The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-30 00:00:00

TEE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 30, 1859.

THE CASE OF THE PRINCESS ROYAL.

f-

It is in accordance with all official custom in this
country that after the commission of some porten-
tous blunder we have to publish a long official cor-
respondence. The object of this chain of letters is
always to explain and extenuate, to show how the
blunder arose, and to shift the responsibility from
shoulder to shoulder, until the fault, like a slipper in
a Christmas game, is entirely lost sight of. This
time-honoured expedient has had its regular place
as a sequel to the mutinous riot on board the Prin-
cess Royal i❑ Portsmouth harbour. We have in
regular sequence the narrative of Admiral Bowles,
an explanation from Capt. Baillie, a general expres-
sion of opinion from the Admiral as to the expedi-
ency of the general Admiralty order, an amended
regulation from the Admiralty, a comment by Ad-
miral Bowles upon Capt. Baillie's evidence, a report
of a Court of Inquiry, and, lastly, a resolution of
the Lords of the Admiralty entirely whitewashing
Admiral Bowles and gravely censuring Captain
Baillie. This is very much what was to be ex-
pected. It is a little remarkable how largely Ad-
miral Bowles contributes to this mass of materials,
which are moulded at last into his complete ac-
quittal, and there is a great distinction, as every
one acquainted with the constitution of the Board
of Admiralty must be aware, between blaming an
Admiral and censuring a Captain---vexat censura
colunaas.

In this case, however, Captain Baillie has neR
proved himself quite a dove which, whenitient out
over a troubled scene, would be likely to reappear
with an olive branch. We are free to confess that
the publication of these documents, although we
think they by no means justify the one-sided deci-
sion of the Admiralty, goes far to apportion the
blame between the Admiral and the Captain, and
even, perhaps, to fix the larger portion of it upon
Captain Baillie. It now appears that, according
to Admiral Bowles's opinion, the men on board the
Princess Royal were, at the time of the occurrence
which has occasioned this inquiry, suffering under
the operation of an unjust and most irritating rule
of service. " Nothing," says Admiral Bowles,
" could be more injudicious and unjust than to treat
the officers and men lately returned from foreign
service as culprits in whom no confidence could be
placed, and who were to be imprisoned on board
their ships lying alongside the dockyard, while
every possible indulgence was extended to all around
them." Conscious, therefore, as Admiral Bowles
must have been, that these men were in a state of
irritation caused by a real grievance, it was doubly
his duty in dealing with them to exercise a more
than usual amount of caution and forbearance.
Captain Baillie, the officer in command, appears to
have delayed making any application to the Admi-
ral for power to grant leave until the men had be-
come almost furious at their restraint. "I am con-
vinced," again remarks the Admiral, " that if
Captain Baillie had asked my permission to give
leave sooner, the disturbance which took place would
never have occurred." When, however, at last Capt.
Baillie did make his too-long delayed application,
the Admiral gave him permission to send only one
watch on shore till Monday morning. Th.e Captain
returned on board and communicated this to the
crew. We must place ourselves somewhat in the
position of these men, and conceive ourselves to
have been many months upon foreign service, to
have at last arrived in harbour, to be lying close
alon ;side the shore upon which ourfriends are assem-
bled, and to know that to-morrow is Sunday, upon
which no work will be done, and when our stay on
board cannot be necessary, before we can properly
understand the disappointment of that half of the
ship's crew who saw their messmates going down
the side while they themselves were hopeless pri-
soners. We can scarcely wonder, however gravely
we must rebuke, that these men expostulated in
their rough way, cried out "All, or none," and
sent their petty officers aft to complain of the ar-
rangement. The evidence has now made it clear
that the part of the crew to whom leave had
already been given were not in any way mixed up
with this expostulation. They had got their
liberty, they were swarming into the boats, and
they were going to enjoy themselves without
making any common cause with their unfortunate
messmates, whom the caprice of the admiral, or the
" unjust and injudicious" rules of the service, de-
tained to sulk and sorrow on board. It was under
these circumstanees that Captain Baillie returned
to the Admiral. Captain Baillie seems to have
sympathised with his crew, and possibly he enter-
tained the hope that by a general statement of the
great dissatisfaction that reigned on board his
ship he should induce the Admiral to reconsider
his determination, and give liberty to the
whole of the men. In this Captain Baillie
was undoubtedly wrong,—wrong in his course
of conduct, and wrong in his expectations.
Having to do with an Admiral so slow to yield
indulgences and so quick to order punishment as
Admiral Bowles appears to be, he should have stated
minutely the exact circumstances of the state of
his ship, and should have taken care to make this
old gentleman thoroughly understand, that, when
he reported that the whole crew were in a very ex-
cited state, he meant only the whole of the crew
which were then on board ship, and not the liberty
men, who had already reached the shore. We think,
however, that any man who carefully weighs Ad-
miral Bowles's explanation will come to the con-
clusion that his conduct upon receiving this report
must have been testy and hasty. " I saw imme-
diately," he says, " that it was time to be firm and
decisive." It is now evident that he took this view
much too immediately. If he had asked Captain
Baillie the details of the circumstances he had re-
ported, how far the dissatisfaction extended, and
who were its organs, he would certainly have ar-
rived at an accurate knowledge of the real facts.
In a matter of such great importance as that of
a suggestion that cne of the ships in harbour
was in a quasi mutinous state, we submit that
it is not too much to require even of an octoge-
narian Admiral that lie should ask two or three
questions to test the accuracy of his own impres-
sions before he issues his commands. Admiral
Bowles did not do this. He could not possibly
have done this; for, although Captain Mille
had made an ambiguous, or an exaggerated
report, no one pretends that he was prepared to
give the Admiral false answers to any questions
he might have addressed to him. Acting promptly
upon the false impressions which lie had taken
no pains to verify, he immediately directed Capt.
Baillie to revoke the permission previously given,
to grant no leave at all, and to recall the men who
had already been allowed to quit the ship. Ad-
miral Bowles now says that he did not know that
the liberty men had not joine4l in the discontent.
But he must have known, if he has a grain of sense,
that by calling back men under such circumstances
be was actually inviting, and even compelling, a
mutiny by stretching the requirements of discipline
beyond what human nature could bear. It may be
very well to say that' Capt. Baillie should have ex-
postulated and explained. Before we adopt this
view we ought to know what likelihood there was
that any expostulation or explanation would be
endured. There is a tone running through the
whole of this transaction which seems to indicate
that Admiral Bowles is not a man before whom
subordinates care to appear unnecessarily or to
tarry very long. Capt. Baillie seems to have en-
dured the murmurs of his crew in the first iastance

