The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-23 00:00:00

TILE JAMAICA PROSECUTIONS.

BO W-STREET. -THIS DAY.

EXAMINATION OF GENERAL NELSON AND
LIEUTENANT BRAND.

The further bearing of this case was resumed
this morning before Sir Thomas Henry. General
Nelson and Lieutenant Brand on this occasion
occupied seats at the solicitors' table, and did not to-
day- stand in the felon's dock.

Mr. Stephens appeared for the prosecution ; Mr.
ll►►nnen and Mr. Poland appeared on the part of
the IVar-office to defend General Nelson, and Mr,
Bristow, from the Admiralty, attended for Lieute-
nant Brand.

Mr. Phillips recalled.
Mr. Stephens—l understand you arc acquainted
with the law and history of Jamaica ?—Yes.
Mr. Hannen—l object to the evidence of history.

Sir T. Henry—You can put it as a matter of law.
Mr. Stephens—Do you know what the state of
the law of Jamaica was before the acts were printed?
—I do.

Was Sir Thomas Muddford Governor in 1664 ?
lie was.

To what.period was their power limited at that
time ?—To two years.
Did the Jamaica Legislature in 1664 make a law
relating to the law of England in Jamaica ? —Yes.

State the effect of that law.—Witness was about
to read from a memoranda-book, when
Mr. Hannen—What are you reading from ?
From a memorandum I have made of the opinions
of the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General.
Mr. Hannan—l object to that.
Sir Thomas Henry—The opinion of any living
person.is not evidence.
Witness—lt is the opinion of the law officers of
the Crown at the time I have mentioned.

The objection was over-ruled, and Mr. Stephens
continued his questions.
Witne:a--•An act was passed declaring the laws
in England in force in the island of Jamaica, and
always after to be in force, except in so far that
they were allowed by the local acts of the Legisla-
ture.

That was passed in 1664 ; was there up to 1683
any legislation on that subject ?—I find no trace

of it.

In 1683 had the Assembly of Jamaica the power
to make permanent laws ?—Yes, unless disallowed
by the Crown.
Was an act passed the 35th of Charles 11., chap.
13 ?—Yes ; but that law wasdisallowed by the King.
It was, however, law until that disallowal was
known.

Do you know, as a matter of law, between that
time the 35th of Charles It. until George I. and
11., two acts were passed, but they were disallowed.
During that period was it a matter of opinion how
far the law of England extended to Jamaica ?—Yes.
Subsequently, however, the question was how
far the King had power to tax?—lt was.
In the first of Geo. I. was there another act passed
which has been substantially re-enacted ?—Yes ; an
act was passed settling the question in 1728. The
act was repealed by the Bth of •Vic., sec. 9.
Was the last section of the Act of Geo. I. (the
22d sec.) re-enacted ?—Yes ; by the Bth of Vic.,
chap. 16, sec. 7.
Mr. Stephens—l have asked these questions to
clear up the state of the law of Jamaica.

The short-hand writer's notes of the examination
of General Nelson and Lieut. Brand at Spanish
Town, Jamaica, before the Royal Commissioners,
were then put in and portions of them read.
This was the case for the prosecution.

