Star.
London, England, 1822-02-02 00:00:00

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HERTFORD AGRICULTURAL MEETING.

Yesterday a Meting of the Owners and Occupiers
of Lard in thh county of Het ts, was held at ;he
Town-hall, Hertford. for the purpose of taking into
consider ation the distressed state of the agricultural
interests.
At half past twelve o'clock, the Marquis of SA-
LISBURY, the Earl of BSIDOZWATIR, Lord
BORIS& Lord DACAZ,.Lord•VaItULAU, Sir ,1011ty s.at
ARIGHT, and the Hon. W. LAMS (the Members for.
the County), Sir •C. SMITH, Colonel... Booms, Mr.,
NICHOLAS CALCIST,Mi" P. 'and a number of other
Gentlemen. of the County, assembled in the Shire-
hall. The High Sheriff (JOsacx- Trues.aoe, Esq.)
shortly after took the Chair, and opened the business
of the day, by:ordering the followißequisition to
be read, in pursuance of which head felt it his
duty to cooveue the:present Meeting :
4‘ We, the updersigoed; request that you wales,* to call a
felting of the Owners and Occupiers of Land in the County
of Meru, Tor tee ' of. taking into • consideradon age pro.
priety of ent upon the agricultural distress of
. -
the country. • • •
kinedlog.Lord DAUM and a number of others.
The Huai Simmer. then observed, that he had
called the... Meeting together, to consider of agricul-
tural diitreis alone,•and to that object, and to that
only,.ought,their attention to be drawn. He hoped
they Would give all persons a fair and impartial hear-
ihg,'while setaking within the subject comprehended
in the Requisition.
•Lord•Dadite camb forward, and was received with
cOnsiderable applause. Ile commenced by observing
that' the alarming depression in the state of the agn-
cultural interests hid rerideied it advisable and expo.
dient‘that the owners and oecupiers of land in the i
county should assertible tti discuis the propriety of
laying their case before Parliament in the shape of al
Petition. Therewas not' one prison who at preseeel
heard him but must feel that many causes coots
spired to produce the existing state of things in 'this
country—the influence which the circulating Medium
had upon the subject, as well as the 'operation.neces-
sarily produced by the quantum of supply. The
main difficulty under which the agriculturist laboured
was, the inadequacy of the price of produce to cover
and repay the expense of its cultivation. That it
some reo.edy were not tried, t to depreciation would
contirrue; they Must all kuow as well as he did ; and
the inevitable consequence. at no distant period, most
be, that the cultivation of aver sge land must cease.
In spe.iking upon this 'object, tae wished, at the onset,
to clear away one difficulty in the argument which.
some people overlooked, or used in an erroneous
slimier. He never mentioned, nor considered in his
view of the matter, rent, as some people did. Rein
he cou>idured as the residue which remains to the
proprietor, after all the expenses, direct and inci-
dental, of cultivation, are paid. Of course, he meant
after deducting:the municipal expenses (such as Poor-
rates, Sec.). road repairs, labourers' wages, &c. Relit
was, in fact, what remained fists the Poor-rates an,i
these outer expenses; and they roust always bear 111
Mind, that the agriculturist ha.l to pay the wages of
the labourer whom he employed, and the Poor.rates
of the man who was unemployed —(ices, horr).-11.
after .ill these outgoings, there be a residue, then that
is rent. Until, however, all these are paid, there
cannot be, there ought not to be, rent—(icar, hear).
hie therefore begged to guard himself against being
understood to consider rent as a part of the present
quut,tion : it had not an iota of reference to it, until
the o hole cost of cultivation was provided. If this
could not be ..hurined, then, he repeated, the average
land of England must be. thrown out of cultivation—
( Hear, 1,..ar).—1t was not now a question between
tLe owner and occupier of land, which should derive
a particular share of the profit; but whether there
should be a transfer of the wl.cle land of England al-
together into Other hand,? And even then the ques-
Cost would stiil be open—how it could be kept in cul-
tivation by the new holders? If there were a certainty
that it could be kept in a state of cultivation, he
should still, for the sake of the community at large,
pause before he called on them to yield to the opera-
tion of such a transter—(clear, hear).—lt mattered
little, he k.tew, to the Public at large, whether the
land was held by a man like himself, or by one under
him; but it mattered most materially to all the in-
te: ests of the country, whether property in it should
be exposed to the frequent recurrence of changes,
which must, in their effect, inevitably sink the situa-
tion of all the interests of England in the general
scale of Europe,-(fleas, hear).—ln looking at the
agricultural question, price was necessarily the first
point to be considered ; the loss on the produce came
afterwards to be touched upon. The price evidently
depended on the quantity of the circulating medium
afloat, and the amount of the article in the market.
There were two ways of raising the price—one by a
legislative act, producing a monopoly of the article;
and the other by an increase of the circulating me-
dium. As to the monopoly, be thought the farmer
had, by what was commonly called the Corn Bill,
got that as far as the Legislature could confer it—he
had got, in every view of present or probable future
price, that monopoly. This was demonstrable from
a reference to the returns of the average prices, laid
before Parliament in the course of the last Session.
And he did not think it would be at all advisable for
the farmer to re-open the provisions of that Corn Bill,
and commit himself again with the theories of spe-
culative men : sure he was that no practical good
could result from reviving that question—(icar).—
As to the circulation, lie thought it quite clear, that
so long as the Bank note was convertible into a me-
tallic currency, the farmer could never calculate
upon prices exceeding those before the period when
the suspension of cash payments took place. The late.
Lord Liverpool had in his time estimated the coin in
circulation at an amount of thirty millions. A; pre-
sent there were, he believed, twenty millions of Bank
notes, and seven millions in specie—an amount ap-
proximating nearly to thakin Lord Li verpool's esti mate.
in this state of things, tfll best plan fur the farmer to
adopt would be to try, and in the natural course of
things, work up the prices on a higher average than
before, by the operation of the existing law. By any
attempt to alter that law, he thought they would
they could possibly obtain—(Hear).
ihration and fluctuation of the prices in
be was aware that there was a con i.
aim of foreign produce, which, nu
in some degree the prices in the mar-
thought the opostion of that importation •

