The first grand display of the power and wisdom of

the English 'I agitators" has gone off in a manner much to their satisfaction. The Men of Kent have met, and Penenden Heath has received a new lease of fame, for at least other eight hundred years. The party excitement extended to every corner of the county, and tho meeting on Friday was not so much an assembly of freeholders, as one of that tumultuary character which, not'many years ago, new laws were made to repress.

The necessary preparations on the Heath were begun on Thursday evening, and continued throughout the night, though the rain had fallen in torrents, and saturated the ground. By midnight, many waggons to accommodate the leading parties had been placed; and stakes were driven in two circles, to which strong cords were attached, to keep °lithe crowd. These preparations were in front of the humble shed which custom and courtesy have made the " Shire-house ;" where the ground rises in the form of an amphitheatre. A waggon immediately opposite the building was appropriated to the High Sheriff; and from that point a line of other carriages, in some places three deep, stretched round a large open ring, appropriated to the people on foot, and within which no horse was allowed to enter.

At an early hour on Friday morning, Maidstone showed signs of un- usual bustle. About eight, Lords Darnley and Clifden, and some other leading gentlemen, drove into the town; Lord Abergavenny came from Tunbridge Wells in a stage-coach; and a vast number of carriages poured in from Canterbury, Rochester, and other places. •

The road to the Heath, long before the hour of meeting, presented a lively aspect ; and from the number which were moving forward, gave indication that the crowd would be immense. About eleven o'clock, the host assembled appeared to be countless. All parts of Kent seemed to have been drained of their population. The branches of the trees were studded with human forms : and beyond the range of carriages, invisible to those immediately around the Sheriff's waggon, were thousands of people. The ceaseless din of music, and the astounding cheers and hisses of the different parties as their friends arrived on the ground, added to the grandeur of the scene.

About half-past ten, Mr. Slid, who had come express front Dublin, and purchased a freehold on the previous evening, reached the ground, and mounted one of the waggons arranged on the Sheriff's right, which were appropriated to the Liberals. Dr. Doyle, who had come from Paris, was near him. Mr. Cobbett and Mr. Henry Hunt appeared, and were received with cheers by the one party, and hisses by the other. Cobbett no sooner placed himself safely in a waggon, than lie bethought him of taking time by the forelock, and began to address the people; talking of the forty-shilling freeholders in Ireland, and the tithes, and the taxes. Soine persons shouted for Cobbett, and others exclaimed, " Won't you wait till the Sheriff comes, Old Gridiron ?"

At eleven o'clock, a very considerable body approached, with music and a great number of banners. Among the inscriptions were, " Civil and Religious Liberty," on a blue flag, and " Catholic Emancipation," on a green one, which waved over Mr. Shiel. There were loud cries of pull this flag down ; but it retained its position. Among the placards dis- played on the Brunswick side, one bore " Men of Kent, no show of hands for Adjournment." Sir Edward Knatchbull, the member for the county, was the first person who appeared on the Sheriff's waggon ; and three cheers were instantly given for him amid cries of " No Popery," " Down with the Blacking-bottle," &c. The principal men on both sides now began to make their appearance. The Earl of Winchilsea ascended the waggon immediately to the left of the Sheriff's waggon, and was loudly cheered by his own party, and hissed by the other, which was the rule pretty unanimously pursued throughout. His Lordship was attended by Sir John E. Brydges, Mr. Gipps, Lord Guilford, &c. They had no ban- ners, but all wore oaken sprigs at their breasts. On the right were wag.. gons engaged for Earl Darnley, Earl Radnor, Earl of Jersey, Earl Cowper, Lord Teynham, Lord Clifton, Lord Bexley, Lord Romney, Mr. Calcraft, M. P., Mr. Warre, M. P., Admiral Blackwood, and a number of other gentlemen of the county, who were opposed to the calling of this county meeting. In their waggons no banners were displayed, nor from them were any placards circulated.

The numbers now present were estimated by some so high as one hun- dred thousand, by others at half that number, and by some (with greater probability) thirty thousand.

Some jokes were pointed at the different parties as they appeared on the ground, but the general bearing of the people as they formed on the heath was orderly and good-humoured.

