The Sun.
London, England, 1830-12-23 00:00:00

STATE OF THE COUNTRY.

(ritom OUR CORRESPONDENT.)
INCENDIARIES IN LINCOLNSHIRE.

A fire broke out at midnight on Saturday last on the
premises of Mr. Clarke, farmer and grazier in Deeping
Fen, which destroyed several stacks of wheat, oats, and
hay, nearly the whole of the farming buildings, ten fat
bullocks, six buses, and two cows. The wheat is estimated
at 500 quarters, and the total damage from 3,000/. to
1,000/. The house is mucla injured. The fire commeuced
in the stack-yard, and notwithstanding some persona were
employed to watch the premises, the incendiaries were not
detected in their villainous act, ror has any clue been ob-
tained to their discovery. Mr. Clarke, who is a Scotch-
man, is a very industrious man, and his lots is much re-
gretted in the neighbourhood.

REFORM MEETING AT NEWCASTLE,

UPON-TYNE.

(FRONI OUR CORRESPONDENT.)

A numerous meeting was held this day (Dee. 21.) a,
the Guildhall of this town, at which the principal persons
for talent and wealth of the town and adjoining counties
were present, A. Barn, Esq. Mayor, in the Chair.
The principal sin•akers were J. Losh, Esq. T. E. Head-
lam, M.D., the Honourable H. T. Liddell, J. Hodgson,
' NI.P., and Messrs. Fife, Mackenzie, 111.Leod, Wilkinson,
&c. The meeting was occupied upwards of four hours by
a number of very animated speeches, in favour of the
resolutions proposed. As this qu stiun has already been
so much discussed, and the arguments in its limn• so well
known to every reader of the daily Papers, it is unneces-
sary to give even an outline of their speeches. It was
proposed to embody the whole of the resolutions in a pea-
!ion, anal that Earl Grey be requested to present it to the
House of Lords; Sir M. IV. Ridley and J. Hodgson, Esq.
Members of Parliament for the town, to the House of
Commons; and flirt the two Members for the county of
Northumberland (Mr. Bell and T. W. Beaumont, Esq.)
he requested to give it their support, ‘vhiell was unani-
mously agreed to. The following is a copy of the peti-
tion adopt:ll:
TO THE HONOURABLY.: THE COMMONS OF GREAT
BRITAIN' AND IRELAND, IN PARLIAMENT AS-
SENBLED.
THE HUMBLE PETITION OF THE UNDERSIGNED
MERCHANTS, BANKERS, MANUFACTURERS, AND
OTHER INHABITANTS OF NVWCAsTLEXPON.
TYNE,

" EWE ru,—That the present state of the representation
of the people is notoriously defective and unjust; that while
places, with scarcely any inhabitants, are allowed to return
Members of Parliament, other places, large, populous, and
wealthy, are deprived of that important privilege ; that
while in boroughs, servii tele and birth form in general the
qutlilicitions of electors—a great majority of inhabitint
householders—of persons contributing largely to the
revenue, and di.eply interested in the measures of the Go-
vernment, are totally shut out front the exercise of the
elective franchise.

" That to the imperfect state of the representation are
mainly to be ascribed the evi's with which the country is
afflicted ; amongst which your petitioners may take leave to
enumei ate unjust monopolies, oppressive and vex,itious 'Awn,
and a most profligate waste of the public money, forming a
train of evils threatening in their consequences to involve
in distress and ruin every class of the community.
" That your petitioners have seen with the highest
satisfaction the recent change in his Majesty's Councils—a
change which inspires them with a confident hope that
the earnest prayers of the people for an effective reform of
the Ilepresenta.ion will no longer be unattended to. That
in the humble opinion of your petitioner, the Commons
II use of Pat lictment ought to be—and which a proper
reform would he—the express image of the feelings and
sentiments if the people.

"'That your petitioners would hail with pleasure any
new enactmente of the Legislature calculated to lessen the
expenses, and to obviate the demoralising effects of con-
tested elections--or, in a word, calculated to secure the
unbought and uninfluenced suffrages of the electors ; anti
in this point of view your petitioners respectfully submit
that it will be deserving the special consideration of your
Honourable House, whether the adoption of Ballot, as a
mode of taking the votes of electors, may not be advisable.
" That your petitioners conceive that in any plan of
Reform which may he brought forward, it will be India-
! pen4bly necessary that a great extension of the right of
soft age should be admitted; that BorotOis which have
either fallen into decay, or become notoriously dependent
and corrupt, should be disfranchised, while et the same
time the right of representation should he given to all the
larger unrepresented towns in the United Kingdom.
" Molar these circumstances your petitioners truest
earnestly entreat your Ifonouralile !log's to take into
early consideration the important question of Parliamentary
Reform ; and to adopt such ma usurer as may effectually
remedy the tang existing and deep!y-felt grievances of an
un,qual and imperfect representation of the people in the
Commons !louse of Parliament.
" And your petitioners will ever pray."