The Sun.
London, England, 1830-10-04 00:00:00

-d

LONDON, MONDAY EVI?,,NING, OCTOBER 4, 1830.

No. 11,875.

PUNISHMENT OF FLOGGING.

VICTUALLING OFFICE, Srrr. 528, 1830.
THE Commissioners for Victualling His
Majesty's Navy, &C.
.do' hereby give notice; that on
WtintiasnaT, the 6th day °I-October next, they will be
ready to receive Tenders in writing (sealed up); and treat
for the supply of the following Articles, to be delivered into
his Majesty's Victualling Stores, at Deptford, viz.—
. The whtile to be de.
200 Quarters of PALE MALT
livered before the
100 Quarters of AIIIIEII. MALT..., 2.5 th October next.
100,000 Gallons of RUM
50 Tons of COCOA
100 Tons of SUGAR .
20 Tons of TOBACCO
800 Quarters of PEASE
40 Toss of OATMEAL.
15 Tons of BUTTER
20 Tons of CHEESE •
Samples of the Malt, Cocoa, Pease, and Oatmeal, must
be produced by the party tendering; those of Sugar and
Tobacco, together with the Conditions of the Contracts,
may be seen at this Odlce.
Each Tender must specify the price in words at length,
and be delivered before One o'clock on thes:day, appointed,
and the Person who makes the Tender, ter some Person on
his behalf, must attend to answer when called for.
M. 'WALLER CLIFTON.

to exemplify the nature of those offences or breaches
of discipline, for the committing of which corporal
punishment has been most frequently inflicted in the
royal navy. We have now lying before us a state-
ment extracted from the log-book of his Majesty's
ship How 4 setting forth the names of certain indi-
viduals that were flogged on board that ship, be-
tween the 17th of July, 1805, and February, 1806,
and describing the offences for the committing of
which those individuals were so punished.
" Now, as it so happens, that we were unfortunately
compelled to be serving on board the Howe nearly
the whole of the period just mentioned, and as that
ship was at that time commanded by Sir George
Cockburn, one of the present Lords of the Admi-
nifty, we the more readily avail ourselves of the
information to be derivcd from the extract lying be-
fore us. We say the more readily, because the
information contained in the extract is, as far as it
goes, perfectly correct ; and because it confirms our
previous suspicions as to the fallacious information '
to be derived from a man-of-war's log-book. We
have known men credulous enough to believe that
every punishment inflicted on board of a man-of-
war, whether flogging or starting, would be found
minutely recorded in the log-book, but we always
thought otherwise; and that which was previously
matter of doubt, is now rendered matter of cer-
tainty by the statement which we here insert for
the inspection of the reader :
ENTRIES OF PUNISHMENTS INFLICTED ON BOARD OF MS
MAJESTY'S SHIP HOWE, GEORCIE COCKBURN, ESQ.,
CAPTAIN, BETWEEN THE MONTHS or JUNE, 1805, AND
FEBRUARY, 1806, AS EXTRACTED FROM THE LOG •
BOOR OF THAT SHIP.

