The Sun.
London, England, 1802-10-27 00:00:00

lis
P"
he

busiaest, and ',was the Master of ttr# two Appren-
flees ,vho entriposed part of the crew of the Ad-
venqtre. If' he were asked, why, in order
to render their fund more profitable, .they had
tot filled the vessel with' Merely all Iniaber, in-
tead of ? he coUld assign* tWo reasons for
T'irst, because all the creW could .not be entrusted
with the secret ; arid secondly; becatse they ex_
pefled the vessel might go to Gibraltar, and the
Captain from thence furnish two accounts, the one
for themselves, and the other,. a false one, for the
trilderwriteis, which would 'enable them to sue for
a p%artial loss. On thii occasion Mr. GARROW
said, 'an obserVatiOn struck him, which he always
found to hold good in the course of his experience
amongst men, that it' is-ever the fate of knavery to
have a due proportion of fcdly mingled with it.—
Such was the case here, for Brighton, so surrounded
by fishing and other boats, was one of the worst
Places in the world for oraflising, with success, .any
villainy of this kind. This was soon felt by Easter_
V. and impresSed by him in A. conversation which
he thought was not overheard -by any other parties
but•thost who were interested, wherein he said to
Codlinrr ". You made a d—n'd bOngling job- of
This ; why not Sink -her 'on" the Coast of France,
ffrom, which the boat
.may go' to either shore ?"-
-Lhe remark was very just, for had the Captain'been
cunnirtenough to haye done that on the COast of
Prance which he did at Brighton, no further inquiry
could well have taken place, and .the Underwriters
mould have of-course been- defrauded, while the of-
fenders must havoescaped with impunity. Epter_.
by then inquired of Cooper whether the hole was
of the size of the handle of a carpenterN
which lay on the floor in the room ? and being an.
sweredin the affirmative, he desired to sharpen the
end of the handle, that he may plug it so as not: to
be perceived, should 'the ship come to land, which
there was every appearance of its doing. The next
circumstance he had to advert to, would chew be-
contrdaidion, that LlOyd's Coffee-house was
the Port and market. for which the ship was destin-
ed ; as, no sooner could they get pen and ink, than
_vl'Farlane and Easterby set about making an aban.
tionmetit. There were some otherpoints deserving
their 4ttention. If this had been a fair transaftion,
ev'One of the crew were entitled to any wages, not-
b Itntanding which they were all paid ; and Easter-
direfled Cooper to come to London; and keep
close, ,because, should he be taken, sentence
9f death would pass upon him. Notwithstanding
*heir cockets, bills of lading, and manifest, yet
the goods described in them were not on hoard, but
in M.Farlane'S private dwelling-house, from which
they were conveyed to the lodgings of the sister of
a Lady who was then conc.eaed with hirn,'M'Far-
lane observing that it would he odd and dangerous
• if they were found in his hotise: It could not,
however, escape the notice' of the Jury, that there
Ivould have been nothing odd or dangerous in the
circumstance, *if there had been no -fraud. --Mr.
tasterby staid, for some time longer in Brighton,
and was, together with Read, examined before a
magistrate in the Country, by whom they were
discharged. After the intercepted Letter from
Codling, it was thought right that he should be ap.
Prehended, and the means 11:: took to avoid it, were
llot these of a man- relying on his innocence; for
though it would be proved that he remained at •the
time at home, he was inquired for in vain on Satur-
.dity,, Sunday, and- Monday, when he found-himself
under the necessity of surrendering. He'contrasted
' this-behaviour with the conduct of the Mate, Coop..
er, who freely surrendered at his-mother's house at
axmlindlwm, as soonashe had-been inquired after.
