paralleled, as we firmly believe, in the bistory of any Government in the world, have been brought to light, and proved to our perfect conviction; and that while we, as Englishmen and loyal subjects cannot help feeling sorrow and shame at seeing the son, and indignation at seeing so many of the servants, of our Sovereign, involved in such scandalous transactions, we cannot, as men setting a proper value upon religious instruction and example, help entertaining the same feelings, and, if possible in an aggravated degree, at seeing deeply implicated in those transactions, no less than five Ministers of the Established Church; nor can we refrain from an expression of our anxious hope, that the Clergy in general (following, in this respect, the example of the two Reverend Gentlemen who signed the requisition for this meeting), will lose no opportunity of inculcating an abhorrence of such practices, and thereby of shewing, that the Church, like her Founder, is no respecter of persons, and that her endowments are not received as the wages of dependence and sycophancy, but as the worthy hire of the labourer in the vineyard of christian piety, and of private and public virtue.

That if any doubt could have remained as to the baneful effects of such a state of the House of Commons, that doubt must have been removed by the rejection of Mr. Wardle's above-mentioned

K

proposition, in the teeth of the clearest and most conclusive evidence, positive as well as circumstantial, written as well as verbal; and upon which occasion it appeared that all the King's Ministers, all the Placemen, and all the Pensioners then present, voted against the said proposition.

That, in the Act of Parliament, commonly called the BILL of Rights, it is declared, “That the election of members of Parliament ought to be free,” and, in the same Act it is declared, “That the violating of the freedom of elections of member to serve in Parliament," was one of the crimes of King James the Second, and one of the grounds upon which he was driven from the throne of this kingdom; but that, notwithstanding this law, which is said to be one of the great bulwarks of the constitution, and notwithstanding divers other laws, made for the purpose of preventing undue returns of members of Parliament, it does ́appear, from evidence given during the abovesaid inquiry, that Lord Clancarty and Lord Viscount Castlereagh, both of them servants of the King, and the latter a Privy Counsellor, a Secretary of State, and a Member of the House of Commons, did offer to give a writership in the East Indies, in exchange for a seat in the House ́of Commons, and that the failure of that corrupt negociation was owing, not to any disinclination on their part, but on the part of the seat-seller, to whom the offer was made,

That this Meeting have observed, that, during a debate in the House of Commons, on the 20th of this month, upon the subjects of the aforesaid Inquiry, Thomas Creevey, Esq. one of the honourable minority of 125, did distinctly state, that it was not only his belief, but it was within his own knowledge, that Seats in Parliament had been bought and sold; that the Treasury not only openly bought and sold those seats, but kept, in a great degree, a monopoly of the market; and that it was perfectly well known, that a dissolution of Parliament was not an appeal to the people, but an appeal to the Treasury; and that this Meeting have further observed, that, in answer to this statement of Mr. Creevey (for which that gentleman is entitled to our particular thanks), the King's Minister, Mr. Percival, did not attempt to deny the facts alleged, but contented himself with insinuating, that the opposite party, when in power, had been guilty of similar practices.

That, from the foregoing facts, as well as from numerous others, notorious to the whole nation, this Meeting have a firm conviction, that it is in the House of Commons, as at present constituted, that exists the great and efficient cause of that profligacy of manners amongst so many in high life; of that corrupt disposal of offices; of that endless train of unpunished peculations;

of that squandering of our earnings and incomes; of that establishment of an army of foreigners in the heart of our country; of that incapacity in the conducting of public affairs, both at home and abroad; and of all that national misery and disgrace, which have been but too long so se verely felt, and the dangers to be apprehended from which have now attracted the serious attention of even the most thoughtless and unobserving.

That, therefore, this Meeting, anxious alike for the preservation of his Majesty's throne and legitimate authority, and for the restoration of the rights and liberties bequeathed them by the wisdom, the fortitude, and the valour of their forefathers, hold it a duty which they owe to their Sovereign and his successors, to themselves and their children, to the safety, happiness, and renown of their country, to declare their decided conviction, that no change for the better can reasonably be expected, without such a Reform in the Commons House of Parliament, as shall make that House, in reality as well as in name, the Representatives of the People, and not the instruments in the hands of a Minister; and further to declare, that it will be expedient for us, at a future convenient time, to assemble in CountyMeeting, in order to consider of a Petition to the King, praying that his Majesty will be gra

ciously pleased to afford us his Royal countenance and support in our constitutional efforts against a faction of borough-mongers, not less hostile to the true dignity and just prerogatives of His Majesty's Crown, than to the interests and feelings of his faithful, suffering, and insulted people.

That the thanks of this meeting be given to Wm. Powlett Powlett and Wm. Cobbett, Esqrs. for the part they respectively took in calling the meeting, and for their conduct thereat.

The populace having been in waiting upwards of four hours, the question was loudly called for, when a division took place, whether Mr. Powlett's resolutions or those of Mr. Cobbett should be adopted; which was decided in favour of Mr. Cobbett, by a great majority.

Thanks were then voted to the Sheriff, and the Meeting was dissolved.

After the meeting, a company, consisting of three hundred Gentlemen, sat down to dinner at the George Inn; and the remainder of the day was passed with the greatest conviviality and har mony. Amongst the numerous appropriate toasts were the following:

Mr. Cobbett, and the Gentlemen who signed the Requisition. Mr. Wardle

Lord Cochrane and the Navy