The Sun.
London, England, 1840-06-27 00:00:00

FASHIONABLE INTELLIGENCE.

ARRIVALS.
Sir Thomas Raikes Thompson, Bart., at the Burlington
Rotel; the Hon. Mrs. Vanneck, at ditto ; Sir Charles
Grey, at the Clarendon Hotel ; Captain Baithe Hamilton,
!1.P., at the Ptftcney Hotel; the Countess of Porcrnore ;
Mr. Arthur Wellesley Piet ; Mr. Robert Peel; Lori+
Burlington and the Ladies Cavendish • Sir Walter and
Lady Mary Farquhar and family; S'r John and Lady Ed-
wards, at Flaslong's Hotel ; Sir Clifford and Lady Con-
stable, and Miss Chichester; Lord Ipswich, at Lord Eus-
t9ll's ; Lady Sandon and family.
DEPAItTURES.
ti.cr. and Lady Caroline Hales Calcraft, for Kempstonc
Hall, Dorset; Sir William Ingilby, Bart., on a Continen. '
tal tour; Mr. and Mrs. Verschoyle, for ditto; the Hon.
and Mrs. John Boyle, for Brighton; Lady Oimonde and
the Ladies Butler, for Tunbridge Well-; the Dowager
Lady Croft, for Mortimer Vicarage; Mr. and the Hon.
Mrs. Nicolson Calvert, for Hunsd-on House, lle,ts; Col.
M'Adam, for Brighton ; Sir Keith Ball, on a tour ; Lady
Mint() and family, for Putney Heath ; Mr. M.lbourne
TYute ; Sir Montagu and Lady Georgiana Cholmeley,
from tho Burlington Hotcl, on a Continental tour; Mr.
'IQ Mrs. Hope Johnstone, from ditto ; Colonel Fulke
(Greville, from ditto, for Portsmouth ; Sir James and Lady
Alexander, for Kent ; Sir Geo•ge Talbot, Bart., and Miss
Talbot, for Tunbridge Wells; the 11)n. Captain and Mrs.
Frederick Spencer and family, for Br;ghton ; the Earl of
anfurly, for ditto; Lord and Lady Dillon, fur ditto;
Captain Miekelwaite, for ditto ; the Ba:oress Ilombzrg.
-for Kent ; General Wodehowe and family, for Ila tings ;
Captain Cole, 11th Lancers, for Dublin ; the Rev. Syd
na'Y Smith ; Mr Neld, en a cruise in the Alarm y:cht;
thie Hun. Mrs. Leeson, for Leamii,gton Sic ; Col. Litch-
field, for ditto.

SINGULAR DROWNING.-011 Friday afttrnoon
att I,:quest was taken before Mr. Payn-, at the White Horse,
Moor-;:me, Cripplegate, on the body of Markham Homer, aged
three yeao, who was drowned in a water-jug. A witness
found the head of the child inside the jug, and which was so
faA fixed that slis was obliged to lift the jug up before she was
Able to extricate it, The child was quite dead, but they put it
in a warm bath and sent fur a doctor. CI he witness here, in
answer to the jury, stated that there was a piece out of the jug
at the top, into which the child had placed its bead, and also
stated that it teat; so narrow at the top that the child could nut
get its head back ; the jug was full of water.) The mother of
the deceased said that she went to look for her child to put it to
Led. She found it in the wash-hone, when she (tied to take
it out of the jug. As she was not able she cane-,!fur assistance.
She was not aware that he was dead. Verdict—" Accidental
death."

POLITICAL PUNISHMENT.

PETITION OF WILLIAM PROWTING
ROBERTS.

The humble Petition of William Prowting Roberts
lately of Bath, Gentleman,

Showeth—That on the i Ith day of March last, at
the Assize at Salisbury, he was convicted, in conjunc-
tion with Messrs. Potts and Carrier, on a charge of
conspiracy, and of having attended public meetings at
and near 'Trowbridge, and was sentenced to two years'
imprisonment in Fisherton gaol, and, on the expiration
of that time, to find sureties for his good behaviour.
That your petitioner has been a z:alous advocate of
the principles contained in the People's Charter, and
he assures your Hocourable Hcuse that, during the
whole of his advocacy of that Bill, he has uniform'y
recommended the observance of peace, law, and order ;
and he submits, that the three or four unguarded and
improper expressions sworn against him at his trial are
not inconsistent with this assertion.

