First Report of the Committee of Secrecy of the House of Commons, relative to treasonable Practices in Great Britain and Ireland. The committee of secrecy, to whom the several papers, which were presented (sealed up) to the house, by Mr. chancellor of the exchequer, upon the 1st and 28 days of this instant April, by his majesty's command, were referred; and who were directed to examine the matters thereof, and report the same, as they shall appear to them, to the house: Have proceeded with the utmost diligence to the consideration of the matters referred to them; but, from the extent and variety of the information respecting different parts of the united kingdom, which has been laid before them, they are under the necessity of requestingtheindulgence of the house for a short time, before they can submit the result of their investigation on all the points to which it has extended. Your committee, however, think it incumbent upon them to state, without delay, that they have received the fullest proofs that the dangerous and treasonable conspiracy for the subversion of the constitution and government, which, in the year 1798, in concert with a foreign enemy, produced the horrid and sanguinary rebellion in Ireland, and the progress and extent of which in Great Britain are detailed in the report of the committee of secrecy in the year 1799, has never been abandoned. The hopes and activity of their disaffected were checked, and the intentions frustrated, by the vigilance of government, and by the effect of the laws which were adopted: but their principles and designs remained unchanged, and they have for some time, and more especially of late, been endeavouring to take advantage of the distress occasioned by the high price of provisions, for carrying those wicked designs into effect. It has particularly appeared to your committee, that the instigators of these proceedings have, on repeated occasions, secretly expressed their wish for the aggravation of those evils, which they every where endeavour to use as a pretext and engine for exciting popular discontent: they appear to have derived their principal encouragement from thepressure arising from the scarcity; from the hopes of assistance from a foreign enemy upon the invasion of Great Britain or Ireland; and from the expiration of the laws before referred to, which, from the concurrent testimony from different parts of the kingdom, they acknowledge and declare to have been the principal obstacle to their measures. Within a few weeks past, and to the latest period to which the information received by your committee can apply, their activity has been great and increasing in the metropolis and in other parts of the kingdom; every effort is employed that can tend to disturb the public tranquillity; and recent intelligence has been received from differentquarters, which justifies your committee in believing, that at this moment the immediate object of the disaffected is to endeavour, by a sudden explosion, to avail themselves of the interval which may still take place before. those laws can be renewed. The dangerous system of a secret confederacy, under the obligation of an unlawful oath, which prevailed in Ireland, and afterwards extended · itself to Great Britain, has been revived, with additional precautions, for for the purpose of eluding detection, and of ensuring concert, secrecy, and dispatch: and it appears to be in agitation, suddenly, by these means, to call numerous meetings, in different parts of the country, at the same day and hour, to an extent, which, if not prevented, must materially endanger the public peace; and that among the persons most forward in instigating these criminal proceedings, are some of those who had been detained under the suspension of the habeas corpus act, and who have been recently released from confinement. These considerations your com. mittee have felt themselves bound to submit, in the first instance, to the wisdom of the house, believing that any delay in so doing would be attended with material danger to the country; and, for the same reason, they feel it a duty incumbent on them, to take the first moment of stating to the house their strong and unanimous opinion, grounded on the information which they have received, that no time ought to be lost in renewing those measures of precaution which the wisdom of the legislature has before adopted; parcularly the act for the suspension of the provisions of the habeas corpus act, and the act to prevent seditious meetings, which,while they remained in force, were attended with the happiest effects in preserving the public tranquillity, and which your committee have the most confident hope would have the same salutary operation, under the present cir cumstances. Second Report. After some preliminary observations upon the means by which infor mation had been obtained, the report states. "It was not to be expected that persons who had deeply imbibed the principles of the French revolution, who were inflamed with the most sanguinary animosity against all the existingestablishmentsof church and state; that such of them, particularly of the lower orders of society, whose hopes were instigated by the prospect of the plunder of the rich, and the partition of the landed property of the country, and who had been taught to abjure all the restraints which divine or human laws have imposed on the passions of men, should be induced, by any change of circumstances, or legal coercion, suddenlytoabandon those principles, and to return to the duties of loyal and peaceable subjects. It accordingly appears manifest, that, though the exertions of the disaffected in this country were suppressed bythe ́ vigilance of government, acting under the powers intrusted to them by parliament, and by the fear of detection and immediate apprehension: yet their disposition remained unaltered. That from the month of May, 1799, notwithstanding the detention of several of the most active members of the late corresponding society, others have continued occasionally to meet, without any form of regular association, and studiously avoiding anyconstant place of assem-` bling, or written meinorial of their transactions. A principal object at first was the collection of money for the relief of the persons confined un-* der charges of treasonable and seditious practices, with whom they seem constantly to have preserved their former connexion. On the 5th of November, 1799, when they began to derive fresh encouragement from the the unfavourable events on the continent, and the evacuation of Holland by the British troops, a party of them assembled to celebrate