The High Sheriff came on the ground exactly at twelve o'clock. He immediately read the requisition, which was followed by a tremendous burst of acclamation. He entreated the meeting to conduct themselves as became the people of Kent, and to give a fair and impartial hearing to every one. Mr. Gipps rose to introduce the business of the day. He saw flourished in his face, the banner of Religious and Civil Liberty—(loud cheers from the right) ; and for that he contended—(Deafening cheers from the left.) All he and his friends wanted was Civil and Religious Liberty, and to secure that they were assembled, ;!The aim* queatim is� wise. ther we are contented with the toleration and liberty we enjoy, and whe- Shiel the Irish barrister, but Mr. Shea, a freeholder, who solicited their ther we are determined to support it ? (" We will, we will ; Iluzza !) If attention. Mr. Shea then proceeded to argue the injustice of excluding the Catholics were admittedsto power, the threshold of the constitution Catholics from the exercise of political rights which Catholics had pur- would be passed, and a door opened to innovation ; and he was sure that chased. He denied that the Catholics as a body had any wish to in- the people of Kent would not consent to eitend to the Catholics the po- terfere with the Established Church. They were its firm supporters. litical privileges of the constitution. There is a talk of securities ;—but He ascribed all the dissensions in Ireland to the class called Protestants ; what and where are they ? The Duke of Wellington may devise some- but who in point of fact, were not so much ProteStant as he was. thing ; but I almost despair of it. Will you admit the Catholics without Lord Teynham spoke. To attempt the pacification of Ireland by any security ; (No, no, no.) Shall we allow them to legislate for our Church, other means than the concession of Emancipation, is idle and preposte- while they refuse to allow the Legislature to interfere in the government rous. You ,might as well attempt to play at marbles with the Giant's of theirs (No, no I) ? Are we to give political power to those, who would Causeway, or to dry up the Lakes of Killarney. It is idle to expect any endeavour to pull our church down ? (No, no ; they shan't do that !) Until thing but disunion until this measure be accomplished. Nor until the Catholics allow the Legislature to regulate their church, they ought Ireland is secure, can the Ministers of. this country dare to chew fully not to be allowed to participate in our political privileges. ("No, no ; we the magnitude of the British empire before the pettiest power of dont't want nothing to do with their church !") Mr. Gipps concluded by Europe. Even the Baboon who now governs Portugal, has declared proposing the following petition. two blockades; and the ministry of England, who saved that country "TO TIIE HONOURABLE THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, &C. does not fire a cannon, lest it may provoke an universal war. I "Thehumble petition of the undersigned Freeholders of the Count!, of Keat,eheweth— will speak plainly to you. Do you understand this question ? No, " That your petitioners beg leave to express to your Honourable House their sense not one in a thousand of you understand it. Will you make up your of the blessings they enjoy under the Protestant Constitution of these kingdoms, as minds upon it on due consideration ? (Cries of " our minds were made settled at the Revolution. Up before we. came.") Do not in ignorance decide against Ireland.

" Viewing with the deepest regret the proceedings which have for a long time . been carrying on in Ireland, your petitioners feel themselves imperatively called At present Ireland paralyzes your power—she weakens the sinews of ' upon to declare their strong and inviolable attachment to those Protestant principles your strength—she contributes no proportionate share of revenue, and is which have proved to be the best security for the civil uud religious liberty of these a heavy charge upon you—she costs far more than she contributes in

kingdoms. supporting that system. Do you not—I ask you as sensible and as feeling " They, therefore, approach your Honourable House, humbly but earnestly pray. men—do you not know, and believe, that this will be eternal, unless the log that the Protestant Constitution of the United Kingdom may be preserved entire measure of emancipation be acceded to ? Your foreign influence and and inviolable."

