The Sun.
London, England, 1823-01-28 00:00:00

sertion of his Hon. Colleague (Mr. lifonck), that the petition,
amwevex strong and powerful, and strong and powerful he ad-
mitted it to be, would be unattended to by the -House of Coin-
mons. The utmost they could expect was, that after giving
rise to some discussion, it would -be ordered to lie on the table,
and then be heard of no more.—(llearaa-The question now
was, by whom 'should' this petition be presented Ile thought
it could not-be in better hands than In those of the county
members, and therefore he would Move that it be presented by
their two representatives.
This being put, and agreed to,
Mr. DUNDAS c.ame. forwerd. He said he always made it a
practice to attend- the county meetings, in order to learn the
sense of the people. He had attend.wiat the celebrated York
Meeting for .Reform in 1784, and since that time he bad not
been present at one Which gave him More pleasure than the
meeting of this day. He had listened with great satisfaction to
the speeches of the mover and seconder, and also to the very
able one of his Noble Friend, the author of the petition, which
did equal honour to himself and his country. The mo.
tion which had just been agieed to called him up, and
be could assure the Meeting, that he would with great
pleasure present the petition; and • support it by every
means in his power. The mode which the freeholders
of the county had thus adopted of seeking relief, would,
he was eatistieda be found ultimately to be the most ef.
fectual. Had it been adopted and persevered in long ago, it
would, he had no doubt have prevented many of the evils tin-
der which they laboured at the present day. It would have
curtailed a ruinous war, and prevented that ruinous system of
extravagant loins to support an 'exorbitantly extravagant ex-
benditure from the effects of which he feared it would be long
efore the' country could recover under any management.—
(Hear, hear !)—lled the 'House, instead of atting under the
controalaif a Minister, legislated according to the wishes of
the people of 'England, they would now be relieved from the
pressure of taxes which few of them were able to pay. In
conclusion the Hon. :Member thanked the meeting for their
attention, and congratulated them upon such a numerous and
respectable 'assemblage.
Mr. flahniTT next moved the thanks of the Meeting to
Lord Folkestone, for his unwearied zeal in the cause of the
people, and for.his exertions in bringing about the present
ineetinga—Carried:
On-the motion of the same Gentleman, thanks were voted to
the mover and seconder of the Petition ; also to the High She-
riff, for his readiness in calling the meeting, and likewisesfor
his impartial conduct in the Chair. .
Lord FOLKESTONE thanked the meeting for the very flatter-
ing mannerin which they bad noticed his exertions in bringing
about the meeting. To, him it was but a trifling trouble, but
the zeal and cordiality with which his efforts had been met by
the Gentlemen to whom he had applied rendered it a source of
great satisfaction. He was happy to have this opportunity of
bearing testimony to the readiness with which the subject was
taken up by the Gentlemen who joined him in ,the requisition,
and he only regretted that their names were not included in
the vote just agreed to by the Meeting. Having, when
he last addressed them, occupied their attention, he fear-
ed, at too great length, he would not now detain them any
longer. He could not; however, refrain from expressing
the joy he felt at finding the petition; carried- in the manner
it had been. ' His own opinion and feelings were very strong
on the subject. He believed that the'solvation of the country'
depended upon reform, and that if not speedily brought about,
the greatest calamities would befal the nation. It was the con-
viction of this truth that had induced hitn to take the steps he
had taken on the present occasion. He was at first afraid that
his application to the gentlemen who had signed the requisition
would be considered intrusive ; but the kindness with which it
had been received soon banished that fear, . and convinced j
him, that it was only necessary to Make the effort in order to
induce the Gentlemen of the County to express.their opinions on
the necessity of Reform. He looked forward to what might, in
all probability, be the situation of these who were to come
after him ; and he was anxious, for their sakes-2hr the sake
.of his country, he was anxious to avert evils which he Saw ap-
proaching. For his own sake he did not act; for before the tithe
the measures which he was anxious to have brought about
. could be effectual for the country, he should he removed from
any cessation of pleasure or pain, which 'their success or failure
could excite. As long, however, as he could exert himself, he I
would be active in the cause of reform, because 'he was certain
that it was by stemming the tide of corruption in the Corn- mons we could alone tender this country prooperoue and happy
at home, and respected abroada--(Cheers.)-1n conclusion he
again thanked the Meeting for the honour they had done him, but added, that he was entitled to no thanks for the part he
had taken in bringing -about this Meeting; which were not
equally due to the gentlemen who had joined him in the re-
quisition.
Mr. EYSTON and Mr. IIOWLES (the mover and seconder of
the petition) severally returned thanks for the vote of the Meets
lag in which they were included.
Mr. HALLETT again addressed the Meeting, and observed
that he had only one word more to offer, and it was as to the
place of their meeting. It was well known, that two Sheriffs of
the county had refused to call a meeting of the free,holders, and it
happened that they bad also been refused the use '
of the Hall
of Reading, on two occasions, by two mayort or that town,
and turned out to hold their meetings in the open air. tan one
occalion they were obliged to assemble in a stable yard. It was
true, they might feel as warm in the cause of reform in a stable
yard as elsewhere, but that was no reason why they might not
be more conveniently accommodated, where the means were
within their reach. The hall- in which they were now as-
sembled belonged to the county of Berks. He mentioned
this for their government on future occasions, and that if a fu-
ture sheriff should think fit to attend to a requisition. fur that
purpose and call the. County together, they might assemble in
the county-hall at Abingdon. The hall at Reading also be.
longed to the public. It was opened sometimes for eating and
drinking, (a laugh) and dancing and fiddling, and was never
refused to any itinerant showman, but it was twice refused to
the County for the purpose of holding public meetings. New,
under those circumstances, he should inure that in future all
the public meetings or the County be held at the Shire-hall at
Abingdon. • a
Mr. H. MARSH hoped, that, as a Reading boy, he might be
allowed to say a few words before this question was put to the
vote. He was one of-the party (for he was always in the way of
Mischief) who were turned out to hold the meeting in the stable
yard. It was also true, that a Mayor of Reading had made a
mistake, for evil communications corrupt good morals, and had
refused the use of the town-hall. 'These circumstances he regret-
ted as much as any man, but letnot the meeting judge of the dis-
positions of the men of Reading from these facts. aa To no men
of any town in England would they yieldin independence and
a zeal in,the cause of reform.. Let not the meeting press too
-hard- on them in consequence of the mistake or error of two
Mayors. Let there be two meetings held at Abingdon, for one
at Reading, it' it pleased the meeting ; but he would say, do
not cut them off at once for ever.—(Hear, hear !)
Mr. HALLETT observed, that Mr. Marsh had pleaded so
well' for his townsmen, that for the present he would withdraw
his motion. He hoped, however, the present would be a lesson
to the authorities there. •
Mr. dross.--Oh, no doubt ; the mayors will go the bet-'
ter for this whipping. • • •
Mr. BUDD moved that the two Members for fteading he re.
quested to attend the County Members in presenting the• peti.
non and supporting its prayer. ,This was put and carried.
Mr. F. PALMER said, that he. should know from his friend
Mr. Dundas when the petition was to be presented, and should
feel great pleasure in giving it every support.
Mr. Molicit said he should also feelmuch pleasure in at.
tending to the wish of the Meeting. He felt proud of the
compliment couveyed to him, in being. associated with the
Hon. Members for the County on such an occasion.
The Riau &trins ~ returned thanks for the honour which
had been conferred on hint. lie then declared the Meeting
dissolved.
The Assembly then gave hiM three Hearty cheers, after which I
they separated.