That the meetings proved at the trial all occurred in
September and the following months in 1838, and Ja-
nuary and April 1839, and that he was not indicted for
them till the last day but one of the July Assizes 1839 ;
when, as he had thus but a few hours' notice of the
charges, he traversed to the last Spring Assizes.
That the wife and child of your petitioner remained
in Salisbury three days after the trial, and that re-
peated applications were made for them to be allowed to
see your petitioner, and that such applications were re-
fused by the Governor as contrary to the rules, which
admit of no interview until after six months' imprison-
ment.

That soon afterwards your petitioner was required to
give up his money, papers, knife, and everything else he
had about him, to wear the prison dress, and to have his
hair cropped after the fashion of felons, to all which he
made no resistance. But he is informed that his hair
was not cropped so close as is customary with felons,
and that his dress also varies from theirs ; the latter
being a mixture of grey, red, and yellow, while his, like
those of misdemeants, is of one colour, black.
That your petitioner believes that the cotnpul)ion to
have the hair cropped, and to wear the prison dress, are
solely for the purpose of degrading the prisoner in his
own eyes and with the public.
That to the same cause your petitioner attributes the
denial of his great coat j but which, on the order of the
surgeon, was afterwards-granted him as necessary for his
health.

That to the same cause your p...titioner attributes
the fact that, at the general weekly shaving, it is a rule
that the whiskers, as well as the beards, of your peti-
tioner and the other convicts should be completely
shaved off.

That your petitioner, save as hereinafter mentioned,
is deprived of the privilege of writing.
That, about a fortnight after his imprisonment, the
visiting Magistrates, whose general kindness and cour-
tesy he now desires to acknowlcdge,gave your petitioner
permission to correspond once a week with his wife and
son on domestic affairs ; and that, on application to fir;
Secretary of State, he has also been allowed to corre-
spond with his agent on matters of business ; and be
has also no doubt but that this petition will be allowed
to reach your Honourable House.
That the above permission of the visiting Magistrates
was granted solely in consequence of your petitioner
being unwell ; and their opinion, as stated in their order,
that his illness arose from want of relaxation of mind.

That your petitioner's correspondence is subjected to
the surveillance of the Governor ; and that this is the
case with all prisoners before as well as after conviction.
That your petitioner is limited, as to food, to the
prison allowance, which, in ordinary cases, is bread,
and what is called gruel or skilly ; the former very good ;
of the latter he knows nothing, as he never has touched
it, and never will.

But your petitioner desires to state that, soon after
his imprisonment,_ the surgeon ordered him a bed to
seep upon, milk. morning and evening, and, subse-
quently, a dinner from the Governor's table, and wine ;
all of which, with an
.unimportant alteration, he has
had ever since. But then, also, your Honourable
House must understand that such order is in conec-
quence of you petitioner's illness, and that, on a rein-
slatement of his health; they will all be rem oted ; he
will be left to the bread and skil!y, and sleep on a
coarse sack filled with straw.

That your petitioner is not allowed to have his watch
or penknife, nor even to have a knife to cut his dinner
with, which, therefore, he cats after the manner of can-
nibals.

Your petitioner believes that the denial of a knife is
to prevent suicide, a crime which your petitioner has
givon no reason to suppose he will commit.
That your petitioner sleeps in a brick and stone cell,
on a narrow iron bedstead, and has no chamber furni-
ture ; and that in this, and all other respects, explained
as hereinbefore stated, he is treated as a convicted
felon, with the exception of being allowed to wear his
own linen.

