The Sun. — London, England, 1824-01-30 00:00:00

INDIA. MILITARY PUNISHMENT. SUPREME COURT. CALcuzz. A.- Tuesday and Wednesday Jilly 22, 23, 1823. FIRST DAY. : -Before the Hon. Sir 4.._lltkm.zit, SECOND DAY.—Before the Una. Sir F:IIcIsiAuOFITEN, and , ROLLER. SOOUTEE XHAN v:4 ,- ; A. WtSiOl:, JOHN DItiBY COX, AND • '• ALAXANDXIt. THOMAS. Cnaßig opened the proceedings. r. TURTON said that in addressing the Court in this case, it was with great, reluctance that-he should make any remarks on the eseeiteet of the defendants, an& although he rever did aaeh th a t a . ceee eritrusted t 6 him should fail; yet if he ever • ceald entertaiasa wish of that kind, he should apply it to the pet to which Ile non, had the honour of drawing his Lordship's ' Inter s ticnah Btit if he were rightly instructed, the Learned Coneteel said, it ias impossible . for him to fail. He would only state a plain 'matter of fact case, but if the actioniecom- Vained by the plaintiff were true, then he was sure that his eacrdship ,could consider it one of great oppression, and he mild only express his sorrow that Major Weston and the other defendants should be implicated in such a case. The plaintiff in this case had been Mess Khansamah to the walcera at Barrackpore, and together with a Cazi and Chop wide had been dismissed about 10 months before the outrage :ocl place, These - two people wanted to petition Geueral Del sell, and die plaintiff having assisted them in getting their pe einceis written, they gave them • to the bazar serjeant, and he' to. Major Weston,- On receiving the petitions, Major Weston asked who had recommended them to present these petitions, and they told him the plaintiff. Upon this Major Weston sent out a party to find him, and if he were in cantonments to bring trim before him, but if not, net, to mind about it. He was 'found and imprisoned, and after being tried by a court mar tial was sentenced to 70 lashes on his bare back. The Learned Counsel *as not so conversant with thepower of the Military, or of Magistrates in the Mofussil, but he had yet to learn that :hey, after having discharged a man for ten months, could again punish him if he were found within their fairy ring, or Passing the limits within which-they held rule a by the sum mary mode of a court martial. The- man was found, as he had already stated, within the cantonments, his place of resi dence for 10 months, and wits it to - be supposed, that because the plaintiff' had once been discharged from the service of these gentlemen, he was never after to set his foot within the canton mints ? His Learned' Friend would say, that there were rules and regulations applicable to this subject, and he no doubt had lately refreshed his memory on the subject, although well eeeugh acquainted with them at general times. The Learned Counsel had heard it whispered, that although his Learned Friends had pleaded the general issue, they fins gined they could justify under the Mutiny Act. Suppose the 'use to be as he had been given to understand, the Learned ; Counsel contended that they could not Native their power from toe Mutiny e‘.ct, nor was there any time when the British Con. stitution committed the persons and properties of British sub ecee to military rule. .If they possessed the power, they must derive it from the Governor-General, but the GoyernoraGene mill never had the power to alter the British Law, he never had the power to say that a person in a civil situation should' be tried by military law. his -Learned friends must plead the kcal law, if they wished to over-rule the Court. His instructions stated, the Learned Counsel said, that the plaintiff was on the sth of January, the day on which he meant zo submit the petition, taken to a bungalow. When he got there, a few questions were asked him, and he was given in charge to Mr. Butler. A second time he was brought up, and a second time remanded in custody of the bazar guards. On the Bth he was again taken to the bungalow of Lieu tenant Thomas, where he found a Council or Court martial assembled, consisting of Lieut. Thomas and five native officers. The Learned Council would pause here for a mo ment because he had heard it said, that Lieut. Thomas was not responsible, —that he was only the mouth of the Court, but he (toe Learned Counsel,) asserted that Lieut. Thomas held two situations in that Court, for he was Judge Advocate and Pre sident. There was no difference in the persons present,—they ail agreed to find him guilty of something of sa-thich he had never heard—he did not know when he was brought up that it was for the purpose of being tried, and at last he heard himself tae that he was found guilty, and coolly sentenced to receive -70 lashes, and all this, for sooth, because he had th e i m p u d ence - to enter the bounds of the officers. On the Bth, the Court ad ourned, and on the 9th, the prisoner was taken away to be punished. On the evening of this day, the order came for the plaintiff to be punished. It was not couched in the usual terms, and the native officer very properly refused to comply with it. Soon afterwards Lieut. Cox came and took him from the guard to he punished. The punishment was not inflicted in the usual manner; his crime was not told him, and when he was punished, Lieut. Cox stood by, and told them to lay it on well. It was well known, the Learned Counsel observed, that no People were so obedient as soldiers, and of all soldiers, sepoys were the most obedient, and there could be no doubt that a sepoy drummer never laid on so well as when he was told by :as o acer to lay on. The plaintiff received his 70 lashes, and before he recovered his usual health, he had spent 2.50 rupees ir. dOctors. This was not a case to be trifled with. 