The Sun.
London, England, 1822-04-18 00:00:00

FOR TIIE SUN.

. , AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS.
MR. Eerroit-:—Having just seen in your Paper
of the' 10th a 'most excellent Address to the
Public, with the draught of a proposed Petition
from the Owners and Occupiers of Land, and
others?. subscribed W.'' M I cannot suffer it to
pass unnoticed, as it places things in the same
general point of view as by.the Writer of this and
other letters, addressed to the public through
the channel of your soundly-principled and most
invaluable paper. It is a matter of astonishment
to me, that a Paper thus circumstanced, 'con-
ducted upon such impartial principles, such sound
judgment, and generally containing such truly
important and valuable matter, should not have
taken the lead of all others ; and that the Times,
the. Chronicle, and other vehicles of faction, cal-
culated, as it would seem, to excite general dis-
satisfaction at every measure of Government,
and conducted not only with less ability, but
with evidently hostile intentions to the ruling
Powers of the country, should have met with
more general attention in probably a much wider
circulation.—But _to revert to the sketch of the
petition in question. It very concisely states the
mischievous, though certainly uninteutioned, error
in all the arguments deduced from a supposed
deficiency of demand and redundancy of supply,
neither of v.ithich.can possibly have occurred. It
proceeds to state the impossibility of the nation's
paying in.metallic currency the debt contracted
under a par one, and thatnational bankruptcy
must 'ensue,` and every private debtor in the
Cbuntry be ruined, should the present measures,
which have increased the national and every
'other debt at least' by one-third, and rendered
What was before but too burthensome wholly and
absolutely intolerable, be steadily persisted in.
What has been stated at the 'bottom of that un-
signed petition, respecting the Marquis of LON.
DONDERRVS calculations, wholly meets with the
present writer's approbation, and if acted upon
and carried into effect must seal the ruin of the
agricultural interests.
These statements, and the conclusions drawn
from them, are, in the writer's humble opinion,
incontrovertible, as every intelligent and impar-
tial Reader cannot (he thinks) but acknowledge
on a fair and candid consideration. Such, at
least, is the writer's view of the subject, and he
wisheS those who maintain a contrary one to
stand forward and oppose It by solid and sub-
stantial argument, not by a misstatement of
facts and conclusions drawn from false and falla-
cious preMises. Let all presumed ideas of sup-
ply and demand, as applied to corn, be totally
done away, as inno manner consistent with facts;
but when applied to Circulating medium are com-
pletely opposite, and - lead of course to very
different, ,nay- totally opposite, conclusions.—
Let it too be considered that, with every effort
that can be made,• the vessel of State can with
difficulty be kf.pt from wreck, and that too in a
time of profound peace, with every prospect
held out by our rulers of its continuance. What
then must be our additional necessities by a state
of warfare, which, though not very probable, is
yet very far from impossible, or unworthy ofl
being taken into the , calculation of every wise'
and provident Minister. ,The contest between
Russia and the Porte may lead to consequences
not easily to be predicted ; whilst the unsettled
state of France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the
revolted provinces of South America, may con-
siderably increase those chances, by which Eng-
land may, at no very distant period, again find
itself involved in a contest of interminable war-
fare. Austria may unite with Russia in its con-
test with the Porte, and possess itself, jointly
with that Power, of its fertile European' pro-
vinces ; if opposed by France, that Power
(Austria) has an instrument in her hands
which may at any time be used with dread-
ful, or at least with very doubtful, effect
against France in its present unsettled state.
The Son -of MARIA LOUISA would always
find support in a very powerful body of the
French Empire, and entering it at the head of
50,000 Austrian troops would be joined by all
the half pay and many of the full pay military
of that Nation, not improbably push the Bour-
bons from their tottering stools, or at least render
the event extremely dubious. Could that, the
writer asks, be quietly permitted by England
without a decided interference, and must not
that interference lead to a war of very doubtful
issue and continuance ? May not Spain and Por-
tugal, with their new-fangled democratical con-
stitutions, abjure all connections with this country,
annul all amicable treaties, and place it in a
situation to render contest necessary ? May not
the United States of America, ever intent on their
own aggrandizement and our depression, now
coalescing with the revolted provinces in the
Southern Hemisphere, persuade Cuba to declare
its independence, and -unite itself to their con-
federated
States, thereby possessing themselves
of the Havannab and .crippling your trade and
endangering all your possessions in that part of
the Globe ? Is such an event impossible or even
improbable, and are we to remain quiet specta-
tors of such events, and not endeavour to resist
them with all the maritime strength of this great
country ? All these possibilities, or probabilities,
call them which you please, are certainly in the
book of chances, and what then would be your
situation ? Overburthened with debt, and taxes
to meet its interest, your agriculture destroyed,
the greater part of the European markets shut
against your commerce ; must you not then re-
vert to that paper currency which you impru-
dently wish at this moment to destroy, and feel,
yourselves but' too fortunate if sufficient cre-
dit be left you to support that system with
the same effect as heretofore ? Your paper might
then be truly and effectually depreciated, and
your pound note be reduced to less than one
moiety of its nominal value. Of the precious
metals you have not at this moment sufficient to meet the de-
mands of one half year's revenue, and yet you madly rush to
destroy that paper by which alone the State can be saved from
insolvency and total ruin. This to the writer apyears absolute in-
sanity, and if the Rulers of the State continuing, with the best
,intentions certainly, but, arguing on false principles, and in de-
fiance of all that has been 'or can be urged to the contrary, are
decided to persevere in the present ruinous system, the writer
,has only to terminate this then useless monitory, and certainly
well meant paper, with the old adage,
Quos Deus vult perdere Arius deincntat.

J. S.

- -)- `,4" / •
MASONIC NOTICES TOR NEXT WEEK.
, ENGLAND.
Monday, April. 2.% LONDON. • Nos. 4, 46, 71, 104, 306,
321, 407.
COUNTRY. 'Nos. 320, 490, 546, 578.
Tuesday, -23, LoNotwor., * * *
COUNTRY. Nos. 38, 67, 145, 427.
Wednesday, Loirrnox. „ GRAMDFESTIVAL,NOS.3,
12, 36, 91,112, 235, 349,
• 549.. Lodge of Bene-
volence.
Thursday, 25, LONDON. Nos. 7, 82,136, 142, 156,
216, 222, 327, 481. Gen.
Com. Fem. Sch. at 12.
COUNTRY. Nos. 110, 153, 176, 178,
269, 453.
Friday, - 26, Lownow. No. 421.
COUNTRY. Nos. 53, 236, 283.
Saturday, - 27, LONDON. * *
COUNTRY. No. 492.
IRELAND.
Saturday, April 27, CORK. No. W.