The Sun.
London, England, 1826-08-19 00:00:00

MANCHESTER, THURSDAY, Atm. 11.
A meeting of, the lay-payers having been convened by
public advertisement, to be held in the Manor-Court-Room,
the inhabitants crowded around it at an early hour, and at
eleven o'clock, when the doors were opened, the room was
immediately filled with .a multitude, which could not be
less than 2,000 in number.

a gOeilittltehmeainn,odtiisotrii
nOgfuiMshre.dDabvyidthleiorlet,aphefert„
his fellow-townsmen, took
Eanddwaerdonßfiadzatencre.
Which are felt towards him by
the chair. He relied upon their kind indulgence, whittle
endeavoured to fulfil this important duty. The custom,
until now, had been to have the meetings . of the town
convened by the constituted authorities. But it was con-
sidered by the committee, appointed by the general body
of the requisitionists that the boroughreeves and eon-
stables were persons not chosen by the people, but by the
Steward to the Lord of the Manor, and that, if the
committee had felt disposed to consult them, it: was
quite certain that they would not have complied
.with
the requisition. It was considered, then, that this which
was the second town in the country, in respect of . its
wealth, its extensive commerce, and its numbers, was most
improperly kept down from its proper station, through
the conduct of its local authorities, who had, on a very re-
cent occasion, refused to call them together,_ to deliberate
upon a,Subject which had excited the whole country, and
which Could have no connexion with its politics, generally
—being that of slavery in the West Indies. The, requi-
sitionists waited for some time, for the merchants to call
on the 'public authorities to hold a meeting; and, at
length, they deteimined to be no ,longer silent speetitors
of the ruin and misery whiCh were spreading all around
them. After this the Committee met; and in conse-
quence of their deliberations, it, was now, to be proposed to
the meeting to make a representation of the condition of
the people of the town and the district to the King„ and
to pray' him to call the Parliament together to ,divise
means for mitigating those miseries which were now, ex-
citing the industriously disposed population of Lancashire,
to Uproar, while most of them were without any thing like
a sufficiency of the means of thousands of
theth were dying,for want,—and- while others were barely
kept alive by the scanty means of charity. He would now
read the requisition, and afterwards he would be glad to
hear the sentiments of those who might chooSe to speak,
begging, them, however, to confine themselvei, for the
sake of convenience, (and not to'. waste the time of the
meeting,) as strictly as possible to the subject of the row-
lutions.

rustic NEITTNG ON Tint CORN LAWS AND TAXATION.
A requisition, signed by P 4 respectable laypayers, having been pre.
sented to the churchwardens, requesting them to cult a meeting, to take
into consideration the propriety cf addressing the'Hipg, praying him to
convene. Parliament, - for the purpose of revising the .Corn laws, and of
vitiating every possible reduction in the. national expenditure; and for
the adoption of such other measures as may he deemed necessary to alle-
viate the unparalleled sufThring which now presses on the country, and
which cannot. continue to Its present extent, without producing most
dnaadild consequences ; and they having refused to call the meeting, and
it being considered, from long experience, that an applieation to the ba.
roughreeve and constables for a public meeting would be useless, parti.
cularly after their conduct-relative to the requisition presented to them
on the subject of shivery,--we, the undersigned, respectfully call a meet.
lag of the laypayers of the town for the above purpose; to be held at
eleven o'clock In the Parenoon, in the Manor Court Room, iliell.street.
on Thursday next, the 17th inst.
John Potter, :Samuel Winks,
Matthew Headley, Hobert H. Greg.'
Jog. Lees, William Croft,
Edward Baxter,: Richard Potter,
Thomas Burgers, H. IL 'Hargreaves,
J. Shuttleworth, James G. Frost,
James Simpson, James Bayley,
John .lIPCJure„ Wm. Harvey,
J. S. Jones, H. Henson,

John Roberts,
It. W. Rothwell,
J. P. Cub emelt.
hamuel Pope,
J. Wood,
G. Culverwell,
Archibald Prentire.
'Hamlet Pulleine.

Mr. RICHARD POITICR felt that no justification was necessary
as to the steps taken to bring about this meeting. Surely, if ever
there was a period in the history of any country, when all men
were called upon to come forward for its immediate rescue, and to
examine iota the causes of the general embarrassments and •afflic-
tions, it was this, in which a highly 'moral and powerful nation,
possessing superabundant skill, capital, and industry, was found
in a state more depressed than any other country in the world,
Ireland not excepted. The resolution which he was about to pro-
I pose for their adoption was this--

