Star. — London, England, 1822-02-02 00:00:00

I 7: 7 •• 1 HERTFORD AGRICULTURAL MEETING. Yesterday a Meting of the Owners and Occupiers of Lard in thh county of Het ts, was held at ;he Town-hall, Hertford. for the purpose of taking into consider ation the distressed state of the agricultural interests. At half past twelve o'clock, the Marquis of SA LISBURY, the Earl of BSIDOZWATIR, Lord BORIS& Lord DACAZ,.Lord•VaItULAU, Sir ,1011ty s.at ARIGHT, and the Hon. W. LAMS (the Members for. the County), Sir •C. SMITH, Colonel... Boom s, Mr., NICHOLAS CALCIST,Mi" P. 'and a number of other Gentlemen. of the County, assembled in the Shire hall. The High Sheriff (JOsacx - Trues.aoe, Esq.) shortly after took the Chair, and opened the business of the day, by:ordering the followißequisition to be read, in pursuance of which h ead felt it his duty to cooveue the:present Meeting : 4 ‘ We, the updersigoed; request that you wales,* to call a felting of the Owners and Occupiers of Land in the County of Meru, Tor tee ' of. taking into • consideradon age pro. priety of ent upon the agricultural distress of . - the country. • • • kinedlog.Lord DAUM and a number of others. The Huai Simmer. then observed, that he had called the... Meeting together, to consider of agricul tural diitreis alone,•and to that object, and to that only,.ought,their attention to be drawn. He hoped they Would give all persons a fair and impartial hear ihg,'while setaking within the subject comprehended in the Requisition. •Lord•Dadite camb forward, and was received with cOnsiderable applause. Ile commenced by observing that' the alarming depression in the state of the agn cultural interests hid rerideied it advisable and expo. dient‘that the owners and oecupiers of land in the i county should assertible tti discuis the propriety of laying their case before Parliament in the shape of a l Petition. Therewas not' one prison who at preseeel heard him but must feel that many causes coots spired to produce the existing state of things in 'this country—the influence which the circulating Medium had upon the subject, as well as the 'operation.neces sarily produced by the quantum of supply. The main difficulty under which the agriculturist laboured was, the inadequacy of the price of produce to cover and repay the expense of its cultivation. That it some reo.edy were not tried, t to depreciation would contirrue; they Must all kuow as well as he did ; and the inevitable consequence. at no distant period, most be, that the cultivation of aver sge land must cease. In spe.iking upon this 'object, tae wished, at the onset, to clear away one difficulty in the argument which . some people overlooked, or used in an erroneous slimier. He never mentioned, nor considered in his view of the matter, rent, as some people did. Rein he cou>idured as the residue which remains to the proprietor, after all the expenses, direct and inci dental, of cultivation, are paid. Of course, he meant after deducting:the municipal expenses (such as Poor rates, Sec.). road repairs, labourers' wages, &c. Relit was, in fact, what remained fists the Poor-rates an,i these outer expenses; and they roust always bear 111 Mind, that the agriculturist ha.l to pay the wages of the labourer whom he employed, and the Poor.rates of the man who was unemployed —(ices, horr).-11. after .ill these outgoings, there be a residue, then that is rent. Until, however, all these are paid, there cannot be, there ought not to be, rent—(icar, hear). hie therefore begged to guard himself against being understood to consider rent as a part of the present quut,tion : it had not an iota of reference to it, until the o hole cost of cultivation was provided. If this could not be ..hurined, then, he repeated, the average land of England must be. thrown out of cultivation— ( Hear, 1,..ar).—1t was not now a question between tLe owner and occupier of land, which should derive a particular share of the profit; but whether there should be a transfer of the wl.cle land of England al together into Other hand,? And even then the ques- Cost would stiil be open—how it could be kept in cul tivation by the new holders? If there were a certainty that it could be kept in a state of cultivation, he should still, for the sake of the community at large, pause before he called on them to yield to the opera tion of such a transter—(clear, hear).