The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-03-03 00:00:00

lalabevailielrimPu"Sissidee who is the son of
0 Sob Shedden the under-writer, and on which Robert
illairlemthe mettles,* before It separated, prised a vote
▪ kessure. This was the very largest county meeting
Adt ever sew, and there were scarcely may persons
pilaw, bet gentlemen and fernsers.The lead may be said
Jo bare come and put firth its complaints it the Canis
aellrinchester, last Saturday. Sir Thos. Baring was the
dasirmao, and he conducted himself not only with .the
oldest propriety end impartiality, bat with a degree of
ability which really surprised me, and which proved that
teough.a man may sit for years in the House of Com-
mon and never open his lips, hi may have a thousand
times the sense of some that are evetlaslinglY
Among many good things which he said in opening the
meeting, was this, that he thought the subject of Perlis-
. mentary Reform particularly proper to be introduced'
upon such occasions ; nail that be thought the Reform
might not to be of a nature to skim only the surface, but
that it ought to go down and tear Correption up by the
very roots. So that Sir Thomas Baring is a true radical;
because radical weevil one wh6 is. for a radical reform;
radical means going to the root; and Sir Thomas is for
going to the root.—Let the word radical, then, he now
considered as an honourabie appellation.—We have
not time for many particulars; the jet is this:,
whether the petitions all prayed for a reduction of the
intereet of the Debtl—The petition presented by Mr.
Blush, and which was dozily *greed to, and the petition
proposed by me : these two petitions will be found it the
end of this article. Besides these, there was a petition
offered to the Meeting, by Fleming, one of the County
Members. My motives for moving a petition at all are
of no consequence. I thought proper to do it, nod Mr.
Marsh's petition, which I did not proposer certainly bad
majority in its favour; though not a very large one, as
spoken of by the Morning Chronicle; but if it were large,
then the Conclusion amounts to this, that the Meeting
really preferred that petition to mine, heceuse mine was
flue more gentle of the two; and carious to relate, one
of the arguments in favour of Mr. Marsh's petition is
preference to mine was, 'that Mr. Marsh's more nearly.
resembled the Norfolk petition, than which, 1 confess,"
notl.ing can be more true. The truth is : the plain bee
nest truth is this, that whether I did or not, there was:
every reason for me ter wish Mr. Marsh's petition to he
carried, though 1 moved one myself. Aed, amongst
ether reasons foe my standing distinct fro,n that petition,
one was this : that it should not be said of this petition,
that it was my petition. The House will now have be.
fore it a petition from a county, in which I have a vast
deal more personal influence than in any other county;
it will sow have a petition from that county containing
all the main propositions of the Norfolk petition ; the
proposition about the church; about the corn-lands;
shout Reform of Parliament; about an equitable at-
tangentent with the fandholder, and about contracts
between man and sae ;, it will have all these in argil:ilea
from that county; a petition not only, deeprepoillikr
lee ; but proliesed and carried lasted-e( one which arm
milder proposed by me; really and {rule carried, because
it was mote illte the Norfolk Petition than that which
proved The petition proposed by Fleming came, to
he sore, loaded with the man. A west unconquerable
dislike to whom the meeting appeared to have. Nothing
tont I be more decorous than, theibebaviour of that meet;
log ; nothing more sensible. In my whole life I never
yaw apopular assembly behave so well. The Chairman
was deservedly in high favour with them ; and he ex-
horted them to listen patientlfle every one; but not-
withstanding this, they could not be made to endure
Fleming with any degree of patience. They did
net el:tabour him down; but the disgust 'chick
joiner upon every conntenstace would have been suffi-
cient to make any man of feeling siuk through the floor,
if the door would have opened to let hiss through. I
could not tee him, but those who did say that he turned
pale as a sheet: and well he might! To receive the
nranimous scorn of such a meeting as that, was enough
to turn any man pale.—Yet Fleming, who talked alma
national honour, national faith, and who rung the changes
upon sll the althopiii of abuse of those who,haee pro-
posed a reduction of the interest of the debt; even this
Fleiting proposed Sir John Sinclair's petition, the pro-
tositions in tallith (as I explained to the meeting) the
!'rime Minister on the 4th of February, asserted to aim
at a partial national bankruptcy!—But this was
not all ; fur to Fleming's petition one of his friends
proposed an addition, which was afterwards put
alqng with the petition, and this addition proposed
to lay the Poor -rates and County-rates exclusively
ropes the Pandhalders. So that, in fact, Fleming's peti-
tion was, if it had been rightly understood, the most di-
rect and decided suer') of all at the fuodholders ; for,
iwthe first place, he nu for taking away about ten per
rent. on Sir John Sinclair's plan ; and then for taking
turn six to eight millions from the fundholders, to pay
the amount of the rites, which of course was to be dons by
a deduction from the dividends, because there is no odser
means of:tilting it, seeing that the fundholders alreadp
pay poor-rates tsp'on their land and their houses.. A pet.
tier sweep than this no man ever yet' proposed. But
the project appeared foolish ; and for this petition not
one single hand or hat was bald up. though Fleming
'that his tenants were grateful to him for the reduction
that be hal made in their rent+, and that he saw several
of them present at the meeting. In short, the proceed-
ings of this meeting are conclusive as to the wish of the
ngricaltural community, with regard to reduction of the
interest of the debt. In the close of Mr. Marsh's petition,
fee phrase " equitable adjastn eat" is changed for equit-1
ihle armament or accommodation, under well-consi-
dered limits and restrictions. This is mere superfluity.
There can be no equitable adjustment, withemt well con-
Sidereal limits and restrictions ; and as to the contracts
between man and man, an equitable adjustment includes,
of necessity, that discrimination which is pointed est in
Me. "Marsh's petition by the word special. I believe
that there were more than seven thoutasd • payola
resent, and I do nut believe that there were One single
indeed who ad not vote, either for NI r. M arsit's petition or
mine. The few who did not vote at all, were of
woe fur rientines petition; no that here we have the
t that the largest county meeting ewer seen in linooltp
e, sad the t.• tat respectable in point of propetfyi
uttoratise in hearing; the won quiet; the mast