The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-27 00:00:00

Alleged Breach of the Foreign Enlistnit

Act.

Yesterday the magistrates of the Sittingbourne Petty
Sessions were occupied during the entire day in investigat-
ing charges preferred by the Crown against Mr,W. Rumble,
engineering inspector of machinery at her Majesty's dock-
yard of Sheerness. These charges were twofold, and alleged
distinct breaches of the Foreign Enlistment Act—first, in
having, without leave of the Crown, fitted out, or procured
to be fitted out, a ship called the Victor, otherwise the
Scylla, otherwise the Rappahannock, with intent and in
order that she might be employed in the service of the Con-
federate States of America and their subjects to cruise and
commit hostilities against the United States of America,
with whom her Majesty was at peace; and secondly, in hir-
ing or procuring divers persons to enlist in the service of
the Confederate States. The presiding magistrates were the
Rev. G. B. Moore, Mr. E. Twopenny, and Col. J. Dixon
Dyke, and the protracted nature of the inquiry may be
gathered from the faot that, although the Court sat at 11
o'clock, the defence was not opened until past 8 o'clock p.m.
The prosecution was conducted by Mr. W. Vernon-Har-
court, instructed by Messrs. Essell, Knight, and Arnold, of
Rochester; Mr. Hardinge Gifford, with Messrs. Harris and
Lewis, solicitors, appeared for the defendant, who after his
arrest had been admitted to bail, himself in £5OO and two
sureties in £250 each.

Mr. Harcourt, in opening the case on the part of the
Crown, said this serious and painful prosecution was insti •
tuted in accordance with the provisions of the Foreign
Enlistment Act, unhappily too notorious in the present
day. Having read the preamble of that Act, the sec-
tions under which the charges were laid, and that con-
ferring on the magistrates power to deal with the offence,
the learned counsel said the gravity of the accusation against
Mr. Rumble lay in the fact that he was not merely one of
the individuals falling within the meaning the Act, but a
person whose position should have prevented him, above all
others, from violating the statute. It would appear that in
the latter part of 1863 a vessel no longer suitable for her
Majesty's service, called the Victor, was sold by the Go-
vernment, under circumstances into which it was unneces-
sary to enter, to merchants of the city of London named
'oleman and Pearson. After the sale some repairs and
alterations of a prima facie innocent character were effected
in the dockyard at Sheerness, in effecting which Mr. Rumble
took a leading part ; but matters subsequently occurred
which showed that if not from the commencement of those
works, at all events from a very early period, he must have
been aware of the purpose to which it was intended to put
the vessel. Being in a condition quite unfit to go to sea,
suddenly, on the night of the 24th of November, the ves-
sel, which had been renamed at Scylla, sailed from Sheer-
ness, and either at the Nore or somewhere before she reached
Calais that name was painted out, and a new one -the Rap-
pahannock—substituted. The captain and officers declared
the ship to be a Confederate man-of-war, and invited those
on board to sign articles. What did they next find Mr-
Rumble doing ? Actually going over to Calais, showing
himself in constant communication with the parties on board
the Rappahannock, and engaging men to go out from Eng-
land to serve in various capacities in that vessel I Under
such circumstances it was obvious that the Crown could take
no other course than to submit the transaction to the most
searching investigation. The prisoner was a gentleman oc-
cupying a position of the highest respectability and impor-
tance,one which enabled him to compromise the character of
the Government and the honour of the nation ; and assuming
the facts which he had stated to be true, the Government and
the nation, if they did not take the most active steps to detect
and punish the guilty party, would expose themselves to
the imputation of a fraudulent neutrality, which every civi-
lised nation justly resented. It would be sufficiently to be de-
precated if merchants for the sake of gain attempted to de-
teat the law; but a man holding an official position under
Government, and availing himself of that position to defeat
the enactment, was more highly censurable, for he endan-
gered the peace and welfare of the country. If the charges
were true, this was the case of a man bearing the Queen's
commission and yet engaging in transactions grossly violating
his allegiance and injuring the nation of which ho was a citizen,
Evidence to the following effect was then given :
Thomas Firth, a holder-up in Woolwich factory, deposed
that while the Scylla was lying at Sheerness in the latter
part of 1863 he was engaged as storekeeper on board. Mr.
Rumble paid him £1 la. wages for the first week, and said
the men at work upon her were to have .£ I is. a week and
their provisions as long as the vessel lay there. He desired
that if anything were short he should be applied to, and on
witness telling him that there was a cask of oil short Mr.
Rumble made an entry in his pocketbook. On the day the
Scylla left Sheerness witness was called into the cabin by
Mr. Ferguson, acting as chief engineer of the vessel, and
in presence of the defendant Mr. Ferguson asked him to
sign the ship's articles, saying that witness was to have £7
a month, and the other firemen £6. Mr. Rumble asked
which way the witness would like to have his money sent
home, and he replied that he should like to handle it him-
self, asking at the same time for money to buy a shirt, as
he had nothing but:what he stood upright in. From Sheer •
nem the ship went to Calais. He did not see anything
flying till the day after they arrived there; it was the Con-
federate flag—a flag with 13 stars. Witness remained on
board five days after her arrival, and then left because he
did not like the vessel. (Laughter.)
Alfred Stephenson Ginno, of Woolwich, deposed that the
day or day but one alter ho went on board the Scylla Mr.
Rumble asked Mr. Carr " What men are these ?" pointing
to witness and Friends, a man now aboard the ship. Being
told that 'they were seamen, and had formerly been in the
Australian trade, Mr. Rumble asked whether they were
'• willing to join the Scylla, of London." Replying in the
affirmative, they were told to go on with their work. Mr.
Rumble paid him one week's wages. During the voyage to
Calais, early on Thursday morning, a flag was hoisted,
which he was told was the Confederate flag ; but it was
only a makeshift, prepared on board the ship.
Mr. Harcourt proposed to ask the witness what was said
by Mr. Ramsay, the acting captain of the ship at the time
the flag was hoisted, with a view of establishing the nation-
ality and character of the vessel.
Mr. Giffard objected. Words taking the form of acts,
such as the hailing of another vessel and commanding her
to strike, would be clearly admissible ; and his learned
friend was trying to get out a mere conversation between
persons on board the vessel.
Mr. Harcourt replied that a formal declaration of the
captain was an act of the same import as hoisting the Con-
federate flag, which without such a declaration might have
been an unauthorised accidental occurrence.