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was infinitely small upon the present prices, He was
not unaware of the theories which were afloat upon
the means of preservin a price, were the markets
open ; but he had already told them what little.con-
fidence he had in system-mongers,.itnd how disin-
clined he was to enter into the question of which of
the two, the owner or the occupier, would have, fifty
years hence, to bear the whole weight of a Poll-tax—
(A laugh). He deprecated practically all these dis-'
tussions, for they could lead to no.possible good..
'Hu-svould relate an • anecdote upon this point. 'He'
was sitting in the House of Commons, during one of
the discussions on the, measure commonly called
Mr. Peel's next Mr. Ricardo, a Gentleman
whose name he could not pronounce without admi-
ration, esteem, and respect, one of the most powerful
writers upon political economy, one of the quickest
arguers sad most respectable of men. That Gentle-
man told him, that it was idle to be scanning the
probable depreciation of value in landed produce
after the resumption of cash payments, for it never
could varYtanOre than the relative price of gold had
varied—that was £2 per cent.• Such was the theory
of the distinguished individual whom he had named,
and he Merely related the anecdote, to shesy what
little light theory could throw upon the questioo.
Having touched upon the operation of monopoly, be
should nest glance at the coanection of currency with
the subject. The price might certainly be enlarged
by a depreciation of that' currency; but who would
venture to propose such a remedy ?...-(Hear, hear).
Its consequences bad been anticipated by himself and
all who had•considered the question, when the for-
mer suspension of 'cash payments took place. The
experience of history shoved them that there never
was an instance of a country implicitly adopting a
paper circulation not convertible at the will of the
holder into a metallic currency, but that the Govern-
ment had the immediate means of affecting the in-
terests and property of all classes in the community
(Hear, hear). None could escape the operation of
that influence. The fundhoider, whose interest was
fixed, and the poor man, who had not the means of
.commanding an increase of remuneration for his la-
bour, must at once feel the change under circum-
stances of great oppression t they were unable to meet
tlw ascent of prices, which the Government could
command. Then followed the enormous debt which
WAS the natural consequence of such operations, and
the re-action of which was now is, sensibly felt
throughout the country. The landholder was heavily
depressed ; every species of immovable property was
paralysed ; nothing, in fact; was fixed, but the taxes
(Hear. hear). Though a depreciation of the currency
would, as he had already said, relieve the fai mew,
still the terrible ultimate revulsion which must ensue,
as it had heretofore ensued, would, he hoped, present
such an appalling example, as would rural h a safe-
guard against the recurrence of a measure which
was fraudulent in its principle, and ruinous in its
practice—(Hear, hear). It was quite manifest they
could not touch the state of the currency. The only
thing remaining was to see if they could not re-
duce the cost of cultiv ,(I lear , htar, hear).
It was nothing but taxation working through the
thousand streanalets which filmed among the organs
of the State, and which was mixed up with municipal
laws, that compelled the farmer to require protection
—(hear, hear). If this were not so, there was nothing
whatever to prevent the British farmer from meeting
the foreign grower. The sun which shone upon their
soil ripened as soon, if not as rapidly, as that which
rose upon the foreigner. The Engli-liman had be-
sides the great advantage arising from his improve-
ments in machinery, and might become an exporting
instead of an importing grower, if his tract did not
weigh him down—(flear, hear).—.lt Parliament were
once got (as he hoped they would) to listen to the re-
monstrance of the agriculturists, then he should urge
before the Legislature, that whatever imports ope-
rated in the nature of poll-tax were bad. Now, what
operated like a poll-tax was easily definable. There
was the leather-tax, for instance—every man wore
shoes ; but how was he, with the increase which the
tax imposed upon the article, and the decrease of his
wages for labour, to go an and supply his family ?
Every labourer, even still, at some stated periods in
the year, drank his beer, the duty on which amounted
to something like three-pence a pot before it could
reach his lips. All taxes of this nature amounted to
poll-taxes, and tended to increase the price of labour
in their ordinary operation, and thereby to disable the
grower from competing with the foreign importer.—
It might be said that these duties had the sane ope-
ration on the manufacturer. He knew they had ; but
was that a reason for their continuance? or, rather,
was it not an additional reason why they should be
repealed ?—(Hear, hear). —His own opinion was de-
cidedly in favour of a total, repeal of the malt-tax—
(Hear, hear). A manufacturer had, perhaps, a better.
way of avoiding the pressure than an agriculturist :
he could stop his spinning-engine, but could the
fah ner stop his work ? He might, indeed, turn off
his labourer; but if he did, he must supply in poor.
rates the amount of his subsistence; so that, in work
or nut of work, the farmers' men must be kept—
there was no getting rid of them—(Hear, hear).. He
had seen a curious calculation made by a Gentleman
of the average animal consumption of directly taxed
articles, by an agricultural labourer and his family,
supposing them to consist of himself; his wife, and
four children :
Deer (54 gallons), excise on malt and hops therein ,E 1 7 0
Salt (261 b.), duty - - 0 6 0
Leather (lit pair of shoes), duty - 0 6 0
Candles (441 b.), Soap (1111 b.), duty - - 0 4 0
Tea (41D.), duty - - - ' 014 0
Sugar (521 b.), duty - . OIS 0