The Marquis of Camden said, he was now sorry that he had not at- ginations of those who have invented them. It is impossible that the tended the former meeting, as he would have preferred to oppose then the people of this country can become Catholics. (A cry—" You do all that proceedings which took place there, to be compelled to come to this you can to make them so.") I am convinced that the measure might be meeting to nullify those proceedings. Whatever the result of this meet. safely conceded under wise and sensible restrictions. I have every con- ing might be, he trusted, nay entreated, his friends now present, to depart fidence in the mighty mind of the minister who rules the adminis- with the same kindly feelings which had hitherto characterized their tration of this country. I believe that the present government is placed former intercourse. For his own part he differed as much from the agita- in the hands of powerful, able, and honest men. I believe that it tion of the Catholic Association as he did from the loyal effusions with was never placed in honester and abler. If you adopt a conciliatory which the public had recently been treated by gentlemen of another de- course—if you do justice to Ireland, and strengthen the security of scription. He had long turned his earnest attention to the state of Ireland, the Empire—you will best maintain the motto of the County of Kent, and to the effects which conciliations were likely to produce in that country "Invicta." I would recommend Earl Winchilsea and his friends to modify The Marquis referred to a letter which he had addressed to Mr. Pitt, in the petition which has been presented this day. They may retire to do 1797, when he was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in which he had declared so ; we will give them ample time. (Cries of " Oh no, thank you.") I his solemn opinion that Emancipation was necessary for the tranquillity recommend you to leave the question to the proper depositories of Le- and happiness of that country. He deprecated the attempt to inflame gislative trust—to the Members of both Houses of Parliament, and the the people of England by the means of Brunswick Clubs. These Clubs Ministers of the Crown, acting upon responsible advice which they give were few and impotent. (No, no.) Then, if they were numerous, they to their Sovereign." were decidedly dangerous. He felt for the condition of the people of Mr. Shiel, who had several times presented himself to the meeting Ireland ; and he felt that the strength and security of this United when other speakers were rising, now made good his right to be heard as Kingdom depended upon the tranquilization of Ireland. The Catholic a freeholder. The clamour was increased tenfold. Mr. Shiel, however, Question was daily gamins,ts ground with the people of England, and to went on, with piercing sounds and violent gesticulation, to utter a long their good sense he wished to leave it. (Cheers and uproar.) speech, which the Morning Post and the Morning Journal could not F The Earl of Darnley said, that he rose as an Irish proprietor to address hear, but of which we find ample reports in the Chronicle, the 7lioses, the meeting in behalf of the people of Ireland—(His voice was for and the Herald. From the first of these we select a few passages, as a some time completely drowned by the vociferations of the Brunswick specimen of the orator's tone and manner—the argument of the speech party. The Sheriff at length procured order).—What was meant by tell- embraces all the usual topics, most of them expressed with vigour and ing the Catholics of Ireland that for them the Constitution was never to effect, and some with great felicity. throw open its doors. They were to be thus driven to madness, and a " I am a freeholder ; but I put my claim to speak,- not so much upon firebrand was to be thrown into that barrel of gunpowder, upon the any ground of strict legal right, as upon the title which I derive front idle pretence that the Catholics owed a divided allegiance. (" They do.") your magnanimity and justice. You are bound, by your own spirit of It was a mere pretence; and the people of Kent knew but little of the fairness and just dealing, to hear me in the cause of my religion and of real question. (A freeholder reminded his Lordship of fitg.gots.). It was a my country, for upon the character of that religion and the interests of gratuitous mistake to suppose that the Catholics of the present day were that country you are assembled to adjudicate. What is my religion, and the persons which their old. prejudices led them to think. They were what is my country ? I am a native of that island, which is one of the changed, and so he hoped were the Protestants. (Applause and hissing.) finest spots upon the sea ; but which, in place of being the fortunate After all, what would be the mighty effect of Catholic Emancipation ? land which nature intended it to be, exhibits, in its distractions and It would admit a half dozen of Peers of the most ancient families into its wretchedness, the evidences of that condition to which its rulers— Parliament, and about twice that number of Commoners. A great deal and Englishmen are its rulers—have reduced it : and with respect to my- had been said about the influence of the Catholic Association, and of religion, I profess the faith of seven millions of your fellow citizens : the Catholic clergy ; but how stood the fact ? the people led the clergy, and let me acid, the religion of those—your great ancestors—to whom and not the clergy the people. Lord Darnley urged. the usual topics in you are indebted for Parliamentary Representation, for Magna Charta, favour of Catholic Emancipation; and expressed himself alike opposed and the Trial by Jury. I am a Roman Catholic ; I am there-

to the Catholic Association and the Brunswick Clubs. fore, deeply concerned in the result of your deliberations, and that Elle Earl of Winchilsea, Mr. Shell, and Mr. Shoe, next presented them- concern confers upon me a right to speak. You will only act in con- selves to the meeting, amidst the most deafening shouts from the " Men sisteney with your own character, as Englishmen, in hearing nie, not of Kent," on the one hand, and the advocates of Emancipation on the with favour, but with forbearance. I want nothing, to uses:simple phrase other. The High Sheriff declared that the Earl of Winchilsea first caught drawn from your own national habits, but "Fair Play." But it is right his eye. that'l Should tall you something more touching myself. I am not only an

