Star. — London, England, 1819-08-05 00:00:00

. ii :1 1 I ~~f l if 1 ii l 1 :~ .* w E, in the good opinion of my friends, and on every oc casion had the satisfaction of knowing that my pro fessional services met the approbation of those who were capable of appreciating them. Judge then, Gentlemen, what must be my feelings at this. mo ment, when I am called upon to answer to a charge, which, if substantiated and brought home to me, Must for ever degrade me, not only in the scale of society, but debase me as a man. The charge itself is of a complicated nature—the guilt double—cold and heartless inhumanity towards those who never offended against me, together with the monstrous proposition to an honest mind to become the accom plice in crime. Did my reproving conscience but whisper me that there was the slightest ground for such an accusation, never should I have dared to have stood up in the face of so many honourable men, and attempted to palliate an offence of so dark a nature ; but hating myself as much as I should have been justly hated by others, I never again would have ventured to appear in society. But I now dare to present mysel f to you, in the perfect consciousness of my innocence, and deny most so lemnly the base intention that has been imputed to the letter written by me. I trust I shall be able to preserve a mind sufficiently clear and unruffled, so to detail to you the circumstances under which this let ter was written, that you may be able to arrive at a right and fair interpretation of that paper, which has given such offence. I feel confident that I am ad dressing myself to those whose candour will induce them to listen to me with patience ; whose penetri tion of mind will see each fact with clearness, and whose integrity of spirit will decide in justice. " In October 1817, I had four soldiers of the 64th Regiment under my care at Chatham ; they had for a consider ible length of time been afflicted with ophthalmia, but were rapidly improving. During a temporary absence of mine, they were removed from Chatham, by an order from the present Secretary at War, and were placed under the care of Sir William Adams, contrary to the usual rules of the service, and without the authority of the Commander in Chief. Remaining under his direction for some months, they were at length reported as fit for ser vice. They were then sent f in consequence of this report, to the Isle of Wight, on their way to join their Regiment at Gibraltar, and, on being inspected by the Medical Officeis there, were found to be unfit for , service. They were consequently sent to Chatham, preparatoi y to their appearing before the Chelsea Board. They arrived at Chatham, on the 11th of December last; but they wer e not taken into the Hospital, as they did not require medical treatment. On the I‘2.th of feinaaiy, I received a note from Mr. Reid (the Secretary to the Medical Board), apprising me that Corporal John Philips and Private John ryke, of the 64th Regiment, were expected from Chatham to pass the Chelsea Board. I was after wards desired by Dr. Gordon, the Professional As sistant to the Medical Board, not to take those men into the hospital, but to allow them to go before the Board at Chelsea. 1 was feather instructed to direct the attention of the Commissioners of Chelsea College' to the state of the eyes of those men, and to explain to them the nature of their cases. Thus, you will perceive, Gentlemen, that those very men had been patients of mine; that they had, as I humbly con ceived, been unfairly removed from under my care, and placed in the hands of Sir William Adams, an Annie Practitioner. ." They were likewise the only soldiers that had been thus abruptly taken from the supetintendance of the Army Medical Department, and consigned to the care of another. " It was then, and has since more than once been whispered, and insinuated, that this Gentleman had been able to effect what the Medical Officers of the Army could not accomplish. " It was soon afterwards that I wrote the letter that is now the subject of this prosecution—a private confidential letter, freely and carelessly written to 0 most intimate friend, with whom I had long corre sponded. I had no thought when writing to hint of disguising a feeling, or of coldly measuring the lan guage in which it was expressed. " I had been taught to think that letters were such sacred depositaries of a man's thoughts, that they never were to be violated, except under most impe rious circumstances. I have read of letters being thus intercepted and copied in a case of high treason, when rebellion was threatening the existence of the State, and when absolute necessity compelled the Government to resort to such means to save the eountry.