tiler. The enuntrfshould never forget that personal
property was the great engine which the Government
worked darlog the war. There was uo way olseving,
one class at the expense of another r *bete-the funded
annuinmf fell, the landed interest must .414 the
crush ; ki fact, a distressing revulsion must attensl
annihilation aft any of &Arm classes in iociety7,ll6e
nation was bound by invioTailkfailt to the fondholder ;
but the Qovernment Were bound, by a prescription
antecede* to ayl,statmarz xesnlatio.ny, te.taphold the.:
ti of ProPerty-ht iTaed( !Tear, hiar).—The claim
of the one was at leak equal' ter that of the other for
honourable protectton, and could ncis-be•everlookeek-
Fsom the summary with which he had already tres-
passed en the Meeting,.he thought it clear they could
not have.° titer opoly on better terms than it was al-
ready -secured....sthey voulcritot look to a deprecia-
tion of the-curiendi and they could only, therefore,
hope fbr relief In a diminution of the weight of taxa-
tion. 'their taxation was too great to be borne—
(llear, hear).The Legislature must be told that
they could not submit to it—that they could no longer
enclitic it—(Near; hear).--:they might be asked how
'the Ways and Means were to be provided, if the taxes
be had enumerated were repealed? To that inter-
rogatory be shoulil.replye that it was for the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer and the Government to sup-
ply the deficiency; irwas for the People to point out
where the intolerable grievance lay. They had only
to say that they could not suffer more than they had
endured, and to add, that- if the Government did not
satisfy their reasonable expectations, the interests of
the land of England must sink for ever (Hear, hear).
The prayer of the Petition which he should conclude
by proposing was, simply. and in general terms, for
a mitigation of taxation. Unless this were effected,
he repeated, the country must be undone—(Hear,
heal).—The Noble Lord concluded by thanking the
fleeting for their patient hearing, the High Sheriff
for his prompt attention• to the wishes of the requisi-
tors, and by requesting that a Gentleman near him
would read the Petition, as he was himself so indis-
posed as with difficulty to make the exertions he had
already made* at the Meeting.—The following Pe-
tition was then read:
" 7lla ll l7Ytl.t PaTITUT or TUT venzasnaszn 0V774111111 axis OCCi.
Pints Or LA.ho 1w ilia Goer, OF leritTS,
" Snewsnt—That your Petitioners are suffering under the
most intense and unparalleled distress. Your Petitioners abstain
from an enumeration of the several causes which have, as they
conceive, brought them to their preatst condition ; but they can.
not but remind your Hon. House, that after the various fluctu-
ations of prices which Asey have experienced, the circulating
medium has been finally settled upon a rystem which bears
severely against the agricultural interests of the country. •
" Your Petitioner; submit to your Ilon.dlouse;that the direct.
effect of the system thus adopted, ha; been the :virtual increase-
of that taxation under which they bare bong and patiently la,-
bottred ; and, convinced as they are, that a gineral reduction of
the prices of all anicies used and consumed by laboUrers in agri-
culture, in some degree corresponding to the reduced prices of
the products of the soil, would contribute to their relief, they
cannot but entertain a confi‘lent expectation that your Hon.
House will take into its immediate consideration the expediency
of adopting some plan of reduced taxation, which shall relieve
the population of the country from those taxes which more im-
mediately affect the price pf labour, and which, consequently,
i raise to a:1 oppressive degree the costs of cultivation.
" Your Petition'ers beg to assure your lion. House, that unless
adequate and immediate relief be affiarded to the owners and ec-
ctaithrs cf land, Caey cannot but contemplate the total dvstruc-
tion of their property ; being convinced that the rights by which
they hold this property are as just, as sacred, as any that can be
given by statutory pledges to other interests in the Stare; and your
Petitioners confide in the justice and equity of your Ilon. I louse
to afford them equal security and protection. Sour Petitioners,
therefore, pray, that the pressure of their taxation may be miti-
gated, and that they may receive that relief to which they consi-
der themselves so justly entitled.
And your Petitioners," &c.
Mr. KIMYTON seconded the motion for its. adoption.
Mr. iota Voitomam then rose to address the Chair; and said
he had a Resolution to propose which went further than the
Petition framed by the Noble Lord. Ile differed with him in
Kline respects, as to the actual cause of that distress which now
so generally prevailed. Ile looked upon the Corn Bill as a
great evil. Why, what did the Government do?—They passed
an Act to keep up the price of corn, and then took the same
amount of money out of the pockets of the agriculturists. In