The Earl of Winchilsea entreated the Men of Kent, as they ware the Irishman and a Roman Catholic, but I am one of the individuals who last to surrender to a foreign monarch, to be the last now to surrender have incurred the displeasure of many of you, but for whose vehement the blessings of their constitution to persons whose bounden duty it was language, and possibly over ardent emotion, you would I think, if you to undermine the Protestant establishment. He never Would consent knew the full extent of the grievances of which they complain, find, in that the Catholics should legislate for the Protestant Church.—(Grent your own feelings, some extenuation. I am a member of that body, applause.) They had been accused of endeavouring, by means of a club, which, you have been so often told, is among the chief evils of Ireland, to dictate to the government. He denied the accusation. All the club but which is the product, and not the cause of its discontents; and, instead had said was, that they admired, loved, and would support, the Protestant of giving birth to the public calamities, is indebted to them for its pa- constitution. He denied that political power was the right of every one ; rentage. I am (and I am well aware that in announcing it I do not beseech the majority in every country were justified in excluding any portion of your partialities) a Member of the Roman Catholic Association. You the community from civil privileges, unless they gave proper security for may not much relish me on that account ; but still, you owe it to your- the exercise of those privileges. The Roman Catholics were in full en- selves and not to me, to hear, why sentence of eternal discord should joyment of their religion and their property ; and if any law was pro- not be pronounced against my country. I will tell you more, for posed to deprive them of those benefits, he would be the first to stand up with Englishmen plain and direct dealing is the wisest, as it is certainly to oppose it. (Cheers.) He would appeal to those by whom he was the honest course. I am one of the most strenuous of the persons who arc known, whether he had ever been intolerant. (Laughter front one side, designated as the agitators of Ireland; yet, however criminal, I am en- and loud cheers from the other.) As a friend to civil and religious liberty, titled to plead not guilty, and I stand at your bar for the purpose of so however, he must oppose the admission of Catholic's to power, till they doing. I have travelled here with no other view than to raise my voice abandonedthose principles which were in utter hostility to the religion in this assembly, and I did so in despite of much remonstrance and ad- and liberty he was most anxious to support. The character and monition. I was told that you would consider me guilty of an intrusion, the principles of the Catholic Church were still the same : time and I answered, that cannot he where my privileges as a fellow-citizen had worked in them no change : their allegiance to the Pope was are so deeply involved, and I must be affected by the issue of their still the same ; and whilst this monstrous state of things continued, deliberations. I was told that you would treat me with contumely and they must submit to being excluded from situations of trust inthe State. derision ; and I replied, that you had too much respect for yourselves to (Cheers.) Let those who enjoyed the interest of the soil in Ireland, act such a part in my regard. It was said to me that you would not hear pay in their purse for the disturbance they occasioned in Ireland. Liberty me, and I exclaimed, " they are Englishmen, and without hearing they had been conceded to every man in the repeal of the Test and Cor- never will condemn." Englishmen, I have not come here to enter into poration Acts, but it was carried a little too far. He would explain this : religious disputations with you. It is not in the year 1828 that we should he wished to exclude no man within the pale of the Christian church, but enter into a scholastic controversy upon the Real Presence. I believe in did not wish to see Jews and Mahometans, and even persons of no reli- it; you do not—what matter is it to me what you believe, and what gion at all, admitted into the legislature. For the Dissenters he had a matter is it to you what I believe ? I do not want to. take clown the high respect, - • ponderous folios of disputation, in order to blow the dust with which they Mr. Shea,. an English Catholic, presented himself to the meeting, and are appropriately laden into your eyes, and to envelope myself in a cloud attempted—but Iong attempted inorain7-to obtain a hearing. The Sheriff of theology. You think me an idolator. I deny it. But, supposing I atimt promed some sort gi quiet, ;by explaining th4t it Wm not. Mr. am= I am not the worse citizen, I have a right to be an idolator if I

colonial possessions will fall one after another, in your attempt in vainly Mr. Plumtrec addressed the meeting in favour of the principles con- and foolishly keeping down your own population at home. The terrors of

were decidedly dangerous. He felt for the condition of the people of Mr. Shiel, who had several times presented himself to the meeting Ireland ; and he felt that the strength and security of this United when other speakers were rising, now made good his right to be heard as Kingdom depended upon the tranquilization of Ireland. The Catholic a freeholder. The clamour was increased tenfold. Mr. Shiel, however, Question was daily gamins,ts ground with the people of England, and to went on, with piercing sounds and violent gesticulation, to utter a long their good sense he wished to leave it. (Cheers and uproar.) speech, which the Morning Post and the Morning Journal could not F The Earl of Darnley said, that he rose as an Irish proprietor to address hear, but of which we find ample reports in the Chronicle, the 7lioses, the meeting in behalf of the people of Ireland—(His voice was for and the Herald. From the first of these we select a few passages, as a some time completely drowned by the vociferations of the Brunswick specimen of the orator's tone and manner—the argument of the speech party. The Sheriff at length procured order).—What was meant by tell- embraces all the usual topics, most of them expressed with vigour and ing the Catholics of Ireland that for them the Constitution was never to effect, and some with great felicity. throw open its doors. They were to be thus driven to madness, and a " I am a freeholder ; but I put my claim to speak,- not so much upon firebrand was to be thrown into that barrel of gunpowder, upon the any ground of strict legal right, as upon the title which I derive front idle pretence that the Catholics owed a divided allegiance. (" They do.") your magnanimity and justice. You are bound, by your own spirit of It was a mere pretence; and the people of Kent knew but little of the fairness and just dealing, to hear me in the cause of my religion and of real question. (A freeholder reminded his Lordship of fitg.gots.). It was a my country, for upon the character of that religion and the interests of gratuitous mistake to suppose that the Catholics of the present day were that country you are assembled to adjudicate. What is my religion, and the persons which their old. prejudices led them to think. They were what is my country ? I am a native of that island, which is one of the changed, and so he hoped were the Protestants. (Applause and hissing.) finest spots upon the sea ; but which, in place of being the fortunate After all, what would be the mighty effect of Catholic Emancipation ? land which nature intended it to be, exhibits, in its distractions and It would admit a half dozen of Peers of the most ancient families into its wretchedness, the evidences of that condition to which its rulers— Parliament, and about twice that number of Commoners. A great deal and Englishmen are its rulers—have reduced it : and with respect to my- had been said about the influence of the Catholic Association, and of religion, I profess the faith of seven millions of your fellow citizens : the Catholic clergy ; but how stood the fact ? the people led the clergy, and let me acid, the religion of those—your great ancestors—to whom and not the clergy the people. Lord Darnley urged. the usual topics in you are indebted for Parliamentary Representation, for Magna Charta, favour of Catholic Emancipation; and expressed himself alike opposed and the Trial by Jury. I am a Roman Catholic ; I am there-

