Star.
London, England, 1821-01-27 00:00:00

AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS.

Mr. SYKES presented a Petition from the Owners
and Occupiers of Land in the Parish of Cottingham,
in the Elm Riding of Yorkshire, complaining of the
extremely distressed state of the Agricultural Interest,
and paying for rel ef. For the facts contained in this
Petition he was realy to vouch from his awn expert•
e...e. He held in his hand a calculation, from which
it appeared that Agriculturalists were now losing byl
their land at the rate of 10s. 6d. per acre. Unless
some measure of relief was speedily adopted, they
must sink in utter ruin. In fact, they might be said
to be ruined already, for during a long time past they
had been living and paying their rent on the profits
of their former industry. This was a melancholy
subject, and the Noble Lord opposite, as well as those
who acted with him, did not think proper to advert
to it in the Speech which they had put into the King's
mouth, and which the House had heard delivered
from the Chair—( Hear, hear). If it had been alluded
to, and duly considered, the Noble Lord must have
known that it would have marred that fine prospect
of national prosperity which he had made his Majesty
hold forth. For himself; he had never me, any man
out of doors who believed one word with regard to
that splendid prospect—( Hear, hear, and laughter).
The Petitioners (lid not pray for any specific mode
of relief, but they prayed earnestly that the House
I would use its influence to get the present Ministers
' dismissed, believing them to be totally unworthy of
the places they filled. He• would not say that he
gave his approbation to this assertion, but he knew it
for a fact, that nine-tenths of the population of the
county acquiesced in it. Another subject noticed in
the Petition was the dislike and contempt in which
the Royal name was held in consequence of the late
proceedings against her Majesty—proceedings that
ought never to have been instituted. Upon a former
occasion they had heard much of the bad effects pro-
duced by folly and mischief; but he would ask, if
folly and mischief ever produced any effects to equal
those produced by the Bill of Pains and Penalties ?
He would have thought that wisdom and justice
would have dictated quite a different mode of acting.
The proceedings against the Queen were conceived
in mischief, got uis by falsehood, and supported by
perjury—(Cheers).—Petition ordered to be printed.
Mr. Alderman WOOD presented Petitions from
the Wards of Farringdon-Within and Bishopsgate,
praying that the Queen might be restored to all her
rights.—Ordered to be printed.
Mr. HOBHOUSE said, he held in his hand four
Petitions, which were additional commentaries on the
assertion of the Noble Lord (Castlereagh), that he'
and his colleagues possessed the confidence of the na-
tion. The first Petition was from the inhabitants of,
the parish of St. George's, Hanover-square, a parish
where the mock-loyalists had made every exertion
to get up a counter-petition ; but, with all the in-
fluence they could use, they had not been able to ob-
tain more than 415 signatures, though their Petition
was lying open for ten days. Now, the Petition
which he should have the honour to present had got
as many signatures in ten hours—(Hear, hear)--and,
had there been sufficient time, it would have received
as many thousands. This Petition prayed for the re-
storation of the Queen's name to the Liturgy, and
also for a Reform in the Representation of the Peo-
ple. The next.Petirion was from the Bookbinders of
the Cities of London and Westminster, the third was
from the inhabitants of Langport, and the fourth
came from Sidmouth, and contained 450 signatures.
To the town of Sidmouth there could be no objec-
tion, on the score of loyalty ; for, it would be recol-
lected, that they would not Petition last year in re-
ference to the occurrences at Manchester. Mock
loyalty had also tried its efforts in Sidmouth, but

Mr. HOBHOUSE, in explanation, disclaimed any
idea of offending the Honourable and Learned Mem-
ber by whatever he had said. He had commented
on his statement, in the light in which it was under.
stood, both by himself and many of his Honourable
Friends around him. Petitions ordered to be printed.
Mr: P. PALM ER presented Petitions similar to
the preceding, from a Parish in the County of Berks,
and also from the Borough of Reading. The latter
was signed by 1,300 individuals, and the Honourable
Member, in presenting it, urged the necessity of Par-
liamentary Reform.—Ordered to be printed.
Sir W. DE CRESPIGNY presented a Petition in
support of the Queen's rights from the Parish of Wel-
ton Hampstead Devon ; and
Mr. J. M‘PHERSON GRANT from the Inhabi-
tants of the Borough of Wyck. Ordered to be printed.
Mr. DENMAN presented a Petition for the same
object from the Town of Nottingham. This Petition
prayed for the immediate dismissal of Ministers, and
entreated the House not to grant any supplies till the
request of the Petitioners was complied with—(Hear,
hear).—Ordered to be printed.
Mr. BIRCH presented a Petition of the same na-
ture, but drawn up in more moderate language, from
the Mayor, &c. of the Borough of Nottingham.
Mr. MARTIN (of Galway) said, it was unjust to
accuse the persons engaged in the proceedings against
the Queen, with having been implicated in a con-
spiracy, unless the most satisfactory evidence was ad-
duced of the fact.
Mr. DENMAN, in reply to the Hon. Member who
had just sat down, said, that he was not responsible
for the truth of the charges contained in the Petition.
The Petitioners stated, that grounds existed for
charging Gentlemen on the other side of the House
with a conspiracy, and they expressed a hope that it
would be brought home to them, and that they would
meet with due punishment. In that hope he fully
concurred, although upon whom the punishment
ought to light it was not becoming in him to say.
Mr. R. MARTIN said, that if Ministers were
charged with a conspiracy, he knew no Gentleman
so capable of defending them as the Honourable and
Learned Gentleman who had just sat down, and who
had heard the whole of the proceedings.
The Petiticn was ordered to be printed.
Mr. LEGH KECK presented a Petition from
Hinckley, in Leicestershire, praying the restoration
of her Majesty's name to the Liturgy, and an inquiry
into the proceedings under the Milan Commission.
--(Hear, hear).—Ordered to be printed.
The same Hon. Member presented another Petition
to the same effect, which, upon examination, ap-
pealed to have no name subscribed to it, and was
withdrawn, in order to be corrected.
Mr. P. MOORE presented a Petition from the
young men of the ancient Town and Borough of
Monmouth, praying that her Majesty may be re-
I stored to all her rights and dignities, and " to such
other relief as she may be entitled to"—(A laugh).—
Ordered to be printed.
The same Hon. Member presented a Petition for
the restoration of her Majesty's name to the Liturgy
from the " Waterloo Loyal and Independent Lodge
of Odd Fellows" (A laugh), in the same town.
Upon consulting shortly with the SPEAKER, the
Hon. Member withdrew this Petition.
A Petition to the same effect was presented and
received, from the Borough of New Shoreham.
Mr. HEATHCOTE presented a Petition to 'the
same purpose from Boston, in Lincolnshire. He
added his own hope to that expressed by the Peti-
tioners, that there would be a speedy and satisfactory
termination to this most unfortunate question—(Hear,
hear). 'The times were stormy enough without making
them more so ; and this subject, if not set at rest,
would go on agitating the country, and would oc-
cupy the Parliament to the exclusion of other Wei-

