The Sun.
London, England, 1823-11-15 00:00:00

T II '174 ARMY.

COURT. MA RTIAL.
HoltsE GUARDS, NOV. 6.
At a General Court Martial held at Kingston
Berme Jamaica, on the 19th of May, 1823, and continued
by adjournments to the 25th of the same month, Captain James
Fogo, of the ltoyal .Artillery, was arraigned upon the under-
mentioned charge, viz. . •
For conduct unbecoming the cliaracterlf At)
.4)ifcer anti
a Gentleman, in drawing. his sword, and violently assaulting
and striking Lieutenant Cookson, of the Royal Artillery, on
the 120 May, 1323, such conduct being much aggravated by
its haying taken place at the head-quarters of the Major-Gene-
ral commanding the Forces, and in presence of his (Captain
Fogo's) Commanding Officer, Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel-Hol-
combe, commanding the Artillery, he being at the same time
endeavouring, in pursuance of his orders from the Major-Ge-
neral commanding, to effect an amicable adjustment of a pre..
vious misunderstanding between the prisoner and Lieutenant

Cookson."
Upon which charge the Court came to the following deci.

sion :
" The Court have patiently and maturely weighed and con
sidered the prosecution and evidence offered and recorded against
the prisoner, Captain James Fop, of the Royal Artillery, as
well as what he has acknowledged, alleged, and proved in his
defence, is of opinion that he is guilty of the charge exhibited
aminst him, which being in breach of the Articles of War, the
Court loth sentence him to be cashiered.
" Having. thus awarded the specific punishment, which the
Articles of War prescribe, the Court cannot but feel a strong,
and as they trust, a pardonable impulse, to interest themselves
in the prisoner's favour.
" Circumstances have appeared to the Court (in addition to
those recorded on the proceedings) amounting to a conviction
that the prisoner laboured under considerable irritation. of mind,
and although it is the duty of the Court to sentence the prisoner
to the utmost extent for the act which that irritation produced,
they are satisfied it was not premeditated, but the sudden
paroxysm of a distracted moment.
" in thus presuming to express a w ish in ,extenuation of a I
crime so disgraceful and injurious to his Majesty's Service, the
• Court cannot avoid being impressed with a hope, that the cir-
cumstances of this case, together with the prisoner's long and
active services in a Corps so distinguished as the Royal Artil-
lery, the favourable testimony of disposition and former cha-
racter given him on this occasion, and confirmed by many
letters produced to the Court from General Officers in his Ma-
jesty's Service, addressed to the prisoner, his having a family,
and the evident shame and contrition since expressed and
evinced by the prisoner, may in the whole plead in his favour,
and pray for an alteration of his sentence. With these feelings
the Court beg leave most humbly and respectfully to recom-
mend him to the gradious consideration of his Majesty.
" In closing these proceedings it becomes the painfulduty of
the Court to note, that the reluctance with which the prosecu-
tor, Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Holcombe,. answered many
parts of his cross-examination, did not escape its observation ;
and the Court further considers it an indispensable duty to
mark and animadvert on the unwillingness and inconsiteney of
'Lieutenant Heath's evidence, considering the station and situa-
tion he held in. the room in which the affair took place at head-
quarters on the 12th of May, 1823."
The King has been pleased to approve and confirm the find-
ing and sentence of the Court : but in consideration of the
long services of Captain Fog°, the, high testimonials given to
his character, the aggravating circumstances which led to the
offence, and the strong recommendation of the Court in his
favour, his Majesty has been graciously pleased to remit the
sentence, which appeared, moreover, to have been adjudged
by the Court under an erroneous impression, that it was bound
by law to pass it.
In extending, however, the King's gracious clemency to-
wards the prisoner, his .57Iajesty observed that his displeasure
at the intemperate and outrageous act committed by Captain
Vogt), could nut be too strongly expressed. His Majesty con.
sidered this act to have been so subversive of discipline, and
of every principle of good order and decorum, us to have pre,
eluded a lenient or favourable view of the ease, if it had not
appeared to his Majesty, that the offence committed by Capt.
logo was not one of premeditation, but arising from a sudden
impulse, elicited by the most irritating and insulting language
addressed towards hini by an inferior officer.
this Majesty has therefore been
.pleased to command that
Captain Fego shall be severely.reprunanded, •and strongly ad-
monished nut to suffer his passions again to surprise hint into
the committal of an offence which is equally at variance with
the principles of discipline, with the laws of his country, and
with the rules and habits of society.
Unpn considerationof the circumstances which have justly'
called fortis the.censure of the Court upon the conduct of Lieut.-
'Colonel Holcombe and Lieut. Heath, his Majesty has beets
pleased to.conamand, that those officers shall be informed of the
regret twirl:ed dii!ipleahure with which his Majesty has
viewed a proceeding rtes diarreditabla to their characters.
By connuand of his Royal Highness the Commander-in-
Chief,
lIENRY TORRENS, Adjutant-Generrl.

The 63d (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot, in pursuance of pre-
vious orders, arched on Thursday from Gosport to Weedon.---
The :1-ith cromssed over from Portsmouth the same day to do
duty at Gosport.

FREE TRANSLATION.--A person of notorious
rudeness and ignorance recently contrived to
thrust himself into the company of several lite-
rary gentlemen, one of whom happened to be
reading aloud to the others from a certain Latin
Author. On coming to the, words " puppim
conscendere navis," he was abruptly asked by
the intruder what they meant. " They mean,
send the knavish puppy away," replied the gentle-
man, at the same time looking him stedfastly and
severely ht the face. This hint, seconded by a
general laugh, was not lost, for the puppy imme-
diately withdrew in dogged silence.
We understand that a Steam-packet Company
is now forming at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, for the
purpose of conveying goods and passengers be-
tween that port and London. Matters are so
far matured, that orders are given to prepare
a. vessel of five hundred tons burthen, with en-
gines equal to one hundred horses' power.—
Her extreme length will be 140 feet,and breadth
feet 3 inches. The hold to be 13 feet 6 inches,
and fitted up with 50 beds. It is intended to
fit up the Ladies' saloon in a superb manner, with
mahogany and gold. The dining-room and sa-
loon the same. Judging from the known ability
of the draughtsman and shipwright, and the tried
professional skill of the engineers, (says our
Correspondent) there is every reason to believe that
she will be equal in point of equipment, both ex.
ternally and internally, to any vessel of the kind in
the United Kingdom. 1 t is expected that she will
he ready for sea in June next : she is to be call-
ed the Northumberland. Newcastle is much in-
debted to the spirited individuals who have in-
terested themselves in this very laudable under-
taking. There can be no doubt that it will add
greatly to the accommodation of all parties—
particularly to those who have to travel.
ATmospilintic PuENomENON.-011 Thursday
evening, about half-part four o'clock, we observ-
ed a most extraordinary phenomenon in the at-
mosphere. 'While the rain descended in torrents,
the southern part of the heavens became suddenly
illuminated, and continued increasing its light
for about ten minutes. The thermometer rose,
in this time, 15 degrees, and the barometer was
very sensibly affected. The sky appeared on fire.
People felt a degree of alarm almost as if the
final day was upproaching, for nature seemed to
wear a face of direful anger. At length, how-
ever, the rain ceased, and the heavens assumed
a serene aspect, since which the temperature and
state of the weather have been mild and agree-
able. We should be glad that some of our scien-
tific readers would favour U 3 with their opinion
of this extraordinary appearance. It is to be
remarked that just before the brightening, the
la tmoshere had been unusually dal k.—( Waterford
Mirror, Nov. 8.)