The Statesman. — London, England, 1823-02-10 00:00:00

fottkert.obserrationsi during witich he strongly enforced I r the necessity of Reform concluded by seconding the motion. Lord DACRE said the subject which was before the meeting for its consideration, great and important as they all knew he considered it, namely, that of reform, did, in his humble opinion, sink to nothing when com pared with the questions just submitted for their consi. &ration. Constitutions were instituted for the p yation of liberty, and the security of property ; and atm ion* as he bad invariably shown himself to be for a reform in Perliement, he had hoped on this occasion to have abstained from pressing on their attention : are had hoped that the good feelings of every Hertfordshire man worthd have led di n can.atteon•ly to support the fair and candid measures which lied been first proposed to them. —His feelings had hurried him to speak first to this point, which he had intended to have noticed later, and he would now revert to a question of form which, friendly as he was to public meetings, he con sidered of importance. He was one of those who signed the requisition to the High Sheriff for convening the meeting, and as he was alwayis enxions that not only freeholders who were represented, but those who were not, should meet to state their rights, he had inserted the word " inhabitants" in the requisition. His Honourable Friend the High Sheriff had fairly stated to • them his objections, and he (Lord Dacre) wily . non wished to submit his objection to the generalizattOn of such a practice. He doubted whether his honourable friend considered county meetings as he (Lord Dacre) tied tAl l ;gislature considered them. In one of the Six Acts fur regulating public meetings), in the 4th semi t was enacted that not freeholders only, but that- olden, copyholders, and inhabitants, should ai not able to any of the penalties by that act imposed when summoned by the High Sheriff. If he (Lord Deere) were right in his construction, the legislature I I differed from his Hon. friend the High Sheriff; but he was content to wave the point, though he believed be I spoke the sense of all present, that inhabitants should form part of every county meeting when the re quisition was so framed. (Cries of " All, all.") He , would not now enter iwo the merits of the general question. and repeat what he had stated in that place on ' former occasions. It was remarked by a great writer, by Identesquieu,that the most dangerous government was that which had the forms of a free with the spirit of an arbitrary government : whether that were applica ble to our Government, he thought he need not lose time io arguing, for whether they looked to the mode of election of the members of the House of Com mons, or to their conduct when elected, to the constant anti invariable support which every Administration was sure to meet with, he thought sufficient was observable to jnstify them in doubting whether we might not have, with the forms of a free government, the spirit of an arbitrary one. These were the grounds on which lie had originally been, and still was, the zealous friend of reform : add to which, without i reform he much doubted if taxation would be reduced ; and on that account it was peculiarly proper that the meeting should petition for a fair and adequate repre sentation of the people in the Commons House of Par liament. If he were asked what reform he would wish, be Could give a very detailed answer; but his opinions on that subject had been fully delivered in the House of Common', and were on record : it would ill become him, therefore, to occupy their time on the system of reform which he had advocated. He was not vain enough to suppose that it was such as would meet every one's ideas. No single individual could be capable of pro posing a system full and effective in all its parts. The question was, what reform was necessary to that sys tem which, when reformed, would be worthy of the ad miration of the world ; and he certainly would not be vain enough to say what he thought requisite to make . it a perfect system. He should blush for himself if he were to do so : but what at mild be say to the pro position which had been addressed to that nume rous and respectable meeting, as an amendment' to a petition for reform ?—to reform.; why it was to create a House of Commons (loud ap plause), who were to enact a law for the sale of all public properly, and under that head the property of the priesthood was included. By this they would not reform the House of Commons, but would constitute thein• selves a House of Commons: they had announced prin ciples in the face of the country to which he would for bear applying the proper epithets. He gave the gentle men who made the proposition every credit for good in tentions, and though he had concurred with them gene-' rally on political subjects, his Lordship continued with much energy—" I cannot, however, remain silent when I hear a proposition made for the application of the public property, accompanied by so unequivocal an ex. planation of what that property is. What the amend- 1 1 meat proposes is nothing less than that a vast mass of property belonging to individuals, and lawfully belong ing to them, should be confiscated. I speak, I assure you, with pain upon this part of the subject, because I am compelled to differ from men twhom I really value : but I feel that the greatest injury