think proper, and my idolatry is no business of yours."* * * * * " I pray you, when you are disposed to fling your projectiles against the Catholic religion, to look round you, and consider of how much glass your own house is built. But let us travel a little out of England. Protestant- ism, it is said, is the inseparable companion of liberty—they are always found walking arm in arm together in their march for the improvement

of mankind. If this be so, how does it happen that Prussia is a Pro- testant, and Prussia is a stave ; and Sweden is a Protestant, and Sweden

is a slave ; and Denmark is a Protestant, and Denmark is a slave ; and

half the German Stares are Protestant, and are also slaves ; and even Hanover (hear it, ye Brunswickers 0, is also'a slave I Turn now to Ca- tholic Europe. Look at Italy not as she now is, but as she was long before

the name of Luther was ever uttered—look at her when the Catholic was

her entire religion, and liberty was her glorious practice. I call up her crowd of republics as witnesses in that cause which I am thus daring enough to plead before you. Venice, Catholic Venice, rises up from the

ocean, with all her republican glory round about her. Venice fell at last into an oligarchy ; but Venice was for five hundred years a noble and lofty democratic Government. I next produce as witnesses in my favour Genoa and Florence, and all the rest of those free States in which Popery, liberty, literature, and the arts, grew up avid flourished together. You think, perhaps, that when Italy is exhausted you can bring Spain against

me. Even there, before Ximenes trod upon the rights of Spaniards, the Catholic Cortes were a free assembly, and imposed upon the Monarch an oath, in which they told him that they were, individually, as good, and, taken altogether, far better than himself ; and his power derived from the people. But if you think that you can turn Spain against us, shall I not find in the country of Switzerland, and in the mountains of William Tell, a glorious testimony in my favour ? But to pass from distant periods, and from sequestered valleys, where you may say, that simplicity, in despite of Popery, was the source of freedom, I bid you turn your eyes to France, and I ask of you, whether with her Charter, with her Trial by Jury, and with her Chamber of Deputies, she is not ascending into competition with yourselves ? But no—I will not wound you with the comparison ; I will not tell you that Catholic Frenchmen are your competitors in free institutions, but will bid you turn to a spectacle upon which every Englishman may well repose with a sort of parental pride. From the old I travel to the new world ; and I produce to England her glorious pupils—the Catholic Democracies of South America. Republic after Republic is bursting forthat your bidding, through that almost immeasurable continent, and from the summit of the Andes, liberty may be said to unfurl her standard over half the world. It is false—utterly false, never was there calumny more destitute of foundation, and history aids out against it, that Catholicism and a genuine love of freedom cannot exist together" * * 'It- .' Englishmen, look at Ireland—what do you behold—a beautiful coun- try with wonderful agricultural and commercial advantages—the link between America and Europe—the natural resting-place of trade in its way to either hemispheres—and inhabited by a bold, intrepid, and, with all their faults, a generous and enthusiastic people. Such is natural Ireland—what is artificial Ireland—such is Ireland as God made her—what is Ireland as England made her ? For she is your colony, your dependent, and you are as answerable for her faults as a parent is for the education of a child. What, then, have you made Ireland? Look at her again. This fine country is laden with a population the most miserable in Europe, and of whose wretchedness, if you are the authors, you are beginning to be the victims. Harvests, the most abundant, are reaped by men with starvation in their faces—famine covers a fertile soil, and disease inhales a pure atmosphere—all the great commercial felicities of the country are lost—the deep rivers that should circulate opulence, and turn the machinery of a thousand manufactures, flow on the ocean without wafting a boat or turning a wheel—and the wave breaks in solitude in the silent magnificence of deserted and shipless harbours—in place of being a source of wealth and revenue to the empire, Ireland . cannot defray its own expenses, or pay a single tax ; her discontents costs millions of money, and she hangs like a financial millstone round England's neck—in place of being a bulwark and a fortress, she debilitates, exhausts, and endangers England, and offers an allurement to the speculators in universal ruin. The great mass of her enormous popu- lation are alienated and dissociated from the state—the influence of the constituted and legitimate authorities is gone—a strange, anomalous, and unexampled kind of government has sprung up from the public passions, and exercises a despotic sway over the great mass of the community, while the class, inferior in numbers, but accustomed to authority, and infuriated at its loss, are thrown into a formidable reaction—the most ferocious passions rage from one extremity of the country to the other— hundreds of thousands of men, arrayed with badges, gather in the south, and the smaller faction, with discipline and with arms, are marshalled in the north—the country is strewed with the materials of civil commotion, and seems like one vast magazine of powder, which a spark might ignite into an explosion, which would shake the whole fabric of civil society into ruin, and of which England would not only feel, but perhaps never recover from the shock. And gracious God (for I cannot refrain from the exclamation) ! is this horrid, this appalling, this accursed state of things, to be permitted to continue ?"

