The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-15 00:00:00

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Closing i Busin.ss
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23 24

LAW INTELLIGENCE.-( THIS LAE)

SECONDARIES' COURT.
(Before Mr. Secondary Potter and a Jury.)

SCANDALOUS ASSAULT AT SEA.-DAMAGES £200.-TIIORPE

V. GREEN,

This was a writ of inquiry to assess the damages for a
series of assaults committed by defendant upon plaintiff.
Mr. T. Atkinson, instructed by Mr. Nethersole, ap-
peared for the plaintiff; defendant suffered judgment to go
by default, and was not represented.
From the statement of the learned counsel if appeared that
in February of the .present year, plaintiff and defendant
were on board the ship Lady Clarendon, plaintiff as chief
steward, and defendant as chief mate. The ship had
scarcely left Calcutta before defendant commenced ill-
treating plaintiff. On the first ocersion, in February,
upon the pretence that plaintiff had neglected to
look after the canvas, defendant knocked him
down, kicked him, and so ill-used him, that
he was laid up for three or four days. Appa-
rently satisfied with the result, defendant left plaintiff
alone till May, when, on plaintiff refusing to salt some fish
until he had finished work set him by the captain, defen-
dant knocked him down, kicked him with his heavy sea
boots, and did not leave him till he cut his face all to pieces,
and fractured his shoulder. Plaintiff was laid up for the re-
mainder of the voyage, and is still suffering from the in-
juries inflicted. The learned counsel, in most eloquent lan-
guage, called attention to the great increase of this class of
assaults. One captain had lately expiated his crime upon
the scaffold—another had been condemned to penal servi-
tude. These men imagined that when they left land ,
they were kings on the sea. They must be taught that
such was not the case, and that on sea and on land all men
—captain or mate—were answerable to the laws of their
country.

Plaintiff was called, and explained the nature of the
assaults, which were, indeed, of a most gross and cowardly
character, plaintiff being a slight young man, and defendant
was described as a tall and powerful man. Plaintiff still
bore scars upon his face, and had his arm in a sling.
The learned Secondary pointed out that defendant
admitted the very grave and serious charges made against
him. It only, therefore, remained with the jury to assess
the damages.

After a short consultation, the jury asked to know if
they could give plaintiff X 250.

The learned Secondary said the damages were only laid
at £2OO.

That sum was immediately awarded by the jury.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT. (This Day,

OLD COURT.
(Before Mr. Baron,Martin.)
STEALING THE lONIAN DESPATCHES.

William Hudson Guernsey, 39, was indicted for stealing
divers sheets of printed papers, containing despatches, &c.,
value ls., the property of Our Lady the Queen.
The greatest interest appeared to be excited by the cir-
cumstance, as every seat in the court was filled before the
prisoner was placed at the bar.
The Attorney-General, Mr. Sergeant Ballantine, Mr.
Bodkin, Mr. Welsby, and Mr. Clarke, appeared for the pro-
secution. Mr. Sergeant Parry and Mr. Metcalfe appeared
for the defence.

