The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-21 00:00:00

may possibly be estimated by the following narra-
tive of the wrongs and misfortunes of a British
subject, the details of which are derived from
his own mouth, to the truth of which he
has sworn, and which there is reason to believe
have already been brought under the notice of the
British Government, with a view to obtain redress
from the United States. It appears that on March
21, 1863, a British blockade-runner, the steamer
Nicholas 1., was captured off Wilmington, North
Carolina, by the United States gunboat Victoria,
taken charge of by a Lieut. Ivison, or Everson, of
that vessel, and a prize crew, and ordered to New
York for adjudication. One of the firemen on board,
named James O'Neill, 45 years of age, a native of
Dublin and a British subject, was asked by the chief
engineer of the captor to volunteer to work as fire-
man, or rather to continue to work as fireman, till
the prize reached New York, and promised wages
at the rate of a dollar and a half a day. O'Neill
consented, and the engineer having been ordered to
get up steam about 10 o'clock on the morning of the
capture he worked until 2 o'clock, under the super-
intendence of a first class fireman named Gurdon,
sent on board from the Victoria. At that time the
prize was brought to anchor off Wilmington, and
O'Neill, stepping to the ventilator to cool himself,
told Gardon that quantities of gunpowder and salt
were stowed in the bows of the vessel, and that it
would be advisable to inform Lieut. Everson of the
fact, in case any of the crew should be careless in
smoking or in going about with lights. Gurdon
was of the same opinion, and left O'Neill below
while he reported the circumstance to the officer.
In a few minutes Lieut. Everson made his appear-
ance, drunk, and wildly excited, and seeing O'Neill
called out to him to keep back or he would shoot
him. O'Neill had no time to reply before the lieu..
tenant discharged a pistol at him, the ball from
which entered the left thigh, severing one of the ar-
teries. Gurdon indignantly remonstrated with the
lieutenant for shooting a man who had been working
hard and doing good service, but the lieutenant made
no other remark than " It's all right," and left the
man to his fate. By Gurdon's promptitude and care
the wound was bound up till the surgeon arrived.
O'Neill had fainted from loss of blood, and was
taken on deck. A torniquent was applied, and he
was removed on board the Victoria. After remain-
ing there for five days he was sent to Fortress Mon-
roe, and thence to the hospital at Norfolk, where he
was subjected to the painful operation of baying the
artery tied, and lay upon his back helpless for 62
days. As soon as he was able to crawl about by the
aid of a stick he was transferred from the hospital
to the Brandywine storeship at Fortress Monroe,
and kept a close prisoner in irons, until the doctor,
after two days, seeing his utter helplessness, had the
irons removed. He remained in prison in this ship
from the 15th of June to the lath of November,
when he was again put in irons, placed on board the
transport ship Newbern, and conveyed to the navy-
yard at Brooklyn, preparatory to his consignment
to Fort Lafayette as a prisoner of State. In this
dungeon he was confined in a casemate with two
other prisoners—one named Andrews, charged with
being a ringleader in the New York anti-conszription
riots in July last. He was locked up night and day,
allowed neither exercise nor fresh air, nor permitted
to leave his cell even for the calls of nature. This
particular casemate was called "the doomed cell."
He obtained his liberty early in March, through
the representations of Lord Lyons, to whom the
facts were officially transmitted by the British con-
sul at this port; but his wound, and the subsequent
cruelties he experienced, have seriously, and, per-
haps, permanently, injured his health. He has not
recovered the use of his leg, is quite unable to
work, and totally destitute.
Lieutenant Everson, on being called upon by Ad-
miral Lee, his superior officer, to explain his con-
duct, had nothing further to say than that O'Neill
had a keg of gunpowder in his hands, which he was
about to cast into the furnace to blow up the ship
and all on board, when he shot him to prevent the
catastrophe. He still persists in this statement,
though it has no foundation but in the temporary
insanity of his own intoxication and alarm at the
time, and is disproved by the evidence of Gurdon
and the other firemen who witnessed the circum-
stance. Does not the Federal Government owe it
to its own dignity, to the naval service, and to every
man i❑ it to bring Everson to trial for this cruel
outrage? And, moreover, does it not owe it to the
British Government and to poor O'Neill to pay a
liberal compensation to the unhappy man who in the
execution of his duty was maimed and ruined for life
by the frantic fool and blackguard who only had
power and opportunity to commit such a wrong be-
cause he happened to be invested with the autho-
rity of an officer of the United States and the right
,o wear its uniform P