many parishes it was quite impossible for ruin to be carried
any further. The Resolution which he had to submit was, that
the 'Meeting do instruct their Representatives to propose in Par-
liament the repeal of the duties on malt, beer, leather, salt, soap,
and candles, as being the only means of relieving the sufferings
of the labouring classes, and of stopping the wasteful and profli-
gate expenditure of the public money. Mr. Fordham here en-
tered into sonic details ,hewing the difference of expense in cer-
tain parishes between the present period and 1792 ; observing
that the County Rates were at present four times more than
they were then. In the parish of Ashwell, in Buckingham-
shire, the Poor-rates had more than doubled since 1792 ; and
in the County Rates there was an enormous disproportion.—
In that parish the county rates in 1792 amounted tO £5 0 Ba.loll.
in 1821, thly were £49. 3s. 4d. There were in that parish 900
inhabitants, creating an amount of taxes of £826, or 091 quarters
of barley, being four quarters for ore of malt. The aggregate
amount of the malt duty was £4,000,000 last year, of which, as
he had ,hewn, the inhabitants of AshweU paid £826. In fact,
the farmer was obliged to sell five quarters and a half of barley
to obtain one of malt ! Was not this monstrous ?—(eflislause).—
The agriculturists paid £5,000,000 of taxes, while the other
classes paid only £2,000,000; yet the Marquis of Londonderry
had the hardihood to say, last year, in the House of Commons,
that the malt tax was not felt as a burden, as it only raised beer
a penny a pot—(ell/plasm/6nd lasighter). Was this to be endured ?
Could the People of England bear it? The worthy Gentleman
next contrasted the present expense of the Army with that of
1792, and dwelt particularly on the great increase in the Cons-
mander-in-Chief's department since the latter period. It was
monstrous, he continued, that the Duke of York should received
sixteen guineas a day in addition to his other allowances, and
yet not be satisfied with that sum. Why, in the parish of Ash.
well, the labourers were obliged to pay in to the tax-gatherers
one thousand pounds a year, which did not last the Duke of
York for five days—(preens, and cries of" Shame Shame!").—
Could such *state of things be borne? There were fifty other
parishes in the same predicament. The Duke of York swal-
lowed all. We had upwards of 10,000 half-pay Officers, who
had fought the battle, of their country in the most perilous
times, yet for the last three years not more than 300 of thew
had been easployed,while 507 Gentlemen's sons, who'had never I
seen any service, were .raised over their heads, at an expense to
the nation of more than £4OOO per week. We had also :he
Yeomanry Cavalry, who cost the nation at the rate of £5OOl
a-day. Laskyear we paid the expente,binnunting t0£170,000,
eyvierr rti lhe privatesoffi er r thatofficers
ott they dnidl
iornn
co not goe;
43 10 0. label ui
gl
1 hi
nbg e;
anheae:krstnewiledneftruiliFis
b
To this add the Excise on Malt and Hops for the not. He next adverted to the different emoluments oyf s
beer found by the master in harvest-time, turnip- Maitland; from the situations he held, which, according to the
statement of the worthy Gentleman, amounted to £15,000 a
hoeing, dcc. estimated at thirty-six gallons, the Excise
was twelve shillings, making a total of £4.2x. It
;rear. Net one shilling of this sum was spent in England.—
had been said, that the re al of the dut upon four 27170td
00
tiot wheaes necessary to keep on foot
pey
people
of these articles would effect no adequate relief for of England? -air Isaac Clan, whop had eiVed macthe %
ple
the agriculturist: that he would deny. It would af. sums from the pockets of the people, did not hesitate to tell
the agricukuriatsikst •year, .1n place in the House of Com-
ford relief, and its operation. would soon be sensibly
t hi,theyGhadbetterwlooitmwe andidfill their d
be iung-carts !
felt in the amount of the poor-rates. He wished to mln
Isas, Lord
that to support 'inch a large
add one argument, upon an opinion which he had Radical—id laugh)--4aid; tted Was
tono
daily heard, and hourly lamented. It was said that army as was proposed, would be to overturn the Constitution!
the agricaltural and funded interests were at length lie then -commented on the enormous increase in the naval ex-
penditure
at issue. He denied the truth of that opinion:—the sincthanseesethoe year 1792.
sf We had now 19,000 seamen, and
rocinterests of both were one and indivisible--(Hear, houseslos
to
live
in.
Lord
weeeothetbyewAandtmediral-tutliewNhos see
vy? m fine
hear). If land could not bear its burdens, he was tautly not. Were they of any use to the- country? Cez7ai c7r;
perfectly sure the monied interest could not long ' not.
Where, then, were they of use, and to whom In the
House of Co
withstand the pressure: they- must stand or fart - • atmous--to their masters, the Minister(Cheers).
ege At the Cape of Geed Hope, a Colaoy dist had Coals to treat

