Northern Times. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-09-12 00:00:00

ffS , s ° .eguhl t 1,1)7 be is had E : theit i haoe caple t Ali, i n ► ha" 10 last BZ On cu tter h dist beia 300 0 aigM c ot" this' THE LATE MURDER ON THE HIGH SEAS. THE EXECUTION OF CAPT. lIENRY ROGERS. 41••••••••••• V. This day, at twelve o'clock, Henry Rogers, formerly the T auter of the ship Martha Jane, will suffer the extreme Penalty of th e l aw, in front of the Gaol at Kirkdale, for ng feloniously and wilfully killed and murdered . 7 aldr ow Rose, a seaman on board:that vessel, on a voyage 4r°ra ilarbadoe s , where he shipped, to Liverpool. During the last Assizes, on the 19th of August, Capt. Rogers, with Wtili am Miles, chief mate, and Chas. Elw. Seymour, th e b second mate, were put upon their trial before Mr. 'ar°ll Watson, ant after a patient (the trial occupying upward s of thi r t een h ours ) an d a moat anxious and impartial inquiry, were each, Ly a jury of their country ate; found guilty of the crime of wilful murder. T his ease h as, f rom i ts commencement, enjoyed a more 'eau usual amount of interest, not alone amongst the sa H o rs of this port, but also throughout every maritime Port ia the Ki ng d om. I ndeed, so mach importance has been a ti a c eed to it—f or it s parallel for atrocity can scarcely d'elound on record—that at the time the then accused were ere the neagietrates, the court was d ense l y crow d e d , a se majority of the listeners consisting of seafaring men, 4111 a number of the respectable inhabitants of this town, The statements of the several witnesses in this, for the th eUtil all-absorbi ng case , were so recently published in Proceedings before the stipendiary magistrate, and allbsectuently at the trial, that had it not been of the greatest importance, we should not have considered it necessary to have given, what we intend to do— A FULL NARRATIVE ? t he whole affair, from its com:n.ncem nt until its foal termination' this day, the result of which o se at Captain H eur y R ogers, t h e great and chief Of lretid er, will, for thi s o ff eace, su ff er the extreme penalty 'th e law. magistr ates case was first brought under the cognizance of th e "Lagistrates on the lath of June, when the three accused A „?-0 113--Henry Rogers, the captain, William Miles, chief .-"bale, and Ch arles Edward S2ymour, second mate, were r°ll ght up in custody of detective officers Eaton and kpp, ac , when th ey were c h arge d w i t h causing the death of - " e Andrew Ro,e, who was shipped as an able • Beama n on b oar d that vessel at Demerara. The yes_ sailed fr om t h at port on the 11th of May, and the crew eons, sated of eleven able seamen, of which Rose, now dead, a a s ° tie, and besides she had a ceok, carpenter, and stew as laid It would seem, from the evid ence which th er before the court, that th e man was ra as e of intellect, ani th a t a t th e ti me h e went on d id 4 ile was s u ff er i ng f rom diarrhce a, It seemed that he not 'na L on so me occas i ons, go to the proper water closet, far this the captain beat him most severely with a a li c i k l3 ' and the ma t es a l so b eat him with ropes ' ends, until Da- u1:1 Y became bl ac k an d bl ue, an d l acerated in several Parts. to It was p rove d th a t th e pr i soners continued - ta -eat hint every d a y, f rom th e d ay h e vesse l sailed, ura -e and tiled. B e f ore he died, however, his arms, legs, feet, holescl`°er portions o f hi s b o dy, b ro k e ou t i n t o f r i g h t f u l 1,; an d running u l cers . Hi s b o d y was swo ll en, and .fti l e l ' s ed from h ea d to f oot, b y the terrible beatings in elootnea him by the three prisoners. There was a fern_ fao-•"°g named W a t c h k ep t on b oar d , an d the captain eat'aelitlY set thi s d og at t h e d eceased, both when in and or irons, and the animal used to tear mouthfuls of hi e to sil fr ° l :a the man, and inflicted desperate wounds on Ara ' Wh ch bled profusely. When the dog observed the it : ti ers beating the men, which was at least once a day, Vai n :,, 4 at him and tear away flesh, leaving streams Ite " Suing fromehe wounds. On one occasion, when Was t; il ea in t ir ons, and ' could not stir more than a yard, he 'rain, re d in the most abominable manner by the Cap_ The h tr a a ods o t ea , t nent the poor fellow had received a t th e t he aq ui t "' Captain was thus described by one of Ita a la "B°4 on the trial. When the deceased the eat,, ir°ne, the Captain took a " fid" and took Of th e ,itezar3nt from the deck and put it into the mouth oe oa .4eceasea. The same thing was done on a second - , s e l°l4 When the captain used a long stick instead of 61 " `•II.l and as other witnesses stated, '• when the ;,, ‘ , 411 Was: ferced down his throat, the deceased e avoured to keep his mouth stela upon which the v?tain thrust the filth up his nostrils, and when he wad ;is forced to open his mouth, put the execrement into it. .: te r9 time the deceased tried to close his mouth, the a l ,, l3 , t ain did the same thing." After this he was taken a ...4 ' Of irons, and by direction of the captain, the other ita'is°oers unheeded a water cask, into which he was put nude:the three pi isoners. The cask was then headed in the W aY, and lashed down in its place. This was at t t" v e o'clock in the day, and he was left that way until whl l i ve at ni g ht, with the bunghole upwards. He begged, 'l ° la thas. prim, for a small quantity of wales, but the men n „ er e afraid t o g i ve hi m any, as t h e captain told them •;;;:' to ye lilt° do ea o.)e of the men ventured to a s k th e ma t e t o 5. a littl e water, when he replied, "Yes, the I will • some give hi al some," and he took a tin pot and poured Was ffaker e er Wat into the butigael e. At twelve at night he -and tram this cask, atel he got i n t o th e l ong b oa t, to b r e "ed an olcl.sail over him, which the mate ordered thi s t . ta ken f rom over him. ' It was proved that all aei ttlo al e , from the beg,;nnine to the end, the man had In o es , stocking s , t rowsers , coa t , or hat—walling sie rt• - Shape of clothing all the time, except a flannel 01 1 a Sund ay, whilst in irons, he commenced pray let ; 4 4 after that he commenced singing a hymn—"Oh ! to g 'Yrul "—when the captain called for an iron pin la s ,:a, ' J un, and he, along with the other prisoners, put a t 'f e n Pin across his mouth, fastened some rope yarn 1: each end of it, and then tied the rope yarn behind his for a ra ' " ( I left him thus for an hour. The man called out What r eY, and cried, " my God, what have I done, or Ab 5 ,,, 1 . W . 111 I do? " bua no mercy was shown 'to him the 1 4 - " a ‘ w° 4 a3's before the vessel arrived off Cape Clear, c astl e a w as taken by one of his comrades to the fore •ealls t 7 li c er e he got some of his t ea , an d next day he was 4)12 -e,o te the captain, who gave him what appeared Ite a ;; se e castor o il an d b ran d y. Thi s did not seem to alo a „ . 