Mr. Larkins said that the Brunswickers had given a different defini- tion to the word " Constitution" from any he had ever seen. Till he came to the meeting he did not know that the constitution was in dan- ger. The constitution, according to the Brunswick dictionary, was the aristocracy and the clergy united. They had left the people entirely out. (Cheers.) According to the doctrine of those gentlemen, the people were a very insignificant set—a part of the creation designed by Providence merely to pay tithes and taxes. The parties whom he had described in- variably supported every measure for the increase of taxation. They were known as the supporters of tithes and taxes, as the abettors of every measure that injured the people. He called upon every man who loved his country, and who hated humbug, to oppose those borough- mongers and tithe-eaters. (Cheers.) The " Constitution," in his dictio- nary, meant " King, Lords, and Commons ; but the constitution of the gentlemen opposite was a constitution on one side, and consisted of the aristocracy and clergy alone. Their constitution was really in danger. Lord Winchilsea says that no man has an inherent right to power ; but as the origin of all power is with the people, every individual of the people has a right to share it. Let the Brunswickers take warning from the experience of the past. Bishops, and deans, and prebends were the ad- juncts, and not the necessary members of a church establishment. The Scotch did extremely well without them. (Incessant cries of " question." If the ministers of the church wished to give it additional strength, they would effect their object better by reforming the abuses which had crept in among them, than by joining such political clubs as were patronised by the Winchilseas, the Newcastles, and the Cumberlands of the day. Crnis Kootenai; WhQ A seem A an cactigneer, we the particalat butt

of the Brunswick wits and humourists. He bore it all with the utmost self-possession ; and during one of the humorous interruptions he ex. perienced, refreshed himself from a pocket flask by drinking a deep draught to the health of the meeting.]

Sir Edward Knatchbull rose with Mr. Cobbett. The cheers for Sir Edward were loud and general, and cries of " Down with Cobbett ;" and it was decided that the Baronet should be heard first. Sir Edward then asked, if he had, during his Parliamentary career, fully discharged his duty ? (Cries of "Yes, yes—you have.") He was well aware, that on the important subject now before them, there were differences of opinion amongst his constituents, and that they would be expressed at this meet- ing. He wished to know the opinion of the freeholders on the momentum; subject before them, in order that he might state that opinion in Parlia- ment. Their opinion, as expressed to-day, showed him that what he had stated it to be was correct. (Cries of " Yes, yes.") For thirty years, he had so stated it ; and he trusted that on all future occasions, he would be found as faithfully to discharge his public duty. (" You always have done so ; bravo, bravo ! ') The gentlemen who came here from Ireland would tell their fellow-countrymen on their return, what were the feelings of the Men of Kent. There was no unkind feeling towards the Catholics to be found in Kent ; and if what they sought was denied, it was only be- cause he and others considered it impossible to be granted. If any conces- sion were possible, he would agree to it; but the late events in Ireland could not alter the opinions he had previonsly entertained. (Great cheering.)

Mr. Cobbett with some difficulty obtained the sanction of the Sheriff to address the meeting. He seemed at the moment to be quite wearied ; and as soon as he began, a noise arose from the left side, which was kept up during the whole time he spoke. He observed that he bad to propose a petition, which embodied the facts relative to tithes and Church pro- perty, which had been already circulated (in the newspapers and in hand- bills), and of which the main propositions follow.

