The Sun.
London, England, 1834-11-15 00:00:00

THAMES OFFICE.

Yesterday John Williams, Win. Curry, John Wilson, Wm.
Tucker, Robert Duncan, Francis Crane, Jorin IlTarro, and
Robert Gilbert, seamen belonging to the ship Frances
Charlotte, from Canton, now lying in the London Docks,
were brought before Mr. BRODERIP, charged with munity
on board, and violently assaulting Capt. Aaron Smith, the
commander of the ship.
At the commencement of the case two only were put to
the bar, who had been taken into custody by Wayling, a
land officer, on a warrant which had been issued against
them and six• others ; but on the conclusion of Captain
Smith's evidence, which occupied two hours, the others vo-
luntarily came forward and were put to the bar, and the case
began de novo. _ _

Some allusion was then made to proceedings which had
been commenced on behalf of the seamen by Mr. Clarkson,
the proctor, at Doctors' Commons, for wages due to them,
and Mr. BRODERIP inquired if those proceedings had been
instituted subsequent to Captain Smith applying for the
warrant against the men ? Captain Smith said, that after
he had made application to the Magistrates, he received a
letter from Mr. Clarkson, to the effect that he had been
directed to proceed against the' ship for wages due to the
men, and requesting a statement of what money they had
received. He accordingly waited on the proctor, and was
informed by him that he intended to issue eight Admiralty
warrants against the ship.
Mr. BRODERIP said it was much to be regretted that
the Magistrates' warrants, which were granted on the 4th
instant, had not been executed earlier.

Wayling, the officer, said he had been unable to meet
with the men before, and the two he bad taken into -custody
were accidentally met with in Doctors' Commons. near Mr.
Clarkson's .office:

The men said the proceedings against the ship were be-
gan as early as the law allowed.
Mr. BRODERIP wished to know whether there was any
process yet issued against the Frances charlotte ?—Cap.
tain Smith there was not.