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the Jletels, who were Antal la all dwir Mutt, there are tat
same Neglect mid protege expenditure, the stone mow r4t
s.
eteeemy. A Governor in 1706 got Xl,OOO a-year foe his sir.
vices. When Lard Dalhousie was appointed he had n,
than £lO,OOO s-year I Moreover, would the Nleeting
'it, there was at that Colony a Chancellor of the Exchequer.
frogga)--orlso esjayed a salary of no less than £2,000
..-43tat be had sdll mother Item of expense to mention, and
Ilia the Meeollll, be supposed, was not prepared. lie saw
a morning Paper, and he took his information from that poi.
as be bad it not within his power to resort to Ministerial docu
ments, that tbemjscreapt (liver---dtmerrateiss_wilp
birTiiogiriiiito ratite the people if IfogicticT to treason and•re
bltllion—tort wretch, who sought tWltitiessb Sir Praneis •Bet
date and some of the mon honourablei-assa-la •the
Ovaid-it.statell, was saddled upon that -Yell. -pfttp:e e,f v.„
at an expense of £300„ having been 100,4 h-tint to a place ai
Cape of Good Hope—(Lestel antinitisstant cries .1.. 5,,,,„,e!
At preseurthe bate collection of the taxes entailed upou
than
be oatinghetsp.ctopsebaovfe.f44:oooentirbc,oood....4, Thheeraie
Inwyin..l4sausliticarcv-arnnittny 7:111
House Of ttiroitions• There Were fifty-two itidtiriduals
House :isiett.tiok • net less than SI oft,COn emt of the oil
purse-4 Intat do they defer it 1") • He w..,
what service they rendered in return ? his answer \Val P-A,
they voted for Ministers—(4 laugh, and loud c,ip,
The fact was notorious; he w9ulti apply to Sir John
they Were nor regulaily roblig,ed to attend whytunter
,tl,/
ter required their prestnce?
Sir •1010 e SILISSUUT.-...What they are obliged to do I 'Anew e,
for mys:lf I can say, that, in the House tit Commons, I et:,
your to discharge my duty as beconos an hot:est man.
:lir. Portonam coutinued.—l L. would still appeal to the II
Baronet to say, whigther, when dyisimoi took place, they se,
not regularly sent fur to the con-et...l:mews ahout the ..ou,
Commons? Ile must now call the atteuthott of tiny
the expense which the Conunissiotters for India Aff.t:rs
Those were six of them, and the fins had a salery of fit.
a-year, and the sectald .C. 3,000. llc seas DOW
question of Reform and Retrenchment, and, while upt.o-
question, be could not help adverting to the t. traordittary rt
of .Mr. Hume in the course of last sii..n. lle had tlivit:ei
House not less tb ix seventy-two times; yet he (Mr. Fot.'.!
was sorry to perceive that upon Intr.t of tl.ose
Members for the County of Hertford %sure al,sr.nt. u;
divisions had taken place when nut one County Aktubet w;
his place.
Mr. ALSTON SeConded it. (kg:aid that matters, It id rew
to such a pitch, that it wa necessary to slew
that they would not, but that they could not, pay the tax.,

