The Express.
London, England, 1846-10-16 00:00:00

NEW WORK by G. A. i BECKETT & JOHN LEECH.

........ .. . - ---
Now published, mice OneTHE Wit, No. V. of
COMIC HISTORY of ENGLAND.
BY GILBERT ABBOTT k BECKETT.
Wrest A COLOURED EICNINO ON Sew AND NTIMOCS ILLmorsa,
VON§ at AEL
PROSPECTU 4.
In announcing a Comte ALitoCy of Pang
it may be seteenry to
observe that the lenity implied in the till^ will Mate to tbe nein
but hr no means to the matter of the war:, which will to
with the gravest regard to the truth and accuracy that the gaigeot
require.. The aim of the writer will be to present a faithful weinallve,
for which the beet authoriti, . will In the moat carefully coneolkadowid
to serve it up to the reader in a more palatable form than boa lalteeto
been thought compatibie win, the dielity of history. nets le not
the =Oleo intention to sacrifice fidelity to fun in the Ilielltemning
production, which is &Opted to show that the WO et dral—aea sot
imeparable. The alvantages of blending the
wigt balm-
lion are universally allowed ; and there is an end toes, oweellmourito
fallacy that food for the mind require. the uninviting leiMiewairofie
The COMIC HISTORY of ENGLAND will not be a loam
of any other work, nor will it follow servilely la the sir et sor
historian. The author does not aspire to welkin tbeeeleration a(
Home, the easy slippers of Smollett, the geloase of Onamas. ta
pumps of Pinnoek. In literature the Mom of Mather WOW apt to
clogs to the party attempting to make his way Is a eaterace
prove
hint be was never fitted. whillch
The Comic History
aterials of Engionfi w,
therefore, he an entirely original esampotiition, the m fee
well he derived from • tonsil:town of all the best histories already in
existence, whose accuracy will be tested by direct reference to the
moot undoubted authorities.
The chief pi.rpoec of this preliminary announcement is to guard
the public against any misconception of the intended character of the
work on account of its title. A narrative may, it IA hoped history is
, be correct
as well u comic ; for, as "truth is stranger than fiction
sometimes much most ludicrous than the fancies of the humorist.
The purpose of the work being explained. It mmaina only to
announce the form of pubiLation. It will appear in Monthly Parts,
pees One Shilling each, handsomely printed in Svo., and copiously
illustrated by Joins Learn, with One large Etching and from Six
to Timis° Wood Engraving.
The COMIC HISTORY of ENGLAND will comprise from Twelve
to Twenty Parts, and will appear regularly with the monthly maga-
zines until its completion.
Published at the Punch Office, SS, fleet-street.
___------------

Now poi:ALl:wig, price bd., No.
THE ALMANACK of the MONTH,
A REVIEW of EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY.
Edited by Gnurr ABBOTT I !Wm Err.
London: Publidual at the 4. l'uneh" Ofike, i 5. Fleet-etzeot.

--he e43rtoo.

MAILS.
The AVCgt India malls, excluding those for Mexico. Honduras, and
.11Wrina. will be made up on the mornlngof the 17th October.
The mails for British North AMeriC-1, and the United states, will
be made up on the evening of the 17th October.
Tb, overland trails for Gibraltar. atalta,Onree, the Tontan Islands,
Ades, Ceylon, India. Hong -Kong, and Oda'. rat Southampton,
fatmade up on the morning of the 20th October.
The overland closed malla, ria Marseilles. to the Mediterranean,
Egypt. Aden, Ceylon. India, Hoag-Kong, Ike., will be made up on the
evening of the 24th October.
The mania for New South Wake, Van Diastan'a Land, will be made
up on the 31st October.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.
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and their confidence respected. NEITHERCAN WE UNDERTAKE
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HIGH WATER AT LONDON-BRIDGE.
Tam DAT. MOI Wing. 22 Mill. past 11; Afternoon, 48 min. pad 11.
To-stosuww.—Momlng, 0 min. put 0 ; Afternoon, 13 min. put 0.

