The Statesman. — London, England, 1810-04-04 00:00:00

goanti y of the evidence given by the different Officers of the ship on the trial, and made slight imineets in explanation as he went along.]— Every thing, said he, in this evidence oppresses the mind. It is dreadful to think that such acts can result from putting authority into unfit hands; yet ties man was raised to a higher rank. I must suppose, fur the honour of human nature, that his offence was net fully known. [Hear, hear ! from the Treasury bench.] ‘Vhitt must have been the thought of that wretched man, much snore wretched than the being whom he had crush. while he knew that he was languishing without food or water, without clothing or shelter, in a di -mate fatal to life! No—this crime must not pass Away : this was no question of political interests —nothing on which wise or good men might disa gree; it was the cause of the seaman and the sol. Bier ; it was his cause ; it was their's ; it was the cause of all—the cause of Justice—the cause of Nature, that sacred and holy sensibility, whose movines cannot be checked without a crime. It now remained with the House to consider whether the offence, of which a mere outline had been de. tailed, was not one which ought to be prosecuted by the Law Of f icers of the Crown. The lion.. Baronet concluded a speech of great eloquence and power, by moving, 66 That a Committee be ap. poiuted to take into consideration the Papers rela tive to Captain Lake's Triat, autl report upon the same." 'rhea CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER rose, not to repress any of the feelings of bison very which the Honourable Baronet had evinced; be merely wished to submit to the House one ques. tion, namely, whether there was any practicable utility in the appointment of a Committee? He wished to assume all the propositions which had been laid down by the lion. Baronet except one, which was the evidence of his having committed a murder. Captain Lake effete to have known that the island s eas uninhabited; there was little shade betwe, is the belief and disbelief of its being so. One thing at least was evident, that it was an act of the wettest cruelty and wantonness. He admit ted, that the decision of the Court amounted only to finding him guilty of a misdemeanour, on the supposition of his being pied by a Jury ; and if it appearetein evidence, that he was guilty of thein. tention,without completing his purposc,such would be the decision. He trusted the House would not so far mistake the nature of the law, that after an in. ' fiery already decided, they should proceed to in stitute another. On this case a Court-Martial ha egiven its verdict, and had inflicted the severest punishment which could be iallicted for such an olTence. if it was the opinion of the House that this punishment was slot a slight one, what octa. sion was there for its going into a Committee ? From what fell from. the. Hoe. Baronet, he seemed to theik that the man lost his life in consequence of being left- on the island. This might be the case;' but, in support of such an assertion, no proof can be found on evidence. The paragraph its the American Neespaper had been mentioned; he perfectly agreed that it was not quite sufficient proof of the existence of thc unit appy individual; but, in the case of common law, it should be re. collected, that on a prosecution, 110 one can be timid guilty of murder, .without a- positive proof of the fact ; without it, lie would positively assert, no Judgelould allow a Jury to convict. There , wait no ground whatever for instituting a trial for murder; the evideace which. had been adduced would retli._r secure an acquittal than a condemag. tine ; if the carcase, or any remains had heir found, then such a trial might with more safety be instituted. [Hear, heart] He bad no.objection to en inquiry by CoMmittee, if throtigh it any ' further proof could be obtained. 