The Sun.
London, England, 1840-06-01 00:00:00

SURREY SESSIONS.

The greater part of the day was occupied in the tria
of William Berryman, a farmer's servant, at Chertseyl
who was indicted for assaulting Ann Smith, aged 11
years, with intent to commit a rape.
From the evidence it appeared that on the evening
of the ith instant, the prisoner, who was residing in the
same house with the child and her parents. at Chertsey,
called her into his bed-room as she was passing up
stairs. She, however, refused, and was going to the
upper story, when the prisoner rushed out of his room,
and seizing her, threw her down on the lobby of the
staircase, and then assaulted her in a brutal manner.
In giving her evidence, she declared that she resisted
assailant all she could, and when she was first thrown
down, she succeeded in getting up again ; but the
second time she could not get away from him, and she
was afraid to cry out, under the apprehension that he
would beat her.
Tho Surgeon deposed that although the capital
offence had ❑ot been committed, yet that a loathsome
disease was communicated to the child, who was still
labouring under its effects. The witness added he had
no doubt that the prisoner acted under a most barbar-
ous and most mistaken notion ; and in the present case
when he examined the prisoner, he found that he was
dreadfully diseased.
The prisoner was convicted, and sentenced to twelve
months' imprisonment.
The Sessions having concluded, the following sen-
tences were then passed

- •
Transportation for Life—John Summerfield and
Samuel Edwards.
For Ten Years.—John Walker.

For Seven Years—John Waters, George Wilson,
William Johnson, Charles Smith, Sarah Clarke,
Margaret Hurlay, Hannah Burnham, William Elliott,
and John Smith.

For Twelve Months' Imprisonment—Henry Boxall,
Peter Nimmo, Emma Stone, Samuel Berryman, Wil-
liam Jones, and William Tooby.
The other prisoners were sentenced to imprisonment,
varying from six months to twenty-one days in the
Houses of Correction.

It is with regret we hear that the regimental de-
meanour of Lord Cardigan is likely again to become the sub-
ject of complaint, if indeed complaint has not already been
formally made. His Lordship is Lieut.-Colonel of the 11th
Hussars, of which regiment his Royal Highness Prince Albert
is Colonel ; and our wonder is, that if even the memory of his
former court-martial had departed from his mind, the feeling
that he had now for his Colonel a personage incapable of coun-
tenancing a system of petty regimental annoyance, such as
urged the Lord Brudenell to become a prosecutor when Lieut.-
Colonel of the Lith Dragoons, should not placo restraint on his
tiespotie temper.—Observer.
NOVEL OCCURRENCE. LAUGHABLE AN-
NOVEL
Thursday evening the packet-ship Siddons,
Captain Palmer, arrived at this port, before the letter and the
parcel bags which she took en board at New York ! This un-
usual occurrence happened thus. Captain Palmer, on reaching
the Channel, found the wind blowing strongly from the N. E.,
with every appearance that it would continue in that quarter
and delay his voyage to Liverpool. Several of his passengers
having resolved to land on the Irish coast, and proceed era
Dublin to Liverpool, be determined to forvvard both ishs parcel
and letter-bags by the same route. The passengers n the d
bags were, accordingly, landed, on Tuesday last, at Dunmore
East, near Waterford. The passengers proceeded on, without
delay, by the mail-coach; but, as the bags had to be
opened at the first post..otlice 2•and the letters and
parcels sorted and marked, the bags were detained to
undergo this process, which occupied a considerable
time, seeing
papers. The passengers reached Liverpool on Thursday, at
there were about ten thousand letters and
noon ; the packet-ship anchored, in the Mersey, shortly
after six o'clock on the evening, of the same day ; and the letters
and papers reached town, on Friday morning, by the early Dub-
lin mail. Captain Palmer had (lone what he deemed best under
the circumstances ; still, the issue verified the adage, " the
twee haste, the less speed." But the arrival of the Siddons
before her bags was not the only remarkable incident of the day.
One of our most active caterers of news, knowing that the
packet had been telegraphed, but not dreaming that she could
reach port at the early hour she (lid enter it, repaired to the
Prince's pierhead towards midnight, to await her arrival !
mly
Our friend inquired from every body he met whether the Siddons
had ',come round," that is, entered the river ; but all agreed
that she had not, and what was of more importance, the most
experienced seamen then and there present gave it as their opi-
nion, that no pilot would venture to bring her round that night.
All this time the Siddons was lying- snugly at anchor within
sight of the sagacious and vigilant pier-headers, who, though
saw di
they a large vessel in the river, knew not that it was
the anxiously-looked for packet ! Our friend, as in duty bound,
lingered on the seawall until nearly the hour of high-water,
when, despairing of the arrival of the Siddons in time for him
to despatch
a parcel to London by the three o'clock railway
t • rain, he betook himself to his home and his bed.—/ terpooi

