The Sun.
London, England, 1823-01-10 00:00:00

PROVINCIAL JOURNALS.

The w i follong pertinent, just and spirited ob-
servations on the recent NORFOLK MEETING are
taken from The Bury Gazette of,yesterday
Did the prosperity of agriculture, the safety of the state, the
liberty of the subject, or the sanctity of the church, depend in
the remotest degree upon the conduct of the Norfolk county
Meeting,. we should regard the proCeedings which we this day
report at length, with feelings of poignant grief and extreme
alarm ; but as, fortungtely for the country, the trickery
of the whole affair
,is too apparent, and the wickedness of
the propositions too glaring, for any honest man's serious
consideration, ,we regard the, petition, its
.proposers, and
supporters, as things which. would' be imsctirevons, but
which, thank Clop I have not tree power. We "are too far
front fearing these people anti their scheentes, that we think
we ought to congratulate the County of 'Norfolk, and the
whole kingdom on the barefaced brazen disclosure of their
designs. Whilst they skulked beneath the mask of .IVitiggery
—whilst they talked of -Hampden and Sydney, and lIJOH,
honest men might be deceived and side with and support them,
without losing all eteke.e to respectability; but, that is past ;
for to ;siippothe petition they have agreed to, a man who
Hist trample upon integrity and abandon common honesty.
We will not exult over the poor defeated Whigs and self-
deceived Reformers, we pity them sincerely; bitten by the
reptilei they have fed, stung by the serpents they have fostered,
and on -their own ground bullied and disconditted by an out-
cast stranger, their situation is indeed deplorable ; we hive too
touch cof the mill( of human kindness in our nature to exult
over men so' fallen--they have our cordial pity. Poor NVldge I
But Cobbett and his crew have no fetch tenderness, they riot
in. the 'fullness of 'their plenteous joys—are mad, drunk
with the `triumph over their disr,reced and defeated allies
and patrons ; and We more soberly but as fervently rejoice not,
that Cobbett has conquered Coke, not that the Whig Radicals
havb rout(el the Recheal Whige, hut that the &sills of' the
party standing selfempreted end obvious to ell man indeethat
the purposes of, at least,-one' division of the many headed mon-
ster, factio”, arc now notoriously avowed to be selfish, thievish,
and villainous—and that a large portion of that mob which,
While 'supporting Mr. Coke's holiest errors, has betirdignitied
witit.the name of the people has now manifestedthe spirit IC
is of, and shown that it has profited so largely by the liberal
.opinions with which it -,,lias repeatedly been gorged 'sir to be
ready to adopt any systern of plunder:, spoliation, and rob-
heti, 'which any loud talking,. unprincipled, political ad-
venturer may propose., The petition which was 'earried at'
the County Aleeting, prays the Legislature to commit it.
robbery, 'and we ,would fain ' believe,- for the' honour of
the County, for the honour of huttian nature, that there
was not one man at the meeting, except the mover, bold rind,
bed enough to make the proposal, although, beinr made, they
were weak or winked enough to support that which they; be.
yond all doubt, never heard or coneldercel. We repeat chat the',
petition is bottomed oh freud and injustice, since it asks for a
violation of the rights of property., and a suspension of the laws
by which property in secured. - To a needy adventnrer, who,
has declared the payment of his just debts is secondary considerae
tion, when his personal enjoyments or the provision' for his family
are at stake—to an eleemosynary 40s: freeholder--the laws which
compel rogues to be honest in their own- despite'ntay be inena-
venient ; but to those who have a property in the soil they-tread
on, who wish the land they have inherited to descend to their
children, these laws are of some little import, and although
their stuiptinalon for only one year might enable'reane profligate
swindler to mass enough of his beigh4our's'goods to escape to
that cesspool Europe, ,America themetorevel in the fruits
of his fraudulent ingenuity ; yeti it WitV be difficult to preveil
upon a Dowsed Cominone, composed of tiny thing but pick-
pockets, to listener) the proposal with any feeling but scorn and
indignation, The property of the Church is inalienable, anti is'l
not public property." The Crown Lands are equally sacred, I
' The Debts and Contracts between man and Man" are invier-
lahle obligations. 'rite Public Debt ispri vote property ; and were
it possible that Parliament could be prevailed upon to comply
with the prayer oldie infamous petition that he s been foisted upon '
the:County of Norfolk, front that moment it vrould be a disc
.grace to be, an EnglislimaneeeThe petition, however, cannot in
any vie* lie 'deemed the petition of the County, for it is quite
notorious that it-was passed in opposition to the views-Of thosa
Whose prayer *pretends 'to be. It is called, in the framer' '
own copy, the petition of the NNubility, Gentry, and others, of'
the County of isitirfolk. There was not • one "...Nobleman"
present, that part of the description is therefore false; "Gen-
try" is a TOW Indefinite term; but we may venture, to say that
there were not five men present, with any claim to the ebti
meter Gentlemen, who supported the petition' itOthers
large term,' 'md means any-thing; every-thing, or no.
' thing, as the petition-maker knew ; it is therefore iniposi
sible to, say that in this pariiculer the deseription may not