'The Learned Ccunsel would not embody his own personal opinions with the u ses ; he was no declaimer against military punishments : that matter he would leave to other's who understood it better to de cide, but he had a right to say, that when a man suffers a punish ment, and an unjust punishment too, the disgrace of it ought to give him damages, and if it were inflicted with more than or linary severity, then he was entitled to large damages. There wassone subject more to which the Learned Counsel would draw the attention of the Court. It must be proved that t h e plaintiff was subject to the tribunal before which he was brought, but if even this were proved, he would defy his. Learned Friends, with all the advantages which their official situations afforded them, to say that they had a right to inflict 79 lashes. He would shew that the sentence was illegal, and that the utmost which they could inflict was 50 lashes. And here it was not as in some other cases, that what was good of a part was good for the whole, for if any one blow of these 70 was illegal, every one of them was so. He had heard it said, "Oh ! these fellows do not care about it. It is no matter whether he had 50 or 70 lashes;" but to this he had always answered by asking the assertor of those words ' • what he would take, at the time his b ac k was reeking with 50 lashes, to receive 20 more ? He would put the question of this case in any way; he would put to the defend ants to say upon what authority they inflicted this punishment; he would say that the plaintiff was not liable to their tribunal; ano he would suppose him liable; but that was only to the ex tent of 50 lashes. The defendants were offenders ab initio, and the Learned Counsel said that his client had a right to such damages as such a case would warrant. This was not, Mr. Turton said, a case of slip ; of a mere error of judgment, for a slip or an error of judgment could not be considered when it increased the punishment of a fellow creature. It was not enough for people entrusted with the power of punishment to believe they are right, they must know they are right. This was rendered incumbent on them by the Regulation of 1018.— In this case the man protested at the trial; he said that his was no trial.—but whether there was a trial or none : and if there were, whether that trial were legal or not, they ought to know the extent of their authority, they ought to have turned to the Regulation to see how far they could go. (The Learned Counsel then referred to the Regulations for the punishment of camp followers.) Where, he would ask, was it to be found in these regulations that a khansmah, or private servant, could be thus punished . ? Hit were said in repl y t h at h e d rew pay f rom an officer, he would ask whether he did so at the time of the infliction of this punishment ? Did the 4th article say, that if a man once became a menial servant, from that time forward he was subject to a court martial? or did it refer' to him only during the time he was in that situation ? If he had run away to avoid the punishment, there may be some excuse for its in fliction ; but he had never run away ; and he had lived in cantonments for the last 10 months on his own means. Did this render him liable to the tribunal before which he was con demned? His Learned Friend could only throw himself on the mercy of the Court, but he knew that his Learned Friend was as game as any man he ever knew' and none would lead a forlorn hope better than he. In conclusion the Learned Counsel would remark, that 50 lashes was the utmost these defendants had a right in any case to give, and in this case they had no right to inflict any at all. lie knew that if any of the blows were wrong, they were all wrong. Under these circumstances then, he left the cause in the hands of the Court, and only asked such damages as gen tlemen ought to pay, who were intrusted, with the property of other individuals, and who neglected to make themselves ac quainted with those &Tendons which were intended to guide them in the discharge of their important duties. Viliiam Butler was then examined by Mr.. CLARKE.— Knows Major Weston, Lieut. Cox, and Lieut. Thomas. Major Weston is Brigade Major, and the other Lieutenants in the Company's Service. Witness is a British subject, and believes the others are so likewise. Jodi Chuprasie, examined by Mr. TUR TON.—WitIIeSS lived f . sr some time at Barrackpore, but the Brigade Major turned him out of the cantonments ; this was about a year ago ; got a petition addressed to General Dalzell, which he gave to Soortee Khan ; witness had been 13 years in the service when lt! wss turned away ; he kept a shop for 30 years which was shut up at the time ; he thinks that it was in Magh that he gave the petition to Soortee Khan to give to the General ; be sides his own, plaintiff'had two other petitions, one of Ourrio's a d another of the cazi's ; these were given .to him at the same 1j ; does act ka"ow whether they were given , to the Brigade Major or to the Bazar Serjeant ; accompanied plaintiff no where but to the council ; by the council means the meeting of the gentlemen and the sirdars ; thinks this was on the 6th Magh, but as he cannot read and write, does not recollect clear ly ; he knows no one but the Brigade Major ; went to the coun cil, and remained there for a minute or two ; the gentlemen and sirdars investigated, but he does not know what. Cross-examined by the ADVOCATE-GENERAL—Does not know whether Soortee Khan was rich or no ; he was formerly Khansamah for the mess; does not know where he gets money from for this action ; does not know Sain Chuckerbutty ; wit ness had no house in which to live, and SOortee Khan came to him out of cantonments Ihe came when he took his walks once or twice ; witness told him he was in great distress, and asked him to give a petition to the General ; plaintiff told him he had a friend in the General's service who spoke English, whom he had feasted and spent money on ; he told him he would put him in the way of getting a petition forwarded, and told him to go to a man, whom he named, at Serampore and get it written there ; plaintiff gave him