Star.
London, England, 1823-02-07 00:00:00

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3 HAMPSHIRE COUNTY
OAPER.

HAVING read, in your Paper of last week, with as
much astonishment u regret, the refusal of the High°
Sheriff to convene a Meeting of the Owners and Occupiers of
Land in the County of Southampton, foe the legitimate purpose
of taking into consideration 'the universally acknowledged state
of Agricultural Distress, and the propriety of petitioning Parlia-
ment for some redress of those grievances under which the. ended

Interest of the kingdom at prevent labours, I did not hesitate to
iNeUircifnsi services,' as a 443igisw
irate, to afford them this their undoubted ant inalienable right.
' The most valuable Privilege of the People, and upon which
their Liberty mainly depends,•is the right of addressing the
Throne and petitioning Parliament--the inheritance and birth-
of every British subject: Any supineness,, therefore. under
• the violation of this' important 'privilege, Woull carry with it,
too deservedly, the character of criminal indifference ; but
. treat that.the enlightened Magistracy, alit !aspeetable Propri-
store and Occupiers of Land. In this great, populous, and agri-
cultural County, will lay aside all party prejudices, and come
forward to assert and vindicate the tight of which they may other-
wise be deprived. • • l• .
Bann not inclined to call in question the integrity of the mo-

.:,.

. ••

Lives which have influenced the respectable individual who has
declined calling the Meeting: I believe him to have been acts-
, ated by rhea' be conceived to be, and What be states to be, "his
duty towards the County;" but I will venture to affirm (as he
' has not thought proper to assign his reason for the refusal), that
there never has occurred a more urgent or fit cause for ouch a
Meeting, or less probability of any disturbance of the public
peace ; and if the People possess any legal and constitutional sight
to meet at all, that they ought not, must not, and cannot, be pre-

vented from assembling together, to represent their sufferings to
that power whose duty it is, if practicable, to afford immediate
acd effectual relief.

1 shall not be surprised should this impolitic and ill-judged, or,
• if proceeding from the counsel of others, ill-advised determina-
tion of the Sheriff, be received by all ranks and parties of the in-
habitants of this County with expressions of the most marked
and decided disapprobation ; for the question of the rapidly de-
caying prosperity and industry of the whole landed proprietary

and tecautry of the kingdom is of a magnitude sufficient to aLtrni,

and to attract the serious consideration of all classes and condi-
tions of life, and to abtorb, for the time,• all political divisions
and party feelings.

But I shall, indeed, be astonished, should there be found
wanting four Magistrates to unite with me in giving effect to the
reasonable request of so large and respectable a body of the com_
munity, if it shall appear to be their desire to avail themselves
of our authority and services. At all events, I shall have con-
scientiously discharged my duty as a Magistrate for the County,
and as an Englishman shall have evinced my attachment to the
constitutional rights and privileges of the People.
I have studiously abstained from noticing the very extraordi-
nary conversation stated in your Paper to have taken place be-
tween the High Sheriff and the Gentlemen who waited upon
Lim with the Requisition for the Meeting, as any allusion to an
er parte statement, which, if incorrect, will no doubt receive. a
• rtfutatiou, would be as unjust as it is contrary to my Inclination.
I am, &c.
Stratton Park, Jan. S 7, 1895.

THOMAS BARING.

P,4 RLIAMEN TA R Y PJUCEEDINGS.

,HOUSE or COMMONS, FEBRUARY 6.

At Four o'Clock there were but twenty-three Members pre-
sent, and the lloube was of Coarse adjourned till to-morrow.

HOUSE OF LORDS.
PROTEST

OR THE MOTION FOR AN AIM/RAI ON HIS MAJISSTTS srucu,

rEsnuAns 4. I
Threentient Ist. Because it is at all times the duty of Parlla-
went to examine and redress public grievances, and that duty is
most urgent at the present moment when the country is afflicted
with severe and unexampled distress.
V. Because thealation has a right to expect that the causes of
the present distress shall be immediately examined, shall be fuUy
ascertained, and shall as speedily as possible be removed.
sd. Because the investigation of the subject cannot be de-
layed without injury and injustice to those who suffer, and with-
out the utmost danger to the country, of which the welfare must
be destroyed, and of which the tranquillity may be disturbed
by a continuance of the pretent calamities.
4th. Because this House ought also to examine ". use results
that have arisen from altering the value of the currency," as that
measure has very considerably diminished the prices of all pro-
duce, and very considerably increased the burthen of the 'faxes
which have been imposed, and of the engagements which have
been contracted.
.sth. Because the subject of which the immediate exafilination
was proposed, Is of vital importance, as it affects directly aU
the owners and occupiers of land, and indirectly all the other in-
terests of the country.
STA N HOPE, T.NKERV I LLE, SOMERSET.

By the Fourth Report of the Otimmissioners of Re-
venue Inquiry, it appears the Union Duties on the
trade between Great Britain and Ireland are recom•
• mended, to be discontinued a; a shorter period than
, that recently fixed upon by Parliament.

Wednesday se'nnight, a gentleman died at Mr.
Laq:beii s, the Red Lion Inn, Corn-market, Sunder-
land, under particular circumstances. His name is
unknowp. He came by the coach from Newcastle
on the lOth or 11th of January, and has been re-
maining there since that time. He was dressed in a
blick coat and waistcovt, blue pantaloons, and a
rough white great coat. Has not, since he has been
at Sunderland, associated or conversed with any
person, nor is there any pocket-book or other memo-
randum that leads to a discovery of his name, or
place of residence. His neckerchiefs are marked-
W. B. and a slip of paper nearly worn out was in his
pocket, with " Messrs. Chas. Chaloner and Co."
written upon it—another slip of paper, apparently
the beginning of a letter, with " Liverpool, Decem-
ber 3d, 1822, Chas."—as also a slip of paper with
" Walker" wrote on it. His hat is stamped inside,
" 11., Wagstaff, Hat Manufacturer, 41, St. James's.
street, Liverpool," to which place he is supposed to
belong. He has been traced from Carlisle to New-
castle, and thence to Sunderland.
Ism RUNT TO CLOTH MA et utAcTualuts.--On the

27th January last, an injunction was obtained from
the Vice-Chancellor, on behalf of Mr. Robert Bow-
' man,' of Manchester, against Mr. John Lees, of
Waterbead Mills, near Oldham, in the county of
Lancaster, to restrain the latter from using certain
improvements in Power Looms, for weaving fustian*
and fancy goods, which improvements were invented
acid brougl4 to perfection by Mr. Bowman, and have
been secured to bins by a grant of Letters Patent
from his present Majesty. We consider it as a point
-•neof the utmost importance to the manufacturing in-
" serest of this country that rights of invention should I
be properly secured their author*.