The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-14 00:00:00

MEETING OF CHARTISTS.

BRISTOL, MONDAY EVENING.—A public meeting of the
Chartists of this city was held this day in a large arid re-
,lently-erected building, caned the Hall of Science, and
which is used by the Socialists as their public lecture and
diseossion room. The building is capable of containing
3,000 persons, but it was not more than a quarter full—a
circumstance which the speakers said did not arise from
any want of public interest in the object of their meeting,
but from a tyranny exercised towards the working classes
by their employers, whereby they were deprived of the
free expression of their political opinions. After waiting
about twenty minutes, Mr. Daniels was called to the Chair.

Wm. MokoaN, a working Csoman, moved a resolution to
the etLet that Frost, Jones, and Williams, had been ilk-
gaily convicted, and ought to be immediately pardoned.
The resolution having been put to the meeting was
adopted unanimously.
- After which, a Mr. FELIX SIMEON came forward and
introduced an Address to the Queen, imploring her Ma-
jesty ;o grant her immediate pardon to the patriots.
Mr. WHITE, of Wotton-under.Edge, who was intro-
duced as a delegate from that town, seconded the resolu-
tion, which was carried amidst loud applause.
HENRY HUNT FROST, the son of John Frost, then came
forward, and read a letter from his father to Mrs. Frost.