—lt mattered little, he k.tew, to the Public at large, whether the land was held by a man like himself, or by one under him; but it mattered most materially to all the in te: ests of the country, whether property in it should be exposed to the frequent recurrence of changes, which must, in their effect, inevitably sink the situa tion of all the interests of England in the general scale of Europe,-(fleas, hear).—ln looking at the agricultural question, price was necessarily the first point to be considered ; the loss on the produce came afterwards to be touched upon. The price evidently depended on the quantity of the circulating medium afloat, and the amount of the article in the market. There were two ways of raising the price —one by a legislative act, producing a monopoly of the article; and the other by an increase of the circulating me dium. As to the monopoly, be thought the farmer had, by what was commonly called the Corn Bill, got that as far as the Legislature could confer it—he had got, in every view of present or probable future price, that monopoly. This was demonstrable from a reference to the returns of the average prices, laid before Parliament in the course of the last Session. And he did not think it would be at all advisable for the farmer to re-open the provisions of that Corn Bill, and commit himself again with the theories of spe culative men : sure he was that no practical good could result from reviving that question—(icar).— As to the circulation, lie thought it quite clear, that so long as the Bank note was convertible into a me tallic currency, the farmer could never calculate upon prices exceeding those before the period when the suspension of cash payments took place. The late. Lord Liverpool had in his time estimated the coin in circulation at an amount of thirty millions. A; pre sent there were, he believed, twenty millions of Bank notes, and seven millions in specie —an amount ap proximating nearly to thakin Lord Li verpool's esti mate. in this state of things, tfll best plan fur the farmer to adopt would be to try, and in the natural course of t hings, work up the prices on a higher average than before, by the operation of the existing law. By any attempt to alter that law, he thought they would they could possibly obtain—(Hear). ihration and fluctuation of the prices in be was aware that there was a con i. aim of foreign produce, which, nu in some degree the prices in the mar thought the opostion of that importation • 7 * ~~ • • ~t~ . r. , was infinitely small upon the present prices, He was not unaware of the theories which were afloat upon the means of preservin a price, were the markets open ; but he had alrea dy told them what little.con fidence he had in system-mongers,.itnd how disin clined he was to enter into the question of which of the two, the owner or the occupier, would have, fifty years hence, to bear the whole weight of a Poll-tax — (A laugh). He deprecated practically all these dis-' tussions, for they could lead to no.possible good.. 'Hu-svould relate an • anecdote upon this point. 'He' was sitting in the House of Commons, during one of the discussions on the, measure commonly called Mr. Peel's next Mr. Ricardo, a Gentleman whose name he could not pronounce without admi ration, esteem, and respect, one of the most powerful writers upon political economy, one of the quickest arguers sad most respectable of men. That Gentle man told him, that it was idle to be scanning the probable depreciation of value in landed produce after the resumption o f cash payments, for it never could varYtanOre than the relative price of gold had varied—that was £2 per cent.• Such was the theory of the distinguished individual whom he had named, and he Merely related the anecdote, to shesy what little light theory could throw upon the questioo. Having touched upon the operation of monopoly, be should nest glance at the coanection of currency with the subject. The price might certainly be enlarged by a depreciation of that' currency; but who would venture to propose such a remedy ?...