—But I believe it to be somewhat new in the annals of jurisprudence, civil or military, that the mere scribbling of a private note to a friend, in a jo cular manner, should be deemed of such importance that the note should be intercepted and transcribed, and the writer of it arraigned to answer fur its con tents. I had always been led to suppose, that it was from the guilt or innocence of the mind that the act itself took its complexion ; but here a jest takes its station in the criminal code, and a smile itself is made the subject of prosecution. " If our private transitory feelings, breathed alone in the ear 'of friendship, are thus t 4 be dragged to light, false colouring lent them, and then to be brought against us as damning proofs of a guilty and nu-principled mind, I ask where exists the man who through life has been so coldly guarded in all his thoughts, words, and actions, as to say that he is safe from such a charge as is now preferred against me? No, no one is sate. There is an end at once to all confidence between man and man, and an utter an nihilation to the unrestrained intercourse of friend ship. But I inost solemnly, on my word of honour, do declare, that when I used those words, which have given such offence, I had no evil thought or wish upon the subject ; my only feeling, perhaps unguard edly expressed, being, that knowing these men did not requite treatment, I was desirous that Mr. Dease should not interfere with them, that when they came up before the Board they might be seen by the Board in their true light; and that when suffered to con duct,themselves as soldiers will do under ordinary circumstances, it might be evident that they were not fit for public service, as they had been reported. I was acting, I conceive, but fairly towards all parties, isk thus drawing the attention of the Commissioners of; the Chelsea College to the state of the eyes of those and it is within his Lordship's knowledge that oplaStadmic patients hoe been exhibited to him, both previously and subsequently to their undergoing surgical treatment by Sir William Adams, more par titularly when they had before been under the cure of Array Surgeoins. • 44 Andl do as unequivocally and as distinctly dis avow, and in terms as strong as language will allow me, repel the base, unmanly, and inhuman purpose that has been attributed to me, of coldly and delibe rately seeking to injure those, whose afflictions it was my duty to have relieved, and of insulting my friend, by asking him to become a participator in my guilt. If this letter was really interpreted as re plete with mischief, and was as abominable and as malevolent, to use the expressions of Messrs. Powell and Marshall, of the War-Office, why, I may be permitted to ask, was it allowed to proceed free on its destructive errand ? Why were weeks and weeks suffered to pass away, and no notice taken of it? It reached its point of destination, and no steps what ever were adopted to prevent its baneful influence, which will be proved in evidence. Lord Palmerston then, was convinced in his own mind that these was nothing serious or criminal in the letter, or he could not have suffered it, I repeat, to have proceeded to its destination, without giving directions to the Com mandant of Hospitals to prevent the mischief which has been since said to be likely to have accrued from it. What was its effect upon the man whom lam charged with intending and endeavouring to persuade to be guilty of a neglect of duty ? Ile read it in the very same spirit in which it was written ; he saw, that from its style, it was never my intention so grossly to insult him, as seriously to ask him to be come a villain. But this you shall hear from his own lips. You shall likewise hear what construction other respectable men, long acquainted with me, would have put upon it, had it been addressed to them. But had I ever entertained the design that has been imputed to me, can I be supposed to be so totally devoid of all sense, as to send a letter with such a tendency, open and undisguisedly, through the War-Office—to the very point of all others where detection was unavoidable, and punishment certain ? No man would have so acted were he not an absolute idiot, or from a consciousness that he intended no thing serious or criminal. When I was informed, after the lapse of some weeks, that a letter of mine. forwarded through the War-Otfice, had excited great displeasure, I immediately wrote to the Secre• tary at War, in the most respectful manner, request ing to be allowed an opportunity of explaining the obnoxious passages ; hut no answer whatever was re turned to this application. I feel I was undeserving of such treatment; and anxious to remove any sus picion that might attach itself to me, I waited on Sir 11. Torrens, and solicited an investigation into my conduct. I was referred to the Secretary at War, from which period nothing transpired till the 11th of May last; when, upon a motion of Mr. Grant's for the production of papers relating to the Ophthal mic Hospital, the Secreta ry at War took occasion to inveigh in the strongest terms against my conduct— reading to the House garbled extracts from my let ter, straining every passage to my disadvantage, and impressing the House with the idea that I had been guilty of every thing that was base and dishonour able. If at that moment it wai the intention of the . _ Secretary at War to put me on my trial, was it, I may ask, either fair or consistent u ith the first and commonest principle of justice, thus to inilaence men's minds, and prejudice the world against me ? And if he did not intend thus publicly arraigning me, was it, I ask, generous to seek to blast the repu tation of a man who had not the power of repelling the attack that was made upon