The Sun.
London, England, 1833-05-18 00:00:00

INQUEST ON R. CULLY.

Yesterday evening, at six o'clock, the jury again as-
sernb'ed at the Calthorpe Arms, to resume the inquest
touching the death of the policeman who was stabbed at
the meeting on Monday last. The jury had bee❑ in wait.
log from five o'clock, the hour appointed, but the Coroner
did not make his appearance till six o'clock.
John Todd gave testimony as follows—The first inti-
mation I had of the meeting was the Government prorla-
tnation, and seeirg that, forbidding the meeting, I re-
' mained to see the result. Observing a namber of persons
with banners flying, and whose appearance was rather
ludicrous. I was induced, being a stranger in this city, to
remain, for the purpose of observing the real charater of
a metropolitan meeting. Not wishing to mingle in the
meeting, I remained in Gough-street. After being
there perhaps ten minutes, a body of police, from a
neighbouring street, came and formed across the street ;
upon seeing this, I thought that I should only be
exercising due prudence by keeping away from that
meeting; I attempted to get back, and immediately
the police began using their ba ons upon myself and
some women ; I begged of them to let me pass, as I did
not wish to get into the crowd ; it was in vain for me to
say so, they used their batons in the most violen t manner;
I received a blow on the hack of the neck, which stunned
me ; I begged for mercy after the blow, and on receiving
another stroke on the hack, I turned round and raised up
my arm ; I received the blow upon my wrist ; a gentle-
man present urged me to go to the surgeon's shop imme-
diately to have my wound dressed ; he told me that my
arm was fractured, and that I had better go down to B ‘r-
tholomew's Hospital. The medical gentleman who there
examined me, said it was a fracture of the hones of the arm
immediately above the wrist. The night before last I had
a return of epilepsy, in consequence of the blow on the
back of the head ; a fit also has been hanging over me
the whole of this day, and I am at this moment apprehen-
sive of a fit. There did not appear to be the slightest dis-
position on the part of the people to commit a breach of
the peace ;o❑ the contrary, they were perfectly quiet. I

. . .
did not hear any Riot Act or Proclamation read : so far
from any breach of the peace, I should say a more silly or
ridiculous meeting I never witnessed; it was univiirthy of
the attention of the Magistrates. Had the police not
interfered there would have been no breach of the peace.
Charles Wheeler—l am inspector to the Society for
the prevention of Cruelty to Animals ; I was returning
home through Gray's Inn-lane on the day in question; as
I was passing the end of Calthorpe•street I saw the police
beating the people, and driving- all before them who came
within their reach ; I proposed to my wife, who accotne
panied me, that we should go home another way ; we
accordingly went round towards the Bagnigge Wells-road ;
in passing along that road we saw a young man with his
eye bleeding ; I said you have suffered severely ; I had
seen the man who struck him, and I said the policeman
belongs to H division, I should know him, and we will
have him taken up to-morrow ; while in conversation with
this person we heard a number of women and children
screaming ; they were coming from the adjoining fiel Is ;
I was forced by the police from the pavement into the
road ; I turned round to look for my wife; I saw a po-
liceman A, No. 32, with a truncheon in his hand, and his
arm uplifted ; he took a deliberate aim at me, and struck
me on the head ; I fell senseless from the violence of the
blow, and I have no recollection of anything from that
time till I found myself in the shop of a medical gentle-
man. (The witness exhibited a portion of the garments
which he wore upon the occasion, from which it was ap-
parent that he must have lost a great deal of blood.) I
was then removed in a coach; I did not say anything to
the police ; before I could speak, I received a blow ; I
have been under medical care ever since.
Thomas M. Biddulph--I was in the yard of Bus-
bridge's stables on the day of the meeting; I am in the let
regiment of Life Guards; I was ordered on the 13th
inst. to place myself under the orders of Colonel de Roos ;
I came to the White Horse-yard Livery-stables; ab ut
one hour after I arrived, a large reinforcement came in of
the police; they were formed up, and directly afterwards
desired to proceed outwards from the door behind the
yard ; I went out also, and immediately afterwards saw
several persons seized ; I did ❑ot see any t.ody hurt by
the police. The orders given to the police were, that they
should not hurt any body if they could help it, or words
to that effect ; I remained out, I think, about rive
minutes ; I heard one of the persona brought in by the
police say, that although they had him it would coat
some of the policemen their lives ; I received my orders
from Colonel Lygon verbally; I do not know from whom
the orders originally came ; one of those seized by the po-
lice had a flag ; he was not committing any breach of the
peace; 1 did not see any breach of the peace committed
unless the meeting itself might be considered a breach of
the peace ; I conceive the police had orders to take those
persons into custody ; I did not hear any violent language,
nor did I see any stones thrown. I did not hear any pro-
climatic:a or Riot Act read, it might have been done
without my hearing it.
Thomas Bulkeley, of the Ist Life Guards—l received
orders from the Brigade Major to attend him at Bus-
bridge's stables on the day of the meeting. It wit, between
two and three o'clock when I arrived there; 1 received
orders on my arrival to go into Col-ridge's manufactory in
Gough-street, and to report if I saw any procession or
waggons arrive; after I had been there about a quarter of
an hour, a waggon arrived with some persons in it, one of
whom addressed the assembled people ; I immediately re-
turned to the stables, and reported that a waggon, ac.
companied by souse persons, had arrived at the place of
meeting; in a short time the procession passed Gray's
Inn-lane, accompanied by a number of persons, some of
whom carried banners; some time afterwards the police
were ordered to tur❑ out; they received orders from
Colonel Rowan not to use any unnecessary violence; I
accompanied the division that went out of the gate leading
into Gough-street ; the police advanced up Gough-street ;
I did not see them use any violence—on the contrary,
any person or every person who chose, had every facility
for escape; I returned, and in a short time maw several
prisoners brought in, only one of whom showed any
marks of violence; I heard one of the prisoners a ly,
" You may have taken a few of us, but depend upon it
some of you will lose your lives," or words to that effect.

