The Statesman.
London, England, 1822-04-05 00:00:00

isSignew pg.

declarations of man
pasty been of say
lofty, made at some period
moved the set of me-
afterwards curried by a
sae solitary band held
second the resolution*
on the left, and apolo-
the meeting. He was
requisition signed from
be considered it of in-
s welfare of the conetitn-
from. titled bands. He was
the Yeomanry Sainted
efophtion, that nothing
sad an extensiie rase-
thing beneficial to the
Genfioesen then in a rapid Wain
Would be- -difficult to transtAbe, -

.atoistry, that if all the
woad yield no relief tolls
the plain question,
pocket to pay the tires it
not there be less in it

,t it was unnecessary for.
meeting by attempting to
that meeting was not cons-
were at least endowed with
-Nei would it be Beetle
of his venerable friend. •
causes that had produced the
14 not avoid referring to the
right of the people to
could not refrain (rule
transactions at Manchester,
• the people legally &sem-
is their grievances, and to
petition to Parliament for
and inhumanly delivered
execation. He would ask
what was the conduct of the House of Cootusons on the
occasion? Instead of vindicating the rights of the peo-
ple, by punishing the magistrates ordering, or the sol-
diers executing, they immediately passed Acts to indem-
nify any magistrates that hereafter might act in a si-
milar manner from all imputation of wrong.—
(Applause.)—He considered that the county mast feel
grateful to the Sheriff for his readiness in calling the
meeting, but he thought it hard the people should-be so
restricted as to be under the necessity of applying to
any man whether they might or might not meet together
to discuss their grievances. Mr. Fox had said that the
right of meeting andpetitioning must be preserved•; for •
the maintenance of that right was more essential to the
freedom of the country, than the maintenance of any
other of our civil institutions; xnd that any encroachment
of that right would be taking away the ladder by which
England had ascended to her glori-tas height of civil
liberty, that it would be like taking sway the branches
and stripping off the bark from the tree, and thereby
ca . • that tun to fall to desay. It had been said th►
a re •rm in Parliament was a vile,. visionary, and ro-
mantic measure; but be would ask, was it so romantic
or so visionary as the conduct of a man sent to Parlia-
ment to represent hundreds or thousands of persons, in-
stead of which, his only consideration was how to get
back the hundreds or thousands of pounds which it had
cost to get a seat there. Ministers had recently at-
tempted to vindicate their corruption, by asserting that
unless they had a majority of votes (as it were at com-
mand) to support the influence of the crown, the go-
vernment could not be carried on; of this every body
was aware, and also that it was not very desirable it
should be carried on in the way it was at present.—
(Great applause.)—A reform would alter the system en-
tirely, and the government might then be carried on
without the Crown being under the necessity of main-
taining so expensive au influence; and was it not too
much to see the property of the industrious farmer and
others seized, and the pittance wrung from the hard
earning of the labourer, to support a corrupt and profli-
gate government. The Hon. Gentleman concluded an
eloquent appeal, amid the applause of the meeting, by
declaring, that the only means of preserving the rem-
nants of their personal prosperity and the respectability
of the country was a reform in Parliament.

The Sheriff the. read over the resolutions and pets‘
Lion

• .<

At a Meeting of the Freeholders and Inhabitants of
the County of Huntingdon, convened in consequence of
' a Requisition to the Sheriff of the said County, and held
at the. Shire-hall in Huntingdon, on Wednesday the 3d
day of April, 1522, to take into consideration the die-
ed State of the Agricultural Interest, and Ilse pal-
priety of Petitioning the Commons' House of"Parlia-
tnent, for an investigation into the nature of that House
as now constituted, and for such a Reform, as might
then be deemed expedient.
The following Resolutions were agreed to:—
R«solved,—That Agriculture, the great source of us-
tional wealth, is in a very depressed state, and that the
Farmers are in wit distress, that they can apprehend
nothing but ruin to themselves and families, unless some
effectual remedy be speedily applied.
Resolved,—That the Agricultural interest is oppress-
ed with a load of taxation, greater than it is able to
bear, in constqueuce of which neither the Landlord can
I receive a compeosatica fur his land in the rent, nee the
Farmer a remuneration fur his labour and the employ •
meat of his capital, in the price of the produce.
Resolved,—That this state of things nhieh spreads
distress among all classes of the community, world not
have happened if the people had been properly reN.e-
armed in Parliament, as the origin of it may be tr.leed
to the abuse of the funding system, in mortgaging, the
revenues of the country beyond its natural resources.
Itesolved,—That it is a fundamental principle of the
constitution, as handed down to us from our ancestors,
that the people shall have a share in the Goverment,
by a just and fair representation in Parliament.
Resolved,—Thit the only effectual relief which can he
afforded to the country in its present state of dis!: es', and
the only prevention of the like evils, for the time to come
are to be sougtfit in retrenchment and reform, in a re-
duction of tax,tiun, and a more equal repre-..eutation of
the people.

Resolved,--That it is the imperious duty of every one
who values his country, and regards his best iaterest,
to use his utmost endeavours to procure a redo...flan of
taxation, and a Reform in Parliament, as the only means
of saving the country, and of restoring it .to a state of
prosperity and happiness.
Resolved,—That a Petition be founded on the above
Resolutions, and such Petition having been read,
Resolved,—That the Pe:Pion now read be adopted.
Resolved,—That the Petition be presented ioilm Mouse
of Commons by the County Members.