10, 15, and 20 per cent. reductions, that they must go to the root of the evil, as far as rent is concerned; and, as the farmer must sell at what the public can afford to pay, so the landholder must let at what the farmer can, by economy and industry, afford to give.

A meeting has been held in Norfolk, in which, though it is confessed that the "leading men" in the county were not present, the leading Whigs were active enough. It is not, however, a little remarkable, that, at this meeting, convened to take the agricultural distresses of the country into consideration, not one of these gentlemen could see the connexion, even in any degree, between high rents and the distresses of their tenants. It is equally observable, that, whilst these Norfolk landholders are So quick-sighted to the errors of Government, as the cause of agricultural distress, they should be so blind to the grand blunders of the very county whose distresses they deplore. In no part of England, perhaps, has the system of enormous farms been carried to so great an extent, and the unnatural attempt been more assiduously persevered in of creating gentlemen farmers. Mr. Coke has not laboured more assiduously to encourage a monstrous breed of cattle, than the Norfolk proprietors to feed and fatten, to an overgrown luxuriousness and magnitude, this equivocal race of cultivators. Whilst the war continued this did well enough; the landlord found his account in it, and the farmer imitated his landlord in luxury and splendour, and sometimes outdid him; but, instead of laying up capital, he was, in fact, laying it out on his extravaganees, and he has sunk the more rapidly under reverses. Again, the poor-rates press heavily upon them. This is complained of at the meeting; but not a glance is bestowed on their own agency in the affair. To what is this pressure chiefly attributable, in a county managed as Norfolk has been, but, to the system of invading every cottage which had a little land appended to it, by which the labourer might eke out low wages from the fruits of his own field and garden? This rapacious system swept all into the neighbouring farm, and the pressure of the times has thrown the day-labourer and his family, in whole or in part, upon the parish.

If these gentlemen had shown a little more regard to a mode of relief to their tenants, which is, at least, practicable, and a disposition to confess and to amend their own errors in the management of the affairs of their county, their opinions on other subjects would have had much more weight. We do not, however, intimate, that further relief cannot be extended by the reduction of the national expenditure, and, consequently, the abolition of some of the taxes, in whole or in part. This, however, must be in addition to a proper reduction of rent, and not a substitute for it. But how have some of these Whig proprietors endeavoured to accomplish this?

By throwing obstacles in the way of such measures! For this reason we observed above, that such meetings as that of the Norfolk are absurd. The expenditure of the army, for instance, has not been brought down to that of a proper peace establishment; but this has been rendered necessary by the attempts made to inflame the populace by demagogues; and though, in the present quiet state of the country, further reductions may probably be made, yet, if meetings for the purpose of considering agricultural distresses are to be converted into agents for indaming the public mind; if Whig Lords, as one of them at the Norfolk meeting, are to imitate Hunt, with all his mischievous propensities and nearly half his talents; the only conclusion which can be drawn is, that either these meetings are got up under false preteaces, or that they are marked with so egregious a folly, as to lose all their weight, both with the considerate part of the public and with the Legisfature.

AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS.

(From the Leeds Intelligencer.)

THE Agricultural Question appears to us to be that which offers the greatest difficulty in its solution; and is likely to be attended with the most serious consequences, if not met tenperately and firmly by the legislature. The depression which has taken place in the value of the produce of the land, has occasioned a most severe pressure upon the farmer: the causes of that depression are various; the remedy, unhappily, is not so immedi

ately obvious. A protecting duty the repeal of Mr. PEEL's bill-and a reduction of rents and taxes have all their advocates; and even a reform of the Commons house of Parliament, and the dismissal of ministers, are considered, by some wise-acres, as necessary to the revival of agriculture.

It is a certain fact, that the expenditure of most farms, at present, exceeds the proceeds from the produce. That Mr. PEEL's bill has, in part, tended to produce this effect, is certain; but this bill has not had a more pernicious effect upon the farmer, than upon the trader, the manufacturer, and the merchant. The latter find that they are recovering, rapidly, from the depression to which they were reduced, notwithstanding the alteration in the currency effected by the act of 1819; and there can be no doubt, but that their prosperity will mainly contribute to promote the prosperity of agriculture: for the increase of trade and commerce, and the consequent employment of the poor, will not only diminish the number of paupers, and lessen the amount of the poor rates, but also increase the consumption of, and the demand for, agricultural produce, which will be augmented in the same ratio with the capability of the people to purchase the necessaries, the comforts, and the luxuries of life.

