ments, be prepared for presentation to both | efficiency of the church that receives them. Houses of parliament.

"2d. That the following petition having been the agreed upon, George Gibbs, Alfred Tuckett, and Thomas Williams, are requested to give every facility for procuring signatures

to the same.

"3d. That Lord King be requested to present the petition to the House of Lords, and Joseph Hume, Esq., to the House of Com

mons.

"4th. That the proceedings of this Meeting, with a copy of the petition, be published in two of the Bristol papers, The Gloucester Journal and The Bath and Cheltenham Ga

zette.

"To the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in

parliament assembled..

Your petitioners, therefore, humbly pray your Lordships to take the tithe-system into your serious consideration, with the hope, that as the poor are now otherwise provided for, and the clergy may be so by their respective congregations, your Lordships may, in your wisdom, devise a method for its total abolition. And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray."

ANOTHER!!

Welshmen are not behind their English neighbours in sensitiveness to this biting evil. The annual value of the real property of land in the county of Glamorgan, in 1815, was 334,1027. The total annual charge of Highway, County, Church, and Poor Rates, in 1827, was 49,8104.; or Three Shillings in the Ponnd, exclusive of Tithe! The hundred of Cowbridge, in that county, contains a population, by the last census, of 5,894 persons. Of this gross number, 619 families were employed in agriculture; 220 in trade, manufactures, and other handicraft. Can it be a matter of surprise that The Cambrian newspaper of Newyear's day thus reports a Public Meeting in this tax and tithe-ridden hundred ?—

"The humble petition of the undersigned inhabitants of the parish of Iron-Acton, in the county of Gloucester, agreed upon at a Meeting convened by the churchwardens, and held there on the 22d December, 1830, "SHOWETH-That reason convinces your petitioners, that to give a tenth of the produce of a parish, containing, perhaps, several square miles, to one man, though he have a family, and to leave but the remaining nine- "COWBRIDGE, Dec. 24, 1830.-At a Meettenths for the support of all the rest of the ing of the Land-owners, Farmers, and Tithepopulation, though consisting of many thou-payers of the Hundred of Cowbridge, convened sands, is to make an unfair and unreasonable by public advertisement, held at the Mason's distribution of the fruits of the earth. That Arms this day, Mr. WILLIAM SPENCER in the your petitioners find, from undoubted history, Chair, the following Petition and Resolutions that such a distribution was not intended in were unanimously agreed to:the first institution of tithes; but on the "To the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual contrary, that they were given in this country and Temporal in Parliament assembled, to the clergy, in trust, for the support of the "The humble Petition of the Land-owners, poor, and for the building and repairing Farmers, and Tithe payers of the Hundred places of worship, and on conditions, that they of Cowbridge, in the County of Glamorgan, should instruct the people in the Catholic "SHOWETH-That your Petitiioners view, religion, perform masses, and say prayers for with deep concern, the unhappy and alarming the souls of the donors and their ancestors, state of the Country, and lament that, after and hospitably entertain strangers and tra- the continuance of peace for fifteen years, vellers; and that for the performance of these instead of that prosperity which should accomtrusts and conditions, they were allowed out pany it, every interest in the community is of the tithes a maintenance, food, and rai-suffering great distress; that your Petitioners ment, but were not allowed to marry, or to consider the enormous and unequal proportion bequeath or accumulate private property.of the wealth of the country engrossed by the Your petitioners also find, that in process of time another set of men gained possession of the tithes, who performed none of the trusts and conditions for the performance of which they were originally given, but who, on the contrary, married wives, begot children, accumulated private property, bequeathed it to whom they would, ceased to use hospitality, and left the poor destitute. In consequence of this, the poor have been, since that time, maintained by a tax levied for the purpose, on houses and lands, the churches repaired by another tax, and new ones built by grants out of the taxes raised by the Government, to the great impoverishment of your petitioners and their fellow-countrymen. That experience has fully established your petitioners in the belief that tithes are injurious to agriculture, and prejudicial to the reputation, zeal, and

Church Establishment to be the chief cause of such distress; and that while this burden oppresses most grievously the Agriculturist, it also seriously affects the Manufacturing interest ;-that your Petitioners conscientiously believe, that the Tithe System is as prejudicial to the best interest of the Church of England, as a Christian Church, as to the temporal wellbeing of the community, as it tends to produce dissent, and promote uncharitable and unchristian feelings between the Ministers of Religion and the souls committed to their care.

