The Sun.
London, England, 1802-01-21 00:00:00

FALMOUTH, JAN. iB.

ARRIVED last evening the Prince of Wales
Packet, Tone, eleven days from Lisbon, and the
Duke of York ditto, IS days from Lisbon. The
Welsingbam Packet arrived at Lisbon the sth inst.
and was expeaed to sail from thence about the r 4th."
Also arrived the Swedish Ship Frilierier, Capt.
FAT ERLOFF, sixty-one days from Alexandria (Ame-
rica), with 500 hogsh•.!ads tobacco, for orders, and
sailed again for Rotterdam ; the Brig Iris, Capt..
FORGES, from London for Gibraltar; American
Brig American, Capt. CHARLES V l Ns., 'from &l.
'timore, for orders, with sugar, coffee, &c. and
the Brig L' Capt. CAKROL, from NeW-
foundland, and proceeded on for Poole.
Sailed the American Ship Sufilk, Capt. BEARD,
with tobacco, for Rotterdam ; the Portuguese
Schooner St. arcs Martez, Capt. jort I),* COSTA,
with fruit, for Havre ; and the Ship Laurel, Capt.
NASH, for London.

The Lady Araballa, with Mails for America, is
detained by contrary wind.
The Leicester Packet, from Jamaica, is hourly
expeCie.l.

Early yesterday morning advice was received at
the East-India House, of the arrival of the under-
mentioned Ships in the Downs : they sailed from
St. Helena the zzd November, leaving there the
Pegasus, from the Cape of Good Hope.
The illek;//e Castle, Capt. J. LivyteE ; Skelton
Castle, Capt., M. ISAsel E ; and Travers,Capt.Tho-
NIAS SANDERS ; left Bombay the :Bth August,
8o 1. .

_ . • -
The Loyalist, Capt.. T. ALTor., from Bengal,
last from the Cape.
The Morningtoiz, C4p.t. G..KELBo, arid Countess
of Sutherland, Capt. E. EGGLETON, from Bengal,
Country Ships, laden chiefly with rice.
The Mornington .left Bengal about the isth of
July.
The Ganges was in dock when the. three former
Ships left Bombay.
The Fort William, Lord llawl,fesintry, Airly
Castle, and Worcester, arrived at Bombay the 23d
July.
The Henry Addington, Nottingham, and Ocean,
sailed from thence for China the zoth of August.
PASSENGERS PER Mr tv ILLE.CAsyr.E.—Lieut.Col, Forbes
and Lady, three Miss Forks' Mrs.Crowe, Major Alexander
Stewart, Miss E. Stewart, Dr. lames, Mr. janies Lough-
nan, and Master Charles Kerr.
PER SKELTON CASTLE.—N.in.Parr,
Cvt (8001 aeon: it), Lieliteriams Hamby, Pezz:hy, ',few-
a.rd, and Ward, Mr. Parr, Mr. King, and Master G..Lainbe.
PER TRAVERS.—SamueI Maistre, ESq. Miss and Master
Maistre, and Mr. Paige.
PER LOYALIST.—Mr. Morland, Mr. Da Costa, and Mrs.
Brown.

PLR COUNTESS OF SUTntRLAND.--MrS. Malone, Miss
M. A. Malone, Miss E. Cooke, Major Charles Stewart,
Lieut. C. Fagan ( Regiment Infantry), Mr. I. H.
. Partridge, Mr. Hugh Darley, Mr. John Cowie, Mr. Ma-
lone, Masters W. Wooden, Henry Scott, Alexander Mair,
and E. Malone.

His Majesty's 'Frigate Tartar, Capt. WALK E
arrived at Jamaica on the 28th November, with
her, Convoy, all well.

The Squadron under the command of Commodore
EssvoTortr, which was detached from the Channel
F.lect early in November, arrived at J.maica the
middle of last month. it consists of the Captain,
Elephant, Gales, Goliah, and Brunswick, of 7¢
guns each.

Advice was -yesterday received in town, of the
Adventure, of South Shields, having on the 23a of
December; in lat: 44. 46. long., to. 2. been board..
e. by a French Frig:ite, belonging rci the Expeditio:l
from Brest, which had experienced very. bad weather ;
twelve sail of the lioe were in Sight.

I
A., *

OLD BAILEY.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 20•

SPECIAL COMMISSION.

yoseph Wall, Esq. was brought to the bar and
arra►gned upon an indi&ment, charging him pith the
wilful murder of Benjamin Armstrong, at Goree
in Africa, by causing him to be whipped by .a rope
in a manner so cruel, that he died in four days
afterwards, viz. That the whipping took place on
the roth of July, 1782, of which the party died
on the 15th of -the same month.
This is the substance of the Indietment, the par-
ticulars of which we stated on a former day.

The prosecution was conducted by the ATTOR-
,te-Y,GENERAL, who had for his assistance Mr.
SOLICITOR GENERAL, Mr. WOOD, /Or. FIELD-
ING, and Mr. ABBOT.
For the Defendant, the Counsel were Mr.
KNOWLYS, Mr. GURNEY, and Mr. ALLY.
Mr. ABBOT opened the pleadings.
At the commencement of the Trial, the Prisoner
said, he was very hard of hearing, and he there-
fore requested, that he might be allowed to sit by
his Counsel.
The CHIEF IlAitorr of the EXCHEQUER, Chief
Justice in the Commission, with whom appeared
Mr. Justice ROOKE and Mr. Justice LAWRENCE,
said to the Prisoner, " that is perfectly impossible
there is a regular place appointed by Law for per-
sons in your situation; we can make no distinc-
tions of the sort you desire 3 that would be in-
vidious." _ _

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL then opened the Case
on the part of the prosecution, nearly as follows :
" May it please your Lordships, and Gentlemen of
the Jury—lt will have occurred to you, upon the
hearing of the Indictment which has been read to
you, that the offence, respeding which you are
charged to inquire, is an Offence committed so
long ago, in point of time, as the year 1782. -
It may occur to you to inquire why this of-
fence is now brought before the Country, to be in-
quired of at so late a period. Then, Gentlemen,
let me state to you, that that. is' no matter whence
to infer blame, either to those who now have, or
who, at a former period, had a concern in taking
steps that led to this prosecution, although the mat-
ter hxd not been brought to its present form until
lately.. '1 he Prisoner now before you must take to
himselFthe blame, if there be any, whiCh I am con-
fident there is not, and inconvenience. in delaying
this trial so long ; inasmuch as he has thought fit,
when the matter was put in a course of trial, and
he in custody under a criminal charge, to withdraw •
from the Justice of his Country, for at the
earliest period he has returned to submit to that
Justice, he is brought to that Bar, where he
now stands before you,- and that through the
medium of those necessary.steps which the LaW
requires, terminating in a Special Commission under
the authority of an Aka of Parliament, and issued
by the Privy Council, according to the mode pre-
scribed by the 3d of King Henry VIII. which
empowers His Majesty in Council to issue Commis.
signs for the trial of murders committed beyond the
seas, and which are to be tried of course:according
to the rules of law as there laid down; .and tote"
question for you .to inquire is, - Whether the
soner at rho bar is go;ity di-the clime of murder of
not ? I say, of murder.; tor; if it be not murder
in this case, it is nothing, since the party cannot
be guilty, under this Act, of manslaughter, or a
lower denomiOation of offence ; and,
..therefore, the
.single question will be, Whether he is or is• not
gulitv. of the crime of murder, or, indeed, of justi-
liable homicide ?Jhai is the question; and chat
alone you 'ave • to try. The crime imputed to
the .Pfd,q,rt'r at the bar is murder. He stands
' charge 7, on the present Indic ment with the murder
of Benjamin Armstrong, a Serjcant in the Garrison
of Goree, when the Prisoner was the CommaOdant
and.GovernOr of that Island, in the month of July
1782, as you have heard already. That murder is
charged to haVe been committed by the _Prisoner, in
the punishment which he ordered to be inflicted on
that person ; and the circumstances which led to
that punishment which was the cause of that man's
death, will be for me to open to you, and then it
will be for you to decide.—l shall state to you also,
in some measure, the supposed defence ; indeed the
defence, which I know the Prisoner must set up on,
this trial, for he can set up no other before you,
because the one part of the case for the prosecution
renders it necessary I should take notice of that on
behalf of the Prisoner.
Gentlemen, Mr. Wall, the Prisoner now before
you, was in the year 1782 • Governor and Com-
mandant of the Garrison at Goree, which you know
is an Island on the Coast of Africa. He had at that
time under him an Officer of the name of Lacey ;
lilewise a Lieutenant of the name of Fall ; another
of the name of Ford, another of the name of Phipps,
and another of the name of O'Shanley ;- but no other
military Officer whose name is necessary to be
mentioned. The circumstances of this case arose
in the year 1782: the exact_ time is the loth of
• lerlysirrl7s2, when the death was occasioned which
is charged upon the Prisoner as murder. The day
following this, which we charge as that of the mur-
der, the II th of July 1782, the Prisoner left his
station at Goree as Governor, and came off for
England. He arrived here in August in that year.
—He was for this offence in March
178+, under a Warrant issued by Order of the Privy
Council. You will bear in mind, that most of those
persons who were material -Witnesses to prove his
innocence, if innocent he be, were then living, and
within the reach of the process of the Criminal Jus,
tice of this Country, and might have been brought.
forward for the vindication of the Prisoner's inno
ceoce. In July 1782, this Gentleman had this
Garrison under his command, with those Officers I
have mentioned, and i+o or 'so Men also under
his command, as they had been for some time, prior
to the period at which he announced his• intend-
ed departure, • and which adually took place on
the -1 i th of July, 1782. Some time previous
to this, the Garrison had been under short allow-
ance of provisions, frogs necessity I will suppose,
or from some fair reason, although that is not stated
to me ; but I will take it to be so, since the con-
trary does not appear, • The men were put under
„ short allowance, that is, t 9 a ;estridion of food,

