NEWS OF THE WEEK.

THE counties still continue their musters. Wiltshire, Somerset, and Gloucester, Cheshire, and Cumberland, have assembled to instruct the Government on the state of the country. At the Cheshire meeting, many of the speakers expatiated on the currency as the principal source of present affliction ; but when Lord DELAMERE stated, that the agri- cultural distress was caused by high rents, his auditory testified by loud cheers that they were altogether of the same opinion. A similar statement was made at the Cumberland. meeting, and equally well 're- ceived there. When the currency became the theme, the proposed recommendation of a return to a depreciated money standard was scouted unanimously. The Bristol meeting we haracterized by mo- deration of tone: a tax'on absentees was reconies04ed. All these meetings unite in urging Government to-economy in every PaSsible *ay. The political feature of the week, however, is the meeting of the inha- bitants of Birmingham. It is the most remarkable, both for the objects WW1, it had in view, and the numbers who attended to give those olY- jeels their support. Radical reform-of all existing abuses in the ma., nagement of public affairs, is the end which the meeting proposed to carry—an association of the middle andhumbler classes of the commu- nity, the means. A requisition had been addressed to the High Bailiff to call a meeting of the inhabitants. He declined to do so. A meet- ing was then requested by twelve respectable citizens. It was attended by more than twelve thousand persons—the largest number, it is said, ever congregated under one, roof. Mr. MUNTZ was called to the chair; and the following resolutions were moved by Mr. SCROLEFIELD.

"I. That the ruinous depression of the trade of the town of Birmingham has been progressively increasing for the last four years, and has now arrived at an extent never before equalled ; and when we look around us, and see that all the great productive in- terests of the nation are suffering, and have been suffering equally with ourselves, we are convinced that the hopes of amelioration, which have been so long and so frequently held out, are altogether fallacieus and-delusive.

"2. That, in the opinion of this Meeting, the general distress which now afflicts the country, and which has been so severely felt at different periods during the last fifteen years is entirely to be ascribed to the gross mismanagement of public affairs; and that such years, can only be effectually and permanently remedied by an effectual reform in the Commons' House of Parliament ; and this Meeting is also of opinion that for the legal accomplishment of this great object, and for the further redress of public wrongs and grievances, it is expedient to form a General Political Union between the lower and middle classes of the people of this country."

Before these motions were put, Mr. WILLIAM REDFERN rose and stated, that though he was like his father and grandfather, devoted to the cause of reform, and though he hoped to see the cause triumphant, yet he doubted the purity of the motives of those who patronized the measures about to be submitted to them. The men who now called for reform were the men who had obstructed its course on all former occasions, in Parliament and out of Parliament. They—the high Tories —formed the party who had plunged the country into the wars with America and-France—who had suspended the Habeas Corpus Act— who had rendered a second conviction for a political offence punish- able by transportation. 'This party was now leagued with Reformers —with ".-Liberal Currency men." To him it seemed, that their pre- sent professigns were the mask of selfish designs. (During the deli- very of these sentiments, the speaker was, repeatedly interrupted by the yells and hisses of the meeting.) Mr. Arriveda-allUded to thg Birmingham meeting of May last. The resolutioawhich that meeting had passed, had produced a great sensation throughout the country; but they had not produced a cor- responding impression on Parliament and Ministers. Lord Carnarvon, who present4thei, petition in the House of Lords, had acquitted himself man 4160.11r, Brougham, in the Lower House, had been. guilty of ad:. "ellen of- is duty. The Duke of Wellington had said, in reply to the petition, that "the country had been accustomed to fictitious wealth—it' Must go back to old habits and modes of think- ing." If so his Grace's salaries and those of all his coadjutors should be reduced at the same tinie. The general distress, Mr. Attwood con- tended, was referable to the grass mismanagement of public affairs; tainly when the countrx prospered, he had not deemed it necessary to run his head against a wall by clamouring for it. Now, however, when nine-tenths or even a greater proportion of the respectability of the kingdom was with him, "he could not sleep sound in his bed" were he not to lend his assistance towards averting the general suffer- ing. Within fifteen year, rent and taxes had been doubled. The country must be lifted to the level of its burdens, or its burdens must be reduced to the level of its means. To him it was indifferent which alternative should be adopted ; but, as the Duke of Wellington, whose will was the law of the land, refused to lift the country to the level of its burdens, nothing remained but to bring these down to our means.. Mr. Attwood then proceeded to argue at great length that all our dis- tresses were referable to the contraction of the currency. In vain had he pointed out to Minister's the consequences of the career on which they were entering. They disregarded him, and the country had been