There- was an additional circumstance of something
'pore than suspicion in the goods of considerable va-
lue found in the dwelling.house.s of two of the Fri..
k)ners. One of the Witnesses to this point was
certainly a very unwilling' one, being a woman
connefted with M‘Failane,. whose evidence they
Could.not have, only that she happened not to be
?S wife. A great part of these goods consisted of
!dyer and plated articles, which Easterby took'out
"d unpacked himself, saying there were other goods
(t 1 • 'nix -with them, after which one debenture was
mix
for the whole. It was usual for 'tradesinen
t° ship goods of. this kisd themselves, in order • to
t,ceeive the drawback ; -but- as it was not the uni-
versa' praftice, he woulci not much dwell on the de.:
Parture from it in -tins instance.. They were first
Contained in one large packet, but afterwards 'di-
vided 'into five small ones, for the purpose; as
• Easterby said, of being more conveniently stowed
in- the :lockers. These. packages, however, were
tot foOnd when the wrecked vessel came on-shore,
and it would be proved to them that Easterby was
home
at the ship's side at, night-conveying them
10me; and that they were afterwards shipped- on
board the William, one.of• his own vessels, for, the
Fast Indies. Upon the whole, -it would be found
that the Cargrrshipped on board the brig Adventure
Vas not worth more than 30001. or 40001. at the
i'ttnost, though the insurance attually made upon it
\vas 90001. and would have been 13,000 i: only for
SOme suspicions which arose in the ,mind of ,the
Broker. After having said thus' much, when he
considered who were the Gentlemen he had the ho.
1)(
-)or to address,- he would-not attempt to impress
lIPon them how much it was their dtity, if after
hearing
theevidence, any rational doubt should press
uPon their minds, -to let the Prisoners have the full
e •
enefit of it.
Thomas. Cooper, examined by Mr. Gill BS, (e.•
posed, that he entered as a private sailor before the
41:.--t on board the Brig Adventure, Capt. Codling,
When the vessel was lying below Limehouse.. John
:".°llglas was at that time Mate, and the crew con-
- I,llsted of himself, the Captain, the Mate, and two
qs• Mr. Storrow used to come backward and
forward, and sailed with them to Yarmouth. They -
`Qok in zz hogsheads of tobacco; -some linen-, -and
1.2 or 13, tons of ballast, previously to their first
;
It4ilin to Deal, where they arrived in safety. Doug-
..42quitted the ship there, in consequence of being
dttl toed, as he said, with the rheumatism. Storrow
:Ist) left it, and was succeeded by Mr. Read, as super-
-04,„,rg0. At -Deal they took in some cases: Codling
jrcred the Witness the place of Mate, vacant* by
the absence of Douglas. -The Witness.said he was •
"Qt qualified for if, as he did not -understand navi-
g,a-tiOn ; flit-Captain replied; ..tltrit-AT Itrrig as-tre"`
reased him that would be enough: did •nOt
i 1 again as soon ai they Might hate iftnie,w-'-‘llll-Ns •

sOnn as other vessels "did, brit rertiainid ftri' some.'
days; the Captain at some times saying he did not
like 'the wind, and at others, that he was obliged
,to wait for the arrival of letters. They however
• sailed. in five or six days, and had a boat, into
which the Captain gave. stria orders that nothing
should be admitted but fotir oars and plenty of tholes.
• On the Friday before the-vesSel was sunk, the Cap.
tarn said, they should not be in the ship eight and'
forty hours, On the next day, Saturday, _he fur-
thersaid, that was the last night age)} should be in
her; that he did not think her fit to carry-through
the Bay, adding, " I do not think her life-misty
-of my life or yours, and why should she be so of
any other man's ?" The Witness was then on the
quarterdeck, and the Master, at the helm, whom
he relieved, and the latter went below. On his
return, in abOut a quarter of an hour, he said to the
Witness, "'Go down, you'll find an auger lying on
the cabin floor, which you , will carry with • you,
and .after taking up the hatches and scuttle, to get
. at it more conveniently, you , will bore a hole as
close as possible to the run." He went accordingly,:
and found a new auger, to which the Captain had
put a handle, which„it wanted before. With this
he thinks he bored three Wes,' and left it behind
him, sticking in •one of them,' The Captain, in
his opinion, might have got into the pike himself,
but not so conveniently as he could. When he
came on deck, he told what he had thine to the'
Captain, who replied, " Very well, let them stand
till day-light." On Sunday morning, by order of
the Captain, the cabin-boy was not allowed, to
comedown and breakfast in the cabin as usual, and
• he' pulled the auger out of the hole in which he left
it. The Captain then ,wanted to find
.a. mawl, to,
make the holes larger, as they did not seem to let
in the water fast' enough; when the Witness re-
minding him of the crow.,bar, he said, "Aye, 'that
is the very thing." They then went dOwn toge_
ther, and the Captain lent a hand to fasten down
the lockers, that the hole might be enlarged. The
Witness struck •the bar through the bottom, and
the water rushed in rapidly. Read was in his bed
very near the place .where the holes were made, and •
the Witness heard him turn himself Several. times:
He might not, however, have heard the boring,, as
it made little or no noise. The Witness called him,
and he got up, but returned tobed, again before the
hole was enlarged with the crow-bar, and though'
he might not see the hole, he might easily hear the
water running in. The smallest hole was kept
open, that the ship might seem leaky, and the
pumps be kept going. Read was on deck at the
precise time the hole was enlarged by means of the
crow-bar, and the boys were not permitted to go
to bed. The signal of distress was made, and the
boat put out before the water came up to the deck.
