of property is very considerable. In consequence of the distressed state of trade a reduction of wages is taking place almost unparalleled, and I fear must go on till the manufacturing population in the cotton districts are reduced to a condition from which they can never recover themselves. Gentlemen, is this a state of things that ought to exist? I am sure you will all say, no. I thought it my duty to come here and make these statements. I wish the country to know, I wish Sir Robert Peel to know, I wish her Majesty's ministers to know, that the inhabitants of our borough have endured their unparalleled distress with unparalleled patience. There is, however, a point beyond which human endurance cannot go; and unless some means are taken to relieve the distress of the poor of Stockport, I wish the country to know, I wish Sir Robert Peel to know, I wish the government to know, that I cannot, and will not, be responsible for the consequences which may follow from the present state of things."
Such was the nature of the details given at the conference, in successive meetings for a fortnight or more, copied into the London newspapers, and, with reports of speeches well adapted to rouse the country, read with deep interest in every one of the associations connected with the League, stirring them up to increased activity.
At the meeting last mentioned, a deputation had been appointed to wait on the Duke of Sussex, to request him to present the memorial to the Queen. In the evening, Mr. Bright reported that the deputation had been received by his royal highness with the utmost cordiality and friendliness. He appeared to think that everything wrong was not to be attributed to the Corn Laws, although they were the occasion of a great deal of evil, and he himself had always been strenuously opposed to them. His royal highness appeared to be exceedingly well informed on the subject, and it was evident he kept well up with the newspapers. He said he would do everything to further their object, and, if they wished it, would find a way of presenting a memorial to the Queen; but she could not give them a reply, as she could not constitutionally do acts of sovereignty but through the agency of her ministers. His royal highness expressed great commisseration,