110 did not think the House should convert its Committee into a Grand Jury. The preferable mode of pro. c,exling would be to direct the Attorney-General to prosecute. if Jefierics should ever return, he might indict Capt. Lake, and obtain damages for the losses he had sustained. The lion. Baronet bad adverted to abuses relative to the management of West India Stores ; he did not think it proper to blend different proceedings, the moreespecially as an inquiry into this circumstance had already been instituted. Hu hoped the Hon. Baronet would consider these circumstances, and con., eluded by saying, that ho felt it his duty to vote against the Motion. Mr. WHITBREAD said, that the Right Hon. Gentleman appeared to have forgotten that the motion of the lion. Baronet went farther than the mere case of 'Capt. Lake, and that a part it it was, that those papers should be laid before thee Committee to report upon them. He should wish' very much to know whether the Admiralty had taken any step with respect to Sir Alex. Coch. rane, whose case appeared to him to be folly, as important as that of Capt. Lake. The Hop. Ba. route (Sir F. Burdett) had stated the case as re. spewing Capt. Lake with the greatest temperance. soul moderation, and had not sought in any manner ti aggravate it. His simple statement of thecae, had made a considerable impression on the Ilona; and if tiley thought the cruelty of Capt. Lake to be so great in sending a man on ihore- on an island: which he did not know whether it was inhabited or not, what would the (louse think of Sir A. Cochrane, who, knowing that the island was ewe iehabiteil, still conceived that a simple admonition to Captain Lake was punishment enough for'such ettresee cruelty ? The responsibility extended thrunghout the whole line of the service; and the Admiral, who conceived that such a crime ought to pass unpunished, was himself-deeply res. ponsible. The Admiral appeared to him to have entirely deserted his duty, when, kneeing this transaction, he. allowed Captain Lake to lie pro. :noted, and given a ship el higher rank than he had before. He, therefore, thought that the Admi: rally would not do its duty unless they were to order some Proceedings 'against Sir A. * Cochrane. The Right Honourable Gentleman (Mr. Perceval) bad spoken with musty proper feeling upon the prawn' question ; but he still doubted much tele. thew a man tried once before a Coureenartial, eiuelfl be tried 'pia at law for this same offence. Te e sentence was certainly eery lenient; and be roust ally, that there were often acquittals end . WficliOcie ilia Vcrr 414 11 t95t 4t which nu chock, S E/Te# ., :A • A►i -• , • diVr '~' r -.. V . TH STATZSMAN. ing to humanity. The question was now, however, whether Captain Lake could be still ! tried upon the evidence before the House for the arimrof murder. If he were upou'a Grand Jury, and were to determine upon his oath on the cvi. denee now before the House to support an indict. ment.of murder, be must upon his oath say, 4g no true bill." It he were on a petty Jury, and such evidence .was laid before him, he must say " not guilty." He did not think it had been proved that Captain I. ske knew the island to be uninha. bited ; for if he had, there would be no use in marking the word " thief" on the back of the man. It appeared, however, to him that the search upon the island was not satisfactory. It was extraordinary that on the first search nothing was found ; and it was on thi second, when they brought guns with them to shoot birds, that they did find something. They found the handle of a tomahawk, or hatchet, and part of a pair of trowsers, such as were given out for the Navy. Others said that it was not a part of a hatchet that ever belonged to the ship, nor even the trowsers. If so, it would appear that the island had some other inha. bitant. There was no direct evidence, however, of its having been at any time inhabited ; and it was merely a report which stated that the French sometimes came there when they were employed in the turtle fishery. On this evidence he thought no prosecution could be ordered ; but still he thought that otlscr.witnesses ought to be examined, and par ticularly Lieutenaht Maule and Mr.Winsor. The Rt. Hon. Gentlemea l eppeared to consider that the conduct of Sir A. Cochraau was extenuated by his believing that thCinan had got to America. He ought not, however, to have been satisfied with this account, which was only a hearsay of a hear. say. It appeared to him, that even now it was the duty of the Admiralty to order a more strict and diligent search of the island, for the body of this sailor. It had been stated by the Honourable Baronet, and deserved to be stated over and over again, that this search was ordered to be made by Captain Lake himself, and'those Officers who had assisted in carrying into execution his most inhuman orders. The Right Honourable Gen. tleman (Mr. Pcrceval) had stated it as a dreadful case, supposing a trial was ordered, and an acquittal obtained on the imperfect evidence which is now possessed, ant) afterwards proofs shoulli appear of the murder having been completed, and the man being dead: He should put another case, arel ask, how much more shocking would it be, if, upon such evidence, Captain Lake should be convicted, and that it should afterwards turn out that the man supposed to bu murdered was still alive He thought it better that ten thousand guilty should escape than one innocent man suffer. The House should, however, steer clear of the peo. bability of either of those cases occerring. If upon more accurate search, the remains of this man should be found on the island of Sombrero, then as a Grand' Juror he would find a true bill. He saw no reason why the House should not address the King to direct the °Seers on those.stations to make the most accurate search for his remains, and also use all means to ascertain •whfther he-be alive or not. This inquiry would be. most interesting to the family of Captain Lake, to the country, and •to the 'cause of huseanity. If he should be rowel* to be alive, the House weeld be relieved from that horror which they must now feel whenever the subject is mentioned. He would beg leave to suggest to the Hon. Baronet whether an Address to ,his Majesty would nut, fur the tomes he kid stated, be preferable to a Committee of the House, who could not at pre sent recommend any other trial.' He believed it would be agreed, on all sides of the House, that a case of more horrible cruelty could hardly be conceived. He had heard that sailors often find the approach of night dreadful 'when their ship is sailing alone through unknown seas; but what must have been the feelings of this unfortu nate man, when, on the apprpach of eight, he was left without provisions or without clothes alone on a desolate island? What must have been his emotions when he saw the boat, which had Put him upon the shore, push back again, without him, to the ship, and when he saw the ship sailing away, and leaving him a prey to whatever ima gination can conceive most horrible? It required no colouring to make such a case as this most impressive. Whoever could conceive what must have been the feelings of the sailor who was so de serted and exposed, must justly appreciate the ex. tent of that cruelty in which those savage orders originated. Mr. STEPHEN confessed, that his other avo cations had prevented him from perusing the Mi nutes of the Court Martial, or making himself sufficiently master of the case. When he heard, however, of this Island of Sombrero, he could nut avoid rising to 'elate, that he had some geo graphical knowledge of that island,' hicteather Members had not an equal • opportunity of ob. taming. He had sailed by that island', and from his recollection of it, he did not conceive it possible that any Officer could have landed a man there without intending to commit a mur. der, and he had no doubt but that the murder was completed. If he were on a Grand Jury, he would not hesitate to And a truc bill; or if he were on a Petty Jury, he should no more hesitate to say guilty, than he would to pronounce it murder, if a man was to be let down into an un. frequeuted coal-pit, and left there to perish. It was a flat, sandy island, and only frequented by sea.fowl ; nor was there any thing on the Island that 'could induce any person to land on it, ei cept to get sea.eggs. He supposed that this island was never trodden by human foot more than three or four times iss the yeir. lie had heard that it had no fresh water, and he thought it was impos sible that it could have any. He was thereforei sufficiently convinced in his own mind that Ole man must hare perished; but if any propositlwe was made which could lead to a further investille; don of this case, it should have his decided slap. port. Lord FOLKESTONE agreed with the sugges tion of Mr. Whitbread, for en Address to his Ma. jesty, to order a mere accurate scarab. He was ea(' to 44 that the Malicia/ had dune it/ duty f •t• in ordering-the Court-Maitiat:e• bet wit.. . to Sir Alexander Cochrane, he thought thar_lhis conduct at least demanded an inquiry. .Three was another circumstance which he thougjitshooldalso be attended to. There must be an armir of wages due to this man, if he was living (as he did not desert the chip), and in