4l) Y (fleet upon him, and the next day he got a like the ; 0 8 ` ) Ile time after, in the morning of the same day, boa rd ail di A, and at twelve o'clock he was thrown over- Wes th e tis t as. he was, a m os t f r i g htf u l s p ec t ac l e . Th a t notic e m anner in which the case was brought before the the se ef the p u bli c on the 13th of Jane, we d how far (r ate w et s were bo rne ou t b y th e ev id ence, wi ll b e seen hat, oil Toe fi r ows . t he i S ‘ witness. one of the seamen on board th e ship, 44 (1N: rat es. on his oath, the treatment the un f or t una t e boaea It c ) se was subjected to trona the time lie went on Peetaa•ge Martha Jane until his death a--" I sailed from Wa s t .°e s , on the 11th May in the ship. Andrew Rose r ath board. Ile was, from what I heard him talk, 1 41 1 1. wea k-nainded. H o never disohee befor®l ecl orders. On the saw S eYmour (one of the prisoners) ropes' end him, tleat d l ` W as on b oar d t en m i nu t es. H o was b eaten t h e '°ap " ay ro und ship by the three prisoners —the saithe with the w hi p an d the other prisoners with him o. "( 13. Th e capta i n somet i mes commenced beating rst, and th en th e ot h ers wou ld ropes ' end him, b oard y ou brute,we will teach you net to go on a 44 4 0 „, s ill? again as an a bl e seaman .' I saw th e cap t a i n of . d og at hi m several times, when he was in and out th e de' T he captain b ea t hi m w ith th e w hip. I saw off' e g ttY at him several times, and tear pieces of flesh atia-,eeesea. On the 15th M ay h e h a d i rons on hi s feet the - ,° ° 4 l move a b ove a yard only. He had nothing i n WOr mature on him but a flannel shirt. He obeyed a cell of or der when the captain called two of the men, and "ate" ed th orn to h o ld the arms of the deceased. [Here the e ke,. 9 detailed the facts, of the captain putting the Was emen t into th e poor fellow's mouth, while he Th e la irons, which we have before described.] ove' o a Ca Ptain ordered th e chief mate to throw water 40 ira, which he did. He was there till next day and he Was but his shirt. For seventeen or eighteen days *acas allowed nothing but his shirt. The weather was e sta rn it. Re had the same shirt on him when the water Ile - ,, l ""vn on him. It was on him all the time till he died. 'Levergot a anything but bread and water,- except two 1- .` 4 4t .he got rice, and a little soup and tea that I once gave him. On the 16th of May he was in irons—There were one or two buckets of water thrown over him by the mate. His hands and arms wero all full of holes at that time, and his body bruised all over by the whip ; there was a cut in the head with a blow of the whip. His feet and legs were full of holes On the 17th the deceased was in irons. He prayed first, and then began to sing a hymn, Oh, be joyful,' when the captain came and said Stop that noise,' and he did so, and then the mate , Seymour, brought au iron bolt, and the captain put it in his mouth, and tied rope yarn to it, and gagged him. He was kept in that state, with his mouth on a strain, for an hour. Next thy the mates, by order of the captain, knocked the head from a water cask, and he was put into it by the three, and they then headed it up again as a cask of water; they rolled it backwards and forwards three or four times, and then pat it in its place. The bunghole was up. That was about twelve, and he was kept there twelve hours. He got no water then. I put my mouth to the bunghole and said, Au lrew, how are you?' He said, I am nearly smothered: get me some water.' I said, 'lt is not in my power, but I will speak to the chief mate,' and I did so. He came and poured some water into the bun2hele; there was a great steam out of the bunghole, and I could not b2ar it. When he was lot out of the cask, he was in a g-eat heat, and his body smoked. He got into the Jong boat,and pulled a piece of an old sail over him, but Seymour took it off him. He got worse, and was beaten round the deck as usual. I took him into the forecastle against the Captain's orders, and kept him there three days and gave him some bread and tea. The third day the captain sent the steward for him, and when he came back he told me the Captain gave him some cas'or oil with something like brandy in it. He got another dose the neat day, and got worse, and he lay on the deck and the sea washed over him, and about eleven in the morning ho turned on his belly and died . Ho had nothing but the shirt on him when he was flung over board,about half-past twelve. Thero was no prayers said over him. Ono man suggested to the Captain to have the body opened, and to hold an inquest, but he said it was not worth the trouble. We were about 200 miles from Cape Clear then. We arrived here on the Tuesday,. evening,and onWeduesday I gave information to the police.'' This witness, it will b 3 seen, gave a detailed account of the general treatment the poor fellow had to put np with, but one great and important portion he omitted, and that was, as to the attempt to hang the deceased, which was thus spoken of by anothar winess on the trial. The captain cal Led him (witness), who went up to him, when the captain said, " come, and mike a hang nan of your• self." The captain then got a rope, and made a timber hitch in it. The captain then put the hitch round the deceased's neck, the other two prisoners assisting, and they "hitched" the deceased by the neck off the deck, and he hung suspended to a spar fur about two minutes. When they lowered him, he fell on the deck on his back, and he laid like a dead man. While •he was suspended his face became black—his eyes protruded from the sockets—and froth carne fco:n his month ; and after he was let down the captain was heard to say, " It' they had kept him there half a minute longer, he would have been a dead man." Another witness stated that the deCeased was beaten day after day. Tao captain beat him with a whip nearly every day. Ha was beaten with the small end of the whip. Can't say how olten he was beaten, but saw them beat him every day. There was a dog on board, and when the captain would be beating the man, the dog used to bi eat him. Saw blood flow from the bites of the dog in deceased's leg. Saw that twice, when the captain was beating him. Once when the dog was going too far, the captain told the dog to be quiet. Saw the second mate beat him with a rope's end—that WA3 almost every day. Saw the mite put him in irons by the captain's orders. It was on the maindeck, starboard side. Can't say for certain what he was put in irons for. He dirtied the deck and that's the only thing. He was in irons sometimes and out of irons more times, when he dirtied the deck He was a good many times in irons. When he dirtied the deck on one occasion, he (witness) remembered the cap tain take the dirt and put it in the man's mouth. When he saw that he turned away as he could not bear it. Saw an iron bolt in the man's mouth, across, and saw the cep twin laahine, it of the hook et bla vt apuu yarn ; it was a rusty bolt ; it was on a Sunday. The next act of cruelty described, was the putting the deceased into the water cask, and his appearance after death, which was as follows :—They put the head on, and the cask was then put in its place and lashed, with the bung-hole up. I askel the deceased at the bung-hole if it was pretty hot? and he said it was. Can't tell how long he was in the cask. Did not see him taken out. Saw deceased aloft entirely naked, but dcin't know what he was doing. Did not hear who ordered him aloft. It was fine weather. It was in the morning. Saw him two days in a state of nakedness. He slept, generally on the main watch, and had anything he could lay hands on over him —30:110 times a piece of sail, but that woull b takea off him. Remembered when Rase died, and that was a few days before they made Cape Clear. Saw him a short time before he died. His hely, legs, and arms were all one mass of sores. His hands and feet were blistered, and his hack all cut where he had been beaten. His legs and arms were much swollen, and he could not walk. When he was heaved over he was Week and blue, and there was blood on the deck where he lay. Wnen the de ceased was in the water cask he called to me that he was smothering, and asked for something to eat. There was a smell and steam coming out of the bong-hole. I gave him some pea-soup through the bung-hole, and the mete came forward and sai I, Who the h— has given him the pea soup—l should like to know that ? He detailed about the attempt made by the captain to hang the de_ ceased. He got blue in the face, his eyes glared, and froth came out of his mouth. Ha was kept that way for two minutes, and when he was let down he fell, and lay for five minutee on the deck before he became sensible. He got bread and water and rice to eat. I saw him go aloft en. tirely naked, but can't say who ordered him. He had a bucket of water with him, and the mite went after him with the whip, and he flogged him three times running until the blood ran down his back and legs. He let the bucket fall, and fell himself into the m tinsail, and I caught him. His neck and back were black and blue. All over his legs and arms there were corrupted sores, and blood running from the wounds. Oa one occasion he showed me his leg where the dog bit him, and it. was corrupted, and I squeezed several maggots out of it, and then my stomach turned and I went away. He appeared a strong healthy man—the most so on board—when he came on board. In the foregoing narrative we have given p. full digest of all the evidence given by the several witnesses, and they comprised nearly the whole of the crew on board the Martha. Jane at the time the atrocities were perpetrated. 'That investigation occupied the attention of the court for four days ; on each occasion the accused were repre sented by Mr. Snowball, the attorney, snd Mr. Aspinall, the barrister, by whsm each witness was cross-examined at considerable length, and with great ingenuity, but their statements remained uncontradicted, and, as the medical gentlemen who had been is attendance to hear the evidence gave it as their opinion that such treatment would accelerate death, they were all committed to the assizes, to take their trial for murder. THE NORTHERN TIMES, ...LIVERPOOL, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1857. THE CASE BROUGHT BEFORE TEE HOUSE OF LORDS. On Friday, the 19th of June, the day before the prison ers were committed for trial, Lord S`i•iftesbury, in his place in the House of Lords, called the attention of Lord Stanley of Alderley to the statements that had appeared with regard to the—as his lordship termed it—atrocities that had been committed by Captain Rogers and his two mates, on board the Martha Jane, of Sunderland; and in reply, Lard Stanley stated that when the facts were placed before the Board of Trade, they should have the best attention. The facts as given in evidence were placed before the Board of Trade, and the result was, that Mr. Harlin, the solicitor to the Treasury, was directed to conduct the prosecution on behalf of the Crown. With a view of seeing that justice was done in a case involving so much importance, as the security of life and proper treatment to the hardy mariners who plough the mighty deep, and on whose indomitable courage, and at the risk of their own lives in the hour of danger, our commercial superiority mainly depend, when the govern ment directed the Board of Trade to take the initiative in this prosecution, they were not blind to the many barba rities and acts of cruelty that had been previously alleged against, not only the masters of our own mercantile ships, * but also those of our American brethren, and with a view of abolishing, or at least checking these diabolical acts of cruelty that ,had been perpetrated—stepped in for the purpose of, in future, protecting the lives of the poor sailors from the tyrannical power exercised by some of those placed in authority over them—some of wham have, but in too many instances, escaped the punishment, they so richly deserved, for their cruelty, and malpractices to those under them. But, be that as it may, the government did step in, and, after hearing the details, no single person will gainsay for one moment but that they were perfectly justifiA, and thus, by their example, endeavour to put a stop to such abominable practices carr'ed on on board ships sailing under the flags of this country, and at the same time set an example worthy to no followed by other nations where similar practices have prevailed. We have before stated that this case excited a more than usual am)unt of interest, and that each day during the tine it was being heard before the worthy stipendiary Magistrate the Court was crowded by a large laxly of per sons anxious to know the result, but at the same time hor ror stricken at the awful enormities that were perpetrated upoa a human being, as the :facts were daily brought for ward in the evidence adduced. From the time of the committal of the prisoners, until their trial at the assz3s, this case was the chief topic of conversation amongst the public, and, perhaps, scarcely has there ever bee❑ one that engrossed more attention. Each and all condemned the brutal atrocities perpetrated upon the poor unfortunate deceased, and the prisoners gained a most unenviable notoriety, not alone amongst their own class, but amongst all who had read the sicken ing details as they had been brought forward. THE TRIA.L OF THE PRISONERS. Out of a calendar containing a more than usual large number of prisoners, etarged with every description