DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

( 30 ) might have been condoned—but the rights of a whole community were infringed ; this could not be brooked in silence. Moreover a precedent was estab- lished which would be deemed by the masses as an interference with their constitutional rights. Thus the cry of ‘ Wilkes and liberty,’ which at first was the mere cry of the rabble, may be considered to have become the expression of national feeling. Outraged public opinion, and the disaffection created by the infringement of national liberties, was expressed in public meetings, which as yet had never been known. The first public meeting in England was held in Westminster Hall in 1769. ii was attended by seven thousand persons, and led to the formation of small political societies, which grew into great associations. Thus were ventilated the first serious attempts to reform and control Parliament by pressure from without, and make its members subservient to their constituents. It was then that public opinion was first called into life. It has already been mentioned that the debates of the House of Commons were withheld from the public. To ensure more complete secrecy the House of Commons issued in 1771 a proclamation forbidding the publication of the debates, and six printers who set it at defiance were summoned to the