for the convenience of the Garrison, and for car*
tinning it in safety until further supplies should are
rive. In such cases, the men who are put upon
short allowance are allowed a compensation in point
of pay to the amount of the stoppage of their pro..
visions. The Gentleman now at the Bar had an-
nounced his departure for the r ith of July : •there
was going away with him for England, a person
of the name of Dcaring, who was the Paymastet
of the Garrison. In the hands of that person wass
of course, that stoppage, either to allow the men
"the money; or in future what was equivalent to
money, some articles of barter, which would pro•
cure for them what they wanted.
,When this Par
master was about to depart, these men were anxiou9
that this account might be settled, and, as the pc'
riod of departure drew nigh, several of them re'
sorted to the house where the Paymaster lived, for
the purpose of obtaining payment of what was due
to them on account of the short allowance to which
they had been restricted, and here the case beginf
to unfold the disposition of the Prisoner at the }lore'
What reason he had for mixing himself in con'
siderations of this short allowance, and to interpose
himself between those persons who called for an adr
justment of their claims, and the person whose regular
business it was to settle them, I am not appriztili
of, or at least-I- will not take upon me to alledgee
The men resorted to the house. of this'Paymasteri
for they were desirous of obtaining what was due
to'them before-the Paymaster left the Island, which
was to be the next day. They were aware that $
vast ocean, would separate the Paymaster and tiles°
in a short time ; and, considering the precarious.;
ness of human life, they thought it possible shat
they might not afterwards be in a situation to urge
their claims with beneficial effect to themselves.
On their• coming towards the Paymaster's house
for this purpose, in considerable numbers, as you
will have in evidence before you, and as the!
were passing the door of the Governor, which
was in their way, he reprimanded then], in angers
for resorting so the house of the Paymaster ;
and under terror of punishment, ordered thenz
to go away. ' The men retired dutifully under
thatadmonition. In about an hour and an half af-
terwards, several persons, whether the same as the
former, I do not know, but several persons, among
whom was Armstrong, the cause of whosealeath:
and whose death alone, is now before you ;. and
desire you to lay out of your minds any thing you
may have heard any where, of any indictment upon
the death of any other person, and to confine your-
selves to the inquiry into the death of this indivi'
dual, and to the cause of his death ; nor shall an!
circumstance be gone into, in this prosecution, boe
as it relates to that death, or the circumstances ne''
cessarily connected with it. If the subsequen‘
death of Others should necessarily, in filet, have
bearing upon the present case, we shall go into it,
because our duty will,,in such case, compel us ta;
do so, but in doing so we shall confine ourselves, ao.,:j
indeed, rre must, to strict legal proceedings; tsl".:,
no other substantive crime can ,be insisted upon I,°-
tile investigation of this, and therefore ilothint'
shall be unnecessarily pressed, for' our object
that your attention should be kept entire to tiOi
charge in the Indictment, upon which you are fic*,
sworn to [trite deliverance.
have"' Gbetantteldemteon'''ytoou Itehtter filcfistc"napltr?‘trence osifl-17at
men on their way to the house of the Paymaster,
and of their being ordered to return by the Fri;
soner, and of their dutiful obedience to the order OP'
their Governor. I shall now proceed shortly Ca
state the circumstances of these men, for the sal°
purpose. —.On the second application, or rather
intended application to the Paymaster, these men
were proceeding towards the house of the Payrnas4
ter; Armstrong appeared with these men; Goiter;
nor Wall, the Prisoner now before you, came oat
to meet them again. I do not know that he too*
the language of menace. tcstikem as before, however,
that will code before you in the evidence of the
Orderly Serjeant who attended the person of thPA
fi
Governor, and wh4 was of course °beeest to I'
commands. He will state to you, that Armstrong
was so far from being undutiful in his behairsourr
that he took off his hat and paid all possible rope
to the Governor, and said they only came to make
a representation to the Paymaster, and respilefullf,,
retired ; and .from that period, if there be ary
truth in the evidence that I am to lay before ycl'l/
until-the hour in which the punishment of Arr'l
strong was inflicted, which took place in the course
of that day, and which led to his death in a few MI
every thing in the conduct of the Governor Wad
furious and full of malice. Gentlemen, I anti?'
strufted to state to you, that there did not exist
this place, no had there at any' time previous to its
any symptoms of tumult, riot, discontent, disorder,
or mutiny, nor any thing that bore the resemblance
or. appearance of mutiny. I advert to this nal,
because I think it right to anticipate what I knovit
not from rumour what I guess, but what I knovf
from the declarations of the Prisoner, what the
defence will be —he makes his defence orte-tbg
grounds of a supposed mutiny. 13
" Gentlemen, I would not canvas, but I won_g
rather, to a certain degree, admit the validity u`
that excuse; and if there existed, in point of fa6!',
a mutiny, or a well-grounded suspicion of it, anal;
was not brought forward as a cover and cloak 10,
abuse of power, and perversion of authority--I sn.
again, if there did exist a mutiny in this Garriscl
or any appearance of mutiny in it, which require;
the
,strong -arm of power to suppress it, a crime Sp
enormous in its size, and dangerous in its conse"c
quences, might supercede the ordinary mode rll
trials, and 1 do not stand here to require of yo?.,
nor will I require any where, God forbid I should
to consider a man acting, in such a case, as a
criminal, when he did the best he could, and glee
with good intention, although some excess 111%
have attended his conduct. He would, in such.
case, be, at all events, an innocent, and mighty ra
some respects, he deemed a meritorious indivo-1:
because the power that is given to Commanding
ems in such cases of emergency, is given to theta
.trust, not for their own safety only, but for the safc
of us all, which cannot be preserved, unless ororePol
and vigorous means be taken for the suppression r,
mutiny. Therefore, wherever there is the arPeo
ante of mutiny, the exercise of authority sh°,t v
never be very critically examined, but should

