The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-18 00:00:00

'THE STIN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER IA, 1863.

men who denounced the clemency of Canning. We
know that it is the shortsighted and the panic-
stricken wbo, acting on momentary impulses, are
lax in the hour of security only to become cruel in
the instant of danger. It is they alone who have
the wisdom to be severe in time who have the cou-
rage to be merciful when severity can be safely
dispensed with. Sir, to the full and proper under-
standing of this transaction, it is most material and
relevant—as, indeed, the Court has deliberately de-
cided—to understand what was the condition of the
6th Dragoons at the time when these events took
place. My justification, and that of those under
whose authority I acted, consists in this—that the
regiment at the time of the court-martial on Mr.
Smales, and of the arrest of the three sergeant-
majors, was in a state ofiinsubordiaation, as respects
certain of the officers and non-commissioned officers,
of the most dangerous character. That which I
could have proved if I had been permitted, now
that I am debarred of the means of proof I will
take upon me to re-assert. What the condition of
the regiment was when it came into my hands I
would, had I been allowed, have demonstrated out
of that letter to Colonel Shute. I would have proved
it out of Sir Hugh Rose's historical memoir of
the 6th Dragoons. But, sir, even in the
absence of this most material document, I am
not wholly without the means of satisfying you,
to some extent, of that which I should have
been glad more fully to have demonstrated. In the course
of this weary inquiry you have had some means of judging
of the materials with which I had to devi, and the diffi-
culties I had to encounter. You will judge by your own
eyes, you will judge by your own ears—above all, you will
judge as officers and gentlemen, by that inborn sense of
honour which is more conclusive than reasoning, and more
irresistible than logic. I speak to a body of men many of
whom are, all of whom have been, commanding officers.
You have seen some of my officers: You have seen, you
have heard enough, I think, of the men who have so com-
ported themselves in a court of justice to judge of what
must have been my situation on the parade and in the mess-
room. I ask you, after what you have seen, to place your-
selves as commanding officers in my position, and to judge
me as you would in like circumstances yourselves claim to
be judged. Whoever else it was, sir—it is clear it was not
I—who educated these officers in their ideas of what was
due to military discipline and to the authority of the ?supe-
riors by whom they might happen to be reprimanded. These
were not officers of my teaching any more than Mr. Fite.
simon was an adjutant of my choosing. You will readily
believe that, when disaffection has become chronic among
the officers, it is not long before the infection begins to
spread among those immediately below them, who ought to
look up to them as an example. Of all the forms of insub-
ordination, that which descends from above into the ranks
is the most fatal and incurable. Those who ought to be
safeguards against mutiny are become themselves the pro-
pagators. What lesson do you think the sergeants of the
regiment were likely to learn from such instructors? In-
subordinate officers naturally seek allies against their colo-
nel by tampering with the non-commissioned officers of the
regiment. The regimental sergeant major and the two other
sergeant majors had been successfully enlisted by the cabal
in conspiring to overthrow my authority. The body of
the regiment, it is true, was still sound. The discipline
of the troops was intact. But the crisis had arrived, the
danger was imminent; one step more and the flame might
have kindled in the ranks, and the famous regiment of In-
niskilling Dragoons would have broken out into open mu-
tiny. Sir, I took those measures which such a condition of
things seemed to me to require. I knew what was my duty,
and I did it without fear and without favour. How rapidly
the process of deterioration of discipline takes place in a re-
giment under the influence of tropical climates and tropical
habits no one wbo has not experience of Indian military life
can form any conception. The measures which are necessary
to enforce discipline elsewhere are there ten times more ne-
cessary. I may bo permitted to quote on this subject the
language of a great civilian who knew India well :—" A
strong line of demarcation must be drawn between soldiers
and the rest of the community. They must be subject to a
sharper code and a more stringent form of procedure than
are administered by the ordinary tribunals. For of all ma-
ladies incident to the body politic military insubordination
is that which requires the most prompt and drastic reme-
dies." These are the true and striking words of Lord Ma-
caulay. I acted on those principles with that instant, ne-
cessary, and justifiable severity which, in my firm belief,
alone prevented a great catastrophe. In a position of unex-
ampled difficulty, I acted with a prudence and circumspection
in which I have nothing to regret. I took the course which
wisdom dictated and the rules of the service prescribed. I
did nothing on my own unassisted judgment. I consulted at
once my military superiors. I took evidence, as you have
heard, from credible witnesses and from the culprits them-
selves. I took it in my orderly-room in the presence of the
adjutant and two other officers. I wish I could lay that evi-
dence before you as I laid it before General Farrell, who sub-
mitted it to Sir W. Mansfield. From that moment I deferred
to their judgment, which I unfeignedly knew to be better
than my own, and I acted in strict accordance with their