rather than go before the Admiral, and endured a

wrong done to his crew in the second instance
rather than stand up against his Admiral and dis-
'ahuse him of an error ; but we do not think that
public opinion will go with the Admiralty in ac-
quitting Admiral Bowles altogether and throwing
all the blame upon Capt. Baillie.
Discipline must be preserved. This is a neces-
sity with which we cannot parley or palter. The
men who are entrusted with arms among peaceful
citizens must hold them upon the condition of
implicit and entire obedience to their officers.
Right or wrong, just or unjust, so far as they
themselves are concerned the commands of their
I officers must be unhesitatingly obeyed. This is the
price the men pay for the advantage they enjoy of
inmunity from the vicissitudes of want and destitu-
tion, which civilians of the same rank of life must
often front. This discipline must be unreasoning,
uncomplaining, absolute; but it is because this is
so, and because the necessity is so great that it
should
be so, that we ought to require the very
highest qualities of forbearance, patience, conside-
ration, and tact in those who issue the orders which
must be so implicitly obeyed. f it he that no crea-
ture is or ought to be so helpless in the hands of a
superior as a soldier or a sailor, no act ought to be
considered so cowardly or so base as unnecessarily
to punish, oppress, or vex a soldier or a sailor.
Old gentlemen, by long course of hEbit, and by
custom of issuing orders which, although affecting
the comfort of thousands, are never seen by them
in operation, come sometimes to regard these mat-
ters lightly. "Men of the most jovial dispositions,"
remarks Burke, "have sometimes freely put their
names to documents which have set Europe on
fire." So very respectable old gentlemeni sometimes
carelessly issue orders which =ice all our sailors
curse our service. This is what the present age wiil
nut tolerate. We cannot, even if we would, deal with
men as if they were mere machines, without human
passions. This matter would have ended better,for
all concerned if Admiral Bowles had shown a little
more anxiety to reconcile his duty with the reason-
able desires of the men ; and it is certainly not with-
out some apprehension that we remark that the only
effect this warning has had upon the Admiralty is
to cause them to issue an order confirming the rule

whioh even Admiral Bowles has declared to be
injudicious and unjust, and rendering it even yet
more stringent than it had ever beea.—Times.

properties must always be amongst the chief desi-
derata in all human works.

The great weakness of iron ships appears to be
their tendency to hog, or break their backs, or to
break altogether asunder in the 'midsbip part ; they
have insufficient longitudinal strength. There is
the keel, to be sure, corresponding to the backbone
of the living animal, but which nevertheless is cap-
able of great improvement and strengthening.
There are the ribs and beams, corresponding to the
ribs of the animal, which in the latter keep the body
sufficiently distended and in shape, to contain the
various vital organs that sustain life, and which have
sufficient strength in a great measure to protect them
from biing crushed or injured. But the skin, that
beautiful, wondrous, seamless garment, which so
closely and marvellously envelops the animal, yet
permits of every requisite movement of its limbs and
organs, the strength of which is so great that, even in
the smaller animals it can with difficulty be broken,
and which in the larger, such as the elephant, hippo-
potamus, and rhinoceros, is enormous; without the
protection of which the animal frame would speedily
fall asunder—where in the iron ship shall we find
its couuterpart ? Can the thin iron plating with
its numerous perpendicular lines of weakness,
occasioned by the numberless rivetings of the short
iron plates, be compared to the animal skin, with-
out one weak spot over its entire surface ? It can-
not be so. Yet, as far as possible, they should be
assimilated, for the same important use is required
of each.
In wooden ships a much nearer approximation is
made to the animal skin, since, owing to the greater
length of the planking, and the narrowness as com-
pared with the iron plates, the lines of weakness oc-
casioned by the rivets are avoided. The greater
length of fibre of wood and its greater elasticity
may also be sources of additional strength:
An apt illustration of the strength of a skin of
planking, is, that of the diagonal system in boat-
building, on which principle the larger boats in the
Royal Navy are constructed, as are also the life-
boats of the National Lifeboat Institution. Boats
built on this plan are almost without rib-timbers,
having only a few short floor timbers, their double
diagonal planking being relied on solely to afford
the requisite strength, and they are known to be
the strongest description of boats.
The well-known ship-builder, Mr. Hall, of Aber-
deen, has successfully applied the same principle to
building wooden ships, and the Schomberg clipper-
ship, of 2600 tons,which was unfortunately wrecked
on the Australian coast in 1357, was built on this
principle by Mr. Hall, and was supposed to be the
strongest wooden ship in our own or any other
merchant navy.
Mr. Ralph Taylerson, of Port-Glasgow, has now
proposed to apply to a great extent, the same prin-
ciple to iron ships, and apparently with every pros-
pect of success. As the comparative shortness of
the iron plating, which we suppose is unavoidable,
prevents the application of the principle in precisely
the same manner as in wooden vessels, Mr. Tayler-
son places the frames, corresponding to the timbers
or ribs of wooden vessels in a direction diagonal to the
keel and sides ; each frame, like the planks of' the
diagonal boat, passing from one gunwale across
the keel and up to the other gunwale continuously-,
the iron plating being attached horizontally, as now.
As the lines of riveting of the planking or lines
of weakness thus run diagonally or obliquely to
transverse sections of the ship, whilst the cross or
deck beams run parallel to such sections, and are
bolted to different frames on the one side to what
they are on the other, a manifest vast increase of
strength to the whole structure against transverse
fracture is obtained. Mr. Taylerson also introduces
other improvements, especially in the keel, to im-
part strength. We hope to give, in a future num-
ber, the substance of a lecture on his invention, by
Mr. Taylerson, recently delivered at the hall of the
United Service Institution in London, illustrated
by designs furnished to us by the inventor for the
better elucidation of his plan.
We think the importance of this subject cannot
be overrated ; and we implore all builders and de-
signers of iron ships, whilst the loss of the Royal
Charter and of the Indian, and the cries of their
dying inmates, in imagination, are yet ringing in
their ears, carefully to consider Mr. Taylerson's
propositions, and to adopt them if no better can be
discovered.