LONDON, FRIDAY, OCT. 16.
THE court-martial on Lieut. 11. A. STORY, of her
Majesty's steam frigate Retribution, reported in our
paper of Monday, must not bo allowed to drift un-
noticed into oblivion. As an example of what occurs
in the navy, of which the public only now and then
get a glimpse, it is very instructive. Like the some-
what analogous case of WHITE, who perished at
Hounslow, the unanticipated death of REDPATH, the
result of the ordinary course of discipline, carried out
by an officer to whose humanity there is a great
abundance of unimpeached testimony (and which
seems really unimpeachable), throws a flood of light
on the antiquated but unfortunately not yet obsolete
principles on which discipline is founded. We have
no fault to find with the individual tried, or with the
court; but the inferences which the conduct of both
suggests imply the condemnation of tho system.
EDWARD REDPATH, who was punished and died,
was captain of the hold ; an office of considerable
trust. Practically, the water and the bulk of the
Provisions for the crew, including the wine and
spirits, are placed under his charge. Of all that class
of officers who do not receive warrants from
the Admiralty, but are appointed and may
be disrated by the captain, perhaps the cap-
tain of the hold is the most responsible. Though
it is given in evidence that Redpath was not a sober
man, the situation he filled negatives the assumption
that he was worthless and degraded. He was a
petty officer, filling a responsible place to the day of
his death ; and the crew, generally, would not be
spared the punishments from which he was not
exempt.
On the night of August 12, he committed a dis-
graceful and an unpardonable offence, for which the
first lieutenant, on his own authority, without com-
municating the circumstance to his captain, com-
manded REDPATH to be confined in the coal bunker
from ten o'clock in the forenoon of August the
13th, till eight o'clock in the evening; di-
recting that ho should be allowed to come out at
one o'clock for a short time, and be visited and re-
ported to the officer of the watch every hour. This
duty was neglected. He was seen when he returned
to the bunker after one o'clock ; but he was not again
seen till seven o'clock, when he returned a drowsy
answer to the ship's corporal's question ; and at eight
o'clock EDWARD REDPATH VMS found lying on the
coals a stifled corpse. As in the case of WHITE,
the officer meant only to inflict a customary chas-
tisement ; but the chastisement, from the ignorance,
in one ease, of the effects of largely abrading the
skin, and, in the other, of leaving a man exposed to
inhale carbonic acid gas, ended in death. The soldier,
more under public protection than the sailor, has ac-
quired a kind of martyr reputation; the sailor, cast
without an inquest, without the Registrar's certificate,
into the blue waters of the Mediterranean, is forgot-
ten for ever ; not leaving his surviving relatives and
friends even the consolation of knowing that his
sufferings may be the means, like those of WHITE, of
amending the system to which he fell a victim.
The evidence of the carpenter informs us that the
bunker is about 7 feet wide, and 17 long. The
depth, not mentioned, extends, we believe, nearly from
the keelson to the deck ; but there was a platform in
it about seven feet above the coals. How this black-
hole was ventilated, does not appear ; it was covered
by an open grating, but not supplied like the between-
decks of ships with fresh air by a windsail. Although
the stokers hsd suffered when working in the banker
from " pains in the head across the eyes," and from a
" stifling effect," none of the officers appear to have
supposed that confinement in it was deleterious; and
there was no apprehension of evil consequences from
shutting up a man in the bunker through a hot sum-
mer's day, in the latitude of 40. The temperature of
the close bunker was not examined ; that of the air
was nearly 80 degrees. In the stall higher tempe-
rature of the bunker, carbonic acid gas was generated,
and the evidence of the surgeon establishes the fact
that REDPATH was suffocated.
" I found hit body (said the surgeon) en the port side of the upper
deck, warm, but I believe dead.Lioobtful whether he was deed ce
not, I resorted to Etch means as I thought fit in cases of suspended
animation without success. I afterwards rondo &post portent exami-
nation, and found the appearances OR the body such as are known to
exist whrrc the persons have died from respiration of carbonic acid
gee. I opened the body and examined it very minutely; the lungs
were gorged with blood, dark in colour. What blood was about the
been and the large vowels was fluid and of a very dark colour. The
bole was approaching to avidity, but otherwise generally healthy, ,
except a mth-r unusual quantity of scrum in the ventricles of the
brain, and a very slight trace of inflammation in a portion of the in-
side con of the stomach.
" Judie-Advocate: To what muse do you attribute his death I—To
the respiration of cahonk acid gas."
The death was accidentaL It was found eo by the
court, which honourably acquitted Lieut. STORY of
all blame, and acknowledged the testimony of his ship-
mates to his mild and humane conduct. Sir C. OGLZ
in returning his sword, said he had proved himself a
humane and good officer. The whole proceeding was
justified. It was found by the court that such
punishments had previously been resorted to on board
the Retribution, and that the same punioliment had
been adopted in other steam ships without any bad
consequences. No objection was made to Lieut.
STORY having taken on himself the power to punish
EDWARD REDPATH. His doing so, therefore, is in
accordance with the rules of the service.
_ _

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