directions, not more from a sense of military duty than
from a profound confidence in their superior wisdom. I was
ready at the time—l was always ready—to have proceeded
to the trial of these men. If they were not tried it was nons
of my doing. If the question of the propriety of that arrest,
been ready—and anxious to try it.
and the justice of the decision of my superior with reference
to it is not now tried, that again is none of my doing. I am
ready—l always have
Sir, the question which lies at the root of this whole matter
is the question of mutiny or no mutiny. That is the key
to the whole business, and you are asked to unlock the
mystery while the key is withheld from you. Sir, again,
that is no doing of mine. I would have laid before you the
evidence which I laid before my immediate superiors, and
upon my conscience I know that that evidence would have
satisfied you, as it abundantly satisfied them, Then you
would have been in a position to pronounce upon the real
merits of the case. You would have been able by your
finding to have satisfied a nation whose judgment has been
perverted by falsehood and blinded by calumny, that nothing
has been done either by me or by those whose approval I
have earned which was not consistent with justice and essen-
tial to discipline, which was not necessary to maintain the
organisation of the British army, and therein to maintain
the integrity of the Indian Empire. It, Sir, this wider and
more real issue is not presentedi fer your immediate adjudi-
cation, I deeply regret t ; that it is not is, as you know, no
fault of mine. And now, Sir, I come speoiflcally to con-
sider the two charges on which I am here arraigned, and
on which you are asked to pronounce your sentence. The
gtlfiernstcehmaargne,
and
is' "for conduct unbecoming an officer and a
to the prejudice of good order and military
discipline, in having caused the order for the close arrest
of Regimental Sergeant Major Lilley to be carried into
effect with unrecessary and undue severity, whereby the
said sergeant major and his wife were subjected to great
and grievous hardships." Colonel Crawley then pro-
ceeded at great length to analyse the evidence, which is
now familiar to our readers, and pointed out how that
adduced by the prosecution, so far from supporting the
charges, completely refuted them. The case, he said, had
been treated as one of peculiar military barbarity—but, he
asked, in what respect the execution of military law differed
from that of civil sentences. Did a judge, in passing sen-
tence, take into account the circumstances of an offender's
personal position in determining the measure of punish.
ment when inflicted upon him P Did he he ask what was
his habit of body, or what was the exercise he was used to ?
or did he inquire whether he had a wife, and if she was
sick ? Equality of sentence for similar offaeces was the
rule of both civil and military tribunals. Equality of ope-
ration upon the offender was beyond the reach of human
justice. He arrested the three sergeant-majors for the
same misconduct, the same evidence, and they were all sub-
jected to the same restraint. Why, then, was that which in
the case of Sergeant-majors Wakefield and Duval was not
balled in question, made a subject of accusation in that of
Sergeant-major Lilley? On the contrary he thought it
would appear that if anything was to be laid to his charge
it was rather an excess of leniency than an exaggeration of
severity. Of the three prisoners confined, two were placed
in an arrest equally strict, with this aggravation in their
punishment, that, being single men, their confinement was
solitary. If, upon the receipt of the orders from his supe-
riors, he had sent Mrs. Lilley to the female hospital, and
had placed Sergeant-major Lilley in the same arrest as that
in which the two other sergeant majors were confined, who
could have said that he had exceeded his orders ? But he
knew the circumstances of the case, and he deliberately ab-
stained from exercising a severity which seemed to him ex-
treme and unnecessary. Having disposed of the question
of the bungalows, and shown that they were in no respect
unfit places for confinement, he strongly impressed on the
Court that in no instance had Mrs. Lilley's privacy been
outraged, and that the placing of the sentries inside the
house was not for the purpose of annoyance but to protect
them from the heat of the sun. He dwelt on the culpable
neglect of AdjutantFitzsimon in having never seen the sen-
tries properly posted, and denied that the officer had given a
true version either of the orders which were given concern-
ing the arrest in the first instance, or of the alleged subse-
quent conversation in the orderly-room. The evidence of
Surgeon Turnbull he in like manner impugned as unworthy
of credit; and, with regard to the general character of Ser-
geant Major Lilley declared that the charges had nothing
whatever to do with it. If it had been a material issue, he
thought they had heard enough to know that they were in
possession of only half the case ; but as to the circumstances
of Sere
eaut Major Lilley's death, he asked if it were not
plain, beyond all manner of doubt, that there was on the
part of Surgeon Turnbull at least a deliberate design, by a
suppressio yen and a sugyestio falsi, to saddle him with
personal responsibility for the death of that unfortunate
man? He denied in tote corroborating the evidence of
Lieutenant Davies on the point that Surgeon Turnbull had
applied for a coroner's inquest en the body and—quoting,
in support of his statement, the addendum to the medical
report, and the testimony of Lance Corporal Holman—
maintained that the predisposing cause to Sergeant M
Lilley's death was the quantity of spirits which he drank
during his confinement. It had been said that Sergeant