MR. FEARGUS O'CO N N OR'S

PETITION.

The following petition has been sent by Mr. O'Con-
nor to Sergeant Talfourd, for presentation to the
" House :"

" To the Right Honourable and Honourable the
Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses, in Parliament
assembled.
" The humble Petition of Feargus O'Connor,
Esq., Barrister-at-Law, and now a prisoner
in York Castle,
" Showeth,—That your petitioner was convicted of
publishing a seditious political libel, in a newspaper
called the Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser,
at the last Assizes at York, and that in pursuance of
the verdict then obtained against petitioner, he was
sentenced upon the :11th of May, 1840, by the Court
of Queen's Bench, to eighteen months' imprisonment
in York Castle, and to be held in custody until he shall
procure sureties for two years' good behaviour, himself
in 3001., and two sureties in 1501. each. That your
petitioner had been seriously indisposed for some time
previously, and at the time of receiving said judgment,
and that Mr. Anthony Todd Thomson, M.D., and
Mr. Jligue, surgeon, of Hammersmith, both attended
petitioner, the latter for a period of five years. That
each of the above-named gentlemen made an affidavit,
stating that imprisonment according to the usual prison
discipline and the loss of exercise, would lay the foun-
dation of disease which would shorten the life of
petitioner. That such affidavits, together with the cer-
tificate of Mr. Cooper, surgeon, of the Queen's Bench
prison, were transmitted to the Marquis of Normanby,
with an affidavit and memorial from petitioner, praying
that his person may be confined in the Queen's Bench
prison instead of York Castle. To which memorial the
Marquis of Normanby refused to assent.
" That one of the charges upon which your petitioner
was convicted, was a speech of your petitioner delivered
at Rochdale, in the county of Lancaster, and for the
reporting of which the reporter was discharged, he never
before having reported the proceedings at a public meet-
ing, and being merely on trial, which facts were fully
set forth in an affidavit made by the said reporter.
That the speech alluded to was published at a time
when your petitioner was in attendance at the Assizes
of York, and which speech your petitioner declares he
never saw in print until after an ex-officio information
had been filed by the Attorney-General. That your
petitioner was also found guilty of publishing the speech
of Mr. O'Brien, although, as asserted by your peti-
tioner upon receiving judgment, and which is the fact,
the said speech was only published in the first edition
of the Northern Star, and of which only about 3,000
numbers are circulated, while at that time, 37,000 of a
second and third edition were published, in not one of
which second or third edition the speech of Mr.
O'Brien was printed. The said speech was published
in the Northern Star of the 20th of July last, when
your petitioner was on trial for another political libel,
and your petitioner never saw the speech until an ex-
officio was filed by the Attorney-General.
" That your petitioner was also found guilty for the
publication of some resolutions passed at a public
meeting at Newcastle, and which were copied from,
and acknowledged to he taken from,the Trine Mercury .
" That your petitioner was also found guilty of the
publication of the speech of one William Taylor, and
which speech your petitioner did not defend, either
upon trial, or in his speech in mitigation of punishment.
Your petitioner most solemnly declares that he did not
make the speech published for his speech as delivered
at Rochdale. At the same time your petitioner con-
fidently appeals to your Honourable House, while he
asserts that in such speech there is not one sentence
of libel.