must be done to that great cause which I have always advocated by sueb pro ceedings. I have witnessed in other counties, with sor row and disgust; the adoption of the measure now sub mitted to you ; but it was always a consolation to me to reflect, that the freeholders of Hertford—the consistent, the warm, and the rational friends of reform— Would, when the time should arrive, display a different temper, and pursue their object by becoming and dignified means. The mischief which is done to the cause by any other course is incalculable. The particular sort of reform which we should like must be matter of opinion. If we were asked to propose a plan, you would offer your's, I should offer mine,and England would most probably adopt neither, but some alteration which should be suggested by the assembled wisdom of others ; hut when that is proposed which it would be impossible to grant—when the public money is no longer to be held sacred, there can be no hesitation in rejecting it altogether. lam notparticularly fond of church pro. perty, as you all know : I have no great veneration for enormous church revenues, particularly for the over grown possessions of the Irish hierarchy; but we must not forget, that the interest held in these possessions by the present proprietors, is held under the same law, which, if once _ infringed upon, might, and probably would, shake the foundation upon which your own pro perty revs. I may be told that I ant too bold, in thus censuring the proposition that has been made. I may again have to bear the taunts of my friends on the left, and be told that I don't feel the pressure. Gentlemen, this is not a time to talk of one's self; but you will be lirve me, when I am fully convinced that the interests of landlord and tenant are so inseparably connected, that I should be a fool, even if I was not a knave, to prefer in any respect my own interest to theirs, or to sacrifice them to anyself.—(Hear.) 1 am aware that I speak with sonic warmth; I know I have not kept close to the question of reform, which, indeed, ought alone to oc copy us here; but I feel for the honour of the county, as well, as fur the cane, which I have seen datnage.t elsewhere by amendments similar to those now proposed. I feel the danger of adopting them so strongly, that I call upon you earnestly to reject by acclamation the proposition of confiscating property over which you neither have, nor can have, any control. I may regret that I have suffered myself to he betrayed into warmth, but I can never blame myself for having endeavoured to carivkagat you that by sending forth the amended pe tition, you would Ming dishonour upon yourselves, dis grace upon the county, and destruction to the cause which you mud I are resolved firmly to maintain. if I ,gain your universal rejection of this amendment, I shall THE STATESMA N. have done more fee the cause of reform (which is now qui•e strong enough to take care of itself), than if I should waste days, or even months, in detailing facts with which every man among you is acquainted. I ask from you, I claim from yon, your rejection, and your re probation of the amendment. I ask you to act upon this occasion in such a manner as shall make the example of the county of Hertford a bright one, and such as may be fearlessly and honourably followed by the friends of reform in every other county. I beseech you to do nothing which way injure that cause in which you and I have perseveringly and zealously worked for so many years, and which, Votive gained, would make the pure Constitution of England the envy and admiration of all tho nations of the earth, and the glory of the free peo ple who live under its sway." The Noble Lord sat down amidst loud applause. Mr. limo FORDIIAM said, he was one of the oldest Reformers in the room; be had advocated it more than 30 years ago in that county; he was one of those who supported the celebrated Petition of the Friends of the People, presented by Lord Grey in the House of Com mons; it was a Petition well worth being read, and attended to in the present day. He felt that Reform could be sought fur on„ibe Around of justice alone ; he would he ashamed to 41efor a Reform which would he productive of any injwitice to any honest man, and there fore, any Reform which would affect the interests of the clergy he was determined to object to. The Reform to which he wished to give his sanction, was such a s w o uld be of advantage to the Clergy themselves.—(Applause.) —There was another point, of great and serious import. ance, and that was the advantage they would derive from unanimity on the present occasion.—(llear, hear.) It was usual with their adversaries to cast it in their teeth that they could not agree among themselves upon the nature of the Reform which they wished to intro duce. lie was therefore sorry that any thing had been urged which could tend to interrupt that harmony which it was desirable should prevail in a meeting so twiner ous and so highly respectable as that which he had the honour of addressing. One of the gentlemen who sup ported the amended Resolutions spoke of the advantageof unanimity, yet he proposed that which was most calcu lated to disturb it; for it was impossible that lie could expect such a Meeting to be unanimous upon such Hese latious (hear, hear!) An Honourable Friend near him, who was opposed even to the Petition, actually chuckled when he heard the Resolutions proposed ; before that his