"That your Petitioners are utterly at a loss to comprehend why this burden should fall almost exclusively on them, when the many more wealthy interests of the country comparatively pay nothing towards the support of a Ministry for religions instruction, and from which they derive equal advantage.

1

"That your petitioners are prepared to prove which gives an account of the close of to your honourable House that, in conse- the day. quence of the vast increase of capital and land engaged in tillage within the last forty The crowd then moved forward. Mr. Hunt years, the value of tithe property has increased appeared in a barouche, drawn by four handin a fourfold degreee, while the employment some greys; the postillions were in dresses of capital in agricultural pursuits was never of crimson silk, with banners preceding more precarious and unproductive to the him. Mr. Hunt and Mr. Mitchell were in farmer than at the present time. the carriage. On their arrival in Stamfordstreet, Mr. Hunt then alighted, amidst the shouts of the crowd, and took his station at the dining-room window of his house.

There was one gentleman, Mr. Benett, of Wiltshire, one of the great instigators of the Corn Laws, who had signalised himself upon the occasion in question-a man who had screwed up the rents of his estate to the highest possible pitch of elevation, and the wages of the labourers to the lowest possible point of depression; and that man stood upon these trials as the committing magistrate-as the Foreman of the Grand Jury, before whom the bills were preferred. He was a witness against the prisoners, and he was a prosecutor himself in those very cases. (Shame!) He concluded by thanking the sawyers for their attendance on the occasion.

of the rich. One of his first objects would be to | Hunt, for the purpose of escorting him through move for a repeal of that villanous Corn the town; they advised all rational people to Law, which was enacted solely for the purpose stay at home, and recommended all timid of impoverishing the poor to enrich the aris- people not to run the risk of being crushed to tocracy. It was one of the most atrocious death. It recommended all careful shoplaws that ever was inflicted upon any people keepers to close their shops to protect their by any Government, however tyrannical; he, property from Hunt's blackguards. It astherefore, should at once demand their total sumed that all decent people would stay at гері; and if he found any one to second home, and no persons of sense or character him in the House, they might rely upon his would join" Hunt's blackguards." Now if pushing the motion to a division. [A voice in they should catch the editor of The Standard, the crowd, "O'Connell will second you."] and be disposed to drag him along the kennel, He did not expect that any Englishman would they would show him some mercy for his (Mr. be found to support him. O'Connell, he did H.'s) sake. It would, perhaps, be said, that he hope, would second him; but he did not look was attacking the press, and that it was most for support elsewhere. He next called their imprudent in him to do so at present-he was attention to the conduct of the newspapers merely stating the attacks made by the press during the past week. They had been quite upon him. He then went over the principal mute about the Preston election; not a word topics of which his speech at Islington was in them respecting the great struggle that composed (for which see former part of the was going on in the North, though the Pres- report), and went on to speak of the recent ton papers were publishing second and third proceedings under the Special Commissions, editions. What was the London press afraid when so many of the poor working classes of? They could not, it would seem, take a were sentenced to be hanged and transingle portion of the intelligence from any of sported. the Preston papers; they must, forsooth, travel over to Leeds for the fat lie that Baines published there in his lying paper. It was called The Leeds Mercury-it would be equally well to call it the The Lying Mercury. From that source did the London journals take their intelligence; that was the way in which the people of England were humbugged; that was the way in which the worthy proprietor of The Observer thought proper to describe public proceedings. Yes; Mr. William Clement, as well of The Observer as of The Morning Chronicle, thought proper to adopt to prefer The Lying Mercury of Leeds to the respectable papers of Preston, though he would not raise his voice against the expenditure of eight or ten thousand pounds of the money of the poor to be spent in the city for the purpose of giving the king and the Duke of Wellingten a gorge. These immaculate papers said there was at least one good that would result from his election for Preston. What did they think that was? It was this-that as he was now a Member of Parliament, there would, it was to be hoped, be no more chalking of the walls. That was in one of Mr. Clement's papers; in the true spirit of trade, he wished him (Mr. Hunt) to advertise no more by means of the walls, but, instead, of paying him (Mr. C.) 30l. a year for advertisements, to pay him 60Z. "Ah! Billy Clement, you are a trader, and you want me to pay you a larger annual sum for advertisments than I do, and to leave off chalking the walls." They talked (he continued) of his chalking the walls why Warren chalked twice as much as he did. He then proceeded to censure paragraphs in The Age newspaper and in The Standard, upon the same subject, saying, that The Standard had expressed a hope that the people would not lose their time by forming a procession that day in honour of Mr.