" Your petitioner laid before the Court in mitigation
of punishment affidavits from about four hundred re-
spectable persons from various towns where petitioner
had been in the habit of addressing public meetings.
That many of such affidavits were sworn to by persons
of great wealth and respectability, and all deposed that
for many years had been in the habit of hearing
petitioner at public meetings, and that they always con-
sidered that such speeches were eminently conducive
in dissuading the people from a recourse to physical
force, or any violation of the law. That many of the
deponents declared that they were opposed to your pe-
titioner in political principle, and merely came forward
from a love of justice.
"That in consequence of the judgment of the Court of
Queen's Bench, your petitioner was consigned to the
custody of the Governor of York Castle, on Tuesday,
the 19th of May, at ten o'clock at night. That your
petitioner was first deprived of his money and a few
newspaper!, and after being examined by a physician,
was conducted to a stone cell seven-and a-half feet long
and four feet ten inches wide, about eight feet high,
the door up to the petitioner's chin, and only wide
enough to admit your petitioner sideways ; an iron
bedstead not near the width of petitioner, a thin flock
bed not as long as petitioner, and the usual number of
blankets, with a horse-rug for a counterpane, were then
shown to petitioner, which, with a black pot, composed
the furniture. The Governor very kindly allowed one
of the turnkeys to teach your petitioner how to make
the most of the bed, and then your petitioner was
locked, bolted, and barred into the said dreary and
solitary cell. That your petitioner had neither sheets,
pillow, bolster, nor chairs. The window very small,
and the aperture nearly filled with strongly bolted iron.
At seven o'clock, your petitioner was roused up. and
was obliged to arrange and fold up his bed and bed-
clothe:=, and then to follow a turnkey to the day-room,
with his chamber-pot in his hand, and which he was
compelled to wash, and keep till summoned to bed.
That at eight o'clock your petitioner was summoned to
breakfast, and was in turn of his ward placed in a line,
composed of murderers, robbers, forgers, and felons of
every description, all of whom were dressed in the prison
d .

" That your petitioner could not eat the prison fare

That at ten your petitioner was summoned to chapel,
and was locked up with the others in a grated pew to
hear service. That at twelve your petitioner was sum-
moned to dinner, when he again took his stand in the
felon's rank, and a black pot and wooden spoon, indis-
criminately used by all, wore placed before him, but he
could not eat. That the surgeon, in consequence of
petitioner's bad health, ordered your petitioner some
tea, one ounce per week for fourteen times, and one half
pound of sugar, being the gaol allowance. That Mr.
Hague, one of the visiting Magistrates, saw petitioner,
and gave him the choice of being in a ward alone, or
of having two men convicted, the one of felony, and the
other of theft, in the ward with petitioner. That peti-
tioner was compelled to prefer the society of felons to
the solitary system, and has, consequently, had two
felons as his only associates.
" That the rules of the prison impose upon your
petitioner the duty of washing, securing, dry rubbing,
sweeping, and cleaning the passages, cell, day-room,
and yard. 'chat your petitioner has just assisted in the
gentlemanly occupation of cleansing the felons' privy.
That there are many prisoners now in York Castle.
Two for abduction of a female thirteen years of
age. One for rape upon a girl ten years of age.
One for stabbing, and many for felony of various
descriptions, and of all the before-named prisoners the
sentence of your petitioner is the longest by six months.
That the two persons confined in the same ward with
petitioner, for felony, have only received, one three
months, and the other four months' imprisonment,
while your petitioner has received eighteen months for
a political libel, with bonds for six hundred pounds for
two years' good behaviour. That your petitioner, with
confidence, appeals to those Members who served with
him for three years in the House of Commons—to the
Irish Bar, of which he has the honour to be a member
—and to every portion of society in which he has
moved—that there is not in society a better behaved,
a more humane, or a better-tempered man.
" That your petitioner has stood three contested
elections, one Parliamentary Committee, and five prose-
cutions since the passing of the Reform Bill.
" That your petitioner has conducted as counsel more
contested elections than any man in his profession, and
elections were party spirit ran highest.
" That your petitioner has been the proprietor of a
newspaper circulating four times as widely as any other
provincial journal.
" And your petitioner proudly states, that in the dis-
charge of those several duties, he has never yet had an
angry word, or a single contradiction with any man.
That he has not been called upon to retract a single
_ _

