The Statesman.
London, England, 1820-12-20 00:00:00

THE STATESMAN!

ST.4TE OF THE G'OUNTRV.

AGRICULTI•RAt. DI writ Ess.—The state of extreme
distress into which that meritorious and useful class
of Society. the Farmers and Occupiers of Lands, are
fast falling, may easily he conjectured from the known
prcstmt very low prices at a hichAgricultoral prothtee
sells. We are. and always have been, desirous that provi-
sions,and parti:•ularly loreati,shoulil be cold at such prices
as will enable them to be cheaply pue..hased by the con-
sooner; lint then those prices ought to be such as will pay
the Farmer for the cultivation of the soil, and for his
labour anti capital. It is very apparent that Wheat
at less titan 4;s. a bushel, and 4 Pats at 2s, per bushel,
cannot repay him, whilst he has the present load of
rents, p,o taxes, and tithes, to contend with.
lint Ministers refused to consider their case, when
pressed upon them ; and he is left to perish.
The IRON TRADE—Iia9, we are informed from
various quarters. suffered such a depression, that the
price of Iron is reduced to the standard of 1:,16, when
thi re existed so much distress and alarm. These are
noire of the blessings for which we are indebted to
the system adopted by the present Ministers, and
which all who live upon the taxes are now endeavour-
ing. to support by circulation of falsehood, and by
al fruiting the timid and dependant into the signature
of n hat they rail Loyal Ashir , but which might
he more justly termed, contrivances for beeping Mini-
sters in !leek places, and ettllding them to do more
niisellief 10 the Country.
_

I.oot.ing to the state of things in general, property
appears to be quite as much iii,lr/PACti as in the ea-
lanutous tear of Its 1 ti. In Bristol and its vicinity,
Houses and other descriptions of property hate dimi•
nisltesl from one-third to one-half in their former va-
lue. Many winks, heretofore so rx!ensier and pros-
per/mg, are now unemployed, and stand us mournful
monuments of our once commercial and Matiufatitring
greatness. The farmers are rapidly going to ruin,
and their capitals, as well as the capital of all the peo-
ple in Trade and in the Middle Ranks of life, fast
being destroyed, by ibis lowering in prices, aided by
the grinding and unrelenting land of taxation. 'these
deplorable results have been produced by thr impolitic
and oppressive acts of Adoniuistration : and most la-
ntentalq fur the costostry, there appear; to be no hopes
of better times's, arise from the measures of the pre-
sent torn in power:.but, on the contrary, we tear the
calamity must continue to increase in extent and acute-
ness.—(Brestvl MerceiT).

FO THE EDITOR OF THE SiATESMAX.

No subject for many years has so generally and
stronely agitated the public mind, as the late Par-
liamentary proceedings against the Queen, and in nit
instance have the generous feelings of a nation been
more conspienously displayed, than in the universal
joy which prevailed throughout the kingdom, on the
abandonment of the infamous Bill of Pains and Pe-
nalties.

The congratulatory Addresses, which, from all guar-
ten, ►sere presented to her Majesty, evidently excited
strung symptoms of alarm among the retainers and
adherents of the Government, and every effort has
been made where Ministerial influence prevailed to yet
up loyal Addresses for the purpose of screening the
►Ministers from puhlic odium, disuniting the people,
and deceiving the King as to the real state of the
country.