jUi

4

. • - ' . .
:fudged with* very liberal spiiii. But it no mutiny
exists, but is assumed only for the purpose of screen.
'ng a man who inflicts art Unauthorised punishment,
laen , he is so far from being a meritorious,; that_ he
uetames a -more' culpable individual, This Fri.
sok‘r 'Stands chare.ed with having
abused the
great auckority his situation gave him; , for the
°Phression; and even .fOr the destruetion of His
Kiesty Subjeas, for whose proteftion, and for
the ProteAion of us all, that authority was given.
This. application Which-was intended to hathe_been
thele , to the Paymaster, was in the morningr..-
Th‘erewaa an interval between that and the time
Of io&Ceeer the punishment which ended in thect
deat:h, ssan.i-t' which you are now to inquire, respee
inee '-a.lik`int will be incumbent on the Prisoner. to
,
was not in
Ll:re )'tact an account, why the Garrison
tranquiilitv, 'or Wit was not, Why an investigation
did not take niace into the matter: Upon
thethat
there is an entire silence. We hear nothing of
12)..fens.lant until the evening, that is, until about
six o'clock, when the drum was beat what they
call " a long roll,'' to call the soldiers on the pa_
rade, which had the eft-I:el Of bringing them all, as
they were, some in their jackets, -withnut any mili-
tary preparation Ivhateeer, or regard to their ap..
Pearante. At this time there appeared on the parade
Capt.. Lecey, Lieut. Fall, 'Ensign Ford, and 'Mr.
O'Shanley, four Officett4 ; and after some conversation
had taken place between the Officers, there being on
the parade a gun_earriage, and a person attentlin to
Perform the offices of tying, flogging, &c. a circle
being formed, within which the o.cers were,
Atinsltong all this while being among the men
who had formed the circle, was then called out,
and ordered to strip, which he did. He was then tied
to the gun-carriage; black men, brought there for
b
the purpose, not the Drummers, who in the ordi-
nary course of things would have had to flog this
man, supposing - him to have deserved flogging ;
'but black men were ordered to infliet on Armstrong
the punishment ordered. Each took his turn, and
gave this unhappy sufferer ze lashes, until he had re-
ceived the number of Soo.. Punishments of this
sole, I understand, are usually inflieted by prum,
niers ; hitt this •Was infli4aed by black men, who
did not belong to the Regiment, and the instrument
with which the punishment was inflifted, was not
a cat-of-nine-tails, which is the usual instrument,
:but <a piece of rope of a greater thickness, and .
' . which was much inure severe than the cat-of-nine-
"ils• The rope will be exhibited to you in tvi-
- deuce," and therefore I need not say 'any thing to
You (It its fitness 'or unpurpose.'ness
will appear
you al
for this purpose. It
to so, that while this punish,
latentwaa'infliaed, the Prisoner urged the,e black
Wien to be severe, in a language, some of which 1.
- shall not repeat, it will be enough for you to hear it
once fro.n the witnesses. 1 :,han. }:i ss by the coarseness
'of it ebet he said, among other things, " Cut him to
the heart and to the liver." Armstrong; the scbjeft.
this punishment, atTlied to him for mercy, but
t4observation of the Defendant, on that occasion,
which,
• was " •1 sick • • was corning on,
. • 3 that t ie steeoa
together with the pullis1"11"1' would do for lawn. '
fitter receiving a gicat number of lashes, that is
1:,
'To, this puce -creature was co: dutfied to the Hos-
ttl• He was in a situation in which it was pro-
••aule his death might be the consequence, and,
* 1.,it4.., •,..7,,_ ...AR ..... ~,he declaraaion ha . made,
awrc' the laW admits in evidence, because the de-
aration
i of a man, made under an apprehended-
tPend.ng dissolution, is, by the law of this realm,
. that tantamount io. an oath. Youov ill hear
iteat he declared he. was • -bet.i-without any trial,
punts
hhd without eser being so much as asked, whether
e had any thing to say in his defence, and this
:vidence, if made under the impression I have
tared, will undoubtedly be competent evidence to
be laid ho'ore
. you. " After this punishment had been inflitied
.upon this poor man, for I will
nor travel into the en--
, cymstances of the case of any other person whom..
soever, but confine myself' to that for which the
Prisoner now stands before ku., the Governor, and
e.the Paymaster set off the next day
for England, and
r'' they arrived here in the month of August following.
" Gentlemen, as it has been alledged that the
bef •w - • A-.
.ent.antill endeavour to thew to you that there
exited a .mutiny in this Islancl I would ask upon
.svil# principle is it that he came to withdraw hin.
'elf:froth his command ? If there had existed in
the
Garrison such a mischief as required to be re-.
pres3ed without the form of trial, and I will admit
that itntnediate and urgent necessity may supercede
• I.lle fortns of trials in cases of mutiny and dangerous
remsunordination, in which cases we must not hold
-'ornrtanders to any rigid rules, provided they aft
i"r The best ; but I would ask, if such was the state
of this Garrison when heinflifleal this punishment,
What iuduced him to ad-as he did afterwards, what
'l.r: accouet for his
bas contiuti ? Or does
s .subsequent concluti not thew that no such
mutiny or danger existed ? . How will he account
'foe his taking
-away
'Oiree Officers out of '
with him from the Garrison
seven, which was the coirt-
pl,'•incni of Officers there '
-icre ? you he did. for that I will prove to
the order a
, Their presence must be essential"' tb
nd o. 1 .
es eeiaEy- if it
bo4x government of the Garrison,
was to this state of mutiny which,
for the pu?pose of his defence, he now will repre-
sent to - •
' 0
:0. Brit above all, how came he, in the
4ccount which he gave' •of this Garrison at this very
time, to His Majesty's Ministers, not to mention
that fa With .t view this •
to point, I diretcted
ever cos,i" • . •
y 1 0,,e Ir,quiry to be made into this faa, and
tha result is, that in every account that he has
given, one of them minute 'and ' '
partietar, stating
the • •
condition of the Garrison, naming those who
Were under arrest in it, and also the state and,cen:.
Lltion et the neitrlthottrina- Settlement of Serie'al
0 e, g. ,
4
atating haw they were affeded to the Englith, and
•eil < • •
t,,Ting into minute details, in none,of which is aLere
BYllithk of inetition made of the mutiny on which he
;low te7es his defence, although, if true, it was more
' ' 111On:crocus than any thing else that could haPpen in
the Island." j'Here the ATTO k N li 17-G E NE mAL read
t:te substance of the Letters-sent by the PriSoner to
tilt se„
vtary of State in August 1782, when he came
.1,1) England ; as alsO the substance of the Official
Aeturns lie made of the state of the Settlement, in
which not a word was said of the Mutiny, ftom
vihich he maintacned'it was fair to infer,' that it-
. .was 'Ol after-thought to .excuse his cruelty].e—He
then proceeded to say, " I hove stated, that this

, -
ptinishiiient was 'without file tot in of any :
understand there ate two species of FOrins of Trial
in Military Affairs ; the one is a denerat Court-ma r-
tial-=,the dther a 'Regimental Court.thartialThe
crime with which this man wait,. Charged, is One for
a General Court.lVlartial, as appears by the Mutiny
Att." [Here he recited that part of the Mutiny Bill,
which raates to this subjea, and also the offences
which can be taken cogbizance of regularly by Re.
gimental Courts Martial ; the one in the case of
Mutiny, being a capital offence, the other, such
offence as may call for corporal punishment, and
said, that this poor man had been tried byneither.].
Here the Most essential part of the administration.
of justice had been entirely overlooked For,"
said he, " we haVe been taught, and taught truly,
.that the party accused should have an. opportunity
of seeing his accuser, of hearing his accusation, and
of making his defence. Nothing of that kind took
place, no 'Witness was examined, nor was any
charge notified to Armstrong, nor was there a sha-
dow or a shade of trial, or form of trial." Here

again he desired not to be understood as say-
ing that there may not be circumstances of ne.•
cessity that would justify many very irregular
ads in Military Commanders in the hour of
danger; they were not to be judged of in the
common ordinary proceedings of Courts of Law.
What he maintained was, that in point of fad, there

was no such necessity existing in this case, and
therefore there was no excuse for any. deviation
from the ordinary rules of proceeding. Having
expatiated upon this topic for a considerable
time, he proceeded to say, " The questions for
your consideration will be these : First of all, was
the death of Armstrong, respecting whom you are
sworn to inquire, occasioned by the ad or order of
the Prisoner at the Bar ? For if it was, the Law