Lord Dactus now rose to ordtr, at:d ask;sl. Mr. Far,
whether hr proposed his Itesu:ution as an amend:nut t,
basis for the Petition before the Meeting ? If it was pro;
the latter character it was out uforder at:it could not he en

Mr. FQRDHAM said, he h mself had a Petition to pr.,
founded upon it, should it be carried in the affiimative. lie
proposed it as an amendment.
Lord Dacia& complained, that by suck a proceeding he
been taken by surprise, aid ..hould have afterwards 4J V..ij
indulgence of the Meetinz, while he re.lied to the
his worthy Friend.
The lion. W. Lore then came forward to address the :
ing. It had always been allowed, in candour and courit.e,
an individual pointedly attacked' was at liberty to reply t'.
allegations urgket against him. Of that privilege i.e nrrt
occasion to avail himself. Whatever should be the decitic
the present Aeeting,, he slmild give it his support, so tar an
consistent with the principles upor. which lie profes'ed to 21
the Resolution, however, which had been proposed
amendment, contained a d st:nct instructiola to hint as c,
their Representatives, is. il..ctrine esa centrary to his vit.,
.that he could never acquiesce iii-r-(Hisses, And suite tr:ilf•
Ile did hot depricate any expres-sou of di• ent u.:
of the Meeting, all he begged syn.- a fair h:ath.g. it
satisfactory to hint to find that on the pre.c.:t ncessicn
not intended to go into all show minute constcer..:.o:
which the distress of the agriculturists was to be .:stain
If men turned their eyes to the Continent, they 'fuc!d s:
same distress preeaiiii:g among the agriculturists there as h
country. They would s.e the warehouses full of corn, roi
up with a view to profit, but to save whatever could be ret
from destruction. In France, the tarnier v.as just as bad;
as in England. it was cleis that :le ith_r a depreciated curt
nor an import duty on corn could airord ;lily relief. The
remedy was by diminishing the expense of production. I
been said that he had not attet tied in his place in the lc.
Commons on most of the occasions when 31r. liuw.e't
took place. In answer to this charge be would say, this
the month of May to June he had been conhned in
by indisposition ; and even it he had not, he did Dot feel
bound in every installer to support the motions of Mr. Dante.
The Honourable Gentleman, after concluding some furtha e -
servations as the same effect, was followed by
Lord CRANBORNE, who expressed his entire dissent front tLe
object of the Meeting. In Ids opinion, it would not raise the
price of corn one shilling in the bushel, it all the Meru! ers of the
llotise of Commons were turned out, and a new set put j.a attic
place. The Noble Lord experienced loud marks of dis.are.ba-
iion, during the short time he was on his legs.
Mr. G. Fe D WAY (brother of the other Gentleman of tlist
name) was the nest who addressed the Asstmlary, and w:Cia
commenting on the arguments of Air. Lamb, he took ocea•ica
to urge the question of Parliamentary Reform in terms sa stror-,
that be was called to order by the Chair. He als rroposci
Resolution, the object of which was to lessen the inter( -: of th-
Public Debt by one-half, as all the produce of the cart I had bNa
so much depreciated. lie likewise proposed, that person: he:l-
- high offices should give up a large share of their in:emes,:.:t
the sante reason.