no instructions what to say in the petition, nor any thing else about it ; what he got written was of his own accord • Soortee Khan told every body he would turn the Kotewal out, and get his place ; he said that a Berhampore a council had been held, and that the Kotewal who had been turned out there had run away and come to Barrackpore to spoil the market, lie said this when he was in prison ; he said, you give me a peti tion and whatever is your right you will obtain it; he pro mised to present his petition but said nothing about giving him aid ; he looked to Soorte Khan as his only resource to help him; could not go to the bazar ; cannot recognise his own petition ; does not know who the sirdars were who composed the Council : two gentlemen and the sirdars were there ; he does not knoi them. Re-examined by Mr. Cie., exE—Chtrprassies were sent after Soortee Khan, and lie was given in charge to the Kotewal ; after this he was carried by the Kotewal, the jemidar and the ehowdree befote the Brigade Major. In reply to the ADVOCATE GENERAL.—Plaintiff lived for merly in cantonments, but since the time of the beating he went out • when the petitions were written he lived in canton ments ; he sought for employment in the bazar; he had been Khansamah to the mess ; he did business in the bazar when ever he got it from any one; does not know Lieut. Haslam ; he did not know that plaintiff was in his service a few days be. fore he was turned out of the cantonments. In reply to Mr. CLARKE.—The Kotewal told him that the gentleman would give him his house and situation again, and the gentleman said the same, the Kotewal told him the gentle man said so, and added, 1 tell you that you must say that Soortee Khan gave you the petition, and that you acted from his advice ; if you do not, lie will give you 200 lashes and turn you out;' the Kotewal did not say so in the presence of the Brigade Major. Cross-examined again by the ADVOCATE GENERAL.—The persons who apprehended plaintiff are in the service of Govern ment ; they are under the Brigade Major; he has said now what he said at the Council ; he said there more than here ; he spoke truth on both occasions. William Butler was examined by Mr. TURTON.—He has been bazar serjeant ever since the 16th Sept. 1819 ; he was on duty on the 4th or sth January last; when he received the letters from Soortee Khan, he gave them to Captain Weston, who was Brigade Major; plaintiff said he was afraid of keep ing them ; he delivered them to Major Weston ; 'thinks he re ceived them on a Saturday, and gave them to Major Weston on a Sunday ; never received any orders ; Major Weston seemed angry that he had kept them so long; he then desired the pains to call Soortee Khan to him : but if he were out of the cantonments never to mind ; thinks he ordered his two or derlies to go with the peaddus ; does not recollect whether he saw Soortee Khan again that day ; heard he was in the bazar guard ; saw , him go past his bungelow to prison ; two peadus and some sepoys were along with . him ; believes he was four days in confinement ; saw it in book orders that he was to receive 70 lashes; saw Soortee Khan at Lieut. Thomas's bungalow, at the time of the Court-Martial,which sat two days, witness was examined before the Court-Martial; does not re collect immediately what were the charges, but believes for breeding disturbances in the bazar, and for giving witness pa pers ; saw Major Weston go in, but does not know whether he remained ; plaintiff received his punishment and was sent out of the cantonments; did not see him punished, but heard the noise of the strokes ,• he used to attend by order at the bazar punishments until this time ; on this occasion the officer on duty was ordered to attend ; station orders a re s i gne d b y t h e commanding officer ; no order except that issued with the Court-Martial was issued ; it is circulated in the battalion or. deny book, which is shewn to all the officers; believes it is in this manner that officers are made acquainted with orders for them to see a punishment inflicted - thinks that on this occa sion Ensign Codrington was officer Of the day ; never knew an instance before of an officer being ordered to attend a bazar punishment; two drummers usually attend; does not know how many attended on this occasion ; a tom-torn is usually beaten when a punishment is to be inflicted ; the eause of the punishment is told ; it is repeated at the conclusion of the pu nishment as a warning to others; cannot s ay that he heard the tom-tom on this ; he may have b een 100 yards distant at t h e time the punishment was inflicted ; witness bent to let prisoner know that he was to be tried ; did so in consequence of book orders ; did not tell him his crime ; believes it was the duty of the officer of the day to do so, it is the custom to give notice in writing when an European was to be tried. Cross-examined by Mr. 11lostET.—He has known Soortee Khan for some time ; has seen Lieut. Haslarn : does not know whose service plaintiff was in ' • cannot say that he was riotous in the bazar ; he was confined before f or carr yi ng tales t o C o l. Popham ; Major Weston has compl a i ne d o f hi m ; he has al ways gained information when he was to attend punishments from the station book; these orders are issued by the com manding officer ; thinks Ensign Codrington was officer of the day-; man y people were sta n di ng by when the punis h ment was inflicted ; heard no noise, except that of the cuts ; the torn torn may have been beaten both before and after the punish ment; does not know where Major Weston was, but he was not in his bungalow at the time ; plaintiff lived at the time of the punishment in the bazar ; he was a khansamah, and was frequently in the bazar ; he was not a noisy caballing man ; orders were once given that no one should conspire against any of the Authorities of the bazar ; gets his orders relative to the bazar from Major Weston as Major of Brigade; cannot say that the petions given him by Soortee Khan, are those now shown to him ; Jodi had been turned out of the bazar but the Cazi had not; Gunoo, who had formerly been in the bazar, had been also turned out; does not know why ; at that time they were only turned out_of the bazar ; does not General Hardwicke's writing ; the two last men were turned out in February. Ram Bukhs Dubi, examined by Mr. CLARK.E.