writs; and in case of any fuch Call, we likewife know, that every one of the King's Subjects, fo called, is obliged to obey ; if they do not, they are guilty of a Mifdemeanor, for which they may be indicted, and for which they may, by express Statute, be fined and imprisoned: Why then may not a Civil Magiftrate call the Soldiers to his Affiftance as well as other Men? For my Part, I can fee no Difference it can make, with respect to ourForm of Government, and I am fure, with respect to the End or Intention of calling any Man to his Affiftance, it will be much better anfwered, and with more Safety to the Subject in general, by his calling the King's Soldiers to his Affiftance, than by calling any other of the King's Subjects: Therefore, while the King's Troops act under the Direction. of the Civil Magiftrate, and as his Affiftants only, we shall be as much under a Civil Government as if we had no fuch Troops; the only Difference is, that with the few Troops we have, the Laws may be put in Execution, and Smugglers, Thieves, Highwaymen, and fuch like Rogues, apprehended and brought to condign Punishment, without rifquing the Lives of his Majesty's induftrious Subjects, or calling them away from their ufual Employments.

From what I have faid, my Lords, I think it will appear, that we ought not only to have regular Troops, but that they ought to be employed by, and at the Command of the Civil Magiftrate; and Experience has fhewn us, that they often become neceffary for preferving the Peace of the Kingdom, and the Lives of innocent Subjects. In those Tumults which happened in the Weft about Turnpikes, it became neceffary to employ a military Force, in order to preferve the Life of a Magiftrate who was threatened by the Mob, for no other reason, but because he had been diligent in putting the Laws in Execution. In another Corner of the fame County, (Cornwall) a Fellow took it in his Head to keep Poffeffion of another Man's Eftate by Violence, and in

1736-7.

fpite of the Laws of the Kingdom; for this Purpofe he Annoro.Geo.II.
provided himself with feveral Confederates, as wicked and
as foolish as himself, and with proper Arms for oppofing all
the Power he thought could be fent against him: The She-
riff of the County, affifted by the County, went to execute
the King's Writ against him; but, instead of submitting, he
fired upon them, killed fome of the Sheriff's Affiftants, and
obliged them to retire. Was it not then proper, was it
not neceffary to call the King's Troops to the Affiftance of
the Sheriff? They were called, and, without the spilling
of any more innocent Blood, the Laws were put in Execu-
tion, the Owner got Poffeffion of his Estate, and the Cri-
minal who dared to oppofe the Law was hanged. Even
but laft Summer, it was highly probable that great Tumults
would have been raised against the Law, for preventing the
Retail of Spirituous Liquors; for great Threatenings had
been made, and fome had publicly declared they would
not give obedience to it; but by the prudent Measures that
were taken, and by fhewing that the King's Troops would
be employed against those who should dare to oppofe the
Law, all those Threats ended in a few Tricks to evade the
Law, which I hope will be foon got the better of, by
the Care and Diligence of the Commiffioners of Excife.
These few Examples fhew, that a military Force becomes
fometimes abfolutely neceffary for putting the Laws in Ex-
ecution; and if it were not for the few regular Troops we
have, Riots would be more frequent than they are, and
much more dangerous; as will, I believe, appear by a ge-
neral Enquiry into the Riots that have lately happened;
therefore I fhall heartily agree in any Motion tending to
the bringing on of fuch an Enquiry.

The Lord Bathurft.

My Lords, it must be confeffed, that Riots and Tumults Lord Batbur,?. have of late been not only very frequent, but very general in this Kingdom, and therefore it may be, I think, juftly concluded that there is fome general Caufe, fome general Error, which makes our People fo generally uneafy; but I am very far from thinking, that general Caufe proceeds from any Want of Power in the civil Magiftrate, or from too great a Liberty in the People. There is no Country in the World where there are feverer Laws against Riots, or where there are greater Powers given to the civil Magiftrate for preventing or quelling them. The civil Magiftrate has now greater Powers, and our Laws against Riots are more fevere, than ever were known to our Ancestors; and therefore I am apt to suspect, that most of our late Riots have proceeded from that general Caufe from which almost all Tumults proceed, I mean, from 1736-7,

T 2

the

Anno 1o. Geo.II, the unjuft and oppreffive Conduct, or from the fupine Negligence and Indolence of those who are entrusted with the Execution of our Laws.

1736-7.