• •
implies in that at a certain degree of malice _suffi-
cient to account for the commission of such an aft,
and throws upon the Prisoner the burden of sheaving
that there was no such malice ; the ordinary way to do

which in.this case would be, by shewing the exist-
enee'of. the mutiny, which he alledges as the cause of
it. That I apprehend will .be incumbent on this Dc-
fendant to chew to you this day : it will be in-

cumbent on him, I apprehend also, to shew you
why he withdrew himself from the justice of his
Country in. the year 178+. If he be innocent, that
was of all times the most favourable for the 'mani.-
iestation of that innocence. The persons who
knew most, nay some also who knew the whole of
this business, if his account of it be. true, were then
living. • Mr. Lacey who succeeded him in the go-
vernment of the Garrison, Mr. Ford, Mr. Fall,
arid other Officers who knew the whole of it, were
then living, and within the reach of the proce,ts of
our Courts ; therefore of, all times that the
most convenient for the trial of this Prisoner,
if he was innocent. He would not draw the in-

ference that . might be supposed to . be the re-
suit, he said, of his having omitted. to take this
advantage. The ground on which the Prisoner-
withdrew himself-from justice•in 1784., in his coin-
muuication to my Lord Sydney, then Secretary of
State, was, that he was waiting for evidence who
were on the parade, and who saw the whole of the
proceeding."
Here the Attorney-General went over the cir-
cwimstancc of the Prisoner escaping from _the .1/4tinds. -
of the King's Messenger at an Inn at Reading, in
their way up from Bath,
where he was apprehended
by virtue of a warrant from the Secretary of State,
,
in the year r7S+, and of the proclamation which
was issued afterwards, describing his person, star-•
ing that he had fled from justice, and offering a
- reward of zool. for apprehending him; and also took
notice of the letters which he sent in Odober last to my
Lord Pelham, stating his readiness to take his trial.
The Learned Gentleman then proceeded thus
The questions here are these, fist as to the fad :
Whether the death of Armstrong was occasioned by
the punishment inflicted on him ? That it was in-
fliacd by the order of the Defendant there can be no
doubt ; nor will there be any, I believe, 'that the
punishment he received was the cause of his death.
The next question is, whether there existed a justi-
fiable reason for the infliaion of this punishment,
which produced death. To prove this, I submit, •
that the Prisoner must- prove the existence of 'a
mutiny, else there is no foundation for the infliaing
the punishirient. It will then, I apprehend, be
necessary for the Prisoner to establish 'to you, in
evidence, that there • was a trial, such as the law
- requires in any case, either by a General Court
Martial, or by a Regimental Court Martial ;
or if neither, then to establish . that the punish-
ment was what the immediate urgency of the
case required. If he makes out ebat defence—lf
he makes out substantially the existence of a mu-
- tiny, I should be sorry to press upon him any cap-
tious objeaions to the mumer in whichhe endea-
, ,voured to suppress it--Deviations from ordinary
rules in such cases are eXcusable. But in consider-
ing this I would remind you of the most extraordi-
nary omission on his part on this occasion to Go-
vernment, both in his letters to my Lord Sydney,
the Secretary of State in 178+, and in his own of-
. Acial return of the state of the Garrison at the time
he left it, which was the day after this punishthent
was inflicted, no mention is made of the mutink.—,-
Add to this, that
.all the Witnesses were alive in
1784, and could have established' his innocence, if
innocent he be. Now, in the -lapse of twenty
.years, most of them are dead, lie comes .forward to
' take his trial, alladging.his innocence. If you find,
on the evidence, taken altogether, that a conclusion
contrary to. that allegation of innocence is the just
and fair, conclusion, painful as it may be to you ante
to others who are concerned in the administration
of Justice, it is a duty which you owe to your
Country and to mankind, to pronounce him guilty.
It will give me great satisfaction, as I am per-
, suaded it will give to you, to find ;that the -PO_
soner , may be able to make .out befihe this Court
such "circumstances of justification of his condua in
this case,, as may place the hothieide of which-he has
been the cause, under a denomination different from
than of murder."
Edward Evans, examined by Mr. Sot, c ro'ft
GENERAL—" I was a Soldier in the Garrison at Go-
ree in the year 1782. I believe I was there from
May 17791,t0 Christmas-Eve 4783., I believe the
Commander of the Garrison.before I went-there was
Lieutenant-Colonel Rooke. - After him came Cap-

tain i 6oige. Adams, and CAtitilth Wall,
the Prisoner at the .13at- Ido not remember when

Captain Adams left, nor hoW long Captain Wall
had it. I believe about a year and an half. I was
Privates I was made. Corporal and- Mink Serjeant
since. I- was advanced byGoernor, Wail. In

. .
July t 78i I was a Corporal doing
.Serjeant's duty:
I was afterwards the "Orderlytleticant, whose duty
it is to wait on the Commander in Chief, .and to
be at his call. I was Orderly. Serjeant on the, loth

and the i ttli of July 1782. I attenexti on the
person of the Governor. lie left the Island-on the
i xth of. July r'7Bz•. His intended departure was
known in the Garrison• a-,dty.or two -befure. .0n

the loth of July 178 i,, in th,e morning, I observed
-a number of men, as I was 'standing by the gate
before the Governor's ltouse; Coming front-the bar-
rack way. There might be fifteen, twenty, or
more of them ; I cannut,say what the number was.
They Were coming towards the Commissary's
house. They passed the Governor's gate. The
Commissary Was Ensign Detting; I believe. Ido
not kiwi/ whether the GoVernor was then at the

door, or in the house at that time ; but afterwards
I desired him to go to them. He asked me what
the men wanted ? I told him, Your Excellency, I
do not know. Then he told me to go and ask them.
I went, .and, told them the Governor desired to
know what they wanted ; and one of them an..
swcred, to go to the Commissary before he goes for
England, to ask him to settle with them for their
short allowance of provisions. It was then known
that the Commissary was to depart with. the Go..
vernor. I carried back the message that I receiv-

ed, to the Governor. The Govern—or told me to go
to them, and tell them to go back to the barracks

direftly, or else he would flog one half of them.
I went and told them so, in consequence of-which
they went away. I saw no harm, nor heard any
harm from them, I saw nothing tumultucu►s or
disorderly in their manner, but when-I told them
what the Governor said, they went off quietly

diretly, and said nothing. The men came again
in a body, whether they were the same again I.do
not know, but they came afterwards in about an
hour, or an hour and an half. I cannot tell the
number of, them, they were as many or rather wore.
than before, I believe, Upon seeing these men re-
turning, I told the Governor again they were coming,
before they came to the house, on which the
Governor came to the outside of the gate to meet

them ; when they -came opposite to the gate, be
called out to Benjamin. Armstrong, 'who was
one of them, he was a Serjeant ; the Governor
asked him what he wanted, 'saying, 'what do
you vain ? Armstrong told him, your. Excel
lency, we were going to the Commissary„ to ask
him to settle with us before he goes to England.
Armstrong.came up with his hat_ in his hand, as
usual, with submission; and told him, your Excel-
lency, we are going to the Commissary—He was as
near to the Governor as I am to you [about four
yards], and I was in a situation near enough to hear
every thing that past; but I do not row rememberall
that past : I cannot say that I do, butas'far as I"d
recoiled; I have stated. The Governor told them
to go to the Barracks, and threatened them, and
they. went. The Governor Went to the men and
the men staid where they. were. Armstrong Came
to tln.c;-vernor after.lt'e, hien. I do:not know
what past between the Governor and the men, for
the men turned their backs and walked off, and ap-
peared to be frightened. I do not recoiled there
was any parley between them, but they appeared
immediately to go Off. I did not hear any noise or
disturbance among them ; they did no harni that I
could see.. They were not:in- their uniform, but
some of them in blue jackets, and others were not
at all ina military dress-. I did not hear any thing
pass, except between. Armstrong and the Governor.
I did not hear any disrespedftti language' used. I
should suppose that the. second appearance of the
men was between -1 t and rz, for it was before din-
ner, which with the Governor was, I believe, at
two. As to the men, they dined when they could. In
'the course of the 'afternoon, after the Governor's
dinner, the Officers went. away earlier than usual;
the Governor went out and I followed him. We con.
ceived there was something due for short allowance,
for we had been on shori allowance at' different times
for a bog while, but how much I do not knOw—
On that day, two or three of the Officers dined
with the Governor, and when he went out, I
followed him. The Governor walked down .toviardi
the Main Guard near the parade, he went from the
Main Gtiord to the parade. The Guard turned out
to salute the Governor as he past, which was usual,
The Governor went up upon the Ramparts, where
there were two field pieces, six-pounders, and I
stood at the 'end of the 'lmparts ; the Governor
ran by me towards the Main Guard, 'and began to
beat one '-of the guard who was then under arms ;
believe the man was in liquor ; he beat him a good
while—he drew his sword, and took a bayonet
from - the sentry, amid beat him with, that,. and
then 'confined both the sentry and *him. He then
ordered the drums to heat the Long..Rolli which is
to call the men on the .parade. I was lieht, if I
recoiled rightly, by the Governor to call the men
together as they were, that is without arms ; they
obeyed directly, they came without arms,. as they
were; for this was sooner than parade time. Cap
tain Lacey, I believe, was there, but what Non-
commissioned Officers, I do not remember. The
usual time of Roll Call was, I believe, a little be-
fore sun-set, hot I do not recoiled exadly. This was
before that time, half an hour or thereabouts. When
they came on the parade they were mdered to-form
a circle : I do not know whether by the Governor's
ordas, or by one of the Officers, hut Governor, Wail
was there. Capt. Lacey was there ; four Officers.
were there ; I believe Mr. Ford, Lieut. Fall, and
Mr..o"Shardey, were torte. at the end, but I do not
knoW- whether they weti.,there at the beginning.
They were all inside the ring ; the circle was small,
for there was not above three hundred men, and
they were funned two deep: I. was close to the
circle on the outside. The Governor was the in-
side of the circle. I heard some words pass; but
cannot say what they were : I could see every thing
very well, as I leaned my head between the men.
There was 'within the circle a- carriage - of a six.
pounder : it was brought in just as the circle was
forrned. I earolcit recoiled who brought it. I
heard the Governor speak' to the -Officers, but