-(Hear, hear). Its consequences bad been anticipated by himself and all who had•considered the question, when the for mer suspension of 'cash payments took place. The experience of history shoved them that there never was an instance of a country implicitly adopting a paper circulation not convertible at the will of the holder into a metallic currency, but that the Govern ment had the immediate means of affecting the in terests and property of all classes in the community (Hear, hear). None could escape the operation of that influence. The fundhoider, whose interest was fixed, and the poor man, who had not the means of .commanding an increase of remuneration for his la bour, must at once feel the change under circum stances of great oppression t they were unable to meet tlw ascent of prices, which the Government could command. Then followed the enormous debt which WAS the natural consequence of such operations, and the re-action of which was now is, sensibly felt throughout the country. The landholder was heavily depressed ; every species of immovable property was paralysed ; nothing, in fact; was fixed, but the taxes (Hear. hear). Though a depreciation of the currency would, as he had already said, relieve the fai mew, still the terrible ultimate revulsion which must ensue, as it had heretofore ensued, would, he hoped, present such an appalling example, as would rural h a safe guard against the recurrence of a measure which was fraudulent in its principle, and ruinous in its practice—(Hear, hear). It was quite manifest they could not touch the state of the currency. The only thing remaining was to see if they could not re duce the cost of cultiv , (I lear , htar, hear). It was nothing but taxation working through the thousand streanalets which filmed among the organs of the State, and which was mixed up with municipal laws, that compelled the farmer to require protection —(hear, hear). If this were not so, there was nothing whatever to prevent the British farmer from meeting the foreign grower. The sun which shone upon their soil ripened as soon, if not as rapidly, as that which rose upon the foreigner. The Engli-liman had be sides the great advantage arising from his improve ments in machinery, and might become an exporting instead of an importing grower, if his tract did not weigh him down—(flear, hear).—.lt Parliament were once got (as he hoped they would) to listen to the re monstrance of the agriculturists, then he should urge before the Legislature, that whatever imports ope rated in the nature of poll-tax were bad. Now, what operated like a poll-tax was easily definable. There was the leather -tax, for instance—every man wore shoes ; but how was he, with the increase which the tax imposed upon the article, and the decrease of his wages for labour, to go an and supply his family ? Every labourer, even still, at some stated periods in the year, drank his beer, the duty on which amounted to something like three-pence a pot before it could reach his lips. All taxes of this nature amounted to poll -taxes, and tended to increase the price of labour in their ordinary operation, and thereby to disable the grower from competing with the foreign importer.— It might be said that these duties had the sane ope ration on the manufacturer. He knew they had ; but was that a reason for their continuance? or, rather, was it not an additional reason why they should be repealed ?—(Hear, hear). —His own opinion was de cidedly in favour of a total, repeal of the malt-tax— (Hear, hear). A manufacturer had, perhaps, a better. way of avoiding the pressure than an agriculturist : he could stop his spinning-engine, but could the fah ner stop his work ? He might, indeed, turn off his labourer; but if he did, he must supply in poor. rates the amount of his subsistence; so that, in work or nut of work, the farmers' men must be kept— there was no getting rid of them —(Hear, hear).. He had seen a curious calculation made by a Gentleman of the average animal consumption of directly taxed articles, by an agricultural labourer and his family, supposing them to consist of himself; his wife, and four children : Deer (54 gallons), excise on malt and hops therein ,E 1 7 0 Salt (261 b.), duty - - 0 6 0 Leather (lit pair of shoes), duty - 0 6 0 Candles (441 b.), Soap (1111 b.), duty - - 0 4 0 Tea (41D.), duty - - - ' 014 0 Sugar (521 b.), duty - . OIS 0 tiler. The enuntrfshould never forget that personal property was the great engine which the Government worked darlog the war. There was uo way olseving, one class at the expense of another r *bete-the funded annuinmf fell, the landed interest must .414 the crush ; ki fact, a distressing revulsion must attensl annihilation aft any of &Arm classes in iociety 7 ,l l 6e nation was bound by invioTailkfailt to the fondholder ; but the Qovernment Were bound, by a prescription antecede* to ayl,statmarz xesnlatio.ny, te.taphold the. : ti of ProPerty - ht iTaed( !Tear, hiar).—The clai m of the one was at leak equal' ter that of the other for honourable protectton, and could ncis-be•everlookeek - Fsom the summary with which he had already tres passed en the Meeting,.he thought it clear they could not have . ° titer opoly on better terms than it was al ready -secured....sthey voulcritot look to a deprecia tion of the - curiendi and they could only, therefore, hope fbr relief In a diminution of the weight of taxa tion. 