the anniversary of Hardy's acquittal, on which occasion they appear first to have ventured on a more open avow. al of their opinions, and to have indulged in the most treasonable and seditious toasts and songs. As yet, however, the mischief went no farther; and indeed, during all this period, till late in the last year, they seem to have despaired of any im mediate success in their projects, for which some of them supposed no favourable opportunity would occur till the restoration of peace should, as they hoped, have at once removed the legal restraints which now im peded their operations, and brought home suchan additionof unemployed hands, as would increase the existing scarcity, and add to the prevailing discontents. They felt themselves, and lamented the effect of the pow-, ers intrusted to government by the act for suspending the habeas corpus act their former leaders were dispersed and secluded,and they apprehended for themselves a similar fate. Particular events, however, of the nature before alluded to, had at different times given some encouragement to their views, and diminished their apprehensions: the successes of the enemy in the last campaign, the disappointments of our allies, still more of any enterprise in which this country was more particularly concerned, or any danger which threatened the life or health of their sovereign, were, as they occurred, a constant source of satisfaction, and of renewed hope and expectation. The health of the chief consul of France, the success of his arms,whenopposed to those of their country; the progress of the rupture with the northern powers, as a means of impoverishing our merchants, and creating distress and discontent among the manufacturers, were among the first wishes that marked the complexion of their convivial meetings, or expressed the malignity of their private reflections. The dearth of provisions, early in the last year, opened a new field for similar speculations, and the return of it after the last barvest, increased the inducements and the hope of converting it to their views of this, as well as of other public calamities, they were disposed to avail themselves in awaythat marks sufficiently the character of those principles which lead the revolutionary enthusiast to overlook, or make him seek to augment the miseries, however extended, of individuals, in the hope, of deriving from them the means of subverting existing establishments. They affected indeed, openly, much feeling for the sufferings of the people, and fomented their complaints against the supposed authors ofthem; but in private they expressed their satisfaction at the continuance of the distress, and were only apprehensive that the cause of the complaint might cease by a return of plenty they hoped particularly that the scarcity would press hard upon the soldiery,and produce discontent and insubordination; and the better to serve their cause, they did not scruple to hold out the most unwarrantable hope of success in their exten→ sive plans of meditated seduction. They disapproved, indeed, of the disposition to riot, which appeared in some places on account of the scarcity in the month of September last,as leading to partial and prema ture insurrection,not sufficientlyconnected with their own more large and and revolutionary views; but they thought a period somewhat later more favourable to their designs, which might be better advanced by a different line of conduct. Under this impression, they promoted a meeting of a most dangerous nature, to be held at Kennington Common, on the 9th of November, by public advertisement, which was stated to government at the time to be issued under their direction; this fact has since been confirmed by positive de positions upon oath, and by concurrent testimony, which has been obtained in consequence of some of the late apprehensions; from all which it also appears that several of the persons above referred to attended, and that the state of the weather alone prevented their being present in great numbers. Other meetings were concerted, in different parts of the metropolis or its vicinity, with a view to distract the attention of the magistrates, and harass the operations of the military. The first of these, however, failed, in consequence of the information previously afforded to the officers of government, and the presence of magistrates; and the others were prevented by the apprehension of detection, from the reward offered for the conviction of the persons concerned in convening the first. Similar plans were still in agitation in the following month, when a seditious and treasonable hand-bill, in the form of a proclamation, was prepared and circulated by a person lately a leading member of the disaffected societies, and who your committee have reason to believe was principally concerned in convening the meeting at Kennington Common; a copy of which is annexed to this report." The report then proceeds to state the arrival of United Irishmen, and the fabrication of pikes and daggers. The expiration of the act suspending the habeas corpus encouraged them to renew their designs at the commencement of the present year. Their plan, as stated in the report of the house of lords, was to have an executive committee often, and subagents for the different districts. To conceal their designs, they formed themselves into clubs, called benefit societies, where private assassination of certain individuals was recommended. Another society, called Spensonians, was formed, merely to discuss public affairs, they agreeing with a book published by Spence recommending an agrarian law, the destruction of the nobility, &c. Upon the release of their leaders by the expiration of the act for suspending the habeas corpus, a supper was given, at which seditious and treasonable language was held. "This meeting seems to have occasioned a more confident opinion of their strength, and of the success of their schemes of seduction. They boasted of the extension of their society over different and remote districts of the metropolis. They were not, however, insensible to the proceedings of parliament on the subject of the martial law bill in Ireland, which they were apprehensive might be applied to the suppression of their enterprises here, or if not, at least, that the suspension of the habeas corpus act would be renewed, and effectually operate to counteract their designs. Under this impression, a particular degree of caution was recommended by the executive as to the persons to whom the oath should be administered; they suspected they were observed, and were afraid of being apprehended before their plan N was |