Star.
London, England, 1822-01-24 00:00:00

HUNTINGDON AGRICULTURAL MEETING

•
I Thursday, a Meeting was held at the George Inn,
Huntingdon, on the subject of Agricultural Distress.
The business of the day was preceded by an excellent
dinner, at which nearly one hundred and thirty sat
down. After a number of party toasts had been drank,
Mr. S. WILLS, who had been called to the Chair,
made a very long speech, in which he spoke on al-
most every subject but the ostensible business of the
Meeting, and concluded with proposing the health of,
Mr. Cobbett, who was present.
Mr. COSSET; after returning thanks, spoke more
to the purpose. He said he would proceed to the
important business they were met to discuss. They
knew that there were two documents that had been
circulated in that, and perhaps every other county in
England—he alluded to the Letter of Lord John
Russell, and the statement of the truly noble conduct
of Lord Fitzwilliam. Every honest man would
not withhold his meed of praise for such truly patriotic
conduct—he applauded it; but though Earl Fitz-
william had acted more noble and disinterested than
any other great land•owner, Lord Suffield ex-
cepted, yet he should not be doing justice to them or
to himself, if he were not to assert that the Noble Earl
was in error, not an error of the heart, but of the head.
Still his conduct was noble and generous, though
founded on erroneous and mistaken principles ; and
he (Mr. Cobbett) had thought it his duty, in the
County near where the Noble Earl resided, and had
large estates, to state his reasons why he believed
that his Lordship was in error. His Lordship says
that prices are come down to the lowest pitch, that
they are reduced to the same standard as in the years
1792 to 1795 ; and though the Noble Earl could
bind his tenants• down to their leases, yet he says,
No, I will not ; I will reduce my rents to the same
amount as in those years." This was highly praise-
worthy ; but still his Lordship would find himself
mistaken. He spoke with diffidence towards the
Noble Earl, not that he had any the least doubt of
the truth of his assertions, for he would clearly prove
that his Lordship was completely wrong. And
Lord John Russell had also formed very erroneous
opinions upon the existing situation of the land-owners
and farmers. His Lordship has two propositions.-
Ist, That prices have fallen now to the same reduced
scale as in the year 1795, and would fall no lower.
2J. That if he reduces his rents to the same scale as
in 1795, the tenant will be as well off as at that pe.
rind. He (Mr. Cobbett) begged leave to dissent from
his Lordship, for the prices had not fallen to the to a est
mark, but would continue to fall lower and lower ;
but supposing that they had fallen to the very lowest
pitch, and the rent the same as the years referred to,
the tenant would not be as well off. There were other
things to be reduced besides his rent, before he would
be as well off as in the year 1793, and every one
must know and feel the truth of his assettions—
(Hear).—His Lordship says, also, that gold and
silver sovereigns and shillings are the circulating me-
dium, as it was at the period alluded to, and rent
being the same, the quantity of gold and silver cannot
have decreased, and, therefore, rents ought to 'oe, as
the prices are, the same as in the years 1792 to 1795.
They know (said Mr. Cobbett) that the cause of the
evil was the diminution of the circulating medium;
and, if so, he should like to know where that evil
would stop, n hich was now urged on by the opera-
tion of Mr. Peel's Bib, which vats increased and in-
creasing by the Bank drawing in their notes in May
last, and which would continue to increase till the
Bill was in full effect in the year 1823 ? As the cir-
culating medium was decreased in quantity,whether
that circulating medium consisted of Bank-notes,
digold, or silver, so would prices decrease; and why
ould it stop, when causes were at work tending to
effect a further reduction ? No; as the (lank drew

in their notes, the circulating medium would be les-
sened, and the evil would in that ratio increase.

