John Shuttleworth and John Edward Taylor could sell their cotton to men who could not buy it cheaper elsewhere. In like manner, Thomas and Richard Potter could sell their fustians, Joseph Brotherton and William Harvey their yarns, Baxter his ginghams and shirtings, and I my fine Glasgow muslins. And yet our position was uncomfortable. We were safe ourselves, but every day brought us report of wrong and outrage done to our humble fellow countrymen - wrong and outrage which we felt could not fully redress. We thought, in our own cheerful homes, of the poor men in prison for alleged political offences - the main offence being that they, like ourselves, were of opinion that our representative system was susceptible of amendment. The whole aspect of society was unfavourable. The rich seemed banded together to deny the possession of political rights; and the poor seemed to be banding themselves together in an implacable hatred to their employers, who were regarded as their oppressors.

Attended the public meeting on the rejection of the Reform Bill. It began at eleven o'clock in the Riding School but was immediately adjourned to Camp Field. There were between 80,000 and 100,000 people present at the height of the demonstration. Thomas Potter was persuaded to take the chair. He climbed on to the cart with Archibald Prentice, John Shuttleworth and Mark Philips. Our leaders battled with the crowd until four in the afternoon and all that time did we stand on our wagon, squeezed, elbowed, threatened and in danger, in the midst of a furious mob. At last, after protesting against it, Thomas Potter was compelled to put a mangled version of our address praying for annual Parliaments, universal suffrage and vote by ballot and we left the ground, tired, baffled and exhausted but congratulating ourselves upon having escaped personal violence and avoided endangering the peace of the town.