The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-29 00:00:00

SIR JOHN YOUNG'S lONIAN DES-
PATCHES.

A respectably-dressed, middle-aged man, of mili-
tary appearance, who gave the name of William
Hudson Ouertlsty, but who is also known by the
Christian names of " Wellington Greville," was
brought up -at Bow-street on Saturday, in custody
of Inspector Thornton, of the detective force, upon
a warrant charging hini with having stolen a
printed copy of certain private despatches from the
office of the Colonial Secretary.
Mr. Jardine, by whom the warrant had been
granted on the previous day, sat specially to hear
the case ; Lord Carnarvon, the under-secretary of
the department, also occupied a seat upon the
bench._ The prisoner was undefended.

Mr. Bodkin said,—l attend here to-day, sir, by
the direction of Sir • E. B. Lytton, her Majesty's
principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, to
prefer a very grave charge against the gentleman
at the bar. It would be affectation in me to pre-
tend that you are not aware of the fact that a despatch
of an exceedingly important character has been
recently obtained in some way or another from the
Colonial-office, and published in the Daily News.
You are also, nts doubt, aware that from the state
of the lonian Islands her Majesty's Government
have considered it advisable to send out that emi-
nent statesman Mr. Gladstone on a special mission
to:those islands: It was not long:after his departure
for England that the despatches in question ap-
peared in 'the columns of the morning newspaper
just mentioned, to the surprise of the Government,
by whom it was supposed that they were securely
lodged in the custody of the officials of the depart-
ment. Upon this publication the greatest anxiety
was manifested by Sir E. Bulwer Lytton and
.his
colleagues, who were naturally fearful that some
person in the public service had betrayed his trust
by disclosing a , communication which had been
printed only for private and confidential use
among official personages ; . and consequently the
right hon. baronet at once instituted a most search-
ing inquiry, sparing. no exertion by day or night;
until he succeeded. in obtaining evidence which
justified him in authorisinglthe present prosecution
against the prisoner. The fact thus ascertained I
will briefly describe. It appears that two despatches
with enclosures had been received from Sir John
Young, and a limited number of copies were printed
for the purposes I have named. They were deposited
in an office or room called the library, and would,
under ordinary circumstances, be in the care of the
principal librarian, Mr. Mayer ; but that gentle-
man being at the time absent, on his vacation, his
place was filled by Mr. Miller, the sub-librarian.
Now, it seems that Mr. Miller became acquainted
with the prisoner some years ago, since which period
Mr. Guernsey had: been employed in the Crimea,
and had also been to Buenos Ayres, continuing,
however, to communicate with his friends at home
by means of occasional gossiping letters. On his
• last return to England he renewed his visits to Mr.
Miller, who received him several times in the
library. On one occasion Mr. Miller, having
full confidence in the prisoner as a gentleman
and a man of honour, left him alone in the apart-
ment while he stepped out for a few minutes to
attend to a person in the Waiting-room. The printed
despatches in question were lying on the table,
covered by other-papers. and a heavy book had been
placed upon them to keep them secure. Although
nothing occurred at the time to excite his suspicion,
Mr. Miller now yemembers that when he returned
to the library he found the prisoner coming away
from the table ;. and the prisoner, in reference to
this circumstance, said, lam not prying into your
secrets." Mr. Miller replied, "No, I don't suppose
you are." It will be thus apparent that the pri-
soner, if evilly disposed, had abundant opportunity
of possessing himself of one of the printed copies
then lying upon the table ; and it is, moreover,
certain that one -of them was purloined by some,
person or other from its. place in the library. In
the course of the investigation some communication
was had with Mr. 'Walker, the editor of the Daily
NeWs, who has been subpoenaed as a witness here
to-day; and who, although not yet arrived, will
doubtless attend in due - course, and tell you in
detail what steps were taken to . ascertain, before
giving publicity to such a document, by what means
the prisoner had become possessed of it. I may ob-
serve that the papers were marked " confidential,"
besides being obviously private from the very nature
of their contents. You will find that Mr. 'Walker
received them by post, enclosed in an envelope of a
peculiar kind, to which I must direct your particu-
lar attention, for it is identical in character with
others found at the lodgings of the prisoner in
Regent-square. It is an official envelope not now
in use, except abroad, having no departmental seal,
but only the Royal arms and the inscription " On
her Majesty's Service," in a peculiar type. 'But that
is not all. It further appears that on a former
occasion, when the prisoner was seeking some
appointment at the War-office, he sought the good
offices of Mr. Miller, who noticed that a letter
to Lord Carnarven which he undertook to for-
ward to his Lordship, was enclosed in an en-
velope of the same description. The prisoner had
filled the office of provost marshal in the Crimea in
the Turkish Contingent, and there had opportuni-
ties of becoming possessed of envelopes of this de-
scription. It will be for you, sir, to take these cir-
cumstances into eonsideration, and, without pro-
nouncing any opinion as to the guilt of the prisoner,
I believe the evidence will fully justify you in com-
mitting him to take his trial on the present charge.
The following Witnesses were examined :
Mr. Thomas Frederick Elliott, Assistant Under-
Secretary of the Colonial-office, said,—My attention
has been called to the publiCation of two 'despatches
from the lonian Islands in the. Daily News of
Nofember 12. The original documents had been
printed for confidential .uso at the private office of
the secretary of the department about the 17th of
Sept. last, and were deposited in the liberary in the
usual course. Mr. Mayer is-the principal librarian,
who would have :charge 'of the papers, and Mr.
Miller is the sub-librarian. Mr. Mayer was away
about the time the papers were printed, and re-
turned in October, ,Mr. Miller officiating for him in
his absence.