of crime, this was almost the only one that excited any particular amount of public attention, and on Wednesday, the 19:.h of August, the day fixed for the trial to take place, the court, and all the avenues leading thereto, was densely crowded. - On Baron Watson entering the court, at nine o'clock, the three prisoners were placed in the dock, and were thus described :—Henry Rogers, aged 37, master mariner; William Miles, aged 27, seaman; and Charles Edward Seymour, aged 25, seaman, charged with havinz, on the 6th of Jane, 1837, on board a certain ship called the Martha Jane, then on the high seas, feloniously, wilfully, and of their malice aforethought, killed and murdered one Andrew Rose, a seaman on board the vessel. The prosectVion was conducted by Mr. Attorney- General Bliss, Q.C., E James, Q.C., and Mr. D. Seymour, instructed by , Mr. [limit, Solicitor to the Treasury. The prisoner, Henry Rlgers, was defended by Mr. Monck, Q.C., and the two mates, Miles and Sffm.atir, by Mr. Aspinall, instructed by Mr. Snowball. `solicitor, of this town. detailed as the acts of the prisoners. Then will arise another questione r which is a question of law—what is the character of this homicide, if you believe that it is so ? Is it murder, or is it manslaughter ? To make it murder, you must believe that it was done with malice afore thought; but this does not mean Lny long preconceived design against the deceased, but if the p isoners intended to do him some grievious injury, though they might not have intended to do what would cause his death, yet they would be responsible for his death, and would be respon- sib!e to the extent of murder. That is the case,wbieh I have to lay before you. You win take the law in r.,fe rence to it from the learned Judge, and the statement of the facts from me." The witnesses were then called, and' they most fully ansi clearly roved all the facts as delivered above, and the medical gentlemen gave the following evidence :—Mr. Thsmond, surgeon. was examined by Mr. Bliss,and stated that, assuming the evidence of the first witnesses to be correct, and the treatment described by them to have continued from the Fith of May to the 6th of June, it p-obably would have induced such a condition as, joined with the hanging, might have terminated fatally. Mr. Wail, surgeon or the N )rthern Hospital, deposed that, assuming the description of the treatment to be correct, it would be sufficient to cause death. Mr. Pennington, surgeon, was also produced to speak as to the probability of death ensuing from. the causes• described. CAPTAIN ROGERS'S DEFENCE. The evidence for the prosecution Navin; been con. eluded, Mr. Monck proceeded to address the jury in defence of the captain, and on his behalf, asked the jury if any one of them who ever sat in a criminal trial before, had ever known such a prosecution, in which no possible Motive was alleged for the offence which was stated to have been-perlietrated? What could be the motive of the prisoners, except sheer and pure malignity, in going on with a series of acts of oppression and cruelty, one after another, until they hurried their victim into death ? It should be remembered that this vessel was short of hands. There were three men wanting. There actually were not men en )ugh comfortably, and according to the character of the work and the exigencies of a voyage, to work the ship; and yet the captain would rejeot the services of a competent man, an able seaman, a sailor fully capable of steering an I of performing all the duties of a seaman on board a vessel. He rernholed the jury of the position in which the captain of a vessel stool, if he got about him incompetent men. The captain was the person upon whose energies and determination, mental and physical, upon whose prudence and discretion, not only the property committed to his care, but that w ich was infinitely more valuable, his own life, as well as the lives of his crew, depended. If he got on board two or three men who skulked, who could not or would not dis.. charge their duty, what was his position? He was taxing the energies of the remaining 'able bodied men beyond what they were able to bear. At any moment a storm might arise. At any moment the safety of the ve€sel, the property and the lives might be in jeopardy, and then he would find himself with some men ineMcient, and the others worn out with unremitting toil, and all because some men had represented themselves as being capable of performing duties which they were either incapable of performing, or unwilling to perform. Ha asked the jury, then, was it conceivable, that with three hands short, the captain would have been anxious to throw away the services of an able-bodied man? Thy mere suspicion of anything of the kind was absurd. What. possible motive could he have had for doing so, and for perpetrating euch acts as those which hed been described, and which were alleged to have hurried the deceased to his grave ? What possible object could the prisoners hive in doing that which could conduce to the death of the deceased? The act of one could nat be taken, and, as it were, added to some particular act of the other, to show' a common object, and that object the destroying the life of the deceased. What was there in the whole ease to show that the deceased had not been brought to his grave by long continued disease? Indeed it was very plain that such was the fact. His close-cropped hair would lead one to suppose thatihe had not. long left some hospital, while hie Triv.nrm. 1 clearly that he was irea declining state of health. He was -pot there to justify or to be the apologist of such acts as putting a man into a cask or of any of the other modes of punishing a refractory man which they had heard detailed in the case. But that wise not the Ties ion. The question was not whether what they had done was the best to preserve the discipline of the ship, but wh After they had of their malice aforethoteeht taken the deceased's life. The learned counsel then dwelt on the fi; thy habits of the deceased, and asked if it were probable that the prisoners would have prevented him from avoiding them. They punished him for those filthy habits, p Thaps, as a filthy dog or cat only should be panishel ; and was it p-obab!e that they would have prevented him fro n going forward when the necessary canaeqaanee would bo a continued indulgence in those habits. In opening the case for the prosecution, Mr. Attorney_ General Bliss thus stated the nature of the charge :—The three prisoners at the bar stand indicted for that they feloniously, wilfully, and of their own malice aforethought killed and murdered one Andrew Rose. Gentlemen, the prisoners committed the offence between the 11th of May and the sth of June in this yesr. The prisoner Henry Rogers was the master of the ship on board which the offence was committed. The