I did not see any violence committed by the crowd ; but
it might have been done without my knowledge, for I
was behind the police ; I saw no violence on either side;
I did not hear any proclamation read, or Riot Act. I did
not see any stones thrown ; I did not see any bludgeons ;
I did not 8-e any lances having blades to them. I should
not the less consider it a lance for wanting the point;
the people cheered the police as a sort of defiance, it was
evident from their manner, that they meant those cheers
derisively.
_ _

Mary Ann Perkins, aged 14 years, having given satis-
factory answers respecting the nature of an oath, gave
testimony neat ly as follows :—I was standing by the
Union public-house on Monday last; I saw a man making
his escape over the palings ; I saw a policeman stabbed,
he had blue trousers; he was stabbed with something
that a man took out of a walking stick; he shook the
stick and the blade came out ; the man that was stabbed
fell, and I s tw no more of him ; the man was a respect-
able looking person who stabbed the policeman.
Thomas Arnold, whose head was bound up in conse-
quence of the wounds he had received, gave testimony as
follows :—I was at the meeting on Monday last ; I saw a
party of the police come down the street ; some of them,
but without success, endeavoured to take a man who was
standing on the palings addressing the people ; in one
minute afterwards I was struck and knocked down ; the
police were beating the people in every direction ; I re-
ceived a wound in the head ; the police commenced the
attack without saying a word. In addition to the blow on
my head, I received a blow on the hack ; the police spat
in their hands when they grasped the truncheons, which
showed that they meant to do execution ; no breach of
the peace took place before the attack of the police ; no
stones were thrown, nor proclamation, nor Riot Act read.
I should have heard and seen these things if they had taken
place. The wound in my head is now very painful.
William Henry Goore--On Monday, the day of the

