The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-02-11 00:00:00

THE TATESMA

by that reduction in the same situation that they were
at that period. The Hon. Baronet proceeded with some
other oloiervations„ but rite calls for Mr. Denison wer.
so loud and frequent, that he was prevented for a short
time from proceeding.. He would have wished that the
two questions, that of Agricultural Distress and Reform,
had been separated as they were at Somerset [interrup-
tion.] With respect to both questions, particularly as
to Reform, lie would give his opinions upon it in spite of
the daintier by which he was assailed. •

Mr. LIECH said, the Honourable Baronet had charged
Lira with saying, that all men in the Government must
be rogues.

Sir Taos. Turton—No; I did not [cries of, "yes,
you did—you did."]
Mr. LIIIICH —The assertion was made, aitt he in the
face of the 3leeting declared it to be false. What he said
was, that under existing ciacutustances, no honest wan
could govern the country.
Mr. THELIVALL recommended to the Meeting to sup-
port the Petition, but to reject the addition proposed by
Mr. Cuhhett.

Mr. DENISON next came forward, and was received
with a burst of applause, of hearty awl affectionate •gra-
tulation which we have seldom witnessed at a public
meeting. After silence was somewhat restored, the
Honourable Gentleman said, that as coo of those who
bad signed the Requisition, and more especially as those
standing in that proud:situation to which by their kind'
Dees he was elevated, lie felt it his duty to offer a few
observations to the meeting. The distresses of the coon.
try were too great and too glaring to be denied by any
party. The causes of that distress were, in the first places
an excessive taxation, the low price of produce, and the
change that had been made by the Acts of 1797 and 1819
—the firat inundated the country with paper—Lhe secon I
Act called fur payment in gold without making that
proper adjustment which onght to be made. He (Mr.
D.) was one of the men who thought with the Noble
Lord, that it would have been better openly to have
raised the standard of value, and to have shown the
country the state it was in. The debt had been in a
great measure caused by that war which was so
glorious to their arms and so fatal to their fi-
nances. During the course of that war, millions
were lavished to support, or rather to reinstate upon
their Throne, the wise, the liberal, the enlightened, the
tolerant Bourbons (laughter and applause)—to support
the tottering Thrones of the Monarchs of Austria, of
Prussia, and of Russia—of those Monarchs who dn Ana
the fleeting hour of his prosperity bowed before Napo-
leon—his inferiors in talent, in energy, in decision—
his equals, perhaps his superior 1, in contempt for the
liberties of mankind, and of the rights of distant na-
tions [applause]. Another cause of the distresses of the
people was the extravagance of Government—the extra-
vagance of the Government of this country was greater
than that of any Government in ancient or modern times.
Our Envoy to America had a salary higher than the
salary of the President of the United States [hear
hear!]. The diminished means of the country was ano-
ther cause of the distress ; over production was not the
cause of distress; the production was not too great for the
consumption of the country; but the tact was, that con-
sumers could not bay. The remedy for the distress was
Retrenchment, Reform, sail • strict Economy. The lion.
Baronet who had spoken before him asked what good would
.reform dot In the first place it would prevent the recur-
rence of those acts which the nation deplored. A reformed
Parliament would see the real evils of the country, and
would apply a real remedy.—(Applause.)—lle (Mr. D.)
t.ad seen an able pamphlet lately published, which stated
that 300 Gentlemen sat in that House, independent of the'
people. The Petition of the Friends of the People stated
that 307 Members were sent into the House by 151 proprie-
tors, and that 80 Members in the Muse received 1711,0‘101.
independent of their connections. He had no doubt that
those Gentlemen who were sent by the Proprietors of Bo-
roughs to Parliament performed their duty to those who
seat them (A laugh); but what he complained of was, that
they did not represent the people (Applause). The Repre-
sentative of the people had a sacred trust confided to hiw—he
was hound to account for his conduct; but if every man in
the House of Commons represented the people, the Habeas
Corpus, under mere pretences, would not have been so
often repealed.—(Applause.) The Six Acts would never
have been passed.—(Loud and continued applause.)—The
country would not have seen almost the same majority
uniformly supporting every Minister—they would not
have seen the same majority sanctioning every oppres-
sion and every borthen. With respect to the topics that
had been alluded to, he was of opinion that the Church
property and the Fuuded property ought to be respect-
ed. He thought that the Clergyman had as good a
"tight to his tithe, and the Funilholder to his dividend,
as the first Nobleman bad to his estate. It was his
opinion that before they touched one or the other, that
every sinecure ought to be abolished. (a voice in the
crowd—" Ellenborough is the first")—that every place
ought to be reduced to the lowest scale (applause). Such
was his opinion; but he had not heard any one that
day talk of robbing the public creJiror (hear, hear!) or
the church (hear, hear !). What be heard was an ami-
cable arrangement—an ,arrangement, in his opinion,
most just and most necessary. No man present could
wish to rob the orphan or the widow, the church or the
landholder. What the meeting—what the country
wished foe, was that equal justice should be done by all
parties (applause). As to the question of Reform, it was
hece sssss for a man, elevated to the situation which he
held by their kindness, to say what he thought on that
subject. He thought that Retrenchment was a good
thing, but Retrenchment without Reform should not
satisfy the country; and for this plain reason, amongst
°there —without Reform one Minister might retrench one
day, and another Minister might, on the following day,
undo all the good acts of his predecessor. He had been
ever consistent on the question of Reform.—(Applause.)
—The first vote he gave in Parliament in the year 1797,
was in support of Lord Grey's motion on Reform (ap.
plause),ha had ever since held the same opinions.—(Ap.
plause.) Now that graver years were sailing by he still
retained the same sentiments; the last vote he gave on
this subject was in favour of Lord John Russell's mo-
tion last year.—(:Applause.) He was decidedly in favour
of a short duration of Parliament ; he was for giving
Representatives to Leeds. Manchester, and other places
who had no Representatives. He was for giving house.
holders a vote, he was also decidedly of opinion that the
number ut Gentlemen who sat in the House of Commons
and held places uhdrr Government, ought to be di•
ininished. He was in favour of the Bill introduced by
hie Honourable Friend (Mr. Bennet), whose viruee re.
quire(' no comment, as they were above all praise,
iehose noble spirit was opposed to tyranny and oppres-
sMn in every other Country, andairroted to the tame,
and interest, kml-freedom of his own. The Bill of his
Honourable Friend would leave in the House 30 persons
to transact the business of Governmeot.He hoped that his
friend would again bring forward that leasure.-
-(Mr. Bennet: "I certainly shall"—greet epplaus.).—
He was not disposed to deny that men of property ought
to bare great weight in the part of the country where
they resided; but was it right that great proprietors,