ABSTRACT
On Monday, the 25th of July, the delegates assembled at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, according to appointment, about eleven o'clock, and, proceeding thence in a body to Downing Street, were immediately introduced to Sir Robert Peel. About one hundred and fifty delegates were present, and a select number, it was arranged* should consecutively lay before the Premier the melancholy state of different districts of the country, and the objects and wishes of the delegation at large. P. A. Taylor, Esq., handed to Sir Robert Peel the following list of the gentlemen who were to address him:—P. A. Taylor, Esq., Mr. Ridgway, from the Potteries; John Brooks, Esq., Manchester ; W. Ibbotson, Esq., Sheffield; the Rev. W. Bonner, of Bilston; Laurence Hey worth, Esq., of Liverpool; Saml. Forster, Esq., of Stockport; Edmund Grundy. Esq., of Bury ; Mr. Whitehead, of Leeds ; and the Rev. W. Lowe, of Forfar. The scene was a deeply impressive one. and must have been remembered by the minister till his dying day The countenance of every member of the delegation bore indications of grave determination, tempered with the expression which arose from the reflection, that if that appeal was unsuccessful, millions were condemned to unparalleled suffering. The condition of the country was honestly, manfully, declared. The report, which I cannot
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refrain from giving in full, should be read with an imagination of the deep solemnity of the occasion, and the earnest tones of the speakers, of the tears running down the benevolent face of John Brooks, and his broken utterance when he pictured the dying looks of the weavers of Manchester, and his sudden energy when he asked what government was for, if it did not relieve them ; and of Mr. Lowe's stern prophet-like and almost inspired denunciation of those who withheld corn from the people.