m eating, I was passing down Gray's Inn-lane into Hol-
born ; I met about sixty or eighty individuals, walking
two and two, and many of them were carrying banners ;
on approaching towards this part of the town, I conversed
with several of them, and asked where they were going?
they replied, to Coldbatb-fields, to hold a meeting. I said
to several of them, Are you aware that a proclamation has
been issued by the Secretary of State ? The answer they
gave me was, that they were not aware of anything
of the sort; and even if they were, they could not con-
sider it a legal proclamation, it not having been
signed by Lord Melbourne ; I told them that, however
imperfect they might consider it, the Government possessed
sufficient power to teach them that it was perfectly legal.
I told them that the Government had full power to issue
such a proclamation ; they rejoined, " We are goine in a
way to disturb the Government, not the peace of the
country—our only object is that of entering into resolu-
tions, and upon those grounding a petition to Parliament,
to seek the redresses which have been denied by the pre-
sent Ministers as to the assessed taxes." I inquired, "I,
it your determination then to proceed to the place of
meeting ?" They all answered, " Yes, we are not about
to do a wrong, or an evil towards any one, consequently
we expect that no one will do a wrong or an evil towards
us." I then told them to he exceedingly guarded in their
conduct at the place of meeting, beraue! I w.s convinced
the police were lying in ambush. After I had given them
that counsel I walked by the side of them till they cam.
to the end of Calthorpe-street. Before I could reach the
centre of the meeting, the crowd became so dense that 1
thought it prudent to keep at 30 or 40 yards' distance from
where the speaker and those connected with the meeting
were. The person who addressed them cautioned them in
every possible way not to commit a breach of the peace, as
their object was merely the redress of those grievances un
der which they had so long laboured. The speaker con
tinued to impress upon the meeting the necessity of
adopting some measures to alleviate the distress under
which they laboured. A universal shout was then raised
of " The police ; they are coming." Some in the crowd
said, " What can they have to do with us? we are peace-
ably assembled, and we ought to have no dread or fear of
them." In an instant after that the police made their
appearance at the bottom of Calthorpe-street, their line
extending the whole breadth of the street, so that no oie
could pass ; they advanced up nearly to the spot where I
was standing ; I at that time was not mixed with the
crowd, being 40 yards from them; without any cause or
provocation I was knocked down with three bludgeons ;
some of the police knocked me down ; I remonstrated with
the man who first struck me, and his reply was, " --
you, I will knock you to the devil if you say a word."
Forty or fifty after that walked over me before I could

muster strength sufficient to get up ; it would be in vain
for me to oppose myself to such a multitude ; I wish I
could have met some of them single handed.—(The wit-
ness is a man of Herculean bulk.) A gentleman near me
was attacked by two policemen, and his arm was broken ;
I asked him his name—he declined lest it should be sup-
posed that he was connected with the business of the meet-
ing ; he was merely led there by curiosity, and his horse
and gig and servant were in waiting; I led him to
his gig; his arm certainly was broken ; I have studied
and practised as a surgeon before I adopted the pro•
tes,ion of the law ; being in some sort a public man in my
own county, Worcestershire, I was desirous of sifting
the matter as far as I could—it was therefore that I in-
quired of the gentleman his name. I saw another man
cut down with a policeman's truncheon ; there was an-
other m m with a fracture in his skull the length of my
finger ; seeing him as he was, I rendered him every assist-
ance in my power; I saw no breach of the peace on the
part of the handful of boys composing this meeting ; I did
not hear the Riot Act, or proclamation, or warning, on
the part of the police ; I must have heard anything of the
sort ; the whole of the avenues were blocked up ; no man
could escape ; I did not see any stones thrown; the per-
sons at the meeting said, after the meeting was over, that
if they bad anticipated such an attack as they had that
day sustained, they would have come prepared for defence;
the police themselves occasioned the affray ; had it nut
been for their brutal and ferocious attack, there would
have been no riot whatever; hid I had any weapon I
should have returned the blows of the police; if I bad
had any weapons whatever, I should have used them, for
the attack was murderous ; I was not remonstrated with,
I was assailed without notice; had I bad a sword I should
have cut the fellow's head off, but I was overpowered by
numbers.

