Star.
London, England, 1820-01-08 00:00:00

• . •-•

nated with a-Glendon= who had publithed optnlons
respecting the Paper eurrency, but he thought the

evil rested upon that. It enabled men to speculate
and over-trade. He made cat ious other o ervations
ancrallusions, which by some were considered irrele-
vant to the object of the Meeting.
Mr. Pitirsos said, that if it were allowed for
Gentlemen to state their opinions of the causes of
the present distresses, he saw" no end to the discus-
sion, as men were as different in their opinions of
such causes as they were in physiognomy ; all that
was wanted was inquiry.
Mr. TltositAa AttwooD then Carrie forward and
said, that as he had been pointedly alluded to by
one or two Gentlemen. be thotr.ht proper to address
a few observations to the Meeting He sliould not
now give his opinion as to the cause or the remedy
of that distress, which he could not contemplate
without horror and amaze,, ent. He knew both
cause and remedy ; and 11:! was as certain of them
as he was of the ground upon which he stood. Ile
had heard a great deal about over-trading, and over-
',population, but he despise • such opinions, founded
as they were upon error. Lord Lauderdale and Mr.
Brougham (for both of whom he had a great re-
spect) assigned our distresses in part to over-popu-
lazion—but what is the fact ?—Do we not see the
markets glutted with all kinds of food and clothing,
and all the necessaries and comforts of life on the
one hand ;—and a starving, poverty-stricken, mise-
rable population, wanting that abundance of the
'produce of the earth, to feed and cloth them—Ln the
other hand ?—The Clothiers in Yorkshire and else-
where, are crying out that they cannot sell their
goods—the population are crying out that they are
.th.
pen ingfor want of them, but have no money to buy
'them with?—Do not the farmers say they cannot get
a price for their grain, and their butter and cheese,
that will enable them to pay their rent and taxes—.
and are not the population now famishing for want
of food?—Let us hear no more of surplus population,
until it is found that Yorkshire cannot supply us with
clothes,—and Englanu with bread !—He had like-
wise heard a great deal about the evils of machinery,
but he looked upon that in the same light as he did
upon some other opinions. Whatever increased the
wealth or productive powers of a nation w a, a goad.
A nation cannot be too rich. We cannot have too
much riches among us. Suppose, by the agency of
machinery, the produce of the country be ti ebled
in one year, the natural consequence of that would
be, that we should ali be Gentlemen for two years ;
we should have created as much in one year as
would last us three, and where would be the harm
if we were all Gentlemen for two years ? He then al-
luded to what Mr. Turner had stated respecting the
cause of pauperism, and thought that Gentleman
answerable for casting such reflections upon the
, working classes as he had dome. %% as this a time
to tell the poor that they had been improvident,
whet, they were absolutely s% tithing under the pres-
sure of want and hunger and cold ?—wlen the
cup of wretchedness was up to the brim? Hew would
that Gentleman, or how would any of us feel, if
we were in the same situation as they are; obliged
to go to our Parishes for the miserable pittance which
was to save our wives and our children from death? '
Should we like to be taunted with the errors of our
'former prosperity ? and who amongst you, Gentle-
men, who are now. in a proud eminencewhich places
you far, far above want, that has not errors to lament?
but, fortunately, errors which have not that fatal et.
fect which sends you to your parish as a pauper"—
He said, that so various were our opinions upon these
things, and many of them so miserable, that he
thought the Nation was running mad, before it could
come to its senses.--The whole of his speech was de-
livered in a manly, able, and patriotic straits, end
produced a great effect on the company.
Mr. Emsoxas congratulated the Meeting upon the
unanimity of its proceedings, and the part which
those Gentlemen who conducted it had taken. They
were the natural leaders of their townsmen, and
whenever the people were separated from them, it
was much to be lamented. He did not think the
Parliament would take any notice of the Petitions
farther than suffering it to be read and laid upon the
table. He said Mr. Turner came there to divide the
Meeting; but he was happy to see that he had received
that rebuke from Gentlemen which he so much me,
rited.---The Meeting then broke up.

We regret to learn, by a second edition of Mt
Litchfield Mercury, received this morning, that the
Birmingham Theatre has been burnt to the ground s
" Litchfield Mercury Office, Friday, 10 o'clock.

We stop the Press to state that intelligence has just reached
this City, stating that the Birmingham Theatre has been burnt
to the ground. The flames were discovered soon after the per-
formances of the evening closed: further partictlars have nit
transpired."

We find the intelligence also confirmed by the fol•
lowing article in The Coventry Herald :

a Henkl Office, Friday.

" Just U our Paper was going to Press we learnt that
Theatre &gall Birmingham, was last night entirely destroyed
by fire. The play of Pharr* bad been performed; and k is
presumed the fire-works introduced, had communicated with a
part of the scenery. The fire was discovered about half past
one o'clock ; and ip three hours this noble building was a canoe•
plete heap of ruins."

Yesterday morning, as a poor Woman Was Walking
along Charlotte-street, Fiteroy-squaref with a heavy
load on.-her head, she slipped down, and was' se
iii:eadfully hurt, that she died while being conveyed,
ro. a shutter, to the Middlesex Hospital.