The Attorney-General, in opening the case, said the jury
were no doubt 'aware that a despatch of an exceedingly im-
portant character lied been obtained in some way or an-
other from the Colonial-office, and published in the Daily
.11rsies. They were also, no doubt, aware that, from the state
of the lonian Islands, her Majesty's Government had con-
sidered it advisable to send out Mr. Gladstone on a special
mission to those islands. It was not long after his departure
for England that the despatches in question appeared 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 custodyof the officials
of the department. :Upon this publication the greatest
anxiety was manifested .by Sir E. Buiwer Lytton and his
colleagues, who were naturally fearful that some person in
the public service had betrayed his trust by disclosing a
communication which hatibeen printed only for private and
confidential use among official persenages ; and conse-
quentlythe right hon. baronet at once instituted a most
searching inquiry, sparing n o exertion by day or night,
until he succeeded in obtaining evidence which justified
him in authorising the present prosecution against the pri-
soner. The fact thus ascertained was briefly as follows :—lt
appears that two despatches with enclosures had been re-
ceived from Sir J. Young, and a limited number of copies
were printed for private purposes. 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 gentleman 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 also been to Buenos Ayres, continuing, how-
ever, to communicate with his friends at home by mains of
occasional letters. On his last return to England he re-
newed 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 apartment 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 oc-
curred at the time to excite his suspicion, Mr. Miller now
:members 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, " I am not prying
into your secrets." Mr. Miller replied, " No, I don't sup-
pose you are." It will be thus apparent that the prisoner,
if evilly disposed, had abundant opportunity of possessing
himself of one of the printed copies then lying upon the
table; and it was, 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. Mr. Walker received the
despatches by post, enclosed in an envelope of a
peculiar kind, to which your particular attention will be
directed, for it was 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'arnis and the inscrip-
tion "On her Majesty's Service," in a peculiar type. But
that is not all. It further appears that on a former occa-
sion, when the prisoner was seeking some appointment at
the War-office, ho sought the good offices of Mr. Miller,
who noticed that a letter to Lord Carnarvon, which he un-
dertook to forward 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 opportunities of becoming pos-
sessed of envelopes of this description. The jury would
carefully consider the whole of the evidence, and if they
were satisfied with it they would find the prisoner guilty;
if, on the contrary, they had any doubt, then they would,
of course, give the prisoner the benefit, and acquit him.
The first witness called was
Mr. Thomas Frederick Elliott, who said—l at Assistant-
Under Secretary of State for the Colonies. On the 12th of
November last my attention was called to some despatches
published in some of the morning newspapers. Mr. Mayer
is principal librarian at the Colonial Office. He was there
up till the 24th of October, when he left for his vacation,
when Mr. Miller, the sub-librarian, acted for him. I pro-
duce 23 printed copies of the despatch I have received, the
majority of them from the librarian of the Colonial Office.
The Attorney-G eneral has a copy. That will make 24.
Cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant Parry—l have received
the majority of the copies I produce from the library. I
think I received 21 from Mr. Mayer, one from Sir E.
Lytton, one from Lord Carnarvon, and one I had received
myself. I cannot tell the exact time when I received my
copy. It was about two or three days before the despatch
appeared in the Daily Neies. . Lord Carnarvon or Sir E.
Lytton would get a copy by sending to the librarian
for it. One of their secretaries or clerk, would be tho per-
sons who would apply for the document. A messenger
might be sent, and he would get the document, but it was
very improbable that such a person would be employed for
such purpose.

took

Mr. Holder, examined by Mr. Welsby—l am the reader
and manager of the Colonial-office printing department. I
received the document to print. Twenty-eight copies were
struck off. Twenty-five only were ordered. We print an
even number, because they are worked two on a
sheet. We - keep one for a voucher, one for our
file copy, and another to make up the even
number. I delivered the 25 to Mr. Miller. I have two of
the copies with me. I produce them, and with the 24 in
court make 26. I have had them ever since they were
printed in my possession. The document put into my
hand is a portion of one document I struck off, wanting
the first four pages. This was the remaining part of the
paper sent to the Daily NewB.
Cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant Parry.—We work two
proofs to be sent to the Colonial-office, and one proof for
myself to read. Having corrected my proof, I send two
proofs to the Colonial-office. In the proof that I
corrected there was an error in ono of the Italian
words. The first two proofs sent to the Colonial-office
contained that error. The error was corrected before the
28 copies were worked off. In all the 28 copies of the de-
spatches sent to the library, the error I have mentioned had
been corrected. The document put into my hand formed
one of the 28. [This was the copy sent to the Daily
News].

Charles Swetzer—pn the 16th September I printed a
proof of a despatch—on the following day I printed 28
copies. They were despatched. They were given to Mr.
Holder. No other person had control of the press but
myself.

111 Mr. Joseph Thomas Miller, sub-librarian at the Colonial-
office—l have been in the service of the Colonial Depart-
ment 23 years. I received the printed copies of the de-
spatches in question in September 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 the top of all. I have been acquainted with
the prisoner since 1853, He has held a 00112Blib§i0Z1 the

rilE SUN, LoNDori, WIDNESIAY EVJNiNG, bEctiMl3Vit 15, 1858,

The envelope and seal put into my hand [which was the
one that contained the despatch sent to the Deity Nam] is
similar to one I had from the prisoner relative to some Mili-
tary appointment. This was some months before. I know