At the suggestion of the Bench the form of the question
was altered, and the witness replied that no declaration was
made by Capt. Ramsay to the crew at the time when the
flag,was actually hoisted; but there was such a declaration
while the flag was being made. It was very hot below, and
witness came out of the stokehole for a blow, and saw
the captain on his knees along with some sailmakers, who
were cutting out a piece of bunting. Looking up at the
witness, Capt. Ramsay said, " I am going to give you a flag
and a new name. I won't disgrace you. I will give her a
classical name." Duty called witness away then, and, re-
turning some time afterwards, he said to the captain, " I
beg your pardon, air, what name has the ship got now ?"
(Laughter.) Capt. Ramsay desired him to tell anybody
below who might ask the question that the name was tho
" Rapper-annock," and that she was a Confederate man-of-
war. The vessel sailed from Sheerness on Tuesday night,
arrived in Calais on. Thursday morning, and witness re-
mained on board till the following Tuesday. During
the time she flew the Confederate ensign and pennant—a
fresh one, not the one hoisted at sea. Tho ship's officers
wore a gray uniform and glazed caps.
James Hurford, of Woolwich, labourer, who had been
employed on board the Scylla as chief stoker, deposed that
he was paid two weeks' wages by the defendant. Captain
Campbell was in command at Calais while he remained on
board. Could not tell the difference between the Federal and
Confederate flags.

In cross-examination, the witness said that Mr. Rutuble,
when paying him his wages, mentioned that the owner was
away, and had requested him to do so.

James Brooks, leading fireman in the Scylla, at Sheernecs,
last November, deposed that he was paid wages by a gentle-
man whom he only saw once. Ramsay might be the gentle-
man's name, or it might not. The other gentleman stood
the companion ladder, and put the money in his hand.
lie looked at the money more closely than he did at the
gentleman. Saw a gentleman at Calais opposite the station,
had a conversation with him, but had not se►n him since.
Could not swear that the gentleman was not in the room at
that moment ; but did not see him.

Tho witness was cautioned by the Bench as to the rnonner
in which he was giving his evidence; and being requested
to see whether the gentleman he alluded to was then in the
room, he looked slowly and carefully round, apparently
avoiding the quarter where defendant sat. On a further
scrutiny he at last said he thought he saw a gentleman in
the room whom he had seen in Calais ; that gentleman was
the defendant, but he could not swear positively.
Mr. ilarourt proposed to ask the nature of the conversa-
tion at Calais.

Mr. Giffard, however, said the identity of the gentleman
must first be clearly established.

While this objection was being discuss:A, the witness was