tbe Vrobincts.
Another Chartist meeting at Devizes has produced another riot. It was held on Monday ; Messrs. Vincent, Roberts, and Carrier, being the persons chiefly employed in the affair. It was reported that the 'Chartists intended to arm themselves ; and the High Sheriff and Magis- trates thought it necessary to swear in many special constables. Three troops of the Twelfth Regiment of Lancers were also under arms near
;Devizes during the whole of the day. A correspondent of the Globe, whose statement corresponds in all important particulars with that in the Standard and other papers, gives the following details— "Prom eight till three o'clock, great numbers of strangers entered the town in small groups ; but precisely at three p.m. a body of about 1,500 of the 2 Chartists, preceded by a baud of music, and headed by Roberts, Vincent, and Carrier, entered the ;own from the Bath road. They had in their procession the Union jack, with a great number of flags and banners bearing various in- . scriptions on them. After halting in the market-place' into which a waggon nu drawn for the speakers to address the multitude from, the band began ,playing ; and the sight was a very animated one, there being at this time about 6,000 persons in the market-place. "Just as one of the speakers was preparing to address his followers, one of the inscriptions on a green banner caught the attention of the populace; and as it was not in accordance with their taste, an attempt to seize it, which -proved successful, was made. This was a signal for the commencement of hostilities between the Chartists and their opponents ; and a most violent struggle ensued ; which, after about fifteen minutes' hard fighting, ended in the total rout of the Chartists leaving their flags, banners, and. waggon in the lands of their assailants. The waggon, decorated with flags, &c. was drawn round the town hi triumph, and was then broken into pieces, which were ear- ned away as trophies of victory ; the bells ringing merrily during the time. The Chartists fled in every direction ; the principal performers taking refuge at the Carrier's Arms, a low beer-house ; which was soon surrounded, and which, had • it not been for the High Sheriff and Magistrates, would probably have been pulled down. Roberts and his friends were escorted out of the town under the protection of a large body of constables, having first promised never to enter the town again."
There were many broken heads, but no very serious wounds.
We were last week informed by a Chartist, that he was one of about seven hundred in the immediate neighbourhood of Halifax who were furnished with muskets ; many of whom make a public boast that they will use their arms against anyone who may attempt to take them. In addition to this, we 1:a ve been informed of a meeting held at a public- house in Midgley, at which a number of fire-arms were ordered. Some other alleged proceedings of the Chartists have been mentioned to us, but not on sufficient authority to guarantee our public mention of them. Guardian.
'• We have the best information for stating i that pikes and other Chart- ist weapons are made during the night n an adjoining township of ',Stockport. That the Police may not be totally ignorant of the pro- ceedings, we have ventured to state the fact, in the hope that when the .` time arrives for a seizure, the Police may have their eyes wide open.— - ,Stockport Advertiser.
• At the Bolton Petty Sessions, on Monday last, Mr. Tickle, constable of Kearsley, applied to Mr. Lomax for advice ; stating, that every fort- night, on the pay-day, a man regularly attended that township with a sack full of pikes, which he hawked about for sale. Mr. Lomax said, that it entirely depended upon -what the man stated in offering them : if they were sold for an unlawful purpose, then the Magistrates would have jurisdiction' but not otherwise. Mr. Tickle replied, that he was not aware of what the man stated, but that he was quite certain that they were regularly sold.—Bolton Chronicle.
Previous page