—Is a jemi dar of the Ist Battalion 23d Regiment. He deposed to having received orders from Major Weston to apprehend Soortee Khan, to the execution of those orders; to his imprisonment; the proper persons received notice of this • to the cir cums t ances of the court-martial ; to an appli ca tio n being made to him by the kotewal to deliver up the prisoner, which he refused to com ply with ; to his subsequently being delivered up to the officer Of the day ; to the punishment ; to not having heard the tom torn ; and to his leaving the place in an exhausted state. Cross-exainined by the ADVOCATE-GENERAL.—Did not know Soortee Khan until he saw him in confinement, and never heard any thing of him before. Sheikh Bukhshu, examined by Mr. TURTON.—L4 a drum mer in the 2d Batt. 23d Regiment. He deposed as to his hav ing received orders for punishing him, and to his having obeyed them. He .aid that fo ur d rummers were present on the occa son, but only two employed ; two officers were present ; one of them was Lieutenant Cox, the other the officer of the day ; the former acted as interpreter to the latter, and told him to lay on 'well (uchlia turiff se !iglu) ; the punishment was inflicted in the usual manner. Nothing occurred either in his examination or cross-examination, of which the above is the substance, con. contrary to what had been stated by the other witnesses. Khoseal Khan, examined by Mr. CLARKE.—Said, in addi tion to what had been stated by the other witnesses, that after the punishment plaintiff was turned out of cantonments, and, that at the time of the investigation, when the prisoner at tempted to say something, one of the gentlemen cried out, " elistuprao," but he could not state what the plaintiff said, as he was outside the wall. In his cross-examination by the ADVOCATE-GENERAL, he said that the bazar punishments which he had seen before, when the bazar serjeant was present, and the tom-toms were beaten, were for petty theft. Ham Shichal, examined by Mr. TURTW..T.—Witness de posed to a conversation between Major Weston and plaintiff on the subject of the petitions, which ended in his being sent to the guard. At the investigation Major Weston and Lieuts. Cox and Thomas were present. Nothing particular was elicited from his cross-examination. Sheikh Doman, examined by Mr. CLARKE—deposed as to having witnessed the flogging, and the expulsion of the plain tiff from cantonments. Situl Bandy, Muyur na Deen, and Jehan Khan, native offi cers of the regiment, swore to nearly the same facts as the be fore-mentioned witnesses. Sheikh Mahomedali, is a doctor living in Colinga ; attended Soortee Khan in Poos last; he had sores in his back from hav ing been flogged ; he was in a bad condition from having been cut; he attended him something less than two months ; has received from him already 204 rupees, and is entitled to 64 more; this he has promised to pay him when the trial is over; the contract was for 250 rupees. Cross-examined by the ADVOCATE-GENERAL.—Plaintiff promised him 250 rupees, and still owes him 46, and when h e asked him for it, he makes a thousand excuses ; does not know what h. income is ; thinks about 400 or 500 rupees a year ; got 225 rupees from the Governor-General's jemidar for curing him. This ended the case for the plaintiff: The ADvocATE-GEsiEnAi. then rose for the defence. His Learned Friend he stated, had began by observing that he had an ur.pleasant duty to perform in opening his case against these gentleman, but if he had to defend them on account of any abuse of power, his duty would be much more painful than that possibly could be which had been anticipated by his Learned Friend. But he had indeed heard of no abuse of power in his client. He had only heard that it was Major Weston's duty to take charge of the prisoners until their trial, and that he had done so. Major Weston had not been the prosecutor of this man ; he had only given his evidence against him, and what he said on his word, or his oath were to be equally believed. It would be quite gratuitous for him to say that there was no charge of malice against Major Weston ; he should, indeed, be ashamed to say any thing in his favour, on this occasion, and as to the two other gentlemen, there was not any thing at all against either of them. All that was in evidence amounted to this, that Major Weston had or''' red hi:n into custody : that he had been a witness against ; that he had been tried by a Court Martial and punished, and that after the proceedings of the Court martial had been closed, Major Weston came to Calcutta. And all this, too, had been done under the orders of Colonel Broughton. 