" That all the temporal possessions of the Church, whether tithes, glebefl, college lands, abbey lands, cathedral lands, and all such possessions of every description, were founded un the basis of CHARITY, and were granted not to the Clergy and the Bishops for their own use, but sz TRUST for the good of the Million at large, and especially for the relief of the poor, the widow, the orphan, :mil the stranger. That there were no poor-rates, no church-rates, and no paupers in England, until the pre- sent Church was established; and that the poor were relieved, and the churches buil t and repaired, out of the tithes and other revenues of the Church. That, by degrees, this sacred trust has ceased to operate, and the tithes and the rest of the revenues of the Church, have been taken possession of for the sole use of the Clergy them- selves and their families; while the burthen of relieving the poor, and of building and repairin-t. the chtuches has been thrown upon the people ; and that the share of this burthen borne by the County of Kent, at the date of the last return, was, annu- ally, X418,281 sterling on an average of years. That there sure 427 parishes in the County of Kent. That these are all in the hands of less than two hundred Rectors and Vicars, many of whom have Prebendaries, and other benefices in addition. That there are 87 of these Parishes, which have Parsonage Houses, that our Gentle- men Parsons tell the Parliament are not good enough for theta to live in. That there are 75 other Parishes which have no Personage Houses at all, though the Clergy are bound by law to keep up all Parsonage Houses, and to keep them in repair ; and though the Bishop of the Diocese is bound by law to see that these Houses are not dilapidated. That there are TnittrEss: PARISHES in this garden County of Kent, which have NO CHURCHES AT Ata., but in which the Tithes are, as elsewhere, ex- acted even to the last blade of grass. That there are 44 Parishes in the County, each having less than 100 inhabitants, none of whom hardly ever see the face of a Parson, and yet, who have tithes exacted from them to the utmost rigour; and that, while this is the state of the County, that County is taxed for the ',gilding of New Churches, which are intended to add to the emoluments of this same Clergy. That, bad as all this Is, one might almost call it good when compared to the situation of Ireland, which contains 3,403 Parishes. That these have been moulded into 515 livings, and that these have been given to about 350 Rectors and Vicars ; and, of course, each Parson has the tithes and glebes of more than NINE PARISHES. That, of the 3,403 Parishes, there are only 139 which have Parsonage Houses, and that, consequently, there is but one Parsonage House to every 24 Parishes. That in the 3,403 Parishes, there are only 465 Churches, so that there is but one Church to emery seven parishes. That there is not more than one Churchman to every sir Catholics or Dissenters throughout Ireland, and that in some Parishes there are no Church- people at all. That the Catholics and Dissenters build and repair their own Cha- pels, and support their own Ministers, but arc compelled to pay tittles and church- rates too, evan where there are no Churches in existence. That the tithes are col- lected in the most rigorous manner by men called Tithe-Proctors, who go armed on the business, and have frequently troops to assist them. That the poor creatures are sometimes stripped of everything they have in the world, and the air is made to ring with their cries of misery ; and sometimes, thirsting for revenge, they break out into acts of violence and blood, and the gaol and the gallows are called in to finish the dispute between them and their pastors. That this is the great and effi- cient cause of all the troubles of Ireland, where no poor-rates were ever established, and where the people are, therefore, left, in hundreds of thousands of cases, to perish from hunger, while we are taxed to pay an army, a great part of the business of which is, to keep the peace in Ireland."

The truth was, that Catholic Emancipation would do nothing for either England or Ireland. He would oppose it, as it would only enable the Catholic aristocracy to come in and divide the spoil with the Protestant aristocracy. Nay, he would prefer keeping those who were already full of the public money in the exclusive enjoyment of it ; like the fox in the fable, when it was proposed to him to have the satiated flies removed from his skin. " No (said he), leave them there—they are now full ' - but if you take them away, fresh and more hungry ones will take their place, and I shall be tormented to death." He referred to the proposed measures of 1825, by which it was proposed to the people to pay priests for carrying on an idolatrous religion. He would go with the Brunswickers to the extent of not granting emancipation to the Catholics alone; but lie would go a great deal farther, and abolish the system of plunder that was carried on under the tithe system. With respect to the term Bruns- wickers, why call these Clubs " Brunswick ?" What was Brunswick to them? or what had it done for them ? Why not call them English or Protestant clubs ? The trick was to have it in inferred that all who were opposed to them were against the Brunswick Family ; which family was quite enough for him—he wanted nothing more of Brunswick. Mr. Cobbett then proceeded to consider a passage in the Duke of New- castle's letter respecting the desertion of God ; and read the items of pensions and public emoluments enjoyed'by his Grace's family. The noise from the left side became now so loud as to drown his voice completely. He concluded by moving a petition founded on the " Facts for the Men of Kent," already alluded to.

The uproar rose to a still more extravagant height as Mr. Hunt came forward to second the petition. He said he was not at all to be intimi- dated by the way in which the Brunswickers were acting towards him: it was quite evident that they only wanted to have a bit of a row, but he hoped the people would be patient and peaceable.

Sir E. Knatchbull rose to order.

Mr. Hunt. " What is..0 this? I suppose Sir Edward is going to pay me a bill of 5s. 6d. *vial' he owes me thew twenty-five years.'— (A laugh.) Sir. E. Knatchbull wished to ask Mr. Hunt if he was not able to diz- cover, from the reception which he mat with, that the Men of Feat 'Wet aot disposed to weigeine hiul t

The Earl of Radnor rose, and, in terms of strong censure, denounced the interruption of Mr. Hunt, by Sir Edward, as tyrannical and unfair.