The Marquis of SALISBURY spoke briefly in oppoiiii):: to 0... r
general terms of the Petition and Resolutior.
Sir Join: Szaatuirr addressed the Meeting nearly to the same
effect as Mr. Lamb.

The amendments were then withdrawn on the previous sug-
gestion of Mr. FOILDHAIf, sen. who expressed himself anxious ter
the unanimity of the Meeting upon so important a subject.
The question was then put on the original motion, and the rt
tlon.with some verbal amendments,was unanimously adopted.
Thanks were afterwards voted to the High Sheriff, and the
Meeting dispersed at four o'clock.

IHE EVENING STAR.

1 ONDON.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1522.
PORIFICATIOX OF TUC VIFOIN MAILT.--Holiday at the Bark.

STOCK EXCHANGE, ONE O'CLOCK.

The Funds, towards the close of the afternoon yes-
terday, improved a quarter per Cent. This me:lntl
Consols for private bargains opened at 76', 3./s, 1)1"
have since declined to 7614, with little or no busi-
ness doing.

Since the conclusion of the war, the British Pail;A-
.ment never met under circumstances so deeply atroa-
ing the interests of this country, as at the present
moment. That we have preserved our amicable IC-
lations with foreign Powers, that the Taxes have no:
been less productive, and that Commerce has suife:ci
no depression, since the last Meeting of Parliament,
may be admitted; but here we must rest. We slloy;,Z
be very sorry to see this country wantonly embroiling
itself in the quarrels of the Continent; but it remain 7,
to be seen, whether the British Ministers have exertc.l
that influence which England, as one of the first
nations in Europe, possesses, in restraining the ambi-
tious views of Russia on Turkey. That they have
tamely permitted Austria and Russia to stifle the first.
efort at amelioration made in Naples and Piedmont,
will not be denied. Towards the Greeks we suspect
their conduct has not been so passive, and that it will
be proved that, not only in our government is tho

1 ' ;4.
V
f ,
1. Lord Liverpool I
circulation At an
~ scot there were,
v
notes, and sever
isi proximating war
in this state of t
adopt would be
things, work up
before, by the o;
attempt to Alter
risk more than i
-''' / During the vihri
L; ] ,
( the year 1819, b]
derable importal
doubt, affected ii
het ; but be thou!

