The Sun.
London, England, 1853-04-06 00:00:00

6FiGTA 767; "iihERTIOSS IN VEIL

Mr Williams,- the member. for Lambeth, gave- notice •
on ltfendaY niglat .in'. the louse of Commons __of -his- in-
tention to Rut seine questions to' the" First Lord _of - the
.; relative,. to- thee flogging c,of Stapleton,:: the.
boiatevrain's mate •of the!--Atulturevand the desertions of
o;,;,-,unen.frora, the dtoyal navy,`-ilaid to be in consequence of
this disgraceful and barbarotit pthrishment inflicted on
*.o..6eAshe boatswain's niatei.'' "
t. 1-As ,tht striaturts• on the' •severeieirtence oh .the'
‘• swain'Firnate' and,the stiteiffeat' an't'i the desertions,
-" Wffich have attrabt;d 'sO much • attentien, Originated
• the Morning Herald, we deem it necessary to make a
Ye* keiharki ;On. the subject, previously to any explana-
tiOn which may,- be, offered the! Xirst Lord, of the
. • Admiraltyo,- • . •
rff :We. trust-that Sic James Graham will meet the'ques-
. tons of the hon. member for -Lambeth, candidly and
fairly, withotiVany equivocation; eva,albn, or mental re-
servation., - The right hon. ' baronet may attempt-we
hope he will not do So—to defend the sentence of the
' infliction-Of corporal punishnient on a petty officer, who
had served a'greAt many years with credit and distinc-
tion; on' the groiind that his offence was "one most sub-
versive of discipline on
,the part of an officer to whom
was confided the great responsibility of maintaining -
order, and of punishing disorder, and that it was impe-
rative on the Admiralty to punish corporally the' boats-
wain's mate for the sake of example. But we trust Sir
James will be reminded of the fact, that the man was not
'habitually a drunkard; but that having committed one
offence by becoming intoxicated, and- the officer of the
Vt 'atel having been inado iccinainted with that circum-
stance, as he must haVe been when'lle ordered hith in
'charge of the sentry,fer.eentempt, the officer of the watch
was answerable forthe subsequentgraVe offence of Striking
the sentry, inasmuch as he neglected to comply with the na-
,- -v.alinetrtictions, and did riot immediately plaee thedrunken
man in irons ; had he done so, there is no .doubt,that •
there would have been no court-martial, -a good man's
havobeen.saved the torture of the lash, and
the-ivholelSody•ol-pettY'Oftgei:s of the navy—the best
and finest men in the whole world—would not, haVe,
been disgusted and- shamed by the disgrace inflicted upon
ono cf their ()lass.. Again, Sir James must be remindedthat it *out Stitely hive 'bieriA piedishment enough to'
degraded the man by disratine and by de-
priving him ClaireS fora pension, for theroblittoiSl
sion of an offepqe eP grave ,;as, that, with which he' was
charged ;.and the Admiralty mustlae impressed with the
cfact thair-the, publicJelak upon flogging a free-_born,
ligent Englishmaniii a different -light altogether, /cop?.
' - - that iilvhich it is.viewed by•their naval lordships.. The
British public regard -the. infliction,of a certain number
of 1;3,01'64 with 'a cat.o'niner-taild on the expe'S'ed" naked`
balk' Of iubjeet-ia, fellow!citizenperhaps"
voter for a member, of Parliament, or the father,- ton;
twaAer of a voter,
.as.onti oftheitnost beastly,-most dish
gusting, ..mnsOlisgraCeful' pimisliMents, for. -which- no
cortipensation ,in. any shape can atbne.i • The. free--
man whop his been flogged 'like
,a dog is a degraded.
pitiable Outcast of society, arid in the estimation. of ,na.en
of right feeling, ruin, starvation; nay, death, ielimAnble _
to the debasing exposure of a man's naked *in to, he.
cut through,-and stripped off his back by
.
But we believe that there are noble, high-infncle
pendent men in the House, of'Commons,' posy see 4 &l
sufficient moral courage and.humanity,to tell` the'Adint!'
ralty 'British sailors—honest, free, Open-heaited;-
hard-worliing Bngliihmen, who have borne ! • very
good" character for 17 years—shall not be treated worse-
than American sailors—shall not be reduced-to the-level:
..of, the ,poor,black,sla.yes of Brazils, and America,.
and flogged within an Inch lir Anti dare ;the ,
...wry++ AfirniyaitY, !indeed; to inflict any such PWAiSh...
went in future on 4f :407Kst Englishman, So MILO foil,fp
the logging,- .. • L, , _
• • Now for the. desertions. Sir. JanaesGrahath mak, and
• ..perhaps will, point t9„the Police Gazette, and- show, that'
`'' instead of 10Q seamen having deserted last week froth'.
• 'Out ben of war," the Hue and Cry:- contains official de--
scriptions of only some ten or twelve ; but the facts,•-if
, . they are -Worth pr in ay be got at by-Sir James
"L Tiouse of. Commons how -many-
men were reported as "absent without leave,."at Devon-
part, on Tuesday hail, the 29th of March, 1853.
It is-ot47,fair to-state that our Devonport correspQnr
,dating frem that port yesterday, says--" 4..gre4
. many of those reported absent have returned ;•bilt still
the ,repeated„ desertions of petty officers; Sinee'StapletW,,
the boatswain's mate, Was flogged, have been iiiiprYcfr; •
. dented; and now there is not a ship hi PlymouthS-Ound-
that_has her full complement of petty officers • and sea-
m'en ,And, moreover, as a proof of the feeling of the.
'petty offal's against the service on- account -of-Staple
ton's-
- May state that no less. ;than-.44
'in'en have not i'etufnedto the best and most comfortable
shi' 'in the navy, 'the, Prince Regent, • although their.,
•

11