The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-24 00:00:00

Copy of a letter from Commander Wingrove to Vice-

Admiral the Earl cf Dundonald,-G.C.B.

Her Majesty's steam-sloop Scourge, Huffs;
November 6, 1848. .

My Lord,—l have the honour to acknowledge the
receipt of your letter of this day's date, directing me to
furnish your Lordship, for the information of my Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty, with a detailed report
of the line of conduct pursued by me towards the con-
vict John Mitchel, on his passage to Bermuda ; and in
most respectfully stating my reasons for adopting such
line of conduct, &c., it will also be my duty to enclose
the duplicate of a letter on the subject I received from
Mr. Redington, the Under-Secretary of State for Ireland.
The Scourge arrived at Cork on the morning of the
31st of May, and on the following morning, at six o'clock,
the prisoner was embarked, and the vessel sailed for her
destination. There was no senior officer present to
whom I could apply for that advice I was so desirous to
obtain respecting the exact treatment the prisoner ought
to receive. There was no time to seek it by letter, the
Commander-in-Chief being absent at Dublin ; Mr.
Redington's letter to me, conveying the wishes of his
Excellency the Lord-Lieutenant, was therefore, my
chief guide, and in giving it my most anxious
consideration, it occurred to me that although Mr.
Mitchel had been convicted of a very grave offence, from
which the mind of every loyal subject must recoil, still
he had not committed burglary, theft, or any of those
crimes which would sink him below the level of his
former sphere, in which I was informed he previously
moved as a barrister as well as the editor of a paper.
Looking.again at the tenor of his Excellency's directions,
it also appeared to me to be his Lordship's desire that
the prisoner should receive as much indulgence as was
compatible with his safe custody, bearing in mind that
he had been used to the society of educated men
and the comforts of life, while at the same time
I was distinctly informed that he was not during
the passage to be regarded as a common criminal.
Under these circumstances, and anxiously mindful
of the great responsibility of such a charge, it became
most difficult for me to decide in what part of the ship he
should be placed, or how he should be watched, so as to
ensure his safe custody. I could not put him with the
officers, neither could I place him near the ship's corn-
pany ; indeed I must admit that I felt particularly
anxious he should not be where by any possibility he
might disseminate those principles which sentenced him
to transportation, or where he could have such uncon-
trollable opportunities of establishing mischievous corn•
munication of a nature calculated seriously to embarrass
the difficulty of his safe custody at Bermuda.
My object was to convey him to the place of his
banishment with the least motive to exasperation, so
far as he or his partizans were concerned, and with the
least risk of bad consequences upon my own people
afterwards. Then, again, it occurred to me I should be
held responsible if this convict had committed suicide
upon awakening to a real sense of his situation, which
from the anguish of his mind there really seemed reason
to apprehend on first leaving his native land. I con-
sidered it my duty to endeavour to calm these feelings as
much as possible, and for this reason, as well as others,
I did not consider him safe, indeed I could not rest satis
tied, unless he was under my own immediate eye; there-
fore, I waived all personal feelings, which were much in-
deed at variance with the course I thought it best to
pursue, and allotttd to the prisoner a portion of my
cabin, and gave him his meals at my own table, taking
special care to invite no one else while he remained on
board, at the same time confining him to the strict
observation of the sergeant of marines and one sentry
whenever he took an airing on deck ; two sentries
watched him also by night. The result was successful: the
prisoner was landed safely at Bermuda, in comparative
health and calmness of mind, though he suffered acutely
from an alarming malady during the passage, which the
surgeon informed me might cut the thread of his exist-
ence in a moment.
He was landed before his arrival could possibly be
anticipated on the island. Having thus successfully '
performed this responsible as well as most disagreeable
duty to the best of my judgment, having conscientiously
acted for what I considered the good of the service,
having adopted that course which I thought would be
most consonant with the wishes of her Majesty's Go- '
vernment, and disclaiming all sympathy with the pri-
soner beyond that which is due from one Christian to
another in misfortune, I confidently trust their Lordships
will be pleased to extend to me that protection to which,
under all the very peculiar circumstances of the case, I
feel that lam justly entitled.—l have, So.,
(Signed) HENRY EDW. WINGROVE, Commander.
Dublin Castle, May 30, 1848.

