The Sun.
London, England, 1834-07-15 00:00:00

THAMES-POLICE.

Yesterday Captain R. Rayne, the master of the ship
David Clark, from the East Indies and China, was charged
with assaulting J. Pack, a sailor, on the high seas, by or-
dering him to be flogged with the cat-o'-nine tails.
It appeared from the statement of the complainant, that
while in the Straits of Malacca, on the voyage from Cal-
cutta to China, a man named Richards was, for some tri-
fling omission of duty, ordered to be put in irons. Soon
afterwards the hands were turned up, and he (Pack) was
ordered to assist in hoisting a sail in. He was then very
lame, and had not recovered from the effects of an accident
by which his leg got jammed. He acquainted the Captain
with his inability to do any duty. The Captain, however,
insisted that he was able, and on his persisting in his refusal,
ordered the carpenter to rig the gratings and tie him up.
The carpenter refused to obey this order, and the gunner
was applied to, who did as he was ordered. The complainant
was forcibly stripped of his clothing, and after being lashed
to the gratings, received eleven lashes on his back.
Nicholas Cullen, a seaman, confirmed the statement of
Pack in all its particulars.
Captain Rayne, in defence, said he hired fifty-two men at
Calcutta, which was ten more than the usual complement,
but he soon found out that he had got a very bad crew.
Fourteen of them deserted. and he was compelled to hire
natives in their room. After the ship got out to sea the
men refused to do their duty, and behaved in a very refrac-
tory and mutinous manner. In the Straits of Malacca they
got much worse, and on the day in question Richards was
ordered to sweep some water off the deck, which he not
only refused to do, but used very insolent language. He
threatened to break his head, and ordered him on the poop,
where he was put in irons. All the men, including Pack,
then let the tackle fall, swearing they would do no more
work. The chief officer directed him to continue his work
and hoist the sail, on which he exclaimed, " I'll be d—d
if I do until Richards is let out of irons," and turning round
to his shipmates said, " If you do it you will be d—d
fools." He (the Captain) twice asked him if he would
hoist the sail, and he twice replied, " Not till Richards is
released." He then appealed to the officers, who said it
was necessary to make an example of Pack, and he was
ordered to be flogged. Pack then said he would bring him
to account, and that no flogging was allowed on board a
merchant ship. He told him if he acted wrong or tyran-
nically, he was amenable to a jury of his country, and Pack
was punished. After eleven lashes had been inflicted he
implored forgiveness, and said he had been led away by a
set of blackguards, and was very sorry for what he had
done. He was then untied, and he subsequently did his
duty with great cheerfulness. He was quite able to hoist
sail in when ordered, and although his leg had been in-
jured, he continued to do his duty as usual up to that time.
The crew were in such a mutinous state, that. after Pack was
tied up, they threw their jackets off and tucked up their shirt
sleeves, with the intention of doing some mischief, where-
upon he chalked a line across the quarter-deck, and, pre-
senting his loaded pistol, prevented their advance by
threatening to shoot the first man who crossed the line.
Edmund Brown, a passenger on board, the second officer,
and another witness, said the crew were in open mutiny, and
that Pack had done and was well able to do his duty.
They confirmed the Captain in every respect.
Mr. BRODERIP, after a long investigation, which fully
established the Captain's defence, said, under all the cir-
cumstances, he should not call upon him to find bail, and
that the case must therefore be dismissed.

BIRTH-PLACE OF MRS. SIDDoNS.—It is a public-
house in the High-street, Brecon, which still retains its appel-
lation of the Shoulder of Mutton, though now entirely altered
from its pristine appearance. I perfectly well remember
seeing it stand with its gable front, projecting upper floors,
and a rich well-fed shoulder of mutton painted over the door,
offering an irresistible temptation to the sharpened appetites
of the Welch farmers, who frequented the adjoining market-
place, especially as within doors the same, or some similar
object in a more substantial shape, was always at the eiccDs.
tomed hour seen roasting at the kitchen fire on a spit turned
by a dog in a wheel, the invariable mode in all Breconian
kitchens.—Campbell's Life of Mr. Siddons.
" WHO WOULD NOT BE A CONVICT."—The
convict van stopped one day last week to change horses at
Wolseley-bridge, on the road from Manchester to London. It
was one o'clock, and the Governor took that opportunity to
give the 18 convicts their dinner. It consisted of an enormous
piece of the whitest bread, and a large lump of as fine cold
boiled beef as I ever saw. I said to the Governor that it
looked so tempting, and being hungry, I should like to lunch
with the gentlemen; and asked him how often during the day
they got such food? " Oh, three times a day, Sir." I turned
round to two or three of our labourers, and said, " Look you
there, my lads, there's living for you r and the answer was,
" Who would not be a convict?" Well, but this was not all_.
for there was handed to each of the gentlemen half a pint of
Moxon's best ale that the landlord of the Wolseley Arms could
produce, and off they set again, with four post horses, on their
road to Botany Bay...... Extract of a Letter from Sir C. ivot,
trek.