The Sun.
London, England, 1835-06-02 00:00:00

and the mob still persisted in their attacks, at times retreating to
the church-yard close to the market-place, to which the soldiers
could not for some time get access, and advancing again. Mr. Hill,
who was sent for, and arrived at about eleven, states, that many
discharges of fire-arms were heard by himself and others in different
parts of the town, when all the soldiers were assembled in the mar-
ket-place, but whether ball was fired by the mob he does not know ;
neither is he aware of any of the soldiers having been fired at that
ni*.ht. At midnight another troop of horse arrived from Stour-
bridge, ten miles off, and Mr. Hill took six or seven special consta-
bles and these mounted soldiers, and visited all the outskirts of the
town, clearing such public-houses and beer-shops as were open ;
but the soldiers took no part in this proceeding, only remaining in
the street to protect the magistrates and constables, in case of any
sudden attack.

"At about two o'clock on Thursday morning the town was quiet,
and all the troops were sent to their quarters except sixteen, who
remained on duty all night. . _

" Four persons have been ascertained to have received gunshot
wounds, one of them in the knee, which rendered amputation ne-
cessary ' • and we believe one man is also wounded, not severely, by
a sword: none are yet dead.
" We should be doing injustice to the officers and soldiers em-
ployed, if we did not express our admiration of their steadiness and
forbearance under circumstances of no ordinary provocation : only
one example occurred to the contrary, in a soldier who was found
to be drunk, and placed in confinement early in the evening. Seve-
ral swords were broken from the soldiers striking with the flat sides
of them.