Major Lilley took the brandy during his arrest owing to
depression of spirits. But was a commanding officer re-
sponsible because a prisoner was depressed by a just punish-
ment, or because he took an exeess of liquor in conscquencEP
He then dwelt on the absence of all complaint by Sergeant
Major Lilley, and the sympathy evinced towards him by the
men of the Inniskillings on his leaving Mhow to be tried by
court martial in England, and thus concluded : Sir, there
is one question which I think, at the close of this long in-
quiry, can hardly fail to be made : Whence did this mass of
falsehood originate Who organised this foul conspiracy ?
Who invented, who propagated, who connived at, the story
of the "bomb-proof oven and the Black Hole of Calcutta?"
Who was the ingenious inventor of the indignities to
Mrs. Lilley ? Who thought or the " functions of nature
performed in the presence of strange men ?" These
sort of stories don't invent themselves. They have an
author somewhere. I have not the honour of Mr. For-
tescue's acquaintance, but I have no reason to doubt that
he i= a gentleman in every way worthy of the noble name
he bears. I give him every credit for having sincerely be-
lieved the statements he was induced to make; but I think
he cannot, and he will not, let this matter rest where it is.
He has vouched witnesses in the ,oreyence of Parliament for
the truth of assertions which are now proved to have been
wholly false. The honour of Mr. Fot tescue seems to me to
demand, the dignity of Parliament seems to require, that he
should help to expose the fraud of which he has been the
dupe. The country is in the habit of taking for granted
assertions thus vouched in public by honourable men. When
such men have been deceived they owe it to themselves and
to others to give up their authority. I think Mr. Fortescue
will feel he owes me some explanation of this matter to the
officer he has so cruelly wronged, and to the nation ha has
so expensively misguided. And, Sir, what I say of Mr.
Fortescue, I say also of the nobler portions of the English
press. They have inflicted on me great suffering and irre-
parable injury, but I believe they have done it unwittingly.
It is, I know, the high and honourable function of a free
press to call for justice upon wrongdoers, and to defend the
cause of the innocent. I have no doubt that in what they
have done they thought they were acting upon reliable in-
formation and performing a paramount duty. But I think
they owe it to themselves and to the public to put others
on their guard against those who have thus deceived
them. I think that, when this trial is over, they will
consider that there is some reparation to be made, and
that there remains another injustice to redress. The press
of India in this respect has already set an honourable
example. The Times of India, which was one of my bit-
terest opponents, has expressed in the most honourable
manner its regret at having given credence to the volumes
of correspondence with which Mr. Smales had plied it.
They sat, and they say it truly, "It is the fact, we fear,
that the late Sergeant Major Lilley was more the victim
of Paymaster Smales than of Colonel Crawley." I know,
Sir, there are journals of another stamp who will continue
to repeat exploded falsehoods and to reproduce refuted slan-
der. But I heed them not. These are not the legitimate
exponents of the sentiments of a just and generous nation—
a nation which is honourably vehement in its indignation
against supposed oppression, but which is equally frank in