word he has ever uttered, and that he has not made the
press a vehicle for wounding the feelings of his political
or personal enemies. That, notwithstanding, your peti-
tioner is treated, in every sense of the word, with the
exception of being allowed to wear his own clothes, as
a common murderer. That the rules of the prison only
admit relations to visit prisoners, and your petitioner,
being an Irishman, has no relations in this country, and
consequently cannot expect to see others than gaolers
and turnkeys for eighteen months.
" That your petitioner is still the proprietor of the
Northern Slur newspaper, and is liable for everything
printed in it, while he is not allowed to see it. That
the conduct of the paper cost:, your petitioner many
thousands a year, over which he has now no control.
" That your petitioner is shaved twice a week, and
takes his turn of lather, brush, and razor after the felons.
That he washes with the same towel, and has all

things in common with them. That he has only stone
benches to sit upon, and a hole m the wall at which he
must stand to write. That all his correspondence is
h .nded open for the perusal of the Governor, and his
letters are delivered open, after being perused. That
he has been kindly allowed to place his bed upon the
cold stone floor, the iron bedstead being too narrow for
his size.
" Your petitioner is locked up at seven o'clock in the
evening in his cell, and remains there till seven the fol-
lowing morning.
" Your petitioner has always lived in the best society,
and has always conducted himself as a gentleman. Ile
has never been plaintiff or defendant in writ or action,
but at the suit of the present Attorney-General ; nei-
ther has he, in the course of his life, violated the com-
mon or statute law of the land. Therefore your peti-
tioner considers that, for an undefined crime, he is suf-

fering more punishment, and more degrading and in-
sulting treatment, than any matt has ever been subjecte4
to, in this or any other country, for the mere publica-
tion of libel.

" Your petitioner has not been prosecuted for any
original matter published in the Northern Star, and
your petitioner submits that there is a great difference
between a deliberately-written and published libel, and
the mere publication of matter of news.
"Your petititioner stands indicted for another political
offence, and is to take his trial at the next Liverpool
Assizes, and yet the solicitor of your petitioner has
been refused access to him.

The health of your petitioner is, and has for some
time been, very bad, in consequence of having ruptured
two blood vessels in the chest in the course of one week
in last year.
" Your petitioner is now labouring under rheumatism,
which affects his limbs and bones, and also under a se-
vere affection of the chest and left side.

" Your petitioner's sight has become greatly impaired
during his imprisonment in York Castle ; and upon the
whole the degradation and mental agony to which your
petitioner is subjected, must materially injure the
health and shorten the life of your petitioner.
" Your petitioner does not mention the food to which
he is entitled, nor the mode of its service. He has
no complaint to make of any of those in authority over
him ; but on the contrary, while the Governor rigidly
adheres to the letter of the prison rules, he administers
the greatest severity with such becoming delicacy as to
make oppression less galling.
" Your petitioner does not ask for a remission of any
portion of his sentence, while your petitioner begs to
remind your Honourable House of the great alterations
recently made in the criminal code ; that by such alte-
ration the crime of forging is no longer punishable with
death ; and while, at the present moment, two men
named Holroyd are now suffering only two years' im-
prisonment in York Castle for very extens:ve forgery,
after bankruptcy, your petitioner, for an undefined of-
fence, is sentenced for eighteen months, and subject to
precisely the same rules. Thus, while others are daily
receiving the benefit of the clemency of the present age,
your petitioner is suffering a greater amount of punish-
ment, ill-treatment, insult, and degradation, than has
ever before been imposed upon a person convicted of a
like offence.

" Your petitioner, therefore, prays that your Honour-
able House will present an humble address to her Ma-
jesty, praying that her Majesty may be graciously
pleased to order that your petitioner be committed, for
the remainder of the term of eighteen months, to the
Queen's Bench, in order that your petitioner may be
near those physicians who understand his constitution,
and have been in the habit of attending him.
" And your petitioner, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
" FEARGUS O'CONNOR."