He had packed up his things, and put them into a
bread'bag, on Friday, when the Captain said they
should not remain on board 4.8 hours, and at the
same time bid him not to say any thing about the
Matter. While the hole was making with the crow-
bar the crew were kept close 'taking in sail, so that
they could neither see nor hear what was goieg-
faeward. Reed was, up at eight o'clock in the
inorning,..arid seyeraldioats Surrounded the ship on
the appearance of.diediatresS signal. They,asked
if we wanted any assistance, saying they, were
ready to tow us into harbour. The Captain said
the ship belonged to him as long' as she-could swim,
and they had no business with her. He had nos
doubt but the vessel went down in consequence of
the holes that were made in her bottom. Read's trunk
was taken on board at Deal, and taken away the
next day, together with his bed, the Witness helping
'to remove them into the hoar, and they were not
brought on board'anyarior.e. While it was on board, it
appeared to be full of linen. When the crew went
-on shore atTrighton, they repaired* to the Old Ship
'Tavern. Read then told a Welch woman that in
the wreck be had' lost every thing belonging, to
him. Easterby and M'Farlane came down there, as
he thinks, on Tuesday, and the fOrmerasked him
"where he had bored the hole, and what was the size
of it ? The .Prisoner replied he could not exactly
tell.' He then asked again, whether it was as
large as the handle of a carpenter's chisel which,
lay in the room`?' And the Prisoner answering in the
ffi armative, or thereabout, he bid him. take out the
handle and'sharpen it, to plug -the hole in case the
ship should anme,On shore, which it was then likely
"to do, as' it was driVing hard that way, Easterby
then said, " Codling is a dea-d fool, and has made
a bungling job of it ; he Should have sunk the ship
on the coast of France, and as the weather is 'fine,
the boat might have been taken to' either shore."
Read and Codling were by when these Words; were
spoken, loud enough to be heard. by every person
present. The two Owners then ordered the Cap_
taiii and Witness to go, to London together,: and
take private lodgings, telling me that if I did,ndt
•keep-..close I should be under sentence of death.
