Star.
London, England, 1823-01-28 00:00:00

.1014 WORE votartr mEzziso.

; • Potioasit to at ltequisitioh, signed toy Lard refs.
siromei Sir F. BuItVITT C. F. Fm.m En, Esq. J. EL
MOlitlio Esq. and several of the mo,t respectable'
#meholden of the-Coanty of Barks,- the High Slas•
Sir GrUfZliT SNIT', yesterday convened a Meet.
ing at Abingdon, " for the putpose of taking iota
onsideratiOis the-present state of the se of Gem.
tsic;thi iilill•the4iwoOsetty of a Reform thereof.."
A little berate 111 o'clock, the Hilo* SlittttlPis at.
Medici by blr•Willifti, as Under Sheriff, entered-the
Towe-hall, which Wee- Med by a very mimeos's
lxidyof the Geiger gird: Yeomanry Of the (Annoy.,
Lord Formoremea, blefars.-sPolasseo said Alowea, the.
Mestrbers for Reoding,Tfumoixis, T. G 0901411.; Balf,
H. Esq. C. Eurroo,lsq. W. lteiCart,24‘.
and many other ,Gentleuteo of rank and consiSetar
tion in the County, were. present.
The thou Sneezes opened the basil*nt of the day
by stating, that a Requisition had been handed tw
hitub.the signatures to which were so highly ic,ixect,
able, that he Mt it to be his duty to accede to it, by
calling the present Meeting. He trusted that the tut-
finess of the day would be conducted with so fond
propriety as to. prevent opposition ham those who
were unfriendly to such Meetings, and which would
prevent his feeling any regret hereafter for basing
obeyed the call of the Requisitionists—Op/dal/sq.—.
He then read the Requisition, and afterwards
before the Meeting a. letter-which be had received
from Mr: Neville, in which that Gentletnaii expressed
his regret that he was unable to attend, being at the
distance- of ,150 miles from Abingdon. •
T. GOoDLAgE, Esq. proposed that the High Sherif
should take the Chair, Which was carried by loud and
unanimous acclamations •
C. Evarow, Esq. then proceeded to address the as-
sembly. He commenced by stating that he most un-
affectedly apologized to the Gentlemen present far
presenting himself thus conspicuously and mini.
nently to their notice. He regretted to say that Par-
liament had ceased to be the -efficient organ of the
public yoke; it no longer operated as a check on the
improper expenditure of the national wealth; and,
to the absence, or to the non-obvo-vance of that ex-
cellent principle of the Constitution,• by which the
People were supposed to possess a proper controul
over their Representatives, they were to trace all the
evils and miseries by which the country was now
overwhelmed. The Hon. Gentleman concluded a
very animated and excellent speech by rea4ling tile
following Petition: t . ,c
" Ti the Honourable the Commons of the United Itiordoutit
Great Britain and Inland, in Parliament assembled,
° The Petition of the Nobility, Gentry, and Freehoickrs d
the County of Berke, in County Meeting assembled,
Shewetk..—Thit the only_ legitimate end of Government b
the happiness of the governed; and that the Goveraineut which
fails to prodnei this happiness is unworthy of, support, aid onao
re tie refbrmed.
“ That where no ifeitatious of Piostonses, such as hum
power cannot avert or guard against—where famine or prsti.
knee, or invasion ftoin .without, has not occurred—the Awn*
of happiness In the People is a sure sign of defects in the laws
ittd eeireintneht ut the country.
' That there Cilium this time, in every part of this country
the greatest distrkei sabongst a very numerous and must import.
ant part g ihe,People, vie,. idi thaw conr.c..ted-withaltrkulowl
pursuits; arid that the clrcuitstancm which have pruned then
is ruin ale those which alone have rescued from equal ill,tren
another part, superior Ln 'cumbers, and second wily to them is
iloptsrtbncei, the 111anufa:tuiing classes.
" 'Mat this country has been visited by no afflicting or ottee.
v*1311411 -raossaaNee: that all external wan
have erased fur owe than seven years; tiLit internal trativalliry
lilrilartmtninterripted ; abundance hat crowned all the !Ascots
the husbandman.; yet distress and poverty,so far front abating,
ertii. Minima its proportion as peace and plenty, heretobst
ratAt.uSed the surest foundations and symptoms of happiness ill
prosii.., have beep* permanent and general
1*- though, it'aptears, therefore, that the Goverumentef
I'S has faded it produce its only legitimate purpose, ye
Abr.; cestititudon Is so 'beautiful in theory, and did in practice
ptrdnee for *so many Ntes such beneficial effects, this Meet*
cannot bit attribute these unhappy malts not to any iihereeta
otexisary defects, but tail:sues grown up in the course of times
“ That 'by the theory of the Constitution the House of Cow
moos ought to be the representative of the people.
" That, in fact; by far the majority of its Members hew
scarcely -any connection with the People as such; nosnlostel.
not by their vo'ce, but by persons whose interests are (brood,
'Opposite to theirs, and, in very many cases, themselves enrichall
by their spoils.
"'That, by the theory of lite C.enstitution, net part of tat
Executive Government of the country resides in the Hoare ef
Commons ; that their main duty is to controul those who al.
minister the affairs and direct the pewee% If the State ; so that
the People may receive Ito damage in SirgeOersons,
or properties.
" That in practice this duty has been neglected, as