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"rf.-Tiitibtain, by every just and legal means, such a Reform. in the Commons' Rouse I of Parliament, as may ensure areal and effectual Representation of the Lower .and. Mi,d2dleTColasicinseusiroeft choenPsuelot.plceoinnsitdheart, H anodusdee. , termine

respecting the rights and liberties of'

the industrious classes, and respecting-the legal means of securing those which remain I and ,3reciooveprirenpgatheopseetwitihoinet aAre lost. ddre,sies

, and Remonstrances to the Crown and the Leen- lative Bodies respecting the preservation and restoration of Public Rights, and respect- i lug the repeal of bad laws, and the enactment of good laws.

"4. To prevent and redress, as far as practicable, all local public wrongs and opprea- sions, and all local encroachments upon the rights, interests, and privileges of the i c o a, 5m. uin io ty obtain the repeal of the Malt and Beer duties' and in general, to obtain an alteration in the system of taxation, so as to cause it to press less severely upon the r 'Industrious classes of the community, and more equally upon the wealthy elasoet„, "6. To obtain the reduction of each separate tax and expense of the Government In, the same degree as the legislative increase and the value of money has increased their respective values, and has reduced and is reducing the general prices of labour through- 71, the country. mtr .67. T promote Peac9, union, and concord, among all classes of his Majesty's ;nib. jects, and treguide and direct the public mind into. uniform, peaceful, and legitinthte operations; instead of leaving it to. waste its strength in loose, desultory, and uneon- - fleeted exertions, or to cause to Its own objects, unguided, ,,unassisted, and uncontrolled, . "8. To collect and organize the peaceful-expression of the Public Opinion, so as ita bring it to act upon the Legislative functions in Oust, legal; and effectual way,

"9. To Influence, by every legal means, the elections of Members of Parliament, agaisaA, to promote the return of upright and capable representatives of the people.

"10. To adopt such measures as may he legal and necessary for the purpose oirob,! taming an effectual Parliamentary investigation into the situation of the conntmandt Into the cause of its embarrassments and difficulties ; with the view of rellevingtbee National Distress, of rendering justice to the injured as far as practicable, and of bringing- , to trial any Members of either Rouse of Parliament, who may he found to have acted ' from criminal or corrupt motives."

In conclusion, Mr. Attwood begged to say, that he looked upon the country as on the verge of a convulaion ; and he was willing- to lead them "through the dark and dreary scenes that were approaching," as far as law would warrant him in• doing so—net one inch farther; (The whole of Mr. Attwood's speech was most favourably received.) Mr. JosEPH PA.RKEs could not agree with the sweeping language of the requisition. He thought that the mismanagement of public affairs had been exaggerated, and the Duke of Wellington's services to the country thrown too much out of view. The Catholic Relief Bill entitled him to the gratitude of the country. (Here the disapprobation of the meeting manifested itself in yells • and Mr. ATTWOOD remarked, that the services to which Mr. Parkes a,Iludecl, were trifles: the country wanted, not religion and priests, but beer, bread, and meat.) Mr.. PAaxxs resumed. The currency, hi its present state, had been pointed. out as the paramount cause of the suffering, but he looked upon the: Bank Restriction Act of 1797 as at the bottom of the present commer- cial distress. Was it a recurrence to that system Which was desired?' If so, he would oppose it. Mr. Peel's Bill might perhaps have been somewhat hastily enforced, and it might require the reconsideration off- the Legislature; but the evils which it had brought or might bring with it, were trifling when compared with the evils which it had superseded. As to reform, he was most willing to promote it, but he objectedle the scheme of a Club. Political Clubs, with the exception of the Catholic Association, had always proved ineffective. A spirit of dissension had always found its way into them, and Government had always contrived to cripple their energies. He thought the -press and public ,meetings. and petitions would prove efficient to procure Parliamentary reform;, and therefore he begged to propose the following; amendment.

