Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-04-02 00:00:00

tee about Landor, till between five and six o'clock in the
evening, the chief engineer. then brought me word that
Landor had been tied down the stoke-hole, and had become
'verY sick. I went to the forecastle where Landor was, and
felt his pulse. If any person neglected duty or done any
thing wrens.° was my itduty to punish. The engineers
had
authPoroiWtyer to stop the grog, but I never gave them any
to inflict such punishment as what was done
la this case. To Mr. Brett.: This was •a very fine ship
beeand well ventilated. I have been at sea since the year
n . Always in the Mercantile Marine Service. I have
ralao years first mate, and also second mate.
Mitchell had. the character of a respectable and humane mall. There were eighteen seamen on board the ship, and
three officers. There were cabin pessengers in the fore and
lafrter-eatia
.s.,avedsley : both; some of them were. women. Charles.
lam a police officer at Liverpool. I took into
4,ellstody the prisoner at the bar, on the Bth of March. . I
Loefaunecel. him on board the ship. I took him to the police
, and charged him with causing the death of on.
.e of
Aenfgjueer, Baena
the stokers on board the ship Bogota. I took the chief
nan, into custedy on. the 6th March.
ter that they were both at large. The trial lasted
afor two days This losed the case for the prosecution.
rc Brett, in: reply tocthe eviden.ce, said, he would wish to
for about the case with the jury as if he was one of themselves,
of ,bout half-an-hour, that
.they might arrive at the truth
de woulde. If he was one of them, the first thing he would
been be to try to put away whatever prejudice had brou
aheuld h '
geht to bear against this man in the dock: He
aYe an examination closely into his own mind,
that Whether
~ it had been touched before he came into court, by
• which had been improperly and untruely circulated 'lace this
ril case came into court. They should examine
,cwiniehtaeoie,..,tyheyinto the state of their own minds as to
had heard of this case before they came
did court, to judge the prisoner. at the bar. He
loadedn°t say that the prejudices that had been
on the case was altogether improper. It was,
Petdha•Ps
.natural. It was a case of the highest importance,
atelle- n'it'llng was more common than that the highest minds
re often induced to believe that which the people putd
thornartaehitas their apprehensions, especially in a case of suppose Y and oppression. He alluded to the impression that
* gone abroad with reference to alleged cruelties that
• ere s..
of this
to be exercised on board the merchant vessels
Th 'ls country, from some late cases that had been tried._
Wheneple thought as the newspapers directed them ;. and
rise a charge of cruelty was brought against a captain o
of a a British vessel the people did not take the trouble
the l'aking' any distinction—utterly forgetting whether
cen,,, ei.reunistances were true, and 9ame to the
tr•tlllsion that it was the practice of captains and. mates of
the Isla vessels to be cruel and oppressive to the sailors. In
e,.., Mercantile marine of. America, there had been acts of e.ejtY brought against the captains, but as regards the
a,,r,ld"sh marine, as a general rule, such a belief was utterly
~,,c, Wholly void of any truth. Although these. men, one of
offence before them, had been charged with a serious
by sn,__, and it had been thought proper, and right,haenyd
nafansirt,
knowute_ Portion of the Press of this town, which t
Ile ' ° 'Peak of this case as one of cruelty and oppression.
whiellre,hd hardly remind them of the disgraceful paper
and sga,;',e Put into the hands of one of the witnesses,
,b'l'great eu had been circulated through the town to a
eat
caselisteat, and called about in every direction,
teil'nesge..l7:lte'et ebser spoken of in, every place where each of
aclbeen, in every public-house and lod-
reeant itiose' as, "the case of the roasted sailor." They
body s;- ke the people believe, and almost every-
death did
believe that the man had been burnt to
that ' and the flesh burnt off his bones—not
hich he had
fallen and died from over heat,
tation produced apoplexy. Could there be any represelle
of the more gross and untrue In the next place, he spokt
the , Place where the man was put when he was tied to
dowircildder. The ignorant people thought that he was p.t..
was the hole or tunnel, where he could not move. It
rouse that the man was almost put over a fire and
jail -i."l, there. If these people had been in the place of the
tttie,:geY would not now have been in that way of thinking.t
apoll',.ePle who had no responsibility talked thks way. But
calain",,''e.,lll, the jury, lay the whole responsibility ; and he
all n,,gea them against any mistake of theirs, lest they
wag° --„-`,send the prisoner at the bar to death unjustly. He
W1,7„,.°‘, of that class of persons who were generally charged
t
class 'qui murder. They would generally find thaLtdhtao
wo:s-,was made up of persons who bad gone f
Who -I; and who had been punished over again,andooorvaerrom and
where ad hardly any hope in this . world in the ext.
kin,, were others who committed the offence of
disc,,r' away life, but they had always some
or I, cef lii or abominable motive. It might be revenge
i"
agaa', reild.
iSßut these were wholly different from the case
11141'1 man Here was a man charged with the
he r had° f a person' a. • st whom it was not pretended tha
circa '''' any feeliangainof ;anger whatever. This very
eatilunstance should make the 'jnry pause well before they
baa.
trr,a.e,bettoabiceonsider the matter. The prisoner at the
bear,
was a man who had been the whole of his life a
marl ;_who had worked his way up in the world ;
elms". widthha wife sad family, a man almost of their own
bef4eattlli-vt',s24s,hould consider well all the circumstances
t
dbeeliabsesru e'
'''''' aial to the scaffold. It was not, it could i.io
pled that he committed the offence charged upon him,
railld. aired
that he committed the smallest offence in his
t
of his The charge of murder was that by. an
.ac
maliciously and with wilft,il inten.titon
ltillidtlataiske a-viol:ye the life. The whole of the charge consisted
life. -t that he wilfully intended to take away the
ltiter4 was true that the charge need not be proved bym any
be of on 9f his• Any one who heard this case could. notd
the d Minn that the prisoner at the bar really intended
havi..e.ath of
the ma; whose death he was charged. with
hitenus, Laken.
