The Sun.
London, England, 1835-06-10 00:00:00

RIOTS AT WOLVERHAMPTON

(From a Morning Paper.)
MONDAY EVENING, JUNE B.—The Rev. Mr. Roaf and
the gentlemen who are acting with him, again assembled
this morning at the Peacock, and Mr. Roaf stated, that in
reply to the letter which on Friday last he had addressed to
Lord John Russell, complaining of the conduct of Sir
Frederick Roe in refusing to admit reporters, he had re-
ceived the following :

" Whitehall, June 6, 1835

" Sin—l am directed by Lord John Russell to acknowledge
the receipt of your letter of the sth instant, with its inclosures,
and to inform you that Lord John Russell has made a commu-
nication to Sir F. A. Roe upon the subject to which that
letter refers. .

" I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
" S. M PHILLIPS

" Rev. J. Roaf, Wolverhampton."
A discussion ensued as to what steps should now be
taken, when it was determined to send the following com-
munication to Sir Frederick Roe :
" Peacock Inn, June 8, 1835.
" SIR-I feel it to be my duty to inform you that on Friday
last, I forwarded to Lord John Russell a copy of the cor-
respondence with which you had honoured me. In reply, I
have received this morning a letter, signed S. M. Phillips, to
the following effect :
(Here follows the letter given above.)
" I now, Sir, most respectfully beg to ask whether you
have seen occasion to revise your first arrangement as to the
mode of conducting the examination, and if you have, at what
hour you will be ready to see the persons whose statements
have been taken down by my friends.
" I beg to assure you, Sir, that my only reason for thus
applying to you is the wish of several gentlemen to return to
their private avocations till some opportunity arises for their
actively promoting the purposes of your commission.
" I have the honour to be, Sir,
" Your most obedient humble servant,
" To Sir F. A. Roe. " J. ROAF."
The messenger who took this letter quickly returned
from the Swan (where Sir F. Roe is conducting the in-
quiry), and said that Sir Frederick was gone out, and that
the investigation was suspended for to-day. From infor-
mation which I have been able to glean, I believe it will
be found that Lord John Russell has sent to Sir Frederick
Roe requesting that the investigation may be open to the
public press at the least, and that Sir Frederick has writ-
ten to Lord John to remonstrate, and has determined not
to proceed until he again hears from the Home Office,
which it is expected will be to-morrow morning. Some
persons who know Sir Frederick fully expect that if Lord
John Russell insists upon an open inquiry, he will throw
up the Commission and return to London. I can scarcely
think, however, that this will be the case. The principal
witnesses who lutve been examined are the Magistrates.
the High Constable, and several warm partisans of Sir
Francis Goodricke and members of his Election Com-
mittee ; and it is said that when the examination is re-
sumed, the assistant constables and watchmen will be exa-
mined, which will close the case on the part of those who
state there was a riot, and defend the conduct of the mili-
tary. To day, as on Saturday, numbers of people have at-
tended to volunteer their evidence before an open court,
many of them persons of great respectability, who can de•
pose to facts of a very important nature, and which,
ii
proved on oath, certainly inculpate the authorities, and prove
that the military acted in an illegal, wanton, and cruel man-
ner. I abstain from details, though lam in possession of
them, because, in all probability; I shall be enabled in my
next, to send them in an official form. I believe I stated
in my communication on Saturday, that much jealousy and
dissatisfaction had been created in the minds of the inha-
bitants by Sir F. Roe's taking up his quarters at the Swan,
which is the head Tory house, the place of meeting of Sir
F. Goodricke's committee, and a sort of rendezvous of his
partisans. This dissatisfaction is, however, increased to-
day tenfold, on learning that Sir Frederick has gone to
spend the day at Chillington, with Mr. Gifford, the seconder
of Sir F. Goodricke's nomination at the late election, and
the head of his committee. To say the least of it, this is a
most ill-advisd step, and ought to have been avoided, for
it necessarily places the Commissioner in a most unfavour-
able light with the public, who, having lost their confi-
dence in him, will now watch all his proceedings with
the utmost jealousy. Up to the hour at which 1 write,
6 o'clock, no answer has been returned to Mr. Roars letter.
ntil

LONDON AND GREENWICH RAlLWAY•_Yester-
day a number of Noblemen and Gentlemen, Shareholders and
Directors of this undertaking, met on the works near the Blue
Anchor-road, to witness the experimental running of the Com-
pany's engine, the " Royal William." A distance of one mile
was performed in about four minutes, in the most beautiful
manner. A glass of water, filled to the brim, was placed by
a highly scientific Nobleman then present on the block holding
the rail, in order to ascertain the degree of vibration, when the
engine, with the tender with water and coals, and several pas-
sengers, weighing at least fourteen tons, passed along. Not
a drop of water was spilt, nor was any vibration perceptible.
These persons who stood under the arches when the engine
passed over, were astonished to find that the noise was no
greater than that which would be occasioned by the passing of
a hackney-coach in the street. We understand that similar
experiments will continue to be made daily.