The investigation was then resumed. It appeared fro:el:
the evidence of Captain Smith that after leaving Canton
on the homeward-bound voyage the men began to manifest
a mutinous spirit, and frequently refused to obey orders
with that alacrity they ought to have done. On the 26th
of July last; when off the Cape, they met with very stormy
weather, and he called all hands to assist in setting the
mainsail. Williams, who was on the forecastle, refused to
come until he had hauled the bowline in. He repeated the
order, and found fault with Williams for the manner in
which he did his duty, when he became very insolent, and
said he did not come there to be learnt his duty. He or-
dered him to be silent, but he refused, and said he did not
care for him. He ordered him aft, and to be confined,
and, on his refusal, which was accompanied by a good
deal of abuse, be laid hold of him by the collar. He
had no sooner done so than he was hustled and shoved
down by some of the other prisoners, among whom be
particularly noticed Tucker, Wilson, and Gilbert. Wil-
son seized him, and attempted to release Williams, and
he called the chief officer, who attempted to release
him from the grasp of Williams, who still kept his
hold of him (the Captain), and told the chief
officer to let him go, and he would release the Captain.
The chief officer accordingly loosened his •grasp, and Wil-
liams did the same ; but Williams was no sooner at liberty
than he seized him again, while Tucker and Duncan
dragged the chief officer away. He (the Captain) then
called for a cutlass, and one was brought up by the hov.
On this Tucker made a rush at him and struck him. He
aimed a blow at him with the flat part of cutlass, which he
avoided. He then, to get clear of Williams, struck him two or
three times on the shoulder with the flat part of the cutlass.
At that moment he received a violent blow from Munroe,
Which knocked him down,' and while he was down four of
the defendants ill-used him in a very brutal manner, by
kicking him about the head and body. He was certain
that Wilson, Tucker, Gilbert, and Williams were kicking
him. He called out for assistance, but none came, and
Tucker said, " hit away." He asked them if they were
going to murder him. Wilson said, " No, we don't mean
to kill yoe, we only want peace and quietness."
'ilehim
Y took
the sword away and threw it overboard, and' kept
..
down. By a violent effort he tore 1 anself away from them
and. called for his pistols ;theywere not loaded. The
prisoners were all 'oelow and refused to work. He
called. them ....pon deck, and said there should be no
mistake, and directed the chief officer to ask each of
separately to return to their duty ; but they -all
declined, and displayed such a refractory spirit that he
thought it prudent to batten, down the hatches and
them below. Tie reduced their allowance to bread and water,
bait during the voyage between the Cape and St. Helena
they broil° open a cask of pork, ate part of the contents,
and threw the remainder away. On the arrival of the ship
at St. Helena the men sent letters of complaint to the Go-
vernor,: to the. Commissary of Police, and to another person
in authority. The police took the men ashore, and they-
all appeared before the Magistrates, and, as there was. no
Vice-Admiralty Court in the Island, the ease could not he
tried there. After hearing all sides, the 'Magistrate pro-
posed to send home the four ringleaders`to England in an«
other ship if he would indemnify him against all expenses,
but this he did not feel warranted in doing, and the officers
were directed to put the men on board again. Some time
after this the ship was in great distress, and he told the
chief officer to ask four or five of the prisoners to resume
their work, and he would pay them from the time they
commenced, without any reference to what had formerly
occurred, ,for which they would be tried in England, but
they refused to do anything. During the late storm the
ship was driven out of the Humber, while making for Hull,
to which port she was destined ; and, while she was ex-
pected to go down, they would not lend a helping-hand
until the pilot persuaded them to assist in getting the ship
into port, and she was eventually driven into Sheerness
harbour. The day after the ship arrived at Sheerness the
prisoners refused to work at the pump, although she bad
made a good deal of water, and asked him what he was
going to do with them. He told them he should take them
before a Magistrate. They behaved so badly that the
coast guard put a boat's crew on board to prevent them
plundering the ship. He afterwards altered the destination
of the vessel, and brought her to London.
Mr BRODERIP asked if the vessel was in any danger ?
Captain Smith said the ship was in the most imminent dan-
ger when the prisoners mutinied. She had sprung a leak,
and it was very stormy weather.
Several of the prisoners questioned Captain Smith, at
the time declaring that he had perjured himself, and
that they did not kick or strike him, but he adhered to his
original testimony.
Mr. `Vickers, the chief officer, and Joseph Trott, the
cabin boy, who also underwent a long examinatioe, con-
firmed the Captain's statement, and said the men displayed
a very bad spirit. Trott, however, said that Captain Smith
begun to abuse Williams ; told him he was no sailor, and
called him by some opprobrious names. At the termina-
tion of the affray, the Captain threatened to blow the men's
brains out if they gave him any mere insolence.
On the prisoners being called on for their defence, they
deputed Wilson, a tall and very intelligent mariner, to
speak for them. He entered into a very long statement, in
which. he,declared that Captain Smith had used them more
like beasts than men, and that he had nearly starved then,
and that .he was in the habit of calling them by the most
opprobrious names. On the day the affair in question oc-
curred, it was blowing very hard. They had been almost
starved, and they were called to take in sail. Williams was
called with the rest, and he said he would come as soon as
he had hauled the slack of the bowline. The Captain im-
mediately flew into a violent passion, called Williams
a .very bad name, and said he was no sailor. An alter-
cation ensued between them, and the Captain dragged
Williams aft, and they fell together. He called for a cut-
lass or Malay knife, and he and others, fearing mischief,
endeavoured to get it from him, but could not before he bad
struck Williams two or three times, and cut him. Tucker
asked the Captain to hear reason, and his reply was,
" your eyes, I'll hear no reason," and called for his
pistols. They committed no further violence than was
necessary to get the cutlass away. Wilson then pro-
ceeded to state that he had told the Captain they would go
on duty if they were better used. They were confined in
a horrible place, full of vermin, and half starved. He and
his companions broke open a cask of pork and ate it raw,
but they denied wasting it. The prisoner then went into a
long history of their several grievances, and said the whole
conduct of the Captain was harsh and tyrannical, and that
these proceedings were commenced to deprive him of his
wages.
A. Brown, the second made, and J. Carpenter, a sea-
man, said the defence was true.
Captain Smith said he had broken the mate for neglect,
and that Carpenter had refused his duty, and he intended
to have him included in the warrant.
Brown, in reply to this, produced a written character be
had received from the Captain, stating that he had performed
his duty to his satisfaction.
A friend of the prisoner put in a long written statement
sigr.ed by the Chief Officer, which
_threw, all the blame on
Captain Smith, and was a repetition of what had been said
in defence.
The Chief Officer, on being questioned, said it wlis
merely a statement intended for insertion in the newspapers.
`What he had made oath to was true. The statement was
-written by the steward, and he was induced to sign it, as be
.understood it was to appear in a newspaper.
Mr. BRODERIP said it contained such inflammatory lan-