'ln the preceedings before the Court-Martial, a man, named Jodi, had been examined, and it was at his instiga tiln that proceedings had been instituted against the plaintiff. This Soortee Khan was a common disturber, and it was more difficult to bring a common disturber to justice than any one else. This Jodi gave notice to the sergeant that there were cabals in the bazar, for the purpose of complaining of the offi cers at Barrackpore. He was unwilling at first to disclose what he knew, but at last he did so, and saying that he would no longer be the tool of this man in doin,l wrong, but that Soortee A nan had incited him to write a petition and said that he would forward it for him. If Soortee Khan were a military man, his conduct must be inquired into ; God forbid that this client should intercept an unfortunate man on the road to justice, but if the charges were false, and the conduct of Soortee Khan as it had been described, it was infamous,—it amounted to a conspiracy ; the petition could not be said to have been intercepted,--they had, as well as the sentence, been laid before Colonel Broughton and Gen. Dalzell, who both approved of it. Some time ago in order that frivolous charges should not be made against people in authority, it was ordered by the com manding officer that no one should cabal or conspire in the bazar. Major Weston laid theee petitions before Col.Brough ton who ordered the proceedings which ensued upon them. The Government of this country which was Supreme, had au thority to make regulation without an Act of Parliament, and they had done so. If they had not this power, how dreadful would it be, and by virtue of having done so they declared all persons living in the bazar, to be under the controul of the mi litary power, for if they were to be under the civil power, there would be a perpetual class between the two. It was their own choice that they had lived in the bazars, and even after having been registered, they may withdraw their names at pleasure. Any local regulation of the commanding officer, by which they were made liable to the bazar regulations, made them liable also to the local regulation. They could not escape by leaving their situation for a few days, and then living in an other. If he could not prove the prove the prosecutor, the Learned Counsel said, to have been in service up to the time of his ap prehension, but only up to that when he committed the offence, this would be sufficient to prove him under the jurisdiction of the bazar regulations. Now the fact was that Major W es t on being very active, had become obnoxious to the people, for whose benefit perhaps this law had 'been made. It had been made by the Marquis of Hastings when he lived at Barack pore, and of him he could safely say, that he was not only a gal lant soldier, but a man of the kindest heart, who would not lend himself to any thing like an act of injustice. This regula tion had not been made in a corner, but the head -quarters of the Governor-General, and it was to this regulation he con tended, that the plaintiff was liable and under which he had been tried. The Learned Counsel then proceeded to state that there was no justification set forth in the plaint, and he contended that it was unnecessary, for he would prove by and bye, that nothing had y e t been brought forward to intitle the plaintiff'to a ver dict. By the 12th of th e 21st James Ist, the power of direct ing a Court-martial gives the power of taking into cu s t o d y, and the 15th, ch. 42d. Geo. 3d. sec. 6th, after reciting the Act of James, extends it to all persons capable of taking into custody. This covers every person who had the right of taking into cus tody, and the same moment that he proved the regulation regarding camp-followers, that sam e moment h e prove d them liable to the rules and regulations issued by Colonel B rough ton. It could not be doubted that Colonel Broughton had power to hold a Court-martial, and it could not be doubted that Soor tee Khan voluntarily made himself liable to the regulation. Major Weston arrested him by order of Colonel Broughton, and thus only did his duty, and the moment that he was com plainedthroughout eftheie apprehend him. Major 'W eston Suite guiltless of any thing improper, lie acted under s u p er ior orders, and if he had disobeyed Col. Broughton, he could not only have been broke, but would have rendered himself by so doing liable to death. ' h a a ti d it a ir r w itt q t w o To say that Major Weston had any thing to answer for . was most extraor dinary. The Learned Counsel wished to show that every thing was fair and above-board , anti that there was no concealment, and this brought him to one of his Learned Friend's interlo cutory speeches, that they did not tell the bazar people what the plaintiff was punished for, because they did not know what to tell. But the sentence was entered in the minute book, and sent to Government, and he asked how was it that they were so ready to shew it to the Governm en t and not able to tell the' bazar why he w as punished. If they wanted to disgrace a man, they beat the tom-toms, and not else, and then they had four drummers to give the 70 la s h es. To attempt to make any thing of this, was quite absurd, for although four drum mers were present, it appeared that two only performed the punishment, and that one had first given 25, and then he was re lieved, and the balance, the other 20, given by the first drumer. Again, the ab sence of the bazar -sergeant had swollen into a charge of immense magnitude, but lie was only present, as ap peared by the evidence, when punishments were inflicted for petty theft. But this was a frivolous circumstance, and he was certain would have no more weight with the Court than it deserved. How Lieutenant Thomas came to be included in this charge, it was impossible to say. One witness had said, that it was his duty to advise them on the law, but if he had made a mis take he could not be called to an account for it. There was no Court which could inflict a fine or other punishment upon him, for no Court had power over a Court Martial. Lieut. Thomas was under the commanding officer, Col. Broughton, and if he had enlarged the prisoner he would have done wrong. He could only have sent hint back where he had been before, and as he had done nothing at all, the Learned Counsel con tended that Lieut. Thomas was also entitled to a verdict. Lieut. Cox's bungalow was more convenient than Lieut. Thomas's, and therefore the Court-martial was held there. The drummers said that the officer of the day could not speak Hindoostanee, and that Lieut.