prisoner William Miles was chief mate, and the prisoner Charles Edward Seymour was second mate of that ship. The deceased was an able seaman, on board that ship ; and the means of death were a series of violence and outrages committed by the prisoners at the bar upon the person of Andrew Rose from the 11th of May until two or three days before his death-- a system of beating and otherwise illtreating him in the manner I shall particularly state, and finally by one extra ordinary act of violence and outrage, within three days after which he died. The Martha Jane is a British ship, owned at Sunderland, and had sailed from Hartlepool . last year to Ca:cutta, where there was a change of masters and from Calcutta she came on the homeward voyage to Demerara, and after leaving Demerara she put into Bars badoes to repair, and there there was another change of masters and there it was that Henry Rogers became the IlleiSter tar 4,lAc ah;p. Ik ..no 47--t change of the crew took -place ; arid there it was that Andrew Rose, the deceased, entered on board .the ship. He entered on the 29th of April as an able seaman, and he signed the ship's articles, which stipulated among other things for a certain allowance of provisions. Gentlemen, when he came on board the ship he was first put to do some duty bythe second mate, who found fault with him and who beat him ; and he beat Rose so severely that Rose was advised by some of the crew to leave the ship, aad he accordingly ran away. He was away from the ship for several days, - but on the 9W, or 10th of May he was brought back by the police and he was put in irons. The vessel sailed on the 11th of May. At that time he appears to have been released from irons, but the day after the vessel sailed he was again beaten by Seymour. The learned Attorney-General then went on to describe all the acts of cruelty, and the disgusting treatment the poor fellow received at the hands of the three prisoners, all of which . we have given in detail, therefore it is unnecessary further to repeat them, and concluded by saying—" These, gentlemen, are the facts of the case, and these facts being brought before the public department, her Majesty's government have undertaken this prosecution. I do not think that that circumstance will is any respect weigh with you, but you are entitled to know who the prosecutors are, and we do not live in an age when either any advantage or disadvan tage to justice is to be apprehended from the prosecution being conducted by such a party. It is necessary that this inquiry should be made in order that all British seamen may knew that however far they are from tbis country, they are never beyond the reach of British laws to punish crime and protect innocence. No doubt the principal question which you will have to inquire into on this oeeasien, will be whether those acts of violence are proved. We shall call before you some of the crew. We have here all who were examined before the magistrates, but I do not think it necessary on the part of the prose. cation to call the whole of them. We shall call tour or five, and the rest are near if the prisoners desire they shall be called. You will hear their statement, and you will judge hew far you will credit what they say as to the conduct of the prisoners. Another question will be, whey taer what they dal was proper correction for the deceased. With regard to that we shall also put before you the official log, which was kept by the captain, anti in which by law captains are required to record the punishment they Mat on any of their crews. You will find in that log several entries made of floggings of Anirew Rose, the deceased. You will fled besides evidence that these entries could not all have been made at the time they bear date, but you will also tiny this rematkable fact in all of the log, that not one of the entries alludes to the biting of the dog—not one to the putting into the cask—not one to the hanging—nit one even to the whipping—but the THE VERDICT, utmost that is stated, in the many charges that the log About half-past nine o'clock the jury retired for the contains aealust the deceased, is that the Captain was purpose of considering their verdict, area in about an hour obliged to stand over him with a whip, in order to compel returned into court, when the' foreman said that they him to wash himself'; and that log imputes his death to found the death of the deceased was the result of the his being rotten inside. Thus, gentle me n, it will appear cruelties inflicted on him by the prisoners, but they from that that the captain and the mates could not wished his Lordship's direction as to the degree of homi have thought that these, their acts, were acts of tide that implied. punishment to the deceased ; and it will be for you to His Lordship replied, what he stated before that it, as say whether they were so, or whether, if they were, they reasonable men, they must have anticipated the death of were not excessive and improper. Another ques- the deceased as the consequence of their treatment, the tion will be, whether those acts so done by the jury would then find a verdict of murder; but if, as rea prisoners were the Cause of the death of the deceased ? sonable men they could not anticipate that their conduct That is a question which you will have to judge of. You would have that effects then it would be manslaughter. will say whether the deceased, coming on board a per- The jury again retited, and in about ten minutes re fectly healthy man, and sinking and dying after those acts turned and handed in a verdict of " Guilty of WILFUL of violence and outrage to him—whether you have any i merman" against ea.ele of the prisoners, accompanying reasonable doubt that they hastened his death. It is not that verdict with a. reconaraendatien to mercy. necessary for you to believe that they alone caused his THE SENTENCE. death; for if even the deceased had any disease upon him Hi s L or d s hi p then, am id st t h e so l em n silence of th e and thoegh that disease might have been fatal, aad though court, passed. the sentence of death upon the three he might sooner or later have died of it, still, if you be- prisoners, nod, in doing so, addressed them as follows: Dere pat in consequence of the acts done by the prisoners Henry Rogers, William Miles, and Charles Edward Sey or any of them, his death was hastened, then, gentlemen, incur, you have been respectively found guilty of the they are responsible for homicide. But on this you will crime of murder. After a most patient, and, I am sure. - a be assisted by some medical men, who will be called most a'axious and impartial inquiry on the part of the before you, and who, I understand, are of opinion that jury who have tried you, they have came to the conclusion under no state of health or disease could it be that death thast