That your petitioner is not allowed to see a news-
paper, and is confined to the silent system, speaking to
no one but. the Governor and the turnkeys, whose
strict practice it island as he is informed it is their duty)
to let him know nothing of what is passing beyond the
rriion walls.
That in the same gaol with your petitioner is William
Potts, convicted with him ; but that he and your peti-
tioner are never suffered to speak to or .see each other.
Even in going to chapel they enter by separate doors to
separate pews, screened from each other ; and, in going
out, lest they should give a nod of recognition, the one
is got into the yard before the other leaves his seat.
Your petitioner believes there is no parallel instance of
such a regulation.
That your petitioner is not allowed the use of book 3,
except those on religious subjects, and such as the chap-
lain approves of. That " Gibbon's Decline and
" Essays of Elia," and " Modern Egypt," have been
sent to your petitioner by his wife, but that he is not
permitted to have them, the chaplain not considering
them proper.
That your petitioner is not permitted to see his wife
or children, relations or friends ; and that though, as he
is informed, when he has endured three months longer,
he wil! be permitted to see them, yet it will bo under
such restrictions that he does not intend to avail himself
of the privilege.
His wife, in a dim half-lighted passage, will have to
stand on one side of an iron-grated door, while your pe-
titioner stands on the reverse side of another iron-grated
door, about six feet apart from each other, a turnkey
standing between them, to hear and control their cot:-
venation.

This sort of interview your petitioner, then uncon-
victed, submitted to about a twelvemonth ago ; and,
whatever may be his fate, he never desires to be pained
with another ; so that unless lie should become so ill
that his life would be considered in danger (in which
case he is induced to believe there might be some little-
relaxation), he will see no relation nor friend, and hear
of nothing, for the next twenty-one months.
That, as an instance of the exclusion of all intelligence,
your petitioner informs your Honourable House, that he
will not hear of the reception or rejection or other fate
of this petition, until the expiration of h:s sentence in
March, 1842.
That, though your petitioner humbly confides in the
Almighty that he may be spared such an affliction, yet
he respectfully submits to your Honourable House that
such treatment, continued for so long a period, is calcu-
lated to induce insanity or idiocy, or a state of mental
imbecility bordering upon them.
That the existence of your petitioner is, with the ex-
ception of the correspondence before stated, one entire
blank. He is rung to his cell at sunset, and rung up
in the. morning ; passing through the twenty-four hours
without the interchange of a single thought. Through-
out
the year, however cold the weather, he is to see
neither fire nor candle. And if your petitioner did
not conscientiously believe that society is fast progres-
sing towards a more Christian feeling, he should earnestly
pray for death to relieve him from his sufferings.
That your petitioner is desirous that this petition
should not only be strictly true, but that it should
convey no unjust or unfair impression against the
prison authorities; he therefore desires to state, that
at all times he has seen treated by. the Visiting Magis-
trates with great courtesy and humanity ; and also that
from the Governor he has experienced much kindness
and good feeling.
your petitioner is informed, that in his case, as in-

deed it seems to be in all others of a similar nature, the
harships complained of are beyond the control of any
ene, ani that no body in particular is to be blamed
for them.

That your petitioner has for some time been very
unwell ,and he trusts that this will,with your Honourable
House, be some excuse for any impatient or improper
txpres: ion that in this petition he may have made
use of. _ _ _

Your petitioner humbly submits this statement to
your Honourable House, and prays such relief as to
your Honourable House shall seem proper.

And your petitioner, as in duty bound, will ever
pray, &c.

W. P. ROBERTS.
Cell, Fisherton Gaol, Salisbury, June 13, 1840.

SOUTH-EASTERN RA ILWAY.—We stated last
week that much activity prevailed at the works of this railway
in the vicinity of Dover; and we learn that at Penshurst and
Leigh, in the neighbourhood of Tunbridge, they are also ra-
pidly progressing. The whole of the forfeited shares have, we
understand, passed into the hands of holders of the highest re-
spectability ; and the prosperity of the Ccmpany is shown by
their recent advance in the market ; while the recommendation
by the Admiralty Commission of Dorn- Bay as a Harbour of
Refuge will give additional stability to the undertaking.—Kent
Herald.'
A few weeks since the pious Churchwardens of
Titehfield, Hants, in their zealous efforts to promote the
sanctity of the Sabbath (or part of the Sabbath) summoned a
poor barber before the Magistrates for exercising his worldly
calling on the preceding Sabbath after the hour of eleven
o'clock in the forenoon. Being unable to pay the fine and ex-
penses, " his feet were made fast in the stocks" for two hours
in the 11Iarket-place, for his profane conduct.— Wilts In.
dependent.
It has been remarked, as a peculiar coincidence,
that Gould was a potrnan, Oxford a lotman, and Courvoisier
originally a waiter.