The letter was to the following effect :
" Port Arthur, Van Diemen's Land, July 1, 1840.
" My dearest Mary—The words Norfolk Island and
Port Arthur convey to the minds of the English people
places of extreme suffering. They are penal settlements
to which generally persons are sent who, being prisoners,
have committed other offences in the colony. The
punishment here is great, but the persons sent here
me frequently old offenders. There arc various reasons
assigned for sending us to Port Arthur; but, as it is
impossible that I can be acquainted with the true one, I
shall merely state the facts. lam at Port Arthur, a place
to which the very worst of men are sent, and where human
misery may be seen to, probably, its greatest extent. I
was not, however, sent here for what is called punish-
ment ; the Governor told us repeatedly that we were
not sent to Port Arthur as a punishment, but to fill certain
offices. Williams is a superintendent at the coal mines ;
Jones fills a situation at the juvenile establishment ; and I
ant in the office of the Commandant; that is, the Governor
of Port Arthur. I am acting here as a clerk, and hitherto
the labour has not been heavy. lam in excellent health—l
never was better, and my spirits are very good, consider-
ing all things—much better than I could possibly have an-
ticipated. The climate is, so far as I have seen, very
good ; milder, I expect, than our own country. The situa-
tion of the settlement must be healthy, we having a fine
open bay before us. Indeed, from the appearance of most
of the prisoners, and from what I hear, I think Port Ar-
thur is a very healthy place. So much, my love, for this
part of the subject.
" You are aware that all letters sent from and received
by the prisoners are seen by the Commandant; and though
I believe that that gentleman would not be very particular
in a correspondence between a husband and a wife, yet it
is a great check to that freedom of communication which
to be affectionate must be unrestrained. Politics are, I
believe, forbidden, yet it is a subject very much connected
with my affairs. There are various matters of a public
nature which affect our situations. I shall, however, lease
that subject till I hear from England lam of opinion that
my letters will be perused by others besides the gentle-
man who rules here. I suppose the Colonial Secretary
would be glad to have a peep at the letters of his old cor-
respondent. Well, I trust that if Lord John should break
the seal of my letters he will have so much of the gentle-
man about him as to send them according to their address.
" You know how much I suffered, and how much I
dreaded sea-sickness. Strange, passing strange, that in a
voyage of 16,000 miles I felt scarcely any sickness, nor
was my stomach once disordered. So little do I now
dread a sea voyage, that I like it. I should like, in a
good ship and pleasant company, a voyage to almost any
part of the world.
"We arrived at Symond's Bay, Cape of Good Hope,
on the 6th of May, after a remarkably fine passage. There
were some ships of war intended for the Chinese expedi-
tion. I had a long conversation with some military and
naval officers, some of whom were in England during our
trials. The fitst lieutenant of one of the gun.brigs had
been at Newport. We left the Cape on the 13th. Our
doctor put into the harbour for the purpose of obtaining
fresh provisions, the scurvy having made its appearance on
board our ship. I can assure you, my dear, that the Cape
beef, although not the best I ever saw, was very acceptable
after our salt provisions. We had no wind for several
days after wo left the Cape, and our progress was slow;
but about the latter and of the month we had plenty of it.
The greater part of the month of June was exceedingly
tempestuous; on the Bth of June, Whit Monday, it blew
great guns; the oldest sailor on board scarcely ever re-
collected such a hurricane; during the night many sup •
posed that our danger was extreme. The ship, an
excellent sailer, tumbled about merrily ; the fore and
main hatchways fastened down, the mizen-hatch opened a
little to admit air to the prisoners, through which opening
the sea was pouring in streams, so that the hospital under
the quarter-deck was half filled with water. The ship
rode it out well ; the 13th, 16th, Illtb, 20th, and 21st,
were exceedingly boisterous ; however, on the last day of
June we anchored in the Darvrany, before Hobart Town.
We were exactly four calendar months from England.
We left Falmouth on the last day of February. Here
we were immediately supplied with fresh provisions,
principally mutton, and though what we had was much
inferior to our English mutton, we thought it capital
after the convicts' salt junk. The next clay our friend
the doctor waited on the Governor, Sir John Franklyn,
and, I have no doubt, did everything in his power for
us. It is usual for the doctors of convict-ships to give
each prisoner a character, according to his behaviour
on board the ship, and the character given has some in-
fluence on the fate of the prisoners. We arrived on the
Tuesday, and on the Thursday we were informed that the
Governor would come on board on Saturday, and that we
should be landed on the Monday morning at four o'clock.
On Friday morning we were told that we must prepare to
leave that day for Port Arthur. We were rather asto-
nished at this information. Port Arthur? a penal set-
tlement !—while the most able men at the bar contended
that we bad had no legal trial—while our case was,
when we left, before the House of Commons. it wag
intimated, I do not know how truly, that *bests were instruc-
tions from the highest autherity, an'd ;has it teas in-
tended to favour us, ()a the Friday evening we
were
taken on board the colonial schooner Eliza, and soon
after the Governor came on board, and his Excellency
addressed us for a considerable time, pointing out the
regulations under which we should be placed, recom-
mending a certain line of conduct, and informing us
repeatedly that Wiii were not sent to the penal settle-
meat for punishment. As soon as the Governor left the
ship sailed, and on the next morning, Saturday, the
4th of July, the ever-memorable day, hold in such
esteem in the United States, we were landed at Port
Arthnra the penal settlement for Van Diemen's Land.
We were taken into the Commandant's office, wha the
regulations stringent, but I have no
vto
serve them. We certainly were
regulations for prisoners were read to os. They are, my
generality of prisoners are treated on
dear,dnoo ut. b doubt
cal: St Yle 1 Odi It 11
al
3 maybe
thabesttle rPoot;
their arrival ; they arc taken to the shournakees shop,
script quite !lai;g4, 01 their Pl9t4Pll taken from them and
burned. They are then put Into the prison dress, veile-
rally yellow, sometimes black and yellow, We were not
we kept all our clo'tl;ea,
treated so ; anti we now wear
some of them i ;cl fAl's there has been a great difference
il made...l inform you, my dear Mary, of these particulars, be-
cause I wish the exact state of thing to he ktnutvu. I un-
derstand that a strong feeling
wq produced in the colony
by our be rig ser;t down to laort Arthur, and I have no doubt
that great indignation will he felt in Ri,gland, Scotland,
and Wales when it ia known. It will be said that
WQ 140) ill the chain-gangs, and that we are treated

On Tuezday the annual meeting of the members w,-.3
held. Benjamin Hanes, the treasurer of the Society, tool'
the chair, and the minutes of the various committee meet-
ings eaving been read and confirmed,
The Secretary (,Mr. \Vestropp) reported that in the
.astyear 224 cases of suspended animation had occurred,
in the whole of which only 11 were unsuccessful.
The question of awaruing medals, &e,, to parties who
had exerted themselves in saving the lives et others, 17 in
number, had been referred to the general court.
The thanks of the meeting were given to his Grace the
Duke of Northumberland, for the earnest des'r he has
always taken to promote the interests of the Society, and
the munificent donatiops his Grace has contributed to the
funds. A letter was read from the Duke approving of
the change of the rooms of the Society from 131Lckfriars to
Trafalgar-square, and commending the exertions of the
Society in preventing accidents in Hyde rark during the
bathing seasou, where, nov.vithstanding more than 260.000
persons had bathed, only 20 accidents had occurred, of
which but two were fatal.