Several other Gentlemen addre.sed the Meeting,
when the following Petition to the House of Com-
mons was proposed and adopted:
" TO THE HONOURABLE THE CObISIONS OF THE UNITED
KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND IN PAR-
LIAMENT ASSEMBLED. •
• The Petition of the Land-owners, Farmers, and Traders,
whose names are undersigned, residing in the vicinity of
Huntingdon and parts adjacent, most humbly sheweth :
" hat the affairs of your Petitioners are its a state of embar-
rassment, and themselves and families in a state of distress and
alarm, of which they are wholly unable to lay an adequate de-
scription before your Honourable House—that it is their sincere
conviction, that unless an efficient remedy be speedily applied, a
convulsion of the most alarming nature must be the final conse-
quence; for thy see the hour approaching when rents must go
unpaid, taxes and tythes uncollected, relief to the poor undis-
tributed, and when the labouring classes, raging with hunger,
will he induced to satisfy that hunger by acts of violence.
" The cause of this state of suffering and danger cannot, your
Petitioners humbly presume, be other than manifest to your Ho-
nourable Ikuse • but your humble Petitioners beg leave to ex-
press their decided opinion, that the immediate cause Is that Act
of your Honourable Home, which has, in fact, tripled the value
of money compared with the price of produce, and which, leaving
the taxes unreduccd and contracts unmodified has, in fact, tripled
those taxes, and disturbed and violated all existing contracts.
" Your Petitioners, therefore, humbly pray that your Hon.
House will be pleased to adopt measures to rectify all contracts
according to the alteration in the value of money—that you will
be pleased to abolish all sinecures and grants, all pensions not
fully merited by real public services—to discharge the Standing
Army, to curtail the Civil List and reduce the interest of the
Public Debt,so that the burthen of taxation may be greatly
alleviated ; hese measures being, in the fixed opinion of your
humble Petitioners, absolutely necessary to put an end to the
recent distress andmisery, and to turn aside the dangers which
now menace every species of property, as well commercial as
agricultural, and which, in the conviction of your Petitioners,
threaten to produce scenes of disorder, confusion, and violence,
which duty to their families, their country, and their King, coin-
pels them to anticipate with a degree of sorrow and alarm not
in their power to describe.
" Your Petitioners are not insensible to the defective state of

the Representation in the House of Parliament, as at present
constituted, and cannot, therefore, help expressing their decided
opinion that the manifold evils that at present amict this un-
happy country are increased, if not occasioned, by this unfortu-
nate circLmstance. We, therefore, earnestly hope your Honour-
able House will lose no time in instituting an inquiry into the
present state of such Representation, in order that your Peti-
tioners and the People at large may receive that which they feel
is their birth-right—a full, fair, and free Representation.'

The reduction of rent anti tythe, in consequence
of the low prices of agricultural produce, it is re-
marked, is now become quite general; so that it is,
no longer necessary to specify particular individuals
vho adopt tl►is excellent course of conduct.
A certain Chairman at a late Quarter Sessions,
held not one hundred miles from Durham, whilst
examining a blind man, said, "Don't tell us what
you heard, but what you saw r

-ot .