the prisoner's handwriting. The address, which had been
cut out of the envelope, " The Editor of the Daily News,"
&c., is in Mr. Guernsey's handwriting. I know it well.
Cross-examined by Sergeant Parry—l have a distinct
recollection of having left the prisoner alone in the library.
It was, I think, on the 23d of October. He used to call about
once a week. No one was present with me when Mr.
Mayer was away. There are two subordinate servants
who used to enter the room, and the housemaid also used

to clean the room out. Mr. Holder sent the despatches
in a parcel in the usual way. The documents were received
on the 17th of September, and were lying on the table
the time one was taken away. I don't say that. Mr.
Guernsey was the only gentleman who entered the room,
but they were officials. I have had other persons call, but
they were shown into the waiting-room—never into the
library. I know the prisoner is a talented musician. I have

studied music as an amateur. I know he composed a song
called " I hung my harp on the willow tree." In 1853 I
joined with him in publishing the Lady Bird Polka. I have
never given the prisoner official papers. I have given him
a bluebook about the Gold Fields, but then that could be
bought at any of the libraries. •
Re-examined by the Attorney-General—l never, never
gave the prisoner or any other person a copy of any paper
marked " confidential."

Baron Martin—You never gave the prisoner the copy of
the despatch sent to the .Daily Hews?
Mr. Miller—No, never, my lord—most solemnly, never.
By the Attorney-Gengral—l have no recollection of ever
having seen any other person in the library but the pri-
soner.

Mr. George Mayer, examined by Mr. Bodkin—l am
principal librarian to the Colonial-office. That is the proper
place for papers like those which form the subject of the
present trial. The proper place to deposit them would be
in one of the presses in the room under lock and key.
Their leaving them on the table was improper. On my
return I locked up some papers. Mr. Gladstone went out
to the lonian Islands about the Bth of November. Mr.
Arthur Burt had one of the despatches.
Mr. Arthur Burt--I received one of the despatches for
the purpose of sending it, with other papers, to Mr. Glad-
stone. Mr. Gordon received it.

Mr. Elliot re-called—l saw Mr. Gordon leave the office
with the papers for the purpose of taking them to Mr.
Gladstone's house.
Mr. Thomas Walker, examined by the Attorney-Gene-
ral—l am the editor of the _Daily News. I have held
the appointment about three months. I have offices
in Bouverie-street. I recollect that in the month of Novem-
ber last I received the printed paper I hold in my hind.

It was in perfect form. The address has since been out
out. I opened it. I found along with the paper
the note now before me. [The note was here
read. It was signed. "W. Guernsey," and went on to
state that a copy of a public document was enclosed which
would be interesting, and might give some clue to the
mission of Mr. Gladstone.] The document was similar
to those produced. It was perfect in all parts. Before I or-
dered the paper to be published I wrote a note to Mr. Guern-
sey, as I had no previous knowledge of him. It is usual for
persons addressing editors of newspapers to say, " Dear
Sir.", I received an answer from Mr. Guernsey. It stated
that all was right, only he wished hisname to be withheld.
Upon the receipt of that letter I ordered the two despatches
to be published in the Daily Hews on the 12th of No-
vember. The two first sheets were taken off for
the purpose of being placed in the hands of the
printer. I wrote to the prisoner after the documents
had been published in consequence of a communication I
received from the Colonial-office on the evening of the day
the despatches appeared. He came to me, and I told him
I was afraid that innocent persons might get into trouble
in consequence of the publication of the despatch, and that
he ought to give information as to where he had got them.
He said some one had left them with him. I said, You
ought to give me more information, and he said not then.
I cut the address from the envelope, because I had refused
to give up the name, and to prevent the handwriting being
seen.

