The Sun.
London, England, 1832-11-06 00:00:00

John Davies." This man, John Davies, had
fired two pistols, and wounded a boy without
any provocation, in consequence of which out-
rage his windows were broken by the incensed
populace, a full hour before Mr. Thomas went
to the house for the purpose of apprehending
him. Davies, the perpetrator of this outrage,
is suffered to go at large, and the gentleman
who interfered to bring him to justice is treated
as a felon ! And now for the motive for this
flagrant departure from justice. The real crime
of Mr. Thomas is, the having called and taken
' the lead in the numerous public meetings which
have taken place in that spirited town, and in
the county of the same name, in favour of the
Refi►rm Bill, and the having, by his talents,
perseverance, and popularity, been mainly in-
strumental in securing beyond a doubt the return
to the new Parliament of excellent Reformers,
for both the Borough and County ; but, above
all, the having counselled John Jones, Esq., the
present Tory Member, to pledge himself to vote
for the Reform Bill in all its stages, without
which he had no chance of securing his election.
In an Address to the Electors of the County of
Carmarthen, and of the united Burghs of Car-
marthen and Llanelly, dated the 2d of Nov.,
Mr. Thomas thus expresses himself:—

" Electors of Carmaithenshire—l charge the Hon.
Col. Trevor with sanctioning or conniving at the pro-
ceedings against me. I can prove that the Staff of the
Militia, commanded by him, were examined at his Com-
mittee-room, and it is well known that three of the
Justices elected last Charter day are officers of his Staff;
and that the Mayor and the others are strenuous sup-
porters of his pretensions to represent you in Parliament.
The Gallant Colonel may affect to treat this charge with
contempt ; but until he disclaims it, I will repeat it in-
cessantly, and heard him at the hustings. Recollect that
all the votes of the Hon. Colonel during his Parliamentary
life for ten years were uniformly against the public welfare
—that he opposed the repeal of the Salt Tax, Working.
horse Tor, and all other Taxes—that he opposed the repeal
of the Test Act, and every other measure for extending the
rights of conscience to Dissenters of all classes—that he
and his Noble father have used all their influence to prevent
the erection of Dissenting Chapels, and annoy Dissenters
.—that Mr. Daniel Prytherch, the Chairman of his Central
Committee, has written the insolent letter to your land-
lords, urging them to compel you to vote for the enemy of
your rights and liberties.
" Electors of Carmarthen and Dannelly—To prove
that the present Member for Carmarthen is the prime
instigator of the charges against me, would be to insult
your understandings. The Mayor and six Justices are
notoriously appointed by him; and I challenge them to
deny that they have consulted him upon their recent pro-
ceedings. The votes of this political weathercock against
Reform last year, his subsequent hypocritical and com-
pulsory votes in favour of that great measure—his tyran-
nous indictments, wart ants, and committals, are fresh in
your memory. He has now thrown off even the mask of
Reform, and supports with all his might the consistent
Anti-Reformer revor."

One purpose was answered by the kidnapping
of Mr. Thomas. He had been appointed by
the Reform candidates for the borough and
county to travel with the registering Barristers
on their circuit, and support the objections to
the Tory voters :

" To my particular care (he says) was confided the ob-
jections which I suggested to the Laugharne and S lint
Clears Burgesses in the interest of Colonel Trevor and Sir
James—the notices were given by me, and previous to my
detention here, I had prepared myself with authorities and
cases to argue the objections, which I was obliged to hand
to a professional friend, who, in consequence, obtained
some share of the credit which would otherwise have been
mine exclusively. The result, lam happy to add, is, that.
not fewer than fifty-one voters of the above class have
ben !oat to the Tory candidate, besides many others who
have been disfranchised by my sole suggestion. This is
the head and front of my offending.' "
The Welshman of October 26, in commenting
on this strange arrest, observes :

