Star.
London, England, 1822-01-05 00:00:00

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Manufactures. This they have constantly done, in
the hope of gaining ttetheir side the Monied Interest.
But they have failed ; and, in a great measure, they
have lost-the Agriculcurists, who had adhered to them
till they were ruined The next grand cause of our
agricultural distresses, is the late rash and ill-advised
return to cash payments. We are now, in a great'
measure, without a circulating medium : we have
abundance of produce, and abundance of consumers,
or of those who would wish to be consumers ;
.but we
are in want of that which is necessary to bring the
two together—a new circulating medium. For this
evil I know of no remedy but time ; and our dis-
tresses are so pressing, that it badly suits us to wait ;
and a thriving and flourishi4 commerce, which, by
bringing bullion into the country, may furnish a suc-
cedaneum for the paper currency which has departed,
which should not have been allowed to depart till a
proper substitute had been provided. For want of a
requisite circulation an utter stagnation has taken
place, not merely of speculation, which is the life
and soul of trade, but of the usual and ordinary com-
merce of corn. We cannot again recur to a paper,
currency, for this will cause the Exchange to fall,
and we should be deprived of the small pittance of
gold now in circulation in the country; and we should
have a second time to undergo the dreadful operation
.of a return to a metallic currency. Ministers were
highly culpable for having allowed themselves to be
bullied by their opponents into this rash measure;
they were constantly branded with the impossibility
of the return : the coin would never be seen again in
circulation in the country. To give the lie to these
taunts, they had made an effort beyond the strength
of the country. Millions had been disbursed under
the name of loans (the repayment of which was never
e rected), for the relief of foreign countries—millions
f(.:- the building of Churches—millions, at various
tunes, for the relief of Commerce and Manufactures,
but not a shilling h ad ever been given °dent to the Agt
cultnrists. Nu small part of our distresses is to be,
ascribed to the oppressive and grinding taxation with
which we arc burdened. How this is to be endured'
and sustained, I cannot imagine; for 15 millions each
quarter (a sum nut exceeding our whole circulation) '
were to ken from our pockets and carried into the Trea-
sury. There is no reason why the Stockholder should
not coot, ibute to the support of the National Clergy,
for the) have souls to be saved as well as the Land-
ownci s. There can be no reason why they should
not coati ibate to the support of the poor, for they
-are the cause of making paupers as well as the Land-
owners. The National Clergy and Pauperism bring
me to the consideration of an ample topic of grievance
—the state of the laws relative to the poor and tithes.
In this country the poor are a greater burtben, per-
haps, than in any other, and whether it . would be
politic to make a large class of property subject to
the Poor-rates, as contemplated by the 4.34 of Queen
Elizabeth, which has not yet been done, it is difficult
to sat. The best remedy would probably be, to in-
crease the wages of the poor, to better their condi-1
tion, and to render them independent of the Over-
seers; for there is too much season to think that pau-
perism would be aiways co-equal to any quantity of
property that might be subject to its influence. I shall
say but little on the subject of tithes, for ft is one of
great delicacy, though productive of g,e.tt evil. I
make no allusion to the Clergy, tUr 1 sincerely think
that, upon most occasion-, they are snore moterate
in their demands than the lay impmpriators, of which'
I myself am one. But lam convinced that a revi-
sion of the laws which relate to tithes might add to
the respectability of the Clergy, to the contentment'
of the Laity, and the general benefit of the cause of
Religion."
Mr. Funnra observed, that the speech of the Hon.
Member as, in his opinion, much better suited to
the meridian of the House of Commons than to that
of the Meeting which he bad then the honour to ad-
dress; for, in that Meting, it was only necessary to
state the case of the Agriculturists, and the grounds
of their complaint, and then leave it to Parliament
to consider of the means of affording them relief.—
Without further preface or observation, he should
read the Resolutions which, according to his own
judgment, and that of others with whom be had the.
honour to consult upon this occasion, he thought it
proper to submit to the consideration of the Meet-
ing.—Here the Hon. Gentleman read the follow-
ing Resolutions:

" At a Meeting of the Nobility, Gentry, Clergy, Freeholden,
and Occupiers of Land, of the Rape of Hastings, in the County
of Sussex, held at the George Inn, Hattie, on Thursday, the 3d
thy of January, 1822; the Right lion. the Hasid AsasavissuAst
in the Chair—

" Resolved, That deeply impressed with a sense of the un-
precedented and increasing distress of all cLasses of persons
within this district, this .Meeting consider it an imperative duty
respectfully to solicit the attention of the Legislature to their
situation, and earnestly to implore the adoption of some measure
for their relief.

Tlyar-the progressive decline in value of an productions of
the sql, during the last three years, has gradually destroyed the
previpusly acquired capital of the farmer—has, by curtailing the
mearg of producing the usual course of husbandry, deprived one.
third of the labouring population of.rmployment, reduced many
iiidustrlaus and highly deserving occupators to pauperism, and,
unless speedily arrested, must, in the opinion of this Meeting, be
productive of universal ruin.
"That this deplorable state of things is not confined to the occu-
pier of the soil merely, but, through him, its influence has extru-
ded to the other classes; the landlord, in very many instances, is
without his rent, the clergyman without his tithe, the trades-
man without hi-4 usual business, and the mechanic without his
acLuaternedemployment.

'That Petitions, in the spirit of the foregoing Resolutions,
to both I lousus of Parliament, be prepared and signed; that the
Earl of Ailtburattant be requested to present that to the House
of Loris, and K J. Curttis, Esq. that to tbe !louse of Commons.'
Mr. BRIT fON hoped the County Members would
see the propriety of speaking to Ministers in a more
authoritative tone than they had hitherto done. He
wished not to be an Opposition man, or to thwart the
measures of the Government : he cared not by whom
the country was governed; but unless something were
done the country would sink, never to rise again.
The same quantity of property would perhaps be oc-
cupied, but would the same class of useful Agricul-
twists occupy the land? Many men in the neigh-
bourhood hid already sunk, and another Christmas
would not pass away without a recurrence of the same
thing. He trusted that on their return to the House
of Commons, the Representatives of the County would
give a lesson to Ministers, and support the third party,
which might crush the other two to atoms.

Here Mr. LA Nlisouo read the following extract of
a letter with which he had been honoured by Lord
George Cavendish, and which he was desired to com-
municate to the Meeting. The Noble Lord, who was ,