Thanks were voted to the men of Preston, and, after nine cheers for them and three for Mr. Hunt, the assemblage broke up at about a quarter to five.

THE

MISERY AND THE FIRES. DERBYSHIRE.-The distress which prevails amongst the miners and weavers of this mountainous and cold district is almost beyond description. We were present at a numerous and respectable Meeting of the inhabitants of the village of Bradwell, held on Wednesday last, for the purpose of considering the best means of administering relief to the suffering families in the neighbourhood, especially those who are in indigent circumstances, in consequence of the very low rates of wages afforded to those employed in the above trades, who it is well known, cannot, by the most diligent exertion, earn more than from three to four shillings per week! It is impossible to conceive the vast depth of misery which exists. It ap peared from the statements of some of the speakers, that many of these poor sufferers had their children in bed when visited, whose bed-clothes had not a vestige of either linen or

flannel about them, but was composed of wrappers and old clothes-others had not a tittle of re!-Herald, 7th Jan.

rescue.

that he was mistaken for some other person, as the mills of all the Ashtons are in full employ, and at the regular prices.

with sincere regret that we publish the fol lowing letter from Eastbourne :-" Another fire has taken place in this parish. On Sunday evening, between nine and ten o'clock, situate close to the road leading to the seathe stacks of Mr. J. Fielder, of Susans-farm, side, were discovered to be on fire; two of them, a tare and beau stack, were totally consumed, and another bean stack was much injured. Fortunately, the great exertions made by the inhabitants saved the fourth, a large barley stack. That this fire was not

SUSSEX.-MORE INCENDIARISM.-It is

diary, no one can for a moment doubt; and exists to justify the apprehension of any parup to the present hour, no sufficient suspicion ties. We are at a loss to conceive why Mr. Fielder should have been selected as a victim. Among all classes of the poor he is spoken well of for his humanity. It is within our own knowledge that he has recently given beef, &c., to many aged and infirm persons.”— Brighton Gazette.

FIRE OF A FARM.-On Monday night last, about half-past seven o'clock, the extensive barn, cow-hovels, outhouses, &c., forming one range of building, in the occupation of Mr. Mason, of Broad Holme, near Belper, on the Matlock road, Derbyshire, was discovered to be on fire in several different places. The alarm soon spread, and hundreds of individuals rushed to the spot, auxious to arrest the progress of the devouring element, if possible; such, however, was the fury of the flames, that although Mr. Strutt's engine, of Belper, was actively used and supplied with water, in sddition to every other means, all efforts to save the barn and out-buildings proved abor-accidental, but the work of a diabolical incentive; and it is with pain we add, that five fine cows, in calves, the property of Mr. Masou, were burnt to death, without the chance of A bull, fastened up in the hovel, was more resolute and fortunate; he tore up the stake to which he was affixed, and ran out, bellowing most hideously, whilst the moaning sounds which proceeded from the cows were truly piteous. In addition to this heavy loss, the barn contained the produce of one stack of wheat, which was entirely consumed, together with the whole range of building. Seven or eight other stacks of wheat and oats shared a similar fate; and trifling indeed is the portion of farming stock saved. The wind fortunately blew the contrary way, or the dwelling-house must have fallen a sacrifice. A stack of oats, and two or three of hay, are all of this immense stock that may be considered saved. There is not the slightest doubt in the mind of any one, but that this diabolical act has been the work of some fiendish incendiary or incendiaries, as the buildings, as hefore stated, were on fire in several places at one and the same time.