- Cox interpreted for him. What ever offence Ensign Codrington had committed, Lieut. Cox had committed none. He had only acted as interpreter, but perhaps it would have been better if he had left it alone. It was said that he had spoken to the drummer, and if it were true, as it sometimes was, that the execution of their duty was a mere matter of form, then it was the duty of the officer to speak to him, and as the evidence now stood, helelt himself entitled to a verdict for Lieut. Cox. The evidence given by Jodi to-day was, that he had been incited by Soortee Khan to send the petitipns to the General; before the Court-martial he said, that Soortee Khan came to him fifteen times, and told him that he had a friend who spoke English in the General's house, on whom he had spent money to the amount of 12 rupees, and that he went, and by his direc tions found out the writer at Serampore ; that he was entirely 'guided by Soortee Khan in what lie wrote, and. that he did so, because he promised to get the kotewal turned out, and get him back into the bazar. There was another witness also called Gunoo, who had given the same account, but he could not be found, as he was now up the country. On the evidence as it stood the Learned Counsel contended, 'that he was entitled to a verdict, and this without reference to the evidence which he was about to produce. [ln reporting the evidence for the defence we have condensed it as much as possible without impairing its sense.] Colonel Broughton examined by Mr. MONEY.—Witness belongs to the 11th Regiment; Major Weston is Major of Brigade; perfectly recollects giving directions for a Native Court-martial in January last; Alajor•Weston reported to him that he had received information of a conspiracy that was formed against him. Mr. TUUTON objected to this evidence, and after some con versation, The BENCH resumed the examination. it was customary for the Brigade Major to send chuprassies to bring any man to him against whom a charge is made. Cossmath Chuckerbutty examined by the ADVOCATE-GE NERAL.—Produced the books of the bazar registry; the name of Soortee Khan is there ; he knows him ; he is the plaintiff in this case ; he is registered as a khansamah ; the book was in the office when he went into it ; this was about two years ago ; has seen plaintiff in cantonments where he lived. Several other witnesses were called, and Col. Broughton was re-examined. The former stated that it was generally known to every one that all persons living in the bazar were registered, and that they had in their power to withdraw their names when they pleased. That of the latter tended to prove that Major Weston acted under his orders, and that the sentence was ap ; proved and confirmed by him, and subsequently by General Dalzell. Mr. TUnTON then rose to reply. He was happy, he said, that an opportunity was afforded him of replying to his Learned Friend. For himself, he could say that he was the only per son on his side of the question, who was anxious both from public and private reasons to put a stop to the case an d fi n i s h i t quietly, and he said now, that if a fair and honest compensa tion had been offered to his client he would have thrown up his brief, and the attorney would have done the same. But he contended, that when an improper or illegal punishment had been inflicted on any man he had a right to a compensation. If he, in the course of his address, should make use of any warm expression, he would be under th e correct i on of the Court. But he felt perhaps with the partiality of the Counsel, who was convinced that he was entitled to damages, not to vindictive damages, for them he never asked. But he would call this transaction as far as one of the defendants was con cerned, aggravated, and as far as the others were concerned, not so. The disgrace of the punishment too was not slight. if he acknowledged the jurisdiction, he denied the right of the defendants to inflict 70 stripes, and if the plaintiff had received 20 more blows than he ought to have received, he was entitled to damages for them. lie wanted to shew that his client was not the factious individual he was represented to be, and that he had a right to come here. He had never heard of but one mistake equal to this, and that from Joe Miller, of an Irishman who swore that he saw anchovies growing on the walls of Gibraltar. This of course was for some time doubted, and he as resolutely persisted in it, until one day being shot, and on the point of death, he re membered his mistake, and cried out, " Oh, the 7 were ca pers ! they were capers !" And so it was with his Learned Friends ; they had torn the flesh off his client's back, and then turned about and said ; Oh ! it is a mistake ' • we gave 70 in stead of 50 ; if we had not done so, his back would not have been torn, and on account of their mistake, this poor kliansa mah must put up with the flogging, and go without damages. The Learned Counsel would now remark briefly upon his friend's address. Major Weston had certainly stopped the cause of justice, for the petition had been put into his hands to' convey it to the General. Not an iota of proof had been brought that the petition was false. The charges against the plaintiff had been drawn up by Major Weston, and this was a grave charge against him. Was it not the duty of the presid ing officer to say that these charges were totally false ? to say at least that they ought to be proved ? There was no great dif ference between the testimony of Jodi here, and at the Court martial, and the Learned Counsel had a right to say, that his oath to-day was equal to that on a former occasion. He might think that if he gave his evidence in one way, he should oat back to his own house, an d h e h a d sworn t h at Soortee Khan' had induced him to do it. And he could say thus much for his Learned Friend's argument, that this man had at the insti gation of a troublesome fellow, uttered such charges as got him his house back again. There was one circumstance, the Learned Counsel said, which he had a right to revert to, to spew there was something extraordinary in the.case. When a punishment did not pro ceed from revenge, it