(From the Times.)
The publication of those distressing and dis-
graceful severities, which have lately taken place
on board certain of our East Indiamen,. and
have been made the subject of proceedings at
some of the police-offices, seems to have induced
a cbrrespondent to favour us with the copy of a
paMphlet, written a few years ago, on the disci-
pline of the Marine of England, and on the
treatment experienced in too many instances by
her seamen. It is a stinging pamphlet, but one
which not merely every officer in the navy, but
every Member of Parliament, and every British
statesman, ought to read. The title of the essay.
is, " An Inquiry into the Nature and Effects
4+91. Flogging," as practised by the Royal Navy
and the Merchant Service.
To enumerate the reasons which operate for-
cibly against an arbitrary recourse to the above-
mentioned odious punishment, would be to
compose a volume. Every motive to the avoid-
ance of unnecessary insult, outrage, degradation,
and cruelty towards our fellow-creatures, would
be' embraced in such a work. Every considera-
tion of prudence, policy, patriotism, and bene-
volence, might and must be urged on behalf of
a temperate and kindly exercise of authority.
over our sailors, if common justice were done to
a question of such extreme importance.
The author does not deal in visions of a
moral excellence in officers or seamen unattain-
able by human nature, or of a separation from
men in power of the means of enforcing their
commands : he does not press for the abolition
of flogging in the Royal Navy, of which he
paints the details with terrible accuracy ; but
only recommends that it shall be administered,
if at all, under the sentence of a regularly-con-
stituted Court-martial, so as to secure the sea-
man from acts of oppression perpetrated through
caprice or malice.
There is no doubt, that in numerous instances
crimes of the most revolting and deadly nature
have been committed by the crews of men-of-
war. The mutiny on board the Hermione, and
the piratical seizure of the Dana 6 which was
carried by her ship's company into an enemy's
port, are samples of what sailors will sometimes
execute ; but they are likewise proofs of the
dreadful effect of a system of inhuman treatment
practised by officers upon these poor men, whose
desperate and lawless conduct, it is on record,
was in both the above cases provoked (we do
not say justified) by the frequent torture of the
rope's-end and cat-o'-nine-tails, to which they,
the respective crews, bad been subjected. The
following passages from the little pamphlet al-
luded to, will convey the author's sentiments on
the cases of the two ships in question, as also on
those of the Ariadne, whose seamen cheered on
the fall of their commander Captain Corbett, in
action ; and of the Howe, whose log-book is
said not to have contained a full and faithful re-
turn of the number of punishments inflicted.
" Prevention of crime is the only legitimate end
for the attainment of which punishments of any de-
scription should be resorted to as the means ; and
great care should be taken that the punishment be
not more than commensurate with the offence; for
if trivial offences be visited with unnecessarily
severe punishments, the turpitude of the offence is
wholly lost sight of in the general sympathy and in.
dignation excited by the enormous severity of the
punishment. With such unrelenting severity has
the lash been inflicted in the royal navy, that
mutiny and murder have been resorted to in a spirit
of retaliation 1 What was it which induced the
crew of the Ilennione to mutiny, to kill the captain
(Pigot), his officers, and the marines; and then to
carry that ship into an enemy's port ? Excessive
flogging and starting, which were inflicted to an ex-
cess surpassing human endurance, and rendering the
prospective terrors of the yard-arm a comparatively
trifling risk, when weighed with the tremendous
evils from which the crow of the Hennione conceived
they were about to extricate themselves. We do
not believe it to be possible that any man can re-
flect on the mutiny of the Hernsionc, and the mur-
ders and hangings which resulted therefrom, with-
out feeling convinced that the whole was an effect,
of which the cruel and wanton abuse of power, on
the part of Captain Pigot and his officers, was most
assuredly the cause. It is this conviction which, to
a certain extent, mitigates our abhorrence of the
cold-blooded murders which were committed by the
mutineers of the Hertnione on that lamentable

One half of oath by
the 2Stlt October
next, and the re-
' toalmicr by the
25th November fol-
lowing.

IMPERIAL LIFE INSURANCE
OFFICE,
SUN-COURT, CORN H I LL, AND ST. 3 AMES'S.STREET.
Capital ..£750,000.
DIRICTORS.
JOHN BAKER RICHARDS, Esq. Chairman.
Sir CHARLES PRICE, Bart. Deputy Chairman.
Grant Allan, Esq. Richard Lee, Esq.'
Charles Barclay, Esq. M.P. Jeremiah Olive, Esq.
Michael Bland, Eq. John Horsley Palmer, Esq.
Cornelius Buller, Eq. Sir James Shaw, Bart.
John Henry Deffell, EM. Robert Slade, LEI.
Samuel Drewe, Esfl• John Smith, Esq. M.P.
George Hibbert, Jun., EM. John Henton Tritton, Esq.
AUDITORS.
C. Porcher Lang, Esq. f James Pattison, Jun., Esq.
George Reid, Esq.