that case care should be, taken that he should hive it : if not,it should 'be, - . •i ' given to his relatives. Mr. LYTTLETON considered, that although' it was a groat aggravation of the offence to turn a sailor on au island which was uninhabited, yet he conceived it would bean merino's, offence to have turned a sailor out on a strange island, even if it had been inhabited. He thought that some Bill might be brought in to make such an offence in future a capital offence cognizable by a Naval Court Martial. • Mr. C. ADAMS made somo observations in favour of the Address suggested. • Mr. CROKER, said, • that Lieutenant Maid° could not be examined, as be hail gone to the East Indies, and the Admiralty did not think it advis. able to delay the Court Martial till his return, which could ,not be expected in less than a yeah, Mr. Winsor had not come to the ship until ayear after this transaction. Mr. SHERIDAN said ho meant not tic excuse or to endeavour to palliate the conduct of Capt. Lake ; yet he was not afraid to say a few words by way of extentiatioti,. out 'of regard to an af. Meted and respectabitahmily, who bad been deep ly wounded by w t had already taken place owl the subject. He t ught the House ought to ask 111 ; themselves the ques on—Do we in our consci. ences believe that Captain Lake knew the island was uninhabited ? •As for his own pert, he verily believed he did not ; and he was astonished at the declaration of an Hon. and Learned Gentleman opposite (Mr. Stephen), fur whose sentiments he had generally felt a respect, and partieUlarly for sonic which he had lately delivered—[alluding me believe to his Speech on the conduct of the Bench. era of Lincoln's-Inn], whereby he had assured the House, that he had sailed very near to the island, and from the mere look of it, if he were on a Grand Jury, would find a Bill; and if on a Petty Jury, would give a verdict of Guilty against Capt. Lake, on an indictment for murder. Snob a doctrine was almost as bad as any thing Captain Lake had done, and was whit he could nut hate supposed would have fallen from that Learned Gentleman. The House ought, however, - *M. uusly to consider whether Capt. Lake knew it:tq. be desolate. Did he (Mr. Sheridan) think isms' capable of such an action, he should shrink with horror (ruin saying a word in his behalf; bet' he had some information in his hand which had been collected by the friends of Captain Like, which induced him to believe that he did not. know it was uninhabited. It appeared by thin that many of the Officers of the ship did nut think it uninhabited—if they had, he (Mr. She ridan) verily believed neither they tier the sea men would have obeyed Captain Lake's orders to leave him there. Ile was glad to hear the Right Honourable the Chancellor of the Exchequer say, " this charge should not •be lightly passed over." it certainly ought nut to be passed over lightly, and every means should be used to akcertaitt the truth as to the man's having been taken to Ante , rice. He knew that every possible exertion had been made, and was making, by the afflicted and respectable family of Captain Lake, to ascertain 1 whether he hail been taken off by an American vessel, and if be was still living ; and he doubted nut but intelligence would, by one means or other, be obtained to clear up these facts. Ile did not mean to • utter a "word that might convey the most distant idea that he meant to justify or excuse the leaving a British seaman on any Island ; but though he had the highest res. pect for the Officers of the British Navy, Le firmly believed it was not without a precedent, that where there' had been a refractory subject on board some of his Majesty's ships, there have been Captains who have left a man un an island that was inhabited. lie was, however; of opi. . (lion that further inquiry should be made into the business, and thought the Report of a Committee would be the best way ; he thought they should at the same time exanikse into, and report on 'the conduct of Admiral Cochrane, who certainly never could have imagined Capt. Lake , capable of setting a titan on shore, and leaving him in a desolate island. This must have been the Admiral's opinion,• or ho would have brought Captain Lake to an immediate Court Martial in the West Indies. He thought the investigation by a Committee would be mere satisfactory to an afflicted amid respectable family, to the officers