was given out at the bazar, and all of fenders were punished in the same manner. It was strange that a man should be punished in the bazar for having pre sumed to present a petition to Gen. Dalzell. There had been a great flourish of d rummers , b ut the Learn edof heart p u t a b oo k i nto his hand,, w y t. The str engt h o f t h e drummers Counsel said he had made none. His Learned Friend, how tutsetritapatliprcipesteared that they h a d reste d between d e v iidi e i r cn , ho h ts a ea d tpt i ph n eea p rin u , r ab e im whiles. Ile should like to have had it explained why four drummers did not act. It appeared that one o f t h em had been we twenty years in the service, and perhaps the ot h er two would throughhal eb ereengr th -e e eint w i t h i ° o l l ted e of cannot follow the Learned Counsel ' if they h a d not b een too oung. We much his humorous address to the Court, and obliged, however unwillingly to p ass t hi s over , once to his re v i ew o f t h e ev i dence. his remarks on the evidence as it applied to th e several defend ants. We a lid' v e or a t re at The Learned Counsel stated that he had brought what he thought necessary to the notice of their Lordships, and ' he depended for justice upon their Lordships. —When he read the Act of Parliament—when he read the preamble to it, which stated that great injuries had be en d one t o the n natives stanooa o . f this country, an d when he considered the cir under which th e A ct was passed, he felt that they had a peculiar ,claim on t h e Court. The military law would o m apply at home as well as here, and although he cleared the defendants from all improper motives, he claimed a verdict against the subjects of Great Britain, who did not think it worth their while to make themselves acquainted with the duties they had to exercise and the rights they possessed.— With regard to damages, he would, as he sa id i n hi s opening speech, be satisfied with what his Learned Friend would take for twenty strokes on -his bare back, after having already re ceived fifty. Sir F. MACNAGHTEN, in giving judgment, said, that there could be no doub t t h at there had been an unintentional excess of twenty; and he would go further and say, that if there was a man who, fro nt malice, gave him the additional twenty, he would give 10001. ; or, if that were not enough, 10,0001. for each: and if h e could trace it to malice or any thing like, be would do the same. As it was, however, he was pleased the action had b een brought so as to fail. This application, he thought, had been made on behalf of an injured man, who was at any rate leeply concerned ; and the defendants would be utterly d evo i d of humanity, if they did not allow him a compensation cut of their own pockets. Colonel Broughton took the blame on himself; and if the action had been brought against him, the plaintiff must have had damages ; and this Court was bound to see people keep strictly to their duty, and as l ong as h e sat t h ere h e wou ld see that they shsuld do it. He regrets that an application was not made to Colorel Broughton; and if it had been done, he had no doubt that a suitable compensation would have been made. The only question was, whether the gentlemen accused in t h e plaint ore liable to be brought here for the excess of pu nishment which the plaintiff had endured. His opinion was, that they were not ; but before he decided, he thought it was o nly right to say that there was no doubt that the plaintiff is liable to the jurisdiction of the Court he was brought before. The application ought not to have been brought into this Court at ail ; it ought to have been against his own peers—his own countrymen ; for it was they who awarded the punish ment ; and if lie had been wronged, he ought to have applied against his own countrymen, and not against British subjects. There 'could be no doubt but that the plaintiff was amenable to the Court of Barrackpore. If so, there could be nothing improper in his being brought to trial. Under all the circumstances, Sir F. Macnaghten, whose speech we have much c,rtailed, declared that he felt it his duty to give a verdict for the defendants, in which judgment Sir A. Buller fully agreed. THE VAGRANT ACT. UNION-HALL.--A watchman belonging to the St. Olave's Trust was brought before L. B. ALLEN, Esq. upon a summons issued out on the complaint of a respectable young man, against whom he had improperly exercised the powers given to him by the late Act for the punishment of Vagrants. The gentleman stated that a few evenings ago he accompanied a young lady, to whom he was paying his addresses, to the Co burg Theatre, whence they went to his father's house and had supper. •At about 12 o'clock he went to the residence of her father in Tooley-street, and on reaching the door he kissed hei, as was usual with him, and he supposed with every young man under similar circumstances. He, however, met with a check which he little expected from the defendant, who approached him, and in a most insolent manner said, " I see what you are about ; you are indecently exposing yourself, and I have a mind to take you both off to the watch-house." The complainant, indignant at so atrocious a charge made in the presence of a vir tuous young woman with whom hei looked forward to a connec tion for life, told the watchman he was a scoundrel for making such an accusation, and defied him to put his threat into execu tion. The young lady was in a state of very great agitation in consequence of the defendant's conduct, and besought the com plainant to have no further altercation with him. The watch man, whose dignity was hurt at this request, next said, " Then I'll take you both to the watch-house." The fellow took them accordingly, and charged them before the night constable, who, upon hearing the charge, immediately dismissed it. Mr. ALLEN . observed, that he had never heard of a more bare-faced accusation • and that he was convinc e d th e