Mr. Joseph Thomas Miller, sub-librarian at the
Colonial-office. I have been in the service of the
Colonial Department 23 years. I received the
printed- copies of the-despatches in question in Sept.
last, during the absence of Mr. Mayer, the principal
librarian, for his vacation. I placed them on the
right hand side of my writing table, beside my
desk, with some other papers over them, and a
heavy book on top of all. I have been acquainted
with the prisoner since 1.853: At one period he was
trustee of some property of mine. He has held a
commission in the Turkish Contingent in the Cri-
mea, and has subseqUently been in South America.
He called upon me on his return, about a year
ago, and since that time I have been in the habit
of seeing. -him. He came occasionally to the
Colonial-office, where I used to receive him in the
waiting-room, whenever Mr. Mayer 'was in the
library. In Mr. Mayer's -absence I used to
.receive
him in the library, - Mr. Mayer went away for his
vacation about the 23d of August, and returned on
the 25th of October. During the time that the
papers were lying on the table as I have described
the prisoner called several times, and might have
seen there. He sometimes stayed an hour or an
hour and a-half, and wakfrequently left alone, On
one occasion after leaving him there alone I noticed
as I re-entered the room that he was moving away
from the table where these despatches lay, being a
different position from that which he had occupied
in the room when I left. He observed, with a
smile, " I am not prying into any of your secrets."
I replied, " No, I don't suppose you are." I re-
member the prisoner making an applicatiaa for a
situation, the result of which application was un-
favourable, and he 'then wrote a letter to Lord Car-
narvon, which I told him I considered as an.impru-
dent letter. Lately he male an application to Sir
E. 13. Lytton, which was also rejected, and he said'
Sir E. B. Lytton would repent it. In October he '
again applied for a situation, and asked me 'if I
could forward his Views. I promised to try, and I
fulfilled that promise: I undertook to deliver a

letter to Lord Carnarvon. It was in an envelop;
similar to that now produced; and with a similar
seal. Subsequently I saw him, and gave him the
answer I had received.. .He had on that occasion
some conversation. with me of a trifling !nature
about South American politics, showing me a pam-
phlet and a portrait of General Lopez. I told him
I was in great anxiety about the publication of the
lonian despatches in the Thilly News. I said that
to excuse myself from listening to the South
American politics. I made use of a strong expres-
sion—that " the man .who would publish such a
thing must be a 'scoundrel." The prisoner
assented, observing that heinust be a "dirty black-
guard," and then added, " Yes, it might have cost
you your situation." I had not told him that the
papers were taken from me, or from under my care.
He asked me if I had read hi sletter in the Daily News
about Gen. Lopez. I said I had read a portion of
it. He then went away. He was to have met me
again that day, but I have not seen him since.
That was on Monday,. November the 15th.
The Prisoner—Have - not I sometimes received
three or. four letters a-day from you to come and
see you at the office?
Witness—Certainly. not.
The Prisoner—Used not several gentlemen to
come inte. the libraiy ?
Witness—Only on business.
The PriSoner—PriTate business with you ?.
Witness—No ; only on. public. business.
The Prisoner—How often .have you written for
me to come and see you 'there ?
Witness once or twice, not more.

The Prisoner—l was never , left there )s•ithout