The Sun.
London, England, 1830-02-25 00:00:00

according to the principles of natural and legal equity,
ought to be the sufferer? Certainly it ought to he either
the party who trusted, or the party who persuaded him to
trust, or both ; and nqt third parties, who had no concern
with the transaction."

—ln these footsteps I am proud to follow such a
mighty predecessor—in these sentiments I glory to
coincide ; because I know that they are founded on
the principles of religion, equity, and of justice. I
have note told you openly what my opinions are
upon this subject, and I hope my anonymous cor-
respondent is present to hear my indignant renega-
! tion of such a scheme of iniquitous confiscation.—
(Cheers.)—ln writing the address to you which I
lately published, as well as in the observations
which I have now made, I have had only the public
interest in view ; and I hope that, whatever differ-
ence of opinion may have been created, I shall be
allowed to plead a good intention.—( Cheers.)— I
hope I have shown you that I have given my best
attention to the important topics which have been
brought before you ; and I shall feel that I have
not done so in vain if I have left upon any per-
son present a clear idea of the nature and bearings
of the subject. All I ask of you is an agreement
with the terms of the petition, which being general
its language, pledges no one to particular opinious
or measures ; and it will be very much to your
honour, and to the credit of the country as well as a
great support to the individual whom you have
delegated to represent you, if you enable him to go
to the [louse of Commons with this petition in his
hand, emboldened by the unanimous support of his
constituents, and feeling powerful, not in the idea
that he is himself gifted, but because he comes
backed by a great and important interest.—(Cheers.)
The Hon. Member then concluded by repeating his
conviction that it was only by such petitions, that
the alleviation of the prevailing distress could be
obtained ; and sat down amidst the loud applause of
the meeting.

Sir CHARLES MoNcK next addressed the meet.
ing. He said it was with great satisfaction he had
heard the Hon. Member declare that this meeting
had not been got up through any feeling or princi-
ple of party, for he was free to confess that he had
previously entertained a suspicion that it was con-
nected with party motives and interests.—(No,
from Mr. Liddell.) He was merely stating his own
suspicions, which he had been in a great measure
led to entertain from the course which the Hon.
Member had taken in addressing the county, as he
had done, through the public papers, and which was
rather out of the usual order of proceeding in such
matters.—( Disapprobation and cheers.) He had
always considered it the duty of Members of Parlia-
ment to wait for instructions from their constituents
rather than to dictate to them; to receive the charges,
directions, and commands of the county, rather than
be the promoter of movements in it.—(Cheers and
disapprobation.) Such at least had always been his
conduct when he had the honour of representing the
counts, but he would not deny that cases might
arise, in which some pressing necessity might render
it advisable for a county Member to follow the course
which the Hon. Member had in this instance pur-
sued. The Hon. Member had gone through a
long argument with reference to the monetary
system of the last twenty years; but he (Sir C. M.)
thought the details into which he had entered
would have been better suited to his place, in the
House of Commons, thata the present occasion.—
(Applause and disapprobation.)—Though, however,
the Hon. Gentleman had gone at such great length
into the causes of the public distress, he was sur-
prised he had not noticed the subject by which it
was conceived, in many parts of the kingdom, the
national confusion and distress had been chilly pro-
duced—he meant Free ['rade. The Hon. Baronet
admitted that the establishment of Free Trade all
over the world would be desirable, provided all the
world was similarly circumstunced—but the adop-
tion of it suddenly in a country situated as this
was, lie believed to be pregnant with extreme
danger, and, in his opinion, the experiment had
completely failed.—(Cheers and disapprobation.)—
The Hon. Baronet then proceeded to complain of
the very short notice which had been given of the
meeting. He had heard that the requisition, after
it was set about was repented of, and had been
suppressed—(Cries of " No, no,")—and from that
rumour many persons had been led to believe there
would be no county meeting at all, until the pub-
lication of the last Saturday's papers informed them
that it was to take place on the following Monday.
The county, he conceived, had riot received quite
so much notice as it ought to have had.—(Cries of
" Question.")—The Hon. Baronet disclaimed all
idea of casting any imputation on the High
Sheriff, in the encomiums passed upon whom he
most heartily concurred ; and in convening the
meeting, and not following the example of the she-
riffs in other places, he had done his duty and acted
the part of a liberal and enlightened country gentle-
man, and evinced a due regard for the privileges of
others whilst he stedfastly maintained his own.—
(Cheers.)—The Hon. Baronet then proceeded to
state the grounds on which he agreed with the peti-
tion. It was seen that the country was in a state of
the greatest possible embarrassment—that the landed
interest, the first and foundation of all others, was
oppressed to an unprecedented degree; that the
manufacturing interest, which was the next in im-
portance, was thrown into the utmost confusion ;
and that the commercial interest was not less so.
Under these circumstances, he felt it to be his duty
to remind every man, w4atever his calling might be,
that he formed a part of the state, and that he had
a right to express his opinion upon public affairs,
and to call the attention of the King and the Legis-
lature to the state of the Country. He came there
to join in a petition which should set forth the dis-
tress, and call upon Government and the Parlia-
ment to devise a :eared), : and he was happy to find
that the petition prepared was such a one as he
could support. He agreed with the Hon. Member,
that the best thing the meeting could do, would be
to unanimously adopt this petition, which was re-
spectfully worded and contained nothing that was
unbecoming of the county of Northumberland to say.

The HIGII SHERIFF said, he should ill deserve
the situation lie held, if he sat still under the impu-
tation cast upon him by the Hon. Baronet, who ap-
peared to have come there for the sole purpose of
throwing censure upon him. The Hon. Baronet
knew but little of him, but surely the little he did
know, might have taught him that he was incapa-
ble of any collusion whatever.—(Applause.) He
had only that morning risen from a bed of sickness,
to which he had been confined for the last six days ;
and he had only to state, that as scon as the lion.
Member for the County handed him the Requisition,
he perfectly concurred with it; and the only reason
why it did not appear in the public prints, at the
time it was expected, was that he inadvertently
omitted to forward it in time for that purpose. It
did, however, appear in the Tuesday's paper. There
had been no collusion whatever. It was felt that it
would have been desirable to convene the meeting
before the opening of Parliament ; but as that had
not been practicable, it was importent that the meet-
ing should be held as soo►► after that event as
possible.—(Applause.)

Sir C. MoNcK disclaimed all intention of casting
any personal reflection upon the High Sheriff, the
possibility of which he thought he had precluded.—
He only complained, as he had a tight to do, that
he thought too little notice had been given. That
was his opinion still ; and from the explanation of
the I-Ugh Sheriff, he seemed to be of that opinion
also, for he acknowledged that it arose from his
own neglect. The High Sheriff was the officer to
call the freeholders together ; and it was their con-
venience, and not his, which ought to be consulted.
For his own part he did not see the Tuesday's paper.
He took in one of the Saturday's papers, and he
must repeat that he felt justified in complaining that
he had not received sufficient notice for the exercise
of his constitutional privilege.—(Applause.)
Mr. LIDDELL said, the question as to the adver-
tising of the requisition was one of time only. The
manner, however, in which the lion. Baronet had
stated it was hardly fair. The requisition had been
advertised in the Tuesday's paper, which was, he