THE LOSS OF IRE BLERVIE CASTLE.

Anxious inquiries have been made daily at Lloyd's
and of the charterers of the ill-fated outward bound
Australian ship Blervie Castle, relative to the fate
of the unfortunate passengers and crew. Unhappily,
not the least doubt is entertained but that they
must have all perished in the ship, and this belief
is confirmed by the reports that have since been
made by the French fishermen, to the effect that
they had seen numbers of dead bodies of men,
women, and children floating among the wrecked
goods and cases.
That the catastrophe took place during Tuesday
night or Wednesday morning, and on either the
Varne or Ridge Sands, has now been satisfactorily
ascertained. It appears the wreck was first seen
about 8 o'clock on Wednesday morning by the
captain and chief officer of the General Steam
Navigation Company's steamer Panther, while on
their passage from Boulogne to London, and who,
from some oversight or other, omitted on their
arrival in the Thames to report the fact either to
Lloyd's or the Shipping Gazette, by which the loss
of the Blervie Castle would have been known
48 hours before it was actually announced. The
wreck was observed to the eastward of the Varne
and Ridge Sands, and some 10 or 12 miles off the
French coast, the wind blowing hard at the time
from the south-west, with a high sea. The chief
mate at first perceived something large looming in
the distance, right in the course of the steamer.
His impression at the moment was that it was a
species of whale which is occasionally seen in the
Channel, but soon afterwards he detected it was the
wreck of a 600 or 700 ton ship, floating with her
bilge out of the water. The course of the Panther
was direct at it, and it was only by her helm being
put hard aport that she cleared the wreck, other-
wise she might have sustained serious damage.
The wreak was sheathed with yellow metal, and
she appeared to have been painted a buff colour
inside her bulwarks and stanchions, or rather
what remained of them. Captain Russell, who
was despatched to the French coast by the un-
derwriters at Lloyd's to collect all the authen-
tic information on the melancholy subject,
writes to say " that the wreck of the Blervie
Castle was seen on Saturday driving about
12 miles N.E. of Calais. Four fishing boats had
had it in tow for 16 hours endeavouring to get into
some place on the coast, but were at length obliged
to relinquish their charge on account of the strong
wind. The fishermen describe the wreck to be
much damaged in her stern, that all her masts were
gone and she was lying on one side." The next that
is heard of the wreck is from the officer of the Dover
and Calais steamer, which escaped coming into col-
lision with it in the course of Saturday night. On
Monday night some Deal luggers came up with the
wreck between the Kentish Knock and the Gal-
loper, 50 or 60 miles from the Varne Sand, and they
got it in tow and suceeeded in getting it on to the
main to the eastward of Ramsgate Harbour. From
its shattered state it was evident that some vessel
had struck upon it during the time it had been
driving about. Lloyd's agent at Ramsgate describes
it as the port side of a ship from the stem to stern,
of about 600 tons, broken off at the floor neads,
yellow metalled and fastened, all black outside, and
partly planked with oak or teak. It was painted
with a narrow white streak, and the poop and top-
gallant forecastle appeared to have been newly cop-
pered. The general opinion is that the wreck
is that of the Blervie Castle, although as yet it has
not been clearly identified as part of the ill-fated
ship. It may be remarked that some doubt has
been expressed as to whether the wreck really is
that of the Blervie Castle, and an impression has
been entertained that it belonged to some other
ship which had come in collision with the Blervie
Castle, and had met the same fate. This conjec-
ture has arisen from the circumstance of pieces of
wreck having been seen floating in the Channel
different from that of the Blervie Castle, but its
driving about for so long a period would account
for its somewhat altereecharacter, and it is only
reasonable to suppose that it is part of the lost
vessel. There has been a large quantity of
wrecked goods landed, not only at several of
the French ports, but at Ramsgate, Dover,
Margate. B:c., some of the cases having the
words "Blervie Castle" upon them, and others only
the figures and marks. On referring to the ship's
manifest, however, it has been clearly ascertained
that the greater bulk of the goods brought ashore
fcrmed part of the cargo of the Blervie Castle.
The circumstance that nothing has been heard of
the boats of the unfortunate ship has exeited some
attention, and with a few of the relatives of those
on board has raised a kind of hope that some of the
people might have escaped from the wreck, and
have got on board some outward bound ship. This,
however, pain ful as it is to announce, is exceedingly
doubtful. The Blervie Castle was a first-class, stout,
oak-built ship ; and, bearing in mind how speedily
she was broken in two, it is easy to imagine that
the boats
o f
could not have withstood the fury of the
tempest with any better result. It is very probable
that
they were
the
crushed
crew
wer
were residents
the sh iopf.
,si
of London, and many of them have left
families to
had been the
widows cast
and end
mourn their.sad.fate. Captain I%l'l-Tardy
ti
receivedn bar, for ahilsologsnriod in the service of Messrs.
-In connection with the excitedas the deepest regret.
yesterday from Mars:iallsees9, announcing the
wreck of the li.indroehet Coringaa, telegramandtliat was