wholly
that, on the other band, almitst the whole Government of tho
country his been absorbed by the Rouse of Commons.
" That, from the period when thecoantry was &so:wailed
mks present form. no steps have been taken by the Legislation
generally to extend and Will/orate the popular voice la the /Owe
:ions of Members of the House of Commons.
" That the extension of the elective' franchise in pardcahr
places, by occasional Acts of Parliament,- and ill counties b
the depreciation of the value of money, has had but a very or,
tial effect, more timn counteracted bye variety of circumstance,
which, in the common course of things, must necessarily. dosing
' oolong a period, have arisen to introduce at every Electiottcw,
septand undue influence.
- • 4$ net besides these unavoidable sources of corruption, Auk
,of an adventitious nature have not been wanting, arising art el
the mode adopted for the administration of the affairs et die
IP country, amongst which your Petitioners will only mention two,
1 viz. the enormous increase of Tamales:, and the prodigious ail-
mentation of the Peerage.
I '•That while the voice of, the. People has thus been, iii hcas
' continually less and less predominant, the People have at the
1 same 'time become, bj increase of intelligence, information, and
knowledge, more and Inure capable of forming a right judgunal
1
on the conduct of their Representatives, and Worthy of enjnyleg
a direct contrail over them.
: • 0 That it therefore appears due equally to the People tei
thrm a More. powerful voice hi the election of Members of tie
innate Of Commons, and to the Crown. to rettorin that Runes
iwidah, .neglecting their own peinsliar duties; have invaded the
Irma Royalty and usurped its power. '
* bat this Meeting is happy to be assured, that ors riodsabln
Iti'tluingeluvolves no innovation in the grid; of the 6.146116111
kif the voun ; that it merely carreeti its Manifest *tows la
pea os the • 'of drinatitinces which thin has occasiseut
". That your Petitkoars thavefore pray, that year lavoilinat
tllliWair will, witboit Mai, adopt those measures which may in
ittereisary to effect -such a cll in 'the Constitution Of the
House of. Commons as !rill reer k the teal mid Addis to
*ptesentSciii of ate Preepk. Able and,willing So..redsathil.
viitattees; Co maintain their rieswpalL top 818111111109 r
baffiness, and for the honour of tkist;ornwo,., . ‘,4. it ltsi
- • " And. your Petitiooeiy will
.tijier t •,,,.1 911
'" The Petition having been. ''..tittott .. „."f-.. _h,„,,..
Mi. Eisron said—" . • ' .•'—. this •i'. Mt 11111
81
.lion which I hope will be tidOiseed isy 'die M
N ... . ..
If the rubble Lord by whom the PaierintViit
,Atia bad pleased, he might•eisifY hire iiiiiielf 4. _ ~,, ,
ll.'aciztan better able to propose, it iritrefikci, and whOfe;
opinion world bare had greater 4140 Eliaid iiiheike
. . .
,but ortitis•lttitt store, tbat-ittr..indliltdiint iiit*'..
iintiswisid With the jtistici jun/ unipottqap iif gie*
iat Nl,' . O• 44 CiC .4 r. e• tr.V.l)l 4i

6tatorial prinr;ples laid (inn% ifi taut 'Petition he
could. not have found anywhere'—(Applause).
THOMAS fiewt.,. Esq. rose for lila-purpose 01-1
,ocondioo the preposition which had just SIM made.
Be had carefully examined the Petition; and he now
say that it me, with his entire approbation: Gedtlk
glen (said Mr. Bowles), let use be moderate, but at the,
lame line let us be 6rm. tf we pursue a Mod&
sate and firm course, it requires; 1 think,-no• gtneat
spirit of prophecy to declare, that emit eauae in tyke.
.of ever y obstacle, must be finally 'sktorei4tiL4 Cheers),
..and then will the. House of Connitotis again become
,shat it always ought to be, the leffkient:orgartttle
feelings and sentiments of the great body Of the Pi e.
The HIGH Slit turr.i..:ll. any Gen de Min -objectsl
to the Petition, I am _ready in'iteir his • sentiments.
p'a'id you, Gentlemen, vaidt to have-the Petition
wad again ?—(" No, no- 1) •• No Gentleman appears to
disapprove of the Petition 'hi any way."
A Fav_moLnEn.—lt 'appears to- bt 'unanimously
greed to.— After a short pause, 3
'And FOLKESTONE presented himself to the notice
tf the Meeting. and was received with loud Reda-
illations. His Lordship said, that as no opposition
had been offered to the motion bf his lion. Friend, it
might pet haps appear rather a work of supereroga-
tion when he took it on himself to address so nume-
rous and respectable a Meeting. Ile must, however,
observe that the shamefully defective representation
of the country, the corrupt process by which the
House of Commons (no longer the true Representa-
tives of the People, no longer expressing their wishes,
sentiments, and feelings), were elected—these were
the causes of all the distress under which the agri-
culturists wet e now suffering—(Loral applansej
If Parliament had been careful of the People's money