Honourable Frienil,*who he believed was prepared with an eloquent speech against the Petition, appeared in despair, now and then a half suppressed sigh escaped him, as if conscious of his inability to make any thing like a successful stand ; but the moment the Resolutions were read, he appeared delighted. " Now," said he, " I have something to go upon—here is food enough in all conscience" (a laugh), The Honourable Gentleman, in conclusion, exp d a hope that something effective would be done towards bringing about a Reform. If we were to remain at peace, it was a proper time fur Reform; and if we were to be dragged into a war it would be doubly necessary, as without it certain ruin would await the country. It was not necessary to state, what was the precise nature of the Reform required ; be would be thankful for any, however limited. Some objected to the Reform noposed by my Lord John Russell ; but if that, when adopted, was found insufficient, what was to prevent them from going further? He hoped the Meeting would be unanimous in supporting the original Petition, (Applause). Sir JOHN SEBRIGHT next addressed the Meeting- He was aware of the disadvantageous situation in which lie placed himself by following the very moderate, sensible and praiseworthy speech of his 'Honourable Friend who had just sat down. Those who knew his worthy friend must feel that his steady and zealous ad vocacy of the case of Reform was above any enlogium which he (Sir J. Sebright) could bestow [ipplause]. lie had no hesitation in saying, that had the cause of Reform been advocated throughout Enp land in the same calm, temperate, but persevering manner, it would err now have been accomplished [appl mar]. — Having already shown by his votes in Parliament what his own opinions upon this question were; it was neces sary for him now to add that he continued friendly to, and would give it his most cordial support. But as one of their Representatives for the County, he felt it his duty to collie forward; it was as much his duty to conic forward and declare his opinions as it was theirs to watch over and inquire into his public conduct, and to call him to account for any neglect, or preference of his own interests, with that jealous attention which a pro per regard for their liberties and interests required. He was not one of those persons who represented the bushes and brambles of a houseless Borough—he was the (reely.eho. en Reprszentative of a free County, and was bound to answer the inquiries of his constituents at his peril. It was no idle or ostentatious boasting on his put when lie declared upon his honour that he would no more sacrifice his time and his health by sitting in Parliament for a rotten Borough, than he would if ap pointed to it there by the Crown itself. So nom h had been said, and eloquently said upon the question of Re form, that lie felt it unnecessary to enter at any length into that question ; he would, therefore, only state short ly and candidly what his views were upon it. It bad been well said by his Noble Friend (Lord Mere) that it would be vain and presumptuous in any man to pretend to point out what complete and specific Reform ought to beestablished; it was a question upon the detailsof which no two persons were agreed; but of all the plans of Re farm which he had ever met with, he preferred that proposed by his highly respected friend, and late Col league for the County, the present Lord Dacre (loud applause). The objeet of that Reform was not to de stroy but amend ; not to pull down but repair ; not to new model upon a wild and visionary theory, that beautiful structure which it had been the work of ages to erect, but to renovate and beautify those parts of it which time and circumstances had worn or decayed (loud applause). This was the object of the motion in troduced by his Noble Friend. It hail been well observ ed by the Gentleman who spoke last, that it was folly to refuse any thing unless they obtained all they asked. Let them take what was offered, and if that was found insufficient, what was to prevent them from going on ? He would deal frankly with the Meeting ; there were two descriptions of enemies to Reform ; the first were those persons who fairly stated that no Reform was ne cessary; the second, and by far the more dangerous enemies, were those Reformers who ,by their violence and thoughtlessness rendered the question ob noxious to the more sober, steady part of the com munity (Loud cheers). Among the greatest ene mies of Reform, he considered those persons to be who lately adopted that foolish production called the Norfolk Petition.—(Hear, hear,) As to the former, they held that the constitution was of divine origin— that it was a thing too sacred to he approached—that it must not be defiled by human hands. Did not those Gentlemen know that our constitution had been one of varied successive changes; that by changing, and alter ing, and amending, it was brought to be that beautiful structure, which, in spite of all its defects, it still is ? What was done at the Revolution? What was the Sep tennial Bill, introduced at the time of the Rebellion, in order to secure the Protestant Succession? An Act, which was the more necessary, as at that time many of the Country Gentlemen were jacobites, nay, even his own grandfather, then a Representative of the County, Went on his knees in his full bottomed wig, to drink tl.e Pretender's health.