and ship's crew, more fur the credit of Captain Like himself, more for tlu credit and character of the House of Commons, and mute satisfactory to the , üblic at large than any other, and should, there. V, Stlpport the min of ther-Wosthy Baronet. Admiral HARVEY said he could not but re probate the cuudntt of Captain EAU At the same time justice and •humanity required him to state to the House that the-island of Sombrero was a rock, and that water must lodge, and be build in many of the cavities; also that the eggs of birds were to be had in such abundance, that no Mau k need to perish for want of food and water. Calitain BERESFOHD disclaimed all idea of excusing the conduct of Captain Lake, whom he did nut even know ; butite thought it his duty to state to the House that ho had been stationed off the island of Sombrero throe years, and had been near it for seven years, and !se thought it hardly possible fur i-man to remain' there /I hour s . If he waved his hat every morning, he must be 0b.., served. He did out know whether the island was actually inhabited, but it isio daily mailed to by fishermen. • The ATTORNEY GEN ERAL said he did not think there was any occasion for inquiry by cithir of the modes proposed; Mr, CURW EN said, he could not agrue with the gee. and Learned Omit, who bad just sat down. He professed the greatest respect for the opiolook of the two non, oMcers who had so httely spoken, al to the nature and Weapon of• the island ; but If he' was i !layman, he should oo the crideope qo had,rclif; as given 4t the ctset• , • di;16:6119. bewili.orbalitito°l7eizhaaNctudtszocCarfthstphaa.9velkhe,k4eiYienseur:7lltingli.::::t • - „i.fe....,,5e-m: - - -' ... il i o n i liji y aj ; hoir b lti s i l.dC k its so low a-tune of voice that we sot distinctly heir bias ;,as far as we coulderle,.; few Words now and then, he seemed to ar ,,,„ -- L " Sir A. Cuchrane, in sio.bringing C a p ta i n y - k t° l II CourtykOalOatWrolliolalcghreaianratclithatenrie;Wnhcesyuttahriendt"til7a: hsead‘si-:1; Peri vhi ‘.gwa lt u e l ni stie e hti t i o sb be :ricd, where he was sate joteee w 44110 by dove. lie had no doubt but ah.w the 1444110 came to he ;moire(' into by a Commit*, test,fi rider of Sir A. Cochrane w o uld *ppm i n t '" fairest light, and the whole world wooll c— he „,-; vinced by the Report that he had conductee hi self as be came an Ad m i ra l o f the British tie l y ul - Mr. CANNING said he always had au k. stood that when a .tan Ras tried vy a C omo ; L potent to try him, and had receive(' a s smith '. Cu' of that rt, the busieess was dune with ' I' there was no right to inquire further; but this. seemed to him to be different ; the "t w i n blin been 'Wore the Court. lie thought, thereto,: the House ought to go into a farther higs,,, though he would prefer the mode by Athi aa c t that of a Coinmittee ; and as it would be O f highest consequence that the House should 'p m unanimous on the subject, he hoped the 11, 4 Baronet would have no obj'ctiou to wave lee a time in favour of an Address to the Crown, e l all necessary steps might be taken to clear up,,. ascertain whether the iSlatiti was or was not io,„ bited.-6whether it was permauently inhabited,,, only partially resorted to by fishermen or otL eu . and whether ' ,effigy had actually perish e d dm; or was now alive. Sir F. BURDETT, after noticing one or 64 observations that had fallen from different Gentle. men, said, the honour of the King was ceacersed, in demanding an account of the life of one of I t s subjects. ' Capt. Lake had committed an a t m cious act, by leaving e seaman of a•British ship o f war to perish, for aught be anew, on au ishul, for-which he ought to Le followed upaud pueieut further than by a Cuiirt-Martial. ' • Mr. W HIT Bit EA 0 said, that in consequerued what he had mentioned in. his tint speech reignit e An Address, he had drawn up um, which, at ii, Ron. Friend had agreed to withdraw his 'natio, he would beg leave to read to the House, which he did, to' the following effect: — • _ " That an humble Address be pr esorted to his Msjeut, 'that .he be gracionsly pleased to give immediate direciii e that, a minute and accurate search he • made Nitwits on 'lib Island of Sombrero ' far the purpose o f a seer w i k, if any traces ca. be found of Robert Jefery a swam o f his . slajesty's ship Recruit. kft oft the sai d ° lsland by tit 800. Warwick Lake, late Commander of the mid