Read then gave the Witness a note with direCtions
where to iind ,M‘Farlaue'Shoust in.Lorlon, 'after
Whichhe'received nine shillings Wages, and a guinea
to-bcar, his expences. fle'.came to London in the
coach with 'one of theboys., Read had bespoken
places for him and the Captain., but the latter 'being
called back when setting off, 'he was called back
by a Gentlemah, 'and the' boy sent in, his 'place.—
The name of the hoy,e his companion, was George
Kennedy. The pump, 'he said, had been worked
when the water was let in. One of the boys made
an observation, on which the Captain_ bitt him go
along—that, it-was only beating- against the :run
he, however, at the same time told the Witness to
go down and' see what wasethe matter, bite first
jogg'd and whispered him to say nothing: After
"being some time at 'the Durk house,' he walked ao
his mother's at Saxmundhame in Suffolk, as• he began
to 'want Money, andfailed his:endeavours to get
a ship: The next day after his going down, having
beard that he was inquired for about sinking auship, •
he sent for Mr. Archkettle, the Headlacitough; stir-
'rendered;to aria told-the:whole truth 'of:the
story.. • •

Cross-examined by-Mr.Fust.ortsic--;--He said, he
-was -4 years of age, and, that, he made • no doubt
Of the vessel having sunk in`-consequence of the
made- in her bottom. He was •not- aware ,of
•his being. himself the perpetrator of the •whole,; he

•-•ci-nly-riid--trs--the 'Captain-bill- him.- He Ileard in the
country 'Ott-there was a- hundred -guihcas offe'red
for its arekhensioii, but 16m it

t • of" ;;;' r
1- in —on on, Jo,/ , r«..n ,
1; acid so f*r Iron liailig:ati,j,'notif)n that the reward
would Come to•hitn; hikself sbouei• than
:any one should hai'e' it. 'He knew that he'had done
wrong, and repented of his crime.- When he WaS'
brotwlit to liondon in -a•post-Chaise, he v.,as 'exa-
mine'd before the Lord Mayor, and• told the same
story-he did He has been in the,Compter
ever since, and -Mr. LeVie there. ptofessed
himself very willing to • suffer for his Offence, if
the Court-thought be deserved it; bitti at all 'events,
he was determined to speak nothing but the truth.
The ship, he said) .was •: six or seven Miles• from
Brighton at the time the signal of distress was
made. He-never got any thing by way of reward
front Captain Codling, except a new coat ; bit re-
ceived no money, nor any promise of any. No
conversation of the
.kind ever occurred between,
them. .He persisted to say, that he and the -CaN
taiti went'at first on' board of the Government Cut-
ter, but returned to the vessel again after the
hawser was- lashed across, and turned the head of it,
to Make'believe they wanted to get bn• shore. The
Captain, ,on thatoccasion, seemed to -give 411 the
assistance he could, and appeared- far from being in
a hurry to quit the vessel. ,
On his re-examination by Mt.Gisas, said, that
when he agreed to the Captain's pruppsal, of bor-
ing the ship, the latter told him. that.he would get
as good, or even a -better birth fbr him-. •

John Morris, examined by Mr. KNo W Lys, swore,
" I was, an apprentice to Mr. Storrow, who went
as Sopeteargo on hoard the Adventure to Yarmouth.
I went on board her when she was in the River. She
took in her loading while she was in the RiVer. I
have seen Mr.; Easterby come to the Ship, some-
times in the morning before, and •after breakfast, and
sometimes in the evening. When became in the day.:
' time, nothing was taker, away, but there was some
sugar taken away in the evening, and got into the
boat : when the packages came, I saw some'of them
Opened,
.for there were Stores'-for i the Ship's use,
packed up in blue and brown paper. -I-do not know
what each of the packages 'weighed-e they might be
about 14. or is lbs. weight. ' I saw. Mr. Easterby
again; but I did not see him take any thing away
atter that time.,. Then' we went 'to Yarmouth, where ,
some bread,, flour, and pease, were taken from our
Ship the Adventure, to the Ship William, which
belongs to Mr. Easterby'and Mr.M'Farlane, but this
was while she . was in theßiyer ;- a swivel and a
cable, and some other things were taken to the
William. I knOW'Mr.. Blagden,- 'the Lighternian,
'he came to the Ship' ; we went to Yarmoulh, and
returned to the Downs : Mr. Storrow went as Su:.
percargo in the. Adventure, but he went out of her
in the Downs. Georgel(ennetly I,,Vas another ap.
prentice to Mr. Storrow, as well as me : Mr,'Aead •
came in the place of Mr. StOrrow in the Downs: Mr.