An ingenious fraud has been practised by
some individual, in altering the large 1/. notes of 'aNiessrs.
Chapman and Co.'s North and South Shields Bunk, to five
pounds. it is done with a pen and India ink, both in the body,
of the note anti in the corner,. and the difference may be readily
discovered on comparing the colour with the other parts of
the note. The words " Five Pounds," in the corner, are also
quite different from those in the genuine 5/. notes of Messrs.
Chapman and Co. being in some instances church text, in imi-
tation of the same words in Messrs. Bilackhouse's notes, and
in others the word " Five" alone is used in imitation of
Messrs. 'Ridley.and Co.'s, or Messrs. Lambton and Co.'s notes,
but the letters are stronger than in either. These are both a
full black ; but the word " five" in lstes.ors. Chapman & Co.'s
real notes is a shaded German text, The " Five Pounds" in
the body of the genuine note is also of Roman capitals shaded ;
while in the forgery the same words are Italic, and all black.

The following is a correct list of the houses
destroyed by the tire inSVatling-street :-51r. Penny, wine-mer-
chant; ‘Villiains, warehouseman ; Jones, Russell, and
Co., ditto ; Marryatt, Rohe, and Co. ditto ; Thompson and Son,
silk-manufacturers ; and Profit and Lowndes. The Pre1111s"
of the two latter firms are partially injured. Men oh 'Mr.
Thompson's property was preserved, and conveyed into the
parish church of St. Faith, in consequence of which no ser-
vice was performed on Sunday. Great exertions were made by
the constables and firemen, to prevent the fire reaching the skin
warehouses belonging to Messrs. Row, which they happily ac-
complished- Their warehouses, we understand, contain pro-
perty to the meant of several hundred thousand Pounds.