‘. The sensation produced in this town by the commit-
ment to prison, on a charge of felony, of our truly re-
spected townsman, G. Thomas, Esq., is indescribable.
But one feeling operates, and one sentiment expressed, re-
lative to the harsh measures adopted by our authorities
against a most active and useful member of society. Last
week, at the very time that he was engaged, with his
well known ability, urging and substantiating objections
to the claims of Tories to the elective franchise, the Magis-
trates were assembled in the Committee-room of the Tory
candidate, hearing witnesses against him, and such witnesses,
too, if our information as to the individuals be correct, as
we would not pollute our columns by characterising. Who
these witnesses are, is left to mere conjecture to discover,
and even what they have deposed against him is cautiously
concealed. No opportunity was afforded him of bringing
forward counter testimony, with which, of the most re-
spectable kind, he is abundantly furnished ; and yet, by
means like this, is a gentleman of the first standing in his
profession, and the father of 11 children, dragged from
his home. and immured in a filthy prison. We admit
that the Tory cause will be benefited by the proceed•
ing, as his ex,.ensive legal knowledge would have
thinned the ranks of the supporters of this party, had
bail to any amount been accepted, and he been
allowed to accompany the Barristers now on this
Circuit to settle the franchise. Public disapprobation
of the severity of those measures has been expressed during
the week in many ways, one of which meets our entire ap-
probation. A memorial, signed by almost every respecta-
ble person in the town, has been forwarded to Lord Mel-
bourne, praying the Government to institute an investiga-
tion into all facts connected with and resulting from the
riots. In this step we entirely concur, as we have no
doubt that it will receive suitable attention, and that jus-
tice will be thereby fully attained. The cause of the
Corporation patty and their Members is completely ruined
—almost every independent man in the town, who here-
tofore supported Mr. Jone,, has voluntarily joined the li-
beral party, and thus we have strong grounds for hoping
that we shall be spared the evils of a contes'e'l election.
m ijority of our popular candidate, the Hon. W. H.
Yelverten, is immense, and his return of course unques-
tionable. It is some satisfaction to witness good thus is-
suing from evil."

The same Paper of Friday last gives an ac-
count of the rejoicings in Carmarthen at the
liberation of Mr. Thomas and a Mr. Henry
Moss front prison :

'` Did we not (says the Welshman) so deeply partici-
pate in them, we could have envied the feelings of these
gentlemen on yesterday morning, when, surrounded by all
the respectability, and nine-tenths of the population of
Carmarthen, assemliled without notice or design, they lest
the walls of a prison, and were once more restored to the
embraces of their respective families and the comforts of
their own fire-sides. The history of Carmarthen presents
not so illustrious an instance of popular feeling spontaneously
excited, and bursting forth in such p.--; feet and general
unanimity ; and the occasion furnished these much-
esteemed gentlemen a rich reward for all the inconvenience
and annoyance they may have suffered from the puny
despotism of their malevolent persecutors. As it
was generally known that application had b. en
mole to the Court of King's Bench to receive bail, and
that the case would be heard on Tuesday, a large number
of persons met together in Spilman-street, on the follow-
ing night, awaiting the arrival of the London coaches.
Their hopes and expectations were both realized—the
news arrived and was quickly communicated, that b til
;vas accepted, and that the prisoners would be liberated as
soonas some necessary forms could be gone through;
t}lese,
however, it was understood, would cause a delay of
nearly forty-eight hours. Notwithstanding this, on the
ese,
following (Thursday) morning, crewels from all quarters
were seen hastening towards the prison—women carrying
saw dust with which to sprinkle the streets—boys and
men, with laurel branches, some of which they had al-
ready twined into arches or suspended over the street
from opposite windows—gentlemen with expressions of
honest joy and exultation, hurrying to the scene to con.
gratulate the prisoners, and to accompany them home."
The Hon. Colonel Trevor and Jahn Jones,
Esq., have Wien into the pit, which, through the
instrumentality of the Magistrates their crea-
tures, they had dug for Mr. Thomas. But what
a state of things is that which we have unfolded
And though the Magistracy may not everywhere
be disposed to proceed to such extremities in
furtherance of Tory interests as in this case, vet
they are everywhere opposed to the people, aura
possess this enormous power of harassing and
persecuting all those who support the people.