do not re olteft, t tit I heard.
die Guserndi Benjaiiiin Armstrong inji iii
the ranks. Armstrong 'was at that time du h.s
projser phlee, among the rest of Ole men: --elle:
came otirf.; he was tied to the carriage" of the cannon.
Governor Wallordered him to strip. He Was tied
up to the .gun carriage. He was then flogged by a
Man, by order of Governor Wail. There
were five .or six persons employed in flogging him:
They changed hands' the same as the drummers do
I cannot tell how often, but as well as I can recol.: •
.let, they gave each -is lashes. I do not recollea
hew many lashes -he received, but a great many. • It
iriflided with a rope ; I cannot tell the size of
it. These Blacks were no
-part of the Regiment : I ne..;
e'er liaw anybody before nor since flogged in that way.
Governor Wall was in the circle, urging these Black
'men to-do their duty, and threatened them if they
did not. Ileard him call to the .BlaCks, " lay on
him you or "else I- will lay on you." • I
heard him say several times, " cut him to the heart,
cut him to the liver." I believe Armstrong begged
for mercy, but I do not exactly remember the
words. What I have said, was during the punish.:
ment of Armstrong ; he was: afterwards token to
the' Hospital, I believe. At this tii\le, I did eot
see the least appearance-of Mutiny among the Sol-
diers; nor any mutiny or disturbance between the
time of the Men coming by the Governor's House
and the Commissary's, and the punishment of
Armstrong. I was at the Barracks in the course
of the day ;, I hard them saying that they were to
go. up to the house of 'the Commissary:. They
said they were advised by Lieut. Fall to go to the
Commissary and to ask for their allowance before
he went away.,. I cannot say that I ever saw Arm.
strong afterwardS,:either dead or alive. I heard that
two or three days afterwards he was dead. There
was no Court-martial held on Armstrong-, that I
know Of, for I did not see any.. I was near enough
to see and hear and observe•it, if it had been held:
- I have-seen 'a druth.head Court-nrartial at Chatham,
bur I do nbt-recoilea'how that it is usual
to call on a man to answer a charge before he is
punished. -I- saw the Governor speak to the Of.
filers and they to him for a moment- : Armstrong
was at this time in the ranks among the rest of the
Merl ;- and the while of this conversation p:ltst before
he was called out of the ranks.•- ' I did no hear any
sentence past on hito, nOr do I believe. there. was
any. rheard Some words—:•l heard him called ont,
and heard_ him" ordered to strip. I did nOt hear
what it wassfor. The first W'ords addressed to him
were. to callliirn out Of the ranks., and then he was
ordered to strip. Governor Wall went a .vay the
'text day, • hot I do not know how many Officers
went with him.

On his cross-examination several questions were
put to him;, whether certain mutinous expressions
were not used by Armstrong, as, that they would:
be damned if they would not'be satisfied, 'and break
open the Stores ; that the-Governor should not go '
until they Were satisfied ; that the men shouted and
thew up their hats ;= that a centry presented a
bayonet to- the, GoVernor ; that a Court Martial
was held at
.the dram head, fee. &c. but every one
of which points, he negatived, by saying he neither
heard.. or saw,4ny thing of this kind ; that he was
near enough to see and hear it all. e would not
swear pebsitively. they did. not happen.; but he did-
not see or hear any 'thing like any of these things,
nor did he in the least degree believe that they or
any one of 'Them happened.
This Evidence was corr borated in every material
part, and many. particulars, wet.: added in support
.of this charge, against the Prisoner, and all Mutiny
or appearance
,of Mutiny or: disturbance; or even
disresped towards the Governor, either by Arm.
'strong or any one of the men, were expressly and po.
sitively detiied by Roger More, who served at this
place as a.prirate soldier ;- by Mr. T. Pop let, who
saw -the whole -of it from his own quarters, while
he was a priiOner at large, -as the terra is, under
sentence of- a Court Martial); by William Rosser,
who kept the hospital,- who said, that Armstrong's
bank when he came there was as black as' a
new'. hat; and that no hopes were ever enter.
mined of his recovery, and -who proved • his
death on the zsth of July—lobs Buller, a Ser.
jeant.Majot ; Richard Bessen, Serjeant of Arta-
- lerya under the Governor ; john C/a-k, a Private,
and David- Porwill, a Private, by all of whose
testimony, alt idea of Mutiny was expressly denied.
It then.appeared, that most of the Officers wile,-
were- preAcht when this-punishment was inflided
Were dead One.eould not be found.
The Letters to my Lord Sydney in August 1784,
assign reaaiins why
,the Prisoner did not like. to
take his trial then. The Proclamation for appre-
hending him,. containing a description of his per-
son, and offering a reward of *;,Ol. &c. His Let.
ters to my L'ord Pelha'rit in October last, stating his
readiness to take his trial,
,&e. &e. as opened by _
_ the Attorney:General, tire substance of which we
have stated in our account of his Speech, were then
pit in ankread.•
Mr. Peter Terrill,. the Surgeon, Swore, that he
was, sent for, by Governor Wall,':to:witness- the
puni. merit of Armstrong, but he• did not arrive
'until the flotroing had commenced ; he, believed
there might; hate been given a. dozen or two of
lashes when • beicame,, from the appearance of the
man. He agreed with others, that- the. flogging
was. very se ere—it was with a rope, the like of
Which he had not seen before for the purpose. of
flogging ; but he had not much experience then,
he being only ,23i. and had only been three years
Surgeon. He
,thought it, however much more se.
vete than it eat. of-nine-tails, because' it did. .not
cut, and each., blow leaving a mark without blood,
tendered a "i-inortification much more probable
than if the Skin had been cut. He saw the patient
daily till the honr of his death. He had no doubt
now', upon refiedion, , that the 'flogging was the
cause of his death.
The evilence was here elbsed on the pact of the
Prosecution,
2'he l'sisv:er having been called upod for his de.
fence, after haVing apologiied for his inAbility to
speak in public, 'sated, that on -the roth of July,
178.2, having cleared all the elaims of the Garrison,
he had prepared to embark for Eufope, having a
certificate from the Surgeon that it was absolutely
, necessary for his health so to do. At that time he
I understood the men were Ferfeetly satisfied; but