Mr. Hannen, for General Nelson, said he had
now to submit that the evidence before the court
against the two gentlemen on a charge of murder
had altogether failed, and that they ought to be
discharged, as their conduct was entirely justifiablq
by the law. if they had refused to do other than
they had done, they would have been liable
to have been shot. They had but one duty
to perform, and that was done fearlessly.
That they were to be brought to a criminal bar
and charged with murder, ao penalty for which
was death, was a proposition he felt certain he (Sir
Thomas llenry) would be slow to come to. If they
were subjected to the pain of a public trial for inur-
I der it could but result in an acquittal, and there-
fore the present inquiry was merely a solemn,
serious farce, and nothing more. General Nelson
and Lieutenant Brand had been guilty of no legal
offence, and therefore he asked that they might be
discharged. He contended that the law was quite
clear on the subject, and by it if officers holding
the position of General Nelson and Lieut. Brand
were called upon to provide for the safety of the
State in cases of great danger—when the courts of
law were closed there was no limit to their discre-
tion, and whilst they acted bona fide in the inte-
rests of the Sovereign and the State, and in
good faith, they could not be called to account in
any court of justice. There had been cases of the
suspension of the common law in Ireland both
before and since the union, and in Titler's " Essay
on Military Law" there was clearly laid down the
cases that justified such a state of things. What
he said was that the Legislature of Jamaica had
done precisely what Ireland and this country
had done, for by the act of the Jamaica
Legislature, 9 Vict., chap. 35, provision
was made by anticipation for an occasion
which had arisen, and thus martial law had
been enacted precisely as it had been done in Eng-
land and Ireland. There was, however, no defi-
nition of what martial law was—but there was a
limitation of it in favour of loyal subjects, and there
was nothing stating the extent to which martial law
might be exercised against foreign invaders and in-
ternal rebels. The 96th sec. of the act laid itdown that
before martial law was put in force there should be
a great council of the nation acting upon informa-
tion. That great council had been called in Jamaica ;
it had been attended by the governor, the officer
in command of the troops, the admiral, and
all the authorities in the island. What had
been done he was clearly of opinion was justifiable
by law, there being that state of things in existence
which one of the witnesses for the prosecution had
stated was open insurrection. It was brought to
the attention of the great council of the nation.
They declared martial law, which the two gentle-
men now in court were compelled to administer.
(The case was proceeding when we went to press.)

DEPARTURE OF GARIBALDI FROM
• • • CAPRERA.

FLORENCE, Feb. 22.
Garibaldi disembarked at Leghorn yesterday

from Caprera and has arrived in this city to-day.

LONDON GAZETTE—Last Evening.

DOWNING-STREET, FEB. 20.
The Queen has been pleased to appoint Robert William
Keats, Esq., late Governor and Commander-in-Chief of
the Island of Trinidad and its dependencies, to be Lieute-
nant-Governor of the colony of Natal.

FEBRUARY 21.
The Queen has been pleased to appoint William Henry
Gosling, Esq., to be a member of the Bermudas or Somers
Islands.
CROWN OFFICE—FEB. 21.

- - _
MEMBERRETURNED TO SERVE IN THE PRESENT PARLIAMENT.
County of Suffolk—Eastern Division.—Frederick SHOW-
den Corrance, of Broadwater, in the said county, Esq., iu
the room of Sir Edward Clarence Kerrison, Bart., who has
accepted the office of Steward of Her Majesty's Chiltern
Hundreds.
ADMIRALTY, FEE. 9.
Royal Marine Light Infantry Lieutenant-GeneralJohn
Tatton Brown to be General, vice Coryton, deceased ; Ma-
jor-,Gen. T. Lemon, C. 8., to be Lieutenant-General, vice
Brown; Colonel Commandant 11. Marriott to be Major-
General, vice Lemon ; Colonel Second Commandant
William Stratton Aslott to be Colonel Commandant,
vice Marriott; Lieutenant-Colonel Richard King Clavell
to be Colonel Second Commandant, vice Aslott; Capt. and
Brevet Lieut.-Col. R. Boyle to be Lieut.-Col. vice Clavell ;
First Lieutenant and Adjutant Joseph George Shanks to
be Captain, vice Boyle; Second Lieutenant Herbert St.
George Schonberg to be First Lieutenant, vice Shanks.
Mr. Thomas Murray has this day been promoted to the
rank of Engineer in her Majesty's Fleet, with seniority of
Feb. 6, 1867.

The French steamer La Seine and Tamise, Capt.
Corr, belonging to Messrs. Gaudet Freres, yesterday
embarked at the T pier at Woolwich arsenal 300
tons of War Department models, being the heavy
portion of the samples of ingenuity prepared and
packed in the departments for the Paris Exhibition.
She expected to sail to-day. About 50 tons still re-
main of additional lighter articles, which will be
shipped from the Custom-house in London on the
10th of March.