be true. But it is quite certain that it is not the petition of
the Nobility and Gentry—neither has it the sanction of one
thousandth part of the Freeholders Of Norfolk. The Land-
owners disown it ; and the occupiers, with a very few excep.
tions, are disgusted and ashamed of it. What then are we to
call it ? We designate it a 4anderous scrawl, foisted in upon
a county meeting, under the name of a petition, to the inju-
rious exclusion of thejust consideration of an important sub-
ject, by Mr. William Cobbett (who has nothing to do with the
county), one baronet, three or four persons who have some-
thing to lose, and about three or four hundred who have nothing
of their own between heaven and earth. If, with such a know-
ledge of this shameless document, any Member should be
found to present it to the House of Commons,M we have no
doubt that it will remain under the table as harmless as in the
pocket of its author , And the event of this day will furnish,
'we hope, this usefalmon to those who have for many years
sought a factitious popularity. by bullying their betters ; that
in vitiating the minds of the ignorant by continued railing at
the Government Of the .country; they do but prepare them to
welcome the grosser incense offered by some unprincipled and
bolder bully who by undaunted assurance and desperate dar-
ing will easily secure the palm of triumph from the rabble and
lead them on, should opportunity offer, to make their ancient
idol their earliest victim. When the possessions of the church
are seized on at the will of a Cobbett, Holkham will not long
remain secure. When the estates of the King are disposed of on
the petition of Sir Thos. 13eevor, the inheritance of Sir Thomas
will not be worth many years purchase. When the laws which
enforce the, rights and protect the property of honest creditors
are suspended or repealed, he must be something more than a
fool who does not see that fratidulent debtors will soon rob
. the industrious and honourable man of his own. PropoSitions
so big with danger, so repugnant to every honourable feeling,
never could have been canted by the adaniation of the mob ;
no man would have dared to make diem, hand not the minds
of the humble and uninformed been prepared for their reception
by a never-ending reiteration of seditious rigmarole upon every
possible occasion.. The talkers at former county meetings, who,
in their zeal to triumph over Tory adversaries, roared on, re-
gardless of the mischief they were working, now reap the
bitter fruits of ' their own mischievous tillage ; and if they are
not wise in time, their -heirs may execrate their fathers' foll'.
The county of • Norfolk is now disgraced, . but that disgrace is
not irretrievable—the shame which has stained her is not in.
deliable ; and we trust the high-minded. men of. Norfolk will
be anxious to remove her reproach. For once let the distinction
ofby
aNieitlearnail Lo.crirarbaetioftiiirgdoisttcelani—mleutnhdoet:yistrreno of alwn hlayladrstiaelsi
connection with Cobbett's petition—the character of the county
will then be redeemed, and if, from this degrading specimen of
the'evils Whig doctrines may prodtice, when strained to revo-
lutiouary purposes, the Whigs of Norfolk learn moderation in
their oratory and prudence in their conduct: the hireling fret.
holder with his forty shilling cottage will have wrought good
where he meant mischief, and Cobbett, even Cobbett, will for
once in his life have been of service to his country.