:if it had been true to its trust—if it had been dili-
pat, and looked forivald to th• probable re ult of
the laws which it had enacted (particnlarly that which
related to the currency)—if it had adhered to its duty,
or if, not haying done it had been so constituted
that it might have been immediately called to account
by the People, the country would not now be involved
in that labytinth of difficulties from which• it could
only be extricated by the greatest wisdom, seconded
by the mast persevering virtue—(llear, hear).—lt
followed as a matter of course, that to get tid of '
those difficulties, the People must intrust their inte-
rests to other and cleaner hands than those which
were instrumental in creating the misery by which
they were oppressed (Elear,licar). Ile would ask any
pan, if he had a steward under whose mismanage-
ment his farm became unproductive, his offices were
falling down, and his whole estate bole the appear-
ance of decay and dilapidation—he would ask of
him, whether he would employ that steward, after
he had discovered his criminality?—(Hear, hear).—
What, then, was the House of Commons ? What were
its cbitie,? Were not the Members of that House in-
tended to be the Stewards of the People, to take care
of their liberties, of their lives, of their properties ?
Had the House of Commons fulfilled their trust?

Ilad they, elected as they hadbmi for
.along period,
so exercised their functions that the liberties, the
Jives, and the properties of the people of England
were perfectly sale and secured ?—(No, no).--lf, then,
they had not done their duty, it was necessary that
the people should select some other stewards, who
would not betray the interests of those who employed
them—(liear, /war).—How, then, were they to pro-
cure such stewards?—(hear, hear).—The House of
Commons, it was true, was elected in a public man-
ner, but still that public election
_did not give to the
people such Members as their welfare required.
.What, then, were they to do? Whys they must adopt
some other system, by *hicb they might hope to send
Members to Parliament in whom they could place
confidence— ( Hear, hear).He would not now enter
into the question, as to what species, or what extent
of Reform ought to be adopted. They would not,
however, split hairs on this occasion—(Hear).—
Whether the rotten boroughs should.be chine away,
or what specific plan should be adopted, was not
now the question. They all agreed upon one great
point; namely, that some Reform was absolutely
necessary ; and tvithout airy concealment of his own
opinion as to the necessity of an extensive Reform,
he hoped the Petition was so drawn up as to con-
cilia-e the unantintaus approval of the Meeting, since
it called for no particular or definite system of Re-
form—(Herr).—Neither a Radical nor .a moderate
Reformer could dissent from the Petition, because it
only prayed for that which all felt to be requisite for
the well being of the country—a Reform in the elec.
tieeof Members of the House of Commons—(Hear,
lea) —The Noble Lord concluded by expressing his
hope that the Petition would be unanimously adopted.
Mr. HALLET, in a speech of considerable length,
strongly advocated Ow cause of Reform. He ex-
pressed himself in favour of short Parliaments, and
d greater extension of the elective franchise. lie
would also have, in his view of Reform, a certain
number of Members, a fourth or fifth of the Mem-
ber', go out every year—nut by rotation, but by
ballot; by which the chance of being called befoie
his constituents at the end of the year, would operate
power fully on influencing his votes in favour of the
interests of the People. He would also have the votes
at the election taken by ballot. and at the places
where the electors resided. Why not allow every
man ho paid taxes to have a vote? He would not
put a man to the trouble of losing three days in order
to give his vote. He would have the electors at
Abingdon and Birmingham to vote in those places
respectively. By this means the scenes of riot, dis-
order, drunkenness, and sometimes of perjury, which
they too frequently witnessed at elections, would be
;voided. This by some would be considered a bad
kw So it might. It was, however, his plan. He
had said he was not without a plan of Reform, and
Sow the Meeting had heard what it was. The worthy
Gentleman concluded amiclit loud cheering, by again
Congratulating the friends of Reform, on having so
stators and respectable a Meeting.
Mr. H. MARSH (of Reading) next presented him-
itif„ r and was received with considerable applause.—'
tie began by observing, that after the very manly
ag constitutional conduct of Mr. S.Wortley, at York,
Laving come forward to oppose what he conceived
lobe wrong, he did expect to.hare met the Tories of
klishire in considerable force, to express their opi-
*on the present occasion. He was, however,
4titer surprised at their absence. Surely it could not
fie, that they were afraid of their (the Reformers') ar-
lumen% which they had so often held to be vegue
44 without foundation ! Ije supposed he must set