him? Flom that moment, both publicly and privately, has my name been held up to censuie ; in the common journals my character has been assailed and my cause pre judged, and no means allowed me till this moment of repelling the insinuations that have been thrown out against me. By the delay that has taken place, in being permitted to clear my aspersed character, not only have some of my most serious engagements of life been blasted, but I have been deprived of the means of my defence ; General Officers under whom I have served, and who had expressed their readiness to conic forward, and bear testimony to my charac ter as an Officer and a man, have been obliged to leavi• the country ; yet still have I the satisfaction of having their sentiments under their own hands, and I feel justly proud in being able to lay before you such letters. I will take the liberty of reading to you a letter from—" Ellere Mr. Lindsay offered to read certain letters„ which, however, it was determined by the Court, should be afterwards given as evidence.] " Such are the feelings with which I have hitherto been received in the world by men of worth, integrity and rank (you will perceive that I here speak on the supposition that the letters I ‘‘ ish to introduce have already been read) ; and I trust by your judgment of this day, I may again be permitted to walk abroad in society with the same untarnished reputation I have hitherto enjoyed, and he again restored to the good opinion of mankind. If it should be thought that I have been too unguarded in any expressions I might have used in a private correspondence, I hope my length of service, the strong testimonies that you have heard and will hear to my character, what I have suffered in my mind from anxiety and suspense since first this matter was brought forward, and more particularly the absence of all criminal intention, will plead my excuse, and expiate the error of sending a private letter through a public channel. In your hands I now repose what is far dearer to me than life or fortune—my character. Nothing farther re mains to me but to thank you for the patient and impartial manner in which you have heard me,. and if, at any time, I have expressed myself too warmly, attribute it not, I beseech you, to disrespect, but to the anxious and agitated feelings that, in a moment like the present, press upon and almost overwhelm me. On your judgment I securely rest, confident as .1 I am that it will be the result of a candid inquiry, and founded on the strictest principles of justice." A number of letters were then put in and read.— One from Major General Sir Thomas Bradford con tained the following expressions : " I regret very much that my being obliged to leave Eng land will prevent my attending the Court Martial, to express personally what I most readily do here, the high sense I enter tain of your professional abilities, and of your conduct as a Gentleman." A letter from Sir Lowry. Cole spoke of the defen dant in these terms: " During the four years you were attached as Staff-Surgeon to the division I commanded in Spain and France, your ictlve attention to your professional duties, and Gentleman-like con duct, claimed my warmest regard and respect; and Ism sorry Ito understand that you should, from inadvertency, write asy thing to induce others to suppose you capable of acting contrary to your character and reputation.' One from Dr. Kenny, Director-General of Hospi tals, in Ireland, described the conduct of Mr. Lindsay during the time tlat he was on the Irish Establish ment, in nearly the same flattering terms ; as did one from Sir Jam es M'Grigor. A letter from Sir Wni. Williams certified that Mr. Lindsay had always been most gentleman-like in his manners, and as an Officer, he (Sir W. Williams) had had reason to admire hs humanity, when he was severely wounded at Fuentes d'llonores, but more especially he had had occasion to observe his zeal in the attendance which he gave to the many patients afflicted with the opthalmi a of the 13th Regiment. The following letter was then read from Colonel Gordon, of the sth Dragoon Guards: " Birmingham, July 24, 1819. " Dena T INDSAT-I shall not inquire for what purpose you are anxious to have ray opinion of your conduct whilst you se:rved in the .sth Dragoon Guards, and have only to hope, that the pleasure I feel in giving it may be augmented by hearing it can render you any service. " During the time you were in the sth Dragoon Guards, your conduct as an Officer and a Gentleman met with the highest a- 1 probation from every member of the corps. " In your situation as Surgeon of the Regiment, I Thel parti cular gratification in stating the very general approbation your unremitting attention to its duties always procured you, and assure you, I have frequently heard my pliant and much-la mentud friend, Sir William Ponsonby, speak in terms of high commendation of your zeal, humanity, and attention, particu larly after the battle of Salamanca, on which occasion he re ceived the most gratifying accounts of your exertions. " I beg to add, that I perfectly recollect, after the battle of Llerena, where you had a good deal of employment, hearing 'Major-General Le Marchant (who commanded our Brigade) speak in the most marked