one seaman and eight passengers were saved. Among
those who perished was the master, Capt. M‘liardy,
who is stated to have been a brother of the unfor-
tunate commander of the Blervie Castle.
It may be stated that the ship was provided with
two signal-guns and rockets. Inquiries have been
made of the keeper of the lighthouse on Cape Gris-
nez as to whether he had heard any signals of dis-
tress fired during the night of Tuesday or Wednes-
day morning, and he answered that he had not.

CHARGE OF ATTEMPTING TO BRIBE
A GOVERNMENT OFFICER.
John A. Salmon, described as staying at the
Temperance Coffee-house and Hotel, 37, King-street,
Cheapside, appeared at the Mansion House yester-
day to a summons, issued npon the complaint of the
Lords of the Admiralty, charging " that you, on
the 12th day of December inst., in the City of Lon-
don, and unlawfully did attempt and endeavour to
bribe one Thomas William Miller, then one of her
Majesty's servants, in her Majesty's dockyard at
Portsmouth, thereby corruptly to induce him
to neglect and do some act contrary to
his duty as such servant, namely, to give
his certificate allowing certain sums of money
claimed by you for certain work and materials
done for and supplied to the said dockyard, against
the peace," &c.
Mr. Douglas Brown appeared to conduct the
case, and Mr. Sleigh for the defendant.
The defendant pleaded not guilty.
Mr. Brown said the circumstances of the case
were very simple and very brief. The defendant
was charged with attempting to bribe an officer
belonging to the Portsmouth dockyard. Some
time ago the defendant was employed to fit a
smoke-consuming apparatus to a boiler in the dock-
yard, and a similar apparatus to a reverberating
furnace in the smiths' shop, the contract for the one
being £96 and the other £6O. Mr. Miller, the
person whom the defendant was charged with
attempting to bribe, had the superintendence of the
work. It was his duty to see that the work was
properly done, and to certify that it was in such a
state as to entitle the defendant to payment. After
the work was completed Mr. Miller was surprised
to receive an envelop addressed to him, and enclos-
ing the halt of a £5 note, without a word being
said as to the sender, or anything about it; and
soon after that he received a letter from the pri-
soner, in which the other half of the £5 note was
enclosed, but without any reference at all being
made to the fact. The learned gentleman then
read the letter, which related principally to the
apparatus fitted by the defendant to the reverbera-
ting furnace in the smiths' shop, and asked to be
allowed another trial, the learned gentleman stating
that the apparatus had not worked satisfactorily.
In conclusion, Mr. Brown said he should be able to
prove the defendant's handwriting ; and then, he
thought, it would be the Lord Mayor's duty to send
the case to a jury.
Thomas Wm. Miller said—l am assistant chief
engineer in her Majesty's dockyard at Portsmouth.
I know the defendent from his having been at the
yard erecting a smoke-consuming apparatus. He
had the order in January, and the work was put
up and the first trial made by the end of March.
It was my duty to see that the work was rightly
done. Mr. Salmon had come down in December,
and represented that he had a patent apparatus
for consuming smoke, and that he had been sent
from the surveyor's office in London. I told him it
was hardly worth his while to try to consume smoke
in Portsmouth dockyard, as it was already done
very effectively; and I pointed out to him several
simple contrivances for effecting that object. I also
showed him a boiler with a common fire door, and
told him, if he liked, he could try his apparatus on
that boiler, provided he got the sanction of the
Lords of the Admiralty. That was in December or
the beginning of January, I cannot positively say
which. Subsequently an order came down from the
Lords of the Admiralty, and was handed to me by
the superintendent of the yard to permit Mr. Salmon
to try his apparatus under certain conditions. He
had also something to do with a reverberating fur-
nace ; but that was not in my department, and I
took him to the master shipwright. He said he
could consume the smoke in such furnaces, and he
received an order with that condition. I have seen
the bill of the boiler that was sent to the Accoun-
tant-General at the Admiralty, and on the back of
the invoice I certified. I received the envelope pro-
duced on the 13th inst., in which was enclosed the
half of a £5 note, which I also produce.
Mr. Sleigh—Stay a minute. Whose handwrit-
ing is that address in ?
Mr. Brown—l can prove that.
Mr. Sleigh—Then you had better do it at once.
Mr. Brown (to witness)—You received another
letter ?
Witness—Yes, on the afternoon of the same day.
Mr. Brown—Then before I gu further I will call
a witness to prove the handwriting.
Mr. John Field—l am brother and assistant to
Chas. F. Field, of the private detective or inquiry-
office, Devereux-court, Temple. I saw defendant this
morning. I saw him write, and know his hand-
writing. I saw him write on the back of that letter.
By Mr. Sleigh—l was sent to get the defendant's
handwriting by a gentleman connected with our
office. I was instructed to do my best to get his
