The Sun.
London, England, 1833-09-06 00:00:00

NAVAL FLOGGING.

I saw two men who wer, tried tor desertion, and their
sentence was to receive 500 lashes round the fleet. There
is, perhaps, nothing on the face of the earth an revolting
to human nature as this most brutal of all outrages upon the
feelings of gallant tars uchler such a sentence. The d
the man is to be punished is known by the admiral making
a general signal to copy orders. A midshipman from each
ship ghes on hoard of the admiral's ship with a book, and
copies the order, which states that at a certain hour, on
such a day a boat, manned and armed, is to be sent to
the ship from which the man is sentenced to he pu-
nished. On the day appointed the signal is made from
the admiral for the fl et to draw into a line. The
hands are then turned up in each ship, and every officer
appears with his cocked hat and side arms, and the
marines are drawn up on the gangway with muskets
and fixed b,yonets. The ship launch, to which the
delinquent belongs, is hoisted out and rigged up for the
bloody tragedy. In this boat are two boatswain's mates
with their cats, together with the surgeon and master at
arms. The poor creature is now taken out of irons, in
which be has been confined both before and after his sen-
tence, and brought down from the deck into the boat.
The master at arms next desires the mates to tie him up;
he is then stripped, and a blanket thrown over his shoul-
ders. The boats of each ship then make their painters
fast, one ahead of the other, and thus form a long line
of boats. The captain now looks over the gangway ;
the master at arms reads the infern sentence, and
the quantity of lashes the victim is to receive at each
ship. The captain calls the boatswain's mate, and
says, "Go on, sir, and do your duty." The blanket is
now removed from the shoulder of the poor fellow, and
then commences the fiend-like exhibition. Atter the vic-
tim has received one &ten, the captain tells the other
boatswain's mate to commence, and after the poor fellow
has received the next (lora', the blanket is again thrown
over his shoulders, and the boats tow the launch alongside
the next ship, the drummer and fifer playing the Rogue's
March. The same ceremony is repeated, and so on from
ship to ship, until the surgeon pronounces the roan can
receive no more without endangering life ; and woe be to
the tyrant who dares to inflict one lash more after the
surgeon has spoken. I here must remark that I never
knew an instance of a surgeon in the Navy being a tyrant;
on the contrary, both he and his assistants ~re always re-
spected for their tender regard of the sick under their care.
After this degrading and cruel punishment, the man is
again towed to his ship, awl helped on board ; he is next
sent into the sick b ty, his back is anointed in order to heal
it, and, in case he has not received all his punishment, to
enable him again to be tortured. The boatswain's mates
are generally the most active, as well as the most powerful
men on board. When a man has been fl ,gged round the
fleet he is of no further set vice, his muscles are contracted,
and he is no longer an able man. What a dreadful re-
flection it is when this case is applied to an instance of a
man impreseed into the service, the poor fellow having
been torn from his wife and children and sent on board a
King's ship. My pen cannot do justice to my disgust of
the system of impressing seamen. Such a mode of man-
ning a fleet is as disgraceful 10 humanity as it is contrary
to sound policy. If there were uniformly good conduct in
Naval Commanders, there would be no want of seamen ;
it is the dread of tyranny, and not the fear of enemies,
that deters men from a desire to follow the glorious avoca-
tions of a British sailor.—Arnold's Magazine.

THE EARL OF ELDON.—We are happy to
say that the venerable Earl of ELDON, now in his
83d )ear, is in the enjoyment of such good health as to
nave been able, during the l tot week, to visit his estates
in the county of Durham, His Lordship is now on his
way to his seat at Encombe, Dorseishire. There is no
mansion-house tin the Eldon estate ; however, tit.
Noble Lord bto been in the North, he has resided at th,
Hotel at Rushytnrd, between Dat lington and Durham.—
Newcastle Journal. This venerable Nobleman arrived at
Chesterfield, from Newcastle, on Tuesday evening last,
and passed the night at the Angel inn. His Lor
dship
was exceedingly affable, and in a convetsation :viO Mrs,
Evnisos, said that it was fifty-seven years since he has
slept in Chest rfield, and that be perfectly well recollecteo
a -gentl;•man once curate of the town, who lia,l run,tvell
henee to Neweastle.upon-Tyne, and under wb. m he Lad
received a part of his education. His Lordship left ott
Wednesday morning fur Leicester, as his way to to n.—
•` Derbyahirc Courier,

CHARGE OF STEALING OYSTERS FROM THE BEDS.
—The Milton fishermen, named El'son, Eason,
and Smith, were brought before the LORD MAYOR,
by Daniel Forrester, charged with haring stolen
great quantities of oysters from the beds of Mark
Redman, in the neighbourhood of Feversham.
The Solicitor for the complainant stated that the
prisoners had been followed to town from the place
where the oysters of the prosecutor were bedded,
and from which they had taken vast quantities. The
prosecutor rented a part of the river of which the
Hon. Miss Wickham is lady of the manor, and had
laid his beds there for the purpose of growing the
fish for the London market.