_
Sir,—l am directed by the Lord-Lieutenant to convey
to you his Excellency's desire that John Mitchel, whom
you have been instructed to convey as a prisoner to Ber-
muda, should, during the voyage, receive as much indul-
gence as is compatible with his safe custody. He should
not be ironed, nor is it necessary that he should wear
the convict dress. Although Mr. Mitchel has been con-
victed of felony, he is a man of education, used to the
society of educated men and the comforts of life, and ho
is, therefore, during his passage, not to be regarded as a
common criminal, or treated with unnecessary severity.
I have, &c.
(Signed) T. REDINGTON.
The officer commanding her Majesty's ship Scourge.
No. 3.

Copy of a Letter from Captain W. A. B. Hamilton,
Second Secretary of the Admiralty, to Vice-Admiral
the Earl of Dundonald, G.C.B.
(Secret.)
Admiralty, Dec. 11, 1848.
My Lord,—Having laid before my Lords Com-
missioners of the Admiralty your letter of the 6th
instant, enclosing a statement from Commander
Wingrove, of the Scourge, relative to the treat-
ment of the convict Mitchel by him, on his passage
to Bermuda, and giving it as your opinion that
Commander Wingrove acted up to the tenor and
spirit of his instructions from the Lord-Lieutenant of
Ireland, and that their Lordships will approve of the
lenity shown by Commander Wingrove; I am commanded
to acquaint you that my Lords are disposed, generally,
to approve of Commander Wingrove's conduct, but upon
the understanding that the convict was not admitted to
partake of his meals in the company and as the guest of
the commander, although he may have had his meals in
the commander's cabin. —I am, &c.,
(Signed) W. A. B. HAMILTON.
N 0.4. -

Copy of a letter from Rear-Admiral the lion. D. 11.
Mackay, to the Secretary of the Admiralty.
Cove of Cork, March 14, 1849.

Sir,—ln reply to your letter of the 12th inst., I have
the honour to report, for the information of the Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty, that the instructions
addressed to Commander Wingrove, of the Scourge,
relative to the convict Mitchel, were received at this
port on the evening of the 31st of May last; but as the
envelope was addressed to me, and marked " private
and confidential," it was forwarded to Dublin, where I
received it on the evening of the Ist of June, too late to
be sent to the Scourge, as I knew she was to have left
Cork at daylight that morning; I therefore retained the
letter in my possession, and now return it in the state
in which it was received.—l have, &c.,
(Signed) DONALD 11. MACKAY, Rear-Admiral,

THE BANK OF ENGLAND PRO-

TESTING ITS OWN PAPER.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUZ

SlR,—Thc Branch Bank of England at Newcastle-
upon- Tyne, on the 2d ult., drew a bill at seven days in
my favour for 105/. It was as usual endorsed by me, as
I have endorsed many other bills of the same nature, yet
when presented in London for payment it was refused,
and this hill protested, because there was a particular
turn in the last letter of my name which they did not
approve. So that because an r was not in exact propor-
tion, and, as they fancied, appeared like an nor a w,
this bill, their own, was returned through the hands of
a series of men of business saddled with upwards of
10s. expenses. They were afterwards obliged
to pay the bill, but refused to pay the ex-
penses. It is right that the commercial and
trading world should know of the particularity of the
Ilink of England in this respect. Were the same ex-
actitude adopted by the public towards the Bank of
England, they have scarcely a note or bill in circulation
that would not be subject to protest. The wretched
nature of the Bank caligraphy is so obvious and gene-
ral, that it might be fancied its directors and officers had
been selected for their unintelligibility, and yet are the
public to be visited so severely even for the slightest
disproportion in a single letter.
I remain, Sir, your most obedient servant,
JAMES MATHER.
Sough §bieidtif igigoll 22, 1849.