Date, Men's Stations they Imputed No. of
1805. Names. tilled. Offence. Lashes.
,---- , ------ -,--
July 7 Joseph Cratz Drunkenness .... 24
Jas. Carrington Purser's Steward Disobedience .... 24
David P0we1.... Seaman Strikingsuperior
officer 42
John Clements Contempt and in-
solence to his
superior Officer
on his Post—.. 48
Oct. 7 Lewis Morgan.. Seaman Disrespect l2
John Coose Ditto Ditto l2
Stepp. Hughes Ditto Ditto l2
Nov. 4 John Collins ... Ditto Drunkenness—. 24
John Tait Ditto Theft l2
—ll li:dw Phillips...lDitto Drunkenness.— 24
Mich. Lamm- Ditto lnsolence .... ..... 12

CONSULTING I.IIYSICIAN.
H. LiddellLie, M.D. Falcon.square.

Two-thirds of the profits of the Company will be
periodically added to Policies effected for the whole term of
life, without the insured incurring the responsibility at-
tached to Societies for Mutual Insurance.
A division of Profits will be made in the year 1831 ;
after which the Court of Directors are empowered by the
Deed of Settlement to make additions to such Policies,
upon which five annual Premiums have been paid, as may
become Claims before the next general division of Profits.
Rates and Conditions may be had at either of the Com-
pany's Offices, or of any of the Agents in the principal
towns throughout the kingdom.
By order of the Board,
SAMUEL 11NGALL, Actuary.

occasion.
" Again we ask, what was it which induced the
crew of the Dana to rise upon her captain, Lord
Proby, and his officers, and carry that ship also into
an enemy's port ? We answer, the very Same
causes which led to the running away with the
Herntione ; i, e., the accursed flogging and starting
which the unfortunate victims of abuse of power
were too frequently unmeritedly made to endure;
and, although the mutineers of the Dana stained
not their hands with the blood of their officers, a
great number of them expiated their offence at the
yard-arm, although they were driven to commit the
offence for which they suffered so ignominious a
death by the most wanton acts of barbarity. And
while we do not recollect an instance of mutiny, or
premeditated mutiny, which did not originate in
consequence of excessive flogging, starting, and
other cruel treatment, we are confident that the cat-
o'-nine-tails never yet prevented or suppressed one.
We have known several instances, wherein the
changing of a captain, and the substituting of mild-
ness for severity, have been productive of results
highly gratifying to every one not totally insensible
to Justice and 'humanity. But mutinies, murders,
and the consequent hangings, are not the only bane-
ful effects of that wanton abuse of power which we
are so anxious to see properly restrained.
" One would imagine, that an officer falling in a
contest for the honour and interest of his country,
would be sure to experience the sympathy and re-
gret of all who had served, fought, and bled under
his command. But, alas I such are the consequences
which result from cruelty and abuse of power, that
the death of some of our commanders was matter of
unbounded exultation amongst their crews, who
conceived themselves thereby rescued from the fangs
of an unrelenting persecutor. We could mention
several instances of this description, but one will be
quite sufficient for our purpose; Captain Corbett,
we think it was, who commanded the Africaine,
was a complete Tartar; and when he fell, the
crew of that ship gave vent to their exultation in
three distinct cheers, and most heartily felicitated
each other on their being thus ridded of an unpa-
ralleled scourge.
Such have been, and doubtless ever will be, the
effects of allowing individuals to possess the unre-
strained power of inflicting corporal punishment at
discretion.
" Having described the nature of corporal punist

went, and the manner of inflicting it ; having shown
the tremendously awful consequences %filial here re-
sulted from allowing the officers of the royal navy
to inflict corporal punishment ad libitum, we proceed