handwriting, and I pretended that I wanted to do
some business with him, so that I might see his
writing and know it.
Mr. Sleigh—ln order that you might come here
to-day and swear to it ?
Witness—l knew nothing at all about the trans-
action. I only did as I was told.
Mr. Sleigh—Did you want to buy any of his ap-
paratus ?
Witness—No.
Mr. Sleigh—Then yoi were sent down to this
gentleman by the Admiralty to inveigle him out of
his handwriting by false pretences ?
Witness—You may call it what you like.
Mr. Sleigh—Very well, then, I call it a trap, and
a very disgraceful trap, too, on the part of the soli-
citor to the Admiralty. How much did you see him
write ?
Witness—What is on the back of that letter.
Mr. Sleigh—Six words and two figures! And
from that you come here to swear to the handwrit-
ing of a bundle of letters ?
Witness—No, I do not.
Mr. Sleigh—Then what did you come here for ?
Witness —To swear to that which I saw him write.
Mr. Sleigh—And to nothing else ?
Witness—Not that I know of.
The Lord Mayor—Then if that is all, Mr. Sleigh,
you have done with him, I think.
Mr. Sleigh—Yes, I think so, indeed.
Mr. Brown—But I have not done with him.
What farther took place between you ?
Witness—l asked him how much it would cost
to fit his apparatus at Winchester, including rail-
way expenses, and he said £5O. I said I might
forget, and asked him to put it down on the back
of this envelope, and he did so.
Mr. Brown—Well, now, look at that letter (that
received by Mr. Miller.)
Mr. Sleigh—Stay, first give me those other docu-
ments that you hold. I object to your speaking to
one while you hold the other.
Mr. Brown—l want him to compare the writing,
and I think I am entitled to do so.
Mr. Sleigh—l object. This is a case to which
the doctrine of comparison does not apply.
The Lord Mayor--I think so too.
Mr. Brown—Very well, then, I give it up. Now
look at that note, and say whose writing you be-
lieve it to be.
Witness—l believe it to be Mr. Salmon's—that
is, the letter. The envelope I cannot speak to.
Mr. Brown—l have nothing more to ask.
Mr. Sleigh—You ground your opinion as to the
handwriting upon the six words and two figures
which you saw him write this morning.?
Witness—Yes, and upon the letter which he sent
down to Winchester, as to the apparatus I inquired
of him about. I mean by comparing one with
another. I showed him that letter, and asked him
if it had come from him. lie said " Yes."
The point of evidence by comparison was here
argued at considerable length by Mr. Sleigh and
Mr. Brown.
Mr. Sleigh—When did you look at the endorse-
ment and compare it with the Winchester letter
itself ?
Witness—lmmediately after I left the defendant
this morning, or before I left his room. After he
wrote it, I formed my opinion as to the letter re-
ceived by Mr. Miller being in defendant's hand-
writing partly on the six words which I saw him
write tis morning, and partly on the Winchester
letter, which he said was his.
By Mr. Brown—l saw him this morning, at 37,
King-street, the hotel where he stops when in town.
Mr. Brown—The letter to Mr. Miller is dated
from there.
Mr. Miller recalled—l received the envelope
marked A, and on the afternoon of the same day I
received an envelope marked B, containing a letter
and the half of a £5 note, also marked B.
Mr. Brown—l now put in the letter. It is the
one to which the witness Field has pledged his oath
that he believes to be in the defendant's hand-
writing.
The hatter was read ; but, as stated by Mr. Brown
in opening the case, it made no reference to the
halves of the £5 note.
Examination resumed—The two halves of the £5
note form one. The letter is dated Dec. 13. I reported
its receipt to the superintendent of the yard, and
hence these proceedings. I do not think Mr. Sal.
mon is paid yet. Ido not know personally whether

the reverberating furnace in the smith's shop has
been tried yet, but I believe it has.
Mr. Sleigh—ls that .the whole of the ease, I
should like to ask my learned friend ?
The Lord Mayor—l should like to ask the wit-
ness a question or two myself. You state to me
that you are assistant chief engineer at Portsmouth
Dockyard ?
Witness—Yes.
The Lord Mayor—And is it necessary for you to
certify that the work has been done before payment
has been made ?
Witness—No; but in this case the chief engineer
was away from the yard while the apparatus was
erected, so that he did not know much about it, and
therefore I did certify that the work was properly
done, and sign the invoice.
The Lord Mayor—Did you sign before you re-
ceived the £5 note ?
Witness—One half came before I had signed and
the other half after.
Mr. Goodman (chief clerk)—Was it absolutely
necessary that the invoice should be signed before
payment ?
Witness—Yes.
The Lord Mayor—Had Mr. Salmon any know-
ledge as to the time you would certify for pay-
ment ?
Witness—Not at all. The invoice had been lyine,
with us about a fortnight, and it was signed on the
day I have referred to, in obedience to an order
from London, stating that Mr. Salmon was press-
ing for payment.
Mr. Sleigh—It might be quite necessary to press
for payment, for I am told the Government officers
are not too prompt frequently in settling such ac-
counts.
The Lord Mayor—I think it hardly fair to say
that.