Mr. COBBETT (who notwithstanding his rancorous abuse of the farmers, is now extolled to the skies by some few degenerate individuals of that class,) has declared his opinion, that corn will settle to 3s. a bushel. This prediction, we are persuaded, will prove to be as erroneous as most of his other prophecies and forebodings. Corn never can reach the price that was obtained during the war; and it is far, very far, from being desirable that it should, Yet, there is, we think, little fear of its being cheaper than at present; and, in all probability, it will, ere many weeks have elapsed, be higher. This must be the natural result of an increased demand, operating upon a limited supply.

Still, we do not suppose, that this increased demand, and increased prices, will remunerate the farmer, under existing circumstances; but we should earnestly deprecate either a protecting duty, or a repeal of Mr. Peel's bill, for the purpose of relieving him from

his difficulties. We are amongst those, who thought the return to cash payments had better not have taken place at the time it did; but, having already achieved so much towards the restoration of a metallic currency, it would be an act of madness to retrace our steps, and have again, at a future period, to undergo all that we have suffered for the last three years. Tho complaints against this measure come also with a very ill grace from the opponents of ministers; who were absolutely as much compelled by the force of public opinion to adopt it, as they were by the same meaus, deprived of the resource of the property-tax. A protecting duty, to the amount proposed by Mr. Webb Hall, would also be a most impolitic step. would create universal dissatisfaction in the country, whilst there is no probability of its operating, at least not immediately, in favour of the farmer. The question, then, recurs; What measure must be adopted for his relief?

It

To this, we reply, that the landlords must generally reduce their rents; and if they were to REDUCE THEIR FARMS also, they would find not only themselves, but the country, materially benefitted. Many landlords have most liberally come forward to relieve the distresses of their tenants; and we do not doubt, but the disposition exists in all. They must be aware, that their own prosperity depends on that of their tenantry; and they must be equally aware, that the tenant cannot, with corn nearly at the san e rate as in 1792, pay rents trebled and quadrupled in amount since that period. Nay we know some instances, where farms are let for five times as much as in 1790. In addition to the reduction of rents, which must take place, a revision of our system of taxation would relieve not only the farmer, but all the other classes of society. We have always steadily and uniformly advocated a property tax; we did so, when the popular voice was almost to a man against us and we have continued to do so, up to the present period, when a great majority of the people would hail its reenactment with pleasure; and when many of its most violent opponents are come over to our side. We have reason to think, that, in the next session of parliament, a property tax will be imposed; and the assessed taxes, with the duties on malt, leather, soap,

&c. repealed or modified, so as to give a relief in those branches, equal to the amount raised by the first-mentioned impost. This would be a popular measure; and we should be amongst its most warm supporters.

The present amount of taxation, we are persuaded, cannot be much diminished, for some years, without the greatest possible detriment to the best interests of the kingdom; but that amount may be collected from sources which would press less upon the industry of the country, and more upon its wealth. The amount of the expenditure on the peace establishment may, and we have no doubt but that it will be reduced; but, what is thus saved, ought to be applied to the reduction of the national debt; and a clear sinking fund, of at least 8 or 10,000,000l. should be established, before a remission of taxes can be made with safety, except for an equivalent. An unqualified remission could not take place, except faith were broken with the public creditor; and this is a measure, which, we trust, would find few supporters amongst Englishmen. The fundholder ought to bear his share of the public burthens-but he ought not to be robbed of his property, in order to preserve to other classes, those immense profits and exorbitant revenues, which the circumstances of the late war permitted them to acquire.

It is only by a revision of our present system of taxation, and by the strictest economy, which will enable ministers in a few years entirely to repeal some of the most objectionable taxes, that government can interfere for the benefit of the farmers. Any

attempts by a new corn bill to raise the price of corn would be a measure, which would meet with, and would observe, universal reprobation; and it ought to be deprecated by every friend to the welfare of England. In the mean time, the farmers must not be lost to themselves. If they were to imitate the examples of their grandfathers, they would feel the pressure of the times less heavily.

MR. FOXS'S DINNER. (From the Leeds Itelligencer.) THURSDAY, the 24th ult. was the anniversary of the birth of the late Mr.

Fox and the whigs of Edinburgh, Norfolk, and Gloucestershire, met on that day to do honour to his memory. The whigs mustered to the number of 300; at Norwich, there were 250 persons collected from the opulent County of Norfolk, and from various other parts of the kingdom; whilst the Gloucestershire whigs formed a snug family party of fifty.