Ist. That this town, and the great manufacturing districts of which it
is the centre and the mart, are snaring. at the present moment, under
the pressure of distress, which is wholly utievampled in its extent and
duration ; which has already brought to insolvency and ruin, great
numbers of manufacturers and dealers, and merchants, whose honest
acquisition,* appeared to have placed diem beyond the reach of embar-
rassment ; which Is daily .augluenting the difficulties of those whom at
t
grading them tato miserabledeperident* on the scanty pittance furnished
itihat!unsaotridYseout'iririthilearililidedin'dtishtir‘iohulsisttludnerier odds. tolifealan bo"unrilunrelassentezana, dney.
by the sioor.rates, and by cluttiLuble rebeti which is continually adding
to the number or those who are to dependent l which is, at the same
time, gradually forcing down into the ranks of. the necessitous, many
of thtt maims by whom. those rates have been paid and that relief ha*
been given; and which is thus threatening to involve in all the horrors
of starvation, this most thickly peopled portion of the three kingdoms.
Fur a number of years past they had been subject to the greatest
fluctuations in their commeree. At out, time they found them-
selves prosperous and happy. Suddenly a storm arose, which had
carried confusion and dismay in its career, and was still desolating
the country. Different causes had been assigned for this
visitation and its terrific 'consequences. it was because -a titt
transition from war to peace, according to one party ; was last
year's overtrading, according to another account; it 'woe .ruinous
speculation ; it was paper money in excess ; and, 11-'4long all these,
one great cause hat: been entirely lost sight ot; upon which they
would now be able to express their 'suited °lnstitut—lit; meant over
taxation.--(Loud and vehement cheers).—Es suhjeet ,of equally
great consideration, which would be offered to their at-
tention by another gentleman, was that of the Corn
Lews. Ile would join his voice its awakening their attention
to that all-important subject. He contended that 'lse exactions
of Government must be seriously reduced, its their amount, or that
England must sink finally in. the scale of nations. ' He had the
authority of the greatetst names to support him ism that assertion.
In the month of May Earl Grey had said in the House of Peers
--" Whets In the eleventh year of peace he, found the country in
a awe a deep dieresis, occasioned by tlye pressure and exposers
Of si war which he had ever rondennse4, he fit that nothing ef-
fectual could be done for the people, unless Government took the
matter seriously' in hand—unless Ministers evinced a feeling to
probe to the bottom promptly and decidedly the cause which
had produced so much 60 ; and having done so, applied them-
selves with equal promptitude to the adoption of those gene-
ral reforms 'which were absolutely necessary to restore time .country
to a healthful and prosperdua state. If this were not stone, these
distresses would collie on from time to time, in an aggrevatek fords
and would ultimately' produce such a convulsion, as Ise hyped the
country might recover from hereafter, but which the primmest gene-
ration could not pass through, without experienciorg a degree of
suffering which he was not prepared to express ,or, describe."
Such. were the word. of one of the greatest men in the State. In
the spring of 1822, when the House of Commute was addressed
by that very eminent statesman, Mr. Broughton, upon the state of
the nation, he concluded with a declaration, that the only hope of
salvation for the country lay in a formidable reduction of its pecu-
niary burdens. Fortified by these authorities, he would now proceed
to affirms, that Minister., in their late measures, had either gone too
far, or not fur enough, and that free trade, cheap corn, and low
taxation ought to be simultaneous in effect, and synotty-
mous in their general understanding..--(Loud cheers.)-,—He, in
common with their worthy chairman, was one of the Committee
for the distribution of funds. They had, in that capacity, been re-
t the
Frequentlyafemily
huddlede Y' en-
littiel:reierde '
ite tV
dot Vii egi licould
ual rb:yel serifs loos of
"tt vh i d ee tie
(11,1ellatteaintuidltelea'fo.ofundwhthle wretchedness
around a few miserable embers. Inquiring what furniture they
lied, the answer would be " None but what you tee." What they
sew
warswe was, seats
lek
ateeolnpwo
stuffed
would ask " what food have you?"
" none, nor any mean by which
composed
el of
e'v loose
hig s. pilesi .)" of
uibereriektske, mirul in fur
uiFi ges, bed
they a
But that the details would be too sickening, they, (the Committee)
could, each of them, we ran hope
g ehope 'ansttveerectwvoiruelditl.t

si a tale unfo,ludiliady.haveLento
own
" Whose lightest words would lturuw up the soul,"
Still, great as was the distress here, it woe light in comparison
with that which raged in other parts. Mr. f.,tio, toil Pollard,
who was here present last Friday, W4ts at Burnley, which eok,..
taiued 11,000 persons, of whom it WaS fully ascertained that
8,000 were wholly destitute. 'That gentleman learned from au-
thority which eould not be doubted, that there were now iu the
Various piste. around Pertille-hill 80,000 persOUS, comprised in
about 20,00 femilies, in it itate of the most frightful distress,
11:ebetu. ,s,of
juuigigriyit:;l
ittlytior,nottr,nritft,
dautirdinweituthi: pros-
,il,o.eagreit,:eo,tav tanricietlatevrp, egii:satiltufatentexabt
alutholiettritohonr.egasivtLe,estshtert:higull,aing:diefttrobuerm:
the Impulse of WO.. to draw sustenance from those sourcea which
to themselves,* father surrounded by his offspring, crying witk
aupPuiali for the food which he lead