The Sun.
London, England, 1835-08-17 00:00:00

COURT MARTIAL.

( From the Portsmouth Herald.)

The court-martial on Mr. Cardew, late mate of the Alge-
rine, for mutiny in depriving Lieutenant Stovin of the com-
mand, and Mr. Heath, the master, for aiding him therein,
commenced last Monday. Lieutenant Stovin was the first wit-
ness examined, and he stated, that when put under arrest Mr.
Cardew placed his hand on his (Lieutenant Stovin's) shoulder,
an, t:;:: 7ornoral laid hold of his arm, and that when he at-
tempted to address
,
ship's company, a hand was thrust
over his mouth, but it was to dark to see whose it was.
He further stated, that before Mr. Ca; flew took away his
pistols, and when he ga"e them to the corporal to load, he
said he intended to try and reOnver th 6
command of the ship,
md n„i;,:sd the marines would stand !.'v him. These were the
most important points in the evidence for the t.-srosecution,
which closed on Tuesday at noon, and the Court ap,:eed to
allow the prisoners till Friday morning for the preparatien of
their defence. On the opening of te Court on that day,
the prisoners put in their defences, Mr. Cardew's being read
by his counsel, Mr. R. Missing, and Mr. Heath's by his
solicitor, Mr. George L. Greetham. Both defences were
very able documents, pointing out the cases in which the
evidence for the prosecution had been at variance with itself,
as well as those cases where it would be contradicted, by the
witnesses on the defence, and more particularly dwelling on
the discrepancies in the evidence of Lieutenant Stovin himself.
The hinging point of Mr. Cardew's defence was the uncertainty
of Mr. Stovin's actions, it being impossible, on account of his
repeated inebriety, to place any reliance on his conduct, espe-
cially as he had once chased a vessel which he believed to
be a slaver without serving out any arms to the crew. [This
fact was afterwards stated in evidence by Mr. Roberts.'
Under these circumstances, Mr. Cardew declared that a de-
sire to promote the interests of the service had alone induced
him to pursue the course he bad, which, as his wind was free
from any mutinous intent, he hoped would be consitL'red by
the Court a mere error in judgment. Mr. Heath's defellee
ably urged his want of motive to concur in the arrest, as no
end which he had in view could he promoted by it, and his pre-
vious high certificates removed the suspicion of his being ac-
tuated by a spirit of insubordination. The only evidence of
importance adduced for the defence was that of Commander
Booth, late of the Trineulo, and who, as the superior officer
at the Cape, had inquired into the circumstances of Lieute-
nant Stovin's arrest, when the Algerine arrived there. Com-
mander Booth stated distinctly, that when he asked Lieu-
tenant Stavin if he had made any resistance to the arrest, he
answered its the negative; nor did he say anything about his
statement to the corporal, that he hoped the marines would
stand by him. The case for the defence was then speedily
closed, and the Court cleared ; and after two hours' delibe-
ration the Court re-opened, and the Judge-Advocate read
the sentence :—That the charge had been proved ; but, in
consideration of the prisoners' previous good character, they
were only sentenced to be dismissed the service, and to be
imprisoned for three calendar months in the Marshalsea. A
vast deal of interest had been excited by this trial, it being
doubted by naval men whether the Court would consider the
mitigating circumstances, or award the full penalty attached
to the crime. The general opinion is, that the sentence is
extremely lenient.