Tun BRISTOL RIOTS. —An answer to the request of the people
of Bristol, communicated by Government through their representatives, was received in Bristol last week. Lord Melbourne says-
" If there is reason to presume that these unfortunate events have had their origin in their [the civil and military authorities'i supineness, neglect of duty, or delin- quency, such delinquency should be inquired into by due process of law, and according to the established forms of legal proceeding. If the disastrous results which have been witnessed are to be attributed to an imperfect or inadequate con- stitution of the civil authorities, such imperfections can only be remedied by the exercise of the Royal prerogative, or by the power of the Legislature. " I am not aware of any other course being open tnGovernment, or to individuals, which could be sanctioned by precedent in this country, or conformable to the law and the constitution ; and it therefore becomes my duty to request you to assure the memorialists, that in either case his Majesty's Government will be most anxious to receive all the information which can be collected relating to the late calamitous disturbances at Bristol—to give to it their most attentive consideration—to submit it to those advisers who are most competent to decide upon its import and bearing— and to adopt upon it such measures as may be required, either of animadversion upon the past or of precaution for the future."
We have long giVen over the task of endeavouring to discover the reason on which, in any particular case, the present Government sees fit to act, from a thorough conviction that reason has nothing to do with many of its resolutions. Lord Melbourne talks of precedents, as if the case of Bristol were one of every-day occurrence. When three or four unfortunate Irishmen were shot a t Newtownbarry some monthsago, —an event, by the by, which of all others had the least title to be treated as unprecedented in Ireland,—a Government Commission was despatched forthwith to inquire into the causes and concomitants of the outrage. When, five weeks ago, an unauthorized letter apprized the Home Office that cholera had broken out at Sunderland, the whole of Whitehall was in a stir, and boards were formed, and proclamations issued, and quaran- tines established, with a zeal and activity which the firing of the Thames above-bridge could hardly have called forth. But when hundreds of people are killed, burnt, and wounded—when gaols are broken, Customhouses destroyed, and entire streets sacked and thrown down, by an outrageous mob—the Ministers coldly refer the sufferers to the Horse Guards and Westminster Hall for relief, and plead precedent and rule as an excuse for refusing to assist them in obtaining redress from either. It is quite true that the people of Bristol may examine into the facts of the late disturbances without the Ministers' assistance ; we have very little doubt that they could contrive to do so though the Ministers were to follow the example of their worthy Recorder, and desert the post where they are so seriously assailed by the enemies of order ; but it is equally true, that, in the conflict of parties, no examination which the Bristol people can institute will be safe from the charge of partiality, and that, tendered as the evidence must be, the public will give to it a very limited degree of credit compared with what they would have given had it been taken on oath.
In the mean time, the citizens are proceeding as they best can. On Monday, they held a public meeting at the Assembly Rooms, which Was very numerously attended, for the purpose of nominating a committee to take evidence. Mr. Reynolds—a " Friend," with less than a Friend's impartiality—was the chairman. The meeting was addressed at con- siderable length by Mr. Manehee ; who was repeatedly interrupted in his attempts to show that the conduct of the Magistrates presented a prima facie case for inquiry ; and so sensitive does the Friendly Chair- man appear to have been on the subject, that he actually requested that some other person should take his place, in consideration of his feelings. This incident is only worthy of notice as marking the state of parties in Bristol, and the utter impossibility of obtaining through other than Government means a correct knowledge of the causes that led to the de- structive scenes so lately enacted there. Of this, indeed, the meeting seem to have been well aware ; for they unanimously agreed to a second memorial to Lord Melbourne, calling once more for his assistance,—and this while they appointed a Committee to collect evidence, as far as it might be practicable, should Government still refuse to interfere.
Respecting the riots, nothing farther has been made known. si'Major Digby Mackworth has published a statement of his own share in their suppression,—which appears to have been much more important than the Magistrates, the townspeople, or any body else, were previously aware of; but his statement, though quite satisfactory as to his (Alm doing; throws no additional light on the doings of others.
The Court of Inquiry on Colonel Brereton is still going on.
Previous page