Mr. HONYWOOD said, that after what had
fallen from the Chair, he would withdraw the Peti-
tiod, and he did so accordingly.
Lord ALTHORPE presented Petitions to the same
effect from Wellingborough, from Kettering, and
from Daventry, in Northamptonshire, which were all
ordered to be printed.
Petitions to the same purpose were presented from
Pulford and from Ludlow. Ordered to be printed.
Mr. BEAUMONT gave notice of a motion for a
Committee to consider these Petitions.

Lord STANLEY presented Petitions to the same
effect from Chorley, from the town of Manchester,
and from Caine, in the County Palatine of Lancaster.
He expressed his entire concurrence in the prayers of
these Petitions, and he felt that unless the Ministers
complied with them, they would nOt discharge their
duty to the Crown or the nation—( Hear).
The P.-itions were ordered to be printed.
Mr. MONCK presented Petitions from \Vantage,
in Berkshire, from Thatcham, and certain Benefit
Societies in Reading, which were ordered to be
printed. The Hon. Member, in introducing these
Petitions, stated, that however different the minor
objects which each of these Petitions sought, they
one and all agreed that nothing could allay the fer-
ment of the People but the restitutiorn of the Queen
to all her rights and dignities, and the restoration of
her name to the Liturgy—Meer, bear).—This ap-
peared to be almost the universal sentiment of the
whole country—( Hear, hear)-and a sentiment too,
not prevalent only in counties, towns, and populous
districts, but emanating also from the most retired
parishes and hamlets in the country —( Hear, hear).
To this he had to add the expression—not of his hope,
for hope he had none, but of his sincere with, that
the prayers of so many Petitions, so generous, so
honourable to themselves, might not be thwarted;
and that the People might not, on this occasion, find
in this House the most determined, and the most un-
natural opposition, given to their entreaties—(Hear).
Mr. HUME presented similar Petitions from the
Corporation of Brechin, and from the incorporated
trades of the same borough.—Ordered to be printed.
Mr. KENNEDY presented three Petitions from
Irvine, Kilmarnock, and Girvan, in the County
of Ayr. In doing so, he begged to put a question
to the Noble Lord opposite. He wished to know
whether the Noble Lord could state what were the
intentions of Government relative to the office of
Lord Registrar of Scotland, which was now vacant
by the death of an Hon. Member of this House ?
Lord CASTLEREAGH said, that he was not pre-
I pared to answer the Hon. Gentleman ; but if he would
• bring the subject regrlarly before the House, perhaps
it would be the most convenient way.
Mr. KENNEDY stated his readiness to bring the
subject before the house as soon as possible in the
F ensuing week; but, he hoped that, in the Meantime,
• Ministers would not fill up the office.
Lord CASTLEREAGH said, that the office was
not in his department, and of course he could give
no correct answer.

Mr. IIUSKISSON stated, hat he believed the

office was regulated by Act of Parliament.
Mr. KENNEDY said he was aware that, by the
Act of 1817 the office was not abolished; but that
arose from a clerical error in the engrossment of the
I-Bill. He would bring the matter before the Howe,
if Ministers would say that they would not give away
Ithe office until the sense of the House should be
taken upon it.—Ministers were silent.
The Petitions were ordered to be printed.
Sir C. COLE presented a Petition to the time
effect from Swansea, which was read and ordered
to be printed.
Mr. BYNG presented Petitions to the same pur-
port from the Ship Owners of the Port of London,
from the Parishioners of St. Leonard's, Shoreditch,
of St. Botolph, from the Shipwrights and Dv.Jt