Mr. 11 .dman paid fifty pounds a year rent to the
lady of the manor for the beds, which after the pay-
ment of all the expences, produced to him between
3001. and 400/. a year. It was his practice to go
to Cornwall to purchase the brood of oysters, and
afterwards to lay them on his (..wn beds; and they
were of so peculiar a description that he should be
able to swear to them anywhere. lie had
seen the prisoners deliberately rob his beds, and he
traced them and the oysters to 13.11ingsgate-market,
where the article, which was of a tupericr kind,
was now selling. He therefore applied to his
Lordship to commit the prisoners, whom he con•
sidered had committed an act of felony.

The LORD MAYOR—Has not this case, or some
case very like it, been before the Lord Chancellor,
and is it no a question of right ?
The Solicitor for the prosecution said that the
Lord Chancellor had decided that the prisoners had
no right to meddle with these fisheries, and had
granted an injunction to restrain them, which in-
junction the prisoners disregarded, and they were
clearly guilty in this case of a larceny, which would
subject them to very severe penalties.
One of the defendants declared that they had
violated no law. The case to which the other side
had alluded was distinct from the present ; but in
the farmer case it was wrong to say the Lord
Chancellor had decided against them. His Lord-
ship had been d-cidedly in favour of them.
The LORD MAYOR—Do you admit that you took
the oysters ? Detendant—Certainly we do; bur
we say we have committed no offence; we were
perfectly justified in she course we have pursued,
and we leave it to the prosecutor to prove that we

are not.
The Solicitor to the prosecutor submitted, that
the act, though committed without any feature of
concealment, was, nevertheless, one which made the
accused amenable to acr minal prosecution. A matt
might go into the house of another and take his
property with as much propriety.
The LORD AYoR did not see that the cases
were exactly parallel. He felt that the charge was
one on which he could not commit. W saw nothing
like an act of felony. It appeared that the Lord
Chancellor had been already referred to in a case of
contested claim resembling the present. He wished
to know how the prosecutor could swear to the
oysters, as identity in oysters appeared to him to
be a matter rather difficult of proof ?—Mr. Redman
said it was by no means hard to be proved. The
oysters were very peculiar.
The LORD MAYOR—Does nobody but you take
'he brood from Cornwall to grow them in Kent ?
Mr. Redman—Nobody in K -nt practices it. The
Feversham Company and the Queeuborough Com-
pany used to do it.
The LORD MAYOR—Then these must be your
property? Mr. Redman—Certainly.
Defendant—We never attempted to say that
they were not his; and we keep a regular account
of the profits of the sale in order to do justice to
him. If the matter is decided in his favour, we
shall be ready to hand over to him the produce of
our labours in his beds; but in justice to ourselves
and our poor families we are ready to answer for
our act in whatever way your Lordship pleases. We
consider ourselves authorised by the Act, and we
consider that the Court of Chancery is of the same

opinion.
The solicitor for the prosecutor said that the pr
soners had been restrained from fishing in other parts
of the river, of which the same lady was lady of the
manor, and which were, like the beds at present in
question, rented from her.
Mr. liohler (to the prisoners)—Do you act in
this case as upon a borough or corporation right or
claim ? Defendant—No—merely as upon a com-
mon right. We told Redman we had a right to fivh
there, and he admitted it, and we told him we
should account to him for every farthing we re-
ceived.
The LORD MAYOR—Are you good security for
the money, supposing the case should go against
you ? Defendant—We are certainly poor now, but
the money shall be kept sound.
Mr. Redman—They are not able to give proper
security, and I have 3001. here at stake.
The LORD MAYOR—You can move for Pit in-
junction, or indict the parties if you think fit.
Mr. Redman—But where will the 3001. be? I
can't get an injunction at moment's notice.
The LORD MAYOR—I certainly shall not commit
them. You may prefer your bill at the Old Bailey
if you please.
The prosecutor and his solicitor stated that they
would prefer a bill, and departed.
We understand that all along the Kent coast, the
fishermen and their families are in great distress,
in consequence of the ex ension of the manorial
rights of the laud proprietors into the depths of
the sea.
The driver of one of the stage coaches of Mr.
Alexander, the proprietor of the Quicksilver coach
which runs to Brighton in four hours, was charged
with having, by Violent and careless driving, done
very serious injury to the female servant of a gen-
Leman, named 13ousfield.
The defendant could not help the accident, which
he regretted much.
The LORD MAYOR—Oh, your regret is quite
tpology enough If this poor girl should die, it is
quite enough for the public that you are .sorry for
it I I shall detain the defendant in prison until the
girl is declared out of danger most certainly.
Mr Buusfield did riot mean to have him punished
more than by the infliction of a small fine, to remind
oim of the injury he had done.
The LORD MAYOR begged that Mr. Akzander