Mr. Sleigh—Oh, red tapeism, my lord, sometimes
keeps money back which parties require for the
purposes of their families. When you signed and
certified, Mr. Miller, I suppose you certified the
truth and nothing more?
Mr. Miller—Nothing more.
Mr. Sleigh—Now then, I ask my learned friend,
where is his evidence to sustain the charge ?
Mr. Brown—And I ask his lordship whether he
will commit as the evidence stands.
Mr. Sleigh—Why, there is not a particle of evi-
dence, so far, to prove anything.
Mr. Goodman—Perhaps it would be better to
have a remand for the production of the original
documents, the invoice, and so on ; and perhaps Mr.
Brown can produce something further to show a
corrupt motive.
Mr. Brown—Yes, I will ask for a remand, and
then I shall be prepared with all the necessary for-
mal evidence which I have not now, as I was only
instructed late last night.
Mr. Sleigh—Then I ask you, my Lord Mayor,
whether there is evidence to justify you in remand-
ing the defendant, and calling upon him to appear
here again to answer such a charge. Mr. Miller
told you that he only certified to the truth, and
there is nothing whatever to support the charge of
corrupt conduct on the part of the defendant in any
way, and nothing to show that he intended to bribe
Mr. Miller to do any act which was incompatible
with the proper discharge of his duty as a Govern—
ment servant. lam not here to show that Mr.
Miller did not receive the two halves of a £5 note,
but only that there was no attempt to bribe on the
part of the defendant, who is the patentee of some
most ingenious inventions and apparatus, which
have been extensively adopted both by public and
private establishments with immense success ; but
I wish to draw your lordship's attention particu-
larly to the means which have been adopted to
prove the defendant's handwriting. I will not go
into the merits of the Private Inquiring Office, or
whatever they may choose to call it, of the Fields ;
but I will say that it is a disgrace to the Admiralty
to stoop to the employment of spies, as has been
done here, for the purpose of entrapping a gentle-
man into a criminal charge. It is a foul disgrace
for a great Government department, with all legal
means and appliances at its command, to employ
such means as these, and I do not believe that the
Admiralty Commissioners dream of the way in
which this case has been got up.
Mr. Brown—That is all very. well, Mr. Sleigh;
but will you admit the handwriting ?
Mr. Sleigh—l repeat, it is a disgrace to the Ad-
miralty; and if you know anything about criminal
law you would knew that I can admit nothing.
But I say again there is AO evidence to support the
summons, and I ask your lordship to dismiss it.
The Lord Mayor—There is something in one of
the letters received by:Mr. Miller about a steamer
which the defendant expected to have to fit his
apparatus to. I should like to know the date of
that letter, as the bribe might be in connection with
that expectation.
Mr. Brown—Mr. Miller received only one letter,
my lord. It is that in which the defendant asks
about another trial of the furnace in the smith's
shop, and in which the second half of the £5 note
was enclosed.
The Lord Mayor—Mhat is its date ?
Mr. Brown—lt is dated the 13th December, and
the passage you refer to is this. After referring to
some apparatus which he fitted to the steamer
Monkey, and which he says works well, the defen-
dant goes on—" I hope I shall get a better vessel,
with more boiler power, to do next." I shall, on
the next occasion, complete the case, and all the
evidence I shall then bring forward will be only
formal, I think that when the two halves of a£s
note are sent to a public servant, having the con-
trol of publio works, although not a word is said,
by letter or otherwise, as to the object of the enclo-
sures, there cannot be a doubt as to the existence
of a corrupt motive.
The Lord Mayor—At all events, I shall remand
the defendant, but I will take his own recognisanel
in £4O to appear here again.
The case was then adjourned for a fortnight.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE—Dec. 29.

CLERKENWELL.—CHARGE OP STABBING,
Ellen O'Reilly, a charwoman, residing at 81, Nl_
ton-street, City, was charged with stabbing and
wounding, Esther Coley, with an awl, at the Kivs
Arms public-house, Whitecross-street.
Mr. Wakeling appeared for the prosecution.
Both parties were in the above public-housetand
the prisoner attempted to drink out of thee
plainant's pot. Because she would not let het the
prisoner made a great disturbance and struei the
complainant, and not content with that she pilled
from her dress a shoemaker's awl, and attemd to
thrust it into her eye. Fortunately it only went
into the cheek, but the prisoner repeated tb stabs
two or three times, and when she saw thl blood
begin to flow she ran away, but was folios d and
the awl taken from her. On the way to till police
station the prisoner said if she could get al,ay she
would give the complainant another dose.
Mr. Tyrwhitt fully committed the prl_
goner to
the sessions for trial.

THE DIVORCE AND MATRIMONIAL CAtits ACT.
—A SAD STORY.—Mr. R. Jones, solicit();
co.,ew
Inn, applied to Mr. Tyrwhitt on be.halt„,.
Sarah Ann Steele, of Lorn House, 11111F11/4".; park,
for a protection order under the followis,
circum-
stances :

Mrs. Steele said that her husband itas
~
mer-
chant in the City, and his name was Josh a
She was married to him, at Limehouse q:urS e.
c.t:el
h on
the 18th of May, 1837, and she had fol
who were entitled to some property. II r children
r husband
deserted her on the 9th of January hit and was
now keeping company with another f
sale on the
other side of the water. When he wlt away he
1 did not say anything to her, but he sek
a letter to
her daughter saying that he had goNto Switzer-
land. She kept a school, and had fot a long time
supported her husband, and she couli
not account
for his deserting her. The propertywhich
the
chitdren was entitled was being administered
the Court of Chancery, and steps under
welt being taken
to prevent him from receiving
the children's
dividends.