i~

about eleven o'clock en that morning all the Men
who were on duty came up to the Goacenment.
Hduse and begln •making demands. He -went
out to them 'AO knew what" their claims were,
when they stated that theit claims were in
consequence of. a 'short allowance to them from
Captain Adams : he explained. the ..businesa to •
them, and in a short time they returned back
again. .About two o'clock they again came to the
Government House, very 'much intoxicated, and.
insisted upon having their demands-comPed with :
he expostulated with them for some time to no of--•
feet, and ordered Serjeant Armstrong to march them
back again to the barracks ; he (Serjeant Armstrong)
'was then standing with his hat on, and was extremely
furious, saying he would be damned if he would
go back the demand was complied with. He
(the Prisoner) then ordered the men to face about
and return to their— barracks *;• they replied, that
they would immediately break - open the Stores,
and satisfy themselVer. Finding them furious,
and likely to proceed to extremities, and hav_
ing no resources nearer than England, he _begged
an hour or two to consider of it : they hesitated for
some .time, but said, they would acquiesce only on
condition, that he (the Prisoner) would not leave the
Island' till the business was settled: The men then
went away making a great noise. He immediately
went to the Government House, and sent for the
Officers of the -Corps ; but in the interim, before
their arrival, he went out to learn th• state of the
Garrison, when he met Armstrong, Upton, and
Paterson, and several others, who said that he had
promised not to depart till the claims of the men
were satisfied, and that he should not go to the water-
side 'till then.• He then teturned, and met the Of-
ficers, -who all agreed that immediate oUnisiunent
was necessary to stop the mutiny. He immekliate-
ly desired Liedt. O'Shanley to go to the Dram-ma-
jor, and order the cat-of-nine-tails tube got ready •;
who returned,' and ieported that the. Drum-major
said, that the cat'was destroyed, and that he (the
Prisoner) had best quit the Island as soon as he
could, as themen.would not suffer any punishment.
to be infii4ed. Captain Lacey proposed' that they
should be punished by the Linguist and his Assis_
tant, which was agreed to. When the parade was
formed, and the officers had arrived, he asked the
men if they had any claim to make upon him A
man, whose name he did not know, said, he bad a
claiM for shorr allowaree upon Captain Adams.
Be (the Prisoner) then called upon Armstrong (he
having no claim), -to account for his mutiny ; at
that moment Ensign Ford came from . the main.
guard, -and said, that a man Who was in custody,
• had broken out of confinement. Thinking no time
was to be lost;-he immediately went there, and or-
deted the _man again into custody, and was following
him, in order to see him Well-sectired, when the
centinel at the door.clapped his bayonet to his (Mr.
lireast, ,and desired him to keep off, saying,
he should hot' enter, Hee(Mr.-Wall) struck the
bayonet bUt of his hand, and made the centinel pri-
soner, with The lathers,. and afterwards returned to
the parade. Upon his - arrival there, he ordered
Captain Lacey.; Lieutenants Fall, Ford, _arkt O'Shan-
lei to forth. a Coart-Martial. Terrick, the Surgeon,
ae that "time was on the parade. Armstrong was
tn'ought foeSeard and charged with Mutiny, as were
also several orhers: he .ordered them to be triedby.
a -_Regis ental Court-martial, not having it in his
po%Ver to institute an other. After allttle
Capt. Lacey came and reported, that Annst tong .was
sentenced to .receivs geo.alasheSaaahe (Mr. •Wall).,
communicated the sentence to Arinsteong ; and a
small rope's end was- produced as the: instrument of
punishment, and shewn• to -the Surgeon, who-ap-
proved of it, by saying it was nor so had is-a cat-
of2mine,tails. The punishment was intlieted upon
Armstrong, who.receivedit with apparent indiffe.
ence. Armstrong afterwards went to the Hospital,
- where he became intoxicated with spirituous liquors.
The Prisoner then proceeded to detail the whole. of
his conduct after his arrival in England. He said,
that upon his arrival he understood that. a number ol
charges had been preferred against him, many ol
which were found groundless, or at least =al ex-
aggerated that after these charges_ were got rh
bt, he went to Bath, where he was taken into cus.
lody ley two Messengers; and that in the course of
'the journey he left the Messengers.
,At that. tune
he did not know the charges that were preferred
aeainst,him ; but he tlaought it dangerous to ap-
-1)-2ar, as. the Papers were toll of paragraphs against
him, some of which stated that he had blown a man
from the mouth of a cannon : he, therefore, deter-
anined to wait till the t'ane should arrive, when all
wha heard him might calmly .listen to. the truth
without prejudice, in consequence of,, which he now
appeared before his Lordship and the Jury to
answer this Charge.
• The first Witness examined on behalf of the De-
fendant was

--------
Mrs. Harriet Lacey, widow of Captain Lacey,
who succeeded the prisoner. si Governor of Goree.
El= 1-.tatcd,..that.she s . these men, he:ided by Arm-
strong, Upton; and Paterson, .come •twice by the
Governor's house, in the course of which they be-
haved most mutinously and tumultuously; that
they threatened the Governor ; that, they swore if
the Governor would not satisfy their demands they
-i•oulki.break,open the Stores and satisfy themselves.
This demand they stated to arise from short allow.:
mice during the time Captain Adams was Gover-
- hor: That Governor Wall asked them to go back
•to their Barracks, and give him time to con-
. rider.of it. That whin ..,they can they were
6' or So in number, .and behaved most riotously,
• anal mutinously, andffrom their manner;:, she. could
- • not- think .they iverersober. -That the ringleaders,
Armstrong, Upton, and Paterson,' sworc, several
rimes,- they would be .clamned.'-if‘-the GoVernor did
not satisty.them; they would'break open the,Stores .
and satisfy' themtelves7....-Jhat they woUid,not
let
• the Gdvernar•leave x 1 .t until they were sa-
T hat went avia)y declaring, they
would damned' if,:ihey 1,y0u14. not break, open the
Stdres .they w.emnorisatis,fied, shouting, &c. and
I)eha?ing-most riot-ousk.,• • -
ot4e (led to detail sevel3l further cir_
dUiristanceS 'tending- to 'the-, justi licat ion- of the "Fri.
• saner. The principal fans were, that Governor
. Wall had ordered every thing to be in readiness
for the Court Martial on the parade, in the usual
manner in which these ptoceedings are oondtkled

•
on such alledged emergencies,:, and attended himself
to see that all was.properlyAransaaed. - . •
This Witness underwent a long_ and close cross-
examination by Mr: AtyoßNEy.GEk;:EkilL, in the
course of which it was
.explainer, that the cause of
her being,so constantly at,,the Governtne
.t House,
the day
_in 'question, was the tilt:urns to nee 0f..G0-vernal
-vernal- Wall being to. go aWay the next day,_ and
her husband, Capt. Lacey, to take possession of it
as succeeding Governor,. shegonsidered it, in some
degree, as her own. . She said, she was many years
in habits of intimacy with Mr. Wall's family, that
she had frequently come ,to see him in confinement,
but never but, once or twice in the akence of Mrs.
Wall, and never withoutber knowledge ; that, to
her knowledge,.• there were never short allowances
made duriog the Government-of Mr. Wall ; but she
knew they were made in the time of his predecessor,
Goiernor Adams ; that she understood•the clamours
of the people in Garrison for arrears, were those
due in Attains'. time.; thm she had never heard: of
any thing being. detained by Commissary .near-
ing; that she had•no knowledge whatever of Evan
Lewis being an 'Orderly. Serkant the day 'Of the
disturbance, but was positive it was Serjeant Kcar-
ney officiated in that.capacity ; that in consequence
of the windows being generally, open in that burn-
ing climate, she had an oppOrtunity of hearing
those conversations, the substance of which she: had
stated ; and repeated,
.that she had heard A rmstrOng,
Paterson, Upton, and the otbeis, say, that if the G-
overnor did not satisfy their demands, they would
break open the stores, and satisfy themselves; that she
did not recolldt having ever joined her husband in
any Affidavit on the sub jest, and that if he had made -
any,• it must have been. while he was afFe&ed with
a Coup de Soled, a disorder cOntraaed , from the
burning rays of a vertical Sun, which tempowily
impairs the understanding—that be was, however,
competent to be examined at a Criminal Bar in the
course of the year 174; that her husband Captain
Lacey, died in the year 2787, and she also stated some
other circumstances not very important to the case,
respdling her husband's situation and circumstances.
Evan Lewis was then called up in order -to con-
front the last. Witness. e said ,he remembered
her. at Goree ; persisted that he had been Orderly
Setjeant both on the days of the loth and t ith, and
that Kearney had not been ah Orderly Serjcant at