7
___
~....
~ • •_
t.....,€___ /-
/, z,, x...-- ••_. r-, i-e-c._____--- • '
. .....
„ . . ,
: i-N44::,‘,i.t-.1p,..tp.4,!:7-», 24. •----). . -
_ le 4" ..") 4':',....' . 1 f7:'' ..,..'.., ..',4 ' 4*;
,•,"
.1 14
/tri
(r
,
i•
_.46,,::4,„,,. . ,„J-_,,,• • ._.4 , • - , ~..711'411.4Wil : ••••••'
\ - . ''' 1.,---‘ PO:, i,,,e-cco ~4,41. -K, . P•4.,..4.._,-, '' ' --•, . .
. ,
•AlidP. ' .'""4 r '''-7*.:4''''
' ~I .
\-- '' •.! 1,,,, 4?,
,„, „Ai
:. v 9! - -.4..:4_
'6"'"glig '' -/1111V4' I'•'' ti ' ! a-.-
~.,; i.,,m,.4 • Ito , .-:

PRICE 71).

ton, although a petty officer, and a most respectable
man in his station, was made to strip, was seized up,
and suffered the disgraceful and degrading punish-
ment of a flogging, for having been guilty of . dis-
obedience. He received two dozen lashes; and we
are sure that Mr.Martin,of Galway, would execrate
as a monster of depravity any man who should ven-
ture to treat a horse or an ass, or any part of the
brute creation, with equal severity.
" Daniel Powel was a seaman ; we do not rceol•
lect the part of the ship in which he did his ditty,
but we think it was in the main-top : however, the
offence for the committing of which he underwent
the torture of the lash, was committed on the orlop
deck. It was his watch below, and he, with the
rest of the watch, was employed cleaning out their
births; and while using the swab, Powel, either ac-
cidentally or designedly, got foul of the boatswain's
mate. The latter went aft, and complained to the
commanding officer, when the former was conse-
quently put in irons, and on the following Monday,
we think ►t was, Powel was brought to the gang-
way, and there received 42 lashes, Connected with
this affair, there were some circumstances which we
feel it our duty to notice in a particular manner.
We have already said that it is by no means a trifling
argument against corporal punishment, that the ob-
durate wretches who generally have to inflict it can,
by a dexterous movement of the arm, either aggro-
' vete or mitigate the severity of the torture. Now
mark : a boatswain's mate accuses Powel of having
struck him while in the execution of his office; on
Powers being brought to the gangway, the Captain
reiterates the accusation, and orders h►m to strip.
Powel denies having struck the boatswain's mate,
and assures his honour that he only shoved him; and
his honour, in terms a very little more. dignified, ex-
' Then I hope he will give you a good shove
in return;' and the very identical boatswain's mate,
who was the accuser, was also the executioner.
Such having been the case, who can doubt that the
sentence was executed ►with zeal and alacrity ?
who can doubt that the very dignified injunction of
the Captain was strictly complied with ?—who can
doubt that the lacerated back of Powel, after he had
received the two-and-forty lashes, presented a spec-
tacle horrible to contemplate, an incontestable proof
that his accuser had faithfully performed his duty ?
And who can wonder that throe who have witnessed
scenes of this description, should feel utterly dis-
gusted with that service wherein the like could have
been tolerated ?