'their taxation was too great to be borne— (llear, hear).The Legislature must be told that they could not submit to it—that they could no longer enclitic it—(Near; hear). --:they might be asked how 'the Ways an d Means were to be provided, if the taxes be had enumerated were repealed? To that inter rogatory be shoulil.reply e that it was for the Chan cellor of the Exchequer and the Government to sup ply the deficiency; irwas for the People to point out where the intolerable grievance lay. They had only to say that they could not suffer more than they had endured, and to add, that- if the Government did not satisfy their reasonable expectations, the interests of the land of England must sink for ever (Hear, hear). The prayer of the Petition which he should conclude by proposing was, simply. and in general terms, for a mitigation of taxation. Unless this were effected, he repeated, the country must be undone—(Hear, heal).—The Noble Lord concluded by thanking the fleeting for their patient hearing, the High Sheriff for his prompt attention• to the wishes of the requisi tors, and by requesting that a Gentleman near him would read the Petition, as he was himself so indis posed as with difficulty to make the exertions he had already made* at the Meeting.—The following Pe tition was then read: " 7lla ll l7Ytl.t PaTITUT or TUT venzasnaszn 0V774111111 axis OCCi. Pints Or LA.ho 1w ilia Goer, OF leritTS, " Snewsnt—That your Petitioners are suffering under the most intense and unparalleled distress. Your Petitioners abstain from an enumeration of the several causes which have, as they conceive, brought them to their preatst condition ; but they can. not but remind your Hon. House, that after the various fluctu ations of prices which Asey have experienced, the circulating medium has been finally settled upon a rystem which bears severely against the agricultural interests of the country. • " Your Petitioner; submit to your Ilon.dlouse;that the direct. effect of the system thus adopted, ha; been the :virtual increase of that taxation under which they bare bong and patiently la,- bottred ; and, convinced as they are, that a gineral reduction of the prices of all anicies used and consumed by laboUrers in agri culture, in some degree corresponding to the reduced prices of the products of the soil, would contribute to their relief, they cannot but entertain a confi‘lent expectation that your Hon. House will take into its immediate consideration the expediency of adopting some plan of reduced taxation, which shall relieve the population of the country from those taxes which more im mediately affect the price pf labour, and which, consequently, i raise to a:1 oppressive degree the costs of cultivation. " Your Petition'ers beg to assure your lion. House, that unless adequate and immediate relief be affiarded to the owners and ec ctaithrs cf land, Caey cannot but contemplate the total dvstruc tion of their property ; being convinced that the rights by which they hold this property are as just, as sacred, as any that can be given by statutory pledges to other interests in the Stare; and your Petitioners confide in the justice and equity of your Ilon. I louse to afford them equal security and protection. Sour Petitioners, therefore, pray, that the pressure of their taxation may be miti gated, and that they may receive that relief to which they consi der themselves so justly entitled. And your Petitioners," &c. Mr. KIMYTON seconded the motion for its . adoption. Mr. iota Voitomam then rose to address the Chair; and said he had a Resolution to propose which went further than the Petition framed by the Noble Lord. Ile differed with him in Kline respects, as to the actual cause of that distress which now so generally prevailed. Ile looked upon the Corn Bill as a great evil. Why, what did the Government do?—They passed an Act to keep up the price of corn, and then took the same amount of money out of the pockets of the agriculturists. In many parishes it was quite impossible for ruin to be carried any further. The Resolution which he had to submit was, that the 'Meeting do instruct their Representatives to propose in Par liament the repeal of the duties on malt, beer, leather, salt, soap, and candles, as being the only means of relieving the sufferings of the labouring classes, and of stopping the wasteful and profli gate expenditure of the public money. Mr. Fordham here en tered into sonic details ,hewing the difference of expense in cer tain parishes between the present period and 1792 ; observing that the County Rates were at present four times more than they were then. In the parish of Ashwell, in Buckingham shire, the Poor-rates had more than doubled since 1792 ; and in the County Rates there was an enormous disproportion.