—(A laugh.) Were there not changes *Were they not amendments in our Constitution? What human institution was there which did not require fre quent inspection and frequent amendment? Countries changed, men changed; it was in the very netire of things that frequent alterations and amendments shout become necessary. Ile confessed he did not relish the plan of Reform proposed by ',not John alessell. so much as he (lid that of his Noble Friend, Lord there; from which however, the former was, lie believed, nteihlY taken, but both were moderate, and tierefure not to he rejected. Of what use was it to ran after that which could not be obtained? If they adopte I the. Result'• lions proposed to he added to the Petition, they would destroy the effect of that Petition ; they would, in short, fall into the same error that those persons did who adopted that nonsensical P. tition at Norwich. In the prayer of the Petition every Reformer ought to agree He thought that pensions and places, « here deserved, ought to be bestowed; where they were not deserved, they were a robbery of the public for the purpose of paying the instruments of corruption.—(Applause.)— fie should be doing injustice to the Freeholders of the County if he omitted to state this as his opinion. lie repeated, that lie was not a visionary but a practical man ; he wished to see the House of Commons united to the people; let that be done, and those sinecnre places and pensions compleined of would soon be removed.— (Cheers )—lf they adopted the Petition alone, he would present it as one adopted almost unanimously by the county; if they added the Resolutions to it, he would still present it, but in defence of his own honour, and character, lie should feel obliged to state, that be could not give it his support.—(Applause.) Mr. N. Ceeveito, M.P. fully concurred in what bail fallen from [We Hon. Baronet and the Noble Lord who preceded him. He wished the meeting to take the pro posed Resolutions in this point of view. Suppose it were suggested to any farmer, Of tradesman, or manufacturer, that if he should all at once turn his capital into a new channel, he would double his profits, would any man he mad enough all) at mum to adopt such a course?— Would not the farmer or the tradesman at first try the experiment upon a small scale—fibs cries of the meet ing, that Mr. Calvert should mount the Table, here became so lased and vehement, that the hon. gentleman sat down] The HIGH SHERIF/ was about to put the qu,stion, when, Mr. W. LAMB rose and said, that standing as he did in the situation of one of the representatives of the county, and anxious as he was to hear their opinions, sue receive their instructions, which, though he was not bound to obey, lie was bound to hear with respect and attention. lie begged to say, that he should not have risen but for the hope expressed by one of his honour able Friends, that the petition would have the support of both the county members. lie thought it due to the freeholders present, and to himself, although his conduct might differ from that which would be prescribed by tele msjoeity, which he deeply lamented, to state in candour and sincerity his opinions on the present subject.— (Hisses.) Ile threw himself upon the indulgence of the meeting (of which he felt he needed more than a emu. mon share) for their patient hearing. They would go with an ill grace to Parliament for an extension of their rights, if they showed themselves incapable of exercising those they already possessed with de corum and discretion.—(Tumultuous disapprobation.) —He had listened to the opening of the Petition with mingled satisfaction and regret; but he had heard the sentiments of the gentlemen proposing the amendment with unmixed surprise. He would only say, that if he could ley aside the respect he entertained for the county, and should indulge only his own feelings upon the occasion, he should wish that the amendments might be carried, because no act could tend so mach to throw discredit upon the principles to which he was known to he opposed, and to render idle, vague* and useless, all the efforts formerly made in the cause of reform in the county of Hertford, and which it was now intended to repeal. But he had a stronger feeling fur the conntv's honour, and he disdained to take any sinister 'peens of supporting his own views of the sub ject. (Hisses.) He did not propose to discuss any of the topics which had been introduced at great length: lie represented no borough—lie had no borough inter est, nor hail his connexions any—he had what lie esteemed infinitely higher, and what was the most honourable point of de English gentleman's ambition - a seat in the House of Commons, and the representation of an independent county. He could not doubt, that if the plan of reform now proposed should be adopted, his way, connected as he was with extensive properties in the county, would be much more sate and plain than it was at present. He knew the superiority of power which superi ority of wealth gave, and lie should be very willing to see certainlords relieved front the burden of borough influ ence, which they exercised for the purpose of advocati ng the cause of reform—that influence which was in ede more sweet by the addition of popularity. So eager were some of these noblemen, that they were not content with the influence they possessed, but they actually expended their wealth in parchasing other boroughs to extend their power of promoting Parliamentary reform. (A voice from the crowd " But who reimburses them?") No one reimbursed them. They possessed large for tunes, and so zealous were they in the extension of this influence, that they thrust upon great cities members who were disliked, and had even refused freemen their admissions, subjecting themselves to applications to the Court of King's Bench, and even to line and imprison ment, fur their unauthorized refusal. lie called upon them, then, to admit that these nominations, however faulty they might be, were not innovations ; they were as old as the constitution. He knew that was no argu ment in their favour, but it was a fact. A good deal had been said abdut Old Sarum and its bashes and thistles. When did the gentlemen think Old Sarum was abandon ed ?