the evidence warrants that charge. It is a case that world not be caused or accelerated by the acts which are 'required the greatest attention on the part both of the suners. judge and jnrr; : amino one who heard the .account of your barbarous treatment, as it was detailed he,re, hour after hour, b❑t was convinced that if that evide.nce could be relied on, your lives would be forfeited. It is . of the ut most importance in a maritime country like this', that the power with which you are armed to repress from bordina. tion on board your ships, should not be accornpan.ied with too great severity, and the law should watch most care fully that that power is not too much extended. The.iury have recommended you to mercy ; with that I have no power to interfere, but, as is my duty, shall refer the i•e- commendation to the authorities of the country-116r Majesty's Ministers. Whether it will be attended with success 1 cannot say, but I implore you to make the bet use of your time„ and not rely upon it. Nothing mt./ remains for me than to pass the final sentence of the law. His Lordship then passed sentence of death in the usual, form on the prisoners, and appeared much moved in - - doing so. At the conclusion of his Lordship's address, and as the prisoners were ben; removed from the dock, the im mense crowd assembled, commenced cheering, and mani fested other tokens of approbation, but it was immediately cheekel by the officers on duty'; and the prisoners were removed that night to Kirkdale Gaol, there to await the fulfillment of the awful sentence passed upon them. PUBLIC ()PINION. Although the cheering was suppressed in the interior of the court, the result was no sooner made known to the vast multitude who had assembled in St. George's-hall, and who were prevented from gainin; admission, from the want of apace, thanithe cheering became general ; and, however horrible it may appear, cheers succeeded cheers, until the whole building re-echoed. But it was not alone confined' to those in the-interior of this spacious building, for, as his lordship entered the carriage to convey him to his lodgings, the crowd followed the carriage for some cons i aerable distance.. cheering with the greatest enthusiasm. However painful it may be to record such a circum stance—such was the fact. While public opinion was thee demonstrated in the town, as-to the justice of the verdict, the trial was held of such vital importance that it was commented upon by the press, and a London , cotemporary, the Daily News, thus coMmsnted upon it :--" The horrible charge of murder on the; high seas, just tried at Liverpool, has resulted in a verdict of guilty against Heni y Rogers, the captain, and William Miles and Chas. Edward Seymour, the first and second inafes of the vessel. This verdict the jury thought fit to couple with a recommendation to mercy. To this recommendation, for which no ground whatever is laid in the evidence, we trust that the authorities of the Home office, as far as Henry Rogers, the principal culprit, is con cerned, will show the most absolute disregard. A more atrocious and appalling case of infernal barbarity it is utterly impossible for the human imagination to conceive. It is a case for justice and not for mercy ; or rather it is a case inewhich clemency to•. the individual, would be cruelty to a: class—an unprotected and suffering class, over whose: welfare the executive government of this country is especially bound to watch. There is no body of men more liable to gross tyranny and brutal violende than the mariners in our merchant service ; there is none whose safety and comfort ought to be an object of such paramount care to the government of the greatest maritime and mercantile community in the world. Unless a signal and terrible example be made of such monsters as this Henry Rogers, the annals of our mercantile marine will continue to teem with instances of oppression and crime that may make the blood curdle, and the heart stand still in an icy trance of disgust and horror. And this miscreant a jery of Englishmen have recom mended to mercy. Mercy why it makes one's very blood boil to hear the word profaned in connection with atrocities so merciless. Mercy t yes, the same mercy that he meted to his victim is all that onght to be to this abominable culprit. That instinct of wild justice which all the conventions of civilisation cannot utterly nut down, irresistibly , impels every honest hearer of this vile story to regret that the law, even if carried, out to the very uttermost, can only punish, and not retaliate. Rapid extinction at the hands of Celcraft is but a poor requital for the protracted tortures under which this mignreant. wnrriorl fhe nnt of hie rloConnal..oe w;r1,1 , ;- But mercy—the remission of the death sentence—would in this case be an unpardonable weakness. An example—a terror-s•riking example—must be made of this fiend in human form, if there is to be hereafter any security for life and limb for our mariners amid the, silence and solitude of the seas. The brutality of mestere and mates, both in the Mash merchant service and that of the States, has lone been tending to a climax. The climax is reached. It is tines for justice to interfere with all her salutary terrors. In certain classes of crime we have no great faith in the efficacy of deterrents. Where the man lives by crime as. a profession, he will not be frightened out of its pursuits by penal awards; but such crimes as those of Henry Rogers are precisely of the class in which deterreeet punishments are most efficacious. As the law stands, this brute's life has beon most justly forfeited. In mercy to an oppressed class of meritorious and defenceless men, we demand that the law should take its course." Similar `sentiments to the above were re•eehoed. by almost every j.)urnal, under whose uotice the •case had been brough`, and even persons totally adverse to capital punishment, exclaimed that if ever there was a case, in .which the full sentence of the law should be carried out, it was in the case of Henry Rogers. ' THE MENIOA.IALS FOR THE. MITIGATION OF THE SENTENCE. Shortly after the sentence of death was passed upon the three prisone`rs,• memorials . were seat to the Home Office, praying for a mitigation of the awful sentence. The one from Liverpool was backed by a. recommen dation from the prosecution, and the jury who tried the case, and another was forwarded from Sunderland, where Captain Rogers was a native, and well known, and the most strenuous exertions were made to induce the Home Office, to spire the lives of the three condemned con. victs. For some days the whole case was under the care ful consideration of the authorities, and no answer being returned up to: Saturday last, Mr. Snowball, the solicitor who had the eon. ducting •of the defence of the three prisoners, pro ceeded at