It is not our intention to occupy much of either our own, or of our readers' time, by remarks on the seditious nonsense uttered at these assemblers. Indeed, were it not for os circumstance, we should have abstained from noticing them at all-so utterly contemptible were they, in every point of view. The circumstance to which we allude, is, the attendance of his royal highness the Duke of Sussex, at the Norwich dinner, where, if the report of his speech be correct, he uttered sentiments-which would have become well enough the demagogue HUNT, but which were most disgraceful to a British Prince.

From what we have seen of the conduct of his Royal Highness, we are convinced, that expostulation with him would be thrown away :-the thinking part of the nation will, however, view with disgust, the revolting spectacle of a Prince of the Blood leaguing with his royal brother's enemies: making common cause with the

66

DESPERATE FACTION" (as his good and venerable father justly termed them) who are seeking to destroy the constitution: and, at a tavern meeting of democratic worthies, hiccupping out seditious songs, and cheering seditious toasts, with a zeal only to be equalled by the folly that can lead him to participate in such indecent and senseless proceedings.

If his Royal Highness think it his duty to oppose the system of Government which has the sanction of his sovereign-let him do so in his place, as a member of the British senate; but, if he has any regard either for his own character or his interest-he will in future abstain from attending such meetings as that of Norfolk. He will cease to advocate and promote measures, which, if acted upon, would not only hurl his KING from the throne: but, what he would, no doubt, think a much greater misfortune, would reduce his Royal Highness to that insignificance, for which, judging from the paucity of his intellectual

endowments, nature might seem to have intended him.

The Whigs sometimes make a boast of the INTELLECT of their party; but very little of that precious commodity was exhibited at the Fox dinners on the 24th ult. If the reports are correct (and we presume they are, for those that we have seen first appeared in Whig Journals), the nonsense uttered at Norwich by his Grace of Sussex, Lord ALBEMARLE, Mr. COKE, Mr. MACDONALD, Mr. SMITH, &c. at Edinburgh by the gallant Sir RONALD FERGUSON, Mr. JEFFREY, Mr. LAMBTON, jun. and the Earl of ROSSLYN; and at Gloucester, by Col. BERKELEY, Sir WM. GUISE, &c. would disgrace even our radical orators, Great things were predicted from those dinners: the sensible part of the Whigs, however, are quite ashamed of the figure which their friends cut on those

occasions, and most heartily wish they had never taken place.

Before we conclude, we'wish to set Mr. COKE's mind at rest on one point. This silly old gentleman is reported to have exclaimed, "Where were the PITT CLUBS and the PITT DINNERS? He should like to know where they were to be found in that county?" If Mr. COKE does not die of mortification before the 28th of May, we can assure him, that, his liking will be gratified. On that day, not only in Norfolk-but in all parts of the kingdom-the disciples of PITT will celebrate his memory, and do honour to the statesman,

"Who when terror and doubt thro' the universe reign'd,

While rapine and treason their standard unfurl'd, The heart and the hope of his country sustain'd, And one kingdom preserved 'midst the wreck of a world."

WITH

PATRIOTISM!!!

WE will this Month compliment the Leading Journal of Europe with our first notice. And our readers will doubtless smile, when they have perused the extracts which follow. Nor will they fail to forget the old adage, “when rogues fali out, honest men come to the truth." It would, indeed, be a question difficult to determine, who has done the most mischief in his day, the Editor of the Leading Journal or Cobbett.

Speaking of the Hertfordshire County Meeting, The Times says,

"Sir John Sebright, the county member,-for we hardly know whether the other vacillating nominee should be so denominated,-asserted with great spirit and propriety the dignity of his functions: I am your Representative, Gentlemen, if you please-not your delegate.' We are of opinion, in truth, that these delegated and delegating gentry are taking a very likely course to ruin the cause of the farmers and land-owners.

Old Cobbett, the resurrection man, has been "had down," or has been suffered to obtrude himself upon some of the meetings of minor note. There are people who think that Government has actually sent him, and se cretly pays him: be this as it may, we are sure that if he, and a few more such as he, could once well mingle themselves with any of the more respectable assemblies, that would be suflicient to render the great mass of the population indifferent to the condition of the farmers-no one would believe in the reality of distresses for which such evidence was produced. Do we not see almost every day in the Courts of Justice, how one unworthy witness-how one dishonest art or stratagem, damns a cause which would otherwise have stood upon fair ground? so that, when we are attributing to the introduction of such a man as COBBETT the possibility of ruining the hopes of a suffering part of the community, we are not really

Q ૧