The silver medal eras unanimously awarded to Mr.
G.ethrie, for having saved a boy from drowning nt Great
Yarmouth. The lad had fallen off a j,tty into the sea ;
Mr. Guthrie jumped off a height of twenty feet, with his
clothes on, and succeeded in saving the Lid.
The next case was that of Mr. M. R. Nightingale, in
June last, saved a lad named Charles Cassel, who fell into
a canal. Though in ill health, Mr. Nightingale, on hear-
ing of the accident, plunged in with his clothes on, hut did
not find the body. From a discolouration of the wa'er
while below the surface of the atrea.n, he swam near the
bed of the river, and grasped the hair of the youth, but, as
it was short, he could not obtain a purchase, but succeeded
in obtaining a hold on the shoulder, atter which he raised
the body to the surface, and swam to the shore. Mr.
Nightingale nearly lust his own life in the attempt. The
silver medal Was immediately voted to this young lean.
A silver medal was also awarded to Ciptain M. G.
Martin, for saving the life of Mr. Keats, Bideford,
To Mr. Tweedie, the master of the Gilbert Henry, con-
vict ship, a silver medal was voted viva voce for having
saved the child done of the convicts sent out to Van Die:
men's Land. Capt. Tweedie jumped from the poop of
the ship, notwithstanding there was a he Ivy sea, and, after
great ddliculty, recovered the child, who had neeid,n-
tally fallen overboard. This case was recommended to
the Society by a letter from Lord John Russell, forwarded
by Mr. R. V. Smith, and founded on a recommendation
from Sir R. Franklyn, the Governor of Van Diemen's
Land.

A commendatory lett; r was directed to be sent to Miss
Schneider fcr her piLintry, if the term may he uied, in
saving her step-mother, who had fallen into deep wider.
The young lady rushed in immediately and saved her step.
mother front a watery grave. It was a matter of regret
to many of the membets of the Society that a medal wsis
not awarded.

A silver medal was voted to Mr. Charles Duncan, of
the loyal Alai' Steam Company's ship Britannia, for sav-
ing two lives in K ligqcn Harbour. This young gentle-
man had on a former occasion gallantly aided in saving
the life of another fellow-creature. To Thomas Harmer,
a fisherman, a silver medal was awarded for saving a youth
at Brighton.

The. last case milled was one of great interest. Two
brothers, while engaged at their business :t Brighton,
fell (the noxious air rendering thera insensible) into a
cess-pool. A man named Marchant, descended to their
rescue, but becvme insensible. Knight, a policema»,
hearing of the calamity, immediately descended, and sue•
cecded in getting up Mart:haat, though much exhausted,
After a slight pause, Ku glit descended again and d,ew
up one of the brothers Again he went down and grasped
the body of the second unfortunate person, but was over-
powered by the noxious air, and dropped the niln, Knight
himself being drawn up insensible. Knight went down a
third time, having recovered his senses, and brought up
the body, but life was extinct ; both brothers died from
the tifects of the foul air. Toe Brighton Branch Society
recommended this case earnestly to the parent association.
The silver medal was awarded to Mr. Knight instantly.
The Duke of Northumberland wss re-elected presidt nt,
and Earl Powis and Lord Gr.:), were nominated to (Acts.
The other officers of the Society were re-appointed.
Thanks were rcturnedto the Chairman, and the meeting
adjourned.

ItUAIoURED DREADFUL,

ACCIDENT.

UPWARDS OF ONE HUNDRED LIVES LOST.
Rumours have been prevalent in ILis neibbourhood
that on Monday last a most serious calamity happened
on Whittlesey Mere—the ice breaking, and, it is said,
upwards of a fyindrod lives being lost. From inquiries
we have made, we have reason to fear this rumour is
not without foundation, though various reports still
continue.—Cambridge Advertiser of yesterday.