and handsome manner, in approbation at the unremitting attention and feeling you displayed towards the wounded on that occasion. " The approbation of the late Lieutenant-Colonel Prescott (who commanded the Regiment at the time of your conduct, both public and private, you obtained in the tullest extent. " Believe me, very sincerely yours, &c. "To O. Lindsay, Esq. S. S." - One dated Guernsey, from Major-General BAYL EY, contained the following expressions:— " In making you this communication, I cannot omit adding, that the professional knowledge of this Officer has proved of the greatest benefit since he has been here, not only to the Military of the Island, but to all classes suffering under complaints of the eye, to whom he has been most humane and indefatigaLle in giv ins his assistance. I may say, that many people owe the pre servation of their sight entirely to him." Mr. Dease being called, expressed a wish to state uninterruptedly what he knew of the two men, Phi lips and Prke, who were mentioned in the charge before the Court. In August 1817, he was ordered to Chatham to examine the eye.; of four men, of the 61th Regiment. and report upon their cases; he did so, and these four men were placed under the care of Sir William Adams, at York Hospital ; there they re mained for seven or eight months, when Philips and Pyke were reported as fit to do duty, and o:dered to join their regiment, while th(s other two were dis charged by the Chelsea Board as pensioners. Philips and l'yke were accordingly sent to their regiment at the Isle of Wiz) t, but there they were found unfit for duty, and being invalided were sent to the depot at Chatham. Upon their arrival at Chatham, he (the witness) found at Isis 11.2alth-invection that these men sequired no hoci,itstl treatment, and this wag enrolled in a book by his Assistant. Ile thou,Ot those proper cases to be shewn to the Commander-in-Chief, as they were the first cases taken out of a military Offi cer and plated under the care of a civilian (Sir Wil liam Adams). Therefore, he drew up a report of those 'cases, and forwarded it to the Army Medical Board. In consequence of this report, Mr. Lindsay was di rected to draw the attention of the Commissioners of Chelsea College to the state of those men's eyes. These men were afterwards discharged by the Chel sea Board as pensioners. At the time witness de cided that these men did not require hospital treat ment, and that nothing more could be done for them, as Sir Wm. Adams had already done all that was practicable, he had not received the letter alluded to from Mr. Lindsay. When he did receive it, his con struction of it was, that it was meant jocularly—that it was mere badinage.—Upon being asked by the Court how he could reconcile what he called the jocular meaning of the accused with his deliberate arrange ments to have the men alluded to so examined by the Chelsea Board, and to have the business managed with so much secrecy ? witness answered, that it ap peared Mr. Lindsay's object was, that the state of the men, upon:their arrival in town, should appear in their true colours; that their arrival should not be known to Sir William Adams, until they were examined by the Chelsea Board, as well as shewn to the Comman der in Chief and the Secretary at War. If the wit ness had conceived Mr. Lindsay's letter to bear the meaning imputed to it in the charge, he should have considered it as the greatest insult. The men alluded to were not under Isis controul at Chatham ; and therefore they might go about and drink like other soldiers. But he might have ordered them into the Hospital. Witness never returned any answer to the letter alluded to; nor had be, according to his recol lection, addressed any letter to Mr. Lindsay since that was received. The phrase of " a proper vascu lar cornea," used in the charge, he considered as a vulgar cant expression; but Mr. Lindsay's meaning in this passage he understood to be that the vascular cornea should be palpable to his Royal Highness the Commander in Chief and to the f.ecretary at War, in order that they might see the state of the disease.— All eyes that had been afflicted with the ophthalmia were subject to the vascular cornea, or redness, when any excess was indulged in or cold caught. Me dical examiners could see the disease without such vascularity, but by ordinary observers the disease would not be discovered without it. Hence he ap prehended that Mr. Lindsay's wish was, that the men alluded to should be brought to town without the knowledge of Sir W. Adams, who might put them into the Hospital, where, through two or three days' confinement and care, the redness would be removed. In point of fact, Sir William had these men after wards so placed in the Hospital, and the vascular cor nea was removed before these cases, were exhibited to 'the Commander-in-Chief. Mr. Lindsay's suggestion of secrecy to him, he understood to proceed from 'his knowledge that he (witness) occasionally corres ponded with Sir William Adam's Assistant. Sir J. M•Grigor, Drs. J. Forbes and Arbuthnot bore testimony to the character of Mr. Lindsay. Dr. Forbes also stated that upon seeing the letter from which the charge was extracted, had been quoted by Lord Palmerston in the House of