When the People are made uneafy by the Oppreffions of those entrusted with Power, or when wicked and evil-difposed Perfons are allowed to become feditious or licentious by the Neglect of the civil Magiftrate, the Parliament ought to interpofe. If it does not, Tumults muft of courfe enfue, and thofe Tumults may át laft produce most extraordinary Events. Let us examine our own History, and we shall find, most of those. Tumults or Riots we have any Account of, proceeded from the Oppreffion of thofe entrusted with Power, and a Neglect to remove that Oppreffion, or to punish the Oppreffors. The famous Infurrection under Wat Tyler, (in the Minority of Rich. II.) we are exprefly told by our Hiftorians, at firft proceeded from a heavy Tax then impofed, the great Powers granted for levying that Tax, and the oppreffive Ufe made of those Powers by the Tax-gatherers. But, as Oppreffion feldom appears in one Shape only, as a general Difcontent always arifes from feveral Caufes, fo at that Time the People had feveral Reafons for being diffatisfied: They complained, that their foreign Enemies were allowed to ravage and plunder them with Impunity, and that their domeftic Enemies, the Lawyers, ruined them with vexatious Suits and extorfive Fees; and they were not only oppreffed by the Collectors of the public Revenue, but likewife by the Nobility, and Lords of Manors, who, by the great Powers and Privileges they enjoyed, kept the People in a fort of Slavery. This laft fort of Oppreffion, indeed, we now feem to be in no Danger of; for our Nobility feem to have very little Power left in their Hands; but with respect to the other Grievances, we do not know but the People may now have Reason to complain of fomething like them, and if they have, thofe Caufes of Complaint ought to be enquired into by Parliament, and removed as foon as poffible.

Upon fuch Occafions, my Lords, it is not fufficient to quell the Riot, it is not fufficient to punish the Rioters, or to make fevere Laws for punishing all fuch for the future: the Government, by good Luck, got the better of that Infurrection under Wat Tyler, and of all the other Tumults that happened about that Time, and great Care was taken to punish the Rioters with the utmost Severity; but no proper Care was taken to remove the Caufes of thofe Riots, or to punish the Oppreffors of the People. What was the Confequence? The Difcontents of the People continued, and though, by the Severity that had been used, they were for fome Time frightened from being guilty of any new Riot or Tumult, yet at last they gathered into a regular Army, and, under the Conduct of the Duke of Gloucefler, defeated the King's Forces, banished, beheaded,

or

1735-7.

or hanged all his Favourites, and, among the reft, Sir Robert Annoro. Geo.II. Trefilian (who had been one of the moft rigorous in prosecuting and punishing the Rioters, and who, 'tis faid, never wanted Reafons to countenance whatever he found was agreeable to the King) was accused of high Treason, impeached and condemned by the Parliament, and foon after hanged at Tyburn. This appeafed the Minds of the People for fome Time, but as that unfortunate King foon returned to his for mer Courses, and difregarded the Complaints of the People, Riots and Tumults continued during his whole Reign, and at laft paved the Way for Henry IVth's afcending the Throne.

Now, my Lords, as Riots and Tumults generally proceed from Oppreffion, or from Neglect in the civil Magiftrate, and as both the Oppreffion and the Neglect of the civil Magistrate may appear in various Shapes, and may be very different in one Cafe from what it is in another, when feveral Riots have happened, at different Times, and in different Parts of the Country, it is impoffible to discover the true Cause of any of them by a general Enquiry, nor will a particular Enquiry into the Caufe of one difcover the true Cause of another. I fhall not at present tax the Magistrates at Edinburgh, or thofe in the Weft, or in any other Part of the Kingdom, either with Oppreffion or Neglect; but if any of them have been guilty of either, can that Oppreffion or Neglect be discovered by a general Enquiry? Or will an Enquiry into the Riot at Edinburgh, and the Conduct of the Magiftrates there, difcover to us, whether any of the Magistrates in the West of England, or in any other part of the Kingdom, have been guilty of Oppreffion or Neg lect? The thing appears at first fight impoffible, and therefore there is no Way of answering the Intention of his Majefty's Speech, or indeed our own Duty as Members of this House, but by a particular Enquiry into every one of the Riots that have happened, or at least into fome of the most confiderable of them; coft what it will, take up what Time it will, it must be gone about, and the fooner we begin, the greater Regard we fhew both to our King and our Country, I cannot really comprehend what is meant by a general En. quiry: In my Opinion, it can mean nothing but an Enquiry into our Laws relating to Riots, and the Sowers of Sedition; for if you proceed to enquire into the particular Circumstances and Facts of all, or any one Riot that has happened, your Enquiry must become particular; and if you do not enquire into Circumftances and Facts, if you enquire only into our Laws, you cannot discover the original Cause of any one Riot that has happened.

If your Lordships have a mind to go upon an Enquiry into our Laws relating to Riots, and the Sowers of Sedition, I shall be far from being against any Motion for that Purpose ;

because