Islands, but also in our whole policy, tvb halie
Jecidedly leaned in favour of the Turks.
so much for the conduct of the lqinisters in regard
to Europe; if we look across the Atlantic. we shall
ind that the interests of this country have been
shamefully neglected. We•have seen Province after
Province in South America shaking off a yoke under
srbich it can never return, until nearly the whole of
that vast Continent is independent ; we have seen
these regenerated Provinces anxiously seeking a com-
mercial intercourse with England; and yet our Mi-
nisters have not, in one single instance, availetithem-
selves of the incalculable advantages thus offered;
even whet they have found that other Powers have
been anticipating them in this respect. The King of
PRUSSIA in establishing the Rhenish Wine Company,
i 215 virtually recognized the independence of South
Xinerich. Portugal has done the same in regard to
iler own transatlantic possessions:. and as to Spanish
America, the most sanguine politician will not pre-
tend that its entire independence of the mother coun-
try can now be obstructed.

These are some of the subjects which we trust vt ill
ot.cupy the attention of the British Legislattne.—
There are others, however, which being nearer home,
affect us more closely. Ireland, though yielding so
tniall a portion of revenue towards the exigency of
ti:e Stare, is, notwithstanding, in a state of the ut-
inost.misery s several of the counties are in actual
' labellion, no matter whether provoked by politScal
ceding, or the unparalleled distress. in which the
pea:liatry are plunged ; their hostility to Government
requires its utmost vigilance, as it entirely disor-
inizes society *here it rages. .
_ _ _

At home, the pressure of taxation has nearly be
came insupportable. The Agriculturists, from one
e.11.0f the kingdom to the other, are assembling, and
I.4ving-traced the distress to the true cause, demand,
Ici‘pectfully but firmly, a reduction in the public ex-
F.:oJiture, as the only means of alleviating that dis-
t.c.s which pervades all ranks in society—those who
fawn on the public money excepted. The cry for
IL:renchment bas long been such as a prudent or a
si.:nous Administration would not hate disregarded;
t 1.., public voice is now, however, too unequivocally
expressed either to be mistaken or despised.H
T.:e Nation has seen with disgust the paltry efforts
n.aje to satisfy it by the dismissal of a few clerks in
some of the Public Offices, and the plans for reducing
the salaries of others, while not one of the large sala-
ried Officers has been curtailed of a single farthing;
mot one of the useless sinecures has been abolished;
to reductions have been made in any of the expensive
establishments, save what were wrested from the
Ministers in the last Session. Until these are done,
Committees of Inquiry, which cost more than the little
petty retrenchments they effect, will be useless, and
sill neither satisfy the public feeling nor alleviate
ti:e public distress.

At a late hour this forenoon we received Dutch
Papers to the 30th ult. The following is the only ar-
ticle worth extracting from these :

LEGHORN, JANUARY to.

We hear little from Egypt. By the last accounts,
t:.;., Turks had penetrated far into Abyssinia, and had
s,:nt many thousand slaves, or rather prisoners, to
Egypt. The Wechabites remained quiet. Though
the fidelity of the Pacha to the Sublime Porte is net
to 1,.-! doubted, he continues to give a good reception
to the Greek. fugitives. The chief care of this wise
Governor is to increase the insufficient population of
his dominions. Great doubts are entertained respect-
ing the sudden death of the Persian Prince.

Hamburgh Papers to the 26th ult. hare been re-
eived. One cf them contains an Order from the
;RAND SEIGNIOR, dated the middle of ll:cember,
rected to Saito' PACHA, who commands the ad-
:anced guard in Moldavia. It enjoins the military
.) abstain from all excesses, and to protect such of
'le Rajahs as have not taken part in the insurrection.
It need not be mentioned," says this Order, " that
he object of the commands which you have, to re-
main where you are with my Imperial troops, is
solely to defend the Rajahs, as it is fitting, against
rcbbers, and to protect the inhabitants and Rajahs
:gainst all oppression and violence ; for this is my
supreme will."—The remainder of this Order en-
Erces the observance of these commands, and en-
..pins the prompt and exemplary punishment of such
as may act contrary to them.

Similar orders have been sent to the Pacha of Si-
14tria, and tO MAHON= ALI PACHA, Seraskier on
the Banks of the Danube, which relates to Bucha-
rest; and to Dervise MUSTAPLIA PACHA, Governor
~f Widdin, relative to Little Wallachia.