once to London, and had. a personal interview 'with Sir George Grey, and, during a very long interview. urged every point oa their behalf,. but. Sir George Grey. who had doubtless consulted with Biron Watson, who presided at the trial, appeared to regard the verdict of the jury as decisive with regard to Captain Rogers at least. H owever, on the morning of Wednesday last, Mr. Gibbs, the governor of Kirkdale Gaol, received a communication from the Home Office. Sir George Grey saw * no reason why the law should not take its usual course lu:regard to Captain Henry Rogers. charged with the murder, at sea, of Andrew Rose, one of his crew, on board the Martha Jane ; but respiting William Miles and Charles Ed ward Seymour, the first and second mates condemned along with him on. the trial. Thus, it will be seen, that the life of Captain Henry Rogers has been forfeited, while his two co-partners in guilt have escaped, but no doubt will be placed in. penal servitude for the term of their na tural lives, THE COWOENINED coNvicrs IN GAOL. After the verdict of the jury, and the sentence of death being passed upon the three convicts, they were at once removed to. a cell specially appropriated for prisoners. Here they were, so to say, shut out from the world, and noisurious or prying eye was permitted to disturb their minds by worldly affairs; but .their tine was devoted, under the ministrations of the excellent and worthy chrplain, to preparing to meet their Maker, during the short time they had to sojourn on this earth. To this purpose, we underitand, they wore most zealous, and paid the most marked attention to the prayers and exhortations of the minister. Captain Rogers, who is described as a native of Sundertand, is about 35 years of age, has followed the sea, as captain and mate, for 15 years, and has stated that previous to this sad event ho had never been complained of before a magistrate for any offence whatever. He has sailed from many ports in the course of his seafaring life, but Ip.s well known in Liverpool, and respected by his brother shipmasters. He is rather over the middle height, and is of a florid com plexion, but has become much thinner and paler within the last few days. Since his condemnation, his wife and children have had several interviews with him, which, as may be supposed, have been of the most painful nature. With regard to the other two prisoners but little is known, but one of them, Miles, we believe is a married man, and has several children. Captain Rogers has five children. From the time of their being condemned the three prison ers bare, we believe, manifested much attachment to each other. On Wednesday, upon the arrival of the answer to the memorials from the Home Office, the result was corn. municated to them by the Rev. Mr. Appleton. The effect on the two mates may be conceived, but Captain Rogers, who appeared to have from the first anticipated the result , heard the decree with great calmness. Soon after the information was received the two mates were removed from the cell, and C sptain Rogers, knowing the fate that aviaittd him, was left to devote the few short hours that were left him, before suffering an ignominious death, to prayer. Before the separation took plate, ail three en— gaged in prayer together, and the scene was one of the most affecting nature. THE DEFENCE OF TIIE T.WO MATES. Mr. Aspinall, on behalf of the two mites, Miles and Seymour, next addressed the jury, and in doing so con_ tended that the conduct of the prisoners he represented must, to a great extent, be judged according to the position which they held. They were inferior officers in the vessel, bound to carry oat the orders of the captain. It was true they were only, bound to carry out those orders so long as they were legs! ; but, at the same time, it was not easy for them to discriminate as to the exact amount of punishment which might legally be indicted upon a disobedient or negligent german. The captain was, therefore, primarily responsible, an I with many of the acts which were relied upon as coacarring to cause the death of the deceased the first and second mites had nothing whatever to do. lie dwelt upon the fact that the medical men did not venture. to afil •in that death would have been caused by anything short of an accumulation of all the acts allege•! to have been cominittel. Teis being the case, he conteaded that it was not possible to hold the prisoners he represented guilty of causing the death. No witnesses were called on behalf of any of the pri- TH JUDGES SUMATING UP. Ills lordship, in summing up the evidence, which he did at considerable length, and with great minuteness, and having recapitulated all the evidence adduced, ha pressed, on the jury that it, WAS of the ut►neat important e if they believed ►hat all those cruelties took place, and that they were the cause of the death of the deceased, that they should say so boldly and so conscientiously, no matter what tho consequence of their verdict might' be, and he hoped that the tine would never come when a British jury would shrink from the discharge of their duty. Ile remarked that the men shipped at dhtant ports were not always the best seamen or the best characters, and t►erefore it became the duty of the jury to examine carefully into the whole case as laid before them.• PREPARATIONS FOR ISE EX ECMON. Yesterday was indeed a solemn , day for all parties in the Kirkdale;Gaol. From an early hour in the morning., the condemned criminal was engaged in prayer With the worthy chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Appleton, to whose words of spiritual consolation ho seemed deeply touched. In the course of the day Mrs. Rogers, his wife, had a last and farewell interview with her husband. Of what transpired at the interview, which of course was strictly private, we are unable to give, but it may be imagined that it was one of a most affectingamd painful nature—each andall being deeply impressed with the solemnity of the raelaneholy:eir- , cunastancee that had brought to pass such waeparation in this world. However, we understand that tho - criminal and his wife, wheis a very pious member of a Wesleyan Metho dist congregation, prayed carneatly and far vent:y-together but at last the hour came for their final separation, and they separated; to mast no more on.thie earth. 'then the wife left the gaol, sirs was' weopiiig most bitterly. The remainder of the day was spent by the prisoner in prayer arid devotion. While this melancholy scene was transpiring in the prisoaer's cell, thooffiaials were ertgage4 .in a no less painful occupation, that of erecting the sea Told in the front of the gaol, on which Henry Rogers meat suffer an ignominious (bath. This, at all times, a melancholy sight, was,. on this occasion,. rendered doubly so by the public ex.citement and feeling of indignation that has been aroused , in this case. For - while the men were so employed, notwithstanding that it was raining se very ; sharply, a large- number of persons , were present watohing the operations of the workmen as they were ad...