The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-07 00:00:00

The Right of the People to Meet in the Parks,

Edmond Beales, Esq,

ALFR,BI) AMIN; Secy,

Mr. R. Hartwell.

Under these circumstances, sir, the object of the deputa-
tion was to obtain from you a clear and distinct reply to the
following questions.

1. Whether you, as First Commissioner of her Majesty's
'Works, &c., claim the right or power of preventing, with
the aid of the police, the holding of a meeting by the people,
on Primrose-hill, or in any of the parks, in exercise of
their constitutional right to meet for the peaceable discus-
sion of public grievances and other similar matters.
2. If you claim such right or power, then, upon what
grounds, under what Act of Parliament, or by what con-
strustion of law, you claim such right or power, either on
the part of yourself or of the Commissioners of Police P
I am requested, therefore, to ask you still to appoint &
day and hour for receiving the deputation on the subject,
unless you prefer answering the above questions in writing.
—I am, &c.,
ROBERT HARTWELL,
Hon. Sec. of Working. men's Garibaldi Committee.
To the Right lion. the First Commisssioner
of her Majesty's Works, &c.

Office of Works, &0., S.W., May 3,
Sir,—l am directed by the First Commissioner of her
Majesty's Works, &c., to aoknowledge the receipt of your
letter of yesterday's date, in which you inform him that a
deputation of the sub-committee of the City and Working-
men's Garibaldi Committees desire an interview in order to
ask him certain questions relating to the rights and powers
of his office, and as to Acts of Parliament or instructions of
law on which those rights and powers are founded ; and I
am to state, in reply, that with all deference for the opinions
of the sub-committee, the First Commissioner of 'Works
cannot admit that it would be proper or expedient for him
to enter into discussion with that or any other deputations
upon the legal questions referred to.—l am, sir, your
obedient servant,

ALFRED AUSTIN, Secretary,

Mr. R. Hartwell.

Serious Accident to the Fire Brigade,-
Shocking Death from Fright,

f 0 Yesterday morning, shortly after midnight, a fire occurred
at Norton-folgate, Bishopsgate-street, which nearly proved
fatal to several of the Piro Brigade. It originated from
some unknown cause on the premises, No. 11, occupied as
a beer shop, by Mr. J. Parr, a three-storey building. On
the alarm being raised the fire was found to be raging at the
back, and was making rapid progress up the staircase to
the upper rooms. As soon as the information reached the
Brigade Station in Bishopsgate-street, the fact was tele-
graphed to Capt. Shaw, who called out all the engines from
some half-dozen stations for service. By the time the
earlier force reached the spot the fire had possession of the
whole of the back portion of the premises from the base-
ment to the roof, and there seemed little probability of any
part being saved. The firemen led their hose into the
burning premises and followed the fire up. Having scoured
it out from the basement they went up the staircase, and
eventually into all the rooms in the house, and succeeded
by those measures in getting the fire subdued,
Captain Shaw, Mr Bridges, and several other officers
and men (about 12 in number), also some of " the duke's"
amateur firemen, were in various parts of the premises ex-
tinguishing the remaining burning embers, when all of a
sudden a loud cracking Was heard, and the next instant the
whole of the back of the house fell with a heavy crash,
burying several of the men. Some escaped from the fron t
windows by a fire escape, which was placed against the
front of the house. Captain Shaw, Mr Bridges, and four or
five others who were is the shop, were partly covered in
dust, but sustained no injury, Two or three of the men
who were in the upper floors fell with them to the bottom,
and it was almost a miracle they were not killed. One
officer named Pliny, attached to Whitecross_street, was
Some of the adjoining houses
buried underneath the ruins for nearly half an hour before
ho could be extricated, but was found not to be so much
injured as it first feared.
sustained a great deal of damage—that of Mr W. Barker,
greengrocer, has the side wall and roof severely burnt, and
several houses in Cock-alley have their windows partly de-
stroyed.

About an hour after the) above outbreak another fire
broke out at No. 2, Castle-court, Lower Nhitecross•.strcet,
belonging to Mr Bray, let out in tenements. Each floor was
occupied by a family, and the excitement and terror among
the poor creatures when the place underneath them was
found to be on fire was very pitiful. However, through the
prompt attendance of the fire escapes all the people were
saved. Everything they possessed was destroyed, for the
flames extended throughout every room in the house, and
subsequently part of the premises fell in. One poor crea-
ture, a young married woman, living with her husband and
two young children in adjoining house, died from fright at
the outbreak of the fire. She was in bed at the time, and
was awoke by the cries in the next house. Seeing the
games issuing from the window, she gave a scream, end fell
back dead.