— In that parish the county rates in 1792 amounted tO £5 0 Ba.loll. in 1821, thly were £49. 3s. 4d. There were in that parish 900 inhabitants, creating an amount of taxes of £826, or 091 quarters of barley, being four quarters for ore of malt. The aggregate amount of the malt duty was £4,000,000 last year, of which, as he had ,hewn, the inhabitants of AshweU paid £826. In fact, the farmer was obliged to sell five quarters and a half of barley to obtain one of malt ! Was not this monstrous ?—(eflislause).— The agriculturists paid £5,000,000 of taxes, while the other classes paid only £2,000,000; yet the Marquis of Londonderry had the hardihood to say, last year, in the House of Commons, that the malt tax was not felt as a burden, as it only raised beer a penny a pot—(ell/plasm/6nd lasighter). Was this to be endured ? Could the People of England bear it? The worthy Gentleman next contrasted the present expense of the Army with that of 1792, and dwelt particularly on the great increase in the Cons mander-in-Chief's department since the latter period. It was monstrous, he continued, that the Duke of York should receive d sixteen guineas a day in addition to his other allowances, and yet not be satisfied with that sum. Why, in the parish of Ash. well, the labourers were obliged to pay in to the tax-gatherers one thousand pounds a year, which did not last the Duke of York for five days—(preens, and cries of" Shame Shame!"). — Could such *state of things be borne? There were fifty other parishes in the same predicament. The Duke of York swal lowed all. We had upwards of 10,000 half-pay Officers, who had fought the battle, of their country in the most perilous times, yet for the last three years not more than 300 of thew had been easployed,while 507 Gentlemen's sons, who'had never I seen any service, were .raised over their heads, at an expense t o the nation of more t h an £4OOO per week. We had also :he Yeomanry Cavalry, who cost the nation at the rate of £5OO l a-day. Laskyear we paid the expente,binnunting t0£170,000, e yv i e r r r t i l he privatesoffi er r that officers ot t they d n id l ior n n c o not g o e ; 43 10 0. l a b el u i g l 1 h i n b g e ; an he ae: k rst new iled ne f t ru ili Fis b To this add the Excise on Malt and Hops for t he not. H e next adverted to the different emoluments o y f s beer found by the master in harvest-time, turnip- Maitland ; fr om t h e s i tuat i ons h e held, which, according to th e statement of the w ort hy Gentleman, amounted to £15,000 a hoeing, dcc. estimated at thirty-six gallon s , th e E xc i se was twelve shillin gs , m a ki ng a tota l o f £4.2 x . I t ; r ear. Net one shilling of this s um was spent i n England.— had been said, that the re al of the dut upon four 271 7 0 td 00 t i o t w he a e s necessary to keep on foot pey people of these articles wo u ld effect no adequate relief f or o f E ng l an d? -ai r Isaac Clan, who p had eiVed m a c the % ple the agriculturist: that he would deny. I t wou ld a f. sums from t h e pockets of the p eop le, di d not hesitate to tell the agricukuriatsikst •year, .1n place in the House of Com ford relief, and its operation. would soon be sensibly t h i, they G hadbetter w l o o it m w e and id fill their d be i ung-carts ! felt in the amount of the poor-rates. He wished to m ln Isas, Lord that to support 'inch a large add one argument, upon an opinion which he had Radical—id laugh)--4aid; tted Was to no daily heard, and hourly lamented. It was said that army as was proposed, would be to overturn the Constitution! the agricaltural and funded interests were at length lie then -commented on the enormous increase in the naval ex penditure at issue. He denied the t r uth of that opinion: —the sincth an seesethoe year 1792 . sf We had now 19,000 seamen, an d roc interests of both we r e o n e and indivisible --(Hear, houses lo s to live in. Lord weeeothetbyewAandtmediral-tutliewNhos see vy? m fine hear). If land could no t b ear it s b ur d ens , h e was tautly not . W ere they of any use to the - country? Cez7ai c 7r; perfectly sure the monied interest could not long ' not. Where, then, were they of use, and to whom In the House of Co withstand the pressure: they- must stand or fart - • atmous--to their masters, the Minister(Cheers). ege At the Cape of Geed Hope, a Colaoy dist had Coals to treat ~:;.