John Clarke—l know nothing of the death of Cully, I
only know of the ill usage that I myself experienced on
Nlonday last, in Coldhath-fields ; I was leaning over the
rails, one of the police came and struck me, and imme-
diately Ord hack again to his division ; the meeting was
all over at the time; I had not the least notion I was doing
wrong; I was myself a parochial officer for six years; I
am 59 years of age; I was 21 years in his Majesty's ser-
vice (witness showed his arm, on which there was a severe
contusion); it was past four o'clock, and the meeting was
suppressed at the time I was struck.

Wm. Robertson—l heard the chairman recommending
peace and order; the people were perfectly quiet and or-
derly ; at the end of the chairman's speech the police
marched down Calthorpe-street; I observed three of them
lift their staves above their heads, but the great body
moved forward and knocked the people down without any
discrimination whatever; I received a severe blow on
the head, which knocked me down, and I was beaten
for some minutes while I was on the ground with-
out the least mercy ; I sew several persons knocked
dow❑ in a most savage and brutal manner ; I
with some difficulty effected nay escape ; I saw
a young man named Charles Wheeler knocked down,
and carried insensible to a surgeon's ; I went to the same
gentleman, who dressed my wound ; many of the owners
of houses in the neighbourhood were standing at their own
doors, and the police attacked them in the most furious
manner, without the slightest provocation ; on the ground
there was not the slightest resistance made Lo the police;
neither there nor anywhere else was there any resistance.
Witness corroborated thL testimony of all who went before
him as to the attack having been made on the people with-
out notice, without Proclamation, or Riot Act, or remon-
strance, and without any bri-ach of the peace on the part
of the people; if any of the policemen received it, it must
have been Irons their own truncheons, for I observed that
several fell, and were beaten by their own comrades ; by
their countenances he should suppose the policemen were
intoxicated ; he had seen beer served out to them before
they mad, the attack, but no spirits ; a paliceman, who
was going across the field with a flag in his hand, looked
at me when the blood was issuing from my face, and said,
" Ali, old fellow, we did not come here for nothing ;" I
saw upwards of fifty bleeding.

Joseph Millbank, of 25,-Rahere-street, Goswell-road,
watch-jewtllrr, said—l had to go to Clerkenwell work-
house, and about a quarter to 4 o'clock I was going to-
wards the Union, and seeing the people running, I went
across the field from curiosity; I stood for a few moments
looking at the proceedings, and suddenly a policeman
struck me with his truncheon ; another came behind, and
injured me by forcing me on with his staff.—(Witness
hared hit arm, and exposed the bruises he had received.)
Front the treatment I had experienced, I thought the po.
iicemen were drunk or mad.

The jury then urged upon the Coroner the expediency
of immediately adjourning, to which he very reluctantly
consented.

The Foreman then said, that to many of them it would
be in the highest degree inconvenient to attend on Satur-
day. They were tradesmen, and had business to attend to
on the last day of the week, which they could nut neglect
without the greatest sacrifice : he, therefore, proposed
that they should adjourn to Monday.
The Coroner was apprehensive, that, if they adjourned
over Saturday, the public might think they were relaxing
in their application to the business in which they were
engaged.

The Foreman replied, that it surely could not be sup-
posed that there was any relaxation on their part; they
had on the first day devoted upwards of six hours to the
inquiry; on the second eight hours; they on that day bad
been occupied nearly seven hours. That was, be thought,
as much as the public had a right to expect from men
who were not, like the Coroner, hardened to the service—
who could not live upon air—who required rest and re-
freshment, like ordinary mortals, and who, as tradesmen,
had business to conduct, and, as heads of families, had
domestic alifairs to attend to. He really must say that
the public had no right to expect four consecutive days,
one of them occurring on a Saturday especially.
The Coroner at length was induced to agree to Monday
provided they would consent to assemble in the forenoon.

Eleven o'clock on Monday was then agreed upon as the
time of their next meeting.
In the Jury-room, after the adjournment, it was stated
that 96 witnesses still remain to be examined. The Jury
expressed a most decided determination to investigate the
whole circumstances connected with this painful affair,
with the utmost strictness, and it was also stated that the
Jury intend to examine Lord Melbourne, Colonel Rowan,
Mr. Mayne, and any other Members of the Government
who can be supposed to have the power of giving any in-
formation which way be considered material to the inquiry.