" Connected with the punishment of John Cle-
ments, there was nothing of an extraordinary nature,
if we except the fact of his having received six
lashes more than Powel, although the offence of
the latter was much more serious in its nature, and
a great deal more pernicious in the effect it was cal-
culated to produce on the discipline of the ship. .
" Lewis Morgan had said or done something
which gave offence to one of the lieutenants, we
think it was the first, but we are not positive.
However, almost every body was astonished to see
him brought to the gangway. Morgan was a Cam-
brian, and used to say that he was descended from
Owen Glendower or Llewellyn. lie was the Strap
of the ship, and was as harmless and inoffensive a
creature as the celebrated follower of Roderick
Random could possibly have been; and therefore
his being punished was matter of astonishment to
every body.
" John Coose and Stephen Hughes were flogged
inconsequence of a complaint made by the boatswain,
who was about as fit for that station as one of the
sisters of Guy's Hospital would be. He was really
la disgusting fallow, respected by neither officers nor
men; and yet he was allowed to start, strike, or
kick, at his pleestire, some of the finest fellows that
aver worked the forecastle of any ship whatsoever.
We have forgotten the name of that pink of a boat-
swain. M'e do not know whether lie be now in
existence or net ; if not, God be praised ! the earth
is rid of a monster of inhumanity. To such an ex-
tent was the boatswain allowed to carry his ill-treat-
ment of the forecastle men, that when we arrived at
the then desolate island of Ascension, where we
stopped a night to catch some turtle, two of those
forecastle men, viz. Hughes and M'Laughlin, de-
serted, and preferred taking their chance on a deso-
late island to returning to England in a ship, on
board of which they were subjected to such cruel
treatment.
" The reader will have seen that John Collins
and Edward Phillips received two dozen lashes each
for getting drunk; while John Tait, who had com-
mitted a theft, and whose punishment was Heon-
sidered necessary by every man in the ship, received
but one dozen lashes. This latter circumstance
does away with all the nonsense about its being
' absolutely necessary that the commanders of Men.
of-war should possess a discretionary power of in-
flicting corporal punishment,' in order that they may
be able to deal with ' the sweepings of the gaols,
—the thieves that are occasionally sent on board in
time of war. Now we would readily stake all we
are worth in the world against a China orange, that
if it were possible to obtain a correct return of the
number of men flogged in the Royal Navy during the
last thirty years, the gaolbirds would form a very
small minority indeed. But we shall have to gt
more fully into the subject presently, and therefore
we pass on to Michael Larogan. Larogan was an
Hibernian, and, if we recollect rightly, was flogged
for offending a midshipman of the name of Scott ;
but that is of little consequence. Insolence was the
crime imputed to him, and for which he received
one dozen lushes. We again repeat that the state-
ment extracted from the log-book of the Howe does
not contain the names of one-half the number of
men that we saw flogged on board of that ship; bet
it presents a very fair sample of those offences, for
the committing of which the unibrtueate offenders
have most commonly to undergo the torture of the
lash. Hence it appears, that behaving contemp-
tuously, disrespectfully, or insolently to, or striking,
superiors, and getting drunk, have been the prove-
lent evils for which the cat-o'-nine-tails bath hither-
to been the usual specific.; ; But we are in hopes that
we shall be able to show that these evils have been
the natural effects of mimeo over which a better
regulated system would have been a most efficient
controur •
That the system under which such things
occur, is one which requires a deep and extensive
cleansing, no reasonable mart can doubt ; anti
towards a sensible amendment of it, the author
advises—we are persuaded with great justice,—
that besides the transfer of the privilege to punish,
from a single officer to a court-martial, the in-
dulgence of the vice of drunkenness through-
out the navy should be as much as possible pro-
vented. By all that we have learned front naval
men, excitement front strong liquor has been the
occasion of more misconduct, and consequently
of more punishment, than all other causes united.
And in the prevention of drunicettuess/ it is to
be
he obauthsthat erved,
eslro:afoettkiieles:
tdtyi that
aaoastsf alltllieilfnealgtl3asst tort of
ttiPitseyf
fogifilrel I.l?teio'eirerrat4lailliy:nce:kseutt.:l:l%)nihinoe:
caried' oil in a different manner before and after
regards the demeanour of
odfil'iTeerr; ofa l
ras
tos sv a rts the setlinen. A man, though a
gentleman, if stimulated by wine, may quite as
naturally become captious, irritable, and violent,
as a sailor may be insolent or neglectful of his ,
business under the operation of grog. Ho