~. ' 4 ; the Jletels, who were Antal la all dwir Mutt, there are t a t same Neglect mid protege expenditure, the stone mow r4t s. eteeemy. A Governor in 1706 got Xl,OOO a-year foe his sir. vices. When Lard Dalhousie was appointed he had n, than £lO,OOO s-year I Moreover, would the Nleeting 'it, there was at that Colony a Chancellor of the Exchequer. frogga)--orlso esjayed a salary of no less than £2,000 ..-43tat be had sdll mother Item of expense to mention, and Ilia the Meeollll, be supposed, was not prepared. lie saw a m orn i ng Paper, and he took his information from that poi. as be bad it not within his power to resort to Ministerial docu ments, that tbemjscreapt (liver ---dtmerrateiss_wilp birTiiogiriiiito ratite the people if IfogicticT to treason and•re bltllion—tort wretch, who sought tWltitiessb Sir Praneis •B et date and some of the mon honourablei-assa-la •the Ovaid-it.statell, was saddled upon that - Yell. - pfttp: e e , f v. „ at an expense of £300„ having been 100 , 4 h -tint to a place ai Cape of Good Hope—(Lestel antinitisstant cries .1.. 5 , ,,,„, e! At preseurthe bate collection of the taxes entailed up ou than be o a ti n gh e t sp . c to pse ba o v f e .f 4 4:ooo entirbc , oo o d .... 4 , Th he er ai e In w y in.. l4 sausl iti c a r cv -ar nnittny 7:111 House Of ttiroitions• There Were fifty-two itidtiriduals House :isiett.tiok • net less than SI oft,COn emt of the o i l purse - 4 Intat do they defer it 1") • H e w .., what service they rendered in return ? his answer \Val P-A , they voted for Ministers—(4 laugh, and loud c,ip, The fact was notorious; he w9ulti apply to Sir John they Were nor regulaily roblig,ed to attend whytunter ,tl, / ter required their prestnce? Sir •1010 e SILISSUUT.-...What they are obliged to do I 'Anew e , for mys:lf I can say, that, in the House tit Commons, I et:, your to discharge my duty as beconos an hot:est man. :lir. Portonam coutinued.—l L. would still appeal to the II Baronet to say, whigther, when dyisimoi took place, they se, not regularly sent fur to the con - et...l:mews ahout the . .ou , Commons? Ile must now call the atteuthott of tiny the expense which the Conunissiotters for India Aff.t:rs Those were six of them, and the fins had a salery of fit. a-year, and the sectald .C. 3,000. llc seas DOW question of Reform and Retrenchment, and, while upt.o question, be could not help adverting to the t. traordittary rt of .Mr. Hume in the course of last sii..n. lle had tlivit:ei House not less tb ix seventy-two times; yet he (Mr. Fot.'.! was sorry to perceive that upon Intr.t of tl.ose Members for the County of Hertford %sure al,sr.nt. u; divisions had taken place when nut one County Aktubet w; his place. Mr. ALSTON SeConded it. (kg:aid that matters, It id rew to such a pitch, that it wa necessary to slew that they would not, but that they could not, pay the tax., Lord Dactus now rose to ordtr, at:d ask;sl . Mr. Far, whether hr proposed his Itesu:ution as an amend:nut t, basis for the Petition before the Meeting ? If it was pro; the latter character it was out uforder at:it could not he en Mr. FQRDHAM said, he h mself had a Petition to pr., founded upon it, should it be carried in the affiimative. lie proposed it as an amendment. Lord Dacia& complained, that by suck a proceeding he been taken by surprise, aid ..hould have afterwards 4J V..ij indulgence of the Meetinz, while he re.lied to the his worthy Friend. The lion. W. Lore then came forward to address the : ing. It had always been allowed, in candour and courit.e, an individual pointedly attacked' was at liberty to reply t'. allegations urgket against him. Of that privilege i.e nrrt occasion to avail himself. Whatever should be the decitic the present Aeeting,, he slmild give it his support, so tar an consistent with the principles upor. which lie profes'ed to 21 the Resolution, however, which had been proposed amendment, contained a d st:nct instructiola to hint as c, their Representatives, is. il..ctrine esa centrary to his vit., .that he could never acquiesce iii- r -(Hisses, And suite tr:ilf• Ile did hot depricate any expres-sou of di• ent u.: of the Meeting, all he begged syn.