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

Ten vines* per cent. were yesterday given at Llojd's on the
Bridgewater, the only direct ship Of the season which has not
passed the &nits of Sunda outwards. It is generally supposed
she may have taken one of the passages farther to the Eastward.
The Princess Elizabeth packet was to sail from Jamaica the
18th of December.
Captain Masher, of the Cleopatra, arrived at New Orleans,
reports, that off the west end of St. Domingo he saw a pinti-
cal schooner capture an English brig, with yellow sides, and
deeply laden.
The Diana, Ormrsat, from Oporto to the Cape de Verdi,
put Into Gibraltar on the 27th ult. and lost two anchors and
cables on the 28th.
The Delight, of Belfast, herring laden, is totally lost on the
Isle of Jura. Crew saved.
The Company's ship Repulse arrived at Tapanooly on the
10th of July, and proceeded on her voyage to China on the 11th
of the sante month.
The American brig Mary Ann, from London, was dismasted
on the 17th ult. She was fallen in with about lat. 30. by the
Bombay_ Merchant, arrived off Dover, which took out the crew.
The Thomas and Ann, Matsu, from Dublin to Glasgow. was
driven on shore on the 14th inst. near Girran, and it was feared
would be totally lost.
The George, BANITIO, of London, has been deserted by the
Master and some of the Officers, at Coquimbo, and the cargo
of oil plundered by the crew. The vessel had been on shore,
and afterwards sailed fur Lima, with a cargo of corn, shipped
by Americans.
The Albion,Watean, from New Brunswick to Newry, was
fallen in with on the 15th ult. in let. 42. long. 30. by the Olive
Branch, arrived at Lisbon. The Master and six men were in 1
the foretop ; but the Olive Branch was only able to take out one
of the seamen, the Albion having lost her boats.
Doves, Jan. 23.—Arrived this afternoon from the River, his
Majesty's new steam-packet Asaow, intended for the convey.
ance of the Mails from this port to Calais : she is a very fine
looking vessel ; and as a considerable time elapsed from her ar-
rival in the Roads till her entering the harbour, a great number
of persons had assembled on the Pier to witness her entrance.—
The new works which have been for some time carrying on in
our harbour, for the purpose of preventing the accumulation of
the Bar, are in a state of great forwardness—one of the line of
tunnels is completed, and the back-water being let through It a
few days ago, had a very great effect ; and there appears to be
an doubt whatever that, when the whole of the tunnels arc com-
pleted, the trade of Dover will never again be obstructed.
Jaw. 23.—Wind W.S. W.—Arrived and sailed for the
River, the Cincinnatus, CHAMPLIN, from New York ; Sappho,
LAD'S, from the Cape of Good Hope; and two more, names
unknown. Came down from the River, the Waterloo, Tua-
Mal, for Gibraltar, and remains. Two anchors, one of 91 cwt.
and the other of 12 cwt. have been landed here.
JAN. 23.—Arrived the Leicester packet, with a
Mail from Holland, and sailed again with another Mail for the
same place. Also sailed, the Cobbold packet, with a Mail for
Cuxhaven. An anchor of about 11 cwt. marked a Lady An-
dover, London," and about one fathom of cable, has been taken
up in closely
BRIDLINGTON, JAN. 20.—Arrived the Perseverance, Mortanox,
from London, with loss of main and fore-topmasts.
WHITBY, JAN. 22.—The Lord St. Helen's and Better-luck-
still, colliers, ran foul of each other off the harbour ; the former's
starboard bow is stove—the latter has lost her bowsprit, fore-
topmast, &c. They have put in here.
SCAASOROUCII, JAN. 22.—The Freedom, of Poole, and the
Polly, of North Shields, ran on board each other on Sunday
night, off this place, and received each considerable damage : the
former lost her bowsprit, jib-boom, anchor, and.part of cable,
and with starboard-bow stove in : she has put in here to repair.
Custom-House, JAN. 23.—Ships Entered Inwards:—The
Charente, from Charente; Sally, from Cherbourg; Haworth,
from St. Lucia • Princess of Wales, from Calais • Fanny, from
Newry ; and Raikes, from Jamaica. Cleared Outwards: :—The
Arno, for Naples; Thermutis, for Amsterdam; Ranger, for Sa-
vannah; Swiftsure, for Gibraltar; St. Patrick, for Belfast; Lady
Collier, for Lima ; and Commerce, for St. Michael's.`
Ammar's—At Pernambuco, the Lady Wellington Packet,
from Falmouth. At Batavia, Condetcus. Macao, from Rio Ja-
neiro; Diana, Corbyn, from Ostend; Portland, —; and
Catherine, Endreate, front Antwerp ; also the Margaret, Allen,
from London. At Gibraltar, Cecilia, Carlile, from Liverpool.
At Zante, Maria, Wakeham, from Labradore. At Oporto,
Diana, Ferguson; and the Aurora, Blackstone, from New-
foundland. At Lisbon, Carvell° Sen) Vaquero and the An-
dessa da Pont, from Bahia; Eliza, —; Stag, Banks; and
Maro, Tulloch, front Newfoundland ; Andromache, Stillman ;
Patriot, ---; and Lady Mary Pelham, from New York;
Voader, Matthews ; and Diligence, Nimts, from Cork : John
Craig, Guy ; and Agnes, Cundy, from Liverpool.
_ _ _