A pitiful attempt at carrying an Address of this
kind was made in the ancient and loyal city of Here-
ford on Nionday last : but, thanks to the good sense of
its inhabitants, this Ministerial trick was treated as it
deserved—the scheme totally failed—and its supporters
have gained by their exertions, the contempt and ridi-
cule of the place. •
The warm zeal of the Freemen and Citizens, in the
cause of the Queen, had induced the self-styled Church
and Moe turn, to visit their offence by a requisition
to his Wor-hip the Mayor, requesting him to convene
a public meeting, with the intention of voting a loyal
and dutiful Address to the King. To the surprise of
the good people of Hereford, the Mayor did, to this
requisition, really return a pe,:ketlg irttilligibleaessmer ;
—by some happy clianar of circumstances, his Wor-
ship suddenly found himself " in a situation to give,
and the requisitionists in a situation to receive" an
ansivel : and in ready compliance with the wishes of
suds respectable p. rso.te, a steeling► was duly and re-
gularly convened. Hand-bills, with a formidable
array of names, civil. military, and ecclesiastic, an-
nounced the eventful day, and the 11th of December
seemed doomed to witness the triumphant display of
Ministerial power over the humbled advocates of an
injured Queen. Nu precautions which might ensure
success were forgotten loyal verses were plentifully
distributed, and every effort used to compel a full at-
tendance of the hangers-on of Church and State. So
requisite was it deemed to muster strongly on the
oe-
casion, that means unpracticed before, were resorted
to, and a Military Wight. with folly and presumption
unequalled. actually called out the whole staff of the
I County Militia, and serjeauts, corporals, band, drum-
niers, fifers, &c., were all ordered to attend the meet-
ing. The liovernment forces, head, d by the Lord
Lieutenant of the county, the Church militant, with
their heavy artillery of Cations, Prebends, Vicars, &e.,
half-pay Officers, and Officers of Excise, Clerks in
Public Offices, and State Jackalls of every descrip-
tion, were collected together: every thing betokened
a flaming Loyal .►ddress.

" Oh! it was pitiful—wondrons pitiful—
Thal all this goodly show of goodly men
taltmild he the very make-game of the town :
And all their grave deliberations let at nought
By men or no account—mere working-men :
—Mat ! alas!—that such a thing should be."

Little, indeed, was the result of this 'nighty pre-
pantie" foreseen: little bad the promoters of the
measure calculated on the signal defeat they were
about to experience.
A numerous and respectable body of the inde-
pendent Freemen and Inhabitants had assembled in
the t'ouoril•room (a place quite unsuited for the pur-
poses of:, public assembly), and after warm oppo-
sition on the part of the Mayor, the fleeting was ad-
journed to the Old Town-hall.

The Address, proposed by Sir FL Hoskyns, Bart.
and seconded by Dr. Hughes, contained the neual
loyal preamble of attachment to the King, which was
received nith respectful silence. Not so the con-
cluding par!, a very different fate awaited it and it
was read amidst the yells, groans, and execrations of
the Meeting. This most obnoxious passage affected
to express "sorrow and indianation at thospagitators
of Ow public mind, who took advantage of every
occasion to disturb the tranquillity of the na-
tion :" and with an insolence peculiar to the party
from whom this Address emanated, it presittne;l
" that a tirii:rn was clearly manifested to overthrow
the Constitution." •

As nothing had occurred in Hereford to agitate the
public mind, AO deeply as the persecution against the
Queen, it appeared that the observation tended to re-
dect un the acts of the former public hireling, con-
vened for the purpose of concratulating her Majesty,
and the implication was felt as an insult to the parties
concerned.

An amendment was immediately proposed by Col.
Cooke, expressive of censnre on his Majesty's Minis-
ters for instituting proereditigs against the Queen
Consort, and praying that a renewal of a question
so pregnant with evil to the country might never
again be agitated. The worthy Colonel's speech and
ausendment were received with the loudest applause.
The Rev. J. Lilly opposed the amendment, as irre-
,levant to the intent of the and was saluted
with the usual accompaniments of an unpopular ora-
tor, which he bore with the most gentlemanly good
humour.

John James, Esq. warmly and ably seconded the
amendment, and, in a speech replete with argument
and perspicuity, contended, that as the object of the
Meeting was a loyal Address, no doctrine could be
more monstrous than that which supposed disloyalty
to the King in expressions of attachment to the
(Seen ; the amendment bore no mark of disaffection;
it was strictly loyal, and the Mayor was bound to take
the sense of the Meeting on that as well as the former
part of the Address. The sarcastic coolness displayed
by this gentleman during the many interruptions he
received from Isis political opponents, the bag gad
loud plaudits of his hearers, and the peAvet oommaad
of his subject and temper, :produced a most farcical
*act ea one of leis antagonists.
Long will the good people of Hereford reseeamhoe
the scene with which thi wove ptommeatod.
'amputees rage. valise eloienee, and coareisive at•
shades. in tarns. wee, exhibited. amid a dooseamiaat
she " oraaawas .f hivooentrr," eseduled an haw
able 'perch, amidst the dismay of his friends, the