- a fair h:ath.g. it satisfactory to hint to find that on the pre.c.:t ncessicn not intended to go into all show minute constcer..:.o: which the distress of the agriculturists was to be .:stain If men turned their eyes to the Continent, they 'fuc!d s: same distress preeaiiii:g among the agriculturists there as h country. They would s.e the warehouses full of corn, roi up with a view to profit, but to save whatever could be ret from destruction. In France, the tarnier v.as just as bad; as in England. it was cleis that :le ith_r a depreciated curt nor an import duty on corn could airord ;lily relief. The remedy was by diminishing the expense of production. I been said that he had not attet tied in his place in the lc. Commons on most of the occasions when 31r. liuw.e't took place. In answer to this charge be would say, this the m o nth of May to June he had been conhned in by indisposition ; and even it he had not, he did Dot feel bound in every installer to support the motions of Mr. Dante. The Honourable Gentleman, after concluding some furtha e - servations as the same effect, was followed by Lord CRANBORNE, who expressed his entire dissent front tLe object of the Meeting. In Ids opinion, it would not raise the price of corn one shilling in the bushel, it all the Meru! ers of the llotise of Commons were turned out, and a new set put j.a attic place. The Noble Lord experienced loud marks of dis.are.ba iion, during the short time he was on his legs. Mr. G. Fe D WAY (brother of the other Gentleman of tlist name) was the nest who addressed the Asstmlary, and w:Cia commenting on the arguments of Air. Lamb, he took ocea•ica to urge the question of Parliamentary Reform in terms sa stror - , that be was called to order by the Chair. He als rroposci Resolution, the object of which was to lessen the inter( -: of th- Public Debt by one-half, as all the produce of the cart I had bNa so much depreciated. lie likewise proposed, that person: he:l - high offices should give up a large share of their in:emes,: . :t the sante reason. The Marquis of SALISBURY spoke briefly in oppoiiii):: to 0... r general terms of the Petition and Resolutior. Sir Join: Szaatuirr addressed the Meeting nearly to the same effect as Mr. Lamb. The amendments were then withdrawn on the previous sug gestion of Mr. FOILDHAIf, sen. who expressed himself anxious ter the unanimity of the Meeting upon so important a subject. The question was then put on the original motion, and the rt tlon.with some verbal amendments,was unanimously adopted. Thanks were afterwards voted to the High Sheriff, and the Meeting dispersed at four o'clock. IHE EVENING STAR. 1 ONDON. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1522. PORIFICATIOX OF TUC VIFOIN MAILT.--Holiday at the Bark. STOCK EXCHANGE, ONE O'CLOCK. The Funds, towards the close of the afternoon yes terday, improved a quarter per Cent. This me:lntl Consols for private bargains opened at 76', 3 ./s, 1 ) 1 " have since declined to 76 1 4, with little or no busi ness doing. Since the conclusion of the war, the British Pail;A .ment never met under circumstances so deeply atroa ing the interests of this country, as at the present moment. That we have preserved our amicable IC lations with foreign Powers, that the Taxes have no: been less productive, and that Commerce has suife:ci no depression, since the last Meeting of Parliament, may be admitted; but here we must rest. We slloy; , Z be very sorry to see this country wantonly embroiling itself in the quarrels of the Continent; but it remain 7, to be seen, whether the British Ministers have exertc.l that influence which England, as one of the first nations in Europe, possesses, in restraining the ambi tious views of Russia on Turkey. That they have tamely permitted Austria and Russia to stifle the first. efort at amelioration made in Naples and Piedmont, will not be denied. Towards the Greeks we suspect their conduct has not been so passive, and that it will be proved that, not only in our government is tho 1 ' ; 4 . V f , 1. Lord Liverpool I circulation At an ~ scot there were, v notes, and sever is i proximating war in this state of t adopt would be things, work up before, by the o; attempt to Alter risk more than i -''' / During the vihri L ; ] , ( the year 1819, b] derable importal doubt, affected ii het ; but be thou! r e :tr : : ::r re t " : 4 kir; I 14,r w i n bait l•r••• na. ,hh lt.t I ILt 4 1 .11;c, Ar4,l ) .t,:i fait ~ v.? : • wt:t •o g • t rtrocr ai :1 IL:. • 4a: h.,: 41.1% C , .• rti.Z.bt • IC 4 . .;1. .u:3 M: Fs nit 'lO.l a; as aa cat a aci ;Ls bet!.— • sre tht .o: I:.:1 %scut,' Idiy 4.f a - rtacy he o: •. ;',::1 I 1.-r 'in the ie the of the their preb.t. ths: 1