its repentance for unintentional injustice. And now, sir,
this long and tedious address must have an end. Forgive
me if I have wearied you, Remember what a spring tide
of obloquy I have had to roll back, and to crowd into a few
hours a defence against months of calumny. Permit me,
before I close, to tender to the prosecution my acknow-
ledgment of the fairness and courtesy with which they have
performed a painful duty. That fairness and that courtesy
I know I had a right to expect both from the official posi-
tion and the personal character of the gentlemen who have
conducted it. But it is not the less fitting that I should
here acknowledge it. I trust they will pardon any impa-
tience which I may have exhibited in a long and anxious
struggle. And now, sir. this contest is over. I have fought
a battle which is not mine alone, but that of everyone who
may be similarly placed. I have fought the battle of the
English army against secret conspiracy and anonymous
slander. There is no one so high whom such treacherous
blows may not reach , there is no one so low that he can
escape this crawling venom, If in exhibiting the triumph
of truth and exposing the machinations of falsehood I shall
have contributed to deter men from the repetition of such
attempts; if from this example others shall have learnt not
to give too ready an ear to imputations upon the honour of
absent men serving their country abroad; if the experience
of this trial shall make such another event impossible—the
English army and the English nation will have gained by
my loss; and, much as I have suffered, I shall have
the satisfaction of feeling that I have at least not suffered
in vain. I have fought this gigantic battle, and I have
fought it alone. I have fought it with no friend but
Truth, and no protector but the All-knowing and the All-
mighty. My enemies' name is Legion ; bur, against such
defence their malignity was impotent for harm. They have
sought my shame, and they have accomplished their own.
They have attempted my ruin; I will not deny them the
satisfaction of knowing that they will have partly succeeded.
The cost of this tremendous struggle will have exhausted
that slender fortune which is the only provision of those
who are dearer to me than myself. Sir, let them enjoy
their triumph ; it is the only one they will obtain. They
may have ruined my fortune; my reputation is beyond
their reach. They have filched from me what is but trash;
it will be for you to give me back that without which 1 am
poor indeed. My part is done : yours yet remains. I know
what your sentence must be, because it will ba in accord-
ance with the evidence, and according to the truth. I can-
not hope that you will in every detail consider my conduct
faultless. I cannot expect that in the long course of these
trying events you may not discover in my behaviour, under
unexampled difficulties, some errors of judgment and some
defects of temper. I can only say, let those who are with-
out such sins cast at me the first stone. But of these grave
and serious charges I know you must absolve me, for I
know lam innocent of them. You will give me back my
character ; you will give me back my sword—a sword which
has been for thirty years—aye, and which shall be again—
at the service of a nation at whose hands, in the language
of the charge, I have suffered "great and grievous hard-
ships." You will redeem what remains to me of life from
dishonour, and you will rescue my memory from disgrace.
Sir, I wait the sentence of the Court.

