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REFUTATION

OF THE

ARGUMENTS

USED ON THE

SUBJECT OF THE AGRICULTURAL PETITION.

ORIGINAL.

LONDON:

VOL. XIV.

Pam.

NO. XXVII.

A

AN

ADDRESS,

&c. &c.

HAD I the honor of possessing a seat in the British Senate, when the subject of the Agricultural Petition is brought under consideration, I should thus deliver my sentiments.

The zeal, with which a considerable number of agriculturists of the united kingdom are at this moment urging their claims to our protection, and the daily extension of that zeal, together with the absolute magnitude of the question itself, have induced me to afford the subject considerable attention; not that I think the warmth with which claims are urged by the party interested in the issue of those claims, is any proof whatever of their justice, although sometimes it may entitle them to a patient hearing-there is frequently displayed an enthusiasm in the prosecution of fancied rights, which is unknown to the cool argumentative vindication of those that are real.

Hitherto I have been a silent spectator of the conflict of opinion, with which our periodical publications have been filled, and the conversations of social life have been engrossed; and have listened alike to the sanguine expectations of some, and the gloomy despondency of others; during which I have often witnessed, with surprise, the plasticity of the human mind when about to receive favorable impressions, and have, as often, been struck with the sturdy inflexibility it presents, when pressed under the greatest load of unpalatable evidence. As I feel no personal interest in the determination of the question, more than that which belongs to me as a member of the country, and as one deeply concerned in its well-government and prosperity, so I hope that a few observations, intended to correct some hasty mis-statements, and explain

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