KENT.-Between twelve and one o'clock yesterday morning, the town of Greenwich and neighbourhood was thrown into alarm, in consequence of the Theatre, which is situate in London-street, having taken fire in the centre of the building, and the flames spreading with much fury. The policeman who discovered the fire instantly gave the alarm. The engine from Greenwich Hospital, and also the parish one, were shortly on the spot; but no water could be obtained for nearly an hour. A large party of marines from the dockyard at Deptford, upon the fire-bell tolling, hastened to the scene, and exerted themselves in assisting the police in keeping order, and res cuing a great number of horses, and removing many coaches and other property on the extensive premises of Messrs. Wheatley's adjoining, as also the property of the surrounding inhabitants. The flames shortly extended throughout the whole of the theatre, and enguphed the scenery, dresses, and every other description of property, in one common ruin. A plentiful supply of water having been obtained and several engines from town arriving, the adjoining premises were preserved from destruction, but the theatre was totally destroyed. There had been a performance ia the evening, and the house closed at a quarter to eleven. It has been ascertained that the fire originated in the ladies' dressing rooms, under the stage, but from what cause is not known. Mr. Savile Faucit, the lessee, is insured in the Phoenix for 6007.; and it will be remembered that the Ramsgate Theatre, of which he was also the proprietor, was destroyed by fire about

LANCASHIRE.-On Monday night last, as Mr. Thomas Ashton, son of Mr. Samuel Ashton, of Gee-cross, near Ashton-under-Lynewhere the recent alarming turn-out of the cotton-spinners has taken place, was returning to the Apethorpe factory, he was shot at by some base assassin, and killed on the spot. The deadly weapon was loaded with slugsone of which, it appears, pierced his heart, and the other went through the back boue. He was just returning from taking his tea, to the factory, and had to pass through a dark narrow lane, where the dreadful crime was committed. The report brought several people to the spot, and the unfortunate young man was conveyed back to his own house a corpse in ten minutes after he had left it. The seusations of the family, which is very numerous hereabouts, may be better felt than described. They are the largest spinners in this part of the country, and bear an excellent and honourable character. The deceased was only twenty-three years since. two years of age, and was beloved by all the working classes. No cause can possibly be assigned for this iphumau transaction, unless

On the morning of the fire Mr. Wheatley, jun., who is one of the Overseers of the Poor, attended a meeting at the church, when be

received a letter, bearing the Greenwich post | before any assistance could be procured, was mark, and addressed as follows:levelled with the ground.

"Mr. Wheatley, coach-master, Greenwich,

Overseer.
January 10, 1830.

Another fire took place on Wednesday night, about one mile nearer to Salisbury, the back part of the Black Dog public-house having been set on fire by some incendiary; a rick which belonged to the landlord was also consumed.-Morn. Chon. 8th Jan.

86 and thomas Wheatley, "I will inform you that three men is coming from Barkshire to destroy all your machines and stables. i am your well wisher : LINCOLNSHIRE.-LOUTH, JAN. 5.-A here is three of their names-William Jones, fire took place on the premises of Mr. Samuel George Millwood, and John Strong; but I Bowling, of Louth Grange, yesterday morning, shall not tell my name, but I would have you at four o'clock, which, but for the timely assisbe upon the Look Out. I am a native of Green-tance of the fire-engines, would in all probawich myself: if you don't employ me again i bility have destroyed the whole of the corn will set a light to all the straw that is in your ricks and building; however, by the prompt Big Loft. There is one thing you cannot assistance which was rendered, the fire was swear to the Writing. there is one thing subdued with the loss of a large rick of straw more, I myself will Poison all your horses for and about half of a hay-rick. The Magistrates you. I will have my revenge on you, if I sat at Bowling House yesterday until twelve don't may I be dd (Here there is a draw at night, and committed the waggoner for furing of a knife and a heart; the point of the ther examination. There appears strong reaformer has pierced the latter.). You shall son to fear that he is the incendiary. have that in you afore long, you rouge you shall, I will send you two more letters after this, then I will execute."