" We have not been able to ascertain how many shots were fired,
but as the soldiers have a regular number of cartridges given out to
them, the report of the officers to the Commander-in-Chief will
doubtless furnish that particular.
" A statement has appeared in the London papers, purporting to
be a declaration of certain persons before Mr. Roaf, a Dissenting
minister, which is very much at variance with the truth. Two of
the parties—one of them a special constable—have been heard to
say before the mob, that they (the snob) must be taught to fire and
mark their men. It is, we believe, ascertained that a bullet, stated
to have been fired into a house in Queen-street, has been found,
on examination, to be too large for the soldier's fire-arms. This
requires no comment.
" A report of the conduct of the mob, which rendered it neces-
sary for Mr. Briscoe, another magistrate, to read the Riot Act on
Thursday and Friday nights, happily without the soldiers being
called upon to act, has, doubtless, been submitted to your Lord-
ship, and we are happy to add, that this night has passed off with-
out disturbance. (Eleven, p.m. )
" We have the honour to remain
" Your Lordship's obedient servants,
"J. CLARE.
" Wolverhampton, May 30." " HENRY HILL.
He would take leave to observe with regard to the document
he had just read, tbat he knew the gentlemen who had signed
it, both of whom were gentlemen of unimpeachable honour,
and incapable of the slightest deviation from truth. They
had both acted as magistrates for the district many years,
Mr. Clare having served in that capacity for no less than 40
years, and Mr. Hill having also been a most valuable and
active magistrate for a considerable period. He (Mr.
Forster) could state of his own knowledge, that during the
whole period of their service they had discharged their magis-
terial duties with so much benefit to the country, with so much
credit to themselves, and, what was more unusual, with so
much popularity, that he was certain any reflection on their
conduct would occasion the greatest surprise through the
whole &strict. He had seen that day an individual from
Wolverhampton who had assured him that the caution of the
magistrates, and the forbearance of the military were beyond
all praise. He had no knowledge of the circumstances
that occurred at the recent election beyond the representa-
tions made to him, having been in London the whole time ;
but he knew, from the immense extent of the population and
the peculiarity of their character, that when they were once
roused to acts of insubordination and violence, if they were
not met by promptitude and energy on the part of the ma-
gistrates, scenes might be apprehended which would cause
the stoutest heard to shudder.—( Hear.) His Hon. Colleague
had alluded to what had taken place at his election. He
held in his hand a letter written by a former representative of
the borough (as we understood), Mr. W. Whitmore, calling
upon the magistrates to protect the peace of the town by
calling in the aid of the military; stating that the voters
could not go to the poll, such was the violence of the mob ;
that several of his friends were severely injured, and that he
feared, had he ventured to appear in public, his own life
would have been sacrificed to their fury.—( Hear, hear. )
He mentioned this circumstance to show that even the re-
forming candidates were occasionally exposed to the ex-
cesses of the population. This being the case, he again
contended that vigour and promptitude of decision were abso-
lutely and indispensably necessary. Had the unhappy and
misguided persons who fired the streets of Bristol attended to
the King's Proclamation, and returned peaceably to their
homes, they would never have received the injuries under
which they were now suffering, and . under which they would
probably languish to the end of their lives.—( Hear.) He had
heard Mr. Whitmore state that if the military had not been
called out at his election, the scenes of Bristol would have
been re-enacted at Wolverhampton.—( Cheers.) The energy
and promptitude of the magistracy of the district, however,
had happily prevented the repetition of those scenes of devasta-
tion and bloodshed which more supine conduct would certainly
have occasioned.—( Cheers. )
Mr. VI L LIE RS begged to remind the House and the Hon.
Gentleman who had just sat down, that he had expressly said,
that the difference between the statements that had been made,
and the little reliance to be placed upon them, were the rea-
sons which rendered him especially anxious for inquiry.
Sir JOHN WROTTE SLE Y hoped that the House would
pardon him, if, placed in the situation in which he stood, he
ventured to trespass on their attention for a very few moments.
He had seen various statements of the transaction in the news-
papers, but he had every reason to believe that the account he
had received was a fair and impartial one. In the first place it
was highly satisfactory to know that no lives were lost ; and
although they had unfortunately no security for the same re-
sult happening on any future occasion of a similar description,
they had the satisfaction of knowing also that the laws of this
country provided a sufficient and severe punishment for
those by whose negligence or misconduct any fatal con-
sequences were produced. He felt considerable difficulty
and much pain in addressing the House upon this subject.
He had determined not to bring the question forward at
all if his Noble Friend had—as he thought he ought to have
done—sent down one or two impartial persons of known re-
spectability to investigate the whole circumstances of the case.
--(Cheers.) This, it appeared to him, would have been the
proper course; and had such a course been pursued, no power
on earth should have induced him to bring the question under
the consideration of the House.—( Renewed cheering.) To
his great regret, however, his Noble Friend had not done so.
He had said, it was true, that he would lay all the statements
before the House, and take any other steps that might be ne-
cessary ; but knowing the sentiments which existed in the
country upon the subject, he ( Sir John Wrottesley) begged to
tell the Noble Lord that such a course would not give satis-
faction to the people.—(Cheers.) He must tell him that it
was of the utmost importance that some persons vested with
very high authority should be sent down by Government to
investigate the case ; for such was the state of excitement
which prevailed, that if the Government did not do that which
he considered was no more than an act of justice, he could
not answer for the consequences.--(Renewed cheering.) He
had received a letter upon the subject, which the indulgence
of the House would permit him to read, and to make a few
comments on. The first part contained a statement nearly
similar to that which had been just made by his Noble
Friend ; but having disposed of that part of the time
during which the military were under the superintend-
ence of the Magistrates, it proceeded thus :—" Thus far
I think there can be no real question ; but what followed
certainly has surprised me. It seems that for an hour or two
afterwards the soldiers rode two or three together up and
down the streets, and occasionally fired at random, or up
entries, by which a few persons were wounded, and it is as-
tonishing that so few were hurt. All the rest is matter of
detail, which will no doubt be carefully investigated; but I
really believe that the whole question turns upon what was
done after the mob left the Market-place."—(Hear,-hear. )
He had known the town of Wolverhampton long ; he had had
the honour of being educated there, and had acted in the
capacity of a magistrate of the district for no less than forty
years. He had been concerned in the greater part of the riots
that had taken place there.—(Loud laughter.) He should
have said he had been concerned in the suppression of the riots,
and it was matter of the greatest satisfaction to him that during
the whole of that time no property was ever lost, nor life in
the smallest degree endangered.—(Cheers.) He therefore
hoped he might be permitted to state what in his opinion was
the duty of the soldiery under such circumstances. All he
asked for was investigation. If it were true that an officer
had allowed his men, under feelings of strollg excitement and
irritation, to separate into small parties, and go armed and
provided with ammunition into different streets, where they
were not under his immediate superintendence, he grossly
misconducted himself, and was guilty of a dereliction of duty.
—( Hear.) He spoke in the presence of several General-Offi-
cers, and he ventured to say that not one of them would con-
tradict the opinion he had just expressed.. He recollected one
case perfectly well in which he, as a magistrate, had considered
it necessary to call in the aid of a troop of Light Dragoons,
who were quartered near. He saw that it was highly desir-
able not to leave a particular place unguarded, and he begged
the officer to allow a mere patrol to accompacy him to exa-
mine the state of the spot. His reply was, as he thought, a
most proper one. " Sir," said he, "my orders are, not to
allow my men to separate : so long as they are under my
personal superintendance I can be responsible for them ; but
the moment they separate, the control I possess over their
actions is gone." He thought this the conduct of a prudent
and discreet officer, and he mentioned the circumstance now
in support of his view of the case—(Hear, hear.) All he
wanted was investigation, and immediate investigation. He
should not be satisfied with the investigation of a military
officer alone. If what he had heard were true, the inves-
tigation of a general officer was considered by no means
satisfactory.—( Loud cheers.) He advocated immediate and
searching inquiry, because he was decidedly of opinion
that in the present case there were good grounds for de-
manding it. No man regarded the army with higher es-
teem than he did ; but when statements of this sort were
circulated, and believed by most respectable persons, he
thought it due to the military themselves, he thought it due to
the Government, he thought it due to every person concerned,
that they should have an investigation conducted by persons
whose impartiality could not be doubted, and whose character
would place them beyond suspicion.-.--(Loud cheers.)

Lord JOHN RUSSELL —After what has fallen from my
Hon, Friend who has just sat down, I wish to address a few
words to the• House. The House will recollect that I said
just now that I had no objection to an inquiry into these
transactions ; that, on the contrary, I wished for the fullest
and most impartial inquiry.--( Hear.) My only objection to
the inquiry proposed by the Hon. Member for Wolver-
hampton was, that a person sent down by Government to for-
ward an inquiry on the spot could have no proper authority to
compel persons to come before him other than those who were