watch man had not the slightest grounds for complaint of any kind. He had always made it a practice to assist watchmen in the execution of their duty ; but when they exceeded their duty, as was the case in the present instance, he should take care that their punishment should be nearly as possible proportioned to their oFfence. The complainant said, that his object in bringing forward this charge was to protectithe public from the injuries which must inevitably arise from the abuse of the powers given by the Vagrant Act. Since the occurrence had taken place he had been informed, that up to this transaction the defendant had conducted himself. with propriety ; and as that was the case, and a large family was dependent upon him for support, it was to be hoped that the Magistrate would visit him with no heavier punishment than might be sufficient to operate a 4 a warning to others in the same situation. Several persons came forward to give the defendant a good character. 111 r. ALLEN having, with his accustomed humanity, taken these recommendations into account, sentenced the watchman merely to a brief suspension of his situation. KING CIIARLES.3 MAllT 7 i l Dobl.—Holiday at all the Public PRICE or FOREIGN STOCKS IN LONDON, ;AN 00•. AT 0!sIZ ()(3.01.;:i. 5 Fi - :e per C:nts. SM. l zorip, 7?„ p i , iSi.:t per Gents. Oo.' Five p;r Cents. ',:q.1017' . 1 O. Ditto aew Sq. Flre per Vent. 13ofoi8." 3: ,I. :‘ztip, itk poll). • rive per Cent. 1;62,12, l'l, lz` O. Ditto .1, :f44. Ditto 13;3, 1t3 4 . S Five per Cent. Bonds, 91. i. t Ditto New, 891. Five per Cent. Bonds, 96i. 00. Frtucli Russian Nezpolitan Auutrian Spanish Prussian Danish Portuguese Peruvian Chili , New Loan, 00. 77i. Six per Cent. Bonds, 66. Loan, 41 prem. 100. New, 3g. ( Bank Shares £22 105.—X23. I.Seven per Cent. 000. Six per Cent. 00-000. Five per Cent. 00-000. Three per Cent. 71h. —..-- Colombian Mexican Poyais A m erican PRICE OF IRISH STOCK, ;TAY. 27. Bank Stock 256 Grand Canal Lean, 6 p.ct. 5r f Gov. Deb. 34 pericent. -961 Ditto 4 per cent. ... -At Stock, 34 per ct 954 —DittoStock - - Gov. Deb. 4 per cent Royal . Canal Stock' • ,;" Gov. Deb. 5 per cent. — Wide-street Cert. 6 per et. - -Stock, 4 per cent. 2 Do. Deb. with Gov. Sec.... -- - --New il Pipe Water Deb. 5 per Treasury Bills, 5 per cent. Do. 6 per cent. City Debentures, 5 per ct. Ballast Office Govt. S - .:.-J. Lying in Hospital 4 per ct. 5 per cent. Exchange on London, Jan. 26, 84. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TO-MORRIAr- Morning, 29 minutes after 2. j Evening, 49 minutes after C• THE SUN. SOLEM QUIS DICERE F..4LSUM AUDEAT LONDON, FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 1824. If it be true, as has been so confidently a 4.• serted, that FERDINAND has applied to all the great European Powers for their assistance *.o. enable him to re-conquer South America, 'that fact alone will furnish a sufficient, and indeed a full and complete justification of this country for recognising the independence of the New Transatlantic . States. It, will in deed be a direct and unequivocal acknow ledgment, on the part of Spain herself, that her authority over her ci-devant colonies is de.. power is insuffi c i en t f o r re-subjectingstroy e— tht a them her owntOber sovereignity,—and that their independence, therefore, even in her ow; estimation, is substantially achieved. This is pre cisely the conjuncture contemplated by the English Ministry in their declarations as to the circumstances by hich their ultimate recogni tion of South America' independence would be governed. Spain has admitted her inability to bend the Colonies again to her yoke. She does, indeed, still assert her lost right of supremacy, and invokes the aid of foreign Powers for its esta blishment. England, however, has protected against any such aid being afforded to her. The moment, therefore, has obviously arrived at which this country is released from every obli gation of honour, and even from every consider ation of mere delicacy towards Spain, as respects the course which she will henceforth adopt towards the South American States. Whilst the French wish it to be believed ,that they have threatened to withdraw their Ambas sador and their troops from Spain, unless FERDI' NAND complies with the demands in the Ultimatum which is alleged to have been transmitted to him from Paris, the accounts from Madrid itself re present his CATHOLIC MAJESTY to be so en- tirely dependent upon France for support, and to be so incapable, therefore, of resist-. ing her dictation, as to have declared ha resolution to apply for an additional French force of 45,000 men for the maintenance of his authority. Indeed, as we have previously' remarked, it is quite impossible that the French , Government can have seriously required any' thing from FERDINAND that he has ventured 10 refuse, .unless the requisition has been for the performance of something which he is abso lutely without the power or the means of accom plishing. If any such demands have been inade, they not only are a most perfidious abuse of that Prince whom the French have by their ship thrown prostrate at their feet, and ar e not only utterly at variance with the professed object . for which the war against the Spanish Constitution was undertaken, but they can onll have been advanced with the view of reducing the Spanish Monarch and the Spanish Monarch! to a dilemma which would facilitate the exectl" tion of some ulterior and dark design against the Peninsula. If the French should withdraw their troops, the inevitable result would be s new convulsion and a second overthrow of des' potism and perhaps of every vestige of royalty 111 Spain ; and as the pretended danger of a moral or political contagion would again furnish France with a pretext for interfering, we should soon se ° her commerce a new aggression upon her unfor tunate neighbour, and that, too, without re•it i' I W et th e tt at 4%d. \v4i 1441 ce rt sai (l lat 4 1) TI tik,