that tune.
Mrs. Lccey's cross-examination continued some
time after, and, in the course of it nothing trans-
pired from her which went to controvert 'what she
had before asserted,
Mqry Falkener stated, that she was. the wife of
John Falkener, now a Pensioner of the Royal te.
githent of Artillery ; that she was• with her hus-
band, who was then in the Train at Goree, in July
1782. , She remembered. Governor Wall's leaving
the Island, and some of the remarkable-circum-
stances which took place the day befaie depar,
cure ; she was at the Government House op-the fore-
noon of that day, and remembered about So or
6o of the African Corps coining thither about one
o'clock : she was in such a situation,. that she could
overhear and observe a great deal of what passed.
She heard Armstrong, particularly, make the de-
mand about Elio: tLallowance-money. '1!)e C 0-zernoe
told them, he had nothing to do With was
before his time, and ordered them to march back to
the Barracks : that at the time of the other appli.
cation, . the Governor said, lie would take, two or
three hours to considor of it : that Serjeant Arm-
strong swore, he would be damned' if the Governor
should quit the Island that. way, that they would
break open the stores , and ,satisfy themselves ;
that when they marched away, they were shout-
ing, hallowing; , and behaving in a disorderly
manner that wine of the party afterwards went
to Serje;int Besz;_en's, where. they spike about their:
demands, settling their accounts, Sex. :. that the Ser_
jeant told them to condna theinselves, quietly, and
that it was improper to behave soto the Go'veroor ;
they swore they would not be quiet unless Governor
Wall had settled with theM, and Some mote lan..
page to that effet'f.
On .her cross examination by the Sor.infoß.
GENERAL, she acnowledged that it was found ne-
cessary, sometimes, on ,account of the scarcity of
,provisions, on the Island, froth the capture of Pro-
vision Vessels, &c. to. put the garrison on a short
allowance, and that her husband, was Gunner at the
main guard on the day of the disturbance.
John Falkener, the hushandOf the foregoing wit-
ness, was next brought forward. In the. outset of
his evidence, he stated, that he had heard a few
weeks since, that Serjeant Evans thought to bring
himself in to-day as Orderly Serjeant ; but, in faa,
he was not so. It was Serjeant Kearney was in
that .capacity.
Er:4m Lewis was here called up again. He re-
peated his former assertions ; but it appeared that
he had then only done scrjeant's duty, and that he
was not made a full Serjeant till some time after-
wards, and of which post he was depri'.'eti.
John Falkener proceded with his testimony.,
stated that he was on the.pataAic on the
tion, and afterwards in the guard-house, where:Pater-
son was in custody, under the care of a sentinel of
the name of Fawcett. Paterson was very unruly, and
endeavoured to break his. arrest. The Governor
was informed of this, on which he repaired to the
guard-house. He chid the sentinel for not being
more alert, and was going to push Paterson back,
when Fawcett stopped him, the Governor, with his
bayonet, which weapon, it appeiffed, was the
only one he was armed with.. The Governor
disarmed Fawcett, by striking the bayonet out
of. his hand. That. he, 'the witness, saw the
punishment irifliaed oo the
,parade. He formed
part of the ring—tthat Captain Lacey. and Lieu-
tenants Fall and o:Shanley were present—that
the Governor was ,not in ;the ring. He heard Cap-
tain Lacey charge Armitrong with the offence,
being a ring-leader in the mutinous affair, and state
some, of. the particulars. of his condud to hit'n ; that
Arins-trong said nothing in his defence; that the Sur.
geon and. the I,inguist (the Interpretek) were both
• present. He heard Captain, Lacey tell Armstrong he
was sentenced to receive 800 lashes—that he was
then tied up---,the Surgeon was .present the whole
time_; he saw Armstrong walk towards the Hospital.
Teh;r Williams was the next 'Witness. He stated
himself to be a Non-commissioned Officer in the
Artillery, and to have been present at the affair
whicli occurred the day in qrstioa at Goree. He

stated some particulars of the affair in a wayfittle
differing frOm the preceding 'Witnesses. He stated,
that the party came three different times to the
GoVernment House ; that they behaved at last in a
riotous manner ; and he-repeated the language made
use of by the ringleaders, similar to what. we have
above stated. He described the affair of the punish-
ment of Armstrong in a way little differing from
the abov'e accounts, save that he said there were,
thine Assistants of the Linguist's present, and that.
he also -heard- Governor Wall charge Armstrong
with being :a Ringleader in the -Mutiny ; that the
Court Martial was formed by his orders, &c. ; that
the Report of the Court Martial was made to the,
Governor in the usual maunner ; that the sentence
was executed in the presence of the Officers, the
Surgeon, &c..—ln the course of his cross-examina-
tiion by Mr..WOOO, he 'Said, that the -men had no
arms when they came -to the GovernMent House ;
that he had quitted Goree at the time the Governor
did; and that he had since served- in Gibraltar,
America, Flanders, and Holland ; and that the
greatest number of lashes he. had known to be in-
fliaed, before 'the instance in. question, was lot),
which was in Governor Adams's time.
Charles Timms was aprivate in the African Corps
at Goree; at the period in question ; in the early
part of that day, he stated he was -employed in
killing a bullock- for the use of the garrison, but
about two o'clock, he saw Armstrong, and a drum-
mer, of the-name of Simmonds, cutting the cats in
pieces (the instrument with which the soldiers .were
usually flogged); He saw Armstrong in the hospital
at about eight o'clock that evening ; and that he,
With two or three others, was, drinking spirits—
he believed it was brandy.—ln his cross-examina-
tion, lie acknowledged- that the garrison had been
on, short allOwance about three or four weeks before
the affair happened, and. that Capt. Lacey was in
good health and understandir-seme time after Wards,
while the Witness ,was under. his command at Chi-
chester. d,
\Vhen this -Witness had finished his . testimony,
the following very respectable persons appeared to
:the character of Mr. Wall : .
General Forbes was first examined., He :had
known Mr. Wall between thirty end forty. years :
they had served together at Havannah. After, that
he had not anopperrtunity.of seeing him till the.year
1786, 'when he-met him in-Paris.-- Wiih resped to.
his;charaaer, he always knew • to behave as
became an Officer and a Gentleman, in every respea,
and with the indst -pedal correctness. .
'General Mackenzkstated, ;that had known
Governor Wall from: the year te763• to mo.;:iliat
he had served. wifh him, and always. reg-a: Jed hirn
as a man-iif great-humanity and good temper.
Major Torriano was.c3llcd, . but girl not appear.
• The Rev. Mr. Clarke stated, that he knew Mr.
Wall at Pisa and at Florence,
.in the years 179 A.
and 1.795 ; that be seemed to bitn to-be both a most
tender and affeaionate 'husband -and father; and,
from every:part of his condua that came. under
(Mr. Clarke's) observation, he considered,him as a
man of distinguished humanity. •
Mr. Krtown-vs, the principal Counsel for the de-
fence, inforined the Court in effea, that he had a
letter from Lord Galloway, setting forth, that were
he not- prevented by indisposition, he would have
appeared to the charaacr of Governor Wall.
Mr. Langley, an Officer on half pay, knew
Mr. Wall perfealy well ; he was intimately ac-
quainted with him in Paris in the year 1.88, and
emphatically declared, that he never knew a person
Of a mare benign disposition, or one more brimfull
of" philanthropy and benevolence to.all around him.
Some farther evidence was then examined on the
part of the Prosecution, oti the suggestion of,
Attorney General, and principally with. a view of
contradiUing some points in :he evidence-on behalf
of the PriSoner. the
Two Gentlemen of the names of Pop/et and
Berry were questioned respeaiog _the situation of
Captain Lacey,. by the ATTORNEY GENERAL,
with a view to establish die point, that he was pre-
vented by no defect of understanding or health, from
coming forwarkk as a Witness, with respect to the
transaainns in question. One of these Gentlemen
underwent a long cross:-examination by the Prison Er's
Counsel, in which some . matter transpired irrele-
vant to the.case : We, therefore, forbear to recite it.
Serjeants Butler and Lessen were also examined,
the. former With respect to the point of who was
Orderly Serjeant to Grivernor Wall on the loth of
July 1782, which he flatly. asserted to have been
Serjeant Lewis ; aid- the latter with. respea to the
conversation which someof the. Prisoner's Witnesses
alledged to have taken place between him and some
of the supposedMutinecrs,_ which in a great degree
he denied, but admitted, that he might have told
them, it may be worse for them, if they
.behaved so
to'the Governor.
Capt. Wright was called.up, as to the credibility
of the Prisoner's Witness, Peter•Williatns, whom
he described to have been reckoned in the Settle-
ment, a lying fellow, and seemed,tnsaye he should
rather be inclined td doubt his testimony.
- The Evidence or both _sides being finishe4, the
Lord CHIEF BARON; as first in the Special Com-
mission,entered upon his Charge to the Jury, which,
in the delivery, including his Lordship's recapitu-
lation of the Evidence, took up two hours and an
half. Our limits restrict us to a recital of-the sub-
stance of his preliminary observations on the nature-
of the Prisoner's case, and which was intended should
-guide- the Jury in their consideration of the Evidence..
His- Lordship observed, that f.)r many reasons,
the present was one of the most important cases that
could come before a Jury ; and in the first place,
it respefted the highest possible offence in the con-
telmplation of the law, and directly affected the lift
of the Prisoner, which he knew, was alone suffi-
•cient to-eusure a close and patient attention to its
merits on the 'part.of the jury. In other respeds
too, the case was of peculiar importance—it re-
spected, as Mr. Attorney - General had rightly
stated, on the one hand, a very zealous and
well-intentioned Offizer,-femoved at a considera-
ble distance from his native Country, and from
the seat of Government, holding a charge of great
trast and importance; in respea of which, circum-
stances might undoubtedly arise which May disturb
a mind of considerable strength, and render it not
unjustifiable in a person ,so circumstanced to depart
from the stria form and mode of practice, laid down
by the Law or sanctioned by precedent : such a per-