Mr. Jones said there were other D.
a very painful nature which he neL'eumstances of
u not mention,
and he trusted that the order wouhlbe
Mr. Tyrwhitt granted the order, granted.

WORSHIP-STREET.—A Fop,
Wm. Betts, 29, a tailor's cutter, w J E D REGISTER,
mand, before Mr. Hammill, witits charged on re-
feloniously and
and knowingly inserting in a regi
riagas, at St. Leonard's, Shoreditcitry-book of mar-
and fase entry, for the purpose ~ a certain forged
(procuring a cer-
tain marriage.
Mr. Lewis, of Ely-place,
Pl)secuted, and Mr.
Beard defended the prisoner.
It will be remembered that al
the former exami-
nation evidence was adduced sli
named Lewis Gashion, sworn t wing that a youth
be under 10 years
of age, and whose sole guardilh.
ther, Mr. Joseph Gashion, of Bi was his own bro-
cic•lane, St. Luke's,
contracted a marriage with 9e Alice Betts, pre-
viously a servant in the hour
on the 11th September last, l' of that gentleman,
of Shoreditch, on which oceasi t the parish church
'a the prisoner signed
marriagethe certificate in
yhe name of William
Gashion, there not being an
4te'ative of the family
so named, and that he said
natural guardian. It was vas the bridegroom's
Joseph Gashion, the pros iirther sworn by Mr.
brother Lewis became of utor, that when his
entitled to about 1:500. /11r he would become
hended, denied having tak risoner, when appre-
''' part in the marriage
from motives of a monetary
40,haracter, and not deny-
ing the charge preferred
had been influenced by trinst him, declared he
Botts, being enceinte at tk fact of his sister, Alice
time.
Mr. Lewis now called the youthful husband to
be identified by the °hie'
Ming minister as the per.

- --
son ho had married on the occasion in question, but
would not put him under examination for reasons
of a private nature.

Mr. Beard strongly protested against this, and
declared that the prosecution was not fairly carried
on. He was in a position to prove, if Lewis Gashion
was fully examined, that the case against the pri
soner was one of cruelty and injustice.
The prosecutor was then cross-examined, and
being hard pressed refused to swear that Lewis
Gashion would come into any such sum as £5OO.
He was one of the executors, but had not seen the
accounts for the past eight years. He would not
swear to more than £5.

Mr. Beard required that this recantation should
be added to the former deposition of the prosecu-
tor. It was a matter of moment, particularly as it
had been previously intimated that the prisoner
had acted frem pecuniary motives.
Mr. Lewis said that the question of greatest
moment was the actual offence, no matter why com-
mitted.

Mr. Hammill, upon the application of Mr. Beard,
for bail to be accepted, under the altered circum-
stance of the case, consented to receive two sureties
in £4O, or one in £BO, and the prisoner was then
fully committed for trial on the above charge.

SOUTHWARK.—IMPORTANT TO MASTERS
AND JOURNEYMEN.—Henry Buekham, a journey-
man tailor, in the employ of Mr. Samuel Saunders,
a master tailor, of Edward-street, Blackfriars-road,
was brought before Mr. Combe on a Warrant,
charging him with unlawfully neglecting to perform
certain work given out to him by his master.
Mr. Saunders said that in September last he first
employed the prisoner as a journeyman, giving him
work to perform at home. After a few weeks he
became very irregular, and in the early part of
October witness gave him a coat to make, supply-
ing him with all the materials, and
advancing him
7s. The coat was to have been finished and broughtut
home by the Tuesday following, but thatthat has not
been done, and although he had
made repeated
applications to the prisoner about it, it was not
forthcoming, and, as a protection to himself and
other masters, he was compelled to take the pre-
sent proceedings. Witness had been compelled to
supply the customer with another coat at great in-
convenience and expense.
Mr. Combe asked the prisoner what he had to
say about it. _ _

He replied that he had nothing more to say than
that he got drunk and lost the coat, and he was will-
ing to work the value of it out at Mr. Saunders's.
The latter observed that he would never trust
him again. In fact, he would not have such a man
in his house, as he wonld soon ruin kis business.
He asked his worship to put the act of Parliament
in force as a caution to others.

Mr. Combe told the prisoner that he had ren-
dered himself liable to severe punishment, and he
could not say his mister had been hard towards
him, as more than two months had elapsed since he
aught to have done tile work. As for his stating
that he had been robbed of the coat, that was idle
nonsense, and would not avail him. As a caution
to him and other Journeymen ho sentenced him to
one month's hard labour in the House of Correction.