Commons, he being stationed with Dr. Dease at Chatharn, assisted that Gentleman in looking for original of that letter, but could not find it. Colonel Christie, the Commander of the Invalids at Chatham, bore testimony to the character of ',1,. Lindsay ; stating also, that a Staff Surgeon controul over Invalid s wh o w ere not in Iluspiahad The defence being closed, and the DEpt:TY Jcnrt ADVOCATE declining to make any . i " were excluded, and the C o urt p rocee. ; c A i n ! I 6: ' d .5 liberation. Its decision is not likely to be m., k k lic for a month or five weeks. This trial appeared to excite consideralA as the Court was crowded during its contin 'IIIE EVENING :•‘TAK LI./NDON. '.., multsimy, ArGUST 5, ISM TUE FUNDS. PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT o> E Bank Stock 232 3 per Cent. Reduced 71!5 3 per Cent. Consols 70ni 71 3, 1 , per Cent. 801:1--4 ter Cent. 90114 5 per Cent. Navy Bank Long Annuities l9' Exchequer Bills (2d.) 3 1 2 pre. Omnium 31;A:- pre. Consols for Acct. 'Mil 'NI. We return this day to the subject of the disttes sa i the working classes, particularly in the Manufacturi l Districts ; and we do it with increasing contidme.~ not in the correctness, only, of the principle Vni c h we have beet pressing on the attew ion of the ma c for years, for of its truth a:id efficacy we haveln, been fully persuaded; but with increasing contidese in the impression which we have produced by oa perseverance, and in the final s ktory cf pliy; and moral truths over the prqf•ssession, piejuiik and error which has but too long held sway, not (31, in the minds of the selfish and covetous, but evet men otherwise well iaformed, and of whore hum. nity and justice it would be ctucl to entertain even suspicion. That, in a manufacturing cornmonity, the first leading principle which should guide every opera . . is, the maintenance of the workmen, by Nrhuseltho the fabric is prepared and finished for the marke,. one would think, self-evident, Were we tut come by the mi!.ery ~ ,•c we around us, to admit fact, that these valuahle labcnn-ers are air. utely duced to .t state of statvation—a state to ti, never could have been reduced, had not the his! mental principle to v,-hich we have alluded taxa sight of. Therefore, however obvious the princi. may be to cool and candid minds, dispo,ed to inv. tigate facts, and open to conviction, having this • deuce before us of the strong hold which optesi and, we assert, destructive principles have. obtaiv. on the public mind, it cannot but prove use press upon the consideration of all, the evil anal Jls• surdity of false commercial principles, by tlamis tenance of which Master Manufacturers are raged to run as rivals in a race in which the prize to be won by starving the workmen. Were any Miller whose physical power (his Ni stream) for keeping his machinery in motion, v only equal to the working of one pair of stones, endeavour to drive two pair with the same pm need we ask what would be he result ? or well to divert a part of the power to some other me would he still expect his mill-stones to grind same.quantity of corn ? The application is en!, We may talk as we will of our Machinery ; our r Mill-stones that grind all our fabrics into form; the market are our working classes, and the pho means by which they are kept in motion is the nance afforded to them, which is the real 11101 power. Reduce this below its proper ratio and immense machinery of our Commercial and Max facturing System must eventually cease to trove. For a time men may blind themselves so ccalplo as not to see this inevitable result, and this &cal circumstance which needs only to be put in a Frot point of view to remove the delusion. Where employer is permitted, without restraint, to ref: workmen's wages, even below the amoula rectri for absolute sustenance, when one man is vim a (that is, by starvation rendered unable to work,; .ll finds no difficulty, owing to the present evil s7stel to hire another to supply his place, and to be an out in his turn. Now let us substitute horses fore in our argument, and th'z'a ask, what would bey result malt were any man to work regularly cut ei!' horse the labour of sixteen hours a day, corn only sufficient for six Afarrs sustensuce, becal forsooth, the price at which he chooses to Eel work performed by his horse will not afford ts o corn? Every one can "give the answer: the must die ! and a new one must be found to 41 his place. But here comes the difference, axis one that greatly concerns the public. The me that kills his horse by over-labour, must piu into his own pocket for the money required to IN another : he cannot go into the next field and tit . horse tit for his purpose, which has been reverie expense of other people. But the wicked woad,' ' who kills his man Gil starvation, supplies his pN I a new one that has been reared at the expc!st i2f He is, by the prevalence of the present system , ally made, though he may not have yet percei vd . ' a participator in murder;—or, if the poet f'm creature does not absolutely die in his liancs, a • rubber, by sending the dying man to a WOrk l*li'l b a c , fed ileii t a th a e s c i x t p l e v n o s u e l d o f b o e th i e n rs a : w ny h pe i c rso h i n • s to o be twa., t ...'