Loud and general applause marked the close of the ad-
dress. It occupied two hours and three-quarters in delivery,
and was listened to throughout with unflagging attention
both by the members of the court and the general public.
Not a few were affected at that portion of it where Colonel
Craw;ey spoke of the ruin which would be entailed on his
fortunes, no matter how the inquiry might end; and Mrs.
Crawley, who was dressed in deep mourning and sat a little
way from her husband, was observed to draw her veil over
her face to conceal her emotions.

A number of officers were then called, who gave evidence
of the character borne by Colonel Crawley from the time of
being a gentleman cadet in the Royal Military College at
Sandhurst, more than 30 years ago, up to the period of his
leaving the 15th Hussars, a few years since. All spoke in
the highest terms of his great professional merit as an offi
cer, and of the high honour and kindness of heart which
characterised him as a gentleman.

Letters were also read from Mijor Tench and Capt. Geo.
Macartney, who were unable to attend personally.
On the conclusion of this evidence, which was of the
most unequivocal character,
Colonel Crawley said—l have no more witnesses to call,
though I might call several, and I beg, with the per-
mission of the Court, to say that my defence is now con-
cluded.

The prosecutor intimated that he should be prepared to
make his reply at 12 o'clock to-morrow (this day), to which
time the Court was then adjourned.

- --
THE GREAT SHIP.

Yesterday the first meeting in connexion with the affairs
of the Great Ship Company since it has been consigned to
the custody of the Court of Chancery for the purpose of in.
vestigating and winding up the affairs was held before Mr.
G. Whiting, chief clerk to the Master of the Rolls, at the
Rolls-chambers, in Chancery-lane, the object being to ap-
point an official liquidator under the Joint-Stock Companies
Winding. up Act. Mr. Hutchins, of the firm of Murray,
Son, and. Hutchins, said he had to propose Mr. Hawes, the
late chairman of the shareholder's committee, of Skinner's-
place, Sise-lane, to act as official liquidator in behalf of the
company. The total number of shares in favour of Mr.
Hawes's appointment amounted to 30,000. The total num-
ber of shares in the company was 300,000 ordinary and
100,000 preference shares. There were creditors to the ex-
tent of £25,000, the total amount of debts being £35,000,
excluding a first mortgage of £lOO,OOO, and a second mort-
gage. The total debts of the company, including unsecured
creditors, were £142,850. Mr. Dantziger, the assistant
secretary of the company, in his affidavit, stated that the
nominal capital of the company was originally £330,000 in
shares of £1 each, but only 303,304 shares were taken up;
100,000 preference shares of £1 each were subsequently
issued, making the aggregate subscribed capital £103,304.
The assets of the company consisted of the great ship, her
stores and appurtenances, the office furniture in London,
and the arrears of calls due, amounting to £530, which were
believed to be irrecoverable. Mr. Bradlaugh, of the firm of
Leverson and Co., St. Helen's place, Bishopsgate-street,
proposed Mr. J. Cooper, of the firm of Johnstone, Wintle,
and Cooper, of Lothbury, as official liquidator, and objected
to the appointment of Mr. Hawes, who, until the last meet-
, ing of the company, was a shareholder in the company.
Mr. Hawes had for some time past been in constant dis-
pute with the largest shareholders, the bondholders, and
directors, and had spoken in violent opposition to
the policy of the late directors. Mr. Hawes had
declared that ho was pledged to carry the great steamship
on the long voyage to India, and had made arrangements
with persons who were prepared to advance funds t..) carry
out that object. Mr. Rose, solicitor, of Salisbury-street,
Strand, proposed the appointment of Mr. R. P. Harding,
of Serle•street and Lothbury, to be official liquidator on be-
half of Mr. Anderton Rose, Ml' , the Into Lord Mayor, a
holder of 250 paid-up shares and a debenture for £lOO, and,h
a creditor for overdue bills of £Bl3 from the time
oeveticeal
they were dishonoured. Mr. Harding was
a g°°drLin. of
accountant, and perfectly conversant with th
Of all parties
winding-up. He was, moreover, independent
amount
both for the
and in a position to realise the largestfount of assets by
the good mluagemint and conduct of
he contended, was
creditors and the public. Mr.
disqualified for the office of official liquidator by reason of

his close connection with the company's affairs, The Chief
Clerk, in the course of a long summing up, said he was of
opinion that Mr. Hawes ought to be appointed official liqui-
dator, His knowledge of the company's affairs well quali-
fied him for the office, and he appeared to possess the suf-
frages of the largest number of the shareholders. Mr. Hawe.,
was accordingly appointed official manager, giving £3,000 as
security, it being understood that an appeal against the ap-
pointment would be made in favour of associating with the
official liquidator either Mr. Harding or Mr. Cooper.