- Why, it was when the charter was greeted to New Sarum, viz.—in the Ilth year of the reign of Henry 111. or 1227. at which period the inhabitants deserted the old for the new borough. The fault, therefore, WAS co-eve I with the (louse of Commons itself. The borough of Batton was also frequently spoken of; that had been chartered by Henry VI. He hail inspected, in the Rolls Chapel, the returns of the reign of Henry fill., at which time there was only one inhabitant. This was imme diately previous to the free days of Queen Elizabeth, the glories of which had been so touch enlarged upon. The state of the representation in her immaculate reign might be guessed from souse letters of Lord Berleigh's, which he would read from the Cecil Papers, and which had been published by Mr. Wooler. One was directing the person to whom it was addressed to forbear return ing members until further directed; the other spoke of two persons having been created burgesses by indenture, (" fur burgesses there were none,") and one being dead, another was to be appointed in his room. Thus, the honourable member continued, this practice had remain ell in good as well as in bad times.—(Frequent and con.• tinued hisses interrupted these details.) —What was claimed on the part of the people, on the con trary, was really an innovation: however fitting it might be, or however much an improvement, It was a novelty, a change.—(A voice from the crowd, "So are the game laws." )With respect to the question itself,our's was a balanced liovernment of King, Lords, and Com• mons, where the rights of the people were maintained by common juries and grand juries, and where each authority acting in its own sphere, discharged its func• tions for the coalition benefit of the state. The object of reformers was to alter this balance and to substitute a new order of things. Suppose the King or the Nobles, or any other condition iu the state,should demand a greater share of power, would not this require looking after ? Why, then, should not a demand of a greater share of power on the part of the people excite jealousy (hisses), particularly when it was demanded upon the ground of their possessing greater talent than formerly, a nd when with singular modesty they were their own judges in this respect?—(Hisses.) At present alll parts IA the constitution acted harmoniously and in concert; the balance might be easily destroyed, but could tot be easily restored ; let the meeting look only to the`cOnti nent of Europe, and see the difficulty which they'still had to re-establish the equilibrium of potter. The Eng lish House of Commons was the only experimental in stance they had of a free represer.tation : it was in the history of the world a modern invention. The U nited States of America coul.l not be instanced, because.theie representation had only existed about 40 yearsi .. .titere was no analogy in many respects between.the,.coun tries, and the parallel particularly failed inetisits.-- that here the land was occupied, and there it was not The use of a representation was, he apprehenthiii,;: to preserve and give publicity to popular feeling; to diiest it of all that levity and inconstancy, all those sudden resolutions and certain repentaeces, which had been ate c taracteristies of all pure democracies, ancient or mo dern. The mode of electing the people's representatives ought to be different, as there were different tnotl4dtati conditions of society; it ought of necessity to be temper ° I so that the representatives were not made as much the instruments of error and falsehood as of truth and jus tice. lie was not prepared to vote for any sudden and extensive changes. lie would no: vote for Lord John Russell's plan of divesting certain boroughs of their franchises and scattering them over the face of the country. (Hisses.) He was sorry that gentlemen list pried to what he lied to say w.th so little patience: He was aware that vices in the representation would and did exist; for any change, the object of which was amelioration, and the process of which appeared safe, lie always had voted, and would still vote, but he would n-ver put in hazard blessings which be knew were great, and he hoped would be pernament. lie thanked the meeting for their attention. lie had no complaint to make of those little ebullitions of feeling which were always the characteristic of popular meetings; and he hoped no man would bear ill-will towards him for the opinions he had expressed, while he was willing to take by the hand those who had b• es most forward in ex po easing their disapprobation. (Applause) lithe meeting felt a moral certainty . that the petition would do good, they would be