If once it were assumed that he did not_
lime.' the death of the man, he submitted that, by law, and
what' the direction .of his lordship, it did not signify by
bar
ecallse the man came to his death, the prisoner at the
cake °lll,l not be found guilty of murder. Once the jury
he to
esn the conclusion in their own minds
thenr, -.1 .I;.]
's not intend the death of that man,
not
r_swhatever were the consequences of his act, he was
roohsettPonsible under the charge of murder. It would be
ec'astr cilis if it were:so. It would be making a murdern byo
that haction in law. If they did come to t.he conc
him
bodih.el,e°lmaitted the act without any intention to do
the „"arra, more than the slightest, they would say that
nitoitstee:'dt:o:7l,,aosr one of the slightest that could be well col:
side,. . Ile did not believe that they could, on any cons
believe that their reason would ever lead then'
mantled "u'e Prisoner to the scaffold. The act which this
Doseerataitted was such, that at the time, no person sup:
be of would result in death. He thought the jury would
se. r_ °Pinion that it was wholly impossible to say
at th " first question they had to try was—did the prisoner
eliech: bar commit the act without malice, and in
next nee to the command of his superior officer. The
tonah'faestion
was—Was that act such as he might be rea-
ilia s 'Y called upon to do in obedience to the command of
sfa aPerior officer ? If they came to the conclnsion in the heccriadatlYe he submitted that the man was justified in what
kali. • The're was another question : Whether the death of the
Ile ,was accelerated by the acts of the prisoner at the bar ?
tvid;enid take this last question first. He allnded to the
kia-slitr" of the doctor in reference to the
lecelve-,1"4-e) and pointed to the fact that another man had
tahiry ilad ' a sun-stroke on the deck that very day; and the
s evidence which seemed to be consistent with
The man having died from the effects of climate.
ZaPtain' e(alutniity on board the ship consisted of
"„e 11,-„',, officers, sub-officers, and sailors. An
'Qat tb-4 liot tell them the absolute necessity there. wase
work he saPerior officers should be obeyed instantly in the
`',.,hieth;g„ :of a ship. There should be no discussion as
:ails -,',, I lay within the strict line of particular forduity,the
.4eriaePl was going on, the lives of all on board. m h
'lad exN and the consequence was, that a universal custom
Passeal,sted for hundreds of years. There had been no law
a
sailor ''') say that one officer should obey a superior, or
he
!leces 111 c'ffieer• Common sense had settled all this.. T
Jariessia,-"es of the case made it law - and if the verdicts of
which ';,re allowed to tamper wit'h that law and custom
feu
h 'dad been recognised by the wisdom of the country
illaeYllll'red of Years, meddle with that law of supre-
it weuicit.he trade of this country, which so enriched
fashio4 t°ll be lost altogether. If once this new fangled
obedien suould be brought into play, and that the only
Wills', be. eof the sailor is to be measured by the contract
ilailors ehslg'ned" for, and if that got once into the minds of
ri aste4 ~re.,..,saPremacy of this country was at an end. They
'aey ~,n.„-' -raugland as the queen of the sea, but when once
celinG7 e way to this new fangled fashion, the end of this
it ill 3;4Was close at hand. He went on to say that officers had
aptein.eleir
Power to inflict punishment on the men. The
llPoo tn cold Power
not in every case of disobedience be called
bNwer - Punish it. In this case the chief engineer had
ut to inflict such punishment. At home, if a
re to work," he could be turned away,
in. .ea it was .
sail • Tide different. The work which a rhinoskulk-
er did not do, fell upon the other men who were
ri. to work. It was therefore of the greatest consequ-
'vessel at:very man should do his fair share of work. The
‘'eatilawtad °he of the finest ships that could be built, well
Which sie, In every part, and built expressly. for thetrade
Mth° e was engaged in. Captain Wild had been asked
to punish
he would have given the chief engineer authority
eatpai;ssh the man as he was punished for skulking, and the
atiswer" said no ; bnt if the captain had given any other
*Nati ) aneordinm to the theory of the prosecution, they
for „Place
h him in the dock. He must give the answer
own safety, and they could therefore
kat Po. reliance upon the answer. Landor was a
44,:::::01141,:rtb:Yoahf:
'lir years of age, in the prime of life
rae4 anY, Was able to work as well apparently as any other
He complained of going down below, but
PPear" Pt on deck again he appeared well enough. He
Of 0• ed nealthy and h pnv, d ever man on board was
kittiolt that he was ealtiaking7 and the jury would
have