Inspector Thornton, of the detective police—l took the
prisoner into custody on this charge. I told him I had a
warrant for his apprehension, and he had better go with
me to the station, where I would read the charge. Going
along he asked me the nature of the charge, and I told him.
He said, "They have made a mistake; they have gone the
wrong way to work; they should have written to me." He
said he had not been to the Colonial-office for some time,
and then he afterwards recollected himself and said he had
been there once. At the station-house, on being asked his
name, I said, " Colonel Guernsey," and he said "No."
I then said " Major Guernsey." He said he had never be-
longed to the army.
Richard Tanner, a police-constable, said—l searched the
prisoner's apartments in Regent-square. I found the 16
official envelopes produced. They are similar to that sent
to the Daily News office.
Mr. Sergeant Parry then addressed the jury for the
prisoner, and contended that there was no case to go to the
jury, as he had clearly not taken the documents—assuming
for the moment that he had done so—with a fraudulent in-
tention of stealing, the essence of which was fraud, but that
ho had taken them for the purpose of publishing them,
which only amounted to a wrongful taking. ' The learned
gentleman then cited a number of authorities bearing upon
the point, amongst which were the Queen against Godfrey,
in which it had been held that the opening of a letter from
idle curiosity was not a felony. He then referred to the
case of Prince Albert against Strange, reported in 18th
Law Journal, page 120, and concluded by again stating
that there was no case to go to the jury.
Mr. Metcalfe followed on the same side. He was of
opinion that the whole prosecution must fall to the ground,
as there was so much confusion that it did not clearly ap-
pear for what the prisoner was indicted. He was in-
dicted for stealing a simple piece of paper of the value of Is.,
but the offence of which it was sought to find him guilty
was the stealing of what was contained:in the paper.
Mr. Baron Martin said the question for the consideration
of the jury was, what was the intention of the prisoner
when he took away the document.
The jury returned a verdict of not guilty.

The Court of Assizes of the Seine, on Saturday,
condemned by default M. Durrieu, formerly director-general
of the Administration of Public Worship, to 20 years' hard
labour and 100 f. fine. In 1854 he was at the head of an
undertaking for working marble quarries in Corsica. Ho
received from a person named Ernouf a sum of 45,000 f., by
way of a guarantee fund, to enable him to obtain a credit
at different bankers, but he applied this money to his own
personal use, and committed various forgeries during the
management of the undertaking, thereby causing a deficit
in his accounts of 277,500 f. The sentence of the court also
struck him off the list of the Legion of Honour, of which he
was a member.
TRIAL OF NEW LIFE-BOATS.--On Monday some
trials were made, in the presence of a large number of per-
sons, in the Regent's Canal Docks, Limehouse, with two
new life-boats 30 feet long, and rowing six oars single
banked The boats are on Peake's plan, and have been
built by the Messrs. Forrestt for the Royal National
Life-boat Institution. Their harbour trial proved in
every .way satisfactory. It showed clearly that if the
boats were upset they would instantly self-right, and
self-eject any seas they may ship. They are to be sta-
tioned respectively at Camsore, near Wexford, and at
Tratnore, near Waterford. Both these places have long
been in want of life-boats, fearful wrecks, with loss of life,
having frequently, occurred in these localities. Both boats
will have improved life-boat carriages attached to them, so
as to make them available for a long line of coast. Life -
boats on similar lines are now being built by the Messrs.
Forrestt, under the superintendence of the institution, for
the Russian Government, and boats Of a large size, on the
same plan, are being constructed by them for the Prussian
and Portuguese Governments. Eleven additional life-
boats are also being rapidly completed by the builders for
the National Life-boat Society, which will soon have about
100 life-boats under its oharge. The objects of the life-boat
institution are so truly public and unimpeachably philan-
thropic that they commend themselves to every humane
person.

Turkish Contingent in the Crimea, 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. 116 Caine 6ccasioliaily 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 them
there. He sometimes stayed an hour or an hour and a.helf,
and was frequently 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 de-
spatches 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 re-
plied, '• No, I don't suppose you are." I remember the
prisoner making an application for a situation, the result
of which application was unfavourable, and he then wrote
a letter to Lord Carvarvon, which I told him I considered
;Its an imprudent letter. Lately he made an application to
Sir E. B. Lytton, which was also rejected, and he said Sir
E. il. 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 under-
took to deliver a letter to Lord Carnarvon. It was in an
envelope 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 pamphlet and a portrait of General Lopez.
I told him I was in great anxiety about the publication of
the lonian despatches in the Daily News. I said that to
excuse myself from listening to the South American poli-
tics. -This was on the 15th, and the despatches were pub-
lished on the 12th. I made use of a strong expression—
that " the man who would publish such a thing must be a
scoundrel." The prisoner assented, observing
that he must be a "dirty blackguard," and then
added, " Yes, it might have cost you your situation."
I had said nothing to him to intimate that I was to blame.
I had not told him that I had charge of the documents.
I said I should be glad to see him again. He promised to
dine with me at half-past five, but he never returned, and
the next time I saw him was at Bow-street police-office