- lusting the fatal platform. with a harderisd'indifference, and a deiteanour that was far from creditable's° be call bited in a country where Christianity is profassol Their observations and •conversation being anything but appro priate to such an awful eocasion as that of praparing the instrument by , which a fellow bring • was emit to be launched intotternity: The crowl rernained•*atil long after the completion of thescaffill, and appeared reluctant to leave the spot. We understand that the prisoner and his family feel indebted Lean. the officials of the gaol for the kindness ani attention bestowed upon them under the circumstanses..of this distressing caie, they having, as far as the. discipline of the prison woald allo', done their utmost to alleviate the feelings of all concern,/ In a few short hours•this horrible tragedy will be brought to a close, by the execution of Henry Roger?. - THE FRENCE PRESS. ON THE STATE OF AFrAIES UT INDIA. A correspondent,.writing on Thursday evening, says : The Univers yesterday commenced a series of articles on the Indian insurrection, whieh, as fro, a s . they have yet gone, 'fully maintain, if they, do not augment, the reputation already acquired by that journal for want of common sense and. bitter hatred of England . . Fortunately, the venom of ' the Univers is of no veu dangerouS description were its effects as virulent as the animas .with. which it is emitted,. England would long since have been annihilated,. and the earth purged of heretics—of all those, at least, who refused forth-- with to abjure their errors, and embrace the gentle doctrines of which- M. Louis Veuillot same 'spectacles,. and carried to med extremes by its mania of proselytism, the Ultramentano journal has long since discredited itself in Franca by its extravagant views., and enormous bigotry. Its Parisian cotemporaries rarely condescend an argue with it seriously, and, indeel, to do:co mere loss of time. In the present instance, hoWever,. one or two of them take it to 'task expressing themselves in terms of strong disap probation.. This is in reply to its yesterday's article, which is quite out-heroded by the egre— gious folly of that published to-day. Ono is not surprised to hear- the Univers declare that, if . England loses India, it will be in .conse— quence of the Rsf6rmation, and that had she 'remained Caelalio she - mould have preserved her 'Eastern possessions. That is only in aceondanee • with the usual strain of the priestly periodical. But one is certainly rather astonished to learn that now her , °ally hope of retaining the empire , that is on the point of escaping from her grasp is .by applying to Franco for assistance. The Unz:veree foresees the time when, her stores of fighting men exhausted, she will seek-the aid of her ally, and then conditions must be imposed upon the suppliant. In.return for the sword that shall re-establish her power ha the East she must quit the Mediterranean. The lonian Isles must be joined to Greece,- Malta must revert to France, which possesses, in Northern. Africa, - " another India, less rich, but healthier than that of the English —an agricultural and militiarf empire, which France will not hold a cen tury. without filing : it. with a Christian people.' Wattle. Gibraltar is restored to Spain, Fiance may fairly, in return for- this service, take possession - of the - 13eleario 'lslands, which are nn•the- way to Algeria. " Maltado the hands of France,.hecomes. for Letin Europe a sure barrier against tile 'East. and gives to the- Holy Places and to tho Co.tholin ;interests in that part of the world a protection which cease to be illusory.'' But, without further . following up the rhapsodies of the Uleitere,,l will briefly quote the Debuts and the Bieck, • The Debais- says : • The Univers-to-day prophesies, with texts- of Scripture, the fall of England,. and declares her enmenoned to the lodgment of God. " They lashed Catholic truth,',' says the Univers, " with the, prosperity of &gland., See (they said) is not Protestant England the freest, the richest - , the. strong la nation in the world ? They can no longer use• this argument since . England is condemned to perish."- " Yet a little," says the Univers, " and we shall less often hear it asked what England would have gained by romai2- ing Catholic She would have gained this —she would have made herself in India a soli empire, and she wculd not have been overthrown at a blow, shamefully hustled (t.ouscu'ee)." One can hardly discuss such arguments, attired in srieh language. Lct us, however, point our, to the Univers, that its prophetic. ardour makes it loan sight of the past, and c f the lessons of history. Certainly it it , grievous to be threatened with the loss of an humerus* colony, even when one possesses many others that are tranquil and prosperous, b•at it is yet more grievous to have lost all one's colonies or to have none tolose, and that is the condition of the most Catholic nations in the world—Spain arid Portugal. The present diMculties of England are the attribates and the natural and legitimate compensations of power and prosperity. Before rejoicing at them, and pr.:ally cengrieulating oneself on bein g exemp. fr m them, it would be well to reflect that it le already something to have so much to lose, end that it, enables the, loser Willy to support the. comparison with those who have noth'ng. It is not then yet time topoiaa Out the effects of Divine vengeance in the situation or England, and to declare that heresy has been fatal to her * power ; bat it is always time for the Unive) s to peered gate and inte-pret the decisions of Heaven, at the ri. k of tilding itself at variance with those of common According to the Univers, had England been ta. Roman Catholic power, and hal she applied hereelf,, on obtaining possession of India, to convert the Hindoos to the true faith, the present insuirebtien would never have occurred. The conversion of the natives was her first duty and solo security. Irt reply to this, the Sieele proposes an hypothesis — Since the last expedition in Kabylia, Algeria is tranquil; colonization developes itEelf, trade flouriehao, cultivation is extended. Send missionaries to the-A*1%1)4 attempt to im pose upon them a new form of worbhip, go, cross in hand, to exact from them the abjuration of their pment creed, and you will obtain frz result an immense and formidable insurrection. Englikh domination in India. French domi nation in Africa, ate mainta ned, anti will be maintained, only by tolerance, F the Free at of a in er a cod'• the 010 ing )pl ins the in; Sir on, (3, , 3et• r 9". rn 1T