community of this borough is mainly indebted to the great exertions of Mr. Thomas Potter, and of which, as a testimony to his well-merited pre-eminence, he was elected the first mayor.
"In 1830 commenced the great struggle for parliamentary reform, which ended in the passing of that great, but as experience has proved, still defective measure—so much has corruption done the work of bad government—the Reform Bill. Previously to that agitation, Mr. Thomas Potter had always said, 'I will do Richard's work, while he works for the public;' but the agitation was for a great object, to put down the rotten-borough system, under which the people had only a shadow of representation, and to make way for those great practical reforms that were required to secure the civil, religious, and commercial liberties of the country; and Mr. Potter threw himself into the movement with an energy, the inspiring effects of which were felt not only in his own locality, but throughout the kingdom. From that time forward, in the absence of his brother Richard, who had become the member for Wigan, there was not a single movement in Manchester, for general or local reform, for the promotion of education, for the relief of the poor, or for the improved administration of the town's affairs, in which Mr. Potter did not stand in the first rank, aiding with his always-open purse, but ore by his characteristic energy, we may almost say impetuosity, of character, which saw no obstacles, and permitted none to be seen, to the fulfilment of any really good object, and which communicated itself to all with whom he had to act, stimulating the faint-hearted to hope, and rousing the phlegmatic to exertion.
"The reform of the ancient municipal corporations having followed the amendment of national representation, Mr. Potter, along with Mr. Cobden, Mr. William Nield, and other friends of popularly constituted local government, applied for a charter of incorporation, in which the right of voting should extend to all resident householders actually paying rates. A fierce opposition was organised, but it was defeated, and the charter was obtained. Long litigation followed, and the rates necessary to carry on the business of the corporation were refused, in the hope that the want of funds might break it down. But the opponents of popular institutions had under calculated the effect of that determined purpose which Thomas Potter could infuse into a public body. A guarantee fund of more than 30,000 was instantly subscribed, and the corporation ultimately triumphed over all opposition. As the leader amongst our reformers he was chosen the first mayor of the borough, and his discharge of its then very arduous and responsible duties was so admirable, as to secure his unanimous re-election to a second term of office.
"Sir Thomas, from the time of the imposition of the Corn Law in