A third fire broke out about 4 o'clock in Queen's-square-
yard, Westminster, at some stabling of Mr Young, which
was burned down, and 80,210 damage was done to the fittings
and staircase of St, Peter's Chapel adjoining.

We are requested to publish the following corre
spondence:—

4, Stone-buildings, Lincoln's-inn, April 23.
Sir,—As I was addressing this afternoon on Primrose-
hill a perfectly quiet and orderly meeting on the subject of
General Garibaldi's departure, an inspector of police—whose
name, I was informed, is Stokes—accompanied with several
other policemen, interfered, and insisted upon my desisting
from further addressing the persons assembled. I desisted
immediately, in order to avoid creating a disturbance, how-
ever much I might consider the interference wholly un-
called for and illegal.

As I mast presume this inspector to have acted under
your orders or with your sanction, I write to ask under
what Act of Parliament, or by what construction of law,
this interference, with what seems to me to be a clear con-
stitutional right, is considered to be justified.—l am, sir,
your obedient servant, EDXOND BEALES.
Sir R. Mayne, K,C.B.

P.S.—I should add that I, some short time since, ad.
dressed a much larger meeting on Blackheath with the sane•
tion and in the presence of the police in that district.

4, Whitehall-place, April 26.
Sir,—l have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of
the 23d inst., and as Sir George Grey's statement in reply
to a question by Mr. Harvey Lewis in the House of Com-
mons yesterday evening gives an explanation with respect
to the conduct of the police on the occasion, I beg to refer
you to the report in the newspapers of this day, which is,
I believe, quite accurate.—l am, sir, your obedient servant,
RICHARD MAYNE.

The explanation of Sir G. Grey in the House of
Commons, to which Sir Richard Mayne referred
Mr. Beales, being unsatisfactory on the points re-
ferred to in Mr. Beales's letter, a deputation from
the Garibaldi Committees waited on the Home Se-
cretary on Wednesday, the 27th of April, Sir
Richard Mayne being also present. A full report
of what then passed has already appeared, and the
result being only a reference of the deputation to
Mr. Cowper, the First Commissioner of her Ma-
jesty's Works, the following correspondence has
taken place with that gentleman.
"10, Bolt-ceurt, Fleet-street, April 28.
have been instructed by the sub-committee of the
City and Working-men's Garibaldi Committees to inform
yon that they intend holding the adjourned public meeting
on the subject of Garibaldi's departure on Saturday evening
the 7th of May, on Primrose• hill, and to ascertain whether
you intend to interfere with such meeting., The sub-com-
mittee, or a deputation therefrom, will wait upon you at 2
o'clock to-morrow (Friday), upon the subject, unless in the
meantime you send a reply by letter.—l am, sir, yours re-
spectfully, ROBERT HARTWELL,
Hon. Sec. Working-men's Garibaldi Committee.
Hon. W. Cowper, M,P.

Office of Works, &c., S,W., April 29.
Sir,--In reply to your letter of yesterday's date, stating
that the sub-committee of the City and Working-men's
Garibaldi Committees desire to hold a public mewing on
the subject of Garibaldi's departure from England on
Primrose-hill on Saturday, 7th May, lam directed by the
First Commissioner of her Majesty's Works, &c., to say
that the sub-committee have his full permission to hold such
meeting, believing, as he does, that there is no reason for
apprehending that the meeting will lead to any disturbance
of the peace, or to any obstruction or interference with the
purposes of recreation for which Primrose hill has been
appropriated.

I have also to inform you that a notification of this per-
mission has been made to the Commissioners of Police.--I
am, sir, your obedient servant,

10, Bolt-court, Fleet-street, April 30.
Sir,—l am directed by the sub-committee of the City
and Working-men's Garibaldi Committees to acknowledge
your letter of yesterday's date, giving full permission for the
holding of the proposed meeting on Primrose hill on Satur-
day next, on the subject of General Garibaldi's departure,
from England, and to state that the obtaining such permis-
sion was not the object with which I addressed my first note
to you, or for which the deputation referred to in that note
proposed to wait on you.
That deputation requested an interview with you under
the following circumstances, in reference to a question of
constitutional right and great public interest.
Sir George Grey, the Home Secretary, having intimated
to the deputation, when it waited upon him, that the police,
in dispersing the former meeting last Saturday, had acted
under no orders given either by himself or Sir R. Mayne,
and that he regretted the meeting had not been allowed to
proceed, the necessary conclusion appeared to be that no
future meeting of a similar description, in a similar locality,
would be interfered with ; but upon Mr Betties asking Sir
G. Grey if such was the case, the reply was to the effect
that the police would have Dower to stop any crinh mooting
unless your =sent to its being held had been previously
obtained.