Read brought with hurl a bag, a• trunk, and a-small
bale of goods, but I cannot tell what they were.—
The trunk was taken after Wards ashore by Kennedy.'
and Lacey while we were in the Downs; 'and it'
never was returned.: , when we sailed from the
Downs, it was three or four days afterwards before
we came to Brighton : -I -recalled the:night before
the Ship sunk. I was cabin:boy, and:generally pre-
pared. breakfast; - The chief part of my Atity,;w;ls in
. the cabin. On the Sunday morning when rlie--Ship
stank, Mr. '-Codling, my' mater,. sferil Tire' for' his
great coat : it WaS about tenor eleyen o'clock,' lb,
lhe best of my knowledge; the,:coat "wttS' in otie
Of the' Cabin-lockers, which were--Oien.,all , safe
and entire, and no break at all 'in thett. . 7-171. e
ceiling was alSo, to the best of-my` knoWqedge,- en-
tire. . I did not 'observe any thing broken at all :
I got the great coat, I took it up the hatches of the :
scuttle, and I' heard the -water rushing' in ; then I,
told my master, Mr. Codling, that the water was
rushing in,' and that I thought theie was 'a *leak!
there : 'l\llr Codliox"said there war no 'such thing,
and sent 'me' forward _to ‘ the fore-part Of the ship.:
we Were pumping' very often': we had One-Of...the .
primps gOing then :, lhere were two'purnp9 on board
the ship: we did' not then work the other 'pump;
but about four or 'five o'elOck I went to 'the Other
parnp, for -I knew Where, the geers of the pumps
'were. GeOrge Kennedy, thy fellow-apprentice, was
told by one' of the 'crew to fetch .the geer of'the
'pump, and .lie was going for it, blit' Mr. Codling'
hauled 'him up as he had got%estep ildvtin.the cam- -
panion ladder. The water WaS"thett -gaining. very •
fist upon us. The geer of.ilit second puthp was
got afterwards, but ICaniiot tell by whorn,•fOY-Mr.
Codling ordered me to rheboat all the nit:lining. ,
There was no. necessity for that, -That-I knew of:
I generally breakfasted in the. cabin,nittrirny -mats.
ter haddone, for I waited on • hitn ; +tit thfurnurn-:
ing I, had my breakfast' upon the deck. Idid- not
attend my Master:that mornitt-; he said the Mate
would do all' that was wanting. The Mite handeci
me my breakfast' that Morning upon the'deck. We
had a reroW.bar on the aft-deck :.,it was. taken fro,m '1
that place to the cabin :.Idid not go dOwn •to. the 1
'cabin after the trow bar 'Was" taken there : I did
Offer:. 'to' go'clOwn for'' the breakfast, but Mr.
Codlirig.preVe'dted 'me'; 'he' said the Mate would-do
all that was neeessarYel We. kept-'pumping' at 'last
with the, two pumps. -After: we had 'all I got into
the 'boar, except the Mate and the-Captain,- the
Captain hoisted'tbe flag- of 'distresS'While we were
along-side. ' We, had been' pumping aldng-time'; I !I
dare say threemr four hours. ' Theltrafer ii,as'gainL
ing upon -tivel-y fa's't before the sigOdkirai'hoisied.
,1
13odts tame from 'Brighton. to our- Asiitalitalivhen
th'ey Caine 'they-said 4', they would take ar?- of
the Ship," and the Captain said, theyi; had ila:bo_
ness with, the Ship .until he' hdigiveii:Ner' up.: - that
they kd no btisiness to take het, tOr,lie 'had2ricit
done with her. They ;said thek'ot'ild take her.ih
tow, andengage to-tciw. her in.• The Custoin;house:
Cutter c:rnatterwar..ls; the'ClPtain w'roUld' not let
them take her, until the CustOMehouseCiriter*caine.:
when 'she came' the ve,sei -righted:in-o'l'bn' Went
down, only her' top-gall;Mi-hiaSt beitigabo'tc;aier. l'
When the .Cutter 'Caine; M'# Reed-Sal:1, it Wished
she might sink, fdr that•'6?th'erWik(ihe'tliihki sk:iiuld i!
plunder her--he nAllt-Nt davis',- 'ol'lBl6 Vl' the !
boat : we all got (..)1 'siiiSFßOgrethei in le Ca'ter,•=
M --
r.
‘Read . said on shOt-6,1 that all'he. it trd'ifie
‘irhrld' t,as lost, and 'that hewas:tuinea roVer: I
was two or three clays on shore at the-Ship Inc'n'; and
-I -believe-it-was. c-n-the-Wednesday or Th u rsday-the-
men Were paid rteiewages, but ricithii. was paid to
'George .K-enn,cy and mei Neve' wat: pplsr.tioti::H