ea, contrary to every principle of ditty. *ad is slates it every dictate of homanity r mid that two Comiabsinert bt appoiutedso go to the said Is/and - and make the said into," The motion having been handed to the Chair, Mr. WHITBREAD observed, tbatun Honest. able and Learned qmitlenniii had described the island of Sombrero as a low sandy islend l is whick there was neither food nor waiter; end silica bent down, two Honourable Officers, well *milli with it, had mentioned it as a rock, in which them were 'many i cavities that were filed with ester .asiben the rain fell; and that thin were showy :bird's-eggs. - • i- Mr. S'fgPFIEN interrupted the Hosautabla Gentleman, and spoke very warmly, 4111 bis doubting hie, veracity, • vfAich ha said coats pro. ceed only trona that vehement inclination he Al. ways chewed of tearing bins to pieces, cud hiked every one who differed from him (Mr, Whitbread) in political opinion. - Mr. WIIITBII.EAD-isiti, he did not tuna to question his veracity ; but is the Ron. Gotha= haul taken sip the matter so warmly, and accused him - (11r. Whitbread) of testing him (Mr. Stec 'OOO to pieces, he could only eay, that if there was tiny tearing to pieces in the carp, thastaost. able'and Learned Gentleman had completely com mitted the act on himself, by the vehemeoes with which he had made his attack. Sir C. HAMILTON said, every Meer in the service must be ash;ined of Captain Lake; but confirmed what had fallen from Adm. Harvey, thAt a man might subsist himself on shell.fish and eggs. Mr. Secretary R.YDER said, that if • Mr. Whitbread did not agree to strike out the, le tet pert moved as an Amendment by bis . Right Hoe. • Friend, he would divide the Ilouse. Mr. WHITBREAD accordingly agreed, and the words relative to the Commissioners wen I struck out, after which the motion passed itere• cm i Mr. ‘VIIIII3II,EAD then moved a sexed 14 dress to his Majesty, . " T:iat he will please to give directions that a *week 114 made ill all his Majesty's stktlemento abroad, aid M be Ma jesty's Beets, and al.o . lii all foreign c ountries, slat je,ty has influen c e, t o ascertain whether the said fery he still alive." Which tieing read from the Chair, Mr. cuoicEa warn apprehensive, thM *MOO la 111 jesty could direct search to be made in his own domicile" and in the British military and commercial 111 4 ,!fi 0 1 ,.. would ant be equaJlv in- his power to direct WPM " ''. made in foreign countries. My. DUN DAS explained himself to the same= agi4 Mr. Wit ITB ILEA D. as a proof that such as i be carried ow with effect, adverted to the perseseribi al successful search made souse t i ine since for three saes, VII: out the British navy, by au bumble individual (Mei v son). After a short conversation, in whicbsevaral alimf,,Ma abegl took a part, the rmition was agreed to asasit'seen : _ , . Mr. WHITBREAD then said, that, as ij must blown i factory to Admiral Cochrane to hate It shown to that Hoef t and the world, that his cooduct on thisoccalka was harm" blame, he felt it necessary to move " that as Immblekildri be presented to his Majesty, that be wool& be gratioP_l pleased to direct that an Inquiry be Instituted bay ~..._ltr I; duct of Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochntar,.,tor"•l I r m . be representation ramie to him respect* taioon, 61 .,,d . Recruit, Captain Lake, and leaving be. no t h e "72 'g!f' Sombrero, in the West Indies, it insu named goket rw *re, in the month of December, 1/101. The CHANCELLOR of the xxclutgres 3 tif the object of tee Has. Chmtleman was 01 . • xtusdar.Chcbrane brought to a Court Martial. It to yal;ry the feelings of the House to an eat . , th, and therefore hoped that the HOD. Mi allber - • t wit draw his motion. A.doirai If AR YE r eipressed ia limits: hope. is wilt quence of the incuoveoieace to thaltalak service 161 ° w' arise from withdrawing the Commanders of milli spr, 'heirship', and the Commander in Chief from his vISIN only to attend a Cutul-Martial. . ells! tall M R. WARD and Mr. CROHRIR bailli sittest 2 Adm italty lead received the ex pli t aatioo ar hie , . the gallant Adiiikal i apd the esplanade" • d woo , Calory, not so far as to Pall MI their , duct, - but certainly to Ladner thee to a Ike. 11 7 r ig .vecstiug wily A view W etasars It. The spew IN odjoura. 'iota tool titer cot t TUE TM Vest, third lli EtnTirC; till hew Her Th Ps AS thro e Prin e Ala: Itlregi .;4 11 Tow A.p g ice Itito