"flat the great and increasing distress of the commerce and agricultural interests Of country demands the urgent and paramount attention of the Government and Lees- hiture, and every possible economy and retrenchment in the national expendithre, eon-. sistent with the preservation of national faith to the public creditor.

"That the population, intelligence, and opulence of the town,ok ham, an& the spirit of the British Constitution, entitle BirminghamIri'tert*Ntoriniea Parliament.

"That the operation Of time coa the constitution and purftxPitiliV,P*TK4ifiti84101;, and the only cure for such distress was Parliamentary reform. He had for his own part always been a friend to reform,—although, cer- thelowerand mddle cla,sses as he begged now to propose. e brought to the verge of ruin. Parliamentary hope. The most effective means were such a olif reform was tleiarmononly or Parliament requires reform in the amendment et the reprenebtation of the people-4 to equalize and simplify the elective frnhehise—td make the body of elect:1111 t0 ,th° lar for individual corruption, and the period of choice too short for temptation ; and by the subdivision of the places of election, to bring the electors together without confu- sion, and within every man's reach. 4"r ha t Petitions, embodying these Resolutions, be signed by this Meeting, and pre- sented to both Houses of Parliament."

Mr. W. REDFERN rose to second the amendment, and again to warn the Meeting against the ulterior designs of the framers of the original resolutions. Why did Mr. Attwood prose so much about the currency ? Let there be retrenchment in every department. Let not the hard earnings of the peasant be wrung from him, to pamper the aristocratical hangers-on of Government. Let such a petition be prepared, said the speaker," and I will sign it with both my hands." As to the national debt, it was contracted for the national detente. We must fulfil our contracts. The value of money, it may be said, has been raised. Granted; but the knowledge of this is no new matter: when the contracts were entered upon, it was understood that cash payments Would be resumed. (Here the Meeting refused to listen any longer to the speaker.) Mr. ATTWOOD begged to say, that the union which he had proposed would not be a political club, in the common acceptation of that term : most certainly not like any Whig club. The Whigs had always been a club—had always prated about liberty, and done nothing towards its advancement. He was a Tory, and it was for a union of the whole people of England that he contended. He did not mean to attack the fundholder. Many of the leading Landholders agreed with him in opi- nion about the effects of the late Currency Bill. Withont a change in that bill, he believed that the property of the fundholder would soon cease to be worth a rush. There was not in the bowels of the earth money enough to pay off the national debt.

He would make one other remark, to show that he was no enemy to the fundholder. Consols had riseh from 60 to 93; while the rent of land had• been reduced from 63 to 30. During the war, the two interests were upon a footing of equality. Now one was three times larger than the other. In addition to this, the landholder had his land subject to settlement, mortgages, and incumbmnces, which, when reduced from sixty-five to thirty, reduced It still further to fifteen. Thus it would be seen, that what with the land- holder was sixty was now only fifteen ; while the fundholder was risen from sixty to ninety. This was what he called turning the country top-heavy. It was taking the flesh from round the legs of John Bull, to wrap round his head. With regard to maintaining faith with the public creditor, he knew an inte- rested party in the House of Commons were in the habit of talking of the Act of Parliament—the bond by which the country was bound to pay ih a metallic currency. He did not believe this bond existed; but if it did, let them have the forfeit of the bond. Let them take it from nearest the heart of the country; but if, in so doing, they took one drop of Christian blood, let their goods be forfeited to the State of Venice. (Cheers.) After remarks illustrative of Mr. ATTWOOD'S views had been made by other gentlemen, his measure was carried by an immense majority, and the meeting separated. All accounts agree that no political meeting ever created such intense interest in that quarter of the country.