rern6ved at ft distance from atlvic'e and powerful
assistance, and having but. few Officers to consult
will, may be placed ih such a situation as that.
the ballance of his understanding may be overturned,
and for whom every reasonable allowance should be
made.—How far these general observations, would
apply to the case before them, the Jury would best
decide, froM a Stria attention to the evidence. The
case of such-a •person, however, was within the con-
trol of thelacv, and, in the present case, they
would have to Consider, from the evidence; how far
a .well-intentioned mind was apparent on the side of
the Prisoner, whOof course was equally under the pro.: ."
teaion of the la‘Y with those Who might have suffered.
under his authority, or how Etta malevolence of
position might haVe •iufluericed his conduct. - The
Prisoner stobd Charged in•the present Indithnent
.the wilful murder of :Benjamin' AThistrong,' a per..
son serving in a COrps-Whin- was placed udder the
authority and command of the Prisoner. • With •
respect to such an •Indiainent, its very marrow and
stibitance, consisted hi the malice discoverable in
the cOndua of those who were the objects it.; and
in adverting- to this idea;' he would state, in a
few words; what one of die most intelligent of
otir,Law. Writers upon the subjeCti. considered to
constitute the crime ,of Murder. It was held by
him, that there must be' a- clear demonstration, ,
of malice in the breast of the perpetrator, not merely
of what may lie considered as personal malice or
.spleen, or, what Twas commonly considered by the-
word Spite, against an individual, but of the
aaing in that sort of way, as from the ordinary ex-
perience of mankind, and of which experience the
Jury were to deCide, a malignant spirit or iotention.
was manifest, •and fads committed, attended with.
sucrtircurnstanees, as were a plain indication of a
malicious mind. Applying these considerations
to _the case before them, regard was- to be had
to the means of inflicting the ,punrshment---such,
as in the instance in question, carrying the
Sentence' of a Court Martial into execution.--
Trihunals, as we understood his Lor&hip to say:
though - not strictlyfounded by AEI of Parliament,-
yet were obviously to .be regulated by such-rules of
gdocl sense and humanity; as that their punishments,
short of deprivation of life, should not be so exces-
sive, as in effea -to execute a sentence of death. Va-
rious descriptions of authorities, under the Laws of
this realm','Were occasionally vested with discretion..
ary powers of correaion ; such, -for instance, were
the authority of 'Masters over servants, and that of
parents over their children.- • A moderate and well
proportioned degree of correEiion in such cases
was not only proper and justifiable, .:but legal
but 'then, the degree and nature of. such cor-
reaionS was still to be kept in view.- For- in'
stance, if, instead " Of a -few Strokes, 56/era'
htindred were to be applied, the' ase would be ra-
dically
altered, and the mischievous intent Of the
inflicter would become apparent. He put this only'
as hypothetically, as a case of illustration,' to slit'',
the shildes, or the great degrees of difference, itt-P
not diie&
ly comparing it to that before the Jul.,
In thelatter, however, they would -have 'to take
into their consideration the instrument with which
suchpunishments were inflifted; as, with some,
might
was evident,. that MOre personal- injury
Oorn9ight strokes, that, i hcgr
eith a t"/
satl~ri-ti, or even a much-treater unertlicr,
-There Was• also another circumstance, which, is
regard to the present case, it was incumbent on hiir,
to advert to, namely, that it w.as no apology for !:
man who, by his conduct, puts the life of anorhe .
into imminent danger, that it might be some mis-
taken or injurious treatment on the part of the
dividual himself,• that may accelerate, or be the
immediate cause of his death, as in the present in-.'
Stance: it was too generally the custom of the 10%02'
orders of people, to support, themselves in such. e%- •
tremities with strong liquors—when others, better
infOrmed, would abstain from them. They wonlct
also take into their consideration, the necessary 6e-
Teas of the very long lapse of time since the traoi
saaions' took place, upwards of twenty years,
which was wholly imputable to the conduct °
the Prisoner himself.
His Lordshipp then proceeded to a minute recar
tulation of the evidence, dOcumentary as well ag
parole, of which we haVe given the material partYl
on which, as he delivered it, he commented in su'.
a way as to point out-to the Jury such circumstance:
as,.strack him as establishinz the
guilt
a of the Pr's"
sorter ; or, on the other hand, those which ;,eenic
'to operate in his favour. e particularly dwelt °I
Hf
..
the many flat contrAdiaions in the testim9ny,
the Witnesses. on both sides, which so far, in b'
opinion, rendered it an affair of credit; and iii fin to
he seemed to say, the main question rested on tt.
fact of the Mutiny---Aye, or No. In determill
this, as well as the Collateral points of the c:;se:
Observed, the Jury would decide from a strict an
it examination'of, the evidence.
The jury' retired for about three quarters
thur, and; at their return into Court, the Fore
a rho was evidently affeaed, .pronounced, in a 1°
and fra:tetlng.Voice their verdict' OF
After a Short pause, the Clerk; by direction of
CoUrt, put the formal question to the unfortunate pitta,`'
.soner—what he had to say why Sentence of P
should not be passed upon him according to l.. 0".
Mr. Wall answered to this eff:a-L.,, ; praY,
little time.;before the execution of the Sentence. e;-:
The RECORDER then, after an appropriate 9'd'
pathetic Address. to the Prisoner,• delivered
much soleMnity and effeet, proceeded to pass the t``taX
Sentence ofs the Law, which was, in substar eeo.
" That The, josEi;H WALL, be taken to the Plat
" frotn whence he came, and from thence, on Fr
" next, to a place of execution, there to be 1111 i
" ed-by the neck he be dead, and 143-,•
" afterwards given to be anatomized and dissePno,l
" Recording to the Statute in, that case made
" provided."
`c..
Mr. Wall heard the Verdia and the awful Sextterl to it
of the Law pronounced, with a calM re;ignau
betraying no emotion of either agitation or fear' 3;
The. Jury were thanked by the Court for the Pots'
tient, and' earnest 'attention which they paid t° in
case before them, during an uncommonly 100gio‘1,:
terval, andnivere discharged; and at eleven oc
at night the Court adjourned. • •

London: Printed by .11, WMILL AN (of 110‘1-50f*
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