right in holding up their hands for that which hail been read; if they meant to assist hi:n anti the politics which lie professed, they would vote for the amendment ; but he had a greater regard for their lionour,than for his own success, and he hoped they would, of the two rather adopt the former course. If, however, there were any gentlemen present who had not considered the subject fully, and were prepared to act without having a deep and satisfactory conviction upon the subject, lie conjured them to pause before they should take a step which might commit their country, their conscience, their posterity and their Goa. The honourable Gentleman sat down with partial ap plause. Mr. WILTSHIRE said the speech of the Honourable Gentleman who had just sat down, only went to prove that a Reform in Parliament ought to have taken place two or three centuries ago.—(A laugh.) Mr. PRICK next Caine forward, and was received with a mixture of hisses and applause. He observed, that having been so pointedly alluded to by his Honourable Friend (Mr. K. Furclhain,) he felt it necessary to offer a few remarks. The Honourable Gentleman, in the course of his speech, was so frequently interrupted by hisses and cries of '• off, oF," mixed with some approbation, that lie was frequently inaudible for several minutes to• gether When lie heard our great and glorious consti tution —when he heard that fabric assailed which had been panegyrieed by the great Nlontesquieu, who gazed upon our bright star of freedom with a hope that its fight would spreal and illume the orbs by Which it was surrounded ; he, though one of its feeblest advocates felt it necessary to raise his voice in its defence.— Ile next advert-A to the fallacious hope entertained by many, theta reformed House of Commons would take some steps to:relieve agricultural distress, by regulating the supply to the demand, and iti proof of the danger of such au interference, he quoted the answer of the French merchants to Mr. Colbert, who, when he asked what he. could do to improve their trade, replied, " pray leave us to ourselves. It was singular that durine. the war, when prices were high, nothing was heard of Parliamentary Reform ; or of the influence of the Crown, though the latter then was much greater than it was at present. But after that influence had been reduced, the manufacturers became distressed, and raised the cry of Parliamentary Reform, The farmers having still high prices said nothing about it. The distresses of the manufacturers have disappeared without any reform, and the agriculturists feel distress, and they, too, coin plain of the influence of the Crown, and cry for Reform. So that It-form was to be a panacea for all complaints— it was, if lie might hazard a humourous allusion, quite the Dr. Sangrado system; bleeding and hot water were the only specifics, no matter what the disease.—(l laugh.) Mr. Price proceeded to make some further observations, but the frequent interruptions he received, and the strong marks of disapprobation expressed by the Meet ing induced him at length to sit slow. The HIGH SHERIFF then put the question, whether the additional words moved by Mr. G. Pordhatu should he added to the Petition, which was decided inithe negative, there being but six hands held up in favour of that Amendment. The original Petition was then-.put and carried almost unanimously and by acclamation; we only counted 4 hands held op against it. It was then moved that the High Sheriff-should alga the petition en behalf of the County. The Mon SHERIFF said, that as he did not concur in. the Petition, he hoped they would excuse hiw if he de clined to sign it. It was then agreed that the Petition should be left for signsture at Hertford. and other parts of the county. Mr. FonotrAW then moved the thanks of the Meeting. to thel.to Peers and five Magistrates who had signed the Iteuisition. Lord DACRE sai-!, that he had that moment rec-ived a letter from Lord Essex, stating his Lordship-was con fined to his room by illness, and 'hat circumstance alone prevented him from attending the inceting.—The :notion seas then agreed to. Mr. FOR Dfi A M then moved a vote of thanks to Sirlohit Sehriglit; hr as sorry that he cud not include his Honourable Colleague (sir. Lamb) in :hat vote, though he gave him every credit for open and manly constrict. That gentleman was the early acquaintance ni Mr. Fox g o he promised to lie a star of the first magnitude.: he disappointed his friends, hat be hid loud principles at bottom, and he (Mr. L.) would return to the old cause. The motion was then agreed to. Mr. W. Lana said he was sorry Opt t a sense of duty obliged him io differ in opinion will' 11 r. Fordhate. iie felt obliged for the manner iu which that gentleman alluded to his name. Sir JOHN SEHRIGHT returned than!.!. iia !aid, that ni!!1 his views of pubiic affairs. he would have been a dishonest man had he acre I a different pert In Par!omeat ; he woad have betra)e.l his duty, and hz ought in s tab case to be hanged.—[A laugh and applause.] Thanks were t voted to Mr. Nieholsan Calvert. for hating voted for retrenchment and retluevon of taxation. r:CALVERT returned thanks. Tne thanks of the Meeting were then given to the•HIA Sh”riff for his dignified and onpurtiat conduct in the Chair. The Hon. (lent in returning thanks, took occasion to sly, that nothing could be more orderly, proper, or respectahle than the conduct of the :Meeting. Consider:as the grea A