This epistle excites much conversation, and a meeting is to take place on the subject. BURWARDSLEY.-Another incendiary fire broke out in this neighbourhood on Tuesday night, which destroyed the barn and hay-stack of a farmer named William Gresty. From all the circumstances, there can be no doubt but that it was the act of an incendiary. There is now little doubt entertained but that the destruction of Lewisham church was the -work of incendiarism. From what has transpired on investigation, it would seem that the perpetrator had effected his purpose by apply ing the destructive means at three different parts of the church-Kentish Gazette.

ESSEX.-Sunday morning, about two o'clock, a fire, supposed to be the work of an incendiary, broke out in the farm of Mr. J. Raynam, of the Moated-house, Basselden, which destroyed stock and property to the value of nearly 2,000l. The equitable fireengine, from Billericay, succeeded in saving five stacks of hay, and three of corn. The labourers from the adjoining farms were all on the spot, and rendered every assistance in their power towards checking the progress of the flames. They afterwards ate the pigs, which were made into excellent crackling, with the owner's permission.-Another fire, destructive of agricultural produce, has taken place at Ulceby, near Alford, on a farm in the occupation of Mr. James Atkinson. We understand that a straw-stack was set on fire, and that it and two stacks of oats, containing eighty quarters, were consumed. The fire occurred on Wednesday night last, and was doubtless the work of an incendiary.

This morning, also, a fire of much greater magnitude has taken place on the premises of Mr. Upton, of Raithly; it is not yet subdued. Two of the Louth engines are there, and from the opportunity I have had for investigation, I am of opinion his own servants are implicated. Both the above farms were insured in the county within these few weeks.

HORBLING, LINCOLNSHIRE, Jan. 3.-We had a large bean-stack fired yesterday evening, and at Neethope, about two miles off, on Friday night last, there were a straw and a haystack both consumed.

On Monday a large stack of beans, belonging to Mr. Westmoreland, of Billingboro', in the parish of Sempringham, was set fire to, and consumed before any assistance could ar-, rive. Thursday evening, the 30th ult. about six o'clock, some person set fire to a stack of straw belonging to Mr. Briggs, surgeon, of Heckington; it was soon consumed, but not being near any other stack, no futher damage was done.-Stamford Mercury.

SUFFOLK.-HUNTINGFIELD, Jan. 9.(Extract from a private letter.)-Soon after six o'clock on Saturday morning, a fire was discovered in the tithe-stack-yard of the Rev. Henry Uthoff, attached to the Huntingfield Rectory, and which is about half a mile from Heavingham Hall, the seat of Lord Huntingfield. The fire was discovered by one of Mr, Uthoff's men, as he was going out to his work. He instantly alarmed his master and the family, as well as several cottagers in the neighbourhood, who promptly afforded all possible assistance to extinguish the flames by means of pails of water, wet blankets, &c., but more particularly to preserve the adjoining stacks, which chiefly consisted of tithe hay. By half-past seven o'clock, Lord Huntingfield, the Rev. Anthony Collet, and other influential Ed-characters, attended by the Heavingham Hall engine, were upon the premises. By this timely arrival of such prompt aid as the engine afforded, and by the exemplary and as tonishing efforts made by all present, I am

WILTSHIRE.-On Tuesday night a barn filled with fire-wood, belonging to — monstone, Esq., a Magistrate of the county, who has taken a very active part in the apprehension of the rioters, situated about two miles and a half from Devizes, was set fire to, and,