THAMES.--IVCIRDERO US ASSAIJ LT.—A mascu-
line looking Woman, named Martha Macdougal,
was brought before Mr. Yardley, charged with
wounding a little Irishwoman, named Mary
M'Carthy, on the head with a poker.
The complaisant said she was enjoying herself
with a party of English, Irish, and Scotch, on the
at No. 7, King-street, Wapping,
previous night,
when in the midst of their revelry the prisoner
brought in a gailor, and witness noticed some very
bad behaviour between them, and remonstrated
with them o
a their misconduct, as there were girls
in the room, Soon afterwards the prisoner whipped
a watch and guard off the sailor's neck. She said
to the prisoner, "Don't do that; you may get into
trouble; give him beck the watch." Some words
ensued; the compP.ny broke up, and witness was
leaving the house, when the prisoner made a furious
attack upon her struck her several times with her
clenched ,
and then took up a fire poker, with
whic,he tist,
sgti inflicted a severe wound on her skull.
She NT"' rendered insensible by the blow, and lost
a laT.ge luantity of blood.
Charts Pearce, a police-constable, 182 K, stated
that he saw the assault committed, and took the
prison into custody. He knew Mrs. Macdougal
well. ghe was a most violent woman, and had
been ,etten in custody for robberies and assaults.
The 'lst time she was in that court she charged a
Poneetonstable with robbing her of a gold watch
and Chain. The charge turned out to be without
the jtist foundation.
Mr Yardley convicted the prisoner of an aggra-
vated assault, and sentenced her to one month's im-
Pristament and hard labour.

A _,STMINSTER•-•-.VIOLENT AND UNPROVOKED
SiIAULT UPON A RESPECTABLE TRADESMAN.—
d,(3% Jannaway, u pensioner from the army, was
egged with the following disgraceful conduct :
air. J. Wallzer, fithmonger, Pimlico, was passing
t,ultough theXing's-road,ou the previous night,when
u!fendant and another man issued from the bar of
the Cotville Tavern, and rushed up against him.
4e told them quietly that they ought to be more
artful, when defendant, with a filthy expression,
threatened him ; at which moment a policeman
coming up, defendant was prevented committing
any act of violence at that time, but directly the
constable had turned his back, defendant hastened
after complainant and gave him a severe blow on
the face, which blackened one of his eyes.
Defendant pretended that Mr. Walker struck him
first.

The policeman who had interfered in the first in-
stance to restrain defendant's violence, distinctly
denied this assertion. He saw defendant overtake
the complainant, and assault him as described,
Mr. Paynter inquired whether complainant suf-
fered much from the effects of the blow. _ _

Complainont replied—Not particularly ; but it
was a great annoyance and inconvenience for a re-
spectable man in business to have a black eye.
Mr. Paynter asked whether anything was known
of the accused. .

it was replied that he had been repeatedly in
custody for drunkenness and assaults. He had been
imprisoned for attacking the police, and bad been
committed for trial for presenting a pistol at a
woman with whom he had some quarrel.
Mr. Paynter animadverted in becoming terms
upon his misconduct, and fined him 405., in default
of paying which he was committed for a month.

GREEN WICH.—A NOTORIOUS GANG OF Bun-
GLARs.—William John alias Baxter, of 31, Mint.
street, Borough, a ticket•of.leave convict, Sophia
Johnson, his wife, James Richards, described as
a general dealer, 4, George-street, Lambeth, and
Charles Henry Williams, 2, London-court, Green-
wich, were brought up on remand before Mr. Trail!,
charged with being concerned in the following
daring burglaries.
Mary Southeron, servant to Mrs. Aarons, 7, Circus-
street, Greenwich, said that about half-past six on
the night of Monday, the 12th inst., she saw the
prisoner Williams standing on the step of a door of
a house opposite her mistress's residence. He then
walked across the road and joined another man.
Having some suspicions, she communicated what
she had seen to her mistress, who watched the men
with witness from the parlour window. A woman
then joined the men, and after they had walked
about for a quarter of an hour, one of the men went
to the street door of No. 18, and made a noise, as
though he was unlocking it. Both men then en-
tered, and shortly afterwards the female, who was
standing outside, called out, " Sarah, make haste."
Witness did not see the woman's face. The men
then came out, and shortly after they re-entered,
having exchanged hats for caps. After a short time
they again made their appearance from the house,
carrying large bundles upon their heads, with
which they decamped.
George Doughty, a porter in the employ of the
Greenwich Railway Company, said that between 11
and 12 o'clock on the morning of Tuesday, the 13th
inst., he was leaving his own house, when he saw
the first three-named prisoners leaving the house
occupied by the prisoner Williams, and each carry-
ing bundles. Having heard that a robbery had been
committed on the previous night in Circus-street,
Greenwich, he suspected the prisoners were the
thieves, and followed them into the Prince of
Orange Tavern, adjoining the railway terminus,
when he gave information to the police, and the
prisoners were taken into custody.
Police-constable Warne, 271 It, deposed that from
information received from the last witness, he went
to the Prince of Orange Tavern, and took the three
first-named prisoners into custody. They each had a
bundle in their possession. The prisoner Johnson
claimed the whole of the property, saying he was a
general dealer, living in George-street, at the back
of the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, and that he was
about proceeding to London to dispose of the pro-
perty. On searching the prisoner at the station,
witness found upon him several silver and plated
articles, produced.
Police-constable Cheezeman, 168 R, deposed to
receiving charge of the prisoner Richards, and also
that on searching him at the station, various silver
and plated articles were found upon him.
William Spearman, a railway porter, said he as-
sisted in taking the female prisoner to the station.
On the way thither she asked witness to throw
away some property she had in her pockets, offer-
ing to recompense him for so doing.
Inspector Reid, M division, proved that the pri-
soner Johnson was a ticket-of-leave convict, having
been sentenced to 14 years' transportation on a
charge of forgery, in the name of William Baxter.

Mr. Trail I said that, so far as the cases of burglary
at Mr. Doughney's and Mrs. Wright's were con-
cerned, the evidence was complo,te, and the pri-
soners would be committed for trial, but would be
again brought up for the completion of the deposi-
tions in the third case.
The prisoners were then removed.