Mr. Hunt, after alluding to the well-known character of Lord Radnor, for liberality and attention to the people, and particularly his late gene- rous conduct in dispensing with the game-laws, so far as his estates were concerned, related an anecdote concerning himself and Sir Edward Knatchbull ; and went on to speak on the immediate business of the meeting, when he was again interrupted. Mr. Larkins started up, and, addressing himself to the High Sheriff, de- manded the reason why the gentlemen on his side of the hustings should thus be constantly interrupted. The Under Sheriff observed, that, as the Meeting appeared to he ex- hausted, it was the wish of the High Sheriff to adjourn. (Cries of " No, no !—Partial !" %v.) Mr. Calcraft said that a more extraordinary scene than that which he now witnessed never, he believed, occurred in any country. If this great question, were to be agitated at all, and decided upon, he trusted that the Men of Kent had too much spirit to conclude upon the subject before every person that desired to speak, and was qualified to do so, had deli- vered his opinions.

A scene of great confusion now arose. Mr. Hunt was claiming to be heard, the party opposite crying " Off, off !" Mr. Hodges and several others offering themselves to the chair. At length Mr. Hunt good- humouredly yielded, and Mr. Hodges addressed the chair, and moved the following amendment.

Resolved, that it is the opinion of this meeting, called for the purpose of peti- tioning Parliament to adopt such measures as are best calculated to support the Pro- testant Establishment in Church and State, that those objects will be best attained by leaving to His Majesty's Ministers, who must be well acquainted with the feelings and sentiments of the country, the free exercise of their own judgment, in proposing to Parliament for the pacification of Ireland and the general benefit of his Majesty's dominions, such measures as they may deem proper ; and, whereas, while the con- stitution recognises the right of every man to petition the two houses of Parliament, that any attempt to control those authorities, by self-constitned societies is a direct invasion of the principles of that constitution ; and that this meeting do now ad- journ."

The Earl of Radnor seconded this amendment ; and urged the pro- priety of adjourning, since it was impossible, from the temper in which they then were, to exercise a cool judgment upon the topics before them. He believed they had not even heard several of the topics which they were invited to decide upon. For instance, not one person in that assembly had heard a word of the contents of Mr. Cobbett's petition, which they were now about to pass a judgment upon ; and which con- tained—he spoke from what he had seen of it in a newspaper two days ago—matter worthy of the consideration of the greatest statesmen. Though he was a member of the aristocracy, and a peer of parliament, he was glad to support Mr. Cobbett's opinions, when they tended to pro- mote the rights and interests of the people. He asked the gentlemen opposite, whether, if they were now to go away with a majority, it would be such a majority as they would be contented with ? He thought that it would not.

Mr. Hodges's amendment was then handed to the High Sheriff, as well as Mr. Cobbett's Petition. On the latter document, for some reason or other, the question was never put.

The Under Sheriff then said, " Two petitions have been presented to the meeting, one by Mr. Gipps, and another by Mr. Hodges. Those who are for Mr. Hodges's amendment will now hold up their hands." " A third part of the meeting (according to the Times) held up their hands for the amendment, amidst great cheering."

The Under Sheriff then desired those who were for Mr. Gipps's peti- tion to do the same." Two-thirds of the meeting held up their hands, amid a deafening roar."

The High Sheriff.—" Mr. Gipps's petition is carried by a large ma- jority." Three cheers were immediately given by the Brunswickers, at the desire of Lord Winchilsca.

It was then moved and seconded that the petition should be presented to the House of Commons by Sir E. Knatchbull, and to the House of Lords by the Earl of Winchilsea.

Thanks were then voted to the High Sheriff, who did not say a word in reply to they.

On the motion of Lord Winchilsea, who (we still quote from the mes) seemed perfectly frantic with delight at his success, three cheers were given in honour of " Protestant Ascendancy." After they were finished, his Lordship called for " One cheer more," which he trusted would he given with such heart as would make its echoes reverberate in the meanest cottage in the county. It was given accordingly, and the meeting broke up at half-past five o'clock, the Brunswick bands of mu- sic striking up " God save the King."

Nothing could be more picturesque than the appearance of the heath, as the dense mass of persons gradually separated into different groups, and proceeded on their road back to Maidstone. Part of the freeholders marched back with banners flying and drums playing; and all seemed delighted that they had arrived at the close of their labours of the day. on the heights overlooking the place of meeting there were a number of well-dressed ladies, who, on its dispersion, were busily engaged in look- ing- for their friends and relations who had formed a part of it. The road was crowded with horsemen and carriages, and the path through the fields was absolutely darkened by the busy multitude which pressed along it.

The Brunswickers of Buckinghamshire, headed by the Marquis of Chandos, had a field-day—a dinner, we should say, but that martial figures will intrude themselves into these matters—at Ayles- bury on Tuesday. The zeal for church and state was most fervid.

On the other hand, Lord Nugent has taken his pen against Clubs; and endeavoured to satisfy his constituents, that the power of the Catholic Association itself is derived from the intemper- ance of Protestants.